Voyage of the Secret: Part 6

Garin and the crew followed the tracks all the way to the beach, where in the sand they could see that a rowboat had been waiting, which could only mean that Scarblade's crew had taken Sea Cat aboard the Revenge, and Garin knew there was only ONE place Scarblade would go from here… that dark, menacing silhouette that lay just a few leagues away… Scurvy Island! Garin growled and turned to the others.

"Make for the ship!! Move!!" he barked, and the others obeyed, sprinting like never before back to the port, and once there, they forced their way through the crowd to get to their ship and give chase over the water. Once they were aboard and underway, Garin found himself pacing back and forth at the helm, growling to himself and tugging on his ears and hair in frustration.

'Stupid idiot!' he thought. 'I promised to watch out for her! She's just a kid! Grr, stupid, stupid, STUPID! If anything happens to her…'

"Garin!" Jacques called as he ran over. "We've picked up a good wind, but even with that we won't be able to catch up to the Revenge!"

"Then run up full sail!" Garin snapped. "We've got to catch them!"

"Garin, even with this wind and currents pushing us towards them, we WON'T catch them! They've got too much of a head start on them! But if we keep following their course we should arrive in Scurvy Island's bay just minutes after they do!"

"That only gives Scarblade time to prepare for us to come and rescue Sea Cat!" Garin said, turning around and rubbing his chin. "Although… it does give us the ground advantage… If we can bar his ship in shallow waters… Then he can't escape any other direction except for inland!" Garin bounced his fist in his palm, and looked at Jacques. "Keep our course, speed us up if possible, but keep the Revenge's rudder in sight!"

"Aye aye!" Jacques said with a salute, then ran back to the main deck. Garin sighed and leaned up against the ship's wheel, rubbing his forehead.

"Oh Fyora please…" he muttered. "Don't let Sea Cat do anything stupid…"

                                                                           ***

Garin and the others did exactly as planned, boxed Scarblade into port so he couldn't escape above, or below the surface. The only direction he had to go was inland, which left only a bit of searching to do. Garin's crew spread out through the town, searching frantically for any of Scarblade's crew and where they might be hiding, but so far had seen nothing. No one had ever found Scarblade's lair and lived to tell the tale, so things were looking very bleak… until Sam, the Kacheek cabin boy spotted two of Scarblade's crew go into a small, old boathouse near the docks. He quickly got the attention of his friends, and they all gathered near the boathouse, spying on it.

"You're sure they went in there?" Garin asked, looking down at Sam.

"Aye sir," the small Kacheek replied. "I haven't taken my eyes off that door since they went in, and nobody's come out!"

"I went around through the brush, Garin," said Bill. "No way out through the back. N' the windows are all boarded up."

"I'm just worried this might be a decoy…" Garin confessed. "But there's no use just sitting here… Let's move!" Garin drew his dagger and moved towards the boathouse, followed by his crew. They moved close to the door, then burst through it with a yell, but then stopped…

The room was empty.

"What?!" Garin asked in frustration.

"B-But nobody left!" Sam said, putting away his knife. "I swear it!"

"Its okay, little mate, I believe you…" Garin said as he looked around the room curiously. "But if they got in here, then there must be a way out…"

Garin walked to the center of the room, the boards creaking under his feet. He stopped and looked down. He bounced lightly once, then paused, then bounced a second time. He sighed. The floor was solid; no way there could be a trap door underneath. But the question still remained…

"Lets have a look around," he said. "Quietly."

His crew obeyed and walked around the room, checking walls, in the rafters, under things, but thus far there was no sign of any way out, a secret room, or of Scarblade's crew for that matter. Jacques sighed in defeat and sat down on a large chest in the room, pushing his feet slightly to get the chest to slide back against the wall, so he could lean against it… but the chest wouldn't budge. Jacques pushed more weight into it, thinking it was just heavy, but it still did not move. Jacques blinked and stood up off of the chest, turning to look at it. It was pretty large, but what was in it that was so heavy? He gave it a kick, but only wound up stubbing his toe, and the chest, again did not budge. Jacques cursed at the pain in his foot, then knelt down to get a better look.

"Wait a minute…" he said as he peered down at the bottom of the chest, which had what appeared to be metal shafts going through it somehow, and connecting it to the floor. He tried to lift the lid of the chest, but it was locked.

"Garin!" Jacques whispered. "Over here, bring your dagger!" Garin walked over to his friend, and Jacques pointed to the lock. Garin nodded to him and carefully slid the tip of his dagger into the lock, then gave a slight jolt, causing the lid to pop up in just the slightest way. Jacques and Garin both took the lid of the chest, pushed it open, then looked inside.

The bottom of the chest had been cut out, and instead, there was a large stone hole in the floor, with a ladder leading down into what looked like an underground, torch lit tunnel. Garin blinked in awe, but then couldn't hold back an amused chuckle and smirk.

"That sly Scarblade…" he said, then stood and stepped into the chest to descend the ladder. "C'mon boys, lets go give our friend Cyclops a surprise!"

"Since when did you start calling him Cyclops?" Jacques asked with a chuckle as he and the others followed Garin.

"Since right now." Garin chuckled back, then stepped back as he arrived at the bottom to look around. He grabbed the torch off the wall and held it aloft, so everyone would have more light.

There were other tunnels, all dark. Scarblade obviously didn't want to lead intruders right to him by leaving a trail of torches or lamps, and the ground was all rock… it would be nearly impossible to find them. Garin bit his lip. He and his friends would have to be quiet if they didn't want to be caught, but how on Neopia were they supposed to know which tunnel to take?

"Oh by Fyora…" Garin grumbled.

"Which one do we choose?" Jacques asked, looking at his friend. Garin shook his head.

"I-I don't know…"

"Wait! Lookit!" Sam suddenly said, tugging on Garin's vest. Garin's head snapped over to a tunnel off to the side where Sam had his arm pointed.

"Look at that one! The floor is smoothed out, and all the others are rough and bumpy!"

"So its been worn down by people walking through it for some time!" Jacques said, then ruffled Sam's hair. "Good eye little mate!"

"Alright lets go!" Garin said. "But remember, be quiet and stay alert! No telling what we'll find ahead…"

                                                                          ***

"Put me DOWN you overgrown meat-sack!!!" Sea Cat shouted, kicking at the burly Tonu pirate, who just grunted and shifted her on his shoulder, growling in warning at her. Sea Cat growled in persistence and wrung her hands behind her back, trying to escape her bonds and dismount herself from Brute's shoulder. Scarblade just chuckled and shook his head, then turned to look back at Brute.

"You heard the lady, Brute," he said. "Put her down."

Brute blinked at his captain, but then grinned and roughly dropped Sea Cat to the ground on her back. She coughed from the impact and slowly sat up, groaning as her back popped and her arms scolded her with pain for falling on them. She was suddenly yanked back to her feet by Benny and pushed forward, towards Scarblade, who sneered at her.

"You'll walk the rest of the way," was all he said, then turned and continued on down the tunnel. Sea Cat growled and stood still in defiance, but was forced to walk forward as Benny prodded her in the back with a knife. She sighed and continued to wring her hands behind her back.

"Oi! Quit it!" Benny warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I've got the point, short stop…" Sea Cat grumbled.

"What did you call me?!" Benny growled grabbing her by the arm. Scarblade laughed.

"Ha-har! This one's got the biting tongue of her Usul friend!" he said, then grabbed Sea Cat's other arm and pulled her up beside him, all humor on his face vanishing as his single, red eye bore down at her in an almost unworldly manner, making her swallow hard in fear.

"I suggest that unless you want me to cut out that biting tongue ye have… you keep your mouth SHUT. Ye follow me?" he growled. All Sea Cat could do was nod, and Scarblade snickered at her fear.

"Good." Scarblade then continued to walk forward… but only for a few moments, as he reached a large, thick, wooden double door. Sea Cat gaped as he pushed his arms against it and pushed it open.

"Welcome home, boys!" Scarblade called out, and his crew all laughed and followed him into the large, large room.

It looked like something of a gigantic underground tavern, but instead of wooden or metal mugs to drink from, gold and silver jeweled goblets, gold plates and bowls, silver candlesticks, and real silverware. It looked more like a king's banquet rather than a pirate's lair, there was even a large wooden throne with thick red cushioning at the end of the large table. And in the corner of the room, there was a large mountain of treasure of all kinds! Gold, jewels, crowns, statues, riches with almost no end! Sea Cat couldn't keep her jaw from falling clean open as she looked around, trying to process it all.

"Quite a sight, ain't it?" Scarblade's voice hissed from behind her. She turned to look at him, only to be pushed face first to the ground. She grunted in pain and tried to pull herself up, then blinked in shock, as her hands were suddenly set free by the quick movement of a knife. She rolled over onto her back and sat up, bringing her arms forward and nursing her wrists as she looked up at Scarblade, who slid his knife back into its sheath, then closed the large door and locked it. He chuckled at her bewildered look.

"Don't give in to hope of escape, girly," he said. "These tunnels run for miles, you'd never be able to navigate them all in the dark."

Sea Cat growled and yanked her arm away from Benny, who tried to pull her to her feet. She stood up herself and brushed her self off, still nursing her wrists, then glared at Scarblade, glancing at the medallion, which was around HIS neck now.

"You've got the medallion now, what good am I to you?!" she snapped. Scarblade chuckled and walked around her in a circle, like a shark stalking a fish.

"You can't think of any other reason why you're still alive?" he asked. Sea Cat rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you mean besides bait on a hook?" she asked.

"Precisely," he answered, giving her a toothy smile. Sea Cat blinked and followed him as he turned, then they both stopped, eye locked upon eye, as if trying to read the other's mind. Sea Cat narrowed her eyes at him and her arm lifted just slightly, as if to defend herself from an attack, pointing at him with her hand.

"You think I know more about the Secret…" she said, and Scarblade smiled at her deduction.

"Do you?" he asked with a whispering hiss.

"…Maybe…"

To be continued…