Everest Bounds; Upon The Shore| Book One

Chapter Five

The next morning Kasper awoke to the bright light of the sun shining  through the boards of the resting quarters. He sat up and rubbed sleep off of his hazel eyes and looked around to see he was the only one in the room "guess it wasn't a dream after all. I really am with a pirate crew." His thoughts were soon cut off by the sound of singing. It peaked his interest so he stood and walked out to the deck, shielding his eyes from the harsh sunlight. Once his eyes adjusted he saw the happy crew of the Everest Bounds adjusting the sails or dancing, not only that but chiming in to a sea shanty. One that was being led by the pirate captain, Vicktor. The blonde male was upon the second deck as he was holding onto a rope singing out the lyrics in a loud but clear and surprisingly good tone. Kasper recognized the song as Sally Brown. A smile crept up on the boy's face and had the sudden urge to join in. Vicktor apparently saw this and came down to the main deck by the rope and walked briskly up to him, swinging an arm around his shoulder "well rise and shine, it's about time you woke up." He said in his usual gruff voice, but there was a happy tone laced in it. Addison bounded up to Kasper and punched his shoulder "better get used to this. A good shanty is how Vicktor always starts the morning!" Kasper smiled and nodded "right," he turned to say something to Vicktor when Leon had called the man over to help him with something. "Hey Kasper,I have to go finish making sure we're in the right direction but, we can  talk later alright?" Addison said cheerily. Kasper nodded with a small
smile "alright,".

After the brunette went to do his job Kasper walked around the pirate ship, watching everyone do their own jobs. He saw Scarlet and gave her a smile which only a glare was returned. She really was unfriendly. He decided to stand near one of the sides and look out at the horizon. He smiled softly, feeling the salty ocean breeze on his face. He didn't notice that another person had joined him until he glanced next to him. The black haired eighteen year old shifted awkwardly, he realized that the man next to him was Vicktor's father, Sebastian.

There was silence between the two before the older man spoke "your name is Kasper correct?" He asked. His voice was more gruff than Vicktor's. And it had a slight rasp to it as well. Kasper nodded "yes. I am." He said softly. Sebastian smiled softly "thought so. Figured you would look more like your father but, you're a spitting image of Emily." The man said. Kasper raised an eyebrow slightly and then he realized that this was his father's old friend "so...you're Sebastian..?" He asked quietly. Sebastian nodded "and you're Tom's son." He said. The hazel eyed boy stayed silent, how had he just now realized that this was the same Sebastian that his parents talked about? He glanced at him up and down. He looked hardly anything like Vicktor. His hair was almost completely grey while Vicktor's was a sandy blonde. His eyes were also a dark brown, unlike his son's clear blue ones.

The two chatted for a bit until Vicktor came up to them, a smile upon his face. "I see you've met my father." He said. Kasper nodded "yeah, he was telling me stories about how my dad was when he was younger." Kasper told him. Vicktor laughed "oh yeah, dad has got some stories to tell. He was a big trouble maker in his day huh old man?" The blonde said teasingly as he gently nudged his dad's side with his elbow. "Hey so...I have a question. And you don't have to answer but I was wondering..........why is Vicktor captain? Not that there is anything wrong with that of course!" Kasper exclaimed quickly after he asked his question, hoping not to upset the captain. Vicktor only chuckled "don't worry it's fine. Dad was injured a couple years ago and he couldn't continue his duties as captain so, I had to step in." The blonde explained. Kasper nodded "I see.."

The day dragged on and it was all smooth sailing. Kasper spent most of his time talking to his new found friend Addison, as well as Leon. The red headed male had some interest stories to tell, which Addison all confirmed as true. Kasper couldn't believe his ears during some of them, then again this is a pirate crew, there will always be some kind of interesting story to tell. Vicktor came over to join them shortly, tuning in on the story that Leon was telling. "So what adventure are you telling Kasper?" He asked with a smile upon his face. Leon laughed "that time we almost got stuck in that cave." Vicktor gave a whoop of raspy laughter "how could I forget that time?! You thought we were gonna die!" He said in between laughs. Leon punched his shoulder and gave a chuckle "you weren't any help in that situation!" He said. Vicktor wiped a tear from his eye "I was just made captain two months before!" Kasper chuckled at the two men. It was one day one in this crew and he hadn't become bored yet, he didn't see himself gaining that emotion anytime soon with these guys.

An hour passed and Kasper was sitting in he crow's nest writing a letter to Jackson.

'Jackson,

I know we just took off a day ago but, it's crazy how far we got in that amount of time. I already feel homesick. I miss all of you a lot. I want to thank you again for telling me I should go with them. It's been a lot of fun so far, even though it's only been one day. Although when this letter finds you it will be more than that. I hope that you all are doing well and that you're staying out of trouble. I can't wait until we find my dad, then we can come home. When that happens, we'll take mom and your family out of Herdstra and we can start a new life somewhere else, away from the war. Everyone here is actually pretty friendly once you get to know them, except for Scarlet. The others say that she'll come around eventually. I'm not so sure on that one. I hope you all will be careful and safe from the upper class, I wish you could write back but, your letter would probably get lost at sea. I promise I will write again as soon as I can.

Til our new adventure comes along,

Kasper.'

Kasper smiled as he finished his letter. Hoping that when they docked on land, it would find his best friend well. "Oi, Kasper!" He heard Vicktor's yell, obviously this was important. He got down from the crow's nest and walked up to the blonde "you called Cap?" Vicktor gave a chuckle and placed a hand on Kasper's shoulder, leading over to the side of the ship "take a look on the horizon. What do you see?" Kasper looked for a moment, then smiled "land!" Vicktor nodded "yup. That's the kingdom of Oclaria. We stop at every town or kingdom we come across, that way we don't run out of supplies." He explained. After Vicktor finished explaining, he went up to the second deck and looked out over the horizon. 

They eventually reached the kingdom. It was lively and bustling, a scenery that Kasper hadn't seen in ten years. Leon walked up to him and place a hand on his shoulder "This is surprise to you?" He asked. Kasper nodded "yeah, I haven't seen a place look this happy in years, ever since Swintence threatened war on Herdstra." He explained, clutching the letter he wrote to his friend tightly in his hands. The red head noticed this "what's that? A letter to your girlfriend?" He teased. Kasper blushed and shook his head with a smile "no...I've never had a girlfriend in my whole life. It's a letter to my best friend, I wrote it on the way here." He told him. Leon laughed "when we find the trading ship, we'll see if it plans to head to Herdstra, you can ask if they'll deliver it." He said with a smile. Kasper nodded and began walking with the red head, trailing behind Vicktor, Scarlet, and Sebastian, Addison quickly catching up.

They made it more into the town and looked around. Vicktor's facial expression gained a smile when he saw a building. He whistled and got everyone's attention. "There's a tavern here. We can stop and get something to eat. I'll pay." The crew nodded and followed after their twenty year old captain. Once inside, they all found seats to sit down at, some people coward away due to the fact that they were pirates. Leon grew a smirk when he looked behind the counter and slapped Vicktor on the back "Vic, how bout a drinking contest!" He exclaimed. The blonde grinned "you're on Leon! Bar maiden!" The woman behind the counter gave a pitiful smile, she knew this probably wouldn't end well. She grabbed several cups and filled them with alcohol, setting each cup in front of the two men. Kasper raised an eyebrow once the two began "does this normally happen?" He asked. Addison laughed "oh yeah. Every time we make a stop, this is a normal thing. We've grown used to it by now." The brunette explained. Sebastian gave a deep chuckle "guess the old saying is true, like father like son." Vicktor gave a soft smile as he went to grab another cup. "You're not one to talk old man. You used to tell me that you and Tom used to have drinking contest all the time." He said with a smirk. The older man laughed lightly "yeah, I guess that's true." The drinking contest continued and it ended with Leon passing out and Vicktor borderline drunk.

Scarlet and Addison looked at each other with sighs before picking up the red head by his arms and legs. Sebastian wrapped his son's arm around him and led him out of the building and back to the ship. Kasper trailed behind them, staying quiet. Once reaching the ship Addison and Scarlet set Leon down near the resting quarters, while Sebastian set his son down on a barrel containing supplies. Vicktor chuckled and patted his father's arm "thanks old man," he said softly. Sebastian sighed and shook his head, draping his dark colored coat over the blonde's shoulders "you're gonna drink yourself to death one of these days." Vicktor laughed lightly at his father's comment "the only thing I'm gonna die from, is the damn hangover I'm gonna have tomorrow morning." Kasper smiled at the two before thinking about his own father and what it would of been like if he were on this journey with them. He looked out at the horizon and clenched his fist. "don't worry dad....I'll find you and bring you home. I made a promise to both you and mom..I'm not going to break it."