King's Quest

CHAPTER 5: THE PIRATE SHIP

Gwydion awakes, still in a bit of a haze. He shakes it off, grabs some breakfast and hoists his satchel which holds all of his possessions, before teleporting to the foot of the mountain. Once down, he holds still and listens. Not too far off there are two squirrels having a conversation.

"Have you tasted any of those acorns littering the ground?" the first squirrel asks.

"Yes," the second tree dweller begins. "But good luck making a home in the tree."

"Why?" the first enquires.

"I don't know exactly," the second admits. "But there's a hole at the bottom that's the perfect size for a cozy home, but there's something already in their."

"What?" the first presses.

"I don't know, but it's hard and cold and too tough to gnaw," the second describes the object the only way it knows how.

That was it Gwydion has his answer. From atop the mountain he would often look down. At times he would spy some nefarious individuals carrying bags over their shoulders, no doubt filled with pilfered goods. They would disappear beneath the acorn bearing tree, which means there must be a secret hideout in the branches of the tree, which is sure to house ill-gotten gains, maybe even gold.

Careful of any unsavory person who might be lurking about, Gwydion makes his way to the acorn tree. He quickly spies the hole the furry critters had been talking about and he reaches inside, finding the strange hard thing, is a lever. He pulls on it and a rope ladder falls from the branches above. He uses it to ascend to the little house-like construct seated within the stronger branches.

Gwydion pokes his head inside only to find a bandit sound asleep at a table. Directly behind him is a chest, no doubt the collection point for their stolen treasures.

Carefully, he lays the satchel down, on the landing just outside of the hideout. He pulls out the magic instructions. None of the spells would work in this particular scenario. He has no choice, he'll have to go about it the old fashioned way.

He removes his boots and creeps across the floor, careful to avoid the creaking boards. Not an easy task, but achievable. Next is the chest, a simple box built in the structure with a hinged lid and no lock.

Very carefully, he lifts the lid which creaks. He stops dead. The bandit does not stir. He then looks to his efforts. The lid is only partway up, just enough for an arm to get through. Not ideal, but it's the best he can do.

Blindly, he entrusts his arm to the dark void, as he gropes about. There are many unidentified feelings inside, but none feel like a substantial amount of gold, not at first, but there is just such a thing far to the back.

Slowly, methodically, Gwydion raises, what feels like an old pouch, out of the container and brings it out. It's heavy, but whether it contains precious metals or useless junk, is open to speculation. But now is not that time to find out.

Ever so carefully, he fixes the pouch to his belt and slinks toward the open doorway. More than once he has to stop and sweat profusely, as the sleeping guard stirs several times. What's more, he is not the only member of the gang and so, the longer our intruder remains, the more likely he is to be caught.

At long last, Gwydion makes it out of the tree house, takes hold of his satchel and climbs down the ladder. After which he returns the rope ladder, via the metal lever and breathes a sigh of relief.

He finds a place to hide himself as he inspects his stolen goods and is relieved to find the bag contains a small pile of gold coins. Thus concluded, he hurries away from the scene of the theft, off to the bar where he knows he'd find the pirate captain. He's correct.