CAGED

Chapter 7. Sink or Swim

Odamous paces the deck as he discusses the issue, at hand, with the others. Juliana looks on from the helm, thinking it is best to let them discuss the issue. If they wanted her input they would surely ask. She looks out onto the ocean. There is a calm breeze blowing the ship southwest paired with light, choppy waves. The sun sits at a three o'clock angle to the ship. As it passes behind a patch of clouds, Hawk begins to make a ruckus, in the crow's nest.

"What is it, what do you see?" Wolf shouts.

Hawk crosses her picks, continuing to sound an alarm.

"Oh... no!" Wolf responds to her gestures.

"What is Hawk saying?" Monkey asks.

"Monkey, Rabbit, get below deck.. now!" Wolf orders.

Monkey grabs Rabbit by the hand and leads her below deck without another word.

"Okay, I am curious. What is coming?" Lion asks.

"Pirates." Wolf responds.

Lion smiles, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "You don't say... sounds like a fun time to me."

"Normally, I would agree." Serpent says. "But we are on the sea now, this is not as simple as a land battle."

"I disagree." Odamous chimes in. "Lion is the strongest, physically, of the seven of us. He might make things simpler." 

"I am not a far cry from him, in terms of strength, but I fail to see the benefit of our strength in this situation." Wolf argues.

As the pirate ship grows closer, nearly 200 yards away, shouts can be heard from its deck. 

"Man the cannons!" A man shouts.

"Aye aye!" Several men shout.

With the pirate ship now within 100 yards, Lion picks up a cannonball.

"I know this is unfair, but I want to try my throw." Lion grins.

Wolf also picks up a cannonball. "I will take that challenge."

Wolf throws the first cannonball, but it falls just short, hitting the rutter of the pirate ship.

"Damn, I missed my intended target." Wolf grumbles.

"I can not stir the helm, captain!" A man shouts.

"Not a total loss." Serpent points out.

"My turn." Lion whips around and throws the cannonball in a direct path to the main mast. The mast is broken from the impact and crashes into the water. "Bull's eye!" 

"OUR MAST!" The captain shouts.

"For pirates, they are easily ruffled." Odamous says.

The pirate ship is now out of control, drifting further and further away.

"BYE, THANKS FOR COMING!" Lion shouts, mockingly.

"DAMN YOU!! I WILL NOT REST TILL YOU WALK THE PLANK!!" The captain shouts back, angerly.

Juliana turns the ship back in the pirates' direction.

"What are you doing?" Serpent asks.

"Easy, just making sure they will be a while fixing that ship. Wolf, Lion, ready the fron cannons." Juliana orders.

"Oh.. I am going to love this!" Lion rushes to the left cannon.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Wolf hurries to the right cannon. 

"On my order, blast the captain's cabin til you are satisfied." Juliana shouts.

Lion and Wolf look at each other with a grin and take aim.

"Ready... Set...... FIRE!" Juliana orders.

Lion and Wolf fire and reload the cannons five times before they are finished, each shot dealing more and more damage to the pirate ship. Pirates hang on as their ship nearly falls apart before their eyes.

Juliana brings the ship right behind the pirate ship and then turns left. "If you follow us, we will sink you and leave you for dead! You have been warned." Juliana exclaims to the pirate captain.

The pirate captain glares as Juliana returns to her original course and sails away. Hawk seems to roll over laughing in the crow's nest. 

Monkey peeks his head up from below deck. "Is it safe to return?"

"Ye... yes." Serpent looks on in disbelief.

Odamous leans in and whispers in her ear. "She can be quite ferocious herself, can't she?"

Serpent shakes the daze off and looks Odamous in the eye. "You two are a fair match, but you still win out." 

Lion leans again the from mast, smiling. "I think we made a good choice, this time. Don't you think so?"

"She fought outside of that corner, so I will agree, for now." Wolf responds. "Hawk, stop your cackling and make sure we are on the correct course!" Wolf shouts.

Hawk regains her perch and glares at Wolf before flying off. 

"Are you sure you want to upset her?" Lion whispers.

"I have been that woman's translator far too long for her to just up and leave me, out of anger." Wolf responds. 

Juliana returns to her normal routine of watching everyone else work until Serpent walks up.

"Care to take a break? I will be happy to stir for a while." Serpent smiles.

"Yes, thank you." Juliana allows Serpent to take the wheel.

"You shock me a bit, I almost thought you would kill those pirates on sight." Serpent says.

"Had they had the opportunity to open fire on us, I might have, just for fear of Monkey and Rabbit's safety." Juliana sighs.

"You have a good heart, my dear, but make sure it doesn't get you into more trouble." Serpent glances at her.

Juliana turns and heads to the captain's cabin. Upon entering she is met by a fair sized desk and bed. "Oh thank goodness!" Juliana leaps upon the bed as if she was a lion attacking its prey. "AH! It is soft!" 

As Juliana closes her eyes, a tear runs down her cheek. Her thoughts are filled with her brother, sister, and father as she silently cries herself to sleep. 

As Juliana sleeps, Lion pulls Odamous and Serpent aside and leads them to the provisions. He pulls an apple from a barrel and presents it to them.

"What do you make of this, Serpent?" Lion asks.

Serpent and Odamous examine the apple and look at each other in disbelief.

"This apple couldn't be more than a day stored in that barrel." Serpent exclaims.

"My thoughts exactly." Lion says. "Someone knew to ready this ship to sail."

"Does the princess know yet?" Odamous asks.

"No, I thought it best if you discussed this with her, yourself." Lion responds.

"Thank you. I will see what I can find out." Odamous turns to leave but Serpent stops him.

"She is asleep, at the moment. This can wait till she awakens. Poor thing has had enough bad moments for one day." Serpent urges.

"Fine." Odamous shrugs.

They return to their duties, ever aware that their new master may be in great danger.