A Story of the Sea

Chapter 2: nothing about this is fine.

<Reaper's POV>
I grip to the mast like it's my life line. And it is so I guess it's fair. I screamed because a boat rammed into the side of the ship causing me to fall from the crows nest. I see Candy run up to the top deck followed by a new skeleton. She looks up at me with a worried look.

"Hanging in there, ey Reaper?" Horror jokes from the crows nest. He crawled up there after I fell.
I glare at the skeleton with a hole in his skull.

"Horror, can you just help me?" I growl at him. He grins and pulls his axe from its holder on his back. Before I figure out what he's doing he does it. He throws the axe at the rope connecting the mast and the wood that holds it in place. I fall to the ground, trying to grab hold of the mast. I fail to do so, but I'm stopped when I nearly reach the deck.

I look at Candy, and she glares at me, her left eye smoking with light pink magic.

"Reaper what the heck?!" Candy growls at me in a protective way. Cross pats my shoulder and looks at me with a sympathetic look. Despite her small size and little magic, Candy is almost as feared as Nightmare in our crew. If she gets mad at any of us she'll beat us up, and then not make food! And she's the best cook in the world.

"Candy, a Corpus ship crashed into our ship." I mumble. Candy's eyes widen.

"REAPER!! ARE YOU BLIND OR WHAT?!" Cross yells at me.

"I was a bit distracted NOT FALLING TO MY DEATH CROSS!" I hiss. The entire ship rumbles as the Corpus ship rams into is again. Candy and Cross run down to the lower dock to fire the canons at the other ship. Fell turns the wheel quickly, narrowly avoiding another blow. I grab the new guys hand and pull him to the lower decks to see the damages.

I grab some wood, and a hammer. Then I thrust them at the new skeleton.

"Fix any holes you see. Tell me if water comes through" I order him. He nods and goes on his way. I hear two canon shots right next to me. Candy and Cross cheer in delight. I sigh. I'm glad Candy left the Corpus for her brother a few years back, cause I know we would have surely died without her amazing cooking.

Another explosion comes from the siblings, their ability to rapid fire canons unparalleled in the seven seas. Candy runs from her canon to above deck. Cross starts doing the same but I stop him.

"Cross, what's happening?!"

"We've got visitors~" Cross smiles, draws his sword, and runs above deck. I smirk, drawing my own sword from the hilt and start to follow the two siblings.
I forget, however, the pair of eyes behind me. Something hits the back of my head and my vision is covered in black.

<Ink's POV>

Everything was going according to plan, well...except for the fact the enemy ship fired canons at us. I steer us next to them.

"PREPARE THE BOARDING PARTY AND READY YOUR SWORDS!" Captain Dream yells to his crew of faithful sailors. "Ink, we'll need your magic to assist us with these pirates." He turns to me.

"Who'll drive the ship?" I ask.

"I will!" Little Blue volunteers. Dream and I exchange sympathetic looks, and I let one of the sailors take the wheel.

"Sorry Blue, your too good at fighting for us to let you drive the ship." Dream puts his arm around Blue, and draws his sword. Several of our men jump from our ship and the enemy ship. I already see people fighting. Blue, Dream, and I charge with our men to the other ship. I pull out my paintbrush and sword, painting and slashing as I go.

That's when I spot a familiar half pink skeleton. Candy! My mind yells at me. But she's fighting our men...why?! I push through the men and swords to Candy, and I pull her into a hug amidst the fighting.

"Candy we were told you were dead!" I smile at the shorter skeleton. She tenses at my touch and words. She pushes me away slightly and looks at my face.

"Inky..?" She mumbles.

"Yeah it's me! Ink!! Your best friend! Along with Blue and Dream!" I smile. I hear the clashing of swords all around us but both crews seem hesitant of hurting either one of us.

"You guys can't be here! Go back to your ship!" Candy pleads.

"Candy, these are PIRATES! They hurt people and plunder! All the things we swore not to do with the Corpus!" I look at her with sad eyes. She looks away from me.

"You don't know what I know about the Corpus, Ink. And there's little chance you ever will." She looks at me coldly, her eyes empty. She raises her sword at me.

No...No, no no no NO!!! I blink back tears of betrayal. Candy was always my friend when we were younger, her family was noble and mine were painters. I know her brother Cross died at a younger age, and that made her hate pirates cause they killed him. So we joined the Corpus together with Dream and Blue... Then they told us one day she was dead. And now to find she's alive, and consorting with the very people who killed her brother...

"Candy, whatever they've done to you, whatever they've promised you it's not-" I try to reason with her.

"I CHOSE THIS PATH INK!" She yells at me, and she slashes at me. I block her blow with my sword and I parry.

"Candy please! They killed your brother, they took your family! And you trust THEM?!" I yell, trying to put some sense into her. Her anger seems only to grow with my words though.

"They didn't hurt Crossy! He is alive and well and ON THIS SHIP!" Candy growls as she frantically tries to hit me. I block each one of her blows with difficulty. "So go back to your own ship before I MAKE you go to your own ship!" She yells.

I look around to see one of my men carrying out the sleeping body of one of the pirates. I signal Dream, and he calls a retreat. Our forces back away until only Dream, Blue and I are on the ship ready to jump back.

"Candy come with us!" Blue pleads when he sees her.  "We can take you home!"

"I am home." Candy backs away from him to hug a black and white skeleton. I look at the pirates, and I see one in particular. His bones are black, with glitches all over them. He has blue tear marks on his cheek bones.

Dream pulls me to jump, and we go back to our own ship. I take the wheel, and drive our ship away. Then I follow Dream into the prison hold, as we look at a cloaked pirate before us.