"DangersOfTheSea" by LeahDiane

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I never wanted this in the first place. What was supposed to be a simple supply transport turned into torture and pain. They were ruthless. Their evil smiles could cut through your soul. There was no escape. We were trapped.

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I woke up to the sounds of the men on the upper deck. Never have I sailed with such loud people. I stood up and made my way to be with the others. We were sailing to some military camp or something, delivering supplies. I only accepted this job for the

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pay. My employer was willing to pay a little extra due to high numbers of these so called "pirates". Of course I believe it's just a bunch of rubbish. Just stories told to scare sailors into being careful while doing their jobs. I walked upstairs and

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looked around. Our captain was at the helm. I was greeted by one of our men who looked rather impatient. "All of the supplies are in place?" He asked. "Of course sir. It is not as though it can go anywhere." I responded. He didn't seem in the mood for

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jokes as he grunted and walked away. I stood at the rail looking out into the open ocean. If there were any pirates out there, there is a very small chance that we'd run into them so far offshore. Everyone on board seemed a little scared of these

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mercenaries and I constantly teased them for their fears. I went down to the lower deck and started my work.

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After working for hours I grew tired. I went back to my cabin and decided to sleep for a little while. It was getting dark anyway and I could not think of any other work that needed to be done. I closed my eyes and feel asleep in a matter of seconds.

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After what only seemed like a minutes I woke up to the sounds of yelling. I quickly sat up and ran to see what all of the commotion was about. When I reached the top I simpily stood there with my mouth open. A ship, at least twice the size of ours, was

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right next to us. I could see their men fully prepared with cutlasses and guns. Fear started to fill me as I watched them. We had very few weapons to defend ourselves. The enemies fired warning shots at us and our entire crew scrambled for cover. I was

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able to get a quick glance at the tiny row boats that were making their way to our ship so that the pirates can board. I ran down to our supplies and grabbed a sword. My heart was pounding in my chest as I came back up. More and more pirates were trying

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board the ship. Some of our men pulled out their own guns and started to fire at the opposing ship but we were hopelessly outnumbered. Then I could see the pirates climb over the railing of our boat. They readied their swords. One approached me, looking

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at my sword. He charged at me blindly, running with his sword at his side. I stepped out of the way and stabbed him from behind. I looked to my left. Two of our own were shot and killed. The captain was defending himself against one of the pirates. He

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blocked and parried strikes like it was nothing. He knocked the pirate off balance and finished him. He fought with such skill that I stood there a moment dazed. Then I was shocked back into reality when more pirates boarded the ship. I knew that we

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couldn't fend off this many of them. The pirates approached me, ordering me to surrender. I dropped my sword, accepting my defeat. A pirate came a grabbed me. He kept his sword close to my throat as he ushered me forward.

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Next thing I knew I was on their ship. A few of their men stared at me in disgust. I was led to a chamber in the lower decks where I was locked inside. I sat on the little bench, wondering if this was where I would die. I saw only the captain put in a

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cell and when I asked one of the pirates, he claimed that they were all dead. The cpatain looked terrible. His face full of guilt and sadness. "It wasn't your fault sir." I said trying to raise his spirit. "There was nothing you could have done." He

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looked at me with a grim expression. "You no longer need to call me sir. For I have failed at my job and I do not deserve to lead again." He paused for a moment and then spoke again, "Call me John." He said. I nodded and turned away, thinking about his

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words. We were trapped with no escape. All hope was gone.

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Three days later
-------------------My stomach roared. The only thing I was given to eat was a disgusting piece of bread and some unclean water. John didn't look any better. It had been a while since we last talked. He rarely moved at all.

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One late night a pirate came down near the cells. He was barely able to walk straight. He clutched a bottle of some sort of alchohal in his hand. He grabbed onto the wall and caused the key to the cells fall right in front of me. He didn't seem to notice

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as he walked back up to whatever party was going on at the time. I quickly snatched the key and opened my cell. John looked for a moment and his eyes got wide. I opened his cell and he stood there for a second until finally he said,

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"You know how big of a risk this is right?" I simpily smiled. I smiled for the first time in three days. We walked around quietly until we found a storage room. The pirates were obviously very unorganized as weapons, armor, cloth and all sorts of other

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goods were thrown everywhere. I made my way around the mess and took a sword. John grabbed a gun and then went for a sword. Finally when we felt that we were as prepared as we could get, John and I walked quietly near the stairs. We could hear laughing

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and singing from up above. I glanced up and saw pirates battling each other while the others cheered them on. We walked up the stairs while crouched down as to not gain any attention. A pirate came near the stairs. I tried to remain calm but I knew that

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if he saw us it could blow our cover. When he got near, John pulled him forward and stabbed him. No one noticed as we placed the body behind us. John urged me to go up a little further. Then it happened all so fast. A pirate looked in my direction and saw

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me. He shouted to the other men. All of the sudden the singing and laughing turned to confusion. Everyone looked in our direction and took out their weapons. John stood forward as if ready to die fighting. I did the same. Two pirates approached us. One

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charged at me. I blocked the attack and pushed him backwards. I used that moment of unbalance to stab him. Then I rolled to the side as a pirate attempted to shoot me. I took out a throwing knife I took from the storage and threw it in his direction. The

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knife hit him and he fell backwards. John was holding up on his own perfectly fine until the pirate's captain stepped in. He had a messy beard a wild look in his eyes. He fought with such speed that John was unable to match. The captain knocked the sword

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out of john's hand and stabbed in him the arm. John staggered backwards. I yelled out in anger and attempted to help John but two pirates blocked my path. I watched John die as I battled the pirates. A single tear fell from my eye as I kept fighting. I

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eventually grew tired and weak. Their men surrounded me. Their captain laughed as he circled around me. Just when I accepted my defeat I hear the sounds of cannons in the distance. Suddenly the ship creeked and tipped. More cannons blasted, knocking

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pirates off their feet. The captain, suprised and angry about this attack, ordered the pirates to their stations but it was too late. The boat couldn't take this suprise attack and started to sink. It tipped sideways and I tumbled backwards. I started to

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slide off the edge. I desperately grabbed a part of the railing. The force of the sinking ship was too much and I fell off into the water. For a moment while I floated in the sea, all was quiet. As though this was all a dream. Only the falling debris of

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the ship snapped me back into reality. I latched onto a floating board of wood. I called for the ship in the distance, which looked like some sort of navy boat. It took them forever to come and sail around the sunken ship. I climbed up when they got close

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and fell over the railing. The men on board pointed swords and guns at me. I quickly explained my situation to them, making sure that they understood that I was not their enemy. After a word with the captain he believed my story and said that I'd

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be able to go free at their next stop. But all I could think about was John and how the captain stabbed him with no mercy. It was at this moment that I regret ever thinking of these pirates as myths. They were no legend. The stories were true. And at that

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moment I started to fear the sea and its many dangers.