Pen
The game is on!
Hello! About a year and a half ago we got an assignment in Swedish class to write an "odyssey". I recently started translating the story into English, but since I live in Sweden Swedish is obviously my main language, so my English writing may be somewhat flawed. If somebody does read this I would appreciate feedback on my language in particular. I'm sure there might be a few typos and even grammatical errors. I'm currently working on a Zelda fan-fic and I'm sort of using this story as practice for that one. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this 7 part story!
It was a dark and foggy night just off the eastern coast of North America on February 10th 1717. There lay the large wooden vessel Elizabeth sloshing amongst the waves with her big, white sails which were attached to three tall masts. The moon and the stars, which usually were the only things lighting up this part of the Atlantic Ocean, were completely concealed by thick, water filled clouds. On the quarterdeck stood William, the captain’s first mate, and looked out over the stern gunwales as he thought of Salem, their distant destination. Last month the ships captain, Scarlett, had told the members of her crew that they were heading to Salem to find a special object. She never told them what it was, but William had heard her speaking about it and could tell from the tone of her voice that it was a very valuable object. He also thought of everything that they might encounter on their journey; he had heard stories about ghost ships, gigantic sea serpents, the kraken and about the dreaded Blackbeard.
As if from nowhere came another vessel approaching, slightly smaller than Elizabeth. It was dark brown and had dark blue sails in two masts.
“Ship ahoy!” shouted the newly recruited look-out, Edward, from the crow’s nest. “Pirates in sight, to port!” Surprisingly quickly the crew started working, and Captain Scarlett came rushing out of her cabin to give direct orders. The pirate ship and Elizabeth were already broadside and both ships were repeatedly firing cannonballs at the other. Suddenly there came a loud crushing sound from Elizabeth’s front mast, causing it to fall straight towards the pirate ship creating like a bridge between the two vessels. Over the fallen mast came about twenty pirates creating a great cutlass battle onboard Elizabeth. Cutlasses clang in the air and one could hear shouts of both anger and fear. William, who had by now gotten down to the main deck, stabbed one of the pirates in the stomach and pushed him overboard. Thereafter he spotted something moving in the fore of the pirate ship, so he made his way unseen across the lying mast to the pirate ship which now felt empty and desolate. He walked towards the fore where he had seen the movement, but he did not get very far before he heard a sound from behind. It was a hollow knocking sound that was constantly repeated with one to two seconds interval and got slightly louder over time. As William turned around he saw the silhouette of a tall man wearing a large hat walking down the quarterdeck stairs; the knocking sound was caused by his pegleg as he walked across the wooden deck towards William.
“There’s gotta take a great deal of courage to dare board a pirate ship all alone”, the man said with a raucous yet strong voice and got a big and superior smile on his face. He seemed to be the pirates’ captain. His sideburns, which had previously been black, were now gray and shaggy, and two large scars, probably from cutlasses, stretched across his smiling face. “But apparently courage ain’t all you’ve got, you’ve got foolery too, and that’s gonna be the death of ye!” The pirate captain laughed out loudly and pulled out a pistol which he pointed directly at William’s head. William could not say a word because of how frightened he was. But then the tall captain unexpectedly lowered the pistol, and his facial expression changed from intimidating to terrified in a matter of seconds.
“So, young man, I shall spare your life.” The pirate captain’s voice hinted of an insecurity. “Leave my ship, and remember me name. I be Captain Roger! For I, Captain Roger, will go down in history! So remember now that I chose not to kill ye, despite the fact that ye boarded my ship without my allowance. There, there. Off ye go now, quickly!” Roger laughed nervously and William did not understand anything. Why had the pirate captain suddenly decided not to kill him? Why did he suddenly look so frightened? But William did as he had been told anyway and got back over to Elizabeth. After that everybody could hear Captain Roger shout:
“All aboard! Set sail, lads!” Now he sounded more stressed than he did before. His men canceled their battles and climbed swiftly over to the pirate ship. “Get movin’ ye blooming cockroaches! Get a move on!” The sails of the pirate ship were both quickly caught by the wind, then the ship disappeared with its Jolly Roger flag into the thick fog. Left in the water was Elizabeth as well as the mast that the pirates had cracked.
“What the heck just happened, Bill?” exclaimed Captain Scarlett. “What happened on the pirate ship?”
“I met the pirate captain. His name was Roger. He was gonna shoot me, but…”
“But what?” asked Larry, the chief gunner.
“Then something happened that I think scared him off. I don’t know what it could’ve been.”
“I know what it was!” shouted Edward from the crow’s nest. He lowered the telescope from his eye and screamed down in panic:
“It’s the kraken! The kraken’s just a few hundred meters in front of us! Captain, what should we do?”
The Voyage to Salem
Chapter 1
The Ambush
It was a dark and foggy night just off the eastern coast of North America on February 10th 1717. There lay the large wooden vessel Elizabeth sloshing amongst the waves with her big, white sails which were attached to three tall masts. The moon and the stars, which usually were the only things lighting up this part of the Atlantic Ocean, were completely concealed by thick, water filled clouds. On the quarterdeck stood William, the captain’s first mate, and looked out over the stern gunwales as he thought of Salem, their distant destination. Last month the ships captain, Scarlett, had told the members of her crew that they were heading to Salem to find a special object. She never told them what it was, but William had heard her speaking about it and could tell from the tone of her voice that it was a very valuable object. He also thought of everything that they might encounter on their journey; he had heard stories about ghost ships, gigantic sea serpents, the kraken and about the dreaded Blackbeard.
As if from nowhere came another vessel approaching, slightly smaller than Elizabeth. It was dark brown and had dark blue sails in two masts.
“Ship ahoy!” shouted the newly recruited look-out, Edward, from the crow’s nest. “Pirates in sight, to port!” Surprisingly quickly the crew started working, and Captain Scarlett came rushing out of her cabin to give direct orders. The pirate ship and Elizabeth were already broadside and both ships were repeatedly firing cannonballs at the other. Suddenly there came a loud crushing sound from Elizabeth’s front mast, causing it to fall straight towards the pirate ship creating like a bridge between the two vessels. Over the fallen mast came about twenty pirates creating a great cutlass battle onboard Elizabeth. Cutlasses clang in the air and one could hear shouts of both anger and fear. William, who had by now gotten down to the main deck, stabbed one of the pirates in the stomach and pushed him overboard. Thereafter he spotted something moving in the fore of the pirate ship, so he made his way unseen across the lying mast to the pirate ship which now felt empty and desolate. He walked towards the fore where he had seen the movement, but he did not get very far before he heard a sound from behind. It was a hollow knocking sound that was constantly repeated with one to two seconds interval and got slightly louder over time. As William turned around he saw the silhouette of a tall man wearing a large hat walking down the quarterdeck stairs; the knocking sound was caused by his pegleg as he walked across the wooden deck towards William.
“There’s gotta take a great deal of courage to dare board a pirate ship all alone”, the man said with a raucous yet strong voice and got a big and superior smile on his face. He seemed to be the pirates’ captain. His sideburns, which had previously been black, were now gray and shaggy, and two large scars, probably from cutlasses, stretched across his smiling face. “But apparently courage ain’t all you’ve got, you’ve got foolery too, and that’s gonna be the death of ye!” The pirate captain laughed out loudly and pulled out a pistol which he pointed directly at William’s head. William could not say a word because of how frightened he was. But then the tall captain unexpectedly lowered the pistol, and his facial expression changed from intimidating to terrified in a matter of seconds.
“So, young man, I shall spare your life.” The pirate captain’s voice hinted of an insecurity. “Leave my ship, and remember me name. I be Captain Roger! For I, Captain Roger, will go down in history! So remember now that I chose not to kill ye, despite the fact that ye boarded my ship without my allowance. There, there. Off ye go now, quickly!” Roger laughed nervously and William did not understand anything. Why had the pirate captain suddenly decided not to kill him? Why did he suddenly look so frightened? But William did as he had been told anyway and got back over to Elizabeth. After that everybody could hear Captain Roger shout:
“All aboard! Set sail, lads!” Now he sounded more stressed than he did before. His men canceled their battles and climbed swiftly over to the pirate ship. “Get movin’ ye blooming cockroaches! Get a move on!” The sails of the pirate ship were both quickly caught by the wind, then the ship disappeared with its Jolly Roger flag into the thick fog. Left in the water was Elizabeth as well as the mast that the pirates had cracked.
“What the heck just happened, Bill?” exclaimed Captain Scarlett. “What happened on the pirate ship?”
“I met the pirate captain. His name was Roger. He was gonna shoot me, but…”
“But what?” asked Larry, the chief gunner.
“Then something happened that I think scared him off. I don’t know what it could’ve been.”
“I know what it was!” shouted Edward from the crow’s nest. He lowered the telescope from his eye and screamed down in panic:
“It’s the kraken! The kraken’s just a few hundred meters in front of us! Captain, what should we do?”
Last edited: