The Halwell's Secret

In the town of Ecley, a ship, The Halwell, had been docked for the last 30 years. No matter how hard people tried. The wheel didn’t turn, the anchor could not be wound up no matter how many men pulled, and the sails stayed up as if they had been glued in place.

Most assumed it was cursed because its history was a dark one. It had been owned by a fearful pirate crew. For thirteen years, the crew sailed unopposed until that fateful day. The crew attempted to board an abandoned boat when they found it was simply bait to catch them. They ran as fast as they could but had made a wrong move, and with their backs to a mountain and three Navy ships bearing down on them, they knew they had been cornered.

At first, they had been captured, left in the brig of their ship as the Navy sailed the ship to the closest port town. They tried to break out a few times, but the ones who did were killed. With only half the crew left, they decided not to die anywhere but on their ship. With one final battle, on the night the ship had been docked in Ecley, they were all killed. All of them refused to give up till either their enemies were dead, or they were.

Since they couldn’t move the ship, The Navy left it docked, offering the town a small amount to take up the dock, which the city happily accepted. It was only supposed to last for a few weeks, but then the original owner appeared.

He had proof that the pirates had stolen the Halwell from him, and so he took over the dock fees paying to keep it in place for all this time. But not anymore. The owner had run out of money to pay for it, so the town was planning to scrap it tomorrow.

But Salcaro couldn’t let that happen. It was beat up and run down, but he still thought it was beautiful. He had talked to the owner and had raised the money over time, enough to buy the ship for himself. He didn’t know what to do with it, but he couldn’t let it die.

There were only a few problems left with the ship; His promise to the old owner, “If you manage to set sail…”, he didn’t know how to care for her, and he was the only member of his crew. The last two issues would take care of themselves.

~*~*~*~

Even from Salcaro’s untrained eye it was obvious there was a lot of work that needed to be done. He had spent most of his money buying the Halwell but had some leftovers for some supplies. He decided to work on the ship’s deck first. He was only a beginner, so if he made a mistake there it wouldn’t cause her problems while sailing.

He bought what he thought was most important and carried them to the ship himself. Since the Halwell still couldn’t sail, Salcaro was lucky the docks let him work there with no problem.

While he was cutting the wood to replace a hole he saw on the deck, someone walked up to him.

“Captain... Captain... Captain…” he was too busy sawing to notice her at first, “Shipowner...Shipowner…” After a while, he thought she was trying to get someone else’s attention, “Hey You!” she banged on the box between them.

He looked up suddenly when she did that, putting the saw down before standing up and brushing himself off “sorry, how may I help you?”

She gave him a bright smile, “could you do me a favor and sell me your ship for half price?”

His eyes went wide, “no way.“

She pouted at him for a moment. “I don’t have that much money. Do you think you can manage with only 1/4 off?” she looked at him up through her lashes, fluttering them slightly.

He took a step away from her. “I think you misunderstood. I can’t sell this ship. Like at all,” he shook his head rapidly.

“Come on, big guy. Little old me needs this.”

He crossed his arms. “I’m sorry I spent all my life savings on this ship.” She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off “It’s too beautiful to part with.” when she just stared at him, he felt a bit bad for his tone, “sorry.”

The two just watched each other for a moment before she nodded and sat on the box she had originally hit “that works even better. So what are we going to do with her Captain?”

He sighed, looking up at the ship. “I haven’t thought about it yet... Wait, we?”

She smiled at him brightly, “I was just thinking since it’s just the two of us, maybe merchants? I’m great at sales.” she gave him a wink.

He quickly waved his arms out in front of himself. She was going too fast for him, “wait, stop, weren’t you just trying to buy it from me?”

She nodded her head, “that was because I thought you were some rando who bought her for a quick buck. Not that you cared about her too.” she looked up at the ship, “she might be beautiful to you, but she is important to me.”

“We need to sail away from here,” he said, looking through an eyeglass made of cardboard.

“And where are we sailing to?” the girl said with a laugh, quickly moving the wheel a little to the left. The two always snuck out at night once a week, imagining they were pirates sailing the sea.

“They’re catching up to us.” he said, looking at her with a big smile.

“Then pull down the sails, we need them more open to go faster,” she said, pointing at them. He nodded his head and ran to the deck pulling on the rope, both imagining as if the sails were being unfurled. After that, he ran back up and looked behind her.

“We did it.” he laughed before turning around and pulling her into a hug. She sighed and leaned against him.

“Oh,” His remark seemed to bring her out of whatever daydream she was having.

She turned to smile at him again, “I have some very important moments on the Halwell with a very important person.”

He frowned “wait, she’s been blocked from the public for years.”

She laughed, “you can’t tell me you never snuck on her to imagine you were sailing her.”

“No!” that made her laugh harder.

“Well anyway, I’m Chesura. It will be good to work with you.” she held out her hand to him.

He sighed and accepted her handshake, “I’m Salcaro. Let’s work well together.”

~*~*~

With Chesura’s money, they hired some carpenters to repair the big damage in the hull. They had the carpenters focus on getting her sailing. It took them two weeks, and while there was still slight damage to it, they were now ready to sail.

Salcaro had just been walking back home from watching over the carpenters to make sure they didn’t mess up when someone stepped his way and pointed at him. “Hey, you!”

Salcaro blinked at them. At least this one had been more forward about getting his attention, unlike Chesura. “Yes?” Salcaro might not be the most observant but he couldn’t mistake this one.

“When you set sail I want to be on that ship.” The person said with an upright and proper position. Even though he was facing Salcaro, his eyes were looking at the sea.

He slammed the door as he walked into the house. The slam brought his parents to the main room, “why are my classes set up like that?” He shouted.

“It was the best classes we could find.”

“Why did you pick them. I was excited to pick my own.”

His dad crossed his arms “we knew you would pick the wrong ones.”

“You can’t choose my life for me.”

“It’s for the best,” his mother said with a sigh, “we want to set you for life.”

“Set me for life! With how rich you two are, I could take my money and leave with no financial problems.”

“And what would you do?”

That made him falter, “well...I…”

“Oh are you thinking of following that stupid dream of yours” his mother shook her head “no one makes money from writing. You’ll be better off if you listen to what we say.”

“But-”

“But nothing.” His father interrupted. “You’re too young to know what you truly want. Once you finish your classes, you can give that writing” the last word coming out as a sound of disgust “and see how worthless it is. But we don’t want you wasting this precious time to set up your life.”

He couldn’t fight against his parents no matter how much he wanted to. “You promise.”

His father blinked at him, “what?”

“You promise once I finish my classes, I can go off and try being a writer, and you two won’t complain.”

His parents chuckled “fine. At least then you’ll have a proper job when that dream fails.”

“Fine” Salcaro’s words made the man flinch. He looked back at Salcaro, his posture easing a little. Salcaro needed more crew than just him and Chesura anyways. “So, what ship work can you do?”

“You expect me to work?” he crossed his arms and managed to stand even a little bit straighter.

Salcaro frowned, “of course. We have so few people on the ship we would need it.”

“Not happening. I’m much too important to work. You’re lucky I’m willing to pay my way onto the ship.”

Salcaro’s frown grew. They did need that money as Chesura’s was running low with all the work the ship needed. The two weren’t sure they could buy the rest of the supplies. “If that is the case, why don’t you just pay to go on a passenger ship?”

He waved Salcaro’s suggestion away “I’ve been on those before. They have planned routes they must take. It doesn’t allow you to see the world.”

Salcaro sighed, “I can’t make this decision on my own. Meet me tomorrow in front of the ship to talk to Chesura.”

The man nodded and walked off without saying another word.

The morning came faster than Salcaro wanted, but he got up bright and early to spend another day watching the ship get repaired. He was the first one there like always, but he didn’t mind, he liked the silence.

Eventually, Chesura ran up to him, and he explained the situation to her. “So he wants freedom?”

Salcaro nods “that seems to be his reason for choosing us rather than passenger ships.”

Chesura frowned “he would be a pain to watch over, but we kind of need that money.”

“That’s what I thought.” He said, looking back at the town to see if anyone was coming yet. He was eager to have the Halwell fixed as soon as possible.

“Would you be okay with him joining us?”

Salcaro thought about it for a moment, “we were planning to make a short trip to test her after the repairs. We could bring him along for that and then just leave him behind if we can’t stand him.”

Chesura laughed “Oh, that’s a good idea. Alright, when he gets here, let me do the talking. Need to get as much money as possible out of him.”

Salcaro sighed but nodded. Slightly worried about what person he had accepted as his first mate.

It wasn’t until midday when the man eventually arrived, introducing himself as Bolirin. Salcaro introduced him to Chesura, who was more than happy to have a long conversation with him. Salcaro could see all her flirting from where he sat. And with the amount Bolirin agreed on, he knew it had worked.

~*~*~*~

With the money from Bolirin, they were able to get a bunch of supplies to sell at their destination as well as enough food for all three of them for their planned short trip. It wasn’t going to be long, only a few days since they wanted to make sure it could sail before planning anything longer.

They were walking up to her as they talked, “we bought everything, but we don’t even know if it can sail.” Salcaro muttered.

“The carpenters told us it would,” Chesura said.

“No, I mean. When she was first docked here after…” she nodded, he didn’t really need to say it. “Nothing moved. Not the wheel, the sails, or the anchor.”

Chesura frowned, “well, some things changed.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The wheel moved when I used to play on the ship. We never went further than turning it, but if that moves, maybe everything else will?”

Salcaro sighed “I guess.” As the two walked by the ship’s bow Chesura noticed someone replacing a few pieces of wood close to the top of the hull. They had fashioned a seat out of another piece of wood and seemed to be humming to themselves.

Chesura watched them for a moment longer before commenting, “did one of the carpenters come back to do more work?”

“no?”

“Then who is that?” she pointed to the person they just passed and Salcaro frowned before walking back over.

Salcaro had to shout to get heard over the sound of the hammering “who are you!”

The person jumped and almost hit their finger before turning to see the two and smiling. “Oh hey, cap.” They waved at the pair. “Sorry it’s so early I was just so excited.” They smiled brightly.

“What? Who are you?” he crossed his arms, having to glare up at them.

“Oh, sorry, I’m Danoy”

“And what do you think you’re doing?”

“fixing the ship, I know the others did most of the work, but you can’t just leave these holes.” both just watched them swing for a moment “look, Captain, I can’t let you work on this masterpiece. You might wreck it.”

They heard the door slam as their father entered the house. They watched from their room as their dad sat at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

“Daddy?” They shouted as they jumped off their bed and ran over to him.

Their dad gave them a tired smile as he held his arms out for Danoy to run into. “How was today?”

“It was good. I had a lot of fun. How about yours? Was yours a lot of fun?”

Their father sighed and hugged them tighter, “it’s much better now that I got this great hug.”

Danoy giggled before pulling away “what happened?”

Their father stood up and moved to the kitchen window. From it, you could see the dock, he pointed to the Halwell. “You see that ship.”

“Yep”

“It’s slowly getting destroyed, and no one seems to care. I’ve been asking the dock owners to let me care for it but just keep getting turned away.”

“You’ll fix it,” Danoy said, bouncing in his arms.

Their father smiled, “if I won’t maybe, you will someday.”

Danoy’s smile only grew, “we’ll work on it together.”

“and you’re a master?” Salcaro’s shout seemed to bring Danoy back to reality.

They looked at their hammer that was old and worn, “well no…” the grip on their hammer tightened, “but I have more knowledge than you.”

“But I can’t pay you,” Salcaro muttered.

“A little bit of a bummer but that’s fine, just take me with you. I can’t let this be destroyed.” they patted the Halwell lightly, avoiding the hole they had been fixing.

Figuring he couldn’t really argue, Salcaro nodded his head. Danoy smiled before turning back to their work, going back to humming almost right away.

“That is the third person to love the ship. I wonder if they’re more,” Chesura said as they headed to the ramp onto the ship. Today they had to load their supplies on since it was delivered early in the morning.

“Obviously, you aren’t the only ones to grow up with that ship sitting pretty at the dock.” They both turned to see a man walking out between the boxes with a clipboard in hand.

“Who are you?” Salcaro muttered, not even surprised another person was there.

“Maromu. I assume Danoy asked to come along with you?” both nodded. “I thought so. I have arranged for extra food to arrive later today. Paid for by me, looking over what you bought previously, it should be enough for whatever journey you are planning.”

“and who are you?”

“The name is Maromu. I already said that.”

“...and do you also love that ship?” Chesura asked, looking him over quickly.

“ No matter where Danoy goes, so do I.”

When Maromu left the building with his certificate, Danoy was waiting for him with a smile. “You did it.” Immediately Danoy pulled him into a hug.

Maromu sighed and sank into it, making sure not to crush the certificate. “Wouldn’t have without your support.”

Danoy laughed, “what are you talking about? It’s all thanks to that big brain.” They kissed him on the top of the head, and Maromu laughed.

After enjoying the hug for a bit, the two broke apart before heading to a spot Danoy had prepared for a celebration picnic.

The two were eating and enjoying the sunset when Danoy spoke up again. “So where are you planning to go?”

Maromu looked at them, “what are you talking about?”

Danoy sighed and leaned back, “well, your skills would be wasted if you stay here.”

“So that means I need to leave town?”

Danoy turned to smile at Maromu, “the world needs you.”

“Don’t you love me anymore?”

Danoy’s eyes went wide, “of course, I still love you. Why would you ask that?”

Maromu nodded, “so then I won’t be going anywhere.”

Danoy’s eyes went wide, “what!”

“I’m going to stay with you.”

“Why?” Danoy looked down at the dock where the Halwell was, “I can’t even leave because of my promise to my father. Why tie yourself down to me.”

Maromu leaned over and grabbed Danoy’s hand, “because I love you.” He gave them a smile.

Salcaro frowned, “you’ll leave town because Danoy decided to sail with us?” Maromu loosened his grip on his clipboard where he had been looking.

Maromu looked at him carefully, “I loved them enough to stay. Leaving isn’t any harder. I don’t want to be away from them.” He had a small smile as they looked off to where Danoy was working before looking back at Salcaro.

Salcaro looked over at Chesura who was frowning “alright. We’ll go plan out where stuff is going to go okay?”

Maromu nodded and went back to his clipboard while Salcaro led Chesura into the ship. “You okay?”

Chesura sighed, “I’ll be fine. He left a few years ago now. And hey, I might see him while we travel.” She gave a smile, but he could tell it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Why did he leave?”

Chesura leaned against the wall, “His talents would be wasted here. Just...he didn’t take me.”

“I’m sorry,” Salcaro muttered, touching her shoulder lightly.

Chesura gave him a small smile, but it was better than the one before. “What are you sorry about? You didn’t do anything.” Her smile grew even bigger. “If we do meet him, I just have to make him beg for forgiveness for leaving me.” Salcaro sighed. For the guys’ sake, he hoped they wouldn’t meet up.

~*~*~

It was finally the day before they would take their first voyage. The last thing they needed to do was clean the rooms of the old crew. No one was looking forward to it, having avoided them as much as possible with the repairs. They had demanded the carpenters leave those walls alone, as well as not to enter those rooms.

Salcaro was there first, like always. He sat on a box looking at the Halwell, waiting for the others to arrive. They had agreed to do this together.

“I see you got your crew together.” Salcaro looked over his shoulder to see Alraslo standing there, leaning on his cane.

“Yeah,” Salcaro said slowly, standing up from the box and turning fully towards him. He knew what was coming but didn’t want to hear it.

“And you’re going out on your first voyage tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Salcaro shook his head. Maybe he could convey his feelings without saying them.

“And you remember your promise when I let you buy the ship?”

That made him pause, he didn’t really want to answer that one, “yeah.”

Alrasio glared at him, “What was it?”

“When we set sail, you want to come along but…” Salcaro tried, but Alraslo interrupted him with a laugh.

“Don’t want the old guy to spoil the fun? Don’t worry, you’ll barely notice me.”

“No that isn’t it-”

“If you’re going back on your deal-” Alraslo took a step forward, the clack of his cane sounding extra loud.

He took a step back, almost falling off the dock, “it’s too dangerous.”

“I’ve been on the seas before, lad, unlike your crew. If anyone knows the dangers, it’s me” he said with a frown.

“I know, but if you died because of me-”

“Do any of you know how to navigate?”

Salcaro frowned, “I learn some-”

“Enough for a small voyage for sure, but what about once you take longer ones? Once you’re fully out on the ocean, you can’t just follow coastlines.”

“Well...I can learn.”

“From who?” Alraslo watched him carefully. When Salcaro said nothing he nodded. “I thought so. I have sailed with a few tough Crews. You need me if you don’t want to die.”

Salcaro sighed. Alraslo had him there. He only had one chance left, “only if the crew agrees.”

“What?”

“I can’t accept you if the crew doesn’t agree.”

Alraslo took a step forward “you going back on your word?”

Salcaro wanted to step back, but doing so would send him into the water. “I made that deal thinking it would just be me and some hired people. Now that I have people that chose to be on the crew they get to choose who they sail with.” Salcaro bit his lip. Alraslo might be old, but that didn’t mean he was weak. The two stared at each other for a while before Alraslo sighed.

“Fine, if your crew doesn’t agree, I’ll figure out a way to change our deal.” Alraslo muttered. Salcaro sighed and went back to pacing in front of the ramp to the ship, trying to figure out how he would explain it to the crew.

Chesura was the first to arrive that morning. She practically skipped up to Salcaro, “here first as always.” She said with a smile before noticing Alraslo, “who are you?”

Before Salcaro could say anything Alraslo spoke up “I’m the ship’s navigator” he said with his head held high.

“If the crew agrees,” Salcaro said quickly. He didn’t want Chesura to think she didn’t have a choice. Chesura shrugged before moving to sit on the end of the dock, eager for the others to arrive. Salcaro went back to his pacing.

Danoy and Maromu arrived together walking up to the three holding hands. However, Danoy was pulling Maromu, who had a small smile. That smile fell when he noticed Alraslo, “who’s that?” He waved at Alraslo with his free hand.

“The ship’s navigator,” Alraslo and Chesura said together, Chesura not even bothering to turn towards them.

“Only if the crew is okay with him.” Salcaro muttered. Maromu looked at him, then to Danoy, who was staring at the ship.

Maromu rolled his eyes and pulled Danoy out of the way as they waited for their last crew member. Whispering to them to fill them in on what they probably didn’t hear.

When Bolirin arrived, he looked among the crew members he had already met, having met Maromu and Danoy when he came to check when they were leaving, when his eyes landed on the only one he didn’t know. “Who-”

“The ship’s navigator” everyone but Salcaro and Alraslo interrupted him. Alraslo smirked at Salcaro. who didn’t even bother repeating himself. Everyone had decided it seemed.

With the crew all assembled, they made their way onto the boat and to the section that held the rooms. The boat had obviously been specially made as there wasn’t a captain’s quarters. Instead, there were a bunch of rooms all the same size. Each door had a different letter carved into it.

Before anyone could move, Alraslo walked over the door with an N on it, entering without another word and closing the door. “Why does he get to pick first?” Bolirin muttered.

“Because he used to own this ship. If he didn’t sell it to Salcaro, none of us would be here.” Chesura said, looking at the doors. “Looks like the pirates labeled them. Want to follow that?”

“I doubt there is an accountant,” Maromu muttered.

“And it might be too far from mine,” Danoy said, squeezing Maromu’s hand tighter.

“I don’t have a job,” Bolirin said, looking along the rooms.

Chesura sighed. She pushed Salcaro to the door marked with a C which was the first room on the left, and to the right of the room Alraslo entered. She then stood in front of the door with an F which was the first one on the right side. “We’ll take these two. You three pick wherever you feel fits best.”

Bolirin went off to pick the one next to Chesura, this door marked with an M, but Danoy raised his free hand, “what if one room isn’t big enough? Could I take a wall down between the two of them?”

Chesura looked over to Salcaro, who shrugged, “as long as it doesn’t affect the ship, it should be fine.” Danoy nodded and moved to pick the room to the left of the one Alraslo entered, marked with an Ca, with Maromu picking the one next to it, marked with a Ch. However, they all knew the two wouldn’t have separate rooms for long.

Salcaro entered his new room and looked around. The room was musty and covered in dust, but there were still things left by the previous captain. He looked around the room and found a small chest hidden in one of the corners. He wiped it off carefully before opening it to see it was half empty. With the same amount of care, he took everything that belonged to the past Captain and placed it into the chest. Once he was done, he closed it again and put it back where he found it, placing a cloth over it.

Once that was done, he was more willing to go through and throw out everything else. While the furniture like the bed frame and desk could stay, everything else was gone. They had enough leftover from Bolirin’s money to pay for a new mattress for everyone, and that would be done later today.

With the rooms now picked and set up, their plans to set sail on their small voyage were all ready. They met again the next morning and started sailing.

It wasn’t easy with all of them new to their new jobs, but they slowly were figuring it out. Since Maromu had nothing to do while sailing, he agreed to be the crew chef and spent the first day cleaning the kitchen area. They also found a job for Bolirin when Danoy was sitting on some boxes on the deck holding a cloth to a cut in their arm.

Bolirin walked up to them with a frown, “what did you do?” He had spent a lot of time looking around the full ship their first day, and this was the first time most of them had seen him above deck that day.

Danoy smiled at him. “Oh, I just cut myself while removing wood from our room. Don’t worry about it, it will be fine…” he removed the cloth to see the wound was still bleeding and replaced it “...soon.”

Bolirin’s frown only deepened “wait here.”

“I wasn’t planni-” but before Danoy could even finish, Bolirin was walking away, heading to the room area. He was only gone for a little while, but when he came back, he had a bag. “What is-”

“Let me see it.” Danoy nodded and held out their arm for Bolirin to look at the wound. Bolirin pulled out supplies from his bag and started to clean it. Once he was done, he wrapped it before packing his bag away.

Chesura came over to watch Bolirin while he worked. Once he was done, she pointed to the bag “why do you have that?”

Bolirin frowned, “my parents forced me to learn medicine.” He looked at the bag “despite wanting to, it seems I brought it with me.”

Chesura smiled brightly, “that’s it. You can be the ship’s medic.”

Bolirin crossed his arms “why would I need to work? I paid to be on this ship.”

Chesura nodded “yes, that was for a one-way trip to our destination.”

“One way? The amount I spent could have paid for ten people on a passenger ship.”

Chesura frowned, “well, of course ours was more expensive. We have to protect you, and this is a historical ship.” She rubbed the railing for a moment before turning with a smile, “but if you become the ship’s medic, you don’t have to pay anymore.” Bolirin was silent and she fluttered her eyelashes at him “please?” Bolirin blushed but nodded slowly. Chesura cheered, Danoy joining in even though they didn’t know fully what was going on.

The first trip was slow going but went smoothly. The crew was small, but then so was the ship, and when it got really hard for them to handle, Chesura could convince Bolirin to help out.

The few holes that needed to be fixed were found by Bolirin’s wandering Danoy taking care of them right away. When they weren’t fixing the ship, they spent their time in the kitchen bothering Maromu to try and get little tastes before they all ate. To make up for it, Maromu made them do part of the cleaning.

They got to the new town and sold their stuff right away. Chesura had a strong handle on sales, and with Maromu keeping track of their numbers, they were able to make a little extra when supplies were low. They planned out their next trip and bought the supplies. The profit was split between the entire crew. Bolirin hadn’t been expecting to get money as well but was happily surprised to receive some.

~*~*~*~

Salcaro laid down for the night. The long voyage had been going well so far. Everyone was getting along and slowly learning how to do their jobs. And the ship was still going strong, all the repairs holding out even as they got into the deep ocean.

They had been sailing for a week so far and had no other ships or land in sight. They had anchored the ship, and most of them were sleeping besides Alraslo, who had announced he would keep watch. No amount of arguing from the crew could dissuade him.

It seemed like only a moment of closing his eyes before Salcaro felt a cold hand wrap around his arm and fling him from the bed. He crashed into the wall with a cry of pain, when he opened his eyes he saw a ghost standing over his bed.

The ghost was strong-looking but had tattered clothes. The thing that stood out most to Salcaro was that it wore a big hat. In all of his research, the only one allowed to wear one on the ship was the captain.

The captain floated towards him with a glare. “What?” Was all Salcaro could get out before the captain grabbed the back of his shirt and started to drag him from the room.

Once they made it onto the deck, he was thrown into a pile of the others as ghosts surrounded them on all sides. “Salcaro!” Chesura shouted as he tried to orientate himself.

Thanks to the full moon, it was very bright. All the ghosts seemed to shine because of it. He looked to see most of his crew now behind him. He noticed a girl he didn’t recognize in the group but was more relieved to see Alraslo wasn’t there. Salcaro was slightly glad that whatever was going to happen to them, Alraslo would be safe from it.

“Why are you on my ship?” The Captain asked, floating a little above the ring of ghosts looking down at the group with a glare.

The fear Salcaro felt surrounded as his crew was, made him forget for a moment why they were even there, “I...I bought this ship. So it’s mine.”

The captain’s glare seemed to get even sharper, “you didn’t buy it from me.” The captain started to float towards the wheel of the ship “now what to do with you all?”

Salcaro heard the sound of the anchor being raised and watched as the captain turned the wheel sharply left. Salcaro’s eyes went wide “wait!” He said, reaching out with his hand. It passed through the ghost standing in front of him, and he was surprised by the sudden cold.

Captain turned to him “you dare to-”

But Salcaro cut him off “if you go that way the ship will crash.”

“What?”

“There are some rocks that are just under the water. We avoided them today. You probably hate us, but I can’t let you kill this ship. It’s too beautiful.”

The captain was silent but Salcaro breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the wheel all the way to the right. There hadn’t been any hidden rocks that way. Though he gasped when the captain spoke again, “you may live. The others die.”

“No!” Before Salcaro could do anything, the ghost in front of him grabbed his stretched-out arm and threw him towards the rooms. He turned to face the group but could do nothing as he watched his crew separated.

Chesura had now taken the position he was in, placing herself in front of the crew with her arms outstretched. It didn’t do much good for her when two ghosts just grabbed both her arms, practically lifting her off her feet with how tall they were compared to her, to pull her towards the side of the deck.

The unknown girl stood to the left of the group. When the ghost was heading towards her, she curled into herself, covering her head with her hands. One ghost grabbed both her arms to drag her to the side, she planted her feet, but the ghost just pulled her harder.

Danoy and Maromu we’re to the right, holding onto each other tightly, two ghosts walking towards them. A ghost grabbed each of them and tried to pull them apart. Slowly they were pulled from each other but kept hold of each other’s hand. The ghost eventually gave up and just pushed Maromu into Danoy, sending them both into the railing. Danoy hugged Maromu close once again, putting his head into their chest. The two ghosts stepped closer to them.

As each person was pulled from the group, Bolirin moved back, allowing a wall of three ghosts to separate him from the others. He kept walking backward until his back hit the mass. He looked up at it as if surprised it was there before quickly grabbing one of the ropes tied to it. The three ghosts that had walked up to him reached out for him.

Somehow in all of the confusion, the clacking of Alraslo’s cane was louder than anything for Salcaro. Salcaro’s attention was pulled from the crew when he realized the clacking was getting louder and from behind him. He turned to tell him to get out of here, but it died on his lips when he saw Alraslo.

He was slowly walking down the hall, his jaw set, the feeling of bloodlust rolling off of him. Salcaro didn’t know what would happen when he reached the deck but didn’t want to be around for it. He scooted back, but once he felt cold he stopped knowing a ghost was behind him.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck though, everything seemed to go quiet. The ghosts all turned to look at Alraslo and seemed to freeze. He looked around the deck, slowly giving each ghost a once over with a glare. He noticed the ship was sailing and turned to the wheel, his mouth open to say something. When he saw the captain was the one steering, another word seemed to ripe out of him. “Kanibon?”

In all of his research about the pirates that owned this ship 30 years ago, Salcaro never found a single name, descriptions of what they looked like and habits they had were easy. There had been a few journals printed a few years after their death. But even in those, every single name had been scratched out. Salcaro had assumed it was to erase them from history. But with how Kanibon flinched, it was obvious that was his own.

Kanibon let go of the wheel and floated down in front of Alraslo, looking him over. Alraslo seemed to stand a bit straighter under the watchful eye. “Alraslo? You survived.”

Alraslo nodded quickly, “thanks to your sacrifice.” he quickly glared at Kanibon, “not that I wanted to be pushed off the boat when you all were captured,” he muttered.

Kanibon shook his head then frowned at him, “you should have lived a happy and long life then.”

Alraslo sighed and moved to the edge of the deck. Where he went, ghosts parted, “I did. I spent years watching over her,” he said as he rubbed the railing. “as I worked on the dock helping soldiers and sailors alike.”

“Then why are you here?” Kanibon muttered.

Alraslo was silent for a moment looking out over the ocean, “after floating for a while I washed up in a small town. While healing up from almost drowning, I heard about what happened to all of you and the ship. Right then, I decided if she sailed again, I would be on her. I got to town and forged papers to claim you stole her from me. Got a job so I could keep her docked safely.”

“But you sold her?” Kanibon said.

Alraslo nodded, “I was being fired and heard them talking about scraping her to pay off my debts.” he chuckled before turning to look Salcaro in the eyes. “You have the same look as Kanibon did when you looked at the Halwell,” He looked at the railing again. “Until you came along, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t let her be scrapped, but I couldn’t care for her myself either.”

Kanibon nodded his head “yes, that one I approved of.”

Alraslo chuckled before looking at the rest of the group still held by the ghosts. No one had moved since the two started talking. When his eyes landed on the unknown girl, he smiled. As he walked over to her, the ghosts parted once again. When he was in front of her, he looked at the ghost holding her and she was let go. Alraslo patted her head, her shaking subsided a little.

He turned back to everyone. When he did she hid behind him grabbing onto his shirt tightly. He looked Kanibon in the eyes. “Could you approve them for me? They may not be up to your level, but they’re good kids and are willing to learn.”

Kanibon watched him for a moment before nodding, he looked among the ghost and crew. “If Alraslo gives his approval, then we can’t argue.” With that, all the crew were let go, Chesura stumbling when she landed. “Since our work is done we’ll leave.”

“Wait!” everyone turned to look at Salcaro. He shifted for a moment before taking a breath, “can you come out often?”

Kanibon pointed to the moon overhead. “We have more power when the moon is full. Which is why we attacked you tonight. We can’t touch people besides when the full moon is out but can touch objects and interact with them every night but the new moon.” Kanibon looked around to see his ghost crew moving to their favorite spots and the Salcaro’s crew watching them carefully “why?”

“I was hoping you all could teach us. We’re all new at this, as Alraslo said.”

“What!” If anyone hadn’t been watching, Chesura’s shout would have drawn their attention. “They tried to kill us and you want them to teach us.”

Salcaro patted her shoulder lightly, “They know more than us. Any help wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Before Chesura could reply, Kanibon spoke up ” and why haven’t you let Alraslo teach you?”

“They won’t let me, Captain. They think I should relax while we’re on the ship, and I hate it. How am I supposed to relax when I see them making beginner mistakes?”

Salcaro turned towards him, “I just don’t want you to overwork yourself.”

Alraslo shook his head “teaching a bunch of newbies ain’t going to overwork me,” he waved to the girl who was still hiding behind him, “I’ve been teaching this one just fine.”

Salcaro frowned “I’ve been wondering who that was.”

Alraslo smiled “yeah, I found her in my room the day we cleaned the rooms out.”

“what!” This time Chesura shout was directed at Alraslo.

Alraslo sighed as he stepped onto the ship, the familiar sway under his feet was something he could never forget. Once the group got to the rooms, he moved quickly, he wouldn’t let someone else take the room given to him by Kanibon. He heard them talking behind him but ignored it as he closed the door.

Once he was inside, he sighed once again. His eyes swept the room only to find a girl standing in the darker part of the room. He frowned. “Who are you?”

“I-i’m sorry.” She muttered.

When she didn’t say anymore, Alraslo took a step closer to her. She took one back. “What are you doing here?”

“I...I thought this room would be safe to hide in. I hadn’t heard they had a navigator, so I didn’t think anyone would pick this room.”

“The rest of the crew didn’t know about me till this morning.” He wanted to move closer to her but knew she would only move more into the corner. He instead decided to sit on the bed. “We aren’t leaving until tomorrow.”

She nodded her head quickly, “I know. But I didn’t know when tomorrow. So I felt sneaking on today would be my safest bet.” She fidgeted for a moment “i-i can sneak off tonight. The rest of the crew won’t even know I was here.” She looked down at her feet.

Alraslo frowned “why did you sneak on anyways?” When she didn’t say anything, he got up and moved closer to her. She tried to move back but bumped into the wall and started to shake. Once he was in striking distance, his grip on his cane tightened. He could see the bruise that was forming on her cheek as well as the black eye that had been hidden by the darkness of the corner. He didn’t know who had done that to her but assumed there was more.

She closed her eyes tight when he stood right in front of her and flinched when he placed his hand on her head. When all he did was rub it, she looked up at him carefully. “I don’t know who you’re running from, but I’ll help you get away.”

“Really?” She whispered.

He nodded, “it will be easier for you to hide on the ship with us working together anyways.” She watched him for a moment before tears streamed down her cheeks, and she pulled him into a tight hug. He rubbed her back as she let out all the tears she had.

Kanibon nodded his head, “ah, a stowaway like you.”

Alraslo chuckled, “that’s why I convinced her to stay after the short trip. If I just wanted to get her away from whatever, I would have set her up in the town we were just at.” He looked back at her to see she wasn’t shaking anymore “you should come out and introduce yourself.”

She moved from behind him but kept a hold on his arm. “I’m Saycalin. I’ve been learning how to navigate and deal with the sails.” She looked at Alraslo quickly, then back at the group “I’m sorry I stowed away on your ship.”

Maromu frowned “but we haven’t been low on food even though we’ve been feeding an extra mouth,” since he was making the food, he knew exactly how much they used.

Alraslo shook his head “I’ve just been giving her half my food. That’s why I have been eating in my room.”

“then you should have just told me about her instead of going hungry!” Maromu shouted. Danoy pulled him into a hug, and Maromu sighed, “do we even have enough food for her on this trip?” He muttered.

Alraslo nodded “oh yeah, I bought double of what you suggested. I was trying to figure out some way to tell you all, but I was waiting till we were fully on the sea since you all didn’t seem like you were the type to kill stowaways.”

Everyone frowned at the notion, and Saycalin shifted, “sorry for the trouble.” She brought her hand up to bite at her thumb.

Salcaro shook his head, “we needed more hands to help sail anyways.”

~*~

With the ghost pirates now teaching the merchant crew, they learned how to run the Halwell faster than ever. It was weird for the crew at first. They would be tying a rope down when suddenly a whispered “not like that.” would come from nowhere. The whispered voice would then inform them how to tie it right.

Most of the crew couldn’t always tell which ghost they were talking to but knew where specific ghosts spent their time. Like Kanibon who stayed near the wheel, and Cholaven, the pirates’ lookout. She never left the crow’s nest, not even on the night they had first attacked.

The exceptions to this were Alraslo, who had known them long enough to recognize their voice even as a whisper. The other was Bolirin. After they met the ghosts, he took whatever chance he could to talk to them since he didn’t work unless people were hurt, which gave him a lot of chances.

He spent the days talking to them and writing down their stories or information they wanted him to. His room had a slowly growing pile of filled books. When he wasn’t talking to them he found any secrets the pirates told him about and showed them to the crew.

Saycalin was slowly getting used to the crew too. The first few days, she spend any time not around Alraslo in the crow’s nest. Which is how the crew found out about Cholaven. The two seemed to hit it off thanks to similar situations. Saycalin informed the crew that after Bolirin wrote down Cholaven’s story, she had demanded only Saycalin was allowed up there. The crew, seeing the after-effects of whatever she had left behind, agreed.

After a few weeks, she stopped cowering every time they yelled or flinching when they raised their hand. She was still doing it every once in a while, but it got less and less with time. The crew assumed it was the time away from them and in the company of Cholaven that helped the most.

After the one attack, most of the trip was uneventful. They even made more money than they were expecting. Some bought supplies, like Bolirin bought more empty books, or Saycalin who bought a wide-brimmed hat to keep herself from getting burned.

The rest of the crew saved their money having most of what they needed though they all pooled their money together to get better food to cook. Maromu complained at first, but when Chesura offered to help, he agreed.

They spent a week in town slowly selling off their stock and trying to figure out what to buy to sell at their next destination. Salcaro and Chesura entered a jewelry store to see if there was anything worth it when they heard a gasp. They turned to the man standing at the counter, and Chesura frowned.

“Chesura, is that you? What are you doing out of Ecley?”

Salcaro looked him over. He didn’t look that impressive. Chesura looked up to the roof as if counting something. Since she wasn’t going to say anything Salcaro spoke up instead. “Do you know her?”

“Do I know her? Of course I do. I’m Lugarow.”

That name meant nothing to Salcaro. Chesura didn’t talk much about her past. She turned to look at Lugarow with a big smile. “I’m sorry it’s been so long I forgot who you were till you said your name.”

He frowned, “how could you forget? We were childhood friends.” That made it click for Salcaro who this was. He took a step back not wanting to get in her way.

“Yes, but it’s been so long.” She leaned on the counter he was standing behind. “Actually mentioning our childhood, I’m sailing on the Halwell you know?”

“Yeah right.”

“No, it’s the truth. Isn’t it captain?”

Salcaro blinked, being suddenly brought into the conversation. “Yep, I bought it from the old owner.”

Lugarow seemed to straighten at that. “Prove it.”

Chesura frowned and looked over at Salcaro, “can I bring him on the ship? Once he sees it, he’ll know it’s the real thing.”

Salcaro shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”

“Great,” she turned to look back at Lugarow, “come by tonight, okay? We’re busy till then.” He nodded and the two left the building.

“What are you planning?”

Chesura gave him a smile but it didn’t reassure him, “what do you mean?”

“No one but us is going to be on the ship tonight.” They took shifts to keep the ship safe, the rest slept at an inn.

“Don’t worry about it. Also don’t come back to the ship right after dinner okay?”

Salcaro sighed as he nodded his head watching as Chesura ran off with a wave heading in the direction of the docks.

~*~*~

Lugarow stood in front of the ramp leading up to the Halwell. He couldn’t believe it was really here, that it was really sailing. “Chesura?” He called out.

“In here,” a soft voice said from the ship. He could tell it was a women’s voice but nothing else.

“Chesura? Is that you?” He started to walk up the ramp and onto the Halwell. Since he had been allowed by the captain he wasn’t worried about getting into trouble. When his feet reached the deck, he was only met by silence.

He looked around, and old memories of playing with Chesura came back to him. He gave a small smile as he looked down the hall or rooms, remembering hide and seek they used to play, even if there were only two of them.

He started to walk towards them when the wheel creaking drew his attention. Instead, he walked over to it and looked out at the boat in front of him, a little lost in his memories.

He grabbed the wheel lightly and was about to turn it when a voice spoke up, “what are you doing on my ship.” He looked to his right to say something but the words never came as he saw Kanibon floating there glaring at him.

“I….I….I have permission.” He said but let go of the wheel, taking a step away from Kanibon.

Kanibon followed, “and when did I give permission?”

“The captain….the captain gave me permission.” He said quickly, doing his best to slowly move back down to the deck. But with every step he took, Kanibon floated closer.

“I’m the captain.” He growled. Once he hit the deck Lugarow moved a bit quicker to try and get off the ship. He took a moment to look in front of him only to find another imposing ghost blocking the ramp.

“I must have got the wrong ship.” He said, backing away from the new ghost. He moved closer to the rooms knowing there were places he might be able to hide. “If you want I can leave now if you would ju-”

Kanibon interrupts him with a laugh, “no one leaves once they step aboard.” Now two ghosts were heading towards him. He took a step back when suddenly a bunch of hands grabbed him from behind. He gasped and tried to pull away, but they held tight.

Suddenly he heard someone running up the ramp. Once she stepped on deck, he could breathe a sigh of relief as Chesura stood there breathing hard. “Chesura, save me.” He shouted, drawing her attention to him and the ghosts’ attention to her.

She glared at him, “why did you walk on the ship without me.”

He frowned, was this really the time “you said you would prove it.”

“I would have, but we need to ask before letting anyone on.” She waved at the ghosts between them.

Kanibon stood between them, “so you were the one that broke the rule.” It was a statement, not a question.

“No. He di-”

Kanibon interrupted her, “you know the rules. Either you let us have him or give yourself up for him.”

“What but-”

“Chesura, please.” She looked at him for a moment, then back to Kanibon who took a step closer.

With a quick shake of her head and a quiet, “I’m sorry.” She ran down the ramp again, leaving him to the cold hands that gripped him.

He watched her retreating back with mouth open before he was suddenly pulled back farther and farther down the hall, farther and farther from the light. He fought against the cold hands that grabbed him when suddenly he was free. He ran down the hall and almost fully crashed into the mass, thinking it would take longer than ever to reach it. He looked to his right to see the city and his freedom and ran, not even bothering to look around as he moved. His feet hit the solid ground, and he only ran faster, trying to get away from that haunted ship as fast as he could.

Chesura burst out laughing as she watched Lugarow run from the dock. With how he was acting, she doubted he even knew she was standing right there with Salcaro.

Salcaro frowned up at the ship, “how did you convince them to do that?”

“These guys love scaring people. Plus, they get a new story to tell Alraslo.” She said between her laughter. She was laughing so hard her stomach was starting to hurt.

He looked down at her as they started to die down, “Feel better?”

She sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye. “I felt better a while ago. This was just a bonus.”

“Oh?”

She nodded as they walked up the ramp, “I realized that it wasn’t him that made those moments so wonderful. But the offer of freedom the Halwell had. He just got that freedom before me.” She said with a shrug.

Salcaro nodded, “but now you have even more freedom than him.”

She chuckled, “yeah I win in the end” she pumped her fists into the air and Salcaro laughed. The two walked up the ramp to the cheers of the pirates.

~*~*~

They left that town behind with rumors that their ship was haunted. Since it didn’t affect sales and was true, they didn’t bother correcting it. Though Chesura did her best to avoid Lugarow the rest of the time they were in town. But with him avoiding the docks, it was easy enough.

They had set sail easily with all that they had learned. They had sailed for a few days when they were met with trouble.

Saycalin was the first one to alert them that a ship was coming towards them. Salcaro ordered the Halwell to be stopped since it still looked like a pirate ship, and he didn’t want to cause a problem.

The ship came closer and closer until the people were able to come aboard, having both ships side by side. The people that came across were not fellow merchants, sailors, or officers but pirates.

The crew were surrounded pretty quickly; the only one escaping capture was Salcaro, who was still hidden in the crow’s nest. “Not a bad catch today. A bunch of newbies we can take their ship and supplies from.” Salcaro wanted to speak up, but with the swords pointed at his crew he couldn’t bring himself to.

“Now, you’ll be getting off my ship.” The pirate growled as he moved the sword closer to Salcaro who stood his ground. He couldn’t just let the ship be taken.

“This is my ship, not yours.” Kanibon’s voice floated around them.

The head pirate looked around “who’s there?” Before anyone could say anything, the cannons on the Halwell went off, blasting holes into the pirate ship. Head pirate looked at his crew “I thought you collected all of them ”

“They did.” The head pirate looked up to see Kanibon floating above him. Kanibon was more see-through than at night but still visible thanks to tonight being a full moon.

“What!” The head pirate brought his sword up to stab into Kanibon who just looked at it.

“You can’t affect me, but I can still affect you.” Kanibon said as he swung at the pirate’s arm.

The pirate cried out as he dropped the sword. “What did you do to me!” He glared at Kanibon as he clutched his arm.

Kanibon shrugged, “I’ve only numbed it. But you don’t want me to hit the other one, or you won’t be able to swim back to shore.” The head pirate took a step back. “Crew?” Suddenly the deck was filled with ghost pirates. “Throw the intruders off our ship.” Salcaro’s crew braced themselves, besides Alraslo, and we’re surprised when the ghosts didn’t even touch them, going after only the pirates. They might have been becoming friends with them slowly but we’re still worried the pirates would change their minds at any moment. Even Bolirin who had been talking to them a lot.

Salcaro blinked at Kanibon “oh I thought you were going to throw us off too.”

Kanibon frowned, “why would we do that?”

“We don’t know if you would change your mind. And take back the ship as yours.” He muttered. They had talked about it once or twice on the night of the new moon when they knew the pirates couldn’t hear.

“you’re part of the crew,” Kanibon said, crossing his arms. “The part that moves the ship anyways”

Alraslo laughed “aw Kanibon I didn’t think you’d come to like them that fast.”

Kanibon didn’t say anything while the crew looked at Alraslo “he does?”

Alraslo nodded, “he only lets people join the crew if he likes you. Otherwise, you’re just helping hands.”

Kanibon turned to Salcaro to change the subject. “You shouldn’t have stopped the boat.” Now that the pirates had been thrown off, the other ghosts were disappearing again. The crew went back to work, though they could still hear the Halwell’s cannons going off.

Salcaro frowned, “what?”

“When you see another boat you should just keep moving.”

“But the ship still looks like a pirate ship. I didn’t want them to think we were pirates.”

“That would be helpful to you. Other merchant crews would avoid you, and the navy would ask you to stop. Pirates are the only ones to attack other pirates.”

“Oh.”

Kanibon nodded knowing his point was made. He looked out over the deck as the Halwell started to sail again with a small smile before disappearing. Salcaro stepped up to the wheel and knew he probably had the same look.