Chapter Eight: Templar Hunt part 2

Nine days.

That's how long the pirates had been searching for one of Slimovitz's ships and so far the crew of the Tengu had not come across a trace of a single ship during their time at sea. Some of the young pirates were beginning to wonder if their captain had made a poor choice of going on the hunt for their enemy's vessels, thinking that the merchant may have changed their routes out of fear of being raided, but Randy assured his crew that they were on the right path.

In that time, Theresa had been her honing her skills with a sword with the help of both her fellow crewmembers and Captain Kenway, slowly becoming a master of the blade. The admiral's daughter had even become accustomed to sight of blood during her training sessions—weather it be from her own cuts or from the cuts she gave to her sparring partners. Even how she spoke was starting to change; her proper speech she grew up on occasionally gave her way to saying a swear sword or two whenever she hurt herself either her swordplay or a task she was given a job to do on the ship.

Currently, the captive turned pirate was busy practicing her blade thrusts in the lower parts of the ship while everyone was topside were still doing their chores, she had finished her daily tasks quickly in order to get back to her sword. Despite all of her practice with her blade, she still feared the day when she would have to use it to take another man's life like she did not to long ago.

Just then, she heard the kaw of Randy's raven before seeing it fly into the room and perch itself on one of the posts that held up her hammock. She walked over to the black-feathered bird and began to stroke the top of its head.

"Hello again pretty bird" she greeted sweetly

"He really seems to like you, you know" came the Captain's voice from behind her

The pirate in training spun around to see Randy standing before her with a kind look on his face, clearly amused by the sight of the girl's solo sword training.

"You need to stop sneaking up on people like that, captain" the admiral's daughter replied "Preferably me"

"Duly noted Miss Fowler" Randy answered with a small joke before looking at the sword in her hands "Practicing with you sword again, I see?"

"Yes, I think I'm getting better at it if I do say so myself" Theresa said confidently

"Oh, is that so?" the young captain inquired with a smirk and a raised eyebrow before drawing his cutlass "Then show me"

At first, Theresa assumed that Randy was joking, but the look of determination in the pirate's eyes silently showed her that he was serious on dueling her. With a nod in response, she held her sword in front of her and readied herself for her surprise sparring match. She suddenly rushed toward her opponent and swung her blade at his left, only from him to causally sidestep her attack strike her in the back with his elbow, making her lose balance. She quickly recovered and attempted another strike at the captain, who effortlessly blocked her attack with his own sword in his hand and pushed her back in the process.

Theresa regained her footing while her opponent gave her a sly 'come a get me' grin to frustrate her. His mocking worked as the young woman lunged at him once more with a battle cry. With one good swing of his cutlass, Randy knocked his captive's sword out of her hands before stepping behind her a giving her a quick pop on her bottom with the side of his sword as she went to quickly pick it up off of the ground.

A wave of embarrassment and angry washed over Theresa after being on the receiving end of the young captain's spank. She whirled around with a raised hand ready to smack that grin off of the boy's face, however her intended slap was cut short when the pirate reach out and took hold her wrist before it could touch his face.

"Anger can be your downfall in a fight" he firmly informed her as he released her wrist "No amount of training will be useful if you allow your rage to cloud your judgment"

"I think that lesson could've been taught without spanking me like a child, captain" she replied sharply

"Perhaps, but I wanted to get my point across" the pirate retorted before his tone became lighter "I just don't want to see you hurt in a real fight, or worse"

Theresa stifled a blush at the captain's words, despite being still a bit mad for his stunt; she could understand why he did it. just in his voice alone, she could tell that he did care for her like a member of his crew—though in the mind of the admiral's daughter—she wanted to be a bit more with him then just a fellow shipmate.

Just then, the sound of boots down the stairs to the ship's lower levels broke her train of thoughts as Captain Kenway stepped into the room and judging by the look on his face, he had found something he didn't want to see.

"Is something wrong, Kenway?" Randy inquired

"Your gonna want to take a look at this, mate" as all the captain of the Jackdaw said in grim voice

Once Randy and Theresa had followed Edward out onto the top deck to see several of the Tengu's crew looking out to the sea. Some of the shipmates had a look of worry and fright on their faces, as if they had seen something that had shaken these fierce pirates to their very core. The usually cool ocean breeze felt almost unnaturally cold as it touched the girl's skin, making her shiver upon contact with it. Off in the distant, she could see what everyone had their attention on at the moment.

It was a small schooner class ship; more then likely one of Slimovitz's merchant ships, but it remained anchored in its place despite the fact they where only a few kilometers from two pirate ships, although it was clear from where they were standing that the schooner's main sails where torn to shreds and barley clinging to mast. Randy took out his spyglass and began to inspect the damaged vessel more closely in order to see if was any signs of life aboard it.

"Well, it looks empty from here" he said to his crew "But something doesn't feel right"

"You think it's a trap?" Edward asked

"No, but something feels…wrong about all this" Randy replied before looking over to his first-mate "Howard, get a few of the boys together and one of the paddleboats ready, where going over there to check it out"

"Aye captain" his first-mate acknowledged

"Wait, your not actuality thinking of going over there, are you?" Theresa questioned "You have no idea what's over there!"

"We need to find Slimovitz, Theresa" her captain answered "And this may be our only chance to find him"

Randy then looked over to Heidi, who was currently leaning up against the mast and looking out to the damaged ship.

"Heidi, you're in charge until we return" he informed the girl

"Just gonna skip over me, huh?" Kenway mentioned

"No offense Edward, but your just a guest on my ship" Randy answered "you should take this time to go back to your ship and give them a few updates on what's going on"

"Fair enough" the captain of the Jackdaw agreed

As the pirates went about their business to prepare for an away party to investigate the seemingly abandoned schooner, Theresa still had her doubts about the whole plan. As Randy headed back to his quarters to gather his weapons, she ran up besides and attempted to change his mind.

"You can't be seriously about all this!" she said "what if this is all one big trap and your all captured or worse!"

"It's a risk we have to take" Randy reasoned "Besides; something tells me we won't have any resistance when we board that ship"

As he opened the door to his quarters, he stopped for a moment to look back at the pirate in training.

"You know it's funny…" he started "You're more worried about me then those poor bastards on that schooner. I think you're becoming accustomed to being a pirate"

Randy entered his quarters upon saying that, leaving Theresa feeling both surprised and confused at herself. The sane thing to do was sneak off this boat on a raft and take her chances on the schooner and try to find a way home to her farther. But yet here she was, more worried about her captor's safety then her own fellow countrymen's well being. Had living among the band of thieves affected her judgment? Or did she truly care for the pirate captain? Not wanting to answer that question right away, she decided to bury her thoughts and find something else to do aboard the Tengu. The pirate descended back down to the lower decks to get to her training, as well as stay out of Heidi's way while she was in command.

In under a half-hour, Howard had managed to get a paddle boat ready for departure as well as a small boarding party that consisted of himself, Bucky, Doug and Dave. Alongside their captain, the group of pirates made their way toward the seemingly deserted schooner. While Randy had no fear in his heart, the same could not be said for the rest of his crewmembers, who were feeling the dread well up inside as they got closer to the ship. The unnatural cold wind blew in again as they drew closer to the schooner, making everyone aside Randy shiver. Once they where alongside it, the left the paddleboat and began to board the ship. Howard was the first to board and the second he stepped onto the deck of the schooner; he went pale as a ghost.

"Where's the crew?" Randy asked as he looked at his first mate

"All over the place…" he replied in total horror

It was then that the boarding party of pirates saw what he had meant by those words and let out a collective gasp of terror at the sight before them. The deck looked more like a slaughterhouse then it did a ship. Bodies of the ship's crew where strewn about the vessel in a mangled mass of gore—most with missing, arms, legs and even heads. The sighs of a battle where all over the area, from muskets to broken swords, but what was truly perplexing was that while there where bodies of the schooner's crew, there was not a single trace of their attackers to be seen.

"W-What happen here?" Bucky stammered out

"I don't know" Randy replied as he drew his sword "Spread out. There might be some survivors"

With weapons drawn the young pirates began their search for any living soul, but only found more blood and carnage as they descended further into lower decks of the ship. Along the hull of the ship, the crew noticed something out of the ordinary.

"Are those…claw marks?" Dave questioned "You think they had some kind of animal was aboard?"

"If they did we would've found it or its body by now" Howard pointed out "No, this is something else. Something...evil"

As they walked through the lowers decks, Bucky spotted something covered in blood that was lodged in the shoulder of one of the dead crewman. He tentatively pulled it out and carefully examined it after he wiped he had wiped the blood away, however the object he was now realized that he was holding both confused and disturbed him to his core.

"Uh, captain—you better come look at this" he yelped to his leader

The Tengu's captain walked over to where Bucky was standing and took the object from his hand as everyone gathered around him to look at it as well.

"It's a—"Dave attempted to say

"Shark's tooth" Randy finished, stunned by what he was holding

He looked by the bodies they where surrounded and made a chilling realization as to how the crew of the merchant ship had died.

"These men weren't just killed…" he said slowly "They were eaten!"

"What kind of person could do this?!" his first-mate demanded in shock

"Who said it was human?" his leader countered as he dropped the tooth

Now the crews of the Tengu were truly frightened.

"This sounds a lot like a story I heard in Nassau a few days ago" Doug mentioned "A bunch of cannibal pirates who—"

"No one asked for you're opinion, Doug!" Howard snapped

"We should leave this place! This is a cursed ship!" Bucky nearly cried out in fear

"Not until we get some answers, Bucky" Randy argued "We need to find out where Slimovitz is and we may not get another chance to do that"

"But how are we gonna find any answers out here?" his heavy-set friend question "In case you haven't noticed Cunningham—everyone's dead!"

Randy glanced down at one of the corpses, an idea sparking in his mind as he did.

"I'm gonna have a few words with our crewman here" he informed his shipmates

Howard and the others knew what he meant by that and instantly were against what he was about to do.

"You can't do—that to these people, Randy!" the ginger argued "Besides; you know what might happen if you use the Tengu's power"

"I know Howard, but I have to do this" he answered in solemn tone "You all know what to do if things go bad"

The pirates gave a nod in unison of understanding before taking a few steps back from their captain. Randy then inhaled and exhaled deeply as he crouched down to the body, readying himself what he was about to do. Channeling on the demonic power of the Tengu that dwelled within himself, he forced the darkness inside of him to travel into his right hand. He grunted in pain as his fingernails stretched and sharpened until they looked like the talons of a bird, turning red as they did. With one good thrust of his new claws, he plunged his talons into the dead crewman chest.

The dead man's eyes shot open as he gasped for air. His quickly looked around the room in fear, as if he was searching for the ones who had slain him.

"What happen?! Where are they?!" he demanded in a panic "How am I still alive?!"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your dead" Randy informed him

"Dead? But that's impossible, I'm talking to you!" the corpse argued

"Only because I brought you back for a short time" the pirate explained "But I can't keep you in limbo for long. So I need to ask you a question before I let you go"

"And if I refuse?" the crewman asked

Randy's answer came in the form of a twist of his talons in the man's chest, making him cry out in pain as he did. A wicked smile spread over Randy's lips while black veins began to twist and bulge up his arm like an evil weed. His eyes started to turn pitch-black as his iris's changed into blood red as the darkness inside him grew stronger. Randy's crew readied their weapons, preparing for the worst—or at least that's what they told themselves.

"Do I have your attention now?!" the young captain snarled with a psychotic laugh "Because trust me—I haven't even started yet!"

"Ahhh! Stop! Stop! I'll talk!" the corpse begged in agony as the pain racked his undead body "Want do you want to know?!"

"Where was this ship headed?" Randy questioned harshly

"I-it was headed to Cat Island!" the undead man choked out

"Why?!" the pirate roared in an inhuman voice

"I-I don't know! I swear to god!" the crewman answered in fear

Before the dead man could say another word, Randy yanked his talons out of his chest, sending him back to the afterlife in doing so. He stumbled backwards as his corrupted arm tried to claw at his face, only to be stopped by his still human hand. He let out a monstrous bird-like screech that turn into a human yell as his body returned to normal, showing that he had beaten back the Tengu—for now. His crew kept their weapons aimed at him, in case this was some ruse made up by the evil being inside of him.

"I…I'm ok…" he gasped weakly "I'm ok…"

"How can we be sure it's the captain?" Doug questioned

"Howard, if Doug says something stupid like that again. Shoot him" his captain ordered

"Yep, that's our captain" Howard informed his friends

The first-mate then went over to his friend and put his weakened captain against his shoulder and helped him walk back to the ship with the rest of the boys following behind them. A part of Randy wanted to know what exactly what had transpired aboard this blood-stained ship, but not only did he know that he couldn't risk unleashing the Tengu's power; he also thought it best not to know what could slaughter—and devour—entire crew of men and leave no trace of their presence behind.

There was a silence among the boarding party as they returned to their ship. Randy kept his eyes locked on the water as his mind was racked with guilt and anger toward himself. Once they returned to the Tengu, the rest of the aboard the pirate ship quickly rushed over to the boarding party.

"So what did you find?" Heidi asked

"Heidi, plot a course for Cat Island" her leader solemnly ordered, ignoring her question "Inform Captain Kenway of our new destination when he returns to the ship"

"But why—"

"Now Heidi!" Randy snapped

With that, he made his way back to his quarters, slamming the door behind him as he stepped inside.

"What happened over there, Howard?" the girl questioned

"Evil…" was all her brother could say "Evil happened…"

Heidi knew exactly what her brother had meant when he said that. Not wanting to press the matter further, she ordered the crew to set a course for Cat Island, inwardly glad that they where getting away from the schooner as soon as possible. Another wickedly cold gust of wind whipped the Tengu's deck, feeling the sinister breeze right down to her bones. Heidi then noticed something off in the distant; a giant cloud of mist was forming off on the horizon. They sooner they set sail, the sooner they could keep from being forced to sail through that ghastly fog, however, she couldn't help but feel as though their was something in the fog that she would rather not meet.

Deep within the dense fog, something or better put someone was indeed looking back at the Tengu. With a spyglass in hand, a seemingly young boy dressed it a black coat and three-pointed hat observed the two pirate ships with great interest—and an even greater hunger. He licked his lips at the thought of consuming more fresh meat as droplet of saliva dripped down from his razor-sharp teeth.

"Are we going to attack, captain?" a tall heavy-set man inquired

"No, not yet, Soos" the boy replied causally "I'd like to know what I'm up against before I eat it"

He then looked down to the rest of his damned crew, who anxiously waited his orders.

"Tambry" he began as he locked eyes with one of his crewmembers "Follow them"

With a nod in acknowledgment, the dark-skinned girl leapt off of the ship and dove into the ocean blew. What rose up out of the water, however, was not a girl at all, but a shark fin that cut through the water around it as it headed in the direction of the pirate ships.