Author's note: This is one of the stories I had in my arson for quite sometime. I was kinda inspired by BambooGreen's Gajevy pirate story (Of course there's major differences) but I hope everyone will enjoy this! I DON'T OWN Fairy Tail

A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 1: The Continuous Nightmare

We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. A small girl's voice sang in a slow, yet eerie tone.

Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

A boy saw himself on a simple boat and he was in no control of that boat; the boat was taking him somewhere, an island where the giant rock was a skull. He was just a child and all alone; he really wished his dad was there to comfort him.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me. His feet forced him off the boat and onto the gray sandy beach. He didn't know where he was going; but he had a good idea of where to go.

We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack. Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho! Maraud and embezzle and even hijack.

Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!.. He found himself in a cave. He felt uneasy walking through this place again; then he heard a giggle. He looked behind himself and found a small girl in a white dress staring at him.

"Hello there," the young boy said to the girl "what's your name?" the girl stayed silent and just giggled before she ran off "Where are you going? Come back!" he followed the young girl to where she was heading. He suddenly heard her sing:

"We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and up me 'earties, Yo Ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.

We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack. Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho! Maraud and embezzle and even hijack.

Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!..."

He followed the girl until he came across a foul stench; he knew this scent well, Death. He kept telling himself not to go into the next room, but his feet forced him to walk into the room.

There, he found the bodies of dead pirates from the Before Time; he's seen bodies before, and these one's especially, he was familliar with them. Suddenly, he noticed one of them move; and the rest, came to life before him. Gajeel did his best to run from the undead but the managed to get a hold of him and pull him down to where they lay; never to be seen again.

The boy gasped for air when he awoke from his sleep. He touched every part of his tiny human body to check for any sign of those undead hands on him. He was just a child, and he had the same nightmare for the past three months. There was only one person he could consult on his nightmare; his father, The Iron Dragon's Captain Metalicana. He got out of his bed and let his small feet hit the wooden floors of the ship. He walked out of his bedroom which was right next door to his father's and left his room to search for his father.

"Now we know going after this treasure is going to be dangerous." Metalicana told his two men "I have a feeling that maybe we can play it safe."

"We can try." hummed a voice; which the child recognized as Jose, the navigator of the Iron Dragon "But in order to get the treasure of the Red Sea, we're going to have to cross over this area."

"Are you mad?" questioned another voice which was recognized by the boyl to be his uncle; Skiadrum "That's the Forbidden Sea! Anyone who goes there is as good as dead!"

"Skiadrum is right Jose." Metalicana pointed out to Jose "It's practically suicide, barley anyone lives through it. "

"But in order to get The Red Sea Treasure we need to cross through The Forbidden Sea!" Jose protested "It's the only way to get to the treasure!"

"I'm not putting my crew in danger!" Metalicana growled.

"What kind of Pirate are you?! Treasure always comes first!"

"But I'm a Father and a Captain first! I refuse to put the lives of my men and my son in danger!"

"Um Captain," Skiadrum suddenly said "I think we have company." The two other men looked at what Skiadrum pointed at and in the doorway of Metalicana's room, was Metalicana's seven year old son, Gajeel.

"Had that nightmare again, Gajeel?" Metalicana asked with concern, Gajeel nodded.

"It was different this time." Gajeel shyly told his father "I saw a girl." His father raised a studded eyebrow to that claim.

"We'll finish this talk in a bit." Metalicana told his men "I'm going to tuck Gajeel in to bed." he walked over to his young son and picked him up. He then took him to the kitchens to get him a glass of warm milk. After Gajeel drank his milk and told his dad about the dream, Metalicana picked his beloved son up and took him back to the boy's cabin.

"Why do I keep getting these dreams dad?" Gajeel asked his dad.

"I don't know son." Metalicana sighed while sitting down on Gajeel's bed and had his son in his lap "Some things in life are left unexplained."

"But, I'm only a pirate in training! Why am I getting these nightmares dad? I'm scared."

"Hey hey hey son, remember what I taught you?"

"Mhm."

"What was it?"

"A Pirate should be fearless. If fear takes over him, he should look it in the eye and fight."

"That's my boy. And to help you become even more fearless, I'm giving you something to help." Metalicana then removed something around his neck and place it in his son's hand. It was a dragon pendant, made from pure iron.

"What is it?" Gajeel asked his dad with curious filled eyes.

"My good luck charm." Metalicana smiled.

"I thought your good luck charm was that thing you keep under your sleeve to cheat at poker." Metalicana blushed at that.

"That's a different good luck charm." he replied embarrassed "This one is meant for protection from evil."

"Like the dragon on the front of the ship?"

"Exactly like the dragon on the front of the ship! When I was your age, my father; your Grandfather and I visited a voodoo priestess in The Bogs. She was a good friend of your Grandpa and gave this to him as a form of protection. When the time came, your Grandpa passed it down to me, now I'm passing it down to you." Gajeel's eyes widened.

"B-but dad!" Gajeel said "Don't you still need it? You're the biggest, scariest pirate in the whole seven seas! Don't you need it just in case?"

"No son," Metalicana smiled "it served it's purpose to me, now you need it more. And one day, you can pass it down to your child. Right now, it will protect you from nightmares, but one day, it will save your life." He latched the necklace onto his son and then tucked Gajeel into bed "Get some sleep son, you're going to need it for your sword training tomorrow." he made sure his son was firmly tucked in and gave his son a gentle kiss on the head before leaving his room.

"Gajeel's asleep." Gajeel heard his father say to Skiadrum and Jose.

"Nightmare?" he heard Skiadrum ask about his nephew.

"Yeah, same one all the time. Mister Porla, I need to ask you something."

"Ask away Captain." Gajeel heard Jose say in a sarcastic tone.

"You know every island in The Seven Seas, correct?"

"I would say so..."

"Do you know about any island that's mountain is shaped like a skull and has gray sands?" There was a moment of silence until Gajeel heard Jose speak again:

"From your description, it sounds to me like The Island of Mysteries and Sorrow." Gajeel gasped silently when he heard that.

"What can you tell me about it?" Metalicana asked.

"Not much." Jose replied "Except that it's mostly a myth and apparently changes it's location all the time."

"I heard of this island!" Skiadrum suddenly said "Apparently it's called this for a reason."

"What reasons?" Metalicana asked.

"The second part of it's name; Sorrow, it's called that because the island caused so much sorrow on the people who tried to find it; they go mad. And Mysteries, no one knows what the island looks like. Only rumors are to be depended on for what the island looks like. Also, there's rumors of an amazing treasure that puts every other treasure alive to shame."

"Treasure you say?" Jose said with sudden interest.

"Yeah, like no other." Skiadrum said uncomfortably.

"You said Gajeel's been seeing this island in his dreams correct?"

"Yeah?" Metalicana replied.

"According to the legends of the island, only one person will get a dream of the island and it's locations. It means the island wishes to have them visit it... Did Gajeel notice any of the locations like distinct marks?"

"No, never mentioned it. Do you think if we visit it, it could stop his nightmares permanently?"

"I suppose so!"

"But..." Skiadrum interrupted.

"But what?" Metalicana asked.

"The Island of Mysteries and Sorrow is rumored to be mostly located in The Forbidden Sea."

"So what?" Jose asked "Let's go and get that treasure."

"No." Metalicana replied "I refuse to bring my son there."

"So? He's just a kid; he probably won't even remember being ali-" Gajeel suddenly heard a crash and a bash; he had a hunch his dad pinned Jose to the wall by the throat.

"I refuse to put my son in danger." Metalicana growled "If you even DARE navigate this ship to The Forbidden Sea, even once, or even 'accidently' steer this ship in that direction. I will make you walk the plank into the border of that sea or worse."

What could be worse than that? Gajeel asked himself while snuggling himself under his bed sheets as a method to protect himself.

"I will kill you. Even if you lay a hand on my boy." Gajeel slightly gasped and heard his father let Jose go and Jose gasped for air "From now on, I'll be in charge of Gajeel's navigation lessons. I want you nowhere near my son. Understand?" there was silence for the next five minutes before Metalicana said "You're all dismissed for the night." The rest was silent and soon, he heard footsteps which Gajeel knew belonged to Skiadrum and Jose and the slam of his father's cabin door.

"Fucking Bastard." Metalicana grumbled to himself. Gajeel giggled slightly; hearing his dad say a swear was kind of funny. Why? Cause dad was telling the truth. Gajeel snuggled into his warm bed sheets and hearing the sounds of the ocean waves and the smell of the salty sea air as well as the ship's scent, lulled him to sleep without a nightmare for the first time in months.