Chapter 9: Zipz

I helped the old men finish loading up their boat. It was a small fishing ship, nothing worth mentioning. As we loaded I learned more about them. The two men were called Phil and George. They were fishermen by trade, though back when they were younger they were adventurers. Which brought them to the first reason why they were looking for Captain Foreange. About twenty years before they were treasure hunting in Vlandstar Proper. At one point they blew up a hill and ended up freeing the Captain from an Angry mob of Gnomes. The Captain promised to rewarded them, but they hadn't found her since. But thanks to that adventure they gained their nickname, the Hillbusters. I was about to inquire about the Girl, when we finished packing up the Ship and Phil said, "Time to eat." We went to a nice inn, where we ate and played cards. It wasn't until we left late that night that I realized she hadn't been with us that night. And by then it was too late to ask about her. We returned to the boat, where we drew lots for who was sleeping where. I got the poop deck, where I quickly fell asleep.

Something sat on me and I woke up. The sun was just rising over the horizon and already I was being sat on by a pig. It was a little black and white pig, like a Dalmatian. George came over to me.

"So Jimbo here sat on you, 'aye. Well get up 'cause we leave in five minutes," he said. I stood up, much to the annoyance of the pig, and went over to the cabin situated the center of the deck. There I learned the plan.

"So how good are you with the crossbow?" Phil asked me.

"Umm, okay," I replied, puzzled. "Why do you need to know?"

Phil just laughed. Goerge replied, "You didn't really think that we were going to sail, did you?"

"Well actually I did," was my answer.

By then Phil had recovered. "Don't be silly. Were gonna shoot this grappling hook into one of the ships and have it pull us," he said.

"Oh," I replied, wondering how I ended up on a ship with a bunch of cheaters. They cheated at cards too. Then the massive ships of the Marenas set sail. I quickly shot a grappling hook into the boat and off we went.

The first few days were boring. There was nothing but water and waves. But it started to get interesting once we reached our first island...