Will We Survive?

Chance glanced at the door and then down at the ground. He drummed his fingers on his leg, unsure of what to do now. At least with Sliver here, he had had somebody to talk with, but now both him and Chris were gone. He didn't know if Chris would be brought back here, or placed in another cell. He didn't know if Sliver was going to come back to him, alive. He didn't know a lot of things, come to think of it. What he did know, however, was that speculating was going to do nothing but get him worried and depressed.

While his two companions were gone, he would simply concentrate on coming up with various plans, which he could then modify based on what Sliver would report to him.

---

The cat stayed low until the pirate had passed him by. He then looked about, his whiskers twitching as he sniffed the air. Finding the area empty, he slipped out of the shadows and started down the hall, on high alert for any sounds or scents. He knew that if he was caught, it was going to cost him his life.

What he needed to do first was find his way into the Captain's cabin, so that he could figure out how this ship worked, where the weak points were in the system. Only then would he know best how to go about escape.


http://kuriru.deviantart.com/art/Inefficient-Communication-131745680

Chris

"No, I'm fine," Chris quietly replied, not looking up from his work. He had a little experience in the kitchen, and risking her help would put them in danger of the overseer. And his back, while no longer bleeding, was not in the condition to take any more abuse.

Kell

"My my, whats have we gots here," Kell said, ambling his way to Chance's cell. "A little caged birdie? Tweet tweet, why don't you fly away, birdie? Fly away. Fly away. Fly AWAY!" He giggled to himself, though he didn't seem to find anything funny, it was a laugh full of insanity.

Chance raised his head at the voice, but then quickly looked away, his face hot. He could tell from the laugh that the pirate wasn't one to be messed with. The pirate was unstable, which meant that anything could set him off, make him angry. That was the last thing the mute boy wanted.

Just go away...

---

The cat slipped up onto the deck, sneezing softly at the salty air. He gave a shake of his head and then quickly slipped into the shadows of a pile of crates. His golden gaze flickered to the door of the Captain's cabin and then around at the various pirates running the ship topside. That was a lot of open ground to cover.

The Captain

The Captain exited his cabin, leaving his door slightly open. He said something to his men and went below deck, most of the pirates following him. Now the deck was virtually empty.

Sarah

Sarah nodded and went about her work. She was silent for a few minutes, but decided to ask her partner a question. It was dangerous she knew, but Sarah wanted to try and know more about the captives around her.

"What is your name? I'm Sarah Smith."

Chris

"I'm Chris Dawson," Chris replied. "I remember you from the Mollandra, a recent addition to the crew right?" It was a risk to have a conversation here, but they had to be able to plan, even if it was all in vain.

Kell

"The birdie won't chirp and the birdie can't fly," Kell mumbled to himself, and took out some keys. "Kell stole the keys, to free the birdies the captain wants caged. Sing for Kell, birdie, and Kell will let you free."

Chance looked back at the pirate, hearing the sound of the keys clinking together as clear as day. The noise sounded like heaven to his tired mind, but he knew that the pirate's demand was impossible. He gave a shake of his head and then gestured at his throat, still shaking his head.

He was unsure if it was wise or not to let the pirate know that he could make no sound. On one side of the spectrum, the pirate could hurt him for not singing, but on the other he could become more aggressive towards Chance if he knew that the boy couldn't speak. He could only hope that either the pirate would leave him alone or that Sliver would come back and save him.

---

Sliver watched in surprise as the deck of the ship was suddenly deserted except for the few men needed to keep things running smoothly. And to top it all off, the door to the Captain's cabin was slightly ajar. Things couldn't have gone better if he had planned it himself.

The tabby cat scampered forward, quickly make his way to the cabin. He nosed open the door a little wider and then slipped inside.

Where to start? he thought to himself as he glanced around the place. His golden gaze landed on the desk. Papers covered a large portion of the area. The cat grinned as he jumped up onto the desk, careful not to disturb the papers. He then began to scan through them, searching for anything that would be useful.

Sarah

"Yes. It seemed I joined the ship at an unfortunate time." Sarah whispered back. She knew it was dangerous talking, but so long as the overseer didn't hear them, they'd be alright. It was times like this she wished she still had her gun.

?

A low growl was heard behind the cat. A large, black dog barred its teeth at the intruder.

Sliver spun around at the growl, hissing as he did so. His back was arched and all of his fur stood on end. A dog?! How had he missed the foul scent? He hissed again, even as he took several steps back. The thing was huge, over three times his size. If the dog got a hold of him it was all over.

He tore his eyes away from the dog and glanced around the room, searching for something higher that he could jump onto, should the dog come after him.

Chris

"I'll say, my stunning performance in the crew talent show has been ruined," Chris whispered. "And here I had everything planned for a great act! Suppose maybe they have something like that on this ship?"

Kell

"The birdie won't sing? Kell doesn't like birdies that won't sing," Kell said, anger apparent on his face. He lunged at the bars, grabbing and shaking them. "Why won't the birdie sing?" He yelled out, continuing his tantrum.

Chance flinched at the shout and slowly scooted back a little. His face had gone from red to very, very pale. There was nothing he could do in this situation. Normally he would have just complied so as not to make things worse, but this was just something that he couldn't do.

Why, out of all of the prisoners that he could have picked and out of all of the pirates that could have bothered him, was it the mute boy that was stuck with the pirate asking him to sing?

What else could he do? He needed a distraction, but it looked as if he was going to have to be his own distraction.

The young teenager climbed to his feet and began to clap his hands in a quick beat. One. Two. Three. Four. One. Two. Three. Four.

He began to move his feet to the beat, swaying from side-to-side. He had to concentrate hard so as to not mess up the beat nor the simple movements. Katie had tried to teach him to dance on more than one occasional, but finally she had given up, deciding that he had two left feet.

Sarah

Sarah chuckled softly. "Perhaps, though I have no doubt that if the pirates don't think you did well, they'll pelt you with rotten tomatoes."

Well, at least she had found someone she liked. On the cruise ship, she hadn't had much time socializing, since her mission had been to investigate the captain. Now, however, it was important she did form friendships with her fellow captives. That way, when the proper time came, she might be able to rouse the other prisoners to fight back.

Captain's Dog

The dog stopped growling but continued to stare at the cat. Then, it turned around and trotted over to a small cot in the corner, sitting down on it. The large dog closed its eyes and appeared to go to sleep.

Kell

Kell stopped shaking the cage, apparently entranced by the movements of the boy. As the boy continued to move, the pirate's face grew paler and paler. Finally he shouted out, "No! Don't curse me!" He ran, with the terror only something from the mind can produce. He did neglect to notice that the keys were now just outside the cell's door, lying on the ground.

Chris

"I'd rather be pelted with tomatoes than bullets," Chris replied. Here was another person who hadn't seemed to given up yet. Chance and Sarah were the first two he had come across who didn't seem hopeless. He hoped they'd be able to find a way out.

(Now that I'm not longer frantically scrambling for words...)

Sliver watched the dog for a moment in confusion as it suddenly backed off, but then he gave a shake of his head and turned around, going back to sorting through the stuff on the desk. He kept a wary eye on the dog, of course, ready to move the second it decided to go after him.

---

Chance stopped in the simple dance, his eyes wide in surprise. Something that simple had scared the pirate away? His sharp brown eyes caught sight of the fallen keys just as he was about to turn away. Quickly he turned back, staring at them for a moment before taken a cautious step forward. Was this some kind of trick?

He took another step forward and, when nothing happened, he hurried to the door and reached through the bars for the keys. His fingers brushed the metal surface of the keys and he strained harder to reach them, praying that nobody would come along and see him.

Finally he managed to grab a hold of the keys and quickly pulled them inside the cell, careful not to bang them on the bars.

This is almost too easy...

Sarah

"Very true." Sarah replied. She remained silent for a few moments.

"Perhaps after hours we could meet again, when we can talk more freely? I believe I have something to discuss with you."

This was risky, of course. It was always possible that Chris could be under the pirate's control, assigned to weed out potential rebels. Sarah hoped this wasn't the case, but if it were, then she would do what she had to do. She had FBI training, after all. She knew many ways to kill a man.

Dog

The large dog did not attempt to stop the cat's investigations. However the dog perked up, just a moment before the door to the captain's cabin started to creek open.

Chris

"You say that like there's such a thing as after hours to these villains," Chris said. "If we can get away with it though, I'll meet you." "Oi! Stop your lollygagging," the overseer yelled, and Chris felt the impact of a whip on his back, grunting in pain but keeping back the yell that was coming. His back was still bad, and another crack had made it worse.

Dante

"I should have known that Kell stole the keys," Dante said, walking down the hall to Chance's cell. He regarded the boy with cold indifference, and held out his hand.

Chance stared up at the pirate in alarm and quickly moved the keys behind his back, even though he knew that it was stupid to try and hide them. He scooted back a few feet, watching the pirate with his brown eyes. Finally something had happened not to make him quite so useless, and now he was going to end up losing the keys to their freedom.

Of course, if the pirate didn't have extra keys on him, then Chance would be safe for a few moments more.

---

Sliver turned at the creak of the door. Knowing that jumping up high would not stop him from being spotted, he instead jumped down onto the ground and moved into the shadows beneath the desk. He would just have to hope that the dog wouldn't come after him, now that he was down where the filthy beast could easily reach him.

Sarah

Sarah shut up after seeing the overseer whip Chris. She gave him an apologetic smile and continued her work. Hopefully something good would come of their meeting.

?

"Ah great, I'm going to miss Cook's special just because the Captain forgot something in his cabin. What I wouldn't give to....but I've certainly learned to never cross that man." a pirate complained as he stepped inside, looking for something. After he found a book from the Captain's private collection, the man stepped outside the room and closed the door behind him.

The dog stood up again and trotted over to the book-case, grabbing a book with its teeth from a lower shelf. The book case slowly turned to the side, revealing a secret room. The dog set the book down and stared at the hidden cat.

Sliver poked his head out from underneath the desk, staring first at the secret room and then at the dog. His tail flicked back and forth. What was going on? Was this some trick, a trap? But the dog was just a stupid beast. All dogs were.

Slowly the tabby cat slipped out from under the desk and then took a few steps towards the secret room, his golden gaze constantly flickering back to the dog. His entire body was tense, expecting something bad to happen at any moment.

What's your game, mutt?

Dante

"I'm feeling merciful whelp. Give me the keys, and nothing will happen to you. Keep being difficult, and you'll see why I'm infamous for me cruelty," Dante said, a stern look in his eye. The boy could see reason, hopefully. He really didn't want to make a big deal about this, especially considering the boy was mute, but if he wanted to be difficult, there would consequences.

Chris

Chris thought a lot of swear words at the overseer, but didn't say any aloud as he continued his work. He would have to wait until he was relieved before making another move, which could take awhile.

The young teenager scooted back even further, his brown eyes studying the pirate before him. He saw no keys, but that didn't mean anything. Chance slipped the keys into his back pocket, his mind whirling. The pirate would have to come in, if he was to get them back.

Chance pushed himself to his feet and back up until he felt the wall of the cell behind them, shaking his head in a 'no' the entire time.

Dog

The dog leaned toward the cat, and gave it a large lick on its body. The animal walked back toward its cot, and laid down. The darkened, secret room still laid open.

Sarah

Sarah continued to work, the time passing by quickly. Soon the overseer announced that work was done for the day, at least for this shift of workers.

Gross. Gross. Gross.

Sliver stood still for a moment, his damp fur on edge. He then turned his head to lick his fur clean, but he could smell the dog's saliva on him and a slight tremor ran through his body. There was no way that he was clean off the filthy animal's saliva with his own tongue.

He turned his attention back to the darkness of the secret room before him, trying to forget about the reason why his fur was damp. He took a slow step or two forward and then bent down low and hurried inside, ready for anything.

The inside of the secret room was dimly lit. A book-case ran to the side of the left wall, while on the right a series of cables and wires were criss-crossed all over the wall. At the end of the room there was a desk, with a few computer moniters on top of it. No one else was in the room, as far as Silver would be able to tell.

Dante

Dante didn't ask again, didn't get mad or start swearing. He just pulled out a pistol, and aimed at a non-vital area. "The keys, or I'll shoot you in very painful places," he said, making sure it was loaded.

Chris

Chris sighed with relief that kitchen duty was over. Another guard was there to escort them back to their cells, so it would be difficult to get away. He looked around, trying to gauge the activity near them, to check how hard it would be to get away.

(Just an FYI, it's Sliver, not Silver)

Chance's eyes widened as he stared at the gun, knowing that the pirate would shoot him in a heartbeat. Slowly, he took a step forward, hating himself as he did so. But there was nothing else that he could do. Keeping the keys wasn't worth getting injured, not when he still would have no way off of the ship. Even if he escaped now, he would just be found and captured again.

Chance slowly made his way across the cell, keeping his brown gaze on the pistol the entire time. He moved to hand the keys to the pirate, but then fumbled them and they fell to the ground just before the pirate's feet. He held his breath, waiting anxiously for the pirate's next move.

---

Sliver glanced around the dark room, his whiskers twitching as he sniffed the air. His right ear flicked at the soft hum of the computer and that's where he turned his attention too. He didn't know much about working computers, but he did know that a lot of important information could be stored there.

He moved forward quickly, knowing that he needed to see what he could find and then leave before anybody was the wiser.