ooc: I see.
Well, I guess we might as well get on with the plot...
A council had been called in the Captain’s cabin. The purpose of the council was to determine what should be their next port of call, since the ship was rather low on provisions.
“Bermuda’s out,” Aravis said, looking at the map. “It’s a Crown territory and we can’t show our faces there.
“What do we do, then?” Twilight asked. “Turn around and sail toward the Caribbean? A good many islands there are Crown territories as well, and the place is simply swarming with Brits.”
“We could go to America,” Azgar suggested, also staring at the map. “It’s not too far away. We aren’t wanted there, too, are we?”
“Not to the best of my knowledge,” Aravis said. “We don’t have much to buy provisions with, though.”
“We can all pool our money,” Azgar said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with enough to see us through for a few weeks worth of—“ he broke of suddenly as a huge wave rocked the ship from side to side. The lantern slid off the table and smashed. A moment later an eerie shriek arose as the wind picked up outside. A wild-eyed crewmember burst through the cabin door.
“It’s a gale, Cap’n!” he shouted, his voice half lost in the din of the storm. “It just came out of nowhere!” Aravis rushed up the stairs, followed closely by Twilight, IOWW and Azgar.
On deck, the scene was one of indescribable chaos. The sea was a dark, angry gray, and it heaved incessantly as if it were some giant in unspeakable pain. Rain tore down savagely from the whirling clouds above. Worst of all, however, was the wind, whipping through the sails and rigging with the howl of a thousand wolves. Aravis rushed to the wheel, where two panting crewmen were attempting to control the ship.
“It’s no good, Cap’n,” one of them shouted as she approached. “She won’t answer.”
“I’ll see about that,” Aravis said grimly, taking a firm grip on the wheel. A moment later, however, a baffled expression appeared on her face. “It’s like the rudder’s gone,” she said. “Nothing happens when I spin the wheel.”
“Maybe the rudder is gone,” Azgar said. Battling the wind, they made their way to the stern of the ship, where the source of their trouble was soon discovered. The ship was riding on the top of a huge wave, the rudder mostly out of the water.
“Well, I’ve never seen THAT happen before,” IOWW stated, “And I’ve been on a few ships.”
“There’s no way we can control the ship,” Aravis said hopelessly. “We’ll just have to trust to Aslan and ride it out.”
The only thing they could do was to try and get their sea-anchor out. Unfortunately, when they lifted the canvas covering it had been resting under, they made a distressing discovery.
“The moths ‘ave been at it!” Tom cried, holding on to the rail as the ship bucked violently in the storm-tossed sea. “It’ll fall apart the minute we drop it over!”
“Can you make a new one?” Aravis asked Tom.
“Not a chance,” he shouted back. “I’m not much o’ a carpenter, an’ tryin’ to do anything in this sort o’ wind would be completely beyond me.”
“Well then,” Aravis said, “I guess we’d best get below decks.”
Battling screaming winds, the crew fought their way below decks and lashed the hatches down above them. Then they waited.
As the hours wore on, the storm seemed to abate. At last, the wind and waves had died down enough for them to go above decks and take stock of their surroundings.
The ship rocked on a gentle swell, and the stars glittered overhead, but soon they began to fade, as the grey light of dawn spread across the sea. As the sun burst over the horizon, however, they all gave an involuntary gasp, for stretched before them was a coastline that none of them had ever seen before!
