When Thomas woke up he was immediately assaulted by a myriad of sensations. The most prominent being a throbbing pain at the back of his skull where someone had nearly bashed his brains out. The dizziness, nausea, and discomfort paled in comparison to the pain. He gingerly tried to move only to discover that part of the discomfort came from his bound limbs. His wrists were tied behind his back and his ankles were lashed together. The rest of his discomfort was being forced to lay down on his stomach on a hardwood floor. He moved a little to try to cast a spell to cut himself free when a gruff voice interrupted him, "I wouldn't struggle much if I were you. We didn't kill you the first time but that doesn't mean we won't kill you now."

Thomas froze at the words. He didn't fear death but the last thing he remembered was Snowlily being surrounded. He cautiously looked around the gloomy room he was located inside of and saw several well-armed men with their weapons drawn and pointed at him. Disregarding them, he looked at the pirate who had spoken. A quick check let Thomas know that he was one of the player pirates, "Where is Snowlily?"

The pirate looked confused for a brief moment before a look of realization dawned on him, "Ah, that little white wolf right?" He stroked his chin as he smiled, "She's alive, for now. Little thing put up quite the fight but we captured her the same as we did you. A little beasty that looks nice and can use magic? Normally she would sell for quite the sum! But, seeing as she's with you she might do better as a hostage."

The pirate grinned wickedly, "So for now, as long as you behave she will live. You give us trouble she'll die."

Thomas did a quick check to see if he could still see her character sheet. When it opened he let out a sigh of relief. Even as he was looking at it her Ice magic was gaining experience. Whatever cage she was in she was trying to break out of. At least, that's what he believed. He refocused on the pirate as he asked, "What do you want? Why not just kill us?"

The pirate smirked, "Do you really need to ask? Sure, we could have killed you. If we did the odds of you dropping one of those impressive weapons would be pretty low. Much better to kidnap you and force you to give them to us."

Thomas let out a long drawn out sigh and slowly shook his head, "Sorry but that's impossible. They're soulbound. I can't drop them or give them away."

The pirate didn't seem surprised or annoyed, "Figures. Something like that wouldn't be easy to give away. Still, you made them so you can make more of them for us."

"What makes you think I made them?"

The pirate laughed, "Souldbound items bind to the person that made them. So it's pretty obvious."

Thomas could only nod in response. It was pretty obvious when you thought about it. Though he was certain other weapons that became soulbound could be found he was also certain they would be hard to get. Such as finding them in a dragon's layer or something similar. He took a breath and let it out slowly, "Unfortunately every gun I've ever made has been soulbound. I won't be able to make any guns for you guys."

He knew being honest was risky, but it was less of a risk than letting them think he could make them guns and then dealing with their anger when he couldn't. At least at this point, he could suggest an alternative in the hopes of keeping himself and, more importantly, Snowlily alive, "I can make other things though. I'm a Magitech Engineer. That means I am a blacksmith, alchemist, enchanter, tailor, and leatherworker all rolled into one."

The pirate was naturally disappointed by Thomas's reply. Thomas had been very careful to speak the truth, though in a way that could be misconstrued by the people listening. He'd only ever made two guns but it was true that they were both soulbound to him. He didn't want to risk lying to the pirates. There was always a chance that one of them could potentially have a way to tell if he was lying. The pirate who'd done all the talking crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a bit, "Never heard of a Magi-whatever before. If you can't make us guns what can you make?"

"I can make all kinds of things. Magical weapons and armor. Explosives, grenades, buff potions, and more. As long as I'm provided with the proper materials there's not much I can't make."

The pirate perked up when Thomas mentioned explosives and grenades. Just as Thomas had hoped he would. Grenades weren't soulbound and were something a pirate would appreciate. Lobbing a volley of grenades from their ship onto their prey's ship would deal a devastating amount of damage and make their lives easier. The pirate nodded to himself, "Grenades would be quite nice. I'll make you a deal. You don't give us a hard time and spend a while making us a nice stockpile of grenades and I won't kill you or your little pet. I'm sure you can guess what will happen if you fuck around right?"

Thomas nodded, "I understand."

The best part of being captured by a group of players was that they could be pretty understanding and flexible. Though he couldn't make them what they wanted they would be happy with what he could make them. They would also be pretty understanding of him needing to 'sleep' for long periods of time when he logged out to spend time in the real world. Of course, he had no intention to let them abuse his abilities for very long. He'd find a way to break himself and Snowlily out and take the pirates out at the same time. On the bright side, he now had a group of minions that could provide him with materials for free. He'd be more than happy to skim a little off the top.

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Thomas smiled as he looked up at the pirate, "Can I see Snowlily? I want to make sure she's alright."

The pirate hesitated for a bit then shook his head, "No. I think we'll keep the two of you separate at all times. That way if you try anything we can at least make sure to punish you with her death."

Thomas sighed but nodded to show his understanding. Not being near Snowlily or being able to communicate with her would make his preparations for his attempted escape significantly harder. If he could have gotten them to bring her close it would have been easy enough to grab her and use the Gravity Hammer to break through the ship. Just the hammers weight alone would have let him smash through the bottom of the ship and once in the water, he could swim to the surface and then fly away with his wings. Naturally, the pirates wouldn't let him get away that easily.

The pirate eyed Thomas for a bit, "Just to reiterate, you try anything and the wolf dies, got it?"

Thomas nodded and tried his best to relax on the floor, "I got it. I won't try to pull anything. Just be aware that I will know the moment something happens to Snowlily. If anything does happen to her, be prepared for the consequences."

All the pirates froze for a moment at Thomas's threat then burst out laughing. Though the NPC pirates could be permanently killed, the player pirates would only suffer a death penalty and return. Threatening to kill them was as effective as them threating to kill Thomas. What they were unaware of is that Thomas had friends in low places. Just a casual conversation with a friend or two and the player pirates would find themselves being unceremoniously assassinated at every turn.

Once the pirates finished their laughter the one Thomas had been speaking to pointed at two of them, both players, "You two, guard him. If he does anything just shout."

He then looked down at Thomas, "What's your name?"

"My name is Cain.", Thomas lied through his teeth.

Thomas had no intention of giving them his real name. The name Thomas Darkrose wasn't the most popular out there but it was known enough to cause him issues if he gave it to his captors. Even if none of them ever heard of him they could still head to the forums and publish the fact that he was the creator of the guns. Even if the only gave out his first name, savvy people could associate it with him. He didn't feel like fielding all the messages and emails he would get from people asking him to make guns for them. Especially when he wasn't sure if, or even when, he would be able to make ones that were not soulbound.

The pirate nodded and pointed to himself with his thumb, "I'm Yorik, captain of the Roger's Beard."

Thomas was a little surprised that he had been speaking with the captain but since Yorik had been making all the decisions it made sense. Thomas rolled his shoulders a little, "Well, since we've reached an accord, do I really need to be trussed up like this?"

Yorik shook his head, "Not particularly. Just remember what happens if you cause problems."

Thomas sighed at the umpteenth warning but nodded in understanding. With a flicker of his mana several small blades made from Metal magic popped out of his wrists and ankles to slice the rope binding him to pieces. He changed his position to a sitting one and rubbed his sore wrists. Whoever had tied him up did a thorough job when considering a normal person. Yorik eyed Thomas and asked skeptically, "What spell was that? You didn't even say anything before casting it."

Thomas shrugged his shoulders, "I don't have to say the names of spells to cast them."

"Hou? That's one impressive innate ability." (Yorik)

Thomas didn't say anything to clear up Yorik's misunderstanding. He had no reason to explain real magic to him. Instead, he activated his 'All Seeing Eyes' and took a real look at his surroundings. He was in a small section within the bowels of the ship. He wasn't exactly sure where but it looked more like a smaller cargo hold than living quarters or a brig. Did pirate ships even bother with brigs? The only light in the room was provided by two small oil lamps hanging on opposite walls. They barely provided enough light for people to see by.

Yorik waited for a bit to see if Thomas was going to try anything right away or not. Though he was threatening Thomas with the death of Snowlily he didn't really know exactly how much Thomas cared for the little beast. Some players wouldn't care at all and would gladly let her die to get free. Seeing that Thomas made no aggressive moves he nodded, "Blake and Orion will be your guards. You try to pull anything and they will let me know. Got it, Cain?"

Thomas nodded. He was growing weary of the repeated warnings, "Yes yes, I understand."

Yorik nodded and left with five other pirates. Thomas was left alone with the two guards. For the most part, they only sent glances in his direction to make sure he wasn't doing anything suspicious and chatted with each other. Thomas paid attention to what they were saying at first but all they talked about was selling their loot and how they would spend their shares. Thomas just kept his 'All Seeing Eyes' activated and found a spot to sit in that was the least uncomfortable on the floor. The room he was in had no furnishings of any kind and he was forced to try and relax on the floor.

Thanks to using his 'All Seeing Eyes' in his room on The Waterhen for several hours a day over the course a week it had surpassed rank eighty and was a lot easier to use while being a lot more gentle on his mana pool. He could keep the ability going all day long now without feeling even a little strain. Thanks to the unintentional grinding of the ability he could now see in perfect darkness as if it was noon under a bright sun. His other abilities had progressed some as well do to the various activities he engaged in to fight off his boredom but mostly, he spent his time reading. With nothing pressing to do at the moment he decided to continue to do just that and retrieved a book from his inventory to read.

As Thomas read his book the guards continued to pay attention to him and never let their guard down. The guards were players and knew the pitfalls that 'bad guys' would get into in television and movies and had no intention of becoming like them. Though their conversation seemed to go from one topic to another they were very careful about what they said. They made sure not to give out any information that could be detrimental to them such as where they were going. They also made no attempts to speak directly to Thomas. They didn't want to make friends and they didn't want to make him feel more comfortable only to feel like he was 'friendly' and get stabbed in the back when letting their guard down. In other words, they weren't idiots.

For his part, Thomas had no plans on attempting to escape for the time being. It was too risky and he had to have Snowlily nearby to have a chance. For now, he would bide his time, do as he was told, and play nice. Once he had the chance to escape he would seize it and decimate the pirates at the same time. Until then, he would read, relax, and wait to see what happened next.