The first night came sooner than everyone expected. It was pitch black and you could not see a foot in your face, but luckily they packed some lanterns. "Ah, the sea at night is scary," said Hulio with a trembling voice. Slowly approaching from behind was Fred trying to scare him, the ship planks squeaked and gave him away. "I can hear you, whoever you are", then Greg grabbed his leg and Hulio jumped like a scared cat. "Are you having that much fun?" the voice resounded through the ship from the helm. "Tim throw the anchor for the night, it seems the sea is calm enough to not worry about getting lost" Marcel ordered taking his captain role a bit more seriously. "Aye captain", and then they both joined the rest of the crew around the lantern. "Do you all know the legend of the Black Ship?" Rob said with a hoarse voice as if he was telling a ghost story. "Everyone wants to scare Hulio tonight it seems" Marcel pointed out and let out a chuckle. "Yes, we know the legend of the Black Ship, what about it?" Hulio hurried up. "Maybe we will see it tonight" Rob continued and rubbed his hands. "There is no way that the legendary Black Ship with its crew will pass through those waters," Greg said while grabbing Hulio's shoulder, "There is nothing to worry about, right brother?" continued Greg. Trying to get the words out through the stuttering, Hulio agreed with Greg and nodded rapidly. Marcel stood up and told them it was time for them to get some sleep. They agreed and headed into the hold, the part of the ship where their supplies were.

After a good night's sleep, the first day passed and they were still on the sea continuing their dreams of becoming pirates. One out of the seven days until they were told their ship would reach Black Lagoon docks. Marcel raised the anchor early in the morning while the others were still asleep, and started moving towards their goal. With the compass in the binnacle and a hand on the helm with his other holding the map they slowly but surely were headed in the right direction. When the others woke up they had a little surprise, Rob was feeling under the weather and did not leave the hold. The others were worried, and from time to time they went to check on him, every time one of them went down in the hold where he was resting he kept saying "Don't worry about me, I am fine". Around noon when the sun reached its highest peak Marcel passed the helm to Greg and went down in the hold where Rob was sleeping. With a gentle shake, he woke him up. "How are you feeling?", "To be honest I don't know what got to me today, I promise that I will be on deck tomorrow". "You don't have to push yourself, there is no need to hurt yourself. Wait here and get better", "I know, but I did not come this far to drag you all down" trying to hold a cough. "You are not dragging anyone down, you are one of us like it or not" Marcel stood up and looked up, "Hear that?" he continued, "That is the sound of all our efforts". Above the deck where everyone else was, they started humming and stomping on the planks. The humming transformed into a pirate song. "We will always wait for you, or for any of us who is not feeling well, and will support him with everything we have because that's who we are" Marcel grabbed Rob's shoulder and headed back on the helm. His words left Rob in tears and made him feel slightly better. Their friendship was like no other, the true meaning of one for all and all for one. Supporting each other through hard times, and sharing all the good moments. Rob was humming the pirate song along with them from below.

The sea was surprisingly calm and the wind changed its course to East making it easier for them to navigate through the waters. A couple of hours later the clouds changed their colors and Tim started to worry. The gray shade of the clouds indicated that there was a change of weather coming their way. To strengthen the assumption he even spotted birds flying in the opposite direction. "We need to change the course" Tim passed the information to Marcel and the others. "If we are going to make it in those seven days we must move forward," Marcel said, once again playing his role of a captain. "But..." and he got interrupted by Fred, "No ifs or buts, this is something that we will encounter sooner or later, and I don't know about the others, but I'd like to be sooner than too late", "He is right, we might not be fully prepared for it, but we have to go through even if its a storm in our way" Greg added. "To make it through we need each other," Marcel said to them raising their spirits. Hulio went down to Rob and told him the news about the weather and by the time night came Rob felt well enough to join them on the deck. They were witnessing how the darkness was swallowing the sea and the eerie humid wind made everyone tremble in their boots. Marcel decided to guide the ship through the night and not let the anchor down, while the uncertain weather was right around the corner. They took shifts through the night and made it safely to the morning. Only a couple of water drops here and there, not the heavy rain they were expecting. Since Marcel stayed up all night guiding the ship, Greg took his place on the third day. The waters started to be more wild now, compared to the first two days. This was one of the signs that somewhere were more than a couple of droplets. The clouds were still a dark shade of gray, and they knew it was not over yet. Although it will be their first time sailing through a storm, during the day it would be much easier for them. While Marcel was still resting the rain started. Drops of cold water seeped through the plank cracks and woke Marcel up. It was around noon and the rain started to pick it up, helped by the wind, their ship was heading with an unbelievable speed in the right direction, South-East.

Fred and Rob were struggling to keep the sail up in the right direction, while Greg and Marcel were both at the helm holding the wheel with all their strength. Tim and Hulio were getting the water out with the buckets so that it would not flood their ship. After a couple of hours of hell weather, they managed to pull through and leave the storm behind. The clear sky they hadn't seen in a while looked amazing, it was an orange-ish color and the sun was slowly swallowed by the sea. "We made it! Hooray!" everyone on the deck started cheering and jumping. "Of course we made it," Marcel said proudly. "For now it looks like there is nothing that can stop us" Tim looked at the sky. "We deserve a feast!" Greg said and his stomach rumbling agreed. They lowered the anchor and began to feast. They pulled out a bunch of supplies and started eating and drinking until they passed out. Marcel was looking over them with a happy smile. "Rest my brothers, we are halfway to our destination" he yawned and joined them in the dreaming lands. The night passed quickly, much more quickly than the others. Exhaustion and fatigue from their first encounter with a storm made everyone sleep like a log. As soon as they woke up they started moving again. The sun was guiding them to the East and their hearts were pulling the ship South. The fourth day looked promising, with good weather and perfect winds, no one was expecting such a thing and this might have shortened their trip to the Black Lagoon. The rest of the fourth day was calm, with no change in weather, and not as eventful as the previous days. When the night came Marcel and Greg decided to take shifts and go through the night again. While the others went to sleep Greg came to Marcel and sat down next to him. "You heard about the captain of the Black Ship?" Greg asked Marcel while looking at the compass. "As far as the legends go, yes, I heard of him, why you ask?", "I was wondering, how is he really?", "I don't understand what you mean". "You are always trying to pull us together, help us, I wonder if he is the same", "This is what a good captain will always do for his crew, and more importantly, for his friends that he spends days, weeks. months and even years on the sea together with". "I know...", "Although the legends make him look menacing and treat him like the bad guy" he continued while he took the helm. "I would like to meet him," said Marcel with sparkles in his eyes. Greg started laughing and wiped out one tear, "And what would you do once you meet with him?" he asked with a smile on his face. Marcel looked up at the starry sky, "I have no idea, but I would love to just sit and listen to his stories, I am sure he has a lot of stories and tales to tell". They both look up, "You are right, I would probably do the same".

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

On the fifth day, the sun bloomed out of the sea and everyone took their posts. Tim was looking at the sky and around, but there were no signs visible of a storm or bad weather. With only a few days left until they reached the Black Lagoon, they started to relax. But it was a bit too early for them to do so. The wind slowly changed its course without anyone noticing and it was blowing North. A good amount of time passed until Fred noticed that they were not heading in the right direction. "Who was at the sail this morning?" Fred asked in frustration, "I was, what happened?" Hulio answered scared by Fred's tone. "We are heading in the wrong direction, see?" he pointed at the compass. "Oh no! I am so sorry" and tucked his head between his arms. "What happened?" Marcel and Greg came to the dock after hearing the two talking. "Someone was careless this morning and we were heading North" Fred kept his displeased tone. "Eh... And this is a reason to talk like that? Come on... Look around you, we are all friends here, it is our first time on the sea together, and we will make mistakes" Marcel said calmly with a smile on his face. Greg grabbed Fred's shoulder, "So what if we were heading North? Maybe someone was getting homesick and wanted to pay one more visit to his parents" he jokingly said. Hulio was a bit embarrassed but the air changed from anger to happiness. Marcel gently slapped Fred on the back, "There is no need for us to point out mistakes like this, it is better to solve them in silence and get over them" whispered in his ear. "Now... Let's head to Black Lagoon, aye?" Marcel said with an encouraging tone. "Aye!" everyone exclaimed. Fred was thinking about what happened and their words, and he realized his mistake. Later that day he went to Hulio and apologized, but Hulio insisted that was his fault to begin with. And they grabbed a drink and forgot about what just happened. Another black blanket was setting over the sea for the fifth time in their journey, and this time they decided to lower the anchor and spend some more time together before resting. "I can smell it, we are close," Rob said while sipping from the goblet of water. "Ha! Since when do you have a nose for these things?" Greg jokingly answered him. "My nose, my eyes, and my ears can detect anything" he continued. "Yes? Then smell this one" Fred let out a stinky one. "Eww..." Rob covered his nose and everyone started laughing. "The gifted got gifted" Greg slowly pushed Rob by his shoulder. "It's a blessing and a curse", and they continued laughing until they all fell asleep.

The next morning they resumed their journey and Tim saw some birds. "Guys! I think we are close", "Close to what?" Hulio asked with a smile. "Close to land", "You are saying that Rob was not lying last night?". "See? I told you I can smell land," said Rob with a smirk on his face. "See those birds? Those are usually roaming around the land, there is no reason for them to be so far at the sea, so we must be near" Tim continued. Marcel took the helm and gave the order "Full speed ahead!", "Aye, captain!" they all yelled and took their posts. Fred and Greg raised the sail and the wind was blowing South this time. The ship picked up speed and slowly but surely there was something ahead of them. There was another ship that was coming their way. When the two ships got close enough Hulio asked one of the persons from the other ship what was ahead of them, and their answer was, "Black Lagoon". Everyone on the ship was so happy to hear it, it was unbelievable. The other people from the ship were confused as to why they were so happy, but it didn't matter for them, all that mattered was that they made it.