Chapter 1 - Master Seaman

(Note to readers, Please read the Character page for a better understanding in the story.)

    Jory Stood atop the Islands Old watchtower from atop the mountain of the north end. The tower has a clear view over everything on the island except under the edge of the cliff that the tower sits on. He gleamed at how extensive the world was from over the seas horizon on all ends. He admires the vast openness of the sea and it's extents. what's more is the air and it's rich salty scent overcasts the whole island including the North end's Forest. The north end of the island is pretty much a steeply inclined mountain where there are plenty of trees, but demons lurk there as well as many other places on the planet.

    Even so The island always seems so peaceful at this time of day, as a calm serenity passes between the peaceful day hours and the treacherous night hours. Jory can't help but wonder what lies beyond this home he lives on, It's all a blank page to him. The only clue he knows to the worlds size is from the sailing books he's read, and few history books too. The worlds expanse is massive and mostly uncharted. It would take thousands of years to discover all it's mysteries. and much longer to clear the seas by ship. It's these thrilling thoughts that drives his soul.

    With the ring of a church bell in the fortress on the north side Jory panics as noticing the sun was almost completely gone from the horizon.

    "Short Cut!" Jory Yells to himself as he puts on a pair of dock worker gloves and grabs a rope that propels to the east to the quickest way down the mountain. he slides along it like a zip-line with his hands. and goes quickly charging right toward the tree the rope is suspended to, he quickly turns around about 50 feet away from the destination and braces his legs for impact. 4 feet away and his legs hit the tree as he uses the force and lets go of the rope with his hands forcing him to leap forward from the tree into a bush.
    With a few scratches Jory leaps out of the bush and grabs one of many bark sleds that are by the tree and heads for the cliff side, he grabs a vine that leads a little ways down the cliff to what looks to be a steep but extremely smooth path that rounds the cliff into a lake below. he leaps of the vine onto the steep and sets the sled down for decent.

    "Alright!" He said with confidence, "One deep breath and it will all be over soon!"

    Jory took a very deep breath and hopped on the sled grabbing the vine reins that were attached in an instant the sled picked up speed and his decent to the lake began. within the first few moments he had passed one fourth of the height, another few and he was half way. Then off on the corner of his vision he noticed a ship at distance coming in.

    "It couldn't be..." he though to himself.

    Three more moments and he skidded across the lake from his decent and aimed straight for the path leading into the farms of the island. at such speeds he normally would have bailed earlier in the day. But the ship had caught his attention and he was determined to get there fast.

    At this time of night hardly anyone but priests or his senile grandfather would only be caught walking the roads due to demons. But Jory was moving at such velocity he had cleared a mile and a half which was nearly half the length of the south end of the island by wood sled. The Incline and smoothness of the cliff slide he used was perfect for night time hurrying.

    The sled soon came to a stop by one of the farm outhouses. Jory quickly stood up and ignored the shock of his legs. he ran as quickly as possible to the port. The ship he had seen must be docking or close to it by now.

    It took about six minutes or so for Jory to reach the port. When he arrived Many people Stood in shock as the Size of the Galleon was much bigger than most, and the Flag embarked on it was that of the World Justice Exploration Force. The Symbol declared by the heads of Two Speckled Stallions and an anchor between them as though their bodies were behind the sail and heads popping out just so behind the anchor.

    Jory's eyes grew wide as he knew his life could only rise from this point. he watched as the Dock-men extended the boarding bridge onto the Ship where a few soldiers had readied a prisoner for transport, no doubt they were going to take him to the fortress on the north side. Jory rushed to the opposite side of the boarding to get a better view of the prisoner and soldiers. Jory admired as they all walked down. the Boarding bridge to the dock.

    The Prisoner wore a Straw hat with a crease and a dent in the crown. The mans face was narrow and slightly famished like he hadn't eaten in weeks. he had a thin pointy goatee under a sharp nose with stripe cut sideburns. the mans eyes were that of gold being turned to mud. the man wore a shirt with a capitol S and small circle inside the lower part of the S. The mans pants had holes like he was struck by a fierce battle. The rest of his legs were scared up from many battles before. his shirt had a large gash leading down his arm. he was missing a boot on top of the pain he had apparently received from battle.

    With a sudden notion the prisoner nodded his head forward then back up as if he were fighting off sleep, but in that motion his hat dropped to the ground as they passed by Jory and the prisoner stepped over it subtly with one foot and the other over onto the brim of the hat in a careful motion as if not to tear it.

    Jory had been the only one to notice these Notions the Man had made as he had gone by and was loaded onto a cart with route to the Fortress. He had walked over to the hat himself and picked it up and stared toward the cart as the Soldiers and their prisoner had gone off.

    A guard stepped up to Jory after the cart had gone a distance off.

    "Let me guess, souvenir from the first prisoner you'd seen go off to the fort?" The soldier said.

    Jory looked up at him in both Awe and Terror of how amazing it was to see what he had. "Yeah... Something like that." He said.

    "Don't be afraid to Join someday! We could always use more hands in crew. but you should probably head home now kid. Your parents might worry." 

    Jory had gotten sidetracked by the ship he had disregarded the time to such a large extent. He walked off in the same direction as the Cart, The Soldier walked back to his ship. And Jory to his home following the exact road that the prisoner was being transported on.

**---------**

    About an hour had passed and Jory had reach his house, A small shack with a small dock and private fishing ship in port. He walked up on the path to the little stairway up to the porch. He walked around to the side and slid open the door. His Grandfather Sit at the far end of the room from the door hunched over a little table to not hit the ceiling while he ate his fried shark sirloin. His sister was sitting on the left side wearing her underwear alone and eating her food calmly, though irritated.

    "Yo" Jory said With the least bit interest.

    "HO!" His grandfather said with great Enthusiasm.

    "GRANDPA!!! Don't encourage him!" His sister scolded.

Jory walked in and closed the door. He walked down the hall on the left and entered his and his sister's Room and put the hat down on his bed mat. then he returned to the kitchen where he proceeded to sit and join the family for a meal.

    "Your not allowed to eat!" his sister scolded.

    "Too bad." Jory Chided back as he swallowed a large rib section of shark meat bone and all.

    "Chew Your FOOD!" His sister scolded again.

    "Ho..." Their grandfather hummed.

    "Thank you for the food." Jory said as he stood up and left for the room.

    The Aura of the kitchen dropped. Nara left in defeat and Their grandfather as cheerful as ever, a dark loom circled in on Nara. She realized she had been lost in defeat again and her role as a parental figure didn't make out, again...

    Jory now sitting on his bed mat inspecting his newly acquired hat didn't feel remorse, or even pride in what he had done in the kitchen. It now felt to him as bland as most anything. upon further inspection of the hat a thin parchment had fallen out of the hat band.

    The parchment looked old, and it was folded over longways which was how it was hidden in the hatband. Jory opened the parchment and began to read;

            "If your reading this then the WJEF has apprehended myself and my crew. Our journey is now lost to us, but the dream of it              is not forgotten. Mastering the Seas as a great treasure and to claim the lands that no one yet holds. That is our dream."

    At the bottom of the parchment Was the Same Symbol Jory had seen on the Man's Shirt with a small note. "It holds no power unless on the Sea, Wear it proudly."

    As Jory finished he thought hard. "The man was undoubtedly a pirate. The Soldiers Caught him. And his dream is dead? That doesn't make sense... A dream of exploration doesn't make you a pirate... Something is unsettling."

    As Jory's thought had came to an unexcused cease his sister Nara walked in and grabbed her towel. then left just as fast without a word.

    Jory took another moment then remembered the symbol for a moment. He grabbed a piece of parchment and drew it down with almost dead accuracy before realizing that the parchment was his map of the island.

    "Shoot." he muttered to himself then stood up and left for the main room where his grandfather was using shark bones as a toothpick. 

    "Grandpa!" Jory said. "I have a question."

    "Ho?" His grandfather responded.

    "What's this symbol?" Jory asked as he showed his map with the S mark on it.

    "Ho, That's the mark of the Scabbard Explorers." His grandfather responded with enthuse.

    "The who?" Jory asked.

    "Ho, The Scabbard Explorers were once a great exploration team, though it came to pass that people were not allowed to pass into unexplored areas of the sea by law without the WJEF's permission. The Scabbards decided that the open sea was to be ventured not regulated. And so they passed forth in a small fleet defying the WJEF and their Laws in turns to explore for a land that could be treasured greatly. Since then they've been outlaws. Ho!"

    "Sound's stupid to me." Nara said as she entered the main room from the bathroom on the right stark naked and drying her hair.

    "Put some clothes on..." Jory Scolded his sister.

    "Why? Are you a pervert?" Nara Teased.

    "No, But you are!" Jory responded as he turned and walked back to the room.

    "Well he's no fun... But I guess that's what to expect from family." Nara chided and went on to wrap herself in her towel. "Goodnight Grandpa!"

    "Ho!" His response.

**--------**

Jory Put the map down with the symbol on it, then placed the parchment note from the hat beside it. He just couldn't see why it was illegal to pass into uncharted waters without the WJF's Certified approval. In fact, there shouldn't need to be a law for it.

    "Sound's fishy to me!" Nara said From hovering over Jory's shoulder.

Jory panicked from the sudden surprise and leap a bit from his seat where the meat of his shoulder hit Nara's Jaw in panic. Hitting her jaw had hit the pressure point in his neck and it forced him right down to the ground.

    "Maybe some warning next time." Jory Scolded.

    Jory had been the only victim of this inept happening, his sister just so happened to have a jaw that could compare to steel.

    "Your fault." Nara Chided.

    "Your impossible!" Jory Scolded again.

    "So what are you going to do?" Nara Asked.

    "About what?" Jory said questioning her question.

    "About that note." Nara said. She had already read it in the few seconds she was glancing over his shoulder.

    Jory looked up at her from where he was lying, She had now been wearing Just a very long and baggy T-shirt. She had always opted out of wearing any underwear at all when possible, or even just underwear. She hadn't ever been taught the essentials of their usage, though she was Taught That most men were perverts and shouldn't stare at women too long. as Jory was taught to protect his sister. Jory had simply learned more overtime and explained little by little, but otherwise he was almost as clueless as her when it came to those subjects.

    "First, Put some underwear on!" he said. "Second, I think i'm gonna build a ship!"