Avast, ye hearties!

[MK Kilmarnock]

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

An area that otherwise heard only the sounds of the waves and a few seagulls, merry singing echoed through the skeleton of the beached ship. The only sign of human life, the song bounced and rolled and carried with enthusiasm that was most likely difficult to find anywhere else on the island.

So carried on Aurora's only self-proclaimed pirate, Sean Mulcahy. The energetic boy still had some sand clinging to the leggings of his shorts, his socks and the interiors of his pockets from when he woke up on the beach a short ways away from the ship. Nevertheless, he carried on as though undeterred by all circumstances, as carefree as a pirate upon the seas should be.

In fact, the only real damper on his day was the collar around his neck. So much for a pirate living free. Sean also loved to move every part of his body, and the collar was REALLY getting in the way of rolling his head around his shoulders to crack his neck. Still, he had to keep on the bright side of things, strolling through the innards of the freighter (and making sure to avoid the parts that were completely underwater) until he made his way on deck.

Sean took a moment to tighten his white bandana atop his head in the face of the wind blowing in from the sea. It was a warm breeze, gentle with occasional gusts. If he used his imagination, it was almost like being back home in Seattle.

He suppressed a sob. Pirates do NOT cry.

"Drink up, me hearties, yo ho..." Sean whispered, staring out over the ocean for what felt like an hours.

[VoltTurtle]

((Sara Corlett, V5 Start))

Sara didn't know what to do with herself.

She had awoken several hours earlier. She remembered falling asleep on the plane. Awakening in that room, restrained to a chair. She remembered thinking it was just a nightmare she would wake up from. But she instead awoke again to find out it was all too real.

She had wandered around for hours, hopelessly looking for someone, anyone. She usually likes being alone, but now, she needed to know she wasn't the only one suffering through this ordeal. She needed someone, anyone, to let her know it was all going to be okay.

But she knew that would never happen. It will not be okay. She is cannon fodder for the people that are going to be running around, killing everyone in their path. She will be just another victim. Coming to the realization that all her hopes for the future are now nothing but a fairy tale had some bad effects on her. She may be walking with purpose, but she is not walking with peace of mind. If anything, the first person she meets will likely try to kill her.

And she honestly hopes they succeed.

Then, near the old drowned freighter, she heard a familiar voice.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

There is only one person to whom that voice could belong. Sean Mulcahy, Aurora's resident pirate. Perhaps the friendliest soul she could have hoped to find on this godforsaken rock.

She walked in the direction of the song. She called out. "Sean! Sean! It's Sara! Sara Corlett! Are you there?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

Sean had spent so much time staring out over the peaceful tide that the memories of home began to come to life. Even now, he could hear one of his friends calling to him. She called for his name... quite vividly... in the opposite direction that he was facing.

Wait a second.

Sean turned around, but most of his vision was still occupied by the tilted deck of the rusty old ship. He kind of wished it was wooden, come to think of it. It'd better fit his ideal of what a classic pirate ship looked like, but it also probably would have rotted away by now. Yeah, he'd stick with metal.

Using the corroded metal's rough surface to boost his footing, Sean carefully walked up the deck to look over port side, facing in-land. It was then that he saw the person who had been calling to him.

"Sara!"

Oh, goodness. That was rather high-pitched. Sean cleared his throat and tried to find his pirate voice in his tucked-away sadness. After a few moments, he tried again.

"WELL BLOW ME DOWN! If it isn't one Sara Corlett! What's a fine lass like you doin' on this rock full o' filthy landlubbers?"

Using this voice always managed to point a smile on Sean's face. He planted a boot on the railing for that extra 'captain' look.

[VoltTurtle]

Sara couldn't help but smile at Sean's introduction. Even though he was going through what is basically hell on earth, Sean still remained as cheery as usual. "I'm here the same reason you are! I think everyone is." She walked over to the freighter and began climbing up into it. "Do you mind if I come up?"

She started to reflect upon their fates here. She could handle the thought of her own death, if anything, after those several hours of wandering in a daze. But Sean? Sean didn't deserve to die. None of the kids on this island deserved to die. And yet, all but one of them were going to. She shuddered to think about what could happen to Sean if someone with a decent weapon and a psychotic streak got to him.

Sean was her friend, one of the very few she had, and she wanted to make sure he was safe, but she had doubts that she would be able to do anything to help if someone tried to hurt him. If anything she would take the bullet for him. She would much rather die in his place if it meant he could live just a little longer. She avoided thinking about the fact that Sean and herself were certain to die on this island. If avoiding the awful truth will keep her sane, then she will do just that.

She wondered what Sean got as a weapon. It was probably better than the roll of tinfoil that she got. She had doubts that Sean would use his weapon to hurt anyone, no matter what he got. He's far too nice to do anything like that. Isn't he? Sara wasn't too sure about that. She saw that video. The girl killing her best friend, smothering her to death. She didn't know if Sean would do that to someone. To her. She pushed that thought away, now was not the time to worry about someone betraying her, especially someone as nice as Sean. Now was the time to just meet up with Sean and hope for the best.

[MK Kilmarnock]

Sean had somewhat hoped that Sara wouldn't answer quite in the manner that she did. At least, the first part was something he hardly needed to be reminded of, as he was doing his best to push it far into the back of his mind. There were a bunch of people sitting together in a dark room and... that's it. As far as he was concerned, he was a scoundrel freshly escaped from a port's prison. With a collar around his neck. It cracked the illusion a little, but illusions were all he had.

For the other part of Sara's speaking, her inquiry, Sean was more than willing to pay attention. "Climb aboard, lass! We're raising anchor and sailing off to the seven seas!" He gave a hearty, raspy laugh and sincerely wished they really were raising anchor and casting off. "Mind the water. Some of this here vessel's flooded. You'll want to go towards the bow, and find stairs going up. He pointed in vague directions, starting from the burst-open hull where he had entered the ship and would likely serve as the same starting point for Sara.

"I'll meet ya here up on deck!"

Sean stepped back off the railing, and double checked to see if his daypack was still there. It was. He hadn't really had much of a chance to look through it, as he wanted to get off the beach and onto his newfound base as quickly as possible, but now was just as good a time as any.

[VoltTurtle]

"Alright! Thanks for the directions! I will head on up!" Sara climbed into the hole in the hull of the ship. Sean's comment about raising anchor and setting sail made her sincerely wish it was true, but the terrorists obviously wouldn't let such an oversight like leaving a ready-to-sail ship out in the open like this ruin their game. She reflected as she walked through the dimly lit freighter that this was probably the only ship on the entire island, and it was very obviously in no state to sail.

It really is hopeless. Isn't it? She pushed away that thought. She really needed to stop thinking back to the hopelessness of the overall situation and start focusing on the here and now. She went towards the bow of the ship, seeing the stairs going up to the deck. She noticed the partial flooding that Sean mentioned, and she began to wonder how the ship hasn't already been flooded completely and dragged back into the depths of the sea.

She started climbing the stairs up to the deck of the ship. She began wondering what her and Sean would actually do once she got up on deck. Would they simply hide out in the freighter until one of their psychotic classmates comes along and finds them? Alas, hiding out in the freighter was probably as good a plan as any, she certainly didn't have any plans of her own. With that last thought, Sara reached the top of the steps and emerged out onto the deck of the freighter.

[MK Kilmarnock]

"Aaaaah, ye finally be making it! Welcome aboard. In absence of any other living crew, I s'pose ye can be me first mate!"

Sean had been waiting for Sara to finally make it above deck so he could say something to that effect. During the wait, he took the time to rummage through his bag and figure out exactly what he had been left to work with. The first thing that caught his eye was a container full of what looked to be Powerbar type things, but likely crappier. Whoever got him his supplies probably didn't splurge on name brand.

Sean had wrinkled his nose in disgust when he first saw them. He knew from enough experience that even real Powerbars tasted awful.

There was a book, some survival guide or something. Sean tossed it overboard quicker than a disobedient swabbie. Pirates didn't listen to others or read a book to tell them what to do. There was a code, but it was unwritten, Pirates of the Caribbean movies be hanged. There was also a first aid kit, which he did not throw over. That was probably going to come in handy. Notably, he did not find his mp3 player with all of his Sinatra tracks on it. That was pretty annoying; what else was he supposed to do if he couldn't listen to ol' Blue Eyes?

The favorite thing he did happen to find in his bag, however, was the object he was holding on his left arm when Sara came into view. He thrust it high, as if to make some sort of triumphant gesture as he inducted her into the crew of the Rusty Freighter pirates.

"What do you think? You like?" Sean asked, proud of the shiny-looking punching dagger on his arm. It was called a 'katar' according to the piece of paper, and also according to Soul Calibur the one time he bothered to play that game (he was attracted by the existence of a pirate in it). Punching dagger sounded cooler. "I would prefer a cutlass, or a pistol, or a cutlass-pistol, but this will have to do for now!"

[VoltTurtle]

Sara was greeted on the deck by the visage of Sean thrusting a large dagger into the air, as some sort of gesture. "I do like." Sara replied. As she placed her bag on the ground she heard Sean mention something about preferring a cutlass or a pistol. "I would have preferred a cutlass or a pistol as well. All I got was a roll of tin foil."

She took the tinfoil out of the bag and showed it to him. "I don't think I would be able to actually use a weapon on anyone, but having something you would be able to defend yourself with in an emergency would at least give me peace of mind, you know?"

She sighed. "I don't really know what use I could get out of a roll of tinfoil." She placed the tinfoil on the ground. She pulled one of the powerbars she had eaten a bit of a few hours ago out of her bag and took another bite out of it. She gagged a bit. The powerbar tasted no better now than it did a couple hours ago. She choked it down and put the rest back inside her bag. Regardless of how bad it tasted, it was sustenance, and she was glad that she got that above nothing at all.

She turned back to Sean. "So, what's our plan of action, Captain Mulcahy?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

"I have nooooooo freaking clue!"

Sean nearly bit his tongue as soon as he said it. Wrong answer, Captain Mulcahy. Honesty was much, much lower on the totem pole of pirate priorities than, say, instilling confidence. So, instead, Sean laughed and walked towards starboard side, returning his gaze to the ocean.

"I kid, of course. What else can we do? We take up post here and we wait out the storm! Just ride that sucker out!" Sean extended his arm, looking at the rather flashy blade on his arm. "Man, this thing is neat."

But Sara wasn't so lucky, was she? She had revealed to him her 'weapon', which was nothing more than a roll of tinfoil. However, if there's something Sean remembered from scouts, it's that tinfoil was one of the most insanely useful things ever.

"Okay, so..." Sean started, turning away from the railing of the somewhat slanted boat and walking back to Sara. He pointed around and gestured at things with his left hand, the one currently not holding a blade. Didn't want to accidentally slash his new first mate. "I wouldn't feel too bad. With a little resourcefulness, I feel like we can make your tinfoil veeeeeeeeeEEEEeeeery useful!" The drawn out sentence was punctuated with a quick laugh, showing the same energy that Sean had always displayed in high school.

"First, though, let's lay out all our things, kay?"

[VoltTurtle]

Sara's heart sunk as Sean said that he had no plan. Maybe it was too much to expect Sean to have a plan when she had no plan of her own. Sara looked up to see Sean give a hearty laugh and walk towards the right side of the ship, only to give his actual plan; simply that they wait out the game here in the drowned freighter. She kept quiet about her reservations concerning the plan, as it was always possible for them to get forced out in some way, either through the violent actions of their fellow classmates, or the subversive actions of the terrorists.

Sara noticed Sean started walking back towards her, and he took the courtesy to point out that tinfoil can actually be very useful with the same sort of energy that he always had even before this incident. She began to question how her tinfoil could be useful in any way, but before she could open her mouth, Sean requested that they lay out their things. She quickly obliged, opening her bag and placing the things in it out in the open.

In total, there was a map, a compass, her tinfoil, a flashlight, some sort of sarcastic survival guide, her bag for the trip containing her clothes, ten powerbars, and a first aid kit. She didn't quite understand why the terrorists would give them anything at all, especially a first aid kit as fully stocked as this one. She just assumed that the terrorists just wanted all of them to die, why make it easier for the kids to avoid doing just that?

After she finished spreading out her belongings, she looked back up towards Sean. "So, what you were saying earlier, about the tinfoil... how exactly could it be useful?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

Sean pulled his own dufflebag into the area and sat down across from Sara and her things, pulling matching things out of his own bag. The only thing that seemed to differ between the two was that he didn't have a roll of tinfoil. Obviously, he had the katar in lieu of that. Sean reluctantly set down the blade on the deck of the ship next to him and continued pulling things out of his bag until they were all laid out just like Sara's.

"We should probably start with... um, the least most... the least... the... the most difficult-to-figure-out-the-use-of thing that you've got," Sean finally managed to say after struggling with a few word choices. "So, like, because it's all reflective and shape-able, there's a few things you can do with tinfoil. If we can shape it properly, like... using a mold to cheat maybe, we can make a reflective dish that can start fires!"

That was a trick Sean had picked up from Boy Scouts. The original version involved taking a soda can and rubbing a mild abrasive, such as toothpaste or chocolate, along the bottom to polish it. After cleaning it, the surface would be reflective enough to focus sunlight on a leaf or other piece of tinder and viola, fire! The tinfoil, if in a suitable concave shape, could do the same thing. Maybe not quite as well, but it was a possibility if they needed warmth or something.

"Also, if we use enough of it, we can kinda jerry-rig a sort of water purifier. We're going to need water, and I'm willing to bet all we've got around here is salt water." Sean nodded out in the direction of the ocean, which he was able to get a look at thanks to the tilt of the boat, if only the bit near the horizon. "We'll probably get more water from collecting rain, but it's worth a shot anyhow!"

A thought occurred to him back about the fire. "Oh, and this?" Sean picked up the 'survival guide' given to Sara, smirking at it. "The most use this thing's got is tinder for the fire-"

Wait a second.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Sean rolled onto his back and clutched his head. He had been such an idiot.

"I threw mine overboard! I wasted critical resources and junk!"

[VoltTurtle]

After all of their stuff was all laid out, Sean spoke, struggling with what to say for a moment before getting out that he was talking about her tinfoil as the most difficult thing to figure out how to use. He said that if they could shape it into a reflective dish to start fires, and could also jury rig a water purifier out of enough of it. She had no idea that tinfoil could be used for those things, and she was decidedly impressed with how Sean knew that.

Sara noticed that what they laid out on the deck wasn't entirely congruent on both sides, ignoring their different weapons, as there was a survival guide on her side and not on Sean's. Just as she thought that, Sean picked up the survival guide that she laid out a moment ago, saying the only use for it was tinder for a fire before pausing for just a moment. "Sean? Are-"

She was interrupted by Sean loudly yelling out the word crap, and rolling onto his back before saying that he threw his overboard. So that is why he didn't have it on his side. She thought. She went over to the spot he was in and leaned over him. "You know, even though you messed up by wasting resources, I thought it was pretty awesome that you knew that tinfoil could be used to make a reflective dish and a water purifier."

"Here." She placed the tinfoil down in front of him. "Why don't we keep focused on doing things that will help us survive here in the freighter rather than focusing on the mistakes we make?" She added a bit of confidence to her voice. "After all, we just have to keep on sailing. Right, Captain Mulcahy?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

Sean sat up.

".... Yeah, okay."

With the nice tight feeling in his gut from doing a whole one sit-up, the captain of the freighter looked at the materials in front of him one more. "Still a little bummed I threw it away. I guess I was just so caught up in not obeying somebody else's rules that I didn't think it through. We still have yours, though, so let's not chuck THAT one out too!"

Well, that little part of the plan was set. From there, Sean picked up the roll of tinfoil in front of him and examined it for a while. He fell quiet as he did so, leaving the ocean and the slight rocking of the freighter as the only noise for the two. What to do... what to do...

Sean gave a slight grunt and pushed up to his feet, taking an extra moment to give his legs a good stretch with the tinfoil in his hand. "Alright! We shouldn't delay in making this, because we'll be out of water before we know it. What I want you to do, Sara, is to help me look 'round the ship! We're gonna need a dish of some sort. Doesn't have to be, like, an actual pan or something, but anything that looks like it can hold water. The larger, the better. Can you do that for me?"

He set the roll of tinfoil back with the other equipment, right next to where he set his katar. He reached into his back pocket with a smile and pulled out what appeared to be a white strip of cloth.

"Captain's orders... from here on in, we're pirates versus the world!" He un-wadded the bandanna and began to fold it, then tied it over the top of his head like a do-rag. It was like being on the Guppy all over again. He missed his little vessel, but this was one hell of an upgrade. Okay, so it would be better if it were seaworthy, but pirates took what they could get. They were good at taking.

"Once you find it, bring it up on deck. I'm going to go look for that too, and anything else we can find. Heck, if you find ANYTHING interesting, bring it up!"

[VoltTurtle]

Sara's little rousing speech seemed to be enough to get Sean out of his funk, at least a little bit. He sat up and started putting together a plan, which was good, because she would be left up a creek without a paddle if Sean wasn't making any plans. She waited patiently as Sean thought, only for him to get up onto his feet and explain to her with gusto that they better get started soon, and they were going to need a dish of some kind, which Sean wanted her to find. "I can do that, don't you worry!" She said enthusiastically.

Sara stood up readying herself to head back into the inside of the ship while listening to Sean give one last encouraging statement and a note to bring up anything interesting she finds. "I will do it as quick as I can Captain!" She said with determination. Sara started making her way down the steps into the belly of the ship. She walked slowly though the inside of the ship, looking around and taking note to look harder in the dark areas that weren't lit by the light coming in from holes in the hull of the ship. She wandered into a small compartment that was almost completely dark, with no light spilling in from outside. She felt around for anything that might be useful for them, making sure not to accidentally trip over something in the darkness.

Then, she felt something, something oddly circular, and smooth in the middle, with a dip. It was rusted on the edges, and whatever it was, it was quite heavy. Sara lifted it up; she was able to carry it, but it was quite difficult for her to walk while doing so. She trudged over to the light so she could examine what the object actually was. In the light, she could plainly see it was an old glass porthole, probably from some part of the ship. The hinges attached to the porthole, evidently from wherever it originally came from, were broken and the metal was warped and jagged. She examined the dip in the center; it was probably concave enough to hold a decent amount of water, maybe a cup or two, but not a lot.

As she picked it up again to take it back to Sean, she began to wonder how a porthole got detached from the ship and wound up there, but she figured it best not to question it and be glad that she found it in the first place. She managed to get the porthole to the steps up to the deck before running out of breath. She sat down next to it to catch her breath, before slowly making her way back up to the top of the ship.

When she emerged at the top, she placed the porthole down on the floor of the deck, breathing a sigh of relief. "I found something Sean! I think it is an old porthole from part of the ship. It's kinda heavy and the metal is rusted, but it is probably concave enough to hold water!" She glowed with pride at finding it; even as shoddy of a dish it was, it was still a dish.

[MK Kilmarnock]

During the short amount of time that Sara had been gone, Captain Sean Mulcahy had done little in the way of searching. One of them had to stay on deck to ensure that they'd meet up again as fast as possible. Also, there was the little detail that the inside of the ship was rather dark and people could possibly hide down there and jump out at him and the dark kind of freaked him out, but that couldn't be the main reason at all... not the one he'd admit to himself, anyway. Point being, it would just be better to wait for Sara to pop back up from below deck.

So, since he wasn't going below deck, Sean was trying to remain productive by pacing the boundary of the deck and making sure to familiarize himself with the ins and outs. A pirate had to know the deck of his ship. They had to know the hold too, but that could come later, dang it... preferably when Sara could come with him as to help him tangle with his slight unease over the dark... and when the risk of accidentally stabbing her if they met around a corner was minimalized. Each side of the ship revealed a different thing; port was the horizon and the ocean, starboard was the beach to what was most assuredly an island (imagine, a pirate marooned on an island!), bow to some sort of cove and stern to the coast which lead to what looked to be a more maintained area... a hint of civilization? Not that he needed it or anything, not when he had his very own ship!

Sean wished that there was a mast or something to climb and hang in the sails, but alas, this simply was not a sailboat. He was caught up in this very dream when Sara returned, announcing her presence. Sean did his best not to act startled - a captain must never admit that he was snuck up on - and ran to meet her.

"Yeah, alright!" Sean cheered, examining the receptacle that his first mate had found. "A porthole, you said? Huh... kind of worrying that parts of this thing are falling off, but let's hang our worries! This has a reeeeally good shape, and we should definitely be able to..." he trailed off when trying to verbalize the exact process. "You know, do the stuff that makes the thing. Never mind, just let me..."

Sean reached out to take the porthole from Sara. It was surprisingly heavy, with a good amount of weight to it. That just meant it'd be sturdy and last, Sean convinced himself. He carried it about halfway across deck and set it down, taking a moment to make sure it wouldn't go anywhere before walking about to the aluminum foil. He sighed in the realization that plastic wrap would be MUCH better for this project as it let the sun through, but he just needed something that could be molded into a conic shape and propped up above the dish. That would be easy enough.

He set about working to form the aluminum cone and finishing the water trap. Between finding materials to prop up the cone (most likely metal bars from elsewhere on the ship), finding a somewhat smaller dish on the ship that they'd need to actually put the seawater in (Sean had realized he forgot that step, and silently kicked himself for it), the sun would start approaching the horizon before Sean knew it.