To Sail the Spanish Main...

By: Daferge...

“Tenchi Muyo!” and characters were created by Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and is the property of AIC/Nippon Television, Geneon Entertainment and FUNimation Entertainment.

( Governor's house - Kingston, Jamaica... )

To celebrate the final stages of rebuilding Kingston and the harbor defences damaged by Kagato's raid, the Governor had announced there would be a Ball at the large Kingston Governor's house...

There was still a lot to do, as Kingston was still growing after the earthquake destroyed the main port of Port Royal a number of years before...

But Governor Jurai thought there was more than enough reasons to celebrate, so almost all of the most important people in town would be putting in appearances, in their best evening wear...

For some, it meant showing up in their daily wear, which had only just been cleaned...

Not being London or Paris, elegant dress was not required, even if any of the locals had it...

In fact, the only really elegant gowns belonged to the Governor's wife and daughters, who only wore them at VERY special events, as they were not only expensive, but were also very difficult to get cleaned...

Not to mention that in this hot and steamy land, wearing such heavy, elegant gowns could actually kill you, from the heat...

Which was why the Ball would usually be held late in the evening, when things cooled down a bit...

The upper crust of Kingston were there, as were a good deal of the middle and lower crust of the area...

Unlike back in the old country, only outsiders used those terms...

Those who had spent most of their lives in the islands knew that survival meant depending on the people around you...

Be they the Governor of the island or one of the many indentured servants...

Thou food wasn't provided for the guest, there was Rum, Grog or Wine, the three most popular drinks consumed in the islands...

In fact, Rum was said to had been discovered in the islands...

Word had it that plantation slaves had been able to get drunk from fermenting molasses, a byproduct of getting sugar from the local sugarcane...

Molasses, it's self was becoming almost as valuable as the pounds of bagged sugar the local plantations produced in each years...

Because it was so cheap to make, Rum was all the rage, even on board ships, where water tended to go bad on any long voyage...

It was the habit of most crews to drink water, until it went bad, then by adding a bit of rum to the water (1), a drink called grog was created and allowing the continued use of the water...

Bottles of wine were taken on board for the officers...

For most, it was Rum, to wetting a dry throat...

Other would have grog, so as to keep their wits about them and not do some thing silly...

Thou the Governor drank wine, he wasn't above a mug of Rum as the evening went on...

Most of the Ladies, Misaki, Kiyone and Washu, were indulging in an old English brew, Tea, brought back by Ayeka from England...

Lady Kiyone had put Sasami and Washu's adopted daughter, Minagi, to bed before joining the others down stairs...

Governor Azusa could see a good number of faces he hadn't seen in a while...

Washu's oldest daughter, Captain Ryoko had put in a rare appearance, even going so far as to wearing a dress...

As she and Ayeka had Captain Tenchi cornered, he couldn't help smiling...

Captain Nagi, dressed as usual, had been cornered by an officer from the fort and several naval officers, a mug of Rum in her hand...

He really hoped he didn't lose any to her crew...

A little later, Azusa could see that Senor de la Vega, had cornered Lady Kiyone...

Or perhaps it was the other way round...

It had been some time since he'd last seen Kiyone happy...

His wife, Misaki and Lady Washu were over to the other side of the room, with a number of the local Ladies, enjoying cups of tea...

From how cheerful they were and the way they all smiled, Azusa was sure he didn't want to know what they were discussing...

Over in another corner, young Seina Yamada was surrounded by a number of young ladies who'd taken upon themselves to tend the poor boy, till his broken arm healed...

No to mention keep him out of trouble and prevent his trying to run off to sea again...

They also seem to keep the number of disaster that happen when he was around, down...

( Somewhere in the Caribbean... )

The sun was at it's highest point, the wave were calm and the wind blowing gently...

The large man-of-war sailed quietly and deadly across the water's surface...

Those on watch were alert and keeping an eye out for any other ships that might be sailing by...

They stood watch as if their lives depended upon it and aboard the Soja it did...

More than one sailor had been shot dead by the captain for missing something or failing to report something...

To many, the Soja was a cursed ship, sailed by the doomed, captained by the Damned...

" Sail ho... "

The sailor in the crow's nest pointed to port...

The officer at the helm took his spy glass and looked in the direction the sailor had just pointed...

He smiled as he observed a merchant sailing along with only half sails, just taking their time...

She looked like a fat prize, well worth the bother of changing course to chase...

" Mister Christian!!!... "

An elderly sailor rushed up to the officer...

" Cap'n?... "

Captain Kagato smiled and handed the glass to his oldest crewman...

One of the few people Kagato would trusted, as far as he trusted any one...

Mister Christian took the glass and looked in the direction that Kagato had pointed...

" What say you, Mister Christian?... "

Mister Christian returned the glass, but didn't take his eye off the distant ship...

" Let it be!... Cap'n... "

For the first time in a while, Kagato was surprised...

" An old friend of yours?... Mister Christian?... "

" That be Cap'n Van der Decken's ship... "

Kagato noticed that several nearby crewmen were now staring in his direction...

" He has no friends... "

One of the crewmen moved his hand back and forth across his chest, a religious way of warding off evil...

Kagato didn't say any thing, just continued watching the distance ship...

" So... That's the Dutchman!... "

He turned and looked at the nervous crewman, when he looked back, the ship was gone...

" Seems the choose had been made for us... "

Kagato smiled and did a slow look around the helm, then quietly made his way to his cabin...

Mister Christian could hear his heart beat above the sound of the snapping sails, he even had to force himself to breath again...

Looking back where the other ship had been, he wonder if the tales about the Flying Dutchman were true...

At any rate, sighting it was an evil omen, indeed...

Turning back to the helm, he had the NOW to be concerned with...

The future would have to take care of it's self..

( Back at the Governor's house... )

Things had been lively most of the evening, but as the sun sank into the west, so did the spirits of those present...

The conversations were getting dull and the mood was slowly getting glum...

People seem to be just standing around, little talking and even less drinking, not a good sign...

There was still a sword hanging over their heads and every one knew it...

Kagato...

What would he do next, where would he reappear?...

The realities of living in the Caribbean was beginning to bring every one back down, some thing the Governor didn't want...

That's when Washu heard a low voice, softly floating in the air...

" What’ll.... you do.... with a drunken sailor?... "

After a pause, it continued, people beginning to look around...

" What’ll you do.... with a drunken sailor?... "

A smile came to Washu's face as the mood in the room changed with the singing...

" What’ll you do with a drunken sailor.... Earl-aye in the morning.? "

The voice had become louder as smiles began to form on other faces...

Looking up, Washu could see the Governor's younger daughter, Sasami, peeking through the rails on the second floor...

Beside her was her best friend and Washu's youngest daughter, Minagi, between them the little monkey, Ryo-ohki...

Washu smiled, when one of them was up to some thing, the other two had to be nearby...

It was then that a voice in the crowd answered her, his mug held high...

" Put him in the longboat till he's sober... Put him in the longboat till he's sober... Put him in the longboat till he's sober... Earl-aye in the morning!... "

Several other voices in the crowd had joined in, raising their mugs too...

" Way hay and up she rises... Way hay and up she rises... Way hay and up she rises Earl-aye in the morning... "

Un-noticed by the cheerful crowd, Ayeka and Ryoko, with lifted gowns, had rushed up the two stairs to the second floor and surrounded their little sisters...

As every one else payed attention to the singers downstairs, Washu watched as Ayeka and Ryoko rounded up the three wayward guests and escorted them back to bed...

The singing had livened up things, people had begun to chatter again...

It was then that Washu noticed an old shipmate, known to most as Mr. Steven, a local Innkeeper, was standing on the lower stairs, so all could see him...

With a smile, he lifted a mug and began to sing...

" Now, Come on ye young sailors and listen to me... "

Some voices in the crowd joined in...

" ...Way, hey, Blow the man down.... "

Steven continued...

" Come on, ye young sailors and listen to me... "

" ...Give me some time to blow the man down... "

The crowd was clapping and humming along...

" Now I’ll tell you a story about the high seas... "

" ...Way, hey, Blow the man down.... "

" Most of the way home she was weak in the knees... "

" ...Give me some time to blow the man down... "

Some thing about his wording and the way he was looking in her direction tended to made Washu nervous...

" Oh it’s not very short and it’s not very long... "

" ...Way, hey, Blow the man down.... "

"'Bout a red-headed Wench hidin' out in Hong Kong... "

" ...Give me some time to blow the man down... "

Taking a deep breath, he started to continue, but couldn't...

The barrel of a flint-lock pistol in his mouth, tended to made it difficult to speak...

Much less sing...

At the other end of the pistol was Washu, who's eyes were the color of her hair, red...

The singer watched as Washu cocked the flint-lock, finger on the trigger...

Only a hand coming to rest on her shoulder stopped her from pulling it...

Looking behind her, Washu saw Lady Misaki standing there, smiling...

" Washu... If you make a mess, you'll have to clean it up... "

Washu heard several females giggle and a number of the males smiling...

Sighing, Washu uncocked the pistol and withdrew it from his mouth...

Mr. Steven was quite relieved that Washu hadn't gotten carried away...

Because shortly there after, it would have been him being carried away...

However, she paused long enough to look him straight in the eye...

The message was clear, sing that version of the song again and he wouldn't be so lucky...

However, before she could leave, another voice was heard over the talking...

" Thar be many a sailor, down on his luck... "

Washu froze and looked around, a voice in the crowd answered...

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

The first voice, male, continued...

" So, hoist up the colors and raise the sails... "

To be answered by several voices...

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

Making her way through the crowd, Washu was able to see the singer, her mouth fell open...

Tenchi and father Masaki, Tenchi's grandfather were smiling and singing, each holding a mug of ale...

" Fair wind at our back and a clear sky above... "

A smiling Tenchi's voice was answered by even more in the crowd...

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

As she watched, Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki, joined them on the other set of stairs...

"Sharpen the cutlass and let the cannons be primed... "

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

Washu shook her head as Governor Azusa Jurai joined the other three in song...

" So, drink up me hearties, Thar be hard work ahead... "

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

By now most of the crowd was singing along...

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

It was going to be a nice evening after all...

Washu smiled as she found herself humming along...

" ...We be bound for the Spanish Main... "

(1) algae grew in the water, making it undrinkable, however alcohol in the rum killed the algae and helped delay spoilage...

to be continued...