Huff…! Huff…!
"It's been Donkey Years since our first steps…! We'll turn to ashes by the time we find the lads!" Complained a fatigued Selly on the irksome walk.
He had no problem letting the others know how he felt. Though, the others had a problem with knowing.
"Hang in there a bit longer," Livie replied as they dragged their tired legs through the hot loose sand.
"How are ye lasting so long with those fecking dark clothes, Captain? Plus, yer carrying the weighty sailor as well. Aren't yer arms tired?" He asked with the intention that Livie would at least think about resting a bit.
The sun didn't do them any favors either since it was hot as hell. And the salty sea's breeze came like rain to a scorching desert.
"Shocker yuh legs didn't give out yet, yuh seadog." Said an ill-bred Baba to a Selly who seemed to be on his last.
"Oh, yer slagging me. Still, I will let ye know, lad. Back in me, golden days. I fought sharks and blowers for grub." Selly stated with his chest up high.
Baba burst out in dramatic laughter and told him, "Ah never knew cleaning ships would be so grim."
"Oh, yes, it is, boy...!" It took him a second. But Selly eventually realized what Baba had said. His once high chest quickly shrunk, "Wait-a-crow, who told ye about that?"
Livie let out a soft laugh while listening in on their chat. Selly noticed it and asked, "Captain? Was it ye?"
"Ah, would ye look at that? A cloud blocked the wicked sun for us." Without delay, Livie tried to shift the talk away from him in a sly way.
"Oh, thank heavens. Death by fire was upon me…!"
And his ploy worked seemingly well.
"Alright, mates. Let's rest up by the shade over there." He ordered while shrugging his aching shoulder. It was to the delight of the others.
They were walking for a few hours, but it felt like an eternity with the draining sun over them and the wobbly sand below.
The beach stretched along the sea, the same way the bushes with the sand. It was an alignment of green, white and blue reaching far with several bends within.
After the time had passed, the sailor's head began to clear up more. Haa…! He yawned and gazed around, still being on Livie's shoulder.
What he saw was a Livie donning blacked-out doublet and breeches, which didn't help one bit when it came to the sun. Plus, an exposed head since the most significant piece to his attire was absent.
He turned to the left. And his eyes caught a hoary Selly, who had on a white doublet that saw better days and red pants that stop at his knees and cloth shoes.
To the right was Baba. He wore a brown jerkin that praised his tanned complexion and long rust-colored trousers. He also had a dark beret, though a fish is probably swimming in it now.
Then there was himself in his red sailor uniform, minus the renowned white wig.
--
"Haa...! Haa...! Haa...! I'm beat," Selly expressed when he flung himself on the cool sand under the coconut trees. "Argh! The faint crying of a soul in me, head doesn't aid either."
"Shut yer eyes to them, mate." Livie had a look at the grains left to cross. "We still have a great distance to cover. Hence, make haste regaining ye strength."
"Aye...! Aye...!" Replied an all but dead Selly.
"Soh, wah di plan, Captain?" Baba calmly asked while trying to conceal his heavy breaths.
"I prefer to wait till we find the rest. Then we will have a few questions for our sailor mate here." He laid the sailor onto the sand.
"Mmm...!" The sailor loudly hummed with his mouth still covered.
Though they hadn't done anything cruel to him, not yet, at least. The sailor still wasn't one bit pleased in being there with them. He was squirming around like a worm on ice the entire time.
"And wah happens after de birdie stops chirping?" Baba asked while he placed the little violent red crab on the sailor's back to crawl. Then his body began to cringe while it made its way up.
Livie picked up the crab as he saw the sailor in pure discomfort and answered, "How well he wants to chirp will decide his...!?"
"Ugh...! I'm drier than a fish out of water, lads," Selly exclaimed as he licked his parched lips. "No fecking rum…! No fecking booze! None to suffice this poor geezer soul."
He rubbed his eyes and continued his rant, "Boy, I wish Peacoat was here. That bloke could sniff out rum in a religious house. Then Lady Bree would probably kill him for it. Argh! I miss the lads."
Selly was breathing up like a tired dog far from home until he wiped his running sweat and saw the irony of their situation. "And to curse me even more, Mother Sea is full of fecking water."
"Don't ye dare drink the water Mother Sea provides," Livie sternly told him, "Not if ye want to die of thirst, that is?"
"Yuh damn grog blossom." Baba also had his share to say.
"Huh...!? Rum is the only bloody reason the sea still hears mi name...!" Selly let out a monstrous sigh and laid down on the sand with his face up. When he flickered his eyes, Selly saw what appeared to be a gift from the heavens.
"Coco...nuts."
"What?!" Both Livie and Baba asked in confusion.
"Sink me! There are coconuts on the tree, lads. Isn't…? Isn't the water inside rich in taste?" His eyes lit up as he ogled the coconuts intensely. "But, oh no, they're up in the towering tree. Only if I could grow wings and fly like a sparrow."
Livie turned to Baba, the same time he was turning to him. They were at sea as they gazed at each other bewildered. Even the sailor stopped wiggling around to look upon what Selly was doing.
"Aha! I will climb the slim tower for the sweet, juicy coconut." His mouth began to drip like an endless fountain.
"Climb, you say?" Livie repeated him with his eyes wide open.
"Aye, wish me the best, lads." He took a deep breath and put his weakness behind him. All Selly's eyes and mind were on the prize.
He wrapped his arms around the tree tightly.
"Why don't yuh give it ah kiss while yuh at it?" Uttered Baba, who couldn't resist the chance to crack a joke.
However, Selly glared at him with his game face on and hissed, "Shh...! Not now!"
Baba instantly shut his beak since he never saw Selly this focused.
He followed his arms up by wrapping his feet around the tree. He took another deep breath before the climb to clear his head. Or probably he was rethinking the decision. But he was in too deep to wuss out at this point.
Selly had his final deep breaths and embarked on his climb, "Up I go now." He hugged the coconut tree and pulled himself up.
Everyone near him got made to witness if he was able to do it or not. And with their fleeting interest came a swift disappointment. Selly's heart was in the right place, but his belly wasn't, as his weight didn't allow it.
He dragged and dragged, only to get about three inches off the sand. His struggles resembled a fat Grizzly bear trying to climb a cliff for berries.
Poot!
"Kekeke...! And here meh had ah likkle faith in yuh, bredda." Expressed Baba after Selly's failed effort.
"Better luck next time, mate," Livie said to comfort him.
Though his attempts were hopeless, they didn't deter him from continuing. Or it could be the thirst he's feeling that made it harder to give in to his weight.
He remained wrapped around the tree. "Ugh...! Al... most...there!"
Selly resumed climbing up the coconut tree for the water. When...!
Boom!
"Ouch...!" Selly shrieked as he fell from grace.
Buff!
"What in God's good name was that...!?"
His closed eyes, mixed with the crashing waves, made him not notice what caused the noise.
"Yuh welcome," Baba replied to put him in further confusion.
"Welcome? What should I be grateful for?" He queried.
Baba strolled up to him and pointed, "Foh that."
When Selly turned around, he saw the prize he longed for lying on the sand next to him. A coconut dropped from the top of the tree, right next to his head.
"Shiver Me Timbers, Baba, mate." His eyes lit in joy, with a bit of shock since it almost killed him. Still, the glee he felt was more prominent than the shock. "And here I thought ye were a useless salt."
Baba dropped his smile and clenched his fist. He uttered, "Watch yuh mouth, old geezer."
"Aye, aye. I'm just pulling yer leg. Hehe...!' Selly swiftly backtracked on his insults. He shifted over to Livie and asked, "Captain, please lend me yer s...! [peep], Sword!?" Selly glimpsed at his waist, "Sword? Where's yer scarlet blade, Captain?"
"Wait, yuh just now notice dat?" Baba asked in awe.
"Shibito? Well, she's either at the foot of Briney Deep or in the hands of another man," Livie replied as he stared at the restless ocean.
"Why didn't ye go after her...?" Selly silently gasped at Livie. He looked at him until he realized. "Wait, did ye choose to save me instead?"
"It wasn't a choice, nor was it a dilemma since there was only one option." Though Livie said it firmly, there was still a sense of grief in his tone.
"Thanks a million, Captain. I owe me last days in this world to ye." He sincerely said to his earnest Captain.
Livie didn't end it on the sweet note, albeit he had more to add. "Plus, even if I had her, I wouldn't give you to cut a damn coconut."
"Why not? Ye can merely wash her out in the sea...!?" He stopped and scratched his head when he heard himself. "That wasn't the brightest thing to say, was it?"
"Yuh think?" Baba sarcastically responded.
The sailor who is still on the sand let out a reaction that spoke volumes. It said stuff like idiots surrounds me and other sorts of that nature.
The three pirates turned to him simultaneously like curious owls. Livie then ordered, "Remove the cloth from his mouth."
"Are yuh sure, Capt'n?" Baba carefully asked. For he knew a storm of unending questions or quarrels were coming after.
Livie gazed at the sailor with his eerie ink-black pupils. A brief gaze that lasted forever, and he replied, "Aye."