Tales of the Black Sails

Prior to Louis' last words, they all quickly loaded their loot into the cart and climbed aboard. After they were done, Louis set the cattle in motion; they were moving at their full speed, but the cart's progress was still slow. As they moved on for a distance, their path ahead was blocked by a very large group of soldiers and townsmen with their torches and weapons at the ready. The crowd, compelled by a sense of duty and vengeance, without thinking twice, dashed towards the pirates with a rageful chant.

"Blast me hot brain!" Louis exclaimed and swiftly held tight the lead rope, redirecting the cattle and altering their course so they could escape the wild chase, but their chasers seemed to be catching up with every step they took. 

"That's it!" Captain Noname declared as he leaped out of the cart with a loot in hand, and to the astonishment of the others, he chose his legs over the cart for transportation and escape, and his very own legs served him well as he ran with a speed that surpassed that of the cart. 

The distance between him and the cart eventually grew more and more, and Santiago, inspired by his captain's action, quickly grabbed a bag and followed suit. "Adiós amigos! ≡ ['Goodbye friends!'] " he exclaimed, zooming off in Noname's direction with a similar speed. Jack, seeing the duo's progress, quickly grabbed the bag that was left and jumped down from the still-moving cart and ran up ahead to catch up with his colleagues. 

Louis, on the other hand, at that moment, was confused and astonished at the same time; He felt abandoned, and his contribution to the operation was underestimated, but as he hesitated to join his colleagues, he looked back, only to see the crowd closing in; some of them were already holding on to the cart. Without further thought, he too abandoned the cart and took off in the direction of his crewmates. 

Their destination was the "Black Sails"; their trusted ship waiting to extract them from the island into the safe zone. 

As they approached the ship, Captain Noname's voice rang out in the direction of the ship—

"Henry!"

And he immediately got a response, as an old man with a grey coat, wearing simple attire, looked down from the ship's deck.

***

'Henry Louis', Noname's mentor, and 'Louis Louis' uncle threw down a rope for the trio. He had been on the ship with another crew member, staying vigilant and awaiting their comrades' return.

 ***

With the rope and all ready, Captain Noname and his crew members began to climb aboard until they reached the deck, and they all gathered at the ship's bow. From this point, they watched as the large, enraged crowd advanced towards the shore.

Jack, who was the ship's sailor, quickly took the wheel, and without wasting any more time, he set the ship into motion, causing it to sail smoothly out of the shore.... 

.... However, their progress was short-lived as the ship unexpectedly came to a halt just a few meters from the shore. This abrupt stop caused an imbalance, and everyone on board tripped for a second before regaining balance and exchanging worried looks at each other. 

"Blast me hot brain!... The anchor! I forgot to release it!" Louis exclaimed, slapping his forehead in frustration. The eyes of the pirates on board were now focused on the point where the anchor was stuck fast and rigid on a submerged rock.

Captain Noname's mind, at this point, was filled as he thought to himself—

"^There is no way one of us can make it there in time to free the anchor without being caught by the crowd^."

***

The distance was too great, and the crowd was too close, making it an almost impossible task. They were literally at this point, TRAPPED! with no escape route, and the very conclusion of their plan from the onset was to 'hit and run'; They had no intention of wasting much time on the island. 

 ***

"Leave that to me!" 

... Lee Xuan said in an overly confident tone... The second crew member, who had been standing guard alongside Henry, stepped forward.

◆ ◆ ◆

 Lee Xuan was a Chinese martial arts expert; A retired veteran of the army of a Chinese kingdom, having quite some exceptional skills. Lee was a man of few words; he hardly talked when unecessary"He could LITERALLY stay a whole day without uttering a single word if there was no NEED to do so" And as the ship's cook, he was nevertheless a vital member of Captain Noname's crew.

 ◆ ◆ ◆

Without hesitation, Lee dashed out of the ship whilst speedily running on the slanted anchor chains. In his right hand was an enormous cleaver of unnaturally large size. As he reached the middle of the chain, Lee launched himself into the air with a spin, generating a great enough force. Landing back on the chain, he strengthened his grip on his large cleaver and amazingly sliced through the metal links with just one quick stroke! The chain certainly could not deny its defeat; it quickly snapped in accordance, and immediately freed the ship from its stillness. 

With the anchor chain broken, Lee quickly grabbed hold of the end attached to the ship as the vessel started to move again. The chain he held had a pulling force, and so, it swung him into the ship's deck. His crewmates, on their part, could do naught but stare at him in awe and gratitude, especially Louis, for Lee's brave and heroic actions had just saved the day — or the NIGHT, as it seemed. 

"What would we have been without you, Lee?" Santiago asked, not expecting an answer, but Lee's straight, deadpan reply caught him off guard...

"HUNGRY!"

The crew erupted into laughter at his response. 

"He's out of line, but he's right!" Henry remarked. 

As they looked back at the island, they watched the angry island inhabitants cursing and shaking their fists in the air, and after a short while, they disappeared into the darkness as the ship continued to sail away from the island.

"Seems like today's operation was, as usual, a successful one – Just as we planned. It's a pity though, I had to sacrifice a bag of loot to distract those worthless soldiers... but then, we still have more than enough to go around." Noname said to his team, after which he turned to Louis— "Take the loot to the accommodation, well done boys!"

"Nice plan Captain; you really outdid yourself this time." Henry, who was already a veteran [semi-retired] in the world of piracy, complemented Captain Noname. 

"Hey, I had a brain in this too you know!" Louis cut in, but his uncle gently, yet, sarcastically replied 

"Yes! And if it weren't for your 'brain' we might have lost one of our own because you forgot to heave up the hook!."

"Don't worry about that Henry, they can take one of us down, but they can't take ALL of us down. By the time we're done slaying, there won't be any filthy landlubber left to tell the tale!"

As a response, Henry nodded in agreement, and Noname concluded— "Well, let's get some rest; we've earned it."

And the crew began to dispatch for the lower cabin, except for Jack and Santiago, who stayed on deck, keeping watch from the ship's wheel and the top of the mast, respectively.

Captain Noname, on his part, entered his cabin situated on the ship's deck and took off his hat, revealing his already weary face. He made his way to the sink – A large drum of water that was placed on a platform in a separate compartment of his cabin. 

After washing his face, the captain lifted it to look into the mirror before him, and suddenly.... 

 .... The lights behind him unexpectedly flickered to life! His heart almost skipped a beat as his eyes beheld a figure with a resemblance to himself, wearing the same unique coat and hat as his, sitting comfortably on his favourite chair. 

The mysterious individual's head was initially bowed, but as Noname speedily turned back, the figure slowly raised its head. The figure's eye met with that of Noname's as he uttered his first words in a deep, ominous voice — 

"Hello... Noname!"