**PIRATE TAILS REVISITED** The Extraordinary Voyages of Cap'n Basil Blackheart & His Motley Crew ~ Part II

Welcome to 

Featuring a rerun of our bonkers time-travelling pirate adventure

The Extraordinary Voyages of  Cap'n Basil Blackheart and his Motley Crew 

aboard

The Crimson Revenge

Arrrrggg and greetings wunderpurr pals

Welcome to the 2nd episode of our pirate adventure, immerse yourselves in the action and let it unfold right before your very eyes and just in case mew missed anything, here's the link for the first epic episode:

Part I

>^.^<

A quick recap...

The pitching and rolling became increasingly violent as we descended through the cyclic centrifuge in tighter and tighter circles, as the huge funnel of water loomed up above us like a giant coiling snake hell-bent on smashing us and The Crimson Revenge to smithereens. 

The only thing going through my mind was that this was some really, really, monumentally freaky natural phenom-a-nom-nom and the chances that we were going to survive it, well let me just say I wasn't holding my breath!

I was abruptly brought back from my momentary mind-scape by my crew's terrifying high-pitched screams as we reached what could only be described as the mouth of hell, and then there was nothing but blackness.

"And Cut!"

>^.^<

So hold ye fast matey's, as we're in fur a wild ride today

Aharr

>^.^<

Part II ~  Land Ho!

"And Action!"

Total blackness engulfed us for what seemed a pawful of seconds as we were sucked down, down and further down through the whirling vortex of hell; a huge bang sounded, everything shook, and the ship seemed to launch skywards with a tremendous amount of thrust. I could hear my crew screaming like banshees as The Crimson Revenge belly-flopped into the stormy waters with a huge splash. The hull creaked and groaned in a most alarming way, and I prayed that on top of everything, we hadn't sprung a serious leak.

It was still dark, and every few moments there was a flash of lightning which illuminated the demon-black skies, and in those brief moments, I saw the carnage before me.

FLASH

The waves continued to crash across the deck as I yelled out. “Is effurypurrdy ok?”

Another huge wave engulfed us, and the ship rocked dangerously to and fro.

FLASH

The deck was awash with seaweed and all manner of detritus; one of the masts was hanging on by a thread, or purrhaps a toothpick is a better explanation, as it lay across the battered deck. 

I prayed that Smooch was okay, as he’d been the most vulnerable in the crow’s nest.

FLASH

via GIPHY

The sails were so shredded they looked like streamers wafting as a gust of wind whipped them into a spiralling tangle, and the rigging was hanging on by mere threads. 

It was at that moment I saw we were headed straight towards a rocky outcrop, immediately I automatically went into evasive-manoeuvres mode as I grasped the ship's wheel and began to spin it hard to port as fast as my paws would go.

“Hold ye tight!” I yelled above the noise of the crashing ocean.

FLASH

The jagged, slimy rocks loomed dangerously close as the ship turned sharply, running parallel with the almost disaster zone and then slowly our whirlpool-ravaged vessel began to leave them in the distance.

I felt a paw on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my fur as Snowie spoke.

“Cap’n, we've sustained a fluff of a lot of damage,” she said as the ship creaked and groaned ominously as we crashed over the top of another incoming wave.

FLASH

I saw Smooch hanging upside down by one of his safety straps twenty feet above the deck, swinging around like a furry yo-yo on a bungee cord.

“Oh for all that is merciful!” I almost cried with relief seeing him dangling there. Not an ideal situation but at least he was ok.

He waved at me and gave me a big toothy grin which spread from ear to ear and shouted. “That was the wildest ride ever, can we do it again?”

"NO FLUFFING WAY!” I yelled in reply.

FLASH

It was then I spotted Parsley; he was tangled in a pile of netting and was trapped in a gap between the fallen mast and the deck. My heart sank as I feared the worst and then his paw wiggled free of the snarled mess, and he gestured to me. 

I turned to Snowie, “Well that was rude!”

She giggled and waved at Parsley, who gestured again, but more vehemently.

“Can mew go get him out of there?” I asked.

“I think we should leave him there a little longer after that display of rudeness,” she laughed.

I shook my head in dismay as we lurched over another huge wave.

FLASH

I scanned the deck fur Amber, remembering the last time I saw her she was sulking behind the main mast having a bath. Then I spotted her, she had lashed herself to the grate-hatch leading to hold and was covered in seaweed, sand, shells, a couple of slimy squid, three tuna, a crab and all manner of crud. In fact, I only realised it was her because I could see random patches of orange and white fur peeking through her creature from the deep disguise.

I muttered to myself, “She’s going to be one supurr, mega hissed off kitty.”

Weirdly, the sea began to calm a little as we headed further away from the rocks and I was getting increasingly concerned about Posie and Humphrey.

FLASH

“HELP! HELP!” came Posie’s cries.

I scanned the entire deck and saw nothing apart from devastation.

“HELP ME…. I'M SLIPPING OVERBOARD!” Posie yelled in terror as another wave crashed over the deck.

“Smooch, can mew see Posie from up there?” I bellowed frantically turning to Snowie. “Snowie take the wheel and keep her steady on this same course.”

I untied the rope I’d lashed myself to the balustrade with and raced down the steps. “Posie, where are mew?”

Another wave crashed over the deck, and I was swept off my feet and landed with a thwump in a pile of slimy seaweed.

FLASH

“She’s dangling on a rope starboard side level with the forward mast!” Smooch shrieked as he swayed back and forth; now like a white furry pendulum. “Her rope is loosening, quick Basil quick!”

I scrambled to my feet and leapt over the myriad of flotsam and jetsam littering the deck and lunged at the rope just as it came free from the mast. Grasping it tightly, I let out a huge sigh of relief. The rope felt greasy and began to slip between my paws. It jerked several times as I battled to hold on, I could hear Posie whimpering pitifully as the rope slipped again.

“Basil don’t let go, purrlease, don’t let go!” she whimpered in fear. “Don’t let me fall, I don’t want to die like this!”

Resolve hit me like a sledgehammer crashing on an anvil, this was my only chance, there were only a few inches of rope left.  I felt the cold sweat of dread bead all over my skin instantaneously; my fur was prickling with acute anxiety as the rope slipped another couple of inches.  I had only one option left, and it was going to be furry risky, I flicked out my claws and pierced the rope, praying that they didn't shred the remaining few inches to smithereens.  By the mercy of the gods above, purrhaps Neptune himself, the rope held fast and stopped slipping.

“Posie I've got mew!” I called with extreme relief. “I’ll start to pull mew up, hold tight.”

FLASH

It took a few minutes to haul Posie on deck with the waves crashing, the ship rolling and the slippery seaweed being flung at us from all directions but finally, her cute face popped up above the wooden side rail, and she fell into a big, wet heap at my feet. I sank down next to her and took a deep, deep breath.

“That was close,” I said quietly. “Much too close for comfort, are mew ok?”

She nodded, and I could see how upset she was, as the tears ran down her furry chops beading on her whiskers. 

“I'm ok,” she gasped wiping her face. “Thank mew!”

I patted her gently on the shoulder. “Mew know I would do everything and anything to save any of mew, no matter the cost to me.”

“I know,” she said with a smile. “That’s what makes mew, mew.”

“I have to find Humphrey,” I said urgently as the lightning flashed again. "But seriously I think mew need to work on your knotting skills."

FLASH

I ran down to the hold calling Humphrey's name, my heart was beating like a jackhammer in my chest as I scrambled over strewn boxes, beams, and the utter carnage below decks. It was a mess of mammoth proportions, and water was everywhere.  I pulled a wooden beam out of the way which was blocking the rear hold door and wrenched it open expecting to find the wurst.  I took a deep breath and stepped into the gloom.

But I was just blown away, and when I say blown away, I mean seriously blown away by what greeted my eyes. They (whom effur 'they' are) say, a picture speaks a thousand wurds, well I'll just let this one speak for itself!

"Hey dude!" Humphrey said calmly chuffing on a big, fat nip-cigar (I didn't know he smoked either) while he swayed to and fro in his hammock, surrounded by chaos and dripping water and puddles.

"Humphrey, you're ok!" I exclaimed excitedly.

He gave me a furry perplexing look. "Well yeah, obviously" he answered nonchalantly. "Apart from the hangover from hell and my mouth tastes like the bottom of the parrot's cage, not that I've ever licked the bottom of the parrot's cage, I hasten to add!"

"What?" I asked rather startled by his answer. "Mew didn't feel anything, like the ship rolling and lurching as we were sucked into a giant, monster whirlpool water funnel thingy and were ejected like a rocket out of the other side?"

He stared wide-eyed, total disbelief etched on his face. "Mew're just messing with me right?"

I shook my head and told him what had happened.

"Wow!" he breathed when I'd finished. "Like seriously wow dude, I just thought I was sooooo monumentally off my chops that it was me that was spinning round and round, not furgetting the rolling and lurching, that's why I got well strapped in my hammock 'cause I thought I was the only one experiencing it!"

"We literally went through the mouth of hell, almost drowned, the ships nearly destroyed, and mew just thought mew were off your chops!" I shook my head in complete disbelief. "Humphrey mew seriously need to lay off the nip; the nip grog, the nip rum, the nip effurything, dude listen to what I'm saying."

He chuffed on the cigar again. "Dude, I must say it was a rare trip I was on, and when I say rare I mean supurr freaky... it felt so real."

"Humphrey, just lay off the nip ok."

At that moment I heard Smooch call out.

"Land ho!"

I turned to Pilchard the Parrot. "Keep him here, and get rid of that cigar it stinks."

I emerged on deck a short time later after battling my way through the jumble and disorder below decks to be welcomed by sunrise and calmer seas.

"Land ho!" Smooch yelled again.

I looked up to where he was still gently swinging and looked in the direction he was pointing, in the opposite direction to the sunrise.

In the distance, I could see a smaller island with a larger one behind.

"Now that looks promising," I muttered as I clambered over the broken mast and began to cut Parsley free from the tangled netting that still had trapped him. "Snowie head towards the bigger island, let's hope the current takes us in, then we can anchor, assess the damage, see where we are and get supplies."

Parsley was free in a few minutes after much careful cutting, and then I went to rescue Amber and finally Smooch.  Smooch insisted he was last, as he was having so much fun; mew know sometimes, I really wunder about him MOL.

The Crimson Revenge limped, for want of a better wurd, towards the shore and we headed towards a small, secluded cove and dropped the anchor; luckily we still had one.

After what had seemed like an unreal ordeal, I finally took a deep breath and exhaled slowly letting the angst wash off me.  

Then the reality dawned on me;

Where the flip were we, and how the heck were we going to get home?

This was only the beginning of our troubles, and then, just when I thought it couldn't get any wurse, we were all roused out of our shock by the sudden and violent shaking of the trees on the nearby beach as a horrifically loud trumpeting blare reverberated around the cove.

It sent shivers down me timbers and rattled my draws in all manner of disconcerting ways.

Smooch was trembling as he asked. "Basil, what on earth was that?"

I stared at the beach watching the trees intently, and I swear I saw a column of black smoke swirl just out of the tree line before it disappeared into the dense jungle.

Swallowing hard, and trying to keep my voice steady. "Smooch I think it was monkeys!" I lied.

"And Cut!"


 

Guy's, we're sorry to leave mew in all in acute, harrowing suspense, but mew know that's how we roll! MOL

Also, I bet mew've got endless questions on top of last times still unanswered ones, such as:

Where the flip are mew?

How bad is the damage to The Crimson Revenge?

Do mew think mew'll be able to fix it?

Does Humphrey really have a 'nip problem'?

What is this mysterious island mew've found?

Why did mew tell Smooch it was monkeys on the beach?

Did mew really see a smoke monster?

Do mew really think it's an actual monster?

OMC are mew 'LOST'?

If mew have any questions feel free to ask!

*    *    *

Click the link below for the continuing tension and to see if we survive this new bizarre phenom-a-nom-nom-nom!  

Hearty purrs and salty sea spray head rubs

Cap'n Basil & the Crew of The Crimson Revenge 

Click here to go to Part 3 

Follow Us @BionicBasil®  at TikTok,  Instacat, Twitter and Facebook

**PLEASE NOTE**

Copyright © 2023 by BionicBasil® & Cathrine Garnell  ~ Author & Publisher

All rights reserved. No part of this blog serialized publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including; content scraping, screenshots, blatant copying or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publisher. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below:

cathrinegarnell @gmail . com

 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com