"Get below deck, now!" yelled Ward as he started motioning for Skye to run below the deck. He followed her and put her back in her chains. He then proceeded to run out of the room and soundly lock the door behind him. He joined his men above deck and joined them as they each gathered a special wax that they had made for this purpose. They each grabbed a generous amount and started to shove it in their ears, so they could continue sailing without being tricked into crashing into the rocks.

____________

Skye sat below deck and looked out of the small hole on the wall of the ship. She saw six dazzling creatures sitting on the rocks. They had beautiful golden hair that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Their faces looked like normal human faces, with the exception of their ears, their ears had three tips to them and near the top they were slightly tinted green. Skye continued looking at the sirens and saw their shimmering tails that they kept flipping up and down. The middle three had turquoise and royal blue tails while the other three had pink tails with a few golden scales scattered here and there. They were beautiful. Skye moved so that her ear was facing the wall, she strained to listen but she could faintly hear them singing. They sounded even more beautiful than they looked, they sounded like a chorus of angels.

"I would be a mermaid fair; I would sing to myself the whole day; with a comb of pearl, I would comb my hair; and still as I combed I would still sing and say, 'Who is it loves me? Who loves not me?' I would comb my hair until my ringlets would fall low adown and low adown.

From under my starry sea-bud crown; low adown and around, and I should look like a fountain of gold; springing alone with a shrill inner sound."

Skye struggled against her chains and tried to break free so she could get closer to the sirens to hear their beautiful singing, but try as she might, the chains would not free her. So she sighed and kept listening to their song,

"Over the throne in the midst of the hall, till that great sea-snake under the sea from his coiled sleeps in the central deeps would slowly trail himself sevenfold. Round the hall where I sate and look in at the gate with his large calm eyes for the love of me.

And all the mermen under the sea would feel their immortality and die in their hearts for their love of me."

Skye continued to struggle, in vain, and at last she gave up and fell to her knees crying.

A few moments later the ship was finally out of range from the sirens and Skye snapped out of her reverie. She dried her tears and sat in confusion as she waited for one of the men to unlock her from her chains.

____________

"I'm sorry that we had to lock you down here," said Ward as he made his way back down to her, "but we didn't have enough wax up deck for you and we couldn't have you just jumping into the ocean."

"Why do people swim or sail towards the sirens when they sing anyways?" she asked as she rubbed her wrists, thankful that they were finally free.

"No one is really sure why, usually because people think they have such nice voices. A few people say that it's because they show you what you want more than anything in the world and once you see that, you want to get to it, leading you straight towards the rocks. It's not fun, why don't you come and rest above deck?"

Skye eyed him suspiciously, "why are you being so nice all of the sudden?"

"I'm always nice."

She laughed, "right, except for the times when you kidnap people for ransom. Like me."

"Well I'm nice to you because I need you to stay. I need you here for something important."

"And that is?" she asked, hoping to squeeze some information out of him.

"A secret," he said, leading her up the stairs.

Skye was led up the stairs and met with the sound of the crew singing. She looked at Ward in complete confusion.

"What? You think they just sit grumble all day? They like to keep themselves entertained obviously," he rolled his eyes.

Skye sat on the top of a barrel and clapped her hands to the beat.

An average-height pirate with a short strawberry-colored beard began the song for her, "Old Horn to All Atlantic said..."

The whole crew shouted, "A-hay O! To me O!"

Red-beard as she called him, since she had not yet learned his name, continued singing, "Now where did Frankie learn his trade? For he ran me down with a three reef mains!"

The whole crew answered, "All around the Horn!"

Next a short, African looking pirate jumped in front of Red-Beard and started singing the next verse, "Atlantic answered- not from me! You better ask the cold North Sea! For he ran me down under all plain canvas!"

To which the crew all shouted, "All around the Horn!"

Then a tall, skinny pirate with long blonde hair and an eyepatch jumped in front, "He's my man, for he came to me when he began- Frankie Drake is an open coaster!"

"All around the Sands!"

The pirates kept taking turns jumping in front of each other and singing.

"I caught him young and I used him sore, so you never shall startle Frankie more, without capsizing earth and her waters!"

"All around the Sands!"

"I did not favor him at all. I made him haul and I made him pull and stand his trick with the common sailors!"

"All around the Sands!"

"If there's a trick that you can try which he hasn't met in time gone by, not once or twice, but ten times over!"

"All around the Sands!"

Red-beard jumped in front again to end the song, "If you can teach him aught that's new..."

"A-hay O! To me O!"

"I'll give you Bruges and Niewport too, and the ten tall churches that stand between 'em!"

The crew turned to Ward and saluted, "Storm along my gallant captain!"

Ward shouted at them as he turned the wheel, "All around the Horn!"

Skye laughed and hopped off of her barrel, "that was amazing! How many of those songs do you even know?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh we know plenty, miss," replied Red-Beard.

The crew started to sing again and Ward appeared behind her, just inches from her neck, which sent shivers down her spine, "you shouldn't have asked," he laughed.

She blushed from his closeness and a moment later she sighed, realizing that she had just told the pirates to sing more songs. Who knew how long she was going to be aboard this ship? She may even end up singing along and dancing with them before she was through here.

*the siren song and the pirate song are not mine. I found the siren song on the Internet and the pirate song is written by Rudyard Kipling*