Alaina was more than ready for bed, but the sun was starting to come up, and she was going to have to start preparing for breakfast. She made her way to the galley, wondering if the cook was already awake. She found him sitting at the long table, quietly speaking with the captain.

Alaina approached. As soon as he saw her, the captain stood up, looking towards the top of her head. She knew exactly what he was looking at – or rather, what he wasn't looking at.

"You seem to have lost your antlers there, my lady." the captain said.

"I traded them away." Alaina told him.

"Really? Whatever for?"

"I made a deal with that child you told us about. He's agreed to find adventure elsewhere."

The captain laughed loudly, slapping the cook on the shoulder with his good arm. "Did you hear that?" he asked. Then turning back to Alaina he said, "In that case, welcome to the Jolly Roger."

***

After the captain left, Alaina got to work in the kitchen. She might have been the newest member of the ship, but that didn't mean she had time to celebrate. Actually, she was pretty sure that the cook was working her even harder today than he did yesterday. It was like he was angry about something.

She was in the galley, peeling what felt like a hundred potatoes, when she heard a scream from somewhere near the bow of the ship. She paused, mid-slice.

What was that?

She looked around, but there was no one in sight. Everything had become ominously quiet. Had she just imagined it?

She waited, but she didn't hear anything else. And the longer the silence lasted, the more she became convinced that it really was all in her head. Then, she heard footsteps. Someone was running frantically, and they were coming closer. Alaina peeked out of the galley and nearly got her head taken off by Jophiel coming around the corner.

"Alaina! There you are!" he said, relief flooding his face. "You're ok – I'm so glad."

"Of course I'm ok – why wouldn't I be?" It hadn't been her screaming. But it did make her wonder what had happened.

"The captain," Jophiel said. "He's dead."

"Dead?" Alaina couldn't believe it. She'd seen him just an hour or so ago. How could he be dead?

"He was found in the crew's quarters."

"What was he doing there?" Didn't he have his own quarters?

"It looks like he was put there to hide the body." Jophiel said frankly.

"Well, who killed him? And why?" She didn't know much about pirates, but he'd seemed like a reasonable enough captain – certainly not one so bad he should be murdered.

"An excellent question." Jophiel said in a way that very clearly meant he had no idea.

"So what do we do?" Alaina asked.

"The crew's going to vote on a new captain tonight. Until then... try not to be alone."

Oh. Well that sure was comforting. At least Jophiel's insistence that she not be alone meant she was able to rope him into helping her prepare the meal. After hearing about the captain, she wasn't particularly in the mood, but she figured tensions would be running high enough without leaving the crew with empty stomachs.

After breakfast, the day proceeded just like any other day – minus having an actual captain, of course. But at lunch, another crew member was found with a knife in his back. And then it happened again just before dinner. By that time, the crew was in a near-panic and everyone was crowded on deck, wildly accusing each other of being vile murders. Alaina and Jophiel stood off to the side. Cole joined them as the cook jumped onto the table, demanding that everybody be quiet. As he struggled with the crowd, Alaina turned back to her friends.

"So, who do you think did it?" she asked.

"It's hard to say." Cole said. "I mean, there are a lot of suspects around here."

"I'll bet it's the one with the eyepatch." Jophiel grumbled.

"Really?" Alaina asked. He'd been one of the first pirates she'd met onboard. It was strange to think she could know an actual murderer.

"Look at him – he's so shifty." Jophiel insisted.

"Pretty judgmental for an angel." Cole observed.

"It's literally my job." Jophiel told him.

"Have you noticed it's all been the most popular men who've been the targets?" Cole asked, changing the subject.

"All in favor?" someone called loudly, pulling Alaina's attention to the center of the room. The cook was apparently taking a vote on something.

"Aye!" about half the room yelled.

"All opposed?" the cook asked.

There were a handful of nays, but they weren't nearly as loud as the ayes had been. The cook glowered at the men.

"The ayes have it." he announced with a small glare. "Wibbles is the new captain!"

"Wibbles?" Alaina asked. Who was that? Clearly, she hadn't met as many of the crew members as she'd thought.

"That guy over there." Cole said, pointing to a man with a blood-red shirt and a yellow stocking cap.

Alaina watched as the rest of the crew congratulated Wibbles, and the cook stalked back to the kitchen. As he passed Alaina, he growled at her. "Time for dinner."

Alaina followed him into the kitchen, already mentally running through what they had in the cupboards. Of course, they were going to use more of the potatoes and onions – there were quite a lot of each in their inventory. The cook managed to find a chicken somewhere, and he threw it on the counter, hacking it to pieces.

"Put this in the stew." he told her before storming off.

"We're not supposed to go anywhere alone." Alaina said after him, but he was already gone. She decided to follow him, for her own safety as much as his. She watched as he stormed into a room near the back of the ship. He was barely through the door before he started yelling.

"You think you deserve to be captain?" the cook thundered. "After all I've done around here?"

There was a muffled answer that Alaina didn't catch. She walked into the room just in time to see Wibbles fall to the floor, a knife in his chest. The cook was standing over him, glaring. "Looks like we need another vote now, don't we?"

Alaina slowly backed out of the room. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough; the cook spotted her. As soon as he made eye contact, she turned around and ran.

She didn't have any particular destination in mind – she just turned down the first corridor she saw. She could hear his boots stomping along behind her.

She saw the stairs that led down to the bowels of the ship. It wasn't ideal, but she knew there was a lot of cargo in the hull, and she'd almost definitely be able to find a place to hide. She ran down the stairs as fast as her feet could carry her.

Alaina threaded her way through various barrels and boxes, looking for a place to hide. In the far corner, there was something that looked like a very tall, very thin barrel that had been cut in half longways and then reattached with hinges. It was slightly ajar, and Alaina could see that it was empty. She quickly climbed inside, closing it behind her.

She heard the cook stomping down the stairs, looking for her. She held her breath, not wanting to give away her location. It was surprisingly cold in here, which was odd, considering the tropical climate. Actually, if she didn't know better, she'd almost think that it was winter. It didn't take her long to realize that the pirates must have picked up a few magical items of their own in their plundering.

Still, there was no way she was going to come out – not when that crazed cook could be right outside. So, she waited. But the longer she stayed in this cramped space, the colder she felt. She shivered, trying to fight it off. But it was no use. Her fingers and toes started to feel numb, and she began to get sleepy. She really should open the door, she knew. But she just couldn't take the chance. Instead, she stayed in the cold, dark space until she could no longer keep her eyes open and she drifted off to sleep.