Freewrite 1:


The wind blew harshly on the deck of the wooden ship, the sails whipped and crackled in the air. Dark waves continuously crashed into the boat, forcing it to rock dangerously. Flotsam splashed over the ledge, drenching everything in cold, salty, water. The rain fell from the sky, blue as saphires, yet as cold as stone. The captain yelled his orders to his crew, but was unheard over the loud boom of the thunder.

Suddenly, the booming thunder stopped, the dark waves calmed, and the pounding rain dropped to a light drizzle.

The sailors surveyed the damage of the storm, the mast was broken, the sails were torn, the rigging was a mess of knots, cobwebbing into eachother, and swaying in the ravishing winds. Black raindrops dropped from them, hitting the deck with a resounding sploosh. They would not be able to set sail for many days.

"Look, on the horizon" A sailor yelled.

All the sailors quickly fell silent. They had seen the one thing all merchants feared.

On the horizon, was a ship, but this was not just any ship. It was a ship made of a mysterious wood as white as polished marble. Scrawled in shimmering gold on the side were the words "Royal Flame". It flew flags as black as coal, and on those dreaded flag, was the Jolly Roger.

"It's Henri's Corsairs" gasped one of the sailors. :" We're doomed."

Henri's Corsairs had ravaged these coasts for decades, raiding any ships they could, plundering the coastside fishing villages every few years. They were led by the most dreaded pirate of them all, Henri Black.

Legend had it that the day Henri was born, the stars ran from the sky. The gods were not with Earth that day, as he was not with the passengers of the fair merchant ship.

The Royal Flame was armed with some of the most dangerous Pirates the Seven Seas had ever seen. These men were trained swordsmen, archers, or cannoneers, that had been in a vast amount of battles, yet never been slayed.

The Flame approached the side of the merchant vessel quickly. The Corsairs wore black, and were covered in black tattoos and golden jewelery. Tossing grapples as they neared closer, The corsairs scurried over the ropes, like small monkeys, with knives and scimitars in hands.

The Corsairs screamed their battle yell, enchantingly poetic, yet eerily frightening. They corralled all the passengers into the galley, laughing and sneering at their frightened faces.

"Silence" stated a voice, not loud or fearful, but strikingly calm.

A polished boot stepped onto the deck, followed by another.

A man, with skin as pale as the moon, eyes as blue as sapphires, and hair as black as coal, stepped onto the boat. He walked calmly and without care towards the Corsairs, his trenchcoat waving in the brisk wind.

"Well boys, what have we here?" He said smiling slightly.

"Tis a fine catch capt'n Black, nice 'en rich" said a Corsair

"Plunder the gold, take the merchant, and then I'll send the rest of them to the depths" He spat as he turned away, and began walking back towards his ship

"Come on, we havent got all day" spat a Corsair as he shoved the merchant towards the ship "get in, hurry up."

The Corsairs went throughout the ship, stealing a trinket here, a piece of brass there, until they had all they could get. Quickly they left the ship, and returned to their own.

They pushed off, leaving the others back on the merchant vessel, utterly perplexed. A few hundred yards away they stopped. Henri walked quickly to the back of the ship, faced towards the merchant vessel and muttered a few syllables.

Suddenly, his eyes began to glow. His body tensed up, and he began to ramble in tongues dead for thousands of years.

The wind began to stir, the waters began to spin, and the storm grew. Lightning flashed. The waves crashed. The merchant vessel began to creak and groan, it was capsizing. With a sudden CRRAACCCKKKK! the vessel shattered into splinters, quickly pulled to the darkened depths by the waves and other forces unknown.

The storm ended, rather abruptly. Nothing was left, except for a lone piece of sail, tattered and torn, blown gently into the merchants hands. It was nothing but a piece of canvas, but it was all that was left of this broken-hearted merchants dream.