"So this weird mist rises out of the sea from nowhere. Freezing it was. Then she came out of the mist, Big as a blue whale, sails the colour of blood." The sailor took another swig of ale. Alex, the man's overdressed companion, lifted a much smaller glass of whiskey to his lips and took a sip. "Go on", he prompted - feigning interest.<br/><br/>"There were these fierce samurai running over the deck." The storyteller glanced at Alex's companion - an older Japanese man who stared at the pair dispassionately. "Then I saw him at the helm. 'Twas the devil imself!"<br/><br/>The Japanese man frowned. "How do you know it was the devil? We Japanese are mainly bhuddists who also cling on to some of our older shinto traditions. The devil is a christian concept. Why would he be on a Japanese ship?"<br/><br/>The tale teller looked confused. This was not a good look on a man who was already drunk.<br/><br/>"Well because. Uh because. Because Japanese aint christian and anyone who aint christian do the devil's bidding. That's probably why there were those savages on board too."<br/><br/>Alex did his best to restrain himself from laughing. "Savages?"<br/><br/>"Aye. Cannibals they say. They say they killed the first captain, cooked him, then fed him to his daughter and her consort."<br/><br/>"Her consort?"<br/><br/>"The devil. Like I said. Only she got pregnant with an imp so he had her killed and ate her too."<br/><br/>The Japanese man unconsciously moved a hand to the large sword hanging on his waist. Alex noticed the gesture and frowned.<br/><br/>"A fine, blood curdling tale my good man. But now down to business." He produced a large Spanish doubloon. The drunk grinned and handed Alex a rolled up parchment. "X marks the spot", he commented in a way that was rather cliche.<br/><br/>The walk from the town of Jérémie to the Haitian coast was brief. The Japanese man extracted the hidden rowboat from a nearby cave and Alex assisted him in getting the boat off the beach and into the sea.<br/><br/>"I don't like the stories they tell", the Japanese man said after they had been rowing for a good half hour, "They insult us all."<br/><br/>Alex grinned. "Oh Isamu. Would it hurt you to lighten up? Just a little? The more these rumour's persist the more they fear us. The more they fear us the more likely they are to be p%&**-%g their breeches when we come at them. Puts them off their game.<br/><br/>They were a god distance from shore when Alex produced a small model ship in a glass bottle from his waistcoat pocket. He placed it carefully in the water and watched it float away.<br/><br/>"Isamu?"<br/><br/>The Japanese man was carrying a shortbow. He cocked an arrow and aimed. Once the bottle was a fair distance away he let the arrow fly. It hit the bottle, smashing it. The sky darkened and a swirling mass of black smoke rose from where the bottle had been. Just to be safe the pair started rowing rapidly away from it. A minute later and they were a few yards away from a large Japanese vessel with blood red sails. The Crimson Sakura was back in service.<br/><br/>"Welcome aboard, Captain!", a large African man saluted as Alex came on board. "You have the map?"<br/><br/>Alex produced the parchment and waved it in front of his well built companion. The African took the map and read it. Isamu leaned in to take a closer look. "I'm don't think we should take the word of a drunken liar. This map is probably fake."<br/><br/>Alex patted Isamu on the back. "Where's your sense of adventure? Fake or not it gives us something to stave off the boredom." He addressed the rest of the ship.<br/><br/>"All hands on deck! Raise the anchor. We sail with the wind today!"