<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color:#353535; border:1px solid black; margin:10px 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;">"Responsible? Him?! Blake ain't fit to lead an army of seagulls even if he was covered in food!"<br/><br/>This was <span style="font-style: italic">outrageous</span>. Should Blake suddenly be in charge just because he was the boy?! Mallory balled her fists, feeling ready to punch anyone who got near her, but especially that captain. He was looking at her something awful - was he amused?<br/><br/>Captain Cousteau straightened up, looking haughtily at the children. "Shut your trap, girl, or I'll throw you overboard and let you swim to the island." He flashed them a wide, toothy grin. Mallory was quivering with anger. The pale, lanky girl next to her shot her an unreadable glance.<br/><br/>"He looks capable enough," she said. Mallory started. The girl could speak! Her voice was flat, without any emotion behind it, like her dark eyes. Mallory quickly looked away from her, the anger fading. She bitterly had to admit that it was a lost battle.<br/><br/>Captain Cousteau beamed at them. "Fantastic! Your job is simple. We are nearin' an island. Dangerous, full of sharp rocks it is. There is something there for me. Great pirate legends to-be such as you will know when you see! And," he continued, pulling an oversized dagger from his belt, "I'll know if you take anything." He ran his finger along the blade, smiling threateningly. The display was, however, cut short when Cousteau accidentally sliced his finger open and uttered a series of swear words that made Mallory's filthy hair curl even more. She would have to remember those.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i.imgur.com/HIaYY7L.png">[ img ]</a></div><br/>"Land, ho!" Shouted the man in the crow's nest, but Mallory had no idea where the land was. She was, again, too busy puking her guts out. Her stomach had been feeling dreadfully empty as of late, but that was no excuse to not act tough. She had been avoiding the creepy girl as much as possible, but decided to at least bully Shitsack and his friends one last time before she left the ship again.<br/><br/>She sauntered across the deck and into the hold where she found Gill and Dingus scrubbing a chamber pot, and Shitsack looking both bored and scared. Supervising, it looked like. Mallory had done enough of that herself to know what it looked like. Usually like you were just avoiding work, but she knew the harsh reality of supervising someone like Blake. A perfect plan could turn to disaster in a flash with him.<br/><br/>"Well well," she said confidently, slightly green in the face and with a bit of vomit by the left corner of her mouth. Shitsack looked at her sullenly.<br/><br/>"You're crazier than Dingus," he said. One of the boys looked up.<br/><br/>"Yes, it's su... Sui... mad!" He piped up.<br/><br/>"Suimad!" The other, presumably Gill, squeaked. Mallory tried not to pay attention to them as they stared at her with their huge, owlish eyes.<br/><br/>"We're gonna be rich," she said haughtily. "Me 'n Blake. Your sorry asses will be dreaming of scrubbing <span style="font-style: italic">our</span> chamber pots one day!" She swayed, still feeling a little sick, and quickly left the hold again before she had time to say some <span style="font-style: italic">really</span> mean things to the boys. She went to the bulwark again and stood next to Blake, staring at the rocky shore ahead. The cliffs looked sharp and dangerous - the perfect place to forge a fearsome reputation.<br/><br/>"Ready?"</div></div>