The raided ship had nothing that helped Rotter in his quest for the Pearl. There were no clues or another cryptic diary among the scattered booty to tell him where to find Atlantis. It was a bit disappointing really, even if the valuable loot made the rest of the crew happy. Rotter still felt cheated, somehow, that he had an established mission and the Phoenician ship had in no way contributed to complete it.<br/><br/>There were crates of spice, which was always welcome, but the Rotsman already had ample of this, except for curry, which, of course, the Phoenicians had none of either. There was some jewelry, but not a lot, since the Crow had snuck off with most of it without anyone knowing. There were a good few rolls of silk, which Rotter decided he might as well claim, since there was nothing else that had any practical value to him.<br/><br/>"Lass, can you sow? Lass-" Rotter looked about, confused, where did the little stowaway run off to? Had she been thrown overboard after all? If she had it would mean they had encountered another ship, and Rotter hurried over to the railing to, greedily thinking of all the new treasure such an encounter would bring.<br/>There was no ship. There was no stowaway either.<br/><br/>Until she came up from below deck with a defeated look on her face. Rotter chuckled and called her over.<br/>"When you find one rat aboard you might as well assume there are more. Obviously, when we found you I had your hiding place searched aftwerwards, assuming you had brothers and sisters. You might say I probed our hiding place, vigorously. There weren't any others, which is good. I would be far less impressed with you if a whole flock of you had snuck aboard. Then I would just be angry with the crew. And with the Crow, because people sneaking aboard a ship seem to be the fault of the watchman not watching enough. He does that, you see," Rotter pointed to Ganelon who was climbing the riggings again, going back to his little nest. "He's not looking at the horizon at all. I would talk to him about it if it mattered even slightly."<br/><br/>Rotter looked pensively. The crew was still carrying off their share of the loot. Usually it was a more organized ceremony, but Rotter did not care today. He had greater treasures on his mind. He had<span style="font-style: italic">the</span>greatest treasure on his mind.<br/><br/>"Can you sow?" He asked suddenly. "I have these rolls of silk and I was thinking of getting new socks. I hate socks, of course, but I guess I might as well minimize the discomfort by having them be as expensive as possible. I don't think anyone on this crew can make socks I would like, and I'm a bit embarrassed to ask them, really. If you can make some socks I hate less than other socks then I will let you live for... how about one more day for each pair of socks? And you get any fun ideas with the silk then go for it. But, wash your hands before you start sowing, I don't want turtle soup all over my feet."<br/><br/>It seemed the Crow did not even need to help the girl; Rotter was kept extending her life, if she could earn it.<br/>"Ah, there is one thing you should know. I guess now is as good a time to demonstrate as any. Hey, Crow, you hear me!? Get your ears to the deck and watch this! The Crow is new on the ship, too, and I don't think he has seen this. It is fairly important for me to have everyone on the crew know."<br/><br/>Rotter turned from Aris and called out the entire crew.<br/>"Swabbies, countrymen and pirates lend me your ears! I have been the captain of the Flying Rotsman for as long as the Rotsman has sailed the skies. The Rotsman shall never touch the ocean, nor reach the gates of Heaven, but for as long as I live it shall sail in between. I am Rotter, this is my ship! If you think yourself more suited as this ship's captain, watch this! Or... I suppose I could ask you to also lend me your eyes. Because this is more of a visual demonstration than anything else. Right, yes, see."<br/><br/>And Rotter inhaled deep, and with his cheeks puffed full, he held his breath.<br/><br/>Nothing happened.<br/><br/>Rotter looked very confident, despite his puffed up cheeks, and with a wiggling finger he promised something would happen soon.<br/><br/>Nothing happened.<br/><br/>Rotter was starting to jump up and down and his face was turning a slight shade of purple.<br/><br/>Nothing happened.<br/><br/>He held his mouth and nose shut with his hands to prevent himself from bursting. His face was turning very purple now, and his lips were turning blue.<br/><br/>And the Rotsman started falling. Not fast, but it tipped forwards and the pirates who did not know what was coming stumbled a bit. The ship itself began to lose velocity and the longer Rotter held his breath the more it accelerated until the captain began making noise as air escaped his closed lips, and the feet of the pirates began to leave the falling ship, and there was fear in the eyes of the pirates and the ocean kept coming closer with constantly increasing velocity.<br/><br/>Rotter burst, gasped for air and coughed as his face slowly returned to a normal color. The ship, in turn, gradually slowed its fall and when Rotter was back on his feet and breathed almost normally it began to elevate, returning to its sky-high position.<br/><br/>"I am..." Rotter stopped and breathed some more. He was not yet ready to talk. It took him another minute before he concluded his rousing speech.<br/>"I am Rotter! I struck a deal with the swan queens to keep this ship airborne until it hatches at the end of the world! My life alone - and some royal swan feathers - is all that keeps this ship from falling to your collective deaths. I say yours, because if it falls it means I am already dead. So if you have any thought of mutiny or of causing me harm, then know you will all die with me. Oh, and, on the off chance you will survive then you will lose your flying ship, and, I mean, what is then even the point of mutinying? Stick with me, potential traitors, and I'll bring you riches enough to buy your own ship you can be captain of. But still, don't try to hurt me. It's bad for, well, everyone. Except our victims, I guess."<br/><br/>Rotter nodded and turned to Aris.<br/>"Yeah, so, you're free to walk around this ship as you please. You can cook our food and everything, because I think you have enough of a survival instinct not to hurt me. That is also why I will give you back your curved swords. You'll need them to protect yourself, and I don't fear you stabbing, or, I guess they are more suitable for slicing, me. They are in my private quarters; you can come get them when you bring me dinner. If you are going to temporarily join this crew, then I will need to know your name. Because of your job I will give you the moniker "Needle Fingers" and then what your name is. Or maybe "Sock-Hand Jill" provided your name is Jill. Is it Jill? Anyway, tell me when you bring me dinner. Men! Set the sail for Napoli even harder than you have already! There was something we were supposed to do there!"