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It had all been going well....too well.

The quartermaster had an instinct for these things. Dice, cards, cockfights, whatever, he could almost see the odds form instantly in his mind, showing him the winner. There was no luck, only numbers. Sadly, years of pirating had left him with something of a problem. To the extent that any salary he received for himself was gambled away until nothing remained. Even brilliant people lost sometimes.

Today his game was some sort of local poker variant, unique to the island. His 'new friends' had explained it with a glee that can only come from cheating a youngster out of his money, but to their astonishment the lad had picked up the game as if he had been playing in the cradle.

He had somehow managed to triple the ships money after a few rounds and was hoping to call it a night when a cry rose up from the table "The little sod's counting cards!" and the adolescent pirate took that as his cue to flee. Bloody rude really, noone liked a sore loser...

Jonik was in a crumpled heap on the floor, terrified that another gigantic and very unclean gambler had caught him. A friend of his fellow players perhaps?

Then the familiar smell of chateau de barelle met his nostrils and the little pirate found himself being dragged off, by the far less menacing but equally dangerous navigator.

Thank the stars, if the gin soaked map reader kept his balance they might just have a chance to run away. And six against two was slightly more encouraging than six against one. Jonik spead up his pace, reinforcement or not, running away like cowardly dogs was their most useful skill today.

"Oh, you mean your left." Jonik shouted breathlessly a few steps behind him. Lord, it was good to be sprinting again, but he was out of practise. He only hoped that the navigators complete lack of any sense of direction brought about by the demon drink, didn't leave to get shanked in some dead end street somewhere.

Thankfully he was small and quite good at scrabbling over walls. "I hope you know where you're going, Alec!"

"BUT YOU CAN GET MALARIA IN SWAMPS!" yelled Jonik, his friends tactics may have been drunken and insane but they were quickly giving the angry gamblers the slip. "And there's aligators and bitey things!"
Still the swamp was a good place to hide, and it need only be for a little while, and then they could slink back onto the ship to drop off the winnings he had maybe not so honestly gained for the ship. Then maybe make some food lists for their journey to this forbidden island..if it indeed existed. The young pirate followed on regardless, since he didn't have a better plan.

Jonik almost collapsed again with exhaustion. But to their amazing good fortune they had actually managed to escape his new enemies. It was just like old times really. Cheating old ladies out of their Jewelry at the goblin king's parties just didn't have the excitement of nearly getting murdered over a card game.
"Thanks, I think I need one after that..." he replied. "Sure was fun though, I even got a few gold coins out of them as well." Oh yes, it was totally worth it.

Jonik took a swig thoughtfully. "Who knows, there's been rumours of an island. We might come across one, and if it's not the one the Captain meant, then we'll just pillage it like we always do and head for the hills. We certainly need a break this time. Get some things that are actually worth something." He passed the bottle back, knowing that his friend would probably need another drink fairly soon.

Jonik laughed at the comment. "Well drink causes impotence, so you're definitely going the right way about it." he smiled "The captain's not too bad though. I sometimes think he mistakes me for one of his numerous brood...and sometimes a tavern wench named Gertrude, but that's another story. I'd rather be poor and enjoy myself, than be poor and get worked to death by the navy."