Shiver me timbers...errr..TARDIS!!!

[The Eighth Doctor]

It was quiet, at first, in the dark dank hold. All the sounds one could hear (if anyone wanted to venture down) were the creaking of the wood and thick heavy ropes, the occasional hollow 'thump' of a loose barrel and of course, the squeaking of the rats. Always the rats. The only way they ever left was when they sensed the doom of the vessel they were encased in, then they sprang out in droves. Otherwise they crept here and there, their scurrying claws scraping the wood and the faint squeaking to each other echoing the slow rhythmic yawing of the ship.

Suddenly a group of rats jerked their heads up, their whiskers quivering as they tried to discover the source of their alert. Each rat froze in place as the disquieting sound grew more and more intense. Some began to panic as they couldn't locate the source of the sound no matter where they turned their sensitive ears and with shrill cries of dismay they leapt up onto the wooden crates and barrels to their hiding spots. A few held their ground but as the grinding noise became louder and stronger their nerve too broke and they dashed after the others.

The sound quickly became loud enough for humans to hear if there were any humans about and just as suddenly it fell silent with a long last grinding groan. The echoe from the sound bounced about for a few seconds and it too died away. The hold was now perfectly quiet.

A door opened and light burst out as if it had been opened in the side of the hold itself and a man peered through. He carefully looked right, then left, then stared straight ahead as if wondering to step out or retreat back in.

"Hmmm," the figure mused. "Dark, dank, rather damp. Crates and barrels that look like they're made of wood stacked up along with coils of hemp rope." He sniffed at the air like a hound searching for a scent and added the comment "Salt water, salt pork if I'm not mistaken and....hmmm, a slight taint of gunpowder. Put it all together and.....it's definitely not a hotel on Florida's sunny beaches that I'm on! I really must get that stabilizer fixed one of these days. Getting jolted off course is beginning to wear thin."

He stepped out and instantly made a small sound of disgust. "Oh no, my shoes are getting wet! Someone really should look to the bilge pumps." He turned and locked the door of the TARDIS behind him and pocketed the key. "Now, I know a bit of where I am but just when? Wood everywhere so it must be an old sailing ship. What flag and captain, I wonder. Nelson? John Paul? One way to find out. Forward, Doctor!"

[The Eighth Doctor]

It wasn't easy trying to neogiate a way through the hold to the nearest door, even with the small light the Doctor fished out of his pocket. First the door had to be located and then he had to carefully make his way through the stacked crates and barrels without tripping over the loose loops of the stored ropes. Rats zipping here and there increased the fun so after twenty minutes the Doctor was in need of a rest and only halway to the exit.

He leaned against a crate and took the time to shine the light about and take inventory of his surroundings. "They certainly need to do a bit of spring cleaning down here," he said to himself. "Quite untidy! How do they manage to find whatever they need in this chaos? Ask the rats?"

Curiosity lead him to gently pry open a corner of the crate he was leaning on to peek inside. "Hmmm, bolts of material, silk, I'd say. Not exactly the best way to store them though. Rather careless as they'll get water-damaged down here." He turned his attention to the barrel next to the crate. "Ugh, salted fish. Cod most likely. Never a favorite of mine. Very bad with tea. Ah! Now that looks interesting!"

A glint of reflection from his flash caused him to pick his way to one side to a rack of securely tied bottles. He twisted his head in an effort to read the label of the nearest one. "Ah yes! Château Lafite! Very nice vintage! I wonder if I could be able to persuade my soon-to-be-host to offer me a glass?"

His wine examination was interrupted by a set of muffled footsteps approaching the far door. The Doctor straightened up and gave a quick thought as to how to reveal himself as a friendly visitor rather than a sneaky stowaway. In the end he decided that descretion was called for so he switched off the light and crouched down besides the wine rack to await the development.

[The Tenth Doctor]

A young man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties, or possibly, even his early thirties, had decided to go for a walk. He had managed to sneak his way onto the ship earlier. So far no one had even noticed him. He had been looking for food of some sort, as he had been a servant of a family back on the main land. A slave would be a more appropriate description of the duties that he had performed. Having been awakened by some sort of noise earlier, he decided to go in search of its source.

He didn't particularly like his surroundings, nor did he really know whose ship he was on. He had simply noticed it earlier and had decided to take a trip on it -- to go anywhere, really. He hadn't cared where.

[The Eighth Doctor]

From the Doctor's hiding place he watched the young man look about. (I take it he already was down in the hold?) He didn't seem like a threat so the Doctor decided to come out into the open. He wasn't going to find out anything lurking in the dark hold by himself anyway.

He stood up and worked his way out from beside the wine rack and held out his hand in a friendly manner.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor! And you are?" His friendly approach was spoiled by a sudden high pitched squall. The Time Lord had stepped square onto a rat's tail and the creature voiced its displeasure loudly. In shifting about to avoid being bitten into the bargain the Doctor fell against a stack of barrels, sending them crashing down as well. Another stack fell and then a stake of crates tumbled, adding to the din. Rats fled in all directions to avoid being crushed or covered with whatever the storage containers held.

The Doctor winced at each added noise, then took a deep breath and slowly straightened up when silence came once more. He gave a rueful smile.

"So much for being subtle, eh?"

[The Tenth Doctor]

The young man winced when the Doctor had stepped onto the rat tail, causing it to squall. He winced even more when the crates and containers and whatnot came crashing down. He stared at the Doctor. He seemed friendly enough. Perhaps the others on the ship were friendly as well. Shrugging, he answered the man.

"My name is Tyler....and.....and....so you're a doctor? We're certainly in short supply of them back where I come from. So....how long have you been in practice? I take it you're the doctor on this ship....must be people with a lot of money on this ship.....to afford a doctor."

He stepped back, glance at the man's attire. He certainly looked rich himself.

[The Eighth Doctor]

"Well, this being a ship and I am a doctor I guess logically I am indeed, the ship's Doctor! Very pleased to meet you, Tyler! I suppose the people running this ship are well off, as they certainly have a well-stocked hold. Complete with a rather envious wine collection." For a moment the Doctor looked back at the rack, wondering if a single bottle would be missed, then he shook off the notion and looked upwards as loud heavy boots were heard stamping closer. "It seems my little mishap has stirred them up a bit. I'll just stand here and apologize and then we'll go topsides. Shouldn't be a problem."

He stepped forward in front of Tyler and waited for the door to swing open. It didn't take long.

The face of the man who violently slung the wooden stared quickly about and then spied the Doctor. "Blimey! And what haves we here then? A couple of stowaways, is it? The' cap'n 'll be wantin' a word with th' both of ye!" From behind his back he produced a vicious looking cutlass. "Come along, ye bilge-sucking scallwags!"

"Now now," the Doctor held up his hands as he was ushered to the doorway. "There's really no need to get violent. Or insulting!"

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler himself was dressed in rags, as he'd been a servant/slave. His outfit was torn, and he wore no shoes on his feet. His outfit had a few pockets, but he didn't really own much. The only belonging that really was his was a pocket watch, which he would protect from anyone at all cost. It was a gift from his parents at his birth. They had been died shortly after his birth, or so he'd been told. They had likely died of disease. He knew that he was originally from England, but that somehow he'd been taken from his home town and been carted off somewhere.

No one had known about his watch, as he'd kept it secret, afraid that someone would steal it from him. He had the urge to hide it from these pirates now, for he knew that that's what they were.

Sighing in frustration at his luck -- he just HAD to choose a pirate ship, didn't he?

He stared at the Doctor. Why was he talking like that to pirates? Didn't he know that acting like that towards them.....was....well, not going to go well for them?

Tyler whispered to the Doctor, "Why are you talking like that to pirates?"

[The Eighth Doctor]

"How else should I talk to them?" came the mild answer. "When you've been traveling around as much as I have you soon learn that if you act scared then your captors will feel superior to you, and if you yell and shout back at them they'll feel justified in treating you badly. So it's best to approach via the middle ground. Don't you agree?" This was aimed over his shoulder to their captor following close behind.

"Huh? What in blazes are yer yammerin' about? Scuttle that talk now or ye be feedin' the fishes before long!"

"Don't worry. He agrees. And besides, how do you know he's a pirate? Could be he's just in his working clothes." The Doctor blinked as they reached the doorway to the open deck. Stretched out before them was a motley collection of rather rough looking men, some in ragged shirts, others with no shirt at all. Some were bare-headed while others had dirty bandanas tied on. All had at least one gold earring dangling from the left lobe. They all stopped whatever they were doing and glared at the newcomers. "Or, you could, in fact, be correct." he finished.

[Rahul]

In a well ordered manner the young man looked about it wasn’t that he was lost though he was lost when it came to searching around, he’d taken to falling asleep realising that maybe the captain was going to fry him, waking up to a rather unpleasant sound he opened his eyes slowly yawning as he gets out and slowly makes his way to the noise hiding slightly he looks to see who it is and finds two strangers.

Being without clothing, sword and really not alot at all he disappeared he never was brilliant but he could fight if he had to. Returning soon he had bottoms on and his sword at least. Deciding upon he’d just plonk himself down anywhere he fell asleep still ready for anything.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler looked at the Doctor and shrugged whispering again, "I...I don't know...but I don't think it's wise to talk to them like that...."

He whispered again to the other captive, "I....I've been warned about pirates before -- always wanting to steal people like me -- servants to use on their ships. My -- my masters forced me to be able to recognize them -- to study their appearance -- I should have known this would be a pirate ship."

Tyler looked at these men as he and the Doctor were led towards them, finding it hard to take his eyes off of them. He just hoped that the stories he had heard of pirates were not true. Maybe they didn't make people walk the plank or any of the horror stories. Maybe they were just misunderstood or nice people.

He turned back to the Doctor. If this man had done a lot of traveling, then he probably knew what he was talking about. Maybe that WAS the right way to talk to them.

[The Eighth Doctor]

"They do look a rough lot, don't they? And they seem to start rather young." The Doctor noted the one younger man dressed only in pants and seemingly about ready to fall asleep. "I guess we're not exciting enough for them. Does this happen every day? Ah!" His arm had been twisted sharply behind him. "As..as I mentioned before, there's no need to be violent. We're not about to try to escape. Where could we go if we did?" It seemed a reasonable statement considering they were in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.

"Just stow it, shark bait! As I said, the cap'n be wantin' a word with ye. He has a way of dealin' with stowaways, he has!" Their captor showed the sharp edge of his cutlass again as the rest of the crew chuckled low. "So ye'd better be showin' a bit o'respect!"

"With that cutlass practically under my chin do I have a choice?" the Doctor still tried to make his voice light and unconcerned but inside he was wondering how he was going to get himself and his new friend out of this mess.

The door to the main cabin swung open and he caught sight of the ship's captain for the first time. The Time Lord's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, dear."

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler's eyes also got big when he saw the captain. He didn't know pirates by name usually, but he had heard of this one -- had his picture up back in his home town's tavern. Hoping he was wrong -- really -- it was just a drawing -- maybe it only resembled him. All pirates tended to look alike to him. Of course there were individual differences -- but a drawing...

Tyler, too afraid to say anymore, waited. Maybe the Captain would be friendly. One could only hope.

He glanced at the Doctor, a look of fear on his face.

[Dan Swarmy]

A new noise could be heard along the deck of the pirate boat this one sounded like a noise a boat horn would make but it was seemingly fading in and out of existence. If you where to look to the left hand side of the boat in the water you would see a small looking boat that had latched itself onto the pirate boat. Not that any of the natives would see it only a time traveller themselves. Dan Swarmy just arriving from 21st century England had landed well he had no idea when something had gone wrong with his ship and he needed to fix it however exploring an plundering first.

He jumped out of the boat keeping everything he had with him at hand forgetting about the boat for a moment and its occupants he turned to a watch on his arm something he had plundered from a time agent.
"Hmm stupid thing don't work darn hoot it, oh but what this be a Time traveller interesting." Finally looking up from what he was doing he noticed a few people of the ship advancing on him swords out.

Getting out his own sword he grinned as if this was all just a game and jumped into the sword fight dancing his way around the others swords as he went.
"Wait a time you be pirates wow god old earth pirates, how about I join ya crew no allright then." he continued on quickly taking a quickly glancing at two people of to the left and a captain he recognised.

[The Eighth Doctor]

This certainly was a more unusual trip this time, the captain thought. There was a report of two stowaways in the hold that piqued his interest and he ordered them brought up on deck. Who in their right mind would stow away on a -pirate- ship? Regular people who sneak on board tend to do so to either travel to a certain place or to escape from one but they generally chose vessels with little risk of dire consequence when caught. When they were brought before him his puzzlement grew. One certainly looked like a runaway with nothing to lose but the other.... he couldn't place him. He seemed to have an air of authority about him, and his clothes didn't look like those living the life of the lower class. Indeed, here this scoundrel was standing straight and eyeing -him-!!!

Blackbeard glared down at both of them for a moment, drawn up to his full heighth. The crew stood around expectantly.

'So,ye thinks ye can just use me ship as a cab to go where ye jolly please!?" he growled at them. "All has t'pay the fare, in money or.." Here he drew his own cutlass and ran a dirty thumb along its edge, "In blood!" The crew shouted and yelled its approval. "So, which be it, eh?"

Before any reply could be heard the scuffle in the back started. Blackbeard straightened up and waited silently for the fight to cease. Another uninvited guest on his ship, unseen and unheard! His ship,his pride, the Queen Anne's Revenge, might as well -be- a cab now! He crossed his arms and waited a few more moments, as he had faith in his crew's fighting abilities. After all, they wouldn't still be on board if they couldn't handle themselves well.

Then his patience ran out and he bellowed 'BELAY THAT!!! Bring that other scalawag here!!!"

[Dan Swarmy]

Realising the boat he was on and the voice of the pirate he grinned and looked up over at the captain and those that where in front of him.
"Belay what type of word that be if you be wantin me ohthere why donay just ask," he grinned once again and took a quick peak behind him seeing two pirates he took out his time displacer turning on the pirate to the left and firing it as soon as it hit he was gone.
"Oh maybe that be bad ah well wonder what be happening to him now better fine out in time."

Having taken to long to talk he had been grabbed from behind, the grip he was in was a little too strong to brake out of instead he just went along with it. He was quickly delivered to the other two who was with the lead pirate. He might as well say something,
"Hey ya scurvy salty sea dogs berrys<" he looked around at the unamused audience he let out a low chuckle
"What ya donay say that then." sighing he folded his arms and just waited to see what would happen.