80 I have a smart idea to go through the calm belt! (2/2)

After what seemed like an eternity of tussling with the damn thing he had fallen asleep to the clearing of the storm and the benevolent rays of the sun, yet when he woke up he found himself in a hammock that could not possibly be pitched in his boat and the unmistakable hum of the beats of the drum.

Each beat seemed to resonate within him as he felt the minute sway of the ship. He walked slowly out of what seemed like a barrack into a set of rooms. Each had been labeled something or the other and only a few were open.

As he walked further away from the room that he had woken up in he felt the sound of the beat intensify.

At the end of the long hall of rooms he came to a staircase that led downward. He felt that the sound originated from the bottom of the stair case and so made his way downward. At the very least he hoped to thank the people that had saved him.

At the end of the somewhat short staircase he came to a wide opening at the very base of the ship. The cannons of the ship were usually kept here but at this point Rein could see a huge pile of cannons lined together and tied in a heap.

Already he felt his sanity lag and whine but that was not the end for in the very middle of the ship sat four people each with a huge oar in their hand. At their back stood a majestic drum from which the booming sounds originated.

A purple vested women stood on the drum with two makeshift drumsticks ramming it into the membrane of the drum at routine intervals that governed the rhythm that the oarsmen followed.

”Glad that you could join us!” One of the topless man called out from the lot. His grey hair stood neatly slicked back and his operation of the oar seemed the most leisurely. If Rein had not seen the effort that the other three put in he would have assumed that he was witnessing a skit in the making.

”Ai Fawkes don't steal my lines!” the one sitting opposite to him called out before turning to Rein and smartly repeating the same greeting.

”Ummm…..Hello my name is Rein..” He replied as he tried to get his wits about him. What he had seen was in fact very surprising and someone from his background had never seen something like it.

”Lorean.” the man nonchalantly replied before going back to rowing. His hands seemed to jet into a deep black every time he pulled the oar back before returning to its earthly complexion.

”Where am I ..?” he asked as he frantically tried to collect all the information he could. He had just been kick started and a primal urge seemed to frantically warn him to get away from these weirdoes.

”On our ship!” A young chubby boy quipped aloud as he rowed frantically to keep up with his three older counterparts.

”He didn't mean that obviously!” the women called out before turning to him and smiling. Rein being a hot blooded teenager could not help but blush as he looked at her. He had no clue where to look as he beheld the form of the black haired women.

”Names Angella, and were on a training regime on the calm belt.” she deadpanned before shooting an annoyed look at the lagging chubby boy and increasing the pace of her beating.

The child shot her an annoyed look as he immediately altered his pace to adjust to her pace before re-taking his struggling countenance.

”Angella let the poor boy contemplate in piece.” The black haired man identified as Lorean commanded as he lazily looked at Rein.

As he observed all that took place in front of his eyes his brain ran a marathon in on itself as it tried to make sense of the insane implications of the women's statement.

”You're telling me..” he began. ”Yup, stop right there! We don't have enough time for you to go through a realization, pick up an oar and row, you know we don't take kindly to freeloaders!” the captain called out.

Rein could only comply, subverting all questions for a time when his brain was willing to put up with the level of bullshit that the world was chucking at him. Now he just rowed…

Lore on the other hand merely shot a challenging look at his first mate who rolled his eyes before accepting the challenge.

The game was on...…