The Legend of Captain Blackheart
He was born James Hartford Black in London, England when the Golden Age of Piracy was at it's peak. As a boy, James and his family settled in one of the island communities in the Caribbean protected under the British flag. Port Beck was a westward facing merchant town where James heard countless stories of famous pirates from the sailors who frequented the docks. He listened to tales of Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Black Bart, Edward Teach, and of course, the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow. He could recite every tale and had committed the Pirate Code to memory.
Now being a child of a highly influential family, his parents would hear no talk of piracy in their home. When James continued his daydreaming down at the docks and admiration of these known thieves and braggarts, his father decided it was time his son learn the difficult lessons of the sea first hand and enlisted him in His Majesty's Royal Navy as a deckhand.
James lived and worked for several years on the ship known as the HMS Declaration. She was a good ship and as James sailed from port to port, protecting merchant vessels and escorting prominent families, he became a strong and clever young sailor. In all of his work, his mind always drifted out to sea. The Declaration never left the safety of the bays, only venturing a few fathoms out to sea to usher in visiting ships. The neighboring islands were clustered closely together, so there was little time to find the wind fully in the sails before they had reached their next destination. Even as a member of the Royal Navy, James still fancied himself a swashbuckling scallywag.
As fate would have it, the Declaration was commissioned to sail to England for it's yearly round of supplies for Port Beck and the surrounding towns. Customarily this obligation would have fallen to a larger ship but there was a sense of urgency about this trip and very few ships could prevail in speed as the Declaration. At last, James would sail upon open waters.
Not a fortnight into their excursion when James and the crew were awakened by the unfamiliar crash of cannon fire. There was a commotion in the lower barracks as sailors snatched at their swords and pistols and raced to the top deck to defend their ship and captain. James tore up the steps and out into the open air to view the battle before him. By the light of the full moon, he could clearly see his comrades engaged in a furious scuffle. Swords met mid-air with a clash. James, being the clever young man that he was, searched for the source from which these pirates boarded their ship. Not but a fathom from the starboard side, a glorious ship with ruby sails had affixed herself to the Declaration.
The ship was unmistakable. James had heard tales of this vessel and her wretched captain. The ship was the Scarlet Sorceress. Her captain, one of the most fearsome men on these tropical waters: Captain Edward de Wilde. To most he was known as Wilde the Vile with blazing eyes, a tangle of hair as black as the Caspian Sea, and a beard with a single crimson streak from lip to tip. As James scoured the Declaration's deck with his eyes, he could not locate this man. He gleaned the captain might still be on his own ship in his quarters. James climbed half way up the rigging and swung himself onto the decks of the Scarlet Sorceress, completely undetected as the skirmish on the Declaration continued.
He made his way over to the bright red door of the captain's quarters where he could see a faint light flicker in a small, sea-stained window. As he approached, the door swung open and James drew the tip of his cutlass to Captain Wilde's throat. The captain was caught a bit off-guard, believing most navy men to be cowardly inept. Never did he suppose a sailor would be cunning and brave enough to attempt to hold the vile Captain Wilde hostage.
James led Captain Wilde to the port side of the ship and called attention to the fact that he indeed held the pirate captain captive. The pirates aboard the Declaration laid down their arms and the sailors guided their new prisoners to the brig below. As James readied to take the captain to the decks of the navy vessel, Captain Wilde let out a wild whoop and up from the barracks came nearly two dozen of the captain's crew. The tables had turned in favor of the pirates: James was now their prisoner. The handful of men still above deck on the Declaration were not quick enough to rescue James as they dragged him below decks and sharply turned the Sorceress due West. Within moments, the pirates were out of cannon range and even the Declaration could not match the Sorceress's velocity.
Wilde the Vile was not apt to keep prisoners on his ship. He would have sent James to the crushing depths of Davy Jones's Locker if he hadn't admired James's courage and intelligence. He saw a lot of himself in this young man and found himself frequenting the brig to converse with his prisoner. A short length of time passed before James gained the Captain's trust and became a member of his crew. It was not long at all before he was appointed as First Mate. At last James ventured upon the open sea with the wind as his guide and felt the freedom his heart always yearned for. He was free to sail anywhere in the Caribbean and began to amass his own wealth as Captain Wilde's only confidant.
A few years had passed and the day came when Captain Wilde took his last breath. He had outlived most pirates of his time. He had never been successfully captured by the Royal Navy and never lost a duel. It was on his deathbed that he disclosed his final wish: James would inherit the Scarlet Sorceress and with it the location of Captain Wilde's grandest treasure. With the map in hand, James set course for the Wilde Treasure.
Nearly a month had passed by the time Captain James Hartford Black and his crew uncovered his predecessor's fortune. Gold, jewels, and riches abound and Captain Black divided it amongst himself and the crew. They made a stop at Tortuga for celebration and supplies but while the captain was out gathering necessities, he heard tell of a mutinous plan his newly acquired crew had in store for him. It appeared that these miscreants felt that the Sorceress and the Wilde Treasure did not rightfully belong to young Captain Black. Any treasure should have been given entirely to the crew since it was they whom had helped Captain Wilde accrue this great wealth. No Royal Navy brat should have sole possession of the ship nor could lead the crew in true buccaneer battle.
With this news squarely in mind, Captain Black made his way back to the ship to load the provisions for which he had already bartered. He found only three of his men at the dock guarding the ship. He casually dismissed them and advised them to join in the celebration in town. He stowed away his rations and watched as the last of his men disappeared up the dock. The Sorceress was a smaller ship, not nearly as grand as a navy vessel, and could be readied to set sail by just one man. As soon as had he pulled away from the dock, two of his crew strolled around the corner to see their captain sailing away with their ship. They ran back to inform the rest of their crew and within moments they had commandeered a merchant ship and were at the Sorceress's heels.
Weeks passed as the Sorceress outran the pirates' ship at every turn. The insubordinate crew was set on taking back their ship and sending her captain to Davy Jones and it seemed as if their will fueled the ship. Captain James Black could feel a storm coming and knew this would be his one chance for a clean escape. He steered the Scarlet Sorceress straight into the tumultuous tide and the stinging rain. He could see no signs of any other ship. Water cut down from the sky and crashed onto the deck in rolling waves. A deafening roar of thunder sounded above as lightning struck a mast and came crashing down upon the captain. A ruby sail fluttered before his eye and he remembered the first time he looked upon his ship. A flash of crimson and then everything went black.
He awoke to the sounds of waves crashing gently on sand. He opened his eyes to a clear blue sky. Not knowing how long he had been unconscious, he had no concept of time. He sat up with a groan and took a look at his surroundings. Behind him was a small hut with a bridge beside it. In the distance he could see a volcano with smoke wafting in the breeze. He knocked upon the door of the hut to find it uninhabited. He turned to look at the beach where he had just been laying. Pieces of his ship lay scattered across the sand, along with most of his treasure. He gathered up the loot and decided to store it in the empty hut until he found a suitable place to bury it. There was a chill on the wind, so he picked up one of the only sails left intact and fashioned a bright red coat. He took shelter in the island shed for the night. It was the first time in weeks he had slept soundly.
Captain Blackheart and his coat of crimson color.
Sun beamed through the windows and across his face. He awoke and realized the recent events which had occurred were indeed not a dream but reality. He needed to find a place to bury his treasure so he set out into the jungle. He passed ruins and temples and what looked like an abandoned town square, shop, and docks. As the day went on, he discovered that this island was inhabited by an interesting group of natives who wore mouse ears upon their heads and played at being pirates, explored jungles, dressed as medieval royalty, frequented a mountain known as 'Space' and sometimes performed suspicious spells. As he journeyed throughout this world, which was strange and unknown to him, not one of the natives took a second glance at him. He knew this was a place where his mutinous crew would never be able to find him or his treasure. He stumbled upon a secluded area deep within the forest where a mighty tree stood. He dragged what was left of his ship to this place and built a residence high above the town, the scarlet door of his quarters a constant reminder of his beloved ship.
Captain Black, still weary that he would be discovered in this new world, changed his appearance by growing out his hair and donning an eye patch. He also thought it would be wise to change his name. Captain James Hartford Black would be known only as Captain Blackheart.
The whereabouts of the captain's great fortune are rumored to be somewhere in this magic kingdom now inhabited by a tree-dwelling pirate captain. Its exact location has never been discovered.
And now we have the answer yes VMK is educational I just put this story into a word document to read on our my car ride home tonigt it is 4 pages long.
If this is what's replacing the HMQ, I'm hoping it will be just as fun. 
That story is a little too long for me to read.
