Captain Hood
The Maiden
Voyage
CAPTAIN HOOD and his crew were sailing along... (this has become a theme... now
I have to start every story this way) Anyway, the Captain's ship was nothing fancy,
an older square-
Well, anyway, they hadn't left port too long before a storm blows in from the north-
Below decks, knives became spears, having just flown out of the flung-
Right, then. Three hours of treacherous seas and mist behind them, a cheer came
down from the crow's nest. There was land to the west and a low spot on the horizon
where there just might be a bay to anchor in! Yezir! Hood jabbed his fist in that
direction with a whoop-
The captain hauled in the mainsheet a bit more and joyously felt the ship lurch ahead. The crew were already much brightened too, and set upon the chores like it was the moment of departure. Ahhhh, you could just feel the relief ahead...
But, it was the first mate in the bow pulpit who first noticed the white water churning around the mouth of the bay.“REEFS! Oh, my God, we’re goin’ ter Davy Jones!!”
Sure enough, all around the ship, waves broke on a line of rocks just under the surface of the water. And not just close by, but as far as the eye could see. Tacking about was out of the question and a strong tide was pulling the ship ever closer to the bobbing kelp and evil wavelets over the rocks. A hungry, lapping sound came from the water ahead and fought the moaning from the wind in the stays. Not even a day out, and the crew were fully expecting a wreck...
Now, no one noticed the group of curious porpoises swimming alongside Hood's ship
until a bit later. (wondering if they'd hit the rocks or just capsize.. the big white-
NO porpoise is going to get itself dashed against the rocks and Captain Hood knew it... "Stay with the dolphins, mates!"
Absolutely right. The mammals led a zig-
Now, as you've heard before, if you’ve tuned into the last episode, Hood noticed the Stone Guardians on the way in, but he was FAR too busy preparing to anchor at the north end of the bay. Ah... the sheltered quiet in the lee of the island! Glorious. But as you can well imagine, after that wretched trip, everyone skipped dinner and went to bed early. Stomachs not feeling well can lead to strange dreams at night...
Flapping wings whistled over the captain’s head in the darkness. Crickets... more
crickets... what a racket! Long time; no time, beating drums... smoke! A dark head
looms out of the smoke; glowing purple lights look down at him-
Then Hood woke with a start. Whoah... what a bizarre, disjointed dream. Going to the porthole where the sunlight is streaming in, Captain Hood finds a log is bumping against the hull, making a huge racket. That would explain the drums. Wide awake now, he figured he might as well go and make some coffee. Steadying the steaming mug as he climbed out the companionway above decks, he's met with the full beauty of the place. In the water, fish are jumping up, seals giving him 'the eye' and seagulls are flying around. All around shore, the rock is hollowed out in crazy shapes. Just to his left, he is sure he can make out a face in the shoreline! And at the south end of the bay, a dozen or so sea lions are barking up a falsetto on the rocks. Ahhh, thinks Hood, now that would be a good place to catch some crabs! Since the rest of the crew is still swinging in the hammocks, he figures he'll just take the rowboat out there to see what he can find for lunch.
It's when he ties up the dingie to a chunk of rock that he notices something familiar
about the twin 5 metre rock outcroppings nearby. By the most striking coincidence,
these rocks are the he saw in his dream! When he saw these for the first time, the
dragon shape didn't occur to him, but now..." Look at that! The dingie is tied to
what looks like the tail of a dragon!". Now, only someone who had heard the name
before could have pronounced the scratching sound of the ~ in Y~innon, but as the
first mate absent-
A shimmer appeared all along the rock formations. But the mate was too interested in something else... an orange crystal just under the "dragon's" foreclaw. And, it seemed to be glowing to the sound of his voice! The mate bent down deeply to have a closer look,. " Hey! This is interesting... and it looks valuable too...".
To the Y~innon , an "undo" crystal was considered unnecessary by most... only the
old folk still carried them for tradition sake. Yet it was exactly what saved them
now. (Imagine having the ability to drag down UNDO for a few real-
Before the mate's eyes, the rock formations disappeared. There was not the shimmer of a Y~innon to be seen. And, that would have been the end of it, because the Y~innon would have just left knowing that interaction with Man was forbidden. Yes... they would have... but there was this rope around the very base of the first Y~innon's tail with a heavy dingie tied on. Tough to avoid a "breach in isolation" when a ship full of humans see a flying dingie. It was an awkward situation... the dragons stood silently for a few moments as the mate walked up to where they were trying not to move or make the slightest sound. The mate put out his hand and touched what should be impossible. Under his hand was solid air! The rope for the dingy was firmly tied around a chunk of it and the first mate gave the rope a good tug. Now the Y~innon gave a gasp and the gig was up. With a shiver, the dragon became VERY visible and the mate knew they were there... there was no helping it!
And so, dragons made themselves known to humans there on the south tip of Mayne Island. It was a friendly sort of thing, for the humor of it all tickled the minds of the dragons, and after the mate's shock dissipated, he realized where the rope had been tied! The mate decided to sing them a dirty little sea limerick... complete with whistle blows and knee slaps and the dragons became instant friends. Besides the Y~innon were very thankful not to have to put up with any more seagull poop.
Y~innon / human contact was at first difficult due to the language barrier, but a translator shell was quickly designed so that the humans and Y~innon hear the same sounds... kind of like waves or rushing water. ( I understand that people still put shells up to their ear and even blow into them ) Somehow, Y~innon got translated into Dragon... it must be that ~ sound.
The "Dragons" love adventure, and often help in times when their technology is able... but that's another story.
THE STRANGE (and science fiction) TALES of CAPTAIN HOOD... part 2
The Captain dashed down to the foredeck and swore some of his nautical best as
he surveyed the waters. In the next two seconds he tried to take it all back-