clears throat.
I gather round, you scurvy dogs, for what I'm about to tell you is a tale so wild,
you'll think it a legend.
But every word be true.
It's me, Captain Redbeard, scourge of the seas, and as fate would have it, the skies
too.
Now sit ye down, and I'll spin ye the yarn of how I escaped to Cursed Island.
Not by ship, but by flying.
I, flying, you won't be believing it, but I swear on me mother's beard.
It happened just as I'll tell ye.
It all started when me, no good, rotten crew, turned coats the lot of them, decided they'd
had enough of old Captain Redbeard, and left me marooned on a sun-blasted rock in the middle
of nowhere.
They thought they'd seen the last of me, but oh, how wrong they were.
Days turned into weeks, and the sea became a distant memory.
I was left with nothing but me wits, a handful of coconuts, and the sun scorching me brains.
But then, one fateful day, I spotted a seagull, I, a fine bird, with feathers white as sea
foam and wings that stretched wide, carrying him through the skies with ease.
I watched the bird soar above me head, and at first I cursed him, thinking of the freedom
he had that I'd lost.
But ye see, the bird didn't leave me.
No, this particular seagull, a scrappy fellow I named Squawk, decided to make me his friend.
At first, I thought to catch old Squawk and roast him for supper, but the little bugger
was smarter than I gave him credit for.
He squawk'd and fluttered about, so full of life that I couldn't bring myself to do
it.
Instead, we struck a deal of sorts.
I fed him bits of fish I caught in the tide pools, and in return Squawk entertained me
with his company.
But it wasn't just his company he brought me.
Aye, the bird started leaving me gifts.
Every morning, I'd wake up to find a feather or two on the sand where Squawk had perched
the night before.
It was as if he knew I was telling him me best jokes.
What's a pirate's favorite letter?
You think it be the R, but it's the C. Squawk would flap his wings and squawk as if he understood.
And every day, I'd find more feathers, bright and clean.
Now here's where me pirate brain kicked in.
After a few days of collecting these feathers, I got to thinking, if this bird could fly
away what was stopping me?
Aye, it hit me like a tidal wave.
I could build myself wings with these feathers.
And so, I began planning me escape.
I spent weeks collecting feathers, telling jokes to old Squawk, and weaving the feathers
into a grand pair of wings.
I used driftwood from the wrecks that washed ashore and vines from the island's trees
to tie it all together.
The work was slow, aye, but with every feather Squawk gifted me, I grew closer to me freedom.
I told him, why couldn't the pirate play cards because he was standing on the deck?
Squawk squawked louder than a storm.
He'd never heard such fine pirate humor.
The day finally came.
I strapped me makeshift wings to me back, stood atop the tallest cliff the island had
to offer, and stared out at the vast ocean.
Squawk circled overhead, giving me one last cheer as if to say, go on mate, it's your
time.
I took a deep breath, muttered a quick prayer to the sea gods, and leapt.
For a moment, me heart stopped as I fell toward the waves, but then the wind caught
me wings.
By the beard and Neptune I was flying, soaring over the ocean like a bird, free as the gulls
that followed me.
I flew and flew, far from the cursed rock where I'd been stranded.
After hours in the air, a ship on the horizon spotted me.
The crew thought they'd seen a ghost, but I landed aboard, feathers in me hair, and
a grin on me face wider than the open sea.
They didn't believe it at first, but after hearing me tale, they had no choice but to
believe I'd flown across the ocean itself.
And so, Yalot, remember this, Captain Redbeard ain't one to be held down not by land, sea,
or sky.
I, with the help of a friendly bird and a few good jokes, I escaped the inescapable.
Now raise your tankards to Captain Redbeard, the first pirate to sail the skies.