[RP] Barbarossa: the making of a pirate

[Hayreddin Barbarossa]

The Prologue:

It must be very late in the day. The sun is beating down with all its glory. I rubbed my eyes as I slowly woke up. I can hear the sound of sea waves crashing on to the shore. There is a log by my side and I am lying on the beach.

What happened? Where am I?
Slowly I started to remember the events of the past few days.

I lived in a tiny island with my family.
The island was small but mother nature was very kind to us. It provided us with almost all that we needed.
My father was the king of the tiny nation and a very skilled sailor. He and his mates travelled to lands far far away in their ship and always had wonderful things to tell us when they returned.



As his son, I was supposed to follow in his foot-steps and lead the nation to glory. My training in sword-fight, ship-handling and sailing had already begun as I am a young man now.

But fate had something else in store for me........................

[Hayreddin Barbarossa]

The Prologue:

One night, while my father and his mates were away, we were attacked by a rabid band of pirates.
They didn`t spare anyone - not even the elderly , women or children and started butchering them. My mother came to me and my sister and signaled to us not to make any sound. Armed with only a sword which was earlier hanging on the wall, she led us away to the far end of the island.

In the cover of darkness, we tiptoed towards the shore near which a ship was moored. Mama put a finger on her lips to signal us to be very quiet. "We need to escape in that ship" she whispered.

Just then, my younger sister, seemed to step on some sharp object - maybe a pebble. Involuntary she cried out in pain.

This alerted all the crew of the small ship which was moored right by the shore. All of them came out - weapons in hand and jumped onto the shore and were upon us in a flash. My mother engaged them and kept us at a safe distance. I had never seen my mother handle a sword before. But definitely she was very skillful. She dodged , thrust and withdrew and started fighting with all of them at once. Many of the pirates got injured and it looked like she might be able to pull off a miracle.

Just then, an arrow fired from a crossbow struck her from behind. A pirate had hid himself cowardly behind in the bush and fired the arrow. The arrow he fired went through her heart. She was just about able to turn and look at us - her eyes telling us to be safe and she fell to the ground. I will never forget the face of the pirate who had the crossbow. He had the most evil eyes. A deep scar on his face and his hair was curly and dark red. He sported a tattoo of a snake on his right arm.

I was shaken and did not know what to do next.

[Hayreddin Barbarossa]

The Prologue:

My younger sister did not hesitate though. She leapt forward - picked up my mother`s sword and swung it around to keep the blood-thirsty men at a safe distance. But the sword was bigger and heavier than her. A pirate struck her on the arm and I could see her bloodied arm, blood gushing out like a fountain and soon she had blood all over her arms, body and dress. She shouted at me -

RUN Hizir RUN!!! come back strong and have revenge - we will be waiting for you!

Having said so, she tossed the sword to me. She started picking up pebbles and throwing them at the pirates - who were both bemused and confused as to what to do.

I was in a trance. I swung the sword, dodged a few pirates and jumped up onto the small ship. I cut the rope loose with the sword and sailed into the sea. I heard a blood curling scream from my sister but I could not get a glimpse of what happened. My training must have been very good as I was able to commander the ship very well and it responded just the way I wanted it to. By the time the pirates were able to regroup - get a new ship and chase after me I was quite far away from them. I could see the outline of ships out there in the horizon behind me - most likely pirate ships chasing after me.

[Hayreddin Barbarossa]

The Prologue:

Just then mother nature made her presence felt.There were flashes of lightning and the pitch dark clouds implied that a storm is brewing. Soon the heavens opened up - it was heavy rain.The waves surged and were massive and tossed around my ship like a tiny rag doll.
The tiny ship broke into two. I hung onto a wooden log for dear life.There was thunder,ligtning and the howling of winds.The strong winds and waves tossed the log around with me clinging onto it. I never let go of the log and it was carried further and further away into the deep ocean.


I must have lost consciousness. And now that I have woken up - I have absolutely no idea as to where I am and what I should do. I have no idea as to where my island is and how,if at all, I can go back. I hope my sister is alive - I need to get strong and go and find her. Her last words -

"come back strong and have revenge - we will be waiting for you!"

was still ringing in my ears. A tear rolled down my cheeks. But I felt like being more angry and determined. I wipe off the tear and feel my fist clenching and firmly holding the sword I got from my sister.Time to get down to work.

It`s something I did not start but deep inside me I knew it is me who will have to bring it to a closure in my own way.
There might be innocent lives waiting out there for my return. Who knows whether they are still alive?

Where am I? There seems to be a a port nearby - I can see some ships. Let`s get started and rebuild everything from scratch. I clutched onto the sword given to me by my sister as the only possession.

*Hizir makes his way to the nearest tavern*