Fandom High School

Was Edward even around today? Or had he slept through his class again?

The Jackdaw seemed empty upon first arrival. Not even the deckhands were about.

Hm.

"You did a fine job last week," Edward began, "If a bit overcomplicated. But you seem to have gotten the gist of it, and so today rather than reflecting on your choices, we'll move on to something that's a bit more fun, aye?"

He paced along the deck of the Jackdaw, motioning for the cannons.

"When one approaches a vessel one might be inclined to enter, the cannon is one's first line of aggression. Now, which targets one picks is dependent on one's dreams for the opposing vessel." He smirked lightly. "If you've no intention of purloining the entirety of the vessel, take out the sails first, leave 'em dead in the water. Otherwise, concentrate on the side of the ship, to remove the enemy's cannons from the equation."

He paced past the students, patting a cannon. "Across the harbor, we've set up some targets in the water," he said, motioning towards a series of bobbing wooden puppets, anchored to the bottom of the bay with rocks. Some were high and thin, and had sheets tied around their heads.

"Now I want you each to man a cannon. Grim'll show you how they work," he said, waving over at the grim-looking pirate, who stepped forward. "And perhaps if you do well, I'll tell you all the tale of when I sank five ships in the middle of a thunderstorm."

"I cut off a man's nose once."

That was certainly a way to greet the class - especially while Edward was holding a cutlass firmly in hand. "We were raiding a Spanish brig. Not for gold this time, but because we'd lost a cook, and a decent crew needs a decent cook."

He nodded towards the stack of wooden would-be cutlasses laying in a pile on the deck of the Jackdaw, silently urging them to go pick one up. "A well-fed man is a happy man, and a happy man won't mutiny, aye? So we needed that cook. We battered the brig with our cannons until we came 'longside. It wasn't a huge crew, and they weren't great fighters. I killed the first with a blow to the head."

He demonstrated bringing the cutlass down.

"Then I turn about and there's this massive man coming at me, but my cutlass is stuck." ... Thanks for the details, Edward. "I whirled about and struck 'im with these--" He flicked his wrist, exposing a small blade, which quickly slid back into its holder. "--and gone was his nose."

He shifted his hips, settling his legs into a ready stance, his cutlass outstretched. None of the arm-behind-his-back flourishing of the bloody navy, of course. He was a pirate after all. "Soon enough, we had sunk the ship. We gathered the surviving crew on the deck and asked for the crew."

A pause. "And lo and behold, someone cries, 'Beer I bam.'"

He flashed the class a quick grin. "Knowing the blade's important. Follow my lead, lads and all the rest," he said. "But be careful whose nose you cut off, aye?"