PTV - Last Minutes

[Kai NRG]

Story:

“Sir! She’s sprung a leak!” The first mate dashed into the pirate Captain’s cabin, flushed and out of breath.

The Captain raised a scowling face. “Man the pumps then! You know what to do!”

“This is no ordinary leak, sir. She’s going fast!”

“Whad’ya mean, she’s goin’?” The Captain followed the words with a string of curses and then nearly bowled his mate over as he rushed topside. “All hands on deck! Man the pumps! Full force!” The next instant he was down in the hull with the mate beside him, pointing out the leak. The Captain’s face twisted in rage. “Who did that? That’s no leak. We’ve been scuttled! Who had the last watch?”

The mate shifted uneasily. Water poured in, soaking both men’s boots, but neither seemed to notice. At last he muttered, “Billy was at the tiller.”

“Billy?! That good for nothin’… Lazy – I’ll make him pay! Probably did it a purpose – wants us all ta drown!”

The mate was about to reply, but instead he ejaculated, “Good heavens! We’re sinking!” The words ended in a kind of scream. For the water was now rushing furiously in, threatening to sweep both off their feet.

“Shut your mouth!” the Captain spat, climbing topside again and ignoring his dripping garments.

At that moment the ship tilted violently, sending both men along with several other pirates into the scuttles. Billy fell too, slamming into the Captain.

“You! – You did this!” The Captain grabbed the unfortunate cabin boy by the neck.

Billy shuddered, turning terrified eyes to the Captain’s ferocious look.

“Well?! Answer me!”

With sudden boldness the boy spoke up. “I did do it.”

“Treason! Mutiny! You’ll pay for this!”

“Of course he will,” the mate grumbled. “We’re all goin’ to the bottom!”

“I’ll make sure Billy gets there first!” the Captain exclaimed, uttering a fearful oath.

Another lurch of the ship freed Billy from the Captain’s grasp for a second and he scrambled to his feet, desperately climbing toward the prow which was now pointing to the sky.

Cries and shouts resounded through the ship, which had now begun to sink in earnest. And yet for all their desperate plight, the pirates only quarreled and fought with each other, all eager to prolong their miserable lives by as many minutes as they could, even if it meant sending another to his death. The more reckless dove into the rum supply, determined to drown in drink for the last few minutes before they really drowned. Slowly the ship sank lower and lower, and now many of the pirates, forced to realize their plight, screamed in terror. Those who had sent so many to their deaths were unwilling to go themselves.

Above deck the Captain pulled himself aft by main force, practically tearing the boards, almost foaming at the mouth in his impotent rage. Billy clung to the bowsprit, unsure whether to face the Captain’s fury or spring overboard at once. He shuddered as he looked down into the water, and, opening his clasp knife, resolved to defend himself.

Ropes and bits of iron slid down the decks along with other miscellany. The Captain lost his hold – caught it again – and in desperation, pulled out his pistol.

Billy shuddered and tried to shrink into as small a target as possible.

The next instant a heavy sack smashed into the Captain’s legs and with a terrible cry he crashed headlong into the churning water.

And now the ship had almost completely sunk, and Billy was left alone. A sudden silence – an eerie silence – succeeded the fearful shouts. Billy climbed farther up the bowsprit until he was perched as high atop it as possible.

He had done it, and he thought his own life was a small price to pay for the blessing of ridding the sea of such a scourge. But other thoughts came to him in those moments that seemed like a life time as he straddled the rough timber, knife still in hand. After all, the quick, almost painless death to which he had sent his comrades seemed a poor repayment for their actions. They would have died, eventually, anyways – he had only hastened it by a year or two – and was that all? For all their villainy, for all their injustice, for having taken him, still a little child, and made him virtually their slave, dragging him through unspeakable horror? …hate surged through him, and he half cursed himself for taking such a poor and flavorless vengeance.

Then he thought of the deeds he himself had taken pleasure in doing, and loathed himself as heartily as any of his companions.

Was this all life had? Was there no real justice? The thought was intolerable to him. Far better to stand condemned, as he knew he would be, then to think that in the end, wrong would win.

But perhaps… perhaps… could mercy be found? Even for him?

The still, silent waters closed over the pirate ship, leaving no trace.

____________

Another overview of the MOC:

I think this is the first pirate build I've done, and it was pretty enjoyable! On the spur of the moment I decided I wanted to do a ship sinking, so I ran with that idea! I purposefully made it so it could split in half for the farther sunken shot:

Note that I used a non-LEGO light source - the sun.

C&C are welcome! Thanks for taking the time to check the build out, especially if you read the story!

Edited October 24, 2015 by Phred

[Brick Capone]

Very cool scene! I really like the way the ship is made, a tragic sinking.

[Graham Gidman]

Nicely done!

[PaddyBricksplitter]

Noice. Very creative :)

[dr_spock]

Nice. Tis a good read and sad ending.

[MiloNelsiano]

I really like the crack built into the ship. Very nice lookin build!

[Capn Frank]

I really like the crack built into the ship.

I believe the "crack" is meant to show the ship sinking.

...which I think is a very neat concept.

[MiloNelsiano]

I know it's from the ship sinking, that's why I liked it. I suppose I worded that awkwardly though!

[blackdeathgr]

Really nice creation! I think one can work wonders without the need of prefab hulls!

[Staslegomaster]

An impressive story... but why did you chose a red ninja as the prow mini figure? What do you think of Parka of the Black Pearl?

[Kai NRG]

Thanks for all the comments, pirates!

I believe the "crack" is meant to show the ship sinking.

<snip>

...which I think is a very neat concept.

Thank you! It was one of those thinks that you think of and then you just know you have to build it!

Really nice creation! I think one can work wonders without the need of prefab hulls!

You sure can! But then, I didn't have much choice... don't got no prefab hulls! Thank you!

An impressive story... but why did you chose a red ninja as the prow mini figure? What do you think of Parka of the Black Pearl?

I chose a red ninja mainly because I didn't have much else!

Thanks!

[BrickOn]

Very cool sinking ship, really like the two parts, very clever, and the angle you've made with the water is really good :-) took me a couple of goes to read the story (I am normally guilty of skipping straight to the pictures) but its a good tale and worth the read!

[Captain Dee]

Who doesn't enjoy watching ships sink?

Har har. To be serious, this is a very good execution of a common occurrence during the age of sail (sinking, that is; methinks scuttling was just one way of doing it). The whole design is nice, especially the clever crack, and it's all told quite well.

Good work.