Sleep Jump

Chapter 1: "Captain" The entire ship rocked from the force of the explosion. Several of the men with rough, grizzled faces were sent sprawling to the wooden deck. A few of them tumbled over the railing and splashed into the churning sea. Alarmed to see their comrades' trouble, many of the crew members desperately threw ropes into the bubbling water in order to save the overboard sailors from drowning. The source of the first explosion gave them no room to recover. Another large ship trailed behind them. The enemy's lead cannons released smoke up into whistling wind. Grunting, the first mate of the vessel grabbed onto the main mast with his thin arms. Rain pelted him from every side, causing the baggy torn clothes to cling to his skinny frame. Fortunately, his buzzed haircut prevented him from being blinded even more by the follicles. His brown eyes peered up to the crow's nest next to see that the lookout had awakened to glance around wildly in alarm. Cursing at the crew's incompetence, the first mate turned his gaze towards the door leading to the captain's quarters. Rushing to the cabin, he rapidly knocked onto the door while shouting out as loud as he could, "Captain Sam! I know you're awake! We need you out here now!" After a few seconds of crashing noises coming from inside the cabin, the door swung open to reveal a massive man. Obviously having just woke up within the last few minutes, Sam tiredly blinked his dark, beady eyes. In his haste to exit his room, he had quickly pulled a red coat over his shirtless torso, revealing his muscular frame. Fortunately, his brown trousers were far more secure than his coat. Grunting, the captain reached up to scratch his large, bushy beard which matched the long black strands of hair on the top of his head. "What's happening, Travis?" Sam grunted. The wrinkles of his brow twisted as he examined the average facial features of his first mate. "We're being attacked, sir!" Travis moved out of the way so the captain could move out to observe the rapidly approaching enemy ship. "That's something great to wake up to," Sam muttered unhappily. He examined the vast open sea. The small storm limited visibility, but he could see that there was nothing else in the distance to threaten them. There were no rocks, wreckages, or land to limit their movements. "Fine. I'll take the wheel. Get the cannons ready." Nodding, Travis turned to shout at the recovering crew, "Ready the cannons!" Yells of excitement sounded out from the sailors as they rushed to do as they were commanded. Rubbing the back of his neck, Captain Sam calmly walked around the deck to get to the stairs leading up to the wheel. As he moved up the steps, members of his crew began to shout out warnings of the damage caused below the deck from the initial cannon fire. He blinked in confusion for a moment, "Start emergency repairs and get some buckets to throw the water overboard." With those commands done, Sam stepped over to the helm. For a few seconds, he stared at the wheel in confusion before shrugging and replacing the helmsman. With surprising calmness, the captain spun the disk in order turn the ship towards the left. Circling around so the port side cannons were pointed at the enemy vessel, Sam waved a crew member over to him, "Do we have any alcohol on board?" "Uh…aye," the eyepatch wearing member of the crew stared at his leader in bewilderment at the strange question. "Ye just had some of the grog an hour ago, Cap'n." "Right," Sam didn't show that he remembered such an instance. "Get some of my personal stash and a few dry rags. Make sure to protect both from the rain." Saluting, the crew member rushed off do as requested. One of Sam's hands reached into the pocket of his jacket to check to see if the matches that he picked up in his cabin were still safe from the rain. Nodding, he turned his focus to the wheel. He moved the ship so that the two vessels were parallel to each other. The enemy were quick to fire their port side cannons at them. While the rest of the crew cried out in shock at being hit once more, Sam remained calm to the point that he almost looked bored. Now that the enemy had used their shots, he moved the vessel closer to the opposing ship. When they were in proper position, he finally raised his voice higher than the dull mutter which he used before now, "Fire!" His crew immediately followed his commands. Their cannons roared with a combination of fire and smoke. The shots rammed into the side of the enemy ship. While the vessel was rocked by the cannonballs, the real victory came from the damage to their foe's weaponry. Sam had position the craft at the right angle to ruin the positioning of the enemy's top cannons while destroying the port holes of the underdeck. "Turn the starboard cannons upward!" Sam commanded before yawning. He then sharply spun the wheel in the direction he commanded. Like he predicted, the enemy also turned in the same direction in order to point their working weaponry at their target. Captain Sam turned with as much speed as he could to keep his boat on the enemy's weakened side. As he continued to steer the ship, the grizzled sailor began to hum a light tune to himself. He continued the sharp turn until their starboard side was right up to the other vessel. "Hold your fire!" Pulling the helmsman back to the wheel, Sam jumped back down to the deck. He was met with the sailor that he ordered to find the alcohol. Being as careful as possible to keep the cloth dry, he stuck the rags into the top of the bottles. Right before he could pull out the matches, a few of the enemy crew finished leaping over to their craft. Stuck with one hand in his pocket and his other hand holding a bottle, Sam rushed in close to the nearest foe in order to prevent the invader from drawing the sword from his hip. He pushed his opponent into the railing of the ship. While he avoided getting cut or stabbed, he couldn't stop the other man from head butting him across his temples. His brain flared with bright lights. The sounds of battle shifted into an intense ringing. Gritting his teeth, he forced through the pain to avoid getting further hurt by his foe. Raising the bottle in his hand, he brought it down to smash it over the invader's skull. Before the now dazed enemy could recover, Sam shoved him overboard. With his crew fighting off the rest of the invaders, Sam moved back to the sailor desperately trying to keep the rags dry. Despite his vision spinning, the captain pulled out his matches to set fire to the rags covered in alcohol. As he took the Molotov cocktails, the underling exclaimed, "Cap'n, you're bleeding!" Sam ignored the man despite the truth in crew member's words. The cool brush of the rain of his brow mixed with a warm trickle of crimson ooze. With no time to focus on his bleeding temple, Sam carried the fire bottles to the railing, "Fire the cannons!" The crew members who were not busy fighting off the enemy obeyed his orders. Once again, cannon fire rang through the rushing wind. Like their first round of shots, their cannon balls tore through the opposition's ship. With the weapons pointed upward, the second set of shots tore through parts of their foe's mast. As best he could with his concussed head, Sam tossed the Molotov cocktails through the broken port holes of the enemy vessel. Some of his throws missed and bounced off the side of the boat, but most of the fire bottles shattered in the bowels of their attackers' craft. Their enemy immediately began to panic in terror. Most of the invaders retreated back to their ship. Those that didn't were tossed overboard or subdued. With their attackers busy trying to save their vessel, the helmsman directed the ship away. Sam's crew cheered as they left the defeated enemy behind them. With the main mast partially destroyed, the opposition wouldn't be able to catch up with them even after the fire had been smothered. No longer required to stay standing, Sam stumbled back away from the railing to keep from falling overboard himself. Travis quickly rushed to his side and caught him before he could tumble to the deck, "You did it, Captain. Let's get you patched up." "Right," Sam's vision continued to blur. His body grew heavy. He could feel his eyelids wanting to slide shut. "Tell me, what was all that? I need some context." "Context?" Travis blinked. "Um, they were probably after the treasure. You should know that, Captain Sam. That head injury must have rocked you." "Yeah," Sam felt curiosity flutter through his stomach, but he held back nevertheless. There didn't seem to be too much special about this situation. A quick glance up revealed a blurry flag covered by a skull and crossbones. This was a pirate ship trying to keep their treasure from another crew. There was more that he wanted to know, but he couldn't stay awake much longer. "Don't be surprised if I don't remember this when I wake up, Travey." "Captain!" Travis shouted out in surprise as his boss collapsed. Sam no longer fought against the call of slumber. Ignoring his crew's calls for him to hold on, Sam allowed the pain to fade. The touch of the cool rain and wind disappeared. Control over his body slipped away as his soul retreated into the darkness. Like always, there were no dreams waiting for him. There was only a split second of calmness before he felt his consciousness be dragged into a completely different direction from which he came. Soon, he was surrounded by a burst of light which finished his journey to a new life Blue eyes snapped opened to see a white ceiling decorated with a crystal chandelier. The sound of birds singing the joy of a new morning flooded through the chamber. A cocoon of soft cushions and blankets completely surrounded every portion of skin below her neck. A few seconds of wiggling free allowed Sam to sit up. Long, blonde hair flowed over thin shoulders covered by a white sleeping gown. Sam raised soft hands which had never known a hard day's work to feel the soft curves of a body which was vastly different than the captain. "Whelp, I'm a girl again," Sam's new voice came out as a soft song filled with honey. "At least this wake up is a lot calmer than the last one" Kicking her legs over the side of the bed, Sam stood up onto a white carpet which was almost as soft as the bed which she just occupied. Humming the same tune that she sung during the battle in her previous life, she stepped over to a large full body mirror. She was greeted by the sight of a beautiful face with flawless pale skin. Chuckling, she reached up to play with her facial features. Sam squished her round cheeks before pulling up her eye lid. Scoffing, she began to play with her silky hair. Turning around she examined the massive bedroom fit for royalty. Dozens of fancy paintings and photographs covered the gilded wall. While some of the photos had her current body in them, most of the pictures involved situations not having anything to do with her. A small living area filled with chairs and couches stood not far from her bed. She spied several shelves filled with books at the end of the room. Some of the tomes were placed on the desk at the center of the tiny library. Stepping over to the table, she grabbed what seemed to be a diary. Smirking at her luck, Sam moved out onto the balcony connected to her room. The deck gave her a phenomenal view of the gardens filled with every color of flower imaginable. Using the light of the rising sun, Sam opened the diary to get some context into the life that she was unwillingly intruding. She made sure to skip the majority of the boring stuff about how this version of Sam felt. That didn't affect her. Tomorrow, none of this would matter. "A literal princess, huh?" Sam muttered after a few minutes of reading. She looked up to see guards in the distance protecting a tall fence. "Well, it's going to be an easy day at least. A lot better than getting woken up by cannons. Giving me a break, huh?" Sam turned her gaze upward to the blue heavens. Only a few clouds littered the sky. Like always, she was met with silence. If there was any being or power responsible for her chaotic life, it never once talked to her in the seemingly countless amount of jumps that she experienced in her life. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that this is all just a really strange dream. The tiny phantom ache across her temple reminded her that these strange different lives were as real as possible. "And still alone," despair dripped down Sam's face. She slammed the diary in her hands shut. "Fine. Whatever. Who cares if I'm going nuts and am talking to the sky…and to myself. I can still do this." A knock from the door in her room drew her attention. A familiar voice from all her previous jumps called out to her, "Lady Samantha? It's time for you to get up." "I'll be right there…" Sam quickly flipped through the pages of the book in her hands. "Sir Travis. Yeah. Just give me a minute." "Very well then." Left alone, Sam stepped back into her room. She made her way to her closet. Pulling open the doors, she was shocked to see the space for her clothes was almost as big as her sleeping chamber. Her eyes were wide as she stepped inside to examine the hundreds of fancy dresses begging for her to where them. She giggled at the irony of her being a princess after all this time, "Going from saving a pirate ship to picking which dress to wear. What a boring jump."