The Rumpelstiltskin
Author: Rachel
Challenges: Rainbow Sherbet #12 (gold), Butter Rum #1 (shiver me timbers)
Extras/Toppings: none
Rating: G
Word Count: 1380
Story: Hans and Ginny and the Pirates of the Ship Rumpelstiltskin
Summary: Discussions, heroes, first view of the ship.
Author's Notes: None that I can think of right now. XD
_______________________
Hans groaned. Of course his sister would say something like that. Would she be sensible and respectful of these unknown people? Would she wait to see if they were friendly or another danger? No, of course not. She would say something like that. It was Ginny’s tongue that had got them into this mess in the first place, when she’d told Sarah the Zombie that they knew her secret.
To his complete surprise, the leader of the pirates simply laughed.
“That is what I like! A girl with some spirit! Come, girl who lives in a gingerbread cottage. Come and speak with me,” the pirate said. His wide grin showed that many of his teeth were gold.
Hesitantly, Ginny glanced at Hans. He shrugged. Deciding that there was nothing to lose, Ginny left the cottage and walked down the chocolate pebble path.
The pirate held out his hand. “Fredrick, First Mate of the ship Rumpelstiltskin, at your service, my lady.”
“Ginny, currently of the planet Birocap. I accept your service,” Ginny said.
Just where, Hans wondered, had Ginny gotten that answer? It sounded like something out of a pirate vid.
“We came across your distress beacon,” Fredrick the pirate said. “Last we heard, this place was the domain of a rather crazy Cyborg.” He raised his eyebrows at Ginny. “You wouldn’t happen to be a Cyborg, would you?”
Ginny giggled and blushed. “No, I’m not a Cyborg.”
What was going on? Hans was bewildered. Ginny, blushing?
“We killed the Candy Queen,” Ginny continued. “But I’m not sure we can say we killed her, since she wasn’t actually really alive.
“Killed the Candy Queen!” Fredrick the pirate exclaimed. He turned to his troops. “Hear that, crew? This girl has killed the Candy Queen.”
The crew cheered, waving laserswords, sabres and blast cannons in the air.
“I didn’t do it by myself!” Ginny protested. “Hans and Crumbs helped!”
Fredrick frowned at the girls holding Hans. “Let the hero go, you two scallywags.”
The girls released Hans’ arms as if burned. Hans rubbed the red places and glowered at them.
“I am assuming that this is Hans,” Fredrick said, waving one of his cutlasses in Hans’ direction. “Would Crumbs be the orange cat we saw at the lake? He took off before we could capture him.”
Fortunately Ginny’s caution kicked in before she revealed the secrets about Crumbs in particular and Canary Cats in general. “Yes,” she said. “That would have been Crumbs. But, good First Mate, before we get too much farther into our conversation, be ye friend or be ye foe?”
“Oh, friend, my lady, definitely friend,” Fredrick assured her.
“Ah,” Ginny said archly. “But how do I know I can believe you?”
The pirate paused. It was clear that he was not used to having children not trust him. Eventually he said, “What, my lady, could I say to give you reason to trust me?”
“You could start with telling me why you came to answer our mayday when you thought this planet’s sole inhabitant was a crazy Cyborg.”
“That’s easy,” the pirate said, grinning. “I knew the signal wasn’t coming from any Cyborg device. Cyborg signals have very distinctive patterning. But besides that, I knew that the signal was coming from the escape pod of the Woodcutter. I’ve done business with the Woodcutter’s Captain on several occasions. I was most interested to see why its escape pod would be on Birocap.”
“You know Daddy?” Ginny squeaked.
“Daddy?” Fredrick said. “Ahhhh, you must be that set of twins.”
“That set?” one of the girls who had held Hans’ arms said. “How many sets of twins are there named Hans and Ginny?”
“Quiet, Amanda,” the other girl said. “We can’t really talk.”
“Twins?” Ginny asked.
“Yeah,” Amanda said. “The only ones on the Rumpelstiltskin. I’m Amanda, she’s Amelia. We were from the A phase,” she finished with a grimace.
“A phase?” Hans asked, confused.
“All in good time,” Fredrick interrupted. “Now, do you two want to stay here on this toddler’s fantasy of a planet, or do you want to come with us?”
“Come with you!” Ginny said, speaking so fast that her sentence mushed into one long word.
Hans nodded his agreement. He wasn’t sure he trusted these pirates - they were, after all, pirates - but anything was better than staying on Birocap. “We just have to find Crumbs.”
“The cat?” One of the pirates from the back snickered.
“Yes, the cat,” Ginny snapped. “He’s part of our family and leaving him here would be cruel.”
“Crew!” Fredrick bellowed. The young pirates snapped to attention. “Find that cat!”
In short order Crumbs had been found. Ginny swooped down on Amelia and scooped up the cat. Under the pretext of giving him a cuddle, she whispered in his pointed ear, “Pretend to be an ordinary cat, ok? I’m not sure I trust them but we don’t have another choice.”
Crumbs mewed and purred. He understood.
The pirates, after looking to Hans and Ginny for permission, stripped the garden of fresh produce. No matter how good a ship’s hydroponic gardens were, spacers always welcomed fresh, planet-grown food. They bundled cabbages, broccoli, watermelons and everything else that was transportable into packs, pockets and anywhere they could. Then, motioning for Hans and Ginny to follow, Fredrick led the way to the pirates’ shuttle.
“This stuff safe to eat?” Fredrick asked, gesturing at the marzipan flowers that edged the path.
“Yup,” Ginny said, taking a couple and biting off a petal at a time.
“Urg,” said Hans.
“You disagree?” Fredrick asked.
“Oh, I just had a bad experience with all the candy on this planet. I don’t think I’ll want sweets again for a very, very long time.”
Fredrick laughed a long, booming laugh.
Everything about him is pirate-y, Ginny thought, grinning. She liked Fredrick. Some of the younger pirates were stuck up, but Fredrick and those twins - what were their names? Oh, yes, Amelia and Amanda - were ok.
The shuttle was much like every other shuttle: grey, pitted and scorched from entering and leaving planetary atmospheres, and bullet shaped. With a hand-held control, Fredrick lowered the lift, and the pirates, cat, and twins boarded and were strapped in.
The young pirate who had laughed at the idea of looking for Crumbs was the pilot. He looked to be about seventeen years old, and had black hair that hung to his shoulders. A gold earring peeked out from between strands as he took the shuttle up into the atmosphere.
As with shuttles, space ships were generally the same. Some were longer, some plumper. Some were designed to actually enter atmospheres while others never left deep space. There were the asteroid field miners with the platinum-titanium alloy prows and solar dancers that shot around the inner systems using massive solar sails as power. Despite all this, there was one thing that was always the same about space ships. They were built for function. No one cared what a ship looked like on the outside; no one ever saw a space ship from the outside.
This is why when Hans and Ginny saw the Rumpelstiltskin they were struck dumb in amazement. Whoever had designed the pirate ship cared very much what it looked like. It was fantastic.
The Rumpelstiltskin had all the normal parts of the spaceship, but instead of being arranged for best function, they were arranged for effect. The massive antenna for deep space communication pointed straight ‘up’ and had the ship’s solar sails attached at right angles with struts. There was even a mass of secondary sensors three quarters of the way up the antenna, giving the illusion of a crow's nest. The usual bullet shape was more pointed below and flattened on top, giving it the lines of a hull. View ports lined the ‘stern’ and the AI’s main sensors formed the figurehead. Ginny did not know all these details. She was just amazed by the sight of what looked like an ancient pirate ship in space. The only thing that spoiled the effect, as the little shuttle made a loop around the ship to give the passengers a better look, was that the figurehead was a dumpy little man with an extremely pointy nose.
“Hans, Ginny, cat, welcome to the Rumpelstiltskin!”
Challenges: Rainbow Sherbet #12 (gold), Butter Rum #1 (shiver me timbers)
Extras/Toppings: none
Rating: G
Word Count: 1380
Story: Hans and Ginny and the Pirates of the Ship Rumpelstiltskin
Summary: Discussions, heroes, first view of the ship.
Author's Notes: None that I can think of right now. XD
_______________________
Hans groaned. Of course his sister would say something like that. Would she be sensible and respectful of these unknown people? Would she wait to see if they were friendly or another danger? No, of course not. She would say something like that. It was Ginny’s tongue that had got them into this mess in the first place, when she’d told Sarah the Zombie that they knew her secret.
To his complete surprise, the leader of the pirates simply laughed.
“That is what I like! A girl with some spirit! Come, girl who lives in a gingerbread cottage. Come and speak with me,” the pirate said. His wide grin showed that many of his teeth were gold.
Hesitantly, Ginny glanced at Hans. He shrugged. Deciding that there was nothing to lose, Ginny left the cottage and walked down the chocolate pebble path.
The pirate held out his hand. “Fredrick, First Mate of the ship Rumpelstiltskin, at your service, my lady.”
“Ginny, currently of the planet Birocap. I accept your service,” Ginny said.
Just where, Hans wondered, had Ginny gotten that answer? It sounded like something out of a pirate vid.
“We came across your distress beacon,” Fredrick the pirate said. “Last we heard, this place was the domain of a rather crazy Cyborg.” He raised his eyebrows at Ginny. “You wouldn’t happen to be a Cyborg, would you?”
Ginny giggled and blushed. “No, I’m not a Cyborg.”
What was going on? Hans was bewildered. Ginny, blushing?
“We killed the Candy Queen,” Ginny continued. “But I’m not sure we can say we killed her, since she wasn’t actually really alive.
“Killed the Candy Queen!” Fredrick the pirate exclaimed. He turned to his troops. “Hear that, crew? This girl has killed the Candy Queen.”
The crew cheered, waving laserswords, sabres and blast cannons in the air.
“I didn’t do it by myself!” Ginny protested. “Hans and Crumbs helped!”
Fredrick frowned at the girls holding Hans. “Let the hero go, you two scallywags.”
The girls released Hans’ arms as if burned. Hans rubbed the red places and glowered at them.
“I am assuming that this is Hans,” Fredrick said, waving one of his cutlasses in Hans’ direction. “Would Crumbs be the orange cat we saw at the lake? He took off before we could capture him.”
Fortunately Ginny’s caution kicked in before she revealed the secrets about Crumbs in particular and Canary Cats in general. “Yes,” she said. “That would have been Crumbs. But, good First Mate, before we get too much farther into our conversation, be ye friend or be ye foe?”
“Oh, friend, my lady, definitely friend,” Fredrick assured her.
“Ah,” Ginny said archly. “But how do I know I can believe you?”
The pirate paused. It was clear that he was not used to having children not trust him. Eventually he said, “What, my lady, could I say to give you reason to trust me?”
“You could start with telling me why you came to answer our mayday when you thought this planet’s sole inhabitant was a crazy Cyborg.”
“That’s easy,” the pirate said, grinning. “I knew the signal wasn’t coming from any Cyborg device. Cyborg signals have very distinctive patterning. But besides that, I knew that the signal was coming from the escape pod of the Woodcutter. I’ve done business with the Woodcutter’s Captain on several occasions. I was most interested to see why its escape pod would be on Birocap.”
“You know Daddy?” Ginny squeaked.
“Daddy?” Fredrick said. “Ahhhh, you must be that set of twins.”
“That set?” one of the girls who had held Hans’ arms said. “How many sets of twins are there named Hans and Ginny?”
“Quiet, Amanda,” the other girl said. “We can’t really talk.”
“Twins?” Ginny asked.
“Yeah,” Amanda said. “The only ones on the Rumpelstiltskin. I’m Amanda, she’s Amelia. We were from the A phase,” she finished with a grimace.
“A phase?” Hans asked, confused.
“All in good time,” Fredrick interrupted. “Now, do you two want to stay here on this toddler’s fantasy of a planet, or do you want to come with us?”
“Come with you!” Ginny said, speaking so fast that her sentence mushed into one long word.
Hans nodded his agreement. He wasn’t sure he trusted these pirates - they were, after all, pirates - but anything was better than staying on Birocap. “We just have to find Crumbs.”
“The cat?” One of the pirates from the back snickered.
“Yes, the cat,” Ginny snapped. “He’s part of our family and leaving him here would be cruel.”
“Crew!” Fredrick bellowed. The young pirates snapped to attention. “Find that cat!”
In short order Crumbs had been found. Ginny swooped down on Amelia and scooped up the cat. Under the pretext of giving him a cuddle, she whispered in his pointed ear, “Pretend to be an ordinary cat, ok? I’m not sure I trust them but we don’t have another choice.”
Crumbs mewed and purred. He understood.
The pirates, after looking to Hans and Ginny for permission, stripped the garden of fresh produce. No matter how good a ship’s hydroponic gardens were, spacers always welcomed fresh, planet-grown food. They bundled cabbages, broccoli, watermelons and everything else that was transportable into packs, pockets and anywhere they could. Then, motioning for Hans and Ginny to follow, Fredrick led the way to the pirates’ shuttle.
“This stuff safe to eat?” Fredrick asked, gesturing at the marzipan flowers that edged the path.
“Yup,” Ginny said, taking a couple and biting off a petal at a time.
“Urg,” said Hans.
“You disagree?” Fredrick asked.
“Oh, I just had a bad experience with all the candy on this planet. I don’t think I’ll want sweets again for a very, very long time.”
Fredrick laughed a long, booming laugh.
Everything about him is pirate-y, Ginny thought, grinning. She liked Fredrick. Some of the younger pirates were stuck up, but Fredrick and those twins - what were their names? Oh, yes, Amelia and Amanda - were ok.
The shuttle was much like every other shuttle: grey, pitted and scorched from entering and leaving planetary atmospheres, and bullet shaped. With a hand-held control, Fredrick lowered the lift, and the pirates, cat, and twins boarded and were strapped in.
The young pirate who had laughed at the idea of looking for Crumbs was the pilot. He looked to be about seventeen years old, and had black hair that hung to his shoulders. A gold earring peeked out from between strands as he took the shuttle up into the atmosphere.
As with shuttles, space ships were generally the same. Some were longer, some plumper. Some were designed to actually enter atmospheres while others never left deep space. There were the asteroid field miners with the platinum-titanium alloy prows and solar dancers that shot around the inner systems using massive solar sails as power. Despite all this, there was one thing that was always the same about space ships. They were built for function. No one cared what a ship looked like on the outside; no one ever saw a space ship from the outside.
This is why when Hans and Ginny saw the Rumpelstiltskin they were struck dumb in amazement. Whoever had designed the pirate ship cared very much what it looked like. It was fantastic.
The Rumpelstiltskin had all the normal parts of the spaceship, but instead of being arranged for best function, they were arranged for effect. The massive antenna for deep space communication pointed straight ‘up’ and had the ship’s solar sails attached at right angles with struts. There was even a mass of secondary sensors three quarters of the way up the antenna, giving the illusion of a crow's nest. The usual bullet shape was more pointed below and flattened on top, giving it the lines of a hull. View ports lined the ‘stern’ and the AI’s main sensors formed the figurehead. Ginny did not know all these details. She was just amazed by the sight of what looked like an ancient pirate ship in space. The only thing that spoiled the effect, as the little shuttle made a loop around the ship to give the passengers a better look, was that the figurehead was a dumpy little man with an extremely pointy nose.
“Hans, Ginny, cat, welcome to the Rumpelstiltskin!”