The End
Back to The Captain's Log
Doubar awoke to the strong delicious smell of sticky buns. He eagerly opened his eyes and soaked in the suns warm rays that shone upon him through the open window. He heard the comforting sound of the early morning waves gently lapping against the side of the ship.
Doubar wished he could just lay there all day, but the loud rumbeling of his hungary stomach forced him to get up. He reluctantly pulled aside his covers and dressed. As he opened the door he heard low voices in the galley.
"Good morning everyone!" Doubar happily greeted. "Happy Birthday Doubar!" Sinbad exclaimed with a grin. "We made you a special breakfast in honor of your birthday!" Firouz added. "How old are you now?"
"That's not really important Firouz!"
Doubar joked. "You guys didn't have to do this!" He said as he glanced down the table at his friends. "There are presents aren't there?" He hopefully asked. The crew chuckled as they each pulled out a package.
"Me first!" Firouz exclaimed as he eagerly handed Doubar an oddly shaped package. Doubar quickly ripped off the paper to find himself looking at a few pieces of wood neatly attached together with two blades poking out the top.
"Thank you Firouz for this wonderful..." "Solar Powered Beard Trimmer!"Firouz proudly finished. Doubar silently groaned. He remembered Firouz's Solar Powered Hair Trimmer. This was an invention he didn't care to retry. "It is my new modified version of the Hair Trimmer. I noticed how you hate to trim your beard, so now with this, it will only take a few seconds." "Thank you Firouz!"Doubar replied.
"Here's mine." Maeve said as she handed Doubar a neatly wrapped package."Thanks!" Doubar replied. He carefully tore open the gift and inside hefound a soft green wool snow cap and scarf. "I bought them in Basra."Maeve said. "They're for when we go to Norse!" She added as she shot a glance at Sinbad.
Doubar chuckled to himself. He knew that Sinbad was deliberately putting off their trip to Norse. Sinbad didn't want Maeve to like Eyolf any more then she already does. Doubar thought that his Little Brother was foolish not to admit his feelings for her.
Doubar had never had a real love, so he would tell anyone who even came close exactly how he felt right away. Doubar's thoughts were interrupted as Rongar handed him yet another gift. "Thanks!" Doubar replied. Inside was a new leather sword belt and several small pieces of paper. "Good for one meal of your choice." Doubar read. "From Chef Rongar." "Aww, isn't that nice!" Doubar exclaimed . "Rongar made breakfast today." Sinbad said. "And now you get five meals of your choice from him!"
"At least they're better than Maeve's pancakes yesterday!" Sinbad joked. Doubar wasn't surprised when he saw Maeve shoot a dirty look at him. "Well Sinbad? Where's your present?" Doubar asked. Sinbad gave Doubar a small package. Doubar unwrapped the paper to find a small shiny silver medallion inside.
"Read what's on it!" Sinbad suggested. "To my brother Doubar on his birthday. May we celebrate many more happy one's together. Love, your Little Brother, Sinbad." Doubar read.
"Thank you everyone. This has been my best birthday yet."
"And we haven't even eaten breakfast yet!" Firouz exclaimed. "Don't worry Firouz! I haven't forgotten!" Doubar joked.
After Doubar finished his delicious breakfast, he went updeck to join his Little Brother. As he opened the door, he noticed his little brother manning the tiller. He looked so young and vibrant, with the sun shining on him and the gentle wind ruffling his hair.
Doubar examined Sinbad's thick, silky hair, and then felt his own bushy beard. He was saddened as he watched Sinbad. He was so young and vibrant, Doubar was afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep up with him much longer.
"Doubar!" Sinbad called. "Just because you're the birthday boy doesn't mean you don't have to hold the tiller!"
Doubar groaned. "But it's my birthday." he grumbled.
"Here you are!" Sinbad said as he handed over the tiller.
"Where are we headed Little Brother?" Doubar asked.
"Don't you remember Big Brother?The Caliph is throwing you a late birthday party! "We're going to Baghdad." Sinbad replied.
"I see you're wearing my gift!" Sinbad noticed. Doubar simply nodded."Are you all right Doubar? You look a little depressed." Sinbad observed.
"Oh I'm fine. I was just thinking about how I might not be around to see you reach my age." Sinbad chuckled. "Doubar, you're not that old! We're going to live many, many happy more years together." Sinbad added with a grin.
Doubar paled as he saw huge storm clouds coming up behind Sinbad."Little Brother! We'll be lucky if we can live to see tomorrow!"
Sinbad quickly turned around to find one of the biggest storms he'd ever seen rapidly approaching the Nomad.
"Doubar! hang on to the tiller! I'll be right back!" Sinbad said as he ran down the stairs.
"Crew! Lower the sails! A storm's coming! Sinbad shouted. "Firouz, get over here!" Sinbad shouted. Firouz ran up to him.
"Firouz, I want you to go down below deck and get your water pump ready." Sinbad ordered.
Firouz scurried below deck. Doubar looked at the darkening sky and wished he was the inventor. Firouz always got to go below deck while Doubar had to stay above.
Suddenly, the storm hit full force. Huge waves were washing over the deck and rain poured out of the sky.
Above the shouts of the crew, and orders of Sinbad, loud claps of thunder shook the Nomad and lightning lit up the dark sky.
Sinbad ran up to Doubar and grabbed the tiller. "Doubar! Go check on Firouz!" Sinbad shouted. Doubar hurried below deck and found Firouz in one of the back room's.
"How's the pump working Firouz?" Doubar asked. "Oh! It's working excellently Doubar!" Firouz exclaimed. "But we haven't even begun to take on much water! I estimate, in about three hours,we'll be swamped!" Firouz added.
"I'm going back up to see if Sinbad needs me!" Doubar said. He ran back updeck and met with Sinbad at the tiller. "Well?"Sinbad asked. "It doesn't look good." Doubar replied.
"I set the course for Balsar, the nearest port." Sinbad added. Just then, Doubar saw the biggest wave he had ever seen rising out of the ocean.
"Hold on for your life!!" Sinbad yelled to his crew. Doubar watched as everyone grabbed on to the ropes and braced themselves for the impact of the wave.
Doubar grabbed the railing and made sure his little brother was hanging on too before tightly shutting his eyes.
The wave smashed onto the Nomad and Doubar felt himself lose his grip."Sinbad!" Doubar helplessly pleaded as he washed over the side of theNomad. Sinbad quickly blinked the rain out of his eyes and ran to the railing where he last saw his brother.
Sinbad jumped up on the railing and steadied himself with the ropes as he scanned the waves. Doubar was no where in sight.
"Sinbad no!!"Maeve shouted. He only paused a moment before leaping off the Nomad.
The cold water stung him as he plummeted underneath the waves. Sinbad frantically thrashed around in the freezing dark water searching for his brother.
Suddenly, he felt a strong hand grasp his own as he was pulled up to the surface.
"Doubar!" Sinbad happily realized. The brothers shared aquick embrace before quickly swimming back to the Nomad.
"Go!" Sinbad ordered. Doubar quickly climbed up the ropes and then reached down to help his little brother. "Sinbad!" Maeve joyfully shouted. Sinbad ran up to the tiller where Maeve was standing.
He quickly hugged her before grabbing onto the tiller that she was desperately trying to hold still. Huge waves continuously engulfed theNomad and sometimes carried an unfortunate crew member back down with them to a watery grave.
Doubar knew that Sinbad didn't lose hope very easily, but he was beginning to sense that Sinbad was. "Land ho!" a crew member yelled. It was only a matter of minutes before Doubar heard Sinbad telling him to put down the anchor.
Doubar ran over to the railing and thrust the heavy anchor over the side. Sinbad quickly tied down the tiller before heading to the side of the ship. "Come on guys! Everyone's going into Balser!" Sinbad explained.
"We only have four usable longboats, and I'm going last. Rongar, go get Firouz and then you two will go in the first longboat." Rongar nodded and headed below deck.
"Sinbad?" Maeve began. "Don't we need to make repairs to the Nomad?" she asked.
"Aye. But we'll have to do it in the morning. It's dark and still raining pretty hard." Sinbad decided. Rongar and Firouz came up and Doubar suddenly realized how wet they all were. Firouz was below deck the whole time and he was almost completely dry.
"Hurry up!" Sinbad ordered. Firouz, Rongar, and a few crew members boarded the first longboat. "When you get to the beach, leave the boat and head to the village." he instructed.
"Find us a place to stay for the night. Then wait for us in a tavern."Sinbad finished. They boarded it and headed for the shore. The second boat held Maeve, Dermott, and some of the crew while Doubar was forced to go into the third.
As soon as Doubar stepped out of the longboat, he smelled food. "Come on guys! Let's go get something to eat." Doubar suggested. Hameed,Salam, Bailey, Darwin, and Guylin were the crew members in his boat.
Doubar looked into the darkness to make sure his little brother was coming. He could just make out the shape of his longboat in thedistance. "Well, let's go!" Doubar said. The rain was still pouring out of the night sky and Doubar was extremely happy to be on 'dry' land.
"The Dragon Tavern." Doubar read off the sign posted on a small building. "Let's go in." Doubar suggested. The six men entered the tavern.
It was a small room only lit up by a few candles scattered around it. Doubar spotted a soaked Maeve and Rongar seated at a table by a window. The crew were all seated at various tables throughout the tavern.
"Hi guys!" Doubar greeted as he approached his friends. "HelloDoubar." Maeve replied. Rongar nodded. Just as Doubar sat down, Sinbad walked in. He looked around the tavern and smiled as he spotted his friends.
"Ha! There you are!" Sinbad said as he pulled up a chair and sat down. "Where's Firouz?" Sinbad asked. "He went to rent us rooms at the inn like you told him too." Maeve answered. Just as Maeve finished speaking, Firouz also entered.
"I got us rooms!" Firouz proudly stated as he sat down. "How many?"Sinbad asked. "Well, I used our emergency fund, and I was able to get ten rooms. We have about forty gold pieces left over for food and repairs to the ship." Firouz explained.
"We have rations on the Nomad. They'll have to make-do. We need that money to repair the ship." Sinbad reasoned. "But right now, we're going to catch our deaths sitting here soaked like this. Do you guys want some soup?" His friends all exhaustedly nodded.
The next morning, Sinbad awoke to find himself in a tacky little room.The storm had passed, but the sky was still grey. He was trying to remember why he was sleeping on the floor, but his thoughts were interrupted by loud snorning.
Sinbad remembered that he was sharing a room with Doubar and a crewmember named Bailey. As Sinbad sat up, he noticed that Doubar was still asleep in the bed. Bailey's blanket and pillow were still on the recliner that he had slept on.
'He probably went to go get something to eat.' Sinbad heard a low rumbelin in his stomach, so he decided to get up too. Sinbad stood up, neatly folded his blankets and pulled on his boots. As he was pulling on his damp vest, he heard a quiet knocking on the door.
"Sinbad?" Maeve whispered as she opened up the door. "Yes?" he replied as he adjusted his red headband. "Do you want to go and get something to eat?" she asked. "As long as you don't mind eating regular old sea rations!" he replied with a smile.
"Well actually, I just wanted to talk." she added.
"Sure. Why don't we go down to the tavern for something to drink?" he suggested.
"Okay, here." she said as she handed him his saber. Sinbad grinned in thanks as they headed outside to the Dragon Tavern.
Inside the tavern,Maeve and Sinbad were seated across from each other at a wooden table. "Well, it's about Dermott," Maeve began, "there's something I want to tell you about him. Maeve was about to tell Sinbad about Dermott being her little brother, but was interuppted as Doubar walked up to the table.
"Hi guys!" Doubar greeted. "Sinbad, I'll tell you another time." Maeve said. "I'm going for a walk. Come on Dermott." she said as Dermott landed on her gloved hand. Sinbad was angry that Doubar had just interrupted them like that.
Maeve was just about to tell him about Dermott. He respected Maeve's privacy, but he wished she would just tell him already! It was a secret that she obviously wanted only him to know. "Maeve, don't be too long please. We need your help to repair the ship."
Maeve nodded and walked out of the tavern. "So, how does it feel to be a whole year older, Big Brother?" Sinbad asked. "Not any differant than last year!" Doubar answered with a smile. Sinbad shook his head sadly.
"I'm sorry your birthday was ruined." he said. "Oh, it's not ruined!" Doubar replied. "It would have only been ruined if something had happened to you. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this was probably one of my best birthday's ever!" he finished with a smile.Sinbad grinned back.
"Well, if you feel that way, then when we leave later today for Baghdad, this could be the best birthday ever!" Doubar jumped up from his seat. "Well, let's get a move on! I can't wait for my party!"
Doubar happily ran out of the tavern. Sinbad smiled and ran off after his big brother. If he had a good birthday when the Nomad was in a storm, he couldn't wait to see Doubar at the party!