Claude looked taken aback for a moment. "I honestly thought you wouldn't be as organized." He muttered, walking over and taking a look at a few boxes. He was a bit disappointed at the fact he couldn't see the maps, as that was one of his favorite things to do. Read, the only enjoyable thing his father forced him to do.
Thaddeus's chest puffed a bit at the compliment. "Well, you're in luck laddy! This is all of our ammunition! No loose gunpowder, no messin' with firin' pins, nonna that! All ye gotta do is pop the back of a cannon open, load one up, and slap the top with somethin' and BOOM! Off she goes! Now, question two! What are the three types of cannon ammunition?"
(Don't cheat!)
(I'm cheating.)
"There are a lot, round shot, chain shot, canister shot, shrapnel, shell, grapeshot, etcetera." Claude listed off on his fingers, his father drilled that into his head by the time he was six.
(I don't know if any of this is right-)
"WRONG!" Thaddeus bellowed. "Though you did manage to rattle off a few specific types, very impressive. Nah, the three main types of cannon ammunition are antipersonnel, solid shot, and anti-vessel. As you can imagine, antipersonnel includes types like grapeshot and shrapnel, but others like the chain shot are specifically designed to hamper the functions of a ship through burning the sails or shredding the masts. Most people think of the standard round shots and shells; good for putting holes in ships, but not much else."
"You seem to 'ave picked up on a few things, so now we can get to the fun stuff! Well, at least for me, because I won't have to do it anymore! Yay!" The pirate shook his hands together like an excited schoolboy, leading Claude over to what looked like a midget cannon. It was just as thick as a 32-pounder cannon, but about half the length.
"This 'ere is a carronade," Right-Ear said, rolling the r when he really shouldn't have. "We call it the Smasher 'cause of how powerful it is! We just came out of an incursion with some other pirates –nasty bastards wouldn't listen to reason– and she needs a good cleanin'! The sponge and water are over there, so get to it!" He pointed behind Claude to a barrel of freshwater used for cleaning the cannons and what looked like a loofah on a stick.
(So I know nothing about cannons.)
Claude just shrugged and got to work, using the sponge to clean off the first level of grime then dipping it in more water and cleaning off another layer. "You sir, are a strange, strange rat man." He stated, pointing at the man with the sponge.
(Oh my god I wish Lydia had heard that)
(R a t m a n)
"Habdhd– What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Thaddeus shouted. "You're not supposed to clean the outside of the cannon, you fucking loon! Hgh- gimme that!" Right-Ear tore the sponge from Claude's hands.
"This is what you're supposed to do, dick sweat! Get the sponge nice and wet and stick it in the barrel!" Thaddeus demonstrated the action and then pushed Claude to grab the handle.
"In and out, in and out. Keep going and clean the sponge off every so often until the inside shines like my fuckin' 'ead! God, it seems they don't teach ya common sense in private school, now do they?!"
"I was cleaning the inside, what're you? a blind fucking rat?" Claude retorted, grabbing the sponge and doing it with an exaggerated motion just to say, hey, I'm doing this right.
(Sorry, I didn't think it was clear. That one's on me. Kinda funny, though.)
The rain was coming down harder as they sailed into the storm. Lydia had tied some fabric around her head; when her hair was wet it tended to fall in her face and get in her way. Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder rumbled overhead. The night air was sticky and charged.
"Look squirt, just clean the rest of the cannons when you're done with this one," Thaddeus said with a resigned sigh. "I'm gonna go make sure everything's tied down."