“Yo-ho yo-ho a pirate’s life for me

We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo-ho yo-ho a pirate’s life for me.”*

Welcome aboard, sailor. You are to hear the most riveting and robust sea tale your ears have ever heard. Behold the story of Chuck Sparrow, the buccaneer who sailed to South America, fought Francisco Pizarro and his scurvies, and found treasure of the mighty Incan Empire. So, brace yourself, and listen to the heroic tale of one of the greatest pirates the world has ever known.

In 1532, a year after Francisco Pizarro’s successful but ruthless campaign in South America, the notorious corsair Chuck Sparrow sailed the Seven Seas, in search of the rumored treasure possessed by which was once the Incan Empire. Others, however, knew of this great wealth and sought it as well – the Spaniards. Sparrow knew of this and attempted to get there first before Pizarro could lay one of his dirty, greedy fingers on the treasure. He was also in search of his father, William Hernando Sparrow, who deserted Chuck without reason when he was only ten years old. In his thoughts, he wondered who William was, where he went, and why he left him unexpectedly. His only dream was to find his father, so that they could be together again. All of this tenderness would be interrupted when Chuck Sparrow felt something hit his ship, The Águila Altísima (The Soaring Eagle). He rushed up on deck to find out that sharks were hammering his ship! Everyone immediately armed themselves with muskets and rapiers (a Renaissance-type of sword) and fought to the death against the aggressive predators. Cannons, stolen from the Spanish armory back in Madrid, fired away their last rounds to blow the sharks to pieces and secure the ship. When all of the sharks seemed to have vanished from the battle, suddenly, a lone shark flew itself right on the ship! It very nearly killed Chuck Sparrow, as the shark tried to rip off his head with its jaws. The pirates, shocked and surprised, rushed right at the shark to finish it off with their rapiers. Then, they threw it off The Águila Altísima, never to be seen again. The ship survived the conflict, but was heavily damaged, leaving large gaps and holes in it. The crew advised Chuck Sparrow to abandon ship, but Sparrow was ambitious as ever and sailed on.

Nighttime it was now, and Sparrow was the only one up on deck, drinking rum with his beloved animal friend, Happy the parrot. Sparrow was praying as well, for he was a strong Christian. He begged to the Lord, “Lord, thank you for this fine rum, and if you can, give me a sign – a place – where I can fix my ship. I cannot stand to look at the holes within it for another second.”

God, unfortunately, did not grant Chuck Sparrow what he wanted, but The Águila Altísima was drawing closer and closer to land, even though Sparrow didn’t notice. A few hours later, several other pirates who were asleep came up on deck to have some rum. Two of them were Chuck Sparrow’s best friends, Señor Chirillo and José Fernando (nicknamed “José the Bold). Then, Chuck Sparrow threw a party. Seldom did he do this, for if he was bored, he would begin parties with lots of drinking and gambling; it was a favorite of his. But as the party went on, all the pirates started to pass out, including Chuck Sparrow. After waking up from temporary unconsciousness at around 8:00 in the morning, Sparrow opened his eyes in horror to realize that his ship was heading right for a nearby boulder! The frightened pirate did all that he could to steer the vessel on course again, but it was too late. As a result, Sparrow and the rest of the crew were forced to swim five miles to shore.

The waters were more dangerous than Chuck Sparrow expected since everyone swimming to shore was wearing Spanish heavy armor, which was looted from the corpses of Spanish soldiers, and they had to be wary of what approached them. (Basically, the clothes the pirates wore on their backs was stolen.) Not just that, but The Águila Altísima was no more; it sunk to the bottom of the sea – down in Davy Jones’s locker where no voice be heard.
Everyone was in total panic now, as they had no ship, and used all of their speed and strength to get to the South American coast. It had taken the pirates about 20 minutes to reach land, and by the time they arrived, they were all exhausted. Unfortunately, five people drowned and one swam in the wrong direction and was eaten by a shark.
“Land-ho!” Señor Chirillo shouted with relief.
“Yeah, we’re aware of that. No need to remind us, mate,” Sparrow commented.
“What do we do now?” Chirillo asked.
“Um, I don’t know. Just what we came here for. To find the treasure!” Sparrow answered angrily.
“Well, sorry. Take it easy Mr. Sparrow. I forgot.”
“What did you call me, mate?”
“Um, uh…Mr. Sparrow…” Chirillo said nervously.
“Aaaahhh!”
And so, an epic swordfight broke out between Chuck Sparrow and Señor Chirillo. They continued to battle away for five minutes until José the Bold stormed in and broke up the fight by tackling Chirillo to the ground. Happy the parrot flew in as well and screeched in Chirillo’s face until he came to his senses.
“What are you doing, señors?” José asked.
“I don’t know, mate. I lost control of myself, mate. I’m sorry,” Sparrow said with sincerity.
“Let’s just find the treasure and get out of here,” José said, extremely stressed.
“Fair enough, mate.”
After the skirmish, the pirates continued on. They traversed through miles and miles of rainforest, until they came upon flat, dry land. On this land stood many buildings – mainly houses – and several pyramids that rose up to 60 feet high. Chuck Sparrow, to his amazement, had just seen for the first time a town built by the masonries of the former Inca Empire. The town, however, was empty – or it seemed empty. As Chuck Sparrow and his comrades walked through the vacant area, Sparrow grew more suspicious.
“It’s all quiet here, mate. Why is it quiet?” Sparrow asked to himself.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a musket ball hits one of the pirates in the neck and [he] falls to the ground. It was the Spaniards! About 200 of them charged at the pirates, who numbered around 50, with rapier, pike, and musket. The pirates, terrified of the large force, rushed up the stairs of the Incan pyramids and used them as cover. They shot at the Spaniards with their muskets, which were almost low on ammunition, and became even more terrified when they saw Francisco Pizarro, the infamous conquistador of the Incas, appear on the battlefield. Chuck Sparrow was the only one daring enough to challenge Pizarro and charged at him with fury. When the pirates finally ran out of musket balls, they bolted down the pyramids and faced the Spaniards in close-quarters combat.
Several minutes later, when all hope seemed lost, Chuck Sparrow gained dominance of the swordfight by disarming Pizarro and thrusting his rapier into Pizarro’s stomach. Before Sparrow could finish him off, though, Pizarro quickly picks up his sword and parries Sparrow’s next move. Sparrow then kicks Pizarro down a hill and tries to kill him again, but all of a sudden, Pizarro’s bodyguard rushes to his aid. Through this diversion, the notorious conquistador is able to escape.
The Spanish, realizing their general is now wounded, flee in terror and pull back to their ships, except for Pizarro’s bodyguard. José and Chirillo, locating Sparrow, rush in to help him kill the bodyguard. They very well succeed, but sadly, José perishes during the conflict; his throat was cut. José managed to utter out only a few words to Sparrow before he went to the next life, “God bless you, Chuck Sparrow. You are a good man and friend,” and then he died.

In the aftermath, the pirates achieved victory. They also ended up finding most of the rumored treasure in many of the town’s houses and claimed it for themselves. During the bloody skirmish, the pirates lost half of their men and the Spaniards one-fourth of theirs.

Chuck Sparrow, weeping bitterly at the loss of José, sees a man emerge from the rainforest that borders the town. He had been watching the battle in hiding, and chose not to fight because the Spanish were after him. He committed the crime of piracy and so the Spanish monarch Charles I sent in soldiers to arrest him.
“Chuck Sparrow, my son, you are here,” he said sadly but with relief.
“Are you…my father?” Sparrow asked with great confusion.
“Yes, I am, and you are here!” He rushed up to Sparrow and embraced him. Indeed it was his father, and the reason he left his son was because of the Spanish who were sent to arrest him, and he did not have a chance to say goodbye. For escaping Spain, the king ordered his soldiers to slaughter his family, and Chuck Sparrow ended up being the only survivor – he was hiding in a cupboard where the soldiers did not look. Seven years Sparrow has suffered and now he would find out the real reason as to why his father left Spain on such short notice. He started to explain, “Son, I have something to tell you…”