Pirates! Action, Adventure, and Romance

Ivelia leaned on the sword heavily. She was in a lot of pain, and finally had a chair brought to her. She relaxed a bit, and maintained her cut throat air that demanded everyone's respect. A small smirk graced her lips as the Treader was looted and preparations were made to destroy it.

A moment later, Gale and Seamus came over. She looked up, her expression unreadable. "Mr. Finnigan, the doctor told me what happened. ... Thank you." She spoke quietly and sincerely, and for a moment she wasn't the dreaded pirate captain, but she was a nineteen yearold girl who had just barely slipped away from death. Then she turned to Gale and her expression hardened. "Mr. Blackwater. I saw your boots. Just before my eyes closed, I saw your boots. If you thought I was dead, you would have called to the crew and gathered my body. If you thought I was alive, a similar thing would've occurred. You simply didn't care. I'm just letting you know that this is your warning. I'll be watching you carefully."

"I have to get up! I have to get back out there and help!" Lilly said, as she stood. The ship rocked a bit as she did and she had to lean against the wall, but she slowly made it out the door and finally above deck.
"Come on, you can do this, Lilly!" she thought to herself as she walked sluggishly across the deck towards everyone else.

Gale drew his sword and held the handle out to the captain. "If you don't trust me, go ahead and strike me down, but I can assure you that the only thing you should be watching is the ceiling above your cot." He gave a laugh as if he was joking, but he meant every word.

"She only saw my boots?" Looking towards the Treader, he spoke again. "Besides, I didn't see you. I thought that you went after the captain, so I went to his cabin. Only once I had returned did I see what befell you." He chucked at how well he could fit his plans into his words. "By then, Seamus here was on the way." With a bow, Gale concluded with hidden sarcasm: "My apologies."

Captain Hawk's blood boiled at Gale's words. Using Amari's sword, she stood. Her hand shot out, grabbing Gale's collar and yanking him down to her level.

"This is my ship," she growled. "I will do what I please, and you do what I tell you to. Not the other way around. My trust in you is teetering on the edge of a knife, and I will not hesitate to cut you down if I sense disloyalty." With a final growl she shoved him away.

She sat down again, her leg was in serious pain. She cringed inwardly, trying to make the pain disappear from her expression.

((Heey. Someone should play one of the crew members from the other ship. To make things interesting. ;P))
Amari walked back to the stairs and saw Ivelia take Gale's shirt. He almost flew up the stairs to where they were and looked at her worriedly. Her face was an attempt to mask the pain in her leg. He'd have to ask for a pain remedy later.

But since when had he always been such a mother hen on her? It was probably just his loyalty, but it ran deeper. He shook it off as he stood. "You should go back to your room Captain. Unless you would like to see the Treader sink first." He said coldly.

( : good idea. We could always slip in NPC(s) to fill in too. It's a shame the site doesn't have more members to join in. )
_______________________

Seamus blushed again as the captain thanked him for the help. He was just doing his duty after all, but it seemed that after all his hard effort he'd finally gained the Captains trust. Maybe now he could try to get a permanent position somewhere among the crew.
He thought about being atop the crow's nest, looking out across the horizon with sextant and quill in hand; finally making his old master proud by doing just what he'd been trained to do.

"Maybe now's a good time to ask her?" He thought to himself while Ivelia finished her stern conversation with Gale. Seamus hadn't seen Gale on the other ship at the time, but if he was there, why didn't he help? it was strange.

Seamus looked over towards the deck, wondering if they should use cannons or barrels to sink the treader. In his navy days, they'd take a ship with them instead, but among enemy pirates it could be risky for a mutiny. They should at least salvage parts to repair the Empress.
Before he could think to say anything, he noticed Lilly warily wandering on the deck..

Gale laughed right in the captain's face and smiled. "You look lovely when you're all red with anger. Funny how I am the one that said to cut me down." Pulling away from the captain and bring the back of his blade inches from her neck, he continued. "Though, if you try, I cannot say you will not survive." Returning his sword to his side, he simply walked away.

"If you'll excuse me, captain, I have hungry mouths to feed." Passing Lilly, he gave her a smile and went down to the kitchen. Leaning against the kitchen's wall, Gale reasoned what just happened with the captain. "What she needs is someone that'll keep that raging head level.. Perhaps I was a bit over-the-top though? Hmmm.."

Lilly gave a faint smile in return to Gale's, trying to hide her nausea.
"Captain, are you alright?" She asked as she approached, but then noticed her leg, or rather, lack of. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't here to help..." What if she could have prevented what happened to the captain if she were there?

"Is there anything that I can do now? I know it won't make up for what I've done, but..." She trailed off, as she could no longer find the words to express her sincere remorse.

Amari frowned as Gale walked away, resisting the urge to push him off the deck and made a note to keep an eye on him. He smiled faintly at Lily. "I am glad you're feeling better Lilly." She was still a bit green, but at least she was walking again.

He stole a glance at Ivelia and her expression. She would probably want to see the ship sink, but would she allow a few new crew members to make up for the losses? "Don't worry Lilly, we'll be on land in about a day from now."

"I oughta shoot him!" Ivelia yelled, throwing the sword in her hand in the direction he went. It sailed past where his head had been a second ago. "I ought to shoot you too!" She yelled louder at Amari. She gripped the railing from support. "I'm the captain, dammit. No one here gets to tell me what to do or what's best for me! Sink the bloody ship and get on with it!!" She shoved Amari a little for emphasis with her free hand.

"Lilly," she spoke slightly calmer. "Just resume your post and stop apologizing." Coming from her, this was kindness. She groaned under her breath at the pain in her leg.

Ivelia's sudden change in ferocity was a little unsettling. Perhaps it was the injuries that messed with her mind and caused her mood change so swiftly? Whatever the case, it was extremely out of order for Gale to have acted as he did. What the hell could he be thinking?

Seamus stood in place feeling a bit stiff and unsure. His awkwardness had set in once more, but he was determined not to let it show.

Without saying a word, he saluted the Captain and took Amari in tow; talking softly to him as they descended t he deck.
"She really needs to relax. We should get the ship sunk already and maybe she'll go back to her normally self?" He paused a moment in thought. "Unless this is her normal self..."

He gestured to Lilly. "Hey, want to help us blow something up? It'd probably help take your mind off the nausea."

he then spoke back to Amari. "You've known her for a long while, I assume...?"

Amari stepped back, a little surprised. He looked away a little ashamed but allowed Seamus to drag him away. He really didn't want to be near her anymore right now. "Normally she isn't like this. But she's had a bad issue with the captain of that ship. I just want that thing gone now." He mumbled.

Amari shrugged. "A while. But she's been on the sea longer than me." For a moment he remembered his first days on the ship before snapping out of it. He stopped and went to pick up his sword to put it back in it's place in his belt.

"Uhm, yeah, sure." said Lilly in response to Seamus. The nausea seemed to be fading more quickly now, and she could walk around more easily without stumbling. Hopefully it would never come back.

"How exactly do we do that?" She asked quietly, looking towards the ship beside them. She had never sunk a ship before. It seemed like a bit of a shame to destroy such a work of art.

Amari chuckled and patted her head. "You stick cannon-balls in the cannons, light them on fire and shoot them. Simple." He said in a matter-of-fact kind of way. Despite the fact that teh cannons where really heavy if you didn't know how to use them.

Ivelia had a crew member help her to her cabin, and told them to fetch her when the Treader was about to be sunk. Once she was alone, she slowly rolled up her pant leg to study the bloody bandage covered stump that remained. A sob of anger caught in her throat. She'd failed her father. Sure, Cyrus Night was dead but how could she be a good captain with one leg? Was she a good captain at all? Her crew seemed to be rising against her..

The Captain stood using her sword and made her way over to her desk. She found a spare piece of parchment and used a spare nail to hang it to her door. Soon daggers were sailing through the air to stick in the door. This cleared her mind usually, but right now it just made her more angry. She leaned against her desk, the hot tears that she had been holding in finally made their way down her cheeks.

In a furious swipe, her arm shoved everything off her desk, and she managed to flip the beautiful wooden furnishing. The salt of her tears stung the small cuts on her face and just managed to add more fuel to her anger. The anger was exhausting though. She gave in after a few moments, and let herself fall limply onto her cot.

Seamus followed the two down to the lower deck along with some extra crew that'd been nearby.

"I guess it's not my place to pry." He spoke towards Amari. "A part of me is curious as to what would have caused such a..." he pondered his word carefully for a moment, "A madness, so to speak. You're right though. I want that ship gone to. It's our duty to follow orders and keep our Captain safe, right?"
He paused a moment as they reached the lower deck and began preparations to sink the ship.

"Actually, I have no clue how customs work on a pirate ship." he laughed half-heartily to himself. "All I know is the rules of the Navy. Maybe if I stuck around a little more, I'd pick up on more things and be a proper pirate?"

Amari shrugged. "The captain has ears everywhere. Maybe one day she'll tell you." He said and looked at the crew that was under the deck. "Fire the cannon with the ones we collected today. The Treader sinks." He called out, and the crew shuffled around doing his orders.

"It's really not that bad if you do what your captain says. It took me a while to get used to it as well." He looked at Seamus with a small smile. "It'd be nice for you to stick around. Please stay alive long enough to do so."

Captain Hawk woke to a knock at her door. Using her sword, she made her way out of bed to see who was bothering her. It was the crewman from earlier, sent to fetch her to watch the Treader sink. He helped her out and fetched her a chair so that she had a front row seat.

The first deafening blast of canon fire shook the ship, and blasted large holes through the enemy vessel. From her vantage point, she could see the still corpse of Cyrus Night, and the thought of him made her leg ache.

With every round of canon fire, the Treader filled with more water until it collapsed on itself and the waves swallowed the remains up. Slowly, the debris made its descent to the ocean floor.

~~

Arnold Ven, 23. He had pledged his loyalty to this new female captain only an hour ago, but watching the Treader sink had snapped something inside of him. He knew that he couldn't just brandish his sword in anger and hope not to die. He had to plan and bide his time to get revenge and to avenge Captain Night.

He sat in the riggings, trying to contain his anger.

Looks younger than he is

Gale awoke from his thoughts at the sound of cannon fire. "So the Treader is being sunk. Oh this is wonderful news." After grabbing a bottle, climbing onto the deck, and walking to the railing, he saw the last of the ship fall beneath the waves. "Perfect."

Looking around, he saw that some of the crew of the Treader had been converted to the crew he was a part of. He couldn't help but grin a little. "All too perfect. An eye shall be kept on these newcomers.." His eyes then fell onto the captain. "Would you care for a drink?"

Ivelia turned to look at Gale and an expression of understanding filled her eyes, oddly enough. He didn't need to understand the reason for her stupidity and rage, but she didn't quite understand the reasons behind his actions. But she hoped that they both understood that the other had reasons, and she knew they shouldn't have gone so far.
"Yes, thank you."

Once a drink was in her hand,it was soon half gone. "Help me back to my cabin, and find Amari and send him to me." it obviously went against her nature to ask for help, but she needed it now. Until she got a wooden leg or something, she'd be a bit useless.

~

"First Mate Reed? Arnold Ven. I have yet to meet the captain, and all I hear is that she's a girl. That can't be true though..right?" He looked up at Amari, feigning shyness. He hoped to learn as much about the captain as possible.

Amari turned to hear a new voice. He nodded to him. "Good to meet you Mr. Ven." He was quiet for a moment. "Yes, our Captain is a woman." He leaned on the railing watching the other ship sink and placed his chin on his knuckles.

"How long have you been at sea Arnold Ven." He said shortly and looked at him. He seemed way to young to be on sea, though he was as well. Looks could be deceiving.

Arnold cleared his throat a little. "10 years. Ran away from home at the age of 13 to become a pirate." He glanced at the floating debris of the Treader. "How is it that the Captain is a woman? I've always been told that it would be bad luck to bring a lass aboard." Not to mention tempting.. he thought as his mind drifted to places it probably shouldn't.

"This may not be my place to ask, but are you first mate because you and the captain.." he cleared his throat again and gave him a look that finished the sentence. "Captain Night always said a woman only ever has a position of power because of her powers of seduction. And anyone below her with power has it because she fancies them."

Amari was quiet. "Ah, so that would make you older than me." He said and shrugged. "I suppose, but I never really believed that rule. When I was younger, my father would always take my mother along on a short sailing trip. So I don't really think it is."

Amari's eye twitched as he struggled to keep a straight face while on the inside leaning over the railing and gagging. "Um, no. Captain Hawk has been on this ship longer than me, by the time I was on my first year on this ship she was already captain." Amari shuddered and unneeded mental images. This guy, he really should hit him.

After helping to sink the ship, Seamus had decided to track down the new doctor. He'd not forgotten about looking into the ships crew logs to see who'd survived the battle, and now that they had captured crew-mates, those who joined would need to be added.
"I wonder if they even have such a thing on a pirate ship though?" he began to wonder as he searched for the doctor. "Perhaps that was a question I should've asked Amari."

He shook his head at himself. "I'm not in the navy anymore! It's all behind me! It's time to be a pirate!"
Despite that determined thought, he continued to wander about until he spotted he finally found the doctor below deck towards the aft of the ship.