round 4
Czarina Alexandra
As the battle crashed around her Elise's world came to a screeching halt. He had auburn hair and dark, tanned skin. Hard blue eyes, the colour of the most perfect and intense bluebell she could even imagine stared back at her. After a moment they widened, and the boy, for he still was that, swaggered over to her.
Elise felt her mouth go slack. She had seen many beautiful men, when her mother had been at her best their flat had been full of them, but he was something different. Even bone is his lanky, muscular form spoke of a battle hardened soul and a towering arrogance that she seemed to find very attractive.
The battle, having drifted away as she and the boy made eye contact, suddenly roared back into being, and Elise remembered her purpose. She unsheathed her knife, swords were too large and could be unwieldy, and slowly began to circle the boy. In his large, brown hand, he held a whip and his blue eyes danced and laughed as she came closer, step by step. It all happened quickly after that. Elise lunged to disarm him just as his whip flicked out, in a breath it was around her waist and she was pulled close, too close.
She could smell him, he smelled of sweat, aftershave lotion and the sea and she was lost. She could feel his lips brush her cheek and then he was gone, vaulting over the rail back to his own ship with what remained of his crew. Elise swore that she could hear him call "Till next time sweeting".
Sophie is a Ninja
The call rang around the ship... it was time for our first true fight. I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it was so soon after our raid on the port that I had little time to compose myself. A swarthy fighter climbed the starboard side where I was positioned. At first I was astonished; he had sharpened sticks for hands! He took advantage of my shock and jabbed me in the stomach, but my corset shielded me from the blows. I knocked him on the head with the butt of my rifle. He let out an oath but grinned at me.
"Aye, lass, I see you for what you are, you saucy piratess," he quipped.
I batted my eyes and pushed him off the ship with my jeweled boot. Ever since the wench at port, I've been increasingly tired of men.
Blaze Lefeu
We drew up real close to the ship that had been approachin' us fer days. I guess they'd followed us after the raid. I don't rightly know or care exactly, alls I knew was that the action was about to begin. Course, I'd already stowed most of my stash in my quarters. Couldn't part with that jacket though, it just makes me feel so...I don't know...present I guess is the best word. That's right, it makes me feel present. Like no one could possibly not notice me.
Anyways, back to the action. well we pulled up nice and close to that big ship and hopped over like the bunch of pirates we were slowly becomin'. To be honest I'm already a bit surprised by how some of these girls were comin' along. Makes me feel good knowin' that I don't have to babysit the bunch; meanin' I can take care of myself nice and easy.
When we jumped to the other ship I first started slashin' my way through like the men aboard was butter. Then somethin' strange happened...I heard my name! Not by a familiar voice course. All I could see was dust for a few minutes then I felt a burning sensation cuttin' through my chest. I looked down and saw blood sprouting. I'd been shot. I looked up to see the culprit and vaguely recognized the man from my younger years.
I quickly searched my memory, tryin' to pick out his face. I'd seen him only once before. It came to me. I'd seen him at my fathers marriage to that younger tramp. He'd been on her side. He...he was her brother! And just as it hit me he started shoutin' out. "That's right you little wretch! I've searched long and hard looking for you ever since you killed my sister. I know what you've become, a blood thirsty curse on humanity, and dammit I can't let you live any longer!"
The dust began to clear a bit and I could get a bit of a better look. His face was scarred. Obviously the scars of his adult life spent lookin' for none other than me. I began to smile a bit now. The fool...wastin' his life to avenge the life of a woman who'd not only deserved to die, but who had also all but killed my father. I suppose the circle of vengeance is a bloody one. The blood loss was gettin' to me now though. I had to act quick or he'd have easily done me in.
Adrenaline pumped through me as I jumped into action and began to slash at him. I had a knife in a gun fight...bad odds, but there he was usin' his gun like a sword. I guess he was too shocked that I was still fightin' to realize that he could have had the upper hand. The fight ran on for what felt like hours, but what I later realized was only a few minutes.
The captain was calling to us, telling us to return to the ship. He looked up in surprise...his mistake. I took the chance to run him through the stomach. He fell to his knees, clutchin' my blade with wide eyes. I pulled it free and leaned to his ear so I could whisper; "tell her hi fer me when you get to hell." He collapsed, then and there, as I ran back to the ship. We took off from the now lifeless ship laughing and bragging over our victories.
I was still filled with the excitement of killin' I guess. It wasn't til later that night that I tended to my wound. He'd nicked the edge of my chest with that bullet of his. All those years and he was a s**t marksman. Sure, I'd bled quite a bit, but I think it was all the movement that had kept it flowin' so heavy. I dressed the wound and cleaned my clothes of the blood. His sister had left a scar on my face and now he'd left one on my body. I suppose the more significant victories should be rewarded with such marks.
[~Swift~]
"Ugh, what happened to me?" Marianna stumbled out of her bunk. Her head was pounding. "God almighty, who makes liquor that powerful..." She stumbled towards the door to shut the curtain, damn did the sun hurt...suddenly the boat shifted; she'd never seen the ground move so fast. Luckily she had managed to fall into, what was this, it was actually more comfortable than the cot...clothes, clothes, piles and piles piles of clothes.
"Well," she smirked, "I guess I didn't too bad on the raid, smugly, she sauntered to her canteen and took a swig, the bitter taste cleared her mind just enough for her to catch the wall as the ship swerved again. "Wat da' hell are yeh doin! Di'nt you hear the ordahs! Ship of'a port side, git ready fer a fite. Cmon now hop to it girly!"
She poked her head out of the cabin. "Gah Damn, I need some more liquor," she whispered. It was him. Fernando She could tell after all she has posed for the wood work on the bow. "Dammit! she dove into the loot lying at her floor and pulled out clothes. The new pantaloons allowed for comfortable movement while hiding her curves, she tied her hair back and tight, now the only thing she needed to complete it was...a mask...aha. Here it was, the prize of her loot a chain mail helmet that obstructed her face but allowed sight and light to pass through.
"Hurry up ye daghs, they be on us in a minut er so, she hurried out to the smell of ocean breeze and gun powder. And fire, smell of smoke stung her eyes.
"Ahah" came the cries and without warning they were upon them. She slashed upward with the wooden blade, it never much made sense for men to drop down since their weak point would always be unprotected. The two other brigands were taken aback by how easily their comrade had been felled. Without thinking she swung the blade at the closest one's head and promptly kicked him in the chest. As for the other he found the blade of the captain. She looked to make sure her opponents had been felled; apparently they'd fallen right off the boat.
She knew where he'd be, Fernando. She grapped a rope off the mast and swung across the turbulent sea. Instantly she was surrounded.
"Fernando come here and face me!" she cried.
"What did you say!" came the reply, "You know my name it seems, but what makes you think you have de skills to challenge mi!" he laughed haughtily.
"Because; I know your weakness." in the silence she lunged. In haste he slashed wildly, surprised by her speed. She angled her blade to bounce the strike away. His sword aloft, she smashed her forehead into his face. Blood sprayed from his broken nose as he staggered, she followed quickly with a kick that sent him to the floor. She knelt next to him as his vision stirred.
"Stay down!" she cried. She picked up his Pocket watch and snapped the chain. She looked down at the image on the inside. "I knew it, lovely little Maya."
She lifted mask up to reveal her face.
"It seems I made the correct choice eh Mi amor?" And with that she kicked him in the temple; his eyes watered and rolled into the back of his head.
"Stand Down!" your captain has lost, and your plunder is mine.
As they knelt beneath her she looked with scorn on the face of "Maya" and tossed the now broken pocket watch into the sea.
phosphOrlyescence
Chiya yawned and stretched below deck, surrounded by her vast pile of loot. The clash of swords and other sounds of battle were resonating from the deck above.
Kirin studied her quizzically. "Hey, arn't ya gonna go 'elp out up ther?"
"Why should I? Let them risk their own necks. There's a saying 'One who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day'. Well, I say that one who doesn't fight at all lives a long prosperous life. I'm through with the whole brawling thing. Ain't for me anymore. I just wants some gold, maybe a nice plot of land"
"But I thou' you wuz a pirate? Don' pirates 'elp each other a' times like thi'? Didn' tha' nice lady save us from tho' dawgs?"
"Psssh, that's her problem. I've got no problem with anyone else being a hero, and risking their neck. Now, it's grog time!" She pulled out a bottle that she had stolen from the governor's palace. "A little dusty, but a fair nice bit of swill." She uncorked it and took a long , drawn out gulp before passing it to Kirin. Kirin shook her head in refusal.
Chiya soon emptied the bottle and lapsed into a deep slumber.
She woke a few hours later with a splitting headache. "Dammit, did I really drink the whole goddamn bottle in one goddamn sitting? No wonder my goddamn ******** head is goddamn burning. Need some ******** water... Krrrrin?"
She looked around, dazed. "Kirrrinn? Where the hellfire are you?!" But Kirin was not there.
"Dammit, that little s**t must have gotten up deck. And my ******** head feels like its going to ******** pieces."
Chiya stumbled to the ladder, one hand clasping her dagger and the other vigorously rubbing her head. "Why I'll kill that little b***h, she'll get me caught and hung on the goddamn ******** gallows for kidnapping. Why the hellfire did I ever decide to bring her with me?!"
She scaled the ladder sloppily, pausing every few seconds to catch her breath and rub her head.
Finally, after a long ascent, she stumbled into the fray.
For a few minutes, Chiya ducked blows and dodged swordthrusts of both her allies and her enemeis. She struggled to get oriented in the din. Suddenly, she thought she saw a flash of Kirin's dress near the ship's cannon.
Chiya made her way to the cannon, tripping over the body of a wounded pirate as she went. Kirin was standing on deck, looking rather pleased with herself, and next to her stood an imposing, redheaded woman. Although her face was mutilated and her right eye gone, Chiya recognized the face.
"Magda!" She yelled though the cacophany. "Magda! What the hellfire are you doing here?". The memories came rushing back. Magda had been the daughter of a rich trader in Chiya's town. One moment stood out particularly brightly in Chiya's mind.
It had been a long dry summer, and the harvest had been especially bad. Few people could afford to give a penny to the poor, and no one ever threw away food. Many starved, and the streets were teeming with beggars. Magda's father, however, had bought up all of the available grain and was hoarding it, selling some and hoarding the rest to sell at exorbitant prices in the winter. There was no starvation in Magda's household; even the servants ate better than the rest of the village. Magda would often walk down the street around noon, accompanied by a bodyguard or large servant, carelessly munching a delicacy and gazing at the starving villagers. That day, she had been sampling a sandwich of the finest bread with expensive emeraldback caviar.
"Horatio, this sandwich today is revolting", She pronounced.
"Yes, milady, it must be revolting".
"Almost as revolting as those mendicants lazing about on the streets, don't you think?"
"Indeed, milady."
"You there", Magda pointed at Chiya. "You would like this sandwich, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you? Then you shall have it"
Magda threw the sandwich at her feet. "Go on, take it."
Starving Chiya reached for the delicacy, but the Magda stamped her foot on it and spat in Chiya's face. Magda picked up the sandwich. "Horatio, these beggars really are disgusting. I must give this sandwich to the dogs when we arrive home. They are much more suited for it."
Chiya did not remember how exactly it happened, but she suddenly was on top of Magda, tearing at her face and eyes. A sharp blow from Horatio's staff knocked her to the ground.
"Let us go, Milady, before those beggars soil your presence."
Chiya's eyes burned with hatred as she saw Magda again on the ship.
Magda spoke," Who are you? Where do you know me from?"
"I? I am that beggar girl whose face you spat in and whose sandwich you took."
"Ah, that one? I had father looking all over the streets to punish you for your insolence. If he had found you, we would have had a judge convict you and hang you for attempted murder. Father would have paid him very handsomely. How nice is it that I can now cut off your head myself."
"How in hellfire did you end up here? Why aren't you still at your father's, eating caviar and quail eggs and spitting at those less fortunate?"
"My father lost it all in a risky business deal. I ran away to participate in a more... lucrative business. You see, some merchants pay very handsomely for young slaves to work their ships and their factories. And pirating is the best way to get them. My scars are from battles... I am, as you can say, a master. Loot a village, take a few youngsters, and sell them at the next port. I've just sold my last load, but here is one I've picked up off of this ship." She pointed to Kirin, who was too far away to hear the conversation. "She's a pretty one, isn't she? She'll sell well as a prostitute. A little young, but they keep getting younger every day, don't they?"
"You MONSTER! She's mine!" Chiya screamed, blindly slashing at Magda with her dagger. Magda coolly parried her blows.
"Well, well well, and you are not? Why else would you have a young child here on this ship other than to sell her?"
"You LIAR!". Chiya went for Magda's throat. Magda knocked her down with her bladed staff. "I was thinking to keep you as a servant, but I suppose you are too troublesome. I'll just have to kill you now."
With those words, Magda brought her blade down hard. Chiya rolled away at the last moment. Magda's blade was firmly embedded in the wooden planks. Magda pulled out the blade and swung at Chiya, slicing open her left shoulder. Madga had overswung and lost her balance. Chiya gripped her dagger and stabbed upward into Magda's soft stomach.
Magda fell, dropping her blade. Chiya grabbed it. "Revenge is mine, b***h." Chiya breathed. "But first..." Chiya spat in Magda's face, and them brought the blade down on to her throat. Magda never breathed again.
Chiya stumbled towards Kirin and sunk down. Her shoulder was bleeding profusely, and her head spun. She lost consciousness.
Elphaba the Renthead
Terror filled Arianne when she saw the ship on the horizon heading towards them. The ship was aflood with battle cries, everyone else on board seemed excited for the upcoming fight. Arianne did not understand why anyone would be excited about having the opportunity to die, she just knew that she had to do as best as she could for this fight. Perhaps she would come face to face with the b*****d that had killed her husband.
As the ships clashed, Arianne leapt over the railing with the rest of the crew, immediately finding herself engaged by a crazy looking woman. A scar running down the middle of her face proved her to be a fighter whom had already proved herself worthy. Arianne pulled out her light sword she had gotten during the raid, and quickly realized she had no idea how to use it. After feebly blocking the first stroke, she turned around and headed deeper into the fray, hoping she would find someplace to hide without being called a coward.
When she finally took the chance to look behind her, Arianne found that one of her crewmates was now engaging the woman that had been chasing her- while still keeping off another of the enemy pirates. Tears leaking from her eyes, Arianne looked around frantically, trying to find someway that she could help.
Her eyes lit up when she spied the boom, a long pole along the bottom of one of her sails. If she had learned anything in her short time at sea, it was that when the experienced crew members shouted, "Boom!" it meant duck, or you could risk being knocked out by the swinging pole.
Though she wasn't exactly sure how it would work, Arianne ran over to the boom, taking care not to be seen. Frantically untying the string, Arianne shouted "Duck!" at the top of her lungs, hoping that her savior would hear.
The pole swung around in a quick arc, passing over the head of her unnamed crewmate but smacking the crazy woman and another enemy in the head, shoving them overboard.
Arianne sunk down to the ground with her back against the mast, watching the fight continue on the rest of the ship. The boom had not been long enough to stop the fighting all together, but as she gave a weak smile to her crewmate she felt that she might just have made a friend.
Black_Daisys
I rushed up the steps to the deck, my sword swinging at my side. Once again, adrenaline was rushing through me - like on the night of our first raid - but this was so different. There was still excitement (I wasn't afraid to fight) but along with it there was something different; something I hadn't felt in what seemed like forever.
Dread.
It crept up my stomach, seeping into my heart and clawing its way up my throat. Suddenly it was harder to breathe. I did not want what was coming. I could feel it in my very bones. A great storm was approaching.
As the ship drew up beside us I could hear the scuffling of its inhabitant's feet. All were moving about - manning their stations or coming to the rail to board us - except for one man. His eyes were trained on mine. His piercing green eyes. He looked more feral than human and I could see tribal marking all over him - like scars against his dark skin. If this animal wanted to challenge me then so be it. My eyes hardened as I gripped my sword tighter.
Our cannons collided and we simultaneously grabbed a rope a swung through the air. He was stronger and knocked me back onto the deck. We both landed with a dull thud and our eyes locked again for one tense moment before our swords clashed once again.
He was faster as well. He matched me blow for blow with his rusted and bloody blade. I was at least quick enough to dodge most of his strikes, but already I was beginning to tire.
It was then that I noticed someone run past me out of the corner of my eye. I recognized her as one of the more fragile girls on board and she was being chased by a truly insane-looking woman. Before I even knew what I was doing - or realized I was doing it - I made a made lunge for the crazy woman, stopping her in her tracks while miraculously managing to dodge a powerful blow from my opponent. I looked at the white-haired woman and cried, "Together, with me!"
Our fight began.
I twirled around and slashed wildly at the man, careful to stay close to the woman (how did I not know her name?). Two swords flew at us as I tried my best to keep them from hitting her. There was no fighting back now - it took all I had simply to keep them at bay.
I looked back at her to tell her to run – that I would hold them alone – but she was already gone. I growled in frustration. It was one thing to tell her to run but quite another for her to run away on her own. Why had she left me? Was she a coward? Why had I had the idiotic need to save her in the first place?! The scarred man made another lunge towards me and in a blind rage I slashed wildly at him. He howled in pain. I had cut his eyes, blood was pouring out of it.
I backed away as the woman turned to her companion then back to me. They eyed me with such unbridled hunger I felt as if I might fall over from it. Only then did I notice the boom of our ship swinging towards us. I ducked just in time as it swept the two pirates off their feet, knocking them overboard where they splashed madly. I ran to the rail and looked over, hardly believing it as other pirates fled our ship too.
We had won the day.
I dropped my sword and slid down the rail, leaning my head back and wiping my brow. When I opened them again the white-haired woman stood in front of me. Our eyes met and I knew it had been her who had saved me (when wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around). Suddenly I realized why I had wanted to protect her – and why I didn’t need to now. She reminded me so much of the people I had not been able to help. The boy who gave me my earrings, my mother when she was crying, but even more that those I remembered myself when I was a prisoner to my fears. But this woman was not afraid. She was determined.
I held my hand out to her, my breath still coming in short pants from the fight. “My name is Gabrielle,” I said, “And you?”
She reached out her hand, seeming a little unsure but still very warm as she replied, “I am Arianne.”
Suzu Yuudai
When it became obvious that a sea battle was imminent, Fiona froze up, images of a man staring at the sword sticking out of his chest flashing through her mind. I can't...not again...not this soon...
Franticaly, she searched for a way to avoid the battle. The first thought was to point out to someone that she didn't have a weapon...but she'd hidden the fact that the beat up sword she'd found had been left behind at the town they'd raided. Impaled in an innocent civilian...
She shook her head, trying to dispel those thoughts.
Her next idea seemed much more reasonable...go down to the ship's hold and guard the main supply of their treasure. She'd be out of the way of the main fight, but would still be actively doing something. Fiona felt she could fight back in self defense as usual...but for the time being, the more she could avoid killing, the better.
Although that still left her without a weapon...a problem that was solved once she snuck her way into the hold. There was a rather fancy looking pistol sitting ontop of one of the chests. She wasn't sure why it had been left down there instead of kept by whoever had stolen it, But I'll just leave it where I found it to avoid hostilities...after the fight, she told herself, picking it up to familiarize herself with how to use it. Gun's weren't exactly something a street kid like herself would have learned how to use by now.
No sooner had she done so than cannon fire broke out, and Fiona braced herself for possible impacts since down here she could not see where the cannonballs would be coming from. Not too much damage seemed to be done from what she could tell (no balls of iron crashed through the ceiling onto her head at any rate), but after cannon fire had been going for several minutes, there was a sudden crunch and a lurch that sent her tumbling over a large barrel, opening her recent head injury in the process as she hit the floor. One of the ships was about to be boarded...
...and it seemed like theirs judging from the ruckus that exploded above her. Moving behind a support beam, Fiona kept her eyes trained on the only door into the hold, fingers clenched around the pistol's handle until her knuckle's turned white while her free hand tried to staunch the blood. It didn't seem as bad as last time, but she couldn't very well aim properly with one eye filled with blood, now could she?
"It's not the same as last time. They attacked first, it's just self defense. It's not someone protecting their home, it's another pirate ship trying to get rid of us," she told herself outloud.
The fight above seemed like it was dragging on for hours. Admitst the clang of steel and gunfire, she could pick out screams of pain and hoped that they did not belong to her crewmates. While she was still uneasy around a few of them, she was starting to grow fond of most of them.
A bang that sounded like someone being slammed into the wall jerked her attention back to the door. A pirate she didn't recognize had stumbled in, breathing heavily and eyes gleaming at the sight of the treasure in front of him while his rapier left a thin trail of blood behind him. However, his gaze was drawn towards Fiona as she stepped out from behind the beam, gun raised.
Instead of attacking imediately or moving out of her line of fire, the pirate hesitated, a surprised look on his face. "You?! You should be dea-" His words were cut off by a gunshot as a red hole blossomed in the middle of his forehead. Fiona had gotten exceptionaly lucky with her shot, and he was dead before he hit the floor.
But the pistol reached the floor before he did, due to Fiona dropping it as soon as she realized what she'd done. It wasn't so much the fact that she'd killed another person, but...
I've never seen him before...but he recognized me... Her eyes grew wider as her brain worked through the logic, So....that means......Aran....you can't be... While the two siblings were technicaly faternal twins, it was still sometimes hard to tell them apart, especialy for someone who didn't know them personaly.
She may have taken down one of the attackers and therefore had done her part in protecting the ship...but Fiona had also killed the only lead she'd had on her brother in over a year.
