This could get interesting....

Nice chapter.... And yes, it could get interesting...

haha very good crest! i love it :)

OH I love this one! I feel a little Sarah in me ... I like her - please be good to her LOL
Well done ! Thanks for always captivating me!

Char

The Storm
 

Ahoy, ahoy, ahoy mates! It is that time again, and I do not mean of ghosts and ghouls, haha. So, for you, I present...

The Storm

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

The next day, after they had been fitted for appropriate clothes, Sarah and Charles boarded the ship again, for a trip to Tortuga this time. Josie had made sure they were outfitted properly, giving Sarah an over-simplistic white skirt and a long sleeved white shirt. Charles didn’t need much of anything for clothing. He’d already acquired seafaring clothes before leaving England. That was just something they didn’t have to spend money on, thank god. Josie had forbidden the siblings to tell their last names for some reason, and Truehound served them happily.

Josie was at the dock the next day to see them off. “Good luck on finding Kat,” she told them. “If I see her first, I’ll direct her towards you. And… watch out in Tortuga, alright? It may be a free port, but it can be a bit too free at times. Just be careful.”

Sarah let herself drop her composure for a moment. “Thank you for all of your help, Josie,” she said while Charles was helping prepare the ship. She looked for a moment as if she was going to do something, like hug Josie, but instead she simply took the older woman’s hand. “Goodbye Josie,” she said shortly, and boarded the ship.

Josie watched the pearly white sails be released and head out of the dock. She waved at the ship, “Fair winds. That girl could definitely use some extra happiness,” and went back to her small, lonely tavern.

Onboard, Charles and the rest of the crew were continuing the preparations for the high seas. The captain approached Sarah as she watched the hustle and bustle. “There seems to be a storm coming, miss,” he told her with a slight edge to his voice. “Are you certain you want to leave today?”

Sarah met his cold gaze with one of her own. Her eyes pierced through him icily. “Time is of the essence, captain. We leave now,” she told him briskly. The man nodded hesitantly and went off to give orders to his men. Sarah sighed softly and disappeared into the small cabin that had been provided for her.

Three hours later, the ship rocked wildly in the foaming waves. Sarah was slammed into the doorway of her cabin as she tried to get onto the main deck. Men were running about, trying to adjust for the storm as they tightened the sails and battening down the hatches. The captain held tight to the wheel, trying to direct the ship through this mess. Lightning flashed and thunder roared next to the crashing of water on the sides of the ship. This was the chaos of the Caribbean sea.

“I told you, you stupid woman!” the captain yelled as she reached him. “I told you the storm was coming! If we sink out here, it’s on your head!”

Sarah felt fear clench her stomach and swallowed hard. “Keep going, captain! Just keep going!” she yelled. She clutched the railing in a death grip as another dark wave washed over the ship. It tipped precariously to starboard side as she tried to go down the stairs to Charles. He held the rope in his soaking hands, trying to keep the sails from blowing away.

“Sarah, help me!” he yelled, trying to beat away the sound of the storm with his voice. His sister leaned down and tied off the sail. Another strong crash rocked the ship, and Sarah smashed into a wall of the boat. She grabbed onto the rope she had juts tied and hauled herself to her feet. Something was wrong, though. Charles wasn’t there to help her up.

A faint cry was heard from the side of the ship. Sarah slipped in a puddle in her haste to get to the side of the ship. A dark brown head of hair floated briefly above the waves, then disappeared.

Sarah gasped in horror. “Man overboard!” she yelled desperately. She moved to an emergency bell the captain had shown her the first day on the ship. The gonging cut through the storm clearly. “Man overboard, port side!” she cried again.


Charles vaguely heard bells… ding, dong, ding, dong. There was yelling… Sarah? Was that Sarah? He struggled against the waves pushing every side of him. The bell continued to ring as water rushed into his ears and he was dragged under the waves. His mouth opened instinctively for air, but only took in water. He was falling, falling, falling into the abyss, and he recalled the sound of the bell. Ding... dong... come... down... the sea will take care of you.

Sand dragged underneath the soles of his boots, awakening him and giving him more power. He kicked up from the solid ground, not sure where he was going, but knowing he had to go somewhere. Strong arms pushed the water aside and water logged shoes hindered him, but he kept going. There had to be something. Davy Jones would not take this man!

His head broke the surface and Charles took a deep breath of air. Rain splattered on his face as he struggled against being pulled under again. He blinked water out of his eyes and, when they were clear, squinted in the darkness to see a patch of sand in front of him. His muscles strained with effort, and he fought his way to the small shore.

The storm tried to push him backwards, but Charles was having none of that. He kept going until sand squished underneath his feet. There wasn’t much to do but wading at that point, and Charles joyously accepted the small, muddled rocks. That is, until one of the incoming waves knocked him to the ground.

He lay in the damp shore in a daze, taking deep, heaving breaths, even though his mouth was opened to the sand. His entire boy was splayed out, and he knew he would be in pain later… if there was a later. With a groan, Charles pushed himself up, but only proceeded to roll onto his back. The rain had slowed some, dropping lightly onto his face. Thunder roared in the distance as the storm began to blow away.

The crunching of footsteps along the shore was blown away by the violent wind. A form dressed in black, head to toe, blended in with the storm clouds above. Water dropped from the long brim of a hat. A bright green apple was clutched in a gnarled hand. Lightning flashed down into the ocean, revealing his silhouette standing above the prone body of Charles.

Charles jumped at the sight of the figure. Sand moved between his fingers as he searched for something, anything, though he didn’t know what, to defend himself with. His hand finally grappled upon a rock, and he flung it at the figure. It bounced harmlessly against its chest.

“What ye be doin’ here lad?” the figure said above the storm in a gravelly voice. One of the worn hands reached down, and Charles warily grabbed it to be hauled to his feet.

“Got washed up by the storm,” he yelled.

The figure nodded. ‘C’mon, follow me,” he said. He began hulking down the beach. Charles considered going against the request, but decided there couldn’t be much harm in it. Besides, anything this man had was probably better than the storm. He ran after the dark figure.

They ended up in a small grotto, with a few torches lighting the space. Charles’ eyes widened at the heaps of treasure that filled the room. Gold and gems glittered up into his hazel eyes in the flickering light. The man glanced back at him with an amused smirk. “Ye like the shine, do ye lad?” He let out a booming laugh that echoed through the cavern. To Charles, it almost sounded like a cackle.

“Who are you?” Charles asked, his voice stronger than he really was. All his body really wanted to do was lay on the cold, stone floor and rest, but he was guarded around this man. There was no telling what would happen if he let himself relax.

The man walked across the confined space. “Jack! Where be ye, ye scoundrel?” A chattering came from a small cliff, and coins clinked together as a small monkey leaped off of them to the man. It scurried up his leg and up to his shoulder. The man pet it behind its ears, and the monkey chattered happily. “Good boy.”

Charles looked at the man curiously. “Who are you?” he asked again.

“My name be Barbossa,” the man said in his booming voice, and in the new light, Charles could see small scars marking his face. “Hector Barbossa. And me story?” He leaned against a stone casket and waved a hand. “Well, that not be important. Now you lad! What of you? Might I be getting to know yer story as well?”

Charles felt his back straighten. “I am Charles Crestshot.”

“Ah! A strong, strapping name for a lad like yerself!” Barbossa shouted, and Charles jumped again. “Aye, a good name for the Caribbean. How’d ye come washed up on that shore?”

“I went overboard in a storm,” he said. “We were headed for Tortuga.”

Barbossa must have felt very excitable, as he shouted again. “Oho! What have we here Jack?" he said to the monkey. "Strong name, strong build, and a pirate to boot!”

Charles leveled his gaze in a glare at Barbossa. “I am no pirate,” he said with a tint of venom.

Barbossa’s eyes got a glint in them. “But I can see it in ye, lad,” he said lowly, no longer shouting. “It calls to ye, don’t it? The sea, the sails, the freedom. Ye want it, don’t ye boy?”

Charles’ fists clenched. “I am no boy, either!” he shouted.

Barbossa grinned. “Anger as well. Good, very good.” He took a pistol from his belt, and Charles froze, thinking he had somehow put his life on the line. The handle of the pistol pointed out at him though, not the barrel.

“Well don’t just stand there like a fool, Mr. Crestshot! Take the gun!” Barbossa gestured, and Charles quickly moved to take it. He held it carefully, as if scared it would bite.

“Show me that ye ain’t a boy,” Barbossa graveled. “Fire it at the monkey.” He nodded towards the creature still sitting on his shoulder.

Charles gaped. “But… the monkey is-”

“Blast it all, boy, do it!” Barbossa roared. Charles felt the anger at being called a boy again, and swiftly raised the gun and pulled the trigger. Thunder echoed through the grotto, both from the gun and the storm still raging outside. The monkey shrieked and fell to the ground with a thump.

“Oh, shh, Jack, shh,” Barbossa said to the leaping and growling animal. It skittered onto Barbossa’s arm, and he stroked it gently. His dead blue eyes met Charles’ hazel. “That was a pretty sure shot, lad,” he said. Charles shrugged and tried to hand the weapon back. “Nay, keep it,” Barbossa said. “That weapon be yers, lad. The pistol be yer gift, and not just from me. Keep that handy. I feel it’ll get ye out of more than a few tight spots.”

Charles grasped the pistol surely in his hand. His palm shaped around the butt of the gun, his finger curling around the trigger. Perhaps Barbossa had a point. It just felt right.

“Charles!” a female voice yelled. It was faint as the sound went through the cabin. “Charles!”

“It seems someone be lookin’ for ye lad,” Barbossa said. “Ye’d best be gettin’ outta here. Fair winds to ye.”

Charles nodded. “To you as well, Barbossa,” he said.

“I won’t be gettin’ off this isle, so I won’t be needin’ it,” the man said quietly as Charles left the grotto. He looked back to see Barbossa tossing a green apple in the air and catching it fluidly, again and again, the fruit snapping against his palm, before a turn in the tunnel swallowed him up.

He exited to see that the rain had stopped, but the dark clouds still loomed overhead. There was a small group of people walking down the shore, calling out his name. He saw Sarah at the front, in her now slightly tattered white clothes.

“Sarah!” he called out and he saw his sister turn.

“Charles!” she yelled, and she ran down the beach as fast as her skirt and the sand would allow her. When she reached him, she took him into a huge embrace. “God, I was worried you had been taken by the sea!”

Charles laughed a little and held her tight. “I’m alright Sarah, don’t you worry.” Over her shoulder, the other men from the ship were not nearly as happy, as they glared at them. He let go of Sarah. “Anything wrong, gents?”

The captain stepped forward. “I’ve had enough of this. As sorely tempting as it is to leave you here, on this scrap of an island, we shall continue to Tortuga. Once there, though, my crew and I shall continue on our way.” He began walking away to the dinghy. “I suggest you board, or be lost to the crabs.”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Originally this was going to be an... outtake of sorts, but it fit in so well... so yah.

What say you mates? This is one of my personal favorite scenes. What about you though? I appreciate reviews. :grin: Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

i think its really good! :D haha i like how barbossa sees a pirate in charles and it showing this is how he starts figure out he is ment to be one its just cool lol

Standoff in Tortuga
 

Well, I may have RL things going on mates, but I'm still able to get a chapter out to ye. :) Wouldn't leave you all hanging, aye? So, quickly, for I must go and do things of the theater soon, I give you...

Standoff in Tortuga

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

At Tortuga, they were swiftly kicked from the ship, their belongings thrown into the sand after them. Charles growled as he picked up the bags and slung them over his shoulder and under his arm. A few people along the beached stopped to point and laugh drunkenly, but they were mostly ignored in favor of rum and fights.

Sarah just stood there, her shoes sinking into the sand as she watched the ship sail away. Charles came up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. “C’mon Sarah, we have to find someplace to stay.” She merely nodded and let her brother lead her. They walked through fist fights and gunshots as they wandered the town, looking for a place that wasn’t too hostile. There didn’t seem to be one.

A man with yellowed teeth and matted hair crept up to Sarah. “Why hello, lass. What’s a fine lil’ girly like you doin’ lookin’ so sad?” His grind widened. “I can cheer ya up lass… quite well.”

“Back off, bloke,” Charles said threateningly, stepping in front of her.

The dirty man eyed him. “You be her man?” he asked, poking her in the chest.

Charles stood firm. “No, I’m her brother.”

The man got in Charles’ face, close enough for him to smell his rank breath and the smell of alcohol. “Well, if that’s the case, you shouldn’t be opposed if I wan’ to spend a lil’ time with her,” he leered, and tried to get around him.

Charles moved to block him as he pulled out his pistol. “I’m warning you, bloke. Don’t try anything,” he said, pointing the gun right in the man’s face.

He glared up at Charles. “You wouldn’ pull that trigger. It’s against Pirate Code!” he growled, but still looked intimidated by the gun.

“Well then it’s a good thing I’m not a pirate, isn’t it?” Charles responded.

He saw the man begin to slip a hand into his pocket. “C’mon boy, just move aside…”

“Bart!” a voice barked across the road. Charles glanced over to see a small woman with dark – was that green? – hair walk briskly over to them.

“Wha’ trouble ye gettin’ into now, Bart?” the woman asked in a thick Irish accent. Her hands were on her hips as she stared him down. Bart seemed to wither slightly.

“Just tryin’ to ‘preciate a beautiful woman, Luckie,” he muttered.

The woman glanced at Charles, who still had a gun pointed at Bart, and Sarah, who peeked meekly out from behind him. “Aye?” she asked skeptically. “Honestly, go bother Johnny instead, ye daft lump of manure! And pu’ tha’ dagger away, or ye be facin’ the end o’ mine, and ye won’t be gettin’ any biscuits anytime soon!” Bart grumbled and stalked off.

Charles continued to glare after him, even when he had disappeared into the crowd. They hadn’t been there long, and already he hated Tortuga.

“Ye can pu’ the weapon down, lad,” the woman said in a much softer voice. It was only then that Charles realized his pistol was still raised. He hastily put it back in his belt.

“Thank you for your help,” he said to the green haired woman. “Now, excuse us, but we have to find a place to stay tonight.” He picked up the bags he had dropped during the small fight and began heading away.

“Wait,” the woman called. The siblings turned back towards her. “If ye don’ mind me askin’, why were ye pointin’ a pistol at Bart?”

Charles felt his back stiffen. “I felt he was threatening my sister. Nothing more.”

The woman shook her head. “I’ll ‘ave ta berate him abou’ tha’ later,” she muttered. “Come on now, follow me. I may have somethin’ tha’ll help ye ou’.” She began walking away. Charles and Sarah glanced at each other, then Charles shrugged and began following after the woman, Sarah following close behind.

The woman glanced backwards once or twice to be sure they were following, but mostly walked a fast pace until they reached a building with a picture of a pastry on the outside. She stepped past the threshold and motioned for Charles and Sarah to follow. They stepped into a shop filled with the most glorious smells, much different than the rancid Tortuga just on the other side of the door. Both inhaled deeply, cleansing sea salt and dirt from their senses. She noticed the content looks on their faces and smiled.

“Welcome ta the bes’ baker in all o’ Tortuga!” she said proudly. “Come on in the back, I’m sure I go’ somethin’ for ye.” She continued deeper into the building as Charles and Sarah looked about in wonder.

“Alrigh’, let’s see…” the woman muttered, moving a few things around. “Can never remember… aha!” She pulled a sheet away to reveal a nice, thick loaf of bread. “Here ye go, jus’ baked this morn!” she said. She broke two pieces off for the siblings, which they accepted gratefully.

“What’s your name again?” Sarah asked as Charles munched on the bread. “I recall Bart saying it, but don’t remember exactly what it was.”

The woman smiled gently at them. “I’m Luckie. Luckie O’Clover.”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Now you can all go bug Luckie! Haha. Actually, I asked her if she would be in it. I do believe she will be rather fitting, eh? Thanks for letting me borrow your name mate.

Well mates, what do you think? A little shorter than most, but oh well. I'll be listening for the buzz. :) Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

lol nice! i never knew lucky was a baker haha! but its very cool :D thx for the great chapter tooth paste! :D

Where did you think she gets J's biscuits? LoL Thumbs Up Crest!

- Banned -

Luckie is going to fit RIGHT in! Great choice, Crest. :)

Not As They Seem
 

Ahoy, ahoy, and ahoy some more me mates! Ready for another chapter? Well, if you ain't, then just don't read ahead, savvy? Haha. And now, for you specifically - Yes, You POF! - I give you...

Not As They Seem

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Luckie had decided to take the pair in after hearing their story. She was a nice woman, and kind, with her bakery open most of the time for those pirates with a sweet tooth. Every once in a while, a poor soul would come into the store without anything to spare, and so thin that he would look like a servant of Jolly Roger. Luckie would grant them some food free of charge, without thought, and send him on his way. In this way, she mostly avoided raids and thieves in her shop.

Her features were delicate, almost like a creature from fairy tales Sarah had loved as a small girl. Dots freckled across her pale face, a sharp contrast to her dark green hair. She was shorter than the both of them, not looking as if she belonged to the ragtag town of Tortuga. Some things are not as they seem though.

They had only been there a few days when a random riot broke out just outside of Luckie’s shop. A man smashed through the door while she stood there, slicing up a fresh loaf of bread. Sarah and Charles had been in the back kneading some dough for her when they heard the crash. They burst from the back to see the man creeping towards Luckie with a worn, yet still useful, cutlass. Charles began to pull his pistol, but Luckie beat him to it, taking the breadknife and flinging it at the intruder. It embedded in the wall next to his head, and the man fled back to the riot. Luckie’s apron fluttered angrily as she moved to close the door.

“An’ Stay out, ye rabid pack o’ jack wagons!” she shouted, before slamming the door. She eyed the knife sticking out of the wall and tsked. “Another hole…” she muttered before pulling it out of the wall. It was then that she noticed Charles and Sarah standing there, mouths agape. She laughed, a tinkling, bell-like sound. “Ye two think I’m ‘ere and don’ know how ta defend meself?” She laughed again. “Come in the back with me, mates. We’ll talk.”

Luckie began kneading the bread the other two had left in their haste. “Ye two can’ believe tha’ I’m in Tortuga ‘cause I wan’ ta be, do ye?” She let out a short, barking laugh this time, with a bitter edge to it. “Nay, tha’ ain’t the case at all.” She sighed and gave the dough a rather vicious hit. “I’m from Ireland, ye probably assumed tha’. I didn’ jus’ come ‘ere ‘cause o’ the fresh blue waters.” Her kneading began going slower and slower as she delved back into the past. “There was a lass… annoyin’ like the devil, she was. Always passed by me house with a sneer an’ insults, even when I tried to be polite. More than once, she practically forced herself into me home to ‘talk’, and I’d find things missin’ later. Ah, how I hated the woman, bu’ no other soul would believe me when I said she was bad. Nay, perfectly glorious was she.

“There finally came a time when me husband walked in to tell me tha’ I had been accused of witchcraft. Apparently, dyin’ me hair in honor o’ St. Patrick didn’ fade quite fast enough. Unnerved people, it did… or a’ leas’ one. Well, before I fled onto a ship headed ‘ere, I stopped by a lil’ cottage with a small flame…” There was a slightly sinister look in her brown eyes. “Bettie go’ her due.”

She seemed to come back from her past then. “Anyway, I ended payin’ for me passage ‘ere by cookin’. When we arrived, it was jus’ the nex’ step for me to open a shop. I’ve learned from experience ‘ere, though, tha’ ye go’ to expect anything, so I quickly learned me way ‘round a blade, and me kitchen knives are useful a lo’ o’ the time as well.” She grinned. “As ye saw. I dabble in a lil’ voodoo as well – I suppose Bettie had a poin’ on tha’ aspect – bu’ nothin’ major.

“Now, ye two,” she said, finishing her beating of the dough and wiping her hands on her apron. “Ye go’ ta learn how ta defend yerselves, aye? We’ll find ye a pair o’ blades and begin learnin’. I know of yer sister, and if yer goin’ to keep up with her, ye’ll need to know yer way around the cutlass. To be hones’, I admire her a lil’; she’s taken ‘er place in the Caribbean withou’ backin’ down.”

Sarah gave a wan smile. “That sounds like Katherine,” she said softly. So their training began.

Luckie obtained a pair of old cutlasses – how, she didn’t tell them – and began teaching them in the ways of the blade. The training was long, tedious, and difficult, with the pair constantly leaving with bruises and small cuts.

When Charles’ hand first wrapped around the handle, he scoffed. “Please, it can’t be that difficult,” he said smugly. He swung it around clumsily, but to him, it appeared fluid and quick.

Luckie grinned. “Try an’ attack me then, lad,” she challenged, raising her own sword. Charles rolled his eyes and tried to charge her, his blade swinging wildly. She sidestepped him, and Charles nearly ran into a wall. He looked around confused for a second before trying again. Luckie met her blade with his this time, parrying it easily. He tried to strike her again and again, but no hit ever came close. Sweat began pouring down his face with the effort, but Luckie just smiled unperturbedly. Suddenly, she switched to offensive, surprising Charles. In just a few quick moves, he found his sword ripped from his hand as he lay on his back, with the tip of Luckie’s sword at his neck.

Luckie burst out laughing and took her blade away from him. “Tha’ was fun! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good sword figh’!” A sparkle came to her eye. “Unfortunately, mate, tha’ ain’ ye.” She laughed again and held out her hand to haul Charles to his feet. He was properly sheepish now while he listened to Luckie teach them.

After a few weeks, when they had begun honing their new cutlass skills, Luckie introduced them to a small, straw doll. “C’mere, mates, I wan’ ye ta see this,” she said. “Ye know wha’ this is?” she asked, holding up the doll proudly.

Charles and Sarah looked at each other in confusion. “Um… a teeny tiny person that holds your sanity and sense?” Charles offered.

Luckie rolled her eyes at the crack. “Nay, Mr. Crestshot,” she said with only slight annoyance. “’Tis a voodoo doll! C’mon mates, take it an’ jus’ tell me wha’ ye feel.” She handed it to Charles first, who held it for all of 30 seconds before handing it back.

“Nothing here,” he said, shrugging, and Luckie just rolled her eyes again as she handed it to Sarah. She held it delicately, feeling the rough edges of the straw and how brittle it was. There was a tangy, yet earthy smell to it. She turned it around in her hands gently, seeing the age it had, with a smear of dirt here, and the frayed string that held the body together and the arms out. On the next turn around, she noticed something that hadn’t been there before; a face looked as if it were etched into the head. She brought the doll closer to her face.

Charles began leaning over her to look. “What are you loo-”He was cut off by an invisible force pushing him backwards, making him stumble. Sarah’s blue orbs widened in surprise at her brother.

Luckie’s brow furrowed. “Lemme see tha’…” she murmured, and began moving to grab the doll. There was a soft clanging sound, and Luckie was pushed back as well. The three looked at each other in surprise for a few moments, until Sarah looked back at the doll. It’s small face seemed to be smiling up at her, a feature that had not been there before.

Luckie’s shocked face looked at the young woman carefully. “The voodoo is in ye, Sarah,” she said softly. Sarah looked scared, glancing from Charles to Luckie, and she clutched the straw doll tightly in her hands.

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

If you mates didn't know, each of my in-game characters have their specialties. ;)

Thanks again to Luckie for letting me use her name!

Well mates, tell me what you think! I appreciate reviews, and much thanks for all the ones I've gotten. They warm me little pirate heart when I hear that buzz. :) Haha, thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Just Awesome Karma! Very appropriate casting. Love the references. Please keep these literary masterworks coming :)

hahaha nice i think its so funny LV is in it lol and the voodoo doll is really cool!! i really like this chapter but i like them all so... awesome story!! haha :D

Voodoo
 

AWOL? Yes(ish). Going without posting chapters? Of course not! This is the only thing that keeps me sane, haha. So mates, here ya go, nice and hot...

Voodoo

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

She ran.

Away from the baker. Away from the town. Away from Charles and Luckie. Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man! The nursery rhyme ran randomly through her head. She didn’t know where it came from, nor did she care. All she did was keep moving, keep running, keep her mind from dwelling on this new information.

Charles had tried to run after her, but out of the corner of her eye, she had seen Luckie gently hold him back, muttering something in his ear. He had settled, but his face still held that worried look. She had burst through the back room, to the front of the shop, to the town, weaving through drunken hoards. Bart noticed her all by herself and tried to approach her again, but that invisible force pushed him back, much like it had Charles and Luckie. She didn’t even notice.

Finally, she had to stop. The town of Tortuga had disappeared far behind her, but the sounds of yelling still echoed after her.

Sarah Crestshot looked down at the small, dried bundle of straw still clenched in her hand. Her brow furrowed and her breathing quickened as the small face appeared again. Its demonic smile was odd, but not malicious. In fact, a strange feeling began to wash over her the longer she stared at it…

She quickly flung it into the leaves before the feeling completely took her over. It made her uncomfortable with its unfamiliarity. She looked down at her hands and saw them shaking. They clenched and unclenched to try and get rid of the tingling and the tremors left over by the doll, but it didn’t help either problem. She sunk to her knees on the damp forest floor and put her head in her hands. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked desperately into the twilight.

“The voodoo is in you,” a voice said from the bushes. Sarah gasped.

A woman walked out from the shadow of the trees. Her dress dragged upon the earth, causing the leaves to rustle and move. Sarah felt the violet eyes pierce her soul.

The woman approached slowly. “You have nothing to fear from it,” she spoke in a calm, slow voice. She knelt by Sarah’s side and held out the doll. “Just as it has nothing to fear from you.”

Sarah looked at her in wonder, yet did not take the doll. “How did you do that?” she asked quietly. “Everyone else was repelled by me.”

The violet eyed woman smiled. “The doll senses no ill will from Fabiola. It knows that I only wish to help.”

Sarah frowned, a small crease appearing between her eyes. “I don’t… understand,” she said slowly.

Fabiola held the doll in her hands, staring at it as she spoke. “Voodoo is more than vengeful spells and mystical chants, Sarah Crestshot.” Sarah started at the sound of her name, but the movement went unnoticed. “It is an entity, a being, that takes its place in those of the natural world. For some, they can learn it, and how to yield its power for their own. Others are merely chosen by it, and do not need the long trials of acquiring it.”

The violet gaze turned to her once more. “For reasons unknown, the voodoo has chosen you. Its power resides in you, ready and willing. This entity will bend to you.”

Sarah’s eyes widened and her hands shook some more. “Me?” she squeaked. Fabiola nodded solemnly.

“But why me?” she burst out, standing suddenly from the damp forest floor. “I never asked for this, never wanted this! I didn’t mean to be chosen! I’m just here to find my sister and bring her home. Give it to someone else, I don’t want this… this…”

“It is power, Sarah Crestshot,” Fabiola said. “Power the likes of which you have never seen, nor known. And because of this, it scares you where it should not. You have nothing to fear from the voodoo.”

“How do you know that?” Sarah shouted. “How do you know it won’t just absorb me and spit me back out? That it won’t drive me insane or make me explode? It’s not normal!” Her voice echoed through the clearing, scaring a few seagulls from a nearby perch. She looked quite manic, with dirt on her white skirt where she had fallen to the ground and her dark hair coming free from its braid.

Fabiola suddenly turned sharp as she rose with Sarah. “Of course it is not normal. Look around you, Ms. Crestshot. You are not in London anymore. This is the Caribbean. Nothing fits your description of normal here.

“The voodoo will protect you,” she continued. “It is not here to cause you harm. Did you not notice how when you held that doll, it repelled what it believed to be threat? The moment your fingers came in contact with that doll, the voodoo within you found a channel to exert its power and make you aware of its presence. You know nothing of it, yet it worked in its crudest form; protection. Protection like a mother bird who sits on her eggs or a lethal snake that defends his home. IT is pure and raw and unfocused.”

“And wouldn’t that make it more dangers?” Sarah retaliated. “If it’s so raw, should that not be reason to fear it?”

“You are not listening, girl!” Fabiola said in her loudest voice yet. “The voodoo does not just reside inside of you. It is you. It has been there your entire life, yet has never had the correct means to reveal itself. To say that it is dangerous, that it will destroy you, is to say that you will destroy yourself! Yet it is no such thing! The voodoo is that primal thing within your soul, the acting without thought, the impulse, that has been leading you since birth and will be with you until the end of time.”

She tossed the doll back to Sarah, and as her hand clenched around it, she suddenly understood. Something flowed within her, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and she felt her focus fall on the doll. Whatever was in her reached out towards it, but did not stop there. She felt it in the air around her, in the ground underneath her feet, and so much else she did not know. There were no words to describe it. The voodoo just was.

“I can see it in your face, Sarah Crestshot,” Fabiola whispered. “The dawn has come to you as the sun sets in the Caribbean Sea. You shall be fine now.” She turned her back and began walking back towards the town.

“Wait!” Sarah called, and Fabiola stopped, turning slightly. “How do I control it? There’s so much I don’t know…”

She saw a smile form on Fabiola’s profile. “But you do know. All you must do now is learn.” And she continued to walk away in the fading light.

Sarah just stood there in confusion. “I know, but I must learn?” she muttered. “Well what does that mean?” she shouted into the darkness. The forest gave no response.

Again she looked down at the doll. She felt the power within her revolve and focus around it. Rather than running from it this time, she embraced it, taking the power away from herself and directing it towards the doll. It glowed blue in her hands as it absorbed the voodoo, and the small, demonic face appeared once more.

A rustling in the bush caught her attention. She turned abruptly to it, and a skeleton popped out. Fear invaded her veins as it spoke. “Jolly Roger can always use a new witchdoctor for his army!” it growled menacingly. She glanced down at the doll, and the face had turned into a frown, as if it sensed the danger.

The skeleton charged at her with its small, rusted cutlass. Sarah thrust her hands forward in fear, the doll still in hand, and the skeleton was flung backwards into a tree. It crumpled onto the ground, but sprung back up quickly. Sarah glanced down in shock at her hands, but did not have much time for a reaction, as the skeleton began rushing her again. She felt the voodoo within her, and with startling clarity, she knew what to do.

The skeleton stopped suddenly, mere feet from her, frozen in midair. She gave a swooping motion with the doll, and the skeleton let out a tinny shriek as its bones began crumbling. It tried to struggle, but Sarah held it steady, and in just a moment, it was nothing more than a pile of dust. She was breathing heavily, but slowly, Sarah smiled.

Then a hand covered her mouth, and all she knew was darkness.

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

My apologies. :)

Many thanks to Luckie for letting me use her name and play with it a little!

So mates, I adore replies. In fact, thank you muchly for all the reviews left mates! I can't tell you how much I appreciate them. So that's all for this week mates. Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

aww i want to read more!! haha cool one crest! i love the doll lol and its so cool how fabiola comes in to help sarah and that sarah has to accepted like the other part of her haha its cool :D

At Last
 

Ahoy there mates! Happy (late) Thanksgiving to ye! My apologies on the late hour of this chapter. I was out all day with a second Thanksgiving with family, haha! But, no more delays (even if my computer crashes again. Knock on wood.)! Here, just for you, is...

At Last

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Kat Crestshot stood at the wheel of the Lightning Mercenary, taking in the glowing lights of Tortuga at night. It was a welcome sight after the past few months of hard sailing. Their ship had more than a few holes in it from the various encounters they had gotten into with Jolly Roger’s servants, and a few other ships on the side. They had gotten to the point where if one more mystical lightning bolt struck them, it would be their last. O’Malley and Hector should be able to fix them up properly.

Lawrence climbed up from below decks, immediately drawing Kat’s eye. Her first mate was making the rounds on the ship, making sure everything was ready for port. He checked and double checked all the cargo, the sails, the anchor for her, with a young crew member following close behind. A sudden gust of wind blew his hat off, revealing his bright red hair, and she couldn’t help but remember running her hands through it, taking the hat off herself…

She quickly shook the memory away. Now wasn’t the time to be going back to that place. Really, she should never go back to that day. There was no point. She sighed softly and continued to direct the ship towards Tortuga.

They ported without trouble, and Kat left the crew to unload as she went to talk with O’Malley. The shipwright noticed her approaching and said with a grin, “Back again, Ms. Crestshot?”

She rolled her eyes at his gleeful tone. “Yes, O’Malley, and with money for you, you dog.” O’Malley’s grin just grew wider.

“Ye know me too well, miss. Now, how might I be of service?” Kat quickly outlined the problems and damages with her ship. At the end, O’Malley gleefully announced the cost of the repairs, making Kat groan, but she handed over the gold and went back to her ship.

“Oi, everyone, listen up!” she yelled at her crew. They assembled quickly, making her smile slightly at the respect she had gained from them. It had taken a little time; despite their willingness at first to join and serve under her, it hadn’t gone completely smoothly. The men – with a few women thrown in – had not listened quite as they should have. Kat had tried a few different means to get them to listen and respect her: talking to each one on one, then withholding meals, and even a lash a time or two, but nothing worked until the first battle with the skeletons. A few had gone foolishly against her orders, not firing when ordered and not staying with the group when they got on the opposing ship. Many had suffered injuries, and there had been a casualty. That’s when everything had become real for her crew, and they realized that they were truly fighting the battle, not listening to it in the candlelight of a rundown tavern. They began listening after that.

“Alright, we’re going to have some people onboard repairing the ship, starting tomorrow morning!” she yelled out. “Now mates, if I hear of any funny business going on,” she specifically eyed some of her more notable thieves, who squirmed, “you’ll be getting it from me. Savvy?”

A chorus of “Aye aye, Captain,” rang out from her crew. She grinned. “Tim, Mr. Ironhawk, you two have the first watch.” They saluted. “The rest of you, once your jobs are finished, you’re on leave from the ship. As you were.” The crew continued to unload the ship under Lawrence’s watchful eye. He noticed a few people lurking about the cargo, so he slowly drew his dagger and held it loosely at his side. Eyes widened and a few of them scurried away, and Kat caught Lawrence’s eye and grinned. It was always good to be back in Tortuga.

Before long, the cargo was completely unloaded, and the crew went out to join in the insanity that was Tortuga town. Kat checked in with Tim and Chris on watch before grabbing Lawrence and leaving as well. It had been a long time since she’d had a nice chat with Fabiola.

The gypsy sat next to a large fire near her cart with a small flute, playing a tune that had drawn people around in a jovial, laughing crowd. Kat and Lawrence approached the flames with smiles on their faces, watching two men dance away to the song. People stomped their feet in time to the music, dust clouds puffing up from the dirt. The men in the center stepped out, tired from their dance, and another man stepped in.

“C’mon c’mon mates! Let’s see another show their skill!” he called out, looking at the crowd. He spotted Kat and Lawrence standing side by side, and grabbed their hands to pull them in. “C’mon man, take yer gal here and show us how it’s done!” Lawrence shrugged and took her hand to spin her around, and Kat noticed Fabiola’s smile around her flute.

They laughed and spun and lost themselves in the dance. Lawrence seemed to take great pleasure in pulling her close for a moment, and then spinning her away. Back and forth, round and round they moved in the flickering light of the flames, and for once, their fancy footwork was not being used to evade the claws of death. It was just fun and uncomplicated, the freedom of the song.

They let out a final laugh as Fabiola finished her flute with a flourish. The crowd began to disperse, some staying behind to warm themselves by the flames. Lawrence bowed to a few admirers leaving tips and such, acting like a complete fool. Kat laughed at him before turning to Fabiola.

“How have you been, Fabiola? Still providing hangover remedies to the poor souls of this town?”

The gypsy laughed, placing her flute down in her cart. “My best business, as you know, my friend. Things have been as they always have been.”

Kat leaned against the small, wheeled home. “Aye? Well, come now, something must be new mate,” she laughed.

Fabiola smiled wanly. “Well, actually, there’s a pair of people that recently arrived that might be worth mentioning.” Her violet eyes slowly came to meet the pirate’s hazel. “Kat, your brother and sister are here.”

Kat’s eyes widened, and she sat up from the cart. “What?” she whispered.

“What?” Lawrence barged in, done with his admirers.

But Kat wasn’t listening. The sounds of Tortuga disappeared, as did the light form the fire, and the woman standing in front of her. She was trying to picture her siblings, the people she had never thought she would see again, in all of their refinery, and place them in the insanity surrounding her. Her mind wouldn’t wrap around it. She had so many questions. Why were they here? How were they here? Had something happened in England? But the first question…

“Where are they?” she asked Fabiola.

The gypsy nodded towards a busier part of town. “They have been staying at the bakery. They were fortunate enough to find someone to take them in.”

Kat took Fabiola’s hand. “Thank you, my friend,” she said, and took off towards town.

“Where is who?” called a confused Lawrence to her fleeing back. He looked to Fabiola, who nodded. With a sigh, he ran after Kat…again. The things he did for this woman.

Kat ran through the dirt streets in the dark night looking for the bakery. She wracked her memories of the month’s time she had spent here last year, trying to remember where it was. A right here, a left here, past the trading office… there! She skidded to a halt in front of a small building with a cupcake on the outside. For a moment, she just stood there looking at it, knowing who could be in there. As she stalled, Lawrence had caught up. Actually, he almost ran past her.

He came to stand next to her. “Who is in there, Kat?” he asked her, sensing it wasn’t the time to interrogate about her sudden running away.

“My family,” she murmured. She took a small step towards the door, hesitated, then continued on, with Lawrence following.

Kat opened the door slowly. Nobody was at the front of the shop. “Hello?” she called out. She seemed to have forgotten that it was late at night.

Footsteps were heard coming from the back of the shop. A green haired head popped into view. “If yer lookin’ to thieve, I’d suggest ye jus’ get out now. I ain’t in tha mood.” She came fully into view, and Kat saw a shiny knife in her pale hand.

Kat sensed Lawrence moving to pull his own out behind her, but put a hand on his to stop him. She held her own hands up in submission to reveal no weapons. “Easy there mate,” she said slowly. “I’m just looking for some people. Look, do you know-”

“Katherine?!” another voice cried from the back. A frazzled looking Charles ran to the front of the store, his brown hair rumpled and his eyes wide. They landed on her, and he let out a short, yet loud cry of delight. “Katherine!!” he yelled again. The counter was no obstacle as he leapt over it and picked up his sister in sheer joy. Tears came to Kat’s eyes as she held the brother she hadn’t seen in over three years.

When he finally set her down, they both exploded with questions. “What are you doing here?” “What happened to you?” “Did something go wrong in England?” “How have you survived this long?”

There was finally the question that stopped Charles in his tracks. “Where’s Sarah?”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Actually, this chapter was going to be longer, but we can all blame my family for not giving me time to write. :)

Thanks again to Luckie O'Clover! Hats off to you mate!

Well, I'm always interested to hear what you think, mates. Come now, criticism or celebration, I don't mind. I'm listening for the buzz, haha. Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

i vote........ CELEBRATION! haha this was a really good chapter as well :D hurry up with the next one!! Lol


(and i know i keep posting on like every chapter sry bout that but i like them :) haha)

It's been a while since I've been on the forums, and I must say, very nice!

Excellent as always, Crest! It's amazing to see how far along the character of Kat Crestshot has made it since "Her Beginning", but how you've done it so slyly and smoothly stuns me. Well done, indeed!

More please :P This story is VERY good, crest!

I haven't been on te forums in ages, and I've just finished reading the whole thing so far and WOW! I'm loving it so far! My favourite scene had to be Sarah and Fabiola's conversation about voodoo.

I just really love Sarah ... I think she could be my FAVE - ok I love Kat so much too but Sarah is just like me...please keep being good to her :)

Crest, everytime I read your chapters, they make me smile.... Keep it up!

I just read all the chapters.

In the chapters on page 6, guess what ran through my mind?

"In real life, she'd have pitched him."

"Pitching... and mooning?"

True Anne of Green Gables will recognize the reference, haha.

I'm absolutely loving the story. I'll definitely keep reading it.

Terrorizing Bart
 

Ahoy there mates! My apologies on this chapter being a day late. With the PIC Anniversary and my being sick most of the week, things have been a little hectic, haha. Fear not though! It is here now!

Terrorizing Bart

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Charles’ face quickly fell from excitement to the distraught, frazzled look it had been before. He looked completely defeated, a look Kat wasn’t used to on his face. “We don’t know, Katherine. Sarah ran off two days ago, and hasn’t returned.”

Kat felt her heart fall. To come so close to reunion with her family, and then have one of them disappear. She was not to be discouraged, though. “Have you looked for her?” she asked her brother.

Charles rolled his eyes and stepped back. “Have we looked for her,” he muttered. “What do you think, Katherine, of course we’ve looked for her! We’ve turned half of Tortuga upside down doing so! And we still have…” He trailed off slowly. His gaze was fixed on something past her back, out of the window. She turned to see a group of men passing by the shop, laughing uproariously. “Bart,” Charles murmured, and before she knew what was happening, he had sped past her, the bell on the door indicating his departure from the shop.

“Oh bloody…” Kat muttered, and followed after him.

Charles had Bart held by his tattered shirt, pressed up against the building next door. Bart’s friends were shouting and trying to pry Charles off, but he would not be moved. “What have you done with her!” he yelled directly into the man’s face. “Tell me now, Bart!”

“Blimey, ya stupid boy, lemme go!” Bart spluttered, struggling against the hold, but Charles’ grip was firm.

Kat pushed her way past the other men and grabbed her brother’s shoulder. “Good god, Charles, let the man go!” Kat cried. Bart’s friends still surrounded her, pushing and trying to pull at Charles. She gnashed her teeth together in frustration and spun quickly around. There was a small smack as her ponytail hit someone in the face. “Now mates, you wouldn’t be hitting a lady, would you? Back off!” She flashed her cutlass from underneath her coat, and the men closest backed off, mumbling. Satisfied, she went back to Charles. “Hello Bart,” she said shortly.

“Ms. Crestshot,” he muttered back. “Ya wouldn’t mind gettin’ this lad offa me, would ya?”

Kat leveled a glare at her brother. “Charles! Let him be!” she barked in her best Captain voice.

“No, Katherine!” Charles yelled, giving Bart another shove. “You haven’t been here! He’s been after Sarah since we got here! I’m sure-”

“It’s your bleedin’ sister?! That’s what this is all about?!” Bart cut across. “And how am I supposed ta get to her when she’s locked up, eh?”

Charles stilled, but Kat could see his anger was close to boiling point. “What do you mean, locked up?” Kat pressed.

“Well they made a righ’ scene of it, didn’t they?” Bart said, eager at the opportunity to tell his story. “Navy carried her straight through town, hands behind her back, like some common criminal. Wanted to make an example of her, I suppose. Led her straight to the jail. She’s probably sittin’ in there now.” He finished his story with a grin, as if saying ‘Ok, you’ll let me go now, right?’

Charles held steady for a moment, then shoved Bart into the street. “Get out of here,” he growled.

Bart nodded quickly and began scurrying off, but Kat called him back. “Don’t you owe me something from my last trip here, Bart?” she asked with a hint of venom.

“Ah…yes Kat, of course. I’ll get that for you shortly,” he said quickly, then took off again.

Kat rolled her eyes at him. “Yah, you’ll just steal my rum again, you rat,” she said, but there was amusement behind her voice. She chuckled, then followed Charles back into the bakery.

She walked in to find Charles pacing while Luckie and Lawrence looked on. Kat went to stand on the wall next to Lawrence, who asked softly, “Mind telling me what’s going on?”

“Later,” she said back. Lawrence looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I promise,” she grinned.

“What are we going to do, Luckie?” Charles burst out.

Kat couldn’t help but laugh at that statement. Charles whirled on her. “What’s so funny?” he demanded.

Kat continued to chuckle. “Oh, little brother, you have so much to learn.” She pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on and placed an arm around him. “Never ask 'What are we going to do? You have a cutlass?” Charles nodded. “Lawrence, got your dagger?” He flipped it out and spun it around. “Good, good. Luckie, want to come with?”

The woman looked startled that Kat included her. “Depends. Where might we be goin’?”

Kat grinned that special crooked grin that always forewarned troublemaking. “We’re going to jail break Sarah, of course.”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

My apologies for it being rather short, but (to quote TSC) it has to be done so we can have fun!

I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed this past week. It truly does warm my heart to see all those reviews and how much people enjoy my story, and encourages me to write more. I think this week has been the most I have ever received. From the bottom of my piratey, rum soaked and gold encrusted heart, I thank you.

And of course, thanks always go to Luckie O'Clover for letting me mess with her emotions and actions. :buds:

Alright mates! Another chapter next week! Be sure to tune in, aye? Haha, Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Must... have.. MORE!!!

Whens the next chapter coming out mate?

Miss Me?
 

Ahoy mates! At the realization that I wouldn't have my computer come Friday afternoon, this chapter is being posted a little early. Thank god I had this one finished already, haha. So, just for you POF (and whichever other guests may be lurking around this neck of the woods)...

Miss Me?

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

In the darkness of the Tortuga night, in that short time before dawn where the rowdiness was not quite as high and the bartenders cleaned up broken glass, four figures crept quietly towards the jail. Charles and Luckie were rather jumpy, while Kat and Lawrence took the lead. All were tired from being up well past 24 hours, and Kat was beginning to feel it. Priorities, though. Sarah had to come first.

It wasn’t difficult to get to the jail, or even to get in. The Navy was lenient on Tortuga; the locks to the main door had been broken long ago. It creaked softly as Kat pushed it open, making her cringe. She slowly drew her cutlass and walked down the stairs, trying to muffle the click of her boots on the stone. When she reached the bottom, though, she saw there was no need to worry. The guard had fallen into a deep slumber, his cap falling over his eyes and his bayonet lying on the ground. Kat eyed the man critically while she sheathed her sword, shaking her head, but then noticed the glint of something on the pole above him. A set of keys dangled from a rusted nail. With a grin, Kat picked them up and jingled them a little in victory.

“Kat, over here!” whispered Charles, who had been searching the cells. Kat sped to where he stood, and there, curled in the corner of a dirtied cell, was Sarah. She began rapidly shuffling through the keys in her hand, trying first one, then another, searching for the one that would free her sister.

The clanking of the keys made Sarah stir. She shifted on the hard stone floor and began to whimper. “No… no please, not again…” she moaned. Her eyes fluttered beneath her eyelids, and a single, shimmering tear escaped and muddled the dirt.

Finally finding the right key, Kat shoved it in the lock and turned, feeling something in the door give way. She flung it open, not caring about the loud groan that sounded from it, only caring about her crying sister. Luckily for her, Lawrence caught it before it could crash into the wall. She gingerly picked up her sister, sitting next to her on the cold floor. “Shh, Sarah, shh, it’s me,” she murmured consolingly.

“No…no…” Sarah whimpered, and Kat felt her heart break. Sarah’s breath was shallow, coming in short gasps, and she still hadn’t opened her eyes. Her clothes were torn, and as the shirt moved, Kat saw dark bruises littering her arms. She gasped softly. What had they done to her?

“Please Sarah, open your eyes,” Kat pleaded softly, stroking her dark hair. It was a comforting gesture Sarah hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since childhood. Her eyes fluttered open, and Kat saw that their blue was all too similar to Barbossa’s; they were dead.

But a spark came to them as the gaze met Kat. “Katherine?” Sarah whispered in disbelief.

Kat smiled gently down. “Hey sister. Did you miss me?” she asked. Sarah gasped and wrapped her arms around her sister’s middle, crying freely now. Kat continued to stroke Sarah’s hair and hold her close, feeling complete and, for the moment, content.

It couldn’t last forever, though, as Kat realized where they were. “Come on, we need to get you out of here,” she said urgently, taking Sarah under the arms and lifting her up. Her plain white skirt shifted for a moment, revealing more bruises dotting her legs. Kat felt anger flash through her, but she would deal with that later. The priority now was getting Sarah out. Kat supported her through the cell door, sensing she couldn’t carry herself out.

“Hey duckie, what about me, eh?” a voice called from another cell. “I don’t get a rescue too?”

“You’re not worth my time, James,” she spat back. Cries of protest began sounding up from all the cells, all begging to be freed. It was no surprise when the Navy guard woke.

“Alright, alright, settle down criminals,” the man groaned groggily. Kat’s eyes widened, and she mouthed ‘Go!’ to the others. They all began creeping quietly up the steps, until a loud shout made them stop in their tracks. “Hey, what’s this cell doing open?!” The guard turned to see the tail of Kat’s coat whip around the edge of the stairs as they all began fleeing. “Escape!” The word echoed after them, and a bell began ringing.

Lawrence let out a low curse and drew his dagger. Sarah still hung on Kat’s shoulder, rendering her unable to fight, so all they did was run, with Luckie and Charles taking the lead, and Lawrence tailing behind the sisters. They had made it a few streets away when uneven marching sounded behind them.

“Over here!” Kat whispered loudly. The group ducked into an alleyway behind a few large barrels, and just in time too. Red uniforms created shadows in the lamplight from a nearby house. They marched quickly by, and soon rounded another corner. The group sighed collectively in relief.

“Charles, do you think you can carry her?” Kat asked. He nodded quickly and scooped his sister into his arms. Kat nodded in approval. “Alright, come on, we’re almost to the bakery.” So they took off again, moving faster now that Charles had Sarah.

When they were approaching the shop, however, they began slowing. An odd smell was wafting into their noses, the smell of something… burning? Everyone looked at Luckie in alarm, who took off directly towards the plume of smoke that was rising into the sky. They followed slower, still careful of Sarah and cautious of any Navy that may be watching nearby.

Luckie had fallen to her knees in front of the flames that had once been her bakery. Tears trickled down her face as they approached with looks of anger and awe at what they knew the Navy had done. Kat shook her head in disgust. When did Tortuga, of all places, become somewhere to fear?

She moved to stand next to Luckie and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on,” she said softly. “We’ll go to my ship instead.” Luckie nodded numbly and rose. The trip to the Mercenary was not as rushed and frenzied as the one from the jail. They knew the Navy had their revenge. There was no more they would do tonight.

Up the plank they went and Kat was greeted by the men on watch. She saluted to her crew briefly, and continued to escort everyone to her cabin. Sarah had fallen asleep in Charles’ arms long ago. Kat lit a lantern, revealing the bed, and he reverently set Sarah down in it. Everyone moved towards different seats in the room and rested. Kat sat on the floor next to her sister and just stared at her now peaceful face.

“They took all tha’ I had,” Luckie muttered bleakly. Her tears had run dry by this point, but the tracks still remained. “Everythin’. I don’ have a thin’ left.” She put her head in her hands and moaned softly. Kat met Lawrence’s eyes over Luckie’s bent form and communicated silently. Her first mate nodded slightly in approval of the idea.

Kat used the bed to lift herself up, careful not to jostle Sarah, and stood next to Luckie. Her gentle hand on her back made Luckie’s head rise. “Luckie,” she said softly, as if speaking to a child, “I’d like to offer you a place aboard my ship.”

To her surprise, Luckie let out a low, unamused chuckle. “Wha’, a place o’ pity? Thanks, but no thanks Kat. I’ll find me own way.”

Kat opened her mouth to protest, but Sarah shifted in her sleep and groaned softly. She swiftly moved to kneel beside the bed and brushed the hair out of her face. On her cheekbone was a deep purple bruise, reminding Kat of the others scattered about her body. She lifted herself up again and made her way to a cabinet, wherein lay a small, old chest she had gotten so long ago. Opening it, she rummaged through the contents, passing by an old journal and some useless coins, finally coming upon a small container. She unscrewed the cap and sniffed briefly, seemingly satisfied with the contents.

“Lawrence, Charles, leave the room,” she ordered. The two looked at her in confusion.

“But why-” Charles began.

Kat turned back out to the room. “I’m going to be treating her. You two should not be here.” She took a small stick and began stirring whatever was in the jar.

“But I’m her brother,” Charles said firmly. “Surely I should-”

“Charles!” Kat snapped. Then her face softened. “Please, just let me care for her.” The siblings stared each other down for a moment, highly reminiscent of some days in England, but Charles sighed and broke the gaze. He slowly followed Lawrence, closing the door behind him with a final glance backwards.

“Get the windows please, Luckie?” Kat requested. Luckie rose from her seat to shut the blinds on the various windows as Kat applied the salve to Sarah’s face. She jerked at the touch and whimpered. “Shh, Sarah, it’s alright,” Kat murmured slightly.

Sarah’s eyes fluttered open for the second time that night. “Katherine… it is you?” she gasped out. Her eyes flicked around, taking in the cabin. “Where am I?”

Kat smiled softly. “You’re on my ship. We got you free from that jail.” She dipped her finger in the salve again and moved to Sarah’s arm. “You look like you’ve had a rough time of it.”

Sarah flinched away from Kat’s touch, but relaxed when she saw what she was doing. “You could say that,” she sighed.

Kat lifted Sarah’s shirt to get a few bruises on her stomach. “Are you planning on telling me what happened?” she prodded gently.

Sarah shook her head slightly and tears sparkled in her eyes. It was plain to see she wouldn’t – or couldn’t – talk about it. Not now, at the very least. Kat moved the ointment to a few cuts on Sarah’s legs instead.

“Sarah.” Luckie’s voice came from the corner of the room. “I found this when we were in the jail.” She began pulling a small bundle from her pocket. “I figured ye migh’-”

“No!” Sarah shrieked. She tumbled off the bed in fright and crawled to the opposite corner of Luckie. “No, I don’t want it!” she yelled, curling up into a ball and trembling.

Kat immediately moved to wrap her arms around her sister. She urgently motioned to Luckie to put whatever she had away, and the other woman shoved the doll hastily into her pocket.

Sarah was hyperventilating in Kat’s arms. “Sarah, Sarah, it’s alright!” she cried, but her sister was not calmed. “Look at me, sweetheart,” she pleaded with her. “Sarah, I’m here. I’m right here!” She took her sister by the chin and forced her to face Kat. Blue eyes met hazel, and Kat felt Sarah calm. Her breathing slowed and her eyes became less frantic. With a sigh, Sarah let her head fall onto Kat’s shoulder.

Kat caught Luckie’s alarmed eyes and nodded towards the door. She wanted a few minutes alone with her sister. Luckie gulped and nodded, and moved silently to the door to exit. Kat’s hand found Sarah’s and she grasped it tightly, rubbing her thumb along her sister’s hand comfortingly.

“They found me in the woods,” Sarah said quietly. Her breathing had begun to even and she gripped Kat’s hand tightly back. “I don’t know how they snuck up on me… I expected the voodoo to protect me. It was a lie.” Sarah accentuated this with a squeeze to Kat’s hand. “The voodoo almost destroyed me. I won’t let it touch me again.”

Sarah snuggled closer into Kat’s side. “They called me unnatural, that they were going to beat it out of me. It wasn’t the pain that hurt the most, though. It was the laughter. They enjoyed it, Katherine. In England, I never thought of the Navy as cruel, but now… the Caribbean is so different. Before, they were just doing their jobs. Now, they are the men who’s evil laughter rings in my ears.”

Kat did not respond, but she felt lava instead of blood in her veins, as if she had turned into the island of Padres del Fuego. Later, though. It could all be dealt with later. For now, the sisters just sat close on the wall of a pirate ship, and let the waves rock them into slumber.

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

I think I live to write moments like those.

Char, I'm sorry about Sarah. While I wrote this I went, "Shoot. Charlotte is gonna get me."

And, as always, thanks to Luckie for letting me burn down her bakery. Ahh... Rum's on me this time, mate. :buds:

Well mates, I'm always eager for reviews! Whether it be on the good site of the spectrum, or the opposite, it's always welcome. I'll wait on the buzz, haha. Another chapter next Friday! Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Them navy scum..... LoL. Great as always Crest. Jason Gunkidd meets the infamous Kat Crestshot.... I can only picture it ;)

I feel sad for the navy.

:O :O :O :O poor sarah! hurray they got her out that was a really really good chapter crest :D all the drama lol

Brilliant! I swear that I could smell the sea air as I was entangled in this gem.....*****

Bravo!
 

Well I loved it just like the others!
Its ok about Sarah ... sometimes it takes people to get knocked down before they get up and fight with all their might so I am still very interested in seeing where Sarah goes now...and just like the others said - Watch Out Navy!
I feel bad for Luckie though - poor thing lost her bakery! Now that is a SHAME!
Char

Great chapter, I loved it.

Oh, and if you ever need a random person to use in your story for some reason, you're more than welcome to use Emily as someone to... err...I dunno. Whatever you need her to do.

Pirate Captain
 

Ahoy there mates! How have we all been? Sad story for you all; I lost my writing notebook at a hotel when I was at a conference! To say that I was rather like Mcrage at the time would be an understatement... but never fear! Most of the recent chapter was already typed up! So, for you, from the frantic depths of my mind...

Pirate Captain

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

“Throw her in the brig!”
“No, no don’t! Gregory, I didn’t do it!”
“You expect me to believe you? You’re even stupider than I thought! Take her!”
“No, it wasn’t me! Please, I tell the truth!”

Katherine broke free from her captors to chase after her husband, but as she ran, her foot snagged on something. Her fall felt eternal. Looking back, she found Sarah lying on the deck, as unconscious as she had been in the jail. She crawled back to her, finding the bruises the salve should have healed. Her skin was that of a ghost, the blood completely contained in all her bruises. She began searching her dress for something, anything that could help.

Charles suddenly burst from the mist that had eerily covered the area. With surprising swiftness, he scooped Sarah up and began running. “Come, Katherine! We have to get out!” She pushed herself up and began after the fading figures of Charles and Sarah. A cruel laughter rang out in front of her, and shapes suddenly became clear. Sarah knelt weakly in front of a Naval man, who unwittingly slapped her to the ground. She let out a weak cry of pain. Charles was being pushed around like a rag doll from one soldier to another, all of them cackling manically as they did so. When this one kicked him in the stomach, the other punched him across the face, and the other hit him in the small of the back, a sick game of pass the potato. Kat reached for her cutlass, but found it missing. She watched on helplessly.

“Lawrence!” she cried desperately into the mist, but no emerald eyed knight burst from the shadows…

:QuestInProgressBull:QuestInProgressBull :QuestInProgressBull:QuestInProgressBull

“Captain!” A series of knocks rang through her cabin, waking her abruptly. Her eyes shot open and she shook her head to clear it. It had been a long time since she’d had one of those dreams. There was a crick in her neck from leaning on the wall, which she attempted to pop out unsuccessfully. She made to stretch, but found her arm weighed down by something. Looking down, she saw Sarah resting against her, sleeping peacefully. She smiled softly down at her, but then remembered the circumstances that had led to her being here.

More impatient pounding came on the door. “Captain!” a crewmate’s voice yelled again. Kat grumbled slightly and shifted Sarah off of her arm. It was incredible that she hadn’t woken as well, considering they lay right next to the door.

She roughly opened the door to find any possible sunlight blocked by the hulking figure of one of her crew. “What is it, Mr. Ironhawk?” she bit out. “I was very much asleep.”

Any other day, it would have amused her to see the tree heightened figure cringe before her, but right now she was too groggy to care. “Sorry Captain, but the shipwright’s men are here. They wanted you to oversee the repairs, make sure they had everything straight.”

“And where, pray tell, is Mr. Mcrage? Could he not have done this?” she practically growled.

“He went into town, ma’m. He said he had some things to manage.”

Kat sighed frustratedly. “Very well then. Go make sure the workers don’t do anything stupid, and I’ll be out in a moment.”

Chris left with an “Aye ma’m”, leaving Kat with her sister. She had woken in the time she had been speaking to Chris, probably due to their conversation.

“You’re a captain now,” she stated simply. No question to it, but Kat could sense that there wasn’t complete approval from her.

“Aye.”

Sarah stood. “A pirate captain, no less.” There was a hint of disapproval behind her voice, a hesitation to accept.

“Yes.” Kat moved to take the door handle. “Look, stay on the ship, please? If anyone here does anything to make you feel uncomfortable, come straight to me, and I’ll make sure they’re taken care of. She made to open the door, but a chuckle from Sarah stopped her.

“It’s oddly reminiscent,” she said. “It’s somehow like childhood. I remember the first day of finishing school. You told me that if any of the girls made fun of me, just tell you, and you’d make sure their hair mysteriously disappeared in their sleep.” The sisters shared a smile. “Do you remember that, Katherine?”

Kat felt the smile on her face slide off. “Sarah… try to call me Kat when we’re around others. One has to keep up appearances, even in the Caribbean.” With that, she was gone.

She had slept well past midday. There was much activity on her ship. A group of unfamiliar men stood on her main deck, chatting with each other. She quickly made her way down to them.

“You’re O’malley’s men?” she asked as she approached them.

Half of them stopped talking, and she knew they were sizing her up. “Aye. And who are you?” a brash looking young man asked.

She held out a hand. “Kat Crestshot, captain of the wood you so happen to be floating on.”

The man laughed. “Captain? Come on, girl, where is your real captain? It can’t be a woman!”

A few of the men began shifting nervously. “Easy mate,” they muttered.

“No, no, let me speak,” the young blonde said. “Come forward sir!” he shouted to the ship. “Who is the real Captain?”

He began turning as he yelled at her ship. When his back was to her, Kat swiftly kicked him in the small of it, making him fall on his face to the splintered deck. She placed a boot on his rising form and shoved him back to the ground. With a foot on his back, she drew her sword and leaned, catlike, over his body to place it on his neck.

“I could kill you, you know,” she whispered menacingly in his ear. “Just a quick flash,” the blade moved a millimeter on his neck “and you would be dead. Your blood would not be the first to be spilled on this deck.” She grabbed his long hair and forced his head up. “See this ship? It could be your last sight, sir! However!” Her voice had reached a yell by this point, but she paused and quieted. “However… O’malley is a good repairman. I’d hate to lose his services over something as insignificant as your death.” She released his hair, removed her boot, and sheathed her sword. “Besides, my blade was made for the likes of you.”

The man gingerly pushed himself up off the deck. He touched his lip, then his neck, where blood trickled down, and looked at Kat with fear and the respect she was used to seeing from her crew.

Something in Kat made her look up to her cabin. Standing there by the railing was Sarah, looking down at her in shock. For a moment, the hard face of the pirate softened into something that was almost an apology. At another glance, though, the pirate captain, the scathed lady of the Caribbean Sea, was back. Appearances must be kept.

It was later in the day before Kat figured out what had happened to her first mate.

Lawrence, Charles, and Luckie warily walked up the plank about an hour before sunset. O’malley’s men had been hard at work all day, without any outstanding instances. Kat had been overseeing the repairs when Ironhawk shouted out a greeting to Lawrence.

“Ahoy, sir!” His booming voice carried to below decks, drawing Kat’s attention. There was only one person Chris would call “sir”. She ran to the top deck and saw the three of them sitting wearily on a set of stairs.

“Where have you been all day?” she asked huffily, her hands on her hips. Luckie raised her tired head.

“Tha’ would be my fault,” she told her. “Go’ a few hours sleep below decks, bu’ we must’ve woken before ye. I woke Charles ‘ere an’ told ‘im I wanted to see me shop. We ran into yer mate ‘ere while leavin’, and he insisted on comin’ with.” Her voice lowered as she muttered, “Bloody good thin’ too…”

Kat’s eyes narrowed at them. “Why? What happened?”

Luckie and Charles shifted uncomfortably while Lawrence spoke. “The Navy was waiting there, Kat. They noticed us the moment we approached the bakery. We would have stayed to fight, but I only had my dagger, and they didn’t have anything.”

“You went into Tortuga without cutlasses?!” Kat thundered at Charles and Luckie. “Are you both mad?! Even if the Navy wasn’t floating around, you both know to have something on you at all times!”

“Easy, Kat,” Lawrence said, standing and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, immediately relaxing her. It forced her to take a deep breath and get her logical mind back.

“Very well,” she murmured, her eyes still hard. “Where have you been all day, then?”

Luckie snorted. “Wha’, did ye think we was gonna lead ‘em back ‘ere? Had to outrun ‘em in the swamp!” She stuck out her leg to reveal a muck covered boot.

Kat, though, had suddenly stopped listening. A thought had sprung to her mind and begun to bloom. It was something that was so far-fetched, she wasn’t sure it could be pulled off herself. Perhaps she’d had too much rum today. Yet still…

“Kat?” Lawrence asked, as he had seen her fading from them.

Her head snapped towards him. “Feel like doing something stupid, Lawrence?”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

I'm rather fond of the relationship between Kat and Sarah. I'm loving building it.

Thank you to Luckie for letting me run her through a swamp. I don't know how much rum (or Maple Syrup, as the case may be) I owe you now. ;)

Well mates what do ye think? Haha, reviews of any shape and size are appreciated and welcome, and of course, thanks for the ones already left. Check back next Friday for another chapter! Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Go Kat! I love doing stupid things!

...

Great chapter. Can't wait to see what they do :)

Meeting
 

Ahoy and Merry Christmas me mates!!! I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season! I know this is a little late on the hour, but I was busy playing Santa for my parents all night, haha. Never fear though! For I have for you today...

Meeting

:rudolf::rudolf::rudolf::rudolf::rudolf:

“A letter. You sent them a letter.”

Kat was leaning back in her chair in her quarters, looking up relaxed at her very tense sister. “An invitation, more like, and only to the commanding officer.”

Her sister was very clearly infuriated. Against her better judgment, Kat snorted softly.

“I don’t see what’s funny, Katherine!” Sarah screeched. “You invite the commanding officer of Tortuga into what is essentially your base of operations, like it’s absolutely nothing! Like you both have tea every Tuesday! It’s a ridiculous idea!”

Kat rolled her eyes and propped her feet on her desk. “Look, Sarah, it’s not nearly as bad as it seems,” she said nonchalantly. A bottle of rum sat on her desk, so she picked it up, considered it, and then took a long swig. “Ah, now that’s good rum,” she told her fuming sister. “I’m working on a recipe of my own, you know. Just a few things…”

She leaned over to write something down, but Sarah stormed over to her and slammed her hand over the paper. “Katherine, do you not recall what they did to me?” she demanded, pointing to the still fading bruise on her face. Kat couldn’t help but flinch and her amusement drained away.

She sighed and took her sister’s hand. “I very much recall what they did, Sarah. That’s why I’m doing it. Look at this.” She shuffled a few papers on her desk around, coming upon a list that she handed to Sarah. As her sister’s eyes roamed the document, Kat spoke. “A list of the four highest officers residing in Tortuga. All but one of them will be at the meeting to comfort and advise the C.O. He’s arrogant enough to believe he’ll be safe at a meeting called by a woman, but also knows pirates will be near. More than likely, he’ll bring a guard or two along as well. This leaves the rest of Tortuga vulnerable. Resources here are low, due to the civil war in England. The Crown doesn’t see much point in trying to really take Tortuga. They just want to make it appear like they control it to the rest of the world.” Sarah looked up from the list and Kat caught her eye. “We’re going to rid Tortuga of them.”

She let Sarah absorb that for a moment before posing the next part of her plan. “There’s also the matter of where you will be during all of this. I’d like it if you were with me while I met with them.”

Sarah’s bravado and anger was quickly replaced with fear. “Katherine…” She breathed deeply. “Katherine, I don’t know…”

“It will work perfectly, Sarah,” Kat assured her. “There’s no way I’ll meet with them alone, but a man like Lawrence with me would make them tenser. With another woman, their walls will come down. Their defenses will lessen. However, from what Luckie tells me, you’re decent with a sword. We’d be protected.”

Kat could see the gears turning in Sarah’s head. She had always been a logical, rational thinker. Emotion would be left out while she considered the offer. That’s why Kat had presented the idea in this setting. Sarah would find few flaws in it.

It took a moment, but she finally responded, “Very well. I’ll stay with you.”

Kat grinned. “Good. That will leave Lawrence ad Charles and the other on either jail or town duty. The Navy will learn not to mess with the likes of Kat Crestshot and her loved ones.”

Kat called in Lawrence and began planning out the next day. They took a list of the crew members and assigned them all specific places in the town. Lawrence looked through the list and chose a strike team he would take to the jail. With this, her ship would be empty, making the atmosphere less tense. However, in her letter, she had said ‘It will only be a single crewmate and myself aboard the ship. The rest shall be sent off to other duties.’ She knew that they, for some reason, would trust her word even if they did bring extra troops. There was no need for them to worry as well. She would keep her word. There would not be one single crew member aboard during the meeting.

Dawn met the Lightning Mercenary with light pinks and oranges floating in the sky. Kat woke to yet another crick in her neck and the soft snores of Charles in the chair opposite. She lifted her head to see his head tilted back in a hard wooden chair, his hazel eyes closed and his mind shut to the world. A tilt to the right brought the vision of Sarah lying in Kat’s bed. Her sleep looked peaceful, and much more comfortable than Kat’s had been. For a moment, that sibling jealousy snuck into her as she wondered why she had given up her (somewhat) soft bed. She shook her head at herself and propelled herself out of her chair and cabin.

The Navy men were supposed to be coming at midday, so she began making the rounds to check her ship was in decent condition, without too many illegal goods for them to spot. A few men were beginning to awake as she wandered, so she sent them off to various tasks to help her out. Really, there wasn’t much to do but busywork. Everything had been taken care of the day before. Despite her usual bravado, Kat was not looking forward to this meeting.

Lawrence eventually found her counting rum bottles in the hold. He chuckled softly at her, but low enough that she wasn’t able to hear him. With her back turned to him, it wasn’t difficult to sneak behind her and gently grasp her shoulders. She gasped, and he grinned. “You need to just relax,” he murmured in her ear.

He began gently rubbing her shoulders, and she couldn’t help but lean back into him. “I think I forgot how to do that years ago,” she said softly. “Honestly, how can I even come close to relaxing when my brother and sister are here? Or with this meeting with the Navy? God,” she put a hand to her head to rub her temples. “What was I thinking, Lawrence?”

“Come on, you’re the great Kat Crestshot,” he told her. “Let some of the weight off these shoulders. You know you can do anything.”

Kat smiled weakly. “Maybe.” She sighed and closed her eyes to lean further into Lawrence’s strong chest. “I feel like I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I’m just going and going, fighting a never ending battle with the final outcome unclear. And with my siblings here?” She paused. “I’ve always been their role model, but now I feel like I’m just leading them down a dark path. I don’t know how to be their big sister anymore.”

Lawrence released her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her torso instead. “You’re doing fine, and you’ll continue to teach and protect them as you always have. Besides,” Kat felt his grin on the side of her face, “you led me down this path. I don’t think I’ve done too horribly.”

Kat hummed softly as she let Lawrence’s words fall over her like a blanket. It wasn’t often that she gave herself over to moments like this with him, but when she did, she found herself able to listen to his orders, rather than the other way around, and relax. “Speaking of you being here, what made you follow me down here into the darkness, Mr. Mcrage?” His chest vibrated against her slightly as he chuckled, and Kat could feel his lungs expand with a potential answer, but she didn’t let him get there. “The darkness of the rum hold, that is.”

Lawrence let out a full laugh now and turned Kat in his arms to see her grinning mischievously at him. “Why, I wasn’t following you at all, Captain Crestshot. I’m merely a poor pirate looking for a bottle of rum to assist me in my duties.”

“Sneak, Mr. Mcrage?” Kat said teasingly. “Well, I don’t tolerate thieves, sir, not even on a pirate ship. You know it won’t stand.”

“Aye, Captain, what is my punishment then?” he bantered, his grin ever growing.

Kat pretended to think for a moment, then replied, “This.” With a swish of her tied hair, she ducked under his arms and scurried out of the hold.

“Bloody tease,” Lawrence muttered, but he was still grinning. This has been their way for months now. It was a constant banter back and forth whenever the crew was not around, or a tender and soft moment like the one just experienced, where the walls all but came crumbling down, but these moments were few and far between. It was a way for them to express what they could not truly express, and despite the fun they had, both walked away with slightly heavier hearts each time.

Time finally decided to pass quickly for Kat. It was the point where everyone was to be sent off the ship, excluding Kat and Sarah. Before she sent them off, though, she gathered all of her crew on the main deck. She stood the level above them and looked down at her rag-tag group. They stood in all shapes and sizes, from a young boy to a sophomoric woman to those who had seen much clearer than even herself the violence of the Caribbean.

“A group of misfits!” she called out, immediately drawing their attention. “Look at all of us! Where can we find a home but the sea… and here. Look out there!” She pointed out to the town. “The last free port in these waters, and it is being taken over. Controlled! Now mates, does that sound free to you?” A rousing chorus of No! rang up from her crew. “They patrol our streets, they lock us in their jails for made up contrivances! They do not hold that right! So today, mates!” A cheer rang out. “Today is the day for revolution! Today is the day we take back what is rightfully ours! Today is the day that the Navy learns the true power of pirates!”

By this time, the crew had become almost uncontrollable in their excitement. Rousing cheers launched up from every man and woman on deck. Hats were thrown into the air and swords were thrust up in displays of power. Kat looked down at the people she had led for the past few months and nodded in satisfaction. Who knew she could be such a good demagogue?

“Alright mates, you know what to do!” she yelled over the exuberant crowd. “I plan to see each and every one of you back here by nightfall” The crew began to clear off the ship, as rowdy and energetic as ever. They would do well today in Tortuga. Before heading out with the others, Lawrence approached her.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to stay with?” he asked, hesitant to leave her.

She couldn’t help but give him that smile, the one that was both comforting and would get him to do whatever she wanted. “I’m sure, Lawrence. Sarah and I will be fine by ourselves.” She took him by the upper arm and led him surely to the dock. “Take care of them out there today, alright?” she asked him, but he knew it was more order than anything else.

“Aye, Kat,” he said with a nod. He shook off her arm and jogged onto the dock and into the town, until his bright red hair was swallowed by the sea of people.

The ship was finally clear. Kat turned around and saw her sister leaning against a railing, her eyes closed. She slowly approached her and leaned on the wood as well. “Are you ready?”

Sarah stiffened beside her. “I don’t know,” she whispered. The blue orbs opened. “I don’t know if I can face the men who did this to me, who cut me with their laughter.” Her arms were around her body, as if a sudden chill had suddenly blown across the ship. “I don’t know if I can do it, Katherine.”’

Kat moved to place an arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. You can’t be nearly as bad as me the first time is aw a solder after my abandonment.”

Sarah looked at her sister carefully. “What did you do, Katherine?” she asked slowly.

Kat turned her eyes towards the buckles of her boots. “I killed a man,” she whispered. “A Navy man. My rage was just so great…”

She felt Sarah shrink away from her. She heard the gasp of horror. Her gaze hardened into that of her pirate side as her mind flew though all of the deeds she had done. “This is me now, Sarah,” she said lowly, still staring at the ground. “I am no longer Katherine. I haven’t been Katherine Randolph, or even Katherine Crestshot in years. I dropped that when I turned to this life, but I won’t deny that remnants of her still remain.” Her eyes flicked up to Sarah’s. “I’m still your sister, and I still love you, but I’ve transformed. Take me as I am or leave me.”

Sarah began opening her mouth to speak, but didn’t get the chance to say anything. A group of six Navy soldiers were marching up the dock. “Ms. Crestshot!” one of them called up to the pair.

Kat turned briskly away from her sister to the men below. “That’s Captain Crestshot, my good sir!” she yelled back. “You are welcome to come aboard, as promised!” The men hardly acknowledged her as they marched up the ramp, and she took a moment to roll her eyes. “We’ll talk more later, aye?” she muttered to Sarah, who didn’t have time to respond. The Navy had arrived on deck.

“So, you are Ms. Crestshot, is this correct?” the leading member of the troop asked.

“Captain Kat Crestshot, sir,” she said, offering a hand. “I shall assume my letter reached you promptly?”

The soldier made a look of disgust as his gloved hand took her own. “Yes, ah…Captain,” he said slowly. “I am Captain Kellan Jenkins of the British Royal Navy. You wished to discuss something with me?”

“Ah, yes sir. However, in open air does not really seem the most suited place. Shall we take this into my cabin?” she led the men into her private quarters, motioning Sarah to take the back.

“Who might your companion be, Ms… I mean,” Jenkins cleared his throat in mockery, “Captain?” The ridicule of her was clear, and the other men smirked slightly, but Kat chose to ignore it. Instead, she looked back at Sarah indifferently.

“That is no one. Merely my personal servant.” She saw the look of hurt flash across Sarah’s face, but thankfully, the men were not looking at her. Kat made a note to explain that to her later. “Please, sit sir,” she said, directing the captain to a chair. “I am afraid I don’t have any seats for your men. I was not aware they would be joining us as well. Tea?”

Jenkins sat hesitantly in the overstuffed settee. “Yes, quite.”

Kat poured a cup for the both of them and directed Sarah to a corner. “Now, sir, the pleasantries are over. I believe it is time to get to the true meaning of this meeting.”

Jenkins took a sip of his tea while examining the room around him. “Yes, I shall admit, my curiosity was piqued when the letter was received. After this morning, however, the intent became clear.”

Kat’s brow furrowed. “How so this morning, sir?”

Jenkins placed his cup of tea back on the table. “If you are going to give inspirational speeches, Ms. Crestshot, I suggest you keep them quieter. Also, I know that the woman standing in the corner is not, in fact, your servant, but the sister you rescued from our jail not more than a week ago.” He stood, making Kat jump up from her seat. “Your plan for revolution has failed, Ms. Crestshot. Men, ready your weapons.”

:rudolf::rudolf::rudolf::rudolf::rudolf:

I keep giving you guys cliffhangers. It makes me giggle.

I know we don't see Luckie in this chapter, but thanks anyway mate. Haha.

Well mates, you know what I like... haha. It is Christmas after all! Thanks for the reviews you do leave though! They're always appreciated. So a Merry Christmas to you all (Unless you celebrate Hanukkah, and in that case, I apologize for missing your holiday) and may all your holiday seasons be filled with cheer and happiness! And rum of course. Haha, Thanks for Reading!

-Kat Crestshot

W00T! Amazing chapter Cresvy!

You really should talk quieter though...

woohoo!! and yes yes she should shouldnt she. i can hear her all the way on the other beach on port royal!! very loud miss ah well live and let live i guess hehe awesome story!! :D :D :D wants more... - goes looking for cest lost note book - :D

Great chapter as usual, Crest. Shoulda had a couple crewmembers sitting in the rum hold to rescue you in case something went wrong. Of course, knowing you... you didn't think about that, did you? DID YOU?

Sorry. Too much fudge.

Fallen
 

Ahoy mates, and Happy New Year's Eve! That is, unless you read this when it has turned to 2011, and in that case, Happy New Year to you! Haha, took me all day to type this up after being distracted about a million times, but here you are mates. Oh, and to all the comments about me needing to be quiet, my arrogance astounds even me at times. So, here is...

Fallen

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Kat had anticipated it wrong. All of her planning and carefully measured thoughts had all gone horribly south. The Navy had managed to surprise her this time, all because of her stupid little speech. She should have known they would be watching the ship! It was her own bravado and idiocy that had gotten them into this mess. As she watched the soldiers pull their weapons, she could only think of one thing to do.

“Sarah, catch!”

Kat flung a small bundle from her pocket. Sarah didn’t have time to do anything but react and catch. She brought the object up to her face as Kat drew her sword in the background. In her hands lay the little straw doll.

Fear flashed through her for a brief moment, but time slowed down, and the power overtook her veins instead. The doll was a missing puzzle piece, and now she was complete. No fear was left. She absorbed the power within and around her.

At her next breath, time sped up again, and the voodoo flowed out of her with a burst. The soldiers that had been rushing her were blasted backwards into Kat’s wall maps. One slumped to the ground, unconscious, while the other two shook their heads to clear them and raised their bayonets. Shots fired directly towards Sarah, but time slowed again and she ducked to avoid them. Glass and liquid rained down when the bullets shattered Kat’s rum bottles. As she stood again, she felt the voodoo whisper to her, so she concentrated a moment, and a swarm of bees soon burst through the window and overtook the two. They dropped their weapons and fell to the ground with flailing arms and screams of terror. Sarah looked down at them coldly.

The clanging of swords drew her attention to the other side of the room. Kat had already taken down one of the Officers, who lay moaning on the floor, but the Captain and the other Officer were slowly gaining ground. Her blade flew like lightning, but the two Navy were well trained swordsmen also. Sweat beads formed on her head while she parried away the Captain’s thrust, then spun around to try and strike the officer. Sarah began building up the voodoo and aimed it at the group, but nothing was happening. The voodoo would not attack her sister.

Her face formed into an annoyed snarl and she shoved the doll into her pocked, and pulled her sword in place of it. She was only a few steps away, and was on the point of swinging into Jenkins’ back, but she didn’t have the opportunity.

Kat was finally able to pierce the Officer through the middle, but as she grinned in success, Jenkins was still moving. His sword sang through the air towards her. Kat’s eyes widened as she saw the sword fly, and she tried to jump out of the way, but for once, she was not quick enough. Her crocodile coat flew open, exposing her torso to the blade. A painful cry escaped her mouth as it cleanly sliced open her side, and Sarah watched in horror as her sister fell in red.

Sarah heard her heart roar in her ears and her shallow breath fill her lungs. Her hand still held her sword, and she glanced at the raised blade. The hand flexed on the handle, and Sarah turned to the Captain, still laughing down at Kat. She ran at the man and, using what she had seen Kat do mere days before, kicked him in the small of the back. Jenkins fell in surprise, and as he lay on the ground, Sarah stomped his hand and kicked him in the face before taking her blade and placing it on his neck. He looked up maliciously at her.

“You are nothing!” he spat out. “The Crown rules these waters! Nothing you do here will change that!”

Sarah snarled and almost flicked her blade just the right way to slice his neck, but something stopped her. “I cannot kill you in cold blood,” she hissed. “Look at you here, like a pathetic, pouting child. It’s not worth killing you over.” Her sword slowly lowered.

They stared at each other a moment, almost in silent agreement. Then Jenkins suddenly leaped to his sword, but Sarah had anticipated this, and was quicker. She whipped the doll from her pocket and flung him into the wall. He crumpled down, unconscious.

“I said I wouldn’t kill you. I never said anything about not letting you go,” she harshly told the body.

A gasp brought her attention back to Kat. She lay on the floor, giving deep, rasping breaths and clutching her side as if trying to staunch the blood by herself. The doll tumbled from Sarah’s fingers as he fell next to her slowly deteriorating sister. Blood was beginning to spread to the floor, creating stains in a rug nobody could care less about now. “No, Katherine, no…” Sarah whispered in desperation. “I just found you again, don’t do this!” she shrieked.

A bloodied hand grasped Sarah’s white shirt and pulled her closer to Kat. A horrid, rasping sound emanated from her mouth as Kat tried to form words. “Pocket…” Another rasping breath. “Potion…”

Sarah nodded frantically. “Potion. Right. Right!” she said hysterically. She searched first one cat pocket, then the other, finally pulling out a small, stoppered bottle. Her hand shook violently as she held it. Sarah forced herself to gulp down a deep breath and removed the wax. She held it to Kat’s lips and tipped the contents into her mouth. Kat swallowed it obediently, and Sarah let out a small sigh of relief.

The relief was short lived, though, when Kat began violently coughing .Sarah’s eyes widened in hysteria again as a small trickle of blood leaked out of the corner of Kat’s lips. “No, you’re going to be okay, you are, Katherine!” she insisted. She was on the verge of using the crocodile coat to prevent the blood flow when a chill floated through her. IT made her head flinch towards where the doll still lay on the dirt ridden floor.

‘Use the voodoo’ something whispered through her. Sarah was stock still for a brief moment, but another hacking cough brought her back. She swept the doll into her hand and held it over her sister. The voodoo began to wash over her, bringing an odd peace Sarah would normally say wasn’t natural. Her eyes closed; there was no need for them here. Hands spread across the air over Kat’s body, back and forth, then began coming down closer and closer. They began to focus in on the wound, moving away from the rest of the body and closer to Kat’s side. The left hand stood steadily over it while the other made counter-clockwise circles with the doll in hand. Slowly, carefully, the skin began to stitch itself back together. From Sarah’s throat came low, guttural chants in a language she had never learned, yet knew.

It took a few moments, but the wound closed. The last bit of skin and muscle stretched back together. Sarah’s hands began to move back and forth over Kat’s body again, rising this time, and she let the chants fade until, finally, she was finished.

Sarah’s eyes opened to see that Kat had slumped to the ground, unconscious. Her breathing was normal, however, and the gap in her side had been sealed. Sarah sighed and smiled weakly in satisfaction, then attempted to stand to find something to bandage the wound. As she stood, though, her legs nearly buckled under her and a wave of dizziness swept over her. Her breathing was heavy, and she noticed for the first time that she felt drained. A small moan of discontent fell from her lips, but she shook her head and shook the dizziness away.

She shuffled through a smashed cabinet to find a small strip of cloth that had probably been saved for an occasion such as this. Stepping over the bodies, she knelt next to Kat and tenderly wrapped her in the bandage. Without knowing what else to do, Sarah placed a pillow under her sister’s head and stood to survey the damage around her.

It was severe. There was a broke cabinet, and glass was sprinkled across the floor. The two men she had sent the bees to had long since stilled, with bright red spots covering them where they had been stung. A few of the bugs still fluttered around the cabin in their own innocent way. There were the other two Kat had dispatched, one that had been slashed violently across the chest, and the other that still held Kat’s gold handled blade in his gut. With Jenkins and the other man Sarah had thrown against the wall, it was a mess she didn’t know how to clean by herself. In desperation, she flew to the window to see if there was anyone outside she knew that could help.

Of all the people, Bart stood on the dock. Sarah sighed softly and looked to see if there was anyone else nearby, but she saw nobody she was even remotely friendly towards. With intense hesitation, Sarah called out to him. “Bart!”

The pudgy face immediately turned at the sound of her voice, and at the sight of her, Bart gave a wicked smile. “Hello there, Sarah. See something you like?”

Sarah just glared at him. “Now is not the time, Bart! Run into town and find Luckie for me!”

Bart huffed. “And what am I gettin’ out of it?!” he demanded.

Sarah thought a moment, then flashed him a sickly sweet smile. “If you grab her, I’ll give you something later,” she said in a sing song voice. Bart grinned.

“I’m all for that. Where can I find her?”

“Check near the jail,” she told him, fading from the sweet demeanor. “And tell her to bring Charles and Lawrence!” Bart ran off in the direction of the town, and Sarah slammed the window closed. “Pig,” she muttered.

Sarah took the doll and cast a spell on Jenkins and the officer to ensure they would stay asleep. When she was done, she looked out at the dead soldiers and considered moving them, but found she didn’t have the heart to do it. Instead, she sat at her sister’s side and let tears run down her face until everyone arrived.

Lawrence, Charles, and Luckie charged in after a few minutes, their faces paling like ghosts at the scene before them. Sarah saw their eyes flicking around, observing the damage before settling on the sisters. Lawrence fell on Kat’s other side looking lost and defeated. “What…?” he asked in a woeful tone.

“The meeting-” Sarah had to stop to try and stifle her tears. “The meeting didn’t go as planned. They knew what we were doing. They attacked, and Kat…” Sarah pushed the coat aside to reveal the bandages.

Lawrence was staring into Kat’s face, as if believing she would jump up at any second, but Kat did no such thing. Her breathing was gentle, proving that she still lived, but no other movement graced her features. It was a sight Lawrence couldn’t seem to bear.

“C’mon now, let’s pu’ ‘er up on tha bed, aye?” Luckie said from her perch on the outskirts of the room. Lawrence nodded sharply and gingerly placed his arms under Kat’s prone form. He gently picked her up, mindful of her wound, and set her down in her cot behind a curtain, which had somehow escaped harm. Every move was careful and measured, with more thought than any action performed before.

Lawrence turned back out to the room. “Which did it?” he whispered menacingly. Sarah pointed down at Jenkins. Before she could even ask why, Lawrence had drawn his dagger and taken the captain by the collar. He held the still unconscious on the ground with the dagger at his throat. “Wake up!” he yelled. “Wake up you disgusting creature!”

“Lawrence, what are you doing?!” Sarah shrieked. Her and Charles moved to try and pull Lawrence away, but he was a statue. Neither the dagger or the glare masking his face could be shaken.

“I want him to see death rushing at him, isn’t it obvious?” Lawrence bit out. “A quiet death is too good!”

“Lawrence, we need him!” Sarah shouted at him, grabbing for the dagger, but Lawrence shoved an elbow in her stomach to force her back. Charles let out a yell of outrage and tackled Lawrence, sending the dagger skittering across the floor. He got one clean punch across Lawrence’s cheek before being flipped and began getting pummeled. Charles had the size, but Lawrence had the experience of hundreds of past fights. He had the upper hand, but Charles still managed to shove his shoulders up and off. Both men stood and the shink of swords being drawn rose above the yells of Sarah and Luckie for them to stop.

“Lawrence Mcrage and Charles Crestshot, you drop those swords RIGHT NOW!” a voice thundered above all others. Every head spun at breakneck speed to Kat still lying in the corner. She was sitting up and holding her side with a grimace of pain, but the glare overruled it all. If looks could kill, Lawrence and Charles would have already been scorched and sent to Saint Peter.

Then she coughed. “Bloody hell, that hurt,” she rasped with an extra grimace, but the glare was quickly restored. “Well, boys? Am I going to take them forcefully or will you putting them away?” Both men looked sheepish as they quickly sheathed their swords as if trying to hide something from a mother.

Sarah practically sprinted to Kat’s side. “When did you wake?” she asked worriedly.

Kat scoffed. “How could I not wake up with all the yelling going on in here? I mean, my god mates, don’t you know how to let the injured rest?” She began to swing her legs out of the bed, much to the chagrin of everyone in the room.

“Lay down!” they all shouted at once. Kat let her face transform into a glare again.

“I will do no such thing until my orders are given!” she barked. “First off, you two,” she pointed to Lawrence and Charles, “Will not kill each other in a fit of emotional instability. You, Lawrence, are also not to kill that man right there.” She motioned to Jenkins. “Sarah is right, we do need him. Now, I’ll assume the strike on the jail didn’t go as planned?”

“Of course not, I had to-” Lawrence started in outrage, but Kat held up a hand to silence him.

“A simple ‘no’ would suffice, Mr. Mcrage.” Lawrence immediately shrunk back. She only called him that when she was insufferably angry or teasing, and he knew this wasn’t the latter. “We’ll have to do that today before they realize their leader is missing and double security in panic. Take Jenkins and the other down into the brig, then head back to your group, understand?”

“But Kat-”

“Do you understand, Mr. Mcrage!” Kat bellowed, hiding the wince of pain it had caused.

Lawrence stared at the floor a moment, then lifted his head and said “Aye aye, Captain,” with a salute. Kat nodded.

“What of the other bodies, Katherine?” Sarah asked softly.

Kat stared down at the fallen soldiers sadly. A loss of life was always to be mourned, even if they had fallen at her own hand. “We’ll leave them by their headquarters under the cover of night. Even Navy have families that will miss them.” She stood slowly and limped over to the man whose body still held her sword. It squelched as she removed it.

“To your duties,” she murmured, staring at the blood stained blade. Everyone hesitated, but Lawrence, Charles, and Luckie soon left the room with the forms of Jenkins and the Officer in tow. Sarah, however, lingered. Kat smiled sadly at her.

“You too, Sarah. I need a moment to myself,” she told her. Sarah’s eyes met Kat’s, and Kat felt surprise run through her body. The eyes were no longer a bright blue she had grown up with, but instead a vibrant purple. Kat knew the shock had flashed across her face, and she also knew Sarah had seen it.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Kat shook her head lightly. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later.” She waved her hand to the door. “Go see if Luckie can get you a change of clothes and then go raid the galley or something, alright? I promise I’ll rest after you leave.”

Sarah glanced down at her clothes, the ones still stained with her sister’s blood. She gulped. “Good idea.” She slowly began walking towards the door. “Sleep, alright?” she said, and then she was gone.

With the exit of Sarah, Kat limped over to her broken closet, finding an old, rust colored cloth. She felt her body scream at her as she sat back on her bed, but she still took the cloth, took her cutlass, and began wiping any evidence of blood from the blade.

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

I really did enjoy writing this chapter, as ridiculous as that sounds.

Thanks go out to Luckie for letting me butcher an Irish accent on her. ;)

Come now mates, you know how it is by now! I do appreciate reviews, and you all know it, haha. Please feel free to tell me if I do something completely stupid. Haha, Thanks for Reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Excellent as always, Crest! I love the development that you're giving Sarah - do I smell the next Tia Dalma? ;)

Looking forward to the next chapter - do I really have to wait until next year? :D

Awesome chapter. Sarah really needs to learn to conserve her voodoo... and Lawrence really needs to learn to control his temper xD

Haha i dont think there is a way for a Mcrage to control all rage Lol and awesome chapter!! :D i want to read more!! :P haha hurray for the awesome chapter crest thank ya for writing it :D

Yes! This one is fantastic! I really really love how you are developing Sarah ... I would swear she may even have my angel wings.
Great job as always!

A little Annie Skywalker in Lawrence do I smell? LoL That was me being a geek...

Awesome chapter Dec 2009 buddy! Oh, and Cresvy, you are doing a great job building these characters up!

^Bwahaha. I love Star Wars. In fact, I just had a movie marathon of them. I love my computer DVD player :pirate2:

Anyways, can't wait until your next chapter. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get on with Star Wars II and drink some rum orange juice while I wait out the week patiently...

Again, it's been quite a while since I last read... Revolution? When did this happen?

Okay Crest. Where's the chapter? I gave you two extra days, and it's still not here. Unless there are no more chapters. But that seems like an odd place to end the story, so I'm thinking there's more.

My apologies, Em. Writer's block and real life has gotten in the way. If it's not posted by... we'll say tomorrow night/early Tuesday, you have permission to beat me over the head with my own rum bottle and then drink it. Or vice versa.

*Drink's Crest's rum :ahoy:and then beats her over the head with the empty bottle*

Haha. But seriously, I know how horrid writer's block can be... I've had it before while writing stuff which I've never posted and probably never will.

Red
 

Ahoy mates! My sincere apologies on not posting last week. Writer's block + Busy schedule = Bad Crest. You all should have posted, and you would have gotten my rum like Em did. ;) Nevertheless, my friends, I have a chapter this week! Newly (re)written, so Kat isn't completely bonkers in this one. So, no more delay. For you...

Red

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Twisting, turning. Flying, falling. Run here, run there, kill this, kill that. See this person about an impossible task of finding a skeleton and stealing his ring, or dig up a treasure from a deserted island. Things that a girl raised in upper-class England should not have the talent or the ability to pull off, yet she does.

Kat picks up her gold handled cutlass. The blade reflects in an invisible light, and in that shine, she sees it all. Every single person, every single deed, everything that she has experienced in the Caribbean. The Cadet from the lawn of the governor’s mansion is the first to come; her first murder. She sees Josie, Nate, Fabiola, Solomon. There’s Charles and Sarah, her family rediscovered. Lawrence flies by with his bright red hair and emerald eyes, from the moment he saved her in the dark sea to the rage coursing through his body.

The blade suddenly turns a deep red, making her drop it in shock. Out of it flies the faces of all those that had fallen at her hand. So many Navy, EITC, and even the spirits of skeletons floated upwards and become real, concrete figures. Around and around her they spin, their voices building from hisses to a roar. Again and again they chant at her. “Pirate, Pirate, PIRATE!” Kat clutched the sides of her head, rubbing her temples, plugging her ears, anything to try and get the voices to leave, but nothing would work. Then, with a resounding screech, all of her victims shout, “KILLER!”

Kat let out a high pitched scream, making the voices surrounding her explode into smoke. She fell to her knees on a damp shore and her hands dropped from her head. They would have been better place where they were though, for as they fell, Kat saw them shining with red. She looked in horror at what could only be blood coating her fingers. In desperation, she dipped them in the water in front of her and pulled them out, but the red did not dissipate. Over and over she dunked the hands, frantically rubbing, wildly scrubbing, but nothing would change it.

“No, I washed you away, I got rid of you!” she yelled at the blood gracing her fingertips. Before any other attempts could be tried to rid the red, however, a slicing pain came from her side. She grabbed at it with a gasp, and when she pulled her hand back, she knew that this time, the blood was her own…

~~~~~

Kat woke to a sting in her side, which she held in her sleep. She groaned in pain, as she was not quite as numb as before. With tightly shut eyes, she reached over to her desk for a bottle of rum to buzz her into unconsciousness again, but her fingers met only with shards of glass. Her eyes flew open to see her hand grappling with the sticky mess left on her desk that had, that morning, been a whole, and full, rum bottle. She groaned, this time in annoyance.

Charles suddenly burst through her cabin door in clear excitement. “We did it Kat! We got everyone out of the jail!” Dirt was smeared across his face and his vest hung sloppily off of one shoulder, but his grin was wide and white. Exhilaration practically flowed from him, making Kat almost want to jump up and join him. Almost.

“That’s great, Charles,” Kat muttered, rubbing her head where a headache had begun to form. She tried swinging her legs out of bed, but hissed when her side reminded her it was still there and still searing. Charles’ face instantly snapped to worry. Kat was lucid enough to notice this, though, and waved it off. “It’s nothing,” she told him, forcing herself not to grimace. “Where’s Lawrence?”

Charles shrugged and glanced out the window. “I think he went to go try and clean up a little. Wait…” He squinted. “Yah, there he is.”

“Great. Can you go grab him for me?”

He nodded and began heading out the door, but an afterthought from Kat stopped him. “Charles, are you sure you’re ok?” she asked with doubt hidden behind her words.

His eyebrows raise slightly in surprise, and a grin quirked the side of his mouth up. “Of course I am, Kat!” he said cheerily. Kat herself couldn’t help but notice the blood spatter that darkened his grey shirt.

“Alright then,” she murmured, and Charles took this as dismissal. He exited the door to find Lawrence, and when he was gone, Kat sighed. “He’ll be a great pirate,” she muttered bitterly. It saddened her to see how well Charles operated in this world.

She decided to put it to the back of her mind. The pain overruled all other thought process now that Charles wasn’t here to distract her. Since her rum had been destroyed, she opted for tonics instead. Her side hissed at her and burned as she stood, but she tried to put it off. Of course, though, her cabinet was on the other side of the room. She gingerly walked over to it, feeling the burn grow and spread with every step. Somehow, though she didn’t know how, she made it across, but fell and sat with her back along the cabinet door, breathing heavily. Good god, things should not be this difficult.

A knock came upon her door. “Enter!” she called, then let her head slump backwards into her cabinet’s door.

Lawrence entered as he always did; Fling open the door, flinch at it’s speed, shrug, and slam it closed. This time, however, when he glanced around for Kat, he saw only an empty room. “Kat?” he asked the room cautiously.

“Over here,” she called weakly, raising a hand. Lawrence crept over to her sitting behind one of the chairs that had fallen in the battle earlier. She looked up at him meekly.

“Did you know that being sliced in the stomach and almost bleeding to death hurts more than being transformed into a skeleton and back?”

Lawrence shook his head softly at her, as if condemning her actions. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked as he leaned her against the wall instead. “You should be resting." He opened up her cabinet and began looking for a tonic. They’d been through too many battles together for him to not know where they were.

“Resting is boring,” she huffed. “Besides, my rum is gone and the pain got worse. I need something to dull it.”

“Yes, clearly,” Lawrence replied, finding what he was looking for. He brought the bottle down to her and unstoppered it. “Here. Drink,” he told her.

Kat took the bottle to her lips and guzzled half of it down. Then she began coughing and making faces. “Good god, that has the texture of mud and the taste of wasp venom. Which one did you grab?”

Lawrence grinned. “The strongest one, of course.” He capped the bottle again and placed it back in the cabinet. Kat made another disgusted face as the aftertaste began to kick in, but as the tonic flowed through her, she began to feel lighter, and the pain began to numb.

“Alright, I’ll admit, that makes me feel a lot better,” she told him as he sat down next to her. “How did it go today?”

Lawrence shrugged. “It went as you expected. At least something did, aye?” he tried to joke. Kat just glared. He withered. “Anyway, my team fared pretty well. We took them by enough surprise that they didn’t have time to call reinforcements. It wasn’t difficult to just grab the keys, unlock the doors, and tell everyone to run. Luckie led the others through the town, helping kick out all Navy that had taken up residence in homes. Overall, there isn’t much worth mentioning, though I’m pretty sure that we have the townspeople on our side.”

Kat nodded. “Good. Perhaps tomorrow we can end this for good, with a swift movement. We’ll go into town again and try to stir up some of the people.” Kat held out a hand, and Lawrence hauled her to her feet. “Let’s go.” She began walking slowly to the door, but felt more strength in her muscles now. There was no longer a shriek coming from her side.

Lawrence followed next to her obediently. “Where are we going? Not far, I hope” he said, worriedly looking at the bandage.

“Not far at all,” she replied. She paused at the door, considering something, then turned back to her bed. Her sword shone up at her from when she had polished it that afternoon. She took the golden handle and saw her reflection, tired and beaten, in the blade. The blood red of her dream flashed across her vision for a brief moment, turning the world crimson. With a blink, though, the browns and greens and greys of the world returned. Kat sheathed the blade in silence.

“We’re just headed down to the brig,” she said, turning back to face him. “I want to have a chat with Jenkins.”

Lawrence quickly made to open the cabin door for her and Kat stepped out into the twilight of Tortuga. The sun was always brighter as it fell into the sea, and far past the bay, it shone into Kat’s eyes. She squinted in brief pain, but when sight returned, she saw her crew staring at her in awe and wonder.

“No, I’m not dead!” she shouted at them, crushing what would have been an incredibly touching and cheesy moment beneath her boot. “Don’t you all have better things to do than stare at me like beached whales?” They immediately returned to what they had been doing, and Kat continued to lead Lawrence down into the brig, but as they passed Tim, they heard him mutter to Ironhawk, “She’s Kat Crestshot, mate. You expected anything less?” Kat had to force herself not to grin.

By the light of a dim lantern, Kat and Lawrence descended the many layers into the bottommost hole of the ship, the only place they let rats reside; lockup. Kat stood staring at the unconscious forms of the two Navy swine, the lamp casting deep, menacing shadows over her face.

“Sarah spelled them to sleep, you said?” she asked Lawrence behind her.

“Aye. They haven’t woken since.”

Kat nodded. “Fetch her for me, will you?” she requested. His footsteps echoed as he made his way back up to look for her sister, leaving her alone with the two forms.

Disgust made her body tremble as she looked upon them. She was much different than the young woman that had killed a Cadet three years ago, but she still felt the barely contained fury. How many times now had she been scorned and scathed by the Navy? Abandoned, betrayed, wounded; this described the relationship. When would it ever stop? When would it cease to matter?

Before she could work herself up too much, Lawrence returned with Sarah. Her sister immediately began accosting her. “What are you doing up and about? You should be upstairs resting! That still isn’t completely healed, you know! Why w-”

“Sarah, there’s more than enough time to rest later,” Kat spoke over her sister. “Right now, however, time is of the essence.”

Sarah huffed and crossed her arms. “You can’t wake them without me, and I won’t do that until you rest some more.”

Kat sighed and rubbed her eyes in exasperation. Really? Now, of all times, was when Sarah decided to have a backbone straight and strong? “Look, if I don’t talk to them now, more people of Tortuga will die at dawn. You want that?” she demanded of her sister.

Sarah was fuming, but Kat slowly saw her begin to give way. With hesitation, her hand disappeared into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out the small straw doll. She got close to the bars and waved the doll around three times counter clockwise. Slowly, the two began to stir.

Kat drew her sword and swiftly barged into the cell. The iron door crashed as she pointed the tip of her blade to the suddenly alert Jenkins’ neck. “What was it you said about failure, Captain?”

Jenkins sat very still on the grungy, watery floor. “I believe I said that you were the one that fails, Ms. Crestshot,” he replied with strength, but Kat saw fear flickering behind his eyes like the lamp that sputtered behind her.

Kat pushed the blade further into his neck. “That, sir, is where you were wrong.” She released it from his windpipe, and he immediately relaxed and began breathing heavily. Kat paced a circle around the two soldiers, her sword hanging loosely at her side. “I must admit, you got me very good, Captain.” She rubbed gently at her bandages. “Nevertheless,” she got very close to his ear and whispered, “you lost.” She stood straight again to continue. “And now you will bow to my whims, rather than try to make me bow to yours. You and your colleague here are no better off than I was not so long ago.”

“I will not bow down to a pirate,” Jenkins growled with clenched teeth. “You are nothing but a villain, a knave, a devil in human form. You are out of the boundaries where you belong, and for that, you deserve your fate.”

Kat got right in front of his face, her nose inches from his. “I know the boundaries, Captain Jenkins. I have lived the boundaries, sir,” she snarled. “The boundaries are overrated.”

She shoved her body away from him and began pacing again. “You have lost four of your men because you refused to trust me. Now-”

“You’re a pirate! Why should I trust you?” Jenkins demanded.

Kat made a quick, clean slice across his upper arm. He hissed in pain. “Ah ah. I wasn’t finished, Captain.” Jenkins glared up at her, but he shut up. “As I was saying, I have a proposition for you that may meet your appeal. You order the full retreat of all your men here on Tortuga, and I make my honest assurance that none of them will be kicked into the ocean or killed on their way out of the bay. I think that’s more than reasonable, don’t you?”

Jenkins let out a barking laugh. “Leave Tortuga? Are you mad? We-”

“Yes Captain, I am mad, but that’s hardly the point of this conversation,” Kat spoke softly, yet easily cutting him off.

“Listen carefully, Kellan Jenkins, and choose wisely. I am giving you the opportunity to live and fight another day. Any other pirate, and even many of the common residents of Tortuga would not give you this chance. You are very lucky.”

Jenkins’ face was hard. “I will not abandon my post.” He shoved the words from between clenched teeth.

“So you send your men into imminent death?” Kat shouted. “Even I do not do that, Captain! Lives are precious, yet you throw them away like pawns! This is your choice?”

Kellan Jenkins was silent.

Kat looked down at him coldly. “Very well. Their blood is on your hands this time, not mine.” She turned on a dime out of the cell and slammed the iron bars behind her, leaving Lawrence and Sarah to follow her out of the darkness.

~~~~~

“We ready?” the figure whispered to the man at its side.

“We just have to wait for… there!”

A shadow came running towards them in the darkness. “We’re all set. Everybody is clear and out of the way. Nothing should happen on our side.”

“Good.” A click and a hiss accompanied the orange flame. The face of Kat Crestshot was bathed in its glow for a moment before she dropped it, quite purposely, on a small trail of gunpowder. It began running towards a main source, and cries of “Run!” echoed through the area. If the Navy heard them, it no longer mattered as they sprinted in any and all directions away from the powder trail.

A sudden blast lit up the Tortuga night. Kat Crestshot walked calmly away from it, a hard glare gracing her naturally soft features. She had warned Jenkins, and now his jail was engulfed in flames.

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

I really thought this chapter is better than the one I had originally planned. That one involved Kat taking a far too strong tonic and being all loopy and... yah. It was disastrous. I don't do comedy.

Well mates, feel free to tell me horrid it is. ;) I kid, I kid. Unless you think it was horrid and then, please, tell me. Thank you for the reviews and thank you for being patient while I worked past that bloody blockade in my mind, haha. And, as always, Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot

It was hor.... Just kidding. I really, really like it. I haven't followed all of it, but I have read some chapters here and there. It has great detail, and great conversation, and it is really gripping and fun to read. Nice work!

A loopy Crest? You made us miss out on that? Darn!

Just kidding. I'm pretty sure that the path you took was much better than what was planned. Comedy ain't easy to do in a non-comedic novel.

hurray for the chapter! lol glad u have no more block tooth paste Lol - waits for next chapter - :D

I loved the chapter. Here's a bottle of rum to replace the one I smashed. Along with a barrel of syrup. I can't wait to see how this turns out.... I don't think the Nay will be very happy that their jail was blown to smithereens.

I certainly know that something of that extreme measure would draw a person (such as myself *cough*) to the scene as soon as he, a man who walks swords, heard of it, aye? LOL, I am not sure if you caught my bantering to put me in the next chapter, aye? I got mentioned in this one, though I didn't show up to help ye fight, savvy?

LOL, I really liked the previous chapters! Sorry for me not posting lately, I haven't been on the forums in a couple months. I just read Her Beginning and The Scathed since I woke up. Sometimes it is good to refresh your memory in this story. I absolutely love it, and can't wait for the next chapter! I await the moment I meet Charles, Sarah, and Luckie... ;)

Sorry for my ranting! :p

Nate

Stuck on Cloud 9. Little service here. Lack of oxygen making my brain fuzzy. Be back soon.

-Crest

Haha, in all seriousness mates, before I get my rum taken again, chapter should be posted tomorrow, if real life lets me get to it.

Edit to Muffin: And by "taken" I mean "Willingly given to Em in a bet due to my lack of chapter posting".

Then why didn't you change your status? LOL

*Grabs a bottle of Rum* My Rum....

Ah yes, I was going to ask where my chapter was... you have 21 hours to post that thing, missy :degen:

But seriously, I can't wait for the next chapter, and I know it'll be good :)

*waits for chapter* -checks watch- *waits more* ;)

-bites nails waiting for chapter- Let the countdown begin! (you know how I love to countdown to things... :D)

-looks at watch- hmmm batteries dead *changes batteries waits more *

^^^^^ Haha, Crest hurry mate!

Conscience
 

Impatient bunch, ain't ya? Though, I can't really blame you... all things aside, I do have a chapter for you, late as it is. So, finally...

Conscience

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

The entire island of Tortuga was abuzz the next morning. What was once a symbol of tyranny and injustice was now just a smoking pile of scraps. People began having a huge revel around it, dancing and singing, and one man tried to bring a pig to roast over the embers before they were all shooed away by the Navy. The jail may have been gone, but the Navy still held some power, if only through brute force.

Kat looked out on the chaos that was Tortuga from the deck of her ship, sensing the extra hint of joy in the air. Tortuga felt like a pirate port again, rather than a barely constrained rebellion held in the palm of fear. It was an exhilarating feeling.

Charles came up to her side to stare out on the town with her. “It’s odd,” he told her. “I’ve been here for two months, and I’ve seen how this place changes in the blink of an eye, but never quite like this. There’s just something different that I can’t put my finger on.”

Kat smiled. “That’s freedom, Charles. It’s Tortuga reverting back to what it once was.”

Charles chuckled, leaning over the railing. “I like it. It’s threatening, yet fun, and so much different from London.”

Kat let out a short, barking laugh. “What were you expecting, tea and crumpets?” she teased him lightly. “Not a chance, mate. There’s a new adventure with every coming wave.”

“Adventure…” Charles murmured, and Kat could see it in his eyes; dreams of riches and fantasy, a near-death experience at every turn. She knew it was the life he had always wanted, yet had always been held back from, being the only son. He saw Tortuga as his golden opportunity.

Kat swallowed her thoughts on his future for another time. “So, you know a few people in town from your time here, yes?” Charles nodded. “Good. You probably know more than I do. Go find people that would be willing to come to the meeting tonight. Take Ironhawk with you. His huge presence should intimidate anyone to come.”

Charles laughed as he looked over to the bulky man. “You got it, Kat,” he said. Kat saw him walk over to the blonde and talk to him briefly, motioning towards the town, and the two soon left the ship.

Her side shot with pain like a bolt of lightning, then suddenly was gone. She grimaced and gasped at the suddenness of it. Unfortunately enough, her coat was still in her cabin, with the rum inside the pocket. She just brushed it off and grabbed a lantern to go and pay a quick visit to Jenkins.

No others accompanied her down this time. The lantern created deep, unreal depths in the darkness. It was cool in the brig, away from the bright Caribbean sun. She came upon Jenkins shivering in the cell.

“Good morning, Captain Jenkins,” Kat said, her tone matching the cool atmosphere. “You’ll be glad to see that I have something for you.” She opened the iron door and tossed a loaf of bread to the ground. “It’s not very good, considering you burnt down the town’s best bakery. It was only a stroke of luck that its baker didn’t light with it.” Jenkins glared up at her with his small, dark eyes as he grabbed for the loaf.

“Where is your companion, Jenkins?” Kat asked, glancing around the small, dirty cell. She slowly reached for her sword, listening intently for the slightest sound. Men pounded on the top deck, regular creaks and groans emanated like usual from the Mercenary, but there… right there was a small shuffle, a creak out of place. Jenkins’ eyes glanced somewhere to her right, and Kat knew.

A metallic crash echoed through the small space as Kat’s sword me the old rusted one rushing at her. From the corner of her eye, she saw the frustrated look on Jenkins’ face. She turned her attentions back to the officer. “I already have a deep slice on my left. You think I want a matching one on my right?” she growled at him.

The battle didn’t last long at all. Kat slashed at a bag lying on the ground and coffee beans came spilling out. They fell to the floor in a shower and got tangled under the officer’s feet. He fell to the floor with a crash, and Kat pointed her sword down at him menacingly.

“Damn it McKinnon!” Jenkins screamed, but Kat ignored him.

“Don’t make me kill you, lad,” she whispered, the flickering light of the lantern making her seem even more threatening.

“Please… I have a wife…” he whimpered in terror. Kat automatically felt pity for the man, but she kept her mask on. She remembered waiting at home for a husband in danger on the battlefield.

“Killing me will do you no good, Jenkins,” she said harshly. “The revolution is already set. Your prison is gone, and your ridiculous headquarters will be as well. Unless, of course, you agree to my proposition.”

“I shall not!” Jenkins yelled in fury. “The Crown is the all-powerful! A small port such as this is but a dot on the uncharted maps!”

“Then why is there such fear in your eyes, Captain?” Kat spoke lowly.

The two met in a silent battle of wills, only to be shattered by the man still lying on the ground. “For the love of God, Captain, take the deal!” McKinnon cried, his breathing shallow as he looked at the sharp tip of Kat’s blade. She looked at Jenkins directly, her sword still staying strong. Jenkins just shook his head in a violent ‘No’.

Kat’s eyes darkened, then she nodded. “Very well.” She kicked the cell door tightly closed, hearing it screech as metal crushed against metal. As she leaned down to take McKinnon by the arm and drag him out of the brig, she shouted to Jenkins, “I hope you don’t mind the death of one more of your men, Captain!”

McKinnon began kicking and screaming to try and get away, but Kat pressed her thumb to that spot in the crook of his elbow, and he immediately fell to his knees. “Don’t make me really kill you, lad,” she muttered in his ear. He was quiet the rest of the way up.

“Lawrence, I need you!” she yelled as they entered the sunlight. Her red-headed first mate popped up to attention from where he had been apparently been asleep against a barrel. His tricorne had fallen clumsily over his eyes and he hastily straightened it as he spoke.

“What do you-” he stopped suddenly when he caught the site of Kat grasping McKinnon firmly by the arm. “Kat…” he said slowly. “Why is the Navy man up here?”

Kat just nodded towards her quarters and felt Lawrence’s presence as he followed her up. He opened the door for her and Kat shoved McKinnon inside. The man stood there fearfully, looking cautiously at the dagger Lawrence had just drawn. Kat, on the other hand, sheathed her sword. She looked up at the soldier with some disdain. “Well don’t just stand there like a petrified piece of wood. Sit,” she said, pointing to one of her small wooden chairs. He sat down slowly, carefully, and Kat followed his line of vision. “Lawrence, put it away,” she said. “He’s less a prisoner and more of a… guest, now.” Lawrence reluctantly hooked the dagger back onto his belt.

“Now, Mr. McKinnon, the only reason you’re not dead yet is because you seem to have something your captain sorely lacks.” She put her hands on the back of the chair and leaned over him. “A conscience. You actually care for the potential lives to be lost. Of course, I’m certain there’s a significant amount of care for your own life in there as well, but we’ll let that slide.”

“Now, my friend, if you want your fellow soldiers, and yourself, to live, you will have to follow my instructions to the letter. I am willing to let you go back to your headquarters, where I am sure everyone is running around frantic, trying to figure out what to do with all the rampant pirates. Here is where you inform them that Captain Jenkins died aboard the pirate ship, yet you managed to escape. However you want to tell them you escaped is of your choosing. This is where you inform them that as he died of mortal injuries in the brig, he ordered you to escape and tell everyone to abandon Tortuga. You must get this point across to them, Mr. McKinnon, otherwise they will all die. For tomorrow night, there will be an organized raid on any Navy base here on the island, whether it be the building in Tortuga town or your ‘secretive’ little caves. And believe me, McKinnon, it won’t just be my crew ensuring your destruction. If you want everyone to live, or at least most of them, for I can’t assure anyone’s lives, you will get them out of port by tomorrow evening. To be frank, getting them out tonight would be all the better for you, as I can’t control the riots that will happen after this evening. Savvy?”

McKinnon gulped, but he nodded. “Yes. Yes, I understand, Captain Crestshot,” he said with fear in his voice.

Kat nodded in return. “Good lad. And don’t even think about trying any funny business, McKinnon. We’ve got the entirety of Tortuga behind our backs, and we’ll be watching you.”

She took his arm firmly again and hauled him out of his chair. “Now, Lawrence, will you grab that bag right there?” Kat asked him, pointing to a small sack she usually put rum in. He tossed it over to her and she shoved it over McKinnon’s head, despite his yelp of protest. “Sorry mate, gotta make it convincing. And remember, you did try to kill me more than once.” She motioned to Lawrence to take his other side, and the two led McKinnon out of the cabin.

“You only get what’s coming to you!” Kat shouted to the world as they entered open air. “Draw your dagger,” she hissed to Lawrence. They began marching McKinnon down the plank to Kat’s cry of “Your blood isn’t good enough to be spilled on my ship!” The crew just watched in awe.

Kat led the two men far away from the town and into a dark corner of the swamp. She stopped, slowly looked around, the whipped the bag off of McKinnon’s head and kicked him to the ground. Her and Lawrence took off at a spring away from the man. “I never said I’d make it easy, lad!” she yelled back to him, laughing. In only a moment, her and Lawrence were gone. McKinnon grumbled as he picked himself off the ground and began trying to find his way back to the town.


:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Oooh, you can just feel the suspense rising now can't you? (Joke from my play... ha.)

Anyway, my apologies on the lateness of this, mates. I'm afraid real life is really kicking me up and down lately. Inspiration to write has been on and off, at best. Nevertheless, we are coming upon a part of the story that I have been waiting on since the beginning (and yes, by the beginning I mean Her Beginning) in the next couple of weeks. So keep an eye on that horizon, aye? Thanks for reviewing, and Thanks for Reading!

-Kat Crestshot

I can feel the suspense and tension ever building, Crest. This is the reason why everybody is so anxious for the next chapter - your story is very open ended, suspenseful, and of all things, intent and gripping. I really am waiting to see you release all your potential in to what you have in store, which I know will be more than enough to stun and shock - more than usual, of course :)

Loved the chapter, now I shall sit and lurk until later this week, when you post the next chapter :)

Another great Chapter! The only downside is that you make it so suspenseful!

As always Crest, a good chapter, look i know i havent posted here yet, but this is really good, do you think you could great a new member of the crew named Henry McBones? i think he would be a good addition

An Apology to My Readers
 

Trust me, mates, I am very much aware that my concentration on The Scathed has been sorely lacking. I don't think I've properly posted on a Friday in three weeks or more. For this, I give my formal apology, and offer this chance to explain myself.

First off, the current plot line we are in, the revolution of Tortuga, was not in my original plot. Actually, we've really strayed from my original plan. What happened is that after Sarah was captured, I had this image of Kat walking slowly and calmly away from the huge explosion of the jail in retribution for the Navy's actions. Kat wasn't lying when she asked Lawrence, "Feel like doing something stupid?" While I always kind of write from the top of my head, never quite sure what's going to flow out, I usually have a much better idea of where I'm going. All of this - Jenkins and McKinnon, Kat's slash in her side, even Luckie's bakery burning down - has just been... coming out. One thing leads to another, and another, with only a single end intent in mind, and no real motives on how it will all turn out for each individual character. It's just a matter of making it interesting along the way.

Second off, my state of mind from the writings of Solomon or the Muertos moon, or even the beginnings of Luckie O'Clover (Thanks again to the both of you) is much different from my mindset now, in many different ways. Mostly... I'm happier than I have been in a long time. It may sound odd, but my writing deteriorates the happier I am overall. I remember this time a few years ago where I started a story called Just in Case. Definitely not my best work, but when I wrote it.. well, I wrote it at a time when my life was hell. When my life started getting better, I stopped finding inspiration for the story, and eventually abandoned it. It's difficult to write drama in a time when your life is like a comedy.

Make no mistake, there is no way I will be abandoning The Scathed. I'm far too invested in it, and I want to see it through as much as you all do. It's just at something of a standstill at the moment. I want to see what my imagination pops out as much as the rest of you. Now it's just a matter of wooing my Muse back to me.

-Kat Crestshot

so....after that slightly formal apology, where is the chapter? (not trying to be rude)

^^^^ If you read..... She said her story is at a standstill, just be patient and wait.

we shall see when crest is kinda gloomy again gloomy crest is fun too ya know! :D haha right when it gets good u get happy haha thats ok we will wait crest :)

:D :D I thunk a thought!

We could all do something to make her really sad! That way, we get to have more chapters to read... Yay! :dancetl6:

/evilgrin

haha thats what i been trying to do for weeks now xD

Prepare
 

Hello my friends. After my severe case of almost month long writer's block, the author has returned! And at the realization that today is the one year Anniversary of Her Beginning, I decided to post my long awaited chapter today. So, thank you if you are still reading this for putting up with my little bout of insanity. I told you I wouldn't be abandoning this story. Now enough chat! You all are anxious, so for you, at last...

Prepare

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

“Alright, listen up! Listen up!” Kat yelled from her perch in front of the burned remains of Luckie’s shop. The large group of people in front of her were all wandering aimlessly or chatting with friends, not a single one of them paying attention to the point of the gathering. She sighed and nodded to Ironhawk, who lit the cannon just behind him. Kat took great joy out of watching the entire crowd jump at the resounding bang.

“Now that you all are half-deaf, pay attention!” Kat yelled. “You are all here because you absolutely despise this Navy control, yes?” Mutters and a few yells rose up from the crowd, all in approval. “Good! And how many of you are drunk right now?” A large roar came up from the crowd this time. Kat couldn’t help but chuckle. “Even better. Now, here’s a plan that I’m positive all of you would like. What we do is-”

“Why should we listen to you!” a voice cried. “You’re nothing but a woman posing as a captain! You fancy yourself better than us!”

Kat looked around the crowd, stepping down from the box she had been perched on. The crowd seemed to point her in the right direction as they all faced where the voice came from. She walked through them slowly, looking carefully for the source, until a gnarled old hand grabbed her arm. “Why should we follow you?” an old man growled.

Kat ripped her arm away from him. “Why should you follow me!” she yelled out. “That is what the old man asks. Why follow a stupid little woman; he puts the idea in your minds. Well mates, it’s not that I fancy myself better than you!” She ran, parting the crowd and leaped up to her stand. “It’s that I know I am.”

Words of disapproval were flung up at her like rotten tomatoes, and she just absorbed them until the crowd stilled. “Think! For once, use your drunken, rum buzzed heads and think! I am the only one who has even managed to put a dent in the forces here! Doesn’t that make you think that I have the slightest idea of what I’m doing?

“Now listen, and listen carefully. The Navy are almost out of here. Most, if not all of them, should be gone by tomorrow evening. However, if they are not, I propose a full raid on them! Get rid of them for good!” Cheers were coming periodically from the drunken crowd at her words. “If you want to join, sharpen your weapons, and meet back here at dusk tomorrow!” She ended her speech there and leapt off of her box to minor applause and a few riled up pirates. If she had accomplished anything here, if she had swayed anyone to her side, that was all she could ask for.

At dawn the next morning, there were Navy soldiers at the docks, loading all they could as quickly as they could into one of their sloops. Kat watched silently from the window of her cabin as crates and barrels were all tossed hastily onto the ship. Odd, though. Tortuga had far more forces than would fit into that small sloop. She made a quick decision and walked out to the dock.

“You there!” she called to the first soldier she came upon. He turned, and at the sight of her, immediately moved his hand closer to his cutlass. Kat, however, pretended not to notice. “Can you direct me towards Mr. McKinnon?” The man glared at her for a moment, then pointed a thumb behind his back. Kat looked over his shoulder to see McKinnon organizing some of the men. She passed by the soldier with a harsh shoulder bump, and reveled in the glare that followed her back.

“Surely you can’t fit all of your men on that ship, Mr. McKinnon!” she said loudly. McKinnon visibly flinched and turned slowly to face her.

“Good morning, Captain Crestshot,” the man said quietly.

Kat crossed her arm and leveled him with a glare. “Well, McKinnon, is everyone leaving, or did your force shrink in half overnight?”

He wrung his hands nervously, twisting them around and around each other. “Some of us are leaving, but a few didn’t believe my message. They’re staying to try and hold our spot here.”

Kat felt her gaze darken. “They have made their choice, then. Tonight, they are dead.” She began to walk away, but McKinnon grabbed her arm.

“Please, have mercy!” he pleaded with her.

Kat turned her head slowly so that a sliver of her profile was visible. “I have given all the mercy I could have, Mr. McKinnon. I have given as many chances for life as I could afford. You and your Navy should have realized in a town of anarchy, you could not hold power for long.” She tore her arm away from the groveling man. “The only one who may give mercy now is God, and I don’t think he’s listening to either group of sinners.”

With that she ran, up from the docks, up towards the town. But her still injured side, which she seemed to forget had been cut open only three days before, tormented her, and she was forced to slow. She leaned up against a nearby tree, panting and wondering what was wrong with her.

“Voodoo is strong, Kat, but it does not give complete healing,” a soft, lightly teasing voice said from the other side of the tree. Kat turned her body to see Fabiola sitting on a low branch, smiling her mystic smile. “You try too hard, and too fast, my friend.” She let herself fall from the branch and onto the ground next to Kat. “Now, let me see this.” She reached for the bottom of the puffy white shirt Kat had taken to wearing since her traditional green had been sliced, and Kat’s trust in Fabiola was so strong, she just let her.

Kat hadn’t looked at it closely in days, not since it had actually happened. She heard Fabiola tsk at her when she looked down at the wound. It was an angry red around the edges, and the slice itself still looked deep. “Honestly, Kat. It is a wonder you are still standing,” Fabiola said. “Come to my cart. I shall help heal it more, past the pure voodoo.”

Kat followed the gypsy further up the path to where her small camp resided. A small fire burned, as usual, with a pot of some mysterious substance boiling over it. She entered the clearing after Fabiola and immediately noticed her sister sitting with her legs folded under her on the grassy ground.

“Sarah? What are you doing here?” Kat asked, standing over her.

Sarah glanced up from intently watching the pot. “Fabiola has been helping me with a few voodoo things,” she replied with a small smile. Kat could see that behind it, for once, Sarah was content. Perhaps it was the new bright violet of her eyes… the bright color that so resembled Fabiola’s…

“The voodoo,” she said quietly.

“Hmm?” Sarah asked, not hearing Kat’s soft words.

Kat spoke louder, explaining herself. “Your eyes. They changed after the fight with Jenkins. It must be because of-”

“The voodoo,” Sarah finished for her. “Yes, Fabiola explained that to me.”

“Yes, it has taken full residence,” Fabiola said, approaching the sisters. “Here, take this.” She handed a paste to her, and Kat had been through this enough times to know to apply it to the area of the wound.

“Residence?” Kat asked as she spread the medicine around.

From the corner of her eye, Kat saw the two exchange a glance. Sarah began smiling. “It means I finally accepted it,” she said.

Kat flicked her eyes towards them, seeing the peace there. It was odd. She could really do nothing more but nod at Sarah’s statement. There was nothing for her to say to this new presence in her.

Fabiola finally spoke to break the silence. “What are you going to do about tonight, Kat?”

The young woman’s eyes darkened, and she bowed her head slightly. “I must keep to my word. I may be pirate, but if I do anything with the truth and a pure heart, it is this. They did not believe the words of warning I sent them, and for that, they make their own graves.”

Sarah looked upon her sister with unease. “Katherine, must you really? Isn’t there another-”

“No, there is no other way, Sarah!” Kat bit out. “There is no other way, for not only I have given every chance for some semblance of peace that I thought possible, there is one crucial fact that you constantly seem to forget!” She stood. “I am not Katherine. I am a pirate. I am a ruthless, thieving, selfish scoundrel who is somehow trying to free this small dingy port in the middle of a sea I didn’t even know five years ago. And I shall free it by any means necessary.”

Sarah looked shocked into silence. It was Fabiola, who had heard outbursts like this before, that spoke up.

“Kat, sit. The herbs need to work, or you shall not heal. You know this.”

“No, Fabiola,” Kat said with a shake of her head. “There is too much to do. I must prepare for tonight.”

She turned to her sister. “I don’t expect you to be there. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But, I would feel better with you at my side. We’re meeting at the remains of Luckie’s bakery just before nightfall, if you do.” She turned away and walked out into the woods, feeling the medicine on her side burn slowly in protest of her movement.

“She is going to kill herself with all of this one day,” she heard Fabiola say sadly to her departing back. Kat had no choice but to let the words bounce off of her and continue through the dense trees.

She spent the rest of the day with Lawrence, organizing the crew into groups to lead the assault, gathering weapons and ammunition for those who would show that night, and drinking far too much rum. Near the end of the day, Lawrence had to forcibly remove it from her hands.

“Lawrence, give it back!” she yelled, running after him. He charged up the steps at the stern, leaping over some crates in the way. Kat launched herself towards him, her hands slamming down on the crate that separated them. Lawrence held it out to her tauntingly.

“You want it?” He tossed it into the air behind him and caught it with his other hand. “Well too bad! You’ve had far too much rum today! Your mind has no chance of being clear tonight at this rate!”

Kat quite literally growled at him. “Give. It. Back!” she screamed at him, beginning to turn red around the edges.

Lawrence eyed her critically with a raised eyebrow. “You know what?” He offered the bottle out to her again, but when she reached for it, he tossed it to the side and off the ship. The splash echoed ominously. “No.”

There was a silence for a moment. The entire crew watched with wide eyes as Kat steadily turned redder and redder, finally stabilizing at roughly the shade of a Navy flag. “You did not just throw my rum into the water, did you Mr. Mcrage?” she hissed, the sound carrying across the boat. Lawrence just folded his arms and nodded.

She rushed at him, smacking and hitting and kicking every part of him that she could reach. He accepted a few hits, then began grabbing at her hands to try and stop her.

“Why did you do that?!” she yelled at him, punctuating each word with a hit. “It wasn’t doing any harm!” She was forcing him to step back and back until his back met with a railing.

HE finally got a grip on her hands and stilled her movements. “Because maybe now you’ll get your head back from wherever the hell it’s been all day!” he roared directly into her face.

They both stood there a moment, glaring at each other, until Kat ripped her hands from Lawrence’s grip. “You are my first mate, Mcrage, or do you forget that?” she asked, pointing a slightly shaking finger at him.

“Oh believe me, I remember,” he replied haughtily. “That means it’s my duty to tell you when you’re being a total drunkard and moron when you have things that need to be done. Do you recall that part of my job description?”

Kat continued to glare at him, as if searching for a specific weakness in his iron will. She found none, however, and huffily turned on the spot and began walking away from him. “You’re on my list, Mcrage!” she called backwards to him.

“So long as I get my point across,” he replied. He watched as Kat walked off the ship, then let out a small chuckle. “Come on all! Time to get started!”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

I'm very much aware how overdue this chapter is, and yet I still leave you without the climax. :psmiley35:

I want to thank those of you who are reading this after my almost month long silence. I think my Muse came running and gave me a swift kick in the behind. :laughks2: So thank you for holding on tight, mates. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Even WITH the threats to make me sad so I will be inspired to write. :P

So, you know how it is mates! I look forward to reviews, whether it be good or whether it be attacking me for not posting in so long. ;) Thanks for Reading!

-Kat Crestshot

:degen: :degen: :degen: :degen: Attack! That is for not posting in a long time.

Good as usual Crest! I applaud. /clap

im with sharky!! ATTACK!!!

ok im good now yay for the chapter!! :D :D :D

Con grats on another chapter.. /clap hope whatever is stopping you from posting and writing stops soon!

Im with Sharky and Angel there. Attack!!:degen::degen::piratewhip:


Great Chapter Crest!! /applaud.

The Caves
 

Alright alright mates, you can hold off on the :degen: for this week. I even have a chapter out early for you! Course, that's a different matter altogether. But before I get chatting too much...

The Caves

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Once again, for the second day in a row, there was a crowd huddled near the burned remains of Luckie’s bakery. Kat looked upon the crowd, feeling the buzz of her rum slowly slipping away. As much as she didn’t want a clear, collected head for the battle to come, she knew she needed it. She took that moment as she walked towards the large band of pirates to transform. Hazel eyes hardened, her stance was suddenly more solid, and she brought the image of her sister, beaten and broken inside of a dirty jail cell, to the front of her mind. That would fuel her anger for the hours to come.

She forced herself to the front of the crows. “Shut it, all of you!” she shouted out. Men turned to her with skeptical expressions that Kat brushed away. “So, you all think you’re ready to rid Tortuga of these rats?” A huge roar rose up from the assembled pirates. Kat smiled.

“Well then, mates, let us be gone!”

Her crew helped organize the mob into three groups. Two would head into the ‘secret’ cave forts that the Navy had, storming from both entrances, while the others would head to their official, public headquarters. Those without were given ammunition and swords. No matter what happened tonight, one thing was certain; the Navy would fall.

Kat was examining a sword, the one she had taken from Jenkins, in the center of the hustle and bustle. It was clear that this wasn’t one of the ones the Navy handed out in bulk to their soldiers. The blade was sturdy, yet not heavy, and the hand guard was twisted in an intricate black design. Her hand curled around it solidly. It had probably been made upon his promotion to Captaincy.

A tap on her shoulder startled her out of her musings. She turned, expecting to see some townsman with an idiotic question, but instead was met with the bright violet of her sister’s eyes. Kat’s expression turned into that of a beached fish.

Sarah gave a small, timid smile. “I figured you could use some extra help,” she said.

Kat realized how she looked and closed her mouth. “Of course!” she said, recovering. “You have a cutlass?” Sarah turned to the side a little to show her small blade.

“Let’s not forget the voodoo,” she said, pulling the small doll that somehow held so much power out of her pocket. “Perhaps this small thing will help the tide turn.”

Kat grinned and nodded. “It’s good to have you on our side.” She turned out to the crowd. “Alright gents! Time to head out!” she yelled to everyone. She turned to speak to Sarah over her shoulder. “Stick by me, aye?”

The ragtag band of troops began marching to take back their town. Lawrence, being her most trusted officer, led his men against the Navy main base at the edge of Wildwoods, leaving Kat and Ironhawk with their brigades. Kat moved quickly through the trees in Wildwoods on the other side of the base, leading a group of about 25 men. Her eyes glanced around quickly, taking in every leaf, every twig, and any flash of a red uniform. They were what she estimated as halfway through when a sudden rustling sounded at her left. She motioned to the men behind her to stay silent and still, and began creeping slowly towards the source.

A shot rang through the trees with an ear-deafening intensity. “Who goes there!” a male voice yelled out.

Kat noticed the blood red sticking out in the trees now. She slowly drew her sword so as not to attract attention, and was suddenly glad for the camouflage of her crocodile coat. Her breathing was even as she stared at the bright red, preparing… and then without warning the man just fell to the ground.

Kat looked startlingly back to the group. She hadn’t heard a shot come from them, nor anything else that would signify attack on the man. Then she saw Sarah, her head and shoulders poking out above a bush, her doll in one hand.

She glanced back at her sister in slight shock, then walked over to the man. A pulse in his neck beat against her fingertips. Kat grumbled slightly, then took his bayonet and slung it over her shoulder.

“Come on! Let’s hope we don’t encounter any more of him!” she told the group, and started through the trees again. She moved to be next to Sarah and spoke lowly to her. “You could have killed him, couldn’t you?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Kat demanded, a small fire beginning to burn behind her eyes.

When her sister’s gaze turned to her, Kat could see that the coldness that Sarah’s eyes had always portrayed so well hadn’t disappeared with the blue. “Because I didn’t have to,” she replied curtly. She turned away from Kat as if that was the end of the conversation, and since Kat had no response but to sigh and shake her head, it was. To her, Sarah didn’t understand the implications of not killing that man.

They continued through the woods for the better part of half an hour, eventually coming upon the small mountains that housed the caverns. The woods broke away to a small clearing that was obviously crudely man made. There was a small entrance about three men across, yet tall, that revealed the opening to their promised freedom.

“Are we ready?” she whispered backwards to the group. She heard it pass and spread through the men. A message then rebounded back to her, landing at Sarah’s whisper in her ear.

“Aye.”

A malicious grin flicked onto Kat’s face. She drew her sword without caring about the sound. Bayonets turned towards her as she led her brigade bounding out of the trees. Two shots fired off, but they flew past everyone’s heads. Before they could reload, the mob had reached them, and the two were struck down. Kat silently added two more marks to her mental tallies.

Someone grabbed the torch at the entrance and handed it to Kat. She took it in her left hand, leaving her right free for her sword. With that first step into the caves, the light in her hand prodding the darkness, she knew she had finally reached the point of no return.

Their steps echoed against the stone walls. The first few feet was narrow, but it soon opened to a wide, tall space that Kat figured had been extended with explosives. There was nobody there, however, which was highly unexpected. Kat looked around in confusion, but continued walking. However, they soon came to a fork.

She stared at the two paths for a moment, realizing her plan had not made room for this. The men behind her were rustling nervously, aware that she didn’t know what to do.

A shot echoed suddenly from the path on her left. It seemed to shoot energy behind her. The flame of the torch burned the air next to her face at the speed she was going. She flew past a fallen Navy hat as she began hearing yells from further down the tunnel.

They emerged in another high and wide area of the cave to the sore sight of pirate versus Navy. The second brigade had made it far before Kat’s, and seemed to have been engaged for a while. Bodies littered the floor here and there, red uniforms and dirty, ragged clothes alike. Men lay groaning in pain. She heard Sarah gasp and saw her rush to the nearest man. Voodoo doll in hand, she knelt next to him and began chanting over him, pulling out a bottle whose liquid she forced down the man’s throat.

Kat took her torch and pushed the end of it deep into the sand, effectively putting it out. She then drew her other sword, her original golden handled one, and went charging into the battle. It was easy enough to take out the two men that had been facing away from her with quick stabs into the back, but that soon brought attention to her. A Navy who had been paired up against one man broke off from his fight to try and slice at her head. With two swords, it was simple to parry that away and stab him in the chest. Blood poured from the wound as the man fell to his knees. Another tally.

Her dual wielding made it easy for her to cut through the battle. She slashed and sliced men like Nemesis herself, goddess of vengeance. Men came up to try and stop her, but there was no hope for those poor souls. Kat’s sword was soon dripping in blood.

Tally after tally. Death after death. She passed Luckie, who stood off to the side a little and flung knives into people’s backs. She glanced at Sarah, who was healing a man on the sandy ground, fling a soldier away from her with a flick of her doll. She encountered Charles, tripped onto the ground and about to be struck down.

With only the thought of her brother’s safety, and too far away to meet the soldier with her swords, she spun the bayonet still on her back and pulled the trigger, dropping a sword. The little lead ball had a sure shot into the man’s neck.

Kat suddenly stilled. She realized what she had just done.

The Code was broken.

Anger rushed through her body. “Are we done yet?!” it burst from her in a desperate scream. She scooped up her dropped sword and gripped the handle so hard that her knuckles turned white. “Are we done killing each other yet?!” she shouted as she began moving through the crowd. One man attempted to cleave through her, but she parried away and kicked him down. “Surrender, you Navy dogs! Nobody wants to die, to fight any more, but we shall not leave until we win! There are few of you, yet there is always more of us! There are always pirates!”

Some men had begun to stop their battles and listen to her words. “So surrender! Give up! Conserve your forces and go back to England, where they don’t care if you are ruthless swine! Go back with your heads bowed in defeat, but at least you shall still have your lives!”

She stopped her pacing dead center in the cavern. The fighting had stopped completely now. “So are we done?”

The residents of the room seemed to stare at each other in contemplation. Then, one by one, weapons clattered to the floor. Arms of red uniforms were raised. Kat took great delight in the site.

Her attention suddenly spun to her side, which had shot out in a scream of pain. She sheathed her right sword and touched her hand to her side. It came back bathed in blood.

She fell into the sea of darkness.

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Ah, the sea of darkness.

Crest does good? Haha. Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging for very long. This chapter had to be posted today for reasons soon to be revealed. Thank you for the reviews! I look forward to seeing what you post next! Thanks for Reading!

- Kat Crestshot

If Crest dies: :degen::degen::pirate31:


Great Chapter Crest!!!!

Trapped
 

Hey hey mates! Just want to give a slightly late (for her time at least) birthday shoutout to me mate angel 4ever here on the forums before we start this chapter! Happy birthday, mate! This one is for you!

Trapped

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

Light slowly slipped between Kat’s eyelids. She felt soft fabric beneath her hands, and she hummed contently as she lightly moved her fingers across it. Her hair was spread oddly across something fluffy underneath her head. She felt as if she was floating on a cloud.

Then reality kicked in.

Her head pounded worse than the worst rum hangover. Her back had a sharp pain in the very center. Most prominent was the red hot sting of her left side. Kat hissed in pain as feeling rushed to her.

“You’re up?” The voice entered her ears as an unrecognizable echo. Her gaze begun to open, then shut again quickly. A cool, wet cloth was placed upon her forehead, making her sigh in relief.

She tried opening her eyes again, slower this time. The light gently filtered in, and it became apparent that she was in her cabin. Her gaze travelled slowly around the room, taking it all in, finally landing on her brother sitting in a chair next to her bed.

“What did I miss?” she rasped to him.

He shrugged. “Not much, really. After you passed out, a few soldiers tried to start the fight up again, but their comrades were unwilling. There were maybe twenty of them left. We didn’t kill any more. They took the bodies of their dead, hopped on one of their ships, and left at dawn.”

“Dawn?” Kat asked. How long have I been out?”

Charles smiled at her. “It’s afternoon of the next day. To be honest, I think Sarah put her sleep spell on you so you might actually heal this time.”

Kat rolled her eyes and gently rubbed at the new bandages on her side. “It certainly doesn’t feel like I healed,” she grumbled. Charles chuckled softly at her.

“She probably did it while we were still in the cave. The moment you fell, she rushed right to your side, doing all sorts of funny things with that doll and pushing a potion into your mouth. Right after she finished with that, she yelled at Chris to grab you and carry you back to the ship. Of course, when we got here, Lawrence nearly had a heart attack at the sight of you. I think Sarah locked him out of the cabin, he was so crazed.”

“Yes, well, wouldn’t want the two of you getting in a fist fight over my unconscious body again, would we?” she said, trying to sit up. Charles had the decency to look sheepish.

“Yah, well…” he muttered. “What’s going on between the two of you anyway?” he asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

She shot him a quick glare, but it quickly softened when she realized the innocence of the question. “There’s nothing 'going on' between us, Charles,” she told him.

He raised his eyebrow in a way that Kat herself did far too often. “Are you certain?” he asked again.

Kat smiled lightly at him, but there was a hint of sadness behind her bright eyes. “Yes, Charles, I’m sure.” She put her arms underneath her and tried to push herself up again, but found that she was unable to do so. “Bloody hell… Charles, will you find Sarah and tell her to come here so I can figure out what she did to me?”

Charles smiled a little at her frustration. “Sure thing, Kat.” Before leaving, he knelt by her bedside and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for saving me. I know what it meant,” he whispered, then exited.

Kat stared blankly where Charles had left. She had forgotten about that, to be honest. All she had remembered was her screaming and ranting through the cave, but hadn’t thought back as to why she had been doing so.

Oh god. The Code…

Sarah ran into the room and quickly slammed the door behind her, breaking Kat's train of thought. “Sarah Crestshot, let me see her!” Lawrence’s voice screamed from outside. A banging on the door accompanied his yells.

Sarah glanced at the wide eyed Kat from her place flat against the door. “Oh good, you are awake,” she said.

“Sarah!” Lawrence roared again.

Sarah rolled her eyes and flung the door open. Lawrence almost fell through, but seemed to get pushed out by an invisible barrier. “She’s breathing, she’s alive, she’s awake! You see her? Good!” The words were said lightning fast and she slammed the door in his face immediately afterwards. Kat heard Lawrence curse.

“Lawrence, will you-” she began to shout, but her side protested to the yelling. She grimaced and gripped it. “Will you tell him to shut up and relax? I’m fine,” she whispered through her pain.

Sarah scoffed softly. “Of course you are,” she muttered, but passed the message on.

“How am I supposed to relax when she almost died again!” he yelled through the door.

“Get out of here, Lawrence!” Kat burst, not bothering to acknowledge the pain in her side. She heard some grumbles from the opposite end of the door, but through the window she saw his bright red head disappear down the steps.

Sarah turned back to her. “Hi.”

Kat glared. “Hi,” she said flatly. “Would you mind telling me why I am physically incapable of getting out of this bed?”

Sarah grinned triumphantly at her. “It’s a little something I discovered. You won’t be able to get out of that bed until you are fully healed, or until I release you.”

Kat kept her glare steady. “Then you should really release me.”

“What, and let you bleed out again?” Sarah scoffed. “No. Sit and heal for a little while.”

Kat let out a huff of frustration. “I do have a ship to run, Sarah!”

“You do have a first mate that can do that for you, Katherine,” she retorted in the same tone.

“Yes, one who is half crazed over concern for my health! He’s in no state to do any sort of leading, so give me back my Captaincy!” Her voice got steadily louder over the course of her tirade, and on the last note, her side violently barraged her with new pain. She gasped again, and Sarah looked at her skeptically.

“It certainly looks like you’re fit for duty,” she said in an uncharacteristically sarcastic manner. “Tomorrow, perhaps, but after all you did yesterday, it’s a wonder you didn’t tear your stomach in two. For once, you’ll listen to me and rest.”

Kat slumped back in the bed, knowing the uselessness of arguing with her sister the voodoo mistress. “Can you at least let Lawrence in? I don’t relish the idea of him laying siege to my cabin for the next 24 hours.”

Sarah sighed. “Fine.” She left the cabin and found Lawrence, removing whatever spell she had placed that had barred his entry. Kat spoke with him briefly about how the battle had gone on his end, and how to prepare for shipping off once she was out of bed. When he tried to interrupt with concerns about her health, she reminded him to stay calm and not worry about her. He grumbled in his way, but accepted.

About an hour after he left, and Kat had stopped struggling against her invisible bonds, Kat began thinking. Sarah and Charles in the Caribbean still irked her some. She didn’t like them getting involved in what she saw as her battles. In her opinion, they didn’t belong out of safe England. Death at every turn was not an inviting prospect that she wanted to witness with them. Besides, she knew that the only reason they had come was to find her. Well, now they had, so that meant they could leave, yes? She fell asleep with these thoughts in mind.

Two days later, her ship was bustling with activity again. Her men had gathered all the supplies from Tortuga Town, and they were due to ship off at any moment. For this, Kat was glad. She had somehow become a celebrity in the town. It was an odd sensation, to say the least. She didn’t like going out there much anymore, and had even forced some of the crew to fetch her special batch of rum for her, rather than getting it herself from Johnny McVane.

Kat positioned herself next to the wheel of her ship. “Hoist anchor!” she yelled. The command echoed down to the crewmates on the anchor. “Release sails!” Again the order spread through the crew. “Hoist the colors, mates and let’s set sail!” she called out with a smile. The crew cheered to have their sea legs back and useful again.

They soon left the Tortuga Bay behind them. “Captain, what be our heading?” Tim called from his place on the wheel.

“Set course for England, mates!” Kat yelled out. A few crew members looked at her in confusion. Charles approached her.

“Kat, England? Why would we go there? What’s the point in leaving the Caribbean?” he asked. Sarah stood by his side.

Kat leveled her gaze upon them. “We’re heading for England so I can drop you two off at home. You found me. You succeeded in your journey. Now it’s time for you two to get back to your lives.”

Charles and Sarah looked at her, and then each other, in clear shock. “What do you mean, ‘drop us off at home’?” Sarah asked. “Why can’t we stay with you?”

Kat glared at her sister. “I am not arguing this, Sarah. This is my life, not yours. We’ll get to England in a few weeks, and then you two will stop this insanity that you’ve been on and return to something safe.”

“You think I want to go back to that, Kat?” Charles demanded of her. “You remember what it’s like there! Not a drop of freedom! Not free wind in your hair, or the free sea foam hitting your face, or the ability to wander wherever you please! I’m not going back there and becoming Father’s pawn for his business!”

“Yes you are.”

“No, I am not!” Charles shouted. “I won’t go back to that messed up, insane, miserable life!”

Kat felt her teeth clench. “It’s better than facing death every day, Charles! I won’t see my brother almost die again!” she yelled in his face.

Charles was about to respond with the same amount of fervor, but a barrel next to them suddenly tipped over. A brown, sticky liquid washed onto the deck, but that wasn’t the only thing. Out tumbled a small girl right onto Kat’s feet, wet all along her side from the rum that had been in the barrel. She smacked the deck with a small “Oof!”

Kat’s eyes widened in both anger and shock, and she drew her sword. “Who in the bloody blazes are you?!” she roared. The girl jumped back from her place at Kat’s legs. She lightly shook her head, and drops of rum flew from the tips of her long, dark auburn hair. Her face turned up towards Kat, and she was shocked by the youth in it. “You can’t be any older than 18!”

The girl let out a small grin. “Hi. I’m Angel,” she said nervously.

Kat glowered down at her. “Just because I asked who you are, doesn’t mean that I actually want to know,” she growled. “And you certainly don’t seem like your namesake if you stowed away on my ship. In fact, just the opposite. I think I was searching more along the lines of why are you here?!” She took a small step back and pointed the sword at her. The girl squeaked and scrambled backwards a little in fear.

“I wanted to join you…” she muttered. “After what you did to them Navy blokes, I figured…” She trailed off.

“You figured what?” Kat asked harshly. “That I would just let you aboard my ship? Sorry, only big girls allowed.” She picked the girl up by the collar of her grimy, rum coated shirt, and forced her to the edge of the ship. “Now, jump.”

“What?!” Angel yelped. Kat noticed her begin to tremble.

“You heard me!” she yelled. “Tortuga isn’t that far away! Jump off, swim back to shore! Just get off of my ship!”

The girl’s breathing began to quicken, and she was quite literally trembling in her boots. She took a small step to the edge of the ship, then quickly jumped back, but she only met Kat’s bracing hand. “I can’t!” she screeched.

Kat put the hand on the small of her back and pushed a little forcefully. “Then open your wings and fly, oh Angelic one!”

“Kat,” a voice said calmly from behind her. She turned to see Luckie standing there, looking solidly into her eyes. “Le’ tha lass stay. She’s jus’ a girl. Ye know how Tortuga can be.”

“Yes, that’s exactly why she’s going there and not here, Luckie,” Kat said. She saw the baker’s eyebrows furrow.

“I’ll take her under me wing, Kat,” she said, trying to reason. “I’ll let her be my responsibility.”

Kat stared at Luckie for a moment, then glanced back at the shivering girl, mulling it over. This was certainly an odd occurrence. However, if Luckie was willing…

Kat took the girl by the collar again and twisted her so that she faced the green haired woman. “Alright then. She’s all yours, Luck,” she said, giving the girl a small push in her direction. She practically ran to Luckie and clutched her tight. Kat hmphed and sheathed her sword, then beckoned to Sarah and Charles to follow her. The three disappeared into her cabin.

“Calm down, lil’ lass, calm down,” Luckie said soothingly, stroking the girl’s hair. “You’ll be fine now. I’m Luckie O’Clover.”

“I’m Angel.”

“Nice to meet ye, Angel.”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

:smiley59: Happy Birthday Angel!!!! :schrift022:

Haha, I feel like that chapter went perhaps a little quick, but I got what I needed done. So, thank you for the reviews from YESTERDAY'S chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this one right after it! Thanks for Reading!

- Kat Crestshot

Great Chapter Crest!!! /applaud.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hip hip hurray for lucky!!! :D :D :D i was saved xD and!! YAY YAY YAY!!!!! the chapter!!!!!! - HUGS CREST- ((((((((((((((((((((((((crest))))))))))))))))))))) ))))) yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay :D is happy :)

Yay more chapters! :D Another good one Crest! Keep em coming!

Just finished reading all 3 new chapters. Got some chuckles out of parts of them.

Can't wait for the next chapter. And my offer for you to use Emily or Cat as an extra character if you need them still stands :D

First we suffer a drought, and now we must withstand a flood!

Lots of reading I had to go through Crest. Keep up the great chapters. But don't sprain your fingers trying to keep us satisfied! If that's possible. Ha, I'd laugh if I saw somebody sprain their hand typing. However, th-

-trails off.....

Battle of Wills
 

Ahoy there, me mates! I've been a little computer silent for the past few days due to personal reasons, but thankfully, I'm able to come back to post this chapter! So, to continue the "flood", as Jackie calls it...

Battle of Wills

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

“You do not need to stay!” Kat shouted, slamming her hand roughly onto her desk for emphasis. Sarah and Charles stood unmoving at the thwack. “There’s no point to it! You two do not belong in this world! You belong in England, where it is safe!”

Sarah and Charles glanced at each other. “You should stop yelling before you irritate your side,” Sarah said simply.

Kat felt a snarl invade her face. “My side is fine!” she snapped. Her wound responded with a snap of its own, making Kat sink into her desk char.

Sarah gave her an ‘I told you so’ glance. “You shouldn’t lie to yourself, either,” she said, sitting in one of the chairs across from her sister.

Kat rubbed at her stomach gently. She looked at her siblings, at Sarah sitting straight-backed and Charles standing solidly behind her. They were so steadfast against her. She sighed. “Why must you fight me on this?” she asked wearily.

“Because it’s not just your world anymore, Kat,” Charles responded. “For the past few months, this has been my life as well, and there is no way I am just giving it up. I’ve never been happier. There is no way I am going back to tea parties every other day and a suit I can’t breathe in.”

“So you prefer to being broke and half starved?” Kat asked harshly. “That’s what this is, Charles! You want to scrounge for food and live off of rum? You prefer owing everyone a favor, because you didn’t have the power to do anything else on your own? Yes, it sounds absolutely marvelous, doesn’t it?” She asked her last question in a mocking version of her old self, the one these two had grown up with.

Well, she wasn’t that lady anymore, and as much as they claimed that they had grasped this concept, she knew they hadn’t.

“I got lucky. I had breaks. Truly, what you see of me is not what you would call a ‘traditional’ pirate life. Mine is much more glorified.” She stood and begun pacing, as she was prone to do when ranting. “I have met men who would kill you if you looked at them briefly the ‘wrong way’ out of the corner of your eye, and people around you wouldn’t bat an eye if it did happen. I meet men who grew up in pure poverty, in a pig pen, and have no other choice but to try and find a ship and pray that the seas are more merciful. There are people who have had their entire families torn apart by pirates, yet they continue with this life. It is not easy, yet you seem to believe that it is. I am the pirate that only kills when necessary, who has gold stashes on each island, that has respect on these seas after only a few years because I am not traditional. The only ones that I attack are the corrupt and evil, but there is so much out here that is exactly the opposite. And you choose to take this for your own?”

She saw that Sarah and Charles were deep in thought, mulling her words over carefully. They hadn’t expected this lecture, she knew. In fact, she was surprised herself at the words that had spilled out, a torrential flood that wasn’t stopped.
“That should mean we’re just that much safer with you, then,” Sarah finally said. Charles looked agreeable with this answer and nodded.

Kat threw her hands into the air in frustration. “Why can I not get this idea through your hard heads?” she cried.

Sarah rose from her chair and stood in front of Kat to stop her pacing. “Do you remember this, Katherine?” she asked, pulling the doll from her pocket. “And these?” She pointed to her bright violet eyes. “Do you remember what they mean? Sending me back to England would not make either disappear. In fact, if anyone ever found out, it would be straight to a firey, miserable death for me.”

Kat froze. She hadn’t even thought of that. “Here they call it voodoo, but there it is evil, wicked witchcraft. I wouldn’t last long at all,” Sarah said.

“But Sarah,” Kat said, softening as she took her sister’s hand, “I can see it in you the most. You would operate so much better in England. And what about Leonard?”

Sarah scoffed. “My world travelling, married-for-business husband? He doesn’t care. With what I have, this is where I need to be.”

Kat studied her sister for a long moment. She glanced down at the grubby clothes, and the scraggly hair tossed into a haphazard braid, finally landing on the sharp lavender eyes. Perhaps her siblings weren’t the only ones with the illusion of an image long gone.

“Very well,” she murmured. “You may stay,” she told her sister. Sarah responded with a dazzling smile, reflecting her beauty. “You, however.” She turned sharply to Charles’ optimistic face. “You’re going back to England.”

Charles’ hope quickly fell to outrage. “What?!” he shouted. “Sarah gets to stay, but I don’t? How does that make any sense?!”

“Father needs you in England,” Kat said sensibly. “He’s been grooming you for years to take his place in the company someday.”

“Oh, don’t feed me that line, Kat,” he said with disgust. “You don’t give a damn about that company, and you never have!”

“Nevertheless,” she said, trying to play it calm now, “it’s what is needed, for Father at the least.”

“Father wants me to take over about as much as he would like it if he found out you turned pirate!” Charles yelled. “He doesn’t know me! There’s some man over there he took under his wing that he treats as more of a son than me! I’m just an asset to him now, a pawn! I know you remember what that is like.”

Kat winced as she remembered her marriage. She hadn’t gone into that with all of her will, and she regretted not fighting it more. “That was different,” she claimed.

Charles glared intently at her. “What did Sarah say about lying to yourself, Kat?” he asked sharply. Kat returned the glare with as much hostility, her cool façade fading.

“I will be nothing over there. If you insist on me going back, I’ll just find my way onto another ship to the Caribbean. I am stepping into my own now.” He grinned slightly. “Besides, remember who insisted on your learning how to swim before coming here?”

Kat kept her glare strong. “I did not break The Code so you could brush with death again, Charles,” she said quietly, a hint of both anger and hurt behind the words. His grin slipped away again.

The three of them stood in silence as the battle of wills continued. Kat and Charles’ eyes were locked, each warring with the other above words. Internally, Kat was wondering when her brother had grown up as well, turning from a boy tearing the knees of his trousers open or jittering restlessly in the middle of church to a broad shouldered man with a gun at his side.

“Oh Kat, let him stay.” The voice came from the doorway, breaking the silence, and all three turned to it. Lawrence stood there, nonchalantly leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. He looked as if he didn’t have a care in the word, let alone one about butting in on their conversation.

“How long have you been standing there?” Kat asked him.

He shrugged. “Long enough.” He pushed off of the doorframe and walked towards her. “It’s pointless to argue with him, Kat. Stop being all emotional and just think.” He reached up and lightly tapped the side of her head. “He’s going to come back no matter what. Wouldn’t you prefer if it was under your eyes?”

Kat stared him down, angry at him for making her calm down. She preferred staying on the tip of her emotions, with only minimal thought. Things were simpler that way for her. Lawrence, however, knew it, and was far too used to it.

“Oh fine,” she finally muttered. She saw Charles stand a little straighter with hope. Their alike eyes met. “You can stay too.”

She was almost barreled over as Charles charged her in joy. “Thank you so much!” he cried like a child who had gotten a new toy. Kat awkwardly pat him on the back at first, but then shrugged and embraced him tight.

“I hate to break up this little family moment,” Lawrence interjected, “but I didn’t come here just to eavesdrop.” Kat and Charles released each other and paid attention to Lawrence instead. “Jenkins wants to speak to you, Kat.”

She sighed softly. The Navy captain still captured in the bowels of her ship had completely escaped her mind. Her thoughts went briefly to wondering if anyone had been feeding him, but it was a stray string that she didn’t bother to follow. “Sarah, Charles…go do something useful. Lawrence, come with me to see Jenkins. I have a feeling that this will be an interesting conversation.”

And interesting it was. “I want to become a pirate,” were the first words out of Jenkins’ mouth.

Kat’s eyes automatically narrowed. “Why would you want to do that, Captain?” she asked suspiciously.

Jenkins shrugged, as if the question didn’t bother him in the least, but Kat’s sharp eyes caught the tension in his shoulders. “It’s the old adage, isn’t it? If you can’t beat them, join them.”

Kat looked at the man closely. His clothes were covered in grime and filth, he had bags under his eyes, and what was once a neat beard and mustache had become matted and overgrown. He almost looked pirate now, but Kat met his eye, and there was something he was trying to disguise behind it…

‘Lawrence, let him out,” Kat ordered.

Lawrence gave her one of those looks that clearly asked what she was doing. The barest flick of her eyebrows told him that it was fine. She had a reassurance there of herself that he trusted. The entire silent conversation lasted two seconds and completely escaped the attention of Jenkins.

Lawrence hesitantly took the cell keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. They rattled in the lock, and the rusted door creaked as it swung open. “We need to announce to the crew. Up you go, Jenkins.” Kat motioned him towards the stairs, and he slowly walked up. It was clear that he was stiff and that his muscles were stretching after days trapped in the small space, but there was a confidence in his step. Kat intended to soon rid him of that.

“May I have everyone’s attention please!” Kat cried out on the top deck. The entire turned in her direction and fell silent. She let out a small smile. “We have a man here who would like to turn pirate!” she yelled. She turned to the confused Navy captain. “Tell me again your excuse, Kellan Jenkins!”

Jenkins looked uncomfortable being the sudden center of attention, and he was squinting in the sunlight he hadn’t seen for almost a week. “I feel as if it is pointless to keep fighting you,” he said in his clipped accent, trying to portray confidence, but failing with a slight shake to the end of his words. “You are obviously more powerful. I want to be on that side.”

Kat smiled slowly, menacingly. “Liar.”

Jenkins looked shocked and slightly flustered. “What? I’m telling the truth!”

Kat began slowly approaching the man, speaking as she walked. “No you are not, Kellan Jenkins. You believe that you can gain our trust, and then you shall eventually betray us. Do you know how I know this?”

He gulped. “No, I don’t…” he said softly, fear invading his voice.

Kat’s smile grew wider. “Because I have had it happen far too many times before,” she told him. “You see, Jenkins, these experiences have wizened me. I can see your deception in your eyes.” She was still walking him backwards.

His breathing was harsh. “I am not a liar,” he claimed, but he had begun shivering in the sunlight.

“Now, Captain Jenkins, do not be like that. Atone for your sins, and admit it. I’m sure God shall listen some.”

Jenkins shook his head wildly. “This is not the truth…” he whispered in terror.

Kat shrugged. She reached to her hip and slowly drew a black handled sword. “You recognize this, do you not, Captain?” she asked him, holding the blade up. “It is rather finely made, you know. Well balanced, and I am rather fond of this hand guard. Very intricate. Sharp. It is beautiful craftsmanship.”

“That’s mine…” he breathed.

Kat’s smile grew, tipping to one side. “Perhaps once, Captain.” His back hit the rail of the ship, and he gripped it with white knuckles, realizing there was nowhere for him to run. Kat approached him as slowly as she had been, putting her face threateningly close to his. “Shall you atone, Kellan Jenkins?”

He looked at her wide eyed. “No.”

In a move too quick for him to grasp, Kat stepped backwards out of his face, and the blade in her hand sung through the air. There was no help left for the man as it connected with his neck in a fast, fluid motion. Blood spurted out from the wound, creating a few stains on Kat’s clothes. The body began to fall forward towards her, but she pushed the limp shoulder away from her, and the Captain fell like a doll over the railing and into the ocean.

“Pity.”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

If someone thinks that last paragraph is a little too much, just tell me and I'll edit.

Of course, even with that, I always appreciate feedback mates! Thank you for the reviews I have gotten this past week! Warms me heart more than rum. :buds: Thanks for Reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Haha, nice chapter Crest. At first when reading it, I was thinking... this won't have any action at all, just more dialogue.

Then that last paragraph. Ooh, Crest, I thought you were a Pirate that only kills when necessary? 0_o

Me like. Poor guy. I feel bad for him, in some ways. Great chapter.

Good Chapter Crest! I feel bad for the guy...

A good captain always re-affirms his/her authority when nessecary, whether it involves killing a helpless fugitive, or a good, but misbehaving, friend.

Excellent Chapter, as always. However, I'm surprised the mighty Kat Crestshot gave into her brother and sister. Makes you look like a pushover!

- runs and hides before the reprise comes -

i liked it!! :D the dude would of done it to her in a heart beat so he shouldnt have thought about trying to get her trust and try to get the upper hand oh well haha

Locked Away
 

Ahoy mates! Here's another chapter, nice and fresh off of the pen ink! So, for you...

Locked Away

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

The ship was silent around her. Kat glanced around from her red tipped blade. “It had to be done,” she said just loud enough for everyone to hear. She flicked the blood off of her sword, and small drops of it splashed onto the deck. More stains.

“Now I’m afraid that we have a slight change in plans,” she announced. “There is no longer any reason to travel to England. Correct course for…” She pulled out her compass as a guide, but the arrow spun indecisively. A small hum of annoyance escaped her throat. “Head south in the general direction of Padres. We’ll see if we can intercept some ships on the trade routes. To your duties!” she ordered.

She walked up the steps to her cabin with her cutlass dangling from her side. The occasional drop of blood still spattered to the deck as she moved.

“Was that what you would consider ‘necessary’, Kat?” Sarah asked quietly at the top of the stair.

Kat looked at her with cold eyes. “Yes,” she said simply, and continued to her cabin. Nobody followed her.

While she cleaned the blood off of her cutlass, she was left with her thoughts. The fearful look of Jenkins' last moment would haunt her, she knew. It made her question.

No, she had made the right choice, she knew. If he had been a part of the crew, he would have been terrorized, perhaps even killed by another. Afterwards, if he had lived, at the first chance he got, it would have meant betrayal. She still remembered Figgins. The choice had been right. She had saved the man from a much worse fate, but more importantly, she had saved her crew.

After only three days of lonely waters, the Lightning Mercenary came across a merchant ship off port side. It was quick and simple to cripple it, board it, and subsequently raid it. There were no casualties in the least from it. It was clear to Kat that the captain was new and inexperienced to his station as he fumbled about trying to give orders to his crew in counterattack. Only when Kat threatened him with the sharp end of her blade did the man completely give in.

While the rest of her crew searched the lower levels for something shiny and valuable, Kat invited herself into the timid Captain’s quarters. During her own search, she called to the man, who had been on the main deck, guarded with the rest of his crew, up to her. The two locked themselves in there for quite some time, until the rest of the crew was itching to leave. They were getting impatient, and Lawrence was at the door, ready to knock, no matter what she was doing, but at that moment, it was flung open, and Kat exited with the captain in tow. Nothing appeared to have changed or have been taken from the cabin, which Lawrence considered odd, but she ordered them back to the ship and he got no chance to ask about it.

They let the ship go free with only minor damages; mostly to the sails. Kat spent the rest of the day mostly at the wheel and giving the occasional barking order. The next day, however, she was locked in her cabin with orders not to bother her unless it was absolutely necessary.

This became a regular occurrence on the ship. Kat would come out some mornings to perform her duties and shut herself away in the afternoons, or vice versa. Lawrence would often give a worried glance at the closed door, and he would hear the crew mutter about it from time to time. When Kat did exit, Lawrence tried asking her what she was doing all these times, but she either ignored or avoided the questions. It was frustrating him to no end.

One evening, noticing that Kat hadn’t emerged for supper, Luckie sent Angel up with a plate to the cabin. Lawrence watched as she went up the steps, curious as to what would happen. A moment after Angel entered, a crash rang out from the quarters, and he heard Kat scream “Out!” Angel flew out of the door at top speed, Kat following with her sword.

“What part of do not disturb does my crew not understand?!” she shouted venomously. She didn’t wait for an answer, but spun on her heel and stormed into her cabin again, slamming the door behind her.

The silence among the crew was deep as the stared at the door. Angel was wide eyed like a deer while Luckie comforted her, murmuring that Kat wouldn’t have actually killed her. One by one, eyes began flicking to Lawrence. Luckie caught them when he finally glanced away from the door, nodding back towards it in a clear message to go talk to her. He sighed slightly as he noticed the other eyes staring at him with the same plea. Placing his dinner plate down, Lawrence proceeded up the steps for the verbal battle he knew was to come.

Kat hadn’t bothered to lock the door again when she had charged back in. Lawrence opened it slowly, cautiously, not wanting to provoke Kat’s wrath right off the bat. She was kneeling on the floor, picking up the plate and scattered food he assumed had flown from Angel’s hands.

“A little annoying, isn’t she?” he asked casually. Kat’s eyes shot up from the mess to him. “She keeps making fun of my hair. Says it’s too long and too red, whatever insult that is.”

“I didn’t know about this,” she muttered. “I’ll be sure to-”

“Maybe if you actually acted like a captain, you would know what’s going on with your crew,” he cut her off, the slightest hint of Mcrage in his voice.

Kat turned away from him to her desk. She slammed her plate down on to it. “Lawrence, I-oh no!” The plate had hit a bottle of rum and tipped it over. Brown liquid sloshed towards a half open scroll, which Kat quickly snatched up. She rolled it up completely and stuck it under her arm as she grabbed a rag to clean up the mess.

Lawrence eyed the parchment curiously. He didn’t recognize them, and he had been with Kat long enough to know about everything that she had.

“Kat,” he began slowly, “What is that?”

She glanced over at him, then at the small scroll under her arm. “Nothing,” she told him simply, but Lawrence crept closer.

“Is that why you’ve been locking yourself in here for days now?” he demanded, grabbing for it. Kat easily evade him.

“I don’t see why you need to know,” she told him brusquely, tucking the long item into her coat.

“Don’t see why…!” Lawrence spluttered. “Kat, I’m your first mate! You don’t trust me enough to look at a piece of paper?”

Kat paused. “That’s right, you are my first mate. And that’s all you are.” A rigid finger pointed past him. “Now get out.”

“Get out?! I’ve been more captain than you the past couple of days!” he thundered at her.

“I said OUT!” Kat roared. “That’s an order, Mcrage!”

“Fine!” he shouted at her. He stomped out the door, slamming it behind him much like she had a few moments before. The crew looked at him suspiciously, but he just stormed down to his cot. Kat in her cabin went back to her mysterious writings.

A few hours later, when most of the crew was asleep and the moon was high in the sky, Kat revealed herself again. She nodded to Tim on watch, and began making the rounds on the ship.

A shock of dark green hair, shining white in the light of the moon, met her on the bow. “Do you ever sleep?” Kat asked.

The woman leaning over the railing chuckled without humor. “No’ for a long time,” Luckie murmured. She turned her head to look at Kat out of the corner of her eye. “Do you?”

Kat moved to her side. “You’re not scheduled for watch tonight,” she said, clearly changing the subject.

Luckie glanced at her. “Apparently so.” A small hum escaped her throat, and she leaned over the railing the slightest bit more. “I come to watch tha waves. They’re very calm this time o’ nigh’. Much more so than anythin’ happenin’ on this ship, at leas’.”

“What do you mean?” Kat questioned gently. “Am I missing something?”

Luckie looked at her with her sharp green eyes. “Only wha’s righ’ in fron’ o’ ya, Captain.” She went back to staring out at the waters, and Kat decided not to question any more, but wait for dawn.

“EITC, starboard side!”

:Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin::Coin:

A little short, but we'll be getting into some good stuff soon. ;)

Thank you to Luckie and Angel for letting me abuse them. :buds:

Well mates, I think we know how this works, aye? Haha, thanks for all of the reviews last time, and I'll see you guys sometime this week? Haha, here's hoping. Thanks for Reading!

-Kat Crestshot

Ooh that was a good chapter! I must know what is written on the paper!

A bit suspenseful, are you trying to go after the Fountain of Youth? (random guess)