[Crestshot]

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



“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.”



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