[Crestshot]

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



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.



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