Private Game, AngieG & Firegirl 210

[AngieG]

@Firegirl210


It is no great mystery to anyone that long ago, pirates roamed the seas. The most fearsome of which was Captain Blackbeard. His reputation has lived longer than he has, but what many people don't know is that he once had a wife and, eventually, a daughter. Though the wife was lost when the girl was only five, Blackbeard continued to raise the girl, disguising her as a cabin boy so the crew would not be suspicious of a woman being on board. Over the years, his daughter, under the guise of William, worked her way up the ranks to be first mate. She pillaged and murdered along with the rest of the crew, but now there is unrest. Captain Blackbeard is growing older, and perhaps a little senile. Maybe it is time a newer generation took over the helm.

 

[AngieG]

Margo jumped as a cannon exploded nearby, shattering shop windows and causing an unearthly scream to erupt from the dying building. She sprinted faster, ashes raining down into her hair, burning her scalp and singing her eyelashes. Get to the bank, rob the bank. Margo chanted, over and over again in her head. This was always her job, she was the fastest, but usually they sent someone else along with her to help carry the gold. They were still short staffed, so it looked like she was on her own this time.


She darted down alleyways, damn it this town wasn't even that big, where the hell was the bank? Or at least a big house she could rob. The bank was so small she nearly ran past it, and Margo dug her heels into the dirt and spun on a dime. She burst threw the door, causing the lock to fly off and slide across the floor. "Everybody hands up!" Margo yelled, in the manliest voice she could muster.


Captain Blackbeard was sauntering about his ship, shouting orders about well placed cannon shots. "Emilio! Petey! Get the hell out there! We have enough men on cannons, and ain't nobody stormin' my ship here. One of you, go find William, help him rob the bank. Scrawny lad, can't carry all that god hisself." Blackbeard ordered, smacking Peter upside the head with the flat of his sword as he ran by.


Peter rubbed his head, muttering angrily while he yanked Emilio by the sleeve. "You go help Willy, I have more important things to do than babysit. I'm going to get me some loot, and maybe a little bit of tail while I'm at it." He said with a wink before abandoning Emilio and running off, probably in search of a brothel to rob.

 

[Firegirl210]

The day began quietly. They always did in this quiet little town, Ranaan thought as he took stock of the bank accounts for the day. Nothing interesting to note; Lethaby Jones had deposited 30q, Karter Nibs had withdrawn 50, Johnathan Wiles had opened a trust for his young son.


THOOM


The strange sound drew Elijah's attention away from the horse he was grooming, and the animal pricked up its ears. What was that? He had never heard a sound like that before.


THOOM


It came louder this time, and Ranaan paused in his scratching. Then a clamor rose up; the church bells began to ring the alarm reserved for emergencies, and someone ran shouting down the street. He rose from his chair, disbelieving at the word that rang out like a shot.


THOOM!


The horse reared sharply, yanking its reigns from Elijah's grip. He tried desperately to grab the beast, but the panic was stablewide.


"What's happening?" he cried as his master's son Jeremy raced past. The blonde youth had a look of terror on his face as he said,


"Pirates!"

 

[AngieG]

Margo pulled her pistol quickly from her belt with one hand while allowing her other to rest on the hilt of her blade. Her eyes scanned the room, and for a moment she thought maybe no one was there. She would have looked right past him if it hadn't been for a nearby cannon explosion lighting up the whole place and illuminating his face. "You!" Margo shouted sauntering over to him, doing her best to appear intimidating. Of course, appearing intimidating was easy when you have a pistol pressed to their temple. "You work here don't you?" She asked quietly, then raised an eyebrow when he didn't immediately respond. She pressed the pistol a little more firmly into his temple and flashed a wicked grin. "I. Want. You. To. Open. The. Safe. Please." Margo whispered, punctuating each word by shoving him closer to the safe. "Or I will kill you. And then I'll have to break into someone's home for their money. And then, you know, I might have to kill their family, rape their wives, the whole deal. I simply can't go back to my Cap'n without my weight in gold. You understand, don't you? That's a good chap." Margo grinned, motioning for him to open the safe.


Pete sauntered down the middle of the street, buildings exploding around him while he shouldered a sack of loot and looked from building to building, tutting as he went. "Well, looks like they blew up the brothel they did, right shame. I always tell them, don't blow up the brothels, what do they do? Blow up the brothels, that's right." Pete muttered to himself, wandering down the street until he came to a large house with a set of stables. His crew was everywhere, this town was easy pickings, and the whole crew needed the moral boost. Pete saw a young boy struggling with a horse and walked right up to him, taking the reigns. "My, that's a mighty fine horse you got there. Too fine for you. Let me just take that off your hands." He chuckled, then swung his leg up over the horse and kicked the horse into a frantic canter. Of course, Pete was a pirate, who didn't often ride horses, so he simply clung on for dear life and hoped he ended up back on the ship.


Captain Blackbeard remained on his ship, his eyes squinting while he scanned the horizon in search of Margo. Where was she? This should be an easy job, in and out. Well, maybe she had a hard time finding it, is all. Blackbeard looked down again to see Emilio just standing on the shoreline. "Emilio!" The Captain bellowed. "Go help William or so help me God I will hang you from the mast by your littlest toes!" Blackbeard shook his fist along with the threat and fired off his barely used pistol near Emilio's feet, hoping to get him moving.

 

[Firegirl210]

Ranaan barely had time to duck inside the windowsill before a slender pirate with wild dark hair came bursting through the door, pistol at the ready. He held his breath, heart thundering as the pirate looked around. Another cannon blast split the afternoon and Ranaan flinched, drawing the eye of the pirate upon himself.


"You!" He cringed back as the pirate pressed the hot metal of the gun against his brow, knocking his glasses askew. "You work here don't you?"


He swallowed hard, discovering that his throat felt like it had been rubbed raw with a rough stone. The pirate forced the pistol painfully against his temple and grinned wickedly.


"I. Want. You. To. Open. The. Safe. Please," by the last word, the pirate had meandered Ranaan over to the bank vault--really it was more of a metal box with a small padlock. "Or I will kill you. And then I'll have to break into someone's home for their money. And then, you know, I might have to kill their family, rape their wives, the whole deal. I simply can't go back to my Cap'n without my weight in gold. You understand, don't you? That's a good chap."


He fumbled with the key, dropping it twice in his terror before it successfully slid into the lock.


"W-We don't ha-ave much," he stammered cringing away as the pirate pushed him aside and began to rifle through the safe.


A man in an intimidating eyepatch came through the stable, and Elijah gaped disbelievingly. He had heard tales of pirates--scallywags and scoundrels the lot of them, of course--but had never seen one in real life. He sauntered over and took the reigns from the boy's slack hands.


"My, that's a mighty fine horse you got there," the man said cockily, "Too fine for you. Let me just take that off your hands."


Elijah tried to speak, but could only watch as the pirate hauled himself into the saddle and kicked the horse into a trot. He ran after him a few steps, but as he passed the door of the baker's, a great roaring ball of fire rocketed over his head and he heard the boom before he felt the concussion that knocked him, unconscious, into the cart of flour sacks with the dead steed blocking the road.


Emilio put his hands on his hips, watching the burning town and the whooping crew amiably. They were all having such a good time. Maybe he'd join in. Maybe he'd go get himself some booze and a whore or two and relax in the brothel with Pete until the captain wanted them all back.


"Emilio!"


Speak of the devil... Emilio thought irritably, and turned to see the captain standing on deck waving his fist at him threateningly.


"Go help William or so help me God I will hang you from the mast by your littlest toes!"


A pistol shot dug its way into the sand inches from Emilio's left boot and he started, hurrying towards the chaos. Alright, alright already! He climbed the first street, watching with some confusion as Peter galloped by full tilt on a rather handsome chestnut horse towards the dock. What would they do with a horse? He shrugged--the brothel must have been ill equipped to satiate Peter's boredom. As he rounded a corner, swinging his pistol and taking pitshots at terrified townsfolk who dared peep out of their windows, he noticed Leonardo, a rather stout crewman, hauling at the corpse of a horse.


"Oi! What are you doing, you stupid lug?" he called, and Leonardo glowered.


"Getting supplies, as ordered! This is enough flour to last cook a year!"


"Pete has a horse to replace that poor dear," Emilio suggested, gesturing to where the fool had disappeared to. As Leonardo hurried off to find him, Emilio whistled a tune and punted a chicken squawking through an open window.

 

[AngieG]

Margo chuckled at the poor clerk's response. Really, she felt bad for him, he didn't know any better. "Oh, we pirates don't need much." Margo replied, grabbing a nearby sack and emptying it of what she presumed had been the poor clerk's lunch and stuffing the money inside instead. She turned her head just in time to see Pete gallop by on a horse and she laughed out loud, a great, guffawing laugh. "Oh that stupid, stupid fool. What the hell would we do with a horse?" She laughed, whooping as she filled the bag with the last of the gold. "Look, sorry chap. It's nothing personal, really. But, even pirates have to eat, savy?" She said with a grin, and then a wink. She peered through the window just in time to watch a poor boy get clomped on the head by a falling object. "Shit. You. Sorry, Clerk. It appears I need your help again. Outside with you." She said, shouldering the bag of gold and pointing her pistol at the clerk, motioning for him to go outside with an exhausted expression on her face. They went outside and Margo grinned at the mayhem, she felt more alive when the smell of gunpowder was in the air. "I need you to lift that lad up, and carry him back to the ship with me. Then you can go home to your wife and kids, and your great big house on the hill, yeah?" She said to him, then rolled her eyes at his confused expression. "Look, he got hit on the head. By the looks of his clothes, he's probably a slave. If we leave him here, he could die. Or, We could take him with us and he could live his life as a pirate. Now lift him, I can't." Margo said, growing exasperated and beginning to yell. She spotted Emilio down the street and let out a long, loud whistle. "Emilio! I have the gold!" She shouted, her voice faltering a little bit and coming off feminine.


"Woahh, woaaahhhh!" Pete shouted, sitting back on the horse, his legs flopping everywhere. His bag of loot had long since fallen off, and he was pretty sure he would never be able to have children now. He managed to steer the crazy beast all the way back to the ship before falling off and having another crew member lead it on board. "We can sell it, Cap'n! Or eat it, I've heard horse is mighty tasty!" Pete shouted, lifting his eyepatch up to get a better look at his captain.


"Aye, Pete, you fool. Now get back out there, we aren't quite done yet!" Blackbeard shouted and fired off another round of cannons.

 

[Firegirl210]

The pirate emptied Ranaan's rucksack across the floor and began stuffing it with gold. He tried to edge to the door, but a thundering drew his attacker's attention and he had to shrink back against the wall as the pirate peered out the window, directing excuses and occasional merriment his way. Undeserved--how many people had these ruffians killed?! And he was making jokes? Ranaan felt like he was going to be sick.


"Shit. You. Sorry, Clerk," the pirate said, pointing his pistol Ranaan's way again. "It appears I need your help again. Outside with you."


He directed Ranaan to haul the O'Brien's stable hand over his shoulder--which wasn't difficult, the boy weighed less than 90 pounds--and to bring him with them to the ship in order to preserve his life. Ranaan's hands shook, and as the pirate called to one of his pirate friends, he made a huge mistake.


"Why do you care if he dies?" he demanded breathlessly, and both pirates turned to look at him incredulously. "You've just...just murdered my neighbors! And you care more for the life of one slave boy than for the women and children you've just slaughtered?"


The pirate who had just joined them laughed, clapping Ranaan's captor on the shoulder.


"You gonna let him talk to you like that, Will old boy?"


The smaller pirate's eyes glinted dangerously, and Ranaan swallowed hard.

 

[AngieG]

Margo eyed him up and down before shrugging. "I asked for your help, not your opinion." She said curtly, throwing the sack of gold at Emilio and chuckling when he grunted at the weight of it. "But, if you really want to know, I'm first mate. And it is about damn time I got my own cabin boy." She laughed, but eyed the young boy softly. Margo herself had never senselessly killed. She only ever fought in self defense, and tried very hard not to have to murder when she pillaged. And she certainly did not believe in slavery. Every man on her vessel was there on their own accord, and if this boy decided not to stay, he needn't. But, in the meanwhile, she would look into his concussion. "But, if you ask me, the real monster here is you. Enslaving a child, really, Mr. Clerk, you're no better than I am." She grinned and spun him about towards the ship and pointed the gun at the back of his head. "March on, Mr. Clerk. You're about to meet the famed Captain Blackbeard." She chuckled.

 

[Firegirl210]

Emilio whistled absently as they made a sort of caravan through the city back to the ship; William in the lead, trailing the nervous clerk carrying the boy, and Emilio himself in the rear with a satisfyingly heavy sack of gold over one shoulder. A pleasantly successful haul, although a disappointing lack of booty of the more sensual kind. They tramped up the gangplank, receiving roars of approval when Emilio hoisted the jingling sack over his head.


"We bring gold and a cabin boy!" he called as William guided the boys after her. "If it pleases the captain o'course!"


Ranaan was pushed to his knees by some boot or another, and he nearly spilled the boy out of his arms onto the rough deck. As he steadied himself, the heavy thunk of boots and the clinking of a cutlass against rings heralded the approach of an ominous figure. Ranaan looked up slowly, and felt the blood rush suddenly down from his head as he realized who was standing over him.

 

[AngieG]

Blackbeard knelt down over the clerk and let out a breath that stank of rum. "Little old to be a cabin boy, don't ye think?" Blackbeard announced then let out a bellowing laugh, which the entire crew echoed. Another crew member came and lifted the boy out of the clerk's arms. "Aye, take him down to Willie's room. I reckon that's why you brought him, aye Will? Trying to work yer way up in the world?" Blackbeard said and clapped an affectionate hand on his daughter's shoulder.


"Yes, Cap'n." Margo grinned.


"And this fellow, here, he worth anything?" Blackbeard asked, circling the clerk and kicking him roughly with his boot.


"I told him he could go home, Cap'n. He's a clerk, at the bank." Margo said easily, narrowing her eyes at her father, suspecting what he was thinking.


"Yeah, well, yer word as a pirate ain't worth much now is it? A clerk, ya say! Well, they're a might bit wealthy. I bet he would fetch a fine ransom. Interrogate him, then we'll send his family a little message. This one to the brig, and cast off." Blackbeard announced, sauntering away while the crew set about busying themselves.


"Cap'n, it was a tiny town, he won't even be worth the post it costs to send his family a message!" Margo shouted, chasing after her father and almost running into him when he stopped suddenly.


"You defy me, boy? You dare defy your Cap'n?!" Blackbeard shouted, then turned around and backhanded Margo hard across the face. A normal woman would have fallen and sprawled out, but not Margo. She merely stepped back a few steps and spit out some blood, then glared up angrily at her father. Blackbeard growled at her further defiance and spat at her feet. "Take him to the brig and interrogate him yerself. Yer lucky I don't toss yer cabin boy overboard after such disobedience." He growled to her, then sauntered off to get the crew rolling.


Margo turned around and shook her head angrily, then grabbed the clerk by his collar and dragged him down to the brig. "Alright, might as well get this over with. Sooner you tell me who yer family is and how much I can get for ya, the sooner you can be off this ship and outta my hair. What's your name?" Margo asked, leading him into a cell and locking him inside.


Pete had the new cabin boy and carried him easily down to Will's room. Pete never much liked Will, seemed like a right little smart ass and more woman than man. Rumor was, he was a eunuch. Pete set the cabin boy down on Will's bed, then set about snooping through his stuff. He uncovered Will's charts and notes, guffawing at his handwriting. "Looks like our boy Will has about the girliest handwriting I've ever seen." He chuckled, then set about searching through Will's trunk.

 

[Firegirl210]

Ranaan tried not to flinch as the captain--Blackbeard, of all people, Captain actual Blackbeard--kicked him, knocking him off balance.


"I bet he would fetch a fine ransom. Interrogate him, then we'll send his family a little message. This one to the brig, and cast off."


Ranaan shot bolt upright.


"No, please! I'm not rich, sir, please just let me go!" he cried after the captain's retreating back, and to his surprise, William seconded his statement.


"Cap'n, it was a tiny town, he won't even be worth the post it costs to send his family a message!"


The captain slapped William sharply, and silence fell across the deck as the young man spat a spot of blood on the deck. There was a tense standoff before Blackbeard turned away.


"Take him to the brig."


William whirled on Ranaan, fire in his eyes, and hauled the clerk to his feet by his collar. They marched down through the bowels of the ship, past closed cabin doors and through the hammock-hung crews quarters to the small, windowless brig that held three cells. One of these William opened angrily, and pushed Ranaan inside.


"Alright, might as well get this over with. Sooner you tell me who yer family is and how much I can get for ya, the sooner you can be off this ship and outta my hair. What's your name?"


He rubbed his shoulder where he hit the deck, glaring at the slim young man.


"You said you were just bringing me aboard to carry your cabin boy," he snapped accusingly. "Does a pirate's word really mean so little? Does your word as a man mean so little?"


Emilio ambled down below decks to check in with cook (and maybe sneak a snack from him) when he noticed the door to William's cabin slightly ajar. Had he already finished interrogating the whining clerk boy? He shouldered the door open and met the singular uncovered eye of Peter. The patch-wearing madman was elbow deep in William's trunk, and a spiral of white hot rage shot down through Emilio's belly.


"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked acidly, stepping inside and snapping the door closed. "These are First Mate William's private quarters. Unless he specifically told you to go rifling through his things, I would suggest you remove your hand before I free it from your wrist."

 

[AngieG]

Margo smiled at the clerk and laughed at only a joke she would get. "Well, I suppose my word as a man means absolutely nothing." She chuckled. "Anyway, clerky, nothing we can do now to change our circumstances. I did my best, no sense guilting me over something I can't change. Besides, I'm a pirate, I don't feel guilt." She chuckled. "Now, come on. Tell me your name. Family, where you're from. My name is William, Will for short." Margo said, puling up a stool outside his quarters and rubbing her sore jaw roughly.


Pete jumped when Emilio stormed into the room and put his hands up in the air defensively. "Woah, woah woah, mate! No harm done, see? I ain't stealin' nothin'. I just saw his maps and noticed how girly his handwriting was, see? It's funny! I figured I'd wait here with the boy until Willie got back. Wouldn't want to leave him alone, to wake up all scared on a pirate ship and all." Pete reasoned.

 

[Firegirl210]

Ranaan settled with his back against the hull, drawing his knees up to his chest. Not talking wouldn't pass the time, so he decided to acquiesce.


"...my name is Ranaan Mendel," he mumbled at last as William gently touched the tender cheekbone where Blackbeard had struck him. "And I grew up in that town you just razed. My family..." he trailed off in horror. "They won't even know what happened to me. They'll probably assume me dead." He felt tears welling up in his eyes and rested his forehead on his knees. "I didn't even get to say goodbye!"


Peter jumped to his feet, hands in the air as Emilio levels his cutlass at him.


"Woah, woah woah, mate! No harm done, see? I ain't stealin' nothin'," he promised adamantly, "I just saw his maps and noticed how girly his handwriting was, see? It's funny! I figured I'd wait here with the boy until Willie got back. Wouldn't want to leave him alone, to wake up all scared on a pirate ship and all!"


Emilio glared icily at him.


"Get out, Peter."


The patched pirate hurried out at his command, and Emilio took the chance to look around William's cabin. He straightened the things Peter's rummaging had knocked askew, and propped the cabin boy's head on a folded blanket. He only hoped this child wouldn't take poorly to the life he would wake to find himself in.


As Emilio took a seat on the edge of the bed, William's long coat brushed his leg. He ran his rough fingers over the smooth cloth, remembering the way William's eyes flashed when he wore it. He was so small, but so fierce.


He realized he was still holding a handful of the coat and shook himself from his lapse, settling in to watch the boy and to guard William's abode from any further disturbance.

 

[AngieG]

Margo sighed and rolled their eyes. "Ya, well, they'll hear from ya shortly, I assure ya. Why don't you write them a little letter, I'll get you pen and paper. Now don't go on trying to do anything stupid, like telling them not to pay. I happen to be a literate pirate, so I'll be proof reading anything you decide to send. Margo pulled a fistful of paper and a bit of lead from her pocket and pushed it to him through the bars. "I'll come back and bring ya dinner in a little while, but I figure you'll want to work on that there letter." Margo said as she stood up and stretched. "Bye, Ranaan." She called down as she jumped up the steps out of the brig two at a time. She headed back to her quarters, whistling "A pirates life for me" as she went and opened her door.


"Emilio, looking after my young charge?" Margo asked, kicking off her boots and walking over to her new cabin boy. She poured a little bit of water into a cup and dipped her fingers into it, then rubbed her fingers on the boy's lips, which were dry and cracked. "Well, he's breathing. Hoping he'll wake up in a little bit though." Margo said, squatting down next to the bed and lifting up the boy's eyelid, testing for any movement. "Dinner soon?" She asked Emilio, pouring him a cup of water as well and handing it to him.


Pete muttered to himself as he wandered up to the top deck and was immediately put to work in the crows nest to keep an eye out for anyone brave enough to chase them.

 

[Firegirl210]

William pushed a wad of paper and a small charcoal stump through the bars to Ranaan, who took them carefully, wiping the tears he had allowed to wet his lashes.


"Bye, Ranaan," William called cheerily, and sauntered up the stairs whistling. He smoothed out the crumpled paper, noting a reddish stain at one corner he hoped was wine, and began to write.


Dearest Mother and Father,


I can only guess at what fear avails you at this time. I regret to tell you that I have been taken prisoner by the pirates! I know not their plans for me, but have been promised I will not be harmed.


They wish me to ask you for ransom. I cannot do this, for I know you cannot pay what they ask. You have raised me strong and I can only hope I will someday live to earn the name Mendel!


All my love,


Ranaan.


He pressed a kiss to the letter and folded it neatly, wondering forlornly what was to become of him.


The door swung open to the opening notes of "A Pirate's Life for Me," and Emilio couldn't help but smile. William didn't look surprised to see him there; he just kicked off his boots and ambled over.


"Emilio, looking after my young charge?" he asked, and Emilio shrugged.


"Protecting your belongings from wandering fingers."


William moistened the tips of his fingers and gently dabbed at the boy's cracked lips with a tenderness that surprised Emilio. William was bloodthirsty, he knew, but he had never seen him be so gentle.


"Dinner soon?" he asked when he had finished tending to the boy, and passed Emilio a cup of fresh water. He took it gratefully, letting the liquid roll down his throat. When the water ran out, it was rum or nothing for them. He found himself fond of the eternal drunkenness that accompanied such times of need.


"I'm famished."


The scrawny frame between them suddenly shifted, and he looked down in surprise. "He's coming to!"


Elijah blinked groggily, whimpering when he realized that he hadn't dreamed the raging headache; it was real, and raging all the more now that he was awake to feel it.


"You alright then?" a voice asked, and he peered through a fog of drowsiness to find two faces looking down at him. A brown man and a white man, one with eyes like emeralds and the other sapphires. He sat up sharply, and then lay back down as he grew dizzy.


"Take it easy, hijo, you've had a nasty blow," the green eyed man said, and the other offered a tin cup to him. They propped Elijah's head up and the smaller man tilted the cup to his lips, letting life-giving water into his desert-dry mouth. He coughed gratefully.


"Thank you. But sirs, where am I?"

 

[AngieG]

"Eh? Someone had sticky fingers in me room did they? Let me guess, Peter." It wasn't the first time Peter had gone through her things. Each time she had, in a panic hidden the few things she still had from her mother, her birth certificate, and her binding bandage for her breasts. Now they were hidden under a floor board under her bed, and even she had a hard time finding it sometimes. "What's say you and I play a little prank on him tonight. God knows he deserves it." Margo laughed.


She jumped when the boy stirred and grinned at him. "Hey there, lad. Don't matter much where ya are right now. What's yer name?" Margo asked, wetting a cloth with a bucket of cold sea water she kept by her bed and pressing it to his head. "I'm Will, and this is Emilio." Margo said, the lie falling from her lips with ease after all these years. She didn't want to overwhelm him too much the idea of a pirate ship might terrify him, and he needed to rest for now.

 

[Firegirl210]

"E-Elijah," he mumbled. "Are you sailors?"


Emilio and William glanced at each other, and at their clothing. Emilio smiled.


"Of a sort! You're a bright lad, aren't you?"


Elijah looked down, embarrassed at the praise.


"Well, I don't know if I'd say that, sir. Mistress always thought so, but Master disagreed. I can read, though! And write, a little."


"Only a little!" Emilio cried, "Well! We'll have no illiterate cabin boys on this vessel!"


Elijah didn't know whether to smile or shrink back. William elbowed Emilio, and he realized he might have jumped the gun. They wanted to ease the poor thing into it, not toss him headfirst.


"Cabin boy?"

 

[AngieG]

Margo ran a hand through her hair, it was getting longer again. If she didn't cut it soon it would make everyone look at her twice. She looked at Elijah, trying to figure out how best to explain this.


"Alright lad, ya caught us. We ain't no sailors. Do you remember the raid? That was us. You got hit on the head, so I had you carried back to the ship to check for concussion." Margo explained slowly. "We're pirates, lad." she said, then smiled. "Look, I know we have a bad rep, but life of a pirate ain't so bad. I was hoping you'd stay and be my cabin boy, but if you want to leave we have another gentlemen we need to take back too." Margo paused for a minute and took a sip of water while she pondered her next words very carefully. "Look, lad. This is your one shot at freedom. We stole you from your masters, but now you are free. I started off as a cabin boy when I was five, and now I'm well on my way to being Captain of my own ship. This is a life of adventure and free will. And it is yours for the taking." Margo said, then smiled. She would have to get into the details of why she really needed a cabin boy later when they were alone, but this was a good start.


Captain Blackbeard was up on deck, bellowing orders as the men pulled their giant table over and upright from the side of the ship. It was a huge, long, wooden table that sat the entire crew and then some. Blackbeard had stolen it back in his prime from some king. "Aye ye mangy muts, eat yet food the back to work!" He shouted, sitting himself roughly at the head of the table.

 

[Firegirl210]

"Pirates?"


"Look, I know we have a bad rep, but the life of a pirate ain't so bad. I was hoping you'd stay and be my cabin boy, but if you want to leave we have another gentlemen we need to take back too. This is your one shot at freedom. We stole you from your masters, but now you are free. I started off as a cabin boy when I was five, and now I'm well on my way to being Captain of my own ship. This is a life of adventure and free will. And it is yours for the taking."


Elijah looked down, fiddling with the buttons of his shirt uncertainly.


"Will I really be free?"


Emilio clapped William on the shoulder.


"William here is the finest officer to sail the seas--he'll treat you right. If you perform your cabin boy duties admirably, then you'll advance to midshipman and might even get your own ship in Blackbeard's Fleet someday."


Elijah's eyes grew round as inky dinner plates.


"My own ship?" The thought was as foreign and as amazing as if they had offered him the moon, and he felt a grin splitting his face.


"I've always wanted to be a sailor."


Emilio slapped Elijah companionably on the back.


"I like this kid."

 

[AngieG]

Margo laughed and nodded. "Right, well, how would you like to meet the infamous Captain Blackbeard, kid? Just don't talk out of turn and you'll be fine. He's a mean old bastard." Margo said as she stood and rubbed her now swollen jaw and cheekbone with her hand. "We ready to eat? I have to bring food to the prisoner when we are done, so let's up the pace shall we?" Margo led the trio upstairs and sat down as far from the Cap'n as she dared without coming off as rude. She was his first mate after all. She served herself and the boy some food and most of the pirates got drunk and teased Elijah a little. "Leave off or I'll rip your tiny cocks off, maggots." Margo finally snapped, then downed a glass of rum.

 

[Firegirl210]

Emilio sat down next to the boy, across from William. He noticed that Peter gave him a wide berth; good. The food was fresh and they even had sugar for the tea and an orange each. He savored the sweet burst of citrus; it reminded him of home.


Beside him, Elijah sniffed curiously at a tankard of rum. Emilio snatched it away.


"Not for you, pint-size."


"Aww let 'im have it, 'Milio," Leonardo suggested, and Emilio took a long swig himself.


"Why, and let him end up a slobbering mess like you? I think not. Tea for children." He switched their cups, and Elijah puffed up indignantly like an offended owl.


"I'm 12! I'm almost a grownup!"


The others guffawed, and Xinwe pinched the boy's cheek patronizingly.


"Leave off or I'll rip your tiny cocks off, maggots," William interjected, and Elijah rubbed his cheek where the Chinaman had pinched it grumpily.


"Ignore them," Emilio told him quietly, "but toughen up. Weak men don't last long at sea."


"Speakin' o' weak men, why are we dragging that sniveling heap of useless flesh around in the brig?" Someone called, directing the question at Blackbeard's son.

 

[AngieG]

"Why don't you ask Blackbeard yerself." Margo retorted and stood abruptly, throwing a plateful of food together for the man in the brig though she herself had barely eaten. She grabbed a chicken leg and bit into it viciously, picking it clean before dropping the bone into Xinwe's cup of rum. The man grumbled and dumped his rum out on the ship deck, watching it forlornly as it trickled to the floor. "Anyhow, he's a guest now ain't he? ANd guest got to be fed." She announced while Peter openly scoffed.


"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were sweet on him, Willie. You a fairy? It's alright, you can tell us. We'll only kill you slowly." Peter announced loudly with a raised eyebrow. But, before he could come up with another quip, Margo had launched herself across the table at him and grabbed him by his hair. She dragged him to the ground and wailed on him relentlessly, until Captain Blackbeard himself came and hauled her off, tossing her across the deck like a ragdoll. She tucked and rolled, pulling herself to her feet while Peter was hoisted into the air by Blackbeard.


"Now, ye deserved that Pete." Blackbeard said and lifted Pete's eye patch so both eyes were on him. "But you ever spread rumors like that about my son again, it'll be me cuttin' you heart out, not him. Got it?" Blackbeard muttered quietly so only Peter could hear.


Margo was sick of the whole lot of them, so she took the plateful and escaped down to the brig before her father could corner her and either congratulate her or scold her, she was never sure which. "Hey, Ranaan! I brought you supper, said I would, and here I am. See? Pirates are good for something. You got that latter?" Margo asked, handing him the plate then wiping Pete's blood off her knuckles and onto her pants.

 

[Firegirl210]

Emilio shot to his feet as the scuffle broke out, but the captain stepped in before any of the crew could, hauling William and Peter apart. Elijah shrank back against his side, and he looked down, startled. This was the absolute last thing he needed; a welp hanging on his leg all the time.


William quit the mess with the food for the prisoner, and the crew settled now that the hope of a good row had receded.


Elijah worried at a chicken leg like a small dog, and Emilio wrinkled his nose.


"You've got the table manners of a pirate at least."


Ranaan had nearly drifted into an uncomfortable doze when the door banged open, startling him alert. It was William, bearing a plate and bloody knuckles. Ranaan looked at them nervously as William slid the plate through the hatch in the bars.


"Hey, Ranaan! I brought you supper, said I would, and here I am. See? Pirates are good for something." He wiped the blood off his hands on his breeches, and Ranaan took the plate and scooted back away from the bars.


"You got that latter?"


He slid the paper through, then allowed himself to tear into the food greedily. It may have been pirate food, but he needed it to survive.


"What happened to your hand?" he asked when William didn't immediately return to the upper decks. He didn't ask out of concern--more out of curiosity. He doubted the pirate would have taken it as a compliment if he had been worried for his sake. Which he wasn't.

 

[AngieG]

Margo shrugged and took the letter. "Just a minor dispute between me and another fella, nothing to worry about." Margo read through the letter, a crease furrowing the top of her brow as she read on. "Ranaan, you know the Cap'n will kill you if you have no worth to him. You really want to stay on this mangy ship, fine. But you have to prove your worth." Margo said with a sigh.


Pete scampered off below deck, enraged and embarrassed.

 

[Firegirl210]

Ranaan rushed to the bars, peering through as his desperation warred with his pride.


"What can I do? I-I'm a bookkeeper! I have no skill in sailing or fighting, or-or kidnapping! You brought me here! How am I to be blamed if you have no use for me?"


William looked as if he were about to leave, and Ranaan cried, "Wait! Please, I'll do what you ask. I'll scrub decks, I'll do laundry--anything."


"Alright then, Elijah, now that you're a member of this crew, you need to know some things," Emilio said as the majority of the crew ambled away to perform evening duties or take their rest. Since he had failed to procure any significant booty( and because the Captain found him irritating) he was on Mess Duty that night. But, lucky for him, he had an eager little helper.


"We have rules aboard this fine vessel, the first being: no fighting on the ship."


Elijah furrowed his brow as he picked up a stack of plates. "William was fighting that other pirate. Was he breaking the rules?"


"Oh, well...si. William does this on occasion. But no one was broken too badly, so he won't be punished hard." Emilio tiptoed around the snoozing Naruk, a massive crewman from the depths of the African continent who had a temper to match his size when drunk on rum.


"A very important rule is to never piss off the captain, or William, or this monster here. Other than that, pick your fights wisely."


"I'd rather not fight with anyone, sir."


"And no more of that sir nonsense unless you're talking to the Captain or to William. I ain't your superior, kid."


Elijah smiled a bit disbelievingly, and Elijah kicked open the door to the kitchens and set his armload of plates beside the washing barrel. "More rules: no women on board. They bring bad luck and sow mischief among the lads. If you want a girl, have her on shore and then buckle your belt and return here."


Elijah blushed and looked down. He'd never even thought of bringing a girl on board, but Emilio's eyes twinkled teasingly.


"We run an equalitarian ship here; every man gets a fair share of food, drink, and booty, so long as he does the work. And speaking of work, William should need you soon. You do what he tells you and be a good lad, and you'll be just fine around here."