Chapter 1: Set Sail

My name is Alexis Crow, I was born on the 14th of April 1771, my father was a sailor who worked for the British Navy and my mother was a clothes designer. I was an adventurous young girl who got into a lot of trouble, I had two younger brothers, Pete and Jules. My father was on his way home with his ship from New South Wales in a place called The New Holland, I remember the day I ran up to the roof of a lighthouse and waved as his ship sailed off into the horizon, he experienced what I could only dream of.

Freedom.

It was the 16th of November 1792, I was old enough to work and I found an open spot at a shipyard, I worked there for several months, learning what I could. I cut my hair at home though my mother was furious but I told her that I had to cut it for work. She understood after, she was happy that i found a job, even my two brothers asked me about ships so i taught them about ships. I explained every detail i knew but they asked me if i'd ever go sailing one day like dad, i didn't have an answer other than "Hopefully i can sail soon" I smiled.

I woke up the next day and got ready, as I made my way to the shipyard, I looked over at the docks and saw a ship sailing towards the dock. It was the HMS Orion, it wasn't my fathers. A lot of people walked to the dock, including myself to see the sailors who just arrived. They walked on to the dock with their bags in hand as I walked closer to the ship, the Captain walked over to me and brought out a letter.

"Please give this to your mother, Ms Crow" He looked like he was holding back tears as he knew my father personally, the Captain had sailed under my father and held him in high regards but his eyes told a different story, something dark yet sad as he uttered "I'm so sorry"

I felt fear and pain grip my chest as I looked at the letter in my hand.

"Please don't read it to your brothers" He walked off with the crew as i walked back to my home, I opened the door and closed it behind me as i opened the letter. I felt tears streaming down my face as I read every line.

"To Mrs Crow.

It is my deepest apologies to announce that your husband, his crew and ship have not returned to port, we've sent out our best ship to find him and the crew of the HMS Horizon. If this message reaches you from the HMS Orion then we have no choice but to assume he and the crew are most likely dead at sea. As we said, we apologize deeply for your loss."

My mother walked over and saw me crying, she asked if I was okay but I showed her the letter and she broke into tears as she read it. My brothers came to see what was going on but I walked over to them and hugged them. "Mother needs a bit of alone time" I told them as I held back more tears and led them back to their rooms.

A week after the letter came, i went to work and had a lot of my coworkers tell me that they apologize for what happened to my father since he was a dear friend to them. The boss, Mr Cogall led me to a closed off area of the shipyard. "Your father once said that if anything happened to him, his oldest child whether it be man or woman, should be the owner of this vessel" He limped over to a door as the workers and i watched him open the door. We walked in and I grabbed a lever and pulled it down. Gears turned as the windows opened with dust pouring in from the wind. The workers were in awe as we stared at a ship that looked like it had been here for years.

"This was your fathers creation, he was building it for when he was wealthy, had a family and was no longer a part of the British Navy. He wanted to sail to a place where he could be free with his family." My boss said with a smile, he looked at me and continued "Your father was hoping that at least one of his children would sail the world, see new things and explore the mysterious seas. There's a reason why you got a job here, it's a favour to your father" He pat me on the shoulder "If you need anything, just ask" I smiled and looked at him "We'll need a few things"

6 Months later, we had the ship repaired, coated and ready to sail. The only problem was that I didn't give her a name, that was when I remembered the name of my father's ship, the HMS Horizon, the ship's design was darker and had black sails.

I thought for a second.

"Ah ha!" I yelled, making everyone look at me "She'll be called The Dark Horizon" I smiled as the sails were tied on. Mr Cogall walked over with a cigar and looked at the brand new ship.

"The hardest part is to sail out of the port without anyone seeing because if the others see a pirate ship near the fort, they won't hesitate to sink it" I nodded. "What can we do?"

Mr Cogall gave me a bag full of clothes.

"You get a crew and sail tonight" He said as he walked off, I looked at the men as they looked at me. I sigh as I had to tell my family so I walked back home and told them. My mother started crying and so did my brothers but I reassured all of them that I'll find father and bring him back. I hugged my mother and two brothers, telling them to meet me at the docks tonight.

Night came fast as I got my new outfit on and walked to the shipyard only to find that the ship was gone and Mr Cogall was slouched against the wall with blood dripping from his mouth. He was still alive but barely. He saw me and managed to say "Run Alexis, the.. the Navy knows about the ship. Get your family and go" and with that, he died shortly, i stood up and ran out of the shipyard to the docks where my family was, they were waiting for me but as i ran to them. I saw that we were surrounded by soldiers, they pointed their guns at me, the commodore walked over to my family and me. "It seems you've been harbouring a pirate, Mrs Crow" He said, sounding proud as he walked over to me.

"Did you think you could hide this from me? Where is your crew and ship?" He leaned down to me as two soldiers grabbed me and held me in place. He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at me. "Tell me or I'll have you and your family executed" He smirked. His smirk faded as a soldier from the fort screamed at us.

"Commodore! There's a ship a few yards out!" The Commodore walked closer to the dock as my family and I saw a ship that was sailing to the dock. It was in line with the fort as a cannon fired at the fort, blowing the watchtower to bits, multiple cannons fired at the fort and the city, two front cannons fired at us on the docks but the blast caused the soldiers to let go of me so i ran to my family as they took aim at the ship and fired. A bell tower acted as the alarm for the city, people ran out of their homes as i helped my family to a dock that was closer to the ship that was attacking the city, a person on deck saw us and shouted "It's the captain!" as a few more pulled the sails up to lower the speed of the ship. I got my family into a rowboat and pushed it into the water, I quickly jumped in and rowed us to the ship where the crew helped my family up. The soldiers were still shooting at the ship as the crew then helped me on to the ship as a helmsman turned the ship around and we slowly made our way to the sea.

We ducked around the deck of the ship as the soldiers shot at us. My young brother was next to a cannon which gave me an idea as I then ran over and aimed the cannon at the fort where most of the soldiers were "Cover your ears" I said to my little brother, he did so and i fired the cannon. With a loud explosion, the gunfire stopped, we thought we were safe until a crew member shouted "Captain!" I looked at him "Yeah?" He then shouted "Look!" We all looked at the bow of the ship and saw multiple galleons waiting for us with their cannons aimed at the ship.

All we could do was brace as we heard the sound of cannon fire.