Chapter 19

"Raise the sails!"

"All hands on deck!"

"Prepare yourselves, men!"

"All supplies below deck!"

Each call had come from the Captain.

You ran out of the cabin and to the Captain with your stomach in a knot of dread. "Oh gosh, tell me there isn't going to be another storm!"

"There isn't going to be another storm."

Oh no, why am I not relieved? "Then what's going on?"

The Captain swallowed. "Scarpa's coming. I'd recognize his flag from miles away. He seems to have suddenly changed his mind about the deal I made to get you."

You turned white as a ghost. "No. No. He can't."

"Anika, get below deck and stay there."

"He can't! He can't take me back! He'll hurt me, he'll sell me to Tristram, he'll-"

"Anika, just get below deck and don't come out unless I come get you myself, do you hear me?" the Captain said.

"Captain, you can't let him take me, you can't, you wouldn't-"

"And I never said I would, Anika, now run. Find somewhere below deck and stay there! And don't you dare come back out unless I come get you myself! If you hear one of us yelling that it's safe, you don't know if they might be holding a gun to our heads and forcing us to! Now get out of here, I am not about to lose you too!"

You nodded blankly, and fled towards the trapdoor covering the stairs.

"Don't let any of us know where you are!" He added with a yell, and then went back to barking at his crew.

You ran down to the bilge rat before realizing that was the first place he would check, so you ran back up to the kitchen, grabbed a blanket from the quarters as you passed it (which unfortunately really smelled) and crammed yourself into an empty crate, putting the blanket over top of you along with the lid.

You were heaving for air in panic. You could see out a crack in the wood, and there were a few other holes in it, so you could breathe just fine.

You had just steadied yourself a few breaths, and were starting to notice the disgusting blanket you'd chosen, when several of Scarpa's cannons were shot off at the ship, rocking it violently, and then their cannons were returned a few seconds later, along with a bloodcurdling battle scream.

You swallowed. They were fighting over you.

Oh no, what have I done?

Don't you dare lose yourself in there Captain, because I'll have no idea what to do without you.

.

~ ~ ~

.

It wasn't long before the first few rogues dove down below deck in search of you, and, as you'd predicted, ran straight to the bottom of the ship.

You were safe. For now.

You heard a great clamor, yelling, running, stomping and they ran across deck to their opponents, taunting, screaming, riling at them, winning and losing, while the swords clashed, cracked sound into the air, slashing, ripping, knocked around, hitting or missing their set mark.

It sounded like a thunderstorm, and you wanted to close your eyes, and yet you didn't. You kept listening for the Captain's voice, a victorious battle cry, a bold taunt, a strong yell of a fight.

But then the noise began to die down.

Until you could only hear maybe five men fighting, four on one fighting to be particular, and many cheering them on. Many unfamiliar voices cheering them on.

And then the Captain yelled in pain.

Your heart nearly stopped.

It was so quiet, it was like all of the Captain's crew was dead, and he himself... Oh no, please God no...

Scarpa's boots stomped across the deck. "Where she be?! Where be the wench?!"

"I'm not telling you anything." The Captain retorted. He's still alive!

"Then we be starting to pick off yee crew?" Scarpa asked. "You can with only one loss be gettin' away, or you can be leavin' with a total loss. The wench or your crew, Cap'n!"

The crew burst out in uproar.

"I'm not turning her over to your dirty hands, no matter what you threaten, Scarpa," the Captain spat.

"How 'bout the crew's death?"

"I just told you, Scarpa. You can't have her. She's mine to protect, and protect her is what I'll do."

Scarpa grabbed the Captain by the shoulders, kneed him in the stomach, and dropped him to his knees. The Captain grunted and looked to the floor.

"So you clearly be carin' very much for 'er, no?" he asked. "I do admit, she be very beautiful. So it not be a surprise. But...maybe she might be carin' 'bout you too?"

The Captain looked up at Scarpa with a scathing glare.

"Take off that coat," Scarpa snarled, and spat in his face.

The Captain winced and removed his Captain's Cloak, along with his feathered hat.

Scarpa immediately grabbed his sword and sliced the Captain's shirt right off his bare back.

The Captain tensed, and winced deeply, but didn't make a sound.

Then Scarpa pulled out his own belt, which was designed to double as...a whip.

And he beat the Captain.

"Where she be?!"

"She's gone!"

"You tell me true, where she be?!"

"She's not here!"

"Start talking, now where she be?!"

He yelled in pain.

"Give it up, where you be hidin' her?!"

"I don't have her!"

"You sharp-tongued lubber! Where she be?!"

And he kept going. The Captain didn't give in.

Every cry he made got quieter...until he stopped even replying...and all you could hear was him thrashing above deck as Scarpa whipped him.

You couldn't take it anymore.

And you ran out from your hiding spot.

"Stop it, stop it!" You ran to the Captain's side. "Leave him alone, I'm right here!"

Scarpa smiled. "I just be wonderin' when you be showin' up."

"Now let them go, you only need me, you don't need to hurt any of them!" You stood boldly between the Captain and Scarpa.

He grabbed you by the wrist. "Yarrr, my buxom wench. Glad we be to have you back."

You swallowed.

"Anika, I told you to stay below deck," the Captain gasped.

"Not while this is happening."

"Yes while this is happening. I'll never sleep again."

"And yet you'll live."

"Survive. Not live. Survive."

"But you'll come after me right?"

"To my last breath."

"I...I love you," you said quietly.

He gave a tense smile. "I heard that," he said.

"Then try to make sure you hear it again."

"And I love you too."

"You be done?" Scarpa spat.

"No," the Captain said, and struggled to his feet. "Captain Scarpa of the Ship 'Serpent of the South,' I challenge you to a duel!"

Scarpa looked up at him. "Harrr! You be fit for the gallows, you scurvy dog!"

"I don't care what shape I'm in. To the death."

"Well, if you be sayin' so, Jim lad," Scarpa sneered. He threw you aside, and you were caught by some of his men, who grabbed your...mostly arms...and held you firmly, even though you struggled against their invasive grip.

"If I win, I get her back."

"And when I be winnin', I be winnin' yee ship. And all those dogs on it."

The crew's eyes widened.

"Deal."

Right in front of your eyes, they brandished their swords, touched the tips to each other's' blades, stepped back, and put their enemy on point.

And they dueled.

The Captain had more skill with the sword than Scarpa, but he was weakened in the beating. He hadn't wanted to risk a duel, and risk the crew and ship, but now that was his only chance to save you, and he wasn't about to hesitate for a moment.

The details of the battle could not be explained, it went by as such a blur, as if time was slowed down and sped up at the same time.

The Captain had his blade under complete control, and it moved in a fluid motion. It was like it was a part of him. Mind you, his reaction time was slower than usual, but it was still fast enough for this opponent.

Scarpa had the power behind his slash. He had a naturally slow recovery time, but each hit slapped the Captain's blade hard enough to shake him.

Until Scarpa stumbled and the Captain got his chance.

And two slices later, Scarpa's sword and hand with it were on the ground, and he was standing at the Captain's swordpoint with a hand and a wrist up.

"On your knees," the Captain snarled.

Scarpa shot him a loathing look, but obeyed.

"Any last words?" the Captain offered.

Scarpa narrowed his eyes. "Yarrr, Jim lad." He smiled. "The Captain of the 'Murderer's Prize' be comin'. He knows you have her. And he be wantin' her back. And he be stopping at nothin' to have her."

"There's a reason I don't meddle with Tristram," the Captain said. "They probably would've killed you when they were through with you anyways."

"Probably, but they would've bin killin' me if I didn't be obeyin' them too," Scarpa noted. "And there be one last thing to mention to you." He lifted his head a little higher. "You be hatin' Tristram so much you be tryin' to talk like yee be from Etholira or Raximia. And yet yee be adopted fro' Tristram."

The Captain sighed. "If only you knew how many years I'd already known that."

And with that, the Captain spat in Scarpa's face.

And drove his sword downwards through Scarpa's skull.

You winced.

He drew it out with a foot on Scarpa's shoulder, and kicked him to the ground. He examined his bloody blade. "And all over my good sword," he muttered.

Then there was a bustling around you that pulled you away from sight of the Captain and you screamed.

Scarpa's crew was trying to steal you anyways. They were fleeing off the ship over the plank with you.

"Captain!" you yelled.

The Captain dove into the mass of pirates, a bloody sword in hand, a fearful glimmer to his eye. He slashed everyone down in his way to you, and men fell into the reddening water around him.

As he reached you and knocked your captor down, he caught you by the wrist, just barely.

The men in the red water below you, stained by the Captain, were either dead or screaming in pain as the saltwater oozed into their cuts and wounds. Nobody else challenged the Captain. Those still left on the Scurvy Raider jumped into the water themselves, and those closer to the Serpent of the South fled to their ship.

The Captain sheathed his sword and heaved you up.

He immediately enveloped you in a hug, and you tried not to let your salty tears run into his cuts.

You looked into each others' eyes.

And started to lean in to each other.

And then...he kissed you.

Right then and there. He really kissed you.

You gasped a bit.

Before you kissed him back.

And he scooped you into his arms and carried you to the Mapping Room.