#a crows nest is at the TOP of the mainmast

[something-about-sunflowers]

This is a really dumb and unimportant thing but I live to complain so I'm gonna:

The Revenge does not have a crows nest. It does not. It drives me CRAZY when I read in fic 'he/they was/were in the crows nest' because it does not have one. And because I know it's a dumb thing to be annoyed about.

What it DOES have are TOPS, which are little platforms on the masts that sit at different levels (with different names depending on which one). Stede and Ed were on the main-topmast the morning after the lighthouse fuckery.

[lunastarhawk]

WiP proof of life Wednesday (Tides of Memories part 26)

Whisper it quietly, but I've all of a sudden found my mojo and picked up pace with this thing. I've got a little bit silly with it, but that's what I needed, I think.

A snipperoo...

The little silver bell on the mainmast rang a gentle welcome as Julian crossed the deck.  He stopped for a moment, turning around on the spot and taking in a deep lungful of salty sea air, the scent of tar, hemp and canvas wax, and freshly cured wood, the lowering sun warming his cheeks.  The sounds of the city were distant, but the shouts of dockworkers, the clanging of metal tools on wood, the raucous laughter of sailors and the singing of a sea shanty carried on the breeze were welcome. But The Southern Cross wasn’t just a ship.  She was a gate.  A magical one, no less.  A concept that Julian once would have been afraid of, poured scorn on, or been sceptical of - or all three - was here, beneath his boots.  He could feel it, with all of his senses.  The wooden beams and masts, the pine tar caulk, the hemp rope, the canvas sails, the steel rivets, all thrummed softly with magic.  It was barely noticeable, but when Julian closed his eyes and reached for it, it was there.  It was the sea and the stars, Altheia and him, where together they’d joined their magic, pulled the ship up from the depths of an ocean in the Arcana realms… together, the navigator and the privateer.   It meant that now, with his eyes closed and face turned up to the sky, he could feel her there, as if she were standing next to him, her aura surrounding him.  A fierce tempest, a summer’s tide, a spring storm, a dewy mist, all were her and her magic. He hadn’t realised he’d closed his eyes and was swaying on his feet with exhaustion, until a loud caw from above startled him awake.  He opened his eyes just in time to see Malak drop down and land heavily on the starboard rail, ragged wings spread to keep his balance as he settled. “Hello Malak,” Julian said with a tired smile.  “I don’t think I need you to watch out for me here.” NICE BOAT

Julian startled into jumping back at the sudden voice, nearly dropping his book, and stared wide-eyed at the raven. THE BOAT!  IT’S NICE! Julian winced; the raven’s ‘voice’ was hoarse, and loud.   “Firstly, she’s a ship, not a boat.  Secondly, she’s a she, not an it.  And thirdly… was that really you?  You’re talking to me?” Malak rustled his wings, and then turned to preening them.  When he didn’t say anymore, Julian smiled and shook his head. “I really am tired.  Sleep in the crow’s nest if you like.” He gestured to the top of the mainmast.  Malak squawked indignantly. RAVEN!  RAVEN’S NEST! Julian blinked; the raven sounded clearly disgruntled.  “Right.  Yes, if you like.” I WATCH. “There's really no need…” I WATCH! The raven glared indignantly.  Julian bowed his head, not quite knowing what to say.  Eventually he managed, “Good.  Thank you.”   Bewildered, and wondering if he really was so tired that he was hallucinating voices, Julian turned and pushed open the door to the cabin with his foot.

[dailyhistoryposts]

Introduction to Pirates: Pirate Ships

The exact design of ships changes by the time and place of their manufacturing, but they had common builds and terminology.

Directions on a ship are:

bow or prow (front)

starboard (right, as seen when standing on the ship facing prow)

port (left, as seen when standing on the ship facing prow)

aft or stern (rear)

amidship (in the middle of the ship)

windward (the direction the wind is blowing)

leeward (the opposite of windward, sheltered from the wind or downwind)

Important places on a ship are:

bilge (the lowest part of the ship, the part most likely to leak and be filthy)

crow's nest (a small platform near the top of the mast for lookouts)

fo'cs'le or forecastle (the section of the upper deck in front of the foremast)

helm (the steering wheel. contains the bittacle/bitacola/binnacle, a box which holds the compass)

hold (storage space in the lower part of the ship)

hull (the body of the ship)

keel (the underside of the ship)

mizzenmast (the largest mast. on a ship with three or more masts, the mast aft of a mainmast)

poop deck (the highest deck, usually above the captain's quarters)

main (the longest mast)

quarterdeck (the aft part of the upperdeck)

Depending on the size of the ship, it may have one or multiple decks and masts. The flagship of Blackbeard, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was an English-built frigate. It was a 200-ton, 103 foot long vessel with three masts (the fore, the mizzen, and the main). It allegedly had 40 cannons, though only 30 have since been found (far more than most of the ships it attacked) and as many of four anchors, which could weigh up to 3,100lb and take over an hour to raise.

Vessels such as pirate ships cannot accurately be called boats, this is a pet peeve of many nautical workers.

[vapemaster42069]

So I’ve been trying to nail down a design for the Albatross down. Here’s what we know:

It is classified as Medium, which means it has 3 floors (decks?). We also know that at least one of these is a poop deck, one is the main deck, and one is inside the boat.

This under-area is large enough for two hammocks, minimal storage, and a barrel, but small enough that Dre, Ollie, Earl, and Alphons have to sleep outside

There is at least one mainmast.

The Albatross is directed by a wheel, not manually at the rudder.

At the top of the mast, there is a reasonably-sized crow’s nest

There is a figurehead (of Pretzel), and it is unconfirmed whether it has a bowspirit.

There are railings around the sides of the deck, not just the walls of the vessel

It has to be fully manned by 3-4 working adults (but this is moderately flexible, it is DnD after all and 2 of the crew are magically enhanced)

It has a high enough draft that it can get very close to shore

There is a galley in the poop deck

The Grandberry ship is only a bit larger than the Albatross, and it has been outfitted with cannons. The Albatross itself does not have any.

The ship is sturdy enough to endure the weather out to sea, where the shore is not in sight for days or weeks on end.

I was thinking a sloop? Technically it would fit, but I think they implied that they have a square rig (with how they treated the sails during harsh weather), so.. idk. There are also not enough people to man more than a small vessel, yet the construction seems to be rather large. A brig seems too large, considering the crew size nessecary to maintain it, but the Albatross is large enough to be able to ram a navy warship and retreat unscathed.

Fellow boat enjoyers, thoughts?

[dontcrywrite]

find the word tag

thanks so much to both @ashen-crest and @nikkywrites for the tag!! i'm a bit late, oops. i'm going to put this under a read more bc it's going to get long lol. my words to find were: drink, eat, cream, glass, window, shudder, chill and open.

Drink (from unnamed pirate wip)

The sight that greeted them was a port.

Well, the word port was a bit generous. The sight in front of them was nothing like the grand docking area of Port Charles, with seemingly endless docks for ships to stop at. Nor was it like Telde port, swarming with so many people that it was nearly impossible to move.

Instead, this had two small docks that stuck out into the sea, with only a few buildings scattered about. The largest appeared to be an ale house, and it was the source of the smoke. Charlie had the sudden urge for a really strong drink.

(Gr)eat (from unnamed pirate wip)

She stuck out her hand into the open space between them. Charlie stared at it; there was a heavy sort of an importance to the gesture that could mean a great number of things in the end. Charlie forcefully pushed the thoughts and grabbed Antonia’s hand.

(S)cream (from unnamed pirate wip)

Charlie grabbed Antonia's hand and began to pull her in the opposite direction, back towards the archway that had led to the courtyard. Charlie heard Antonia’s cry of surprise as they began to run towards the exit, but Charlie ignored it. Adrenaline was pumping in her ears, every fiber of her being screaming that they had to get out, had to escape, had to do it now.

Glass (from unnamed pirate wip)

Charlie stood up and stretched, joints cracking in protest. Tucking her eyeglass securely into her belt, Charlie grabbed a rope tied to the very top of the mainmast and jumped off the crows nest.

Window (from upon distant shores)

Years later, Rory will never be sure what alerted her to the woman on the shore. Was it a scream, perhaps, that caught her attention? A flash of light that drew her eyes to the window? All Rory can remember is kneeling by the fireplace, trying desperately to stoke the meager flames higher. And then she was out the door, rushing to reach the body lying face down on the shore, frighteningly still.

Shudder (from AKB)

A strangled shout came from the front gates, and a bloodied knight stumbled into view. Helen reacted on instinct, running forward and slotting herself under the knight’s arm before he could collapse. There was a gash on his forehead that was bleeding profusely, and his breathing was coming in short, heavy gasps.

“It’s okay, I got you,” Helen said, trying to keep her voice calm and reassuring. The man - she thinks his name is Caleb - shuddered under her grip.

Chill (from AKB)

Prince Levi had gone out earlier that week on a tour of the kingdom, his third this year. He was only sixteen, years away from taking the throne. But by travelling through the kingdom, he insisted, he would learn everything he would need to know to become the best king he could be. This trip wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. So the dark undertones of the knight’s words sent chills down Helen’s spine.

Something was very wrong.

Open (from AKB)

Helen pressed her shaking hands together. Oh, god. Was Muriel trying to imply that Mage Ausburn was behind the attacks?

“Now,” Muriel continued. “We don’t have enough evidence. Not nearly enough to accuse the Mage. Once we accuse him, we are openly declaring war. And that is the last thing we need.”

tagging (with no pressure) @hellishhin @47crayons @notwritinganyflufftoday @writeblrfantasy and anyone else who wants to do this! your words are cheer, lie, box and shimmer

[technicallyblakebelladonna]

so.... pirate rival bees anyone? one of many fics i have on the backburner but i wanted to share with y’all anyway!

---

“Captain!” Ilia called from above, her voice easily carrying down to Blake as she rested a hand on the wheel of her ship. The waters were calm today, a gentle breeze tugged at the long braid down her back and rustled the corners of her navigational map. Blake glanced up at the crow’s nest where Ilia was waving the spyglass. “Sails spotted!”

Blake bit her lip, her heart rate speeding up slightly in anticipation. She nodded to Sun, who was perched on the bowsprit as usual, to take her place at the helm before beginning the climb up the rigging to join Ilia. 

“Is it her?” she asked, hoping to keep her voice flat as she took the spyglass from her first mate. 

Ilia just snickered, pushing her shoulder as she swung a leg out of the bucket shaped perch. “You aren’t fooling me with that devil-may-care tone, Blake. When the first question out of your mouth about sails on the horizon is to ask if it’s her? You’re not fooling anyone on this ship.”

Blake paused just as she was about to raise the glass to her eye. “Then mutiny,” she said flatly, arching an eyebrow at her. 

“You know no one’s going to do that,” she shook her head, patting Blake’s hand sympathetically as it rested on the ledge just as she started her descent down to the main deck. “These sparring matches with her crew are too much fun.”

Well, she couldn’t fault her for that admission, she supposed. Blake turned her comment over in her mind briefly, then shrugged and peered through the glass. 

Gold sails. “How obnoxious,” Blake muttered as she spotted the mainmast that bore the familiar stylized purple dragon. Captain Xiao Long was the only pirate captain that Blake knew of who flew golden sails like that - they were brazen, obvious. Eye-catching. Much like the fearsome captain herself - not like she would ever admit that out loud to her crew. Though with what Ilia had said, she should’ve realized that they all knew anyway.

She refocused her gaze through the glass, sweeping a brief scan across the length of the ship's deck - and totally not spending a lingering moment focused at the helm of the smaller ship in hopes to spot familiar blonde curls. Though they weren't close enough to spot individual crew members, they were close enough that the details of the dragon's horns stitched into the gold mainmast were visible. And obviously drawing closer. A battle was imminent. Blake snapped the spyglass closed, storing it in a small hatch at the floor of the crow’s nest before she swung down from her perch, opting to rappel down the rope that hung from the top of the mast for quick descents. 

She landed with a heavy thump in the middle of the deck. “To arms!” Blake grinned viciously, baring her teeth as the deck came alive with activity around her. "Look alive and prepare to board! Coco, to the main gun!” Blake called, cinching her belt tightly around her waist and ensuring that her scabbard was secure in preparation for the battle.

[giogama08]

Tendou Satori, Pirates AU

Ok, ok, this was way funnier in my mind... Inspiration came from here.

Warnings: slightly cursing (I don’t really know how to curse).

The Voyager has been on high see for almost a month now. Although most of the crew were veterans, you and your best friend, Tendou, were almost newbies. So it was normal that both have to stand-watch more than any other sailor. But you didn’t care. It was peaceful at night, and the sound of the waves against the ship refreshed you from the night chores. Besides, you were never alone. Tendou helps time pass faster. You two always goofed around and tell stories as the vessel cruised calmly.

One night, you were cleaning the deck when you heard a splash coming from the ocean. It was loud enough to catch your attention but quieter to be mistaken as a wave breaking against the ship's breastplate. You thought it might be a lost dolphin. 

“Tendou!” You called your partner, who was comfortably resting at the crow’s nest in the mainmast.

“What?” He said in a lazy tone.

“I think there's something in the water. You see anything?”

“Anything? Like what?” said while rubbing his eyes to see better.

“If I knew I wouldn’t be bothering with that, would I?” You heard him growling in response.

“Maybe it's just the salt stuck in your ears that finally reach your brain” You were about to respond but he spoke first. “Wait... I see something...” He descended from a rope as fast as he could and landed in front of you. ‘That was hot’, you shook your head trying to not get distracted by that thought.

As he approached the edge of the deck, you felt something moving through your feet. At first, you thought it was some kind of snake, which was crawling and ascending through your legs. You tried not to scream, for fear of Tendou or any other crew member to believe that you were scared. Then you realized it was a rope. ‘What the hell!'. You took the knife from your belt and started cutting it.

“Tendou, something is off here...” You stopped in the middle of your sentence. The view before you was so unbelievable that for a moment you thought you fell asleep at some point and didn’t remember it. In front of you was Tendou, with a drowsy face and a stupid smile. And in front of him, sitting at the railing of the ship, was a creature with a beautiful long tail. It had greenish scales that reflect the moonlight. But the half bottom was not what surprised you. It was the top half. Instead of seeing a hybrid between a human and a fish, you saw an exact reflection of you. Like looking at a mirror, there were you with your torso naked, letting your skin reflect the light just as the tail. A cruel smile was printed in its lips that sent shivers all over your body. Even your little birthmarks were perfectly embodied in the mermaid’s body. It was beautiful to whoever could be watching but for you, it felt strange and alien. It resembles you to one of the statues on Poseidon’s temples. Something mythical and unnatural.

You saw how you-creature offer its hand to Tendou to grabbed it. And for your horror, he was extending his hand to accept it. That’s when you react.

Before Tendou could take its hand, you grabbed the bucket with you were cleaning, and with both hands swang it with all your might in the creature’s direction. The bucket impacted right in its face, breaking it in the process while causing the mermaid to lost balance and fell overboard.

After making sure it disappeared in the emptiness of the dark sea, you turned to face Tendou, which was trying to recover from what looked like a terrible dream. He looked at you with puppy eyes and full of remorse. You didn't let that break you.

“I-I-I can explain...” he started, with his cheeks redder than his hair.

You looked at him with inquisitive eyes.

“A siren just took MY image and tried to seduce YOU,” You said out loud, more to yourself than to him. “It better be a hell of an explanation”. A silence remains between you two as you wait for his response. He struggled to find the right words, looking like a drowning man reaching for air.

“We-we have been in the ocean for so long...” As soon as he said those words he knew he screwed it. Without anything nearby, you took off your shoe and throw it at him. It landed perfectly in his forehead, knocking him out. You left him there and went to the supplies deck for a drink.

‘I’m so stupid!’ You cursed yourself ‘Why was I hoping for something else!’

[pikapeppa]

FenHawke and Cullavellan pirate AU: Silver Lining

Chapter 27 of Where The Winds Of Fortune Take Me is up on AO3! 

In which there is a HINT of plot, and some more Fenris/Rynne Hawke smut, because I’m trash. Also, in which @schoute​ spoils us with TWO pieces of art, one of which you’ll have to go to the chapter to see in full... 😏❤️❤️❤️

Read on AO3 instead! ~6100 words.

- FENRIS -

Light was filtering through Fenris’s closed eyelids. He took a deep, slow breath, and his back pressed into something warm. Someone warm.

Crowded quarters – other slaves’ dirty bodies pressing close as they tried to sleep – stench of sweat and fear and sour vomit – A bolt of panic forced his eyes open. 

He scrabbled at the arm that was draped over his waist, but before he could throw it off, he realized where he was and who was pressed against him. At the same moment, she spoke in a husky, sleep-laced voice. 

“Fenris?” She shifted against his back, and he released the breath he’d been holding. It was just Hawke. It was just her arm around his waist and her lips now pressing against his scarred skin. 

He closed his eyes and breathed carefully while he waited for his heart to slow. Hawke stretched behind him, and then her hands were sliding down his back. 

Her fingers stroked the base of his spine before trailing slowly up toward his shoulder blades, and Fenris smiled. She really was incapable of keeping her hands to herself. 

He rolled over so he was facing her. “Hawke,” he murmured. 

“Top of the morning, sailor,” she said. She smiled and gently pinched his chin. 

Her eyelids were heavy with sleep, and Fenris silently studied her beautiful face. Four mornings they’d woken up together now, and this was the first one where he actually felt rested. He may have had a moment of disorientation at first, but he hadn’t yelled at her or pushed her away. 

It was better than the night before. He was getting better. 

He reached out and ran his hand over her hip. She was naked beneath the plain cotton sheet, and Fenris hooked his arm around her waist to pull her closer. 

Her smile broadened, and she pressed her palm to his bare chest. “Good morning to you, too,” she said. 

He smiled faintly at her. Her voice was a roughened early-morning purr, and her exploring fingers were moving slowly down his chest, and Fenris held his breath as the tips of her fingers trailed over his navel and below. 

She curved her palm over the bulge in his breeches. “My my, this is a very sturdy mainmast indeed.” 

He released a slow and steady breath. “I would hope any mainmast you see is sturdy,” he deadpanned. “Otherwise the ship is not seaworthy.” He flexed his hips to meet the heat of her hand.

“Hmm,” she murmured. “I wonder if the sails are tightly trimmed.” She ran her palm slowly along his shaft, lifting a slow wave of lust through his abdomen.

He raised an eyebrow. “That… that doesn’t make sense here.” Then he inhaled sharply; her fingers were creeping into the waistband of his breeches. 

She wrapped her fingers around his cock and squeezed, and his eyelids fluttered shut with pleasure. A few blissful strokes later, when Fenris could hear his own breathing through his parted lips, Hawke spoke again in a playful tone. “Well then, I hope the rigging is, um… properly rigged.” She grinned at him, then started laughing. 

He exhaled shakily, then smirked at her and pulled her hand out of his breeches. “Was this your attempt to impress me with your vocabulary?” He rolled onto his back and started unlacing his breeches.

“Something like that,” she giggled. “Is it working? Are you impressed?”

“Not at all,” he said. He pushed his breeches down and took hold of her arm. “Come here.” 

She beamed at him as she straddled his hips. “Ooh, you’re taking the helm, are you? Will you be sending me straight to the crow’s nest?”

“Shut up, Hawke,” he drawled. He pulled her hips toward him and carefully parted the curls between her legs. 

The catching of her breath lit a thrill in his already-buzzing belly. He licked his fingers, then slipped them between her legs to stroke her cleft. 

She was wet already. Fenris carefully spread the dampness over her folds, and when she was thrusting her hips to meet his hand, he moved his thumb up to stroke her swollen little bud. 

She gasped and braced her hands on his thighs. “Fenris,” she whined. She rocked her hips toward his thumb, sliding her slick heat over his shaft in the process, and it wasn’t long before his breathing was as erratic as hers. 

A little sob of pleasure escaped her throat. “Fenris, I want – can you fuck me and touch me at the same time?” she begged. “I don’t know if – can you–?”

“Yes,” he breathed. He repositioned her hips, then slowly and carefully, he pulled her down onto his length.

His breath escaped through his teeth in a pleasured hiss. She was so warm and slick as she took him deep, and when she settled herself fully on his lap, he burst out a gasp of ecstasy at the perfect tightness of her body’s embrace. 

She immediately started grinding her hips to his, but Fenris placed a bracing palm on her belly. “Be still, Hawke,” he groaned. “Stay still. Let me…” He reached between her legs once more. 

She panted fitfully as he caressed her clit, and Fenris watched avidly until she was holding her breath. Her fingers were clutching his hand that was on her belly, and he breathed slowly to control his pleasure as he watched her nearing her own, her lips parting and her face twisting with rapture as her climax surged closer–

Someone pounded on the door, and Fenris’s heart seized in alarm. 

“Fenris,” Dorian yelled. At that moment, Hawke came undone. 

She jammed her fist against her mouth to stifle her own cries, and Fenris gritted his teeth as the pulsing of her enraptured body unwittingly pushed his pleasure higher. Dorian, meanwhile, was obliviously talking outside the door. “Piper wants us in her quarters in two minutes. She says the last one to arrive will get a cockroach in their coffee. I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking for that exotic Afsaana flavour in mine.” Then, thankfully, his footsteps moved away.

Venhedis fasta vass, Fenris thought furiously. Hawke was trembling from the end of her climax, and somehow he was still hard despite his racing heart, and… kaffas and curses, he had to leave for that blasted officers’ meeting. 

Hawke shifted sinuously on top of him, and he groaned. “Hawke,” he begged. “I… I can’t…”

“I know,” she breathed. “Just another minute.” Her seductive hips continued to roll against him with all the lovely rhythm of an ocean wave, and Fenris ceded to her exquisite body for a minute. Just one more minute – a glorious, heated, mind-numbing minute… 

There was another knock at the door, and this time it was accompanied by Varric’s voice. “Hey elf,” he called, “Piper is–”

“I’m on my way,” Fenris barked. Then Hawke cut him off with a hard kiss. 

She clasped his neck and moaned into his mouth, but he still heard Varric’s reply. “Heh. I thought romance made people less grumpy. Guess I’ll have to change my book.” Varric’s footsteps faded away.

Hawke broke their kiss and started laughing silently against Fenris’s cheek. He dragged in a few desperate breaths, then pinched her waist until she squeaked. “I’m pleased that one of us is amused,” he said snarkily, and he shifted her off of his lap. 

“I’m not laughing at you,” she gasped, and she fell about laughing again. “I’m just – oh, Fenris. I’m so sorry.” 

“It is not your fault,” he grunted. He pulled his breeches over his pulsing cock, then hastily grabbed a tunic from the chest in the corner and pulled it over his head as quickly as he could despite his wounded side, careful all the while not to look at Hawke’s infinitely tempting naked body sprawled across his bed. 

“Don’t forget to get some elfroot tea,” she giggled. “For the wound–” 

“Yes, I know,” he said distractedly. He strode toward the door, then briefly glanced at her before he left. She was lounging on her belly with a grin on her lips and a tuft of dark messy hair half-covering her face, and she was the most appealing thing he’d ever seen. 

“I’ll make it up to you,” she purred. 

He dragged a hand through his hair. “I will hold you to that,” he said, and he left his cabin before her bright mischievous grin could tempt him to stay. 

He stalked toward Piper’s cabin, then gave the door a cursory knock before pushing it open. He strode over to the table, noting vaguely that Merrill was also present, then bad-temperedly dropped into his usual seat across from Dorian. 

Dorian raised an eyebrow. “Someone woke up late and cranky. You shouldn’t frown so much, Fenris, you’ll give yourself wrinkles.”

Fenris glared at him. “Vishante kaffas. Keep your unwanted beauty advice.” 

Dorian chuckled unrepentantly. Then Piper rapped her knuckles on the table. “Hey,” she snapped. She pointed at Dorian. “You. Be nice to the grump. And you.” She pointed at Fenris, then folded her arms. “Cheer the fuck up. And next time you want to not be disturbed, tie a kerchief on the doorknob. That’s common knowledge, Fen.”

Fenris glared at Piper instead, but she only raised an eyebrow. Dorian, meanwhile, clapped his hands. “Ah, of course! Morning glory, how splendid. It all makes sense now.”

Varric shook his head in amusement, and Fenris scowled at the table while silently cursing his burning ears. Cullen, meanwhile, cleared his throat delicately. “Should we, er, carry on with this meeting…?”

“Yes,” Piper said. She opened her arms grandly. “By my power as the grand and glorious captain aboard this here vessel, I declare this meeting of the Lady Luck’s officers officially begun!”

Dorian turned to look at her incredulously, and Varric raised an eyebrow. Cullen, meanwhile, blinked in surprise. “Is that how you usually start these meetings?”

“No,” she said breezily. She grinned at him and plopped down in her chair at the head of the table. “That was for your benefit, Golden Boy. A little pomp and circumstance to ease you into our casual ways.”

“Ah,” Cullen said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Er, thank you, I suppose.”

Fenris grunted. “Don’t encourage her. She’ll only continue with even more terrible antics.”

Piper selected a peanut from the dish on the table and flicked it at his head. “All right, boys and girl,” she said with a gracious nod to Merrill, who was sitting next to her. “Let’s get to it. We’ve got a lot to discuss. Merrill and I have an idea, and it’s a pretty bold one. I’m going to let her take the lead in explaining it.”

Merrill smiled at Piper, then stood up and looked at them all with wide eyes. “I’ve been doing some research,” she said eagerly. “Finding books during our travels and artifacts during our trips outside of town, like the camping trip I took with Fenris and Hawke – thank you for having me on that trip, Fenris, it was very educational–”

He waved a dismissive hand. “No need for thanks. You were there to guide us, as you’ll recall.”

She beamed at him, then placed her fingers delicately on the tabletop. “I think I’ve discovered something grand. Something potentially lucrative, as well, since I know it’s been some time since our last raid.” She looked at Varric.

He winked at her. “Hearing you loud and clear, Daisy.”

She smiled, then pulled a large scroll of parchment out of her apron pocket. She rolled the scroll out on the table, and Fenris instantly recognized it from their Sundermount trip.

Sure enough, Merrill began to explain its origin to them. “This is a rubbing I took from a cave in Sundermount. It’s ancient Elvhen, unfortunately, so you won’t be able to read it, but this is what I wanted to point out.” She pointed to a somewhat blurry-looking character toward the middle of the page. “This says Vir’Tualthalan. In Elvhen, it means ‘The Way of Renewal’.”

Dorian looked up with a grin. “You mean the Fountain of Youth.”

Merrill nodded. “That’s another term for it, yes.”

Dorian chuckled and elbowed Varric. Fenris, on the other hand, was unamused. He raised an eyebrow at her and sat back in his chair. “That is just a story. A legend told by the greedy and the idle.”

“Hey,” Piper said playfully. “Watch who you’re calling greedy and idle.”

Fenris shot her a sardonic look and folded his arms. “The Fountain of Youth is not real.”

Merrill nodded earnestly. “It may not really be a magic fountain, no. But according to the rubbings I found, there is something there that was important in the times of the ancient elves.” She widened her eyes even further, as though that would convince him. “There was something there to start the legends, don’t you see? Whether it was a magical home of the gods or a temple dedicated to their worship, there was something there.” She straightened and lifted her chin. “And I – Piper and I – we would like to go exploring there and find out what it is.”

Cullen stroked his chin slowly, then turned to Piper. “This is the adventure you were proposing?”

She nodded. “It is, yes. I will say outright that this is what I want to do next. But only if everyone is in agreement.” She looked directly at Fenris.

He frowned. Why was she looking at him? Before he could ask, Varric spoke to Piper. “Interesting that you’re not vetoing it, then, if you want to go that badly.”

Piper snorted in amusement. “Since I’m usually such a tyrant, right?”

Varric smirked at her. “You know what I mean, Cap. If you wanted to go looking for the Fountain of Youth, you know we’d have your back. What’s different this time?”

Dorian stroked his mustache slowly. “Yes, what is different this time?”

Piper raised her eyebrows at Merrill, and Merrill took a deep breath before speaking. “The Vir’Tualthalan is in the Arlathan Forest.”

Fenris instantly spotted the problem. “No,” he said.

Merrill held out a placating hand. “Fenris, before you say no–”

“I already said it,” he said. “That forest shares a border with the Imperium.”

“I know,” Merrill said hurriedly, “but the Arlathan Forest itself is a neutral zone.”

Fenris waved off her words. “It is unclaimed territory, not a neutral zone. That is not the same thing.” He could hear the hardness in his own voice, but he couldn’t help it. Merrill and Piper were proposing to sail back toward the mouth of Tevinter, and they thought he would agree to this?

“Actually,” Merrill said breathlessly, “it is a neutral zone.” 

Fenris raised his eyebrows in surprise as she pulled more papers out of her apron pocket. “I looked around in the bookshop in Afsaana, and I went to the law office with Kaaras, and I found – Elgar’nan, you wouldn’t believe the strange laws I found there! There was a copy of one old Kirkwall law about how many chickens are allowed to travel on a single rowboat for a distance of–”

Piper cleared her throat. “Merrill?”

Merrill tittered. “Right, yes, I’m babbling. Um, I – I found a legal document from thirty-two years ago, signed between the Tevinter Imperium and the qunari’s Arishok.” She smoothed one particular page out on the table and looked around at them all once more. “It states that the Arlathan Forest is a political neutral zone. I transcribed a copy.” She pointed at the page. “It says right here: ‘no man or qunari shall set a claim in the Forest of Arlathan, nor establish habitations for longer than two nights for urgent situations only, after which he will be forced to–’”

Dorian sighed. “All right, we get the point, legalities and so on.”

“I want to hear it,” Fenris said fiercely.

“I would too, actually,” Cullen interrupted. He smiled sheepishly at Piper, who smiled fondly back at him. 

Merrill nodded eagerly, then continued to read. “‘...after which he will be forced to vacate the territory, staking no claim and bearing no ownership over any part of the land or any items found therein. This agreement binds all men of the Tevinter Imperium and all agents of the Qun until renegotiated between the Emperor of Tevinter and the Arishok of the Qunandar.’” She stopped and looked at them expectantly. 

Fenris frowned. “That’s it?”

“Yes,” Merrill said brightly. 

Fenris frowned more deeply, and Cullen verbalized his thoughts. “That can’t be all. There is no end date to that contract.”

“Exactly,” Merrill said excitedly. “That means it’s still in effect!”

Fenris folded his arms. “If it’s undated, it might be a false document.”

Merrill shook her head. “It was verified. Kaaras witnessed it,” she said. “You can ask him if you don’t believe me.”

Fenris narrowed his eyes. Merrill knew full well that Kaaras was the one other crew member not in this room that he would trust about something like this. 

Very strategic, he thought suspiciously. It seemed almost as though she’d put together this entire proposal to sway him specifically.

Thankfully, Cullen was also skeptical. “Even if the document was verified, that strikes me as extremely odd that there was no end date,” he said. “I have never encountered a contract without a date for renegotiation.” He looked at Dorian. “Is that common in Tevinter?”

“No, actually,” Dorian said. “We Tevinters may sacrifice goats to the Old Gods in order to climb the social ladder over our neighbours’ sons, but we also like end dates on our contracts just like any other civilized country.”

Varric grinned at him. “You don’t actually sacrifice goats, do you?”

“No,” Dorian said casually. “Funny story, though–”

Fenris interrupted them. “So this contract states that the Arlathan Forest is a neutral zone. What is your point?”

“Don’t you see?” Merrill said brightly. “It’s a safe place. Tevinters can’t enter it!”

“Just because they are legally forbidden doesn’t mean they won’t,” Fenris retorted.

“But they don’t!” she exclaimed. “They don’t go there, Fenris. I looked at the historical records at the legal office, and we spoke to the friendlier tal-vashoth in the town, and everything I’ve found indicates that both the qunari and the Tevinter Imperium respect this contract.” She hugged the papers to her chest and gazed at him pleadingly. “People don’t go to the Arlathan Forest, Fenris. It’s uncharted territory. I haven’t even been able to find accurate maps of the forest. It’s… it’s marvelous.”

Cullen grimaced. “It sounds dangerous.”

“Yes, it does,” Fenris said. “Recklessly so.” He was increasingly grateful that Cullen was here. At least someone else in this room had a modicum of self-preservation.  

Piper spoke up. “Dangerous indeed. Exciting, right?” She shot Cullen a debonair grin.

“No,” Fenris said flatly. “It is just dangerous. Tevinter on one side, the qunari guarding the mouth of the canal–”

Piper leaned forward in her chair. “The qunari won’t touch us if we don’t antagonize them. They’re too busy warring with Tevinter.”

Fenris pointed accusingly at her. “I swore I would never go back to Tevinter,” he said forcefully. “That place is a cesspool of slavery and murder!”

Dorian tutted. “Ah, we’re not all bad.”

Fenris scowled at him. “You are not. Your countrymen, on the other hand–”

Merrill cut him off. “It’s not the Imperium, Fenris,” she said calmly. “It’s the Arlathan Forest. It’s completely different.”

He gazed at her in rising frustration. “How can you know that? How can you be so sure that a land directly adjacent to Tevinter is safer than Tevinter?” 

“Because it’s ours,” Merrill said insistently. “The Arlathan Forest is ours, Fenris. It’s one of the ancestral homes of our people. Why do you think the Tevinters and the qunari won’t go there? There’s something there protecting it, that’s why!”

At this, Piper grimaced and tugged one of her braids, and in Fenris’s opinion, the gesture was very telling. If this was the point of the plan where even Piper was skeptical, then it was foolhardy in the extreme. 

He folded his arms and pinned Merrill with a sarcastic stare. “Ah. Of course. Elvhen magic or gods or something of the like is protecting the forest. That is your explanation?”

“That’s what I think, yes,” Merrill said firmly. “But that’s not why Piper wants to go.”

 Fenris turned to Piper. “And why do you want to go?” he demanded.

“Because it’s an adventure, of course,” Piper said. “A new place we’ve never been before, that possibly no one has been in decades. And if we’re being pragmatic, there’s the potential for loot, which is very high. You all know how much I love booty.” She winked at Cullen, who promptly flushed. 

Fenris gave her a chiding look, but she simply smiled in that obnoxiously confident shit-eating way of hers. Annoyed, he looked at Varric and waved at the documents on the table. “What do you think of this?”

Varric shrugged affably. “I’m just along for the ride. If the captain wants to go, and she and Daisy think it’s safe… eh, why not.”

Fenris frowned, then jerked his chin at Dorian. “And you?”

Dorian shrugged as well. “I’m as partial to booty as the next man. Or woman,” he added with a polite nod to Piper, who did a little dramatic bow from her chair.

Fenris snorted. “Of course you are.” He looked at Cullen. “You have your doubts, however.” 

He sighed. “I do,” he said. He gave Piper an apologetic look. “This is… this strikes me as needlessly risky, Piper.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I will confess I have never gone somewhere uncharted before. I don’t see how we can safeguard against the risks if we don’t know what we are facing.”

She reached over and squeezed his hand. “‘Uncharted’ is just another way of saying ‘ripe for discovery’. Even Fen can admit that going to new and unknown places is part and parcel of the pirate life.” She shot Fenris a challenging look.

He shrugged bad-temperedly. On that front, she wasn’t wrong.

 Cullen studied the papers on the table for another moment. Then he squeezed Piper’s fingers and nodded. “All right. If this is how things are done, then… then I am willing to try it.”

Fenris frowned. Piper released Cullen’s hand, then leaned back in her chair and kicked her dirty bare feet up on the table. “Fenris, it’s down to you. But listen: the Arlathan Forest is not Tevinter, all right? And we’ll all be going there together. Part of the ship, part of the crew.”

Her voice was brisk and businesslike, but there was a certain softness to her hazel eyes that annoyed him for some reason. He frowned at his lap and plucked at the red ribbon on his wrist, irritated at being put on the spot. 

For a few awkward seconds, no one spoke. Then there was a knock at the door. 

Piper looked up. “Come in,” she called. 

The door opened, and Fenris’s heart did a little flip. It was Hawke, and she had a cup and saucer in her hands. 

“Morning, everyone!” she chirped. “Sorry to interrupt, I’ll be in and out so quickly you won’t even realize I’m here…” She hurried over to the table, and to Fenris’s surprise, she placed the cup and saucer on the table in front of him. 

He blinked. “What–?” 

“It’s elfroot tea,” she said. “You forgot.” She winked at him. 

“Ah,” he said blankly. “I… thank you.” He picked up the cup. 

She stroked the back of his neck affectionately, and the gesture sent a shiver of contentment down his spine. Then she perked up as she looked at the table. “Oh, is this the rubbing we took from Sundermount?” she asked Merrill excitedly.

“Yes!” Merrill chirped. “We were just discussing if we’re going to go to the Vir’Tual– er, the Fountain of Youth.”

“Really?” Hawke gasped. “That was an actual option? I thought you were just telling me stories.”

“It is just a story,” Fenris protested.

Merrill’s shoulders drooped slightly. “But I already told you, there must be something there that started the stories.” She sounded faintly exasperated now, and Fenris shot her an exasperated look in kind.

Then Hawke spoke up. “I would love to see an ancient elven ruin,” she said with relish. “I mean, I would love to see everything since I’ve barely seen, well, anything, but can you imagine how exciting it would be to find a lost temple in the middle of the forest? Exploring an untouched forest on an epic adventure?” She clapped her hands and beamed at everyone.

Then her face fell. “Oh fuck. I’m interrupting.”

Piper folded her hands behind her head. “Technically yes, you are.”

Hawke’s cheek’s started to pinken. “Fuck. Maker’s balls. I mean – my apologies, Captain, officers, everyone.” She did a little curtsy, then looked at Fenris. “Drink that up, all right? I’ll – oh my, is that Anders calling me? Must go, very busy, organs to dissect, you know how it is…” She laughed brightly, then hurried away. 

From the corner of his eye, Fenris watched her go. Once the door was closed behind her, he sipped from his cup of elfroot tea.

Silence fell over the room again, broken only by the soft ticking of Piper’s stolen Antivan clock. Fenris drank some more of his elfroot, and when the silence was so heavy that it started to make his teeth hurt, he plonked the cup back in its saucer. 

“Fine. Fine,” he grunted. “We will go on your blasted adventure.”

Merrill whooped in delight and clapped her hands, but Fenris wasn’t finished. He pointed threateningly at Piper. “If we cross any slavers–”

“No mercy,” Piper said shortly. “That will never change, obviously.” 

He stared at her intently. “I mean it, Piper. I will not be chained again.”

Piper replaced her feet on the floor and rose from her chair. “No one who travels with me will ever be chained again,” she said seriously. “You know that.”

Her expression was hard and uncompromising, and Fenris relaxed at the sight of it. At long last, he sat back in his chair and nodded. 

Piper studied him for a moment longer, then smiled. “All right, let’s be official about it. All in favour of going to Arlathan Forest?” 

They all raised their hands, including Fenris.

Piper’s smile widened. “All against?”

Fenris sighed but didn’t raise his hand, and no one else did either.

Piper tucked her hands in her pockets and grinned. “That settles it. The Lady Luck is heading to the Arlathan Forest. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

Merrill clapped again and hugged Piper. Dorian stood up and stretched. “Excellent,” he said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to put away before we set sail.”

Varric chuckled as he pushed back his own chair. “You’re still unpacking your new clothes?”

“Unpacking and admiring,” Dorian corrected. “You should come and inspect my new collection, Varric. I’m quite certain you’ll be green with jealousy.”

“With nausea, maybe,” Varric drawled. “Another time. Curly and I have work to do.”

Cullen nodded agreeably. “That we do,” he said. He stood up as well, then gave Piper a small half-bow. “Thank you for the meeting, Captain.”

She grinned at him and patted his arm. “You’re welcome, Golden Boy. Loosen up next time and put your feet up on the table, why don’t you?” She kissed his cheek. 

He smiled bashfully, then left her quarters with Dorian and Varric, leaving Fenris and Piper alone. 

Fenris stood up and eyed her appraisingly. “You did that on purpose.”

She blinked. “Did what?”

Fenris gave her a very skeptical look. “You didn’t make Hawke leave right away.”

Piper casually inspected her fingernails. “It’s the Captain’s prerogative to have extra opinions in the room as I deem fit. Like Merrill’s, for instance. Or Rynne’s.” She smirked at him knowingly.

Fenris harrumphed. “You’re trying to manipulate me,” he accused, but with much less heat than he would have a couple of months ago.

Her smirk fell away, leaving her face serious once more. “I would never,” she said to him. “You were on the edge of saying yes. You just needed a last little push. Something to remind you that everything doesn't have to be shitty.” She gestured at the door. “Hawke is the silver lining to your stormcloud.”

Fenris raised his eyebrows, then snorted. “Poetic metaphor? From you? You must be in love. Either that or you are drunk.”

She grinned at him, but her bronze cheeks were deepening with a telltale flush of pink. “Are you saying I’m stupid?” she quipped.

Fenris smirked at her. “I didn’t say that. You said it yourself.”

She laughed and punched his arm. “Get the fuck out, you insubordinate shithead.”

He huffed in amusement, then turned away and sauntered toward the door. Before he could leave, however, Piper called out to him. “Hey, Fen. What’s my poetic metaphor with Cullen?”

He turned and raised an eyebrow at her. “Why are you asking me?”

“Fair’s fair. I told you yours,” she said. She folded her arms and lifted her chin. “What’s mine and Cullen’s?”

Fenris tilted his head. The answers was obvious. “He’s the port to your storm,” he said.

Piper grinned. “Are you calling me a storm, then?”

“Yes,” Fenris said. “Do you disagree?”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Not at all.”

 He smirked at her, then left her cabin and closed the door behind him. Then he turned and bumped into Cole. 

He jumped in alarm, then scowled. Dorian’s blasted assistant always seemed to sneak up on him. “Fasta vass,” he muttered. “Cole–”

“Do you hear it?” Cole asked.

Fenris scowled more deeply. “Hear what?” he said suspiciously.

“The song,” Cole said dreamily. “It plays, pulls, pulling the old blood, prying open and plucking your hearts like fingers on a mandolin.” His pale blue eyes drifted slowly to Fenris’s face. “Do you hear it?”

A chill ran down Fenris’s spine, and he folded his arms defensively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cole nodded slowly. “You will. It’s all right. I’ll help.” He meandered down the narrow corridor to Dorian’s quarters. 

Fenris glared at his back, then made his way up to the deck. He spent the next two hours maintaining the weapons inventory and sparring with Kaaras and Rylen, and when Hawke eventually emerged from the infirmary after her lessons with Anders, he was more than eager for her company. 

She smiled and bounced over to his side, but her face fell into worry as she drew near. “Was Piper angry that I interrupted your meeting?” she asked. “I didn’t mean to start blathering like that. I’m just so excited at the thought of going somewhere new.” She gasped suddenly, and her face lit up. “Do you think I should start getting tattoos for every place I go, like Piper has? Or maybe earrings like Dorian? I could get two new piercings already for Afsaana and Rialto! But I wonder how long it would take them to heal…” 

Fenris gazed at her with a swelling heart as she talked. She was so bright and optimistic despite her own painful past. She liked to talk – fasta vass, did she like to talk – but she listened just as intently, causing Fenris to tell her more than he had ever really meant to tell anyone. Her mere presence made his muscles relax, almost as though her nearness alone was as good as the stroke of her soothing hands on his skin, and… 

And Piper was right. Hawke was his silver lining, the silver lining that shone on him and made him feel brighter with every day in her presence.

He swallowed hard, then placed one hand at the small of her back. “Come with me.”

Her smile grew cheeky. “Where to?” she said innocently. 

He huffed. “You know exactly where,” he grumbled. He led her back to his quarters, and a minute later they were standing in the blessed privacy of his cabin once more. 

Without giving her time to speak, he tipped her chin up with one hand and kissed her. He tenderly cradled her throat as they kissed, stroking the delicate tendon that trailed down to her collarbone. 

She grasped his wrist and pulled his hand down to cup her breast, and Fenris broke their kiss to sigh against her lips. She was wearing no bustier or breastband, and her nipple was a hard little bead against his palm, separated from his skin only by the thin fabric of her shirt… 

He rolled her nipple between his fingers, and she arched her chest. “I take it your meeting went well, then?” she gasped.

He pressed his forehead to hers and cupped her neck in his palm once more. “Hawke,” he rasped. 

“Yes?” she breathed.

I love you, he thought. Hawke, I love you. He breathed hard for a moment and tried to force his frozen tongue to speak. Why was it so hard to say this? Why did this truth feel like foreign words on his tongue? 

He gazed with growing frustration at her guileless coppery eyes, then kissed her hard and walked her back toward the bed. He pushed her down and pulled off her shirt, and a few rushed heartbeats later they were naked on the bed, and he was rocking against her slickness and spreading her warmth over them both. 

He clasped her precious face in his hands. Her face was eager with lust, lips flushed and eyes wide as she returned his gormless stare. When Fenris flexed his hips and slid inside of her, her fingers tensed and dug into his hips. 

She arched her neck and released a beautiful little mewl of pleasure. Surrounded by her heat and her scent and her pleasured cries in his ears, Fenris finally found his tongue. 

“I love you,” he said. 

She looked at him sharply. When he didn’t look away, a huge and beautiful smile lit her face. 

She laughed breathlessly and tightened her arms around him. “Oh Fenris, you don’t… you don’t have to say it just because I said it so soon–”

He thrust into her once more, and she broke off with a gasp that he captured with his lips. He rolled his hips toward her, and when they were moving and breathing together in a perfect rhythm that made his pleasure pulse higher with every thrust, he broke their kiss and pulled back slightly to gaze into her eyes.  

“It has nothing to do with being too soon,” he panted. “I mean what I said. I love you, Rynne.”

Her smile was like a firework of joy bursting across her face, and Fenris gently wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. He moved slowly inside of her again, watching carefully as her smile morphed into a beautiful painting of pleasure, and with her every cry and every clenching of her fingers against his back, his own pleasure rose higher, lifting and surging with every forceful thrust of his hips until it crested in a wave of ecstasy. 

He shuddered and gasped into her parted lips. “Hawke,” he moaned. “I–”

She kissed him hard, and her arms enfolded him in a tight embrace. When his body was still and relaxed once more, she kissed his cheek, then pressed her lips to his ear. 

“I love you too, Fenris,” she whispered.

Her fingers curled in a soothing scratch at the back of his neck. Fenris sighed against her throat and closed his eyes. In the wake of the meeting he’d just had and the endeavour they were about to embark on, he should be feeling anxious and tense with the dangers that would likely come their way, no matter what precautions Piper and their whole crew would take. 

But here with Hawke, he didn’t feel tense. His body was sated and replete, and his chest felt deliciously full with all that he’d confessed, and this feeling of goodness and wellbeing was still so new and precious that all he wanted was to lie with Hawke and savour it.

And so he did. For the first time since Fenris had begun training her, he and Hawke took a break from their combat lessons. Instead, they lay tangled in his plain cotton sheets, and Hawke stroked his skin with her tender palms while he stroked the cries of ecstasy from her throat. And with every hour that they spent murmuring and moving together as the afternoon sunlight slid past his porthole window, Fenris’s perpetually-worried heart felt more and more at peace. 

There were risks looming ahead that couldn’t be avoided; he was certain of this. But for the first time that he could remember, he didn’t entirely mind. 

There may be clouds on the horizon, but with Hawke by his side, Fenris had a silver lining to brighten his way.

Please check out the art at the end of the chapter!! It’s amazing!!

[atinytokki]

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨

Chapter 5: The Kraken

It had been mildly stressful for Wooyoung as he’d worked under Jongho all morning with one eye on whatever task was at hand and the other eye on the island where he knew the Captain and those with him were scoping things out.

He had watched anxiously from the deck as sharks had surrounded the longboats on the way back and jumped in to help them aboard. San had grasped his hand and glanced up at him, fear in his eyes.

Neither of them had ever seen sharks attack like that.

He’d been having thoughts about running for it as soon as they found civilised land.

Captain Hongjoong seemed determined to sail east and face any obstacle without a thought for the lives of his crew and having seen the risks faced just that morning for whatever the Captain’s secret quest was, Wooyoung liked the idea of being alive.

It wasn’t so bad under Si-Hyuk if he remembered correctly, other than lack of pay and sparse meals. At least Si-Hyuk had stayed in familiar waters most of the time.

He was still curious about the unknown however, so that afternoon, Wooyoung caught a break and found San on deck gazing at Smokey Island.

“What was it like?” He asked. San turned to face him and worked his mouth into a small frown. “For me, not as exciting as last time Captain put me on boarding party.”

Wooyoung raised his eyebrows, remembering their conversation last night. Yeosang had jabbed at San for being scared of wild creatures because of something that had happened at their last stop. San went on to tell the tale without prompting.

“It was a few weeks back, we landed on another supposedly uninhabited island with caves on it, and of course we went in those caves to look for clues and such and, well, we found something else...”

San’s face turned red with embarrassment at the memory. “There was a dragon.”

Wooyoung’s jaw dropped. “A dragon? You’re sure it wasn’t just a large lizard-”

“No, it was a dragon. With wings. Breathed fire,” San cut him off matter-of-factly.

Wooyoung shook his head in amazement. “Yeosang didn’t believe it either,” San shrugged and went on with the story.

“The dragon was asleep on a pile of gold, and Captain warned us all to be quiet while we searched around for clues-”

“Clues?”

San shrugged again. “Evidence of other humans, anything to prove someone had been there. Captain always has us look for clues like that when we land on an island.”

Wooyoung wanted to ask more but San was already moving on with the story. “I was going through some very nice looking jewels towards the top of the pile when, well, I happened to lose my balance and dropped one... on the dragon’s face.”

Wooyoung’s eyes widened.

“I made a run for it and the others realised what had happened and followed but it was all we could do to get off the island before the dragon came flying out at top speed, scorching the whole place in fire. I could still feel the heat on my face as the ATEEZ sailed away,” San shivered at the memory. “No one was killed or injured but... that’s why I wasn’t sure about landing party this time. I knew Captain wasn’t happy I had caused any potential clues on Dragon Island to go up in flames, but I’m also not too keen on caves anymore.”

“Captain’s party went in the caves,” Wooyoung pointed out.

San nodded. “But all Mingi and I found was an empty cabin, an unreadable map, and some over-ambitious sharks.”

“Who do you think was here before?” Wooyoung asked him, trying again to get San to talk about what the point of this journey east was. But San simply shrugged.

“There’s no way for me to tell. Whoever they were, they’re dead now. Skeletons in the bottom of that cave,” he shivered again.

“I hear the skeletons had pirate clothing,” a familiar voice came from behind them. They turned to see Yeosang standing there with a pen and paper, apparently having just left the Captain’s quarters. This was news to Wooyoung.

“Who told you that?” San asked with an even tone.

“Captain,” Yeosang flashed a broad smile. “No offence, but Captain and Yunho’s story is a fair bit more interesting than yours and Mingi’s, San.”

San rolled his eyes but Wooyoung wanted to hear it. Yeosang went on to tell about how Yunho fell down the hole and found the skeletons and the gold and how Hongjoong broke up a fight and discovered the gold was cursed.

“It definitely sounds like a curse to me,” Wooyoung mumbled to himself, though he was immediately overheard by both San and Yeosang.

“I pity them, whoever they are,” Yeosang sighed.

“Well I don’t,” San contradicted quickly. “That’s what you get when you mess around with cursed treasure.”

“I don’t believe in curses,” Yeosang countered.

“Then how do you explain the skeletons?”

“Most likely they were trapped in there and killed each other as they went mad!”

Wooyoung interjected before the argument got out of hand again, “Didn’t Captain himself say the treasure was cursed, though?”

San smirked at Yeosang, thinking he had won Wooyoung over, but Yeosang was cool under pressure. “Captain can do and think what he wants, but until I have evidence—”

“That’s it!” San exclaimed, exasperated. “We’ve got to get him on landing party sometime! The rest of the crew has seen mermaids, witches, and dragons since this voyage started but you won’t even believe in curses until you see them yourself!”

Yeosang had to admit he did want to get on a landing party but a cry from the crow’s nest interrupted him.

“Something in the water!” All three heads whipped to the direction Yunho was pointing to from above and searched the water.

Sure enough, just off their port a dark shape moved alarmingly quickly toward them through the waves. Jongho materialised out of nowhere and instructed Wooyoung to ready the harpoons as the Captain and quartermaster came on deck.

Hongjoong handed the spyglass to Mingi. “It’s not a whale.”

Mingi caught a glimpse of tentacle and shuddered. He tried to rationalise, but both of them knew they were going to be dealing with something very unnatural.

“Squid? You know, we’re not even in deep water yet- I might’ve imagined that tentacle...”

He handed the spyglass back to Hongjoong who took a second look and shook his head, an uncomfortable feeling brewing in his chest. “It’s bigger than any squid I’ve seen,” he admitted before yelling up to Yunho, “What do you see?”

Yunho’s face was pale as he answered, “Kraken.”

“Impossible,” Yeosang who had joined them had his eyes fixed on the shape as it began to lift its head above the water.

Crew members sprung into action. Seonghwa had heard the commotion and was coming up from the hold when a massive tentacle shot across the width of the ship, almost knocking him off his feet. Yeosang let out a yelp and ran to the older pirate’s side.

“Let’s get you below deck, Yeosang,” Seonghwa took Yeosang’s arm but was stopped by San pulling on Yeosang’s other arm.

“No no! Let him watch! I’ll bet he didn’t believe in krakens before just now!”

Wooyoung had no experience with harpoons but was closely following Jongho’s instructions as quickly as possible. There were now two colossal tentacles stretched across the ship trying to cleave it in half, and a third tentacle was headed for the crow’s nest before the first harpoon was shot.

The kraken reeled back with an ear-splitting screech as the metal sunk into its flesh, but kept a tight hold on the ship, resisting the swords and gunfire pelting the other two tentacles. Now that it was angered, it fully raised itself out of the water.

Wooyoung swallowed as he realised its head was larger than the ATEEZ herself, and the shortest tentacle was at least long as the mainmast.

Mingi’s voice boomed out from the quarterdeck, “Don’t let it penetrate our hull! Keep all tentacles in sight and accounted for! Load the cannons!”

Jongho stood up suddenly and looked around at who was with him. Only Wooyoung and a few other powder monkeys who had been on deck were there, working with the harpoons.

Jongho ran below to bring the rest of the boys out and start readying the cannons, but was caught by Mingi. “Jongho, why aren’t the cannons loaded yet? Kraken at ten o’clock!”

Jongho shot him a look over his shoulder, “I’m trying to do two jobs here! Get yourself a master gunner and then you can complain!”

Mingi’s response was cut off by a tentacle shooting his direction and sticking its suction cups to his feet.

He hacked at it with his cutlass in a panic, but another tentacle grasped his arm and before he knew it he was being pulled up into the air. Jongho stretched his arm toward him as he realised what was happening, but the kraken was too quick.

Jongho watched, speechless, as Mingi was swung through the air until Hongjoong made his way to the railing and unloaded his musket on the base of the tentacle, severing it in half.

Mingi tumbled down into the water just as a black ink oozed out of the monster and began to spread. He surfaced, coughing and spluttering on the dark substance and reached for the ladder being tossed toward him.

He summoned all his strength and swam toward it, praying the kraken would be distracted by the cannon fire that was erupting from the deck.

Just as soon as Mingi had been hauled onboard, covered head to toe in black sticky ink, another crewman was snatched from the rigging.

Wooyoung saw Jongho being split between harpoons and cannons so he hastily loaded three of the closest cannons himself and instructed the other boys to bring more powder and cannonballs. He was surprised for a moment that they were obeying him without complaint but they were scared for their lives and knew Jongho was too busy with harpoons to give orders.

Urgently, he aimed the cannon nearest the monster at the base of the tentacle holding the crewman and fired it. His aim was impeccable and the arm detached and went limp, releasing the pirate.

Hongjoong turned from hacking the nearest tentacle to look at where the shot had come from. Their newest addition had successfully saved a fellow crew member.

As he prepared to lower the ladder into the water and rescue him, the Captain noticed something glinting in the hand of the pirate. It was the golden goblet from Smokey Island.

His eyes flew to the crewman’s face. It was the same one who had started the fight in the cave and evidently had stolen the cursed treasure against direct orders.

Enraged, Hongjoong pulled the man up by his collar and dragged him down to the prison hold without a single word. “I’ll deal with you later,” he hissed as he locked the metal cell and turned to go back on deck.

He was a few steps away when Seonghwa appeared at his side breathless and with bad news.

“Captain, the kraken’s made a hole in the ship.”

...

Taglist: @nightynightnyx

A/N: Another cliffhanger!! Don’t worry the next chapter will be along soon. Please like/reblog and support! <3

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[hookaroo]

A Captain’s Heart (32 of 32)

Chapter 1 Chapter 31

Rated T for language and graphic descriptions of injuries.

Also on FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12937105/1/A-Captain-s-Heart

Tagging @therooksshiningknight & @killian-whump by request :)

2 months later...

Killian Jones stepped aboard the lovely Jolly Roger, safely berthed in Storybrooke Harbor, her sails neatly furled for the time being. He automatically took in all of the details, checking her condition with a practiced eye as he made his way to the helm. Each step up to the quarterdeck chafed at the new, bittersweet rawness of his thigh. He trailed a tender hand along the wood, concluding with a fond pat on the spokes of the wheel itself. Then he turned to face the rest of the deck.

“Hello, love,” he murmured, reveling in the stillness of the moment, the faint breeze, the glassiness of the waves. He would always treasure his time aboard this glorious vessel; even more so now that he’d interacted with her living soul. “I have something to show you.”

He had been wearing loose sweatpants the last few days to accommodate the surprise in question, earning him more than one odd look as he interacted with the people of Storybrooke. But he didn’t care - the pain and inconvenience had been worth it. Rolling up the left leg, he tucked his hook beneath the fabric, near the top of his thigh. Then he peeled back the dressing that covered his newest tattoo.

Long weeks of recuperation had not been spent idle. Once his fractured wrist could tolerate gripping a pencil, Killian had spent hours sketching and perfecting his tribute, the design that now permanently graced his skin. More sessions would be needed to darken and perfect the scene, but even now, still unfinished, it was a thing of beauty. Much like the ship herself. Pictured cutting through gentle waves, the miniature Jolly Roger seemed to be on the verge of leaping into a brand new adventure. The long, pink furrow left by his hook had become the mainmast, and though the tattoo artist had advised against working over such a fresh scar, the results were flawless. Other accidental hook marks were cleverly disguised as rolling waves or seabirds, or the bowsprit at its rakish angle, racing toward an invisible horizon. And just below the hull, riding the crest of a playful wave, the single word, Marvel.

Killian traced the still-tender lettering of her name, a melancholy but affectionate smile on his face. “I wanted to thank you. For getting us home. For all that you sacrificed to do so. And before that… for everything else.”

He allowed the sweatpants leg to fall back into place, turning his gaze to take in the majesty of the ship above, her proud masts standing tall. The pennant bearing the crest of the Enchanted Forest royal family. The towering heights of the crow’s nest.

“For as long as we’ve been together, I’ve been assured of one thing - sometimes the only thing: that I could always count on you. My absolute marvel of a ship. My home. My only source of joy for many a long year. And I can’t thank you enough.”

He cast his face toward his adopted hometown. His wife, the family that warmed his heart in a way that he’d despaired of for so long. Emma was waiting for him at home; she had somehow known that he needed this time alone, and had gladly granted it. Killian gripped the wheel loosely, turning his focus back on the spirit that he now knew was listening to his every word.

“I may have gained a second home, another place to belong, much of which wouldn’t have been possible without your assistance. But even though I may not tread these decks as often, I hope you understand that I’ll always need you. I will treasure you for the rest of my days. And then, gods willing, perhaps some little pirates who come after me will inherit the honor.”

Glancing at the deck, he searched for any hint of Zeus’ potion staining the wood, but of course, all traces had long since disappeared. Quietly, he said,

“Regina and Emma are fairly certain that the magic immunity isn’t permanent. Give it a year, they say, and they’ll be back to waving away what ails me. You were exposed to a larger dose; it will likely take longer to wear off for you. When it does… perhaps we can contrive a way to bring back your human form. But even if we can’t…”

Killian paused, swallowed, and tightened his hand on the wheel. Resolve and sincerity colored his words as he voiced the promise he felt compelled to make.

“If I can convince you of this one thing… if you never believe anything else I ever say… please believe this: you will be taken care of. I know you’ve seen derelict ships, as I have, and the sight must pain you even more than it does me. But that will never be your fate. I will do whatever it takes to see to your maintenance, even after I’m gone. I swear this to you. And it’s the very least I can do in thanks for all you’ve done for me.”

Killian closed his eyes awhile and pictured Marvel’s face. He deliberately recalled her last moments: the sentiments she had expressed, the reasons for her sacrifice. And though the memory still brought a lump to his throat, it also inspired a quiet smile.

“I am happy, Marvel. I truly am. I miss you - gods, do I miss you. But because of you, I can go on enjoying this undeserved bliss. I wanted you to know that. Because… I want you to be happy, too.”

That was what always got to him the most. He could hear her clearly in his mind, expressing in so many ways her desire to be close to him. How much she had enjoyed interacting with him, and seeing his life on land… and her eventual preference for a human existence. She had given that up for love of him, and the thought never failed to bring tears to his eyes.

Killian ran a hand down his face and sniffed. “I was wrong before. In my interpretation of the old saying. It isn’t only the love of a captain for his ship that determines the status of his heart. It’s the ship’s loyalty to her captain; the utter compulsion to guard and protect that heart that signifies ‘belonging.’ And by surrendering your own desires... your hopes of ever being its sole possessor again… it’s like you gifted it to me, and only now am I free to do with it as I will.

“So here I am, giving it back to you. You have just as much claim to my heart as does Emma. I wouldn’t be able to explain it, but there it is.”

He shrugged, filled his lungs with cold sea air, and patted the wheel once more. Marvel’s seagull friend circled overhead, contentedly riding the breeze in search of an easy meal. Killian took a step toward the stairs, then stopped with a wry grin. “Almost forgot.”

From his coat pocket, he withdrew a silver chain with delicate links, old-fashioned in style but recognizable as a necklace. Dangling from the bottom was a sparkle of sapphire: Marvel’s earring, reworked into a lovely teardrop charm. With a few quick movements, he had wrapped the chain around the uppermost wheel spoke, tightly enough that even upside down, the necklace would not drop off. He backed up to survey his handiwork and broke into a broad grin. “It suits you.”

A larger than average swell nudged the ship then, and it was almost as if she were nodding in agreement. The blue charm wiggled an enthusiastic accompaniment. And Killian continued to smile all the way to the gangplank. His parting words were a contented assurance, given to the invisible presence always looking forward to his return.

“See you tomorrow. My beautiful Marvel.”

AN: A million thanks to everyone who stuck with this until the end! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it! Extra special thanks for all of the wonderful comments. I may not have replied to every single one, but I treasured them all!

Coming up next is my contribution to the OUAT Winter Whump event! Posting begins November 30.

Hope to see you all again for future adventures with our faves!

[distant-rose]

Ro’s Gigantic Masterpost of Pirate Information (That No One Asked For)

Notes: Hi folks! It’s me again! I should be writing shitty fan fiction but instead I’m trying to do you all a solid and share all the notes I’ve compiled on pirates and piracy over the course of outlining and writing Beth’s segment of my LP series. I won’t link you to it, but if you like OUAT, Captain Swan and semi-realistic original characters I suggest giving it a shot. Anyway, I’m a fucking nerd who does way more research that most people do for their dissertations on fan fiction of all things. However, along with being a nerd, I try to and constantly fail to be a good person and be transparent with my research so you can not only understand my thought process but use it yourselves. So, without further ado, I give you my master post on all the pirate information you need to possibly write pirate fanfiction.

PARTS OF A SHIP

Aft (or abaft) - At, in, toward, or close to the rear of the ship

Amidshop – the middle of aship

Ballast – Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship to enhance stability

Beam - A piece of timber perpendicular to the sides of a ship which supports the deck. Also used to identify objects in relation to objects perpendicular to the ship that are visible from the port or starboard side.

Bilge – 1) The lowest part inside the ship, within the hull itself which is the first place to show signs of leakage. The bilge is often dank and musty, and considered the most filthy, dead space of a ship. 2) Nonsense, or foolish talk.

Bilge water - Water inside the bilge, sometimes referred to as "bilge" itself.

Bittacle - A box on the deck of a ship holding the ship’s compass.

Boom - A horizontal pole along the bottom edge of a mast to which the mast is fastened.

Boom Chain - A chain or other obstacle strung between two points across a body of water to impede navigation, sometimes strung between a boat and shore.

Bow - The front of a ship.

Bowsprit - The slanted spar at a ship's prow jutting out in front of the ship. It is usually used as a lead connection for a small navigational sail.

Broadside - A general term for the vantage on another ship of absolute perpendicular to the direction it is going. To get along broadside a ship was to take it at a very vulnerable angle. This is of course, the largest dimension of a ship and is easiest to attack with larger arms. A "Broadside" has come to indicate a hit with a cannon or similar attack right in the main part of the ship.

Bulkhead - A partition or dividing wall within the hull of a ship.

Cablestore – Lowest storage section, often hidden and used for contraband

Crow’s Nest - A small platform, sometimes enclosed, near the top of a mast, where a lookout could have a better view when watching for sails or for land.

Focsle (Forecastle) – 1) The section of the upper deck of a ship located at the bow forward of the foremast. 2) A superstructure at the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed.

Gangplank - A board or ramp used as a removable footway between a ship and a pier.

Gangway - 1) A passage along either side of a ships upper deck. 2) A gangplank. 3) An interjection used to clear a passage through a crowded area.

Gunwale (gunnel, gunwall) - The elevated side edges of a boat which strengthen its structure and act as a railing around the gun deck. In warships the gunwale has openings where heavy arms or guns are positioned.

Helm - The steering wheel of a ship which controls the rudder.

Hold - A large area for storing cargo in the lower part of a ship.

Hull - The body of a ship.

Jacob’s Ladder - A rope ladder with wooden rungs used to access a ship from the side.

Keel - The underside of a ship which becomes covered in barnacles after sailing the seas.

Killick - A small anchor, especially one made of a stone in a wooden frame.

Lee - The side away from the direction from which the wind blows.

Mizzenmast - The largest and, perhaps, most important mast. It is the third mast or the mast aft of a mainmast on a ship having three or more masts.

Poop deck - The highest deck at the stern of a large ship, usually above the captains quarters.

Main - The longest mast located in the middle of a ship.

Port - The left side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow opposite of starboard).

Prow - The forwardmost area of the ship.

Quarterdeck - The after part of the upper deck of a ship.

Rigging - The system of ropes, chains, and tackle used to support and control the masts, sails, and yards of a sailing vessel.

Rudder - A flat piece of wood at the stern of a ship that dips into the water and is used for steering. The rudder is controlled at the helm.

Scuppers - Openings along the edges of a ship's deck that allow water on deck to drain back to the sea rather than collecting in the bilge.

Scuttle - 1) A small opening or hatch with a movable lid in the deck or hull of a ship. 2) To sink by means of a hole in a ships hull.

Stern - The rear part of a ship.

Starboard - The right side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow (opposite of port).

Sternpost - An upright beam at the stern bearing the rudder.

Tack - 1) The lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail. 2) The position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails. 3) The act of repositioning a sail in order to change which side the wind catches it.

Transom - Any of several transverse beams affixed to the sternpost of a wooden ship and forming part of the stern.

Yardarm - 1) Either end of a yard of a square sail. 2) The main arm across the mast which holds up the sail. The yardarm is a vulnerable target in combat, and is also a favorite place from which to hang prisoners or enemies. Black Bart hung the governor of Martinique from his yardarm.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SHIPS

Bark - Bark (or Barque) were light and fast ships with a shallow draft. Because of its small size and a specific design, the pirates favored and often used bark. It usually carried at least three masts. They were all rigged with the square sails, except on the mizzen-mast, which was rigged with the fore-and-aft sails. This type of ship was the most popular in the 19th century. An average capacity of a bark was 500 tons and she could carry up to 100 men. Barques were also designed with four or five masts, and those versions had much higher capacity. A bark was also mentioned as a general term for any small-sized ship.

Brigantine (Brigs)*** - The brigs were quite small ships, one of the smallest in a long period, with only 150 - 250 tons of capacity. Therefore, they were extremely fast. The other advantage was that brig had supreme maneuver abilities. Ship required a lot of skilled men to control it. It contained two masts, both square rigged. They were mostly used as the merchant ships, but sometimes even for a war purposes. The brigs were very similar to the snows and brigantines, but with some varieties. While brigantine's fore-mast was also square rigged, basic difference was that the main-mast carried fore-and-aft sails. This was the big advantage because a brigantine sailed fast in every possible wind condition. There was also a hermaphrodite brig (brig-schooner) which was almost identical to a brig, except the main-mast was lateen-rigged.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IS THE SHIP TYPE OF THE JOLLY ROGER.

Caravel - Probably the most used ship of the 15th century, but also used in the 16th and 17th. The original, Mediterranean version, was lateen rigged (the sails shaped like triangle) on the two masts. Later, Spanish and Portuguese developed caravel into a three-masted shipwith the first two masts square rigged and lateen rigged on the mizzen-mast. Some caravels even had four masts. They were small sized ships (from 80 to 130 tons), about 75 feet long. They were also highly maneuverable. Because of a shallow hull, the caravels were mostly used for a long voyages and the exploration of the African coast. Sometimes they were mounted with the guns and used as a warship. A big weakness was a lack of cargo capacity and the small living quarters. Even Christopher Columbus used two caravels for his famous expedition in 1492. One of them was his famous flagship, the “Santa Maria”.

Carrack - It was most popular at the end of the 15th and in the 16th century. In the beginning carrack were used mostly as a merchant ship. However, in the 16th century, it was upgraded with all new equipment to prevent pirate's attacks. Carracks were first ships with the guns mounted low in the hull. Such powerful and well-armed ships were used as the warships. An example was King Henry VIII's “Mary Rose”. They were the largest ships in that period, usually over 1,000 tons. A carrack sometimes had two or four masts, but usually was three-masted, first two square-rigged and lateen rigged on the mizzen-mast. As a carrack developed, the topsails were added on the main-mast and the fore-mast. This ship also featured a high forecastle and stern which allowed big crew and large fighting tops. The carracks were mostly used by the Spanish and Portuguese and they were similar to the galleons and caravels.

Dutch Flute - Dutch flute was the most seen in European waters in the beginning of the 17th century. The ships were usually three-masted with first two square-rigged and lateen rigged on the mizzen-mast. With a very large capacity for its size, this ship was most common cargo carrier in that period. The other advantage that Dutch flute had over the other ships was a low expenses and big benefits. They were inexpensive to build and required a small crew. The pirates favored to attack this type of ship because it was lightly armed or even unarmed. Dutch flute's weight was around 300 ton, and they were generally 80 foot long.

Frigate - the first frigates appeared in the 17th Century. It was a medium-sized class of a warship with an average weight of 1,000 tons. They were three-masted ships with the square sails, raised forecastle and quarterdeck. Also there were 24 to 40 mounted guns on a two and a half gun decks. The advanced, two decked versions had up to 70 guns. There were many purposes for the frigates like escort, patrols, scouting, shore bombardment… They were also used to hunt and defend against the pirates and privateers. Inside a ship, there was a space usually for 50 to 200 crewmembers. A big advantage of those ships was speed and great maneuverable abilities for its size, but the frigates could not stand a chance in the engagements against the larger warships like a ship-of-the-line.

Galleon - The galleons were designed and developed by Spanish during the 15th to the 17th century. The galleons were used as a treasure and merchant ships as many others used in that period. However, many pirates were attracted by their large cargo, so they were armed well and sometimes they had been used as the warships. It was a large ship with an average capacity of 500 tons, and had a great speed for its size. Most galleons have three masts, two square rigged with a lateen sail on the stern-most mast. Two or more gun decks were also included with 70-100 guns. The poop deck was raised high and a crew counted 200-400 sailors. People say that galleon was the evolution of a caravel and was more maneuverable.

Galley - Galley had a long history, dating back to the ancient times. They were used widely by the pirates of the Barbary Coast in the Mediterranean in the 15th and the 16th century. They were usually long and lean, with one or more masts rigged with the lateen sails. However, the main source of speed didn't come from the masts. It came from the oars rowed by salves or convicts below the flush deck. A galley had a shallow draft and only one deck. There were only few guns mounted because the attacks were usually based on manpower. Therefore, 100 or more pirates were always ready to overpower the other crew. Perhaps the most famous one was the “Adventure Galley”. It was made in England for Captain William Kidd's privateering work in 1695.

Schooner - A schooner could reach up to 11 knots in the right conditions, carried up to 75 crewmen and had 8-12 guns. All those features enabled the pirates to navigate easily in shallow waters and shoals, allowing them quick escape or to attack suddenly. There were usually two-masted, but also there were versions which had three or four masts. All masts were fore-and-aft rigged. A disadvantage was that schooners had limited cruising range.

Ship of the Line - These gigantic overpowering warships were certainly the most powerful ships from the 16th to the 18th century. They were similar to frigate in design, but also very expensive and luxurious. Many skilled sailors were required to control that enormous ship. There were usually over 850 men aboard. More than 100 guns were mounted on two, three or even four decks. Their weight was around 1,000 tons. Like many other ships in that period, ship-of-the-line had 3 masts. The fore-mast and main-mast were always square-rigged and the mizzen-mast was sometimes rigged with fore-and-aft sails. The modern battleships have been associated with this type of ship.

Sloop - Despite it was a small ship, a sloop was certainly the most popular ship among the pirates. That's because they were fast (11 knots), highly maneuverable, and have a shallow hull. The sloops easily sailed over shoals. They were fast even without the wind because of a few pair of oars. That's why a sloop made a perfect fit for any quick pirates' action. It usually had only the main-mast which was fore-and-aft-rigged. Sloop was rarely two masted. There was also at least one jib before mast. A crew usually contains up to 75 men and 14 guns. Length was 60 feet and weight around 100 tons. The naval sloop was a bigger version which was upgraded with more guns for the military purposes.

Snow - A snow had been the largest two-masted ship for many centuries. His weight was around 1000 tons. As almost an identical ship to a brig, snow carried the square sails on both fore-mast and main-mast. A snow was also equipped with an additional trysail mast (used during storm to keep a ship from the wind) which was behind the main-mast. These ships were used for both, battle and merchant purposes. Usually around 80 seamen were boarded. A battle version (Naval Snow) was larger and better armed for the military purposes. Up to 10 cannons were mounted on only one gun deck. Mainly used by the British, this type of the ships was commonly employed by Royal Navy for a pirate hunting.

ATTACK TACTICS

Pirate ships usually carried far more crew than ordinary ships of a similar size. This meant they could easily outnumber their victims. Pirates altered their ships so that they could carry far more cannon than merchant ships of the same size. Stories about pirate brutality meant that many of the most famous pirates had a terrifying reputation, and they advertised this by flying various gruesome flags including the 'Jolly Roger' with its picture of skull and crossbones. All these things together meant that victims often surrendered very quickly. Sometimes there was no fighting at all. It's likely that most victims of pirates were just thrown overboard rather than being made to ‘walk the plank’.

NOTABLE POSITIONS ON A CREW

Captain - Unlike in the Royal Navy or merchant service, where the captain was a man with a great deal of experience and complete authority, a pirate captain was voted on by the crew and his authority was only absolute in the heat of battle or when giving chase. At other times, the captain's wishes could be dismissed by a simple majority vote of the crew. Pirates tended to like their captains to be not too aggressive and not too meek. A good captain had to know when a potential victim was too strong for them, without letting weaker quarry get away.

First Mate - The first mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the ship's cargo and deck crew. Mediator between Captain and Quartmaster. Nominated by the Captain. Often acts as the ship’s financial officer/purser

Cabin Boy - A boy (in the sense of low-ranking young male employee, not always a minor in the juridical sense) who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship,especially running errands for the captain.

Navigator - Officers in charge of navigation and piloting. It was a very hard job because charts in those days were usually inaccurate or nonexistent.

Quartermaster - Pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy elevated the rank of quartermaster to much higher powers and responsibilities than it had aboard any merchant or naval vessel. The quartermaster was often granted a veto power by a pirate ship's "Articles of Agreement", in order to create an officer who could counterbalance the powers of the pirate captain. Pirate quartermasters, like pirate captains, were usually elected by their crews.

Boatswain - Junior officers. They were people who supervised all activities on a ship. Depending on the size of the ship and crew, they could have one or several duties. Duties ranged from anchoring to naval provisions. They reported to the Quartermaster or the Captain.

Cooper - Wooden barrels were very valuable, as they were the best way to store food, water and other necessities of life at sea. Every ship needed a cooper or a man skilled in making and maintaining barrels. Existing storage barrels had to be inspected regularly. Empty barrels were broken up to make space on small ships. The cooper would quickly put them back together if they stopped to take on food and water.

Carpenter  - The carpenter was in charge of the ship’s structural integrity. He generally answered to the Boatswain and would fix holes after combat, keep the masts and yardarms sound, and functional and know when the ship needed to be beached for maintenance and repairs. Ship's carpenters had to make do with what was at hand, as pirates usually could not use official dry docks in ports. Many times they would have to make repairs on some deserted island or stretch of beach, using only what they could scavenge or cannibalize from other parts of the ship.

Surgeon - Those that had them probably pressed surgeons into service. From surgeons, crew expected, to help them with diseases and wounds. Without proper medicines, every wound could become a source of infection, so amputations were often necessary in order save patient's life.

Cook - In charge of meals and food storage. Most ships nominated a crew member to take of meal preparation rather than hire someone who specialized.

Gunner/Powder Monkey - In charge of those who operated on the artillery. They watched for the safety of their man and usually aimed the cannons themselves.

Rigger - Riggers were the sailors whose job it was to manage the rigging and perform duties such as furl and release the sails. This was one of the most dangerous pirate crew positions due to the danger of slipping and falling high above the deck.

Bard  - Musicians were popular on board. Piracy was a tedious life, and a ship could spend weeks at sea waiting to find a suitable victim. Musicians helped to pass the time, and having some skill with a musical instrument brought with it certain privileges, such as playing while the others were working or even increased shares. Musicians were often taken off of the ships of their victims.

Justice/Codes/Terms of Agreement

The distribution of justice was a practice commonly adopted by pirates. Ships operated as limited democracies (for more details, see pirate code) and imposed their ideas of justice upon the crew of the ship that they captured. After capture, the crew would be questioned as to whether they had suffered cruel or unjust treatment from the commander of the ship. Any commanders "against whom Complaint was made" would be punished or even executed. This punishment was not indiscriminately given to all ship's commanders. An "honest Fellow that never abused any Sailors" would be rewarded, and sometimes freed. This distribution of justice was seen as of profound importance by pirates. Bartholomew Roberts' crew even designated a member of his crew, George Wilson, as their "Dispenser of Justice". Linebaugh and Rediker describe the early eighteenth-century pirate ship as "democratic in an undemocratic age" as well as "egalitarian in a hierarchical age, as pirates divided their plunder equally, leveling all the elaborate structure of pay ranks common to all other maritime employments."

Pirates during this time period "distributed justice, elected officers, divided loot equally, and establish a different discipline. They limited the authority of the captain, resisted many of the practices of the capitalists merchant shipping industry, and maintained a multicultural, multiracial, multinational social order."

Before a pirate ship left port all pirates collaborated and signed a document called the articles of agreement, also known as the pirate code. The pirate code was a group of rules that all pirates had to follow aboard a ship. Some of these included things like keeping ones weapons at ready at all times and not smoking near gunpowder. Others were curfews for drinking and partying below deck and efforts to curtail gambling which created internal conflicts. Overall, pirates were pretty democratic but the punishments for breaking the agreed upon articles was often severe.

The ships articles would determine what shares each pirate got along with regulations for inter-group fighting and discipline. They would also regulate what happened when things like loss of limb or eyes occurred. It was more or less an extension of the broader pirate governments that they all resided under.

While it may seem unfathomable today in the age of nations and superpowers, there was a very real possibility that existed in the 18th century during the Post Spanish Succession Period for the Flying Gang pirates to actually establish their own republic in the West Indies if they chose to, expounding on the fledgling Republic of Pirates that was started on Nassau.

In fact, this idea scared the ruling classes of the imperial powers so much it was the driving reason behind the extermination of their former soldiers and privateers. Branded as pirates by the world governments, these men were secretly loved by the community due to their pursuits against the tyranny and oppression of the time. It is also hard to imagine a pirate government as well, a complete libertarian society ruled by a much different and decentralized structure that stood in start contrast to the monarchy model that even persists today.

While pirates championed the ideas of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness long before the founding fathers of America they also lived one of the most grueling and toughest lifestyles. Life aboard a wooden sailing ship was little better in the 18th century as it was in the 16th century and your home could one day become your tomb. Therefore while the pirate captain was elected by his crew there was also a level of strictness incorporated with life aboard the ship. This was necessary for survival and while the pirates surely enjoyed themselves in port they needed a code in order to survive on the high seas.

Pirate Code of Captain Charles Johnson and Bartholomew Roberts

Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.

Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes, because over and above their proper share, they are allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.

None shall game for money either with dice or cards.

The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.

Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.

He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.

None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately. If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draw the first blood shall be declared the victor.

No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.

The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.

The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favor only

Examples of punishments commonly seen on pirate ships:

Being cast adrift for any rule breaking

Being shot for stealing

Getting 40 lashes for fighting onboard

Restricted food privileges for gambling onboard

LIFE ABOARD A PIRATE SHIP - A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME

A mariner’s life was anything but comfortable. He lived belowdecks in dim, cramped, and filthy quarters. Rats and cockroaches abounded in the bowels of the ship. Privacy was nonexistent, especially aboard a pirate ship where two hundred men might inhabit a world measuring one hundred twenty by forty feet. Within the pages of Five Naval Journals 1789-1817, an anonymous sailor said, “On the same deck with me…slept between five and six hundred men; and the ports being necessarily closed from evening to morning, the heat in this cavern of only six feet high, and so entirely filled with human bodies, was overpowering.”

Bathroom facilities were primitive. Rotting provisions, bilgewater, and unwashed bodies made the air rank. A storm meant days of dampness after it passed. Headroom between decks posed problems for taller men. Captain Rotheram of the HMS Bellerophon, whose gun deck headroom measured five feet eight inches, surveyed his crew and found they averaged five feet five inches in height.

According to a sailor named Barrow, “There are no men under the sun that fare harder and get their living more hard and that are so abused on all sides as we poor seamen…so I could wish no young man to betake himself to this calling unless he had good friends to put him in place or supply his wants, for he shall find a great deal more to his sorrow than I have writ.” For these reasons most sailors were in their mid-twenties, having gone to sea much earlier. Whether pirate or seaman, they had to have stamina and dexterity that older men no longer possessed. They also spent from three months to several years away from home.

Added to these problems were the dangers inherent in a sailor’s life. He might plummet to his death while working the sails high above the deck. He might fall overboard, in which case the ship rarely returned for him and few sailors knew how to swim. Plus there was the danger of sharks in tropical waters. Then there was the danger of fire or shipwreck. Also, the dull routine that was the norm between the sighting of sail and boarding a prize, numbed sailors’ minds. Accidents and natural disasters certainly claimed sailors’ lives, as did sea fights, but men were far more likely to succumb to disease than anything else. Scurvy, dysentery, tuberculosis, typhus, smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever killed half of all seamen.  According to David Cordingly, “It has been calculated that during the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France of 1793 to 1815 approximately 100,000 British seamen died. Of this number 1.5 per cent died in battle, 12 per cent died in shipwrecks or similar disasters, 20 per cent died from shipboard or dockside accidents, and no less than 65 per cent died from disease.” 

Another aspect of life at sea involved sailors’ leisure time. Whether pirate or not, they enjoyed many of the same activities, only the amount differed, particularly where drink was concerned. While gambling did occur, it wasn’t conducive to harmony amongst the men, and even the pirates included it as an intolerable infraction in their articles of agreement. Chewing tobacco, scrimshaw, and embroidery were popular pastimes. They also spun yarns about fearsome ghosts and goblins. When pirates boarded a prize, musicians were among the most sought after sailors enlisted into the ranks of the pirates, whether they joined willingly or were forced, because pirates loved entertainment.

Why did sailors take the extra risk of going on the account? Piracy offered a number of advantages, not the least of which was freedom from the harsh discipline suffered in the Royal Navy or aboard a merchantman. Pirates rarely flogged their mates, and while marooning and death were severe forms of punishment, they never endured six hundred lashes, swallowing cockroaches or iron bolts to learn a lesson. Nor would a pirate captain dare to cut out an eye as happened to Richard Desbrough.9  Life on land was equally fraught with cruel punishments, for use of the thumbscrew, pillory, and branding iron were still in use. “Children as young as seven, both boys and girls, were hanged. …[I]n 1698, Parliament had passed a law that the theft of good, worth more than five shillings, rated the death penalty.”

When a sea captain refused to join his crew, one pirate said, “Damn ye, you are a sneaking puppy and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security, for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they got by their knavery. But damn ye altogether. Damn them for a pack of craft rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, then there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage; had ye not better make one of use, than sneak after the arses of those villains for employment?”

 Aside from freedom, the financial rewards were far greater as a pirate than as a legitimate sailor, especially since pirates shared their plunder more equitably than privateers or the navy did. Gold, silver, silks, spices, timber, and a variety of other commodities made lucrative prizes. A privateer in the early seventeenth century might receive £10, the wages of most sailors for one year. A pirate, on the other hand, had the potential of earning up to £4,000 in a year, although he rarely held onto his ill-gotten gains for long. In 1695, Captain Avery and his men captured the Gunsway, and netted about £1,000 each. In 1721, pirates under John Taylor and Oliver la Buze netted £875,000 after seizing a Portuguese East Indiaman.  

FOOD

The first couple of weeks at sea was full of meat, cheese, fresh veggies, eggs, and you name it.  After that the food slowly but surely started to spoil, rot, mold and go rancid. That's why most of the food in storage was either dry beans, pickled food or salted food like salted meat. The quality and variety of the food was certainly found lacking after a few months at sea. Chickens were kept for the eggs until they were eaten or died. Cows were kept for the milk until the food supply for the cow had depleted.  When the cow no longer had food to live, it was then time to eat the cow. 

In the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic period, seamen ate a rather bland and routine diet. On Mondays they ate cheese and duff (flour pudding), Tuesdays and Saturdays boiled beef, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays dried peas and duff. On Sundays they were served dried pork and Figgy Dowdy or a similar treat. Supper consisted of leftovers from dinner, a biscuit, and a pint of grog. In contrast, on 14 August 1781, a rear-admiral served twelve dinners one meal that included: boiled ducks smothered with onions, roast goose, tarts, beaten butter, potatoes, French beans, whipped cream, fruit fritters, bacon, apple pie, boiled fowl, carrots and turnips, albacore, Spanish fritters, boiled beef, and roast mutton.

The meat was frequently rotten and it was very common to see maggots.  The bread was full of weevils, even the hardtack sea biscuits which usually lasted for up to 12 months if kept dry.  To restock their provisions, pirates stole from the ships they seized. They also supplemented their diets with dolphins, albacore tuna, and other varieties of fish. One particular food was the green turtle. They “are extremely good to eat--the flesh very sweet and the fat green and delicious. This fat is so penetrating that when you have eaten nothing but turtle flesh for three or four weeks, your shirt becomes so greasy from sweat you can squeeze the oil out and your limbs are weighed down with it.”8 They enjoyed salamagundi, which resembled a chef’s salad. Marinated bits of fish, turtle, and meat were combined with herbs, palm hearts, spiced wine, and oil, then served with hard-boiled eggs, pickled onions, cabbage, grapes, and olives. Pirates also ate yams, plantains, pineapples, papayas, and other fruits and vegetables indigenous to the tropics.

Pirates were known to catch a sea turtle here and there which was a welcomed meal.  Bones from everything was kept to make Pirate Bone Soup for when the going got rough.

 Bone Soup was eaten thick or drank thin by sea pirates. Life at Sea was difficult so "Pirate Bone Soup" was made from anything and everything from animal bones, fish bones to even bone and flesh from rats that were living aboard the ships when rations were low. In the Caribbean, they also caught turtle for fresh meat which was sometimes added to soups. Bone Soup has always had a history of being healing and helpful to the body but in the case of Pirate Bone Soup, it was cooked with the idea to simply stay alive during long sea voyages.  Pirate Bone Soup may of carried alot of calcium value from all the stewing bones but there would of been a lot of unhealthy things in the soup as well. such as: diseased rats, close to rottening meat, maggots, weevils, etc. 

Galley cooks were known to use a lot of herbs and spices to cover up the taste of spoiled ingredients. Vegetables and meat were usually pickled or salted to preserve the food.  Ships on long voyages relied on biscuits, dried beans and salted beef to live. Without proper food, many sailors got sick and died of scurvy.

Popular/common foods:

Sauerkraut

Bombo

Hard tack

Oats

Salamagundi

Salted meats

Turtle meat

Fish

Dehydrated vegetables like peas

Bone Soup

Vinegar

Pickled fruits

Pickled limes and lemons

MORE GENERAL/STANDARD ALLOATION OF FOOD OVER A WEEK FOR SHORT TRIPS (2 WEEKS/1 MONTH):

4 pounds of salted beef

2 pounds of salted pork

2 pint of peas

3 pints of oats

6 ounces of butter

12 ounces of cheese

1 pound of bread per day

1 gallon of beer/ale/alcoholic beverage per day

ALSO NOTE: FOOD STORAGE ISSUES AND STARVATION WERE COMMON: When their provisions ran scarce, pirates did resort to extreme measures. Charlotte de Berry’s crew purportedly ate two slaves and her husband. In 1670, Sir Henry Morgan’s crew ate their leather satchels. According to written accounts, they cut the leather into strips. After soaking these, they beat and rubbed the leather with stones to tenderize them. They scraped off the hair, then roasted or grilled the strips before cutting them into bite-size pieces.

FASHION

Pirate clothing would have been made out of materials such as linen, wool, silk, hemp or fustian. These materials were readily available in the Caribbean at the time and would have also incorporated some tanned leather for armor.

A big hoop earring on a sailor meant that he had sailed around the world or had crossed the equator. Superstitious sailors wore gold hoop earrings because they believed it brought good fortune. Some believed that the gold possessed magic healing powers or that it served as a protective talisman that would prevent the wearer from drowning. As strange as it may seem, some pirates believed that wearing earrings helped protect their hearing. They had good reason to want to protect it since they were often firing huge cannons and found themselves near extremely loud noises. The dangling wax from the earrings was used to plug their ears when shots were fired. Gold earrings were often sold post-mortem to pay for funeral costs. Some pirates even got the name of their home port engraved on their earrings in the hopes that a kind soul would send their body home (by bearing the expenses through the sale of their earrings, of course). 

Eye patches were worn but not to cover a missing eye.  The purpose of the eyepatch wasn’t to hide a missing eye as much as it was to help improve night vision. This was required for their job. During a raid, they had to run between, over, and under the deck. The eyepatch let them see clearly in both the bright light on the deck and in the darkness underneath.

Tattoos were also seen as lucky. Seafarers would usually tattoo a nautical star on their bodies as the North Star represented a signal that they were nearing home.

Cutting ones hair, nail trimming, and being clean shaven were seen as big no-nos.

NOTE: Sewing was a valuable skill at sea. Most sailors knew how to sew or would make a profit by fixing the clothes of crewmates.

VIEWS ON SEXUALITY

The truth may be more interesting than the fiction. Pirates rejected puritan society and were socially very liberal. They openly welcomed homosexuality and even had their own form of gay marriage. Matelotage was a civil partnership between two male pirates. Matelotage partners openly had sex with each other. The men shared their property, had the other as their named inheritor, and lived together. 

It just wasn’t always a strictly monogamous enterprise. Just as today, sexuality is a spectrum, and the relationships were sometimes bisexual. When the French sent hundreds of prostitutes into Tortuga in the mid-1600s, they were trying to counter matelotage. The result was not what they expected. The fluid sexuality of the pirate community welcomed the prostitutes and many engaged in threesomes with the women.

PIRATES AND WOMEN

While piracy was predominantly a male occupation throughout history, a minority of pirates were female. Female pirates, like other women in crime, faced gender and discrimination issues in both practicing this occupation and being punished for it. Pirates did not allow women onto their ships very often. Additionally, women were often regarded as bad luck among pirates. It was feared that the male members of the crew would argue and fight over the women. On many ships, women (as well as young boys) were prohibited by the ship's contract, which all crew members were required to sign

Because of the resistance to allowing women on board, many female pirates did not identify themselves as such. Anne Bonny, for example, dressed and acted as a man while on Captain Calico Jack's ship. She and Mary Read, another female pirate, are often identified as being unique in this regard.  However, it is possible many women dressed as men during the Golden Age of Piracy, in an effort to take advantage of the many rights, privileges, and freedoms that were exclusive to men.

Some women chose to marry pirates. These men were often very wealthy, but their wives tended not to gain wealth as a result of their marriages, as it was difficult for pirates to send home wages and booty earned overseas. These women's houses and establishments were often used as safe havens for pirates, who were considered enemies of all nations.

 During the Golden Age of Piracy, many men had to leave home to find employment or set sail for economic reasons.  This left women with the responsibilities of taking on traditionally male roles and filling the jobs that were left behind. The need for women to fill these roles led them to be granted rights that had historically been exclusive to men. Women were allowed to trade, own ships, and work as retailers. Often they were innkeepers or ran alehouses. In some seaside towns, laws were even written to allow widows to keep their husbands' responsibilities and property. This was important to local economies, as alehouses and other such establishments were centers of commerce, where pirates would congregate and trade with each other and with the people onshore.

As heads of these establishments, women had a considerable amount of freedom in business. They boarded and fed pirates, bought illegally pirated goods, acted as pawnbrokers for pirates, and even gave out loans - something many men, let alone women, viewed with great caution in that time period. At times, female business owners would even hide their clients when authorities came looking to arrest them for piracy.

Women noted as pirates in history

Viking Age and medieval pirates

Rusila (Norwegian) - Fought against her brother Thrond for the thrones of both Denmark and Norway. Possibly fictional. Recorded in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum (History of the Danes). Johannes Steenstrup linked her to the Ingean Ruadh (Red Maid) of Irish folklore.

Stilka (Norwegian) - Sister of Rusila: Became a pirate to avoid marriage. Recorded in the Gesta Danorum

Princess Sela (Norwegian) - Sister of Koller, king of Norway. Horwendil (later to be father of Amleth/Hamlet) was King of Jutland but gave up the throne to become a pirate. Koller "deemed it would be a handsome deed" to kill the pirate and sailed to find the pirate fleet. Horwendil killed Koller but had to later kill Sela, who was a skilled warrior and experienced pirate, to end the war. Recorded in the Gesta Danorum.

Alvid (Norwegian) - Leader of a group of male and female pirates. Also recorded in the Gesta Danorum.

Wigbiorg, Hatha and Wisna (Norwegian) - All three are listed in the Gesta Danorum as sea captains. Wigbiorg died in battle, Hetha became queen of Zealand, and Wisna lost a hand in a duel.

Alfhild (Swedish) - Existence is disputed. Often wrongly dated to the 5th century.

Ladgerda (Norwegian) - Ladgerda is the inspiration for Hermintrude in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Aethelflaed aka The Lady of the Mercians (English) - Eldest daughter of Alfred the Great of England. Became the military leader of the Anglo-Saxons after her husband's death in battle against the Danes in 911. Took command of the fleets to rid the seas of the Viking raiders.

Jeanne de Clisson aka Lioness of Brittany (Breton) - A Breton woman who became a pirate to avenge the execution of her husband. Attacked only French vessels.

Elise Eskilsdottir (Norwegian) - A Norwegian noble who became a pirate to avenge the execution of her husband. She operated outside the sea of the city of Bergen.

16th Century pirates

Gráinne Ní Mháille (Irish) - Gráinne Ní Mháille was Queen of Umaill, chieftain of the Ó Máille clan and a pirate in 16th century Ireland. She is an important figure in Irish folklore, and a historical figure in 16th century Irish history, and is sometimes known as "The Sea Queen Of Connaught". Biographies of her have been written primarily in the 20th and 21st centuries by the historian Anne Chambers.

Sayyida al Hurra (Moroccan) - Allied with the Turkish corsair Barbaros of Algiers. al Hurra controlled the western Mediterranean Sea while Barbaros controlled the eastern. Also prefect of Tétouan. In 1515 she became the last person in Islamic history to legitimately hold the title of "al Hurra" or Queen following the death of her husband who ruled Tétouan. She later married the King of Morocco, Ahmed al-Wattasi, but refused to leave Tétouan to do so. This marriage is the only time in Moroccan history a King has married away from the capital Fez.

Lady Mary Killigrew (English) - Mary was the daughter of a former Suffolk pirate. Mary's husband Sir Henry Killigrew, a former pirate himself, was made a Vice-Admiral by Queen Elizabeth I and tasked with suppressing piracy. Whenever her husband went to sea, Mary engaged in piracy using the staff of her castle (Arwenack Castle in Cornwall) as crew and possibly with the Queen's knowledge. In 1570, she captured a German merchant ship off Falmouth and her crew sailed it to Ireland to sell. However, the owner of this ship was a friend of Queen Elizabeth, who then had Lady Mary arrested and brought to trial at the Launceston assizes. Some sources say she was sentenced to death and then pardoned by the Queen, but this is due to confusion with another family member. According to sources, her family either bribed the jurors and she was acquitted, or Queen Elizabeth arranged a short jail sentence. Whatever transpired, she gave up piracy and took up fencing stolen goods until she died several years later.

Lady Elizabeth Killgrew (English) - Elizabeth and her husband Sir John lived in Pendennis Castle in Falmouth Harbour. In early 1581 a Spanish ship, the Marie of San Sebastian was blown down Channel by a storm and was forced, dismasted, to take refuge in Falmouth harbour. Lady Elizabeth led an attack on the ship and then fenced the proceeds. Lady Elizabeth was later arrested and sentenced to death but pardoned. Her husband Sir John was ordered by the Privy Council to restore the vessel and goods to their owners but went into hiding along with the ship which resulted in several warrants for his arrest being issued for acts of piracy committed over the next eight years.

17th Century Pirates

Elizabetha Patrickson (English)

Jacquotte Delahaye (French Haitian) - Caribbean pirate. Also known as "Back from the Dead Red" due to her red hair and return to piracy after faking her own death and hiding dressed as a man for several years.

Christian Anna Skytte (Swedish) - She actively participated in the secret piracy conducted by her brother and spouse in the Baltic sea.

Anne Dieu-le-Veut (French) - Caribbean pirate and later based in Mississippi after Tortuga was closed down. Dieu-Le-Veut was a nickname meaning "God wills it" and given to her as it seemed anything she wanted God gave her. Married to a pirate, Anne challenged pirate Laurens de Graaf to a duel after he killed her husband in 1683. He refused and she became his common law wife, fighting by his side and sharing command.

18th Century Pirates

Maria Lindsey or Maria Cobham (English) - The wife of Captain Eric Cobham and possibly fictional. Pirate operating on the Canadian east coast.

Ingela Gathenhielm (Swedish) - Often listed separately in lists of pirates but is likely to be Maria Lindsey (see above)

Anne Bonny (Irish) - Caribbean pirate. Married to pirate James Bonny, had an affair with pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham, and later joined his crew. Discovered another crew member Mark Read was secretly a woman (Mary Read) and the two became very close. This of course is Wikipedia-speak for “Harold, they’re lesbians.”

Mary Read aka Mark Read (English) - Caribbean pirate. As a man, Mary went to sea and later joined the British army, fighting in the War Of The Spanish Succession. Mary married and settled down as a woman but returned to male dress following the death of her husband, later boarding a ship bound for the West Indies. Captured by "Calico" Jack Rackham, Mary joined his crew. In 1721, she died in prison.

Mary Farley, alias Mary Harvey (Irish) - In 1725, Mary Harvey and her husband Thomas were transported to the Province of Carolina as felons. In 1726, Mary and three men were tried for piracy. Two of the men were hanged (their leader John Vidal was convicted and later pardoned) but Mary was released. Her husband Thomas was never caught.

Mary Crickett (English) - In 1728, Mary Crickett and Edmund Williams were transported to the colony of Virginia together as felons. In 1729, along with four other men, both were convicted of piracy and hanged.

Flora Burn (English) - Operated on the East Coast of North America.

Rachel Well (American) - Married George Wall, a former privateer who served in the Revolutionary War, when she was sixteen years old. Operated on the New England Coast. Thought to be the first American female pirate. In 1782, George and the rest of his crew were drowned in a storm. She was accused of robbery in 1789 and confessed to being a pirate. She was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.

Charlotte de Berry (English) - Possibly fictional.

19th Century Pirates

Ching Shih (Chinese) - She was a prostitute who married a pirate and rose to prominence after his death. Regarded as one of the most powerful pirates in human history, she commanded her husband's fleet after his death. While the fleet she inherited was already large, she further increased the number of ships and crew. At its height, her fleet was composed of more than 1,500 ships and 80,000 sailors. She controlled much of the waters of the South China Sea. After years of piracy during which British, Chinese and Portuguese navies could not defeat her, China offered her peace in 1810 and she was able to retire and married the second in command,

Charlotte Badger and Catherine Hagerty (English) - Widely considered to be the first Australian female pirate. The ship Venus, due to a shortage of man-power, took on convicts including Badger and Hagerty as crew while in Australia. After docking at Port Dalrymple, Tasmania, the Captain went ashore and the crew seized the ship, sailing for New Zealand. Hagerty along with two other convicts, a woman named Charlotte Edgar and a child were put ashore at the Bay of Islands with a supply of stores. Hagerty died shortly thereafter. The two men were arrested for piracy and Edgar remained to become one of the first settlers in New Zealand. Badger was never seen again.

Margaret Croke (Canadian) - Following a dispute with investors over his schooner The Three Sisters, Edward Jordan was on his way to Halifax to sort it out. Wrongly assuming his family was being sent to debtors' prison, he killed two crewman then threw the Captain overboard before commandeering the vessel with the help of the remaining crewman. The marooned Captain survived and testified against Jordan claiming Margaret, who was aboard with her son and three young daughters, was also involved. Margaret admitted hitting the Captain after he had hit her husband during an argument in her cabin before he decided to commandeer the vessel; the other crew member testified she was actually in fear for her life from her violent husband and had attempted to escape. Both Margaret and Edward were hanged for piracy.

Johanna Hard (Swedish) - Sweden's last pirate; in 1823, recently widowed Hård, a farm owner on Vrångö Island, was arrested along with her farmhand Anders Andersson, farmer Christen Andersson, and one of Christen's farmhands Carl Börjesson and boatman Johan Andersson Flatås of Göteborg for piracy after the Danish ship Frau Mette was found beached and plundered with a murdered crew. Evidence was presented that the five had followed the Frau Mette on Flatås fishing vessel the Styrsö and requested water. After boarding her they killed the crew. Johan Andersson Flatås, Anders Andersson, and Christen Andersson were sentenced to death and beheaded. Carl Börjesson was imprisoned in Karlstens fortress where he died 1853. The evidence against Johanna Hård was insufficient and she was released and subsequently disappeared.

Sadie the Goat (American) - Possibly fictional. Operated around the state of New York as a member of the Charlton Street Gang. Named for her habit of headbutting her victims before taking their money.

20th Century Pirates

Lo Hon-ho (Chinese) - Took command of 64 ships after her husband’s death in 1921. Youthful and reported to be pretty, she gained the reputation of being the most ruthless of all China's pirates. Lo Hon-cho's fleet attacked villages and fishing fleets in the seas around Beihai taking young women as prisoners and later selling them into slavery. In 1922 a Chinese warship intercepted the fleet destroying 40 vessels. Despite escaping, Lo Hon-cho was later handed to authorities by the remaining pirates in exchange for clemency.

Lai Sho Sz’en, Lai Choi San (Chinese) - Operated in the South China Sea. Commanded 12 ships.

P’en Ch’ih Ch’iko, Ki Ming (Chinese) – possibly fictional

Huang P’ei-mei (Chinese) – Led 50,000 pirates

Cheng Chu Ping aka Sister Ping (Chinese) - Operated in the South China Sea smuggling thousands of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. and Europe. Was convicted in the U.S. and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Died in 2014.

PIRATES AND THE SLAVE TRADE

Pirate crews and piracy were one of the most unique and democratic organizations on the planet at the time. While the rest of the world was ruled by absolute tyrants and monarchs, pirates were the early patriots. Raiding and looting with plunder, they died in infamy. Another unique facet of pirate crews including women in piracy is slavery in piracy. While the rest of the world sought to buy and sell humans like cargo, the pragmatic pirates often liberated these men and recruited them into their ranks.

Most pirates had once been a part of the slave trade and realized how poor the conditions were, given they were often mistreated sailors themselves in the Royal Merchant Navy. While pirates were occasionally known to take, sell and kill slaves it was often out of economic necessity rather than racial prejudice. Most pirate crews were known to have at least a good percentage of freed slaves.

One of the most famous and lasting of all the pirates was a freed slave named Black Caesar and after his own prolific career joined the crew of Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach aboard his ship the Queen Annes Revenge as his lieutenant. Another famous freed slave pirate was named John Julian who became the pilot of the Whydah captained by Samuel Bellamy. 

It is known that Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach had at least 40% freed slaves on his ship and that nearly 21 members of Bartholomew Roberts were put back into slavery after he was killed and the crew captured. Pirates would describe themselves as Maroons, using the same name as the escaped Jamaican slave gangs. In fact, the freed black slaves were considered as much of the crew as anyone else and was to receive the same shares, rewards, compensation and experiences as their white counterparts under the pirate code.

As one story goes, a slave ship captain once found himself back in command of his ship after pirates had freed all the slaves onboard and given them weapons. This was pirate justice on the high seas. As much as pirates were the victim of a massive PR smear campaign by the Imperial powers at the time, pirates were probably the most democratic and egalitarian groups on the planet at the time.

In fact, the reason why so many freed slaves chose to join the pirates was because it was probably the best economic opportunity that they would have for at least two hundred years. Pirates were considered equal members of the crew, and the economic toll that this vicious cycle was taking on the royal empires was staggering. Not only were they losing cargo and thus direct compensation, but each slave released added another pirate to their ranks. This created more pirates and thus exacerbated the problem. Thus the pirates had to be stopped at all costs.

This is when the Royal empires began dispatching pirate hunters and offering the 1718 Kings Pardon to any pirate that wished to stop. Those that did faced a speedy trial and the hangman's noose. Black slaves were often hung or put back into slavery to help mitigate the economic losses caused by the halting of the slave trade in the region.

PIRATES AND HEALTH

Sickness and diseases such as, dysentery, malaria, smallpox, and yellow fever created problems among ships and "could be fatal." Pirates, like privateers, were a little better off than those who worked on merchant or naval ships as "food was superior," "pay was higher," "shifts were shorter," and the crew's powers of "decision making was greater." Epidemics and scurvy led some to desert "naval vessels for pirates." In the event of disabilities occurring while in service to the ship, some pirates set up a "common wealth" plan to be paid to any man in the event of injury. Medical artifacts recovered from the wreck site of Blackbeard's Queen Anne Revenge include; a urethral syringe used to treat syphilis, pump clysters to pump fluid into the rectum, a porringer which may have been used in bloodletting treatments, and a cast brass mortar and pestle used in preparing medicine.

There were doctors and surgeons present on some pirate vessels. Any surgeon or doctor who sailed with pirates, according to Rediker, was considered by their peers "to be insane." Surgeons/doctors were paid more shares, between "one and a quarter" and "one and a half," than other men on pirate ships. However, doctors and surgeons weren't always trusted as they were not allowed to vote with the crew "because their class background (or forced status)."

Pirate crew often practiced a policy of health insurance similar to today’s world. Even  when there wasn’t much advancement made in medicine, pirates made sure that if a member of their fleet was injured, he would receive benefits. For instance, 600 Spanish dollars (a kind of currency prevalent at that time) would be paid out for the loss of a limb. The loss of an eye would be compensated with 200 Spanish dollars and complete blindness would be compensated with 2,000 Spanish dollars; this is equal to almost $153,000 today. Crew members were given the option of accepting their compensation.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEATH

On every voyage a sailor would face the risk of falling overboard and drowning, starvation, disease, abuse, accidents in the rigging, and attack. Once a sailor abandoned his law-abiding career to become a pirate he knowingly increased his chance of expediting his own death exponentially. Once convicted as a pirate, a sailor faced an almost certain demise of being hanged at the execution docks.

When on trial in Charleston, the pirate Job Bayley was asked why he had attacked several warships that were sent to capture him, he answered that "We thought it had been a pirate." At yet another trial in London the pirate John Bayley comically played dumb when the Judge asked what he would have done if the warship that apprehended him was nothing more than a merchant ship answering, "I don't know what I would have done." Both men knew that their fate was sealed the moment they were apprehended and both in turn hanged at the gallows.

The story of pirate William Fly, who was executed on July 12, 1726 in Boston, illustrates how arrogantly many pirates viewed death. He showed no anxiety over his imminent demise, but rather tied his own noose and lectured the hangman about the proper way to tie the knot. Right before he swung off to his death he delivered a warning to all ships captains and owners that in order to prevent their crews from mutinying and resorting to piracy, they would be wise to pay their crews on time and treat them humanly.

Some pirates preferred to control their own fate. Pairs of pirates would at times make oaths to one another that in order to insure that neither were captured they would shoot each other. The crew of Bartholomew Roberts preferred not to be taken alive and swore to blow themselves up rather than give the authorities the satisfaction of seeing them hanged. When Roberts and his men were finally found an attempt was made to blow the ship up rather than face capture, however it proved in vain due to an insufficient gunpowder. Edward Teach's (Blackbeard's) crew also failed to detonate their sloop when facing capture however, the pirate Joseph Cooper and his crew successfully blew themselves up and evaded capture by the authorities.

SUPERSTITIONS

NO BANANAS ON BOARD

Aside from their peels causing many comedians to trip and fall down, bananas have long been thought to bring bad luck, especially on ships. At the height of the trading empire between Spain and the Caribbean in the 1700's, most cases of disappearing ships happened to be carrying a cargo of bananas at the time.

Coincidence? Perhaps. Another theory suggests that because bananas spoiled so quickly, transporters had to get to their destination much quicker. Fisherman thus never caught anything while bananas were on board. Another danger caused by monkey's favourite fruit fermenting so quickly, was that in the heat of the storage hull, bananas would produce deadly toxic fumes.

A final theory on the perils of bananas at sea (though there are tons) is that a species of deadly spider would hide inside banana bunches. Their lethal bite caused crewman to die suddenly, heightening the fear that banana cargo was a bad omen.

WOMEN

Women were said to bring bad luck on board because they distracted the sailors from their sea duties. This kind of behaviour angered the intemperate seas that would take their revenge out on the ship. Funny enough, naked women on board were completely welcome. That's because naked women "calmed the sea". This is why ships' typically had a figure of a topless women perched on the bow of the ship. Her bare breasts "shamed the stormy seas into calm" and her open eyes guided the seamen to safety.

SON OF A GUN

Male children born on the ship were referred to as "son of a gun" because the most convenient place to give birth on deck (if you weren't too afraid of having a woman on board) was on the gun deck. Having a male child on board was a sign of good luck.

NO WHISTLING

Mariners have long held the belief that whistling or singing into the wind will "whistle up a storm"

LEXIS

At sea, some words must be strictly avoided to ensure the ship and crew's safe return. These include obvious ones like "drowned" and "goodbye". If someone says "good luck" to you, it is sure to bring about bad luck. The only way to reverse the curse is by drawing blood, so usually a good punch in the nose will do.

RED SKY

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" the old saying goes. A red sunset indicates a beautiful day to come, while a red sunrise indicates rain and bad weather.

SHARKS

Sharks = omens of death

DOLPHINS

Considered a good sign. Believed to scare away sharks.

NEVER SAIL ON…

Don't Sail On Thursdays, Fridays, the first Monday in April or the second Monday in August.

Fridays: Fridays have long been considered unlucky days, likely because Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday. 

Thursdays: Thursdays are bad sailing days because that is Thor's day, the god of thunders and storms.

First Monday in April: The first Monday in April is the day Cain slew Abel

Second Monday in August: The second Monday in August is the day the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. 

Superstitious sailors believe that the only good day to set sail is Sundays.

CHANGING SHIP NAMES

It's bad luck to change the name of the boat. Boats develop a life and mind of their own once they are named and Christened.

If you do rename the boat- you absolutely must have a de-naming ceremony.

This ceremony can be performed by writing the current ship name on a piece of paper, folding the paper and placing it in a wooden box then burning the box. After, scoop up the ashes and throw them into the sea at night and only during a new moon. In order to purify the ship, a virgin (often the cabin boy) would have to urinate across the bow.

PAY YOUR DUES

Seamen that hadn't paid their debts were blamed for storms and any other misfortunate events that would occur on the ship.

RED HAIR

Red heads were thought to bring bad luck to a ship if you happened to encounter one before boarding. However, if you speak to the redhead before they get the chance to speak to you, you're saved.

ALBATROSS

Seabirds were thought to carry the souls of dead sailors and it is considered bad luck to kill one. However, it is considered good luck if you see one.

SALT

Pirates would throw salt over their left shoulder. Throwing salt over your shoulder a way of keeping the devil at bay.

KNOCK ON WOOD

17th century sailors who would knock on the wood hull of their ships to listen for worm or rot, hearing a solid sound would imply that the hull was in "ship shape" When in a conversation a reference is made to 'Good luck' they would sometimes say 'Touch wood' and touch some part of their wooden vessel. The 'good luck' they were implying also referring to the luck they were having and hoping to have while their wooden hull held true and fast during their voyage at sea.

SPIT

It's good luck to spit in the ocean before you sail.

CATS

Cats were often kept on ships as mousers. There are a lot of superstitions around cats.  

Cats brought luck. If a ship's cat came to a sailor, it meant good luck.

Sailors believed that if a cat licked its fur against the grain it meant a hailstorm was coming; if it sneezed, rain was on the way; and if it was frisky, the wind would soon blow.

Sailors believed cats could start storms with the magic stored in their tails so they always kept them well fed and contented

LEFT FOOT

Disaster will follow if you step onto a boat with your Left foot first. 

WEAPONS

belaying pin - A short wooden rod to which a ship's rigging is secured. A common improvised weapon aboard a sailing ship, because they're everywhere, they're easily picked up, and they are the right size and weight to be used as clubs.

blunderbuss - A muzzle-loading gun with a distinctive, flared muzzle, common among pirates and privateers, and typically loaded with a number of small lead balls. The purpose of the flared muzzle was to spread out the shot, though experiments have shown no difference compared to guns with a non-flared muzzle.

buckle - A small, often rounded shield held in one’s fist to protect against an opponent’s sword. The buckle could also be used to strike a blow to an opponent’s face.

case shot - A collection of small projectiles put in cases to fire from a cannon; a canister-shot.

See also grape shot.

cat o’ nine tails (sometimes referred to as captain’s daughter) - A whip with nine lashes used for flogging. "A taste of the cat" might refer to a full flogging.

chain shot - Two cannonballs chained together and aimed high in order to destroy masts and rigging.

chase guns - Cannon situated at the bow of a ship, used during pursuit.

cutlass - A short, heavy sword with a curved blade used by pirates and sailors. The sword has only one cutting edge and may or may not have a useful point.

gabion - A cylindrical wicker basket filled with earth and stones, used in building fortifications.

grape shot - Small cannon balls packed into a cannon. Notably, the pirate Black Bart (Bartholomew Roberts) was killed by grapeshot.

grapple (also grappling hook, grappling iron, or grapnel) - An iron shaft with claws at one end, usually thrown by a rope and used for grasping and holding, especially one for drawing and holding an enemy ship alongside.

gun - A cannon.

hail-shot - A shot that scatters like hail when fired from a cannon.

powder chest - An exploding wooden box filled with scrap metals and gun powder, usually secured to the side of a ship to thwart a boarding enemy.

spike - To render (a muzzleloading gun) useless by driving a spike into the vent.

PHRASOLOGY 

Take with a grain of salt because some of these smell of bullshit and multiple sources confirmed them.

black jack - A drink container made of leather.

black spot - A black smudge on a piece of paper used by pirates as a threat. A black spot is often accompanied by a written message specifying the threat. Most often a black spot represents a death threat.

bumbo (or bumboo) - A popular pirate drink made from rum, water, sugar and nutmeg or cinnamon.

bung hole - A dispensing hole in a wooden barrel typically sealed with a cork

cackle fruit - Hen’s eggs.

clap of thunder - A strong, alcoholic drink.

crack Jenny’s tea cup – to spend a night in a whorehouse

crimp – to procure men by trickery or coercion

draught (also draft) – 1) he amount taken in by a single act of drinking. 2) The drawing of a liquid, as from a cask or keg.

give no quarter – spare no lives

gout - A disease that can be the result of lead poisoning, causinga buildup of uric acid, most commonly in the toes, and especially the big toe. The main symptom is inflammation of joint tissue leading to sore, swollen skin. The effected areas can become so tender that the slightest touch to them causes extreme pain. Pirates sometimes drank from pewter mugs (see tankard) which often contained lead.

grog blossom - A redness on the nose or face of persons who drink ardent spirits to excess.

grog - An alcoholic liquor, especially rum, diluted with water. Admiral Vernon is said to have been the first to dilute the rum of sailors (about 1745.)

hang the jib - To pout or frown.

hempen halter - The hangman’s noose.

hardtack - A hard biscuit or bread made from flour and water baked into a moisture-free rock to prevent spoilage; a pirate ships staple. Hardtack has to be broken into small pieces or soaked in water before eaten.

hogshead – 1) A large cask used mainly for the shipment of wines and spirits, 2) A unit of measurement equal to approximately one hundred gallons.

holystone - A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of a ship. Smaller holystones were called "prayer books" and larger ones "Bibles" and it may have originated because the task was historically done down on ones knees, just as in prayer. In the height of its practice, a captain in the Royal Navy might call for the decks to be holystoned daily, which could take up to four grueling hours.

hornswoggle - To cheat.

keelhaul - To punish someone by dragging them under a ship, across the keel where barnacles would build up, until near-death or death. Both pirates and the Royal Navy were fond of this practice.

letter of marque - A document given to a sailor (privateer) giving him amnesty from piracy laws as long as the ships plunders are of an enemy nation. A large portion of the pirates begin as privateers with this symbol of legitimacy. The earnings of a privateer are significantly better than any of a soldier at sea. Letters of marque aren't always honored, however, even by the government that issues them. Captain Kidd had letters of marque and his own country hanged him anyway.

loaded to the gunwales - To be quite drunk.

Maroon - To abandon a person on a deserted coast or island with little in the way of supplies. It is a fairly common punishment for violation of a pirate ship's articles, or offending her crew because the victims death cannot be directly connected to his former brethren.

measured fer yer chains - To be outfitted for a gibbet cage.

Nelson’s folly - Rum.

nipperkin  - A small cup or drink.

parley - A conference or discussion between opposing sides during a dispute, especially when attempting a truce, originating from the French, "parler," meaning "to speak."

quarter - derived from the idea of "shelter", quarter is given when mercy is offered by pirates. Quarter is often the prize given to an honorable loser in a pirate fight.

reef the sails - To shorten the sails by partially tying them up, either to slow the ship or to keep a strong wind from putting too much strain on the masts.

rope's end - Another term for being flogged.

run a rig  - To play a trick.

salmagundi - A salad usually consisting of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, often arranged in rows on lettuce and served with vinegar and oil.

splice the mainbrace - To have a drink or perhaps several drinks.

spring upon her cable -  to come around in a different direction, oftentimes as a surprise maneuver.

squiffy - Somewhat intoxicated; tipsy.

take a caulk - To take a nap. On the deck of a ship, between planks, was a thick caulk of black tar and rope to keep water from between decks. This term came about either because sailors who slept on deck ended up with black lines across their backs or simply because sailors laying down on deck were as horizontal as the caulk of the deck itself.

[goldenponcho]

Battle for Neverland: Chapter 1

Next chapter

So this is a Fox’s Peter Pan and the Pirates fic I’ve been writing and rewriting for literally ten years. I know there’s hardly a fandom for the series anymore, but I think Peter Pan and especially Captain Hook fans of any iteration might enjoy it. I will warn for prominent OCs, so if you’re not into that, that’s cool. I’ll probably post a chapter a day until I’m caught up to where I am now.

The Captain was tired. Strong limbs felt as if they were moving against a current, slave to the rough waters of the very hurricane that had doomed him to this island. Why did he feel so weak? So… Old. His head throbbed when he heard the crow. That insufferable crow… Never had anything grated his nerves like that horrendous sound. “You aren’t even putting up a fight today, old man!” Except for the urchin that horrendous sound came from. Captain Hook strained to shake the fog in his mind, “You’ll not be wanting for a fight when I’m done with you, brat!” Despite the clear anger, he could hear the fatigue in his own voice, and he hated it. Peter Pan cackled, kicking over a bucket of soap water set out on the deck before flying several circles around the Captain, dodging the blows of his sword with ease and swooped back across the deck. Hook snarled, dragging himself toward the gloating boy. He caught his reflection from the corner of his eye, and his stomach dropped. His skin sagged from startlingly gaunt features. Dark bags drooped beneath his tired eyes, and extra skin hung from a thin neck. How long had he been like this? “Feeling a little inadequate, Captain?!” The boy was directly behind him, “Understandable when you have to compete with me!” His frustration redirected at Peter, he hacked wildly, muscles straining to lift his heavy sword. This couldn’t be happening. Had senescence crept upon him so suddenly? To further drive home his helplessness, Peter hovered well within a sword’s reach of the Captain, easily evading his pitiful attacks. Peter made a show of yawning loudly, “I’m bored, Codfish…I think this game is over.” Hook was barley able to get his bearings before Peter had kicked him in the back of the head, sending him toppling off the plank that he had somehow suddenly been standing on. Absolute terror overtook him as he careened head first toward an open set of jaws, and he heard Pan’s crow before the tearing of flesh and bone. Captain Hook’s heart pounded as he jolted awake. It took him a moment to realize he had been dreaming. His breath heaved as he tried to calm himself, at the same time noticing that he and his sheets were covered in a layer of sweat. Heart still hammering, he reached up to feel that his face was not the frail, thin one he had seen in his dream. He held his remaining hand in front of his face, relieved that it as well was still healthy and strong. Relief didn’t last long as another crow rang from outside his cabin. Captain Hook groaned, “Peter Pan…” he spat, disgusted by the taste the boy’s name left in his mouth. He sprang from the silken sheets of his bed and put on his many layers of clothing at an impossible speed, hastily splashing water onto his face from the washbowl on the mahogany table set across from the foot of his bed. He stormed out of his cabin, gripping his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white beneath his glove. “Ready Long Tom, you dogs!!! And blast that accursed boy to kingdom come!!” The crew of the Jolly Roger bounded across the deck, not daring to hesitate at their Captain’s orders. “I’m not exactly sure where kingdom come is,” Peter Pan laughed, hovering just a touch out of Hook’s reach, “but it’ll take more than the likes of you to blast me there, Captain Kipper!” “Gall and brimstone!” Hook clawed at him angrily, “Your day will come soon, Pan! By Queen Anne’s Revenge, I swear it will!!” Peter Pan chuckled playfully, taking a reclining position in the air, “You shouldn’t swear to promises you can’t keep, Admiral Anchovy. Not very gentlemanly of you!” “Perhaps you’d like a pirate rather than a gentleman, you puerile little urchin! FIRE!!” Billy Jukes smirked, lighting Long Tom’s fuse and the cannon fired, just barely missing Pan’s head as he ducked at the last second. “Reload, Mr. Jukes, and SHOOT ME THAT WRETCHED WHELP!!” “There ‘e goes, Jukes!” Mason bellowed, pushing Long Tom around with little effort. He grabbed the torch from the young gunner before he could protest and lit the fuse. “NO, Alf Mason!” Jukes cried, “It’s aimed right at—” Splinters of wood darted over the ship as the mast crashed to the deck, crushing several barrels as it landed. “Have fun cleaning that up, Codfish!!” Peter laughed as he flew toward shore and out of sight. Hook snarled, burying his sword furiously in the fallen mainmast then glancing over to his crew, who were staring dumbfounded at Peter’s shrinking form, “Stop yer gaping, you miserable mullie-morts!! Fix that mast before I plunge this into your gizzards!!” he flashed his hook toward them, and his men scattered, knowing better than to upset the captain when he was in such a foul mood. “Aye, Pan,” Hook hissed, plucking his sword from the mast as if it were nothing more than a flower petal, “it matters not how many times you escape me. It will make it all the sweeter when I finally rend ye in two.” ~*~*~*~ “Ha ha haa! Did you see the look on their faces, Tink?” Peter Pan darted in and out of the narrow spaces between the trees of the thick Neverforest, “I thought Hook was gonna explode! His face turned three shades of purple when that mast fell!” “Sure, Peter,” Tinkerbell yawned, lagging behind him a bit, “I just want to get back home and go to bed.” “Go to bed?!! But, Tink, we’re just getting started! I’ve got so many more pranks to pull on ol’ Codfish today, and I need you for all of them!” “Tin tops and copper bottoms, Peter! First, we almost get gobbled up by O'Look, then we almost get trampled by Never-Beasts… We’ve been up all night! Don’t you think knocking down the mast is enough for one day?!” Peter laughed as if what Tink had just said was the most absurd thing he had ever heard, “Of course not, Tink!! You know we can’t let Codfish go the whole rest of the day without a few more inconveniences!” Peter sped up, quickly disappearing into the trees, “Now let’s go! We don’t have much time!” “Peter!” Tink sighed, “…oh! That boy will be my undoing!” ~*~*~*~ By noon, the Jolly Roger’s mast was almost completely repaired, mostly due to Hook’s threat of sixty lashes to anyone caught lollygagging. Hook now patrolled the deck, a predatory glint in his forget-me-not eyes. His rage at the boy reignited the frustration at the dream-Pan from that morning, and in turn stoked the anger at the real Pan even further. The boy would never see the day that Hook was too run down to put up a proper fight. One of them would die first. “Robert Mullins!” he called up to the newly erected crow’s nest, “Any sign of those air-born blighters?” “None yet, Cap'n!” Mullins answered, “That island’s been as dead as the River Styx! Suspicious, I’d say!” “Let the brat plot his plots…” the Captain growled with a glower, “One of them is bound to land him belly-side down on my hook.” ~*~*~*~ "Peter, this is ridiculous!” Tink complained through a yawn, “I do not want to do this!” “Oh, come on, Tink! It’ll be easy!” Peter handed her a tiny blue sack only about the size of a ping-pong ball, “All you have to do is drop these into Hook’s supper! Just a few of these will make even the most appetizing food taste like pond scum.” “That isn’t nice, Peter Pan!” Peter turned with a frown toward Wendy, who now stood at the entrance to the chute that led outside, “Not nice at all!!” “Oh come on, Wendy,” Peter replied cheerfully, “since when was I ever nice to Hook?” “Those could make Captain Hook sick!” she said, hands on her hips, “Then he wouldn’t feel like fighting with you anymore.” “Oh, they won’t make him sick! At least, not for any longer than a few hours…” Peter chuckled, “Besides, a little stomach ache never hurt anybody that bad.” “Well you had best be careful. You could never forgive yourself if something happened to Tink… or to Hook, for that matter.” “Hook?!” Peter chuckled, “Why should I care what happens to Hook?!!” “Oh, admit it, Peter. You don’t really want anything that bad to happen to him. Then who would you fight?” “That’s true,” he said thoughtfully, “If I’m going to kill Hook, there are much more fun ways to do it than by poisoning him.” Wendy sighed, rolling her eyes, but she decided against pressing the matter further. “Besides,” Peter explained plucking one of the tiny green balls from Tink’s pouch, “these aren’t poisonous; it’s only filled with Neverswamp water.” Tink sighed, “If I do this, can I please go to bed?” “Of course, Tink,” Peter said apathetically. “Fine, then. I’m going,” Tink said quickly as she tied the bag shut and flew hastily from the Underground House. ~*~*~*~ Tinkerbell peeked from over the side of the Jolly Roger to the scattering of pirates on board. Mullins and Mason were reclined in coils of rope, Billy Jukes lied fast asleep on his stomach atop Long Tom, and Starkey sat at the other end of the ship, lazily picking at his fingernails with the tip of his rapier. “Alright,” she yawned, “now to get this over with so I can get some sleep.” She took one last glance across the deck, then darted through the rigging and down to the hatch that led below, peeking through a crack between the planks of wood. Cookson’s voice echoed through the hall beneath her as Tink spotted him carrying a large bowl of scraps up the stairs from the galley. She quickly darted behind a barrel just as the old Greek sea chef hobbled out the door singing something badly at the top of his lungs, Tink couldn’t tell exactly what. As soon as she was sure he was far enough away, she fluttered below decks and into the galley. She began rummaging through the numerous pots and pans strewn across the counter, first coming to a large pot filled to the brim with something viscous and green. The thick film that had formed on the top made it look very much like the scales of the Croc. Tink took a great whiff of the substance and retched. “Ugh!! That’s definitely the crew’s food. How anyone can stomach this filth every day is beyond me!” Tink quickly placed the lid back over the offending contents and continued exploring the other pots and pans, coming across several other undesirable dishes, until she came upon another pot of soup. This soup was a creamy, almost white color, and its smell was relatively tolerable compared to the other dishes. “This has to be Hook’s supper; it at least bears a resemblance to food.” But before Tink could finish the job, she heard the creaking of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and Cookson’s off-key singing. She yelped and ducked into a large, empty cabinet that sat on the floor next to the counter, “I’ll never get out of here now!” She sat for a moment, her head resting in the palms of her hands, “Great… how will I—OH!” she sat up with a start and plunged her hand into the bag she carried at her side, a puff of glittery powder floating from the brim, and retrieved a handful of the shimmering particles, “I almost forgot about the special dust I got at Small Monday Island yesterday!” She tossed the purple and blue dust in front of her, and it sparkled in the dark cabinet, then glistened white and grew into a small, round opening in thin air just big enough for her to fit into. Daylight shone in from the other side. “Peter will have to come up with some other prank,” Tink mumbled, “I’m going home and getting some rest.”

[clan-fuildarach]

beginner mistakes 

vaska returns to her old fuckup ways and also is a useless lesbian about ailbhe

~

After fleeing the market in disgrace, the Cú na Mara had found another safe port a little further north. Morning dawned bright and breezy, as wind from the interior of the Windswept Plateau cleared away the oppressive heat rising from the Ashfall Waste.

Vaska stood at the crow's nest, gazing out at the coastline with wide eyes. It was so rare to see such a nice view without having to bother with flying. Leaning against the wooden railings, she stared off into the distance, trying to catch a glimpse of the Cloudsong. The cloud-scudded sky was empty of any tell-tale flash of orange.

“Hey! Hey, Vaska!”

She turned to see Lehine and Ailbhe pull themselves up into the crow's nest. Vaska studiously avoided looking at Ailbhe. Lehine was waving a couple of large green glass bottles.

“Check it out,” Lehine said excitedly, producing a corkscrew from somewhere in her clothing. Handing one bottle to Vaska, she set about starting to uncork the second.

Vaska turned over the bottle, searching for a label. “What is it?”

“I don't know,” Lehine said, “but it was the cheapest shit I could find at the market. The shopkeeper said it would burn my mouth out!” Apparently very enthusiastic about this thought, she gave the corkscrew a final inexpert tug and succeeded in opening the bottle.

“I've been telling her we shouldn't,” Ailbhe said, in a vaguely pained tone. “We can't be getting drunk when there's work to do, right? Why don't we wait until this evening?”

“Don't be silly,” Lehine said, taking a sip directly from the bottle. Lowering it with a gasp, she went on rather hoarsely, “there's nothing going on, Leo and the others are out looking for another market. We just have to hang out here until he gets back.” She elbowed Vaska with a grin. “Tell her, Vaska.”

Vaska bit her lip. Both of them raised good points, but disagreeing with Lehine would seem cowardly, and disagreeing with Ailbhe just didn't sit well with Vaska. But, at the same time, Vaska didn't want to look churlish in front of Ailbhe.

“It should be fine,” Vaska said. “We can just stay up here.”

Ailbhe thought about it for a good few seconds, a tiny, adorable frown on her face. Then she nodded and smiled, flashing her stubby tusks. Vaska felt herself blushing and quickly turned away again.

It was nice. Just the three of them and two bottles of unspecified alcohol that may or may not have actually been floor cleaner. They sat together, Lehine complaining loudly about how the market trip had been cut short the night before, Ailbhe visibly struggling not to gag every time she raised the bottle to her lips. Vaska sat directly beside her, thigh-to-thigh.

Ailbhe's hand lay, unsuspecting, on the floor. Vaska stared at it. The conversation – both Lehine and Ailbhe were now sharing stories about their childhood in the Sunbeam Ruins – had started to pass right over Vaska's head. Someone passed the bottle to her and she took it without really paying attention, almost spilling half her mouthful of drink down her front.

“Vaska, are you okay?” Ailbhe had turned in to face her; Lehine had wandered off and was trying to climb one of the innumerable ropes running from the mast.

Vaska nodded quickly. “I'm fine. Um. How are you?”

Ailbhe smiled. Vaska literally felt her heart skip a beat.

“I'm fine! Can't complain – I got a letter from my parents a couple of days ago, it was really sweet.” Her golden eyes were so warm. Any more drinking and Vaska would probably start composing poetry about them. She hastily set down the bottle.

“That's really great,” Vaska said, stumbling over her words a little. “I remember them from my training, your mother is so sweet. Your father, is, uh...”

Ailbhe laughed. “I know, I know, but you get used to it.” She sighed wistfully and reached for Vaska's hand all on her own. Abruptly, Vaska didn't know whether she was supposed to be happy or horrified, surely her hand was all awful and sweaty, why would Ailbhe ever want to hold it-

“I heard about the healing thing,” Ailbhe said, apparently blissfully unaware of the minor mental breakdown Vaska was going through. “That you can't get a proper tutor. That sucks!”

This was a good distraction. Vaska nodded. “I really wanted to be a healer, too, I thought it was, like... my whole future... but no one wants to teach me.” She squeezed Ailbhe's hand for support. “What's wrong with me? Luke was fine with it before but now I think I've done something wrong and I don't know what... maybe I should apologise...”

“Well, I don't know about that,” Ailbhe said. “I don't think you did anything wrong? Everyone is really busy and maybe the healers don't have time to take on an apprentice. It's probably not your fault.”

Vaska nodded, reassured. “Yeah... yeah, maybe I should just try in a couple of months, or when Fiach isn't so busy with Tadhg.”

“That's a good idea,” Ailbhe said encouragingly. She glanced away briefly, almost bashfully. “To tell you the truth, I really like hanging out with you and, um, it would suck if you had to have healing lessons all the time... but that's kind of selfish, I guess.” She shrugged limply. “Sorry.”

Do something, Vaska's inebriated mind screamed at her. Kiss her! But what if Vaska was reading the signals wrong, what if Ailbhe really did just think they should be friends, what if-

Oh, shit, she was still waiting for a response. “Uh,” Vaska stammered out, “don't be sorry. I feel the same way. This is... fun.”

Ailbhe was getting kind of close. Really close. Vaska couldn't move for a moment, and then it all just sort of came naturally to her, her awkwardness and anxiety scrubbed away by Ailbhe's warm presence.

They were inches apart, Vaska's eyes drifting shut in anticipation, when Lehine fell. The rope simply gave way, and with a yelp Lehine was gone.

“Oh my gods!” Ailbhe leapt to her feet, releasing Vaska, and ran to the edge of the crow's nest. Vaska followed, her heart pounding, and leant over.

Lehine had fallen once before from the top of the mainmast but that time she'd managed to catch a roll of sailcloth and break her fall. She'd had no such luck this time. Far below on the swaying deck, a small ring of dragons stood around Lehine's still form.

It was a mad rush to get down to the deck, Ailbhe hot on Vaska's heels, the rope ladders burning at their palms. Vaska reached the deck in record time, staggering slightly as she attempted to keep her balance.

“Is she okay?” she called, pushing through the dragons to reach Lehine.

Lehine was breathing, but her breaths were tight and shallow. She clutched at her calf, where – oh, gods, Vaska could hardly look. There were shards of bone tenting the skin, poking out in places, leaking golden blood. Vaska turned away, nauseated.

“Lehine!” Ailbhe threw herself down by Lehine's head. “Hey, stay awake. We'll get a healer.”

Lehine groaned something indecipherable.

“What was that?” Ailbhe said, concerned.

“Ha... ha,” Lehine said weakly. “you guys are so... fucking gay...”

“Ssh, don't speak,” Ailbhe said. She glanced up. “Someone get a healer!”

No one moved. Tadhg, the youngest in the crowd, raised his hand as if he was answering a question in class. “Um,” he said in a tiny voice, “dad and Luke are out... I think Zeta went with them.”

Vaska forced herself to look at Lehine's injury again. It was a broken leg. Just a broken leg. But the sight of it brought back horrible, blood-soaked memories of the clan camp burning around her, Faolín bleeding out... Vaska had been unable to help out then. But now she could. Before refusing to teach her any further, Luke had taught her how to mend broken bones.

How difficult could it be?

“They'll be back soon, right?” Ailbhe said.

Tadhg only shrugged.

“No, it's okay,” Vaska said, “I know this. Someone get me some paper and ink.”

“My hero,” Lehine gasped, as Tadhg ran off to plunder Fiach's supplies.

Now armed with paper and a pen, Vaska set about cutting the paper into spell tags, running through her limited knowledge in her head. There was the healing rune, the depth modifier, the time – well, she didn't know how long it would take, so she could leave that out. This was a bigger heal than the minor cuts and fractures she'd attempted in the past.

“Ailbhe, Ailbhe-” Lehine grabbed at Ailbhe's hand as Vaska started to write. “If I die here... promise me... you'll actually kiss Vaska-”

Vaska finished the first line of her spell and quickly placed the tag onto Lehine's leg. Blood began to soak into the paper.

“Shut up,” Ailbhe said, with a faint, shaky grin, “it's just a broken leg, you're not going to die.”

Lehine snorted in amusement. “On second thought, maybe... climbing the ropes was a mistake...”

The bleeding was stopping. Vaska added another script to the tag, this one focussing on drawing the fragments of bone back together into a whole. Heat radiated from the paper as the spells took effect.

Vaska was just finishing up the second tag when Lehine froze. A deep shudder ran through her body. Then she started to cough.

“Uh... that shouldn't happen,” Vaska said quietly. She glanced back at her tags, reading through the spell scripts, trying to spot the mistake. Lehine was hacking and retching now, blood running down from her lips. It looked like she was trying to cough up a lung. Ailbhe tried to hold her still but Lehine was shuddering, bringing up bloody mucous and... something else.

Tadhg, who'd hung around to watch, abruptly turned and waved. Vaska sat back, numbly reading and re-reading her spells, feeling increasingly faint. She'd done something wrong, but she didn't know what.

“Dad!” Tadhg called. “Hey, Lehine's hurt!”

Vaska turned. The exploration party had returned, just in time to catch her in the act of killing one of her best friends. Fiach was with Leo, showing off a new pen he'd just bought. Luke and Rúth were both burdened by heavy rolls of paper, chatting animatedly.

Fiach's smile fell away and he started hobbling over, but Luke got to Vaska first. Dumping the paper unceremoniously on the deck, they snatched the pen off Vaska and got to work. They didn't talk to her. They didn't even look at her.

Vaska sat aside, nausea tugging at her guts. Luke discarded her spell tags and instructed Ailbhe to tear up some of the fresh paper to make new tags. They wrote without hesitation, and within a minute Lehine's chest was plastered with glowing spell tags, her leg ignored for the time being. Slowly, she stopped coughing. Her breaths turned into a weak wheeze.

Rúth leant over the scene curiously, apparently the only person present who wasn't particularly concerned about Lehine.

Finally, Lehine's breaths evened out. She remained unconscious, but the sound of her steady breathing was enough to bring tears of relief to Vaska's eyes. Luke turned their attention to Lehine's broken leg, writing a short and very simple spell that served to make Vaska feel even more embarrassed.

“Is she going to be okay?” Ailbhe said softly.

“She'll live.” Luke rose to their feet and stretched, discarding their pen. Then – just as Vaska had been dreading – they faced her for the first time.

“Luke,” Vaska said faintly, “I-”

“Come with me.” They grabbed her by the upper arm and practically dragged her away from Lehine, towards the edge of the deck. Vaska scrambled upright and allowed herself to be led, her head low, her face on fire. Luke shoved her against the railings and released her, watching her expectantly.

“There was no other healer around,” she said quietly. “I thought she was going to bleed out. Otherwise I'd have waited, I really would...”

“Well, you're not wrong,” Luke said. “Blood loss is a major concern with compound fractures.”

Vaska frowned. “So... what did I do?”

“You didn't limit the speed,” Luke said. Amazingly, they didn't even seem angry. “It went too fast and caused some neoplasia, which metastitised... you can always tell when they start coughing like that, it's when you know it has spread to the lungs.”

“Oh.” Vaska stared out at the gentle sea, then quickly glanced back at them. “Was she... was she going to die?”

“Yes. And even now, her lung function might be impaired for the rest of her life.” Luke met her eyes. “Vaska, this is very serious magic. You know enough to be dangerous, and that's my fault, I suppose. Not that you're completely free of responsibility, because, honestly, one of the very first things I told you was that you have to place limitations on a spell. So that one's on you.”

Vaska nodded, accepting this.

“Look,” Luke said. “If you come down to my room later I'll show you what exactly you should have done back then. And then... well, I guess then I should teach you how to reverse the neoplasia... and then how to restore lung function...”

Vaska's eyes widened. “You mean-”

Luke made a bad-natured noise, then nodded. “Yeah. Fine. I'll be your... your teacher. And you'd better appreciate it, I have a busy schedule and it's not my decision to train someone how not to kill people. But I don't have a choice.”

A shaky, delighted grin appeared on Vaska's face. “Oh my gods – do I need, like, equipment or anything? How early in the morning should I visit? I can-”

“On second thought,” Luke said, cutting her off with an upraised hand, “how about I go to you when we have a lesson. Or whatever. Anyway, I'll be busy looking after your friend so I suppose you can shadow me for that.”

“Right,” Vaska said, nodding eagerly. “Thank you so much, uh, sir? No, professor – doctor?”

“It's just Luke.”

“Of course, duh – um, I'd better go and check on Ailbhe... and apologise to Lehine. Is that okay?”

Looking all too pleased to get rid of her, Luke nodded and waved her away.

[rafaelribeirosoares]

William - Orient in Turmoil

William – Orient in Turmoil

It was night. The sea was calm and it was impossible to hear the waves hitting the wooden vessel that sailed within a mile of the Japanese southern coast. On the crow’s nest, a small open compartment at the top of the ship’s mainmast, a young man stood vigilant during the cold hours with a couple of blankets around his shoulders.

It was unusual to encounter any ships during the night so near the…