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lovelyandproblematic · 3 years

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Pirates of the Caribbean fusion edit & drabble for Klaroline AU Season, 2021 Week Seven: Fusions @klaroline-event

Klaroline ft. Ensemble Cast in... PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: HYMN OF THE HIGH SEAS 🌊

"The only thing that owns a pirate is the sea, but there is good reason as to why Davy Jones tossed his heart in a chest and lost it to the ocean depths."

In retrospect, merging crews with Captain Niklaus Mikaelson was a desperate move, but you know what they say about desperate times...

Somewhere in the Caribbean, circa 1736

Caroline lived a relatively quiet life until she discovered she was the infamous pirate William Kidd's daughter.

It had slipped out in a screaming match between her and her mother when she vehemently refused to be married off to Sir Tyler Lockwood in exchange for not losing a parcel of unarable land their family held for generations.

The man was a known salacious brute that was as taken with harlots as he was gambling. Once he set his sights on Caroline, noble enough to protect his reputation, he claimed he would stop at nothing to have her hand.

But nothing came without a price. When the taxes rose too high for them to pay, it was clear he had enlisted his father, taxman Richard Lockwood, to ensure this debt and came to them with a deal: if she said the vows, she would save the land.

The land was worthless, and Caroline would not simply up and throw away her life if it would not help what was left of her family. However, Elizabeth was desperate for money. She believed she could sell and deliver them from hardships, having been a single mother for the past eighteen years.

Her reddened face crumpled with anger when she hastily flung the rebuttal, "Then leave my household and become a pirate like your worthless father!" The silence between hem was deafening. Seeing no other choice for her fate, Caroline did leave, of course—only after she gleaned the full story from her reluctant mother.

In a way, Caroline wasn't too surprised. She always knew her absentee father must be some sort of scoundrel, and the high seas had always called to her with a whispered promise of freedom and adventure rolling in their turquoise waves.

Perhaps it's because there was salt water in her blood.

With no more than the clothes on her back and her old gray mare, Caroline roamed from city to city, doing random work like chores and housekeeping for pay until she gathered up enough money to leave the country.

How she landed in Port Royale, she still didn't know.

The bawdy city was comprised solely of colorful characters, loud noises, cheap liquor, dirty pastimes, and general debauchery, and for some reason, it made her feel alive. It flooded her senses as she realized there was so much of the world she hadn't seen.

As a barmaid, working by the sea only enticed her further to set sail and see for herself what kept her father from coming home to them all these years. Every day she passed by those waters, the sun on her shoulders and salt in the air, and she simply wondered as she stared out into that distant horizon. Maybe there was a piece of herself out there that she needed to find.

Somewhere in the middle of grappling with this existential dilemma, fate stepped in and Caroline met Katherine.

A comparatively upscale brothel ran across the street from Caroline's bar, hosting the nighttime company of all sorts of unsavory fellows, and she often witnessed a striking brunette coming and going at irregular hours.

Imagine her surprise when the woman came in and unceremoniously draped herself across the bartop, groaning in misery about her day.

Now Caroline was no stranger to listening to customers commiserate over a pint, but when she raised her head Caroline saw hues of purple and blue littering her olive skin, and she promptly pulled up a chair.

Katherine had migrated here several months ago, and after establishing her independence, she took up the job just to make ends meet. Caroline thought she would have been similar to the women Tyler thought irresistible, but one thing was clear: this woman could chew him up and spit him out before most people woke up for breakfast, and she unwittingly gained Caroline's respect.

There had been a tussle when a customer became too handsy after Katherine's insistence that she was on break, and as liquor obliterated his inhibitions, the man got rougher, angrier. Katherine was forced to defend herself and used a couple of quick moves that left him sprawled on the floor. That's all her boss caught of the scene and he warned Katherine that he would not tolerate a second impertinence.

She was miserable, and when Caroline divulged a little about her background, Katherine jumped at the chance of setting sail and never looking back.

She leaned forward and whispered the rumors swirling around this seaside hotspot for pirates and common criminals, revealing that William Kidd actually used to hunt pirates before he decided a pirate’s life was for him, too.

And how was she ever going to know what the world was like if she never left this armpit of human civilization? Katherine pointed out.

Before Caroline could protest or bring up her concerns, Katherine merrily strolled back across the street and quit her job.

Caroline begrudgingly took her up on the idea and was secretly excited to start this adventure. The two lived off of Caroline's meager tips as they formed a plan; it meant for nights of hungry bellies and too-visible ribs, but they made it work. (Caroline also found out that Katherine made a shockingly crafty pickpocket.)

The plan was to capitalize on the fine offerings right here in Port Royale and leverage their assets before setting sail to destination paradise.

After all, every pirate needed a ship and a crew.

Katherine was more than adept at rooting out the city's underground businesses, and finding the gambling houses was easy enough. More challenging was teaching Caroline to be a stealthy devil at cards (a common pastime from days at the brothel) and targeting a former regular of Katherine's, one of her wealthiest clients took a significant level of tact and discretion.

Caroline's stone-cold expression never broke until she beat retired privateer Alaric Saltzman, in a game, and she proudly flashed a victorious smile, much to the drunkard's grumbling dismay.

The girls' jaws dropped when they saw how vast the ship actually was, waiting for them at the docks as merchants coasted right by pandering goods. Caroline gave a loving kiss goodbye to her gray mare as she traded her for enough money and supplies to get them started.

That glorious first night, they slept on the deck under the stars before they hoisted the sails.

Katherine had exhausted herself dancing around until she was dizzy, placing a giant black pirate had she bought at the street market atop Caroline's blonde halo of hair, crowning her the captain before breaking off into a horribly off-key rendition of "O Captain, I Think I'm Madly In Love!"

With a faint smile, Caroline merely watched the moon hover above them, enjoying its gentle glow and listening to Katherine's quiet snores before dozing off as well.

It was remarkable just how satisfied Caroline felt at the helm of her ship.

They went on their way and collected a healthy amount of crewmates along their way, a collection of wayward souls looking for a new chapter in life. They indeed were a ragtag group of people, all with different backgrounds and reasons for why they chose to come aboard.

Katherine was happy to claim her stake as Quartermaster and enjoyed overseeing the daily operations. Of the rest, a few stood out to Caroline.

The puckish Lorenzo made for a fantastic Sailing Master and a rather delightful cook. Their lookout, Lukas, was jovial, and their Master Gunner, Olivia, was cutthroat in a way that you would never expect the two to be twins. The even-keeled Meredith came aboard as their surgeon and patched up the other guys when their friendly duels became too unruly.

Hearing rumors of valuable treasures and gems abounding in Tortuga, they decided to sail north and find a port. Instead of chests filled with gold trinkets, they found a rather unique treasure by the name of Bonnie.

The girl's bloodcurdling screams rang through the evening air, audible even as their ship was a considerable distance away from the docks.

Strapped with weapons, the pirates rushed to the location of the girl's shrieks only to find the townsmen attempting to burn her alive under the accusation of witchcraft.

Caroline immediately forged a line leading to Bonnie, clearing a rather violent path through the ignorant bigots taking longer than she liked.

Their mutiny provided just enough of a distraction in the commotion underway that when they turned back, they discovered that the witch was gone, disappeared. Katherine only shrugged and proceeded to loot the place without exception.

When they made it back to the ship, they happened across the unlikely spectacle of Bonnie, still clad in her ash-coated rags, getting herself obscenely drunk on their dewberry wine and delicately wobbling across the tightrope that was the ship's railing.

Caroline immediately pulled her down before she could fall and asked if she wanted to join their crew.

While Bonnie made a mediocre pirate, who went out of her way to avoid the sound of clashing swords and wore a pinched expression when her crewmates became too rowdy, she made up for it as an exceptional witch.

She was crucial to their navigation after particularly severe tropical thunderstorms, and she aided their raids when they needed a distraction or ward of protection.

However, the wards only worked when Bonnie was awake, which is probably why they were left vulnerable on the open sea when it all went down.

Caroline awoke to the sound of canons in the dead of night.

Jolting, she instinctively reached for her trusty cutlass and took off upstairs, a polished silver pistol discreetly resting in the leather belt around her hip.

Katherine was already at the helm, hollering demands at the top of her lungs from the forecastle deck as everyone scrambled, the sound of fighting clear as a lightning strike.

April, a wide-eyed boatswain, rushed by with a squeak of, "We're being invaded!"

Naturally, Caroline deduced that the second she saw the ornate ship stationed next to theirs, unfamiliar men swinging over on ropes and descending with blades drawn. Blinks of fire lit up the darkness as cannonballs launched into the side of her beauty of a vessel.

Caroline yelled for Enzo to help Olivia secure the cannons below and round up the gunners, and she joined the chaos down on the main deck.

Right away, she could tell that the opposing crew meant business.

A foul mist of chemicals burned at their eyes as stinkpots were hurled upon deck. Caroline quickly kicked one overboard as it crashed right in front of her, allowing Meredith to sweep by, pulling an injured man out of the way as she cursed under her breath.

"Bonnie, can't you do something? Now would be a good time to give them something else to look at!" Caroline hissed as she fended off an overly confident swordsman.

"I'm working on it!" Bonnie answered through gritted teeth, her brows scrunched together as she carried a few magical materials in her arms, scurrying to find cover so she could finish a spell.

"Everyone, stay calm! We're only taking over your ship," a rather arrogant voice boomed above her. "Join me and consider your lives spared! If you'd rather go down with this pitiful piece of driftwood, however, who am I to deny a deathwish?"

"Seriously?" Caroline huffed as she squinted up at the impeccably dressed rival captain. How the hell did that bastard climb the mainmast so quickly?

Cannonballs sailed overhead, and the roaring sound was louder than the blood rushing in her ears, almost too loud for her organized thoughts to surface, her heart pounding as grunts and shouts surrounded her.

Caroline hardly had to consider the appeals of shooting him before she was raising her pistol.

An ungodly screech disrupted the sky and drew everyone's attention, a spray of water descending upon them.

Everyone's movements came to an abrupt halt as the planks trembled underneath their feet. The boat suddenly rocked to the right, tossing their supplies overboard as they clung to wooden posts to stay upright.

It was a monster of legend, wielding strength so great it was said to wrap itself around boats and drag them into the abyss.

Staring up at the slimy gray tentacles slowly winding themselves around her ship, Caroline could instantly see why it carried its famed reputation of terror.

"Seriously, Bonnie?!" Caroline shouted in defiant outrage, glaring up at the creature that just emerged from the ocean. "You summoned a Kraken?"

Said Kraken blinked its enormous eye in response as if she had personally offended it with her words more than the cannonballs she commanded be fired its way. The long axe someone lodged into its nearest fleshy limb only spurred its temper.

"It was only supposed to be a giant squid!" Bonnie growled back in frustration, "And don't blame me, blame the slack-jawed imbecile who interrupted me!"

"Such hurtful language, darling," a dark-haired man with a twisted smile leered back at her. "I think you'll find the Kraken more agreeable to being drowned by my brother's crew."

"Bloody hell!" Enzo cried, leaping behind a ferocious-looking blonde as he gazed up at the beast. "Get rid of the slimy git! Now!"

His blonde attacker laughed openly at him; he sent a momentary scowl her way. "I must have mistaken you for a pirate. You're clearly nothing more than a misplaced port authority stooge."

Enzo shook off his incredulity and gave her a rather amorous once-over. "Now, now. I would say that is no way for a lady to talk, however..." He ran his tongue across his teeth, lips curving into something almost coy. "You're no lady."

The tall and shapely blonde gave him a smile that was more teeth than anything. "Why, thank you."

"Are you all impaired?" Katherine made a face that told them how much she believed it to be true. "Run!" She frantically waved her pistol in the air before firing a few shots at the pissed-off Kraken, and people scattered accordingly. "Abandon ship!"

Just as Caroline made her way to the enemy's ship, a man was plucked straight out of her path, screaming in terror as the spongy tentacle flung him into the air.

Typically Caroline was not a fan of abandoning her ship (because she was a good captain, thank you very much!); however, given the way the Kraken had taken to eating it, she wouldn't have a ship to go down with in just a few more minutes, and fleeing was indeed the best plan of action.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate." —Captain Jack Sparrow

Taking shelter aboard The Hybrid's Curse did not win them any favor, only suspicious comments, and darting glances.

No matter how much networking Katherine and Enzo pulled off, there was a handful of men and women who would not offer their support.

On the bright side, most of her crew had survived the morning's attack; on the downside, the other crew seemed to resent their perseverance.

"We raided your ship in the search for treasure," Captain Klaus said rather petulantly, looking far too complacent for a man with gunpowder on his shirt, the victim of a spiteful wind. "Not to rescue a horde of whiny tagalongs."

Caroline rolled her eyes and finished cleaning her pistols. The only reason they needed rescuing in the first place was all because of him and his crew.

"Well, your prize is currently sinking in the depths of the Caribbean," Caroline appeared unfazed, "but by all means, if you plan to go fetch it..." she trailed with a derisive smile.

He merely smirked, inspecting every inch of her with a raw interest unique to any sentiment she'd ever seen cast her way. "On the contrary, love... I believe my prize is standing right here."

As the sun peaked over the horizon, the early morning light made for a pastel wash of his features, softening them in a way. He was disgustingly attractive, she decided, but she would not forfeit her rank now.

She cleared her throat. "I have a proposition for you." A charming smile crossed his maddeningly red lips, and before he could release the unsavory retort she knew he had on the tip of his silver tongue, she continued.

"You allow my crew equal reign of your vessel, and we give you access to our stores of wealth. It’s a simple deal, and I think the price is more than fair," she proposed in what she hoped was a professional voice. Truth be told, she wasn't used to sharing nor bargaining for power.

Klaus barked a laugh. Admittedly, it was a beautiful sound as he drank in her boldness.

"We, in all of our honor, saved your crew from a fate worse than death," he sent her a sideways glance. "Now you want to take my ship, too?"

"Co-captains," she blurted the first thing that came to mind and then cursed herself. "I mean..." she amended off of his curious look. "Just until we can find ourselves another ship. Escort us to the closest port, and we'll be out of your way. Plus, you get gold."

"We have gold. And we aren't heading towards a port anytime soon," Klaus said tersely.

She frowned at that.

"Although I am feeling particularly magnanimous today," he continued before she could dwell on his statement, "I suppose we can put it to a vote."

A whistle gathered attention from his crew. "All those in favor of an alliance?"

"Aye!" A round of cheers sounded, and Klaus mentally tallied up the votes.

There was plenty of shifty glances and whispering as Caroline scanned the crowd for her people. The only reassuring part of this spectacle was that if Klaus went back on his word, the considerable number of seafarers would take note, and a skirmish might allow her group to escape.

He turned to her with a tilt of the head, held out a hand in a silent offer. "It's a deal, love."

It was rather unfortunate how warm and secure her hand felt in his. She chuckled, and he surmised her approval, cheeks dimpling as she stepped closer.

"If you try anything funny, I'll leave you marooned on the closest spit of land with nothing more than crushed barnacles for company," she smiled sweetly at him.

A warm feeling blossomed within her as she felt his eyes follow her the entire way back to her crew.

Katherine leaned in and muttered conspiratorially. "If you desire a mutiny at any time..."

"Just say the word, Gorgeous," Enzo quietly finished with a wink.

"Marcel, weigh anchor!" Klaus called. "Set a course for Isla de Muerta."

A few men spared him surprised glimpses, but they kept their feet moving as the ship changed route. The island posed many dangers, but with great risk came great reward.

Why not try to find the fabled Aztec treasure, too? The man who held that treasure became one step closer to the title of king of the seas.

His numbers just doubled, as did his resources. He wore a contemplative gaze as he watched Caroline go to her friends. Suddenly, a new world of possibilities opened up and invited him inside.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” —Andre Gide.

It didn't take long to learn why the Mikaelson siblings traveled so sporadically and avoided docking: they were trying to evade their father, who condemned them and endlessly sought their deaths by any means necessary.

As an Admiral in the British Royal Navy, Mikael commanded intimidating forces and was last seen behind the helm of the HMS Dauntless. Thus, they always went to town in pairs and used aliases when they gathered supplies or collected intel.

Getting to know Captain Mikaelson's crew wasn't as unpleasant as Caroline first expected.

There was Kol, with his mischievous eyes and regaling tales of triumph and revelry, and he'd taken to pestering Bonnie about the grimoires she somehow managed to save from the wreckage. Finn held a stoic stare and tendency to sharpen his sword in times of dispute, preferring peace over quarrels.

Frizzy-haired Rebekah bemoaned her battle with the merciless humidity but offered the most dazzling smiles and humorous jokes at her brothers' expenses. Enzo quickly found that banter came as easy as laughing with her did, and the two often sparred to whittle away the dull hours.

Katherine became subtly besotted with the intensely handsome and refined Elijah, who appeared pleasantly surprised by the fire in her eyes when she rebuked his aid while tying knots in the long ropes. "I know my way around ropes, thank you," she told him with a derisive scoff. "If you really want to be helpful, you'll show me where you keep the rum."

Stored in white oak barrels with liquor made from cane molasses, one of the only redeeming parts of the Mikaelsons' ship was their bounty of exquisite rum. It often lent the crew a guiding hand on their quest to get blisteringly drunk.

Elijah granted her an indulgent smile in return and offered his arm. Never one to back down from a challenge, Katherine linked her arm in his and listened to his tale of how they acquired their ship from a ruthless Spanish fleet off the coast of Havana. Spending time together soon became as natural as raising the sails.

Caroline leaned against the taffrails and listened to the ocean push them along their route, a vast array of stars speckling the blanket of darkness above her.

The mythic Aztec treasure lay just up ahead, and there was a chance everything could go south very quickly.

Living in close quarters turns the two crews into one fairly quickly amongst the daily squabbles about food rationing and distribution of work. When push comes to shove, they all know what to do to keep the ship afloat, and their collective tenacity was a comfort.

All of this time onboard, and Caroline thought she would have had Captain Klaus more figured out by now, but alas, the man resisted simplicity, preferring to remain as puzzling as the day he set his pilfering foot aboard her ship.

She didn’t dwell on how quickly she sensed him approaching, a natural awareness of him that she couldn’t seem to shake.

"You could have tossed us overboard by now," Caroline said in place of a greeting. "Any other pirate would."

"A pirate such as whom?"

"My father."

He stopped at the edge and turned to gaze at her. The spun gold of her locks seemed absolutely disheveled, red rimming her cornflower blue eyes as she fought off a lack of sleep. A captain to her core, she did not rest when she could instead watch over her slumbering crewmates as they curled up on the deck, the only space suited to hold their numbers.

There was a weariness in her voice that he knew was not simply from restlessness.

"And who might that be, love?"

She bit back a humorless chuckle. "Ever heard of William Kidd?"

The shock that briefly crossed his face was enough to answer her soft inquiry.

Of course, he knew. Most people did. After all, sea shanties were written about the bloodthirsty pirate who betrayed his own for loot, glory, and anything that saved his head from the gallows.

A thousand questions buzzed in his mind, but he couldn't reconcile the enigma that was Caroline with her lively spirit, sunny disposition, and gentle hand with the cruel shadow of William Kidd. "I never would've expected that man capable of raising such greatness," he spoke honestly.

She shrugged, unbothered as they listened to the waves lap against the ship's siding. "He didn't. I doubt he even knows I exist."

She supposed it would be apt to regret everything that's happened since she left home.

The nights she spent scraping away at unfulfilling jobs from her time on land, running off with a willful soul such as Katherine. The beckoning of wickedness that was the life of a pirate, being responsible for people she loved and inevitably lost as everything she built for herself sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

But somehow, she didn't regret it. Perhaps that made her an awful person. She felt how every day was an opportunity to craft a new story, carve out opportunities and live a new version of life she hadn't previously known existed. It connected her to people, places, things that challenged her and intrigued her, and she couldn't ignore the meaning of it all.

Pirates were known for sailing the seven seas, always looking for treasure. And sometimes the treasure they search for are helpless people trying to escape their lives and find their happiness at sea.

It's true, Caroline made a conscious effort to never become the kind of pirate her father was. The sea put a song in her heart, and she would not forsake it for heedless immorality.

Klaus's mouth quirked. "His loss, love."

She hummed. That much they could agree on.

"It's true, I could have sent you to the seafloor instead of giving you refuge," he agreed after a long but comfortable silence, "these winter waters and shark-infested reefs would not be much kinder to you."

She raised a delicate brow at that.

"Perhaps I consider you to be far more valuable alive than dead."

It should have sent a foreboding chill down her spine, but she was oddly content as she replied, “What do you want from me?”

“I want what every well-witted pirate wants, my dear. Divine treasure." Klaus idly gave a final glance into the black waves sloshing before them, highlighted by the waning moon before turning to head back to his cabin.

"And there’s no fairer gem than you.”

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