AN: Hello! So basically, this is the first real story I've ever written, so go easy on me! It is a Captain Swan and Outlaw Queen story overall, but there will be other couples in here like Snowing, Rumbelle, Cylice, Red Knave, and perhaps a few others. And yes, it is based off of Pirates of the Caribbean! Hopefully once I get further into it, it will become a bit more original with some things rather than completely use everything from the movie. Feel free to PM me or anything if anyone has questions or something. Also, a big thank you to the wonderful Can't-Escape-My-Fandoms for betaing and getting me started! So without further ado, here's the first chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon A Time and/or Pirates of the Caribbean.
...
Princess Emma was bored.
Why was she even here again?
Right, because she thought it would be fun.
Traveling on a royal naval ship was completely and utterly boring without anyone to play with, not that she had many friends anyway.
It wasn't that the ship itself wasn't fun, rather the people on it.
All big, grown stuffy men who trip over themselves just to please her and her parents.
The only person aboard that talked to her like a person was a crewman named John Little. John was one of the only people, besides her mother, who told her adventurous stories about something that really interested her: pirates.
Running her hands along the edge of the ship, Emma thought of a song her mother used to sing to her during some of her stories: a pirate's song. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of fresh, ocean air, she softly sang.
"Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot, drink up me hearties yo ho. We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, drink up me hearties yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me. We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack—"
A rough hand grabbed her arm spinning her around, stopping her singing.
"Hush, lassie! We're not the only ones to sail this sea." John growled. "Cursed pirates do too. Singing their song is bad luck. You wouldn't want to set them onto us, now would you?"
"That's enough, John." A new voice said.
Her eyes looked past John to Lieutenant Neal Cassidy, who's hazel eyes pointedly stared at John.
Cassidy was only nine years older than her.
Though she was still young at ten years old, there was always talk of coming of age balls, where suitors would come to court her. Or attempt to.
Luckily for Emma, her parents believed in finding True Love, so there had never been an arranged marriage. Her mother sometimes talked about Cassidy's achievements at the dinner table, and Emma suspected that when she came of age to marry, her mother would expect Emma's future husband to be someone like him.
"But she was singing about pirates, sir! It's bad luck to be singin' about pirates, especially in this unnatural fog." John protested. "Bad luck to be singin' about pirates in general!"
"You are dismissed, John." Cassidy said, letting his irritation show.
"Aye, Leftenant." John said. "Bad luck to have women on board as well. Even dwarfish ones."
Emma glared at his retreating form, annoyed by the comment.
"I think meeting a pirate would be amazing." She grumbled.
It really would. At least, Emma well and truly believed so. Sailing the seas for a living, going on adventures, daring sword fights, living life on the edge! Having true freedom on the sea!
It was all that Emma had ever dreamed of. She would do anything to get out of the castle and go on an adventure, much like the tales her mother once told her of a pirate queen and her nobleman.
Cassidy glanced at her, none too happy about her words. "I doubt it. Pirates are nothing more than disgusting and vile monsters. I intend to make sure any pirate, or anyone marked with a pirate symbol gets what they've got coming to them." Cassidy said, tone cold.
Confused, Emma wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but then she caught sight of John, making a 'hanging motion'. Emma gasped, shocked at the violent attitude towards pirates.
"Lieutenant, your devotion is most welcome, but I am worried about how this subject will affect my daughter." King David spoke, joining them.
"Yes, of course, Your Majesty. I'm sorry." Cassidy apologized. He bowed respectfully before taking his leave.
"I think it would be exciting to meet a pirate." Emma told him.
"That's what I am afraid of." David sighed, dropping a kiss to her head.
Another crewman motioned to him.
David gave her a small smile, before he walked away from her, leaving her alone with her thoughts once again.
Looking at the open water, Emma paused.
Something was floating in the water, drifting closer to their ship.
It was debris.
She craned her head to look around, gasping when she saw a small body in the midst of it all.
"There's someone in the water!" She yelled, scared for whoever it might be.
Crewmen hurried over to the edge of the ship to see where she was pointing. Voices rang out from all around her.
"Man overboard!"
"Quick, bring him on board!"
Several men tossed a rope out, and eventually they got it around the body, hauling it aboard.
She was surprised and frightened when she saw that it was a young boy, who couldn't be more than her age.
David bent down beside him, placing his hand under his nose.
"He's breathing." David said, relieved.
"Good." Cassidy nodded.
"Gods..." John breathed.
All heads turned towards John, then to where he was looking.
Instead of finding open water, there was a ship, or what was left of it, on fire, slowly sinking into the ocean.
Emma guessed the fire was made by magic due to its odd, purple tinted hue. A wave of sadness churned in her stomach at the thought of how many people must've died on that ship.
"What happened here?" Her father asked, looking grim.
"'Could've been the gunpowder. You know how armed the merchant ships are nowadays." Cassidy suggested.
"It's too unnatural looking, and I think I speak for everyone else here that's thinking it. Pirates." John said.
"Right now we don't have enough proof to know for sure. We can't rule out the chance that it was an accident." David said, trying to be rational.
"Go get the captain. Get the boats ready; see if we can find any survivors." Cassidy ordered a crewman, who swiftly left to do so.
David knelt in front of her. "Emma, sweetheart, watch over the boy, please. Take care of him, and let us know if he says anything."
"Of course, papa." She replied.
Carefully, she walked over to where the boy had been lain. Kneeling down next to him, she saw something shiny on his chest. Curious, she grabbed the object and held it up. It was a necklace. A thick silver chain with a silver skull on a square cross pendant next to a dagger pendant and a strange looking silver coin.
The necklace told her that John was right. "You're—you're a pirate!" She hissed quietly. A real life pirate! And one her age! Could this be fate? She wondered.
The boy awakened suddenly, eyes popping out, coughing out some water.
Emma quickly hid the necklace in the folds of her skirts, for fear of him thinking her a thief.
"Hey, hey, you're alright, you're alright." Emma told him gently. "I'm Emma Swan, what's your name?" She asked, combing her fingers through his wet dark hair in an attempt to calm him.
It seemed to work, as he relaxed back onto the deck.
"K-Killian. Killian Jones." He replied shakily, bright and beautiful blue eyes locking onto hers.
She didn't quite realize that he had an accent; his eyes were so pretty that she couldn't seem to focus on anything else.
Not a moment later, his head fell back, eyes closing, slipping back into unconsciousness.
"You're gonna be just fine, Killian. I'll take care of you." She said softly, hands still running through his hair even though he's slipped back into unconsciousness again. Hearing footsteps behind her, she quickly turned around, seeing Cassidy behind her.
"Did he say anything important, Princess?" Cassidy asked.
"Just that his name is Killian Jones. Nothing else." She told him.
"Right." Cassidy nodded. He motioned for a couple of sailors, who quickly came to stand before him. "Take him below." Cassidy ordered.
The sailors, one being John, picked Killian up, John giving her a strange look as they pass, all three of them leaving her sight.
Cassidy soon left her too.
She took the necklace out, standing up to use her body to hide it prying eyes. As she held it up to look at it, her eyes caught sight of a dark silhouette in the distance, she put the necklace around her neck, moving closer to the ship's edge, eyes squinting to get a better look.
It was almost completely hidden in the fog, and she could barely make anything out, but she swore that it was another ship, its black flag flying high in the air.
...
Robin Hood had always prided himself on being able to take down any worthy adversary by using sleight of hand and his cunning wit. He could steal from the most heavily guarded places, and even magically locked ones. He liked to think of himself as famous, if only to the people of Sherwood Forest. He was rarely ever outsmarted, and usually always rose to a challenge.
Thus he couldn't help but wonder how it came to this: stuck in a small, leaking boat.
Bending down, he filled the bucket with water once again, before tossing the water out of the boat. As he repeated the process, he silently cursed every deity he's ever heard of for his great misfortune. But most of all, he cursed that woman.
He lost his ship, his crew, and his heart, because of her. Though, he knew that he was lucky; he only lost his heart metaphorically.
He liked to think that perhaps he was something special to her. Perhaps even in the way that she was special to him, if only because she didn't literally rip out his heart and crush it, like countless others.
However, none of this would've happened if he hadn't met her.
Deciding that any attempt at saving the boat was useless, especially this close to the docks, he dropped the bucket and gathered what little treasure he had left into a few leather pouches.
As he reached the docks, he pulled up the hood of his green cloak, swiftly moving down the pier. He almost reached end of the docks, when a hand came out in front of him to stop him.
"Wait, sir!" An older man, presumably the harbormaster, said. "It's two silvers to leave your boat docked here. And I'll be needing a name."
Letting the docked boat comment slide, he was more concerned with the second request. It wouldn't be good if anyone recognized his name; especially the guards.
He might steal from the rich and give to the poor, but he was still a pirate.
Taking out a pouch, he picked out four pieces of silver and placed them into the man's hand.
"What do you say to four silvers, and we forget the name?" He said, almost quietly.
The man nodded, accepting the bribe.
Robin started to move away, but turned back around quickly.
"Oh, by the way, where exactly am I?" He asked.
"The kingdom of King David and Queen Snow White." He smiled. "Welcome to the Enchanted Forest, Mr. Green."
...
A loud knock on the door woke her up.
"Emma!" Her father called. Groaning, she put her pillow over her head in attempt to block his voice out.
"Go away," she mumbled, closing her eyes.
"Don't make me get your mother!" David threatened.
Emma snored.
Sighing, David opened the door, his light blue eyes locking onto his daughter's sleeping form. Cracking a smile, he walked over to the curtains and yanked them open, bright sunlight streaming into the room. Moving back to Emma, he pulled the pillow off of her head.
Her arm sluggishly moved to cover her eyes.
"Come on, rise and shine, Emma." David said with a laugh. "You don't want to be late, do you?
"Late for what?" Emma asked, groggily.
"Captain Cassidy's promotion to Commodore." David reminded.
Groaning, she reluctantly sat up on the bed, rubbing her eyes. Before she could respond, her mother walked into the room.
"I have something for you," Queen Snow White said with a smile. Her green eyes twinkled as she holds out a large box.
Curious, Emma slid off her bed and walked over to where her mother and father were standing. Opening the box, she pulled out a beautiful red gown.
"Oh, wow. It's...lovely." She said.
Though the dress really was beautiful, she dreaded having to wear it at the ceremony for Cassidy's promotion.
To her mother's chagrin, Emma had always preferred her riding and sword fighting clothes over dresses. Breeches and loose shirts won out against tight dresses and heels any day.
"Great! I'll get Johanna to help you into it!" Snow said enthusiastically.
Emma was about to protest, but her mother quickly left the room. Sighing, she sat down on the bed and carefully taking the dress out and laying it down. Feeling a slight pressure on her head, she looked up and smiled at her father.
"You know it's useless, duckling." He said smiling, using her old nickname from when she was younger.
"Yeah, I know." Emma sighed "But still, I..."
"I know." David interrupted. "But please, don't make such a fuss this time. You know your mother only wants what is best for you."
"And she thinks that pushing me towards him is what is best for me?" She snorted. "Ever since he proposed, she's practically done nothing but that!"
"First of all, young lady, we were only talking about a dress." His eyes were innocent, but she knew he was anything but. He knew exactly what she meant. "And secondly, even if we were talking about Cassidy, while I may not agree with some of these...suggestions about your love life..." She glared at him. "...perhaps you should at least consider them? I mean, I am perfectly fine with you not being in a relationship until you're thirty."
Emma huffed out a laugh and made to reply, but he quickly spoke before her.
"But someday, if we're not careful, it could very well come down to your happiness, or the good of the kingdom."
Emma sighed.
They tried to always be very kind to the neighboring kingdoms whenever they went out on diplomatic missions, but Rumplestiltskin, The Dark One, as well as the king of the Dark Kingdom, had been showing some unrest for the past near decade.
Whenever she went into town, she always heard rumors going around that someone had stolen something pretty important from The Dark One, and that he wanted it back. Others said he knew who stole the item, and he had cast a terrible curse on them, and if he didn't get the item back soon, he would curse the entire Enchanted Forest.
Those were rumors, of course.
Right?
Her father's voice pulled her out of her dark thoughts.
"I know your mother is probably much better at talking and noticing things about your...love life...but, it's not as if you've really shown interest in anyone else..." He trailed off.
That was not entirely true. He has had his suspicions about just exactly who it was that Emma was interested in for years now.
He felt his suspicions were confirmed the moment a young male servant came to the doorway and said: "Pardon me, Your Majesties, but that blacksmith boy is here to see you, Your Highness."
Her entire being changed.
She perked up instantly, her green eyes (just like her mother's) widened and sparkled with excitement, mouth stretching into a happy grin.
"Killian's here?" She asked, already moving toward the doorway and past the servant. She barely got a foot out before she was practically being dragged back in by Snow, Johanna coming in from behind them.
"Yes, he's here, but you can't go down there until you are changed." Snow said, sternly, already grabbing the dress with Johanna. Moving toward the door, David clapped his hands together.
"Well, I'm going to give you some privacy. Meet me downstairs when you're done, you two." He said, closing the door, leaving just Emma, Snow, and Johanna inside.
Johanna and Snow quickly moved to get started, each grabbing a different part for the dress.
Slipping into the underparts of it, Emma next put on the corset—her absolute least favorite part—with the help of her mother, Johanna quickly starting to lace it up.
"Do you think you're ready to see Cassidy so soon after his proposal?" Her mother asked suddenly. "Unless you've accepted—"
She gasped loudly when Johanna tightened it beyond breathing capacity.
"No—absolutely not! Honestly, I'm more concerned about what this corset is making on my spleen." She said, worming around trying to loosen its hold on her. "Can you loosen it, please? So I can at least breathe?"
Johanna looked past her at her mother for confirmation.
"Emma..." Snow sighed.
Emma rolled her eyes. It was the same lecture every time. She didn't want to hear about it being proper.
"Fine, fine, I won't complain this time." She said, mouth already curling back up into a smile. She thought it was probably best not to argue with her mother after her talk with her father, and especially since that the faster this went, the faster she could see Killian. She didn't know what exactly she felt for him, but she knew that she got butterflies in her stomach whenever he looked at her, that she had the urge to run her hand through his dark locks, that she...
No.
Not going there.
Gritting her teeth as the corset was finished being laced (it was still incredibly too tight for her comfort), she went to step into the red dress, holding it up so that her mother and Johanna could button it.
The task took less than two minutes, but for Emma, it didn't feel fast enough. She watched as her mother left the room first, Johanna not far behind. Waiting until they were gone, she quietly went to one of her many drawers, and pulled out his necklace, making sure the pirate charms were all hidden by her dress. Eager to get out of here, she quickly slipped on her matching dress shoes and made her way downstairs.
...
Killian was nervous.
Sure, he has made loads of swords before, not to mention his own, but a specially-made one for the Captain's promotion, as well as the king...
Maybe Mr. Smee should've come instead.
Pulling at his dress shirt collar, he tried to calm himself.
It was only the king, the queen, and their daughter.
Their daughter.
Emma.
The single most beautiful woman in all the realms.
She was a vision ever since he had first laid eyes on her; the day she found him floating in the sea.
Golden hair falling in front of his face, bright green eyes locked onto his blue ones, he had been a goner since that very moment.
"Ah, Killian, it's nice to see you." A voice broke through his thoughts from behind him.
Turning around, he saw King David walking toward him.
With a puffy white shirt, brown leather pants, along with a red cape and crown, David looked every inch of the king he was. He nodded to the cases in Killian's hand. "I see you have it."
"Aye—uh, I mean yes, Your Majesty." He said, setting the cases down on a nearby table. Opening the left one up, he lifted up the sword, holding it with both hands out toward David. "Cassidy himself requested that it be made a saber. It's extremely sharp at the tip, and the hilt and the blade are perfectly balanced." He put only one finger underneath the sword—directly between the hilt and the blade—holding it perfectly horizontal as a demonstration.
At the king's nod of approval, he set that one back in it's case and opened the one to the right. He pulled out a long sword, with a golden, jewel encrusted hilt.
"Your new sword is perfectly balanced as well." Killian said, this time tossing the blade up in the air, catching it in the hilt as it spun back down. He handed it hilt first to David, who took it appreciatively.
"I'm impressed. This looks exactly like my last sword!" He said, swinging the sword around and getting a good feel for it.
"Charming, what have I told you? No using swords in the castle! Isn't that how you broke your last one?" A scolding voice spoke from their right.
"But Snow—"
"Later, dear." Snow chuckled, gently taking the sword from him and placing it in its case. "Emma will be down any minute now. The ceremony will be starting soon."
As if on cue, Emma came flying down the stairs towards them.
Killian swallowed. She was absolutely breathtaking in red.
"Killian!" She smiled. "How are you? Will you be going to the ceremony?"
"I'm quite well, thank you for asking, Princess." He stuttered out, turning his head just so, that she would have to walk around him to yank at his ponytail. She always pulled on it when he called her princess or your highness.
Instead she just sighed exasperatedly, a smile still on her face.
"How many times will I have to ask you to call me Emma?" She asked, shaking her head at him.
"At least once more, Princess." He smiled, teasing. "And no, I will not be going to the ceremony. There's still a bit more work to be done at the shop."
Her smile faltered. "Oh. Okay. I—"
"Pardon me, Your Majesties. Your carriage is ready." A young female servant interrupted, before turning quickly away.
"Well, we don't want to be late." Snow said, picking up Cassidy's sword case, hooking her arm with David's. "It was nice seeing you, Killian."
The four of them walked out of the castle doors, Killian stopping just outside as they headed towards the carriage.
Emma slowed down and turned around. "Goodbye, Killian."
"Goodbye," he said, watching as she caught up to her family, pulling herself into the carriage. "Emma."
...
AN: Well, there it is! I will try to update weekly, or at the very least every two weeks (hopefully it won't come to that), but to all you lovely people who are actually reading this and/or following/favoriting/reviewing and whatnot, please keep in mind that I (and my beta as well) both have lives that can be pretty busy. So anyway, thank you for reading!