AN: This is my first fic so be gentle and I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to Cara my amazing beta (kuhummel on tumblr).
Chapter 1
"Release the main sail!" Blaine shouted at his crew, watching from the helm as his men went about their duties. Blaine smiled to himself, being on the open sea and feeling the wind in his hair was the best feeling on the earth and being the captain meant that he didn't have to do the menial tasks such as scrubbing the deck or repairing the rigging. The ship was travelling at thirty knots and they were gaining on the unsuspecting cargo.
"C'mon you bilge rats. The slave ship is almost within range of the canons!" the captain yelled, peering through a brass telescope and focusing on the ship in the distance.
It was well built, had two sails, which was small, but seemed to be in good nick and Blaine couldn't wait to see what treasures lay below deck. Slaves fetched a pretty penny at market and commandeering a slave ship would definitely be worth their while considering the crew were handy with a sword.
"Captain, we are approaching on the starboard bow. Shall I ready gunmen?" A small figure asked.
The Captain lowered his telescope and looked back at his first mate. "Yes Lopez, but tell them not to fire until I order," Blaine answered sternly, recalling the few occasions where certain crew members had fired at will, without following instruction.
Blaine watched as the Latina ran down below deck to the gun ports where the cannons would be released. Blaine had saved Santana Lopez from a slave ship, not unlike the one they were about to seize, the girl had fought bravely against the captain and having beaten almost him in a sword fight, Blaine spared her life in return for her services as first mate. Over the years they had become friends and, although Blaine did not admit to the rest of the men, thought of Santana as his equal. The slave ship was too small to outrun the Ligeia and the two vessels came level. "Ready the cannons!" Blaine roared. A few 'aye cap'ns' were shouted back, signalling to Blaine that it was time, "Fire!"
There was an echo of several almighty booms as the balls of steel ripped through the wood of the ship opposite, splintering the wood enough to stop it from sailing but still keeping it afloat. After the first round of fire the captain looked at the vessel, assessing the damage as to whether another round was needed before they boarded. He watched the unfortunate souls as they ran around aimlessly trying to calm the salves. The crew on these types of ships were never well prepared for an attack and that's what made it so perfect.
"Hold fire!" Blaine ordered, knowing that any further damage to the ship could kill the cargo and lose any plunder.
"Grab your cutlasses and swords boys we're going to board her," he shouted, snatching his own weapon and placing his hat on his head.
"Prepare the gang plank," Blaine heard Santana shout as the rest of the crew surfaced from below deck, carrying the weapons.
The long planks of wood slammed onto the other ship, providing a walkway for the crew to board. In the rush to overthrow the remaining crew, there were yells and cries as swords were thrust to the hilt into the bodies of the slave ships crew. Blaine walked calmly, allowing his crew to have the fun of the kill. After a few minutes, Santana came up to him panting slightly, her blade displaying a slight red tinge.
"The crew is all dead including the captain, there have been a few casualties of the cargo but luckily it was the weak," the Latina informed him.
Captain Anderson nodded, watching his crew throw the dead bodies overboard.
"Once the dead have been disposed of, bring the cargo up on deck so that we can decide who we take back and who we leave here," he said quietly to the shorter girl.
Blaine watched Santana as he rallied the men so that she could bring the slaves up on deck. When waiting, he heard a lot of yelling from both the crew and the cargo; some in languages that he had never heard before. The slaves were eventually brought up on deck, all shackled together, making it impossible to escape. Blaine walked up and down the rows of people, eyeing up each one and evaluating what price they would come to at the market.
Examining the slim pickings, Captain Anderson realised that there were a very small amount of slaves for what a ship of this size usually brought. Nevertheless, he continued looking at the crowd in front of him.
Blaine turned to a boy thin, pale skinned boy and his entire form instantly stilled. He looked strong, and there was something about the look in his eyes that showed Blaine he would be hard work, but for some reason, the shorter boy was drawn to him. Under the Captains gaze, the younger boy shifted nervously and Blaine stepped back, allowing his eyes to linger on the slave's blue eyes; possibly for a little longer than normal.
The captain quickly cleared his throat and continued his rounds, though his thoughts of the boy remained. There was something different about the boy that made Blaine feel something different in the pit of his stomach, like he was on the open sea in a rowing boat during a storm. Blaine felt the other boy's eyes on him as picked out the weak, and moved them to side to be thrown overboard. He couldn't help but feel like he was being judged by him. Why did he even care, Blaine thought, it's just a slave.
Santana's eye followed her captain as he strode though the rows of slaves. Santana suddenly realised how hypocritical of her it was for her to be here. Not long ago she had been in this very position to fight for her life, but people do what they have to do to survive and that's what she was doing.
Santana folded her arms and closed her mind off to how she was against this and tried to ignore the fact that they were people. They aren't people, they are cargo, Santana said to herself. The Latina noticed that Anderson had stopped in front of a single slave and was looking him up and down, she didn't know why, though. He was skinny and probably had never set foot on a real ship until now. Next to the skinny slave was a tall, blonde girl and the only word that came to Santana's mind when her eyes rested on the girl's innocent face was beautiful. How could such a beautiful creature end up on this horrible ship?
Santana walked forward towards the Captain and tapped him on the shoulder, waking him from his thoughts.
"Captain the men are becoming restless. Shall I order them to collect the valuables from below deck?" Santana saw a slight nod from her friend and decided that she would leave him to his thoughts.
"You heard me, move your asses and get below deck! Get anything of use and take it aboard the Ligeia," Santana ordered. "Not you. Hudson, Karofsky, stay above deck in case these," she gestured to the group of slaves, "decide to do anything stupid".
The shorter girl moved and leant against the mast. Her eye automatically moved to look at the blonde who was now holding hands with the skinny brown haired boy, their shackles restricting their movement. The Latina studied the two of them, wondering what their relationship was. They didn't look like they were married and they definitely weren't siblings since the girl was too pretty to be related to him. So as a conclusion, she decided that they were merely friends.
The shorter girl, lost in her thoughts, barely realised that the Captain had separated the slaves into two groups, but had left the blonde girl and skinny boy in the middle, as if he didn't know what to do with them. Santana saw tears streaking down the blonde's pale cheeks, and the Latina felt a sudden urge to hold her and make the tears go away. She felt guilty that she had somewhat been a cause for the tears.
Blaine circled the two slaves, knowing that they were supposed to be thrown overboard, but there was something about the way he had looked at Blaine that had shaken him. There was a look of disgust in the younger boys eyes that Blaine knew it was his fault. Well, it was his fault. He was the one who was destroying ships and stealing slaves, but that didn't mean he was a bad person and Blaine just wanted a chance to prove that.
Captain Anderson looked at the blonde who was gripping tightly onto the boy's hand, tears rolling down her cheeks, leaving a trail through the grime and dirt on her skin. The flow of tears caused the younger boy to lean over and mumble into the girl's ear. Blaine couldn't hear what he was saying but by the tones, it sounded like he was comforting her. Even in this situation, he was still calm and caring, and that's when Captain Anderson decided to keep these two for the ship's crew. They needed an extra few hands and it had been some time since he had kept some slaves for himself. He needed some, especially since the majority of his crew had been injured in today's battle. Blaine thought for a moment, trying to justify this choice in his own head before he announced it to the crew.
"You two are staying with us," Blaine proclaimed confidently, pulling at the shackles to hold the two together, and leading them to the mast near where Santana stood.
"This group," Blaine said loudly, gesturing to a small group on the portside, "are of no use. Throw them over board," he added, throwing his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the port side, trying not to make eye contact with the boy's pale blue eyes since he knew that they would still be giving him judgmental looks.
As Hudson and Karofsky followed orders by unshackling the slaves at knife point to ensure of no funny business, there were yells and screams of terror. Slaves from the group, who were saved, tried to run to their loved ones as an attempt to free themselves, only to pull each other to the ground in a mass of limbs and shackles.
Through the wails and the cries, Blaine's eyes hardened as he turned on his heel to leave the crew to deal with the waste.
"Santana bring those two on board and hold them in the brig," Blaine said, still avoiding the boy's eyes. He strode across the gang plank to the Ligeia, breathing in deeply and trying to shake off the strange feeling that he had been experiencing ever since he had set eyes on the younger boy. The captain watched as Santana roughly pulled the slaves across the gangplank and pushed them down into the brig.
"C'mon you seadogs let's get this cargo in below deck before the sun touches the sea!" The captain yelled, slightly lacklustre as he took his place at the helm of the ship, watching the queue of bodies being pushed below deck.
Blaine saw Santana return from the brig, and watched as she began to lift the gangplanks, leaving the carcass of the slave ship to rot in the water. In the distance he could hear the whimpers of the slaves they had just dumped there. They had to be left behind, they were too weak to even make the long journey back to land and the Ligeia was not big enough for supplies and cargo. Yes, he had definitely made the right choice, but why was he feeling so guilty?
"Set sail for Tortuga. Lopez, you take over steering. Hudson, you navigate. I'll be in my quarters if you need me," Blaine ordered before quickly scanning the ship to make sure there were no slackers. Once satisfied, he disappeared behind the double doors under the helm. He sighed heavily as he leant up against the cold wood. Today had not turned out the way he had expected, and he had a feeling that it was caused by that one mysterious slave.