(A/N: The basic love story. Boy meets girl and all that. But with a crossover related twist. Hannah and Garin. Pirate Captain meets Pirate Cave Looter. Just to let you know, Hannah is pictured as a seventeen year old to me. Even though her age isn't really stated in the Neopedia. Read and Review please! First shot at romance fic ever)
Summary: One day, Hannah meets Garin. Armin and Jacques are shaking heads. Isca is having reassuring dreams of two Usuls in a heated sword fight. Masila, greedy for the Maraquan treasury, summons the Ghost of Captain Scarblade. Another attack on Maraqua is being planned and the two heroes are distracted by a thing called Love.
When Pirate Captain Meets Pirate Cave Looter
Chapter 1: Of Pirates and Their Caves
A young female Usul walked casually out of a small opening among the grey seaside rocks now surrounding her. She sniggered and grabbed a boulder, jamming it into the opening in between moss covered stones. A muffled explosion followed, making a few pebbles shake on the sandy ground, five feet below the cliff she stood on. She smirked, brushing dirt off her green dress. Her blue eyes scanned the area as she picked a piece of seaweed off her shoulder. She then drew out a jingling brown canvas bag, filled to the brim with gold coins. She opened the bag with a proud feeling surrounding her.
Gold coins stared back at her, glimmering with the last light of the Sun as it set on the purple and orange horizon. Her shadow danced behind her, growing with each passing moment she took, sorting the gold from the fakes. Pirates sometimes hid fake gold to trick looters, like Hannah, from getting hold of the real gold. But Hannah knew better. Her grandfather, a fellow looter and adventurer, had taught her to see the difference between real and fake. Of course, the pirates had to know which of their treasure was a carbon-copy and which was the pure gold booty.
Old and wise pirates carved, dare I say, small smiley faces with cross bones on the fakes while the skulls go on the real. Quite comical, yet smart. The faces were the same shape, but it lacked the grotesque glare of the everyday skull and also, were grinning like Cheshire cats. They worth nothing, made of lead and tin, and were as creepy as Meepits. Hannah tossed away a fake pass her shoulder and continued to rummage through the bag. Finally, as the sky turned as blue as her eyes, she tightened the rope on her bag and tied it securely to the side of her skirt.
"Another day, another sack of gold," Hannah the Usul said. She tossed her long dark brown locks and took a gigantic leap from the rocky ledge, falling agilely on both feet at the foot of the rocky wall. There was the sound of a pair of hands clapping slowly that followed before she could take another step from her landing area.
"Bravo, bravo," she heard a male voice said, with mockery as the clapping stopped. "Very well done."
Hannah saw the big ship out of the corner of her eye. With black sails that stretched to the sky, cannons pointing out of the sides, threatening to fire at any sudden movement, countless windows built into the cabin rooms, their glass, glimmering in the light, three crows nests that stood tall and straight and the words 'The Black Pawkeet' written boldly on the side of the magnificent and powerful ship.
Hannah spun around by instinct and saw her worst nightmare. Being caught. The ship was filled with the infinite number of pirate faces, looking at her with boredom as though they have seen their Captain stealing from unsuspecting Neopets one too many times. Speaking of the Captain…
A young Usul, most likely around his late teens, stood directly in front of Hannah, sword drawn and pointing menacingly towards the tomboyish female Usul. He had thick messy blonde hair, tamed with only a red headband, untidily strapped around his head; his crystal blue eyes gazed at the loaded bag of coins that Hannah carried at the side of her skirt, eyeing it intently. His left ear was pierced twice and two rings of gold hung from his ear, shining with the sunlight that was quickly fading into the sea horizon. Hannah could see a flash of blue on his shoe as he took a step closer towards her. A blade, its tip pointed to the ground, was strapped to the pirate's boot. The blade was exposed, revealing to anyone that looks by, a dagger the colour of the underwater rocks and turquoise markings glowing with a magical and mystical aura. It was slim and sharp. Hannah could have bet that it could cut through a boulder.
'That could make looting caves as easy as snapping my fingers!' Hannah thought.
A red Kyrii of the same age range as the Captain, stood beside his partner, sword drawn but pointed in defense as if ready to strike at the slightest provocation. His shocking red mane was kept neat with a dark green headband and a gold earring was pierced on his right ear. A notch was exposed above his earring. Hannah wondered what had happened to the Kyrii over the years. The Usul Captain broke the silence.
"Well, that was an interesting stunt you pulled, jumping from a ledge so high," the pirate captain said. "For a girl."
'Great, a pirate and a sexist,' Hannah thought, rolling her eyes. 'Just my luck.'
"You know what we want, girl," he said, waving the silver sword towards the Hannah's skirt impatiently.
'Now it gets ironic,' Hannah thought. 'A pirate is trying to steal from a pirate cave thief.'
"I know what you want," Hannah said. "But just one thing, it's mine now, pirate."
"Do you know who I am, little missy?" the pirate captain said with high authority. "I am Garin, Captain of the Black Pawkeet, Savior of Maraqua and looter extraordinaire!"
"Well, do you know who I am?" Hannah exclaimed proudly.
"Well, maybe some winner of a beauty pageant or-" Garin began with a scoff when one of his crewmates interrupted him.
"That's Hannah of the Pirate Caves!" a blue Techo said, pointing a navy blue reptilian finger to Hannah. "Also known as Hannah the Brave, she fought skeletons and pawkeets to steal treasure of late pirates."
"Gee, thanks for the history lesson, Gnorbe," Garin muttered sarcastically through his teeth.
"Yeah, well, so we're all acquainted and all that," Hannah said. "So, now I'll be going home now to count my money." Hannah backed away with enthusiasm but stopped awkwardly as Garin raised the sword to her neck.
"Not another move until you give us your gold, little lady," Garin said, his expression turning serious. He reached for the bag on Hannah's side but after being chased by skeletons and monsters and blowing up dynamite, people tend to get very quick reflexes.
Hannah, in a swift movement, snapped the rope that suspended the bag and, grabbing the bag, held it from the pirate's range. Garin made a move for the bag, but Hannah crouched and tripped Garin. She stepped away as the Captain went 'gracefully' flying, face first into the ground.
Moments later, she found herself being chased on the beach of Krawk Island by a gang of pirates, led by their big-headed captain and so-far-silent partner in crime.
Suddenly, Hannah stopped and pointed to someone behind the pirates. "Oh my gosh! It's Adam and Donna!" she exclaimed. The star-struck pirate crew came to a halt and turned around, looking for a sign of their creators. Hannah pushed aside a boulder aside with her paws, revealing a lit and steep tunnel. In a quick move, she darted into the secret tunnel before the pirates could say, "Oh my! Is that Dr. Sloth making out with a mop?"
Garin spun around, spotting a flash of brown hair disappearing into the ground. He blinked in shock, but the next moment, she was gone.
Later… On the Black Pawkeet…
Garin stood on the starboard of the boat, arms resting on the wooden railing and his head, tilted up to the starry night sky. The soft ocean breeze blew in his face and he closed his eyes, succumbing to the familiar smell of salty waters, the sound of the rushing waves and the light touch of the wind on his Usul body. Life as a pirate… Full of adventure; but today. Today, he was distracted from the thing he loved most. Money. He smirked at his greed for gold but his train of thought didn't stop.
Garin couldn't let this happen to him. A pirate in love with a Pirate Cave looter was ridiculous and stupid. Love. A thing produced to annoy. Love was a nuisance, making people think differently. Act differently. Be different. No one changes Garin. Isca had tried in vain. His parents had no effect. The dangers he put himself in didn't scare him away from his life of piracy.
Why would this make any difference?
"Garin," a voice said from the shadows.
"Hannah?" the name escaped Garin's lips in a hurry. He was hoping it was Hannah, at least.
'Pathetic! I'm utterly pathetic!' Garin yelled in his head as the person in the shadows stepped out into the moonlight.
(A/N: What do you think? Review please. Reviews make me smile and I really need to know if you want me to continue this.)