So yes, you're probably wondering, why another story? Simply because I needed to venture out of my rut. I am really considering of getting rid of my vampire story and replacing it with this. So your opinons would be amazing to see which one you perfer.
Skull and Crossbones: The Intertwining of Fate
She smiled as the familiar, salty tang invaded her senses. The harsh wind ran its rough fingers through her locks as she stepped on the deck. The deckhands were hard at work cleaning the deck and readying the cannons and she couldn't help but smirk at the sight before her.
A perfect roll of fog was coming off the coastal islands and the ship worthy of her attention: The Intrepid, was sluggishly making its way westward; heavily weighed down from the enormous amounts of gold.
If they were lucky enough, with the wind at their sails, they would easily catch the galleon off guard and would make for an easy capture.
She tapped her saber and ran her fingers delicately over the woven, leather grip. She then moved up to the gold-plated guard and traced over the dragon design until she ended at the top where the dragon head comfortably sat with little emeralds glinting for eyes. The sword made her feel unstoppable and it, more often than not, confused her men as to why she constantly had it on her even in times were they were just taking a jaunt around a continent with no other intentions than leisure. Yes, it had remarkable sentimentality attached to it, it being her father's sword, but there was something else that drew her to it. The reason was only between Sakura and her best friend, Sai, and as far as she could see it, no one else will know.
Her first mate, Sai, came up to her side and stood there for ten minutes before his cold voice broke the companionable silence,
"We're now entering the fog, shall we proceed as ordered Sakura?"
She cocked her left brow up, "Why shouldn't we proceed Sai?"
"Hn."
"To answer your question" she began as though that little exchanged never happened, "Yes, we shall proceed. Lower all the sails save for the mizzen, we must make little noise. They have their cannons at ready so they're expecting some company." She looked over towards him and he offhandedly kept his gaze straightforward as though he didn't care and only returned his attention at the pause in which she continued with a dangerous spark in her eyes and a feral grin,
"Let's not allow their efforts to go to waste."
Sai turned to the awaiting crew and gave them a silent nod, conveying the importance of swiftness amongst each other while remaining quiet. The crew heeded the silent command and went about fulfilling their duties. The gunmen went below followed by their powder monkey (assistant) and soon the muted sound of cannon balls being put in place echoed eerily off the placid ocean waves.
The loud roar of the incoming galleon moments later made some of the younger crew members tense while the veterans mentally checked their weapons. If all went well then this ship would be seeing Davy Jones' locker in no less than an hour.
Sakura's boots whispered across the main deck as she ventured towards the forecastle deck (towards the front). She tightened her low ponytail and put on her dark-blue bandanna with its tails tickling the back of her neck. She then proceeded to adjust her leather sash so her weapons weren't below her reach.
"C'mon." she whispered with keen ears trained on the nearly deafening roar of the oncoming ship. Slowly, she raised her right hand with the other on her pistol. She could feel the anxiousness of the crew and temporarily closed her eyes to take in the serenity of it all. Emerald orbs shot open and she snapped her hand down. Sai gave a roar to the gun men and immediately the cannons shot their iron weapons through the fog soon followed by the sound of wood snapping and cracking under the blows.
Sakura looked over her shoulder towards her navigator who swiftly turned the wheel to adjust the ship out of the enemy's suspected targeting area. She smiled as the whiz of cannon balls echoed the area soon followed by the hallow splashes as they roughly plunged into the dark depths without coming close to Sakura's beloved ship. Again she gave the signal and they let loose another array of cannon fire and soon her ship came alongside the crippled Intrepid. With a cold smirk she easily ran on the bowsprit and deftly jumped over the five foot gap. Sai with the other crew members in tow, used grappling hooks and some swung from ropes.
Sakura smirked at seeing the galleon's crew with their faces pale,
"Ahoy." Her pistol unloaded a bullet on the nearest person and that's when all hell broke loose.
He narrowed his eyes in frustration as he read over the piece of parchment. The dark ink was smudged and hastily written, but he could decipher the jist of it. In fact, he only needed the key words; Pirates.
His anger flared when he crumpled the letter and yelled as he threw it on the ground.
Two attacks in one month! He mentally fumed that his shipping company had been duped twice in one moon and from the same pirate no doubt.
A knock alerted him from his steaming thoughts and he harshly barked, "Enter!"
A man with white eyes stepped in. His garb was pain, a silk tunic and brown breeches but his commanding aurora counteracted his appearance and one could safely conclude he was of upper class society.
"Captain Hyuuga." The portly man stood up and held out his ornately decorated hand out and waited for the young Captain to return the gesture, in which he did. "A firm grip" The man stated as he took his seat, "they say the best seamen have the strongest ones out there."
"You can't simply judge one by the grip of their hand" the Hyuuga looked disdainfully around the room. The room itself was suffocating to him with all worldly knick-knacks decorating every corner of the room and miscellaneous paintings covered most of the painted walls…the majority of which were of the owner in several settings. He held back a contempt snort.
"Of course you can! Those who toil on a ship are proven to be the best around."
The Hyuuga decided to say nothing to the man and instead focused on the reason why he was here,
"On what grounds do I owe you calling upon me?"
"Pirates."
Neji quirked an eyebrow, "Pirates? Don't you mean those privateers Sound sends out?"
"No" The balding man kept his eyes on the Hyuuga, "I mean Pirates as in no affiliation with a country."
"Those are rare these days" He walked over towards the grand bay windows overlooking the harbor. The seagulls where circling the fishing ships as they unloaded their cargo while other, smaller vessels were skimming across the waters-enjoying the sunny, summer day.
"You want my crew to rid of them?"
"Yes, but protecting my ships is more important than chasing them."
Neji cast a swift glance towards his employer, "Mr. Williamson, I am of the king's royal navy. I have fought in several naval battles and come out as victorious in all accounts." He sharply turned towards the man which made his long, chestnut-hair fly behind him, "I am no babysitter."
"You are not watching mere children Mr. Hyuuga-"
"Pirates" He interrupted, "Are a dangerous breed to come across. It's an attack or be attacked world out on the ocean. You cannot merely outrun a Pirate ship for they're fleeter than a standard naval vessel nor could you stay by a ship while being attacked, it's too easy of a target for them."
"Then what do you suppose?"
"You either allow me to do as I see fit or you can find someone else who wishes to see Davy Jones at an early year."
The man spluttered for a moment trying to formulate a response. The Hyuuga intimidated him to no ends and he knew he was making a comical sight to the younger man.
"You will have your way Hyuuga, but if my ship doesn't come to port at the appropriate time then it will be your head."
The Hyuuga gave no sign of comprehension as he made his way towards Mr. Williamson in strong strides.
"Since we've reached an accordance, would you disclose to me who I will be up against?"
"The ship's name is The Crimson Maiden."
Neji froze in his tracks and the man noticed. "So you've heard of this ship eh lad? It's said to have a woman captain, but then again nothing is for certain since the Crimson Maiden leaves no survivors."
Neji was almost out the door when he stopped, "If she leaves no survivors, then how do you know so much?"
Leaving him speechless, Neji shut the door behind him and pulled out a silver chain from under his shirt. The chain loosely hung from his neck and he fingered the small pendant that was in the shape of a sea hawk. Behind the sea hawk pendant was two simple letters: SH.
"So when do we set sail?" Neji snapped his gaze towards his bushy-browed first mate.
"Tomorrow."
"Yosh!"
Neji saw the rapid retreat of his odd friend with his stern frown still in place.
The Crimson Maiden? He thought it was gone…so many years, what was it? Over ten years ago that it sunk to the darkest depths of the ocean? It couldn't possibly be the same ship that was destroyed before his eyes, it was impossible.
But then who would name their ship after such an infamous Naval ship?
The Crimson Maiden was under the captainship of a renowned man who was the most trusted friend the King had in his younger years. It was sunk while in battle against the pirate ship, The Cutlass and since then no one has heard of either ship save for the occasional tall tale.
One tale speaks of The Crimson Maiden's captain ramming his crippled ship into the other so as to bring the enemy down with them. A noble and more believable tale then the rest he caught wind of.
He pushed off the wall he was leaning on and proceeded down the hall with a firm mindset,
These pirates will pay for defiling the honor of a great ship.
Grabbing his cloak on the way out, he rushed outside and headed towards the harbor where his pristine ship was anchored. His busy browed friend, Lee came up beside him,
"The ship is being prepared for departure."
"When's the earliest?"
"Whenever Williamson's ship is ready."
"And which ship is that?"
"The Amor."
Neji cursed beneath his breath, "That's his heaviest."
Lee nodded, "This will slow us down considerably, TenTen is not happy because she has to recalibrate her timetable accordingly."
"Weigh the ship to be one hundred pounds heavier than Amor."
"Nani? But we'll be considerably behind-"
"That's the point. The pirates wont attack a guarded ship and as long as we maintain a considerable distance, we will have an advantage over them."
"Yosh! What a great plan, I shall run and tell the crew about this and hopefully TenTen hasn't finished making her new timetable!"
Neji followed after his exuberant friend but with a more lax pace. He looked up at the cloudless sky and narrowed his eyes in determination.
Your death will not be in vain.
Hmm I wonder who he's talking about?
So yes, you're probably wondering, why another story? Simply because I needed to venture out of my rut. I am really considering of getting rid of my vampire story and replacing it with this. So your opinons would be amazing to see which one you perfer.
Reviews are kindly appreciated.