Author's note: Hello all! I'm very excited to be starting on my second Clexa fic, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing this first chapter. This'll probably be a pretty slow burner, but nothing too drastic and difficult to bear (hopefully). Also, I know nothing about sailing a pirate ship, so if I get any details wrong I apologize! In the beginning (no more than three chapters) there is a tad bit of Lexa/Costia, but Clarke comes on the scene very quickly. Besides, we all know what kind of fate awaits poor Costia… If you want to get straight to the Clexa beginnings, jump to Chapter 4 ;)

Anywho, without further ado… chapter 1! Please review, I'm always interested to know what you all think of my stories.

CHAPTER 1

Cool droplets flew up into the air and peppered the young girl's face as the bottom of the ship rose and fell against the waves, dashing the salty water everywhere. Her chin was titled upwards, her eyes were closed, and the warm sun, which was preparing to set, warmed soft, tanned cheeks. Taking in a deep breath, she knew that there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

The girl, who couldn't have been more than twelve years old, felt gruff hands on her shoulders, and she didn't need to look up to see who it was.

"Good evening, father," she mused.

"Lexa," the old man smiled warmly. His hands were calloused but by no means harsh, and they had never laid a harmful hand on the little girl he called his own. He couldn't afford to, for there was no mother alive anymore to sooth her if he was stern. But he had no reason to be stern, for his Lexa was the sweetest angel to ever grace the deck of The Flame.

"One day, Lexa, this trade ship will be your brother's," her father reminded her. "Until then, you must do everything you can to educate him in the ways of sailing, for you're unusually talented in the art."

Lexa understood. Even though she was the eldest child and Aiden was only four, when her father died, as the eldest son, Aiden would take over the ship. Her job, as an "unusually" skilled sailor for a twelve-year-old girl, was to train Aiden until that day came.

Unfortunately for the young sea girl, that day would come much sooner than anyone could've imagined.

Ten Years Later

"Captain!" a voice cried outside of the captain's quarters. It was followed by frantic banging on the oak door. "Captain, please! It's urgent!"

An ivory knife slammed down into the map upon the wooden table. The captain groaned, straightened, and turned towards the door, preparing to answer in the usual curt, gruff voice.

"You may enter."

The small man flung open the door and shut it behind himself as he turned towards the captain he'd grown to idolize, fear, and respect.

"Say your piece, Gustus," Captain Lexa Woods ordered, wrenching the knife out of her table and toying with the blade, running slender fingertips along the sharp edge as if daring it to cut her.

"Captain, we've hit something. We don't know yet whether it's a stationary object or if it's a serpent, but regardless, the lowest deck is starting to fill with water."

"Damage report?" she asked, springing into action as she pulled on her jacket and hat.

"The hole is about the size of a grown man. Unless we find land soon or can repair the damage, we'll sink. Within three hours."

Lexa shot Gustus a cocky grin as she threw open her door and launched herself onto the deck of The Flame and called over her shoulder.

"Gustus, my father didn't entrust me with his ship just so I could let it sink!"

Pushing off the slippery wooden floor with gripped boots, she hurried over to the largest mast. Men were already scurrying around with buckets, thinking they could slow the time that it took water to fill the lowest decks by shoveling it out. She heard the drummer in the rowing deck drumming faster, urging the rowers to pick up speed. She shook her head at everyone's attempts, knowing that their efforts would buy them little time but deciding it was easier to save her ship herself instead of trying to explain.

"Captain Lexa!" a voice called, and Lexa recognized the voice of the only other woman on board. She turned to her first mate and quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, Indra?"

"Here," Indra said, handing her captain a small hatchet. "This'll cut those ropes faster than any knife can."

Lexa smiled at the woman as she stuffed the hatchet between her belt and waistline.

"Indra, what would I do without you?" she asked. "You're certainly a much better first mate than you were a tutor for me and Aiden."

Indra took no offense, for this was a true statement. She just wished that Lexa could've seen the rest of her childhood through the eyes off a child, not through the eyes of a pirate.

But before she could thank her captain for the offhanded compliment, Lexa was wrapping her arms and legs around the thick mast and hoisting herself up the long wooden pillar that housed The Flame's largest sail.

Lexa had never really had a fear of heights, but she'd also never tried to climb up the mast with water spraying into her eyes, numbing her fingers, and making the wood slippery. Every inch she climbed higher made her heart beat faster. She had nearly reached her destination – the bottom of the high-reaching sail – when her hand missed one of the ropes tied around the pillar, acting as a ladder rung, and she slid down four feet before finally catching herself again.

"Captain!" Indra called up. Lexa, however, could not hear through the storm raging around them, and continued to climb.

She finally reached her destination and pawed at the hatchet situated at her hip. Swinging it through the air, she brought it down and it met its mark. Busting five of the thickest ropes that England could make was quite a job, but after two minutes, all five were snapped. Lexa smiled as she saw that her actions had the desired effect. The wooden mast swiveled around as the sail finally caught in the direction the wind was blowing and Lexa triumphantly slid down the mast to the ground.

"Victory is ours, Indra," the young captain gloated. "The Flame lives to tee another day."

"But what did you do, captain?" Indra asked, still not fully understanding. "We're sailing at the same speed with the same amount of water flowing in."

"England is an hour and a half this way," Lexa responded, pointing in the direction they were headed. "Not only, but the hole is at the bow, is it not?"

Indra nodded.

"The bow is now facing the wrong way. While I'd never captain a ship backwards for any other occasion, and while there's a lot of damage repairs we're going to have to deal with, I'd argue about a third of the amount of water flowing in earlier is filling up our decks now."

Indra shook her head.

"Your father would be so proud."

Lexa nodded, her victory glow dissipated and a solemn look taking its place. Then, looking around at her crew awaiting instruction, she locked her shoulders back and brought her feet together. The crew responded by getting into formation.

"Tell the rowers to keep rowing hard. Class C, take the buckets down to the galleys and keep shoveling the water out. Class B, follow Class C to the galleys to save any salvageable supplies. Class A, stay up on the deck in a ready attack formation. If what hit us was a creature or another ship, I don't want to be as defenseless as we were the first time around. Gentlemen, prepare to arrive in England in the next two hours. I believe that is all I need to say on the matter."

With that, she nodded and escaped back into her quarters. It was all she needed to say on the matter. After all, a pirate ship arriving to port in 1738 England, damaged or not damaged, meant hangings. She knew some of her crew was going to die – there was no way they'd all be able to escape the British law enforcers in time. She knew a ship builder in the black market who could repair The Flame within a month or two, but she wouldn't return to sea with the same crew she had before.

She scurried around her spacious room, packing all that she could in her father's old leather case. After packing all of her clothes and weapons and anything else that someone may think to pack, she reached for the old stop watch that her father left her. It was the only thing rightfully left to "a Miss Alexandria Woods" in his will – everything else she'd inherited from him was rightfully Aiden's.

Swallowing, Lexa pushed the painful memory out of her mind. Through the thick-paned window near her luxurious bed, she watched the sun rise, and with it came a shout of "land, ho! Land, ho! Liverpool, England! Prepare to dock!"

Lexa sighed, hoisting the case into her arms and approaching her door. This was it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The pirate's flag on The Flame was lowered and the ship's title, painted in blood red on the side of the hull, was scraped off to conceal the ship's identity. They docked fairly safely, Lexa encouraging most of her crew to jump off before reaching port in order to have time to flee. Fortunately, she and Indra were able to dress in two of Lexa's only dresses and pass off as kidnapped maidens to the dock tax collectors. After assuring the man that they were just fine, the two scurried into the town.

The pair ducked into a tavern and quickly changed into clothes they were more comfortable in, as they'd brought Lexa's leather case with them from the ship. Then Lexa, now clad in a blue, form-fitting captain's jacket, white trousers, a red vest, black boots, and her captain's tricorn, gave Indra firm instructions to stay in the tavern and wait for her to return.

"If I'm not back within an hour, I'm probably dead," Lexa half-joked as she slipped out of the tavern and walked into the now buzzing streets

She swore she'd never return to Liverpool; too many haunting memories resided in this place. The last time she'd walked down these cobblestone streets, she was a twelve-year-old girl who was afraid of her own shadow. Now she was Captain Lexa Woods, commander of The Flame, ruler of the seven seas, con artist, and afraid of nothing.

Looking up, she realized she'd arrived at the doorstep of a hut, one that was sandwiched between two large buildings. Drawing in a shaky breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the door.

A dark-skinned man with tattoos on his neck and head answered. He gazed at her momentarily, as if in disbelief, and suddenly flung his arms around her.

"Lexa, you've grown," he murmured into her hair. She chuckled gently as his arms tightened around her petite waist.

"Uncle Lincoln, it's good to see you," Lexa grinned, pulling away.

"And you as well, my dear," Lincoln smiled at his niece. "Come in, come in. What brings you here?"

Lexa stepped inside the familiar house. Lincoln was of the middle class, and had always been on the good side of the law, but that in no way meant he always had food on the table or warm clothes on his back. Still, the house was homey and she could recall playing on the rug near the fireplace as a small child with the little wooden carvings he made for her.

"Uncle," Lexa sighed. "Father's ship… it's in my care, since Aiden was taken ten years ago," Lexa explained. Lincoln nodded, having heard this story before. Lexa continued, conveniently neglecting to mention her current occupation and exactly what type of ship The Flame now was. "Well, I may have gotten in a bit of a wreck about two hours north of here. Is there any way-"

"Consider it done, Lexa," the shipbuilder interrupted, not even asking for a damage report, as he knew she wouldn't come to him if the ship wasn't salvageable.

"Oh, thank you, Uncle!" Lexa cried, flinging herself into his arms and smiling. "She's at the dock under the name Smith. It was the most common surname I could think of. As for how much it'll cost…"

"I would do it for free if I could, Lex," Lincoln sighed, "but I can't repair it alone. That'd take nearly a year. So I'll need workers to pay. It'll probably cost about 4,000 shillings."

"Consider it done, Uncle," Lexa responded, mimicking her uncle's words.

"But… Lexa, where do you have that kind of money?" he asked incredulously.

"Uh…" Lexa stammered. "Father… in his will? He left me… yes."

"…Right…"

"Right."

Lexa cleared her throat.

"Well, Uncle, I'd better go," she continued. "Thank you ever so much, I'll be staying at the inn three blocks from here if you need me or have any inquiries about the ship. Thank you once again!"

She was just about to close the door when it stopped short. She looked up to see a brown hand holding the oak slab in place and she sighed.

"One last thing," Lincoln insisted. "Why exactly are you dressed like a man?"

Lexa's smile stretched from ear to ear as she kissed his cheek and jogged off down the street.

"I love you, Uncle!"

He smiled and shook his head, staring after his little Lex.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

137 men.

That's how many of the 300 members of her crew that were captured, tried, and sentenced to hanging for piracy. None of them, it seemed, had ratted her out, and Lexa was ever so thankful, though she knew the guilt would weigh on her for years to come. If she hadn't been so neglectful to her duties on the open sea, she would've never had a hole blown in her ship, she would've never had to return to port for repairs, and she would've never lost 137 souls.

Well, at least none of them were Indra or Gustus.

"What is it, Captain?" Indra asked, shouldering her captain gently from the stool beside her. Lexa looked up and shook her head.

"It's my fault," she sighed, tilting her head back and shooting the small glass of liquor. "If I hadn't neglected my duties-"

"Not at all, Captain," Indra corrected. "Not at all."

Crew members were peppered throughout the town, staying in various inns under various aliases, and Lexa and Indra picked an inn that sat above a tavern that doubled as a brothel. Lincoln had informed Lexa that The Flame would be repaired in two months' time. After relaying this information to what crew members she could find throughout the small city, it was spread to all: the crew of The Flame would have a two month leave to do with what they pleased in the fair town of Liverpool, England.

And so much could happen in two months.