A Pirate's Life for Me
A/N: Hello again! I know I said I would be updating my chaptered stories, but I couldn't resist writing a new one. This is what happens after sevens hours of nothing but pirate stuff. You will be confused with this chapter. DO NOT WORRY! I wanted to do something different for the starting chapter so I decided to do one of those pick it up in the middle and then go back. The next two chapters will tell you what happened before this chapter. Bear with me.
FYI: This is an AU fic. It is no way in assocation with the main story line or plot other than what I mention. A few of the characters (Arietta) will be somewhat out of character because of this. Again, bear with me. Please excuse all spelling mistakes too. I've yet to get a beta reader and my eyes alone can't spot every mistake. This was also kind of made to replace Runaway Princess. I'm not that into it anymore and somehow I seem obessed with pirates nowadays.
Disclaimer: Namco owns all related characters.
FYI again: Pirate Crew 1: The Alboires. Status: Good. Ship: The Gailardia. Members: Guy, Luke, Anise, Noelle, and Jade (who works in Keterburg for them)
Pirate Crew 2: The God-Generals Status: Bad. Ship: The Nebilim Members: Sync, Legretta, Arietta, and Dist (who works in Daath for them).
Pairings: GuyXNatalia (duh!), LukeXTear, SyncXArietta (very mild though and you could skip over it if you want), onesided GuyXNoelle, and onesided NataliaXAsch. Possible Emperor PeonyXNephry but no sure.
Hopefully that will help clear things up. You will know more about the character's positions by the next chapter, promise. Again, just bear with for the first chapter.
38th Lunaday, Rem Decan, ND2017
Seas Bordering Malkuth and Kimlasca territory
Aboard the Gailardia
Anise Tatlin was pissed off.
Not the mildly annoyed pissed off either, but the "I'm-gonna-hurt-the-next-person-who-crosses-my-path" pissed off.
And when the young girl got this way, to the point where she had that familiar glint in her eye and was scanning the deck for her next victim, the crew stayed far away from her. Far, far, far away. Like another world away if they could.
There were only two now known things that could drive her to this level of frustration, too. One was losing treasure to their rivals, the God-Generals, and the other was protected by the sturdy door that separated her from murdering the female behind it.
"Look Princess," Anise sighed, her black curls tumbling within her suntanned face as she closed her eyes to regain her almost lost composure, "This is the only "suitable" food me and the Captain could scrounge together. If you don't eat it now, I don't want to hear you complaining about how the crew devoured it in two seconds flat and you're dying of starvation. Do you know how many people living on the seas would kill for this kind of food? Be lucky we didn't give you what the crew eats; water and soup made out of Lorelei knows what."
Slamming the tray of food on the ground in front of the still closed doors, the female tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for a response.
A few passing crew members raised an eyebrow at her but continued on with their set task, left to ponder why the second mate was standing, irked, in front of a shut door leading to the Captains corridors.
Most of the men could guess that it had something to do with the Princess they "picked up" in Baticul.
"Ooooh Princess," the girl drawled on, confirming some of staff's suspicions. It was really no surprise to many of them that the Princess had locked herself in the Captain's quarters with her high standards and all.
"Please!" came the sharp remark, the door being cracked open just a bit to reveal the look of disgust upon the Princess's heart-shaped face. Her evergreen eyes narrowed at Anise, then at the tray of food laid out before the door, then back to Anise. "You really expect me to eat that? And address me properly from now on. Say Your Majesty or Your Highness. Just because I am your captive doesn't mean I'm not of royalty."
Anyone could tell just by looking at the woman that she was high class. From the way her short, strawberry blonde was crimped at the ends and kept out of her face with a lacey, detailed headband, to her spotless, reflecting, slip-on shoes. She wore an aqua choker with a white rose as the center and a matching dress that fawned out in what looked like downward petals of a flower. Her shoulders were bare expect for the long, pearl white gloves running up the length of her arm and azure, beaded bracelet clipped on her right arm. A pair of long white stockings that could almost pass off as tights covered her well-toned legs.
But it wasn't the outfit that gave her away; it was the way she held herself. Back erect, head high, heals clipped together… She was like the vision of Princess Instructor or something.
Anise rolled her brown eyes at the older woman's demands. Did all Princesses have such high standards? "Whatever. And yeah. I'm expecting you to eat this. That was kind of the whole point of me bringing it here.
She watched as the blonde's face constricted into a look of utter distaste as she surveyed the food. "UGH!! H-How-! How… How repulsive!"
Anise glanced at the food the Captain himself had gathered for said female. It really didn't look that bad. Two whole pieces of slightly stale bread, no mold, some slices of cheese (more like pity trinkets from the chief), and a small goblet of fresh milk. It wasn't like they had a five-star restaurant on the ship and supplies were depleting fast because of the unsuccessful pit stop in Baticul. They didn't have a lot to spare and considering that, this was like gold to them. …Well, most of them.
"Look in a mirror if you want repulsive," she muttered in response, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Just keep pushing it, Princess. Just keep pushing it…
Crossing her white-gloved arms over her turquoise clad chest, the strawberry blonde Princess glared at the girl. "What was that?"
"N-Nothing. I just said that you should at least try the food before turning it down." Be nice, be nice. The Captain said to be nice.
The older female rolled her eyes. "This coming from a girl who doesn't know the first thing about proper manners and is dressed like…well…like that."
Oh it was on now.
Truthfully, Anise had to admit that she did look a bit…eccentric. With her larger than normal golden hoop earrings, pink bandanna tired around her black pigtails, and swishy, but slimming pink dress complete with black lace details, she was out of the norm compared to someone like Natalia. Her black, strap sandals and matching tights that peeked out from under the edge of form-fitting dress probably didn't help matters either. Btu she was a pirate for Yulia's sake! She wasn't trying to win a fashion show and she looked better than half of the men on board this ship! Noelle probably had her beat in cuteness though.
Maybe it was the loose dark corset, black choker, and fingerless gloves that really didn't seem to go together all that well.
Screw being nice… And screw the Captain for that matter.
"I'll take that as a compliment coming from you," she retorted, placing one hand on her hip and a devilish smirk coming to her lips. "I'd rather be cute then old and ugly any day."
"W-! Wha-?! What?! You insolent little girl!! How dare you insult me, Princess Natalia Luzu Kim-!"
"Oh, just stop it," the black-haired female interrupted the shell-shocked Princess, "You're so full of yourself, it's almost pathetic."
"Y-Y-You-!" stuttered Natalia, unable to form a full sentence because of the vicious insults. Never, in all her life, had she been spoken to in such a manner. Not even by a Malkuth superior. Were all pirates really this… this…ill-mannered?
Turning her back on the blonde, Anise picked up the food tray that had now caught many of the stray crew member's eyes and slowly started to walk away. "Oh, and by the way," she said darkly, glancing over her shoulder at the gaping woman, "That's a nice look for you. Looks like you're catching flies."
"Now hold it right there, you…you…barbaric girl!" Natalia practically screamed across the deck, earning more attention from the passing workers. Fortunately for her, the second mate stopped her descent, whirled around on her heels, and arched one eyebrow, as if waiting for her to continue.
Gaining confidence, the blonde took one timid step out of the doorframe so that she was fully face to face with this "pirate." Hands on her hips, she tried to maintain her best scowl on the girl. "One, I am not old; not by any stretch of the imagination; two, to call me ugly is a federal crime and I'll see that as soon as we get back to Baticul that you are arrested and imprisoned for the rest of your worthless life!" she yelled, allowing the volume of her voice to rise with each word.
A chorus of "Oooohs!" rang out around the gathering crowd.
Natalia suddenly blinked in confusion, as if she had just realized something. "….What is your name by the way? I have to know your name if I want to imprison you."
The whole time during the older woman's rant, Anise had just stood there; one hand on her hip and one eyebrow rose. No emotion showed other than the stone expression that seemed to be cemented on her face.
"Uh…." muttered the Princess, fiddling with a stray thread off of her cerulean dress. She took one hesitant step backwards so that her back was pressed against the door, ready to make a quick escape to the safety of the Captain's Quarters if necessary. "Your name?"
Once again all the girl did was blink in response.
Several crew members had now gathered around the two now, forming a circle that made it impossible for Natalia to simply run to the edge of the ship, jump off the railing, and somehow swim to Baticul. Never mind the fact that she had never taken swimming lessons.
A sudden, harsh, but jovial chorus of laughter echoing around the ship brought the blonde back from her hypothesizing leap. Scanning the area around her, Natalia's eyes widened in surprise when she saw it was Anise who was laughing.
The raven-haired girl was clutching her side with one arm while the other, miraculously supported the food she was meant to give. The chuckles almost sounded like something a mad man would say, but not quite.
Breathing in between giggles, Anise managed to stammer, "So-haha-the old hag-hahah-actually has some-hehe-guts!"
"OLD HAG?!" she echoed, eyes widening and cheeks burning with humiliation as the other crew members also began snickering at the remark. Oh, that was it. That little-! How dare she insult her in public! Her only hope was that the Captain was not around to see her behaving in such a manner. On the other hand, if he was around, he might discipline this rude girl for her impoliteness. She also might be able to hold and intellectual conversation with someone at least within range of her social status.
"Burn," stated a scrawny man near the edge of the group. Both females ignored the commentary for the peanut gallery.
"Yeah. O-L-D, old, H-A-G, hag," Anise spelled out, seemingly recovering from her laughing fit. "Look it up in a dictionary; there's bound to be a picture of you there."
"Double burn," chirped a smaller boy to the scrawny man from before.
"S-Such disrespect! Haven't any of you been taught any manners?" Natalia commented, hands once again on her hips as she slowly backed up further into the room behind her. She was not going to just sit here and be offended or stoop to such a low level as to throw remarks back. "What makes you think I'm old anyways?"
"That's easy. You won't eat this food. Only old hags want fine dining and such. Cute, young girls like me or fine with food like this," Anise explained, holding the tray out to the blonde. "And we're pirates! Since when do pirates have manners? Lady, I don't know what world you're living in, but it's a dream world."
Regarding the youthful pirate and the tray of now delicious looking food because of the growls of hunger escaping her stomach, the Princess chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I suppose I need to keep up my strength for when we get back to Baticul and I have you all imprisoned," she mused, slowly reaching out for the food, "and this food doesn't look poisonous…but if you cooked it I'd have to reconsider."
"Har, har. You're hilarious, Princess."
"So…" the noble continued, ignoring Anise's comment, "I guess I could down a few pieces of bread. Although you would have to take back your old hag statement if I did."
Anise sighed. She knew getting the Princess to eat by any means was not going to be easy. And honestly she didn't expect things to go like this. "Alright, alright. You're not an old hag."
"You're not an old hag what?" Natalia drawled on, crossing her arms over her chest again.
Must resist urge to murder. Must resist urge to murder. "You're not an old hag, Your Majesty," she finished with an overly grand flourish of her other hand in an elegant bow.
"That's all I ask for. A little respect will get you a long way in life," the older female advised, taking the food tray and gracefully turning her back on the crew. "Good day."
Mumbles of "Good day, Princess" and "Good day, Your Highness" chimed through the still listening crew members.
"See?" Natalia observed, setting the food down on a nearby nightstand and holding the edge of the door with one hand. "You barbaric pirates do have some manners." She couldn't resist. "Although you could probably do without that little shrimp you seem to have caught along the way."
Just as the blonde slammed the door shut in the slightly stunned faces of the pirates and locked it, a loud thud of someone's body crashing into a door echoed along her present quarters.
"AND YOU CALL ME BARBARIC!?" came Anise's familiar voice from outside the door, accompanied by her fist pounding on the door. "JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU STUCK-UP SNOB AND SORRY EXCUSE FOR A PRINCESS!! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!!"
"Like I said," Natalia replied cockily, a hand going to her lips to stifle her chuckles. "Barbaric and short!"
"I'M STILL GROWING, DAMNIT!! AND I AM, NOT BY ANY MEANS, A FRICKING SHRIMP!! WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE YOU COWARD!?"
"I may be a coward but at least I'm not demented and stupid."
"I SWEAR, ONE MORE INSULT AND I WILL TEAR THIS DOOR DOWN AND SINK THIS SHIP WITH YOU STILL ON IT!!"
"That makes no sense, dear. You would also drown and be charged with murder."
"FINE THEN!! I'LL JUST KILL YOU!! HOW 'BOUT THAT!?"
"It'll be amusing to watch you try," Natalia chuckled, ending the conversation and taking up her usual position on the red velvet couch to the side.
That was fun. They really should do that more often.
Only the constant shouts of "I'LL KILL YOU!!" and the hammering of small fists on the door, fruitlessly trying to make it give, disturbed Natalia's meal.
A/N: I know. Many of you are like, "Huh?!" Let me try and clear things up. Natalia is still the Princess of Kimlasca who was kidnapped by the Alboires. Anise if the second mate, meaning you can probably guess from the information at the way top who's who. That's all I can tell you for now. Remember, this is a completely different universe. Completely different. No relation to the other story line whatsoever. Tear will appear in this, do not worry.
Things will clear up in the next chapter, promise. Until then please give me feedback on what you think of it so far. Feedback is like gold to us authors. Until then!