Honorifcabilitudinitatibus
ONE
'Julius V. Vargas had it all.'
"Are you sure you want to do this lad?"
'Gold, Money, Riches, Power, control over the Seven Seas – it all been his.'
"Of course father. I'm going to become the King of the Pirates. Just like I told mum I would."
'The last thing that fell from his lips had sparked an entire era of Piracy.'
"That's ludicrous boy! You're mad for thinking that!"
'"My treasure is what you want? It's yours if you can find it.'"
"No it's not father! I'll show you! I'll show you all! I'll become the true King of the Pirates!
'But you'll have to search the entire world for it! Heraherahera!'"
"Arthur! Arthur Kirkland! Get your bloody arse back here!"
'And the hunt for Julius V. Vargas's treasure had begun.'
That had been years and years ago when he had still been a lad and the event that had once been fresh in his young mind was slowly becoming just a fading memory in time. On his lazy days, he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had allowed his father to catch him and drag him back to the home they had once shared together. He would have been beaten to the brink of unconsciousness for sure, but after he had regained consciousness and healed would he have ran away again to become a pirate? Oh there would have probably always been the chance, but he would have been older and less agile. It would have been very hard for him if he wasn't as young as he is now–
"…irkland. Captain Kirkland. Are you there?"
The green-eyed man snapped out of his revere to stare seriously at the man who had just spoken to him. He slowly started to remember where and what he was doing and who was just talking to him. The man talking to him was really more of a teenaged boy than anything was of Chinese descent; but instead of hailing from the mainland China, he came from the small colony of Hong Kong in its stead. The boy's name was Xian Wang if he remembered correctly – he wasn't all that great with names in the first place. Though, Xian was a very important and very strange member of his crew if he did say so himself.
Ah, yes, his Crew. The mighty Crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge was made up of only five men. The thought of a pirate crew being formed of only five men was still something of which still shocked the Mainland Europe to that day. A sigh of annoyance left his parted lips and he looked away from the normally monotonic Xian Wang and nodded his head; clasping his hands behind his back and eying each one of his crew members.
"My apologies, you stupid git-faces," Arthur never did say that he was ever nice to his Crew members. He had no reason to be and they had no reason to be nice to him. It was a mutual understanding.
"Oh yes, oh just yes, we express our undying love to you too, Captain Kirkland." One of the other members replied in jest. "We know, I know, all the pirates in the Seven Seas and their mothers know that you like talking to your imaginary friends, but if you haven't noticed, we kind of have a meeting going on at the moment." Like Xian, this pirate was still in his late teens and was rather young to be a pirate, but still could easily be considered a man.. His actual name was Alfred F. Jones but he demanded that he be called the Hero at all times. He was a rather beautiful specimen with his light wheat blond hair and light blue eyes, but the beauty was destroyed and tarnished whenever the bloody prat opened his damn mouth.
A man standing next to Alfred laughed sardonically and shot a grin at the Hero. "Shut your face, mate," The man replied. "Let the cap'n speak for the good of us all before you kill what little remaining brain cells we have left…"
"Shove it where the sun doesn't shine Steven!" Alfred gruffly told Steve, who had tan skin and unruly brown hair and a Band-Aid across his nose.
"Alfred, please be quiet," Xian said monotonously. Seriously, the Chinese boy was a godsend at times. "You're being an idiot. May you please spare us from your relentless murder of brain cells."
The blond grunted angrily. "Hey man! I'm not an idiot! Oy yeah! Mattie, back me up like a good brother and tell these stupid faces that I'm the Hero!"
A passive-looking man with violet eyes and soft strawberry-blond hair looked strangely frightened at suddenly being put on the spot. "W-well, its n-not like I can s-sy y-you're an H-Hero when y-you're really n-not…"
"What! I'm totally the Hero! Don't betray me!"
"I-I'm not b-betraying you!" Even though, the boy whose name was Matthew Williams, was slightly mad at his brother; his voice never betrayed the soft mellow tone he spoke in now.
"Liarliarliar! You betrayed me! The hero! Liarliarliar!"
"I'm not a liar!"
"Yes you arrrrre."
"Non I am not!"
"Oh dear, did you just speak French? Sorry bro, I don't speak the language of the idiots. Speak English please. Me es no comprende si?"
Arthur sighed and slammed his fist down on the table; catching the attention of his crew members. He better make his speech like his bedroom stunts: quick and fast. His crew members had the attention span roughly equivalent to the size of a shilling. "Peace be quiet you stupid morons! I believe we have a mission here you stupid bunch of prats." Arthur hissed; his more irrational side getting the best of him. "As you all know, we are pulling into Normandy tomorrow. And as much as I hate the French, rumours happen to say that Julius's grandson is currently hiding out in the bays of Normandy and as well happen to know that finding him before word gets out that the Vargas boy is still up and kicking is our top priority."
"'Up and kicking'?" Alfred repeated, casting a rather funny look at his commanding captain. "What are you an old man Iggy?"
Steve rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. "Git-face has a point there mate. You don't say that old phrase anymore unless you're old geezer, geezer."
"One more word," Arthur threatened; his green eyes flashing. "And I will throw you to the Kraken. How would you like to become an overgrown sea monster's next meal?"
"No thanks, I prefer beef and pork anyway compared to seafood."
"…What are the plans then, Captain?" Matthew asked.
Arthur reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a map of the infamous Normandy Bay. He laid it out across the wooden table and his men huddled around it; eyes specifically trained on the map before them all.
"We'll dock here at the Cove where most of the Pirates meet, in where we will split up into groups of two and make our way up to the bay and into the small town there. My coats have been ripped lately so I'll head up to the Tailor shops with my partner while another group heads into the more roguish part of town. Rumour has it that the Vargas boy has dealings with the Mafia there. And while I'm at the Tailors and the other group is scoping out the Italian Mafia, the last group will scuttle down to the docks to see if any other pirate group has landed. The news of the last living descendant of the King of the Pirates must not be spread. Am I clear?"
"Aye Cap'n!"
The new clothes fit him like a second skin. He twisted his form side to side to peer at himself in the long double-wide mirror. The clothes he wore were made from a leather-like satin material that covered his thin, short frame. Laced up leather boots that went up to his knees covered the black, satin-like trousers and his belt that hoisted both his trusty gun and sword was made from a black onyx like material. Underneath his captain's coat and new thin coat, was a new black dress shirt with a slightly frilled jabot. Over his dress shirt he wore a thin white coat made of the same material that his pants were that went to his thighs and spread out. And over the finely made clothing that he was currently wearing was his old black captain's coat with the black epaulets on the shoulders. The coat could easily be known as the severe pride and joy of his life.
Without his coat, he was practically nothing.
The group had split up into three teams made up of two people. The Chinese boy Xian and the idiot Alfred had taken the job of scouring out the docks for any sights of any other pirates that had heard word of the Vargas boy being alive. Matthew and Steven had taken the job of sneaking into the Mafia-run part of the small town and Arthur and his teammate had gone up to the tailors. Speaking of his teammate…
"Hey jerk-face! Hurry up! The others might actually catch the Italian without us!"
His eyebrows twitched and furrowed. "Shut-up, Peter!" He snapped at the smaller, blond boy. "Remember that the Road to Beauty is paved with Ugly!"
Peter giggled (which was very, very manly in his defense) and snickered at the Pirate Captain. "Well that must be one very long road Arthur, cuz' you're about as ugly as they get!"
Really, it made him wonder at times why he couldn't have been born without a heart! But no, he had to feel some sympathy for his idiotic little brother who found humour in fart jokes and playing connect-the-dots with Alfred's stomach pimples while the Hero slept on. He was severely jealous of those who could cut down villages like trees, but no, whenever he tried to do that or anything of pirate-esque stature, he always thought of little thick-eye browed (he was so happy that the thick eyebrow went to his brother and totally not himself) Peter Kirkland.
"Go feed yourself to the fishes, twat…"
"Sorry, fag-Arthur! I'm apart of the Crew whether you like it or not!"
Yes, the Queen Anne's Revenge was manned by six people – five men and one boy. Peter had always said that he was manlier than all of the crew combined, but the boy still had hair to grow on his chest and had to stop crying every time he skinned his goddamned knee.
"I am not a bloody-fag, Peter! Learn the definitions of your words before you use them?"
"Definmawutchits?"
"Never mind, git. Go ring up the Tailor and pay the good man. You've polluted the shop with your obnoxiousness – so apologize why you're at it."
The tailor had to laugh awkwardly at the two, while scratching the back in his head at the awkwardness of the situation. There really wasn't much he could do about two pirates in his shop and he couldn't throw them out, but if they were willing to pay, he was perfectly fine with their presence.
The Tailor watched as the small captain stepped off of the platform in front of the mirror and came towards him. The Captain nodded and glared at the small boy, who just grinned and stuck his tongue out at the thick eye-browed captain.
"I'm terribly sorry about this boy–"
"I am a man! I am the manliest man in this room!"
"– But I'll pay you for this rather nice set of clothing. Thank-you for all your hard work."
The tailor could only stare the pirate in wonder. The man acted like a gentleman more than a rogue of the Seven seas. Something that truly was a shock to the poor land lover.
"Hah, that's not really necessary sir, I really don't mi–"
All of a sudden, the door to the shop if ruthlessly slammed open and the tailor squealed at the sound of a sudden intrusion. His eyes widened and he froze. Arthur on the other hand could only look at the tailor in wonder about his sudden change in attitude.
"Ni hao, Tailor!" The obvious reason for the Tailor's drastic change in attitude laughed; walking into the shop like she had complete and utter control over the place. "I have come to collect your dues!"
The Royal Marines. What the hell was the Queen's Corps doing in Normandy of all places? Even though the Corps was designed to protect both the Queen and Great Britain from being attacked from any overseas forces, but that gave no reason at all why the English Marines were in France of all places.
He could easily recognize the Marine uniform from miles away. All Marines wore nearly the same thing. And that nearly same thing was a naval uniform with a jacket that was a bright white color with blue epaulets on the shoulders and had blue and white accents on the sleeves. The lapels of the jacket were lined with blue and the buttons were gold and the white pants were tucked into shin high black boots.
The person wearing the Navy uniform was a Asian girl with long, wavy brown hair and a wild curl on the right side of her head. She was flanked by two rather muscular men on either side.
"Ni hao, Tailor." Even the Marines didn't even have enough manners to greet a person by their actual name, but no, they had to call someone by the name of their occupation. "I expect you have your dues, right, right?"
"Well, oui, that is the problem Mademoiselle, I don't exactly have enough money for the weekly dues…Ahahaha…"
The feminine Marine could only laugh at the Tailor and Arthur could only watch as the Marine suddenly grabbed his chin and pulled him down to her rather short height. She giggled.
"That's such a shame," She said mockingly. "But nonononono, this won't do at all! Teacher won't be pleased that you aren't able to pay your weekly dues and it is such a shame that you've always been able to pay them too…" She released him and pushed him away and glared at the two silent guards next to her.
"You and you take this scoundrel to the brig; have Tau deal with him later."
Arthur sighed. Why did Marines have to be so annoying when it came to such things as weekly wages and weekly dues? It wasn't like they were poor or anything – it just wasn't really far that the Marines got to push around those under themselves. He stepped forward; pushing Peter behind him and sighed again.
"I don't really think that'll be necessary, Miss."
She jumped; obviously not noticing that he had been in the room the entire time. The Asian whipped around to face him (and her wavy hair nearly slapping one of her guards in the face in the process) and glared at him.
"Who are you?"
"Captain Arthur Kirkland."
Her mouth opened soundlessly in attempts to form words, and her slanted eyes narrowed in anger. The brown eyes flashed with recognition, and Arthur could only smirk in anticipation; watching with green eyes as the Marine's eyes narrowed into poisonous slits and her mouth moved wordlessly in attempts to form somewhat legible words that were somehow related to the English language.
Finally, the woman began to speak, but he had to interrupt before she said anything important. That would just be rude. And rude he was not, for he was a gentleman.
"What's your name, wench?" Alright, him being a gentleman was something that was utterly and believably sketchy, but there was no way in a frozen over hell was he ever calling a Marine 'dear' or 'sir'.
"Wench? Did you just call me, a wench?"
"Hmm, yes, I believe that is what I did address you by wench. I think that it's only appropriate that you give me your name after I so willingly gave you mine!"
Her pale cheeks flushed with red in anger and Arthur could laugh at the situation. My god, he was such an asshole.
"Do…Do…Do you know who I am!"
"Of course I don't, you haven't told me your name yet, wench." In all truth, he just threw the wench in there to piss the girl off. Sure, she, like all the other marines, probably had the ability to make sure he got decapitated and-or set on fire in the most painful of ways, but what did he care?
The girl moved forward and brought her small hand (which were really, really small; almost child-like) up to slap him across the face. Easily, he caught the hand and smirked down at her; his own green eyes slit like a cat.
"Just know," He whispered; bending down to be at her height, "I'd never hit a girl who couldn't take a punch, wench."
He pulled away easily as she growled and ripped her hand away from his grip. The now-obviously angry marine whipped around and practically screamed at the guards; shouting random orders in both Chinese and English.
"Get that Pirate, goddamnit! I will not be made a fool of!"
And, it was at that time; Arthur Kirkland knew what exactly he had to do. What he had to do was what every pirate was good at when they were on land.
And that was running.
"Oy idiot, let's get out of here and find the others before Alfred gets butthurt about being left behind."
"Doesn't he always get butthurt about something?"
"Yes, but that's not the point – bye-bye Miss. Hope to never see your ugly face again." With a little wave, he and Peter strolled casually out the door before breaking into a full on sprint towards the docks.
Sure, Arthur had to admit, he only acted like a dick when he was either drunk or waist-deep in the land of wasted-ness, but when he saw an opening to make fun of something….He exploited it like every other man out there. It was just human nature.
"Hey jerk-Arthur!" Peter called; having trouble with keeping up with the Captain's long strides. "What do we do now?"
"I think that's obvious you git. We find the others, find the Italian and bolt the fuck out of here."
"We'll leave just like that?"
"Peace be quiet you delinquent fool. I don't know if you suddenly just became blind, but if you hadn't just noticed – I utterly just made an entire arse out of that Marine."
"And you did never get her name did you?"
Arthur smirked. "I think that's pretty obvious."
Sprinting a little faster, Arthur and Peter swung around another corner and had to slow down as they jogged down a sloping street towards the docks of Normandy. Easily, they could find that loudmouth and the silent Xian, but they could only hope that they hadn't been discovered yet.
And their hope could only last so long.
yeah, I'm unoriginal. With a One Piece Reference, a pirate Arthur and evil, bad-ass Asians, prepare to be blown away from the nonexistent gayness of the story of which is so full of love and homosexual-ness that your computer will taste the damn rainbow.
Queen Anne's Revenge – This is an actual name of a ship. It was one of Blackbeard's flagships around the 1700's and sailed under his rule for less than a year. It was launched in 1710 and was run aground near North Carolina in 1718
Shilling – Type of English currency during the rule of King Henry VII.