The year was 1721...
It was one lazy morning for the infamous pirate, Captain Arthur Kirkland. He was one of the most merciless pirates ever known to roam the seas and he was a force to never be reckoned with. Women would have to shield their children from his cruel gaze while the men quaked in thier boots at the mention of Captain Kirkland. Arthur was a wanted man by the British troops but he would always manage to escape when he was either captured or when he was in a sticky situation where he would almost be captured by them.
Aside from being chased around by the British troops if there was one thing Arthur was known for was his ready and willingness to search for treasure or maybe just something to earn him some money to spend on alcohol and some nighttime entertainment if you know what this narration was trying to get at without having to actually say the word. Anyways, Arthur would do anything for the riches of the world. He'd lie, steal, cheat, beg, lose his sense of dignity. Anything. So he would often go to his pirate maps or steal some poor sap's gold when they weren't looking. He lived by the pirate's code and that was to live as your own man. It meant that he didn't take anything from anyone. That was, until, opportunity came knocking on his captain's quarters door.
Arthur was asleep when his door opened. He groaned and hid under the covers so he could catch some more winks of sleep but whoever was trying to bother him wasn't having any of it. The covers were pulled off of him and Arthur opened up his green emerald-like eyes to glare at a man with brown hair, violet eyes, and a mole wearing glasses in fancy get-up consisting of a blue overcoat with a white ascot hanging out with black pants and boots glaring down at him. Arthur didn't know who this because he was too mad at the fact that his sleep was interrupted.
"What the hell do you want you wanker?" Arthur growled as he got out of bed and stretched revealing the scars on his chest from the sword fights he had gotten himself into. The man didn't look to pleased but nevertheless stayed his ground as he took a deep breath.
"I am Roderich Eldenstien II, Earl of the Eldenstien family in Austria. I am sure you have heard of my father, Roderich Eldenstien I."
"Don't care. Now cut to the damn chase about why you're here." He said as he went to put a shirt on. Roderich resisted the urge to yell at Arthur for not being properly ready for when he came in but this was to be expected of a pirate such as Kirkland.
"I have come to offer you a job and-"
"Stop talking." Arthur cut in. A job? That's all this guy was offering? A freaking job? That is NOT how Captain Kirkland flows, he is not bound by any rules or authority! Ever! What kind of fool does this man think he is?!
"What is it?"
"If you have tried to look for me before or have heard of me then you would know that there is no way in hell you would try to get me to get a freaking job let alone take one! I play by my own rules, not the rules of a prissy rich mummy's boy on the job for daddy like you are!"
"That's not what I mean! Just listen to my proposition and maybe you'll change your attitude!" Roderich yelled. Arthur was rather taken back by this. By the looks of this man, he would think that he at least had something of a calm composure but, by the outbusrt, guess not. Going over to his liquor cabinet and getting out a bottle of his beer and kicking a seat under his butt he sat down and took a sip.
"Start talking."
"This job involves a bit of traveling and by the looks of you a pirate loves to travel the seas so this fits your best interest at heart. I need you to travel to Venice, Italy to capture a little someone for me."
"What is the person's name?" Fumbling in his pockets a little, Roderich pulled out a piece looking like it was ripped out of a painting of a boy with short hair and a curl sticking out of the left side of his head which started to make Arthur wonder if this was some child's crude attempt at painting or if someone had actually painted a portrait a boy who looked like this.
"Painting of an unusual-looking young man I know but this is what your target looks like. You'll know him by the curl so it should be easy to spot him. His name is Feliciano Vargas, youngest grandson out of two of Italian nobleman Romulus Vargas. His parents died when he was at a young age leaving him and his older brother, Lovino, orphaned until their grandfather took them into his care. The last I heard from my sources is that Feliciano was living in Venice with his remaining family on a private villa in the country side. Your job is to kidnap Feliciano and bring him to Germany. If you worry about the payment then I assure you that I shall pay you with a handsome reward and I shall not go cheap."
Arthur pondered the man's proposition for a moment. Kidnapping someone? For some reason it didn't quite fit into the Englishman's book of things he should do as a pirate at this stage in his career. Roderich did say that he would handsomely reward him in return of his services. Then again he was taking a stinking job from a bloke he never met before.
"If you need to ponder this then I will tell you right now that I have been traveling too damn long to find you and present you with this little job to just be laughed at and turned down so you better say yes."
Arthur snorted. "Why would I say yes to a job from the likes of you? Are you going to slap me silly with a glove if I say no?"
"No but I know that the British troops are looking for you Captain Kirkland. I will not hesitate to turn you and that band of foul-mouthed drunkards you call a crew into them and I will personally see to it that this ship and you never leave Havana so when they get here, you can be taken prisoner." The captain of the ship looked at the rich aristocrat. Cocky little bastard.
"You're bluffing."
"Oh, am I? I have the letter written and prepared for shipment to the head of the British troops right here. All it needs is to be sealed in an envelope, waxed closed, and stamped with the Eldenstien family crest then it is sent off to the proper authorities." The Austrian said taking out a letter and tossing it Arthur's way. With a growl, the pirate opened it and read the letter.
Dear Head of the British Troops,
I know that you are looking for Captain Arthur Kirkland and his crew, I happen to know where they are. Right now they are in Havana at the docks. If you come as soon as you can, I assure you that they will still be here. Attached to this letter is a map to Havana so you can reach the rogue's current location. I already saw fit that him, his crew and his ship never left Havana all you have to do is capture him.
Signed,
Earl Roderich Eldenstien II
Arthur finished reading the letter and looked at Roderich. This man was serious. The great Captain Arthur Kirkland actually taking a job? The meer thought itself was laughable but to actually know him and hearing about it was unthinkable and quite possibly illegal to the mind. Arthur thought for a moment. Either go and face being laughed at or face being arrested by the British troops and horribly executed. With a resignated sigh he folded the letter back up and dropped it on his desk.
"Fine. I'll take your damn job but only because I don't have much of a fucking choice. I'll get your damn Italian you Austrian bloke."
"I'm glad you saw it my way. Now when you capture Feliciano bring him to this address in Berlin, Germany. There we will make the trade off. Feliciano for your money. Any questions?" Arthur recieved the paper with the address.
"One question: Why can't we make the trade in Austria? It makes more sense since your country is right next to his."
"I have some important business to attend to in Germany that I have been putting off for a while now so I won't be able to be home by the time you would have captured Feliciano and brought him to me so you must bring him to Germany. Is there anything else?"
"No. I suppose not."
"Good. I shall be taking my leave now." Roderich started to leave but then he stopped and took one more look at Arthur. "Remember; if you let me down, you will be a sorry pirate." With that, the aristocrat took hid leave and walked out the door. Arthur felt like he just signed his soul over to the devil. It's not like he even had a choice to take it. Sure sounded a hell of a lot better than being in British prison.
How was he going to break the news to his crew? They were going to laugh at him then call him crazy and leave him. He got up from his seat and grabbed his eyepatch. So many sad memories that came with it but Arthur will go on without fail. He put his eyepatch on then walked out of his cabin to see his crew being themselves either drinking or fighting with each other for no reason.
Arthur rolled his eye and got his gun out. He shot it in the air which got the crew to stop what they were doing and look at him.
"Everyone to the metting area of the ship now! I have something very important to tell you!" None of the crew wasted any moments and scattered away like roaches. Once the crew were gone, Arthur sighed a little then joined his crew in the meeting area.
"Listen up!" Arthur yelled as the crew stiffened in their seats. "If anyone saw some guy in fancy get up then that was a man asking me to do something for him! Now I know what you're thinking but sorry to say mates, I did take the job. Before you start with your crap I didn't have a choice in the matter. It was either take the job or else we all face execution in jolly old England and we wouldn't want nice ol' Captain Kirkland to do that now would we?" The crew remained silent and Arthur decided to continue.
"So here's the plan! We're going to Italy but with a twist, you guys sail off back here while I go do the job alone because I don't want to drag any of you into this more than I probably am. To make this brief it will also involve me going to Berlin, Germany so once I am there I will send a letter telling you guys to pick me up in France because after I pull the little stunt in Italy, I don't think I will be welcome there anymore and I think they will want my head as much as England does. Any questions?"
"I have a question Captain Kirkland!" One crew member said.
"Fire away Jimbo!"
"What exactly are you going to be doing in Germany and Italy? What was the job?"
"It's a kidnapping job! Apparently an Italian nobleman's grandson is the innocent target of everything and that rich stiff wants me to bring him to Germany 'cause by the time I get him he's gonna be doing business in that country. So are we good?" The crew nodded.
"Excellent! We shall take leave tonight. Make preparations now. The sooner I get this job done, the sooner I can drink this job away." Arthur dismissed the meeting and went back up to his captain's quarters to overthink the situation. What had he gotten himself and the crew into? If this operation goes to Hell then the crew would get flagged for being an accessary to kidnap and will probably face jail and death with him. Arthur was prepared to face it for a captain goes down with his ship and his crew.
A few days later in Italy, Feliciano Vargas was outside prancing around his brother's tomato garden. He was the youngest grandson to his nobleman grandfather, Romulus. His parents died when he and his older brother, Lovino, were of a young age. Unknown to him he was very valuable and if captured, he could be ransomed for a very high price. Everytime he went outside his family's private villa some guards would have to go with him. Feliciano never knew why but that's the way things have always been since he was granted permission to go outside the walls of the villa.
"Feliciano!" The young man stopped his prancing to see his brother standing there looking quite pissed off with a basket of tomatoes in his hands. Feliciano widened his eyes and looked down at his feet to see them covered in smooshed tomatoes almost looking what would later be known as ketchup. He chuckled nervously as he was still under his older brother's glare.
"Sorry fratellone..."
"You better fucking run before I count to three. One..." Feliciano took off. As weak as he looked he made up for it by being very fast. The brunette ran until he accidentally ran into his grandfather knocking them both down.
"Ah! Mi dispache Nonno!"
"Feliciano what is the meaning of this?"
"Lovi told me to run before he counted to three! I get scared for my life when he counts to three!" Romulus smiled a little.
"My little Feli, Lovino would never harm you." At that statement Feliciano gave his grandfather a look that said 'Are you sure you want to say that?' Romulus noticed the look and lightly laughed.
"Ok, almost never. What did you do that was so bad?"
"I was prancing around his tomato garden and I guess I smashed some of his tomatoes."
"Then Lovi did have a reason to want to kill you. None of that matters, we have a house guest Feli!" The younger's eyes widened. It was very rare when they had someone over. Romulus led him to the living room where there was a disheveled looking man with blond hair and green eyes on the couch. Surprisingly he didn't have torn up clothes or a beard on his face or anything like that. From his get-up Feliciano could tell he must either be a pirate or a man of high class of some sort. The man noticed him and smiled his way.
"'Ello! My name's Arthur. Charmed to make your aquaintance." He's British! Feliciano thought with a smile.
"My name is Feliciano."
"Now Feli, Arthur's going to be staying with us until tommorow because his ship and crew left him here and he's waiting for another one to come. Treat him like one of the family and there should be no problems." Feliciano nodded and grabbed Arthur's hand. A small blush crept its way to Arthur's face. Something about the boy made him feel a little jumpy as his heart started to beat faster. Could it be that Arthur was starting to fall for the boy? No! It couldn't be! He'd only just met his target and they barely had a full conversation with each other.
"This is where you will be sleeping." Feliciano's voice broke Arthur out of his thoughts. The undercover pirate looked at the room. It was basic and it would have to do. But where the hell was Feliciano's room? If he were going to pull off a kidnapping tonight then he'd need to know where Feliciano was going to be sleeping.
"Thank you kid."
"*blushes* Y-You're welcome. If you need me then my room is the third door down." Then Feliciano skipped out of the room. Arthir felt like he had everything in the bag. He knew where Feliciano's room was, he gained the trust of the grandfather, he even had ways to escape Italy planned if things shall go according to plan or go horribly wrong. He placed the sack that he was going to carry Feliciano out of the country with on the bed and decided to explore the house.
He whistled as he wandered around aimlessly. This was a nice house, maybe after the job goes successfully he could take the home for himself. Arthur walked outside to see Romulus sitting in the sun. Might as well talk to the old man, I AM going to be taking his grandson away... Arthur thought as he sat next to him.
"Hello sir." Romulus looked his way then smiled a bit.
"Did you find your room alright?"
"Of course I did. You know, your grandson is a real sweetheart. He could make someone very lucky one day." The old man sighed as he leaned back into the wall.
"Arthur, I don't really know you very well but I will confide something in you. You see, as long as I live my little Feli is never allowed to leave the grounds of the villa without some of the guards near to protect him in case something happens."
"If you don't mind my asking then why is that?"
"Feliciano is valuable. Ever since he was born he has been the primary target of criminals and as such he could be worth a lot in ransom. I was afraid of that happening so when I took him and Lovino in after the death of their parents I made sure Feliciano was as safe as can be within these walls and that meant not letting him go into the country alone. He ended up softening me a bit but that is where our guards came in. They follow Feliciano close by when he wants to go into town to make sure nothing happens."
"How much do you think he's worth?"
"I don't know the exact number but I know its a hell of a lot to count." If Feliciano is that valuable then I should get a lot of gold when I bring him to that bloke! He thought as he hid the devious smirk with his lips in a flat line. This was going to be a piece of cake.
Me: Hey guys! I hope you liked the first chapter of Adventures of Captain Kirkland! For those of you who are familiar with Bringing Papa Home are probably wondering why I'm doing this instead of writing chapter 17. The reason is I need a little break from BPH and I really wanted to get this uploaded! Anyways I hope you liked and if you did then please review, favorite, or follow! This is Janae AKA OrgyMemberXVII signing off! Bye :D