The smell of salt and water wafted into her nostrils as she swatted down upon the top of the mast; her torn robes fell loosely around her legs, blowing in the soft breeze. The same breeze that carried her ship swiftly from the distant land. Brown orbs watched as her home shrunk in the distance, the great continent of Africa.
It'd been a while since she'd left home and Nigeria was getting stir crazy. For years she'd sat and polished the same gems over and over again, counting and re-counting her stolen goods, and she had grown tired. The golden and silver coins that rested in her quarters back home had never lost their shine physically; but in her eyes they were old and tarnished. She needed new items to obsess over.
And what better place to do that than on the open seas?
Despite the fact that she was a nation and she had duties to tend to, Ayoluwa escaped to the open ocean. What made it even better, was that her old crew, even after roughly six or seven years of either lying idle on land, or hopping from a new ship to another, they still came back. As soon as they heard that she was looking for a good crew, they all came running back and jumped on the Nigerian bandwagon. Just goes to show that if you are a good captain and you treat your crew right, you can make some friends along the way.
Nigeria, known to her subjects back on land as Ayoluwa Bayo Chukwu, took a deep breath, sucking in the familiar smell that she had missed so much. A small grin made its way to her tanned features, brown eyes finally leaving the sight of her distant land. She'd never been a lubber, but at heart, always a pirate.
"Ah, it's lovely to be in the Good Trade again", she said, letting the wind carry her words away swiftly.
"Ahoy, Cap'n", a sweet voice called from below.
Ayoluwa peered down to the deck below, to see her cousin and Quartermaster, the only girl she could actually stand, Seychelles calling up with a smile. The young girl waved up to her captain beckoning her to come down.
With a placid face, Nigeria flipped from her post high up on the main mast to swing down to the deck, which was currently being swabbed by a couple new men on her crew. She hit the deck gracefully, landing hard on the heels of her tan, knee high boots.
"Aye, Sey? "
Nigeria studied her cousin closely, taking in the black breeches and billowy, light blue shirt she wore, a gift from the famous Captain Francis Bonnefoy himself. The girl's cocoa hair was done up in messy pigtails having them tied up with thin red ribbons. Her outfit wasn't a practical one for sailing the seven seas, but at least it allowed Ayoluwa to keep a watchful eye on her little cousin.
"Did you want the men to go ahead and hoist the main sail", the girl asked. "We have a good fair wind, and catching it would carry us away quicker. "
Nigeria thought this over for a moment, wondering if she wanted to take this trip slow or if she wanted to hurry and get into some trouble. A childish smirk made its way to the captain's face, mirroring the look in her deep brown eyes.
"That'd be fine", she said turning away to walk towards her quarters. She called back over her shoulder. "But as soon as that is done, I want these Dogs back to work. This place needs to be ship-shape."
"Aye aye, Cap'n", the little Republic called back as the Captain entered her cabin.
The new men that swabbed the deck had stopped to look at their Captain and Quartermaster, some with intrigued looks and others with glares.
"I can't believe she's our captain. The lass looks so weak", one man said.
"Belay that talk, Henrique. That's treason, that is", his young friend spoke with a worried glance back at the Quartermaster. He was afraid she might have heard Henrique, also known as Portugal.
"Aye, Joey is right. Besides, I hear that there's more to the Cap'n than she lets on". A nameless dog spoke.
Joey rose up from his bent position to look at his hands that were already raw from working hard. He rubbed them, trying to work the kinks out and then popping his back. He looked out over the rail of the ship watching as they approached the vast open ocean.
He looked back to the others who were still hard at work, "My brother, took her on once. Saying that she was the best fight he'd ever been in. Says she took something of his that he intended to get back one day."
"Não. Realmente, Joey", Portugal spoke with surprise, leaving his previously treasonous demeanor behind. You're irmão, went against her? And she took something of his? The great Captain K-"
"Avast! Why are you not scrubbin'?"
A hand came down to clamp onto the shoulder of Joey, the refuge from the prison nation, Australia. Some would say he's Australia himself. . .
Green eyes turned upwards to stare into big brown ones. He then proceeded to blush from embarrassment as their eyes connected once, however the young woman behind him just dismissed it for she didn't understand it at all. She cocked an eyebrow childishly and despite her reprimanding words there was a smile on her lightly tanned face.
"Apologies, Quartermaster. I'll just get back to work". Australia picked up the brush again to begin swabbing the deck once more.
Next to him, standing there, Seychelles studied the man, finding something oddly familiar about him. She took in the thick eyebrows and bright emerald eyes, and even notice how his hair was naturally messy.
"If his hair was just blonde instead of brown, he'd kinda resemble . . ."
Raising another eyebrow, Seychelles decided to test her thoughts. She nudged Joey with the heel of her boot, making the young man glance up once more.
"You. What's your name, Dog", she asked.
"Joey, Ma'am."
Seychelles pursed her lips in thought, for the name did not ring a bell. She knew lots of Joeys. "What's your Christian name, Joey?"
"Jackson Wiley Kirkland, Ma'am."
Her eyes widened as soon as the final word left his lips. She bent down and yanked the man up by the scruff of his shirt as much as she could, an odd look in her eye.
"Did you say Kirkland? Do you have any siblings, Joey?"
Joey stared up at her with honestly terrified eyes, "Aye, Ma'am. I have lots a siblings ma'am."
"Is there any chance that Arthur Kirkland is one of 'em?"
The man merely nodded and when he did so, he was then being dragged towards the captain's quarters by the scruff of his shirt. Henrique and the other nameless man followed them with wide eyes. The Quartermaster called back towards all the men surrounding her whom had stopped to study the confrontation between her and Joey.
"You dogs get back to work and hoist the main sail!"
"Aye aye, Ma'am!"
Within the Captain's Cabin, Ayoluwa laid upon her stolen silk sheets, weaving a gold doubloon between her lither fingers, a dagger rested on her chest in the other hand. She stared out of the windows near the back of her room, still watching the land growing smaller in the distance. She'd wish that she could stay on the open ocean forever, but Nigeria knew that even if her current trip was a distraction that it would have to end at some point in time. She wished she could stay on her beautiful Carrack ship, the Silver Dodger, forever sailing the seas.
A loud knock resonated from outside her quarters.
"Enter", she order simply, not even bothering to look at who it was.
Seychelles entered the room dragging the man with emerald eyes and dark hair behind her. She threw the man to her feet with a big grin, seemingly proud of what she has just figured out a few moments ago. The girl then stepped around the man to traipse over to her cousin's bed, where she laid back on it and kicked her feet up on the small night stand that was nailed to the floor.
Ayoluwa glanced at her Quartermaster once, still weaving the doubloon between her fingers. Her face was placid and a careless look in her in her eyes. Seychelles reached forward to play with a piece of her cousin's long brown hair that was held back a bit by the bandanna wrapped around her head.
"What is it, Sey?" the captain paid no heed to the man lying in the middle of her floor.
The young woman before her widened her grin, "I've got a present for you, Cap'n."
Seychelles motioned the man forward with a crook of her finger. Joey followed the simple command and bashfully got up from the floor to step in front of the Captain's bed. He took off his hat in respect for a woman, let alone his own captain.
"And who be this, Sey", Ayoluwa questioned, looking to the young man before her. She noticed that he couldn't be more than a boy of fourteen. The nation looked him up and down, calling a blush on to his tanned cheeks.
"This, Captain, is Joey", Seychelles said. "Better known as Jackson Kirkland."
At this an interested gleam entered the Captain's eyes. She rose up from her laid back position and commenced to stand up before the man with the last name Kirkland.
"Really."
Joey nodded swiftly, keeping his eyes trained forward while the woman studied him. Despite looking the age of twenty-one, Ayoluwa barely reached eye level with the fourteen year old.
"You must be related to Captain Arthur Kirkland then. Am I right . . . Joey?"
The young man nodded again, "Yes, Ma'am."
Ayoluwa hummed softly, her eyes shining brightly with childish mischief. "When's the last time you saw your brother?"
"Seven months ago, Ma'am. He left me on the shores of Congo, wanting me to finish up some business for him." Joey then motioned to a long scar across the bridge of his nose. "This is from said business."
Nigeria laughed, "Sounds exactly like him to do such a thing. Did he tell ye where he was goin'?"
"Said he was goin' back to England Ma'am, something about some papers. Then he said he was making sail towards the Caribbean, says that's where the good trade routes are these days."
"Aye, is that what he said", she asked with a smirk. "Well, then. Guess we're making head way towards the Caribbean."
Seychelles clapped her hands happily, bouncing on the bed with a grin. Nigeria smiled at her little cousin and turned back to the young man.
"Say,Joey?"
"Aye, Cap'n?"
"What experience do you have with navigation?"
Australia smiled, "Pretty fair, Ma'am."
"You know I like you. So, I'm goin' to be nice and make you my new navigator. I want you to charter a course to the Caribbean immediately."
Joey grinned happily, ecstatic about his new promotion, "Any place in particular, Ma'am?"
Ayoluwa smirked again, "Just get us anywhere near Barbados. He'll be there somewhere."
"Aye aye, Cap'n."
Roughly three months later found Ayoluwa sitting on the main topgallant, watching the last rays of the sunlight disappear over the horizon. The fog rolled in behind the Silver Dodger, drifting in with the breeze from the storm the night before. It was thick, so thick that it would soon provide them with the perfect cover. That's just what they needed, for in the very distance sat a dot that moved slowly with the evening tides.
Just as the sun set over the horizon the moon came up, providing them with just enough light to guide their way.
"Dim the lights", she called down to her men and one by one the lamps below her were doused without a word.
She narrowed her eyes and grinned deviously out towards the ship in the distance. The fog swirled in around her own vessel, hiding them swiftly. After all these years she'd finally get back what he'd stolen from her. The bastard.
"Bloody pirate", she murmured. Nigeria then couldn't help but burst out laughing at her previous statement.
She then flipped down to the top main sail and then repelled swiftly down to the main course below her, where she slid swung to the deck. With the slam of her boot to the wood she startled some of the men that still weren't use to sailing with her. Her old crew members, such as her elder cousin Egypt, merely glanced at her and kept on working, where as the other men jumped a bit. Egypt smiled slightly at his cousin, but that disappeared as soon as it happened.
"Alright, men", Nigeria began. "Maintain speed and keep those lights out. We'll be pulling alongside the Wicked Queen very soon."
Murmurs then burst out among the crew; whispers of the famed vessel the Wicked Queen, Captained by the even more famous Arthur Kirkland, the embodiment of England itself.
"Aye, the Wicked Queen, men. Now, belay that talk. Keep it down", she yelled then traipsed to the quarter deck, where Joey stood, trying to study a log by the moonlight.
"How does it look, Joey?"
"Very fine, Cap'n."
Nigeria crossed her arms over her chest and looked out off the aft of the boat. She shivered a bit as a breeze blew in, but stayed still none the less. She didn't even move when she felt a presence behind her.
"Cap'n?"
"Aye?"
She felt warm breath on the back of her neck; and then a sigh left her, she knew what was coming.
"What did my brother take from you", although, Joey stared down at her with questioning eyes, he already knew the answer. And that answered broke his heart.
Nigeria turned around and leaned against the railing behind her, looking straight into her navigator's young, green eyes. She allowed a distant smile to grace her tanned features.
"Something important. Two things actually", she finally focused fully back onto him.
Joey let a pained smile cross his young features, "I thought as much. You're never gonna get them back ye know."
"Aye. But damn I'll try."
Three hours into the night and they had finally gotten close enough to the ship to where she could lower a row boat and get up alongside the Wicked Queen without being seen, if it was still called that. From what she could tell Captain Kirkland had upgraded from a Galleon ship, to a Man of War.
Her orders had been to lower the anchors and rest; she didn't know how long she'd be gone tonight. She felt like it'd be a little while. Hell it took her almost an hour in itself for her to climb aboard the ship without getting caught by the scouts in the bird's nest. Luckily, they had fallen asleep, lazy bums. . .
Nigeria grinned amusedly as she flipped herself over the railing silently, and then proceeded to duck and roll behind a stash of barrels near the entrance to the officer's quarters. She'd have to be extremely stealthy if she wanted to get to the Captain's quarters unseen. If that even was possible.
Making sure her dagger was still in her boot, along with her pistol, Ayoluwa pulled the door open wincing a bit with the screech that came from in the hinges. Hopefully, the rest of the ship wasn't this loud; else she might as well just throw herself to Davey Jones.
It only took a few minutes for her to sneak pass the officer's quarters where most of the Captain's favorites had taken refuge. She couldn't figure out where a pirate captain got his hands on a Royal Navy war ship. Sure, he was the nation of England, but that doesn't mean that the great Queen Anne enjoyed his piracy habits. At least she didn't think so.
Finally she had made it to the Captain's cabin, and not one to beat around the bush, Ayoluwa entered the room quietly. She shut the door behind her slowly, thanking God, Allah, Zeus, and whatever other deities are out there, that the door didn't make a single noise. With a sigh she leaned against the door and wiped the sweat of her brow that had accumulated over the past hour.
As she rested, Ayoluwa studied the room, taking in the fact that no one was in here at all, but a few lamps were lit, casting a low glow about the area. The light shimmered and gleamed off of the various goblets, rings, gems, and doubloons that sat about in just random places. There were so many treasures scattered about and not just shiny stuff, historically valuable things. Things like scrolls from the library of Alexandria that had been moved to a daughter library in the temple called Serapeum almost a millennium ago. Everything was so beautiful.
She traipsed forward, head cocked to the side and eyes wide, to get a closer look at a pile of shiny objects near England's bed. Her tanned hand dove into a clump of gems to fish out a gorgeous ruby the exact size of her eye. When she left land before, she was in need of new shiny things to polish and she just found some. It wasn't what he stole from her but it would do.
Nigeria got a handful of gems and shoved them down her boot that didn't have her knife and pistol. She then let her eyes roam the stash again. When she came across a gold and iron crown imbedded with jewels. Her hands picked up the crown and held it close to her studying it carefully with wide, child-like eyes.
"The Iron Crown of Lombary. How did he get a hold of this?"
"Raided the Cathedral of Monza in Milan."
Ayoluwa squeaked and jumped in place, causing her to fumble with the ancient artifact in her hand. She spun on her heels eyes wide, but soon narrowed them at who she saw leaning against the doorframe with their arms crossed, a cocky look on their face.
"England."
"Nigeria", he said mocking with a lazy smirk. "Still look the same. You don't look a day over fifteen, Love."
"I'm twenty-one now", she said with a pout, hating that he just referred to her as a kid.
She was grown now; well mentally she was . . . maybe. The thing that was awesome and horrible about being a nation was after you hit twenty-one your aging slows drastically. Very drastically. She'd be stuck looking like a kid for a long time. Damn her childish looks!
"Aye? How old were you when I last saw you, Lulu?"
England left his position against the door frame and kicked the door shut smoothly. He smirked when he saw a small tint of red grow on her tan cheeks. She crossed her arms and turned away a bit, embarrassed by the pet name he had given her all those years ago.
"I was fourteen, Kirkland."
A perverse glint came to the nations emerald eyes as he stepped forward to twirl his gloved finger around a strand of her chocolate hair. She never moved from her spot, not wanting to give any signs of retreat or weakness. Instead she stayed still, a stubborn look on her face, but that blush threw off her cold features.
"So, young then to be a Captain, Lulu. So soft and gorgeous."
"I was a kid and you took my virtue!"
England laughed lowly, evilly at the statement from the girl. "You gave it to me, Love. One of the best gifts I've actually had, really. You were so responsive that night."
Nigeria bat his hand away that still held her hair, glaring as she did so. "You're still the same perverted pirate as ever I see."
A chuckle came from the male Captain, "My beauty, you wound me. Besides, I prefer the term Gentleman O' Fortune."
"Gentleman my ass!"
England reached forward to grip her hip and pull her closer to him. Both hands trailed towards her lower back and down a bit, "Aye, a very fine ass it is."
Ayoluwa blushed hard and shoved the man away from her with a good solid push. She growled softly, child-like eyes turning harsh. Captain Kirkland merely laughed heartily, his various gold and gem earrings jingling with the movement.
"You're so cold, Lulu. Ye use to be so giving", he looked her dead in the eyes, "Especially to me, Love."
"Aye, I was. Till you took from me!"
The man leaned back against the wall behind him, emerald orbs trained on the young woman before him. A smirk made its way to his devilish features as he played stupid towards Nigeria.
"Why, Lulu, I have no idea what ye mean."
"Don't play squiffy with me, Kirkland", she shook her fist in anger, "You know what I'm talkin' about!"
"Belay. You're gonna wake my men, Love."
Nigeria growled once again when the man ignored her statement. She hated being ignored. The man before her simply closed his eyes, smirk still ever present on his lips. Just as she began grinding her teeth in fury, Kirkland spoke softly.
"What are you here for, Ayoluwa?"
For moments she said nothing and merely took to studying England's handsome features: from his thick eyebrows to his luscious lips and shaped chin. She looked at his chronically messy hair that Joey's looked so much like. Her eyebrows stayed knitted together, even as she looked away, her jaw tensed up.
"You know why, Arthur. I've come to give back what I took from you and in return, I want what you stole from me."
England opened his eyes to a half lidded state, a serious glint in them. With these features set, he kicked off the wall to approach her once more and look down upon her stubborn visage. Despite her childish demeanor, he noticed that she had grown more stubborn and hard over the years. What he didn't know was that was partially due to him.
"You know I can't do that, Love", he bent to her eye level and barely touched his lips to hers.
The young woman stayed hard, intending to never give in.
"And why the hell not?"
"Because I don't intend to give it back and I don't want what you've stolen from me. I don't want any other woman tryin' to steal it."
With that said, the captain grabbed the other by the backs of her thighs to lift her onto his waist. The young woman proceeded to freak out, afraid that he was going to drop her and that he had the audacity to touch her without her consent. She wiggled around in his grasp, not strong enough to get away from him by force.
"What are you doin'? Let me go, you bilge rat!"
He said nothing and took to pushing her back against the cabins nearest wall to help him steady her. Once pinned, his lips descended upon hers, catching them smoothly and expertly with a single movement that had her moaning immediately. Not even asking for an entrance, England plundered her mouth passionately, beckoning her to join him in the love play that he so desperately wanted to share with her.
Gloved hands shoved their way through her long, chocolate strands, massaging her scalp as they went. His eyes opened a bit to stare into her own half lidded ones, loving the gaze that they shared for a short moment. Ayoluwa had had enough of not responding to the man before her. He was just so damn persistent!
Just like he remembered those years ago, she was so soft, so young! Goodness, he had issues that needed to be dealt with! She even made the same meager noises that made him groan into her wet mouth. She even tasted the same.
With a growl Nigeria pulled away, glaring up into the eyes of the man in front of her. There was no cocky smirk on his face, no playful gleam in his eyes, no pompous look. In its place was a serious visage accompanied by bright emerald eyes.
"You're a bastard, you know that", she said blandly, pursing her lips in annoyance.
"Ha, what can I say Lulu, you bring out the best and the worst in me, Love."
"Damn you", Nigeria sighed and let her head fall back harshly against the wall. "You're making this a lot harder than it has to be, Arthur."
She untangled a hand from its place around his neck to slide down his chest softly. It stopped just above his heart, and that is where it stayed for a good while. She simply just sat there looking at her hand on his chest, where it belonged.
"I want you to have your heart back. I don't want its burden anymore. It's too much for me to bear."
"Love is the most beautiful burden to bear, Lulu", Captain Kirkland took the hand over his heart in a gentle grip. He brought the appendage to his lips to kiss it tenderly.
In the next moment, Ayoluwa was dropped uncaringly to the ground while the Captain turned away to collapse on his bed.
"Get off me ship, Love. Lest you be shark bait", he tossed the woman a wink.
Nigeria merely growled and clenched a fist together, raising up from the floor as she did so. She dusted herself off, still glaring at the man. A few moments later that the glare fell, a small smirk replacing it.
"Guess this game is never ending between us, Sweetie."
And then she left; leaving her heart behind once more.
It wasn't until a good while had passed that Arthur glanced to his personal pile of favorites near his bed that he noticed something was missing. With a cocked bushy eyebrow she looked around his night stand and under the bed. He searched the room for the Iron Crown of Lombary but couldn't find it anywhere.
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.
He burst through his cabin door and entered the hall waking the men as he did so with a loud yell that sounded something like,
"That blimey woman!"
Arthur walked outside to the quarter deck to find his wheel jammed with a dagger, a note hanging from it innocently.
"Your brother says ahoy! ~ Lulu"