AN: I do not own The Hobbit or any of its characters! (Sadly)
A pirate's life for me!
Bella was walking along the coast of her father's kingdom, enjoying the rising sun on the horizon. This would be her last evening here for quite some time. Her father wanted to send her to another kingdom in order to marry her away, so the kingdoms would become allies. She wasn't happy about her father's decision; she didn't even know the man who would become her husband soon. But she knew of her duties as a princess and she silently accepted her fate.
"My lady.", a voice behind her sounded, "Your ship is waiting."
"Thank you.", he nodded and left.
She sighed and turned to look at the horizon one last time, before she made her way into her new life.
Her father was waiting for her on the landing stage. His gaze turned amused as he looked at her, at the seam with salt water soaked, dress and her bare feet.
"Before you say anything, I know I am not acting and looking like a proper princess should!"
He just smiled more: "Just like your mother... You never did, why should you change now?"
She smiled in return as he kissed her cheek and then her forehead.
"Farewell, dear daughter. You will be terrible missed!"
She embraced her father tightly. "I will miss you as well."
After a moment in silence they parted again.
"Come now, you are already late.", he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
She was lead to the ship. A black galleon with black sails, it looked rather intimidating. The crew looked quite unusually too.
Men of every age were advocate, some of them not older than her, but others could be her grandfathers. All of them had beards, beards of different shape, size and style. But what really caught her eyes, was the captain.
His piercing sea blue eyes looked her all over. He had a neatly shaved beard and long dark hair with a few silver strands and two braids in it. He wore a blood red coat, black boots and a black hat with a single red feather. He was simply gorgeous and she felt terrible self-conscious in her simple white dress, which barely reached her ankles and with salt stains.
As his eyes finally met hers, he straightened up and walked towards her.
"My lady", he said in a baritone voice, "your belongings are stored and we a ready to leave."
She nodded and turned once again to her father.
"Goodbye then, dear father."
"Goodbye..."
She walked onboard and gratefully took the offered arm of the captain, for the ship was swaying and she wasn't used to the moving ground yet. She smiled gratefully at him and he nodded his head. While he guided her to the quarter deck, some of her father's advisors and attendants followed. They were some kind of dowry. She leaned against the rail to the left of the steering wheel.
"Trip anchors. Set sails and get to your posts!", shouted the captain.
They had sailed for quite some time. The sun was high on the horizon and Bella had moved from hear spot near the captain at the steering wheel, to the main deck. She was standing at the rail, gazing into the blue depth of the ocean and wondering what may lie there, as one of her father's men spoke up:
"Captain, I think we are sailing in the wrong direction!"
"And what makes you think that?", came the growled answer.
A few men of the crew were laughing and her father's man, Johnson was his name, fidgeted with a compass in his hands.
"Well, we are sailing west, but our destination is east…"
Instead of replying, the captain nodded to a bold man to his right, who immediately took his place at the steering wheel.
The crew became quiet and the captain slowly walked up to Johnson, his steps heavy. Bella followed his very step. Something was different, his whole attitude had changed.
He was a few inches taller than Johnson and stood now hovering above him. Johnson shrinked at the intensive and cold glare and hold on tighter to the compass in his hand.
The cold look sent chills down Bella's spine and she asked herself how she was able to admire this man and his sailing abilities just moments ago.
"Well, you are right that we're travelling west, but we aren't heading to Gundabad now, are we?", he asked the group and his crew began to laugh again.
"Excuse me, but I don't quite understand what you mean…"
"I mean that we aren't of king Smaug's fleet. No, you are one on the Arkenstone, the fastest and greatest ship on the seven seas!"
"Pirates", Johnson choked out, "You are pirates!"
Bella gasped and whipped around at this.
"Aye, pirates we are! My name is Thorin Oakenshield, captain of the Arkenstone and king of the pirate fort Erebor! And Erebor is exactly where we're heading. Any other questions?"
"No, Mr. Oakenshield, sir."
"Captain for you, scum!", one of the pirates, one who looked very similar to the captain, interfered.
"Kili, you and your brother will escort our… guest to the brig!", he addressed the boy from before.
"Aye aye, captain!"
He and a golden haired boy drew out their sabres.
"Follow me!", the golden haired boy said.
"Wait.", called the captain as Kili wanted to grab Bella. "Put her in a separate cell, as far away from these men as possible."
The boy nodded in understatement and dragged the princess with him.
"She is a handsome lass.", the oldest looking man mumbled into his captain's ear.
"She is indeed Balin. She is indeed…"
Bella was guided into the very first cell, while Johnson and the others were lead to the other cells far deeper into the ship's belly.
As soon as she was alone, Bella slid down the wall and sunk to the ground, hiding her face in her hands and drawing her knees close to her body.
"Ah, don't be sad lass!"
She jumped from the unexpected voice from the other side of the locked door. She hadn't noticed the pirate approaching, or maybe he had stood there the whole time.
"We won't harm you and if you behave, we let you out of this cell!", he smiled.
Bella couldn't take it, the pirate with the winged hat and the weird moustache actually smiled at her. "The name's Bofur by the way! And I'm at you service. So, if you need anything, just call for me and I'll come straight to your side!"
Bofur dipped his hat and winked before he left through the door she just came through.
"Why is this happening to me?", she asked to no one in particular and started to cry silently.
Well, what do you think? :)