*I don't Hetalia.*
Chapter One
The Pirate
The pub by the docks was an interesting place, while the rest of the town was quite quaint the pub was...well not. The place was often unnecessarily loud, had drunken fights break out more often than not, and was usually accompanied by sea weary sailors and pirates. So the current chaos was normal but was suddenly broken by the piercing sound of a gunshot. When the bar's population faced the gun totter they were stunned further into silence at the hand that held the smoking pistol.
"Alright ya' scalawags where in this god forsaken pub can I find Kaoru?"
The sailors looked at one another in shock because while they were afraid to provoke the most feared pirate in the sea, namely the merciless Arthur Kirkland, they had no clue to who this "Kaoru" was.
"Must you always make such a loud entrance?" The voice that spoke up was accompanied by a rather thick accent that belonged to the North East. A short, dark haired man stepped calmly forward to address the trigger-happy pirate. "There ye are, old chap, now I've got some business to discuss with you." The wild-eyed pirate almost chirped as the pistol was put away smoothly. Kaoru rolled his eyes as his friend swung an arm around his shoulders to guide them to a booth in the bar's far corner. "Artemis, you never cease to amaze."
"Hush-shush-shush mate, the whole bar doesn't need to know that the most feared pirate around is actually a she, now do they?" She plopped down on the worn cushion of the bench and kicked up her boots so they rested on the chipped table as the man scoffed, "I don't really think it would matter much to them since they'd get their asses handed to them regardless." The pirate gave a nonchalant shrug, "Perhaps, but I quite like the element of surprise." Kaoru looked up to see the barmaid swayed her way over, her top to low and her corset too tight. "What can I get ya' boys?" Artemis ordered two rums and waited for her friend to speak. There was a beat of silence between them, "So you need ship repairs and new crew, what for may I ask?" Kaoru guessed correctly, as was expected. Another shrug, "Because my boat is damaged and my crew worn out." Artemis explained lazily while taking a swig of the rum from the iron cup that had been placed before her. The man still didn't relent and opted to raise a thick brow at his friend's elusive behavior instead. Seeing this, Artemis sat up from her slouch and leaned closer to her companion, "The King hired me." This perked Kaoru's interest and he leaned in as well, "and what does his highness want you to do? Royals don't typically throw themselves to the sea dogs, unless they're at the end of their rope."
The King's court eyed the smirking thief before them with distrustful gaze; of course this didn't faze them in the slightest. "The king wishes to speak to you captain." The pompously dressed adviser announced. The silver crown on the Kings head seemed to grow heavier as it often did when he was addressed as such, but he ignored the weight and retuned to the matter at hand, "Captain Arthur Kirkland?" The young pirate smirked widely and removed an exorbitant hat which revealed a head of messy blond hair that was tied onto a low ponytail. The pirate gave a dramatic bow, "The one and only your majesty, what can I do for you?" The young king raised a brow at the cocky arrogance of such a young individual, though he himself was still younger than the pirate before him. "You are aware of the tragedy twelve years ago?" The captain's smirk faltered ever so slightly, she did vividly; it had been devastating for everyone. "I do your majesty." The royal nodded solemnly, but continued. "Since my navy seems to be incapable of finding him I wish to offer you a deal." A thick blond brow rose, "Deal?" "Yes captain. I want you to return my brother to me." The King spoke with authority as he presented his order. The Pirate's features lifted in mild amusement, "and what's in it for me?" King Matthew waved his hand and a servant bearing a large, but still manageable chest; lifted the lid to reveal hundreds of thousands of gleaming gold pieces and many colorful sparkling jewels, "You will receive this and more, also my navy will not be allowed to touch you. Granted that you don't attack any of my ships." Greedy green eyes took in the almost glowing chest of goods. "Alright your highness, we have a deal. But I must ask, how exactly do I find him?" The King stood up from his throne and walked over to the pirate -much to the unease of this guards- while placing one hand into his coat. The captain watched with curiosity as her king pulled out his fist and placed something into her gloved hands. "You'll know."
"And what was that something?" The smirk on the Artimis' didn't died at the question, but rather grew as she pulled from her pocket a baby blue sapphire the size of a plump raspberry and skidded it across the table for her friend to examine. "Turns out the blue bloods will pay a pretty penny for their nicked prince."
Her companion's slanted eyes widened revealing dark chestnut irises, "The King actually expects you to find him? You are looking for a dead man; the prince has been missing for twelve years! Not even the royal navy could find heads or tails of him and they were looking for three years straight! Lost three admirals too." He sighed deeply, "It's like he vanished into thin air." Kaoru swirled his drink around; pondering the event of abducted the prince and the failed three-year search for him.
"Ah, that's where you're wrong mate, it's not that the perpetrator has disappeared, but rather that the navy hasn't been looking in the right places." Artemis explained cockily causing her friend to raise a doubting brow, "and you know where this "right place" is?" He asked picking up his forgotten drink and lifting it to his lips. To his sarcastic comment the pirate calmly retorted, "I know someone who might."
Kaoru sighed and threw back the iron mug and took long drink of ale before responding, "Artemis this is a suicide mission! Do you realize how hard it is to find a suicidal crew? You'll probably never find the boy and even if you do manage to find him, how exactly do you plan on stealing him back? Or possibly convincing him to return with a bunch of Pirates?" The words of caution where lost to the young woman. She'd done suicide missions plenty of times, how different could this one possibly be?
"The beauty of nicking is to not know until faced with the situation."
Giving up, Kaoru tossed the gem back to the scarlet clad captain, who caught it with ease and slipped it back into her pocket.
"Honestly friend, you're completely mad, it's a wonder to me why you're even still alive." Laughter danced in the Artemis' eyes, giving them a mysterious glow. "There are perks to everything Kaoru, being mad just happens to save my arse." Kaoru couldn't help himself as he smiled, while shaking his head. "I'll drink to that!" The mugs collided with a loud clunk and the splash of escaped alcohol as it hit the scarred wood of the table.
Nicked; Nicking: British slang for "stolen; stealing"
Just in case anyone was wondering -because they didn't read it in the summary for some reason- this is the rewritten version of "A Really Long Story" and I'll be posting these re-written chapters every Saturday. I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review! They keep me motivated. X)
-Dolly
