STRANDED
BY OMFG-ROACH
A/N: Ok, ok, ok! I get it! You guys want a new story, and you want it yesterday!
I can give you that story, ok? Just…let me breathe here!
So, you guys ready for some fanfiction? Here's the background:
-It's "Avatar: the Last Airbender"
-It's Pirate!AUZutara
-NAMES:
--Zachary Enfield, 23 (ZUKO)
--Katrina Lirio de Agua, 22 (KATARA)
--Æva Enfield, 19 (AZULA)
--Twyla Levers, 19 (TY LEE)
--Martha Sharpson, 20 (MAI)
(And more as the story goes on…)
-I just got bitten by the plot-bunny, and it wouldn't stop chopping on my brains!
So, without further ado…
WTFOMFGBBQ TEH DISCLAIMAH: I own nothing but the plot to this story.
&~
CHAPTER ONE:
"PIRATES!" cried the lookout in fear, alerting those below.
It instantly set off a chain reaction of panic and preparations…
"MAN THE CANNONS!"
"PREPARE TO BE BOARDED!"
"MUSKETS UP!"
"ARM YOURSELVES!"
A poor young man, no older than 23, nervously gripped the hilt of his sword as he waited down in the crew quarters. His amber eyes darted left and right, trying to find his group. His black hair was slicked down to make himself less of a target; the less visible he was, the better chance he had of surviving.
At the same time on the same ship, a Spanish woman (who was disguised as a man) of roughly the same age, if not a year younger, was running with a bucket of black powder tucked in her arms, her legs straining to keep her moving forward. The sooner she got to the cannon, the sooner the powder she was carrying could get into the cannon and give those pirates a bad day.
The next few moments were at the same time whizzing by them yet slowed down as if time itself had broken…
#~
Zach always had a sneaking suspicion that Carlos, one of the powder-monkeys aboard the HMS Sharkbait, was odd. Even as the two men (well, one was actually a woman in disguise) floated adrift at sea in a lifeboat together after escaping the pirates, the fact that Carlos wasn't who he said he was became more apparent.
"Carl," Zach began, using Carlos' nickname, "I've been meaning to ask you something…"
"Go ahead," Carlos prompted, his blue eyes sparkling as the sunlight bounced off them.
"Are you really…you know…a man?"
Carlos sighed, his black hair flopping back. "I suppose you want an answer, sí?"
"Yes, I do." Zach was always predictable, always naïve…
"No." Carlos' voice was calm, cool even. The way he admitted it made it sound…true.
"What?! What do you mean?!" Zach demanded, his voice shocked by the revelation.
"I'm actually a woman—" Carlos began, but was cutoff by a surprised Zach.
"How long have you been keeping this a secret?!" Zach blurted, eyes bulging from their sockets.
"For awhile," Carlos admitted, "Now can I please tell you who I really am?"
"For God's sake, tell me!"
"My name is Katrina Lirio de Agua, and as I have told you, I'm not a man."
Zach looked at the other "man" in confusion. This was all new…
Katrina gave Zach a nervous look before continuing. "My family is actually rich, not poor as I had told the quartermaster. My brother, Saul, is actually in the Spanish navy, as is my father. My mother—"
"Was a pirate before settling down and becoming the pinnacle of Spanish moral values?" Zach finished, knowing where the conversation was headed.
"For a deckhand, you're quite smart," Katrina admitted as the boat softly rocked underneath the two. She took a hand and yanked the strap that held her ponytail free, allowing her flowing black hair to tumble down her back and have some stray strands tickle her face.
Zach was flabbergasted at the sight before him. His mouth hanged agape for a few moments before composing himself. "For a powder-monkey, you're quite beautiful."
Katrina blushed slightly, not expecting the compliment. "Thanks…" She smiled weakly.
Zach smiled back, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "No problem."
As the lifeboat softly rose and fall with each wave that passed beneath it, the following silence became somewhat awkward for the two crewmates.
Katrina sighed, glancing over the side, gazing at her reflection in the murky water. Zach's statement, she thought, actually had a solid, sound base: She was beautiful. It seemed a sin to hide such beauty, yet she knew what she had to do. She wanted to make her own choices in her life, not marry a man who would keep her on a pedestal and make the choices for her.
Zach cleared his throat, trying to think of anything to say. "So…uh…about your mother…"
"My mother was a pirate," Katrina sighed, recalling old, proud memories, "They called her 'La Hija de las Tormentas', the Daughter of Storms…"
"Really, now? I've heard about her; or rather, stories about her and her exploits. Did she really amass such a fortune that even Henry Morgan couldn't beat?" asked Zach, suddenly curious. Katrina, when she was 'Carlos', always had this knack for knowing which way to direct the Sharkbait's sails to grab the best gust of wind and give the ship a much needed burst of speed. Now that Zach knew (some of) the history behind the person, it seemed to make sense that one of the parents had to be a sailor of some sort, if not both.
"Where do you think I would be if she hadn't?" Katrina countered, her voice straining the obvious.
"Whoa…"
"In the beginning of her career, she had nothing, not even a ship and crew. You've probably heard stories of how she had…'convinced' wealthy captains to forfeit their ships."
"Well…no, not really; all I've heard was that she had amassed incredible fortunes," Zach honestly admitted, "I was never really interested in how she got her start."
"Her first ship was the 'Del Lobo de Mar', a very nimble schooner that also had some bite. It had over 50 guns and 300 men aboard it during my mother's peak in her career."
"Wow…and your mother had over 30 ships in her fleet while she was a pirate?"
"That was before the Battle of Tortuga, and the number was more or less 100 or so even then…"
"The Battle of Tortuga? Isn't that the battle which a joint Spanish-English navy attacked the French port Tortuga? I've heard that even Blackbeard was involved, alongside Captain Kidd."
"Blackbeard and Kidd were both mere pups compared to my mother…"
"Could you tell about the battle?"
"My father used to tell me that pirates were hired on both the invasion and the defending fleets, more so on the defending, and that those defending were stronger and better prepared. It was a miracle that my mother not only helped but survived the entire engagement."
"Was your mother—?"
"No, she wasn't one to defend, she was always aggressive in the way she planned her strikes and captained the Lobo."
"Oh…I thought she was on the defensive fleet…"
"You see, after the battle, my mother met my father in a tavern somewhere in Madrid. Of course, both were drunk since my father mistook my mother for a barmaid and my mother mistook my father for a king… this, conveniently, is where my father always ended stories about how he met my mother."
"Did the invaders win?"
"Look at which flag is now flying over Tortuga now."
Zach decided to ignore Katrina's remark for just a moment. He sighed, wanting to be home in London…then again, with the current trouble his father was in, the fact that Æva was trying to usurp his birthright by claiming she was 'pregnant' from a poor sailor (Zach pitied the man, even if the poor chap didn't exist), Twyla was going crazy again, Martha was pressuring him into marriage…
He'd rather be stuck in a lifeboat out in the ocean with the daughter of a pirate than go back home.