She griped the mast with a tightening in her throat and thought "today is a good day to die".

She raised her eyes from the spokes of the mast to look upon the inevitable battle her and her crew were about to endure. The odds were not in their favor. On the horizon her destiny took the form of the ship they called "The Interceptor", i.e. the British Royal Navy, the second fastest ship in the Caribbean, to make it worse, they were pirates.

Nadine Conure was the Capitan of the unfortunate pirate ship in severe disrepair after the deadly storm the night before, which claimed five lives. The crew was on the verge of mutiny- a word she never thought of; at least not until her brother Nate who was her then first mate, and one of the fatal few. She broke her eye contact with the mast and looked upon the Interceptor.

Death, she accepted and welcomed. To be one of the few female captains in the Caribbean was an honor. Even with everything she had sacrificed for survival, including deceiving her own family. The ocean was cool blue with slight traces of pink and orange on the peaks, a sunset was upon them, and with the oncoming darkness, their death.

"Oy!" shouted one of the mangled crew, a man with no sense of decency, except for himself. The stubble on his cheeks and chin would have almost made a successful beard, with small specks of grey floating amongst a sea of black and brown. His body was tall and stout from a life at sea. With an obvious attempt at being civil, spit flew out of the corner of his mouth as he stammered on.

"Captn'! We's be thinkin' a ship is ner a place fer a woman."

Nadine lowered her gaze with dread of what was soon to follow, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Surely, as if the crew read her mind, they slowly stammered in place behind the outspoken man.

"This here is a mutiny."

Nadine closed her eyes for a moment to suppress her livid urges of ripping them all to shreds, and allowed the man to continue.

"This be no place fer a woman. An no like of us be willn ter listn ter yeh no mores."

His eyes glazed over as if he was slightly unsure of his assertiveness, and wiped off the spittle from him chin.

Nadine respected these men, and had always thought they respected her as well. It was now obvious they viewed Nate as the Capitan. Her own protector.

"Hmm, is that so then?"

A roar of "Aye!" erupted below her.

Nadine knew she had to invoke fear in their chests in order to survive this uprising. She knew they could take her in an instant, but that did not mean she could not bluff.

"Then it seems we are at an impasse. I have no intention of leaving my ship, and I doubt any of you are willing to lose an appendage in your attempt at stealing my ship."

"Aye, yer would think it?"

"Aye, I do."She placed her hand upon her scabbard.

"Well it seem ter me, we is fine with taking yer ship from yeh. An' we's doubt yer can stop us." The group of men drew closer together to form a united front.

"And you are certain of this?" Slowly she began to pull out her scabbard, and pointed it to her former men.

Nadine was feeling the weight of doubt without her brother at her side.

The man raised his chin to his former Captain, and let a smug grin dance on his cheek, "Aye."

Nadine let out a sigh, and she mirrored his smirk. Her body calmed, released tension and the mast, after which she proceeded to make her way down on the main deck of her ship.

"My fine gentlemen; It is highly unlikely to me that you would be willing to agree to a mutiny while you are so close to your inevitable deaths as well. I will ask you to remember the military ship, not so many leagues away from us, which will most likely to cause 'serious fatality' in the case of our unwillingness to surrender."

"We's can fite our ways ! Yer just anoder problem ter us." He stopped suddenly to admire the dips and curves of the captain and let out a frustrated sigh, "an, the likes of us aint seen a naked woman fer months now…"

She finally realized she was over her head in this situation. She had no one to fall back on to protect her. She was in a cruel world, without a friendly hand to hold, and pull her back from any foolish circumstances she would be under. Before Nadine could react the man reached out to grab her with outstretched fingers, and itchy palms. The crew followed suit and in a matter of seconds Nadine was in the middle of the unrelenting mob. She reached for her scabbard and gun but as soon as she formed a sustained grip on them, a series of powerful hands forced her to release her grip, and she was overpowered.

Blood was everywhere, and the smell of alcohol almost overpowered Nadine. She had been in the small boat for what seemed like days, though just a few short hours. She was finding it difficult to accept everything had been stolen from her, the treasure in the ships hold, her ship, and her very own sense of dignity. For the first time since she was a child Nadine cried, she cried heavily with the crushing reality of her situation. She cried for her brother, her ship, and her lost loyal crew.

The likelihood of her survival after so much blood loss, stranded in a boat in the middle of the Caribbean with no clothes, and no food was bad. In her mind she could still hear the grunts and roars of her former crew, celebrating the conquest with a few barrels of rum, marking their territory by dousing her, as a final assurance of her position in the world. She was now just an average female in this cruel male world.

Nadine gave in, and let the sadness consume her, as she vowed to never become that vulnerable ever again. Almost simultaneously she fell into a deep slumber, her only relief from the bitter pain.

She began to dream of a hero coming to rescue her. She could not clearly see his face; he began to grow out of focus the moment she seemed to gain a clear view. His strong arms lifted her up, and cradled her lovingly, and in that moment he whispered into her ear "Your safe now, luv."

It truly was a good day to die.