I Do Not Own Temeraire

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Captain George Roland of the greyling dragon Thor frowned in thought as he discovered what had occurred.

The courier often flew from Britain to her American Colonies, it was a route he was familiar with. And for a captain that would never gain much seniority, it was a vital route, especially as there weren't many dragons in the Americas, at least those that weren't loyal to the natives. Because of this, he was often asked to do favors for the local governors.

Knowing the reputation the Aerial Corps had, and hoping that he could improve its standing, if only among the colonies, he would often perform these favors. If he could spare the time and deemed it within Thor's capabilities of course.

Thor was only a greyling after-all. And as much as he loved and cared for his dragon, he knew Thor wasn't the brightest dragon out there, though for a greyling, he possessed high than average intelligence. Not to mention he only weighed about 6 tonnes.

Still, even a small dragon was useful when there were no larger dragons around. His last visit to Jamestown, Virginia, the governor had asked for his assistance in locating a pirate ship and crew. The ship was captained by Edward Teach, who was better known as Blackbeard. He led Lt Maynard to Blackbeard's two sloops. And after the battle, they discovered a shocking surprise.

Laying in a crib, inside Blackbeard's cabin, was an infant girl. With the same black hair and blue eyes as Blackbeard.

Maynard was still debating about what to do with the girl, as he wasn't about to have a baby killed. But he also didn't like the idea of any of his crew caring for her. Sadly, there weren't many options.

It was then than George made a decision.

And who knew, maybe that pirate fighting spirit was hereditary.

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Anne Roland, the adopted daughter of Captain George Roland and unknown daughter of Edward Teach, grew up around dragons. Since her father was an aviator and a courier, she didn't see much of him. But when she did, he would often take the time to teach her various things.

Then she turned seven, and was allowed to become a cadet in the corps. And when she was chosen at sixteen to be paired with a newly laid longwing egg, she was both happy and sad.

She was sad, because she was taken off of the crew of the yellow reaper she was stationed on, so that she could begin preparations to become the longwing's captain. But she was happy because of the importance of the longwings.

Her father, however, would never see her as captain. A month after she was taken off of the reaper, she received word that, on their route, George Roland and Thor were caught in a storm. A week later, Thor's body washed ashore. There was no sign at all of her father.

When she was twenty, the longwing hatched. She named him Excidium, Latin for Destruction.

She was his captain for twenty-three years before she was killed in action, and her daughter Rosalie became captain.

Rosalie served as Excidium's captain for thirty-nine years before she died of pneumonia. Her fifteen year old daughter Jane then became captain.

And under each captain, Excidium proved worthy of his name, and his captain's proved the fighting spirit inherited from their unknown pirate roots.

A fighting spirit that lived on in Jane's daughter Emily.

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Hope you enjoyed. I got this idea after watching the National Geographic Movie/Historical Drama Blackbeard: Terror at Sea. Originally, I was going to have Blackbeard's daughter already have a dragon, and join the Corps, but as I looked through the Temeraire Wiki, trying to decide which dragon to use, for some reason I clicked on Excidium's entry, and found out his name was Latin for Destruction.

Seemed a fitting name for a dragon captained by the descendants of pirates.

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