Chapter one

The Desperate Alliance

The Pirate Capitan was in his private sanctum, a place so sacred that no one was allowed in unless he asked them to come, the only exception was Polly. The man was pacing around the room trying to get control of his nerves.

"They should be back by now," he said, his voice shaking with anxiety, "they're pirates, they know the sea like the backs of their hands." Polly awoke, looking up at her master with a tilt of her head,

"Oh," said the Captain, "it's nothing Polly. Daddy's just debating with himself." Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Polly nodded off again. The Pirate Captain was about to drink back some rum, when suddenly, a bundle of mixed voices reached his ears. He thought he knew what it was: Number Two and The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate had finally come back.

The door of his private Sanctum swung open, as he was about to greet his fellow pirates and ask them what they had learned. He shoved his way through the crowd, and then realizing who it really was, he was barely able to stop himself before bowling her to the floor.

He was staring into the face of Cutlass Liz. Her usual confident grin was absent, her bottom lip was bruised and swollen, and her left eye lid was also swollen so she could barely open her left eye. Her clothes were torn, and numerous cuts and bruises had made their home through her body. She looked at Pirate Captain, who swallowed hard. She grabbed his arm with such force, he thought it may break. She dragged him across the floor towards his sanctum. His crew stood ready to pounce her, but he gave a sign that said not to do that, since she already had quite a day.

The woman dragged the man through the threshold, threw him into his chair with such force, it almost toppled under the force. She slammed the door shut and locked it.

She looked him right in the eyes. Even though her left eye was pretty covered, her right eye showed the man something the thought he would NEVER see in any pirate, especially her: Fear, and desperation.

"I'm going to make this quick," she said in a hushed whisper, "I need your help, because you're the only one dumb enough to do it." She paused, and reached inside her vest, and pulled out an envelope. She threw it onto his lap. The Captain tore it open…What is a love note? An invitation? A birthday card? What he saw made his heart skip a beat. The pictures inside showed Polly in a little Dress, and he was in a matching dress, over ten times bigger.

"If you don't help me," she said, "I will show these pictures to EVERYONE. Starting," she paused, making Pirate Captain even more nervous, "with your crew. You will have to hand over your hat to someone else. Then I'll show these pictures to EVERYONE on Blood Island, even to the king. You'll have to shave off that ridicules beard, turn in your cutlass, and then give up your life as a Pirate forever." Pirate Captain's face resembled that of a little girl who had just seen the Boogey Man. He was silent for a few minutes, and then spoke again,

"O-okay," he said, "but I have some serious stuff going on too, and if you help me do that, and destroy those pictures, I will help you." Liz looked at him with a glare,

"What could that POSSIBLY be?" she demanded,

"Two of my crew members," he said, "were sent on a surveillance mission a few weeks ago, and should have arrived back by now. Since they have been gone for that long, I have come to the realization that something bad has happened to them." What passed through Liz was a mixture of emotions: Surprise, shock, sadness, and many other things. Surprise that it had taken him that long to figure something was wrong, shock to find that he had nearly the same problem as her, and sadness because it reminded her of her own predicament.

"Are you okay there?" asked Pirate Capitan, "your eye is watering." Embarrassed, Liz wiped away the tear and said,

"I'm fine. So do we have a deal? I help you and destroy these pictures in return for your help?"

"Deal," said Pirate Capitan. He outstretched his hand, and she reluctantly shook it, fearful he may have a strong handshake which would hurt her already sore hand.

…

The crew was anxiously waiting for the Captain and Liz to exit the sanctum and address them, for they knew better than to listen through the door. The last time they did that, they had gotten a week's worth of lashing. When the door swung open, the Captain looked the crew over and said,

"Men, we're going to be helping our friend Cutlass Liz on a rather difficult journey."

Chapter one, done. If I can make this any better, please don't hesitate to tell me how.