The Windows of Pirates
Summary: The year is 1714; the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, and it's The Golden Age of Piracy. The Caribbean is infected with thieves and chaos is ensuing everywhere. In the midst of it all, the powerful ship Neptune's Daughter and her captain Tala Ivanov, are by far the best at sea. However, it may be time for Captain Ivanov and his crew to drop their sails and their flag when a new ship comes into the dangerous waters and threatens their title.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I cannot promise that all the history is correct. I am not held liable if this fic makes you feel like brandishing a sword and in turn, cut off one of your fingers.
Warnings: Pirates, swearing, violence
A/N: Well, here it is! I've been waiting to write a fantasy/ action/ drama/ unrealistic/ historical fiction/ tribe-like/ zombie slaying/ vampire/ fighting kind of story for a long time, now. Technically, this doesn't really fit the requirements, but I can't put my finger on the genre. I'm a little nervous about this whole thing, because really, pulling a story like this off takes talent.
Chances are this will be a relatively long chaptered piece, and I'm going to say right now; it's not going to be updated as frequently as my previous fic, Alluring Boys, Gorgeous Times, mainly because it's just a difficult piece to write. This is based off my love for historical fiction, pirates, and Jack Sparrow. And you better bet your ass I did my research. I would also like ye to please note, I'm not an expert in old English, nor in pirate lingo, so the dialogue in this story will mainly be in our modern language. And please be aware that even though I did my research, not all the history in this story is correct.
I'd like to state instantly with sincerest apologies that there likely will not be any pairings in this story. I realize many of you enjoy reading pairing stories, but I just couldn't bring myself to write another one so soon. Again, I apologize, but hopefully that fact hasn't turned you off from reading this! To put it simply, this is pirate!fic. Now don't we all love imaging our favourite boys in tricorn hats and knee breeches and stockings and holding swords and grenades and drinking rum. Beautiful. Enough of my rambling, here's chapter one of The Windows of Pirates!
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The sounds of men yelling and swearing were echoing through the main deck. Sailors were running left right and center, sprinting through to reach the gun deck in a hurry. The brigantine, Neptune's Daughter, was still ploughing steadily through the waters despite the chaos on board. A gunshot rang through the air, triggering a series of responding fires and men ducked to avoid getting hit. Another cannon blast was heard, the cannonball stopping just short of the ship. However, through all the commotion, a tall, broad man stood in the middle of the gun deck, his hat shading his eyes and his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He brushed a lock of fair hair out of his green eyes and shook his head.
"Christ," he muttered, making his way calmly towards the cannons, "You'd think they were avoiding the plague."
"Sir!" A young sailor panted, running up to him, "Should we fire?"
The man thought for a moment, "Ask your captain."
"He's nowhere to be found, sir," The sailor yelped as a bullet went whizzing past his head.
"You fool, they're using flintlocks, do you see how unsteady the sea is now? Accurate as they might be, no way are those gunners going to be able to hit their target." The other man snapped, and pushed past the young boy. "Go find your captain, I need to know if I'm firing or not."
The other ship was sailing closer now, its flag waving proudly in the wind. Completely black, with a pair of bones crossed and a heart set right in the V the two bones made. The man could hardly identify it through the smoke of gunpowder, but soon it became clear. He snorted. It wasn't a familiar flag, but judging by the behaviour of the crew, the ship probably wasn't a threat. Still, the captain still needed to be informed.
"Did you find him?" He asked dryly as the young sailor came running back, gasping for air. "Don't wet yourself, careful now."
"He's coming out."
"Did you tell him the uh…" The man's mouth curved up into a smirk, "The situation here?"
"He doesn't seem worried, sir."
"Very well, then. Get out of here." He looked up to see the ship's captain strolling over to him calmly without as much as a care in the world, despite the fact that his crew was causing quite a riot.
"Hold the cannons, we can get these idiots without wasting any ammunition," The captain said calmly, running his slender fingers through his fiery red hair and putting his hat back on. Captain Tala Ivanov wasn't necessarily a tall man, slender and willowy. His piercing cerulean eyes swept over the deck carelessly and he snorted when he saw a few sailors manning the guns.
"Nice to see you too, Captain," the other man grinned.
Tala turned, his lips curled up in a smirk, "Tell your gunners to hold fire. I didn't put you on master gunner for nothing, Bryan. How about doing your work?"
The man named Bryan turned and looked at the gun deck, "Hold your fire!" He called, commandingly.
Tala looked over the taller man's shoulder, "Bring out your musketoons and pistols and scare 'em a little, off a couple of heads. If they still don't surrender the cargo and booty, then they really are the fools we gave them credit for."
Gunshots resonated through the air as the sailors followed the captain's orders. Bryan chuckled and turned to see a well-built, muscled man with grey/blue hair and dark crimson eyes walk up to them in bare feet. He wore a blue checked shirt and a grim smile as he made his way past shouting men. The other ship was getting closer and closer and Tala knew they had to board soon.
"Wyatt's dead," the blue haired man said, "Died just minutes ago." His face was tattooed with a pair of blue shark fins on either cheek, marking the otherwise pale, unblemished skin.
"Fuck!" Bryan hissed. A bullet shot past his ear, "Fuck! This is why we need a goddamned surgeon, for Christ's sake."
"Does anybody give a shit about Wyatt?" Tala snapped, "Do you know how much time that idiot caused us to lose? Then, lost at sea. Worst sailing master I ever had! And for that I say to his death, good riddance." He turned to the blue haired man, "We're preparing to board-the bastard captain of that idiotic crew should be shaking in his boots now."
"It's a pirate ship," The man said.
"Really, your observational skills thoroughly shock me, Kai," Bryan rolled his eyes, "Of course it's another pirate ship. Tala's tired of attacking merchants. Apparently there isn't ever enough gold."
"Hold your fire!" Tala commanded, his voice ringing in the air. Neptune's Daughter fell silent almost immediately. The other ship was closer now, and the crew was slowly coming into view.
A lanky man walked up to the side of the quarter deck. He was obviously the captain. "Who are you-what do you want?"
"What do I want?" Tala repeated silkily, "What do you want? You were the one who started firing at us. From a far distance too, no less. Not a very bright move, my dear gentleman."
The man stood up to his full height, "I am Christopher Thomas, captain of Dragon's Horror. Who the hell are you?"
Tala smiled. It was indifferent and reflected nothing in his icy eyes, "I'm Captain Ivanov," he said coldly, "Captain of Neptune's Daughter-perhaps you've heard of her?"
Captain Thomas snorted, "Sure I have. Tala 'Cutthroat' Ivanov? But Neptune's a British ship-You're not British."
Tala laughed softly, "No, I'm not really. My bloodline traces back to Russia. But it's really amazing what the sea can do for you. And now, my dear captain, I'd like you to do something for me."
"And what would that be?"
"Do you really have ask?" Tala pulled out his cutlass, "Your cargo, Captain, your cargo."
"And should I refuse?"
The captain of Neptune shrugged, "Well, I am Tala 'Cutthroat' Ivanov." He walked by the mainmast and grabbed a rope, "And here's the thing you should know about me, Captain Thomas. I don't play by the rules." With that, he climbed onto the edge and swung across the slight strip of salty, sea water and landed neatly on the other ship.
It was like a switch had been flicked. All at once everything seemed to happen. Scared and angry, Thomas' crew started pulling out their swords, pistols, anything they could get their hands on. The sailors on Neptune's Daughter raced after their captain, roaring with excitement. Bryan saw Tala, a lone figure, walk through the crowd as though he was personally invited for tea, knocking out men around him with the butt of his pistol.
"Your cargo, gentlemen," Tala said smoothly, "I'd like your cargo."
The men were still fighting all around them, brandishing their swords and a few of the crew were still on Neptune's Daughter, firing musketoons.
"Watch it, you fools!" Bryan roared as a bullet narrowly missed Tala's head, "You don't want to off your captain!"
Men were dropping on Dragon's Horror like flies. Thomas tried to fight, but was unsuccessful-he was still yelling out orders. Tala clucked and shook his head, at the same time breaking a sailor's nose. As a captain, multitasking was a general necessity. He saw in his peripheral vision, Kai and Bryan jumping onto the ship and joining in the fight. They wielded their smallswords expertly, swinging the three foot blade like true gentlemen. Duelling wasn't something taken simply, but for the ones experienced and skilled, it was still just a walk in the park.
Tala felt drops of blood spatter his face and wiped it off, issuing noises of disgust. He looked to see one of Thomas' men bent over bleeding. "Hurts, huh?" He asked the whimpering man, "It's okay, I promise it'll be over soon." He pulled out his dagger and dove it right into the crewmember's back, drawing out a choked off cry before pulling it out again in a fluid motion. He wiped the blood calmly off the dagger on the man's torn shirt and looked up when he heard a startled sound. Thomas was standing in front of him, face expressing shock, fear and hate at the same time. He smiled cruelly and turned away from the captain.
"I did warn you, did I not?" He started cleaning his weapons.
"What do you want?" Thomas choked out. "The only cargo I have left is-I'm losing half my crew!"
"You're losing all of your crew." Tala paused in his ministrations, "I changed my mind, I don't want your cargo. I think I'm ready to come to some kind of agreement."
"Oh thank-" Thomas breathed, "Stop! Stop!"
Both crews stopped in their fights and Tala was pleased to note that Neptune's Daughter had the most men left standing. He spotted one or two of his younger sailors on the ground but disregarded the situation. They were too young, they wouldn't have learned much anyways. He turned to Thomas, "Bring me your surgeon and your sailing master. Now, if you may."
"W-why do you want them?"
"Now, if you may," Tala repeated, his voice malevolently soft.
Thomas gave a nervous jerk of his head and two men stepped forward. One was tall, and dark, with long silvery hair tied back in a ponytail. His bandana was slipping off his head and Tala could see striking grey eyes. His face was handsome and sombre, but still held traces of youthful naivety. The other, a little shorter, was a Chinese man of, at the oldest, twenty one. He was good-looking, with honey coloured skin and long, ebony hair, and he emanated warmth and kindness.
"These are your…workers?" Tala inquired, raising an eyebrow at the two young men.
Thomas nodded solemnly.
"Fine, they're mine."
The captain looked up, "I-I don't-what? H-Can I just-Why-"
"Kai?" Tala turned to the quartermaster, "This is the only time, so make your last say."
The blue haired man shrugged, "Your choice, captain."
"Fine," Tala looked back at Thomas, "I take these two and in return, I will not send your ship to the depths of hell." He said sleekly, "Savvy?"
The captain nodded weakly, "Savvy." He looked like he was about to protest, but with one glance at Bryan he fell silent immediately. His two crewmates just looked at each other and followed Tala reluctantly.
Tala and Neptune's Daughter's crew started moving back to the ship. When the whole group had finally stepped back on deck, Tala turned to his first mate, "Kingston, take the wheel." Brooklyn Kingston dutifully obeyed, his bright teal eyes sweeping over the two new members of the crew as he went to steer, the wind blowing in his orange hair. He wasn't tall, but lanky to say the least and a little underfed. Still, he was a compliant mate and Tala liked him enough.
A gunshot rang through the air and one of his crewmembers doubled over, crying in pain.
"I knew it," Tala muttered under his breath, turning to Dragon's Horror. Captain Thomas was standing there with a few men at his side, anger blazing in his eyes and a flintlock musket in his hand. Without blinking an eye, Tala pulled his pistol out of his belt and with precise accuracy, shot the men quickly and smoothly.
He heard one of Thomas's men, the surgeon or the sailing master, he didn't know which, gasp. "Well, I wouldn't have let them go anyways," He said, "There's one rule I follow," he looked at his crew, his eyes glittering, and smirked, "Dead men tell no tales. And you all better damn believe I follow it well."
He was responded with a hearty cheer and walked down the deck towards the new crewmembers. His eyes flickered over the two, "Which one of you is the surgeon?"
The Chinese man swallowed and stepped forward nervously. It was rather heart-warming, "I am."
"Go take a look at my crew," Tala commanded, motioning the boy that had just gotten shot. It was a little guy, Ian Papov, his leg bleeding on the deck. "Hey, boy!" He called, "As sympathetic as I may be to your wounds keep in mind it's your crewmates who'll be wiping up the blood."
Ian sobbed and squeezed his eyes shut. He was very small, with a rather large nose and a head of navy coloured hair. When he looked up Tala could see his violet eyes hazy from the pain. He was too young to be out at sea. He should be at home, farming or taking care of the goats, not in the business of piracy.
"I have to get him to the cabins," The surgeon murmured softly.
"As you wish," Tala said dismissively, "Bryan, take the kid, please. And if you don't mind, er-"
"Ray," The surgeon interrupted, "My name is Ray Kon."
"Ray, make sure he doesn't bleed all over the bed sheets, if you please."
"Yes, Captain." Ray started following Bryan to the crew's quarters. As the three men headed down to the chambers, a tall blonde walked out yawning and rubbing his eyes. It was a surprise he wasn't on deck during the racket the crew had just made. Spotting Bryan, he said to him, "She's in an odd shape right now; I keep saying we need more men for a ship this big."
"You know the captain," Bryan shrugged and shifted Ian in his arms, "Disregards that fact completely. He likes a close knit crew, he always has."
"Yeah, but there's about only twenty men on board for a ship fit for-well, more!" The blonde flicked his bangs out of his teal eyes and frowned. He looked up at the master gunner, "These men are being wiped out."
"Tell that to the captain, Michael, not me. And that fact hasn't bothered him yet, why should he care now?"
Michael sighed and pushed past Bryan to the main deck. His soft footsteps soon faded. Ray gave him a questioning look as they continued walking.
"Michael Parker," Bryan explained, "Our boatswain. He does a damn good job of it too, if you look at the condition of this ship, she's been kept pretty well. He's American, a drifter before we came and picked him up. His previous ship had been attacked and it was completely destroyed."
"That's pretty kind of the captain to take him in," Ray commented.
Bryan looked at him. "The only reason he took him in was because Michael was useful." He said dully, "If he weren't, he would've long since been dead."
Down in the cabin, Ray sat down and pulled Ian's trousers off to look at the injury. The quarters smelled of rotting wood and unsanitary bodies-a common scent on a ship. There were around a dozen bunks, some with the covers thrown off in a rush and the odd hammock hanging around. How anybody could sleep in one of those was really beyond Bryan's knowledge. He wrinkled his nose and watched as the surgeon carefully inspected the wound, his amber eyes narrowed in concentration.
"This doesn't look too bad," Ray concluded finally. "Do you have any bandages or something? I need to remove the bullet and dress the wound."
"You don't have any equipment?"
"It was stolen."
Bryan paused in getting out the kit of medical supplies from underneath the bed, "Stolen?"
"By pirates."
He snorted, handing the Chinese man the kit, "You're a pirate."
"I'm a doctor," he corrected Bryan, "There's a difference. And why do you have medical equipment but no surgeon?"
"Tala killed him," Bryan said bluntly, "Tried to anesthetise the whole goddamn crew so he could get away with the booty. Of course, the captain found out."
Footsteps sounded down the stairs and a young blonde with blue eyes walked into the cabin. His hair was messy and unkempt and the freckles on his face stood out even in the dim lighting. He was in bare feet, shod in a plain shirt and a red bandana. He held a bottle in his hand, "Is that the surgeon?" He asked with child-like excitement, "Is Ian hurt?"
"For heaven's sake, Max, have some restraint," Bryan said dryly, "He's here to do his job, not to be gawped at like a whore in a brothel."
The boy named Max flushed and walked in hesitantly, "The quartermaster says he wants to meet you in the captain's cabin. Says it's urgent or somethin', sir."
"Right," Bryan stood up and looked at Ray, "Take care of him. Our little cabin boy Max Tate will keep you company." He turned to the blonde, "Don't touch anythi-is that rum?"
The boy flushed and looked at the bottle in his hand, "Maybe?"
Bryan walked by and swiped the bottle smoothly, "No rum for you, boy. Now keep out of trouble." He walked up the stairs and disappeared in the daylight.
Blinking to adjust his pupils to the sun, Bryan saw the men on the ship cleaning up remnants of the battle. He walked through the crowded deck and down to the captain's quarters.
Kai, Tala and the sailing master were huddled around a table examining what looked like Tala's map of the Caribbean. Somebody had spilled a bottle of ink on the table, causing dark splotches to form over New Spain and right by Trinidad. A few compasses lay on the table, long forgotten by the previous user. The room was well lit despite the fact it received no sunlight, by oil lamps set around the furniture. The locket that Tala had won in a gambling game in Honduras hung on a hook next to his hat. It glittered in the light, reflecting Bryan's faraway image back into his vision. It had cost him a fortune and a good amount of his gold, but Tala insisted on it. He never let anybody look at the locket, but treated it as if it carried the secrets to the seven seas.
"The Biovolt Trading Company has gone under," Tala said in means of a greeting, "All of Biovolt's merchant ships will be completely worthless."
"Well that's unfortunate," Bryan replied, "Most of the merchant ships in these waters are Biovolt's."
Tala suddenly slammed his hand down on the table, causing Bryan and the sailing master to jump, "Well what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"Get out of these waters," They turned to Kai, "We can port in Barbados tomorrow, can't we? We have enough to sell for a good amount of gold, and then we can sail to Vera Cruz." He turned to the sailing master, "How many days to get to Vera Cruz from Barbados?"
The silver haired man thought for a minute, "In an approximation, I would say roughly fifteen days."
Bryan looked at him, a little surprised. Usually it took Wyatt fifteen days to figure out the length of traveling a distance. Tala noticed his look, "Bryan, this is Garland Siebald," he said, "Nautically speaking, he would be our new sailing master. Believe it or not, he used to be a navigational warrant officer for the Royal Navy, which would explain his uh," his lip curled, "brilliance."
"You flatter me, sir," Garland inclined his head.
"Obviously he's used to pirate life," Tala continued, ignoring his comment, "Which is a good thing, because we really don't have time to dawdle on useless sea virgins. Ah well, tell the men to set sail for Barbados, we should be there in a few long hours."
Kai grabbed the bottle of rum out of Bryan's hand and took a swig before heading back out onto the main deck. "Gentlemen!" He called commandingly, "Your captain has spoken. Since we are almost there, we will pinpoint our course directly towards Barbados." He turned to Brooklyn on the wheel, "Hear that, Kingston?"
"Aye, sir." The redhead answered, "Just make sure the sailors drop the anchor on time."
Kai walked back to the crew's cabin silently. The sailing master may be good but he still needed to see how the doctor can hold up. "Max, why are you still here?"
The cabin boy was sitting on the bunk looking at Doctor Kon's work inquisitively. "Aye, sir," he said blushing, "It's all rather interesting. I've never seen it done before."
"You never saw Thompson work?" Kai asked, referring to their previous (now dead) surgeon.
"No, sir. And even if I did, I don't think it'd have been as impressive as this."
"I'm just dressing the wound, Max," Ray smiled, "It's not difficult work."
Ian was trying to put on a brave face through his grimace, but Kai saw through it. "Papov," he commanded. The boy's head snapped up, "Come on, face it like a pirate. Stop that crying."
Wincing, Ian narrowed his eyes and pulled his mouth down in attempt to put on a tough front. Kai tried not to laugh; it just looked like the younger boy was suffering from scurvy. "It hurts, sir." He complained, shifting slightly.
"Well obviously," Kai said dryly, "Max, why does it hurt?"
The blonde looked surprised that he was being called on-like a student being called by the teacher, "Uh, because what the enemies want-is to inflict pain?"
"Precisely," Kai nodded, watching Max's face light up with pride, "Not to mention, if you've got a hole in your leg where it's not supposed to be, chances are, it's gonna hurt."
A boom resonated in the air. Ray looked up, shocked. Kai narrowed his eyes as a young man ran down the steps, "Sir, they're firing at us!"
"What? What ship?"
"The captain doesn't know yet, sir, but they're asking you onto the main deck."
Kai growled and stood up, then turned to Ray, "Don't move onto upper deck, and Maxie, you know what to do. Take care of these two." The blonde nodded as he sprinted up the stairs.
It was chaos on deck, almost the exact scene as the one roughly an hour ago. Men were screaming and yelling, gathering gunpowder and weapons. Kai saw the attacking ship: a brigantine just as large, if not bigger, than Neptune's Daughter. The flag was waving proudly in the wind, the threatening image of skull and crossbones, a sign of beating black and blue. The captain stood at the bow, tall and confident, shouting out orders. More pirates. There seemed to be more pirate ships in the waters lately, but why they were attacking Neptune was unknown.
Tala walked out of his cabin, a quizzical look on his face, "Why are they attacking us?" He asked Kai.
At the sight of Tala, the captain looked up at their flag. The same flag, ebony black, with a red heart next to a skeleton. The Dying Heart, as many liked to call it. His face paled considerably and he shouted out a few more orders. Suddenly, just as fast as they came, the attacking ship pulled back and tried to escape.
Tala was enraged, "Oh no they don't," he hissed, "Bryan! They're running away!"
"Man the stern chasers!" Bryan roared at the crew, "They're not getting away that easily. Not when they initiated the attack."
"Garland, get on the wheel and go after those fools." Tala commanded, "They'll be sorry they ever crossed me."
"Yes Captain." Neptune's Daughter began a beeline straight for the other ship. In a few moments she was catching up with considerable speed.
"Fire!" Bryan shouted. Three cannon blasts went off, hitting the target ship accurately. The other crew started panicking, running to the stern to defend themselves.
"Cowards!" Tala yelled as they started shooting, "Idiotic-cowards! Reload and fire!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw Bryan pull something small and round out of his pocket and recognized it instantly. In a swift, bold movement, it flew across the water and landed on the ship. "Cover your ears, boys," Bryan called, "It's going to be loud."
The explosion shot two sailors overboard and drowned the screaming out. The ship was near destroyed, the grenade and cannonballs had done enough damage. Kai noticed a flicker of flames below deck and duck, triumphant, as a bullet whizzed past his ear. Soon, the whole deck was in flames and the crew started to jump into the water to escape the fire. Tala's men had single-handedly ruined a whole brigantine and her crew.
"Alright, leave 'em," Tala said dismissively, "Siebald! Back on course for Barbados, please."
"Right away sir," was the compliant answer.
Tala turned to his master gunner and quartermaster, "Dock tomorrow and we'll talk later."
"I can't wait," Kai muttered. Bryan grinned. It wasn't fair, of course, to leave the other ship sinking and rotting slowly. But like he had said, Tala 'Cutthroat' Ivanov and his crew didn't play by the rules. In fact, it could be said that they didn't 'play' at all.
-BREAK-
That, my dear friends, was the first chapter. I'd really like feedback on what you thought, if you liked it or not, and if you'd like to read more. Personally I'm rather attracted to the idea and setting of this fic, but like always, we aim to please the readers. I regret to inform you, however, that the next chapter will not be up until a while later because I'm going on a brief hiatus. So please, R&R!
Kissing Serendipity