Hylla was taking a nap when she heard the door bang open.
"Who is it?" she sleeply murmured, even as a pair of hands reached out to grab her. She screamed, and a hand reached down to cut it. In the silence, she could hear other screams being cut off. After that, it was complete silence, except for the occasional rustle of the wind. There were two in her room. Pirates, by the looks of them. Our mistress should have scared them away! she thought, bewildered. She didn't have much time to ponder that now, though. The pirates were dragging her away. She struggled, but the pirates were too strong. In about two or three minutes they were at the edge of the island, and she was pulled onto a pirate ship. The others were here, also. Even Reyna, her sister.
"I'm guessing that you all are wondering why you are here and who we are. Correct?" asked a voice behind Hylla. She turned around to see a young man behind her. He looked intelligent, unlike the other pirates. Nobody said a word. The man obviously took that as a yes.
"Well, you're here because of what you did to us. Do you know how hard it is to live as a guinea pig? Well, not very hard but still, I hate being that form, as most of the men would agree." the pirates who brought Hylla muttered their agreement, "As for who we are, we're Blackbeard and his crew, the very ones you had in a cage. Welcome aboard Queen Anne's Revenge!"
zzz
Hylla hated pirates. When in guinea pig form, they screamed and yelled and broke their cage, doing everything to cause trouble. In human form, they were pure terror. Oh, Blackbeard might not whip anybody without good reason, but there were plenty of other ways to go to bed covered in bruises. When pirates lose a gamble, who do they vent their anger on? The lowest in the pecking order-the slaves. When pirates lose a fight, who do they vent their anger on? The slaves.
Hylla was scrubbing the deck next to Reyna when a pirate called Tomas came swaggering with a wine bottle in one hand. He was drunk. The pirate was just about to pass next to them when he stopped. The girls from the island kept their eyes glued to the deck, lest they get another taste of the whip.
"You laughin' at me?" he roared. Reyna kept scrubbing.
"You there! The one who's keep scrubbing. He was pointing at Reyna.
"Pardon?" she asked.
"You laughed at me. I saw it."
"I didn't..." before Reyna could finish the sentence, a kick to her gut sent her sprawling across her deck. That did it. Watching your sister taste the whip was one thing, getting beaten up by a pirate was another. At least there was a reason when the whip came down on your back.
"Don't hur my sister!" Hylla screamed, launching herself at Tomas. She mangaed to punch him in the chest once, a useless punch. The pirate staggered back a step, regained balance and punched Hylla. She, too, went sprawling across the deck.
"You laughin' at me too?" Tomas roared, pulling her upright. She saw his right fist coming down, coming closer...until it stopped. The man who had welcomed Hylla aboard the ship was holding the arm of the pirate. Tomas saw that too.
"But mate, she just..." he was halfway across the deck before he finished that sentence. Her savior walked towards her and offered his hand. Hylla winced, expecting a slap or a fist because she, a slave, attacked a pirate. Her savior laughed.
"There's nothing you should worry about, except maybe your headache. Brave thing you did, though." By then word had spread, and Blackbeard was here, along with half the crew.
"What's the matter? If it ain't important, I swear on Zeus's name that I'll give everybody here a good whipping!" When Blackbeard said it, it wasn't a joke. It was just a statement of fact. Somebody must have explained it to him, because he burst out laughing.
"Gave that Tomas a good punch, eh? That will teach him a lesson. Good lass. Would've done the same if someone in my family was beaten up." he said, patting Hylla on the head. He left, still chuckling to himself.