10/22/16

1938 words

Hey, guys! I know I have not updated my other fanfic Four Years but I had a plot bunny hopping around my head. Four Years is still my priority but I really wanted to get this out especially since it was one of the plot bunnies that had the most votes in my poll. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this prolong to Privateers and Buccaneers and please check out the other plot ideas on my poll!

The grand vessel rocked and swayed on the dark waves causing the two young boys to hold the wooden rail as they looked up at the sea of stars above them.

The boy with ink black hair looked down as he spoke to his companion, "I hate him."

"You mean your father, Lelouch?" the other boy questioned as he turned towards his friend. He had only met the boy three months prior when the boy boarded the ship with his sister. The boy was the same age as him and he was glad to have a friend his age on the ship, even though Suzaku had to work most of the time. The two had always found ways to be around each other and to get into trouble. It pained Suzaku that his friend would be leaving the ship soon.

It wasn't a mystery to Suzaku the Lelouch hated his father. The man was sending his ten-year-old son and invalid child to a new colony with barely any resources. The man was the very reason his friend was sick with worry almost every night, the same worry that landing them on the deck every night, such as this one, so that his friend could empty his fluttering gut.

"There is no way we will survive in Japan, Suzaku," Lelouch began, "We have nothing and I won't be able to take care of Nunnally. And no offense but I doubt the native people would be so accepting of those from the same nation that conquered them."

Suzaku bowed his head in worry. Lelouch was right, there would be no way to care for his sister and provide a steady income. The boy's only choices at his age were, join the military as a cabin boy like Suzaku had which was not an option since he would have to leave Nunnally for months on end, or he would need to take on an apprenticeship with someone willing to feed and clothe him. Even then no one would wish to take on the extra burden of his friend's dear sister. His friend was also too weak for many labors and his nationality would scare any local away from providing work for him. Sending Lelouch and Nunnally to the small colony was a death sentence.

"What if… you apologized," Suzaku suggested but began to backpedal as he saw the outrage on his friend's face, "I know what he did was horrible, but for Nunnally… couldn't you suck up your pride? It would be better than wasting away in a land you don't know and putting Nunnally through that ordeal. He may be a harsh man, but he's still your father."

"Don't you think I've already done that. I could never risk Nunnally like the. Father said if we could last at least a year on our own to show we weren't complete burdens then he would reconsider, but for Nunnally to be a year without her doctors is too much."

Suzaku nodded. His dear friend's sister was very weak and could barely walk. She had been weak apparently since her birth which later caused Lelouch's mother to pass only a few years later. He looked down to the water, where the light from the ship slightly illuminated the darkness around them. He didn't know what to say, nor how to help his friend.

He was about to offer some comforting words to his friend when he saw a shadow in the dull light from the ship. The shadow was about the size and shape of a dingy but he could not distinguish if it very well was that in the terrible light. He was, again, going to turn to his friend to inquire what he made of the shadow, but a grappling hook suddenly shot up between the two of them and embedded itself into the wood railing. They looked at each other and back down only to see a man with a knife between his teeth, climb up the rope.

"Pirates," he heard Lelouch gasp.

They stood frozen for a few seconds until Lelouch grabbed Suzaku's knife from its sheath, on his waist, and began to cut the rope. The man went tumbling down into the water, screaming. Any relief was short lived as two more grappling hooks wrapped themselves around the railing.

"Go get the captain, Suzaku! I'll keep cutting," his friend said as he started on another rope, "and make sure Nunnally is okay!"

Suzaku nodded and ran to the captain's quarters. He pounded his fists onto the wood until the man swung the door open, "What the bloody hell is it Kururugi?"

"Pirates, Sir! They're trying to board the ship, Sir!" he yelled and saw the captain's face contort into shock and fear. Pirates were not a good thing, especially when the ship was not prepared with a fair amount of the men below deck.

The captain looked down to Suzaku, "Wake the crew and take the 'cargo' below deck and hide. They must not know of 'it's' value."

Suzaku nodded as he ran to the sleeping quarters below deck. He rang the bell by the door frantically while yelling, "Pirates, Captain says all hands on deck!" He then ran back to a hammock in the far back where a girl, two years his younger, looked at him fearfully.

"Where's Lelouch," she asked as he picked her up from the hammock and began to carry her to the storage room. When he finally put her down behind a few crates he spoke.

"Lelouch is fine but I have to go get him, okay? Stay here and be quiet, I'll be right back with your brother, Nunnally, okay?" when she nodded he smiled and ran back above deck.

The deck was swarmed with men, some he knew and others he didn't. His face paled as he realized that the invading men had been able to board despite his friend's attempts at cutting the ropes. In front of him, he saw the crew try to fight the pirates off. Their swords clashed and he heard pistols shoot in the background. He stood frozen as one of the familiar crew members fell before him with a sword embedded in his chest cavity. The dark blood seeped from the body and stained the bottoms of Suzaku's boots.

He didn't snap from his daze until he heard his name called and a pull of his arm, "Suzaku, snap out of it! Wheres Nunnally?"

He turned to face Lelouch who frantically pulled on his arm. Shaking his head he finally responded, "Below deck, in the storage room."

Lelouch nodded and began running, still holding onto Suzaku's hand, "We need to get off this ship. It's overrun with the pirates, and they most likely have some sort of reinforcements on those two ships."

He looked to where his raven hair companion was pointing. There in the distance were two ships. The soft glow from their ship illuminated the black flags emblazoned with skulls, waving high and proud. "We need to get Nunnally and gather some provisions then get to a dingy. If they find use they'll either kill us or ransom us. With the way things are going, they'll be able to take the ship. We've been on a five-month journey and the crew is tired. These men most likely were hiding out in the nearby islands and are well rested. They'll take the ship and kill the crew and then it is only a matter of time before they find the three of us."

Suzaku could not argue. The more he watched the fighting around them the more pirates he saw and the less familiar faces he saw. Most of those faces were also either staring blankly at the stars or scrunched in pain as they bled out.

Hurriedly they made their way below deck to where Nunnally was hiding. Lelouch grabbed a bag and started to fill it with some provisions. He then retrieved three bottles of wine they had been storing and emptied them and refilled them with clean drinking water. Placing them in the bag as well he then slung it over his shoulder.

"You carry Nunnally and I'll carry the bag. Stick to the shadows and avoid being seen, okay?"

Suzaku nodded and picked up the young girl onto his back. He had no idea how his friend could be so calm in a situation like this but those violet eyes showed determination to survive and protect the girl Suzaku currently held.

Lelouch nodded in return and started to leave as Suzaku followed. His friend peaked up onto the deck to see if they had an opening. With a wave of his hand, to say all clear, they dashed out from their hiding place. They would hide and dash to another hiding place until they reached a small boat on the side of the ship. Suzaku gently put the girl into the boat and climbed in after. Lelouch put the bag onto Nunnally's lap and was about to climb into the boat himself when his hair was roughly grabbed, pulling him from the boat.

"Big brother!" Nunnally called and Suzaku dived to try and pull Lelouch back.

"Well well well, I see you brats are trying to get away," the man who grabbed Lelouch said and he positioned the raven haired boy into a headlock. Lelouch grabbed at the arm around his neck trying to breathe as his legs flailed about.

"Let him go! We are just kids who want nothing to do with this fight!" Suzaku yelled.

The large man laughed and Suzaku could tell that the man's breath was rank by the way Lelouch's face scrunched up in disgust. He looked Lelouch and Suzaku over and finally spoke, "The captain might find a use for runts like you, always need new meat to replace the old and dead. And that little girl can provide lots of comfort for the boys on long sails."

Suzaku saw Lelouch's face pale and felt Nunnally curl up to his own side in fear. Enraged, his friend bit the man's dirty arm causing the pirate to drop the black haired youth. The boy clambered to his feet as soon as he could and grabbed a discarded sword and held it towards the pirate.

The man laughed again and pulled out his own sword, "What cha gonna do, lad? The way you're holding that sword, trembling and all, gives me the feeling you never held one before."

Lelouch swallowed hard and held the sword higher. Suzaku could tell from his friend's face that he was far from confident. Slowly Lelouch backed closer to the dingy. He looked to Suzaku and then to Nunnally and Suzaku could tell by his face that his friend had come to an epiphany. There was no way they all could all escape. Lelouch couldn't fight, nor was there enough time to jump into the dingy without the pirate grabbing one of them again. Suzaku barely had enough time to say, "no," before his friend cut the rope with the sword and the dingy fell down into the blackness of the ocean beside the ship. He heard and felt the rush gunshots shoot past his head and the voice of Lelouch screaming "no" from above.

Next to him Nunnally cried and shivered scared and upset. Suzaku wanted to hold her and tell her Lelouch would be fine but he had to get away from the ship. He pulled out the oars and began to row away. He tried desperately to block out Nunnally's cries and the screams from the ship.

Hope you guys enjoyed please R&R!