Upon the Great Victoria
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Not at all mine
She had seen them before, years ago when Peter left. She did not know what compelled her to do this sort of drastic thing, but yet, like most of her other decisions, this one was made on a whim as well. Day was rapidly retreating with night coming to take its place as she got to town. The streets were staring to clear out leaving the people that gathered their last minuet things before the shop closed and a few men heading towards the tavern, her destination as well.
She entered the building and quickly scanned the room for the men she was looking for. She spotted them easily based off of the description Peter had told her years before when he said that he had a run in with them by accident. Of course it was by accident, no one would go out looking for pirates, well except for her. She strode over to the table where a small group of them sat, all too drunk for that time of day. As she approached the table the heads of the five men sitting at the table turned to her, taking their attention away from their current conversation and their drinks. She looked at the man sitting closet to her and stared him right in the eyes.
"I want to join your crew" she said making sure to deepen her voice so she did not sound like a woman. Instead of the reaction she was hoping for, the reaction she received was full of harsh laughter.
"You? Join my crew? Ha! You're so scrawny, you wouldn't even last a day. I bet you couldn't even lift a barrel! Look at your arm" he grabbed her wrist and lifted her arm which his hand easily went around with room to spare "No, muscle or meat. You look more like a girl. You definitely look feminine, all the men will think I've brought a lass onto my ship," he laughed and the others at the table joined him. "Stop joking and run along."
"I'm serious! I want to join your crew and I'm not leaving till I do!" Her face flushed with anger and embarrassment. "And I don't look like a girl.
"I said no. Now run along" he dismissed her with a wave of his hand as he went back to his drink.
"And I said I'm not leaving" determination shown in the deep blue orbs of her eyes.
He did not even turn to look back at her before he dismissed him again "No. Scram before you make me angry"
She clenched her jaw together as she slammed her hands down on the table and leaned forward. "I said, I'm. Not. Leaving."
He glared at her and set his drink back down. He stood up and he was a good four inches taller than her. His bright green eyes showed anger.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked in a hushed voice through gritted teeth.
"Of course I do. You're Arthur Kirkland" she said as she made her expression match his.
"And since you know who I am you must know what I am."
"Of course."
"Then if you know who and what I am why do you insist on making me angry?"
"I already told you I'm here to join your crew and I won't leave till I get what I came for."
"I've already said no. What are you going to do about it?"
"There's a bounty on your head. I could always go get the guards."
"And what if we just kill you?"
"This is a very small town. I can cause a scene and everyone would know what's happening" she held her glare firmly against his.
"Being a pirate is a life full of disease and misery and you'll most likely die."
"Bring it."
After a few moments of silence Arthur burst into laughter. "You've got guts, I'll give you that much" he motioned for a man with black hair and icy blue eyes to come and stand by him. "Walter, take this lad back to the ship and on the way, tell him the rules."
"You're going to let him join?" the dark haired man asked.
"We need a new cabin boy. Tell him the rules on the way" Arthur said and waved the man off with his hand as he turned and left the tavern. After a moment of shock from the rest of the table and the two standing the one began walking towards the exit and Amelia quickly fallowed behind.
One they got out side he began "Okay, rule number one: you'll be allowed to gamble as long as you didn't steal the money from other crew members. Rule number two: the candles will be put out at eight a night. Number three: each man shall keep his cutlass and pistols clean and ready for use at all times" he stopped and looked at her. "That one is important. He'll do random checks and if your weapon doesn't meet his qualifications there'll be some sort of punishment for you. Do you wave a weapon?"
She shook her head in reply. "Ah, well we'll get you one. Something small, you won't be doing much fighting anyway. Rule number four" he began walking again, going at a casual pace. "If you desert the ship or your station in time of battle you'll be punished by death or marooning. Five: fighting is nor encouraged nor discouraged. Are you getting all of this?" she nodded "Good. There's still a few more to go. Number six, this one is an important one too, no women or children on board. Captain is really strict about that one, women are bad luck and children are just plain annoying. Rule number seven, another important one; don't lie to the Captain."
He walked for a bit in silence before saying the last rule. "The eighth and final rule: you cannot cut her hair or nails or shave when you are on the boat."
"Why?" Amelia asked being the first she spoke since inside the tavern.
"It's bad luck. Cutting your hair and nails and shavings are all offerings to Prosperine, the Roman Goddess of the infernal regions, and it would make Neptune mad and send a storm to kill us" he explained easily with a little bit a shrug.
"And that's all the rules?" she asked going over them in her head.
"Yes" they had now reached the dock and headed towards the ship. "Oh, I guess this is a rule too. There is no intercourse of any kind on the ship, so do all of that while we're docked. And one last thing; the captain can change the rules at any time, not that he'd want to considering it might cause mutiny, but it's something to keep in mind."
They reached the ship and Amelia marveled at it as Walter chuckled at her expression. "How did you know about the Captain?" Walter asked as they walked up the ramp and onto the deck of the ship.
"My friend and I used to watch the crew when you would dock. Also there are many stories told about him."
"Hm…" was his reply and nothing more.
The deck slowly became crowed with men. Amelia stood awkwardly toward the stern of the ship and away from everyone else.
"Get ready to set sail!" Arthur barked from behind Amelia, causing her to jump a little. He smirked as he strode past her to go up and stand on the quarter deck. His attire had changed. He was now wearing a new looking red coat that went down to his mid-thigh with black trim along the side and gold accents. He also wore nice black pants, a pure white shirt, and brown boots that went up to his knees. To complete his outfit he had upon his head a matching hat with a large feather on the side of it.
Once they were a good way out at sea and everyone had gone back to chatting amongst each other Arthur got everyone's attention. "Hey!" he called out which made everyone go quiet turn their attention to him. He began telling everyone the plans on where they were going. After he was done with that he announced about the newest member to the crew. "We've pick up a new cabin boy. Don't torment him too badly. That is all," he dismissed them by turning his back to them and he took his place at the wheel.
Amelia scanned the crowed, looking over her crewmates. She felt her heart stopped as she spotted one person who was looking at her. This very familiar looking person was not only just looking at her but he was weaving his way through the people towards her.
"Hi," he said happily, his blue eyes shining with excitement as he moved a piece of his brown hair out of his eyes. "The captain doesn't let too many people join the crew so consider yourself lucky. Of course not many people are crazy enough to join the crew."
"Yeah" she said nervously as the other laughed.
"Oh yeah! I'm Peter, what's your name?" Amelia frowned a bit. Peter said he joined the navy so why was he here on a pirate ship…complete oposites!
"Am-….Andrew" she said mentally slapping herself for almost saying Amelia.
"Well, nice to meet you, Andrew" he said not thinking a thing about her slip up.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," she hoped that he didn't realize who she was any time soon.
So how'd you like it? Good? Bad? Please review and tell me 'cause I wanna know!
Edit: so this is from like a year ago, that's when I wrote this. When I was going over this there were times where I shook my head and was like 'what was I on when I wrote this?' For example, in a later chapter there was this one time where Amelia opened a door and she saw a pirate. Wow. A pirate on a pirate ship, I wonder how he got there!
