Chapter 2

Elsa

"What am I looking at?" she asked, peering over the bow. Stian reeled.

"What do you mean?" he scratched his head, and looked over the edge of the ship as well. Elsa motioned to the water. Stian said he had seen something glowing under the surface, and he ran down to fetch Elsa. When she'd arrived above deck, there was nothing. "I don't... Hmm..." Stian pondered as Elsa patted his shoulder. Maybe the ocean was getting to him more than it was to her. "Never mind, I guess."

"Maybe next time." Elsa laughed, as she started back to their cabin.

"Elsa, we may need you up here." Phineas called. Elsa looked over the starboard, that was the right side, of the ship. Another vessel was approaching, and fast. Something was wrong.

"Why are they sailing towards us?" Elsa asked. Phineas removed his hat.

"Black sails." he whispered.

"What?" Stian asked, finally taking his eyes off the water.

"You two, below deck! Now!" Ezra called to them.

"What's going on?" Elsa demanded.

"I knew we shouldn't have dropped anchor here. I told you, Phineas." Gus complained.

"Below deck!" Ezra ordered again. Elsa and Stian both hurried back to their cabin, not knowing what may happen to them.

"What do you think they're doing up there?" Elsa asked, as she soothed the sleeping Neiva. Hopefully the child would stay quiet. She noticed Stian wasn't answering. "Stian!"

"Shh..." he whispered. He propped the door open.

"What are you doing?" Elsa whispered back, a bit angry.

"We've faced worse than pirates before." he reminded her. Elsa was dumbfounded. Of course they had. This would be a walk in the park.

"Stay here." Elsa said.

"No, I'm going to help." Stian insisted.

"You're staying with Neiva. I'm going to go help." Elsa corrected him. Stian looked out of the door, and to Elsa. Then back out the door, and back to Elsa. He sighed.

"Fine. Hurry back."

"Won't be long." Elsa promised, planting a kiss on his cheek. She shut the door behind her, and held her palm to the handle. Frost spread over the metal ring, and the door was sealed shut. Now they wouldn't be able to get to Elsa's family. The Queen hurried above deck, and stared into the light of day. She saw the massive black sails, now directly in front of her. A flurry of chains flew over the boat, latching onto the railings. Slowly, men began climbing up the chains, and boarding the ship from their own frigate.

"Royal business, huh?" one of the men asked, spitting onto the deck.

"Looks like... What is this? Portugal?" another asked.

"The flag isn't even close to Portugal's, idiot." a third yelled.

"It's... Norway... No, no... Arendelle, isn't it?" asked a fourth. All of these men were dressed in old clothes, and stank of sweat and fish. Some had intricate rings and necklaces, as if they cared about jewelry just as much as a proper woman. Elsa wasn't one for super extravagant jewelry, but these things must have been rare. She hated to think who they had gotten them from.

"Wait... Doesn't Arendelle have that... Snow Queen?" the first asked. This one was bald, and was missing a few teeth. He wore an emerald necklace that reflected sunlight against the sails.

When he mentioned the Snow Queen, Elsa grit her teeth.

"I think it does. Let's hope that we don't run into-" the third pirate turned, and faced Elsa directly. "-her."

Elsa grinned, and nodded.

"Hey, uh, Captain?" he said, nudging the second pirate next to him. This one wore a long leather coat, and a leather hat. He was clean-shaven, which Elsa thought peculiar. She had read about pirates, and this man definitely didn't look like one. His hair was short and black, and his eyes were a startling yellow. Elsa realized he was looking at her.

"So we stumbled on the royal fleet of Arendelle, did we?" he looked around. "Where's the rest o' ya?" he asked.

"We came alone." Elsa said, standing her ground. The Captain laughed. What was so funny?

"Ya came alone? Not a smart choice for somebody sailing alone like you." he said.

"I'm not alone." Elsa said.

"I don' see anybody else 'round here." he taunted. Elsa noticed the three men, who were supposed to keep watch over the royalty of Arendelle were nowhere to be seen.

"You have to be kidding me." Elsa rolled her eyes.

"Alright, you just head below deck, and we won't harm you just yet." the first pirate said. The Captain nodded.

"I'm not going anywhere." Elsa said, holding her palm up to the pirates. Her eyes widened as she heard three clicking noises.

"Ah, ah, ah! Ya' got two hands! That means two magics! There's three o' us." the Captain said. He, and the other three pirates each held two revolving guns in Elsa's direction.

That... That wasn't fair.

The Captain grinned. "Now we got yer attention. Alright, Queeny. Show us the goods. Below deck."

"I'm looking at the goods right now, Captain!" the first pirate whistled. Elsa was revolted.

The fourth pirate stood silent, behind the other three. He looked just as scared as Elsa.

"Shuddup, Pete. We're here for the money. We don't work like that." the Captain said. Elsa felt an odd sense of thankfulness. "Alright, open up the door." he said, pointing his guns to the hold. Elsa slowly opened the door to the storage deck. "Go on." he motioned. The three pirates were still a good fifteen feet away from her. Maybe if she...

Elsa ducked inside the door.

"Alright, Pete and John, ya two grab all the supplies ya can, I'll load up on the money." the Captain said. His voice was drawing near. Elsa slammed the door shut, cutting off sunlight from the storage deck. "Hey! Open up!"

"Okay." Elsa said, pressing her palms against the door. A cracking noise filled the air, and the door launched from its hinges, sending the three pirates spiraling into the mast. The fell to the deck, unconscious.

Hey, that was easy. Granted, she would have to replace the door. She heard another clicking sound. The fourth pirate, a boy who couldn't be older than sixteen, had a flintlock pistol aimed directly at her. Elsa held up her palms, still glowing blue with magic.

"You don't want to do that." she warned him. The boy nervously dropped the gun, and held up his arms in surrender. Elsa thought. Fine. She'd take him prisoner. She'd have to have a bargaining chip to make a deal with the pirates. "To the hold." she ordered. She led him into the cabin deck, and down two more flights of stairs to the hold. There were four small cages. She opened one, and motioned for him to enter.

"I'm sorry." he said, nervously.

"You should be." Elsa said, retrieving the key from the post beside her, and locking the cell. "I'll see you later." she promised, angrily.

Now to deal with the others.