She needed to get away from there.
She needed to escape.
The girl sprinted out from under the deck, the heart in her chest pounding like mad.
"Get 'er!" "Find the wench!"
Shouts rang across the ship, a huge clamor of raised voices.
"Oh, bloody hell," she muttered to herself. She dodged under a stairway that lead to above deck, flattening herself behind the stairs.
"Hiya, again!"
She bit her tongue to cover up her shriek, but it was only the young sandy haired boy from earlier, smiling at her like there was nothing wrong.
"You're up! That's brilliant!" he chirped.
If the girl wasn't bewildered as to how he could be so cheery at the moment, she might have told him to keep his voice down.
"So anyways, I'm Peter. What's your name?"
He tilted his head to the side, waiting for her answer. She remained silent for a moment or so, not because she didn't want to respond to the question, but because she was unsure of her answer.
"I'm...well, my name is, er, I believe that it is...um..."
He continued to wait, but a frown started to cross his features.
"I can remember it, I just need another minute."
Moments passed, ticking slowly by. Then, miraculously, it hit her.
"Charlotte!" she said out loud. "My name is Charlotte."
"Charlotte," he repeated. "That's really lovely! I like it!"
"Thank you," she said gently, and for a moment forgot about her crisis. Then the harsh reality of her situation hit her and she immediately leapt to her feet.
"You need to get out of here, Peter," she said frantically. "He'll come after me and I'm in no condition to allow you to get in trouble."
"I don't mind, the Captain's just a plain ol' brute sometimes, y'know?" the boy smiled up at her, no hints of regret at this statement at all.
"I don't want to get a child mixed up in this. Bad enough you're mixed in with this sorry lot already." she muttered.
"Hey!"
"I'm leaving," she announced firmly. "Goodbye."
And she took off without a look back. "It was good to meet you, Peter." she murmured softly.
To her surprise, she encountered not a single soul. Perhaps it was the Captain's doing of some sort. He was playing some kind of game with her. Well, she wasn't going to take it.
The deck was completely empty when she emerged from below, which was extremely suspicious to say the least.
And to top it all off, there were no longboats in sight.
"Bloody hell," she cursed.
"Such language is not befitting of a young lady," This time, she was expecting the voice, and didn't start at his words.
"So you found me." she turned to face the Captain. "Arthur, is it?"
"Indeed, lass."
"So you rescued me?"
"That's correct. And you don't seem to be any grateful for it."
"Where are all the crew?"
"I told them to hold off on their search. I'd rather it be just you and me."
"...What do you want with me?" The words came out simple and childish, and she barely kept a note of fear out of her voice. She was on a pirate ship, after all, and that scared her.
"Well, for now, I'd like it if you wouldn't try to escape again."
"I don't think that'll be possible."
"Then, I'll be forced to keep you here."
And with that, he drew his blade on her.
To her surprise, she was able to hold her own well in a swordfight. She had thought that her little getaway earlier had just been raw luck, but now it seemed as though she had some hidden talents. Just who was she?
A slash, parry. Slash, backstep, thrust. Thrust, parry, block, backstep.
"You are good," he said, and she detested the haughtiness in his head-tilt.
"Likely better than you?" she retorted.
"No chance, love."
And they resumed, slashing away at one another, blocking strikes, parrying back and forth, back and forth, a dance of blades that only few people could match, at amazing speed.
Then, before she knew it, she had her blade to his throat, deep surprise in his emerald gaze.
"That is it," she said. "Now tell me where the longboats are. Now!"
"Now, love." To her shock, the corners of his lips turned up in a sly smile.
"I admit, you gave me quite a jump, but really. What would be the point of that? Seeing as how you're not going anywhere anytime soon."
"What?" she demanded, pressing her blade closer to his neck.
He merely tilted his head and with a motion almost faster than she could have ever perceived, knocked her blade out of her hand and spun her to him, blade at her chest.
It was all one, blindingly fast move, and before she knew it, she had been beaten.
She struggled in his grip, trying to kick him, but stopped when she felt the pressure of the blade dig much deeper into her chest.
"Now, then, lass." the man flashed her a predatory grin that sent a chill through her body. "It's back to my quarters with you!"
