Chapter 7

"...pirates," Lupis' voice woke Lucie up. She groaned and tried to block out the wolf. As far as she was concerned it was too early to be awake. "Wake up. Pirates are on the ship." the wolf said again, this time breaking through Lucie's sleep haze but it still took a few moments for what she heard to fully sink in.

"I'm up," she muttered, annoyed at being woken too early. Out of habit she rarely slept in. Lucie was usually up when the sun was up but there were a few exceptions where she and Zinaida had dueled a little too late. This was one of those mornings.

Yawning, she pulled on her dress and strapped on her sword. Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Zorah was yelling her name, probably waking up everyone else on the ship while she was at it. The door to Lucie's cabin swung open.

"There are pirate's on the ship requesting your presence!" Zorah exclaimed after catching her breath.

"I know," Lucie marched past the the frightened girl. "Don't worry they're not here for a fight." Zorah gave Lucie weird look but followed her out of the cabin.

They walked down the hallway to where Zinaida, Martina and Elizabeth waited. All three looked sleepy-eyed with messy hair. Elizabeth yawned making some of the other girls yawn with her. Zinaida had at least pulled her hair back but it didn't do much to hide the fact that she had just woken up.

"What's going on?" Zinaida asked them.

"Pirates," Lucie said before heading up the stairs. "On the ship."

The other girls followed her up but Zinaida was the only one who kept her pace. They burst through the door at the top, blinking in the early morning sunlight. It was still chilly and Lucie wrapped her cloak tighter around herself in an attempt to keep out the cold.

Three figures were standing across the deck from them. Clara was already outside with the two pirates, talking to them. Even from this distance, Lucie could see how tense her friend was. The pirate said something to Clara and she glared at him in annoyance. Lucie and Zinaida glanced at each other before heading over.

From up close she could see how relaxed the pirates were despite being on a stranger's ship. Which meant they were way underestimating the girls but that was to be expected. It didn't change the fact the Lucie knew the three girls were an even match for these pirates.

"What are you doing on my ship?" she demanded once they were close enough.

"We have a message from our captain," one of them said.

"What does he want?" Zinaida asked. She was tense with one hand on her sword. It would barely take any provocation from these pirates for her friend to start fighting. Lucie just hoped the girl would hold herself back long enough.

"He wants to speak with your captain," he told them. "Wants to meet you tonight on his ship. Says he has a message from Blackbeard."

"How do we know this isn't some trap of his?" Lucie asked suspiciously. She wanted to deal with these pirates here while they were on the ship but then the girls would have a whole crew of angry pirates waiting for them. There was also another part of her that realized it would be better to see what Blackbeard wants and be prepared.

"He says if you refuse then he will come steal your ship and then take you directly to Blackbeard. Either way is fine with him." the pirate smirked.

"Let us talk it over," Lucie said before withdrawing back to talk with her crew. The three new girls kept glancing nervously at the pirates. Martina looked as if she wanted to fight the pirates just as bad as Zinaida did.

"Are you really going to take up their offer?" Zorah asked anxiously. She kept a protective hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.

"I think it would be a good idea," Lucie answered. "I want to know what Blackbeard wants."

"It can't be anything good," Zinaida muttered.

"We should take this chance," Clara agreed with Lucie. "We really have no idea what we're up against. This way we can gauge the strength of one of Blackbeard's crews."

"But what if they capture you?" Martina asked, clear concern on her face, "Or kill you?"

"If we refuse to meet, he will attack anyway," Zinaida said. "We really don't have much choice."

"Couldn't we try to outrun them?" Zorah asked. "If we leave late at night then maybe they won't notice."

"It would be cowardly to run away." Zinaida crossed her arms. "It's better that we deal with the threat in front of us than run."

"Even if we tried to sneak away they would just follow us," Clara said. "If they really are part of Blackbeard's fleet then there will be more ships. We should deal with the ship over there now so we don't have to later." None of the other girls tried to argue, although Zorah still looked unsure. When no one else spoke up Lucie went and told the pirates they will agree to meet.

"Be sure you're there," one of the pirates said before leaving the ship. Lucie couldn't help but let out a deep sigh when both men disappeared. Being a girl in the world of men was already extremely nerve wracking. Now they were about to delve even deeper into it.

That night, the Lupis Maris left the docks and sailed over to the pirate ship. The new girls were all safely waiting in the crew's cabin. They had agreed to stay there and wait until someone came to get them. To be prepared, Clara taught them some basic sword skills but it wouldn't be enough to face a crew of pirates.

Once both ships were anchored right beside each other, pirates lowered a plank between them so that the three girls may board. They watched the pirates in tense silence. All of them were equally terrified yet as Lucie glanced at her friends she could see some of her own excitement reflected in their eyes. Clara gave her a small smile of encouragement.

"Just be carefull," Zinaida warned and Lucie gave her a tense smile. "It will be just you in there."

Taking a deep breath Lucie lead the way across the plank. She lifted her chin and tried to exert confidence she was not sure she had. It took all her willpower not to shrink away the way she use to in front of her family. It was like trying to bury one part of herself and replacing it with another that she was not she existed. Nevertheless, she put on a courteous smile as she hopped on board the pirate ship. Her friends were not far behind.

"Welcome aboard," the captain gave Lucie an exaggerated bow. She curtsied while trying to hide her disgust. "I am the captain but you may just call me Smokey." It was not hard to see why he had that nickname. There was a large pipe in his mouth. The smoke wreathed around him giving him a ghostly aura. The girls tried their best to look polite and not suffocate from the smoke.

"Thanks for the invitation," Lucie smiled. "I am Lucie, captain of the Lupis Maris. You said you had a message from Blackbeard."

"Aye, why don't ye come with me and we'll talk." Smokey said.

"If you don't mind," Lucie said still trying to keep up her smile. "Zinaida and Clara here would like to become acquainted with your crew. We even brought up some rum to share." She pointed to the barrel sitting back on their deck. Lucie's arms hurt just by thinking of the strain they went through to get the barrel up from the hold. All three of them had to work together to lift it. Even then they barely made it upstairs.

"That's fine," he waved at of few of his men and they brought the barrel over to his ship. He then motioned for Lucie to follow him below deck. Smokey lead her to his cabin where they sat across from each other at the small table. The captain studied her for a few minutes before speaking "You should know that Blackbeard is not happy that you took his ship."

"That's what the last captain of the Lupis Maris told me," Lucie crossed her arms. "We figured Blackbeard would want to kill us."

He smiled. "He doesn't want to kill you. As long as you're ship is among his fleet, he won't mind if the captain is a girl."

Lucie had to hold back a laugh despite the fact that she was still terrified. She found it hard to believe that any man would truly accept a female captain, much less a fourteen-year-old girl. "So he just want's us where he can watch us," she paraphrased. "That's a little better than what we had before."

"If you chose to become a part of Blackbeard's fleet you can have all the money you could want," the man tried to convince her but he was doing a terrible job, "and with that you can buy the most rare jewelry or the most beautiful dresses. You could have anything in the world."

"We don't need jewelry or dresses. All we need is each other. As long as we have that, we're happy," she argued flatly.

"Blackbeard will one day rule the sea," Smokey leaned forward in his chair. "He can lead us to glory!"

"I don't need this glory or to be an underling of the man who destroyed my town," Lucie was already growing bored of the conversation so she stood up to leave, "Tell Blackbeard his offer sounds great but I refuse."

"That's unfortunate. My orders were to take you back whether you wanted to come or not."

Lucie ignored him as she opened the door. Two more pirates entered the cabin and moved straight towards her. She backed away from them and drew her sword. Her other hand pulled out a dagger from a hidden pocket inside her cloak. Even though she was better at wielding a sword now, Lucie knew that she was no match for two full grown men. Three, if the captain chose to fight as well. She just had to hope the poison on her dagger will do its work before then.

She rushed up to the first pirate. Stupidly, he hadn't brought out his sword and tried to grab her with his bare hands. She used the flat of her blade to block one hand and her dagger to pierce the other. The pirate recoiled in shock and pain. This gave her the chance to turn and defend against the other pirate.

This one was a smarter and attacked her with his sword drawn. She blocked him and used her dagger to attack. It scratched his arm but the pirate ignored it. He put pressure on his sword forcing Lucie back. The first pirate tried to sneak up behind her but she moved to block him with her dagger. Her focus shifted giving the other one a chance to attack again. He shoved his sword through her shoulder forcing her to drop her weapons. With a scream of pain she collapsed to her knees. Blood flowed from the wound, soaking her dress.

The captain walked over and picked her up easily by her uninjured shoulder. He grinned, the joy of victory clearly showing on his face but that was before one of his pirates fainted. The man was still breathing but it was shallow and growing quieter by the second. The poison was finally doing it's work. It was just a little too late. Lucie could already feel herself weakening and she realized she may not survive this.

"That was quite a show you put on, little miss." Smokey, now visibly angry, yanked the sword out of her shoulder, tearing her wound open even more. She let out another small cry of pain. Her fingers clawed at his arm as she tried to struggle out of his grasp but she was quickly growing weaker. She heard the other pirate stumble forward to help his captain but he too fell unconscious. The poison was beginning to kill him as well.

"What did you do?" the captain tightened his grip. It hurt her shoulder but she didn't cry out this time.

"The Pirates Demise," Lucie whispered barely staying conscious. "It isn't perfect yet," she repeated Clara's words from earlier this morning. She had warned Lucie and Zinaida not accidentally to cut themselves with the dagger because she had found no antidote for the poison. "It works quickly but not quick enough," Lucie muttered to herself.

Suddenly the door behind her swung open and Smokey dropped her in surprise. She slumped to the floor like a rag doll. All she heard was the captain yell in surprise before everything went black.

Zinaida was kind of excited. She enjoyed taking risks and doing things like this.

She wondered if she's crazy, often times, because she really shouldn't love fighting and violence, let alone be good at it. Her father would strongly disapprove. While she missed her family, she couldn't ever really summon those same feelings for her father. She was glad to be free of his control.

She shook her head slightly to clear it. She had other things to think about.

Together, the three of them heaved the barrel of poisoned rum up. It was incredibly heavy and she internally cursed her skinny arms. Sword fighting had given her muscle there, but not as much as she'd like. When they finally made it to the top deck, she rubbed her now sore arms.

"I wish this wasn't so heavy!" she complained with a frown.

"Don't we all," Clara replied.

Lucie stayed quiet, no doubt thinking about what was to come. Zinaida nudged her arm to get her attention.

"What is it?" Lucie asked, looking at her.

"This is our first time taking on the pirates like this," she commented. "Just be careful, okay? We won't be in the room to back you up."

Lucie just nodded and crossed the plank. Zinaida and Clara followed closely behind.

"Welcome aboard," the pirate announced with a bow. Zinaida kept her face completely neutral as she curtsied, even though she wanted nothing more than to stick her dagger into his heart and end it all there. Of course, that wouldn't work, but she couldn't help but toy with the idea. "I am the captain but you may just call me Smokey." She bit her lip as she inhaled some of his smoke from the pipe.

"Thanks for the invitation," Lucie replied. "I am Lucie, captain of the Lupis Maris. You said you had a message from Blackbeard."

"Aye, why don't ye come with me and we'll talk," he said cheerfully.

"If you don't mind, Zinaida and Clara would like to get acquainted with your crew. We even brought up some rum to share," Lucie said as Zinaida smiled. She used to have to smile at anybody her father wanted her to, and she knew she was good at seeming like the perfect daughter; kind and respectful.

"That's fine," the pirate said with a wave of his hand.

Zinaida didn't need any other motivation to move. Her smile widened as she walked over to the pirates as gracefully as she could.

"Hello," she greeted with Clara by her side. "Would any of you gentlemen like some rum? I'm afraid we don't have much use for it," she said to the band of smelly men.

"From a lovely lady like you, of course. Why don't you go pour up some rounds for us men?" One of them asked, smiling at Zinaida.

She bit back her tongue and hid it with another well practiced smile. "Of course," she said.

Clara and her both moved to the barrel of rum on their own ship and began filling mugs and cups. Zinaida quickly was beginning to fall into a character. It's like she could easily mold into what they wanted her to be with just a little manipulation. She took the mugs back to them and passed them out.

"Come here, you pretty thing," one of them cooed to her. She was positive he was already drunk; probably from whatever they were drinking before she showed up with Lucie and Clara.

She swept some of her blonde hair out of her face and smiled. "Here's another one," she said, carefully moving away from him. The temptation of more alcohol was too great, so he went for it instead.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Clara doing the same thing. Their plan was working, and she was starting to feel giddy. None of them caught on.

"Why don't you men have a drinking competition?" she suggested, moving to stand by Clara again.

The dark haired girl decided to go with what Zinaida started. "Who's the best drinker on the ship?"

Instantly it became rowdy. All the men began to talk over each other. Some of them began downing their drinks like they hadn't had anything to drink in days.

Soon, they all began to collapse, one by one. The ruckus stopped, and it was just the quiet of the night air. Zinaida stared down at the bodies littered on the ground and wondered why she didn't feel anything a normal girl should feel. She wasn't scared, or nervous, or upset. She wasn't crying or screaming, and she certainly wasn't running away.

Okay, she's definitely insane.

"Let's go check on Lucie," Clara said, tugging her arm and pulling her from her thoughts. She followed the other girl down the deck, keeping her senses sharp and alert. Especially behind her.

She immediately saw the blood when Clara pushed open another door. Normally, this wouldn't alarm her. She has been the source of quite a bit of bloodshed by now. She didn't have the time to waste, though. Smokey lunged at her, nearly grazing her neck with his blade. She ducked and acknowledged Clara rushing to Lucie's side.

She wasted no time in meeting his sword to block his next hit. Fighting like this empowered her. Swordplay brought out a vicious side to her… she became unrelentless and deadly. Within a few seconds, she plunged her sword into his chest, effectively ending his life.

With a vacant face, she turned her attention back to Lucie and Clara. "What happened to her?" All she could see was blood.

"He stabbed her shoulder. Come on, hurry. You're stronger, so you carry her," the dark haired girl said. Zinaida sheathed her sword and bent down to lift Lucie. Even though she loved the dress, her best friend was far more important. She put her arms under her knees and one supporting her back and lifted her. Maybe Zinaida was just strong, but Lucie seemed too light. It was strange.

She didn't struggle carrying her. Not even as she followed Clara across the thin wooden plank. It dipped and creaked with their combined weight, but other than that, no issues occurred. Clara went on ahead, probably rushing to grab supplies.

Zinaida figured setting Lucie down on the deck was the best option. This way, no blood would stain their bedding. She set her down gently and moved her long braided hair out of the way. Clara soon came back with a bottle of something resembling the smell of rum and bandages. Zinaida moved out of her way, letting her work.

Zinaida knew from her brother's childhood injury that the shoulder wound itself wasn't the concern. It was the possibility of infection that they had to worry about. She nibbled on her lower lip and swallowed nervously. She was more nervous than she'd like to admit. Lucie was her best friend. Now her life hung in the balance.

She moved further away and looked at cloudy sky above. The sky always calmed her down anytime she was anxious. The sky also fascinated her. It was expressive. Cloudy, sunny, stormy, morning, afternoon, evening, night. They each had their own expression.

Zinaida suddenly felt very drained from the fight. She laid down on the deck and cushioned her head with her arms. The black murkiness of the sky above reflected her anxiety about Lucie's wound. Her eyes fell closed after a while and she slept like the dead.