I had forgotten how ill a ship in rough weather could make you feel. I was just thankful that I had no breakfast due to us leaving before sunrise. James' "Captain Friend" turned out to be the man I had seen in The Faithful Bride the night before. His name was Captain Henry Fletcher of the White Nelson and he certainly wasn't letting James and I sail for free.

"What sort of experience have you had in the past lad?" he asked, pressing his big face very close to my own.

"Umm…a cabin boy and a look out, in the crow's nest."

He scratched the stubble on his chin, "Already got a cabin boy, cheeky little bugger an' all, but our lookout seems to have jumped ship, but any trouble from ye and it'll be down cleanin' the bring for yerself"

"You heard the good man Crugg, step to it!" James commanded, clearly brown nosing the Captain. Fletcher gave him a sideways glance as James tried to pull him away, obviously keen for another 'chat'. I rolled my eye, not caring what he was wanting to worm his way into now. I eyed the crow's nest wearily, and waited until the rest of the crew was busy, before trying to climb up there. I took my time climbing up the ratlines, making a show of checking and pistol and cutlass every so often as an excuse for my weariness, I wanted to avoid any embarrassing situations of falling or getting tangled up.

I spent the day up there, not always out of choice though. I would have quite liked to come down for a bite to eat or possibly use the disgusting cesspit like hole in the bottom of the ship to relieve myself, but neither of those things was an option. The crew had sussed there was something odd about me and every time I tried to climb down, empty rum bottles and little stones were chucked at me followed by jeers of, "Get back in your nest little mouse!" I was thankful they just thought I was effeminate rather than working out I was female.

It was dark before I could come down. James appeared from below deck, he had been doing goodness knows all day.

"Crugg? What are you playing around up there for? Come down and get a bit to eat!" He shouted, his voice slurring slightly.

I sighed with relief and practically fell out of the crow's nest I was so relieved. I stretched and grimaced as my shoulders, arms and face had burnt terribly. James deliberately slapped me on the back, "Beginning to look like a proper sailor now with the mark of the sun on you. None of that pasty white nonsense. Now away and have a shit, I'll see you below deck" I tried to hold back a smile at the obscene word, but his use of it was far too funny.

After a much-need visit to the bowspirit, I found James in the gun room enjoying yet more rum with the other men.

"Ah there he is!" he shouted and pointed at me, drawing everyone's attention, "Good old Crugg that is! He missed Tortuga terribly don't you lad?"

I had made my way over to his side, "Oh yes! Very much so" It was only then I realised how proper my voice sounded next to everyone else's, "Them wenches especially!"

The men stopped looking at me strangely and laughed showing some rotten teeth. I felt a little more comfortable and allowed myself to sit down on the bench beside James and another , heavy built man with drawings inked all over his skin.

"Crugg here, is a regular gentleman. Couldn't keep them off him!" James grinned, and the men laughed again.

"Just how many did you have?" a bearded gent asked me keenly, some of them listened to hear my answer.

I didn't hesitate this time and my lips twitched wanting to chuckle, "Oh many a poor wench has felt the wrath of my pointy reckoning! I fear I may have lost count lads!" This sent them into a fresh bout of laughter and wolf whistling. This prompted them to begin telling tall tales of their ventures with bagtails.

The muscly being on my left nudged me, "Do you really miss that cesspit of a town?" he had a surprisingly soft Welsh accent for such a big man.

"Slightly"

"Would you like a little token to remember it by? It'll just cost you a half an indian pease"

I frowned, "What will?"

"He means a tattoo dear boy" James smiled.

I was taken aback; I really didn't know what to say. There was a possibility I'd never go back to Tortuga, but a tattoo was something I would have to think ab-

"He'll take one!" James handed over the money, interrupting my train of thought.

"But, I-"

James started eating an apple, "Come now, you only live once! If you miss someone or somewhere, do something about it!"

The man stood up and was beckoning me towards the door. I stood up, glancing fearfully at James.

"I've already paid the man! Go!" He handed a bottle of rum to me.

"What's this for?" I removed the stopper and took a swig

"The pain" he said casually

I nearly chocked, "Pain?"

I bit down hard on the soft wood Hascall had given me before he began. He decided to do it on the inside of my left arm, just below the elbow joint. I wanted to scream, but took another swig of rum instead, it would be all gone soon.

"Nearly finished" He practically whispered, dabbing at my arm with a damp cloth. He had been working at it for nearly an hour with a fine needle and pots of various inks, kneeling beside me while I sat on a stool beside his hammock.

I drained the bottle just as he said, "Done" and stared at my arm with blurry vision.

In a mixture of black and different green inks, Hascall had created a turtle about the size of a child's palm on my forearm. It was beautiful, but also very red and sore.

"Thank you" I slurred, feeling slightly ill.

"Not a problem" he smiled, packing his things away, "You should get some sleep, it'll heal quicker if you sleep"

I stood up, "Right" I looked around, "Where?"

He chuckled; "Here" he motioned to a hammock close to his own.

I tried to focus on it and stumbled towards it. I flung myself into the yellowing material, careful of my arm, and immediately fell back out again.

"It takes a bit of getting used to" Hascall said over his shoulder as he went back upstairs.

"I'll say!" I murmured, trying again. I clung onto it for dear life and tried to get more comfortable. I ended up on my back, feet tangled around the material and clutching the post above me for dear life. It wasn't comfy, but I was too tired to care. I eventually fell asleep. I toppled out of my hammock five times that night.

I started up my own routine over my next three months as a pirate, (I did not care if James hated the word, that's what they- I am) aboard the White Nelson. I would wake at the crack of dawn climb up to the crow's nest and stay there until dark sipping rum and occasionally coming down to do my business. The crew accepted me as one of them now and all I had to do was tell some made-up stories about sleeping with women and bar fights. James would happily play along, saying it was all good sport. In the evenings I would enjoy a slap up meal and often fall into my hammock rather drunk.

Over those three months, I improved my skills as a marksman by firing at seagulls in the evenings when I was looking for amusement and James could sometimes find the time to practise my sword skills with me when he wasn't busy lying around, talking to members of the crew or bothering the Captain. Or "working" as he called it.

I also discovered that the day could be made a bit brighter if you had a slug of rum in you that my pronunciation and spoken grammar had deteriorated a great deal and I was now using swear words without thinking. My appearance had changed too. My hair was longer and rattier and my skin had turned a healthy shade of brown so it did not burn as easily. This, along with my now healed tattoo, made me look like a real rough sailor. The only negative was that I couldn't grow a beard.

I had heard word that the Captain had declared that we would be in India within the fortnight. This excited me as, although I quite liked being on the White Nelson and Fletcher was a good Captain, I wanted to see land and spend a while with the earth beneath my feet, rather than wobbling around on the sea legs I had developed.

The day this was announced was a particular rough and windy day and Lamb, the first mate, had predicted a storm brewing.

"Doesn't look good" he squinted out at the dark horizon, "Best pray to the Gods for our getting through it, Crugg"

"Hmm" I mumbled. That had been another thing. I had spent a good part of my life devoted to God, and now I barely thought about it at all. What's more is that my life hasn't become worse and my mortal body hasn't become engulfed by bloody flame the way Gregory told me it would.

But now I said a silent prayer to see us through the storm just to ensure our safety.

It wasn't until late that night when the storm struck. I was flung out of my hammock and hit the floor with a thud. I stood up groggily and saw that everyone was either up on deck or down in the gun room securing the cannons and such. I could hear men shouting orders at one another and panicking.

"Finally decided to get up have you?" I spun around and saw James watching me, holding on tight the one of the pillars. He was the one that pushed my hammock over.

"What's happening?" I asked, pulling on my tunic and boots and securing my pistol and cutlass.

He grabbed me by the wrist, "What the bloody hell do you think is happening? Come on!"

I had only ever experienced one storm on a ship before, and in comparison, this was something else. It was chaos, men running from left to right, yelling orders that no one could hear, attempting to secure rudders and mast tackle and trying desperately to stay on board, waves and the rain making everything slippery and giving difficulty balancing. I had only been out there a few seconds and I was already soaking and could barely see. I squinted for Captain Fletcher, but he was nowhere to be seen. I followed James over to the railings to try and help him secure some of the mast tackle that had come loose. I could barely grip the stuff and a spray of sea water hit me up the face so I lost hold. James was shouting something at me but I couldn't hear over the thunder claps.

"Leave the blasted thing!" I heard him yell and he ran off towards starboard. I decided to try and find out where the Captain was. I wanted some sense of security. I thought he might be up on the quarter deck, but there was no luck. Lamb was there shouting at a young boy to take control of the steering wheel.

"Lamb!" I shouted, "Where's the Captain?"

"Eh?" he yelled back, "Where have you been? He's gone, swept overboard. The lazy bugger has left us to it!" He gave a forced laugh as the ship gave a lurch forward "He was a good Captain!" he called as he tried to help the boy take hold of the wheel. I grabbed the railings and fought my way back down to the main deck and found Hascall trying to tie down roping to the main mast with his incredible strength, he nodded at me in a way of greeting and I set to work trying to help. One of the knots was nearly secured when a giant wave rose up and hit the ship with an amazing force. Both of us were knocked backwards onto the railings but before we had the chance to stand another wave washed over us and I clung onto the bars for dear life, the salt stinging my eyes. When my vision had cleared Hascall had gone. I looked around frantically but he was nowhere to be seen. My stomach tightened into knots as I looked over the edge an into the dark abyss of the ocean. It was like a great, black monster, roaring and angry. I had to fight to look away, and when I did I saw that nearly all of the crew has gathered around the main mast. When Hascall and I had let go, the wave had ripped part of the mast out of the deck and was creaking dangerously as men tried to tie it down. The hole it had created was filling rapidly with sea and rain water. It was hopeless.

Dashing over to help, I found James among the men trying to stop the mast from falling.

"Where have you been?" he shouted

I never had a chance to answer as the mast buckled suddenly and everyone scrambled to get out of its way. James pulled me back as this massive thing that I had spent these past few months working around came crashing down, making a mournful groan as it did so. Us few that got out of the way in time weren't safe for long as the weight of the mast smashed the ship in two. I grabbed James' hand as we went sliding down into the dark ocean. There was nothing for me to grab onto and all I could hear was men screaming and praying. Praying wasn't going to help anything, not now.

"Hold your breath!" James cried as the black water rushed up to meet us.

The only thing I could concentrate on was gripping his hand at that second. Water was roaring around my ears and I didn't know whether I was up or down. I looked up and saw the night's stars swirling above me like a million tiny lights. Still gripping his hand I kicked upwards with all my might, wanting nothing more than to reach the surface. I broke through the surface with a gasp, taking in lungful's of precious air. Looking around I saw nothing left of the White Nelson excepting a few pieces of debris. Some men had made it to the surface still alive too and where pulling each other onto barrels and boxes. All the sheep and goats had gone down with the ship and there was nothing left but us. I turned looking for James but his head was still under the water.

Grabbing him by the collar, I pulled him up, "None of your stupid games now man! Do you hear me?" I yelled ignoring the trickle of blood coming from his hairline. I started swimming furiously towards a door that was floating around nearby. I pulled us booth onto it with difficulty as the weather was still rough, but not half as rough as it was.

"Wake up" I said slapping him around the face, but he didn't move. A sudden wave made me lose my hold of him so I was just gripping him by his necktie. I didn't have the strength to pull him back up, I tried but the waves made it too difficult. Defeated, I leaned over and undid his belt that held his pistol and cutlass and flung it over my shoulder. A tear slid down my cheek as I kissed his forehead lightly and loosened his navy blue neck tie. I sat there with that piece of material in my hand and his effects sitting beside me and watched as James Creed drifted away into the darkness.

I really hope that everyone is enjoying this! I'm trying to update as much as I can. Keep those great reviews coming!