Author's Notes: Arr mateys! Rough waters be ahead! ...Okay so I'm not a pirate. I wish I was though... It seems college life is assploding my schedule. I hope you all enjoy this when I find time to get it out. Keep holdin' on to ye britches!

Song is "A Drunken Pyrate's Hymn" by Day of the Zombie.

And it's ARR, ARR, ARR MATEY, ARR!
It's the pyrate's life for me!
The BOOTY, the GROG, livin' HIGH on the HOG
and sailin' over the sea! Yes, sailing over the sea!

Now, grab up seven buckets, and fill 'em with blood
for we're out to paint this town red!
and after we've emptied those pails,
we'll drink from the ales of the dead!

Chapter 10- Price of Freedom

The world brightened around Arthur as he slowly regained his senses. It took him a moment to register that he was sprawled out in his own loft. Had he really passed out?

A splitting pain tore through his head as he sat up; every muscle protesting his movement as he tried to stand. Arthur caught himself on the desk and forced himself to keep moving. The sounds of swords clashing and screams echoed outside his quarters. The fighting wasn't over. As captain, he should be out with his crew.

How long had he been out? The sun slanting in through the window made his head pound worse. If the fighting was still going, it was safe to say not much time had passed.

Arthur grabbed his sword—conveniently left on the table, no doubt by Lark—and made his way to the double doors. He could make out the silhouettes of struggling figures through the frosty windows.

He needed to get out there. Damn it all, move! His body fought him the whole way. It only wanted to lay down and rest. The spell had drained more energy from his body than he realized. Maybe he had overdone it just a bit…

Arthur's hand was heavy as he lifted it to the brass handle. Just a little further and the adrenaline would kick back in surly. He turned the handle and pulled the door open.

The next moment a shower of blood splattered across Arthur's face.

~*~*~
Alfred parried a blade away and skipped backward. He had never done so much sword fighting in his life! Sure, he wasn't doing a bad job with the guys he was facing but he really really wanted a gun right about now. Guns are so much easier…

"Watch out!" Katju shouted from behind. Alfred ducked instinctively. A marine flew over his head. Alfred looked up to see Katju swinging away from him on a rope. "Don't get blindsided now Al!" he laughed.

Alfred shook his head and sent the young man a wave of thanks.

The marines were growing fewer, but that didn't mean they should let up. Alfred took another bounding step toward a small group that Willy was literally toying with. He seized one by the collar of his red coat and tossed him overboard. Sometimes it was just faster to grab and chuck. Alfred laughed lightly at his own dark humor. I really am going pirate crazy.

Somehow, some way, Alfred's hearing suddenly zoned in on the strangest of noises. Silence. The fighting had stopped toward the back of the ship.

Alfred never believed that silence would ever scare him. He was always loud. His country was always at some sort of noisy level. There were moments of calm in between but never a perfect silence, never a stop to the buzz of life. But this silence scared him, and even more so as he turned to look.

In one silent scene, his confidence, his world, fell apart as a bright crimson ribbon of blood lanced into the sky.

~*~*~
Eva bit her lip as more British marines rained down on the ship. They still had fight left in them even after most of the ships had either been sunk or crippled to the extent that escape was impossible.

Antonio had been right in assuming Francis couldn't hold his end of the plan up. As far as she could tell, the Frenchman and the other ships were supposed to go through the lines after them and essentially "clean up" the cove. Francis's ship was stuck between some of the wreckage. Does that say something or what? (Definitely a fail) How the hell Francis managed that was beyond her. There shouldn't have been too much to worry about though because no one was going to escape with Antonio's small armada blocking the exit.

Another group of marines landed on the deck to her left. One was downed immediately by a throwing knife from Switch. Eva cringed on the inside. These men had nowhere to go, yet they kept fighting. They're as good as dead no matter what they do. Board the enemy or sink; it wasn't much of a win on either side.

Kill or be killed. It was the unspoken truth of life at sea.

Eva went at the marines with that in mind. How else could she face it? A smaller man stepped up to meet her blade. Eva quickly deflected his sword away and spun around. She caught the blade along the shaft of her kwan dao and threw the man off balance by sheer force. And these are the times I'm lucky to have some of Alfred's super strength.

Instead of backing away, the marine decided he wasn't done with her. They circled each other slowly as Eva attempted to keep the captain's quarters in her peripheral view. She would defend the area until given the order to stop.

The marine came at her again swinging his sword in a wild arc. Eva sidestepped him and let the blunt end of her weapon trip up his feet as he passed. In a sprawling mess, the marine hit the deck and scrambled to turn around.

Eva stepped down on his chest. She raised her weapon and was about to finish the man off went his hat fell off.

She hesitated.

Wide eyes stared up at her in fear. The marine was no older than fifteen or sixteen! He wasn't even her (human) age!

Eva felt sick as she held the blade over him. This wasn't right at all. He was a child.

She bit her lip and eased up on the boy. She stepped back and lowered her blade a fraction. The marine looked up at her in confusion.

"Get off the ship and you may live to see brighter days," Eva told him flatly. She actually wasn't sure how much of a chance he would have if he was in the water. It was better than being slaughtered on board though.

She turned to the side as the boy scrambled away. Honestly, she would never be a good pirate.

"Ev!" Switch shouted at her.

Eva's attention shifted to Switch long enough to see him start toward her with another shout. The scrape of metal on wood made her whirl around. Eva blinked as her body lurched backward. A bright spray of blood scattered across her vision.

The cloth binding her chest felt looser somehow. Eva blinked in confusion as warmth blossomed across her skin from sternum to left collarbone. She looked down.

An ugly red soaked her shirt and was quickly spreading across it. How had that happened?

The boy she had let go backed away with sword in hand. The blade glittered like rubies as the sun caught it briefly.

Eva opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She was already falling backward, the world blurring around her until it finally settled into darkness.

And let me tell you of a violent sport,
Assailing the cargoes of kings!
For Coca, Nutmeg, and sweet Cardamon
We KILL, we KILL and we BLEED!
and it's ARR, ARR, ARR, MATEY, ARR!

It's the pyrate's life for me!
The BOOTY, the GROG! Livin' HIGH on the HOG
and sailin' over the sea! Yes, sailing over the sea!