Title/Link: Calm Before the Storm
Summary: Everything that she did this past year culminated in this moment, as she locked eyes with the man on the other ship. Green eyes met brown, and Hermione knew she wasn't ready to see him again. Pirate!AU Harmony when you squint
Word Count: 834
Betas: DaughteroftheOneTrueKing
Prompts:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Assignment #9
~ Archaeology: What A Find! ~
Task #8: Dead Sea Scrolls: The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 800 manuscripts found in 11 caves just 2km inland from the Dead Sea and in the vicinity of Khirbet Qumran, an ancient settlement in the West Bank.
Prompt: Pirate!AU
Geek Pride:
54. Pirates of the Caribbean - Collectable: Compass
Prompt 2: AU: Pirate!AU
[May] Fortnightly Challenges
1. Lettuce: (phrase) The calm before the storm
A/N: So, I greatly enjoyed doing research for this. Rewatching the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series was a balm for my soul, and makes me yearn for summertime when I can go out on the lake again. I swear I'm a mermaid, I swear! XD
Anyway, I hope you enjoy! I'm planning a full one-shot series, so make sure to follow me (not just this story) for the next installment! I hope with this one, I've enticed you enough to continue reading.
Also, for those of you interested, seafaring terms are at the end.
Now, without further ado, let's get started :)
"The Calm Before the Storm"
Hermione stood at the bow of the ship, her mind as calm as the sea was tumultuous around her. This was the moment that all of her searching would come to a head. She knew that something horrible would come of this encounter, but she had the chance to change it all, so long as the winds and sea worked in her favor. This was the calm before the storm, the one moment where everything would culminate, and their one and only chance to prepare themselves. The path that lay ahead held only two possibilities for them: death, or enslavement.
Clad in close fitted leathers and cloth scavenged from the wardrobe she saw fit to bring with her on her journey, Hermione tried to stand as tall as she could in her borrowed boots. This was the moment that would test her mettle, and prove to herself, once and for all, that she could grow past the silly quest she had sent herself on, and do what was right for her crew. A cat's mask obscured her features, her heavily kohled honey eyes peering through the holes of the mask. Her dark curly locks spilled out from around the mask, making it seem like she possessed a mane, furthering the image of Captain Cat, the Dreaded She-Pirate of the Caribbean.
Before her brewed a storm no one on her crew had ever seen before, behind her rested the gaining ship of their dreaded rivals, the Ship named the Dark Mark, captained by one of the most villainous pirate captains ever to sail the seven seas.
Self-stylized Lorde Captain Voldemort-whom she personally thought silly due to him giving himself a ridiculous extended title, as if Captain wasn't enough-was notorious for his wanton cruelty, and holding petty grudges against other ships whom he thought slighted him. He was known to leave no survivors, and while he ran his crew ragged, he always made sure to reward them beyond measure when they discovered treasure, whether it was gold or resources from the towns they ransacked.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Hermione knew she had to make a decision now. As Captain of this ship, Hermione knew her crew had a better chance of surviving the storm than if the Dark Mark caught up to them. With guaranteed death behind them, she silently urged her ship to go faster. Perhaps they would get lucky, and a storm gale would propel them further from the enemy. But alas, it was not meant to be. The Dark Mark gained upon them steadily, almost as if helped by supernatural forces. The black sails with a sickly white skull and crossbones, a snake erupting from the open mouth of the skull, seemed to mock her as it drew closer and closer.
They would gain on them any second now.
"Hard to starboard!" she cried out, just as a gust of wind buffeted their ship. One of the deckhands grabbed a rope from the rigging and ran, hoping to catch the wind in preparation for their turn. Her inherited first mate, an Italian with skin almost as dark as hers, jumped up to take over the helm from the startled cockswain, and he spun the helm as hard as he could to turn them. "Cannons out!" If they couldn't outrun them, they might as well fight. Hermione watched as the portholes on the other ship opened up, the gaping maw of enemy cannons facing them down.
With a stern eye locked on the deck of the other ship, she felt, more than saw, her crew around her scurry to start packing their guns with black powder. Looking for the man who brought her the most misery, her brow furrowed under her mask as she failed to find Lorde Captain Voldemort. He had never missed an opportunity to gloat before. Why would this time be any different?
However, her eyes found an individual very familiar to her, and her heart clenched painfully as she hungrily drank in his features. Hermione finally found the man she had been looking for this past year. Everything she had done-run away from both a beloved home and an overeager fiance, bartered passage with a merchant ship, battled with pirates for the very soul of her ship and fellow passengers, and so much more-all of it had been in search of this one man in front of her.
Now that she stood at this precipice, she knew her heart couldn't handle this reunion. Not with a level head.
"Fire!" she screamed, as the two ships were close enough now, and with a jerking blast, the cannons fired, hitting the other ship just barely. The Dark Mark's cannons, however, managed to get a ball through their main sail, and Hermione knew they were done for. "Mr. Zabini, hard to port! Mr. Zabini!" she commanded her first mate, but another cannon blast tore through her deck and knocked him off his feet. It took him a moment to get back to the helm, but when he did, it was too late.
The Dark Mark circled about them, much like a shark in bloody waters, exchanging cannon fire until they were close enough to board them.
Pirate/Naval Terminology:
cockswain or coxswain - the helmsman
Starboard - Standing at the rear of a boat and looking forward, "starboard" refers to the entire right side of the boat.
rigging - the lines and ropes that held the sails
helm is the steering part of a boat
Port - Standing at the rear of a boat and looking forward, "port" refers to the entire left side of the boat.
Black powder is the traditional powder used in old firearms