A/N: Another chapter coming out! Thanks to the readers who've left comments or have decided to follow the story so far, it means a lot to me. Hope everyone likes this one and as per usual, comments, suggestions, yadda yadda you all know the drill. You've read other fics! You know what this is! Whoa ok got a little sidetracked there, let's just get on with the story.

Chapter 3: The Admiral and the Pirate

The wind filled the sails, the prow of the ship cutting like a knife through the water as gulls called out to one another overhead. At the helm stood Admiral Marco Diaz, Captain of The Comet, pride of the Mewni navy. Named for the late Queen Comet, mother of the current Queen Moon, the ship was colossal. Three full square masts drove her forward and her three decks housed a crew of close to 500 sailors along with 60 cannon a side to say nothing of the two massive 32 pounders sitting in the bow. At just 25 years old, most people thought Marco was too young to be anything other than a cannoneer, to say nothing of being lead admiral of the world's strongest navy! But then again, those people didn't know Marco.

Orphaned at a young age, the boy had snuck onto a ship hoping to find a dry place to sleep for the night only to wake up and find it had set sail! Rather than chuck him overboard, the captain had taken a shine to the clever lad, and Marco had rarely spent a night ashore since. By age 12 he was a cadet in the Mewni naval academy, by age 16 he had been given command of a small frigate. During the last great war with the Lucitor kingdom five years ago it had been Marco's quick thinking at the battle of the Bay of Souls that had carried the day and helped turn the tide of the entire war. Despite his age, Queen Moon announced his promotion to Admiral and had further honored him with the preemptive command of the new flagship once it had been built.

Since then, Mewni had existed in relative peace, its extensive international trade bringing great wealth while its impressive fleet warded off would be aggressors and patrolled the sea lanes, protecting commerce. Incidentally, that was exactly what Captain Diaz and his crew were doing now. Lesser men might have thought it demeaning to be sent on routine scouting missions, thinking it beneath their station. But Marco had never been one to shirk from duty. And besides, the Queen had given this assignment to him personally. Apparently, some pirate styling herself Star Butterfly, a mocking gesture to the royal family, had been enjoying great success in taking particularly rich merchant prizes as of late, most recently the Queen's own treasure ship. Other captains had proved thoroughly incapable of catching the wily thief, and so Moon had dispatched her most capable captain to see the job done properly. They had been sailing for close to ten days now and apart from a rather violent squall that had appeared on the horizon two days earlier, nothing of note had occurred.

Marco was quietly handling the rudder, dressed in his usual attire. A high collared, pure white shirt held by a belt with a saber and pistol attached. Dark black pants and boots along with an ankle length blue coat with gold trim and buttons, a symbol of his admiral's rank, completed the outfit. As he was enjoying an easy morning, breathing in the salty air, the quiet at the helm was suddenly broken by a tan girl with a shock of winter green hair running up and tossing a quick salute, "Admiral Diaz sir!"

"First mate Kelly," he politely acknowledged with a tip of his head, keeping both hands firmly on the wheel. "A report?"

"Aye Captain! We think we've spotted her. She's a ways off a port bow and flying a warnicorn with a shooting star underneath. Listing pretty badly to port too! Figure maybe she got caught in that mess we saw the other day on the horizon."

"Excellent work sailor, take the wheel. I want to see this for myself." Marco stepped away from the wheel and headed toward the bow while Kelly kept them on a bee line for the presumed pirate vessel. Stepping up to the bow, Marco simply held his hand out and a nearby sailor jumped to attention and placed a spyglass in it. Looking through it, Marco confirmed everything Kelly had told him, the flag, how the ship was listing, and one other detail. Faintly along the stern one could just barely make out the ship's name, Queen of Darkness. "It's them," he said simply. Walking to center deck he began bellowing out orders.

"All hands to stations! Cannoneers prepare for a Port broadside! Boarders ready for hand-to-hand, I want ropes and muskets ready! Today we take in this scum for queen and country! Remember, you are fighting for the pride of Mewni, do your duty well and keep level heads. And one last thing, the Queen wants this one alive, captain's a blond with heart-shaped birthmarks on her face. Try not to kill her," he added sardonically at the end, drawing a chuckle from his crew.

As the chase wore on it became apparent that despite its larger size and heavier weight, the Comet's extra mast and the clear damage to the Queen of Darkness meant the gap between the two ships was closing. Apparently finally realizing they would have to make a stand, the pirate vessel quickly began to turn hard right, attempting to hit the bow of Marco's ship with a broadside.

"Hard to starboard! Hold your fire until we're even with them, sight the rear mast and the main deck!" Marco was running about making sure his seasoned crew had everything in position. Looking across the gap between the two ships he could spot the enemy crew, a mix of Mewmans, Monsters, Demons, and what he swore was a decapitated (and somehow floating) unicorn head. Certainly vicious enough looking, he thought to himself. Wonder how they'll hold up under fire?

By now the ships had lined up near perfectly, Marco waited just one more second then, "Fire! Fire all!" The command rang out, quickly drowned in the roar of cannon fire as the two ships exchanged full broadsides. Judging by the holes in the pirate vessel, his cannoneers had done pretty well, although their aim had been a bit low. He chided himself, now was not the time to criticize crew performance.

"Kelly!" He shouted up! "Move us in closer! Prepare a second broadside and prepare to board!" The two ships drifted closer together, Marco estimating that he had a roughly 2-1 advantage based on the reports he'd received. Another gigantic broadside rang out and he saw that this time his men had struck the first deck and a number of pirates went down. Make that 2.5-1 he smirked. The boarding party, Marco at the head, grabbed ropes and leapt over onto the Queen of Darkness' deck. Other sailors on his ship started laying down planks for the less adventurous, although he had little time to worry about that as he almost immediately found a massive troll swinging a broadsword at him. Rolling while drawing his saber, Marco quickly sidestepped a second swing and stabbed the pirate under the arm, felling him. And so it went. A number of his men had gone down but the superior numbers of the Mewman sailors and the morale boost from their courageous captain gave them the edge.

Marco had edged further into the center of the enemy ship looking for another opponent to fight when suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of metal come flying towards his head. Instinct and quick reflexes saved him but he still received a rather nasty gash on his arm as a result. Turning to face his new opponent Marco was mildly surprised to be staring at a young woman around his age by the look of her. Long golden hair appeared from underneath a blue bandanna and heart marks graced her cheeks. She was wearing a red and white striped blouse tucked into leather leggings and knee-high brown boots. She was shorter than he was, but lithe, clearly comfortable on the deck of a ship, and if that swing was anything to go by, skilled with a cutlass.

"Captain Butterfly I presume?"

She spat on the ground and rested her sword on her shoulder, "That's me! And you must be the latest naval hack her pompous majesty has sent to come and bring me in."

Marco simply shook his head, typical uncultured pirate. "I am Admiral Marco Diaz of the Mewni navy and if you'll have a look around you can clearly see you and your brigands are losing this fight."

"For now," Star begrudgingly agreed. "But I bet once I gut their fancy admiral like a fish all your pretty sailor boys will run screaming for their mothers!" And with that she launched another quick strike at Marco's head. Expecting it this time, Marco parried and took a swing of his own at her. Star parried that one away as well and the two began circling each other warily, looking for an opening as the battle continued to rage around them.

Examining her stance and footwork Marco dryly commented, "You have decent form, for a pirate."

"Thanks, you have decent moves for a dead man!" She swung out at him before freezing mid-swing and switching to a back-hand slice which Marco blocked and then slid his blade down hers, lightly nicking her shoulder.

"Not dead yet, am I?" Star could only scream in frustration at that and threw herself back into the fight.

The personal duel between the two captains continued for some time and in spite of himself, Marco was enjoying himself immensely. It had been a while since he had faced an opponent with any sort of skill. The longer the duel dragged on, the more and more he found himself curious about this pirate.

"So why a life of piracy?" He asked while attempting to lop off her hand.

She shrugged, "Don't know. Why did you choose to be a royal lap dog?"

Marco frowned at that one. Putting a little more strength behind his next swing he explained, "I was an orphan. The Mewni navy gave me a place in the world, a home, and something to be proud of. The Queen herself made me an Admiral and gave me command of this vessel." He placed a thin cut on Star's upper forearm, causing her to wince. "That's hit number six for me by the way, and I asked you first."

"It's only been five" she muttered. "And fine, I was a servant girl in some noble's household in the capital. I hated it; I was treated as worse than dirt every day of my life. I figured any sort of life, even death, would be better than this. So, I snuck on a ship one night and hoped off at the first port we reached and never looked back." She managed to get inside his guard and clip one of the buttons off Marco's jacket. "And that's six for me just so we're clear."

Marco rolled his eyes, "but why piracy?"

"It's a tough world out there Admiral~" she sarcastically drolled. "I wanted freedom more than anything else in this world, and nothing is more freeing than being a pirate. And you happen to be standing in the way of that at the moment, so I think it's time to end this!" With that, Star locked blades with Marco and the two began to shove against one another. Marco's superior height and strength effectively countered by Star's lower center of gravity. As the two got in each other's faces Marco realized two things. That this pirate was quite beautiful, and that the sound of their blades grinding against one another was the only thing he could hear. Disengaging from her he saw that his crew had in fact carried the day. Some of the pirates had been killed, along with some of his own men. Many others on both sides were nursing wounds and the rest had surrendered. Almost regretfully, Marco broke the grapple and leveled his saber at Star. "It's over Captain Butterfly. Surrender to me now and I promise you will be treated fairly."

"Like I'd believe that!" She hissed.

"I swear it on my honor as an Admiral of Mewni" he intoned.

"And what happens to me if I do surrender?"

"My orders come directly from her majesty, you are to be taken alive and returned to Mewni to face the Queen's justice."

"You're just taking my freedom like all the others. Just trading a servant's rags for a prisoner's." All the fight seemed to go out of Star in that moment and for a reason Marco couldn't explain, it almost wounded him.

"Fine captain Diaz." She threw her cutlass on the deck. "You win. I trust you will take care of my men."

"They will all receive treatment for their wounds, you have my word." Star only nodded at that. A sailor came up and clapped her in iron manacles as was done to the rest of the surviving crew.

"First mate Kelly!" Marco cried out. "Aye Admiral?"

"Get these prisoners to the brig. See that they're fed and given medical attention. Have some of the crew tie off this ship and tow it behind us. Set a course for Mewni, we're going home."

"Yes sir!" Kelly began shouting out orders and before long Marco was almost alone with Star again save the two guards now escorting her to the brig.

"For what it was worth Admiral Diaz" she gave almost a half-smile "It wasn't a half bad fight." Marco didn't offer a reply, simply nodding to the two sailors as they led Star away to the brig.

That night rather than gently lulling him to sleep as it normally did, the rocking of the ship left Marco feeling restless. He kept playing the fight and conversation he'd had with that pirate Butterfly over and over again. He couldn't shake the feeling of joy he'd felt fighting her, nor the small pangs of regret in seeing her locked up. Finally, as dawn approached Marco could take it no longer. Pulling himself out of bed and dressing he quickly strode from his quarters towards the brig. Approaching the guard outside the door leading to a row of cells Marco held out his hand.

"I wish to interrogate Captain Butterfly. I'll need the keys sailor."

The man snapped to attention and quickly took the keys off his belt. "Of course, Admiral, here you are."

"Good. You're dismissed."

"Admiral?"

"I said you're dismissed. This interrogation may get…. messy. I'd prefer you not have to hear it."

"Yes, of…. of course, Admiral," the man said reluctantly. "Are you sure you'll be alright though sir?"

Marco simply fixed him with a look…. "leave." The man scampered off. Once he was around the corner, Marco swiftly unlocked the door, relocking it behind him and striding down to the end of the row. There, sitting despondently in a cell separated from the others was Captain Butterfly. She looked up at the sound of approaching bootsteps and scowled upon seeing who it was? "What do you want?" She spat. Marco said nothing, keys in hand, simply looking at her.

"Well?" She challenged again. "Nothing to say? That stuffy collar suffocating you a little?" Again, her goading failed to elicit a response. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Marco opened the door.

"You escaped," he said, tossing the keys into her lap.

Star was thoroughly confused. She held up the key ring and looked at Marco, "what?"

"I came down here to personally interrogate the pirate captain. She managed to trick and overpower me, knocking me unconscious and locking the cell door behind me. By the time my crew notice tomorrow morning that I'm not around and that your ship is gone, it will be too late. In spite of my best efforts, it appears the notorious Captain Star Butterfly has escaped my grasp." Marco actually managed a small smile. "I think it's rather brilliant personally speaking."

Star slowly stood up, wary that this was somehow all a trick. Some false sense of freedom to break her psychologically. There must be a loaded cannon sitting on the other side of the brig door or something. She directed her attention back to her captor/savior. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I had a lot of fun in that little duel of ours and someday, I'd like a rematch," Macro smirked. Then his cocky attitude faded into something Star couldn't quite put a finger on. "And because no matter how beautiful a bird might look in a cage, it's ever more so when it's free." With that, he shuffled around her into the cell she had previously been occupying and sat on the wet ground.

"Well? Aren't you going to lock me up and make good your escape?"

Star hesitated for a moment. She didn't trust this pompous royal pet; she had no reason to! And she didn't need him either! She was Captain Star Butterfly, terror of the seas after all. But some part of her, against all reason and logic, told her that this Admiral, this man with orders from his oh so beloved queen to hunt her down like a stag in the woods, could be trusted. Never one to shy away from her gut instinct, Star made up her mind and locked the cell door, Admiral Diaz inside.

"This doesn't mean I owe you any favors you know. You took me prisoner in the first place so freeing me just makes us even. Next time we meet I won't hold back. You know that, right?"

Marco looked up at her and again smiled softly, "I know."

"Good." Star turned to start opening the remaining cell doors and get what was left of her crew out of there. Just as she had let the last of her crew out and was about to exit the brig, Marco called out to her.

"Captain Butterfly!" She slowly turned to look at him. "I won't be going easier on you next time either. I had at least six other parries that would've left you wide open. Could've ended it whenever I felt like it."

Star placed her hands on her hips, "Pft! I'd like to see you try lap dog!" She turned to leave but stopped herself one more time. Turning back a simple "thank you" left her lips and she crept out of the brig towards her ship, towards freedom.

As Marco tried his best to make himself comfortable for the next few hours until someone from his crew came and sprang him from his cell, he contemplated all that he had just done. On the one hand, he had just betrayed everything he'd ever known. Heck, he'd committed high treason! Letting a highly wanted pirate go free, helping her escape when he'd taken her prisoner! If anyone ever found out about this, it would be his head on a chopping block. On the other hand, he couldn't stop the thrill of excitement that ran through him. That pirate sure was something after all. An excellent swordswoman, utterly fearless, quite easy on the eyes…. he stopped that train of thought immediately! He had released her because she was a worthy adversary. Nothing more! Whatever the case, he closed his eyes as sleep finally started to overtake him. Marco's last conscious thought was that it certainly felt like his life was about to get far more interesting, and he couldn't have been happier about it.

Of course, he couldn't have known it at the time, but as Queen of Darkness slipped off its moorings and sailed away into the dawn, Captain Star Butterfly, pirate extraordinaire, was thinking the exact same thing.

A/N: Wow so that was way longer than I expected. Like this chapter is almost twice as long as the first two combined, and that's with me cutting out the ice dancing scene! Kidding, kidding. But seriously, this story has already taken on a life of its own and I'm already thinking of doing a part II for this one somewhere down the line. I love pirate-based stories and just the concept of Star and Marco chasing each other just seems like such a good idea! But you already know how I feel about this, you just read the chapter after all! Please let me know what you think and I look forward to posting the next adventure!