W00T! Chapter 5! I'm so impressed with myself...even if this one took me a bit longer than the other ones...I blame school. I'll let you read now, and save my comments for the end...

I don't own the Prince. Kapish?

The Prince was the first to attack, lunging forward with both blades, hoping to catch the smaller woman off guard. Nesia had her blades up quickly, though, slapping away the man's swords easily.

She was quick to counter with a strike of her own, whipping her short sword around in a crescent shape, aiming for the man's side. He was just as quick to block her blow, along with the chop that came right after from her cutlass.

"You're good," Nesia remarked, drawing back and circling her foe. "But are you good enough?" The man spat at the ground in front of him in reply, then his sword snaked forward towards the woman's side. She caught the blow with one sword, and slashed at the man's stomach with her other one.

This move forced the Prince to jump backwards, out of range of the weapon. Nesia was quick to come after him, swinging both her swords parallel to the ground, and about half a foot apart. The man got both his scimitars in between her two swords, and pushed them outwards with a flex of his arms. He then jabbed forwards quickly with the two swords, trying to score a hit while the woman's blades were off to either side to her.

Nesia had expected this however, and fell onto her back on the back the second the man's blades had began to approach her. She kicked her feet up as the Prince lunged forwards, and caught him in the stomach, making him stumble backwards. By the time she had flipped to her feet, however, the Prince was there again, driving relentlessly at her with his scimitars.

Nesia kept pace with the Prince, their swords moving so quickly that they were a blur in the air, with the constant clanging of metal on metal adding a weird rhythm to their fight.

"Getting tired Prince?" Nesia asked with contempt. The Prince gritted his teeth, and refused to answer, though his muscles that had been so unused in the past week were beginning to tire. He needed to find some way to end this stalemate, and fast. The Prince spotted an opportunity, when Nesia drove both blades towards his chest, and acted fast.

He stopped the swords with one scimitar, grunting as his muscles nearly gave under the pressure, and dropped his other scimitar in the same instant. Nesia began to react to react to this move, sliding her swords away from the Prince's block, but he acted before she could complete her strike. He grabbed her arm, knelt, and twisted, sending the woman flying over his hip.

Nesia rolled as she fell, coming up near the rail that ran along the edge of the upper deck. Instead of turning to face the Prince, who was quickly approaching her, she vaulted it, landing lightly on the lower deck. The man behind her swore, and vaulted the rail after her, but not before grabbing his dropped sword..

"You cannot run forever," the Prince remarked coldly.

"I don't need to run," Nesia retorted evenly, and leapt towards him. The Prince was surprised by her speed, but got his scimitar up in time to block her long sword. The woman's short sword, however, whipped across his chest, giving him a long, shallow cut across the bare skin there not covered by his armor.

The Prince ignored this hit, and kicked the captain solidly in the stomach, sending her crashing back into the mast. Nesia berated herself inwardly for letting her guard down, and brought up her swords to stop the man's blows.

"Give up now before you get hurt," she taunted, a half smile on her face. The Prince snarled, and pressed down with his scimitars against the woman's blades, locked body-to-body with her. He hoped to use his greater strength to force her backwards, and hopefully off balance. But he had overlooked the fact that she was still near the mast.

Nesia hooked one of the Prince's feet with her own, pulling him off balance. He didn't fall, but teetered on one foot for a second. This was enough time for the woman to bring both her blades up, her short sword at his chest and her long sword at his throat.

"That was fun," she remarked with a false cheerfulness. "We should do it again sometime." She then sheathed her blades, and walked back up to the tiller on the higher deck.

"Wait...what?" The Prince asked, confused. The woman who was just trying to kill him had a perfect opportunity to do so...but she didn't. Nesia ignored him, taking the wheel of the ship once again. The man scowled, and went up onto the main deck to stand beside her.

"Much better," Nesia said once he was standing next to her. "Now we don't have to shout."

"Why didn't you kill me?" The Prince asked bluntly. "You could have easily done so."

"I can if you want me to," she offered dryly. The Prince sighed inwardly. He didn't want to play her games today. He grabbed her by the shoulders, and roughly turned the woman to face her.

"I want to know why you didn't kill me," he said quietly. To his surprise, Nesia didn't hit him, with her one hand now not on the wheel, or turn away.

"You're good," she began just as quietly. "I could tell before that you were a survivor, and now I know that you can fight. You're on my ship now, with no way out, and I needed to see if you would be a benefit to my ship or not."

"...what if you didn't think I would be a benefit?" The Prince asked after a moment's thought.

"I think it's pretty obvious what would have happened to you," she replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." The Prince released the captain's shoulders, and stepped back, letting her turn to grasp the tiller with two hands. He was about to turn to go, but Nesia's voice stopped him. "I don't think I could have beaten you if I hadn't been drugging you." He once again felt anger rising in him, and was going to attack Nesia again, but Rico stopped him.

"Nice try," the large man remarked, blocking the Prince's way, and snatching the scimitars from him. "Now get to work on cleaning that lower deck." Rico spun the Prince around, and shoved him down the stairs. Catching his balance, and not falling, he had every intention of going after Rico now that he was well.

"I wouldn't do that," Nesia warned from her place behind the wheel. "Rico fights dirty." The Prince was sure he could normally beat the first mate easily, but not in his present state. Weighing his options carefully, the man grabbed the mop Rico was holding out to him without complaint. He began to scrub the deck, the mocking laughter of the crew accompanying him. He would get even one day...

Hmm...bit of a cliffy, but not really. I tried for an action scene this chapter, and I tried to make it effective. I don't really know if it worked or not...you tell me.

Thank you to my faithful readers...however many or few of you there are. Special thanks to Lady Discord for bullying me into finishing this chapter. I don't know when the next one will be up...but I will try to write every now and then, so it hopefully won't take me too long.

And if any of you are still wondering why Nesia beat the Prince...well, she is not freakishly talented. He lost from a mix of muscles he hasn't used for a while, overconfidence, and drugs.

Please review!