Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize- it's all Tolkein's. I wish I owned even a word from one of his books, or that I could claimhe is my great, great, great, great...four hours later...great, great grandfather, but I can't, sniff. Oh, well.
A/N: a friend of mine that read this said the accents were a wee bit too hard to understand, so from here on out, I'll use only some words here and there in the dialogues to show accents. Sorry to any of y'all that had difficulty reading!
Chapter Four
In the days that passed, after it had been declared that Legolas was no spy, the Elf was welcome on the ship.
Iain, the first mate, took the prince under his wing, teaching him anything he wished to know about sailing and the sea.
Slowly, the other crew began to speak to him. All, that is, but the captain. She stayed well away from the Elf, a coldness radiating from her that repelled most but Iain and Duncan.
Though he was not part of the crew, Legolas worked along side of them, from dawn till evening, and took the grave-yard watch with Malcolm.
Erin's careful eyes watched everything, and she rarely missed anything that went on aboard her ship, including on watch. The Elf quickly learned that she slept sporadically, and was awake a good twenty hours a day, mending sails, tightening ropes, consulting charts with Iain and Duncan, or whatever else she could find that needed to be done.
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The morning dawned cool and overcast, the sea choppy with whitecaps. A sharp breeze pulled at the rigging and sails, hinting of a storm. Not even an hour later, a harsh wind from the north kicked up, icey cold. The clouds turned from a low, leaden grey to a dark greenish-grey as light flashed ominously within the low-hanging banks.
Erin stood in the middle of the deck, bellowing orders over the crashing waves and hissing wind. In the middle of her tirade, the lookout in the crowsnest shouted down, "Ship off to port! One league!"
"Flag?" she yelled up.
"England!"
Erin spewed out a vile oath, smashing her fist against the wheel as her eyes glared daggers.
Legolas looked up from the rail, his ears burning at her language.
"Put on as much sail as yeh can!" she ordered, contradicting her previous words.
An almost solid wall of rain appeared on the right, dark and roaring.
"Hard tae starboard!" Erin shouted, running to the wheel. "Our only chance o' losin' them is in th' rain! Furl th' sails as much as yeh can wi'out losin' too much speed! Secure them and check th' rigging! Lash down anythin' loose, and get yerselves tae safety, lads!"
The deck and masts were a flurry of activity as the men rushed hither and yon, carrying out their captain's orders. Quickly, everything was secured, and the crew members began tying themselves together in pairs on long ropes, so that they would have less chance of being washed overboard. Iain appeared at Legolas' shoulder, beckoning him hurriedly towards the main mast, where Duncan was waiting with a length of rope in his hands.
"Iain, Duncan!" Erin bellowed, looking over at her mates. "Secure yerselves good- I fully expect yeh tae be aboard when this storm passes!"
Legolas gave the two men a confused look as they began tying themselves and him to the sturdy wood.
"What does she mean?" the Elf asked, shouting over the roar and crash of the wind and waves.
A huge wave towered over the left side of the ship, blocking their view of the pursuing ship.
It was a sickly green-black color, the same as that of the storm.
"That's wha she means!" Duncan replied just before the wave seemed to freeze over the vessel.
It would be a picture forever engraved on the Elf's mind- the sky and water the sickly green color, the fear that made the two brothers on either side of him pale under their tans, but in the center of his memory stood a mad captain. Her legs apart, feet braced on the deck, her short hair whipped in the salt spray-laden air as she seemed to laugh at the storm's fury, steering her ship into the jaws of the maelstrom.
Then the water crashed over the ship, cold as ice.
Legolas choked, gasping for air as the wave swept across the deck, carrying with it anything not lashed down.
"She's crazy!" he coughed, staring at Erin with wide eyes.
"Aye, she is," Iain replied. "But anyone would have t' be crazy t' take a crew from their families for a year at a time, and sail them t' God know's where in simply a ship!"
Erin remained at the helm, not lashed to anything, but never washed away by the seething waves.
Time passed slowly as the ocean tore at everything, the roaring waves beating the ship and crew mercilessly as the wind howled and the rains pelted the men with an icy downpour. They seemed suspended in time, lost in the water that surrounded them on all sides, threatening to crush the ship and her sailors. The Seahawk bucked wildly on the waves, thrown by the tempest like a cork on the white water.
When the storm finally abated, the roar calming the the purr of a kitten, the sailors slowly untied the salt-stiffened ropes, wearily stretching their fatigued limbs.
Iain stumbled over the helm, where Erin was leaning heavily against the wheel. As he approached, she straightened, attempting a thin smile.
"Glad tae see yeh on th' other side, Mr MacPherson," she said in a rasping voice.
Legolas assisted Duncan to where the captain and her first mate were standing.
"It seemed like the storm lasted for an eternity," the Elf commented lowly to the second mate, his voice also rasping and dry.
"Tri days."
Legolas looked at the captain, a puzzled expression on his face as he looked at the young woman who had spoken.
"Th' storm lasted tri days, Master Legolas," she clarified, her emerald eyes piercing as she gave the prince a steady stare. She turned to Iain, and pulled a small, weather-proofed bag from where it had been tucked into her belt. Lifting a barrel from where it had been lashed, she set it down before her and spread a map she had taken from the bag on the surface. Smoothing the old, salt-sprayed parchment, she tapped a long, slender finger on the blue-hued area marked as water as she leaned over the map.
"We are here," she said, looking up at Iain through her eyelashes and hair. Her voice was lower than usual, her eyes a deeper green. "We hae drifted several leagues east o' our origional location during th' storm. But that doesna matter. Now, if yeh doona mind," Erin said, straightening and raking a hand through her tousled, salt-streaked hair. "I'm off tae my cabin, afore I collapse right here. Th' men can do wha e'er they wish. I'll be back wi'in th' hour."
Both sailors stiffened as she turned.
"As yeh weerr, Misters MacPherson and Douglas. Theerr es nae need, an' nevar hes been." Erin strode slowly across the deck, the only sign that she had just stayed awake and piloted a ship through a storm for three days a slight stiffness in her stride.
Not fifteenminutes later, Erin walked resolutely across the deck, to the for'ward, where Iain and Duncan were leaning. Joining them, she stared out over the calm blue seas, so calm after the storm that it seemed like another place. The waves that lapped gently against the hull were soothing, lulling the sailors into thinking that the sea was sorry. But the men knew that she was only waiting until the right moment to unleash the full fury of her wrath once more.
"Erin," Duncan said in surprise, noticing her presence for the first time.
"Aye," she replied.
"Why are yeh nae in yer cabin, lassie?" Iain admonished.
"I was, but somethin' dinna feel right, so I came back out here. There is somethin' out there, somethin' comin'," she replied softly.
Legolas joined them at the rail, hearing the young woman's words.
"Ship off to starboard!" the man in the crowsnest yelled down. "No flag."
Erin turned and squinted, baring her teeth in a snarl.
"Damn!" she swore. "Banned pirates on our tail. Damn!" she growled, turning on her heel and striding swiftly across the deck. "I need as much speed as yeh can gi' me, lads," she bellowed, coming to a stop next to the wheel so she couldclearly beheard. "I ken yeh lot are tir'd, but we hae pirates on our tail. Prepare fer a boardin'!" she bellowed, pulling her weight right beside the men in getting the ship ready.
"You're going to take their ship?" Legolas inquired, helping beside Iain.
The Scot shook his head grimly. "Nae, lad. Th' Seahawk is a windjammer, fast in her own right, but th' wee de'il on our tail is faster. Th' lads are gi'in' us all th' speed she can get, but we'll be o'ertaken wi'in th' hour."
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the cliffhanger- truly, I am!- but my computer crashed, and I have to completely re-write the chapter. I will hopefully have it posted within a few days, unless that aweful thing known as college registration gets in the way. Hopefully it won't! Thanks all y'all that are reading this, please, review!