Of Pirates and Princesses

Chaptre Three: Ye Old Crew is Once More

"We are going to crash Princess Regina's wedding," Ruby announced loudly and grandly. The idea excited her. She always was and would be, a wild child.

"And we have a week to get ready for it." Emma announced. They would have to have everything prepared by then.

"Out of all of us, I expected you to be the last one caught and put to jail," a voice chuckled as Sabine picked up her head. She had been sitting in a cell for well over a week now and she had not been fed or given anything to drink except for some bread which she had eaten days ago, and a bowl of water she was rationing. So, she figured she was hallucinating when the figure of her old captain stepped out from the shadows, blonde hair glowing in the moonlight.

"Captain Swan!" she exclaimed, lifting a tired head up, eyes wide. "Blimey! I surely must be losing my mind, though I profess I thought I would last longer than a week."

"You are not losing your mind," Emma whispered, drawing closer and brandishing the keys she had stolen off of the guard. "But gaining it, for I am here to set you free."

Sabine rocked to her feet and grabbed at the bars, already tasting freedom but also curiosity. "Emma, you're really here?" she gasped.

"Shhh," Emma shushed. "We don't want to alert anyone to us being here. August and Ruby are already keeping the rest of the guards entertained, but we don't have much time."

August and Ruby were here too? What was going on, Sabine wondered but knew better than to ask now so she bit her tongue.

The cell swung open and Sabine followed Emma out as they quietly slunk through the shadows and to a back entrance where a horse and carriage rested, one they had no doubt stolen for this. "Get in," Emma urged and Sabine dove in, before Emma took the reins and hit the horse. It neighed loudly and began trotting away. She pulled out a gun with one hand and held it steady as she bellowed out, "Ruby. August!"

Ruby's keen hearing heard it first, and she punched the guy she was holding up by the neck one more time for good measure in the face before dropping him, and leaping down from the roof of the prison building. It was only a two story drop and she rolled softly onto her knees to soften the impact. August was on the ground floor, racing away from two men. August could have easily taken them on, but he didn't want to wound them if avoidable.

"This way," Ruby jerked her head to the thud of hooves and together they ran, the men behind them yelling angrily and waving with their swords as if they could somehow stab the criminals running away from such a distance. Emma pulled the carriage up and Sabine opened the doors to admit them. They dove right in, Emma firing a warning shot over the men's heads so they would drop to the floor to avoid it. And then, door still swinging open as August's legs comically stuck out, Emma rode off.

The carriage left dust behind it, from how quickly it was going. And two pairs of hands, grabbed August by the buttock and pulled him in at last.

Inside, they all started laughing, for it was good to see each other, and it had been a while since they'd done something like this.

"Sabine," Ruby pulled the thin woman into a bone crushing hug. "It's been a while."

"It has indeed," she agreed when they pulled apart. She clasped August's hand in greeting.

"So, care to tell us how you ended up in prison?" August asked, eyes sparkling with adrenaline from their small prison break.

"I happened to piss off more people than I should have in town, is all I will say," she replied, not wanting to relive that particular memory. "But how come all of you are back together again?"

"We will tell you once we reach the inn," Ruby explained. "I think you will be surprised by who else is there."

The ride to the inn was short and once they parked the carriage, they exited it and strode over to the table in the back where as was the norm for Leroy, he was already half plastered and crooning salty sea shanties.

"Sabine!" he rose to his feet to greet her, standing up not making much of difference given his low stature. Still he hugged her around the midwaist and picked her up, giving her a little whirl. "It's been a while, ain't it?"

"I agree, Leroy. I can see you still drink like fish."

"He drinks an ocean's worth of ale each meal, that carouser," grunted Neal, setting down his own tankard and nodding his head in greeting at Sabine. Their parting had been different than others. Love had once fused the union of their lips but they had both gone their own ways and the break up had been less than pleasant for they had wanted differing things from life.

"Neal, well, blow me down. I did not think to see your face so soon," she said as they all settled down together. He had changed. His hair was longer, and his beard was full. And he had added more earrings to the ones in his left ear. They went up and down, glowing faintly in the dim of the tavern.

"Did you miss it?" he asked, cocky, though behind his words lay the fact he truly cared if she thought of him. She did, so she would not lie.

"I did miss it. Miss laying my fist into it," she teased, gladly accepting a tankard from Leroy who had plenty of those to go around it seemed.

"So, why this little reunion?" Leroy asked, his nose red from drink. "Captain has been keeping her lips shut ever since she's picked us up from our sorry states."

"How long have you been here?" Sabine inquired.

"About three days. Neal's been here a bit longer."

"Alright, I suppose I should be getting to explaining why I suddenly showed up in your lives," Emma started, silencing their chatter. They all looked at her expectantly and she sat up straighter.

"I have mentioned that recently Lily was apprehended by Graham and killed, along with her crew. She was a good friend of mine, and I will not let her murder stand. Not when the Queen lets the likes of Hood and Hook float the seven seas."

"Are we going to kill them?" Neal asked.

"No, though I wouldn't be opposed to it if we crossed them on the seas. What we are going to do instead is hit the Queen where it will hurt the most. Cora has been keeping her daughter locked up, claiming that her beauty is the highest treasure the Red kingdom has. And since the princess is now of age, she is to be wed to the highest and most powerful of kings, king Leopold," Emma said, and they all leaned in to listen.

"If I think we're going to be doing what I think we are, then you are mad, Emma Swan," whistled Neal. "We will not only have Queen Cora and her huntsmen on our necks, but also the king!"

Emma smiled. "And would that not make for a thrilling adventure?"

"Like hell it would," Neal smiled back, already ready to pull out his sword and board boats, looking for fights.

"Her wedding will be in three days time by now. August already secured a boat for us with enough supplies to get there. This boat is a Clipper. Small, discrete, and fast, it will get us in and out of the royal channel. We will masquerade ourselves as merchants wishing the princess well with rich goods from the east."

"And where will we get such goods?" Sabine asked.

"They of course won't exist. We'll take some rocks, paint them gold, and then pass them off as rare stones," Emma quickly amended. "Once we gain entry, for surely the queen will want thousands to be there in attendance, we will disperse among the crowds and set everything up. Sabine, you will be in charge of explosives. We have several sets of gunpowder barrels you can places inconspicuously around the ceremony. Setting them off will set off a big enough distraction. While that is occurring, Leroy and Ruby will keep the ship secured to the exit point where we will take the princess." Emma pulled out a rough map of the palace where the wedding would take place. Word had it it would be outside, overlooking the ocean. "August and Neal will impersonate some guards, switch out the shift with those present closest to the princess at her alter, and once Sabine lets the barrels rip, in the fuss, August and Neal will steal the princess away."

"And what will you be doing?" Leroy asked.

"I will be the look out, and I will be sending signals in between the groups. Additionally, if anything goes wrong, my plan is to reveal my true identity, throw myself in front of the masses so that the queen is distracted, while everyone else gets away."

"I don't like the sound of that," Neal growled out. "Don't you have a son, Swan? Why not let one of us take the fall?"

"None of you have a mug this famous," Emma pointed up at her face, confident in her checkered past and how the Queen had wished to capture her but had failed to do so. "The Queen will recognize me more than you, and besides, this was all my idea, you are merely being good pals and crew to help me with it. If all goes wrong, I would not want you to have to throw away your lives."

"You're heart is too big, Emma," August shook his head. "We're pirates. We are in this together. We know our lives will never be easy. But from all of us, you have someone to come home to. So, do not risk your life that easily."

"You will not change my mind," Emma shook her head stubbornly, blonde curls bouncing. "According to the pirate code, things must be done this way. Now, let us celebrate and drink to our hearts content, for the core members are back once more. And then tomorrow, we ride the waves."

Cheers went up as did glasses, and then they were spending the night drinking and reminiscing on pasts and on things to come.


They rose at first light, hungover but knowing that they had a strict schedule to adhere to. And it felt good being back on the sea. The steady sway of ship, the creaking of wooden boards, the smell of salt hanging tightly, and the way the sun beat down. Emma had missed this. There was some part of her that always would, for the sea was a tempting mistress and she lay claim to the hearts of many.

Emma was no exception.

The rigging was smaller on a Clipper, and it took less effort to man a vessel of this size. Once they had secured the princess, they would need a bigger vessel. One more worthy of being sailed by pirates. Leroy, Neal, August and Sabine all unfurled the sails, tightened the ropes, and followed August's barks of commands. Ruby was their guide as normal, and she and Emma sat in their acquired merchant robes of bright pinks, oranges and yellows, as they painted a bag of rocks gold.

Emma could not keep her smile small. It felt good to be among friends, among family once more, and though she ached and worried for Henry, she knew that he would be alright without her for a little while.

She had not thought her plan through much beyond stealing away Regina, but she knew that the Queen would be furious to have lost her.

When the sun began to set, Leroy brought out some soup he had rationed for them.

"I forgot how strong your soups were," Neal coughed after he had taken his first spoonful.

"And you forget how Leroy uses alcohol instead of water for everything in the kitchen," Sabine added with a chuckle.

"If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it," he grumped, though he knew by now that though they made fun of his food, they would eat it without actual complaint.

"Aye, and remember the drinks he makes? Always a clap of thunder those ones," August added.

"I think he even managed to make the fish drunk once when I spilled some overboard by accident. They were all swimming belly up for days," Sabine added, as they had a hearty chuckle.

Finished with their meal, August rose to his feet, pulling out his trusted cutlass. Emma had given it to him when he was but sixteen. It had been bought with their first real pirating money and he had taken great care of it, polishing it and sharpening it when the need called for it. He had impaled many a bastard on this fine blade. "A spar?" he poised.

"I thought you'd never ask," Emma stood up, excited to spar. It had been ages and she felt her sword arm was a bit rusty. Her own blade was the opposite of August's. Whereas his was with a white blade with silver accents, hers had a black blade and gold trim. It was a set, bought by them to show that they came from the same metal, and that though they might be opposites, they would always have each other's back in a fight.

And they did. Emma had lost track of how many times they had ended up back to back, surrounded by a horde of ruffians, or beasts, or even the navy.

When they both wielded the blades, it was like they were in sync. Like they knew what the other was going to do, like what moves they should make.

They stood facing each other now, circling each other, before Emma was the first to make a move. She always was a bit impulsive. She hated inactivity for it made her skin crawl with unease. He parried it, and then they were off, moves slow growing faster as their bodies remembered the art of sword fighting. Exhilarated smiles grew on their faces as metal clanged on metal and sparks flew off into the air. There's was a long duel for they were almost evenly matched in skills. When one gained the slightest edge, the other would top it. Sadly, there was not much space on the ship, so August's foot eventually got tangled in a coil of rope and he went down, Emma pressing the tip of her blade against the soft of his throat.

"Beg for mercy," she growled, acting.

"Never," he spat, though he had lost. She held out a hand to help him up, the rest of the crew having watched that performance.

"I want next," Neal said, pulling out his own cutlass. "Captain, you should teach me some moves. I have forgotten many of them." He had spent most of his days as a blacksmith and though his muscles had increased and his skill with making weapons had, he had not actually swung a blade in a decade for there was no need when he lived a life of peace.

"Did we not first meet with you at the tip of my blade?" Emma asked as they circled each other.

"Aye, we did."

A hot night twelve years ago, the sound of canons exploding in the air as they ripped the navy ship to shreds. Pirates running amok on the board, laying waste to all those their swords could reach as naval officers fought back. The navy had started this war, firing the first shot at Emma's ship and she would be damned if she would be labeled a yellow belly. So she had turned her ship starport and lined up the canons.

"Give them hell," she told Sabine and indeed hell had been given.

"Fire in the hole!" Sabine shouted out before the canons blasted and the navy must not have been expecting to face off so many canons or such a well armed ship. Their defenses had been stripped away in minutes, as Emma's pirate crew flung themselves on ropes across the sea dividing them and boarded the naval vessel.

Emma had been among them, slashing down officers in blue and kicking and punching those who didn't have any weapons. There were a lot of young men on board. Boys, even, and she ordered her crew to spare them. Especially when she had come across one young boy who had been standing in the middle of all this, watching in interest. Wood splintered around him, men fell to their deaths, and yet he stood there, watching everything with impassive eyes.

Emma had approached the strange boy, sword to his neck. He did not blanch even at that. "Do ye not fear me, lad?" she asked, giving him her most menacing look.

"I came to the seas for adventure and danger. But I think I joined the wrong ship," he grimaced at the naval ship losing so easily. "I want to be a part of your crew."

Emma had to laugh at this because it was so unexpected. "And you honestly expect me to take you on? Why should I? If you turn traitor on your own ship, how can I know you will not turn traitor on mine?"

"I had no choice. If I wanted to leave my lifeless town, it was to be on the navy or to be a merchant. And merchants do not get to carry guns and swords. I want to fight."

"Then why are you not fighting now? Not attacking us?"

"Why would I fight against my crew?" he gave a crooked and smug grin. Emma liked that. She saw a lot of herself in this kid. "You know, perhaps I shall give you a chance." She jerked her head at sword lying out of a pirate's body. One of her crew. Looked like there would be a new opening. "Take that sword and his clothes and fight for my side."

The boy did not have to be told twice. "Aye aye, captain."

And he would prove valuable to the ship, becoming the boatswain. His loyalty to them, something Emma worried about, was proven over and over until she had nothing to worry about.

Back in the present, Neal and Emma engaged in a little sword play. But it was clear that Emma would win. Neal, while strong from working in a forge, had not raised a blade in a while in attack and so he floundered with keeping her sharp tip away from him. Before he knew it, he was on ass, her sword at his neck.

"You are still a master at swordplay as ever, Swan. How do you do it?"

"I am no master," she chuckled, flattered by his words. She pulled him up, clapping him on his back as he took his spot by his drink. "But I loved to spar with Henry and teach him the art of sword craft."

"Let me try next," Sabine offered. She had had more time to continue her use of sword fighting for during her break from being a pirate she had gone down a criminal route, stealing away from merchants that over charged their customers. And there had been sword fights, and running from bullets, and hiding out from authorities.

She loved the thrill of it, though nothing could match the thrill of a pirate ship in battle. The chaos of men and women running around on deck, brandishing steel and barrels of guns. Screams tearing out of throats as fear, anger, and panic mixed together. And then the canons. The weight of the ball in her hands as she pushed one in. The smell of powder. The boom of the canons as they blasted, and the sweet sound of enemy ship wood splintering. And even better than that was when fire would erupt after the delivery of the canon blast. That was a sight to marvel.

She loved being the gunner. Being responsible for directing where to shoot and when. It made her feel alive like nothing else on this planet did. And to this day she had only ever lost three battles, a record for sure. Each loss, or destruction of a canon had her aching like she had lost a finger. She cared for them, always making sure they were well oiled and well stocked so they could blast away the enemy.

She had been the third one to join Emma's ranks of close crew. August had been the first one, though no one knew the story of how he and the captain met. Whispers said they had met while Emma lived on the streets but who could really know. Sabine, she had been captured by some navy officials. Even at a young age she had a dangerous streak and taste for arson.

Her older sister said she picked up a match as a baby and since then she would try her darnedest to set things on fire.

Fire had a draw to her; for it was so primal and so right. She felt at ease with fire. It was her home when nothing else really was.

And once she hit nine years of age she went around causing town fires and stealing things for the heck of it. By the time she was 20 she had a reputation and a criminal record stretching a mile long while she had a bounty on her head for more than a hundred dollars. And the navy had finally captured her when she thought she could get away with burning down the Queen's statue during a celebration in public. Her luck had run out and she had been taken aboard to see the Queen for treason when Emma's ship had rammed right into the naval one.

Sabine sat huddled in her cell on the ship while sounds of battle dragged on. And at last when everything was quieted down, the door to where she was held was swung open and down swaggered Emma, August behind her.

She was cocky in her victory and held her head up high as she walked down, but when she saw Sabine, she paused. "And who are you?"

"I'm Sabine," Sabine answered reluctantly, unsure what this pirate would do to her. She had heard tales of the terrible things pirates did and she did not want to become a victim. Maybe she could beg for mercy?

"What are you doing here?"

She wet her lips, wondering why the pirate woman cared so much. "I uh, set the Queen's statue on fire and they are taking me to her for treason."

"Well, we can't have a hero like you get killed for such a marvelous thing," Emma chuckled. She drew her sword and for a second Sabine believed that Emma could cut her with it, but she broke the lock instead and the cell opened. "Come, join us. We'll take you and drop you off on port."

"And why should I trust you? You're pirates," Sabine said, more questioning than rude.

"You don't really have to, but we're here to take down navy ships and loot their shit and not to kill those we have no qualms with," Emma said as August nodded his head in agreement.

Sabine decided she might as well trust them. It was either them or certain death at the Queen's court. She followed them out of the cell, and saw on the upper deck that there had been a blood bath. Many officers were dead, other's injured and some roped up. The crew of pirates had found some goods and they dropped them down into a row boat waiting for them in the waters.

It wasn't long that on Sabine's sojourn on the ship she came into contact with canons. Her itch to make something burn had only grown on the ship and when Emma's crew came into yet another battle with a naval ship they used canons. And she was instructed to help out with them. And she found her calling, something she loved even more than fire.

It made her decide to stay on the ship, forgoing returning to land as long as she could destroy other ships with the canons. And Emma had been more than happy to let her stay.

"Ah, I see you've kept your edge," Emma said as Sabine gave her a real run for her money during their play-fight in the present. Emma had to duck and weave but in the end, Sabine left herself too open and Emma placed her sword on Sabine's ribs, stopping the woman there or else Sabine would be run through.

"Good fight, everyone. But we need to practice more before we hit the real seas. No telling when we might have to cut someone," Emma instructed. "For now, hit the bunks. We sleep for tomorrow we shall arrive at our destination. Correct, Ruby?"

Ruby looked out at the sea, silent as she analyzed the distance in her own way. "Yes. Around midday we should be there."

The friends chorused their goodbyes as they headed to find a spot to sleep in. Emma was the last to go to sleep, gazing up at the stars for a long time. Tomorrow, her plan would come to fruition and all would be right with the world once more.

"This is for you Lily, and all the other lives Queen Cora has stolen unrightfully," she whispered into the salty breeze. And then, she turned to sleeping.

And true to Ruby's word, midday arrived with it, along with familiar spirals and stone walls. The Queen's personal channel was crowded with the arrival of guests.

"We are here," Emma announced, craning her neck back at the high walls of the castle that greeted them down their crowded journey of the channel.

"Queen Cora will not see this coming," Ruby smirked as their ship successfully blended in with the others.

A/N: I used some pirate lingo in the story. It's definitions are as follows:

Blimey- Shock or surprise

Drink like a fish- to drink a lot

Carouser- reckless or loud person who drinks excessively

Blow me down- expression of shock

Clap of thunder- strong alcoholic drink, like a shot