A Pirate's Life
Summary: Chrysta recruits Sofia and Cedric to go undercover as new members of a notorious magical pirate crew run by the wicked Captain Caegan. While aboard the ship The Barracuda, the friends must determine the captain's plans and figure out how to stop them; meanwhile, Cedric notices an interesting change in his partner while on their mission. (Sofia is 17. Artwork by MarionetteJ2X!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First. The cover photo was created by the amazing artist MarionetteJ2X! 😊 I do, however, own the OCs, including but not limited to Captain Caegan, Muscles, Marty, Wiggles, Garnette, and Duchess.
A/N: Okie dokie, artichoke! (Forgive me, I'm a teensy bit hyper right now. Lol) We're about to send these two off on their adventure. Of course, we'll have the clothing change and the "pirate practice" coming up. And before the end of this chapter we'll be onboard The Barracuda. Y'all keep speculating on Sofia's enthusiasm. It'll make more sense as time goes on. 😊 And you're going to meet some of the crew members! Oh, and I included a scene in here that was written solely to drag out Sofia's 'not-so-good' side, and let me tell you…while it's rather tame, I had a hard time coming up with a euphemism that wouldn't skew my 'K' rating. :p Haha. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: New Recruits
Once the friends had received their undercover information from Chrysta, Sofia knew she had to let her parents in on the mission. After all, while Miranda and Roland had come to terms with her numerous titles and positions (and jobs, as they were), and even though she was seventeen and had graduated Ever Realm Academy, they were still her parents and still wanted to make sure their daughter was safe. Plus, royalty had an unspoken rule that things still needed to be cleared before being acted upon, so there was that. Therefore, she continuously checked in with them every time she had a new mission or destination in mind. In Sofia's eyes, not only did it ease their minds, but it was also a form of respect; and she respected her parents as much as she respected Cedric, naturally.
"Hey, guys," Sofia greeted as she entered the throne room, where her parents were sitting. She grinned as she noticed little Corban sitting in Miranda's lap, and she laughed when the boy's blue eyes widened upon seeing her. "Corban!"
"FIA!" Corban, now two years old, had a generous head of dark blonde hair. He was dressed in a sharp little dark blue suit, complete with a green bowtie. His face was round and angelic, and he (of course) now had learned all the important things: walking, running, singing nonsense songs, speaking to others in his acquired vocabulary, and apparently hiding when he did something mischievous. Yes, as it turned out, little Prince Corban was quite the impish royal, which was something that James found particularly hilarious.
The little boy struggled a bit before sliding from the queen's lap and running over to Sofia, giggling as she picked him up and playfully spun him around. "FIA!" Corban was almost able to say Sofia's name properly, and his parents were working with him on it, but for some reason hers was the hardest. Amber (or rather, 'Amba' for now) and James (spoken correctly) he'd had very few problems learning, but 'Sofia' was just a bit too multisyllabic for now. But he was getting close!
"Hey, Corban," Sofia cooed sweetly, tickling his tummy and eliciting another giggle from him. "I love you."
The sheer look of joy on the toddler's face was delightful. "I love Fia!" He grinned and threw his arms around her, hugging her.
"Aww," Miranda laughed, smiling. "That's just adorable."
Roland chuckled and nodded as Sofia approached them, still holding her brother. "Well, Sofia, you seem like you've got your hands full."
The princess laughed. "Tell me about it. Oh, I came to talk to you guys about something."
"Let me guess." Miranda leaned back in her throne, her arms loosely draped over her stomach. "Does it have something to do with a Protector mission?"
"Yes…"
Roland hummed thoughtfully. "And is it going to take a few days?"
"Maybe… Well, according to Chrysta, I'm going to go with more like a week."
"I see." The king tapped his fingers against the throne armrest. "Is anyone accompanying you, besides perhaps Skye?"
Miranda laughed. "Oh, Rollie, if you have to ask, then you don't know Sofia as well as you think you do." She sat up and smiled knowingly at her daughter. "I predict that Cedric is going with her, and Cedric will get Cordelia to cover for him as Royal Sorceress again."
Sofia blinked at her parents. Was she that predictable? Were they that predictable? Apparently so. "Heh… Well, yeah…"
Roland grinned toward his wife. "Maybe we should just hire Cordelia as Cedric's alternating sorcery partner or something. That way, she can enjoy herself and practice magic more like she wants, and Cedric can free up time to work with Sofia, like he wants."
Miranda nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah… I guess it's a good thing it's the start of summer now, so that Cordelia doesn't have to give up her position at Hexley Hall. If that does happen, she may have to either decide between the two or have both of them be a part-time position."
Sofia exchanged glances with her little brother, who looked just as puzzled as she did, before turning back to her parents. "Guys? Back to why I came to you in the first place?"
"Sorry, Sofia," Roland laughed. "I suppose sometimes we just like a distraction from the everyday norm, and this happens to be it today. So, thanks for that, and go ahead."
She smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so yes, Mr. Cedric and I will be on a Protector mission for a while, but I doubt it's going to be that long. Chrysta just asked us to get some information on a situation and then come back. So maybe a few days? Maybe a week? I'm not sure, but I doubt it'll be too long. If it is, I'll ask Chrysta to contact you guys."
"Okay, sweetie," Miranda affirmed, smiling as she stood up and walked over to her daughter, kissing her forehead gently. "Be safe like always."
Sofia nodded. "I will, Mom." She used her free arm to reach out and hug her mother, who enveloped both her and Corban at the same time.
Corban giggled. "Mama!"
"Aww." Miranda grinned at the toddler before scooping him up, resting him against her hip. "Are you and Cedric leaving today or tomorrow?"
"Probably tomorrow. It'll give us time to prepare and rest more." She eyed her father curiously. "And where's Amber?"
"She's actually visiting Hildegard for a few days. Something about meeting up with her for a fitting? I didn't know what she was talking about."
Sofia deadpanned. "Dad… Even I know what a fitting is, and I'm nowhere near getting married." She snickered. "She may be asking Hildegard to design her wedding gown."
A look of realization washed over Roland's features. "Ohh!"
"You're so clueless sometimes, Roland," Miranda remarked, grinning at him. She looked back toward Sofia. "After you get packed, come eat supper with us, okay?"
"Okay, Mom." She then hurried over to Roland and hugged him. "See you guys in a little while." She hummed happily before leaving the room.
"You think we should start asking what types of Protector missions she goes on?" Roland wondered as Miranda sat beside him again.
"I don't honestly want to know, because if I know, I'm going to worry myself to death about it. I'll just take Tilly's advice and let Sofia do what she does best. Besides, she's smart and resourceful, not to mention powerful, and so is Cedric. That's why I know she'll always come home safely."
"Yay!" Corban cheered out of nowhere, causing his parents to laugh.
"My thoughts exactly, Corban," Roland told the boy.
The next day, Cedric and Sofia met outside with some smaller bags for their traveling rather than trunks and such (since they weren't going to be gone for an extended period of time, of course). Sofia used her amulet to summon Minimus, and Skye was already outside waiting on them when they got there.
"Good morning, my princess," Skye greeted in his usual well-mannered way before turning to Cedric. "And my good sir, how wonderful to see you again as well."
"I never thought I'd say this, but I really like unicorns now," Cedric whispered to Sofia, who giggled, before smiling kindly at Skye. "Thank you. Same to you."
Minimus soon arrived, landing directly beside Skye. "Hey, everyone! I got here as fast as I could. I nearly tripped over your brother's knight stuff, Sofia."
Sofia laughed. "What was it doing at the stables?"
"Don't ask me. He was yelling at a stack of hay yesterday and poking it with a stick." He made a shrugging motion. "I guess it was some sort of weird knight practice?"
"He might have been practicing jousting," she suggested.
Cedric folded his arms. "Anyway, I think we'd best be going. While it's not too terribly far, we do need to make it to the docks before the ship leaves. And we still have to register."
"And transform into pirates," Sofia reminded him, climbing onto Skye's back as Cedric clambered onto Minimus. "Kind of need to do that first before we sign up."
"Right…" He narrowed his eyes toward his friend, a curious smile on his face. "I'm rather interested to see just what you've come up with."
She smiled playfully as the royal and loyal steeds set off into the air. "That's my little secret for now. But you'll see."
The quartet traveled through the Enchancian kingdom and past several familiar landforms they'd seen while on the way to Reimagia. Before long, they reached Caegan's Caves, where both Minimus and Skye hovered midair, waiting for their instructions.
"To the right is Reimagia," Sofia told them. "We need to go to the left: to the Typhoon Realm."
"Excuse me?!" Minimus appeared to be panicking. "Sofia, you know what a typhoon is, right? Like a super dangerous storm? That can destroy stuff?"
She smiled and reached out, gently placing her hand on his head. "I'm sure it's just a name, Minimus. Calm down." She then retracted her hand and turned her attention to Skye. "Let's go!"
They traveled through the left cave, noticing that, as they did, the cave looked less like a cave and more like a swirling vortex on either side of them, as well as above and below. Holographic images of crashing waves echoed and featured on all sides. Just when Minimus was becoming more unnerved, the vortex suddenly disappeared, and they exited into a rather sunny area.
"Typhoon Realm," Cedric read from a sign nearby. "I suppose this is it… Certainly not what I expected, based on the name."
"Names can be misleading," Skye commented. "Thankfully, it had the opposite effect this time, about which I am relieved."
"Tell me about it," Minimus mumbled, sighing in relief.
Before long, they landed near the dock, where it appeared a long line of pirates had gathered, hoping to be chosen to join the others on the infamous ship: The Barracuda. The water was crystal blue, nearly mimicking the sky, which had a few light clouds scattered about. The whole area seemed to be bustling and busy. Which made it easier for the visitors to get by relatively unnoticed…
Sofia led them into a short alley, away from prying eyes. "Skye, Minimus, we'll be on the mission for a few days. Skye, I'll contact Chrysta when our mission is over, and she can let you know. Minimus." She grasped her amulet. "I'll call for you. I know it'll take a while to get here, so Mr. Cedric and I will just wait on the dock until you both arrive. Does that sound okay?"
"Yes, my princess," Skye confirmed, chuckling as Minimus nodded in agreement. "Do be careful aboard the pirate ship. One never knows what sort of mischief or trouble they might create." With a few parting words, he and Minimus took off into the sky again.
Sofia pulled her wand out of her sorceress robe and turned to Cedric, a grin on her face. "Are you ready?"
He sighed, smiling in resignation. "As I'll ever be, I suppose."
She grabbed his hand and turned her wand toward them, calling out, "Habitu Pirata!" She was concentrating a bit more than usual, given the fact that she had a specific outcome in mind.
When the magic settled, both friends had a new outfit and style applied.
Cedric was dressed in an off-white collared tunic that had sleeves ripped just below the elbows, black trousers with a purple sash tied about his waist, a brown pouch strapped to his left leg (perhaps for carrying something), a brown dagger case tied to his hip from a black belt, and dark boots that were a bit scuffed (as the ensemble would suggest). Around each hand and wrist, rather than his usual fingerless gloves, he now had beige strips of cloth tied (though his fingers were still visible, similar to the case with his gloves). Around his head beneath his bangs, he had another purple sash or bandana wrapped, with the excess material cascading down his back. Upon closer observation, he found that there was a compass attached to a gold chain hidden beneath his tunic.
Sofia's aesthetic was incredibly close to Cedric's. Rather than a tunic and trousers, though, she wore an off-the-shoulder white blouse, ruffled along her collar area and the top of the blouse, with a tiny purple bow just beneath where her amulet lay, and a thin purple banded fabric wrapped around the upper part of each of her arms, holding her layered sleeves in place. A purple asymmetrical pleated skirt fell just above her knees, and a small black corset was tied just above it around her stomach. She wore dark tights with matching boots, and around her right leg was the same type of brown pouch Cedric had. Also, similarly to Cedric, she had a black belt loosely fastened along her hips, from which another dagger case lay. While Cedric had the fabric strips around both hands, she only had them wrapped around her left hand and wrist, with her ES bracelet lying in its usual place. Her right hand contained her GuardoRing and the Enchantlet around her wrist, as usual. She had a purple bandana wrapped around her head as well (beneath her swooping bangs), again with the fabric falling down her hair, which was completely down and wavy, with one section braided back into a half-up style, held together with a lighter purple ribbon. Gold hoop earrings dangled from her ears, partially obscured by a few sections of her hair.
"Wow," Cedric breathed, looking at the outfit he wore and then looking at his friend's. "You… You designed these yourself?"
Sofia smirked at his reaction, placing her hands on her hips. "You're not the only one with secret talents, Mr. Cedric. Oh! And look!" She took her wand and placed it in the dagger case. "A place to store our wands, so we don't have to worry about them getting lost." She snapped the case shut, grinning at him.
Cedric lifted an eyebrow at her suggestion before imitating her actions. "Huh. That's handy." He nodded toward her, a smile on his face. "I think you did a wonderful job."
She smiled and blushed modestly. "Really?"
"Of course." He then cleared his throat and straightened up. "But… We must change our demeanors now, mustn't we?"
"Right." She grinned. "You're Heartless Horatio, after all, and I'm Ruthless Raelyn. We can't show them any signs of weakness." She reached out, grasping his hands and making him blink at her. "I never thought I'd say this, but… Mr. Cedric, I want you to become a bad guy." She snickered as his mouth dropped open a bit. "Temporarily, of course."
He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And after all the work you did to make me a 'better me,' you ask this of me. Tsk, tsk, Sofia. I never thought I'd see the day." He then smirked as she released his hands, and he placed one hand on his hip. "But if you insist, I suppose I can channel my inner villain."
The princess laughed a little harder than she'd intended, only laughing more when she saw his perturbed look. "That's a good one, Mr. Cedric. You're too sweet to be a villain."
"Oh, I'll show you 'sweet.' Come on." He grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her down the alley, out to the area where the dock was. He let go of her wrist as they now stood in line, behind all the other wannabe pirates waiting to get their chance to board the infamous pirate ship.
"There sure are a lot of people in line," Sofia murmured to Cedric. "What if they don't have enough room for us? Or worse, what if we get denied anyway?"
Cedric smirked as he withdrew his wand. "Just leave that to me, my dear." As they steadily approached the registration table, with everyone in front of them denied, he discreetly mumbled something under his breath while aiming his wand toward them.
Sofia, oblivious to his actions, stood in front of the table with her hands on her hips, trying to appear intimidating.
"Name?" a woman with braided brown hair and a somewhat tattered outfit asked in apparent boredom, hardly even glancing up at them.
"Ruthless Raelyn," the princess started firmly, the steadiness and lowered pitch of her voice even surprising her. "And Heartless Horatio."
"Cute. And what makes you two believe that you have what it takes to be a part of Captain Caegan's crew?"
"Because we've got more to offer than any of the others already on that ship."
"Uh-huh." The woman yawned before passing her quill to the dark-haired man beside her. "Sorry, kid. You're not what he's looking for. He needs hardened criminals, and the only thing hard about you is that corset you're wearing."
Sofia gaped at her in aggravation. "Excuse you, but I—" She stopped talking the moment Cedric gently nudged her, indicating his wand in his other hand. She frowned at him. Was he…? She then looked back toward the recruiters, noticing the dazed looks on their faces. He WAS!
Cedric smiled somewhat wickedly and stepped up, placing his wand into the dagger case before leaning forward, his hands resting against the table. "You were going to let us onboard now, weren't you?"
The woman, a dopey smile now on her face, just nodded dumbly. "Uh-huh. Go right ahead. Welcome aboard The Barracuda."
"Thank you kindly, Miss." He placed one hand on Sofia's back, guiding her toward the ramp of the ship, before catching her pointed look. "What?"
"Don't 'what' me. I know what you did."
"Oh, Sofia…"
"You used mind control magic on them? When I said be a bad guy, Mr. Cedric, I didn't actually mean to be a bad guy. You know mind control is dangerous."
"And a more minor form of dark magic," he mumbled, grinning sheepishly as she glared at him.
"You are so not helping your case right now."
He sighed heavily as he stepped onto the deck of the ship, turning and reaching out to her. He grasped her hands and pulled her onto the deck beside him. "Look," he told her softly as he pulled her along, avoiding the others around them, "we need to do whatever it takes not to draw attention to ourselves. For this mission, it's important to remember just where you are. Acting chivalrous and heroic will get us killed, more than likely, so this one time…perhaps being a bit more villainous or at least mischievous will serve our purpose well." He sighed once again, shaking his head. "I admit, I'm a bit worried that your good nature will prohibit you from doing so, Sofia…"
She hardly had time to respond when a rather plump man walked by and whistled at her.
"Ahoy there, maiden," he drawled a little too emphatically, waggling his bushy eyebrows at her. "The name's Lovin' Leopold." He grinned and reached out, grasping Sofia's arm and pulling her toward him, close enough that she could tell that he was missing a number of teeth and apparently that he didn't know much about personal hygiene. "Wanna find out how I got that nickname?"
Sofia, disgusted by his advances, scoffed and slapped him before shoving him into a barrel. Whipping out her wand, she cast a spell, sending the man (in the barrel) overboard and into the water by the dock.
*SPLASH!*
"Sofia!" Cedric whispered frantically as he hurried over, grasping the beam of the ship and looking down, sighing in relief as he noticed that a few deckhands were pulling the man from the water. However, it didn't appear that he was going to be allowed back on the ship, which Cedric assumed was best for both the 'Lovin' Leopold' guy and Sofia. He turned to his friend, smirking. "All right. I'll admit, I'm impressed…and a tiny bit intimidated."
Sofia returned his smirk, playfully patting him on the cheek. "Good." She then grasped his hand, pulling him along. "Now, let's look around and see if we can find this Captain Caegan guy."
It wasn't long before they came across a group of crew members sitting around, talking. They were clearly pirates as well, as dictated by a few distinct markings like tattoos and certain accessories some wore.
"You two must be new," a woman with short red hair and prying hazel eyes remarked as she smirked up at the Enchancians. She wore an off-the-shoulder long-sleeved maroon blouse with black cuffs on the wrists. Over the blouse was a black laced vest and a matching belt around her waist. Somewhat dirty beige capri pants hung just below her knees. Her black boots reached up to her calf. Like Sofia, she had hoop earrings, though hers were silver. All along her right hand and in other various sections, she had intricate tattoos. "And clearly not from around here, given your style."
"I think it's clever how they match!" a rather short and chubby man spoke up. The man in question was a bit lighter in complexion than the woman. He wore light khaki pants held up at his waist by a brown belt. He had a dark receding hair line, a thin mustache, honey-colored eyes, and only one visible tattoo: a rather plain outline of a heart on his upper left arm. He gestured toward Cedric. "I have that exact tunic in chartreuse."
"Uh-huh," Cedric said uncertainly, stepping back a bit.
"What are your names?" a dark-complexioned man asked, observing them curiously. This man was bald with dark eyes. His black and grey vertically-striped pants were woven with dark strips of leather throughout. His immaculate white dress shirt was unbuttoned about halfway down his chest and covered with a light burgundy vest, over which he wore a black jacket. Around his neck lay a silver pendant. In his ears, he wore small silver earrings.
"I'm Raelyn," Sofia said, folding her arms. "Many people call me Ruthless Raelyn, because I don't take guff from anyone."
"Yeah, we saw that," a very muscular man remarked, laughing. This man was tanned with colorful tattoos all over his arms and part of his chest. He only wore somewhat torn dark pants with a dark belt and mismatched teal and brown shoes. His unshaven face was riddled with a few scars on his cheeks and lip, his eyes were a brownish-green, and his sandy-brown hair was tied into a half-up style, just brushing the back of his neck. "Old Leopold got the boot!"
"Ugh, he deserved it," the woman admitted. "He's a slimy, greasy, little gnome."
"That's an insult to gnomes," Sofia corrected without even thinking about it, but she was rather relieved when the group began howling in laughter.
"She's not wrong!" the dark man chuckled. "And who's your friend?"
"Horatio," Cedric answered simply.
"Heartless Horatio," Sofia corrected. "We're from…Escatopia." Great. The one hole in her plan: she'd forgotten to come up with a homeland for them, and now she was left with a ridiculous-sounding one. 'Almost as bad as Mainlandia,' she scolded herself internally.
"Oh, I've been there," the chubby man told them. "They've got great food. And lovely ladies." He began purring as his eyelids lowered, almost as if he were in his own little dream world.
"Please forgive him," the woman sighed, rolling her eyes. "He's an idiot." She stood up and walked forward, folding her arms and smirking. "I'm Garnette. The chunky doofus behind me is Wiggles."
"Why is he called Wiggles?" Cedric asked, hoping he wouldn't regret the answer.
"Because when he giggles, his stomach literally wiggles," the muscular man guffawed. "Hey, that even rhymed!"
"That's Muscles, whose name was given to him for obvious reasons." She then gestured to the dark-skinned man. "And this is Marty."
"No strange nickname needed," Marty told them, laughing. He smiled as a light-furred cat with a sleeveless pink vest sauntered over, nuzzling his leg. He picked the cat up. "And this is my baby, Duchess."
Duchess purred and tilted her head back, her green eyes closed, as Marty tickled her chin.
"What brings you guys to The Barracuda anyway?" Garnette asked, staring curiously at the Enchancian duo. "It's not often we see people so…civilian-looking…intermingling with pirates."
"We're pirates too," Sofia defended, frowning. "We're just from a different area. I mean, what is a pirate, anyway? A free spirit, a soul whose heart longs for the water, a being of land and sea… Right?"
Wiggles sniffled, coming out of his supposed trance as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Agh! That's beautiful!" He then stood up and playfully jabbed Garnette, who was at least a foot and a half taller than he was. "Why don't you ever wax all poetic, Garnette?"
"Because I'm more practical," she laughed, shoving him back into a collection of tarps and ropes. She then grinned toward Sofia. "Well, whatever the case, it's nice to have another girl around for a change. I can handle the guys, but it gets a bit annoying being the only one after a while."
Sofia smiled back. "Raelyn at your service."
"Avast ye, ye lazy bunch of wannabe buccaneers!" A man clearly in his late fifties stepped up to the front of the group of pirates, all of whom immediately turned their attention to him. He wore a black hat on his head, several golden rings on his fingers, and a rather simple ensemble for a captain: black slacks, a black and gray tunic with a huge belt, and dirty black boots. "You think you've got what it takes to be part of Captain Caegan's crew, do ya?" He chuckled wickedly, stroking his graying-brown beard as his matching (and somewhat tangled) hair blew about in the wind around his shoulders, his stormy blue eyes looking around in mirth. "I suppose you'll have to prove yourselves to be party of my crew. Anyone who doesn't will be…shark bait, I reckon." He laughed heartily before turning to a young man at the helm. "Cast us off, lad!"
"Ay, ay, captain!"
Sofia glanced toward Cedric before leaning in and whispering, "This should be interesting."
He gave her a sarcastic glance before shaking his head and whispering back, "That's putting it lightly. Stay alert, do you hear?"
She nodded.
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Stick to the Plan