She was up before the sun. The sky faded from indigo to pink and the stars disappeared one by one. She had only slept for a couple of hours, but it had been more than what she'd had in the past crewmembers had returned while she was asleep, but even so she had heard their boisterous voices in her dreams. She stayed hidden and waited for the captain to make an appearance.

He had been easier to convince than she imagined and hadn't asked enough questions. She had a hunch that he was going to leave without her. A hucnh that proved to be right. He came out of his cabin at dusk, waking his men and leaving the port. She enjoyed watching Avonlea getting smaller and smaller in the mellow, morning light.

The men were going back and forth doing chores when she left the shadows of the Jolly Roger and removed her hood as she walked up the deck. No one seemed to notice her. The captain was by the steering wheel in the middle of a heated discussion with an older white-haired man.

She climbed the stairs to the steering wheel."Leaving without me?" She asked as she stood behind him. His startled expression was quickly replaced by a smirk. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Do you think I go around giving gold to pirates for fun?" She asked cocking her head to the side. The feigned innocence worked like a frame, highlighting the deadliness in her bottomless, blue eyes. "The answer to that is no, by the way." She added as she sauntered over to him.

"Now. Whether you like it or not. Our deal is on. I paid you to be on this ship. Not to be left at the docks." She now stood in front of him. She was considerably smaller than him, but the force in her words made her seem twice as tall. Hook let out a laugh at that. "What I wonder is why a pretty girl like you so desperately wants to be on a pirate's ship." He dipped his head down to her eye level.

"I don't believe that is any of your business." She answered as she crossed her arms. "Here on my ship everything is my business, love." Their breaths mingled as they argued. "Captain, could you please explain what is going on, sir." The white-haired man asked. Hook ignored him.

"How about I give you some of my conditions?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "I won't be your guard. If something happens, you fix it. I've got better things to do than being your nanny. Got it?" She continued staring him down in response.

"So… Are you still sure about this, love? This isn't some joyride you can quit whenever you feel like it." "Believe me. I'm here to stay."

Hook kept on studying her. "Nice one, Captain!" One of the men called out, gaining the pirates attention. "No backing out of this, love." He said with a dark grin. He walked towards the balustrade. He placed his hands so that his hook glistened in the pale sunlight.

She could feel all the men gaping at her as she stood cross-armed behind their Captain. "Men!" Hook called. "I'd like to introduce our newest passenger." She kept her face neutral as the pirates examined her. "Lacey here is going to be travelling with us, lads." He said as he pointed his hook at her. She had to admit that his charisma was palpable.

"I'll make her travel all right!" One of the men called. Hook wasn't fazed by the comment."Don't get too excited, Clark. Sadly enough this lovely las isn't here for our personal entertainment, but to be part of our crew." The men started whispering. "Therefore I expect you to treat her with the same amount of respect you treat any of the men here." He smiled evilly. "That is, If you remember what respect is." She kept her expression neutral while they laughed. "Back to work!" The Captain was met with a chorus of "Aye,Captain".

"Smee!" He called as he turned to her. The older man came to his captain's side. "Put her to work will you." The captain bit, jutting his chin in her direction.

Hook did not spare her another glance. Smee took a deep breathe. "Very well. Follow me, dear." The men eyed her while they crossed the deck. Some of them whistled as she passed them receiving an obliterating glare in response.

Smee lead her below deck. "I suppose the Captain will want you to work downstairs. In the kitchen's perhaps. Not that I'm saying belong in the kitchen" He said awkwardly. "I just think you'll have a better time down there." Smee seemed sincerely kind. She wanted to smile, but smiling was too foreign to her. "Thank you."

He pushed open the door to the kitchen. There was a boy no older than fourteen sitting on the counter eating a red apple. "What did I tell you about stealing food, Jonathan!" Smee said, his cheeks reddening.

Jonathan was too distracted by her presence to answer. She noticed him staring. "I'm Lacey.I'm going to do the cooking and such." She was exercising her new identity. The boy jumped of the counter and stood before her. "Good, Smee is a terrible cook." He left the kitchen laughing, apple still in hand.

Smee blush was only comparable to Jonathan's apple. "This way." He muttered ashamed. He lead her to the back of the kitchen. "This is the old storage room." he said opening the door. "You can stay here. It might not be much, but I think you'll prefer this than sleeping with the rest of the crew. There are candles in the crates."

He might have not known it, but it had been the kindest thing anyone had done for her in what felt like centuries. "Thank you." she repeated. This the smile came easier. "I'll let you get settled."

When Smee left, she took in her surroundings. There was a single round window which looked out onto the dark blue sea. The storage room was empty except for an exaggerated amount of hay and the crates Smee had pointed out earlier. She was frightened that there might be mice or rats hiding in the hay, but it turned out to be rodent free. She pushed it into a something resembling a mattress.

She didn't take her belongings out of her duffle bag except for her blanket. There was no need to hide it since there wasn't anything valuable in it.

She lied down on her make-shift bed and looked at the cracks in the wooden was unbelieveable that she had gotten here, on a ship away from Avonlea. Fear was washing over her and all she could do to stop it was to repeat the same words to herself over and over again.

My name is Belle and I shall not be afraid.

Smee knocked on his door before entering. Hook was bend over a jumble of maps and pieces of scribbled parchment. "The girl is down in the kitchen, Sir. I shall go back later to instruct her as to what to do." His Captain did not look up. "That's fine, Smee."

"It's just that, Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why is she here?" Hook exhaled annoyed. "I made a bargain with her. She has given me a shit ton of gold and I give her passage." He pushes himself from the desk he had been leaning on.

"Do you think it wise, sir? To have a woman on board, I mean." Hook wanted to yell at Smee and tell him not to defy his orders, but he knew his right-hand was right. The last time they had a woman as a crewmember things had ended terribly bad. The Captain shook his head to get rid of the shock of pain he got when he thought about the raven-haired beauty. "I don't know what to think about it Smee." Hook paced the room.

The idea of this woman on board unsettled him tremendously. He had meant what he had said to her: he was not going to nanny anyone. But the idea of one of his men harming the beauty was not something he's like having on his conscience.

She looked so different without the sharp shadows of the candle. Her fierce blue eyes and her gorgeous mane of bronze hair could not have been replicated by the most skilled painter. She was of a beauty so rare it took his breath away.

"What I do know is that Clay has big plans for us in Portea and information I need." He said pointing his hand at a letter on the messy desk. "To get to Portea we need money." He shrugged his shoulders. "And this silly goose just happens to be loaded. I'm not about to turn her down when it is she who comes to me."

"But doesn't that worry you even more?" Smee inquired while he fidgeted with his woolen hat. "What is it you mean?" Hook asked frowning. "Why on earth would a woman like her, young and beautiful I mean, come to a bunch of renowned pirates?"

"Because if it is that she is running from something…" He paused looking bewildered. " from is bad enough to run away on a pirate ship?" Hook was getting annoyed at Smee's blabbering. "A jealous boyfriend probably. Frankly I do not care." He bowed his head over the papers again. With that and a wave of his hand he showed Smee the conversation was over. "Very well, Sir."

Hook heard the look click into place when Smee closed the door. The old man was making him doubt his decisions, something he did not enjoy at all. Smee was a fatherly figure for everyone on the ship including its captain. It came as no surprise that he was worried about the girl.

A pirate ship is no place for a woman. He had not said aloud, but Hook had been able to read in between the lines. Smee was right: it wasn't. But he had a feeling this particular girl would not give in to that.

The machinery in his brain started working. She'll have to prove herself if she doesn't, I will drop her off at our first stop.

He hadn't given his word after all.

Smee was very kind to her, but she wouldn't be deceived by his kindness. Belle had decided to keep the harness she had built around her heart for a little longer. He showed her the chores she would have to complete. All things very traditionally associated with women. Things such as sewing, cooking, cleaning and making beds.

She felt quite offended by the way he had assumed she wasn't capable of more than that, but she didn't protest. Belle was quite sure Smee was doing it to protect her more than to humiliate her.

Humiliation came later that day when Jonathan and her went above deck to show her how to repair the nets they used for fishing. "Nice thing you've caught there, Jonny." A deep, mocking voice said. When she looked up the sun blinded her and she couldn't see his face.

Belle stood upright her hand going to her side where her dagger was concealed. The man was intimidatingly tall and his bare chest was filled with tattoos. "Can I help you with something, Sir?" She asked tightly. "There is a lot of somethings you can help me with, gorgeous." He said running his index over her cheek.

"Touch me again and I'll make you choke on your balls." She said gritting her had started to attract a crowd. "This pussy's got claws." He said as he stood closer to her, but she wouldn't budge. My name is Belle and I shall not be afraid.

Before she could reply a voice thundered. "What the fuck is going on here?" The captain had come out of his cabin and was looking at the scene without a glint of amusement in his blue eyes. "Lacey, dear, you've been here for what? Half a day? An you are already asking for trouble." The crowd chuckled.

"I'm not asking for anything!" She responded, quickly afterwards realising her mistake. The laughs ceased to be. "Is that defiance I heard in your voice?" The captain asked with a face like thunderclouds.

There is no going back now. "It was more of an explanation, Sir." She answered as she walked to the front. The men parted from her as if she was carrying a very contagious disease. "She is dead." She heard one of the men whisper.

Smee went up to the captain and said something to him in a hushed tone. A wicked grin appeared on the captain's face. "You're right, Smee." The old mad seemed relieved, until his captain spoke the following words. "Since your mouth is of no obvious use to us, Lacey. Let's see what your hands can do!" Everyone seemed confused at his words.

"Rat! Give Clark a sword will you." A man entangled in ropes came down the mast and threw a sword at the man who had bothered her. "A duel!" Hook called. The men cleared the deck while they smiled in anticipation. Smee had gone completely sheet-white, but she wouldn't let that discourage her.

"Until the first one bleeds!" The captain added, shooting her an evil smile. My name is Belle and I shall not be afraid. "Do I also get a sword or am I supposed to use my hands only?" The crowd let out a surprised gasp, Smee looked as if he was about to faint and Hook laughed. "Give the lady a sword!" He called to no one in particular. Rat, the man in the ropes, came down once more and handed her a sword. "Good luck" He whispered.

I shall not be afraid. Except that she was. She had never been in a swordfight. But the crew didn't know that. The captain didn't know that. All she had to do was impress him to stay on board of the Jolly Roger. So she did what she had learned to do best: she put on an act.

"What you waiting for, big boy?" She taunted. Clark did exactly what she expected of him and charged head first. She was able to dodge his sword. I've read enough books about this. They continued their choppy dance of charging and avoiding.

The first time Belle used her sword to stop Clark's blow a terrible ache shot up her arms, but she did not let them notice it. What she did realise in that moment was that she needed to win. Fast. another blow and again the shock almost threw her to the ground.

She then saw her chance. A large net was strung up above their heads. It had been hung there to dry, but is she could get her opponent to stand under it…

She made a run for it. His sword chopped of a strand of her bronze curls, which flashed golden in the sunlight. She kept on running and she hacked the knot that held the net in place. It came down with a crash. As he got entangled in the net he cut his own upper arm with the sword, bright red blood oozing out of the wound.

"Fuck! You little cunt!" The pirate cursed as he tried releasing himself from the nets. Belle dropped her sword beside her. She looked over at Hook whose smile had not yet faded, if not it had increased."Clark has won!" He called. He pointed at his own cheek while he looked into her eyes with a content smile on his face.

She reached her hand up to her cheek where a small line of blood came out of the scratch Clark's sword had made when she ran. She did not lower her glare as she wiped the blood from her fingers onto her trousers. The captain changed in that instant. The triumph in his eyes turned into awe as he saw her set jaw and burning blue eyes.

She had passed the test.

Hiya !

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm trying to use the pov in a way that we can see everyone's angle in the story. What do you think of it ?

A big thank you to everyone who favorited, reviewed or followed the story xxx

'Till the next update x