Chapter Fourteen: First Time for Everything

~~ The Captain's eyes grew and he seized my arms with alarming strength, he threw open his quarters and pushed me inside; slamming the door behind him. He grasped my arms and held me close to him, lowering his face to mine. "Do not, and I repeat, do not leave this room until I come and personally get you, okay?" He asked, my brows furrowed.

"Why?" I asked and he allowed my arms to be free again.

"Blackbeard's not very well to be around when women are in presence; he'll attempt to marry you." The Captain said with a small smile and a chuckle; I pursed my lips in confusion. "Never mind" he said at seeing my reaction. "Just...do as I say" said he, turning and walking out; locking the door afterwards. I hurried forwards and pressed my ear against the door, I heard the crewmen yelling at each other and then, within moments, everything was silent. Next, I heard a booming voice rise over the water; it was deep and obviously male, it yelled a name.

"Erik! Haven't seen you in ages!" The voice cried, laughing after that; there was a thump which sounded like wood on wood and footsteps, not the respect demanding one's that belonged to the Captain, but, these sounded, in a way, regal.

"Erik?" I whispered, next I heard the Captain's voice ring out.

"Edward, quite right, it's been more than a while" said the Captain, now, they came closer to the Captain's Quarters; I had the right mind to run into the WC, but, I also wanted to listen in. My curiosity won.

"Come, Erik, let's talk in your Quarters" Blackbeard said; the Captain gave a nervous chuckle.

"I don't know if that's the best spot, its in a state of disrepair."

"Disrepair? Ha! You, disrepair? That's a good one!" Blackbeard laughed, his chortle resembled thunder rumbles.

Now, I jumped away from the door and ran, on my tippy toes, to the Captain's closet, closing the door oh-so gently and sinking down so my knees touched my chin; hiding behind his clothes. Moments later the door opened and the Captain gave a sigh of relief, this went unrealized by Blackbeard; the door closed and the bed creaked, they began talking of a few women, one named Marry, another named Jenny, and a third named Sue. The bed creaked again and Blackbeard sighed, then, he paused mid sentence and started sniffing; the room went silent. "That's odd" he said.

"What?" The Captain asked, I heard a kettle whistle and the clink off glass on stone; he was making tea.

"I smell...perfume...woman's perfume." Blackbeard said, my eyes grew large and I bit my lip; I had forgotten about my perfume bottle! (I bought perfume when we ported, it smelled of flowers, I wore it on the night of the Captain and my courting.) I had sprayed myself with it this morning, and, since I was spending so much time in here...I left it on the Captain's desk. It was a pink bottle with golden and powder blue designs, something very clearly feminine.

"I smell nothing of the sort" the Captain commented quickly, coming closer to the closet door; Blackbeard grinned.

"Sure you don't, now, do tell, who's the little lady and where is she?" Blackbeard asked; I didn't know why the Captain wanted me to hide from this man, he sounded quite friendly! He was a good friend of the Captain's anyways!

"No one" the Captain growled, stepping away from the door and flopping into his desk chair.

"Oh, come now, I know she's here; what's she like? What's her name? Has she a titl-"

"Enough" the Captain growled, his tone so serious it could silence a hurricane. However, Blackbeard continued asking about me, he continued until the Captain broke!

"Her name is Anna Turner, she is a Viscountess from London and...damn, Anna, come out now!" The Captain yelled; I paused for a moment but soon stood, gently opening the closet door and peeking my head out. The Captain stood before his bed, arms crossed and a sour expression upon his face whilst Blackbeard sat upon the Captain's bed, a smile spread across his face. I stepped out of the closet and closed the door behind me, a little nervous of meeting someone new.

"Well, well, well! Now I know why you wanted to hide her away!" Blackbeard said with a laugh, I smiled and he rose from the bed, kissing the top of my hand. Blackbeard was tall and true to his nickname! He did, indeed, carry a long, black beard; he braided the bottom ends of it too.

His eyes were large, hazel circles and his skin was golden from so many years at sea; he had a gut to him, one from alcoholic beverages, no doubt. Spirits hung thickly from his breath and he slowly returned to his feet; nodding as he looked me over. He turned to the Captain and grinned. "How in the living hell did you manage to woo a woman like this?" Blackbeard asked, I laughed and the Captain smiled.

"I kidnaped her and killed her parents" The Captain said, returning to his desk chair; Blackbeard laughed.

"No, really, how?" He asked, I sighed.

"He's telling the truth" I chimed in. Blackbeard smiled as he shook his head and slapped his knees, standing.

"Well, little missy, could you give us a moment?" Blackbeard asked, I nodded and left the room, as soon as I shut the door I began getting catcalled from men on the 'Queen Anne's Revenge' which was Blackbeard's vessel. I rolled my eyes and hurried into my room, I didn't like being around men who were disgusting, such as they; I sat down upon my bed and thought on it, not once had the Captain catcalled me! Sure he makes perverted remarks four times a day and hangs on me like cloak, but, I found it significant that he wouldn't squash me to a respect level below him by treating me like an animal you can whistle at or throw food to in order to see a trick of some sort. In a way, he was a gentleman.

He even dressed in a suit for our courting!

~~ A little while turned into hours, finally, I came out of my room and was instantly catcalled again; I sighed and pulled out my gun, cocking it and glaring at the opposing crew. There were several yells of "oooh" and "Kitty's got claws!" I rolled my eyes and attempted to continue walking but the men started up again! This time, one man fashioned a lasso out of rope and threw it over, missing me numerous times, but, he caught me once. When this happened I was yanked from a standing position to a sitting one and you can bet I reacted!

I had never shot a gun before, but I wouldn't let these mongrels do what they fancied with me! So, I shot the main one who was pulling me and had originally made the lasso; I did as the Captain taught me, cock it, aim for their chest or head, and fire. When the man fell to the deck, both decks hushed and the Captain's Quarter's door was thrown open; The Captain was not pleased, to say the least. "What the hell is-?!" The Captain yelled before spying me and rushing down; helping me out of the lasso.

"What the hell is going on?" Blackbeard boomed and I felt my veins ice over; The Captain saw the gun shaking in my hand and he gently took it out of my hand.

"What happened?" He asked me in a whisper, his eyes were soft and so were his hands; though, I trembled at the realization that I had just murdered someone.

"I..." I began and all eyes turned to me. "They were...they were catcalling me and I got annoyed...but, I just blew them off and then...then they threw that at me and they were gonna pull me over to the other ship and...I got scared and I..." I said, biting my lip and glancing down to the gun; tears gathered in my eyes and I gave my best attempts at blinking them away.

"...You shot him" the Captain said, I sniffled and nodded; I glanced up, waiting to see anger upon his face, but, I was surprised! He was smiling! The Captain pulled me into his arms and ran his fingers through my hair. "Where'd she hit him?" He yelled over to the 'Queen Anne's Revenge' crew.

"Smack dab in the middle of the forehead, Cap'n." the crew member said; the Captain now wore the expression of impression.

"Not bad for your first time" said he, hugging me tight. "It's alright, Anna, you're a pirate now, a real pirate. Also, you had the right to shoot him" the Captain finished, I smiled and laid against his chest, closing my eyes. Blackbeard's voice caused my eyes to spring open again.

"Didn't like that bastard anyways" said he, the Captain smiled and I laughed.

~~ A few hours later, we ported and I laid in my bedroom, dozing on the bed. My door opened and the Captain stood in the threshold, a lighted cigarette between his fingers. "Ready to go?" He asked.

I groaned. "Go where?"

"Places" he replied, I sat up whilst yawning; the clock read ten; why was I so tired? He walked in and helped me up from the bed, nodding to me and walking out with me, hand in hand. He led me down the dock and to a quaint shopping plaza; it held two bars, a bookstore, a bakery, a custom dress shoppe, and a few restaurants. The Captain took me straight to a restaurant named, well, I don't know what it was named! It was a foreign language, Spanish maybe.

Inside we went, and we ordered our food and drinks; whilst we were waiting I decided to ask him a few questions. "So, are you and Blackbeard...friends?" I asked, he smiled.

"Edward and I are acquaintances, we were rivals for the longest time, until one day we found it childish and joined forces. His fleet and my fleet." Said he, I paused.

"Fleet?" I asked, he grinned.

"You only thought I had the 'Black Pearl' under my command? Heh, no, sweet cheeks. Let's see, Jocard just captured another two so I have...eh...around one hundred twenty something ships at my command. The 'Black Pearl' is just my flagship; my 'home' ship, if you will." He explained, taking a gulp of the rum he ordered. I, on the other hand, drank wine (the water was not safe to drink here, the Captain warned me of it).

"How many does Blackbeard have at his command?" I asked; the Captain sighed and spent a few moments thinking.

"Last he told me, he had around eighty four, but, as with my fleet, his grows every day." Said he, I nodded.

"Is Blackbeard going to travel with us?" I asked, sipping the wine.

"Yes, but, when we hit Europe he's going to break off and possibly travel to the states; he was saying something about Charles Town, South Carolina, earlier today...it was something about medicine." The Captain said, now, our food arrived; The Captain was eating some type of pork and I munched on a chicken, cheese and lettuce sandwich. I paused my eating and sighed, I needed to be brave, I needed to be brave.

"So, uh, when we...ya know, get to London...I was wondering if you...would like to-"

"Yes" said he, breaking me off mid-sentence; my cheeks were flushing and I looked up to him from my plate.

"What?"

"Yes, whatever you want, yes." Said he, I smiled and nodded whilst my cheeks burnt bright red. I was going to ask him if he wanted to stay with me when we got to London. I couldn't stop smiling the entirety of the meal.