Guten Tag. (What is it with me and the weird greetings?) Sorry this took a while to update but hey, don't say I didn't warn you. I've been caught up in stuff like Homework and HetaQuest! (Okay you can hit me now for that last remark, but it is pretty addicting).

In this chapter I get to show off my excellent knowledge of pirate vocabulary! But I'd like to explain first why you'll see him speaking another way sometimes:

Arthur doesn't naturally speak that way. Normally he is polite and gentlemanly with his speech but he has to uphold the reputation of a pirate (no matter how low that may be). However he drops his pirate speech later after someone hears him speaking normally. Basically he sees no point in keeping it up if someone hears him.

Tanoshimu!

Chapter 2: Barrels and Bullets

A 'natural gift' for certain things

"So Captain Arthur Kirkland, ve meet at last..." Ludwig muttered.

"Aye."He grinned. "And I'm sorry to say chaps, but it looks like ye've just earned yerself a one way ticket to Davy Jones's locker."

"Is that so?" Ivan smiled. "Well I'm afraid that you'll have to cancel your plans. Ivan Braginsky bows to no-one."

"Who said anythin' about bowin'? Trust me, thar's worse I could do t' you, ye filthy bilge rat." Arthur smirked.

The look on his face could frighten anyone. It was like almost everything he had committed was evident in his eyes at that very moment. But Ivan and Ludwig weren't scared, not one little bit.

"Compared to vat I've done, your crimes vill be like a child's punishment." Ludwig growled.

"Be that so Captain Ludwig?" Arthur asked. "Then attack!"

The order was unexpected and the movement was sudden, all at once the crew of Captain Arthur Kirkland jumped from their ship to Ludwig's. Ivan took a few steps back to ready himself, as did Ludwig but as he took the steps, he couldn't help but wonder:

How did Arthur know his name?

Realising that this was a momentary distraction to catch him off guard and that Arthur probably knew him from the crimes he had committed, he shook off the thought and held up his trusty blade in preparation for battle.

"Get your big butt outta my face!"

Feliciano did as instructed and shifted over as much as he could to give his brother more room. Hating seeing his brother mad at him, he whimpered an apology in fear.

"Sorry big brother, but I didn't want to share a barrel all to myself!"

"Nnnngh..."

Feliciano and Lovino were twins- at least they thought they were. Lovino's hair was much darker and his curl was on the opposite side. While Feliciano's curl was on the left of his head, Lovino's was on the right. Plus they looked very different in facial expressions as well. Feliciano's face seemed lighter and Lovino's looked both darker and grumpier. Needless to say, Feliciano was certainly the happier of the two.

"Surely you didn't want to go all by yourself?" Feliciano asked.

"Look just shut the hell up already! You'll get us both killed!" Lovino snapped.

Almost instantly, Feliciano shut up. He may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed but he could follow simple instructions well when he had to. Lovino kept his gaze anywhere but on his silent brother and soon found himself staring through a fairly big hole in the wood.

In case you hadn't already guessed, Feliciano and Lovino were hidden in a box. More specifically, a box of tomatoes.

Now Feliciano and Lovino Vargas were both Italian and came with a natural love of things like fashion, boots, pasta and of course- tomatoes, which was probably why the box was almost empty. Honestly with all the tomatoes that Lovino ate, you probably would have expected the box to be empty. Luckily it wasn't and at least two layers of tomatoes were closely packed along the bottom. Lovino inwardly hoped he wouldn't squash them. If anything had to be squashed, let it be the potatoes he thought.

Suddenly something caught his eye. Through the small hole of the box, Lovino could see a flash of red and the shining of silver- a pirate's cutlass. Instinctively, Lovino cupped a hand around his brother's mouth to protect him and timidly pointed through the hole to get Feliciano to see what he was seeing.

It was Captain Arthur Kirkland.

"That scurvy sea dog. I'll make that Cap'n Ludwig walk the plank if it be the last thing I do." He growled to himself.

He began to prowl around the kitchen like some bloodthirsty predator and the twins' breathing dropped down to almost nothing. Lovino's hand cupped tighter and tighter around his brother's mouth and Feliciano frowned a little at how much compassion his brother was showing. But Lovino cared too much it seemed for after another tightening squeeze around his brother's mouth, Feliciano let out a small yelp of pain. Lovino pulled away and his eyes widened in fear as he peered round to look at Captain Arthur Kirkland who had suddenly snapped his neck up like he had heard the noise.

"Who's thar?" He asked.

He stepped closer and closer to the box, each step he took jabbing a new meaning of fear into the brothers. Lovino clapped his hand over his own mouth and Feliciano did the same. They decreased their breathing to a point that would make you question if they were living or not and their eyes looked fit to burst out of pure fear.

But as the feared Captain took another step, making him face to face with the box he carried on in the other direction. Both of the brothers were puzzled, but it was about to get even worse.

"What? I can't hear you." He said calmly.

Both Feliciano and Lovino turned to each other and raised their left eyebrow. Who was he talking to? There was no-one there at all. Just a blank space.

"Who are you? What are you trying to say?" He asked.

Though the panicked brothers didn't know it, Arthur was hearing a series of very strange voices. Some deep and gruff, but most were shrill and high-pitched. He couldn't actually see the source of this noise, just like the brothers in the box but he could just make out their voices. They were trying to tell him something, but what?

...Nd...Come ba... We...

That was what he could hear: fragmented words of some kind of message. But was this message meant for him? He presumed not, for they would have used his name. The voices sounded familiar, but at the same time he swore he had never heard them before.

"Hello?" He called.

Then, all of a sudden, the drawing of a blade was heard and Arthur felt the cold touch of steel against his neck.

"Guten Tag."

Arthur didn't move. After all, how could he when the feel of an icy blade was pressed to his neck? Even though there were no mirrors around him and he did not make the effort to glance out of the corner of his eye, he greeted his attacker warmly.

"Ah, a German speaker are we? Then again, that's to be expected of the infamous Captain Ludwig. Wie geht's?" Arthur asked with a confident smile.

"Prima, danke." Ludwig muttered with a cold stare shooting into the back of Arthur's head.

"Well that's to be expected. After all, you've got me completely defenceless and on the ropes. I'm completely at your mercy, so you would be feeling pretty good about yourself." Arthur chuckled.

Feliciano noted the absence of fear in his voice. As Arthur had said: he was completely defenceless and had been utterly defeated, so why did he still seem so confident and calm? He turned to frown at his brother, but Lovino was intently watching Arthur Kirkland, intensely waiting for what would happen next.

"How do you understand my native tongue?" Ludwig questioned suspiciously.

"How d'you understand mine?" Arthur chuckled in retort.

As Arthur chuckled, almost mockingly, Ludwig pressed the blade harder to his enemy's neck and instantly the cocky captain's laughter died down.

"There's a lot you don't know about me. I speak a number of different languages. Comes in pretty handy really." Arthur explained.

Feliciano wanted to mouth the question: "D'you reckon he knows ours?" to his brother, but he couldn't because Lovino was still watching the scene intently.

"How do you know so many languages?"

"A natural gift." Arthur smiled as he turned back to face Ludwig.

Now that Arthur was facing him, Ludwig was annoyed. The fact that he was smiling annoyed him even more. Ludwig no longer felt in control of the situation so he brought a knee up and targeted it in a place that would most definitely bring any man to his knees, no matter how cocky or confident. As Arthur fell to the floor, gasping out in pain and cursing in a very vulgar manner, Ludwig kicked him onto his back with his black rubber boots and placed a foot on his chest.

"Liar. Answer me truthfully. An ability like zat doesn't come naturally." Ludwig mumbled

Arthur smiled weakly, his face no longer scrunched up in pain.

"Yes I suppose it doesn't. Impressive skills such as that need to be learned over a long period of time. Just like this."

Ludwig only had a short time to register the warning and it was much too late when he did. All in one instant, Arthur pulled a pistol from his holster and aimed straight upwards. The shot was like the instant Feliciano's life slowed down and he instantly burst out of the box, despite his protective brother clinging to his waist.

Ludwig fell back in pain and Feliciano ran to his aid. Arthur, taking no notice of the emotional scene, jumped up and seized his opportunity to escape by zooming out of there, quicker than the bullet that had hit Ludwig.

"L-Ludwig! Say something! S-speak!" Feliciano stuttered.

"Forget it Feli. He's gone." Lovino muttered as he pulled Feliciano away from the Captain.

"No! He's only wounded, we can still save him!" Feliciano cried.

"Feliciano..." Lovino whispered.

Without warning, Ludwig got to his feet clutching his bullet wound in pain. He hobbled over to the staircase and slowly he ascended, catching sight of Arthur Kirkland sailing away with his crew as he reached the top. The Captain with the thick eyebrows gave him a smile and a quick salute before he turned to leave and Ludwig growled with anger.

"Arthur Kirkland! Mark my words! Zis is var!" Ludwig roared.

"I look forward to it Luddy-old boy." Arthur chuckled loudly.

Feliciano joined Ludwig at his side and led him back to his room to attend to him. Thankfully, the shot wasn't fatal and the bullet had only grazed his shoulder. Feliciano was able to successfully clean the wound, leaving only a scar where the bullet had once been.

And, upon seeing that scar, Ludwig was determined to get revenge.

Captain Arthur Kirkland's ship...

"Right. I think it's time for me to get some rest..." Arthur sighed.

Francis began to nod, but as the Captain removed his large red hat and took the first step into his quarters, Francis saw something that made him gasp with shock and fill with alarm.

"Mon Dieu! Arthur, you're bleeding!" Francis exclaimed.

Arthur angled his neck so that he could see the violent gash made on his right shoulder: the same place as Ludwig's bullet wound. A droplet of blood crawled out of the wound and slowly trickled downwards, blending in with his red clothing. The fatigued Captain just shrugged it off, straining his shoulder slightly but his French companion wasn't as easy to let go of it.

"Please friend. Wait on your bed and I will bring 'elp immediately!" Francis instructed.

Sighing as he decided he had nothing better to do, Arthur went to go wait on his bed like the Frenchman had instructed. Really he just wanted to get some sleep and be left alone after such a disappointing battle. But did that Frog have any consideration for his feelings? No he didn't. These were the thoughts running through Arthur's mind as he grumbled to himself impatiently on his bed. What he didn't realise though, was that Francis did care, otherwise he wouldn't be bothering to tend to his wound.

Francis returned with the necessary supplies for cleaning a wound and knelt himself down by Arthur's bed. He stared at the wound for a few seconds and Arthur, realising what he was getting at, pulled down the fabric of his clothes, making Francis raise a suggestive thin eyebrow.

"Just get it over with before I kick you out rapunzel." Arthur snapped.

"Oui, mon ami." Francis smiled.

"Stop calling me your friend. We aren't friends." Arthur sighed.

"Arthur, we 'ave known each ozer for more zan a year. I know you very personally, your 'abits, your 'istory- everyzing. I zink zat gives me ze right to call you friend- non?"

As Francis said this, he didn't look up. He was carefully nursing Arthur's injured shoulder back to its normal state and this was a delicate process. But, after a short pause, he looked up and raised his eyebrow again- though less suggestive than the last time.

"So... Friends?"

"Hmph. Whatever. I have no need for any other title other than Captain anyway."

"I shall take zat as a yes."

Oh yeah did I mention there may be slight hints of FrUK? There will be slight hints of everything. This thing will probably turn out to end with GerIta, NiChu and USUK/FrUK. Some of my requesters support FrUK and others support USUK so I'm not sure yet!

Just in case you didn't know, Wie Geht's means How are you, Prima danke means Great thanks and of course Guten Tag means good day!

Thanks to Lord Kharl, ShadowEntity and escritoria for reviewing!

Sayonara minna-san!

~Neko