Chapter 2

Tristan and Yvaine

Danu woke up with the sun. Growing up on land had led her to create a habit out of rising with the sun. While she had a schedule, the crew slept rather sporadically. A storm could be born at any moment, and they had to be well rested.

The pirates would be asleep for a few more hours at the very least. But not the captain. He would be up preparing how to handle his talk with his "prisoners." And then there was the obvious navigation charting for the next couple of days. He had to make sure that his ship wasn't overloaded.

Throwing on a cloak, Danu opened the door and peered around the corner. Satisfied that everyone was either still in bed or too tired to be roaming the corridors, apart from the captain, she slipped out of her cabin and crept down the hall to the captain's rooms.

Taking small deliberate steps, she reached Captain Shakespeare's cabin without a sound from the floorboards to indicate her presence. Opening the door required a tad more skill than creeping along the hall, but was just as silent.

"Uncle Dauntless," Danu said. She always announced her arrival with spoken words. "When are you going to find out who the two people in the brig are?"

"First off," the captain said not looking up from the couple dozen maps cluttering his desk, "I do believe that I told you to not call me that. The name aboard this ship is Captain Shakespeare."

"Fine," Danu muttered. "You're still Uncle Dauntless to me no matter how much you deny it."

"And in response to your question," he continued,"we have to wait until most of the crew is awake. If they're asleep, it defeats the purpose of fooling them. And then I don't get to throw stuff out of the window."

"Only you would think that throwing a manikin out of a window would be fun." Even as she said that, Danu couldn't refute the captain's logic. If he wanted his men to fear and respect him, he needed to appear ruthless from time to time. But…

"How exactly do you plan on explaining the girl?"

Captain Shakespeare chuckled softly. Danu could come up with things at the oddest moments, even if they weren't exactly odd in her mind. "I've already thought of that my dear. The girl is pretty enough that no one will find it suspicious if I bring her in here for a few hours.

"She could hardly hold a candle to you my dear, of course."

"Of course," Danu agreed.

"But as I said, she is pretty. The prettiest thing that the men will have seen in weeks. They don't know that you are her. So it should be a viable excuse."

"Uncle… I mean Captain Shakespeare," Danu corrected herself. "You are biased."

"Yes, but why should I not tilt the scale a little in the way of my favorite niece?"

"I'm your only niece," she said. " You can't exactly pick favorites out of a group of one."

"Alright then," he conceded. "Why shouldn't I tilt the scale in favor of my favorite out of my sister Winnifred's children?"

At those words Danu impulsively wrapped her arms around her uncle. "And you happen to be my favorite uncle. Uncle Dauntless," she teased him. He might hate it, but it was his name.

Captain Shakespeare just smiled and hugged his niece back. He might only have one niece, but she had eight other uncles. All were her father's brothers, but it was still an honor to be considered her favorite.

He would let her use his given name. But she would be the only one, other than her mother, to ever do so. Even Winnifred, his only sibling, had never dared call him Dauntless to his face unless infuriated.

The floorboards outside the door creaked ever so lightly. Danu jumped and ducked behind Captain Shakespeare's desk. She moved so silently that as the door opened, the first mate never even knew that Danu had been there.

"Captain, the men are getting antsy. They want you to deal with the two prisoners down in the brig. You'd better take care of it before they do, if you get what I mean."

"I'm coming," Captain Shakespeare said as he strode out of the room. Despite his urgent pace, he took the time to close the doors carefully behind him.

Danu waited until she could hear her uncle yell at the prisoners before coming out of her hiding spot. She sighed. Broken fingers. He was becoming a tad predictable.

She wandered over to the wall and turned the lamp. A hidden door opened to reveal a closet. Glancing enviously at the dresses she would never be able to wear, the would all be huge on her, she looked over to the regretfully small section of men's clothing.

Her uncle might have been prepared, but that applied in the loosest sense to his selection of clothin. She supposed that it might have something to do with a lack of fashion sense. And there was hardly any reason to dress extravagantly when no one was going to see you.

But that hardly explained the dresses. It might have something to do with a wider range of styles in women's clothing than men's, but it might no. Either way, Danu was going to have to have a heart to heart talk with her uncle. But back to the task on had. Clothes for the couple downstairs.

She pulled out a rather unusual white coat. Pairing it with: a linen shirt, a brown vest, and tan pants, she created a slightly odd and yet fashionable look at the the same it needed was boots, which she assumed he had, and the right hair.

Sighing, Danu sat down. She knew that earthen tones would look good on the man, but the woman was a different story. She hadn't gotten a good enough look at her to know what would look good with her complexion.

The trap door from the brig opened with a click and Danu knew that the manikin had just been thrown overboard. The girls screams, a bit faked to her ears, confirmed her suspicions.

"Get in there wench," Danu heard her uncle say as he shoved the woman into his quarters. "Well, that went rather well. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I can't believe that your crew fell for that," the woman said. "And where in god's name did you get that manikin?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Captain Shakespeare said. Pulling Danu from the closet. "More than a few, I suppose. But…"

Danu gasped as she looked at the woman. There was no denying what she was seeing. This woman had the pale hair and skin that came only from the daughters of the moon. And her eyes… they were silver.

The woman was a star. A pale radiant creature of the night. She had little to no coloring, but was sheer beauty all the same.

Danu suddenly knew what dress would look perfect on her. The silver one in the closet. A silver that was a perfect match with her eyes, and then embroidery that started out white at the top and gradually darkened until it was black at the bottom.

Running back to the closet, Danu grabbed both outfits and almost tripped over her own feet as she scrambled to return. Almost. She just knew that they would look so much better in what she had picked out.

"You'll have to excuse my niece," Captain Shakespeare said. "She has a tendency to become excited over rather small things."

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me?" Danu teased. "I have just the clothes for you two. And…"

"Tristan," the man offered. Tristan. So that was his name. In an odd way it suited him.

"Tristan," Danu continued. "I believe that my uncle will be able to help you fix that awful mop that you call hair."

The woman, no, star giggled. She knew that it was true. His hair was simply a mess.

"And for you my dear, I have this. You two won't match each other, but that might be for the best."

The star smiled. " Thank you," she said quietly. "And my name is Yvaine. It might as well be used."

Danu smiled as well. She might have found a friend. The trip was proving to be less boring than she had thought just two days ago.

A glimmer around Yvaine's neck caught Danu's eye. She looked closer and saw the gaudiest necklace she had ever set eyes upon. Gold with a large diamond pendant. It didn't match the dress at all.

"Yvaine," Danu said. " While I have to admit that your necklace is lovely, it is rather conspicuous. Is there any sentimental value attached to it?"

Yvaine responded like lightning. "Oh no. I've wanted to be rid of the thing since I found it. I just had no one to give it to. Besides, it would look much better on you than me."

Danu knew this was true. Stars only looked good in white, black, and silver. The fact that Yvaine had yet to have had her necklace stolen was rather remarkable.

"I…" Danu started and then hesitated. "I couldn't," she finished, feeling rather guilty.

"Nonsense," Yvaine replied. "Silver suits me better and I'm sure that I can find a new necklace. But, it it is too ostentatious for you…"

"That's not what I meant," Danu cut her off. "I love it. But I meant that I couldn't take anything so valuable from you."

Yvaine shrugged. The necklace had no importance to her. She hardly even noticed its worth. Earthly possessions meant little to her.

As Yvaine clasped the necklace around Danu's throat, the girl gazed in amazement at the diamond. It was cut beautifully, perfectly, and was over half the size of her palm. It was the most impressive gemstone that she had seen in her life.

"Thank you ," the girl gasped as she embraced the star. "This has to be the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me."

Yvaine laughed at the girl's antics. "So I gave you an old necklace that I didn't want," she said. "It's not that big of a deal.

A/N: Alright. This story seems to be fairly popular. But all who read it are visitors. Alright I do love reviews and I do accept anonymous ones so it would be wonderful to get at least one. I can't give metaphorical cookies to anyone if I don't know who they are. Has anyone guessed where I got my name for Captain Shakespeare?

All you Septimus fans out there, patience. Just one more chapter to go and then you'll get to meet him. I haven't introduced him in the chapter I have all planned out, but never fear. I'll mention him and in chapter four, it's all Septimus. Okay. Not exactly. But that's beside the point.

Did I mention that I love all my readers. It's been amazing to have you.