Kiku rotated his hands, rubbing his wrists to the tight rope. Damn this. Damn that fucking pirate. The Japanese glared at everything around him as his heart pounded in hatred, thinking of the pirate. Wait, why was he even wasting his time hating on that punk? He should be worrying about his people on the ship he was taken away from.

Then the door swung open and Arthur walked in carrying a tray of food, "Evenin' deary~" he greeted with a smirk while walking to the prince. His emerald eyes were locked with Kiku's angered brown orbs as he kneeled and placed the tray in front of the Asian, "Your dinner, your Highness."

The prince looked away hastily, not wanting to look at him any longer. Why would the pirate even bother to feed him if he wanted to make him a prisoner? Wasn't he supposed to leave him to starve? But then, the mere presence of food distracted his thoughts and his eyes gave into the temptation to look at the plate in front of him.

Arthur caught his look and began to untie the rope around his hands, "Yer lucky tonight; you got the Eastern special." He tsk'd when he saw that Kiku's wrists were almost wounded by the tight ropes.

Kiku stared at the food, which was white rice along with fish and soy sauce. A pair of chopsticks was placed at the side of the plate. The fish was cooked well along with the rice and a glass of water stood on the other side of the plate.

"Eat up, sweetie." Arthur cooed and sat on the couch, placing his hat on the table beside it, the opened a bottle and drinking it straight up. Then he frowned when he saw that the food he placed wasn't touched even if the prince was free to move his hands, "Go eat it, the chef wasted his time making sure it looked a bit presentable."

The prince still had his arms limping at his sides, and when he heard Arthur's voice, he quickly turned his head to the side making Arthur's eyebrows furrow, "Are ya gonna eat or not?" he demanded.

"I refuse to eat food from the likes of you." Kiku hissed angrily. He turned to glare at the pirate, who only sighed and waved his hand dismissively, "Fine then. Starve yourself for all I care. I'll let you stay like that until you change your mind."

Kiku continued glaring at him and leaned on the wall, turning his face to the corner of the wall again. He heard the pirate grunt and went back to drinking. Then his gaze lowered to the food; he couldn't deny that he was hungry, since he failed to eat dinner back in his own ship since the bastard of a pirate attacked them.

Now talking about the recent attack, Kiku wondered how the others were doing. Did they reach Japan already? Did they have anything to eat? And what about his parents? They would probably panic and dispatch a rescue mission as soon as they hear the news. But how would they find him? He himself didn't know where they were heading or even what part of the world they were. But then there was no more hope in worrying anymore, at least they escaped safely now.

Moments later he relaxed his body, leaning on his side to the wall and closing his eyes. He was exhausted as hell and he the rope around his legs didn't help. His stomach lightly grumbled, reminding him that it was slowly being emptied. Then he continued to sit in that position and shifted whenever he felt uncomfortable.

The whole room was silent and the crackling of the fireplace was the only sound present aside from the footsteps of Arthur walking through the room to get something and back to the couch. It was a small journal book that the pirate kept and wrote every end of the day. He dipped a feather in a small jar of black ink and started to write on an empty page. Every now and then, he would glance secretly at the prisoner and only finding him doing nothing.

Kiku observed his movements, even with his free hands; he didn't dare to touch the food. It wasn't because he didn't like to eat; it was because if he did eat it, it would show that he had surrendered himself to the ship and its captain. And he was also aware that the pirate was glancing at him at times; they once caught each other looking at the other (which Kiku broke immediately). He continued waiting until he was sure that the captain was indulged enough in writing that he didn't bother to check up on him.

The Japanese slowly moved his hands to the rope around his legs and tried the tug a part loose. His eyes continued to look out in case the captain would move or anything; it took sometime to work on since the rope was tied very tightly and securely by the Brit. His hands continued to busy himself as sweat trickled down his face while his heart thumped furiously which relaxed when he made sure Arthur was still busy and not paid any attention to him. He averted his pupils to the corner of his eye to check when a loud boom and force that landed on the wall centimeters from his face and in front of his eyes paralyzed him.

"Don't bother to escape, your Highness." The captain leaned back on the velvet couch, aiming a pistol with smoking coming out from the opening, his face blank and stoic, just like what he looked whenever he faced his crew. "You don't think I would let your hands free so you can escape, do you?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and then stood up without a word. The journal was placed on the table and the pen was laid across the mouth of the ink jar.

Kiku watched as he walked towards him, his eyes half-glaring at him with fear and anguish. Then the pirate kneeled beside him, holding the rope and tying them once again around his wrists, making sure they were secured. He continued to watch the captain as he walked across the room without a word and took a spoon then walked back to him.

The pirate lifted the plate up with one hand and took a spoonful of rice, "Open your mouth." He commanded.

Kiku pursed his lips, his cheeks lightly blushing from the fact that he was going to be fed by another man. Then he looked at the pirate's face and found him squatted in front of him, still holding the spoon up to his mouth.

"C'mon, don't give the bloke who's trying to feed ya a hard time." Arthur complained, then looked sternly at him, determined to feed the little rascal.

The prince looked at the food, then felt his stomach grumble; and after some attempts of trying to will away the hunger (which was visibly heard by Arthur and made him smirk in amusement), he opened his mouth in compliance and let the spoonful of food into his mouth. Surprisingly, the rice tasted good. He continued to receive the spoon filled with his native rice and fish, making the pirate grin.

"Ain't that bad, isn't it?" Arthur fed him another spoonful of the food and placed the plate down. He continued to feed the captive, all the while feeling amused. Then he held the glass of water and waited for the captive to finish swallowing then made him drink the water, "Don't worry there, the water's clear, love~"

With the last word, Kiku blushed darker and looked away from the pirate. Arthur chuckled and stood up, "You should be thankful; I don't usually treat prisoners like this. I'd probably let you rot in jail but then you are worth a price from you parents, aren't you, dear?" he placed the tray on the table and took off the elegant long coat then folded and hung it by the couch.

Kiku glared at him again, and then looked away. That damn wretched pirate; why couldn't he just die? Then again, he should be thankful from actually feeding him. But why didn't that blasted pirate just leave him with the ship and just take everything from them. Oh yeah, since he was the perfect one to use as hostage.

Arthur unpinned the large emerald gem from his jabot and sat on the bed, "Well then, hope you have good dreams, your Highness." He smirked mockingly only receiving a glare and silence in return.

The pirate grunted with a smile and turned off the lights by blowing the candles off. Kiku averted his eyes to the bed which creaked as Arthur laid upon it, his shirt half open and he didn't even bothered to get under the covers. Then he placed his arm on his forehead, half-covering his eyes as he closed them and fell asleep.

Kiku sighed in exhaustion and relief, now that the pirate was now asleep and won't be bothering with him. Now he's thinking of how will his parents find him and how will he escape. After thinking more, he realized it was pretty much hopeless, at least for tonight. Arthur was too skilled and quick with his movements and at least his parents were safe. An unintentional yawn escaped him, and his eyes felt heavy, then finally dropped as he rested his head on the wall.

…

…

…

It was hard to stay asleep on a rocking boat, much less on the floor. Kiku had awoken for the third time for that night and he was sure it wasn't near morning still. Then he felt the urge to escape now, seeing as the pirate was asleep deeply. He wriggled his hands, making them at least a bit loose to move around. Then he started to play with the knot, his heart pounding in anxiousness and success as he actually untied and got out of the rope. He glanced at Arthur, only to find him facing the other way and breathing steadily.

Then he started on the ropes on his legs and finally untied them loose. He carefully stood up, and then walked lightly across the room, still glancing at times to see whether or not Arthur has woken up. And to his relief, he didn't.

As soon as he reached the door, he turned the knob as carefully as possible, all the while looking at Arthur to see how he was doing; then sighed again to see that he was still asleep. Another careful pull on the knob, making sure that the door didn't creak and got out, then closed the door again.

He was now free from the room. Now all he had to do is to escape from the ship. His legs started to lead him through the hall, and then he remembered the long boat that hung beside the ship. Yes, he could use that to escape. Then he finally got out from the lower decks then climbed out. He scanned the place and mentally praised that no one was up there. Then he started scurrying to the farthest part of the boat from the decks and checked the long boats. He was in luck.

There were 4 long boats that he could choose from; he picked the last one and started to climb out when he felt a sharp and cold metal touch his neck.

"Whe' d' ya th'nk yer goin'?" a rough and unfamiliar voice demanded.

Kiku slowly turned his head and saw a tall young man with an eye-patch on his right eye with red hair and eyebrows. He had the same green eyes as Arthur and held a cigarette in his mouth, "Don' jus' stand the'. Speak up, bloke." He pointed a sword towards Kiku, his eyes following his every move.

The prince swallowed then waited for the right moment to move. If he didn't act sooner, he'd probably have his head chopped off. Seconds ticked by later as the two stared each other in the eyes, at the same time, Kiku had calmed himself down to prepare for the battle he knew that will happen later.

It took about half a minute for him to put his mind and body into peace as he relaxed his muscles that were tensed by the presence of the blade. Then he closed his eyes with a deep breath and opened them again, only to see the pirate not move.

After having a staring contest from the pirate, he bent down and pushed the sword upwards, then ejected from a back-stance to a series of kicks and managed to make the man break loose of his sword.

He caught the sword and twirled around to strike at the pirate but only to be blocked by his other sword. Then a sword fight began as they tried to hit each other and block the attacks they received. Kiku leaped up a board and both slid their blades across each other's swords. On one move as the sword dancer evaded gracefully the attacks and managed to slice the cigar of the other into half.

After fighting for a while, they heard cheering and howling from the decks; they must've have woken up the rest of the crew with their fight.

They continued as the redhead attacked again, and Kiku fought back, only to be distracted when the noise stopped and he turned his head to see why they halted. At the same time, a blade came pass his face and pinned his kimono to a wooden post and the sword which he stole from the pirate taken from him.

"Nice sword dancin' skills ye go' the'." The redhead smirked and turned to the crowd, and so did Kiku. He took away the sliced cigar from his mouth and threw it into the sea.

Arthur stood in the middle of the space between the silent crew and the two sword-fighters, his face stoic and blank, "What caused a bewilderment so early in the morning that the sun hasn't even risen yet?" he looked at the two men in front of him.

"This bloke ya go' he' tried tae escape wi' one of tha longboats." The redhead hiked his thumb towards Kiku, who tried to pull away from the pole. This did not turn out good. Not good at all for Kiku.

"Tried to escape?" Arthur looked at Kiku, his eyes piercing into the young man's soul. The prince swallowed as he continued to stare right into his eyes.

The look in his eyes didn't say anything good about what will happen to him; and he was pretty much sure he was going to be in deep shit.

"Alasdair." Arthur spoke up to the redhead.

"Yep?"

"Take him to the dungeon, chain all of his limbs."

Kiku's heart began to beat even more violently as Alasdair pulled the weapon out from the pole and his kimono then forcefully but with a bit of gentleness, pulled his arms together and led him under the deck.

He was now back inside the ship, the halls now even more dirtier and dustier. He could hear Alasdair's and his feet thumping on the wooden floor and another pair following them. Then he was pushed inside a cellar then his arms and legs shackled and chained to the wall.

"If I we' ya lad, I'd pra'." Alasdair whispered before exiting the dungeon cell and stayed outside the bars.

Kiku's breathing hastened as he watched Arthur step inside slowly, his gloved hands holding a whip, one brushing through the leather weapon.

Arthur averted his eyes from the whip and looked at the man kneeling on the floor in front of him. Then he lifted the whip up and sent a blow to the man's side, making him collapse on the floor, shaking.

"I believe you are still ignorant of the situation you're in." and with that, he sent another blow from the other direction. Kiku trembled terribly as his face hit the floor hard. And before he could pull himself up, Arthur sent another one on to his back. His kimono was now torn and tattered and he was coughing roughly as he felt a lump grow in his throat.

"You are a prisoner here, so don't you dare think you would get away so easily." Arthur bluntly added as he delivered another one. After several more blows, he stopped and bent over to hold his chin up as the Japanese's vision was blurred from shaking and the pain that burned throughout his body.

The captain's face was suddenly less than a centimeter away from his own face, his breath tickling the pained and sensitive skin of the prisoner, "You're lucky… if you weren't such a precious royalty you wouldn't even get to hear my voice anymore." His smooth voice husked then he roughly threw his head down again, "It seems that our prince doesn't like special treatment. From now on he works as part of the crew." He walked past Alasdair who looked at Kiku sympathetically and helped him to sit up straight.

"Sarry 'bout earlie'; di'n't mean tae wake Artie up an' ge' us intae trouble. An' Artie's a'wa's like tha'. Ya ge' used tae him in no time." Alasdair gently lifted him up to a sitting position, making him lean on the wall, "Swea' to tha fuckin' me'maids 'e's like tha' tae awl tha new blokes on board. And afte' tha', 'e ain't gonna be tha' bad."

Kiku was too weak to respond and his clothes were stained by his own blood and torn by the force of each blow he received. He just hoped that Alasdair was right and that it wouldn't turn out as a nightmare just like he think so. His eyelids were too heavy and exhausted that he fell asleep immediately right after Alasdair locked his cell and left him.

BK123: So here's the second chapter, thank you for those who subscribed to this story, even though this is sucky since it's my first AU. . And sorry if updating this will take a long time ;A; please feel free to review and even criticize this.

And oh yeah, Alasdair's Scottish :D And I know I suck at his accent.