Aaaaaand chapter one. Fact about myself, I always post both the prologue and first chapter at the same time.

Also, I, uh, made some changes. Firstly, Ruby doesn't have glasses. Secondly, he doesn't wear a hat, he has a headband instead. Thirdly, Giratina's status as a god(ess?). And finally, please tell me if I mess anything up with the pirate thing in this chapter and beyond – wait, that's not a change. Never mind.

I own the plot and… well, that's about it.

Ruby finally managed to button up his shirt as he yanked his headband on, making sure his scar was covered as he rapidly wetted a cloth and brought it to his mouth. He could hear the fire's roar; soon, he knew, it would be raining flames, and by then, he hoped to be out of here.

He nodded to the blue Pokemon sitting primly on his pillow and said, "Time to go, Zuzu."

The Mudkip nodded, scuttling to the floor and standing at his feet. Ruby went to his door and placed a hand on the old wood, feeling for heat. Hot, and he drew back, knowing better than to try the doorknob. He left it alone and went to his windows, opening one with a practiced flick of his fingers.

As he peered over, he was met with the ocean's roar; sheer cliffs loomed below him. It would be practically impossible to escape, and even if he didn't die from the cliffs, the water was so cold he would freeze in minutes.

And then he froze when he heard voices.

"Flamethrower, Typhlosion!" Gruff, male. Not to be trifled with.

"Keep the flames away, Blastoise!" Light but serious, female. Also not to be trifled with.

Ruby shivered.

They – whoever or whatever they meant – were at his door. Panic set his heart to fluttering at nearly impossible speeds, and he gulped as he looked from the door to the cliffs. He had a choice to try to escape or let the pair discover him.

He had not yet made the decision when, seconds later, his door was rendered to pieces from the Flamethrower attack. He ducked to the ground, coughing from the smoke and his eyes narrowed to see the two silhouettes approaching him. Zuzu pressed itself against his leg, and Ruby remembered late that he shouldn't let the Pokemon dry out to much. Arceus help me.

He stayed down when the first silhouette came into sight. Black hair was held back by a dark yellow bandana, and the grin he was wearing and the glint in his golden eyes were enough to tell Ruby that he was dangerous.

"Look at this, Blue." The other stepped up to the boy's side, her blue eyes thoughtful and a smirk on her face. "A boy with his Mudkip."

"Norman's son, probably," the girl, Blue, said, her smirk widening. Ruby's eyes grew huge when he saw the Pokemon come up behind her, a giant water-type that he immediately identified as a Blastoise. Then he saw the fire-type, the Typhlosion, and shrank back further, holding Zuzu in both arms.

The two exchanged a look. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Blue asked the boy, her smirk turning into a full grin.

The other boy batted at the black hair in his face, like he did it all the time and it was as natural as breathing. "I think so."

Ruby didn't even have time to squeak; he was grabbed by his waist and thrown over the gold-eyed boy's shoulder, almost losing his grip on his Mudkip and dropping his wet handkerchief. He gasped as he inhaled smoke, half-aware of his captors skillfully exiting the building. When they hit fresh air, he almost felt like crying in relief, gulping in huge gasps of it. Then he lifted his head and watched as his home, his huge mansion that he knew like the back of his hand, burned, flames jumping out of the windows, the building collapsing on itself, Pokemon and humans alike screeching as they fought to escape…

Mudkip scrabbled up his arms to sit on his back, trying to get his captor to release him by biting and scratching and butting his head with its own. But the golden-eyed boy paid no heed, and Ruby could only watch as his vision slowly blurred and finally disappeared altogether.

Suddenly, he felt free.

"Please let Father die," he whispered, his first prayer to Giratina, the Pokemon of Death.

And for once, he welcomed the dark of unconsciousness.

"Seriously, Gold? What good'll this shrimp serve us?"

"Ransom, Captain. We can get money out of his old man."

"Well, yes, but kidnapping a boy? He looks barely twelve!"

"Same age as you, Cap'n, if I'm not mistaken. Besides, he had that lost look everyone else here had. Before they came to this merry old crew, I mean."

"Right, and how can I even begin to try an' trust your judgment?"

"Aw, cap'n, that's mean."

"You think I care?"

Ruby opened his eyes blearily. He knew he wasn't in bed, from the strange pressure on his arms and chest. He squirmed and then noted he was tied to something hard and rounded. Chancing a glance up, he saw the moon, shining brightly on the tall trunk of wood. It had branches sticking out regularly and white sheets hanging off of them. As it rocked from side to side, he wondered vaguely if it would fall on him; it was a strange tree, that much was obvious.

Then he realized with a jolt he was looking at a mast.

That meant he was on a boat.

And that meant… from what he could guess today's events… today's events! Oh, he remembered everything now, the fire, the destruction, the fear. But… if he were on a boat, then those people yesterday must've been…

No way.

"Pirates," he whispered to himself, or tried to; he discovered he was gagged as soon as he spoke. Pirates… the stuff of nightmares, stories mothers told their children so they would eat their vegetables. To think they would capture him of all people…

His anger flared up immediately. How dare these – these – barbaric pirates tie him up to a mast? What had he done to them? Nothing, that was what. And here they were, swaggering around like they owned him, how dare they, how dare they –

"He's awake."

Soft and gentle, female. He looked to his left and saw a small blonde, a length of cloth spread on her lap and her fingers skillfully wielding a needle. She was good, he could see that immediately; her stitching rivaled his in quality. Then he took a double take. She was small in build and delicate-looking, a thin, simple yellow overcoat over her practical white shirt and black trousers. His eyes went down to her brown boots – well-made, comfortable, and obviously well-worn.

He lifted his eyes and observed the two others on deck. Their outfits were the same, minus the other girl's deep blue overcoat while the boy did not bother wearing one. Uniforms, perhaps, he thought with an inward chuckle. Barbarians they may be, but obviously, these pirates had class.

But in any case, the smaller girl's comment caught the other two's attention. They made their way over to him, the boy swaggering, the girl's step quick and certain. He immediately identified her as the captain and him as her second-in-command.

"Take his gag off," the captain girl ordered, deep blue eyes stony. The boy stepped to the side of the mast, reaching behind Ruby's head and untying the cloth with a few deft motions. Ruby breathed in deeply once the cursed thing was off. It hadn't been dirty, thank Arceus, but that hadn't make it any more comfortable.

He spat out, "What do you want with me?"

"Calm down, dude," the boy said, and Ruby glared at him, meeting the golden eyes squarely with his blood red ones. But the boy just smiled and said, "We're not gonna hurt you. After all, you're on our sloop, and we're not about to bloody her decks."

Ruby blinked a few times, shocked (I wasn't aware pirates actually spoke like that), but before he could open his mouth to argue the captain girl cut him off. "Gold, I leave him to you while I write the ransom note which, might I add, is entirely your fault."

"'Course, Captain," the raven-haired boy said with a chuckle. Ransom note! Ruby watched as the girl walked off, anger bubbling in his veins once more. Since when was he something to be toyed with? If he weren't tied up… they'd be sorry if he weren't tied up, that he knew for sure.

And then something occurred to him. This – Gold character had called her captain, and yet, she was… twelve, according to what Gold said. He was twelve, too, but Gold looked to be at least sixteen, if not older. Strange that a younger girl was ordering an older boy around. Weren't pirates supposed to be cruel and savage and, well, sexist?

Well, for savage barbarians, Ruby thought, looking around him, they keep this ship in excellent shape.

"Grand old thing, isn't it?" Ah, Gold had noticed him looking around. "We're on our sloop, the Zaffiro. That's Italian for sapphire, by the way – not that the cap'n actually took the ship because of it, but… well, whatever. I'm Gold," he said, offering a hand. Ruby glanced at it before looking back up at Gold, eyebrow raised. The other boy cracked up. "Right, right, your hands are tied. Ha! Stupid of me."

"You know what, Gold? Why don't you go bother someone else?" said the smaller blonde who had first spoken. Gold cackled as he swaggered away, hands tucked into the pockets of his black trousers. "Sorry about him," the girl said softly, setting aside her sewing and needle and standing up. "I'm Yellow."

He nodded but didn't volunteer his own name, even though she was evidently kinder than Gold. There was no reason to in the first place; she hadn't asked, and he wasn't eager to share it. "Could I ask about Zuzu – ?"

"The Mudkip?" He nodded and she smiled, a fey thing that brought out two dimples, one that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Zuzu is just fine. Crystal is taking care of him right now – Crystal is our doctor, you see – and she'll bring him to you as soon as he feels a little better."

Zuzu was all right! He nearly deflated in relief. The Mudkip was the last gift he ever received from the little girl's parents before they had – died. Her name was on his lips again as soon as he thought of the tragedy, but it was forgotten as soon as he tried to voice it. So instead he asked, "Um… why am I tied to the mast?"

Yellow shrugged, sitting back down and taking up her cloth and needle. "In case you escape." The tone wasn't condescending; it was simply matter-of-fact, as if his destiny or, rather, his fate had led him to be where he was now. He found that he didn't dislike the girl; far from it, she was likeable. For a pirate…

He watched as she started sewing again, observing the deft motions with an expert's eye. "You're pretty good at that," he said at last.

She looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, as much as one could shrug while tied to a mast. "My father is kind of withdrawn and forgets about me, so I make my own clothes and cook my own food and such."

Yellow stood up again, carefully placing her cloth and thread, and came closer, examining his clothes. After a moment, lifting the hem of his perfectly tailored shirt and observing it for a few seconds, she rocked on her heels and said, "You are definitely better than I am. Your stitches are tiny!"

Ruby willed himself not to flush with pride – a compliment from a pirate meant nothing to him, after all. "I – I guess."

The girl captain came back out then, a Taillow balanced delicately on her finger. He bit his lip and looked away from the bird, violently reminded of his Dream. "It's written," she told Yellow. "You mind tellin' it where to go?"

The girl nodded. "Of course, Sapphire." So that was the captain's name... so that was what Gold meant when he said the thing about the ship's name earlier. Why did it sound so familiar? He kept forming the word, silently, as Yellow whispered to the Pokemon for a few moments before giving it a lift. It flew away, squawking.

Sapphire. Sapphire. Sapphire. Why did it seem so important? His lips formed the word effortlessly, he could tell, so it must have some impact on him… but why the name of a gemstone? Did he do lose a sapphire, and that made his father angry? Did he find a sapphire one day? Did he… did he…

Did it have something to do with the little girl from his Dream?

"Snap out of it," the girl captain snarled, and Ruby hurriedly brought his attention to the brunette. Yes, he was angry; yes, he wanted to get the heck out of here; but he was tied to the mast and Zuzu was still below deck, if Yellow had been telling the truth. "You. You're Norman's son?"

"Obviously," he replied tartly. They wouldn't hurt him so long as they wanted ransom for him. At least, he hoped they wouldn't. But it couldn't be any worse than his father's beatings when he had told him of his desire to do contests and not battles. "I'm the only twelve year-old in Petalburg City. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you got the wrong twenty-something, but then, you're not looking for a twenty year-old, so – "

"Shut up," she snarled. He glared into her blue eyes but ceased speaking. "Gold's already told you too much anyway. But to the point: if you tell anyone about us, I will hunt you down and kill you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Had the circumstances not been stacked in your favor, you wouldn't have been able to capture me, let alone lay a finger on me."

From the expressionless look she gave him, she didn't believe it. Ruby sighed; her reaction was common. He wasn't the pampered son of the Gym Leader that the people were led to believe, though. Because before his father had deemed him a failure, he'd taught his son quite a few tricks.

"Right," she said after a moment. "Whatever. But the point is, don't tell anyone. Clear?"

"Indeed," he said dryly, and he chuckled at the furious look on her face. What a pityingly easy person to irk, and her being the captain, too. Perhaps pirates weren't as tough as he had previously thought.

She scowled at him and spun on her heel, marching purposefully away. Ruby looked around again, this time actually registering where he was. A lagoon of sorts, one near the town, too – he could smell the smoke on the breeze. The moon was nearly full, which was why he could see so well. It hadn't even been a day since he'd been captured.

He sighed and relaxed into the ropes, grimacing as the rough fabric dug into his wrists. He jumped when Yellow spoke again; he'd forgotten she was there. "It will probably take an hour for Norman to respond," she said, and he looked at her seat to see her dutifully sewing again. "You'll be comfortable again soon enough."

"I'm never comfortable at home," he replied with a sigh. "Everyone thinks I am, but I'm not. It's aggravating." He made a show of ignoring Yellow's startled glance as he added mournfully, "He never lets me do anything, not even leave the house."

How strange that he was telling this to a pirate, of all people. The ones he hated. But he really couldn't see Yellow as a pirate, no matter how hard he tried. She was simply to angelic, too nice, too gentle. And she was good at sewing, something that Ruby felt defined a person's character.

After a few moments' silence, she said quietly, fingers deftly sewing fabric and thread, "Sounds like you want to run away."

He snapped his head up, startled. He'd never thought of it like that, but now that he considered it… "I guess I do," he agreed at last, letting his head droop again.

"You know," Yellow said, and Ruby focused his attention on her, "If you manage to impress Sapphire, you could mostly likely join us."

"Join pirates?" He shook his head violently. "I could never – I can't – no. No. I couldn't. Not unless I was really desperate."

Her brown eyes glinted in the moonlight. "Aren't you desperate already?"

He opened his mouth to reply; then he closed it, grinding his teeth. She was bringing up something he didn't want to think about. After a moment he said, in response to the question, "I don't know."

"I can relate." Yellow turned those piercing brown eyes away and seemingly put all of her attention to her cloth, indicating she would not talk anymore. Ruby exhaled through his nose, looking down at the smooth wood at his feet, at the practical black boots he had made his father buy him. An hour standing tied to a mast would surely be a long one. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and began his meditation exercise, one his father had insisted he learn.

In for seven counts; hold for seven counts; out for seven counts; hold for seven counts; and repeat. Hopefully, he could forget about his situation if he got in deep enough…

He didn't know how much time had passed until he noticed a chirping at his feet. When he looked down, his face broke into a smile; there was his Zuzu, poking at his feet and looking up at him with adoration. He had missed the little guy.

"Hey, Zuzu," he said softly. The Mudkip squeaked at him before settling down and curling up on his boots. Ruby swore in his head – now he wouldn't be able to move his feet, and it wasn't exactly a comfortable position - but he wasn't about to ruin it for the Pokemon, who was evidently as happy to see him as he was to see it.

"Nothing serious," he heard faintly, and he looked up to see Yellow and another, taller girl with blue pigtails speaking, arms crossed, the white fabric of her shirt threatening to break at the shoulder. "Just a little dehydrated. He just rested for a bit, so he'll be fine now."

Yellow looked over and noticed Ruby had come out of his trance, so she led the other girl over. "This is Crystal," the blonde said once they were close enough. "She's the one who treated Zuzu."

He really had to push himself to thank the pirate – he hated pirates, for Arceus's sake, even though this one had saved Zuzu – but he managed to croak out, "Thank you. Really."

"Anytime," the girl replied with a smile. Ruby looked down at Zuzu again, noting at the same time that Crystal had the same clothes as Yellow, Gold and the girl captain. Perhaps it really was uniform; the white shirt, the black trousers, the brown boots. But it seemed they were free to put their hair as they wanted, though, seeing as Yellow's was in a ponytail, Crystal's was in pigtails, and Sapphire and Gold held theirs back with a bandana…

"Distracted again," Yellow said, bringing him back to reality. She was shaking her head softly. "I don't know, he went into some sort of trance before this. What for?" she asked him, noticing he was attentive.

He shrugged, though it was hard to do. "To pass the time. This isn't exactly comfortable." He attempted to move his hands, but they were tight at his side. "I could try and loosen the ropes a little bit, but then they'd just get tied on again, and it really isn't worth the effort… I don't know."

"You're a strange one," Crystal said with a laugh. "Well, if Zuzu needs someone else, I'll be treating Gold's Typhlosion. Have Yellow call me."

"Thanks." He wasn't the strange one, he was sure; the pirates were the strange ones. They were civil, they were nice, they were practical, and they definitely weren't barbarians. Besides the facts the girls didn't wear skirts, of course, but Ruby had never found petticoats or skirts necessary anyway, so he approved on the style. Not that the pirates cared about his opinion, him being the captive, but at least it was one less thing to worry about.

Crystal went below deck, Yellow sat back down on her stool, and Ruby asked her, "How long has it been?"

She looked up at the moon for a moment, judging the distance. After a moment she looked back down, resuming her sewing. "Three-quarters of an hour, I think. Perhaps more. I'm not too good with that kind of thing… you might want to ask Silver for that."

"Who?"

"Silver. Our navigator. You won't meet him, though; he almost never comes up from his stuffy place."

There was a squawk, and Ruby felt his heart thud painfully as the Taillow from before landed on the rail. The girl captain suddenly appeared out of nowhere, or at least, that's how it appeared to him, and took the note from the bird as it balanced on her finger.

She absently gave the Pokemon to Yellow, who cooed softly to the Pokemon before reaching into her pocket and pulling out what looked like bread crumbs. Ruby switched his attention to the girl captain, becoming fixated on her hands. Pale, slender, lithe. He wondered what they felt like, for a moment, before asking himself why he cared about a girl's hands. Maybe her name being Sapphire had something to do with it, since the word seemed to mean something to him…

"What does it say?" Yellow asked the girl captain.

Sapphire did not respond, though it was evident by her ever-widening eyes that the news was going to be good. Or bad, depending on how you looked at it.

Ruby sighed and shut his eyes. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

Yup. Cliffhanger, sort of. Sue me. Expect an update later in the week.