Natalya

After Elizabeta had given the orders, Toris and I had come to the agreement to fight together. He did not want me to take part in the upcoming battle without him. The man was a little protective of me and I did not know how to feel about this. I always had been on my own for so long and could manage every task by myself… but it was still a nice warm feeling to have someone care for you, although I would never say such a thing out loud to him. Our skills with swords were at the same level. My hands could be use again to battle properly.

We waited behind the trees and prepared to attack when the Marine and Roberts' crew were outnumbered. After both parties have detected each other, a clashing fight had broken out immediately. Men by men fell to the ground, wounded or lifeless, I could not tell, but I did not care as long as we had not been found out. Toris waited right next me, hidden behind the trees, watching the battling mob.

"They must have walked along the shore, otherwise they would have taken the path through the woods and detected us," he whispered in my ear, "It's good that they have not yet seen us." Even though his statement was said in a calm voice, I could not suppress my face from heating up. The distance between us was far too short for my comfort. My uneasy state perked his interest and he laid his hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright, Miss Natalya?"

The use of the term 'Miss' was overrated; I was neither a lady nor a respectable – in society's point of view – woman, only a cold assassin who could kill. But the way he said it was calming me down and making me flustered at the very same time. "Yes," I stated firmly, a little too harsh, but I kept my voice down nevertheless. I turned my head slowly towards him, looking if he was focussing on the battlefield in front of him.

He was not.

His green eyes gazed into mine with such intensity that I almost forgot my surroundings. These kind-hearted eyes had the magical power to make me feel emotions I had long forgotten: Security, warmness and peace. I froze when his hand cupped my cheek.

"Everything will be all right, I promise," a gentle smile graced his face. "I am right here."

To my astonishment, my body refused to shed away from him. To let somebody touch me was making me feel extremely uncomfortable, but this time, it made me feel save. Something between us had changed and it was a complete new experience for me. I did not know what to think of it.

The fights between the Marine and pirates continued and after almost an hour, we were ready to enter the battle.

"Attack!" Captain Fernández Carriedo shouted. So it began.

Toris grabbed me by my hand and dragged me away from the main fights. I had asked him – before we hid – to search for Elizabeta's father. He had not refused my quest. Now we were running towards Roberts' ship, knowing that Elizabeta and Kirkland had the same in mind. It was an easy task to approach it. The enemies were no danger and taken down within seconds. The two of us were a well-coordinated team, prepared for each moves and strokes. Whereas I kicked someone away and moved on, he stabbed them before they could follow us. As five of the enemies encircled us, I stood back to back with Toris, preparing to lash. One of them attacked me and I ducked, using my right leg to flip his body over. At that time, Toris had taken two down, wielding his sword without difficulties. The other two took their sword and attempted to hit me, as the Colonel threw me his weapon. My hand caught it while I bent down and slit their legs. I moved behind them quickly and wielded the blades backward; pushing the two swords in the backs of the nasty pirates. Both of the men fell forward; their lifeless eyes facing the grounds.

Toris' light smile heightened my spirits, "Nice one."

I nodded, and we both moved forward.

Elizabeta had entered the Vessel as we arrived at the scene. Kirkland was distracting the armed men with his flawless moves. However, he was up against ten persons and minute by minute, the Captain was struggling to keep up with their paces.

Toris watched me. "I will take the right side while you take care of the left," he commented, eyeing me from the side. My eyes met his with an exciting glint. "Alright," I answered, a little smirk adorning my face.

We succeeded in weakening their group and Kirkland lashed out on the pirate in front of him before he followed Elizabeta. "How many do you think are in there?" I asked Toris, who in response guessed that there would be some, but he wanted to stay outside the vessel to attack anyone who would try to approach or leave the ship; with the exceptions of Elizabeta, her father and Kirkland. The latter one rushed out after a few minutes, "We need to bring them somewhere safe."

"Have you found him?"

Kirkland nodded with a small smile and it was at that certain moment that I saw a relieved Elizabeta exiting the ship with her father. She looked exhausted, the fights and overwhelming moments of meeting her father were probably straining her nerves. Both walked down the plank, the older male leaned against his daughter. "Thank God, I finally have saved you, father," Elizabeta pressed her head to his shoulder. The older Captain looked tired, his face adorned with several blue marks. It was no secret that Roberts loved to torture his hostages and upon seeing Elizabeta's worried face, I knew that she would take revenge; a step I would take too if someone important to me would have been faced anguish assaults. "Make haste," Kirkland ordered and attempted to rush to the words but was stopped by a tall muscular frame.

"Lass, do you think you can take him and leave," the man pulled his rusty sword from the sheath, "I bet not."

He attacked Elizabeta extremely fast.

She pushed her father away from her, dodging the strong hit. It knocked the wind out of her lungs but she took her other hand to support her sword's blocking. Toris had caught the injured old Captain and looked at me. "Take care of him," he commanded in a soft tone.

"Captain, we will take care of you," I firmly said, watching Elizabeta struggle with her power. "And we will safe her." I made one step but stopped abruptly.

Another one of their stupid crew had ran towards us and stood in front of me, wielding a sword.

"So you must be the famous assassin, Natalya Arlovskaya," he roared, a devilish smirk reaching his ears. "It will be a pleasure to fight, now put that trash aside and fight me."

At the mention of addressing my old Captain as trash, I felt anger rising inside my chest. How dare he? "Go and kill him," the older man next to me whispered with a knowing glint in his eyes. He leaned himself on the ship's side, trying to regain some strength. I did not need to be told twice; I would kill for my crew, taking orders from my Captain. And the enemy in front of me was a disgusting idiot. My feet pushed me to my enemy, ready to slash him with all my energy. I knocked him out quickly, but could not kill him as my eyes wandered to Elizabeta. Although she was a tough fighter, she seemed extremely distracted. She was eyeing her father and not concentrating on the man in front of her. The big guy pushed her down with only using one hand on his sword while his other arm moved forward, a little knife in his hand. He slit her upper part of her body. She let go of her sword, clutching her stomach before she was knocked out by the hilt of the enemy's sword. "Elizabeta!" her father screamed, limping towards her fallen form, ignoring the bold man who was hoisting his sword over Elizabeta's unconscious body. The enemy's deadly swing of the sword was prevented by Toris' blocking move. He was now facing the strong pirate with his will to protect his new allies.

"Move by side, boy."

"Who are you calling a boy, pirate?" Toris hissed, "If you are not caught by the Marine, I will kill you myself."

"Natalya, we need to move," Kirkland pressed, carrying unconsciousness Elizabeta, while her father gripped my shoulder for support. Toris was still struggling; he wanted us to flee while he would stop the enemy from following us. My feet stopped and I had an unsettling feeling about Toris' safety.

"Run!" the brown haired Commander ordered, eyeing me. I knew if I would leave him, he would not make it. Some men of Roberts were moving towards us; even though they seemed far away, I had the feeling that they would quickly help their crew member. My eyes glanced at my older Captain, who understood my thinking. He let go of me once again, and I grabbed a little knife from my pocket.

I would throw it; I had been trained all my life to do it. Toris seemed to notice my presence and steadied his position. With one move, he took a grab on the enemy's hands on the hilt. The opponent, being completely surprised by this move was too slow to see my sprinting form. One second later, I threw the knife between his eyes. I reached Toris and pulled him back, so we could escape safely. He, without complaining, carried Elizabeta's father, while I was watching the surroundings. We could not have taken over the ship in such a state; waiting was the best option. And it was still unclear what would happen with the marine and the other pirates.

On our way to find a safe shelter, Toris eyed me with a confusing face. "Why did you help me?"

My eyes met his. How could I not help him? What kind of a question was that? "I could not left you alone, you would have died," I answered. Upon seeing his gaping expression and red cheeks, I changed my statement. "I-I mean, we are an alliance now, aren't we?" I spoke hastily, feeling as my face heated up. I averted my eyes from him moving forward.

As we arrived in a secure place in the middle of the woods, we stopped, looking if the both wounded were in critical conditions. "Elizabeta had taken quite a blow and the cut is not as deep as I thought," Kirkland stated, pushing a fabric handkerchief on her stomach. "But they she will be all right. I will return to look for the others, you will stay here. I analysed the situation, Roberts has a lot of casualties and we are on the winning side."

He moved through the trees, leaving us behind. "Hopefully," I muttered and observed as Toris watched Elizabeta. "What is your name Sir?"

Toris lifted his head towards the source of the voice. "Toris," he spoke calmly.

"My name is Nikolas," my old Captain whispered, "Thank you for saving my daughter." He held her head in his lap, brushing her hair with his hands.

"You are welcome," Toris sighed, his eyes gazing at me and I could not prevent myself from smiling at him. We had saved him. We finally had saved Elizabeta's father. My former Captain.

[A/N: I received a review that some chapters were uploaded twice and the editing was quite chaotic. So I looked it up and I really screwed up the editing :'D Chapter 13 and 12 were the same just as 14 and 15 and I somehow replaced chapter 12 completely. Briefly speaking: the editing system was absolute messy, so I fixed it :3 (added chapter 12, posted the real chapter 13 and 15 :) ). And the action has begun ~ Although I think that I really fail at writing fighting scenes :'D. I chose the name Nikolas for Lizzie's father :). This story will probably have 45 to 50 chapters :)]

Replies to the reviews:

ScarletPrussia : Thank you for the review :3 I fixed it :D sorry for the inconvenience :O

Aquafin : Thank you :D I will upload every Friday :)