PROMPT: continuation of chapter 5. Bonnie works on figuring out where Stefan is with Damon's help, but makes a disturbing discovery.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the characters, I make no money from this.

It's a dismal night for Damon, stuck in a dark cell with barely any light, strange sounds coming from all directions. His restraints are gone, at least, but his wrists sting from rope burn and his meal is paltry, he's never eaten so little in his life. It's only around midday when Bloodsucker and the pirate captured by the commodore, Tyler Lockwood known as Wolf, comes in.

Bloodsucker unlocks the cell door, stepping inside while Wolf watches silently, brushing back his waistcoat to reveal a pistol. "If you make even one move to attack us, Wolf will put a bullet in you before you can even make it to the stairs. Are we in agreement that you will comply, Damon?"

"Understood," Damon replies through gritted teeth, glaring at them but Bloodsucker just smiles, stepping into the cell and begins to tie up his wrists again.

Wolf finally speaks, his intense gaze making Damon squirm a little. "This is fratello's brother?"

"Fratello?" Damon asks stupidly, "you mean Stefan?"

"Only Duchess ever used his real name. We were not afforded such luxuries," Bloodsucker chuckles, tightening the ropes with relish, and grabs Damon's roughly, her nails digging into his skin. "Time to go above and join the crew, Damon."

"W-What?" Damon squawks, but the two pirates just guffaw.

They both lead him through the ship, past other empty cells and through a narrow hallway where other doors are closed, holding unknown secrets but they head up a set of rickety stairs, Wolf pushing open the hatch and Damon grimaces at the sudden light of the day. There's only clear skies overhead, a salty breeze in the air and people moving around the ship quickly. A couple of them linger for a few seconds when they see Damon, exchanging smirks and likely whispering snide comments. How uncivilized.

Wolf nods at Bloodsucker, heading to the front of the ship while Damon is led in the opposite direction, heading up another set of stairs. Bonnie's at the helm of the ship, her hair blowing in the wind, dressed less formally but still no less intimidating, and Damon can't help but notice how at ease she looks, he can tell this is her natural element, manning the ship through the brash waves.

"Captain," Bloodsucker greets her, and Bonnie turns her attention towards them.

"Good, you've brought our captive. Damon, lovely to see you. Shall we get started?" Bonnie asks smoothly, and Damon frowns. "Hunter, will you take the helm?"

A large man with brown hair and oddly similar features to Duchess steps forward with a nod. "Of course, my lady."

"Perfect," Bonnie smiles, moving towards the back of the ship where Duchess is examining different maps and a compass on a wooden table. "Duch, are we ready?"

"All we need is Damon's blood, captain. Then you may start the spell."

"Then let us begin," Bonnie turns to Damon, taking out a dagger and he recoils, but instead she cuts his restraints. "You won't be free for long, but I require your blood, which means I must release you for a little while."

"I don't understand, how will my blood help you locate my brother?"

"Through magic."

Damon stares at Bonnie for a moment in disbelief, but she seems completely serious as she examines the map, rearranging its position. "No...no, you jest, that's blasphemy. Magic doesn't exist, it's just fairytales and poppycock!"

"Well, you're about to get quite the shock," Bonnie smirks, grabbing Damon's hand, and turns his hand over so his palm is upwards. Her hands are calloused and slightly scarred, but still surprisingly soft and lithe, sending a tingle up Damon's arm. She uses her other hand to place the dagger against his palm, putting a little pressure against his skin. "This will hurt."

She digs deeper, cutting his palm and Damon grimaces but manages to keep his wits, not wanting to embarrass himself, even if he's stuck on a ship with dirty pirates. Bonnie moves the dagger along his palm, making a narrow cut and once it's big enough, she sets down the dagger and folds his hand into a fist. Damon watches, caught off-guard by the gentle motions of Bonnie's hands, trying not to be bothered by the natural fit of their hands. It's absolutely foolish to make something out of a gesture as insignificant as this.

Damon's blood drips down from his hand onto the map, staining the worn paper and Bonnie releases Damon's hand. He frowns, shoving down the acute sense of disappointment settling in his chest and focuses on the map, a little confused as to how his blood will help locate his brother. He watches as Bonnie holds her hands over the map, shutting her eyes and begins to speak.

"Ra, Zhurong, Hephaestus, Pele...I, manus, implore you to let my power find the one I seek," Bonnie says, and Damon notices a change in the air; the wind's a little sharper, the ocean waves look larger in the distance and the air smells of smoke. "Let ignis guide my path, let the flame show me where Stefan Salvatore has gone."

The blood on the map turns to fire, causing Damon to jump back violently, his eyes widening as the flames grow. Bonnie opens her eyes, watching the map intently and Duchess is doing the same, waiting hungrily. Damon takes a cautious step forward too, watching as the fire moves across the map, growing bigger and begins to take shape.

"Should...should the flame be that large?" he asks dubiously.

"No," Bonnie replies, looking slightly troubled, "it should pinpoint a location on the map, it's never been that large...it's something else."

The flames die down a little, Damon recognizing the shape as a constellation, two lines parallel with two slightly bent U-shapes connecting them at the end. Damon looks up to see Bonnie's face is ashen at this revelation, and Duchess is giving her a fearful look.

"What? What is it?" Damon demands, looking between the two. It's clear they know what this means.

"The map lies. This cannot be," Bonnie hisses, making a swiping motion and the flames immediately die out, replaced by a narrow scorch mark staining the map.

Duchess approaches Bonnie, speaking urgently in a low voice. "Bonnie...what if it's true? What if they survived and captured Stefan? Your magic has never failed before-"

"Elena, you know as well as I that it's...unlikely. All we have is their symbol, this is either a tiny piece of a giant puzzle or a trick to throw us off the scent."

"But it might be a clue, we have to consider that-"

"It's a possibility, but a dangerous one. You know what this could mean for Ste-"

Damon's a little surprised at Bonnie letting Duchess's real name slip out, but he's more concerned with their hushed exchange, the edge of fear in their voices. If the infamous siren witch of the seas is afraid of these people, what does that mean for Stefan? But Damon failed his brother all those years ago, he could not save his brother but he will not make the same mistake again. "Who's them? Why have we not set course to find my brother if you know what the symbol means?!"

Bonnie turns to him, her eyes blazing and her mouth is pressed into a thin line. "It's a very dangerous coven that will have my head, your brother's and my crew's if they are back! We will be as good as marked in their eyes. You have no idea the enemies I have, the lengths they will go to undermine me! There are now many complications that I have to consider!"

"It sounds a lot like you're refusing to save my brother," Damon retaliates, not realizing that some people have lingered to watch their argument.

"You are not in any position to dare quarrel with me! I do not have to listen to you, especially when you know nothing!" Bonnie rages, looking even angrier by the second and the smell of smoke is back in the air, Damon's temperature starting to rise unexpectedly. "How dare you dishonour me by suggesting I would dare abandon your brother!"

"Bonnie," Elena interrupts, her arm crossed tightly with an impatient look, "Send him back to his cell, let us talk alone. Let us take a course of action, I won't stop searching until I find Stefan..."

"I know," Bonnie replies sharply, looking a little more calm but she's still glaring at Damon heatedly. "we will discuss this, but let us sail for Purgatory. Let them confirm the truth."

Later that night, someone comes again to Damon's cell, a man with golden hair and a tan to match, his blue eyes startlingly bright but like everyone else on this ship, Damon knows this man is dangerous and uncouth.

"Your presence is required at dinner," the man says, a smirk playing on his lips and Damon frowns.

"What? Why?"

"You'll be with us for a while. Captain thinks it would be best if you acclimate to the ship and the crew-mates."

"I will do no such thing!"

"You have no authority on this ship, so I'd start closing that mouth of yours," the man grabs Damon roughly, his grip tight and begins to bring Damon above deck. "Probably best that you meet everyone. I'm Soldier."

"What's your real name?"

"If I told you, then I'd have to kill you."

Damon gulps, lowering his eyes and Soldier laughs, pushing him through another door and Damon finds himself in the galley, everyone talking and laughing until they see him, quieting down instantly, Bonnie being the last to notice at the head of the table.

"Captain, I brought our guest of honour," Soldier declares, and everyone snickers at his statement, eyeing Damon with amusement.

"Well, come join our feast," she says, her voice carrying over the din and Soldier moves Damon, sitting down at two empty seats and Bonnie is only a couple seats away, deep in conversation with Bloodsucker and another man Damon doesn't recognize. Soldier takes out his sword, cutting Damon's binds and he looks at the pirate in surprise.

"You're freeing me?"

Soldier chuckles, already helping himself to a pint of ale and salted beef. "You'd be dead on the floor before you'd even manage to escape your seat. Do not believe this is an opportunity for you, Damon."

"Right," even if Damon can't do much, this might actually be an opportunity to get some more answers. "Why does no one use their real name?"

"It'd be dangerous, don't you think? We'd give too much of ourselves away. Of course, there's a story behind every name but the mystery protects us. Only our captain's real name is well-known, but considering what she's done, it'd be hard to stay hidden."

Damon swallows, already half-regretting the question escaping his lips. "So...so the rumours about her? How she burned her village? Stole a ship from the Mikaelsons? Never let a British ship survive an encounter with them? Are they all true?"

"Yes," Soldier says calmly, and Damon tries to keep a straight face, now not in the least bit hungry. "Of course, the stories are more complicated than they seem, but yes, they all happened."

"Why...why would you choose to join a ship like this? Cause such violence and destruction?"

Soldier gives Damon a warning look, clearly telling him not to press any further but answers the question nonetheless. "We are pirates - it's what we do. The Crown is no different in their pursuits. They have no problem taking over islands, brutalizing the inhabitants and marking it as their own with blood and gunpowder. We are paying them in kind. This world is cruel - it was cruel when me and my sister were born to a maid and a commodore in the Royal Navy who gave us nothing, where we were treated like animals at risk of anyone facing the wrath of the commodore's wife. It was cruel when my mother died and I was forced onto the streets with my sister, where we nearly died of consumption. Life has not treated us in kind, but now we are alive and well. We sail the seas with Bonnie, do what we want and go where we please...my sister is at the end of the table, she's the one with the auburn hair and red waistcoat."

Damon finds the girl, drinking rum and laughing delightedly along with a couple others. "She looks happy."

"She is. We all are - none of us have led happy lives, but Bonnie has given us that. We are not good men or women, that's fair, but so few are. Your own brother has blood on your hands, but he was happy before he disappeared. Family, freedom, a beautiful wife-"

Damon chokes on the ale he just took a sip of. "Duchess never said she was Stefan's wife!"

"Two years now," Soldier laughs, "it was a beautiful ceremony, I can hardly forget the night - could be because some Royal Naval ships attacked our ship right before the ceremony, but really, you didn't know? Duchess, you didn't mention to Damon that you married fratello?"

Duchess turns her attention to them, a little sheepish and holds out her hand to show a beautiful pearl ring. "I thought Damon could only handle so much at a time. Didn't seem all that important, not without Stefan here."

This dampens the mood a little, but Bonnie speaks up. "Once we get to Purgatory, we will find out what has happened with Stefan. You know I won't stop my search for him."

"What do you intend to learn in Purgatory?" Damon interrupts sharply, a couple people giving him a dirty look for even daring to talk to their captain.

"If I should risk heading into a battle that will bring no victory. I will not let any of my crew die. I need guidance, I can only do so much with my gifts."

"You practice magic...surely that's enough."

Everyone listening chuckles at Damon's response, shaking their heads in amusement which only makes him vexed, and Bonnie responds with a small smile. "I'm afraid not. I am...a different kind of witch. You see, magic is hard to control and can be quite volatile, very few witches succeed with their gifts, some have to spend years practicing before they conjure up anything. I, however, was born with a gift of Nature."

"Manus," Damon recalls, "hand, you said you were the hand...you also prayed to gods of fire."

"It's my gift," Bonnie smiles, "mind you, it's not my only ability but it's my most powerful one. I had to learn to control it, like others with a gift of Nature, sometimes it controls me, but fire is my specialty. I was chosen by Nature to be their hand, to be the sword that delivers bad omens and unleashes the power of the flame."

"And the people who might've taken my brother...do they have magic too?"

"In a way, yes, but also no, not naturally. I have dealt with them before, they know my wrath," the candles in the room seem to burn brighter at Bonnie's next words. "and they know they will burn at my hands for their treachery."

Reviews are appreciated! Part 3 coming soon.