The Red Witch: A Pirate's Tale (Closed)

[prettyserpentine]

It had been three years since Captain had lost his head in the notorious Battle of Long Arm Bay. Three years since his trusty first mate had taken his hat, and the helm of his ship, and his crew. The first mate had been trusted by the crew since birth, the only offspring born to the old Captain by a pretty tavern-wench who had died bearing the child. It was raised on the sea by a crew of surrogate pirate fathers, who each loved the child as the ships loved the surf.

The voice of the Captain rang out across the deck, as they were docked in Lisbon. "Ready her sails, boys! We're going to take her virginity across the Atlantic this day, see how she likes the spray of the sea on her!!” The men laughed and the captain pointed to the sister ship, the more worn looking one. "Get the Star ready! I'll be boarding her once we set sail, all the cargo and deckhands on board! I want her close, but not close enough to hold hands, you hear?!"

A shrill chorus of 'Aye, aye, Cap'n' rang out in the salty air. The new deckhands filed onto the deck as they stomped up the gangplank, looking up at the forward deck. One of the deckhands, for there were three, spat tobacco on the deck.

"Oi! You there, with the nice arse! Where's the Captain when he's at home?!"

The woman on the deck turned, to look over her shoulder. She had a long tumble of flame red hair, pinned up under her hat, a few stray tendrils around her face. She had blue-green eyes, like the sea. She was clad in black trousers and knee high buckled boots, with a thick leather belt that held a seasoned sword and a flintlock at her hips. She wore a white silk shirt with a red scarf around the collar, buttoned up with silver buttons. The sleeves were finished with lace, and stuck out of the bottom of the sleeves of her worn, dusty black coats with huge lapels that came down to mid-thigh. It was evident she was a worker. She had to be, to earn her keep on a ship full of rowdy men. She turned to face them fully, her hands on her hips. She was pretty, with a full lower lip, her mouth emblazoned in red lipstick, a broad smirk on her face. Her waist was slender, with not long, but not short, and very shapely and strong legs, and, as the deckhand had observed, a nice ass. She was buxom, inherited surely from her tavern-wench mother. Her foot tapped on the deck.

"What did you say?" She glared at the man, adjusting her wide brimmed hat.

The deckhand looked at the two men on either side of him, and snorted. "Alright darlin'. I said: Oi. You. With the nice arse. Where's the Captain when he's at home?!"

The woman burst into raucous laughter, and the crew laughed right along with her. The deckhand smirked, and started to laugh too as she walked down the steps. She looked at the cocky young man, sizing him up. Then she looked at the man to his left, who had a nasty scar on his lip and was laughing too. Then she looked at the man to his right, who just looked right back at her stoically, not laughing. She smirked even harder, and moved back to the man on the left, drew her pistol, and shot him in the chest without even blinking.

The cocky deckhand's jaw dropped, and she grunted, swinging her fist and clocking him right across the jaw with a resounding *crack*. He spat blood on the deck. Then she grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up to face her. She was still smirking.

"I'm the captain, when she’s at home." She spoke calmly, and turned his head to the corpse on the ground. "I didn't like him. And I don't like you. You and your friend here are bleeding on my nice, shiny new ship." She shoved him away from her, glaring, her eyes dark and angry. "Clean it up, and if you spit on my deck again I'm going to cut out your tongue and use it to clean my 'nice arse'!" She glanced at the remaining, silent deckhand. "Get a mop."

The crew laughed as she went up the stairs again, wiping the blood off her knuckles. She looked down, the handsome deckhand had disappeared already, the cocky one with the blood nose still stood there. She slammed her hands down on the wooden rail. "I said clean it up! I didn't say the mop was for you, Slack-Jaw!” she thundered, enraged. "You have clothes on your back, use that, you fucking cur before I shoot your bollocks off!!"

He dropped to his knees and the crew burst out laughing again. She rolled her eyes at her first mate. "Honestly, Bates, he'll never last. What a sorry excuse for a sailor."

Bates laughed, and continued looking over the maps. "Where to then, Littlin? The world's your oyster."

She looked over the maps and pointed to a few places. "Italy? The East? What about somewhere warm?" She looked up at him and he smiled down at her. She shook her head. "Stop looking at me like that. They'll think we're nice people," she said, smirking at him. "We aren't very nice."

Bates laughed again. "You're bloody right! We aren't very nice at all!" He turned, his deep voice booming across the two ships. "Cargo on board?!"

"Aye!"

"New recruits?!”

"Aye!" The crewmen laughed. The deckhand with the bloody nose was standing looking at the corpse. The one who had fetched the mop had just run back on deck. One of the older crewmen called out: "What about the one with the nice arse?!” The ship erupted in jeers, and the Captain jumped up on the wooden rail, sword in hand, holding onto the mast. "That's Captain Cordelia Locke to you, you filthy dogs!" They cheered. She drew her sword with a flourish and pointed it west. "Raise anchors! Hoist the sails, and cast off!" She turned her face to the older ship. "Westerly Star, sail on!!” She raised her sword to the crow's nest of the new ship and hollered: "Red Witch, sail on!!"

The sails let down and billowed as the anchor was drawn up and the wind caught them, the ship started turning into the tide. The Captain stood on the deck, her legs planted apart, her hands on the rail as Bates steered the ship, taking them onto open water. She breathed in the cool salty air. "That's more like it." Her red hair blew back from her face in the wind as she strode along the deck, her crewmen nodding their heads as she passed, her heeled boots knocking on the wood. She noticed the two deckhands, the handsome one was mopping up the corpse's blood, and the body was already wrapped up. He was quick. Slack-Jaw was sitting on a barrel, a rag pressed against his nose. He never even looked at her.

She slipped her hand down against her hip, cocking the flintlock. She extended her right arm, her face pointed to the fore of her ship, her eyes slitted and focused on the lazy deckhand as she pulled the trigger and the bullet unloaded into his head. He tumbled off the barrel, and landed on the deck. She sighed, pushing him overboard with her boot, and smiled as she heard the inevitable splash.

The cheer from the crew was instant, as she stood there with her smoking gun. She looked at the last deckhand, as he scrubbed the blood away, and she smiled.

"I only needed one."

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

Alex “Angel” Tiberuis life had changed in mere seconds it seemed

He watched the captain kick the man overboard and kept mopping in fear of what she would do to him, he was new to a life at sea and the way the captain was cutting new recruits he didn’t know if his lack of experience would be a problem that she solved with a shot to his back. He thought about cursing his previous employer a wealthy farmer who used to employ him to tend the harvest, He was good at being a farm hand (as well he should since he had been one all his life) and even though he thirsted for adventure he was paid well so he continued to do it.

Until this year when the farm harvest had run dry, it wasn’t his fault that the soil just wasn’t working for them properly this year but his employer hadn’t had enough to pay him any ways. Which ultimately led to him being fired and left with out a home. Angel had packed up his meager belongings and set off for the dock, he wanted a life of adventure; he wanted to see strange new places, do strange new things.

And even find love

Luckily he was a fit man, years of working soil shirtless in the sun had left him with a impressive physique and deep tan skin, his face was strong with striking features and electric green eyes, he had a mop of black hair that he kept pulled back and his chin was rough with stubble. He didn’t know what to wear on a ship so he stopped in the port and used some of his last coin to buy a pair of black leggings, boots that the man promised were meant to be on a ship, and a white linen shirt that was cool and light.

He found a ship named the star, it wasn’t flying any of the nations colors and he was glad, he had been to the bar enough times to hear sailors talking about how bad it was to sign with a ship waving a country’s flag. The world was always in turmoil and nations switched their alliances like a drunk switched his drinks. Angel was looking for adventure but not suicide and the star was offering simple work mainly unloading and loading boxes lifting was a job Angel had more than enough experience with so he signed on along with a couple of other men.

Men who were know dead

Angel should have done his home work a bit before signing on maybe even talked to some of the dock workers, what he had incorrectly assumed was a merchant ship was in reality a pirate ship, a pirate ship run by the most frightening and more importantly beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on.

Who now seemed to be his captain

He continued scrubbing the blood trying to ignore the temptation to stare at the captain; she was beautiful more beautiful than any one he had ever seen before. She was a goddess of the sea with striking features and almost glow that surrounded her. Even though he had just watched her calmly kill two men and dump them over board, he wasn’t afraid her beauty was just too much for him to take.

Angel had wanted adventure hadn’t he? Well he certainly would get enough as a pirate. He heard tales of what they did and even though he knew nothing of being on a ship or combat he could surely learn couldn’t he? He took a deep breath and looked back at his home for a few seconds before turning back to the blood stain and attacking it with a determined expression, he would embrace this life, he would be a pirate a life on the high seas was what he wanted and for better or worse………..

He got it

Angel jumped realizing she was talking to him, he finished getting the last of the blood off the deck and turned standing straight and tall.

“Aye captain” Angel said ignoring the others stares “My name is Alex Tiberius but every one calls me Angel I am here to sail with you captain and give you my loyalty and services” he said watching her closely.

If he was going to get shot in the chest he wanted to see it coming

 

[prettyserpentine]

She pursed her lips and blew the smoke from her pistol into his face, arching her dark eyebrows. A half smile played on her lips. "Your loyalty?" She giggled, and some of the crewmen frowned. "My dear boy, you throw your loyalty to the first ship you step onto, you won't last long." She holstered her pistol and threw her arms wide. "These men are loyal. Some have a lifetime of service. I have a lifetime of service. I was born and reared on the sea. The first thing I drank wasn't mother's milk, it was my father's rum!" There was laughter from the men. She looked at him seriously. "We shall see if you turn out like my First Mate Bates here, a man worthy of the sun... Or your friends." She nodded to the corpse on the floor and the one floating in the sea like a cork in water.

She turned, walking back to the stern of her vessel, yelling as she went. "Someone show our Mister Angel where the bunks are! And then two weeks and we shall be in the sunny tropics of the Caribbean!! Where the women are as loose as Old Miles' shoelaces and the rum is as strong as his socks!!” She walked up the stairs to the helm. "I want my deck nice and shiny, Mister Angel!"

Bates scowled at her. "Now, Littlin, I saw the look you gave him..."

She swatted him with her hand. "He's handsome. We've never had a handsome boy before. Not one who looks like he can handle the work."

He continued to scowl. "I don't think he knows who you are."

She laughed. "Well then. Bunk time tonight'll be fun. Tell him some stories."

Bates smiled. "I know just the one."

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

Angel cursed his luck again before getting on with his chore; he should have not said any thing! His mother had taught him to be a gentleman but not a fool. He hadn’t been on the ship for four hours and he was already saying and doing the wrong thing. He supposed it wasn’t his fault he had never been in this situation before but he also needed to learn and learn fast.

He finished the deck getting it shinier then it ever had been, he was good at manual labor and since he had done it his entire life it helped calm him for some reason. The sun was high in the sky by the time he was done and he picked up his shirt and pulled it back on, he had asked some one if he could take his shirt off while he was working and they said it was fine but he didn’t want the captain to think he was lax or to comfortable.

“Come on lass” A weathered sailor, said smiling at him “I’ll be showing you to your bunk then we can go get some food”

“Thanks” Angel said following him “Mr.?”

“Lars” The sailor said walking below deck and smiling at a few passing men “my name is Mr. Lars don’t worry about the captain she talks a mean game but loyalty to her is some thing she prizes”

“I have a feeling it wont be the last time I make a ass of my self” Angel replied grinning and putting his few possessions in his bunk. Mr. Lars waited for a few seconds before he led him down another deck to the mess hall. The cook was already ladling out todays food and Angel thanked him when he got his own bowl. Mr. Lars led him down to a table with a couple of other men who welcomed him with a few gentle teasing words. Angel smiled and let them have fun at him he was to busy wolfing down his food to care.

 

[prettyserpentine]

Bates walked into the mess and slapped Lars on the back, almost making the man choke on his food. His voice boomed, and seemed oddly confined to the small space the men ate in.

"So. Lost your friends in one day. Not at they were much to glance at, according to the Captain. She seems to think you're a worker, and she's rarely wrong."

Old Miles coughed in the corner. "Now come Bates, don't you remember that one time she was wrong...?"

Bates turned. "I don't think I do, Old Miles. Why don't you remind me?"

Old Miles coughed again. "Sure ya do... That Eastern fella. Accused her of bein' wrong about the way to run her ship, mind!!"

Bates smiled, he had a gold tooth that shone in the candlelight. "And what happened to him?"

Old Miles coughed again. "She done killed 'im!!”

The whole room burst into laughter and thumping of the table, and comments of how bloodthirsty the Captain was, how hard and how bad tempered.

"So, boy, is this your first time on a ship like this?”

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

Angel kept his face carefully composed listening to their stories, and laughing when they did, they were trying to scare him and even if their tales were true it didn’t matter to him he was on the ship now and he wasn’t going to back down so easily.

“It is” Angel said looking over at all of them “I was a farm hand not even a week ago I lost my job when the harvest was less than the owner was expecting not my fault mind you” Angel said scowling “damn fool tried to spend less and got an inferior product so since I’ve always wanted to be on a ship I went down to the docks and joined up”

“Did you now you were joining a pirates vessel?” Mr. Lars said laughing along with the others.

“I will admit that I did not” Angel said causing all the pirates to laugh “I thought this was a merchant ship” he admitted wincing as the veteran sailors proceeded to jest at him and his lack of experience.

 

[prettyserpentine]

"We are a merchant's ship," said a voice from the doorway. A female voice. "Just not the right kind of merchants." Cordelia Locke walked into the room, and grabbed a bowl of stew from the cook, and a mug of rum. She threw her leg over the bench and planted herself down at the head of the table. She looked at Angel's bowl.

She set hers down with a frown. "You ate without waiting for us to say grace?" Her shining teal eyes looked up at Bates, then around at Old Miles. "Where is my pistol?!” She slammed the mug of rum down with a thump, and it sloshed onto the table. The room fell silent. "Now you made me spill my rum...."

Bates cursed under his breath, and several of the men stared into their bowls like they were in a storm. Maybe they were.

"I won't have manners like that on my ship!" She yelled. The silence that followed was deafening until she burst out laughing, and lifted her mug of rum, draining it in one go. Bates refilled it straight away and she lifted it again. "Here's to dead deckhands!"

The crew toasted, and cheered, and soon fell back into raucous storytelling and contented eating. The Captain hung her hat on a rusty nail and lifted her leg, setting her heel on the bench beside her and propping her elbow against her knee as she ate and drank. She couldn't have been more than twenty, if she was even that. Yet her eyes betrayed her, she had seen hardship and strife in her life, and it had hardened her heart.

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

Angel blew out a short breath of relief, for a second he had feared for his life but it seemed the threat had passed. The captain was a little unhinged it would seem chaotic at best he would have to be careful of her and how he acted. She was beautiful but Angel wasn’t prepared to die yet.

He finished his food occasionally peeking up at the captain, again eh was struck with how beautiful she was. It was almost unsettling and Angel felt his heart thumping painfully in his chest every time she smiled or arched her pretty neck. He knew he should be terrified of her (and certainly not peeking glances at her) but he just couldn’t help it some thing was drawing him to her some thing he couldn’t quite under stand.

“Do not leave until I do” Mr. Lars said looking at him “lest ye want to be teased again by the captain” he reminded him before turning and chatting with a few storytellers.

“Aye” Angel said looking over at the captain again, he drained another tankard of rum and joined Mr. Lars in a game of lairs dice.

 

[prettyserpentine]

She finished her rum and the sorry excuse for stew that the cook had made and left her dishes on the table as she lifted her hat and adjusted it onto her head.

"Right Bates, I'm going up top. The further we get from land the rougher it'll get. And I didn't like the look of the horizon when we left." She pulled on the end of Bates' beard. "I reckon if its not tonight, it'll be tomorrow. We shall baton down the hatches and such like tomorrow." She glanced at Lars. "See you've taken a shine to our Mister Angel here. See you show him the ropes tonight. See how he manages with no sleep, how much worse that stubble can get."

A smiled flashed across her blood red lips and she laughed to herself, striding out of the room, the crewmen watching as she left.

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

“Aye captain” Mr. Lars said wincing and getting up. Angel got up before he could say any thing watching him nervously. Had he just gotten his only friend condemned for speaking to him?

“I’m sorry” Angel whispered the second they walked out of the cabin.

“Don’t be” Mr. Lars said laughing “I like the ropes so I don’t mind plus I get to watch you stumble around like an idiot” he said laughing and going above deck.

And so began Angels first night as a pirate

Mr. Lars decided to teach him rigging and sail handling first, he took him up onto the sails showing him how to navigate and climb the different riggings. Angel immediately took a shine to it, he loved climbing back home and the rocking of the sea provided a whole new set of challenges. He mastered them quickly and soon he was swinging and jumping with Mr. Lars expertly tying sailors knots and running drills for different maneuvers excelling at them all.

 

[prettyserpentine]

Three days later...

"Well I heard it from Old Miles. The Turkish gentleman tried to woo her, and discovered she hadn't ever had a man, and she killed him before he could tell anybody."

"That's bollocks. I heard that her and old Bates were at it!"

"You hold your tongue, if anyone hears you at that she'll skin you, or shoot you, or throw you to the sharks!"

The two old men bickered outside the door of the privy, glancing around to ensure they were alone.

"She likes that new fella."

"He's a good worker, that. She definitely picked the right ones to shoot, she did. Takes after her father, that way."

"Suppose she does. Looks like her mother though. Swear to the waves, if Captain Locke hadn't have got her with child, I would have definitely had a go. She was one of the most ill bred, naughty..."

*crack*

Bates stood in the door, the small whip in his hand flexing back as he flogged the two men. He roared about their impertinence and loose tongues, speaking so close to the bunks and defiling the Captain's good name.

Up on deck, she smiled. She could always count on him to dole out the fierce punishment. It didn't bother her, flogging someone, she just hated the time it took her away from her job. She'd worked hard her whole life to make her father proud, to help him build a dynasty. And now they had the second ship. Maybe someday she would have a fleet, and hire it out to fight battles. She grinned, her arm hanging over the edge of the boat's stern. She loved looking at the rippling, white foamy wake her ship left behind it.

The stories the men told about her didn't bother her. She liked the legends, they had said the same things about her father when he was captain. She knew they exaggerated, but they didn't have to all that often about her. She had a fierce temper, definitely her mother's. She pushed herself to her feet and strode off to her cabin, passing the new deckhand as he practiced knots.

"Good job. You're getting better."

As she neared her cabin, she sniffed the air, and looked around, her hair a little mussed by the wind. She looked concerned, her brow furrowing as she narrowed her eyes at the sky.

It was starting to rain.

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

Three days

Three days of a new life, a life he found he was better at then even he would have guessed. He could climb the riggings as good as any seasoned sailor and his sword skills were getting better and better (Mr. Lars said he had a aptitude for it). It was the small things that were the toughest for him tying knots and things of that nature.

But he was getting better every day

He nodded at the captain words then paused looking up at the air, he had spent most of his life outside and he knew nature well enough to see that it was about to rain. Alex glanced over and noticed the captain narrowing her eyes up at the sky to and he knew she could feel it to.

Angel got up and put his knots away, he walked over to the riggings and lifted himself up climbing higher and higher until he could see the cloud heads forming in front of them. He paused and looked down waiting for the captains orders from his position he could get across the ship easily and go wherever she asked him to go.

 

[prettyserpentine]

Cordelia ran to the front of the ship, and could see it. It wasn't anything major, a mild tornado, but it was still enough to damage her Witch. She scowled.

"All hands!! Tie her down and watch she doesn't get fucked!!" She ran to the side and started pulling down the coverings for the barrels. "Tie up the sails! Watch we don't lose 'em!" She pulled and tied down the coverings as she hollered, and men started running around the deck, barking orders to each other.

"And then get inside, get safe!” She ran back up to the helm and threw a rope around the wheel, pulling it to keep the ship on course.

"That's it boys, keep her steady... Keep her steady!"

A wave broke on the side of the ship, drenching everyone in water. She coughed and spluttered, holding onto the wheel for grim death as her feet slipped from under her!

"Under decks, all o' you! Are you done up there yet, Angel!! Get down off the masts now!!”

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

“Just about Captain” Angel called down scowling as rain began to fall, the damn storm had come out of nowhere and none of the sails or riggings were even remotely ready for the beating. He got them all tied as fast as possible but since he was the only one prepared for the storm he was the only one up there. It took him about five minutes to finish the knots but by that time the storm was completely on them causing the rigging to become slippery. He managed to hold on though and he jumped down onto the deck and started towards the inside of the ship.

Then he saw the captain holding onto the wheel her feet slipping slightly, he didn’t know why but he turned running towards her and reaching the wheel just as thunder began crashing above them.

“Hang on captain!” Angel shouted grabbing the wheel and fighting the wind, between the two of them they were able to tie the wheel and get the ship on course. But by then the storm was completely on them.

 

[prettyserpentine]

Cordelia grabbed him by the back of his shirt. The winds were high and the door to the lower ship was in the fore of the ship and they were in the aft. She cursed. "My cabin is closer!" She pulled him down the stairs with her, they held onto the rails and nettings. She pulled her hat off and stuffed it inside her coat, and the wind pulled her hair as if it was a child. It flew out like Medusa's snakes, in all directions, whipping around her head as she struggled to the door of her cabin, yanking it open. She pushed Angel inside, and the door slammed behind them, shaking in its place. Cordelia panted, not stopping a moment until she grabbed a horn that was attacked to the wall, a tin thing with a scarf over it. She pulled the scarf off and yelled into it.

"Is everybody in? Everybody safe?"

A voice echoed back through it. It sounded like Bates. "We lost Mister Angel, Cap'n! But everyone else is here and accounted for. Looks like she's on for the night!"

She sighed, visibly relieved. "I have Angel here in my cabin! Just weather it out, Bates!" She threw the scarf over the end of the horn and turned, looking at Angel as she pulled off her coat. Her white shirt clung to her, she was soaked to the bone, her red hair hung around her in wet tendrils, and she hung her coat and hat to dry. She picked up a blanket and tossed it at Angel. "You can stay here the night. It's too dangerous to go outside." She lifted a bottle from under her desk and pulled the cork out, taking a drink. She offered it to him.

"Whiskey?”

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

“A drink sounds good” Angel replied feeling the boat heaving and shaking some of his wet hair out, he was soaked to the bone and cold but there was no sense in wrapping the blanket around himself until he dried off. Instead he pulled his shirt out of his pants and rolled it up draining some of the water out onto the wood. It didn’t help his state much but it was a start at least.

“Thank you captain” He said taking the bottle and swishing the liquid around studying the dusty liquid before tipping it back and taking a long gulp. He felt the warm liquid rush through his body alleviating some of his chills and making him feel better.

“If you need to change captain I can turn around” Angel said seeing her wet hair and shirt “I don’t have any clothes to change into but that doesn’t mean you should have to suffer for it” he said taking another hearty sip before handing it back to her and sitting in a wooden chair.

He wanted to add in that he didn’t mind her soaked because it allowed the shirt she was wearing to cling to her body, but that would probably not be a good thing to say to his captain. So he kept his mouth shut and instead tried to get warm as quickly as possible.

 

[prettyserpentine]

She pulled a blanket around her shoulders and rubbed her arms. "I'll be alright." She took the bottle of whiskey back and took another mouthful, smacking her lips. "I loved nights like this with my father. We would just sit in here and play cards, or all the men downstairs in the mess, we'd play the fiddle and tell stories and smoke." She smiled broadly.

"So tell me where you're from? You got no mother or father, or were you born a farm hand?"

She pulled off her boots and set the lantern on the floor to warm her feet. "Suppose we might as well pass the time."

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

“I’m from where you found me captain” Angel said taking the bottle and having another generous mouthful “my mother and father died when I was 18 to sickness and I became a farm hand after that to make a living” he said watching her.

“I was only originally going to do it for a year” Angel said smiling as he remembered his thoughts when he was 18 “I wanted to get enough money to sail to the new world”

 

[prettyserpentine]

"The new world?" She repeated, taking the bottle off him again and running her finger around it. She took another swig and licked her lips. "What made you wish to go there? It is horribly new, with strange people, but I have to say that it is quite a treat to plunder some of the new settlements. So badly guarded." She chuckled.

She looked down at her soaked shirt and adjusted it, untying the top, her chest glistening with the wetness in the candlelight. "Perhaps we'll loot a few of them, show you just how silly the New Worlders are. Maybe you can even wield a sword instead of a mop."

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

“It seemed like the best place for a man like me” Angel said shrugging and watching her in the candle light “A place where some one who has nothing like me can become a rich man” he said shrugging and smiling at her.

“I want to see the entire world” Angel said shrugging and looking out at the sea “any where we go would be special to me especially if I didn’t have to wield a mop the entire time”

 

[prettyserpentine]

Cordelia blinked, a little surprised. "Well now, don't you have quite the aspirations for a deckhand. If you keep that attitude, you might be able to rise. You could become rich, like me." She nodded to a collection of chests in the corner of her cabin. "If you try and steal them, well, then, you won't rise. You'll fall. On my blade." Her eyes twinkled and she smirked, handing the bottle of whiskey to him.

"The men don't tend to keep much of their earnings. They use it on food, drink, and whores when we are docked. I suppose you will spend your first plundering in such a way." She looked at him head on, her eyes fierce and piercing. She lifted an apple from the table and took a bite, speaking around it as she chewed. "You hungry?"

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

“I actually plan to save it” Angel said ignoring her threat and instead taking an apple and nodding his thanks “I like drinking and food and the occasional lover but I would much rather collect my wealth” Angel said smirking at her.

“Petty vices are all fine and well” Angel said biting his own apple and studying it “but I have bigger plans than that”

 

[prettyserpentine]

She giggled around her mouthful of apple. "And what plans are these? Early retirement?" She chuckled and looked him up and down, studying him with her shrewd blue-green eyes. They seemed darker tonight, they seemed to change like the sea. Like she was some kind of creature borne from the waves and sky. She stood up, and walked to the screen, lifting a deep red shirt and disappearing behind it with the intention of changing.

Cordelia had forgotten about the mirror that would let Angel see that which she tried to conceal. She pulled her wet shirt off over her shoulders, hissing a little. Her back was pointed to the mirror and there was a long scar from a whipping. And a healing bullet hole, not to mention bruises from her daily struggles on the ship. She massaged the muscles of her back and pulled the shirt over her head. It reached almost down to her knees, and she pulled her trousers off, drying herself. She padded out again, and lifted the whiskey bottle, tipping her head back and drinking it. As she stood in the candlelight, the light poured through her shirt, which was evidently quite thin. She sat down in front of the mirror and started to comb her hair.

 

[thepoeticmaster2121]

Angel watched her change trying not to be disrespectful, his mother had instilled upon himself that he needed to be respectful to women. Of course his mother was dead so she doubted he would get in too much trouble but old habits died hard. He couldn’t help himself though and he watched eagerly looking at each little peek of flesh he got, he could feel his cock stirring and he quickly turned away munching down on the last of his apple while she sat down in front of the mirror and began to comb her hair.

“Early retirement” Angel said laughing “Some thing like that my mother always wanted to own a nice villa in Spain” he explained getting up and grabbing the whisky bottle watching her in the mirror “she instilled that dream into me to so one day when I have enough money I plan on going there and purchasing a house in her honor”

 

[prettyserpentine]

Cordelia seemed unaffected by his regard for his mother. "A woman in such high esteem... I never knew my mother except that she was a wench in a tavern, who my father stole away. She died bearing me, and I was raised on the Westerly Star. I didn't step on solid land until I was four years old, and I hated it. There's too much substance to it." She finished combing her hair and turned, sitting astride the stool as she looked at him, the shirt slipping off her shoulder.

"I was raised by my father, and the men on these ships. They are all like fathers to me, fierce, overprotective, drunk fathers." She laughed, looking down at her legs and then up at him somewhat shyly. "It gets tiresome, having thirty overprotective drunk and cursed fathers." She sighed. "It doesn't bother me all that much, they're good men, with stout hearts and strong backs. And it would be worse if a pretty maid led them." She took another swig of the whiskey. "It's a good job I'm not a pretty maid." She laughed aloud, her cheeks a little red and fidgeted with the cuffs of her nightshirt.