There Once Was a Pirate (butterfly0408/shinyka)

The island was small, peaceful. They had not seen a fight in almost 13 years, not since the last pirate raid upon their shores.

Laine still remembered that day. She had only been 6 when it happened, but many people on the island lost everything. Not her family. Her father had been lucky, the inn survived. One of the few. She figured that bit of luck was the start in her father's rise from innkeeper to governor.

Yet as she stood at her window looking out to the harbor filled with ships, she wasn't truly happy. She hadn't been happy for 13 years. This live of nobility was not her, as much as she tried to be the picture perfect governor's daughter, she still wished she was down in the inn, serving drinks. She wished she was still with her childhood friend.

Thinking of him would make her smile from time to time. How she missed him. She wondered if he was still alive out there, somewhere. The thoughts of the last time she had seen him turned her smile to a frown. Such a terror filled time that left her scarred inside even to this day.

As she closed her window and went to draw the curtain, she noticed a ship appearing off in the distance. It was still ways off from shore, but something about it... it gave her sudden goosebumps. Something was coming. She could feel it. But she didn't know what.

Drawing the curtains, she took one final look at herself in the mirror before she turned to head out of her room and down the stairs where her father awaited her with yet another stuck up suitor she would be forced to have dinner with and turn down in time.

"My brothers!", Dart yelled, raising his gloved fist into the air, causing a rouse amongst his men. Cheering erupted from the mast to the bridge. Dart waited a second for it to quiet down, before resuming his speech. "These people have lived without a pirate raid in 13 years now. They've grown arrogant and weak! Let us remind them that we are not to be taken so lightly!" He yelled, once again causing cheer to erupt amongst the men.

In fact, it was that very raid that had put him where he was. It was that fateful day, some 13 years ago that he, a young boy by the age of six, was taken by a pirate as an adopted son, away from his family and friends. He had risen quickly in the ranks, his status and skill in battle soon becoming the work of songs and tales. As a gift from his father, he had received a ship, one much nicer then the one he and his men had commandeered.

Now, he returned to the place of his birth, first in disguise, looking for her, the friend he had lost back when. However, upon visiting the Inn in which her family had run since the island began, he discoverer that they no longer lived there. Dart was at a loss. He had not found what he was looking for, yet he had gotten his men riled up in the journey there, and needed some form of raid to keep them loyal to him. With grudging consent, he agreed to raiding the port.

It seemed like only minutes later he was on one of the boats, setting sail for the port. It was well defended, yet Dart was confident enough in his crew's' skill to not worry about having to retreat or surrender. Before him, the first buildings along the shore ignited, indicating that the vanguard of his crew had already landed.

Laine felt like she was starting to doze off. This suitor was quite possibly the most boring one yet. She would rather have her teeth pulled than listen to this man speak more about his 'many' accomplishments. And by that, she meant the accomplishments his father bought for him. For the love of God, let something, ANYTHING make this dinner end.

She should have been careful what she wished for.

Suddenly, a commotion started to ring through the open windows of the house. Her father rose from his seat and went quickly to the window, gasping at that sight below. "Fires!" he said as he turned to Laine and the suitor, "And pirates! At the shore line of the island!"

Laine stood and ran to the window to see. There in the bay was the very ship that had sent chills through her but an hour ago. From it, came boats and boats of pirates, heading for their shore. Memories of all those years ago suddenly haunting her. Soon her father grabbed her arm and pulled her away, "Get down into the cellar! Quickly!"

The word Cellar make Laine start to fight him! "No! Father! The dark!" She had been shoved in a hole for her owe safety once, she couldn't deal with it once again. Not like this again!

Sighing he pushed her instead to the stairs, "Fine! Then to your room! Look the door and let no one in but me! Go! Now!"

Laine quickly scurried up the stairs, doing as she was told. The door was locked tight as she went to take her pistol from the night stand. She wanted it in her hands to feel safe...

Dart howled, his blood lust clouding his vision as he cleaved yet another of the island's plentiful guard. With a grunt, he yanked his axe out of the fallen foe's skull, taking no care to wipe the blood off, nor notice the pool of gore that was now leaking onto the cobblestone street. He raised his fists above his head for a second, as if to show his might, before striking another guard running at him, bayonet lowered for a charge. Dart laughed, watching the lifeless body fall to the ground with a satisfying thud. He smiled even more when he saw the guard wasn't dead, merely mortally injured. Dart considered killing him on the spot but finally opted against it when another guard took aim at his, standing a few feet away. Grinning, Dart closed the distance between the two of the in a manner of instants and struck the man's hand, not quite loping it off, but crushing the bone and causing small pools of blood to form on the ground. With another bloodthirsty howl, Dart kick the man, knocking him over and killing him with a short followup strike.

"Brothers!", he shouted, raising his fist in the air, a symbol of his authority. "Let none stand before you!", He yelled, before charging up the hill toward the focus point of the town: the governor's mansion. Most of his men followed suite, leaving only Boyd, who was currently fending off two wounded guards with his mighty axe, and Russ, who was busy priming a small explosive, which he then tossed into one of the many houses lining the street. the results were fantastic, and Dart could feel the nearby explosion boost his adrenaline even more and he and his men reached the gate, eager to break their way in.

Laine paced her room, occasionally stopping at the sound of a scream or a blast. Each time, she wanted to run to see what was happening, for each time the noise sounded closer and closer to her home. Trembling, she hugged the pistol to her chest. Pray she did not have to use it! She had not shot off a pistol in years. What if she missed? It only gave her one shot! So many what if's racing through her head, all of which suddenly became reality when she heard the creaking of the metal gates of the manor. That was what finally had her rushing to the window, no second thoughts.

Peeking through the smallest of slits in the curtain, she watched at the band of pirates joined together, covered in blood, to break down her homes defense. It amazed her as well as frightened her, that they could be so organized in their attack! So many memories... it made her shutter.

And then she saw him. A man that seemed to stand out from the rest. She didn't know what it was about him, but one glance and she knew that he was the leader. The way he seemed to take pride in the chaos around him, she just knew he had to be the one. But there was something more. Something the look in his eyes, it made her give him a longer glance than she ever should have. Why? It was something that might have cost her, for at one moment, he glanced up, towards her window. She stepped back right away, the curtains moving slightly. Had he seen her? Dear lord! What was she to do?!

Hearing the gate finally break, the cheer of the men as they pushed onward, Laine ran to her dresser and started to push it towards her door. She needed to barrack it! It was her only hope!

Dart let out a howl as he and his men swarmed through the courtyard with uprisings speed. The guards in the courtyard were obviously incapable of dealing with such force, and the ones that didn't run for cover were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer power of the men of Dart's crew. Their weapons may not had been in perfect condition, but as Dart saw several times in their sprint up the governor's manor, it made little difference when a clean cut was made to the head. He let out his signature howl before downing one more guard with his axe, the poor man of thirty of so falling to the ground, before drawing his wicked notched blade in his right hand, and picking up his now bloodied tomahawk in his left.

Boyd was the first to reach the door, and with a mighty battle yell and an even more mighty kick, he downed it, kicking it straight off of its hinges. Dart took a second to wonder of he and his crew were pirates, or more of seafaring barbarians and berserkers. He thought about it as he entered the main hall to the manor, before finally settling on the latter. After all, there was little other explanation as to why he and his crew were seemingly invincible. He let out a howl in confirmation to this, his voice now starting to go raw from all the yelling he had done that night.

Even though his men were blood thirsty on adrenaline, Dart still gave orders to them, ordering various groups of them to sweep various room and floors and such. He, Boyd and two others opted to check the basement, which was most likely where the governor and his men would be hiding. Dart figured it would save them them time in the very likely event that the noble and his men wanted to negotiate, even though Dart was dead-set on little more then the destruction of the town and perhaps the pillaging of its women. Yet still, he and his men headed down the stairs to the basement before spreading out.

A few minutes passed before his men actually found someone. A rather pitiful looking man in Dart's eyes, and obviously not the governor, despite the fact he did have look of nobility to him. Shaking his head, Dart cleaved the man's skull in one solid swing before confirming with the rest of his crew that there was nothing more to be found here. Disappointed, Dart and his men headed back upstairs.

Hearing the cries and pounding foot steps enter the house, a panic swept over her. The dresser wasn't going to cut it. She just had a sinking feeling. Looking frantically about the room, Laine suddenly had the urge to hid. But where? The room only had one door so it was not as if she could slip out a back way. No if she was going to hide, it would sadly need to be in this place. But where?

Running about the room, time was running out as she looked for her options. In the end, she only found two. The closet and under the bed. Both were clearly obvious hiding places and so she started to head for the closet. At least there she would have clothing to hide behind. With one hand on the door knob, a sound from downstairs caught her attention. It was a howl, like that of a wolf. A wild animal stalking it's prey and looking for it's next kill. She refused to let her be that kill.

Looking at the closet one more time, she quickly decided against it and sprang for the bed, sliding under it and readjusting the dust ruffle to hide her. Curling up against the wall, she clutch the pistol in her hands, prepared to shoot the first person that dared look under the bed for her. So she lay in wait, wondering how her father fared...


Meanwhile... Laine's father had abandoned her! Laine had no idea, but in the commotion, the governor had slipped out the back of the house and to the wine cellar out behind the house. It's entrance was hidden a hundred yards out back of the house, the entrance to it behind the shed. The cowered didn't even think of his daughter, left in the house to fend to herself. He cared only for his own ass.

Dart let out a slight sigh of disappointment as he ascended the stairway again, his following crew members in close procession. Even though he was a solid floor beneath the rest of his band of sea faring barbarians, Dart could hear the sound they were making quite well from the stairway. Judging from the sound of things the battle was over as none of the sounds he could make out were bore any resemblance to that of combat. It was rather apparent to him that his men were pillaging, no doubt finding quite a lot of valuable objects in this regal manor.

Dart kicked open the doors to the stairwell with a rather resounding kick as he reached the top. Although the sound he made was loud, none of his crew seemed to notice, all of them caught up in their own activities. Dart sighed for a second before noticing his hands were soaked in blood, a rather gory mess of hues accumulated from the previous slaughter on the way to the manor. With a sigh, he wiped the majority of the blood off against a pair of nearby silk drapes, leaving a tacky looking red stain on the otherwise perfect work of embroidery.

Now turning to face his crew, Dart struck his blade across his axe making a rather loud metallic ring. His crew turned to face him in an instant.

"Now", Dart began to say in a rather calm tone, yet one that still echoed with a solid ring of control and capability. "Have any of you checked the upstairs?". He waited a second for responses before a large quantity of negatively confirming shouts filled the air. With a sigh, he motioned for the nearest of his two crew members to follow him up the stairs.

The upstairs was almost as deserted as the basement. From the looks of the manor and the lack of people, it seemed as if the governor and his men had fled at the first sign of the unstoppable charge up to such. Dart shook his head as he and his men spread out, each of them searching a room of their own. From a short distance away, Dart heard Boyd kick down a door, the sounds of a wooden barricade splintering as the door left its hinges.

Laine had to put her hand over her own mouth as she heard the door to her room break in. More then break in, basically explode! How powerful was the man on the other side that he could not only break in the door but destroy the dresser as well. She was afraid to even breath now for fear the intruder might hear her and find her. Then, the realization of her mistake was suddenly clear. The door was barricaded from the inside. Proof that someone was inside. She curled closer to the wall, holding her pistol with two hands, just trying to keep it steady in her hands for she figured she'd need to use it very shortly.

The sound of the floor boards creaking under the weight of the pirates boots were the only sound in the room. She listened as he circled the bed and went to the closet, ripping it open and searching through it. Good thing she had not picked that place. But as she heard his search end and his footsteps draw towards the bed again, she readied her trigger finger, holding her breath.

(Hey! Guess who isn't dead!)

Dart was quite clearly taking his time in his trip up the stairs. He was in no apparent hurry to get to the top, an ideal reinforced by the knowledge that if there was anything up there, it would not be getting away, not past his crew and certainly not past him. He relished in the idea. He was the hunter now, hunting a prey that many a raider dreamed of, but few to no ever achieved. Like an animal, it was now his turn to close in for the kill. Why not take his time?

Boyd, on the other hand, seemed to think differently. The man of beastly size wasted no time in searching the room. Everything from bookcases to the dresser were soon little more then heaps of scrap, their valuables and belongings now in the bags on Boyd's sash and band. Satisfied with his reaping, Boyd turned to leave before a chance sound managed to catch his ear. It occurred to him that he had not yet looked under the bad. Chuckling to himself, he slunk his monstrous body down to the floor, peered under the bed and pulled away coverings, exposing the girl hiding underneath.

((My lord! It's has been awhile!))

The moment that light suddenly flooded under the bed once again and Boyd's face came into view, Laine instantly aimed the gun and before Boyd had any idea what was happening, it fired into his face. Without even seeing if her shot had hit it's mark, she rolled out the other side of the bed and sprang to her feet, running for the door.

Dart's carefree attitude vanished when he heard the shot from upstairs, followed by the sound of Boyd's massive body hitting the floor. He shook his head, the facts now rather obvious that Boyd had been shot, probably badly if the injury was enough to drop him. Dart let out a tiny yell before sprinting back up the stairs, his fur coat dropping to the ground beneath him as he ran.

He closed the distance of the stairs in what seemed like only several instances. From the sounds of it, the shooter had only a flintlock pistol, meaning they wouldn't be having the time to shoot at him. Furthermore, the second floor was high enough that it would be folly to try to jump from the window, leaving the only possible escape at the hallway. Dart's theory was confirmed when he saw someone run from the room towards the end of the hall.

"Stop if you value your life". Dart bellowed, fully intending to kill this person if they caused him any trouble.

Laine stopped in her steps and turned to face him at once. Seeing him, her head started to play through all the routes she could go with this. Her instinct to survive no matter what was shouting at her over and over again. There was a room to her left, but the door was closed, possibly locked. It was her only hope though. She waited, watching him, the moment he looked away... she'd make her move.

"I said STOP", Dart bellowed, his finger squeezing tightly around the trigger of his gun. With a tiny twitch, he pressed the trigger just a tad, causing the shot to fire harmlessly into one of the walls with a loud bang. He hoped that his shot would amount to more than such, as the figure was intending to run away from him, indicating that they were unarmed, and therefore could be taken alive without too much trouble. Without bothering to reload, he kept his gaze focused on her.

The shoot only made her more intent on getting away. She jumped a bit at first, but then turned and started to run. He had to reload, this gave her time to find a way out or something. Anything. Perhaps if she just ran long enough from him he'd give up and leave. Dashing down the hall, she hit the next staircase, and started running down into the kitchen area of the house, not realizing it was a mistake in her moment of hast, for once down there, she was face to face with a number of his band. She had no choice but to run back up the stairs and hope had not gotten to them yet... for now she had two more men coming up the stairs behind her as well.

The sudden movement of the girl exiting his sight did not please Dart to the least. Angry that this girl, no, this prey had escaped him, if only for a moment, Dart moved to give chase, now personally dedicated to making sure she did not leave this manor in any way save for his custody.

The yells of two of his other men, Bert and Hammer from the sounds of it, gave Dart a slight relief. If this girl had not one, but three of Dart's pirates after her, escaping was inconceivable. When she reentered his field of vision, he crouched slightly, ready to pounce or grab if need be. Hopefully, the girl realized she was trapped now, and that there would be no escape.

Feeling like a hunted animal now, Laine was running blindly now. There was no plan of escape just attempting to find any way out in the heat of the moment. Reaching the top of the steps once more, she did not see that first pirate that had been chasing her. Thinking that he had gone another way, she took off running right into him without even knowing it.

Dart let out one of his signature howls as he saw the girl round the corner toward him. With almost animal like reflex, he lunged at her, striking her once across the face in attempt to daze her just a tad, making her easier to subdue. The back of his hand hit dead on, making a slightly sick noise before he followed up with his inhuman speed a lunge, directed toward her, in hopes of incapacitating.

Hitting a girl that was use to such treatment might daze her a bit. Hitting a nobleman's daughter that was certainly not use to such treatment on the other hand... she skipped right past being simply dazed to fully out of it. She literally did not even know what hit her. Once second she was running then it was all black. Her unconscious body hit the floor at his feet. The only sign that the hit had not snapped her neck, was that she groaned still.