Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Bloody Drake (Retro and Frelance)

Kennit didn't want to believe it but he knew that last visit he had not had much money to spare between paying off debt that her husband her left her and trying to feed the three of them. "Believe what you want but if she was as delirious as you say she could have been telling you to come and get what you deserve." He studied her then smirked. "But I have a feeling you won't accept my money."

His eyes flicked to the ceiling as he heard running feet then he looked at the door as someone opened the door to his cabin. "Captain a ship has been sighted." Kennit stood as he asked. "What kind of ship?" The sailor a bit uncomfortable since he obviously didn't know. "Get out of my sight you worm!" He bellowed at the man as he started to walk for the door then he turned to Charlotte. "I think I will be taking the crew into another storm so this talk with have to wait. Now get on deck your still part of this crew." He glared at her daring her to disobey his order.
 
She was bogged down by most of her layers. Beneath the black shirt she had already started to tug off the remnants of the padding and the other shirt. As she shook herself free the black shirt laid against her body, hugging to her body. Her breasts were large for her dainty size and in the cool of the cabin the outline of her nipples could be seen. She would be damned if she was going to go out without doing something about this. If anyone was going to kill that bastard of a captain it would be her!

Darting up she dashed towards the deck. It was hectic and instantly she was swept into confusion. There was shouting that Charlotte did not understand. Her hands flexed wildly. Some of the men shouted in her direction. Now that they knew she was a woman they regarded her differently. There were even some that tried to shoo her off to safer parts of the ship. She refused, however and leapt out of their grips.

One she was bold enough to steal a rapier from. It wasn’t as if he was using it. In fact he looked quite as bewildered as she. She brandished the blade haphazardly. What was she going to accomplish with this act anyway? Her body was entirely too thin and white to be menacing to any that came aboard.
 
Kennit laughed coldly as he spotted Charlotte bolt out of the cabin. He turned to Smith who gave him an eye glass. Kennit looked at the ship threw it and frowned. It was ridding low on the water but he did not like the look of the ship. "Smith why this ship?" Smith turned form yelling at a few of the crew and spoke. "She is ridding low and only has a few cannons. most of the crew is even out of sight." Kennit did't like it, he focused on the flag and he was lucky to see the flag with the ship being so far away. "Get the crew back to work. She is part of the royal navy. I don't know where her cannons are but I am not going up against them with such a green crew." Smith pursed his lips but nodded and turned to look out of the crew. "Put those weapons away and get back to your task!"

The crew froze then after a second everyone went back to the job they were doing behind hand. Kennit colapsed the eye glass and handed it back to Smith. "We have more important things to do than loose crew over a troop transport." Smith nodded. "So we are going to see her then?" Kennit nodded then glanced at Charlotte. "I want to get some questions answered." Smith glanced behind him then back to the captain. "Yes, sir. But you should know. Some of the crew seemed to be put off by the lady. Not for what she is but because of how she acts." Kennit met Smith's eyes. "That have a right to be but that does not mean she doesn't work. She signed up to work so that is what she will do." Smith laughed darkly but nodded. "Yes Captain!" He turned and headed down to the main deck as Kennit watched Charolette.
 
The man who she stole the rapier from granted her a sheepish smile. He was about her age, perhaps a year older, and rather attractive. Charlotte smiled back and offered him back his blade. For some reason she was not angry at that one; he was just as green as her on that ship and looked as if poor circumstance had driven him there.

“I apologize.” She muttered. It was rare when she offered up an apology and it was quick. As much as she didn’t dislike him she disliked having to admit herself wrong.

Quickly she turned away from him and stiffly walked across the ship, tossing off the rest of her pins. Her hair tumbled fully down. It was a mess of curls and waves and surprisingly well kept. The people who had taken care of her had prized her hair and shined it, very much like a jewel would have been shined, with vinegar. Now it looked worse for wear but she did not mind. Every snarl was like a badge of honor now.

Her eyes turned back to the cabin with just as much malice as ever. She still believed him the liar and the rake and the cruel man she knew. Whenever he was with her mother, he hardly wanted anything to do with her; ignored and neglected her. Even if he did pay for her suppers and was not so much the villain as he was claiming he wasn’t, he still was not much of a father when she needed one most. Much of her life was spent alone because of him.

So she still intended to kill him and, to add insult to injury, she would take his ship as recompense and become the captain herself.
 
Kennit's face was as hard as ever when Charlotte turned to look back at him but as he caught her eye he took his hat off to her then put it back on and started walking down the stairs to the main deck. He made a mental note to have a talk with the young man that Charlotte had interacted with.

For the next hour he walked the ship checking knots and anything else that caught his eye. He made sure Smith had not missed anything. When he finished he walked to Mr.Smith and they both walked into his cabin. "I want to know how many of the crew know how to fight and have weapons of their own." Smith nodded then went to the door and called out for another sailor who was almost as high up on the ship as Smith. "Keep the ship running smooth while the Captain and I talk." The man nodded and walked off before Smith closed the door and went back to the Captain.

They spent the better part of an hour discussing the skills of the crew both new and old. In the end they knew that they needed to arrange some time to train the crew. But they decided to wait for a few days until they made land. It would be easier to teach them on land then transfer the skills to ship board practice later. When they were finished Smith left the cabin and took his place beside the wheel and adjusted their course then watched the crew. He paid a particular attention to Charlotte and the boy she had been speaking to because he did not want to have any more mistakes . He knew that neither of them would learn how to do things properly if no one taught them. Oh they would eventually learn but he knew that Kennit wanted the ship to run as smoothly as possible as soon as possible so over the years Smith had learned when to let the crew learn on their own and when to teach them.
 
Charlotte sighed heavily as she went about her tasks. To the captain, things may have run the same since her unveiling as a woman, but to her everything had changed. Men looked at her out of the corner of their eyes. They whispered about throwing her overboard or leaving her at the next port or, more vulgar yet, having a go at her before abandoning her. Most did not like the idea of a woman on board. Pirates were superstitious and these men talked of a storm swallowing them whole for displeasing some sea spirit. Annoyance crept through her and she glared at all of the men, even the ones who thought it would be alright to keep her around.

The girl moved about doing her tasks. Her hair was bright in the sun, almost to the point of distraction. The heat beat down on her face and head but she was probably the most physically comfortable she had ever been on that ship. Without the layers of fabric and extra bulk strapped to her she was able to get her tasks done quickly. So quickly, in fact, she was called ‘uncommon good’ at the tasks. Though she was sure a trained animal could do these sorts of things with skill and efficiency given enough practice.

She jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder but it was only the sandy haired boy from before. In his hand was a drink of water and he offered it to her. Sheepishly she took it with another mumbled thanks and drank it in one gulp before returning to her work. The man was sweet but she hoped he did not think for one moment she would give everything over to him like that because of a little kindness.

For a few more hours she toiled away, working hard and rarely breaking. If she did she knew she would look towards the captain’s cabin again with the same murder in her eyes as before. That could easily get her lashed again. The sting of the whip still throbbed on her back. Finally the sun began to set and she flopped down someplace cool and as much out of sight of that bastard as possible.
 
Smith watched the crew and shouted out orders when he saw something that was not done correctly. He had spent most of his life on ships so he had the respect of most of crew that had been with the ship for about a year. He never went for more than a minute without looking back at Charlotte but it was not lust or that he was superstitious. He just wanted to make sure nothing happened to her that would not happen to any other member of the crew. Kennit had said that she was part of the crew but that did not mean she got special treatment. When he saw the boy bring her some water he smiled but there was nothing nice about his smile.

When the sun began to set Kennit came out of his cabin. "Smith bring the rum!" He made sure that everyone heard his words. "For the crew as well?" Smith asked as he walked down the stairs to the main deck. Kennit took a moment to think then gave the barest of nods. Smith nodded then took two senior crew members down bellow while Kennit went back inside and grabbed a spare sword. When he came back out and tossed the sword to one of the other crew members that had been giving orders as he worked with the men on the sails. "When we make land fall Smith will teach everyone here how to use a sword and pistol because it will not matter how good you are on the ship if you can not fight as well."

He drew his sword was a swift fluid motion and the other crew member did the same then slashed at Kennit as soon as the sword had cleared the sheath. Kennit moved and blocked the slash before slashing back. Both men went from standing still to a blur of motion in a split second. It was not until Smith and the two crew members came back up with the rum and enough mugs for the whole crew did the two stop sparing. Kennit took a few seconds to regain his breath then turned back to the rest of the crew. "By the time we are ready to leave the island if you cannot spar with the rest of the crew and not get hurt you will be left on the island to fend for yourselves." Kennit sheathed his sword then took back the other weapon as Smith started to fill the mugs.
 
Charlotte turned her face towards the captain at the words. Nearly all of the color drained from her face. He expected her to learn like the entirety of the crew no doubt. Learning how to fight did not bother her. When she planned on getting her revenge it would certainly come in handy. Yet she did worry if she had the sort of stuff to be able to handle a weapon as skillfully as any man.

She did not imbibe in the rum that was being passed around. It was not the spirit of her choice and, really, she did not drink all too often. Not only that but she did not trust the men on that ship or her own footing on it quite yet. Whenever the sea was rough she still stumbled. Her stomach was not the strongest either when it came to the tossing and turning of the raging water beneath the vessel. Out of the corners of her eyes she watched the men all greedily gulp down the booze.

Instead she decided to remove herself from the crowd and think on the up and coming training instead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom