Safe (Savy, Cerv)

[tripp]

Name: Edouard Cervantes Aliases: Cervantes or just Cerv BD: May 18 Debut Age: 30 Location: Opal Rank: Quarter Master played by: Tripp created: likeness used: Oliver Martinez

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Name: Savanah Aliases: Savy BD: June 1 Debut Age: 19 Location: Opal Rank: 'guest' played by: Lovely created: 2007 likeness used: Megan Fox

[tripp]

22 July 1740 - midday
Runners' Isle - a sandbar that Jack has become quite familiar with...

The exclamaition came as the two from the dingy approached the two on the sand. "Thank goodness the rum is not gone!" Jack picked up a jug that seemed to be there waiting for him.

Cervantes staggered up to him with an empty bottle, looking him over. "This one is." He burped at the man and tossed the empty jug over his shoulder. He took the man's jug from his hands just before he'd chanced a sip. "Thank you...," he raised it in a slight toast and started drinking it himself.

Jack slapped him like a sissy girl and stuck his tongue out, trying to snatch his bottle back.

He dodged. "Found it fair... you weren't using it... Who are you?"

He puffed up with a smile. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

The other on the sand staggered up to his feet and ran over as he heard the name. "Sparrow?! I heard they'd hanged him for the attack on the Mireille! You can't be..."

"He' s lying. A hang'd man can't talk, now can he? Get the other bottles boy and get ready. We're leaving."

"I am not lying! I wouldn't lie.. well not about that anyway. I am Captain Jack Sparrow in the flesh.. not hanged.. very much alive thank you." Grabs the bottle from the dark man. "This is my rum and I'm not sharing it with you." Looks to the one who ran up. "But you.. I'll share with.. tell what else have you heard about me, son?"

"Oh Jack.. please.. we've all heard your stories.. I personally would like to hear theirs, since they're drinking MY rum."

"Yours? A lady and a kind one to share, madamoiselle," he said, aghast but not rudely so as he straightened himself from his error and addressed her with a proper bow of thanks. "Merci. You were not the one I accuse of lying monsieur.. it was the boy who makes stories in his head. But you do not contradict him? You are... Monsieur Jacques... Sparrow?"

"I'm not lying either! I heard it when we were in St Tropez! You must have been sleeping, but I swear it. He's famous!"

"Yes, Yes.. he's famous.. " She rolled her eyes and stepped closer, extending her hand to the dark haired man first. "I'm Captain... Sparrow." She finished after a slight pause and a glance at the ever amused Jack, who seemed overly pleased to be recognised. "He's going to be horrible to deal with now that you've puffed his ego, you know?"

"Forgive him for the outbursts. The sun has played tricks on us both. Captain, is it? Enchantee, Captain Sparrow. Edouard Cervantes," he introduced himself with every bit of French flair and accent with a rumbling trill of a heavy Spanish undertone that matched his dark features. "You are his terribly burdened wife?"

"No!" Both captains exclaimed at once. Giving each other quite the look of 'eew!' "Mm not my wife, no.. never had the pleasure of being married. Jacquetta is..."

"His terribly burdened daughter.." She finished for him, pulling the bottle of rum from his hand and taking a swig before handing it back.

The boy burst in again and tried to make himself sound important as well. "I'm Dominick," he smiled and bounced with a rosey-nosed enthusiasm that said he'd had more rum than he was used to and far too much sun for his fair complexion. "Dominick ... um, just Dominick. I'm an orphan, but I'm from St Malo, too!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." She offered her hand to Dominick and gave both a small nod and polite smile.

Cervantes' eyes darted from the girl to the man and back. He smiled slowly. "She is most handsome, monsieur. You are very fortunate. Ah! As are we, are we not? We've kept your rum safe, madamoiselle. Not a drop has gone to waste."

Dominick nodded, smiling proudly though all three of them were brightly blurred in front of him. "Not a drop wasted. Very good quality," he nodded again, though the repeated bobbing and standing in the heat of the sun was making his stomach spin.

He smiled proudly, almost as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself when Cervantes complimented Treasure. "That she is, she looks like her mother thankfully. She'd be awfully ugly with a moustache." He stayed puffed - between the compliment of Treasure and being recognised he was a pig in a mud bath. "Well at least they drank it instead of setting fire to it." Jack hmphed and folded his arms to the comments about the rum, shrugging as Treasure gave him a questioning look. He held onto his jug of rum as if he thought someone was going to snatch it away, taking lengthy sips off of it. He was happy to have it since Treasure had locked him in the brig without any for so terribly long.

Treasure let the burning comment go as Jack brushed it off though she was sure he'd explain it in some elaborate story later. "Yes it does seem that none has gone to waste.. but might you enlighten me as to how you ended up here with my rum and not a ship in sight?"

Dominick stepped in to explain before Cervantes' mouth had even twitched to start. "We fought our way, we did. You should have seen him crossing swords. It was magnificent! We'd stowed on with the runners. We had no idea - we just saw the opportunity and climbed on. We'd go anywhere there wasn't a British in sight, y'see. They know him, most of them do. He's almost famous too, but not like him," he said, pointing to Jack again in admiring stance, trying to keep himself standing as he turned to look at each of them as he spoke. His eyes juttered like he was about to topple over, but he spun to keep himself up like a top. "Then, we were off, we were. They were rum runners! Thieves, captain... stealing away from the company's stocks with barrels.. HUGE barrels of rum they'd stolen and there we were, hiding in amongst them unseen. Well at first. We got here and that's when they found us... and left us."

Cervantes smiled meekly and stood, straight, his hands folded before him, staring at the sand and contemplating taking a mouthful to the boy's tongue to keep it quiet a moment. His jaw worked into an apology as he looked up at the woman and her father. "The runners... weren't quite so proud that we'd kept so close a watch over their hold," he grinned. He reached out to Dominick to pull him back beside himself and keep him out of harm's way, or from falling at the feet of the woman and embarrassing them both more. "In exchange for our lives, they changed their minds and let us continue our vigil here... without a means of leaving, of course. We're at your mercy, decide what you will."

"You tapped into their livelyhood.. you're lucky they didn't kill you for it." Treasure commented quietly.

"Well I think you should at least shoot a few fingers off for them drinking our rum like that." Jack offered with a sage nod of his head. "Maybe only one pinky off the boy, I rather like him, he knows who I am."

Treasure growled and gave her father a look as if to tell him to shut up. "It's not our rum, it's my rum.. you are a guest.. a stow away on my ship, remember?" She gave a half grin and turned back to Cervantes. "Well you see now we have a slight dilemma. You've taken a share of my rum but you're not part of my crew.. whatever should we do to remedy that?" She looked from one to the other of these stranded men, wondering if they were getting the hint.

"We could be part of your crew!" Dominick's suggestion burst out before it was thought out. He heard the words as they flew away and he shifted behind Cervantes. "That wasn't a good thought, was it?"

"It might be a splendid thought, boy. For you. The price on your head can be worked off in a public bath within a fortnight in the next port I strand you in," he muttered, though he had no intention of leaving his young friend behind. The price on his own head was a little more steep and appeared to have just gotten steeper. "At what cost is a few bottles of rum in exchange for guarding the rest from those that would steal it from you outright, madamoiselle? Ours is not theft, it was payment and therefore, we are already a part of your crew, keeping it safe until such time as now for you to have us load it on board for you, non?"

"If the boy wants to be a pirate let him be a pirate I say!" Jack exclaimed with a bit of gusto and a smile, reaching out to usher the younger man over with them.

Jacquetta gave her father an exasperated look and sighed, squaring her shoulders and looking at Cervantes dead in the eye. "You're not crew until I say you're crew and you swear an oath to me and my crew. My crew does not address me as mademoiselle, the preferred term is Captain." She stepped closer, to make her point clear, she was not some frilly girl tagging along with her daddy and she knew how to handle herself. "Do you have any qualms about sailing under my command?"

Dominick's tongue was loose and more thoughts he should have kept silent flew out. "He doesn't have qualms about anything - he's fearless! He's not afraid of you or your command." He almost moved out of Cervantes' shadow, speaking almost too proudly. "I'm not either. I could sail on your ship."

His hand wasn't fast enough and his blade was kept safely at his side. His boot however sufficed to attempt to silence the boy briefly as it shot out to the ankle near it. He chuckled softly. "I fear many things... Captain," he said purposely, fully speaking out the word clearly. "Mostly I fear becoming part of the Dutchman's crew. The boy has made his point - that I fear as well. If we could pay our debt with our hands, you have ours to do what work you require... both of us." He jerked Dominick's shoulder to pull him front again in view for her approval. "Starting with loading your rum on your ship, Captain."

She looked at Dominick and chuckled a bit. "Jack likes you, he says you should be a pirate, so you'll be a pirate.. this way at the very least he'll tell you all his tales and it will keep him from annoying me.. go on and help him load the barrels on the dingy." She motioned for Cervantes to come closer, to step aside with her a moment, only a few feet away from where they now stood.

Jack pouted a little at being told to load rum barrels, but since it was rum and he wanted to be sure they had enough on this voyage, he didn't protest too loudly. Slapping Dominick on the arm he motined to the dingy and crossed his arms as if to merely watch.

The smack on Dominick's arm was almost enough to send him akilter. He stumbled a foot or two , but regained his steps. Getting off the island was worth the price of carrying the barrels, though he was a small and slight sprite of boy not fully in his growth as a man and his nourishment had been lacking on top of the wealth of rum that sickened him. He didn't protest the man watching him, but certainly hoped he didn't drop anything either.

Cervantes observed the boy a moment to be sure he was alright then followed with the captain as requested, begging her words with a questioning look only. His attention was fixed on her, only now seeing the unusual color of her eyes as he stood close. His own earthen toned gaze questioned more deeply what her intention was, as well as her connection with the runners, somewhere asking in their depth if his life, or at least that of the boy would indeed be spared.

"Does that boy have any idea that he's gleefully joining a band of pirates or will he wake up thoroughly surprised tomorrow?" She asked him with an amused smile, Cervantes was touched by the effect of the rum but not as blantantly as the boy and she had questions for him about his sailing experience and prior rank. "Are you fully aware what it means to sign on with such a crew?" Who knew if he'd ever sailed with pirates before this.

"Oui. He should. He's already signed on with one," he admitted quietly, still gazing at her eyes and trying to see within them. "Je suis Malouin... les coursairs de Saint-Malo.. He who has hired him is already himself a pirate it would seem. Les Coursairs, madamoiselle... pardonez... Captain...Not a British has crossed my blade and yet survived, but no longer does even France request anything of me but a rope about my neck."

"And so the picture becomes more clear, thank you." She took in a deep breath and let it out, offering him a small smile. "You are willing to form a new alliance and swear loyalty to me? I sail under no flag but my own."

He gestured to the empty isle and open sea around them. "Your flag, or no flag?" He smiled. "Naturellement. Nous naviguons sous vos couleurs. Your colors are now ours." He bowed graciously and only now felt the dull thump of rum tapping the sides of his skull.

"When you have recovered from your ... payment for guarding our rum, I request that you come see me. The Opal has a fair crew though a few more wont hurt and I have ideas now that I know more about you and your young friend." Though the boy that was with him could have easily been older than her tender age of eighteen.

He stood up to regard her and nodded curtly at her orders. "I should lend him a hand, should I not? Your father's pride has seemed to stop his feet from his task."

"He's been pouting since I had him thrown in the brig. He'll get over it." She chuckled and nodded her head towards the two closer to the dingy agreeing that Cervantes should lend a hand.

Dominick had loaded his barrel onto the dingy and looked at the man who seemed to direct and watch more than help. The spinning and bending was doing him little good and he leaned down against his knees, breathing roughly. "There are more," he pointed out. He seemed like he actually expected Jack to lift a finger, even after he'd threatened to shoot off his.

Cervantes stood slowly, watching the woman before him and turning a glance toward Jack. "And still he does not help the boy? Your father's pride..," he chuckled through a tilted smile. "He pouts worse than Dominick. How is it he is your guest and not your mentor, I ask." He shielded his own pale eyes away from the glaring sun and sand behind the shadow of his thickly gloved hand. "Thieves, barbarians, murderers... and pirates all the same roam these waters and he lifts no hand or blade to aid you, only his tongue as he stands behind you? An interesting man, your father."

[tripp]

22 July, 1740
late evening after 'Je Suis Maloin'

"I've been shot!" Dominick shrieked as he woke with a start, running his hand over his sore head, surmising the pain in his skull and the discoloration on his skin as he pulled his palm into view was caused by that very event. As he rubbed his sore fingers together and his consciousness rolled slowly back into miserable existence, it became clear that the redness on his fingers was only due to the burst blisters from first loading several barrels of rum, then rowing, apparently a great deal more than he was used to, to bring them, himself and Cervantes onto a ship he didn't recognize. The headache was due to the one barrel that had been removed from the stash and consumed lovingly at the time, now loathingly remembered as he sat back to ease the throbbing.

His friend sat nearby in their cell, against the hull, propped in musty straw and laughing at him. "You're not shot, but you are awake, are you not? Look around! We're both alive!" He chuckled, pitching a small but full goatskin at him to drink. "Water. You need it. It's all we're having for dinner until the captain gives us an audience."

"Captain?" He winced as the sound of his own voice seemed even too loud. He wasn't ready for anything to be thrown and took a moment to realize what Cerv meant. He picked up the skin and uncorked the stale liquid. He drank it anyway. "Where is he? Where are we?"

"She... is on deck deciding what's to be done with us," he said with less humor. He pushed himself up to stand and look around their cell and the hold. "We... are in her debt, are we not? It was her rum you can thank for your health, boy. Don't forget that. Believe me, she won't. We're aboard the Opal, Captain Sparrow's ship. The younger, mademoiselle Sparrow it seems."

"Sparrow... I remember! Jack, is he on board too?"

Cervantes sighed and leaned against the door of their cage. "Undoubtedly."

"Oy! Then call him down! I want to hear more about him. He can teach us so much about being real pirates!"

"He's busy just now.. You'll have to settle for me." Came the female voice as the young pirate girl came into view holding a tray with what appeared to be dinner for them. "How's your stomach. Can you eat?" She looked to the older man behind Dominick and gave a nod. "Good evening.. I have been asked to bring you dinner."

Dominick nodded eagerly. The girl was quite pretty, enough for him to forget the headache and the rest for a moment. His stomach had been empty too long and ached from the sickness. "Dinner with the Captain? Y'hear that? The Captain, Cerv!"

"I heard her, boy. Hold your tongue." Cervantes tried to quiet him, knowing it wasn't likely to work. "He hears what he wishes. Dinner here it is, is it not? More straw?" Cervantes wasn't so easily taken in nor impressed, but he wouldn't turn down real food if it was offered.

"You can eat straw if that's what you prefer." Octavia replied tartily with a slight cock of her hips as she brought the tray closer for them to smell the food. She looked to the younger man with a smile. "What's your name?" She knelt down to slide the tray through the slot at the bottom of the cell door. "Cook made a hearty stew and some bread."

Not holding back from the offered plate, he dove at it and spoke with a mouthful of the bread. "Dominick," he smiled, chewing heartily.

"Could've been poisoned, boy," Cervantes laughed, watching him and nodding at the girl's retort. "What are you called, miss? And is it the Captain we are thanking for this feast?"

"Nice to meet you Dominick. I'm Octavia. Otherwise known as Octapus Roberts.." She looked to the older man as she straightened up and she offered him a slight smile and a nod. "I suppose you are thanking the Captain, this is her ship and she is the one in charge.."

"Octapus?" Dominick coughed and stood back from her and the stew, giving her a strange look. "She's bewitched! A servant of the kracken, I bet, sent to kill us."

Cervantes laughed again, leaning his head against the side of his cell. "Stories, boy, only stories. She is only a girl. With a gift... better than straw."

"Oh goodness..." She rolled her eyes and folded her arms as she regarded the boy with a look of slight disgust on her face. "Only a girl who earned her name in battle not by being bewitched. I'm sure If I was a man called that you wouldn't have said the same."

"Not to be so certain. He hears things that twist his thoughts in directions the stars and winds were never meant to chart, mademoiselle Octavia. Eat, my friend..., eat and try not to speak until your thoughts dine as well." He was at a loss to explain how his young friend arrived at the conclusions he did at times. "If there would be enough to share... ?"

Dom swallowed his crumbs roughly but quietly. Maybe what he'd said sounded crazy, but he had heard about such creatures that walked out of the very sea to trick men on land. His curiosity won over Cerv's warning. "In battle? Against the British?"

"You may have to wrestle it from him.." She hooked her thumb toward Dom in reply to Cervantes question of the food. "There was supposed to be enough for both of you." Octavia pulled a piece of wrapped bread that she'd not eaten from her own dinner. She held it out to Cervantes to help his own stomach while the boy ate the other food earnestly. She smiled a little at Dominick. "No not the British... Against a giant octapus.. much like the kraken I suppose only not nearly as large as what I've heard the kraken to be. Big enough though.." She shrugged, setting her free hand to her hip.

Still in teasing humor, he poked further at the boy. "What do you think is in this stew? Leave us a taste." He took the corner of bread with a nod, pinching a meager piece in his fingers to bring to his dry mouth. His opinion of the girl slowly formed as he listened. "If you can manage against such a creature, why keep us caged? We are.. unarmed... certainly not so many to disarm as a squid, non?"

The story took a turn that made him stop the bowl of his spoon in a shaking grasp and put it back into the mixture. He held the meal out to his friend, no longer interested in it. Cerv had asked clearly enough for them both and he nodded. "What threat are we in here?"

Octavia chuckled and leaned against the bars that made up the cell they were in. "Let me tell you a little secret.. you're not prisoners. You're down here to sober up.. The Captain didn't want you wandering around all out of your head or sick all over and since your friend here is so protective like.. this was simply temporary until you had your head on straight to be presentable." She looked at Dominick with an amused smiled, trailing her fingers across the bars lightly. "You already swore in with us, and personally I'm not worried one bit about you, like he said you don't have but two arms." She was clearly razzing the young man as evident by her grin. She winked and looked over to Cervantes. "I believe you are expected once you're ready, Captain wished to discuss some things with you?"

"One of us is sober," Cervantes insisted with a slight bow to her, thankfully that his crimes had not been something unremembered.

"I never swear. Do I? I swore to nothing," he defended, shaking his head. "That would be one of his tricks, not mine."

"Oh bother.. if you don't remember then you're going to have to do it again. You volunteered to join the crew.. If you can't hold your rum then you shouldn't drink so much." She shook her head and looked to Cervantes. "I suppose then you'll be coming with me to see the Captain."

"No, take me too. I... I remember," he said, trying to convince himself he did. Some pieces were clear and others clearly weren't or were missing altogether. Cervantes hadn't let him out of his sight it seemed in months and now the thought panicked him a little. "Don't leave me here alone."

"Stories he remembers... unless he is in them, non? Come boy, stand up and come here," he chuckled, ready to carry him by the collar if necessary. "Leave him here and he'll just scare the rats."

Her eyes moved back and forth between the two men and then she just nodded. She'd heard of men.. being close, years at sea and turning to each other for comforts that they had no women to provide.. at least she didn't have to worry about either of them trying to break down her door at night. "Very well." She shifted the key to the cell from where it was tucked under her belt and moved to unlock the door for them. "Right this way." The door swung back and she stepped ahead, motioning them to follow her.

Dom watched her eyes dart, wondering what she looked at. "You don't believe me, do you? It's true, I do remember. Standing on the beach, we were, and he was trying to be smart, putting me to work while he watched. Just like Jack, I do remember that now." He couldn't rightly forget, feeling his fingers sting from the broth that had spilled onto the torn blisters.

"We will be honored for the Captain's audience, will we not, young friend? She is waiting for us and a woman is never to be kept waiting." Cervantes' sympathies were with the girl, wondering also what thoughts she kept behind the expression.

[Lovely]

August 23, 1740


It had been a calm few days at sea, the new 'crew' was settled in mostly now. The two women had been aboard for a month and though they weren't sailors, they were an asset to the ship, repairing sails and helping with cooking and other tasks that they learned as they went. The women and their chosen protectors seemed equally content and pleased with the arrangements and most of the crew respected the way things were. Cervantes appeared well suited to his position and was doing a fine job so far, Dominick was earning his keep and not causing trouble. Even Jack was mostly behaving which meant some trouble was brewing somewhere and would likely hit the Opal soon. Treasure smiled slightly at the thoughts that passed through her mind as she stood near the wheel watching over everything. She was about to turn and head to her cabin to make an entry in her log when a voice called out "Sail!" Her step halted and she looked to the horizion, indeed there was something there. She moved to resume her position, one arm folded behind her, resting at her lower back. She wondered if this was the trouble or simply a prelude to it. "Nance!" She called for the man's attention. "Make note of who spotted the sail." She told him as she scanned the water and the ship in the distance. This was no wreck, it was a bounty waiting for them to take it.

"Aye! Noted, Captain!" Nance shouted, gathering to direct those out of Will's reach. "Prepare to bring her around to meet the pretty lady, boys. Cannons to the ready but hold for the Captain's order!" He hopped down to attend a rope and secure a boom. East India Trading company was Nance's first guess, and first hope, though the other ship was too far out to identify yet. "Aye, give her a warm welcome, but expect surprises," he muttered to himself.

"Come on boys, lets catch ourselves a pretty fish." Treasure called out to encourage the men as they started to scramble into place to take on the other ship, all eager for the adventure and the bounty she might hold. The Opal was a fast ship, the fastest if what Jack said was true, and she believed this was one of the few truths he told, since he didn't like to say so often, and insult the Pearl.

She came up from where she'd been attending her 'chores', in an outfit she'd fashioned partly from the fine dress she'd been wearing when brought on board and a pair of trousers she'd been given. The top of her dress had been modified into a vest of sorts and the trousers taken in, her dagger strapped at her hip and her red and black markings showing on her strong arms. She didn't say anything as she came up beside Nance and reached to offer him help if he wanted it.

Nance looked up to see who was assisting him, struck to find her there, and just as pleased. "Thank you," he nodded, giving her a smile as he dug at the rope, pulling it hard with his foot anchoring him against the hull. "Take the end of the rope there, secure it. Can you knot it?" The question was fair considering what little he'd come to know about her thus far. It wasn't a simple thread meant to hold a closure on a gown, afterall, but meant to hold the boom in place and keep the sail tightly inward while the ship turned. If it took too much wind, they could veer and possibly tip under their own wake.

Her head nodded to his thank you. "You're welcome." Was her quietly spoken reply. She looked at the rope as she took it up in her hands, her eyes closed for a breath when he asked if she could knot it. When they opened as she exhaled, her movements were quick and precise. Her strength showed as she pulled the rope and secured it, knotting it perfectly before she turned her gaze moved back to Nance. Her expression seemed to question many things, if she'd done right and how did she know how to do so?

"At the ready, Captain," Dominick beamed, coming up beside her and eagerly seeking direction since Nance seemed too busy at the moment to send him after anything. A mop and bucket or a pitch of straw wasn't going to be much good in taking on a rival ship. The brightness of his smile shrank away slightly when he realized that before he'd merely watched and picked up the pieces afterward. It was Cervantes who was the skilled one. He knew patches and lashings well enough to help heal his shipmates after taking on British or Islanders, but he hadn't handled much more than a stout bladed knife in a close fight. Thick air was swallowed sharply. He'd never killed anyone, either. He didn't dare show that fear or lacking ability to the Captain. He was a pirate! A sworn blade at her command! He refused to back down from an order that might have him take a life and waited for her commands. He did hope that he could watch Cervantes and learn a little more, though, or even better - he could watch the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow!

Will came upon the beaming cabin boy as he confronted the captain and awaited orders. He had a thought or two and wondered if Treasure had the same thoughts in mind. "So it seems you are. Find our quartermaster and bring him here. He seems fit to want to use his blade in games, he can use it there," Will nodded toward the other ship, wondering whether he should voice his other consideration to send the dormouse with him and keep him occupied.

Nance watched the girl and how she called upon a memory she wasn't sure she could reach. So many things had escaped her he no longer felt he should ask what she knew or didn't, but would still try. The knot was one he wouldn't expect her to know randomly and was done with an understanding of someone who had been closely around ships for some time, by someone who knew the slack and weight of a rope. He nodded. "That's right, nicely done. Thank you again. How are you at climbing?" He didn't mean it to slight her or simply to watch her wiggle and sway up the mast. More ropes needed tending quickly if they were going to anchor at all or if there was going to be cannon fire.

She grinned, looking like she was a cat with a tiny mouse hidden behind the mischevious smile. She nodded, looking up with an expression that said again it was a memory she was reaching for but somehow she knew she could climb and enjoyed it. The clouded memories made her smile falter a moment -she knew the husband she'd lost would never let her do such things.. so why was she with him if he held her back and restricted her. Her gaze fell back to Nance. "You allow me to be who I am.. even though I don't fully remember what that is." The look in her eyes likely said how much that, how much he meant to her though she didn't have time to say more. With a shift of her feet and a small leap she started up the mast for the ropes that needed tending.

Josette came to offer what help she could in securing items on the deck and getting things ready for them to face off with the other ship. It was terribly exciting and though she'd heard many stories from her previous husbands, it was nothing like actually being a part of it. She was becoming more and more accustomned to this life and found that she did very much prefer to be a pirate than to be married off to them by her mother. She'd fled that life to find herself in this one.. and it felt like this is where she was supposed to be, even if she felt like she was lacking in knowledge of 'ship' things. She was willing to learn and doing her best to make herself useful aboard the Opal and to Victor in 'other' ways that made her blush lightly at the thought. Her outfit was much like those now worn by the other women aboard the ship, she'd helped to make them and was happy with the way they'd come out. Hers was most like Octavia's but a bit more feminine and soft than the other girls' since she mostly kept busy with cooking and sewing.

Treasure turned to Will after taking in the other ship for long moments and lowered her scope to give him a brief smile. "Off the starboard bow.. She looks ill equipped for a meeting with us. I suspect we won't need to waste much powder to bring her down. A few rounds and to the ropes I'd say.. what do you see?" She offered him the scope so that he might observe the ship as well and offer his thoughts, she already had her own ideas but wanted to know if his were similar.

Fetching Cervantes was all they wanted of him? His smile crimped with his confusion as he nodded. "I'll fetch him for you. Then we'll have our orders, right?" He did mean 'we' and wouldn't let his mentor have all the fun. At least it always had looked like fun though he knew the darker end of the story too. "Should I get Jack too? Where is he?"

"Jack will find his way, no need for you to fret over him. He pops up at the oddest times and in the strangest places. I need Cervantes on deck, though." Treasure spoke over her shoulder to Dominick, her gaze still out toward the other ship though she passed Wll her scope. "Be prepared boys.." She was speaking to Dom and others who were in range. "I expect the cannon fire to be over quickly, then it's to the ropes and into the fray. There's much fun to be had."

Will took the scope, keeping his commentary about Jack behind a sneering grin. She'd said it nicer than he'd have. She was right about having fun with taking on the other ship, though. "Could have that without firing a shot. Her crew's light.." he observed, spying the deck and the few hands he could see. He glanced back toward Nance and his helper as the Opal's sails took wind and snapped sharp under their turn. "We'll be on her in minutes with that wind in our favor. No way for her to outrun, or outgun... not so much as a hint of brass or spark of a fuse, yet. Either they don't see us coming... or they have no idea who we are. What do you say, Captain? Spare the powder and let the boys raise the colors and have their day?"

"Boys do need to have their fun, now don't they?" She smiled, the grin clearly showing she wanted to have her fun as well. "Well then mister Turner.. tell the men to spare the powder... let them have their fun." She turned to step up on the rail and gave the cry which would raise a cheer from the men. "Hoist the colors!" She'd let Will give the other half of the 'plan', they were a team after all.

Nance was on the task as the order rang out, he and another hand tying the Opal's vibrant warning, clashing metal blades and a wash of purple, to the ropes and pulling them higher for the black haired woman to secure while she climbed around the top of the mast. Indigo... Nance pondered, looking up at the woman and the flag and sails, deciding on something that had been troubling him.. perhaps India for her own ink that adorned her.

"All hands at the ready, Captain," Will nodded with a smile meant just for her as he returned the scope. He was intending to go aboard as well unless she had other plans. He turned to carry the order to the wind and the rest of the crew. "All hands - look alive!"

The girl on the mast was limber and quick, nearly soaring now as she flipped herself from one place to the next, perched and tightening things as needed. As the Opal's colors came up her legs went around the beam below her and she swung backwards, grasping and tying the bottom as she hung upside down. Moving just as swiftly she did the top and let the purple wave it's warning in the breeze along with her raven hair which whipped out behind her.

Dom ran off as told, in search of his friend, post haste. "Cervantes! Cerv... where are you? Oy, Cervantes?!" Down the ladders below deck and all the way down to the brig, he searched, dodging around other hands scurring above at the promise of the attack. What could he be doing that he wasn't already on deck and awaiting arrival at the other ship? Dominick stopped and turned back. The boats! Dom laughed and wondered if the man had already taken to one of the boats to gather all kinds of bounty from the ship. Strangely, he wondered... he hadn't seen Jack, either. He looked around as he resurfaced on deck, wondering where they both were. He had to find Cervantes. He had to show him how to handle a sword!

"Here boy. Hush your caterwaulings. You have found me, have you not?" Cervantes had heard the call to attention and had been checking the boats, but wasn't sitting idle in one. He appeared cross, but was merely only concerned. He'd seen the boy approach the Captain and first mate alone, directly without being called by them. "You're lucky she didn't decide to cast you overboard." He didn't want to scare his young friend or let him believe he was angry. Cervantes chuckled and turned the boy toward the Captain, setting his arm about the young man's shoulder as they walked. "You have a taste for this fight, do you not?"

"Taste? I crave it, Cerv. It's been months since we've crossed.. well, since you've crossed a blade and I've watched," he quieted, weighed under his mentor's arm, seeming burdened by more. Surely Cervantes wouldn't leave him if he was near death! He straightened himself up with the determination to show his friend what he was made of, that he could be victorious in a fight and do it alone. "I'm done watching. I'm a pirate now, a real pirate! Whatever's on that ship, I'm going to bring in my fair share!" The zeal was louder than he'd meant it, turning to see their steps had put them beside the captain yet again while he was ensconced in his thoughts and not paying attention.

[Lovely]

August 23, 1740
dusk
follows: Disgrace


The Quartermaster's chamber was likely as awash with disarray as the other ship had been moments before its obliteration. Cervantes' level-headed insistence allowed the woman he'd collected to be stationed within the confines of his chamber until the spoils were accounted and stored. He knew not what to expect upon his return. He'd insisted that she not have ropes about her wrists and damage their delicate response to his attentions later. He'd suggested the irons with a wry grin, leaving Nance to pin her ankles, or her fair waist as she was certainly of thin build, but sturdy if her fight against her capture spoke well of her usual demeanor. Cervantes was curious, though at the moment concerned that he might find her the victim of her own demise. Had Dominick not carted off the store of his blades, he'd be twice burdened with his worry. He stopped at his door, looking at the key to the irons that he held in his palm and listening for any scuffle within, if only for the sound of the scratchings of a lock being picked from within if she were trying to escape the room. Where would she go? The ship was only so large and he had several days to find her before docking. She didn't appear foolish enough to simply toss herself into the sea, he reasoned, or at least hoped he was right.

Savanah had fought against the men who carried her off the ship she was on before, they were pirates of course and had attacked the other ship to steal it's goods. Who hadn't heard stories of what pirates did with young ladies like herself? Savanah was not about to let such things happen to her without putting up one heck of a fight! Of course one girl against a few strong men and she was taken where the one who seemed to fancy her most wanted her to be. His own cabin if she heard right, he'd been the one to first come across her on the other ship so perhaps that was why he got her first? Maybe he was of some importance on this ship as he ordered others around and had a cabin to himself.. she didn't know how things worked on this sort of ship and only knew little about the workings of others. Her ankles had been locked in heavy shackles that made it difficult for her to walk around, she'd heard the lock on the door of the room after the last man left and she was trapped within it. Her fury was taken out on anything and everything she could get ahold of. She stumbled around the room with the clinking of the chain between the shackles and how they made her stumble, making her all the more angry. She'd pounded against the door, shouting and threatening anyone who could hear her, she gone so far as to knock over the table and smash the chair. When her efforts were met with no response, she started over and kept going until she'd exhausted herself. She now had no chair to sit in and pouted as she folded herself down to the floor amid the mess she'd made. Savanah had just enough sense to grab one of the broken chair legs to use as a weapon and she listened for footsteps or other sounds that would tell her when someone approached the door. When those sounds came, she got to her feet, wobbling a bit and shuffling as quietly as she could in her chains to 'hide' behind the door, her intent to whack whoever came in, over the head with the chair leg.

He felt the chain rake over the board that met his foot on the other side of the door. He tapped his toe once to push the strange tickle out of his boot as he clasped the key tighter and pulled another from a chain on his belt to open the door. She was alive at least and likely in the foulest of moods. He laughed as the lock was undone, stopping to pull his own blade to the ready before he pushed the door open, guarding his face with the blade as he expected she'd try to attack him. "Resting well, are you not, mademoiselle? Eh?"

[Lovely]

Savy was sure he'd see the mess as soon as he opened the door and perhaps it might distract him for a moment but she didn't count on it. Her attack would not be a surprise as he was expecting her to do so and he would her the rattle of the chain as she took the step she need to in order to strike him with the chair leg. "Not at all!" She spat at him as she swung the makeshift club, hoping she might knock him out.

He hadn't anticipated the foul wash from her mouth that did make him flinch, though the club she used was blocked by the sword's guarding basket.. barely. He ducked back from the blow and gave her a glance of his own before pushing her back from the door. He was amused by her spirit and he began to laugh. "Then you are fighting well! There is a stout fire in your heart," he complimented, noting that not only was she not resting, but she'd appeared quite active and was not yet exhausted. "My room you've nearly destroyed. Where were you planning to sleep, then? You leave only a small space for us both." He tutted her, teasingly scolding her as he dared her to strike at him again.

She stumbled at his push, the infuriating chain of the shackles once again causing her footing to be less than graceful. His taunting words made her cheeks flush and her eyes spark with the fire within her. "I shall leave your carcass on the floor and take the bed of course!" She spat at him, not telling that she had no intention of sleeping any time soon, who knew what might happen if she fell asleep! She was goaded by him enough to take another swing at him with the chair leg.

He again blocked her swing, this time bringing his other hand up to grasp her arm before she swung her bludgeon again. She would feel the key in his palm pressing against her arm as tried to grapple her club away. "You will need to fight better than well then, will you not?" He spoke softly now, no longer laughing and offering her the key to release her feet.

She felt something pressing into her arm but had no idea that it was the key to the shackles and she hissed at him, trying to wrench her arm from his grip. "Perhaps if I was not in chains like some criminal than I might be able to fight better!" She took his comment as an insult to her limited fighting skills, it was not as if she ever had to do this before.

Her arm broke free from his grip as he pulled the chair leg from hers. He shifted the metal bit in his hand and turned the teeth upward, nodding. "Perhaps, but you see mademoiselle, we are all criminals here. Even you. You vandalize my room, break my things? Unlock yourself and fight if you wish to fight, but it will not free you completely."

"I was trying to get out!" She defended the damage she'd done in this room. "You shouldn't have locked me in here! I am not a criminal, how dare you say such a thing when it is you who has kidnapped me, had me put in chains and locked in here." Her chest heaved slightly with her heavy breaths and her eyes still shone with anger. She looked at the key he now showed in his hand and wondered if he would truly let her have it or if he was only using it to taunt her all the more. Her teeth bit at her lower lip and she darted to try to grab the key and then get away from him as fast as possible.

He let her have the key and let her jump away. He snickered at her display and he moved back to close his door, locking it again from this side and placing the key and its chain, as she would clearly see, behind the band of his trousers. He dropped the club from his fingers, holding only the sword as he turned. "How dare I? Simply to say that I did dare, did I not? Where would you go? You are not hurt. You are not taken and ripped apart. I could have killed you on your ship and you would not have any of these things. You... are safe here. I lock you in, but I lock them out, too, non? Dominick, he is .. too helpful? The others I do not trust to help me or you."

She watched where he put the key and her jaw clenched slightly, she shifted a little further from him before sitting down on the floor again. "Not ripped apart or killed yet.. Perhaps I did not want to wait for it and what else might be done to me." She hesitated at lifting the hem of her skirt to undo her ankles, but then shifted the material. "You say I am safe here? How is it that I am safe? Put in chains and locked in a strange man's room.. on a ship full of strange men.. pirates.. it's not as if I did not see how they looked at me... that is not safe!"

[Lovely]

"Not yet," he agreed, smiling strangely. He nodded and watched her unlock the irons, keeping wary of her springing after him to continue her fight. "You are on this side of the door, non? You stay in here, you are safe. You go out there? Put the shackles back on to keep your chastity. The other men are bigger than your chains," he suggested, noting that the chain that had hobbled her had not allowed the space most would need to corrupt her as she feared, though they would still try as they both knew.

She wasn't at all used to handling chains and it took her a few moments to manage the locks but she paused with one foot free and one still trapped. Her gaze lifted to him and then to the door and back to him again, her mouth working to form words out of her thoughts and fears. "But I'm safe in here?" She asked softly, considering putting herself back into the shackles to discourage such attempts by the other men.

"For you to decide," he shrugged, the point of his blade cutting the air not far from her, though he guided it carefully, bringing it gracefully back to its place on his belt. Though in his room, he made no attempt at relaxing, surely looking about at the debris he would need to sort first, some pieces being maps their navigator would need to reclaim if they were still intact. "You see the night will soon fall and I will need to find a candle or you will not be sure of anything. There is no moon tonight." He teased her, it seemed, as he reached near her to pick up the candle-less sconce that had been knocked from his wall in her fury.

Her cheeks flushed with his teasing though she did not find any amusement in his comments, she felt scolded and a bit threatened. Did he mean he would not be a gentleman or did he simply find it funny to joke about what she so clearly feared? Now that some of the fire had faded from her anger, she felt ashamed for her own behavior, she had made quite the mess of his room. He needed a candle and she had scattered everything in random tosses. Savy bit at her lower lip and undid the second shackle from her ankle. "I will clean up the mess I made.. and find your candles." It wasn't exactly an apology because she didn't feel she should have to apologise from trying to escape when she'd been locked in chains and all. The chains rattled as she gathered them up abd got to her feet, the table was tipped but not broken and she went to right it first so she could set things on it, starting with the shackles.

He set the sconce aside and helped her set the table upright, ensuring that she did not attempt to fling it at him since her club had failed. "What is your name?" He asked as if challenging her to tell him the truth or amuse him with some fantasy of her making. "I am Edouard. These were my maps, logs, accountings... If we find them all, it will be more than candles I will need to put them back together. I will have your help to do these things, non?"

She looked to him as he came to help with the table, she did think of flipping it at him or hitting him with the heavy chains but was stopped by his seeming promise that she would be safe in here. Perhaps not completely safe but much more than she would be if she took her chances trying to get past the rest of the men. "Edouard." She spoke his name and gave him a slight nod of introduction. "I am Savanah." She grasped her lower lip with her teeth again and she glanced to the items she'd scattered, she nodded again. "I will help.. my temper gets the best of me sometimes."

He snickered again and there was some strangeness in his eyes beyond the familiarity with what she stated. "Savanah? You are from the colonies, non? At least you are not Brittish," he said as if he'd likened them to rats or dogs. "We are from St. Malo, far across the sea. Someday I will go home and maybe I will show you."

[Lovely]

She'd gathered a few papers and she set them to the table, she stared at Edouard for a moment, her head tipped to the side, trying to figure him out a little bit. "Show me? Why would you show me? Will I be kept here that long.. to be here someday..?" She felt lost, her mind leaping from thought to thought as ideas were conjured by his comment.

"You have been spared. Why would you not stay?" The question he posed was genuine. "Again I ask. Where would you go? Your ship? Gone. Those you knew? Gone also. Your way? How would you find it from out here in the sea? Go. Take a boat and row. How far will you go?" He chuckled, knowing the suggestion was absurd, but if her fear drove her hard enough, she would likely consider it. He moved a handful of papers and splinters from where the table had been upset and withdrew a candle that needed to be trimmed where it had been crushed. "I would show you if you stay," he said, arriving at a compromise that neither confined her in a promise to remain aboard, nor made a demand of her for the same. If she did not stay, what could he do besides take her again and keep her in irons? He amused himself with a chuckle over the unvoiced decision to keep stealing her away until she no long fought.

Savy was quiet for a few moments, it was clear from her expression that she was thinking over his suggestions. She gathered a few rolled up maps and set those into the pile on the table, her fingers twisting together lightly once they were empty again. "I had not considered that I would be invited or allowed to stay.. for any length of time.. or that I would be anything but a prisoner here for whatever time I remained.. though if it is not safe for me to leave this room, I am hardly more than that." She didn't mean it as an insult to him, only that she would be confined. "I truly thought I would.. be torn apart.. and tossed into the sea when the men were finished with me." She didn't dare to look at him as she spoke the last but lifted her gaze when she started to speak again. "The stories one hears of... pirates, does not make you think you will survive being captured.. and yet you invite me to see your home someday.. I am just a girl, I know nothing of these things. I know nothing of you and I am sorry that I made such a mess of your things."

He came around beside her as she looked away from him. He set the candle beside the maps to rest his hand on hers, holding her gently from pulling away too soon. "To dishonor a lady, there is punishment very severe, mademoiselle. What you speak of, if the lady has no desire of the man, he is put to the death of the captain's choosing. There is no trial, only death. Our captain is herself a woman and would not pardon such an offense," he explained as if painting his words in gold and sunlight, hope against her fear, though a code and agreement among criminals was no guarantee against some who might try to hide their crimes and still seek to corrupt her, even himself.

She felt the warmth of his hand on hers and let it rest there as he spoke, slowly her hands shifted to capture his between them. His words changed her expression, from fearful to more curious as he told her of the captain and the punishment for those crimes. "I am in your room to protect me from the others but for another reason, yes? You want me to.. consent.. to have desire for that with you?" Her cheeks were very warm with a deep blush though she mostly held his gaze. "Will you give me a blade? Something small to protect myself with.. and teach me to use it? The punishment sets me at ease some but I would rather prevent the crime than be violated and have the man punished for it.." She looked into his eyes, seeming a little sad. "I can not consent to a man who is not my husband.."

[Lovely]

Edouard grinned a different grin now, nodding slowly. Had he expected less? "What I want is not yet to be said, mademoiselle, yet you find these words from my thoughts. Rest tonight and I will show you how to use these things," he said, straightening himself and grasping the hilt of his sword with the hand he pulled away from her. "Tonight, I count," he sighed, ready to manage his duties for the ship and crew first.

She stared at him with a confused expressing and one of her hands started to instinctively reach for him before she realized it and snatched it back to her own waist. "You will leave and lock me in here again?" She asked, looking very worried since she'd refused him and he'd warned her that she would face the crew and what they might do even with the threat of such punishment or perhaps her own mind could only see that happening on a ship like this. "Please.. I promise to be good.. please don't leave me again."

"You are safe in here, non? I have said this and the key is with me. The crew, they would not seek to anger me any more than they would our captain, except those foolish enough to seek the point of my blade. Stay. Rest. Find the pieces of these maps if you cannot, then," he said, pointing out the fragments and remaining disarray.

She did not look very assured and her head shook, she bit her lower lip because she did not want to be reduced to tears or beg him. "There are many men on this ship.. you do not think a single one of them is foolish or desperate? What happens when they slice my throat after they are finished?.. I will be dead and no one will be punished."

"You do not trust me still, non? Then do not sleep. Keep your sticks with you and poke out the heart of anyone who makes a liar of Edouard who says you ... are... safe," he said, emphasizing his words with a step closer until he hovered only breath's space in front of her, staring deeply into her eyes.

She met his gaze, the fear still bright in her eyes, her hands twitching as if she wanted to grasp his hands but was unsure of how he would react to it. "Safe with you.." She reluctantly agreed and broke the gaze to glance at the chains before lifting her eyes to his again. "But when you are not here? You said so yourself.." She shook her head gently and bit at her lip again. "You ask me to trust you.. but how can I trust every man on this ship? Not all may be as honorable as you."