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Thanks --- postage soon.

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The captain leaned back from the wheel and hummed happily into the breeze. The sun was beating down, the crew was happily laboring; today was going to be a good day. The ship was sitting low in the water from the sheer tonnage of gold and booty that they'd received on their last raid. All he needed was to get back to his fence and his crew would be able to rest well with full pockets. It was time for a rest, for all of them. They'd been on the sea for ... 5 months now, collecting this haul. Captain Daniels began to daydream about what he would do when he reached port. A redheaded wench, a blonde wench, a brun ---

oh shit. "Crew member McAdams. What is that unfortunate shape approaching from starboard?" He yelled up into the crows nest. McAdams whipped out his spyglass and tracked the tiny but fast approaching dot on the horizon.

"s'a gov'ment ship Cap'n." The toothless lookout called down from the site seeing post.

"Well, that's great! When my Blood Marie is full to the gills with gold - That's the best time to run into those government dogs, right?" The Captain asked lightly "EVERYONE, PREPARE. WE ARE ABOUT TO BE BOARDED!" He yelled to his crew, checking his weapons arsenal. "Time to go to work Marie jr.." he muttered before sliding his cutlass from it's sheath.

Elena wiped her brow, letting a low whistle slip from between her lips as she sat up. She had been lazing about most of the day- part of it had been spent actually doing something useful, like telling people to do their jobs, but that was a few hours ago. She stretched out lazily, brushing dark red hair out of jade eyes.

"Hey," she called across the ship, spotting the captain at the wheel. She hopped off her seat (She was a rather small girl, standing at only 5'2-ish [on a good day]) and began to make her way over, making it across the ship in record time.

She had just begun up the steps when she heard him call up to McAdams (A scurvy, toothless fellow. Elena didn't harbor any good feelings for him.), asking about a shape on the horizon. She spotted it just as McAdams confirmed everyone's worst fears- a government ship.

"Hey, Captain," she said with a cute, cheeky grin. "Whadda ya say to this? Whoever beats the most of those government rats between us gets to be captain?" Elena's ambitions were not unknown to the Captain- the two were good friends, but the first mate was always gunning for the captain's spot. She felt it was the only way to prove herself to all the men who thought she didn't belong here.

[[Eeeeh... long >.>]]

Daniels laugh deeply as he heard the small girls challenge. He was glad that she'd come to his side, the first mate and the captain were and absolute force when the two fought together. Also he loved to watch her fight, the way that her flashed in the sun and her weapon cleaved into her opponents was profoundly, sexy.... ahem. impressive.

"It seems a tiny person is trying to take over my role as captain," Daniels said bending his knees so that he was closer to her level, the six foot two captain loved to tease the spitfire about her height " but you see my dear Elena to be the lead pirate, you'd have to at least be able to see over the wheel. But I'll take the challenge, my Bloody Marie will be yours if you pile of government dead is higher than mine, whattayasay?" He said sticking his hand out toward the woman he was proud to call his second in command "shake on it?"

Elena stuck her tongue out at him as he knelt down, putting her hands on her hips. "I can so see over the wheel," she said, pouting (technically, she couldn't, but we're pirates, since when did we care about technicalities?). "Anyways, you better kiss that wheel goodbye, Daniels," she said with a taunting smile. "Because after this fight, it's going to be mine." She reached out one pale, delicate hand and grasped his hand, a twinkle in her eyes.

It wasn't that Elena didn't think Daniels was a good captain. She thought he was great at his job. But with china doll features, Elena tended to be underestimated. That's why the girl fought so hard for the captaincy- not for control, but for respect. She knew there would be no hard feelings between the two, despite the outcome- they were as close to best friends as pirates came.

She let go of his hand and impatiently brushed her short hair out of her eyes, turning to face the attacking ship with an air of excitement.

Daniels laughed at the antics of his smaller first mate, "babe, I'm not kissing anything goodbye, but let's duke it out anyway, huh?" He asked, now checking his four one shot pistols and his blunderbuss.

"Alright men, lil' Elena and I have made a bet, again. The pirate with the most kills be the new Captain. And all of you will witness this bargain!" He yelled across the deck of his ship eliciting a cry of excitement from his men.

By this time the government ship had drawn close to the ship close enough to fire upon them it seemed, as the first bout of cannon fire resounded through the air, with the ammo failing just slightly short of their ship. The Captain ordered the men to man their cannons and prepare themselves. This was a ship sailing under the flag of the English King's personal guard. The biggest threat to piracy on all the seas.

"Double rations to any man that kills an officer of the English crown! He bellowed before running down onto the deck to enter then main fray.

"Babe? Why that condescending...," she huffed, smiling in spite of herself. She shook her hair out of her eyes and drew her twin swords, twirling them expertly as Daniels made his announcement.

"Good luck," she called out to him, a solemn look on her face. Then, she grinned, her eyes sparkling in the sun. "And you just watch me, baby, because soon you'll be calling me captain!"

Elena gracefully jumped off of the top deck and into the battle, going to work. Her moves weren't as graceful as one would expect of her, but they were lethal and brutal nonetheless, the young girl sacrificing style for power. She was fueled by the way the officers would look at her, thinking she'd be an easy catch, and by the disbelief in their eyes when she finished them off.

Daniels became completely immersed in giving orders to his men. "Cannons men, don't abandon the cannons!" While at the same time he was still cleaving his way through the crowd of government dogs with his weighted cutlass. He paused a moment in the madness of the battle to observe the quick brutal movements of his first mate and was paid a shallow cut to his side for the trouble.

Daniels laughed deeply while bashing the offender over the head with his lead pistol. "Five," he called across the fray before dropping to his knee and whipping his blunderbuss from it's holster at his back, he lit the fuse and aimed it at a knot of government men, knocking three down dead "Six, Seven, Eight."

At this point his dark eyes spotted the far off sight of a plumed hat. Here the Captain took off running in almost childlike glee - childlike with an undertone of lethality that is. Time to cut this attack off at the head - by killing the leader of the opposing team. Plus, that was a spiffy hat, spoils of war and all that.

"Three, four, five," Elena counted under her breathe. At this point, it had kind of become a habit for her to count her kills. She spun and plunged her sword into an officer's heart as he lifted his arm to swing at her, a smirk on her face. "And you were number six." A moment later, a sword caught her in the side, spilling her blood onto the deck.

"Dammit," she hissed, turning to face the person who had attacked her. It was one of the higher-ups, and as soon as the fight started Elena knew it was going to be a challenge. Oh goody, she always liked challenges. She made fighting look rather effortless, despite the blood trickling down her side. With a final swipe, she neatly beheaded the man, taking a moment to watch his body drop to the ground.

"Seven," she breathed, before turning and throwing herself back into the fight. She could see a spiffy hat bobbing in the distance, which meant only one thing- their leader. Unfortunately for her, she could already see her Captain heading in his direction, and he was going to beat her to him.

"Dammit all," she growled under her breathe, before whirling around to block an incoming attack.

Since he'd been dodging and weaving across the deck for a time now, Daniels had finally reached his target; the Captain of the opposing vessel. Taller than Daniels with slightly more bulk it seemed that he would be outmatched by the man - the only kind of fight that he liked to win. "I like your hat." Daniels said before fully stepping into the range of the opposing man. This was when Daniels noticed that the man had a ring of dead bodies around him, equal to the number of men of his Daniels had killed.

Daniels was suddenly filled with rage, at the man that had succeeded in killing men under his command. And as the Englishman brought his large gun to level with his chest Daniels threw his cutlass like a spear directly into the man's chest. As the man stumbled he still managed to get off a shot from his pistol, hitting Daniels in his left hand.

"My hand? Honestly? You just shot me in my bloody hand?" Daniels asked as the blood started flowing from his appendage. in outrage he used his right hand to reach for his last remaining loaded pistol and aim it directly at the stumbling man's forehead. "Nine." He called as the man collapsed to the ground.

After the captain of the other ship died, the handful of surviving Englishman attempted to retreat while Daniels' crew pursued them. No more government ships could come after them, and so none of these men would be allowed to leave, there was no option of mercy in a pirate life. While the other men pursued the retreating English Daniels pulled his cutlass from where it had landed shallowly in the man's chest, and then he reached down to collect the man's plumed red hat.

Elena grinned as the enemy began to retreat, the men running around like headless chickens. She stepped forward to help finish them off, then winced and staggered, a surprised look coming onto her face as her hand went to the cut on her side. It wasn't deep, but apparently she was loosing a lot of blood- she suddenly felt extremely dizzy, the ship rocking more then it should have been.

"Hey, Captain," she called out, managing a grin. "I got eight." Then, she dropped to one knee, closing her eyes as the world began to spin crazily.

Daniels heard Elena's strong voice tell him of her count, and as he turned to her to proudly tell her that yet again he had beat her by the skin on his teeth. But when he looked over to his fiery first mate she was beginning to collapse. Something deep in Daniels twisted at the sight of her crumpling, and he moved to go to her. But his knowledge of her character stopped him where he stood. Elena was always struggling to be accepted by the crew, him showing his fondness for her now would only trouble her.

"Old Man!" he called across the deck, looking for the ship's resident doctor. A rotund aged man appeared from the inner cabins, where he had been staying during the fight. He claimed that he wasn't a pirate but a pirate's doctor and so he wouldn't fight with them, only patch them up when the fight was over. Really he was just a kind, cowardly old man.

"Doc, tend to the wounded. Elena, McAdams and Tommy have the worst wounds treat them first. The rest of us hae cuts and bruises that you ca care for after." he commanded the doctor, turning back to his crew he said, "collect the dead, the sea will reclaim our brethren tonight." he added more solemnly. While he reorganized his ship after the attack, his thoughts were silently with his fiery crew member.

Elena managed to get back onto her feet as the Captain called for the doctor- she impatiently brushed aside the hand the old man held out to help her, managing a grin. "I can manage to get to the medical room myself, Doc," she said. "McAdams and Tommy are worse of then me. Help 'em, and I'll see you there." Gritting her teeth against the pain, Elena made her way to the medical room, her hand pressed to her side to staunch the blood flow.

As she went, she noticed the bodies of the dead littering the deck- the bodies of friends as well as foes. It always upset her to see her comrades dead; they had laughed together, fought together, and despite the fact that they never gave Elena proper credit, they had become her family, her brothers, fathers and uncles. She shook her head sadly, wondering how Captain Daniels was taking things.

I wonder if he's still captain, she thought wryly, using the thought as a distraction from the pain. She began to daydream as she went, finally making it to the medical room.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough," the doctor said with a kindly smile. Elena bit her tongue and forced herself to smile, sinking into a chair as she waited to be tended. She suddenly felt exhausted, and sitting down had never seemed more welcoming.

Daniels saw Elena rise on her own, and argue the doc into letting her make her own way to sick bay. He was happy to see that she was not so ill as to be dependent on anyone else. Now that she was in the doctor's hands though, he was sure she'd be fine. And so he turned himself back to the work of the ship.

The Captain took stock of the ship. The Bloody Marie had taken cannon fire to the deck, and was in need of repair - but not so much that it would keep them from making port. He then took stock of the other ship, which now floated on the sea bereft, with all of it's crew exterminated. It was too damaged to take on as a second ship, which would be his first inclination. The captain allowed the ship to drift further, they would search it later - "Johnny, hook that ship to our'n, we'll need look into it later."

The Captain then took on the role which he had wanted to avoid, looking after the pirate dead. The Bloody Marie had lost ten of it's hands in the scuffle, all of whom would need to be replaced at port. Daniels then performed a pirate funeral of respectfully rolling the bodies of his men into the sea. Once this solemn task was done all that was left was to irreverently throw the government men overboard and clean the deck.

"A day of rest for all men. Heal your wounds and remember the dead, tomorrow we sail." He bellowed across the deck, and headed toward the medic's cabin to check on Elena ... and Tommy and McAdams too of course.

"For god's sakes, I don't need stitches!"

By this point, Elena was backed up into a corner, glowering at the docter and the needle in his hands. "It's just a shallow wound. Please just bandage it up so I can be on my way!" Elena wouldn't admit it, but she hated stitches. Namely, she hated the needles.

"Elena, if we just wrap it, there's a chance that it will reopen," the old man said, trying to get closer to her. Her glare had him taking a step back from her instead.

"I'll take my chances," the girl said stiffly, trying to back farther into the corner even though she was already jammed into it.

When Daniels strode into the small compartment of his ship that constituted the medical care center for the crew Tommy, who'd been sliced viciously across the chest with an enemy was wrapped up fully and resting in his bunk, it looked like he was on the mend. McAdams was another story. The man had been shot in the shoulder, close enough to the heart to cause real concern, additionally Daniels doubted that the doc had been able to remove the ammo, which added the additional concern of lead poisoning. The lookout was sweating and twisting in his bunk, he might not survive the night.

Daniels then turned to look at the last occupant of the room, Elena. It seemed that the girl was refusing treatment, the doctor was recommending stitches - oh that's it. Daniel's knew of his second's intense hatred of needles. At the same time he saw what the doctor was saying, that wound would probably re-open if it wasn't closed properly.

The only way to get Elena to get the stitches would be .... well damn. But then again, he guessed that acting like a little bit more of a jackass wouldn't really hurt his image to her, she already thought he was an ass.

Daniels backtracked now and re-entered the room loudly. "Hey there little one, see that my second in command doesn't much care for itty bitty needles, eh?" Daniels mock-laughed before slapping his own arm "Doc why don't you poke around in my skin a little bit and Elena can see that your instruments aren't really that scary after all..... That is if she can stand it. Maybe she's not pirate enough you know?" He said to the doctor, ignoring the first mate all together.

Daniels winced at his assinine behavior, but hell - her health was more important than what she thought of him. That's just how it was.

A fire lit up in Elena's eyes, and she scowled fiercely at Daniels, the scowl out of place on her face. She knew she was being bated, but ooh did she hate it when she was treated like a child.

"You should be out tending to your duties," she said stiffly, shoving him away. She grit her teeth and sat down, lifting up her shirt so that the doctor could get at her wound. "Do your worse, then," she growled softly, refusing to look at the Captain. "And be quick. I have better things to do then be poked around with a needle."

Daniels stood then, seeing that Elena has succumbed to his baiting and would now allow for proper treatment. "There's my girl." he said under his breath before exiting the cabin and arriving back onto the main deck.

The enemy dead had been disposed off, and the crewmen that they had lost were respectfully descending into the depths of the ocean. His ship was in just good enough condition to make it to port at a limp. His men were resting, and so should he be. At dawn they would reach the pirate port, an everlasting mix of revel making and cut throat tactics.

With that thought in his mind, he retired to his personal quarters.

After a rather unpleasant couple of minutes that seemed to last for hours, Elena was on her way. She small red head had a stormy look on her face as she went around tending to her duties, making sure that the cannons were being cleaned, the weapons taken care of, and whatnot. No one dared to cross the small woman- the look on her face said that she wasn't afraid to send someone to their watery grave. She was still upset- no, pissed was a better word for it- that Daniels had bated her like that, and even more upset by the fact that she had let herself fall for it. The neat row of stitches in her side throbbed, and she grimaced as she felt the clothe of her shirt rub against the stitched; it was a feeling that disturbed her, to say the least.

As soon as everything was finished, Elena snuck away and climbed up onto one of the nets hanging from the mass, staring out at the calm sea. It was a clear night, and stars twinkled in the sky. Elena searched for constellations, picking out familiar friends such as the Ship and the Hunter.

Daniels cracked his eyes open. Dawn. Damn. His body naturally wanted to snuggle back into his bunk, and take more sleep for his battered body. But the duty of the Captain was to wake first and sleep last, so that the crew always had a leader. With the thought of the obligations he loves so dearly at the forefront of his mind the Captain woke up and began to dress. Within ten minutes of waking Daniels was on the upper deck of the Bloody Marie, setting a more direct course for the pirate port, which was now in distant sight.

The first duty while in port would be to fence the goods they'd stolen over the last five months. The second would be to visit the families of the ten men he had lost on his ship, inform them of their loved ones passing, and give them their share of the pirate gold. The he would repair his ship and free his men to one week of shore leave.

With that set in mind he waited patiently for his first mate to arrive by his side.

Elena woke up, rubbing her eyes groggily. She had never been much of a morning person, but she had her own duties to perform- namely, doing whatever the hell the captain told her to do. She got out of bed and changed into black capris, then threw on a tight fitting black shirt with a looser, faded shirt on top. The neck hole was wide enough for it to slip off one shoulder, revealing part of the shirt underneath. She ran a hand through her short red hair and yawned, then made her way above decks.

When she got to the Captain, she was still rubbing her eyes- we mentioned she wasn't a morning person, right? "G'morning, Captain," she said through a yawn. She blinked a few times, her eyes narrowing as they tried to adjust to the sunlight. The young girl looked rather grumpy today, her hair slightly frazzled and slight shadows under her eyes.

"Well good morning sunshine - see you forgot to comb your hair today." He said to Elena, looking her over with a friendly eye, "But fear not, we will arrive at port soon, and you can pretty yourself up as much as your heart desires - or not." He added amiably, "it's really up to you." The two continued their pleasant back and forth as the pirate port drew nearer and nearer until finally the Bloody Marie was docking at it's familiar port of call.

"Men. Tend to the ship while I am gone, find a ship's wright to fix the cannon damage to the deck and check the hull. After I've returned from The Den you'll be paid and given leave for one week. It was a good voyage my men!" He called over the deck raising his arms to ellicit a shout from his tired deckhands. They were worthy pirates all, and they deserved the vacation that was soon coming to them.

Daniels then turned to his fetching first mate, "You coming with me to The Den 'lena?" He asked, while stepping onto the dock.

Elena looked up at him when he made a reference to her hair, and instantly reached up to smooth it down. A frown had fixed itself onto her face at this point, and she was still messing with her hair when Daniels asked if she was coming with him.

"Yeah, yeah," she said distractedly, lowering her hands and moving forward. She hopped off the ship and onto the docks, grimacing as her shirt rubbed against her stitches. "What's our plan of action, Captain," she asked, glancing up at him. She began to walk ahead of him as she waited, peering at the stalls set up on the dock- pirates were selling some of their booty here, and the shiny trinkets caught the young woman's attention.

While she was looking, a man bumped into her, sending her sprawling against the stall. "Hey," she said furiously, spinning around. The offending pirate turned to her, staggering- obviously, he was drunk, even this early in the morning. "Well, aren't you a pretty piece," he slurred, obviously oblivious to the fact that he had just bumped into her. He threw an arm around her, leaning on her heavily. Her eyes watered at the smell of sour beer that washed over her. "What's say you and I go and have a little fun, eh?"

"Get off of me," she said, struggling to free herself from the man's weight.

Daniels instantly was a blur of action. At the moment that the man swung his arm across Elena's shoulder he began to unholster his pistol, and by that time that the man was making his statement the Captain's loaded pistol was already leveled at his head. "This is a crew member of my ship the Bloody Marie, and you will treat a crew member of mine, male or female with all the respect due them." He said levelly, bearing the pistol down slightly further on the man's temple. "You should go now, and may this teach not to accost unsuspecting women in the street."


With that the man retreated from where the two were standing at the market. "Elena. Let's carry on, yes?" He asked, regaining his composure. Men shouldn't touch 'Lena.

Pushing the incident to the back of his mind the Captain continued in the direction of the fence.

Elena gave Daniels an appreciative grin, before brushing her hair out of her eyes and followed him like the dutiful little first mate she was (when she wasn't challenging him for the captaincy, of course.) "How long are we staying at port, Captain? A week?" Elena was a sea fairer, heart and soul, but she did like coming to shore every once in a while. It was a chance to catch up on news- and, being a woman, she did like to look at things in the shops. Their last visit here, she had bought herself a set of gold combs that looked wonderful in her dark red hair. She never really got the chance to wear them, but she loved them all the same.

Even now, she looked curiously at the stalls and shops they passed, perking up when she saw the tavern. Ah, yes, there would surely be a lot of time spent there, getting drunk and regaling each other with tales of epic battles (That were undoubtedly partly produced from the pirate's drunken state, but they were entertaining nonetheless.) Elena could hold her liquor surprisingly well, and liked to best the men in drinking contests. The only one she knew who could keep up with her was the man standing next to her; a wry smile crossed her lips. Maybe they could have a little competition later tonight....

"I'd like to know the answer to that question too little 'Lena. We'll be here at least a week for shore leave, but longer if the ship needs work that will extend past a week." The Captain paused, "I don't like being at port much either Elena," he said acknowledging her unspoken distaste for land, "but everyone needs to get refreshed for our next journey."

The two continued to meander through the city streets before they reached the squat house that was the temporary site of the mobile 'Thieves Den.' Where ever The Den was located that week the inside always was the same, old pirates with even older tales, the dank smell of unmoving air and finally Mateo. Mateo was a large man of unknown age and origin, actually Daniels knew nothing about him except that he was the most trusted and successful fence in port; and that's all that the Captain needed to know.

As Daniels stepped through the door the dust and odor seemed to swirl with the new addition. "Mateo!?" the Captain called, looking for the fence.