((Feel free to read but please don't post unless you were invited.))

The docks were busy, not a surprise. Loud sounds, smells, and sights filled the area. Fish and barely bathed men were enough to make the average person retch. That was dock life everywhere, something a sailor needed to get used to. This small bay had simple ships, normally. Fishing vessels, small cargo holders, you never saw anything with more than three sails. The place, however, was quite able to service those larger ships, which was a good thing for today they were being visited by one of the largest ships on the waters.

Her Hope glided in on the water like a dream. Few had ever seen something so grand. Those who had never saw a large ship with this design. Fourteen sails adorned Her Hope, half a different color than the rest. A small crew guided it to port, rows of oars helping it along on a day with dead winds.

When the gang plank hit the dock, all the crew on deck exited to take care of various "duties," as crews do when on land. Not a soul was left aboard, which was not common for docked ships.

Name Madeline
Age 17
Height 5ft

”Stop you thief!” the yelling of guards could be heard by everyone in the vicinity drawing all eyes to the young woman running down the street a purse clutched tightly in her small hand. Panting softly Madeline rounded the corner her feet meeting planks instead of dirt as she came out onto the docks. All eyes or what felt like it turned to watch as the girl ran past, but eventually they lost interest and turned back towards their jobs. Ducking down behind some barrels she watched as the guard chasing her ran past her hiding spot.
Breathing a soft sigh of relief she shook out the purse into her palm and counted the coins there, it was a meager catch. A hum of conversation caught her attention as she dumped the coins back into the purse, it was a few sailors walking past talking about the gorgeous ship that had docked. Following their gazes she was treated to the sight of the most magnificent ship she had ever seen. What it must be like to sail across the sea in that beauty. She could never be so lucky, having lived next to the sea her entire life she had grown to love it, but sadly no crew would take her on. Woman on ships were bad luck.
Why couldn’t she become a sailor? Cut her hair and bind down her small chest and she could pass for a young boy, and if she stowed away and hid out long enough then they couldn’t actually kick her off right? Not taking any chances she made her plans. Over two hours later after having waited out the guards and after filching some men’s clothes she snuck onto the ship. Scared because she thought she would be caught Madeline was shocked to find that no one was on board. Well that would only make hiding easier. In the end she ended up hiding away in the crow’s nest praying to god she wouldn’t be found. Eventually the rocking of the ship lulled her to sleep.

"Oi! Not that sail, yeh idiot, the white ones, the white ones. Those be more fragile!" A voice shouted just as thunder cracked across the sky. The skies were black, not due to the sun going down, but due to a storm rolling in. Winds were picking up and started to press wrong at some of the sails. The small crew scurried about the ship to tackle issues that sprung up here and there due to the winds.

The crow's nest was not very well built, since none of the crew ever used it. It was essentially a basket tied to the mast and the ties were starting to come loose in the wind, tossing the basket this way and that.

Strolling across the deck, shouting orders and watching the sky was the Captain. His one eye that was not covered by a patch looked upwards as the crow's nest cracked and started to fall just above him.

The crack of thunder pulled the young woman from the sand mans clutches; the crow’s nest she had taken refuge in was making fearful cracking noises like it could fall down at any second. The slight swaying of the crow’s nest had changed it was now whipping around through the air, each hard gust of wind threatening to throw her from the basket. Madeline let out a cry of fear wrapping her arms around the mast she held on for dear life. Well this plan had not been thought through. Her heart stuttered as the basket started to fall out from under her, it was time to wake action, rain started to fall in buckets plastering her short hair to her head and in her eyes. Her heart stopped as the basket fell away, everything went in slow motion then, flailing in mid-air it was only luck and maybe instinct that made her hand close around a rung on the ladder leading down on deck. But the mast was whipping around too much for her to get down, all she could hope for was that someone would see her, or that the storm would die down before she lost her hold and was sent crashing down onto either the deck, or more likely the tossing waves.

The man below snarled a little as he spotted the stowaway. Despite is annoyance with such a thing, his heart did a flip when the basket fell out from under what he assumed was a boy. The Captain caught his breath as the boy clung onto something for dear life. "Saven, Mnor, help me out here."

The two men circled around the captain as he looked back up at the boy. They gumbled and mumbled to each other for a moment before deciding to have the boy jump to catch him. The captain shouted up to the stowaway. "Jump into the wind so you don't get swept out to sea. We'll catch you. If you don't jump, we'll come up and get you and you won't like what will happen when we get you down, boy."

Over the roaring of the wind and waves she heard a voice calling up to her, as much as her logical side screamed at her to not look down she couldn’t help but look, the far far way down towards the deck at the voice calling up to her. The instant she did she was sorry a squeak of fear escaped her. Jump down? He was telling her to jump down? Was the man insane! There was no way she could jump down and expect them to catch her. ”Are you crazy? I am not jumping down!” she screamed down at the men, but the wind stole her voice away and she wasn’t sure if they heard her. She wasn’t left with a choice as a sudden lurching of the ship aided by the water made her tight hold on the ladder slip. Soon enough she was plummeting what was sure to be her death, heart in her throat she found she couldn’t utter a sound as she fell, to terrified to even scream.

The Captain grunted and moved the men around until they were under the 'boy.' Strong and large arms of Saven and Mnor caught the boy and the Captain immediately bound 'his' arms. There were grunts and grumbles as the two fought to hold the 'boy' as the wind and sea whipped at those on deck.

"This boy be mine, I lay claim." Saven said, grabbing the 'boy's' hair and yanking 'him' towards his beard covered face.

"Nay, I caught 'im first. He be mine." Mnor yanked the 'boy's' foot to pull 'him' back to the bald headed man. Lightning split the sky again, casting a menacing glow over the two as they fought over the stowaway. The Captain frowned. Turmoil like this in his crew was common and they had an easy fix to it that they did every single time.

"You both claim the boy?" The two nodded. "Then he is now property to be claimed by me, gentlemen. Take him to my cabin."

Her breath escaped in a whoosh as strong arms caught her up saving her from impending doom, but she didn’t really have a chance to be thankful because what quickly proceeded was a fight between the two men that had saved her laying claim to her. Claim for what exactly she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, her hair was yanked, her body was yanked she felt like she was being pulled apart. A tiny sound of pain escaped her that the wind carried away. Lucky for her the captain put a quick end to things by telling the pair she was his now. Wait they kept saying lad, maybe her disguise was working and they thought her a boy. She only had to keep up this façade.

Though the men weren’t all that happy about it and grumbled quite a bit they still took her to the captain’s quarters. She was out of the rain at least, rubbing her aching scalp she looked around her new prison. She only hoped the captain wasn’t too ticked off at her, oh well she would find out soon enough. Deciding to make the best of a bad situation she went to a drawer of his and pulled out a clean dry shirt, she was already in trouble why not a little more. Shedding her own she pulled on the dry one and instantly felt warmer, the shirt was so much larger then her own but it served its purpose. There was no way in hell his breeches would fit her though, they were way too large. Guess she would have to suffer it out in these ones.

The storm was still blowing fiercely outside the ship rocking far too much to be comforting, she lay down on the captain’s bunk the day’s events catching up to her, it wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep curled up on the captains bed.