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 Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:02 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:04 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:06 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:10 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:15 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:43 am
 This was not how she expected to spend her day. She thought she would just go for a walk and then return home to curl up under a blanket and read. Never did she imagine she would unexpectedly tumble through a portal and find herself in the middle of a pirate raid. Not just any pirates though. Pirates who worked for the well-known Blackbeard, if the familiar white skeleton design on the black flag flapping in the wind on the neighboring ship indicated anything. She glanced around at the pirates who roughly rounded up the others, who were definitely giving a fight. It was a bit of a surprise for her that none of the pirates had bothered to tie her hands in rope like the others yet, considering she was just standing there watching them.
"Enough!" yelled out a gravelly voice.
Her heart fluttered as she thought she recognized the voice and turned to see if her mind was playing tricks.
"You scurvy dogs have nowhere to go. It's either die now or come with us and hope you will live long enough to go back home and cry to your mothers."
She almost laughed as she gazed upon the short - in comparison to her, anyway - older man in leather attire coming down the ship's stairs. If she didn't know the character so well, she probably would be shaking in her own boots at the harsh treatment he was providing. Glancing over her shoulder, she could hear some of the captured men muttering curses under their breath at the man.
"So, what's it going to be?" asked the man, stopping in front of them.
"F*ck you!" yelled out one of the captured men, which resulted in him getting a smack in the head from one of the pirates standing behind him.
"I don't think I need to tell you who you are dealing with," said the leather-clad man. "Pretty sure you have enough brains to use your eyes and see the flag. I'll give you one more chance - you can declare your loyalty to serve under my boss to live another day or you can rot in the fathoms below. Choose wisely."
"It'll be Blackbeard rotting at the bottom of the ocean," yelled out another man.
She watched as the leather-clad man's face contorted with frustration before turning.
"You boys know what to do," he said.
"And what about her?" asked one of the men, stepping up to him and gesturing towards her.
She knew she shouldn't be getting excited about recognizing another pirate when her own life was at stake now but she couldn't help it.
"Who the f*ck are you?" called out the man, finally noticing her.
"No one to worry about," she replied timidly.
The older man walked up to her, just within her personal space. She could see the icy glare starting to melt as he took her in.
"You better be true to your word," he finally said, the earlier roughness gone. But it returned when he looked over at the other pirate. "Continue as planned with this pathetic lot." Then he turned his gaze back to her as he grabbed her arm. "You're coming with me."
Her eye widened slightly but nodded in acknowledgement.
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:54 am
"You'll stay in here until my boss figures out what to do with you," said the man as he gently led her into what she recognized as the captain's cabin.
"You mean... Blackbeard?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Sorry about your friends."
"Oh, they're not my friends." She said, a brief laugh escaping her lips. "I don't even know who they are."
"What were you doing on that ship then?"
"An unintended stowaway, I suppose."
He watched her as she glanced around the room, taking note of little trinkets here and there she remembered seeing from the show.
"The name's Mr. Hands... or friends call me Izzy. You can call me whichever you like," he said.
She turned to look at him, her eyebrows rising. "You consider me a friend?"
"If you play your cards right and don't act stupid while you're aboard this ship."
"Well, then... Izzy," she replied, emphasizing on his name. "It's a pleasure to be aboard."
"And you are?" he said, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"Where I come from... I'm known as Christine," she replied and shrugged. "But if y'all want to call me by a different name, that's fine."
"You not a fan of your name?"
"Oh, no, I like my name very much. But when everyone butchers the spelling or calls you by the multiple variations that exist, or by an entirely different name with a similar sound, it just... it loses its charm, I suppose. And becomes tiring to constantly remind everyone of your actual name."
Izzy nodded in sympathy. "I suppose we will have to think of something to call you by then. Especially since... well... your name wouldn't settle well with the others because..."
She looked over at him in confusion.
"Well... it does sound French," he finished.
"Ah... right," she said, remembering her knowledge about France's complicated relationship with England and America during this time period. "Our sometimes friend, sometimes enemy, the French. Such a finicky lot, they are."
Izzy chuckled. "Yeah, something like that."
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 11:08 am
"So, what's this I hear about Izzy bringing a woman aboard the ship?" asked an accented voice coming from the door. "Doesn't seem like typical behavior from my first mate."
She lowered the book she had been perusing through to glance over, recognizing the voice. Izzy quickly got to his feet from the couch's armrest he had settled down on next to her.
"Sir," said Izzy.
From the shadows that took over the cabin since the sun had set, Blackbeard stepped forward looking at him with an inquiring look.
"Tell me, Izzy, is it true?"
"Sir, I... I..." stuttered Izzy.
"It's true," she said, interrupting Izzy from trying to gain recontrol on the situation.
Blackbeard's gaze shifted away from his first mate and over his shoulder at her, as she got to her feet.
"I was aboard the ship your crew had raided. Unlike the ship's actual crew, I had no intention in causing your men any trouble and your first mate here... Mr. Hands... he acknowledged that. I may not look like much in my current attire," she said, looking down at her modern clothing before back up at him. "But... I'm sure I can be quite an asset to your crew. I'm a quick learner, if the need requires it."
She felt her heart skip a few beats both in shock at how close the man was stepping close to her but also at the realization of which version of Blackbeard she was facing. This wasn't just any Blackbeard. It was the Kraken version. If she had met him earlier in his timeline, she would probably have a better idea how to handle the man, but the man in his current state... he was a wild card. She didn't know what to expect.
"If you thought to give my men... lady favors, then you can forget it and get off my ship," he said.
"Lady favors?" she echoed before she realized what he meant. "My dear sir, I am a bit offended that you would consider me as someone of such... profession. I am much more respectable than that."
He then suddenly broke into a smile.
"Then we won't have any problems then. Welcome aboard, dear," he said, holding out his leather gloved hand.
"Thank you," she replied, still uncertain what she was dealing with as she shook his hand. She was pleased to see he was being gentle with his hold on her hand.
"Right then," he said, stepping back to look over at Izzy. "Good work, Izzy."
"Sir," replied Izzy, nodding and looking at her reflecting the same confused expression back to her.
"Now, if you don't mind, I hear we got some new spirits from that raid and I hope to break one of the bottles open to sample it." And just as quickly as he had entered the cabin, he left the two of them alone again.
"So... that's... that's Blackbeard?" she said.
"Yeah," breathed out Izzy.
"Is he always like that?" she asked, looking over at him.
"These days? Yeah," said Izzy, shaking his head as if confused on what to make of his boss' actions.
"What now?"
"I suppose..." Izzy said, before looking over at her offering a warm smile. "We get you changed into better suited attire, if you're going to be part of the crew."
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 11:24 am
She finished tightening the belt around her waist to the desired tightness as she walked up the stairs from the captain's cabin onto the main deck. After they had completely shed their state of shock and confusion from the brief interaction with Blackbeard, Izzy finally arranged for several of the unfamiliar crew members to bring the various chests of clothing into the cabin for her to pick through for her new look. Although he didn't make any statements on a particular guideline on what needed to be worn, she made sure she matched with the black leather theme she knew Blackbeard's crew seemed to go with.
"Tighten up that line. Sail's going to rip to shreds if you keep half cocking it," she heard Izzy yelling up into the array of billowing sails above them.
"Looks like we've got a good wind," she commented, stepping up next to him.
He turned and she saw he took a slight step backwards in shock.
"Pass approval, first mate?" she asked, smirking and did a little turn to show off the outfit she put together.
She wore a red silk shirt underneath the black vest she found and black leather pants that tied along the legs, giving a window at her upper thighs and calves until tucked into the black boots. The small ornamental sword hanged by her side upon matching black belts. She tied her hair back in a braid with a piece of red fabric.
"I... you..." stuttered Izzy.
"You weren't kidding when you said those previous clothes were hiding the real you," said a voice behind her.
She turned and saw Blackbeard smiling at her, and couldn't help but noticed the faint sparkle that was in his eyes despite the kohl black paint that tried to drown it out.
"Glad to hear you approve, Captain," she said, returning the smile.
"Edward, please," he said, placing a hand upon her upper arm. "You are guest aboard my ship and you can address me as such."
"Guest?" she echoed.
"Not a member of the crew, sir?" added Izzy.
"Well, she's welcome to help out if she wants to, but I'm not going to require it. After all, you're not our usual lot we typically pick up during our raids," said Edward.
"I hope you're not just doing this because of me being a woman," she said. "I'm sure I can be just as capable as some of these others on your crew."
"And I'm not denying that. I just don't want you to feel like your trapped because of the circumstances you came aboard my ship by."
She stopped herself from commenting that the ship they were sailing wasn't actually his ship. That it was Stede Bonnet's. But she wasn't sure how long ago it had been since their 'breakup' and she wasn't ready to face the consequences of awakening the Kraken side of Blackbeard - Edward as a result of bringing the man up.
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 11:51 am
"Pull on those lines, men! We need to get those sails up before this storm blows us over," yelled out Izzy, trying his best not to get drowned out by the howling winds.
The men grunted in their effort to win the tug-a-war against the elements. One of the crewmembers let out a scream as he slipped and fell to the deck, sliding upon the wet boards. The rope he had been assisted with started to slip through the other men's hands in front of him. She rushed forward grabbing the rope and began her attempt of assisting them regain their efforts. Her arms burned from the extra effort she was having to put in and she was glad she had her leather gloves on to help prevent getting any rope burns as it tried to slip through her grasp.
"Keep it up, men," called out Izzy. "We're almost there!"
"Quick! Tie it up before the wind pulls it from us again," yelled out one of the men.
"I'll take that," said the man next to her, as he gently pulled the rope from her grasp as the others worked on tieing it up.
"Well done, men!" Izzy called out again, working his way through them. "Tie down what else you can. We're going to weigh anchor as soon as we can get into the cove."
He stopped in front of her, blocking the view of him gently grabbing her hand from the others.
"Go down below and get warmed up," said Izzy.
"But-" she retorted.
"The men have it handled. There's not much else aside from odd bits here and there. Go get warmed up. I'm not going to have you catch your death from hypothermia because of this." He gazed at her for a moment before his eyes relaxed slightly and he gave a squeeze of her hand. "Please."
She blinked in surprise as this gesture but nodded in acknowledgement.
She took a sip of the warm cup of tea in her hands as she gazed into the flames within the stove in front of her. Izzy had been right to send her below decks. She was completely wrapped up in helping pull that rope with the men, she hadn't realized how soaked through she had gotten from the storm's rain or that she was losing feeling in her fingers and toes from them going numb from the cold. She glanced down at her pants wiping away a stray water drop that hadn't dripped off like the rest or been burned away by the fire's warmth.
"You should get out of those," said a voice coming to her.
She looked over to see Izzy stand next to her, a frown of concern on his face.
"I know," she replied. "I just needed to warm up my hands first. I wouldn't have had much luck doing anything otherwise."
"Come on," he said, offering a hand to her.
"Z..." she tiredly stated, the last of her adrenaline finally wearing off. "It's fine... I just needed..."
"Nonsense," he said, taking the cup from her grasp and setting it down on the nearby table before taking her hands into his and lifting her to her feet. "You are barely functioning as it is. I shouldn't have had you stay out there in that weather for as long as you were. You weren't dressed for it."
"Were any of us?" she retorted.
"Just humor me," he said, leaning close to her. "Please."
A faint smirk appeared on her face as her gaze finally met his eyes. "So bossy."
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:44 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:57 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:59 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:05 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:06 pm
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