The Red Pirate - Chapter 1

You took a deep breath as you sat up in your bed. The open window caused the salty sweet smell of the ocean to waft in, and it was especially strong since you lived by the harbor. There was a downside of living so close to the harbor, though. The pirates in this part of England would snatch young ladies that they could get their hands on. That's why your mother always told you not to go out there without your sword. It was kind of weird carrying a sword to work every day, though.

"_______! Time for breakfast!" your mother calls out to you from downstairs. You look at the door and climb out of bed.

"Okay! I'll be down soon, mum!" you reply before pulling on some fresh clothes. It was simply a bland skirt and blouse, but it was all you had. You then ran to the door, which you opened, before running down the stairs, causing enough commotion to wake your siblings.

"Ugh! ______! BE QUIETER!" you hear your older sister yell at you. You can't help but laugh at that before walking into the small area your family called the dining room.

"What is for breakfast, mum?" you ask your mother as you walk in.

"Fish. We don't 'ave a lot of food," your mother says to you in her clear accent.

"Darn," you accidentally say out loud. Your mother doesn't hear you anyway, so you're safe for now. Your two siblings come down and sit at the table, as do you.

//// After Breakfast ////

"I do so hate my work," you say to yourself as you walk along the docks. You stop for a second and look to your right. You see the out-stretching ocean. You sometimes wish you could be as free as the pirates are, roaming around the open ocean and plundering small villages. You always did love violence, though you would never randomly attack anyone. As you're looking out on the ocean, you see a large, black ship. You knew right away that they were Pirates. You had to say something, but you were speechless. As the ship got closer, you turned and yelled to the civilians near you.

"PIRATES!" you scream at the civilians. They all scatter and you mentally face palm. What a bunch of ninnies, you think to yourself before running off also. You can hear men shouting, trying to catch up to the one who alerted civilians of them. You turn the corner and lose the few that were chasing you. You lean against the darkest corner of the alley you ran in to. You then look at what you're wearing. Not suitable for running away from or fighting pirates. You rip some of your skirt, so it's good for running away, but still appropriate. You then release the corset feature on your shirt, so you can breathe easier.

"There she be," you hear from the alley entrance. Two more men you've never seen come towards you, and you unsheathe your sword. They are surprised by this and go for their own swords, but the moment they look away, you sprint past them and dart around the corner. Unfortunately, you run into a tall man. He looks down at you, and your vision blurs. He sure was like a brick wall.

"This is the lass who ruined our chances o' plunderin'?" asks the man. You hear the men grunt before you blackout. Running always did cause you to faint, which is why you were never allowed to play with the kids in town.

////

You awake for a moment, seeing the two men from before dragging you off. You couldn't believe this. They were taking you away. You weren't going to see your family ever again…

"M-Mum," you mumble before blacking out again.

////

When you awaken, you are rocking back and fourth on what you're sure is a boat. You sit up and the brown, ripped blanket that was on you slides off the dainty bed. You then stand and wobble a little. You're definitely not used to being on sea.

"So… you're awake?" a voice says. You look to your left to see the same man you ran in to. He has a clean appearance, which was the opposite of what you'd expect a pirate to look like. His blonde hair fell lightly around his clean face. His eyes were the color of fresh, green leaves. He was so amazingly non-pirate like that you almost forgot pirates abducted you.

"Why did you take me away? It's not like I did anything!" you yell at the man. He simply grins and has the whole 'not a single fuck to give here' kind of atmosphere. "Answer me, bloody pirate!" you yell at him. In the silence between the two of you, you can hear footsteps running down the hall and people hitting the door lightly to hear what's going on. Idiots.

"I took you because you alerted people we had come. You owe me. You ruined my chances at plundering your town for reasons I can't tell you of, love," he says with a sly grin. You really hoped he wasn't thinking what you were. You backed up slightly and he let out a laugh. "You aren't going to be my wench, love," he says. "You're going to be the cook. Food here needs a woman's touch, after all."

"Why do I need to cook? I suck at cooking!" you say, even though that was a total lie. You were one of the best cooks in your town, actually. You worked at a tavern as a cook, even.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open. "Captain Kirkland! Those Italian idiots we been following went and surrendered!" an especially thin pirate says hurriedly. The captain stands and walks over to the pirate.

"What did you say, Jack? They surrendered? Dammit! We won't be able to find that German git if they surrender! They were they only thing leading us towards Beilschmidt!" the captain says angrily. You couldn't help but laugh at the situation. The captain turns towards you and frowns. "Lass, I'd suggest keeping your laughs to yourself," he says before turning back to the pirate. They talk, but you can't hear the words exchanged.

"Damn," you say softly to yourself, remembering your sword. You search for it and grin when you found it. It was still at your waist. The pirates must be even denser than you thought.

"Aye aye Captain!" the pirate yells before running off. The Captain turns to you to see you fiddling with your ripped up skirt. He turns towards a large dresser and pulls out a plain white shirt, trousers, and some boots. He throws them at you and you catch them, wincing in pain at the impact point of the boots.

"Get dressed and report to the lower deck right away. It's almost lunch," he says with a smirk before walking off the way the first pirate went.

"Git," you mumble before stripping and quickly pulling on the new clothes.

////

You walk up on deck and the salty air hits your face. The salty sweet smell of the ocean air was so familiar to you, it felt like you were back at home. Well, except for the fact that you were clearly on a boat from the wobbling you could feel in your knees. You sigh and turn the corner before running into yet another pirate and falling on the ground.

"Aye. So ye are the wench?" says the pirate you run in to. You look up and rub your head.

"I'm no wench, thank you very much. I'm simply a girl captured by a boatload of gits," you say with a sour tone. The pirate simply laughs at you.

"So we got ourselves a tough one, eh?" he says. "Well that be good. Gonna need a tough one in the kitchen!"

"So you're the cook I will be working with?" you ask, your tone still sour as a lemon.

"Aye," he says. "Follow me, love." He then walks off. You hop up quickly and follow the man down to the bottom part of the boat. You walk in to the dining area. It looked like a small lunchroom, but more pirate-like. There were three long tables with benches hooked to them, and on the right side of the room there was a serving counter. Behind that there was the kitchen area with various pots and pans hanging on the wall.

"Aye…" you say, trailing off. The pirate laughs and waves you over. You walk over and he shoves an apron to you.

"Only got one, love. It's yours," he says. You want to say 'thank you', but why bother? He's a goddamned pirate!

"When do they eat?" you ask.

"Soon. Get to cookin', lass," he says, walking off to supervise you and watch what you make.

"Fine," you say before going off to get a large pot. You set it down on a rusted burner and turn the heat on. You then move swiftly, cutting potatoes and throwing them in, and cutting various veggies and beef and throwing it in. You add a bit of cream that might not be so good anymore, but who cares? It was out and that means it was useable. You then take a ladle from the wall where it was hanging and stir everything together. You taste a bit and realize you were missing spices. You look at a cabinet and open it up to find the spices you were missing. You add a few spices and then stir it up some more.

Some time passes before pirates all come down. They leave a spot in front of the line, though. You know whom it was for, too. You hear footsteps and down the stairs comes the captain in a fancy red coat with gold designs all over it. On top of his head rests a black captain's hat with gold designs also.

"Ahhh. What delicious food have you made, love?" he says in a sly tone.

"Beef stew," you say through your teeth.

"Lovely," he says before grabbing a bowl and holding it in front of you. You ladle some stew in to his bowl and watch him walk off to sit. The other pirates watch intently, because if he doesn't like it then they won't be able to eat. Though, that never has happened before. He takes a bite and swallows. His look changes from 'Bitch I'm awesome' to a look of surprise. He turns to the men and says, "Eat!" The first man in the line scurries to get his bowl and you recognize him as Jack, the man from before.

"Here," you say, forcing a smile as you ladle stew in to the man's bowl. You continue to give food to the men, and before you know it you're done. You get some for yourself and the head cook and sit in the back with him. As you're chewing a piece of potato, the man looks over at you.

"By the way, lass. I'm Simmons," he says. You look up at him and swallow the potato you were chewing before looking to the right.

"I'm ______," you say to the man. "Very nice to meet you, Simmons." You force a smile and look at him. He's laughing when you look over.

"No need to be formal, lass!" he says. You smile and nod before going back to your food. Pirates abducted you, but maybe it wasn't too bad. Well, except for the part that you hated the captain's guts right about now.