Sailing the Seven Seas *Starting/Not Accepting**

Mela

I swallowed and slipped my hand out of Ryker's. He nodded and pulled on one of the ropes, while I drew a knife, sword still sheathed, put aforementioned knife between my teeth, and pulled myself hand over hand up another rope, my feet swinging loosely.

Captain was talking in a low voice down below to Turtle, who was nodding, eyes determined. Quinn was standing next to the stowaway, and other various crew members were setting up the cannons. Ryker was knotting up a few ropes, being the stronger out of the two of us, while I was positioned, steadfast, in the crow's nest, where ten minutes ago, I had been blissfully happy.

Now I felt anger bubbling in my chest, fear creeping up my spine, and adrenaline picking up its speed.

With my knife in one hand, sword in the other, and the enemy ship just on the horizon, I couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. The battle was minutes away, and I was ready. Ryker later told me that I looked absolutely terrifying- sharp, curved, wicked looking blades in either hand, eyes blazing with adrenaline, and the corner of my mouth twitching into a lopsided, almost insane smile.

I'd never been more complimented in my life.

"Oh, and what a fight it will be."

Turtle nodded nervously. "Come at her from the front, so she can't reach us?"

"Yes," the Captain said.

"Can I equip the crew?"

The Captain nodded.

Almost at once, he was in the weapons room. Muskets, click on the bayonettes. Bands of bullets. Pistols. He threw the muskets and ammo bands over his shoulder and made a pocket with his shirt to carry the pistols. The guns were all on safety, but you couldn't be too careful. He walked as fast as he could without jolting them amoung the crew, distributing guns. He gave the prisioner and the stow-away a pistol once sure they could use them. He gave the cook a pistol. She squeaked.

"Use it if you have to," he told her. She looked detirmined and nodded.

He crewed the long guns. Captain was on the wheel shouting orders. She was so... Bad, Turtle, bad! He tore himself away and continued.

Let the battle commence.

Quinn

I'm surprised Jex is allowed to fight with us, but pleased I'm not fighting alone. His eyes widen as he sees the ship we're approaching, and his jaw goes slack.

"Don't worry," I whisper reassuringly, "there is no way we're losing." slowly, he shakes his head.

"That's my old ship," he whispers in shock. What? The ship with Rosa, where she was killed and Jex was almost? That makes me want to win even more. Seeing my determined expression, he points to a girl I can just barely see.

"Don't hurt her, she's my friend. She threw me that plank I was floating on. Quinn, we have to help her! We can't tell the others not to hurt her, she's a rival."

"We'll help her, don't worry!" I whisper back.

[Isha tell me if this is alright]

JEX

I bit my lip hard, sweat beading on my forehead. Tess was my friend, what happened if she got hurt? I wouldn't even be alive right now had she not had the guts to throw me that plank. And then there was the matter of my wonderful ex-captain seeing me alive...I had a funny feeling that this was going to end badly-very badly.

I kept my eyes on Tess, willing her to see me and demand they turn around. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She had seen me, but she wasn't exactly forcing the ship to turn around. She just stared.

"The question is how to help her," I muttered through clenched teeth.

Quinn sighed. "I'm not sure."

Neither was I, but Tess was my only friend alive, and I could say that without being a jerk because Quinn was officially more than a friend. I had already lost Rosa, and knowing that I could very well lose Quinn and Tess today was horrifying. Even more so considering that if I lost Quinn, it would be at the hands of the people who had cost me Rosa.

We were seconds away from battle and I had already lost either way.

What was going on with the stow-away and Quinn? Well, yeah, Turtle knew about them, but why were they looking at the other ship like it was a beast they were afraid to kill?

Shaking his head, Turtle composed his face. No emotion in battle.

"Fire!" He yelled. The people at the cannons pulled their strings and Turtle covered his ears. The noise of the cannonballs was still loud and reverberating in his ears from so close.

"No!" screamed the stow-away.

"What is your problem?" Turtle yelled back. "This is a battle, man!" He grabbed a cannonball and loaded up his cannon. He finished early and helped another person. Quinn ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Turtle, no!" she said. "There are good people on that ship!"

Turtle hesitated.

Wait... why were they having a battle? The Calypso had fired first. Maybe... His brow furrowed.

"Quinn," he said. "Listen to me. Tell me who, and I'll try to save them when we board. But we can't stop. Not now. This is a battle." He shook her off and ran back to his cannon. He counted to ten. It had been about seven minutes since the last fire. The other ship was a well of noise, everyone yelling, trying to turn to fire on the Calypso.

"Aim for the wheel!" he yelled. He pulled people from the crew to help him turn it, the first stow-away included.

"So you're immortal, eh?" said the first stow-away.

"Shut up and aim," Turtle growled. He waited for the other cannons to align themselves, aiming for the wheel.

"Fire!" he yelled again. Crew of the other ship went flying along with bits of debris. A crew member from Turtle's side screamed. One of the cannonballs hit the target, and the rest ripped up the deck and sails. A shape was fleeing - the captain?

The battle went on.

Quinn

The girl I see is okay. Everyone's caught up in battle. I wave her to the edge of her ship and motion for her to go to the other end of the ship. She looks at me skeptically and I mouth "Jex" at her, then point to myself. She still looks confused. When the Cap'n is looking the other way, I grab Jex's hand and hold it up with mine. Understanding dawns on her, and she nods and runs out of sight.

"I hope Tess is somewhere safe," Jex murmurs.

"Me too," I sigh. The two ships come closer together, and our crew spills onto the deck of the rival ship. Tess is nowhere to be seen. Then a flash of brown hair and part of a face peers out from a supply closet - figures - then ducks back in.

"Turtle," I say, motioning him over, "She's the girl in the supply closet there," I tell him, pointing. He nods and goes back into battle.

Jex meets the shocked eyes of the rival Cap'n and another man, and raises his sword. The other two copy him. There's no time for this! I use the element of surprise and grab one of their swords and toss it to Jex. The man shoots me an angry look, but I smile and run off before he can catch me.

"Tess?" I ask quietly from outside the closet door. The girl gets out and looks at me seriously.

"Where we going?" That's a good question.

"The Calypso," I answer without hesitation. What am I doing?! "I can't afford to see another stowaway found, so I'm going to tie you up and say you're a captive. Seriously when I found Jex in the water and hid him, he ended up tied to the rail where people on board can beat him as they please..." I shudder. "You okay with that?" She nods slowly but hesitantly.

I find some rope in the supply closet and bind her hands and feet, not too tightly, then carry her onto the Calypso and set her down. "I'm Quinn, by the way," I say with a half smile before running back on the other ship to help Jex with the two men. He seems to be holding his own pretty well though, and still has the two swords.

Turtle considered himself a pretty good swordsman. But in this battle? It was more fun to let them at him.

He parried some, but others he let scrape him. He watched with amusement as the attackers' faces changed. One person speared him through the chest - it hurt, but not as much as it probably should have. The man looked up at the large albino, shocked. Turtle brought up his gun and shot the man. He fell overboard.

"Quinn!" he yelled. "Help me get this sword out of me."

Quinn looked at him and must have gagged. She held the sword, closed her eyes and pulled. Turtle winced. Blood sprayed over Quinn's hands.

"Sorry," Turtle said. "I'll take care of that girl." Quinn nodded.

He made his way towards the girl and stood in front of her. She was tied, but there wasn't enough time to figure that out in battle. He continued fighting. It seemed the girl, too, was quite surprised by him not dying. This was the first battle when he was really able to let go, and just be sliced with no fear of discovery. And now that the other crew had figured out he couldn't die, more were flocking to him, trying to kill him. Good luck.

He was surrounded by about five of them. They were slashing at him, but he wouldn't fall. He started laughing manically. What was he scared of? The Calypso would win, hands down.

This was fun.

JEX

I grinned and blocked a blow from my ex-captain, nodding at Quinn who had returned to my side.

"You're supposed to be dead boy!" the captain hissed through clenched teeth.

I chuckled. "Well, I'm just full of surprises aren't I?" I ducked a blow from Joram as Quinn blocked another from the captain. "You know, funny thing is, the best thing happened to me after you stabbed me with that knife."

"And what's that?"

I made a slice at his shoulder that Joram blocked for him. Quinn went in then and sliced at his under-arm. Joram howled and dropped his sword. I just rolled my eyes at him. He thinks he's in pain. Wimp.

"Rosa was always telling me about fate if you don't recall. Funny how that kind of thing comes back and bites you in the butt."

Joram was back on his feet, blood dripping from his arm. He was holding his sword in his left hand, and as far as I knew, he couldn't fight with that hand.

"Rosa's dead you fool. What are you getting at?" Joram hissed, pain edging his voice.

I chuckled. "I would tell you, but there's really no point." I stabbed at the now-weakened Joram's chest with the sword in my right hand. He attempted to block, but missed. I wrenched my sword free and watched with sick fascination as he fell into a pool of his own blood.

The captain's glare hardened, my grin broadened. Clare (I still won't call her captain) stepped up beside Quinn. Things were going to get interesting.

Grace

I stared at the gun in my hands. Me, shoot someone? I don't know what he had in his bloody head, but I don't think I could. I stared at the door, waiting. I raised my gun and aimed it at the door. Trigger ready for whatever idiot came in and tried to kill me. I heard something slam against the door. Causing me to scream. I covered my mouth with one hand. Holding the gun up with the other. Tears springing to my eyes. It took a time like this for me to question why I thought I had what it take to be a pirate? Your just scum, kitchen scum I reminded myself. The door flew open, and a bloody big guy with a bloody big sword came in. I screeched and aimed my gun at him, not finding myself able to pull the god damn trigger, then I remembered, the saftey was on.

He grabbed my wrist and aimed my gun towards the ceiling. Pushing me back and holding his sword against my throat. Someone else came in, pulling him off me. I gasped, Jall? They were fighting in front of me. Rolling around. I aimed my gun by Jall would always roll in the line of fire, he looked up to me and shouted as I turned off the safety.
"Shoot him!" I teared up.
"I'll hit you!" I sobbed.
"Just do it!" He snapped. I closed my eyes as I pulled the trigger, screaming. I opened them to see Jall pushing the larger, dead man off of him. He quickly got up and hugged me.
"Are you all right?" He asked. I pushed him away.
"You could have gotten yourself killed." I hissed.
"But I didn't be grateful I saved you." He said, holding his arms out for another hug. I crossed my arms.
"Be grateful I didn't shoot you."

Captain Clare Davies:

Dammit. Dammit all.

Her brother was dead.

She knew it was going to have to happen since she'd been the one to attack his ship, but it was the captain's job to take on the other captain. Especially if she had a blood link to the man. It was not, however, the job of her captive to take out that man--her brother.

Clare Davies had made many mistakes in her past. And with the dead bodies of her brother and his crew scattered at her feet, she was about to make another one.

The battle may have been over for her brother's crew, who were all probably rotting away in the deepest pits of heck, but it wasn't over for the captive and Clare.

She drew her sword, admiring the bloodstains on it's shining surface, she set her gray eyes on Jex and moved forward with lethal steps.

She raised her sword and froze when two hands pulled her back.

Turtle.

"Let me kill him," she hissed. "He killed my brother."

"Clare," Turtle said. The Captain stop struggling for a moment; this was the first time in years, ever since she was Captain, that the gunman had called her by her real name. "Look at the stow-away. Then look at Quinn."

Quinn was standing wrapped around the stow-away's arm, and the stow away had a protective stance over her.

"They love each other. Tell me you've never felt the same."

The Captain hesitated.

"You were going to kill him yourself. He's already dead. I know you wanted to kill him, but he's already dead and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't change the past, Clare. But you can change the future of the stow-away, and Quinn. For better or worse, Captain?"

Clare paused once again, hanging in Turtle's grasp.

Captain Clare Davies:

"You were going to kill him yourself. He's already dead. I know you wanted to kill him, but he's already dead and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't change the past, Clare. But you can change the future of the stow-away, and Quinn. For better or worse, Captain?"

Clare. He called me Clare.

She relaxed into his arms, studying the couple before her. Debating if she really wanted to end Jex's life, and destroy Quinn's by doing so.

No. I can't. It's wrong. Turtle is right.

Like always, he had knocked some sense into her before she did something she would regret.

She turned away from where Jex and Quinn were embracing, celebrating the end of a battle that they had won. The Captain buried her head into Turtle's chest, her golden hair like rays of sun against Turt's dark clothing. And then, with as much confidence as a thirteen year old girl who was about to have her first kiss, Clare leaned up to Turt and kissed him.

Right. On. The. Lips.

Mela

We burst in just as Captain kissed Turtle.

We really have the best timing, don't we?

I smacked Ryker's chest (he gave a look that screamed 'WHAT I DO?!') and sprinted to Quinn. Weird as it was, I had this strange need to protect her, take care of her. Like a little sister, or something. I dropped to one knee (she was so short!) and gripped her shoulders, patting down her sides, feeling her forehead, holding her hands.

"Are you a'right, Quinn?"

"Yeah-I-oi-fine..." She was obviously a little shell shocked, her expression hopelessly confused. I cleared my throat.

"Um-er-good." I sputtered out before taking three quick strides back to Ry's side. I wiped off my bloody sword with my handkerchief and promptly tied it around my head again.

Oi. Wasn't this a weird battle?

First was surprise.

Then alarm.

Then... he was kissing the Captain, and nothing much else mattered. Because he could enjoy his time with her if he did live forever. But...

The crew went crazy. Some whooped, some laughed, some shrieked with surprise. And after a while, Turtle broke reluctantly off.

"We need to do things..." he said.

"Yes... you're right. Search the ship and... cover the bodies..." For the first time, the Captain was red. Someone in the crew whooped. She and Turtle broke away, but stayed near each other. The Captain gained control.

"Search their ship! No survivors! Cover the bodies, tend the wounded! Get to it!" she yelled.

Captain Clare Davies:

There were many tasks to be completed--cabins searched, injured crewmembers tended to, dead bodies to cover--but all the Captain really wanted to do was kiss Turtle.

What's wrong with me today? I'm going soft. I'm...falling in love with Turtle. She smiled, but only briefly. Her crew needed direction, and not from a hormonal captain.

"Mela, Ryker--you two will search this deck for anything valuable, and cover up the bodies, will you? Quinn, Jex--search the cabins below. Not the Captain's quarters. Everyone else, back to our ship. I want to see dinner on the table in one hour," Clare commanded.

The Captain was back.

Turtle started to leave.

"Not so fast," she smiled. "We're going to search my brother's cabin."

He nodded and followed her down and inside the cabin.

It was then that Clare broke down, in front of the one person that wouldn't hold it against her.

It was then...that she cried.