Once on the Waves
The Diamond Moon
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Disclaimer:
See
the first chapter
Reviews:
Theresa-
Sorry about the delay. RL has been a
pain. Yes I can leave it there.
have no intention of doing so. As for
what happened/happens to
answer to the second bit, I’m as much
in the dark as you are, sorry.
Series:
Born
to the Sea
Therefore
this is the sequel to To Ride the Waves
Archive:
Go
ahead, but please let me know so I can boast.
Rating:
Still G
A/N:
I
have figured out how to get the stories into the appropriate folders
but this is staying where it is. I’m
also going to put up a link to a website that will explain the c
tc
terms that
are about to start cropping up just as soon as I find one. Most
of the
info I
use is from books… I can put up a
reading list if anyone wants one. It
would probably be quite useful for anyone with access to a university
library
and an interest in Mesoamerican archaeology/mythology.
Please
REVIEW! I’m beginning to think that no one
likes the
story…
The Diamond Moon.
When Jakes had told her that they were coming up
on another
ship, a lot of names ran though Cassandra Lark’s head.
Ships name matched up with Captains faces as
her drink addled wits tried to catch up with events.
It took her about twenty seconds to come up
with a list of possible identities for the ship, about the same amount
of time
it took her to find her coat (it was on the floor under her cabin
table), leave
the cabin (she was sure the door opened in
last time) and make it to the wheel (the deck usually moved more then
this). The Black Pearl was
not on the list. If it had of been,
Cassandra would most
likely have told them to turn around and head back the way they came.
The black ship ghosting over the waves towards
them looked
battered and broken. Even over the
distance that separated them, Cassandra could tell that The
Moon’s sister ship was in a very bad way and a flash of worry
briefly made an appearance inside her before it got scared away.
Scot’s Courage in her blood and returned to the fight.
By the time they were in hailing distance,
fear for her brother had reached the point where she was sure she was
sober which she reasoned, meant it had won the fight.
Rum was sounding very good right
about now. Definitely rum, no more
whisky. That appeared to have the
annoying and inexplicable effect of making her worry about Jack Sparrow.
The man himself was standing near the wheel of the
tall ship
with his gold teeth glittering in the sun.
Most people would have thought he was smiling.
Cassandra wasn’t fooled. “Parley”
she yelled. After Jack had accepted and
she had retreated
to her cabin long enough to grab a bottle of rum and a brace of knives,
Cassandra hesitated. Most people who see
the two ships together wouldn’t notice the similarities between them.
Pearl was black, The Moon was
white. Cassandra went to great lengths
to keep her ship white or as white as it could get.
Of the two, it was the more wraithlike and infinitely
more ghostlike, but the people who would now be in a
position to
compare the two ships were the kind of people who would notice the
similarities. The two crews would be
sizing each other and the ships up. They
would be actively comparing them. There
was
no help for it. Jack and she would
either have to spill the tale or they would have to make up a
convincing story
they could both work from. Either way,
the crews of both vassals would be well aware that The
Black
It was a few minutes before she was ready to board
the other
ship and as she made her hip swaying way over to the plank, Cassandra
caught
her first mate, Jakes, by the arm.
“Under no circumstance are any of the men to board The
Pearl. Keep them
here. I’ll not stop them talking to
Jackie-Boy’s crew, but they’re to do it across the water.
I want none of them on my ship. Understand?”
Jakes nodded once and turned back to the crew men who showed
signs of
following their captain. Captain
Cassandra Lark, unfollowed, quickly jumped the gap and landed on the
deck of her
ship’s sister. With a grimace of pain,
Captain Jack Sparrow climbed down the steps to meet her, followed by
his first
mate. “Sassy-girl. Been
a while.”
“Aye, it has Jackie-boy”, she glanced around, at
the obvious
signs of battle, “care to tell me what happened?” Jack’s
shoulders slummed and he leaned onto
his good side, not bothering to hid his
pain. It wasn’t like Cassandra wouldn’t
notice it
anyway. He glanced over his shoulder and
instead of answering her question, he nodded to Will.
“Will, this is Captain Cassandra Lark of The
Diamond Moon. Cassandra, this is my
first mate, Will
Turner.” They nodded to each other.
medium height, with waist length black hair.
It was split into three parts, the top and sides were in a plait
that
hung in a long tail down her back. But
the back was split into two more plaits, each one hanging over her
shoulders
and resting over her chest. It looked
like quite a complicated style, but Will
got the
impression it was more a case of something to keep Cassandra’s hands
busy. She had a sailors figure with a
narrow
waist and slim hips. Black trousers were
tucked into black boots and held up with a black belt.
A sword and a pistol hung from the
leather. Her top was covered by a pale
grey shirt that was loose and open over a child’s vest that showed the
outline
of her breasts and the slight rise of her nipples.
A brace of throwing knives hung over her
right hand shoulder for a left hand draw. Around her shoulders was the
frock
coat of an English navel captain. The
blue material made her eyes flash dark blue in the bright sun.
a lose as to whether to accept her hand when
she
offered. Feeling very self
conscious he accepted and was surprised when he gave his hand a firm
shake and
then let go.
“Will, take the wheel.
Keep us here, but don’t let any of the men go onboard
across the water if they
want. Furthermore, I want none of her
crew on my ship, understood?” Slightly
surprised, Will none the less replied, “Yes Captain.”
“I’ll be in my cabin with Captain Lark.”
could have sworn he heard Jack mutter, 'I need rum for this.'
to see Jack and Cassandra disappear into the cabin.
Well, that was interesting.
Inside, Jack kicked out a chair for his sister and
flopped
gracefully into another one. Cassandra
dropped just as gracefully into the other one and pulled the bottle she
had
brought from her own ship out. She
opened it and took a mouthful before offering it to the man.
mouthful. “Where do you want me to
begin?”
“How about with the treasure?”
Jack took another mouthful and looked into
Cassandra’s eyes, seeing the whole ocean in them.
“I was young. I was
stupid. I should have waited.
I have no real excuse for it.” He
tilted his chair back onto two legs and
sighed, “I wanted to get there first, I wanted to be able to flaunt it
in
you’re face.” He let the chair fall back
to the floor and handed her the bottle back after taking a final
mouthful. “It was a mistake.”
Cassandra nodded and took a mouthful, feeling
it burn all the way down before she replied, “A mistake you didn’t
really learn
from, or you wouldn’t have gone after the
Cortez Gold
as well.”