TIC: A Little Spark

The Isa Chronicles Part Two: A Little Spark

Pairing: Davy Jones/OFC
Rated: ARRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Note on Chronology: A Little Spark is based before Lighten Up, Would Ye? (which is hovering somewhere near the bottom of the page). IT IS A PREQUEL! (lol)
Feedback: As much as I hate Will Turner, I have to quote him in saying “a craftsman is always pleased to hear his work is appreciated”… except for the fact that I’m chick…
Credit: to Kyra of course for babystepping me through this, and writing the good stuff at the end. heh


Note:
Kitty: all you’ll get out of me is some expired crackers and some noodles. LOL.
Capt Davy: As it’s Pre-Lighten up Would ye, no… but there WILL be fantasies. Heh.
Little Sparra: I’ll try to avoid the pitchfork wielding masses.
Callous: I still don’t know what to say and I’ve been mulling it over for a couple hours. I’m beyond flattered, how’s that? :D

Anothernote:
Chapter has bits and pieces of my shitty grasp of Cree and Mohawk, and translations are at the bottom.

Last note:
For fuck sakes. I was trying to upload this chapter last night… and coincidentally, when I clicked “Publish”, AFF decided to do their Routine Maintenance thing…
DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MONOTONOUS IT IS GO TYPE MANUAL HTML??? grr.

Okay, 123 kung fu.

(2.2)

(Two months BDG)
“Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always.” ~Dante Alighieri


~**~*~**~*~**~

Isa:

“Nôsisim… Nôsisim!”

The fog rolling over my brain cleared a little at the strong feminine voice at my ear, whispering the word for granddaughter in my own tongue. A gentle but firm hand shook my shoulder and another ran over my face and I felt every strand of hair drag across my skin as it was cleared away.

Do I really want to open my eyes?

It took me a full minute to realize I was outside, on deck. My face felt wet, spritzed with droplets of either rain or sea water, and felt the wind rip through my soaked clothing chilling me to the bone. I shivered and worked up the nerve to open my eyes. My head absolutely pounded, whoever knocked me out did a damn good job of scrambling my brains in the process.

I was only below decks for a couple of weeks, but even so, seeing the sky, watching the clouds boil and twist above was amazing. I lay transfixed for a while, just letting the rain fall on my face and breathing deep the fresh air. I couldn’t help but smile when the rain trickled up my nose and made me sneeze.

Grandmother, the tough old Mohawk was knelt down next to me, still stroking my hair out of my face and staring at me in concern. I blinked at her and she grinned, relieved. I wanted to embrace her, but when I tried to move my arms from behind my back I felt the manacles. Oh goddamn it, not again. My ankles were shackled together as well I found, and I growled in annoyance. Grandmother just chuckled at my frustration, weathered face wrinkling up around the eyes. With her help I sat up, totally soaking my ass in whatever puddle those pirate monsters dumped me in.

Then it hit me.

I looked around in a panic, spotting the sea monsters wandering around with blades at the ready near a line-up of sailors. Their frighteningly large tentacled Captain leaned over a slaver and appeared to be speaking with him. Ignoring them for the moment, I found the others kneeling near the main mast about ten feet away, huddled together trying to protect each other from the rain. Grandmother and I were more exposed but Grandmother was taking the brunt of the rain, shielding me from the worst of it. I was grateful but felt horrible about it all the same.

Stupid stupid stupid… you should have made SURE all those things followed, you should have stayed and fought them off, you should have fought harder… you’ve doomed them all.

I saw Thomas kneeling beside Nahanni, holding her hand as she wept over her motionless child. His pale little neck was reddened, peppered with small cuts from Coral-Head’s talons. He wasn’t crying, instead just sitting there trying to comfort her, the brave kid. His sister was curled up next to him gripping Nahanni’s skirts and crying. I nearly went over and joined them in their weeping… I failed each and every one of them.

Oh god, Nahanni’s little girl…

“Is she…” I asked Grandmother, motioning at the girl. Grandmother knew what I meant, and dropped her eyes.

Dead then.

“Fuck.”

I looked around and found Captain Williams kneeling at the end of the long line of slavers and sailors, shaking and looking back and forth between me and the Pirate Captain, who was coming ever closer down the line towards him. When his eyes met mine I snarled at him and he jumped. He obviously remembered my threat to cut his balls off if I ever got free again. Now it was a race, who would get to him first? Me, or the Pirate? I hoped it was me, only I knew how much this man deserved to be punished.

Grandmother watched my display, trying to hold back a grin. She knew what I was thinking about. Stealthily she elbowed me and pressed something cold into my hand.

My hairpin! How she got a hold of it was beyond me, and I smiled at her in thanks, then got working.

*~*~*


Davy Jones:


Maccus, still cowed by the thought of accidentally striking me (an offence that would normally mean forty lashes), informed me when the woman awoke. I rose, nodding to Palifico to kill the sailor before me who denied my offer. He was quickly killed and tipped overboard, much to the dismay of his companions.

As much as I wanted to go over and interrogate that fighter, I restrained myself. Business first, pleasure later. I took the opportunity to take a peek at her though. Her hood was off and she was firmly shackled, but for some reason she still had that glint of trouble in her eyes and a smile gracing her face. She’s plannin’ somethin’. Before I went to the next shivering sailor I told Wheelback and Clanker to keep a close eye on her, just in case. They tromped over to where she and an older woman were kneeling and staring at Captain Williams with blatant hatred.

Even bloodied, bruised, and soaked to the bone, she had a savage beauty to her. Her black hair was tangled and hung low, nearly caressing her ankles as she kneeled. Her cheekbone actually was bruised; it wasn’t just shadows cast from the hood. Considering the condition of my men after she was through with them, I couldn’t help but wonder how bad her previous opponent looked.

She radiated the determination, will and quiet strength of a warrior, and while I watched, she shared with the elder woman next to her a cunning grin full of malicious intent. . . . my blood heated up and seemed to boil, all of its own accord---well, to be completely honest it had been simmering ever since I'd first laid eyes on her---she was exquisite, and exhilarating, and---and if I didn't snap out of it I was going to be aching til I got back to my cabin and could deal with it, one way or another---and t'would be hard to frighten sailors into service with a raging hard-on knockin' em in the face, anyhow.

Another six slavers and the task would be done. I decided to save the slave captain for second last, and then the slaves… who I doubted would voluntarily enrol for another hundred years.

After the next sailor, a skinny dirty little man, declined to join the crew, the blonde slave’s wailing started to really grate on me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the old woman move to her side, leaving the dark-haired warrior alone. My men stuck with the young woman but kept an eye on the grey-haired one.

The next sailor, with eyes averted and knuckles white and bloodless from clenching his crucifix too hard also refused my offer. While he was disposed of the sobbing grew louder, and my patience snapped. Facing her I yelled, “Stop your wailing, woman!”

“Hey!” The fiery one piped up, glaring under her brow at me. “Back off you heartless bastard, she just lost her only child. Have some goddamned respect!”

I would have laughed at the ‘heartless’ comment if I wasn’t so stunned at her audacity. Weren’t often someone would talk back to me, though I had to admit it was for good reason. The loss of a child was a much more valid reason for sorrow than just being afraid. Although she was justified, I knew I ought to do something about her belligerence before the crew assumed I was going soft, but Clanker took the decision out of my hands, kicking her hard enough to knock her on her belly.

The old woman said something indecipherable and extremely vicious-sounding to him, cussing him out like one would a misbehaved child, (Clanker, in a near instinctual move when confronted with an angry elder woman, ducked his head) then she moved to help the raven-haired warrior off the deck. The looks that passed between them were a mix of motherly worry and reserved amusement. The warrior got to her knees but continued glaring in my direction as I went down the remaining line of surviving sailors, and the old woman went back to comforting the mourning mother.

I tried to ignore her but I felt her gaze burn holes through my head, and every few seconds my eyes would flicker to the hunched form of the fiery slave. Something told me that small outburst wasn’t anywhere near the end of her defiance and I wanted to keep at the ready for the next explosion.

Not a one of those sailors took my offer (even without the aforementioned hard-on). Unsurprising on a slaver ship, really. Most would rather see Hell than live the hell they put their slaves through. They saw every day what people did to them, and to go from ‘owning’ them to being them, a change like that wouldn’t be easy, so most times they’d take the quick way out: death. And I was happy to oblige em’.

I finally came upon Captain Williams, and bent down to look him in the eyes and he immediately snapped to attention. This one I took my time with, lighting my pipe and smiling enigmatically at the cowering slave-master, one whose mercilessness rivalled even mine. I had nearly no mercy with grown adults, but when it came to a child, that was the exception. Kill em’ quick or let em’ go, which was rare but it had happened (but with a memory so harsh they’d never willingly go to sea again). And by the cruel look about this ship I knew that nobody died quickly here. The three children (two now) were skin and bones, and the women weren’t much thicker even with the thick robes they wore. Starvation and sickness was no way for a person to die.

Keeping the slave-woman in my line of sight, I leaned so close to Williams that I could make out the sweating pores on his forehead and the reddened lines in his eyes, nearly taste the stink of his breathe. I didn’t say a word for near a full minute, just staring at this man, reading him, watching his pride dissolve, and letting him quiver on his knees like a leaf on a wind-torn tree.

Finally he mustered up the courage to say one single word to me, a stuttering plea for mercy, “P…p…please…”

I let the man get an up close view of my claw and grinned. “Tell me, how many have said that word to you over the years?” I looked over my shoulder at the weeping mother and the two children, making sure Williams also got an unobstructed view. “How many times did ye hear?” My gaze fell on the warrior, and was surprised to see her looking a little impressed. Refocusing on Williams I slid the claw around his throat and tightened it just enough to get my point across. I suddenly smelt urine and had to hold in laughter. The crew, on the other hand, didn’t. Hell, even the old woman and the fiery slave chuckled lightly at their lily-livered master.

“I offer you the choice: One hundred years before the mast, or be punished for yer sins in death tonight.” I squeezed enough to cut off his air supply for a minute to give him a taste of what the other sailors chose. “Choose. Will ye serve?”

Unable to speak, the sweating Captain Williams merely nodded his assent.

“Wise decision, ex-Captain Williams…” I spat, releasing the man and rising. Maccus whacked him hard on the back, a cruel welcome to the next hundred years of even harsher punishments.

Now that this business was finished, I could figure out what to do with the slaves. I knew that none of them would voluntarily sign up for another hundred years of slavery, and I generally didn’t take women…truthfully, they never took the deal, much smarter than most men gave them credit for… and never a child, as they were much too tender and punishments meted out to adults could not be applied to them. As cruel as my reputation made me out to be, I was not completely without mercy.

As I approached the kneeling woman on the deck I felt an unusual apprehension… I slowed my progress, waiting for something, some sort of reaction. Her form was slumped in defeat, face turned to the deck, but that rage was still radiating out of her, hitched up a notch since Captain Williams took my offer. She was up to something. Changing my mind, more for my own safety than anything, I turned to the other slaves, the huddled forms of the weeping woman and her protector, and the two children besides.

The old woman, a matronly type with black hair streaked with grey and eyes like stone, was the only one to look me in the eyes, the other three faced away, the blonde still weeping in her arms and the children facing the deck curled into balls. The fire in the old woman’s eyes told stories of years of taking orders but also of much tedium relieved by humour, much fighting for what she loved, and impatience with those who flaunt power. A grandmother, full of will, and absolutely no fear of me. No fear of death. I knew my offer would be refused before I could even make it, and signalled to Maccus. I had to admire her even as I cast down her sentence. She merely smiled.

As Maccus strode forward to eliminate the old woman, she shut her eyes, smiled wider, and began to whisper something. I had to strain to hear.

“Ahsen… Tekeni… ênhska…”

Before Maccus could even raise his sword a body flew into him, tackling him around the waist and twisting the sword from his grasp. I looked over to where the slave girl should have been sitting and saw just a pair of empty ankle chains and Clanker laid out on deck unconscious. In the millisecond it took to do this, the slave girl had kicked Maccus’s sword out of his reach, grabbed the extensions on his head and twisted, snapping his neck. If Maccus had been mortal he’d be dead. He was unconscious now as it was but he’d have one hell of a sore neck in the mornin’.

The old woman and the others moved out of the way as the raven-haired slave grabbed Maccus’s sword and pointed it at me, snarling and breathing hard. I noticed a metal hair pin clutched in her other hand and put two and two together, wondering how she got it again.

Now why does that turn me on?

“Captain!” Palifico rushed to my ‘rescue’ along with five others, including ex-Captain Williams, (either out of loyalty to me or the desire to injure the slave-woman), getting between me and the sword-wielding woman. Hadrus got a little too close too fast and in a panic, the woman swung her weapon. A second later his head rolled to my feet.

“’Allo Cap’n.”

The others used that moment and closed in on her. Not taking my eyes off the scene, I kicked Hadrus’s head dismissively in the general direction of his floundering body and drew my sword.

I saw a smaller flash of steel and Williams yelped, jumping clear of the battle, cradling his hand. The hair-pin was thrust clean through it and Williams cursed her as he yanked it out.

My blood was up, and I pushed my way into the battle, drawing nearer to the sword-swinging kicking ball of fury. She spotted me and met me halfway, jumping at me with a near-crazed glimmer in her black eyes. Our swords met with a crash that reverberated though my arms, and for a moment we were so close that I could count her eyelashes, parted by mere inches, her brown face tilted upwards to look at mine, fury distorting her fine-boned features. It was only a second we were so close but time seemed to slow, I marked her breath and the reflection of the cold steel of the blade off her eye, before she smirked and I felt the shock of pain in my good leg. I found myself teetering and lost my balance, hitting the deck with a bark of surprise and another jolt of pain in my arse.

She kicked me!

By the time I regained my feet (er, foot), the others piled on top of her in my defence, Koleniko asking for orders. Kill her, or not?

“Kill her!” Williams shouted, glaring disdainfully at the pile of limbs on the deck and trying to stem the flow of blood from his palm with a scrap of his ruined shirt.

From the bottom of the pile of bodies I heard a single voice yell, “Eat shit, Williams!”

Koleniko asked again for permission to kill her, and I considered. It was humiliating to be knocked over so easily, and if I were mortal she could have quite easily dispatched me before my crew could stop her. She’d pushed way beyond any boundaries of patience I had, and I fumed at being knocked aside, attacked, ignored, and insulted by her.

But on the other hand, it was those exact actions that appealed the woman to me. She fought against the odds, knowing she’d lose but on the rampage anyway and all in the defence of four people who, to anyone else, were worth less than a gold piece or two. Not only was she infused with honour but I could only imagine how a firebrand like this would be between the sheets… unconsciously I hoped against hope she would accept my offer, only if it were to give me the opportunity to stoke that fire.

I shook my head at him, deciding for now to let her live. She was much too interestin’ to kill.

Giving a heavy and confused sigh, he ploughed through the cluster and swiped her blade away with a flick of his wrist, then brought the hilt of his own blade down on her head, knocking the fight right out of her. Her head hit the deck and her eyes fluttered shut, and the crew got up off their knees and backed away, forming a semi-circular blockade around her. Williams pushed through and so did Clanker, grabbing and restraining her arms and hauling her up to her feet. Dazed and bleeding she didn’t fight back, only hung limply in their grasps.

I had a feeling it would have ended right there if Williams didn’t open that rotten mouth of his. He leaned real close to her and whispered something in her ear, something I was unlucky enough to catch.

“How’re you gonna cut my balls off now, huh? When these guys are through with you, I might be merciful enough to letcha suck ‘em off instead… if you do a good enough job I might not slice those kids to ribbons…”

My revulsion and rage at his presumption that he still had power here paled entirely in comparison to the undisguised fury that rippled through the injured slave.

I’d never seen someone go from limp back to blazing as quickly as she did right then. As soon as the last word dropped like ooze from his lips, her eyes opened to slits and she jerked her head to the side, smashing William’s nose with her skull. As he reached up to cup his injury she grabbed a handful of his hair and bent him over, running her knee up into his throat. The effort pulled Clanker closer to her and as Williams dropped to the deck, she hooked her leg around Clanker’s and yanked it right out from under him.

She looked as if she might’ve gone after Williams again if she hadn’t lost her footing and stumbled. I stepped out and caught her around the waist as she slammed into me, almost toppling us both. I firmly silenced the part of my mind that toyed with the idea of falling onto the deck just so I could roll her underneath me, instead doing the smart thing and securing her arms and hands with tentacles. I knew what she was capable of and even as weakened as she was, I certainly wasn’t about to risk my neck, balls, or any other body parts, let alone hazard her wriggling free again.

Twisting at the same time to foil the possibility of her kneeing me in the rocks, I shoved my right leg between her thighs so she was more or less riding on it, tightened the arm around her waist so she was pressed tight against my side, and completely restrained. Then, just for a moment, I allowed myself to gloat with satisfaction at winning, the prize being a beautiful woman in my grasp for the first time in months.

I smiled down at my captive, then softly yet firmly tilted her chin up with my claw until she looked up at me, black eyes wide. Captured. Game over. I almost purred out loud.

“Sir!”

Hadrus distracted me from the woman’s deceptively innocent-looking half-unconscious form, pointing to the mainmast where there should have been two women and two children kneeling in fear.

“They must have ran off when we were dealin’ with ‘er,” Maccus said, awake and walking around the deck, sniffing the air for their scent and rubbing his neck.

Fuck damn shit son of a bastard! “Find them!”

A dozen of my crew dispersed to search the ship, while I kept the woman exactly where she was, and although my enjoyment of the predicament was tainted by the other slaves sneaking off, I didn’t let it spoil my fun.

She on the other hand could barely hold herself up; most of her weight was rested on my leg now. Her entire body trembled; I felt the jolts through my arm and her ragged breaths puff against the tentacles just below my mouth. If I moved three inches down I could kiss her…

Get a hold o’ yerself, man! Yer actin’ like you haven’t touched a woman in centuries!

Heeding my own advice I snapped back to the matter at hand: the escapees. Again I tilted her face up to look at mine til our eyes met.

“Yer distraction worked, lass.”

She grinned defiantly and I had to fight the impulse to either kiss her until she fainted or strangle her. It was an even battle. I tightened my grip just a little and she grunted, momentarily squeezing her eyes shut. Only then did I really take in how very broken she was. I could feel her individual ribs through her shirt, jutting out more whenever she breathed. Her entire body trembled with cold, fear, exhaustion, probably starvation. And she still had the nerve to flout my authority. No flighty noblewoman or spoiled lady, this one.

I took the opportunity to study her a little more. The wrist I had securely bound in tentacles was ringed in small circular tattoos surprisingly looking a bit like suckers, but likely not. She had the same, one circle with a dot in the middle, gracing each knuckle on both hands. I wondered where else she had those tattoos and imagined scanning every inch of her skin later to find out.

Before my mind delved too deep into fantasy (mostly involving the crew miraculously disappearing and me having my way with her right here on the deck) a scream jolted us both back to attention. Her eyes snapped open and she immediately began struggling again.

I tightened all my grips on her and shifted my leg so once again she was off balanced. “Yeh’re not goin’ anywhere lass, so sit still like a good girl.”

She growled in response and just fought harder. I felt her fingernails dig into the tentacles that held her and her leg try to kick my own. Ow ow ow ow ow! Every instinct told me to push her away completely but I was wiser than that. Instead I removed the arm from around her waist and clamped my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her away from me, freeing my tentacles from her grip.

“Hell-cat!”

She smirked.

We heard another scream and turned our heads to look. JimmyLegs was heading in that direction and I stopped him. “What’s goin’ on?”

“We found ‘em, Cap’n, tryin’ to sneak away in a longboat, and now they won’t get out.”

The woman in my grasp cursed and kept wriggling until I finally had to squeeze her neck hard enough to cut off her breath. She quieted down fast enough after that and I loosened up.

Dragging the woman with me, keeping her firmly gripped, I walked over to where a few of the others stood watching the battle below. Twisting her around so she was facing the sea I restrained her with both arms this time, lifting her off the deck and pulling her back flush against me. With her arms pinned to her sides all she could do is watch the battle.

The longboat was already in the water but only a few meters away from the Chrysalis, and about half a dozen of my men were in the water trying to stop the boat from getting any further. The old woman had an oar in her grasp and was swinging at any heads and hands that came within range. The young boy had a stick and the little girl… had that bloody hair pin!

The old woman yelled, thumping Palifico soundly upside the head with her oar and grinning in victory when he fell back into the ocean. A moment later Maccus climbed halfway over the side of the little boat and the girl, screaming, rammed the hairpin right into his left ass-cheek, and Maccus screeched so loud she covered her ears. The mourning mother, finally joining the battle, kicked Maccus in the face, throwing him overboard. The old woman gave her a kind smile, then swung mightily and hit Penrod, sweeping him clean off the boat. Even the boy was in it, beating on the knuckles of hands grasping the side of the little boat with his stick.

The warrior in my arms whooped and laughed. “Go nohkom!”

Sadly enough I shared her sentiment, and if it were any other crew and any other situation I would have laughed and cheered at the spunky old woman alongside her. But seeing as it was MY crew she and the others were trouncing I couldn’t allow myself to enjoy it. It bloody well shouldn’t be this funny! Besides, having this young woman’s firm ass pressed into my crotch was causing a rather large problem, and with every jolt of her body as she laughed it pressed harder and harder. It had to end before I embarrassed myself by either laughing or letting her discover my ‘problem’.

I didn’t want to kill any of them now but I couldn’t let them go either. Damn it all to hell. Now what? If I could somehow convince this one to stay on my ship in exchange for their lives… ahhh!

“Take them down!” I ordered, and another dozen of my men went to dive into the ocean, drawing their weapons. I hoped this would work… it was a shot in the dark but with her sense of honour…

“Wait!”

It worked. I congratulated myself at my perception. I had her now, but even so I wasn’t going to make it easy on her.

“Fuck.” She sighed heavily and turned her head so she could look at me. I signalled to the crew to stop moving for a moment, anticipating her next words. “Let them go.” Her voice was cracked, a pleading look in her big black eyes. Just that look alone almost caved me in.

No!

She had a note of desperation in her voice now, and yet her body was limp, defeated. “Take me.”

Gladly, and right here on deck if the others weren’t here. I stifled that thought immediately.

“After all this who says I still want yeh?”

“Bullshit. If you were going to kill me you could have done so ten times by now.”

She had me there, smart lass.

More confident now, she looked me directly in the eyes and continued, “Let them go, they’re useless to you. I serve on your ship and you gain. Kill all five of us and you get nothing but that piece of dogshit Williams.”

I pretended to consider it even though my answer was a resounding YES, and had been since the thought first popped into my mind.

“You sure you know what yer getting’ into?”

“I do.” She said softly, completely giving in.

Yesyesyesyes! “Welcome to the crew, lass.”

To seal the deal, she lifted her forearm as if expecting me to take her hand. Convinced that she wouldn’t struggle or fight anymore, I slowly released my hold on her, setting her back on the deck. The crew stood around anxiously, some grinning in triumph, some confused as all hell. I couldn’t care less about any of ‘em right now. She continued to hold her hand out to me, and I took it, shook it, and sealed the deal.

She turned her back to me and went to the rail, then glanced over her shoulder at me expectantly. The grandmother was still hefting the oar but looking up at us and by the look on her face was wondering what was happening. “Oh niiawenhátie?” She called up, to which the young woman just shook her head.

The kids were sitting down now, breathing heavily but keeping a wary eye out for a new set of knuckles to hit, and the mourning mother was sitting near them glaring at the crew in the water.

I went to the rail as well, right behind the young woman again, and ordered the floating crewmembers to drop arms and get back to the ship. We watched as comprehension swept over the elder. She dropped the oar and sat heavily. “Niáwen.”

“What did she say?” I asked my new crewwoman.

She shrugged. “Hell if I know.” Then she waved a hand at the elder and yelled, “Awas! I’ll be fine!”, smiling playfully, as if trying to make the old woman feel better.

Playing along, and hoping she didn’t mind the closeness, I laid my hand on her shoulder. She started a little but covered it fast. With my other hand I pointed in the direction of the closest land, with any luck they’d make it safely within a couple hours. “That way!”

The woman next to me pointed too for emphasis, whispering ‘thank you’.

It apparently worked. The elder sighed, waved a hand back at us jokingly and picked up her oar. Amazing…

“ISA!” The little girl went to the side of the boat and wailed.

Isa? Her name, or another strange word?

“Relax, you’ll be okay!” She said, grinning assuringly. Then she whispered to me, “They’ll be okay, right?”

“They’ll be fine.”

“Good.”

We stood there for a few moments watching the old woman paddle the little boat away from the ship, every once in a while looking back at us and looking a wee bit worried. Every time, we smiled as if nothing was wrong and the old woman would go back to paddling. I wondered why I cared if the elder worried. Then I shrugged the thought off and just enjoyed being close to the woman, even if it was just touching her shoulder now.

*~*~*~*

The crew was all back on the ship, shaking the water from themselves and tending to their wounds.

I held in a chuckle as I turned to Maccus, who was rubbing his pierced arse cheek, “Make sail an' get us outta here; get the supplies over to the Dutchman ‘n the new crewmen stowed somewhere. An' if anything comes up, you deal with it.”

I let the girl go and stalked away, triumphant, but oh so tired and in need of relief of the aching bulge straining my breeches. Maccus took her in hand and walked her away from the rail. The others had Williams on his feet and were teasing him already about getting the snot kicked out of him by a woman, and I overheard one of them call him Captain Pissypants.

In no time at all they were both on the Flying Dutchman, glaring daggers at each other the entire way. Once on the ship, they were to be taken below and left alone to sleep for the night. Normally I’d have had them put to work immediately but neither of them was up to snuff right now. I’d make up for this leniency by making them work extra hard in the morning. Especially the woman. I owed her still for knocking me on my ass and causing so much trouble.

I stalked to my cabin, fully intending to just ignore everybody for the rest of the night and whack off in peace, but I caught sight of her wandering the deck and couldn’t resist one last look at her before I escaped to be alone.

She was walking slowly, trying to get her bearings, when Williams and Palifico walked past her. Out of the blue she nailed Williams in the balls, kneeled down to his level as he heaved, and smiled viciously at him. "Don't think I’ve forgotten about you." Her voice was deceptively sweet as she said this.

Palifico didn’t lift a finger to stop her, only picked Williams up under his arms and carted him off. She watched them go, and probably thinking nobody was watching, swayed her hips a little, all feline grace and perky triumph, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes!”

Cabin. Now.


*~*~*~*
A hand dropped on my shoulder before I could open my cabin door, and, irritated at yet another interruption, I spat, “What is it Maccus?”

“Well, sir,” He started confidently, “Ya owe me first plunder.”

Bloody hell. I do. “What is it yeh want?” I sighed in frustration. All I wanted was to get into my cabin unmolested, was that too much to ask?

“Erm…” He shuffled on the spot.

Completely out of patience and wanting… no, needing to do something about the ache in my breeches before I embarrassed myself, I snapped, “Hurry up!”

“I want the new woman for the night.”

Oh, hellllllll no. She’s mine! “She ain’t a chicken, yeh don’t get teh eat ‘er.”

“Who said anythin’ about eatin’…?” Realization washed over him, “Oooooh.”

His shoulders slumped all the same. Satisfied, I opened my door but before I could take a step, Maccus stopped me again.

“Well, Cap’n, if I can’t have ‘er, I’ll take that tobacco you have tucked away there in yer pocket.”

FUCK!

As I dug it out, Maccus broke out into an impish grin. Oh, what now?

“Ya were unusually involved in the battle this time Cap’n, and must be worn out.” I gave him a warning glare to which he only raised his hands in amiable submission and a sly grin. “So I’ll tell the others to leave ya alone tonight, aye?”

Then, of all things, he winked, snatched the leather pouch of tobacco out of my hand and limped off in triumph.

If I wasn’t harder than diamond right now I’d flog that insolent son of a bitch til dawn. Regardless of how right he was.

*~*
I slammed the door to my cabin and locked it, and leaned back against it, gasping. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Amazing. A woman on my crew. Mine for a hundred years. And such a fiery, fierce, spectacular beauty...I thought of her fury, her flashing eyes and her strength and courage, the grace and speed of her dance with the sword... what had the child called her? Isa?

Isa, then, I thought, attaching the name to her. By the eternal tides, she was beautiful, and inflamed me in more ways than one. I dealt with the most pressing issue, literally, by opening the front of my trousers and setting free my cock; it stood up tall and thick and hard, and I wrapped my right hand around it and drew it up and down my length, closing my eyes and groaning aloud.

She had relaxed against me, when I'd finally caught her, and I'd had to shift her to the side lest she quickly discover my reaction. What I wouldn't have given to slide inside her right then and there...but even if I were inclined to try to take her without asking, I'd probably regret it...just look at that idiot Williams.

Never mind that. Her strength surprised me, when our swords clashed...doubtless, she had a warrior's hard and graceful body under that robe, with small swelling breasts that would feel soft as silk, and her nipples, maybe a little darker than the rest of her skin, would harden to sharp points as hard as I was myself right now when I paid them sufficient attention.

I got even harder at the thought; my hand, work-roughened, caressed the soft skin of my cock and it felt spectacular; I closed my eyes and imagined her hands... her mouth on me; I changed tack, using the tentacle finger to mimic the movements of a tongue swirling around the head, and growled deep in my throat.

I probably wouldn't get her to do that for awhile, though. She'd be grateful for the survival of the others, but given the price she'd paid for it, I wasn't going to risk her hatred by even requesting sex be included in her service. No, I’d have to seduce her, and at the same time see that she was disciplined for any trouble she might cause in the future... and some of what she'd done already, despite that it happened before she joined my crew, merited punishment.

Two birds with one stone? A light penance; I'd go easy on her because she hadn't been part of my crew yet, and I would carry it out myself; I liked her flesh where it was, and didn't want Jimmylegs to strip it off her. Maybe twenty lashes? Twenty-five?

Mmmmm...I gripped himself again, squeezed lightly, almost seeing stars at the shock of pleasure that caused, that and imagining her, stripped naked to the waist and tied to the grating, with the whip in my hands... hell, fuck the whip... I pictured the deck deserted save for myself and her, and walked up to her, reached around, caressed her breasts while she moaned and arched her back and strained against the ropes that held her hands...

And then after she's been punished... I moved my hand up-and-down again, and with the tip of the tentacle worked at the sensitive slit at the end, breathing deeply and shuddering from the sheer pleasure coursing through me ... take her in here, strip her naked, spank her arse a few times until it's red in exchange for knocking me on mine... almost there... and then set her on the desk with her legs spread wide, all spread open for me, all secrets revealed...and explore and caress and pleasure her until she climaxes and then bury myself inside her... and see the joy in her eyes as I do---I shuddered, cried out, and spent myself, and collapsed against the door again, lightly caressing myself and thinking of Isa, looking at me with pleased and dilated eyes, fully satisfied and wanting more.

One hundred years before the mast... perhaps this isn't the one I meant, but I think you'll like it, lass. I think you'll like it very much indeed.

~**~*~**~*~**~

translations! Forgive my elementary Cree and Mohawk.

Cree:
Nôsisim = Granddaughter
Nohkom = Grandmother
Awas! = get out of here

Mohawk:
Ahsen… Tekeni… ênhska = three, two, one. (boom? Heh)
Oh niiawenhátie? = What’s going on?
Niáwen = thank you