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~Daughter of the Sea God~
Foretelling of the Prophesy (Pirate Story!! pirate )
*note: I will be editing this and adding to it a lot in the near future. Please pardon the mess.
Prologue: She Was
The searing red flames crackled beneath pitch-black sky, like a blazon of triumph into the night. The ship Neptune sank low in the waves, its hole-filled hull gushing water about the dead bodies of its former crew. Not far away, another ship lay watching the wreckage.
"Ther's not a soul alive in thar." One sailor growled to another happily. "Not even a Godlin' could'a survived tha'." He leered through his third glass of celebration ale. The rest of the crew noisily agreed with cheers and hollers. The entire ship was in a state of drunken debauchery to celebrate and commemorate the completion of their lifelong goal; the utter anihalation of the race formerly known as the Godlings.
"Aye!" Yelled one of his messmates. "Fin'ly rid the world o' the unholy creatres!" Both the men laughed along with everyone else, as they started in on one of their favorite raunchy drinking songs.
But little did they know that out in the cold, salty waves, among the twisted splinters of the once gallant ship, there was a child. Not just any child, but the last of the Godlings. They thought that there was none left alive to fulfill the prophecy, but little did they know, she was.
Chapter 1: Tina
15 years later
Tina viciously scrubbed the deck of the pirate ship, Searat. As she did, she pictured the face of the first mate Jackob Finn in the splintery plank she was washing.
She had just been caught stealing from the pirate treasury for the third time that week. Normally, she never got caught, but she had been having a bad day.
"So what if I needed boots," Tina muttered as she dunked her scrub brush into the sud filled bucket. "I was only training for the next raid on a galleon." She stopped scrubbing for a moment, and then went on, "Just give me a minute alone with that squealer of a cabin boy an' I'll-"
"Tritina!" Interrupted the despised Jackob Finn, "Stop that gripin' an' get back ter work, 'afor I reportcha ta Cap'n Hookinclaw!"
Tritina quickly shut her mouth and went back to scrubbing. Captian Hookinclaw was like a father to Tina, having taken her in as a small child despite the crew's protesting, and raising her as his own daughter. Tina knew she was the apple of his eye, but that didn't mean he would accept anything less than excelence, even from her. She knew better than to get on his bad side.
"Ahoy!" Yelled Scotty McDeralan from up in the crow's nest. "Calvarian Galleon, full speed ahead!" His voice was thin and stretched from the distance between himself and the deck, and reminded Tina of a seagull's caw straining to be heard over the lapping ocean and creaking ship.
First Mate Finn grinned at the welcomed news, and gave the orders to prepare for a raid. A sort of excitement tingled in the air; this was to be the first raid since leaving port over four months ago. People bustled about, raising the friendly flag, making sure everything was in order for the attack, and getting all suspicious looking people off deck. Everyone was sure this would be the big load of the trip. The other ship, now clearly visible and identified as the Godlings Bane, was low in the water. It looked like a fat sated sea lion lounging on the rocks. Surely it was filled with gold and treasure.
Along with excitement and hope, there was also a small tint of fear in the air, and reasonably so. With every raid, there was a chance of losing a few men, and everyone always wondered if the next one to go would be them. Also, there was the ever-present risk of running head to head with pirates under a different flag.
In the Triland Sea there were five "flags" or "gangs" of pirates, each one with dozens of sub divisions constantly warring at sea against the others trying to claim the their "Surf". The ship Searat flew under the Nor Tol flag, claiming loyalty and tithing only to Northern Tolleka. The other four flags were the So Tols, of southern Tolleka, the Cerrys, of Certania, the Calvs of Calvaria, and the Draigs from the Drakoons and neighboring islands.
However -Tritina noted to herself, as she always did, to calm her nervs- the chances of other pirates being here were slim. They were actually in warring Surf between the Nor and So Tols, but they were far enough north not to worry about it, and, as the crew members were fond of saying, it's a wide sea.
Tina picked up the bucket and scrub-brush and headed down below deck. When she got to the bottom of the creaky wooden stairs, the sounds of weapons honing and cannons loading filled her ears. All around her, people were preparing themselves for the raid on the gold heavy ship. Tina smiled as she realized that now during all the noise and confusion would be the perfect time to reclaim her boots from the ships hidden treasury. She worked her way through the overly crowded hold, to the trap door that led to the inside of the keel. She looked around to be sure no one was paying attention to her, and then slipped in quietly.
Once inside the dim hold, Tina instantly started casting about for her boots. The reason that she wanted that particular pair was that they had a knife cleverly concealed in the sole of each boot. The knife could be removed easily, and then just as easily returned. Also, thanks to a cleaver springloaded contraptiong, it was almost impossible to tell that the knives were there. After a few moments of casting about the room, Tina found her boots half covered by a golden urn. There was a small pile of extremely expensive artifacts heaped in the center of the floor, but other than that the hold was empty. Tina guessed that after this raid, that fact would change. Tina slipped out of her old worn boots, and into her new ones. The leather of the new boots was much fancier, with flowering embossed borders and other such detailed ellaboration, but from a distance there was very little difference between them and her old ones, so Tina guessed the new ones wouldn't draw much notice.
"There we go..." Tina muttered to herself, marveling that the boots were such a perfect fit. She pounded down on the heel of her left boot and the beautiful golden blade of the her new knife concealed inside appeared. Tina smiled; that was the part she liked best about her new playthings. Neelingdown, she carefully took the blade and slipped it back into place.
Just then, Tina heard a bang behind her. She quickly turned around and saw the cabin boy had hopped in through the trap door.
"Uh oh!" She whispered to herself.
"Whatcha doin' down here Tritina? Stealin' s'more stuff?" He drawled obnoxiously around the enormous lump of tobacco in his cheek.
Tina looked at the tall sixteen year old in disgust. His ragged, dirty blond hair was tied under his cabin boy kerchief in an unruly mess, and his grubby, ripped clothes stank from too few washings. His face was pocked with small divots from some childhood ailment, and acne was rampant across his forehead, chin, and cheeks. He wasn't an incredibly buff person, but after four months of hard work on a ship he was anything but wimpy. Tina quickly cast thoughts of fighting him out of her mind. Captain Hookinclaw had taught her how to choose her battles.
"Once I reportcha ta the Cap'n, yu'll be donefer for shoor."
"Umm..., Carlton," Tina started, using his first name as if she thought him even slightly equal to her. "What will it take to keep you quiet about this?" Tina was sure the greedy cabin boy would succumb to bribery. After all, money talks, and although the room they were in wasn't entirly packed with riches, it was still a bit difficult to get a word in edgwise.
"What do'ya have ta offer?" Carlton asked with a slimy, hungry kind of grin sliding across his face. Tina's faith in gold diminished, but only slightly.
"All you see here and more." Tina said grandly, gesturing to the small but dazzling pile of gems in the middle of the room. Despite her bold words Tina began to feel a bit queasy.
"I'll take thu more." Carlton said, his grin becoming more shark-like. He took a few steps towards Tina.
"Tha's not what I meant Carlton." She said, taking a step back to keep some distance between them, but her attempt was foiled when she backed into the wall. She cursed herself for getting into such a disadvantaged position.
"I don' really care whutcha meant." Carlton said, taking a few more steps forward. He was now so close that Tina could smell the foul combination of tobacco and liquor on his breath. "C'mon Tritina," He said softly. "Jus' one small kiss?" Tina nearly gagged. Actualy, Tina would have enjoyed spewing all over Carlton's already disgusting face, but her rebeling stumache dind't quite allow her that pleasure. Carlton reached out to touch Tina's face, but she slapped it away before he could.
Suddenly there was a tremendous BANG from a cannon, and the entire ship rocked violently. Tina, being raised at sea, easily braced herself against the wall, but Carlton was caught completely off guard and tumbled to the floor.
Tina quickly jumped over Carlton and bolted for the door full tilt, hoping she could make it there before her stronger, faster, and bigger peruser could get her. She was just a hands-breath from the door when Carlton grabbed her around the waist and slammed her back against the wall. She tried to pull free, but Carlton had her tightly pinned.
"Thoughtcha were gonna get away fer a minute ther, dintcha? Well, ya haven't bought my silence yet!" Carlton said, smirking.
"I'd rather be broiled alive than even THINK about kissing you!" Tina yelled truthfully. She glared at him for a moment, and then spat in his face.
Carlton wiped off the spittle and looked at her smugly. If Tina could only get her arms free she would make sure his face could never make that expression again.
"I'm sure yu'll change yu'r mind when ya find out how charmin' I can be." Carlton said, leaning even closer.
"As charming as a rabid, seasick, scurvy dog!" Tina screamed at the top of her lungs. Suddenly Tina remembered something. If she could just get Carlton to back up another inch or so...
"One more smart remark like that, an' I'll reportcha even if I get what I want!" Carlton seemed to have a very small amount of patients for verbal abuse.
"Go ahead and report me, you putrid scoundrel," Tina said with a sneer "Because I will never, ever kiss you!" Tina miraculously managed to get one of her arms loose, and slammed her fist into the side of his face. Carlton's head whipped back, but his grip on Tina's arm remained as secure as ever. He didn't even stumble back, much to Tina's dismay.
"Why you dirty li'l slut!" Carlton yelled, angry at her refusal. He didn't understand how an obviously unatached girl could resist his charms, and his pride was sorely hurt. Why, in the port towns all he needed was his goodlooks and a bit of bribery or blackmale and the ladies were all over him! He touched his lip and saw that he was bleeding. The sight of his own blood, spilled by a woman infuriated him even more. "Yu'll pay for tha', you bi-"
Carlton was cut short as another bang from a cannon rang through the hull. The ship rocked wildly again, and Tina could hear the sounds of battle above her. Carlton had managed to stay on his feet until the rocking settled a bit more, but Tina noticed he had had to move his feet to do so.
Tina stomped her left foot on the ground, glad she finally had enough room to do so. Out of the tip of the sole of her shoe slipped the three most dangerous inches of the dagger. Quickly, she kicked Carlton hard in the shins. There was a squishy plop sound as the blade punctured the flesh right next to the bone. Carlton crumpled to the ground with a scream of pain. As he fell Tina's dagger pulled free of the boot and was lodged steadfastly in his leg.
Tina calmly leaned down over the whimpering cabin boy and with an extra twist pulled her knife out of his leg. She would have to boil it in water later to get his stink off, but in the meantime she simply wiped his blood off on his shirt.
Suddenly the boat rocked again. Tina wondered why the ship they were raiding had chosen to fight and die, instead of give up and stay alive. She slipped the knife back into her boot and turned to leave. Captian Hookinclaw had the worst reputation in the Triland Sea. Ships always surrendered.
"Ummmm..." Tina said, pausing at the door, "You might want to clean that up quick, unless you want to attract the rats..." Tina pointed towards his profusely bleeding leg "They've been kinda hungry since we got that new cook..." Carlton groaned in agony and despair as Tina swiftly jumped out through the trap door and ran to the deck.
Once on the deck, Tina quickly glanced around to take in her surroundings, and was stunned by what she saw. Waving gallantly above the ship they were raiding was the flag of the Pirates of Calveria. Tina shuddered as she realized that they weren't in the middle of a raid - this was war. Pirates from the other ship lower a plank to board the Sea Rat with a thunk. Tina saw that this was just the newest of several such planks. All acrossthe decks of the two broad ships, her messmates and swarthy strangers were grappeling, running and falling. Armed only with her boots, Tina weaved through the fighting towards the armory to get something else to defend herself with.
Tina stumbled as another cannon ball crashed into the hull of the Sea Rat. She quickly regained her balance and found she had reached the door of the armory. Once inside, Tina headed straight towards her bow and arrows that were hanging from the far wall.
When Tina was young, she had watched a man practice archery on the dock next to where her ship was anchored. She had asked for a bow and arrows like he had, but the other crew members laughed at her, telling her that due to the rock of the boat it would be impossible for her to aim accurately. Sure, bows and arrows were good when attacking from a distance and showering the enemy with massed attacks, but they were next to useless if you wanted to split a carrot in a pigs mouth, like the man she saw. But Captain Hookinclaw told them that if she really wanted a bow and arrow, then a bow and arrow she would have. After much practice and about fifty arrows lost into the sea, Tina learned how to predict where a target would be when the ship went up, and where it would go when the ship went down. By carefully timing the rock of the boat, she became an expert marksman, despite the perviouse incredulouse remarks of the crew.
Bow in hand and quiver full of arrows slung over her back, Tina burst out of the armory. Notching an arrow onto the string, Tina glanced around to try and see who the most immediate threat was. She noticed a row of Calverian pirates running across the plank she had watched them set down, and onto the Sea Rat. The man in the lead paused to form a strategy with the men behind him. Tina drew back the string and aimed for him. The ship went up on a wave, and then down. Tina breathed in when the went up, and out when they went down, so she could keep track better. They went up, she breathed in. They went down, she breathed out. Up, down; in, out. The third time they went down, Tina aimed the arrow for six inches to the right of the man, and up about one foot, then fired. The next instant the arrow was protruding from the man's chest. Lettinglose a desperate, hopless scream, the man toppled into the ocean. As the sound of his splash faded Tina looked into the ocean after him in shock. She had never actually killed anyone before. When she was younger the crew of the Sea Rat had been in many battles, but that was when Tina was much too young to participate. Then, as the Sea Rat's reputation grew, they were in fewer and fewer battles. People were much too afraid of them to put up a fight.
Tina stared dumbly into the water as the dead mans blood slowly spread across the waves. She wondered if he had a wife and kids, and if he had gotten a chance to say goodbye to them. She then thought of how, if given the chance, he would have done the same to her with no such thoughts plaguing him.
Then Tina realized that his was not the only body in the water. Around him floated others, some thrashing and struggling to float and avoid sharks drawn by the blood, and others eerily still. Tina recognized Jackob Finn and Scotty McDerilan amongst the bodies, and many others besides. Some were people she had known since childhood, and others she was just beginning to know. A tear streaked down Tina's face. She felt a blind urge for vengeance and struggled to think of something that would cripple the enemy entirely and not just one at a time. Suddenly, an idea dawned upon her.
Quickly, Tina headed towards the mess hall, ripping some fabric off her sleeve as she ran. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver as she paused to open the door tied the piece of cloth around the shaft, just bellow the arrow head. She ran across the room to where the ale was kept in a large barrel with a tap pounded into the end. Tina poured a liberal amount of the liquor over the arrow and what didn't fall onto the floor was absorbed by the cloth.
Tina practically flew out of the mess hall as she fumbled with her flint to light the cloth, and was once again on deck aiming her bow. This time she was less careful about her aim - the mainsail of a ship that large would be hard to miss.
Tina let go of the string with a twang and a malicious that was barley audible over the sounds of the screaming people in the sea, the yelling people on the ships, the steel clashing, and the cannon balls whizzing through the air. The flaming arrow flew like a comet above the unaware people on the boats and thunked unheard into the mainsail of The Godlings Bain. Tina grinned. She glanced at the clouds and guessed that the fire would have about an hour to spread before the storm hit. She hoped it would be enough time to burn a good portion of the thick, stiff fabric away.
That small, spiteful token of vengeance completed, Tina felt oddly unfulfilled. She decided it wasn't enough to just cripple them. She needed to do unto them the same damage and pain that they had done to her. It was only fair that they know her pain as their own; after all, they had caused it.
Tina aimed at another attacking pirate, this time one in the middle of a battle with one of her mess mates. She shot him neatly between the ribs in his back, and he collapsed into a lifeless heap on the ground. He didn't even get a chance to scream. Tina struggled not to lose her lunch on the deck.
The battle ensued, and Tina kept firing arrows into the throng. She missed several times and had the sinking suspicion that she had accidentally hit her own crew members on a few occasions.
She was beginning to run low on arrows and decided to head back to the armory to get more, when she glanced across to the other ship, and suddenly saw Captain Hookinclaw fighting an ominous looking man. Tina started running towards the plank connecting the two vessels in order to aim better; from where she was there were too many people in the way. As she neared the plank, the man the Captain was fighting - a captain himself, to judge by his hat - made a downward slash that caught Captain Hookinclaw off guard. Tina screamed as he collapsed in a lifeless heap upon the deck. Having taken her in as an orphanded babe, he was her rock in a world that tilted with the waves of the ocean. Bow cast aside, Tina launched herself at the captain of The Godlings Bain. Caught by surprise, he lost his balance and fell to the deck. Tina went down as well, punching the whole way. She screamed at him in a blind furry, pummeling his entire body. Perhaps it was due to the fall, or maybe it was just plain shock, but the captain made no move to protect himself. The sounds of the battle continued unchanging, the waves still rose and fell, the sky was still above and the ship still below, but Tina didn't even notice. To her, the entire world was different, and all the laws of sea and sky were now subject to change without notice. When her arms grew too tired to hit anymore, she lifted the strange man by the collar and began to bang his head against the deck. She was no longer entirely aware of what she was doing. Tina tasted salt on her lips, but whether from sea spray, tears, or blood she neither knew nor cared.
After a time that could have been anywhere between two days and five minutes, Tina realized that the captain who's head she was thoughtlessly hammering into the deck was unusually still. She saw no movement in his eyes; his chest no longer lifted or fell with the rhythm of his breathing. Tina looked at his face and for the first time realized that rather than ominous the man was actually rather handsome. The man looked to be in his late thirties to mid forties. His hair was blond and curly, visible now that his hat had fallen off, and his eyes were a dark blue - now glazed over and unseeing. This time Tina didn't even try to resist; she leaned to the side and vomited the entire contents of her stomach onto the deck. There was blood mingled among the golden curling locks and across the man's face. His skull looked like it was broken in several places, and Tina guessed that that was indeed the case. She felt dizzy. Surely this man was as important to someone as Captain Hookinclaw was to her. What right did she have to inflict that pain onto someone else?
"It's his fault," She whispered "He brought this on himself! His fault for killing Cap'in Hookinclaw."The sounds of battle continued unchanged,but it sounded muted and distant in Tina's ears. She tried to struggle to her feet, but her legs were weak and at that moment the ship rocked under the impact of another cannonball. Tina collapsed backwards, groaned in pain as her head thunked against the mast. She hadn't even notice it there, but she guessed it could move behind her if it wanted too. Nothing in the world was right anymore. The last thing she remembered was blackness covering the sight of flames above her.
Chapter 2: Capture
Tina awoke to the sound of voices. She rolled her head to the side groggily, and the voices stopped. Knowing enough through her foggy haze to realize that they were talking about her, Tina remained still and steadied her breathing to give an imitation of sleep. Sure enough, the voices resumed around her.
"Are ya sure shea's the one tha killed thu' Capun?" A husky, resonating voice asked.
"Well, tha's 'is blood on 'er hands, ain' it?" A second, higher voice asked "And we foun' 'er righ nextta 'im, didn we?" the second voice continued.
"Well, I's supposein' so..." The first voice replied, "But shea's jus' a wee girl! Shea's no' even as ol' as thu capun's son!" Tina heard footsteps approach.
"We's searched all th' dead 'n th' prisners, sir", A new, young sounding voice said. Tina guessed it was their Cabin Boy. "An' none'a 'em has nothin' s'much as resemblin' a bow 'er arrow. Ya wanna know anythin' else Firs' ma - Erm, I mean Cap'in Dyrien?" Tina had been right then. That man she had killed was the captain.
"No, that will be all." the husky voice replied.
After the door closed, and the sound of footsteps receded the second voice spoke again.
"Whaded I tell ya?" He said "She's a treacherous l'il sea urchin! Ya saw wi' yur own eyes tha' she was carryin' arras! A'cause' a 'er we's gotta head back ter port three months early ta get a new mainsail! An' she killed Cap'in Aaronserik!" Tina decisively hated this man. He sounded like a weasel and she could tell he was trying to manipulate the other man. She guessed that he was only using her as an excuse to get the new Captain to trust him where the old one had not. Tina guessed that this was what Carlton would be like when he grew up.
Suddenly there were more footsteps in the hall and a loud knock on the door.
"Cap'in Dyriean!" the cabin boy yelled, excitement in his voice "We's foun' theirs treasury, an' theirs Cabin Boy, too! He's wounded, but 'e seems willin' ta join our side!"
Speak of the Devil, Tina thought. She decided that just killing Carlton was being much too nice for him. She would cut his weaseling tongue out of his slimy head first.
Tina listened as the two men in the room left to go view the treasury on the other ship. It was the captain's luxury to be the first to go through the goods obtained during a raid.
"Going to check the treasure" Tina mused to herself as she opened her eyes and looked around. "That must mean that they w-" Tina broke off abruptly, stunned by the horrid reality of it. "They won?" she whispered even more softly in disbelief. She blinked tears from her eyes, telling herself that she would cry later; right now she needed to escape.
Tina looked down at herself and wiggled experimentally. She was lying on the floor in some type of hold bellow deck. Her hands were bound together at the wrists, and her feet were similarly tied at the ankles. She thanked Trite, God of the sea, that had risked the captian's wrath and ventured into the treasury to get her boots. Quickly and quietly, Tritina cut free of her bonds and tiptoed to the door. Listening closely, she knew that if she didn't make a break for it soon, she'd be caught.
~*~
Captian Dyrien inspected the new crewmember closely. Obviously not someone trustworthy, the cabin boy would do well enough until they got to a port and hired a new crew. He decided he would make the boy work twice as hard as anyone else; maybe then he would think twice next time he had the chance to betray his shipmates.
"welc'm ta the crew" Dyrien growled. "Ya c'n start bai gittin this bounty over ta yur new ship, boy"
"Bu Cap'in!' Carlton started, "I's been injured an' I-" The Captian shot him a look that could've stopped a tsunami.
"Ya wan'ta be a part o' this crew, or vittle fer the sharks?" Captian Dyrien asked in a voice more menacing than the sharks Carlton was being threatened with.
"Yess'er" Carlton replied through clenched teeth, his eys downcast. the captian grabbed a handful of gems, before turning to walk away as Carlton stuffed an ornat urn with pearls and raw silk.
"Keep an eye on tha' un," he directed his original cabin boy as he headed back over to his ship.
- Title: Daughter of the Sea God
- Artist: Drakansa
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Description:
Beginning of a novel I've been working on for a couple years...
I have the whole novel planned out, I've just had trouble actually sitting down to pound it all out.... - Date: 09/06/2008
- Tags: fantasy story novel
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- Drakansa - 01/26/2009
- Woot! I've updated to my most current draft, and will be extending it very soon heart
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