joacorva@y*******m

The Isle of Tortuga

I whipped around, swinging my cutlass to come down on Jorah's blade as he blocked. I hit him with such a force that i jarred his sword arm and he dropped his blade. I whipped my sword up with the tip ending at the hollow of his throat, my mismatched eyes glaring with devilish intent. He swallowed and a slow clapping started. I put my cutlass back where she belonged and i turned to see my sister Isyla and the boys of the crew applauding my victory against Jorah. I smirked and did a dainty curtsy. "Well done Mate, I don't think there's a man on this ship that you can't best besides father and Rorick. Besides that, Your looks would have them floored before they could even get to their swords!" Sam yelled as he hooted and hollered to the men of the crew. Isyla stood and wound her arm into mine. "It's about time you showed them who's boss. You know Rorick only wants the best for his bride. Smart, Well forged in the ways of battle, great in bed...." She smirked and I snorted. "Aye, and it'll be his dead body if he thinks he's getting me for a bride." My blue and green eyes flashed with malice towards the man that took us from our family so long ago. "Calypso. You are wanted in the Captains quarters now." John said. I glared at Captain Shanks second born son. "Well blast you too John." I stepped onto the steps of the ship to follow him. As we walked towards the quarters, I felt everyone's eyes on me and it sent shivers down my spine. We all knew what was coming. I was going to be given as a bride to the captain's oldest son, The man who ripped me from my family five years ago, because i had shown promise, because i had refused to belittle myself and keep myself defenseless. If i were to act like their sister, I was going to learn how to best them all in swordplay and anything else I possibly could. I stepped into Captain Shank's room and was met with darkness only pierced by many candles and a low lit lamp. Shanks and Rorick leaning over the table map discussing battle plans. My boots thudded against the floor. "You wished to speak with me captain?" I said as I snatched a green apple from the table and leaned my hip against it. Rorick stood and crossed his arms. He glared down at me with discontent as I bit into the apple. I swallowed the bite and stuck my tongue out at him. Rorick was not amused. Shanks sighed and said "Enough. it's time to discuss matters of utmost importance. As you know, Rorick is my firstborn and while you may not be Rook's firstborn, You are near in age and you have almost all the qualities to be his pirate bride. You two will take your marriage vows, consummate, and then Rorick will take over my second ship as Captain. You need to make heirs Cal. That is your sole purpose, along with teaching them everything me and my boys have taught you. You are to make cut throat sons and maybe a daughter, I've always wanted a granddaughter." Rorick took his cue and tossed a small wooden box to me. I caught it and opened it only to find a gold ring with a massive emerald surrounded by tiny sapphires. I glanced back at Shanks and his son. I sighed and said "I understand my duties." Rorick came over and put the ring on my finger among other rings I'd collected from our other plunders. now I had a set of four on my left hand. I stared at the ring for a moment and then looked up. Shanks dismissed the both of us with a wave of his hand. As we walked into the hall, Rorick grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. I was backed against the wall and his massive arms were on both sides of my head. I stared into his nearly black eyes. He stared down at me and his face softened just a touch. "Caly...I know you don't want to do this, but I am glad you didn't fight father in there. He would have made it much worse." My hand reached up to cup his face. "Rory, You and I both know that if I had even uttered disagreement, I wouldn't be standing here right now. As much as I used to hate you for ripping my sister and I from our family, it has taught me valuable lessons. Such as knowing when to keep my mouth shut." I smiled sadly up at him. He leaned in and his mouth was on mine. I kissed him back for a short while and then he was gone. I sighed with my eyes closed. That's how it always is. Show even the tiniest amount of interest and his father would run me through, all for the pleasure of his thinking that we still hate Rorick for kidnapping us. The boys hadn't wanted to do it, they apologize to us all the time about it and we see the absolute guilt that eats away at them. Isyla and I forgave the boys years ago when we all had sword practice and ended up in a massive dog pile trying to stop me from murdering Rorick. When we finally got pulled off of each other, we all started laughing. That's how our feelings of sibling rivalry came to be.

I was walking back to my sister and the boys when I heard them call out for land. I raced to the rail and climbed up some of the ropes and leaned as far as I could to see. My wavy hair flowing behind me with my braids, dreads, and beads clanking in the wind. I took a deep breath and smiled. Tortuga. Time to replenish our supplies and let some of the men go out to have some freedom. "Calypso! get down from there, it's time to get ready to go!" Isyla and the boys were waiting for me, smiling with excitement. I swung myself around the ropes and dropped to the deck. Isyla grabbed my hand and we headed to our quarters. Jorah said they'd meet us back on deck in twenty minutes. We giggled with excitement and when we got to our rooms, Isyla flipped around on me and grabbed my hand. Her mouth fell open and she just stared at the emerald. "I know, it's huge isn't it?" I said. Isyla finally spoke "Caly, does this mean you're actually going to marry Rory? I mean I'm happy if you are but, this means we won't be together anymore. I'll be all alone with the boys and you know how they like to tease me about my explosives. You'll have to make babies and that means you and Rory will do the thing and-" I laughed cutting her off. "Izzy, I don't have a choice and besides, Rory isn't all that bad. The only reason the boys tease you is because of how dangerously capable with those explosives that you are. You basically invented a new kind of weapon for pirates around the world. Obviously you got your smarts from mom, because i don't think dad could have ever come up with something like those." I smiled and my face dropped. None of us knew who our mother was. We'd grown up with dad and had been promised to meet her when we all came of age, but we were torn away before we had the chance. Isyla started packing her coins and explosives to sell. I grabbed the finely made cutlasses that I had made on our last stop. Sharp but sturdy. Light but fast. We grabbed our things and made our way towards the deck to meet Jorah and the boys. We found them gathered with Rorick, and he came to grab the extra packs of swords from me to help me carry them. "Father wants me to keep an eye on you while we are docked. Isyla is to stay near along with Jorah and Sam. William will go with father today. After we finish at the market we are all to meet up at the Wicked Wench Tavern, Wynonna know's we are to be there tonight and has rooms for us along with food and rum." We all agreed and got ready to get off the ship.