The storm was tearing the sky open, unleashing hell on the small wooden ship tossed helplessly in the unrelenting waves. As water sloshed over the deck, the crew scrambled to lower a lifeboat, calling over the howling wind: "Your Majesty! Get in!"

Prince Endymion of Elysian nodded, pushing water-logged hair from his eyes. "In a minute!" he called back, turning toward the now flooded captain's quarters.

"Get in the lifeboat," Kunzite - the head of his personal guard - practically growled, pulling the prince by the arm to the lifeboat, even as the other man struggled against him.

"The treaty, Kunzite!" Endymion shouted. "I have to get the treaty!" It'd taken months to get the proper wording and signatures from his heads of state - months he didn't have to spare as his kingdom teetered on the edge of war.

"It's gone," the captain said, helping the two young men into the lifeboat. "That whole cabin is flooded." He sobered, looked at Endymion with an apologetic sigh. "It's gone, Highness." He turned to the sailors, "Lower her! We'll row for shore! Gaia save our souls."

Endymion looked back at the ship, shook his head. "The hell it is," he muttered and leapt for the railing.

He heard his name and few choice curse words flung at his back from Kunzite, and the splash of the lifeboat hitting the water, as he dangled by his arms twenty feet above them. Pulling himself up and over the side of the tumbling vessel, he stumbled through knee-deep water to the stern - a flash of lightning illuminated the cabin with the captain's desk - various paperwork and maps floating in the dark brine. He rescued the precious document - sealed with his kingdom's crest - from the waves. The paper was coated in wax, a small protection against the damp smudging the ink. Tucking it into the inside of his coat, he turned and ran toward the lifeboat. With a deafening clap of thunder, the ship shook beneath his feet, finally cracking under the pressure of the sea, and he was tossed into the ocean as carelessly as a rag.

The water was pitch black and everywhere, cold and unforgiving. Although he was a strong swimmer, he knew he would never make it to the lifeboat - if he could even find where it was. Instead he grabbed onto a large piece of the deck of the ship, floating in the water. The storm rumbled into the distance, although the driving rain remained. Endymion shut his eyes burning with the salt of the sea.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he was jolted from semi-consciousness by being hauled up by his arms and dropped unceremoniously on a another wooden deck. Coughing, he rolled on to his back, opening his eyes and seeing nothing but the grey sheets of rain, and the billowed sails of a much larger ship. His heart sank as he caught a glimpse of the flag unfurling in the storm winds: a pirate's flag - black and threatening. Below it, a second black flag, this one adorned with the symbol of a white rabbit. He knew what that meant, dread running cold in his veins.

The Silver Millennium.

"Captain," a woman's voice above him spoke, "should we take him to the brig?"

"He's half-drowned," came the answer, "he...," She may have continued talking, but the words blurred together as he lost consciousness.

Endymion awoke to the soft light streaming through the glass prisms in the beams over his head. It was day, and the sea felt calm. He must have been out for a while.

In a panic, he grabbed at his chest - but his outer jacket and the treaty within it were both gone. Filled with disappointment and grief, he fell back on the bed with a grimace. Looking at his hand, he noticed his signet ring was also missing.

Well, pirates are pirates after all, he thought, heart sinking.

Dizzily he sat up, looking around the small room. There were two other empty beds, and a table filled with various vials and fabrics.

"This is a strange looking brig," he said, or rather, tried to say. His throat felt like sandpaper and he started coughing uncontrollably. A woman he hadn't noticed earlier rushed toward him, pushing him gently back on the bed.

"You are in the sickbay," she said. "Don't try to talk just yet." She spoke with surprising gentleness.

Endymion took her in with a shrewd eye. She didn't seem a pirate - with her warm smile and kind eyes - although her outfit certainly fit the bill - warn knee-high boots and a white shirt with various holes and rips covered with colorful bandanas tied over them. Her hair was short and dark, curled around her eyes from underneath a white sash.

"You swallowed a lot of seawater. I think some may have gotten in your lungs," she spoke with measured intelligence. "There is a theory I'm working on, about secondary drowning. The sailors call it Davy Jones' revenge, but-," she seemed to notice she was rambling and broke off with a curt, someone sheepish, nod.

"You are to stay here until you are recovered," she said. "Captain's orders."

Shaking his head, Endymion sat up again, stubbornly fighting against the pain in his throat to speak. "Can't stay here." His eyes cast around the room for a weapon he could use in his escape. "I have-" he broke down in another coughing fit, mentally cursing his inability to say more than five words in a row. "A war... we could..."

"That is something you'll have to take up with the Captain," the woman said, more firmly this time. "She makes the decisions on his boat."

That much Endymion knew, of course. The stories of Captain Serenity - as ruthless as she was beautiful - had certainly reached his ears in the capital. Merchant ships knew their cargo was as good as lost when they saw the white rabbit flag of the Silver Millennium in their sights. Captain Serenity and her all-women crew ran black market goods to seedy docks along both coastal kingdoms. But most notorious was their kidnapping of young girls to enslave on their ship. Daughters and lovers gone missing in the night - a scourge on the seaside towns of Endymion's kingdom.

The ship and its crew captured the imagination of the people, and far-fetched legends and fantastic stories arose of the cursed pirates of the Silver Millennium. That it was a ghost ship, that it was cursed, that the captain had no heart - and was doomed to sail the seas for all eternity until she found it.

He was loathe to be at the mercy of someone so cruel. And he didn't have time to be loafing around in a pirate's sickbay. Not when there was a war to stop.

"Mercury?" A young woman entered the room - she was dressed plainer than Mercury, her short red hair pulled back and tied with a string. Her face was ruddy from the wind and her eyes sparkled green. She carried and mop and bucket in her hands. "Captain Serenity wants to see you."

"Thanks, Naru," she said. She turned and handed Endymion a small metal cup with some warm liquid inside. "This may help with your throat," she said. Then his de facto doctor left up the stairs through the small door. Naru turned her gaze to Endymion for a moment, thoughtfully. Then she turned and started mopping the floor in silence.

He eyed the concoction given to him by Mercury suspiciously.

"You can go ahead and drink it," Naru said, "Merc'd never hurt ya. She takes care a' all a us when we get sick or hurt."

"Are you one of the girls Serenity has captured?" Endymion asked, venom in his voice despite it's hoarseness. Naru started and gave him a strange look.

"Captured? Ain't one of us on board here captured. Rescued more like." She went back to work with a stronger focus now, brows knit.

"Rescued to swab the deck?" Endymion said, after testing a sip of the drink Mercury had left him. It burned a bit but it did help the pain.

"I work to earn my keep," she said. "Captain Serenity pays us our cut. Anyone who wants to can stay on board and work, anyone who doesn't is taken to safety. Somewhere far away from where they were."

"And where were you?"

Her face darkened slightly, and she didn't look up from her work. "Engaged. To pay off my father's depts. My future husband was much older, a lech, and... cruel. Besides which," her voice took on a softer quality, "I was already in love with my childhood friend." There was a pause. "A woman came to me in my distress - she seemed unworldly," Naru's eyes took on a distant look. "Beautiful, tall, with hair the color of the sea at night and eyes like a blood moon. She called herself Pluto."

Endymion scoffed silently, but let the girl continue.

"She told me to put something silver beneath my pillow that night, and the Silver Millennium would come take me away. And sure enough, that night it came, sailing beneath the white rabbit flag."

She met Endymion's eyes with a fierce gaze. "It's sure known they take girls, but did ya know all the girls want to be taken?"

"And what about your childhood love?" he challenged. "Run through with a pirate's sword?"

She glowered. "Taken to foreign shores and given work. I will join him once I earn enough here. Believe what you want about this ship and this crew but I would die for the Captain - any of us would!" She threw her mop on the floor, eyes wet and face flushed and Endymion felt sorry for having goaded her. But how could she not see how dangerous Serenity and her pirate crew were?

The creak of footsteps made them both look toward the doorway, where a lanky figure with curls of dark brown hair tied behind her maneuvered her way down the stairs with unexpected grace. "Naru, I need your help in the kitchens," she said.

"Aye aye, Jupiter," the girl said, with a quick nod of her head. Taking her mob and bucket, she turned to leave, without giving Endymion a backwards glance.

The girl called Jupiter set down a bowl at a nearby table, "Warm broth," she said, "it's all you should have for a while."

"Listen to me," he insisted. "I have to get the Crescent Realm."

Jupiter shook her head, "I'm just the ship's cook, you'll have to-"

"Take it up with the Captain, I know, I know," he muttered, putting a hand to his head. Maybe he could convince Jupiter or Mercury to somehow to let him out of the sickbay, perhaps he could somehow get a message to Kunzite - the storm hit close enough to Elysian shores, he knew they'd have to have made it home. At least, he hoped so.

"Rest now," she said brusquely, brushing her hands together and turning to leave.

Captured by pirates and miles from home. How could he be expected to 'rest'?

As soon as she was gone, Endymion rushed off his bed and pulled at the door above the staircase. It stuck firm, locked from the outside - he might have guessed. A quick and thorough look throughout the room reveled no alternate escape. The room was beneath main deck, he surmised, the prisms allowing sunlight through the beams to illuminate the room below.

He was the best in his kingdom with a sword, but even if he could find one, the odds of him against a ship full of pirates did not run in his favor. Sighing, he fell back on the bed, running escape scenarios in his head until he finally managed to sleep.

The next morning, Mercury was there to check on him, and Jupiter to bring him some hot gruel and milk.

"Don't look like much, but it's tasty," she promised.

"How did you come aboard the Silver Millennium?" he asked her, wondering if she had a similar story to Naru's. His voice had completely recovered, maybe thanks to Mercury's elixir. Although, he'd always healed very quickly.

For a long time Jupiter didn't answer his question, her moss-green eyes clouded and sad. Then she shrugged and looked at him.

"I've been on this ship as long as I can remember." From behind her Mercury nodded.

Confused, Endymion opened his mouth to clarify, when the door opened to a third person. She was stunningly beautiful, with sharp features and long raven-black hair that hung without any adornment - strange for someone working in the ocean winds all day. She turned a cool glance to Endymion, and he met her gaze with equal steel.

"The captain will see you now," was all she said, turning and disappearing through the doorway. Jupiter and Mercury followed her, the latter waving her hand to Endymion in a 'come on' motion.

Swallowing hard, Endymion took a breath, steeled himself, and walked through the doorway onto the main deck of the ship.

The captain's quarters were opulent of course, in a messy sort of way. The light filtering through dirty windows landed softly on papers and maps and glinted off jeweled hilts of various weaponry. Endymion glimpsed piles of silver in a shadow corner - some coins, some necklaces, rings, various shapes and sizes, in different stages of tarnish - spilling from red velvet bags.

She sat in a worn-looking velvet back chair, booted feet resting on the dark wood of the desk. For a moment she looked at him, narrowed blue eyes thoughtfully. Her blonde hair was pulled up behind her head, tied with a red piece of ribbon. A few rings sparkled on her fingers, and she pet the head of a snow white cat while she pondered Endymion for a few moments.

Knowing he must be in the presence of the infamous pirate captain, Endymion remained silent with a million diplomatic phrases rising at the ready. He wasn't a prince for nothing - if he couldn't fight his way out of this, he could most certainly talk his way of it. He hoped.

Jupiter, Mercury and the raven haired woman (Endymion had heard them call her 'Mars') stood to the side, at attention. A black cat sat at their feet and watched Endymion with expressionless, yellow eyes.

Another figure rested by the large window at the stern of the ship. The window light illuminated the soft curls which had escaped the two knots which twisted the rest of her hair into two long ponytails, but her face was in shadow.

At Endymion's curious gaze, she turned fully toward him, meeting his gaze with an almost imperceptible smile. Although her soft beauty disarmed him, somehow the look in her eyes made him feel inexplicably comforted.

The captain cleared her throat, and Endymion snapped back to attention.

"So...," she said, "I see we have royalty aboard."

Endymion smoothly interjected, "I never claimed to be royalty."

She grinned at him, lifting a familiar piece of paper - the treaty - seal broken and obviously read. Endymion barely kept himself from reacting. She also tossed something golden and shiny up in the air, catching it back in her hand easily. His signet ring. "These pretty things say otherwise," she said.

"A prince, Usagi," she said, turning to the girl by the window. "Imagine the reward for returning him alive to Elysian... or dead to the Crescent Realm." She raised a brow at him but he didn't react.

Usagi took the treaty in her hands and ran her eyes down the words, in a way that made it clear it wasn't the first time she'd read it. "You want to make peace with the Crescent Realm." The skepticism was clear in her voice as she raised her eyes from the document.

"As you no doubt know," Endymion said, "the Crescent Realm has been in an upheaval for as long as anyone can remember."

"Thanks to the power-hungry whims of their queen," the captain said from behind the desk. "The lovely Nehelenia." She smirked. "Whom you intend to wed."

He grimaced inwardly at the thought. Although the queen of the Crescent Realm was a more than suitable match for him, if he was honest Nehelenia gave him the creeps. "I make no promises," he said, firmly. "I am willing to discuss various terms of alliance to secure peace."

"Peace or war, it's no consequence to us," she said blithely. "The witch who rules the Crescent Realm is not our concern, outside of avoiding her whenever possible. Not to speak ill of your darling fiancee," she drawled, with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Usagi lowered her eyes, folding the treaty thoughtfully in her hands. "Still, V," she murmured. "A prince..."

For a few minutes, all the women gathered together in a group in the corner of the room, speaking in hushed voices that Endymion struggled to hear over the creak of the boat and splash of the waves. Even the cats seemed to circle in on the cluster.

Finally, the girl with the buns in her hair stepped forward. "Alright, Prince Endymion of Elysian," she said. "Welcome aboard the Silver Millennium." She extended her hand, and Endymion took it hesitantly. Her fingers were surprisingly warm despite the chill of the sea air that permeated the entire ship. "We will see you safe passage to the Crescent Realm, treaty in hand."

"Never let it be said we stood in the way of true love," the captain, settling herself back behind the desk with a grin. Endymion fought back a gag. "There is a price of course," she continued and Endymion nodded. He'd expected no less.

"A pardon," said Usagi. Endymion realized he was still grasping her hand, and let go with what he hoped was a graceful and nonchalant movement. "An official pardon for any non-violent crime committed while sailing under the white rabbit flag."

Endymion was reluctant to agree. Money was one thing, but siding officially with wanted pirates? Still... the red-ribboned captain was still dangling the treaty from her thumb and forefinger, raising a brow at Endymion expectedly.

And Usagi was still looking up at him with those disarming blue eyes. His hand still felt the ghost of her touch.

Finally, he nodded. "Agreed."

"Then it is settled," the captain said, dropping the treaty and standing. "Mercury, is he well enough to be removed to the brig?"

"Wait," Usagi said, turning toward the group. "Release him into my protection instead." There was a pause, Endymion found himself holding his breath. "He could be of use to us on board," she added.

The captain shifted her gaze to Endymion. "You may yet," she murmured. Then she gave a grin and wink. "So be it." She tossed Endymion's signet ring and Usagi fumbled to catch it.

With a mischievous grin she slipped it on - where it spun loosely around her slender finger - and wriggled her fingers at Endymion with a wink. "'C'mon," she said, smiling at him as if he was a close friend instead of a bartered passenger. "I'll show you around."

There were murmurs and whispers from the crew as they snuck glances at Endymion during their chores and duties, but Usagi didn't appear to notice, darting down the steps ahead of him with the air of someone used to the rolls and buckles of a ship at sea.

"So, what should I call you?" she called over her shoulder, turning to smirk at him with her arms resting on the banister. "Your Highness? Your Majesty? Your Worshipfulness?" She gave an exaggerated bow.

"Endymion is fine."

She pretended to ponder deeply, her finger pressed against her lower lip. "That's still a bit of a mouthful," she confided. Realizing she only came up to his mid-chest from her position two steps below him on the stairs, she lithely slipped past him back up the steps until she stood a step above him - eye level. She smiled.

"I'll call you Endy," she said.

He managed to find his voice in time to say, "I suppose I have no say in this matter."

She was already brushing by him again, leading him down the stairs to the main deck of the ship. "No," she said, with another smile.

"So... the captain...," Endymion started, falling into step with her as they walked across the deck. "Is she really like the stories say?"

"The captain?" she repeated, blinking for a moment. Then she stopped walking, and leaned against the side of the ship, looking up at Endymion with a quizzical expression.

He nodded his head back to the quarters they'd recently vacated.

"What do the stories say?" she asked, looking at him almost wistfully. The sea air lifted and tangled tendrils of her hair, making them brush against her face and neck. The blue of her eyes was like a reflection of the sky.

"Oh..." Uncomfortably he shrugged, remembering Naru's loyal response when he'd dared to disparage Serenity. "It's just talk. Stories. The cruel beauty tied to a cursed ship..."

"Cruel?" she echoed, something like hurt flashing in her eyes. Her lips pulled down slightly and she leaned closer to him. "They say she's cruel?"

"To be fair, you rob ships-"

"Only for what we need!" she insisted. "We mostly trade. And you'd be surprised how many ships attack us first."

Endymion wisely kept quiet on the matter, looking out over the ocean. "Do you think we'll be to the Crescent Realm by week's end?"

To his dismay, she shook her head in response. "No," she said. "It will likely take us twice that."

"But-" Twice that? When he was separated from his men and probably assumed dead... was Nehellania preparing to invade Elysian at this very moment?

"This isn't some diplomatic vessel like the one that wrecked in the storm," she insisted. "We take our own routes - we cannot risk running into trouble. We promised you safe passage." She lifted her chin, eyes determined and clear. "And you will have it." Her expression almost took his breath away, and then she relaxed into a smile. "Endy," she added, tapping his chest with her finger and this time he really did forget how to breathe.

"Haruka!" she called, walking over alongside the mast. A tall woman with short, sandy colored hair was hauling a rope over her shoulder. She gave Endymion a suspicious once-over with a raised brow.

"Rare that we have a man on board, Kitten."

"But not unheard of," Usagi said. Or was she Kitten? Endymion realized he'd forgotten to ask her true name, as he was certain she wasn't really 'Usagi', either. He chided himself for such an obvious misstep. In this situation, information was everything, and he'd been too distracted by the curve of her lips to even secure her identity or position aboard the ship.

Usagi was explaining Endymion's passage to Haruka. "Anyway, I need you to show him the ropes," she smiled, "literally, I guess."

With a graceful step, another woman joined them - she had teal waves of hair that spilled down her back, tied back with a silk scarf. She gave Endymion a slow smile, putting a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "Unclench, darling," she said. "He seems harmless."

Endymion wasn't sure whether or not to be offended to be considered such. Usagi gave the two women some direction on what she needed done, and they acquiesced with fond respect.

"Oh!" Usagi turned as she was leaning, spinning around to face them again. "And could you tell him about Captain Serenity?"

Haruka raised her eyebrows.

"Just... tell him she's not... cruel." For a moment her expression faltered, then she was nodding quickly and heading off in the opposite direction with a purposeful gait. Endymion forced his eyes away from the sway of her hips.

"Your hands will get a bit rough, Your Highness," Haruka said, handing him a thick rope.

"I'm not afraid of hard work," he answered, easily lifting the heavy rope over his shoulder, and she gave him a nod of grudging approval.

Haruka hadn't been lying - after a few hours Endymion's shoulders were aching and his hands raw - but he never complained and seemed to impress the two women with how quick a learner he was.

While they worked, they talked, and Endymion learned their story. Michiru had been a duchess, which was clear in the practiced grace and delicate nature in which she moved, even as she hoisted sails and wound fishing nets. Haruka had been one of her ladies in waiting. "Yes, I even wore dresses," the blonde said with a sour grin, "but if you ask me again, I'll deny it."

"So, did the Silver Millennium rescue you, too?"

Michiru gave a serene smile, "We ran away on our own."

Haruka grinned at her, "No castle walls can hold us."

"But we did find sanctuary here on board," Michiru said, curling her fingers through Haruka's and bringing them to her lips. The tough veneer on the other girl melted away in an instant to become a flustered blush. "I always did love the sea," she added, not looking away from her lover's eyes. Haruka coughed a bit, and Endymion politely turned away to give her some time to recover.

"Captain Serenity is the furthest thing from cruel and ruthless," Haruka said, a bit later. "Whatever you've heard must've come from the mouths of men." Her tone made it clear she found that source to be less than trustworthy, and Endymion had to agree she had a point.

The sun had moved a considerable distance across the sky by the time Usagi returned to them. She got a full report from Michiru, then asked, "How's Hotaru holding up?"

With a warm smile, Michiru nodded. "She's well. She was exploring the galley with Jup and Merc earlier. Naru's taken a special liking to her as well."

Then Usagi turned and smiled at Endymion, "And you? How has the pirate life been treating you so far?" She looked him up and down, and he pushed his hair out of his eyes with one hand. He was still a bit out of breath and knew the sun had probably darkened his skin a bit already. He noticed her cheeks were a bit pink as well.

"Come with me," she said, and he followed her toward the bow of the ship. "I've spoken with our navigators and we think we may be able to get you to your destination a bit faster."

"Thank you," he said, gratefully. If the captain was willing to do that for him, maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"About what I said earlier - the legends of Captain Serenity's cruelty are just that - legends," he said. "People say all manner of strange things about the Silver Millennium, I'm sure the half of them aren't true."

"What do they say?" she asked, stopping him with a hand on the hem of his sleeve. The action made him start, most people weren't nearly bold enough to touch his clothing so familiarly - being royalty meant everyone kept themselves at a distance. Still, he reminded himself with a wiry smile, on this ship he was just lucky not to be in the brig. And he couldn't say he minded her being this close.

He turned toward her, and leaned one hand on the railing of the ship, regarding her silently for a moment. He'd seen plenty of beautiful girls in his life, heck, even since involuntarily boarding this ship. But he couldn't bring himself to look away from Usagi, from the way the sunlight danced on her skin, from the sadness in those haunting blue eyes. Never had he seen such heart-wrenching loveliness and never had he felt so utterly entranced.

He wondered what her story was, if she was escaping a situation similar to Naru's, similar to all the girls the Silver Millennium rescued. Who had wanted to hurt her, to trade her, to devalue her? Endymion had to swallow back bile in his throat at the thought of Usagi - helpless to cruel husband, slipping a piece of silver beneath her pillow and praying.

"They say the ship is a ghost ship, manned only by the spirits of women drowned at sea," he finally said, and was rewarded with an eyeroll and giggle.

"No," she said. "Ghosts would certainly eat a lot less." He smiled along with her, thinking of some more wild tails to tell her.

"They say you're mermaids," he said and that made her gasp in delight.

She leaned in conspiratorially. "Maybe Michiru is," she whispered, with a mischievous smile that made him ache to kiss her.

"They say...," Endymion tried to think around his distraction, "they say the captain is cursed." Usagi's eyes widened. "That she has no heart," he continued, "and that she cannot touch upon dry land - ever - until she finds it again. She can't even take the scuttle boats to the docks, trusting that instead to her crew."

He noticed she'd turned away from him, twisting from his grasp. Her hands clutched the railing so her knuckles whitened. "That's true," she said softly. "She can never return to land. Not until she finds what's been taken from her." She raised one hand to her chest, her gaze wistful. "But it's not her heart," she murmured, almost to herself. "She still has that."

"I apolo-," he started to say, but she turned toward him again and was so close he lost his words to the ocean breeze. She looked up at him with a searching, thoughtful expression, lips falling open. Endymion was sure she could hear his heart beating.

"Do you know you have golden flecks in your eyes?" she whispered.

"A ship approaches!" a voice called from the crow's nest.

In a moment, she was rushing toward the mast. The rest of the crew had also erupted into action.

"Captain," Naru said to Usagi with a salute, handing her a sword. "Jupiter and Mars have the cannons at the ready."

"Captain?" Endymion whirled to look at Usagi - No, at Serenity.

"I never did introduce myself," Serenity said, "deepest apologies, Your Highness." She gave an almost-sad half smile, and the sheer beauty of it was dizzying to him. "Captain Serenity of the Silver Millennium." She spread her arms and gave a deep bow. "Also known as the white rabbit - hence Usagi," she explained with an acknowledging tilt of her head. "At your service."

Touching his hand to his chest, Endymion bowed his head as well. "Captain," he managed to say.

"Now, we have to hurry," Serenity said, turning serious and worried eyes toward the ship on the horizon. "We've got trouble coming."