Hi, its me, thepia. I'm back after an extremely long hiatus, heh. Sorry about that. This is my first story in a looooooooong time and I apologize about the quality of the writing. I'm also jumping on the Pirate!England/Prisoner!Japan bandwagon too so...Anyway, let's get this over with.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Sorry to disappoint you.
Kiku knew they were in trouble when he noticed the tell-tale black masts looming on the horizon. He had an inkling that their junk, the Sakura-hime, was being pursued, but he had shrugged it off to paranoia. He knew he had reason to be paranoid, their ship was loaded to brig with all sorts of treasures bound for Siam. Fine silk, bejeweled trinkets, spices, and other expensive goodies made up the bulk of the cargo Kiku and his brother Yong Soo had been entrusted to deliver to the king on the behalf of their sister Mei Mei. Now he knew that his earlier paranoia had been justified; these waters were rife with pirates, especially those from the West. Just his luck that it was this particular instance they were being pursued.
Steeling himself, Kiku carefully headed over to where Yong Soo was idly chatting with the first mate. Noticing that Kiku was coming towards him, Yong Soo politely excused himself and headed over to his brother.
"Nii-san, what's wrong?" Yong Soo asked. The older man shushed him and motioned for him to follow him into the captain's quarters. Once inside, Kiku looked at his brother gravely*
"Yong Soo, I believe we are being pursued by pirates." He said quietly, watching as the younger man's eyes widened in shock at his words.
"P-p-pirates? What are we going to do? We can't fight them off if they attack! And if they take our cargo, Wang will kill us! Hell, Mei Mei will kill us if we lose her dowry!" Yong Soo exclaimed, causing Kiku to shush him.
"Not so loud…I don't want to concern the crew."
"Nii-san, if we are being followed by pirates, I believe the crew deserves to know. We may not be able to hold them off but we can at least try." Kiku sighed, Yong Soo was right. It would be better to alert the crew rather than have them taken by surprise.
"I suppose. Here I was hoping that Mei Mei's marriage might go smoothly…I see I was wrong" Kiku grumbled as they left the quarters.
Instantly, he knew something was wrong. There was a flurry of activity happening and the crew seemed tense. Glancing off to the side, Kiku could see why. The black-masted ship he had spotted earlier was closing in on them and fast. His heart sank, he knew that they'd never be able to outrun it. No matter how pointless it seemed, they would have to hold them off as long as they could. Perhaps he could give them a portion of the cargo and that would satisfy them. Unsheathing his katana, he faced his crew with a look of determination.
"Ready your weapons. We will hold them off as long as we can." There was unanimous agreement as they pulled out their swords. That determination faded when he heard a loud blast and smelled the unmistakable scent of gunpowder. Crack! The cannonball had hit one of their masts.
"Honda-san! We've been hit!" Hwang, the first mate, shouted. Kiku cursed loudly, know he knew they were fucked.
The ominous clipper was finally close enough to board the Sakura-hime. Kiku watched in horror as a long board was lowered, hitting their ship with a dull thwack; Westerners boarded the ship as quickly as they could, guns and swords drawn. They were outnumbered and Kiku knew that resistance was futile. Slowly, he lowered his katana as well as motioning for the rest to do the same. Men were still pouing on to the ship, surrounding them on all sides.
Finally it seemed that the last of the other ship's crew had emptied on to the Sakura-hime, when Kiku noticed what had to be the captain. Tall, with golden hair and thick eyebrows, he was the epitome of pirate aristocracy: red coat littered with golden adornments, his gloved hands were covered in array jeweled rings, his black boots had to be of the finest finest polished leather. His hat was large, pulled down at cocked at angle so it covered part of his face, adorned with a single white feather. He strode on to the ship, pistol drawn and cutlass handle glinting in the sunlight. He gave a cocky smirk to his men before addressing the crew of the Sakura.
"Alright, where is your captain?" Kiku had only a mild understanding of English, picked up from when missionaries had stopped by the palace when they were younger. Their father, the emperor, had permitted them to teach Kiku and his siblings English, but that had been cut short when their father had caught the missionaries teaching them about some religion popular in the West. He had ordered them killed and outlawed the use of English as well as that religion. Lucky for him, the crew couldn't understand the pirate.
"Krm…" the pirate growled, unhappy with his lack of response. Quickly, he grabbed Yong Soo and held the pistol to his head. Kiku gasped as Yong Soo struggled against the captain's iron grip.
"I asked you all where your captain is! Answer me or the boy will die! I know at least one of you can understand English!" Raising his sword, Kiku stepped forward.
"I am the captain." Kiku said boldly. The pirate smirked again, letting out a small chuckle. He lowered his pistol from Yong Soo's head and pushed him to the ground. Yong Soo scrambled towards his brother's side.
"So you are the captain of this junk…tell me, Asian, what is your name?" Kiku hardened his gaze and answered.
"I am Kiku. What business do you have with our ship, pirate?" The pirate chuckled, stepping closer to Kiku.
"Kiku, eh? Doesn't that mean "chrysanthemum" in your language? Such a pretty name for such a, ah, pretty boy?" Kiku felt his anger rising. How dare this beast! First he attacks his ship, then threatens to kill his brother, and now this?
"I did not ask for your opinion of me, I asked your business. Now I will ask you once more, what business do you have with our ship?" The blond chuckled at Kiku's words.
"You're a feisty one, Kiku. I like that. Since you asked so sweetly, I'll tell you. I am Captain Kirkland and my business is robbing your ship of its treasure. Now, if you'd be as so kind to point me in the direction of your cargo hold, I will commence with relieving you of all your riches. If you cooperate and don't resist, I might consider not killing you all and burning your ship to ash." Kiku lowered his sword, he knew he'd been backed into a corner. Silently, he motioned to the direction of the cargo hold; watching in anger as Kirkland's men swarmed to it. He would let them take it and once they left, they would continue on to Siam, alert Mei Mei's fiancé of the attack as well as send word Wang to raise the imperial fleet and make these pirates pay for their insolence. The Siamese fleet was just as powerful as the Chinese navy. Kiku looked at Yong Soo and gave a small smile to assure him that he had this under control.
After what seemed like ages, Kirkland's crew had emptied out the hold of the Sakura and moved all its contents to the other ship. Kirkland smirked as he surveyed his newfound riches before strolling over to where Kiku and Yong Soo stood.
"Well, I believe I have pretty much gathered up all the treasure I came after…" Kirkland said cockily, looking at Kiku; the other man simply narrowed his eyes.
"I suppose so. Now will you please take your leave?" Kirkland chuckled before grasping Kiku's hand and bringing it towards his mouth. Kiku's eyes widened as Yong Soo gasped.
"I said I wasn't leaving until I had taken all of the treasure of this ship…now, Mr. Kiku, you will come with me or I will have everyone on this ship killed, starting with your precious brother."
Ooh! A cliffhanger!