Zinaida leaned back against the wall studying her guard from the corner of her eye. She ran through her options again. If she really wanted to, she could sit still and let Blackbeard use her as a bargaining chip so he could take the Lupis Maris, their only freedom, away. She couldn't let that happen and Zinaida hated sitting still. She was not one who could give up easily so there really was only one option: fight her way out.

"May I have some water?" Zinaida asked the pirate in a sing-voice.

He took something from his belt and walked over to hand it to her. "How about some rum?"

Zinaida wouldn't mind being a little tipsy right now, but if she was going to escape, she couldn't afford the buzz and besides, she needed him to actually leave the room for a moment. "Of course not, you filthy pirate," she said with a grimace. "I'm not going to drink that vulgar drink!"

"Testy, testy. You're not very becoming of a woman," he said with narrowed eyes.

She held her tongue from insulting him again. "Fine, may I please have some water, sir?" she asked nicely.

With a smug grin, the pirate walked out of the room. Quickly, while he was gone, she reached through the bars at some rope lying outside her cell. She had to lean into the bars and stretch to reach it, but she pulled it through the bars with haste.

Only seconds after she had the foot long rope, he came back with a canteen of water and handed it to her. She took a small sip. It didn't taste bad, thankfully. She drank more but still kept a close watch on her guard.

He leaned against the bars of her cell with his back to her, just like he had before she requested water. Zinaida glanced at the key ring on his belt. She could easily pull that through the bars, but then she would still have the pirate to deal with. Without her sword, it would not end well. Her best shot was to use the rope she acquired to strangle him.

Immediately putting her plan into action, she silently snuck up to the bars where the pirate was still standing and was ever thankful that this pirate was short. She thrust her arm through the bars and around his neck. Before he could react much, she already had the other end of the rope in her hands. She twist the rope together as he struggled and choked. Holding on tight, she realized just how much stronger she had gotten since she began her time on the Lupis Maris, but she still needed to lean a back and put all her weight into her arm to completely strangle the man.

The pirate struggled to free himself from her grip but Zinaida was stronger than he expected. The pirate tried to grab his sword but missed and grabbed the keys. She tightened her grip until he became limp and she confirmed he was dead, then she released the man. As he slumped to the floor she wasted no time to swipe his keys.

It didn't take her long to find the key to her cell. Upon opening the she felt an overwhelming sense of freedom. That is until loud voices rushed down from the stairs. Zinaida cursed as she realized the pirate made too much noise in his struggle. She wasted no time in grabbing the dead pirates sword and hid behind the door just in time for a group of pirates to come flying through. Before they noticed her hiding place she ran out into the hallway and locked the door behind her.

"That teaches you to mess with me!" Zinaida taunted at the door. Before running upstairs, she carefully placed the key ring around the handle, feeling that she would have no more need for it.

On the next floor, she ran into another pirate strolling down the hall. Before he had a chance to realize what was going on Zinaida stabbed her stolen sword into his stomach. She was in a hurry so she didn't stay to make sure she finished the job. Still running, she turned up the nearest staircase and quieted her steps. If she remembered correctly, this was Blackbeard's quarters.

"She's strong," a hushed voice said.

"She's a demigod," Blackbeard's gruff voice replied.

"Like you?" the other voice asked.

"She has to be," the pirate she loathed mumbled.

"What about the others?"

"Maybe the captain."

Zinaida caught her breath and furrowed her eyebrows. She had no clue what to think of that. Demigod? Weren't those children of the gods and humans?

Just then, another pirate turned around the corner. "She's here!" he shouted, and she took off again in the direction of the deck.

All the pirates up here jumped in surprise as she ran past them towards the masthead. She didn't know why she felt the urge to run when there was nowhere to go. Just now, she realized how foolish she was to recklessly break herself out so soon. Sometimes she acted purely on impulse and this would be the time it backfired on her.

"Well look who decided to join us," grinned Blackbeard as walked up to her from behind.

She turned around to face him. "I decided it was a little stuffy down there," Zinaida said, tightening her grip around the sword. She watched nervously as all the other pirates stopped what they were doing to watch.

"Back to work," Blackbeard said to his crew. "I 'ave this one. She's just a girl after all."

She bit back an insult and instead pointed her sword to him. "Apparently I'm not just a girl. Apparently I'm a demigod," she said, staring at him intensely. "Explain what I heard!"

"Ah, so you're curious," he said with a cocky grin that grated on her nerves. "I can tell you if you go back down to your cell like a good little girl."

She swung her sword, and he moved like lightning. He blocked her attack so quickly and effortlessly that she felt like she did when she was new to the sword. It made her furious. She blocked his next attack and then sidestepped to land a cut to his knee. He looked bored fighting her, as though he wasn't giving his full attention to the fight.

"Come on, you will go back down there sooner or later," Blackbeard said. "We're on a ship, you know, there is no where else for you to run, unless you like swimmin' with the fish."

Zinaida said nothing but stopped fighting back. He did nothing to attack her. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to decide if she was a demigod or not.

"You couldn't be who I thought you were, girl. You're a weakling."

She glared at him as she walked backwards up the stairs to the masthead. She needed to get revenge for that comment. Next to her, she spotted heavy cannonballs. Wasting no time, she rolled one of them over to the steps and pushed it down towards the unsuspecting pirate. Before Blackbeard noticed what was happening, the ball hit him in the leg and the pirate fell face- first on the stairs with a grunt of pain.

Zinaida could not help but laugh loudly and obnoxiously. "Some captain you are if you didn't see that one coming!" She dashed over to the masthead trying to put more distance between herself and Blackbead to think up another plan. Unfortunately, the pirate moved faster than she thought and had trapped her at the prow of the ship.

"Your tiny group of girls will never win," Blackbeard smiled then he pointed out past the stern of the ship. "You have more than just this ship to worry about."

Zinaida glanced back up to see at least seven more ships behind Blackbeard's. Each had its own captain with his own crew, but Zinaida knew Lucie wouldn't be fighting all those men. Just Blackbeard. All she needed to fight was Blackbeard.

"If you think that will beat us," Zinaida said, "then you don't know us at all."

"I have much more men than you do," Blackbeard said, a smug grin stretching across his features. "What makes you think that you can win?"

Zinaida wanted nothing more than to take away that smugness. She climbed up on the railing and took one look at the churning ocean below. "Because we can do things you wouldn't dare to expect."

She leapt into the sea below, sinking deep into icy water.

It was almost midnight and Lucie still found it impossible to sleep. She worried about her friend constantly. She had no idea how Blackbeard would treat her friend and she did not really know whether she was even still alive.

Lucie sighed. Giving up on sleep she slid out of bed and draped her cloak around her shoulders. Quietly, she tiptoed out into the hallway. Everyone else was in their beds asleep but Lucie still couldn't shake the silent presence of someone else wandering the halls. It was as if the ship was always active even when the crew members were not. As if there were others who watched the ship while they slept. No one else seemed to notice it but not very many of the girls were usually up a night.

She wandered down the hall to Zinaida's room and snuck inside. In the darkness she could see Zinaida's sword on the bedside table where she set it a few days ago. Other than that the room was untouched. Dust had started to gather on the furniture and Lucie made a mental note to come in here and clean in the morning.

The room only had the cot, an armoire and the bedside table. There was not much else. Despite how much they travelled none of the girls spent money on souvenirs. It left the ship a little plain but it was better to save their money for a time they may need more.

Back at Clovelly, Zinaida had such a fancy room with frills that she absolutely hated. The girl would have torn it all down if her mother would not have put it all up again. Her room was also always extremely clean and orderly but that's because the maid kept it clean. On the ship, it was not exactly the same. Her blankets were still strewn all over her bed and the wardrobe was left partially open.

Smiling to herself, Lucie went over to close it when something caught her eye. Hanging up on was the blue dress her friend got from the ship. Zinaida must not have been wearing it the day Blackbeard captured her. The cloak and leather bodice had fallen to the floor in a heap so she picked them up and put them back on the hanger. Her hand lingered on the cloak as tears formed in her eyes.

She missed her friend dearly and it was not just her. Those who knew Zinaida missed her as well. The atmosphere on the ship had changed since her capture. To Clara and Lucie, the ordeal was not much of a shock, they were expecting something to happen, but to the other girls it was loss they weren't expecting. It showed the rest of the crew how vulnerable the girls really were. It woke them up to the reality they were living in.

She closed the wardrobe and walked back across the room. Her eyes rested on Zinaida's sword. It seemed lonely without it's wielder. She was lonely. The two girl's had been friends since they were five. They hung out whenever it was possible. Without her best friend around, Lucie felt a piece of her was missing.

"I know you won't die on me," Lucie whispered to the sword. "So I will do everything I can to free you and keep our freedom." She left the room with renewed energy and a new promise that she would do everything to keep.

Before they headed to Clovelly, Lucie knew she needed to stop at a port along the way to buy the new girls some supplies. She had searched for swords and dresses down in the hold for them but only one girl found ones that suited her.

The girl had a certain intensity in her gray eyes and she excelled in swordplay. Her blond hair was always pulled back into a braid or pinned up on top of her head. With the exception of when they first met, Lucie didn't recall ever seeing her hair down. The silver dress she wore combined with her looks made her seem like a warrior ready for battle. The little owls on her sleeves and white cloak did little to soften that image.

One time, when Lucie was watching the sword practice she had seen the girl defeat opponent after opponent and she eventually pulled the girl aside to see exactly how strong she was. Although she hated to admit it, Lucie was bad with names and had to ask what hers was.

"Payton," the girl said.

"Well, Payton, that was some great sword fighting I saw," Lucie praised. "You've improved quickly. I imagine you have a goal in mind?"

"You're not the only ones who have been hurt by the pirates and those soldiers." The girl's eyes darkened to the color of storm clouds.

"Indeed," she replied, "and we won't be the last either."

Payton must have seen the sadness in Lucie's eyes because tears began to fall from her own. Lucie stepped in and embraced the younger girl but waited for her to speak. That is if she wanted.

"My father died when pirates raided his workplace," she spoke between sobs. "They wanted the ship he was working on. He and his coworkers had just finished it when they came and they just… they just killed him.

"I didn't have a mother so I ended up on the streets without any money. One day the soldiers spotted me near the docks and decided I was a pirate so they dragged me to that prison."

Most of the girls that they had freed were still traumatized from their time spent in the prison. Lucie had been doing her best in making sure she talked to each girl to make sure they were fine. Some of them were slow to open up and it took a little patience on her part to find where they were hurting. A few others tried to pommel her before the opened up. She knew she'd never be able to heal their wounds but she did her best to make sure that they did not bottle up their pain.

"Are you ready to go?" Clara asked bringing Lucie back to the present.

Lucie looked down at her friend and back at her crew. Zorah and the older members were staying behind with the ship, while Lucie and Clara were taking the newer members, excluding Payton, out to buy new dresses and swords.

Lucie stared out at the new town. At this point she had been to so many that they had begun to blur together. The same buildings and stores. Similar people walking about or hard at work. It made it easier to figure out how to navigate each town.

"Let's go," Lucie said.

As a group they blended in with the crowds of people. Lucie and Clara hid their swords beneath their cloaks and did their best not to look suspicious in front of the guards. The other girls trailed behind in groups of twos or threes. Although they tried to follow the advice they had been given on how not to be caught, many of them weren't doing as well as Lucie would have hoped. It was good they didn't run into too many soldiers before they found the smithy.

It was inside a large brick building but it didn't seem like many men worked there. There were only two when Lucie entered with her crew. One of the men looked up from his work with interest when the girls walked in. The other one seemed too busy hammering a sword to notice or care who entered. The clang of his hammer echoed throughout the forge.

"What may I do for you girls today?" the man approached them.

He was at least three times Lucie's size and much stronger than any of the soldiers she faced. The expression on his face was not the usual cocky grin she was use to seeing. Instead, it was of idle curiosity that made her nervous enough to keep her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"We need some swords," she replied. "I was hoping you would agree to make them."

"Swords?" the man crossed his arms. "What would you need swords for?"

Lucie tightened her grip on hers. She was going to have to stay calm and be patient if they were going to do this without any violence. She was about to reply when the man working at the back turned around.

"Is that you, Lucie?" he smiled when he recognizes her. He threw his project into a nearby barrel of water.

She gasped in surprise. From the back she had not recognized him at all. Now that she could see his face she recognized the blond hair, though it was much longer, and the blue eyes. He had toned out some since she last saw him and there was a haunted look in his eyes.

"Kirill?" Lucie asked.

"Who?" said Clara.

"He's Zinaida's brother," she said. "We thought he died in the fire."

"It's nice to see that you survived," Kirill smiled. "Is Zinaida with you?"

Lucie shifted uneasily, "She was but Blackbeard captured her…"

Kirill looked surprised, "Blackbeard? What happened?"

"Meet me on my ship, the Lupis Maris, tonight. Then we can exchange stories." She said. She didn't mean to cut him short but they wanted to get their business in town done quickly. She turned back to the other man, "we need some swords for them." She waved at the new girls who were standing back silently watching.

"I can do that," swordsmith seemed much more willing to help now. "Have them line up and we'll find a sword for them."

The man had Kirill go retrieve a bunch of pre-made swords for the girls to try. One by one he had each swing a sword to see how well balanced it was for them. Some girls found ones they liked and he let them keep it. Others didn't quite find the right sword so he made some notes and promised to make them soon. The whole time he was sizing the girls the man kept talking and he told them a story.

"I use to be a soldier of the British Navy," he told them, "but I decided I didn't like following orders so as soon as I could I quit."

"Why did you become a soldier in the first place if you were just going to quit?"one of the girls asked.

"I guess you could say I was drawn to the uniforms and the honor I thought they had." He said, "It was a few years back but there was a crew of girls just like there is today," he began. Lucie froze, she had no idea that there was another female crew. "I remember meeting them once. Their captain was a kind, honest girl but there was a darkness in her eyes. It was mirrored in the eyes of the rest of her crew. They must have already been through so much yet they still smiled.

"For a few months, they lived peacefully while sailing the seas but it didn't last long. Men become uneasy when women have power. These girls had their own ship and could hold their own in a fight pretty well. The captain herself had a powerful presence. One day it became too much." At this point all the girls were sucked into his story. Lucie had never heard of this other female crew and wanted to know more.

"One day a fight broke out and the girls ended up in the middle of it. I don't know if they were the ones who instigated it but I know the fight was not their captain's style. They won without killing any soldiers but that's when the rumors started to spread. Since society couldn't put them anywhere else they became pirates. They weren't bad people but the pressure became too much.

"A murder was committed and a witness said that it was one of them. That's when the rumors became true... Or at least close to it." Some of the girls had found chairs to sit on and were leaning forward listening. Lucie realized how similar it was to their story.

"The soldiers were sent after them and when they escaped to sea the navy followed. The girls had given a good chase but it was not enough. We caught up to them and readied to attack the ship. When we noticed that no was on the deck preparing to defend, we stopped. Our ship coasted up until it was right beside theirs but there was no one who tried to attack us. Our superiors decided to raid the ship to see what could be found. One group was ordered to stay and defend our ship while the other group boarded their ship.

"We searched the whole place but there was no one in sight. It didn't look abandoned, but more as if no one had lived there for a while. Empty of food and clothing. The beds were made, all the silver put away and even the hold was completely in order. There was no dust on the furniture and the floors had been cleaned. No one ever knew what became of these girls. Most speculated that they committed suicide by jumping into the sea. Slowly people stopped talking about the female pirates. After a month, they were forgotten like leaves on the wind."

The man stopped talking for a moment and looked out the window, "I never forgot them. I never forgot how it was the people who drove them over the edge. I never forgot how kind they were. There was no honor in being a soldier then. Instead I felt like a bully so I left as soon as I could." Silence fell when he stopped talking. Lucie couldn't help but wonder if this was the path they were walking down. If they would end up as nothing more than a distant memory.

"I really wish those girls had survived." she muttered to Clara as she pulled out the money pouch to pay for the swords.

"Do you think they would have allied with us?" Clara asked.

"I know I would have tried," she marched to the blacksmith and began to ask him how much he wanted but he just waved her away.

"There's no need to pay," he said. "I won't allow friends of Kirill pay for the swords. He's done plenty of hard work for me and he is one of the best apprentices I've had." Hesitantly, Lucie put her money away. She was not expecting to receive the swords for free.

"We'll be back in a few days to collect the remaining swords then," she waved bye to Kirill and the blacksmith before leaving the shop.

The seamstress was not as easy to deal with. By the time the girls had arrived at her shop word had spread that the female pirates were in town. More soldiers were patrolling the streets and Lucie just barely managed to keep them from noticing the girls. Clara would often have to distract them the soldiers. It was a relief when the made it too the seamstress' shop without raising any alarms but they had barely taken a step inside the building before the woman started going crazy.

"Pirates!" she screamed. "Pirates are in my shop."

Luie sighed. It was so difficult to blend in with the crowd. To pretend to be the meek girl she use to be. She suspected it was their proud look that tipped strangers off. With traveling on the sea so much they had become more confident and it showed in their posture. In ways that they hardly noticed themselves they stood out from the rest of the crowd. At least this was her theory.

Before the seamstress could scream again Lucie leaped at her with her sword drawn. It stopped at the woman's throat.

"Scream again and I won't hesitate to kill you," she whispered. "Give us what we want and we will pay you well, along with letting you keep your life. Understand?" The woman nodded and Lucie stepped away. She didn't sheath her sword but kept it at her side.

"Wh-what may I do for you girls today?" the woman's voice shook but Lucie ignored it.

"My friends here," she waved at all the new girls. "Need some new dresses. We were wondering if you would make some for us."

The woman waved for the girls to come forward. "Step up so I can take your measurements," she said in a shaky voice.

Lucie and Clara watched as each girl stepped forward. The woman's hands shook but she measured everyone quickly and efficiently. Once she was done she allowed the girls to wander around the shop to find which fabric they liked best. Lucie described the kind of dress she wanted the seamstress to make.

She tried to make it one that would be easy to fight in but still socially acceptable. It was difficult to figure something out but the seamstress knew what she was doing. She made easy suggestions to the design of a dress to make it lighter and more flexible.

Once the girls had chosen the fabric they wanted, Lucie dismissed them to head back to the ship. Clara stayed with her until they were done with the seamstress. They overpaid the woman out of guilt but since they didn't have to pay for swords there was extra money to go around.

"Thank you for your time," Lucie waved to the woman. "And don't forget what will happen if you tell anyone about us." She left the threat hanging in the air as they exited the shop.

I am moving this story over onto Archive Of Our Own. It will be under the same name and categories. Of there are any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading:)