First of all, this fic got life as a collaboration across Tumblr. It would not have been possible without the contributions of Hoskky, silkofscarlet, suspicious-popsicle, the-fluri-corner, and anyone else whose name I sadly forgot. Especially, Hoskky, who drew the cover image and whose drawings started this whole thing in the first place. Since this started as a collaboration, I'd like to encourage anyone interested to feel free to submit your own ideas, art, fic, whatever.

The story is set in a world very much like the canon world, with some key differences. For example, the culture of the empire has been adjusted to more closely resemble our own 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy. A map of the world, and supporting meta documents and art, can be found on my and Hoskky's tumblrs (tumblr urls: hoskky, and fontasticcrablettes).

Also, you can expect this story to eventually have Fluri and Ristelle.

Chapter One: The Brave Vesperia

Our world, Aque Lumireis… No one knows how far its islands and oceans stretch, for the people are no match against the surging seas that cover the world. Brave sailors protect the islands on which we live, and we are completely dependant upon trade routes for our survival. It is an age of wooden ships and iron men. The Imperial Navy works tirelessly to defend our waters from monsters and pirates, protecting the merchants that bring us food, wealth, and fresh water. They have provided us with everything that has made the empire prosper. Perhaps one day, we may even forget the threat of the ever rising tides that threaten our coastlines. The efforts of the navy will bestow ever more prosperity to the empire, and peace to its people… From the imperial capital of Zaphias, anchor of peace, we pray: may tranquillity bless this world.

Estellise Sidos Heurassein, princess of the Empire, candidate to the imperial throne, was bored. She hated that she was bored, because for the first time in her life, she was on a journey away from the capital. She'd spent her entire life cooped up in the castle, staring out the window at the ocean and wondering what was out there, and now she was here. The wooden railing of the ship was rough through her thin silk gloves, and her body rocked with the motion of the waves. The cool, salty breeze threatened to tear down her long pink hair, which was carefully tied atop her head.

She'd been at sea now for nearly a week, and the excitement of leaving the castle had worn off. Her dreams of the wonders of the ocean dimmed when she learned that most of the ocean looked exactly the same: flat, blue, and vaguely shimmery. Perhaps she would be less bored if she knew precisely why Admiral Alexei had summoned her, because at least then she'd have something to look forward to. All she knew, though, was that the admiral had summoned her "for a personal matter" and Captain Flynn of the Imperial Navy was escorting her to the admiral's flagship docked in Heliord.

"Lady Estellise."

She jumped at the sound of her name, and looked over her shoulder with a smile. "Oh, hello, Flynn. Do you need something?"

"No. I thought you looked a bit sad. Are you feeling alright?"

Estellise put a smile on. "Yes, I'm fine." To be honest, she was more than a little lonely. Everyone else on the ship had a job to do, but when she offered to help to give herself something to do and not feel so useless, they brushed her aside and told her that a princess had no place doing menial labour around a ship. This was at least better than when they walked off muttering about women on ships being bad luck. This left her with no companions - not even the books she'd had to pass the time with in the castle. In the castle, Flynn spent ages sitting and talking with her, and she counted him as one of her closest and dearest friends. Here, he was just as busy as all the others and had little time to spare. She didn't resent him, because he had an important job as the captain of the ship, and she didn't want him to worry about her when her only problem was loneliness. "How much longer do you think it will be until we reach Heliord?"

"Probably another week or so," Flynn said. "Assuming we don't get another storm like the one last night."

"It wasn't so bad," Estellise said. There had been thunder and lighting, but by the long gap between the two, she knew the heart of the storm had been far away.

"Right," Flynn said. "That's because I saw the storm coming and veered off course accordingly to avoid it."

"Oh, I see." She leaned forward on the railing, watching the white crests of waves drift past below her. "Are you going to be the one to take me home after my meeting with Alexei?" She hoped so. It was lonely enough on a ship when it was her best friend's.

"I'm not sure," Flynn said. "We don't know how long Admiral Alexei will want to meet with you. If he doesn't give me any further orders, most likely."

"Good." She couldn't hold back a smile. Although, she wasn't sure she wanted to go straight back to the capital again. An all twenty years of her life, she had never once been allowed to set foot beyond the castle walls. Now that she was finally out and seeing the world, she didn't want to go straight back. There had to be more adventure to be found on the high seas than just staring at endless ocean currents.

"Sir!"

Estellise smiled when Sodia approached. Sodia was the only other woman on the ship, and the only other person not officially part of the navy. Women, of course, were not allowed to enlist, but as an old friend of Flynn's, he'd bent the rules and allowed her to accompany her fiancé Ivan when he joined up. Estellise wished she had gotten a chance to meet Ivan, because Sodia and Flynn always spoke highly of him, but he'd been killed in a skirmish with pirates only three months ago. Flynn kept saying that Sodia would have to leave the ship 'at the next port' but somehow that never happened.

Sodia saluted when she reached Flynn, for all the world like a proper navy soldier. "A lookout has spotted a ship off the port side. It's already quite close; the fog from this morning obscured it until now."

"Is it one of ours?" Flynn asked, immediately setting off across the deck to the port side. Estellise hurried to follow him.

"No, sir," Sodia said.

Estellise felt a stab of fear. "Is it… pirates?" As much as she'd wished for excitement, the prospect of actually meeting pirates was scary.

"Unlikely," Flynn said, looking to her with a comforting smile. "Probably a merchant ship." They reached the other side of the ship, and when Estellise squinted she could make out a dark blur on the horizon. Flynn pulled out a telescope and peered through it, his frown deepening. "It's a Union ship, alright," Flynn said. "But they've knotted the flag."

Estellise cocked her head to the side. "Knotted? What do you mean?"

"Here, look for yourself." He handed her the telescope.

Estellise peered through with excitement. This was the first other ship they'd spotted since leaving Zaphias, and it wasn't even just another navy ship. Heliord was close to the Union stronghold of Dahngrest, so she supposed it made sense to see a Union ship the closer they got. She got the ship in her view and adjusted the telescope slightly to make it clearer. The ship appeared to be a frigate similar to their own, if a bit smaller. She noticed something odd right away, though. "Why are their sails down?" There was a strong breeze and their own ship was making good time, so it didn't make sense that the other ship would just sit there.

"For the same reason they've tied a knot in their flag," Flynn said. "Do you see it?"

"Uh…" she tightened the telescope, trying to bring out more detail. "Oh! Yes." At the highest mast was a piece of red fabric trimmed in white, tied in a knot in the middle.

"That's the Union ensign," Flynn said. "It means they're from a guild, but not part of the official Altosk fleet."

"So why did they tie it in a knot?"

"It's a sign of distress," Flynn said. "The ship must have taken damage. Based on the direction they're coming from, I'd guess they didn't weather the storm as well as we did. They're asking for help, from whomever sees them first."

Estellise lowered the telescope. "We have to help them!"

"Of course," Flynn said. "Leaving fellow sailors to founder is not an option. Sodia, tell the men to set a course for the ship."

"Are you sure, sir?" Sodia asked. "It could be a trap."

"If they were trying to lure us in with a fake flag, an imperial flag asking for help would be more compelling. Run up a white flag to signify we're approaching under peace."

"Yes, sir!" Sodia saluted again, and ran off to relay the orders. Estellise thought it was kind of funny that both Flynn and Sodia seemed to consistently forget that she wasn't technically in the navy.

Flynn left her alone to go deal with running the ship. Estellise hurried to the bow of the ship as it angled toward the distant ship, excited to watch their approach.

It took about an hour to reach the distant ship. Before reaching the ship, Flynn prepared himself in his formal uniform, complete with a powdered wig. He didn't wear it at sea very often, both because the salty air ruined it, and recently because Estellise said he looked silly in it and always tried to mess with the ribbon holding back the ponytail. When his ship, the Endurance, drew close enough to the foreign ship, Flynn was able to make out the name painted on the side of the ship in peeling paint: Brave Vesperia.

Flynn stood by the port railing, looking across to the crew of the Brave Vesperia gathered on deck. "Good day!" Flynn called. "I see you are in need of assistance?"

A man from the other ship leaned over the railing and called, "Why, if it isn't Captain Flynn! Boy, we are in luck." The man wore a grin and a rough black shirt, with long dark hair hanging loose down his back.

Flynn frowned. "Do you know me?" Flynn searched his memory, trying to find the nagging thought at the back of his head. Did he know this man? He looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it.

The man stared at him for a few seconds, and Flynn could have sworn he looked disappointed about something. This quickly snapped back to a casual grin. "Of course; who hasn't heard of the navy's shiniest captain?"

A boy next to him punched his arm. "Yuri! Be nice; they're here to help us."

Yuri seemed reluctant to be nice, but the boy glared at him and he dropped his grin. "Alright, yeah, we could use some help. We got hit pretty bad in the storm last night and we're taking on water. We've got it patched for now, but we don't have the supplies for a proper fix and I'm not sure if it will hold to the next port."

Flynn nodded. "We have the materials to spare. May we board your ship to give assistance?"

"Be our guest," Yuri said.

Flynn nodded to his sailors, who went about preparing a gangplank to cross the ship. The long board stretched over the water, while the crew of the Brave Vesperia helped secure it on their side. Estellise stepped up to Flynn just as he was about to cross.

"Lady Estellise," Flynn said, "I think you should remain-"

"I want to go too," she said.

She set her jaw and glared at Flynn, who caved easily under her determined expression. He knew she had spent her entire life cooped up in the castle, and he'd often thought it wasn't fair to her. Of course she wanted to visit the new ship, and it would probably be good for her to have some new experiences. In a low voice, he said, "Very well, but don't tell them you're a princess and stay close to me."

She grinned and bobbed her head, and then stepped onto the plank behind Flynn.

Flynn stepped down, and then turned to give Estellise his hand to help her down as well. When she was on the ship, she looked around in awe, a huge smile on her face. Flynn surveyed the ship with a bit more professionalism. On one hand, it looked a lot like the Endurance. There was a deck and sails and rigging, and a crew that looked tired and rough around the edges. On the other hand, there were subtle differences. The first thing he noticed were the women, standing alongside the male sailors like they thought nothing of it. The wood of the ship was older, too. It wasn't as polished, and in places it seemed be barely holding together.

While a handful of Flynn's crew crossed behind them, Flynn stepped forward to the man he'd spoken to previously and stuck out his hand. "Good day to you. I am Captain Flynn Scifo, although it seems you already know of me. Are you the captain of the vessel?"

The man glanced down for a second at the messy-haired boy who stood beside him, and then stuck out his hand. "I am. My name is Yuri Capel."

Yuri… Once again Flynn tried to place the man in his memory. He had definitely known a Yuri at one point in his life, but his last name hadn't been Capel. It wasn't an unheard of name, so it must just be a coincidence. "I know those in the Union don't like asking for imperial help, so we'll make this quick and be on our way."

"Yeah," Yuri said. "No offense, but I was kind of hoping it'd be another guild ship who saw our signal first."

"I understand." He'd feel awful if one of his naval ships had to ask for help from the Union, so it was easy to understand how the opposite must feel. "Where is your ship damaged?"

The boy standing next to Yuri piped up. "It's in the hold. I'll show you the way!"

Flynn looked to his men. "Follow him, and give this ship everything they need to get moving again."

One of his men saluted. "Yes, sir!" he said, and then the rest of them followed the boy, carrying supplies of wood, nails, hammers, and buckets of tar.

Yuri watched them go, and then turned his attention back to Flynn. "We'll pay you."

"That's not necessary," Flynn said with a smile. "It's our duty to help a fellow ship in need."

"Don't bother protesting," said a girl leaning against the railing. With an annoyed look on her face and her arms crossed, she said, "Yuri won't let you leave until you take his money. I think it's pretty dumb, because I'd to hold onto our money ourselves, but that's this idiot for you."

Yuri glared at her. "Hey, shut up, Rita."

Estellise leaned around Flynn to see who was talking. "Hello," she said. "Are you part of this ship's crew?"

Rita looked over at her. "So what if I am?"

"It's just, there aren't any women in the imperial navy. Are you a professional sailor?"

Rita glared at her. "What? You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all!" Estellise said with a smile. "I think it's wonderful. I think it would be great if woman in the Empire had more opportunities."

Flynn smiled at her enthusiasm. Estellise was certainly an exceptional girl. She'd used all her spare time in the castle to read every book she could get her hands on, and then against all protestations from the Council, she'd apprenticed herself to the castle physician. She may not be officially recognized as a doctor, but Flynn knew she had enough training to pass any and all exams if she was allowed to take them. Most of the Council thought it was indecent for a woman to be a doctor, but Flynn couldn't be more proud of her.

Estellise passed Flynn to stand closer to Rita. "So, have you been with the ship for very long?"

"Yeah, since the beginning," Rita said. "Why do you care?"

"I think it's so exciting," Estellise said, her eyes wide with adventure. "How far have you travelled? Have you seen much of the world?"

"I don't know, I guess," Rita said.

While Estellise hounded Rita for details about their travels, Flynn turned his attention to Yuri. "So, what brings you to these waters? Are you part of Fortune's Market?"

Yuri crossed his arms and shifted his weight. "Yeah… something like that." He glanced over his shoulder, and said, "I'm gonna go check on Karol. Rita, you hold the fort up here."

Rita pried her eyes away from Estellise long enough to say, "Yeah, ok." Yuri stalked off, and Rita looked over at Flynn. "Don't take it personally. He doesn't like the navy."

"I see," Flynn said. He got the impression that it had been more than simple dislike. When Yuri left, he'd seemed somewhat defensive, almost nervous. Flynn's military brain thought this was suspicious, and wondered just why Yuri would be so uncomfortable around a navy officer. He didn't want to jump to conclusions and think the worst of people, but in his experience, the only people who turned defensive and nervous around the navy were the people who had something to hide. He didn't like the suspicious glances the rest of the crew kept giving Flynn's men, either. Flynn hadn't become a captain by being an idiot, and now his instincts were on alert. Something wasn't right here, although he didn't get the feeling that they were in danger. In any case, he'd keep a close eye on Lady Estellise.

For her part, Estellise seemed totally oblivious to the bad vibes Flynn was getting. She was engaged in conversation with Rita, who had perked up now that the topic had shifted to cannons. Estellise bobbed her head along in confused enthusiasm as Rita told her all about the various cannons on their ship, how they compared to larger ships, and the technical specifications of gunpowder. Flynn was a bit alarmed at this young woman, who couldn't be more than seventeen, having such an intense interest in deadly weaponry, but at least she had a hobby.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

Flynn looked over as Sodia approached him. In a low voice, careful not to be overheard by the Vesperia's crew standing around, he said, "I'm not sure. I feel… uneasy."

"I know what you mean," she replied softly. "That Yuri character seemed downright antsy about associating with the navy, and I overheard that cabin boy giving orders to the crew like he was a captain."

"I don't feel that we are in any pressing danger, but I will be glad to be on our way again."

Sodia nodded, and glanced over at Estellise. "Are you sure it's wise to allow the princess on board?"

Flynn frowned. "I'm beginning to regret allowing her, but at this point, if I told her to return to the Endurance she'd likely make a fuss and I'd prefer to avoid making a scene."

"I understand, sir."

Flynn looked around the deck with apprehension. He had no solid proof that this ship was anything less than lawful, but he was on edge. Assisting fellow sailors at sea was a seaman's duty, even if they were from a rival political faction, but that duty didn't extend to pirates. Not only would he feel terrible for inadvertently assisting enemies to society, if the Admiralty found out he'd helped pirates, he would be in a lot of trouble. "Sodia," he said softly, "do me a favour and look around the ship. Look for anything suspicious, and report back to me."

Sodia gave a tight nod, said, "Yes, sir," and walked away. She was the best person for this job, since she wasn't officially part of his crew. Just in case she got into trouble snooping around, her actions weren't officially his responsibility and he knew she could hold her own. She'd knocked him down while sparing as children often enough.

"Flynn," Estellise said, turning back to him from her conversation with Rita, "I'm going to go downstairs with Rita and see the gun deck, ok?"

"You - what?" Dammit, he'd just been thinking about how important it was to keep her close by. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Estellise pouted. Ah, dammit, he hated it when she did that. "Please, Flynn? I just want to look."

Flynn frowned. "We have cannons on our ship as well. They're no different."

"Yes," Estellise said, "but whenever I went down there, everyone told me the gun deck was no place for a lady and shooed me out before I could learn about the cannons."

"Ah…" This didn't actually surprise him at all. He could always order his men to teach Estellise about cannons when they got underway again, but it wasn't as if the gunners had a lot of downtime to spare and it seemed like an abuse of power to force them to spend their free time showing Estellise around. Flynn would do it himself if he had the time to spare, or sufficient knowledge about cannons to be useful. "Well… alright, but I'm going with you."

Her face brightened. "Yay! Thank you, Flynn!"

Flynn sighed with a bemused smile, wondering if he was ever going to learn how to resist her puppy eyes. "Lieutenant Tobias," Flynn said, looking back across the water to his own ship to his second-in-command. "Please take command up here while I accompany Lady Estellise below decks."

Tobias saluted, "Yes, sir!" and then they followed Rita across the deck to the stairs down to the gun deck. Flynn went down first, because he wasn't going to let the princess walk down into the dark where there could potentially be an ambush.

The deck was dark after the bright sunlight above, but enough light filtered through the cannon ports that once his eyes adjusted he could see just fine. What he saw was that the deck was almost completely empty, save for Yuri sitting on a barrel chatting with a young woman. Yuri paused when he saw them, and looked up with a frown. "Oh. What are you guys doing here?"

"I'm showing Estellise the cannons," Rita said, striding forward. Considering Yuri was her captain, she certainly didn't show him a lot of respect.

Estellise started to follow, but she paused halfway across the room and stared at Yuri's companion with wide eyes. "Oh! Are you a Krityan?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Is it so hard to tell?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Estellise said, one hand covering her mouth. "It's just, I've never met a Krityan in person before."

"Oooh, how exciting; I feel so special. My name is Judith."

Estellise curtsied with a smile. "My name is Estellise. It's very nice to meet you."

Judith glanced Flynn's way, and he quickly averted his eyes. It was rude to be caught staring, but the truth was that he had very little experience with Krityans either. He knew all the stories, of course. It was said that Krityans were servants of the goddess, and that when you died they carried your soul to paradise on the bottom of the sea. Most people didn't think that was true of all Krityans, since many of them were obviously mortal and could be found scattered around the Great Sea living like humans, but there was certainly something mystical about their ability to switch from legs to fins at will.

Flynn stood back with his arms crossed as Rita showed Estellise around one of the cannons, pointing out all the parts and how it worked. Estellise nodded eagerly along, and even if Flynn wished Estellise would be a bit more cautious, he was glad to see her enjoying herself. He'd befriended her while living in the castle immediately after leaving the Naval Academy, and he knew her lack of freedom made for a boring life. A safe life, yes, but a boring one.

"So, Flynn," Yuri said, leaning back against the main mast in the middle of the room, "it seems I can't get rid of you. How're things in the navy?"

Flynn tore his eyes away from Estellise, wondering why this man was speaking to him so familiarly. "Fine, thank you," he replied stiffly.

"I hear you're the navy's rising star. You sure have come a long way from the lower quarter."

Flynn frowned. "How do you know I grew up in the lower quarter?"

Yuri shrugged. "Everyone's talking about you. 'Oh, Captain Flynn's so great', 'Captain Flynn's from the lower quarter but I bet he'll be admiral some day!'"

"I see." He was a bit embarrassed to hear that people were talking about him so much. He was just doing his job. Yes, he had big dreams and high aspirations, and a promise to fulfil for an old friend, but it wasn't like he went around announcing them and showing off.

Footsteps came down the stairs and Sodia appeared. She glanced warily at Yuri and said in a low voice, "Captain, I need to speak to you privately."

He nodded once. "Of course." He followed her back up the steps to the main deck, and they stood off to the side to speak in low voices. Flynn kept one ear trained on the stairs, in case Estellise called to him. "Did you find something?"

"Captain… these men are pirates," Sodia said, her fists tightly clenched.

Flynn's heart skipped a beat. Dammit. "How are you sure?"

"I found a black flag stowed further below. I don't recognize it, so I don't think they're part of the Blood Alliance, but it's a pirate flag, I'm sure of it."

"Right," Flynn said, nodding slowly. He ought to kick himself. "Don't make a commotion. We're going to finish this job quickly and quietly and then be on our way." At this point, calling off their help would only cause problems. If the crew of the Brave Vesperia knew they'd been found out, they had no reason to continue being friendly. Ordinarily Flynn wouldn't worry about a scuffle with pirates, because he knew his men were better armed and trained and they had a superior ship, but with Estellise in his custody, he didn't want to risk any confrontation. There were always casualties in a battle, and he couldn't allow her to come to any harm.

"Sir, are we actually going to continue helping them?" Sodia's face was white and her hands shook.

"We don't have any other choice right now."

"But…"

Her face was tense, and understanding clicked in Flynn's brain. It had only been three months since pirates killed Ivan; no wonder the thought of pirates was such an emotional issue for her. Flynn regretted sending her to investigate in the first place. "Perhaps you should return to the Endurance."

Sodia took a deep breath. "No, sir, I'm fine."

"You're not thinking clearly, Sodia," Flynn said. This was a delicate issue, and he couldn't afford someone emotionally compromised igniting a confrontation. "I would prefer if you-"

A shout from Estellise grabbed both their attentions. Without another word, Flynn ran for the stairs, Sodia right behind him. He barged onto the gun deck, just in time to see Estellise on the ground with Yuri leaning over her. In seconds, his panic died and understanding settled across his brain. Estellise had clearly tripped, no doubt from scurrying around the cannon with her long skirt catching on something, and Yuri was simply helping her to her feet.

Not everyone was able to think so clearly. "Get away from her!" Sodia yelled, running forward.

"Sodia, wait!" Flynn shouted, reaching out and trying to grab her. Her arm brushed past him, knife in hand. All she saw was another murderous pirate, just like the one who had killed Ivan, assaulting the princess.

Yuri had pulled Estellise to her feet, her wrist still in his hand when he turned his head in surprise. "What-"

Flynn ran forward, but he was too late. Sodia's knife plunged into Yuri's abdomen and Sodia shoved him away from Estellise.

"What are you doing?!" Estellise screamed as Sodia pulled her away from Yuri.

Sodia's whole body shook as she stared at Yuri, who stumbled into the cannon. Rita caught him before he hit the ground and slowly lowered him to the floor. She looked to Sodia with fury and shouted, "What the hell was that for?!"

With perfect timing, Karol and the sailors who'd gone to fix the hull emerged from the stairs across the room. Karol froze at the top of the stairs, and Flynn had about five seconds of complete calm to try to figure out what to do before chaos erupted. The Vesperia's crew reached for their weapons only seconds before Flynn's crew did. Karol ran forward with terror in his eyes, while Sodia slowly backed away from Yuri, who leaned against Rita's support taking shallow breaths.

"I…" Sodia said, holding up her hands in shock, "I… I didn't… I thought…"

Flynn drew his sword, wishing he hadn't left his pistol in his cabin. The crew of the Vesperia certainly hadn't forgotten their pistols, so he wasn't sure what good his sword would be. "Everybody hold your fire!" Flynn bellowed, hoping to at least reach his crew. The last thing he needed was for a fight to break out, especially with Estellise right here.

Karol paused long enough to look back at his crew and said, "Y-yeah! Hold your fire, guys!"

He certainly gave a lot of orders for a cabin boy.

Karol looked from Yuri to Sodia to Flynn, his eyes wide with panic. "What happened?"

"Isn't it obvious?" someone from his crew called. "These imperial bastards snuck onto our ship to assassinate the supposed captain!"

"No!" Flynn insisted. Now that the immediate danger was over, he sheathed his sword and held out his hands. "I assure you, this was not our plan." His sailors had come around to stand behind him, while the Vesperia's crew huddled around the injured Yuri.

"I'm sorry!" Sodia said, more to Flynn than Yuri. "I'm so sorry, sir. I panicked. They're pirates!"

"Pirates?" the word spread through Flynn's crew. Flynn sighed softly; the last thing he needed was for the rest of his men to start attacking.

"Everybody, shut up!" Karol yelled. "Yuri is really hurt! Someone help him!"

"I can help!" Estellise said, running forward. "Can someone please fetch my medicine chest from our ship?"

Flynn mentally swore. He should have known this would happen. It could be worse, though. If they could save Yuri's life, perhaps it would make up for nearly killing him in the first place. At the very least, helping him might convince them not to attack. "Sodia," Flynn said, turning to her, "please return to the Endurance and instruct Lieutenant Tobias to return with Lady Estellise's medicine chest. I would like you to remain on the Endurance for the time being."

Sodia nodded, her face white. She hadn't stopped shaking. "Y-yes, sir," she said before turning and rushing away.

To the rest of his men, he said, "Everybody else, don't move. We're not going to fight and we're not going to raise a commotion." He looked over to the Vesperia's crew and said, "Lady Estellise is going to heal this man, and then we're going to get off this ship and be on our way. We won't be taking any money from you."

"No," Yuri groaned.

"We will not do business with pirates. If we accept your money we will have to report where it came from. I hope you can understand." To be honest, he was just surprised the pirates hadn't simply attacked and taken the supplies they needed by force. It felt bizarre to have to refuse to take money from pirates.

Yuri didn't seem happy with this. "Dammit, I said take our money. We don't want your ch-charity."

"Shut up, stupid," Rita snapped, her voice tense. "You're dying."

"Lie him down," Estellise said. "But be very careful not to move the knife."

Judith and Rita gently eased Yuri to the floor, Yuri obviously trying very hard to suppress a groan. The front of his shirt was stained with blood, but the knife in the wound kept it stoppered for now. Flynn watched nervously, knowing very well that if Yuri died, he probably wouldn't be able to prevent a fight. Half of him wanted to grab Estellise and evacuate the ship right now, but he knew he'd never be able to convince her to leave. Besides, now that she'd offered to save Yuri, he doubted the Vesperia's crew would let her leave, either. What if she failed? Estellise had a lot of training but little practical experience. If Yuri died under her care… would these pirates hold it against her? The continued stability of this situation was as fragile as Yuri's grip on life.

Lieutenant Tobias ran down the steps. "Sir! Sodia has informed me of the situation."

"Good," Flynn said, taking the wooden box from him. "Everyone remain calm, and we'll get through this." He slowly approached Estellise, making sure the pirates didn't think he was going to try anything. He knelt on the ground next to her and handed her the chest. "Do you need help?"

Estellise nodded. "Yes, I'll need a few extra hands."

"You can save him, right?" Karol asked, crouching by Yuri with tears in his eyes. "He's going to be ok?"

"I…" Estellise faltered, and Flynn tried not to notice how her hands shook as she reached for her medicine chest. "I'm going to do my best. Um… I've never actually done this on my own before. But - but I know I can do it!"

"R-relax, Captain," Yuri said through clenched teeth. "I'll be f-f-fine."

"Please be quiet," Estellise said. "You need to remain still and keep the knife from moving around." She pulled a small pair of scissors out of her box and carefully cut through Yuri's shirt around the knife. Flynn could tell from her knitted eyebrows and the way she lightly bit her lip that she was concentrating deeply, and probably putting a lot of effort into keeping her hands still.

Once she had cut a large hole in his shirt and pulled it away to reveal the wound, Yuri grumbled, "Damn… that was m-my… best shirt."

"Shut up, Yuri," Rita said. "I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't stop talking."

Pirates were certainly an odd bunch. Flynn couldn't imagine ever speaking that way to his captain.

Estellise gave Rita a small, thankful smile, and then looked around. "I need a rag or a cloth or something like that. Something to stop the bleeding, preferably clean."

Flynn looked around at the assembled crew, wearing ragged shirts that probably hadn't been washed in weeks. He had little hope that any of the fabric on this ship was anywhere close to clean. Without another thought he slipped his jacket off. "Use this."

Estellise nodded tightly. "If you're alright with ruining it."

He'd rather not, but there wasn't much choice. He hardly valued his jacket's life above another person's, even if that person was a pirate. "It's fine."

"Ok, I'm going to need help," Estellise said. "Rita, when I say go, you need to pull the knife out. Be very careful and pull it out at the exact same angle as it went in. Flynn, as soon as it's out, use your jacket and put as much pressure as you can on the wound to stop the bleeding. I mean, a lot of pressure - don't be afraid to put your whole weight behind it. Got it?"

Flynn nodded once. "Yes, I can do that."

"Ok," Estellise said. She took another deep breath and said softly, "Ok, I can do this… Rita, pull the knife out now."

Rita grabbed the knife and Flynn moved in seconds later. As it slid out, Yuri gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists until his knuckles were white. Flynn pushed his jacket against Yuri's stomach. He leaned forward and pressed down as hard as he could, trying to ignore the chill that ran down his spine as hot liquid soaked through the stiff blue fabric.

"Argh!" Yuri shouted. "Stop pushing on that!"

"Don't stop, Flynn," Estellise said quickly. "You need to stop the blood."

Flynn did as told, trying not to look at Yuri's face. He recalled the pain of bumping a cut on his calf against a table leg, and tried to imagine that magnified by a thousand. He didn't like to think he was the cause of that, but if he didn't keep pushing, Yuri would bleed to death. His jacket was soaked through by now, staining his hands. It seeped up under his palms, warm and sticky.

"That should be good," Estellise said. "Flynn move the jacket but as soon as your hands are free, place them on either side of the wound and keep applying pressure while I put in the sutures. Ok?"

"Alright."

She held up a needle she'd threaded while waiting. "Ok," Estellise said breathlessly, "move your hands now!" He pulled his jacket back and planted his hands on either side of the wound. Estellise leaned forward and used one of her discarded white silk gloves to mop up the blood smeared across Yuri's stomach to reveal the wound. It wasn't very wide, but Flynn could only imagine it was deep. Estellise bit her lip and began the sutures.

Yuri clamped down on his lip to hold in a shout. "Ugh…" he finally managed to get out. "Shouldn't I be d-drunk for this?"

"Sorry," Judith said, sitting by his side and squeezing his hand. "With your alcohol tolerance, you'd bleed to death before we even got you tipsy."

"Is there anything I can do?" Flynn asked.

"Just keep your hands there," Estelle snapped, barely paying him any attention. Her entire focus was on the wound, and she moved as quickly as she could. She didn't seem to care that blood spattered on her white dress, and powered through Yuri's muffled grunts and suppressed moans. Flynn watched her with awe. He'd never actually seen her perform surgery like this before; it was hard to believe she was the same flighty girl who couldn't stand to see anyone in pain. She really was a professional, and it was a crime that no medical boards in the empire would allow her to take the test.

The only noise throughout the gun deck was the distant swell of the ocean and Yuri's pained groans. Both crews watched tensely, every single sailor aware that their current peace was conditional entirely on whether Yuri continued to live. Yuri screwed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth while digging his fingernails into the wooden deck. Flynn felt an ache in his gut just imagining the pain he must be going through.

Estellise tied off one final knot, and then leaned back. "I'm done," she announced, sounding almost as surprised as she was accomplished.

Yuri breathed a sigh of relief, and both crews visibly relaxed.

Karol pried his eyes from Yuri's face and asked, "Is he going to be ok?"

"Um… I think so," Estellise said. "I hope so."

"What do you mean, you 'hope so'?" Rita asked.

"Well, there's still the chance of infection," Estellise said. She pulled a dirty rag out of her chest and wiped down her hands, and then passed it to Flynn to do the same. "I won't know if the wound got infected for a few days, and the stitches need to be removed in about two weeks." She pulled a roll of bandages out of the chest and started unravelling them. "But if everything goes right, he should be fine."

"See?" Yuri breathed, cracking his eyes open. "Told you I'd be fine."

Flynn put the rag down, giving up on getting the rest of the stain off his palms. "I can't apologize enough for what happened. This is no excuse, but I hope you understand that Sodia's fiancé was killed by pirates only three months ago. She… overreacted."

"Pull his shirt up," Estellise said. "I need to wrap these bandages around his wound."

Judith and Rita gently propped Yuri up while Karol pulled his shirt up to fully reveal his stomach. Estellise carefully placed folded cloth over the stitches and then wound long white strips around his torso until the wound was fully covered.

"That's all for now," Estellise said, her hands still firmly pressing down on the wound. Yuri's grimace said he didn't appreciate this.

"Good," Flynn said, standing up. "Now I think everyone would be happy if we were to return to our ship, now."

He started to walk away, but then Estellise said, "Wait."

Flynn froze and closed his eyes with a sinking feeling. He had a good idea of where this was likely going, and he didn't like it.

"I… I should stay," Estellise said.

Flynn turned around. "Lady Estellise, you must know that this isn't an option."

"But as I said, he's not totally healed yet. The dressings need to be changed every couple of hours - every twenty minutes even at first! There's still the risk of infection or internal bleeding, and someone needs to take the stitches out in a couple of weeks, administer pain medication, and make sure he's eating right."

Flynn sighed. "I understand, Estellise, but we cannot stay here for two weeks. I'm sure Mr. Capel's crew doesn't want us sticking around for that long."

There was a mumbled agreement from the gathered crew.

"Well… maybe not all of us," Estellise said. "But, maybe I could stay? You and the Endurance can move on to Heliord and inform Admiral Alexei of my delay, and I'll stay behind to take care of this man until he's fully healed."

"That is not an option," Flynn said. "I can not leave you alone with pirates!" He glanced at the crew and added, "No offense."

Judith shrugged. "Fair enough."

Estellise's lips turned down in that defiant little frown she did. No, absolutely not, he wouldn't cave to her pleading this time. "I have to stay, Flynn. It's my fault he got hurt. If I hadn't come down here, if I had stayed on the ship like you asked, this never would have happened! If he dies, it's my fault. I have to fix this!"

Flynn felt like pointing out that if the problem had been caused by her disobeying his orders about staying on the Endurance, perhaps the best way to fix it would not be by disobeying his orders about staying on the Endurance. He already knew she wouldn't go along with that, though. He always got the feeling that whenever she listened to his advice, it was more because it already went along with what she was planning on doing, rather than actually listening to him. He tried another angle. "I'm sure Mr. Capel doesn't want the navy hanging around, either. Isn't that right, Captain Capel?"

"I don't mind," Karol said. "If Yuri is in trouble, then please, stay!"

"Uh, I was speaking to Mr. Capel, but thank you for your input," Flynn said.

"What do you think, Yuri?" Judith asked. "You're the one who needs the doctor."

Yuri didn't answer. "Yuri?" Karol said, looking down at his still face. "Yuri!"

Estellise gasped and reached a hand out to check his pulse at his neck. After a tense few seconds, her shoulders relaxed and she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's alright, he's asleep. He's just passed out from the pain and stress."

"Who is the second in command here?" Flynn asked, looking around. Surely whoever it was would agree with him.

Karol raised his hand slowly. "Uh, actually, I'm the captain."

Flynn frowned. "Pardon?"

"I'm Captain Karol Capel," he said, standing up.

Flynn's frown deepened. "But… I was told this man was the captain."

Karol nodded. "Yuri says he's the captain when we're dealing with other ships, because… well… I'm fourteen. But I'm the captain."

Flynn looked around, waiting for any of the crew to disagree and tell the kid to stop messing around. All them were nodding in agreement, though. Flynn looked to the boy with shock. "Well then."

"And, as the captain," Karol said, "if Estellise is willing to stay and take care of Yuri until he's better, than I'd like to invite her."

"See, Flynn?" Estellise said, looking up at him. "They need me."

"It's too dangerous," he said.

"You could stay, too," Judith said, and then glanced to Karol. "As long as Karol's alright with it."

Karol nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Well, not all of you. I really don't think Yuri would like it if a whole bunch of navy sailors stayed on our ship. But you and Estellise can stay."

"I'm staying, Flynn," Estellise said. "I've decided. I cannot in good conscience walk away while my patient is still in need of care. You can either stay with me, or go back to the Endurance without me."

Flynn stared at her, hoping to find a hint of wiggle-room in her eyes. He should have known better than to hope. What choice did he have? The idea of picking Estellise up and dragging her kicking and screaming back to the Endurance played through his mind, but he quickly rejected it. He was not the kind of man who would force a dear friend of his to go somewhere against her will. Leaving without her was similarly not an option. He could hardly imagine sailing into Heliord and confronting the admiral only to tell him he'd left the princess behind with some pirates. He sighed heavily, "I suppose I have no other choice." He turned to Tobias and said, "Have someone bring Lady Estellise's and my own belongings on board. The pair of us will be departing from the Endurance."

Shocked murmurs ran through his crew. "But… sir," Tobias said, "what about our mission?"

"In my absence," Flynn said, "you will take command of the Endurance. I will write a letter for you to deliver to Admiral Alexei in Heliord explaining the situation. Once this man is fully healed, we will disembark at the nearest port and I will secure passage to Heliord to meet with the admiral as planned."

Tobias frowned. "He's not going to like this, sir."

"No, I doubt he will," Flynn said, already preparing himself for the reprimand that surely awaited him. "But it is what it is." He looked over at Estellise and said, "Well, Estellise, it looks like for the time being you and I will be joining the Brave Vesperia."