The Captain's daughter / jugodechina

1. The Captain of the Golden Pearl

It's dawn, the first warmth of the day accompanied by sea breeze that contained bits and pieces of pure sea salt.
The creaking of the ship as the waves collided with it was like white noise to me. Simply normal. As my pocket watch, gifted to me by my father when I turned 15, hit 8am, the crew began their cue to bring up the sails.
A heavy breeze grazed my cheeks the instant they were up, but in that same instant, the ship picked up the same pace as the breeze.
"Mornin' Sadie. How's the sun treatin' ye'?" My father placed his hand on my shoulder, he looked at me, squinting his eyes.
"Pretty good, not much different from other days but I will say, the sea tastes extra salty today" I chuckled and so did my dad. "In due course, aye, you'll marry a lord who'll take my cursed second name off of ye' and then, you'll be freed from sea." I rolled my eyes at my father's words. I didn't want to marry some land lubber lord. I wanted to be free as the sea. To be allowed to go both to sea and land whenever. But of course, it was impossible. In fact, the last pair of shoes I owned were from when I was only one digit old. That's how long it's been since touching land. I'm currently 19, close to the age my father wanted to introduce me to some Spanish lords he knows of.
"No, father I will stay by your side as long as I can. I don't want to be a land lubber, I want to be a sailor like you. I've got good sea legs!" I stood proudly, my legs at least 2 feet away from each other and my hands cinched at my waist. My father smiled as he tilted his head. "I only want what's best for ye'." He walked away to the quarterdeck. Although my father was a rather feared and recognized pirate, he was gentle and soft with me, his gainings were also mine. And not to mention, his constant reminders of how much I remind him of my mother, Carmen de Estradas. My father says she was a court lady who fell in love with him while he tried to make dealings with the queen of England. My mother was stripped of all her titles when the court found out, but she gained her favorite title, supposedly: The Captain's Wife.
I made myself way to the forecastle deck, staring at the horizon. Many people think the infinity of the sea is scary but to me, to me it's the only home I know.
I put both elbows on the taffrail, bringing each hand to both of my cheeks. "Aye, Sadie! Good mornin'! Lovely day today aye?" I look back and it was Fer. One of the loyal crew members. "Hi, Fer! Yes, it's a lovely day indeed." I paused, looked around and lowered my voice. "Did you bring what I asked for?" I looked at the slightly tilted man. "Aye, of course, here. I stole it from yesterday's stop at the Spanish harbor." He winked as he handed you a monocular with beautiful gold details, definitely Spanish design. "Oh it's beautiful, Fer!" I looked at him with a joyful smile. "Thank you so much! Just don't tell the Captain. Last time I asked for one he said no for some reason." I bit my bottom lip and grazed my fingertips across all the imbedded details, unlocking it's collapsing feature. Quickly, I looked around and I could see so far. Even the dolphins that often swam close to the ship I could see. I wasted an extended amount of time looking through the monocular, it was just a bit more fun when my father doesn't allow me to have one. The more I looked, the more i began seeing a certain silhouette I had seen before too many times. I looked in and out of the monocular. I'm certain, it was another ship. "Guys..! I think a ship is coming!"
"Any flag? Spanish? English? Scottish?" Screamed a crew member from the quarterdeck. "Can't say, it's not up, yet they're getting closer!"
The Captain walked to the middle of the deck, "Clear the deck, prepare ye selves!" The entire crew began taking a station, an unsure one that is. They didn't know who's ship was on their way. "Sadie, hide and make sure nobody sees you." My father stood in front of me. "But— I can hel—" he put both his hands on my shoulders and gave me a good shook. "It's for ye own good my daughter. Please, hide and stay safe." He went straight to the quarterdeck, steering the ship. I had no choice but to hide, like always. However, this time i chose to hide a bit less, safely. I wanted to see an interaction not from the window of the captain's quarters but from up close. Where it doesn't sound muffled. I hid behind some barrels of gunpowder right next to the my father's quarters just in case i need to make a run for it. I sat down and looked thorough the crevices between the barrels.
"It's a Pirate Ship!" Fer screamed loudly. I silently gasped. In my case, i would much prefer a ship from a country than a pirate. If the wrong pirate grasped my identity I don't know what would be of me.
Quickly, hooks began landing at our ship. No cannon balls nor gun powder however. My crew was too late to prepare for a pirate attack. They were smart, waited for the last second to raise their flags, giving us a short amount of time to prepare for the worst. A wooden plank was dropped between both ships, like a bridge. The crew circled our end of the plank. My father remained in his station and I, was too late to move to my father's quarters.
Pirate boots began walking the plank to our side. I could here the jingle of the buckles. I couldn't see very well though, because of the angle, but I was too scared to peek.
"Relaxxx..., calm down, I'm not your enemy!" A smirky voice boomed throughout the deck. "I'm only interested in talking to the Captain. Who I believe is... that one!" He pointed towards my father. "Now hold on, hold on! Sink me in the middle of the sea aren't you the one and only, Captain Cruxx? The man said with a honeyed voice.
"State your business here, i have no time to waste on newly breed pirates." My father looked down upon the man with a scary look on his face.
The man raised his hands in the air, as a mock. "Pardon me, I only come to make a few trades, dealings, how ever you would like to call it." Again, that fake nice voice came from the man's mouth. I was so curious, I wanted to see who this pirate was. They sounded quite young to be making dealings with a powerful pirate like my father. Just a little peek is all i wanted. I tried raising myself so I could peek from the top of the barrels but to my bad luck, i lost my balance. A loud thud was heard, strands of my curly salt hair and fingertips were seen from the other side of the barrels i was hiding behind of. I closed my eyes shut, looking down. I don't know why I did that, my mistake had been done and closing my eyes was not going to make it disappear. Suddenly, the noise of the boot buckles began to get closer and closer to me. I gulped.
The man quickly grabbed my arm with a firm grasp and abruptly pulled me to him. There I was, seen by some damned pirate and their crew. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the man my curiosity wanted so badly to see.
"Well what do we have here...? Captain Cruxx, the pirate who lost both his wife and his daughter in a petty revenge plan against him, has a girl on his ship!" I looked wide eyed at the man's blue eyes, switching my view to him, my wrist and my father.
"This is interesting. In fact! Any dealings or trades are closed. I have a final proposal." He grinned. "I, the Captain of the Golden Pearl, will take this lovely lady with me or this ship sinks with it's captain, crew and lady." He looked at my eyes. My father was in disbelief, puzzled. "What kind of power do *you* have to threaten me and my crew?" My father began grabbing his sword. "It seems you've forgotten that you had little to no time to prepare for an ambush. All thanks to my orders of keeping my flags down." He took his free hand to his chest. My father frowned tightening his bite. He looked at me scared yet serious. I could tell he was telling me he was afraid of my fate. I shook my head saying no, I couldn't let him let the ship sink. My father noticed my opinion and for the first time, he took my advice.
"Alright. You can take the girl." The man pulled me closer to him. "But— with one condition. Do *not* hurt her." My cheeks felt hot from the inside, the hotness turned to a tingle that was making me tear up. The pirate opened his eyes wide, annoyed even. "I'm quite offended actually. You see, I'm a pirate. But i would never taint a beautiful treasure like her" he graced his hand along my jaw to my chin. Again, my cheeks turned red and i remained stunned.
My father walked down to the deck where the pirate was, his slow, defeated pace was something I hadn't seen. The pirate, grinning, shook hands with my father. At this moment, i ran to my father, i gave him the tightest hug I could. "Oh me daughter... please stay safe. You know how to be a pirate, and remember, always deny ur bloodline to the world but never, in your heart."  My father teared and so did I. "I'll be okay father, I promise."
The pirate cleared his throat. "This is a bit overly emotional. You'll see each other again soon. I'll let someone let you know of the location and days from today." He grabbed me by my wrist once again, this time with a softer grip. As we got close to cross the wooden plank, the pirate lifted me and carried me to his ship. His scent, it was a bit alcoholic yet i could smell fresh linens and flowers. I grabbed his shirt for extra security. Once on his side of the ship, he put me down. I was still quite shocked at what happened, so i looked at him with a dead stare. "Oh my, I'm so inconsiderate. I'm Captain Kenai, welcome to your new crew, Sadie." He grabbed my wrist once again and pulled me to the bottom of the ship. At first, I thought he would take me to a sleeping quarter. However, he took me to his ship's brig. I scoffed. "You can't just leave me here." He looked at me quietly as he closed the door to my cell. "I need some time to think if I should trust you." He winked and just like that, he left. The cell was dirty, i hated that I could feel every granule of dirt and crust because of my bare feet. Luckily, there was a fresh linen cloth and a busted wooden table and chair. I sat down and wrapped myself on the linens. After what had just happened, I was still shocked so I laid my head down and dozed away...