Red haired beauty

Pt 1

It was the dead of night when the pirates invaded the ship I was currently working on as a cook. It was a fancy ship for a very rich family and their friends to party on and sail the ocean. Since my older brother and his crew took off and left me in Foosha village, I have been jumping from job to job, ship to ship. Which is how I ended up in the current predicament.

The pirates managed to kill the captain, the first mate and half of the crew before tying up the rest of the crew. They then dragged us all onto the deck before robbing the guests of their prize possessions.  I watched in horror as they killed any man that refused to join their crew and then they defiled the women right there on the deck before also killing them. When a few of them approached me and pulled me by the shirt towards them. I heard the captain shout “Not the redhead, she's mine!”

The man in front of me scuffed and shoved me back against the railing of the ship before moving on to the lady beside me. I took that opportunity to throw myself over the railing and into the sea.

While underwater I managed to get my tied hands in front of me and used my legs to push myself as far from the ship as I could. When I surfaced I could hear the captain shouting for them to retrieve me. Luckily it was dark as the sky was cloudy so they couldn't see me in the water. I used my teeth to untie my hand and then swam to shore. 

I made my way on to the beach but there was no time to relax and catch my breath. The pirates had figured out where I was headed and were now rowing their way towards the shore on the ship's jolly boat.  I made a beeline for the woods and hid behind a large tree. 

“Bring her back alive!!” I heard the Captain shout from the shore.

I scanned my surroundings for anything I could use as a weapon and grabbed a big rock.  When the first pirate rounded the tree he lunged for me and I struck him with the rock.  We both fell to the ground and I wiggled my way out from under his unconscious body.

I grabbed his sword from the ground as I took off into the woods. Luckily the clouds had moved and the moonlight was bright enough that I could see where I was going but it also meant the pirates chasing me could also see me. The second one to catch up to me grabbed me by the back of my shirt causing it to rip clean off as I ran from him, the other two were right there and I had to fight them off. Good thing my brother had taught me how to use a sword. I kicked the first guy to the ground and smashed the handle of the sword into the skull of the other guy knocking him out before running off.

As I rounded another tree I felt a sharp pain come from my left side. I look down to see a dagger sticking out of my flesh.

“Damn bastard threw a dagger at me!” I shouted in my head. I took a few seconds to physic myself up before I reached down and slowly pulled the dagger out, biting my lip to prevent myself from screaming out. I dropped it to the ground just as a twig snapped next to me. I took off running again; not knowing that a steep embankment was directly in front of me. 

I let out a scream as I tumbled down the embankment and came to a stop on what felt like boots.  “Shit.” I thought to myself thinking that I landed on one of my Pursuers.

“Roja?” Said the very familiar voice from above me.

I opened my eyes to see a very familiar pirate lord above me. “Mihawk?”

He was about to help me up when we heard shouting coming from the top of the embankment.

“Help me.” I whispered

He pulled me towards his fire and threw his jacket over me before tucking my hair into his hat and covering my face with it.

“Pretend to be asleep,” he whispered.

I peeked out from under the hat to see him sit down on a log beside me just as footsteps approached us.

“Hey you! You see a red haired girl come through here?” Shouted one of the pirates

“Red haired girl? No!” Mihawk answered

“You sure?” another one said

“I'm Certain.” he answered

“What about that fella next to you, did he see her?”

“I'm afraid my friend there has been passed out for hours, you may wake him if you want but I don't suggest it.” Mihawk said so nonchalantly.

I heard feet approaching me but one of the pirates said “Forget it.”

“The real question is, why were the three of you chasing a half clothed woman through the forest in the middle of the night?” Mihawk said

“We ahh.”

“Wait, we never told you she was topless.”

“You didn't, did you?” he replied.

I heard the sound of three bodies hitting the ground and then Mihawk was uncovering my face. I smiled up at him as he held out a hand to me.  I winced as I let him pull me to my feet, and clasped my free hand over the wound on my side.

“You okay Roja?” he said as he adjusted his jacket over my shoulders.

I nodded yes but when I took my first step I lost my balance and fell forward. Mihawk caught me and sat me down on the log. He moved his jacket to the side and then gently pulled my hand away from my side.

“Shit Scarlet.” I heard him swear under his breath

He scooped me up and began quickly walking away from the fire. I was beginning to feel light headed and a bit dizzy.

“Where? Where are…” I managed to say

“You've lost a lot of blood, I'm taking you to the town nearby” he answered.

I must have lost consciousness because the next thing I knew I was awakened but a searing pain in my side. I hissed in pain and opened my eyes to see Hawk-eye cleaning my wound with a cloth.

“Sorry love, I need to disinfect the wound first.” he said before dipping the cloth into a basin next to the bed. 

“I'm going to have to stitch you up.” He said before standing and walking out of the room.

He returned with a small kit in one hand and a piece of leather in the other. He held the leather up to my mouth and said "Open.”

I opened my mouth and he placed the leather piece in. “Bite down on this.”

I did as he asked and bit down on the leather strip.  He took a needle and some thread from the kit and looked at me apologetically before beginning to stitch me up. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath as the needle pierced my skin over and over. 

He paused for a second and I slowly opened my eyes to look at him.

“Scarlet you need to breathe.” he said

I nodded and he continued to stitch me up. 
Once he was done he gently bandaged the wound and dug a shirt out of someplace and tossed it to me. “I'll get you some proper clothes in the morning, in the meantime you need to rest.” he said before walking towards the door.

“Wait.” I said

He turned back towards me and I totally froze up. I just sat there staring at him with a blush on my face. I've had feelings for Hawk-eye since the first time I met him, the first day he fought my brother; and I knew that they were unrequited.  In all the times I’ve flirted with him I knew he would only flirt back to piss off My overprotective brother. But I still had to try.

“Well, what is it?” he asked.

“I…You….ummm… Will you stay with me?” 

He sighed and crossed the room, he leaned down and kissed the top of my head before saying “I'll be right next door, get some sleep Scarlet.”

He stood up and made his way to the door again.

“Hawk-eye?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for saving me.”

He nodded to me as he closed the door behind him.