Captain Jansen and the Phoenix

Chapter 6 and A/N

Hey, guys!  I realized a while back that 'Whoever Brings the Night' really fits this story.  Which is weird, because I didn't listen to it while I was writing CJatP at all.  At least not much.  The song didn't inspire the fic.  Whatever.  I feel like the speaker in WBtN could be one or two of the characters in the story (I'm not telling you which ones, I think you'll figure it out).  So anyway, try listening to it while reading this.

Floor woke up the next morning to find that she was lying beside Sharon's berth. Someone had draped a blanket over her. She sat up, blinking in the early morning light coming in through the windows. Sharon was still unconscious. Floor softly kissed her, then left the room. She went to her cabin to dress. As she tied her bandanna, someone knocked on her door. She flung it open.

"Captain, we have spotted the pirate ship!" Marco said. He and Floor hurried onto the deck. The Night Temptation was drawing close to the pirate ship, which was trying to outrun it but failing.

"Fire the cannons!" Floor yelled. A volley of cannonballs struck the sides of the pirate ship, making huge holes in the wood. The pirates fired back, but they were caught unprepared, and soon, the deck of their ship was swarming with sailors from both the Night Temptation and the Phoenix. The pirates fought hard, but they were no match for Floor and Tarja's crews, and before long, several lay dead and many others were wounded. "Surrender!" Floor yelled to the pirate captain.

"Never! We will go down with this ship!" he yelled back. Floor grabbed Sharon's pistol from the holster on her hip and fired at him. But just then, the ship lurched, and she missed.

"Blast it!" she muttered. She saw Jukka swing over to the other ship, slashing a pirate across the neck with his cutlass as he did so. She kept firing, taking down several more pirates, and then, all of a sudden, she heard a scream. It was a girl's voice, young and full of terror. Floor looked up, and saw Merel on the other ship, a big pirate holding his sword to her neck.

"Surrender your captain, or she dies!" the pirate yelled to the crew of the Night Temptation. Floor immediately handed her pistol and sword to Marco, then swung over to the other ship on a rope.

"No, Captain!" Charlotte screamed. Floor turned and gave her "the look," and she was silent. Two pirates grabbed Floor's arms and hauled her down to the brig. They threw her in a cell, then locked the door and went back up to the deck. There were no windows in the brig, so Floor could see nothing. Her hand bumped something, and she jumped, startled, then realized the thing was someone's leg.

"Hello?" she said. "Who is this?" The person moved.

"Floor?" a voice whispered. Floor recoiled in disgust. It was Tarja.

"Why do I have to get stuck in a cell with you?" she muttered.

"What are you doing here?" Tarja asked.

"What do you think? I've been captured, stupid!" Floor was absolutely furious. She was stuck in a cell with her worst enemy, unable to kill her like she'd wanted to.

"How did they manage to capture you? Is my ship alright? I heard fighting," Tarja said.

"I surrendered, so they wouldn't hurt Merel," Floor answered. "Not something you'd understand."

"Actually, I do," Tarja said. "I would have done the same thing for a member of my crew."

"Who else is here?" Floor asked.

"Just Ruud," Tarja answered. "There was another guy, too, but they took him a couple of days ago. I haven't seen him since." Floor's heart sank. She didn't like the sound of that.

"Captain Jansen?" Ruud's voice called.

"Ruud! Are you alright?" Floor asked.

"Yeah, fine, just tired of sitting in this cell," he answered. "What happened?"