Captain Jansen and the Phoenix

Chapter 9

Last chapter, guys!  Thank you sooooooooooo much for reading this and voting it up, commenting on it and all.  It's been amazing!  And a big shout out to naomins and lightbluepinkgreen for being so sweet and supportive.  And thank you to naomins for the cover.  Kisses!  I love you.

-Raven Z. Stone

Floor woke up early the next morning to shouts coming from the deck. She started to get out of bed, then realized that she was topless, and that Sharon was still sleeping. She shook the other captain awake.

"Sharon, something's going on up on deck. I'm going up there. You stay here,okay?" she said.

"No, I'm coming with you," Sharon answered. "I'm captain of this ship, too."

"But you're hurt. I don't want you making your injuries worse. Just stay down here and rest," Floor said gently, then grabbed a shirt and yanked it on. She buckled her belt on over it, pulled on her boots, and then hurried out of the room and up onto the deck. The pirate ship had drawn up next to them, but instead of pirates, Ruud and Tarja stood on the upper deck. At the sight of the Phoenix's captain, Floor felt a surge of anger. She strode to the railing.

"Floor! It's alright. This ship is ours," Tarja called. Floor didn't know what to say. Tarja continued, "There's treasure aboard! Lots of it. Enough for both of us."

"I need to speak with you, Captain Turunen," Floor called. In answer, Tarja grabbed a rope, tied it to the ratlines, and swung herself across. She landed gracefully right in front of Floor.

"I believe you owe me a duel," Tarja said. At that, Floor completely lost it.

"You owe me an explanation first!" she yelled. "Why did you knock me out and then leave me in the cell?"

"I left you something to help you escape," Tarja said, a little reproachfully. "It was all part of my plan. I didn't want to hurt you, believe me. You jumping over the side of the ship was not part of the plan. I intended to distract the pirates and make them trust me, then Ruud and I easily overcame them. There weren't many, and most of them were worn-out and nursing wounds, anyway."

"But why knock me out? I could have helped you," Floor said.

"Simple. I had to make it convincing. And you would have made it too hard to carry out my plan. One person sneaking around was hard enough to hide, but two would have been impossible. Besides, you would never have agreed to work with me."

"You could have just told me what you were going to do, before you decided to hit me in the face."

"You wouldn't have believed me," Tarja answered. "You never do. And I will admit, you have good reason not to. Now, you owe me a duel." She drew her sword. Floor did the same. "First one who draws blood wins, right?"

"Right," Floor said. They circled each other for a moment, and then Tarja slashed at Floor. Floor blocked, and stabbed at the other woman. Tarja parried. This kind of thing went on for a while, neither woman able to get a hit on the other. They were too evenly matched. Floor had the height and length advantage, meaning she was able to lunge and reach farther, but Tarja was faster and more light on her feet. Back and forth across the deck they went, all eyes watching their movements. Floor almost hit Tarja in the chest, but Tarja sidestepped and slashed at her. Then Tarja almost got Floor in the hand, but Floor swatted her blade aside just in time. On and on they fought, first one, then the other seeming to gain the upper hand. Then Floor stumbled slightly. Tarja locked blades with her and gave a tiny thrust with her weapon, just enough to nick the back of Floor's hand, leaving a small cut from which the blood quickly started to flow. Tarja whacked Floor's rapier out of her hand. She tripped Floor and knocked her to the deck, the tip of her sword at Floor's throat.

"I win," she said, smiling a little. Floor held up her hands, the right one still bleeding, in a gesture of surrender.

"I give up," she answered. "You beat me, fair and square."

"And you owe me," Tarja said, eyes gleaming. Floor's heart sank. She had made a promise that would hurt Sharon if she kept it. Still, she nodded.

"You're right. I made a promise, and I will stick to it." Then Tarja moved the sword away from her neck, bent down, and helped Floor to her feet.

"Except I'm not going to make you," she said, handing Floor's sword to her. "You don't deserve it, and neither does Sharon."

"Tarja, I took an oath," Floor began, but Tarja said,

"And if the person whom you made the oath to doesn't want you to fulfill it, then you shouldn't. That's how our code works." She pushed the rapier into Floor's hands. Floor took it, dazed and bewildered. What was going on? Was she dreaming, or had Tarja just said she didn't have to stick to the promise she'd made?

"Did you just...?" she asked, but couldn't finish. Tarja nodded.

"I told you, I'm sorry for tricking you. And for all the trouble I caused." She stopped, staring at something behind Floor. Floor turned, and saw Sharon standing at one side of the deck. The other captain came over to them and put a hand on Floor's shoulder. Tarja stared in shock at her. "But...how? You...you fell...I saw you."

"I took an oath," Sharon said. She held up her left hand, the back of it turned toward Tarja so that Tarja could see the ring on the third finger. "And I haven't fulfilled it yet. I couldn't die."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright," Tarja said, and there was no masking the love in her voice or her eyes.

"And I am glad you are as well," Sharon replied. Then she turned to Floor. "I think she needs to pay us back, for all the trouble she's caused." Floor nodded.

"I agree. Tarja, you owe us 30,000, and a year's worth of service."

"What kind of service?" Tarja asked.

"You will sail with us for a year," Sharon said. "After that, you may go back to your ship." Tarja looked first at Sharon, then at Floor, then back at Sharon again.

"Alright," she said. She suddenly seemed much more humble, like she had finally learned the error of her ways and wanted to make up for them. She drew her sword and handed it to Floor. "I pledge myself to you, for a year's worth of service."

The next few days were spent getting both the Night Temptation and the Phoenix back in order. Both crews were missing some people, but almost everyone was back to where they had been before. Except for Tarja. She was now working on board the Night Temptation. Floor was starting to learn to trust her, though they had a long way to go. Sharon was trying to help them both see a different side of each other. Tarja still saw Floor as an enemy who wanted revenge on her for a lot of things, and she had trouble trusting that Floor wasn't going to stab her in the back or something, but Floor had just as much trouble believing that Tarja wouldn't do that to her, either. And every so often, Floor would say something to Tarja that implied that Tarja was still a backstabbing, cheating liar, and Sharon would have to remind her that Tarja was an ally and a friend. But, little by little, they started making progress. One thing that lifted Floor's spirits quite a bit was that they found Kai. He had fallen off the pirate ship during the first fight and been swept away by a strong current, to wash up on a small island, where he lived for several days, eating the fruits and things that he was able to find. He was very glad to be back on the ship with his crewmates. The two men from the Phoenix were rescued later as well, and soon, everything was pretty much back to normal. Floor was once more Captain Jansen, although slightly less intimidating to her crew, now that they had all seen the real Floor. But she could still freeze them with a look, and no one wanted to go up against her in a sword fight. Once all the sailors had been restored to their ships, there was a big party on board the Night Temptation, with lots of eating and drinking and music and fun for everyone. Even Tarja and Floor behaved themselves, although Floor did catch Sharon and Tarja kissing behind some barrels and she got very angry with both of them, until Sharon threw her arms around Floor and kissed her right there, and Floor knew that the other two had just been fooling around and the kiss hadn't meant anything.

"It was just for old times' sake, and it wasn't even my idea," Sharon said. "My heart belongs to you, Floor. And you alone."