The Life Of Pirates

Chapter 1

The huge wooden ship swayed side to side against the peaceful clear blue waves. Jasmine stared up at the sky, her eyes absorbing the bright yellow shine of the sun. She had a beautiful young face with raven black hair that fell past her waist. She could hear the quiet mutterings of her fellow crew members believing it was bad luck to have her on board. But it was their fault she was here in the first place. It was the captain who decided to spare her life and let her onboard his ship, despite the loud never ending tantrum she'd had.

It shouldn't have been this way. What could a peaceful tiny boat have done to offend them? It was her first time out on the sea, watching her dad steer and enjoying the light wind in the air. He'd wanted to wait to her to reach 17, a bright young age, and take her travelling. It had been a brilliant day, the weather perfect and the sun shining on the joy across her face. But then in what seemed like a split second, everything had changed. They were ambushed in the middle of the sea by ruthless, cruel pirates. It really didn't take much and it's a wonder what kind of standards they had to attack a small ship, but they did it and there was nothing that could've changed that. Her dad had fought bravely, trying to fend them off but it did nothing and they soon pushed him overboard whilst Jasmine watched in horror. She was startled and froze, not even putting up a fight. She braced herself for the impact of freezing water but that's when she heard the footsteps coming towards her. She was sobbing in the ground and peered up to see an ominous figure before her, face completely hidden by the huge pirate hat he wore. He'd knelt down and offered her a hand but she didn't take it. Her courage had built up and she knew she didn't want to go with them, but before she could say anything the man had given the others a signal and they'd rushed her onto their ship.

She was extremely stubborn towards them, hatred and tears brimmed in her eyes when she was brought back to the cold reality. Anything they asked her to do she refused. She would only lie behind the wheel of the ship and stare up at the sky. She knew not to look directly at the sun but she was in an argumentative mood and did just that. But it didn't make her eyes hurt and she never felt the need to blink. She just stared. The crew had already complained to the captain about her but he ignored them all and let her do what she wanted. Whenever he saw her he would pause as if curious about her, however he was hardly ever seen, keeping himself in his cabin.
She kept thinking about her father. Tossed right from his ship. She squeezed her eyes closed trying not to let herself cry in front of these malicious men. She would never show them any weakness, she was going to be stronger than any of them. But her mind wouldn't let her erase the memory from her mind and she struggled to cope.
"I'm sorry about your father" A deep voice said from beside her. She snapped her eyes open and saw the captain kneeling next to her.
She gave him an angry scowl, stood up and tried to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.
"I am" His voice sounded sympathetic but she forced herself to look away from him.
"He could still be alive, we left him his ship" He tried to console her. Tears began forming in the corners of her eyes and felt rage beginning to build up inside her. She couldn't stop it now as tears streamed down her face. He looked extremely upset as he watch and pulled her into a strong hug, hiding her face from the crew.
"I'm sorry" He repeated, his chin on the top of her head. She still said nothing, but closed her eyes, hardly believing life had managed to turn out this way for her.

Later that day she was stood on the deck, staring out at the endless clear waves. She rubbed her eye with her hand in tiredness and let out a small yawn. The sky had darkened to a deep blue with twinkling shiny stars. Most of the crew had gone below deck to sleep but she stayed up above preferring to look out at the scenery and steer clear of the others. But then she heard someone walking towards her, standing beside her leaning against the boat.
"You should get some sleep" It was the Captain. She still had refused to talk, not even to him.
"You can't ignore me forever. I'm just tryin' to do you a favour" he sighed and focused his attention on the sea too.
"I've been at sea my whole life" He started, "never been on land too long, it's quieter out here."
"What 'bout you?" He asked, trying to continue on with the one sided conversation.
She paused at first, trying to keep up her silence.
"Today's my first day" She mumbled.
She could tell he was shocked, despite not being able to see his face.
"You have some pretty bad luck" He told her.
"This is completely your fault and you're making jokes!?" She spun round, fury written all over her face. Yet he just simply watched her, the curious look appearing once again.
"And I've apologised, I know sorry just doesn't make up for it but I want to make things right" He sighed and turned his attention to the sea, "whatever you need, I'll be there"
They stood there in silence staring out at the sea. Jasmine couldn't think of what to say, she didn't want to talk to him and she certainly didn't forgive him. But she sensed an air of truth around him.
"I've set up a small temporary bed for you in the cabin" He finally said, breaking the silence "It's by the window so you can still see the sea. No one goes in there so you'll have privacy" He continued.
"Thank you" She thanked him quietly.
"You don't need to be scared of me, there's a lot worse out there" He told her.
He led her to the cabin and she walked in.
"Goodnight" He said and closed the doors.
She looked around at the small cabin, the floor was polished wood which she could tell was often cleaned. The back was completely windows, which gave her an amazing view of the sea. There was a small writing table with small piles of maps. She walked towards the windows and noticed the big ledge in front of them was made up with deep red blankets and a soft small pillow. Her tiredness took a hold of her and she clambered into her bed, lying on her side to look at the sea. Her eyes began to close as she struggled to stay awake, but then her body shut down and she was asleep.