The Captain's Journal (Shay Cormac x OC Fanfic)

Chapter 1

After helping Christopher Gist get out of a sticky situation, he was able to get the Morrigan back along with Gist's aid. He got Shay a new crew for his ship and elected himself as Captain Cormac's first mate. Together, Shay, Gist and their new able-bodied crew set off for Albany, New York, to meet with Colonel Monro. It would be a long journey for the Morrigan and her new captain.

After a few weeks go by, it's the beginning of February when they're coming upon the northern Atlantic lands NewFoundland, Greenland and Nova Scotia. After that, it wouldn't be long before they arrived in New York.

But their voyage was brought to a halt when they noticed an unusual sight ahead on the ship's starboard (right) side of the bow (front of ship).

"Master Cormac!"

"What is it, Gist?" Shay asked.

"There's something on the shore, Master Cormac."

Before he could get a better look with his telescope, he heard one of his men give a frantic yell. "It's a woman, Captain! There's a woman off the starboard side!"

As a few other men stopped and looked off to the right, they, too, became frenzied and panicked. The man in the crow's nest alerted his captain.

Shay finally saw the unconscious lass near her pile of burnt wood and belongings through his spyglass. "Avast, men. STOP THIS VESSEL! Bring the lass aboard the Morrigan!"

"AYE-AYE!!!"

Gist ordered the men to stop the ship by dropping the anchor. He and a few of the men prepared the small boat onboard and rowed towards the shore frozen over with snow and ice. where the lady was laying. Christopher Gist carried the woman, laid her into the small boat and the deckhands rowed hastily back to the Shay's ship, prompting the others to let down the rope ladder for the men and Gist carefully got the woman onboard the Morrigan where Shay was waiting for him.

The woman's belongings were set aside for later. One of the crew prepared a bundle to make for a quick pillow and Gist gently lowered her down in front of the helm. Shay kneeled on the woman's right side while Gist was on her left side, lifting her up with his arm and checking for her pulse.

"She's still alive, Shay." Gist breathed a sigh of relief. "Still breathing, too."

"What the hell happened to her?" Shay asked his first mate.

"Beats me. She's cold as death. Her whole body's stiff as a board."

"Get the doctor, Christopher; bring him to my quarters." Shay picked up the frozen woman in his arms. "This lass needs to get warmed up, it's too cold down below where the doctor is. If she isn't given any warmth soon, she'll die."

After walking down the small flight of stairs and pushing his door open, he hurried and set the girl down on his bed while getting several blankets on top of her and got a few oil lamps and candles around his bedside.

Now in proper light, the petrified captain could see how critical her condition was. Her lips were turning a darker shade of red. Her hair and eyebrows had snow and frost stuck in them. Her skin looked so pale and lifeless. Her cheeks wouldn't move with his thumb as he brushed it across them.

Before he could sit down, the doctor rushed into his room, along with his supplies, and quickly shut the cold out from the captain's quarters.

"I came as fast as I could, Captain Cormac." The doctor said, panting.

"This woman is in bad shape, sir," Shay explained. "She's as cold as death, jus' please take care of her. We don't need a lass dyin' aboard my ship."

"Right away, sir. If you could have a seat anywhere...."