Here there be pirates

Chapter 7

A/N: Hey, all! So sorry it's been such a wait, but here's next bit of the story!

Chapter 7

Alfred was restless. It had been nigh three weeks since they had left the port and they had not seen more than a glitter of land in the distance since. All there was to see for miles was water. At first it had been beautiful, but now it just seemed endless and dull. He wanted to walk beneath tress again, to smell the blossoms in the spring, to introduce Arthur to his home…

He was the one thing that Alfred was really still enjoying this life for. His wonderful Arthur who smiled in the evenings and touched his cheek lightly. Arthur who kissed with such passion and such love. Arthur whose good eye lit up playfully whenever Alfred was around. And sometimes Alfred wondered why it had been so easy to fall in love with the charming, scarred captain of a pirate ship. And then he realises why; Arthur had brought life back to his routine world. He had returned the breath of adventure and excitement into the young American. But then, he thought, it isn’t just Arthur that makes the ‘Valiant Lucy’ so special, so easy to call home. It’s everyone. It’s all the crew with their gentle but wacky ways; it’s the way he was accepted into their little family so simply. And Alfred could not be happier.

He was dragged from these reveries but a call from the Crow’s nest. There’s another ship on the horizon. He looked up at Arthur who was stood at the helm, telescope to his good eye. He watched as the Captain’s jaw set in a grim line and he called,

“It’s the ‘Bloody Isabella!’ Man the weapons!” And Alfred skittered down into the ship, calling for Roderich and Feliciano, for Gilbert who has recovered from his beating in the port. Within the short time it took for the two ships to come within clear sight of each other, the whole crew was armed and ready for a fight. Alfred gripped the dagger he had been given by Arthur and stood loyally at his Captain’s side. Glancing down at the rest of the crew who had gathered on the deck, he shivered. Roderich’s eyes were as cold as ice and he held his rapier with an ease that made Alfred gulp. Stood beside him was Gilbert, wielding his huge curved sabre; Ludwig next, broadsword in hand. Then there was little Feliciano, wearing an expression that Alfred had never seen anything close to before on the boy’s face: Something akin to hatred as he gripped his pistol. Alfred was scared. He was not only scared, but terrified. The ships drew closer together and he looked around at the men he had come to think of as his family. It was easy see how he fit in here, the grinning boy, ready to lend a hand, to take a bullet, to free a captive amidst these men with their bad and bitter pasts. Hated and haunted but undeniably, unbelievingly close. And now they were all sailing into a death trap, weapons bristling, eyes sharpening, hearts hardening. And for the first time in his nineteen years, Alfred was afraid to die. Afraid to lose his crew, to lose Matthew, to lose Arthur. And the fear choked him until Roderich laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I see the fear in your eyes, Alfred. But don’t worry. Francis will protect Matthew and Arthur will protect you.”

“But who will protect Arthur?” whimpering Alfred. Smiling wryly, Roderich merely pointed to a certain silver haired albino who held his sabre like he’d been born with it. And the American’s doubts slowly began to fade. After all, they were pirates and they had fought many battles before. Raising his eyes, to the sea, he saw the ‘Bloody Isabella’ approaching at some speed and felt Roderich’s hand drop from his shoulder, back to his rapier. He heard him mutter softly.

“Let’s see then, old friend. You said I’d do anything to protect my crew. Let me show you just how far I’ll go to protect this rag-tag family I have. You tried to break me, Antonio, but you haven’t broken me yet. You haven’t broken me yet, old friend.”

And another chill chased down Alfred’s spine as he looked at Roderich. Not broken yet…. He couldn’t imagine life without the old Austrian pirate. He couldn’t picture it. It was too much, this was too much. By god, they were going to die, they were all going to die and-.

Arthur touched his shoulder.

“Breathe Alfred. This is not where we meet our end.”

“How can you be so sure?” Arthur just smiled.

“Because I have you and you have me. We shall not fall.”

And Alfred truly believed that as the ships drew within firing distance.