The sides of the ship cracked against the roaring waves, the hurricane was more than they bargained for. Below deck sat a girl named Arturia, her pointed black hat was drawn low over her face as she clutched herself tightly. She'd never been at sea before, and she sure as hell picked a bad time for a boat ride.
The entire ship rocked back and forth, the wind ravaged their sails and sent them wherever it pleased. The girl held herself tighter, wrapping her arms around her balled up legs. For a moment she looked up and in the light of the swinging lanterns saw another girl about her age, late teens, she had long black hair and was pacing back and forth with an angry look.
Up above, sailors hurried to and fro struggling to keep the ship in order. The captain barked orders to the men but they were nearly inaudible against the wind.
"Captain! Look!" Shouted one of them. The captain held his head up against the beating rain and saw lights sailing toward them.
"Gods be damned…" the captain limped over to the edge and eyed the lights. There was no doubt, it was pirates.
"Bastards will take any chance they can get I suppose." He murmured to himself.
He looked back over at his men, "Arm yourselves! We got company!"
The men scrambled to get the cannons ready, but the overwhelming storm made firing them an unrealistic option. They prepared their swords and braced themselves.
Within a few minutes the ship got closer, cheers and yelling could be heard as ropes were thrown across and the pirates began to board.
The brawl began, the blood mixed with the rain as the men tore each other to shreds fighting for their lives. It wasn't long before it was clear the pirates had the upper hand, half the crew was either mangled or thrown into the sea.
Below deck the girl with the hat was still cradling herself, listening to the sounds of death coming from above. She sniffed, trying not to cry. She missed her home, she never should've left.
Thud.
A sailor's corpse was thrown down the stairs. She stared at it, wide eyed. A pirate made his way down into the hold and looked around, his eyes adjusting to the lantern light. He didn't notice the faint whisper of something leaving the body. But he quickly spotted Arturia and made his way over, laughing.
"Oi pretty lady, you wanna come with?"
The girl didn't respond.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" He snatched her hat away and threw it on the ground, stomping on it. "I'm giving you a chance to live, love."
"Like hell you are!" Shouted a voice from above them. The pirate and Arturia looked up, it was the black haired girl from before, hanging from the rafters.
She dropped down onto the pirate and wrapped her legs around his neck, squeezing tight and sending them both to the ground. The pirate clawed to get free, and then with surprising ease the girl spun around and used the force to catapult the man into a support beam.
"Yaaagh!" He screamed, blood and saliva flying from his mouth.
The girl got back up and grabbed the hat off the floor, handing it to Arturia with a smile. "This yours?"
"Y-yeah." She took it, gently fluffing it back out and putting it on.
The black haired girl flicked her scarf over her shoulder and winked. Arturia had only just realized she had two tiny horns protruding from her forehead, barely the size of thumbs.
The pirate got up and collected himself, while another ran down from above.
The girl cracked her knuckles, "Alright shit heads, which one of you is first?"