Rain fell in waves as the gloomy sea curved like mountains under the ship. It was around late afternoon, the sun should've illuminated the sea, but instead everything was gray and cloudy. The sound of the storm and the ocean brought an overwhelming feeling to Victoria.

She closed her eyes and took in all her surroundings; the creaking sound of the ship's wood. The crew shouting "Batten down the hatches" and giving orders as they scooped the water overboard. The muffled thunder behind the thick clouds. Waves crashing through the surface of the ocean.

She kept a tight grip on the rope and twisted her right leg around it, slightly hovering over the live sea. Pain stretched down her right shoulder, she cringed as she remembered the cause of her damaged shoulder. She carefully glided down the rope and jumped from the remaining distance, landing firmly on both her feet. A proud smile spread across her lips as she walked past the crew to the Captain's Quarters.

She knocked a few times, then entered, "Robert you bastard!" She heard a croaky voice shout. Victoria stood near the door, smiling at how happy her father, the Captain, seemed with with his brother as they sat on a table across from her.

"To another victory!" Her uncle roared holding a cup of wine, as if he was sitting in a room filled with people to share his toast.

"To another victory!" Victoria's father shouted back with the same enthusiasm as his brother's.

She slowly walked to the table, "am I interrupting anything?"

Both her father and uncle slammed the cups on the wooden table and wiped their mouths on the back of their hands, "speaking of victory," her father arose from his seat and lifted her to his masculine shoulder. "Here's our true victory! Have you seen the way she slaughtered those men, Robert?" Her father asked in amazement.

"And what a sight it was" Robert said with a tone of admiration in his voice, then finished the rest of his wine.

Victoria was filled with pride, and no doubt her father was too. Even she was surprised by her own skills at fighting those men, but by the look of those frightened faces, they couldn't stand a chance against her. And a few moments later they leave with a bigger, stronger ship, people joining their crew, and lots of gold and other goods.

Living as a pirate was hard, especially if you're a girl. But with a father who's the strongest, most powerful, and most wanted pirate in the kingdoms, Victoria was lucky to be his daughter, besides the most wanted part. She hated the fact that her father was a walking bag of gold in other people's eyes. Only the thought that anyone could take him away from her made Victoria uneasy.

He lowered her and gently placed both his hands on her upper arms, "How's your shoulder, dove?"

"It's only a cut papa, it'll heal" she smiled.

"Did you go to Mildred?" He asked.

"No, but I'm on my way to her after I speak with you, " she saw her father's eyes adjust. He knew what she wanted to speak to him about.

"And what is it you want to speak to me about?" He let go of her and walked back to his desk.

"It's been two years since King python's death, and now that his son, King Damian, has taken the throne, he's sent orders to all three kingdoms that if any pirate has been acknowledged they should be executed," she paused, hating the new king already. "But that's not all. He said he would reward any person that would bring your head to him ten times as much"

     Robert stood from his chair, "Victoria, that little prick of a king won't lay a finger on your father, let alone anyone close to him." He tried to seem calm but his voice was enough to make Victoria move a step back.

"I'm sure of that, but what if-" she was cut off by the excruciating pain she felt in her shoulder.

Both her uncle and father rushed toward her,
"What's wrong, dove?" Her father placed both his arms under her legs.

"No, I can walk, " she placed her small hand on her father's shoulder.

"You sure?" He wore an expression between worry and pain.

She closed her eyes and nodded, "Robert, take Victoria to Mildred" her father ordered.

"I, Captain" her uncle gently wrapped his hand around her upper arm and started guiding her to the healing room.

Victoria tried her best to keep a firm, serious face as she walked past the ship's crew, she never liked the thought of people seeing her as weak just because she was the only female on this ship besides Mildred.

     Just when she was about to enter her uncle gave her upper arm a firm squeeze, "don't talk about politics with the captain, little girl. Especially the ones that involve.. Him."

     She never understood why her uncle treated her so coolly. He never acted like a real uncle to her, and whenever her father was around he'd give her a few fake smiles then leave.

"I know what I'm doing uncle, and I will continue doing it till my last breath. I'm not a little girl anymore, " she gave her uncle a quick nod and entered the healing room.

     The room was dim with only a few candles lit here and there. She walked closer to a wooden table and stopped in her tracks half way, a smile crept on her soft face as her attention drifted to the familiar body that laid on the table.

     She slowly walked closer to the table, taking in the beautiful body that laid in front of her; perfect abs, the V shaped lines just over his torso, his dark damp hair.

She lightly traced her fingertips up his stomach, to his chest then she stopped. She blinked a few times while her eyes adjusted on his injured chest. She slowly lowered and moved her hand closer to the cut when a firm hand caught her off guard.

She froze and darted her attention to his face, his ocean blue eyes were looking down at her now, "what are you doing?" He breathed with a slight rasp in his voice.

"You're hurt, " she frowned, looking back at his chest and the dark blood that stained the wounded cut.

He grunted and shifted from his place sitting upright with her wrist still secure in his strong hand, "I heard you were injured yourself, " he frowned, his eyes were the color of the ocean at night.

"It's nothing, " she placed her hand on his, trying to separate herself from him.

He pulled her back, this time closer, "show me" he demanded.

"Alexander-" she whispered his name.

"Victoria" he replied. She smiled at how beautifully the way he said her name.

     She sighed and slowly lowered her sleeve, revealing a swollen cut right between the end of her collarbone and the curve of her shoulder.

"Seven hells, " he whispered, his breath tickled the skin on her neck, "Victoria this might get infected-"

"I know, that's why I came here"

"You should've come here as soon as-"

"Alexander, really?" Victoria tilted her head.
They had to argue over the silliest of things. She placed both her hands on his cold cheeks, "it's just a cut, it'll heal" she gave his nose a small kiss.

     A grin spread across his full lips, "oh how I've missed you," he wrapped one arm around her waist and used his free hand to pull her face closer to his.

     He brushed his lips ever so lightly across her own, his warm breath invaded her lips. Shivers trickled down her spine, she dug her fingers through his damp hair as she brushed her lips across his, and just when she was about to connect both their lips the door opened making both of them jump from their places.

"Oh, I should've knocked" Mildred giggled.

     Victoria let out a sigh of relief when she saw Mildred at the door and not some stranger catching both of them intertwined with each other. Fortunately, the only person that knew about Victoria and Alexander's relationship was Mildred, and she hoped it would stay that way.

"I've made a new ointment for healing cuts quicker, and preventing them from catching any infections," she uncovered the wooden bowl in her hand revealing an oily substance. "I'll need you to rest on your back, please" she instructed Alexander.

"Victoria has been injured and I think it's infected" he gave Victoria a worried look as he slowly lowered his back on the wooden table.

"I seriously don't know why you're so concerned about a small cut, " she rolled her eyes.

"Because cuts that are not taken care of catch infections, and infections cause sicknesses, and sickness causes death, " he explained with an annoyed tone to his voice, while Mildred slowly dabbed the medicine on his injury.

     Mildred let out a loud sigh, "young love, " she shook her head, "most passionate yet most naive, kind of love" a few streaks of gray hair fell across her concentrated face, "could you help me with those, dear?" She gestured to the hair that blocked her from her work.
Victoria smiled and carefully tugged the streaks of hair behind Mildred's ear, when suddenly she  started hearing unusual shouting came from outside.

"What in seven hells was that?" Mildred placed her hand over her chest.

      Victoria opened the door and walked out of the room into the blistering wind. She stood on the deck opposite from the captain's main deck, scanning for the person that was causing all of the commotion. A blond haired man around his twenties held a knife to one of our close crew member's neck, and was threatening to kill him and everyone on this ship.

"A Black Spot aye?" The captain shouted, glaring at the man who soon was about to become shark bait.

"I am a highborn, I don't belong here!" He cried and dragged the knife across the man's neck leaving his body lifeless on the floor.

Victoria quickly snatched one of the ropes that were dangling from the mainmast and swung across the deck to the outcast, before he could jump overboard. She released the rope landing over the man pinning him to the ground. He bent his knees and kicked her aside as he continued crawling to jump overboard.

Reaching to her belt Victoria swung her knife towards the man's leg digging it in firmly. The man shrieked in pain as he tried to reach for his injured leg. Without missing the opportunity she pulled the knife out of his leg and pinned him back down sticking her knife across his neck.

"P-please.. Don't kill me, " he cried.

"Should've thought about that before you killed the man, " She nodded her head towards the dead body next to them.

"Walk the plank! Walk the plank!" The rest of the crew chanted, some of them held broomsticks and some held weapons with sharp ends.

     She turned her attention back to the man under her with a grin, "you heard the people," She pulled him from his collar and pushed him to the plank, "tie him" She ordered.

The other men looked so eager to watch him walk the plank as they quickly fastened both his wrists and ankles with tight ropes.
Victoria held her knife and pointed the tip of it to his back, "walk!" She shouted.

"Walk!" the rest of the crew shouted back. They pointed their weapons towards the outcast.

     The man put one foot on the plank and hesitantly placed the other as he slowly limped near the end, letting out a small cry every time he used his injured leg. He carefully turned around with tears running down his cheeks, his golden-brown eyes pleading to her,
"Please, forgive me! Have mercy!" He cried out.

     Victoria slowly walked the plank leaving a few inches between her and the man, "since you lived your whole life as a highborn, or so we've been told" She shrugged, "I believe no one had told you what the true meaning of the word mercy was" She looked below her as she saw the ocean collapse over itself, waiting to swallow whatever fell in it. 

     She placed her hand on his shaking shoulder, "I'd love to explain it to you, but the sad thing is" She looked back at the man, dead in the eye, "We live in a world where mercy walks the plank." And those were the last words the man had heard before he was devoured by the ocean beneath me.