Captain Jules for Beach

[p]Captain Jules flashed a smile at his crew as his sword struck the battle-song on the helmet of a green merchant guard. Today's haul wouldn't earn him the enmity of kings and queens but it would keep the men in rum for many weeks to come. After six weeks of seeing little more than open sea and tasting their breakfast three times an hour, the thrill of battle and the allure of iron-studded cash boxes was almost as sweet as a maiden's kiss.

[p]His growl was half in frustration and half in longing. He couldn't think of maidens just now. These blue-clad pups may not have any fighting skills to boast of but that wouldn't stop a lucky man from striking the head from a careless brigand whose mind was on petticoats when it was needed for parrying.

[p]He came back-to-back with Sea Monkey Silas, his most reliable drinking buddy. The graveyard lasirus had used his frail-looking body to his advantage many times, convincing an opponent he was weak and on the verge of collapse...then springing with all the strength of a raging leviathan. His crescent blades moved in perfect synchronization with his captain, making short work of the pair of rookies holding the door to the merchant captain's quarters.

[p]The booty was arranged in three chests, each of them shaped from weathered wood and banded with the highest quality iron money could buy. Japes flashed the surrendering captain his toothy smile, "convincing" the enemy captain to hand over his keys posthaste.

[p]JollyRoger skittered nimbly down the rigging, hanging upside down in the doorway to snatch each load of loot as it was passed out. Though small in size, he handled the massive chests with ease. Sea Monkey was next in line, using his powerful wings to see the precious cargo safely across the strip of water between the two ships and to its new home. Matey Blob supervised the organization of the treasure room's latest acquisitions, instantly tallying the value of the day's haul and adding it to the columns in his head of what the current market values were and what repairs would be needed for the ship after this latest raid. Being made of silver himself, Matey had a real eye for what was a diamond and what a mere hunk of glass. He was also the only one aside from the captain himself that could be relied on to stay sober more often than once or twice a week.

[p]The next stretch of ocean didn't seem so depressing after their smashing success. They bragged to one another about conquests of the past...not all of them in the form of captured ships. They did their best to drink Japes under the table...failing miserably, of course. Though he was the smallest in stature, that undersized cutthroat had a belly of iron and the wits to match. They even struck up a few favorite songs hardly heard outside the kind of ports no government official would soil his cloak to visit.

[p]There aren't many that can party with the sheer abandon of a pirate crew with new booty in hand and bounties destined never to be collected.

[p]Land came into sight through a bank of fog three days later. The familiar trio of peaks on the island they lovingly called Scallawag Station sent a rumbling cheer rolling the lengths of the deck. In truth, their hidden cove was but a small part of a civilized colony of Levreu that was hundreds of miles from the king's protection. The villagers who are native to the far-distant Old Country still declared their loyalty to the fat man on their spare coins but none of them ever raised a word of protest when the [i]real[/i] island royalty came along to collect certain protection fees against raiders in the night.

[p]Jenuesse was the exception. The fair maiden on the hilltop was a true lady of refinement, the duchess of some duchy so small and ancient that most of her own people had forgotten the original name. Tired of the stuffy halls of her manor, she had taken to the sea against her father's wishes ten years ago, using her masterful cooking skills to earn respect and admiration everywhere she went.

[p]She'd landed on Levreu at a time when dozens of orphans were crying for just one taste of the milk of human kindness. Jenuesse used her wealth to re-kindle the fires of the massive ovens of the common houses that had been allowed to go cold. She'd cared for the sick, encouraged the weary and comforted the dying though her only reward was to be struck down by the same illness. Captain Jules found her with one foot teasing the threshold of death's door. He had pulled her back, stayed with her until she regained her strength, and pledged his blade to her protection.

[p]Three years have passed and his heart still feels like it will implode every time he looks on her face.

[p]They would be forced apart if ever they returned to their native land, she to a prison of lace and choking corsets, he to a grimy cell to await the gloom of the gallows. It was their own private joke, hanging the native flag the wrong direction in the bedroom they shared that overlooked the sea. The night was never long enough and always saw her waving her spotless kerchief out the window as he strode east without looking back, once again heeding the call of the sea as another little piece of his heart broke away and fled back to Miss Jenuesse's care.

[p]He eagerly awaits the day when that last piece abandons him, killing the allure of the beckoning waves so he can spend every sunrise cradling that which is more precious than all the treasures man can create.

[p]Story by [user=Pureflower]