Roleplay Live : A Pirate’s Life
A Stitch in time
Players:
LadyBelz
CharlotteCarrendar
LadyBelz: – Nearly a week had passed since the ship had barely escaped from Port Royale. On orders of the ship’s doc and under the threat of death from Moon himself, Tim was ordered to stay by Rachael’s side. She had contracted a fever from her injuries and was drenched in sweat, talking to people only she could see. Tim took up a cool cloth from the bowl beside the bed and dabbed at the sweat on her brow. “Momma! No!” she cried out at one point, sitting upright, eyes awash with fever and pain. It took the combined efforts of three of the crew to settle her back in when she tried to climb from the bed, at which point, the wound the doc had painstakenly stitched up broke open once more and bled fiercely. She passed out from the pain. Every day, crew would stop by her sick bed to check on her, tend to her when Tim needed a break or sleep himself. She was one of them. They would not abandon one of their own, even if she was a woman. Many a man had been saved by her at one point or another, including the captain himself, proving to them that she was as much a pirate as the rest of them. Now if only she would wake up…
CharlotteCarrendar; – Day eight. The Captain stood at the helm, his face as dark as that of the clouds, that hung over the ship, day after day. The wind had died down, so the ship barely moved through the blackened sea. Many of the crew went about their chores in silence. Hearts and minds all on the one that had brought them through tragedy and triumph. And now, in her darkest hour, the men paid their respects. Hats removed, faces sullen. Hushed words, as the Doctor checked her over, again and again. Her stitches needed replacing, after a wild outburst, brought on by a rising fever. Twas to be expected with her infections. But if it was one thing the Captain knew, was the inner strength of his darling Rachael. The woman was a fighter, as much in spirit as in her will to live. The Captain stared out to sea, his true home, the cradle of his world. And yet, he could not imagine a life without her at his side. The first mate who now guided the ship, turned his head and sighed, having seen the Captain stand in that one place, for many an hour. He had not been down yet to see her this day. Her pained cries, cut his heart as though slashed with a blade. Wait….it was all he could do. <3>
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LadyBelz: -Day Ten. Tim slowly opened his eyes, wincing as various aches and pains made themselves known. He regretted falling asleep in the chair the night before, having had the idea to read one of his books out loud, hoping Rachael would hear him in her fevered dreams. She had still been feverish the night before. As the sun eased its way over the horizon, a shaft of sunlight penetrated the portal directly over the bed that Rachael was resting upon. It was then Tim realized there was something different. The night before, Rachael’s breathing had been deep and labored. Now it was quiet. Scared, Tim jumped to his feet, nearly falling to the floor as pins and needles stabbed through his body. Stomping around to wake them up, he ran to her bedside, pressing his ear to her chest. The steady beat of her heart reassured him that she was still alive. “Ye better be havin a damn good reason to be havin your face smashed into me bosom, young Tim.” came a most welcome, yet tired voice. Startled, Tim raised his head to stare into the half closed eyes of his charge. His smile was brighter than any sunrise she had ever seen. “Miss Rachael, tis a fair sight indeed ta see you awake again.” he grinned, tears blurring his vision. She raised a shaky hand and pressed it against his cheek. “Stop yer bawlin and let me rest.” she smacked his cheek gently before she removed her hand and placing it on her chest. She drifted back to sleep, fever broken and on the road to healing. Grinning like a fool, he took off at a run to the helm to share the news.
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CharlotteCarrendar; -The door to the Captain’s cabin flew open, with the beaming Cabin boy, busting out, causing many a man to stop and stare. Was she dead? Had Poseidon claimed yet another beauty to the deep? The Captain was off in his own thoughts, as the lapping of the waves against the side of the ship was his tempo. Tim leaps at two steps a time to reach the helm, running now to the Captain. “Capn’…Capn’!” He cried, the swelling of emotion from days of praying and waiting at her bedside had paid off. The Captain slowly turned his head, the lines in his face looked to have been carved by a sculptor’s chisel. Pale blue eyes cast down at the lad. “Speak….don’t just stand there, breathing all over my coat. What is it?” The boy placed his hands upon his knees, almost lost for breath. “It’s Mistress…She’s…she’s…well, Sir!” Could it be, that the dreaded fever had finally lost its grip on his beloved. The crew were all murmuring, until it could be confirmed. Placing his right hand on the lad’s shoulder, Moon said firmly. “Fetch the Doctor….Have him meet me by her side.” The boy didn’t need to be told twice, dashing back down the stairs and heading to the galley, while the Captain straightened his hat, and walked calmly back across the deck and down the stairs, in the full sight of his men. He dare not show too much emotion, for a Captain is a leader of men, and one that must always have a level head. Opening the door to his cabin, the first sight was of the rays of light that shone through the portal, illuminating the skin of his fair Rachael. A sight like no other, an angel sent from heaven, and dressed like a common pirate.
The Captain removed his hat and then knelt down at the side of her bed, gazing over her, watching the rise and fall of her chest. So serene, when in days past he had heard nothing but her tortured screams of delirium.
“You Woman….have put me through hell. Ya know that? Damned…to blazes. Almost shed a tear in front of meh men. What you makin’ me? I be no mad fop with the fancy wigs. I am supposed to be a bloody pirate. So….don’t do this again. Or…or…I bloody kill you myself.” <3>
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LadyBelz: – “Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What the bloody hell does it take fer a body ta get some rest? Stop yammerin in me ear, ya bloody bastard!” Rachael groaned, wincing when she tried to throw an arm over her eyes and nearly pulling her stitches apart. She returned her arm to its original position and cracked an eye open to glare at the man hovering at her bedside. “Ye look like shite.” she snickered, taking in his pale face and bloodshot eyes. “And ye’d look fecking daft with a wig on, ye prat. Besides…I live to put ye through hell. It’s me one great passion in me life.”
*
CharlotteCarrendar: – Pulling back his head, as though each word that sprang from her lips was fueled with acid, even he was stunned by her wicked and somewhat upsetting retort. ‘Shite?” Moon said, startled, and to be honest, he did, but had not been back in his cabin to pay attention to his appearance. “You fly my best pants up the bloody flag pole and wonder why I look like Shite?” Now he was spitting and cussing, even invented a few new ones, as he got up and powered up and down the cabin, his parrot dancing along his perch imitating the mad Captain, who seemed to have lost the plot. But on passing his dirty mirror, he accidentally caught sight of himself, and this….made him stop. Blinking at the reflection, he took two steps towards it and sure enough, the older man in the mirror, DID look like Shite. “Damned to hell. I should have been a merchant.” <3>
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LadyBelz : – Rachael snickered as the man paced back and forth, sobering as he stood before the mirror. “Ye were worried about me.” It was a statement, not a question. “I’m sorry, me love. I should have listened ta ye when ye said nothing good could come from being in Port Royale. Tis me own fault, me own stubborn nature that got us into a bad row.” she sighed, turning her gaze to the portal over her cot. “I just had ta know if me mum was all right…turns out she’s dead…” Her voice had gone soft at the end of her tale, but no tears escaped her eyes.
*
CharlotteCarrendar: -Running a finger across one of his many crows feet, he then bared his gritted teeth at the mirror, and started to play with his face, in order to make the lines vanish. Mind you, nothing short of sewing his scalp back to his head would make him look any younger. For a Pirate, he was moderately proud of his appearance, and the days without sleep and worry, had caused the Captain to age, about ten years. Moon even seemed to forget about Rachael for a fleeting moment, till he heard her say…”I’m sorry, me love. I should have listened ta ye when ye said nothing good could come from being in Port Royale. Tis me own fault, me own stubborn nature that got us into a bad row.” Never a truer word was spoken, but why was it, whenever she would apologize, it would crumble the hard exterior of the Pirate away. Snorting as he listened, trying his best not to show his inner feelings, he turned on his right foot and simply said. “Aye..” He could have said more…a great deal more, but for the risk of turning into a sad sop, he tried to keep the stiff upper lip. “That man that chased us fair out of Royale…he been bad to ya?” In all honesty, Moon knew very little of Rachael’s past. <3>
*
LadyBelz: -”That man that chased us fair out of Royale…he been bad to ya?” came the question a silent moment later. Dragging her gaze away from the portal, she turned her head toward him, pain and anger fighting for dominance in her gaze. “T’was me step-da. Married me mum after me da was murdered. I hated him from the start. He married me mum for her money, spending it on drink and games of chance. He grew deeper in debt, unable to pay off his bets…so he turned me mother into his whore…selling her to any man who could pay a coin for a night between her legs. Tried doing the same ta me when I was but three and ten, tried ta marry me off to this pig of a man. Tis when I ran away…I stowed away on yer ship soon after…but I made a promise ta meself to return when I could to see me mum again…and he killed her. He said it was an accident, that she tripped and fell down the stairs…but he was smirkin and gloatin when he said it…and I knew then…the bastard murdered her…I had a feeling he was the one to kill me da as well, but I could never find proof of his dealins.” she sighed, looking away from him. “By my hand, he will pay for his sins against me family.” she vowed.
*
CharlotteCarrendar : – A tale of woe, the likes that would pluck at your heart strings. There are many a cruel man in this world, and it would seem that her mother was to have had fate deal her a bad hand. Even a pirate has a code, a code of honor. But not this bastard, that had caused such heartache to the fair Rachael. As Rachael recounted the steps of her life that led her to the ship, on which she now sailed, the Captain had even more reason to be proud of this fine woman. Sure, he spoke so harshly, and with a gruffness, that he would any other man under his command, but if the truth dared to be spoken, if he was to speak the words of his true heart, she would see him for his real self. A passionate man, one that would lay down his life for his love. On the words, “By my hand, he will pay for his sins against me family.” Captain Moon stared out the portal, the same one she had done, and said in a hushed tone; “And so my blade, I will grant thee…may you stain it with his blood, and it flow across the earth, to be soaked and soothe the ache of your Mother’s spirit.” <3>
*
LadyBelz ; – As he made his pledge to her, the lock she had so carefully placed around her own heart broke free. She had always been reserved around this man, not fully pledging herself to him, afraid. But he had been by her side, and she by his through thick and thin, bad and good…and he remained by her side still, when he could have easily tossed her overboard. She gave him a small smile. “I thank you for your pledge, My Lord.” she stated, solemnly, without a trace of the language of the pirates that she had adopted as her own over the years. She yawned then, face coloring with embarassement as she hadn’t had time to cover her mouth as a lady should. “I’m so bloody tired.” she whispered, as her eye slowly closed. The doctor moved around Moon to check his patient before he looked up at the Captain. “She must rest still. The fever still lingers and I dinna want her suffering a relapse and hindering her recovery. But recover she will…ready to drive ye ta drink once again.” the doc grinned.
*
CharlotteCarrendar ; -The Captain knew that his beloved needed her rest, the first sign of the stifled yawn, and he held a breath deep in his chest, before releasing it slowly. On showing of her small smile, he did something that he had never done before. As if pulled by tiny strings, the corners of his lips did so move upward. Was this a smile? It was the best he could muster, but was heartwarming to see. A glimpse of the Captain, no one else would ever be privy to see. “Rest…its good.” Yes, rest is good, and by god’s he could use some too. Had he been any worse, he would have gotten into bed beside her, but instead, he simply wandered over to his desk, and sat down in his ornate chair, kicking back up his boots on the oak desk and tipping his hat down over his eyes, he promptly drifted off to sleep. What does a Captain dream about you may ask? I can imagine, it would be a setting, far from Port Royale and the dramas that they had fled, but instead a cove, one that was lush and green, with his darling Rachael, dressed like that of the women in oil paintings, he had seen on many a raid. A bride in white satin, who he would carry off into the dark of night, and be one with….forever. <3>
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