Roxanne stood in the riggings, doing a thorough check of the Misty Lady's sails, as she'd got into a habit of doing every few days.

Quite some time had passed since she'd boarded the ship and though the crew still muttered about her, most of the open hostility was dwindling, mainly because Teague had shot two men after they'd made some particularly vulgar comments towards her.

She hummed softly, continuing her examination of the sails. Movement caught her eye and she paused, gaze turning to the horizon.

At almost the same time, a call from the lookout sounded in the crow's nest above her head.
"Ship approaching!"

"Colours?" Teague's voice called.

"East India Trading Company."

Even from her place above deck, Roxanne saw Teague's body tense.

"Colours up an' prepare the guns."
The authority in his voice left no room for argument and the crew got to work immediately.

Teague's head turned.
"Roxanne, get down here. Now."

"But I'm not-"

"Roxanne Sparrow, get your fucking arse onto this deck or I'll shoot you out of the goddamn rigging."
His voice was low and dangerous, eyes very dark as he met her gaze.

She immediately scrambled down the rigging.
He jerked his head irritably, beckoning her.

"This'll be your first battle at sea. Brief rundown of how battles usually work :- Cannons are loaded and, depending on the number of guns the other ship carries, we either fire first or wait to see if the other ship plans to engage. If we're outgunned, we let the other ship pass if it doesn't fire. If the ship doesn't surrender when we fire, we either board them or wait till they board us. Then the fighting starts. It's close-quarter, swords and pistols. Noisy, bloody and painful. Can be incredibly shocking the first few times ye see it."

He paused, hand settling on his sword hilt.
"I've taught ye to use a blade an' I'm not goin' to ask ye to stay out of battle. I'm just going to tell you to be careful an' if possible, stay close to either me or Sahara an' Soracha."

"But Soracha's your doctor, surely she doesn't fight?"

Teague smiled wryly.
"Go suggest she stays out of battle, see what she tells ye to do."

He cracked his knuckles slowly.

"She is me doctor, but she's also one of the best fighters in this crew an' I'm happy to let her fight cause she hardly ever sheds blood in battle but leaves plenty wounded or dead behind her."

Roxanne nodded.
"I'll try and stay with either you or them."

"Good." Teague said in reply.
"Are the guns ready yet?"

"Almost cap'n."

Teague turned his gaze on the approaching ship, eyes shaded by the brim of his hat as he fingered the sword hanging at his hip.

Roxanne fiddled with her sash,
watching the ship approach.

"Guns ready Captain."

Teague nodded in response to Sahara's words, eyes still fixed on the ship that was coming towards them.

"We're in range," he said, turning and raising his voice slightly to address the crew.
"Fire!"

The blast of the cannons rang out, followed by the noise of their impact on the other ship.

Roxanne flinched at the noise, moving closer to Teague, who put a hand on her arm.
"Again!" he called over his shoulder to his crew.

Another round of cannon fire echoed, then the other ship retaliated, shards of wood flying through the air as it's cannonballs made contact with the Misty Lady, shattering the railings in several places.

The cannonfire was exchanged many times, long enough for Roxanne to get accustomed to the sound.

"Prepare to be boarded!"

Teague's hand closed over his sword hilt, pistol in the other hand with the hammer cocked back.

Roxanne fingered her sword nervously as several uniformed men suddenly appeared on the Lady's deck.

Gunshots rang out and two men dropped.
Teague calmly blew away the smoke rising from his pistols barrel and drew his sword.

The ring of swords meeting rang through the air as the EITC and pirates clashed.

Roxanne wove through the battle, parrying attacks but not harming anyone, keeping her eyes on Teague's feathered hat.

Soracha and Sahara moved as one, two pairs of long double knives flashing as they led the men in a deadly dance.
Sahara's body was tense, a slightly wild look in her eyes as her knives blocked sword blades, blood dotting her breeches.
Soracha's hands moved deftly, targeting specific places on abdomens or sides where vital organs were located.
A spray of blood splattered her front as she slit a throat, severing an artery.

Her victim was dead by the time she'd turned her attention to another EITC officer, a clean wound in his neck.

Roxanne understood completely why Teague was happy to let Soracha fight.

The Irishwoman was terrifying.

Her expression unnerved Roxanne.
It was calm, almost bored as she sidestepped a sword intended for her shoulder before plunging both knives into her attacker's abdomen, then pulling back and spinning them, flicking drops of blood over the dying man's body.

Only her eyes showed any emotion. They were alight with a manic glint as another man fell under her blades.

"Duck!"
Teague's shout reached Roxanne over the noise of battle.
She dropped, covering her head as two gunshots rang out.
"Alright!" he called and she straightened up, twisting to block a sword.

The man holding the sword was thin and wiry, his uniform slightly too big for him.
His lip curled into a sneer under his thin black moustache, eyes looking her over contemptuously.

"So, pirate ships keep whores then. Doesn't surprise me."

Roxanne glared at him, raising her sword.
He scoffed. "Put it away before you hurt yourself. You've no place here."

"I'm not a whore," she spat, eyes blazing.
"I'm a Sparrow."

Those three words made the EITC officer pause, eyes widening slightly.

"Philip's daughter?"

She nodded curtly, blocking at a sword aimed at her shoulder.

"So you were kidnapped by pirates then," the officer said.

"I left willingly," Roxanne growled, irritated with his distracting questions as she tried to disarm one of his comrades.

He scoffed.
"You left a life of luxury for this?"
His gaze travelled disdainfully over the Lady and her crew, who were currently making short work of the EITC.

"Yes."
She finally disarmed her opponent and kicked his sword away into the confusion of battle, hopefully lessening his chance of reclaiming it.

"Ye alright?"
Teague's question was called over the noise of battle.

"Fine," Roxanne called in reply.

She saw him nod before the chaos of battle seperated them again and she found herself alongside Sahara.

Roxanne couldn't block out the men she saw dying around her.
The way the deck was now slippery with the spilled blood of both crews, as well as other questionable things which she avoided looking at.
The screams of pain and gunshots, the sounds of steel against flesh.
She suddenly felt sick.

Teague appeared again, smoking pistol held aloft, blood dripping from the blade of his sword.
His hat was askew and face expressionless, shirt spattered with scarlet.

Soracha was behind him, spinning her knives as she weaved through the battle.
She paused, ducked a sword and kicked the officer who'd swung it before slitting his throat.

A hand laid on Roxanne's shoulder made her jump.
"Go on. Go to the cabin an' lock the door." Teague said.

"I'm not a coward," Roxanne snapped.

"Nah, you're a governor's daughter who's probably never seen men bleed and die like this in your life. The first time's never easy, regardless of your upbringin'. It's normal to feel like you're feelin' now."

She shrugged his hand off, head raised defiantly.
"You're just like the rest of them. You think I'm too delicate for life here, useless for anything but fixing your fucking sails!"

Her hazel eyes flashed angrily as she sheathed her sword, turning on her heel and storming into the captain's cabin.

Teague sighed, shooting an EITC officer in the shoulder.
"Bloody women," he muttered.

"Oi I heard that!" Soracha called, a grin on her lips.

"Wasn't talkin' about ye."

"Better not have been."
Soracha's auburn hair was dark and sticky with sweat as she paused for a moment to wipe her hands on her breeches before spinning her knives again.

Her gaze flickered to his blood-spattered shirt.
"Is that yours?"

"Some of it," Teague replied with a shrug.

Soracha eyed him sternly as she crossed her knives to block a sword intended for Sahara's hip.

"They're scratches," he said casually, kicking an EITC officer before running him through.

"Ye do know I know when you're lyin' don't ye?" she muttered, cursing under her breath as her feet skidded on the bloody deck.

Sahara's hand caught her elbow, steadying her.
Soracha nodded in thanks, eyes still fixed sternly on Teague.

"Soracha, stop glaring at me an' go slit some throats," he snapped in irritation.

With a snort of annoyance, she stalked off, spinning her bloody knives before putting them back to use; leaving several more fallen in her wake as she immersed herself in battle once more.

Sahara followed close behind her.
Together, they soon left a trial of dead officers behind them.

The EITC, though precise and disciplined fighters, were outmatched by the ruthless crew of the Misty Lady.
Still, they fought, fuelled by their hatred of pirates and desperation to prove themselves to their superiors when they could present Edward Teague dead or captured for hanging.

The ship's captain, a lean weather-beaten man with shrewd blue eyes, surveyed the bodies of his crew on deck in dismay.

They were now significantly outnumbered and had several more injured.
"Retreat!"

Teague smirked slightly, watching them leave the Lady as he stowed his pistol.

A hand was laid firmly on his back.
"Surgery. Now."

"There are others who need seen to before me," he protested.

"Edward, don't fucking argue with me," Soracha said dangerously.

Teague sighed but nodded. Going below deck to the surgery.

He sat down, twisting a ring moodily around his finger.
Waiting for Soracha.

She appeared after several minutes, helping a small, sharp-featured man with thick dark hair and a full beard, his arm over her shoulders as he cursed and groaned.

The left leg of his breeches was completely soaked in blood, the limb mangled until it was almost unrecognisable.

"Has to come off," Soracha said simply after a quick examination of the limb.
"Edward, piss off till I call ye back in."

Teague rose and left the surgery.
He paced the deck, watching the crew.

At last, he was called back to the surgery to have his wounds treated.

"Do you like her?" he asked Soracha as she worked.

"Who, Roxanne?"
Her hands stilled briefly in the middle of cleaning a long wound that wrapped around his forearm.

"Aye."

"Dunno. She's got spirit, I'll give her that. I just don't know if she'll fit in here."
Soracha kept her eyes on her work.
"That's goin' to scar," she added, nodding at the wound as she started gently wrapping his forearm.

Teague shrugged.
"Scars don't bother me. Why d'ye think Roxanne won't fit in here? She's learnin' swordplay an' is pretty good at fixin' sails. She ain't afraid of gettin' her hands dirty either."

The Irishwoman turned her attention to stitching a particularly ugly wound on his shoulder.

"I don't think you thought enough about bringin' her aboard. I think you jumped into the river a little too soon, so to speak. I also think today, ye may have showed the crew that ye like her a little. If any of us, me excepted, had spoken to ye like that, we'd have been shot, yet ye let her walk away unpunished."

He raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think I like her? I was a little busy to punish her when she stormed off."

Soracha smirked slightly.
"I know what ye look like when there's a lass on your mind. Aisling-"

"Shut up," Teague said instantly, avoiding her gaze and scratching the back of his neck.

She smirked again, finishing wrapping his stitched shoulder.

"I don't like Roxanne, Soracha. Not romantically."

He stood up with a slight wince, thanked Soracha and went to the captain's cabin in search of a fresh shirt.

Roxanne glared at him as he came in.
"Fuck off."

"Fuck off yourself. You're in me cabin," Teague retorted, hanging his scabbard onto it's hook.

Her eyes lingered very briefly on his bandaged forearm and shoulder.

Then she stood.
"Fine, I will fuck off," she snapped.
"Seeing as you don't want me here either."

"I didn't sa-"

The slam of the cabin door cut him off.

Roxanne went below deck, opening the first door she came to and entering the room beyond.

It led to a cabin, smaller than the captain's cabin.
There was a little table at each side of the large bed, which had a patchwork quilt in greens, purples and soft greys.

She sighed, removing her sword before sitting down.

Her gaze drifted around the cabin.
It was simply furnished, one half of it tidier than the other.

Discarded, presumably dirty clothes littered the floor on one side of the bed.
A table and two chairs stood against the opposite wall, a wardrobe with it's doors ajar in the corner.

A half-empty bottle and a book sat on one of the bedside tables.
The other contained parchment, quills and a few sticks of charcoal.

Roxanne ran a hand through her hair.

"Fuck off yourself. You're in me cabin."

Captain Teague didn't want her in his cabin anymore. He probably didn't want her on the ship anymore.

His interest in her had obviously died now he was more occupied with the crew and ship.

Roxanne curled up miserably on the bed, wishing she could leave the Misty Lady and its tempermental but handsome captain.