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-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Bartholomew H. Allen. Bart for the friends. ‘The red nuisance’ for everyone else. Wasn’t the first time he’d been inside this very same prison cell; probably won’t be the last. The guards stationed in front of his door were the quickest on their feet, so maybe they’d have a minimum chance of catching the fucker should he escape again. Probably not, but the Arch Duke had been particularly displeased the last time he’d weaseled his way out of their prison, so they had to at least pretend to try.
He’d been unconcernedly chewing on dried meat for hours now. How did he manage to smuggle it into the cell, no one knows, but after he bit the first few hands that tried to take his treasure away, the general consensus was to let him be.
Similarly, anyone who held any notions of spending a fun afternoon with the only woman among the sea bandits was quick to be corrected, either by a broken hand or a kick that stole the air from their lungs like it was gold from a ship’s treasury.
Her name? Cassandra Sandsmark. She did not fuck around, and really, considering she would be dead by that time the next night, it was’t worth it to punish her for ‘prisoner misconduct’. That was why they left her be. Not because she scared their balls back into their bodies. The fact that she was Princess Diana’s wayward niece and, death row or not, the noble Lady would murder them all for even breathing in her direction, was a notable plus.
The last pirate, well… He’d chosen to spend his last night on earth doing push ups. It was probably better to leave him to his own devices.
Conner Kent. Whether or not he had any relation to Crown Prince Kal was anyone’s guess, but they did look startlingly similar; something the younger man had taken advantage of to avoid capture multiple times in the past.
To catch any of them wasn’t an easy task. The fact that they were all there thanks to the same man was beyond amazing.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
An auburn haired boy ran through busy port streets, his form almost a blur between passerbys. Jumping over crates, avoiding street vendors, sliding over banisters and landing at the very last step of any stair in his way, the youngster made a truly astounding escape.
Tough luck his opponent had accounted for that.
Just as he was rounding that last corner separating him from the port (and his freedom), a foot struck out. Quick thinking saved him from face planting on the disgustingly dirty streets, but his surprise and momentum cost him precious seconds of stumbling.
The swords pointing him from every direction when he straightened weren’t as threatening as the lone young man standing behind the National Guard, unarmed but from the cutting edge on his glare. Without breaking eye contact, the runner threw both hands up in surrender.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The guards barely even glanced up when the servant girl let herself in, softly pushing the trolley. They did, however, when the scent of food caught their attention.
“That for us, pretty lady?”
Blushing, the girl looked at both men from under her brown fringe.
“The… the prisoners…”
Elbowing each other, they smiled, sharks smelling blood in the water as they eyed the delicacies on display.
“It’d be a waste to let people who are gonna be fish food by this time tomorrow eat such an amazing feast.”
The girl hesitated again, her duty to feed the prisoners at war with the populace general unwillingness to disobey their military enforcers.
“Come on, pretty lady”, the other one edged on. “Who’s gonna tell the higher ups?”
Something flashed behind her beautiful blue eyes, and she nodded, gently pushing the trolley in their direction.
From within their cells, the three pirates watched in silence.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
If anyone were to ask, he’d been minding his own damn business when shit went down.
He had only wanted a beer. Really, life just wasn’t fair to wanted criminals.
It was just his luck that his crew chose this particular tavern to drink and make merry. Though, Kon supposes, it wasn’t their fault either. How would they know that the Lavender Throne pirates favored the same establishment?
He’d only been a member of the Renegades’ crew for about two months now, but he already knew how this fight would turn out. He was easily their best fighter, and the Lavenders were all about the same level of well trained; so here he was, alone in a circle of enemies, fist held high and feet doing their best not to trip over fallen crewmates.
Or maybe not so alone. A smaller back pressed against his, and he could see from the corner of his eye how the men trying to get his blind spot fell like flies. Not one to doubt his blessings, he doubled his efforts.
When things died down, Kon relaxed, marveling at the fact that just two of them were enough to deal with a full tavern of enemies. The bar maidens started to rise from under the tables they chose to hide behind, and Conner was about to turn around and thank his surprise saviour, when the feeling of cold metal against his neck stopped him in his tracks.
Uniformed men started bleeding into the room, dragging unconscious pirates away. When one approached him and his mysterious capturer, he almost felt the man behind him shaking his head.
“This one is high risk. I’ll take him myself.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
“Are you sure? There’s plenty enough for all of us”, asked Dumb Guard Number one again, words almost unrecognizeable under his chewing.
The girl, sitting primly in the chair they oh so gentlemanly had offered for her to wait on until they finished their impromptu dinner, shook her head.
Dumb Guard Number two didn’t need to be told twice and snagged the last piece of bread.
“Is it just you two for the night?”, she asked, apropos of nothing.
The more sharing of the two nodded. “Yeah, until the morning shift guys come and take them away to the plaza for their sentence.”
She whistled softly.
“Seems kind of mean, having only you two to guard three of the most wanted pirates of the last few years.”
The second one smiled a bit. “Nah, we got dealt a nice hand. We get to eat and laze around, and as good as they are, they can’t weasel their way between those bars. No excitement here. The day guards are the unlucky ones here.”
“How so? Aren’t them, like, a lot more? Seems like it’d be easier, sharing the weight of it.”
“Yeah, but Lieutenant Drake will be with them, ‘s going to personally oversee the executions. Can’t exactly slack off with the favored son of Archduke Wayne breathing over your shoulder, now can you?”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Cassandra!”
“Go! I’ll hold them off!”
The older woman, holding desperately to the other’s hand, made a sound of profound distress.
“But-!”
“Donna, just go! If they catch you- just how much do you think Diana is going to suffer?”
“It’s the same with you! We can run together, there’s space in the spare boat”
They were running out of time. She knew convincing her older sister figure to leave her behind was not going to end well or happen quickly, so the blonde pirate shot a look to vice captain Artemis. They both knew Donna was just too important to risk like this, her relationship to Diana recognizable enough to use her as leverage against their Princess. Cassandra, as beloved as she was by the women who took her in, had spent the better half of her childhood hiding her real identity and running amok where few would be able to point her out as Princess Diana’s protegeè.
Ignoring her mistress’s screams, Vice captain Artemis’s arms went around her waist, lifting her clear off her feet and dragging her away, her strength forcing Donna’s hand free of Cassandra’s arm.
Soon, Cassie stood alone in an empty ship, sword in hand as she watched the sun setting over the horizon, the distant figure of dozens of escape boats a mere shadow in the distance.
When the sound of boards and then feet hitting the deck reached her, her hand tightened on the sword’s hilt, but she didn’t turn to see.
“It was a bold move. Brave, though.”
The words made her startle, spoken so closely to her ear, the approaching presence absolutely unnoticed until that exact second.
Breathing in deeply, Cassandra spun on her feet, sword raised. Her enemy was already a few feet away, safe from her board attack. His cold stare clashed with her feral growl, an ice prince facing off against an amazon fighter.
No other soldier dared approach them, as the sound of their clashing swords echoed in the quiet of the night as thunder.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Just as a distant clock was about to point both arms to its highest point, both guards fell asleep. Literally fell, face planting in the dirty prison ground.
Sighing tiredly, the young serving girl rose to her feet. Walking towards Dumn Guard Numer 2 (stopping only barely on her way to nudge Dumb Guard Numer one to the side, so he wouldn’t drown in the puddle his face had landed on), she crouched down and took the keys from his belt.
When she stood again, all three pirates were on their feet near their doors, waiting.
“Who’s first this time?” asked the youngest, voice vibrating in his excitement, smile bright.
“Me, for sure”, crowed Conner, hands on his hips.
“What are you talking about? I made him fight for it. Drew blood, even.” Cassandra, proud smile and raise hand, threw back in challenge.
To all their surprises, the maiden went straight for Allen’s door.
“What? Me?”
“What the fuck?”
“Are you seriously telling us IMP is the one who gave you the most trouble this time?”
The girl shrugged, but a small smile could be spotted under her calm facade if one cared enough to look for it (which they all did).
“I had to chase him all through Star Port city. I was tired afterwards. The two of you made me fight, but it wasn’t nearly as exhausting.”
The boy jumped out of his cell as soon as the door was opened, fist raised in victory.
“Yessss! Free booze!”
“It’s a stupid bet”, the girl shrugged at the other two’s upset frowns. “None of you are an actual challenge, after all.”
“Oh, shut up, asshole. Get us out of here before those dumbasses wake up.”
Before long, all three pirates and the young castle maid were running through empty streets towards the port.
“The ship is ready for you to take. I made it look like you stole it from a very drunk, very unsuspecting crew of beginners.” As they all ran, she… he, took his hand to his head, snatching away the brown wig. Hair, black like a raven’s wings, fell over his icy blue eyes.
Cassandra, keeping pace with him, accepted the disguise. “Where to, after?”
“There’s instructions on your next mission already written down on the back of the map, on the captain’s cabin. I left the key to the cellar as a paperweight over it, so there’s no way you’ll miss it.”
Behind them, the other two boys crowed in delight. Bart even makes a small little jump, never slowing their pace.
“Is it fully stoked?”
Turning to look at the bigger man over his shoulder, the maid-turned-criminal rolled his eyes.
“Half. I do need you all lucid enough to do your chores. But whatever you find along your way that doesn’t slow your progress on the mission, you can loot for yourselves. There’s an empty treasury on the right side of the ship just for that.”
Another jump, this time from the other pirate. The two running ahead shared an exasperated, though fond, look.
They reached the promised ship before long. It sat there, beautifully tilting this way and that thanks to the gentle waves reaching shore.
They stopped there for a second, the three pirates facing their rescuer.
“Will you be alright? Won’t anyone suspect?”
He shook his head, hands demurely raising his dress a slight inch from the ground in a small courtesy.
“Caroline Hill has a perfectly solid cover, and there are lots of people who’ll vouch for her if she’s ever suspected for tonight. Also, the guards chosen for the night shift are known for slacking off in their duty. Falling asleep close enough to the cells for one of you to snatch the keys and free themselves won’t be too much of a stretch for anyone to imagine.”
They smiled back at him.
“Do try to catch some sleep before going back there as Lieutenant Drake. You’ll need your beauty rest to give a convincing ‘I left those criminals in your care and you LOST THEM?!’ show.”
“The laughable state of the kingdom’s military is perpetually infuriating to me. Don’t worry, I’ll be believable. And I can use this as an excuse to fire the most incompetent guards in the history of ever.”
“Do you ever do anything without at least two different reasons and multiple plans banking on it?”
“Why would I, that just sounds like a waste of my time. Now go, run off, before someone sees four people hanging by the port and gets curious enough to remember faces.”
“When will we see you again?”, asks Conner, hand catching his friend’s shoulder before the man in the dress can turn around and leave.
“This mission should last a month or so, and after you hid the objective in the safe place I designated for it for me to pick up later, you’ll need to scatter. I’ll catch you again soo after that, so in total… maybe two months? Three if any of you give me an actual challenge, but I’m not holding my breath for that one.”
“Bastard. See you soon.”
“Make sure to take us drinking next time, Tim. We barely see you now that you have to play good lawful boy with your dad.”
“Only if you idiots take good care of the ship. The Red Bird is a delicate lady and I’ll hang you myself if there’s even a scratch on her beautiful shell.”
“It’s almost as if you care more about a bunch of wood and metal than us.”
“Because I do . Now fuck off.”