The Tartan

Captain Angelina Sawyer and her pirate crew sat in the brig for what seemed like hours before the ship finally arrived in the kingdom of Asteria and the pirates were hustled off the ship and into the late afternoon darkness. Waiting for them on the shore was King Nathaniel Bennet III alongside what appeared to be half of his armada, armed with swords and pistols. Once the ship was tied up to the dock, all the sailors, pirates, and king’s men exited the ship and began to walk towards the crowd of soldiers.

“Lock them up,” King Nathaniel Bennet III stated, spit flying from his oversized mouth. “Tomorrow, they shall be hanged for their crimes.” The soldiers began to push the pirates toward the king’s castle and their doom. Behind them, Admiral Andrew Parker and his sailors looked alarmed. 

“No! Angelina! Wait!” He called after her. She tried to struggle and squirm out of the tight grip of the soldier, but couldn’t. She got a glimpse of a tear leaking out of Admiral Parker’s eye before she was hurled into darkness. 

The pirates sat down in the dungeon bathed in complete darkness when they heard a click. Captain Sawyer had pulled a small knife out of her boot and she used that to pick the lock on her cell. “That’s why she’s the captain,” Petunia muttered to the girl standing next to her. Before long, Captain Sawyer had unlocked every cell in the dungeon, releasing her crew and  several other pirates and prisoners who had been captured.

“What’s the plan, Captain?” Eyepatch Emmy called out.

“We need to get the chest back. It’s the only thing that can lead us to the treasure.” The pirates hustled out of the dungeon and ran to the throne room, where they were sure the king would be. Sure enough, as they peeked around the corner they saw the king sitting smugly on his throne. In his hands appeared to be a large red gem in the shape of a heart. “The heart of the sea…” Captain Sawyer whispered, her voice breathy and her eyes shining with lust. Without warning, she barged into the throne room and yanked the gem right out of the king’s sausage fingers. 

“Hey!” He yelled in shock. “Somebody grab her!” While the king’s guards ran around the room chasing Captain Sawyer, Admiral Parker and his sailors suddenly burst in after hearing all the commotion. 

“Angelina! Throw it here!” Admiral Parker shouted. Captain Sawyer tossed the gem to Admiral Parker, who caught it and sprinted out of the room, the king’s guards and the pirates on his heels. Before Captain Sawyer could follow them all out the door, King Nathaniel Bennet III grabbed her wrist. 

“You will never get to the Lost Sea Captain, lost girl!” He spat. “I will be the first to get the treasure!”

“You?! You’re after the Lost Sea Captain too?”

“Aye. And you can try, but you’ll never get to it first,” Captain Sawyer pulled her wrist out of the king’s grip and ran out the door where she saw Eyepatch Emmy waiting for her.

“I wanted to make sure you’d make it out,” she said.

“Thank you. Now we need to get back to the ship!” Captain Sawyer responded. The two girls sprinted out of the castle and fought through the guards to the Black Swan where the sailors and the rest of the pirates were waiting. They boarded the ship, Captain Sawyer turned the wheel, and they began to leave the Pirate King and his castle of doom far behind them. Admiral Parker made his way up to the top deck where Captain Sawyer was steering the ship. 

“Here you go,” he said, “Must be some treasure if it’s worth all that.” 

“It’s not just about the treasure.” Captain Sawyer sighed, “It’s about what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands.”

“What do you mean? What kind of treasure is it?” 

“The legend says that it’s a special kind of diamond that can do anything one may desire. It can make something fly or heal someone who’s sick. It could destroy entire kingdoms if the owner wanted it to. That’s why we absolutely can’t allow it to fall into the king’s hands. He would use it to destroy everything and everyone.”

“So, how do we get to this treasure?” Captain Sawyer took the red gem from his outstretched palm, raised it, and hit it as hard as she could against the side of a wooden box. “What are you doing?!” Admiral Parker asked, alarmed. Captain Sawyer looked at him and held out a tiny piece of parchment that must’ve been hidden inside the gem. 

“To the edge of the world.” She read out loud, “I guess we’ll keep sailing in this direction then.” Captain Sawyer handed the wheel off to Admiral Parker and then she alerted her crew to what they should keep an eye out for. They continued to sail on, not a ship or an island could be seen in any direction. Out of the silence of the crew and the whistle of the wind came a shout. 

“I see it! I see it!” Petunia shouted from the crow’s nest, “The edge of the world!” Petunia wasn’t pointing to the actual edge of the world, but rather, five waterfalls that formed a circle and flowed down into a rocky cavern. 

“Release the anchor!” Captain Sawyer ordered. Once the ship was secure, Captain Sawyer, Admiral Parker, EyePatch Emmy, and a sailor named Derek, lowered themselves down into the waterfall using ropes from the ship. When they reached the bottom, they saw magnificent jewels and gold covering the cavern floor. Sitting on top of the pile was a dusty old pirate’s hat and a sparkling diamond with gold dust scattered throughout it. “There it is.” Captain Sawyer sighed, in awe. She slowly climbed up the pile of gold and stretched her fingers around the large jewel. “Woah,” she muttered, amazed. She looked back at her friends and held up the sparkling gem in triumph. After all the planning and all the hard work, they had finally done it. They had saved the gem. 

“So? What now?” Admiral Parker asked.

“Let’s get back on the ship.” Captain Sawyer grinned. They began to climb up the rope, Captain Sawyer in the lead and Admiral Parker taking up the rear. “We did it!” She exclaimed. However, the look of triumph instantly disappeared from her face as she took in what was happening on her ship. King Nathaniel Bennet III was standing in the center of her ship, surrounded by his armada who were holding her crew and the sailors hostage. Swords, knives, and guns were held up to their throats. Captain Sawyer surveyed the scene and weighed all her options. She swung around to see that Admiral Parker, EyePatch Emmy, and Derek had also been captured by three of the king’s sword-wielding soldiers. 

“Thank you for bringing me the diamond. You saved me a lot of trouble.” The king declared. 

“Let my crew go, or —”

“Or what? You may not have noticed, young lady, but I have all the power here. Now, hand over the diamond, or your crew is finished.”Captain Sawyer bit her lip. She knew that giving up the diamond would doom millions of people, but she couldn’t lose her crew. Her family. She slowly reached her hand out towards the king, the shiny vibrant diamond reflecting her pensieve, fear-stricken face. Just before she placed the magical gem in the king’s greedy hands, she saw movement just out of her direct line of sight. Petunia slammed her foot down on the toes of the soldier holding her, spun around, and turned his own knife on his throat. Petunia’s sudden rebellion sent a wave of activity through the crew. All at once, they all fought back against their captors. Captain Sawyer pulled out her sword and joined the fight, swinging and stabbing at the army. Admiral Parker whipped around and punched his captor in the face, and with an extra kick, he fell overboard and landed with a splash in the ocean. The battle went on. Every pirate was fighting with everything they had. Soon there were only a few soldiers left, most having fled or fallen overboard. Captain Sawyer fought the king sword-to-sword and she was gaining on him. After years of sitting on his throne eating pastries, the king wasn’t in as good of sword-fighting shape as he used to be. However, one lucky swing put Captain Sawyer off balance and gave him just enough time to back her into a corner. Sword pointed at her face he screeched “Hand over the diamond lassie! What more can you do?”

“This.” Captain Sawyer raised her arm and hit the diamond hard against the ship. It broke into dust. 

“NO!” Screamed the king once he realized he had lost. 

“It’s over,” Captain Sawyer stated, “Get off my ship.” She began to walk away from the king believing he would take her offer of mercy.

“No, it’s not!” The king shouted as he hurled himself at Captain Sawyer hoping to knock her overboard. She dodged him and, with a swing of her sword, neatly and quickly chopped off his left hand. “AHH!” he yelled in shock. Whatever soldiers were still on board ran over to help him off the ship, knowing they had lost. Once they were gone, Captain Sawyer walked over to the small pile of diamond dust. She collected the dust and put it into a small vial to keep it safe, climbed up to the crow’s nest, and sprinkled some of it on top of the mainsail. “Prepare for takeoff!” She exclaimed. The magic dust responded to her command as the ship slowly began to creak and lift off out of the water. It floated higher and higher into the sky, getting closer to the bright, vibrant moon. Captain Sawyer climbed down from the crow’s nest and stood beside Admiral Parker. 

“I never did thank you.” Captain Sawyer began, “for helping us escape and save the treasure.”

“No problem Angelina, but uh there was something I wanted to ask you…” He paused.

“What?” Captain Sawyer asked. He said nothing. “What?” she repeated. Admiral Parker swallowed, he stepped closer to Captain Sawyer and without hesitation gently pressed his lips to hers. As they broke apart, the sailors and the pirates began clapping and cheering. Captain Sawyer took Admiral Parker’s hand as they laughed, and The Black Swan flew on into the night, disappearing among the stars.