Barbossa's Daughter

Chapter 1

Cora wasn't awake when it happened, but she woke in the aftermath. She woke as the winds changed and the sails blew the opposite way as the seas spoke to them with each crashing wave.

And she was surely awake when her father gave her permission to attack.

Them bleeding bastards they called crew knew better than to let anything happen to the captain's daughter nor to disobey her orders. She may not have been like them, but she was a fierce contender and every bit her father's daughter.

Her sword glistened in her hand as she braced one foot atop the prow of the long boat. Her tall boots were not heeled, contrary to most peoples' beliefs, though her black trousers were fitted to her muscled legs. Her torso was covered in a black tunic and a matching corset, and her hair, her hair was long and lush and the same colour of the ship she sailed on and the skies they sailed under. A black bandana kept that hair from her face, small braids woven into them and a single braid had beads of pure gold woven into it. She was a pirate, and she was a damn good-looking one.

And she'd look even better as she slaughtered the pompous rich fools that would try and evict them of the seas they sailed long before the Royal Navy was formed.

And they would be around long after as the fog settled on Port Royal and a new ship sailed into the harbour before the sounds of cannon fire rang free at anything and everything as the captain's daughter led the raiding party.

And she loved watching them all scramble for their lives as buildings crumbled and fires raged, and people screamed as their long boats hit the shore and her feet were the first on the sand as she surveyed the little town. "Give them no quarter," she said to the mate that jumped out next to her, a flaming torch in his hand.

"No quarter!" he bellowed to the crew who yelled in response and then Cora raised her sword into the air as she let out a battle cry of her own and they charged.

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No quarter indeed.

They gave the people of Port Royal no mercy as they bombed, shot at, and stole everything in sight.

There was nothing but a smile on her face as her sword ran through guards, kicked the faces of the would-be heroes and shot at any soldier who stood in her way. She thrived in this chaos. Especially when she knew that her father trained her well and that she was true to the meaning of her name. Her full name at least. Cordelia sounded too much like a proper lady of the court, one who cared about nothing except getting married and bearing children. No. To her enemies, she was Cora, a fearsome pirate of the seven seas.

And it was Cora, not Cordelia, who broke the lock on the gate to what was presumably the Governor's mansion with a single shot as they made for the door.

One of the men went to ram it down as Cora rolled her eyes as she lifted her leg, placing her boot firmly on his back as she kicked him out of the way and then pounded on the door with her fist. They had taken the Port by surprise, it was likely the news of the attack hadn't reached this far inland yet with the lights of the house still low.

And sure enough, the door was opened as Cora levelled her gun at the butler's forehead.

"Evenin' Guvnor," she grinned before she fired a shot and the man dropped dead in front of her as she stepped over his body and was flanked by her crewmates. Her eyes which were as blue as the oceans she sailed on followed the trail of a girl who had screamed before she went running back up the stairs. "Get her," she ordered and several of the men went running as the rest of them awaited orders. "Take everything then meet me back in the lower town. There's more blood to be spilt," she said, and the men let loose a cheer as they chased after treasure of different forms and Cora made her way back down towards the water, towards the place that called her home.

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The lower town was a particularly dangerous place to be as fires burned, buildings crumbled, bodies fell and blood spilled. People screamed and fled on foot as the crew pillaged and plundered their weaselly black guts out. And the symphonic sound of terrified screams was better than any opera performance.

Strings of pearls were draped around Cora's neck, gold bracelets around her wrists as she aimed her pistol at one of the soldiers who tried to be a hero and protect the lower town. Not that he was doing a very good job before he fell to the ground and his insides stained the soil.

Cora laughed an evilly victorious laugh as she watched her crew usher a woman towards the water, the girl poshly dressed even in her night clothes and not a single strand of her perfect hair out of place. She was in for a rude awakening.

Cora was about to join them when she heard someone call, "Elizabeth!"

The person who had spoken was clearly no soldier, with his dirt-stained clothes and calloused hands that gripped a hatchet tightly before he began running after the woman.

At least until he was stopped with a sword at his neck.

"Going somewhere?" Cora asked with a grin as the man stared down at the owner of the sword.

"You're a woman?" he gaped, and she rolled her eyes.

"And yer a man. A man that I be about to kill," she said as she dropped her sword and her foot met his chest as he was knocked to the ground. She was going for a quick and easy death, a blade straight through the heart, when the man surprised her.

His hatchet, which he managed to keep hold of, flew up as he deflected her blade, and his foot met her chest as she stumbled back. And as the man got to his feet, Cora laughed. "It's been a while since I've been surprised," she remarked before she lunged again.

The man was a fair fighter for whom she assumed to be nothing more than a simple labourer. He blocked and dodged most of her strikes, but she was still better as her sword sliced his arm when he couldn't move fast enough.

"You seem familiar," Cora remarked as she studied the man's face as he hissed and touched his wound.

"I'm sure you are mistaken. I don't associate with pirates," he snarled back as he hefted his hatchet again and Cora pouted.

"A shame. Ye look like gold compared to the bilge rats I sail with," she said as she charged at him again and he met her strike for strike as he pushed at her sword with the handle of his hatchet, surprised by her strength as she pushed against him. "It be also a shame that this shall be our last meeting."

"Indeed, it shall be a shame when you lose."

They were so close. Very close despite the way they pushed at one another. So very close that she could see the sheen of sweat on his face and smell the stench of woodsmoke. So very close that he could smell the scent of the sea that came not from the waves but from the woman in front of him. So very close that he could scent the faint traces of wine on her breath and watch the way the jewels around her neck rose and fell with her chest.

"Since ye have surprised me, I'm feeling generous enough to spare yer life," Cora admitted, not even seeming phased by the battle they were engaged in.

"I believe you overestimate yourself, Miss," the man said as he was finally able to twist her sword from her hand and point his hatchet at her as her weapon landed in the sand.

But once again, she did not seem phased. In fact, she laughed at him. A deep and bellyaching laugh that made her ocean-blue eyes sparkle.

"You men," she chuckled as she placed her hands on her hips. "Always underestimating a woman."

And though this man was fast, Cora was still faster as she kicked the hatchet from his hand and brought down the hilt of her pistol to his head.

The man promptly crumpled to the ground as Cora retrieved her sword and returned it to her hip. She gazed down at the man who was now peacefully asleep but would wake with a bit of a headache in the morning.

She could have killed him. Then and there she could have ended his life, peacefully, painfully, in whatever way she wanted. But something tugged at her. Some little figment in her memory. "I don't know who ye are, Mystery Man," she said to him, "But ye better pray that you never come across me again. I won't be so willing to give ye quarter, next time."

And Cora tucked her pistol back into the sash around her waist as she went running after her crew, leaving the mystery man behind.