Story: Origins (all chapters)

each story in this series will be a chapter of the main character's overall life

Gather round me hardies and I’ll tell ye the tale o’ one o’ the greatest captains ter ever sail the seven seas. Her name were Grace Flint but ‘round here we knew ‘er as Stripes. Now I know ye lads’ve prolly heard stories o’ Stripes dozens o’ times but I bet ye aint heard the tale o’ how she firs became a pirate. It be a long an interestin tale tha started in a lil town offin th coast a England. Stripes’ parents were nobles in th town o’ Harbor Freight an they wanted ter make sure their on’y daughter got married off quick ter another wealthy family. Our tale begins with a thirteen year ol Stripes gettin ready fer her weddin.

“But mom and dad I don’t want to get married. I’m only thirteen and I’ve never met this man”, a young Grace Flint protested at the dinner table. Just moments before her parents told her that her dowry had been accepted and she would be married in spring. Her purple eyes filled with tears as she looked at her parent’s unchanging faces. They were really going to make her, a thirteen year old girl, get married to a complete stranger.

“Now Grace my mind is made up.” Her father’s stern face looked at her from across the table. “The Edwards family is a powerful name back in London it will be a good opportunity for us. Jonathan is a fine lad and a captain in the royal navy.” Rodney Flint looked at his daughter with distaste. He had wished for a son but ended up with this whiney brat across from him. To add insult to injury she didn’t even look like him. He hard pale blue eyes, dark brown hair, a hooked nose, and strongly Russian features. Grace had strange royal purple eyes, a straight nose, black hair, and fair features that didn’t even look like her mother’s. She had inherited Juliana’s temper and stubbornness.

Grace’s normally gentle eyes were hard and dark as her temper grew. She stood from her place at the table and stormed up to her room kicking anything foolish enough to get in her way. Once she was in her room the tears started, her childhood was over and she was going to be sold to some stranger. “This is not happening, I won’t let it happen.” It was at that moment that she started to plan her escape from nobility.

Over the following months she racked her brain trying desperately to think of an escape. She sent out numerous letters to friends and family begging them for a place to hide from her father. Much to her dismay her father found out about her writing and barred her in her room without quill or ink. Her mother gave up on reasoning with her and stopped visiting her. The servants avoided her because of her violent temper and tendency to throw furniture.

The day finally arrived for her mystery groom to return from his voyage in the royal navy. Grace was stuffed into her wedding dress and drug down to the docks to wait for him. Her father stood on one side, her mother on the other to prevent her from running. A galleon approached the docks and her father grinned. Suddenly the guard station exploded and people started screaming. A black flag was waving proudly on the ship’s mast complete with the Jolly Roger. In the smoky confusion Grace slipped aboard the ship and hid in a broom closet.

After a few terrifying hours the ship started to move and Grace hid deeper in the closet. She could hear men walking around and talking about the attack on the town. The closet door shook and a drunken bearded man stumbled in falling less than a foot away from her. She stifled a cry but it was too late. Cold sweaty hands gripped her arms dragging her from her hiding place. “oi call the cappin we gots a stow away” the man called out to his shipmates. Grace was pulled to her feet and chained up before being drug on deck. The drunken pirates chained her to the mast leering at her and laughing about her predicament.

A series of thuds sounded out from below the ship as a man stepped onto the deck. He was huge, more than six feet tall, with arms like tree trunks and legs like the very mast Grace was chained too. One gray eye looked at Grace from under a wiry mass of black hair that extended into a bushy beard. Both the man’s hair and beard were streaked with gray showing his age but he showed no weakness. He was without doubt the captain of the ship Grace had stowed away on. “Who be ye lass and why are ye on me ship?” his voice was coarse and hard demanding an answer.

“My name is Grace; I hid on your ship to escape my wedding.’ Her voice only shook for a moment but her eyes hardened and it steadied. The captain blinked for a moment taken aback by her bluntness. She hoped her show of aggression would make the pirates respect her more and maybe even unchain her. Much to her disappointment the captain only laughed prompting the crew to do the same.

“Ye speak big lass but I kin see ye shakin in her petticoats” the captain grinned at his crew. “What should we do wit er lads?” she heard suggestions that ranged from throwing her overboard to stripping her and tying her to the head of the ship like a statue. Fear sank in the pit of her stomach making her feel weak and queasy. A forced wedding did seem that bad compared to what lay ahead of her.

“I thinks we should let th lass stay” a voice called from the back of the crowd. The other pirates moved aside to allow a woman to come forward. She had long copper hair, brown eyes, tan skin, and wore the garb of a pirate. The stranger moved with an easy swagger showing that she had been a sea a long time. Her hand went under Grace’s chin forcing the girl to look at her. “yer a pretty lil thing aint ye? I thinks you in me is gonna be getting ter know each other real well.” After one last caress she turned back to the captain. “I pays fer this ship an I says this lass be my property now.”

The captain grumbled but unchained Grace from the mast having been humbled by the presence of the woman. He kept the chains around Grace’s wrist and led her below deck. The room he took her too was simply furnished and obviously belonged to the woman who helped her. “ere you are ome sweet home” he laughed wickedly at her letting her get a good look at the room. It contained a cot and dresser, both bolted down, a vanity full of make-up, and a jewelry box. The angry captain attached her chain to the bolted down cot and walked out sulking.

An so wit th passage o time a scared little run away bride became a pirate an then th cappin o her own ship. What? O course there be more ter the tale are ye stupid? I don feel much like telling it now but maybe anodder time I’ll tells ye how she got er name.

[End notes: I'm working on the next instalmet so please be patient, also I want lots of feedback]

Chapter 1