Rise of the Shark((Void)

Bryan finished off his venison and gave a small, decisive nod. "Okay," he said, twisting to face the door and raising his voice. "Crowley!" Footsteps on wood told of a racing man approaching the quarters and in the doorway popped the tall, well muscled man that was Bryan's Quartermaster.
"Yessir?" He asked, popping a piece of venison into his mouth.
"Set a course to Nassau. Lord Torres has given us a mission." Crowley whirled away from the cabin and shouted,
"Get 'er ready to depart, ya lousy lapdogs! We sail for Nassau!"

"I'll probably find my ship at Nassau, along with my mutinous crew" Darcey said with a growl. She wanted to make an example of the men that had betrayed her trust. Alas, she had nobody to fight at her side. She was going to need some help.

Bryan gave Darcey a soft grin and returned to the parchments upon his desk for a time before he finished off his meal and set the plate somewhere so he could respond promptly to Torres's mission letter. "Never trust men who wish to cause mutiny aboard your own ship." He stated as he began to write back to Havana. "The crew has to know you, like mine do. Most of them, except Malcolm and a few others, were apart of my father's crew aboard the Titan. Loyal men, the lot of them."

"And how, pray tell, do you suggest I acquire a new crew for my ship? Write to Torres, and beg him for a crew?" Darcey really had no idea how she was to get her ship back, let alone how she was to find a crew.

Bryan dipped the quill he was writing with back into the ink pot before he continued to write. "Find out which of the men who stole your ship is still loyal to you," he began, finishing off one sentence and starting on another. "Whoever follows you will remain as a crewmember and will help you find other loyal men to join you aboard your ship. The ones who started the mutiny? Get rid of them." Bryan finished writing the letter and rose, rolling it up neatly before he went out of the door and called upon a pigeon.

He tied the letter to the foot of the bird and let it go before he went back inside, the men singing shanties at his back.

"I suppose it's worth a shot" Darcey said with a sigh. Her ship was her home, her life. She closed her eyes as she remembered her ship. Many had called it a floating wreck, firewood, and many other things, but she loved it all the same.

"What's your ship's name?" He asked, picking up the plate that still rested on his desk. "Perhaps the boys would help free it from your mutinous crew. Some of them have been itching for a fight."

Darcey opened her eyes, and looked at Bryan in disbelief. She couldn't believe what he had said. She actually stood a chance of winning her ship back. "My ship is a brig that is known as the Black Tide. She's not much to look at now, but I intend to have her fixed up when I am her captain once again."

"A fine name," Bryan said with a small nod of his head. "Yes, I'm certain that we can help you reclaim your ship, Darcey. You're welcome to take any of the boys that you'll need to help you gather the supplies you'll need to fix her up."

"Thank you so much, captain Waverly. Words cannot express how much this means to me." Darcey looked away so that Bryan wouldn't see her tears of joy. Being a woman, being injured... it made her look weak. Tears was something that she would that she would let anyone see.

"Think of it as a partnership," Bryan said with a smile in her direction. "We each will get another ship to come to our aid if we need it." He wasn't wrong in that aspect. If he needed her, he could send for her and the Black Tide and if she needed him or the Demon Shark, she had their help.

"I admit, it'll be nice to actually have an ally for once" Darcey said softly as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She never really had any friends, let alone allies. Her hands trembled slightly as her emotions welled up inside her.

"We're Brothers and Sisters," Bryan said simply, sounding shocked that she didn't think of the Templars as friends. "But seriously, Darcey. I'll be there for you whenever you need me. That's the pledge of a Templar as well as a friend and fellow Captain."

"Thank you, captain Waverly" Darcey said happily. She had never had a friend before, but now she had one. "I'd do the same for you, captain. Templar sister, friend, crewmember, and hopefully fellow captain. "

Bryan gave a small nod of his head and grinned in Darcey's direction before he took a deep breath and exhaled. "Come," he said, waving a hand toward the door. "The ship needs us both for the trip to Nassau and to your ship."

"Yes, captain Waverly" Darcey said before she stood up, and raced off to get to work. She was eager to please her captain.

Bryan gave a shake of his head and soon joined Crowley at the front of the ship near the helm while the boys sang below on deck. "Captain," said Crowley at the helm, nodding toward what appeared to be a ship in the distance. "What do you make of that?" Bryan stepped away from his Quartermaster and pulled out his spyglass before giving the scene a clean sweep. He remained silent for a while longer as he recognized the ship to be a man-o-war.
"Could be from the British fleet," he said thoughtfully. "Or Pirates got ahold of it. Then again, it could be an Assassin ship."
"Should we take a closer look?"

Bryan stayed silent for a while longer before he looked to where Darcey had made herself busy. "Darcey! Come here for a moment." He wanted to know what she thought of the ship before they did anything.

Darcey obediently made her way to Bryan's side, took out her spyglass, and carefully examined the Man o' War.
"Fat, slow, and most likely filled with supplies that we need. If you think the Demon Shark can take her, then we should, by all means, attack."

Bryan gave a small snorting laugh and clasped Darcey on the shoulder with a hand. "Both the Demon Shark and the Titan were made to take on the bigger ships," he exclaimed happily, putting his own spyglass up before he turned to the men on deck and shouted orders. "Prepare her, lads! Today, we fly our Pirate colors!" The boys on board all shouted their approval and scrambled to get their ship ready.

Darcey joined the men in preparing for the battle. She made sure that her sword was sharp, and her pistols loaded. She wrapped some rags tightly around the palms of her hands so they wouldn't cause discomfort during the battle. Darcey smiled at the thought of being able to prove herself as a skilled fighter.

"Crowley, turn her about."
"Aye, Captain!" The ship jostled calmly in the water as the Quartermaster turned her about, the Man-o-War sitting calmly in the water, the men probably relaxing or fixing the ship.
"Make certain that the ship's ready for a fight, boys! We'll need all of her weapons at the ready!" The men below echoed in a chorus of "Aye Captain!" before scurrying off to fulfill their Captain's orders.

Darcey positioned herself by one of the swivel guns, and did one final check before nodding to Bryan that she was ready.

Bryan gave a nod back to Darcey to acknowledge her state of being ready before he disappeared for a moment into his quarters. He came back moments later, hood drawn and hand pushing his mask into place across the lower portion of his face. The way he seemed at ease with it all told that he'd done this many times prior. "Get ready, boys," he called, his voice changed by the mask in place. It sounded like a low rumble, like the kind a storm would make. "When we get within a yard, fire and prepare for the worst." Another chorus of "Aye, Captain!" rang around the ship before every single man fell silent, the Demon Shark itself not making a single sound save the calm crackling of the mast.

Even Bryan's boots made no sound across the floor as he crossed the deck to the mast, where he began to climb. Crowley's gaze never left the captain until he'd made it to the crow's nest, where he crouched in preparation of the attack. The Man-o-War was closer now and it was at that moment that the first canon fire split through the air. Crowley's muscles tensed and his knuckles turned white where they gripped the wheel. He was waiting for his signal to circle around behind the bulkier ship. It was a signal that Bryan himself would give once he'd made it onto the other ship.

Now, Bryan had inched himself from the crow's nest and onto the mast, his boots landing nicely and expertly onto the thing wood and carrying him closer to the edge of the mast. There, he stopped, each hand reaching up over his shoulders to grip the hilts of each of his twin swords, the templar cross brandished into the pommel. The Pirate withdrew his swords and weighed them each in hand as the Demon Shark came closer to the bulkier Man-o-War. Now was his chance. Bryan ran and sailed through the air as he leapt off his own ship and onto the mast of the other. He could hear the men below shouting in alarm as another canon fire from the smaller ship echoed through the air, the ship jostling harshly as it dug into the hull of the ship.

Bryan twisted around in time to see the Demon Shark pull alongside the bigger, slower ship and he couldn't help but grin as his men manned the guns around Darcey to aid her in taking out some of the crew. He knew Crowley was awaiting his signal and so weighed his weapons in hand again before he sprang off the mast, the momentum slamming him and his blades through two of the men standing below him. They hadn't even been allowed to cry out before the swords were plunged through their skulls. Bryan rose from a kneeling position, pulling each weapon from where they'd sheathed themselves in the skulls of the men and twirled them around for a moment before he proceeded to engage the ship's crew. Somehow, he knew that his ship was already circling around the bigger Man-o-War, waiting for Bryan to give the charge to board. Bryan had to first find the perfect opportunity to give the word.

Darcey took note of the Man o' War's weak spots, took aim, and fired. For a woman, she seemed to handle the recoil of the swivel gun quite well. She was so used to being the one barking orders left, right, and centre. God alone knew how she managed to keep her mouth shut. Darcey examined the rigging of the Man o' War's spanker, and let out a devilish grin. With a few well placed shots, she blew the spanker from its rigging.
"Crowley, if you can get us closer to her jibs, I think I can take them out. She won't be going anywhere without them!"

Crowley had half a mind to tell Darcey that he'd only get closer to the Man-o-War when his Captain gave the order, but kept his mouth shut. He brought the ship around for another circle around the bigger ship. His eyes remained focused on board the Man-o-War's deck, where Bryan was still hacking away at the crewmembers.

Bryan found his moment and pulled his swords out of two mens' chests before lifting one high above his head and giving a shout, the other sword poised at his side. "Prepare to board, lads!" His voice reverberated around the large deck and echoed across the water to where his ship was. It was time. The men all shouted to one another as they readied their boarding hooks while Crowley shouted to Darcey.
"Time to take out those jibs, lass!"