"Do you realize what you've done?"

The young captain dipped her hands into a bowl of water, splashing the cool contents across her face and chuckling as she looked over her shoulder.

After disposing the body of her commanding general, the captain had retreated to her quarters with her first mate and the general's assistant racing behind her.

Dabbing a cloth on her collarbone, the young woman smiled while the assistant slammed his hands on her desk. "Do you understand the danger that you have placed yourself and your crew under? The ramifications of your pompous, arrogant, feministic--."

"Are you quite finished?" she asked, brows arched as she tilted her head towards her first mate. "Do you think he's finished, Hal? Because at this point I think it'd be easier to lodge a piece of lead in his skull and toss him overboard."

Hal shrugged, opening the ship's log book. "It'd be easier to toss him for sure. It doesn't help us in the long run though, does it? Use your head, Shiri."

She sighed, studying the assistant. "I suppose you're right. He could be of use elsewhere. I'm sure the lion cubs we're smuggling would love a fresh snack. I'd expect he'd be a bit gamey, although they wouldn't mind. What do you think?"

Blabbering and gasping, the assistant ripped a thin parchment from his coat, waving it about as wildly. "The King himself ordered you to be caught and returned, you were given the opportunity to come forward, but instead you fled. Now, with yet another murder on your filthy hands, " The assistant slashed a quill down the paper, scribbling before shoving it in her face, "this sum shouts that you're worth more dead than you ever have been alive."

Shiri bit her lip before rolling her eyes. "Well, since the King is no longer breathing, I'd see that as a subsequently good excuse to ignore his decree, not to mention my last shipment alone cost more than that measly sum, so I'd raise the price on my head by at least two more figures." She tapped the paper and laughed. "And again with the 'dead or alive' act. I'd think you'd come up with better material once you'd caught up with me, but alas, being at sea muddles the brain, and I have yet to see the actual existence of yours."

"Listen to me, she-devil!" The assistant shrieked. "The King's armada has already been dispatched. The men, women and children that you have so desperately fought to free will be returned to their rightful owners, your crew will be executed, and you, my dear..." He ran a finger down her cheek bone before grabbing her by the back of the head, "You will face the gallows. And I will take great pleasure, as I know many of your brothers and sisters-in-arms will, in watching the life bleed out of your traitorous corpse."

Glancing around the man, Shiri asked, "Log report?"

"We've already made port with all our necessary benefactors, Captain." The first mate said, closing the book. "We'll be able to dock in Normandu in the next hour with little to no detection. If that is your desire."

Shiri grunted before she spat in the assistant's eyes and kneed him in the crotch, her pride growing as he collapsed to the floor with a groan. Taking him by the collar, she forced him to his feet and out to the main deck.

The crew was rounding up the remaining soldiers that had attempted to avenge the General, pushing them into a cramped circle as Shiri shoved the man to the edge of the plank, pulling out her gun, ready to fire.

A hoarse shout scaled up his throat as he stared into the dark trench beneath the salty waters. "You said you had need of me! You can't do this you wench! You can't!"

"I can do whatever I want, bastard, and you've already given me the information I need. Therefore, you are no longer necessary."

"You need me! You need me!" He threw himself at Shiri's legs, but only succeeded in earning a foot to the jaw, sending him over the side of the plank and into the frigid arms of the sea.

Silence blanketed the crew and soldiers for a moment, even Hal stretched to see over the ship's edge, to see if the man would resurface.

"Hal?" Shiri murmured.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Throw the platform overboard, and summon the Sagiri."

Hal froze. "The Sagiri, Captain?"

Shiri smirked. "See if he is able to make it to the platform, if not, the Sagiri will finish him." She turned, darkness settling itself in the contours of her face. "What is an execution without a bit of fun? I've always loved a good show."

~*~*~*~*~