Thanks to WiinterSol For the amazing teaser trailer for my story! Its just perfect and I love it so much! I'll be posting the official trailer made by WiinterSol in the next chapter!

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The harbour was creaking boats on waves, and gulls that fill the air with beating wings and cries. It was the salty breeze and the faded white paint along the sea wall. The ocean brings life, movement and a place to rest after being at sea for weeks at a time. Tortuga however wasn't like every other ordinary port town. This was a pirate-dominated town. Ship after ship of pirates would dock here, spend night after night drinking in the taverns and most of those nights they would end up at the brothels, a new women in their arms each night. It was a town full of pirates, drunks, traders and whores - the perfect place to hide out and seek the assistance she needed.

She'd been spending most of her day in Tortuga at The Bull's Eye Tavern, sat at a small table situated in the corner, her gaze pouring over the documents she had taken from Preston. There was letters sent from Morrigan to Preston, maps that had been scribbled on in ink and a few more documents that she deemed unimportant. The maps were the things that were of most interest to her. The scribbles that had been drawn on looked like runes - runes that she had heard about when she was younger. It was a special pirate code that only a few elite pirates could decipher. It was originally meant so that the Navy could never track pirates hideouts and gatherings, but now certain pirates used them to communicate without letting other ships know.

The only problem - she couldn't for the life of her work out what any of the runes meant. She'd read through books and books about language and symbols but nothing came up resembling the runes dotting the map.

She sighed, leaning back in her chair as she twirled one of her knives over in her hand, her mind deep in thought. This was a particularly special blade. Her father had gifted it to her before he died and now she dared not let it out of her sight - it was kept in a hidden holster inside of her left boot so she would not lose it. The blade was small and somewhat unassuming with it's plain handle that had been covered with old leather. She rubbed a rag of old cloth up and down the blade, trying desperately to remove the dried blood from it. Ordinarily her weapons would have been cleaned and sharpened as soon as the job was done, but recently she'd been so preoccupied with more pressing matters. It had been eight days since she had killed Preston and she was only just getting round to cleaning the sullied blade now.

Realising that she was getting nowhere with these papers, she spun the knife around in her fingers and slammed the blade down into the wooden table with a growl of frustration.

A low whistle came from in front of her. Her gaze shot up and looked at the man who was stood in front of her table. "Good evenin' little lady," he smiled, surprising her to see all of his teeth still in his mouth, all pearly white too. "What's gotten a sweet thing like you so angry, huh?"

She smiled up at the stranger, despite herself. Normally she'd make a snide comment and tell strangers to be on their way, but something about this pirate's expression seemed genuine and so she replied, a smile still painted on her red lips.

"I am not sweet, Sir, far from it in fact," she said.

"I don't believe that fer a second. Yer voice fer one thing is the sweetest song I've heard."

Her smile grew at his attempts to be flirtatious but she had heard it all before.

"You can't have listened to any good songs then," she said, watching as he pulled up a stool and sat opposite her.

"Aye, I suppose not," he laughed, making his brown eyes light up. He must only be in his mid twenties, she thought, she could see the youth radiating in his smile. "Well I reckon the lads on my ship haven't got the best voices anyway, they'd ruin any song."

"Whatever you say, Sir," she said.

"Can't say I've ever been called Sir before," he laughed, "Gotta say I like it. But you might as well call me by my name - Dirk."

"Well Dirk, maybe I'm just the only one you've spoken to that has proper manners," her reply made him grin.

"Aye, my crew ain't the most well mannered o' folk, but they're a good bunch o' lads."

"You're a Captain?"

Dirk laughed, "God no! That's Darius' job. We grew up together and he is much better suited to be Captain than I ever could be. The guys respect him. I'm the Quartermaster, or First Mate if you'd like," he explained.

She nodded, but found her gaze drifting back down to the spread of maps on the table. As much as she was enjoying just being able to have a normal conversation with someone again, she had bigger things to concern herself with. Dirk seemed to notice her attention had drifted elsewhere and followed her gaze to the table. Glancing back at the knife, his curiosity was peaked.

"If yer don't mind me askin', little lady," he started, his eyes still stuck on the knife. "What got yer so angry?"

"I wasn't angry," she sighed, "Just tired and frustrated is all."

"Anythin' I can do?"

She smiled at the gesture. "I'm trying to translate these runes but I have no idea what they mean," she said, pushing the parchment over to him so he could look.

"Any reason why yer want ter translate these maps?"

"Personal reasons."

He nodded, looking down to study the pages. "I have no clue what they mean, little lady," he said, sighing, "But my Captain might know if you'd like me to ask him? He's a lot better with this stuff than me."

She looked up at him and smiled, genuinely grateful for the offer. The only risk would be if these pirates were somehow in league with Morrigan and they could kill her easily if she was aboard their ship. She knew she didn't have much choice though and she needed these translating. She was desperate.

"And what would your Captain want as payment for his services?" she asked him. She knew no one would help her for free. That wasn't how the world worked - someone always wanted something.

"Don't you worry yer pretty little head, little lady," he laughed climbing to his feet, gesturing for her to do the same. "Darius owes me a favour anyway."

The corners of her painted ruby lips turned up in a smile and she nodded. "Thank you Dirk," she said, moving to tuck a strand of long dark hair behind her ear that had fallen from the messy bun on the crown of her head.

He helped her gather all of her documents and she carefully put them in her bag with the rest of the things she owned. Dirk, still trying to be a gentleman, helped her with her cloak and once she fastened her bag to her back she followed him out. Only pausing for a moment to pull her dagger from the table, keeping it in her hand concealed beneath her cloak.

They walked out of the building together, weaving their way between groups of drunk pirates. As they began walking down the streets, Dirk realised they were attracting attention and unfortunately for his companion it was from the unwanted male variety. Dirk laughed when he saw her swat away the hand of a man that tried to touch her behind as she passed by.

"Yer get this attention, a lot?" he asked, amusement evident in his eyes.

"Unfortunately," she sighed, slowly speeding up.

The sun was setting, casting a savage red and orange glow over everything it touched. The woman smiled at the harsh beauty of it and turned her gaze to look further to sea. She frowned when she saw a new ship sailing into the port. Her pace slowed as she squinted to try and read the name on the side but it was impossible from where she was stood.

"What is it?" Dirk asked curiously.

"A new ship in the port. Its giving me a bad feeling is all," she said.

"A bad feelin'? It's a pirate ship in a pirate port, what's so strange about that?" he asked.

"What kind of pirate ship doesn't sail under a black flag?" she argued. Before he could say anything else the strange ship began to fire upon the port causing them both to recoil, stepping back, eyes wide in shock.

"It's the British Navy," he said, reaching out to grab her bare arm, tugging her after him. "We need to move. Now!"

Normally, she'd object to being dragged through the streets by a stranger but the sound of the ships cannons getting louder and louder made her follow him without hesitation. The cannon fire from the navy vessel lit up the port causing screams of horror to erupt from the town. She looked at the ship and saw numerous smaller boats travelling towards shore.

"They've launched the longboats," she told Dirk. "We need to get to your ship!"

By now, the men had breached the shore and had opened fire on the citizens of Tortuga. There was so much smoke from the chaos around them that they couldn't tell who was the enemy and who was just another drunk pirate until they were merely a few feet away. Dirk had his cutlass drawn, held out defensively in his right hand as he led the way down the streets. His gaze flickering back to her every so often to make sure she was okay. He had no idea she wasn't just some typical damsel in distress in need of saving.

They turned a corner and Dirk suddenly pushed her back into the wall and out of the way of the bullet that had been hurtling towards them. She gasped in surprise, the feeling of being thrown hard into the wall shocked her but luckily her bag had stopped her from hitting the wood too painfully. As the assailant attempted to reload his pistol, Dirk charged at him, slicing his chest clean open with his blade.

"Are yer okay, little lady?" he asked as he moved over to her. "Sorry fer the harsh shove there." Despite being concerned about her welfare he didn't look at her, he was busy allowing his gaze to dart up and down the street, looking for the next attacker.

"You worry too much," she smirked, moving to step around him.

He called out to her as she took three hurried steps away from him and up to an oncoming naval officer. She ignored his call and before the officer could raise his pistol, she swiped out with her left hand, the knife clutched tightly in her fist, smiling in satisfaction as the blade slit open his throat before the man could even take a breath.

Turning back to face Dirk, she couldn't help but smirk. The surprise on his face was evident as he gaped at the scene in front of him, his gaze flickering between the beautiful woman in the red dress and the man that now laid at her feet covered in a different shade of red from the wound on his neck. He'd called people foolish in the past when they'd spoken of the beauty that death could have. And yet now, as he looked upon the woman in front of him he realised they were right - death is beautiful. And she was stood a mere few feet away.

"What's the matter, Dirk - never seen a woman capable of wielding a knife for more than merely cutting vegetables?" she taunted him with a smile.

"Nay, can't say that I 'ave," he laughed. "Where did ya learn that?"

"Now's probably not the best time to be discussing this," she advised, nodding her head in the direction of three more men heading towards them.

"Well, I'd tell ya to stay behind me but I 'ave a feelin' you'd likely ignore me anyway," he chuckled, moving to stand beside her with his sword drawn.

She smiled at the thought of standing with someone in battle. It was definitely a first for her, she'd always had to watch her own back.

"Well I can't have them kill you, I need these maps translating," she laughed when he smiled at her in amusement.

Their laughter soon died down as they sobered up, both trying to focus on their attackers. Dirk wasted no time, moving forward swiftly to clash swords with the first man. She stepped forward too, hurtling her knife towards the closet attacker and silently thanking her training when the blade pierced through the man's chest, sending him crumpling to the ground. Dirk was already fighting the third man as she moved to retrieve her dagger from the man's fresh corpse. Her gaze darted over to the two men, her eyes widening when the soldier cut open Dirk's stomach. He reared back to land the final blow to Dirk who was already on the ground when a knife was plunged through the back of his neck so that the tip of the blade was protruding out of the front of his throat.

She pulled the knife out, grimacing at the sickening sound it made as she removed it. They both watched the body collapse to the floor in a heap and the woman in red wasted no time before she was kneeling beside Dirk.

"How bad is it?" she asked him, not waiting for a reply as she moved his shirt to get a better look at the deep gash on his stomach. It didn't look fatal but he definitely needed it patching up as soon as possible.

"It's merely a scratch," he assured her.

"Sure it is. We need to get to your ship."

He nodded, reaching out his hand so that she could help him clamber to his feet. She watched him carefully, noting how unsteady he seemed right now, and how he clutched his stomach in discomfort.

Without waiting for him to say anything she grabbed his arm and draped it over her shoulder so that he could lean on her for support.

"Where's your ship?" she asked him, urging him to walk with her as she kept her eye out for any more soldiers.

"Not far."

They spent the next few minutes weaving their way through the chaotic streets and the dark back alleys until they reached the far side of the harbour where the ship was. And by God it was magnificent.

It was the largest frigate vessel she had ever seen before. It had two decks plus the lower levels for the crew and she could count at least forty guns on those decks plus the impressive number of broadside cannons. The ship was square-rigged on all three huge masts; the whole vessel made of the finest woods and metals. The sails were a dark grey but had probably once been a pristine white, she guessed, and the famous black flag was blowing proudly in the wind above the crows nest.

"She's pretty ain't she?" Dirk said, looking up at the ship with pride in his eyes.

This was his home, she realised, he lived on this ship.

"What's she called?"

She knew most ships, especially proud ships, all had names. But there wasn't enough light at this time in the evening to see the name on the side of the hull.

Dirk smiled, "Darius named her the Trident. The most powerful weapon of the sea."

She grinned at that.

They made their way towards the gangplank and when they got close enough, Dirk began shouting up to whoever was bustling about on the main deck.

"Reuben! Mance!" he called out, allowing the woman beside him to help him climb the ramp. Once they were both standing safely on deck two men were hurrying over to them.

The first was a tall, burly man, darkly tanned with dark eyes and no hair apart from the short beard on his face. He had a harsh expression - definitely a man who you would normally avoid by first appearances. The second man was tanned also but with tousled blonde hair and no beard, he looked young but was a head taller than the woman. His face was kinder but his eyes were hard, as if he had his defences up.

Both men seemed to pause slightly in aiding their Quartermaster when they saw the woman beside him. Never had either of them seen such beauty - even in the faded light of the early evening, her beauty radiated like a beacon of light in the darkness.

Dirk had begun to grow tired of the staring. "Rueben fetch the Captain! Its urgent!" he ordered the first man, the one with the shaved head. "And Mance get Lou - I need patching up and he's the only decent one around here who can stitch up a wound."

Both men nodded and with a final glance at the women beside Dirk, they hurried off to find Captain Darius and Lou.

"Thank you, little lady," Dirk told her as she helped him sit down on top of a wooden barrel on the lower deck. He clutched his bleeding stomach with a groan of pain. "I would've died if it wasn't for you."

"If you hadn't met me you'd still be safely at the tavern."

"Maybe."

A new figure approached the pair.

"I can't let you wander off for a single day without you getting arrested or stabbed, can I?"

A deep, smooth voice came from behind the woman. She turned to look at the newcomer. His hat was tilted over his eyes, casting the upper half of his face in a shadow, but if the bottom half was anything to go by then he was extremely handsome. His skin was tanned, his high cheek bones were sharp and his strong jaw line was dotted with day old stubble. He had broad shoulders and considering his white shirt had been left open and unbuttoned, she could see how muscular and toned the man was.

Just as the woman thought, a handsome face like that would most definitely be accompanied by arrogance and sure enough a smirk curled at his lips when he saw her.

His voice was smooth and velvety as he spoke next, his words directed at her, "Like what you see, princess?"