Captain Jasmine was the meanest of mean,
With the sun on her face, eyes held a gleam
Of the sea as it toils on windy shores
She does what she does, now and before.
The pirate queen listens to the dragons a flight
Letting her know everything was alright.
The suns beat down on the foamy seas
As the pirate queen does whatever she please.

Captain Jasmine was the meanest of mean. But then again, one doesn't become pirate queen by being kind. Years on the high seas with lonely men taught her to be ferocious and unforgiving; her skill with a blade had kept suitors at bay, and her scowl could kill a snap dragon. Though the men would have never said it in her first years on the ship, they respected her as a woman who could hold her own in battle with the men. Nay, she did not hold her own, but bested any record held, ever. She was no mere woman to be longed for, but she was a force to be reckoned with. Rogue wave, tsunami, tornado, earthquake, landslide. Jasmine.

Her earliest days she spent quiet, listening to the crew, learning the trade. He father, once a pirate before her, had worked aboard this very ship. She had kept her head down, listening to the talk, learning the motions, earning her sea legs. She grew up, as most girls do, and now she watched carefully the men as they went about their business, eager to finish their chores, and definitely weary of the whip. From pirate spawn to pirate queen, she had never forgotten her place among the people. She remembered the grind, the mortar, the sweat, blood and tears- well, if a pirate had any- that went into manning a ship. She remembered the hard work it took to be a pirate. Harder than being captain, if you put aside the threat of mutiny. 

But that didn't mean she would let them slack on their tasks. She would only accept a clean ship, one worthy of the sea.

"Get t' werk, ye' slimy mongrels!" Jasmine yelled out. "I expect my ship in tip-top shape by sundown!"

The crew pushed themselves even harder. Sundown normally meant rest. 

Tonight, it was celebration. Another raid, then celebration.

***   ***

The ship glided through the water toward the city on the sea. Quick as a phoenix, silent as an elf, it floated on the water. Jasmine never wondered how it was so perfectly fit for water travel, but she was glad that's how it was. Makes for better spoils when the prey doesn't know attack is imminent. 

Jasmine turned the helm; the long cannons aimed toward the city.

BOOM!

The ship tilted to the side, dangerously close to capsizing, but never quite there. Jasmine knew this well, for it was her ship. If she added even one more, the danger might become reality, but that is why she only had seven on each side.

The echo from the cannons reached her ears about the same time as the cannonballs hit the city walls. The wall shook, and pieces fell into the water below. A large crack appeared in the wall, and Jasmine waited as her crew loaded and lined up another shot- likely the last one they would need tonight.

BOOM!

The cannons fired, and the balls impacted the wall. 

The wall crumbled, opening the bay for an entry.

Jasmine swung the ship directly toward the city. Even now she could hear the wailing of the sirens, calling to arms every abled-bodied man and older boy.

It won't be enough, Jasmine thought. It never is.

***   ***

She walked through a nightmare of a city, walls fallen to the earth, bodies strewn about like rag dolls. The sight was grim, as it always was. Those that did not run would never run again, lost forever in the rubble that was once their city. Ruins stood where monuments had before, and bodies lay where once they danced.

Jasmine felt nothing for them. Pirates have no feelings beside greed, lust and hunger. There is no room for emotion aboard a pirate ship; not when the stores are full of rum and loot and food.

Her crew bustled past her, carrying armfuls and buckets and sometimes cartloads of bounty. They enjoyed the spoils, they earned them. She enjoyed the serenity that came after a battle, no matter how gruesome it may have been or how many lives were lost. There was an unnerving sense of calm that wold engulf her as she walked the bloodied streets and climbed the fallen barricades. 

Serenity is not what she found on this day. Something felt wrong, out of place. Where usually she would smile inwardly at the victory, now she was torn. Her usual stone-face would take in everything around her, now she could not raise her eyes to see. She did not feel, neither good nor bad, but her indifference bothered her today.

Something pulled her toward the center of the city. So she walked toward it. 

She grew simultaneously warm and cold as she neared the town square. Fire leapt in her veins, and ice crushed at her skin; she shivered even as sweat poured from her head. Still she walked, for she could not turn away.

As she rounded the last corner, Jasmine could see a shadow approaching from the far side of the square. Her stomach turned and her breaths grew short as an invisible force pressed on her chest. She moved forward despite herself. The figure from the other side did, too. 

Jasmine paused in the center of the town, goosebumps danced on her skin as the wind spoke through her hair. She shivered, but did not move otherwise, determined to let the figure come to her. After all, she was the pirate queen, and all would bow down to her.

The shadowy figure stopped under a tree, just out of range of the lights behind Jasmine. Still she remained; she would not give in. The shadow moved first to one side of the tree, then the other, almost dancing in the dust and smoke that billowed about the square. 

Jasmine scowled. She would wait as long as she had to. She would not move another step.

The figure finally stopped dancing. The pair just stood there, silent, motionless.

Jasmine called out, "You will step forward and show yourself!" 

There came no reply. 

Jasmine called again, "I am the pirate queen who took this town. You will step forward and show yourself!"

Nothing.

Furious, Jasmine pulled her gun from her belt and aimed it at the dark figure who rested beneath the tree.

"Last chance."

The pair faced off for but a moment, and Jasmine was ready to pull the trigger. Any other day she wold not hesitate, but now she was both angry and confused at the same time. The other had neither come forward nor run. Was this a challenge? She would not be bested, she thought to herself, and readied herself to fire.

The shadow rushed forward, at a speed much greater than was possible of a human. For a moment, Jasmine's eyes lit up with fear, but she was the pirate queen of 7 ships. She had no fear! She pulled the trigger just as the dark figure entered the light before her.

Its face was covered in shadow, but she could see the pain in its eyes. White, skeletal hands gripped at the stomach of the creature, where blood was slowly spreading to the ground. A mouth as deep and dark as any cavern cried out in a silent scream, and blood filled the mouth. The dark creature fell to the ground on its knees, doubled over as red blood filled the ground.

And for the first time in forever, Jasmine was afraid. 

The figure looked up at her; their eyes met. Her eyes met... her eyes? Suddenly the creature was her- she was the creature?! How could this be? She turned around but the shadowy figure was still there. It was here, all around her, covering her with its massive, darker-than-black feathery wings and long, bony fingers. 

Jasmine opened her mouth to scream, but only blood came out. She fell to her knees and slowly fell to her side. What was this? Pain? Fear? Blood? 

She looked up at the figure, its face was its own. Its fingers were stained red from blood, hers, she guessed. Its eyes held a hint of sadness; for her?

Her vision slowly began to turn dark, and she had her last thoughts.

Did I... Did I shoot... Death?

***   ***

The pirates stood around a body, wrapped in an old flag. It was the first flag their pirate queen had flown under, long before she was Captain. No words were spoken as four large men bent down to pick up the body. They carried it to the side of the boat- and paused. 

The Quartermaster had been chosen by majority vote to say a few words, as he had known her the longest. He tried to find the words. Years of battles, and it took one trigger-happy land-lubber to end it all. He paused, unsure of what to say next. But finally it came:  From sea she came, and to the sea we all return.

A chorus of voices repeated: To the sea we all return.