Silhouetted by the Sea

Disclaimer: Nothing here is mine but the idea and the dialogue.

Author's Notes: Don't worry, Duo-lovers. The braided one shall appear soon enough in all his glory;) I hope you're enjoying the story.


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Silhouetted by the Sea
by Kristen Elizabeth

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"Relena! Relena...wake up!"

Sally's voice roused Relena out of a deep sleep two weeks later. She opened her eyes and yawned delicately. "What's the matter, Sally?"

The older woman positively glowed. "Come! You simply must see the water's r!" r!"

Relena sat up, managing with practiced grace, to avoid hitting her head on the berth above. After climbing out of bed, she gave herself a quick, unsatisfying sponge bath before donning her numerous underclothes. Sally tightened her stays with haste, leaving Relena with just enough breathing room to survive. She then lifted a light muslin dress from Relena's trunks, ignoring the many brocaded silk Robe a l'Anglaise and Robe a la Francaise.

"This will do for the weather n den deck," she decidede hee helped Relena into the simple, light cream colored dress and covered her golden locks with a frilled mob cap as Relena stepped into a pair of slippers. "Hurry! Trust me...you're going to love the view."

The two women emerged onto the ships deck and were greeted with the azure waters of the Carribean. Relena gasped in utter joy. "Oh my..." she breathed. "It's so...beautiful!"

"Just last night, the water was still Atlantic blue." Sally clapped her hands together. "And now we're in paradise."

A bit of Relena's initial excitement dissipated. "This is the only color of water I'm ever going to see again once we reach Barbados," she said aloud.

Sally smiled sadly. "And here I was under the impression that Lord Kushrenada was intending to marry you, not hold you prisoner on his island," was her pointed reply.

"A forced marriage might as well be a prison, Sally." Relena put one hand on her cap to protect it from the light breeze. "If only..." She stopped.

"If only what?"

Relena shook her head. "It is nothing. Nothing more than a childish wish." She squeezed her companion's hand. "The water is truly divine, Sally, but I think I'll go below again."

"The air up here wosuitsuit you better."

She didn't wish to argue with the Baroness, so an hour later, she was still on deck, marveling over the water. It hadn't been long before she had seen the first porpoise although she didn't know what to cale ste strange creature frolicking along side the boat until a deck hand told her.

It was a delightful experience watching the porpoises follow the ship. So much so, that it was another hour before Relena realized what was going on around her. There was much movement amongst the deck hands, more so than was usual. They were shouting things to each other in a mixture of French, English and Spanish, Creole, she had learned. The language of the Carribean. She lifted her head and looked at Sally. "What is wrong?"

Sally's face was drawn in worry. "I'm not sure. I think they're saying...another ship is approaching us."

Relena cocked her head to one side. "Is that odd? Surely we can't be the only people sailing to Barbados."

"Relena." Sally took her hand. "The men say the other ship isn't mirroring our course. They're sailing straight for us."

"Well...what does that mean?"

At that moment, a surly deck hand who had climbed to the top of the ship's mast cried out, "Les pirates s'approchent!!"

Relena didn't need to speak much French to understand. "Sally?" she asked, the beginning strains of fear creeping across her features.

Sally tightened her grip on her charge's hand. "Come on. Let's get below deck."

The first musket ball shot by the two women, passing well within a foot of Relena's shoulder. Too scared to scream, she turned around to look at the other side of the ship. No more than twenty feet off the port side, a second, smaller ship had maneuvered up beside their own.

"How could this have happened?" Sally fumed. "Certainly they must have noticed the ship approaching!"

The *Lady Anne's* first mate, Robert Bouchard, approached them. "Ladies....ladies, please....you shouldn't be out here."

"We're well aware of that fact," Relena whispered. "Is everything going to be all..."

"Ils viennent a bord!" the same man shouted down to the deck.

The first mate paled. "They're getting ready to board us." He made the sign of the cross.

It all passed in such a blur. Relena stood on the deck, helplessly clinging to Sally, as the *Lady Anne* was taken. There was a flash of crimson as one unfortunate deck hand collided with a musket ball. Under ordinary circumstances, she might have screamed or fainted when the dead man collapsed at her feet, his blood splattering the muslin hem of her dress.

Throughout the attack, Sally clung to her, just as scared despite all her worldliness. When someone grabbed Relena, a tall man with frightening green eyes, Sally fought back. "No! Leave her alone!!" Another pirate had a firm hold on her though and she was pulled away from her. "Relena!" she cried.

"Sally..." Relena whispered. She had no willpower to fight against the pirate's grip and soon, she could not, even if she had possessed the will. The pirate bound her hands together behind her back with coarse rope and left her to continue the raid.

Tears of fright clouded Relena's vision, but she could see that Sally, too, had been tied up and tossed aside. She must have hit her head on the deck; she was unconscious. The pirates were still just a blur to her, blobs of hurried movement as they attacked crew members. She blinked and shook her head, desperately trying to focus on at least one of the horrible men.

A flash of Prussian blue was all her eyes caught, but it was enough to send her into a state of shock. And, she hated to admit, brought about that strange warmth once again.

When she was able to fully focus, the rude stranger from the street stood on the deck, no more than five feet away from her, sword drawn, preparing to bring the weapon down on the old, pleasant captain.

"No!!" Relena screamed, struggling against the ropes. "Don't kill him!!!"

****

Heero's head swung over upon hearing her voice. The same proper English accent that had haunted his dreams for two weeks. She was there, on the ship. His resolve faltered momentarily as she stared at him, her hands tied behind her back, tears welling up in her sapphire eyes.

He lowered his sword. "And why shouldn't I?"

"Because..." The girl continued to fight her bonds. "He hasn't done anything to you!"

Trowa and Wufei, having taken care of most of the crew, approached them with the remaining two crew members at gunpoint. Heero looked at his friends. "Go get Hilde." Trowa left Wufei with both crew men and ran to do Heero's bidding. Heero looked back at the English girl. "You keep quiet, duchess."

"Do not call me that in jest, sir. It is an honor you could not possibly comprehend."

The pieces fell into place for Heero. "So...you would be Baron Peacecraft's sister. And your name is...?"

She lifted her chin despite the position in which she found herself. "Of no consequence to you."

Heero arched an eyebrow and gestured to Hilde who had joined them on the deck of the sequestered ship. "You can start transferring their supplies to our ship. Go through everything...get anything of value."

Hilde folded her arms across her chest, bound with rags to hide its development. "You get to have all the fun and all *I* get to do is move the loot?! That's not fair!!"

"Do you want to kill the captain, then?" he asked her, holding out the sword.

The English girl's face morphed into a mask of pure horror. "Why are you doing this?" she screamed. "How can you even ask this poor boy to kill for you?!"

Heero almost gave a genuine laugh when his little Hilde turned on the Baron's sister with all the rage and fury in her slender body. "Boy?!" Hilde spluttered. "I'm no more of a boy than you are!!!" She snatched the offered sword. "I'll do it."

Hot tears welled up in their prisoner's eyes upon seeing the poor captain flinch in absolute fear for his life. "No...please! Please don't kill him. If any of you have an ounce of human feeling..."

"It's him or you, duchess," Heero said, flatly. "Make your choice."

To his utter shock, the English brat blinked back her tears and struggled to stand without the use of her arms. She stood before the pirates, back straight, chin lifted and addressed them with all the regalness of a queen. "Then kill me."

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She had never been more scared in her entire life. Completely at the mercy of a blood-thirsty band of marauding pirates led by a man whom the mere sight of sent her stomach into strange spiral, Relena swallowed and tried to lift her chin even higher. If she was going die, she wasn't going to do it looking down.

The pirate leader stared at her a r a moment, but she could not even begin to guess what he was thinking. Or feeling. If he could feel at all. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "If you're going to do it, please get on with it."

Cold metal touched the hollow at the base of her throat. She inhaled deeply before steeling herself to remain motionless. After a long moment, the painful pressure on her skin disappeared. "I have changed my mind," the pirate leader announced. Relena warily opened her eyes. The handsome man was re-sheathing his sword. "Since you were so willing to die a moment ago, I'm sure you'd be more than happy to agree to becoming..." He smiled, something she gathered he did not do often. The smile was quite rusty. "...our hostage."

Relena swallowed. "Hostage?"

The man nodded. "I think that will be much better than simply stripping this ship and leaving you adrift." He took a step closer to her. "There must be someone who would miss you if you were dead....and pay a lot to keep you alive."

Her jaw grew tight. "You have my fiancee's ship. You would have his money, as well?" It was the first time she had ever acknowledged Lord Kushrenada as such; it didn't sit well with her, but she would be damned before she let the pirate see it.

The man's eyes flickered dangerously. "I would have it all, duchess." That same voice, throaty and threatening. Relena had to avert her eyes. The pirate leader addressed his men...and woman. "Give the bodies a proper sea burial. These two..." He indicated Relena and the still unconscious Sally. "...will be staying with us."

"Wait..." Relena licked her bottom lip hastily. "If you take us hostage, how do you expect anyone to know what you've done with us? You can't get...my fiancee's money if he doesn't know I'm being held for it."

He approached her, bringing the scents she remembered, combined with clean sweat. "I may not speak your kind of English, but I'm not dim-witted." There was a pause. "Hilde...you will stay behind on the *Lady Anne*. Steer her towards land or flag down the first ship you encounter. It will be up to you to get a message to our prisoner..." He looked at her, waiting for a name.

She gritted her teeth. "Relena."

"Our prisoner, Miss Relena Peacecraft's fiancee...I assume the Lord Kushrenada...the message that his bride is with us and will only be released upon the delivery of one thousand gold pieces." He looked back at Relena. "Do you think that's a ransom fitting to a lady?"

Relena gave him a cool look. "I was under the impression that you did not consider me a lady, sir."

"The title is earned, not given," he replied, matching the coolness in her tone.

The girl dressed like a boy tugged the loose sleeve of her leader's shirt. "Heero...can we talk about about this?" Her eyes were wide.

As the two pirates moved off, Relena blinked. He had a name. Heero.

How completely inappropriate.

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Hilde was scared, but not at the prospect of being in charge of such a dangerous assignment. Rather, it gave her a warm feeling of pride that Heero would trust her with something so important. It meant that she really was one of the group, not just a helpless girl.

Her terror came from the prospect of being left behind.

"Heero," she began, unable to keep the fright out of her voice. "Please don't make me do this....let me stay with you! Please..." Hilde hiccuped. "I don't want to be forgotten."

The fear she displayed did not annoy him. It only made him want to give in and leave Wufei or Trowa behind. But as he had learned long ago, Hilde hated to be coddled...hated to be treated like an inferior. No matter how scared she might be, and he was sure she was after being abandoned by everyone else in her life until he came along, he had to deny her request.

"You're the only one who can pass for an innocent survivor, Hilde. This is the best plan."

Hilde's gaze darted around as she tried to keep control of herself. "Where...where will you be?"

"We'll be right here, anchored down. You know these waters as well as I do, Hilde. You can direct Kushrenada to us without any difficulty." He untied a bag from the waist of his breeches. "After you do, I want you to use this money to live in Savannah until we come back. And we will come back for you. That I swear."

She took the leather pouch with trembling hands. "You had better," she whispered. "And you'd better be careful."

Heero ruffled her short but messy black curls. "That goes for you, too."

****

From just a few feet down the deck, Relena watched the small display of affection. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would have believed it impossible from man who had just led a raid that ended in seven deaths. When he stepped away from the younger girl, his expression lost every bit of warmth. He walked over to Relena and took her arm. The rough leather of his gloves scraped against her delicate skin.

"Shall we?" he asked, mockingly.

She had no choice but let herself be lead to the other side of the deck. One of the other pirates, a tanned man with coal-black hair, picked Sally up off the deck and followed them. Relena looked up at the pirate leader. Her mind raced to find a way out of the situation.

"Please...our trunks are below. We're going to need fresh clothing..."

His grip on her arm grew tighter. "Making sure you're dressed in the height of fashion is not a priority to me, duchess."

"But..." Relena chewed on her lower lip. "All of our jewels are in there, too."

This made him pause. He looked at the third of his pirates, the tall man who had bound her wrists. "Trowa...see to it. But just the jewels...no dresses. And then bring over the last of the crew." The man nodded and disappeared below deck.

Whhey hey reached the railing on the port side, he released her arm only to grip her waist with both hands. Somehow, Relena managed to hold back a small gasp when he lifted her up to the plank of wood that connected the two ships. Her heart was stuck somewhere in her throat as she looked down at the churning, blue water. The makeshift bridge seemed far from safe. When he joined her on the plank, she had to admit she was relieved.

His hands remained on her waist, a foreign, but not completely unwelcome guide as they made their way to his ship. Once they were across, he jumped onto the deck first before helping her down. It was almost chivalrous. When her feet touched solid wood, she looked up into those haunting eyes.

"Welcome to the *Tempest's Wing*, duchess."

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To Be Continued