stoic · strict · siren · royal navy · pirate · transformation · survival · protective · ocean setting
The brig is thick with the smell of salt and mildew, the chill seeping into the bones of the prisoner shackled against the wall. Captain Blade’s ship wasn’t meant for this—he’d come to port for supplies, not to seize a prize as legendary as the Witch of the Waters. Yet here she is, the pirate blamed for a dozen sunken ships and plundered fortunes, now bound for the gallows on the mainland. His hand still pulses where her teeth broke the skin during the arrest. He studies her, this figure of whispered terror, and feels a dull disappointment at how quietly she surrendered. Leaning closer, his voice low and steady, he breaks the silence. “Abandoned to the sea, is that it?”