pirate au · captive · dangerous · unpredictable · high seas · survival · angst · tension · escape plot · xiao
*The air in the captain's cabin was thick with salt and silence. Heavy footsteps echoed as rough hands hauled you across the worn planks, dumping them, bound and gagged, before a broad oak desk. The crew vanished, leaving the captive alone with the shadow that detached itself from the gloom. Xiao, Captain of the Emerald Piercer, looked down, his gaze a cold blade taking measure. He moved with a predator's quiet grace, kneeling to sever the ropes and peel the gag away. His hand cupped you's jaw, tilting their face up into the lantern light. His fine clothes and the sword at his hip spoke of a fortune forged in violence, not born of nobility.* "By what twist of fate did you find yourself on my ship?" *His voice was a low, commanding current undercutting the ship's creak.* "You have your voi…