[ it's probably tessa's fault that all of this is happening.
as a headstrong princess of a fairly large kingdom, she's really not supposed to get out much. and sure, tess does her studying, she does her ladylike duties and meets her betrothed like she's supposed to. she wears her corsets and her skirts and bows to the right people and smiles courteously at the bad ones, but tessa has a thirst for adventure, a need to understand. a want for something bigger, better. (a fiancee she doesn't hate would probably be a good start.)
so when said fiancee offers her the chance to go to meet him face to face in his home country, princess tessarae jumps at it. not because she wants to meet him (ew) but because a trip out on a boat means getting out of her kingdom for a few weeks and getting to see a little more of the world.
it hadn't been that much seeing, because the crew was pretty insistent on keeping her below deck; tessa had snuck out the first day, but was caught and gently pushed back to her cabins. that's where she is at the moment, looking over maps she borrowed from the cabin's quarters, when there's suddenly a great hubbub from above. tessa jumps up at the sound of distant cannons and almost scrambles over herself to pick up her skirts--when she flings open her door, she's met with something that makes her breath stop.
nearly face to face, a girl is walking down their hallway. not just any girl, either, and tessa breathes out-- ] Pirate.
[ --a pirate, in a hat and a great, billowing coat, with a cutlass gleaming in her hands and that is a pirate, right there in front of tessa. tessa, who just opened her door to what is apparently a standoff, with several of the other passengers looking terrified and holding their hands behind their heads, held at the knifepoint of her crew. ] Oh no. [ oh crap. ]
[ Minji probably shouldn't be so cheerful in response, but there she is. It was only the smallest glance in port a couple weeks back, and yet she's been addicted to the thought of her. So, when she found out about this little voyage, because royalty has no idea how to be subtle at all, it was just the perfect opportunity.
No one's going to die, at least not anyone that can be considered a passenger, so long as they don't do anything to get themselves killed. She has some standards, and she's instilled it in the crewmates, so hopefully the little party that's accompanying Princess Tessarae decide to stay right where they are, instead of try to interrupt. ]
And you - [ She sheathes her cutlass, dusting off a bit of grime from her sleeve as she draws herself even further into the slighter girl's space. ] - are a princess.
[ The ship sways with the fight, cannonballs sailing still outside and shouting coursing through the entire body of the vessel, but Minji is hardly concerned. This has been her life since she was young, and will be her life when she dies, but she's thinking vaguely about what the future might have in store for her if she manages to get this girl to come along. ]
And, doe eyes. [ She reaches up, taking her chin gently in her grip. ] You're coming with me.
[ tessa is so startled by that she doesn't quite have a knee jerk response; she's still sort of processing the part where there is a pirate on this ship and all of her guard is currently being held up by said pirate. not only is she a pirate but she is a she. no one ever told tessa pirates could be girls (pretty girls?) and she's still gaping when suddenly the pirate is all up in her business and has her hand on her chin. ]
Wait--you can't do that. [ actually, she can probably do whatever she wants; it occurs to her not two seconds later how stupid that sounded, and her cheeks flush a little pink, but tessa squares her shoulders and puts on that stubbornness that she is starting to become famous for. ] What do you want with me? I'm not anybody more than they are, you're wrong.
[ tessa's first thought is her guards (who have apparently been handily disposed by an entire team of girls, and tess shouldn't think that's badass, but it's totally badass), and her gaze flickers away from the girl's for a second, even if her heart is pounding with stupid adrenaline and fright all at once, so she can look over them, make sure they're okay.
tessa lied, and obviously so, but it's for her own safety as well as theirs--a tried and practiced tale she'd had pretty much drilled into her before she left on this trip. tess really only listened to half of that lecture, but she is definitely brazen enough to lie to a pirate's face. in fact, she's brave enough to say something back. her brown eyes (doe eyes, seriously?) flicker back to the pirate's face, and tess doesn't flinch. ] What kind of prize do you think I am?
[ Leveling her eyebrows at her in amusement, Minji considers whether or not she wants to point out the fact that it's hardly accurate. She's the one with the sword, and the pirate crew, and the cannons. She can very well do whatever she likes, because of those things, and there's very little that the princess can do.
She does draw her hand back, though, allowing for her to freely look about at the company she's been keeping below deck. Not all pirates have to kill, and so far they've done well enough - at least below deck - but she'll do what she has to to make sure that her crew makes it safely, even at the cost of these peoples' lives.
Humming softly at the questions, a slow grin spreads across her face, getting wider and sickling her eyes at the fight in her. Because that's gorgeous, especially coming from a princess who's likely been told that she must be demure and submissive, that she must give what is hers to ensure her survival and the happiness of those around her. ]
Well, I'm not exactly here for a prize. The money and personal effects will be greatly appreciated, but you. [ She leans in closer to her, cocking her head and looking her up and down. ] You're not a prize - and you're not for ransom, either. I want you in my crew, on my ship, and preferably in my bed.
But that one can wait, I guess, until you've decided on that particular note.
[ talk about being thrown for a loop. tessa was expecting ransom, not--a booty call. literally. she stares at the pirate with those wide brown doe eyes, a blush practically blasting its way across her face at that last little bit of her paragraph, as tessa flusters, some of her bravery completely thrown to the wayside by this absolute madwoman. ] Wh--me?
[ the really? is a definite, obvious overtone, and tessa's throat clicks when she swallows, trying to summon her words proper again, because she totally had it, she really did.
the safety of the crew of this ship is priority number one, though she's not sure how well their lives would fare if they returned to port without their princess in tow. after all, the reason for this was not only a transport of her dowry, but of the princess herself, and her dowry was pretty damn large. her gaze flickers away from the pirate again, to her main guards, and then back to her and that grin.
tessa's heart does a backflip, and she's not sure if it's out of fear or adrenaline or joy or apprehension or all of them. ] Would you leave the crew and my guards unharmed?
[ she really wants to ask why me, but she doesn't. at least not yet. tessa's curiosity is a dangerous thing. ]
You. [ Well, she could explain it, but Minji doesn't really care enough to right now. She's got a bunch of people with sharp weapons holding others up and stealing priceless and beautiful things. Dowries are invaluable, really, and some of the best things to steal from victims. If she can find one, she'll take one - at least, in the event of royal dowries or people of rich companies, because it's a dick move to take them from mere merchants - and sell it away.
Regarding her guards as the princess does, she gives her a small shrug before she asks her question, because she knows what's about to come. Honestly, she doesn't really care all that much about what happens to them, so long as it isn't by her hand. Though she's perfectly willing to kill, it's not really her first move.
The women and children are given a choice to join the crew. The men can go their merry way. ] I'm a thief and a bastard, but I'm not a coldblooded killer. They let you leave safely, they can leave safely. No one above deck should have been killed, either, unless they've made an attempt on one of my girls' lives.
[ After a moment of consideration, regarding her, Minji extends her hand towards her. ]
[ tessa can almost hear her advisor back home's voice in her head (this is a bad, bad idea), but if it means the safety of her men, then tessa will happily give it up. that's what princesses are supposed to do, aren't they? give up their own happiness to ensure the happiness of others. and tess would rather make sure that her men are safe.
besides, this is an adventure, right? it's what she wanted.
she stares almost uneasily at the pirate's hand, her stomach doing an uneasy backflip--tessa wants to ask a hundred questions, and that's barely scratching the surface. "her girls?" are they all girls? is this a normal thing, kidnapping princesses? if not, why her? why tessa? her father would kill her, maybe, he'd probably do anything to get her back. (or at least her dowry.)
but tess, eventually, places her small, delicate hand in the pirate's calloused one. ] Fine. You have a deal.
Before I go--[ because she can't hold it anymore, and princess tessarae is actually tessarae, lady of the fifth kingdom of ridiculously numbered questions: ] Why?
[ The silence between them as she waits for her answer makes something jitter beneath Minji's skin, anticipation for whatever her decision is. Because she wants it to be by her own choice - or, well, she wants how she goes to be her own choice, rather than be by force, though she's not against that in the long run.
Maybe if she doesn't want this, she'll drop her off in an allied kingdom and take off, and get drunk and bury her face in Newt's (lack of) bosom until she forgets that she fell in love at first sight with some girl she doesn't know, save for the legacy of her kingdom.
Yeah, Minji can never make it easy for herself.
But her heart gives a little thrill as she actually reaches to accept her hand, and even then the expression on her face softens a little at the very edges. ]
A few weeks ago, I was in your kingdom's port. We weren't flying the flag at the time, so we just slipped through, but when we were there, I saw you. [ She curls her long fingers around hers, hand broad and worn in comparison to something so soft and slender. There's no attempt to drag her away, just a gentle touch that draws her closer again. ] You'd snuck out, I think, because you weren't primped up. You were gorgeous anyways, and so obviously curious, and now you're feisty.
You're not a prize, but I want you somehow. So, shall we, Princess Tessarae?
...right. [ it's almost...weirdly romantic, in a way that tessa probably should not be feeling about this. it's the adventure, she's telling herself that, not the swagger or the grin or the way she carries herself or some kind of weird stockholm syndrome. she can at least tell the pirate isn't lying, but it's definitely not the answer she expected. there's a lot less murder and pillaging going on here than she thought, just...the dowry, and tessa herself.
fidgeting a little uncomfortably, tessa nods her head, looking uneasily between the pirate captain and her guards. they look crushed, terrified, and tess is a little terrified too, but she has to give them a look that says "it's for the better" not "i feel like i'm dreaming this right now".
so she clears her throat and picks up her big skirts with her free hand, pulling them up to step delicately over the threshhold; right as she does, the ship rocks with the force of a cannon hitting the upper deck and tessa stumbles forward, straight into the pirate's arms before she can even get out her clearly brilliant and witty response. ]
[ Sure, murder and pillaging happens pretty frequently. Minji isn't known for having a lot of patience, and if she's crossed? Well, the crews that cross her aren't exactly well known for getting out of it unscathed, to say the least. This one seems pretty peaceful, or at least smart enough to know to be submissive. It wouldn't shock her if there was some amount of bloodshed, but they aren't really out to kill.
Most of the time. Right now, definitely not. Kind of have to make a good (ish?) impression on the princess that she's kidnapping off to be what most men would call a wench, but she's interested in more than just that.
There aren't any reassurances she can offer the guards, because she's the one doing the kidnapping, but really. She doesn't plan on doing anything awful to the girl.
Especially not when she's suddenly flung into her arms, and Minji has to brace so that they both don't go tumbling to the floor. She secures one around her waist, the other against the wall, and she looks down at her for a long moment, just sort of taking her in. She really is ridiculously gorgeous.
But also, if the ship rocks again, they won't get anywhere. So, she deigns to duck in once everything seems to steady just long enough to pick her up in her arms and carry her off, casual as anything. ]
Oh my god-- [ tessa squeaks when she gets picked up because what, and she barely has time to process before she's suddenly off the ground, too big skirts and all. her cheeks go red and tess protests-- ] Hey! [ because she is not going to be carried out of here like someone's booty call, okay, it's just not happening.
except it is and she knows it is, because this pirate is, in fact, a pirate, and tessa is kind of her prisoner, sort of. her sort of willing prisoner? a trade? who knows.
the state up on deck is bad--there are cannonballs sunk with dead on accuracy into the wood, places where water is leaking into the ship, but everything seems to go silent as the pirate captain makes her way onto the deck. tessa looks over her shoulder and watches her home disappear as they walk over the gangplank. her ship is massive, flying the black flag as clear and true as day, and she can't help the sort of mix of despair and excitement that comes from being basically delivered to whatever her new fate is.
i'm sorry, she thinks, to her fiance, but mostly to her people--this is letting them down, and she knows it is, but it's keeping them safe in the long run, and...well, she's getting that adventure she'd wanted.
eventually, a little annoyed, tessa lifts up to get a look at the other girl. ] I don't even know your name.
[ The skirts that the upper class wear are so ridiculously inconvenient, and it just seems to get worse with royalty. Minji is vaguely tempted to tell her to leave them behind, but really she's not that much of a shank. She's just enough of a shank to carry her up to the deck, and over to her own ship.
Eyebrows raising, she can't help the frown that appears on her face. Maybe they need to work on their infamy some more, although it's not particularly shocking - this is a princess, after all. They aren't told much about the high seas. ] It's Minji. I mean, there are other names, but that's my actual one.
[ She shrugs, moving to carefully set the slighter girl down onto her feet. Minji even goes so far as to dust her off and straighten out her skirts a bit, careful to keep the gesture polite so that she doesn't edge over into copping a feel. But once everything is in order again, she has some orders she has to give out. ]
Excuse me, for a second - raise the gangplank, release the hooks, let's go! [ She throws down her orders where necessary, making sure that everyone hauls ass back onto their ship so they can leave. But then she perks a little, grinning. ] Hey, Newt! We can leave now.
[ now that she's said something, the name sounds at least sort of familiar. minji, scourge of the seven seas. she'd been a real pain in the butt for the kingdom, constantly stealing shipments from the new country before they could get here--some of which included tessa's favorite sweet cinnamon. in fact, she could vaguely remember cursing her name at the dinner table before it, and tessa has to suppress sort of a bark of laughter at the thought. kidnapped by the cinnamon thief. amazing.
(of course, that's not all she's stolen, but tessa had been a little indignant about that on top of all of the money and gold and things for the kingdom, too.)
she opens her mouth to say something about it, but minji starts giving orders and tessa snaps her mouth shut again, watching the crew come over with the kind of absurd precise motion that usually comes from military crews; whooping and yelling, fifty some odd girls come flying in from the ship off of hooks and rope, and the gangplank lifts with the last one. whoever she was talking to turns out to be a tiny blonde with her hair tied up in a ponytail--she rolls her eyes (really?) at minji, then looks at tess, clucking her tongue. you're un-shucking-believable, minji, she says, turning away from them to maybe man the ship.
it leaves, more or less, tess and minji alone. the few girls lingering around, hoisting the rigging, call things out-- "ooh, dibs!" "I want her skirts!" "Maybe she came with a bunch of girly shanky hair stuff." "Heeey, princess!" and so on and so forth--it makes tessa blush, and she takes a step back from minji, lifting her skirts again, almost like she's gonna run. she's not--she has nowhere to go--but tess likes feeling like she has the option.
at the moment, though, she's just kind of standing there, looking like a tiny, wide eyed deer. ]
[ Minji just shrugs in response to Newt's appraisal and subsequent reaction, not really all that bothered by it. Honestly, she shouldn't be surprised by it - and probably isn't, actually - and at least no one was horribly maimed in the process. The kingdom is on the smaller side, though, so even if they do get raided every now and then maybe they just realize it's better safe than sorry when it comes to piracy.
Whatever. She's got what she wants, and maybe from now on they'll dial back a little on stealing wares and shipments from them. Could mean that they don't try and steal their princess back, who knows.
Man, Newt's not going to be happy when she finds out it's a princess that Minji's decided to try and romance.
Speaking of, though. With the catcalls, she scowls a little, squaring her shoulders and straightening up. Tessa might move away from her, but Minji shifts into a stance along the lines of protective. ]
Hey! I'm gonna say this once, so you better listen - Tessa here is a guest, and her personal possessions are off limits unless she decides she wants to share them with you shanks. Any of you try callin' dibs on anything, I'll beat your shuck heads in!
[ "personal possessions" comes someone jeering from up in the rigging--a skinny girl, though tess thought she looked too young to be on the ship--"does that mean her stuff or her stuff?"
there's a chorus of "oooohs" from the girls, and tessa turns red at the ears--she could stay quiet, really, she could have learned like her parents so desperately wanted her to, to be demure and silent and only speak when spoken to, but. well, she never learned. cupping her hands around her mouth, tessa yells back-- ] It means neither for you!
[ and then, realizing exactly what she implied, tessa turns redder and attempts to cover for herself. ] Or any of you!
[ and proceeds to make it worse, by whirling around and challenging minji: ] Especially you!
[ there's dead silence for all of five seconds, before the blonde girl--newt, maybe?--suddenly cracks up laughing, and the rest of the girls follow. ]
[ At first, Minji is rolling her eyes at the crew - especially because one of the chatty ones has decided to be Aris, and really she should throw that girl off the ship, no matter what Rachel says - but then she turns her attention to Tessa again, raising her eyebrows in interest. This is definitely not princess behavior, but instead of finding it offputting like she imagines the girl's parents likely would have made her think, she's smitten.
And then Tessa whirls around on her, and she blinks down at her.
A moment after the others start laughing, she joins in with them, throwing her head back. She's not offended in the least bit, to be honest, and instead she's even more charmed.
You can't really be on board a pirate ship without having some fight to you. This is a good sign.
Holding her hands up while her laughter dies down to chuckling, she offers her mock-surrender with a shrug. ] Consent is sexy. You want to see your quarters, or should I let you glare at everyone for a while first?
[ tessa is left sort of half thinking she's going to get killed, but the atmosphere loosens considerably when newt laughs, and then it's gone all together when minji does. she's left flustered and huffy and now a little confused, fists still clenched at her sides, and a part of her wonders how awful this is really going to be. so far, it feels like emotional whiplash.
the blonde girl wipes a tear from her eyes and claps minji on the shoulder, telling her to bring tess 'round once she's gotten settled later tonight, and starts yelling for the crew to get back to work; tess figures out pretty quickly she must be minji's first mate. all of this, this whole--women doing everything thing--it's kind of amazing, though she'd be hard pressed to admit it. not because she doesn't believe it, because she totally does, but mostly just because she doesn't want to admit anything nice about the people who definitely just kidnapped her. traded her. whatever.
tessa's fists loosen and she huffs, grabbing her skirts to walk on the deck in her little heels without a word, straight past minji...even though she has no clue where she's going. ]
[ Giving Newt a nudge with her elbow, and a catcall of her own - do your work, not Allie! - that leads to the short, dark-skinned woman giving her a dry look from up where she's standing at the wheel, Minji claps her hands once before rubbing them together. Tessa's reaction to being kidnapped is pretty impressive, but hopefully she eases up a little.
If she doesn't, well. Minji doesn't want to think about it, because it involves a lot of alcohol and invading Newt and Allie's quarters to despair to them for a week.
For now, though, she just gets to watch Tess get huffy at her and march off. A second's pause has her considering whether she wants to follow or not, but then she decides to go with it, strolling along after her with her hands in her long coat's pockets. There's work to be done, but she figures she should probably tag along for a bit to make sure she doesn't fall into a hole or something. ]
[ tessa is acutely aware of the captain of the ship following her, thank you very much, but she's going to continue to walk with her head held high and pretend that she's not still blushing down to her neck. everything about this place is already kind of awful, she decides, and tessa pretty much cements it in her head that she's going to try and escape somehow. maybe she can cut her skirts and jump off and swim. the ship can't be that far off, right?
she'll look for an exit instead of her quarters, as soon as she can get minji off of her back.
tessa doesn't turn around, but keeps her head up instead, peeking in rooms occasionally. the ship is big, just as big as the one she was just on if not bigger, only..inhabited by pirates, and a lot of gold, and she could probably have the lay of the place handled within a couple days if she didn't escape. tess squares her shoulders and peers into another doorway, pretending to be nonchalant, but it's really not working that well. she's actually still absurdly curious, but she's still trying to deal with the fact that she was kidnapped, first. ] Why are you following me? Don't you have things to do?
Ain't exactly keen on the idea of you falling through to the brig or getting pulled up with the rigging from some errant rope. [ Yeah, still not really bothered too much by Tessa's reaction to her general existence. Reaching up, she plucks her (stolen) hat off her head, smoothing a hand through her bangs and over the rest of her short hair, scratching at the shorn portion now that she doesn't have to deal with the feathery monstrosity.
People make assumptions about women in general, nevermind Minji, but she's observant. She's smart, and she's not oblivious. She knows that little miss Tessarae here is trying to think of a means of escape, figuring out the lay of the ship.
Thankfully, it's kind of big and difficult to navigate. Maybe she'll warm to them while she's at it. (Definitely need to sic Newt on her.) ]
Newt's overseeing things, so I don't gotta do anything right now unless I decided to take inventory now instead.
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8D
as a headstrong princess of a fairly large kingdom, she's really not supposed to get out much. and sure, tess does her studying, she does her ladylike duties and meets her betrothed like she's supposed to. she wears her corsets and her skirts and bows to the right people and smiles courteously at the bad ones, but tessa has a thirst for adventure, a need to understand. a want for something bigger, better. (a fiancee she doesn't hate would probably be a good start.)
so when said fiancee offers her the chance to go to meet him face to face in his home country, princess tessarae jumps at it. not because she wants to meet him (ew) but because a trip out on a boat means getting out of her kingdom for a few weeks and getting to see a little more of the world.
it hadn't been that much seeing, because the crew was pretty insistent on keeping her below deck; tessa had snuck out the first day, but was caught and gently pushed back to her cabins. that's where she is at the moment, looking over maps she borrowed from the cabin's quarters, when there's suddenly a great hubbub from above. tessa jumps up at the sound of distant cannons and almost scrambles over herself to pick up her skirts--when she flings open her door, she's met with something that makes her breath stop.
nearly face to face, a girl is walking down their hallway. not just any girl, either, and tessa breathes out-- ] Pirate.
[ --a pirate, in a hat and a great, billowing coat, with a cutlass gleaming in her hands and that is a pirate, right there in front of tessa. tessa, who just opened her door to what is apparently a standoff, with several of the other passengers looking terrified and holding their hands behind their heads, held at the knifepoint of her crew. ] Oh no. [ oh crap. ]
rubs hands together
[ Minji probably shouldn't be so cheerful in response, but there she is. It was only the smallest glance in port a couple weeks back, and yet she's been addicted to the thought of her. So, when she found out about this little voyage, because royalty has no idea how to be subtle at all, it was just the perfect opportunity.
No one's going to die, at least not anyone that can be considered a passenger, so long as they don't do anything to get themselves killed. She has some standards, and she's instilled it in the crewmates, so hopefully the little party that's accompanying Princess Tessarae decide to stay right where they are, instead of try to interrupt. ]
And you - [ She sheathes her cutlass, dusting off a bit of grime from her sleeve as she draws herself even further into the slighter girl's space. ] - are a princess.
[ The ship sways with the fight, cannonballs sailing still outside and shouting coursing through the entire body of the vessel, but Minji is hardly concerned. This has been her life since she was young, and will be her life when she dies, but she's thinking vaguely about what the future might have in store for her if she manages to get this girl to come along. ]
And, doe eyes. [ She reaches up, taking her chin gently in her grip. ] You're coming with me.
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Wait--you can't do that. [ actually, she can probably do whatever she wants; it occurs to her not two seconds later how stupid that sounded, and her cheeks flush a little pink, but tessa squares her shoulders and puts on that stubbornness that she is starting to become famous for. ] What do you want with me? I'm not anybody more than they are, you're wrong.
[ tessa's first thought is her guards (who have apparently been handily disposed by an entire team of girls, and tess shouldn't think that's badass, but it's totally badass), and her gaze flickers away from the girl's for a second, even if her heart is pounding with stupid adrenaline and fright all at once, so she can look over them, make sure they're okay.
tessa lied, and obviously so, but it's for her own safety as well as theirs--a tried and practiced tale she'd had pretty much drilled into her before she left on this trip. tess really only listened to half of that lecture, but she is definitely brazen enough to lie to a pirate's face. in fact, she's brave enough to say something back. her brown eyes (doe eyes, seriously?) flicker back to the pirate's face, and tess doesn't flinch. ] What kind of prize do you think I am?
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She does draw her hand back, though, allowing for her to freely look about at the company she's been keeping below deck. Not all pirates have to kill, and so far they've done well enough - at least below deck - but she'll do what she has to to make sure that her crew makes it safely, even at the cost of these peoples' lives.
Humming softly at the questions, a slow grin spreads across her face, getting wider and sickling her eyes at the fight in her. Because that's gorgeous, especially coming from a princess who's likely been told that she must be demure and submissive, that she must give what is hers to ensure her survival and the happiness of those around her. ]
Well, I'm not exactly here for a prize. The money and personal effects will be greatly appreciated, but you. [ She leans in closer to her, cocking her head and looking her up and down. ] You're not a prize - and you're not for ransom, either. I want you in my crew, on my ship, and preferably in my bed.
But that one can wait, I guess, until you've decided on that particular note.
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[ the really? is a definite, obvious overtone, and tessa's throat clicks when she swallows, trying to summon her words proper again, because she totally had it, she really did.
the safety of the crew of this ship is priority number one, though she's not sure how well their lives would fare if they returned to port without their princess in tow. after all, the reason for this was not only a transport of her dowry, but of the princess herself, and her dowry was pretty damn large. her gaze flickers away from the pirate again, to her main guards, and then back to her and that grin.
tessa's heart does a backflip, and she's not sure if it's out of fear or adrenaline or joy or apprehension or all of them. ] Would you leave the crew and my guards unharmed?
[ she really wants to ask why me, but she doesn't. at least not yet. tessa's curiosity is a dangerous thing. ]
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Regarding her guards as the princess does, she gives her a small shrug before she asks her question, because she knows what's about to come. Honestly, she doesn't really care all that much about what happens to them, so long as it isn't by her hand. Though she's perfectly willing to kill, it's not really her first move.
The women and children are given a choice to join the crew. The men can go their merry way. ] I'm a thief and a bastard, but I'm not a coldblooded killer. They let you leave safely, they can leave safely. No one above deck should have been killed, either, unless they've made an attempt on one of my girls' lives.
[ After a moment of consideration, regarding her, Minji extends her hand towards her. ]
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besides, this is an adventure, right? it's what she wanted.
she stares almost uneasily at the pirate's hand, her stomach doing an uneasy backflip--tessa wants to ask a hundred questions, and that's barely scratching the surface. "her girls?" are they all girls? is this a normal thing, kidnapping princesses? if not, why her? why tessa? her father would kill her, maybe, he'd probably do anything to get her back. (or at least her dowry.)
but tess, eventually, places her small, delicate hand in the pirate's calloused one. ] Fine. You have a deal.
Before I go--[ because she can't hold it anymore, and princess tessarae is actually tessarae, lady of the fifth kingdom of ridiculously numbered questions: ] Why?
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Maybe if she doesn't want this, she'll drop her off in an allied kingdom and take off, and get drunk and bury her face in Newt's (lack of) bosom until she forgets that she fell in love at first sight with some girl she doesn't know, save for the legacy of her kingdom.
Yeah, Minji can never make it easy for herself.
But her heart gives a little thrill as she actually reaches to accept her hand, and even then the expression on her face softens a little at the very edges. ]
A few weeks ago, I was in your kingdom's port. We weren't flying the flag at the time, so we just slipped through, but when we were there, I saw you. [ She curls her long fingers around hers, hand broad and worn in comparison to something so soft and slender. There's no attempt to drag her away, just a gentle touch that draws her closer again. ] You'd snuck out, I think, because you weren't primped up. You were gorgeous anyways, and so obviously curious, and now you're feisty.
You're not a prize, but I want you somehow. So, shall we, Princess Tessarae?
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fidgeting a little uncomfortably, tessa nods her head, looking uneasily between the pirate captain and her guards. they look crushed, terrified, and tess is a little terrified too, but she has to give them a look that says "it's for the better" not "i feel like i'm dreaming this right now".
so she clears her throat and picks up her big skirts with her free hand, pulling them up to step delicately over the threshhold; right as she does, the ship rocks with the force of a cannon hitting the upper deck and tessa stumbles forward, straight into the pirate's arms before she can even get out her clearly brilliant and witty response. ]
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Most of the time. Right now, definitely not. Kind of have to make a good (ish?) impression on the princess that she's kidnapping off to be what most men would call a wench, but she's interested in more than just that.
There aren't any reassurances she can offer the guards, because she's the one doing the kidnapping, but really. She doesn't plan on doing anything awful to the girl.
Especially not when she's suddenly flung into her arms, and Minji has to brace so that they both don't go tumbling to the floor. She secures one around her waist, the other against the wall, and she looks down at her for a long moment, just sort of taking her in. She really is ridiculously gorgeous.
But also, if the ship rocks again, they won't get anywhere. So, she deigns to duck in once everything seems to steady just long enough to pick her up in her arms and carry her off, casual as anything. ]
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except it is and she knows it is, because this pirate is, in fact, a pirate, and tessa is kind of her prisoner, sort of. her sort of willing prisoner? a trade? who knows.
the state up on deck is bad--there are cannonballs sunk with dead on accuracy into the wood, places where water is leaking into the ship, but everything seems to go silent as the pirate captain makes her way onto the deck. tessa looks over her shoulder and watches her home disappear as they walk over the gangplank. her ship is massive, flying the black flag as clear and true as day, and she can't help the sort of mix of despair and excitement that comes from being basically delivered to whatever her new fate is.
i'm sorry, she thinks, to her fiance, but mostly to her people--this is letting them down, and she knows it is, but it's keeping them safe in the long run, and...well, she's getting that adventure she'd wanted.
eventually, a little annoyed, tessa lifts up to get a look at the other girl. ] I don't even know your name.
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Eyebrows raising, she can't help the frown that appears on her face. Maybe they need to work on their infamy some more, although it's not particularly shocking - this is a princess, after all. They aren't told much about the high seas. ] It's Minji. I mean, there are other names, but that's my actual one.
[ She shrugs, moving to carefully set the slighter girl down onto her feet. Minji even goes so far as to dust her off and straighten out her skirts a bit, careful to keep the gesture polite so that she doesn't edge over into copping a feel. But once everything is in order again, she has some orders she has to give out. ]
Excuse me, for a second - raise the gangplank, release the hooks, let's go! [ She throws down her orders where necessary, making sure that everyone hauls ass back onto their ship so they can leave. But then she perks a little, grinning. ] Hey, Newt! We can leave now.
[ And she gestures at Tessa. ]
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(of course, that's not all she's stolen, but tessa had been a little indignant about that on top of all of the money and gold and things for the kingdom, too.)
she opens her mouth to say something about it, but minji starts giving orders and tessa snaps her mouth shut again, watching the crew come over with the kind of absurd precise motion that usually comes from military crews; whooping and yelling, fifty some odd girls come flying in from the ship off of hooks and rope, and the gangplank lifts with the last one. whoever she was talking to turns out to be a tiny blonde with her hair tied up in a ponytail--she rolls her eyes (really?) at minji, then looks at tess, clucking her tongue. you're un-shucking-believable, minji, she says, turning away from them to maybe man the ship.
it leaves, more or less, tess and minji alone. the few girls lingering around, hoisting the rigging, call things out-- "ooh, dibs!" "I want her skirts!" "Maybe she came with a bunch of girly shanky hair stuff." "Heeey, princess!" and so on and so forth--it makes tessa blush, and she takes a step back from minji, lifting her skirts again, almost like she's gonna run. she's not--she has nowhere to go--but tess likes feeling like she has the option.
at the moment, though, she's just kind of standing there, looking like a tiny, wide eyed deer. ]
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Whatever. She's got what she wants, and maybe from now on they'll dial back a little on stealing wares and shipments from them. Could mean that they don't try and steal their princess back, who knows.
Man, Newt's not going to be happy when she finds out it's a princess that Minji's decided to try and romance.
Speaking of, though. With the catcalls, she scowls a little, squaring her shoulders and straightening up. Tessa might move away from her, but Minji shifts into a stance along the lines of protective. ]
Hey! I'm gonna say this once, so you better listen - Tessa here is a guest, and her personal possessions are off limits unless she decides she wants to share them with you shanks. Any of you try callin' dibs on anything, I'll beat your shuck heads in!
[ harrumph ]
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there's a chorus of "oooohs" from the girls, and tessa turns red at the ears--she could stay quiet, really, she could have learned like her parents so desperately wanted her to, to be demure and silent and only speak when spoken to, but. well, she never learned. cupping her hands around her mouth, tessa yells back-- ] It means neither for you!
[ and then, realizing exactly what she implied, tessa turns redder and attempts to cover for herself. ] Or any of you!
[ and proceeds to make it worse, by whirling around and challenging minji: ] Especially you!
[ there's dead silence for all of five seconds, before the blonde girl--newt, maybe?--suddenly cracks up laughing, and the rest of the girls follow. ]
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And then Tessa whirls around on her, and she blinks down at her.
A moment after the others start laughing, she joins in with them, throwing her head back. She's not offended in the least bit, to be honest, and instead she's even more charmed.
You can't really be on board a pirate ship without having some fight to you. This is a good sign.
Holding her hands up while her laughter dies down to chuckling, she offers her mock-surrender with a shrug. ] Consent is sexy. You want to see your quarters, or should I let you glare at everyone for a while first?
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the blonde girl wipes a tear from her eyes and claps minji on the shoulder, telling her to bring tess 'round once she's gotten settled later tonight, and starts yelling for the crew to get back to work; tess figures out pretty quickly she must be minji's first mate. all of this, this whole--women doing everything thing--it's kind of amazing, though she'd be hard pressed to admit it. not because she doesn't believe it, because she totally does, but mostly just because she doesn't want to admit anything nice about the people who definitely just kidnapped her. traded her. whatever.
tessa's fists loosen and she huffs, grabbing her skirts to walk on the deck in her little heels without a word, straight past minji...even though she has no clue where she's going. ]
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If she doesn't, well. Minji doesn't want to think about it, because it involves a lot of alcohol and invading Newt and Allie's quarters to despair to them for a week.
For now, though, she just gets to watch Tess get huffy at her and march off. A second's pause has her considering whether she wants to follow or not, but then she decides to go with it, strolling along after her with her hands in her long coat's pockets. There's work to be done, but she figures she should probably tag along for a bit to make sure she doesn't fall into a hole or something. ]
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she'll look for an exit instead of her quarters, as soon as she can get minji off of her back.
tessa doesn't turn around, but keeps her head up instead, peeking in rooms occasionally. the ship is big, just as big as the one she was just on if not bigger, only..inhabited by pirates, and a lot of gold, and she could probably have the lay of the place handled within a couple days if she didn't escape. tess squares her shoulders and peers into another doorway, pretending to be nonchalant, but it's really not working that well. she's actually still absurdly curious, but she's still trying to deal with the fact that she was kidnapped, first. ] Why are you following me? Don't you have things to do?
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People make assumptions about women in general, nevermind Minji, but she's observant. She's smart, and she's not oblivious. She knows that little miss Tessarae here is trying to think of a means of escape, figuring out the lay of the ship.
Thankfully, it's kind of big and difficult to navigate. Maybe she'll warm to them while she's at it. (Definitely need to sic Newt on her.) ]
Newt's overseeing things, so I don't gotta do anything right now unless I decided to take inventory now instead.