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William Markus Fowler smiled slightly as he pulled into port that day on board his ship, the Phoenix. He was going to find himself a fleet of good strong captains and start a high stakes voyage on the deep blue, with a generous fortune for him and any other captains who wished to accompany. He was an honest pirate, as pirates go, and he firmly believed in giving equal shares. He pulled in to port and stepped to dry ground. the port keeper looked at him.

"Oi! You there! What do you think you're doing there?"
"I'm stepping ashore. Aren't I allowed to simply step ashore?" said Mark in a quiet, gentle scottish accent.

The portkeeper looked Mark up and down. He seemed like a good fellow. With his red-lined long coat, hat, pleasant voice and expensive-looking cutlass, he looked like a lord of some sort.

"Welcome ashore, your highness."

"Thank you. Do you know where I might a tavern?"

"Yes sir. Just down that road, and it's called the Red Sail."

Mark laughed inwardly. Once they left sight of the port, he would order his sailors to raise a full set of bright red sails, stylized with a phoenix.

"Thank you, sir."

Now to find a fleet, thought Mark.

Getting helplessly drunk was something Valerie frowned down upon sharply. But with the recent loss of her small ship, she found her small form shuffling to the local tavern.

Quietly she sat down, ordered a large drink, and pulled her hat over her eyes. After it was placed in front of her she gave a small sip and a face of disgust. Strong liquor always made her cringe. She silently observed the rowdy bar around her and she groaned.

She watched drunkards laugh, and women flaunt, it angered her really. People falling over themselves for a scotch or two. Yet her she was doing the very same.

"Keep 'em coming...I'm drinking till I pass out." She muttered.

Mark came into the Red Sail to the strong smell of Bourbon and the chaotic noise you would expect in a seaside inn. He looked around for a bit, trying to find the most capable looking captain. He looked for quite a while. There were loads of men who looked physically capable, but they were all either drowning themselves in liquor or trying (badly) to hit on the lasses. Mark suddenly laid eyes on the lone girl sitting at the bar. From the look of how she drank, she didn't do it often. Many pirates didn't believe in letting girls on board a ship, much less captain one. However, Mark was not one of those pirates. He walked over and sat down. He looked at the shy girl and spoke up.

"Hey there. What's your name, lass?"

She looked at the man from the corner of her eyes taking another quick swig of the cool, bitter/sweet liquid. "Who's asking?" She mumbled staring at the amber filled glass.

She'd learned once or twice not give a pirates name to just anyone. They can easily be a man looking for a quick buck on a wanted sign.

"Very good. Well, I have no reason not to tell you my name, as you probably won't be turning me in. My name is Mark. William Fowler, to be precise, but people just call me Mark. And I'm asking because you seem like you could be a good captain in a fleet I'm organizing for a high-stakes quest."

"I see." She said setting her glass down. "The names Valerie Morgenstern. Used to be captain of The Lady Luck." She said leaning back on her barstool. "What's this so called quest, in which you need captains?" She tilted her hat up, revealing her narrowed grey eyes.

"I would prefer to keep details to a minimum, if you understand." Mark glanced around the room to prove his point.
"All I'll say is that there's a lot of gold involved. Plus, this."
Mark removed a velvet bag from his coat and removed from it a huge sparkling diamond. It was easily the size of a small orange.
"There are more of these where I'm headed, but we will need a lot of manpower. You said former captain?"

She eyeballed the jewel in is palm. "I did. My ship sank a not two days ago." She muttered feeling sorrow again and taking a large gulp of beer. "Happens to be my reason for being here.."

Mark knew all too well the pain of losing a ship.
"So... Are you interested? I think I can get you a ship, if you can get yourself a crew."

She perked up at the thought of a new ship. "Promise a ship, and you've got yourself a captain." She said downing the rest of the amber liquid in her glass. "I can get a crew."

"Deal."

Mark shook the girl's hand and set a meeting place for 6:00 on the docks.

~~6:00 AM on the docks~~

Mark waited for the girl to arrive, the massive ship he had procured swaying in the breeze behind him. He had gotten a triple-masted cutter ship, fast and powerful. It was almost identical to the Phoenix, including one singularity. While Valerie's ship's bowsprit (the mastlike thing pointing forward from above the figurehead) was fixed, just like almost all ships, this one was different. It had what appeared to be a hinge made of oiled and treated steel, fixed with a metal rod and able to rotate a full 180 degrees.

Valerie arrived with her original crew. About thirty men of all shape, size, and ethnicity, were helping carry to the ship. Spotting the Captain from yesterday she approached him. "They're ready to go, as well as I." She said with a tilt of her hat.

"You like the ship?" Mark asked. "I... uhh... made some modifications to it. Do I need to explain how it works? anyway, I haven't found any other captains, so we'll just do it together. Let's go."

Once they got far enough away, Valerie saw Mark's ship lower its sails suddenly, and raise new ones. These sails were deep, blood red, with a bright red bird emblazoned on the mainsail. And they sailed.

With a shouting of orders they began to sail off farther into the waters. She removed her hat and let down her hair with a large smile. "Conner!!" She calls as she begins to map the waters.

Mark grinned. It was good to be on the water again. His little happy world was shattered suddenly by cannonfire.

"CAPTAIN!" shouted a burly Indian man, Mark's first mate.

"What is it, Jim?"

"Pirate! coming to raid us. those red sails are awfully infamous."

"very well, we'll just have to-- OH NO! those sails..."

The enemy ship bore down on them. It was mounted with bright purple sails. The Monarch.
The monarch was a ship belonging to a former close friend of Mark. An evil man. His name was...

"KAWLEY!" Mark shouted as cannonshot ripped through the beautiful hull of the Phoenix. Frederick Kawley was Mark's first mate, a long time ago. He had turned suddenly on Mark about a year ago. And now he was destroying the Phoenix. Mark made a tough decision.

"Cease fire." he said, calm as the ocean on a windless day.

"What? Are you crazy?" asked Jim.

"Cease fire now."

"Okay. CEASE CANNONS!"

"Bring her around sharp. Use the variable bowsprit. bring the Phoenix right alongside."

"Yes captain. BOWSPRIT TO 0! BRING THIS OLD GEL ROUND SIDE TO THE MONARCH!"

The commands were all followed quickly by the Phoenix's expert crew. The ship was brought almost alongside when the captain gave a new order.

"All hands topside. cutlasses ready."

"ALL HANDS TOPSIDE! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

All the sailors bravely stood up and drew their cutlasses. The Phoenix was the first to send sailors onto the Monarch, and about half the crew jumped on at once, hacking and slashing their way through the pirates on the Monarch and covering the deck with their gore. All the Phoenix was on board the Monarch now, except for Mark. Mark took his shining, Damascus Steel cutlass from its sheath and screamed out to his foe.

"KAWLEY! Come and face me, coward! Hiding behind your crew, are you?"

A thunderous voice laughed from the Monarch, magnified magically by Kawley's power. A man jumped to the deck of the Phoenix. The man was quite a bit taller than Mark, and carried a large straight sword. He jumped to Mark and started attacking, but Mark stood his ground. Kawley swung at Mark's head, and Mark ducked, swinging in with a rotating slash to the shins. The captain jumped this, and returned with a downstroke that Mark rolled to avoid.

I hope that Valerie comes to help right about now. That would be-Oops, block that thrust-nice. thought Mark.

Hearing the sounds of battle she turned and narrowed her eyes. "Turn it around Conner, we need to board."

With a shift in coarse they were headed straight towards enemies ship. Grabbing a sword and a gun and boarded their ship. Lifting her gun into the air she fired two shots into the air. "EXCUSE ME!!!" She screamed drawing her sword.

Oh god save us, she's an idiot... thought Mark, watching it happen. He didn't have time for this. He suddenly shouted in his enemy's face, going "BAH!" much like he would when trying to scare a small child. The man flinched, and Mark punched him in the face with his cutlass guard. The man went unconscious. By this time, the fighting had quite died down, the remaining pirates having been extremely surprised by Val's request for silence. Mark took the unconscious body of his adversary and leaned it over the Phoenix's railing. Valerie, out of the corner of her eye, saw Mark preparing to drop the body into the ocean.

"Don't kill anyone!" She shouted grabbing her hat and throwing it at him. Sighing, she rubbed her temples. "Lord give me strength...I'm working with hooligans.." Pointing her sword at an enemies throat she narrowed her eyes. "Leave. Or don't live to tell the tale." She growled.

"Why shouldn't this man die? He is absolute evil. And what's more, he has attempted to destroy the Phoenix. This is a crime that I classify as a death-penalty worthy offense. What problem do you have with him dying? Oh, your hat smells very nice, by the way," Mark said, plucking the object from his face where it had landed.

She looked at him. "Tie him up. Pirate or not, you are in the presence of a lady. And said lady will gut your ass if you don't listen." She said with a sweet smile. "Yeah?" She turned to them again. "Is that the captain of the ship?" She asked him.