Draw your swords

"Mommy, mommy!" A young girl with fiery red hair ran out onto the captain's deck. Her young gaze lands on a woman who seems to be in her twenties, sitting on the captain's chair, her hair is as short as Fiona's though tainted in black, wearing a red cloth tied to her arm. Her eyes were unreadable, blocked out by the fog of a misty memory.

"Oh, Fiona? What brings you here." She smiled, raising her head from the piles of maps and feather quills to look at her daughter.

"What're you doing?" Fiona pondered as she walked closer, a curious smile on her face.

"I'm trying to figure out the next location." She muttered, her quill in hand, twirling around her fingers.

"Is it gonna be pretty?" She asked, looking up to her mother for confirmation, only to be met with a soft smile and a pat on the head. Her slender fingers run through the hair of her daughter. She leans down, whispering a soft message in her ear and her eyes light up in wonder.

"Don't go spreading that around." She warned her finger to her lips with a sly smile. "That's a secret, okay?"

Fiona looked up to her mother with a bright smile, nodding. "I won't tell anyone!"

Her mother smiled softly at the young girl's promise, looking back to her work as she continued to speak with her daughter.

"Where's Kaka?" She asked, Fiona looking up in a thoughtful daze as she tried to remember, letting out a soft innocent hum.

"Oh right, I think she was with Daddy!" She announces, a proud smile on her face. "They said they were going to make a surprise party just for you and-" Fiona covered her mouth at the mention of the party, her eyes widened in disbelief and shock at her own words.

"Hahaha, you really can't keep a secret, can you." Her mother teased.

"No! Mom I will, I'll keep your secret, I promise! No one would know!" She pleaded, hoping to change her mother's opinion of her.

The rest of the day went by and the sun and moon swapped places, the bright sunny morning soon turning into the midnight blue that surrounds the moon, its light shimmering against the calm dark waves as it carried their ship along the seas.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone cheered, their crew stood strong with bright smiling faces, her husband and daughters standing side by side before her.

"Aww," She looked with adoration at the effort they went through, the cake presented before her. She walked up to it, her foot causing the wooden planks to creak, the atmosphere illuminated by torches, an orange glow casting across the lower deck.

"You didn't have to do all this, for me…" She slowed at her words, emotion bubbling up to the surface as she held back tears, even though she knew it was coming, even tho she knew this party was going to happen, nothing could prepare her for this.

She looked at her loving family who flashed smiles brighter than the stars for her, and her crew who stood by her so long that they've practically been a part of it.

"I-I don't know what to say…" She muttered, looking down at the cake in front of her. "Thank you."

The night went by without a blur, the two kids already passed out from exhaustion not too long in, while the adults ruled the night, their beer held high, liquid gold shimmering in the presence of the moon. It shimmered and shined, running down the cups as they sang merry songs about their adventure and the lot soon to come

"Let's hear it for the captain!" A crew member screamed, their beer held higher than everyone else's. The deck shot into a roar as they all lifted their glasses around her cheering her name to the heavens.

The captain grinned at the liveliness, her feet stomping on one of the barrels as she too held her beer to the sky, her husband watched on with a smile, the grin on her face all too bright even for his eyes.

 "Here's to adventure!" She roared, and everyone around her started to scream as loud as they could. The captain could hardly contain herself, the feeling of excitement flowing through every vein in her being, the thirst for adventure

"A pirate's life indeed," She said with a soft huff, closing her eyes as if she's reflecting

"Uh, captain?" Someone called out to her, their eyes facing the sea.

"What is it?" She pondered, looking over to the crewmember who called out to her, he was a scrawny lad, his face scruffy and unkept like his long brown hair, dried and riddled with lice, he carried nothing but an arm as we weapon, his other torn form a battle he would often claim to have fought with a beast of the sea.

"We have company," He muttered, her gaze soon followed his, a pirate ship twice the size loomed over the horizon. 

It was dark, the ship's design hidden from view but its silhouette remained all too clear, it's flag fluttering ominously in the wind as it approached them.

"Men! Arm yourselves! We have visitors!" She demanded, everyone scurrying for their weapons. 

"Is that Miss Caroline's ship?" a boy pondered from the other side, his spyglass focused on the ship Fiona resided on. His black hair hung over his blue eyes, the young lad constantly had to adjust to using the thing practically.

"Shall we attack captain?" he pondered with a clueless look on his face, turning to a man who stood by his side, he was tall and firm in stature, with long black hair tied in a bun, and fiery red eyes that would ignite in the heat of battle.

"We were commissioned to set this ship ablaze…" He muttered, his deep groggy voice enough to strike fear even into his ally's. "So that's what we're going to do,"

"Prepare the cannons…"