Contributor: SpaceBrown

Helia shivered in the dark hold, but not so much from the cold as from fear of what was going to happen to her next. Her hands were still tied behind her back, and her feet had been bound too. Her jaw ached from the gag. Sweat dripped from her nose and forehead, running into her eyes. The thick black sack was still over her head. She heard someone thumping down the wooden stairs to the hold – the door creaked open on its rusting hinges. Helia could sense someone approaching her, her muscles tensed and she got ready to strike. Suddenly the bag was ripped off her head. She pulled away and kicked out with her tied feet. She connected with something. She heard a yell and a thud, followed by another shout as the figure hit the floor. She rolled off the crate she'd been sitting on, into the shadows of the cargo. Her eyes were still stinging from the sweat, but she hadn't heard anything else. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her hair. She tried to squirm away but the grip was too tight. Suddenly, the gag slipped from her mouth. She gasped in a mouthful of air. A wet rag passed over her sweaty face. She blinked as the stinging salt water was wiped from her eyes.

A young boy, twelve or thirteen at the most, was kneeling on the floor by her -- the untied gag in one hand, a wet rag in the other. He was thin, with messy, greasy blonde hair. He smiled.

“It's a good thing I'm me, and not a bigger pirate. If you'd kicked a real buccaneer like Pedro Blomar, you'd be dead right now.” The boy announced. Helia stared at him.

“So you're not a pirate?” She asked.

“Oh no! I'm a slave.” The boy replied. “Just like you are.”

“I'm not a slave.” Helia retorted. The boy grinned.

“Of course you are! You're tied up in the hold, gagged, and obviously not familiar with pirates.”

“Oh, believe me. I'm familiar with them.” Helia replied. “I served them at a tavern for long enough to become familiar with them. They're the lowest, slimiest, most perverse group of vagabonds out there!”

“Compliments,” A gruff voice sneered from the stairway. “Will get you nowhere, sweetheart.”