The pirates had come through a different pathway in the caves then she had. It was a bit shorter, at least on foot it was.

There were boats not far from the path, and they piled in. And of course, it was her luck to be in the same boat as the captain, along with three other men.

They immediately grab an oar and begin to row. A thought crosses her mind.

If she rows, it could open up her wounds again, revealing the blood underneath her shirt. And only when anther the man beside her sends her a glare and throws an oar at her rather forcefully, she regretfully begins.

The Longboat moves slowly at first but picks up speed as they row.

 Their boat is in the lead of others, seeing as they have the captain aboard. He stands at the front, one foot on the rim of the boat, his face expressionless.

The pirates in the boats behind them yell and holler, as though it's a competition.

They reach the mouth of the cave in no time, the oars slicing through the water like knives.

And looming out of the gloom comes a ship. The sails are a deep burgundy, with holes abundant. The detail on the wood, even from her distance, is amazing.

The men cheer when the ship is in sight, raising their fists, some raise the paddles they have in their dirty hands.     

She stops rowing for a moment to gaze at the ship.

The pirate in front of her, noticing she has stopped, reaches back and whacks her with his paddle in the abdomen.

Doubling over and clutching her stomach, the other pirates chuckle, but something above her causes them to immediately cease.

"Is somethin' wrong lad?" The voice above her is one of the captain, she recognizes it immediately. It sounds annoying, as though he would rather be doing something else.

Stifling a groan, she sits up and turns to face him.

"No Cap'n. " She replies with the accent in which all the others use.

He scoffs and turns around again, the ship looming ever closer. Gripping the oar again, she rows in silence whilst the others yell and holler.

When they reach the boat, the captain is the first aboard, followed by the fellows in her boat, she is last to disembark.

The captain retreats to his quarters and the crew pull aboard the longboats one by one. 

After rope burns cascade down her palms, she steps back along with the crew, and they move to a stairwell underneath the door the captain pushed open.

She moves with them, careful to keep her face in the shadows, but in the remaining light below decks, it isn't a hard task.

They make their way to a table under the staircase, the candles on the walls surrounding them few in numbers.

One of the men takes a seat around the small table, leaving one more free.

"Ya know the rules, no cheaten' or its the locker for ya." The pirate's hiss and quietly cheer around her.

"Now gentlemen, who'll play?" She moves toward the back of the group, hoping to avoid the stares of others, but a hand stops her.

She jumps and turns rather quickly.

"Sorry about that lad," a voice speaks from the darkness behind her. He must see the confusion writing on her face because he steps out of the shadows.

His face is covered in a stubble of a beard, his hair hanging down in strings. The hat on his head is triangular, and trinkets hang from his coat and belt. 

"Liars Dice, wonderin' how it's played?" She clears her throat, changing her accent.

"S' alright." She responds, " I know how it's played." She lies, she has no clue what "Liars Dice" is, nor does she want to know.

"What they be bettin' on?" She asks to keep him distracted.

He chuckles and points to the table where another man sits across from the first. He looks older than the man standing next to her, his short beard gray with age, and a hat, like hers, sitting on his head.

They each take an upside down cup that sits on the table, the men around them hush as they bring it closer to them.

The crowd around them hushes and the men pick up the cup, along with looks like a number of die underneath each.

They rattle the cups shaking the die inside, and in a flash, they lie the cup down, the die underneath, and look at each other.

"Three Fives'." The first man says, the second grins, looks under his cup, lifting it up ever so slightly and replies.

"Four Fours'." He grins back at the first, the men around them hushed still, in silence.

"Five Six'."

"Seven Threes'."

"Eight Fours'." They go back and forth, until finally, they both pull back their cups, revealing the die.

From where she is standing, she can't see the number of dots etched onto them, but the men closer to the table must, because they cheer, slapping the first man on the back. 

Not wanting any more of the ruckus, or risking the chance at playing, she backs away and starts up the staircase they came down.

Moving to the railing, the moon is hidden by clouds, giving almost no light to anything, which, in her opinion, is better.

Footsteps sound behind her and she tensed, waiting for a voice.

"Not interested lad?" It's the same voice from below decks.

"Scrum." He steps next to her and holds out his hand. With hesitation, she holds her out and shakes his.

He smiles, his teeth crooked.

"Smith, or Smithy, whichever you'd like." He nods, joining her at the rail.

"I know every pirate on board lad, and I haven't seen you." He trails off.

Sucking in a breath, she makes up a story.

"Coupl' days ago, at the port." He nods, hopefully believing her story.

"Makes sense, we needed more crew." They stand there, in complete silence, the only sound is the waves crashing against each other and upon the boat.

After minutes of stretched silence, he leaves, and with him the smell of rum.

The wind begins to blow, moving the clouds above, and the breeze causes her to shiver. 

Deciding to move to below decks again, she stepped down the staircase, avoiding the still gathered men, and slipped through the crowd soundlessly.

What looked like the sleeping quarters, were really just a mess of hammocks, strung up here and there.

Bobbing and weaving, until she found one near the back of the room, away from the center, which, in her opinion, had the worst smell of the room, she crawled onto it until she was sitting in a relatively comfortable position.

A number of the men were still gathered around the table, but a small handful were in their hammocks, curled up in sleep.

But she had a feeling that she would get no sleep tonight.

Staring into space, and listening to the still awake men, she felt the night drag by, her eyelids growing heavier by the minute.

The next thing she knows, she's lying in the hammock, the gentle rocking of the ship lulling her to sleep.

FIRST AND FOREMOST!!! I should apologize. I lied to you all. I will be updating!!! Yesterday, my computer decided it would be a GREAT time to shut down, and I lost the ENTIRE chapter. So I was like, come ON! 

This chapter isn't as exciting as the last, but I promise, the next will be FULL of action. Sorry if this one is a bit shorter, as I said, I lost the whole chapter and had to rewrite it from scratch. 

I LOVE YOU ALL DEARLY!!!!! YOU MEAN THE WORLD!!!

~Kelly~ 

Ps, I shall not be updating next week, but if I can, I most certainly will. I have exams, which are stupid, but I need to do well, so Idk. LOVE YOU!!!

~Kelly (again)~