Another challenge by ForbiddenPlanet.
Theme: Pirate punk
Chosen character: Awilda (daughter of a Scandinavian king)
Word count: 1500 max (I went over by 80 words)

*****
Second Chance

Fortune favours the brave.

Whoever said that needs their head examined. The only thing to favour bravery, is death.

Death is what brought me, brought all of us, to the stinking dive where we met with Chance. He promised revenge. An opportunity to put things right in our time. There was nothing I felt needed putting right when he offered me his deal, but I hung around, watching and listening, waiting for some adventure to present itself. I didn't need to wait too long for it to wander through the door.

To say she was furious would be an understatement. She stomped the snow off her boots with more force than necessary and, after ordering a tankard of ale, strode to a table along the back wall, kicking several chairs aside on the way.

Chance let her take several gulps before intruding on her space.

Intrigued with the new arrival's animated responses to whatever Chance had said, I addled closer, eavesdropping.

"That depends on what you want," she said. Her accent didn't fit with the breeches, tunic and cutlass of the fifth century pirate I had her pegged as. She spoke like a lady, with concise and elegant vocabulary. "There is always a price. What, pray tell, is yours?"

"I would have ye help restore me vessel to me. No an easy task given she's stricken wi' no engine an' a dimensional capacitor on the blink. But once she be fixed up, I'll take ye when'er ye wanna go."

"How do you propose to turn back time, Sir? No mage alive has that ability, never mind to restore life to the fallen."

Chance leaned in closer. She wrinkled her nose, turning her head to avoid the stench of his breath. "M'lady, Awilda, I's no mage. Folk in these parts call me a Time Lord. Me vessel is unlike any other and can travel to a time o' ye choosin. All I has to do is take ye back to a time before yer death."

"How do you propose we reach your vessel? Are we not stuck here, in this timeless void?"

"Nay, ye just have to sign me wee pact an' ye can follow me outa here, nice as ye like. Beats spending an eternity wi' ol' Jonesie."

Thoughts of spending an eternity in The Sunk'n Norwegian with nowt but Davy Jones for company, and I signed a pact wi' Chance an' all.

I don't know what I expected when we left the pub, but stepping into a long, narrow corridor with silver walls and bright lamps fixed to the ceiling, no flame in sight, certainly wasn't it.

"Where in Hell are we?" Awilda asked, as much in awe of being surrounded by metal as I was.

We had to jog to catch up with Chance to hear him reply, "On route to me ship. She be docked planet-side in a Federation holdin' bay."

Awilda glanced at me, raising her eyebrow in question. I shrugged, I'd no idea what he was on about either. We followed mutely, fascinated by our surroundings.

Our first port of call gave us no grief, uniformed officers waved us through their check point at Chance's nod. We boarded a small vessel that seated three and imitated Chance as he sat, pulling a strap across his lap. Distracted by the various coloured, flashing lights along the bench in front of Chance, I didn't notice what was outside the porthole 'till Awilda screamed at the top of her lungs.

Perhaps I should say what wasn't outside. There was nothing at first, just a black expanse of nothingness that seemed to go on for eternity, and we were falling into it. Next thing I know, the small vessel is on its side, gathering momentum as it swooped starboard like a gull caught in a storm. Stars emerged from the blackness, appearing as the vessel slowed, bigger and brighter than I ever thought possible.

Chance took great pleasure in pointing out the constellations we navigate by. Everything looked different, insignificant by comparison.

*****

Awilda jumped from the vessel as soon as the door opened upon landing, her stomach heaving.

"Ye'll find no fish to feed on dry land lassie," Chance joked, drawing a glare from Awilda. "O'er yonder hill is where they be keepin' me ship. Remember the plan, we go in after dark."

"Won't they have seen the craft landing?" I asked.

"Nay, lad, she be too small to show on radar."

"Radar?"

"Aye. An early warnin' system."

True darkness never came. Between the full moon and a strange irredescent glow emanating from beyond the hill, we could see well enough. However, so could the Federation officers guarding the compound.

Chance waved us closer to his side. "Guard be changing any time now. Ye be ready to move the moment they leave point. Keep to the shadows 'till ye reach yon big barn. I be needin' yer help to cast off as soon as her engine starts."

We ran.

Tucking myself tightly against the wall of the barn, my heart leapt to my throat with the sound of metal on metal. Awilda swore, stilling her swinging cutlass from banging against the wall again. We listened, not daring to breathe when hurried footsteps crunched over gravel, heading in our direction. A bouncing beam of light preceded the officer as he approached our hiding spot. Awilda tensed, hand on sword in readiness.

Just then, the fattest cat I've ever seen scurried out from below a bush right beside us.

"Damn cat," the officer swore, directing his light in the direction the cat ran. "False alarm," he said into a small black box in his hand. "It's the cat again. I don't care how many rats she kills, if she triggers the alarm again tonight, I'm shooting her myself."

*****

Barely giving us time to register the fact that there was no water for the ship to sail, Chance had her engine started and she lurched forward, straining against her bonds.

After we'd each released one of the moorings, Awilda tied a thin rope around her middle and passed the remaining coil to me. "Hurry," she said, pointing to the deck. "Get on board and tie it off. When I cut this last one, she'll be free."

She waited only long enough for me to disappear from view before she started swinging her sword in large arcs, hacking at the arm-thick rope. Strand after strand twanged with their release. The rope creaked, pulling tighter on the remaining strands. I threw Awilda's tether around the closest mast and fumbled to tie a knot. Another twang. Urgency made me clumsy, I dropped the rope. Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, flinging me to my back on the deck. As if in slow motion, I watched Awilda's tether slip through the knot I made. The end snaked across the deck, moving out of my reach. I dove for it, scrambling on my hands and knees. When I managed to snag it, it burned my palm as it continued to slide through. I tightened my grip, refusing to let go as it trailed me with it as far as the mast.

Chance skilfully manovered the three masted vessel through the opening, dragging Awilda across the dirt. We were high above the ground by the time Chance came to help me pull Awilda onboard.

*****

"Ship ahoy!" the lookout hollered from the crow's nest.

Spinning to look in the direction he pointed, I spotted a spec on the horizon, the only mar on a pristine expanse of blue ocean where it met the sky.

Awilda staggered onto the deck, the galley door slamming closed behind her. She glanced around with a frown creasing her brow and snatched a spy glass from the first mate. "Damn!" she swore. "It's flying the Royal Signal. All hands on deck! Prepare for an attack."

I did the only thing I knew how to do and hid behind a couple of barrels as two of the fleet of five ships pulled up along either side of Awilda's ship. Swords clashing intermingled with war cries and the screams of the fallen. I scuttled backwards and pulled my knees up to my chest, praying for it end.

And then I heard Awilda swear a blue streak as a couple converged on her, forcing her into a precarious position near the edge of the upper deck. A third approached, but there was little I could do. I reached her just in time to shove her aside. The blade meant for her stabbed deep, burning long after its owner withdrew the full length from my back.

Awilda threw her helmet aside as she pulled me into her lap. "He is only a child!" she screamed at the King's men.

"Princess Awilda?" the King's Admiral asked with shock.

*****

"Ye be back so soon, Laddie? T'was the lady no to yer likin' ?" Chance asked as I set my mug on the table and sat opposite him.

"Guessin' my destiny wasn't wi' her after all; her Prince Charming swept her off her feet on my deathbed." He laughed when I told him what happened. "Would you be looking for a full-time crew member?"

He considered it a moment. "Aye, I could use a hand from a good lad like yersel'. Ye know they say that fortune favours the brave? Ain't no better place for a brave lad than with someone who be seekin' fortune."

THE END