Kidnapped
"Okay guys! Listen up!" The captain calls to the rest of his crew, beckoning them over to him. "Let's go over the plan one last time. We go in to the castle, anything valuable we see, we take it and leave. Got it?"
"Yeah, let's stick to the plan this time." The second in command comments.
"Yeah 'captain'." Another mumber mocks.
"Alright, that was one time okay?" The captain retorts.
"We had to steal a new ship because you decided to wake up the fucking dragon."
"Yes thank you for the reminder, Meadows."
"You're welcome, Captain."
"How about we actually get on with the plan?"
"Good point, Pettigrew. Let's go guys."
Silence. Well, that wasn't really unusual. The castle was always quiet, espcially at 2 in the morning. But that was how Regulus liked it best. It meant he was alone with his thoughts, or his books. He enjoys being by himself, he was used to it.
Sitting up in his bed, using the moonlight coming from the window to read his book, Regulus loses himself to his mind a little bit. It is because he loses himself that he startles at the sound of clatter, someone dropping something. But who would be up at this time?
There is talking outside Regulus' door, muffled as his door is closed.
Curiosity gets the better of him and Regulus sneaks out of bed, leaving his book on his bedside table. Reaching the door, Regulus peaks around it, trying to see or hear what is going on.
"Jesus, watch it Pettigrew or you'll wake the whole castle up." A female's voice whispers harshly.
"It's not my fault. Meadows sneaked up behind me." A male voice answers in protest.
"All of you shush or we'll get caught." Another male voice, this one deeper than the last one.
Thieves. Regulus thinks. He's too frozen to move.
"Split up, and search as much of the castle as possible and then go back to the ship with whatever you have." The voice instructs. "I'll search this corridor."
Pirates! How did pirates get in the castle?
Regulus moves as quickly and quietly as he can. He can't do anything without running the risk of being caught by the pirates. Besides, they want valuables, things they can sell for gold. They don't want him. Regulus jumps back into bed and pulls the covers over himself, back towards the door and he stupidly leaves ajar.
The muffled talking begins to travel, sounding further away with every shaking breath Regulus takes. But he still hears footsteps, and then his door opens. Regulus has played being fake asleep numerous times and never got caught. He tries his best to control his breathing a bit more, despite how fast his heart is racing.
There are footsteps in his room, making their way closer to his bed. They stop briefly, then continue walking round the bed. Regulus feels them standing right in front of him, blocking the moon.
“Well, don’t you look valuable.” They mumble. It’s the deep voice from earlier. Regulus hopes he’s talking to something on his nightstand. “Guess I’ll have to take you with me.”
Regulus’s hears this person fumbling around, possibly searching for something. Eventually they stop moving and Regulus thinks they may have left. They haven’t. The pirate gently takes a hold of Regulus’ wrists, probably trying not to wake him up. Regulus struggles to keep his breathing even as the pirate ties his hands together.
However, Regulus finally decides to wake up when this pirate ties another piece of cloth around his head and over his mouth. His eyes shoot open in panic and locks eyes with the said pirate in his room. Glasses are somehow the first thing he spots. Big, brown eyes behind circle glasses. And then he remembers that this is a pirate kidnapping him.
Regulus tries to scream. He makes a muffled noise before a hand is over the cloth on his mouth, silencing him.
“Shh.” The pirate whispers. “You are going to be quiet for me, okay? Or I’m going to have to kill you.” He smiles. Who smiles when they threaten someone like that? Regulus feels frozen in fright, but the pirate takes this for agreement.
Regulus is hauled out of his bed, his tied hands being held by the pirate with one hand and the other still clasped on his mouth. Regulus (who continues to struggle) is pulled towards his bedroom door, where the pirate checks the corridor for anyone who might see them.
Regulus takes this moment to try and escape by knocking his head back, colliding with the pirates face, who lets go in shock. Unfortunately, Regulus doesn’t get very far as the pirate still has a hold of his wrists. He spins them so Regulus’ back is against a wall.
“Don’t think you’re going to get away that easily, love. You’d be no use dead.” He threatens Regulus again. “If I have to carry you out of this castle, believe me I will. Don’t do that again.” The look in the pirates eyes almost force Regulus to obey, had he not spotted the gun glinting from inside the pirates jacket.
Regulus is continued to be dragged through and out the castle, onto the docks next to the building. At the end of the dock there is a large ship, which clearly must belong to the pirate. Suddenly it hits Regulus what is actually going to happen.
He opens his mouth so the piece of cloth is between his teeth and bites down onto the pirates hands who instantly let’s go.
“Ow!” He exclaims. And Regulus screams. He screams so loud he might have woken up the rest of the town. He hopes he did. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” The pirate shouts at him.
There are guards coming down from the castle and making their way quickly onto the docks so Regulus’ screaming has clearly done something. The pirate groans and covers Regulus’ mouth again to prevent him from screaming anymore.
“For fuck sake.” The pirate mumbles, now actually dragging Regulus closer to the ship as he attempts to keep his feet stuck to the ground. He manages to get Regulus onto the ship and Regulus watches as the people around them are running back and forth, some seeming a little pissed off.
The pirate pulls Regulus over to a corner of the ship and ties his wrists to the side of the ship’s stairs. He pushes the fabric back around Regulus’ mouth and frowns at him.
“You’ve gotten me in big trouble now, love.” He says to him, Regulus glares back. “So you’re going to sit there until I move you.” The pirate stands and begins to shout orders at the rest of what Regulus assumes is the crew.
Regulus ignores them and tries to turn his body to look back at the castle. He can only just see his mother and father at the end of the dock, a group of guards standing ready with their guns pointed at the ship. Regulus’s can’t make out his mother’s facial expressions, but he’s not even sure what they could be. He doesn’t bother looking for his brother. He knows he’s not there.
They begin to move, starting to turn away from the dock and the castle. Regulus tries to cry out but he can’t be heard over the noise on the deck. He faintly sees his mother and father turning away from the ship, walking back towards the castle and Regulus doesn’t know when he might see them again.
The noise on the ship quietens down now that they have set sail, but a voice rings out.
“James! What did you do?!” A voice shouts. Regulus looks around and sees that it belongs to a girl with fiery red hair. The pirate that had kidnapped Regulus comes down the stairs next to him.
“Why do you think it’s my fault?” The pirate, James, answers.
“Umm, because you were the last on board? Because you were the one who had the guards chasing after him? Oh and one other thing. You kidnapped the prince!” She screams. It makes Regulus’s think that she might be the captain of the ship.
“You said to take anything valuable.” Another voice joins in, this one belonging to another woman with a darker skin colour than the first.
“He is valuable!” James tries to argue, gesturing to Regulus who is just watching the whole scene unfold.
“And you said to stick to the plan.” This voice comes from a male, shorter than James with scruffy blonde hair.
“I did technically stick to the plan.” James answers.
“By having the whole royal guard chase after us.” The redhead scowls James again, her hands on her hips.
“Okay fine, alright. I apologies for causing chaos.” The crew glare at James. “Again. But guys. We’ve got a Prince on board. When was the last time that happened?”
“Who is he?” Another voice sounds from the crew, Regulus’s can’t see what they look like from where he is.
James walks over to Regulus who glares at him in return. James pulls the fabric from his mouth and unties his wrists from the stairs, but still keeps the together.
“Don’t glare at me.” James whispers to him, pulling him to his feet.
“You kidnapped me. I think I have very right to glare.” Regulus says, not afraid to speak loudly in front of the pirates.
“Well, you’re going to be staying with us for a while, so you might as well meet the crew!” James exclaims, turning Regulus to face the crew.
“That is Peter, my second in command.” A short, blond scrawny boy raises his hand in a wave gesture.
"That's Lily, she's in charge of everyone on deck." James points to the girl with fiery hair, who nods in their direction.
"Dorcas, our sailing master." Another girl with a green scarf tied in her hair.
"Pandora in the back is in charge of the kitchens." A girl with long, white blonde hair waves, a kind smile on her face.
"Frank and Alice." A boy and a girl who look slightly older than James wave. "Frank is in charge of maps and Alice our weaponry system."
"Everyone else, works for everyone else." James gestures to the rest of the crew. "Ladies and gentlemen! I am glad to announce that the Prince... sorry what was your name darling?"
Regulus rolls his eyes. "You know it would make sense if you knew the name of the prince you were kidnapping."
"Well, I wasn't planning on kidnapping you to begin with." James explains.
"Yeah, and we weren't planning on running from guards either." Peter calls, getting a murmur or agreement from everyone else. James looks back at them with a frown.
"So, your name, darling?" James turns to Regulus again.
"Regulus." He answers hesitantly, still glaring at the pirate.
"A Prince Regulus Black." The crew cheer and Regulus rolls his eyes. "He is going to be staying with us for a while, so make sure to treat him well." The crew cheered again. "Now back to work. We have places to be, oceans to cross and all that stuff."
"We probably would have done half of it already had you not talked for half an hour about a Prince you had to kidnap." Lily grumbles, walking past them to the stern of the ship.
"And you are coming with me." James takes a hold of Regulus' forearm and pulls him in the same direction Lily went, except where up one of the sets of stairs, James takes him through a door in between the stairs.
This door leads to a room, which Regulus can only assume is the Captain's chamber. Regulus could tell by the size and the way it was laid out, a desk covered in scrolls facing the window, a red coat hanging over the back of the chair, shelves holding most likely stolen pieces of artefacts and jewels. In a corner there is a set of curtains where Regulus guesses where the bed.
James leaves Regulus in the middle of the room, hands still tied, and starts to move some of the scrolls on his desk.
“You’re going to be staying here for a while, not like you can go anywhere anyway.” James says, still keeping his back turned to Regulus. “But you’re going to do what I say and follow some rules.” Regulus snorts, rolling his eyes. James turns to face him, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the desk. “Something funny?” He asks.
“Look, I get that I’m a prince and that you kidnapped me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do whatever you want me to do.” Regulus replies, frowning at the pirate.
“Well, you’re going to. Unless you would like to take a swim in the ocean with the sharks?” James raises an eyebrow at him.
“The water here is too cold for sharks.” Regulus states all matter-of-factly.
“Maybe you’d like to find out just how cold it is then.” James gets up and walks towards him, standing right in front of his face. Regulus can tell by the look in his eyes that he is not kidding. “I would much prefer it if you would listen to me, because you are far too valuable to have dead and I’d hate having to go in after you.” He says, looking down at Regulus.
He’s right. James knows it, Regulus knows it. As much as Regulus hates being on the ship, he’d much rather stay on it than be in the cold, dark water. He doesn’t nod or move in anyway, but James can see that Regulus will listen.
“You’ll stay in here until I know I can trust you to not run. If I ask you to do something, I would like you to do it.” James starts to instruct. “You’ll stay here during the night as well.” Regulus opens his mouth to argue. “Unless you would prefer to be tied to the mast on the deck?” Regulus closes his mouth. “That’s what I thought. You also won’t be staying in those clothes.” James looks Regulus’ attire up and down.
“What’s wrong with this?” Regulus gestures to the white shirt and black loose trousers he had on when he went to bed.
“They don’t fit the vibe.” James mumbles, moving around Regulus to a chest of drawers behind him.
“The vibe?” Regulus repeats. He watches as James moves bits of fabric around in one of the drawers, pulling bits out and then moving onto the next drawers. Once he’s finished, James walks through the curtain in the room with the clothes he picked and then walks back empty handed.
“Go change.” He says to Regulus who looks at him in annoyance. Regulus holds up his hands, still tied together. James groans and walks back over to him, grabbing his lower wrist. “If I untie you, will you promise not to run? Or try to attack me again?” Regulus glares at him. “I won’t do it unless I get a verbal answer.”
“Yes.” Regulus answers reluctantly.
“Yes what?”
Regulus groans. “Yes I won’t run.” He grumbles.
“Or?”
“Or attack you.” James smiles mockingly as he begins to undo the rope. Once he’s done, James gestures to the curtains for Regulus to go into to change.
At least he’s giving me some privacy.
Regulus thinks, begrudgingly making his way behind the curtain. He was right. Behind the curtain is a cave-sized room with a bed against the far wall and a candle on a shelf next to a small mirror. On the bed are the clothes James had picked for Regulus who immediately walks back out.
“If you think I am wearing that, you are taking the piss.” He says, crossing his arms at James who had moved to sit at his desk, except the chair had been moved so it was facing the curtains.
“Don’t swear.” James replies, glancing up from the scrolls. “It’s either those clothes or no clothes, darling.” He says with a wink and then looks back at his desk. Regulus groans loudly, throwing his arms up as he storms back behind the curtain. “Don’t take too long!” James calls.
Regulus glares at the clothes on the bed, almost trying to set them on fire. The clothes in question consist of a loose black blouse, tight, high waist black trousers with black ankle boots (Regulus now realises he has been barefoot the whole time). As accessories, James has laid out a red piece of cloth, most likely to be used like the girl on the deck did as a bandana and a couple silver rings. Again, most likely stolen. There is also what looks like a black corset rolled up on the bed. Regulus isn’t sure if it is meant for him or not, but either way he won’t wear it. So he chucks it outside the curtain.
“Oi.” James says from outside but Regulus just ignores him, rolling his eyes.
Reluctantly, Regulus changes. He spends a bit of time deciding how to wear the bandana before deciding not to wear it at all. Once he’s finished, Regulus walks out from the curtains to see James standing from his desk, pushing scrolls around on the table. It annoys Regulus how much of a mess it is.
“Ah, see? Isn’t that much better?” James says when he sees Regulus, who rolls his eyes in return. “Now, how about we set some rules.”
Regulus doesn’t reply, knowing there’s not much of a point.
“If I speak to you, you will answer me. Preferably without any attitude but I feel like that won’t happen as quickly.” James has moved around the desk to lean on the front, arms crossed. “I’ve already said you’ll stay here until I decide otherwise. You are not to be on deck without me or my permission. If I ask you to do something for me, I expect you to do it.”
Regulus tries to refrain from rolling his eyes, practically watching has his free will drifts away. They manage to start a staring contest of sorts, James staring in interest while Regulus is flat out glaring.
“Let’s try something small first.” James pushes off the desk and walks over to Regulus. “I need to go out and make sure everything’s in order. I would like you to tidy away and organise the scrolls on my desk. Okay?”
Regulus continued to glare, refusing to give James the satisfaction.
“You’ll cool off eventually.” James sighs, leaving the room and no doubt locking the door behind him.
Regulus sighs, finally feeling like he can relax a little, or as much as you can when you’ve been kidnapped. He looks over to James’ desk, which is in fact a mess. It astounds Regulus that anyone could ever live in such as mess.
So, Regulus walks over to the desk and starts sorting the scrolls into organised piles. Not because James asked him to, he tells himself, but because Regulus refuses to stay in a room with so much mess.
After sorting them into piles, Regulus rolls the scrolls up. He doesn’t want to leave them on the desk, but there’s nowhere in the room for them to be stored otherwise.
Looking around, Regulus spots a small barrel which has been filled with bits of fabric, scraps is probably a better description for them. Regulus tips them all out onto the floor to sift through later and he puts all the scrolls in the barrel which he leaves next to James’ desk.
Looking at the pile of scrapped fabric on the floor, Regulus actually has no clue as to what to do with any of it. So he picks it up and goes to move it back to the corner of the room when a clunk sounds on the floor.
Regulus frowns but dumps the clothes in the corner anyway. Turning round, he picks up the object that fell from them. It’s a was a necklace, or maybe a locket. It was an old, clunky thing Regulus thought, and was probably stolen as well.
Regulus stared at it, not sure what to do with it now. There was no way he could hide it, what if James came looking for it and it wasn’t there? Regulus was in no mood to end up in the ocean just yet, or at all. So, in panic, Regulus shoved he necklace into one of the bottom drawers in James’s desk, which was filled with crumpled up pieces of paper anyway.
Standing away from the desk, it takes Regulus a moment to realise it’s probably three in the morning and suddenly the tiredness began to take over. Yawning, Regulus looked around, not sure if he was allowed to use James’ bed or not.
He decided against it, half of his mind worried he’ll get in trouble if he did. Regulus does still move into the sectioned off/bedroom area but sits on the floor instead of the bed, leaning against the small chest of drawers there, slowly feeling his eyes fall shut.