A legend.... it sounded so godly to have such a title.... but when it really came down to it and everyone began to create this image of you, who would truly want to be one....?
Pale white hands reached from the dark depths to grab the drowning woman, her hope lost as the creature dragged her back into the darkness of the seas she so desperately tried to escape from. The creature? It wasn't just a creature.... It was her first kill, the first life she took and gave to the sea. It was rotten, taken over by sea monsters and coral.
Before she knew it the darkness surrounding the woman was filled with crowds of dead men she had once killed, dead men coming to claim her life as their own.
"Ya dead or something? Get the hell up, Cap'ain!"
The woman's eyes flew open and pressed a sharp knife against her quartermaster's throat as a defensive response, way too used to getting attacked in her own bed to not handle this way anymore.
"Aye, it's just me." He hastily put his hands up in surrender and watched his captain's eyes return to their calm and collected stare.
"How many times have I told you to stop bothering me while I'm sleeping, Samuel?"
"I know, bu-...." Samuel began, but she was having none of it today.
She couldn't deal with his sarcastic serious attitude today.
He was always a bit of a stern sarcastic quartermaster, but sometimes she needed someone to humble her when she put too much pressure on things or herself.
"No buts." She eyed him up and down annoyed, forcing her aching body to get up from the comfort of her bed as he watched her with concern. She never slept. Never ever would she sleep a full night if she did decide to get her rest either. She felt herself too responsible for her men, too responsible for everyone's wellbeing, and she hated facing her nightmares.
It worried her crew.
"Why did you decide to wake me?" She dragged herself to her desk chair and pulled her black see-through robe from the backrest, covering her body a little as she watched Sam who sighed.
"I was putting back the map on your shelf when I noticed you twisting and twirling in your own misery. When were you going to tell us about those nightmares?"
"I ain't having those nightmares anymore." She watched herself in her mirror, her sharp cat eyes red from the lack of sleep, yet she straightened her back like she did every day and represented pride and strength as a whole once again.
She had worked hard for her title for 10 years, resting wasn't an option, weakness wasn't an option.
She had begun stealing at a very early age, stealing turned into plundering with small groups of men and plundering turned into a small crew after those men saw the potential in her as a leader. They used the money they earned from the plundering to invest in a ship and soon enough they managed to take over a Navy ship big enough to hold 120 men.
That white Navy ship, now under the name of The Serpent's Medallion, was even after 7 years still her ship. It had made a big name for her and her men and soon enough her crew had grown to 113 loyal men, a crew where no one was allowed to get into anymore.
She didn't need new untrustworthy strangers in her crew when she had enough loyal and skilled men.
Despite having such big responsibilities as a infamous captain, the burden of being a woman made it even harder. Having the title of a legend meant she couldn't simply announce herself as a woman anywhere she went. People would take advantage of her, try to get her alone, it was too risky and besides the danger of her own life, men knowing one of the biggest pirate captains alive standing alongside Henry Avery and Samuel Bellamy was a woman would demotivate the pirates. Men didn't believe a woman was able to deal with the responsibility and work that was meant for men only.
For those who did find out and tried to cross her, well those men were brought back to the harsh reality. Often she left them, as proof, dead behind for everybody to see that the myth walks, breathes and bleeds the same as they do, that she was human and not to be fucked around with.
But sadly those actions came with terrible consequences in the form of traumatic nightmares....
"Sure ya ain't." He watched her fix the cat eye shaped kohl around her eyes in her mirror, something she wore to define her sharp eyes and to protect her eyes from the sun. It was a technique she picked up from exploring the east sides of the world.
"I'll be fine, Sam." She grabbed a wet washing cloth and wiped the sweat off of her forehead before re-braiding the small braids in her hair and re-adding the hair piercings, letting the rest of her hair fall loosely over her shoulders. "Once we're in Nassau there is time to rest for all of us." She mumbled while changing into a pair of tight black pants made out of heavy leather and a white blouse from her wardrobe.
"Includin' ya, Naida?"
"Including me." She hummed, buttoning her blouse until the last three buttons to show off her necklace and a piece of her collarbones and breasts. "Now, are we anywhere close to Nassau yet?"
"We are." He smiled a bit, holding out her long black coat with her infamous embroidered snake on the back so she could finish getting dressed and leave her cabin. "About two hours away."
"That's great." She walked outside after Sam opened the door for them, breathing in the fresh ocean air as a soft sigh escaped her lips.
It was still early, the sun wouldn't rise until about another hour and there were only about 30 of her men awake. They were quietly playing cards or checking the ship's knots and some greeted her as she smiled back.
"Good morning, Captain!" An overenthusiastic Eddie yelled from the stairs leading to the main deck, leaning against the railing as he gave her a nod.
Eddie was one of the youngest crew members. He was tall and skinny and had the looks and personality of a puppy, but he was smart and caring as well. Something some of the older crew members like Samuel had lost during their time at sea.
"Morning Eddie. How's she?" Naida patted the railing of her ship he was leaning against and he grinned.
"She's all good, 7 knots, we're actually picking up speed again." He jumped off the stairs, landing in front of his captain as she nodded.
"Keep it that way. If it's possible, I prefer to dock there before the sun is up."
"If we keep picking up the speed and the wind is in our favor we might." He nodded and ordered people around to make sure they caught as much wind as possible without damaging the main mast.
Naida instantly thanked him and looked around, deciding to check on some rope work that didn't look tied well enough in her opinion before resting onto the railing of her ship.
Whenever she had nothing to do yet, she loved staring at the sky and think, this time wondering what it would be like in Nassau after all these years.
Clear turquoise water and white beaches just like any other Bahamian island? People who set up camp by shore and drunk pirates surrounded by whores day and night?
It wouldn't be so different from Havana and Tortuga, both places Naida loved to be at.
The only difference would be that Havana was recently civilized. Pirates weren't welcome there anymore just like in Charles Town and it was a damn shame.
The only reason Naida was still allowed to dock in Havana was because she was able to sail under false flags like the British navy and the Spanish navy she conquered and because she had some sort of business history with the Governor of Spanish Havana, Raja, who gave her the ability to get into the harbor unnoticed.
He owed her a lot after she made sure he was the new governor and so he couldn't let her get executed.
He also was a man of his word thankfully.
"Why the serious look, Captain?" An elderly voice spoke up and Naida looked sideways at her older sailing master, Mr. Dovis.
"Nothin'." She smiled and swung her legs over the railing and onto the deck again to stand up.
"Worried about Nassau?" He ran his hand through his short grey hair before fixing his old fashioned sailors clothing.
"Curious." She corrected him quickly.
"Because of the captains there?" A stern look seemed to appear on Mr. Dovis' face and his light grey eyes scanned her carefully. He was an extremely friendly man, but he could be so fatherly it drove her crazy sometimes.
"I'll hold myself back when we arrive." She reassured him, smirking a little.
"Always so confident, lass, please don't let it be your demise. I won't survive on this ship without your attitude."
"It won't. It kept me alive this far and it will continue to do so." She folded her arms behind her back and watched all her men slowly wake up from below deck.
"Cap'ain, land in sight!" Samuel announced and in a blink of an eye they all looked at their captain.
"Welcome to Nassau Everybody!" She smiled and everyone began whistling and screaming in excitement, finally able to settle somewhere for a bit. Something they hadn't done for a long time.