Welcome

[Nicole Cavalier]

Date: The 10-th of August, 1719
Place: in the market of Port-de-Paix

The market in central Port-de-Paix was filled with people. People of any kind of social background and any kind of wealth. From rich to poor, it seemed that anyone was walking among each other without any worry of social contamination. However sitting against a house wall, well in the shade, Nicole was carefully rubbing the soles of her feet. The long days of walking barefoot on the small pebbles that covered the streets in the town were making her feet sore. However she was constantly watchful. Not only as a predator always on the lookout for easy prey, but also for bigger predators that might seek to harm her. For in the dirty and poor world of streetrats, a woman didn’t get much respect and certainly seemed just as easy to rob of all that held any value as anyone else.

Then, spotting something interesting, the little tiger was on her feet. Carefully she moved through a crowd of people that seemed to disperse like the high grass that moved out of the way for a crouching tiger. Her gaze always fixed on her prey. A sickly looking young boy walking in the company of foreign men. All of them looking like attention is the last thing they want. Her bare feet brushing over the ground silently and steadily. Her senses sharp and ready to prowl her prey. She stops briefly. Eyes resting on the boy’s coin purse. Then swiftly the tiger leapt forward, grabbing the purse and then turning around to quickly escape.

Running in and out between wondering bystanders, Nicole was making haste to get away to safety. Before long her little feet had cleared her off the market and through a maze of little labyrinth alleys. Soon she could rest and check out her loot. But first she needed to get further away. Her feet not sensing the soreness due to the adrenaline in her body kept running. Running as fast as she could, the small girl until finally she came to a deserted little courtyard with walls and buildings covering all sides. Finally Nicole could rest. She didn’t even wait to catch her breath. She opened the coin purse, disappointed at the petty content of it. But before she could think anything else she was pushed to the ground. Looking up she saw the boy. Damn it all! Only another street rat could have navigated correctly through the maze of alleyways behind them. Damn it all!

[Benjamin Colt]

Benjamin had never been to Port-de-Paix before, and he hoped that he would never have to see it ever again. For now, it would forever be associated with the sinking of the Siren. And that damn tickle in his throat that refused to go away. He had not really felt at the top of his game, ever since Sol had, to save themselves from a sure death, thrown them both over the railing.
And now they were surrounded by strangers.
Least to say, the short grown, scrawny rigger had made sure to keep close to his Captain and the cook.
Perhaps, if he kept his gaze on Sol’s feet, they’d be back in Tortuga before they knew it, without him being distracted by something as ordinary as…oooh! Pretty!
His blue eyes had caught sight of the fabric of a very shiny, noisy dress, worn by a woman who had just stepped out of a carriage. However, before he was able to even think twice about stepping away from Sol and Lucky, a tug around his neck pulled him back to reality, and he looked down.
What in the...His coin purse!
A dark-haired, dirty girl disappeared into the crowd the moment Benji caught sight of the thief, and he wasted no time to tell Sol or Lucky about what had just happened. Instead he flung himself into the thick throng of people, teeth slightly bared in a angry snarl, as he chased the girl.

How dare she make him chase her? He was sick, and miserable, and that bloody wench thought she could outrun a street rat from London? Well, she thought wrong!
Before long, the girl finally stopped at a deserted little courtyard, seemingly thinking that she was safe.
Benjamin was panting (it had, after all, been quite a while since last he roamed the streets of London) but none the less ready for a fight if it would come to that.
And fight her he would!
With an animalistic growl, he shoved the girl harshly to the ground, and then aimed a kick at her once she was down.
”You bloody little wench! Give me my bloody coin purse back!” He snarled.
Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have been as easily enraged by something as simple as a street rat taking his coin purse.
He did, after all, understand where she came from.
But as it was, his lack of health left him easily annoyed and quite a bit grumpier than usual, and therefore ready to use any means to show his displeasure with life at the moment.
Aiming yet another kick at the girl, he hoped she would just submit and hand over his coin purse. That run had really taken a toll on him, and if she started to run again, he doubted he would be able to keep up this time.

[Nicole Cavalier]

Immediately upon hitting the ground hardly, she felt a foot kicking her. Nicole gave out a wretched yelp of pain. She had been caught completely off guard as she had been certain she had lost her pursuer in the maze behind her. But now on the ground she had a hard time getting her balance settled to get back up. His words was hard for Nicole to comprehend at first. He was English. She had not expected that. But then again, she hadn’t really expected to hold a lengthy conversation with him. He kicked her again, making Nicole roll around so she was on her back looking up at the sky. In her hand she still held the coin purse tightly and had no plan to give it up. She quickly wiped a couple of tears off her cheeks before getting back up at her feet. She walked closer to the young boy. But instead of offering him his own property back, she slapped him hard across the face.

“You little swine!” She said having never learned any English curses so she picked an animal she disliked. “You are not nice!” She added and tried to slap him again. “Only the swine kick a girl when she is on the floor” Her words came out with a bit of uncertainly as she had no idea if she spoke the language correctly. “Or maybe you only use kick because you are fear your twigs of arms will break if they hit anything?!” Nicole spoke loudly and ignored any tears that might have been still coming as a result of her violent treatment while she was on the ground. She sent yet a third slap against the English boy’s cheek. For while she didn’t know how to fight properly, she knew very well how to fight dirty.

[Benjamin Colt]

The girl was crying, which made something inside of Benjamin twist uncomfortably. He had never handled crying ladies well, and he honestly started to wonder if he should just not turn around and find his way back to his Captain and Lucky, hoping that they had not continued on without him.
There had not been much in his coin purse after all, and had he seen her begging on the street, he would most probably handed her what was left in it.
But as it was, she had not been begging. She had stolen from him, and that irked him something terrible.
How ever, before he had any chance to demand his coin purse back a second time, the dark-haired girl had already stumbled to his feet, walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face.
Benjamin blinked stupidly, jaw slack, a look of complete surprise on his face, as he raised a hand to touch his cheek, warm with pain.

Before he had any time to touch the warm skin though, she had slapped him yet again, and this time he had sense enough to stumble back, a small squawk of surprise escaping him.
What in the…?!
“What….Twigs..?! You bloody…!” Another squawk escaped him, as she slapped him for a third time, this time sending him stumbling backwards. Failing to catch his balance, he landed on his behind, looking up at the girl with wide eyes.
He wasn’t quite sure how to react.
She was a female, who was currently attacking him. So one part wanted him to turn around and make a run for it.
But another part of him wasn’t a bit afraid of the girl who was around his own size, and still clutching his coin purse.
And that part was quickly growing stronger, with her insults towards his lack of build.
“…My arms are not twigs! I could bloody beat you to a pulp if I wanted to!” He snarled, stumbling to his feet, silently wishing his Captain and Lucky had followed him through the crowds.

[Nicole Cavalier]

It seemed that the slaps served their purpose. Of course Nicole knew that she could beat anyone with slaps, but she wasn’t trying to be this other boy, this English streetrat. She was merely hoping that he would eventually give up and leave her alone. Not really considering that she had provoked him by stealing his purse. “Yes Twigs!” She repeated at his surprise by her words. “Only the person with twigs for arms kick a girl… Or the one who is not a real man!” Nicole stated not really caring if her words made much sense. “But I think you are both!” A fourth slap flew through the air towards Benjamin.

When Benjamin fell backwards in surprise, Nicole considered just running. But she figured that this boy probably would be on his feet quickly and right back on her tail. So she remained still. His reaction to her insults gave Nicole the impression that the boy no doubt saw himself as quite a man who was bigger and better than anyone. But somehow Nicole had the upper hand in all this. She allowed his to finish his threat while she watched him as he slowly got to his feet. His movements were stumbling and it was probable because he was as sick as he looked. Nicole realized that while she was normally a nice person, she would have to be tough now and show him no mercy. Nicole moved forward, pushing the boy as he still hadn’t found his balance yet. “Stay down English Coward!” She shouted while he fell. But she wasn’t done yet. She had to prove to him just how little he had to say in this. Of course she wouldn’t have felt so angry at him had she just taken his money and gotten away. But the fact that he had kicked her angered her.

While the boy was down on his back, Nicole got down as well. But not to join a fellow streetrat on the ground. No, Nicole placed herself so that she was sitting on the boys chest and then she took a firm grip in his wrists, holding them down to the ground. “Ha! They feel like twigs to me!” She said as she looked down at Benjamin. A wry smile appeared on her face, because she was quite satisfied with the fact that she for once had the upper hand in this. She leaned down so her face was only a few inches from his, just to prove her power. “This is what I will call you now… Twigs! What would your friends think if they saw you beat by a girl?!”” She mocked.

[Benjamin Colt]

He really should have expected the girl to move before he had properly found his balance.
But as it was, he felt slightly sluggish, and was so taken by surprise (yet again) as the girl suddenly shoved him, sending him sprawling to the ground.
His breath was momentarily knocked out of him, and he grimaced slightly, before he quickly moved to stand up once again.
But a weight settled on his chest, pressing him down, and refusing to let him move.
Benjamin blinked stupidly up at the girl, who was pinning him to the ground, holding his thin wrists in a remarkably strong grip.

”They are not tw…” He trailed of, as the girl moved her face close to his, and he winched, turning his head slightly to the side.
It was remarkably how unsettled he felt whenever a woman held some sort of power over him.
How ever, his discomfort was quickly forgotten when the girl not only claimed that she would call him ‘Twigs’, but she also mocked him. Eyes narrowing, he squirmed slightly, desperately trying to free his arms without success.
Bloody wench…!
With a grunt, he moved one of his legs, sending one of his knobby knees into her back.
If things came down to it, he figured he’d move his legs until they were wrapped around her middle and then pull her back off of him. He wasn’t called Spineless Ben for nothing.
But the fact that he felt lousy made him winch slightly at the thought of bending his body into unnatural angles, something he usually had no problems with. Normally, he felt only a slight discomfort. Now…He wasn’t looking forward to finding out.
Baring his teeth slightly, he tried to bite one of the arms that pinned his wrist to the ground.
”Beat by a girl?! You're not beating me! I’m just too nice to actually hurt you!” He growled, sending one of his knobby knees into her back again.

[Nicole Cavalier]

Success! Nicole was probably as surprised as the boy that she had managed to get the upper hand in this little struggle. Especially because she wasn’t the fighting type. She might have been even more surprised though had she known that the boy actually was a fighter and a pirate at that. But for now she enjoyed her little victory. For no matter if it was only because the boy was sick or because Nicole had surprised him, she was fully confident that she would soon be able to get back to her own life and not need to bother with this kid. However after he kicked her, Nicole did wish that he would have to leave with his tail between the legs like a coward dog.

She gave out a surprised gasp as she felt a knee violently slamming into her back. Nicole wanted to shout at the boy but before she even got around to it, the boy proved that he himself was indeed a streetrat, not fighting by any set of rules or honour. When he bit her arm, Nicole cried out in surprise as well as pain and released one of his wrists to get her own arm to safety. She heard him utter some words but didn’t fully understand them as her mind suddenly got focused on a knee hitting her back again. This annoyed Nicole. With a firm grip she took a hold of his hair and twisted it so his head would have to turn into a very painful angle. She looked down at him while keeping her firm grip in his hair. “Too nice you say, Twigs?!” She growled, making sure he heard his new nickname again. “Then why is there tears on my face?!” She asked and yanked his hair hardly again before releasing it and sending a slap towards Benjamin’s face. However unlike before where she had aimed for his cheeks, this slap was aimed directly at his face.

[Benjamin Colt]

He had been set on being tough. On setting the girl in her place and prove to her that not only was he a vicious, dangerous man one should not mess with, he was also an excellent fighter.
However, the street-rat grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled, twisting his head into a painful angle. But it wasn’t the pain in the neck that made him break down.
It was the pain that rushed through his poor scalp, seemingly making him blinded with pain.
Least to say, his attempt to look as manly and tough as possible was blown out the window, as he let out high pitch squeals of pain, eyes watering, and he tried desperately to make her let go by clawing at her hand, and trying not to cry.

Bloody hell. He had always had a sensitive scalp, but it was not often someone just tugged harshly at it. If they did, they would have realized early on how easy it was to make him squeal with pain.
For this girl, however, it had been one of the first targets.
Another squeal of pain escaped him as the wench tugged at his hair again before letting go.
Sadly, before he had any time to compose himself, she had slapped him right in the face.
Whimpering, he went from massaging his poor, abused scalp to clutching his nose.
Oh god, he hated nosebleeds.
“Cause you’re a bloody wench, you is!” He snarled at her. Or tried to snarl. It came out quite nasal and pathetic sounding, as he was still clutching his nose in pain.

[Nicole Cavalier]

The hair seemed to be the boy’s Achilles Heel judging by the sound he made as she pulled on it. Nicole felt a brief delight over the fact that she was winning this encounter and would likely be able to walk away from this failed attempt to pick someone’s pockets unnoticed with her pride still intact. Because normally Nicole was a nice person and she wouldn’t have enjoyed causing others any pain. But with all the bad situations she had to get herself out of in the past, Nicole was quite happy that she didn’t have to fear the city guards or even offer herself to some sex hungry sailor who was glad to see past her attempted theft if only he could have her for the night.

For the moment, Nicole didn’t notice the boy’s wild clawing and his vigorous attempts to get free. She was too focused on holding his hair. He seemed like it really hurt and Nicole had even more places to attack should he keep up his attitude towards her. With a final hard tug in his hair Nicole turned his head so she could look into his eyes. “Fiche moi le paix*” She said as she gave him a slap in his face. She didn’t pay much attention to his words. They were as empty as his threats. Slowly Nicole got back to her feet. However she lingered over him for a moment with a hard look on her face. What she expected now was that the English dog would run home so she could get back to her business of… well… Stealing from people.

*Go bugger off

[Benjamin Colt]

Benjamin felt his bravery quickly slipping away, replaced with the urge to tuck his tail between his legs like a terrified stray, and run for the hills.
And as he lay there on the dirty ground, one hand over his aching nose and the girl standing over him, a vicious look on her face, he felt small and pathetic. As if he was living with his mother again.

She used to have that look in her eyes just moments before she came up with one of her strange punishments.

But the girl made no move to attack him, so slowly he got up, keeping his blue eyes on her, in case she made a sudden movement.

”Could …Could I just…just get my coin purse back?” He asked meekly, silently cursing himself for stumbling over his words.
Holding out his hand, he gave his coin purse a quick glance, before focusing on the girl again, before he made some movement and jumped him again.

[Nicole Cavalier]

This had overall been a success and while Nicole would no doubt feel a bit remorseful later over the treatment she gave the ill boy, she was at this very moment happy that she had for once come out victorious and that she had not only her loot still, but also her dignity. Well, at least the dignity of a thief rather than a prostitute. She quietly observed the boy as he got to his feet as well. While she had told him to get away, she probably figured he didn’t understand French. However after the pain she had caused him she would expect that he would have gotten the message. So naturally Nicole was surprised as the boy held out his hand as if he expected her to just hand over his purse. Had she perhaps slapped his head so hard that he was becoming delusional?

Nicole shook her head at his words. She was about to turn around to leave but decided that she only needed what was inside the coin purse, not the purse itself. She emptied the coins into her hand and put them into her own pocket and the tossed the empty purse causally back to the boy. “There is your purse back, Twigs…” She said quietly. She hadn’t noticed it until now because of the adrenaline of fighting, but all this struggling and fighting was exhausting. “Now you better get back to your friends and leave me alone” She said and turned away from Benjamin. She started walking. She could probably have beaten him further but his was sick and besides she had gotten what she wanted, his gold.

[Benjamin Colt]

Benjamin blinked owlishly down at the (now empty) coin purse in his hand.
He hadn’t meant for her to keep his bloody money and give his coin purse back! He’d rather keep the money! Except…Well, it was a rather nice coin purse. Not very fancy looking. But of good material and…Wait...Hold on. He was getting off topic here. Sniffling, he turned his gaze back to the retreating girl.
”That wasn’t what I meant! I meant for you to give me my money back!” He squawked, outraged, not sounding quite as tough as he meant to.
Gathering the last bit of courage he had, he stumbled after the girl and grabbed her by the shoulder.
”Come on! I really need that money right now! And…Hey! How about this! Next time we meet, I give you double the amount! Just….Can I have my money back?”
Hah! That silly wench must fall for that one! And he’d never see her again and he’d never have to share his money with anyone!
”Come on, yeh? We’re both rats here…Let’s help each other out…?”
He wiped his nose on his dirty shirtsleeve again, while peering nervously at the girl.
Hopefully she wouldn’t have the urge to hit him again.
She had a bloody good arm, she did.
He’d have to tell Sol and Lucky he was ambushed. By three full grown men.
No..
Three and a midget!

[Nicole Cavalier]

Nicole hadn’t gone far before she heard the boy open his mouth again sending his meager words after her. However Nicole didn’t turn around or even stop walking. For all she cared he could mumble his pathetic thoughts out all he wanted. However she was forced to stop as she suddenly felt a hand grabbing her shoulder. In a flurry of déjà vu she gave out a surprised yelp as she felt a cold chill run down her spine at the memory of all the times she had been caught in the act of stealing and while she deep down knew that it was that kid who had grabbed onto her shoulder, her mind gave a flash of a city guard. “Please let go of my shoulder…” She said meekly before turning around finding her former strength. “Let go!” She screamed and slapped his wrist. Nicole hated when people grabbed her shoulder like that.

As she heard his words a sneer of amusement came over her face. “Is that so, Twigs?” She said and shook her head. “Que je suis stupide à ce point?!*” She scorned with a serious look on her face.”You are not from here… So I will luckily never meet you again… So no you can’t have your money back! They are mine now!” She continued. This time in a language he would understand. Once again Nicole turned around to leave. She didn’t enjoy conversing with this little swine and certainly not when she had to speak his language. This had taken enough of her time already and the coins she had gotten from the boy’s purse had been far from worth all this. But she couldn’t do much about that now.

*Do you think I am that stupid?!

[Benjamin Colt]

He had hoped that she was just another dumb woman that would fall for his trick and give him back his money.
However, it seemed that even though he had spent years as a child out on the cold streets, he had momentarily forgotten that street rats were daily subjected to trickery. Kindness was often something given only when the one giving it wanted something in return.
And street rats weren’t stupid. They knew how to run and how to fight.
A very un-masculine squeak escaped him, and he scuttled backwards, as the girl screamed and slapped his wrist.

The sneer that crossed her face was anything but pleasant, and he repressed a whimper. However, the twitching of his eye could not be held back, as she called him that horrid nickname again.
Twigs. Really? Thank heaven that they would never meet again, and that no one in the bloody world would ever hear him being called that.

With a small, pathetic whine, he watched her turn around and leave, and he wrung his hand worriedly. He really, really wanted his money back.
But why risk his neck? The girl had already brought him down to the ground once, and he was not willing any more bruises to form on his already sore body.
”Bloody wench….” He mumbled, before scurrying off to where he came from, hoping that Sol and Lucky hadn’t given up and left him to die in this godforsaken place.
They had to hear about his brilliant fight against three men and their midget! Oh, they had managed to take his money, but in the end, they had tucked their tails between their legs like the mutts they were, and run of before he could cause any more damage.
Yes. That sounded like a very believable story.

- THE END -