Captain of the Bloody Rose

Watch me go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Soon enough the screams died down, those remaining alive mostly injured, some worse than others.

Joseph had broken his promise. He was above deck, running around, covered in blood. it was hard to tell if any of it was his as he helped to patch people up, not hesitating to have thrown an attack of his own here or there in their enemies face. A few heads had rolled thanks to him stepping in... literally, though mostly he kept his word. through the battle all he obtained, injury wise, was a small cut across his back, shallow yet painful to the man.

Jane laid Skip’s head down slowly, her emotions dead and numb within her as she reverently closed his eyes. The only man who had never hurt her now lay dead and with that thought a rage she had never known took hold of her. She cried out, her strangled yell filled with pain and longing, sacrifice and hurt, everything she had ever held within she screamed out, scaring the men who were nearby and terrifying her enemies.

Jane was well known on the seas as a heartless woman, a killer with no remorse. Now they were seeing the truth with their very eyes, and it was so much more terrifying then they had ever heard. She was a woman possessed as she stood, rage burning through her like fire. She killed without reason, seemingly unable to feel anything as she destroyed all in her path.

When the battle was finally over, many lay dead on the ground, even more were injured. However, the crew of the Bloody Rose had won, at a great cost.

“Captain, we’ve captured a few of the crew.” John said, bloody and battered with the few remaining men of the boarding party that had joined him on the other ship.

“Leave them alive. I want answers.” Jane growled, her voice dangerous as her eyes flashed. For once none of her men dared to hesitate. They’d never seen Jane like this.

What she didn’t know was that not only was her leg still bleeding heavily, the cut that had been made in her side for her rib split open and was also bleeding. Mind you they couldn’t really tell what was her blood or not considering she was almost completely soaked in blood at this point. To put it nicely, she looked like a mad woman straight out of hell.

She walked through the carnage, checking slowly with her eyes the damage to her ship, delegating people to board the other ship before it sank gathering any valuables and supplies they could find. Some repairs would have to be done to the Bloody Rose now before they could head to port and get the rest fixed up, but for the most part she was in good shape.

As much as she noticed the damage of her ship, the deaths of so many of her crew there were two things she did not notice. First and the most imperative was that she was steadily bleeding to death and if she didn’t put a tourniquet on her wounds soon she wouldn’t be conscious much longer. Finally, she didn’t notice that Joseph was amongst the men trying to help the others who could still be saved. She didn’t feel his eyes on her as she moved through the carnage in a haze, her eyes slowly losing the anger and being replaced by an unfathomable pain.

"Capin." Joseph said approaching Jane, without a moment of hesitation. "Your wounds need tending." he said, covered in blood to mirror her, though he held not pain in his eyes as she did. He held no deep seeded sadness. He coudlnt. He refused to get close to the crew- so that he would not mourn when they passed.


It was worldly. Blunt. to the point and grounded. A freckle of sanity during an insane time. She was injured. She needed medial attention or she would die. if she dies, she broke her promise to Skip.

Jane turned to Joseph for the first time, actually acknowledging his presence.

“You broke your promise.” She said simply, referring to his blood stained clothes. She couldn’t even find it in herself to be angry about it. Normally she would have yelled at him, punished him in some way, and yet she couldn’t think of anything to say but that.

“He’s dead Joseph. They killed Skip.” She said softly, wanting to tell him, needing him to understand. She cared about her crewmen’s death of course but she was used to them dying. Used to losing crewmen. For some reason she had never thought she’d lose Skip. He had seemed invincible in a way. She never thought that she’d have to see him die.

A tear fell down her cheek, than another, her green eyes shining with them as she looked down away from him and down at her broken body. Taking her head scarf she tied it tightly around her leg, hiding her tears from him as she struggled to pull herself together.

Joseph stepped forward and slid his arm behind her waist, forcing her arm over his shoulders. "Your cabin..." he said softly, wanting this to be private. he didnt want her entire crew see her melt down. He knew she didnt either. And yet she had the right to.

After guiding and supporting her back to the privacy that was held behind the door he eased her into a seat, then wrapped one hand around the side of her, pulling her to sit on the edge of the seat. In a moment, he would tend to her side and leg.... but for a few second, he could spare the embrace he engulfed her in. a strong yet light embrace, comforting and gentle.

She allowed herself to be led, keeping her eyes down. To the onlookers all they saw was their injured Captain, and the medic’s apprentice leading her away to be treated. They didn’t see their Captain slowly breaking with each step, nor did they see the concern in Josephs eyes and the special care he took with her. They only saw what she had always wanted them to see.

Once they made it to her cabin she still stayed silent, remaining that way until she felt his arms around her, wrapping her in an embrace that she hadn’t felt in years. No one had hugged her since her family had passed on. Not even Skip had been allowed that privilege. Once those arms wrapped around her, comforting her, protecting her, she could no longer hide behind her walls.

Like a beautiful porcelain doll she broke, tears streaming down her face. Reaching out she clutched his shirt in her fists, the sobs racking her body painfully. She cried not only for Skip but for her lost childhood, the deaths of her family, the beatings she took, and the hatred she endured. She cried for all the loneliness she felt throughout her life and she cried because now when she wanted to die the most, she couldn’t because of the promise she made.

Joseph allowed her to cry, not letting go. She had the right to cry. The need to he would even dare say.

She sure a hell deserved to.

He didn't bother attempting to cope a feel. the thought never crossed his mind honestly. He waited for her to release his shirt before pulling back. "I need to stop that bleeding, Miss jane." he said softly. "Then you can cry your eyes out."

She pulled back and nodded, leaning back into the chair so that he could look at her leg, putting an arm across her face to hide it from view. Now that she had stopped crying the shame was setting in. She hadn’t let herself cry like that in years, drunken tantrums not counting of course. Of course it would have to be Joseph to see it.

As he took out a knife and tore off her pant leg from just above her wound and all the way down to expose it, she didn’t even flinch. The blade had sunk in deep, rending her flesh almost in two. The tourniquet had slowed the bleeding but had definitely not stopped it. It was amazing that she had even been able to walk at all.

Joseph picked up her rum bottle from the desk and poured it onto her leg. the liquor would kill anything infectious he was sure.. but he had to clean the wound, then corterise it and stitch her up if she wanted to be okay anytime soon.

And so he did, working as quickly as he could, though he did his best to ignore any pained sounds his captain made. If he attempted to be gentle now, he wouldn't get finished.

After finishing her leg, he sterilized and restitched her side, wincing as he tied the knott near her skin. his back was starting to give him trouble, and at such an inopportune time.

Jane sat there as silently as she could, bearing it much better than a hardened sailor would any day. However, it wasn’t an easy process, stitching her up and cleaning the wounds. It didn’t help that she was also mentally in agony, trying to come to terms with Skip’s death as well. So she did the only thing she could do to save herself from having to think about the rolling waves of emotions within her. She focused on him.

Focused on the concentrated look on his face, the way his hands felt against her skin, how gentle he was while still being efficient, and how each wince or groan of pain that issued from her mouth seemed to cause him to wince in pain as well, as if it physically hurt him to be hurting her. Her intent focus was the reason she noticed the glimpse of pain on his face as he was finishing up her side.

“You’re injured.” She said softly, ignoring the fact that to get to her wounds he’d had to slash up her clothing rather badly. She missing a pant leg which essentially bared her toned pale leg to him and now half her shirt was missing, once again displaying her flat stomach and the slight curve to the underside of her breast.

"It's my back." he said dismissively. "I only pulled one stitch, I'm fine..." he said, pale faced and chalky. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked. He did not seem at all effected mentally by the injury he had. he was too focused on Jane.

Once he thought she was patched up well enough, he would make sure she was in a somewhat stable state of mind and tend to himself. Not before.

She didn’t take such an answer lightly. For a woman as injured as she was, she somehow managed to not only snatch the knife that he’d used to cut her clothes off the ground and push him into a sitting position on the floor, but also get behind him and in one deft move cut in shirt cleanly in two.

With one hand firmly on his shoulder pushing him down she frowned at the cut, though it was obviously not too deep. To keep him from fighting back she began talking as she cleaned the wound with a rag and the nearby alcohol.

“You promised not to fight.” She said softly, her ministrations gentle but firm as she cleaned the wound and began bandaging it.

“As far as I know I’m not injured anywhere else. Maybe a few cuts and scraps here and there, and of course more bruises to add to my growing collection but I’m fine now, thanks to you.”

Once the cut was bandaged, she pulled off the rest of his shirt and moved to sit in front of him, ignoring the sting in her thigh as she moved around. She looked at the neat stitches that were currently holding his guts together and sighed. There was a small trickle of blood leaking from the torn stitch that she quickly cleaned. As she threaded the needle to restitch him, she kept talking.

“You know I’ve never really had anyone heal me except…” The momentary silence was telling enough whose name she couldn’t say at that moment. The pain had crept back into her eyes before she quickly squashed it down and continued. “I couldn’t let Collins near me you see. Don’t trust him near me when I’m injured. Old habits die hard I suppose. So I’ve always patched myself up. Learned how to do quite a lot out of trial and error that way.”

Quickly she tied off the thread and cut it with her teeth, her breath ghosting over his taut skin.

Joseph winced as she worked, not bothering to fight against her, if only because he didnt want to hurt her.

"You're a pushy woman, you know that?" he teased lightly, then shuddered, covering it with a wince when she cut off the string.

A thought crossed his mind lazzily. perhaps retirement was a good option... Afterall, it wasn't the age that mattered, but the mileage.

“Pushy is the nicest things I’ve been called.” She said jokenly, referring to the many insulting terms her enemies had come up with over the years. Jane would never be a popular captain, even amongst other pirates. They just couldn’t accept who she was and what she did, and she wasn’t planning on stopping just because they felt it was wrong.

Sitting up once she had cut the thread she looked him over brazenly, though in her defense it was to check for any other wounds he might have neglected to tell her. Once again she noticed how well put together Joseph was, and at the same time how many times it seemed he had narrowly avoided death as well. Without stopping to think she reached out and traced one of his many scars before pulling back abruptly. His skin was so warm, she felt as if she’d almost been burned.

“Sorry.” She muttered, before standing, wincing as her leg nearly gave way underneath her. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the pain of nearly being dismembered was definitely starting to seep through. She didn’t have time for this though. There was survivors to question, bodies to take care of. She had to make sure the repairs on the Bloody Rose were going well and as planned.

Joseph raised a hand to steady her. "Make me first mate, if only for the day." he said. "You need to rest, and if you grant me a title, the men will listen to me." he offered.
Too soon? perhaps. But he was yet again only being logical.

"You need to heal. I can see to the mens injuries and the ships maintenance.... Keep the survivors in the brige for now."

The minute the two words left his mouth she froze, her mind screeching to halt as it tried to find someway to save itself from the pain, save itself from the emotions and hurt that remembering Skip at that moment brought back. She didn’t want to think about him yet, about losing him. Taking a step back she fell back into the chair heavily and rested her head in her hands. He could’ve thought she was crying again if she hadn’t been so still. No one could cry and still look like a statue.

“I want the prisoners chained to the wall.” She said softly, her voice muffled since her head was still in her hands.

“The men…won’t give you any trouble, anymore.” She said, her voice cracking slightly at the end of it. She didn’t want him to see her cry again. No, she wouldn’t cry again. She just couldn’t let herself break down like that.

"... Take all the time you need Captian." Joseph said. He hesitated for only a moment before leaving her, stepping out on deck and looked around.

Orders... Oh, he hated giving orders.. too many bad memories assosciated.

None the less he took a deep breath and grabbed the nearest men, telling them to get the survivors chained, and their injured crew men in the mediacl bay and the port side of the deck, where he woudl look them over.

It didnt take much time for everyone to jump the moment he said to. He was a leader by nature, and he would keep his word to Jane and see to it her men were all acounted for, one way or another....

Sips body had been brought to Joseph and Collins room. Joseph had wrapped it in a blanket and assigned one man already to build a sea worthy casket for him.

It had been a few hours since Joseph had left her quarters and she knew she should check on the progress and see to her men herself. They would want to see her face, make sure she was alive with their own eyes. Surely all sorts of rumors were running around now, with Skip gone and Joseph taking charge. There would be many questions though, all of them clamoring for answers, answers she didn’t know if she could give just yet. She hadn’t even left the chair Joseph had left her in those many hours ago.

Night had finally fallen before she moved from that spot, lifting her head to stare at the door with a look of desperation. She’d spent all that time trying to come to terms with what had happened and there was only one thing left for her to do. She stood shakily, her leg protesting the movement. Before she could stop herself she lost her footing and hit the floor, hard.

“Argh.” She groaned, propping herself up. Looking down she saw that she was bleeding through her bandage.

Joseph will be pissed. she thought to herself, forcing herself to stand again, this time keeping her balance by using the nearby table to support herself. Steadily she forced herself to put most of her weight on the good leg and limped to the door, practically hopping.

When she opened the door she wasn’t surprised to see some of her crew waiting anxiously to see her alive. One of them raced off to tell the rest of the crew that she was out and about, while another offered his arm to help support her. She shrugged him off and simply asked about the ship, wanting a report. He gave her all the information he could, explaining what Joseph had been doing since she’d disappeared. He stopped abruptly when he noticed said man walking towards them.

Joseph blinked as he aproached. he had seen the blood almost immediately. "Good to see you up Captain." he said. "But, eh..." He shrugged out of his coat, offering it to her. "You might be thinking of covering up some before you catch a chill."

Finally she seemed to remember that she was far too scantily clad for walking around amongst the many men of her crew. Just looking around she could see that the men who had been waiting for her anxiously were having a hard time keeping their eyes to themselves. Not that she could really blame them for it. Jane was at the prime of her life, in her mid twenties and strong. Her body was toned and well put together, and as thin as she was she still had strong curves to her.

Without a word she took his offered jacket slipping it on, though she didn’t button it up. She wasn’t going to advertise the fact that she was partially undressed to her crew men. Instead she made it seem as if this was nothing, that she only took the coat so she wouldn’t catch a chill and nothing more.

“I want to see him.” She said simply, knowing Joseph would know who she was talking about immediately. From the concerned look that crossed his eyes, she knew he didn’t quite like that request.

Sligthly reluctantly, Joseph nodded. She had the right after all; who was he to refuse?

"This way, ma'am." he said, he said, stepping off to lead the way, knowing she was right on his heels. He walked carefully, being sure not to walk too fast and cause her any unnecessary pain.

He brought her down to his and Collins' room, walking over to his bed, where the body lay wrapped. He stood aside, giving her her room.

Under the blanket, he had placed two doubloons. One on each of the mans eyes.

Even with his slower pace, Jane had a hard time keeping up with him. She could barely put any weight on the damaged leg, which made it very difficult for her to walk. When she finally reached the room it was with relief and apprehension.

She limped through the door and froze for a moment when she saw the covered body. Taking a deep breath she pulled a chair and placed it next to the bed, and suddenly it seemed like she completely forgot that Joseph was even in the room.

With a shaky hand she reached out and touched Skip’s arm through the blanket, taking a deep breath before she began to speak. Her voice was low, and yet melodious. None of the gruff that she usually had, or even the sharp edge that she still maintained even around Joseph.

“Well look at us now Skip. I always thought I’d die before you ya know? I never thought..” She paused, calming herself. However, she couldn’t stop the single tear that ran down her cheek.

“And then you made me promise. Why’d you have to do that Skip? “ Laughing lightly, another tear ran down her cheek. “What am I supposed to live for Skip? What?”

She laid her head down on the bed, her wild hair fanning out around her and on top of the covered body. She took a couple deep breaths before she sat up again, staring at the body with tears in her eyes that she tried to keep from shedding.

Joseph watched silently for a moment before giving her the privacy he could by looking away, out the port hole. It looked like rough seas... They were most likely headed into a storm.... and with the ship damaged like it was, that wasn't wise.

Hearing her stand again, he looked over. "... Rough waters captain." he commented softly.

Jane nodded absentmindedly, her thoughts still focused on the dead man who she called friend.

“Goodbye Skip.” She said softly, before turning to Joseph, the sadness pushed back so that her determination shined through once more.

“We’ll have to ride out a storm. The ship is too damaged to fight against it.” She said calmly, not liking the idea of her already damaged crew and ship having to once again fight for their lives.

Wordlessly she walked over to him, her limp pronounced with each step. As he stood there curious to what she could possibly want from him, she reached out and pulled him into an embrace of her own. It was obvious she hadn’t hugged anyone herself in quite some time, because it felt clumsy and awkward. Yet, right at the same time, because it was her. She couldn’t hide anything about herself in this embrace.

“Don’t die.” She said simply before she started to let him go.

Joseph blinked as she pulled out of the embrace, doing his best to hide the surprise. "I'll do my best." he promised, frowning as his eyes traveled down to her leg. "You need to get that leg of yours elevated and the weight off it. If you don't that limp will become permanent." he warned, turning his two toned eyes back to Jane.

He had to resist the urge to pull her into an embrace of his own. "I'll tell the men to drop anchor then?"