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So. I've been working on this THING in what little spare time I have.
It's a fic. The one I mentioned AGES ago when I said I wanted to write an FMA pirate!AU fic. Well, now it's turned into an Age of Sail fic instead.
It's kinda tricky using some of the old fashioned language while trying to keep Ed in character.
Oh, and it has Russell in it because this is me writing it and he's my
favorite :D
Oh yeah, it's untitled and no where near completed yet!
Notes: This bit of fun was inspired by multiple re-readings of the Hornblower series by C. S. Forrester. I originally wanted to write a full on pirate!AU but it ended up turning into a regular Age of Sail!AU instead. I also didn’t want to overdo the old timey language too much plus mixing that with Ed’s character was a little difficult for me so I apologize in advance for any OOC-ness.
Summary: This is the high seas adventure of Captain Edward Elric, a privateer in the Amestris Navy and Russell Tringham, a surgeon from the island of Xenotime. These dashing young men must deal with crew members that can’t follow orders, a pervy old Commodore and his pistol wielding Captain, pirates of the 7 sins, getting shot at and especially not getting captured.
Untitled
“Unhand me, you brutes!” Russell yelled. Or, he would have if he hadn’t currently been gagged and tied.
The two men – more like boulders, Russell grumbled to himself – each had a grip on either side of him and were frog marching him down a very long pier. Russell wasn’t making it any easier for them and had been twisting and struggling the entire time to show that he still had some fight left in him.
To think, the nerve of them! Kidnapping him out of his own clinic! What if he had had a patient? Russell hoped that Fletcher was alright; he had been on the other side of the island delivering a baby when Russell had been snatched and would at once notice the evidence of the struggle that had taken place once he returned. Who knows when he would get back, though, and how soon he would have people out searching for him. Russell was proud that he had, at least, managed one good punch before they bound his hands.
Russell’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the ungainly group reached the edge of the pier. Russell had one quick glance of a jolly boat tied up before he was unceremoniously pushed into it. He barely had time to prepare before he landed painfully on his knees on the bottom of the boat. He had a quick thought about throwing himself overboard but with his hands bound and having little skill in swimming anyway, he would surely sink like a stone. Before Russell could debate the pros and cons of drowning over being captured by pirates, his captors made up his mind for him and he found himself lashed to the gunwale by one while the other took up the oars.
It was really too bad that the island of Xenotime had such a small population; there was currently no one nearby to notice his capture, all the fishing boats had been out for hours already. Of course, Xenotime never had to deal with this sort of thing, unused to many strangers that they were, only having one port and a shallow one at that and nothing of much importance for trade.
As Russell sulked in the sternsheets of the small boat, he noticed the ship that they were heading for at a steady pace. Russell was surprised; it didn’t look anything like he thought a pirate ship should look. The whole island had known about its arrival as soon as it had appeared earlier that morning but no one had wanted to go out and see what they wanted. Russell thought that surely pirates had arrived and that he was their captive.
When they pulled up alongside, Russell caught sight of the name, Trisha, emblazoned on the stern. There were a few shapes leaning over the railing and, after a flurry of movement, a plank connected to rope, almost like a swing, was lowered into the jolly boat. Russell found himself forced onto it and any thought of escaping left his mind as he was raised slowly into the air and over the side. It hadn’t seemed like such a long way up from the small boat and Russell hated heights.
He refused to look down until he was safely aboard the ship – although he figured safe was a relative term at the moment. While he was being hauled up, his captors had joined him on deck.
“Stand up straight! The Captain is coming,” one of them growled in his ear and Russell thought, this is it.
Russell was shocked as he caught his first glimpse of the pirate Captain: he was shorter than he expected, much shorter than Russell, even, and didn’t look much like he imagined a pirate should, like he’d read about in books, in that there was no eye patch or parrot about his person. The only thing that made Russell hesitate was the fierce scowl on the Captain’s face until he realized it wasn’t directed at him.
“I told you to find me doctor not tie one up and drag him aboard!” the Captain roared and Russell was surprised to note that the two hulks on either side of him fairly quivered in fear.
“We was just interpretin’ yer orders, sir,” one of them managed to squeak out.
“That so? Well, interpret this: your spirit rations are cut and your shore leave has been revoked and if I so much as see a hair of yours above deck instead of at the bilge pumps than so help me, I will lash you to the rigging for a fortnight!”
Even though the anger was not directed at him, Russell still felt like he should make himself unnoticeable. The captain stared the two men down until they both nervously uttered, “aye aye, sir.”
The Captain seemed satisfied by that and continued, in a slightly lower voice, “release him and if I find out you have hurt him, I’ll cut your food rations too.”
They both made quick work of his bonds and Russell was happy to rub circulation back into limbs and lick his lips after the gag had been removed. He noticed the two men slink off into the shadows of the ship before he noticed that the Captain had come up to him.
“I apologize for this confusion,” he began, “I should have learned by now not to send those two out on errands, they perpetually get their orders wrong.”
Russell did not know what to say to that so he merely nodded, still rubbing his wrists.
“I’m Captain Elric by the way, and you are on the Trisha, though not at all voluntarily, of course, so I will send you ashore at once.” He turned to a figure near the rail, “ready the chair!”
Everything was happening so quickly that Russell was reeling so the one thing he decided to focus on was The Captain. The other man was distracted, bellowing orders to get Russell sent back and didn’t notice Russell watching him.
Russell saw a quick tightening of the man’s jaw and a twitch in his cheek and suddenly realization dawned: “I told you to find me a doctor…”
The Captain was in pain and was obviously very skilled in not showing it. Russell was sure that no one would ever notice unless the Captain said something and Russell could already tell that Captain Elric was not the kind of man to do such a thing.
But Russell could tell. It was his job to diagnose stubborn patients who assured him it was just a scratch when it was actually a fractured rib or something much worse. Xenotime miners were always having bad accidents but didn’t want to loose face in front of their friends.
Russell moved closer to the Captain and said, in voice that only he could hear, “I would be glad to stay if you require my assistance,” and added a look that suggested he knew why he was brought on board.
The Captain gave him a sharp look as though deciding if that was really such a good idea after all. “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” he said finally, “not after the way my crew has treated you.”
Russell had been more than ready to go back home up until that moment, but the Captain was now a potential patient and Russell and his brother were the only doctors on Xenotime. He had to help this man even if his crew had kidnapped him. It was his duty.
“That is of no concern to me now,” Russell insisted.
The captain seemed to be sizing him up before coming to a decision. “Alright,” he agreed with a nod. Turning to the men working with the swing, he yelled, “Belay that chair and send word for the cook!”
Captain Elric motioned for Russell to follow and led him to a well appointed cabin, decorations of exotic origin filling any and all free space. While Russell was busy gawking like a peasant in the midst of riches, the captain had busied himself with a crystal decanter and two snifters.
“Like my prizes?” he asked, noticing Russell’s distraction. Russell nodded.
“Where did you get them?”
“From all over,” the captain waved a hand like it was nothing before pouring two glasses of a rich amber colored liquid. “Xing mostly, but some of those tribal masks came all the way from north Drachma,” the captain handed him a glass with a quick grin, “and this is some of the finest Cretan brandy you will ever taste.”
Russell’s shock continued; he had not expected pirates to be so cultured and now he wasn’t so sure if his first guess about Captain Elric was correct after all.
“So you’re a collector?” Russell asked hoping it sounded like he was merely curious instead of prying.
“Of a sort,” the captain replied nonchalantly taking a sip from his glass before sprawling casually on one of the comfortable looking chairs surrounding a sturdy wooden table that took up most of the floor space.
“I’m lucky in that I get to keep whatever I want from a captured ship before turning the rest over to the government.”
That would explain it, Russell thought. Privateers, like Captain Elric, were only one official document away from being pirates.
Realizing that he hadn’t taken advantage of the captain’s hospitality, Russell took a sip from his own glass and was surprised to find that it was like drinking liquid summer. It was exquisite. Russell made an approving sound as the captain motioned him to take a seat.
“I didn’t think the government was usually so generous to her privateers,” Russell commented, now genuinely curious.
“They’re not,” the Captain grimaced, “I just happen to have an influential sponsor.”
TBC...
Three guesses about that sponsor ;)
It's a fic. The one I mentioned AGES ago when I said I wanted to write an FMA pirate!AU fic. Well, now it's turned into an Age of Sail fic instead.
It's kinda tricky using some of the old fashioned language while trying to keep Ed in character.
Oh, and it has Russell in it because this is me writing it and he's my
favorite :D
Oh yeah, it's untitled and no where near completed yet!
Notes: This bit of fun was inspired by multiple re-readings of the Hornblower series by C. S. Forrester. I originally wanted to write a full on pirate!AU but it ended up turning into a regular Age of Sail!AU instead. I also didn’t want to overdo the old timey language too much plus mixing that with Ed’s character was a little difficult for me so I apologize in advance for any OOC-ness.
Summary: This is the high seas adventure of Captain Edward Elric, a privateer in the Amestris Navy and Russell Tringham, a surgeon from the island of Xenotime. These dashing young men must deal with crew members that can’t follow orders, a pervy old Commodore and his pistol wielding Captain, pirates of the 7 sins, getting shot at and especially not getting captured.
Untitled
“Unhand me, you brutes!” Russell yelled. Or, he would have if he hadn’t currently been gagged and tied.
The two men – more like boulders, Russell grumbled to himself – each had a grip on either side of him and were frog marching him down a very long pier. Russell wasn’t making it any easier for them and had been twisting and struggling the entire time to show that he still had some fight left in him.
To think, the nerve of them! Kidnapping him out of his own clinic! What if he had had a patient? Russell hoped that Fletcher was alright; he had been on the other side of the island delivering a baby when Russell had been snatched and would at once notice the evidence of the struggle that had taken place once he returned. Who knows when he would get back, though, and how soon he would have people out searching for him. Russell was proud that he had, at least, managed one good punch before they bound his hands.
Russell’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the ungainly group reached the edge of the pier. Russell had one quick glance of a jolly boat tied up before he was unceremoniously pushed into it. He barely had time to prepare before he landed painfully on his knees on the bottom of the boat. He had a quick thought about throwing himself overboard but with his hands bound and having little skill in swimming anyway, he would surely sink like a stone. Before Russell could debate the pros and cons of drowning over being captured by pirates, his captors made up his mind for him and he found himself lashed to the gunwale by one while the other took up the oars.
It was really too bad that the island of Xenotime had such a small population; there was currently no one nearby to notice his capture, all the fishing boats had been out for hours already. Of course, Xenotime never had to deal with this sort of thing, unused to many strangers that they were, only having one port and a shallow one at that and nothing of much importance for trade.
As Russell sulked in the sternsheets of the small boat, he noticed the ship that they were heading for at a steady pace. Russell was surprised; it didn’t look anything like he thought a pirate ship should look. The whole island had known about its arrival as soon as it had appeared earlier that morning but no one had wanted to go out and see what they wanted. Russell thought that surely pirates had arrived and that he was their captive.
When they pulled up alongside, Russell caught sight of the name, Trisha, emblazoned on the stern. There were a few shapes leaning over the railing and, after a flurry of movement, a plank connected to rope, almost like a swing, was lowered into the jolly boat. Russell found himself forced onto it and any thought of escaping left his mind as he was raised slowly into the air and over the side. It hadn’t seemed like such a long way up from the small boat and Russell hated heights.
He refused to look down until he was safely aboard the ship – although he figured safe was a relative term at the moment. While he was being hauled up, his captors had joined him on deck.
“Stand up straight! The Captain is coming,” one of them growled in his ear and Russell thought, this is it.
Russell was shocked as he caught his first glimpse of the pirate Captain: he was shorter than he expected, much shorter than Russell, even, and didn’t look much like he imagined a pirate should, like he’d read about in books, in that there was no eye patch or parrot about his person. The only thing that made Russell hesitate was the fierce scowl on the Captain’s face until he realized it wasn’t directed at him.
“I told you to find me doctor not tie one up and drag him aboard!” the Captain roared and Russell was surprised to note that the two hulks on either side of him fairly quivered in fear.
“We was just interpretin’ yer orders, sir,” one of them managed to squeak out.
“That so? Well, interpret this: your spirit rations are cut and your shore leave has been revoked and if I so much as see a hair of yours above deck instead of at the bilge pumps than so help me, I will lash you to the rigging for a fortnight!”
Even though the anger was not directed at him, Russell still felt like he should make himself unnoticeable. The captain stared the two men down until they both nervously uttered, “aye aye, sir.”
The Captain seemed satisfied by that and continued, in a slightly lower voice, “release him and if I find out you have hurt him, I’ll cut your food rations too.”
They both made quick work of his bonds and Russell was happy to rub circulation back into limbs and lick his lips after the gag had been removed. He noticed the two men slink off into the shadows of the ship before he noticed that the Captain had come up to him.
“I apologize for this confusion,” he began, “I should have learned by now not to send those two out on errands, they perpetually get their orders wrong.”
Russell did not know what to say to that so he merely nodded, still rubbing his wrists.
“I’m Captain Elric by the way, and you are on the Trisha, though not at all voluntarily, of course, so I will send you ashore at once.” He turned to a figure near the rail, “ready the chair!”
Everything was happening so quickly that Russell was reeling so the one thing he decided to focus on was The Captain. The other man was distracted, bellowing orders to get Russell sent back and didn’t notice Russell watching him.
Russell saw a quick tightening of the man’s jaw and a twitch in his cheek and suddenly realization dawned: “I told you to find me a doctor…”
The Captain was in pain and was obviously very skilled in not showing it. Russell was sure that no one would ever notice unless the Captain said something and Russell could already tell that Captain Elric was not the kind of man to do such a thing.
But Russell could tell. It was his job to diagnose stubborn patients who assured him it was just a scratch when it was actually a fractured rib or something much worse. Xenotime miners were always having bad accidents but didn’t want to loose face in front of their friends.
Russell moved closer to the Captain and said, in voice that only he could hear, “I would be glad to stay if you require my assistance,” and added a look that suggested he knew why he was brought on board.
The Captain gave him a sharp look as though deciding if that was really such a good idea after all. “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” he said finally, “not after the way my crew has treated you.”
Russell had been more than ready to go back home up until that moment, but the Captain was now a potential patient and Russell and his brother were the only doctors on Xenotime. He had to help this man even if his crew had kidnapped him. It was his duty.
“That is of no concern to me now,” Russell insisted.
The captain seemed to be sizing him up before coming to a decision. “Alright,” he agreed with a nod. Turning to the men working with the swing, he yelled, “Belay that chair and send word for the cook!”
Captain Elric motioned for Russell to follow and led him to a well appointed cabin, decorations of exotic origin filling any and all free space. While Russell was busy gawking like a peasant in the midst of riches, the captain had busied himself with a crystal decanter and two snifters.
“Like my prizes?” he asked, noticing Russell’s distraction. Russell nodded.
“Where did you get them?”
“From all over,” the captain waved a hand like it was nothing before pouring two glasses of a rich amber colored liquid. “Xing mostly, but some of those tribal masks came all the way from north Drachma,” the captain handed him a glass with a quick grin, “and this is some of the finest Cretan brandy you will ever taste.”
Russell’s shock continued; he had not expected pirates to be so cultured and now he wasn’t so sure if his first guess about Captain Elric was correct after all.
“So you’re a collector?” Russell asked hoping it sounded like he was merely curious instead of prying.
“Of a sort,” the captain replied nonchalantly taking a sip from his glass before sprawling casually on one of the comfortable looking chairs surrounding a sturdy wooden table that took up most of the floor space.
“I’m lucky in that I get to keep whatever I want from a captured ship before turning the rest over to the government.”
That would explain it, Russell thought. Privateers, like Captain Elric, were only one official document away from being pirates.
Realizing that he hadn’t taken advantage of the captain’s hospitality, Russell took a sip from his own glass and was surprised to find that it was like drinking liquid summer. It was exquisite. Russell made an approving sound as the captain motioned him to take a seat.
“I didn’t think the government was usually so generous to her privateers,” Russell commented, now genuinely curious.
“They’re not,” the Captain grimaced, “I just happen to have an influential sponsor.”
TBC...
Three guesses about that sponsor ;)