Pirate captain Cleo invades a village
Fire. Everything was on fire.
Someone had knocked over a torch in the stables in their attempt to run, and now everything was ablaze.
Silhouettes races between the flames, villagers, saving what they could and racing for the forest, for their sister village, where they could report to the crown what had happened- spin the tale so it was the invaders that had set their home ablaze rather than their own stupidity, and pirates.
Some of the invaders also scooped up what material possessions they could, taking their booty back to the massive ship that loomed over the burning village when they could carry no more. Some acted as firefighters, trying their best to extinguish the blaze and get the remaining villagers out to safety.
The captain stood in the center of the town square, surveying the chaos.
Was this how she had imagined this raid going? No. Normally she tried to get in and out with as little violence and mass hysteria as possible. It saved time, and time was money.
But it wasn’t like she could do anything about it now. The fire raged. Most of the village was ablaze. Some of her crew had managed to make a sort of trench between the village and the forest, so the destruction would be localized, but...
The citizens would have to start over from scratch.
Her musings were interrupted by a strangled sob.
What?
The sound came again. High pitched, terrified. Desperate.
She followed it, steps fast but steady.
The sound lead into a house on the edge of the square, mostly burned already.
The sound came again. A child.
Someone was trapped inside.
She pulled her scarf up over her nose and mouth and ran inside, making her way through the burning rubble as quickly as possible.
She found the child quickly. She was pinned underneath a fallen beam, covered in soot and crying her eyes out.
“It’s going to be okay.” The captain said, moving to the beam. “Just hold on.”
She couldn’t tell if the girl could even understand her at this point. The fire was so loud, and she was so scared... she went to the beam next to the child, put her arms underneath it, and pushed upward with all her might.
It moved. Barely. Not enough. Another beam fell in the back, and the girl screamed. The captain gritted her teeth, and pushed again, digging her nails into the wood.
The heat was beginning to get to her as she pushed again, the world swimming in smoke and haze- and suddenly the girl was scrambling out from under the beam. As soon as she was clear, she dropped the beam.
Turning, she blinked the smoke out of her eyes, ignoring the tears running down her cheeks, scooped up the girl, and ran out of the building.
It collapsed behind her, and she would have wondered at the sheer luck of them getting out alive, but her second mate ran up to her.
“Cap!” They said, wheezing slightly. Smoke inhalation. They’d have to be looked at by the doctor. “The fire’s getting close to the dock. We need to go.”
The captain cradled the girl in her arms. Her family was probably long gone, leaving her for dead. Her leg was injured, and she had spent far too long breathing in smoke in that building. They couldn’t leave her behind.
So they would take her with them.
The captain nodded. “Then lets go. Tell the crew to get on the ship and make preparations to push off. If they aren’t on the ship when we leave, they can face the crown.”
Her second mate saluted, and ran off toward the ship. She followed close behind.