Chapter Text
“Captain!” Came the cry.
“What is it Murdock?” He called the man in the crows nest
“There’s a ship on the horizon!”
Hook took out his spyglass and peered through it at the ship in question. Its green hull gave away its identity immediately and his lips quirked up in a smirk. At last, he thought to himself.
“Mr. Smee!” He bellowed.
The small, round man came scrambling to his side. “Yes, captain?” he breathed out.
“We’ve found it,” he said triumphantly, “The Emerald is within our grasp. Prepare the men. We’re about to get ourselves some treasure.” And with that he turned back to face the ship that had so long eluded him.
“Mr. Smee,” He called again.
“Yes, captain?”
“Have the crimson flag raised. We wouldn’t want to take the king off guard now would we? That would be bad form.”
*****
Emma sat in a secluded area of the deck, head tilted back, as she let the warmth from the sun soak in. She had spent most of their journey so far in her cabin where her father knew that none of the crew would bother her. Now that he had been around them enough though, he trusted them enough to let her out on the deck and she had wasted no time in getting to know every inch of the ship.
Her eyebrows knitted together when she recalled just how worried her father had been about everything. He was deathly afraid of her climbing in the rigging but she was no stranger to the physical strain it put on her body. She wasn’t the type of princess to sit back and let things just happen to her. She had insisted that her mother teach her archery and her father teach her how to sword fight. In comparison, climbing up in the rigging was easy. Her head tilted slightly as she heard someone approach her.
“Emma” her father said, his voice laced with worry.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to get you back to your cabin immediately,” the worry in his voice was only increasing.
Emma stood up. “What’s wrong?” She repeated.
“There’s a ship flying a… a crimson… flag… that’s headed in our direction”
“Pirates” she breathed, excitement coursing through her.
“Please, Emma. Go to your cabin and stay there.”
“I’ll be safer in the crows nest, and for your sake I will stay there but give me a sword so that I can defend myself should someone come up to check it.”
He breathed a deep sigh but she knew he would accept what she had offered, there was no use arguing with her, especially now that her mind was made up. “Okay,” he said sounding defeated “Just remember everything we’ve gone over.”
She hugged him, and took off across the deck. She quickly grabbed her sword from her room and as she made her way back to the rigging she would use to climb up to the crows nest, the crew were hurrying all around her loading the cannons.
After quickly scurrying up into the crows nest she settled herself with her back against the mast, and waited.
Not long after, she heard a cannon fired from on the deck below.
It has begun.
******
His feet connected with the deck of the Emerald and he immediately cut down some brave soul that had come to stop him. His men were all around him fighting and his eyes scoured the deck, searching out the king.
Charming. How anyone could stand to be called that was beyond him. This king must think very highly of himself.
Over near some rigging he spotted him, cutting down any of Hook’s men that tried to climb up it. Interesting. He grabbed one of the ropes on his side of the deck and, quickly putting hand over arm, made his way up to the crow’s nest. Let’s see what the fool has up here. Doesn’t he know there’s more than one way up? He pulled himself up onto the platform easily and was immediately met with a sword at his throat.
He raised his eyes and his heart stuttered slightly. Standing before him was clearly the princess. It couldn’t be anyone else. He had been told that she was beautiful, but the descriptions had fallen far short of the real thing. Soft golden curls — pulled away from her face and tied with a leather strap — spilled down her back, piercing green eyes that shifted with the light just as all the facets of an emerald did. She was wearing tight brown breeches with leather boots and a white shirt that hugged her body just enough to give an idea of what was underneath it but also leave something to the imagination.
He swallowed hard and grinned at her. “Well princess, how did you get all the way up here?”
“I climbed up, obviously. Who are you?”
He moved her sword away from his throat with his own and dipped into a bow. “Captain Hook, I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”
“Can’t say that I have. Now why don’t you take a long walk off a short platform and get lost unless you want to have to say you were beaten by a girl.”
He clutched his at heart “You wound me, love. I have no intentions of leaving nor do I want to fight you.”
“Well if you won’t leave, then — “ And with that she brought her sword up and swung it at him, which he quickly parried. But he was surprised at the strength behind it. He had always heard that princesses were delicate and would shatter if you breathed on them. Clearly this one was different and he couldn’t deny how attractive it was.
He moved around her parrying all her blows but as he started to move faster, something interesting happened. She wouldn’t swing at him and instead swung at the place where he last was. It was strange to say the least especially because… because…
He moved silently around her and she continued to swing at the same spot not adjusting to where he was.
To test his theory further, he knocked the sword from her hand easily and pulled her flush against him. She struggled to get out of his grip but he watched her face intently as emotions flashed across it. First surprise, followed quickly by confusion, anger, and settling on frustration.
“Can you see me?”
“Of cour—“
“Princess. Can. You. See. Me?”
She stilled in his arms and seemed to look straight through him.
“No.” She said defiantly.
“Can you see anything?”
“No.”
Gods, she’s blind.
Hook relaxed his grip on her arms a little.
“What do you want with me?” She asked.
“How do you know it’s you that I want, darling?”
“Because you’re the captain and you came up here. So clearly, I’m the one you want.”
“Very clever. Well then I admit that my intentions were to take you hostage and ransom you back to your parents. So what say we go down to the deck and pop in on your father.”
With that he slipped his left arm around her waist being careful with his hook and before she could protest he had leapt off of the platform with her pulled tight against him, caught a rope in his other hand and guided them both down to the deck. Their feet connected with the wood and the princess's knees buckled. The only thing preventing her from crumpling to the ground was his arm around her. The thought made him smirk.
His crew, being reasonable men had spared slightly more than the amount needed to crew the Emerald and take it back to port, including the king himself who was now tied against the mast, separate from the rest of his men.
“Well, Charming” Hook sneered out the word “Look who I found lurking in the crow’s nest!”
“What do you want with her?” the king spat.
“I had intended to kidnap her and then ransom her back to you and your lovely wife — say hello for me by the way.”
“You think there’s any way that you’ll get away with this?”
“Oh, I know there is.” The princess was once again struggling to get out of his arms again and he decided it was time to get her to the Jolly Roger. “Mr. Smee! Please see to it that our lovely guest is given the finest quarters we have to offer.” Lowering his voice a little he added “And you will have to guide her, Smee. Make sure to tell her where she is walking.”
“Is she—“ Smee breathed.
“Yes.”
Smee’s eyes widened and he took the princesses hand, leading her towards the Jolly Roger. “This way princess. I will take good care of you.”
Hook watched them leave and then turned back to his royal pain in the arse. “You didn’t protest me taking her?”
“You aren’t taking her” The king spat. Really, where did his name come from? “If she’s going with you it’s done willingly and there’s nothing either of us can say to change her mind now.”
Hook just smirked at him. The king's eyes widened in horror, “That’s what you wanted isn’t it?”
“Just answer one thing. Her being blind. That wasn’t part of the stories of her. Why? How?”
Rage overtook the king’s features and he spat with such venom that Hook almost took a step backwards, “Rumplestiltskin.”