Note: written for Rhyiona week 2022, the theme for today is "pirate au". Enjoy! 💜
Summary: Rhys is taken captive by the dreaded Pandorian pirate crew known as The Purple Skags. He should be fearing for his life, especially since he was working so closely with Captain Jack, but the enemy captain has eyes like jade and a scarlet smile to die for...
--- (I forgot how to put a read more line 😅)
Rhys knew - mostly through hindsight - that this was a bad plan from the start. Sure, he had his fleeting doubts, moments where his stomach knotted in anxiety, but he had faith in his captain. His leader was, after all, a war hero. One he aspired to be exactly like. And if Captain Jack came up with this plan, well honestly, what could possibly go wrong?
His first red flag was when a canon ball exploded clear through his office and pelted him with splinters and shards of glass. (His paperwork...) His second red flag was that the Pandorians from the enemy vessel were all over the ship, beating the crewmembers of Helios into neat little rope-bound bundles. (He scurried...) His third and final red flag was when Jack's second in command waved the white flag. (He cried...)
Helios was boarded and ransacked for valuables in record time. Captain Jack thought that a rag-tag group of Pandorians couldn't stand a chance in Davy Jones' locker when put up against the might of Hyperion's best ship, Helios, but that was a mistake that his crew would have to pay for. As for Jack himself, he somehow managed to secure an escape for himself - and only himself (much to Rhys' dismay) - leaving behind everyone who swore loyalty to him.
Currently, Rhys found himself hiding away and cursing his former captain, and his own naivety at wanting to be "just like him"...
'Like a coward?' He scoffed, huddling further down behind some barrels in the quiet, dark hull. 'I can't believe he just left us like that, especially me, after all those hours I spent on stupid paperwork-'
A sudden bright light was blinding him and he squeaked, throwing his hands up to shield himself.
"Found another one~!" A feminine voice called out, and he squinted up at the woman shining a light - and pointing a gun - down on him.
She grinned, her eyes creased with glee as she gestured with her pistol for him to stand up. The headband wrapped around her thick locks of hair marked her as one of those Pandorians from the enemy ship.
"Slowly now, or you'll be very sorry for my perfect aim." She hummed in thought as she looked him over. "Though honestly at this range, I could be as blind as T.K. and still hit you."
Gulping and very fearful of the young woman in front of him, Rhys slowly rose to his feet and held his hands up to show he was unarmed. These Pandorian thugs were ruthless and capricious, unpredictable and deadly in every way. He really hoped he wouldn't meet his end via a face pizza party...
As he stood to his full height, the young woman let out a low whistle as she took him all in. "Wow, you're a tall one alright. Okay beanpole, up to the deck, c'mon."
As he walked up the stairs, she poked him in the back with the business end of her pistol to hurry him along. As soon as he reached the top, a blonde man with a bad skin care routine and an even worse attitude sauntered up to them.
"Good job babe, you've really got a knack for this."
"What can I say, I can smell Hyperion scum from a mile away," she answered, coming around to stand at the man's side, leveling Rhys with a judging sneer.
She still held her pistol in his direction, so he continued to keep his hands up, though his arms were getting tired. But he'd have to suck it up because this suit was too expensive to ruin with bullet holes and blood. Maybe if he could talk his way out of this... He was pretty savvy with his words, if he did say so himself.
"Listen, uh, Mister and Missus Pandorian pirate folk... Look - uh - I'm not actually a pirate per say. Like I'm really just here for bookkeeping purposes ya know? Like, filing paperwork to keep the ship registered and legal on the seas, accounting from across the whole of the Hyperion armada, securing contracts for jobs and such..." Rhys began to sweat a little at the unimpressed looks the couple were giving him. Needing to fill the awkward silence between them, he continued to ramble on. "Oh, I can also uhm, uh, do the thing, uhm - repairing! Repairing, that's what I was thinking of - can I put my arms down, I'm getting kinda-" The woman raised her gun higher. "Okay, nope, I'll keep 'em up, that's no problem at all, heh- Uhm, so as I was saying, I- I really did all this and more for Captain Jack, so if you could not kill me, I'd really appreciate it..."
The couple glanced at each other, communicating silently through their gaze. He raised a pierced brow, she shrugged and nodded, and Rhys wondered if he was going to be hung, marooned, or tarred and feathered - do people still do that?
Whilst worrying about his soon-to-be demise, the blonde man walked up to him and pulled out a sack from his back pocket. He waved it in Rhys' general direction. "This is normally the part where I'd warn ya not to put up a fight, but there's something about ya that makes me really wanna kick your ass, so honestly it'd make my day if you tried."
Rhys had never stood more still in his life. He could practically be a mannequin in a shop window. Tsking in a show of disappointment, the man threw the bag over Rhys' head and pulled his arms down to begin tying him up with rope.
Even though he was sure he was going to die, he couldn't help but be a bit disgruntled at the quality of the rope around his wrists and torso. Did it have to be so scratchy? He could feel the dry fibers poking through his delicate designer clothes.
The couple had manhandled him around, pushing him here, pulling him there, leading him to what he assumed was the ship they sailed on. The Purple Skag, also known as Enemy Territory. He wobbled along a plank at one point, scowling in embarrassment as the couple mocked his shakey knees as he inched his way across the long piece of wood that was suspended high in the air between the two ships. If he fell now with his arms and hands bound, he'd most certainly drown...
By the time he was able to make it to the deck at the end of the plank, he was almost weak with relief at having his feet on solid foundation again. He sucked in a greatful breath of air through the smelly sack over his face, and then he was pushed down to his knees by a rough hand. Before he had time to react to that, the bag over his head was ripped off and sunlight seemed to beam directly into his retinas.
"Ow- dammit-" he winced, trying to blink away the sudden tears from his watery eyes.
"Really? Was the sack over his head necessary?" Rhys blinked away the last of the moisture and looked over to the purple haired woman who was speaking.
The blonde man with the piercings shrugged as he tucked the bag back into his pocket. "It was really more for dramatic affect." His female companion was no where to be seen.
The purple haired woman rolled her eyes as the heavily scarred blonde woman next to her chuckled. "Aww, let the kids have their fun sweetheart~"
Checking his surroundings, he noticed a balding older man with an eyepatch watching him silently.
Rhys glowered at all of them, cursing these savages in his mind. 'Yeah, yuck it up bozos, just a man's life on the line here - a regular comedy show...'
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark shape move across the blue sky. Daring a glance back, he took in the sight of black smoke billowing out of the mangled wreckage of the once magnificent ship known as Helios. His home... He wondered, not for the first time since the call of battle, if Vaughn and Yvette had escaped...
The wind blew a scented mixture of brine and soot across the deck, and he could feel the salt from the sea stinging the cuts and scrapes he had suffered during the attack. The breeze tousled his hair, drying the sweat gathered at his hairline, and he wondered, while staring at the remains of his home, if this would be his last day alive...
Rhys turned at the sound of this new voice. A woman in a vest and ruffled sleeves approached him, tilting the brim of her hat up to get a better look at him. Behind her was the girl from earlier, and their resemblance was so similar, he'd guess that they were sisters.
The new woman stood over him, her shadow falling over him and shielding him from the sun. Her jade colored eyes were so piercing, he felt as if she could see right through him. He couldn't hide who he was because she'd know the truth all too well. There was no cruelty, no bloodlust in her gaze. Only an open curiosity, and a hint of wariness. He saw himself reflected in her eyes and he felt no fear for his life...
It was almost like she could understand him, almost as if they were one in the same...
"What's your name, kid?" she questioned, bracing her hands on her hips.
'Kid??' he pouted. So much for understanding him... She couldn't be that much older than him to call him that - on top of which, he was very much a manly man okay??
"My name is Rhys..." he answered, purposefully pitching his voice deeper while straightening his back.
She raised a scarred eyebrow and the corner of her ruby colored lips ticked up in amusement. "Well, Rhys, I've been told that you used to work directly for the one they call Handsome Jack..."
"Well, yeah, he doesn't just let anybody that close to him, so yeah, I'm kind of a big deal..." He watched her smile widened and decided to try his luck. "In fact, you should let me go so I can go and find him, and let him know what wonderful people you all are, and we can just knock all this fighting nonsense out, huh?"
"Oh, you're right that we're gonna find Handsome Jack..." she murmured, crouching down and flicking the tip of his nose with her turquoise-painted nail. "And you're gonna help us do just that!"
Considering that they needed him alive for this task meant that he'd be avoiding the face pizza party and/or a tar and feathering. On top of which, he really wanted to give Jack a piece of his mind for abandoning his whole crew to what was assumed to be certain death.
All things considered, he could be worse off than being the captive to a beautiful Pandorian woman...
He dismissed that train of thought and cleared his throat, shifting on his knees so she could see his tied hands. "I'm really ready to help you out with that, so do you think you could untie me now?"
She stood and crossed her arms, dashing his hopes of being freed from the damnable itchy confines.
"Now why would I want to do that, when you look so pretty all wrapped up for me?"
Rhys found himself fighting a rising blush.
'Get yourself together man! Your home is in ruins, your captain betrayed you, you're a prisoner of the enemy, and all it takes is one pretty smile and all of your problems are gone?'
The woman leaned down and grabbed ahold of the rope around his chest, tugging until he got his feet underneath himself and stood.
"We'll be having that conversation about your ex captain now..." she smirked, pulling him along as he followed willingly in her wake.
Well... In his defense, it was a very pretty smile...
Notes: I called this "she's a pirate" bc when i thought of pirate au, I thought of that one song from Pirates of the Caribbean, you know the one. The one that plays whenever Jack is doing something decidedly very Jack-like 😆 that song is actually called "he's a pirate", so I thought it fitting to name the story after the song that inspired part of it 💕
I wrote this in a couple of hours so if it's got mistakes, 🤷🏽♀️
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