~~Sunfire~~

Sunfire had been so named for her dazzling eyes, which had lit many the flame of passion in those that witnessed her. Calling her a peerless beauty would be an understatement.

Yet, it brought no end to her misery. Men desired her, in fact too many men desired her, and they did not want to share. What they couldn't have, they simply took.

So her village was burned, her parents cut down in front of her, and her fiancee thrown to the wolves, all because a rival chieftain wanted her for himself.

And as it is with men who are ruled by their vices, he was ultimately undone by his desire. For the rival chief spent all his time fawning over her, oblivious to his subject's growing dissatisfaction. He soon found himself a foot shorter, a head lesser.

Once again, Sunfire changed hands.

But her new owners were wary of the mistakes their predecessor had made, and sent her away, conveniently, as a gift to a newly crowned king far across the sea. In their eyes, she was a bringer of misfortune, a vile witch who ensnared all men with black magic. In truth, she was only a girl, powerless in the face of powerful men.

They were glad to be rid of her.

The voyage to her new home was long, and yet again she caught the eye of a lustful man.

She was violated countless times - What was one more? Her loved ones were all dead, her world had crumbled before her, not once but twice, all the while being touched by disgusting hands. An eternity would not wipe the filth she felt on her skin. She had long consigned herself to oblivion.

Yet when she found out she was with child, she grew fearful. She grew fearful not for her own life, but for the fact that for the first time, in a long time, she had felt something more than self-loathing and pain.

She had felt love.

And she was fearful of losing it.

So she kept her growing belly hidden, and when it could not be ignored, she relied on trickery. 'Medicine' was given to her to purge her condition, but she spat it out secretly. Men are so easily fooled.

When the pains came, she prayed. She prayed harder than anytime before, and this was a woman who had done a lot of praying.

Please... let this child live. Let this child be healthy. Please...

Her prayers were answered, though it did not seem so at the time. Her baby did not cry, he did not do anything for quite some time. A vice had gripped her heart then, but as the baby looked at her, he chuckled. She knew then that all was right with the world.

All her grievances, all her miseries, all her pain, in that one moment, had disappeared. This child, her child, was her world now.

But it was not to be. That lustful man who had taken her so many moons ago, came down to the hold and saw their progeny. He snatched the child from her arms.

Her child.

This she could not allow.

The cargo hold is oddly quiet. Save for the waves outside, no noise was made. Yet in the hold were dozens of people, towards the aft stood the mutinied slaves, towards the bow, and the hatch to the deck, was the captain, the crew and the marines. The hatch itself was heavily barricaded on the outside, with the marines looking in.

A strange no man's land had naturally formed between the two parties, and no one made a move to cross that imaginary barrier.

Both stared the other down, and no one said a single word. The silence was deafening.

Lord Ney crossed the barricade and approached the other side. All eyes were on him.

The wall of slaves that had blocked his view parted, revealing a lone woman, Sunfire, holding a torch. She was holding it dangerously close to the supplies - barrels of rum and crates of hardtack.

The captain opened his palms, hands extended below his waist, towards Sunfire. He was slightly hunched over, almost as if he were doing a curtsey. He moved towards her deliberately and slowly.

"Put the torch down, my girl, and we can talk."

Ney takes a step forward. He notices that the crates and the barrels have been splashed with oil - no doubt taken from the stores further below.

"Where is my son!"

Sunfire's hand inches closer to the supplies. Small embers drop onto the nearest crate below, scorching out tiny spots of blackened wood. The oil does not catch fire.

"Okay, okay, calm down."

"I'll be calm when I see my son"

"And you will, I'll bring him to you. Just stay calm, and please..."

Ney gestures towards the crates of hardtack and rum.

"... it would do neither of us any good if it all burns down"

Sunfire's hand stays as precariously close as ever. She does not move.

"Then bring me my son. Now!"

~~Ney~~

This is catastrophe!

The blasted woman will be the death of me! How the hell did this happen? When I last left them, they were still chained! Sure, they might have been a little angry, but no anger could overcome cold steel. Someone on the crew must aided them. That whore must have opened her legs for another man, the slut that she is. If I find them... No. This is not the time to indulge in hate fantasies.

Calm down Ney. This is no time to panic.

Okay. What are my options?

If I give her the child, she probably wouldn't set fire to the ship, on account of his life. But we'll still be held hostage, after all they have no reason to give us control over the hold.

What could they possibly accomplish? They have the hold, yes, but we have the deck. The ship is still headed to port - and once we are there, no amount of threats will prevent the authorities from seizing the ship. I could simply delay.

But we are still three weeks out. Without food the voyage would undoubtedly be grim. Without water, there is no chance we would last the week.

Could we overpower them? We have 50 men. They have 500. If it were not for the fact that we still hold the hatch, we would've been long gone.

So I'm screwed either way. Not to mention that I'll be doubly screwed when the King finds out about me and her. Are those the only options available to me? To give or not to give the child back? What else do I have at my disposal?

C'mon Ney. Think!

She is just as screwed as me. I give her the child, she holds on to the supplies, and then what? The crew and I die of thirst. She is stranded two weeks away from port. Everybody dies.

I give her the child, she releases the hold, we arrive at port. Well, the rest of the slaves would be put to death for sure, mutiny being one of the crimes even the king could not pardon.

Either we all die. Or the slaves die, and I'm disgraced. If I had to choose... well, there is only one choice isn't there. I need to give her the child.

Before I know it, I'm back in my quarters. The child, still under the blankets, stirs.

~~Sunfire~~

When her child taken from her, she despaired. She knew that her child would be in danger. She knew that Ney had intended harm towards him. She knew that she had to act. This was no time to cry.

And so she lured a crew mate, the one with the keys, over. A smile and a simple come hither gesture was all it took.

As he grabbed her roughly and began to strip his clothes, she put her chained hands behind his neck. Using her right leg, she tripped him forwards towards her, wrapping her chains around his throat. The crew mate fell, but she maintained her hold and used every ounce of her strength to pull the chains tighter around his neck.

As her fellow slaves looked on, some drew the courage to join in. They piled on top of him, and beat him with their hands. More joined in, and they found more targets when the rest of the crew went down to investigate.

There was no plan, no forethought whatsoever. The slaves were scared and angry. All their fears, all their hate, all their sorrows had erupted in a sudden explosion of violence. Ney taking the child had was kindling for an anger within them. Sunfire's attack provided the spark.

Yet they knew their mutiny could not last. They were on a ship, surrounding by the unforgiving seas. There was nowhere to escape. All they had done was a trade a lifetime of servitude for a moment of freedom. If they were not before, they were certainly resigned to death now. But that stood at odds with what Sunfire wanted, she wanted to live, and she wanted her child to live.

While she waited for the captain to return with her son, she passed a message to the slaves beside her, and those slaves passed that message down.

"Please, do you know a way to save my child?"

A towering man, with fire-red hair and the same amber eyes of her kin came forward.

"There is whaleboat suspended astern, but to get to it we need to get through the deck. But sister, the deck is where rest of the crew are. If we fight them, we may not win."

Murmurs between the slaves grew louder as they realized there was hope that they could be delivered from death.

"Astern, that's the back of the ship? We have the crew mates axes, can't we just cut through?"

Sunfire was grasping at straws.

The murmurs grew louder, and there were occasional shouts of agreement to her suggestion.

The man looked around in sorrow.

"There is only space for twenty on the boat."

The murmurs quickly subsided. There were more than five hundred souls on board, excluding the crew. The gravity of their circumstances hit them hard.

No one said what everyone knew - almost all of them would perish.

"Sister! You go on the boat! Go with your child!", a sudden shout came from the crowd. Sunfire looked to see who it was.

Suddenly, the youngest amongst them were pushed to her.

"Take them!"

The youths fought to go back into the throng, but the rest of the slaves would not allow it. One by one, more youths were thrust forward. They were the sons, the daughters, the younger brothers and the younger sisters of the slaves.

"Ma, please! I wanna stay here with you. You promised we would stay together!"

A young girl, who was pushed forward, sobbed. It was met with many similar cries. None of them could hold back their tears. Being chosen meant having a chance to live, but it also condemned the rest of their loved ones to death.

"Quickly! We don't have much time! Take the axes!"

The red haired man beckoned the crowd, and strong men, fathers all, joined him in chopping a way to the boat behind.

Sunfire then took a torch in hand, and gathered the supplies in the cargo hold. The others slaves formed a protective line, all of them waited for the captain to come back to them.

~~Ney~~

As he came down the deck with the baby, Lord Ney was greeted with a peculiar sight. The crates that were previously held hostage had been brought forward, in front of the slaves. Sunfire no longer held the torch close to them.

"Give me my child. You can take your supplies."

What this? She loses all leverage if she does this.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ney quickly stepped forward and handed the child over. He called for the rest of the crew to come down and carry the provisions away.

"No! Only you can carry them out."

Has she gone mad? Is this how she wants to punish me? The slaves step forward menacingly.

"Okay! okay. I'll carry them out. It will just take more time. You, the rest of the crew can do this much faster, we'll be out of your-"

"ONLY YOU!"

"Okay, fine, I get it."

But he didn't get it. He couldn't wrap his head around it. Regardless, he had to secure the provisions. Well he didn't even need to carry them all the way out, he just needed to push them to the entrance, the rest of the crew would know what to do. In his mind, it would only take the better part of a day to finish this.

What on earth is she thinking?

Well, maybe they just wanted a few moments of freedom. No doubt they would have secured enough food for themselves already. It would be a high price to pay though, for this short a reprieve.

Savages will be savages.

As Ney pushed the last of the provisions back to the hatch, a deafening crack of wood splintering echoed through the hold. Then a splash. He raced up to the deck, only to find the rest of the crew crowding the aft of the ship.

"They have taken the whaleboat!"

Ah! So that's why. She was buying them time.

Fire and smoke engulfed the ship shortly after.