Lol, I felt that I owed you guys this...

Also, I felt it was high time that Mercy learned Liar's Dice. She'll be playing it for years, after all, might as well get good at it now! I do believe, based on what happens in the chappie, that she's a VERY lucky little lass... that, or Calypso was interfering. XD

Well, I hope you guys likee! :D

Liar's Dice is the best game ever invented.

It seems complicated at first, but the rules are really actually simple. Maccus visited and taught me to play, on the day before I was to begin working with Mister Turner. It works like this: Each player has a cup and six dice. They roll the dice, but keep them under the cup. Then each player bids on how many of one face there are on the table - their own dice and the other players' included.

Next everyone looks at their own dice, and you can either up your bid or call someone's bluff. After that, everyone reveals their dice. The one with the closest bet wins, and the others are the "liars" and lose whatever they bet (or, if they're betting years as usual, they get however many years they bet added to their sentence).

Usually you play with three or four people, but if you're just on a quick break you only play with one of your mates. Maccus showed me it was just as easy to play with more than two people, but I wasn't great at those games. I lost to Maccus twice, and to Niko once. I beat Hadras quite a bit, but against all three of them together I didn't even stand a ghost of a chance. Even against just Maccus and Koleniko I only had one victory of some five or so games we played. It was fun though. I began to think, however, that the reason they played with me wasn't because I was a worthy opponent; it was because they would rather trump my arse in Liar's Dice than do their jobs. (Not that I blame them...)

At last the day I was to begin working arrived. I was helped out of my hammock by Hadras and Niko, with both of them fussing over me like a pair of bloody mother hens. I was just glad Maccus wasn't there to see; he cared about me too, of course, but the spectacle they were making of it... ooh, he'd be just disgusted. But I let them do it; if I was to be part of the crew, after all, it was probably the last little bit of babying I'd ever get from anybody - even my Hadras, bleeding heart though he was. They were still pirates, and I was the cabin girl, whether they liked me or not.

The sun was barely in the sky when we got up there, and suddenly I felt unlucky to be wearing only bandage wrapped about my top half. Most of the crew wore no shirt at all - I surely thought they must get warm easily, because I thought it was cold. All the crew 'sides me were men though, and I couldn't stop the rush of heat to my cheeks should I be looking at one of them, especially while he were working the ship or what have you. (Except Hadras of course, who'd not worn a shirt even when I first met him. And he was my friend.)

I was a bit young to be getting all hot and bothered over men's bare chests; I'd never found the courage to quite be shy about it though. If I wanted to stare at a bare-chested man hoisting the colors with his well-muscled arms, I would do damn well as I pleased.

As it turned out, Mister Turner (or Bootstrap Bill, as most of the crew seemed to call him) was on his midmorning break. Probably getting something to eat, Koleniko told me. One of them would have stayed with me, but their breaks were over. If they didn't want a fresh taste of Jimmy Legs's cat, they had to get going. So they let me alone sitting by a barrel, where they could see me, and went off to do their jobs.

I sat there for a while, minding my own business in a bored sort of way. I amused myself by sucking on some hardtack Hadras had given me, and also by squashing spiders who dared get too close to me. I counted the dice in my pocket, of which I had the six that I'd gotten from Maccus, and banged them about inside a cup I'd found atop my barrel. (Yes, my barrel.)

After several minutes, a shadow was cast over me. Looking up from my cup of dice, I revealed the shadow's match to be Jimmy Legs. Cracking his whip loudly, like he couldn't wait to sink it into my back again. "Well well," he commented. "Takin' a caulk while ye're s'posed ta be workin'? Grounds fer five more lashes, I'd say."

I blinked at him innocently, then displayed my dice and cup. "Fancy a game of Liar's Dice, bo'sun? I'm just waitin' for Mister Turner so I can start my duties. If you're on a break we could play. I've not played with you before."

It looked like he raised an eyebrow at me, lowering his cat. "Liar's Dice? Wit' you? Doubt ye'd be a challenge."

"Maccus taught me. Please? I'm bored, and you must be too, if the only one you can find to point your cat at is me."

"Well..." Hesitantly, he sat down across from me, keeping his precious cat where he could reach it, should that be necessary. "A'righ' then. S'pose I could go fer a round er two. Time fer me break any'ow." He pulled out his own dice and a cup. "Wha' are the terms? Wha'll we be bettin', then, since ye 'ave no years o' service?"

I shrugged. "Well, how about lashings? You know, we play three rounds an' however many you win is how many lashes you get to give the other person."

"Ah, now I see." He tossed his dice into his cup, as I did with mine. "I 'ope ye're no' still sore, then. We'll play three, so tha's 'ow many more lashin's ye'll be gettin'!"

"Let's roll, Jimmy." Felt a bit queer, calling him by his first name instead of either "bo'sun" or "sir", but no matter. We both took a roll, then slammed our cups down. "You bid first," I offered.

"Two fives. Yers?"

"Uh... two ones."

We peeked at our dice; out of mine I counted two ones, a four, and three sixes. I looked up and blinked. "Up the bid, Jimmy?"

He grunted. "Aye, four fives. Ye gonna up it er call me a liar?"

"Umm... I think I'll up it as well." Well, I did have three sixes, but how likely was it that he'd also rolled any sixes? He was betting fives, after all, of which I had none. It was more likely that he'd rolled a one, I thought. "I say three ones."

"A'righ'." We lifted our cups at the same time, and it looked like Jimmy was surprised. He had three fives, a three, and two ones. "Wha'... wai' a minute!"

I raised my hands. "You're a liar, Jimmy Legs!" I cried happily, waving my arms. "A filthy, bilge-sucking liar!"

He scooped up the rest of the dice angrily, as a few crewmen drifted away from their posts to watch us. "Beginner's luck, lass," he snarled. "Nex' round, take yer roll."

By the time our third round was underway, virtually nobody was working anymore. (Except for Greenbeard, the helmsman, on account of he wasn't interested in the game.) They'd all formed a small crowd around Jimmy and I, each cheering for a different person. I had Koleniko, Maccus, Hadras, Palifico, and some others named Clanker and Jelly (neither of whom I knew well) on my side, while Jimmy was backed by Quittance, Penrod, Ogilvey, Morey, Manray, and the twins. (I didn't know most of them, but Hadras had given me vivid descriptions while he was in my company, so mostly I knew who was who.)

We had just looked at our dice after our initial bids (mine had been one three, his was two twos), and glanced up at each other. "Well?" Jimmy scoffed. "Why don' ye go firs', lass? It'll be the last li'l reprieve ye get 'fore yer nex' lashin's."

I swallowed, and remembered the hand I'd been dealt. It wasn't a very good one; two fours, two threes, a two, and a five. I just had to pray that his roll had been worse. "Er..."

"We're all waitin', lass!" I heard Quittance call, the rest on Jimmy's side snickering. "Up yer bid!"

"Don't let 'em scare ya, Mercy!" Maccus shouted. "Bluff like a pirate 'n' keep tha' upper lip o' yers stiff! Call 'im a fuckin' liar, tha's wha' he is!"

All of a sudden, we all heard a door swing open, and quickly turned to face it - even Jimmy. The unmistakable shadow of our captain reached us before the sound of his bad leg did, and soon he was on the deck. Everything sort of fell silent then, and heat hung thick in the air. I just realized that in trying to wait for Mister Turner and not die of boredom, I'd managed to distract not only Jimmy while he was on break, but the entire crew while they were supposed to be doing their jobs.

... Ohh, was I in trouble now.

I began shaking as Davy got closer to us, and I let go of my cup. "'N' wha'," he growled now that he was upon us, "be this bilge? One o' ye bett'a answer me, er it be the brig for both o' ye!"

Before I knew what I was doing, I was the one who replied - and to my surprise, I sounded more like them than I had realized sounding. "Me 'n' Jimmy was just playin' a few rounds o' Liars' Dice, Captain. Just waitin' for Mister Turner. Didn't mean ta disturb you."

Davy looked from me to Jimmy, then repeated the action. "Are ye now?" Ah, lovely. He was in a sarcastic mood today. "Well, fergive me fer interruptin'. De ye know who be winnin', lass?"

"Mercy's made a liar of him twice," Koleniko answered, looking rather excited.

"So far," Maccus chuckled. "I taugh' 'er ev'rythin' she know, ain't a way in hell she's gonna lose now. I tol' 'er ta call 'im a liar, but she's gonna up 'er bid, I know how she is."

"You can do it, Jihi!" Hadras yelled to me.

"Well?" Davy's tentacles wiggled impatiently in our direction. "Cast yer next bid, Mercy."

"Uhm... I think I'll go with... three threes?" It sounded more like a question, but I was still desperately hoping that somehow, some way, Jimmy had rolled a three. "And your bid, Jimmy?"

"Three twos. Ready?"

A chant of "one, two, three!" from the crowd, and we revealed our dice. I almost couldn't believe it. I'd rolled two twos, so Jimmy would have beaten me by having a closer bet, with his own two twos... that was, if he hadn't rolled a three, as well. He'd only bet three twos, but there were four. I'd bet three threes, and that was exactly what there was on the table (so to speak).

A quietness passed over the deck, and it was apparently Jimmy's opportunity to speak. "Ma'ness," he uttered, still staring at the dice. "Tha's... Tha's three time she beat me! She gotta be cheatin', I... 'ow in the 'ell did sh'..." He couldn't even finish his sentence as he continued to simply ogle the dice.

Several of those on Jimmy's side began to snicker and jeer at him for losing to a nine-year-old girl, while my supporters cheered for me. Harder than they had while I was playing, in fact! It felt rather good. "Nice goin', Mercy!" Maccus hollered. "I knew ye could do i', lass! Knew ye had i' in ye!"

"Well well, wha' did ye bet then, Mercy?" Davy asked, walking even a bit closer to me.

"Lashes, sir."

"And ye won three round - ye give three lashes to the bo'sun then?" He glanced over at Jimmy. "Were those the terms y'agreed to, bo'sun?"

"Aye, sir," Jimmy muttered, gathering up his dice. "She set 'em out 'n' I agree' to 'em."

"Give 'er yer cat."

When Jimmy placed the whip in my hands, I was shocked. Of course he'd whipped me before, and it would be the ultimate in ironic revenge, but I wasn't really looking to flog him. I'd just been bored and thought trouncing his arrogant arse might be fun. (Don't misunderstand me though, it was fun.) "I... I don't truly... I mean, I don't want to, you know, Captain Jones," I stammered, trying to give the cat back to Jimmy. He wouldn't take it, though. "I-I just didn't have much else to bet, is all. I'm not going to whip him."

"I deserve i'," Jimmy tried to speak up.

A glare from Davy snapped Jimmy back into silence. "He'll be gettin' flogged either way, Mercy," he told me. He had changed from when we first met. Now he was far more steely, more commanding of me. He wasn't treating me like... like a child anymore. "If ye dinnae do it, I will."

I looked down at the whip in my hands, and then up at Jimmy. Ogilvey and Quittance were already holding him up on a mast, facing his bare back to me, and for some reason he weren't struggling at all. I knew that if Davy whipped him, poor Jimmy would be in pain for months yet. If I did it... well, I was very inexperienced. Maybe I wouldn't hurt him as much. (Then again, I'd wager that a flogging would hurt either way.) "I... I suppose I'll do it, then, Captain."

"Very well. Ye may star' a' any time. Three lashes."

I swallowed, and I could feel virtually all the crew's eyes on me. Even Hadras, who for all I knew was hoping I wouldn't go through with it. Slowly I raised the cat, without much conviction, and I couldn't even close my eyes, else I might miss.

I flicked my wrist hard as I could (which wasn't too awfully hard, mind you), and the leather struck Jimmy's back for the first time. It didn't completely tear the skin off as he'd done to me, but it was apparently enough to at least break the skin. As soon as I saw blood, it was hard for me to keep going. It looked as though Jimmy wanted to cry out, and he flinched, but he held his tongue behind gritted teeth. He was strong; if it were me, I'd already be sobbing.

I didn't want to continued torturing him; he was likely mad as hell's bells at me already. I didn't want to hurt him too badly. But as I held the cat in my hand, staring at the thick stream of blood that had begun to trickle down his flesh, and hearing the others' encouragement, something came over me that also frightened me. No... no, I did want to whip Jimmy Legs. I did want to cause him pain for making me suffer. An eye for an eye, then we'd both be blind, and we could just move past it all.

I still had two lashes left.

I was harder with my second one, even thinking I had been as strong as I'd get with the first. This one was cast sharply enough to open up a gaping slice, with blood gushing out and dribbling down his back. He was clearly surprised by the force, as it looked like it was more difficult now for him not to scream. I could tell because he threw his head and arched his back, like that would help.

I held the whip back a bit, somewhat apprehensive about the third lash. What if I tore open the gash further? Well then, I would just have to aim somewhere else. I tried to stop myself from being too harsh with it, but nonetheless I aimed a bit lower... and ended up very nearly getting him in the rear with the whip. I heard what sounded like Maccus roaring with laughter soon as I did that, and this time the cut that followed on Jimmy's back(side?) was much smaller and thinner, though it still bled.

Jimmy still kept his mouth shut, even as Ogilvey and Quittance pulled him down off the mast, making no effort to mind their hands. And it must have hurt, because I clearly saw them grabbing about his injuries to yank him away from the mast. They pushed him away, hollering at him that maybe I'd do a better job as bo'sun.

He came toward me, and I thoroughly expected a slap to the face. When I didn't get it, I opened my eyes (since I'd closed them in anticipation of said nonexistent smack) to see the tired, less-than-enthusiastic look in his eyes, as he held out his hand in my direction. "Can I 'ave me cat back, mate?"

Though I was surprised he was calling me mate instead of lass, I was glad to be rid of the wretched thing, and mouthed Sorry to him as I handed it over. He promptly ignored me, instead turning away and walking stiffly off somewhere. Out of anyone's sight to go lick his wounds, probably.

Davy nodded at me, then vanished again. Just like he had the first time I met him - one second he was there, then the next you could swear he'd never been there in the first place. It was odd, but I had a feeling I'd get used to it.

Soon as he was gone, the members who'd been rooting for me all gathered round, and Niko hoisted me up onto his shoulders. His spines pricked me a bit, but I couldn't have cared less. "Ye did it!" Maccus shouted. "Ye showed 'im wha's wha', lass!"

"I wouldn't've guessed she was tha' strong!" Palifico chuckled. "W'o woulda thought?"

"Aye, did y'see the way she 'andled the cat?" Clanker asked, and when I looked down he was reaching up to give me a pat on the back.

"Like she'd been doin' it 'er w'ole life!" Jelly agreed, but he didn't touch me; if he did, the jellyfish would sting me and he was much too nice for that.

At first it was exciting; I'd given the bo'sun a taste of his own cat! I was as ruthless as he'd been, and my new mates were praising me for it. I should have been proud of myself, as all my friends were. But there was a cold, terrible feeling deep down in my gut, especially when I looked over at Hadras. He looked disappointed; I almost wished I'd been brave enough to be a coward.

I snuck out of my hammock while the others were sleeping. I was afraid I'd woken Hadras when I stepped onto the stairs, because they creaked, and he was the lightest sleeper you'd ever meet in your life.

I wasn't sure what I'd been planning to do - just look out and stare at the sea, maybe. Pray to whoever was listening that Jimmy wouldn't be mad at me for too long, and... that I would survive on this ship. They were going to be tough on me... I hadn't been serving but a day, and it had started already, but they'd been serving for years. I could tell... it was going to get worse.

Imagine my surprise when I saw I wasn't alone in the stars' company. I walked up the stairs and as I peeked out, I could see Jimmy Legs standing there, leaned against the bulwark. Just looking up at the sky, far as I could tell.

For a moment I almost turned tail and ran back down the stairs. I didn't really want to though, and if I did, I'd be running away from all the crew for however long I was here. Not people like Hadras and Niko and Palifico... but the members like Jimmy. They knew they scared me, and if I didn't face them even though I was scared, they'd never take me seriously. They'd never accept me as a part of the crew.

So I took a deep breath and walked out onto the deck, coming up beside Jimmy. "Ahoy, bo'sun, sir."

He must have known I was there before he could see me; the men on this ship seemed to have some sixth sense about that. All he did was snort and shake his head. "Why're ye still callin' me that, mate?"

I grabbed onto the bulwark, which was about the height of my head. I only came up to Jimmy's elbow, just a few inches above his waist. "Why're you callin' me 'mate'?"

"'Cause ye've deserved it." He didn't look at me, his eyes focusing out on the star-reflections on the sea. "'Ow was yer first day wit' Mister Turner?"

"Oh, not... not bad. He's very nice - I think he likes children."

"Pfft. Sound like ole Bootstrap, a'right." He scratched a finger on top of the bulwark, the only noise for a few seconds. "Ye 'member when I flogged ye the firs' time, Mercy?"

I winced, resisting the urge to reach back and touch my wounds. (I couldn't, Niko said that was bad for the healing.) "Aye... how could I forget?"

"Heh." He closed his eyes. "I s'pose I was a bit 'ard on ye, wasn't I? But it's the only way anything ever gets done round this blasted ship. Nobody'd lift a bloody finger 'less they knew the cat was bein' cracked at 'em. 'Ad ta beat in inta ye. T'was jus' a few days ago, weren't it... all ye wanted ta do was run away from me."

"Wouldn't everyone?" It was supposed to be a joke, but I didn't feel much like laughing. "If you knew you were gettin' a taste of the cat, it wouldn't make you want to stand there."

"Right ye are! But taday... hmph... last thing on yer mind was runnin'." He reached down, and I felt his hand on my head, heavy and clammy and sweaty. Like he didn't know the proper way to pat a child on the head, but I didn't mind it anyway. "Ye got a lot ta learn, mate, but... ye did good. If ye're ever on a crew 'sides ours, ye know, when ye're grown... ye better be bo'sun er captain, er I'll 'unt ye down 'n' remind ye wit' me own 'and why ye oughta be a bo'sun."

Blinking, I looked up at him. Sure, he was scary... but now, at night, when he wasn't cracking his whip at everyone... he didn't seem so bad. I scooted closer and grabbed onto the sash round his waist. "Jimmy... mate..." Using the word for him seemed like a mistake; the bo'sun was nobody's friend. But it fit. "Will you take me back to my hammock? It's dark out here... I don't like the dark."

Finally he looked at me, scoffing. "Then why'd ye even come out 'ere in the firs' place..." He rested a fist on his hip, continuing to stare at me for a moment. At last he sighed, poking me in the forehead - so hard it bobbed my head back. "A'right then, Mercy, jus'... jus' stop givin' me them big ole eyes, will ye? C'mon, I'll walk ye back, but tha's it."

He turned around and started walking, a brisk pace he probably hoped I wouldn't be able to keep up with. He didn't want anyone to see what he was doing; he had a reputation to maintain, after all.

I grinned and ran after him, catching up within seconds and grabbing his hand. I leaned my head into his waist, giggling when he tried to pull away. "Oi! Firs' and las' time, ye mangy l'il menace, ye got tha'?!"

It really was too bad he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret... Davy saw everything that happened on the Dutchman. He'd be laughing about this later, I was sure of it.

AHAHA. Poor Jimmy, but I had to put a little humor in at the end there.

Any suggestions for future chappies? I have a few ideas, but I'm not sure how many chapters they'll spawn...

Well, anyway, I hope y'all liked, and if you did, review! Thanks fer readin'! ^^