YURI SHIPPING OLYMPICS 2024 - BONUS ROUND 4

[a1c0bb]

for this bonus round, the theme is historical fiction! prompts inspired by specific moments in (real or fictional) history.

this round will end on july 15th

Fills can be in any format, and you can fill your teammates prompts, but you cannot fill your own prompt.

You can post as many fills and as many prompts as you want!

for your prompt post title, please use the following format:

PROMPT: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

for your fill post title, please use the following format:

FILL: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

POINTS - BONUS ROUNDS
For prompts: 10 points each (maximum of 150 prompt points per team per round)
For fills:
First 4 fills by any member of your team: 100 points each
Fills 5-10: 50 points each
Fills 11-20: 40 points each
Fills 21-50: 30 points each
Fills 51+: 25 points each

Comments

FILL: TEAM FIRE EMBLEM

[miyukitty]

Fandom: PMMD
Pairing: Madoka (Maude) x Homura (Holloway)
WC: 716


“Maude!” The little boy, no more than four years old, screams as he bolts from the ship's cabin. “Pirates! Help me!”

Captain Holloway steps through the doorway and watches coldly as the boy's sister – Maude, presumably – throws her arms open to catch him. Sprawling on the trading ship's deck in a pile of useless petticoats and ribbons, Maude nevertheless shields her sobbing brother from view with her body. Her brother clings to her frilly pink dress with both fists, wailing and sniveling in a pitiful display of terror.

Maude's got a little more spine than she looks, painted and cossetted doll that she is, but she's still defenseless. All she can do is hold back tears as the pirates raid the cargo hold, hauling every chest, crate, and barrel abovedeck just to loot the contents.

Holloway's eyes narrow. Typical merchants. They only know how to pay others to do their fighting for them. Their sullen crew already surrendered their arms when the ship was boarded. Now they're lined against the railing with their wrists bound, dully watching their employers as they await their fate.

Even the ship's mascot, a white cockatoo with unpleasantly piercing red eyes, perches quietly in wait. No one will be interfering.

“Lady Maude, is it?” Holloway calls with chilling indifference, pointing a cutlass in her direction. “Step aside, and nobody has to lose their heads. I only need one hostage for ransom, and I expect sons are worth more than daughters. It's bad luck, taking a woman onto a ship.”

“Leave him alone, you bully! Take me instead,” Maude demands, even though her squeaky voice wavers unconvincingly. “I-If you kidnap him, I'll... I'll tell Mother and Father not to send you a single thrupenny bit!”

Holloway's lip curls with dark amusement. Just as planned.

Black boots hit the deck with a thud. In but a few strides, Holloway looms over Maude, expression hardened from years of harsh living on the high seas. The cutlass slides neatly back into its sheath, beside the flintlock pistol. Maude recoils from the weaponry, shrinking in on herself.

“That eager to sacrifice yourself, fair Lady?” Holloway grips her by the chin, forcing her to rise obediently to her feet. She's like some spoiled, tenderhearted pet that never needed to learn how to bite, and is now unable to figure out how. “Come with me. Next time, save yourself first.”

“You...” Up close, Maude's gentle eyes shine with sudden pity and understanding. “You're a woman... aren't you?”

“What fool woman would shear her hair this short, or parade about in men's trousers on a pirate ship? Are you mad?”

Holloway's fingers dig cruelly into Maude's arm, dragging her away from her brother and toward the gangplank. But Maude won't be dissuaded so easily. Her shaking hand presses to Holloway's smooth cheek, finding it untouched by stubble nor razor's edge.

“It's true...!” Her whisper is small enough that the wind and the waves vanish it. “Oh, you poor thing... You must have suffered so greatly to be driven to court the gallows so. Your men can never know your secret, so... Have you been alone all this time?”

Holloway grits her teeth.

In her dreams, this girl, the girl with hair as pink as cherry blossoms and just as fleeting, trades her soul to save the life of a friend, or a family member, or even a common cat. Over, and over, the dream ends in tragedy for her, and Holloway is never able to convince her to change her decision. It's frustratingly impossible to save her from herself.

If someone like Maude has the means to help, then how could she ever knowingly turn her back on those who need it?

And how can Holloway ever turn her back on Maude?

“Don't act like you could ever understand my feelings,” Holloway hisses as they cross the gangplank and reach the deck of her pirate ship. “Even pain is dear to me. It makes me who I am.”

“Well, I'm your captive now, so...” Maude trails off with a pensive, distant expression. “I suppose that means you're not the only woman aboard anymore, so long as you want to keep me?”

Holloway snorts.

Under her breath, she mutters, “As if I'm ever going to let you go.”