FMK for Jandro: Flint, Billy, and Joji

“And it what universe am I to suppose myself capable of killing any one of those men?” Jandro knew his limits and capabilities, and in a fight between himself and any of the proposed, the only one sure to die would be himself. Theoreticals only worked as far as reality could be stretched to accommodate them.

“Marry – Billy,” He had something like a marriage with him already, and it was probably the only universe where he felt truly himself, and truly safe, which made this the only honest answer he could give.

“I have – leverage on Flint that might make him pause long enough I could shoot him.” The words were distasteful on his tongue. “So – I guess fuck Joji, though that seems about as liable to kill me as trying to shoot Flint.”

FMK for Jack: Will, Elizabeth, and Gibbs

{ FMK Meme }

“Have I done something to upset you, love?” Jack inquired, rather horrified by these options for a bloody multitude of reasons. After some consideration, he sighed, “Marry Gibbs – he’s too loyal for too long to be relegated to anything else,” And now the rub. After another hesitation, “Fuck the king, if only cause she’s too good a unifying agent to get rid of without due cause – and kill the whelp.”

FMK for Hume: Flint/McGraw, Billy, and Woodes Rogers

{ FMK Meme }

“Kill Woodes,” There is no hesitation there – he knows what that man is capable of, and in a choice between a man with England presently on his side and a man whose loyalists shift as often as his apparent intentions, Graham will fix his canon against the most certain of the two threats. “Fuck Flint, McGraw, whoever he feels like being at the time.” Likely Flint, but it was more a reflection on the fact there was a clear dichotomy between the two who stood within one man, “Marry Billy.” He was already quartermaster to Scarborough, so that was sort of a marriage as it was.

Never Gets To Grow Old

Vampire!Horatio, version one.

In Muzillac, Horatio attempts to halt French soldiers from assaulting a young woman. His efforts result in him being fatally stabbed by the men who are certain in their command and the fact that their marquis will not fault them for their actions. Still, they find themselves compelled to leave, and Horatio lays upon the ground, feeling his life slip away in the blood that blossoms over his chest. The woman kneels over him and the world goes black – but when he wakes, everything has changed.

Turned into a creature of the night against his will, Horatio is at first infuriated – but he lacks the time to wholly respond due to the sound of cannonade at the bridge. Responding to his duty to his men before wholly considering all that has been done to him – all that she was explaining – he ran for them and terrified himself with his speed. Blessed only by the fact he was not seen, Horatio went about his business as he needed to, confronting the woman afterward to learn more of what he had become. She gifted him with a book, and the tale of Muzillac and its failure continues to unfold as normal.

In this story, Horatio becomes a vampire as of Frogs and Lobsters and must learn both to adjust to what he has become, master his new body and its needs – and somehow conceal it amid the incredible confines of a ship at sea. What he must do to survive and how he may prove a more deadly adversary than ever before, shall come about based on discussion and story telling.

And Devastation Reigned

Immortal Witch

Following Horatio’s crossover universe in which he was born in the POTC timeline, but rather having individuals such as Pellew be original npc’s instead, this verse sees Horatio following Tia Dalma’s commands to bring magic back into a world that has lost it.

At 107 years of age, Horatio feigns himself as a young man and gets posted aboard the Justinian, then the Indy. This verse covers the entire Hornblower storyline, only with Horatio as a witch of wind and water. The revelation of him as a witch can come at any point, and this is simply a catch all verse title for adventures in the canon timeline with an ancient Horatio playing a very different theater of war than anyone truly realizes. His goal, as ever, being to return magic to a world which has lost it – but also, to ensure that those he sees as his enemies do not gain power that could be catastrophic.

Horatio is racing against time in this verse, as Napoleon is well on his way to forging magic into his Navy – not wanting to risk the army, which he understands, but willing to chance victory or defeat on the naval theater enough to chance delivering upon his admirals the order to use magic at war. While England remains ignorant both to the existence of magic and afraid enough to order the death of anyone suspected of using it, the first assault of Napoleon’s utilizing these methods will prove devastating – and it will force Horatio to either reveal himself for the sake of the Indy he has come to love, or find a means of manipulating matters so that the battles can be won by those who are at a most horrifying disadvantage.

See My Ascendancy

Age: 32 – 42 ( 1718 – 1728 )
Corresponds With: We Are The Renegades

Upon meeting with Tia Dalma, Horatio is confronted by her understanding of his darkest heart – shocked to the core by her assault upon his person and the terrors that drove him and all of his ambitions, he relented to consent to her demand that he accompany her if he had wish to learn of magic. Surrendering the Hotspur to the care of his quartermaster, Horatio made it clear that he needed to remain – for his own sake, he needed to learn all that which Tia Dalma wished to teach him.

This verse dawns the canon of Horatio becoming Tia Dalma’s apprentice, and leads into a supernatural verse in which he has become an immortal witch. The verses which follow are designed with Horatio acting in the capacity of a witch, and coming upon the truth of his own immortality. Due to how tied in with the POTC lines this will be, it is not moved to the supernatural tab but kept here so that everything may be linear.

Joining The Rebellion

Age: 43 ( 1729 )
Corresponds With: Stop Blowing Holes In My Ship

In which Horatio provides aid to Jack Sparrow as a witch aboard the Interceptor, granting her speeds necessary to catch the supernatural Black Pearl.

Never Truly Be Free

Age: 44 ( 1730 )
Corresponds With: Got A Jar Of Dirt

In which Horatio observes that Jack has been marked with the Black Spot while visiting Tia Dalma, and opts to attempt assisting Jack in defeating the captain of the Flying Dutchman.

The Situation Is Fraught

Age: 44 – 45 ( 1730 – 1731 )
Corresponds With: No One Missed Me

In which Horatio continues to ply his services as a witch to the aid of pirates, acting under Tia Dalma’s command to support the Brethren Court and in particular, Barbossa’s manipulation of them into releasing her from her mortal prison.

Show Me Where The Ammunition Is

Age: 45 – 64 ( 1731 – 1750 )
Corresponds With: Sailing For Recovery

In which Horatio has become the new witch of the islands, standing in Tia Dalma’s place as the goddess attends her business across the whole of the seas. He has come to realize he does not age, and recognizes that Jack does not do so either. Quietly they attend to addressing the notion that service so long to Tia Dalma may well have changed their very function as men, and created of them immortals capable of dying by the sword, but not by nature.

Promise To Make You Proud

Age: 64 – 66 ( ( 1750 – 1752 )
Corresponds With: Will Not Be Doing That Again

In which Tia Dalma returns and sets upon Horatio a mission to begin waking ancient powers. While Jack adventures to the Fountain of Youth, Horatio makes his way to Greece where he is to unleash a spirit trapped within an ancient vase.

Foes Oppose Us

Age: 66 ( 1752 )
Corresponds With: Pirates Do Not Require Pants

In which the release of the curse on the Silent Mary affords Tia Dalma the ability to manipulating Jack into breaking all curses set at sea. Horatio, during this time, is set to aid Jack, once again acting as his witch in order to ascertain victory on this score.

We Take An Honest Stand

Age: 67 – 106 ( 1753 – 1792 )
Corresponds With: Oceans Between Us

During which time Horatio and Jack encounter many more adventures – and wholly come to accept their natures as the servants of Tia Dalma’s whims.

Claiming Our Promised Lands

Age: 107+
Corresponds With: Hornblower Original Verses

Through which Horatio and Jack achieve their ends, and awaken magic in a world that has forgotten it.

Life Without A Monarchy

Canon Base: Duty, but in 1716 – 1717
Age: 30 – 31
Corresponds With: Chasing Shadows And Drinking Gold

Following the situation in Nassau and finally coming to accept the rebellious nature of his own heart, Horatio turns the Hotspur toward piracy. Admiral Pellew had gone missing and without him, Horatio had little trouble abandoning the admiralty and adopting to the Pirate Code with a vicious determination to never again be in a position where it would be deemed acceptable to destroy an island and her people, and call it ‘just’ in the name of civilized society. This verse marks Horatio’s step away from his canon and into the tales of piracy rich throughout the Black Sails and POTC environments, and may be used as a building stone for other verses as time calls for it.

It is within this period that Horatio first meets with Jack Sparrow, and the two hold a brief adventure together that introduces Horatio to the reality of magic. Accompanied by a reanimated dead man, Jack Sparrow left a sharp impression upon Horatio – but nothing struck him harder than the knowledge of the woman responsible for bringing a man back from the dead. Curiosity won him, and Horatio made sail for Cuba in search of the Obeah woman, Tia Dalma, who would in turn craft his fate in ways he never could have begun to dream.

A Colony That Runs Independently

Canon Base: Loyalty, but in 1714 – 1715
Age: 28-29
Corresponds With: Do Only What You Can Live With

Peace between Spain and England resulted in Horatio being withdrawn from his command as a result of England needing to work on rebuilding her profits in the wake of an eleven year war and its many costs. Making his living in the Bahamas mostly through games of whist, Horatio is dimly aware that the neighboring New Providence island has become something of a black spot in England’s purse. With no real reason to act or remark upon it, Horatio tends to turn a blind eye to many of the illegal acts he takes note of, not even mentioning them to Admiral Pellew when the man takes up in the area and aids Horatio’s winnings by inviting him to games he would otherwise be too low on the social sphere to attend.

This takes a turn however, when the admiral tasks Horatio with ferrying a Frenchman with interests in Acadia to meet with an English proprietor who held an interest in New Providence and the city of Nassau. Due to various trade agreements the two had become fast friends, and Major Cotard was considered an ally to English interests on account of having supported Protestant rule in Spain during the war. It was believed that the Spanish meant to move against the island, and that it was imperative this be avoided as it would mean war again, so long as New Providence remained technically within the English colonies. However, her corrupted nature was something that needed addressing, and Major Cotard was meant to discuss with his friend means of assisting on that front in exchange for further property interests in Acadia presently held by the English.

Posted as captain to the Hotspur, Horatio immediately reaches out to Bush and has him named as first lieutenant, before arranging the rest of his crew for the mission. The meeting however, proves to have been waylaid. A fleet of Spanish ships is set to make for Nassau, at the bequest of the new governor who was acting under the financial supports of Major Cotard’s proprietary friend. This act of betrayal and invitation to war is met with an abundance of shock, though the razing of Nassau leaves Horatio feeling utterly devastated when it comes to light the actions were taken in an effort to control her pirate population and were deemed somehow necessary for civilization’s progress.

Unwilling to be party to this, Horatio commits an act of piracy himself by aiding and abetting those who wished to escape the slaughter. Returning to the mainland, Major Cotard did not mention this to the admiralty, and Horatio took his silence as an indication that he too considered the crime against Nassau far greater than the crime of interference.

Revolution In This Century

Canon Base: Mutiny & Retribution, but in 1712 – 1713
Age: 26-27
Corresponds With: To Free The Sea Of Piracy

Horatio finds himself in the midst of many changes, few of which are welcome. Captain Pellew has been stationed among the admiralty, resulting in Horatio’s transfer to a new ship as the Indefatigable was set to be re-outfitted for a new captain and crew, and was in need of a complete overhauling that was expected to take nearly a year to complete. Stationed aboard a third class galleon as third lieutenant, Horatio finds himself dealing with an aged captain whose crew took great advantage of his failing nature to imbibe in an abundance of alcohol and a sense of being untouchable on account of serving a hero of the Spanish peninsula. Matters escalated to the point that Horatio and the other three lieutenants were forced to discuss deposing of the captain – an act of mutiny and sedition in its very voicing – and actions of the captain that nearly lead to the destruction of the ship forced the hand of the ship’s surgeon into declaring him unfit for command.

Matters grew worse, and Horatio knew the only way to spare himself and his fellow lieutenants from the gallows for mutiny would be to carry out their mission and claim the fort they were set out against in the first place. This lead ultimately to the destruction of the fort, the death of the captain, and Horatio on trial along with the other lieutenants on account of their crimes. One of them was injured, and in the end he chose to take the fall, knowing he would die regardless, to clear the names of Horatio, Lieutenant Bush and Lieutenant Buckland, saving their lives with his own. The admiralty understood they needed a scapegoat to protect the legacy of the fallen captain and had fixed their canon against Horatio – something Pellew worked hard to redirect – and in the end the sacrifice of Lieutenant Kennedy and the actions of Pellew were what not only saved Horatio, but lead to him being promoted to captain upon a smaller vessel.

These experiences hardened Horatio against England and blind patriotism, though he wisely kept his contempt trapped between his teeth. Sympathy for those who had turned to the black flag, where captains could be voted off and ships could be run with democratic command so that such horrors as these need never be faced, had never before sounded so appealing.

Fan This Spark Into A Flame

Canon Base: Frogs & Lobsters, but in 1708 – 1711

Age: 22-25
Corresponds With: To Free The Sea Of Piracy

The admiralty devises a plan to halt the war by ferrying Habsburg Spaniards to a colonized island in Spain’s possession that – if taken – would grant England a prominent military base to engage the North American theater and pressure Spain through the crippling financial losses to treatise with England to stop the war. The island, naturally, being returned to Spain as part of the arrangements. In order to achieve this, Indefatigable would lead five ships in drawing the Habsburg supporters across, as well as a contingent of redcoats to support the unit in capturing the island by holding a strategic town from intervening or providing aid to the mainland’s fortifications.

Unfortunately, the dispatches detailing these plans to one of the captains set to take part in the endeavor were compromised. Despite this, the admiralty believed the island’s capture too crucial to ignore on account of a possible breach. Pellew – aware of the breach – attempted to exercise caution, which simply lead to the admiralty’s demand that the Indy remain in the bay during the assault in the event of defeat, while the other ships returned for new orders. The mathematics of defeat were clear in the command, and Pellew was forced to make his orders with the intention of success despite this fact. Assigning Horatio to act as liaison between a leader of the Spanish and the English major who would be supporting him in the town, Pellew was left to decide for himself the best course of action in the event defeat proved as imminent as he feared.

Ashore with the Spanish, Horatio found himself less than taken by their leader, who held a deep contempt toward those countrymen who would support France in gaining control over Spain. Due to this, he saw fit to exercise French justice on them, to illustrate the foolishness of supporting France and to further establish his whole control over the region through means Horatio could only describe as a reign of terror. Unfortunately for all, the news of the attempt to take the island had already reached the mainland, which laid a trap for the troops who were set to take on the larger city and her fort. This lead to a catastrophic defeat and the turn of attention to the town Horatio was tasked to hold with the assistance of the redcoats. Realizing that they were about to be surrounded in a place they had never been welcome or needed, Horatio and the major beat a hard retreat and were rescued in the nick of time by the Indy. The island remained in the possession of Spain and her opposition – and the Habsburg allies held no survivors during the assault, either taken out in the trap, or executed in the town on account of their leader’s cruel and vicious tactics.