Treasure

Chapter 75

She smiled at his witty remark, "I guess we make quite the team then. As long as one of us knows where to go then we will surely never be lost."

"Aye." He paused, "What do you say to a little morning duel?" He asked cautiously.

Emma shuttered at the thought. She hadn't touched a sword since her incident with King George. She hadn't even seen her father's sword since. All she knew was that Killian made sure to retrieve it and clean it of her sin, but she still couldn't bring herself to look at the infernal object. "I- I don't know." She answered, shaking her head.

"Swan, come on." Killian pushed. He knew she was avoiding the inevitable. She had to pick up a sword at some point again, and all he knew was he didn't want it to be in another life or death manner where she could freeze up at the thought, just as she was doing now. "You're not the kind of lass who runs from fear."

The princess let out a sarcastic laugh and began to walk away with a playful eye roll. It was true she wasn't one to run from a challenge. She always thought fear was another reason to try harder. Her parents never ran from anything, so she had to have that same instinct running through her veins. But all of a sudden she couldn't shake that thought of her father's blood-stained sword. She hadn't ever seen that sword covered in anything else but dirt and sweat, it was never meant to kill someone. An idiotic thought really, why own a weapon if your intentions are to use it for everything but what it was meant for? "I'm not scared." She stated as she looked over the railing of the Jolly Roger, "I just... can't look at the damn sword and not think of what I did."

Killian was quick to follow her. Sadly, he could relate to what she was saying. Often he looked at his own sword and only saw all the wrong he had done with it. No matter how many times he washed the cursed blade, the imagines of blood dripping down its handle never left his mind. But life went on and he had a feeling he could help ease her mind. "What do you say we duel with two swords then?" He scratched behind his ear, "It won't erase that thought, but now you'll have something else to think of."

Emma gave him a puzzled look. In all her years of training with her father, not once had she dueled with two swords at the same time. She was taught that one was enough and the other hand assists you in power, but the thought of fighting with two intrigued her, "Alright." She agreed, leaning against the rails, "But don't take it easy on me, captain." She teased.

"Never, princess." He chuckled.

The captain went below deck to retrieve her father's sword as Emma waited nervously above deck. Once he found the blade, he double-checked to make sure it had truly been cleansed and not a speck of blood could be seen. He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, it was now or never. He promised her father he'd teach her how to fend for herself and she needed to be able to at least hold a sword. Even with magic on her side, she still needed to be skilled with any weapon and that meant no longer fearing the one weapon she was a true master at.

Once he returned above deck, Emma felt her heart race as she spotted her father's sword in his hand. It shined in the sunlight and had evidently been polished. "Your sword, love." Killian said handing it over.

She cautiously took it, feeling the heaviness of it weigh on her wrist. Flashes of what she did played in her head, but she quickly snapped out of the trance as Killian handed her another sword from the barrel on deck, "Is this really necessary?" She asked as he got his own swords, "I've never needed more than one in the past."

"It may not be necessary, but it's a good skill to have." He said, taking his stance, "Unless you're scared you'll be bested." He teased with an eyebrow raise.

The princess laughed as she mirrored his stance, "Please, I've bested you more than you could count." She taunted, beginning to circle him as the crew gathered to watch, "What makes you think this is different?"