"Let me go!" she said frantically when he grabbed her arm and hauled her closer. The smell of alcohol filled her nostrils like wisps of smoke. She struggled until he said he had a knife, and then she cried out, "Do not do this! Please, just let me go!"

Oh damn! Crying girls. How was this fair? For a moment, his grip loosened a little. "Ye know too much, lassie."

"No... I just wanted to sit by the sea for a time, honestly! I don't poke my nose into peoples' business... Please..." She begged, but in her heart, she knew the plea would fall on deaf ears. Here was a man who was out of his mind drunk and didn't see rationality, and her life was in his hands in that moment in time.

"Too late now." He just wasn't sure what to do with her. He didn't want to actually kill her? But he didn't want to let her go either. The captain would know! She looked wealthy! Maybe they could get a good ransom? He started dragging her towards the exit of the cave. A man was riding horseback across the beach and Steve quickly placed his hand over the girl's mouth.

She was about to give a big ol' scream when she heard hoofbeats, but it was stopped when his hand went over her mouth. "Mfff!" She tried to flail but the space in the cave was limited where they were, and she elbowed the wall hard enough it brought tears of pain to her eyes. She bit into his hand then, hoping and praying he would make enough noise for notice before the horseman was gone.

[Content warning: Violence]

"Aaaaaaaaagh." Steve pulled his hand away, but the next moment, he knocked her down (or at least he tried to). The rider stopped.

She hit the ground pretty hard and was dazed for a moment, and then realizing she had some semblance of freedom, she limped as fast as she could calling out, "Help! Somebody help me! Please!" The fresh taste of coppery blood was on her tongue from a split in her lip and her face throbbed from the blow.

Steve tried to take hold of her again and cover her mouth, but it was hard to do that fast in the dark.

She continued to struggle with him, her head shook as she cried out in her despiration, "HELLLLLL------mmmffff!" And the next thing she knew, her head hit the wall in his desperation to get a hold of her, and she went limp in his arms.

Oh crap. Was she dead? She was quiet at least, and technically he had not killed her, had he?

First things first: He started dragging her further into the cave, in case the rider would come and have a look. There was a pulse at least, he realized. Did she need medical assistance? It was hard to see how bad it was in the dark. And Steve was mostly confused anyway. She was breathing, so...

He slowly crept to the opening of the cave to see if the coast was clear. Literally.