It was already well into the day when Seokjin thought he saw something on the horizon. 

On his ship Little Admiral, his alert soldiers would have already warned him but here, while most of the men slept in the afternoon because of the heat and lack of discipline - despite his screams, he had not succeeded in preventing them from going to bed and abandoning their posts to hide inside to shelter - Seokjin had to keep their eyes open. 

And if it was a Joseon ship, he didn't plan to alert the pirates.

He turned around and saw that next to him, Namjoon was sleeping, stretched out on the ground in the shade of the small mast. He had a long-brimmed hat pulled down over his eyes. He had been sleeping for some time now, as if Soekjin did not present the slightest threat to him  - his boundless enthusiasm for navigation must have convinced him that he would indeed take them safely to port without any tricks -  and Seokjin intended to take advantage of it.

Discreetly, he left the rudder and returned to the lower deck where the main mast where he had been attached the first day was located. Cursing against his shackles and their weight which were bothering him, he began to climb along the rope to reach the crow's nest from where he would have a better view.

It had been a long time since he had made this climb and let himself sway in the wind with a certain contentment. When he finally reached the crow's nest, he climbed inside and immediately cursed as his heart lurched. There was someone inside.

It was Yoongi who was sleeping with his headband pulled down over his eyes to protect himself from the sunlight, holding his sword tightly to him. His horrible scar running down the right side of his face below his eye going down under the blindfold. 

Seokjin also saw a pistol stuck in the leather belt that crossed his abdomen and joined the belt around his waist where his sword sheath was. He couldn't grab the sword but the gun was easily accessible to him and a small voice, a small, treacherous voice, suggested he take it, so, if the approaching ship was a Joseon ship, it would be armed to participate in the assault.

But he recovered. He first had to check the nature of the approaching ship. He searched the small space for a telescope, an essential tool in this small observation post, and saw the tip sticking out from under Yoongi's leg.

Seokjin sighed. Why couldn't anything be easy? Yoongi shouldn't have to wake up or he would warn the rest of the crew. However, it was better for Seokjin that the pirates were caught off guard. The fact that they had placed the laziest man and almost one-eyed in the crew as an observer made things easier for him.

He slowly reached down and grabbed the end of the telescope then tried to pull. Yet, it was stuck. He looked at Yoongi's still body that was slowly rising with his breathing. His half-open mouth gave Seokjin the almost certain impression that he was sleeping but it was difficult to verify without seeing his eyes.

He gently placed a hand on his knee and waited. Yoongi didn't flinch. If he had been awake, this sudden sensation, although slight, would have made him jump because of his blindfold. Reassured, Seokjin delicately lifted his leg a few millimeters to catch the telescope and when he did, he released the leg just as delicately. 

Yoongi hadn't moved during the process.

"What an incompetent scarred guy," Seokjin muttered with a half smile on the lips.

He stood up and leaned on the railing of the crow's nest. He unrolled the telescope and closed his barely healed left eye, leaving only the right open to scan the horizon. It didn't take long for him to spot the ship heading in their direction.

Obviously, they had spotted them perfectly and excitement spread to Seokjin. He forced himself to calm down and began to focus on the flag flying above the ship when he spotted it, he cursed in disappointment. It was a black wako ensign and not the Joseon Navy ensign. They must still be too far from the East Sea to come across a Joseon ship, all because of Namjoon and his incompetence.

However, what seemed strange to him was that the ship seemed to be heading straight towards them. Seokjin hadn't heard of pirates attacking other pirates, that didn't make sense. In general, wakos did not step on each other, settling for merchant or military ships when they came across them. But if these pirates really arrived with a warlike intention, perhaps it could serve his interests. 

He would yet have to be armed. He turned around to look at Yoongi who hadn't moved. So he knelt down in the cramped space and reached for the grip of his pistol, but his hand stopped halfway, hesitant, as if he had changed his mind. 

It had been a long time since he had held a gun in his hands and he had never shot a man with one. However, he had no problem doing it with a sword and it frustrated him.

"After all, a sword is better than a gun that will discharge," he murmured to convince himself.

So, he changed his hand trajectory to reach for the hilt of the ornate sword but at the same time, Yoongi grabbed the chain of his hands, making him cry out in surprise, and pulled him towards himself, making him fall onto his elbows, his nose just inches from Yoongi's. With lightning speed, Yoongi pulled up his headband to clear his eyes and drew his pistol and, without having lit the fuse yet, placed it under Seokjin's chin.

"A ship is approaching, I just wanted to warn you," Seokjin said as he tried to stand up but Yoongi placed his foot on the chain of his shackles to prevent him and keep him in a humiliating position that looked like s mistaken for that of a dog.

"Because I'm a scarred incompetent guy?" Yoongi asked with a frown, accentuating the murderous expression on his face.

"Ah, uh, you heard me," Seokjin said, accompanying his reply with a nervous chuckle.

Yoongi glared at him. He grabbed Seokjin by the collar and pulled him to his feet as if he weighed nothing and Seokjin had to admit that despite his small size, he was very strong. Then, the man roughly grabbed the back of his neck and pointed out the approaching ship, forcing him to look in that direction.

"I guess you're disappointed that it's not a Joseon ship, huh?" Yoongi said nastily, holding him against the railing.

Despite his injury, he seemed to have keen eyesight.

"Yes," Seokjin admitted, no longer having any reason to lie. "But even more, I was surprised to see a wako ship heading straight for you. Is this one of your friends?" he joked in an attempt to get Yoongi to release the unpleasant pressure he was putting on his neck.

"So you still don't understand what ship you're on, Joseon dog?"

"No, but maybe you can enlighten me," Seokjin ventured.

"Didn't you notice those red sails?"

"Of course I did, but what's the connection?"

The other sighed in such a long breath that Seokjin admired the capacity of his lungs.

"No, on second thought, I can't talk to you without wanting to kill you," Yoongi replied with an annoyed look before yelling at the rest of the crew below: "Wako ship approaching, it's time to wake up the Princess's cannons!"

At these words, the ship seemed to wake up. Exclamations rang out and it took Seokjin a moment to realize that they were exclamations...of joy. It reminded him of his comrades in arms who killed wakos to protect Joseon, but these people were wakos themselves and they were happy to go into battle... against other wakos?

"What's wrong with them?" he whispered.

"For your information, I know how to spot danger when it comes to me," Yoongi informed him, "I just find it more interesting to give my enemies time to believe that they are smarter than me."

Seokjin didn't know if the Ming was talking about him or the enemy ship but all he knew was that from now on, he wouldn't make the mistake of thinking that Yoongi was a deep sleeper.

"Good to know," he said.

Downstairs, on the second deck, he saw Namjoon who, awake, was stirring, visibly looking for him.

"You escaped your chaperone's vigilance," Yoongi remarked.

"I found one who I thought was even more incapable," Seokjin replied; 

"Maybe I should pass you over the edge?" Yoongi suggested, grabbing his collar firmly to pull it partway over the railing and pressing his body heavily against his back to stop it from moving.

Seokjin looked down and suddenly had a vision of himself as a child being picked up by a man in  crow nest and thrown onto the deck of a ship. But on that ship, someone crazy was out to get him and he was just a light kid at that time. The situation was very different here: there was no nice captain to catch him and he would die for sure.

"Mmmm, it's nice of you to think of a way to get me off faster but I think I would prefer to avoid this. My bones are fragile,"  Seokjin replied, delivering a formidable kick of heels in the crotch.

Yoongi grunted in pain and fell roughly to the ground of the crow's nest, cursing at him while Seokjin finished crossing the railing on his own but jumped to hold on to the ropes. Without waiting to see Yoongi get up to chase after him, he quickly began the descent, cursing as his rusty chains wound through the ropes.

When he finally set foot on the bridge he found himself face to face with Namjoon who seemed very unhappy that Seokjin betrayed his trust.

"Let me take the helm for-" Seokjin starded. 

"No, it's the captain who takes the helm during the assaults, he is a collision specialist," Namjoon cut him off. "As for you, you are going to go back to your cell. What is going to happen here is none of your business."

"No," Seokjin refused, "I'm not going to lock myself away during a battle."

"A battle between pirates during which you will happily kill the enemies and us indiscriminately? I'm not fooled, little admiral, I know that we are your enemies as much as the wakos who are coming at us. And I'm not going to let you stick a knife in our backs."

Seokjin was about to respond when he saw Wakaï on the upper deck, behind the rudder that he had deserted. The captain stared at him while talking with Taehyung who was next to him. Quickly, the samurai bowed and hurried to join Seokjin.

"The captain says you've tasted too much freedom and you've forgotten where you belong. I'll take you back to your cell. Namjoon, you have to go coordinate the gunners."

"Okay, I entrust him to you," Namjoon said, leaving in a hurry.

Seokjin fumed. He looked up at the captain again and through his gaze, tried to convey all the hatred he was capable of. The pirate responded with a mocking smile which irritated Seokjin even more and he pushed away Taehyung's hand which had fallen on his shoulder to push him towards the trap door, which led to the hold and which Namjoon had just taken to reach the gunners in the first basement.

"Don't touch me, I can walk on my own," he cursed as he moved forward.

In the first two basements, the atmosphere was joyful but particularly belligerent. Everyone prepared for the attack, some betting how many pirates they would kill.

There, light filtered through the openings intended to let the cannons pass through and there was no need for a lantern in broad daylight. Taehyung grabbed one of them to lead Seokjin to the bottom of the ship, where the cells were.

As he descended the steps into darkness, Seokjin walked with a confident step. He was now used to living in the dark but not Taehyung. So when they reached the last step of the stairs, Seokjin didn't hesitate. He snatched the lantern from Taehyung's hands and blew out the candle, plunging them into complete darkness.

"You shouldn't have done that," hissed Taehyung, who was about to draw his katana.

But Seokjin didn't give him time and threw himself on him, making him fall to the ground at the same time as he felt the ship suddenly turn around. It made him understand that the captain who was maneuvering may have known how to sail, but the fact remained that his way of doing it was that of a boorish wako who surely didn't went to sailors' school.

Taehyung grunted as he fell and, trusting the ears since he couldn't trust his eyes, Seokjin followed his sound and punched him in the jaw. Then, he tried to grab the hilt of his kataka or that of his wakizashi, it didn't matter which blade he managed to grab.

But he had underestimated the samurai's ability to concentrate in the most difficult moments. Taehyung, as if he had felt his hand approaching, grabbed his wrist forcefully. If it hadn't been restrained by thick iron bracelets that protected it at that time, Seokjin had no doubt that the Japanese man would have broken it. 

Taking advantage of this unexpected protection and feeling that Taehyung was standing up, he sent his knee into his chin before sending a final punch to his stomach which sent his head banging harshly against a step of the stairs.

Without waiting to know if he had fully lost consciousness, Seokjin disarmed him and dragged him by his feet to his cell. He grabbed Taehyung's keychain and locked him inside.

Then, finally, he dropped to the ground and allowed himself a few minutes of respite to catch his breath. On the other side of the bars, Taehyung didn't make a sound and Seokjin suddenly had doubts.

"Hey! Are you alive?" he asked, still panting after this short but intense fight. 

The other did not answer him. Either way, he had no qualms about knowing he was dead. He just knew that if that was the case and he was caught by Wakaï's crew, he would certainly be executed in retaliation. He was no longer just an enemy admiral: he was the murderer of one of their own, even the pirates had to have a minimum of honor to make him pay according to the law of retaliation. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

He didn't have time to think about it further because the ship was suddenly shaken violently by cannon fire. The battle had begun. It was always the cannon that came into play first then, when the two ships were close enough, the guns accompanied them and finally, the battle began and the combatants drew their swords if neither ship had yet sunk. However, Seokjin suddenly realized that the gunners had waited a long time before firing. 

When he went down, the ship was already within cannon range and the sudden movement of the ship felt earlier was that of a ship trying to parallel the enemy ship to better reach it, Seokjin had carried out this maneuver more than once during his own attacks.

It was as if the pirates preferred to limit cannon fire and concentrate on close combat.

"They don't want to damage the ships," he understood then.

Thus, the winner would not be too damaged and could calmly resume their journey, potentially with an extra ship for their fleet. He no longer had any doubts when he felt the ships collide roughly and he fell backwards. The pirates were going to fight on the deck of one of the two ships.

"That's what we'll see," he replied, ready to spring into action. If neither pirate crew wanted to destroy the ships, he was going to do it himself.

The storm was coming and he was going to charge into it instead of going around it, like always.

In the dark, he looked for Taehyung's weapons by groping the floor that Hoseok had fortunately cleaned the day before and as soon as he got his hands on them, he slipped them with their sheath into his belt and without a glance towards his cell which was now that of Taehyung - or his corpse - he rushed towards the deck of the ship.