TW: Character Death

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Hongjoong laid still for a long moment. His senses picked up on his surroundings first, with his mind following only gradually.

The wood underneath his back was hard but solid. It brought him a soothing sense of security, promising safety on a ship that was not familiar to him.

He also heard voices. Men's voices, none of which he had ever heard before. They yelled orders at each other, jested, and joked. Their boots hurried busily over the deck, left and right of Hongjoong. The vibrations thrummed in his brain, but he couldn't find himself to care.

He just wanted to rest. And enjoy the momentary peace.

When the red flag flashed before his inner eye again, Hongjoong sat upright faster than anyone could blink. A painful stab in his lower back accompanied the movement. Curious eyes met his panicked and wide ones.

Dark blue uniforms. Soldiers hurrying around in dark blue uniforms. A cruel replay of a memory long banished from his mind.

Once more, he had lost his crew and been picked up by the jack tar. Their hostile gazes on him were evident.

Hongjoong wanted to sob, but no sound came over his lips. He just sat there, alone and forgotten as the men worked. And none seemed to care for the dishevelled pirate enough to spare him more than a glance. Wouldn't they lock him up? Why had they fished him out in the first place?

A quick glimpse at the railing. Hongjoong much preferred death in the water over another meeting with the royal bilge. He was too weak for any of this.

"All 'ands 'oay! We be approachin' the centre o' misfortune!" Somebody, probably the captain or quartermaster yelled over the deck. Hongjoong wanted to tumble to his feet and inquire about his fate. He would take a stab to the heart over any jack tar right now. Maybe he would be able to convince them of the danger and have them turn before more trouble came upon them.

However, his body didn't bring him far. Too battered and devastated by the sudden intervention of the navy, Hongjoong merely slumped against the forecastle. His arm clutched his ribs, cursing his own weakness. Why had he dropped his weapons? He knew that fighting the whole navy crew to hijack their ship and save his mates was a suicide mission, but he would have loved to try his luck at least. Better than sitting in the very heart of the enemy and waiting for his verdict.

He sneered.

They didn't even bring him shackles. Too assured of his weakness.

Hongjoong cursed himself. His brain spun with thoughts over his crew and their lonely battle without him. Was Jongho still on his feet? Had they treated San? Too much time had passed for him to be sure.

In two stiff rows, soldiers from the main deck filtered upon the quarterdeck. They jogged up left and right of the bridge, all with heavy blunderbusses in their rigid hands.

Exhausted, Hongjoong let his head thump against the wood behind him. Every noise was jarring to his ears and hit his brain as if with a hammer. He was at the end.

When the patter of feet halted at once, the pirate squinted his eyes open.

In two neat rows, and with their backs to each other, the soldiers lined up. Their rifles pointed at the skies and their eyes looked straight ahead unseeing and empty. Soulless and meant to obey only.

Behind them, the Grief darkened the waters. So close. So very wrapped up by those vicious tentacles. If Hongjoong were quick, he might jump into the water and swim over swiftly.

His eyes skimmed the railing, searching for the best spot. A tentacle curled into the skies. The jack tar didn't flinch.

"Introducing Commander Park!"

Hongjoong's head snapped up violently.

The soldiers moved in scary unison. Their gazes never wavered as they stepped backwards, passing the gaps in between each other. They formed an alley in their midst as they stared past each other unseeingly.

An alley that connected Hongjoong to the man at the very end of it. A tall man with slicked-back grey hair. He wore a white uniform hugged by a black corset to his waist. Leather pants ended in boots of the same deep black colour.

Another step back. Hongjoong's eyes stuck to the rigid posture, the hand he held orderly behind his back. The other one was stretched out with a heavy, gold-lined blunderbuss in it. His gloved fingers wrapped about the gallant wood.

Icy dark eyes met Hongjoong's. And the pirate shuddered under the power those eyes held.

He moved. The heavy blunderbuss came up to lean on his shoulder. His soldiers jerked again like puppets on strings. They offered the grips out into the alley, bowing their heads in respect. A signal that they entrusted their commander with their lives even as they pointed the weapons at themselves.

At his first step forward, they pulled up the weapons back up in the prior position. Like a well-trained wave. Everybody acted on time.

Hongjoong's tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth feeling like a piece of fur.

With long and well-calculated steps, the commander came closer. It took him only five steps down the lane. As he went, both of his hands caught the weapon in front of his body. Not for a single moment, his eyes strayed from Hongjoong's.

The man halted in front of the sunken pirate. The hammer clicked as he cocked the rifle.

Hongjoong's eyes were wide with fear and confusion. Scratchy, his weak voice rasped from his throat.

"Seonghwa... What be ye doin' 'ere?"

The commander rose his chin at him, every aspect of his posture regal.

"Repaying a debt."

Before Hongjoong could think, before he could even assume that Seonghwa might have come to splatter his brains over the wall, the commander turned. Tense under his fitted uniform, he rose the rifle to his shoulder. Perfect form, until the very tip of his elbow.

His shot was the first that fell. And a hundred other ones followed. Booming cannons, rifles and pistols all discharged at the same time. They ripped into the partly surfaced kraken, one after the other. Punching deep wounds into its flesh and sending blue blood spraying everywhere.

Hidden behind Seonghwa's protective back, Hongjoong watched with an open mouth how the tentacles retreated. Hurt beyond taking the risk of sticking around, the kraken slowly unstuck its suckers from the Grief.

Seonghwa lowered his weapon, signalling his men to do the same. Together they watched in awe as the creature escaped to the depths it had come from. To nurse its wounds and to dwell until the next fool dared to cross it. Though most would avoid this spot on the map now that the beast had shown itself to so many witnesses.

The soldiers scurried to retreat to the railing when the last tentacle flopped into the water. They stood neatly and with their weapons pointed at the sky. Despite the stiff stance, they rode out the wild waves shaking their ship effortlessly.

Seonghwa lowered the weapon to his side when the waters stilled. Only the mess of a wreckage the Grief had become remained. Wood and their loot swam about freely.

Seonghwa threw a glance over his shoulder. Still huddled in his corner, Hongjoong didn't dare to lift a finger.

The time of his judgement had come.

Wordlessly, Seonghwa stretched out his arm with the heavy rifle. A soldier jumped up instantly to take it from him. Then, he stood back in posture.

It took Seonghwa two long steps to be with Hongjoong. A gloved hand packed his tattered collar and hauled the yelping pirate to his feet. From under his wet hair, Hongjoong stared at him when he was backed up against the wall of the bridge. Rather gently, not as rough as he had inwardly prepared his body for.

The pressure Seonghwa put on him as he leaned in was still enough to have him grunt.

For a heated moment, their eyes met each other. All the stable security that Seonghwa's eyes had always carried seeping into Hongjoong's anguished mind.

Then, the navy commander dipped his head to catch Hongjoong's lips with his.

For a moment, Hongjoong still stood frozen and shivering under the pressure and the cold water clinging to his clothes. Then, after a long moment of contemplating, he melted against the man. His arms came up to pull him close as Seonghwa fisted his hand into Hongjoong's hair. When he pulled on the strands to tilt the pirate's head back, a low gasp tumbled from Hongjoong's lips. Seonghwa used the moment to push his tongue into Hongjoong's mouth, exploring the taste of blood and saltwater.

Undoubting that Seonghwa would hold him up, Hongjoong let all tension seep from his body. He forgot where they were and what had just happened. All that mattered were those plush lips on his and the touch of a warm kiss.

Seonghwa took his breath away from him. Stole it like the ocean just earlier to take it for himself as if he lived off it. When Hongjoong's fingers tightened weakly in the back of his uniform, the commander let up. For a moment, they breathed each other's air as their foreheads nearly leaned against each other.

"Are you hurt?" The whisper was gentle. It electrified Hongjoong's maltreated body with a shiver.

Seonghwa didn't wait for a reply. His free arm came up to hold Hongjoong against him carefully. When he noticed Hongjoong flinch at the hug around his waist, he took even more care of his touch.

"Ye ain't... mad?" Hongjoong's lashes fluttered shut when Seonghwa's gloved fingertips traced his features. His chin, his cheek, even his lips. As if he had to search for even the smallest injuries.

"No. I remember you now. And came to make up for the crime I committed long ago."

Hongjoong's conscience drifted from him the second he closed his eyes. Never had his head weighed more than at this moment. He just wanted to collapse against Seonghwa's shoulder and sleep for an eternity.

"Will you forgive me?"

A humourless chuckle drifted over Hongjoong's lips meekly. He had done so much to get them even. But ultimately, Seonghwa just had to draw the main card that reversed the tables and indebted Hongjoong back to him.

They never tired of each other's games.

"Aye."

Seonghwa kissed him again then, soft and with no rough grabs or pushes. Just gentle like the homey up and down of the sea.

When Hongjoong's head dropped onto his shoulder the moment they parted, Seonghwa stifled a low laugh in his hair.

"Come on, Captain. We'll take care of your crew."

Hongjoong was dimly aware of his hand that massaged little circles in the skin of his hip. It felt nice.

Without a complaint, the pirate complied. Seonghwa held him close as he ordered his men to align the ships and throw a plank over.

-

Supported by Seonghwa's durable arm, Hongjoong limped over to his ship. When he concentrated too hard on something, his sight blurred and dark spots danced in the corners of his view. Careful not to search the waters for vicious tentacles too hard, Hongjoong focused on the Grief and his crew. Both were in poor condition, but he was willing to save anything he could.

The rest of the jack tar had stayed behind. They observed the exchange of their commander with the pirates full of contempt. Their hierarchy barely kept their mouths shut, but Hongjoong knew they would gossip the second they were out of sight.

Jongho was the only one on deck. He had quickly adapted to the departure of the kraken. Currently, he clawed with bloodied hands on the barricade keeping Mingi and Yunho off from them. Relief passed his features when he saw Hongjoong and Cabezon making their way over.

"Glad to spy ye in one piece, Captain," he murmured roughly. Hongjoong dropped on his knees next to him to help him wrench a plank free. His head spun, queasy and nauseous from the drowning experience.

"San?"

"In the sickbay with Yeosang an' Wooyoung. We need land smartly. The ship be too bad o' an 'ealin' spot fer 'im."

Hongjoong nodded slowly. With channelled strength, Seonghwa hoisted a crate free and threw it off.

"Mingi? Be ye jolly down there?"

A beat of silence passed. Then, Mingi gave a fatigued sniffle.

"I be jolly."

As they wrenched more boxes free, Mingi's weakly helping hands soon came into view. His fingernails were ripped and broken, forming deep wounds on his bloody hands. His tired eyes were haunted in his pale face.

Hongjoong detected some injuries on his shoulder and flank. His clothes were dark with blood and water. They stuck to his body.

Jongho held out his hand to help the man out. The man's dominant left hand hung limply from his side, but his right pulled Mingi up into the harsh light of day that had him blink unfocusedly.

"Yunho?" Hongjoong's neck protested when he turned his head toward his tall boatswain. When Mingi shook his head, Hongjoong's guts clenched uncomfortably.

Jongho led Mingi off, his quiet murmurs soothing the man's disturbed state of mind. Upon Hongjoong carefully squeezing his body through the small opening leading down, Seonghwa held some more planks aside for him.

The water down in the storage hold reached until Hongjoong's knees. The swaying and splashing of the kraken had partly submerged the ship, but as it came to rest, the flow had stopped. The large holes left and right that the kraken had ripped through the walls made it easy to spot Yunho. On a mountain of tumbled crates and shattered barrels, the man laid propped up to keep him from the water.

Pools of blood surrounded his unmoving form. A thick wooden splinter was wedged deep into his shoulder, too close to his heart that anybody would have been able to fix it.

His eyes were closed, feigning tranquillity in his death.

Hongjoong swallowed at the sight.

He had lost crewmates before, many of them. The pirate life had them dropping like fleas left and right in battles, sickness, and drowning.

Yet, Yunho had been his longest friend since Hongjoong had collected his own crew. Two years aboard the same ship brought people close.

Hongjoong lowered his eyes respectfully. Sorrow seized his heart and wrapped it with a thin thread to squeeze tight.

He retreated after a few minutes. Seonghwa helped him up with a firm hand.

No words passed them as they made their way over to the sickbay. Hongjoong saw no necessity in knocking as he stuck his head in.

The remainders of his crew were all assembled here. With haunted faces that shone relief and misery at the same time, they huddled together. The room smelt of blood and Yeosang's medicines.

When the crew saw their captain, a few weak smiles passed them. They nodded in acknowledgement at Seonghwa, too.

"Jolly work, me 'earties. We made it," Hongjoong whispered. Yeosang gave him an uplifting smile. He had San's head in his lap, brushing his fingers through his sweaty locks. The helmsman looked feverish already.

"Any of you that want to join me can come to the lower storage area. I'll fix your leak."

Seonghwa's hand still hadn't left the small of Hongjoong's back. The pirate didn't doubt that he would have collapsed already if not for him.

Jongho and Mingi joined them. While awake, Wooyoung was still slightly out of it. They took him anyway.

Before Hongjoong could declare his help, Seonghwa already gestured for the others to wait. He picked the stubborn pirate up in his arms and carried him over the deck with long steps. No matter Hongjoong's ineffective protests, the commander marched on.

Hongjoong's cabin was still mostly intact. When Seonghwa pressed him down on his bed, endless happiness seeped into Hongjoong's fatigued limbs.

Cabezon swiftly pulled his blankets over him.

"Leave it to me and get some rest, Captain. I will have an eye on your crew."

Hongjoong wanted to protest. But the minute his brain detected no imminent danger anymore, he fainted.