A Pirate's Tale [Larry Stylinson]

22 - Navy

They had been walking for a while now. Harry leading as first man in the chain while everyone else trotted behind like little, obedient puppies. Last was Dean, who struggled to keep up with the pace and the big steps of mostly tall and strong men. So Louis decided to let himself fall back from being the second man to walk behind Harry, all the way to last.

,,When is this gonna end?" The boy groaned, dragging one leg after the other.
,,Couple minutes left. C'mon, don't you wanna see the treasure?"
,,Honestly, I've been contemplatin' whether I should just sit down here somewhere and wait till y'all come back."
,,I'm pretty sure the captain wouldn't like it if one of his crew members suddenly went missing." Louis intervined.

Reasonable point. And 'Chicken' knew there was no other option than to power through.
,,Just enjoy the view. It's distracting." Louis smiled, comforting the young boy by laying a hand on his shoulder. He almost felt like a supportive big brother.

And indeed, Dean took his advice, watching the poofy clouds wander, gazing at the small town in the distance, down by the harbor. All was fine, till Dean vigorously began to tap Louis' shoulder, making him turn. And what he saw made him equally as unsettled as Dean. Both stayed still for a second to get a more precise look, while the others kept going. But soon, their worries grew.

Not far in the distance, a couple of men in navy uniforms stood and looked towards the group of men. They had been seen by the royal guard! And they were staring right back at them.
,,Shit." Dean cursed out, and surely Louis would have agreed, but instead he acted quick, hurrying off and catching up to the crew, pushing his way past the men, all the way to Harry. The leading man of the mission.

,,Bad news." Louis quickly blurted out, getting Harry's attention in the form of a casual humming sound.
,,We're being watched, and I even think followed." He pointed in the guards' direction, making Harry turn, as well as a couple other crew members, who quickly realized the weight of the situation.

Armed and ready to fire, the british navyl army glared at the pirates.
They had a clear advantage. It being their guns.
They were more precise and could reach targets farther away than the crew's guns could, which was more than just a simple problem. The only chance of defeating them would be direct combat. But they were way too far away for that. So it was basically a death sentence if they didn't act quick.

Luckily, Harry did, and that may have saved lives. He ordered his men to disperse and keep moving. He hoped that by doing so, the bullets couldn't harm as many as they would, had they kept walking in a dense group.
Harry told them to hurry, as the guards ran to follow. It was almost a chase.
But then, it all happened so fast and soon, Louis turned to a familiar but muffled scream.

Dean. They had Dean!
He'd been too slow and couldn't keep up and now he was in the filthy arms of a guardsman.
Louis stopped and that prompted Harry to stop as well.
,,Dean." Louis whispered out involuntarily. He was overcome with shock and this was his only way of expressing it. To whisper his name.

The rest of the man also stopped shortly after they noticed that their captain wasn't moving either. Instead, he was pulling at Louis' arm to get him back, behind himself to shield him.
Because even though Louis had a weapon, he still wasn't in any condition or shape to use it against the most trained army of Europe. And Harry really didn't need to loose Louis in such an unnecessary battle.

,,Give him back." Harry began to speak with a sturdy voice. His tone demanding though it wasn't hard to imagine that he was rather nervous.
With his brows furrowed and his jaw clenched, it was even harder to tell.

But instead of answering, the general of the army stepped forth. Gold buttons polished, a bunch of dangling badges on his left chest and a smug grin on his face. God, he looked so punchable, Louis thought.

,,I assume you know the return will cost you a great price." Ugh. His words reaked of poshness. Of pretentious importance and self-gratification
A complete contrast to Louis' accent.
,,What do you want?" Harry asked.

The man laughed, his teeth showing like a was a wolve ready to hurl himself at the captain at any given moment.
,,You," he said. ,,Alive if possible. But if you refuse, then I guess dead would also work."
,,Never."
,,As you say." He general made a small gesture of hand and the guard holding Dean nodded, picking his pistol from his belt of weapons and pressing it against Dean's temple.

The boy looked terrified and so did Niall. Louis could see him in the corner of his eye. He saw the horror on his face as his cousin was being held hostage by a bunch of scumbags. Perhaps he was more scared than Louis, cause Dean was family to him. Sure, he could be a pain in the ass but he was family to Niall.

A strong feeling of worry washed over Louis' face as he saw Niall half panicked. Dean must feel so frightened with this metal gun roughly pressed against the side of his head, not knowing if every one of his desperate attempts to breathe would be his last.

Louis averted his gaze, finding it wander to the pistol Harry had on his belt of weapons. It was directly in front of him, dangling in immediate reach. If he took it, the guards might not even see. If he did it carefully, behind Harry's back, where he had been standing, then maybe he could -.

He didn't think it over.
With Dean held at gunpoint and the general threatening to kill Harry, Louis saw no other way out but to shoot the general. So he did. In one swift motion.
Bang, and the general was hit directly in the chest.

Red blood boiled up and tinted his shirt. The vibrant colours of his neat uniform changed shades as more and more red rose from out of the bullet wound.
Both the navy and Harry's crew stood by in shock, surprised by the sudden gunshot and the unforseen death of the general.

Without further thinking, Louis killed the man who held Dean. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins as he did. He had to be precise, which was a challenge considering that Louis had wielded a gun only a couple of times in his life. Not to mention the past years in which he hadn't even seen one really.
But he managed, and the man fell dead.
Harry snapped around, ripping the gun out of his lover's hands before he could use it again. And by this time, Louis knew for certain than that he had fucked up.

The guards attacked.
Harry's men attacked.
And soon they were mingling on the vast plains of English grass.

Swords clinging together. The sound of metal on metal while Louis tried to spy out Dean. He found him soon after, surrounded by three guards who tried to get a hold of him, but he got away each time they reached for him. And then he saw Niall enter the picture, driving his sword clean through one of them, soon having to deal with the other two bashing down on him with their swords.

Louis picked up his pace and hurried over. ,,Gotcha back, Niall!"
With a swift motion, the blade pierced the ribcage of one of the men attacking the irish lad, making him tremble and fall to the ground with his last breath escaping his lips.
Niall busied himself with the other one, while Dean took shelter behind his cousin.
Louis joined them, standing close to Niall with his back turned to Dean to offer even more protection, while new navy men attacked.

They fought them off while shielding Dean, who was in too much of a shock to fight himself. But it was ok, because -and who would have suspected that- Niall and Louis made an excellent team.

One sword to block, the other to pierce. Another block, another stab. The movement became almost synchronized as they fought, yielding their weapons with great precision and strength.
One after the other dropped dead.