Mors Per Mare (ATEEZ FF)

16

By the time the three of you reached the Journey, Captain was already at the helm. It made sense that Hongjoong would be itching to go after getting San and Wooyoung back.

San and Wooyoung. You had to check on them. What had she done to get the sailors to stay away from the ship?

The moment Jongho set you down, you headed for the rigging to climb to the crow's nest but Yeosang's voice caught you mid-step. "They're not up there, Y/N." He called, making you turn on your heel to look up.

Sure enough, Seonghwa waved down at you from San's usual perch (Wooyoung never tended to stay in the same spot, preferring to swing throughout the higher parts of the rigging when he stood at spotter).

"All Hands Hoy!" Captain's voice shouted suddenly, seeing Jongho and Yunho had gotten back aboard.

You assumed this meant something along the lines of everyone on deck because Mingi came flying up from the hatch, and Seonghwa sprang himself out of the crow's nest with one of the ropes, landing nimbly beside Yunho and Yeosang. Wooyoung and San made no appearance. Something in you ran cold. But just when you turned to go look for the missing members of the crew, Hongjoong heaved himself up and over the gunwale of the sterncastle deck and Yeosang grabbed your arm to yank you into the line of crew.

You froze, watching as the captain got ever closer to to the line. You didn't know the first thing about sailing. You would only get in the way. The feeling that was settling in your gut was similar to you walking in to a classroom to take a Russian test with no prior knowledge of the Russian alphabet or vocabulary.

Кроме того что вы знали русский язык. Но ты ничего не знал об этом.

You were panicking still as Hongjoong gave orders. "Weigh anchor! Hoist the Mizzen!" The men around you sprang to action, but you were stuck in your spot.

"Um Captain," you asked quietly as he got in hearing range. "What's a mizzen?"

His face had been so serious while giving the order that you thought you were about to get ripped to shreds for not knowing a single thing about ship anatomy. You closed your eyes waiting for the onslaught to come, but the Captain just laughed.

He laughed. In fact, he was doubled over from laughing. And from the way work halted in each respective zone of the ship, you could tell it had been a long time since the captain had laughed in such a way. He held his chest as he tried to reign in his laughter, but he was getting red in the face with the effort.

"Captain? Are you alright?" You asked, taking a step forward to help him if he started to choke.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Come with me, Y/N." He said, taking a deep breath as he finally stood. He started walking towards the sterncastle deck, and you followed close behind him. He cast a glance over his shoulder that you didn't quite catch, but work on the ship ensued immediately afterwards.

As he climbed the steps onto the sterncastle deck, he pointed at the mast. "This, Y/N, is a mizzen mast. Or a mizzen, to save some time."

You didn't say anything but made an 'o' with your mouth.

"I think while those two are out of commission, I'm going to need you to man the rigging. Do you think you can do that?" He asked, gesturing to the ropes that were coming down from the mizzen mast.

"Please, I can definitely do that." You scoffed, climbing onto the riggingand up to the mast. Once your feet landed on the wood, you crouched on the bar and began untying the ropes that bound the sail.

As each knot came undone, the sail lowered, and once the final knot was pulled loose, you sat back, leaning against the wood of the mast.

For just a moment, it seemed like the crew would leave Port Royal without any other hitches.