Captain's Will

27. Trophy

To announce their win over the kraken across the seven seas, the crew had taken along the massive tentacle that had landed on the Grief. It was longer than any shark Hongjoong had ever seen, and yet it was only the tip of the extensive limb. Wooyoung and San had made some inappropriate jokes about it on their way back to the island. On the other hand, Yeosang suggested bringing it to Yongguk. Perhaps the man knew a way to preserve it and it could become the new figurehead of the Grief. Their trusty, beautiful mermaid got quite battered in the past two fights.

Upon the suggestion, Hongjoong smirked at Seonghwa.

"I know me prettiest figurehead," he had drawled. Seonghwa's icy glare had been accompanied by a hand on his sword, so Hongjoong had been quick to drop the topic with a giggle.

The journey back to the island was lethargic. They sailed at half the speed they would usually go, making it more of a summer holiday than the jubilant return from a tremendous battle. Hongjoong didn't mind it. Everyone who needed medical attention was tended to by their surgeons, and those who died on the journey would have been beyond saving no matter how they hurried.

Since the crew was so large now, a shared dinner was impossible. Hongjoong left it to his mates to eat with the hires and let them ramble about the fight and which part they had played in it. Some of them got along well with the Executioners and considered joining them along the path, depending on where their journey took them next.

Which reminded Hongjoong of the most pressing matter.

He had to part from his crew, at least parts of them. The mates he watched now with fond eyes as they played around on board and tried to put crabs in each other's shirts while injuries restricted the victims from lashing out, would disperse over the world again. Or at least some of them would. He had yet to ask them about it.

The evening before they anchored and everyone would be in a flurry about the tentacle, bidding their goodbyes to the leaving mates and stocking up on medical supplies and rations, Hongjoong made an attempt to gather them all after dinner. The Grief had quietened as the main bunch dozen in their hammocks. As usual, the Executioners performed their duties until the late evening and haunted the deck with their whispers.

Wooyoung and San weren't hard to find. They had retreated into the crow's nest, their favourite flirting spot. Hongjoong had ridiculed Wooyoung just earlier for climbing the rigging with his broken arm when they simply could make out elsewhere. The navigator had stuck out his tongue at him. Hongjoong's knife narrowly dodged him, saving him from the punishment to get that bold tongue nailed to the mast for a few hours.

When Hongjoong's head popped over the rim of the round nest after he had scaled the rigging soundlessly, the two lovebirds flinched away from each other. Wooyoung's shirt had bunched under his chest where San had been feeling up his sides and hips, and San's hair was ruffled from Wooyoung running his fingers through it.

With his face propped into his hands cutely, Hongjoong watched them fidget. Wooyoung's angry blush made it worth the earlier cheekiness.

"What do ye want, Captain?! Can ye nay bother Cabezon at this time o' day?" Pride lost, Wooyoung fixed his clothes and gave his captain a glare. Hongjoong clicked his tongue.

"Do nay dare talk to yer captain like that, bucko. I did the 'onourable deed o' invitin' ye, so ye better play along."

"Invite us?" San piped up as he adjusted his pants around his hips. Somehow his sash had come undone. Since he upheld some privacy, Hongjoong didn't bother him.

"Crew meetin'," Hongjoong said. When he pushed himself up to climb back down, Wooyoung tried to glare holes into him. Hongjoong glared back.

"Do nay break yer arm climbin', matey. We would nay want ye to strain yerself while ye be 'ealin' still." His sarcasm almost made him slip on the rigging, then he disappeared from sight. Grumbling, Wooyoung and San followed him to wait in the cabin for the rest to arrive.