My Lifeline - Jaywon Shortstories

Captain Park

The Captain walked slowly, he didn't need to rush. He liked to do a routine inspection every morning and today he had a weird feeling that something was off.

However, he hadn't found it.

Yet.

"Sir, we are ready" said a familiar voice next to him.
"Thank you Niki" replied the Captain.

Niki was his youngest element and the Captain was very pleased with his work. After all, being a pirate was very demanding and the Captain wasn't known for being merciful. But as far as he had come, Niki had proven himself.

The pirates were working on their personal tasks, cleaning the boat, preparing the sails, peeling potatoes.

Niki walked along his Captain silently, as he had been instructed. He knew that the Captain didn't like being interrupted, even if it was "just" the inspection.
After checking everything, the Captain nodded, apparently satisfied. He walked towards the steering wheel, Niki still next to him.

"We should be at Tortuga tonight" said the Captain. "Make sure that everyone remembers the plan."
"Of course Captain Park" replied Niki, finally leaving the Captain's side.

Jay Park took the wheel, guiding his ship and his crew through a rather fair sea.

Soon..

~

The sun had almost set when the first shapes of Tortuga appeared. The Captain smiled as he saw it. This filthy pirate island was the closest thing he had to a home, if we didn't count his ship, The Engene.
However, happiness got slowly clouded by doubt.
Or was it fear?

The Captain sighed.

Nothing would go wrong. The had secured the treasure they had been asked to, and the promised ransom was more than enough.

"'Ptain Park?"

The latter didn't answer, still wondering why he was feeling this weirded out. Why was he imagining things going wrong?
He had made a hundred transactions in the past, this one would go as well as the previous ones, no need to be nervous.

"Captain Park?" repeated the voice.
"Oh, Sunoo" finally said the Captain.
"Sir, I'm not feeling it" whispered Sunoo. "I know it's not my place, but something seems off."

Captain Park's eyes widened.

Sunoo is feeling it too!
What a weird coincidence.

"I've been worried throughout today as well" admitted the Captain.

He knew he could be honest with Sunoo. The latter's instincts were always extremely precise and the Captain had learned not to underestimate them.

"But we're still going, aren't we?" asked Sunoo.
"You're right" said the Captain.

Sunoo slowly nodded.

"It's in here, isn't it?" he whispered.

This time, it was the Captain who nodded in silence.

"Then I shall stay" said Sunoo. "Keep an eye on things here while you do your business there."

Captain Park frowned.

"Are you sure? You love the tavern" he said.
"Won't be able to enjoy it before I find out what's going on" said Sunoo. "And I know you need someone you trust here."

The Captain nodded again, but this time as a thank you.

~

The transaction had gone well, as Captain Park had expected. The crew was enjoying a well deserved fresh ale in the tavern after having carried their payment to Engene.
The Captain was about to join them when he heard something behind him.

It could have been nothing, but years of experience had taught Captain Park that he should trust his guts, and they were screaming "under imminent attack" right now.

The alley in which he was was poorly lit, but it didn't really matter to the Captain. He had excellent reflexes after all.

"Don't you want to show yourself" said Captain Park. "I don't bite."

At least not at first.

He didn't hear any verbal answer, just the distinctive swoosh of a sword being drawn out.

Captain Park felt a rush of wind behind him, but he was ready for it.

The two sword kept clicking against each other, in a desperate attempt to gain dominance.
Captain Park was trying to see his opponent's face, however the latter didn't hive him any window.

And the Captain knew that all it took was a second of inattention to get hurt.

The battle lasted for several minutes. At some point, the Captain started to forget his life was at risk and he just enjoyed a pure display of good swordsmanship.

Because his opponent was excellent. Perhaps even the best opponent Captain Park had yet met.

However, the Captain also wanted to drink his well deserved ale, which meant this fight had to stop.
He placed his left foot behind and executed his favorite move, the one that never failed.

Until that day.

Somehow, his opponent had perfectly read his move and not only had he countered it, but he also had managed to disarm the Captain.

Eyes widened by shock, Captain Park took a step backwards.
His opponent advanced on him and soon enough the coldness of the metallic blade spread on the Captain's neck.

That had never happened before and yet Captain Park didn't feel any panic. He was rather mad at himself for having lost.

"Alright, alright" he admitted. "You bested me. What do you want?"

"To ki-" started the opponent, not finishing his word.

As he had spoken, someone had lit a light nearby and he had finally gotten a glimpse of the Captain's face.

A second of hesitation froze him and before the Captain was able to do anything, the mysterious man had disappeared.

Captain Jay Park blinked once, trying to figure out what on earth had just happened, but he couldn't concentrate on that.

The only thing that he could think about was how beautiful the face of the man who had almost killed him was.

~

Hi everyone!
Sorry I didn't write for the past three days..
It was quite difficult for me to say goodbye to Cursed.
I started Connected a year ago and I built a whole world around it.. Finishing the last book was quite emotional for me and I needed a little time

At the same time I finished Awakened, which lasted a lot longer than expected, but I'm really happy with the result
But still, it was another goodbye.

Anywaaaay, so that you know a little about the next steps in our journey together, here is the plan (not in the right order necessarily)

- for a few days, I'll be writing One shots/short stories only, both here and on En-drama

- when I'll be done with this one (can't go over 100 chapters if I'm not wrong and we're pretty close), I'll open a new One shot/short stories book with ships from ANY group (that you will be able to request)

So there it is, if you have any questions, let me know !

Love, Author Nim!