I Am The Sea || Choi San

death

It is close - too close - but the bullet misses Seonghwa.
As the Pirate King fires, Seonghwa is pulled back by Hongjoong.
The Captain's catlike reflexes save Seonghwa a bullet to the chest.
In the same breath, Captain Hongjoong turns around himself and slashes through air with his cutlass, hoping to hit the Pirate King's side.
He does not.

Hell brakes lose on the Inception.
Hongjoong's men fight fiercely, but the Pirate King's crew is bigger and more careless. They fight as if they have nothing to lose, while Hongjoong's crew has everything to win.

San watches for exactly fifteen seconds, before he turns to Theo.
"Stay alive, please," he tells her, "I am so in love with you, Theo. I will see you again."
Then he presses his lips hard against Theo's forehead, then her lips. Theo can taste salt when their mouths meet and when he breaks away from her, his cheeks are wet.
Then San turns, picks up a lost cutlass, and runs into the fighting crowd.

Theo is frozen for a moment, unable to decide what to do, where to turn.
But then someone grabs after her shoulder and she turns abruptly.
She struggles against the hand and slashes after it, breaking free and jumping away.
The Pirate King looms over her, holding a cutlass.
"So you're the little lass Commander Lawrence had me looking for," he says, "Shame. He won't get you after all. Seems I found the Pearl first."

He grabs after Theo again, but the girl twists out of his grasp.
At the same time, she unlatches the dagger around her waist.
The dark blade is familiar in her hand, the green stone set into the hilt glinting.
She points it at the Pirate King, and he laughs.
"You're brave, I give you that," he says, "But that little thing won't help you."
He rolls his shoulders as Theo bends her knees ever so slightly, getting into position.
This man wants to take her with him, not kill her. He will go easy on her. Or so Theo thinks.

Still, when the Pirate King lunges with his sword through the air, Theo's heart skips a beat. The blade finds hold in Theo's sleeve and slashes it open.
His next blow meets air as Theo drops to the floor and rolls out of his reach.
She's quick and agile, light on her feet. The Pirate King is massive and heavy - he's strong, but slow. Slower than Theo.
She ducks as the Pirate King grabs after her with his free hand, and twirls beneath his arm.
She backhandedly swings her knife towards him as she turns - the blade sinks into his side.

For a split second, Theo marvels how easily the knife had penetrated the body. She had felt little to no resistance, as if the knife was merely stabbing at a soft piece of butter and not a human body.
But when she grabs the hilt tighter to pull it out, it's stuck. Just for a second.
The Pirate King roars in pain.
Theo pulls the dagger out with vigor. She jumps back.

For a passing moment, the Pirate King's face is distorted from pain - and anger, Theo realizes.
She gets to her feet and lets her body take over. Her muscles remember the countless hours of training with San and Yunho. And though her body is at its limit from moving the ocean to drown two ships, her hand holding the dagger does not tremble.

She is not afraid.
Instead, she is angry.
She narrows her eyes and follows every movement the Pirate King makes.
He struts towards her. The blow she had landed seems to hurt his pride more than his body, as he twirls his sword in his hand. The blade glints golden and sharp in the firelight.
The Pirate King reaches his hand out and takes one of the torches into his hand, testing its weight.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Theo can see Yeosang and Wooyoung drop to the ground from the rigging, jumping into the turmoil side by side. Behind them, Seonghwa is fighting two men simultaneously. Next to him, Hongjoong jumps out of reach from a man with a gigantic axe.
She can't see San.
Please, by the Seven Seas, please be alive.