Somewhere Between the Sea and the Sky.

Episode 0: Chapter 9

"Seungcheol."

Hongjoong's intention when offering his hand was to look for more marks on the other, but he didn't see anything that caught his attention beyond the huge scar that crossed his face and some more on his body.

Then the man behind the bar placed a sloppy cloth bag on said bar. The captain of the Aurora looked inside to verify that he was not scammed with the purchase, everything seemed fine. He took the gold out of his long coat to pay for it with the utmost discretion. He didn't want the mobs in the place to see that he had a significant amount of money with him.

"So much alcohol must be for a distant trip. May I ask where you are going, Yunho?"

"Uh?" For a moment the captain forgot that he had chosen that name. "It isn't very clear yet, it will be an improvised journey."

Given this Seungcheol could not help but laugh a little, it didn't sound very professional. Hongjoong laughed a little too, playing along with the other. He suspected that he was a pirate as well, so he was not going to reveal his objectives to an enemy.

He wanted to talk to him more, he wanted to know who he was and if he was a danger to the Aurora, but all he could see was someone kind-looking with a painful battle mark on his face. But before he could say anything else an unknown voice sounded behind them.

"Captain!"

He and Seungcheol both turned around, a cheerful boy was approaching them. The large spear on his back was noteworthy, as most of those who docked at the Landfill hid their weapons to avoid drawing attention. He moved closer until he was next to them, although he didn't pay attention to Hongjoong.

"The ship is operational again, we should return to our mission."

Operational. Mission.

No pirate spoke that way except for Seonghwa.

Oh Kim Hongjoong, you were so wrong about him.

Seungcheol finished his drink in one gulp, ready to get up to leave.

"You finished surprisingly fast, where's Mingyu?" He asked as he looked for the money to pay.

"Sleeping in a cell!" The stranger sounded too excited and positive when saying that. "As soon as we get going we'll let him out!"

It was during that conversation that the pirate took a closer look at that boy. There were scars only on his arms, which he deduced was from using a spear to fight. He also saw a mole on his cheek. He seemed like good people, although Hongjoong assumed that if he saw him again it would be like an enemy.

Finally the other found the money to pay for his drink and stood up.

"Let's get back to work." He said to his subordinate.

The other nodded and prepared to walk out the door, but Seungcheol decided to say goodbye to the pirate before doing so as well.

"We'll meet again, Hongjoong."

At first the captain did not care, but then he realized he had not given his name to the other. It took him a few seconds to process the information and then he turned his gaze towards the door, the others had already left.
He picked up what he bought and looked around for Jongho nervously.

Then he finally saw him.

The blacksmith was sitting on one of the tavern tables, surrounded by people and drinking from a pitcher. How did he pay for that? All the money was carried by the captain.
He decided not to question it for the moment and went to him.