Somewhere Between the Sea and the Sky.

Episode 0: Chapter 23

"So... You guys saved him?"

The red haired, Yuta, kept his gaze fixed on the Aurora's crew as he guided them. They got to explain the situation and convinced those guys to not fight them, so they were moving again.

All of them were walking except for that poor guy, Mark, who was being carried in his crewmate's arms. Johnny was the last on the line, a bit far from the group while he talked to his almost fainted friend.

At first it made some of the pirates suspicious, maybe he would attack them from the back or something.

But time passed, nothing happened and they seemed... friendly.

"Yeah, well. He kinda saved us." Mingi said. "Are you used to escaping from jail?"

"Uh— I guess. Yeah." Yuta laughed a bit, an uncomfortable laugh. "But the thing is, he told us Mark was dead."

"I don't know who he is—" San spoke then. "But Mark's alive and right here. Whoever told you, lied."

"Maybe he just assumed the Army killed him." Yeosang joined. "It wouldn't be a wild guess."

"Hm..." Yuta didn't say anything else, he just kept walking in silence. It looked like he was getting a bit lost in his own thoughts.

"They sold him to save their ass." Hongjoong muttered as soon as the rest went silent. "It's obvious."

"Yeah. It's something pirates do a lot." Seonghwa replied, looking sideways at his captain. "You know it well."

"Oh, come on." Then the captain signaled at the rest of the crew. "I really wanted to save your pretty ass, but I couldn't let them—"

"Joking. I was joking." The blonde laughed a bit, then took a faster pace to create some distance between them. "I don't blame you for that. Only for— You know, everything else."

"I—" Hongjoong started to speak, but it seemed useless.

He stopped his steps and saw the rest keep moving, at least until the big guy's voice sounded behind him.

"Oh, drama." Johnny sounded pretty amused. "Do you need a romantic counselor?"

"No— What? No, I don't need it, gods." Joong looked back, but at his height he could only see the one who was being carried in Johnny's arms. He finally lost consciousness, or maybe he was just resting on his friend's arms. Then he looked up. "I'm fine. I fucked up, he needs time, I'll wait."

"Hm..." Then the other started walking again. "Fine, I guess."

"You—" The captain started walking too. "You just wanted the gossip, didn't you?"

"What? I'm a kind soul, I really wanted to help." Then he laughed a bit. "Well, maybe."

It didn't take long until Hongjoong and Johnny (and Mark) were with the rest of the group again, and only some minutes passed until they saw another of those weird plant curtains cutting the path.

"This is the last one." The red haired said, then directed his gaze towards the Aurora's pirates. "If you lied and dare to betray us—"

"Yuta." Johnny's voice interrupted the other.

The red haired gave himself some seconds to breathe, then spoke again.

"Okay. Aurora's pirates— You guys really need a name, it's weird calling you like your ship." Then rubbed his eyes a bit. "Whatever. Aurora's pirates, welcome to our home."

Then he took the long plants and moved them aside, making an entrance for their guests. The first one to cross it was Yeosang, followed by Wooyoung and San.