Crescent Coastlines // ATEEZ FANFIC

Prologue

The waves carried a ship that held a crew of men who were losing hope. Anxiety flourished in the ship with no stability as even the captain was seen with a dreary look; he brought his crew to this point. “I’m sorry…” The captain could only mutter as his quartermaster trained his eyes elsewhere. He couldn’t bear to see his captain in such disarray for trying to make the best choice for the crew. The captain slammed his fist on the cherry-wood table as he got up and paced.

“Captain…” The quartermaster called out as he continuously paced as his thoughts were consumed, most likely trying to find a way out of their current struggle.

“Captain.” The quartermaster called out, but this time masking his concern with a stern, commanding voice. The captain however didn’t even acknowledge his right hand man as he continued to lose himself to his thoughts. The quartermaster was annoyed with his captain’s out-of-character reaction and grabbed him by the collar, hulling him up to forcibly look him in the eye; effectively dragging the man out of his consciousness.

“Hongjoong-” The quartermaster began to chide but as he was starting his slaughter to the poor captain, the door to the captain’s quarters had been hurriedly opened. Slamming the door wide open, a boy who was similar in age to the two heads of the ship looked at them with wide eyes and a smiling form;

“Land ho!”

Before the argument could ensue it was quickly quelled as the captain reacted fast by grabbing the eyeglass and running to the main deck, scanning the vast sea. The captain was unable to spot anything in his panicked movements. Only his close men noticed the heightened stress the captain had been going through for the past three weeks as they had to ration food and avoid any fighting to keep his men alive. The captain looked at the boy from earlier with sharp eyes; the navigator. “There’s no land, are you trying to make a fool out of me?” The captain’s question sent chills through the crew's spine as the navigator deadpanned.

“Captain, why would I lie to you when we’ve been struggling with finding land for countless moons. If I hadn’t valued my life I would have jumped off of the jibboom.” The navigator spoke with a lack of fear. What halted the captain's next words was the navigator’s hand as it pointed to something unrecognizable. Returning to the eyeglass, the captain honed his attention to that point and there it be, a golden land. Even if it held no gold it might as well be; a miracle had finally come. He saw a shoreline that felt like it stretched the length of the sea as they had finally found land.

The intensity of the captain died down as a smile cracked his engrossed expression.

“You did well.” The navigator scoffs as he hits his captain’s back roughly.

“Never doubt my eyes, captain.” The younger male responded with a grin, trying to help with the stress of the captain. He knew that he had been shutting himself in his quarters in hopes to help the navigator find land, even taking over some of the quartermaster’s responsibility. The captain chuckles as he could be seen with his eyes glued to the starry sea and the land that separated the waves.

It was almost like the island had heard their cries and uprooted itself from the sea’s floor. Their captain let out a loud laugh as he hid his fears with a new hope. Even if the land was barren, it should be enough to settle his crew's worries and to relocate themselves. Soon the hotheaded quartermaster stood aside his captain to whom he towered over.

“I told you that you didn’t need to worry so much, captain.” He looked over his shoulder to see the captain’s eyes still glued to the darkness of the night. With how hard he bore his eyes into the land it felt as if even a storm wouldn’t be able to change their ship’s course for the island.