Eight makes one crew

Whispers of death

A/N: I know I keep writing about Hongjoong, Wooyoung, Yunho and Jongho's past but it is really such an interesting story line. Just so you know, this goes a little bit more into what happened to Wooyoung when he was separated from the others and a little explanation about him. Fair warning: people die. And it's bloody. If it bothers you, maybe just skip this whole chapter.

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No one ever really talked about the Black Swan. Besides Hongjoong telling Seongwha about their past, it was pretty much a secret. Anytime Yunho, Jongho, or Wooyoung mentioned it, Hongjoong would flinch and then they'd be quiet.

Jongho had the habit of hiding if someone brought it up. He'd drag Yeosang up to the crow's nest for hours at a time. That was their spot, it was Yeosang's but it was Jongho's place too. They were safe up there.

If he himself brought it up or someone else did, Wooyoung would shake his head, mutter four different statements and then go below deck and whisper to himself. It was always the same four statements. One for each of the people he had killed.

The first was 'blood'. That was it, just blood. His second whisper was 'not moving, he's not moving'. And then it was 'blood' again. The final memory, the one that broke him, the one that tore his sanity apart when he was fourteen: 'blood, so much blood, I see him, he's dead, he's dead, I killed him'.

The memories replayed in his mind like a movie, playing on loop and never pausing. With each muffled whisper, images flashed in his head.

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Some people hide their feelings more than others. San had always known this and he prided himself on being able to read these people extremely well. But Wooyoung was one such person that San actually struggled to understand and he hated it. It was like Wooyoung refused to show a softer side to him, he refused to be vulnerable. But even the strongest of people cannot hide forever and San was ready to catch Wooyoung when he fell, ready to piece him back together when he cracked. 

Wooyoung had been distant all day and even when San asked him about it, there was no response except a small shrug and Wooyoung just insisted that everything was fine but everything was not fine and San didn't know how to fix it. And then Yunho pulled him to the side, taking San to a quiet room.

"Wooyoung needs you" Yunho stated.

"What?" San didn't understand. He had been trying all day to be there for his little lover but Wooyoung just kept pushing him away.

"Look, he won't admit it but he really needs you right now and none of the rest of us can help him. We try but what he is dealing with right now, the memories that still haunt him, haunt all of us and it would only make things worse. He needs someone who doesn't understand what he's been through. You can sympathize with him and listen without having experienced the same thing, can't you?" Yunho explained. San began to get a little worried. He had never known about Wooyoung's past. The only one who knew, besides the original four, was Seongwha.

"What are you talking about? What experiences?" San wondered. 

"Seongwha didn't tell you?" Yunho was surprised. San just shook his head.

"Tell me what?" He waited. Yunho was quiet for a moment, it wasn't his place to say but San really should go in prepared. 

"Just...be prepared and don't let anything surprise you. I can't say because I don't fully know. Wooyoung was separated from us for a long time so I don't know the full story, just some of it" Yunho explained. San nodded and went to find Wooyoung. 

Wooyoung was rocking back and forth, his eyes wide and unfocused. His lips moving in a constant repeat of words.

"Young-ah?" San was honestly a little disturbed as he walked in. Wooyoung shuddered and kept rocking back and forth.

"I killed him, I killed him. He's dead Sannie!" Wooyoung burst into tears.

"Who's dead?" San wondered, sitting down.

"All of them. I killed them" Wooyoung muttered.

"Why did you kill them?" San questioned. He had no idea who 'them' was but he wanted to know.

"They were hurting the others, they hurt me. I had to do, I... didn't know it was an axe. It was the closest thing to me" Wooyoung explained. San nodded, taking his hands and listening.

Wooyoung showed him the scars. He was burnt, branded and scarred. As soon as Wooyoung had been dragged away from his friends, he was put through the worst kind of torture that not even a grown man could possibly live through. But Wooyoung lived, he was fourteen and he lived. And he got revenge.

Here was the truth: Wooyoung killed four people. The first one, he grabbed an axe. He didn't know it was an axe but it was close to him. He at first only planned on hitting the guy over the head except Wooyoung was holding an axe so he split the guys head open.

The second one, Wooyoung found a piece of rope. He wrapped it around the guys neck and threw it over the rafters, pulling it as hard as he could. The last two tried to cut their friend down but it was too late. The body hung there, not moving, rocking side to side with the movements of the ship.

The third one hit Wooyoung first, beating him to death. In the end though, Wooyoung was the one who ended up standing, covered in blood and bruised. His sanity was shattered. He laughed, a knife hanging loosely in his hand.

Here was another truth: Wooyoung's swords were curved at the end for a reason. A sixteen year old him had demanded it. He didn't touch a weapon for two years but when he did, he went to Hongjoong and his only demand was that they have a hook on the end. There were four cords, all black, tied to the handle of his right sword, one for each of the guys he killed. There was one sky blue cord on his left sword. For his brother. Blue was his brother's favorite color. He liked the sky, it meant freedom to him.

Hongjoong had been horrified at Wooyoung's choice of weapon but he taught the younger kid how to make it anyways. A hooked sword was painful but it was a quick death. No one could survive if their organs got ripped out.

The one that really got Wooyoung, was a sixteen year old kid. Only two years older than Wooyoung and so innocent. He hadn't asked for any of this. Wooyoung dug the knife into his stomach, clawing the kids heart and stomach and liver out with his own hands. He threw up over the side of a cannon hole and then he propped the body up, bloody and torn open, and put the knife used to kill the kid in the kid's hands. He set the dead heart, and both liver and stomach, next to the kid, closed the body's eyes and went to free his friends.

Wooyoung stepped over the bodies of his friend's family, he didn't look at his brother. He couldn't. A seven year old should not die but this was the Black Swan. Age didn't matter. Not for anything. If a man liked someone on that ship, they claimed that person even if it was a child. If a child made enemies, they died. Age didn't matter.

It was a dark truth but that's the way it was. No one keeps their sanity but some people are less sane than others. Wooyoung had the misfortune of going through too much too young.

San held him. He felt sick, just as Seongwha had. He didn't know how to help so holding Wooyoung was the best he could do. Until the younger one fell asleep and San remembered one thing: there was a new captain of the Black Swan and San was eager for revenge.