Behind the Mask

His Home

TW// Mention of violence

It was like this for almost two years. Gerold would teach Elias to fight and despite all the wounds and how much his body would hurt after they were done, Elias grew fond of the sparring. Once Gerold gave him daggers to throw, and he quickly figured out that Elias was good at it. Since then, they would practise that as well every few days.

Some men on the ship were good to Elias - Theo, the cook, would sometimes give him bigger portions, while repeatedly reminding him that as he grew older it would need to stop. There was also Filp, who would always hum lovely melodies while working and tell stories to others every night. Elias would listen to them from afar. Filp would also bring him oranges from the shore. And there was Ed who had once shown him how to get up on the Crow's nest, where Elias would then spend most of his days, when he wasn't attached to other duties on the ship.

And then there was Nick. First few days of training with Gerold, he would come to Elias' hiding spot and help Elias clean and patch up his wounds. Eventually, after some time Elias would just go up to the helm and sit down in some shade and silently signal Nick to help him patch up the wound. In the meantime, Nick would tell him stories - of an island, Dalelry, how it came to be and the saint protecting it, he would tell him of the many battles of this ship, of his home and his sister.

However, not everyone was good to Elias. They were pirates after all. Some would purposely crash into him or push him to the ground. Some would steal portions of his food, mocking him and when Elias would come to Theo, he would merely tell him to be careful next time, but he didn't give him another portion.

So, Elias learned to be stealthy. He would steal things back and if he was hungry, he would sneak into the galley. He realised that he was rather good at being quiet and going unnoticed.

When fights started - either among the crew or upon being attacked - Elias was ordered to stay low and hide. Kian would say that it's just for now and that he wasn't yet ready. Elias didn't mind. With time he learned that Kian was Sabur's right hand and the crew had to obey him when he gave orders just as if he was Captain himself.

He was also forbidden to step foot on and whenever they would anchor on shore. The first time they docked, he couldn't help himself. All he saw was a chance to escape, a chance of freedom.

He didn't make it far before they caught up to him. And this time the punishment wasn't just one punch - it was far worse. Sabur beat him so hard that Elias had to pause lessons with Gerold and would only lay in his net in pain for three days. After that, he knew better than to attempt to escape again.

When Elias wasn't able to sleep, because of the dreams that would never let him forget, he sat on deck at the ship's railing, his feet dangling above the infinite blue. He would fidget his father's dagger in his hand, tracing the lines on the handle down to the crossguard and down the blade. He would stare at the red ruby glinting in the moonlight. He tried not to think of home or his parents. He figured that it would be better to forget about it, for he might never have a chance to go back to Parahill.

One of those nights the door to the Captain's cabin opened. Elias looked over his shoulder to Sabur slowly making his way to the other side of the ship. Sabur almost never left his cabin. The only time he did was under the cover of night.

Elias' gaze followed him. He was looking at his scarred face, his metal leg. Elias always wondered what might've happened to him. Suddenly, as if Sabur could hear his thoughts, he stopped and looked at Elias. They stared at each other, neither of them averting their eyes. After a minute Sabur removed his gaze and continued his way around the ship and then returned to his cabin.