One-Shots

Ocean Blue

Alfred F. Jones was currently wondering where his 'hero luck' had gone. Maybe he still had it, the villagers hadn't found him yet. That was a good sign, right? But he knew that he was only delaying the inevitable. He should just go and give himself in, but Matthew needed him. He couldn't die on his brother, he had promised him and a big brother always keeps his promises. At least that was what his mom used to say before she died.
    He was still young, only nine, and he didn't understand why he had to be sacrificed to some sea god that probably didn't exist. If he did, then why would he have let his mom die? Why would he choose him when he had Matthew to take care of? He and Matt were all they had, everyone else had gone and died.
    "Alfred!" A voice rang out in the wood. Alfred knew this voice. It was Francis Bonnefoy, the village chief. "I know why you're doing this. It's for Mattie isn't it? But you don't need to worry about your brother." Francis said, and continued with, "I'll take care of him. He'll live with me, grow up in the safety of a home, will receive an education... And all you need to do is come out. A small price to pay for your brother's future.". Alfred froze when he heard this. Francis was... Was right. He could do this much for Mattie's future. He'd grow up in a safe environment, with proper care and food everyday. Better yet, he'd learned how to read, write, and all those other stuff.
    Taking a deep breath, Alfred got out of his hiding place and said, "Promise?". "Uh?" Francis said, turning around to face the young boy. "Do you promise that Mattie will get all that?" Alfred asked, voice shaking, once more. Francis face softened into a smile and he said, "I promise.". No other words followed as Alfred walked with Francis back to the harbor, where the village was waiting for them.
    Upon sighting them, the whole village cheered except for Matthew. The younger Jones ran up to Alfred and threw himself in his big brother's arms, sobbing, "Don't go Alfie. Don't leave me here, please.". When he saw his brother's tears, Alfred's heart broke into small pieces. He smiled gently and lifted Matthew's chin so that they were looking in one and another's eyes. "Don't worry Mattie," he whispered, "you and I will be alright. I'll just be gone for a little bit. Time will fly right by and I'll be back before you notice it, okay. So be a good boy and stay with Francis during that time. He'll take care of you for me. I love you.".
        Francis took Matthew in his arms, carrying the boy away from Alfred. The younger boy wouldn't want to see his big brother's tears, and neither would Alfred. A matter of big brother pride.
    Alfred went toward the old priest, father Ackles, and bowed in front of the old man. Father Ackles gave him a gentle smile before he started the prayer, "Our Uncle in the sea, brother of our Father, accept this young boy as an offering and grant us good weather and an abundance of food for the year to come. Purify this island of its sin and protect us from any who would bring us harm. All Powerful Uncle, grant us our father's favors and lead us to the gates of heaven. Amen.". And once the prayer was finished, the priest put his fingertips in a bowl filled with water and made a cross on Alfred's forehead. "May god bless you, my child." He whispered. Alfred sent him a grateful smile as he boarded the small boat awaiting him.
    The boat was in itself simplistic enough. Made of the oak trees from the woods, it's name was "Messiah'. Father Ackles had once told Alfred that this was the name of the savior they were waiting for, the savior who would forgive all of humanities sins and save them. He also remembered that, according to his mother, the messiah had already come many years ago. His name had been Jesus Christ, but not many people believed that he was the true messiah.
    But what filled him with a sense of wonder was what was in the boat. Hundreds of different flowers varying between many wondrous types and colors. If he hadn't been in his situation then he might have enjoyed the sight, but alas, that was not the case.
    Silently gulping, Alfred laid on top of the flowers, clutching the silver cross the old priest had given him, and had closed his eyes. He didn't want to see what would happen next. The joyful smiles of the people he had known since birth as they rejoiced at sending a child, at sending him, to his death. He wasn't the 'Our Father in Heaven' God nor the 'Our Uncle in the Sea' God, but if he had been then he knew that he wouldn't want people who believed in him, to send children to their deaths every ten years.
    He didn't know how long he had been thinking, but when he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of the sea. His birthplace long gone. Alfred could feel the tears forming in his eyes and bit his lip to stop them from overflowing. Mattie would grow up in a good home and in five years, give or take, he would have forgotten all about his big brother. Memories of their daily swims would leave the younger boy's mind, and he would forget all the things Alfred had done for him. It was for the better, it really was. What good would it do to Mattie for him to remember Alfred? Nothing. It would just cause him more pain.
    As Alfred let his thoughts wander, the day's events caught up to him and he fell into a deep sleep.
*
    Arthur Kirkland remembered that when he was just a child, his mother used to tell him stories about certain religions who would sacrifice a child every ten years. He just never imagined that this tradition still existed or that he would come across one of these children. The pirate sighed as he stared at the small boy sleeping in his bed. His crew had caught sight of the small vessel in which the boy had been sleeping a few hours earlier and had quickly brought the boy on board.
    He didn't know what to do with this child. He couldn't keep him, a pirate's life was too dangerous for a child. But he couldn't take him home either. The second his people would see that he was alive then he would be sent out to the sea once more. So what was he supposed to do with this boy?
    Taking his thoughts off of what he was going to do, Arthur observed the child. Said child could be no older then ten and even then, his youthful face made him doubt himself. The boy was wearing an old linen shirt and a pair of brown slacks which had obviously been fixed many times. He had sandy blond hair, tan skin, and a few freckles on his face. In short, the boy looked like an angel.
    Arthur couldn't figure out why they would sacrifice this specific child. He seemed so innocent and pure, a beautiful creature that was surely loved by God himself. But humans could be cruel, the pirate knew that better then anyone. After all, he was human. He was human and killed many, pillaged villages and ships, destroyed lives. But still, never had he once laid an arm against a child or a women. He might be a pirate, but he still had a heart, no matter how broken it might be.
    Passing a hand through this golden hair, the pirate sighed. This wasn't the time to think about such things, he had work to do. Standing up, Arthur walked out of his room and returned on the deck. The second he set his foot above, Antonio was next to him briefing him and whatever had happened in the last few hours. Yes, to Arthur's disbelief, he had spent more then three hours watching over the boy.
    "Would you like for Feliciano to go watch over the child? He might feel better if someone was there when he awakes, and Feli does have the most experience with children." Antonio said. Arthur thought over it for a second and said, "Yes, but make sure Kiku goes with him.". It wasn't that Arthur didn't trust the Italian, it was more that he trusted Kiku to make sure Feliciano would be quiet. He would have sent Ludwig with him, but the German was awkward when it came to children, not to mention that the second a child saw him they would run away crying.
    Once the matter was taken care of, Arthur returned to his usual duties as the captain of the Elizabeth II. You'd think life as a pirate would be dreadfully exciting, wouldn't you? But being a pirate was so much more then pillaging boats and making a fortune. It was waiting for weeks or months to come across another ship, being chased by guards whenever you set foot on land, or almost starving to death when you ran out of supplies. It was a highly dangerous, boring, and exciting job all at once.
    So Arthur worked. He checked they still had enough supplies, that Roderich had sufficient medical supplies, made sure no one had stolen anything, separated the money from their last plunder into equal parts, and basically made sure the boat was still be working and would stay afloat. In all honesty, if Arthur had not had Antonio aiding him, he would have given up a long time ago.
    Normally he could deal with all these boring tasks easily, but today, today he couldn't. He didn't know what it was about that boy, but he just drew him in. He needed to know that child, see the color of his eyes, how he would look if he smiled. Why? Arthur had honestly no idea. It was absolutely ridiculous, yet he couldn't help himself.
    He had almost gone to check on the boy three times, but all three times Antonio was there to stop him. Arthur couldn't be more grateful to have the spaniard as his first mate, without him he would be lost. But this was one of the many things he would never admit. He'd rather die then tell anyone his most inner thoughts. They were quite embarrassing and would damage not only his reputation, but his honor -and by honor I mean his ego.
        Finally, after such a long time, Arthur was done. He barely had enough time to relax before Feliciano ran up and yelled, "He's awake Artie!". Arthur ignored the nickname, making himself a mental note to scold the Italian later, and ran back to his room.
*
    When Alfred finally woke up, the first thing he saw was a man. A man with eyes that shone like a pair of emeralds and held a predatory glint in them, his hair was sandy blond and his eyebrows reminded Alfred of caterpillars. The man was wearing blue pants, a plain white shirt, and a pair of old brown boots.  It didn't escape Alfred's notice that a gun was hanging from his belt either.
    Alfred quickly realized the man was a pirate, a dangerous one by the looks of it. He was really starting to believe that Lady Luck had given up on him. "Are you going to kill me?" He asked. The man smirked and said, "You're a smart one lad, but no. If I wanted you dead I would just have left you to the sea boy.". That made sense he guessed. Why would the man save him just to kill him? "My name is not boy... It's Alfred." He told the man. Arthur was slightly impressed with Alfred, the boy knew what he was yet he didn't fear him at all. "It's nice to meet you Alfred. I'm Arthur Kirkland, captain of the Elizabeth II." Arthur said.
    Alfred began to mumble Arthur's name, as if to figure out how to say it, and finally gave a huge grin at the pirate and said, "Arthur!". At that moment, all Arthur could think was, "This boy is an angel.".
    The two continued talking for a while, discussing how Alfred had gotten in this situation and what would happen to him. Arthur knew that the easiest and simplest thing to do would be to bring him to the orphanage but... But he had grown quite fond of the boy. His little blond angel was so smart and witty yet he had a mischievous look in his eyes and a case of hyperactivity. Yet all these little things just served to make Arthur like him more.
    In the end, Arthur decided that even though it was dangerous, the boy would stay with him. And when Alfred gave him a breathtaking smile and said, "Thank you Arthur!", he couldn't bring himself to regret his decision.
*
    Six years had come to pass,and  Alfred was now seventeen years old and more beautiful than anyone Arthur had ever seen.  Alfred knew that Arthur liked him and he knew that he liked the pirate too. But who doesn't like games? So Alfred would taunt his captain until the man realized it and took him as his own, he would let the man yearn for him and then, when Arthur would realize his feelings, Alfred would let the chase begin.

The End