The sunlight streaming through the open flap of the tent burned its way through Baekhyun’s eyelids and forced him to consciousness. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach. His head was pounding. He only wanted to sleep, but he knew he had to get up. There were too many things to deal with today, and he didn’t want to spend another day in that crazy Indian encampment.
The light temporary blinded him when he stepped out. Using his hand to block out the rising sun, Baekhyun scanned his surroundings. He was in the big tent, the one usually reserved for the chief. When Baekhyun stopped at the camp, it was his.
Most of his crew members were already out, packing their things to leave. Baekhyun vaguely remembered making a deal with the chief the night before about food. He now saw that the crew members were already carrying this food onboard his ship.
Something tickled at Baekhyun’s nostrils, and he let out a sneeze. A small cloud of sparkly particles formed from his sneeze. Baekhyun’s eyes widened and his hand immediately went to the soft spot between his clavicles. It was gone. The pearl.
Baekhyun screamed in frustration and barreled through the crowd, looking for a tall, skinny man. When he reached him, Baekhyun grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
Chanyeol searched Baekhyun’s flaring eyes, flustered. “Uh, sir, what—”
“Find him!!” Baekhyun exclaimed, cutting him off. “Lee Taemin. He stole from me! Find him!!”
Baekhyun angrily stomped around, barking useless orders as Chanyeol arranged a search team. The Indians knew the jungle better than the pirates, but they needed the pirates fighting skills too.
While they scouted out the jungle, Baekhyun did things that distracted him. He checked the traps, took inventory of his gold, made the crew clean the ship, and drank. But he couldn’t stop thinking of the pearl. It was rightfully his. Okay, he did sortofkindofnotreallybutstill steal it from Taemin, but it was originally his. It was his. He had claimed it first. He had been after it for weeks and had finally located it at the back of Mermaid Bay when Taemin interfered and stole it first. What could Baekhyun have done but steal it back? So he did. It was his.
By the time the sun was half-set and the sky and ocean glowed reds and oranges, the scouts returned. Chanyeol led them back to the camp. When he found Baekhyun, he could tell the captain had been drinking. His face was flushed.
"Did you find it?!" Baekhyun asked. He looked slowly from Chanyeol to the people behind him.
Chanyeol shook his head. "No, but we found some people at his hideout." Chanyeol motioned for the others to bring them forward.
To men came forward and dropped a girl at Baekhyun's feet, her hands fastened with a rope behind her back. She was unconscious.
Baekhyun stared at her. She was small and looked not much younger than he was. And she was dirty. Her long brown hair fell in messy swoops across her face. Baekhyun looked up to see his men bringing forward a pair of kids.
One of them was really fussy. He kicked and screamed at the pirates, letting out a string of curses. When he was set out in front of Baekhyun, Baekhyun grabbed him by their hair and smacked him across the face, hard enough to leave a red welt on his cheek.
"Shut up, boy," Baekhyun growled. The other boy was quiet and looked at the ground.
"Where's your leader?" Baekhyun asked, leaning in close to the quiet boy. When he didn't answer, Baekhyun raised his hand to smack him too.
"Don't!!" Jihyun exclaimed, rushing in and grabbing her brother's hand. She looked down at the young boy apologetically.
Baekhyun tore his hand away and glared at his sister. "Stay out of this."
