Black Hearted

Part 11

Mark tightened his grip on the nine tailed whip and resisted the urge to wince. His arm was throbbing where Sean's bullet had grazed him. He didn't want to lash Sean, but he had given him little choice. He had to respect the code, or his crew wouldn't. Tyler slowly walked up to him, whispering over his good shoulder. "Captain... Shall I? You should have Robin attend to your arm." Mark shot Tyler a stern glare, growling out stubbornly in an undertone. "Leave me." Tyler obediently moved away, giving Mark room enough to shake the nine leather strands loose. Mark prepared himself to start. Unlike the standard bull whip, the nine tails whip was designed to inflict more pain all at once. Saving the crew time. His standard lashings were anywhere from eighteen to twenty-seven. However, for trying to kill a Captain... The lashings were normally fifty or more. To get fifty lashes was a death sentence. The blood loss alone was bad... but the main reason for death was that at a certain point you stop whipping flesh and start whipping bone.

He didn't want to kill Sean. He just wanted him to settle down. Plus, he wasn't sure his arm could hold out to too much effort. So, he decided to make this rather quick. Though it would hurt all the same. Thirty-six lashings. Four technical lashes with the nine tails. Mark stepping in swinging the nine tails for the first strike. The nine leather cord straps struck much lighter than he was known for doing... but he blamed his arm giving out mid-swing to the pain. The cords snapped across Sean's pale back and he belted out a scream that made the crew flinch. Mark took a moment to recover, rubbing his arm. All the while listening to Sean whimper and brace his head against the mast. Mark gathered his strength for the next strike as Sean pleaded over his shoulder. "Wait!" Mark clenched his jaw and struck him again. Sean's legs buckled under him as he cried out and limply hung from his wrists.

Mark felt warm blood trail down his arm to his wrist. He had agitated his wound pretty bad. He couldn't stop now though. He had to finish. He couldn't let his men see him give in to any weakness. Sean didn't even try to regain his footing as he twisted against the chains to plead out with tear filled eyes. "No more! Please! I'm sorry!" Mark pointed the whip at him, snapping out through his own pain. "Get back on your feet! Or I'll finish your lashings across your side!" Sean's body shook as he struggled to get his footing back. When Sean finally got back on his feet and faced the mast again, Mark raised the whip and winced bad enough to drop it. Mark cursed, grabbing his arm. What happened next caught him completely off guard. Robin bravely stepped forward, stating out firmly. "Captain, I must insist that this stop. Your wound needs treating and I think he has learned his lesson. Let's call this a solid warning and allow me to treat you both?"

The crew mumbled among themselves. No one seemed opposed to it. In fact, the majority appeared to be in favor of it. Only a small few rejected the idea. Mark reluctantly nodded. The majority quickly started to take their leave back to their posts. While the unhappy few glared at Sean with daggers for eyes. Tyler helped Sean off the hook and practically carried him back into the Captain's cabin. Inside, Mark took a seat in his desk chair, starting to roll up his sleeve over his shoulder. From the looks, he could tell he needed stitches. Robin had Tyler lay Sean down across his bed, causing Mark to grit his teeth in disgust. Robin then waved Tyler out, saying seriously. "You can go now. I doubt I'll be needing you now." Tyler looked to him and he nodded in agreement. Sean was writhing on the bed in too much pain to do much of anything. After Tyler took his leave, Robin walked over to examine his arm.

Robin didn't waste anytime. He simply started to clean it up with the strongest alcohol they had, before stitching him up. As he worked, Robin whispered to him in a very low voice. "You should be more careful, Captain. You don't know what he can handle... As you said... He's not human. His skin might be more fragile than ours." Mark glanced at Sean's bleeding back, grumbling out. "He looks fine to me." He didn't want to admit that he hadn't even considered that. Robin tightened the stitches up, retorting a bit sourly. "You only see what you want to see... We see a merman that is never going to help us, if you keep hurting him." Mark glared at Robin, growling out. "You haven't seen what he can do! You think he'd spare you if your roles were reversed?" Robin locked eyes with Mark, stating out sharply as he tied off the stitches. "This isn't about your curse, Captain! He didn't put it on you! Now I suggest you stop blaming him, before ya both kill each other."