pirate king (pirate!au) ➵ ateez ✔️

realisation

You're sitting in the rigging, the wind whipping at your hair as you watch the island of Grand Iguana come into view. As per your captain's orders the day before, the Treasure is sailing to the closest possible town to get herbs for San to make an antidote with, an island just off the coast of Hispaniola.

Your eyes see, but aren't really focused on the sight before you.

You raise your fingers to your lips absentmindedly. They're smooth and warm, a little chapped, but not cracked or bleeding. But even though there's no reason for it, you can still taste the phantom metallic tang of blood in your mouth, warm and coppery, lingering in the back of your mind like a nightmare unforgotten.

You don't know what to think.

What is happening to you?

Those nosebleeds since you'd healed Yeosang... they had all been warning signs of something bigger to come. You wish desperately that you hadn't ignored them back then, but it seems as if it is too late to regret things now. There so many questions swirling in your mind, erasing every other thought from you as you frantically ponder each and every one all at once, but eventually they stumble to a dead end and you never find an answer to any of them.

But one stands out above all the others.

What does this mean for you?

You're afraid. Very, very afraid of what might come to pass. Terrified beyond the point of your imagination. Petrified in fear-

"Chin Hae?"

You whip around in shock at the sudden voice, nearly falling from the ropes in your haste and panic shoots through you for a second. To your fortune, a warm hand catches yours firmly, pulling you back up onto the yardarm, the sound of chains jangling in your ears.

"Thanks, Wooyoung-oppa." You gasp as your back collides with the wood of the mainmast, your eyes meeting a familiar green gaze. But on his face, where there is usually a wide, boxy grin that brings out and complements his vibrant, emerald eyes, his mouth is instead pulled in a tight line, his gaze dull and weary.

Wooyoung still attempts a smile for you as he takes a seat next to you, however it comes out more as a forced grimace that doesn't comfort you in the least. He must be worried for Yunho, it's as obvious as the sun in the sky from the skittish way he swings his legs to the furrow in his brow. It's been less than a week since Yunho has been poisoned, but the impact on the Treasure and its crew is apparent, the main deck that is usually clamouring with noise and activity unnaturally subdued without their resident mood maker there to spice things up for them.

You've never really considered why the battlemaster's nickname onboard the ship is 'Yunhogizer'... but now that you think about it, it's clear to you. He might not have a prominent role on the ship except in times of battle, but Yunho truly is like a big brother to everyone on the Treasure... an irreplaceable part of the ship itself.

A lump rises in your throat. You miss him.

Back when you had first learned the ropes, Wooyoung had sat on your right, Yunho on the left, with you sandwiched in between them to prevent you from falling. But now the yardarm feels too big, too spacious, an empty spot at your side where the lookout should be sitting.

Yunho is already conscious but San has confined him to bedrest, telling him that moving around will simply make the poison spread faster. To your surprise, Yunho had been surprisingly compliant, not arguing in the least and simply letting you and San tend to him quietly. You're worried, but you don't know what yo say to him.

"Have you been to Grand Iguana before, oppa?" You ask, watching the blue of the sea gradually change from a deep azure to cerulean, shoals of bright, colorful fish darting about the ship's hull in curiosity. Wooyoung's hand slips into yours instinctively, like it's the place it belongs.