pirate king (pirate!au) ➵ ateez ✔️

knock

"We've sailed from Grand Iguana, through the windward passage and we're now at the Cayman Islands." Hongjoong traces a line on the map in front of you on the table, and your eyes instinctively follow his finger to see three small islands off the southern coast of Cuba. "The two eastern islands have established Royal Navy towns, so I doubt they would choose those places as negotiation points."

"So here?" Yeosang taps a spot on the aged vellum, a blob of ink smaller than his fingertip floating beside to near identical, smaller islands. Mingi glances over his captain's shoulder, chewing on his lower lip nervously as he considers the location in his mind.

"Commander Kang may be a bastard, but he does his job right. He wouldn't want any of the townspeople caught in the crossfire. But the western island is mostly forested... perfect for an ambush." The quartermaster mutters, but there's apprehension in his eyes as he glances over at Hongjoong. "Are we really going to do this, captain?"

You want to ask the same thing. Because you think your captain has finally gone crazy.

Two days ago, the morning after you'd seen his right eye in his drunken state, Hongjoong had come out from his cabin and announced to the crew that they were heading to the Cayman Islands.

You had dropped your breakfast sandwich in shock, unable to process what your captain had just said. Even Seonghwa, who had been distributing the first water rations of the day, had simply stared at his captain for a long moment, eyes so comically wide you would have laughed if the situation you were in hadn't been so severe.

Was your captain really about to trade you and Yeosang for the antidote?

There had been a pause, a grim silence that filled the air, before the younger battlemaster had stormed forward and grabbed his captain by the lapels of his shirt aggressively, yanking him up to meet his eyes in a show of blatant disrespect.

You had never seen Jongho so furious.

"I thought we were going find the antidote?" Jongho had demanded, eyes burning with barely subdued rage. "What about Yeosang-hyungand Chin Hae, huh? Are you really going to give the two of them up like that?"

Fear had rushed through you at Jongho's words as images flooded through your mind. Heavy ropes around your wrists, your feet bound in chains. The burn of the noose around your neck. The hooded face of the executioner as he pulls the lever.

Then nothing but darkness.

But before you could descend into a full on panic attack at the thought of your own cold blooded death, Hongjoong had answered with a single, determined word.

"No."

You had been utterly confused. How then, was your captain intending on getting the cure from Commander Kang if he wasn't going to give up Yeosang and you in exchange for it? The Royal Navy's vice commander wasn't about to just hand over the cure to you for free! Jongho must have felt the exact same way because his grip on his captain slackened ever so slightly as he gaped at his hyung.

"But-"

Your captain's reply was blunt.

"We're going to take it by force."

And that was how all of you had ended up in this situation.

You glance at Seonghwa, who looks every bit as apprehensive as you are. There's doubt in his gaze as his eyes flit over the more detailed map at the side, analysing the layout of the island with a frown on his face.

"There's a lot of vegetation and a hill a short distance from the shore." The cook points out grimly. "It's likely they'll have set up base at the top of the hill so they can see us coming, and from upper ground they'll have the advantage in a fight. Captain, are you sure you want to do this?"