pirate king (pirate!au) ➵ ateez ✔️

true captain

A true captain goes down with his ship.

Hongjoong has always known that he would have to face his father again.

It was inevitable the second Hongjoong had chosen to become the man he was - a pirate, and one known as the Pirate King of the Caribbean, at that. Hongjoong hadn't chosen the life of a pirate on his own, it had simply been a means to survival when there was no path left for him to take, but he had to admit he had embraced it partially to spit on his father's ideals as the Chief Commander of the Royal Navy.

And now, he's meeting his father eye to eye once again, both on different sides of the beach - both on different sides to this battle.

But while he has Wooyoung and Yeosang flanking both his sides, the hot summer air of the tropics taking on a sudden chill, his father approaches the no man's land in a tiny boat - completely alone.

"Yeosang, do you notice something strange?" Wooyoung whispers out of the corner of his mouth, and Hongjoong can tell from just tense he is from the way his jaw is clenched. Hongjoong can't see that well with one eye, but he trusts Wooyoung's instincts and sight as the head gunner.

Next to him, Yeosang nods, a barely perceivable tilt of the head. "Something's off, but I can't tell what it is..." The navigator mumbles under his breath, chewing on his bottom lip. Hongjoong swallows, feeling unease stir in the pit of his belly. Just what is happening?

"They haven't noticed the Treasure, have they?" Hongjoong murmurs softly as his father's lone boat approaches the island - it's barely small enough to fit a single man, yet it captures his attention more easily the massive armada at his father's back. Yeosang nods again, eyes still fixed intently on the rowboat approaching shore.

"They'll be able to move into cannon range faster than the armada can react, and we'll cut a straight path in front of their bows to weaken the ships closest to us." His navigator speaks quickly, but Hongjoong can hear the way his voice is trembling. Yeosang has never been one to enjoy being in the thick of fighting like Yunho and Jongho are, has never learnt to lift a blade larger than a simple knife for self defense. "There are two ships at the side with their artillery directed to us, but it's the best chance we have. Once we give the smoke signal, San and Chin Hae should come running... if everything goes well."

Wooyoung lets out a loud breath, blowing at his bangs to get them out of his eyes before he gives his captain an easy smile. "Nothing ever goes well with you, captain, does it?" He says, trying to lighten the mood, and Hongjoong shakes his head slightly, a small smile curling at the side of his mouth.

"We're still alive for you to complain, so I don't see what the problem is." Hongjoong retorts calmly. Yeosang shakes his head in disappointment as Wooyoung snickers, before turning his attention back to the approaching boat.

The boat draws ever closer, close enough for him to make out the features on the man's face. He's completely alone, without a single bodyguard with him, something that Yeosang doesn't understand. Even when his own father had come on board the Treasure for a negotiation, he had brought with him several men to protect him. But for the Chief Commander of the Royal Navy to approach them alone?

The man before them can't be over-confident, or a simple fool if he has made his way up the ranks of the Royal Navy. He remembers the snippets of conversation he had heard his father make with the Chief Commander of the Royal Navy before, too young to understand with one ear pressed to a hardwood door, but enough to know that the man inside was one respected and feared. The Chief Commander commanded the room with a single word, and Yeosang had wondered just how capable he was to reach the position.