Long Journey || ATEEZ

Veiled Dark Secrets

And so, endless weeks passed by, and the weather and temperature greatly diminished, switching to a swift, cool autumn, full of falling golden-brown leaves and a smoky-sweet scent about the air. As the lively month of October came around, a couple of changes came about the environment – and not just natural ones.

For instance, the two new ships docked at Zeratik harbour, and quite the heavy presence coming from one of them. It wasn't as large as one would think. It gleamed with an almost malignant shine in the sweet autumn sun as it sat like a predator in wait at the very end of the dock; watching, waiting.

Occasionally, people would come and go from the ship, heavily masked and heavily unapproachable. San, Wooyoung and Yeosang seemed to recognise their uniforms and stayed well away from them, and when Hongjoong asked the demon why, he responded with a mumbled response that had seemed to be along the lines of kidnapping and other nasty deeds.

Something didn't seem right about the whole situation.

On the other hand, if the strange new ship had seemed clunky, odd and out of place, the other seemed to be in its zone. It was a sleek and smooth three-masted galleon, and it had arrived early one morning, propelled by Magik alone. A note had come up to Hongjoong that same day, a rather welcoming letter informing him of the arrival of his purchase, and already he felt elated and excited for the future to come. His dream was finally taking sail.

In order to train as much as possible before they left, before the end of the month of August, Wooyoung and Yeosang had closed up their shop, sold the property to another for them to prosper, and Yunho and Mingi had sent in their letters of departure into their college. Now unbound by schedules and other needless things, the eight crewmates had been able to train as much as humanly possible in those two months, and they were feeling quite ready to leave.

"Alright guys," Hongjoong said one day when they were unloading resources onto the ship, signalling for his crewmates to gather round. At their captain's summons, the eight pirates immediately dropped the crates that they were holding (or, in the nicer ones' case, handing them to the nearest assistant) and trotted over. Thanks to the two, almost three months that the eight had spent together, they were much more comfortable in each others' presence, and they gathered in a comfortably close circle around the captain. "I think I've found a way to test ourselves in real combat before we leave," Hongjoong announced.

"Woah really? Real-life combat??" Mingi exclaimed.

The captain nodded.

"Yep. But it's going to be dangerous. And I don't want to lose anyone before we set off on our journey, so if you feel like you're not ready for this, you're free to opt out."

Mingi frowned.

"Nah, I think I'll stay, hyung," he said.

"If that's what you really want," Hongjoong said solemnly. "What about everyone else?"

"Come on, hyung, of course we're all gonna go!" Wooyoung said. "Be a bit stupid if we weren't there to support you. Right?" the sociable holin asked, turning to his peers and the maknae.

Jongho, Yunho, Yeosang and San all nodded enthusiastically.

"Aww, you guys are too sweet," Hongjoong said, a small smile decorating his face. "So, just double checking – everyone's joining me in this 'mission', of sorts, correct?"

All seven members of the crew nodded.

"So what are we doing exactly, hyungnim?" San asked.

"You know that new ship in the ports that isn't too far from The Grimer?"