Her Adventures on the Red Lion

The Tears of a Captain

 The Captain stood at his wheel, silently guiding his ship through the waves in front of them, seemingly without a destination. His face held a deep frown that he couldn't shake off no matter how much he tried. His mind was full of thoughts he tried to wish away, but to no avail. So he stood silent, watching the sea in front of them.

 His deck seemed to feel his same grievances as they too where silently going about their tasks, keeping conversations in hushed tones, and not even daring to think of bothering the Captain. Well, most of them did.

 The Captain hardly noticed when a couple of his crew stood on the balcony just below him, watching the sun set over the sea in front of them. But when he heard the sound of humming, they caught his attention. It was no surprise it was Daithi and Nanners on the balcony, and Daithi most likely the one humming, but it was the tune he sang that struck him. It was a familiar song throughout all seaman around the world.

 After a short while of humming, Daithi cleared his throat and began to sing out the words to the song, (If you haven't already, play the song now. :) ) catching everyone's attention. The deck didn't remain silent for long though as they all joined in at their parts and sang along.

 Normally the song was about a Captain giving up a broken ship, but it was obvious that wasn't the intended message of the song tonight, and he knew it. His fists clench on the wheel till his knuckles were white, struggling to hold a sob that clawed it's way at his throat. As much as he tried, he couldn't help the hot tears that burned as they fell down his face, blown away in the wind. He kept his head low and tried to tune out the song that sang on throughout his ship. Any other time that a song would annoy him, he'd tell his men to can it, but he knew that if he opened his mouth a sob would escape. So instead, he grit his teeth as the song continued on to ring out on his ship.

 He had gotten so caught up in the words that he didn't even notice when the song came to an end. He didn't notice when his name was called from the balcony below. He didn't notice the footsteps up the stairs to his wheel deck. He only knew someone was next to him when he felt a hand on his back.

 "Captain?" he heard a voice call out to him quietly. He knew full well it was Adam, but he couldn't bare to even look up at his first mate. "Captain, do you want me to take the wheel?"

 The only answer the Captain gave him was when he released the wheel with one hand and stepped back, letting Adam take his place. Afterwards, he quickly made his way to his corridors, paying no mind to the many pitiful looks that were cast his way.

 He closed the doors behind him when he walked in. Standing in the doorway for a long while, he looked over at his own bed. He hadn't had the chance to sleep in it himself in a couple of days because someone else had resided in it. After a while of just staring at it, he slowly made his way over to his bed and sat down on it. He kicked off his boots and shrugged off his coat and laid down, instantly regretting doing so. When his face hit the pillow, a distinct scent filled his nose, left by the previous resident.

 Tears spilled down his face again and the sob finally escaped, followed by many more, as the Captain laid in his bed, face buried in his pillow, holding onto every memory of her as he could.