The sword was pointed between Yeonjun's eyes.
Captain Bang Chan stood in front of them, the morning sun slowly bleeding into the sky. A calm, yet silent breeze brushed past them. The open wounds on Soobin's body were exposed to the cold air, slightly stinging the boy.
Yeonjun glared at Captain Bang Chan intensely, his fists clenched tightly behind his back.
"Where is the map?"
Yeonjun stayed silent, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you had it..."
He uttered out. "Captain."
Bang Chan lowered his sword. The crew's pockets had been searched previously, however, none of them held the map. Not a single one. No glass bottle, and no map. It wasn't on any of the three, and neither Captain Soobin or Beomgyu had it either.
They stayed silent for a little while longer, Beomgyu hearing the light taps of footsteps on the sail's beams above them. He quickly spared a glance, seeing a collection of silhouettes quietly, creeping across.
"One of you has to have it," Bang Chan scowled, returning his sword to his sheath, "I'll make all of you walk the plank if none of you will speak up."
Beomgyu scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Oh wow, throwing us into water because we won't hand over a piece of paper. Reeeaall mature Capta-"
Beomgyu was quickly cut off when Bang Chan delivered a harsh stomp on the boy's foot. Beomgyu yelped, retracting his foot and huffed.
Yeonjun looked around the ship, where the rest of Bang Chan's crew was gathering. He exchanged a look with Taehyun, sighing a deep breath.
"Come on... where are they?" Yeonjun thought to himself, firmly clenching his fists. He bit the inside of his cheek, carefully looking around.
Bang Chan swiftly grabbed Beomgyu's collar, pulling him closer so their eyes could meet.
"I'll give you one more chance to tell me," Bang Chan seethed, "Which one of you has the map-"
"You want the map?"
They could hear a voice call. Captain Bang Chan paused, looking around for where the sound had come from.
Yeonjun and Hueningkai exchanged an excited look, nudging their captain. Bang Chan's other crewmates looked around, reaching for their weapons.
Bang Chan looked up, seeing an array of silhouettes which could be seen in the sails. Bang Chan's crew was spread out, all eight of them on deck.
Seonghwa and Jongho smoothly jumped down from the sail's beams, landing smoothly on their feet.
Jongho reached into his coat, smoothly pulling out a glass bottle containing the rolled up piece of paper. He smiled pleasantly at the captain, holding it in his hand.
"Come and get it." He waved it in front of Bang Chan, holding the bottle by its neck.
Captain Bang Chan scowled, gesturing for his crew to do something. Obediently, his crew almost advanced when there was a slight chuckle heard from the sails.
"There's a little more where that came from." They paused, hearing the sound of more boots hitting the solid, wooden deck.
Suddenly, a bunch more jumped down from the sails. Yeosang and Wooyoung both landed smoothly onto the deck and drew their weapons. San and Mingi also jumped down roughly, a sly smile on their faces.
Bang Chan scowled, looking around at the others who had landed on the ship. He slowly took a step back, clenching his fists. Taking a quick look around, he could see they were evenly matched, maybe they even outnumbered them by two.
"Surprise, captain!" Yeonjun said sarcastically, "I called a few friends along, if you don't mind."
Bang Chan raised an eyebrow, turning to face his crew. "Get them! And bring the map to me!"
Immediately, his crew charged towards the others who had jumped on their ship. The others drew their weapons, also making an advance forward.
Meanwhile, San quickly rushed over to the crew tied to the mast. Swiftly, he grabbed a throwing star from his pocket and slashed the ropes with a quick flick of his hand.
The ropes binding the crew fell, Captain Soobin stumbling forward.
"San! You're saving us!" Beomgyu cried out happily, wriggling himself free.
"Beomgyu, are you stupid?!" San exclaimed back, "I thought you could handle getting yourself out of situations like this!"
"Shut up! I'm out of practice!" Beomgyu exclaimed. Hueningkai quickly rushed over to Captain Soobin, wrapping one of his arms around his shoulder to help him stand.
San rolled his eyes, kicking the loose ropes aside. "You and your captain should leave before it gets bloody, we'll handle things from here."
San reached in his coat pocket, pulling out the glass bottle. He handed it to Captain Soobin, nudging the other nonchalantly.
"Jongho has a fake map, the paper inside is blank," San noted, looking back at the rest of the crew. Hueningkai spared a glance at Captain Soobin, who was still shocked.
"Capt'n, we should patch you up, they can handle it from here," Huneingkai reassured, looking him in the eye.
Captain Soobin didn't say anything, but nodded hastily. He took the glass bottle, grasping it tightly while the two carefully snuck off the ship. Beomgyu leaned himself against the mast, looking around at the chaos which had erupted.
"Where'd they hide your weapons?" Taehyun asked, raising an eyebrow. Beomgyu shrugged.
"Below deck I'll bet," Yeonjun replied, looking around the ship. San rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure it's somewhere on the ship, Beomgyu's got waaay too many knives for them to throw it all away," he reasoned.
"I'll check below deck with Yeonjun," Taehyun volunteered, looking over at San, "You make sure Beomgyu's alright and we'll be back soon."
San nodded, as Yeonjun and Taehyun quickly rushed below deck.
Seonghwa and Jongho were both easily able to overpower Bang Chan together, the rest of the crew rushing to help but were stopped by the other crewmates.
Minho ran to Bang Chan's aid, sword clutched tightly in his hand. Wooyoung glanced over his shoulder, unfurling his whip swiftly and flicked it fiercely.
While Minho was running, the whip wrapped around his ankle. Wooyoung gave it a firm tug, causing Minho to trip and fall. He toppled onto the deck with a rough fall.
He groaned, slowly staggering up when a sword was suddenly pointed between his eyes.
"Going somewhere?" Yeosang smiled pleasantly. Wooyoung coiled the whip again, holding it firmly as he walked over to Minho. They had grabbed some of the spare rope and tied up his hands.
Minho squirmed and kicked, Wooyoung kicked him aside and high-fived Yeosang.
Eventually, the other members of Bang Chan's crew had been slowly overtaken by the others. Beomgyu rested himself against the mast of the ship, watching the action unfold in front of him. He sat disappointedly, unable to join in the fight.
Taehyun and Yeonjun hurried back to the main deck, the two of them hauling Beomgyu's coat. They had also fetched Soobin's blade, neatly tucked away in their belt.
Taehyun slid the coat to Beomgyu. "How many knives do you have in there? That thing weighs a ton!"
Beomgyu quickly caught it, slipping it on. Adjusting the sleeves, he rolled his eyes at Taehyun. "Like I said, that's a secret."
San also shrugged. "I could be wrong, but I thought he had five-hundred and seven."
Taehyun and Yeonjun exchanged a look, sighing in frustration.
-------
"That was stupid of you capt'n," Hueningkai scolded, gently wrapping the boy's arm with a bandage, "We were coming for you, you shouldn't have challenged him further."
The two were seated on a bench in town, a first aid kit opened next to them. Captain Soobin sighed in defeat, leaning forward slightly.
"I was worried about you while you were gone, y'know," Captain Soobin mumbled with a slight chuckle, "I didn't think I was going to make it, honestly."
Hueningkai glared at the other, hitting him in the shoulder. Soobin winched, gripping his shoulder with his hand.
"Don't talk like that!" Hueningkai snapped, "Otherwise Taehyun, Yeonjun, and I would've done all that for nothing!"
"Convincing the other captain wasn't too difficult..." he said, his voice slowly getting quiet, "It surprisingly didn't take a lot, if I'm being honest. It just took us awhile to come up with a plan."
Soobin hummed in response, tiredly resting his head on Hueningkai's shoulder.
"We should head back and help the others," Soobin said, slowly getting up when Hueningkai grabbed his hand.
"Not yet, Capt'n, you're not in any condition to fight," Hueningkai told, "Just- rest for a minute, alright? They have it under control."
"But- The others," Captain Soobin winced, "They might need-"
Hueningkai shook his head, sitting the other down next to him. "They've got it handled, just relax, alright?"
Captain Soobin looked worriedly at their ship in the distance, hesitant. He could tell something was going on, but couldn't quite tell which side was winning.
"Could I at least get my sword back?" Soobin asked softly.
"If you insist," Hueningkai giggled.
After a fierce battle between the two, Captain Bang Chan's crew was rounded up and quickly tied up. They were tied to the mast of their own ship. Seonghwa brushed himself off proudly. Captain Hongjoong had later showed up to finish them off, standing in front of their ship, his hands on his hips.
Captain Bang Chan squirmed and kicked in the ropes that tied everyone together, cursing under his breath. Soobin and Hueningkai had hurried over, skidding to a stop.
Beomgyu leaned against Taehyun's shoulder, standing on one foot after his other had been stomped on. Captain Soobin smiled boldly, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Hah! Take that! How does it feel to be the one tied up this time?" He called up to Captain Bang Chan. The other growled, clenching his fists.
"It was them that did all the work! You barely did anything!" Captain Bang Chan yelled back fiercely. Hongjoong rolled his eyes, looking over at Soobin.
"They're all yours," Hongjoong said, gesturing to the tied-up crew. He called his crew, gesturing for them to start heading back. Captain Soobin paused, holding his hand up in objection.
"Wait," he said. Hongjoong turned around, raising an eyebrow. Captain Soobin bowed, looking at the ground.
"Thank you."
---------
Captain Soobin and his crew climbed aboard Bang Chan's ship, smiling happily to themselves. Bang Chan scowled at the sight of the other, brushing hair away from his face.
Soobin got his sword back from Taehyun, walking over to the wounded captain and his crew. Beomgyu and Taehyun stood next to him, awaiting their captain's next move.
"So, what do you think we should do with them?" Soobin asked, tucking his sword away in his belt. Beomgyu shrugged, looking out into the sea.
"We could just leave them here," he suggested, "Then again, they'd probably catch up to us in a week or two."
Yeonjun put a hand to his chin, and thought for a moment.
"Why don't we throw them overboard?" Yeonjun said wickedly, holding his hands behind his back. His crew looked at him with pleading eyes, shaking their heads.
Yeonjun rolled his eyes. "Calm down, you're still at the dock. It's not like I'm dumping you in the ocean- but we could."
Taehyun shrugged, eyeing the rope which tied the ship in place. "I have a better idea."
Hueningkai raised the anchor of the ship, Beomgyu messing with their steering wheel. Taehyun quickly lowered the sails on the ship, then hopped off the ship and landed on the dock smoothly. The others followed, numb to the crew's yelling and fussing. Captain Soobin smiled slyly, looking up at Bang Chan.
"I'll see you around!" he called, waving broadly. Then he turned to Taehyun.
"Cut it."
Taehyun and Yeonjun untied the ship, letting drift out of the port and into the open sea. They could hear the crewmates' shouting from the ship, fiercely struggling but unable to break free.
[end of section I]
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a/n: ngl i feel like i couldve done better with this chapter ;-; but i think it turned out alright... anyways, i hope y'all liked the chapter! :D