People searched for meaning in life through various ways; family, children, church, adventure. They travel from lands to another, one oceans to the next to search for meaning.
Julian Marcellus didn't think he was one of these people. His life was adequate, neither great nor awful. If he had been relentlessly ambitious, then he could have sought the chances that presented themselves to him over the years. But he was never selfish enough to take them.
He was born a bastard from his Northon Lord. The man stern, but responsible. Julian's mother was one of his servants, and he let Julian remain his home despite the many legitimate children that he had before.The people of Northon were outsiders who kept closely to themselves. They didn't associate much with the conflicts that often occurred with the lower regions. It made Northon a source of mockery for the other countries below it. As for Julian, life had been alright. He had food to eat and work to do. This was more than many people had. If only he had been less naive, then it would have remained so.
Never again will I touch that damn drink, Julian thought.
The swaying helped. He felt like he was rocked, slowly from right to left. A smile curved unconsciously. A second later, he frowned. The vessel suddenly made a sharp turn; Julian and various others were slammed hard to the walls. Groans resounded and louder sounds followed. Shouting. Gunshots.
Chaos.
His eyes shot open and he looked around in confusion. He was in a prison; no better than a chicken coop, with four other people. He jumped up looking around like a half-mad person, then looking at the faces of his fellow inmates. Most of them were scratching the places that must have stung. Some were bleeding.
"Calm yourself, would ya?" The man nearest to Julian said. He had a scar on his narrow cheek as he pushed the dark strands of his hair out of his eyes. He looked older, maybe in his late forties. He had markings all over him. They were tattoos of different styles. He had a distinct one on his wrist. Black ink etched around his wrist in a complicated design, an image that looked like the tail of snake and the words 'Sefrall'. Julian couldn't stop staring. So peculiar, so familiar.
"What are you looking at?" He asked again. He sounded like he wanted to slam his fist into Julian's face. Yet the man didn't open his eyes. He sat on the ground of the prison with his legs crossed in front of him and his hand curled into fists on each thigh. He looked as if he was in meditation. Julian calmed down and pulled some sense back into his mind. He couldn't understand where he was or what had caused him to be in this place to begin with. Julian analyzed the swaying motion again and noticed the cargos not far from his prison. He must have been on the lower decks of a ship. It wasn't a very good ship too, he thought, noticing the scratches and the piles of rotting shit at the edges of the ship.
He turned his head back to the dark-haired man.
"Where are they taking us?" Julian whispered.
The man chuckled. "Ain't need to whisper, pretty boy. They're all half dead or dying." He said pointing at the rest of the prisoners who didn't even stir. "This is a slave ship. Well, it's actually a trade ship meant to bring goods to the other side of the world. We are being sold to Almagora with a kind stop in The Fell." He said, and then spat near the ground.
The Fell? Was that not an illegal settlement the crown was soon to thwart?
Slaves. The word rung in Julian's head. How could he be a slave? He was nineteen and he had a mother, he had to go home. He didn't even remember how he got here, the last thing he did was... oh god. The twins did this to him.
The twins were Julian's half-brothers, his father's first borns from his late wife. The heir to his riches and the people that Julian seemed to threaten with his very existence. His father's other children had all been girls, three sweet cheerful girls. The twins' claim had been safe and until their father decided to take Julian's mother to bed. Against the odds, their father didn't ditch Julian and took him in.
True, he was raised half a servant and half a lord's son, but it had been good. Julian even suspected that his father loved him even if it wasn't as great as the other's love. He even declared Julian to be third in line, if anything were to happen to the twins. That was when they decided to invite him to the tavern and celebrate.
He couldn't recall how many drinks he had. The twins kept on urging him to have more. They kept saying this was the start of a true brotherhood. But, he didn't remember anything else. That memory felt so far away. How many days had he been out of it?
"I'm Julian." The young blond said offering a hand. He didn't take it. He didn't even move. The ship shook a second time, this time harder followed by screaming from the upper deck. A cannonball shot through the ship's side landing on the three men on Julian's far right, blood oozing from their cracked skulls.
He gasped, looking for a way out but the hole on the ship's wall wasn't big enough for him to climb through. Neither did he want to step on the dead in order to get out. The dark-haired man sat still, only his breathing had gotten deeper. Another cannonball burst in just at the right angle to blast the cage bars open, giving a free way out for the remaining prisoners. Mortars hit the side of the ship and fire was starting near the prison.
There was laughter on the first deck and a bit of singing. Suddenly, the black-haired man opened his eyes and looked up. He looked at the dark overboard fixedly as if he could see through wood.
Only then could Julian see his eyes. There was a good reason for him not to open them. He froze, confused between marveling at the eyes and trying to escape the prison.
The man stood up and ran, disappearing through one of the first floor decks. Julian followed and freed himself from the cage. At first he wanted to follow the man but he saw another opportunity. He saw the stairs leading up to the upper deck. He could hear the shouting and singing. Slowly, he walked up. His heart thundered in his chest.
The sight shocked him. It was mayhem. Men on all sides of the deck were killing each other. Blood stained the surface and shouts accompanied these fights. Julian noticed the difference in attires. The civilized, well-dressed crewmembers against the torn clothed and oil-stained faces of the other. He looked to his side to found another ship had rammed the ship. The sails were black and intimidating.
Pirates.
It had to be pirates. Who else would attack an official ship in this manner? It didn't follow any general code of war. This was an uncivilized, selfish attack.
Fear gripped him and anger followed. He suspected his brothers must have sold him to someone and shoved him into this fate. They sold him to some selfish lowlife no different than pirates. All good people knew to never trust pirates. The pirates were singing as they struck their enemies, while others carried the goods into their own ship. The sight disgusted him.
He saw one who particularly stood out. With his dark, long, coat and grin, he fought off his foe skillfully occasionally using his hook to counter. When the enemy died, Hook stood over him and laughed. Julian knew this man must be killed because he had no humanity. He picked a sword that lay on the floor and begun running, with a great force he aimed the sword at Hook's chest. The pirate noticed and quickly countered Julian with his hook, he swung and kicked, sending Julian to the ground.
Hook stood over him, about to kill him, but instead he frowned. Before, he could say anything another sailor ran towards Hook as well, trying to strike him. Hook dealt with that man, must have thought he'd kill him later. Julian froze, sword scattered somewhere and breathed heavily. A pirate almost killed him.
Hook was too busy with the sailor and Julian too busy watching him fight. Julian heard something, like a gasp and a groan. He turned his head, finding that another crewmember had spotted him this time. He must have thought Julian was a pirate. The man started to charge towards him at high speed, Julian looked around frantically for a weapon but found none. This was it. He was going to die.
A loud shot made everyone turn.
A gunshot had been fired. The Lighthollow crewmen looked down to his chest, blood began to stream and he dropped to the ground. Julian clutched his chest, shocked and felt too paralyzed to move. But, he turned his head and felt surprise once more.
Hook had fired the shot.
The man that Hook was fighting lay dead not far from him. The pirate walked over, his steps slow and relaxed. He towered over Julian, eyes narrowed and head tilted.
"I'm rather confused as to whose side you're on. Your people just tried to kill you." He pointed at the dead official. Hook must have thought Julian was a part of the ship, a crewmember. He was about to answer but Hook waved his hand, stopping him.
"I don't care. Right now, you look far too stupid to not kill yourself." Hook offered his hand.
Julian stared at it, unsure whether to trust it or not.
"Take it, boy. This is the only mercy you'll get." Hook added, hand still offered.
Julian was about to reach it when he heard another shot.
"Wolf, behind you!" Someone shouted, but the pirate turned back too late.
There was a last survivor and he ran towards Hook with all his strength. Hook was too late to counter, but someone else pushed Wolf to the ground. And Julian watched, to his horror, as the man's sword went through the darker pirate's heart. He made a loud grunt.
"Yakob!" Hook shouted back, clear horror in his eyes. He stood up quickly and kicked the sailor to stumble backward, before Hook swung across the man's neck. The enemy fell down, bleeding to death quietly.
Hook ran to the dark pirate and cradled the man on his lap. "What were you doing, Yakob you dimwit?" He said, his voice strained.
But Julian knew that the man would never answer again.
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A/N: A first Julian Chapter! Yay! We got to see how he reacted to the whole pirate things and we also could see that he's not a fan of pirates clearly, but yet, his life was just saved by one :o How do you think he's going to proceed in the story? Don't be shy to drop a comment if you fancy :)
~Redhotsmolder