The stunned silence brought on by the ludicrous request is broken by Commander Kang actually adding on to that preposterous behest. Even in your own stupefied daze, you somehow manage to hear the next words that leave the commander's mouth.
"I also want my son, Kang Yeosang."
Every thought flees your mind all at once, leaving only a barren mental landscape behind, a mere deserted wasteland. Time seems to slow down for you, air turning liquid as the words drift over to you gently like a fallen leaf swirling and eddying on the surface of a still lake. A moment of eerie calm is all you get, before the actual meaning of the words, with all the force of a sledgehammer, smash into you harder than a battering ram.
You're terrified.
Numb, predatory fear prowls into your mind, nestling and rooting itself there before you can finally register its presence. It's tormenting you, torturing you. Your base instinct screams at you to flee as fast as you can possibly run before this man can get his hands on you, but your legs are frozen to the deck. You can't even scream if you wanted to, let alone run, and even if you could, where would you run to?
Your mind is pulled and twisted by fear and anxiety in all directions, but as much as you hate to admit it, doubt wells up in you.
Yes, you know that the crew think of you as one of their own. Yes, you think that they truly do care about you and that they would, under some of the harshest circumstances, never sacrifice you for their own interests.
But in response to this deal? The reward is too enticing, as alluring as fresh nectar to a honey bee. How do you even refuse an offer like this? Hell, you're tempted to take the deal yourself, even if it means sacrificing yourself in the process. One crew member of the ship for the safety and security of the entire crew? When will you ever get another offer like that?
However noble you may want your intentions to be, though, you know that you're selfish.
Because deep in you, you're desperately wishing that your captain turns it down.
No matter how selfish that makes you, no matter what your crew has to give up, part of you is terrified of dying. It's more than a mere survival instinct, more of a deep seated desire rooting in you. You can't die, not now, not when you're nowhere near the end of your journey-
At your own trail of thought, something claws at your heart, so painfully you actually feel it in your body. Shocked panic runs through you at the words that have just passed through your mind, because when you try to figure out exactly what they mean, the pain in your head grows more and more, from a mere throbbing to an agonising pounding of your mind.
Journey?
But before you can think your brain into a catatonic state, your captain speaks up, his voice trembling with fury, knuckles white around the handle of his cutlass as if he can't wait to slice the man before him into a million tiny pieces. Even if it's not aimed at you, the incensed, red hot rage is all too clear in his words, sending a shiver down your spine as your survival instinct screams at you to bolt.
"What. Do. You. Want. With. Them."
Every syllable is shaking with vengeful fury, as if he can't wait to rain hell's wrath upon the Commander, but Kang Yongsun merely stands his ground calmly, eyeing the captain with a cool, collected gaze.
"I want my son back with me for personal reasons-" He begins, but San finally snaps, lunging forward furiously before Jongho catches him by the arm, yanking him back even though you can see from the battlemaster's furious expression, he wants nothing more than to bludgeon the man before him to a bloody pulp as well.
"How dare you call him your son that after you were the one who abandoned him in the first place?" San screams, writhing against Jongho's grip, his usually calm demeanour completely shattered into smithereens. For such a lithe man, your master is surprisingly strong, nearly wriggling out of Jongho's hold before the young battlemaster catches him once again. "You f*cking destroyed him when you betrayed him like that! You're a heartless liar!"
You too, can feel anger rising up in you even through your numb shock. From the little you had glimpsed of Yeosang's memories, the navigator had truly looked up to his father, loved him dearly though he'd gone years without seeing his face, idolised him, even. When he had been given over to the Pirate King as the object of a deal, you had felt everything within him shatter like glass.
Yeosang had truly almost been destroyed beyond repair.
"It is not my problem that Yeosang was foolish and believed that I loved him." His father states dispassionately, as if he doesn't care the least about his only son. Horror and disbelief runs through you as you stare at the man. How can any human being be so... inhumane? "I never told him I loved him, so I've never lied to him in the least."
Your heart drops in your chest. This man...
"Let me go, Jongho, let me kill that bastard! He thought you lovedhim!" San continues howling in rage, thrashing against the younger battlemaster. You've never seen your master in such an uncontrolled manner, and he's not even drunk. "Yeosang almost starved himself to death the first few months he was on the ship because of this shithole, I'm going to kill him-"
"Mingi, bring San to my cabin and help me keep him there for now." Your captain says coldly, obviously noting that Mingi's barely restraining himself from swinging that huge axe and chopping Commander Kang right in half, seething with white knuckled fury. The quartermaster, clearly knowing that he's going to do something reckless if he stays here any longer, merely grabs San around the middle and hoists him into the air, carrying him away from the main deck to the captain's cabin, San screaming and swearing the whole way.
"And don't you dare touch my apprentice! I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and destroy you, you asshole-"
The cabin door slams shut, effectively cutting off the sounds of your master's fury.
Then your captain turns back to the commander, who looks completely unruffled by San's accusations and screams. For a moment, you're actually terrified at how stony this man's face is. His facade is as cold as ice, to the point it almost unnerves you. It's nothing like the silent calm Yeosang possesses, but he instead has a far more menacing, emotionless demeanour, as if he's more golem than you are.
You imagine yourself like that, briefly, for a moment. A body of clay, with silent, unblinking, dispassionate eyes. More soulless than any human being around you.
The mere thought of it scares you.
"And what do you want with Chin Hae?" Your captain then adds on with gritted teeth, barely managing to cling on to his own facade of calm. At the sound of your name, your hands start to shake from fear, but then Yunho takes your hand in his, gripping it tight.
You turn slowly to look at him, knowing that you probably look like the day you had first met, terrified of the death that was ever so imminent in that alley back in Raguza, except this time your fate lies not in your hands, but your captain's.
Yunho meets your eyes with a nervous, uneasy gaze, but when he speaks, his voice is full of surety.
"Hongjoong-hyung would never give you or Yeosang up, no matter the price."
And you believe him. Your captain had already endured so much for you and the crew, if not him, who else could you possibly trust with your life? His actions spoke louder than words, with his body he had already shown you his dedication to his crew back in Nassau. With the determination he had plunged straight into the sea witch's den, you knew he was willing to give up so much for you.
Yes. Your captain would not accept this deal. You believe that, at the very least.
"I cannot answer." Commander Kang answers calmly, but from his words alone you can tell he's not lying in the least. "My superior officer has ordered for it, so I obey his orders without question."
"Like a obedient dog cowed into mindless submission." Jongho snarls mockingly, grounding the end of his mace against the deck. But Kang Yongsun doesn't react to the sneer at all, instead nodding in agreement with the statement.
"I do my job as required of me." He replies, his voice completely devoid of emotion, before turning back to look at your seething captain, his one eye now a bright, venomous green. "But even if you do not give the woman Chin Hae up to the Royal Navy in a deal, we will still be forced to hunt her down anyway. She has a bounty on her head as well."
At that, Hongjoong actually flinches in shock. You yourself are confused, why would you of all people be targeted specifically by the Royal Navy? In comparison to all the other members of the crew, you've not committed as many crimes as they have, so why you?
"How much is it? The bounty." Your captain demands tonelessly, and Commander Kang opens his mouth to answer.
And with his next words, you feel your mind melt into a puddle of incomprehension.
"One thousand gold pieces."
You nearly spit blood in shock, and from the way Yunho's body goes entire rigid, he's just as stunned as you. One thousand gold pieces, you imagine blearily, as if you can't think straight anymore. You must be going crazy.
It can't be possible. You'd heard from Yunho that the bounty on the captain himself is five hundred gold pieces, wanted alive by the Crown. How can your bounty be twice the price of your captain's?
That's it. You're either dreaming, drunk, going deaf or crazy, because you can't be hearing any of this. None of it makes sense.
Commander Kang continues calmly, as if he hasn't just dropped the biggest bombshell of the century on every person on board this ship simultaneously. "And our orders are to take her back alive, so you needn't worry about her being killed in our hands-"
Hongjoong lunges with his cutlass faster than your eye can see.
There's a clang of steel against steel as Commander Kang raises his blade just in the nick of time to save himself from being split from head to toe by the edge of your captain's sword. Even for a man well past his prime, the Commander must obviously still be fighting fit, because his arms only tremble slightly when he holds his sword steady against your captain's overhead slash.
They stand there for a moment, locked in some sort of stalemate, before the two of them pull apart, swords levelled at each other.
You realise that this is the first time you've seen your captain in action. Not the playful mock duels that he, Yunho and Jongho have on deck with the crew cheering them from the sides, betting on who would win, but an actual fight in which your captain's eye is completely cold and calculating, reading his opponent's every move, predicting every strike. Adrenaline floods your veins from the sheer tension in the air, but you're frozen with numb shock.
Nobody moves as the two captains exchanged dark looks, charged to the brim with unspoken meaning.
"I should kill you where you stand." Hongjoong hisses, lips bared in a snarl. But Commander Kang simply smiles through gritted teeth, keeping his blade at the ready for another surprise strike from your captain.
"But I'm the only one who knows why the Royal Navy wants the woman."
You don't think you've ever seen your captain so incensed.
"Her name. Is. Chin. Hae."
Whirling around, Hongjoong lunges forward with a flick of his wrist, the cutlass darting out like a snake's tongue, ready to cut at least some part of his opponent's sword arm off, but then the hooded man from the side slides between your captain and the commander in the blink of an eye, the longsword in his hands stopping the cutlass dead in its tracks.
The hood falls from the man's head, revealing soft brown curls, soft, sweet features and a gentle nose, deep brown eyes that seem all too familiar to you even though you've never seen the man before in your life.
Why are they so familiar?
Because you've seen them on someone else before.
There are three rings braided in his hair, brushing his temple lightly.
Next to you, Yunho freezes, eyes going wide as if he's seen a ghost. The spear actually goes clattering from his trembling hands to the deck, the sound unnaturally loud in your ears, his face turning white as a sheet as he manages to utter just a single word in disbelief, barely above a whisper.
"Gunho?"
On a ship somewhere in the middle of an ocean, a man sits silently in the cabin with his eyes closed.
He's so still he might just be a statue, completely motionless. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he could have been mistaken for a dead body. A minute passes, then two, the water clock in the corner making soft noises as it keeps track of the time.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Suddenly, the man's eyes slide open, a sinister smile curling on his lips as he breathes in deeply, resting his chin on his fingers, the picture of calm and composure. However, his eyes dance with a terrifying, maniacal light, his deep blue eyes glowing ever so slightly in the dim room with some sort of unearthly gleam.
"The prophecy is finally coming to pass." He sighs in pleasure, the dangerous purr of his voice like silk dragged across skin. "I knew you would do me proud... my son."
There's a knock on the door and he rises to his feet, stepping across the room. Soon, he will be free of all of this, he deserves more, so much more, he's going to be the one with dominion over the-
"Captain! We've caught its trail!"
Twisted, depraved glee rises in him as his fingers dance on the hilt of the silver knife at his side excitedly. He pushes the door of the cabin opening, the sun's rays crushed under his feet as he steps forward to the main deck, watching the sea of blue all about him.
He drags his tongue against the blade, a deranged grin on his lips as he seeks out his next prey. The sirens are easy targets, but they don't yield nearly enough.
"Let's go kill the hafgufa."