#swabby face

[loboazul16]

tried a self portrait :]

[skyward-floored]

Steak dinner

(Hdw au) I know you all were probably expecting more angst from this au, and while this does have a little, I also swerved into goofiness with this one. Link shows some more dragon tendencies... in front of an audience. lol.

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“Captain.”

“...”

“Uh, Captain? Link?”

“...”

“Link? Hello?”

The older hero still doesn’t reply, staring blankly at his sword in his lap. He’d been cleaning it, but had stopped a few minutes ago, and was now just staring off into space, eyes distant.

Tune leans over and snaps his fingers in his face, and that finally brings him out of it, the captain practically jumping out of his seat at the noise.

“There you are,” Tune says once the captain calms down and puts the dagger away. “Glad to have you back in the land of the living. You know you’ve been acting kind of weird today, right?”

Link blinks at him, then shrugs. “Guess I’ve just been busy.”

Tune narrows his eyes. “Uh huh. The thing is, you’re always busy, but you don’t always act like this. Which means... something’s up,” Tune deduces, and Link’s expression turns wearied for about two seconds before he fixes his face.

“It’s just the usual, sailor. Don’t worry about it,” Link murmurs.

“The usual with you is like ten different things.”

Link looks away.

“Captain? ...Please?” Tune tries.

Link just shakes his head. “I really have just been busy, Tune. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

Tune sighs and is about to argue more, but then a low growl floats through the air, making him pause. Link freezes, and Tune looks around in confusion before he zeroes in on the captain’s stomach.

The growl rings out from it again, and Tune gives Link a sharp look, the captain quickly averting his gaze.

“Captain. When was the last time you ate anything?” Tune asks slowly.

“I’ve been busy,” Link mutters, “I didn’t have time to eat lunch.”

Tune gives him a poke. “And what about breakfast?”

“...maybe also breakfast.”

“I don’t actually remember you eating dinner last night either,” Mask adds as he walks by, and Link sends a glare in his direction.

“You haven’t eaten in almost a day?” Tune asks sharply.

Link shrugs, shifting in his seat. “...Something like that.”

“It’s been longer?!”

Link shrugs again, and Tune stands up and matches over to him, grabbing his arm and hauling him to his feet.

“Come on captain, we’re getting you food,” he says in as much of a big-brother voice as he can muster. “I don’t care if you’re busy or whatever, you can’t just not eat.”

“I’m busy Tune. And besides, I’m not even hungry,” Link begins to argue, but then his stomach growls again, even louder than before.

“...Right.”

Tune wastes no time in dragging the older Link across camp, ignoring his weak protests and never relinquishing his grip. Amused glances are cast at them as Tune drags Link by the wrist, and Tune notices with no small satisfaction that the captain’s ears are turning rather red. And when he finally reaches his target, Link’s protests sputter and die.

Tetra is sitting at a fire and already eating something, and as he trots up, she looks over and raises an eyebrow.

“Would you mind making sure he stays here?” Tune asks, and Tetra shrugs, picking something out of her teeth.

“Sure swabbie. But what’s the occasion?”

“This dope hasn’t eaten in at least a day,” Mask pipes up, and Tetra gives the oldest Link a Look. He starts off holding his ground, but nobody can stand up to Tetra’s Look, not even a hero of courage, and he soon wilts under it.

“I’ll watch him.”

“Thanks Tetra!” Tune smiles, and Mask pulls the captain down to sit, he and Tetra squishing him between them.

Tune nods, satisfied the captain is suitably trapped, then scampers off to go find a reasonable amount of food for him. It’s about dinner time anyway, so hunting down some food isn’t too hard, luckily. The only real problem is that nothing Tune can find is particularly filling. Plus he’s pretty sure the captain needs meat, he’s part dragon after all.

Does he need a lot of meat? Has he even been eating enough meat for a regular person? I wonder if Impa has any clue about what he should be eating...

Zelda walks by as he’s puzzling through all this, and seeing him look rather lost, asks what’s wrong. Tune explains the problem, and Zelda’s brows lower as she hears that Link hasn’t eaten in at least a day. A look equally worried and determined lands on her face, and she promises she’ll be back with some meat before striding off. Leaving Tune blinking in surprise behind her.

He gathers some other food while he waits, but only has to wait a few minutes before the princess returns, a large, uncooked steak in hand.

“Wh— where did you get that?” Tune asks in astonishment, and Zelda smiles.

“I have my ways. I only wish I’d gotten a cooked one, but I suppose this will do.“

Tune leads the way back to the campfire where Tetra is, and sees that Lana’s joined their group, telling them all some kind of tale. Link still looks weary, but there’s a small smile on his face as he listens, and Tune is relieved at the way he seems to have perked up a little.

He’s been so gloomy lately... it’s nice seeing him at least a little happier.

Zelda sits down next to Lana to listen to her story, and Tune pauses in his musings on Link and of how to cook the meat, setting the plate down for a mere moment as he begins to be drawn into the tale.

He should’ve known better.

Link’s nose twitches, and his eyes zero in on the meat, pupils dilating. It happens so fast Tune almost misses it, but one minute the meat is sitting on the plate, and the next it’s gone, and the captain is swallowing something with a satisfied look on his face.

Tune stares.

Mask stares.

Princess Zelda and Lana also stare, stunned into silence.

Tetra looks delighted.

“What?” Link asks as they all stare at him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“That... uh. That was raw,” Tune says, equal wonder and disgust coming through in his voice.

“Completely raw,” Tetra continues, a grin on her face. “Good goddesses Captain, I knew you were hungry, but even I know not to just eat a raw steak.”

“In one bite,” Mask says with a bit of wonder.

Link blinks, and looks down at his hands. A look of pure mortification forms on his face as he realizes exactly what he just did, and he slowly looks around at their group, his entire face flushing as his gaze comes to rest on Princess Zelda.

...Who looks like she’s trying her best not to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Lana is giggling uproariously into her hands beside her, but somehow Zelda manages to hold it together, the slightest twitch of her lip the only thing betraying her mirth. Tune wouldn’t even have picked up on that if he wasn’t so good at picking expressions out from card players.

“I suppose this means we don’t need to spend any time cooking,” she says remarkably straight-faced, and the captain groans, putting his face into his hands.

“I’m... uh,” he begins, ears turning pink. “I’m sorry, I have no clue... I was only going to take a bite, I didn’t realize—”

“Relax dragon-boy, you carnivores need your meat,” Tetra drawls.

Everyone freezes, and swings their heads towards Tetra, eyes going wide. Link’s blush swerves into the color draining from his face, and Zelda and Lana exchange sharp looks.

Tetra raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Who... told you about the... dragon thing?” Tune asks, lowering his voice at the end. He certainly didn’t, and as far as he knows, it hasn’t left this circle of people. But if Tetra knows, then it must have somehow, which means... who else knows?

Tetra hums, and flicks dust off her vest. “Nobody. I have my ways, and a pirate never reveals her secrets.”

“Secrets, sure. I bet you just heard Link’s sneezing the other week,” Mask says flatly, and Tetra gives him her signature wink.

“Perhaps. But if you’re worried about it getting out, don’t. I don’t go around spreading rumors,” she says with a steady look at Link. “Relax, Scales.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you found out,” Tune says. Tetra looks at him, and he knows she heard the seriousness in his voice. This is information that needs to not be spread.

“Relax, Link. I just heard the general yelling at Volga in that battle the other day, I put two and two together.”

Somehow their spot goes even more quiet at her words, and Tune sighs at the look on the captain’s face. His father’s identity weighs on him heavily, but his mother’s... it’s almost worst, in a way. Tune isn’t sure of who knows about that part of the story, but he’s pretty it’s just himself and Link.

And Lana probably, but she knows everything.

Tetra doesn’t seem to be aware of that particular tidbit though, and she crosses her arms with a smirk.

“Yeah yeah, I know, it’s rough. You’re not the only one who’s found out some family thing about yourself and had your world turned on its head,” she hums, and Lana gives her an interested look.

“Oh... that’s right. I’d forgotten you didn’t know of your birthright as the princess,” she says, and Tetra gives her a sharp look.

“Yeah, and don’t go spreading that around,” she snaps.

Link looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here as the conversation goes from family secrets to Tetra and Lana having an argument on princess-y matters, and Tune pats him on the shoulder.

“Do you need anything else to eat, or was that enough?” he asks. Link shrugs, looking at his feet.

Tune frowns at the lack of response, and leans over and grabs the plate he’d gotten with some other food, handing it to Link.

“She won’t tell anyone,” he reassures as Link reluctantly takes the plate. “And she only knows about Volga. I can tell.”

“It seems like everyone’s been able to just figure this out except for me,” Link mutters, and Tune hears the bitterness in it.

“Most of us hadn’t met you or Volga before the war started,” he reminds him, Tetra and Lana still loudly arguing behind them. He gives them an exasperated look, then turns back to Link. “Nobody knew you were similar because nobody had met the both of you.“

Link stares at his plate. “And how similar am I to Volga?”

His voice is more fragile now, and Tune takes his hand, looking Link in the eye.

“Hey. You’re not like Volga,” he says firmly. “You’re not either of your parents. You and Volga have similarities because he’s your father, but his actions are his, not yours. You’re your own person, Link, Impa and Volga don’t define who you are. Only you do. And whatever you’re thinking about in regards to you and Volga being similar... don’t, okay? You have the same blood, but that doesn’t mean you have the same morals or anything,” he finishes softly.

Link looks at him, and he gives a silent nod, Tune squeezing his hand.

He doesn’t know if he got through to the older hero at all, but he can hope at least. Talks like this work on Tetra about half of the time, and if Tune can get lucky and get through her hard-headed snark, he can hopefully get through Link’s defenses.

“Thanks Tune,” Link says as he picks at more food, pointedly taking small bites. “For... all of this.”

“No problem, captain,” Tune replies with a smile. “Just... know that Mask is probably going to spread the story of the raw steak through the entire camp.”

The captain groans, but it’s more good-natured than anything. “I’m not going to be able to live that down, am I.”

“Nope. But maybe next time you’ll eat something before you get so hungry you eat an entire raw steak in one bite,” Tune says slyly, and Link snorts, giving him a light elbow.

He goes back to eating, looking much better than before, and laughs along with the others when Mask joins the argument between Tetra and Lana, the former of whom doesn’t seem to appreciate Mask’s attitude. She lunges for him and Mask shrieks, but there’s a devious look in his eyes as he tries desperately to avoid Tetra’s noogie.

He smirks at Tune when the captain laughs again, and Tune grins in return, watching the two of them wrestle.

Tetra sends him a wink as well, and they all spend the rest of the evening in easy comradery, teasing Link over his taste of raw meat, Lana telling more tales, Zelda moving to sit beside Link.

Tune looks back on that evening years later as one of the happiest of the entire war.

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

My take on Batfam, but Pirates- Dick's Origin

Hayleys were a group known among almost every coast, made of people still stuck in the "old ways" back when countries had no power over land of people who did not permenatly reside.

They were nomads, people who lived and breathed by the ocean and whose vessels called "barbaic" to some were some of the most skilled sailors to ever traverse the waters.

The "Flying" Graysons were the artists even among the most skilled, known for their expertise and ability to swing from ropes and rafters as if they were soaring through the sky.

But life as nomads in a modern time was far from easy. No longer were the lands free as the seas, and it seemed even the seas themselves were being claimed.

Zucco owned the docks by several major port cities, of course "own" meaning he had no papers- but if you did not pay his toll it was likely there would be grave consequences.

Tired of being extorted during one of their latest trading adventures they docked and did not pay. And they paid the price far more than gold.

The Graysons were targetted, caught on their own side vessel and shown no mercy. Even at the face of Dick, their little Kea, he was picked up by Zucco himself and thrown overboard for the seas to claim.

Despite his entire life off shore, the currents still proved too much for the boy and his strength was sapped away as he watched the dimming light of the monsters lanterns fade away as he drifted further and further from shore.

Dick gave a soft prayer to the sea, begging for her waters to calm and spare him. The waters did not calm, but Dick still believes she heard his prayer. Right as he was struggling his last breath, he saw a ship come into view, black sails, but his mind too foggy to recognize.

He slipped under the currents.

Only to come too Safe and warm inside the lower deck of Lady Gotham, having been saved by her elusive Blackcape, a notorius pirate, but one that did not pillage nor rape, but took justice out on open ocean.

Dick was nursed back to help by the captian and his older companion, but the rest of the ship was empty, not even a swabbie. It didnt take long for him to get the real story of the legand as just a boy like him, whose parents were claimed unwillingly by the sea via the hands of cruel men.

Bruce Wayne was his name, though few recognized it anymore now lost as sand drifted out. He explained Dicks rescue and insisted he would help get Dick back to Hayleys and back Home.

But of course, getting a kid back to a place that didnt exist only in people that never stayed still for long was easier said than done.

By the time they managed to track them down- they were overjoyed to hear Dick was alive, but the boy suprised just about everyone but his old family that he wished to stay on Lady Gotham.

Because to him, Home had never been a place, it was always people.

Bruce of course was not too keen at first, but it seemed his new sons stubborness was stronger than even his own, and soon enough Lady Gotham gained a First Mate.

Blackcape gained his Kea

Pt 1- Pt 2 (this)- Pt 3(WIP)

[thewisaaaaad]

alright, I have added plenty to the au already

SO LETS ADD SOME MORE

The Captains each have their own stronghold, an island that they have fortified with their power, and where they hide from the sea that they believe seeks to swallow them whole. At this point, they only send out illusions made of Ichor to communicate with their forces at sea, as they all believe that narinder seeks their deaths after the battle he lost. They are right to fear his vengeance, but for the entirely wrong reasons.

Each stronghold his vastly different from the next;

Leshy made his home in a wild jungle, only made wilder with the louse's presence. The trees themselves thirst for blood, vines hang down that seek necks to strangle, and the grass is as sharp as an army's armory. His disciples wield spears, their faces hidden by masks of wood that change as readily as the wind.

Once, Leshy had been a swabbie, the newest recruit. His lust for adventure and discovery was matched only by Narinders own. They were like brothers, once. And Leshy had always known how to cheer anyone up, god or mortal.

Heket claimed a island that had been entirely razed to the ground by an angry god, now made a paradise of fertile ground and glorious harvest. The crops are so ripe, if you harvest them carelessly they will explode, while mushrooms constantly deal with excess growth. Her faithful care greatly for their crew, marking their flesh to represent the family they belong to. To harm one of her crew is to declare war with Heket herself. If you failed them, however, you could end up in the pot for tonights dinner. And the bar for failure was very low.

A long time ago, she was the best cook in the land. She would feed entire communities, often at great expense to herself. Her rapid regenerative abilities as a god only ensured that frog stew was always on the menu. She always kept the needs of the family well above herself on the list of priorities.

Kalamar has the least fear of the depths, for he can swim and breathe down there, but calmed a land-locked defensive position regardless. His city sits upon a massive dead coral forest, the pale animals forming razor sharp supports for the houses and bridges that cling to their branches. His deckhands perform heinous experiments to further his knowledge of the mortal body- and how best to inflict pain.

Ages past, he was a struggling doctor, trying to save as many lives as he could. His repeated failures often shredded his self confidence, but Narinder was always there to help him back on his feet. Eventually, he became the best doctor in the land, using his godhood to identify exactly what was wrong with a patient and to provide the best aid he could.

Shamura entrenched themselves on a barren island, building a true fortress library of stone and magic. But as the years went on, the damage to their skull seemed to slowly distort their perception of reality, each successive floor of the fortress becoming more twisted and eerie as it goes up. The tower stretches high into the sky, bending this way and that, appearing to take a different path up each time you look at it. Littered with traps and lost knowledge, the upper levels are off limits to even Shamuras own first mate and fellow seeker of knowledge, Allocer.

Shamura had been the one to gather them all together. Shamura had been the one to call them all family. They came up with the code, allowing each of the Captains to add their own piece to the rules that all of the Old Crew would follow.

Why did it end up like this?

It was his own fault, wasn't it. Narinder had wounded them. Scared them. They did all those horrible things, mimicking the gods they had replaced because of HIM. He had attacked them when he was bored, so he supposed he was no better than them.

It would probably be better when he was gone, too.

[gliphyartfan]

@yanderelinkeduniverse @stars-for-thought @imprisioned-in-the-hole @screaming-until-god-hears-me @crestfallenmermaidan @ice-cream-writes-stuff @linked-heroes @justanerd1

I wanted to punch my screen. This one was frustrating to get started but it seemed to get easy once I got a flow!

(I took too long I know! I'M SORRY!)

The bottom rung of the ladder wasn't a position Niko enjoyed. More often than not, this position meant that he was the crew's errand boy rather than a fearsome pirate in his own right.

Dishes to be cleaned, a deck to be mopped, the assortment of chores that the rest of the crew members couldn't be bothered to handle were left to him to deal with. It was an endless cycle of thankless tasks, and while Lady Tetra was a wonderful pirate to lead the crew, Niko was growing tired of the mundane routine. He longed for the excitement of the seas, of heart pounding dangers that made the best stories.

The only source of excitement lately was when captain Tetra had been taken by that giant monster bird and soon after was the brief arrival of an islander who's sister was kidnapped by mistake.

The newest swabbie on the crew was rather strange though, kinda on the quiet side.

In fact, the only time Niko had heard him speak was when he had to convince the captain to let him sail with them.

He even simply nodded when he was introduced to the rest of the crew.

"Hey, newbie," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. Niko remembered having approached the new recruit with a excited smile.

"Learning the way things work on this ship will be tough, but stick close to me and you'll be alright!"

The newbie had simply nodded in response and followed him down below the deck.

It had honestly astonished Niko how fast the new guy finished the initiation trials. (and on the first go too!)

But Niko wasn't going to question his underling's natural skill. (Which may have been aided by his obviously helpful advice)

Perhaps the newbie isn't one for chitchat.

And perhaps he noticed the newbie looking up at the stars with a (lifeless) distant expression on his face from time to time.

As the days passed with the newbie. Niko couldn't help but acknowledge how strange he was, how he would stare at everyone and not say a single word.

Particularly Captain Tetra.

While normally, Niko understood the desire to stare at the captain, as she was the very example of a capable pirate. Anyone who was confronted with her would be fools to not notice her skill and leadership.

But the newbie didn't stare at her like that. Didn't look amazed or in awe. Instead, his expression was...one of detachment, as if he wasn't actually seeing her at all. As if he could look past her, looking at someone else entirely.

It was unnerving, (and Niko sometimes wondered if there was something wrong with him.)

Despite the mystery surrounding him, Niko couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the new recruit. He was setting sail for his sister's sake.

Even Niko couldn't deny that going so far for someone needed a certain level of inner strength and determination that Niko could only dream of having. (So it was such a confidence booster when the newbie listened to his orders without a single complaint.)

Niko tried to talk to him when they weren't on duty, but he would always brush him off with a shrug, or stared at him until Niko made a quick retreat.

Sometimes, Niko couldn't help but wonder what the newbie was thinking about, but before he make anything out of his curiosity, the newbie left as quickly as he came. (though he did manage to make a spectacular view as he was shot from the catapult)

And for Niko, that was that. He was back to being the lowest member of the crew, barely having enjoyed ordering the underling around.

It was back to mopping the deck, cleaning the dishes, and doing that HORRIBLE laundry.

He eventually pushed the former newbie from his mind the days passed like nothing new ever happened.

Recently though, the captain had been on the trail of some big treasure and had decided to stop at Windfall island to 'procure' some bombs. And of course, Niko was tasked to watch over the ship as the crew made their way to the bomb shop.

Niko couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. There was something about that night that didn't feel right. (If there's one thing he's confident about is his ability to keep track of time, and it should have been daylight already.)

But before he could voice his concerns, the crew had already made their way off the ship. He busied himself with some below deck cleaning. Nothing better to do at a peaceful island.

It was when he was sweeping around the boxes that a loud crash was heard from above, followed by the sound of something moving.

As he looked up towards the ceiling he could hear the door leading to inside the ship swing close, which meant whatever came onto the ship was now below the deck.

..And it was his duty to guard the ship while everyone was gone.

...

After a moment's hesitation, Niko made his way up towards the door way to the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest.

...Not that Niko was scared or anything. He was a pirate after all.

He has sailed along with his crew through many storms! (Even if all he did was hide below deck.)

Along with facing down the most fearsome of sea beasts! (Even if all he did was hide below deck.)

Niko could feel a chill in the air. The ship eerily silent despite the occasional creaking. He tried to peek around the corner, trying to catch if anything else was there or a glimpse of whatever had made that noise.

But there there wasn't a good angle that didn't expose him, just the empty space even as he heard slow footsteps making their way to the stairs.

He cautiously pressed himself against one wall, his hands shaking. The footsteps got closer, and as Niko was about to reach for his dagger, he saw a figure emerge from the shadows.

It was the new recruit.

Niko hadn't expected him to have survived, given what he had heard about the giant bird. The newbie looked around, clearly searching for something, before his gaze landed on Niko.

Niko straightened up, his hands moving to hide behind his back, even though technically he wasn't the one who should have been nervous. "N-Newbie! Wha-what are you doing here?" He stuttered, smiling weakly as if he hadn't been in hiding.

"I-I mean, you're alive! My swabbie Link is alive! The others said you got done in by that bird monster at the fortress, so I had assumed..." He grew quiet before shaking his head and smiling at the newbie.

"Never mind what I thought! You're alive!" He laughed, the tension quickly dissipating as he realized he was just being silly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were dead!"

The newbie, Link, looked at him with that blank expression he seemed to always have, his eyes hiding everything yet nothing at all.

"...I was looking for you," he answered back, the sound of his actual voice making Niko jump in surprise, not having expected a response.

The newbie's voice was scratchy...rough, as if he hadn't had a sip of water in a long time.

Niko couldn't help but feel a sudden sense a unease. "Sure...what do you need?" he asked, his voice betraying his nervousness.

Link cocked his head a bit, his eyes fixed on Niko's. "I need bombs," he said. "I need to locate something."

Niko gulped, "Uh..O-Okay," he said, his voice shaky.

Link nodded and turned towards the rest of the under deck.

"I just...have to do the second rope challenge, and clear the area before the gate to the bombs close, right..?"

Staring at his back, Niko noticed how...thin...his shoulders were.

Actually...now that he focused, the newbie's clothes, they were rather worn out. Torn at the edges, and was that...were those bloodstains on the cuffs of his sleeves..??

Niko flinched when the newbie looked back at him, staring into his eyes before slowly shifting them over to the doorway across the room.

"U-uh..yeah! I bet miss Tetra must've already told you about our latest acquirement huh?" He laughed nervously when he noticed the newbie's eyes narrowing a bit towards the end.

Clearing his throat, Niko quickly focused on the matter at hand.

"So uh! You want the bombs? I guess if you pass the second rope challenge, I can give them to you." Even though he knew he'd get in trouble when the rest of the crew found out, something in the back of his head told him giving the newbie any other answer was a mistake he shouldn't make.

Link nodded, his eyes never leaving Niko's. "Thank you," he said simply before turning back to get into starting position.

As he started to make his way across the hold, Niko couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. Something about the newbie just didn't sit right, and Niko couldn't shake the feeling that he was toeing the line with something dangerous.

But he shook the feeling away, telling himself that he was just being paranoid. The newbie was just on the track of finding some treasure, just like any real pirate would.

Yet as he watched the newbie swing across the hold with ease, Niko couldn't help but think that the newbie had done this before.

The closer he swung over, the more Niko grew more and more anxious for some reason.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the newbie make it to the other side, and Niko tried to smile in support.

"Well done, newbie!" he called, trying not to sound too anxious. "You passed the second rope cha-"

The newbie didn't pause as he walked passed Niko and headed straight for the chest holding the bombs.

"Ah...um, Newbie-" Niko raised a hand, as if to reach out to him, but just as Link finished placing the bombs in his pouch Niko jumped as a familiar voice rang out of nowhere.

"That's mighty courageous of you...trying to steal treasure from pirates."

Niko felt his heart race as his captain spoke to the newbie through the same stone she had, especially when she mentioned stealing. (Miss Tetra hadn't sent him??)

Niko looked towards Link when miss Tetra finished the conversation, hoping that some form of explanation was given.

But the newbie didn't react, just kept his gaze fixed on the chest with the bombs, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Um...so, you have a stone just like the captain huh?" Niko asked, his voice shaking slightly. "You know, you're really lucky... to have her... her attention...uh..."

The newbie didn't respond, his eyes still fixed on the chest.

"I'm just glad..you know...she didn't seem to mind the fact that you were...uh, stealing from her..." Niko rubbed the back of his neck, unsure what to even save right at that moment.

"I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't have tolerated that from anyone else."

The newbie finally turned to look at Niko, his expression unreadable. "Don't worry, Niko," he said, his voice distant. "I'm not stealing anything. I'm just doing what needs to be done."

"What needs to be done huh? Boy, you must really want to rescue you sister." Niko said.

The newbie shook his head, his eyes intense and focused. "I'm not here to rescue my sister." He paused and shook his head again. "I mean, I am...she's my sister..I love her."

Niko took a step back, feeling a sudden chill run down his spine as the newbie looked at Niko, his expression still unreadable. "But I need to reach...the others," he said simply before turning and walking towards the doorway. "I don't know if they'll be there but...I need to see with my own eyes what's true, to see if She's waiting for me at the end."

Niko stood there, feeling a mix of confusion and fear as he watched the newbie leave. Something about him just made Niko feel uneasy, like he was walking a fine line between danger and insanity. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he contemplated what to do, but before he could speak up, the newbie paused.

"Actually...I'd like to ask you something...Niko," he said, Niko flinching as he heard his name spoken.

It shouldn't have intimidated him as much as it did.

"...O-Okay?" The newbie turned on his heel slowly as he began to speak.

"Imagine you woke up one day...and a flood of memories made their home in your head," The newbie began, his voice low and soft.

"Memories of people and places you didn't know existed. That you shouldn't know existed, shouldn't even find familiar," He exhaled through his nose, "But you do, you do and it all makes so much sense even though you know it shouldn't. All those precious memories, but not knowing whether they are real or not." He paused, his eyes fixed on Niko. "What would you do?"

Niko took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "I...I don't know," he admitted honestly. "I never really thought about something like that before."

The newbie continued to stare, his eyes never leaving Niko's.

"I don't think I can tell what's real in my head anymore," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "And I need to know. I need to know for sure."

Niko nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. "I understand," he said finally. "But...what does asking me do to...help?"

The recruit slowly looked at him, and with the light of the small room, Niko finally got a good look at him for the first time since he was last on the ship.

...and he looked...horrible.

His green clothes looked more worn out than he realized. (And that was definitely blood on his sleeve cuffs.)

He was a bit thinner then he last remembered, skin was so pale, as if he hasn't seen the sun in months, and his hair was almost limp, strands clinging to his face.

His eyes...They didn't focus on Niko...not entirely.

Almost as if the recruit was staring through Niko.

And something told Niko that the last thing he would ever want is his undivided attention.

"...I hate her..." Niko tilted his head in confusion.

"Your captain," he clarified simply, to Niko's shock. "I hate her."

"I-uh-you..." Niko was completely bewildered by the sudden confession. "Why would you say that?"

The recruit shrugged, his eyes blank. "...I can't trust her. I can't trust the witch's vessel. I can't...I can't trust anyone that sides with the vessel..."

He stared off to the side, the corner of his mouth twitching for a moment before looking back.

"If I think about it...l can't even trust you."

Niko took a step back, unsure how to respond. He didn't know what to say to something like that. He could feel the tension in the air, and he knew he wasn't safe.

He wasn't safe at all.

"But..you were nice to Her..." he continued, unconcerned by Niko's state.

"You helped make Her smile."

"Um..." Niko swallowed dryly. "Who-uh w-who are you-"

"She looked so happy when She was up on the crow's nest," he continued, a smile stretching across his face. "The way you helped Her with the rope challenge, the little trinkets you gave Her as a prize."

It was absolutely simple smile, a smile anyone would have as they reminisced about a fond memory.

Just looking at it sent a chill down Niko's spine.

This kid wasn't okay, Niko could clearly see that now.

But he couldn't leave him alone, not knowing what was going on in his head.

(Not knowing if the crew would be in danger if he let the new recruit go now.)

"Look, I know things have been... tough for you lately," Niko started cautiously. "But you have no reason to distrust anyone. At least not us, right?"

The recruit shook his head, his smile quickly fading. "No, wrong," he said firmly. "You and I are not on the same side. You follow the vessel, and I have no interest in being loyal to her."

Niko could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at the recruit, a sense of unease growing inside him. He knew this wasn't the safest situation, but he couldn't just leave the recruit alone. "Listen, I-I know you don't trust me," he began, his voice gentle. "And I don't know what...vessel you're talking about, but I'm here for you, okay? We're crew mates after all."

The recruit stared at him for a moment, his eyes unreadable. "You don't know what I need," he said finally. "You don't know anything."

He stood back and started to walk away, but Niko grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Tell me about those memories." He blurted out as the recruits eyes returned to him.

"What do you mean?" the recruit asked, his voice emotionless.

"You said you couldn't tell what's real anymore. What memories are making you think like that?"

The recruit paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing, Niko thought his question didn't work when he began to speak.

"The memories..." he started slowly, his voice distant. "They're...mine...I think? They feel mine. But...I don't know. It shouldn't make sense, I never even met any of them...or will I? I-"

He pressed his hand against his head, "I can't accept anything yet," he repeated, his voice frustrated. "Not until I know for certain."

Niko let go of his arm, feeling a sense of helplessness. He didn't know what to do or say to help this recruit. He felt like he was out of his depth.

"But..what makes you think the memories are fake?" Niko asks him.

"...What makes you think they are real?" He asked Niko in return.

Niko frowned, unsure how to answer. He had never been faced with something like this before. "I just...I don't know what to think," he admitted honestly. "It all feels so confusing."

"..I suppose.." The newbie said, his tone changing oddly. Niko swallowed, could feel the blood drain from his face as he saw the recruit's eyes turn into pure ice. It was the chilling to even look at it.

Like a raging sea storm that had frozen under a wall of solid ice.

"T-T-The memories, how clear are they?" Niko continued to talk, hoping that if he kept the conversation going, he'd find something that could help him get out of this encounter intact.

"Clear enough to hate your captain." Came the blunt answer.

"O-oh..." Niko really didn't know what he was doing. "O-Ok, um-"

"Do you know how much I want to hurt her?" The newb-Link said, Niko could see how tightly he was clenching his fists.

Niko took a step back, his heart racing. "I-I don't," he said, his voice shaking. "I really don't."

"I thought I knew hatred...when I first laid eyes on my sister's kidnapper." Link continued, his voice low and dangerous. "But this is different. It's like...a thousand knives twisting in my chest, and I can't make it stop."

Niko felt a chill run down his spine.

"I want to squeeze her neck until her face is completely blue." He kept going, taking a step forward.

"Uh, I-I don't-"

"I want to bash her face against the ship's handrail until she bleeds." Link went on, his eyes glowing with anger. "I want to crush her head under my boot until her skull cracks and she stops breathing."

Niko could feel himself starting to panic. He knew that he needed to defuse this situation, but didn't know how. "I-I-" he started to say, but Link cut him off.

"I want to tear her heart out with my own hands." He said, his eyes murderously cold, his voice heated with hatred. "I want to break every bone in her body until she is nothing but a pile of twitching meat and broken pieces."

Niko was horrified by Link's words.

"Link, please, c-calm down," he said, his voice shaky. "We can talk about this. You don't have to do anything rash-"

But Link wasn't listening. He let out a guttural scream, his entire body shaking with rage. "I want to kill her!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the empty ship. "I want to hurt her so much! So much that she can't even dream of living after what I've done!"

Niko could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, and he took several steps backwards, feeling utterly helpless. He had never seen anyone like this before, and he didn't know what to do. "Link, please." Niko watched as Link breathed, his chest heaving. "Please, j-just calm down. We can talk about this, you don't h-have to do anything rash!"

But Link didn't listen. Instead, he charged towards Niko, his fists clenched. "That damn witch had something do with this!" he shouted, his voice filled with anger and pain. "I know it. I shouldn't be here! I shouldn't be here without any of them! Without Her!!"

Niko tried to grab Link's arm again, a bad choice that resulted in him immediately lashing out, catching Niko off guard and sending him crashing into the wall. The recruit's fist connected with Niko's jaw, and Niko tasted blood as his teeth bit into his tongue.

Before Niko could gather his wits, he felt hands grasp the collar of his shirt and hold him up against the wall. Blinking away the stars from his eyes, he looked at Link.

And Niko took back what he had previously thought earlier about the newbie's first expression.

The expression Niko currently saw was by far the coldest he had ever seen.

Anger so cold, it was burning.

Link's eyes were empty, like a distant ocean. His lips were pursed in a tight line, his knuckles white as he gripped Niko's shirt. "Did she plan for you to ask me these questions?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "Did she order you to keep tabs on me?"

Niko rapidly shook his head, feeling fear crawling up his spine, was the newbie losing it? Did he think Niko-

"N-no," he stammered. "I'm just.. a c-crew member..a swabbie! I don't know anything about-"

Link cut him off, his voice a cold whisper. "Don't lie to me Niko."

"I'm not!" He cried out, tears building up in his eyes.

"I-I just clean and do the chores! Please don't hurt me!"

Link stared at him for a moment, before letting go of Niko's shirt and stepping away. "...sorry," he said, didn't sound very sorry. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Niko felt relieved, even though he wanted to curl up and cry, but knew that the danger wasn't over yet. The newbie was still clearly not alright, and he could snap again at any moment. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "It's...okay," he said, his voice still shaky.

"I just hate your captain so much..." Link muttered, his eyes fixed on nothing in particular. "She was so disrespectful to (y/n), and I could barely stand to look at her after that."

...(y/n)? Is that the one he speaks about? Niko never met someone with that name.

And miss Tetra never interacted with someone with that name either.

As Niko tries to make sense of Link's words, the young hero continued to mutter, uncaring if Niko was even paying attention. "She never appreciated Her kindness. Always complaining about Her presence, unworthy witch's vessel. Unworthy of being near such warmth. I need to rid of her, got to make sure everything is perfect."

"But miss Tetra never did anything!" Niko exclaimed. "She was always kind to everyone, even to the most lowly crew members like me!"

Link turned to face Niko, his eyes still distant and cold. "You don't understand," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "The only thing that matters is making sure (y/n) is safe. I can't let anyone or anything get in my way."

Niko watched Link carefully, unsure of what to say. He had never seen anyone so unsettling in his whole life.

"T-This girl...(y/n).." Niko flinched when the newbie returned his focus back at him again.

"S-she...ah..you say she's in those...memories?"

"Yes." Was his answer. "She's there, in all of them. I need to find a way to get back to her." Link said, a hint of desperation leaking into his voice.

"She's in the memories...that you don't know are real-ugk!" Niko felt Link's hand wrap around his neck, squeezing tightly.

"Don't talk about her like that!" Link growled, his eyes burning with anger. "You don't know anything, nothing! so you have no right to talk about her like that!"

Niko struggled to breathe, feeling the grip on his neck tighten even more. "P-please," he pleaded, his voice weak. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just..I just..!"

Link let go of Niko's neck, but his eyes were still filled with rage. "She's real," he said, his voice shaking with emotion. "She means more to me than anything in the world. I can't lose her, she's real!"

Niko watched as Link began to pace back and forth, muttering to himself.

"It's real. It's real. They're real. She's real. She's waiting for me. I'm making Her wait. She's there. She has to be there."

Niko was nervous, very nervous.

No, he was utterly terrified. He didn't know what to do, what to say.

As Niko watches Link pace back and forth, his mind is racing.

He takes a deep breath, trying to steady his frayed nerves. "Link," he says softly, trying to draw his attention. "Link, please calm down. You're not making any sense."

Link continued to pace, continued to mutter, more frantic, more desperate.

"She's real. (y/n) is real. They are all real. I can't lose Her. Lose them." His voice was cracking, his face looking less cold and more upset.

"But I don't know. There's not enough evidence! How can I know for sure? Do I wait? Finish this whole thing? See if the end is the same as I recall? Will she be there? Will I see any of them? How will I-"

Niko watched as Link's voice trailed off, his mind lost in thought. He had never seen the young hero so lost and confused before, and it made him feel uneasy.

Link looked at Niko, his eyes hollow and distant. "I can't lose her," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I can't lose any of them."

"You..." Niko took a moment to think about his words before continuing.

"You're scared she isn't real, that the...memories of her aren't real...right?" He swallowed as Link returned to silently staring at him.

"B-But..the reason you..h-hate..miss Tetra...is because of those memories too...right?"

The recruit was still frowning, and still staring at him, but didn't react negatively.

"I..I mean, I don't really...know this type of stuff, so there always a chance, no matter how small that-" when he noticed Link's frown deepen further, he switched tactics.

"L-Look"I-I mean..I don't understand what you're talking about-"

"You really don't." The recruit suddenly interjected.

'-...But if it WAS real..would..wouldn't you not need to... hate miss Tetra?'

Wind simply looked at Niko.

'...W-Well, no matter WHAT memories you have, y-your body reacts to..things you actually experienced. I-I heard once that every time you experience something, it leaves a mark in your brain and-"

"Get to the point." Niko nodded rapidly.

Right. Sure. To the point.

"The point is that...maybe the memories you have of (y/n) are real. Because...the anger you have for...miss Tetra is real too."

Link blinked slowly, head tilted to the side.

"You remember dates and names right? Locations..faces..and the voices attached to those faces right?" Niko asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "So maybe the memories you have are real too. And if they are, that means (y/n) is real too."

Wind remained silent, his eyes fixed on Niko. The silence stretched on for a several moments, Niko shifting where he stood, his heart pounding harder then it ever had before. Finally, Link spoke, his voice quiet and low. "Maybe...maybe you're right," he said, his eyes still on Niko. "The memories..they are real.."

Niko nodded rapidly in agreement, even if he didn't understand anything that was currently happening. "Yes, yes. I'm sure of it! And if they are real, that means (y/n) is real too. She must be out there, waiting for you to find her!"

Niko watched as Link nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on some distant point.

And slowly, Niko watched as his face shifted from it's despondent expression and blossomed with a animated liveliness he had never seen on his face before.

He truly appeared like a completely different person.

"Thank you Niko," Link said, his voice warm and sincere despite the roughness it held, the difference in his tone was genuinely like night and day. "You've given me a lot to think about."

As he turned to leave, Niko called out to him, his voice hesitant.

"Newbi-Link...are you...(Sane? Stable? Capable in not killing someone?)...okay?" Link paused for a moment, then turned to face Niko, his eyes glinting with...something that hadn't been there before.

"I'm fine, Niko." He smiled, it was..strange..so very alien on a face he never saw smile before. "and I'll be more than fine when it's all over."

And with a pat on Niko's trembling shoulder, he disappeared through the doorway, leaving Niko to watch him make his way out of the hold and disappear up the stairs.

After he could no longer hear footsteps from above, Niko collapsed. his whole body trembling from the whole ordeal he just experienced.

He was unsure of why exactly, but he felt this intensity within him, as if he had prevented something catastrophic that wouldn't have ended well.

Not for Niko. Nor the crew.

And definitely not for miss Tetra.

Niko had prevented something that none of them would have been able to recover from.

(And no one will ever believe him.)

His trembling breath quickened as his eyes grew blurry with more tears.

He had survived something dangerous.

That...thing...wasn't normal. Not human. There was no way that thing was a kid, no way he could be human.

Not with those eyes...those unsettling eyes.

(...no one would believe Niko.)

He didn't even believe himself, and he was the one who endured it.

He survived a demon.

He survived a monster that not even the whole crew assembled would have been capable of defeating.

(No one would believe him.)

No one would believe that the new recruit wanted miss Tetra dead.

Because of memories even he didn't know if they were real.

(No one would believe Niko.)

No one.

Absolutely no one.

As his thoughts spiraled out of control, Niko buried his head in his knees, trying to stifle the sobs that tried to escape his mouth and failing.

It was too much for him to take in.

It was all too much.

The bottom rung of the ladder may have been a position Niko did not enjoy, but he’d take it happily, stay beneath the ship and do all the chores necessary.

He'd do it with glee if it meant the unsettling recruit stayed far far away from him.

Stayed far away and found no reason to see Niko as a target.

Yes, the bottom rung was a good place to be if it meant staying away from monsters like that.

----

----

"What happened to make you take so long Link? I could not see through the charm."

"I got the bombs, dunno why the charm didn't work." The young sailor shrugged at the King of Red Lions. "Tetra could reach me just fine."

"Ah, I see." The King of Red Lions nodded, his expression unreadable.

"Well, I'm relieved we were able to obtain the bombs without too much trouble. We need them if we're going to speak to Jabun."

"Yes, I'm aware." The young hero replied as he climbed into the sailboat.

As Link settles into the boat, the King of Red Lions turns his head to him.

"Are you alright, my boy? You seem a bit distracted." Link nods, "It's nothing, I'm fine."

The King of Red Lions studied Link for a moment, seeming not satisfied with the answer. "You've had a experience, I can tell. and I can not ignore how you've lately been eating and sleeping less. Whatever it is, it's clearly left you shaken."

Link averted his eyes, not wanting to speak about his experience, not to him at the very least. "It's fine, really. I just need some time to myself."

The King of Red Lions nodded, understanding. "Take all the time you need, my boy. But know that I am always here for you if you need to speak." The young hero didn't say anything, merely nodding at his words.

With that, the King of Red Lions looked forward as Link guided the boat away from Windfall to Outset island.

Leaving the young sailor to his thoughts. Still so far away from the end of this journey. And then there's the other one...

After that...Wind would be met with the portal that would lead him to the good captain's battlefield.

If the captain didn't remember him...didn't remember (y/n)...

...

Wind shivered, pushing away the horrible thought. He took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand.

As he navigated the boat through the ocean waters, Wind reflected on all that had happened to him so far. Waking back up on Outset Island, watching his sister being stolen away by the Helmaroc King, the unexpected reunion with Tetra, and the possible knowledge that his beloved (y/n) might not be real.

He still didn't know how to process it all, but he knew that he needed to keep going.

He had to believe that there was still hope at the end of this.

Finishing this journey is step one.

Step two is regaining his phantom sword. Which involves dealing with saving Tetra from being turned to stone. An unpleasant fact he had to face but he'll deal with it.

Step three, be patient and wait for the portal to the captain's era to appear.

He didn't want to wait, wanted all of this over with so he could stop being left in suspense and know for certain that the memories in his heart were real.

They had to be real.

She had to be real.

And Niko...goofy, silly, cowardly Niko.

Wind hadn't expected listening to the scared little pirate to be so helpful, Wind had spoken to him on a sheer whim.

But the cowardly pirate was right, if his hatred towards Tetra was real, then (y/n) was real as well.

It was such a simple thing, almost flimsy in it's simplicity.

Yet it was enough.

It was enough to keep the Hero of Winds going just a bit longer. if he stopped now, all hope of ever seeing (y/n) again would be lost.

He needed to find the determination to continue, no matter how hard it was.

And he knew that he would.

The Spirit of Courage he and his fellow heroes held would not allow him to falter.

The wind picked up, blowing through the sails of the King of Red Lions, sending Link towards his home island.

The future was as certain as it was uncertain, but he knew that as long as he kept moving forward, he would find what he was looking for.

And he knew that he would find it.

Because the memories in his heart were too real to be fake.

(y/n)...

Sweet, beautiful, perfect, wonderful (y/n). Wind's mind drifted back to memories of her, her smile and her warmth. He remembered the simple moment when he was holding her hand as they walked along the beach, sharing a quiet moment.

He remembered the feel of her lips on his cheek as She cheered for his win during a sparring session. And he remembered her laughter, bright and free, echoing across the camp.

(y/n)...

How he desperately missed her.

Yet instead of being by her side alongside his fellow heroes, here he was...

Here he was. Nobody. Nothing.

Not a form of proof of his trials and suffering that he knows happened. Of the joys of being in Her presence.

Just memories that even he still had doubts about.

But that would change soon wouldn't it?

Soon he would kill Ganon and be in his way to the World of the Ocean King.

And soon after...the War of Eras.

Just a bit more.

Soon...he'll have an answer.

Just...Just a little bit longer...

But it's hard...

It's so hard when when he had to deal with a bossy girl who didn't learn act nice to him until she properly awakened as Zelda. Then, it was as if she wanted him near her all the time.

And back then he, blinded by his own naïveté, had let his delusions of friendship convince him to like someone like her.

Tetra...(blood inheritor/Witch's vessel/worthless/unwanted necessity) was a very smart girl, loath as he was to admit it. A keen eye and she'd figure something was happening if he doesn't play nice and amuse her.

And the King...he would be with Wind for as long as this journey took. There was no doubt he was already looked at with suspicion.

So, loathed as he was to accept, he had to behave. He had to play along. He had to keep stay brave and strong and confident, even when he felt anything but.

As the ship sailed towards the next destination, Wind relaxed against the boat, watching the dark waves crash against the side. The ocean breeze blew through his hair, and he felt a sense a calmness that he had not felt since waking up as he sailed the darkened sea.

He would find the proof that She was real. He would see (y/n) and make up for his failures.

And he would make sure that his mistakes would never happen again.

He'll be reunited with Her and his trusted sword brothers, he'll be away from the Witch's blood heir and he'll be happy. Besides, the guys would be upset if he gave in and killed his Zelda.

(And if they remembered, he had no doubt that they were in the same boat as him.)

And (y/n)...

While there wasn't anything truly worse than losing (y/n).

Disappointing Her was always high on the list.

Wind had promised Her to take Her across the Great Sea. To show Her New Hyrule and teach Her the beauty of sailing.

He needed to keep his promise.

He had to be responsible, had to show he had good self control.

He was going to do this. He had to.

'I'll be good, so don't be mad.' Wind whispered nearly silently, the sound of the waves covering what noise he made.

'I'll be good...' he whispered, wiping the tears that had built up in his eyes on his dirty sleeve. 'So please be real.'

Sweet (y/n) Kind and trusting (y/n). She made the weight of responsibility feel like nothing when he was around Her.

Sweet, kind (y/n), who was always ready with open arms when one of them needed it.

She was what he always imagined a true Angel could be.

He had to keep going. He had to see the end of this.

It's not like Tetra wouldn't be easy to kill when this was all over if she tried to push him.

He could behave.

He would behave.

(y/n) deserved nothing less then a Sword that not just protected her, but made her smile.

He just has to keep going.

"A bit more now." He whispered to the ocean breeze which stole away his words and vanishing them into the darkened sea.

"Not much longer."

[violetlunette]

Runaway Chapter 8: Departure

Summary: Malleus continues to sort through his emotions while Lilia finally receives news…

Previous Chapter

Master List

Ao3

Notes: *Twst spoilers for Chapter/Book 7

Lilia’s body went cold as the world stopped around him.

“A...body?” he repeated, his heart coming to a sharp stop. No. No, that couldn’t be true.

It had to be a mistake. It had to be.

“Papa, please live a long and healthy life.”

“No matter how strong you are, you’re still my one and only father. So, please, let me take care of you.”

“Let’s stay together, forever!”

‘Silver…’ Lilia’s body quaked with terror. N o. No! This couldn’t be real, it couldn’t! There had to be a mistake. There just had to be. Silver couldn’t be  dead ! He couldn’t!

Lilia never had a chance to explain things, to apologize. He didn’t get to tell the other he was sorry for everything--

‘This can’t be happening.’ He felt sick.

This couldn’t be real! This--

“Yeah, near a skeletal body on a pirate ship.”

...eh?

“What?” Both Lilia and Crowley mirrored the question.

“The ring hooked on to the hat somehow and sank it down to the bottom of the sea. It landed near the body of a dead pirate on the wreckage of an ol’ ship. Already looted, unfortunately.”

. ..

. . .

.. .

. ..

. . .

… !

Lilia tilted to the side as the world restarted itself, the man's face completely blank.

Once the world rebooted, Lilia shifted from a stunned bat to an angry cat.

“ You--!!  WHY THE  HELL  WOULD YOU SAY IT LIKE  THAT?! ” he yowled, loud enough that the other men jumped. He nearly pounced, claws out, when Crowley grabbed him around the waist.

“Oi! Easy now, Vanrouge!  Easy! ” Growling like a dog, Lilia easily shoved the headmaster aside, glaring at the sailor.

“Someone get a map!” h e demanded. “I want to know the  exact  location you found this!”

If the broom was missing a rider, then Silver must have fallen into the ocean. If so, it was likely he was swept to a nearby island. Provided, he didn’t drown. Lilia just needed to figure out which island that was by finding where Silver was and what the current was like that night.

The sailor was startled by the sudden demand.

“Huh? I--” Lilia’s patience snapped, and he leveled the poor old man with a glare that would make a dragon tremble. (And had.)

“ Did I stutter? ” he barked, making the others jump like rabbits, his red eyes flashing like warning lights. “Get me a map!  NOW! ”

~*~

After getting the frightened sailor to pinpoint the area where the ring was found and getting information about the currents, Lilia took the map back to his room to decide his next course of action.

It wasn’t easy.

There were several islands, and there was no way to tell where Silver was swept. Lilia could only guess when Silver fell into the sea, which made tracing the tides difficult. It didn’t help that the storm had thrown everything off, messing up the waves of the currents.

Regardless, Lilia had to figure it out quickly.

If Silver was on a little island, it wasn't a big deal, as it would limit where he could go unless a ship came. In that case, Lilia could easily inquire about it. (Assuming the island wasn't abandoned.) However, if the boy was on the mainland, Silver could be getting further and further away from him every second. And what if Silver never even made it to land?

What if he was abducted by pirates and was forced to work as a swabbie? Or sold off as a slave somewhere? Or what if he was taken by Nemo and forced to live on a submarine for the rest of his life, drinking turtle milk and the like? Never be seen again by the surface world? Well, if it was the latter, then Lilia would make sure Nemo was never found again, and if it was the pirate thing, he’d--

Lilia took a deep breath to rein his mind in.

‘Keep it together, Lilia,’ he told himself, rolling Silver’s ring between his fingers. Letting his imagination run wild wouldn’t help a thing. But then, what would help?

Lilia looked at his reflection in the crystal stones of the gold ring.

It had been three days since the jewel piece was brought to him.

That meant it had been a whole week where Lilia had no idea where his son was or if he was safe.

It was driving him crazier than he thought. Lilia hadn’t slept in days, and he only ate when Sebek or Kalim came to check on him.

‘Heh. I’ve really become a worrywart, haven’t I?’ Then again, according to Malenore, he was always this way.

His expression dropped as he thought of his dear friend and first love.

Malleus said that by taking in Silver, Lilia had betrayed her. Lilia never thought of it like that.

When he took in Silver, he only thought of Leven’s dreams for their people and if Lilia himself could come to care for a human. But now, he couldn’t help but wonder: how would Malenore react to Lilia raising the son of her enemy?

She hated humans. Even before the war, she looked down on them as inferior and thought it was “cute” that Leven wanted to live at peace with them, at best.

If she saw him now, how would she react?

Lilia bit his lip, then shook his head.

‘No. There’s no time for that.’ Lilia had to concentrate on pinpointing Silver’s location. The rest could wait. It had to.

The bat frowned.

‘If only there was a way to track him—‘ “Ah!”

As he thought about this, the ring seemed to jump out of his hand. 

It landed on the map and began to roll around and around before falling. Lilia read the name under it; his brow furrowed in thought.

“The Queendom of Roses?” Could that be where Silver was? Even if that were the case, how would Silver’s ring know?

The jewelry piece glittered as if responding. The frown on Lilia's brow deepened.

Despite having had the ring for all these years, Lilia had no idea what its magical properties were. Only that, it helped both the knight and Silver and had diurnal magic. Regardless, it had a connection to the two.

‘Could it lead me to Silver?’ Well, it wasn’t like he had any other directions to take. He would have to gamble and hope for the best.

“Well then! Time to head to Queendom to paint the roses,” he decided, circling the island with a pen. He only prayed that he would find more than white rabbits and Cheshire cats there.

~*~

When Lilia announced his departure to Sebek, the lad insisted on accompanying him, but Lilia turned him down.

“You’re still a student, remember? I’m not,” he reminded the other. While Crowley was “kind” enough to allow Lilia to remain, the fact remained that he had already dropped out. He couldn’t stay forever. (As much as he would have liked to.)

Lilia had to push down his emotions.

They were in the mirror hall now, Crowley having gotten the mirror ready to send him to Queensland, where he would begin his search. Sebek found out and came to see him off, even ditching his class to do so, something Lilia made sure to scold him for.

“Whatever else is going on, you have to continue your education,” he told the boy. “Otherwise, you won’t be able to become a guard, and all your efforts will be for nothing. 

"Besides, Malleus would be all alone if you came. I know you don’t want that.” Lilia pushed down even harder at the emotions his ward brought up and the reminder that the two had yet to make up.

Sebek went stiff at the thought, his eyes shining.

“Ngh! Of course not. But…” His expression was torn. Of course, he wanted to be there for Malleus, but Sebek also had a sense of loyalty to Silver, who had been like a brother to him all this time.

Lilia lifted a hand to his shoulder and smiled.

“You did more than enough, Sebek,” he said honestly. He gripped the boy in appreciation. “Without you and your efforts, I wouldn’t even have a lead. You did your part. Now let me do mine.” Then he winked. “I’ll bring Silver back, and you can kick his ass for running away like this.” Lilia prayed that wasn’t an empty promise. Sebek still looked unsure.

“But will you be alright by yourself? With your magic..." Sebek trailed off, causing Lilia to tense as he forced his smile to remain.

“Even without my magic, I can take care of myself.” Lilia was magicless, not helpless, and he refused to be treated as such. (It was partially what pushed him to leave in the first place.) He continued;

“I still have my strength, my speed--” ‘My clever.’ “--I’ll just fine.” A teasing grin crossed the old man’s face.

“Or are you doubting my skill?” he asked, fangs glinting in the light as he revealed them with a grin. Sebek jumped erect.

“I would never doubt you, Lord Lilia!!” he boomed, his voice echoing around the room. Lilia chuckled.

‘Cute as always,’ he thought. He patted the boy’s arm.

“Excellent! I leave Malleus in your hands, which I know are more than capable.” At the mention of his ward, the amusement drained from Lilia’s features and was replaced with solemnity and a heavy heart. “...Take care of him, Sebek,” he said quietly, his arm dropping. Sebek’s expression fell like a puppy’s.

“Won’t--Won’t you say goodbye to him?” he urged. Lilia paused in his action to grab his travel bag (the rest of his stuff was generously stored by Kalim).

Malleus hadn’t taken the news of Lilia’s departure well last time—in fact, that was what led to this whole mess—but now, it may be different.

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to see me gone now.” Lilia sighed as he picked up the sack, his fingers shaking. Sebek nearly burst into tears.

“Master Lilia! You can’t believe that.” Lilia didn’t know what he believed.

Before this whole debacle started, Lilia truly believed that while Malleus would be saddened by his departure, he wouldn’t be as affected as he was.

Then, after he woke up—He didn’t know. Lilia just didn't know anymore.

Was leaving like this for the best, or was he just running away from his own feelings?

“I don’t know,” he admitted, shouldering the bag. “Regardless, Malleus won’t talk to me, and Silver—" The man closed his eyes. “Silver’s all by himself right now.” That’s right.

Malleus was alone before but was saved by Silver and Sebek, just as Lilia was saved by Malleus and Silver once upon a time. Now Lilia had to save Silver.

“I’m not saying goodbye—not yet,” he promised. “But I have to go, for now at least. I’ll be back when I find Silver.” That part may have been a lie, considering Malleus was directing all his pain at Silver, but saying so would have hurt his student even more.

Sebek looked as if he were about to argue but bit his tongue. Instead, he closed his eyes and retracted his sobs with a loud ‘s niff.’

“Take care of yourself, Master Lilia!” he said in a thick voice. “Both Malleus and I—we’re counting on you to bring Silver back.”

Lilia nodded. “I will.”

Sebek stepped back from his teacher as his mentor approached the mirror. In front of the glass, Lilia paused.

He felt as if he was being pulled in opposite directions. The father was eager to find Silver as soon as possible. But on the other hand, leaving Malleus...

His grip tightened on his bag.

‘No. No turning back now,’ Lilia told himself.

All other factors aside, Malleus was safe and had friends who would help him. Silver, on the other hand...

Determined more than ever, Lilia stepped into the mirror, leaving Night Raven College and all those within behind.

--

Not as exciting as the previous I'll admit, but I promise to make up for that in chapters to come.

[savvythepirate]

You requested something to read, so I thought I’d share this little abomination that I wrote. I’ll be posting it on my page as well.

“I’ll stab you with my trouser sword and plunder your booty, yo-ho!” You sang loudly as you swabbed the deck of the Black Pearl.

“Yo-ho!” The crew hollered in response, as it was part of the song.

You were a new addition to the crew, and fine one at that! From your jokes to your colorful sea shanties, you brought such a lively and fun energy to the ship. Everyone there loved you.

All except one person, that is…

It’s not necessarily that he disliked you, but Barbossa didn’t seem to find you as entertaining as everyone else did. It was a shame, really.

“Quit yer caterwaulin’ ya blunderin’ mongrels!” He hollered as he exited the captain’s quarters.

Everybody looked around at each other uncomfortably and got back to work, disappointment in their eyes.

“He can be a bit of a mood-killer, can’t he?” Jack said as he joined you to swab the deck.

“That’s for sure,” you replied, focusing on your work. Then you stopped for a moment, smiling an amused half-smile, “I must admit, though, the man certainly has a gift for colorful insults!”

“That he does,” Jack mused, “One of my favorites is probably ‘salty sea dogs.’ It has a nice ring to it.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled, “I personally found ‘slack-jawed buffoons’ to be a good one. It really packs a punch, you know? Like, it’s unnecessarily harsh.”

“That, and ‘wreckless pack of ingrates.’” Jack said, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“We should start writing these down!” You laughed.

A while later, you and Jack had acquired a quill and some paper, and you began your list.

“He said ‘poxy mongrels’ once,” you said as you jotted it down.

“I remember him saying ‘nattering swine’ the other day,” Jack said. You added it to the list.

“Let’s add some of our own!” You said, looking excitedly at Jack.

“Ooh, we should, shouldn’t we,” he said, taking on your expression. Then he thought for a moment, “How about ‘lily-livered milksops?’”

“That’s a good one!” You wrote it down, “I’ve got one!” You said, “‘Toe-eyed cabbages!”

Jack looked at you with an expression of surprise and discomfort, “That one’s a bit out there.”

“I suppose so,” you said, pondering the strange words that came out of your mouth. Then your eyes lit up, “I’ve got a better one! Bald-headed yogurt slingers!”

“Now you’re just scaring me,” Jack said.

“Okay, fine,” you said, chuckling, “Let’s get back to his insults!”

“For the sake of my own sanity, we should,” Jack said. You continued writing.

“‘Scurvy bilge rats’ is a classic, so we can’t forget that one!” You said, smiling as you wrote.

“I think he also said ‘salty bilge rats’ once,” Jack said.

“Honestly, a lot of these sound like they could be interchangeable,” you mused.

Jack’s face took on a thoughtful expression. Then he brightened, “I have an idea!” He took the paper from you and started to write.

It took a while for him to finish, which made you worried that Barbossa would catch you and scold you for not working. Finally, Jack was done. He handed you the paper, “I put the first parts on the left, and the last parts on the right. That way we can mix and match!”

“That’s brilliant!” You grinned, “I like it!”

You scanned the two lists, which were somewhat long. Then inspiration struck you, and you added your idea to the list.

You handed it to Jack, the finished product looking something like this:

Front:

A: Wreckless

B: Blooming

C: Lazy

D: Mangy

E: Cackhanded

F: Knee-knocking

G: Bloated

H: Salty

I: Yellow-bellied

J: P****-licking

K: Feckless

L: Lilly-livered

M: Filthy

N: Blundering

O: Bilge-drinking

P: Bloody

Q: Slimy

R: Bleeding

S: Poxy

T: Slack jawed

U: Nattering

V: Wretched

W: Squiffy

X: Gutless

Y: Scurvy

Z: Blasted

Back:

A: Ingrates

B: Cockroaches

C: Bilge rats

D: Scoundrels

E: Deck apes

F: Halfwits

G: Sea cows

H: Sea dogs

I: Milksops

J: Codpieces

K: Mongrels

L: Sobs

M: Whelps

N: Swabbies

O: Buffoons

P: Codpieces

Q: Hornswagglers

R: Swine

S: P****-lickers

T: Maggots

U: Curs

V: Ninnies

W: Knaves

X: Blowfish

Y: Picaroons

Z: Scallywags

“I don’t understand,” Jack said, with his brow furrowed in confusion.

“You take the first letter of your first name from list one, and the first letter of your last name from the second list. For example, I would be (insert your name here).”

“I see,” Jack said, reading the list, “I would be…p****-licking p****-lickers…” he looked baffled, and maybe a little disappointed.

You laughed, “That’s actually kind of hilarious!”

“What are you two feckless mongrels up to?” Barbossa barked. Noticing the paper in your hands, he grabbed it.

You and Jack panicked as he read your creation. Then he looked up at the two of you, “Get back to work,” he ordered. The two of you scrambled off, eager to get away from the grumpy captain.

“Do you think we’ll be punished?” You asked Jack.

“I hope not,” Jack said, glancing over his shoulder at Barbossa. Frightened by the likelihood of that happening, you two picked up your mops and continued where you had left off a while back.

Barbossa continued reading their list. When he finished, he chuckled and put it in his pocket and headed back to his quarters.

Thank you so much for this! It gave me the smile I needed! ❤️

@savvythepirate

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, March 15th

XANDER: Arrr! Careful, me mateys! These be fireflies spat from a volcano off the coast of Katmandu. Arr! LITTLE BOY: You're not a real pirate! Real pirates live on boats and don't look stupid! XANDER: (fake laugh) Oh, a salty swabbie! Maybe you be fishin' for the taste ... of me hook! He shakes his hook-hand in the boy's face. The boy is unimpressed. GILES: (calls) Uh, hello, Ahab, a little help please?

~~All The Way~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

take me back into your corner by The_Eclectic_Bookworm (Giles/Jenny, M)

I wish I knew you when I was a kid by Madonnalal (Tara & Spike, G)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 416 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

The Vampire's Daughter, Chapter 19 by PuellaPulchra (Spike/OC, T)

Straight to the Heart, Chapter 9 by QuillBard (Buffy/Faith, M)

A weapon of victory, Chapter 8 by FPBarbieri (Buffy, Tolkien crossover, T)

No Going Back, Chapter 17 by Tru2urheart (Willow/Tara, M)

Keep You Ghosted, Chapter 3 by hydranjenna (Buffy/Spike, M)

A Slayer of Nightmares, Chapter 2 by LJMouse (Buffy/Spike, InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale crossover, not rated)

A Different Path, Chapter 5 by Anaxilea (Buffy/Faith, M)

Horrorshow, Chapter 4 by vampbrat (Fanged Four, AtS Ensemble, E)

Slayer No More, Chapters 1-3 by jsaint34 (Buffy/Pike, T)

Goodbye to Everything That I Knew, Chapter 25 by fortes775 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Afterburn, Chapter 24 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Forwarding Blue, Chapter 5 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

All Choseny's Lost Drabbles, Chapters 1-7 by all choseny (Buffy/Spike, PG)

What the Drabble? Chapter 98 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Glimpses of the Cellar Dwellers, Chapter 15 by Maldorana (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

X.X, Chapter 15 by Rea (Buffy/Spike, R)

30 Ways to Say I Love You, Chapter 15 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Dreaded Lurgi, Chapter 15 by SomeKindOfADeviant (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Forever and Always? Chapter 15 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, R)

The Dawnster Drabbles, Chapter 15 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, PG)

We’re Having a Baby! Chapter 15 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Slowly At First, Chapter 10 by Gabby (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Bang, Chapters 1-14 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Enemies to Ghost Hunters, Chapter 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

The Balance, Chapter 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Triangles, Chapter 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: I Drew Buffy! by parawh0remal (worksafe)

Artwork: William The Bloody - Spike in Peanuts style by MattanzaMFedora (worksafe)

Gifset: “Spikey” by clarkgriffon (worksafe)

Artwork: Tara MaClay by isevery0nehereverystoned (worksafe)

Artwork: practice sketches ft. cordelia by mistyintherivers (worksafe)

Artwork: Summerberg all day every day — Graveyard dates.... by pzyii (Buffy/Willow, worksafe)

Gifset: Spike/Drusilla by andremichaux (worksafe)

Fanvid: Tara and Willow- Unruly Heart by Multifandom_Fanatic (0)

Fanvid: Willow | Willow Rosenberg (+Tara) [BtVS 27 Anniversary Celebration] by Taco_Id (0)

[Fandom Discussions]

Oz fanfic idea by idle-flower

I’m noticing a lot of Faith-in-Buffy on this rewatch by inconsistentlywrittensoul

the scariest assassin in What’s My Line is just Woman With Gun by inconsistentlywrittensoul

Oz is such a slight presence in his first couple of appearances by inconsistentlywrittensoul

american high schools and extensive occult literature by jennycalendar

how male characters are handled in shows like Veronica Mars and Buffy by raisedbythetv89

I genuinely think that faith should’ve hooked up with willow in season 7 by thepunkmuppet

Very tired of the "Buffy didn't have good sex until she was with Spike" take by spangelmybeloved

Spike and the first continued by multiple posters

Groo Should Have Been the Guardian of The Deeper Well by Mr_Wind-Up_Birds

Approaching Seeing Red with first time watcher, please advise! by Vaethe_W

For those who watched the show as it came out, did anyone know that Spike would fall for Buffy early on? by Kindofaddictedtotv

Imagine if Faith and Kendra met by sadhungryandvirgin

Would've been nice to encounter more Watchers w/Slayer experience by primal_slayer

When a Slayer is called by RavenNight789

If Buffy hadn't gotten a haircut... by Tuxedo_Mark

In “Entropy”, how could Willow tell… by hthbellhop76

Xander’s speech to Dawn in a potential by Eagles56

The Body by UKMegaGeek

Anya in Empty Places by sazza8919

How would their human selves [of the Fanged Four] all interact with each other? by Ivy_2535

Into the Woods has weird implications? by SafiraAshai

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Join the editor team :)

[ladyhoneydee]

I know With Your Hand in My Hand was based on a zelinkweek 2023 prompt, but how did you decide what your one-shot would be about?

Thank you so much for the ask!! This fic is one of my babies and had a little more of a process than some of my others, so I'm glad you picked it :D

With Your Hand in My Hand came about due to a song, actually (to no one's surprise, based on my current daily challenge, lol). Even though I am in my early/mid 20s, I love swinging on swingsets, and I always listen to music when I go down and swing at my local park. One of the songs that often came up was "Go", by Cody Fry.

"Go" is a fun, high energy folk-pop sort of song where the singer is talking about their desire to go on adventures with their partner, while holding hands. As early as March of this year, I had the idea of a fic where multiple zelinks would be live out pieces of the lyrics together. Some plot points came to me easily (like that TP would be the opening lines "drive all night with you right next to me / feel the pounding of your heartbeat"; SkSw would be "Fly like the wind in high places"; telink would be "Rushin' like water on my face"; BotW would be "Make pictures look like postcards"; and there would be a portion at the end that just had lightning-fast short lines to add a sort of 'rushing' feeling), but I never actually acted on the fic, because by the time I had laptop access, I was away from my swing and I'd lost the inspiration!

However, when zelink week 2023 came around, the prompt "Hand in Hand" really inspired me to just get this idea that had been running around in my head out on paper. I decided that OoT would be Sheik/Link, and would cover the lyrics "I wanna dance into the mornin' / Kiss ya like ya never been kissed before me" (which is a prominent part of the chorus and had to fit in somewhere even though I hadn't had an idea for it yet); and after a fierce internal debate, I decided to make the lines "Take the train and watch you sleep right in my arms" go for ST zelink rather than a modern incarnation.

A lot of decisions were made on the fly, though! I knew SkSw zelink would be flying on their loftwings for their piece, but I didn't know they would be racing or that it would be prior to the events of the game until I actually began that section. I didn't know that WW/PH Link would be homesick and Tetra would be comforting him, either--for the longest time when planning the fic from my swing, I'd actually thought she'd be teasing him while he was doing swabbie chores! I'm really happy with how that turned out, though, and how it showed a less typical area of their relationship and personalities. And while I knew I wanted a modern AU portion, the exact shape that ended up taking was a surprise to me too.

At the end of it all, I think I really succeeded in bringing that original vibes-based, music-fueled series of images in my head to life, and I'm so proud of it :') So thank you for asking!

[hannahhook7744]

Shan Desiree headcanons;

Her full name is Shan Desiree.

She is the daughter of Shan Yu and a witch.

She has been described as Vicious and tiny.

She is Bonny's bestfriend and was one of the first to join Uma's crew.

Desiree tends to wear a ragged peasant dress along with worn out boots and a worn out pirate hat because it is her favorite outfit.

She is the swabbie of Uma's crew and goes to the witch school.

Her older brother, Simon, is also in Uma's crew.

Simon is 3 years older than her.

They have 3 other siblings—Shiro who is older than Desiree by a year, Shing who is older than Desiree by 5 years, and Deja is the youngest and is 6 years younger than Desiree.

She wears gold face paint.

Desiree is a year younger than Uma and Harry Hook.

Desiree has little to no impulse control and has a history of violence.

She loves sparring with her friends and is a daddy's girl.

Shan Yu was a surprisingly good father.

Her favorite colors are pink and purple.

She has red hightlights in her hair and loves rock music.

She loves piggyback rides and is VERY protective of her little sister.

She loves climbing the mast and gets along great with Cj much to Harry's horror.

She's not a strong swimmer.

She DOES bite. And she bites hard.

Desiree loves rumcake.

She draw a bottle of nail polish once and also licked an ashtray once. Now anything she doesn't like tastes like those two things.

She likes pranking Frollo and Gaston, and is very childish.

Behind Harry, she is the most chaotic of the crew.

[imalittleoutthere]

Pirate Insults

“I’ll stab you with my trouser sword and plunder your booty, yo-ho!” You sang loudly as you swabbed the deck of the Black Pearl.

“Yo-ho!” The crew hollered in response, as it was part of the song.

You were a new addition to the crew, and fine one at that! From your jokes to your colorful sea shanties, you brought such a lively and fun energy to the ship. Everyone there loved you.

All except one person, that is…

It’s not necessarily that he disliked you, but Barbossa didn’t seem to find you as entertaining as everyone else did. It was a shame, really.

“Quit yer caterwaulin’ ya blunderin’ mongrels!” He hollered as he exited the captain’s quarters.

Everybody looked around at each other uncomfortably and got back to work, disappointment in their eyes.

“He can be a bit of a mood-killer, can’t he?” Jack said as he joined you to swab the deck.

“That’s for sure,” you replied, focusing on your work. Then you stopped for a moment, smiling an amused half-smile, “I must admit, though, the man certainly has a gift for colorful insults!”

“That he does,” Jack mused, “One of my favorites is probably ‘salty sea dogs.’ It has a nice ring to it.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled, “I personally found ‘slack-jawed buffoons’ to be a good one. It really packs a punch, you know? Like, it’s unnecessarily harsh.”

“That, and ‘wreckless pack of ingrates.’” Jack said, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“We should start writing these down!” You laughed.

A while later, you and Jack had acquired a quill and some paper, and you began your list.

“He said ‘poxy mongrels’ once,” you said as you jotted it down.

“I remember him saying ‘nattering swine’ the other day,” Jack said. You added it to the list.

“Let’s add some of our own!” You said, looking excitedly at Jack.

“Ooh, we should, shouldn’t we,” he said, taking on your expression. Then he thought for a moment, “How about ‘lily-livered milksops?’”

“That’s a good one!” You wrote it down, “I’ve got one!” You said, “‘Toe-eyed cabbages!”

Jack looked at you with an expression of surprise and discomfort, “That one’s a bit out there.”

“I suppose so,” you said, pondering the strange words that came out of your mouth. Then your eyes lit up, “I’ve got a better one! Bald-headed yogurt slingers!”

“Now you’re just scaring me,” Jack said.

“Okay, fine,” you said, chuckling, “Let’s get back to his insults!”

“For the sake of my own sanity, we should,” Jack said. You continued writing.

“‘Scurvy bilge rats’ is a classic, so we can’t forget that one!” You said, smiling as you wrote.

“I think he also said ‘salty bilge rats’ once,” Jack said.

“Honestly, a lot of these sound like they could be interchangeable,” you mused.

Jack’s face took on a thoughtful expression. Then he brightened, “I have an idea!” He took the paper from you and started to write.

It took a while for him to finish, which made you worried that Barbossa would catch you and scold you for not working. Finally, Jack was done. He handed you the paper, “I put the first parts on the left, and the last parts on the right. That way we can mix and match!”

“That’s brilliant!” You grinned, “I like it!”

You scanned the two lists, which were somewhat long. Then inspiration struck you, and you added your idea to the list.

You handed it to Jack, the finished product looking something like this:

Front:

A: Wreckless

B: Blooming

C: Lazy

D: Mangy

E: Cackhanded

F: Knee-knocking

G: Bloated

H: Salty

I: Yellow-bellied

J: P****-licking

K: Feckless

L: Lilly-livered

M: Filthy

N: Blundering

O: Bilge-drinking

P: Bloody

Q: Slimy

R: Bleeding

S: Poxy

T: Slack jawed

U: Nattering

V: Wretched

W: Squiffy

X: Gutless

Y: Scurvy

Z: Blasted

Back:

A: Ingrates

B: Cockroaches

C: Bilge rats

D: Scoundrels

E: Deck apes

F: Halfwits

G: Sea cows

H: Sea dogs

I: Milksops

J: Codpieces

K: Mongrels

L: Sobs

M: Whelps

N: Swabbies

O: Buffoons

P: Codpieces

Q: Hornswagglers

R: Swine

S: P****-lickers

T: Maggots

U: Curs

V: Ninnies

W: Knaves

X: Blowfish

Y: Picaroons

Z: Scallywags

“I don’t understand,” Jack said, with his brow furrowed in confusion.

“You take the first letter of your first name from list one, and the first letter of your last name from the second list. For example, I would be (insert your name here).”

“I see,” Jack said, reading the list, “I would be…p****-licking p****-lickers…” he looked baffled, and maybe a little disappointed.

You laughed, “That’s actually kind of hilarious!”

“What are you two feckless mongrels up to?” Barbossa barked. Noticing the paper in your hands, he grabbed it.

You and Jack panicked as he read your creation. Then he looked up at the two of you, “Get back to work,” he ordered. The two of you scrambled off, eager to get away from the grumpy captain.

“Do you think we’ll be punished?” You asked Jack.

“I hope not,” Jack said, glancing over his shoulder at Barbossa. Frightened by the likelihood of that happening, you two picked up your mops and continued where you had left off a while back.

Barbossa continued reading their list. When he finished, he chuckled and put it in his pocket and headed back to his quarters.

[redtempestrp]

THE STOWAWAY

name: sigrid stoneforge age: 25 gender: genderfluid pronouns: she/they alignment: chaotic good time on the ship: 2 weeks faceclaim: erin kellyman mun: ana

ABOUT

the stowaway is not an official member of the crew and they don't have an assigned role on the ship. however, since their discovery last week the captain has assigned them to work alongside the swabbie doing all the undesirable grunt work on the ship.

PERSONALITY

+ sincere, bold, intellectual, optimistic - entitled, foolish, unprepared, inexperienced

CONNECTION

the surgeon. you see a lot of similarities between the two of you. maybe it's all projection but you think you probably have a lot in common if you could only get a better chance to talk to them. you also have some medical background so you could be a big help to them if they let you. you have interest in taking their position on the ship, but perhaps you could be an assistant. the ship seems in dire need of a larger medical staff. the captain. when you discovered and brought to face them they stare you down for what seemed like years. their eyes bore into you as they sized you up. then they just shrugged and told you to start mopping. you think they may have plans for you yet, but you feel lucky they didn't kill you on the spot. for someone with such a fearsome reputation you're surprised they haven't made you walk the plank. but so far they've been oddly kind. the powder monkey. they were the first one to find you stowed away amongst the barrels. they locked eyes with you, nodded, and then walked away. you were terrified of what would happen next but nothing did. it seemed like they were content with just ignoring you and that was an act of kindness you weren't expecting. that show of solidarity makes you inclined to trust them but the more you get to know them, the more you wonder if befriending them is a good idea.

[rabdoidal]

when i think about israel hands, i think of a kid thats a few years younger than edward teach, but on the same ship. they’re both swabbies with a mediocre captain, and they get pushed around for being weedy and shit at their jobs, but they stay on that crew for years. at night their hammocks swing together, and izzy is captivated by him - hes a great big liar, izzy knows, but the lies are fun enough to pretend to believe for a while. years pass, and izzy hardens into someone with a permanent scowl, mouth pulled into a tight line - his face only softens, only opens up around a handful of people anymore, and one of those people is his ed. ed-and-izzy are inseparable, and when edward teach joined captain hornigold’s crew, izzy followed. when hornigold gave ed control over a small vessel, izzy followed. when blackbeard was born and he took over an even bigger ship, izzy followed. both of them were very different from the kids that met all those years ago - neither were afraid of a brawl, both talented at sword fighting (izzy slightly better) and both with stubborn hearts. but izzy was patient with ed - he knew him, more than anything else, as edward. he knew how ed’s mind worked itself in knots, how he would circle and obsess over issues, and that if izzy could break those spirals, ed would go back to being the fearsome captain he knew and loved. and there was such love there - for years and years, izzy learned patience and intimidation tactics and how to lie and more than anything, how to deal with the people ed didn’t want to deal with. other captains, his crew - izzy learned the tells and tricks on how to talk to people, all so his captain could focus on being blackbeard, dread pirate of the seven seas. somehow, through it all, ed still likes him - still wants him around, still has him as first mate, even through fighting and arguments, ed loves him. 

years, years, years later, along comes stede bonnet. for the first time in decades, izzy cant fucking figure this guy out, and he cant figure out why blackbeard cares enough to meet him, to expend resources on helping him. izzy tries to be calm, tries to be avoidant, tries to get the measly crew in working order, tries to snap ed out of whatever obsessive spiral hes falling into with stede, tries to be reasonable, to be demanding, to trick, to stab, to get the fucking military involved. he sees what washes up on the side of the revenge when the crew nearly pitch him over. he sees the shell of a man that he loved, and maybe ed never loved him back at all, because izzy tries to bring blackbeard back, his blackbeard, who he was before stede bonnet, but the grief in him blossoms and consumes him, and izzy hopes that these are the first stumbling steps towards normalcy, rather than an even deeper spiral down. eventually, izzy is going to realise things have only gotten worse, and that nothing he can do can get back his edward, because hes playing second fiddle to stede fucking bonnet.

[embyrinitalics]

Whumptober 2021 No. 20 — Lost & Found

Masterlist Word count: ~1600 Universe: The Wind Waker; sequel to “No. 11 — Adrift” Pairings: Zelink (Link/Tetra) Rating: K Themes: Healing, human trafficking (mention) Read on ao3

---

Link got the next few days off to heal. He spent all of it in the hold, lying on his stomach. Niko would spread salve on his back before lunch, grumblingly, that was cold and gelatinous and made everything sting worse than it already was.

“Chu jelly,” he told him, when he smeared the first glob over so many open wounds, pulling hisses and curses out of him. “It’ll keep it from getting infected. Trust me, Swabbie, the jelly’s better than the pus.”

When he could finally move without biting down a scream for pain, he crawled up out of the hold, craving sunshine and air that wasn’t stale. He expected to be met with derision and sneers, so it was disorienting when everyone acted as though nothing had happened. They shoved breakfast at him, and then a mop and bucket, laughing at the look on his face.

It was difficult to fathom how they could all carry on as though he hadn’t been shamed and brutalized in front of all of them, as though they hadn’t tied him down and beaten him until he was raw from the whip and from screaming. But after an hour of working and trading barbs and being the butt-end of a few island-boy jokes, he relaxed into it.

He didn’t unrelax when Tetra joined him at the prow again after lunch, not exactly. But he did sort of flinch and scowl and hold his breath all at once.

“Hey,” she breathed, folding her arms over the beam. “How are you healing up?”

Asking after his back like she cared shouldn’t have made him want to duck his head again, shouldn’t have made heat creep into his face. Especially given it was her fault he needed healing at all. Still, she was the only one who had asked.

He frowned. “It’s going to scar, probably.”

“Nice,” she smirked, shrugging her jacket off her shoulder, where three angry lines raised against tanned skin like claw marks. “We’ll match.”

He had nothing to say to that, eyes lingering until the scars disappeared beneath her collar again, and silence descended over them like a bout of fog. She seemed to sense that she wasn’t forgiven, or at least noticed that he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with her.

She gave up trying to make inroads, said instead, “I need to talk to you about your sister.”

If anything could possibly thaw him, that was it. He forced his shoulders down from where they had scrunched around his ears, swallowed bitterness and his pride, and asked, “Do you know where she is?”

“No. But I know whose ship that was,” she frowned.

“Well—that’s good, isn’t it? I can go back to Windfall, I can ask—”

“Your sister’s gotten herself in a bad way, Link,” she interrupted, and it was firm enough to silence him. They frowned at each other, his hope bobbing like a buoy about to be ripped off its anchor. “Did you see the mark etched on her shoulder?”

He thought back to the docks, to her windswept hair and the billowing sails and the glare of sunlight just before the weight struck the back of his head. It was there, in his memory: a pair of black wings, tattooed on her skin, peeking out from under her sleeve.

He murmured, “What does that mean?”

“It’s the mark of the Helmaroc King,” she said, and then sighed out her nose at his clueless expression. She picked at words the way she might pick through lettuce on her plate. “He’s a crime lord with an empire that spans the whole Great Sea. He’s ancient—probably as old as piracy itself. Some think the name is just a mantel passed from one man to the next, but anyone who’s ever met him knows better.”

He stared at her, trying to parse, trying to process, and she pursed her lips.

“Maybe someone snatched her off a dock against her will,” she offered quietly. “Maybe she made a deal with him, not realizing what she was getting herself into.”

“I don’t understand,” he finally breathed, brow furrowed. “What does someone that powerful even want with her?”

“Nothing in particular, probably. He just accumulates things, expands the enterprise. Maybe she runs dangerous errands for a pittance, or maybe he’s trading her off to someone fool enough to buy from him. Maybe she’s one of his—” she rolled her lips again, and his blood chilled as his brain hurried to fill in the blanks with a thousand awful possibilities. “It doesn’t matter. He deals in humans like they’re livestock, and he owns her now.”

He gripped the rail harder. “There must be something I can do. I could buy her back. I could trade myself—”

“Don’t be stupid,” she scoffed. “He’s completely untrustworthy and a master manipulator. He’d end up with both of you in his pocket.”

“But—you could handle him,” he pressed, and when she shook her head he just pressed harder. “Pirates have a code, don’t they? Couldn’t you bargain on my behalf, or—”

“No. I wouldn’t do business with him if he were the last thing keeping this ship afloat, and I couldn’t approach him under the code unless she were family.”

“Tetra—”

“Link, no,” she barked, slamming a fist on the beam, and it startled him into silence. “I won’t risk my ship and my crew over this—not for you, not for your sister, not for anyone. Understood?”

Her fury was enough to deflate him. He bobbed a small, frigid nod. “Yes, Miss.”

“I know how much your sister means to you,” she said at length, quietly. “I’m sorry.”

He blinked away salt and sunglitter, his brain tangled up like his grandma’s knitting yarn when Aryll used to find her way into it. He may have been lost, and clueless, and useless on the Great Sea, but he was also stubborn. That stubbornness had gotten him on an imperial ship without a penny in his pocket, gotten him out of the sea and out of being executed, and, somehow, gotten him into the good graces of a fearsome pirate captain. Jabun swallow him whole if it didn’t get him his sister back, too.

“You said family,” he echoed slowly, still shrouded in fog, still pulling at yarn. “Then—if we were married—”

She barked a laugh. He stared, his mouth set in a line, until her brow fell.

“You’re serious.”

“Would it work?”

She scoffed at him; but then her eyes drifted, lips twisting, as she spared it an errant thought.

“Maybe,” she finally admitted. “But what’s in it for me?”

“I haven’t got anything to give you,” he sighed, raking a hand across his scalp, clockwork gears in his head ratcheting around possibilities. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Then, slowly, “Nothing but myself. You said I was stupid for thinking I could trade myself to the Helmaroc King, but I could trade myself to you.”

She snorted, but her heart wasn’t in it. “I’ve already got you, haven’t I?”

“There’s a difference between a prisoner and a servant,” he argued. “I’d be yours by choice, and I’d keep my vows. Mark me, if that’s what it takes. And if I’m too useless to be worth anything, just think of it as expanding your enterprise.”

She frowned harder, and so did he.

“Please, Tetra. She’s all I’ve got left.”

She drummed her fingers on the rail, schemes roiling beneath eyes dark as the ocean. She didn’t seem happy with the idea, but she wasn’t dismissing it either, and he let the tiny spark of hope still left in his chest burn towards an ember. And when she sighed, equal parts irritated and resigned, he felt lit up all over with something even better than hope: success.

“It wouldn’t be like marrying a girl from Outset, kid. Pirate vows aren’t easily undone, and these things usually end with someone getting tossed overboard.”

He dared to offer her a grim smile. “If it gets me my sister back, then it’s worth it.”

“No guarantees of that, either,” she said, lips restraining a smirk, and then stuck her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled so loud as she spun that he clapped a hand over one assaulted ear. “On deck, bilge rats!”

Everyone scurried over from where they had all gone to wile away their breaks, mouths screwed up in disgruntled frowns, and she planted her hands on her hips.

“Boys,” she crowed, “I’m getting married!”

Senza loosed a world-weary sigh, and Gonzo burst into tears.

It took all of fifteen minutes for her to rattle off her reasons, dismiss the flurry of objections, and get everyone lined up in front of the quarterdeck for an impromptu ceremony. To say it was a whirlwind was an understatement, and as they shoved him in front of the helm Link’s heart was suddenly pounding in his throat. But it was too late to wonder if he’d made a gross mistake, Tetra passing him a wicked wink as Nudge stood behind them and cleared his throat, and he swallowed down the tide of misgivings welling up in his chest and stood his ground.

“Any objections?” Nudge asked loudly, and Zuko grumbled something no one could understand, Niko’s lip trembled, and Mako facepalmed. “Good. Then I now pronounce you captain and husband. You may kiss.”

Link blinked, the litany of pirate vows he’d been expecting conspicuously absent, and the entire crew looking on as he fidgeted. He muttered, Tetra’s fearsome smile growing, “In front of everyone?”

She rolled her eyes and pulled him in by the collar.

It was… kind of nice, actually.

[thesacredtwink]

Prompt: little WW pirate Minish? OwO

Okay, first of all. Anon. NONNIE. THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER. I had to pause while writing this so many times because I would think about this little guy and need to go breathe kfjskdjdkd So cute infact that I wasn't able to complete this ficlette until I drew them:

Just please ignore that he has no arms, hands, or feet, I couldn't figure out how to draw them sksksksksk

----

Tetra has a problem. Now, by her usual standards this is a very minor problem. No one is after her head, nor is her ship under attack. But it is still a problem.

Someone has been stealing from their loot.

Oh, nothing much - A rupee here and a gemstone there. Never anything big or overly valuable, but enough that the pirate has noticed.

But tonight, the Captain has a plan.

Waiting outside the treasure room, Tetra keeps herself on high alert, waiting spot someone sneaking into the room. She waits most of the night, and it's almost morning when she hears the telltale sound of someone rummaging through the loot. She draws her sword, confused how someone could have slipped past without her noticing, but more focused on apprehending the culprit red handed.

With a kick, she flings the door open.

"Avast!" She cries, leaping into the treasure room and spots-

A mouse wearing what looks to be a red hat and blue jacket. Tetra looks again, sword tip dropping. No, not a mouse. The tail is too fluffy and the face the wrong shape. Whatever it is, it holds a single red rupee in it's hands, it's tiny chest heaving in fright. Well, she muses, she has seen stranger things on the high seas.

Sheathing her sword, Tetra kneels down till she is closer to the small thief.

"That isn't yours," she tells the creature, feeling a little bad when it starts to tremble.

"Hey," she says, voice softening, "I'm not going to hurt you. But I can't let you keep that either, and this crew don't take kindly to stowaways."

Rather than hand over the rupee, the mouse like creature hugs it to it's chest, and squeaks loudly.

"Absolutely not!" She says with more force, and is taken aback when the creature squeaks again, this time pointing an accusing finger between herself and the pile of treasure against the wall.

Even though she doesn't understand what the creature is saying, the meaning is clear, and she finds heat spreading across the back of her neck.

"That's different! My crew worked hard to get that loot, and we won't have you thieving it from us!"

The tiny creature looks up at her, and Tetra knows that they won't be coming to an agreement about this any time soon. Then, an idea comes to her. She closes her eyes and smiles to herself, crossing her arms in satisfaction, before opening one eye and looking down at the rupee thief.

"How about this. You want the rupee, and I say only crew are allowed a split of the spoils. So if you want it so bad, you could always join my crew."

The mouse-person considers for a moment, it's small fingers drumming against the gem as they think, before looking up at her and nodding. Tetra lowers a hand, and the creature hesitantly steps onto the offered appendage.

"Welcome aboard, swabbie."

[missmungoe]

Can we get more pirate Makino

Of course! I’m actually writing a thing about exactly that, so here’s a glimpse from the first chapter of a three-part fic I’ve been working on, titled On the Water (alternatively: How to Become a Pirate in Your Thirties).

Follows Long Live, rated M for, well, Shanks. The full story will be up on AO3 when it’s finished, but I hope you enjoy this sneak peek!

-

For her birthday he gave her the horizon, but adapting to life at sea was a work in progress.

The ropes scuffed her palms, gentle hands that had always known hard work, just not this particular kind. She’d have blisters tomorrow, Makino suspected, although hoped that was all she’d have, and not a broken back and fractured skull to boot.

“Need a hand?”

His voice reached down towards her, as a big hand was offered, the broad palm roughened with harder calluses than hers. The metal of his wedding ring caught the sunlight; unlike his fingers, it didn’t bear the evidence of his way of life, but then he hadn��t been wearing it on his hand for very long.

Her own ring was dulled and scratched from wear; the curious symmetry of their lives, at least before her recent about-face in terms of careers, her apron and serving tray exchanged with canvas, rope, and questionable safety measures.

She looked at the hand held out to her, following the sinewy forearm to Shanks, perched on the ratlines above her with an effortlessness she couldn’t decide if made her want to gawk or shriek in frustration. The fact that he could even offer his hand was hard to believe, given that he only had one, but he looked utterly unhindered by the fact, his bare feet steady where he balanced on the ropes, in a way that made it seem like having two hands would have just been overkill.

For her own part, Makino was trying her best not to cling with every appendage she had.

“Are you being cheeky?” she called up, just a little shrilly, gripping the ropes when an impish gust of wind sent the ratlines swaying.

“You tell me,” came the quick reply, her disbelief parried with the flash of a roguish grin. “You’re the one with the view.”

Poised on the ropes directly beneath him, Makino demurely refused to acknowledge the cheeks in question, hugged rather snugly by the fabric of his pants where he leaned his weight against the ropes. Today’s pattern was cheerful palm tree leaves against a bright red backdrop. The fact that it might be the last thing she saw before falling to her death was a sobering thought.

“Eyes aloft, sailor,” Shanks said, a note of command that sent a shiver jumping up her spine, and that had her gaze darting from his rear to his face, and the delighted grin stretched across it. “I know I’m distracting, but try to be professional?”

Had she been a better liar, she might have attempted a glib retort. As it was, the sight of him on the ropes was distracting, a captain in his natural element, his feet bare and his signature cloak discarded; the ruggedness of a man who’d spent his life at sea, all rough stubble and sun-darkened skin swept with dark hair, his half-buttoned shirt straining over his wide shoulders in a way that really ought to be against the law, or at the very least prohibited during certain circumstances, like, say, when she was trying to keep her concentration so she didn’t fall and break every bone in her body.

The toned arm extended towards her, the right sleeve cinched around his bicep, flexing when he caught her eyes darting to it.

Her attempt at an unfazed expression faltered, and his chuckle chased her gaze when she averted it, although her blush was arguably more incriminating, but then it was hard not to be impressed, and she still wasn’t used to seeing him like this.

Curling her toes, she tested her balance. She’d rolled her breeches up past her knees, and her bare feet helped with her grip on the lines. The only thing she’d kept of the clothes she’d brought aboard with her was her loose-sleeved blouse, and even her kerchief had been exchanged for a longer scarf to better hold back her hair; red with white embroideries, he’d gifted it to her shortly after they’d set out from Fuschia, weaved into her long braid now, brushing her spine where it hung between her shoulder blades. She wore no further embellishments, although had wondered how she might look, with gold in her ears and on her fingers, or pearls from the bottom of the sea. Trappings for a different pirate, or at least a bolder one.

She missed her skirts, her silk bodices and embroidered aprons, but this was more practical, and better suited her new chores. Maybe one day she’d be a barmaid again, but for now she was a pirate, and if an enemy showed up, they wouldn’t be asking for a drink.

Shanks offered his hand again, and this time Makino took it, sea-roughened fingers wrapping around her smaller ones tightly, and her breath seized when he lifted her up, and so fast she had to stifle the startled yelp that escaped her, and heard his laughter, a softer thing now as she scrambled to hold on to her new perch on the ratlines beside him.

Her feet curled around the ropes as she tried to reclaim her balance, her breath hitching when the rigging swayed.

She watched as Shanks moved, his leg sliding behind hers as he put himself behind her. A big hand settled over one of hers, gripping it reassuringly.

“Breathe,” came the gentle order, as her back met the sturdy width of his chest, the support allowing her to relax enough to slacken her death grip on the lines, the breath she’d been holding easing out as she did. His feet caged hers, tiny in comparison, his body keeping her secure on the lines. The top of her head was barely level with his sternum; she could feel the warmth of his skin bared by his shirt where it pressed against her back. “Attagirl.”

Shifting his weight, his hips brushed against her backside, and her breath shivered with her laugh, feeling him.

“This is hardly what I’d call professional,” Makino said, even as she yielded some of her weight to him, glad of the support offered by his bigger frame.

“What are you talking about? I’m the essence of professionalism. I just have a very hands-on approach to teaching.” His grin brushed the tender spot on her neck beneath her ear as he rumbled, “This is the first time I hear you complaining about that.”

“I’m not complaining,” Makino said, the shiver in her voice betraying her reaction, but sensing an opportunity to give him a taste of his own medicine, added demurely, “I like having you behind me.”

She felt his surprise in the startled grip of his fingers, and could picture his grin from the winded laugh that reached through her back.

“Say things like that and you’ll make me lose my grip.” The way he pressed against her felt retaliatory, her breath hitching at the grind of his hips, and the hardness beneath her rear. “I’m trying to show you the ropes here.” His lips skimmed the back of her neck, the fleeting kiss followed by a rumble, “Although if we move this to our cabin I can show you some different ones.”

Her heart skipped, although not so much for the suggestion as for the casual use of our that had found its way into his vocabulary lately.

Her laugh was soft, and she felt him squeeze her hand. “Such a thorough education you’re giving me.”

“Well, I want you to be prepared,” Shanks said, as a grinning kiss marked the spot above her pulse. “There are some real scoundrels on this sea.”

“Oh, I know.” Her eyes flicked up to catch his, tempered steel in the sunlight. “If I’m not careful, one might steal me away on his ship.”

His look softened, a gentler kind of heat, before he bent to kiss the crown of her head.

But even teasingly said, it touched upon something she hadn’t broached with him yet; an underlying fear that had followed her from East Blue like a shadow in the water, and that was a large part of why she wanted to learn how to sail.

She didn’t want him to regret taking her with him―that there should come a day when her inexperience would cease being endearing, if she became��a burden he couldn’t afford to have on his ship.

“Hey,” Shanks said then; the shift in his tone made her blink, before she realised that her thoughts had wandered. “Everything okay?”

Makino nodded, and hoped the slight quaver in her voice helped make her lie convincing. “Just made the mistake of looking down.”

There was a beat where she wondered if he’d seen through her deceit, but then, “As much as I’m enjoying teaching you,” Shanks said, and she was surprised there was no teasing in his voice now, “you know you don’t have to learn this, right? I captain a pretty big crew. We’ve got plenty of hands on deck, and that’s not an amputee quip.”

Murmurs of agreement backed him, from the crew gathered below, all of them having come out on deck to observe. She’d ask them to mind their own business if she’d thought it would work, but recognised a lost battle. They hadn’t minded their own business since the day they’d met.

Although catching the wary looks on their faces, she wondered if the real reason they’d gathered to watch was so they could catch her if she slipped.

Ben was holding the baby, wide-eyed and sucking on his fingers where he watched them both aloft, and she had the sudden thought that he probably wouldn’t forget it if she fell to her death.

It almost made her hesitate, wondering if she really was pushing it, and that her focus was better spent on something a little less hazardous, like charting stars or assisting Marsh in the galley, and not on building a career as a sailor when she was long past the age most swabbies got their first posting. She wasn’t even a proper swabbie, but couldn’t exactly claim a higher rank when she had no skills or credentials to back it up.

But there was a part of her that wouldn’t back down, even against her own misgivings. She couldn’t choose this life, his life, and keep living the way she had. This sea wouldn’t allow it, and she’d be naive if she believed otherwise.

It was never going to be easy, and she was painfully aware that she’d chosen the worst possible time to abandon her law-abiding job to become a pirate. Granted, most fledgling pirates didn’t achieve overnight fame and a back-bending kiss on the cover of the WENP. If she’d hoped for a subtle change of careers, that ship had thoroughly sailed.

But whatever kind of pirate she turned out to be, she didn’t want to be useless. At the very least, she wanted to know her way around his ship.

“It’s not like I’m going to put you on watch duty,” Shanks said, when a lull had passed where she hadn’t spoken. “That’s why we have Fen, although between you and me, if Whiskey could sound the alarm, he’d be out of a job.”

“No offence, Boss, but that cat was shat out of satan’s arsehole,” spoke the freckled young man seated on the yard above them, with the ease of someone who spent a lot of time aloft, and who didn’t have thirty-two years of deeply burrowed roots holding him back. “But yeah, you’re probably right.”

“If our ship’s cat can do it, then I should be able to,” Makino retorted pertly, although didn’t say that she’d rather not spend a whole night in the crow’s nest by herself. Not that Shanks would ask her, and if he did, he’d have something rather different in mind than keeping watch, but even that would be moot if she couldn’t get up there by herself.

If they hadn’t had an audience, she might have told him. Instead what she said was, “I can’t be a pirate without any sailing skills, Shanks.”

“Hey, there are plenty of pirates who have no sailing skills,” Shanks countered. “Don’t underestimate how much you can get away with by riding someone’s coattails. It’s done wonders for Buggy’s career.”

“At this rate, he’ll be an Emperor soon,” Fen said.

“Who will?” Yasopp asked, appearing on the yard beside Fen, causing Makino to start, and she was glad to have Shanks behind her, as she didn’t lose her grip. She hadn’t even seen him climb up, but, “Hey, Ma-chan,” he chirped, swinging his legs over the yard as he took a seat. “How’s it hanging?”

“Oh, just swimmingly,” Makino sighed, and tried not to squirm, uncomfortably aware of all the eyes on her. Unlike Shanks, she’d never loved the spotlight, particularly when doing something she wasn’t good at, and it was a little intimidating to have a whole crew of experienced pirates observing her stumbling attempts into learning their craft.

For all its delight, Yasopp’s grin was understanding, and her gratitude was silent when that sharp-eyed gaze left her to look at Fen, his arms crossed over his chest in a casual repose as he repeated his earlier question, “So who’ll be an Emperor soon?”

“Buggy,” Fen said.

Yasopp snorted, but after a beat, conceded, “You know, I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s got a way of falling upwards.” Then with a grin, “Roster’s getting pretty packed now, though, with Luffy and this one,” he said, nodding to Makino. “You’ll have to watch out for challengers now that you’ve announced yourself, Ma-chan. It’s eat or be eaten on this sea.”

“Don’t,” Makino said primly, before Shanks could open his mouth, and she couldn’t see his grin but she could imagine it well enough. Then to Yasopp, “And please don’t include me in this power-grabbing contest.”

“I hate to break it to you, my heart, but it’s a little late for that,” Shanks said.

“You did give an interview,” Yasopp pointed out.

“The photograph was also hard to misinterpret,” Fen agreed.

“I don’t mind what they call me,” Makino said, and already knew what it was, the endearment that had been given to her by the man she’d married long before she’d asked him to take her with him, but Empress was symbolic, not declarative, and the title itself wasn’t the issue. “It’s about what they expect. I’m not going to challenge anyone, I just want to be a normal pirate. No politics, just plain and simple swashbuckling. Whatever happened to parrots and peg legs?”

“Do you want a parrot?” Shanks asked.

“What I want is for my merits to speak for themselves,” she said, gently firm as she tipped her head back to meet his eyes. “Small and unimportant as they might be.”

His look held a thought he didn’t share, but before he could say anything, “So I’m not riding your coattails,” she told him, and was quick to add, “And don’t,”―he pinched his lips shut, although the boyish grin stayed―“make that into something lewd. It’s too easy, even for you.”

“She’s got a point, Cap,” Yasopp said. Fen made a noise of agreement.

“I feel like you’re all underestimating my creativity, but whatever,” Shanks said. “Also, ‘even for you’, wife? The level of disrespect. You’re on my ship now, and last I checked, I was still the captain.”

Doubtful murmurs from the deck below, which he answered by sticking his tongue out.

Her smile was sweetly mutinous. “Let me rephrase, then: I’m not riding your coattails, Captain.”

She knew from his grin that she was going to be paying for that later, but, “Have I told you that I find your premature midlife crisis adorable?” Shanks said instead. “Most people just change their hair. Or buy a really big boat.”

“Or marry a younger woman,” Ben supplied from around his toothpick. The baby on his arm was falling asleep, his head tucked under his chin.

Shanks turned his head to call down, “Et tu, you ass?”

Laughing agreement from the rest of their crew set off a debate of who’d had the biggest midlife crisis to date―a tie between Yasopp’s dreads and their captain’s choice of wife, who demurely elected to have no opinion on the matter―and Makino felt the momentary reprieve of their attentions, Shanks’ in particular, who for all his easygoing attitude had been watching her closely since they’d begun climbing the rigging.

It wasn’t that he minded her learning, but she wondered sometimes if he’d expected her to take the safer route, or at least one that didn’t include the risk of breaking her neck. His desire to protect her was endearing, if a little hypocritical from a man who was entirely too casual about danger. Their departure from East Blue was only the most recent example.

It had been a few weeks since her birthday, when she’d left the only home she’d ever known, chased from her safe shores by a fleet of navy warships. That last part had thankfully not needed repeating, but then the navy didn’t have the same foothold on this sea, or the presence to enforce their authority, in her husband’s territory.

Hers now, too, or at least symbolically, although even then it was a lot to accept for someone whose only claim before this had been to a little bar on the seaside. She still hadn’t fully grasped the finer points of the New World’s politics, aside from the precarious balance of powers that always felt one nudge away from toppling, and even saying that she wanted no part in it, she wondered sometimes if she would even have a choice.

Warm fingers squeezed hers. “Ready?” Shanks asked, and with a fortifying breath, Makino nodded.

She felt him shift his weight, yielding room for her as she made to climb further up the ratlines, and following close behind her until they reached the footrope beneath the course yard, where the bottom sails were stowed.

Reaching past her, she watched him swing himself up onto the yard, nimble in a way that never ceased to amaze her. She’d used to observe him working aloft, that first year they’d been docked in Fuschia, but watching him still stole her breath, his amputation no more a hindrance than the wind, and sure-footed in a way that made her wonder if he’d ever feared anything.

She wished for a bit of that confidence now, as she focused on making it look like she wasn’t clinging to the ratlines now that he was no longer behind her.

Her gaze fleeted down to the deck. She’d never been particularly afraid of heights, but then she’d made a point of keeping her feet planted firmly on the ground. The only other occasions she’d stepped out of her comfort zone had been at his direction, except this was a bit higher up than atop a table.

Shanks extended his hand to her, and this time she was prepared when he pulled her up, her weight not even a minor burden as he lifted her onto the course yard in a single, fluid movement.

His hand cupped her elbow, steadying her as she found her footing. It was the lowest yard on the mast, but the distance to the deck still felt considerable.

The sea spray was gentle against her cheeks, touched pink by the sun that had darkened her freckles, the weeks they’d been at sea. The salt wind kept trying to stubbornly coax her hair out of her scarf, a few rogue strands freed to brush her cheekbones.

Looking up at Shanks found him watching her, so tall she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes, a thought behind them she wasn’t privy to, but at her questioning look he just said, “It suits you.”

Bemusement wrinkled her brow as she laughed, winded from the climb, “What, sweat and your old capris?”

The lines at the corners of his eyes deepened, a fey smile that made her wonder if she’d guessed correctly, before his hand lifted to cradle her cheek, his thumb brushing the arch of her cheekbone before tucking an errant lock of salt-swept hair back into her scarf, as Shanks said simply, “The sea.”

Her grin wavered, and she had no comeback to that, but he only curled his fingers under hers, lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles, before gesturing to the mast. “After you.”

He let her grip his hand until she’d found a foothold, and kept one step behind her as she climbed the ratlines towards the top of the mast, until they’d reached the topgallant yard, and balancing on the footrope, he waited until she’d hoisted herself up before climbing up beside her.

The sea spooled out beneath them, the blue silk sky above the horizon the most perfect she’d ever seen. This high up, the wind sang louder between the masts, laughing where it tugged and teased the rigging, the shrouds stretched taut and the ratlines creaking as the ship swayed.

Releasing a shuddering breath, Makino eased her legs down on either side of the wooden yard. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to seeing the world from this perspective, and couldn’t say if the thrill she felt leaned more towards fear or excitement. 60/40, probably.

She looked down.

…or maybe 70/30.

Searching for a distraction, she lifted her eyes to Shanks, his long legs draped astride the yard, like he might sit on one of the benches in the galley. “How does it feel?”

Breathing in deeply, “Like I want to throw up,” Makino said, and saw his grin where it split his face.

Her smile softened, and keeping her eyes on him, she said, “And like I never want to go back down.”

His grin held understanding, and a feeling that made her heart ache, it was so fierce, and that wasn’t the view’s doing, although it was an undeniably spectacular sight, the sea and the sky ever-bending, the world stretched as far as it would go from horizon to horizon; an otherworldliness about this ocean that was humbling, faced with her own mortality against those terrifying powers, which had nothing to do with the pirates who sailed it.

Before coming to the New World, she hadn’t known what to expect. Between Shanks’ camping stories and the navy’s propaganda, all she’d known was that it wouldn’t be anything like East Blue, which meant she couldn’t keep being the same person she’d been. Not if she wanted to be in an Emperor’s crew, even just as his wife. There was no room for the ordinary in this realm, where only the extraordinary survived.

Lowering her gaze, she braved a glance at the deck far below. Hopefully she wouldn’t fall and break her neck. Given the countless ways to die on this sea, it seemed a somewhat anticlimactic way to go.

Lifting her eyes to Shanks found him considering her, outlined by the sun behind him, his eyes hooded under his scars, a curiously vulnerable look in them now, as though he couldn’t quite make himself believe she was really there.

She wondered if that look would fade, if he ever came to regret bringing her with him.

The intrusive thought slipped past her defences, before she blinked it away.

“So, my barmaid,” Shanks said, the tender note in his voice rendering it too sincere for teasing. “How are you finding the pirate’s life so far?”

She hoped her smile didn’t betray her earlier thoughts. “It’s actually been pretty uneventful,” Makino said, with a lightness that attempted to conceal the slight shiver in her voice. “I’m almost beginning to wonder if you really were exaggerating about all your dangerous escapades. I’ve seen no bears, either.”

His smile indulged her teasing, but his silence was telling.

She wondered what he was shielding her from, and if she even wanted to know. But even if she couldn’t hide from it forever, she was grateful for the uneventfulness of their voyage thus far. It wasn’t the same as Fuschia, with its gentle monotony, and where change had always been welcome. On this sea, change could easily be synonymous with war.

Her stomach twisted at the reminder, but looking out over the sea found it calm, although she did wonder what would happen the day it inevitably caught up with them. Shanks had enemies, and one in particular had featured in her nightmares since long before she’d asked to come with him.

Blinking her eyes, she dispelled the thought of Blackbeard, anchoring her focus in the present, and Shanks on the yard beside her, in his shirtsleeves and with his pants rolled up past his knees, the deceptive trappings of a simple sailor, and not the pirate lord the world knew. The wind had dragged its fingers through his hair, and his scars looked gentler under the look of contentment on his face, his staggering features eased with a smile, and the note of tension that was usually there gone from his brow.

Looking at him, it was almost easy to forget the authority he held on this sea; the kind of power he commanded, and the territories under his flag. To believe for a few seconds that she might be a simple sea captain’s wife, and nothing more.

But lifting her eyes to the top of the mast, and the jolly roger dancing on the breeze, there was no denying what he was, and what she was now, and had been since the day she’d married him. That the pirate who’d stolen her away from her quiet shores was not the same who’d first dropped anchor in her port twelve years ago; the one she knew as her husband.

She didn’t know him like that―as Emperor. She wondered idly if that was what he was shielding her from, more than anything else.

“You know,” Shanks said then, his eyes meeting hers. “You’re handling this a lot better than most do, their first time aloft. Buggy only made it halfway up―I bet him that I could climb higher, so of course he had to prove me wrong. You should have seen him. Captain had to climb up to get him down.”

“What about you?” Makino asked, smiling. She could picture it easily, for all that she’d never actually met Buggy.

His grin belonged to the eight-year-old up to no good, all boyish pride. “I made it to the top.”

“He had to get you down too, didn’t he?”

“Yup. I think I even cried a little on the way down.”

Her laugh tumbled out, the sound softening his eyes, and she saw his gaze where it drifted a bit, as though remembering.

Watching him, Makino tried to picture their son at that age, if he would be similarly brave, and foolish, and if he might have a little brother or sister egging him on. Maybe even more than one.

It wasn’t the first time the thought found her, imagining more children. She hadn’t brought it up since the birth of their son, and didn’t know how to broach the subject now, when their lives had changed so much. She hadn’t been able to make herself ask him what he felt about it, afraid of what the answer would be. It was already a risk having her on board, and a baby who wasn’t even a year old. A pregnancy wouldn’t exactly make things easier.

Would he think it would be too dangerous for her to stay? She couldn’t say he would be wrong, but just thinking about going back to her life before, and that aching loneliness, to wait, scared and alone on some island, filled her with a fear that made all her other worries pale in comparison.

She knew his old captain had accepted the risk, allowing the wife and children of one of his men to sail with them, but it had been a different time, and from what Shanks had told her, she could hold her own against the best in their crew. Makino couldn’t say the same for herself.

“It proves my point, though,” Shanks said, drawing her back from where her thoughts had gone, and her hand slipped from where it had been worrying her stomach. The admiration in his voice was genuine, but then for all his teasing, he’d never been the type to indulge her just to make her feel better. “You’re a natural. At this rate you’ll be dancing on the yards in no time.”

The impulse seized her, not an unusual feeling where he was concerned, wanting his eyes on her, and his admiration. It was what gave her the courage now, overtaking her fear, and spurred by the sight of his eyes widening, Makino put the future out of her mind, focusing instead on Shanks as she made to push to her feet.

Shifting her weight, she rose to her full height. She wasn’t looking at him now, but felt his focus, the near-physical grip of his eyes, fastened on her where she balanced on the yard. The wind tugged her blouse from where she’d tucked it into the waistline of her breeches, filling her lungs, until she felt light as air. Aside from being terrifying, there was something exhilarating about being aloft, so high up it felt like you could see to the very ends of the world.

The yard creaked beneath her bare feet, but her balance held as she walked the length of the yardarm, her arms lifted, but she didn’t waver, a balletic grace that cheerfully defied her hesitance climbing up, and reaching the end of the yard, she turned to find his mouth hanging open, and couldn’t keep her smile demure where it split her face, her secret revealed.

She wished she could commemorate the look on his face somehow, as Shanks told her, “I don’t know what I’m more proud of, your acting skills or the fact that you’ve been practicing without me noticing.”

Smiling, she didn’t mention that the last one had been a bigger challenge than learning to work aloft, but the nights he’d been busy with their son, going to sleep early, she’d sneak out to practice. Fen and Yasopp had been teaching her, and she saw Shanks single out both culprits now in the crow’s nest, wearing near-identical grins.

His eyes found hers again, a new look in them now, as though he was seeing her differently. And it was a look she knew but that never failed to catch her off guard, something that was at once tender and fierce, and that filled her with a thrill that knew no equal, even against the adrenaline rush of being aloft where she stood atop the sea, dressed in the warm spray and the salt wind and with blisters on her hands and feet that it would take some time yet to become proper callouses.

She wondered what he saw now when he looked at her, if it was a barmaid or a pirate; wasn’t sure which she felt like, but the look on his face rendered the distinction unimportant.

Glancing down, the drop still made her stomach turn in on itself, but it was a different feeling being up here now than it had been the first time. It might also have something to do with his reaction, and the grin that was so proud it looked like it couldn’t go any wider.

Her own pride made her bold, and made her forget the distance to the deck, and holding his eyes, she didn’t pay enough attention to her feet, or the loose bit of rope where it peeked out from where the sails were stowed.

It caught her foot.

She saw Shanks’ eyes widening, his grin falling as he scrambled to reach for her, but it was too late.

Terror seized her limbs, and even the formerly playful wind couldn’t cushion her fall as she plummeted through the air. For all that it had seemed so far, the drop to the deck below was quick, and she had less than a second to think as she twisted mid-air, grabbing for the rope as Fen tossed it down, and her heart lurched into her mouth as her downward descent changed course, the momentum provided by her fall allowing her to swing around the main mast.

The wind rushed by, dragging tears from her eyes and a terrified laugh from her chest as she soared through the air, towards the deck and the crew who’d gathered to watch, wearing horrified expressions and looking like they’d been prepared to catch her, but they were forced to step aside as Makino released her grip on the line.

Her landing wasn’t as smooth as she’d wanted, as releasing the rope saw her stumbling forward as her feet touched the deck, multiple pairs of hands reaching out to grab her, but she didn’t fall, catching herself against Lucky, who was the closest.

A full second of stunned silence followed where no one made a sound, before Yasopp let out a whooping cheer, but the rest looked so shocked, they didn’t immediately respond.

She saw the first wavering grin, before more rippled through the crowd, followed by their voices, their salt-hewn timbres raised in a roar under the open sky. It filled her chest, leaving her lightheaded as rough hands ruffled her hair and gripped her shoulders.

Still reeling, Makino didn’t tell them she was glad for the support, because it felt like her knees were about to give out.

Her heart was pounding against the roof of her mouth, adrenaline and childlike exhilaration pulling a winded laugh from her chest, bright and airy as she lifted her eyes to the main mast, only to find Shanks calling down towards her.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

Shielding her eyes from the sun, she didn’t even attempt a demure smile this time, or pretend her knees weren’t trembling as badly as her voice, even as she called up, “Were you worried, Captain?”

His breath left him in a gust she couldn’t decide whether or not was a laugh.

She watched as he lifted to his feet, her eyes widening as he reached for one of the lines, before diving off the topgallant yard, using the propulsion from his jump to swing around the mast like she had, although with far more control.

But where she’d expected him to step onto the deck, he only shifted his weight, allowing his momentum to carry him towards where she was standing, and she’d just realised what he meant to do when he swept her off her feet, the arm extended to hold the line wrapping around her tightly.

Her hands scrambled for purchase, clinging to his broad shoulders, a shrieking laugh pulling from her lips, chased by his deeper cadence as they soared through the air, once more around the mast. The wind carried them forward, and glancing down saw the drop to the water below, but it wasn’t fear that filled her this time, her nose buried in his neck with her laughter, like when he’d spin her, dancing in her bar as the fiddle played until she was dizzy and gasping for breath, only this time they danced on the squalls to the singing of the ship.

He put them down on the deck, his arm around her keeping her legs from giving out as he stepped off, holding her to him as he gently eased her down on her feet. Her whole body shook, adrenaline and laughter in equal measure as she steadied herself against his body.

His arm curled around her loosely, his palm spanning her back, but he didn’t let her go, which Makino appreciated, as she didn’t trust her legs just yet.

“That’s payback for nearly giving me a heart attack,” Shanks said, playfully chiding, although there was a slight waver in his voice that couldn’t be smoothed over with humour.

Looking up at him where he held her, her beaming smile didn’t know how to contain itself. “I wanted to surprise you.”

His look softened, somehow both achingly proud and mildly exasperated, as he told her wryly, “You succeeded.” Touching his chest, he let out a wheezing sigh. “Well, at least I know my ticker is working. Always good to know at my age.”

“I try to keep you on your toes,” Makino said, and gently glib, “That’s what a younger wife is for, or so I’ve heard.”

The chuckle that left him was winded, and pulling her close, “I love you,” he sighed. “You’ll send me to an early grave, but at least I’ll be really excited about it.”

Her grin hurt. “Any comments on my form?”

“Exquisite. Dainty and petite. Perfect, tiny breas―”

She clapped her hands over his mouth, her laughter loud and startled. “Shanks!”

“What?” he asked, his voice muffled behind her hands. “Oh, was that not what you were referring to?” His grin peeked out from behind her splayed fingers, her palms catching on his beard as he chuckled, “My bad.”

Kissing her fingers, he wrapped his own around them, his big hand dwarfing hers as he squeezed it. Makino almost thought it felt like his fingers were shaking.

His grin had eased a bit, although his voice was rough with pride as he kissed her small fist and said, “Quick reaction time, and damn impressive manoeuvres. A bit shaky on the landing, but you get extra points for theatrics.”

Beaming, she didn’t mention that she’d fallen on her ass the first eight attempts; she was just delighted she’d stuck the landing when it counted. “I still need more practice going down,” Makino said.

His whole face brightened, his grin fairly wolfish, and she recognised her mistake a second too late.

“Oh my god,” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with a gusting laugh.

“I’m torn between vehemently disagreeing with that statement and graciously offering myself up for you to practice on,” Shanks said, his arm wrapping around her as she bent her head towards his chest, her laughter helpless as he lowered his voice to murmur, “You know my feelings about that particular skill of yours. Look; it’s already got a standing ovation.”

She pinched his side, and demurely ignored said standing ovation where it pressed against her stomach, her arms wrapped around his waist as she leaned into his chest, his laughter soft as he pulled her close, a trembling kiss pressed to the parting of her hair.

The others were there, their voices raised with delight, “Seriously, Makino!”

Nervous laughter. “You really had us going there for a moment!”

“Yeah, no shit. I thought my heart was about to fall through my ass!”

“Lovely image,” Shanks said, his arm sliding around her back as she leaned into his side.

Ben was holding Ace, awakened from his brief nap by the commotion. For once, his untouchable expression yielded a surprising amount of feeling, although Makino didn’t know whether to call it relief or like he desperately needed a smoke.

“You’re supposed to be the one with sense,” he told her, handing the baby over to Shanks when he reached his arms towards his father.

Shanks just grinned, and settling their son on his arm, “Just wait until this little guy begins climbing the rigging. It’s a good thing you can’t get any greyer, Ben, but then it’s my turn now, I guess.”

Ben looked at them both, then at his godson. Makino wondered if it was the first time the thought had occurred to him.

Smiling, and ignoring the thought of how she would handle an overactive toddler on a ship, “Wish you hadn’t quit smoking?” Makino asked him.

Ben looked at the baby, making excited babbling noises as Shanks pointed at a seagull grooming on the yard where they’d been sitting.

But for all his long-suffering, and the worry she still felt that they’d be too much trouble to have aboard, it wasn’t regret that made a startled grin break across his face, catching even her off guard as Ben said, and with a look that made her wonder if he knew what she was hiding, “A small sacrifice.”