A day may come where I fix this horrid sleep schedule... but it is not this day lol
Enjoy!
xoxo

Alistair

The city had changed some since our last visit.

It was as if all the Sicorian's gathered to determine exactly what it would take to make this city a bloody labyrinth... and then they took it further, as they usually did with most things. I was only walking with confidence because Caspian was following closely behind, allowing me to lead.

The more unfortunate fact was that light would soon flood the sky, and we needed to reach Finnik before that happened. He could at the very least provide some shelter to keep us off the roads.

Sicoria had their own protection that would roam the streets come sunrise. Caspian would surprisingly blend in well with the civilians now that he was wearing a cloak, especially considering his pale skin and paler hair, however all that would prove useless if we were to be stopped for any reason. The natives of Sicoria were required to provide their residency paperwork if stopped by Sicorian guards, and if you were to travel on this land, an official document was required for processing and officiation.

Safe to say both myself and my men were barred from ever acquiring said documentation, which meant our stop on this land could never be welcomed by its people. That was to be expected, given the state I left their largest pirate fleet in... at the very bottom of the sea, along with a good deal of their very best pirates. And to think this whole issue was escalated due to their inability to understand that even the sea has territorial lines you do not cross, and once you left the black sandy shores of Sicoria, I owned you and anything you came with.

We've since reached and established an understanding. When they see my blood red sails, they immediately turn back. No pillage was worth the fatalities my men were sure to deliver at the hands of their insatiable blood lust.

I did my best to keep things organized because Caspian didn't know that, and I didn't need him anymore on edge. His rection to the black sandy shores was enough a reason to know his path had never once crossed with a Sicorian man before. And that just added to the growing lore of this man.

I led us further into the city, passing by businesses that had since switched their indoor lighting on, with its staff now preparing for the early morning crowd. It was the group of three men turning onto the main cobblestone road that drew my attention and kept it there. I noticed the bright red emblem on the front of their cloaks immediately, an emblem difficult and truthfully not worth the replication as it stood out against the otherwise black material, however I wasn't expecting the Sicorian guards to discharge this early in the morning.

The city must've been experiencing an increase of rowdiness that required an earlier patrol, because Sicorian guards were known to be a lot of things, however an early riser didn't make the long and growing list.

It took me a moment to  decide how best to divert their attention from Caspian and myself considering we were the only others traveling up this same street. My initial hopes were that the men were still waking up, and the grogginess would buy us some time.

I noticed another turn in shortly before Caspian and I would reach the three men who were merely a few strides ahead of us. They had seemed occupied enough to not notice when I swiftly turned onto the intersecting street on our left, my right hand reaching out to yank Caspian towards me before he could continue walking.

I hadn't meant to force him back onto the wall of the building we were now tucked away to the side of, however the carrying sound of the Sicorian men made me react faster than I could think. I felt my body pin his against that brick wall, my larger frame masking his from any wandering eyes as my arms rested comfortably against the stone behind him, their position damn near parallel to his shoulders... and I mistakenly thought this might of been enough.

The first thing I heard was the sharpest inhale from Caspian as his body adjusted to my sudden proximity. I felt his warmth from underneath me, seeping through both our thick material. I could easily hear his heartbeat and its heightened rhythm as I rested my head rather gently against his left shoulder.

The next thing I heard was the slowing of footsteps when the Sicorian men finally made it to the opening where the turn in to this street was. I heard one of the men clear their throat, which only forced myself closer to Caspian, pushing him harder against this wall.

My larger frame was flush with his now, my head nuzzling even further into the crook of his neck. Every bit of what would've been exposed skin, was concealed by this massive cloak, and yet it felt like my touch penetrated through this thick material. Something I knew to be otherwise impossible.

"A-Alist-" I head Caspian whisper softly, his voice mixed in with unsurety. One of my hands left to the cold stone to grab hold of his waist. It was my attempt at steadying him, and yet it just made his body more rigid.

All I could answer with was a dangerously quiet "shh" as my nose slowly dragged against the curve of his neck through the cloak. I felt his hands grip at the front of my own cloak, but he didn't push me away when I unintentionally repositioned my leg between his own.

"W-Wai-"Capsian started, yet this time he stopped himself before I could.

For a split second I contemplated knocking my head against his to knock him unconscious because of how ridiculously loud he was being, while I was just trying to keep us alive, but he had finally heard the guards just steps away that were the reason for all this. I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he couldn't have seen them in front of us before I yanked him onto this street, and now he had the opportunity to correct himself by shutting the fuck up.

One of the men had crassly yelled "take it off the streets!" our way, before those heavy, metal weighted boots continued down the cobblestone path. I waited until this footsteps faded before I took a sharp inhale.

I couldn't stop the sigh of relief that slipped past my lips as my leg slowly shifted further away from Caspian's. I hadn't realized just how flush I made my body against his until my upper thigh brushed against something of his that was entirely unexpected.

Entirely.

I heard his desperate attempt at muffling the sound that slipped past his own lips but he hadn't fully caught himself in time. I clearly heard the distorted moan before his hands separated themselves from the front of my cloak. He had gripped the material tighter than I thought once I noticed the wrinkles. It felt like he had almost pushed me away when my hand finally fell from his waist, however I wasn't sure. I couldn't even recall the last time anyone had put their hands on me, let alone with enough proximity to push me back.

I didn't believe Caspian would've dared, yet still...

"W-Who were they?" Caspian whispered to me. His hands reached for the hood of his cape before they pulled that material down further. His dead eyes refused to meet my own as he spoke.

"Sicorian guards." I explained in the same hushed tone, yet only slightly louder, and that was attributed to the safer nature I felt as we continued down this side street that surely didn't exist just a few years ago. I fucking hated this city.

At this point I should've requested Finnik to let off a bloody smoke signal so he could aide us in help finding his shop. He owned this pawn shop as a false sense of legitimacy for his illegal smuggling, which I tried to explain to him was a horrible idea as a disguise, but he didn't heed those words. His argument was he hadn't been found out yet, and well... he wasn't wrong. Finnik had... interesting perspectives, and they were paired dangerously with a courageous, ambitious personality. Still, this city was working on the last of my fucking nerves.

It made me wonder how Cael, Snips, Hobbs, and Gilly were all fairing. My guess was not well. Cael had this sense of direction that would be described as unnatural if I didn't know what natual looked like on him. He was most likely leading Snips through the town after hearing Snips claim he knew where the hell he was going for the umpteenth time, when he in fact surely didn't. That I would put money on.

I did feel slightly wrong about pairing those two together considering I promised Snips that he could soak Sicoria's black sand red with blood. Truthfully, Cael wanted us to maintain an even lower presence than what we spoke of, and there was none better to control the outcome of confrontation, than Cael. That was just a given.

Hobbs and Gilly had been sent off on their own less pressing mission. There were a few men I had the interest of getting rid of, and those two were silent yet deadly. The exact precision needed to take care of some old men who didn't understand the concept of dead men telling no tales.

The only thing I hated more than a stupid man, was one who took it upon himself to shape a story to his liking.

If one so desperately wanted to feel the wrath of my men for themselves, this was a wish I bore no issue with fulfilling. It was also something Caspian didn't need to involve himself with. Cael didn't even know of this side quest with fear he would immediately protest it, which he would.

My goal was to inflict as much damage as quietly as we could, before we took our leave. I had no plans on returning to Sicoria after this for years, and the paranoia my infiltration would have on the Sicorian guards for years to come after this little visit, warmed my blackened heart to completion.

Their guards would more than likely be required to awaken even earlier for their patrol and there was just something so sweet about being the first thing on these bastards minds as soon as their duties required them to rise. It was so kind and thoughtful.

Caspian had no response to my answer. Instead he continued to trail closely behind me as I led us even further into the city. We had made a few circles which Caspian still didn't speak a word about, yet given the unsettling silence that fell between us, I had no doubt I wouldn't hear another word from him unless something or someone was burning.

Hell, I myself didn't know what to say to him.  I didn't quite know what to make of his sudden arousal, and I found it even more challenging to move past it when he wore it with enough embarrassment to make his once pale stricken face, as vibrant as a ripely picked tomato.

With the hood of his cloak pulled forward as far as possible to the point where he could barely still see, even his chin was a vibrant shade of red. I noticed when I turned back slightly to make sure he was still following me. He was so silent, it was difficult to tell.

Luckily, once we passed by one of Sicoria's whorehouses, I realized exactly where we were. The questioning of where we were heading was building up with Caspian and I could feel it, which made this victory all the more rewarding. Finnik's pawn shop's store front appeared around the next corner we took, releasing a sigh of relief from me.

We'd finally made it. And just in time, I realized as the first vibrant rays of gold scattered across the dark blue sky. It was a beautiful sunrise, but they always were on the island of Sicoria. Such beauty wasted on men who couldn't recognize let alone appreciate the painting the sun painted for us unworthy pirates each morning.

Many things were wasted on this island.

Like oxygen, for example.

Regardless, that relief was treasured as my hands reached for the door handle to Finnik's shop.

It was the blanket of comfort and safety that I was all too willing to accept, not paying much regard for the difficult man that came with it.

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