Well well well, 3500 words.
Enjoy, m'loves!
I'll edit tomorrow cause I'm so tired I can't see straight lol
xoxo
P.S. I updated the playlist with the song I was listening to while writing, and added it above

Alistair

The enemy had finally spotted us, yet at that point, it had been too late.

For them at least.

And judging by the ear piercing cry that ran out through the darkened sky, whoever was in the crows nest of the soon to be boarded ship, had also reacted far too late. The scream turning to a gurgling noise, then eventual silence, let me know that Coop wasted little time killing the only man who would've been parallel to his sight up where he was perched. The man responsible for warning his crew of an enemy approaching, much like Coop was.

I hadn't approved of him taking to the same location he had been almost shot out of, and yet I also knew that Coop would somehow find a way to convince me. He was one of the few in my crew that harbored such leverage. He knew his importance on this ship, and more so, the importance of my rum.

To pull around the side and attach my ship to the enemies, I had to maneuver the tight turn we had just done that tipped us enough in its position for Coop to run across our perpendicular beams and onto the enemies.

In his hands he bore a coated rope, one he could use to quickly fasten us once our beams started to split straight through theirs. I could see the green sails that had now become infamous around these waters, merging with the blood red sails of our own. Somehow Jirah had managed to evade me and my men for many years, even with a vessel the size of this one.

But I knew a fair amount about this man. Of his ability to mask more than just his face. As did Cael.

When I entered my study this morning, Cael had something waiting for me that could possibly even the fairness of a fight when a trickster was afoot. Something that brought a sinister smile to my then tightly pressed lips.

Gaia had been a great help to my Navigator after all.

Once those two main beams made contact, Coop immediately released ropes down to the main deck, ropes that he himself had fastened to yet another horizontal wooden beam during the day in preparation for this.

The first two ropes tossed down from what looked like the heavens with the darkness that surrounded us, reached both Caspian and myself before it reached my first line of pirates. I took this as a sign, handing Caspian his own rope to hoist himself across with.

Imagine my fucking surprise when Caspian looked back at me with absolutely nothing but confusion. Not a thought behind those dead eyes. It took me a moment to realize that the last battle this man participated in took place on my own bloody ship. He'd probably never boarded one before.

The more complicated realization was that I didn't have the time to explain to Caspian how to board another ship.

Instead I found my right hand reaching for the waist of his black fitted trousers before yanking him towards me. In one fluid motion, my left hand grabbed hold of that textured rope while my right flushed Caspian's body right against mine as tight as I could. I wrapped that very same arm around his slender waist before I hoisted us up onto the edge of my ship, and jumped.

I was positive Caspian was spewing nothing but protests, yet as soon as our bodies were flown swiftly across the dark abyss below, the grip his own hands had on the front of my leather jacket became almost lethal. He didn't let go until I had safely landed us on the edge of Jirah's vessel, with both our feet planting firmly onto the plywood.

It was only then that I allowed myself to physically turn to him again. I wasn't sure what I expected, but once I released my hold on his waist, I noticed he didn't look nearly as angry as my expectations were preparing me for.

In fact, his almost startling ability to pivot himself practically immediately into an offense stance directly besides me, nearly threw my own battle orientated mind completely off course. If it wasn't for his metal daggers suddenly falling from his arms and straight into these floorboards, those familiar metal chains grinding against themselves at his will as they slid down his otherwise concealed arms, I would've almost forgot that the deafening scream that still ran through this ship only a moment ago.

The rest of Jirah's men would soon appear.

If my memory held true, the first few pirates who gathered their footing on the main deck from down below reminded me we were about to enter the heat of the battle. And once the first few pirates caught sight of just who it was that boarded their ship, all color soon left their face.

Well done, Cael, I thought to myself as I unsheathed my sword. He had earned his right not to lift a single sword tonight.

Caspian was even quicker with his daggers, sending them forward as about three of the seven pirates that first emerged, immediately charged. They soon realized that whatever power propelled the weapons attached to his arms, had no weakness. Caspian sent his dagger through the closest men, and I could do was watch as each man's chest was ripped completely open by their force.

I had almost forgotten the complete savagery Caspian's fighting style was capable of displaying, but the blood that spilled all over both himself and this deck quickly reminded me of that. However, regardless of how adept Caspian was proving to be tonight, I refused to let him have all the fun.

More pirates stormed up to the main deck from down below, their feet carrying heavy against the floorboards, yet as each pirate caught sight of Caspian, then myself, fear flashed across their faces immediately.

That didn't stop them from charging forward, one foot in front of another. The first pirate to make it past Caspian towards me did not have an ounce of confidence in him, and I knew that with how he held his sword out in front of him. It looked like he was praying, to which I immediately answered his wishes... by bringing him closer to his lord. The closest, dare I say, as my longer, sharper blade slashed across, cutting straight through both his sword and him.

I found no issue with sending every man on this wretched ship, back to their maker.

And when I felt the warmth of his blood splash against my face, it felt just as I expected. Marvelous.

Caspian cut the second man down before he could reach me, so I returned that thoughtful favor by drawing a dagger from my waist, and shooting it right past Caspian's face. The dagger cut through a man that had surprisingly drawn closer to Caspian than I thought to be possible, before it exited out the back of his head and pierced the next pirate directly behind him. Caspian turned in slight surprise to look at me, before giving me a small nod.

The screams of Jirah's men drowned out all other noise this night, and yet it felt like I could hear Caspian's steadying heart beat. His slow breathes. The terror etched into those cries only further solidified how off course we had thrown this crew with our surprise attack, and yet I barely register the noise.

Some men had barely gotten their boots on before they charged into this battle, yet Caspian and myself found ourselves next to each other, our backs facing as we managed to maintain a clear full view of every angle these men could approach with.

"Come on men! They cant kill us a-" the enemy's pirate had started to say, but Caspian launched a dagger forward, forcing his metal straight through, and shattering the man's skull. Whatever words that pirate said quickly turned to screams once Caspian recoiled that chain, taking with the dagger parts of his skull and brain. The remnants splashed across Caspian's own dark black collared jacket, a similar design to mine tonight, and something I had placed in his own amour from my collection. It was large on him, but not by much. I preferred it on him.

Caspian paid that mess no mind. Instead, he wiped the blade against the thick material, allowing what was left of that man to fall to the now blood red floorboards.

The pirate that made the foolish choice to charge me whilst I glanced back at Caspian, caught an upward swipe from my much sharper sword before I even looked at him, the force of my hand splitting him from his genitals up through to his stomach. He took maybe one or two more steps before he toppled over, joining the pile of bodies Caspian and myself were now creating.

And as even more of Jirah's men joined the main deck, I could see the men attempting to call upon any ounce of courage... But my men must've sensed it, because the next wave of my crew that landed on this deck, made the first few pirates near us who could see it, halt to a complete stop.

They were the only ones who hesitated, for my men sure hadn't. I watched Hobbs and Gilly pass by Caspian and myself, their quickness surprising even I, let alone their target, which was every man of Jirah's who dared to advance this deck next.

I felt the weight of Caspian against my back a moment, pulling my vision back behind my shoulder to catch just the last glimpse of Caspian's boot smashing straight through a pirate's head who had accidentally stumbled forward during his charge. If this bloodthirsty, dagger wielding man wasn't the embodiment of a nightmare before, the now crimson red soaked hair of his made him look like a creature of the night itself.  Something no natural mind could even conjure on paper.

And as his lips tugged up into that all too familiar smile... as did mine.

I hadn't noticed just that slight distraction until I felt a light slash on my my chest. Another pirate had managed to get close, surprisingly so, but that didn't matter. As this short yet bold pirate had attempted to bring that blade down again, my hand caught the sharpened edge with ease, before snapping it in half. And that was when whatever confidence the man once had, quickly died in those light brown eyes of his.

My empty left hand reached out, grabbing the man by his neck, and every other emotion in those eyes were now replaced by fear. I lifted this man up and watched as his hands now struggled against a grip he could never fight off.

Then I threw that same feeble body down, smashing his entire self through the main deck's floorboards, and watching as his body split against the wood before he fell straight through.

My vision slowly rose from the ground to the next pirate, but he began to slowly back away. The thing that stopped him completely, was the dagger connected to chain that shot right past the left side of my head, piercing this man straight through his throat. The man's eyes grew large in realization, but I felt what was coming next, and lifted my sword. Once his body was yanked forward by the metal chains, his neck now gushing with blood, my sword easily pierced through his upper chest as he was pulled right into it, and it shattered his chest cavity right open. I dislodged both our weapons from this soon to be dead man with a swift kick to his abdomen, sending him right through the hole I just created on this ship.

Snips was the next to board, and by then, the look etched into every one of Jirah's pirates faces was an understanding I was hoping we'd reach soon.

They were all damned.

The first pirates that tried to run towards the edge of the ship in an attempt to jump, were caught, each in succession by a dagger of Snips tunneling straight through the back of their heads. If only they had known how desperately Snips yearned for this very night. He had boarded the ship with a smile already on his face, which only struck more fear into a group of men that still had sleep in their eyes.

This was no longer a battle. It was a massacre.

And I was more than comfortable sending them all to hell.

Some men did make it over the side of the ship before my men could reach them, yet the sound of the men bleeding out after getting caught under my own ships rudders, only made Snips's intense smile widen.

The pirates that did make it past Hobbs and Gilly charged towards Caspian. I could see that they had all set their eyes on one man, trying to eliminate a pirate with weapons that operated regardless of the distance, but all it felt like was a lesson that needed to be learnt the more difficult way. I turned towards Caspian now who he, himself, had turned back to face his own opponents only moments after helping me eliminate some of mine.

I placed a hand on Caspian's shoulder which forced his gaze there, then at me, that beautiful smile only faltering slight as he glanced over at me, but I was just using that shoulder as an anchor for what I was to do next.

As I flipped my wrist, the sharp long curved blade turned away from the ships floor, and towards the direction of my enemies. The tip of my blade broke through the floorboards with ease, and using a great deal of force, something Caspian's body supported, I dragged my blade through the floor before forcing my wrist up.

The wood split without any hesitation with a sound damn near ear deafening, to which Caspian's gaze followed closely as the floor cut through the remaining men advancing us, some falling through the massive crack to a sure death.

The wood that shot up from the path I had torn through the ship, killed the remainder of Jirah's men still standing there almost immediately. More tried to take their chances with the sea, but my eyes caught a glimmer of a blade piercing down from the sky, then another, and another, before they each hit those remaining men with ease. Coop had started raining daggers down from his unseen post on one of our beams, killing what was left of these last men attempting to escape.

Bodies were in piles upon this deck that ran completely red now. The blood had started to pool as it overran, before flowing through the shattered floorboards to the chambers down below. As far as my eyes could see on this main deck, every man had either been removed from this earth by my men, or by the sea itself.

Hobbs and Gilly had already started to pile the dead bodies, signaling this fight was over, with Snips joining in by gathering the dead that never made it past the ledge to the sea.

I stepped forward, avoiding the damage I had done to the ship itself as I followed the trail of bodies towards the entrance to below the deck. The surprise I felt when I heard just one set of boots against the stairs leading up, didn't stop me from drawing my sword forward.

I was sure none had been left.

It was the cries of someone yelling "Wait! Stop! Our Captain isn't on board!" That further surprised me.

And those words made my sword halt for the first time since this ambush started. All I felt was my smile quickly fading. What the hell was with Captains sending their crew out without them? To do their bidding?

The man that emerged was scrawny, barely a man, let alone a pirate. He wore nothing but his nightwear, wielding no weapon in his bare boney hands. I could still see the sleep in those eyes.

"Please!" the young man with dark green irises pleaded to us, his desperate gaze holding my now very irritated one. "I can tell you where he is if that is who you're hunting.... Just please, no more bloodshed! We surrender!"

I looked around at all the dead men that surrounded my crew, questioning just who exactly was we. The man drew another few hesitant steps towards myself and Caspian, and I watched from the corner of my eye as Caspian shifted from behind me, more towards my side. He seemingly wanted to get a better look at the man.

When this final survivor diverted his gaze from mine, past mine, I saw something shift in him instantly. The fear on his face morphed first into that of confusion, then complete astonishment.

"You..." I heard him whisper to something past me. Rather, someone. "It can't-"

Just as I was turning to look back at Caspian, the man this pirate had so suddenly latched his gaze onto, something shot right past my eyes. It was so close, it almost slit my nose, but the accuracy Caspian had with these chained daggers wasn't something to question.

What was something to question was why one of those same daggers was now lodged directly through the small man's mouth. Seemingly the only man who could tell us where Jirah was in exchange for his life. A wager I truly had no intentions of upholding, but would entertain.

All I could do was watch as Caspian recoiled that metal chain. This smaller pirate had no chance surviving the gaping hole Caspian both created and left in his mouth, and all we heard was gurgling as blood filled his throat. His hands tried to reach behind him at the hole you could see the back of the ship through, and he attempted a few shaky steps forward before eventually collapsing to the ground.

My gaze then snapped to Caspian, ready to demand why the hell he had done that. To demand what it was that this man saw when his eyes landed on Caspian, yet all Caspian did as his response, was point to the collapsed body in front of us.

I looked back down myself at what was once a scrawny looking man, but he was that no longer, I was now staring at a man face down in a pool of his own blood, his stature much larger. Much like my men. As I crouched down, grabbing locks of the man's now golden hair to lift his face up, I dropped it immediately once I realized who this was.

Then I took a moment to access the situation as a whole, before my gaze shifted up to Caspian who was now finishing the concealment of his chains, pushing the daggers under his long sleeves.

"How did you..." I found my voice trailing off, to which Caspian looked over at me, took a few steps back, and then he turned around. He had started to move from dead pile to dead pile across the ship, picking up the lifeless mangled bodies with little care, before dropping them back into the piles created by my men.

When he had finally found who it was he was looking for, he glanced over at me, beckoning me towards him. I did my best to maneuver through around my own chaos wreaked on these now dismantled floorboards, before finally reaching where he stood towards the front edge of the ship.

I glanced down at the severed head Caspian was holding up, and though it took some effort to recognize the face covered in blood and other bodily parts, I saw what he too had seen at one point in this night. The face of a scrawny man that had no business being a pirate.

Then I glanced over at the man that still laid lifeless near the entrance to the lower chambers. The man that wasn't this man.

"I do not know much of Jirah's power, but I assume he can only take the face of a man his eyes have studied." Caspian explained, dropping the severed head back onto the pile of bodies. More blood dripped onto his now soaked jacket, but Caspian just did his best to dust off the pieces of wet flesh that accompanied it. "Intelligent really, taking the face of a seemingly disarmable pirate."

I watched as his blood coated hands pulled the strands clumped together by a tie, apart, in a hopes that it would tighten the bond the tie had on his hair. Many strands had come loose during the heat of the battle, and now I was finding myself preferring it this way.

"The only mistake was that he took the face of one of his."

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