Drift

Siren Song

Time rolled along steadily, like gentle waves under the Calling Siren.

While his chest wound healed for a second time, Captain Kyungsoo had been prevented from doing any hard work, which left the older man bored and restless wandering around the ship, or watching the ceiling in his quarters. Jongin could only really feel sorry for him, only able to watch as the others went about their usual routines of maintenance, navigating, watching out for other vessels.

Jongin would never admit it, but he went about his daily work assisting the rest of the crew only half-there, waiting for night time to join Kyungsoo in his quarters. To prevent any damage to his bandages, Kyungsoo slept without a shirt for the time being, something which Jongin secretly rather liked. Especially when his restless captain moved closer to him in the night to share idle kisses, wandering hands.

Kyungsoo was closer to him in the daytime now, too, hovering in areas of the ship Jongin was likely to be for lack of anything else to be doing. They didn’t do anything more than that, not publicly, and when Luhan first stumbled across the pair organising things in the hold (well, Jongin organising, Kyungsoo watching) he’d commented loudly that of course, Kyungsoo would want to be around the one who knew him best while he recovered.

But the mirth in Luhan’s eyes as he said so, the amusement in his voice made Jongin uncomfortable. Like damage control had already failed them.

If he knew anything, he certainly didn’t say so.

If not with Jongin or in his quarters, Captain Kyungsoo would usually be found on the deck, gazing out over the ocean with a wistful sadness on his face mixed in with what seemed like frustration. Yifan, armed with a telescope, would be beside him, awkwardly attempting to reassure him that any Sapphire vessels they passed were ones they’d seen before anyway. Jongin didn’t know how true this was, but Yifan did now appear to be in possession of the list of conquests Luhan, and before that Baekhyun, had been keeping so they didn’t waste time attacking the same ship twice.

It didn’t make Kyungsoo feel any better, though, watching so many ships with blue sails pass by.

So many ships with blue sails.

They may have been close to Sapphire Country (according to Sehun’s charts, Emerald Bay had been incredibly close, much to Jongin’s discomfort) but surely the country didn’t need quite so many ships out at once.

Jongin thought about it a lot.

“Thinking about lover boy?” Jongin froze, before trying to force himself to relax, lest he be seen. Zitao’s teasing hadn’t even been directed towards him, however, but instead to Sehun, who simply glared over his shoulder at both the medic and his fellow navigator.

“Wishing you were in his arms?” Luhan added with a chuckle.

“And so what if I am? He was a damn sight more handsome than you.”

Luhan draped himself over Zitao, sighing in mock sadness. “You cut me deep, Sehun. To think you used to fancy me!”

“I was young and foolish.” Sehun snapped as he leaned over the side of the Siren, watching another group of Sapphire ships vanish into the distance. Yifan had already confirmed that they didn’t want those ones either. “And besides, I’m thinking about the boats.”

“Me too.” Jongin’s comment wasn’t even heard, apparently.

“He worked in the docks in Emerald Bay, and he told me some interesting things.” Sehun paused when, in that moment, the rest of the crew arrived to join them on the decks; Minseok bearing fruit, Yifan bringing his telescope and Kyungsoo following Yifan, expression stony still. “Apparently in the bay they get Sapphire ships quite a lot, but never so much as they have recently. They’ve had dozens of Sapphire vessels in there every other day, bartering for all sorts. It’s a miracle we didn’t run into any sailors from there.”

“Odd. Why would they suddenly be going to the Emerald Bay so much?”

Trade. It’s always trade.” Jongin wasn’t really engaged in the conversation, instead watching the blue sky and deep, indigo waves as they went by. However he couldn’t miss the feeling of the entire crew’s eyes on him then, like he knew something they didn’t.

“Trade what? I’ve seen some of the treasures brought back from earlier raids, and there’s absolutely no consistency in what we seem to find.” Yifan frowned. “Jewellery from the Amethyst Kingdom, Ruby-made daggers, china and silks, what does the Sapphire Country even trade?”

“You’re the only one who’s ever been to Sapphire Country, Jongin.” Minseok nodded in agreement. “Do you know anything?”

And Jongin realised that he did know. He didn’t know that much, but he did know a little. A little he’d been told before ever taking to the ocean with his first cargo ship.

“What direction are the ships we attack usually heading?”

Luhan didn’t hesitate. “North.”

“No wonder we get so much variety – those ships are on return journeys.” The others just looked at Jongin curiously, waiting for him to go on. “Sapphire Country exports raw materials – metals, fuels, desirable woods for building with. It’s all they have. They trade them to other countries in return for anything they’ve got.”

“That makes sense, but why are so many in Emerald Bay?”

“Because Emerald Bay has more trade power than they do.” Sehun piped in – probably more valuable information from his lover in the bay. “Other countries will give them whatever they ask for in return for those famous medicines, you know. But the Emerald territories have almost no natural resources of their own, which is why they have to trade so closely with-”

“-Sapphire Country.” Kyungsoo nodded in understanding.

Jongin went on. “For them to be concentrating their trade on Emerald Bay right now, it means they must need supplies quickly, instead of taking the longer journeys to trade with other countries. Something’s going on…”

Everyone looked at Jongin again, and he tried desperately to think back to living in Sapphire Country. What could be happening, right now? Was there some kind of national holiday around this time? No…

He shook his head sadly.

“I…I’m sorry. I don’t know anything else.”

Minseok patted his shoulder comfortingly. “You’ve told us a lot. We’re going to have to keep watching out for Sapphire vessels.”

“We need to start engaging with them again. I’m perfectly capable.”

Jongin felt himself shrink several sizes when the crew finally stopped staring at him, their attention instead turning to Kyungsoo, who kept his focus on Minseok with a serious expression. He was stood a lot straighter than he had been in recent days, shoulders back and pose defiant. Though his bandages were visible through his shirt still, he was every bit the captain he was before.

The quartermaster seemed uneasy. “You’re still injured…fine. But you’re not being left alone. Zitao!” The medic stood up straight when his name was called. “Are you confident enough to protect the galley alone?”

Zitao nodded. “Yes, sir. I think.”

“Good. Captain, wherever you go on our next vessel, I will follow you.”

Kyungsoo’s expression was brighter than Jongin had seen for a long time. The mood on the ship lifted in that moment, as if it had put wind in the Siren’s very sails.

“Excellent. The next unfamiliar Sapphire ship we find, we board!”

 

Captain Kyungsoo kissed Jongin slowly that night, pressing close testingly before wincing and moving away again. It was still too soon for his injury.

“What if,” he whispered against Jongin’s neck, making the younger smile shyly in the darkness, “you were to be with me in our engagement instead?”

“Minseok is far more capable than I am, captain. He will keep you safe.”

“Sapphire sailors are little threat to us.”

“Says the man with his chest slashed open. I can’t very well kiss you like this if I don’t have you alive at the end of the day, you know.”

 

They engaged a ship just after the dawn, the next morning. The skies were grey and foreboding, the air damp with summer haze. Jongin felt a little breathless when Kyungsoo prepared to board, in his low-heeled boots and buttoned coat still stained with blood from the last time.

He gave no orders this time, but Minseok did, giving Zitao – armed with a stick in the galley – a pat on the shoulder and a small dagger before they left.

“We take no chances.” He held up his own sword, and Zitao did the same in return.

Luhan, too, gave the party his support before disappearing down to the hold to take up his position, amethyst-studded sword and a short length of metal chain out of place in his slender hands.

Kyungsoo’s grip on his sword was tight. Tighter than usual. Minseok smiled at him gently.

“I’ll protect you, Captain.”

The captain swallowed hard, watching as the blue-sailed ship drew ever nearer to them. Yifan grinned at Kyungsoo before leaving to get the weighted ropes.

“We’ll all protect you.”

 

When Jongin landed on the deck of the Sapphire vessel with a thud, that was where the similarities to the previous engagement ended. Captain Kyungsoo quickly vanished below the decks, with Minseok following behind, sword drawn. With Yifan dealing with a group of sailors on the other side of the deck, Jongin made his way to the first door he saw, waiting for Sehun to call over to him that he’d landed safely.

But Sehun didn’t call to him.

He screamed.

“Ah! They’re armed! These guys are armed!”

Jongin didn’t stop running towards the door, but he did look back over his shoulder briefly, in time with the sickening thwack of Sehun’s spiked club against his assailant’s shoulder. The Sapphire sailor fell to the floor, a sword dropping out of his hands and landing on the deck with a clang that rang too loudly in Jongin’s ears, sending a chill right through him.

Their opponents were armed.

Not all of them, luckily. The younger men, the new recruits, remained entirely defenceless as they patrolled the lower decks. Jongin didn’t even have to draw a weapon for the most part, as many of the men he found were surprisingly willing to be taken to the top decks without a fuss, provided they remained in one piece. It wasn’t too long before there were rough rows of hostages lining the top deck under Yifan’s watchful eye, a pile of discarded weaponry, mostly short swords of metal or wood, on the floor beside him.

“We’ve rounded up quite a few unarmed ones now.” Sehun wiped a cut on his forehead with the back of his hand, grimacing at the trail of blood it left. He waved his hand at a hostage bound on the floor by his feet. “The strongest ones have probably evaded us so far. Watch your back.”

And for the rest of the engagement, Jongin did just that, keeping a close eye on all sides as he continued to explore the lower decks of the Sapphire vessel in search of hostages, treasures. All was quiet by now, in the hold and in the galley, and it seemed in that moment that Jongin had no more work to do below the decks.

For a moment.

In a split second that really made Jongin wish he’d watched his back more closely, a sudden, sharp pain in his left shoulder and a blunt force pushed him to his knees. The top of his head thudded against the planked walls of the narrow hallway in which he had thought himself to be alone.

Wood. Jongin could feel wood. Wooden boards under his knees, against his head, resting on his shoulder in a shaky hand.

Turning his head to check the damage (and wincing at the blood that had begun to seep through the shoulder of his shirt) Jongin saw the tip of a somewhat dull wooden sword hovering in the air just above where it had hit him before. The wielder couldn’t seem to quite keep it still, the worn training weapon lightly bumping into Jongin’s cheek as his opponent spoke.

“G-get out, pirate! I can k-kill you if I must! I have a weapon!” The voice sounded like an older man, but his nervous pitch took years off him.

Jongin smirked gently, reaching for his own blade of metal.

“I have a better one.”

 

“Messy. Always so messy.” Zitao muttered as he mopped at Jongin’s shoulder with a nasty, stinging concoction from one of the bottles procured in Emerald Bay. It was a disconcerting yellow colour and hurt Jongin’s throat to breathe in, but he was distracted by Kyungsoo’s presence nearby.

Pirate or not, it was still rather awkward having no shirt on with the captain so close. At least Kyungsoo, thanks to Minseok’s protection, had left the engagement entirely unscathed.

“It wasn’t this ship either…but how odd that they should have been armed.” Captain Kyungsoo clucked his tongue, watching the waves even though the Sapphire ship had long since disappeared from view. “Didn’t you say that Sapphire Country has no army or navy, or other such arms?”

“Yes. They’ve been in peace for years, so it’s strange for them to suddenly arm the-ah!”

“Stop wriggling. I swear you have too much blood in you, Jongin. Every time you so much as prick your finger it never stops.” The medic continued his work, paying Jongin and his complaints little mind.

“They were useless with the weapons they had, though.” Yifan mused. He was digging through the pile of weaponry they had seized from the Sapphire ship – almost all of it brand new and gleaming, with a few wooden training swords tossed in the mix as well. Almost all of them, strangely, bore shining red gems. “These have to be new. Ruby-made – can’t get finer swords anywhere else.”

Luhan, too, was busying himself trying to fix Sehun’s hair away from his face to prevent any getting caught in his forehead wound as it healed over. “We have been attacking Sapphire Country’s ships for years. Perhaps they’re finally fighting back against us?”

“Can’t be it.” The captain shook his head and stood, going to join Yifan with the weapons pile in search of things they could use for themselves. He quirked a brow as he inspected the dazzling array of swords, daggers and knives in perfect condition. “Even the sailors holding weapons were completely useless at using them. If they were supposed to be defending their supplies against us, don’t you think they would have been trained, first? Even we chose to train Zitao in combat before leaving Opal Coast.”

The Zitao in question didn’t even hear his name being said; too busy frowning at Jongin’s shoulder as blood continued to seep out. With a defeated sigh, the medic began to wrap bandages around the wound, thicker and thicker as red patches determinedly showed through each layer.

Jongin thought carefully as he watched the layers of bandage going around and around in a steady rhythm. Nobody Jongin had come up against on that ship had been particularly dangerous, save for the one nervous older man who took him by surprise, and even then he had been clearly uncomfortable with so much as a wooden training sword in his hand. Nothing on the ship itself had been of any notable value, either – nothing more than the usual fare of pretty gemstones, silks and small art pieces.

The Sapphire sailors had obviously only just been given their weapons. But why did they need them so urgently that they forewent so much as basic training?

Indeed, Sehun had even recounted bumping into one man who couldn’t even hold his sword properly.

“We can’t make any judgements until we encounter some more ships.” Minseok stood by the captain, arms folded. He joined Kyungsoo in gazing out over the waves, which slowly blackened in the orange sunset. “But we can definitely be sure that something in Sapphire Country has changed. Until our next engagement, we can’t be certain.”

Jongin wanted to join the chorus of agreement, but his voice only came out as a pained whine as Zitao applied pressure to his shoulder wound.

 

The next few engagements were exactly the same.

They had drifted further from Sapphire Country now, but the ships still crossed their path with surprising frequency. Every last one was the same – incompetent sailors waving weaponry they hadn’t a clue how to use, apparently defending nothing of more significant worth than a typical ship’s worth of cargo.

And none of them got Captain Kyungsoo any closer to finding his prize.

Of course, every ship encountered was another name to cross off the list, but it certainly didn’t feel any less futile when, after several days of battle after battle, the hold grew ever fuller and the list ever longer with seemingly no end in sight. That, and Jongin’s collection of cuts and scrapes was getting to be quite the colourful one by now. Perhaps it was his age, or perhaps he was visibly inexperienced, but something made the Sapphire sailors keen to challenge him, anyway.

“Perhaps Minseok should be protecting you, instead.” Kyungsoo would murmur under the cover of darkness, trailing his fingertips of the bandages on Jongin’s shoulder, bandages down his arms, bandages over his stomach. Jongin was probably wearing a large proportion of Zitao’s entire supply by now, but when Kyungsoo fussed over him like this, he found himself rather unable to even think about Zitao. Or anyone other than the captain.

His distractedness extended into the daytime, too, in the times without any blue sails on the horizon. His thoughts would often wander back onto the captain at all times of day, but fortunately for Jongin, his crewmates had a far more interesting target for their teasing.

“Sehun is having dinner in the lookout tonight, apparently.” Minseok shrugged one evening as he handed plates to the rest of the crew. “I think he’s feeling a little victimised.”

Luhan just laughed. “Can you blame us? He’s still hopelessly fawning over that Emerald boy! You know as well as the rest of us that nobody keeps his interest for very long. I dare say he might actually be serious about this one.”

“I think it’s cute.” Was Yifan’s input through a mouthful of vegetables. Kyungsoo remained entirely silent on the matter, and Jongin decided it would be best to do the same as Luhan continued to chatter.

But it was too much to resist heading for the lookout after dinner was over, narrowly avoiding knocking Sehun’s plate down onto the deck as he clambered up.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Awkward silence, punctuated by the gentle laps of ocean waves against the hull of the Calling Siren. The navigator huddled into a ball, long limbs drawn in close, and looked up at the stars.

“Here to make fun of me?”

“No…” Jongin paused. He wasn’t really sure why he was there. “Just…here to chat.”

Sehun paused, before sighing deeply. “You’re definitely not here to make fun of me? About him?”

“Definitely.”

Another sigh, but Sehun did move up a little to allow Jongin to sit beside him. The two teenagers sat together in another long silence, but less uncomfortable than the first. The wind whistled softly around them, through their hair, causing the loose fabric of Jongin’s (new) shirt to rustle quietly.

Sehun tapped a slow rhythm against the boards of the lookout.

“I…I don’t really know what to do about it. I feel differently about him to how I have with other people. A lot of the others, it was like they just flocked to me, you know?” Jongin had no idea, honestly. “But he…he was just so different. It was like we were both pursuing each other equally, push and pull. I can’t stop thinking about him now, either. Every time I close my eyes, I see his blonde hair or hear him laughing – his laugh is absolutely gorgeous, by the way – and I just…I don’t know what to do.”

Jongin found himself smiling, and gave a low whistle. “Sounds like you really are serious about him. The great Sehun, settling down at last?”

A distressed whine and a prod in the stomach from Sehun. “You said you wouldn’t make fun of me! Ugh, what do you even know about love, anyway?”

Jongin quietened.

He thought.

He thought about black hair. He thought about large, dark eyes. He thought about the light click of low-heeled boots.

“Not much.”

 

The next day was warm again, but a comfortable sort of warm instead of sticky, oppressive heat. The majority of the Siren’s crew were up on the top decks; eating fruit stolen from one of their recent targets and watching the clouds go by. Jongin sat beside Captain Kyungsoo, grinning a bit as the captain fiddled with his earrings. He couldn’t help but do the same with his own, humming tunelessly.

His tune was interrupted by a call from Luhan.

“Hey, look! That’s an Amethyst ship!” He yelled from above, on the ropes around halfway up to the lookout. Sure enough, an enormous ship sailed by on the horizon, deep purple sails proudly leading the vessel on its way and gorgeous flags flying from the back. As the ship telescope was passed around, Jongin could tell it really was a beautiful ship. When he had his turn with the telescope, he could see ornate carvings covering most of the boat, and a few officers in smart uniforms (from what he could tell, anyway) patrolling the decks.

“Should we attack?” Zitao clambered up the ropes to get a better view, as well as to return the telescope to Luhan. “You did say they have a lot of treasure.”

But surprisingly, Luhan shook his head. He did so again when he got a proper look through the telescope. “No. That ship is huge; it’s going to be armed to the teeth no matter what’s on board. It wouldn’t be worth it. It looks almost like the royal family’s ship!”

Kyungsoo frowned. “Definitely not worth it. Unlike Sapphire Country, the Amethyst Kingdom actually bothers to combat train its sailors before sending them on voyages, especially if they’re accompanying someone as important as Luhan says.”

“Maybe another Amethyst ship would be good for raising morale, but it’s too dangerous to go for this one.” Minseok agreed, and that was that.

Oddly, that was the last ship anybody saw from the Calling Siren for a while. Though even further from Sapphire Country now, it was unusual for the waters to be quite so empty, considering how much the country had to rely on its trade ships.

The temperature peaked, then slowly dropped again without incident. Dawn turned to noon turned to dusk, and before long the first hints of orange began to tint the sky.

A thud as Luhan leapt from his position on the ropes.

“Captain! Captain, it’s a Sapphire ship!” He waved the telescope, as well as the small sheet of paper on which their prior conquests were recorded. Apparently Yifan must have given it to him at some point. “The name is Oberon. We’ve not boarded her yet, have we?”

Kyungsoo didn’t even need to check the list, standing up immediately. “We haven’t. Looks like we still have time to make something out of today.”

“I must warn you captain – she looks pretty small. Is it worth the effort?”

Every Sapphire vessel will be taken apart plank-by-plank until we find the one we need.” His tone was stern, and had every single member of the Siren’s crew sprinting to take up their weapons and man their positions without any further instruction.

Only Jongin lingered a while, taking his time before heading down to find his sword.

Somehow, it seemed like the tiny blue-sailed ship heading their way was going to hold more than just gems and silks.

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LalaLuhanne
Chapter 22 and Epilogue UP!! SS is COMPLETE

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lilthsua #1
Chapter 23: Hello can I translate it?
lilthsua #2
Chapter 23: Hello can I translate it?
ryujinsnose #3
Chapter 11: insane
ryujinsnose #4
Chapter 2: AAAAAAAAAA
givemebiscuits #5
Chapter 23: Re-reading this masterpiece in this trying times 🍪❤
shonwanigop
#6
💙
INFTJazm
#7
Chapter 23: WAAAAAAAHHHHHH
INFTJazm
#8
who was the red haired boy is it taemin :((((
INFTJazm
#9
Chapter 16: damn for a moment i forgot this might actually be a romantic story HAHAHAHAHA GOOD PLOT I SWEAR
ByunDal #10
Chapter 23: I hope to see more of your writing