ignis | fire

When Princess Cirrus had not returned after an hour had passed, Rose began to panic. The maid tried to reassure herself, repeatedly mumbling that perhaps the princess was taking a slightly longer time to get back. After all, being late by 5 minutes wasn’t a big deal.

Eventually, 5 minutes turned into half an hour. Rose paced herself around the royal garden, praying that Cirrus would show up at any second. When an hour had passed, Rose concluded that something had happened to the princess. Any member of the royal family was constantly targeted by assassins, bandits, thieves, and pirates. Kidnapping a royal member meant having the ability to blackmail the King and Queen into coughing up a handsome ransom. Females of the royal family were of even higher value because of their ability to translate Coelum into English. Currently, only Queen Ciel and Princess Cirrus were fluent in the dead language.

But who could she tell? If she were to report the princess as having gone missing, everyone would figure out that she had a hand in helping her escape. Rose backed up against the wall and held a hand over her pounding heart.

I should have never let her go out! This is all my fault, Rose scolded herself, her chest filling with guilt and regret.

.::.        .::.        .::.

“Father, why must I remain in my room all day long?” an 8-year-old Cirrus looked up at King Solis with moist eyes. The young princess fought the urge to cry when he had informed her that she was to spend her days in her room studying Coelum with the Queen. “Cumulus gets to go out whenever he wants to.”

“Cirrus, I have reminded you countless times to call me King Solis or Your Majesty, have I not?” the ruler of Pileum sighed. Cirrus rubbed her eyes and nodded her head obediently.

“King Solis, why must I stay in my room all day?” she asked her father again.

“Child, you have a very important role. It will be your duty one day to continue the tradition of translating the ancient scriptures we have in our archives. This can only be done by you. You understand the value of this, correct?” replied King Solis in an informative tone.

“Yes,” the princess nodded dutifully and locked her fingers together in front of her body. Staring at the ground and twirling her left ankle, she then muttered, “But I don’t understand why Cumulus gets to go outside when I am to stay inside. It’s not very fair.”

“Once you begin learning Coelum,” the king began to explain. “You will be a very attractive target for pirates and bandits. For reasons that I am not sure of, there are other texts outside of the royal archives that have been written in Coelum. Since only Queen Ciel, and someday you, will be able to translate these texts, you may be kidnapped by those fiends because they want to understand the secrets that are contained in those documents.”

Cirrus gasped and brought both of her small hands over in terror. Her eyes widened with fear and anxiety began to well up within her chest. Noticing her daughter’s obvious distraught, the king added, “So now you see why you are to remain within the palace, correct? The palace is the safest place to be. Here, you will be free from harm.”

“… imbecile… used too much… overdose?”

“Here, you will be safe.”

Cirrus’s eyes shot open, and the first thing she noticed was that she was unable to move her arms or feet. She had been tied to a large tree trunk-like object. She looked around frantically, wondering where her current location was. When she heard the sound of seagulls, she knew she wasn’t near the palace anymore. Then, she heard the sound of waves and she instantly knew that she was on a ship.

But not any ship. Cirrus looked up, squinting her eyes to let them adjust to the brightness of the Sun. At the top of the tallest pillar on the ship was a black flag with the image of a flame drawn in white paint. She then recalled the image of flame-red hair from just before she had been rendered unconscious. Pirates, she thought to herself as fear began to well up within her.

“Hey, the princess is awake!” a man pointed out. He was a scrawny man with a hook as his right hand. “See, I told you I didn’t use too much of that chemical thing.”

“You had better hope so, else you’d be swimming with them fishes by now,” a burly man growled and spat on the deck. “Well hello your highness,” he said as he curtseyed before Cirrus as if to mock her.

Cirrus’s head pounded, and she instinctively tried to use her hands to rub her temples however, the ropes that bounded her wrists to the pillar restricted her from doing so. She groaned in pain and she felt her stomach growl in hunger. Given her current situation however, she lost all desire to eat.

“If you’re wondering where you are, let me tell you that you’re very far away from home,” the scrawny pirate snickered. “You ain’t going home.”

“Capt’n Ignis needs you to accomplish his goal,” the burly man added in.

From behind Cirrus, she heard the sounds of doors opening and footsteps approaching her. “I’ve been told the princess is awake,” a familiar deep voice said.

“Capt’n Ignis!” the burly man exclaimed and immediately saluted. “She just woke up.”

The figure walked into Cirrus’s vision. His striking red hair was the colour of fire, and his brown eyes were ignited with passion. “I believe I haven’t introduced myself to the princess yet,” he smirked amusingly. “My name is Chanyeol Ignis, captain of the Ignis pirates. You are mine now, Princess Cirrus.”

“What do you want with me?” Cirrus managed to cough out. felt incredibly dry, and it was only after she had said those words that she realized how thirsty she was.

Chanyeol let out a laugh, his deep voice resonating throughout the grand ship. “Oh, I think you know why I want you.”

He dug into his trench coat and pulled out a rolled piece of yellow paper. He unrolled it and showed its contents to Cirrus. Once unrolled, it was a large sheet of paper, whose worn out edges and fainted ink indicated it had been written long before their time. At first glance, it looked like any ordinary treasure map. There were drawings of islands she had never seen before, but unlike a typical treasure map, there was no outline of a route. Even from afar, Cirrus spotted a few characters that were not in English.

”This map here has some funny characters on it. No one knows what they mean, but you should, right?” Chnayeol asked as he shoved the old map into Cirrus’s face.

Coelum, Cirrus thought, trying to hide the shock in her face when she recognized the characters on the paper.

“There’s no route on it, but there are a bunch of sentences written in this foreign language. Females of the royal family of Pileum should be able to translate this, right?” Chanyeol asked, however his tone implied the question as more of a demand.

Beside her, the burly man unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards Cirrus’s neck. “Right, princess?” Chanyeol asked again. Cirrus nodded her head slowly, the cold metal of the sword rubbing against her neck. The burly pirate lifted his sword and sheathed it once again.

“Good, good. That’s what I wanted to hear,” Chanyeol grinned excitedly. “With this map and the princess of Pileum at my side, I shall find this treasure and become King of Pirates!”

Captain Ignis rolled the map up and tucked it back into his pocket. A quiet, rumbling sound could be heard coming from the captain, which escalated into a laugh that could be heard throughout the entire ship. The mere thought of the riches that would follow after becoming King of Pirates exhilarated the captain, stirring up emotions of desire and euphoria.

“I am in such a good mood that I think I will go take a nap,” Chanyeol announced after his laugher subdued. “Keep your eyes on the princess! She is to stay outside until the evening, where she will be transported into her cell. Do not feed her food or water for the time being.”

“Aye aye, capt’n Ignis,” the burly pirate responded. “But why shouldn’t we take her into the cell right now?”

“Are you questioning my decisions?” Chanyeol shot a menacing glare at the crewmate, who gulped and furiously shook his head. “We need to expose her to the heat to break her spirit. Then, she will obey my every command. Although, it seems like she is already rather obedient.”

Suho, save me, Cirrus said to herself, repeating the prayer over and over again.

.::.        .::.        .::.

When the Sun began to set and the colour of flames began to envelope the blue sky, a young man with an eyepatch over his left eye approached Cirrus. She looked at him through tired eyes and was only able to make out his black hair and lean physique. He walked behind her, brought out a small knife and began cutting away at the ropes that had bounded her to the pillar. The princess did not have the energy to fight back, so the young pirate was able to easily free her hands from the pillar, only to retie them together with another rope. He then proceeded to cut the ropes that tied her feet together. Finally, he cut the ropes that tied her waist to the pillar.

He pulled at her arm, lifting her body and making the princess stand on her feet. He slithered his arm around her waist and started walking forward, dragging her body with him. Cirrus trudged her feet, assuming that she would be transported to a prison cell.

Suddenly, Chanyeol ran out from the captain’s quarters with wide eyes and fear on his face. “Where? Where is it?!” he yelled. He looked around frantically, searching desperately.

“Where is what?” a crewmember approached the captain and asked.

“Capt’n Ignis!” the burly man who sat in the crow’s nest yelled from above. “There’s a-“

“The map!” Chanyeol roared in anger. “Which one of you scumbags took it? Who sneaked into the captain’s quarters?!”

“Capt’n!” the burly man shouted, finally catching Chanyeol’s attention.

“What?!” the furious captain yelled back.

“Ship at 2 o’clock, sir!” he replied.

Captain Ignis’s deep voice broke Cirrus out of her trance. It was then that she realized the pirate who was supposed to have taken her into her cell was walking towards the edge of the ship. She felt his grip on her waist tighten as he pulled her closer to him.

“Who the is it?” Chanyeol roared and stomped his foot on the ground.

The burly pirate searched for his telescope and pointed it in the direction of the fast approaching ship. His jaw dropped as he studied the jolly roger of the enemy’s ship. Then, in a shaky voice he announced, “The Lux Pirates! They’re approaching us at lightening speed!”

Chanyeol let out a beast-like roar and kicked a nearby wooden crate, breaking it and causing its contents to spill onto the deck. He then unsheathed his sword from his belt and pointed it to the sky. “Prepare for battle, men!”

The pirates on deck scrambled into position, each of them grabbing their own weapons. The burly pirate studied the movements of the crewmembers below him when he spotted the young pirate and the princess making their way to the edge of the ship. He yelled at the boy, “What are you doing? Bring the princess to the cell, boy!”

It all happened in a flash. The young pirate suddenly held Cirrus close so that her cheek was against his firm chest. The pair jumped up and onto the ledge of the ship, landing gracefully on the wide beam of wood. Cirrus looked up, just in time to witness the pirate rip off his eyepatch and use his free hand to smooth back his messy, black hair.

Chanyeol spun around to search for the princess. When his eyes landed on the young pirate, he became livid with anger. “Baekhyun!” he growled.

The young pirate smirked and chuckled. “You’re as dumb as ever, Chanyeol.”

“You- let go of the princess! Now!” Chanyeol ordered, stuttering. He had hoped his demand would sound stern, but his voice was laced with fear and resembled a desperate plea rather than an order.

Baekhyun clicked his tongue and waved a finger at him. “Are you sure you want me to just let go of the princess?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened even more. “Don’t tell me, you – you have th-the-“

Baekhyun reached into the back of his shirt and pulled out a familiar looking roll of paper. “I do believe you also mean this, correct?”

“The map!” Chanyeol yelled.

“You have such a large crew that you didn’t even notice me sneak my way in. But then again, you’ve always settled for quantity over quality,” Baekhyun laughed triumphantly. “And that’s what makes you dumb. You have to use this, fool.” He tapped the end of the rolled up map against his head and stared down at the red-haired captain.

“Get him! Get the map and the princess back!” Chanyeol ordered and raised his sword in Baekhyun’s direction. Chanyeol’s crew roared in response, raised their weapons and charged towards the pair.

Baekhyun’s identity reveal had stalled the crew just long enough for the Lux Pirates’ ship to position itself right beside the Ignis ship.  “Perhaps you should switch careers and become a gofer instead, Chanyeol. I'm sure you'd be a lot more successful,” Baekhyun laughed one last time before he jumped off the ledge.

A/N: So yeah, clearly Baekhyun and Chanyeol have some bad blood >.> I haven't really read many fics that have the two of them as mortal enemies, so I thought it'd be interesting to write about them in such a relationship. It's not because I dislike Chanbaek/Baekyeol lol in fact they're my favourite ship in EXO XD Do leave a comment, and subscribe/upvote! See ya'll in the next chapter.

\\ xoxo