Kyungsoo crossed his arms and scowled, "This just means we're going off to nowhere again right?" "We have to go. Otherwise we'll be killed." Junmyeon insisted. All of them looked at each other. An understanding passed through all of them. Jongin slowly nodded and said, "Alright. What do we do?" They looked at the captain.

Junmyeon gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and started racking his brains. "Yixing, Kris, Zitao go get all the ammunition and supplies to our ship first." The doctor nodded and rushed off into one of the rooms, while Kris dashed to the opposite wall, picking off swords. He looked at Kyungsoo, Luhan Baekhyun and Chanyeol, "You four go get the books and maps of Asia. And find some information on the Phoenix's Heart." 

"Sehun, Minseok, Jongin and I will go after Jongdae. He's in very deep danger." Minseok nodded his head readily. Some part of him never felt so eager before. Maybe it was the eagerness to beat up Dark Seas. He walked quickly to the weaponry and nearly got dismembered by a flying axe. It lodged itself into the wooden walls next to Minseok, sending splinters spraying everywhere.

Minseok glared at the culprit. Sehun gave him a sorry grin. "Do you hate me or something?" he asked, walking to the neatly arranged row of swords. The room was dark only lit by a single torch. Sehun replied, "No." And a slicing sound of metal filled the room. "But I miss this baby. He's awesome. My first weapon that I killed someone with." Minseok nodded disinterestedly as he picked up a sword from the rack. No, this won't do. he thought and put it back into it's place.

A sword with a gleaming silver hilt caught his eye. Lifting it, he balanced the weight in his hand and complained aloud, "At least you still got your favourite weapon around. The stupid maffia broke mine." Sehun did a spin with the axe on his wrist. He then walked over and patted Minsoek on the back. "But you know what? Maybe this time something else can replace that sword." Shrugging, Minseok walked out of the musty old room, only to hear the loud crack of a pistol. The bullet lodged itself in the wall on the far side. 

Everyone stared at Yifan. "Uh... Hi?" he asked sheepishly. Junmyeon picked the pistol out of the first mate's hand, saying, "Bullets are precious. Don't waste them." He slotted it in his leather holster and said loudly, "Okay! Get going! No time to waste!"

------

Zitao yawned while they ran in the shadows of the shutters. The sound of metal clanking against each other reverberated around the streets. This was not good that he had been woken up from his sleep, but, nothing new. He had been woken up in the dead middle of the night a few times before, and those times the place around them was on fire. Thus, this was counted as nothing.

"Shh. Keep quiet!" Yifan hissed while running. They reached a corner and Yixing rested against the sooty walls, panting like a dog. Yifan looked around the corner and cocked his head forward as a sign. With that, they turned the corner, starting to sprint again. Zitao cursed silently dragging his bundle of swords behind him with a single rope. The sun was beating down mercilessly, not giving them a quick escape. 

"Where's the ship?" Yixing huffed, trying to get the bowstring around his neck out of his face. "The coast of Dong Yang and it's near. The smell of the sea is present." Yifan replied. Zitao nodded and his mind drifted to his brothers who were living in the district next to Dong Yang. Gosh.. When was the last time he had seen them? A ball of guilt developed in his throat. He was shaken out of his trance when he hit into a wall called Wu Yifan and nearly impaled himself with the bundle of swords. "The hell? Wu Yifan!" he yelled impatiently.

Yixing covered his mouth tightly with his hand. "Mmmm mpffffff." Zitao tried in vain to remove the elder's hand but it was clamped like a lock. The sea wind was blowing strongly now, bringing along the taste of salt from the sea. They were near. "Keep quiet." Yixing told him quietly. For a moment, all Zitao could hear was their heavy breathing and the howling of the wind. Yixing pushed him out of the shadows and said, "Look."

He craned his neck and squinted at the coast. Sure enough, their ship was bobbing up and down in its rugged splendor. However, there were figures dressed in red marching around the coast. Zitao cursed and bit his lower lip, "British? What are they doing here?" Yifan didn't respond, though he looked like he was listening to something.

"Is this the damned pirates' ship?"

"Aye. This is."

"Well then. Check it. But don't touch anything. We'll take them by surprise."

Zitao's heart started thumping wildly. All three looked at at each other in despair. How were the rest going to know? 

------

Kyungsoo threw down a book in frustration. "These books link from nowhere to nowhere!" He picked another book off the wooden shelf and began flipping through it. Hurriedly thumbing down the image of a map, he asked Luhan, "Any luck?" His friend shook his head impatiently, replying, "So far, the only thing I've confirmed is that there is a jewel called Phoenix's Heart. According to Chinese legends, it was a gift sent by the Heavens to the bravest people. As we know very well, the British must have been itchy-handed again and stole it from China. So now, it is lost."

"Then why don't you read up on the Chinese legends? You can read Chinese right?"

"Yes. I can."

Kyungsoo walked over to Luhan's side and peeked over his shoulder. "Hold up the light. I can't see." Luhan ordered. Kyungsoo did as he said, but he urged quietly, "You know, we broke into the Imperial Library. We're going to die if anyone sees us." Luhan tutted, saying, "Come on, we've raided the Chinese Imperial ships before. This is nothing-"

Luhan's eyes widened. "What what?" Kyungsoo asked eagerly. Luhan opened the book he was holding wider, and read the Chinese characters off the yellowed pages.

"Phoenix's Heart, the Jewel of the Sea,

One that belongs to the bravest.

The sprays of water, against the ship of black and white,

To the way of the darkest port, an equavalent of the souls of the ship.

Leading the way, a weapon of courage and a spirit of togetherness."

They looked at each other. "Is this freaking black magic?" Kyungsoo asked. Luhan shrugged and tucked the book beneath his cloak, "Our ship is black and white. But it's better than nothing." Kyungsoo nodded agreeably. "And take those maps along. We'll need it." Quickly rolling the scrolls up, they placed them onto a large cotton cloth before wrapping them up.

"Eh? I thought we blew out all the torches last night?" a gruff voice mumbled. Kyungsoo almost thought his blood froze. There was a shuffling of heavy weapons coming towards them. Another voice said, "Maybe the librarian forgot." "Yeah she's a dimwit," a third person replied. Three. They could do it. Just then, the doors opened again, and the sounds of a few more men entered. "Men. Troops are assembling. The British are here." 

Another surprise. Luhan clasped his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from shouting. The British?! "Yes sir. Let's just blow out that torch. Her Highness does not like resources to be wasted." "Alright." And the whole group walked in their direction. Kyungsoo whispered, "Behind the shelf." Luhan nodded and ran silently to the dark corner of the library, with Kyungsoo following. 

Kyungsoo almost thought that his heart would jump out of his mouth. His fingers curled around the hilt of his sword while Luhan was nervously thumbing the bowstring of his bow. The soldiers walked past and looked at the torch. Through the small gap, both of them peeked out.

"Eh. Looks quite recent."

"Whatever. Just blow it out."

"Men. Look."

All of them looked up at the ceiling. A large hole was there. Kyungsoo smiled. "Seems like a stone was thrown in." Luhan looked at the large rock beside his feet and blinked. "Come let's go," the captain ordered. And the whole lot of them walked away grousily. "Let's go too." Kyungsoo said. Luhan nodded and hefted the rope in his hand. Flinging it, the rope latched on onto the metal railing of  the ceiling. Luhan tugged it to make sure the knot was secure. He gave Kyungsoo the thumbs up sign.

Discreetly, the pulled themselves up to the hole in the ceiling. Kyungsoo looked down and cursed. The soldiers were still hanging around in the library. "You all heard that the British came because Shadow is back in Korea?" one of them asked while they walked. The two of them stopped climbing.

"They set fire on my village."

"They defied the British."

"My family was almost killed."

"But they are mad geniuses."

All of the soldiers looked at the guy in utter loathe. "You are fortunate that the Emperor did not hear that," the captain hissed. Kyungsoo knudged Luhan's foot to tell him to continue moving. "Hurry!" he said anxiously. "Is it just me, or that there are shadows on the floor?" 

"Hey! They're escaping!" one of them yelled suddenly. Kyungsoo shouted in a frenzy, "Luhan you freaking idiot! HURRY!" The two of them clambered up the rope in a hurry. "Guards! Go inform the gates!" "Aye sir!" 

"Pirates escaping! Close the gates!"

"Close the gates! Close the gates!"

Kyungsoo felt the rope tugging beneath him and looked down. A few soldiers were climbing up the rope as well. "Darn it!" Luhan cursed. But the heavy suits of metal weren't made for rope climbing. The soldiers were yelling and muttering curses to each other all the time. Kyungsoo and Luhan quickly made their way up to the hole in the roof. Swiftly taking out his knife, Kyungsoo sliced the rope and dashed off down the roof, leaving a loud roar of anger behind them.

"Pirates! Catch them!"

A whole troop of soldiers ran towards the gate and some ran below building they were running on. A few arrows shot through the air but both of them ducked. "Hey!" Luhan yelled indignantly and took out his bow. Notching a few arrows at once, he released them and the arrows shot directly at the soldiers while running. An arrow impaled itself into a soldier's calf. 

Once, Kyungsoo lost his footing. It was not easy, because the roof tiles were extremely slippery under his boots.

"Hurry! Catch them!"

They neared the end of the building. "Jump?" "Jump!" They joined hands and the bounded off the end, making it over the gates. 

------

"Pirates in the Imperial Palace! Please keep safe!" a soldier shouted through the streets. Junmyeon's head snapped up. "Luhan and Kyungsoo!" Sehun said, shaking his head. "What did they do now?!" Minseok didn't bother, because he knew the two of them could slip out of any trouble. His eyes skipped from person to person. Then he saw Jongdae. The guy was sitting at a corner, staring blankly at his sword. 

"He's there," Minseok said. The four of them rushed to towards Jongdae. Suddenly, a spear crossed in front of their faces. People screamed. "Where do you think you're going?" a voice asked angrily. Yesung. Minseok drew his sword and smacked the spear away, before pointing it at the intruder's face, "Get away from Jongdae." Yesung pushed the tip of the sword away from his face and laughed, "What's it Shadow? You can't win everything." 

"It's too late." "What do you mean?" Sehun growled, taking out his axe. More villagers screamed in terror. It's golden rimmed blade gimmered uner the sun. Minseok spotted Eunhyuk and Leeteuk walking towards Jongdae. He saw three more members walking behind them, one of uncovered a dagger, and raised it behind Jongin. "Jongin!" he yelled. The guy turned around and drew his sword. The blow hit the knife straight off his hand.

Then everything was a blurr. Sehun became a mad fighter, swinging his axe expertly. The rest began attacking Dark Seas. Minseok wasted no time and dashed towards Jongdae. "Yah! Jongdae!" he yelled, "Watch out!" The guy's eyes widened in terror. Quickly standing up, his sword blurred as it swung to the left. A loud clanging sound came from the contact between the two swords. It was Leeteuk.

Minseok jumped in before Eunhyuk could impale Jongdae on the right. Moving swiftly, he rolled on his back and blocked the blow. He then stepped on Eunhyuk's foot, causing him to yell in pain and fall onto the floor. Jongdae flung his arms outwards and Leeteuk's sword flew away, sinking into the sand. They moved backwards, standing back to back. "Thanks." Jongdae breathed, holding his sword out. Minseok retorted, "You didn't thank me for saving you the last time."

They backed together to the rest of them. The whole of Dark Seas surrounded them. The entire place had been cleared of people. "They're hard to beat as a whole." Jongin muttered. "We shouldn't have split up in the first place." "Yeah. We need Kyungsoo's crazy escape plans which happen to succeed everytime and Yifan's amazing gun skills."

Leeteuk smirked, waving his sword around, "Can't fight without the rest of them? You're just losers." "No we're not!" Sehun spat furiously, "You are." He lunged at the captain but Junmyeon held him back. The other pirates snickered. "Which plan to do now?" Jongdae asked. Jongin cocked his head up in surprise, "How do you know it?" "I've been fighting off people my entire life, please. So fight, or flight?"

A bead of sweat trickled down Junmyeon's forehead. "I think they're coming..." he muttered subconsciously, eyeing Dark Seas suspiciously. "Who?" all the rest asked in chorus. A series of surprised yells and cries came from the other end of the street, ensued by a loud rumbling sound. Minseok smiled when he got what the captain meant. "Move to the side!" he yelled and jumped to the other side. Just in time. A bullock cart thundered by and a knife flew out from it, sinking into Leeteuk's thigh. "Ha! Take that!" a familiar voice yelled, and a rope came flinging out from the cart. 

Fortunately, all of them fell onto the floor before the ropes lashed them together. The surprised Dark Seas members found themselves tied together in a second. Minseok grinned madly. Kyungsoo's hair had suspicious bits of meat and grass in them and Luhan's arms were badly cut and bleeding, but the crazed light in his eyes gave no sign that he was in pain (or even the knowlege that he was hurt). 

"Heeeeelloooooo." Luhan yelled, pulling the reins for the horses, stopping the cart. Kyungsoo sat dangerously on the side of the cart, with a leg up. Junmyeon ran up to them and asked, "Got the books?" Kyungsoo raised up a white sack, "All inside." "Let us go!" some members spat from the floor. Luhan just cooed, "Aww... Need help? Never!" 

Kyungsoo's eyes widened suddenly and said, "The British! They're here!" "What?!" All of them yelled in shock. Jongdae asked dumbly, "Why are they here? Britain is so damn far away." "Uh... Let's just take it that we're their number one enemies," Junmyeon explained. 

"What?! You didn't tell me you all were pirates!"

"It doesn't freaking matter now! Those guys on the floor want you killed!"

"Why?"

"You have something they want."

"Like what?"

"A treasure map?"

"What the heck?!"

Minseok glared at Jongdae, "Just come with us! Or you're freaking dead!" Jongdae looked like he was about to retort something, when shouting came from the other direction. Turning around, Minseok spotted Zitao leaping over a wooden table, frightening a poor boy. Minseok could only blink his eyes before realising that Yifan, Yixing and Zitao had tied the rest of Dark Seas up. Yifan rubbed his hands and grinned, "Business done."

"You're going to get it! I swear to the heavens! Kris!" Yesung shouted eyes burning with anger. Yixing rolled his eyes and chucked a roll of cloth into Yesung's mouth. "You talk too much." he declared, before standing with arms akimbo. Luhan shot him a weirded look, "Was that bandages?" Yixing smiled madly, "Well, yes. They're a good weapon." Let's just assume that Zhang Yixing was a mad doctor. 

"Guys. No time for talking. The British are here!" Yifan told them. Kyungsoo swung his feet from the cart like a kid and said, "A little too late." Luhan squinted his eyes and said a little too calmly, "The soldiers are coming after us. Like now." And he pointed to the end of the street. Sure enough, there was a commotion, and a troop of heavily armoured guys were running at them. "OH GREAT! LUHAN WARN US BEFORE HAND!" Jongdae shouted in panic.

Miseok patted his shoulder and replied, "You have lots to learn, dear sir." "Hurry climb on." Kyungsoo urged as he climbed onto the horse beside Luhan. The horses neighed and bucked. The bunch of them scrambled onto the cart in a rush. Once Jongdae was on, Minseok continued, "With us, we always get away. That's why we are Shadow." 

"Hold on tight!" Kyungsoo shouted over his shoulder, a smirk forming on his lips. "Hiya!" And the whole bullock cart jerked up as the horses sped away. "Hiya!" Junmyeon complained, "Do it Asian style please. I hate those cowboys." "Jia!" Luhan supplied, whipping the back of the horse with his rope. 

"That's Chinese!" Sehun retorted, his words nearly blown away by the wind. Jongin and Yixing looked like they were doing some meditation at the corner of the cart. "Do Korean!" Baekhyun said. Chanyeol nodded beside him. "Oh my god! When did you two appear?!" Junmyeon asked in shock, nearly falling off the cart, "I thought you two went missing again." "Then why did you not look for us? I'm so hurt." Chanyeol asked, placing his hand over his heart as if he had a heart attack.

Junmyeon sighed and shook his head. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo, Jongin and Sehun were still arguing about which Korean word was the equavalent of 'hiya'. Luhan pulled the reins to the left, causing the cart to turn violently on one side. All of them toppled onto each other. "Ow." "Park Chanyeol get your smelly feet off my face." "Darn it. Did we lose them?"

All of them looked back. The only thing that they left behind was a trail of dust. "We're safe." Then a gunshot sounded in the distance. The cart screeched again on a side. "They got us!" Jongdae yelled. "Don't worry, man. We got everything." Luhan replied, and pulled the reins to the right sharply into an alley. "We're taking a shortcut." 

Minseok looked at Jongdae. The guy's face was unusually calm although he was freaking out a second ago. His hand gripped tightly onto his sword. The sword seemed to be his best buddy. The bullock cart jerked suddenly and the horses neighed. "Whoa boy!" Kyungsoo cried in shock. "Keep going."

Jongdae could not believe his eyes. He finally saw the sea. It was dark and black, unfriendly, and a serene ship floated on the angry waves. The wood was painted black and white. Black sails, a guardian eye like a greek ship, but a carving of a lion's head with horns was at the front of the ship. Chinese dragons were carved onto the masts, glinting with flakes of gold. 

"You see our baby there? Be-au-ti-ful!" Chanyeol yelled excitedly. "Hiya!' Kyungsoo shouted, making them race towards the ship. The sand flew from the wheels of the cart and hooves of the horses. A bullet shot into the sand beside their cart. Yixing looked back and saw the soldiers chasing after them on horseback. "Zitao. Pass me the explosive arrow." he told the younger. Zitao looked at Yixing with his dark rimmed eyes and nodded.

Jongdae watched Yixing notch the arrow swiftly and saw it fly. The arrow exploded into flames once it hit the sand, causing the soldiers' horses to buck in a frenzy. One of them fell off his horse. Yixing let another arrow loose, and a larger fire burst upon contact. "Yah! Lay!" Yifan scolded.

"Jongin and Sehun can make new ones!"

"That explosive power is expensive! A small pouch of them cost me 30 gold coins!" 

"That's because it's from the Americas."

"Everyone just shut the up!" Junmyeon yelled in exasperation. Jongdae couldn't resist a smile. The sea breeze blew strongly against his clothes. The cart stopped just in front of the lapping waves. Everyone leapt off eagerly and ran towards the ship. Junmyeon was grinning wildly while he yelled, "Yeah! Baby! We're back!" Each of them grabbed a rope hanging from the ropes of the ship and climbed up.

As Jongdae watched them climb up the ship, he felt worried. He'd never left Korea before. Yet, on the first trip out, he was traveling with the infamous Shadow. He'd recognised Yifan through the many talks in the tavern, and their ninja, Tao. They looked so delighted to return to the sea, it was their homeland. "Your decision." a voice said behind him.

Jongdae stood in silence, looking at the horizon. Minseok walked up from behind him.

"I don't know."

"Hurry. You're going to get caught if you don't run now, or join us."

"Is it... Scary?"

"Scary? I've jumped into fire before, Jongdae. I survived. It's the experience that's special. Be part of us, we protect each other. We can give you a new family. I'll do my best."

Family. Jongdae's mind stung at that word. Family. 

"I'll go." Jongdae decided, looking into Minseok's eyes. "Really?" "I want to get out of this place." The guy beamed. Jongdae suddenly found his eye smile pretty cute. A gun shot sounded from behind them. Minseok grabbed his arm and ran towards the ship. "Catch them!" The cold waves lapped around their bare feet and Minseok's cape whipped around in the wind. Jongdae climbed up the sides of the ship nimbly and flung himself over the railing. 

Junmyeon slapped him on the shoulder, "Welcome." The moment Minseok reached the deck, the captain asked, "Wind direction?" "South-east, captain!" someone yelled back. "Raise the sails! Raise the sails!" Jongdae spotted Chanyeol clamber agilely to the top of a mast and untie a rope. The large black sails unfurled consecutively, revealing a symetrical pattern of the sun and moon emblazoned on it. 

"Baekhyun! Steer!" another command was shouted. The guy spun the wheel in a rapid movement and the ship jerked forward. The wind blew strongly against the sails and it moved forward smoothly and fast. "Boo ya!" Jongdae heard Jongin and Sehun taunting the soldiers. "Idiots! You never catch us!"  Chanyeol nosed into a sack of stuff sitting on the wooden floor. Baekhyun snatched it away. "Hey! What's that?"  Chanyeol pouted. "Some weapons." Baehyun replied with a grin. "Aww..." the giant complained.

"Nah I'm kidding! It's kimchi, for you." 

"What?! Really?" Chanyeol opened up the satchel and a smile made its way onto his face. "Oh my god! Thank you!" Chanyeol jumped and gave Baekhyun a back hug.

Jongdae leaned against the rim of the ship, feeling the fresh air course through his veins. He couldn't help but smile. Minseok joined him by the rim, looking at the horizon, as the sun was beginning to set. It coloured the sky in a palette of orange, red, and violet.

"Welcome to your new life."