It was a known fact that when you met your soul mate, your world would suddenly be bursting with color. Color was a mere concept to Onew and others like him. Everyone knew that the grass was green, the sky blue, the sun yellow, but only those who'd met their soul mate could truly understand what green was, or yellow, purple, red.

Onew didn't mind the varying shades of black, gray and white that made up his world. It was calm, monotonous and soothing to him. He always imagined colors would be very distracting, and distraction was something he didn't need any of. He had a crew to protect, ships to overtake, treasure to steal. He was the captain of The Jack Rat, a ship whose name was known all across the lands. He was feared, and no one dared, not even the King, to try and stop him.

When it came to stealing treasure and overtaking ships, he didn't usually kill if he didn't have to, he avoided hurting little children or innocent women, and he usually didn't steal from the poor ships and ports they came across. Growing up watching his father and the crew throw infants overboard, and force women into their quarters had been painful. It seemed unnecessarily cruel, and he vowed that when it was his time to captain the ship, that he would never do as his father had done.

That time came a lot sooner than he expected though, when his father was captured and killed. He was only 23, but he took up position as captain, and that's when everything started to change, that's when The Jack Rat became famous. Most of the crew was fired and in their place he hired men of honor, who could never throw an infant over board or force themselves on a woman.

If there was one thing that made Onew ruthless though, it was his unforgiving attitude. Those who dared steal from him were strung up and hung, or beheaded, or whatever it was Onew felt like that day. The same went for betrayers, spies, and anyone else who did wrong to him.

For three days now, the Jack Rat, had been docked at a Port known as Daegu. Onew and his crew spent much of their time drinking in the bar just down the street from the dock. The whole of Daegu knew who he was before they were even docked, and had all been very kind when he informed them that he wasn't intending to rob them. They just needed a place to rest.

On the fourth day, the tables were turned, and Taemin, Onew's first mate, came running into the bar. "Captain! Captain! There was a young man in your quarters, he was trying to rob you."

Onew stood up. "What?"

The rest of the crew glanced up at Taemin as well, anxious to hear more.

Taemin nodded. "He's been locked in the brig for now."

The bartender happened to overhear and walked over to them, drying a mug with a towel. "What? Do you know his name?"

Taemin scoffed. "Wouldn't give me a real name, just called himself Key,"

The bartender dropped the mug, the glass shattering into tiny shards when it hit the ground, and Onew and Taemin both glanced at him. "You know this kid?" Onew asked.

"Yes sir, he's only 17, an orphan. You have to let him go."

"I will not. He's practically a man, he's old enough to know better. He will be punished as I see fit."

"But-"

Onew glared at the bartender. "He will be punished as I see fit." He repeated sternly, "If you'd like to turn this into a fight, I'm sure my boys would be delighted." His crew men grinned and nodded their heads in agreement.

The bartender shook his head. "I...I don't want any trouble, it's just, he's a good boy, really he is, he just, doesn't think things through sometimes,"

"I've heard enough," Onew hissed, walking out the door his crew following behind him. "Taemin?"

"Yes sir?"

"I don't have time to deal with this little punk right now. Just string him up. We'll drop him tonight before we leave."

"Ay ay captain," Taemin ran ahead to go take care of the prisoner and Onew turned around to look at his crew.

"I want the rest of you to get to work, make sure we have restocked our supplies and are ready to raise anchor tonight."

"Ay ay captain," They all spoke in unison and then moved to fulfill their duties.

Onew smiled and headed to his quarters, deciding a nap sounded good.

Taemin climbed down into the brig, a length of rope and a knife in his hands. Key glanced up from his corner in the small cell when he heard footsteps. He crawled up to the cell door. "I'm sorry," He said, for what Taemin guessed was the fifth or sixth time.

"Yeah so I've heard," Taemin said, unlocking the small cell and pulling Key out by his hair. "Captain says you're to be strung up," He said, pulling Key's arms behind his back and tying the rope around his wrists. He cut the remainder of the rope off and the dropped to his knees to wrap the rope around the boy's ankles.

"Strung up?" Key repeated, fidgeting uncomfortably as the rope rubbed against his skin.

"Yup," Taemin stood back up and wrapped some of the leftover rope around his own throat, then held the other end above his head. He tilted his head to the side and made a gagging sound, then shut his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

"What?! No, wait. Come on. I was only going to take a few coins I swear."

"Not my call kid," Taemin said. "But hey you're kind of cute, maybe I can convince the captain to take the bag off your head before you're dropped and he'll wanna keep you,"

"You mean like," Key shuddered, "For some nasty old captain?"

Taemin laughed. "Captain's only 23, not that it matters. Don't think Captain would ever do that. He's never forced anyone, woman or man, into his quarters, and the crew is forbidden to do it as well."

Key's tone changed then. "So there's really no chance?" Key said, frowning.

Taemin shook his head. "Probably not, unless you have something you can offer him."

Key frowned and looked at his feet as Taemin pushed him back towards the cell, helping him to the ground so he didn't fall on his face. Taemin wasn't going to go against the captain, but Key was young, and he felt kind of bad, the least he could do was be kind to him during his last few hours. "I don't have any skills," Key mumbled.

Taemin frowned and relocked the cell. "Sorry kid," Key nodded. "I'll be back for you in a few hours. I'll try talking to the captain for you. Even if you don't have any skills, it doesn't take a genius to mop the decks or peel potatoes."

"Thank you," Key whispered.

Taemin nodded and gave Key a small smile before disappearing above deck.

"He's just a scared little kid captain, he was probably hungry, and just needed a few coins," Taemin insisted.

"A thief is a thief Taemin," Onew said, "He's no different from any others,"

"We could take him with us, put him to work. Punish him that way,"

"Taemin, I've made my decision." Onew hissed, loosing his patience with his first mate.

Taemin sighed. "At least take the bag off this kid's head before you drop him, let him apologize. Please captain?"

Onew groaned. "Fine fine. I won't drop him with the bag on,"

"thank you captain," Taemin smiled and bowed, then left the captain's quarters.

After dinner Taemin brought Key out, the bag in place over his head, and led him over to the mast, where a noose was already tied, and underneath it, on the ground, a tall box for the boy to stand on. Taemin could hear Key's soft crying through the fabric of the bag and he frowned. It sounded so pathetic.

Onew sighed, looking bored. "Let's see the face of the little thief before we drop him."

Taemin lifted the bag off of Key's head and when Onew locked eyes with the boy, they both cursed at the same time. Suddenly the grays, the blacks, the whites, they were gone, replaced with the colors he'd heard of but could never understand. The yellow of the artificial light, the cherry red of his vest, the green of Taemin's shirt.

Key was equally overwhelmed as a plethora of colors appeared in his blurry vision. "holy ," he whispered. He was an uneducated orphan but he still knew what that meant. The captain was his soul mate. But this was good, you had to be out of your mind to murder your own soul mate.

"S-string him up," Onew said, the waver in his voice noticeable to everyone within earshot.

Key's eyes widened in shock and Taemin sighed sadly and helped Key to climb up on the box. "No! You can't!" Key yelled, as the noose was wrapped around his neck. "I know you see it too! You see the colors!"

Taemin reached back to pull the noose away. "colors?"

Key nodded. "He has to see it too! You do, don't you!?"

"A thief is a thief!" Onew said again, "and needs to be punished."

"Captain!" Taemin started. "He's your mate, you can't be serious!" He climbed off the box and helped Key down as well. "You can't string up your mate,"

"Taemin," Onew said, the warning tone in his voice clear.

Taemin shook his head. "I'm sorry Captain, I won't do it, and you shouldn't either,"

Onew groaned. No amount of arguing would change Taemin's mind, and they had been best friends since they were children, he couldn't punish him for disobeying. "Fine, take him to my quarters, leave him tied though, and make sure he can't escape,"

"Ay ay captain," Taemin said with a smile, as he led Key to the Captain's quarters.

Onew sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. The dirty little thief was his soul mate. One of his crew members walked up to him. "Captain, I don't mean to be disrespectful or put my nose where it doesn't belong but, we're thieves too so, is it really that bad if your mate is a thief? Kinda makes sense if you ask me."

"But no one steals from me. No one!"

The crew man smirked. "Well maybe that means something, eh captain?" He nudged Onew with his elbow before wandering off. Onew groaned and headed to his quarters.

He opened the door and walked in, shutting the door behind him. The light shining from the chandelier was dim, but not so dim that Onew couldn't see Key sitting on the floor, his hands still tied behind his back and his ankles still tied. Onew walked over to him and bent down. He pulled his dagger from his boot and cut off the rope from around Key's ankles, then returned the dagger back to its place. He stood up and walked behind Key and bent down again, and grabbed the rope that binded his wrists, and with it, pulled Key to his feet. He pulled him over to his bed and pushed him to sit on the edge.

He stood above him and paced back and forth, humming in thought for a minute before stopping and staring at Key. "You can't be my soul mate. You're a dirty, uneducated, thieving little orphan."

Key rolled his eyes. "Okay, and by that logic, you can't be my soul mate because you're a thieving, stuck up with a bad hair cut."

"You shut your mouth," Onew hissed. "I can still kill you."

"You can't kill your soul mate."

In a flash, Onew's fingers were twisted in Key's dark hair, jerking his head back, with his dagger against Key's pale, slender throat. "Wanna bet?"

Key held his breath, his eyes wide. "N-no."

With careful pressure, Onew slid the blade across Key's throat, a thin line of blood following it. It was a shallow cut, nothing that would scar or threaten Key's life, but the orphan still gasped in a mix of surprise and pain and he tried to jerk his tied hands up to cover it.

"Soul mate or not," Onew started, grabbing a hold of Key's shirt and pulling it forward, using the bottom of it to wipe the blood off of his dagger. He released the cloth and then bent to put the dagger back in it's place, then straightened himself. "You're still gonna have to earn my trust."

Key nodded. "I understand," he said, watching as Onew turned and walked over to his vanity. He opened one of the small drawers and pulled out two pieces of fabric and grabbed a bottle off the top, then walked back over to Key. He set the fabric and the bottle on the bed and sat down next to Key. He picked up the wider, plainer cloth and pulled the cork out of the bottle. He held the fabric to the opening of the bottle and then tipped it upside down and then right side up. He put the cork back in the bottle and tossed it on the bed, then gently dabbed at the cut across Key's throat.

Key hissed softly as the alcohol met his wound and Onew shushed him. When Onew decided the cut had been cleaned well enough, he picked up the other piece of fabric. It was longer and much thinner than the other piece. It was much nicer as well, looking shiny, soft and regal. It was the color of the sky at night with metallic threads of what Key was sure was 'gold' sewed throughout it. Carefully, Onew wrapped it around his throat, as a makeshift bandage, and tied it loosely in a way that made it look as though he was wearing it for fashion.

"Thank you," Key whispered.

"Mhm,"

"Do you think I could have my hands back?" Key asked, wiggling his fingers.

"Are you going to have sticky fingers?" Onew asked, fiddling with the rope around Key's wrists.

"No, no, I won't steal anything I promise."

Onew nodded and pulled the dagger back out of his boot and cut the rope off of Key's wrists, then put the knife back as Key stretched his arms out. Onew reached out and took Key's hands in his, then gently rubbed over his wrists, that were rubbed raw by the rope. "Sorry,"

Key nodded, "It's alright." He said, watching as Onew released his wrists and walked over to his large oak bureau. He opened the bottom draw and pulled out a large bundle, then re closed the drawer. He set the bundle on the floor and picked up the thick blanket and unfolded it halfway, then laid it out on the floor. He unfolded the thinner blanket and laid it out on top of it. He went to his bed and tossed one of his pillows on the blankets.

"You can sleep there." Onew said, moving to hide behind the room divider in the corner to undress and put pajamas on. He came out from behind the divider dressed in satin pajamas the same color of the vest he had been wearing. "Tomorrow we will talk more, but for now, let's sleep,"

Key nodded and crawled into the pallet Onew had made for him. "Good night Onew,"

Onew hummed a reply and blew out the candles in the chandelier, and then carefully walked to his bed and climbed in. Tomorrow, life with his soul mate would truly begin.

                                                                                              THE END

I've felt really iffy about parts of this for a while, but I'm not sure what to do to make myself feel better about it, so I figured I might as well share it with everyone. So, feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading. :)