Chapter Text
The child, now at an age where they don’t need a step stool to reach the hanging cupboards anymore, finds themself at the docks more often than not. Simply enjoying the peace of watching ships come and go.
On one particular day, they spotted something peculiar. A ship whose crew was decked out in black leather. And a captain who looked just as young as he did fearsome.
Wary whispers of the surrounding crowd reached the kid’s ears, along with a name.
Blackbeard.
The star-speckled night-sky blankets the deck of the Revenge, where the crew is sitting in a circle, listening to Black Pete spin tall tales about Blackbeard. Contrary to everyone else, Captain Bonnet hangs from his every word, eyes wide in awe.
“Wait, wait, so you're saying Blackbeard's head... is made of smoke?” he asks, more intrigued than unbelieving, if that bright-eyed smile is anything to go by. The rest of the crew looks at him with exasperated expressions, confused as to why he’s believing anything coming out of Pete’s mouth.
Roach looks bored out of his mind when he says “we’re not calling you Dread Black Pete.” Others nod in agreement. Sunny spots Buttons standing by the crew and frowns quizzically; just as they’re opening their mouth someone asks “Wait, who’s steering the ship?” As if on cue, the ship comes to an abrupt stop and the sailors are jostled by the impact.
Sunny silently curses the day they met the captain, wondering which God they angered and was punishing them in this absurd way, listlessly thumping the back of their skull against the wooden hull of the ship. Because for some reason, one beyond everyone else’s comprehension, Captain tries to push the ship back into the ocean with his bare hands. His expensive shoes dig into the sand as he does, the crew watching his struggle from the sidelines with obvious disinterest. “Did it move?”
“No, Cap’n.” Says Buttons, standing next to him with his hands behind his back. Sunny leans against the side of the ship, a few metres away, and cocks a brow. “None of the ships I’ve been on have run aground before, Cap.” They sigh and walk toward the men. “We could try using logs or something.”
They look at Buttons, who seems to be eyeing up the rest of the crew with a concerningly intense look on his face. “Just so we’re clear, don’t eat the crew.” They say in a stern voice, meeting his eyes and shaking their head in disapproval. He shakes his head as well and says “Of course not, not until… absolutely necessary.”
Bonnet swivels to look at him in alarm, his voice a tad uneasy. “It won’t be necessary.”
“Won’t be necessary.”
“No”
“Until it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Which it won’t be.”
“No.”
Sunny mutely looks between them and pinches the bridge of their nose. “Assemble the crew, Buttons. And please refrain from eating Luciu- You know what? I’m just gonna stick by him for a bit.” Their scuffed leather boots trudge through the sand as they towards the scribe, grumbling under their breath the entire way.
“As many of you have noticed, we have run aground… a little bit.” Is the deeply unhelpful start to Captain’s speech.
The crew stand closeby, a myriad of emotions on each of their faces, mostly boredom and annoyance. Sunny is placing their weight on one leg, the other one lazily grazing the sand with the weathered sole of their boot. Wee John props his head on his hand and asks “are we gonna have to eat each other?”
“Nope.” They say at the same time as Buttons responds, “Most likely, aye.”
The German glowers at the Scot in warning, crossing their arms and straightening their back. “We have plenty of rations, no need to worry.” They reassure the crew in a carefully calm voice, keeping a neutral look on their face.
Several sighs of relief can be heard from the crowd as well as from the Captain. He shoots them a grateful smile and continues. “I’d like to view this as a holiday of sorts! You know, a vacation.”
“What the hell's a vacation?” Roach asked. A few people looked towards Sunny for a possible explanation, but they could do nothing except shrug with a puzzled expression.
Captain goes on to explain that the crew is supposed to relax and take a breather while he tries to figure out how to free the ship, which works for a few moments until… “Captain!” The cook jogs towards Bonnet, looking out of breath.
“Roach.”
“Need some clarification, are the hostages also on vacation?”
Sunny, who was standing near-by, overhears the conversation and feels dread settle in their stomach. ‘Verdammte Scheiße…’ They curse in their head, taking a deep breath before leaving to gather the crew, again, for another emergency meeting.
“I'm forming a small search party to retrieve the hostages from their pee.” Captain Bonnet stands with his back straight, an admirably optimistic look on his face, Sunny reluctantly notes. Him, Oluwande and Pete group up to look for the Marines while the rest of the crew finds a way to entertain themselves.
Sunny decides to stick with Lucius and Buttons, fearing that the latter might eat the former after all. They watch Wee John and Frenchie blow up some random items with wary expressions while the first mate whittles a piece of driftwood. The German and the scribe flinch when a palm tree explodes behind them, yet Buttons seems unphased.
“Take a walk, Lucius.” Sunny tells the younger man with a sympathetic look, giving him a friendly pat on the back, staying next to the first mate as he keeps filing away at the driftwood. They tune out the Scott as he lists sea creatures, their blue eyes staring off into space. Out of nowhere, three dark figures come to a stop before them, making Sunny’s breath hitch and putting them on edge immediately.
“Hello, friends.” The smallest man speaks up, a tight smile on his face, his grey eyes brimming with barely concealed disdain. Both Revenge crew members eye the newcomers with apprehension. “I thought this isle were deserted.” Buttons says, tilting his chin up a little.
“It is, mostly.” The short man’s voice sounds unusual, strained yet weirdly relaxed at the same time. The other two, much taller pirates flanking him with serious faces, looming silently. They paint a strange picture, standing unflinchingly in the blazing sun while decked out in black leather. “We're merely humble wanderers passing through.”
Sunny exhales through their nose, the act dangerously close to a disbelieving snort, earning them a warning glare from the strangers. The brunette schools their expression, sitting up straighter in an attempt to appear more formidable than they feel.
The short one tilts his head with an inquisitive look on his face. “Is it just you then... in your party?”
“Of course not, there are plenty more in the jungle along with our captain.” Sunny lies through their teeth, their eyes taking in the men’s appearance, unable to shake the feeling of familiarity. They feel the heavy gazes of the strangers on them, silently assessing whether they're being truthful before letting out a long breath and nodding in understanding. Buttons glances between each of them before bellowing in that heavy accent of his. “You’re not ghosts, are ye?” To which the brunette can’t help but close their eyes for a moment before leaning towards the first mate. “They look pretty tangible to me, Buttons.” They mutter quietly, their gazes quickly moving back to the strangers.
The short one speaks up, looking at Sunny and Buttons over the bridge of his nose, somehow managing to look down on them despite their higher vantage point. “Alright. We’ll leave you to it, then.”
The German nods mutely, continuing to watch their backs as they walk away, still trying to figure out why the black-clad people seemed so familiar to them.
As the sun goes down and the crew finally manages to free the ship with the help of the inhabitants of the island and some thick rope, Sunny does a quick headcount. Their eyes linger on the Captain as he chats with one of the island’s elders, a soft smile tugging their lips upward when they spot a familiar look of inspiration light up the blonde’s visage. They let out a small huff, barely a chuckle, as they continue accounting for everyone.
A frown makes itself at home on their face as they come up short. “Where’s Lucius?” They ask out loud, turning in a circle as they search the beach for the scribe. Wee John looks up from the rope he’s gathering with his hands. “Ya sure Buttons didn’t eat ‘im after all?”
Sunny shakes their head, trudging through the sand to look around the other side of the island, scanning the horizon with alert blue eyes. “No, I was with him the whole time.” They spot Oluwande walking towards them with an awkward expression, his hands in his pockets. “Oh, uh… I think he’s already on the ship, at least that’s what Jim said. No need to worry about him.” Something in his tone gave them pause, but since he had no reason to lie to them, they simply nodded and accepted the explanation.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, what happened to the other hostage, Olu?” They ask while crossing their arms and shifting their weight to one leg, looking up at the man with curiosity and the tiniest bit of worry. “It didn’t seem like you ran into too much trouble.”
“Nope, no trouble at all. Just, ah, a misunderstanding with the locals and a ‘compromise’ with some other pirates.” The soft-faced man explains with a dismissive gesture of his hands, an amused chuckle escaping him. “We handled it pretty well.”
That caught Sunny’s attention, their posture straightening up as they cock their head to the side. “Other pirates? They didn’t happen to be wearing black leather, right?” That’s when Pete decides to butt in and loudly proclaim, “Yeah, they looked pretty tough but they were no match for us. I mean, what kind of name is Izzy Hands anyway?”
Sunny felt their breath get knocked out of their lungs and froze, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. Their crew had a run-in with Blackbeard’s and somehow didn’t die a gruesome death. But somehow, that only scares them even more. “Let’s just… hope we won’t run into them again, guys.” They say after clearing their throat, giving the men a tight smile and a pat on the shoulder as they head towards the ship ladder.