Chapter Text
Regulus was not happy.
At least he was, when Sirius used to arrive with a smile and see the stars together lying on the sand. Or when they used to argue about wich constellation was farthest away, if it was Leo, or Orion.
But he was scared, when Sirius was arriving with new scars, pale skin and shaking. They hardly ever said a word, they just looked at eachother and they knew immediatly what happened minutes ago.
Sometimes, he got scars too, when his parents forced him to kill a deer when it was hunting season. But when he failed, it cost him dearly.
But, there wasn´t that much to do, in a ship, it was hard to hide from your abusive parents, but when they stayed at home during winter, it was just perfect.
No waves, no mold growing on the walls, no mercenaries nearby, just a stable floor without trembling.
"Are you going to teach me someday?"
"Only when mom is not in the house, Reggie"
Sirius was not stupid, and he knew that Walburga would never approve music in the noble house, or his already long and curly hair, but kids are kids, and Sirius was never good at taking orders.
A wednesday night, the room was quiet except for the sound of silverware on the table while they were having dinner. Not a word, and...
"You are too noisy" She said after stabbing her fork blow into the table.
For a moment, Regulus thought that Walburga was talking to him. A bitter taste instead of saliva filled his mouth, this wasn´t new, this was familiar.
He looked at his mother with his lips beggining to shake. He opened his mouth about to talk, but then...
"I´m sorry mom, I´ll be quiet"
But sorry was never enough for her, nothing was, never. No regret or punishment was it untill she was please. Regulus barely remembered this kind of episodes, they were often blurry, like there were just a dream, or a nightmare, but there was always the same fealing at the end.
She stood up and all his body became tight aware, his hands started to sweating while his mother walked to Sirius´s seat. He almost felt like he was going to vomit when his mother pull Sirius´s Hair with her hand. A gasp of pain escaped Sirius´s throat causing her grip harder in his hair. Regulus couldn´t have said how when Sirius´s head crashed into the table. Regulus screamed and his voice cracked, then Sirius did.
Screams, Screams, and she didn´t stop.
One last scream untill he stared to bleed, and one last hit when everything became black. He can still hear Sirius´ screams, begging his mother to stop, but she didn´t and Regulus couldn´t do anything, he couldn´t find Sirius, he was gone, he just faded away from Regulus and the screams remainded. He felt his skin star to burn. "Sirius! Sirius!"
He tried to yell, but the words never left his mouth. "I love you" He whispered and the pain was too hard now, he tried to run, but he was paralyzed when from a distance, in the midst of darkness he noticed a drop of light whispering something inaudible. The drop was bigger now, like a blurry sun burning and now the pain was starting to make sense.
"Wake up"
"Wake up"
"Wake up"
Regulus jolted awake, sweat trickling down his forehead as his heart hammered in his chest. The burn was gone, mostly, but the nightmare still replaced vividly in his mind, every scream of pain and tear from himself and Sirius and the sight of Walburga´s face, cold and cruel like it was yesterday when Regulus had to clean all the blood in Sirius´s face. But there´s been almost ten years since that dinner, and Regulus hasn´t cleaned Sirius Black injuries after a long time, in fact, there´s been a while since Regulus saw Sirius for last time.
It was still night when Regulus woke up, still sweating he sat up in bed and he fumbled for the bedside lamp desperatly needing some light to chase away the memories. As the room was iluminated, Regulus took a deep, shaky breath, his eyes darting around his room looking for something familiar, but the waves crashing against the rotted wood of the Death Eather ship remided him that he was no longer at home but rather at the mercy of the vast sea. Or from his older brother.
And Regulus hated the sea, despite having spent almost his entire life on a ship, he still hadn't gotten used to the irritating sound of seagulls filling the sky, or the nauseous smell of dampness and mildew that permeated the hold even visible to the naked eye at the hold of the ship. Or when he had to stay up all night due to the drunken songs from the deck of the ship.
He detested the nasty screams of pain that came from the belowdecks of the ship resulted by a Death Eather torturing some vulnerable farmer, or a mother beggining for the life of her child. But they are Death Eathers, they won´t stop for anyone. They had no mercy, not even a hint of empathy in their rotten hearts. They wouldn't hesitate to stop at nothing or anyone, no woman, sick person, poor person or child. They don´t stop, they are pirates, mercenaries and bloodthirsty, they want nothing but blood.
There were numerous rumors about The Death Eather ship, like about when they forced a man to go for a thirty-hour barefoot hike through the cold, dark forest without a break. Or the one about when they shoved a man into a fishing net, and kept throwing him over the cold sea and over again all the day and night.
But all those had one thing in common: you would wish you were dead if you met a mercenary ship.
Regulus took a few more deep breaths, he laid back down in bed, trying to banish the image of his mother from his mind, and with great effort and after several hours, Regulus finally fell asleep.
He dreamed about that hot sun again.
-`✦´-
The cargo hold was usually pleasant, when Lucius wasn't pretending to work and showing off. Regulus enjoyed being there frequently, when he needed a breath from the others.
“I'm starting to think that you’re allergic to the sun” The white haired girl said. “I didn’t saw you on breakfast”
Regulus didn’t raise his gaze from his diary. “I wasn’t hungry” he murmured, flipping to a new page and opting to write rhymes instead, anything to dodge Narcissa's curious eyes.
Helpless
Reckless
Freckles
The sound of the pen startled him, for a moment he forgot that Narcisa was still sitting on the old barril in front of him.
“Those dreams again?” Regulus put down the pen, without looking at Narcissa beyond the word Doubt. He didn't know if he can trust her. Regulus was fifteen when he trusted her by telling about the first nightmare since Sirius had left, and it wasn't even two days before Lucius was teasing him with it. Regulus just shrugged.
A laugh was heard from the prow, at wich Narcissa turned to the door and suppressed a grimace when she looked back at Regulus.
“We're about to see earth, so put yourself together” Narcissa gave him a look as he wasn’t more than a lint on her blouse. Regulus finally lifted his gaze toward his cousin as she stood up.
“You don't have to be a bitch all the time you know, only because your boyfriend does” Regulus said, and she looked at him as if she had just seen fifty rats in her food.
“Grow up, Regulus” Narcissa turned around and stomped out of the cargo hold, with her heels pounding against the floor.
I didn’t know I had a dream
I didn’t know until I saw you
And Regulus closed his diary, stood up and left the cargo hold with no sign of Narcissa. He sighed and looked at everyone preparing excitedly. It seems that earth wasn’t the only thing they had seen.
A ship, a huge ship, one almost as wide as The Death Eather ship, but the opposite seemed to be radiating with life-as even if the ship itself was gazing at Regulus saying, “Hello, Sailor!”
You could almost hear the laughter and giggles coming from the other vessel, the gleaming wood and the color bright crimson sails proudly extended. But the most impressive thing of all was the impressive lion figure right at the bow of the ship.
”Pretentious” He murmured to himself. Like he didn't have a colossal snake carved on the prow of his own ship, and a skull on the bow. He could hear murmurs as well as vigorous shouts from The Death Eathers when they tautened the sails, and the crew dashed back and forth preparing the cannons and weapons. He almost felt pity for the rivals
Regulus was about to return to his dormitory, he turned around with giant strides when he suddenly found himself face to face with his mother, looking at him with an eyebrow raised, challenging him to pass by her, and both knew that Regulus wouldn't. His mother lifted her palm at the height of his stomach, awaiting for Regulus to take the knife with the delicately carved snake on its handle.
His mother was almost as pale as him, with the same coal-black hair and curly hair, like a night without stars, and a gaze that made you shiver until you simply wanted to look away and cower, and above all, obey.
Regulus looked at the knife, with its tip so sharp that if it moved even a little more, the reflection of the sun would burn him. And the snake carefully carved on its handle, leaving no doubt to which crew this knife belonged.
Regulus lifted his hand, doing everything possible not to falter or tremble. His mother frowned as their gazes met again. “Are we having a problem?” her eyes asked, and it took no more than a look for Regulus to firmly take the knife. His mother gave him one last warning look, and then she turned and left.
Regulus felt as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs from the moment his mother showed him the knife, and he breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long, as he struggled not to startle at the first cannon shot from their ship, accompanied by the vigorous laughs of the Death Eathers as the rival ship approached them steadily with a constant speed. It was only a matter of time before they began to attack.
And then…
Regulus watched how two Death Eathers shot through the air, attached to their ropes, towards the rival ship, while others used boards as bridges to cross to the other boat.
Sirius had trained him since he was very young. They used to go to the backyard of their house and practice. They two had come to the idea that, as a member of the most feared crew on the continent, they should learn to defend themselves and act accordingly. However, Regulus never asked how Sirius had learned to fight in the first place.
He was so engrossed in seeing how the two ships began to defend themselves that he didn't notice when a tall and very tanned man appeared behind him.
“You have a very nice knife there”
He said, his blonde and wavy hair were even more impressive than his deep voice.
"I hope I don't have to stain it with anything, then"
Regulus turned around, looking at the man in front of him paying special attention to a small scar on his lower lip.
“It would be a really shame, you’re right”
The tanned man smirked slightly and slowly drew a smaller knife from his boot, but no less sharp. The two crouched into a defensive position, waiting for one of them to make the first move.
"I assure you that it’s not with you the problem”
"But what if it is?" Regulus said, raising an eyebrow and cocking his head to the side as his body slowly moved to the right, while the blonde moved to the left, so now they were just circling around looking at each other intently. His green eyes fixed on Regulus cautiously made him look even more attractive than before—God damn, he certainly was.
“It’s really not, but I really wanna sell that knife for a very good price”
Regulus narrowed his eyes. “Come for it, then” he raised the knife to the level of his eyes, pointing it at the blonde man, to which the latter showed a satisfied smile, as if he hadn't expected any less from Regulus and gladly accepted the challenge.
Regulus jumped first, attempting to sink the knife near his shoulder, but the other was faster and dodged it.
“Nice one” He said, and Regulus gave him a sarcastic smile in return. In response, he snorted and then lunged to sink his knife into Regulus' rib, but he stopped the man's arm with enough force.
Regulus let out a groan when he managed to push the knife away from his side, but Regulus didn't even have time to blink before the man grabbed the same arm with which Regulus had stopped him, spun him around and pulled him towards him, causing Regulus to let out a gasp of pain as the man bent Regulus's arm behind his back, pinning it against the blonde’s man pelvis. The knife fell onto the wooden deck with a dull thump.
"It wasn't that difficult, Huh?” His breath hit Regulus's ear, couldn’t help making him shudder.
Before the blonde could stoop down and pick up the knife from the floor, Regulus hit the man's stomach with his elbow with enough strength to make him gasp in pain and let go of his arm. Regulus then turned around and hit the man again in the nose, making him moan in pain and clutch his face with his hands.
Regulus picked up the knife from the floor and got out of there, gripping his knife and allowing himself to breathe. He was so focused on dodging pirates and making his way across the deck that he didn't notice the Death Eathers were yelling something repeatedly over and over, until he came to a sudden halt.
“Are we… giving up?” Regulus thought, frowning and breathing raggedly, until the cannons fired again and the sails changed direction dramatically. He could hear faint gasps of pain in the distance, but a louder scream stood out from the rest.
"Dorcas!” A woman yelled, and Regulus' eyes shot to the girl, who was stood boldly on the mast of the other ship, but sporting an expression of desperation on her face and blood. Regulus didn't think twice, he put the knife in his mouth to free up both of his hands, and ran towards the mast, almost about to climb it when Narcissa grabbed his arm and shook her head.
"She’s not worth it" she said, causing Regulus' insides to burn with anger. He climbed the mast as fast as he could, ignoring the protests of his muscles. He clenched his mandible so tightly that, if he kept it up, the knife would start cutting his tongue and lips, but that didn't stop him, and he kept climbing until he reached the top. He wrapped the rope as tightly as he could around his hand, and with a powerful push, he launched himself to the other ship, which was now moving farther and farther away from his own.
Regulus flew through the air until landing on the mast beside Dorcas. The girl winced in disapproval when she saw that Regulus had come for her. Dorcas was about to protest when Regulus took the knife out of his mouth to silence her.
"Go," he told her, she nodded shaking and frantically tangled the rope around her arm, but when she waited for Regulus to do the same, he hesitated. There was a pause before Dorcas pushed off, the two exchanged a look, Dorcas was at the brink of tears, and Regulus just nodded with a pleading look, and Dorcas nodded back. Without saying any more, Dorcas made her way back to the Death Eather ship.
Dorcas returned, and Regulus did not.
Regulus stood frozen, unable to believe the reckless decision he had just made. He remained motionless, watching as the Death Eather ship receded from his view.
The unknown ship rocked violently. He lost his balance and felt a whip of pain throughout his body. He wasn't aware that he had let go of the mast until his back impacted against the deck, and then, his head. His vision blurred and his hearing cut out, his eyelids were completely shut and his body felt weak all of a sudden. He wondered if he was bleeding somewhere.
The air left his lungs and his head spun. -What does it matter?- he thought, -No one on that ship cares-. Before his blurry vision had cleared a bit. That's when his pretty knife fell at the black boots of a man right in front of Regulus.
“Regulus?” “Regulus?!” That was his name, but Regulus couldn't respond.
Wait, that voice... familiar.
“Sirius?” he mumbled, and heard a sob.
And he thought that maybe all of this had been a bad idea.