The sound of footsteps on the stairs echoed in the stillness of the night; a girl walked out onto the deck. The cold air immediately bit into the girl's skin, and her blue eyes, shining like diamonds, fell upon a figure sitting alone.
She walked closer without hesitation; in that figure's hand, he was holding a glass of wine, so he must certainly be drunk. "This is the perfect moment to pry some information out of him," the girl whispered to herself before stopping right beside the man, who was sitting on a wooden crate and gazing at the horizon.
"Good evening, Captain," I greeted him, causing the half-conscious man to shift his attention to the girl standing there with a friendly smile fixed on her face. "Enjoying the evening?" she sat down on the barrel beside him; because of the difference in the height of what they were sitting on, they ended up looking the same height.
"Oh, Alice, I suppose so." He took a sip before letting out a satisfied sigh; my blonde hair fluttered in the breeze as my legs swung back and forth—I was playing the part of the innocent, friendly girl brimming with curiosity. "What about you? Can't sleep?"
I gave a little laugh, pointing towards the stairs I'd just come down a moment ago. "I'd like to sleep, but Robin snores so loudly," and that drew a small laugh from the captain; lightening the mood was the first step towards prying information out of him.
Everyone's asleep now, leaving just the two of us up on this ship's deck. And I was also lying about Robin snoring really loudly, because the truth is, he's keeping watch to make sure no one comes up on deck whilst Tinkie's by his side.
"Captain, may I ask you something?"
"You don't need permission to ask questions."
"Understood."
"So, what is it you'd like to ask?"
I took a deep breath before posing my question. "How long have you been sailing the seas?" The atmosphere fell silent instantly; it was as if he were trying to recall a story from the distant past.
"Actually, I never wanted to be a pirate, let alone a captain," he said, lifting his head and taking a sip of wine from his wooden glass—which was bigger than his own fist—and in a single gulp he finished off the entire contents.
He glanced at me before flashing a sly smile and shrugging his shoulders. "I'd like to continue the story, but my wine's run out." Hearing that shattered my expectations and stirred my emotions at once. But I wasn't going to let him leave without spilling everything to me.
As he stood up to leave, having broken my heart, a spray of wine flew out and filled the wooden cup once more. Captain Hook's eyes darted over and he realised the liquid had come from my card; this left the man both impressed and pleased before he sat back down on the wooden crate.
"You really do like to push it, lad," he said, looking up at the night sky. I couldn't wait to hear what other shocking revelations he'd throw at me, as if they were no big deal. "All right… where shall we start?" he mused, before finally beginning his story.
A long, long time ago, even before I was born into this world, there was a young boy whose father was a pirate captain and whose mother he'd never met in his whole life. Unlike his father, he felt repulsed and couldn't stand the behaviour of the crew on board.
Everything was too chaotic and they were far too rough with one another, yet they were always gentle and caring towards little Hook back then because he was the captain's son, even though his birth had been an accident whilst they were resting in a small village situated on an island in the middle of the sea.
It was all simply because their ship had sprung a leak and the captain had met the village beauty there. After that, however, no one knew what had become of the small village or Captain Hook's mother.
But now I understand something: his tendency to trust others so easily was caused by the fact that he grew up in an environment where he was respected by all his father's crew.
Captain Hook didn't want to become a pirate like his father, and that wish was overheard by a creature who approached him. He was woken by a gaunt man who invited him to a place where he would never grow up, and Captain Hook, who was still innocent at the time, immediately accepted without a second thought.
His reasoning was that if he would never grow up, he wouldn't have to become a pirate. But where that man took him has long since slipped his mind—and Captain Hook himself is sometimes unsure whether this story is true or merely a dream.
What he does remember is that, upon his return—he froze in shock when he found the ship carrying his father and the entire crew had simply sunk; he could do nothing, for what could an eight-year-old boy possibly do in such a situation?
"Ever since then, I've wanted to become a pirate to carry on my father's legacy," the final sentence was uttered, and my chest felt tight all of a sudden; I felt both concerned and emotional as I listened to the story from that foolish yet brave captain.
"As I said, I was a child born into this world by accident, but I want to prove that I'm not a mistake—but a stroke of luck! Because with the heart of the sea, I'll make sure everyone knows my name!" He stood up, raising both his hands; he was thoroughly drunk by now, but that was a good thing as I could pry out more information without him realising it.
That's what I'd like, but a sense of frustration is starting to well up inside me. My hands were clenched tightly and I desperately wanted to smash this barrel to smithereens; I tried to calm myself down before leaping down and staring him straight in the face. "Captain, you may already know this, but… one of your crew members, Liz, is being toyed with by the other male crew members," I began softly, because if I'd tried to speak any louder, I'd probably have ended up shouting.
He glanced over his shoulder before turning round fully. "Yes, I know, but it's her own fault for wanting to join this crew even though she knew the risks," he replied very casually, as if he considered Liz's feelings to be unimportant. "Besides, I recruited her because she insisted and begged me; that will make her realise she's done the wrong thing, won't it?"
My heart was pounding and my adrenaline was surging. "Haven't you ever thought that your mother might have gone through the same thing as Liz?" Hearing that made him fall completely silent; that cunning, self-assured smile vanished instantly.
"And have you ever imagined if this ship were to sink just like your father's?!" I snapped without meaning to, but without warning a loud thud rang out before the sound of a crash echoed near us; as Captain Hook turned, he saw one of the crew members' bodies slam into the bow and—THUNK!—an arrow landed squarely on the man's forehead.
When I looked closer, it was Colin lying there, helpless. My eyes widened and I turned, spotting Robin gripping his bow with ragged breath; his face looked both furious and frustrated—none of this was part of the plan. My gaze drifted to Liz, who was kneeling whilst clutching Robin's arm, her expression one of panic and fear.
"What on earth is going on?!" Captain Hook smashed his glass onto the floor and immediately brandished his sword at Robin; his drunkenness had clouded his judgement, making him act impulsively. "Have you committed treason?!"
"Captain! He was going to do something terrible to Liz; I just couldn't let that happen!" Robin protested. I could understand why he'd acted as he did, but killing him right in front of the captain was by no means a wise move. Liz rushed over to the captain, then knelt down and clutched his hands tightly.
"Captain! I tried to stop him, but he shot that arrow anyway!" she sobbed. The captain, who'd witnessed so much happen in such a short time, was bewildered—especially given the effects of the alcohol that had been hitting him one after another. "Please, don't think of me as a traitor too!"
Seeing all this, I could no longer bear it, and I was given only a brief moment to devise a defence for this situation as quickly as possible; for if the other crew members awoke—the situation would become even more difficult for us. "Would you be willing to see a poor soul born into this world and suffer the same fate as you?!"
"I know you're a bad person, but you're not a monster, are you?! Tell me I'm right!" I demanded, and that immediately added to the stress weighing on the captain's mind, causing him to strike the wooden box he was sitting on repeatedly until we all fell silent
"YOU LOT, GET OUT!" An absolute command that could not be questioned in the slightest; I gave a brief nod before grabbing Liz and dragging her along; she was still pleading and begging with the captain, who wouldn't give her so much as a glance.
Robin walked beside me, his eyes full of regret. "I'm sorry," he said, but I knew that deep down he felt satisfied at having made it impossible for Colin to cause any more trouble; we had indeed planned to finish him off sooner or later, but we intended to make it look like an unavoidable accident.
"There's no use crying over spilt milk." What followed were eight hours that left my heart in turmoil; Captain Hook's decision would determine our fate, and during those eight hours I couldn't sleep, constantly worrying about what would happen if we were branded as traitors.
And the day arrived. The sun was already kissing the skin of all the crew members who'd been ordered to line up on deck—myself and Robin included. Tinkie was keeping watch from a distance, ready to come to our rescue should an attack suddenly arise, whilst Liz could barely stand, as was evident from her trembling legs.
Far at the head of the line, Captain Hook stood atop a pile of crates that had been stacked up, forcing us to look up to meet his gaze directly. "You must be wondering why I've asked you to line up like this," he began, his hands behind his back and his eyes sweeping across everyone below him.
"I've always hated traitors; those who shatter my hard-won trust are utterly shameless, and it's such a pity that on this ship—"
"—there is a traitor amongst us!" he announced, sending the line into a frenzy once more; everyone immediately started hurling accusations at one another as to who the traitor might be, whilst the three of us could only remain silent as he continued his proclamation. "And that person is..."
My heart was pounding, my sweaty hands clenched into fists, and Tinkie, who was some distance away, was ready to fly to our rescue from the crowd; a green light appeared behind Robin's back—it was both a bow and an arrow, which he intended to shoot at anyone who approached.
I glanced at Liz, who was praying, whilst the Captain drew his sword from behind his podium; he then turned back, lifting the body of a blond-bearded man using the hook on his prosthetic hand. "COLIN!"
We were all shocked—especially me, Robin, and Liz, who hadn't expected him to take our side. A sense of joy began to fill my heart—Captain Hook smiled proudly before adding, "And just so you know, it wasn't me who killed that scoundrel, but Elizabeth!" All eyes immediately turned to the girl, her purple eyes widening in shock at what she had just heard. "That's why I'm going to make her my left-hand woman!"
"So none of you dare mess with her!" he declared to the entire crew and all the creatures in the sea. "Because if anyone does, they'll have me to deal with!"