Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They say the captain of The Leviathan had wings.

There are quite a lot of stories of that ship and its crew. People say that it holds nothing but women and monstrosities, that they kill dragons, that the sea speaks to the captain.

But the most common is that the captain has wings.

Not many people have seen the captain and lived to tell the tale. He was a deadly pirate, and trails of blood ran where he had been. He sank boats and drowned sailors.

But those who had lived to tell the tale said that they remembered the captain standing over them, with black wings spread wide. They say looking into his eyes was the equivalent to getting your soul ripped out of your body.

None of this has ever been proven true, of course, but it raises a lot of questions. Why is it that no one knows what the captain of The Leviathan looks like? Why does no one know his name? And most importantly, in my opinion, is he really as merciless as the stories say, or is there a chance of survival if you cross his path?

I ask that question because The Leviathan has been spotted on the horizon.

It’s a huge ship, much bigger than I was imagining. It was made of a dark wood of some sort, with red, black and gold details. My heart started pounding in my chest. The ship was headed straight for us, and our little fishing boat The Eastern Gull would never stand a chance against a crew of ruthless pirates, monstrosities or not.

My crew was screaming, trying to haul in the fish and turn around as quickly as possible, but I just stood there, staring. I supposed this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, seeing as I was probably about to die in a few minutes.

“Cut the nets, we have no time to reel them in!” Our captain shouted. “Tubbo, move your ass and help us!” I broke out of my trance, and saw my crew sawing at the ropes that held out fishing nets. I had a knife in my pocket, small, but it would do the trick. I grabbed one of the ropes and started cutting away with my crewmates.

Our captain was giving us all orders, trying to keep order among the chaos. “Murphy, protect the Lady! Hugo, help me turn this thing around!” The Lady Dionne, the only woman on board, was shuffled under the deck, to attempt to hide her from the pirates. Poor thing, we had meant to deliver her safely to Odura and now she was going to die before she ever got to get married.

But I couldn’t help but wonder who the fuck Hugo was. I’d never heard of him before. The Lady Dionne was supposed to be the only passenger. Was Hugo a crew member I hadn’t met? I was never very close with my crew. I worked with them, got paid, and that was it. We weren’t friends, merely coworkers, we would die that and nothing else.

The Leviathan is too close for comfort now. For the first time since I’d spotted the boat, I started to feel real fear. The reality of the situation started to sink in. I wasn’t even 18 yet. I had so much I wanted to do and see.

A shadow loomed over me, and I could only think one thing.

I’m not ready to die.

Chapter Text

Blood was everywhere. Tubbo couldn’t bear to open his eyes. Their ship was sinking fast, and laughing voices rang out with the sound of terrified screams. It made Tubbo sick, so he covered his ears, not that that did much.

There was a muffled voice, and the laughing stopped. Someone was walking over to him, he could feel it. He expected to die. He knew he was going to die. His boat was infested with the most notorious pirates on the planet.

But death never came.

He cracked opened his eyes, curiosity triumphing over terror. Someone was crouching in front of him, but their face was obscured in shadow. They seemed to be glowing brightly, or maybe that was just the sun.

Oh, and they had wings. Big black wings that twitched behind them. They looked like an angel, but Tubbo knew better than to believe that. Angels didn’t come down from the heavens, other than to deliver some cryptic message or prophecy.

No, this was the captain of The Leviathan. Every survivor’s story flooded his mind. The most feared pirate roaming the sea, ruthless and thirsty for blood. Tubbo’s brain was racing a mile a minute, but the tension left his body. There was no point fighting when death was imminent.

The wings faded out as the figure came into the light, and Tubbo finally saw his face. He had blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, and blue eyes with noticeable creases around them. They reminded Tubbo of his aunt’s eyes. She was young, but her eyes were wrinkled from a life of smiling. Hardly the idea that fit a pirate captain.

The captain reached out for Tubbo, and he flinched, but the hand simply grabbed his wrist softly and pulled it away from his ear.

“Hey, kid, it’s okay.” His voice was higher than Tubbo was expecting, and a little raspy. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”

Now, this was just fucking cruel. Just kill him and get it over with. No need to lure him in with a false sense of security only to stab him in the back.

“I know this might be a little strange to hear, but you need to come with us. This ship is sinking, and I don’t want to leave you here to drown.” He entwined their fingers together, and reached out with his other arm. This one came to rest on Tubbo’s shoulder.

“You need to come with me,” he pleaded. And honestly, who was Tubbo to disagree with the captain of The Leviathan? He shuffled up, his legs nearly giving out beneath him.

“LADDER!” Came the call, and someone from the deck of The Leviathan tossed a rope ladder over the side.

“Here,” the captain whispered in his ear. “You go first, I’ll be right behind you.” He put his hands on Tubbo’s and guided him to the ladder. Tubbo gripped it tightly and put one foot up. He was shaky, but held on tight. Falling would mean a painful death.

He slowly started to climb, up and up, his only focus was the top. It felt like an eternity to get there. He was just climbing forever, on and on. His legs hurt. His stomach turned like he was about to throw up, but on he climbed.

The sun came into view again as he reached the top of the ship. Two hands grabbed him and pulled him up, before they pushed him to the side. As his vision adjusted to the light, he saw that someone was standing at the top of the ladder, helping the pirates get over the edge of the ship. Three people were standing on the deck, and one more was still on the ladder.

“Hey, kid,” a voice said, causing Tubbo to turn around. “You okay?” The woman who had spoken had lots of curly white hair, and she was pretty tall compared to Tubbo. His heart started racing, finally realizing how much danger he was in. This woman had giant tan horns curling around her ears, and brown eyes with rectangular pupils. She was a monster. Tubbo was going to die.

But she had asked a question, and maybe answering would prolong Tubbo’s life, at least by a few minutes. “Yeah,” he responded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Everything’s great.”

“You look a little shaken up, how about you sit down.” She took him by the wrist and led him to a wooden crate, where he plopped down without much grace. “Okay then, you stay right here. We’ll come check on you in a minute, you just breathe.” She hesitantly stepped away, quickly glancing back at him a couple of times.

Tubbo finally let out a breath and put his head in his hands. This was considered kidnapping, wasn’t it? Tubbo had just been kidnapped. By pirates. The most dangerous pirates the world had ever known, and now he was going to die without saying goodbye to his parents, or his sisters.

Maybe they would give him the privilege of a quick death. A slice with a sword or a bullet to the head would do the trick. But, knowing the stories of pirates he’d heard his entire life, they would probably tie him up and drown him, leave him to the mercy of the sea. And everyone knew the sea had no mercy. Ugh, there was still so much he’d wanted to do with his life.

It seemed the crew, or at least some of it, was congregating near the ladders. There were six, maybe seven of them, if that was in fact a head and not a shoulder, but Tubbo couldn’t really tell. They were laughing about something, and lightly bumping into each other. It seemed friendly, like how the men acted after a good haul.

“Hey,” a sharp voice said behind him, causing Tubbo to jump. “Who’re you, and what do you think you’re doin’ on my ship?”

There was a boy sitting on the stairs behind Tubbo, who couldn’t have been much older than him. He had cloudy blue eyes and short, blonde hair that was pushed back by a bandana. He wore what Tubbo would assume was typical pirate attire, which consisted of quite a few layers, all some variation of red, black and white. He was sitting with his arms resting on his knees, and he had an air of cockiness about him.

“Me?” Tubbo asked, pointing to himself. The boy nodded. “Oh, well, I’m Tubbo.” The boy snorted.

“That’s a stupid name, innit? Anyway, I’m Thomas, the captain of The Leviathan, but I expect you to call me Tommy.” He eyed Tubbo up and down. “Or, for some lowlife like you, you call me Sir.” Tubbo nodded frantically. Tommy had two knives hooked on his belt, and his hand rested right on top of them. Normally you don’t want to piss off someone holding two knives.

“Anyway,” he continued. “Whatcha doin’ here? I sure as hell ain’t hiring!” Tubbo cringed.

“Well, uh, Sir,” he stammered. “I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. I was on the boat that you just attacked, and there was this guy and he was like ‘come with me or you die’ and I was just kinda like ‘sure’ and I climbed a ladder and I’m here now. Sorry.”

Tommy looked like he was about to speak again, but another voice shouted from across the deck.

“Tommy, get the fuck away from the new guy, we all know you’re spewing nothing but shit.” It was the voice of the monster woman from earlier.

”I’M NOT-” he cut himself off and buried his face in his hands. There was a stomping on the deck, and Tubbo slowly turned his head around.

The monster woman stood in front of him again, her hands (that mildly resembled hooves) on her hips.

“Don’t believe a word out of Tommy’s mouth. I don’t know what he’s told you, but trust me when I say it isn’t true.” She glared at him and turned back to Tubbo. “So, how are you doing? I know this must be a big thing, so I totally expect you to not be fine, but are you On-The-Verge-Of-A-Breakdown not fine or Thirsty-And-Ready-For-A-Nap not fine?”

“Oh, I’m, uh.” Part of Tubbo’s brain knew this was ridiculous, being afraid of a woman of all things, but one sight of the woman’s sharp horns got his heart racing. “I’m pretty fine, I think. I might just be in shock, though.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal,” Tommy jumped in. “I mean, lookin’ at the state of you, you seem like you’d be in shock. No offense, but also kind of offense, you look like your boat got swallowed by a shark.”

What the fuck does that mean? Tubbo wondered.

“Some water would be nice,” he croaked, face heating up in embarrassment.

“Makes sense. Alright, Tommy, would you go get a cup of water for our friends here?” Tommy opened his mouth to protest. “Now, Tommy.” He closed his mouth and walked away in silence.

“Sorry about him.” The monster woman reached out a hand, and Tubbo flinched away. “Okay. I’m Puffy. Do you mind telling me your name?” She sat down on a crate near him, her body jiggling slightly as she did so.

She could kill me easily, Tubbo thought. She’s tall and super muscular. I am going to die now. He gulped.

“My name is Tubbo Underscore of Skuenia and a worker aboard The Eastern Gull.” He thought for a moment. “Or, I guess not anymore.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said softly. “But I’m not sorry that we did it.” Tubbo nodded stiffly. The sea blew salt water into his hair, which was already filthy from being on the fishing boat.

He felt sad that he had lost his boat, but not as sad as he thought he would be. Yes, The Eastern Gull gave him a job, and a crew, and enough money to partially provide for his family, but it was little more than that. He didn’t feel connected to his crew or his captain, and his relationship with them was strictly work-related. He felt no emotional attachment to the boat, because it was just like any other boat parked in the harbor. It wasn’t his home, and it wasn’t special to him in any way.

But Tubbo wasn’t special either. So why would the captain of The Leviathan spare him? He wasn’t the youngest, the weakest, or anything that might have made the captain feel pity for him, but he also wasn’t the most useful, so there was little reason for the captain to want Tubbo to join the crew.

Although, he would prefer joining the crew than dying, or perhaps being tortured.

What the fuck was he thinking? This was a crew of ruthless pirates, and he was just their prey.

Tommy came thundering across the deck, and handed a wooden cup to Tubbo, panting slightly. Tubbo took the cup graciously. It seemed very well crafted, and it was sanded down smooth. The water inside tasted fresh, which was a pleasant surprise. The water on The Eastern Gull always tasted mildly of fish, and he only got fresh water at home.

“Now,” Tommy proclaimed, “Don’t think you can go about orderin’ me around to do shit for you. This was a one time thing. You take orders from me, not the other way around.” Tubbo cowered and nodded.

“No, Tubbo, no.” Puffy pinched the bridge of her nose and waved her hand around. “You don’t have to take orders from him. He’s way less important than he makes himself out to be. He’s not the captain, or the first mate, or the captain’s favorite.”

“I am too the captain’s favorite, bitch! You’re just biased. You’re jealous because he likes me better.”

Puffy met Tubbo’s eyes and shook her head. Despite himself, Tubbo laughed.

“No, no, you do not laugh at me.” He paused. “Fine, I’ll just go ask the captain myself. Show you all who’s better.” He stomped off with his chin held high.

“He’s not really angry, he’s just faking it,” Puffy said after seeing Tubbo’s face. “He does this with every new person. Don’t stress about it.” He nodded, taking another sip of water.

They sat in silence for a moment more, neither of them really knowing what to say. The reality of the situation had passed over Tubbo, and now he was beginning to think clearly again. He was on one of the most well known ships in the land surrounded by pirates that were known for attacking and killing sailors, but instead they had rescued him and gotten him some water. What this could mean for Tubbo’s future, he had no idea.

Luckily, the silence didn’t last long, because someone else was walking over. It was the man that was probably the captain that had wings and then didn’t have wings, it might have been a trick of the light, Tubbo didn’t know. He was just going to stick to calling him “The Captain.”

Anyway, the captain walked over to them, his hands in his pockets, and he definitely didn’t have wings. He was wearing a loose grey shirt that had a couple of buttons undone, and boots that looked like they’d be worth more than Tubbo. His hair was out of his ponytail, and it looked surprisingly soft for being in the middle of the ocean. He came over and pulled up another crate, sitting closer to Puffy than to Tubbo.

“How are you feeling?” Was the first thing he asked. Tubbo awkwardly gestured to himself, and the captain nodded.

“Um, confused, mostly. And a little scared. A lot scared, actually. I’m kinda freaking the fuck out, like, internally.” He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

“That’s reasonable,” the captain responded. “But you don’t have to worry, we’re not gonna hurt you. If I didn’t think you were worthy of life, I would have left you on that fishing boat.” He spit out those words as if they were poison.

“So ar- are you the captain?” He asked, although he was already pretty sure of the answer.

“I am. My name is Philza.”

“Okay, so, why am I worthy of life, but the rest of my crew isn’t?”

The captain smiled, but it had a sad quality to it. “You’re just a child. And you’re pure. You have room for change.” Tubbo nodded and didn’t ask for clarification, even if that was confusing as fuck. He gripped his cup tighter.

“So you’re not going to kill me?” He asked. Captain Philza shook his head and grinned.

“As long as you are aboard our ship, you are under my protection.” Tubbo clenched his jaw and didn’t say anything. “Puffy, could you give us a moment alone please?” Puffy stood up, and Tubbo realized that instead of feet, she had hooves. He released his breath as she walked away, glad to not have to look at her anymore.

“What the hell is she?” He asked in a low voice. Captain Philza’s brow furrowed.

“She’s my first mate, one of my best pirates. She’s a good navigator, and an even better fighter.”

“No, I mean like what is she? She’s not human. Is she some kind of demon?” He set his cup down next to him. “Monstrosity,” he whispered under his breath.

“I’ll have you know I do not tolerate that kind of language on my ship.” Fuck, he heard that. “How about you ask Puffy, let her decide if she wants to tell you.”

And Tubbo, in a sudden burst of idiocy, responded “So why do you let her on the ship? Surely those horns would fetch a good price in Odura.” He wished he could take the words back as soon as they left his mouth. Captain Philza’s eyes darkened.

“What the fuck makes you think that that is an okay thing to do? Selling people? You know what else would fetch a good price? Your liver.”

Tubbo’s eyes widened, and he shrunk in on himself. He’d angered the captain, and now he was going to die for sure. No captain would prioritize a stranger over their crew, no matter how strange the crew was.

But the captain just buried his face in his hands and sighed. Tubbo didn’t dare speak another word.

“If you’re going to stay here, then you need to act accordingly.” The captain’s voice was slow and firm. “I will not jeopardize the safety of my crew, but you’ve yet to give me a reason to kill you. Here on this ship, we respect each other. That’s something you need to learn.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing about this ship,” cut in someone who seemed to just be passing by. He was rather tall, with thin hips and curly brown hair, and a large scar running down his face and across his lips. He also wore red black and white. “On The Leviathan we do not support descrimination of any kind. Unless you eat tomatoes like apples, then you will get thrown overboard. There’s no negotiation.”

“Thank you, Wilbur,” the captain said.

Wilbur didn’t listen. “There is no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ on this ship. The humans are equal to the non-humans. The women are equal to the men. All g-”

“Yes, thank you, Wilbur,” the captain pushed. Wilbur shut up. Captain Philza turned back to Tubbo. “So you have a choice to make now. You can either take a lifeboat, and go back home, but you are forbidden to speak of any of your experiences on this ship. If you do, we will know, and we will kill you and whoever you told. Or you can stay here, and learn to become a pirate. It’s hard work, but I think you’ll start fitting in soon enough.”

Tubbo took a minute to think. This was a big decision, one that would change his life forever. It did seem that if he stayed, he would have to change the way he thought completely, which he wasn’t even sure was possible. But if he left, he’d be bound to secrecy, something that may get him killed if he messed up. But if he stayed, he may not see his family again for years, if ever.

But this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The most feared pirate in the sea was offering him a safe place (at least safer than being stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean). The Leviathan was a beautiful ship. He could handle being out at sea for months at a time.

“You’re allowing me to stay if I follow your rules?” He asked, his eyes shining.

“I see potential in you. I think you could do some good in the world,” Captain Philza responded.

“Well then.” He took a deep breath. “I want to stay here, and learn to become a pirate.”

“Good choice.” The captain stood up, and offered his hand to Tubbo. If he squinted, Tubbo could again see the faint outline of wings on the captain’s back. He smiled, and let himself be pulled up.

“Would you like to meet the crew?”

Chapter Text

The deck smelled like sea water, which was better than the fish Tubbo was used to. It swayed less than Tubbo was used to, and he could almost imagine he was standing on dry land again. Captain Philza walked ridgedly, still obviously upset by Tubbo’s earlier comment. He’d have to get used to the fact that everyone on this ship was equal, a rule he had never had to follow in Skuenia. It made his head hurt thinking about it.

The large sails on the ship blocked most of the sun from his eyes. It must have been expensive to dye all that fabric, he thought, squinting up at the sails. Two were white with a vibrant red border, and the third was black with the classic skull and crossbones that all pirates used. Pirates weren’t really about subtlety.

“Most of the crew is below deck,” the captain explained. “It’s been a stressful week. They’ll be happy to relax. I’ll introduce you to everyone so they know you’re part of the crew and not a stowaway.”

“Are they gonna like, like me?” Tubbo asked sheepishly, picking grime out from under his fingernails. The captain looked over his shoulder at Tubbo.

“If you’re nice, then probably. Just don’t be disrespectful and you’re set.”

But how do I know if I’m being disrespectful? He thought as he chewed his lip.

They walked across the deck to a person who was pulling the rope ladder up the side of the ship. Tubbo stumbled around how to refer to them. Would it be rude to ask if they were a man or a woman? They seemed to have traits of both. Either way, they were fairly tall, with curly brown hair that fell to their shoulders. They looked relatively normal, except for their eyes, which were pure white. Despite not having pupils or irises, Tubbo could still tell that this person was looking directly at him.

“Eret, meet the new recruit,” Captain Philza said, standing up a little straighter. The person heaved the last bit of rope ladder onto the dock, the ends dripping with sea water. “Tubbo, this is Eret, my boatswain.”

“So that’s what you’re here for,” they said in a rather deep voice. “Sorry we sank your ship.” Tubbo laughed awkwardly.

“Yeah, it’s fine. No problem. I’m Tubbo Underscore.”

“I’m Eret. No last name. Don’t need one.” They smiled, and Tubbo looked away.

“Would it be rude to ask,” he started and scratched the back of his neck. “Are you a man or a woman?”

Eret dried their hands off on their black pants. “Well, both. Or neither. Or something else entirely. Let’s just say maybe.” Tubbo frowned slightly.

“But that’s not possible.” The captain glared at Tubbo, and he shrank back on himself.

“Maybe not. But that’s just me. I’m a little bit of everything.”

Tubbo gulped and warily looked at the captain. “So do I call you he or she?”

Eret started dragging the ladder somewhere, and Tubbo jogged to catch up with them. They passed between the sails, and the sun blinded his vision for a second. “Well, sometimes both. Sometimes neither. I’m fine with it either way,” Eret called. Tubbo stopped in his tracks.

“Is that possible?” He whispered to the captain, who nodded in return. Huh, that was new. There was no one like that where he came from. You were either a man or a woman, and that was clear and defined. Being both, or neither, or whatever Eret had said they were didn’t sit right in his brain.

I can already tell this ship is gonna be fucking confusing, he thought. He seemed to have already offended the captain multiple times, a sure way to get kicked off the crew (or ship, if Tubbo was severely unlucky). Tubbo felt like a piece of glass lodged in someone’s arm, and the ship was the white blood cells trying to get rid of him. It was uncomfortable.

“I think,” Eret started as he (she?) hauled the ladder across the deck. “That most everyone else is downstairs getting some lunch. Are you hungry, Tubbo?” He shook his head out of politeness, but then quickly nodded. He was always hungry during the fishing months, because he was on the bottom of the hierarchy on his ship. He got the leftovers, not the meals.

“We’ll be able to meet everyone else down there,” the captain said with his hands behind his back. “I hope you’ll join us soon?” He asked with his head tilted towards Eret.

“Of course, just let me finish up here, and I’ll grab Puffy and we’ll head down.”

“Alright then. Tubbo, let’s go.” The captain walked off, opening a door under a flight of stairs that led to another flight of stairs. They went down together, the sounds of people talking getting louder as they descended. The stairwell was rather bright, light coming from the lanterns stationed around the walls in intervals.

The stairs opened into a large room (there mustn’t have been any walls on this level) with rows of cannons on one side and a big table on the other. Lots of people sat at the table, but just as many stood or sat on the floor. They all seemed to be conversing with each other fondly. They were laughing and yelling and waving their arms around. Tubbo couldn’t help but feel as if he were intruding a bit.

His crew didn’t act like this. There were a couple people that were closer than others, but they stuck to themselves. People didn’t share stories or jokes. They weren’t comfortable with that, because they were merely coworkers, not friends.

No one noticed them as they walked along the sides, too busy talking to take a look around. They walked around to what Tubbo assumed was the galley but looked large enough to be a full kitchen. It was warm, and there were two people standing at the counters. One seemed pretty normal from behind, with dark brown hair and a red coat, but the other caused fear to swirl in Tubbo’s stomach again.

It was way too tall to be human, probably around eight or nine feet tall. Its hair was pitch black, and Tubbo was pretty sure those things coming out the front of its head weren’t just strange hair. It was wearing a grey shirt, but it had two holes in the back. They looked intentional, they were trimmed and had buttons on the bottom. But then, to his surprise, Captain Philza walked right over to the tall one and tapped it on the shoulder. Or, as close to the shoulder as he could get, seeing as the thing was much taller than the captain.

It turned around to reveal two horns growing out of its forehead (although one was broken in half) and large white eyes that resembled Eret’s. Its skin was black like the night sky, and when it opened its mouth to speak it revealed pearly white fangs.

“Hello, Philza!” It said in a voice that was surprisingly high for something that tall. “I was wondering where you were. Who’s this?” It gestured to Tubbo and he saw that its hands had claws. Really sharp claws that looked like they could cut through flesh like warm cheese. It would be a lie to say that Tubbo’s heart didn’t pound in his chest once more.

“This is Tubbo, our new recruit,” Captain Philza answered. “Tubbo, this is Bad. He’s our cook and carpenter.

“Nice to meet you,” Tubbo whispered.

“And you as well. Are you hungry?” The monster who’s name was Bad (what kind of name was that? This guy was so clearly evil it was obvious) asked.

“Yes,” Captain Philza answered for him. “Make an extra plate, please. He needs to eat.”

“Alright then, you go sit down.” Bad shooed them away. “I’ll bring you guys your food. You deserve to sit down. It’s been a long day.”

“It’s not over yet!” The captain called as he led Tubbo away from the kitchen and towards the large group of laughing people.

“Ay! Phil! Where ya been?” Someone called from the crowd. “I’ve been lookin’ for ya! I need ya to prove a point!” Tommy stood up and waved him over, but the captain didn’t move. He clapped a couple of times and called everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, this is Tubbo Underscore. He’s going to be joining our crew,” He said once all eyes were on him. The group started muttering amongst themselves, but then they got louder. Everything sounded positive, at least they weren’t booing him. The captain nodded at him and moved to have him sit down on the floor.

It seemed odd that the captain would be sitting on the floor and not at the table which had multiple open spots. Tubbo’s captain on The Eastern Gull always ate in his room, and the sailors ate wherever they could.

People started crowding around him, trying to talk to him and ask him different questions. It was a little overwhelming.

Everyone seemed to be dressed in similar reds, blacks and whites—they seemed to be the colors of the ship—and they all looked so different. Everyone had different hairstyles and skin colors and body types. There were people that looked perfectly human and people who looked anything but, people who looked male, some who looked female and some that Tubbo couldn’t figure out what the fuck was going on with them.

“Alright, alright,” Tommy's brash voice said. “Get off of him. You’re gonna give him a stroke.” He plopped down between Tubbo and Captain Philza, eyeing him up and down. “They’re really just lettin’ anyone on these days, now are they? You don’t look like you have an ounce of pirating in you.” He smiled and his demeanor changed. “We’ll fix that right up. You’ll do great. Let me introduce you to everyone, Mr. Tubbo Underscore.” He laughed, and Tubbo found his anxiety lifted a bit, and he could breathe normally again.

“So, obviously you know of the great Tommy Innit, best man on the entire ship!” He pointed to himself very proudly. “I get all the women, all the fame and I’m clearly just better than everybody else here.”

His smile was nice. Very toothy, and it was genuine. Tubbo felt self conscious about smiling too wide, because he was missing one of his molars.

“And that prick over there.” He pointed to someone that was ignoring the entire ordeal and instead eating his food. “That’s Wilbur. He’s too tall for his own good and hungry all the damn time. He plays the guitar, though. Beautiful instrument, really. You play anything?”

Tubbo shook his head.

“Eh, me neither. Never had the attention span for that kind of thing.”

“Room for a couple more?” Bad asked as he sashayed over with two plates of food in hand. Or, maybe Tubbo should be saying ‘she’ because he had just noticed the large bust that the creature was sporting. Not really something he expected to see, because the rest of Bad was pretty masculine-looking.

He/she handed one of the plates to Tubbo and one to the captain. They looked relatively similar in portion size, which shocked him. He wasn’t used to being served so much food while out at sea.

Bad sat down next to the other person that had been in the kitchen, who had his face turned away talking to someone else. He/she was pretty far away from Tubbo, but his/her presence still put him on edge. Whatever he/she was, it was not normal, and most likely very dangerous. He/she reminded him of the stories of demons his dad used to tell, when he was little and didn’t want to listen. Terrifying creatures, his dad had said, that fed off of the negative emotions of humans. In order to survive, they would kill, or take the places of regular people, to make them hurt and then eat the hurt they caused.

“You make sure you behave,” his dad had said. “Or else a demon’ll come and snatch you up and eat you.”

“You didn’t tell me we were having a group huddle,” a voice said, snapping Tubbo out of his thoughts. He turned around and saw Eret and Puffy walking down the stairs.

“It’s less of a group huddle and more of a ‘making sure Tubbo knows who everyone is’ kinda thing,” Tommy called back. He turned to Tubbo again. “I’m assuming you already know them, so we’re gonna move on. That’s Sapnap.” He pointed to someone with light brown skin and black hair that was pulled up into two buns, a style typically only worn by royalty in Skuenia, but he didn’t look like he was from there. And no royalty would have that messy of hair.

“So, Phil picked you up off that fishing boat we sank, right?” Sapnap asked, looking him directly in the eyes. He had really dark eyes, nearly black, and his mouth was filled with unusually sharp teeth.

“Yep, that’s me,” Tubbo responded. Sapnap nodded.

“You must be special, then. He doesn’t do that for just anybody.” Tubbo blushed awkwardly. “So you’re just a human, right? I can’t imagine any other way you’d be on a boat like that?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m human,” Tubbo sputtered. “What else would I be?”

“I mean.” Sapnap shrugged. “Some people look pretty human, but aren’t. I just didn’t think a non-human could survive very long on a ship from Odura. That is where you’re from, right?”

“No, I’m from Skuenia. We were making a couple deliveries to Odura.”

Suddenly Sapnap looked intrigued. “Cold there, isn’t it?” Tubbo nodded and narrowed his eyebrows. “Do you get snow?”

“In the winter, we do. It’s very temperate. Warm summers, cold winters.”

“That sounds like it would take some getting used to. I’m from The Ebreley Isles, so, y’know. Hot winters, even hotter summers.”

“Oh, that sounds miserable,” Tubbo laughed, but he started to feel a bit nervous around Sapnap. The Ebreley Isles were known for having strange values, and were refuge to many monsters and people who upset the natural order of the world. What would this man do if he were left alone with Tubbo, a young human boy?

“It’s not. Not when you’re me. I can take the heat,” Sapnap responded. And maybe Tubbo imagined it, but he could have sworn that Sapnap’s eyes had a red look to them, if only for a second.

“Yeah, that’s cause you’re so hot,” someone else cut in, grabbing Sapnap by the face. He was rather thin, wearing a white jacket that was a couple sizes too big, and he had shaggy brown hair that fell over his face.

“Oh, yeah, that’s Karl,” Tommy said as he shoved food into his mouth. “Him and Sapnap are lovebirds. Can’t keep their fucking ‘ands off of each other for two minutes. I mean, look, they’re doing it right now.”

Tubbo glanced over and saw that Tommy was right. Karl had wrapped his arm around Sapnap’s shoulders and pressed their cheeks together. It looked very romantic, as did the smiles they both were wearing. Disgust filled Tubbo’s mouth.

“You just allow that?” He whispered to Tommy through clenched teeth.

“Well.” He took another bite of food. “Yeah. I mock them for being gross, but there’s really nothing wrong with them doing that. They’ve been sad, but they keep each other happy. That’s really the main point of that, innit?”

“But they’re both men.”

Tommy stared at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head. He leaned a couple feet over to the captain and whispered-shouted in his ear, “Phil, I’m afraid you’ve brought a prejudiced asshole onto the ship. We need to throw him out ‘fore he infects all of us with his negative thinking.”

“Believe me, Tommy, I know. He’ll just need to learn the ways of The Leviathan, or he can get out,” Captain Philza said without turning around.

“Alright then,” Tommy said, to Tubbo this time. “Let’s get this straight so we don’t have any more incidents like this. There is nothing, nothing at all wrong with falling in love with people of the same gender. It’s a completely normal thing. It’s just love, and they love each other, and there’s people on this ship that love others of the same gender, and you need to get used to it and not be a dick about it!”

“It’s not normal, though!” Tubbo argued. “Love is supposed to be to reproduce, and two men can’t do that with each other. What if they did that to me?”

“They’re not gonna fucking do that to you, you’re a child. And they’re perfectly happy with each other! And who cares if they can’t reproduce, there’s plenty of people doin’ it anyway.” He took a drink of water and shook his head in disbelief.

“Well, I just think it’s wro–”

“No one cares what you think. Ugh, I thought you were going to be cool. Turns out you’re just a discriminatory prick. You’re gonna hate the majority of us then, I bet, if you don’t like anything that isn’t ‘normal.’ Introduce yourself to everyone on your own. Or don’t y’know, spare their feelings.”

Tubbo scoffed. “Look, Tommy, I’m sorry, I guess. I don’t know what’s so wrong with what I said, but if you want me to stop, I will.” Tommy didn’t respond. “Fine then, be difficult. It doesn’t matter to me.” It did matter to him, it mattered a lot. Tommy seemed like he would be a good friend, and suddenly he doesn’t want to talk to him at all.

Sapnap and Karl had moved away, and Tubbo didn’t know if they had heard what he said or not. He really didn’t see anything wrong with it, because man and woman was the way nature intended, and to go against that was wrong. But the way everyone had reacted definitely let Tubbo know that that kind of stuff was allowed here. It made sense that it would be, considering the other oddities that were on this ship. What’s one more freak of nature among the horde?

But now Tubbo was one of them, and they all clearly prioritized one another over him, which made sense. He was just a newcomer, from something they all hated.

I’m not gonna be caught dead kissing a man. He thought as he picked at the food on his plate, yet to eat any. Who knows, it may have been poisoned?

But everyone else was eating it, and Tubbo hadn’t eaten this much food at once since he left the shores of Skuenia, two months ago! So he hesitantly picked up a bite with the metal fork and brought it to his lips.

It was warm, nearly too hot to eat, but it tasted good. It was filled with spices, which must have been really expensive, and it was so much better than anything that was made on The Eastern Gull. He didn’t fucking care if it was poisoned anymore, he started shoveling it into his mouth.

“Hey, Little Man,” Eret said as they sat down next to Tubbo, their coat flowing like a cape. “How’d the introductions go? Hope they didn’t overwhelm you too much.” She smiled, and Tubbo suddenly felt really guilty.

“It went pretty bad,” he admitted. “I said something wrong and now the captain’s upset and Tommy’s upset and other people are probably upset, but I’m not sure how to make it right.”

“He got mad at Sapnap and Karl for being in love,” Tommy cut in with a growl. “He’s against all that shit. I say we get rid of him before he really hurts someone.”

“I figured that would be the case,” Eret said calmly. “Not a lot of places allow that anymore. He’s just repeating what he’s been told his whole life. We can help him escape the cold grasp of society and lead him into the light!” Their voice rose at the end, and Tommy smiled a bit, although he still looked angry.

“Seriously,” Eret said when she turned to Tubbo. “That is not cool. You need to get your attitude together. We’ll help you along, but it’s your job to allow yourself to open your heart.”

Tubbo flushed in anger, but also embarrassment. He didn’t like being told he was wrong, and he liked to believe that he was a perfectly accepting person, but everyone on this ship seemed to disagree.

If trying to change his views to align with theirs was necessary to his not-getting-thrown-off, then he was willing to try. Or pretend, if he really couldn’t change (which he didn’t think he could). He knew he was right, he didn’t need the people on this ship to validate that.

He took another bite of food to hide his embarrassment.

“Hey,” Wilbur spoke up from the other side of the room. “Where’s Ranboo?”

“Dunno,” Tommy responded haughtily. “Prolly not eatin’ again. They haven't been very talkative today.” Captain Philza sighed.

“I’ll go bring them something to eat. They’ve been eating less recently, I’m starting to get worried.” Wilbur stood up and started to walk to a trapdoor in the floor. Tommy shot up as well, nearly dropping his plate.

“Hey, wait for me!” He grabbed Tubbo’s sleeve. “You can come too, so you can meet them. But do know that I am still mad at you, and I will personally throw you off the ship if you say any shit to Ranboo, okay? C’mon!” He dragged Tubbo over to the trapdoor, which Wilbur had already headed down.

They climbed down a sturdy ladder to the next level, which had rows of hammocks on the walls. They were pretty big, and each looked personalized to a specific person. On The Eastern Gull, the hammocks were threadbare, and you were only allowed one blanket on the nights where the air froze to the ship. You couldn’t keep any personal belongings there, they would for sure get broken or stolen.

Past the hammocks sat someone with their back turned. From what Tubbo could see, they had pale skin and dirty blonde hair. They were looking in a mirror, seemingly contemplating something. WIlbur sat next to them, with an arm wrapped around their shoulders. A plate of food was set down next to them.

The world felt frozen. Tommy stopped moving and yanked Tubbo back. His lips were tight and his eyes were locked onto Wilbur and the other person.

They waited in silence for a moment, and then the other person (presumably Ranboo) spoke.

“I’m rather ugly out of water, don’t you think?”

Chapter Text

Wilbur shifted where he sat, pulling Presumably-Ranboo closer.

“I don’t think you’re ugly. I think you’re beautiful. You’re just different here, that’s all.” His voice was soft, but it was easy to hear in the silence of the room. The noise from upstairs was completely blocked out.

“No. No, I’m ugly. I’m not supposed to look like this. I’m not right.” They put their face in their hands and leaned into Wilbur. He seemed to push a strand of hair out of their face.

Tommy started to slowly walk toward the two, and Tubbo followed, unsure of really what to do. Ranboo was clearly having some sort of strange breakdown (he’d seen his mother go through similar things), and meeting a complete stranger probably wouldn’t help. He had no idea how to help them, but he also didn’t want to be left alone. Maybe he could just stand quietly, and everyone would forget that he was even there.

Tommy puffed out his chest, and his steps became a bit more confident the closer he got. He sat down nearly on top of Ranboo, and pushed him out of the view of the mirror.

“You need to snap the fuck out of it,” he said, tousling his hair. “You’re a perfectly average human, so there’s nothin’ to worry about. Eat your fuckin’ food and then you’ll feel better. Also you need to meet our new crew member, TUBBO, get over here!”

Tubbo reached them in a couple steps, and sat down cross-legged on the other side of Tommy. Here, he was able to see Ranboo’s face. It looked normal, if a little tired, and there was a thick scar that ran from below their eye to about halfway down their neck. They were hunched over, running a hand through their hair.

“Hello.” Tubbo gave a small wave, but it wasn’t reciprocated. “I’m Tubbo. I’m gonna be staying here for a while, I guess, so it’s nice to meet you.” He smiled, but not too wide. Ranboo glanced at him with two different colored eyes, one red and one green.

“Hi.” Their voice was small, and their body was tense. “I’m Ranboo.” They grabbed Wilbur’s hand and gripped it tight.

“Do you feel better now?” Wilbur asked. Ranboo nodded.

“Yea- Yeah, I’m better now. I’m- I’m better.”

“Do you think you can eat something?” Wilbur grabbed the plate and brought it to his lap. Ranboo didn’t say anything, but leaned their head on Wilbur’s shoulder.

“C’mon!” Tommy exclaimed. “You big baby! You haven’t eaten in at least 24 hours! Knowing you, probably more. You’re allowed to wallow in self pity, but not until after you eat.” He grabbed the plate and forcefully handed it to Ranboo.

It seemed a bit harsh to Tubbo. When his mom had her moments, his whole family would make sure she felt comfortable. They would never think of insulting her, or speaking in such a tone. That was a sure way to make her feel worse and get yourself yelled at. Tommy, it seemed, had no respect for the mood. But after a moment, Ranboo sniffled and grabbed the fork. It was a slow process, but they eventually ate a couple of bites, and when they were done Tommy had a self-satisfied smirk that he was in no way trying to hide.

“That’s what I thought, ya bitch. Now, you can wallow alone, or you can wallow with the rest of us. I personally think that group wallowing is more fun, but you do you.” He stood up and gestured for Tubbo to follow him. He did, giving Ranboo one last glance and jogging to catch up with Tommy’s long stride.

When they got to the ladder two other pairs of footsteps joined them. Tubbo let Ranboo go ahead of him, and he finally got a look of how tall they really were. Much taller than Tubbo, but they were very thin.

I could take them in a fight, Tubbo thought. Their bones would snap beneath my legs. He cringed at his own thoughts. That was a bit rude, sorry Ranboo, I won’t fight you, probably.

They stepped through the trapdoor again and the dining area seemed less crowded than before. Ranboo still seemed tense. Their eyes darted around the room before they locked onto Captain Philza and rushed over. The captain seemed happy to see them, and let them bury their face in his shoulder.

Tommy walked over and put a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder. “If you’re still hungry you can stay and eat a bit more, but if you’re not we should prolly get a hammock set up or somethin’,” he said nonchalantly. He quickly turned his head to Tubbo and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think that this means we’re gonna be all buddy-buddy now, alright? I’m still angry at you.” Tubbo shrunk under his gaze.

“But I don’t know what I did wrong,” he whispered. Tommy scoffed.

“You’ve done so much wrong already. Next thing we find out you’re pro-slavery.”

“I’m not!” Tubbo exclaimed. “I’m not, I swear! I think that slavery is barbaric and I would never support it!” Tommy smiled with a closed mouth, but the tension didn’t leave his brow.

“Good, but like, are you still hungry?”

Tubbo shook his head. He’d eaten most everything on his plate, and that was more food than he’d had in months. He assumed Bad would be the one cleaning, because it seemed he (Captain Philza had used he earlier, so Tubbo would now too, less complicated) was the one to make all the food. The chef on The Eastern Gull was always the one to clean the kitchen after a meal, and the surrounding area.

“Well then, we can go back downstairs and I’ll show you the sleeping arrangements and we can get you set up with your own hammock. We always have extras, just in case. Although it will just be a plain white. We can get you a more personalized one later, once we’re sure you’re gonna stay.” Tommy turned around and walked back to the trapdoor they had just came from. Before he descended all the way, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted “Phil! Phiiiiiiiil! We’re gonna go get the new guy a place to sleep, aight? Bye!” He beckoned Tubbo down the ladder again.

Once down, Tommy led him past all the hammocks, and past a load of barrels that must have been for organization, before they arrived at what looked to be a messy storage area. It was filled with clothes and plants and some things that Tubbo couldn’t even name. Tommy faced Tubbo with a deadpan expression.

“This is the junk corner, where we shove our junk. If you venture too far, you will also become junk, and we will never find you again.” He started looking through the few closed chests that were around the edges. He opened one with an ‘Aha’ and made some odd waving motions with his hand that Tubbo assumed was directed at him.

“See, this is what we’re looking for!” He pulled a few white cloths attached to strings out. “They’re all the same size, so we’ll just grab this one.” He struggled to wrestle it out of the chest. “And then we’ll hang it up with the others and I’ll give you a little tour.”

They walked again to the hammocks, and Tubbo found himself slightly out of breath.

“Your ship is huge!” He exclaimed. “I can barely see the other side of it!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet, innit? Biggest ship I’ve ever seen. And trust me, I’ve seen some big ships.”

“You think it’s bigger than the ships in the Emperor's fleet?”

“Can’t say.” Tommy started tying one end of the hammock to a hook on the ceiling, and gestured for Tubbo to join in. “I’ve never seen how big those are. I’ve only seen the little messenger boats. But I bet the Emperor’s are bigger, because he's, y'know, rich. And he has like, the best of the best working for him.”

“Who built this ship?” Tubbo asked, tying the other end of the hammock.

“Not really sure. I’ve never really asked. It had to have been a lot of people. Knowin’ Phil, he probably did a lot of it.”

“Why do you call him that? It seems a little disrespectful.” Tubbo pulled the knot tight, and gave it a tug to make sure it wouldn't come undone.

“What, Phil? Everyone calls him Phil. Or Philza. Why would it be disrespectful?” Tommy looked over their knots, and nodded satisfactorily.

“Well, the captain on my ship– well, not my ship, anymore, I guess. But my old ship. The captain of my old ship hated when we would call him by his name without any honorifics or something. We all just called him ‘Captain’ or ‘Sir’ or something along those lines. That’s kinda how every captain I’ve had acts.”

“Hm, well, Phil’s not like that. He doesn't really care what you call him.” Tubbo frowned. “Good job on the knots, by the way. It won’t be super cold tonight, so you probably won’t need a blanket for now, but I have an extra that you could use if you do get cold.”

Tommy turned around and pointed at a red hammock directly across from where Tubbo’s now was. “That one’s mine. You might think it’s red because that’s my favorite color, but the truth is that it’s red because I got blood on it, but was too emotionally attached to get rid of it. So we dyed it red to hide the stains.” Tubbo’s face crinkled in concern, but Tommy was smiling, so it must have been fine. “That white one next to mine is Sam’s, under that is Ponk’s, then Skeppy, Puffy, and then allllll the way over there is Wilbur’s and Ranboo’s.” He pointed to each as he said their names, some Tubbo recognized and some he didn’t.

“Now,” Tommy continued. “On this side we’ve got Technoblade, Bad, Karl, Sapnap, that black one is reserved, Eret and of course, you. Phil’s cabin and the sick bay are up near the stern, but sometimes Phil sleeps down here, if he’s worried about us or somethin’.”

“He doesn’t seem like much of a captain to me,” Tubbo said with his arms crossed.

“Seems to me that every captain you’ve had is a bitch,” Tommy retorted. “Phil’s nice. Maybe a little too nice sometimes. I mean, he took in you, and so far you’ve proven to have no redeeming qualities except bein’ able to tie a good knot.”

“Hey!” Tubbo exclaimed, his brow furrowed. “I do have redeeming qualities, you’re just fucking angry at me!”

“Course I’m angry at you, the entire time you’ve been here you’ve been rude to my crew!” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry I yelled. I’m just really angry and really confused. It’s just lik— it’s love, and it doesn't matter if it’s between a man and a woman or a man and a man or like two men and a woman, it just doesn’t matter, but to you it does and that doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“It does matter! It absolutely matters! Nature intended for one man and one woman, because that’s how you reproduce, and that’s the correct balance of power, and any other way is just wrong. It’s going against the very way the world is supposed to work!”

Tommy huffed. “And what makes you so sure? Don’t suppose you’re best friends with the gods.” Tubbo paused.

“Well, no, I can’t say I am, but Skuenia has laws against it, an–”

“Oh, laws, have they? Skuenia is part of the Superior Empire, so all your laws come from them. You trust a bunch of privileged assholes who’ve never experienced the present to make all your decisions for you? The Superior Empire is following the lead of someone who died nearly five hundred years ago!” Tommy opened his arms and tilted his head, something that Tubbo’s old crewmates did often when they were angry.

“Well, rules typically don’t change when they’re working! You know what, we’re happy under the rule of the Superior Empire, we’re happy to know we’re protected from evil! We’re the most powerful force in the known sea. The Superior Empire knows what it’s doing. They’re stronger than the sea itself, and they would never let any of us get hurt.”

The spark in Tommy’s eyes died down, and he lowered his arms. “Believe me, Tubbo,” he said as he turned and walked away. “No one is stronger than the sea. Not one man, not one thousand.” He climbed up the ladder and shut the trapdoor, leaving Tubbo alone.

He sat down underneath his hammock and put his face in his hands. He knew he was right, so why did he feel so guilty? This was the second fight he’d had with Tommy, and it’d only been a few hours. Anymore, and he’d get kicked off the ship for sure, hopefully on dry land and not in the middle of the ocean.

What did mom always say to do when you fought with someone? He strained his memory. “Take a deep breath, apologize, and try to see from their point of view.” Apologizing was out of the question right now, and he already felt like he was taking deep breaths.

So that left the last step.

Seeing stuff from Tommy’s point of view.

Well, Tommy was upset with Tubbo because they had different ideas of love. Tubbo believed in the purity of love, Tommy didn’t seem to. Tommy had crewmates that he liked, and Tubbo had made him upset by ridiculing them.

Tommy was probably feeling upset for similar reasons to Tubbo, when you broke it down.

So he’d found the root of the problem, opposing values. Now what? Solving conflict was much easier when you were five and fighting over who’s turn it is to play on the slide. Part of Tubbo wanted to find Tommy and try to make up and be friends, but the other part wanted Tommy to apologize and come begging for his friendship.

While Tubbo could normally agree that there’s no such thing as a right opinion, he couldn’t help but feel that in this situation there was. Like, the entire reason laws like that existed was to keep people safe. Murder was illegal because people got hurt. Robbery was illegal because people got hurt. Every active boat had to pass an inspection every time it left dock because without that law, people got hurt.

Then again, pirates were also illegal, and here he was now.

He forced himself to put his arms down and lean back against the wall. As he did, he felt the tension and anger leave his body. He was still upset, of course he was, but he was feeling better. He didn’t know what the next step would be, but with the way Tommy stormed out, it was safe to say that he had a while to think about it.

The trap door opened again, and Tubbo’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. But it wasn’t Tommy, it was someone he’d never seen before. He was rather short, but still pretty muscular. His brown skin was littered with scars, especially on his shoulder, in the place where his arm should have been but wasn’t. He turned around and paused when he saw Tubbo, his white hair bouncing with his movements.

“Sorry,” he said bashfully. “I didn’t know anyone else was down here.” He looked Tubbo up and down. “You’re the new recruit, right? Everyone’s talking about you.”

“Uh,” Tubbo stammered. “Yeah, I am, my name is Tubbo.” He rubbed his nose with his wrist.

“I’m Ponk. I work as a medic here.” He walked over to a red hammock and started digging around in it, pulling blankets out and sticking his head nearly all the way inside.

Tubbo nodded, and listened as Ponk grumbled to himself for a few moments. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he started cautiously. “What happened to your arm?” Ponk turned to look at Tubbo with a glint in his eye that made him nervous.

“Y’know, I used to be a pirate,” he said with a grin. “Strongest one on The Leviathan, even stronger than Technoblade. This was a few years ago, and we were searching for a lost treasure said to be blessed by the gods. We found it in a cave in The Islands of Ustren, but we didn’t know that it was guarded by a nest of harpies. I got my crew out of there as quick as I could, and I almost died. Thankfully I made it out alive, but my arm.” He laughed. “Not so much. Blood was squirting everywhere.”

Tubbo couldn’t find his voice to respond. His mouth hung agape and his eyes were blown wide. That sounded awful, and this guy was smiling like a maniac. He wouldn’t drop the eye contact, and Tubbo squirmed under his gaze.

Ponk snorted out a laugh. “Oh, your face! Haha, that was so worth it!” He wiped his eyes and turned his body to face Tubbo. “I was born without it. But telling that to everyone who asks gets boring, so I like to shake it up a bit.”

Tubbo let out a breath. “You got me,” he admitted. “I totally believed you.” Ponk stopped rifling through his hammock and started looking in the small pile of stuff beneath it.

“That’s nice. Some people believe me, but some people can immediately tell I’m lying. I’m not a great liar, like, I can’t keep a straight face. So I just try to make myself look as insane as possible, and that normally freaks people out enough that they believe me. I mean, it worked for you.”

“It did.” They fall into silence for a bit, but not an awkward one. Ponk was the first to break it.

“Hey, you didn’t happen to see someone come by and rearrange my stuff, did you? Tall, missing an eye, greenish hair?”

“Nope,” Tubbo answered. “It was just me and Tommy.” Ponk thought for a moment.

“It coulda been Tommy, did he get into my stuff?” Again, Tubbo said no.

“What are you looking for?”

Pink backed up and put his hand on his hip. “A kaleidoscope, pretty small, shorter than a hand. And a red journal, it’s pretty worn out.” Tubbo looked around from his place under his hammock.

“Is it that kaleidoscope?” He asked, pointing to something small and wooden under a black hammock on the end of the row. He pushed himself up and walked over, pushing stuff out of the way to reach it.

It was tube shaped, and wooden, with one end slightly wider than the other. He put it up to his eye and drew in a breath. He’d never seen such a bright purple color before. He turned it, and watched the geometric pattern shift from purple to blue, to green.

“Good eye!” Ponk exclaimed. He rolled his eyes gently. “Of course it was Wilbur. This is… not the first time they’ve stolen that, I’ll say that much.” He bent down and looked under the hammock again, his eyes scanning the ground. He shook his head, got up and dusted himself off. “I knew he probably wouldn’t have my journal, but honestly, you never know with Wilbur. I’m sure it’ll turn up somewhere, it’s not that important.” He shrugged.

“Don’t you get upset when people take your stuff?” Tubbo asked, handing the kaleidoscope back to Ponk.

“Not really,” he said. “Not anymore. There’s no ill intention behind it, and if I wanted to keep something private I would put it in my trunk. That’s what you should do, because stuff gets taken around here.”

“I– I have nothing.” There was an awkward silence for a moment. “I have a knife, my clothes, and that’s pretty much it. Everything else sank on my ship.” Ponk looked like he regretted saying anything.

“Well, I’ve gotta go,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “You have fun– being sad or whatever you were doing before I got here. That journal isn’t gonna find itself!” He quickly dashed up the ladder and gave Tubbo a mocking salute with two fingers.

That’s one way to avoid an awkward situation, he thought as the trapdoor closed once more. He sighed. I wish I could do that to myself.

It was rather quiet on the ship. The walls drowned out all the sound from the ocean and upstairs. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing. It almost felt like he was home again, if he closed his eyes. The floor wasn’t rocking, at least not noticeably, and it actually didn’t smell of sweaty adult men that hadn’t showered in weeks like it did on The Eastern Gull. Didn’t make much sense, as this crew seemed to have quite a few adult men as well, but maybe pirates had better hygiene than the sailors did. It wouldn’t be that hard to achieve.

Tubbo always tried to stay clean, but it was really difficult when you could only shower with sea water. Every time he got home his sister would complain for weeks about the smell of fish that clung to him.

God, he missed his family. He always did, but he felt it extra intense right now. He wanted to be back home, where his mom would be in the kitchen cooking dinner while he and his siblings sat at the table, and he told them stories about his great adventures on The Eastern Gull and they told him stories about the mean teachers at school and the cute guard boys that winked at them. He wanted to feel the feeling he did when his dad came home from the docks, his skin and clothes mildly damp with saltwater, and he would pass by the table and give him a firm squeeze on the shoulder before walking to the kitchen to say hello to his wife once more.

He felt tears welling up in his eyes and he forced them down. I will not cry, he repeated to himself. I will not cry. He looked around the room, past the hammocks and past the junk corner, at the farthest point on the wall. I can’t take the silence right now.

He looked at the ladder and hesitated a moment before walking over to it and climbing up. He peeked his head out of the trapdoor. The dining area was a lot less crowded than it was before, only a few people still sat there, and it didn’t look like anyone was eating.

He crawled out into the open space and sat down on the floor a safe distance from Eret. She looked over at him and smiled, beckoning him with their hand. He scooched over a bit, his shoulders tense from nerves.

“Did you get your hammock set up?” Eret asked when Tubbo was finally close enough.

“Yeah,” he responded.

“Did you get into an argument with Tommy?”

“Yea- wait, how did you know?” He furrowed his eyebrows at Eret.

“Well, Tommy came up fuming and didn’t say a word to Skeppy or Bad when he passed, then you come up like—how long has it been?—twenty minutes later and you’re dragging your body along like your muscles have suddenly stopped working. Y’know, context clues.”

“That’s kinda impressive that you figured that out,” Tubbo said suspiciously. “Like, you just perfectly nailed all the shit that went on down there. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’ve always had good intuition, it’s just learning to read people that’s the trick. But luckily,” they looked away with a small smile. “I’ve had lots of practice.” They took a deep breath and spoke softly. “If you don’t mind me asking, what were you and Tommy arguing about?”

“Opposing values,” Tubbo responded quickly. “Different ways of being raised.” God, that sounded like a diagnosis. Like that one time he went to the doctor for a headache that wouldn’t go away. Next, he’d be telling Eret to drink more water and take it easy. Ulgh.

“Was it about Sapnap and Karl again?”

He knows too much, Tubbo thought as he narrowed his eyes. “I guess, but it kinda like, evolved after that. But that was the base of it, yes.” The room was uncomfortably quiet, the only noise being Eret’s breathing and whatever Bad was doing in the kitchen.

“I don’t really know what to say about that,” Eret laughed. “I’m not really good at handling emotions. My best advice would be to just stop being a bitch, but that’s probably because I’m from Ohr, and I was raised around that stuff.”

“Ohr.” Tubbo paused, trying to recall the maps from the geography class he was forced to take a couple years ago. It didn’t work, he never paid much attention in that class anyway. “Where is that?”

“It’s one of the Islands of Ustend.”

Tubbo almost laughed. “Why do you say it like that? Like there’s a d at the end? It’s just Usten.”

“That’s how it’s pronounced in the native language. I’m not fluent, but I’ve got the accent. The pronunciation was pushed out when more people from the Superior Empire came to live there. They said it how it sounded in their language, not how it was supposed to be pronounced.”

“Oh, sorry then, that must be annoying.”

“Nah, I only pronounce it that way because that’s how my parents always pronounced it. I don’t have much connection to the name, not as much as the rest of my family does.”

“So, is Ohr part of the Superior Empire, or were they part of the group that claimed independence?” Tubbo asked, crossing his legs. Eret thought for a moment.

“They’re not part of it, but they claimed independence after the others did. I think I was… three when they did, so I don’t really remember it.”

Something clattered to the floor with a loud noise, making Tubbo jump.

“Oh, sorry about that, guys,” Bad crooned as he picked up a pan that had been dropped to the ground. “That was rather loud.” He bowed his head in what seemed to be embarrassment. He wasn’t wearing any shoes, and he had legs akin to an animal’s, with sharp claws in the place of nails. Tubbo’s breathing stuttered. The creature was so quiet it was easy to forget that he was there, and this was a rather dreadful reminder.

Oh my god, I am so fucking scared right now, he panicked. Eret, I can trust you, right? You’ll protect me should he decide that my soul looks particularly delicious?

But Eret simply waved a hand at Bad and smiled. She was perfectly calm, way too calm to justify being in the same room as him.

I’m– I’m gonna,” Tubbo stammered as he stood up. “I’m gonna go get some– some fresh air, yeah?” He backed away quickly, towards the stairs that he remembered lead to the deck. “I’ll just be outside—upstairs, I guess—whatever, I’m going this way.” He started dashing up the stairs, his hand on the banister. “Bye!”

The sun was bright in his eyes when he emerged onto the deck. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. The air was cooler up here, the ocean breeze blowing lightly on this face.

There were some people walking around, a couple Tubbo recognized, and some he didn’t. There was music coming from somewhere, from a wind instrument that he couldn’t place. He didn’t know much about music, content to just listen and enjoy the way it sounds.

He felt a little strange standing in the doorway under the stairs, so he walked out a bit, going to look over the side at the ocean. The water was calm, sloshing against the side of the massive ship gently. It was dark, like the water back home. Dark enough to swallow you whole, dragging you into the depths, never to be seen again.

He’d heard stories of the monsters that lived in the depths of the open ocean, knew people who said they’d seen them. Parents told their children warning stories about them. Vouxatross, sirens, krakens, lotflies, and the most terrifying of them all, the qiksedaman. Tubbo shuttered just thinking about them.

The ocean was dangerous, but the rules were simple: don't go too deep, and you’ll be fine. Stay away from caves that are completely submerged. Never look anything directly in the eyes.

The sun was setting slowly, turning the sky a brilliant shade of orange. The brisk air nipped at Tubbo’s face, but his coat was too thick for it to do any real damage. The cold air was a sure sign of the changing of the season, which normally meant he would go home to spend the holidays with his family. That probably wouldn’t be happening this year.

Did they celebrate anything on The Leviathan? Tubbo felt like The Feast Of Snow was a pretty universal holiday, but maybe it wasn’t in warmer places. Did they celebrate the birth of the first god on pirate ships? The All-Soul Celebration wasn’t particularly Tubbo’s favorite, but it was still so nice to see his extended family around for it.

He sighed heavily and pouted, almost hoping someone would hear him. But no one did, and he continued to stand alone at the edge.

The music changed tune, less jaunty and more calming. Tubbo may even say sad.

It sounded like it was coming from up the stairs next to him, atop what he assumed was the Captain’s room. He climbed up them, running his hand along the worn taffrail. Puffy was standing at the helm, looking off into the distance more than she was steering, and Wilbur stood at the very back of the ship, playing an instrument that reminded Tubbo of a shell.

“Hey there, little man,” Puffy called as he took the last step. “Got your hammock all set up?”

“Yep.” Tubbo laughed anxiously. “Got it ready for sleepin’, cause sleepin’s what you do.” He scratched the back of his neck. Puffy laughed too, and Tubbo got ready to shoot down whatever insult she had, but nothing happened. She just smiled and looked away again.

That’s new, he thought, his eyes squinting. On The Eastern Gull people would make fun of each other any chance they got, and not lighthearted teasing. That shit hurt sometimes, especially when it was paired with the mocking laughter of his crew. He joined in on the teasing sometimes, but not often, especially when the teasing was directed at him.

But Puffy hadn’t been laughing at him, she had been laughing with him, and she stopped when he did.

That realization hit him like a gust of wind, and he took a step back. It felt kinda nice, actually, to not be the butt of the joke for once.

Tubbo wasn’t tall, that much was obvious. And he was empathetic and soft-hearted, and sometimes the idea of masculinity made shivers run down his spine, in more ways than one. He was an easy target for insults, especially from his testosterone-ridden crew.

“Hey, I know it’s only been a few hours.” Her voice was gentle, it reminded Tubbo of his aunt. “But how are you doing? Big changes like this can be difficult, and pirates can be a little intimidating.” She chuckled. “But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, or you just need some time to adjust, I can tell ‘em to back off a bit.”

“It is a bit much,” Tubbo admitted. “Very… different than it was on my ship. I don’t really know how I feel yet.”

“Well, if you end up absolutely hating all of us, we can dock at Fashaudan and get you on a boat to Skuenia. I hope that doesn’t happen, though.”

“Are you guys headed anywhere right now, or are you just wandering the sea?”

“Well, most of the time we just wander,” she said. “That’s kind of what pirates do. What better way to serve the sea? But right now we’re heading to the Ebreley Isles. It’ll take us a bit less than a month to get there, if weather is good.” A strong gust of wind blew her hair around her face. She sighed, and spoke slowly, thinking about her words first. “It’ll be nice to be back. There’s a lot of good people there. It’s beautiful too, very colorful. They’ve got access to a lot more dyes than the more northern areas do.”

He watched the sun as it dipped below the horizon, and the sky turned the color of the ocean. Seeing it was a sort of relief, a breath of fresh air after his lungs had been stuffed for so long. Wilbur was still playing the sad song on his shell instrument. He had yet to take a break, or a breath. He hadn’t acknowledged that Tubbo was even there. The music blended with the sound of the ocean below, like it was made to be played this way.

Heavy footsteps interrupted the music—though Wilbur kept playing—and a head of dark green hair peeked over the banister.

“Hey, Puffy,” his voice was deep, but still timid. “We’ve separated most of the stuff, but I was wondering if you’d like to take a quick look because we got some stuff I think you might like, but I don’t really want to keep anything unnecessary.”

“Are you telling everyone else or just me?” She asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Just you, for now,” the other person said. “Trying out a new thing by asking you all one at a time so we don’t have to endure the ‘feeding frenzy’ anymore.” At this Wilbur stopped playing and gaped at him.

“But Feeding Frenzy is the best part!” He whined. “Who’ve you asked already? Who do I need to raid?!”

“The entire point of taking turns is so there’s no more raids.” He looked over and jumped as he noticed Tubbo for the first time. “Oh, hello, who are you?” He climbed up the rest of the stairs, giving Tubbo a good look at him. His green hair was short on the sides, and longer on the top. It fell into his face and almost obscured the eyepatch that he was wearing over his right eye. His skin was a medium-brown color, and riddled with scars, something that seemed to be common on this ship.

(Tubbo briefly wondered if he would end up with as many scars, before remembering that he probably wouldn’t be alive long enough to get any).

He was wearing an unbuttoned black jacket over what looked to be multiple shirts, and he was tall, much taller than Tubbo, like most men seemed to be.

“Oh, I’m Tubbo,” he responded, used to the way introductions went by now. “I’m new here.”

“That’s cool, I’m Sam. How long have you been here? If it’s been a few days, I’m sorry. I don’t get out much.”

“No, no, just today. A few hours ago, it’s fine.” He paused. “I think Ponk mentioned you earlier. He was worried you took his stuff?” Sam nodded, and his eyebrows crept together.

“She did? Of course she did. That is something that I would do.” He ran his hand through his hair, revealing the darker birthmark on his forehead and his… ears.

Tubbo had to do a double take.

What he had originally thought was just more hair was definitely not from this angle. They were fluffy and green, like his hair, but they twitched and moved at different sounds, enough to be suspicious. Suddenly Tubbo was hyper aware of the darkness of his good eye, and the unnatural pointiness of his teeth.

MONSTER! His mind screamed. DANGEROUS! He forced himself to remain appearing calm, in hopes to not agitate the creature with sharp claws and teeth that was standing right in front of hi–

“No, hold on,” Wilbur interrupted. “You don’t get to distract me. I want to go back to the part where you said no more raids. Raids are my thing! Everyone has their thing, mine is raids! I can’t be a dirty crime boy if I do no crime!”

“Raids are not your thing,” Puffy cut in. “Your thing is music. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not Wilbur, it makes you look bad.”

“Well, maybe I have two things.” He crossed his arms. “I’m just that much better than you. You and your stupid little maps. Who needs maps when you have ocean?”

“Not all of us are as content to wander as you are, Wil,” a voice called from below them. “You may be hated by the gods, but don’t make that our problem.”

“Ugh, SHUT UP, KARL. No one cares about your opinion!” He paused for a moment and frowned. “I’m sorry, that was mean. We do care.”

“Puffy, do you want the stuff or not?” Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Puffy rolled her eyes, nodding her head with a fond smile on her face. She left down the stairs as Sapnap came up simultaneously.

“Don’t insult my man, Wilbur,” he laughed, placing a hand on his hip.

“I said I wa—” he cut himself off with a groan. “My mind’s fucked up today. It’s my fault, I should have more control over it.”

Sapnap lit an oil lamp mounted on the railing, then moved to another.

“I mean.” Sam shrugged, his skin glowing in the light of the lanterns. “Can’t be that fucked up. You immediately apologized.” Wilbur gave him a small smile and sat down on an empty crate.

“I guess you’re right. Thanks for that.” He scratched the back of his neck. Sapnap lit the last of the four lanterns, casting a golden glow over everything. Tubbo looked over at the main deck of the ship, all the lanterns down there burning as well.

“So you’re the lamplighter?” He asked Sapnap.

“Uh, yeah, that’s one of my jobs. I like it. I like fire.” He took a step towards Tubbo, who took two in the other direction. He hesitated, pulling his limbs in close and not taking another step closer. Tubbo felt a little guilty, but that was overshadowed by the sense of relief he felt by not being close to him.

The first stars appeared in the sky, and Wilbur started playing his shell instrument again, only for a brief moment, but the music pulled him in.

“What is that?” He asked, although he wasn’t sure if he was asking about the instrument or the feeling it gave him.

“It’s an ocarina,” Wilbur told him, eyes shining. “I made it myself. I can’t play it as well as I can play guitar, but I love the sound of it.”

“I wouldn’t be able to tell if you could, I’m not a super musical person.” He gave a closed mouth smile that was returned.

“I can relate to that,” Sam said, his voice sending a shiver down Tubbo’s spine. “I can’t play anything. I tried a few times, but I tend to give up on stuff quickly.”

“Ha, losers!” Sapnap barked. “I play the bass, and the marimba.”

“Everyone from The Ebreley Isles can play the marimba, you’re not special,” Wilbur groaned.

“Well, do you play the marimba?”

Wilbur’s face deadpanned. “Look at my fucking skin. Look at how pale I am. Do I look like I’m from the fucking Ebreley Isles?”

Sam laughed, showing off his fangs. Tubbo cowered. He suddenly felt cornered, surrounded by people that might want to kill him, or eat him, or start flirting with him, and he’d have no escape. His heartbeat quickened.

Downstairs is a giant demon that could kill me with the flick of a finger, he reasoned with himself. Here is some sort of monster that could also kill me. Nothing good could come from this. He should probably get used to nowhere on this ship being safe.

The wind blew lightly, and Wilbur shivered.

“It’s getting cold,” he said, standing up. “I’m going inside.”

“I’ll come with you!” Tubbo said quickly, racing to catch up with Wilbur’s long legs. They went down the stairs to where everyone had been eating earlier. There was a large gathering of people around a short table that hadn’t been there earlier.

“Hey,” one that Tubbo didn’t recognize said. “We were about to start a round of Mortal and Misery, do you want to join?”

Wilbur shook his head. “I think I better not. I’ll watch, though. I just don’t wanna get snappy at anyone and say something I’ll regret.”

“That’s fine.” The person waved him off. “What about you, Tubbo, was it? Come play with us!”

Tubbo went and kneeled down next to Captain Philza. It seemed they had already started dealing, but he got passed a few cards anyway.

“I’ve never played this before,” he admitted. “How does it work?” The person drummed their fingers together mischievously, their face blocked someone else around the table.

“Well, you start with five cards…”

++++++

“And that’s a dragon, so you can place anything and see how it responds.”

Tubbo grabbed another dragon card out of his hand and placed it on the table.”

“That’s two dragons. That’s good. That means you beat him. And you get the money on the cards. How much is that? That’s 13 and 10, which is 23, so here you go.” He got passed five chips, two with a 10 on it and the other three with a 1. He placed them in his stash.

“So now it’s Ponk’s turn, I think you’re getting the hang of this…”

++++++

“And I am going to use my special ability to attack Gloria, which means she’s out now.” Tommy frowned as he placed the fifth red chip on the card of Tubbo’s character.

“Oh, darn it, she was so good! Tommy, four out of the five hits are from you! You’re totally targeting me!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Tommy retaliated. “So what’s it gonna be? Redraw, revive, or retaliate?”

Tubbo huffed. “I can only redraw.” He placed down all his cards and grabbed Gloria, her stupid smiling face looking up at him. He put her down next to Godwin the Impenetrable, his other defeated card.

“I swear you’re targeting me, this is the second time…”

++++++

“Look, I just think she’s neat,” Eret said as she drew two cards from the top of the pile. “A Winding Vine and a 6, that means she gets past.” He grabbed the situation card and placed it next to his other claimed ones.

“And she is neat, but sometimes you need to branch out a bit. You can’t place all your faith in Vilotta, she is literally only good for wisdom and plant stuff,” Puffy cried.

“She’s never failed me.”

“But has she ever made you win?” Puffy crossed her arms.

Eret was silent for a moment. “I’m going to need you to stop…”

++++++

“Give me some more of this fucking bread,” Wilbur said, reaching around the table to grab another slice. “Also Ponk is totally cheating. And Tommy’s targeting Tubbo.”

“I am not!” Ponk cried. Wilbur simply shrugged and shoved another piece of bread in his mouth.

“Ponk, how could you?” Karl placed his hand over his heart in mock anguish.

“I’m not, I’m actually not, they’re lying!”

“Tommy, quit targeting me,” Tubbo sighed, looking at his three dead player cards. He didn’t look up, but could hear Tommy scoff from across the table.

++++++

Everyone waited in anticipation as Captain Philza hesitantly flipped over the final one of his cards. It was a knight. He had claimed the last situation card and ended the game. Everyone set their hands down on the table and added up the remaining points.

“I have just so not won,” the person who had dealt the cards said with a laugh.

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that I have,” Captain Philza said, stretching his arms nonchalantly. Tubbo peaked over at the cards he put on the table.

Four. Fucking. Dragons.

No way he would be losing with those cards.

“How?” He asked in disbelief. “Your player isn’t even a scale type, or a beast type. How did you manage to get that many dragons?”

“Phil almost always wins Mortal and Misery. He always gets the best cards,” Wilbur said, munching on what was the last of the loaf of bread, Ranboo sat down by his legs. “It’s either skill, or insane luck, or some blessing from the gods. I don’t know.”

“So, how did you like the game, Tubbo?” The dealer asked. He should really learn his name.

“I thought it was fun, a bit confusing at first.” He smiled. “I’d play again.”

“Good. Good.” He started gathering up the cards and putting them away. “I like it, but it just takes so long, and quite a lot of brain power. I mean, you can tell, Karl went to bed immediately after he got out.” He laughed.

Captain Philza nudged him with his elbow. “Not bad for your first time. Most of your deaths were Tommy’s fault, and you actually had a decent amount of coin at the end.”

“Thanks,” Tubbo repsoned.

Captain Philza looked around. “Everyone’s going to start winding down now, so you’re free to do whatever. There’s food if you’re hungry, or you could just go to bed. Do you even have sleepwear? I guess not, we’ll have to make due with something else, you can’t just sleep in those clothes.” He looked around at everyone, who had started to mingle with each other.

“Ponk!” He called, beckoning him over. “You’re a similar size to Tubbo, do you think you could temporarily lend him some sleepwear, just until he gets his own?”

Ponk stood up close to Tubbo, comparing their height. They were basically the same size, with Tubbo being just a few inches taller. “Yeah,” he said. “I think I have some things that would fit you. I’ll go get those. I’ll put them under your hammock, so they’re there when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Ponk!’’ Tubbo called as he ran off. He suppressed a yawn, his eyes starting to feel heavy. He didn’t want to go to bed yet, it felt way too early. Maybe he could try to talk to someone, get acquainted with the crew a bit more. He slunk over to Tommy who was talking with Wilbur and Ranboo.

“Hey guys!” He chirped, smiling and puffing out his chest to appear confident.

“Fuck off, Tubbo,” Tommy said without turning to him. “I don’t wanna talk to you.”

Tubbo’s smile fell, and he took a couple steps back. He didn’t even know Tommy that well, why was he so upset that he didn’t want to talk to him? There were other people that he could be friends with. He turned around, looking at the other people on that level.

No way would he be socializing with Sapnap, at least not alone. Nor would he with Bad or Puffy.

But that’s fine, there were other people.

But the dealer was talking with Bad, and that made him suspicious. And he didn’t know who the person with pink hair was, but they had pointed ears and teeth, so they were definitely off limits.

No, there were other people, there had to be.

The Captain. Eret. Ponk. Was that really it? Was that all he could confide in? He really was alone in this, wasn’t he? He made his way back over to Philza, wiping his eyes and yawning once more.

“Well I-” He sighed. “I think I’m gonna go to bed.”

“That’s understandable,” Captain Philza responded. “It’s been a long day for you. Sleep well, or, as well as you can.” Tubbo nodded and stretched, walking past everyone else to get to the trapdoor. He gave a small wave to Tommy, who simply glared at him and turned his head. His stomach sunk, but he smiled anyway.

“Goodnight, Tubbo!” Eret called as he opened the trapdoor. Tubbo nodded, but didn’t say anything back. He didn’t know what to say.

Downstairs was dark, and quiet. The only other sounds were Sam and Karl’s breathing, both fast asleep.

He took his clothes off and felt around under the hammock for the things Ponk had left him. His hand landed on something, and he blindly put it on. He repeated that with the other pieces of clothing. They were a bit too short, especially around his stomach, but they worked. And they were comfortable, which was a big plus. He stood up, his eyes heavy.

He had a bit of a hard time getting up into the hammock, and it felt full once he did. He pulled something soft out from underneath him, and realized it was a down blanket. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but he was pretty sure it was off-white, or maybe grey.

“It won’t be super cold tonight,” Tommy had said. “So you probably won’t need a blanket for now, but I have an extra that you could use if you do get cold.”

Tears that Tubbo had been holding back all day once again sprung into his eyes. He’d made Tommy so angry earlier, but he still did this for him. On The Eastern Gull, making someone angry was a way to get your stuff stolen or destroyed, not to give someone something important.

He settled into it, wrapping himself up and letting the top of the hammock close around him. It smelled clean, with a faint hint of something earthy.

I will not cry, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes tight. I will not cry.

Chapter Text

Tubbo woke up in a gently swaying hammock. If he didn’t open his eyes, he could almost pretend that he was back on The Eastern Gull. Almost. There was too much of a difference in the nice smell of the blanket and the laughter streaming in from the open trapdoor. They sounded like they were having fun.

Tubbo heart rate spiked.

He didn’t sleep in, did he? What was the punishment on this ship for laziness? Pirates had to be cruel on their punishments, they just had to! He struggled to get out of the hammock quickly, his feet getting tangled up in the blanket. When he finally managed to get out, one foot landed on the floor, but the other tripped on a pile of fabric right under the hammock.

He rubbed his hip where he had fallen, taking a quick look at what he tripped on. He grabbed the piece of paper that was resting on top of the pile of fabric. It was a little crinkled from where he had stepped on it, and right in the middle of the paper, in very messy handwriting were the words “For Tubbo” with a smiley face drawn next to it.

He picked the first item out of the pile. It was a pair of grey pants, lined for warmth and loaded with pockets. He took his pajamas off and tugged on the pants. Years of changing in front of other people left him with no lingering anxiety at the thought of someone walking in on him. The pants fit him well enough, a bit short and loose around the waist, but the next item he picked up was a belt, so that solved that problem.

Next was a white shirt that fit surprisingly well, all topped off with a black jacket that was short around the sleeves but otherwise fine. There were no shoes or socks, but he could just use the ones he had on yesterday.

He stood up and stretched until he heard a pop from his shoulders. Just as he was about to rush upstairs, someone stirred in their own hammock. Upon closer inspection, Tubbo realized that there were a lot of people still asleep. He let out a breath in relief. He hadn’t slept in after all.

He gave himself a moment to sit down and wake up, his mind still hazy from sleep. He leaned against the wall of the ship, running his fingers through his tangled hair. He heard someone else sigh and shuffle, before two black, clawed feet were placed on the floor. Tubbo’s chest tightened as Bad walked towards the ladder. He stopped when he spotted Tubbo.

“Oh, hello there,” he said, rubbing his eyes. He was still dressed in red pajamas. “Good morning.”

Tubbo waved, not really knowing what else to do. “Morning.”

“Is Philza still asleep?”

“Um, I don’t know. Doesn’t he have his own room?”

“He does, he does.” His voice was soft, and weak from tiredness. “But he slept down here last night. Just to keep an eye on us.” To keep an eye on you went unsaid. He didn’t need to say it, Tubbo already knew.

Bad stretched, his arms not quite reaching the ceiling, but almost. It made Tubbo feel tiny in comparison. Tiny and so, so vulnerable.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Good enough. How about you?” Tubbo asked, mainly out of politeness and fear of being eaten.

“I’m a good sleeper, just a light sleeper. I tend to dream.”

“I don’t dream much. But it’s real weird when I do.”

“Hm, interesting,” he said, although Tubbo suspected he didn’t really care. “I’m going to head upstairs. You can take your time. We don’t rush in the mornings.”

Tubbo didn’t say anything else as Bad left, his mouth pressed firmly into a line. He allowed the tension to leave his body once Bad was out of sight. He leaned his head against the wall again and closed his eyes, listening to the faint sounds of footsteps from above and the breathing of everyone still asleep. The ship rocked gently, so much more gently than any other ship he’d been on.

He wondered how it would be in a storm. Would it stay calm, or would the sea toss it around like a plaything, as it did to every other ship that dared venture too far?

He pursed his chapped lips and pushed himself up off the ground, smoothing out his pants. It was time to get a move on with the day, lest he get in trouble for laziness. He walked over to the trapdoor.

Tubbo slowly climbed up the ladder, the sound of voices intimidating. He felt like he was intruding, like he wasn’t supposed to be there, and in a way, he wasn’t. Who knew what the customs on this ship were like? On The Eastern Gull you would wake up, get dressed, and get right to work. Breakfast would come later, once the captain was finished with his.

He took a deep breath and pushed himself up, cautious about who was near him when he emerged. Everyone seemed to be congregating by the table, some standing by it and some sitting down around it. It was a small group, with a few people that Tubbo didn’t recognize. He did spot Eret in the crowd, and he rushed over to go see them. They were his only lifeline on this ship, and he intended to take full advantage of that.

“G’morning, Tubbo,” he said as Tubbo stood next to him. They passed him a full wooden cup of water, which he gladly drank, not concerned with where it came from or how Eret knew he needed it.

“Good morning,” Tubbo responded after he was finished gulping down water.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Uhm,” Tubbo paused. “Yeah, actually, I slept pretty well.”

“That’s good. How do you feel about eating right now? Are you like a ‘hungry when you wake up’ person or a ‘no eating for a few hours’ person?”

He shrugged. “I could eat.”

Eret adjusted their frilly white sleeves. “Okay. Breakfast isn’t quite ready yet. We like to give Bad a bit of time to wake up before we put him to work. His natural biology is made to be nocturnal, so mornings are extra hard for him. Once he gets going he’ll be fine, y’know, but it just takes him a moment.” She closed her eyes and put a finger to her lips, her forehead creased in concentration. “Oh, that’s right! The Captain wanted to talk to you this morning. You could go see him, and then come back and breakfast would probably be ready.”

Anxiety pooled in Tubbo’s gut. “He asked for me specifically? What does he want?”

“Probably just to check in. Talk to you about your recent ‘behavior.’”

His head spun, and the floor swayed beneath his feet. “Where is he?”

“The crow’s nest.”

++++++

The cold air was a burst of relief on Tubbo’s sweaty face. The morning air was crisp and salty, and smelled of ocean rather than fish. Not many people were on the deck. There was someone with pink hair at the helm, someone up near the bow, and Wilbur looking over into the water on the port side.

Tubbo looked up to the tallest mast and shuddered. The mast, proportionally, was the correct size for The Leviathan. The problem lied in the fact that The Leviathan was huge, and therefore the mast was as well.

Tubbo approached the base, hands trembling as he grabbed on to the first rungs of the ladder. It was attached to the mast in places, but with enough sway to make it easy to grab, and enough to scare the shit out of Tubbo when he first put his foot on it.

He looked directly up at his destination, and slowly progressed up the ladder. He shut his eyes tightly and held on with all his might anytime the wind blew him around. He didn’t know how high he was, and he didn’t want to know. He just kept climbing up and up.

He barely noticed when he was close to the top, brain focused on nothing but the need to keep going and not die.

When he finally reached the crows nest, his head bumped on a hatch and he slowly pushed it open, sticking his head out like a mole. The Captain turned around and smiled at Tubbo, waving him over. Tubbo slowly climbed through the hatch, tension leaving his body at the sound of it closing. He laid on the ground, eyes shut tightly, not wanting to have to stand up and look over the edge, out into the endless sea.

He felt a shoe kick his back lightly.

“Stop being dramatic,” The Captain said. “It’s not that bad.”

Tubbo almost groaned, but stopped himself, and sat up slowly, one hand on the mast to steady himself. He caught a quick glance at the sea and focused his eyes down at his feet, ignoring the way the ship swayed the small platform. It was very empty, holding nothing but a telescope and a single lantern hanging from a pole on the railing.

He didn’t know how Captain Philza was so calm, he was leaning over the goddamned edge! Inches away from certain death, yet he had the most serene expression on his face, the wind blowing his hair out of his face mystically.

The wind blew Tubbo's hair into his eyes and face, which didn’t make sense considering they were facing the same direction. Suppose the wind just favors some people like that. He really needed a haircut, months at sea always gave it time to grow out, and longer hair was sure to get made fun of on The Eastern Gull. Too feminine to be deserving of respect. Which, really, was only a rule that sailors followed. Many workers back home had longer hair, if their living situation allowed for it.

They stood in silence for a few moments before the Captain turned around, his eyes as soft as his smile.

“How are you feeling?” He asked. Tubbo sighed.

“Okay, I guess. I’m not really sure what I’m doing and I’m confused and I just feel like I have a lot of emotions I don’t know what to do with, but I’m not dead so that’s a pretty good thing for me.” He bit his lip. “And I feel scared, like really scared, mostly of everyone else—not you of course, no offense—but everyone else because they’ve got claws and teeth and shit and I really don’t want to die, I’d say I have quite a lot to live for, but the everyone just kinda gives off these ‘I am going to kill you in your sleep’ vibes that I don’t know what to do with.”

Captain Philza gaped, then cleared his throat. “Well, thank you for being honest. That was… a lot. I will say that you are completely safe with my crew. Can you tell me what you’re really afraid of?”

“The people! Or like, the not-people, whatever you call them. Where I’m from, those things kill people.”

“Where you’re from,” The Captain started. “People chased out and killed anyone the Superior Empire deemed ‘unnatural,’ causing them to need to fight back. I can almost guarantee that the first inhumans you’ve ever met were here.”

“Well, yeah, I’d never met any before, but I knew people who’ve gotten dragged into the sea by sirens and had their guts ripped out by demons.”

The Captain crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. “No, you didn’t. You knew liars, because sirens and demons don’t do stuff like that. Not anymore than humans do.”

“But- like- they’re-” Tubbo sputtered. “They’re dangerous! Everyone knows that!”

“Do you genuinely think that Puffy is a danger to you?”

Tubbo didn’t speak. She really had been nothing but nice to him this entire time, and he found himself able to forget her horns and weird hooves when they were having a conversation. And she had been kind to him, in the way that pirates and sailors were kind, especially when he’d managed to offend basically everyone else at least once.

But there was something in her height, and her eyes that always made Tubbo uneasy when he was aware of it. She radiated confidence and capability, something that was so unnatural in a woman. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t intimidate him.

“Do you think that Bad is a danger to you?”

And he said it with such a hurt voice that Tubbo felt guilty when he nodded. He could not deny that he couldn’t feel safe around the demon, but the rest of the crew definitely did. They had no problem getting close to him, or looking him directly in his eyes, things that made Tubbo’s stomach churn with anxiety.

The Captain sighed. “I guess I can’t really do anything to change that. I hope that one day you realize you have no reason to be afraid. Bad really is the sweetest thing ever, he wouldn’t even hurt a sea lemon.”

Okay, Tubbo thought. That is most definitely not the expression. Although he kept his eyes locked firmly on the Captain’s face, internally he rolled them. Maybe it was just “pirate lingo,” but it was stupid.

“I know you feel like you don’t fit in here.” The Captain turned towards the sea again. “You’re different, I’m not gonna lie. But I sense change in you. Give it a week, please. If you’re still unhappy then, we’ll dock at Fashaudan and get you a boat home.”

“In all honesty, Sir.” Tubbo scratched the back of his neck. “I’m… not sure I can.” He took a deep breath and looked at his feet.

“I don’t understand why you feel so uncomfortable with us. But if you want help sorting out your feelings about that, I say talk to Skeppy. You’re not so different than he was when he first boarded our ship.”

Our ship.

Our ship.

Our.

Our.

Our.

The word rang in his head like a gong. Tubbo’s previous captain would have said my. Everything was his, everything belonged to him. To imply that you had equal power as him was to get an empty bottle to the face, or a full one if you were that unlucky.

But Captain Philza easily shared, eating the same amount of food as everyone else, sleeping in the same place as everyone else, calling his ship something they all owned. Part of Tubbo told him that wasn’t a good sign of leadership, that he was unable to take authority, that no one must listen to him because force was the only way to make them listen, because the weak should fear the strong.

But the other part of Tubbo yearned for the kindness that the Captain so willingly gave. He was like a warm flame on a cold night, almost overwhelming at times. He didn’t know how alone he truly felt until the Captain laughed at a stupid joke he told and his heart just screamed. It made guilt well up in his chest, a betrayal to his old crew and everything he once knew.

“Well, who’s Skeppy?” He asked.

“Skeppy was our dealer last night. He’s got brown skin with diamonds growing out of it, it’s kinda hard to miss.” Captain Philza leaned over the edge of the crow’s nest, and Tubbo’s heart spiked. Gods, he was so close to falling off, yet he looked more stable than Tubbo was, and he was gripping to the mast like his life depended on it. “Actually, I think he’s right there, on the bow. He’s mischievous, that’s for sure, but he’s still sweet. I think you’ll like him. And if he ever plays a trick on you, just know that that’s his way of showing he cares, he’s not out to get you or anything. It’s like a rite of passage.”

Tubbo shuffled over and stood on his tiptoes to peak over the edge without getting too close. There was someone standing on the bow, doing something with a large rope, but Tubbo was too far away to make out any of his features.

“He was a lot like you when he first boarded our ship. He was super skeptical of everything we were doing, didn’t like Eret or Puffy or Ponk. Refused to be in the same room as Sapnap or Karl or Quackity for the longest time, because they were the ones that displayed their relationship the most. He was all hard work and strict boundaries, and didn’t know how to be okay with everything.”

The Captain paused for a moment. “Just like you.” And he said it almost fondly, with a real sweetness to his tone that made Tubbo feel something warm and familiar inside.

“But, did he like, change his mind or something?” Tubbo asked.

“He did. It took a while, and a lot of self discovery for him, but he’s much better now. Emotionally. It’s exhausting to keep all that hate in you all the time. He knows how to have fun now, and how to be serious when needed. He knows how to love.”

The sentiment was almost sweet, Tubbo decided. Changing your ability to empathize with people to give them and yourself a happier life. He could relate the situation to the things he’d seen back home. To the people living on the streets, begging for food, clothing, money, anything. It hurt his heart so much when he was younger. But then the previous King died, and his son took the throne, and the price of houses was decreased to get people off the streets.

They were able to move when it did, out of their tiny house, made for two but fitting five, and into something that didn’t flood whenever there was a long storm. His dad was able to get a better job, and living became less of a chore and more of a privilege, letting Tubbo get boating lessons instead of spending all day selling fish at the market.

And even back when they had so little, his mother never stopped giving something to those more in need, even if it was just a couple spare coins, barely enough to buy one meal. She taught him sympathy, to care for those that were in need of love, and he was eternally grateful for it.

The same feelings could almost be applied to what was happening on The Leviathan. But Tubbo really didn’t feel like he was hating on the rest of the crew. He had perfectly good reasons to be afraid of most of them, and he’d quite enjoyed the time he’d spent with Eret and Tommy so far. It was natural of him to watch his back, lest they try to hurt him, or trick him, or tempt him away from the ways of the Superior Empire.

There was a rush of blowing air, and something black flew up and landed on the top of the mast. Tubbo looked up quickly, his neck cracking at the sudden movement.

“Good morning, Bad!” Captain Philza waved to the demon that was gripping the mast. He seemed more energetic than he had been this morning, a bright smile on his face.

And a pair of large, leathery wings on his back.

“Good morning, Captain!” He called back. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” Its clawed feet were gripping the mast, way too close to Tubbo’s face for comfort.

“No no, you’re fine. What’s up?”

“Breakfast is ready, wherever you want to come down.” Its wings twitched and its tail flicked and Tubbo backed up to the edge of the crow’s nest for the first time, his eyes pinned on Bad.

“I think that sounds lovely, we’ll be right there! Won’t we, Tubbo?”

“You have wings?!” Was all Tubbo could say as he raised his voice to be heard above the wind.

“I do,” Bad said with pride. “I don’t normally have them out because they get in the way, but it’s nice to get some exercise sometimes.” It pulled them in close to its body as a stronger gust of wind threatened to blow it off the mast.

“How did I not see them before?”

“I can retract them into my body using a bit of magic, it’s very useful! I just wish I could do it with other body parts!”

That’s totally not a weird thing to say, Tubbo thought, grimacing. Luckily, Bad left with a wave, dropping off the mast and waiting a dangerously long time to open his wings again.

Tubbo gripped the railing tightly, not moving a muscle in fear he would fall. The Captain rolled his eyes, but there was no real malice behind them.

“You’re not gonna fall,” he said, offering Tubbo a hand. “Unless you do something really stupid, which I doubt you would.” Tubbo took his hand, pulling away from the edge.

“Is there anyone else on this ship with wings that I should know about?” Tubbo asked, thinking back to the rumors about Captain Philza he’d heard his whole life. “Someone important, maybe?”

The Captain shook his head. “No, no, just Bad. His wings are pretty damaged, so he can’t fly for super long, he just likes to stretch them sometimes, so he doesn't forget the feeling.”

Tubbo sighed, scrunching his nose. He supposed that if the Captain did have wings, then he probably wouldn’t advertise that all willy-nilly, and there was always the possibility that the rumors were completely false, and that the Captain was just a perfectly normal human with no extra magic limbs at all. But something in Tubbo brought his mind back to that moment on The Eastern Gull. He was so sure he’d seen something, something otherworldly. He didn’t know what he wanted to be true.

“Come on.” Captain Philza beckoned him. “Let’s go eat.”

“You mean climb all the way back down?”

He laughed. “Unfortunately, yes. You’re not gonna fall.”

“But what if I do? What if my hands get sweaty?” Tubbo asked, only half joking.

“Well then.” The Captain hoisted himself over the railing, his footwork steady. “For a second, you’ll know what it’s like to fly.”

And with that he dropped.

Tubbo’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest as he rushed to the side, looking for any evidence of a dead captain. A wayward scarf, or a splatter of blood, but there was nothing. He slowly backed up to the mast, hand over his pounding heart, and forced himself to take a deep breath.

“What the fuck?” He whispered, his voice getting lost in the wind. “What the fuck just happened?” He slid down the mast, landing on the hatch and making it rattle. He ran his fingers over the handle, and pulled it up slowly. The drop seemed bigger than he remembered, the latter thinner and less sturdy.

And there was Captain Philza, climbing down, fine as he was before. Tubbo blinked, and squinted his eyes. Then he rubbed them with his palms, just to be sure. The Captain really was fine, although how, Tubbo didn’t know and didn’t dwell. He had bigger problems to deal with at the moment.

He slowly, ever so slowly, lowered himself out of the crow’s nest. He put one foot down, and then the other, clutching the ladder closer than ever. His steps were shaky, and his eyes were barely open.

Don’t look down, he repeated to himself. Don’t look down. It was tempting to, but everytime he did his stomach swayed like it wasn’t attached to his body.

He looked up instead, as a way to not think about how far he had to go. There were a few rungs on the underside of the crow’s nest, and a bit of netting on the side. Tubbo exhaled shakily, that must have been how the Captain got down.

He shut his eyes and tucked his chin down to his neck, carefully feeling around for the next step with his foot before placing it down. He didn’t open his eyes again until his foot was flat on the ship, and he didn’t have to hold on anymore. He forcefully relaxed his muscles and took a few deep breaths before looking around.

The Captain was laughing quietly nearby.

“Were you watching me the whole time?” Tubbo asked, not caring enough to be angry.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Captain Philza responded. “You just looked so scared, and you had no reason to be.”

“I do to have a reason to be scared. Maybe you don’t, with your fancy acrobatic skills, but I could very easily fall and die.”

“You’d be surprised.” The Captain shrugged and started walking away.

“Surprised at what?” Tubbo chased after him. “You can’t just say something so vague and walk away. Surprised at your skill? My skill? Do I have a secret hidden talent for climbing ladders? What the fuck did you mean?”

He followed him back down to the kitchen area, where a few people were still mingling and more were getting some breakfast.

“Hey, Bad!” The Captain called. “What’s for breakfast?”

Bad wiped his brow. “Eggs. Mostly eggs. We’ve gotta use them up, I don’t want them to go bad. Cheesy eggs, because we got some good cheese from a stock in that fishing boat. Some bread and potatoes, there’s some orange slices if you want a little more vitamins.” He turned away, walking over to someone, its tail swaying like a cat’s.

Tubbo followed the Captain around the galley, getting the same things he did, just in smaller portions. He was hungry, just didn’t want to risk looking greedy in front of everyone, especially the Captain. He sat down at one of the chairs, Captain Philza next to him, and began to eat, trying his best not to shovel the food into his mouth.

“Wilbur and Ranboo won’t be joining us this morning.” Puffy walked over and leaned over her hand on the table. “Skeppy’ll be in in a moment. No idea what anyone else is doing.” She hefted herself up onto the table and ran a hand through her curls. “I set us more south, we were going a bit too west, and that could land us directly in Droenton, and I don’t really wanna deal with the pricks that live there.”

“Thank you, Puffy,” Captain Philza said. “I’m glad you caught that before we got too off course.”

“You thank me later.” She snatched a small piece of bread off of the Captain’s plate. “When I’m so good at pirating that you declare me better than you.” She took a bit of the bread and chewed for a minute. “Then I’ll kill you in your sleep. And take over your ship.”

Tubbo felt the color drain from his face.

“I’d like to see you try, Puffy,” the Captain retorted.

“I bet you’d cut easily. You’d be easy to dismember, and your guts would be spilling all over the floor.”

“Then you’d be in charge of cleaning them up, and disposing of my body.”

“Shit, you’re right.” She sighed. “I guess I won’t kill you then. I don’t want to have to touch your guts. And you’d probably come back to haunt me, which I do think you would be good at.” She picked an orange slice off of the Captain’s plate. “Also, if you died, then I’d also have to kill Technoblade, so they don’t kill me in a moment of blind rage and vengeance.” She waved to someone behind Tubbo, but he didn’t dare look away from her.

Captain Philza started laughing. The sound reverberated around in Tubbo’s head, almost haunting to his mind. The entire situation felt unreal, like he was high on some weird drug and everyone was just a part of his hallucinations. No sailor—not even the ones at the top of the hierarchy—would dare threaten the captain like that. An act of such treason was punishable by death, if you were lucky. He shuddered thinking about what happened if you weren’t. And steal his food directly off his plate? It made Tubbo want to gag.

“Little man, eat your breakfast,” Puffy said as she wagged a finger at him. “You’re skinny enough as it is. We’ve gotta put some meat on your bones.” Tubbo hesitantly brought a forkful of eggs to his mouth, chewing slowly. They had a bit of a smoky taste, and were much more flavorful than the eggs he used to eat at home.

Someone in a white coat came over and took a seat at the table, his eyes tired but his smile bright. Tubbo had seen him before—had met him last night—but could not for the life of him remember his name. He scanned his memory, trying to recall it.

God, who is he? He thought, averting his eyes. White jacket, Sapnap’s like, boyfriend or something. Ew. What the fuck is his name? Nothing came up in his memories, and the annoyance made the orange in his mouth taste sour.

Jacket Guy had started a conversation with the Captain, of what, Tubbo was unsure. Maybe he should have been paying attention.

“Well, I do think they’re gorgeous, in a rugged, battle-hardened type way,” Jacket Guy said.

“And I’m not saying I disagree,” the Captain responded. “I’m just saying I prefer to see inner beauty instead. They have helped so many people, and they’ve done nothing but good for the world, no matter how much shit life throws at them. And to me, that’s more beautiful than anything outside the body.”

“Besides,” Puffy cut in. “Isn’t it a little strange to praise a person that great only for their looks?”

“Hey now, I know firsthand what they’ve done, and I’m allowed to say they’re attractive. It doesn’t mean I actually want to be in a relationship with them.”

“Who are you talking about?” Tubbo asked, although he wasn’t completely sure he wanted to know.

“The Raider of the Dominion, The Corsair of Peace, the one and only Nameless Pirate!” Puffy exclaimed with flourish. “You probably don’t know who they are, but long story short they basically single-handedly stopped the Superior Empire from taking over The Ebreley Isles when they took over Droenton and allowed them to keep their agreed upon freedom.”

Tubbo hadn’t been alive when Droenton joined the Superior Empire, but his dad had been, and he told him the stories of it. He assumed the Nameless Pirate was around his age, then, around 50, maybe younger.

“Is their name really ‘The Nameless Pirate’?” Tubbo asked.

“It’s not,” Puffy responded. “But very few people know their actual name. We say Nameless Pirate out of respect.”

“Philza knows their name!” Jacket Guy said accusingly. The Captain nodded slowly.

“I do. And it’s a great honor that I do. I have sworn to secrecy, and promised not to tell another soul their real name.”

“Anyways, Karl thinks they’re hot. I think they’re hot too, but you don’t see me talking about it constantly.”

“Wait a moment,” Tubbo interrupted. “Is the Nameless Pirate a man or a woman?” He assumed a man, because most important people in Skuenia were men, but pirates seemed to have different ideas of what women were capable of.

Puffy burst out laughing. Tubbo soured, he thought it was a perfectly reasonable question.

“The Nameless Pirate has no discernible gender,” Captain Philza responded to him. “They are simply more than any gender could be.” Tubbo sat back in his chair.

“I guess that makes sense,” he said, although thinking about it too much hurt his brain. It was hard to comprehend that someone could be neither man nor woman, but Eret was a pretty good example of that. “Kinda.”

Not really, he thought, but didn’t say out loud.

“But what do I call them?” he asked.

“What you’ve been calling them,” Philza said. “‘They’ works. It’s neither masculine nor feminine.”

Tubbo paused to think for a moment. “But ‘they’ is for multiple people.”

The Captain shook his head. “Not always. It’s also used for people with indiscernible genders. You’ve been using it for Eret and Ranboo.”

“I have?” Tubbo felt shaken. He hadn’t even realized the unusual change in his language. Back home, everyone was a man or a woman, so he’d never needed to use a genderless word. He had thought that the only two genders were man and woman, but apparently he was wrong. It must be a cultural thing, he decided, and took another bite of eggs. A pirate thing, or maybe something from the Isles? But Eret’s not– ugh, nevermind. He didn’t want to think about that too much, it made his brain dizzy.

“You have,” Puffy said, giving him a pat on the head.

“Eret told me to,” Tubbo retorted, although he knew that wasn’t exactly true. “And Ranboo’s a–” He cut himself off to think. “Ranboo’s not– They’re a b– gi– um.” He paused. What was Ranboo? Their deeper voice was the only thing about them that could give a hint to their gender, but even that didn’t feel particularly masculine. They must have some gender, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Ranboo’s special,” Jacket Guy/Maybe-Karl said with a snicker. “So therefore their gender is as well.”

Tubbo’s face scrunched up. “Fine.” He waved his hand around. “That’s fine. I don’t give a fuck. I don’t understand this shit.”

“You’ll get used to it!” Puffy burst. “Lots of people on The Leviathan use different pronouns! You just have to get the hang of it. You come from a bleak and bland world of ‘he’ and ‘she’, so we’ll help you out when you get it wrong!”

Tubbo nodded. He didn’t understand why pirates needed to complicate everything so much. The two genders were man and woman, and there was no need for any more. He rolled his eyes.

Someone came thundering down the stairs, and Tubbo swiveled his head to look.

“Skeppy!” The Captain called. “Good to see you this morning!”

“It is a good morning!” Skeppy called back as he walked to the kitchen and started filling a wooden plate with food. “Good winds, clear skies, and we’re right on track!”

“Thank the Sea,” Captain Philza sighed. Skeppy came and sat down next to Tubbo, and he got his first good look at him. He had brown skin, big brown eyes, and a small scar on his cheek. His hair was windswept, and his lips were pulled back in a mischievous smile. He was wearing mostly black and white, with an accent of red here and there.

Tubbo was momentarily taken aback when he turned his head, showing a thick stripe of something shiny and blueish in his face. It crossed part of his eye, and went up into his hair. There was some sticking out the top of his shirt and some coating a few of his fingers. Tubbo felt it was safe to assume that it continued around the rest of his body.

Skeppy must have noticed him staring. “It’s real diamond,” he grinned. “It just grows on me, ever since I was a little kid. Makes me look cool.” He paused. “And intimidating.”

“‘Intimidating’,” Karl repeated. “Yeah right.”

Tubbo leaned over to the Captain. “He has diamonds in his skin,” he whispered.

“I told you that earlier.”

Tubbo gaped. “Yeah, but I thought that was a metaphor. Does it hurt him?”

Captain Philza elbowed him. “Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s very open to answering questions. He likes to talk about himself.”

“Yeah, okay.” He pursed his lips. “I can do that.” He glanced nervously at Skeppy. Was it some curse, or was it contagious? Was he a shapeshifter, someone descended from dragons? He had no idea. He scooted closer to Skeppy, if only by a few inches.

“Do those hurt?” He asked quietly, pointing to the diamonds on his hand.

“Nope!” Skeppy exclaimed, flexing his wrist and making the diamonds shine in the light. “There’s no nerves in them. They get stabbed and chipped, but I feel nothing. They’re basically invincible.” He smiled as he bragged, raising an eyebrow at Tubbo as if to see his reaction.

Tubbo didn’t know how to react. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but eventually just went back to eating the last few bites of breakfast off his plate. He still felt a little hungry, but he didn’t want to go back for seconds just yet, seeing as no one else had.

“Tubbo,” Skeppy called. “You were pretty good at Mortal and Misery last night, especially for a first timer. You got experience with card games?”

Tubbo shook his head bashfully. “No, I haven’t really played any card games in a long time. Not since I was a kid.”

“That’s boring.” Skeppt put his head in his hand. “What do you even do, if you don’t play games?”

“I… work? Fishing or selling fish? I gotta make a living, you know?”

“Not anymore. We don’t really charge rent for a hammock on our ship.”

“Well, obviously I know that. This isn’t my first time on a ship. There’s a difference between working for money and working to earn your keep.” Tubbo frowned.

Skeppy waved his hand in dismissal. “Forced labor sucks. Here, we do what we like. It’s probably not as strict as the place you came from.”

“How do you get anything done then?”

“By volunteering! I mean, look at Puffy!” He gestured to her. “She likes to sail, she likes to navigate! She likes to do a little bit of everything! So she does a little bit of everything! I also like to sail, so I do a lot of that. But I feel like my main job is more entertainment! Keeping everyone’s spirits high, that kind of stuff.”

Captain Philza cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Skeppy, Tubbo would like to talk to you about your experience on The Leviathan. Do you think you could make some time for that?”

“What? Oh, of course,” Skeppy responded. “I’ve got a couple of things to check up top, but we can totally talk while we do that. Just let me finish my breakfast and I’ll be right out.” He smiled.

“You have yet to touch your food,” Puffy observed.

“I’ll eat quickly,” he laughed. He waved Tubbo off. “You go, I’ll be there soon.”

++++++

Tubbo walked up the stairs, bumping into Wilbur who was going down.

“Oh, sorr—” Tubbo started, but was cut off.

“Get the fuck out of my way,” Wilbur said with a snarl as he shoved Tubbo and left. Tubbo was taken aback. Wilbur had been so nice yesterday, he thought as he rubbed his arm where he was shoved. But maybe he was just tired. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person. Maybe he didn’t sleep well, and was taking it out on Tubbo.

Please don’t let this be like The Eastern Gull all over again, he pleaded with whatever god might be listening.

He supposed it would make sense, though. Pirates were supposed to be ruthless murderers, much worse than anything the sailors could do. If he got pushed around when he was surrounded by simple fishermen, pirates would surely be a lot worse. He just needed to prepare himself for when the kind words became harsh ones, and the gentle touches turned painful. He would not die on this boat, not by another’s hand (though he wasn’t sure he entirely believed himself when he said that).

He took in the sight of the stern. It looked different in the daylight. It felt more real. The smoothness of the helm compared to the edge of the ship was more defined, and Tubbo had to resist the urge to run his hands over it, to see if it was as smooth as it looked. He didn’t want to accidentally get them off course. He figured getting killed on land was easier than being thrown into the ocean.

He basked in the early morning sun, the light reflecting off the calm sea. The sea was dangerous, yes, but he had no reason to worry when he was safe above it. His dad’s warning stories had no relevance now. Not when he was so far out of reach.

He gazed out onto the deck, enjoying the way everything was lit up. There were no people out at that time, which was uncommon on The Eastern Gull. Someone was always out checking the supplies, or reeling in the nets, or doing anything to look busy so the captain wouldn’t bust you for slacking. But the deck of this ship was devoid of life, save for a couple chickens and a cow. If it wasn’t so well maintained, Tubbo might have thought it was abandoned.

The peace lasted for a while, but then Skeppy came thundering up the stairs, his diamond skin sparkling in the natural light. He had a big grin on his face, and he nearly tripped on the way up.

“So,” he said, leaning on a barrel, not trying at all to contain his excitement. “You want to learn how to sail?”

Chapter Text

Hello, Beautiful People.

I’m sure that by now, everyone’s seen Technoblade’s new video. If you haven’t, please go watch it. Technoblade’s death struck the community hard.

I myself am absolutely devastated.

I write this to you through my tears of both sadness and joy. Technoblade was such an important figure in my life for the past year and a half. He was one of the reasons I got into the Dream SMP in the first place. He was one of my favorite content creators.

He has not currently been introduced in The Salt of the Sea. I was planning to introduce him in the next chapter, when Tubbo gets to know the crew better. This plan has not changed, nor will it ever. I am not going to gloss over his impact on my life just because of his death. I will continue to write and celebrate him as if he were alive.

Technoblade will not die in The Salt of the Sea. Technoblade will not die in my upcoming superhero AU. Technoblade will not die in the gladiator fic I’ve written but haven’t posted yet. I won’t let him.

So cosplayers, fanartists, writers, I encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t get rid of works or delete drafts just because he is no longer with us. Keep creating, do not let his memory die with him.

And it hurts. It hurts so much. But we have to keep going.

I know many of us have lost a great entertainer. A role model. A source of inspiration and happiness. For some of us, he might have even felt like a friend or a brother. It felt that way to me.

But it’s not quite true. Because we didn’t know Technoblade. Not like we thought we did. Each of us have our own “Technoblade” that we’ve created in our heads, the one we feel most comfortable with. And no two are the same, because none of it will ever truly be real.

My Technoblade is tall, broad, and has long pink hair. My Technoblade is half piglin, and he has ruby red eyes and tusks. My Technoblade is the acroace icon we didn’t know we needed. My Technoblade uses he/they/xe pronouns because he’s genderflux. My Technoblade loves Ranboo like a son and Philza like a partner. My Technoblade is thousands of years old. My Technoblade grew up in the nether. My Technoblade is the undefeated champion of combat and potato farming. My Technoblade is insecure and confident and strong and weak and closed off and vulnerable all at the same time.

But that’s for me.

So I urge you to tell me in the comments, who is your Technoblade?

Who was he to you? Who will he continue to be?

Technoblade has inspired me so much. He’s inspired all of us. Though his body may be dead on Earth, his spirit will live on in our minds and hearts. We can’t let the world forget about him now.

Technoblade never dies.

With a heavy heart I must say, that’s it and that’s all.

See you on the next page.

Chapter Text

“Wait, so you’ve like, actually never sailed before?” Skeppy asked, leaning on a rope.

“I have!” Tubbo exclaimed. “Just never something this big before. I can sail small fishing boats. And isn’t sailing the captain’s job? Why should I need to know?” Despite not being the tallest, Skeppy moved fast, navigating the clutter of the ship expertly. Tubbo had to race to keep up with him.

“It’s just good to know,” Skeppy called. “In case of emergency or something. If everyone else is incapacitated.”

“I feel like that’s disrespectful to the captain.”

“Well, he actually doesn’t care at all. In fact, he encourages us to be smart about the seas. So don’t worry about that.”

Skeppy led him past a pair of cows, one brown and one black and white.

“That’s Henry,” He said, pointing to the brown one. “And the other one is Ranmoo. We keep them on the ship so that they produce milk for us. And there’s a bunch of chickens running around because we can’t contain them even if we try.”

Tubbo had never been on a ship large enough to support livestock before. He’d seen them, gotten a friendly wave from one of the crew as they passed by, but the privilege of getting to be on one was reserved for the crew. He almost felt unworthy, but he squashed that feeling once he remembered that he was on a pirate ship and not one of the Emperor’s nobel vessels.

“Okay, now, follow me over here and I’ll tell you about the sails!”

++++++

As it turns out, sailing a large ship was pretty similar to sailing a small ship. There were a few key differences between them, but not too much to confuse Tubbo.

And Skeppy was pretty nice to hang out with. His earlier qualms about him were pretty much gone. He was effortlessly funny, and was kind instead of mischievous like the captain had led him to believe. The gemstones did take a little getting used to, but they sparkled beautifully in the midday sun.

“So…” Skeppy started awkwardly. “Tommy told me that you’re kind of a traditionalist.”

Tubbo’s stomach dropped.

“And that you were kinda mean to Sap and Karl earlier.”

He pursed his lips and looked out to the ocean, avoiding Skeppy’s eyes. It seemed like everyone on The Leviathan was set on changing his mind about this. He was already sick of it, of the scolding, of the dirty looks, of the pity that he saw in the pirates’ eyes.

“I get it.”

Tubbo froze. Maybe he wasn’t quite alone.

“I also grew up in Skuenia. My parents immigrated there from Droenton. And I had a similar fate to yours. My ship sunk in a storm, and somehow I survived until the next day, clinging to a little piece of wood for my life. And on the horizon I saw this absolutely massive ship, and I knew they were pirates but I still called for help. And then they helped me. Philza took one look at me and decided I was perfect pirate material.”

Tubbo was silent as he listened. This seemed like the type of story to deserve respect.

“And I was weirded out at first. Mostly at Eret, which I realize now she doesn’t deserve. But I hated being around her. And I hated being around Sapnap and Karl and Quackity. I felt like I might… I don’t know, catch something from them? Like a disease? It doesn't make any sense. But my reasoning was strong. ‘The Superior Empire says it’s wrong, and therefore I shouldn’t be around it,’ which I’m sure is what you’re also telling yourself about all of this.

“I was resentful towards almost everyone. I respected them because I feared otherwise I would be forced to walk the plank, but that was pretty much it. I shunned my own crewmates because they were different than what I learned was right.

“But there was one who intrigued me. Bad, you’ve met him. He was so timid back then, and for good reason. I thought he was just like that around everyone. I was intimidated by him, but not really scared. And then one day, I realized that it was just me. That it was my hostile and closed off mood that made him wary of me. None of the crew liked me, either. I noticed how laughter died when I entered a room, and loud conversations became hushed.”

“That’s kinda happening to me,” Tubbo admitted. “But everyone likes you now, so how did you change their minds?” Skeppy ruffled his hair.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there! Don’t worry!” He laughed. “I started with Bad. I started by apologizing, and promising to try and be nicer. It didn’t really change my view on anything, but it definitely gave me a brighter outlook on the crew. I just kinda buried my negative feelings, and it ended up letting me get closer to the rest of the crew. I realized that just because someone grew up with a different view on life than me, doesn’t automatically make them a horrible person. I couldn’t blame Sapnap because that’s how he grew up. It was never wrong where he came from.

“And because of this new mindset, I ended up getting a lot closer to the rest of the crew, Bad especially. We became great friends, and I got to see him come out of his shell more often. And then one day it changed. I realized that I was feeling something more than what you’d feel for a friend, even one as good as Bad. I had fallen in love with him.”

“But you— you’re—” Tubbo scrunched his face up. This was not the turn he expected the story to take.

“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too. I thought that my worst fear was coming true. I thought I had caught whatever the rest of them had that made them so different. And I started to resent them again. I thought that if I ignored the feelings, and distanced myself, that I would become normal again. I could tell that the crew was hurt by this, and it hurt me too. They had become my friends, and seeing them like that made me feel like a bad person.

“But I knew my parents would feel so disappointed in me. I had romantic feelings for another boy, which the Superior Empire was super against. I was wrong in my feelings. And Philza noticed I wasn’t feeling like myself, and he talked to me. I was so desperate for someone that would listen, I told him everything. And he asked me ‘Why do you feel like your heart can’t make the right decisions?’ And that sounds stupid, I know, but it made me take a step back and look at what my life had been up until that point. My parents had drilled the rule of the Superior Empire so far into me that I struggled to make up my own moral code. I was constantly terrified of getting reprimanded for doing something against them. And it took me a while to get all that out of my head. But when I did, I ended up a lot happier in my own mind. So I told Bad that I had feelings for them, and we agreed to try and have a romantic relationship together.”

“You’re dating?” Tubbo asked.

“I wouldn’t particularly call it that, because we’re on a ship, and it’s hard to go on dates while you’re constantly surrounded by other crew. But once we get on land, yes, we are dating. But this isn’t to say that you’ll end up like me, or that your experiences are the same as mine, I’m just saying that being skeptical of the way you’ve been taught to view other people might help you on this ship.”

“I don’t know,” Tubbo admitted. He put his head in his hands and sighed. “I just— it feels—” Wrong, he was going to say, but one look at Skeppy’s face made him shut up. His eyes were glossy, and his cheeks were wet.

“I’m sorry,” he said when he noticed Tubbo looking. “This is just hard for me to talk about sometimes.” He sniffed and wiped his eyes before continuing. “But I will because it’s important for you to hear this. People are people, no matter who they love, or what they do with their bodies.”

And that sounded so much like what Tubbo’s mom used to say to him, that he almost started crying too. People are people, and they all deserve respect, was the message she had ingrained into him and his sisters from the moment they were born. You never judged someone for their looks, or their financial situation, or where they came from.

“And,” Skeppy finished. “I hope that you’ll be able to see us as people, and feel comfortable around us. And if you ever need someone to talk to, or questions you want to ask, I’m always gonna try to help you. We want you here, Tubbo. And we want to get along with you.”

“I want to get along with you, too,” Tubbo admitted, his eyes downcast. “But I’ve already made a bunch of people upset. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start with an apology, and I mean a real apology. And just a tip, start with Tommy. Tommy forgives easily, and his mood about you had a huge influence on the crew. Getting Tommy to like you is getting everyone else to like you.”

Tubbo scrunched up his nose. “That sounds a bit like manipulation.”

Skeppy rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He smiled. “Just like, be genuine, I guess. If that makes you feel better.”

Above them, a bird cawed. It was one of the ugliest bird calls Tubbo had ever heard. He burst out laughing.

“What the fuck is wrong with that bird?” He asked. Skeppy laughed as well.

“We call him Steve. He likes to hang out around our ship. No idea what his problem is. He’s really stupid.” He waved up at the bird. “He steals our scraps, so I think that’s why he sticks around. Philza likes him, gods know why.”

Tubbo heard an odd splash in the water beneath him. He leaned over the edge of the ship and glanced into the water. He didn’t see anything for a second, but then there was something beneath the surface. Whatever it was, it was long, and black and white in color.

“What the fuck is that?!” He blurted, tugging on Skeppy’s sleeve. Skeppy leaned over just in time to see the very end of whatever it was. He looked back quickly, keeping his eyes sharply off the water.

“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing was in the water.” He put a hand on Tubbo’s back and started speed leading him to the lower floor. “What about that apology? I always say there’s no time like the present. The sooner it gets done, the sooner everyone likes you again.”

Tubbo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He didn’t know Skeppy well enough to say that this was out of the ordinary, but he knew he saw something in the water.

“Look, Tommy’s right over there. Go say you’re sorry. He’ll totally forgive you!” He pushed Tubbo in the direction of the table with an encouraging smile. Tubbo slowly walked to the table, trying to make his steps as quiet as possible. His heart beat quickly in his throat. He couldn’t imagine what would happen if he messed this up again.

He stood over Tommy’s chair, keeping a good distance between them in the hopes that maybe harsh glares couldn’t hurt as much if he was too far away. Tubbo gulped, and reached out his hand before pulling it back.

“Tommy,” he started, waiting to get his attention. Tommy looked over and frowned at him. “I’m…” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

Tommy’s eyes widened, and his face softened. “You’re what?”

“I’m sorry,” Tubbo repeated. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, or anyone else. I want to make it up to you, and hopefully we can be friends.” He smiled when he finished talking, in hopes to look more genuine.

Tommy leaned back in his chair and gazed out a window. Slowly, he nodded. “I suppose you’re going to need a friend,” he said. His blue eyes met Tubbo’s again. “I accept your apology. We can start over and do better. Although, I am telling you, if you ever say any shit like that again, I’m throwing you overboard. Let the monsters eat you. And then I’ll never speak to you again.”

Tubbo cleared his throat. “I understand.”

Tommy cleared his throat awkwardly. “I guess I should finish indroducin’ you do everyone, yeah? Since I couldn’t before. Anyways, uhm, that’s Ponk over there.” He pointed to Ponk, who was scribbling something in a notebook as Puffy talked. “They’re like Eret. As in like, somewhere kinda in between a boy an’ a girl. And that’s cool with you, right?” He curled his lip at Tubbo. “It’s not ‘freaky’ or ‘gross’?”

“Nope,” Tubbo quickly responded. “Not at all.” He felt himself get sweaty.

“Good, good, that was the right answer. Anyways, he’s a doctor. You get hurt, he’ll like, sew you up and shit. Happened to me a couple times. But it hurts like a bitch at first, so try not to get hurt.”

Tubbo nodded. He pretty much already knew that, but note taken.

“And then I dunno if you’ve met Sam yet, but Sam’s the one with green hair. He’s a very good fighter, but not like, that good. Not as good as me, anyway. I’m the best. He also knows how to fish in many different ways, which I find cool. You’ll see him one day, he’ll just dive into the water and come up with a fuckin’ fish.”

Wait, Tubbo thought. Weren’t all you against fishing? Isn’t that why you sunk my boat?

He didn’t get a chance to ask before Tommy started talking again. “And Technoblade, too. He’s also a great fighter. Again, not as good as me, but like, tied with me. Close to tied. And he reeeeally likes the captain, so if you ever decide that you don’t, I would just be prepared to have your head ripped off and thrown into the ocean.”

Tubbo’s throat clenched. That had to be a joke, right? Tommy seemed to exaggerate a lot. It was probably a joke.

The room fell quiet suddenly, even Tommy stopped talking. Tubbo turned his head where everyone else was looking. Wilbur walked through the room, posture stiff and eyes downcast. He seemed dazed, far away. He didn’t smile, didn’t look at anyone, just hummed as he walked to the other side of the room and down the trapdoor. It took a moment for conversations to resume. Tommy looked at him, wide-eyed.

“Tubbo! My friend! Let’s go outside.” He grabbed Tubbo's hand and started dragging him towards the stairs. “Come, walk with me, walk with me.”

“What just happened?” Tubbo asked. Tommy’s face looked grim.

“Well, Wilbur’s a bit um… mentally distant right now, and we wouldn’t want to stress them out any more. This just like, happens sometimes. Best to leave him alone when it does. He wouldn’t be the best conversationalist.”

Tubbo narrowed his eyes, but let it go. Everyone needs space sometimes, especially on a crowded boat with no escape. He glanced at the ocean but turned away quickly. No escape, none whatsoever.

++++++

Sapnap went around lighting the lamps again, casting the ship in a warm orange glow. Tubbo had spent the day doing things around the ship with Tommy, little tasks like feeding the cows and cleaning the kitchen (which Tubbo found out was not always the cook’s job). They now sat down on the deck, idly chattering as the sun cast its last rays of light into the sky.

“So,” Tommy asked, taking a swig out of a bottle that once held alcohol but now held some sort of fruit juice. “What’s the worst word you know?”

Tubbo sputtered. “You want to know the worst word I know? Why?”

“Tells me a lot about a person. And I may discover a new bad word I don’t know. If not, I get to hear you say a bad word, so win-win for me.”

Tubbo laughed, and bit his lip, thinking. He knew quite a few bad words from working at the docks, the men there loved to curse. He leaned in close to Tommy and whispered it in his ear. Tommy’s eyes widened, and he giggled.

“Gods, that is a bad word. Wasn’t expecting that from you.”

“What, you don’t think I can curse? Fuck, shit, piss, bitch, di—”

“It’s not that I thought you didn’t curse,” Tommy interrupted. “It’s just that it was pretty unexpected. Your mother would be disappointed in you for saying that word.”

“Yeah, I know,” Tubbo laughed. “I don’t curse in front of her, she doesn't allow it.”

“My dad lets me curse. He says I’m old enough to make my own decisions if I’m prepared to face the consequences.”

“Okay, so what’s the worst word you know?” Tubbo grinned.

“Turnin’ the tables on me, are you? I see how it is! I’ll have you know that I don’t know any bad words. None at all! I am the purest, most innocent child to ever exist. I’ve never heard a bad word in my life. I don’t even know what a bad word is!”

Tubbo glanced at Sapnap, who was walking back to the stairs, and had to do a double take when it looked like his finger was on fire. When he looked back, everything was fine, and he let out a breath. Must have been a match, he thought, relieved.

He watched Sapnap get hit in the face when Puffy burst through the door, and tried to contain his giggles.

“We’re stayin’ OUTSIDE tonight, everybody!” Puffy called, her hooves stomping on the wooden floor. Tubbo cowered, then forced himself to stand upright. “Sorry, Sapnap, didn’t see ya there.”

“Obviously,” Sapnap grumbled, rubbing his nose.

Tommy turned to him with an excited grin. “Tubbo, Tubs, you’re new to this. But let me tell you, this is gonna be great. We’ll all sit out here under the stars, and we tell stories and play games and laugh, and Wilbur—well, Wilbur probably won’t tonight—but most of the time Wilbur’ll play his guitar and sing and we can dance, and it’s just so much fun. You’ll love it. Trust me, I know you will.”

Puffy sat down on a crate next to Tommy. “Nice weather, clear skies, and I’d say we’re all in a generally good mood. It’s a perfect night.” She shrugged.

Slowly, over the next several minutes, more of the crew came out and joined them. They all sat in a circle-like shape, some on the floor and some on crates. They made idle chatter, and all appeared to be waiting for something.

A door between the two staircases opened, and Captain Philza walked out, a black bird perched on his hand. He was dressed casually, wrapped in a greenish-blue shawl that flowed around him like a cape. It was intricately patterned with waves, stars and lighter blue dots. It looked well made, it looked expensive.

Tubbo couldn’t help but wonder if it had been stolen from someone who could actually afford it.

“You talk to Wilbur yet?” Ponk asked, the silk scarf wrapped around his head blowing in the slight breeze.

The Captain shook his head. “I have a feeling they want to be left alone. We’ll be fine without them.” He took a seat next to Tubbo, but left quite a bit of space between them. Tubbo sat up straighter, and tried to smile as naturally as he could.

Slowly, everyone seemed to have joined them all on the deck, most crewmembers that Tubbo knew, and some he had never seen before. Someone with long, pink hair and a scowl on his face came to sit in between Tubbo and Captain Philza. He had brown skin, and void-like black eyes that caused Tubbo to sweat. He was built like a warrior, and had pointed ears like an elf. He was dressed similarly to the rest of the crew, but had an air of elegance to him that Tubbo didn’t think pirates could have.

“That’s Technoblade,” Tommy whispered loudly to him. “See what I mean?”

Tubbo didn’t respond. But he wouldn’t doubt that one wrong move would get his head ripped off now.

“No need to worry, though. They’re nice. Most of the time. Well, really only sometimes. But they’re not mean, and I think that’s the more important thing. He tells cool stories, too. He’s done a lot of things in his life. Interesting things. I’ll ask him to tell you about the revolution he led, to overthrow an evil dictator and free all the citizens living under his rule.”

When most of the crew was sat out on the deck, the air started to fill with idle chatter. Tubbo could catch snippets of conversation from everywhere in the circle through his own conversation with Tommy.

“—she was old, what else was I supposed to do?”

“—because apparently stealing from royalty is a ‘crime’ and I could get ‘executed’ but honestly—”

“I really miss him. You think he misses me, or is he—”

“—and then I saw a shark, and it had like, a huge mouth!”

Tubbo took the opportunity to look around at the circle, seeing everyone’s smiling faces illuminated by gentle lantern light. It felt calming, cozy, it felt like a type of family. Tubbo couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness that came when he realized that his crew had never done this. Ponk was excitedly making hand gestures at Puffy, Sapnap and Karl were holding hands, and Captain Philza was laughing at something Technoblade had said.

And there it was again. That black mass behind the Captain, feathered and translucent, like it was made of light. It was hard to see on the dim background of the ship and endless sea, but it was almost like Tubbo could reach out and touch it.

But it rustled when the Captain laughed, like it was about to take off, fly him far away from the moral plane. Tubbo looked around the circle, but no one else seemed to react to it, outwardly at least. He nudged Tommy, who was listening intently to something Skeppy had to say, and tilted his head towards the Captain. Tommy looked for a second, and smiled, his eyes shining. He put a finger to his lips and winked at Tubbo, leaving him even more confused.

“Technoblade!” Tommy nearly shouted. “Tell us the story of the revolution!”

Technoblade turned his head, revealing to Tubbo the scar running down his face. It was huge, and black like his eyes, spiderwebbing across his face in thick lines. Tubbo tried not to stare at it, he didn’t want to look rude.

“Sure, I guess.” It was the first time Tubbo’d heard him speak. His voice was monotonous, and deep, but it didn’t hold the malice Tubbo had been imagining. He sounded uninterested, mostly. “But you’ve already heard it a buncha times.”

“Ah,” Tommy sighed. “But it’s such a good one. And Tubbo hasn’t heard it before. He needs to know the tales of your glory too!”

“Okay, well,” he started. “There was an evil Mayor named Dante in Kre. I defeated him, and took his place for a week.”

Tubbo eagerly awaited more, but Technoblade didn’t say anything else. An awkward silence followed.

“Oi! Come on, bitch!” Tommy exclaimed, his arms spread wide. “That was a shit version of the story!” The circle erupted into giggles.

“It was exactly what happened, though,” Technoblade murmured.

“Give us the gory details!” Puffy called.

Technoblade rolled his eyes—or maybe just rolled his head, his eyes didn’t really have pupils to roll. “Hmph. Fine.” He sighed. “I was staying in Kre for a little while, and during that time they elected a new mayor. His name was Dante, and he was pretty bad, like, taxin’ people and stuff. So they wanted to revolt and called on Hypixel for help.”

Hypixel was one of the gods, more present in the northern region of the world. Asking him for help could go either really good or really bad.

“Hypixel said no, so everyone started to form an underground resistance. I joined the resistance, because I was in Kre long enough to care, and they elected me as the leader of the resistance. I led a small army of people that had no warrior training, but Dante was an idiot so we were able to outsmart him eventually. Kre was damaged, but not irreversibly, and there were minimal casualties.”

Again, there was a long pause. Tubbo sensed this was the end of the story. He nodded, trying to look interested.

“Urgh, you’re impossible!” Tommy exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. He turned to Tubbo. “The story’s cooler than that. And longer. But they want to be difficult tonight, so you’ll get to hear it another time.”

Tubbo heard heavy footsteps on the deck behind him, and turned around. Eret, who had previously stayed below deck, was walking up to them, coat flowing like a cape in the wind. They sat down heavily, a small smirk on their lips.

“How’s the god doing?” Tommy asked, batting his eyelashes.

“Indecisive,” Eret answered. “Not talking at all. Nothing I said fazed them whatsoever. Figured I’d rather stay up here with all of you guys.”

“We’d prefer that,” Tommy said, looking to Tubbo for agreement. He nodded and gave a smile that he was pretty sure looked fake.

“You heard Ranboo’s story yet?” Eret asked as she sat down.

“Nah, most of their stories are the same. ‘Oh, I saw a fish!’ ‘Oh, I saw another fish!’ ‘Oh, Wilbur let me swim out in the open water!’ Nothing’s ever actually interesting.”

“You just don’t listen. They’re very interesting to talk to, if you can give them time to get their words out.”

Tommy sighed. “I don’t have the patience for that. That’s why I like Tubbo!” He elbowed Tubbo in the ribs. “He’s got interesting things to say, and he can keep up with me. It’s a rare feat, not many people can.”

“Okay, fine,” Eret sighed, dejected. “But they’re really excited about it, so just be nice if they say something to you.”

“Obviously,” Tommy muttered under his breath. He turned to Tubbo. “Look, Ranboo’s stories may seem interesting at first, but they get boring after a while. There’s only so many times you can listen to stories about tuna before they get repetitive as fuck.”

“Tuna?” Tubbo asked.

“Yeah. They swim around here in the cooler water. They’re big, most of the time they can feed the entire crew. There’s not too many types of fish in the open waters.”

Tubbo nodded. It seemed like a weird thing to talk about, and he agreed with Tommy. It seemed like it would get boring quickly. Who likes to talk about fish that much?

A chant started overtaking the circle, calling the Captain’s name over and over again. Tommy joined in eventually, an excited, almost crazed look on his face. Everyone started cheering when the Captain nodded.

“What are you chanting for?” Tubbo asked, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the crowd. Tommy shrugged.

“No fuckin’ clue. But I can guarantee it’s gonna be good.”

Tubbo saw Bad slip away out of the corner of his eye. For such a large creature, he really moved quietly. That thought only made him mildly terrified.

“I don’t even know what to say,” the Captain said, stroking his bird’s head gently.

“How about you tell us the story of how you broke all those people out of jail!” Ponk exclaimed. “At the uhm… The uhm… The Emperor’s execution festival thing!”

“The Feast of Heads,” the Captain sighed. “That’s a bit of a dark story, don’t you think?” Everyone’s voices quieted, and the wind blew a little harder, as if it were waiting to hear the Captain speak as well. He took a deep breath, his eyes watering as if he was about to cry. But when he spoke, his voice didn’t tremble or shake. It was as strong as the wind that had just started blowing through their sails, that swept the Captain’s hair up in its grasp.

“The Feast of Heads was a celebration that the Emperor made when the prisons were too full of hybrids. It was disguised under the pretense that it was simply a party to strengthen relations with the other leaders of the world. He would bring a bunch of nobles into his castle, and they would mingle about and eat the finest food that the Emperor's chefs could make, and once the sun started to set, they would bring the hybrids out one by one from the prison. They were shackled and gagged, and then slaughtered in front of everyone, in every way you can imagine. Some were hanged, some were beheaded, others were torn limb from limb.”

Captain Philza’s wings trembled, then puffed up, making a barely there but still noticeable sound. “The festival lasted three days. And in those three days, they were able to massacre hundreds of innocent hybrids. I was there one night. I hadn’t meant to be, but I’m glad I was. I snuck into the castle to meet up with someone who was working with me against the Emperor. And I put on fancy clothes and joined the nobles in their partying because I had no idea what was to come.

“Once the sun was close to the horizon, the Emperor shouted ‘Bring in the entertainment!’ I don’t know what I was expecting. A jester, maybe? Some music? But then they brought out this small hybrid boy, he must have been a teenager. He was covered in bruises and so thin I could count his ribs. And I remember the feeling I got in my gut when he looked me in the eyes. He was so broken, but for a moment he looked hopeful. Like he believed I could help him in some way, even though I didn’t even know what was coming. They positioned him away from all the nobles, far enough that his blood wouldn’t stain anything expensive.

“And then,” Philza’s voice broke for the first time during his story. “Then they killed him. They slit his throat down to his navel, exposed his insides for everyone to see.

“I thought that someone would speak up. I thought that someone would take a look at the child bleeding and dead on the ground and think ‘hey, maybe this isn’t right,’ but no one did. I was just left in shock as they cheered and laughed and commented on the method. They didn’t even clean up the blood before they brought the next one out. They just tossed the body over the stone wall of the garden.

“Three more hybrids died that night before I stepped in. I took my knife and I used it to cut the rope that they were trying to hang another hybrid from. I killed two people trying to get out of the garden, and I don’t feel bad about it. Their clothes were stained with the blood of the hybrids they’d murdered.”

Tubbo’s hands were trembling, and his eyes were wet. He felt hollow at the story. He thought it was just going to be one of the Captain’s glory tales, something fun and upbeat, filled with victory. Sure, he didn’t think that mon—hybrids, were the safest people to be around. He felt safer when they were under watch, when they could be separated from regular people, so they could both live without disturbing each other.

But massacre?

It made him feel sick. Why would the Emperor of all people choose to kill them all? Surely he had the resources to deal with them properly?

Captain Philza continued. “We managed to rescue the rest of the people in the prison. They had the fight in them, and I gave them the hope they needed to push back. I got them all out of there as soon as I could. We stole a couple of the Emperor’s ships and sailed to Ber where we could regroup. We got them all home eventually, though it took months.”

A quietness washed over the circle as Captain Philza finished his story. His wings had disappeared, faded back onto the night, and he looked perfectly human once more.

“If this party was such a big deal,” Tubbo asked. “Then why haven’t I heard of it before?”

“You probably have,” The Captain said, sympathy in his eyes. “On the outside, they call it Reformation Day.”

Tubbo felt like his soul shattered.

He’d celebrated Reformation Day every year with his family since he was born. He’d play pranks on his friends and eat the hearty soup his neighbor made and gather around the bonfire at sundown to cleanse himself of all that was impure. He’d crafted tributes to the Emperor and tributes to the Gods. He was taught in schools that it was a celebration to appease the Gods and to rekindle the light in your soul that had gone dark the year before.

Had it really all been a lie? Had they been celebrating mass murder the entire time? He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t, that they were different, that maybe—just maybe—the Captain was wrong. He tried, but he couldn’t. He felt it in his gut, and he believed the Captain’s word.

It made him feel sick.

The night went on without him, the pirates continuing to laugh with each other and tell stories. Tubbo tried to move on but he couldn’t. The happiness in the air couldn’t permeate his cloud of despair. He barely ate the dinner when it came out, and he went to bed as soon as someone else did, so he didn’t look like he wanted to avoid them all. He laid in his hammock, staring at the ceiling of the ship, hoping the gentle rocking and Wilbur’s constant hums would put him to sleep.

He slept lightly that night, his dreams filled with visions of the Emperor chasing him, strangling him with the iron chains that decorated the bonfire on Reformation Day.

And when he woke, he felt no more sadness. He didn’t want to mourn for something that never was.

Chapter Text

Tubbo lugged out of bed the next morning and almost stepped on Ponk, who was depositing another set of clothes under his hammock.

“You really don’t have to do that,” Tubbo yawned. “I don’t want you to waste all of your clothes.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” Ponk responded with a bright smile. “I have more clothes than I know what to do with. I don’t even wear these ones anymore, they’ve just been stored in my trunk. All the ones I wear, I get modified so they fit me better.”

“Well, thanks then.” Tubbo smiled. “Really, I mean it.”

“It’s better than you just running around naked!” He laughed. “We’ll get you some clothes when we stop at the Ebreley Isles, you’ll just have to manage until then.”

“Yeah, I can manage.” Tubbo smiled. “No problem.” He watched as Ponk left, the room suddenly feeling still and somber. There were a few people still asleep, judging by the even breathing behind him. His brow furrowed in disappointment when he realized that his own breathing was shaky and unsteady. He didn’t have the right to be upset, he was still alive and well.

He turned around, taking a peek at everyone else still in their hammocks. Karl was tangled up in a white one, Sam was in a black one, and Bad’s tail was hanging out of his own. Each of their own stuff was spread around their areas, some messier than others. Sam had a neat black trunk, made of what Tubbo thought was leather, but Karl had a bunch of clothes and trinkets spread around.

Tubbo turned his head at the red hammock directly across from his own. Tommy dozed away, snoring slightly with an arm hanging out. His pajama shirt was white, and definitely too big, and he was covered by a grey blanket.

Tubbo smiled before he realized he was staring, and that would be awkward to explain if Tommy happened to wake up in that specific moment. He quickly turned away and looked at the clothes Ponk had left him. They were similar to the ones he wore yesterday, the jacket the same. Ponk had helpfully left him a belt, he noticed as he pulled his pants up. No way they were staying on without it.

When he was fully dressed, he climbed up to the next floor. He could hear the commotion before he even opened the trapdoor, laughter and heavy footsteps clomping around. How they all had so much energy early in the morning was beyond him. He felt like he could fall asleep standing at any moment.

He looked around at everyone moving around each other in familiar routine. He had no idea where he fit in between them. He could help out in the kitchen, but it didn’t seem like the people there were really doing anything other than talking. He could sit at the table, but all the seats were full and then some.

Where did he sit yesterday? With Eret, but Eret was currently in the kitchen. Tommy was still sound asleep in his hammock, and Tubbo wasn’t about to go waking him up. Who knows what kind of trouble that would get him in?

His throat was dry, he should get some water first. He nodded to himself and walked over to the galley, standing awkwardly waiting for one of the people there to notice him. Puffy was the first, and she waved at him quickly. An acknowledgement, to let him know she saw him. They finished up their conversion, clearly cutting it short.

“Mornin’, Little Man,” Puffy grinned. “Whatcha need?”

“Oh, um, water?” Tubbo responded.

Puffy nodded, and opened a cabinet down by her feet. Inside, there were a bunch of wooden cups of various sizes. Tubbo quickly grabbed one, gripping it in his hands tightly as he realized he didn’t actually know where they stored their water. Eret must have noticed his confusion, because he pointed to a barrel.

“Water’s kept under the stairs,” he said. “Take as much as you need, we have more than enough.”

Tubbo nodded politely and walked over to the stairs. Nestled underneath them was a large barrel on a wooden stand. It had a faucet attached to it, and bits of clutter shoved under the table. He turned the faucet on, waiting as the clear water flowed into his cup. He brought it to his lips, enjoying the coolness and the clear flavor. The water on The Eastern Gull always tasted like fish and had a slightly warm quality to it that made him suspicious. But it was all they had to drink besides alcohol, so he just had to power through it.

He stood in the dark corner, sipping his water and looking at everyone else. He felt proud of himself for remembering nearly everyone’s names, and he smiled. Eret and Puffy were in the kitchen, Ponk and Sapnap were sitting at the table. And though he couldn’t remember the name of the one with pink hair, or the diamond guy who had talked to him yesterday, they no longer seemed like complete strangers.

“By the way,” Eret called. “The Captain wants to talk with you.”

Again? Tubbo internally groaned. What could it be about this time? He’d said something insulting about the fish in the ocean? He woefully sighed in a way that was disrespectful?

“Where is he this time?” Tubbo asked. “Hopefully not in the crow’s nest this time.”

Eret shrugged. “No idea. Just walk around, I’m sure you’ll find him. But he can wait, if you’re still waking up.”

Oh, he would be fucking waiting. There’s no way this was going to become a routine morning thing. He could get all he needed to say out at once. If speaking to Tubbo was really this important, he would have to go fetch him himself. If not, a few minutes wouldn’t hurt anyone.

He didn’t know why he was suddenly so snappy. It wasn’t like him to be this brave in disrespecting a captain. Sure, he thought some mean things sometimes, but everyone did. They were just thoughts, they wouldn’t hurt anyone. Saying these things out loud, though—even to a crewmate—was incredibly risky.

Captain Philza had really done nothing to deserve this. Besides the whole kidnapping thing. He seemed to be genuinely kind, a bit too kind for someone in his position.

Tubbo went to sit down at the table, taking a chair far away from the other people sitting there. He took another long drink of water, his lips finally not feeling chapped anymore. There was a lantern in the middle of the table, illuminating a good portion of the room. The rest was lit with hanging lanterns, none as bright as the one on the table.

The trapdoor creaked open, causing everyone to glance over. Tommy clambered up, still wearing his red pajama shirt and white pants. He yawned, and rubbed his eyes, clearly not fully awake yet. People quickly turned back to their conversations.

Tommy spotted him from across the room and waved. Tubbo waved back with a smile. After everything that happened the day before, he believed that they were finally friends. They had a lot in common, and Tommy was really funny. It was nice to talk to someone his own age. On The Eastern Gull most of the crew had been middle aged, with only a couple teenagers. It was hard to connect with them. They didn’t click the same way he and Tommy had.

Tommy slumped in the chair next to him. His head was tilted back, his eyes were almost closed, and his mouth hung ajar. He looked ready to fall back asleep at any moment.

“Hey,” he said, wiping a bit of drool from his mouth.

“Hey,” Tubbo responded.

“How’d ya sleep?”

Tubbo shrugged. “Fine. What about you?”

“Oh man, I had this crazy fuckin’ dream where our ship was like, an actual leviathan and then like, there were these sun people that were trying to punish us for our crimes. Except our crimes were for hoarding too many different types of noodles, because Philza had discovered a forbidden type of noodle or something and then like…” he trailed off. “I don’t remember. Dreams are weird.”

“Totally weird,” Tubbo agreed.

“Phil actually makes like, really good noodles, though. You’ll have to try them sometimes. I would die for them.”

Tommy laughed, so Tubbo laughed, and then they couldn’t stop laughing. It wasn’t even that funny and yet Tubbo had to clutch his stomach in pain, snorting and gasping for air. He’d been told he had an ugly laugh, but it didn’t stop him from laughing. In his eyes, beautiful laughs didn’t exist. They were all ugly, and yet laughter was universal.

Tommy laughed like a seagull. His breath came out squawking and loud, like he was laughing out his entire lungs. Tears came to his eyes and he put a hand on his forehead to steady himself.

“Why are we fucking laughing?” Tommy asked through gasps.

“I don’t even know!”

It took them way too long to compose themselves again. They couldn’t look at each other without the giggles starting again, so Tubbo stared intensely at the table as he tried to get his breath.

“Tommy,” Puffy called. “You’re on deck cleaning duty today. You skipped out on it last time, I’m not letting you do it again.”

“Oi! I get it, fuck off!” He rolled his eyes, but then grinned maliciously. “So, Tubbo. Tubs. Tub-Master. How good are you at cleaning things?”

“You want me to help you with your chores?”

“I mean, I’m just sayin’. You haven’t been assigned any yet, and my arms get so tired scrubbing bird shit off of the wood.” He stuck out his bottom lips and attempted to look pathetic. He failed.

“Hm, yeah, no. Sorry Tommy, the captain wanted to see me,” Tubbo said with joking condescension. He got up out of his chair and waved, leaving Tommy to protest loudly.

He dashed up the stairs before Tommy could chase after him. He had to block his eyes from the sun when he got outside, the cloudless blue sky too bright for his eyes to adjust to fully.

He looked around a bit for where the Captain might have been. He really didn’t want to climb all the way up to the crow’s nest again, but he would if he had to. Thankfully it seemed he didn’t have to.

Tubbo found the captain at the back of the ship, leaning on the railing and gazing out to sea with a wistful look on his face. Tubbo felt bad interrupting whatever moment he was having, but the captain didn’t seem to mind. He simply smiled and waved.

“Good morning, Tubbo,” he said calmly. “I hope the day is treating you well.”

Tubbo shrugged. “Well enough.” He didn’t really want to admit that he was tired, not to the captain. “And you?”

The captain nodded to himself, eyes fixated back on the ocean. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s good.” They fell into silence for a moment. Tubbo looked out to the ocean as well, trying to see what Captain Philza was so fixated on. It was just water, with a bit of shine from the sun. Not even any whales. Perfectly plain and boring.

The moment dragged on longer than Tubbo would have liked. He awkwardly tapped his fingers against the railing, waiting for the captain to start a conversation or something. He seemed perfectly fine to ignore Tubbo, not even turning to look when he cleared his throat.

Then, just when Tubbo was ready to hightail it back downstairs, he spoke.

“Do you know the poem ‘The Waves We Make’?”

Tubbo stalled. Yes, he knew the poem. Everyone knew the poem, they were required to read it in school. It was beautifully written, about a man who was engaged to a princess, but fell in love with the ocean instead, and ran away from his duties to be with her. But it had been a long time since he read that poem, and it was long and droning, difficult to understand. He could barely remember any of the lines.

Captain Philza didn’t wait for him to respond. “‘And then she shows me, gently glowing, her blue heart inside the waves, and she has my love right beside it.’”

Tubbo nodded along. That was one of the most famous lines of the poem. It was inscribed onto the wall of his dad’s old boat. And yes, it was beautiful, but it was also just a story. He never understood why people got so attached to it.

“Come here,” the captain said suddenly, pulling away from the railing and walking down the stairs. “I want to show you something.”

Tubbo followed along obediently. Captain Philza took him to the middle of the railing along the deck, where there were two thick ropes tied around it. The captain squinted out at the sea, as if looking for something. He stalled a moment, then shook his head and turned to Tubbo with a soft smile.

“Conveniently,” he started. “Someone already used the ladder today and didn’t put it back. So come on, right down here.” He hefted a leg over the railing and beckoned for Tubbo to follow him.

Tubbo cautiously looked over the edge. It was a long way down, not as long as it had been in the crow’s nest, but still. And instead of a quick snap of his neck, a fall would result in a plunge into the deep dark of the water, where anything could be waiting to snap him up, or make him drown slowly, taunting him with the idea of air. He shuddered thinking about it. He never liked getting too close to the ocean, not the deep part at least. He’d been warned about it as long as he could remember.

“Hurry up!” The captain called, almost halfway down the ladder already. “It’s not gonna kill you!”

No matter how much Tubbo doubted that, he stepped over the ladder and started climbing down anyway. This ladder wasn’t fixed to anything, so it swung freely from both his and Captain Philza’s movements. The farther down he got, the damper the wood got, and for one paralyzing moment, Tubbo slipped. His feet gave out beneath him, and he let out a shout. Luckily, he was able to keep his grip with his arms and pull himself back up onto the rungs.

When he got to the end of the ladder, barely a foot above the water’s edge, Captain Philza was hanging precariously off of nothing but a ledge for his foot and a hook to hold.

“Come a little closer,” he beckoned. “If you’re afraid of falling, tie yourself to a hook with this.” He used one hand to unravel a sturdy rope from where it hung around his belt. He handed it to Tubbo, who grabbed it with trembling hands. He was pretty experienced with knot tying, due to all the times he needed to be precariously hanging from the railing of one ship before dropping onto another. All the fishermen were trained in it.

After making sure he was properly secured—checked and double-checked—he stepped the rest of the way onto the wood beneath him, carved so that his foot wouldn’t slip off, even if the platform was wet. It was a pretty good design, he wished he’d had it on The Eastern Gull. Would have made emergency repairs less of a fucking pain.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Captain Philza asked, interrupting his train of thought. He was gazing out to the sea again, the same look on his face that he had had on the deck.

“Absolutely,” Tubbo agreed awkwardly. He was glad the captain couldn’t see his confused nod.

“Here.” The captain made a motion for Tubbo to look. “Bend down, and dip your fingers in the water, like this.” He modeled a position that made Tubbo fearful he would slip. But he didn’t want to upset the captain, so he followed, slowly bending down, constantly checking the rope tied around him, until he could dip the tips of his fingers into the ocean. It felt cold, like water, nothing special about it.

“Just stay there for a minute, and focus. Close your eyes if it helps.”

So Tubbo begrudgingly closed his eyes, pouring his energy into feeling the way the water flowed around his fingers. When nothing happened, he began to feel frustrated. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but he knew it was something. But oh well, the captain was a lunatic who hung out with freaks and carried birds around. What a loss.

“Look, I don’t even know wha—” Tubbo began, pulling his hand out of the water. But before he could finish, he felt the warmth of another person on his fingers, the strong grip like someone was holding him. He panicked, thinking of all the warning stories of people who were dragged down to sea by sirens, or qiksedaman, or any other horror that lived in the ocean.

But this thing wasn’t pulling him down, it was barely holding him at all. He could just relax his hand and pull his fingers away gently. He looked up aghast and was met with the captain’s eyes trained on him, gently smiling like he always seemed to do.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked in a voice hardly louder than a whisper.

“That was the sea,” Captain Philza answered unhelpfully. Tubbo would have rolled his eyes if he weren’t terrified.

“But it grabbed me!” Tubbo cried. “It’s just water, it can’t do that.”

“What makes you so sure about that?” Tubbo didn’t answer. “Put your hand back in, she won’t hurt you.”

So he did, cautiously. It just felt like water again, cold and fishy, if fishy was a feeling. He waited, arm tensed and ready to pull out of the water at any moment. He even tried closing his eyes again, only to open them when nothing continued to happen.

“You have to relax,” the captain instructed. “She can sense your fear.”

Tubbo’s mouth fell open, agape. Luckily Captain Philza had turned around again, and didn’t see his expression. Relax? In his position? No fucking way, relaxing was an only great idea if he wanted to get murdered.

But he tried to calm himself, taking a deep breath and imagining he was back at home. His heart rate slowed a few beats and the air flowed through his lungs evenly. He was still panicked because of his precarious situation, but he was able to control his external reaction to it if he tried.

And then again he felt it. It didn’t feel like skin, like another human. It just felt like firm water. He could still feel the flow of the current, of the displacement The Leviathan was causing. But it was definitely a hand, loosely intertwined with his own fingers.

“She can feel you, too. She’s happy for you.”

Alright, this man was definitely delusional.

“It’s certainly a weird sensation,” was what Tubbo actually said, grimacing. Captain Philza closed his eyes, a blissful look on his face.

“Us pirates serve the sea. We protect her where she cannot protect herself. But she is more powerful than all of us. And no matter how much I love her, I am always grateful for her in return. Because as we protect her, she protects us.” He cracked his eyes open to look at Tubbo. “She protects you now, too.”

Okay, that was just a whole bunch of nonsense. Tubbo pulled his hand out of the water again. The Captain followed, doing some sort of graceful pirate move to get back to the ladder. He was really skilled, Tubbo had to admit. No, he wasn’t jealous. Who said he was jealous of a pirate?

Tubbo untied himself from the rope, reaching for the ladder in a way that lacked all forms of grace. The climb up wasn’t as scary as the climb down. Each step got sturdier and drier, and he didn’t have to look down. Stepping back on the deck was a relief, though he still eyed the sea with wariness. In all of his years of living by the ocean and sailing, he’d never felt that grip before.

He followed Captain Philza back to wherever they were going, but his foot slipped on a wet spot of wood, and he fell, narrowly avoiding smacking his head against the deck. He groaned, rubbing his hip. It was definitely going to be sore, and would probably bruise. It took him a moment to sit up again.

The Eastern Gull had been wet and slippery all the time, so everyone coated their shoes in fictitious glues and walked carefully, in case they took a wrong step and slipped overboard. If that happened, there was no helping you. If you were stupid enough to do that, you deserved to drown. But the glues always wore off in a day or two, and had to be reapplied. Tubbo hadn’t even thought of that while on The Leviathan, the floors were so dry. He hadn’t seen anyone coat their shoes, so it must not have been a very big problem.

Captain Philza offered him a hand back up, which he gladly accepted. The captain’s hands were calloused and bony, and cold to the touch. He wobbled a bit on his feet, trying to not stress his freshly injured hip.

“That was quite a fall!” Captain Philza exclaimed. “Are you alright? You didn’t break anything, did you?”

Tubbo scrunched his face up. “No, nothing’s broken.” He rubbed his hip. “Maybe a bit bruised, though.”

The captain looked thoughtful for a moment, then extended a hand out. “Let me see your shoes,” he asked. Tubbo reached to pull his shoe off, but the captain just grabbed his ankle and tugged it towards himself. Tubbo nearly lost his balance again, but caught himself at the last moment.

The captain wasn’t exactly gentle with his examinations, pulling Tubbo’s leg more than it was supposed to extend. Tubbo’s shoes were simple but sturdy, made of leather and rubber. They were worn down from use, being the only pair of sailing shoes he’d worn for the past three years. His old captain only allowed each man one pair of shoes, to minimize the amount of weight they brought on to the boat.

“The soles are worn thin, the tread is nearly gone, and they’re squeezing too hard around your forefoot,” Captain Philza said plainly after observing them for a moment. “These aren’t going to do you much good, you’ll need new ones.” He dropped Tubbo’s foot back onto the deck.

Tubbo looked at the Captain’s shoes. They were black, and rather shiny like they were well taken care of. They came farther up his ankle and had laces instead of buckles. The soles were at least an inch thick, maybe more. They were high quality, an obvious contrast to Tubbo’s shoes, which had been bought new, but cheap.

“My shoes work fine,” Tubbo insisted.

“Maybe for now, but we wouldn’t want you slipping and injuring yourself any more.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. Sure, his shoes weren’t the best, but he’d rather have them than the classic black pirate boots. He was trying to appease them, yes, but that made him blend in a bit too much. The Emperor had had his eyes set on sinking The Leviathan and imprisoning its crew for as long as it had existed. He’d hate to be mistaken for one of them. At best, he’d be seen as their prisoner, and escorted back home to his family where he would receive compensation for his troubles.

But as he looked out to sea again, he knew it was just a hopeless daydream. Nothing could take down The Leviathan. Some of the most powerful people in the world had tried, and all had failed. It caused a lot of rumors about the ship being haunted, or maybe sent by the gods themselves. None that Tubbo actually believed, they were too wild to be true.

Still, even after being on the ship for a couple of days, he couldn’t find quite the reason it was so undefeatable. Sure, it was a very large ship, the largest he’d ever seen, but it didn’t seem to be particularly weaponized. He’d seen some canons, and of course the crew had swords, but that was about it. And the crew was small and not particularly special in any way. Only a few were super muscular, and lots were missing bits of themselves. How they could defend against hundreds of the Emperor’s best men, he had no idea.

He contemplated it for a moment. Maybe it wasn’t something big, but something small that did the trick. Maybe it was in the way they all walked with a confidence in their step, or how they bounced their laughter off of each other so much that Tubbo was able to notice it in only a few days.

As he followed Captain Philza back below deck, he gave the ocean one last cautious glance. Whatever it was, it made The Leviathan an unkillable bounty. And by association, didn’t that make him unkillable too?

Chapter Text

Really, swabbing the deck wasn’t that difficult, all things considered.

Despite the bright sun, the air hadn’t quite warmed up to the sweating point, so the rigorous activity wasn’t making Tubbo overheat yet. And the ship was so large that sea spray couldn’t reach the top, meaning that things like algae and barnacles couldn’t crawl their way up. It was mostly—as Tommy said—scrubbing bird shit. And a bit of moss at times. The ship was well cared for, so all it needed was a light cleaning.

It had started out boring, just listening to the water crashing against the ship, before Tommy suggested they turn it into a race. They split the ship in half long ways to see who could clean their half faster. Suddenly, it became a lot more fun. They started trash-talking each other, spewing crappy insults that only fueled each other further.

“You’re shit at this!” Tommy shouted.

“You’re worse than me!”

“Your side’s so dirty it’s practically a forest! Look at my side, clean and manmade!”

“Well, your side’s so dirty the wood’s rotting where you stand!”

All of it encouraged them to scrub faster. Tubbo had to stop for a minute so he could scare away a bird that started to harass him. It was scruffy, white and had the most hideous bird call ever.

“Steve to my rescue!” Tommy mocked. “Yes! Steve! Distract him! Kill him!”

Tubbo rolled his eyes and tried to shoo the bird away. “Go bother Tommy, I’m trying to win this.”

Steve, being a bird and not understanding human speech, did not move. Oh well, he was going to get smacked a couple of times and it would be his own fault.

Despite the ship being very clean, it was still very cluttered (clutter and cleanliness were completely unrelated in Tubbo’s eyes, and he would stand by that until he died). There were ropes tied in random places, and barrels with odd contents everywhere. It wasn’t so cluttered that it was difficult to navigate, but it just seemed strange. Tubbo was used to the decks being clear, or as clear as possible with all the fishing gear they always had to carry.

He simply worked around the stuff as he scrubbed, and he saw Tommy doing the same thing. Maybe this was considered cutting corners, or maybe it was standard practice. He had no idea.

With barely any of his side left to scrub, the sun finally decided to warm up. Tubbo took his jacket off and wiped his arm on his sleeve. He was no stranger to warm weather, Skuenia could get really warm in the summers, but it was only going to get hotter as they kept traveling south. The Isles were the warmest place in the known world, and he’d heard it sometimes got so warm that the skies turned red and the people spontaneously burst into flame.

But he’d heard that from his aunt, who had a tendency to exaggerate in the name of storytelling. So who knows how true that actually was. He was pretty sure that nowhere was hot enough to make people catch fire. No one would live there if that actually happened.

Looking over, he noticed that Tommy had also shed his outer layer, and was now in a short sleeved red shirt. Really, did these pirates own any clothes with different colors? Was it some sort of pirate rule that you had to wear your ship colors all the time? He understood the reliability of a white shirt and black pants, but this was almost silly.

Red, white, black, grey. Brown occasionally, and with gold accents. He’d get tired of wearing that real quickly. Especially since he was stuck wearing Ponk’s clothes, he didn’t have much of a choice.

No, that couldn’t be right. Captain Philza had been wearing that green shawl thing last night. That didn’t fit with the ship colors. Maybe it was special captain privileges? That was the best idea he could come up with.

He sped up his cleaning quickly when he realized he’d been lost in thought. He couldn’t let Tommy have the satisfaction of winning. Not yet.

Tommy seemed to notice, though. “Lowly fiend!” He shouted. “You can never defeat me! I, Tommy Innit, haver of wives, tamer of krakens, best pirate in the entire world, will never submit to a mere fisherman!” He stood dramatically up on a wooden crate and Tubbo could barely suppress the urge to push him off. Instead, he channeled his emotions into cleaning even faster, taking Tommy’s momentary distraction for his own benefit.

They were neck and neck for the short rest of the race, but Tommy’s experience had made him pull ahead at the very end.

“Yes!” He shouted, throwing down his supplies and laughing. “I am victorious once again! No one can stop me!”

Tubbo stared dejectedly at the four feet left of ship he had to clean. Tommy continued boasting until he finished, and Tubbo couldn’t blame him. If the roles were reversed, he’d be doing the same thing.

But Tommy was again standing temptingly on that crate, his head perfectly blocking the sun, giving him a halo of light around his golden hair. It would be so easy to just push him off. He wouldn’t even get hurt, he’d just fall on his ass. Temptation triumphed over willpower in the end, and Tubbo swiftly turned around and gave Tommy a nice shove.

His smug face fell and he let out a shout as he went tumbling down. It took him a moment to comprehend what happened, but then he started laughing.

“You tried to kill me!” He said in an attempt at anger.

“You deserve it,” Tubbo responded. “You were being a bitch!”

“Nothin’ bitchy about stating the obvious. And obviously I won. And now you have to do all of my chores for a month.”

“Hey!” Tubbo snapped. “We didn’t agree to that!”

“No, I just made it up just now. But I have the authority to do that because I won. You haven’t even been added to the rotation yet, some work could humble you.”

“There’s a rotation?” Tubbo wiped his brow of sweat, gathering up his supplies.

“Yeah, there’s a big board on the second level. It’s kinda like, tucked behind the stairs, so you probably haven’t seen it yet. It has everyone’s names and stuff. You’ll get put on after like, a week. Phil just kinda wants you to get used to the way we do things around here before he throws ya into the workload.”

“So you’re just making me do your chores because you’re lazy?”

Tommy froze for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. “Nah, nah, see, I’m making you help me with my chores so that when you get your own chores you know how to do them.”

“That would be good reasoning,” Tubbo admitted. “If you didn’t just make it up on the spot!”

“I DID NOT—” he inhaled. “Totally sound reasoning. I’m full of it.” He threw his supplies in a pile, wiping his hands off on his pants. “Just leave your stuff here. Eret said he’s gonna come by and use it later.” Tubbo set his stuff down a bit more gently than Tommy had.

Tommy stretched, reaching up towards the sun on his tiptoes and groaning as his back cracked. “I don’t have much else to do today. We should do something fun. What’d you do for fun on your ship?”

Tubbo shrugged. “Not much, I guess. I worked, and talked with my crewmates. One guy had a deck of cards, so sometimes we’d play card games.”

“I know some card games,” Tommy said enthusiastically. “Come on, I’ll go get them! We can use one of the crates for a table and play out here in the sun. I know some games! We could play ratscrew, or rats in the woods, or rattail—there’s a lot of rat games—come on, let’s go!” Tommy ran off towards the stairs, motioning for Tubbo to follow. He did, at first, but something on the horizon caught his eye.

He looked out over the water, squinting his eyes to see through the sun’s rays. Amongst the blues of the sea and the sky was something darker. And Tubbo would recognize a ship anywhere.

It’s not like it was unusual to see other ships while sailing, whether they were fishing, or messenger, or passenger boats. The sea was the only thing connecting the countries, the only way to communicate and trade with other nations. Even the three islands of the Ebreley Isles couldn’t communicate without crossing the water. But he didn’t know what seeing other ships meant to pirates. He’d seen what they did to his own ship, and he’d heard the stories of what they did to others. Would they just pass it by, or would it meet the same horrible fate so many others did?

Tommy walked over to him. “Come on,” he pressed. “I thought we were going to play card games.”

Reluctantly, Tubbo said, “There’s a ship out there.”

Tommy put a hand up to block the sun and looked in the direction Tubbo was. He stumbled away from the rail, giving Tubbo nervous glances as he smoothed out his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Shit,” he laughed nervously. “There is. We, uh… we have protocol for this. First things first we tell the captain. Or like, Puffy or Technoblade. So you… you stay here, I’ll go get someone, yeah? Keep an eye on it. Make sure it doesn’t swim away or something.” His breathing was quick and his voice was shaky. He was a pirate, in a much larger ship, what did he have to be so afraid of?

Tommy ran away quickly, turning back to glance at Tubbo and the sea a few times. The water seemed darker, somehow, or maybe that was just the pit of fear growing in his stomach. Maybe he should signal to this other ship for help. Maybe they were his way back home. Most of the time he kept a mirror in his pocket, in case he ended up stranded, but it’d been lost with everything else on The Eastern Gull. All he had was his knife, definitely not shiny enough to cast a light that far.

They probably saw the ship already. How could they not? It was massive. But maybe they were turning away, scared of the giant skull and crossbones symbol on the sail, the universal mark of the pirate.

Why would Tommy be so afraid of another pirate ship, though? From what he knew, all pirates were one united force, like the Superior Empire. Tubbo wasn’t afraid when one of the Emperor's white messenger ships flew past, as fast as the wind.

He stared at the other ship for a minute, trying to blink as little as possible. It didn’t seem to be getting closer, but it also didn’t seem like it was trying to sail away. It was stagnant in the ocean, or maybe just very slow moving. Perhaps it was another fishing boat, still trying to pull up the nets so they could escape The Leviathan.

His captain’s voice rang out in his head, desperate yet angry at the same time. Cut the nets, we don’t have time to cut to pull them up! Tubbo, Robin, get over here and help us! He could imagine a similar conversation happening on the other ship now, the crew utterly unprepared for a situation like this. He remembered Robin’s face as he sawed at the same ropes Tubbo did. He was barely older, with a dream of being a world-renowned artist, and in that moment all on his face was determination. No fear, no grief, none of what Tubbo was feeling.

Tubbo tensed up when he heard quick footsteps behind him. Tommy was back, Captain Philza in tow. The captain walked calmly, his body rigid like he was made of stone. He carried a spyglass in his hands, and a black bird on his shoulder. Tubbo stepped to the side, allowing Philza access to the rail.

He extended the spyglass, running his tongue over his lips. He was deathly silent, his breathing so shallow Tubbo thought for a moment it might be nonexistent. It took a moment for him to say anything.

“Get the crew,” he said to Tommy. “Prepare for attack.” His eyes were as dark as the swirling waters beneath him. Tommy nodded once and ran off, casting a grimace at Tubbo.

Philza handed the spyglass to Tubbo, not looking away from the other ship. “Here,” he said, entirely too calm. “Take a look.”

With trembling hands, Tubbo took the spyglass and lifted it to his eye. It took a second for him to find the ship on the horizon, but when he did he couldn’t look away. From the distance, all the people looked like bugs, milling about around the deck. The mast bore the long white flag of a passenger ship, the identifying mark a staple of all passenger ships owned by the Emperor. They became essential in times of war, when they would get mistaken for war ships and sunken, killing every innocent person onboard. And hundreds of years later, they were still being used.

Two people appeared on the deck, grabbing the rail next to Tubbo.

“What’ve we got this time, cap?” Wilbur asked, brighter than he’d been yesterday. He ran his tongue over his teeth, his eyes alight with a glint that made Tubbo’s stomach drop.

“Prepare to board. Do as little damage as possible. Kill no one without a weapon. Kill no children.” The captain’s eyes were unblinking glass, all the soul he’d had before gone.

Puffy stepped away from the rails, swiveling on her heel with a flourish. “The winds are in our favor, gentlemen. Get your swords ready.”

Tommy elbowed Tubbo in the ribs. “You alright?” He asked. “You’re kinda shakin’ a bit.”

“That’s a passenger ship.” Tubbo’s voice came out as breath, the words falling flat as soon as they left his mouth. “There’s innocent people on there.”

Tommy paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Philza knows what he’s doing. He’s not a huge fan of killing innocent people. That’s why he didn’t kill you. You know how to use a sword? We don’t really use guns here, not often at least.”

The rest of the crew was congregating on the deck behind them, their voices lighthearted but their words serious. There was the clanking of metal, boots stomping on the deck, and an evil sort of laughter that kept Tubbo’s eyes glued onto the ship in the distance.

“No…” Tubbo trailed off, but he wasn’t sure if he was talking to Tommy or himself.

“That’s alright, we can teach you. Not right now, obviously, but you can watch. Take a lesson from the best swordsman in the sea.” He smiled brightly and pointed to himself with his thumb. Tubbo didn’t have it in him to laugh.

“I don’t support this,” a voice said behind him. “We were supposed to relax a little longer before we started plundering again.”

“No plundering this time, Ponk,” came the captain’s response. “We’re staging an emergency intervention.”

The boat was turning, Tubbo realized. Slowly but surely moving to face the victim ship on the horizon. Most passenger ships were designed to be a comfortable ride for the people, even if that meant they sacrificed some speed. And The Leviathan was huge, but it had huge sails to match, and the wind seemed to blow perfectly for them.

No one escaped The Leviathan. Not even the strongest ships in the harbor. It was a fact that had been instilled into him from the moment he first stepped foot onto a boat. Survivors were rare, and survivors that got away unscathed were practically nonexistent. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who had been attacked by pirates. No one knew anyone who’d been attacked by a pirate aboard The Leviathan. None had lived to tell the tale.

“Tom, get over here and help us!” Wilbur called. Tommy smiled at Tubbo again and rolled his eyes, bounding off to do whatever pirates did before a fight. Tubbo wanted to follow him, but his feet were frozen to the deck.

An eerie whistling filled his ears, the voices behind him dimming like a wall had been placed between them. The melody was jaunty, but haunting, filled with lilts that made his head spin. It bounced around in his head and clouded his vision. And through it he thought he could hear another voice, humming along. He felt lightheaded, his feet felt too heavy, and he couldn’t move and he was flying through the clouds all at the same time. The deck swayed beneath his feet, or maybe that was just the rocking of the ocean. Maybe he would pass out. His vision started to swirl like currents.

A hand on his back snapped him back into consciousness. It was like taking a breath of fresh air after drowning. Burning, relieving, and oh so terrifying. The whistling was still there, but it faded into the background among the voices of the crew. He looked out onto the horizon again, the other ship close, too close. When had they gotten that close?

The hand was clawed, and belonged to a demon nearly twice as tall as him, so it didn’t do much to calm his nerves. In fact, it made every hair in his body stand on end in a horrifying warning of get off.

“You don’t need to do this,” Bad said. “You can go below deck, and we can get you when we’re finished.”

Tubbo narrowed his eyes. This could be genuine, but it could also be a test. Maybe they were seeing if he was brave enough to stay with the crew, and if he wasn’t they would throw him overboard. And he wouldn’t want to stay below deck if he had a shot at helping the other ship escape. Maybe it was a stupid plan, but it was all the plan he had.

“I’ll tag along,” he said with a forced grin.

“Have you ever used a sword before?”

“Uh, not really. I’ve never needed to.” Tubbo relaxed a bit when Bad took his claw off of his back.

“Then maybe it’s best for you to just watch this time. We don’t want to put you in too much danger by throwing you into the heat of battle before you’re ready. Come over here, we’ll show you how we prepare.” He beckoned over to the deck where most of the crew was, scurrying around like mice.

Everyone was running every which way, going in and out doors, up and down stairs. Tommy was wearing something completely different than he was a few minutes ago. Swords of different sizes were getting passed out to people. The guy with green hair whose name Tubbo couldn’t remember for the life of him seemed to be in the middle of it, checking over people’s clothes and handing out the weapons carefully.

“Sam!” Bad called. “Tubbo’s gonna come with us, but he’s not skilled with a sword, and he doesn’t really have the proper clothes.”

The green-haired one nodded. “No problem, I’ll fix him up.”

Bad clasped his shoulder one more time. “I need to put on better clothes, but Sam’ll make sure you know what you’re doing. If it ever gets too much, head below deck, alright? No judgment if you need to stay behind.” And he left, jogging to the doorway beneath the stairs and waving goodbye quickly. Tubbo turned around, suddenly unsure of what to do.

Sam waved him over, running a hand through his hair.

“Never used a sword before, huh?” He asked, his voice unaccusing.

“Well, no,” Tubbo stuttered. “But I could use a gun, probably. Tommy said you guys don’t really… use guns much.”

Sam shrugged. “Not much. You’ll need to learn how to use a sword. I could find someone to give you lessons. Maybe Ponk or Puffy.” He picked up a sword with a black sheath and handed it to Karl, who thanked him quickly.

“Attack rule number one,” he started. “Clothes get in the way. You want them to be close to your skin and not oversized. Nothing loose like scarves, or jewelry. And it’s best to wear some sort of armor, so that swords can’t get through. Especially around your vital organs. You can live without a leg, you can’t live without your lungs.”

Tubbo looked around. It didn’t seem like a lot of people were adhering to this ‘rule.’ Ponk had put his scarf on his head again, this time it was pure red. Karl’s jacket was long, and the sleeves hung over his hands. From what he could tell, no one was wearing armor, except for Tommy, who wore a black chain shirt over his other clothes. Even Sam himself was horribly underdressed, the top buttons of his shirt undone and his sleeves rolled up.

“Rule number two… uhm… y’know, maybe it’s best if you don’t hit anyone this time. You don’t know how to fight, and I’d probably get in trouble if I just threw you in there with no preparation or anything. We’ll fight, and you can just… watch, or something.” He handed a couple of knives off to Tommy, who held his hands out anxiously and gripped them tightly.

“Alright, crew,” Puffy yelled. “Get in positions. We’re turning these men into the finest crab food this side of the sea!”

The fuck does that mean? Tubbo wondered as he followed everyone to the edge of the ship. His legs threatened to give out underneath him with every step closer he took. He heard panicked voices from the ship below him, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Everyone else stood still, staring, though some looked as if they were about to leap off before orders. They had weapons in hand and hatred on their faces. Some looked all too excited, the quirk of their mouths betraying their otherwise stone-cold expressions.

Tubbo gulped, looking over the edge of The Leviathan. The other boat was miniscule in comparison. Everyone on the ship seemed to hold their breath, poised to strike on command. The people below them scurried around, staring up at them with terror, the same way Tubbo had when he’d first seen The Leviathan for what it truly was.

“Ready?” The Captain asked, his voice calm and quiet. Everyone seemed to hear him, suddenly tensed. “Take them.”

And they rushed forward with a fire the gods couldn’t put out.

Bad lept from the railing, his massive black wings voidlike and consuming. He grabbed onto the mast of the other ship, letting out a growl. Others took longer, needing to grab ropes or ladders, but soon almost everyone was aboard the other ship, laughing, yelling, the sea swirling with white foam beneath them.

Beside him, the captain went to grab his sword. And Tubbo, in a moment of blind desperation, grabbed his arm.

“Please don’t do this,” he asked, the beginning of tears swelling in his eyes. “They’re innocent.”

The captain paused for a moment, then put his sword back. He smiled, but his eyes remained a stormy sea.

“Look at the boat,” he said with a dangerous tone. “Tell me what you see.”

“It’s a passenger boat!” Tubbo cried. “It has a white flag, there’s people on there!”

“It’s windowless. There’s one way below deck, and it’s heavily bolted. Every person on deck is a middle aged man, and they’re all armed. And look at the odd shape of it, see how it bulges at the back? This isn’t a passenger boat. It might have been, at one point, but now it’s a slaver.”

The words died in Tubbo’s throat. “But… but it’s…”

“Pirates fight for liberation. This is a situation we’ve seen many times.”

A gunshot went off beneath them, and then what sounded like a war cry. Or maybe a scream of pain.

“Stay on the ship.” Philza’s hand went back to his sword. “I need to help my crew.” And he leapt over the edge like he had in the crow’s nest, the wind making his jacket fly up like wings.

Tubbo looked over the side and the first thing he was met with was red. Red blood staining the deck and dripping into the sea. Some bodies were laying limp on the floor, unmoving. None pirates. Many were still fighting, and losing despite having guns and a larger crew. He picked out a mop of blonde hair among the crowd and latched onto it. Tommy was up against a much bulkier sailor, their swords clinking together, with a big smile on his face. And despite his size disadvantage, he was winning.

Tubbo scanned the ship. Yes, it did only have one way downstairs, just like the captain had said. And it was a trapdoor, not something desirable in an area with a lot of foot traffic. Of course he’d heard stories of ships that got taken over and the passengers held prisoner. It was convenient, because no one could fight back or call for help in the middle of the ocean. But how could Captain Philza have noticed from that far away? It was so inconspicuous, such a small detail.

One of the sailors went overboard, his limbs flailing as he let out a high pitched scream. Wilbur put his sword back into its holster and jumped after him. The sailor resurfaced for a moment, then ducked underneath the water again. Then again, he surfaced, struggling, screaming. He swam towards the boat a couple of feet, then disappeared into the sea. It happened over and over again, the times between his surfacing getting longer and longer until he simply didn’t come up again.

Tubbo kept his eyes locked onto the water, trying to see any sign of the sailor again, or Wilbur, who also hadn’t surfaced at all. Instead, he caught sight of a flash of movement. Something like a fish, a really big fish. Longer than Tubbo was tall, and he only saw the tail end of it. It was just below the surface, the dark water serving as a cover for it. It was there for a second, then gone in the blink of an eye.

He knew he saw something that day, no matter what Skeppy said. And here it was again! It must be following them somehow. Maybe it was hoping for scraps to fall off the ship. Or maybe it was waiting for the right moment to strike, and devour them all.

As if right on cue, The Leviathan swayed, sending Tubbo’s feet nearly flying out from under him. In just a few days he’d become so accustomed to the stillness of the large ship, that he almost forgot it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

“Sink the ship!” Someone called down below. Tubbo’s heart dropped. They weren’t really going to sink it, were they? The captain had said that they were trying to free everyone, why would they abandon that so easily? It was all talk, of course it was. He should have expected that from pirates, known for their deception and ruthlessness. No lives were spared, he should have known.

But when he looked over the edge, past all the blood, he saw a man standing at the wheel. He was broad, with a tangled black beard, and he wore a sailor’s outfit. He was the one who shouted the command, who continued shouting it even as his men were dying. He held a gun in his hand, pointed towards the pirate coming towards him up the stairs, the pink haired warrior who left bloody footprints where he walked. The gun fired. The warrior flinched, but didn’t stop moving. With his sword in hand, he raised it over the sailor’s head. Tubbo tried to look away,but couldn’t bring himself to. The death was quick, just another bleeding body among the hoard.

The railing shook with new weight. Tubbo’s head whipped around to where Bad was suddenly perched. His white jacket had only a few drops of blood on the sleeves. He ran his tongue over his teeth and smiled.

“The captain wants you down there,” he said. “He wants you to see that this was worth it.”

Tubbo nodded gently, and followed where Bad was gesturing. The ladder hung over the edge, made of thick tan rope. Tubbo gulped, swinging a ledge over the edge and starting to climb down. Bad spread his wings once more and leapt off, landing neatly on the deck with barely a stumble. Tubbo made it to the end of the ladder with minimal issue. The problem came when he realized the ladder was several feet away from the ship everyone else was on. He couldn’t reach far enough to grab hold of it. It must have drifted away during the fight.

After stalling for a minute, he heard a voice calling out to him. “Climb up a couple rungs!”

Tubbo looked back. Skeppy was leaning over the rail.

“Climb up!” He said. “Then jump!”

“Are you crazy?!” Tubbo asked, though he climbed up anyway.

“Just trust me, I do this all the time! You’ve just gotta bend your knees, yep, just like that. Then wait for it to stop swaying. Just go for it, don’t be afraid. Three, two, one—jump!”

And Tubbo, for some stupid fucking reasons, listens. He jumps, and for a few terrifying seconds he thinks back to what the captain said to him, the batshit insane captain that had eyes that could look death in the face and laugh.

Well then, for a second you’ll know what it’s like to fly.

And he was sure that this wasn’t considered flying. Cracking his skull open on the railing or drowning in the sea, the eyes of all the pirates on him, mocking him, was not how flying was supposed to go. The air was as thick as honey, but not thick enough to catch him as his hair found its way to his face, blocking out his vision.

All it took was a moment. A moment where his heart stopped and his brain raced faster than it ever had before. He’d never been so certain of death, of pain. One moment, and then it was over.

His ankle caught on the railing, sending pain shooting up his leg, but he landed with a bump on the deck of the other ship. Immediately there were hands on him, grabbing him by the arms and pulling him up. People around him were cheering, but the sound of his beating heart nearly drowned them out. He was alive. He was alive.

“There you go!” Skeppy clasped a hand on his shoulder, trying to meet his eyes to give him a smile. “You made it! How was it?”

“Terrifying,” Tubbo barely eked out. “I am never doing that again.”

Skeppy laughed. “Okay, okay. That’s fair. That’s understandable. You didn’t have to do that, we could have moved the ship closer.”

All the residual fear left Tubbo’s body as he turned to stare at Skeppy, wide eyed. “Y-you could have what?”

“Yeah, we always leave someone on the ship. I just wanted you to have a taste of adventure, I knew you could do it.”

Tubbo turned back to the ship. Eret waved nonchalantly. Tubbo stared slack jawed. So maybe Skeppy was an adrenaline seeker, but did he really have to drag Tubbo into it? That’s just not fair. He didn’t need to risk his life to satisfy someone else’s crazed need for a rushing heart rate. And Eret, standing there so smugly, did nothing to convince Tubbo not to jump. Or any of the other pirates, for that matter. They were all completely ready to see him throw himself off a ladder and possibly into the sea. Buncha jerks.

“We’re in,” Captain Philza calls from where he was kneeling by the trapdoor. He tossed a large lock to the side and slipped something into his pocket. “I got it.” He opened the trapdoor and slid inside with the grace of a sea lion in the ocean, disappearing into the abyss.

“Alright,” Puffy said, walking over to the trapdoor and gesturing for everyone else to follow her. “Put your weapons away. Rescue mission commenced.” There was the sound of swords being sheathed, and then one by one everyone went down to the next level.

Tubbo inspected the lock before he went down. Captain Philza was right, it was really heavy duty, paired with thick chains and bolted down with bolts as long as his hand. There was no reason for a passenger ship to have a lock like this, they were typically open and guests were free to move around. Even The Eastern Gull—which was designed for fishing and not transportation—didn’t have locks like this.

Tubbo nearly had to cover his nose as he descended. The place smelled horribly of body odor, so strong it made his eyes sting. The floor was covered in objects he kept tripping over, clothes and boxes and who knows what else.

It was dark under the deck, which was a good sign. It meant that everyone who would attack them was probably above them and dead, and no one was waiting to ambush them. It would be too risky in the dark. A light started glowing up ahead, a lantern carried by Sapnap and casting an orange glow.

It was smaller than it should have been. Maybe it was because it was so crowded, but it seemed so much bigger on the outside. It was like the walls were closing in on him, and he wasn’t typically claustrophobic. Captain Philza, up ahead, was running a gentle hand along the walls, knocking on them occasionally. A couple other people were doing the same, with other places on the walls and floor.

“Here,” Captain Philza said, running his fingers along a piece of wood so rough Tubbo worried his hands would be covered in splinters when he pulled them away. Sapnap moved closer, but Captain Philza swatted him away.

“Careful with the fire,” he said. “Or you’ll burn the whole ship down.” He beckoned over his shoulder, and someone from behind Tubbo moved forward.

He had a name, Tubbo just couldn’t remember it. He walked without a limp despite getting shot in the leg just a little while earlier. It must have hurt, evident by the way the blood glistened on his pants, dripping all the way down to his boots. It was so noticeable Tubbo could see it in the dim lighting.

He held an axe in his hand (what use was an axe to a pirate, anyway?) that swayed with weight that didn’t seem to phase him. He raised it to the wall, but paused, voidlike eyes locked on Captain Philza. And at the smallest nod, he swung. He hit the wall high, and it went cleanly through. He hit it again, and again, until he’d made a fist-sized hole. Instead of sunlight streaming in, there was a cavity behind it.

He reached a hand to the wood and pulled down, breaking one of the planks completely in half. Captain Philza stood close, the shadows surrounding him seeming to darken with the mood of the room. The pirate continued ripping the wood apart with his bare hands, and the shadows behind the captain shifted.

No, those weren’t shadows. Those were his supposed wings that no one seemed to talk about. In the dark environment they were almost invisible, but each little twitch was eye catching to Tubbo as he was intensely focused on them. He was watching them so closely he almost missed when the other pirate stopped destroying the wall, leaving a person sized hole. Captain Philza quickly slipped into it, a couple people following. Tommy wordlessly grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the wall.

There wasn’t much space to move. They had to go single file, and some of the broader people had to shuffle sideways to fit. Tubbo wondered to himself why a ship would ever need this kind of compartment, but deep down he knew the answer. And he dreaded it.

But he chose not to believe until his suspicions were confirmed, just a moment later. He heard the Captain’s voice speaking softly, and though he couldn’t see anything past Tommy and the people in front of him, he knew who the captain was talking to.

“No worries, we’re here to help. I’m just going to take your hand and unlock these shackles. Techno, if you’d please” —there was the sound of splintering wood again— “Yes, thank you. My crew is here to rescue you. Once you’ve been freed, please exit the wall and head to the deck. I can only go so fast. Sapnap, can you come over here with the light? I need to see what I’m doing.”

It was a tedious process, but one by one Tubbo could hear small clinks of metal, then footsteps leaving, then metal again. He briefly questioned what the point of him being in the wall was, but he kept his mouth shut. The air was so still he could hear every inhale and exhale Tommy took, and could faintly feel the beating of his heart where their bodies were smushed together.

“It’s okay,” Philza’s voice up ahead cooed. “Is that your mama out there? We’ll get you back to her. You’re safe now.” There was another clink, and something was dropped onto the floor. The line they were all stuffed in started moving forward, and Tubbo let out a breath when he was finally out of the wall. He stretched his arms and shrugged his shoulders a couple times, already stiff despite not being in there for long.

(Part of him knew that if he was sore, the people who’d been in there for who knows how long must have had their muscles practically stuck).

There started quiet murmurs throughout the crew. Everyone seemed to be in agreement that they wanted to get back to the deck as soon as possible, but they let Captain Philza go first, leading a little girl up the ladder.

The deck was still bloody, but many of the bodies seemed to have disappeared. When before they were littering the deck like leaves in a forest, now they were scarce. Tubbo could only spot a couple. Suspicious, but not the concern at hand.

There were a good thirty or so people waiting on the deck. Most were fair skinned, and almost all of them had the same slender eyes Captain Philza did. It was easy to piece together the puzzle. This was a ship from Agarron. The people that boarded it with the intent of traveling were kidnapped. Who knows who the kidnappers were, what they wanted. And with all of them dead, they’d never know now.

Captain Philza addressed the group, his wings still translucent but easier to see in the sunlight. “I understand you have gone through hardships. I understand you have had your lives taken away from you. But you have the chance to get them back once again. You are liberated, and what you choose to do with that liberation is the choice of the individual. The ship has been reclaimed, it is yours once more. It has the supplies to last for a few months, more since you won’t need to worry about feeding the rest of the crew.”

Towards the front of the ship, where none of the passengers were looking, Ranboo was dragging a body. They were dripping water and their face was completely expressionless. Tubbo watched in morbid fascination as they picked one up by the feet and dragged it across the deck, hoisting it up over the railing and dropping it into the ocean. They stared at it for a moment, before going to get another one. Tubbo turned his attention back to the captain, hoping he could burn that image from his brain later.

“You will be able to sail to safety. We cannot escort you. Now, are there any among you that have experience in sailing or navigation?”

There was shuffling within the crowd, and then someone stepped forward. He was tall, with a large nose and round glasses. “I can navigate, if someone else can sail.”

Multiple people started offering up their skills. Some were more qualified than others, but they seemed to be diverse enough in skills that they could make it work. Sail in one direction long enough and you’ll almost always hit something.

Tubbo didn’t know what to do as the ship started gaining energy. Some people were crying, some people were smiling, some were doing both. A couple people went up to Captain Philza to thank him, others glared at him with distrust. Because rescuer or not, he was still a pirate. The ship drifted closer to The Leviathan, the rope ladder now swinging well within reach. Some people were already climbing up it. No one stuck around much longer. Tubbo started going back when Tommy did, staying only a few steps behind him.

Captain Philza left last, giving only a slow wave before turning back to his own crew. His wings were folded behind him in a near perfect heart shape, fading away with every step he took.

“That’s it?” Tubbo asked out loud as he watched the two ships turn away from each other. “We just swoop in and then leave?”

“I mean, clearly we’re not gonna rob them,” Tommy responded. “What else were we gonna do?” Tubbo shrugged.

“Honestly, that was rather boring,” Wilbur said, running his tongue over his teeth. “Tubbo doesn’t even get to experience the Feeding Frenzy. What’s the point?”

“I told you, we’re not doing the Feeding Frenzy anymore,” Sam countered. He crossed his arms and glared at Wilbur, who only pouted.

“What are we even going to do with ourselves, then? No Feeding Frenzy? Most uncivilized thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I think we should start by teaching our Tubbo some pirate skills.” Puffy elbowed him gently with a smile. “Things like sewing—”

“Sword fighting!”

“Navigating!”

“Cooking!”

“More card games!”

Ideas were shouted left and right, everyone talking over each other and trying to get closer to Tubbo. He felt a little crowded, but Captain Philza scooted everyone out of the way.

“It’s your choice,” he said. “What do you want to do first?”

Chapter Text

Time seemed to pass by differently on The Leviathan. Every day was busy, filled with work, and people, and training and stuff stuff stuff. Every night Tubbo went to bed exhausted, his body thanking him for finally getting used. Days on a fishing boat were monotonous. The same thing every day, no variation, until you couldn’t tell yesterday from today from tomorrow. The most exciting thing that’d ever happened was when something got stuck in the nets that wasn’t supposed to, like an octopus or a dolphin. It was standing around all day, your feet begging for a break and your skin burning in the sun. It was talking about the same things over and over again with your crew even though they weren’t listening because at least it wasn’t the sound of the waves. Easy on the body, heavy on the soul.

But pirates didn’t have quotas to meet, or strict deadlines, or inspectors coming at random times to make sure everything they were doing was up to code (it wasn’t, they just got good at hiding it). Tubbo didn’t know what he thought pirates would do all day, maybe just killing people and drinking alcohol? One thing he refused to do, and one thing he couldn’t, legally. But the days were filled with a lot more free time than he expected. There were still a lot of chores—obviously, a ship that large required a lot of upkeep—but the time not spent working was spent hanging out with the crew or getting lessons in How To Be A Pirate. Things like navigation and sword fighting were essential and even things like cooking or sewing were taught to him.

He considered himself a rather quick learner, or maybe he just had good teachers. A month ago he could sew a button, of course, but patching clothes or fixing ripped sails was completely new. Sewing was always a woman’s job. His sister loved sewing. But Karl taught him how to use stitches that wouldn’t come undone in high winds, and Sapnap’s needlework was so precise you could barely see the seams. And cooking he really couldn’t wrap his head around. They had spices he’d never even heard of before, let alone tasted. Lots of people on the ship could cook, and all their foods were so different from one another.

Pirates, it seemed, didn’t need to stock enough food for five months on their ship. They docked much more often, so their food was fresher. And they kept livestock on their ship, cows and chickens that provided milk and eggs, and eventually meat at the end of their lives. Tubbo hadn’t had milk in months.

The crew encouraged Tubbo to sit in every time someone was cooking, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Sometimes he would help out, if they needed an extra pair of hands, and sometimes he’d just watch. Bad was the one cooking most of the time, but others also stepped up to make meals. Sapnap could make a delicious rice-and-meat dish that had a name, but Tubbo could never remember it. Eret could make just about anything that involved fish, or fruit. Wilbur made possibly the best bread Tubbo’d ever had in his life.

Captain Philza was definitely the most interesting in the kitchen. Every move he made flowed into the next, slipping gracefully from a pan, to a cutting board, to a pot. He was quiet, the sizzling of the food louder than his voice, whispering stories, not to himself or to Tubbo, but out into the air, the world, the sky.

“When I was a kid, my mother would make this as a celebration meal, a type of reward for good things happening,” he’d say as he cut cubes of a whiteish, spongey block, putting them in a shallow bowl with a marinade of sorts in it.

“This was a staple whenever we had guests over. It was the first thing my brother and I learned to make, when we were barely old enough to walk,” he’d say as he poured eggs into a pot of pale broth.

“My father only made this when he was feeling stressed. Now, I make it when other people are stressed,” he’d say as he pushed around noodles and vegetables in a round pan.

Everything he made was delicious. Noodles and broth and vegetables all topped with flavorful sauces that warmed him from the inside out. He didn’t cook too often, not as often as others, so it was always a treat when he did.

For one week, everything seemed like it was getting better.

One week later, the captain got sick.

The morning started out normally. The clear skies had turned grey and drizzly, so everyone was hunkering down below deck. The morning was quiet, most people still asleep. Captain Philza walked down the stairs, now sleeping in his actual bedroom instead of the hammocks with the rest of the crew. He seemed tired, his shoulders sagged, but Tubbo attributed it to the weather.

He’d barely eaten anything, but nibbled on a bit of the bread freshly baked that morning, with the impressive stove that looked like it belonged in a home, not a ship. His voice was strained when he spoke, more than just from sleep.

His behavior seemed off for hours that day. He woke up a little more, but stayed quiet, only standing up when necessary and rushing to sit back down again as quick as he could. It peaked a little after lunch, when Tubbo gathered with some of the crew to play a rat-themed card game that involved slapping each other's hands.

Captain Philza’s expression had turned dreadful all of the sudden, and he moved to stand up. He nearly collapsed when he did, leaning one hand on Technoblade’s shoulder and the other clutching his stomach. Bad, sitting on the other side of him, reached out and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

It only took a moment before he was standing up normally again, drawing in a sharp breath through his nose. When he walked away, Technoblade was right on his heels, standing as a barrier between the captain and the rest of the crew.

They continued playing the game without them, no one seemingly as worried as Tubbo was. He watched Captain Philza walk over to Ponk—who was not just an amazing swordfighter, but also The Leviathan’s resident doctor—and say something to him. Ponk nodded, and led him upstairs, Technoblade following once again.

Not paying attention, Tubbo’s hand got slapped. Not for any good reason, just because it was his turn and he didn’t notice. He put a card down, the game continuing with tension between the players. Everyone was on edge because of the speed and the slapping. Some people hit harder than others, really hard.

It only took a few minutes for Ponk to come down again, Technoblade noticeably absent. Tubbo turned his attention to him, anxiously awaiting an update.

“Phil’s feeling a bit off,” he said, gesturing to his low abdomen. “He’s resting. I’ll check on him again for dinner, but let’s just leave him alone for a bit.”

There was a murmur of agreement around the table, but Tubbo felt worry building up in his throat. Sickness on a boat was never good. If it was contagious, it could very easily spread to the rest of the crew. And if it was deadly, they would be left without a captain, or maybe entirely without a crew. Tubbo had only seen a ghost ship once in his life, and it was the most horrifying thing he’d seen. Just floating aimlessly, the bodies of the crew decaying on the deck or in their hammocks. All it took was one person to get sick, and they would be left to the mercy of fate.

Ponk didn’t seem worried, just sympathetic, which helped to calm his nerves a bit. If a doctor wasn’t panicking, he probably shouldn’t either.

He stayed in his room the entire day, and the next. People brought him up food when food was made, and came back with plates less than half eaten. Technoblade stayed with him most of the time, only leaving his room to do things around the ship, and going back up as quickly as possible.

Even in perfect health, Technoblade rarely ever left the captain’s side. He’d stand with his back straight and his hand resting on his sword, eyes constantly looking around as if someone was about to attack. Captain Philza could shoo him away for a little while, but he always came back. The only time he truly left him alone was at night, when they were asleep. He seemed especially wary of Tubbo, tending to always be between him and Captain Philza, serving as a shield of sorts.

Tubbo didn’t know if pirates had hired guards, but that seemed to be what Technoblade was. He did everything Captain Philza asked of him, said little and never seemed to relax. Supposedly, he was an amazing swordfighter, but a terrible teacher. It’s why he took lessons from Ponk and Sam instead, both good with a multitude of weapons. They were rather nice about it, considering Tubbo had no prior sword fighting experience. He knew he sucked. They said that was expected.

When Captain Philza was out of his room again, he was still a little shaky on his feet. People fretted over him left and right, telling him to sit down and rest. He seemed to be feeling a lot better, and he was recovering rather quickly. Perhaps the sickness wasn’t viral, and he didn’t need to worry about contamination or ghost ships or whatever.

Five days later, he was practically back to normal. He interrupted one of Tubbo’s lessons with Sam to give his own demonstration. He was quick on his feet, lighter than air, and moved fluidly, while Tubbo clunked around, sword still unfamiliar in his hands. He was left exhausted, sweating from the exertion and the heat. It was so hot that day, and Sam insisted he wear long clothes.

It wasn’t fair how Sam got to walk around practically shirtless the entire time, and Tubbo was stuck building layer upon layer of clothes that didn’t fit him. It was hot in the sun, and he was the only one suffering. Even Tommy got to wear short clothes.

“How the fuck are you wearing those pants?” Tubbo asked, setting down the sword Sam had given him for training.

Captain Philza smiled, putting his hands in the pockets of his loose black pants, stopping just short of his ankle to show off his boots with heels just high enough to make Tubbo gulp.

“Necessity,” he said plainly.

Tubbo rolled his eyes, turning away from the captain so he couldn’t see it. Necessity his ass. Get some shade, before you overheat.

“You’re not terrible,” Captain Philza said. “With practice, you’ll be a great swordsman. And a tip—try to keep your back to the sun. It makes you harder to see.” And as nothing more than a silhouette, the sun’s rays beaming around him like a halo, Tubbo believed him.

There were other skills he had to learn, too. Navigation, which he already knew some of. Puffy was great at it. Using the stars and the currents and maps and whatever the fuck else, she could pinpoint their exact location. Biodiversity, from Ranboo, who spoke in a timid voice and tripped over their feet at the slightest jolt, but who also knew every type of sea creature there was, even more than Tubbo knew. Strategy, from Wilbur, who was actually really pleasant to be around on a good day, and whose mind was sharper than his silver tongue.

Simply existing was getting easier. He laughed, genuinely. He wasn’t plagued by nightmares. He let himself ask questions and slouch and complain, and he barely worried of the consequences. Consequences that never came. It was almost like he was home again, joking around with his friends at the market while their parents gave them stern looks, but let them keep goofing around.

He ignored the sadness threatening to spill out from behind his eyes if he thought about home too much.

Distractions were easy to come across. If he wasn’t training, he was doing chores, or playing games, mostly with Tommy. Days were never repetitive, never monotonous. And some were harder than others.

Tommy said his first plunder was like an initiation.

They’d spotted another ship on the horizon. White, and sleek, one of the emperor’s cargo ships, delivering goods to the empire. The crew had gotten all riled up, just like the last time, practically foaming at their mouths. The captain was less cautious this time, less reserved, speaking loudly above the crew, his sword held high.

“Alright, crew, this is an easy, run-of-the-mill job. We get in, we fight, we steal, we get out. Show no mercy, spare no lives. The sea offers us protection in her domain, and we must protect her right back, with our lives if we must. Listen to her roar as we raise our swords. Scream like sirens, riot like demons, and take back what they have stolen from us! Let their guts sink and spill, make your voice the last thing they hear!” he said, grinning like a maniac. The crew cheered in response.

“We’ll turn these bitches into sea grass!” Puffy said next to Tubbo.

Sapnap snickered on the other side of Tubbo. “Sure, if you say so.”

Tubbo clutched a knife in his hand. The captain wouldn’t allow him to use a sword yet, not while he was still so inexperienced. Not that Tubbo intended to use one, anyway. His face paled at the thought of killing an innocent person. He would just stand around on the ship, avert his eyes, and hope it was over quickly. His thoughts of rescue were practically squashed. No one escaped The Leviathan.

Tommy was practically bouncing up and down next to him. He rambled on and on about different techniques of the sword, and how ships were arranged, and how this type of procedure normally went. He didn’t stop talking until Captain Philza gave the word, and he practically hurled the two of them overboard.

There was no time to be scared climbing down those ladders, people were coming down after him. He just had to leap and hope he made it. Once he landed he had to get right back up again, Tommy gripped his hand and pulled him along, using his sword to cut a couple of the ropes attached to the sails. They snapped back towards the mast, now useless. The ship wasn’t going anywhere.

The crew of the ship were screaming, reaching for their own weapons. The first one cut down was tall, bearing the symbol of the Superior Empire on his shirt. His death was quick, though Tubbo had a feeling it wasn’t painless. At least the blades were sharp.

“What do we do?” He asked Tommy. “What’s the plan?”

“Eh, the plan is whatever. Stab, steal, the works. Stick by me, I’ll make sure they won’t hurt you!”

A sailor with a machete and a long, black mustache came running towards them. Tommy put his sword up, blocking him. Boots landed on the deck behind him as pirate after pirate dropped from the ship. Tubbo looked around, trying to find anywhere he could just wait it out and not get in the way of someone’s machete.

He briefly met eyes with Skeppy, who gave him a thumbs up and a big smile, before driving his sword into a sailor’s stomach, causing him to stumble backwards. Pretty soon the air was filled with sounds of clanging metal, with cries of anger and triumph. One sailor threw himself off the edge of the ship. Maybe he thought he could swim to safety. Or maybe he just wanted to die on his own terms.

Tubbo backed away from Tommy, not wanting to get caught between two swords. Tommy seemed rather reckless when it came to where he was swinging it, as long as it hit its target. And sometimes several other things that weren’t his target.

Tubbo was barreled into the wall.

Pain sprung up his shoulder, but he managed to avoid hitting his head. The man who attacked him was probably twice his size, and so close Tubbo could feel his long beard brushing up against his face. He was shouting in his ear, mostly nonsense. He didn’t have a machete, but instead a long piece of wood he used to crush Tubbo’s throat.

“Dirty fucking pirates!” He shouted. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you!” Gross smelling saliva flew into Tubbo’s face. He tried to pry the wood away from his throat, but the man was much stronger than he was.

“Don’t kill me,” he cried out, trying to force the man away from him. “Please, I’m like—”

I’m like you, he tried to say, but something stopped him. A glance over the man’s shoulder, and he saw Tommy, pointing to something on the ship with a big smile, his sword clashing against another sailor’s. He saw Sam, balancing precariously on the edge of the railing, using his height to give him an advantage, his tail flicking around behind him. He heard a cry of pain as big, black wings flared up, sporting a new rip. He saw the sun reflecting off the sea, each ripple a glimmer, constantly changing.

He wasn’t like them. No matter how much he wanted to be. Every day on the fishing boat had been torture. He hated getting yelled at, whether he did the right thing or the wrong thing. He hated hearing his stomach growl in the middle of the night while the captain ate a full blown feast every night. He hated being the butt of the joke all the time, hearing the snickers from his crew full of grown adults when he did something they didn’t like. He wasn’t a pirate, but he definitely wasn’t a sailor anymore. Maybe he never was.

He still gripped tightly to his knife.

The lack of air was making his head start to swim. Give it another minute, and this man surely would kill him. Everyone died at some point. He’d spent too long worrying about it. He couldn’t be scared anymore.

I’m not fucking dying yet, he thought. He raised his knife and stabbed it into the man’s arm, twisting it into his bicep. The man screamed and pulled away from him, tearing a big chunk of skin out with it.

Tubbo fell to the ground, gasping for air that had never struggled to enter his lungs like this before. He barely had time to recover before he was struck by the piece of wood again, cracking over his spine. Pain exploded outward, but from what he could tell nothing was broken. He was able to stand up again, right as the man was about to beat him again. His left arm lay limp by his side, leaking blood profusely. Tubbo was able to get out of the way just in time, but he was backed into a corner.

The man aimed for his head.

Tubbo plunged his knife into his neck.

It took more force than he was expecting. The man’s thick beard got in the way, but it was the only available space not covered by clothes. Blood started pouring out of the wound, first just flowing down, then spurting when Tubbo pressed a little harder. The man wobbled on his feet, then fell over, twitching a bit, his eyes wide open.

And for a moment, everything went still.

Cool air blew through Tubbo’s lungs. The gentle rush of the sea drowned out the shoutings of the pirates and the sailors, the clanging of metal swords, the boots on the deck. Tiny droplets of water collected on his face, dripping slowly down until he could taste the salt on his tongue. There was blood on his clothes, there had to be. Maybe on his face, too, he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t know what he expected to feel. Panic? Horror? But he only felt numbness as red spilled out onto the sleek white ship below him. Nothingness, and then cool, cool relief, chilling his warm body down to his bones. He was alive.

The world blurred back to life.

Tubbo stood staring for a second before he ran off, joining back up with Tommy who had taken down the sailor he had been fighting.

“We’ve almost got it!” He said, grabbing Tubbo by the forearm. “It was a small crew.” He looked Tubbo from head to toe a few times. “Are you alright? You’re covered in blood, it’s all in your hair.” He ran a hand through Tubbo’s hair, and his hand came back red.

“I’m not hurt,” Tubbo managed to say. “What’s next?”

“We gotta get all o’ these guys. There’s more of them than us, but we’re doing pretty well. Stick by me, we’ll join up with Phil.”

Tubbo nodded, wiping his knife off on his sleeve, not thinking about what would happen if he cut through the fabric. It didn’t get all the blood off, but a fair portion of it. He looked around, trying to scope out who was left. Bad was suddenly gone, but Skeppy was still fighting, drawing out the fight longer than it needed to go. Technoblade was at his post right next to the captain’s side, blood dripping down his face and hands.

Sapnap was stuck in hand to hand combat with a sailor quite a bit taller than him, both of their weapons lost. Backed up against the edge, it looked for sure that Sapnap was completely at a loss. No way he could take down an angry sailor without a weapon, something to give him an advantage. There was a cut on his cheek, dripping blood down his face. The sailor went to grab for his neck, presumably to strangle him, but the moment their skin made contact the sailor started screaming.

Suddenly it seemed that Sapnap had the upper hand. He went from cornered between the sea and the sailor to pushing him out of the way as he scrambled to get away from Sapnap’s hands. Sapnap kept a firm hold on his wrist, his face twisted into a scowl. The sailor fell to the ground and Tubbo watched as his hand and forearm started to turn red, then blister, then blacken. Sapnap put a hand over the sailor’s mouth to stop him from screaming more, the volume only getting louder. Tubbo wanted to look away, but he was stuck, staring as the man stopped struggling and eventually laid still. When Sapnap pulled his hand away from the man’s face Tubbo finally gained the strength to turn his head.

Slowly, it seemed, everything went quiet. As the sailors fell one by one, the yelling and the clashing all stopped. The last body, a man who had been trying to hide in the captain’s quarters, landed on the deck with a thunk, and suddenly it was over.

People started to move around him, but he didn’t really know what to do with himself. Some people went below deck, where everything was stored. Some people went into the sleeping quarters. Ranboo dragged each body to the edge of the ship and dumped it over, watching for a second as a bloom of red appeared in the water.

Tubbo inhaled through his nose, holding it just long enough to hurt before letting it out. He blinked heavily a couple of times. Overhead, Steve let out his ugly bird call, forcing a laugh out of Tubbo’s throat. He took one more deep breath, and turned to Tommy, who was exchanging rude gestures with Skeppy.

“What’s next?” He asked. Tommy turned to him, putting his hands on his hips.

“Well, um, they’ll get all the cargo from below deck,” he said, pointing to the crates that were beginning to pile up next to them.

“Eret and Sam’ll let down the pulleys—” Tommy pointed up at the ship “—and we’ll load the stuff onto them. It’s a system. But we gotta open the crates first, make sure they’re not full of explosives or rot or something.” He wedged his sword under the lid of a crate, trying to pry it open and failing horribly.

Someone dropped a crowbar from above, and it almost hit Tommy in the head.

“Hey! Hey! Stop tryin’a murder me!” He yelled, shaking his fist. He picked up the crowbar, rolling his eyes. “Some people, man. No respect. No respect at all. Just throwin’ shit around whenever they feel like it. ‘Oh Tommy, don’t use your sword, it can hurt it,’ I say it’s my sword and I do what I want with it.”

The lid opened up with a crack, and Tommy’s face lit up.

“Holy shit! Mangos!” He pulled a couple of the orange fruits out and held them in his arms. “We almost never get these! Holy shit! This ship must be coming from the south! Tubbo, you ever have a mango before?”

Tubbo shook his head. Technically, he had, but he was so little he could hardly remember it. Southern fruit, grown in warmer weather, was hard to transport so far north. Although, he felt a bitter pang in his chest knowing that this ship was going to Agarron, the head of the Superior Empire. About the same distance north, but way farther east.

“Ugh, you need to try them! Philza makes this like, rice with mango and coconut and whatever, it’s so good. They’re best when they’re ripe, and these look perfect!” He reluctantly put them back in the crate, and beckoned Tubbo over. “Come help me lift this. We’ll bring it over there.” He pointed at The Leviathan, where two wooden platforms attached to ropes had been lowered.

Tubbo walked over and grabbed one side of the crate, struggling a bit when he realized it didn’t have handles. He and Tommy had to awkwardly maneuver their hands underneath it, trying to not tip it and spill the mangoes all over the deck. When trying to set it down, Tubbo moved too quickly, accidentally smashing Tommy’s fingers underneath it.

“OW! Fuck you!” He yelled, glaring.

The next crate went easier, full of thin, pink fabric. Tommy’s fingers nearly got smashed again, but he managed to pull them away in time. Tubbo watched as the platform, loaded with crates of various items, got pulled upwards slowly, then pulled onto the deck of The Leviathan. It came back down a few minutes later, empty, and the cycle started again. Each crate got easier as he and Tommy figured out how to work around each other, and anyone else that was stacking crates.

“Hey, Tubbo,” Karl called, sticking his head out of the sleeping quarters. “There’s a bunch of clothes in here, come see if any are your size!” Tubbo nodded, and waved to Tommy. Tommy wiped his brow and gave him a thumbs up.

The sleeping quarters were ridiculously crowded. And messy. There wasn’t any clean floor space to walk on at all, every step was covered by clothes or bags or unidentifiable things that squished out from under Tubbo’s shoes. Cargo ships were designed to devote most of their space to transported goods, and the Emperor’s ships were designed to be as sleek as possible. Those conditions combined didn’t leave much room for people.

“Surely there’s gotta be something in here that fits you,” Karl said, shuffling around a pile of fabric. “Better than Ponk’s clothes, anyway. There’s a lot to sort through.”

That certainly wasn’t a lie. It must have taken them an hour, more, to find a good amount of stuff in Tubbo’s size. Most of it was too big, too wide, but there must have been one person on the ship his size, because he found a couple pairs of pants that fit him well and a nice jacket that covered down to his knuckles. No boots, but his worked fine enough. There was a certain guilt that came with wearing a dead man’s clothes when his body lay on the ship he’d just invaded (or maybe in the water where Ranboo had put it), but he brushed it off. Dead men didn’t need changes of clothes, he did.

In the time it took for him to sort through enough clothes to make the struggle worth it, the rest of the crew had loaded up all of the crates, and were heading back aboard, leaving the cargo ship to be swallowed by the sea. Karl put all of Tubbo’s new clothes onto the last platform getting pulled up, and gave a small salute to whoever was at the top. They climbed the ladders and joined up with the rest of the crew, who were putting away their weapons and chatting pleasantly, as if they hadn’t just murdered an entire crew.

Karl went to join up with Sapnap, putting his hands out and waiting for Sapnap to grab them first, pulling him into a sweet kiss. Tubbo politely looked away, his eyes staring straight ahead but still intently listening.

“You’re still warm,” Karl giggled, kissing him again.

“I’m with you, of course I am,” Sapnap responded.

“That’s not even— stop it, stop making me blush.”

“I can’t help it when you look so pretty. Taking down sailors one moment and being sweet to me the next.” Another kiss. Tommy shuffled over to him and fake gagged, not so discreetly pointing at the couple behind them. Tubbo laughed. Maybe he should stop listening.

Captain Philza walked over to them, a streak of blood prominent against his white shirt. It was rather dry, though, so it probably wasn’t his. His hair was tied back again, a piece of it falling into his face.

“Phil!” Tommy said, bouncing on his feet. “Good haul, huh? Must have been from Droenton or Sapinsear or whatever the fuck they’re calling it these days?” Captain Philza smiled, but his face fell when he looked at Tubbo. Tubbo straightened up, ready to be reprimanded for something, anything. That look couldn’t mean anything good.

Captain Philza gently put his fingers under Tubbo’s jaw and lifted his head up. “You should get this looked at,” he said, running his fingers lightly under Tubbo’s neck. He winced, and Captain Philza’s fingers came away with tiny spots of blood on them.

“The sick ward is through that door and to the left.” He pointed over Tubbo’s shoulder. “Ponk’ll fix you right up.”

“Look,” Tommy said, putting a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Ponk is a doctor but they’re a nice doctor. You don’t have to worry about getting your teeth stolen or anything. Trust me.”

Tubbo scrunched up his face. “I’m not scared of doctors. Teeth? What?”

“Oh, no, then you’re fine, get on in there and get all better,” Tommy laughed, pushing him away forcefully.

Rolling his eyes, Tubbo walked to the door Captain Philza had pointed out. It led to a narrow hallway, the only light coming from a window at the far end. Captain Philza had said the door on the left, but curiosity made Tubbo itch with need to look in the door on the right. The door on the left was plain, but the door on the right was intricately carved in patterns Tubbo couldn’t see well in the dim lighting. It would be easy to just open it for a quick peak, then leave once he saw what was behind it. He reached for the doorknob, feeling the cool metal turn under his fingers and—

Turned around, quickly opening the door on the left and stepping into the sick ward.

The first thing he noticed were the beds—real beds, not hammocks. And lots of cupboards and shelves. The floors were relatively clutter-free, aside from some piles here and there. Bad was sitting on one of the beds, his wing outstretched, Ponk stitching up a tear. Ranboo laid on another bed, their arm dripping blood onto the floor. Their black and white hair was wet, splayed out on the pillow around them.

Ponk turned to look at him. “Are you dying?” He asked.

“No,” Tubbo responded. “I don’t think so.”

“Then have a seat. I’ll get to you soon. Ranboo, apply pressure.”

“No,” Ranboo replied, not moving an inch. “I’ll just bleed out.” Tubbo moved to sit on one of the beds near Ranboo, far enough away to maintain the distance that they seemed to like.

“You won’t bleed out,” Ponk responded, his voice taking on a bit of annoyance. “But it gets blood everywhere, and it makes it take more time to close up.”

“It won’t need to close up if I’ve bled out.”

Ponk finished stitching Bad’s wing, letting him stretch it out and make sure nothing was pulling. He ushered Ranboo over, who stood up reluctantly.

“No flying for a while, okay?” Ponk called as Bad left the room. “Not until I can give you a checkup and make sure everything’s healing nicely.” Bad mumbled an affirmative, and the door closed behind him.

“I got a cut,” Ranboo said, thrusting their arm into Ponk’s hands. It was oozing blood, still dripping thick drops. It ran down the side of their hand, from their knuckles to about halfway down their forearm, smooth but curved like it was done with glass. Probably one of the sailor’s machetes.

“I can see that,” Ponk sighed. “I’m just going to clean this up and then we’ll see how deep it goes. You probably won’t need stitches, but better safe than sorry.” He grabbed a black cloth from off the shelf next to him, dipping it into a metal tub of clear water. The blood came off of Ranboo’s arm easily, the dried areas taking a bit more scrubbing.

“I’d say this would scar,” he said, the water turning redder every time he went to dip the cloth again. “But knowing you, it probably won’t.”

“Am I your weirdest patient?” They asked with a smile.

“In general? No. Reoccurring? Yes. Wilbur comes a close second. You two just love making things difficult for me.”

“His skin has been bothering him again, did he tell you that? I’ve seen him scratching.”

Ponk sighed. “No, I didn’t know that. I’ll talk to them about it.” He used a pair of scissors to cut the bandage and tied it off. “There you go, now try not to jostle it around too much. I’d say keep it out of the water, but I know that’s asking a lot from you.”

Ranboo nodded, standing up and stretching. They didn’t acknowledge Tubbo at all when they walked out, just bolted out the door. It was the most conversation he’d ever heard them have. When they were talking, they seemed to just talk to themself, and you could listen if you were close enough.

“Come here, let me take a look at your neck.”

Tubbo walked over and sat down on the bed Ponk was patting. It was firmer than the other beds, and lacked any blankets. It only had a pillow and a thin sheet, splattered with little flecks of blood in one area.

“Lift your head up so I can see.” Tubbo obediently raised his chin, flinching a bit when he felt something pull.

“Yep, you’re definitely scraped up.” Ponk reached around to grab a glass bottle and a clean cloth. “It’s not too bad, it’s stopped bleeding already. And with how it looks, I’m assuming all this blood on your clothes doesn’t belong to you.”

“No, it’s not mine,” Tubbo responded.

“It’s dirty. Let me clean it, then I’ll disinfect it and we’ll see if we can put some bandages on it.” Ponk grabbed a new tub and filled it up with clean water from a barrel in the corner. Tubbo couldn’t see him cleaning his neck, but he could sure feel it when loose pieces of skin got snagged on the fibers of the cloth. The water was cold and the open wounds stung, but he tried his best to stay still, his eyes squeezed closed.

A particularly bad swipe made him cry out, his hand rushing to muffle it.

“Oh, that’s no good.” Ponk set down the cloth. “You’ve got splinters and bits of wood stuck all over your neck. I’ll have to remove them.” He dug around in a drawer and pulled out a pair of tweezers.

It was a tedious process, getting through all of the splinters. According to Ponk, his neck was littered with them. Most of them were small, only painful when pulled the wrong way, but a couple big ones made him hold his breath. Whenever Ponk had to pull one out, he’d give Tubbo a warning to brace himself.

It took a while to get all of the splinters out. Ponk went over his neck with water again to clear any remaining dirt.

“Now, I’m going to put some alcohol on it. It’ll sting, but it’ll kill any bacteria in it, so it doesn’t get infected.”

Tubbo made a noise of affirmation and braced himself. Really, the pain wasn’t that bad. Nowhere near as bad as getting the wound was. But it was uncomfortable, and the scent of it made his eyes water.

“Most of these scratches aren’t very deep,” Ponk said when he was done cleaning it. “But I’ll put a couple bandages on the bigger ones, so they’re protected.”

It was by far the quickest and least painful part of the process. The bandages made a crinkling sound when Tubbo put his head down, but didn’t annoy him too much.

“There you go. If they get damaged, just come back to me so I can replace them. It’ll probably take a few days for most of the scratches to heal, a week or so for the bigger ones.” He started cleaning up his area, shooing Tubbo away with his hand.

“Thank you,” Tubbo said quickly, getting off the bed and rushing out the door.

Back on the deck, he joined up with Tommy again, who was in a one sided conversation with Sam, who didn’t seem to be paying him any attention. Instead, he was shuffling crates around into loose groups, peeking into the lids.

“Oh, that looks much better now!” Tommy exclaimed. “Does it hurt? It looks like it hurts.” He poked Tubbo’s neck with too much enthusiasm, causing him to wince.

“It’s fine. It’s just a scrape.” He gently pushed Tommy’s hand away.

“Are we going to Feeding Frenzy this one?” Wilbur asked, raising his voice to be heard above the crowd. “Because if we are, I saw a crate full of shiny things and it’s totally mine, and I’ll bite anyone who tries to get to it first.”

The crew erupted into cheers and rushed to the crates, Sam trying to calm everyone down before they tore each other limb from limb. Tommy showed remarkable restraint, grabbing Tubbo’s arm and pulling him along instead of rushing in foaming at the mouth. It was crowded, but there were a lot of crates, and the initial rush made it seem worse than it was.

Tommy rushed for the crate of mangos he had been fawning over earlier. He piled them in his arms and stuffed one in his mouth, juice escaping his lips and falling to the deck. Puffy was sorting through a crate of fabric, stomping her hooves on the deck whenever someone came too close. Sapnap tried reaching for something, but true to his word Wilbur sunk his teeth into his arm, not pulling away until blood was dripping from his mouth. The two bared their sharp teeth at each other, growling like animals.

Tubbo slunk away, not sure what to grab or who to mess with. He didn’t really need any of the stuff, he got his clothes and that was all he needed. Maybe he should just… go below deck. Away from the things with teeth and claws and a thirst for blood. Some quiet was all he needed.

Tommy shared some of his mango bounty with Tubbo that night, the two of them eating the sweet fruit while huddled in a corner, playfully threatening anyone who got too close. It was delicious, and the brightness of the moment brought out flavors he’d never get if he were alone. The rest of the stuff was stored. If it was perishable, it was eaten.

Skeppy had patted him on the shoulder before he went to bed. “Good job on your first plunder,” he said. “You’re sure acting like a pirate now!”

++++++

Nights outside were beginning to become Tubbo’s favorite thing.

They weren’t common. Everything had to follow a certain set of criteria that Tubbo couldn’t figure out. No one could, it seemed, but Captain Philza. Maybe there wasn’t any reason to it, and he was just choosing when he felt like it, but Tubbo didn’t mind.

None were as heart wrenching as that first night had been. Tales became more glorious, and some were definitely made up. Storytelling, he found, was an art form. The words carried from Philza’s mouth as he recounted the time he was nearly capsized by a kraken, from Ranboo’s excited hand gestures as they rambled about adventures on the ship, from Wilbur’s guitar as he sang tales of pirates of the past, and up into the sky, the stars, the sea.

And maybe the entire night was spent listening to one person’s story. A tale of forbidden romance or revolutions or the path life had strung them on so far. Or maybe each person would tell a story, butting in and interrupting everyone else with snippets of personality, of life. Or maybe they’d make a story together, telling one line after another, creating wild adventures for imaginary protagonists.

Sometimes stories didn’t get told at all. And that was beautiful too.

It left room for dancing along to Wilbur’s guitar. For Tommy to grab Tubbo’s hand and spin him around and step on his feet, making up the moves as he went along. It wasn’t dancing like the rules said, gentle and graceful, it was wild and uncoordinated and full of stomping and laughter. The sound of feet on the deck was like drums, or rainstorms. Wilbur had an enchanting voice, one that made Tubbo’s head swim when he heard it. It took some getting used to, when he heard it for the first few times. But it was easy to get accustomed to, Wilbur sang all the time.

And Tubbo didn’t really have any glory tales. He couldn’t sing or dance well, couldn’t play an instrument. But the crew still listened to him the same as they listened to anyone else. When he couldn’t get through his own jokes without laughing, and when he finally made it to the mediocre punchline. When he’d tell stories of his sisters, though they were boring in comparison to others. What mattered wasn’t what he had to say, what mattered was that he was saying it.

“Words,” the Captain had said. “Are bravery. They’re treasure. They’re past and future and history and present. Words have power stronger than any god could.”

And so Tubbo spoke.

“And I’m not saying he was lying,” Tubbo said, dragging out the syllables for emphasis. “I’m just saying, you just happened to stumble across Athos in the woods, and he didn’t kill you? You’re fifteen, not some prophet or guide.”

Tommy laughed out loud, and even Technoblade snickered.

“Gods, your friends sound like fuckin’ dickheads,” Tommy said.

“Not all of them!” Tubbo retorted. “Just most of them.”

Technoblade scoffed. “Athos hates kids. He hates everyone except his champions. Any kid claiming to meet him is lying to make themself sound tough.”

“I know, right? This guy just wanted to sound cool all the time!” Tubbo rolled his eyes. “We believed him when we were younger, but we eventually just realized that if it sounded too good to be true, it was. He was also a terrible actor, so you could see it on his face when he was lying.”

“Does Athos even have a guide?” Tommy asked. Technoblade shook his head.

“His champions act as guides sometimes, but he never has any actual guides. And he only has the one prophet that he replaces when they die. Which is often, because no one likes prophets that only speak of pain and bloodshed.”

“Athos is just kinda a weird one,” Tubbo said, prompting agreement from his friends. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“I won’t,” Technoblade responded.

A few, calm notes were plucked out on a guitar. Tubbo whipped around, met with Wilbur who was tuning his guitar, sat back on a crate with a soft smile on his face. Tubbo’s heart beat in anticipation. Wilbur’s music was the most beautiful he’d ever heard. It was better than what was played back home. It had a rawer, more passionate quality to it. And his voice made his head feel like it was full of water. At first it had been concerning, but he had quickly grown to love it. There were weirder things about him.

The first notes were always anticipation. Everyone held their breath at first, waiting for the moment the surface tension would break and you could take that breath of air again. The song started with happy sounding notes that still left Tubbo feeling a sort of longing, an emptiness that he couldn’t place. And when Wilbur opened his mouth and started to sing, it was like everything else melted away.

Tommy stood up and grabbed Tubbo’s arms, pulling him into a dance. Neither of them could really dance, all stomping feet and uncoordinated limbs, but it was fun and wild and free and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The rest of the crew started to dance around them. The music was compelling, putting them in an almost fugue-like state. In these moments, they weren’t separate from each other, they were one entity—one soul with many heartbeats, each one he could feel as if it were his own. He could feel his vocal cords vibrate like he was one the singing, could feel the swirling of the sea like it was inside him.

He could dance like this for hours, until the sun came up and then some. If you asked him how long it had been, he wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. Minutes, hours, days, could pass and he would keep dancing, he’d never stop if the music didn’t.

And it felt all too soon that Wilbur stopped singing, that his hands stilled on his guitar, that Tubbo’s mind returned to him, out of breath and muscles burning.

The final notes were the exhale. When you finally realized how tired you were. When you leaned against someone’s shoulder and closed your eyes. When your heartbeat slowed and the emotioned calmed down, leaving you with a pleasant buzz and the promise of good dreams. When Tubbo was his own being again.

A few people decided to turn in for the night. Had it not been for the sugary drink that Tommy passed him, Tubbo would have, too. It was sweeter than juice, but still tasted rather fruity. Tubbo suspected for a moment that it may be alcohol, but he quickly ruled it out.

The chatter had died down a bit, turning to quiet murmurs, no one speaking too loud. Though Tubbo had resumed conversation with Tommy, he couldn’t shake the sudden feeling he had. The feeling of being watched. He kept looking over his shoulder, only to be met with empty ship and open sea. It wasn’t unsettling, just persistent. It almost felt reassuring.

Tubbo stood up and walked to the ocean. The water was an inky blue, small patches illuminated by glowing seafoam jellyfish. If Ranboo hadn't gone to bed, they could name them easily, no hesitation.

He wanted to reach his arm out and brush against the waves. The stretch felt impossibly far, a certain longing in his heart. He was so, so close to the water, but he knew that no matter how close he got, he’d still be so far away.

He listened to the sound of the waves lapping against the ship. Idle chatter faded out behind him as he started humming.

A voice joined him in beautiful harmony.

++++++

Tubbo awoke from a dreamless sleep.

As he laid in his hammock, surrounded by the slow breathing of the crew, he felt still.

It was the middle of the night, it had to be. Though he couldn’t see in the dark, he could hear the emptiness of the floor above him, and the shuffling of hammocks full of people. Everyone was asleep. Everyone but him.

He turned to the side and closed his eyes again, hoping sleep would overtake him again, but it stubbornly refused. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he sat up. Seconds and minutes were all a blur in the darkness. Restlessness coursed through him, his limbs itching to move.

Fresh air would help, he decided as he gently stepped down from his hammock, trying to make as little noise as possible. He knew the way to the ladder now, didn’t need light to find his way up to the second deck. He gripped the rungs tightly, taking each step slowly to allow his socked feet to stabilize. He squeezed out the trapdoor and into the orange glimmer of a lantern. They always left one burning, hanging near the kitchen so people could find their way. In the morning, they lit more. But one was enough to see the stairs and the door. One was enough to avoid tripping over the rope that had been left on the floor.

The night air was cool on his face.

The moon was a few days after being full, but still lit up the ship brighter than the lantern. The sky was awake with constellations. The sea was an infinite void beneath them. The wind was still and silent.

He thought he would be alone at this hour, the sun not even a thought on the horizon, but amidst the was a voice.

“I think he’s really coming along.” The captain’s voice was loud in the quiet air. “He’s afraid of you, but who isn’t? All he needed was some guidance. It’s only going to get better from here. You should see how he plays with Tommy, the two are ridiculous. I’m glad he found a friend. It was overwhelming for everyone, but especially for him.”

Tubbo walked around, looking back towards the stern. The captain’s golden hair was practically glowing in the moonlight, appearing pale blue like the light reflecting off the sea. He was leaning over the edge, talking to himself but pausing as if in conversation. Behind him was a cloud of shadow and starlight, moving with his laughs, open as if he was about to take flight.

“Ranboo’s a nervous wreck around him, though. I can’t blame them. I want them to get along, but that might be asking a lot. They’re so scared now, after everything. Wilbur’s taking good care of them, but you know he has his days.”

There was silence for a moment, the only sound the ocean lapping against the ship.

“I sense something. I’m not sure what, but it’s painful and it’s sorrowful. If I focus on it, I can feel it pulling. I don’t know where it leads, but I can’t help but follow it. I’ve always trusted my instincts, but I don’t want to risk the crew getting hurt. I taste blood in my dreams.”

Tubbo stepped out from behind the rails, walking up the stairs with intentionally loud steps. Philza turned around to face him.

“Hey there,” he said with a smile. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Tubbo responded. He shivered a bit as a cool breeze swept by him. Philza was also dressed in sleepwear, but had his green shawl draped over his shoulders.

“That’s a shame. Not everyone can resist the pull of the night sky.” He beckoned Tubbo over to stand beside him.

“Do you do this a lot?” Tubbo asked. “Come and stare at the sea when everyone else is asleep?”

“Often, yes. If it’s warm enough, I’ll sleep out here.” He pointed to a hammock Tubbo hadn’t seen before. He must have set it up that night. It hung precariously over the edge. One wrong move, one faulty knot, would send him crashing into the dark water below.

As surprised as Tubbo wanted to be, he expected nothing less from the captain of The Leviathan.

More footsteps appeared behind them. Wilbur walked up and took Philza’s other side, leaning closer than Tubbo would ever dare to. His eyes shone in the moonlight, the silver reflection overtaking any bit of blue in them. His arms were crossed over each other and he was hunched over like he had a weight on his neck. He kept his eyes down to the water, not sparing a single glance for the stars.

“Wil, are you feeling alright?” Philza asked, extending an arm to place on his shoulder.

“They’re just taunting me,” Wilbur answered, his voice a strained whisper. He looked at his open palm, at the tattoo Tubbo had only gotten glimpses of before. He saw it clearly now, the fishhook design encased in a circle. It looked almost like a rune, though Tubbo knew it wasn’t. Wilbur brought his hand back to his body and started scratching at his wrist.

“I just needed some air,” he continued. “I needed the sea.” He took a deep breath, holding it a moment before letting it out. “I’m sorry to interrupt, I was starting to panic.”

“You’re not interrupting anything,” Philza assured him. “We’re happy to have you here.”

Wilbur smiled, and stood up a bit straighter. He finally looked up.

“The stars are bright tonight,” he observed. Philza agreed. “What are you doing out here so late?”

“Just having a conversation with my love,” Philza replied. “Until Tubbo decided to join us.”

Wilbur nodded, then leaned back to look at Tubbo. Tubbo didn’t return eye contact.

“How long would it take for you to resort to cannibalism if everyone else on the ship died?” Wilbur asked suddenly. Tubbo’s laugh got stuck in his throat and ended up sounding more like a choke.

“What the fuck kinda question is that?” He asked.

“Just making conversation. It’s quiet out here. Me, personally, I wouldn’t even wait until I depleted the rations. I am eating all of you first, then eating the food.”

“Remind me to never die around you,” Tubbo said.

“Isn’t that how you get prion disease?” Philza asked, but he looked like he was seriously considering the question.

“Just don’t eat the brain. Easy.”

“Then, I guess I would probably start about a week after I depleted my rations, maybe more. I’d need to give myself time to mourn.”

“Fair. Tubbo, what about you?”

“I don’t think I’d be able to.” He scrunched his nose up. “I’d have to be really starving. I think I’d rather just die.”

“Weak.”

“That is not ‘weak’!” Tubbo shot back. “I take it back, I’d eat you first.”

Wilbur grinned, something about him looking a little too eager, a little too sharp. “You could try. See how well that actually works out for you.” His finger tapped the railing rhythmically, barely making any sound.

A door opened and closed, and heavy footsteps appeared behind them.

“Stop staring at the sky,” Sapnap said, elbowing Wilbur’s ribs lightly. “You’ll get moonsick.”

“Not a real thing,” Philza countered, and Wilbur groaned.

“Say that again when your brain is so mushy you can’t even remember your own name.” Sapnap crossed his arms, peering over the edge. “See any glowing jellyfish?”

“Nope, seems everything is asleep but us.”

“Glad I’m not the only one that couldn’t sleep.” Tubbo turned around, looking for the new voice. Bad blended in well with the darkness. The most visible part of him was his eyes, which were lidded and filled with restlessness.

“Did I wake you up?” Sapnap asked, suddenly concerned. “Sorry, I wasn’t exactly the quietest.”

“No no,” Bad insisted, speaking like he was consoling a small child. “I was already awake.”

“We’re just excited,” Wilbur said. “Anticipation, you know? The Isles are only getting closer.”

“Do you think I could just get my adavarus early and be done with it?” Sapnap asked, gazing at the back of his hand. Philza laughed.

“And waste all the planning you’ve done? Surely, you can wait a little longer.”

“I can’t. I’m going insane. Why the fuck did we choose to wait so long to have the actual ceremony?”

“It was literally your decision,” Wilbur said. “You can’t complain.”

“I’ll complain all I want, bitch.”

The argument went on for longer than Tubbo wanted to pay attention to. He tried to focus on the night sky, but his eyes kept drifting back to the sea. He could see why Philza liked it so much. Each little wave, each ripple, held the shine of a hundred stars and the history of thousands. Each drop held songs, held stories, held life and death. It was danger, it was beauty, it was salvation, it was connection. It was the past and the present and sometimes even the future. It was so much more than anyone would ever be.

And for not the first time, Tubbo felt fearful.

And for not the first time, Tubbo felt awestruck.

And for the first time, Tubbo felt that maybe—just maybe—the sea was the giver and the taker, the god and the prophet, the leader and the follow, the drowning and the breath right after.

He could close his eyes and inhale and breathe in the sea. He could taste it, hear it lapping against the boat rhythmically like it was rocking them to sleep. And when he opened his eyes, he saw a sky full of stars reflected back in the waves.

We’ll be home any day now, Puffy had said.

Any day now.

Any day now they’d cross into the archipelago. Any day now they’d arrive at the Isles. Any day now Tubbo would be thrust into a strange land with strange laws and strange people. Any day now there would be no turning back.

He smiled.

Any day now, he’d be home.

++++++

Everyone was taking advantage of the sunshine.

After sailing through heavy rain for a few days, the transition to hot weather had been surprising, but not unwelcome. Storms were much harder to sail through, and though The Leviathan was a large ship it still had difficulty at times. They didn’t have to worry about it sinking, but they did have to worry about it getting blown off course. Skeppy very nearly got struck by lightning.

Tubbo turned his face towards the sun, pushing his hair back and soaking in the warmth. The deck was full of people milling about, their chit chat filling Tubbo’s ears pleasantly as he picked out bits of conversation, the meaning completely lost without context. The sun was lifting everyone’s spirits, the bitterness the storm brought finally melting away.

Tubbo turned his eyes back to the sea. He’d been on the lookout for that black and white fish, but he hadn’t seen it again. No one else seemed to believe that he’d seen it, either. He’d asked just about everyone and the reactions ranged from totally clueless to whatever you call it when Ponk’s trying to lie. Obviously, someone knew something, they just didn’t want Tubbo to know.

The ship lurched, once, as it went over a wave, and suddenly the water beneath them was beautifully blue and so clear Tubbo could see miles down. Cheers lazily poured from the crew. Flames erupted in the corner of Tubbo’s vision. His head whipped around as he watched fire crawl along Sapnap’s body, engulfing him in an instant.

Tubbo’s mind raced with explanations as he watched in horror, unmoving. Maybe he had a strange allergy to the sun? Maybe he had matches in his pocket, and the movement caused them to ignite? Maybe the friction from his clothes rubbing together got too hot and caused a spark? They were nonsense reasons, but they were all he had.

When the flames cleared a second later, instead of melting flesh and screaming pirates, there stood… Sapnap. Not screaming or dying or reacting in any way. Just continuing his conversation with Karl. And suddenly he looked different. He had horns—black horns—sticking up out of his head, and his arms ended in charcoal black skin, suddenly clawed sharp as knives. Tubbo’s heart pounded.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked, whipping around to face Eret, who was steering.

“We just crossed into the Ebreley Archipelago,” Eret responded. “That means we’re getting close.”

“No. What the fuck—” he waved his arms for emphasis “—was that?”

“Half demon,” Sapnap called to him, as if that explained anything.

Tubbo ran a hand through his hair, his mouth hung agog as he tried to make sense of what he’d just seen in front of him. Fire burns, it was just a fact of life. Water drowns, cold freezes, fire burns. And yet Sapnap was there laughing at something, perfectly fine and alive. Tubbo rushed down the stairs to go get a closer look at him.

“Why are you still alive?” He asked, putting his hands behind his back and leaning in. From this close up, he could see the tiny specks of red decorating the top of his horns, and the tail that swished behind him the same black his hands had now turned. It lacked the spade that Bad’s tail ended in, instead tapering off to a point like a whip. His teeth, which had always been unusually sharp, had turned to full on fangs.

“Fire doesn’t burn me,” Sapnap responded, crossing his arms in a nonchalant way and letting Tubbo observe him. His eyes were the same charcoal black they had always been.

“Your clothes aren’t burned.”

“They’re fireproof. All my clothes are.”

Tubbo got closer to his head. The place where the horns met the skull was covered by the hair he hadn’t decided to put up that day. Being so close to him was warmer than standing in the sun, and a bead of sweat dripped down Tubbo’s face.

“Why do you suddenly look like this now, hm?”

“I only look like this inside the Archipelago. Otherwise, I look mostly human.”

Every question Tubbo asked in his suspicious interrogation was met with almost no emotion back, and very simple answers.

“When you say half demon, do you mean your mom or your dad?”

“I don’t know, I never knew my biological parents.”

Tubbo stared for a minute, tapping his chin with his finger. Really, it wasn’t that big of a difference. At least he didn’t grow four feet taller and develop a thirst for human souls. Probably.

The longer Tubbo looked, the more his mind started to piece things together. He was warm, always warm, but never bothered by the hot sun. He growled. He was specific about the clothes he wore, never borrowing from anyone else and not letting anyone borrow from him. People never touched him first, they gave him an opportunity and waited for him to take it. Suddenly, Tubbo gasped.

“You don’t use matches to light the lamps,” Tubbo accused. “It’s just yourself!”

Sapnap snapped, a small flame appearing at the end of his pointer finger. “It’s the most I can do outside the Archipelago. Something about it messes with me, and my fire doesn’t work the same.”

“We’re on a wooden ship!”

He laughed, and a plume of smoke came out of his mouth. “I can control it. If something catches on fire I just put it out. No big deal.”

“His hammock is fireproof, too,” Karl cut in. “So if he lights up in his sleep, there’s no danger.”

“That’s a thing that can happen?!”

“Not often, but yeah.”

Tubbo pinched the bridge of his nose. Surely, this was a safety violation of some kind.

“I mean, worst case scenario you throw me into the ocean,” Sapnap said, putting his hand on his hip.

“Would the cold hurt you?” Tubbo asked, suddenly worried. He shook himself out of it. It was just Sapnap, he didn’t need to be worried.

“No, I don’t really get cold.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes and slowly walked back to where Eret was, resuming his very important job of watching the water for any strange, giant fish. Except now he could see every fish there was, the clear water showing him schools of color he’d never seen before. The water was positively packed with fish, swimming in every direction with seemingly no fear of the ship.

Better get out the nets, Tubbo thought before he could stop himself. This will be a great haul.

No, he didn’t need to think that. He wasn’t on a fishing boat anymore. These fish were free to live, they didn’t need to feed an entire village. Maybe they’d catch three or four, enough to feed the crew when paired with other foods, but most they would pass right over. The habit of the thought was still difficult to shake.

Puffy clapped her hands together, the sound echoing across the ship and drawing everyone’s attention to her.

“A day and a half of sailing!” She called. “That’s how long we have before we reach the Isles. Everyone needs to be prepared before we dock. I expect you all to be ready!”

Murmurs of affirmation rang around the ship. Tubbo nodded, but she was probably too far away to notice. A day and a half seemed like not enough time. On every map he saw, the Archipelago was big. It should take them at least a week, likely more, to sail through it. He reasoned that it was just exaggerated on maps, to better be seen. They did that sometimes, with mountains or cities.

“What are you looking at?” A soft voice asked behind him. Tubbo turned around and smiled at Ranboo, who didn’t return it.

“Just, a lot of fish, I guess.” He turned back to the sea. “The water is so clear. I’ve never seen this many.” Ranboo leaned over the edge with him, their eyes scanning the water.

“That’s a red spotted pricklemouth,” they said, pointing to a long fish with an intricate red and white pattern on its back. They pointed again to one that looked more like an iridescent black blob than a fish. “That’s a lurking abyssius. They’re not as scary as their name makes them sound. They’re mostly filter feeders.”

Talking about fish was really the only time Ranboo actually talked. Most of their sentences were one word answers to a question, scarcely more than “yes” and “no.” The more he paid attention, the more Tubbo noticed that Ranboo didn’t necessarily not like to talk, but they didn’t seem to like to talk around Tubbo. For a week or so after joining The Leviathan’s crew, conversation would die when he entered a room, and only resume awkwardly a few minutes later. This quickly died out, but not for Ranboo.

Anytime Tubbo was around, Ranboo would go stiff, clam up, and quickly leave. Tubbo tried to be as friendly as possible, but Ranboo made him nervous. Well intended remarks would come out wishy-washy, incomprehensible, and sometimes sounding much ruder than he meant for. He felt bad, but never got around to apologizing.

“And that’s a school of speckled rosygills,” they continued, oblivious to Tubbo’s thoughts like the mindreader they weren’t. “They’re pretty friendly, but they have a barb above their tail that’s venomous. It wouldn’t kill you, but it would hurt a lot. Helps them escape from predators.”

“Do they hurt each other with it?” Tubbo asked. Ranboo turned to meet their eyes, genuinely surprised that Tubbo was talking to them.

“Well, not on purpose,” they responded, suddenly talking quicker. “But living in a school, accidents happen. They’re mostly immune to their own venom.” They gripped the railing a little tighter, tensed again, like they were ready to dash at a moment’s notice.

“And their main predator, dolphins, are also immune to their venom, which keeps their population in check,” Wilbur said, appearing on Tubbo’s other side, rattling the railing with a bang. Tubbo startled, clutching his chest for a moment. “Tubbo, you look like one of the Emperor’s goons in those clothes.”

“Do I really?” He asked, looking down at himself. Yes, the green and gold accents were a little obvious, but he’d tried to pick stuff that was minimal, and he topped it off with Ponk’s black jacket.

“You could try to put a little more effort in your appearance.” Wilbur plopped his ass on the railing, leaning dangerously far back. “Look a little more piratey. We could get you a nice tricorne hat and stitch a skull to the back of your jacket.”

“Oh please, like you look so much better,” Tubbo responded. Though, he did look better. Much better. Tubbo felt weird admitting it. He looked like a proper pirate, rough around the edges, but still elegant. “I don’t care about how I look. That’s for girls.” He looked back at Ranboo in hope that they would back him up, but they had disappeared. Off to go look at more fish, or whatever they did in their free time.

“Oh, is it?” He crossed his legs, sticking his chest out and arching his back. Tubbo scrunched his nose. “Well then, I can’t help but feel you may need to be a bit more… girly.” He shrugged, falling back into a more natural position. “Who knows, it might make you more popular with the ladies.”

“I don’t need to be popular with the ladies,” Tubbo countered. “I’m seventeen. And why would a woman want to marry someone girly? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s worked out for me.”

“Yeah, and where’s your wife?”

For a second, Wilbur’s confident, mocking face fell. His smile disappeared and the light in his eyes seemed to flicker. And for a second, he seemed as if he was being crushed by the weight of all the sea.

And as quickly as it came, it was gone, and his mouth upturned into a cocky smile. And maybe Tubbo had imagined it, maybe it had never been real in the first place.

“Oh, it’s not quite like that. There’s simply too many women to choose from. And men, too. They flock to me. I’m… irresistible, in a way.” He waved his fingers in Tubbo’s face, and Tubbo pushed them away. He had fresh bandages wrapped around his wrists, that hadn’t been there the day before.

“Yeah, right. Sounds like something Tommy would say.”

“The difference is that Tommy lies. Wait until we’re on the Isles, you’ll see what a catch I am.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” He sighed, leaning on his hand. This fish was fucking elusive. No matter how much he looked, it never showed up. In theory, it would be easier to see in this clearer water.

“Do you know how to play chess?” Wilbur asked.

Knowing how to play chess and being good at it were two completely separate things. Tubbo grinned.

“Oh, you are so on.”

++++++

The ship buzzed with anticipation. Everyone was running back and forth, gathering and adjusting things, leaning over the rails like Tubbo was doing to get a better view of the shore.

“Land ho!” Bad had shouted from his perch on one of the masts less than half an hour ago.

There were a few docks from what he could see, with a few ships. Each bore the flag of the pirates, but none were as large as The Leviathan. There was a dock with no ships on it, that they were headed right for. And from what Tubbo could see, there were a good handful of people on it.

Tubbo felt his heart start pacing with excitement. The crew’s emotions were infectious. He was beginning to feel the rush of something new, something unknown. The Isles were completely unexplored for him. He had no idea what he was getting into, and he liked it.

It seemed like it took ages for them to reach the dock, but when they did, everyone was gathered around the railing. Eret and Bad were in charge of preparing the ramp for dismount. Captain Philza put the anchor down as they finally came to a stop, and the ramp was slid down, landing on the dock with a thump.

Everyone held their breath.

No one made a move to dismount. Captain Philza walked slowly, the heels of his boots clicking on the deck. He stopped just before the railing, his hands folded behind his back. He nodded his head, just once, so subtly Tubbo could barely see it, and the crowd below them went wild. Cheers erupted in swells when Captain Philza took his first step on the ramp, walking down to where the masses were ready to greet him. Technoblade followed second, his face steeled.

Sapnap and Karl raced down as soon as Captain Philza stepped onto the dock, pushing through the crowd like they had someplace to be. Tubbo tried to see where they were going, but lost sight of them among the hoards of people.

Slowly, one by one, the crew stepped off the ship and onto the dock. Everyone seemed to know their order, but Tubbo nervously stayed behind. When they were the only two left, Tommy reached out his hand to grasp Tubbo’s, and slowly led him down the ramp. People surrounded them on the dock, but Tommy pushed them away.

Philza’s voice rang out over the crowd. “Our newest crew member, Tubbo!”

And the crowd cheered.

Great roaring shrieks and applause filled his ears. There weren’t that many people but to Tubbo it could have been a symphony. His heart swelled and his face reddened, and he could do nothing but stare breathlessly at the people, a smile starting to appear on his face.

Someone came bustling through the crowd, shooing people away as he marched forward. His skin was tanned, and his head was adorned with globs of something green in place of hair. He wore square glasses and several bags, two on his belt and one on his shoulder, that were bulging and full of items. He was smiling wide as he made his way to them, carrying a rope that he was winding between his hands.

“Alright, everyone out of the way,” he said. “You’ve seen your pirates, don’t crowd them.” He straightened up in front of Captain Philza, touching his pinky finger to his forehead briefly. The action made Tubbo pause for a second. The symbol of prayer for Sulshe, the god of life, was supposed to only be used in sacred rituals or places of worship.

He didn’t get time to reflect on it much before the guy pulled Captain Philza into a quick hug.

“Safe sailing, I hope?” He asked, keeping his hands on Captain Philza’s arms.

“We made it back in one piece, didn’t we?” The two of them laughed. “Charlie, meet Tubbo. He’s a lost soul we picked up along the way.”

“God, Phil. You really can’t stop picking up strays.” Charlie turned to him. “Hi! I’m Charlie Slimeé. I work for this guy. Like a pirate, but I stay and manage things here.” He put his hand out, and Tubbo shook it.

“Tubbo Underscore,” he responded. He squinted his eyes, peering at Charlie. Something wasn’t right about him. Something was off when he talked, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Nice to meet you. Give me a moment, I need to get all these people out of here so you can unload.” He stepped back and turned around, pulling the rope as far as he could between his arms.

“Alright, everybody, back up!” He called, pushing the crowd back. “Back, back, back. Let them breathe.” He chased them all off of the dock, then tied the rope between two posts. The rope hung only about a foot off the ground, but the people didn’t cross it. Most turned around and left. The only ones left on the dock were the pirates, Charlie, and one other man partially obscured by Sapnap and Karl.

“Charlie!” Wilbur called from where he was tying up the ship. He hopped up, opening his arms, which Charlie met in a big hug. They held it for a while, neither one letting go. When they did pull back, they kept their hands connected.

“Gods, Wil, I’ve missed you,” Charlie laughed.

“You have to catch me up on everything that’s happened when I was gone.” He looked over his shoulder and back at the ship. “Once we’re settled in, that is.”

“Of course, of course. I hope you’re okay with staying next to me. A temp house opened up, and y’know, it’s you. Near the ocean.”

Wilbur smiled. “That’s dangerous. You and I in walking distance of each other? Who knows what we’ll do.” They laughed together.

“Charlie, were you getting my messages?” Captain Philza asked.

“Loud and clear, Cap,” Charlie answered. “Don’t worry, everything is set up fine.”

“Perfect. And Quackity…” It sounded like it was supposed to be a question, but Captain Philza trailed off, looking at Charlie expectantly.

“I mean.” Charlie gestured over his shoulder. “He’s over there. You can ask him yourself.”

“Charlie!” Tommy interjected. “Any word from my dad?” He was practically bouncing, but his smile looked just a little forced.

“Sorry, Toms, he got held back by something. He won’t be here until tomorrow, maybe even the next day.”

Tommy’s shoulders slumped, though from relief or sadness, Tubbo couldn’t tell. He dug the toe of his shoe into the dock, all his energy seemingly leaving him at once.

“That’s fine,” he said. “At least he’s still alive.” Captain Philza ruffled Tommy’s hair and began walking away, further along the dock.

Tubbo followed him over to where Sapnap, Karl, and the other guy were standing. He had straight, black hair that fell to his chin, and a big scar running across his face, from his eyebrow to his mouth. One of his eyes was missing, but the other was bright and alert, wet in a way that made him look like he was crying. He was short, about Tubbo’s height, and his skin was dotted with moles and freckles.

None of them seemed to be paying attention to their surroundings.

Tubbo watched as the man put a hand on the back of Karl’s neck and pulled him down into a kiss. He felt his face flush, his mouth hanging open slightly. That wasn’t fucking okay! Right in front of Sapnap, too! What kinda nerve did this guy have? He subconsciously clenched his fists.

He noticed, only briefly, that neither Sapnap nor Karl seemed to be upset. In fact, they both had the same smiles on their faces, unwavering and filled with nothing but joy.

“Quackity,” Captain Philza interjected. “I see you’re doing better.”

The man stood up straighter, wiping his eye quickly. “It’s as good as it’s gonna get,” he responded, his eyes flicking downward. “I’ll be shipshape by the time we depart.”

“You’ve got a few weeks to prepare, don’t stress.”

Sapnap leaned down, burying his face in the man’s neck. “I missed you so much,” he said in a voice barely loud enough to hear. “Every day, all I could think about was seeing you again. I was so worried that something would happen when we were gone, I couldn’t stand it.”

“Oh come on, how frail do you think I am?” Quackity teased. He turned back to Captain Philza. “Need any help unloading? I’ve got extra hands.”

“I think we’ve got it, no need to worry.”

Quackity nodded, and placed a kiss on the top of Sapnap’s head. Tubbo scrunched his nose. Bitch. Greedy people think they can take what they want without consequence. Surely, Sapnap would put him in his place. He was good at standing up for himself.

“Captain!” Someone called from behind. “We’re gonna start unloading! Charlie says he got all our housing arrangements set, even for Tubbo!”

Captain Philza nodded to himself, then turned to Tubbo. “Grab your stuff—only your stuff—and follow us. Charlie will take us to where we’re staying.”

Tubbo followed him when he started walking back to the ship, and up the ramp again. People were walking up and down the stairs, carrying bags of stuff and heavy trunks.

Tubbo, fortunately, didn’t have much stuff. All his clothes fit into one over-the-shoulder canvas bag with a zipper. He didn’t know who left the bag, but they had written his name on it. He’d already packed up all his clothes the night before, leaving out only the ones he would be wearing that day. He had extra space in his bag he couldn’t fill, and definitely had no need for a trunk. He felt a little underdressed next to everyone else with bags and trunks full of stuff, but ignored it in favor of feeling grateful he didn’t have to lug that much around. Puffy’s trunk was on wheels and had a handle, a smart design.

When everyone had gathered up their stuff, they all stood where the dock melted into the land. It connected to a road of reddish dirt, surrounded on its sides by green grass and shrubbery. Behind them was a beach of white sand that spread along the coast as far as the eye could see. When Tubbo pictured the Isles in his head, he pictured dead grass the color of fire and rocky terrain. The lands were supposed to be dry, harsh. They were the southernmost land in the known world. The blue sky was fading to red and orange as the sun set, more fitting to his apocalyptic vision he’d created from the stories he’d heard. In the distance, there were trees. Sporadic and small, but trees nonetheless. The wind blew warm air on his face, and he regretted picking out a long sleeved shirt to wear, even if it was thin.

He leaned over to Tommy. “What are we waiting for?” He asked.

Tommy sat down on his trunk with a thunk, and Tubbo took a seat next to him. “They’re sendin’ people to come pick us up. Walking to Ranatown—that’s the place we’re staying—it takes a while, but it’s not difficult. Unless you’re us and you’ve got a bunch of shit to bring with you. And besides, we’re kinda, like, famous, so we get treated nicely.”

“Famous, huh?” He’d never thought of pirates that way. Notorious, maybe, but not famous. Certainly not enough to get special treatment. Unless you count prison to be special. He didn’t.

Tommy nodded. “Pretty cool, right? Course, Phil’s the most famous, but we’re all famous by association. These coastside towns love pirates. Maybe you’ll get to meet some others while we’re here. Y’know, from other ships.”

“Do all pirates know each other?”

“Nah, there’s too many to know all of them. But it’s easy to get along with them because, well, common interests. Phil kinda knows a lot of other captains. But that’s like, business or whatever.”

The sound of hoofs gently approached, cutting Tommy off. Tubbo looked up expecting to see horses, but instead saw a creature unlike anything he’d seen before. It was horse-like in size, but that was where the similarities ended. They were brown, with white underbellies and black markings on their faces and bodies. Their legs and necks were long and thin, their faces coming to a dainty point. They had two horns each, spiraling tall above their heads. There were several of them, each pulling a cart and ridden by a human.

The one at the front of the pack dismounted, walking up to Captain Philza. He had light blue hair and broad shoulders, tattoos peeking out of his collar. His hands were adorned with fancy, white gloves, stained with dirt around the fingers.

“Welcome back, Phil,” he said, his voice quiet but joyful. “I hope the sea was kind to you.”

“Of course she was,” Philza responded. “Thank you for picking us up.”

“Let’s get your stuff loaded. No more than two per cart.”

Tommy stood up and grabbed Tubbo’s hand. “Come on,” he said. “You can ride with me.” He grabbed his trunk and slung his bag over his shoulder, marching to one of the horse-like creatures. Tommy gave one a pat on the flank as he walked by. Tubbo reached out to gently brush his fingers against the fur coat.

It was soft, but thin, all sleek and streamlined against the skin. This one in particular had hind legs that were nearly all the same creamy white as its underbelly. It didn’t flinch when he touched it, simply let out a breath from its nose. Its eyes were nearly all black, but Tubbo could tell it was looking straight ahead.

“Tootsie!” Tommy called. “Can we ride with you?”

“Get over here, you little raccoon!” A woman on one of the creatures answered. She had red hair that was tied into a braid down her back and was wearing a sleeveless green dress that showed off her muscular arms.

Tommy pushed his trunk into the cart attached to her creature, then hopped in, motioning for Tubbo to do the same. He did, nearly falling when it wobbled beneath him. The rest of the crew was also settling in, and the one with blue hair was walking around the backs of all the carts, closing them up. He got to their cart and smiled at them, latching the back of the cart. Clearly, it was made to keep in stuff and not people, he could jump out at any point. It wouldn’t be a smart idea, but he could.

The one with blue hair mounted his creature again, and yelled a command to the pack. Everyone started turning around, the cart catching on little bumps and divots in the road. The leader took up the front, and Tommy and Tubbo were riding along somewhere in the middle.

“What are these things?” Tubbo asked.

The answer came from Tootsie, not Tommy. “They’re Greater Kezils. They’re common around here. Where are you from? Fashaudan?”

“No,” Tubbo responded. “Skuenia.” She didn’t say anything after that. Tubbo had a feeling he knew why.

The road smoothed out once they got going, and they started picking up speed. Tubbo was able to get a good look at the scenery, but everything looked pretty much the same. Medium length green grass, and the occasional scattering of trees. The only wildlife he saw was a pair of red birds chasing each other. The red of the sunset sky made it look like it was dripping with fire.

It took them about fifteen minutes before a town started to come into view. The ride wasn’t filled with much chatter. Everyone was content to sit in quiet, listening to the sound of hooves and wheels on the dirt. The kezils slowed down as they entered the town, people and children crowding around the sides of the road and looking at them in wonder. It made Tubbo embarrassed, but it also made his chest swell with pride. Complete strangers were looking at him like he was cool. He was used to people looking at him with indifference, or maybe the grumpiness that comes with a long work day, but never like this.

They passed shops and houses, open stalls and wells. It was nothing like he’d ever seen. The buildings were made of stone, some coated with mud or clay. The roofs were barely slanted, and most were topped with green plants and flowers. The people that walked the streets wore brightly colored clothes that showed off their legs and bellies. Most were adorned with tattoos around their arms and wrists, and their heads were dripping with jewelry.

They turned down a road and finally came to a stop before lines of houses. Only one had its windows lit up, the rest were dark and vacant. The blue haired one jumped off of his kezil and started unlocking the backs of the cart. The crew gathered their stuff and got out.

Charlie walked to the front of the group, holding a piece of paper. It took a minute to get everyone’s attention focused on him before he started talking.

“Time for temp house assignments. Almost everyone is here on this street, with only a couple exceptions. Sam, you’re in 107, Ponk’s in 109. Puffy, you’re in 114, but your sister said her house is open if you’d rather stay there. Tubbo and Tommy are both in 106. Sap, Karl, I put you in 118 because I figured you’d want to stay with Quackity. Technoblade is in 101. Bad and Skeppy are in 110. And Phil, you’re in 103. Eret, you’re actually going to be over on Alliegro street. Wilbur, you’ll be over next to me. Hope you don’t mind a bit of a walk. Ranboo, I’m going to assume you know what you’re doing, but 111 is open if you want it.”

Tubbo's head swam with all the numbers he had just rattled off. He assumed they were house numbers. At least, he hoped they were. And he was grouped with Tommy, which must have meant they were housing together. Why were all these empty houses here? He couldn’t come up with an explanation.

Tommy looked excited, though. He looked ready to bounce away at any second, practically jittering with excess energy.

“Also there’s like, a ‘Welcome Back’ party happening tomorrow at sunset in the center of town,” Charlie continued. “They expect you to be there, but what are they gonna do if you don’t come?”

A party for them? Tommy was right, they really were famous!

Charlie sighed, suddenly looking very tired. “That’s all, crew. Have a nice night. Phil, I’ll meet with you tomorrow morning. Wil, come with me.”

And with that, everyone dispersed. Most went to their respective houses, a few parting off in different directions. Tubbo already forgot the house number he was assigned, but he trusted Tommy remembered because of how confidently he was walking.

The house was one of the closer ones, surrounded by bushes that sported small orange fruits, nearly the same color as the walls. It stood two stories tall and had a tan roof made out of thin pieces of wood. There were dead vines crawling up the sides of it and living vines growing on top of them, layer after layer. The inside was dark, but Tommy was quick to light a few lamps that gave the room a bright glow.

“This is where we’ll be staying while we’re here,” he explained. “We travel too much to have actual houses, so pirates stay in these temporary houses until we leave again.”

Tubbo looked around. They’d entered into a furnished living room, devoid of the typical personality that comes with a house. To his left was a kitchen—a real, actual kitchen—and in front of him was a staircase and a door.

Tommy set his stuff down with a huff and turned to Tubbo, his smile turning nervous.

“So, uhm.” He scratched the back of his head. “Welcome home.”

Chapter Text

Tubbo had seen his fair share of markets in his life, but none like this.

As he ran through the stalls, weaving in between people and trying to keep up with Tommy’s swift feet, everywhere he looked was a pleasant assault on his eyeballs. Not only the stalls, but the people, too. In Skuenia, the most colorful things the people wore were muted green, or reddish brown. Here, everyone was seemingly in competition with each other to wear the brightest colors, the most intricate patterns. Red seemed to be common. Bright, warm red, like fire and cherries. Right along that was usually yellow or orange.

Tommy stopped abruptly at a stall carrying hats. Tubbo was panting by the time he caught up. Most of the hats had wide brims, decorated with all sorts of things, from feathers to flowers to metal bugs.

“Tubbo, you should wear one of these tonight!” Tommy pointed to any unspecific hat.

“No. No thank you. Not my style,” Tubbo responded.

They’d been shopping all morning for something for Tubbo to wear to the party. Philza had given them each a hefty amount of money—a deposit, he’d said, with more to come later—and sent them on their way. Tubbo had never had so much money all for himself before. Anything he made went to the house first, his parents next, and he only got a small fraction, most of which he was saving for when he moved into his own place.

The Isles used a different currency from the rest of the known world. Most of the countries used the same type of coin, the bit. Bits were cheap to produce, but durable enough to last decades of getting tossed around. They were all the same dull grey color, stamped with the seal of the Empire, and worth was determined by size. Even Fashaudan, which hadn’t been part of the Empire for decades, used it.

The coins on the Isles were different colors, mostly gold and copper, with only one grey one. He didn’t know what they were called, but the value was stamped on one side of all of them. The stamp on the other side differed by color. The dark copper was stamped with someone’s face, the light copper was stamped with the head of a bird, the grey one was stamped with some type of striped fish, and the gold one was stamped with a hand inside the sun. Tubbo didn’t know what they were called, but figured out their values pretty quickly.

“But you need something to keep your hair out of your face!”

Tubbo pushed his hair back, as if in spite. It was getting long—months at sea would do that to you—but not long enough to put back. Tubbo had always preferred to keep his hair short, getting it cut almost immediately after he got back on land. He just hadn’t thought of it this time. He had other things to think about.

“But do you really think I’d look good in a hat? No, it’s just impractical.”

“Perhaps,” the shopkeeper said, using a long cane to grab a hat off of the wall. “You simply haven’t found the right hat.” He handed the hat to Tubbo. It was brown, with a sloping brim and green leaf patterns dyed around it. Tubbo put it on and turned to look in the mirror. It looked good on him, but if the point was to keep the hair out of his face, then it would be terrible. It was too soft to hold anything back. Not a working hat at all. Tubbo took it off again and hung it back on the wall.

“Thank you, but no thank you,” he said politely. “I’m not sure that’s the hat for me.”

The shopkeeper scoffed, but otherwise didn’t protest.

Tommy grabbed his hand and pulled him away. “We’ll find you something to wear, don’t worry,” he said, although worry was not what Tubbo had in his mind.

They stopped at a few more stalls. One had been selling floor length gowns, with layers upon layers of colored tulle. Tubbo had turned his nose up, but started laughing when Tommy held one to himself, gyrating his hips awkwardly with an eyebrow raised. Another had shirts with animals on them, like caribou and wolves. Though they interested Tubbo, he decided they weren’t formal enough. They were something he’d wear on a day off, not to a party. No matter how many stalls they went to, nothing really felt right to Tubbo. But nonetheless, Tommy never lost his enthusiasm.

When the sun was getting hot enough to make them sweat, Tommy pointed to a stall painted with every color of the rainbow. “Let’s get some sweets!” He said. “A little fuel before we continue our shopping.” And Tubbo had no desire to disagree.

The man working the stall was tan, and had two large, orange ears that were similar to Sam’s. He was chatting with another customer, giving Tubbo space to browse. There were all sorts of chocolates, caramels, dried fruits, and things he couldn’t put a name to. Some were familiar, some were completely foreign to him. But he definitely recognized the cake sitting atop the counter, a few slices already missing.

“Candy here is cheap as fuck,” Tommy said. “We can get like, a whole bunch and save them for later.”

The worker turned away from the customer, sliding over to them. “Hi! Anything I can help you with?” He eyed the two of them up and down. “Did you just get in? Hope the sea was kind to you.”

“Yeah, just yesterday,” Tommy responded. “We’re The Leviathan’s crew. You gonna be at the party tonight?”

“Who isn’t?”

Tommy turned to Tubbo. “What do you wanna get? We could just get like, one of everything. Two of everything, one for each of us. No, that’s kind of a lot. Maybe we get an assortment. He made them, he knows what goes together.”

It quickly became clear that Tommy was now talking to himself, so Tubbo let his eyes wander to other stalls. There was one selling fresh fruits, one selling wooden carvings of animals. One was stacked with paper of all colors, and the one next to it conveniently was selling pens and ink. There was a large one, nestled between a stall selling spices and a stall selling fabrics, selling clothes. They were darker than most of the clothes around, filled with shades of black and brown, good quality but still not too fancy. There was a nice tan jacket hanging outside of the stall, perfectly on display.

Tommy was still in conversation with the owner of the candy stall. Tubbo slipped away.

This stall felt more like home than any of the others had. Bleaker, but familiar. The shopkeeper wasn’t making conversation with any of the customers, simply helping them check out and sending them on their way.

He looked through a few vests, each black with silver embroidery patterns. They were fancy, but not formal. With a white shirt underneath, they’d make good partywear. But maybe he wasn’t going to that kind of party. Ebreley parties could be totally different from what he was used to. Maybe he was expected to take his shirt off and cover himself in feathers. He didn’t want to feel the same embarrassment he felt when he wore long sleeves to a party in Odura. Apparently, that was a big no-no for someone as “low class” as him.

He took a step back and bumped into someone. He turned around, starting to apologize. The guy was taller than Tubbo, with freckled pale skin and shaggy black hair that had white streaks in it, like Ranoo’s hair but without the commitment. At first, Tubbo was taken aback, this boy looked translucent! It seemed as if his bones were showing through his skin, the connection points in his jaw and the vertebrae in his neck. After a heart stopping moment, Tubbo looked a little closer. It must have been makeup, though it looked very real. His face was skull-like, but his cheekbones and eyes were soft.

“Don’t worry about it, man, it happens.” He had the same accent Eret did, but stronger. In his hands he held a pair of white pants that had been stained with black ink in an uncoordinated pattern.

Tubbo wanted to turn back around and keep shopping, but he’d been staring for a little too long now. Should he say something else?

“Are you going to the party tonight?” The guy asked. How many people knew about this party? Was it really that important?

“Yeah,” Tubbo responded. “I’m trying to figure out what to wear. I don’t really have much.”

“This is a good place to shop. One of my favorites. The owner is Skuenian, so there’s a lot of blacks and whatnot. I’ve found some really cool things here. I think some of the styles are modified to better match Ebrelen fashions, but I guess I don’t really know that for sure.”

“Definitely modified. This stuff that’s two-toned is really uncommon, like those pants. Unless it’s like, tiny designs, we mostly mix colors through layering. But I guess it would be harder to do that here, since it’s so hot. But the embroidery is common, though that’s typically for rich folk. Cheap here, though, in comparison.”

“Wait, you’re from Skuenia?” The guy asked, sounding bewildered.

“Yeah? Sorry, I thought it was obvious.”

“Nope, don’t apologize. I just assumed. That was my bad. I’m Billzo.”

“I’m Tubbo.” They shook hands, Billzo’s handshake disorientingly weak. Tubbo went back to looking through the clothes. He pulled a dark green vest off of the rack, with silver trim around the collar. It looked nice, but it definitely seemed too big. Maybe he could ask if there was a smaller one.

“Oh, that one looks nice,” Billzo said. Tubbo hadn’t expected him to keep up a conversation. “There’s a similar one over here, but it’s got long sleeves.” Tubbo turned around to look. The shirt Billzo was holding out was very nice, but Tubbo couldn’t help but worry about the heat. It was only midmorning, and he’d already sweated through his shirt. It wasn’t unbearable—at least, not in the shade—but the direct sunlight was too much.

“Is green even the right color?” He asked. “Maybe something black would be better, or blue.”

“I’d say green, and I say that as someone who loves black.” Billzo slung the pair of pants over his arm and picked up a black shirt to look at.

“Maybe. Fashion isn’t really my forte. It’s not like I need to do this every day.”

“I like dressing up. Even when it’s not practical. You should try it, it’s really a confidence boost.” Billzo walked over to the shopkeep, pulling a wallet out of his pocket.

“I don’t need a confidence boost,” Tubbo muttered, mostly to himself. Billzo was gone with a smile and a wave. Tubbo looked at the vest in his hands. Maybe green was his color. A brighter green might even look nice.

“See anything that caught your eye?” Tommy asked, suddenly appearing by his side. Tubbo didn’t startle, just looked through the racks again.

“Yeah, I think I have.”

++++++

“It’s in this park place. I don’t really remember the name, it’s like ‘The Park of Great Shiny Things’ or something similar. But it’s got a lot of space, and some trees, and a gazebo. Any important party is held here, as long as it’s not too fancy. Then they have them inside, in that big meeting hall. I’ve been inside, it’s so boring.”

“Are we going to walk?” Tubbo asked. Tommy shook his head.

“It’s kinda far away. We’ll get someone to take us. Everyone’s gonna be going, so it won’t be hard.”

Tubbo looked at himself in the mirror, turning so he could see his outfit from all angles. He’d decided on a loose white top, the tighter vest he’d bought layered over it. His shoes were black, with silver buckles, matching the embroidery on the vest. He looked sleek, put together, and nothing like Tommy, who was wearing loose fitting and colorful clothes.

“They’ll have food there. And probably some drinks. There’s not really anything we need to bring, since we’re the ones being celebrated.”

“A whole party, just for us. Does this happen every time you dock?”

“Not every time, but most. It depends on where we dock. It’s not always here, but most of the time it is. You want any rhinestones? Maybe some shimmer?”

Tubbo scrunched his nose. Tommy had taken some gold cream and ran it down his nose and around his eyes. It looked a bit strange on him. Confusing, in a way. But really, not entirely bad. Tubbo wouldn’t look good in it, though.

“Eh, suit yourself.” Tommy shrugged. “I think it just enhances the look. You ready to go?” Tubbo did one more check in the mirror, and nodded.

The sun hadn’t set yet when they went outside, the sky a vibrant orange. A cool breeze made the temperature nice enough that Tubbo wasn’t overheating in his long sleeves and pants. A few people were out, probably also making their way to the party. Clothes were fancy, colorful, and for all the time Tubbo had spent picking out his outfit, he suddenly felt underdressed. They walked on the side of the road, passing by carts pulled by kezils, Tommy keeping his eyes peeled for something. Tommy seemed to know where he was going, so Tubbo just followed.

A cart started trotting next to them, slowing down to match their speed.

“Need a ride?” Eret asked from where he sat.

“You bet we do!” Tommy responded, climbing up into the cart via the little step on the back. Tubbo followed. This cart was nicer than the last one he had been in. Less rickety, and actually had benches to sit on. Clearly made to transport people, rather than cargo. Tubbo settled in across from Eret.

With a shout of “Onwards, noble steed!” they were off.

Eret was dressed in a deep red dress that left his shoulders exposed, detailed with tulle and embroidered roses. Their eyes were heavy with red and black makeup, eyelashes darkened and lips as red as their dress.

“Lookin’ good, Eret,” Tommy said, leaning back in his seat.

“I know, right?” Eret responded, performatively admiring the bracelets on her wrist. “You two look nice as well.” Tubbo looked away, trying to suppress a smile. “Tubbo, how was your first day on the Isle?”

“Oh, it’s, um—hot,” Tubbo decided. “Warm here. We don’t get this hot up North.”

“Definitely. It took me a while to get used to it, too. It’s nicest in the spring, though it rains quite a bit.”

“I’m used to rain. I think it’s nice.”

They weren’t the only cart on the road. It seemed like everyone in town was on their way to this party.

“There’s going to be lots of pirates there,” Tommy said at one point during their journey. “Maybe I can introduce you to some. It’s good to have connections.”

When they arrived at the Park of Lusterlight, they were assisted out of their cart by a man with a nice beard and dark, beady eyes. The entrance was lined with flowering hedges, grown to form a tall archway. Tubbo could hear the music before he entered, something he thought he could dance to if it came to that.

The park was huge, but even so it was packed with people. Some waved in their direction, and Tubbo shyly waved back. He leaned over to Tommy’s ear.

“Is there a host we should greet or something?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Nah,” Tommy said. “Everyone pitches in for this kind of thing. Just enjoying it will be good enough. I’m sure Charlie did a bunch of the organizing, so maybe a thanks if you see him. Here, I’ll see if I can find someone I know. Then I can introduce you.” He turned to Eret, saying something about catching up with her later, and led Tubbo further into the park.

Tommy seemed to know everyone at least a little bit. It felt as if half the world knew his name. As the dusk transitioned into night, they walked around, greeting people, sometimes having a short conversation. Mostly pirates, there to welcome back the crew just like anyone else. It was a little strange being thanked by people he’d never seen before, but the attention wasn’t unpleasant. The most he’d ever get back home was a complaint that he had taken too long getting the haul in.

“I’m a little hungry, wanna go see what kind of food they’ve got?” Tommy asked. Tubbo, who hadn’t eaten since that morning, nodded quickly.

The tables of food were so full dishes were teetering on the edges, one bump away from crashing to the ground. Tubbo grabbed a wooden plate and filled it with a small pile of somethings that almost reminded him of pierogies, and were filled with a succulent mix of beef and veggies. He took a seat to eat.

“Hey,” Tommy said, sliding into the seat next to him. “There’s a guy over there that’s part of an association around here that helps pirates with temp housing when they dock. I’m gonna go talk to him, wanna come?”

Tubbo sighed and looked around. “Not really. I think I’m just going to sit here and eat.”

“Suit yourself. You don’t have to be glued to me this whole time. Go meet people on your own.” He got up, stretched, and walked away. And Tubbo was alone in a sea of people again. But it was alright. He had his food, and he liked listening to the chatter of the people around him. He didn’t feel quite as lonely as he thought he would.

Tubbo’s eyes caught on Sapnap, sticking to the shadows as he made his way to the exit. He slipped out into the darkness, leaving the party behind.

Tubbo wanted to mind his own business. He wanted to avert his eyes and turn back to the musicians. But something was too out of place about it, and Tubbo’s curiosity had been nurtured too much in the past couple months. Pretty much everyone in town was at the party, where was he going?

Tubbo stood up, leaving his plate on a nearby table, and followed him to the exit, staying far enough that Sapnap wouldn’t notice the sound of his footsteps. He held his breath as he walked, trying to keep the shadowy blip of Sapnap within his sights. The moon wasn’t full, not even close, and barely let off any light. The night was quiet away from the party. There was only his feet against the dirt road, and the buzzing of nearby insects. The air was pleasantly warm for how dark it was, Tubbo didn’t shiver or bring his arms to his chest.

Sapnap walked to the end of the road, and farther. Past the buildings, past the wells and the farms, and into the surrounding savanna. The grass came up to his mid-calf, and he held his tail above the grass as he walked through. His path in the grass was easy to follow. If he had turned around, Tubbo would have been spotted. There was nothing to hide behind out here, the trees too skinny and sparse. If he had ducked down, he might have been able to hide in the grass, assuming Sapnap didn’t have the nocturnal vision that demons were said to.

But Sapnap didn’t turn around. Instead, he stopped. Tubbo crouched low enough that he could still see over the grass. Sapnap just stood there, hands on his hips, not turning around. He could barely make out his figure against the night sky. Tubbo blinked—once, twice—and suddenly something was there.

It towered over Sapnap, much taller than a person could be, and much too skinny to support its own weight. It was draped in a cloak that stopped before its hips, the hood pulled up over its head. Its arms hung down too far, a cane with a crook at the end grasped in one of its hands.

“I was wondering when you were going to show up,” Sapnap said, all too cocky for the situation. “I’ve been here a day, and you don’t even stop by for a ‘hello’?” The entity hung its head, seemingly in shame. Its face was completely hidden from view in the dark. It didn’t say a word in response.

“So what’s been going on? Famines, droughts, bandits, divine punishment?” The thing moved its free hand around its body, stopping abruptly. It turned its head with a sickening crack of snapping bones, and before Tubbo could blink, it was upon him.

A booted foot on his chest held him to the ground, and the gnarled cane it was holding had a blade protruding from the end, pressed up against his throat. Any attempt to sit up would end in death, certainly. Sapnap shouted something, but Tubbo wasn’t paying enough attention to hear him.

Staring down at him was not a face, but a plain white mask, pristine as opposed to the tattered and dirty cloak it was wearing. It was eerily still, like it was made of stone, but had moved so quickly just a moment before. Any place skin should have been showing was wrapped in layers of tan bandages, tiny specks of black accumulating around the joints. Its hands ended in pointed claws that gripped the staff tightly.

“Dream,” Sapnap shouted. He wasn’t as fast, but he made his way over in just a few strides. His hands covered the ones on the staff, and he pushed, the thing pliant to his actions. “Get off!” A cloud of smoke came out of his mouth, and Tubbo could feel the heat above him. He worried, briefly, what would happen if the dry grass he was laying in were to go up in flames?

The thing’s grip on the staff did not loosen, and it kept the blade pointed in Tubbo’s direction, but Sapnap crossed his arms, acting as a barrier between them. He bared his teeth, and growled low in his throat, a sound that caused tension to rise in Tubbo’s body again.

“It’s Tubbo! We’re not in any danger! Put your stick away, you’re scaring him.”

And—like it had suddenly woken up from a trance—the thing listened. It relaxed its defensive position, no longer rigid as a statue. It looked almost like a person, though its movements were too orderly to be human.

Sapnap turned his attention to him, and offered him a hand. Tubbo accepted, forcing his body not to tremble.

“Sorry about that,” he said, uncharacteristically sheepish. “He prefers to strike first, ask questions later.”

Sapnap’s hands were warm, too warm for the night air. But it was so much nicer than the chill the thing seemed to exude.

“This is Dream. He’s—”

“A guide,” Tubbo interrupted. Sapnap nodded. Guides always wore masks, though they were normally modeled after animals. Tubbo had never heard of a blank one before. Supposedly, they used them to cover up their distorted, no-longer-human faces, but no one had ever seen a guide without a mask, so there was nothing to back up the theory.

Every guide had been a person at one point. A person who had died and caught the attention of a god merciful enough to bring them back. They weren’t quite alive, but definitely no longer dead, and their existence turned into a life of serving their god. They were protectors, mostly, and sometimes messengers. They all wore masks corresponding to the god they served, and typically moved and acted in a very inhuman way. Dying always caused a person to lose a piece of themselves, no matter how good the gods were at putting them back together.

Dream bowed. Not low, just a shallow tilt at his hips. Tubbo returned it. It was best to be polite. Especially when he had just had a knife to his throat.

“Dream, this is Tubbo. He’s part of our crew now. Philza would not be happy about you murdering him.”

Dream signed something, shoulders hunched. Tubbo didn’t know much sign language, but he recognized an apology. Three fingers to the temple, dragged quickly down the side of the face. It was customary to learn a bit of the language of the gods, in case you were ever in danger. ‘Sorry,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘help’ were the most important ones, as well as commands like ‘bow’ and ‘leave,’ but Tubbo never expected a guide—a godly being—to be the one apologizing.

“How’d you get out here?” Sapnap asked. His arms were crossed, but his voice held no malice. “I thought you’d still be at the party.”

“I followed you,” Tubbo confessed. He had so many questions he still wanted to ask. “I saw you leave. You looked a little… suspicious.” There was an awkward pause when Tubbo stopped speaking. He felt ashamed under Sapnap’s gaze, under Dream’s.

Sapnap’s face split into a grin, fangs on full display. “I had no idea. You managed to sneak up on me. You should put that skill to use. Stealth is still useful, even for a pirate.”

Tubbo had been expecting to get yelled at.

“And I guess it was on me,” Sapnap continued, “for not paying enough attention to my surroundings. You could have been anyone. A wild animal, an assassin. I would have just died.”

Dream hung his head and signed something.

“I really don’t think a wild animal would have the upper hand against you,” Tubbo said, cautiously. Sapnap paused to think.

“You’re right. I could take on any wild animal.” The air around them got several degrees warmer. Tubbo prayed the dry grass would not catch on fire.

“Why were you sneaking out to meet with a guide?” Tubbo asked, taking a couple steps back. Sapnap’s smile faltered for a moment.

“I missed him.” His voice had lost its peppiness, and suddenly he felt more vulnerable than Tubbo had ever seen him. “He’s tied to this area. Couldn’t come on a ship if he wanted to. But he does his job here. The people need him.”

“Is he going to come back to the party?” Tubbo asked slowly. Sapnap looked back at Dream, who shook his head.

“You should head back, though. Go have some fun with your teenager friends. We’ll be out here for a while. We need some time to catch up.”

There was something Sapnap wasn’t telling him, he was sure of it. But he knew better than to get too involved with the affairs of the gods. He sealed his lips and turned away, starting the walk back to the lights of the village.

It made him feel safer knowing that the area was protected by a guide. It did not make him feel safe to see how easily the guide had been pushed around by Sapnap. Guides were above humans, and Tubbo had to assume that included not-quite-human creatures like Sapnap. If Sapnap hadn’t stepped in, Dream would have killed Tubbo. He should have killed Tubbo. No amount of begging or groveling or crying from a mortal should have changed his mind. Tubbo put a hand to his throat. Maybe it was something to do with the god he served. That plain mask wasn’t one he’d ever seen depicted before. There was something terribly unsettling about it, the complete lack of a face.

His legs were starting to hurt by the time he got back to the party. It was more walking than he’d expected to do. He could hear the music from several streets away, a jaunty tune. Hopefully no one had noticed he’d been missing. When he slipped back in, no one paid him any attention. He swallowed, his throat dry. Perhaps he should get something to drink.

He hadn’t ever been much of a party-goer, he had better things to do most of the time, but he had been to enough that navigating the sea of strangers was barely a problem. Groups of people talking loudly to be heard over the music didn’t care if Tubbo accidentally brushed against them as he snuck around.

Before he was able to find wherever the drinks were, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around.

“I’ve been looking for you, Tubs. You just disappeared,” Tommy said with a grin.

“Sorry,” Tubbo responded, raising his voice. “I was busy… stalking someone.” Tommy paused a moment before laughing. Tubbo laughed, too. “I’m thirsty as fuck. Where are the drinks?”

Tommy’s eyebrows raised, and the look on his face was full of something mischievous. “Do I know where the drinks are?” He tsked. “Tubbo, my man, of course I know where the drinks are. What do you take me for? Come on.” Something in the way Tommy said “drinks” made Tubbo suspect he did not simply mean water.

The place the drinks were was embarrassingly far away from where Tubbo thought it was. They were kept in large glass jars with spouts, and most were less than half empty. People filled up wooden cups while idly chatting away.

“They have beer, but it’s imported so it’s actually gross, but they have this other kind of fruity drink. It’s got less alcohol in it, but it doesn't make you want to barf, so y’know, you win some you lose some.” Tommy filled a glass with it and handed it to Tubbo. It was clear, and definitely smelled like alcohol, but when he took a sip, it tasted sweet. “Fruity” may not have been the word he used to describe it, it didn’t taste like any fruit he knew, but it wasn’t terrible. Much better than anything he’d had in the past. Tommy got himself some and drank nearly half of it in one gulp.

“This music is too slow,” he said. “They should bring back the fast stuff. It’s more fun to dance to.” The band had changed the bright tune to something more romantic, but Tubbo wouldn’t say it was slow. He could dance to it. But maybe not the kind of dance Tommy was hoping for, the kind with wild feet and shaking hips and no personal space. “Do they have music like this where you come from?”

“Totally. It’s not very different at all. It doesn’t sound like that pretentious stuff the nobles listen to. It sounds just like people’s music.”

“Yeah, I don’t think the band is from around here. They might be from up north somewhe—”

Tommy’s words trailed off as his eyes caught onto something. His mouth stayed slightly parted, and he set his drink down on the table. He glanced at Tubbo and cleared his throat.

“Hold on, I’ll be back in just a minute.”

Before Tubbo could respond, he was off. He weaved between people, knocking into them and barely stopping to apologize. He almost tripped over his own feet a few times, but it didn’t slow him down.

“Dad!” He called as he reached out a hand. “Dad!” Tubbo could hardly hear him over the crowd. The man he ran up to wasn’t as tall as Tommy, and had darker hair, but even from far away Tubbo could see the resemblance. They hugged, tightly, bringing each other as close as possible and not letting go.

Something heavy pooled in Tubbo’s stomach.

That must have been nice. Tommy hadn’t seen his dad since boarding The Leviathan for its last voyage. That was months ago. It was hard to be away from family for so long. Even surrounded by people, you tended to feel like something was missing, a connection you had had for so long and were suddenly missing. Months.

Tubbo really missed his dad.

And his mom, too. His whole family. He missed waking up in the morning and seeing them all, and hanging out with them in the evenings. He missed making up games with his sisters and sharing a biscuit with his mom on days off. He missed hearing their voices, sharing hugs with them, sitting in content silence with them. What would they think of him now? This was stupid, really, training to be a pirate. He should have just taken the out when he had the chance, gone home alive and well. Maybe the lack of money would have disappointed them, but not as much as being a pirate would. He couldn’t show his face to them after this, after everything he had done. He might never see them again.

He might never see them again.

He didn’t know what he would do without his family. Even when he left for months, he always needed them. And it hurt to see Tommy with his dad. He talked about his dad a lot, the merchant who was kind and supportive, and let Tommy run off and become a pirate even though he was terrified for his safety. A good dad, that he was now back in the arms of.

Good for Tommy. He deserved it.

It just made Tubbo feel a little homesick.

He needed to stop watching Tommy. It was creepy. And it was only making him feel worse. Tears were forming in his eyes, but he blinked them away. No, he would not cry. He looked around trying to find someone to distract himself with. There was Eret, way better dressed and stealing the show from everyone she was talking with. There was a girl with hooves and antlers dancing to the music. There was that guy from earlier, Quackity, still sitting unnecessarily close to Karl, the sight of which made Tubbo’s blood boil.

And there was Billzo, sitting at a table with Ranboo. He seemed to notice Tubbo the moment Tubbo noticed him.

“Hey! Tubbo!” Billzo called, making a big show of waving him over. “I was wondering when I was gonna find ya.”

Tubbo sat on one of the cushions on the ground. The table was low, and the tablecloth covering it pooled on the ground. It had a few discarded plates and glasses on it, but was otherwise empty. Billzo’s plate was empty, but Ranboo was still picking at a bit of chocolate cake.

“I’ve been looking for you all night! Well, that’s kind of a lie. I looked for you for a couple minutes, then gave up. But now I’ve found you, so I’d say my efforts paid off. You look snazzy. The green was a good idea. Ranboo, this is Tubbo. We met earlier.”

“I know,” Ranboo responded.

“Oh you know them?”

Ranboo met his eyes, face expressionless. “We’re on the same crew.”

Billzo sputtered and turned to Tubbo, but he wasn’t listening to what he was saying. He was caught on what he said, on that word he had used. You know them? Yes, Ranboo knew him, but did Ranboo know them? Did Tubbo know them? He knew he shouldn’t, but it felt like he did. It felt like they did. Oh, that felt a little too comfy.

“Yeah,” Tubbo responded. “I’m, uh, new.”

“Bloody hell, mate, I had no idea!”

Tubbo smiled. “You look good too. Not in a weird way. Just, the outfit with the hair. Looks nice.”

“Thanks, man.” Billzo turned to Ranboo, who hadn’t looked up from their food. “I told you the people would like it.”

“I think it looks like you’re copying me. I did it first.” Ranboo’s voice was quiet enough that Tubbo had to strain to hear above the noises of the party, but he’d learned to quiet himself when Ranboo was talking. Talking with Ranboo was more about listening than speaking.

“Tubbo, you be the judge. Who looks better with the black and white hair?”

Tubbo pretended to put some thought into it, but he’d made up his mind before the question was even asked. Ranboo’s hair framed their eyes beautifully. It was currently tucked behind their ears, but starting to fall. It curled up at the edges where it hit their shoulders, and had a small braid on the black side. Their part wasn’t perfectly split, white stands looking like waves against the dark side. It was thicker, and looked softer than Billzo’s.

“Ranboo,” he answered eventually. Billzo clapped his hands a couple times.

“I’ve been looking for a reason to cut it off anyway. I’m getting more dessert. Anyone want?” He picked up his plate and stretched as he stood.

“Get me something,” Ranboo said, shoving the last of their cake into their mouth.

“I wouldn’t mind.” Tubbo didn’t want to seem greedy, but something sweet sounded great. Billzo nodded.

“I’ll get a variety. We can pick and choose.” And he got up and left, leaving Ranboo alone with Tubbo.

It’s not like it hadn’t happened before, they’d been alone together many times on The Leviathan, but this was different. They weren’t on the ship anymore. They didn’t have to talk to each other. But desperately, Tubbo hoped that Ranboo wanted to talk to him. That they thought he was interesting enough, trustworthy enough. Ranboo had issues with trust.

“This place is beautiful,” he said, but didn’t specify whether he was talking about the country, the town, or the party. Ranboo nodded. “You’re probably used to it. You’ve been here plenty of times. Did you grow up here?” Oh, that was a personal question. He shouldn’t have asked that. Ranboo was fairer skinned than he was, of course they weren’t from the south.

“No, I grew up… somewhere else. Not here. But I think I would have liked to grow up here. The people are nice.”

“Yeah, they do seem nice. Especially in the market. In the markets in Skuenia it feels like everyone hates you and wants you out of their shop. Not very good for business, in my opinion. And the crowds are grumpier, in general. It’s something you can just feel, y’know. People seem happy to see each other here. It’s a nice change.”

Ranboo just made a noise of affirmation. “Have you seen Wilbur around tonight?”

Tubbo adjusted his position, his legs starting to fall asleep. “No, I haven’t. Do you need him for something?”

“Well, no. I guess not. I like what he’s wearing. You probably wouldn’t. Or maybe you would, I guess. I don’t know.”

“Wow, that’s helpful,” Tubbo said sarcastically, and immediately regretted it. To reconcile, he quickly added, “I’m sure he looks great.” The lull that followed made Tubbo worry that was the wrong thing to say.

“Just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d like.” There was a hint of judgment in their voice, and Tubbo shrunk back in shame.

Billzo sped back over, plate piled so high with desserts he nearly dropped them all. There was an entire array of sweets on the plate, everything from pastries to chocolates. Ranboo immediately reached for a small cheesecake, shoving half of it in their mouth in one bite. Tubbo reached for a square tart filled with cream and topped with lemon.

“‘Thank you, Bill’,” Billzo said, his eyes darting between the two of them. “‘You’re the greatest, Bill’. ‘I owe you my life, Bill’.”

Tubbo mumbled out a small “thanks” and Ranboo just laughed, their mouth still full of cheesecake. They used their free hand to adjust a strap on their shirt, pulling it up their shoulder. Tubbo couldn’t help but sneak a glance at their chest. The shirt they were wearing was shades of purple and teal, held up only by a thin strip of fabric around their neck. It was certainly less clothes than Tubbo had ever seen them in before. The ruffly fabric layered over their chest made it stick out femininely, their slim waist only enhancing the image. The ends of a scar peeked out from their shirt, three lines that almost resembled claw marks. Their arms were lightly freckled. Tubbo took another sip of his drink.

“So Tubbo,” Billzo started, “is this your first time being a pirate? Because these guys definitely didn’t leave with you on their ship.”

Tubbo swallowed his bite of tart and nodded. “Yeah, I was a fisherman before. They kind of, well” —he snuck a glance at Ranboo, who had no reaction— “it wasn’t exactly voluntary. But I’m enjoying it. It’s a better quality life than I had before.”

“Ah,” Billzo said as if he understood completely. “They kidnapped you. Just scooped you up, huh? Happens to the best of us.”

“Kidnapping makes it sound a little… harsh. I had opportunities to leave.” As the words left his mouth, he was left with the memory of how harsh it really was. He hadn’t seen most of the bloodshed on his own ship, his eyes had been covered, but it was hard to ignore the fact that he was the only one on his crew that had survived. And why? Just because Philza had some weird intuition about him? At least Billzo didn’t seem to mind. No one seemed to mind. Maybe kidnapping wasn’t illegal here. Compared to some of the stories, that was pretty tame.

“Wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to you,” Ranboo said, a hint of bitterness in their voice. Tubbo saddened, only for a second. It probably meant nothing. He was probably overreacting. Maybe the alcohol was making him sensitive.

“Yeah, they could have not intervened at all!” Billzo laughed. “Left you for the Emperor.”

Tubbo gazed over the crowd, taking in all the people. Obviously, there were a lot of differences between the Isles, and the town he grew up in. Different fashion, skin color, food, buildings. Never before had Tubbo seen people like this. Next to a flowering bush, a man with deer antlers was swaying his hips to the music. A demon, leaner and more muscular than Bad, and dressed in blue, was sitting in a chair that was almost comically small for him, and chatting with a woman covered in tattoos. That guy Quackity was practically sitting on top of Karl now, pressing their lips together. And there was Tommy, looking around with the most lost expression on his face.

Tubbo waved at him. Yes, it was nice here. It felt safe here. Safer than he’d ever felt surrounded by any of the Emperor’s soldiers, though that may have been because no one at the party carried a weapon. It would have been worse, he decided, if he had chosen to take a boat back home. He wouldn’t have met the people he knew now, his friends.

Tommy sat down next to him at the table. “Dude, you just left me! I looked away for a few minutes and you were just gone.”

“You seemed like you were busy!” Tubbo tried to defend himself. “I just found some friends.” He gestured to Billzo and Ranboo. Billzo winked.

“Yeah, yeah, excuses for days. Anyway, did you guys see that girl in the blue dress?”

Ranboo put their head down on the table. Billzo started looking around.

“Are you asking because you think she’s cute, or because you think she deserves scrutiny?” Tubbo asked. Tommy waved him off.

“Put a woman under scrutiny? Never! All women are beautiful and I am in no place to say shit about them. Except that they are beautiful. I’m telling you so you can hype me up when I start dating her.”

“You shouldn’t have said anything,” Ranboo said, their voice slightly muffled. “Now Bill’s on the lookout.” Tommy looked distraught.

“Billzo, please,” he begged, clasping his hands together. “You’ve got twice the options. Surely you don’t need to go after this girl!”

“You may be the wife-haver,” Billzo laughed. “But I’ll have all the ladies anyway. They may be tied to you, but they’ll come crawling to me. And the gentlemen, too.” He sent another wink and a flirty wave in Tubbo direction. Tubbo’s chest burned.

“No, I’m not—I don’t—” he sputtered.

“Neither of you could have anyone ‘crawling to you’,” Ranboo interrupted. “Not even if you managed to brush your hair for once in your life.” Tubbo snickered.

There was an odd chiming noise, and everyone seemed to quiet down. Even the band stopped playing, and started gathering up their instruments.

“Excuse me, everybody?” Charlie climbed up onto the gazebo, overlooking the crowd. “May I have your attention please?” Tubbo turned to face him, and many other people did as well.

He waited for quiet before he spoke again. “First of all, I’d like to say welcome back, to the crew of The Leviathan.” People erupted into cheers and applause. Tubbo felt his face burn a bit. “Clearly, we’ve all missed you. And I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re happy you’re back with all pieces intact. You even added one this time! Taking in another child, in typical Philza fashion.

“You do so much for us here, against the Superior Empire. You help us keep our freedom, our safety, our lives. You risk your own lives every time you leave the harbor. I breathe easier every time I get a letter telling me you’re still alive. Not just alive, but thriving. The adventures you say you get up to make me happy to stay behind sometimes. Your bravery is unmatched. You are the fighting force against that which seeks to destroy us. And for that, we thank you. We thank you every day, from the bottom of our hearts.

“And thank the Sea, for keeping you safe. We are eternally grateful for her kindness and her mercy. And Phil, if you two ever need some alone time, just let us know.” The crowd laughed. Tubbo couldn’t see Philza, but knew he was probably laughing too.

“Alright, you rapscallions. Enough with the sappy stuff. Let’s enjoy the rest of our night!” The crowd cheered and started to disperse. Tubbo could see Charlie climb off the gazebo and walk over to the chair Philza was sitting in. He almost expected to see stars and feathers, but Phil looked as human as anyone else. He watched them chat for a moment, trying (and failing) to read their lips. Phil was smiling, and Tubbo couldn’t help but smile, too.

“That was a nice speech, doncha think?” Billzo said, nibbling on a small tart. The group murmured agreements. It was a nice speech, though maybe it would be a bit more meaningful if he’d known Charlie for more than a few minutes. He’d never gotten that kind of speech when he came back from a fishing trip. Being appreciated was the nice part.

Tall legs walked up behind them, stopping at the corner of the table.

“You crazy kids enjoying the party?” Wilbur asked, nudging Ranboo’s leg gently with his foot. He was wearing a similar outfit to Tubbo, though blue instead of green, and the white jacket he had draped over his shoulders looked almost exactly like a dress from certain angles. He had tiny blue flowers in his hair and he looked more refreshed than he had in days.

“Totally!” Tommy said.

Wilbur made gentle eye contact with Ranboo, who nodded once, but firmly. Wilbur smiled.

“Then I guess I won’t bother you. This’ll be going on for a few more hours, but feel free to leave whenever you get tired.”

The four of them met each others’ eyes with smiles. They weren’t leaving anytime soon.

Wilbur ruffled Ranboo’s hair, but looked over all of them. “Don’t get into too much trouble. Or do. Have a little fun, at least.” He waved to them and walked off to where Charlie and Phil were still talking.

“Soooooo…” Tommy started. “Anyone wanna dance?”

Chapter Text

“Cannonball!” Tommy shouted. It was the only warning he gave before he leapt off the tall rock and into the water. Everyone under him scrambled to get away in time. The splash he made was so big it hit Tubbo with a few drops.

“Watch it!” Puffy scolded, but she sounded more concerned for him than for anyone else. Tommy just laughed and swam back towards shore.

Tubbo swished his legs around in the water, gentle waves lapping against the rock he was sitting on. He hadn’t been particularly excited to go to the beach, but dragging him back to the market to buy him some proper swimwear was the first thing Tommy had done that morning. He didn’t understand why everyone was so eager to get back into the water after spending months floating on it.

This part of the sea was warmer than any ocean Tubbo had ever been in. The beaches in Skuenia were always cold, the water a dark greyish-blue. In the summer they were tolerable, but not pleasant, and in the winter they could give you hypothermia. The water at this beach was refreshingly cool against the hot sun, and so clear Tubbo felt he could swim out for miles and still see the bottom. Tiny fish darted between his legs.

Tommy pulled himself up next to Tubbo on the rock. He was soaking wet, his hair sticking to his face and dripping from his jaw. Tubbo had yet to get in past his knees. Tommy nodded his head in the direction of the sea, grinning. Tubbo shook his head. He’d had enough ocean to last a lifetime. He’d stay on dry land as long as he could.

One fish started nibbling at his toes, and he pulled his foot out of the water with a little shout.

“Gettin’ yourself a little pedicure?” Tommy asked, floating on his back.

“It starts as a pedicure,” Tubbo said. “Then you look down and you just have bloody stumps where your feet were.”

“You’d need a lot of fish to eat your massive stompers.”

Tubbo kicked Tommy in the arm. It caused Tommy to lose his balance, and he dipped underwater for a second. He resurfaced and spat out a few drops of water.

“Keep your eyes open,” Tubbo said. “Then maybe the fish will eat those, too.”

“You’re a real prick. Y’know that, right?”

Tommy grabbed Tubbo’s feet and pulled him into the water. It was shallow enough that if he were standing, he would still be able to see over the water. Fish scattered from the ripples he made. Tubbo kicked away from Tommy and got his feet under him, breaking the surface for a breath of air. He didn’t say anything when Tommy followed, just glared at him through his wet bangs.

“What? You’re at the beach. Get wet.” Tommy started floating on his back, eyes closed. Tubbo got back up on his rock. With this sun, he’d be dry soon.

Tommy waved at someone behind Tubbo, and Tubbo turned around to see who had arrived. For how well everyone listened and worked together while on the ship, they all seemed to be staggeringly late for events like this. It had been nearly an hour since they were supposed to arrive, and barely anyone was here.

Charlie and Wilbur were walking up, Charlie waving back to Tommy. In his hands he held so many bags and baskets it looked like he might collapse under their weight. He tried to pick up his pace, but he could only shuffle across the sand. He set all his things down where the waves wouldn’t reach them, and took a running leap into the water. Everyone clapped when he surfaced, and Tubbo joined in after a moment. It really wasn’t impressive, but he didn’t want to look rude.

“We brought snacks,” Charlie said with a grin. The water slid easily down his head (Hair? Slime?) and back into the sea.

Wilbur stood just before the water. “Techno’s on his way, as soon as Phil can escape.”

“Is Ranboo with you?” Tubbo asked, though he hadn’t seen them. It was Wilbur who responded. He had already dug into the baskets and was munching on a handful of berries.

“Nah, they said they wanted some alone time.” He took a moment to chew and swallow, the red on his lips almost looking like blood. “After being cooped up on a ship for months, they deserve it.”

Tubbo sighed and rested his head on his hand. “They’ve got the right idea. I wish I could have some alone time.” He directed the last bit towards Tommy with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Group bonding is more important than anything Ranboo could be doing,” Tommy responded. He splashed Tubbo with water, his hand skimming across the surface. “We’re having a great time together. We’re really growing closer as friends and crewmates. In fact, I think we’re growing as people, just by being around each other.”

“If you keep talking nonsense,” Skeppy called from a rock further away, “I’m going to drown you.”

“Fair enough. Tubbo, you wanna build a sandcastle?” Tommy walked back onto the beach, out of range from the waves. Tubbo got off his rock and followed. The sand on the Isles was a bit less grey than the sand up North, and was warm from the sun.

Tommy grabbed the bowl Wilbur had been eating from and started filling it with moist sand, packing it in so it would hold. Tubbo didn’t have a mold, but he could pile and shape sand with his hands.

“Ew, no,” Tommy said. “I don’t want your crumbling tower to be part of my castle.”

“It’s not crumbling, it’s perfectly fine!” It was certainly taller than Tommy’s domes, even if it wasn’t as neat.

“The Kingdom of Tommyland only builds in half-spheres.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “Oh, and now it’s named after you? How about we call it Tubboland?”

Tommy reached over and pushed down the beginnings of Tubbo’s next tower. He smoothed the wet sand back into the beach, until it was barely a mound, and he put another bowl of sand on his own tower, making a pyramid.

“Hey!” Tubbo barked. “What the fuck?”

“I was already here,” Tommy said. “You can go find somewhere else to build your kingdom.”

Tubbo stood up, scowling. “My kingdom is going to go to war with your kingdom.”

“I think that’s a reasonable retaliation,” a voice said behind him. Tubbo nearly jumped out of his skin, his heart pounding. It took him a moment to gather himself enough to turn around. He wasn’t sure how he had missed Technoblade’s shadow looming over him.

“Didn’t mean to scare you like that,” Technoblade said softly. He, like everyone else, was dressed for the water. Tubbo wasn’t sure he’d ever seen that much muscle on a person. His torso was covered in scars, plentiful but all well-healed. If Tubbo had needed any reminding that Technoblade was a warrior first, pirate second, this would have cemented it into his memory forever.

“No matter,” Tubbo eked out.

Technoblade walked out so the sea hugged his ankles, taking his time with each step. Tubbo didn’t realize he’d been staring until Tommy cleared his throat.

“See something you like?”

“Hm?” It took Tubbo a moment to register. “What? No! No. Gods, ew.”

Tommy didn’t seem impressed.

“Let’s just get—battle ready, or whatever.” Tubbo grabbed a handful of wet sand and plopped it down in front of himself.

It took a little while, but Tubbo was able to build an impressive kingdom out of sand, molding and shaping it to his will. His castle was at the center, the largest building, and Tubbo had poked holes in it to act as windows. Around, he had dripped extra wet sand into tall towers, as tall and thin as he could get them without them toppling over their own weight. He had started digging a trench around his castle, which would fill with sea water to become a moat once it was deep enough. Tommy had continued with his domes, stacking them into a larger pyramid and then finding sea discards around the beach to decorate it with.

“Mine’s prettier than yours,” Tommy bragged as he pressed broken pieces of sand dollar shells into his sandcastle.

“It’s not a beauty contest,” Tubbo grumbled.

Skeppy let out a shrill whistle that made Tubbo jump before he realized who it was coming from. Skeppy seemed to have no care for the speed at which Tubbo’s heart was now racing, and waved across the beach. Tubbo really didn’t care for who had arrived next.

Across the rocky outcropping, Sam had pressed his ears flat to his head. Tubbo gave him a sympathetic look.

“Oh, nice sandcastles!” Karl said, stopping to look at both of them in depth. “Very unique!”

Sapnap and Quackity were setting their things down on the rocks, to keep it mostly out of the sand. They were all dressed for the beach, and Tubbo felt the need to avert his eyes as he caught a glimpse of Sapnap’s chest. It must be a demon thing. At least Bad had the decency to wear a top.

“Which one is better?” Tommy asked. “And the first answer that isn’t ‘mine’ doesn’t count.”

“Oh, I couldn’t choose,” Karl said, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. Tubbo felt a bit like a child being coddled by a parent.

“Is this everyone, then?” Tommy asked, addressing the whole group. “Where’s Ponk?”

“Said she was feeling ‘under the weather’,” Sam replied. He was a much better swimmer than Tubbo would have thought, but the image of his sopping wet tail was enough to make Tubbo snicker.

A wave crashed into both of their towers. The water filled Tubbo’s moat, but made the bottom of Tommy’s castle start crumbling.

“Oh come on!” Tommy scoffed. “This is not fair!”

“Maybe you should have focused more on defenses and less on making it look pretty. You’ll never survive high tide.” Tubbo crossed his arms, feeling triumphant for a moment. Then he paused, looking out to the sea. “How high does the tide get out here?”

The answer came from Puffy. “It’s pretty low right now. All that driftwood up there? That’s pretty much where it ends.”

Tubbo looked out towards the shore. They had stepped over a lot of driftwood on their way over. He wasn’t used to beaches, most of his experience with the ocean had been through docks. Beaches in Skuenia weren’t worth it, in Tubbo’s opinion. Even the sand here was nicer.

Another wave reached out, soaking Tubbo’s legs where he kneeled.

“Whatever,” Tommy said as the water wiped away more of his castle. “I’m gonna swim. You coming?”

Tubbo shook his head. Tommy walked up to the tall rock, ready to jump again. Tubbo stood and brushed as much sand off his legs as he could. It was wet, and clung to his hair in clumps.

“Want some snacks?” Karl asked, digging through his belongings.

“Charlie brought snacks,” Tubbo responded, which wasn’t really an answer.

“Oh well.” Karl pulled a wooden cup out of the bag. He unscrewed the top and took a sip. “Nothing wrong with more snacks.”

“...What snacks do you have?”

“This morning, the three of us went to this bakery to get some bread for our breakfast, and the baker had a bunch of these small tarts.” Karl reached into the bag again. “We decided to get a bunch so we could share them with everyone. There’s fish, cheese, some even have fruit.” He offered some to Tubbo, who took a cheese one. Karl took one that Tubbo assumed had fish in it.

“Pirates eat a lot less fish than I expected,” Tubbo said through his first bite. It was good, moist in the center. “You’re at sea for months, surrounded by all this food, and you choose to eat things like beef. And mangoes.”

“Well, Ranboo and Wilbur could eat fish by the boatload.”

“When I was a fisherman, we ate fish. We had to eat the defective ones, but it was still most of our meals.”

“Then you understand that eating fish every day gets old real fast.” Karl wiped his mouth of crumbs. “And besides, the most important part of being a pirate is paying your respects to the sea. Only taking what you need. Not trailing nets along the bottom of the ocean and destroying coral reefs.” Karl’s face contorted into a glare quicker than Tubbo thought it could.

Tubbo huffed. “Yeah, I get it. It was wrong. I’m not doing it anymore.”

“Everyone is a piece in the system we have going. Part of the status quo. It’s not enough to just not actively participate. You have to work to unbalance…”

Tubbo stopped listening, letting his eyes wander out to the waves. The glare of the sun against the water wasn’t too bad, but it made everyone’s skin glisten. Sam was sitting atop the rock Tommy had jumped off of. Skeppy and Bad were both deeper in the water, but what came up to Skeppy’s chest barely skimmed Bad’s hips. Quackity had put his hand on the back of Sapnap’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Tubbo recoiled.

“Why do you let him do that?” Tubbo asked through his teeth.

“Do what?” Karl asked, taking a sip of his drink. He didn’t seem fazed by the interruption.

“Just… put his hands all over your fiance? And all over you!”

Karl set his drink down. “Well, Quackity’s my fiance, too.”

Tubbo’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

Karl leaned down to draw in the sand. He drew a triangle of dots and connected them together.

“Most relationships look like this.” He drew two dots and connected them. “Two people in love with each other. But mine looks more like this.” He pointed to his first drawing. “That’s me, and I’m in love with two people. Let’s say this one is Sapnap and this one is Quackity. I’m connected to both of them. And they’re connected to each other.”

Tubbo’s stomach swirled. “That’s a little primitive.”

Karl shrugged. “It’s not for everyone. But it’s for us. That’s really all that matters.”

Tubbo nodded. Of course it would be Sapnap and Karl to add more complexity to their relationship. As if it wasn’t confusing enough already. But as long as the three of them got it all worked out, Tubbo decided not to care too much. He could just stay out of their way, keep his nose out of their business.

They—he wished Ranboo were there. They were so blunt in their speech, so factual. It made everything easier to understand.

“Q!” Karl called, waving a hand towards Quackity. He pulled away from Sapnap, wading back out of the water to come stand above Karl.

“Yes?”

“Come here.” Karl patted the rock next to him, and Quackity sat down, leaving very little space between them. Karl brushed a wet lock of hair out of Quackity’s face, then leaned in to press a quick kiss to his lips.

“What was that for?” Quackity asked softly.

“I’m just happy to be back with you.” Karl placed one more kiss to Quackity’s cheek, then ran off to the water, presumably to join up with Sapnap.

Tubbo didn’t know what to say—if he should say anything. How could he respond to that? He looked down to the sand. Surely, his face was still burning red.

“You’re new,” Quackity said after a moment of silence. “How’d Philza pick you up?”

“Oh, um, boat,” Tubbo said. “My fishing boat. He, well, capsized it.” Tubbo did not look up to meet Quackity’s eye.

“Typical,” he said, and Tubbo could hear the eye roll in his voice. Despite himself, a laugh bubbled out of his throat. Nothing was really funny, but his insides felt like they had turned to sea foam.

“Is that how Philza gets all his pirates?” Tubbo asked. “Just sweeps them up from ships he’s capsized?”

“That’s how he got Sam,” Skeppy said. “Rescued him off a little piece of driftwood in the ocean.”

“How he found me, too,” Quackity said. Tubbo finally turned to look at him. “I was working for the Empire. Captain of my own ship and everything. But the shit that goes on behind closed doors can be unbearable.” He pulled a piece of wet hair out of his face.

“I’ve heard the horror stories.” Tubbo grimaced.

“Then you can understand why I was almost excited for my ship to get taken over by pirates. I thought for sure I would die, but instead Phil offered me a place in his crew. After what I’d been through, it was an easy choice.”

“And then you met us,” Sapnap cooed from where he stood in the sea. Quackity rolled his eye.

“Phil’s just really good at picking up strays,” Puffy said. “It’s like he has a sixth sense for finding them. He can sniff them out better than a shark can smell blood. Some weird intuition he has, or something.”

“Yeah, crazy intuition.” Tubbo drew his knees up to his chest. Why had he been spared and not the rest of his crew? It was a question he pondered over and over again, into the dark hours of the night and then some. He wasn’t anything special. He didn’t stand out from a crowd. He was not more worthy than anyone else that had been on The Eastern Gull that day. But Philza chose him. If only he knew why.

His eyes lingered on every person around him, each so different, each with their own story to tell. How different would he be if this was the life he’d grown up in? Would he be louder? Quieter? More studious? Less studious? Would he have been so preoccupied with making sure he did everything right, so he wouldn’t get yelled at, or would he be lax in his work, treating his crew like family? Would this be their—his crew, or would they have a different one?

“That’s a lot to give up,” he said to Quackity. “From captaining to always being on the run.”

“It was worth it,” Quackity responded. “Spend enough time at sea, you realize she needs to be respected. That’s something the Empire knows nothing about.”

Tubbo’s gaze drifted over to Technoblade, who was squeezing water out of his hair. It was unbraided, for once, and hung to his thighs when he was standing straight.

“What about you?” Tubbo asked. “What brought you aboard The Leviathan?”

Technoblade looked up to the sky, then back down at the sea. “Philza saved my life. I am in debt to him until I can do the same. Until then, I have sworn to protect him from harm. If I am still alive by the time my debt is repaid, then I will be free to leave this whole pirate thing behind.”

Skeppy slid up to Tubbo’s side, and leaned in to his ear. “That debt was repaid years ago,” he whispered. “Technoblade’s here because he wants to be.”

“Don’t spread rumors,” Technoblade said.

Skeppy shrugged, a sparkle in his eye. “I’m not.”

It was hard to imagine Phil would need to save Technoblade’s life. Tubbo had seen Technoblade get shot, punched, kicked, and stabbed in the gut, and nothing ever seemed to phase him. He was barely slowed down by pain, in a way that felt beyond human. Tubbo could admit he didn’t know much of elvin biology, and perhaps this was a completely normal pain tolerance from someone who came from dragons. It was hard to believe Phil could best anything that could take Technoblade out.

“Hey, Tubbo,” Tommy called, laying on his back in the water. “Look how well I float.”

“Have you been keeping up with your sunblock?” Puffy asked, and Tommy gave her a thumbs up. The two of them had bought some that morning and slathered themselves in it. Tubbo could still see how his skin glistened from the oils.

Tommy kicked his legs to push himself into deeper water, towards the rocks Wilbur and Charlie were sitting on. He floated there for a moment, his body bobbing with the waves, before lifting a leg up and smacking it down so hard Tubbo winced at the impact. It sent a splash of water all over Charlie and Wilbur, who both raised hands to block their faces.

Tommy twisted to start his getaway, but Wilbur quickly reached into the water, grabbing ahold of his ankle before he could swim away. Tommy cursed at him and tried to wiggle away, but Wilbur’s grip was strong. Everyone was laughing at Tommy. Tubbo couldn’t stop staring at Wilbur’s hand.

Beneath the water, it was covered in black scales.

At first, Tubbo thought it might be a trick of light. But light didn’t do that, didn’t make hands webbed or skin glimmer in the sun. It was entirely unnatural, the inkyness of his arm. Tubbo could do nothing but stare.

“Ow, Wil, claws,” Tommy said, shaking the foot that Wilbur was gripped on to. Wilbur pulled his arm out of the sea. It was dripping with water, but looked normal again, slender fingers and peachy skin. It looked like nothing. It hadn’t been nothing. Tubbo knew that.

“What the fuck—” he was probably raising his voice more than necessary “—was that?” Everyone turned to him, and suddenly Tubbo’s face burned.

In lieu of a response, Wilbur leaned back and slid into the water. More black scales appeared all over his body, creeping up his arms and his back. The water distorted the details, but Tubbo could see the way the black scales covered his legs, fusing them together into a fish-like tail. He popped his head back out of the water, pushing back his wet hair with a clawed hand. He grinned at Tubbo, and a jolt of fear ran through him.

That wasn’t the flowy, graceful tail of a mermaid. The fins weren’t long enough. Instead, the tail was streamlined, the blue fin at the end forked for speed. Sirens had those tails. Tubbo quickly tried to recall anything he had learned about sirens over the years. Every sailor needed to know about them, in case they had to kill one someday.

Sirens were man-killers. Cannibals. Vermin of the sea. Their songs made people want to drown themselves. They disguised themselves as beautiful women to lure people into the sea. They’d devour a sailor the moment they got their claws on him. They wouldn’t even wait for him to die first. They were monsters, and they weren’t to be trusted.

In the back of his mind, Tubbo couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was true.

“What are you?” Tubbo asked, hoping for a reasonable answer. Wilbur tilted his head. His eyes were large, and dark.

“The muse of the sea.”

“A siren?”

“Precisely.”

Why a siren was let to mingle around a crew of pirates was beyond him. Why he’d never known until now was even farther removed. He gripped onto the rock so hard his knuckles turned white.

“And you’ve just been living with us?” He asked through gritted teeth. He glanced around at everyone else. They were still staring at him. “All of you knew? And no one thought to tell me?!” They all seemed to wither under his gaze.

It was Tommy who sheepishly spoke up. “It was a game, kind of. We didn’t want to tell you right away, since everything was so new for you. But Wilbur wanted to know how long it would take for you to figure it out on your own.”

“A game?!” Tubbo shouted. Wilbur was the only one that didn’t look guilty. “My safety’s on the line, and you think it’s a game?!”

“Safety? No, you were never in any dan–”

“How was I supposed to know?! He’s unstable as shit! You think he’s fine and then he’s snapping at you, next thing you know you’ll be drowning yourself. He’s been singing around us this whole time, how does that make you feel safe?” At this, Wilbut took offense.

“I would never use my voice like that,” he hissed. “Especially against my crew.”

“Because you’re so trustworthy!”

Wilbur drew himself out of the water more, leaning on a rock. “Name one reason I’ve given you not to trust me.” Tubbo scowled.

“You’re a siren, that’s one! Sailor killer.” Tubbo was suddenly aware of how sharp Wilbur’s claws were by the way they were tapping against the rock.

Bad tried to smile, and reached over to put a gentle hand on Tubbo’s shoulder. “We’re sorry we didn’t tell yo–”

“Don’t touch me,” Tubbo growled, smacking Bad’s claws away before they could get anywhere close to his body. He stood up, walking a few steps back until he was on the sand again. “I can’t believe you’ve all been lying to me this entire time! Any other life-threatening secrets you’ve been keeping from me because of your sick ‘game’?” His heart was beating so heavily he could hear it. The group went quiet, and Tubbo wasn’t sure if that was a sign of guilt or not.

“Technoblade is a champion of Athos.” The voice was so small Tubbo wasn’t sure who it belonged to.

“No, he knows that,” Technoblade said, managing to not sound guilty. “I told him.”

“He’s a WHAT?!” Tubbo was shouting by now, his throat starting to burn. “Why do you people never tell me anything?!”

Tubbo turned on his heel and stormed away, ignoring the calls of everyone behind him. He didn’t know where he was going, he just knew he wanted to get away. He didn’t feel comfortable walking back to the town on his own, so he walked down the beach until he couldn’t see any of his crew anymore. None of them came after him.

There was a sandbar not too far away from the shore. The water between it and the beach looked pretty shallow. Tubbo started to walk out there, and the water never reached past his knees. On the other side of the sandbar was an abrupt drop, and Tubbo made sure to stay a good distance away from it. He could swim, but he’d prefer if he didn’t have to.

The ocean was so calm, only tiny waves washing up by his feet. The sun shined off it so brightly Tubbo had to shield his eyes a bit. It was such a beautiful blue, it looked like liquid crystal. The sea where he lived had only ever been greyish-blue at best. The seafoam barely reached his toes, bubbles sticking around his feet before popping. The gentlest breeze blew at his back, carrying with it what sounded like a song. A woman’s voice, humming a soft melody. Tubbo took a deep breath, crossed his arms over each other, and let his frustration wash away. The sea was calm, and he would be, too.

He saw a black and white fin move out of the corner of his eye, and all his anger returned. He turned to look at it, but he wasn’t fast enough, and he couldn’t see anything in the ocean. He picked up a rock sitting at his feet and threw it in the direction he saw the fish.

“I see you!” He yelled, although he really didn’t. “You’re not hiding! Why are you following us?!”

The ocean didn’t respond. Tubbo walked to the very edge of the sandbar, carefully balanced so he wouldn’t fall forward into the water. There was a shadow in the water. A very large shadow, not moving at all. If he could just lean forward a little bit more, he would be able to see it. He inched towards the edge, feeling his toes in the open ocean. The water was deep, and so, so blue. Layers upon layers of blue, more infinite than the sky. There was a piece of a black fin he could see, almost invisible in the water. If he just got a little closer—

His foot slipped, and he went tumbling into the ocean.

He grasped at the sandbar, pulling himself back up out of the water. He rubbed at his nose. It burned from the little bit of water that had shot up it. He was soaking wet now, drips from his hair running down his face. He glared back at the ocean. Whatever had been there was gone now, or it had just found a better hiding spot.

“Dumb fucking fish,” he muttered to himself. He got up and walked back to the beach, dragging his feet a little more than necessary. There was a piece of driftwood that he sat down on, pushing sand around with his foot. It was still a little damp from the tide that had receded, and they could draw simple shapes in it with his toes. X marks the spot. That was a pirate thing, right?

I wonder if Ranboo knew about Wilbur, Tubbo asked himself, before shaking the thought away. Of course Ranboo knew. Everyone knew, except for him.

He heard steps on the beach behind him, and he turned around, ready to curse out any of his crew that chose to come chasing after him. It was Philza. He bit his tongue and turned back to the ocean.

“Any reason you’re out here all alone?” Phil asked, standing beside where Tubbo sat. He wasn’t dressed for the beach. His clothes were long and layered. Beads of sweat had formed on his nose and his temples.

“Don’t tell me they sent you to come talk to me,” Tubbo grumbled, putting his head in his hands.

“Who?” Phil asked.

“Nevermind. What are you doing here?”

Phil turned his gaze to the sea, a soft smile appearing on his face. “Came to see my love. Thought we’d get to have some alone time before I met up with the rest of the crew.”

“Sorry, sorry, I can leave.” Tubbo stood up, wiping sand off his butt. He’d dried off in the sun, and he hoped his tan would protect him from burning too bad.

“Oh, no need. I’m sure she’d be happy to see you.” He took off his sandals and left them next to the driftwood. He rolled his pants up to below his knees before he stepped in the water, but waded deep enough that they still got wet. Tubbo had had enough ocean for a lifetime, but he followed Philza anyway. The water seemed to sway more than it had been, splashing and swirling around his legs in a lazy grip.

“So,” Philza started, “care to tell me why you were sitting out here sulking? I thought you’d be spending some time with everyone else.”

Tubbo scowled. “They’ve been lying to me.”

Phil paused halfway through pulling his hair up into a ponytail. “Oh? About what?” He didn’t sound accusatory, just curious. Tubbo chewed his lip and wiped his eyes. He wasn’t crying.

“Everything,” he decided.

“I take it Wilbur told you about his heritage?”

“So you knew, too?” Tubbo snapped, though it was a dumb question. If the whole crew knew, so did the captain. A wave crashed into Tubbo’s leg and swelled all the way up past his hip.

“Of course I did.” The same waves that were rough on Tubbo were gentle on Phil, seafoam swaying around his legs. “You don’t have to be afraid of him. He’s trustworthy.”

“You keep saying that, but you’ve never actually proved it.”

At this, Philza’s mood seemed to darken. His brows creased, and his lips settled into a downturned curve. “When has he ever tried to hurt you? When have any of them tried to hurt you?” Tubbo opened his mouth to speak, but Philza cut him off. “Hiding things from you doesn’t count. When have any of them actually, intentionally hurt you?”

It was painfully similar to what Wilbur had asked him, and Tubbo kept drawing similar blanks. Wilbur was sharp, and snappy, and Tubbo had seen him get violent before. But never towards him. “They could,” he eventually choked out.

“Anyone has potential to do harm,” Philza said. Tiny fish were swimming around his legs. “You can’t spend your whole life being afraid of people because of things they’ve never done. That’s too hard on the psyche.”

Tubbo turned to scowl at the sea. He may be upset, but he knew better than to disrespect the captain. And Phil really loved his crew. It did no good to argue with him about it.

“You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

Tubbo turned back to look at Philza, only to find him entirely changed. He saw him as several feet taller, his head blocking out the sun. His hair flowed around his shoulders like molten gold, and from his skull burst elk-antler tree branches, sprouting leaves and lichen. Feathers covered his body, and it was hard to tell where his torso ended and his wings began.

Tubbo blinked, and the vision was gone. Phil had a teasing look on his face, but was otherwise the same as he’d always been.

“I used to be,” Tubbo said, averting his gaze. “But not anymore.”

“Why? I’ve hurt a lot of people in my lifetime.”

“Well, because… I thought you were going to kill me. But instead you were nice to me.”

Phil didn’t say anything else, but Tubbo got the idea. Guilt was starting to build in his stomach, but it didn’t diminish the anger. It felt like the ocean was gripping his midsection and trying to drag him back out to the deep.

“Come on,” Philza said, an indication that the conversation was over. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

“We’re the only ones out here.” Tubbo squinted to look down the beach. There was no one, save for an odd rock that was vaguely human-shaped. Tubbo wouldn’t be surprised if Phil had been talking to rocks.

“You know the poem ’The Waves We Make?’” Philza asked. He waded deeper into the sea, and Tubbo didn’t follow.

Tubbo shrugged. “Yeah, everyone does. Old, long, plot that doesn’t make much sense.” He paused for a moment. “You’ve asked me that before.”

“It’s a beautiful story. A princess’s love for the sea, and the Sea’s love for her,” Philza said, ignoring Tubbo. “Defying all rules to be together.”

“Wasn’t the guy the one who fell in love with the sea?”

Philza turned around with a bemused look. Tubbo got the sudden sense that he had made a mistake.

“No, the princess was the one who…” Philza waved off the question. “We’ll talk about that later. It’s not important right now. What is important is this.” He gestured to the sea in front of him. For a moment, nothing happened. Waves lapped against the beach, and a seagull called overhead. And then the sea swelled. It pulled away from the beach and rose into the air, twisting around and flowing back into itself in infinite currents. It took the form of a torso, then two arms and a head, with hair made of seafoam falling back to the ground. It towered over the both of them, the sun filtering through its face like a halo.

“Tubbo,” Philza said, beaming up at the sea, “meet my ladylove.”

Tubbo gaped. “Th-that’s the ocean.”

“Yes, you’re very observant.” Tubbo was in too much shock to be put off by the sarcasm. The water-woman shrunk down to be barely larger than Tubbo, and extended a hand. Tubbo didn’t know if he was supposed to shake it or offer her a gift of some kind.

“Uh, hi,” Tubbo said, reaching to shake her hand. It felt like water, but solid enough he could grip it. “I’m Tubbo.”

“I know,” the Sea responded. Tubbo was shocked to hear her speak, expecting her to start signing. She did not have a mouth, barely a representation of a face, but her voice was all-consuming. “I’ve known you for a very long time. You may call me Kristin.”

Tubbo’s nerves made him giggle, his eyes wide as plates. “That’s a pretty human name.”

“I am introducing myself to a human, am I not?”

Tubbo turned to look at Phil, appalled at the water-woman. “The ocean is talking to me,” he could barely choke out. Phil just smiled, and reached out for her hands. She took them gently, and brought her face to his head in what looked like a kiss, though she didn’t have lips.

“I thought you being in love with the sea was a—a metaphor, or something,” Tubbo muttered. “Just something pirates say.”

“Well, pirates say a lot of things,” Phil said. “This one just happens to be true.”

“How did you two, um…” Tubbo didn’t know what to say. What could he say? “How did you two meet?”

The look on Philza’s face as he gazed at the water-woman was pure sunlight. “We’ve always known each other, in a way.”

“I like you,” Kristin said. “I didn’t always. But you’ve turned over a new leaf.”

Tubbo blushed, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the compliment or the strength of her gaze. “In no small part thanks to Philza.”

“What a man.” She cupped a hand to his face. “Can turn a fisherman into a pirate in just a few weeks.” She didn’t have much of a face, but her voice sounded like it was smiling.

Tubbo looked down at the small fish swimming around his feet. “I think I need to apologize to the crew. For lashing out.”

Philza and Kristin both looked to him. “I’m glad you’ve made that decision,” Philza said. “Just make sure they apologize to you, too. It’s no good to have tensions within your crew.”

Tubbo looked back to the beach. It was such a nice day to be by the ocean. “Maybe tomorrow. I’m not ready yet.”