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“I will peel off your skin and feed it back to you.” Those were, when Izzy recalls it correctly, the exact words Hornigold used. They were pointed at Edward and Jack, both Pirates in the Prim of their youth and both absolutely screwed.
These words started the whole drama. (One could argue that the drama started before, when Calico Jack and Edward decided to complain about what has been happening on the ship lately, and Hornigolds First Mate heard it.)
Anyways, these words alone would not have been a life altering event. Captain Hornigold always was, always has been and always will be a dick. They all hated him and yet they were thankful to get somewhat fed and to not be in the army. Even thought, anyone with less steel hard stubbornness then Izzy might have wondered if the Army wouldn’t have been the better option.
Especially Edward wondered about that, when Hornigolds words followed deeds. In this case, the deed of being tied with Calico Jack, wrist to wrist, onto the main mast of the La Concorde. The First Mate was a huge man, inked from his bald head to the tips of his dirty toenails. He was massive. A mountain of a man. The kind that Izzy couldn’t even reach, with his small stature.
And the First Mate, in his hard working hand, held the cat o’nine tails. The deal wasn’t complicated. Hornigold liked games, but he hated traitors. And these few bad words were enough for him.
“You get 40 whips. I don’t care how you divide them between you two.” Hornigold laughed. The Crew loved to rip off the shirts off their backs. A grotesque play. Izzy was only a bystander. He had wanted to move between them, but Edward wouldn’t have wanted him to. Izzy knew that. He was facing his punishments by himself.
The whip came hissing down on the two Pirates. It was Edward who screamed first. Half in surprise, but mainly in pain. His back burst open like rotten fruit and the nectar began seeping down his spine.
The First Mate did his best to divide the blows equally. Edward. Jack. Edward. Jack. Edward. Jac-
“Stop!” Jack was full on crying. He clawed on the mast, his fingernails hardly leaving a mark. They had not even hit the 20th blow yet. Not even halfway.
“Stop stop it- give him the other blows!”
The Crew, who had been screaming and taunting them until now, laughed. Edward looked up, his brown eyes two black seas of ink. Tears glimmed in them and they found Izzys. As if he was grounding him. Reaching out with two hands, ready to take the pain. But Edward would never ask that of Izzy. And Izzy would never suggest it. It’s better not to hurt his best friends Pride.
“Let this be a lesson,” Hornigold said, as the remaining blows landed on Edward alone. “about Loyalty. Loyalty is everything. And on a Pirate Ship, you all should know who it belongs to.”
Izzy was very aware of whom his loyalty belonged to. He picked his people carefully and then stayed devoted until either of them would die. And seeing Edward like this, in pain because Hornigold was a dick and Jack a coward, had him seething and see Red.
You see, the Problem, the real Problem Izzy had was this: Some people learn how to be angry. They have abusive families, they are maybe just smarter than average and can’t shut out how unfair the world is. But some people are born angry. It is just in their veins. They get into the world and they are screaming. Or they are a silent hurricane.
If you are the latter, your anger issues will be a lot worse when you are 16, then they will be when you are 40. When you are 40, you are tired. Life has worn you down, you got used and compromised on many things. When you are 16, you are just angry. And right now? Right now, Izzy was so angry, he would do something very very stupid.
~
Calico Jack and Edward were both banned from the La Concorde. “See this as me being merciful and not stringing you up,” Hornigold had told them, as they were shoved off the ship and into the dirty streets of Nassau, which would later turn into the Republic of Pirates. But back then it was just some shackles, muddy fields of sugarcane and lots of criminal energy.
Izzy had silently grabbed his stuff, followed them down the plank, and then been stopped by Edward.
“Forget it Iz- stay here. Not your fault we fucked up,” Edward said. Izzy looked back at the ship. It felt like a prison, without Edward. It had already before, but now it was even more of a personal purgatory. But behind Izzys eyes, anger pounded. He could’ve exploded, right then and there. But he was the silent type. He was a quiet teenager, a scrawny Pirate that people constantly underestimate.
“Okay. If you say so, Eddie.” And Izzy turned and went back up onto the deck, ready to not see Edward ever again.
The solution to the Problem seemed obvious: You just let the anger explode out of you, and then you can be a calm and content person. Or well- as calm and content as Izzy can be.
It was a dark night. The testosteron was through the roof. They had seen a good whipping that day, got fresh supplies and alcohol from Nassau, and nobody suspected a thing, when Izzy asked to have a chat with Hornigold. In Private. Everyone just assumed that Izzy would leave the vessel and wanted, for some reason, closure. Izzy was a weird one. One with high morals, who always saw the best in piracy. They all just wanted to survive. Izzy was (compared to the crew) well-mannered, educated enough to possess a pair of reading glasses, and dedicated to what they were doing. Even when Hornigold sent him to drag the supplies he couldn’t even lift.
It was the last time Hornigold was seen alive. They went into the Captains Quarters and Izzy waited until Hornigold turned around, to slit his throat. Hornigold stumbled back, hands on his neck to feel the blood run rivers over his palms. Izzy shoved him hard, was all over him to put his own hand above the Captains mouth. He didn’t want him to scream. But he wouldn’t be satisfied with only one clean cut. Once he was sure he had hit right through the vocal cords, his knife kept on hacking down on the mans face.
Just when he had gotten up, his whole face and hands covered in red grime, entered the First Mate. Had he just decided to come at a later point, to talk about their business when he was sober for example, he would maybe still walk the earth today.
Instead he looked at what used to be his Captain and was now merely a piece of minced meat in very fancy clothes. Once he registered what he saw, he went to kick Izzys ass.
“You fucking traitor will hang!” He screamed. Izzy knew he was in bed with the Captains daughter. or well- the Captains dead body. He could do very little against that huge man above him. Except for kick of course. And, once he realized how that wouldn’t work, to bury his teeth in the poor fellows throat.
The human jaw is able to bite through fingers, hands and even whole arms. It is said that our jaw is stronger than that of both lions and wolves. Izzy would’ve called that bullshit, but opinions change, when you bite through a mans throat and have his blood soak you.
It felt mostly like a dream. Izzy got up, left the ship and then stumbled for a very rough night through Nassau. He didn’t exactly try to hide. It hit him what he had done, at around 3 in the morning, when he had found a cheap motel room and fell into the bed. He tossed his dirty clothes onto the floor, but didn’t bother washing off any of the human remains on him. He had turned into a mutineer. And just like that, he would die. Mutineers are punished by death. Everyone knows that. Izzy very well knew it when he decided to commit a murder against his former Captain. He couldn’t bother to care.
In the morning he got up again and got on his way. He planned on leaving Nassau behind, as soon as possible, or to maybe fake his death to get away. He hadn’t settled on a plan, hadn’t even left the hotel lobby, when Edward crossed his way. What were the odds?
“Eddie!” Izzy said, grinning widely. The red on his face had turned copper and black. Edwards head perked up and he smiled all over it.
“Iz! What’re you doing here?” He asked. Izzy just shrugged his shoulders. “Where’d ya leave Jack, that motherfucker?”
“Jack left,” Edward said and shrugged sheepishly. Izzy didn’t want to sigh. He wanted to say he didn’t see it coming, but he did. Of course he did. Jack wasn’t bound down. He hated that.
“Thwart… and now?” Izzy asked, stamming the hands into his hips. Edward smiled sweetly. It was the kind of smile that got Izzy so attached, he thinks. How could anyone not trust this sunny smile?
“Mh… wanna see something?” Edward asked. He was still sore and tired. His back was an aching mess. But he was already running off. By default, Izzy was following merely some steps behind.
~
“She’s Spanish,” Edward explained, as they jumped on top of the ship. Izzy felt a cold breeze. His clothes were still soaked and the morning was fresh on the beach. They had rowed a little and then climbed onto a ship Izzy had never seen before,
The floor was covered in blood. The Main Sail had seen better days, and some bodies were heaped at one side of the ship. They caught Izzys attention first.
“Shit you dumbass- they had the Plague!”
“Yeah I know. That’s why I need help throwing ‘em overboard,” answered Edward. Izzy wouldn#t go anywhere near these deceased bodies.
“Well look for someone else to do it. It’s the fucking Black Death. Why would you show me this?” Izzy demanded to know. He had gone to the side of the ship, leaning on it and staring down at the turquoise water. It looked weirdly like a paradise.
“Because Izzy, this vessel doesn’t belong to anyone,” Edward said. And then he grinned. Izzy blinked, since he hadn’t considered that yet.
“Yeah, good idea. Keeü the Plague Infected Ship.”
“Come on. We rename her. let’s say we call her… Queen Annes Revenge ,” Edward said and to Izzy it sounded like a faraway dream. He was a realist. Not someone who dwelled on Edwards weird ideas.
“And you and me- we sail her. We find a crew. I’m Captain ‘cause I found her. And you are-”
“A mutineer,” Izzy interrupted. Edward gawked for some seconds. “What the fuck now?”
“I killed Hornigold. Edward you know that you are supposed to kill me for that, right? If they see you hanging around with me, your head will be the next one they demand.”
Edward leaned next to Izzy. They both stared at the Horizon. The clouds were already turning from rose to white. Soon the day would start in full force.
“Hornigold was pretty much a dick anyways,” Edward reasons. Mostly because he doesn’t want to kill Izzy. Or to leave him behind. Even when he should.
“Listen Izzy- I want you to be my First Mate,” Edward began anew. Izzy looked seriously at Edwards face. it meant the world to him. It really did.
“Because, if Hornigold was right about one thing, it was about Loyalty. Loyalty is everything. Especially as First Mate. And you’ve been loyal to me, before I found the ship. So what do you say? You already killed Hornigold for me.”
“Edward- with me, you’ll have trouble finding a Crew. Don’t forget that. A reputation means a lot and-”
“And you will get the reputation you deserve. Iz- come on. You are the best Swordsmen I have ever seen. There is no one as skilled as you. And when the people realize that, they will beg to have you as First Mate. And me as Captain,” Edward argued.
He had found Izzys ego and polished it with skilled fingers. Izzys cheeks had turned red and he nodded. “Fine- fine, okay. Whatever. I’ll be your fucking First Mate. Since you asked so nicely.”
“Yes!” Edward cheered and he went to pick Izzy up and swirl around. But Izzy took a step back and gave Edward a dark: “Don’t you dare, you fucking thwart.”
Edward laughed. He went to grab the first dead sailors legs. “Now come over here, First Mate Hands. Help me. Show some fucking loyalty to your Captain,” Edward joked. And Izzy smiled. For a long moment he smiled.
“Ay Ay, Captain.”