Chapter Text
“Take the ship!” Raihan shouts to his crew as he leads them across the planks onto the opposing vessel. He grits his teeth as his blade clashes with the king’s men, slowly cutting his way through the sailors, with the sounds of fighting and metal clanging surrounding him as his crew joins him in the fray. He spots the captain of this ship immediately and makes a bee-line for him.
Blood splatters across his face as he easily slashes the chest of the so-called captain of this ship, knocking him off his feet and onto his back in front of Raihan. He points his saber down at the man in front of him, just barely pressing into his neck, causing a drop of blood to trickle out. Raihan smirks at the man below him, “Call off your dogs.”
The other man nods frantically, causing a few more droplets of blood to trickle down his throat, and hastily calls out to his men to surrender. Raihan waits until two of his men come by to detain the captain before he removes his blade from the man’s throat. Looking around the ship, he sees his crew already finishing up securing the remaining royal sailors before beginning to rummage through the supplies, taking everything worthwhile onto their own ship. He smiles at his crew, genuinely glad to see none was severely injured in the fight.
Reaching into his pocket, Raihan pulls out a handkerchief that he uses to wipe the blood off his face, before cleaning his bloody saber and sheathing it. Just as he’s about to start helping with looting the enemy vessel, he hears a familiar voice shout out to him.
“Captain!”
He turns around to see Aria, his second in command, jogging up to him. Her face appears to be stoic as usual, though through the years Raihan has known her, he can tell she’s unsettled by something. He meets her halfway, towering over her as they both come to a stop in front of each other.
“Captain,” Aria repeats, more composed this time. “They have a prisoner on board.” For a split second, Raihan feels his eyes widen at the revelation, before reverting to his usual stern expression, though he can’t entirely rid the anger that shows through his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, he nods and says, “Show me.” Aria wastes no time in turning on her heels and walking back from where she had approached from, but this time with her trusted captain right behind her.
He follows Aria through the various rooms and passageways, somehow going deeper than he thought possible in a ship this size. The ship they raided is a smaller cargo ship heading back to the Royal Port; it should never have had any prisoners on board, let alone a containment area for prisoners. Holding back a shudder, Raihan prepares himself for whatever he is about to see hidden away in the heart of this vessel.
After a few more minutes of walking, Aria finally starts slowing her pace, before coming to a stop completely. They’re stood in what seems to be the end of a hallway, with empty boxes and crates lining the walls and scattered haphazardly across the floor, making progression through the hall difficult beyond this point. There’s no door in sight, much less anything that looks like a prison. Raihan gives a confused look to Aria, who cups her hand around her ear, signaling for him to listen closely.
He inches forwards, pressing himself against the wall of boxes in front of him, and just focuses on listening for any sort of sound. After a few long moments, he finally hears it: the sound of a chain rustling, the floorboards under their feet creaking slightly, though neither him nor Aria are moving, and the faintest sounds of panicked breathing that’s obviously trying to be quiet.
He locks eyes with Aria and mouths stay back to her. She gives a curt nod and backs away from the wall of boxes as her captain quickly, but quietly, starts moving the boxes to make a walkable path. The sounds of panic increase as he moves the boxes away, someone on the other side of the make-shift wall trying to get as far away as possible from the unknown figure quickly getting closer.
Raihan finishes moving the boxes around and hesitates for a moment to prepare himself for the sight of the person behind them. He plasters an, what he hopes to be, open and friendly expression on his face as he slowly walks between the narrow gap he created.
The first thing he sees is purple hair. A lot of it. The second thing he notices is the chain on the ground, connecting from the wall and clasped around the ankle of a man. A man, who doesn’t appear to be much younger than himself, is sitting in the far corner of the room, with his arms hugging his knees to his chest and his head tucked into his knees. He’s donned in ill-fitting rags and no shoes. His shirt falls off his shoulder, and he’s obviously been underfed with how pale and scrawny his figure looks. Raihan doubts he’s had the chance to bathe recently as well, given how grimy his skin is and the unruly state of his purple hair.
Tentatively, Raihan takes a slow step forward, causing the floorboard under his feet to creak. The man whips his head up at this, golden eyes meeting blue ones for the first time. Raihan can see the fear clear in his eyes, but also a hint of confusion? The man was expecting someone else to appear from behind the boxes.
Raihan takes this moment of confusion to take another step closer and crouches down to be closer to his eye level. He flashes a, hopefully, friendly smile, and thinks he should start by introducing himself to this man.
“My name is Raihan. Have you heard of me before?” He waits patiently for any response from the man, and finally receives a quick shake of his head. Fear is still heavily present in the other man’s features, but now confusion and bits of curiosity are starting to shine through more. He continues, “I’m the captain of The Dragonfly. My crew and I have taken over this ship you’re on.” Raihan pauses, then says, “Would you like to come with us? You’d be a free man again, no longer chained up.” He has no idea if this is a good idea, but it’s clear this man is neglected.
The man across from him looks as if he’s wanting to say something, so Raihan waits a few seconds longer. In a raspy whisper, “They have my brother.” He sounds so broken, and tears were threatening to spill down his cheeks.
Raihan’s eyebrows shot up, surprised at the words coming out of the man’s mouth, which quickly turned to anger towards the King’s men. Turning his head slightly to the wall of boxes, Raihan said, “Aria, start rounding up the men and prepare for departure as soon as I board our ship.” There was no verbal confirmation, but he heard the footsteps fade away to carry out his order.
He looks back at the man again and asks, “How old is your brother?”
“Twelve.”
Raihan sighs. Fuck, that’s so young. He can’t stand the thought that a twelve-year-old kid is being held captive by the Royal Brigade. His mind is already made up as he locks eyes with this man he just met. “We can help you get your brother back. You have my word.”
The man looks in his eyes, searching for any sign of being lied to, but Raihan is telling the truth. He always helps people if he can, especially if the crown is the cause of their problems. The crown has been a thorn in his side for as long as he can remember, and vice versa, though Raihan and his crew are the ones with the upper hand majority of the time.
“The key is on that top box over there,” the man says suddenly, jarring Raihan out of his thoughts. Following the shaky hand, Raihan nodded and got up to get the key, his height making it easy to reach it from the top box he was pointed towards. He makes quick work of unlocking the chain around his ankle and stood back up.
“Can you walk?” Raihan asks, stretching his hand down to offer assistance if needed. The man takes it, and allows Raihan to pull him up, taking a few tentative steps before collapsing in Raihan’s arms. “Hey, it’s okay,” he says as the man’s face reddens with embarrassment. “Once we get a meal in you, and you have a bath and some rest, you’ll be walkin’ around in no time.”
The man offers him a small smile, not quite reaching his eyes, but it’s the first smile he’s seen from him. Raihan smiles back before he scoops the man into his arms, and walks back out the way he had come in with Aria not even fifteen minutes prior.
Upon exiting the interior of the ship, the man immediately shields his face from the sunlight bearing down on them, and Raihan wonders how long this man has been chained up down there for. He decides to not question the man just yet. Once his basic human needs have been fulfilled, then he will start asking him questions.
Sweeping his gaze across the enemy ship, Raihan makes his way back over to The Steel Dragon, where Aria meets him. “Captain, everyone is accounted for, and we are ready to set sail at your command. What do you want to do with the ship?”
Raihan hums as he thinks over his options. His mind flickers back to the thought of the young kid being held captive by the same people, and rage boils his blood. He looks Aria directly in the eyes and commands, “Sink it. Quickly.”
She nods and begins commanding the crew to depart from the royal vessel and to ready the canons. Raihan leaves the ship in her capable hands, as he carried the man in his arms to his quarters. There, he can let the man bathe himself, and start getting used to being a free man again.
Once inside his quarters, he sets the man down on a chair and starts gathering extra clothes he can change into. He hands him the spare clothes, a plain tunic and pants that will definitely be too big for him. The wash basin in the room has already been filled, no doubt Aria’s doing, so he quickly shows the man where everything is and makes sure he understands. His hand is on the doorknob, about to leave the man some privacy for himself when–
“Leon.”
Raihan pauses, hand still on the doorknob, and turns back to look at the man in confusion. He looks him directly in the eyes, though the other man’s cheeks are tinted pink.
“That’s my name. Leon,” he says again, and Raihan smiles a toothy grin, the lantern light in the cabin shines off one of his fangs.
“Leon, huh? Nice to meet you,” Raihan says, still smiling widely. After another moment, he turns back and continues out the door, making sure to close it fully.