Chapter Text
Can you hear it?
No. Of course you can’t. It’s not a sound, it's a feeling.
No. It is a sound, but so much more than that. Bliss and longing and passion and joy and everything you could ever want. He guided the ship as it led him to, knowing his crew wanted it just as badly as he did.
A primal urge in the back of his head urged him to resist, but every time he looked away, those gentle hands would guide his head back. The voice took all the pain away, promised sweet nothings that were so much sweeter than what he had. Life was pain, the voice was freeing.
Between one prolonged blink and the next, his hands were bracketing him against the ground, the grinding sound of wood against rocks would be loud if he still had the mind to hear it. That was okay, it wanted his ship to go down, then they could all have that sweet bliss.
He pushed himself with splintered hands, when had they started bleeding? A certain hunger entered his mind, one that didn’t really belong to him. Pausing to stare at his own ravenous flesh, something new had grabbed him. Not that gentle, barely there hands that guided his every movement like a puppet on a string, but physical hands shaking him awake. Had he been asleep?
Then all at once, the song left, cutting him into a thousand pieces as it took that bliss with him, leaving him unable to remember what happiness even felt like.
“-to save them, come on, wake up!”
Eoghan shook his head, fighting the hold. Anything to get back to that bliss, please don’t take this from me.
The grip turned crushing, claws digging bruises into his shoulders. Its own song picked up the broken pieces, just enough to make him whole. The cracks of sorrow still seeped through, but it finally gave room to breathe.
Eoghan blinked up, still trying to piece his mind back together.
That same puppet-string force turned his face to look at the state of the ship, wood littered the deck, kicked around by those shuffling to the railing. The ice cold shock left him limbs frozen, helpless as one of his crew members scaled the railing and jumped. The smile never left his face.
Eoghan’s next moments were on instinct alone, ignoring the ache of icy limbs. He firstly pushed a crate in front of the door to the lower deck, preventing anyone from coming up. He then ran to the closest crewmate, grabbing her wrists as she too tried to scale the railing. He yanked her bandana off and used it to tie her wrists to the banister, then took her belt to secure her ankles.
He half-tackled his quartermaster into the mast, using the ropes to tie his body down. Kosi kicked, thrashed, and even tried to bite.
“Cmon Kooki, I know you don’t like getting handsy but this is for your own good!” Eoghan pinned an arm under his chin, trying to tie the ropes one handed was proving to be a difficult venture.
Movement in the corner of his vision caused him to turn his head, and he saw the Boatswain airing too close to the side of the ship. If he let Kosi go now, the man would surely jump the rail.
“Don’t make me do this, don’t make me choose like this.” Eoghan mumbled, seeing Kosi already struggling out of the loose ropes.
He pulled out his gun. “Forgive me Willa.” He lined up the shot and fired. The flesh of her knee shredded from the pellets of his blunderbuss, Eoghan prayed she’d be able to walk again.
He shoved Kosi against the mast again, causing the man to bang his head and still in his struggles. Eoghan finally got the knot tied.
“Are ya Kosi?” Eoghan asked. “Get it.. cozy? But-… not the time. Oh- Willa!”
He went over to Willa, trying to pull her up despite the half-orc being nearly twice his size.
“Captain..?” Willa struggled out.
Eoghan let out a breath, a smile gracing his lips. “Fear not, you’re not dead, stay here, I’ll get you a crutch-“
“Can you hear the song?” Her grip turned crushing, her nails digging into his flesh. She stood on a broken leg, shoving him into the banister, the wood splintering behind him.
“Snap out of it Willa,” he managed his gun out of his holster, the barrel against Willa’s stomach.
“It’s beautiful, I can hear it, I can help you hear it,”
Eoghan’s finger went over the trigger, but he couldn’t pull it, couldn’t end her life to save his own. Blood tricked down from his forearm, earning a sound of pain. He knew she had the strength to tear his arm clean off.
Pull the trigger.
You have to live.
“No, I don’t want to, please,” Eoghan begged. His finger began to squeeze against his own will. “I’m sorry, friend,” he managed out.
The ship suddenly jerked rightward, a rock scraping against its side. The gun went off, blood splattering his face and torso but Willa was unable to even scream at the pain. He prayed she couldn’t feel it at all.
Before he could even worry about the state of her, the banister finished splintering against his back, sending him crashing into the sea. The water felt like concrete, knocking all the air from his aching lungs.
Now in the water the song didn’t have to pass through his ears, it transmitted directly into his brain and whatever saved him before was not strong enough down here.
He let himself sink, inhaling the water just as the song told him to. No fears, not even as the water stained red around him.
Sweet, sweet nothings.