"Back, you rogues! Back, I say!"
But the looting pirates came ever closer, descending upon him from all directions. Some hung from ropes normally used for tying down the ships' sails. Others stood below deck, their menacing stares and ability to block the lower section of the ship from escape serving as their only true weapons. But the largest group stood just inches away from him, their swords keeping him rooted to his spot.
Suddenly, the unmanned ship struck what must have been a reef, hidden by the dark blue water. Every man onboard fell to his knees, the force of the crash lurching the upper deck of the ship forward while the bottom deck cracked and snapped against the aged coral. Knowing this was his only chance of escape, the swashbuckling hero scrambled to his feet and without a second thought or a backwards glance, dove off of the edge of the ship, plunging himself into the sea.
The growls of frustration coming from the direction of the ship brought a smug smile to his face as he swam to a nearby shore, putting as much distance between himself and the ship as possible before stopping to build a fire. As he sat on the sand, his clothes slowly drying from the heat of the fire, he gazed out at the horizon. The sun was just beginning to set. And what a sunset it was. The sky was a stunning mixture of oranges and reds and colors that he had no names for, and in that moment—
"Eugene!" A familiar piercing voice interrupted. "Reading that foolish book again? You know it's too difficult for the younger kids to understand. The words are too fancy."
"I think they understand it as well as any other book. The words make it easier to visualize the scene," the young man said flatly, as if this conversation were all-too-familiar.
"You should be spending your time with more practical things, like learning how to live in the real world instead of that fantasy. Tomorrow starts your life on your own. You won't have the orphanage to support you while you sit and spend your time daydreaming."
"I know, Mrs. Pierce. Can I at least finish reading? I was getting to the best part." The old woman rolled her eyes and retreated from the room, mumbling about ungrateful youth and the amount of pay she received from the kingdom not being enough.
"Anyway, where was I?" the young man asked, turning towards the small group of children sitting cross-legged in the floor in front of the couch he lounged on.
"The sun, the sun!" a boy of around 5 years old exclaimed.
"Oh yes, the sun…
The sky was a stunning mixture of oranges and reds and colors that he had no names for, and in that moment, Flynnigan Rider knew that no matter how many more adventures he would experience in his lifetime…no matter how many scrapes he would barely make it out of, no matter how much money he would make, no matter how many beautiful women he would meet…nothing in the world could compare to this moment. Sitting and watching something as beautiful as the sun burn brightly in the evening sky, serving as a beacon of hope to those lost in a fog of unfulfilled dreams, was more adventure than he would ever need.
"The end, Flynn?" the same little boy asked as the book snapped shut.
"One adventure has to end for another to begin!" he exclaimed in reply, jumping on the couch and brandishing the book in front of him as if it were a sword. The children clapped and laughed, ever-entertained by his adventurous spirit.
He often wondered, late at night when everyone else was asleep, whose adventurous spirit he had…where he came from…where he belonged. It certainly wasn't here, at this orphanage, with the discouraging Mrs. Pierce. No.
Eugene Fitzherbert was the poor orphan boy who couldn't fend for himself out in the real world beyond these four plain walls he'd been staring at since before he could remember. But Flynn Rider? Tomorrow, Flynn Rider would step outside, breathe in the fresh air, and begin a life of adventure, wealth and contentment. He would answer to no one, and the entire world would be his playground. He would have the love of every woman around, and one day, he would settle down on an island somewhere, just him and that same sunset he'd been reading about for the last 18 years.