Word Count: 4,863

A/N: Here I am again, with another chapter, bringing more nonsense, humor and surrealism xD


A Home for a Pirate


Chapter 7

An endless and pure blue stared down at a calm ship swimming over playful waters. The waves giggled with the tickling of the smiling sunrays and bumped clumsily against the wooden sides of the vessel. The sails moved lazily as the breeze sneaked around them. Although the nature played like a cheerful child, the morning was almost silent. Everything was hushed whispers... and soft moans...

The wooden planks creaked slightly, adjusting themselves to the weight that lay upon them. It was then that skins brushed against each other in an insistent movement.

Ling Tong found himself staring at the large blue sky as Gan Ning distributed kisses over his neck. The plan for that morning had been cleaning up the deck, but somehow, they ended up lying naked over the wooden planks... Such a mystery how some plans changed over the time. The creativity of fate.

The pirate's mouth traveled up, sliding over the brunet's jaw line, while his hand traveled down, teasing Ling Tong's abdominal muscles. "Gan Ning... I think we should..."

"Stop?" the blond chuckled, hot puffs of air blowing against flushed cheeks. "No, you don't want to."

"How can you be so sure?" the question came in ragged breaths.

That made the pirate laugh, his tattoos dancing mockingly as they followed the body's movement. When the laughing stopped, Gan Ning stared down at Ling Tong and smirked. "Why would you want to stop when I'm doing... this..." his hand gripped the brunet's cock and then slid over it a few times.

Ling Tong arched into the touch and let out a strangled moan. He felt light-headed with the movement of fingers and thumb and he chuckled softly, "I think you won the argument."

Gan Ning grinned and then kissed the brunet's parted lips. The blond felt fingers dance over his tattooed skin... but then a sudden loss of contact... before they returned to tease his member. The erratic movements were driving him insane, so he stopped his work to place the teasing hand over his organ. He led it over the growing surface and was almost losing himself in bliss... when Ling Tong pushed him away abruptly, ruining the moment.

"What the..." Gan Ning trailed off before seeing black sails not so far from them.

"I think they're pirates," Ling Tong said when he saw the ship approaching.

"No way!" Gan Ning stood up. "I'm the pirate here, they can't attack me!"

Ling Tong saw the movement of several men, that seemed to be prepared to invade their ship. "Then tell this to these guys!" the brunet urged.

"Oh shit, what a bad timing..." Gan Ning hissed when he saw the pirates getting too close.

They stared at each other-the awkwardness dense in the air. It was clear there was not enough time to get dressed and get a weapon. So they had to choose quickly: get dressed or get a weapon.

Get dressed or get a weapon.

When the first pirates reached the deck, Ling Tong was rushing to get dressed and Gan Ning was searching for a weapon.

The blond pirate tried to head to the inner compartments of the ship to get his weapon, but found the way blocked by two men. The pirates advanced towards him menacingly, but stopped suddenly. They stared fixedly at Gan Ning, somewhat unnerved by his stated of nakedness.

"What? A pirate can't be naked in his own ship?" Gan Ning protested.

The pirates looked at each other and then shrugged, resuming their advances with wicked grins on their faces.

"Okay, you wanna a piece of me so badly, then come." It wasn't as if Gan Ning had never faced a battle bare-handed... Naked, however, would be the first time... if he didn't count those playful games in his room with Ling Tong...

The first pirate slashed his sword in a semi-circle through the air, before he found himself flying towards a mast. The other struck his blade forward, picturing a bloody hole in the blond's chest, but saw his face crashing against a wall. Gan Ning turned and watched as the first pirate tumbled in his direction, sword trembling in a weak grip. The blond kicked the man's hand and saw the blade flying and then landing on the floor, dancing in circles before stopping. So he would finally put his hands on a weapon... if a third pirate hadn't stepped over it, taking it to form a pair with the sword he already had in hand.

Gan Ning stared at a man twice the size of his companions. His dark teeth smiled between the oily frame of a messy beard. It made Gan Ning remember that not all the pirates where good-looking and sexy as him.

The huge pirate advanced towards his blond prey, both swords in his hands, twirling them in the air as he eyed Gan Ning fixedly. The blond took some steps back, but found himself cornered when he felt the wall behind him. He saw a dark gaze up close and a breath of rotten sea against his cheek.

"Look, I know I'm irresistible, but you're not my type..." Gan Ning tried to avert his gaze from the piercing eyes.

"But you are my type..." the pirate licked his lips. "The type I eat as food," his grin widened in an almost inhuman way... before it vanished when he suddenly fell heavily on the floor.

"Gross!" Ling Tong stared at the man in disgust.

Gan Ning was relieved when he realized his lover had saved him. Ling tong was fully clothed and had a dangerous mop in hands. "Now.. you're more like my type." He grinned and pulled Ling Tong forward by the red fabric of his shirt, kissing him hard.

"Gan Ning!" he yelled when he freed himself from the blond's grip.

"What?" the tattooed man smirked when he saw the blush on Ling Tong's face.

"We're in the middle of a pirate attack! You can't kiss me!"

"Why not?"

"Because there are pirates around us and... they're staring at us..."

Gan Ning looked around and saw a gaping crowd of pirates in their deck.

"...So?"

"We're supposed to fight them."

"Ah... Okay."

They stared at each other and nodded in agreement.

Wave after wave of pirates fell down to the floor, until the last one was defeated by the fierce blow of a dangerous bucket Gan Ning had found. The blond grinned when he saw the pirates' bodies scattered around. It had been fun after all.

"Now, you should get dressed," Ling Tong warned his lover.

"Why?" Gan Ning scratched the back of his head.

"Because decent people wear..." Ling Tong stared the grinning face of Gan Ning and rolled his eyes. "Never mind."

"Here." The blond called his lover's attention. "Stop the whining and help me." He had a rope rolled around one shoulder and was carrying one of the pirates towards the mast. "Let's tie them here and think of a punishment for them."

"What if we just throw them into the water?"

"Wouldn't be so fun."

"Because you want to punish them," Ling Tong rolled his eyes.

"They invaded my ship!"

"Alright..." Ling Tong sighed deeply and helped Gan Ning carry the pirates to the mast. Then they warped the rope around them tightly.

"Now... what can we do..." Gan Ning grinned.

"You could tell them one of your stories."

"Yeah, good idea... I could tell them..." Gan Ning trailed off and then blinked in confusion. "But wait, and what about the punishment?"

Ling Tong smirked. "That would be punishment enough."

"What's wrong with my battle narratives?"

"Oh, nothing," Ling Tong's smirked even more.

"What if we spank them?"

"Have you gone out of your mind?"

"Oh I see, you'd get jealous if I spanked someone other than you."

Ling Tong narrowed his eyes in disapproval and blushed. "Why don't you force them to clean our deck," he tried to change the subject. "That was what we supposed to do when they showed up."

"No, we were doing other things. You know, other things," Gan Ning grinned.

"Yeah I know, but... we were supposed to clean the deck earlier, so... we could make them do the work."

"But it's not so embarrassing."

"Then imagine you cleaning their ship, and besides, we won't have to do the work... I'm tired," Ling Tong pleaded with his eyes.

"Hmm..." Gan Ning stared at the pleading gaze and considered the idea. "Okay."

"Great! Now you untie some of them and keep an eye on these pirates. I will go back to the room and take a nap." Ling Tong turned merrily and headed inside.

"Wait..."

Ling Tong turned his face back for a moment, "I want to see it all clean when I get back, but take your time, I think I will rest for some hours. See ya." He turned again and waved.

Gan Ning watched as his lover disappeared into the inner compartments of the ship and sighed.

"Alright." He looked around and found his clothes lying at a place ahead. After getting dressed, he picked a bucket full of water and went in the direction of the sleeping pirates. "Time to wake up."

xxx

Ling Tong yawned and stretched lazily as he drew some random patterns on the sheets with his feet. It was so good to take a good nap in the middle of the day... He rubbed his eyes softly and yawned once more, before lifting his body slowly. His eyes greeted the frail clarity of the thin-lit room and he adjusted his hair back in a neat ponytail. He took some steps away from the bed... but then stopped suddenly. Ling Tong remembered he had left his blond lover with some pirates at the deck. Was he okay?

Ah of course he's okay. He's Gan Ning after all.

Nothing wrong could have happened with an experienced general...

Ling Tong hurried through the ship, then stopped before the door that led him to the outside parts of the ship when he heard a single voice flowing through the air. He took a glimpse of the deck and saw all the pirates free from the ties, sitting in semi-circular lines on the floor. They were quiet and had their gazes fixed on a tattooed blond.

"...then a third officer came into the base. He carried a huge axe the size of a man and ran towards me, when I was still holding the second guy. The officer was still struggling in my arms and the other was getting closer and closer and I had to think fast so I kicked the guy I was holding in the direction of the other and the two of them rolled over the dirt floor all over each other. I almost laughed but then the first guy was lifting himself off the floor and I didn't know where did that sword in his hand came from, but he was pointing it at me and I didn't even stopped to think, I didn't even blink. When I realized, I was choking him with my chain and he was very strong but... It happened so fast, in a second he was down once again."

"And the other officers, master Gan Ning?" one of the pirates asked in curiosity.

"Oh they came back too, but it was me they were fighting against, they didn't stand a chance."

"You really took all of them by yourself..." one of the pirates whispered in awe.

"Yep."

"And what happened to master Ling Tong?"

"Ah you had to see his face. He was still so scared, but then he saw all the men on the ground and he looked at me. He was really relieved when he saw me, but he was too stubborn to thank me for saving his ass, so he kept staring at me, but then he came closer to me and..."

"And...?" All pirates asked in unison.

"He kis..."

"So I see you guys really cleaned this up!" Ling Tong stepped into the storytelling session and laughed nervously.

"Yeah, baby, we did it," Gan Ning smiled broadly.

"Don't call me that..." Ling Tong hissed and narrowed his eyes.

"And what about Tongy Tongy?"

"What?" He saw Gan Ning approaching with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Stay away from me!"

"You always say the sweetest things."

The pirates stared at each other and didn't know what to do as they watched that enigmatic display of affection, until one of them cleared his throat.

Gan Ning and Ling Tong stopped and stared at the crowd of pirates that was standing before them.

"So what we're gonna do now? Shall we leave?" a big bearded pirate asked.

"Shall we clean more?" a thin as a rope pirate asked shyly.

"We are good in cleaning," said a round pirate with a deep voice. "Our leader always liked his ship orderly and clean," he said in a voice affected by emotion.

"Yeah... our old leader..." the thin pirate said with a teary-eyed expression.

"Don't you have a leader anymore?" Ling Tong asked softly moved by the emotional atmosphere that covered them.

"Did he die?" Gan Ning asked and received a hit by his lover's elbow for his tactful approach on the subject.

The group of pirates stood in silence, staring at the floor in sadness, until one of them decided to talk.

"One day, we met a dark ship, with black sails. They attacked us and robbed our money. Then they made we strip and..." the trembling voice paused in reluctance.

"...and they robbed our clothes," another pirate continued. "They even took Sunny Sky."

"Who's Sunny Sky?" Ling Tong asked.

"Our leader's favorite bird, he was blue and yellow. They took everything from us," the big pirate let a single tear roll down his face. "And our leader..."

"Did he die?" Gan Ning asked again.

The thin pirate lifted his head and brushed some tears off his eyes. "No. What made you think that? He left with a circus the next day."

"Yeah... He was good in training animals." One of the big pirates smiled.

"Oh... I see, very tragic," Gan Ning concluded. "So I think your job here is done, guys."

That made the group of pirates stare at each other in an enigmatic silence, until they nodded and kneeled.

"Master Gan Ning!" the pirate lowered his head to the floor. "Please, be our leader."

"Yes, master Gan Ning, we need a leader!"

The tattooed blond stared at the pirates kneeling before him and pondered upon the request. It had been a while since he had a crew. And he couldn't deny he was good at being a leader. He stared at Ling Tong, asking for permission with his eyes.

The dark-haired man caught the question and stared at the group before him. They were ugly and they smelled bad, but besides that, they were also... ugly and smelled bad. "No!" Ling Tong mouthed to Gan Ning.

"Why not?" he whispered softly and stared at his lover with a pleading golden gaze.

Ling Tong gulped, crossed his arms in front of his chest and examined the group of pirates once more. He took a deep breath and decided they were not so bad... but "No."

"But they don't have a leader," Gan Ning pleaded.

"But they don't take baths!" he yelled and then saw all gazes turning to him. "Not that it's a bad thing, guys!" he laughed nervously.

"Okay..." Gan Ning stared down and nodded after a while. "I understand." He walked to the direction of the pirates and stood right in front of them. "Stand up, guys. There's no need to bow before me, I'm not you're leader."

"But..." One of the pirates protested.

"You don't need a leader, you're doing great on your own. I... I can't accept you as my crew. You see, I'm in a special journey with this guy here and we... need to be alone."

After a moment of silence, the pirates started to stand up once again. They stared at each other for a while, until one of them spoke again. "We understand, master Gan Ning."

"We are leaving now. Forgive us for trying to invade your ship."

"Don't worry about it," Gan Ning dismissed their apologies. He saw the pirates heading towards their ship one by one, until all of them left. When he thought no more words would be heard in that silent goodbye, he saw all the pirates waving back at him as their ship moved away.

"We'll never forget you, master Gan Ning!"

The blond pirate smiled broadly and waved back.

"Have a nice honeymoon!" the choir of pirates said.

Ling Tong arched an eyebrow. "Why did they say that? We're here to see an island, it's not like we're in this journey to... be together or something like that... like couples..."

Gan Ning laughed. "Oh Ling Tong, you say such things..."

xxx

"Excuse me, my lord, but the meeting is about to start." Lu Xun was worried about Sun Quan. It was not like him to forget about something important. Lu Xun tried to pay attention to any sound that came from his sovereign's chamber but the place seemed to be silent, as silent as if no one was there. "My lord...?" he asked tentatively. "May I come in?" He couldn't just barge into his lord's room without asking for permission. It took some time, but he eventually heard a soft

"Come in."

Lu Xun didn't like the tone of Sun Quan's voice, so devoid of life. He entered cautiously and saw his lord sitting on an ornate chair, turned to the balcony, staring at an empty sky.

"You'll get late for the meeting," Lu Xun said softly.

"It's been days since he disappeared and nothing new was found. It will be the same thing..." Sun Quan stared at the blank horizon tiredly. "I don't know if can face it anymore."

Lu Xun stared at his lord, and felt his heart clenching in his chest. None of his old friends were there to support him and his lord was in that sorrowful state. He couldn't help it... it was too late to think when he walked towards his lord's direction and warped his arms around his shoulders.

Sun Quan was taken aback by the action, but didn't stop his officer from embracing him from behind and burring his face on the crook of his neck.

"You don't need to come if you don't want to, my lord. Just stay here and I come back as soon as I have news..." Lu Xun lifted his head slightly and whispered. "I won't come back until I find anything new."

"No..." Sun Quan put his hand over Lu Xun's and turned his head slightly. "Don't go... I wouldn't bare the thought of losing you too." He stood up and turned to face the young general. "Here, I'm coming with you. Let's go to the meeting," he showed a sympathetic smile. "Let's go," he said again and took the boy's hand in a motion for him to follow. The moment was brief but even after their hands weren't touching, they still felt the warmth of the contact lingering on their skin.

xxx

"My lord."

All men bowed when Sun Quan entered the room and took his place.

"We've discovered valuable information."

That made Sun Quan widen his eyes in astonishment. "Really?"

"Yes, my lord." The first in command of the investigation team bowed and motioned for his men to bring someone.

From the shadows appeared a man that seemed as old as time. He had a long white beard resting on his chin and his skin resembled an ancient rock. His body was curved and appeared it could break any time. But despite the fragile look, he had sharp eyes of a hawk, attentive as if ready to attack.

"This man said he saw something that might interest us." The first in command turned to the fisherman. "Tell us what you saw."

The old man looked around with a piercing gaze, before losing himself in thoughts for a while, until his voice was finally heard, "It was a dark night. The waves were furious, like they knew some evil force was coming. I was stuck in the middle of the seas, unable to lead my ship somewhere safe. It was then that I saw..." the man paused for a moment and then stared forward as if envisioning what had happened. "The big head emerged from the dark waters." He opened his arms, to demonstrate the huge size of what he saw. "It had a hundred teeth in its mouth and thorns all over its body..."

Sun Quan stared at his men in confusion.

"No, man!" the officer yelled. "The other thing you saw."

"Ah..." the old man snapped out of his reverie. "There was a young man running through the port at night. He had long dark hair held in a ponytail and I could tell he was fairly tall. He was wearing red clothes, as red as blood."

"And tell us about the other man."

"Some time before there was a man that came up running through the port too. He was blond and had tattoos covering his arms and chest," said the fisherman.

"We believe that it could be our famous general that was once involved in piracy," the second in command spoke in proud contentment.

"Yes," the first in command said. "We believe it was general Zhou Tai."

Sun Quan stared in confusion. "But Zhou Tai is here,"

They all stared at a tall man standing in a dark corner of the conference room. "Yes, I'm here."

"And he didn't left the palace, as far as I know."

"No, my lord, I didn't," said the deep voice.

"Oh, yes," the leader of the investigation team said. "We believe it was our other great general, master Gan Ning... or just an ordinary bandit."

The second in command unrolled a scroll and consulted the information, "Fifty percent of our men, believe it was the famous general Gan Ning; the other fifty percent, believe it was just an ordinary thief; the other fifteen percent didn't know or refused to give their opinion."

"Wait..." Sun Quan thought for a moment. "I think there's something wrong..."

The man was stunned and looked back at the scroll to confirm the information. "My apologies, my lord, there was something wrong indeed. Fifty percent believe it was Gan Ning, another fifty percent believe it was an ordinary bandit. Five percent doesn't know and ten percent refused to answer."

"But... the sum seems to be... a little inaccurate," Lu Xun said.

"With all due respect, lord strategist, the sum is correct."

"But you can't have 115% of the men's opinion."

"Of course, we can, my lord, we have 115 men in the investigation team."

"But then 115 is 100%."

The officer stared at Lu Xun in confusion.

"Anyway," Sun Quan said. "What does this information represent?"

"We believe that if it were an ordinary bandit, then general Ling Tong was chasing after him, because he had been robbed. If it were general Gan Ning, then general Ling Tong might be chasing him to avenge his father's death. Or it could be Gan Ning robbing Ling Tong, then it would mean that our missing general was chasing him because he was robbed and had his father killed."

Sun Quan was alarmed by that... So Gan Ning had returned... and Ling Tong was probably trying to settle things with him. "Do you have any more information?"

"No, sir, that's it for now."

"Did you see anything more?" Sun Quan asked the fisherman.

"I did, my lord. Once I was traveling in my ship and I saw an island that seemed to be hidden by the mist..."

"Okay, old man, that's enough for today." The first in command led the fisherman outside.

"Men, I want you to look for more information around the port," Sun Quan instructed the officers.

They all bowed and went back to their work, leaving Sun Quan and Lu Xun alone in the room.

The young strategist stared at his lord's face and contemplated his expression. "Is there something worrying you, my lord?"

Sun Quan stared at the younger man with a grave expression clouding his face. "Are you not worried?"

Lu Xun blinked a few times in an innocent way. "I hope it was Gan Ning."

Sun Quan didn't understand. "But we all know what happened in their past."

"Yes, my lord, but I don't think Gongji would take his revenge. I think that he really overcame any ill feelings he had for master Gan Ning."

"How can you be so sure? Of course, they worked together in war, but do you think they could really settle their differences?"

"My lord forgot that Xingba risked his life to save our Gongji. And besides, I think they settled things in their own way."

"What do you mean? Did they truly make up?"

Lu Xun blinked a few times. "In a special way." The young strategist came closer to where Sun Quan was seated and kneeled before him, putting his hands on his lord's knees. "Don't worry, my lord, if they're together, they are fine."

xxx

The sky was deep and dark, as a thick mantle covering everything in sight. The waters were so dark that there was no way to tell where it ended, as if it merged with the sky. The ship was a tiny piece of wood floating over an endless sea. It was like the only thing that existed in a never ending darkness.

Almost covered by the night, little oil lamps glimmered in the deck, trembling points of light casting a golden glow over the two warriors sitting side by side.

"It seems so distant..." Ling Tong whispered.

"Hm...?" Gan Ning opened his eyes and stared at the other man.

"That island of yours. Does it really exist?"

"Of course it does! And it's closer than you think. See that distant point?"

Ling Tong stared ahead... and stared some more... "Hmm... No."

"Well, maybe you can't see now, but it's there. It's waiting for us. I can close my eyes and see it..." Gan Ning paused for a moment and imagined the shape of an island. "Yeah, do this, close your eyes."

"Gan Ning... I won't see anything."

"You will."

"No, I know, I won't"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because..." Ling Tong tried to answer, but looked at Gan Ning and sighed deeply. "Never mind."

"Close your eyes."

"Okay..." Ling Tong said after some reluctant moments. "Hmm... I see nothing."

"Really?"

"Really."

"And now..." Gan Ning moved closer and kissed the brunet's lips softly.

Ling Tong opened his eyes. "I see you..." he whispered.

Gan Ning pushed him gently on the floor and crawled over him. "Isn't it the best sight you've ever had?"

Ling Tong rolled his eyes.

"Because... it sure is the best I had up here." Gan Ning stared down at Ling Tong's face and saw a faint shadow of a blush in his cheeks. The blond caressed his lover's hair and saw him closing his eyes, drifting off in his caresses. "That's it, close your eyes and sleep," he said in a voice as soft as a dream. "When you wake up, we'll be there."

And darkness became hazy and then white, a soft white. The pearly sand floated with the wind over jade dancing waters. The sky was the purest blue above them, above the earth and rocks and trees. And everything sparkled in color, in blue, and yellow and green. Everything was waving leaves and cascading water.

And that was the only place in the world.

"See. I told you we would be there."

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A/N: Well, it was fun to write this chapter. It took some time, but it was somewhat easy to write, I just let my fingers type what they wanted. I hope someone had fun reading it. Thank you LadyKatatonic, Animelover6000, NekoKitty933 and Stalli Anna, you make me really happy to see that you're enjoying this story. A little more of the investigation team in this chapter, a little more of Sun Quan/Lu Xun. The Ling Tong/Zhao Yun is up already, I'm happy to know you guys liked it :D

Yes, LadyKatatonic, I'm thinking about the Xu Huang/Zhang Liao, gathering some ideas, but I'm sorry, it will take a while until I can write something new. I'm involed in 5 projects right now, 3 of them are almost finished, but there's still this story and a somewhat long FF8 fic, so I will have to finish the drafts before I start something new.

I'd love it if you started writing for this fandom, Stalli Anna. I will give you some suggestions :D I love people writing fics of the things I want to see!

So I see you guys in the next chapter!