Disclaimer: I still don't own.


Chapter 12: Of Captains and Captives

After that day, the bracelets began to disappear from Lovino's wrists, his arms, his ankles. Replacing them at first were bandages, and then small hearts doodled on by Antonio, as well as his worried brothers, to whom he had explained everything. They were surprisingly understanding about it, albeit a bit upset that he hadn't told them sooner.

However, soon things returned to normal. Lovino regained his normal attitude and took up his duty as First Mate, his main priority being the elections for the new Captain.

It was tradition on the Pomodoro that whenever a new Captain was needed, an election would be held so every seaman could have his say on their new leader. Lovino, who should have been next in line to be the Captain, turned down the job offering and remained as the First Mate. He did try to convince Antonio to join the election, though.

"Why me? How on earth would I be a good Captain?" Antonio asked in wonder. "I can't even do most of my jobs properly, and yet you think I'd be suitable for Captain?"

"Antonio, listen to me. You would sure as hell be one of the best captains we've ever had, I'm sure of it. Plus, it would show that you're ready to take on the throne of Spain."

After a bit of persuasion, Antonio finally agreed to enter the running.

By election day, the only two candidates were Antonio and Sadiq, the Gunman. The crew were excited for the elections, and were interested in the rivalry between the pair. Almost every seaman voted in the election, which ended up as a draw. Lovino was then left to announce what the decider would be.

"The decider is a battle between the two candidates, Antonio and Sadiq. They must duel, each using their chosen close-range weapon. They are not allowed to kill or seriously injure their opponent. The first to be disarmed and cornered will be the loser. The battle will begin at dawn tomorrow. Good luck to both contestants."

Antonio and Sadiq glared at each other as the crew cheered in excitement. As they passed one another to head in opposite directions, Sadiq said quietly, in a voice that only Antonio could hear, "Let's make this interesting, eh? The winner not only gets to be Captain, but they also get Lovino to themselves. I mean, the Captain and First Mate do share a room here."

Growling, Antonio turned to the Turkish man, but he had already wandered off into the crowd.

Well, he thought, better win this thing. I'll never let that masked creep take advantage of my Lovi!

X-x-X

It was time for the battle to commence.

Antonio and Sadiq stood opposite each other in the centre of a ring of men. Their prize, Lovino, stood with a very familiar Captain's hat at the side of the ring, ready to begin the match. He hushed the crowd before reminding them of the rules. Afterwards, he glanced towards the two, whispering a good luck, before using two of his fingers to signal a piercing whistle into the air.

Sadiq made the first move, darting forward with his broadsword to attack the Spaniard, who made a quick guard using his double-bladed axe. He then twirled his axe with practised precision and struck the Turk's sword with it, using all of his strength to push it away. Sadiq smirked before pulling his sword out from under Antonio's, which caused him to lose his balance slightly, giving the Turk a clear advantage. He prepared to strike, but was stopped when he felt a sharp pain nick at his leg; Toni jumped up and hit struck him again, this time on the arm. He continued this way, making small nicks in the arms and legs of Sadiq, who was growing increasingly irritated. Finally, Toni nicked his upper thigh, causing him to drop his sword in surprise. Antonio pushed the sword away with his foot and pressed his opponent against a wall, his axe pointing directly at his chest.

Another sharp whistle resounded, and a large applause came from the audience as Antonio stepped away from Sadiq. He couldn't believe what he was hearing - were they cheering for him?

"Congratulations, Antonio. You are the winner," Lovino announced. "Come over here." Antonio approached the Italian, who wore a faint smile. "Congrats, Toni. I told you you'd be a good Captain." Lovino roughly pushed the hat on the Spaniard's head and lifted his right arm with his left, causing the crowd to cheer even louder. Antonio grinned - he felt so elated! He'd won!

Sadiq scowled before walking up to him and whispering, "Congrats, pretty-boy. Don't get too cocky though, there are plenty of better fighters than me." And with that, he took back off into the crowd.

Lovino looked over at Antonio, a confused look on his face. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter~" Toni replied, smiling once more.

X-x-X

Meanwhile...

Peter was now becoming accustomed to the sight of the store cabin. The horrid smell turned out to be the dried dirt and blood on his body from during the battle. The only other things in the store room, other than him, were multiple barrels filled with food and various other supplies. Every five or so hours, the same tall man would come in and give him something to eat. He was mostly given bread and butter, but on occasion he would be given the treat of porridge or fruit, and once a strip of bacon. Peter may have been scared at first, but now he was used to the sight of the giant coming in with a small plate in his large hands.

After around a week and a half, it was time for Peter to be given some more food. However, when the giant walked in this time, he was not alone. Behind him walked a much shorter man with short hair of a lighter shade of blonde, a blue and white bandanna tied around his head. He had blue-violet eyes which were full of life, and wore the common white t-shirt and black trousers with boots. He smiled at Peter and knelt down beside him.

"Hello, little one."

Peter shrunk a little, not yet trusting of this stranger.

The stranger merely chuckled. "Don't worry, I don't bite. Now, do you want to tell me your name?"

Having not used his voice in a while, the young boy's reply came out croaky and weak. "Peter."

"Peter, that's a nice name." The man smiled. "I'm Tino, and this is Berwald."

The giant, who must have been Berwald, gave a short nod to the boy.

"A-am I on the Schwarzwasser?"

Tino had a sad look in his eyes. "Yes. You have been for almost two weeks now."

"W-why...?"

Tino opened his mouth to reply before faltering. He looked towards his companion, who grunted and nodded once. Tino then turned back to Peter and answered, "We're sorry. We were ordered by our Captain to kidnap you so we could hold you hostage for a ransom. Well, actually, he ordered Berwald to. I helped. The Captain said he'd punish Berwald if he didn't...and the last time he got punished..." Tino turned to Berwald and removed the man's glasses, allowing his eyes to be seen. Peter gasped.

One of Berwald's eyes was completely normal - a sharp blue colour, though it looked a lot less stern than the rest of his face. His other eye, however, was closed, a large scar slashed across the lid.

"He was blinded in one eye."

Without realising it, Peter's hand moved towards Berwald's closed eye. The taller man allowed the young boy to touch his eye with his index finger, closing his other eye as it approached. Peter then retracted his hand.

"I..."

"It's okay." Berwald said gruffly, his voice deep and his accent broad. "I don't mind."

X-x-X

The rest of the day for Antonio was spent moving all of his stuff to the Captain's Quarters, which he shared with the First Mate (AKA Lovino, who was also only just moving in today, since he'd forgotten to previously). When the two were finally done moving in, they simply lay down on their beds and stared up at the ceiling.

"I wonder what my dreams will be of tonight." Antonio said sleepily. "I hope it involves tomatoes~"

Lovino laughed. "Knowing you, they probably will be."

The two chuckled together for a few minutes.

"Buenos noches, Lovi."

"Buonanotte, Antonio."

X-x-X


Translations:

Pomodoro - Tomato (Italian)
Schwarzwasser - Blackwater (German)
Buenos noches - Good night (Spanish)
Buonanotte - Good night (Italian)


Author's Notes: So yeah, this is kinda filler-ish, I suppose? A bit of Peter, but mostly the whole Captain thing. According to my research, the crew usually did elect their captains, so yeah. Don't think they shared quarters though, but oh well.

Sorry that I can't write fight scenes very well "OTL

Thank you to: MrowProw for favouriting!

Responses to Reviews:

Roxburry Black: Yup, that was Berwald. Don't worry, he'll be fine. Thank you! uwu

A Person: (Ch. 10) Yeah, it is. I don't think I intended for it to even get this intense when I was planning it...
(Ch. 11) Well, it's Lovi. He feels really bad about the whole thing, and hates himself for doing it. Don't worry, Antonio is great at stuff like this! :D Yes, it should be an interesting development! (I think there's more on that next chapter...ehehe...)

MrowProw: Ve! I'm sorry! Pleasedon'tkillmeI'mavirginwe'repatheticenoughasit isandwheredoyouthinktheygetvirginoliveoilIhaverela tivesinyourcountrysopleasedon'tkillmeIDON'TWANTTOD IIIIIIIEEE (sorry~)

Feedback is appreciated and stuff~

Ugh, fanfiction and their email notifications aren't workinnnnggg. I didn't get the notification for that last review, and I haven't had any for the many fanfics which have been uploaded over the last few days. It's really annoying. I'm sorry if any of you don't get the email for this chapter. Not my fault.

See ya next time!

~Random ( = ¬ = )7