A/N: I felt a burst of creative energy today, so you get two chapters :P Hopefully I'll add another soon! Reviews make me smile - I love hearing your thoughts! Thanks for reading and enjoy the chapter!
When the ship docked, a group of men were already waiting to help them unload. Outside of the Enchanted Forest, piracy was - while not legal - certainly more prominent. Often, in the privacy of their tiny quarters, Liam had made it known exactly what he thought of pirates.
Nothing pleasant, to say the least.
But Killian thought he understood. At least, he understood the desire to be free.
Which was somewhat ironic, given that it was pirates that were keeping him enslaved.
In service, he reminded himself again. Not that there was any real difference, in practice. But pirates hated the notion of slavery, apparently, and he'd gotten in trouble before for referring to himself as a slave.
Killian scoffed at the thought, before shooting a hand over his mouth and looking around. No one seemed to have heard.
Turning back to grab another load of crates, Killian slammed hard into one of the new men.
"Oh, I'm sorry - " he got out, staring up at the man, a little dazed. The sight shook him back to reality, and he straightened quickly. The man in front of him was massive. Killian's first thought was that the man's arms were larger around than he was and that the man could probably snap him in half like a twig. And he didn't look at all amused by their encounter.
What a perfect first impression, Killian thought miserably.
"Watch where the hell you're going, kid. Or you might find yourself regretting it," the man gritted out at him, grabbing his arm and eyeing him sharply.
Killian felt himself wither under the man's harsh stare.
"My, you are a small one," he continued, eyes lingering on Killian for a long time, a look in the man's gaze that the younger boy recognized but couldn't place.
Killian shivered.
"How old are you?" The question sounded somehow like a command, and Killian was quick to respond.
"Twelve."
The man seemed to consider this, still staring at Killian. He crossed his arms over himself as though attempting to protect himself from some uncertain threat. The man's grip on his arm tightened and Killian winced.
"Humph," was all the man let out, after a long period of silence, before shoving Killian aside and moving to continue his work. Killian just managed to keep himself from tumbling to the ground, rubbing his arm where the man had grabbed him.
He stared after the giant for a moment, still feeling sick from the encounter.
I'd better not get on his bad side.
"Jones!" He didn't have time to dwell on the thought, before he was shaken from it by Deyon's voice. "What the hell are you standing around for? Get over here!"
Killian moved quickly to do as he was asked. "Aye, sir. What is it?"
"You'll be picking up the mail at the Trickling Tiger Inn. Ask for Garnet, she'll help you."
"Aye, where - "
"Off with ye!" Deyon's voice left no room for further questioning. The other man turned and left without giving any further instruction, leaving Killian standing alone and hopelessly lost. He didn't recognize this town, though he was rarely allowed off the ship, so that wasn't a surprise. Normally, it was Liam who was tasked with running any necessary errands, and the boys were never allowed off the ship together. The captain knew that Liam wouldn't leave Killian, and vice versa. The brother's bond wasn't exactly a secret.
Still, Killian didn't know if he should feel grateful or perturbed by this new assignment. Mostly, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to find the...something tiger inn. Gods, he'd already forgotten half the name and he couldn't exactly ask for a reminder.
He found himself wandering aimlessly through the small town - or perhaps it was a large town, he really had no way of knowing. It was dark, but there were still a few people bustling here and there, none of whom paid him any attention. And he was too shy to ask, though he knew he'd best work up the courage.
Instead, he found himself enjoying the brief moment of freedom, of being alone. He hadn't been allowed to go off on his own once, not once, since his father had...since he'd started work on Finch's ship. For the tiniest moment, he thought about running. Thought that maybe he could. Could find the edge of town, the forest, and make a run for it. Never look back.
As soon as the thought came, he shoved it down guiltily. He could never leave Liam, shouldn't even have considered it for a second. After everything his brother had already done for him, he owed him at least that much.
For the second time that night, Killian was startled from his thoughts by the hard collision of his body with that of someone else's. This time, he didn't managed to keep his balance and fell hard to the ground, hearing another tumble down next to him.
Feeling sick, and hoping desperately that he hadn't just collided with some important person who would run and tell on him to Finch's men, Killian shot quickly to his feet and moved to help the other figure. Found himself somewhat surprised to see that the other was no bigger than him, perhaps a tad bit smaller.
Was even more surprised when, reaching down to help them up, he found that the other child was a she.
"Uh, gods, I'm...I'm so sorry," he fumbled with his words as he held out a hand to help the girl up. She took it, blonde curls tumbling all over her face, and he lifted her to her feet. "I'm quite clumsy. I - I hope you aren't hurt." He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked to a girl, and he didn't have a single clue how he was supposed to go about it. Especially given that he'd just knocked her down.
She coughed into her arm and wiped at her face, smudging some of the dust that had settled on her skin. "It's really quite alright. You mustn't apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going." With that, she eyed him closely, and Killian shifted awkwardly, as uncomfortable under her gaze as he had been under the man's earlier. Though, for different reasons entirely.
The girl was quite pretty, and she was wearing a very nice dress, he could tell that much instantly. Which only made him feel that much worse for knocking her over.
"What's your name?" She asked abruptly, and Killian startled. He hadn't expected the question, though he didn't know why.
"Uh - "
"Don't you know your own name?"
Killian felt his cheeks redden at the question, and he lowered his head, embarrassed. "Aye, of course."
"So, what is it?" She persisted.
Still, he hesitated for the briefest moment before responding. "Killian."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Killian. I'm Emma." With that, the girl held out her hand and Killian forced himself to look at her again. For another awkward moment, he didn't do anything. Then, tentatively, he place his hand in hers. She shook forcefully, and he couldn't help but give her a timid smile.
"You aren't very talkative, are you?" She noted plainly. He shook his head slightly, thankful that her observation gave him an opportunity not to talk.
He was saved from any further interaction by a rather frantic looking woman appearing from a side alley and heaving a massive sigh of relief.
"For saint's sake, Emma, how many times do I have to tell you not to go running off by yourself?" The woman words came out in a quick ramble, one which Killian was barely able to understand. "Come now, hurry on." With that, the woman grabbed Emma's arm and - with only the slightest glance at Killian - pulled the girl after her into the alley.
Emma, looking not the slightest bit perturbed, looked back at him and waived. "Bye, Killian. It was a pleasure!"
Killian stood watching her go, feeling a mixture of confusion and amusement. Perhaps that was what it was like, to get to be a child. To run free, to meet other people. To not have to worry about picking up mail from the something lion inn. Or was it tiger?
Oh for gods sake.
Sure that a caning awaited him if he didn't find the inn very quickly, Killian shoved thoughts of the girl from his head and pushed further into the town. By the time he'd found someone and forced himself to ask where he could find an inn and someone by the name of Garnet - at least he remembered that much - he'd forgotten about their encounter altogether.
"Oh, you're with Captain Finch's crew are you!" Garnet's voice practically boomed through the tavern, which occupied the bottom portion of the decently large Trickling Tiger Inn. Once he'd found it, he realized the place was quite near the docks. Meaning he should easily have been there and back by now.
"Aye, ma'am. I'm here for the mail. I was told you could help me."
"That I can, lad! Take a seat and give me just a moment." She bustled off, and Killian watched helplessly as she moved to take the orders of a table of men seated across the tavern.
Come on lady, I don't have all day. The thought was verging on bitter, though Killian knew it wasn't Garnet's fault that he was running late.
By the time she finished, it turned out that a moment wasn't all day, but it certainly was not what regular people would call a moment, either. Garnet must have taken twelve orders and served the same amount of tables before she returned to where Killian was standing - wishing he'd taken the seat she'd offered - with a small stack of mail.
You really couldn't have gotten that any faster?
"Here you are, lad. Give my regards to your captain. Oh, and tell that Deyon that I'm always right here, if he wants to drop by." With that, she gave Killian a wink and a look that brought the earlier red blush right back to his cheeks.
"I - I'll do that," he stuttered, though he had absolutely no intention of actually doing as she asked.
And again, she was off, her loud laugh ringing across the tavern.
Killian eyed the small pile of mail in his hand bitterly, still certain she could have brought it to him far sooner than she had. On the top of the pile was a folded newspaper. Looking both ways, Killian shoved it in his pocket. He was sure the captain wouldn't miss it, and Liam would kill to hear a little of what was going on in the world.
Killian remembered when his father used to come home with the paper and read it aloud to them all, while he sat on his mother's lap at the fireside. It was one of the few childhood memories that he hadn't allowed his hatred for his father to taint, perhaps because it was also one of the few clear memories he had of his mother.
Gripping the rest of the stack tightly, Killian headed out of the inn and made his way back to the docks. He knew he was already far later than he should have been, so he took his time. If he was going to be caned anyway, he might as well enjoy these last few moments of freedom.
Not that it was really freedom, with the threat of a beating still lingering over his head.
At that thought, he took one last lingering look at the town, before rushing down the docks and back to the ship.
When he returned, he was surprised to see a few of the men still present, loading the last of the items. Deyon was standing on the edge of the ship, and the older man's eyebrows raised when they landed on Killian.
"What took you so long, boy?" The man's voice was harsh, and Killian felt his shoulders droop. Part of him had hoped he could slip on board unnoticed, drop off the mail, and go to bed. But of course, he had no such luck.
"I - "
But then Deyon let out a loud cackle, and Killian's head shot up sharply to stare at the other man.
"That Garnet. She sure keeps you a damned long time, don't she?" He didn't seem to expect Killian to respond, but let out another long laugh, before reaching to take the stack of letters from Killian's hands.
"Aye. She said to tell you...to tell you to drop by. Or something," he mumbled awkwardly, causing another loud laugh to erupt from Deyon.
"That sounds like Garnet. Now git on to bed with you, boy."
And that was it. Killian hurried away before Deyon could change his mind and decide that - despite Garnet - it was his fault for taking so long.