Woo, a new fanfic!
This one is something I am cross-posting over from Archive of Our Own.
SPOILER This is an AU, folks. Particularly, this is a Pirate!AU. I'm not going to say its a very good AU, but I'm having a ton of fun putting this together. I've been in a writing funk for two years, and who would have thought this would be the project to pull me out of it. While perusing this romp, please just be aware that this is not canon. Certain characters, ships, and settings have been changed to fit my vision for this story.
Consider yourself warned.
Alright, enough rambling. On to the story!
Prologue
Word had spread quickly through the town proper of the incoming of storms. Citizens were hurrying to shutter their doors and windows before the wind and rain arrived. Taiyang Xiao Long frowned at the bank of clouds speeding toward the coastline. Up on the platforms of Beacon Tower, he had a good view of the endless sky and ocean. A few seconds more, he thought to himself. The sun had yet to disappear completely, it was giving its last final gleam of copper and gold across the darkening water before it drowned completely.
The light gone, Tai turned and grasped the metal railings to climb up to the next set of platforms. The wind was picking up, causing the already unstable catwalks to sway on their steel cables. He kept tight hold of the lines, inching forward to the great lantern and sliding open the glass casing around it. Oil in one hand, Tai angled himself to lean across the chasm where the lantern hung suspended and poured the contents of the bottle across the wicking. He took a breath and then reached out with one foot to kick the lever that would spark the entire thing to life. His hands were getting slick on the railing; he clenched his jaw and kicked again. A shower of sparks exploded outward and then down to disappear into the chasm. The catwalk rocked again, sending Tai closer to the lantern. His arms were starting to shake, the first of the rain hitting the platforms and railings and making his grip even slipperier.
"Come on!" He didn't look at the railing, he didn't look at his rapidly slipping handhold. Tai lunged for the lever again. His hand slipped.
He slammed hard into the lever, and the lantern roared to life, pointing its beam out to sea to guide wayward sailors home. Tai scrambled for a hold on the lever, feet dangling into the chasm and a hundred foot or more drop below that. His gaze darted for something else to climb onto, fall onto, anything to break his fall if he slipped. He could feel the lever starting to give. It was definitely not designed to hold his weight.
His gaze caught sight of another platform a little further down in the chasm. A repair spot, he guessed, seeing the pulleys and ropes keeping it in place. It was maybe fifteen feet below him and to the right. Tai grit his teeth. He was going to have to aim this perfectly. Or…
No. He could do it. He hadn't been scaling the cliffs alongside the coast for years for him to fail at one little jump. He steadied his breathing, counting slowly until he was calm. Six seconds, albeit more time than he should have spent. Tai shifted his weight forward, pushing up on the lever to adjust his grasp and then let himself back down so he was only hanging on by his hands. He swung his body forward. Once, twice…
Tai let go of the lever, counting on the momentum to carry him forward far enough before he started to go down.
"Shit!" He slammed into the edge of the repair platform hard, hands scrambling for a grip on one of the ropes coiled on the metal surface. The platform lurched hard, nearly sending him sliding off into the chasm, but the rope held. Pain blasted through his ribs and arms, but Tai pulled himself up into the center and lay there gasping for a long time.
The storm was in full force by the time Tai had maneuvered the platform back up to a place where he could get onto a ladder and begin the descent outside of the tower. The lantern was beaming strong to combat the darkness; a successful night, all things considered. He moved carefully down the series of ladders and platforms until his boots were back on solid ground, though that hardly made his descent any safer. Tai kept his arm held against his ribs, pain lancing through him with every step down the narrow path. The rocks were slick with rain, he kept his other hand braced on the cliff face to stay steady. Up ahead, through the twists and turns of path he still had to tread, he could see the cheery lights marking home.
That spurred Tai on faster, though he was still mindful of the dangers of the path and the condition of his ribs. He would get an earful about that later, no doubt.
When he finally stepped off the rock face for good and his boots sunk down slightly in the sand, Tai let himself breathe more easily. The cottage was just ahead, maybe fifty feet or so; it was protected from the brunt of the storm by an outcropping in the cliff face. The light from the windows beckoned him on, inviting him inside where a warm fire waited, a good dinner, and a loving kiss from his wife. Tai smiled and took the first few steps up the path, and then stopped.
He could have sworn… Yes! There it was again, a shadow moving swiftly through the darkness toward the cottage. His home. Pain forgotten, Tai started forward in a run. This person wasn't carrying a lantern, cloaked and hooded, and they had come from the direction of the beach. He glanced toward it; there was no sign of any vessel on the waters immediate; though he caught the silhouettes of the few ships moored beyond.
The shadowy figure disappeared for a moment, engulfed by the darkness cast by the outcropping, and then reappeared again so much closer to the cottage door. The light from the windows briefly revealed the tattered and soaked state of the cloak cast over them. Tai sped up, the last few feet swallowed by his long strides.
"Stop!"
The figure turned, the hood falling back to reveal a gaunt face, red eyes staring back at him. Dark hair was plastered to his head, wet from either rain or blood. Tai could now see more of the glistening substance soaking the man's clothes, but more importantly, his attention was fixed on the small bundle the man carried. The stranger closed the remaining gap between them and thrust the bundle into Tai's arms.
"Take her!" His voice rasped, in pain. His hands were slick with blood, his eyes had a crazed and fearful look in them. "For God's sake, just take her!"
Tai clutched the bundle, blinking. The stranger darted away back into the darkness and the storm, back toward the beach. He turned, starting to follow, but a single cry stopped him. Tai moved the edges of the cloth aside with a shaking hand, revealing the tiny girl nestled inside. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her mouth just beginning to open to cry again at the sudden change of arms holding her, the sudden feel of rain on her baby skin.
Tai looked to the beach again, but the stranger was gone, and he was left standing on the path home with a child in his arms, and questions he didn't have answers to.