Chapter 18: A Foolish Act of Heroism

Mannen

I was angry. Angry at myself for being so stupid and naïve, and angry at myself for being unable to do anything but vomit and cry while the rest of the crew of the Belleza was either killed or taken aboard. Go had brought me over to his work cabin to prevent me from seeing anymore of the capture, but it was too late. He gave me a sad look before he headed out of his cabin to return to his duty.

I clenched my hands into fists in frustration. None of the blows my former master had given me had stung like this. A sharp blow told me how insignificant and foolish I had been.

"Damn!" I cried out, punching the floor.

The floor did not even give; instead my knuckles felt sore. I grimaced and punched the floor again. And again. I continued even though my knuckles were bleeding.

I was crying again with my teeth gritted in pain. I would have continued punching the floor—but then the screams began. The high-pitched screams of women. This time I wasn't being delusional about what I was hearing. I had been in a brothel long enough to know what sounds a woman made when a man was forcing himself on her. What I was hearing now was that sound amplified by fear.

And there was only one person aboard this ship that could inspire that kind of fear.

I stopped my pummeling of the floor and stood up. I wasn't dumb enough to try to save the women who were already at his mercy, but I could at least save the others.

And I would do it by taking advantage of the fact that I was just a cabin boy who no one paid much attention to. I picked up a series of daggers and slid them into my belt, my boots and strapped some near my ankle and wrists. Just in case.

I made my way back onto deck. Unlike the majority of the ship below deck, where there was always some activity, especially after a capture, the deck was deserted save for Go looking out at sea. His back was turned towards me, however, so I made my way across the deck without making much noticeable noise. Which wasn't hard considering the screams were drowning everything else.

I caught Go's side profile as I passed. He looked like he was ready to blow a fuse any moment. His entire face was tense and I swore I could see a muscle twitch every time the screams escalated. His hands were clenched and I was sad to see that his knuckles were oozing red as well. I wondered what wall or floor had received brutal treatment from his fists before continuing on.

Part of me wanted to get his help, but he had looked too angry. And besides, I figured he would try and stop me anyway. I wasn't going to let anyone stop me.

I made my way below deck, meandering my way to the cargo hold, which was bustling with activity. Loot was being brought aboard, catalogued and stored away. I suspected from the casual way the crew was handling the loot that it was nothing of great value.

As I wove my way through the crew, I was greeted with angry curses as I got in the way of their work of transporting the loot. But I was long gone before they could process truly what had gotten in their way. I was headed toward the stern of the ship, my heart thudding louder and louder. I bit my lip and kept going. There was nothing to be afraid of—the biggest threat was currently occupied.

As I continued forward, my anger was keeping me from feeling too scared. I was shaking. I was anxious that I would be able to pull this off, but at the same time I knew I had to do this. I couldn't do nothing and stay angry like Go had.

I made it past the cargo hold, moving away from the hustle and bustle of storing loot. My presence would become more obvious now that I couldn't hide in the thick of the crew.

But I was good at sneaking around.

I kept in the shadows, making my way quickly from one dark patch to another. There were occasional members of the crew heading past me, so I tried to keep my ears sharp and react fast to hide myself whenever someone passed me by. If I was discovered this far astern, there were very few excuses I could give.

I wasn't going to be a coward. I was doing the right thing, but that didn't make me any calmer. I hadn't seen any sign of that first mate and that worried me. My best guess was that he was the one guarding the prisoners.

The sounds of sobbing and wailing reaching my ears, and I knew I was heading in the right direction. I suddenly felt guilty that I had been so excited for this capture. As if I had personally been responsible for the horrible fate of those unfortunate passengers of the Belleza. No, I was responsible. I did nothing, watching the horrors unfolding around me. I couldn't leave things as they were. I would not be able to forgive myself for being so useless. For being so selfish…

I could see the torches flickering in the distance, and

As I approached the brig, I pulled out a single dagger and kept it at the ready—

There was not a single guard in sight. I frowned. I wasn't expecting it to be this easy. It never was this easy. I stayed on guard as I moved forward. When I came into view of the prisoners, I inwardly grimaced at the state they were in.

Many of the men were shackled and chained to the walls, while the few older women that were in the large cell were crowded in the center. I saw very few kids near my age and briefly wondered who had gotten the worse deal—the kids who had gotten killed on the ship or the ones who had to continue living through the horror of getting captured.

Better to be alive, I decided. One of the men looked up at me and in his eyes I saw myself reflected—a haggard looking kid with dirtied white hair, blood-crusted hands holding a dagger. Not exactly the savior someone would want. But I was better than nothing, right?

As that man continued to watch me suspiciously, one of the women cried out, "He's here to kill us all! God save us!"

I froze, anger flooding my every expression. I was trying to save them! Why were they making my job harder?

"Shhh!" I said urgently, "I'm here to help you all escape, but you need to be quiet!"

The woman whimpered then went still.

"Can we trust you?" someone from the back called out, "And what's your plan to get us out of here?"

"The crew is busy in the hold loading loot, so if I can get you all to the main deck, we can get access to the rowboats and you'll be on your way," I explained, looking left and right to make sure all the noise hadn't attracted unwanted attention.

"Thank you," a small voice whispered, and I looked down to see a girl near my age smiling up at me from her curled position on the ground. I grimaced when I noticed that her legs had been twisted, making it unable for her to walk, let alone stand up.

I would save them all regardless.

I looked around for the key and saw it hung on a peg high on the wall. I put the dagger in my mouth and nodded in what I hoped was a reassuring way. I began my climb up the wall to reach the key. It was difficult—the wooden walls had little traction—but I used my daggers to scale my way upward. I figured if I had been an adult's height, I would have been able to leap up to reach the keys. Yet another time that I wished I wasn't a just a kid.

I sighed in relief when I finally reached the keys. As soon as I grabbed them—ready to jump down to save time—I heard a voice that made me freeze in my tracks.

"After releasing our prisoners, what were you planning on doing next?"

I pulled the daggers I had been using to scale the wall and launched myself down. I was in perfect position to strike from above. I gritted my teeth against the impact and swung my daggers forward—but was too slow. A strong kick to the stomach sent me flying and I hit the wall behind me hard.

Wheezing and doubled over in pain, I looked up still not ready to give up. I heard a whimper behind me and thought it was the girl who had thanked me. I needed to save her—I needed to save all of them. I had to…

I pulled out the daggers from my boots, but before I could slice forward, I was punched hard in the face. I struggled to maintain consciousness. I spat out blood and felt something hard follow. From my position on the floor, I could see the chip of a tooth encased in blood. I tried to get to my feet, but my body didn't want to move. I was used to beatings—but not like this. These were attacks with the intention to not vent anger—but potentially to kill.

Fear. Fear broke through my guilt and anger. Fear flooded my system and I rose. I did not want to die. Better to be alive—

"You don't give up."

It was a cold observation, objective and removed. As expected from Kei.

"This has gone long enough," Kei stated. While I knew I was lucky that it had been Kei that had found me and not the first mate, I knew that my inevitable fate was only delayed. Kei was unforgiving when it came to profitable loot. He didn't even consider the prisoners as people…they were only a means…they were only objects to him…

"They're people!" I cried out, making a final lunge forward towards Kei.

With very little apparent effort, he punched me in the abdomen and grabbed me hard to prevent me from flying backwards. His grip was like iron around me, but I flailed and continued to struggle.

As Kei carried me out of the brig, I was followed by the sound of the woman from earlier that shrieked, "There is no hope! God save us all!"

Frustration. More than anything else, I was frustrated. It was keeping at bay any fear at what would happen to me. I continued to struggle to set myself free, but Kei was unrelenting. And nothing I could say or do change his mind. He was set in his ways of protocol. He lived by a written code of rules. A part of my mind wandered and thought wryly that he was a strange pirate indeed. A pirate who followed rules…

We passed through the main deck—and passed by Go. His eyes widened when he saw me. My frustration turned rapidly turned into shame when I saw him. I averted my eyes.

"Kei," he called out.

Kei turned and nodded in greeting.

"Where are you taking him?" Go asked. I continued to look away, trying my hardest not to make my eye contact with him.

"To Hayate. I caught him trying to set the prisoners free," Kei responded matter-of-factly before turned away and continuing on his way. I sneaked a final look at Go and he had a look of absolute horror on his face. He was frozen in place, looking even more dejected than before.

Yep, I knew I was screwed now. Hayate would kill me for sure. Just like Kei followed his rule and lived his life that way, Hayate followed the absolute rules of the captain. And I couldn't imagine the captain showing me any mercy.

And as if I had summoned him from my thoughts, I heard the screams from his cabin once more. Below deck I had been fortunate and not heard the screams, but they projected out from the captain's cabin all throughout the main deck with clarity. Echoing my frightening fate.

At the very least, I had one dagger left, hidden away in my belt. I just needed to use surprise to my advantage…

Kei knocked on Hayate's cabin door. The door swung open and Hayate emerged, his upper body bandaged and bleeding. I couldn't imagine that he got injured during the past capture—but no matter. This just made it easier for me.

"Kei?" Hayate inquired.

"This one was attempting to release the captives," Kei stated.

Hayate nodded and looked down at me. I looked up and glared.

"Thank you Kei. I will take it from here," Hayate responded, sounding almost weary.

Kei released me—and I took my chance. I flailed out of his loosening grasp, slashed his arm with my final dagger and began to run. To where, I had no idea. Perhaps I would take a rowboat myself and get myself off this ship. I had made it partway across the main deck and was in sight of the rowboats when I felt myself being slammed onto the deck.

I squirmed and looked up and realized that it was Go who was pinning me to the deck floor.

"Why?" I said through gritted teeth, but he indicated with his one free hand to remain silent.

So I decided to trust the idiot.

Hayate made his way over to us at a leisurely pace as if he never truly believed I could escape—or if he simply didn't care if I did. It hurt my pride that I was considering that insignificant; on the other hand, it was fortunate that he thought so. It suggested he could let this slide.

"Thank you, Go," Hayate said. I felt Go's hand on me stiffen as if revolted by the thought of getting complimented by Hayate.

"I'm responsible for this," Go began. I looked up at him in horror and began to open my mouth to protest when he took his other hand and clamped it over my mouth.

"I ordered him to set the captives free. Even though he protested against it, I coerced him into doing it. I was waiting for him on the deck to bring them here, so we could lead them safely out via the rowboats," Go explained in a single breath.

Hayate cocked an eyebrow in what I can imagine to be one of the most skeptical looks he had given someone. He studied Go for a moment and then sighed.

"Very well. But as both of you are involved in this plot I shall determine punishment for both of you," Hayate stated. Go opened his mouth in protest, but Hayate raised a hand to silence him.

"I will deal with you first Go. You can release the boy. He won't run, unless he is comfortable with the fact that his escape will mean a more severe punishment for you," Hayate continued, his dark blue eyes drilling into mine.

He was right, of course. As long as I knew any rash decision I made would hurt Go more—I sagged in defeat. I felt the fatigue from the day's events wash over me and suddenly I just wanted everything to be over. I could do nothing, and would continue to be able to do nothing. Do nothing but continue living, and become apathetic to the fate of others.