Chapter 6

Warning: Slight violence/gore in this chapter

As night spread its cover across the land, Sinbad became more and more excited. At first all he did was whistle to annoy the guards, then he started twiddling his thumbs, and now he was nothing less of rocking back and forth on his rear end. Even Ja'far who had resolved to ignore him found it hard to do so any longer.

"Stop moving."

"You are getting annoying."

"One more movement from you and I'll personally see to it that you can't move your thumbs anymore."

Regardless of what threat or comment Ja'far threw at Sinbad, the other completely ignore him. In the end Ja'far decided to try a question. "What did you mean when you say it is in my nature to join you?"

This time Sinbad stopped whatever he was doing and turned to look at his cellmate.

Bingo. "You said earlier that I will join you and your…people sooner or later because it is in my nature. What did you mean by that?"

"Have you ever seen yourself when you fight?"

Ja'far didn't expect Sinbad to respond to a question with another question of his own. He could only shake his head dumbly.

Sinbad sighed as if he already expected the answer. "On the first night you faced me with a gun I already notice you are not a simple clerk. There's too much fighting spirit in you. I was curious how someone with so much spirit would become a clerk, so I began getting closer to you. And after following you for a while, I realize you are very much like me back when I was still living on the continent. Because on the inside, you desire to become wilder, to be free from the constraints of society. You are not fit for a sedentary lifestyle."

Finished with his short speech, Sinbad went back to rocking back and forth, completely unaware of Ja'far's stunned expression. But the silence only lasted for a second before Ja'far regained his bearings.

"Don't think you know me just with that small talk," he spat, hoping to cover the slight tremor in his body. It was unnerving enough that someone could guess his desire; it was even more unnerving when said person only knew him for a few days. It was true that Ja'far didn't particularly like his current line of job. 'Boring' was his best description for the work, but the pay was fine, so he stuck with it.

"I am seldom wrong in my judgment of people." If he had, Sinbad wouldn't have survived to become the infamous pirate that people fear today.

"…"

Suddenly a small bird-like whistle was heard from the outside, sending Sinbad scrambling upright from his slouched position. The pirate's eyes glinted eerily in the feeble torch light as he crooned a few notes back. Silence descended for a few minutes before a short chirp replied. Satisfied with the answer, Sinbad began twisting his cuffs quietly. It didn't take long for the locks to click and the cuffs to pop off.

Ja'far sighed. This wasn't the first time Sinbad had surprised him. The man was not only sly, but he had skills to match as well. Somehow the pirate had use said skills to free himself from the cuffs.

Sinbad signaled for him to remain calm as he moved over and inserted one of the keys into Ja'far's cuffs. The metal fell away with a soft click.

However, their actions didn't escape the notice of the guard outside. "Hey—"

Loud thumps of multiple heavy objects falling on the deck followed by confused shouting attracted the guard's attention. Sinbad didn't waste his time as he loped towards the cell door and used the ends of his chains to loop over the guard's neck. With just a sharp tug, the guard was dragged backwards until his head collided with the bars and he lost consciousness. The rest became easy as Sinbad used the remaining keys to open the locks and escape outside.

From the moment he was arrested by the navy, Ja'far already felt his control over the whole situation slipping away. Whether it was the navy or Sinbad, he was being pushed around by the people around him. And the current situation was a perfect example of this. Freedom was suddenly before him, but it didn't go along with his plan – He couldn't just hide and return to the continent when there were pirates running about the decks and chambers. The only thing he could do was to follow Sinbad dumbly.

When they emerged from below deck, it was already well into the night. The full moon lit the whole deck in a silver glint, contrasting against the reddish glow of an upturned torch at the back of the ship. Thankfully the flames hadn't spread far, courtesy of the blood splattered about the decks. Ja'far noted that most of the bodies were that of the navies.

It was apparent that the king's men were no match against the pirates who would slip in and out from the waters beneath. By and by the captain ordered some of his men to shower cannons and bullets into the waters around them, but even then it didn't deter their enemies from coming back. The pirates had firearms as well, and compared to the dark, murky waters that hid them, the navy men standing on the well-lit deck were easy targets.

It didn't take long for the navy men to reduce to half the size of their original crew. Amidst it all Ja'far stood undecided. If the pirates win this fight, he would lose his only chance to go back to the continent. Somehow, that notion didn't sound as bad as he originally thought it was after hearing Sinbad's speech.

Swish.

Ja'far heard a rustle behind him and dodged by reflex, feeling the cutting wind of a blade passed close by his face. His eyes narrowed at the blue-color navy coat before him.

"Watch who you are cutting!" Ja'far tripped over a corpse and fell backwards just in time to miss another attempt at his throat.

Rather than halting, the navy increased the frequency of his attacks. There was only hate towards a lowly pirate in his eyes. Several times he almost sliced the white-haired pirate, but the other was nimble and twisted here and there, avoiding fatal hits.

"Tch." Although Ja'far didn't want to associate himself with the pirates, the fact was that he didn't have a choice here when the man was bent on killing him. He acquired another cut on his body after narrowly avoiding the sword yet again. Long gone was the need to explain his case to the navy, replaced slowly instead by the need to survive and an unquenchable anger. Since the navy didn't give him a choice, he would return in kind.

In one fluid movement Ja'far bent his back and brought his knee to collide against the man's stomach. When the other doubled down, the clerk didn't waste any time in retrieving the fallen sword and running it through the other.

Well, he was definitely not going to walk away clean now. But somehow it was also very satisfying. For the first time Ja'far felt like he was alive. The knowledge of using his own hands to fight for his survival and emerging alive was thrilling. He no longer need to worry about deadlines, about someone higher in hierarchy pressuring him, about whether the pay was enough to cover his living for the next few months. This was him fighting for his own existence and it had never felt so good before. No wonder the pirates enjoyed their lawless life.

So this was what Sinbad meant.

At a side Sinbad smirked when he saw the change in the white-haired clerk. There was a wild glee in the other's eyes and he could tell Ja'far was enjoying it. He watched as the clerk picked up a weapon and dived into the melee.

Sinbad shook his face with a smile. He had never been wrong in judging someone. He wasn't wrong this time either. As he turned his head towards the oncoming navy, his smile was instantly replaced with a cold sneer.

After the whole battle was over with and the navy crew was left half dead on the decks and the pirates looted whatever they could lay their hands on, Ja'far found Sinbad sitting by the side, lying contentedly against the mast. The pirate opened his eyes calmly and regarded the approaching white-haired clerk as if already expecting him.

Ja'far looked slightly uncomfortable with what he was about to say and Sinbad let him take his time. Finally, Ja'far looked directly at Sinbad. "I've been thinking about what you said and…the battle just now gave me a wake-up call. Let me join you."

Sinbad grinned, already knowing what the other would ask. He extended a hand towards the other. "Welcome then..."

"Ja'far."

"Welcome then, Ja'far the pirate."

-END-

A/N:

Finally at the end of the story, huge thanks to those who have favorited, reviewed and followed this story. I hope you guys enjoy the story.

spiritleopard: Glad you liked it! Hope you have a great vacation!