It was during one of the most brutally hot seasons that the ship gained another cabin boy, Seamus, though he'd asked to be called Sparky. He was sixteen the exact median of years between eighteen-year-old Liam and fourteen -year-old Killian and at various times seemed to be both wise beyond his years and much more childish. He was obsessed with cannons and warfare, wishing nothing more than to battle the dastardly pirates.
There was not a topic or a story that Sparky did not have a comment or an opinion, a very narrow minded one at that. It ticked off some of older gruff sailors who'd come to call him pest behind his back. Liam and Killian tried their very best to shield it from him, despite his best attempts at a hard exterior it was easy to tell that he'd crumple easily. His life was not void of the same hardships that had plagued their childhoods. A sick ma, a drunken pa, and a brother who'd perished from starvation. In the dead of the night Sparky would call out for his lost brother, Avery, moaning as he tossed and turn in the small wooden bunk underneath Killian's bed, rattling and shaking it violently.
In the pitch blackness of the rocking cabin blearily Killian would awake from his slumber and hesitantly slither off his upper bed, his sleepy legs giving a twinge of pain as they landed harshly onto the wooden floor. It'd take quite a bit of shaking and calling out his name to rouse him from the throws of his nightmare.
"It's 'errible, watching someone died." He'd slur out in explanation. "And you unable to do anything." He'd shake his head violently as he flapped onto his side. "wouldn't wish it upon me worst enemy, not even me da."
During one of their routine rounds to Avrant, it seemed his wish was to come true. The pirates' ships seemed to rise over the horizon out of nowhere, shortly after daybreak. The sky was painted a brilliantly red, and they all should have heeded the ominous wise tale. Red skies at morning sailors take warning.
Killian keep glancing back and froth from his placid elder brother who stood at the helm watching and calculating, to the giddy Sparky who had a lively cavort as he paced around the decks. This was the impending encounter he'd been hoping for all of his life and it seemed as each moment passed on there was a dread forming in the pit of Killian's stomach. There'd been other minor skirmishes in the past, the encounter with Davy Jones that still left him feeling terribly conflicted and numb when he allowed himself to think of it, and among many other incidents.
"Hawkins! Taylor take the cannons on the Port side!" Liam bellowed out suddenly. "Sparky, Jones take the Starboard side! Rayan take the helm! Sweedy up to the crow's nest! Michaels ready the gun powder!".
The crew hurriedly scurried and scrambled about the deck into their positions. The two smallest and youngest members of the crew took to the first and slightly larger cannon. Sparky's skinny freckled arms wrapped around the middle of the cannon, his pale skin darkening with grease as he aimed it towards the incoming ship. Liam stood at the top of the deck, arm raised, signaling them to wait. The other ship at first did not seem to be threatening but raising high into the sky was a torn red flag of piracy, a crime and a disgrace to his Majesty.
"What are you doing?" Sparky mouthed to Killian. "Fire!"
The younger Jones shook his head firmly and held the crude instruments used to spark a fire closer to his body, suddenly fearful of what the war-crazed cabin boy might try. Igniting the first blow could led to disastrous effects and undoubtedly a confrontation that would cost lives and supplies, both of which, their kingdom needed to survive.
"Orders are orders." Killian insisted heatedly his voice raising slightly louder than he had hoped. It drew the attention of the other tensely position and silent sailors nearby. Liam looked to him, and for a moment his mask of indifference collapsed completely and the scared teenager reemerged. As the youngest ever appointed Captain of His Majesty's Army there were many things resting upon his shoulders. The safety of his crew was the uttermost thing of importance but it seemed to be sailing swiftly into jeopardy, outnumbered by three ships to one. Avoiding direct conflict was crucial for their civil, a notion that seemed lost upon the only friend he'd ever had, aside from his brother. Liam and Sparky's relationship was much more volatile, the pair both thick headed and refused to change any one of their very many opinions, neither was good at listening to orders and it seemed at times the only reason why his brother did not kick the kid off the ship was because he'd taken a liken to him.
On the days that Liam would report to the palace to receive new orders, he and Sparky would traverse throughout whatever port they were in. They'd gamble with some of the street urchins who'd cuss and angrily shake their fists when Sparky seemingly outwitted them. Me Pa taught me all 'em tricks, ain't no one going a fool me. Gambling was something Liam frowned upon saying it was dishonest and dim-witted.
"Do you always listen to ye brother?"
"He's our Captain." Killian had replied tersely passing by all of the street venders without haste. The temptation to gamble seemed to be crippling.
"Not when we're on leave."
The point had unnerved him. Follow Liam had been his mindset for years. It'd kept him from starvation upon the streets and a position in His Majesty's navy. His brother was everything their Papa was not. Loyal, brave, kind, loving, sure, sometimes Killian wished his brother would lay off him and allow him some freedom to do as he pleased in his time off the ship. None of the other sailors were under his scrutiny and none were lectured for gambling or galvanizing with the ladies. Not that he had very much success at doing so, many of the ladies were much older than he and not interested in a boy. Sparky taunted and teased, laughing until his face matched his fiery red hair when he'd discovered that he hadn't ever kissed a girl. In many of the villages, Sparky disclosed, he'd be considered a man and most likely to be trying to have sons with her.
"You're simply too young brother." Liam stated distractedly as he bent over the book logs in the dimly lit cabins. The strain of squinting his eyes whilst trying to read the tiny fine print had caused his head to pulsate.
"I'm fourteen."
"I'm aware." Liam began to pinch his temples as he plopped down into one of the chairs. It seemed as of late the brothers Jones were constantly going at each other in vicious shouting matches. His brother seemed to be caught in that stage of internal anger that plagued many teenagers of his age. Though the elder Jones wished he'd take it out upon anyone or anything else other than him at the moment.
Killian pounded along the wooden floor sounding as if he weighed about three hundred pounds. "I'm not a child."
"You're not a man either." Liam retorted. "I heard what Sparky-
"You've been eavesdropping?" Killian asked sounding horrified.
Liam held up a hand in defense of himself. "Not eavesdropping. More like overhearing."
His brother flinched and had the audacity to roll his eyes. "Right." And then he let out a chortled muffled noise. "I'm your brother. I thought you'd have some respect for me and my privacy."
"Privacy?" The elder Jones snorted. "We're on a ship brother!"
"You're not my father." Killian uttered. "we're brothers. Equals."
Liam stood at that moment, tugging up the collar of his officer's jacket even further. He puffed out his chest and regarded him callously, "I'm your Captain."
The brothers hadn't spoken in four days. Something that would seem an impossible feat upon a ship, but Liam was stubborn. He'd have other officers deliberate Killian's duties for the day and the Captain had carefully scheduled both of theirs, so that there'd be no overlapping. The younger Jones had tried everything, but Liam would not even look him in the eye.
Anger boiled up inside of him, Killian took one last fleeting glance towards his brother before sparking the fire that would ensure their first naval battle upon the high seas.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! Hope you still enjoy!