Midshipman Harry Collier didn't know what to make of Ensign Richard Sharpe.
When Captain Chase had first told Collier he needed to pick up an Army officer and bring them to the Caliope he was excited. He was finally being given a task, being put in charge of something.
He had… what did Llewellyn call it?… responsibility.
It was kind of nerve wracking, if he were to be honest. But when he left England his mother had told him not to let any opportunity to prove himself pass him by, so he wasn't going to let this one do so. So he would make sure this boat picked up whoever Captain Chase's new friend was and get them to the ship they needed to go to. He could do that.
Even if it was the other sailors who were doing most of the actual work. His role here was still important.
Collier had never met an Army officer before. He had seen them here and there growing up of course. It was bound to happen when you were born into a military family. But his father and both of his grandfathers were Naval officers, they had never introduced him to an Army officer. So he didn't know what to expect from this man he was supposed to be bringing over.
So when the man claiming to be Ensign Sharpe finally arrived at the boat, Collier couldn't help but note that he looked very different from every Army officer he had caught glimpses of before.
The man was tall and very muscular. He also had dark tan skin, like he had spent many years under the Indian sun. He probably had, Collier thought. The Army had been here for years at this point. Far longer than he had been in the Navy. And the man was indeed older than Collier expected. An Ensign in the Army was the equivalent of a Midshipman in the Navy, and at least on the Pucelle, none of the Midshipmen were this man's age.
Collier noted a wicked looking scar on the man's cheekbone. Collier would bet that had come from some sort of sword fight. It made the man look all the more scarier.
Collier also noted that the uniform the man wore was pretty faded in color. It was also torn in some spots and faded. Collier wasn't going to say anything, but it almost looked to him like one of the older sailor's coats that they've worn for over twenty years. Not like one of the officers who would replace it when it got to that condition.
Collier could only suppose that would happen with being on shore in India for so long. From the stories he had heard about it, there weren't nearly as many supplies and luxuries in the country as there were in England or any of the other ports they stopped at.
When Ensign Sharpe all of a sudden pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the other boat, threatened the people aboard, and then shot a hole in the boat, Collier could do nothing but watch wide eyed.
Collier didn't know what he should do, or if he should even do anything. He should do something, right? He was the officer in charge of this vessel, and the man just shot a gun at another boat.
But he could only watch, his eyes growing even wider. Ensign Sharpe was a man, a strong man, and for some reason, Collier wanted to become like him.
He doesn't think he could tell anyone that though. He didn't want to be subjected to yet another lecture on what it meant to be an officer. The midshipmen got enough of those. And something told him that this is not the example of an officer his father wanted him to become.
When they finally got around to dropping Sharpe off on the Calliope, Collier was only a little upset. Even though he had only been around the man for a little under an hour, and had only spoken maybe two sentences to the man, Collier wanted to spend more time around him. See what else the man would do, what other crazy things would Sharpe do that would get any other man in serious trouble.
So, about a month later, when the Pucelle retook the Calliope and Sharpe came to stay on their ship, Collier was thrilled.
Having Captain Chase tell him to be the one to show Sharpe around the ship, only continued to increase the gleeful feeling in him. So much so that he probably took the tour a little too fast, if the fourth groan Sharpe let out when his head again hit another plank meant anything.
Over the next few months as the ship trailed the Revenant and headed towards England, Collier watched Sharpe a lot. He didn't get to interact with the man as much as he wanted to, but he still greatly enjoyed the excitement he brought on board.
In the chaos of the battle that would later be known as the Battle of Trafalgar, Collier watched Sharpe as the soldier jumped into action. Seeming to know exactly what to do even though he had never been in a naval battle before. Or at least, that's what it looked like to Collier.
"What are you doing here?" Sharpe had eventually yelled out and asked when he saw the boy. "I thought you were watching the clock?"
Collier sighed, how many times was he going to have to tell people this. "The clock broke!" he yelled back.
"Oh," Sharpe paused. When another crash sounded somewhere else, and Clouter called over to get Sharpe's attention. Sharpe turned to Collier and yelled out for him to stay safe before running back into the battle.
When they dropped Sharpe off in London, Collier thought that would be the last he would see of the man, and he was somewhat saddened by that thought. So almost two years later, When Captain Chase told him to take a boat and pick up a familiar face on the shore, he was more than pleasantly surprised to see it was Sharpe.
"Mister Sharpe," Collier greeted when the man had come within distance of the boat. "I thought we would never see each other again."
Sharpe chuffed a laugh at that. "You make it sound as if one of us was dying," he said.
"I just never expected to see you again, sir," Collier said. "It's not everyday that the Army works together with the Navy."
Sharpe just nodded along, and Collier brought him to their ship.
Days later, when Sharpe wanted to be brought into the city, and Collier was assigned as the one to sneak him in, he seemed… less than impressed.
"Collier's going to be taking you into the city," Chase said as he explained the plan of taking the Dane's fleet to Sharpe.
Collier didn't hear what the man's response was to that statement, but he couldn't help but feel that Sharpe was worried by that news.
"Don't worry," Collier heard Chase tell Sharpe. "Collier's a bright young lad, he'd got this all taken care of! Right Collier?"
"Yes, sir," he replied, turning to face the Captain and Sharpe. "You have nothing to worry about, sir."
Collier couldn't help but see the expression on Sharpe's face as he said that. Even though he hadn't said anything, the man didn't look exactly reassured by his confidence, which didn't make much sense to him. Last week Lieutenant Robinson was telling him that he had to show more confidence to people to make them think he would be successful with whatever task they were giving him. But so far, it didn't look like his advice was working.
Collier of course knew what the Captain's real plan was, so he wasn't worried about the mission. So long as he got the boat safely and undetected into the city, the Captain would take over from there.
Although, Collier supposed, if something did happen to the Captain afterwards, that would mean he would be put in charge as the only other officer. He prayed that wouldn't happen, because as much as it would be great to make a name for himself, he liked Captain Chase, and he wanted the man to remain in command… and alive.
Luckily and surprisingly for him, everything goes exactly as they planned, and only a couple days later they take the Danish fleet out of the city.
Although as Collier watched Sharpe, he couldn't help but notice the man seemed more depressed then when they went into the city.