#apollus

Summary:

Hermes stared at him for a moment before looking at the horizon. "For an immortal, you remember all your lovers pretty well," he commented off-handedly. Apollo smiled sadly.

"Well, it's not my fault they're all gorgeous and memorable," he quipped back.

Theodore was the first to spot them.

His pod was traveling between asteroid floes after their last had wandered into the shadow of  a gas giant.  The star seals moved as a unit and kept each other close by communicating through bioluminescent flashes from their dappled coats. There was no sound in the vacuum of space, but Theodore could sense the moment the ship entered the range of his antenna. And soon enough its bright red solar sails unfurled as it no doubt noticed them too.

A pirate ship. A poaching ship.

Without the cover of an asteroid belt, Theo and his kin were completely exposed. He let out a warning flash and dove down, the pod following,  in hopes to hide under the ship’s belly.

No such luck. 

The nimble hunting ship guessed their movements and nose-dived. The pod was cut off.

Theodore heard the seals’ cries as he and his pod were netted and pulled towards the ship. They thrashed against their restraints, their spots flashing, but the artificial gravity took hold of their bodies and dropped them onto the deck.  There was nothing they could do but twist and writhe in fear and desperation. They were trapped.

At least, his pod was. Theodore on the other hand, was not.

He knew of the poaching of starseals. The despicable practice infected every inch of the galaxy. But his kind were rare. He had never been there when it happened. Not until now. And Theo knew he could not let them skin another.

As the crew was occupied by the mass of fanged jaws biting at the ropes, hissing and spitting, Theo slipped out of his coat to reveal his biped form. With his hands free he brandished his knife and cut away the ropes confining him.

And oh, how one crew member shrieked in surprise when Theo’s human hand whipped out of the netting to grab his ankle. 

Theo yanked him to the ground and pounced, biting into his neck with his pointed teeth until the man’s screams turned to wet gurgles, then to silence. A couple nearby pirates took notice of the sound, but luckily most of it was drowned out by the calls of his kin and the shouting of orders by the first mate.

Theodore climbed to his feet, a little unsteady as he didn’t often take this form. He dove for the crewmen working to secure the netting to the ship. His knife sliced through the man’s windpipe and he collapsed. The main rope went slack as he let it loose. With a cry of triumph, a handful of seals wriggled out of the netting. More followed, biting and snapping at the hands of their captors .

They were still trapped on the deck, however. There was no way to get space-borne while the artificial gravity still had its grip on their heavy celestial bodies. As Theo’s mother always told him,

Swim alongside the gravity’s current, but never towards it. Once you’re in it’s teeth, you do not escape.

Theodore thanked the stars that he found an interest in starflight, studying spaceships since he was young. He whipped his head around the deck until he found what he was looking for; a beacon and lever on the main mast. The gravity generator. Not the only one. Every ship in the galaxy had backups upon backups installed onboard. Hopefully, his pod could take to the sky and flee the moment before the backup kicked in.

 Unfortunately, the entire ship was aware of his presence by now, and danger was closing in fast. He let out a shrill call to his brethren; be ready to fly.

 Then, he pounced. Slicing in every direction, he aimed not to kill but to fend off his attackers just long enough for him to reach the lever. 

A hand grabbed and twisted his wrist behind him and he shrieked. A larger member of his pod tore through the assailant’s calf muscle allowing him to slip free, but his knife was knocked out of his hand. Instead, He used his teeth to bite off their fingers.

He finally made it to the lever. He pulled with all his might and just as it clicked a weight knocked him to the ground.

The  gravity began to lift and Theo heard the triumphant calls of his pod as they took to the sky. He attempted to throw off the weight on his back and follow, but found that he couldn’t. A boot stomped down next to his head and with horror he saw that there was some sort of magnetic contraption keeping this pirate’s shoes attached to the deck. He spit in anger and attempted to twist around and snap at them but they were too strong. 

After a moment his stomach dropped as he was pulled once more against the deck of the ship. His window of escape had just closed and now more hands were grabbing and pulling him. More than he could feasibly throw off.

He let out a fearful keen. In the distance his pod responded in kind with saddened cries of their own. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a few turn back.

No. Get away. He hissed urgently. Escape. I will be fine.

One last cry in response and he heard it fade into the distance.

He was alone.

He was trapped.

……

Someone reached for his coat.

__________

Two deaths and a dozen injuries to his crew. Captain Porter knew seal hunting could be dangerous. But, as in ‘a few days of bedrest’, not ‘pushing daisies’. He was still processing the scene he just witnessed. A dark-haired man emerging from the nets and carving through his crew like a wild animal. This was not how he expected his day to go. 

Said “wild man” was currently being restrained by his first mate Holtsman and a few others. One of them pulled out their blaster. “Hold it.” Porter commanded. He made his way down from the quarter deck and approached the chaos.

“Captain.” Holtsman greeted.

The captain leaned down to assess the man in front of him. They had managed to drag him to his knees with his arms wrenched behind him. His hair was long and curled, decorated with braids and colored beads. He was completely bare, save for a starseal coat draped over his shoulders. He was quite beautiful, Porter noted, if not for the blood staining his face and teeth.

Porter scowled. Blood from his crew.

“Who the hell are you and how did you get into the middle of my operation?” Porter growled.

The man bared his fanged teeth and hissed.

The captain grabbed a fistful of hair and rammed his knee into the man’s face. There was a crunch and yelp as his nose snapped under the blow. Porter yanked his head back up.

“You just killed my people and lost me a lot of money. I’m not afraid to make this hurt. Now who are you?”

“Maybe he’s a stowaway.” Holtsman said.

“Sir, I saw him cut himself out of the netting and kill Merle.” one crew member spoke up.

“What, you think he was out there with the pod? Don’t be ridiculous. No Terran can survive out there for more than a minute.” Holtsman answered.

The captain didn’t respond. With the man’s face so close, Porter could see peculiar freckles dotting his skin. They almost looked like constellations. He glanced back at the fur coat.

He was starting to get an idea of what they had just caught. A ridiculous idea, but the evidence was right in front of him. 

The sudden appearance, the ethereal features, the fangs. The fact that he wore nothing but the skin of a creature he seemed so intent on rescuing.

Captain Porter grinned.

“Tie him up.”

The man began to struggle anew but with so many hands on him there was nothing he could do as his wrists and ankles were secured with rope. Porter reached down and pulled the coat from his shoulders. 

The man’s eyes widened in fear.

“Don’t touch that!”

“So he does speak!” Porter laughed. He knelt down to be face to face with his captive.

“You know, my ship is a seal hunting ship. We net the bastards and sell ‘em out to butchers and fur dealers. Just one pelt goes for a pretty penny.” 

The man shuddered in disgust, avoiding Porter’s gaze and staring intensely at the coat just out of his reach.

“So why is it that you have one? You seemed pretty intent on saving your little space friends back there. I highly doubt you skinned one yourself.”

Holtsman raised an eyebrow. “Captain… you can’t be serious.”

Captain Porter ignored him and pulled out his lighter. The man’s eyes snapped to it as the flame flickered to life. The fear in his eyes sent a shiver down Porter’s spine. Yes, beautiful indeed.

“What is your name, boy?”

The man ground his teeth. He was shaking now.

“I said-” He held the coat over the flame.  “What is your name?”

The fur at the end began to smoke. 

“Th-Theodore!” The man shrieked. “It’s Theodore. Please-”

Porter smiled, extinguishing the flame. He stood back up to address his crew. “Gentlemen, it looks like we’ll still meet our quota for the month! Perhaps the next few years, even.” He looked down at his prize. Theodore.

Young Captain Apollus, during his journey of revenge against the pirates who enslaved him as a child, stumbles across a strange, and beautiful prisoner in the wreckage of his latest plunder. This prisoner, Theodu, turns out to be more than what he seems, a rare and powerful Star Selkie. Together, the two men, joined by Apollus’ eccentric crew, search the cosmos for Theodu’s missing coat so he may return to his home amongst the stars. (And maybe fall in love along the way).

___

New story concept! It’s been on my mind for a while now and I’ve attempted to start writing the script a few times but I keep getting caught up in my own head. @whumpsday ‘s Kane and Jim story has actually inspired me a bit, because I LOVE their writing and I want to try out their technique of writing out of order to see if it helps me out.

Will actually got more than just Apollo's healing skill, because apparently Apollo often excuses himself for being affectionate with Hyacinthus with the phrase "for medical reason".