#undertronic

They warned me not to go poking around where I didn't belong, the guys. They said just because of my less than ideal upbringing, that didn't mean I had to turn to a life of crime, but I didn't give a shit, really. My last living relative passed and left me all of his belongings, meaning I had just the things to sell to people who had money that wasn't theirs to spend. There were rumors from frightened whispers that one night by the shore, pirates would dock and trade their recent finds with each other. That night, everyone would stay inside with their windows locked and firearms by their bedside. But not me.

It was lights out in the seaside town, not even so much as a front porch lantern was left on. For once, the streets I normally despised seemed peaceful. No bustle, no yelling drunkards, just the steady rhythm of the waves crashing against the shore and the soft whistle of the wind swishing my coat behind me. Truly, it was quite the serene scene to take in. But I wasn't here for a late-night stroll; I had things to do. I walked down the cobblestone streets and down the chiseled stone steps to the beach. The sun had just gone under, so it made sense that the beach was completely barren when I made my way down there. The only indicator of life were the closed-up fish stalls. I never cared for fish, ironically enough, so I wasn't going to steal any of their fishing poles or anything. Instead, I perched myself behind one of the stalls and kept a lookout for any ships approaching. I waited, and I waited... And I waited. Yeah, I realized this was a complete waste of my time when I found myself nodding off. Seriously, what time was it even? I was about to...

When my eyes fluttered open, my ears caught the sound of distant chatter, and I slowly peeked out from my hiding spot. There they were; on the shore, there were at least twenty different ships. In a fit of excitement, I sprung up and started to dart over when I thought it would be in my best interest to just blend in. I went through all the effort of dressing the part; I might as well act the part as well. It wasn't enough to have the gold chains, tall boots, and a big feather in my hat. With every step I took, I made sure I gave the air of someone who was hardened by years of experience sailing the seven seas. Before I tried to interact with anyone, I looked around, trying to listen in to see if I could catch onto anything I needed to know.

"How about this one?"

The voice that caught my attention was deep, suave, and confident. As sneakily as I could, I shuffled over to watch the trade go down. However, I got a bit distracted from my goal, but it was for a good reason, because God. The guy I was spying on was the finest man I've ever seen in my entire life. He was tall, tan, and had long ombre hair that was kept far too neat for his line of work. It was clear he put a lot of work into his appearance, from his outfit to his nails and his makeup. He had a tail that gently swayed from side to side, and even that was so neatly groomed. I tried not to be caught staring, but how could I not? I'd never seen a man who checked every single one of my boxes so quickly. Ah, but for now, I really had to focus. I had things to sell, and I wasn't going to let this distract me.

"What is that?" His fellow pirate asked, and looking closer, I saw the man holding a black key, though the material was chipped so it was silver at some bits, and it had these gorgeous ruby jewels on it.

"It's a key that opens any chest. Seriously, look at the wear on this thing, I've used it on every expedition I've gone on," the man explained.

"If it opens any chest, why are you just trading it away?" His client asked with skepticism.

"You have something I want." He motioned to the pirate's neck, and he pulled a necklace from beneath his vest.

"This? These are real pearls, it's the most valuable thing I own," he explained.

"And they're so pretty. Come on, it's a good trade," the man insisted. Until he was interrupted by one of his crewmates.

"Cider, get over here," he hissed, peering over the top of his glasses. Cider huffed and dragged himself over to the man with long, ginger locks. "I told you not to trade that."

"But it's guaranteed to get me anything I want!" He whined.

"We need that. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you with it. Give," he commanded, like Cider was his pet. Still though, he seemed to obey and handed it over to his crewmate, and I watched as he pocketed it. That's when I realized I had the perfect excuse to talk to this handsome stranger. I approached with my leather sack in hand, but my footsteps got less confident the closer I got.

"I have something you might be interested in," I announced with my voice deepened and my chest puffed out. This intrigued Cider, but his friend placed a hand on his sword cautiously.

"That so?" He tilted his head.

"I have some stuff," I replied vaguely, pulling out various different pieces of jewelry. There was a glimmer of excitement in his purple and lime eyes as he carefully observed each one, I assume to make sure they were real.

"Those are gorgeous. What do you want for them?" He asked.

"You don't need any of those. We're here to meet someone specific if you recall. We're not here to get distracted," his friend chastised.

"Oh, he's not even here yet. Don't have a stick up your ass, Chronos."

"I don't have a stick up my ass," Chronos retorted. "Why don't you go keep Zephyr company on the ship? I get worried when he's left alone at this hour."

"Fine, fine." Just like that, they both started to walk off like I never even came up to them in the first place. But I wanted to know more about this beautiful stranger, and I kind of had a moment of weakness. So, I did what anyone with less than two brain cells would do, and I slowly crept behind him to follow him aboard.

Their ship was kind of docked far off, like they didn't want to be around the others, which should have been a red flag, but who was I to judge? After all, I was the creep trying to stow away on their ship. Cider began to climb the rope to the deck, while Chronos stood in front of the ship, watching and waiting. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to strike, so once he was aboard, I started to make my way after him. Turns out I'm not much cut out for the pirate life, considering I struggled to get up the first two notches. Not to mention, it seemed I needed to work on being more aware of my surroundings because before I could process anything, I heard a whish and a snap, and I was out like I was when I was waiting for these damn pirates to even show up.

.💚

The floor was moving. It's clear what had happened here. I was cursing myself when I opened my eyes and looked around to see I was tied to a pole below the deck. Even though it's shameful to admit, I screamed. Of course, I screamed, what else was there to do? My friends were right, this was the dumbest idea I've ever had. It didn't take long before Cider and the other one I hadn't seen yet came down. I assumed this was Zephyr, the one Chronos mentioned last night.

"No way, we have an actual stowaway," he gasped. Great, I was a novelty to these amateurs.

"Yeah, Chronos was originally gonna kill them, but... He didn't want that to be our whole thing," Cider explained.

"Hey! I can hear you, you know, so I'd thank you not to talk about me like I'm not here. Let me go!" I protested. Cider just shook his head.

"Well, we're miles away from land, so unless you want to walk the plank, we're just gonna keep you right where you are." He started to walk toward me, and knelt down in front of me. Out of pure instinct, I flinched, which seemed to get him to back off. "What were you doing sneaking on board, anyway?" I couldn't tell him that, no way. He was my captor now, I couldn't think of a worse time to come onto someone. But then again, what was I supposed to do? Lie? If I said I was gonna rob him, then I'd really have to walk the plank. I just sighed.

"I really wanted someone to trade with me." Which technically was the truth. "I'm not a pirate, I just inherited a lot of treasure. I wanted someone to buy my valuables so I could be rich and get out of my stupid town." I ranted for longer than I wanted to, but Cider nodded along in understanding.

"That right? That's kind of a dumb reason to get yourself into so much trouble. And I can tell you're not lying. I know what a real pirate looks like, and you-- no offense-- look like you're wearing a straight-up costume," Cider chuckled. I was over here tied up on a pirate ship, and this was funny to him. Once he was done treating me like free entertainment, he started to join Zephyr on the steps. "I'll see if we can convince Chro to let you go on our next stop."

"There's no way he'd say yes to that. We're going to see Hex, and we can't leave any trace behind. We still have that huge bounty hanging over our heads, you know," Zephyr reminded.

"So, we'll drop them off on the outskirts of Ember Shores. It's basically surrounded by empty land."

"Again with the talking like I'm not right in front of you," I huffed.

"You're the prisoner, why do you think you get a say?" Cider raised an eyebrow, and, well, he was right. I could get executed, or I could be let go. The only trouble would be finding my way home, which is the opposite of what I set out to do. Speaking of, I soon realized that I really didn't have anything but the clothes on my back.

"Hey, where's my stuff? My sack of stuff I inherited?" I inquired.

"Took it." Cider shrugged. "It's ours now."

"But that was my stuff!" I protested.

"Tough. You really aren't a pirate, you seriously thought you'd just get your stuff back? Sheesh." Cider shook his head and followed Zephyr up, but he was not about to leave me here.

"Hey!" I called and he turned around, this time annoyed at the constant interruption. "Are you really gonna leave me tied up here? What if I have to pee or something?"

"Oh, my God, are all prisoners as needy as you are? I'll get you a pee bucket, just... Yell when you need to use it, I guess."

"Fine." So that was that, I let him go, and I just sat there, listening to the waves. The ocean used to calm me, but now all I could feel was panic. If I overstepped, I could be thrown overboard just like that. Not to mention the fact that I had no idea where we were going in the first place. The only thing left to do was wait. Wait until we get there.

.💜

When the sun came out, I had to shield my eyes. It burnt. I didn't even know what hour it was, and the smell of rotting fish and saltwater made me too disgusted to even think. But something else caught my attention-- a whiff of something that didn't smell half bad. It was CIder again, he came down below the deck with a plate in his hands. I wasn't sure what was on it, some kind of meat, potatoes maybe? Whatever it was, I'd take it, my stomach was growling.

"Morning!" Cider approached me like I was a rabid dog, just raring and ready to bite his finger off as he slid the plate in front of me. "I thought it'd be more humane of us to feed you."

"How thoughtful," I scoffed sarcastically, "How am I supposed to eat that? My hands..." I was still tied to a pole in the exact position I was last night.

"Right. Um. Okay, here." Cider positioned himself in a crossed-leg position on the floor, scooting himself and the plate closer to me. At first, I was confused, until he took a scoop off the plate with the fork he'd brought and held it to my lips. I opened my mouth to protest, as I absolutely was not about to let him feed me like a goddamn baby, but it only took a split second for him to take that as a go-ahead. Since the fork was already in my mouth, I decided I might as well just take a bite. It was okay, whatever it was. The mystery mush was food, I'll give it that much. He continued this motion of scooping the food up and into my mouth and watching intently to make sure I was done chewing and swallowing. He looked so focused, his bi-colored eyes moving back and forth, his teeth gritted in concentration. I wanted to deny the fact I was feeling any kind of Stockholm syndrome, but when the tip of his pointer finger touched my lips I almost lost it then and there. He was hot, and to be honest I'd recommend getting kidnapped by him to a friend. Not that it was his fault. Actually...

"So your friend Chronos. He tied me up down here, yeah? What are his thoughts on you feeding his prisoner?" I asked.

"Well, he thought it was okay. He thinks you're probably dangerous, but he already thinks our whole pirate thing is a bad influence on Zephyr, so he doesn't wanna let you starve to death down here."

"What a saint," I huffed.

"Ugh. Do you need to use your pee bucket privileges before I go? You shouldn't hold it the whole journey, we won't be there for another couple of days." Cider stood from his spot in front of me, and it made me realize he really was sitting just centimeters away from me as the smooth material of his pants brushed my cheek.

"Days?? I'm gonna be here for that long?! This is bullshit, just let me go!" It was an embarrassing little outburst, but I needed an excuse for why my face was so red.

"It's either sailing for days, or swimming until either someone comes to find you, or you get eaten. So I'll let you decide." To that, I had nothing to say, so I just let him go, and I was alone again. I just couldn't wait until we actually made it to our destination.

.💚

It had just turned my third night on the ship, and I was ready to get some shut-eye. It's actually surprising how easy it is to get used to sleeping sitting up, and, you know, tied to a pole. But I heard the door open, and a bit of moonlight crept into the room. At first I was scared, until I realized I recognized the sound of clinking chains. Cider was back, and as he stood in front of me I could tell he was trying to see whether or not I was asleep.

"What do you want?" I asked, and instead of answering the question he just sat down in front of me again, in the same cross-legged position, and with the same focused stare as before.

"I bet you get lonely down here," he finally responded.

"What an observation," I huffed. Then I repeated the question, "What do you want?"

"I get lonely too. I mean, I want to meet more people, hear more stories. But that doesn't come often, everything I do is mostly for money. Being a pirate is a cutthroat business, you know."

"Okay?" I tilted my head, staring at him in confusion. Did he really come down here just to talk? No joke, that was it?

"It's not something you should get involved in, trust me. Honestly, instead of just dumping you wherever, I think I should try to convince Chronos to let us bring you home. You didn't know what you were doing, you still don't. Anyone with half a mind would have figured out how to escape by now." There was an air of sympathy in his voice, and he drew his sword, but the sound was the drawn-out sound of metal against fabric, he wasn't doing it to attack. Not like when I heard Chronos draw his before he took me out. No, instead Cider quietly walked around to the other side of the pole and cut off my ropes. "Sorry, I don't know how to untie a knot." I had to laugh. What a strange thing to admit.

"So, wait, are you just trusting me to roam free?"

"As long as you promise to stay down here. I don't wanna get in trouble. Also, do you think you could promise to not try and take over the ship or anything?"

"I guess so. You have been super hospitable," I joked. "Seriously, though, you're right, I don't know the first thing about being a pirate. I couldn't take all three of you."

"Good, good." Then we stood there for a minute, just a captor and his captive not knowing what to do with each other. "Well, goodnight." That was what finally came out of his mouth when he started to head back upstairs.

"Wait, wait," I began, starting to walk toward him before remembering my promise. There wasn't really any place else for me to go, so I just sat back down in my spot with my back against the pole. This time though, I was at least able to position myself more comfortably. "Why don't you tell me a story, um, Cider, right?"

"Me? Sure, uh..." He came to sit next to me this time. "Wow, I never even asked your name. Terrible manners."

"It's Y/N," I smiled.

"Well, Y/N, why don't I tell you about our heist the other night? Crazy stuff, let me tell you." And he did. We spent our first night together with him telling me how they acquired this ship, and me telling him how I was the best haggler in the village. I knew how much everything was worth, what was in season, what was out, the labor costs of things, and he just nodded, saying that seemed like a good skill to have.

.💜

When I woke up, I felt more well-rested than ever. I looked to my left to see the sun filtering in, and when I looked to my right I damn near lept out of my boots, but I managed to stay still. We may have talked for longer than expected because Cider's head was leaning against my shoulder. He was out cold, snoring softly in rhythm with the waves. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen, and I didn't want to disturb him, but I couldn't risk him getting caught. We'd both probably end up overboard, so I tried to shake him awake as gently as I could.

"Hey. Wake up," I whispered. Once he started to lift his head a bit, he groaned and leaned against the pole behind us.

"You're kidding. I fell asleep? Oh, God, there's no way no one noticed, I'm so screwed."

"It's still early. Just sneak back upstairs, I won't tell," I assured. All I was met with was a simple groggy complaint as he managed to pull himself up and trudge upstairs. He turned around before he shut the door, and looked down at me with excitement in his eyes.

"Hey, Y/N... Thanks for a fun night. See you in a bit when I serve you breakfast, okay?" Then he waved, and he was gone again. I sighed with contentment and waved back even though he couldn't see me.

.💚

The day passed by a little bit quicker with me being able to walk around a bit and have Cider come down to talk to me. In fact, I didn't even realize what day it was, so I was a little worried when I didn't see Cider when it was usually time for breakfast. And when Cider came down with Chronos behind him, I almost completely lost it thinking I was gonna get murdered or something. Instead, Chronos just looked between me and Cider with a disapproving glance and sighed.

"Cider," he began.

"I know, I know, but hear me out. They're still down here, see?" He explained, motioning to me.

"It's one thing that you untied them in the first place, it's another thing you've been getting friendly with them, and it's an entirely other thing that you're asking me to just take them home. I would have expected this from Zephyr, but not from you. Are you forgetting just how wanted we are?" he lectured. Cider put his ears back and pouted as Chronos drilled into him how careless he was being.

"They're not even dangerous, they didn't even have a weapon when we took their stuff, remember?" He reminded. Even I had forgotten that detail, what was my plan here? I was going to an illegal pirate trade. Just shows how much I know, I guess.

"So you're both foolish, your point?" Chronos sighed.

"Chro, pleeeeaaassseee. They're so chill. Right, Y/N, you're chill? You're not gonna tell anyone about us?" They both looked at me, and I started to shuffle in place thinking of my next move.

"Of course I'm chill. If you take me home, I won't bother you anymore, honest," I pleaded. Chronos scrunched up his nose in response.

"Absolutely not. Cider's gonna take you to the outskirts of town, and you're not gonna bother anyone. Actually, no, maybe I'll take you myself. Considering someone can't be trusted with our hostages anymore." Chronos glared at Cider, then back at me. Thankfully, Cider quickly stood between us.

"Now hold on, Chronos. Consider this, Y/N could tell someone either way. In fact, it would be better for us if we took them home. If we left them here, Y/N could tell all the wrong people. People we don't want to know about us. But if we take Y/N home, they'll just tell the village people, and what are they gonna do? They're terrified of pirates, they don't even have anyone to turn us in to." His confidence could have convinced a penguin to live in the desert, swear to God because Chronos listened and started to scowl again, like he knew Cider had a point.

"Just... Just come with me, and we'll talk about it later," he instructed.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. See you, Y/N." After they left, I heaved a deep sigh of relief. I was going to make it home, and in one piece, too.

As the sky outside went from red to blue, I found myself wondering how much longer I'd have to sit here. Honestly, I was about to formulate a whole new escape plan when Cider bound back down excitedly.

"Y/N! Guess what?" He began, his tail wagging behind him wildly.

"Hmm, what?" I humored him, even though I was pretty sure I could guess.

"You get to go home!" He announced.

"Thank God," I sighed. "Only another four days of feeling seasick."

"Ooh, that's the other good thing! Since I was the best boy I could be today, I convinced Chronos to let you stay upstairs instead of down here."

"Huh, really?" I gasped.

"Yeah! If you want to sleep in my bed--" Holy shit, "-- I'll sleep on the floor." Damn it.

"Hey, I couldn't ask you to do that. I've been sleeping on the floor, I'll be okay," I assured.

"Okay, thank God, because I was only saying that to be polite. I like my bed, I need my beauty sleep. But I'll put down some pillows and blankets for you. I have a lot of spares, I usually sleep with all of them, but I guess you can borrow some. Just for the few nights you're still with us." He seemed oddly excited about this, so who was I to deny him this little moment of his?

"That sounds great. Lead the way, I'm already getting sleepy."

"Me too, holy cow, you won't believe the things I had to do today. So many things, first of all--"

Telling stories was just our thing now. Cider told me about his day, and I told him about my life back home. The meaningless chores for my neighbors, and the times I dreamed for a life bigger than the one I had. He led me to his bedroom, which wasn't very big, but I assumed the other two had rooms of about the same size. It was just big enough for a bed, and a little bit of floor space, plus the lighting from the big window was nice. I stood outside while he took great care setting down a few blankets and pillows for me.

"Is this good?" He asked, taking a seat on his bed.

"This is good, thank you." I shut the door behind me and got cozy in my little blanket pile. This was the warmest and safest I felt the whole trip here, it almost made me want to stay, despite the circumstances.

"Good. Now close your eyes, thanks." I was going to ask him why, but when I looked over and saw him taking his shirt off, I didn't have to.

"Cider!" I scolded, slapping my arm over my eyes and trying to shrink into my pillows.

"I'm putting my pajamas on, don't get jealous."

"That's not wh--! Just warn me next time!"

"Why's your face red?" He teased.

"Cider!!"

.💜

The sun was warm on my face, and the salty water was fresh in my lungs. All things considered, things were going well. I hummed patiently while I leaned over the ship's railing and watched the land roll into view.

"There it is. Are you excited?" Cider called down from the wheel.

"Am I? Everyone's gonna think I'm so cool for joining a pirate crew for a week."

"Don't flatter yourself," Chronos huffed, not even bothering to look up from whatever he was scrawling in his journal.

"Well, it'll be a fun story to tell," I muttered. And it will, even though the only battle scar I'll have to show is a bruised ego.

Once we were docked somewhere far off in the rocks, Cider helped me down, and I relished every moment our hands touched. Once we were down, we stood in another awkward silence.

"So. This is it," he sighed.

"Yep." I nodded. The waves were like crickets, just drilling in the fact we were stalling because we didn't want to say goodbye. Instead of goodbye, I hugged him. I was worried I'd made a mistake because he froze for a long time, but he still wrapped his arms around my back. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too. But hey..." He pulled away, keeping his hands on my shoulders so I'd keep looking at him. "If you wanna see me again, you know where to find me. We don't come all the time, but we try to make it."

"Right... Right! The market! Oh, I will see you again!" I got a little overexcited, but he didn't seem to mind. He just gave me a warm smile.

"Yeah. So, don't get too super bummed out about missing me, okay? We'll see each other."

"Cider! Hurry up, we're not staying!" Chronos called, and Cider finally let me go.

"That's my cue. Until next time, Y/N." He grabbed hold of the rope and started to hoist himself up.

"Wait!" I called, a final moment of desperation so he'd stay for just one more second. I reached up just as high as I could to grab his shirt collar and pull him down for a kiss. It was quick, but I felt his soft lips against mine and his well-managed beard on my chin. Now he was the one with the beet red face as I pulled away and took off down the beach. "Promise me you'll come back!"

"I will."