FELLOWSHIP || Ateez Fanfiction

Chapter Forty: The Border To Darkness

San POV
After a good night of sleep and a small breakfast I walk upstairs and take over the navigation of the ship. Soon after I see the tip of the volcano in which the pirates live. Hongjoong helps me to navigate into the cave entrance. There are five ships on the inside, two of which are getting repaired at the moment. I squeeze our ship next to them. One of the pirates that is repairing the ship runs further inside the cave. I watch as he comes back with a bunch of armed pirates, some of which seem familiar. I wave at them after a few seconds they wave back and split up. Half of them go back, the other half comes towards us.
My friends have also gathered on the deck by now. We go on land and meet up with the group.
"Welcome back! Sorry we didn't recognize you at first.", one of the pirates says.
"No problem.", Hongjoong replies.
"Follow us, we'll bring you to the general."
We follow them through the cave into the crater. From there we have to walk up all the way up to the big house of the general. The pirates knock on the door. A minute later the butler opens and smiles upon seeing us.
"Come in! The general will be delighted to see you."
We step into the familiar living room and I sit down on the sofa.
"You are back!", general Ba'huen exclaims while storming down the stairs. He gives us all a hug but hugs Seonghwa a bit longer.

"What brings you here?"
"We wanted to see how you were doing and we also might need your help with something.", Seonghwa explains.
The others sit down too and Ba'huen begins to tell us what happened after we left.
"A week after you were gone, some people from the Nekra Kingdom came. They demanded an update and resources from us. We told them that we won't work with them anymore and they started attacking us but then fled because they had no chance against us. Two weeks later they came back with two ships and tried to ambush us. We lost a few good friends, may they rest in peace, but we were able to drive them away. They told us that they would come back soon with reinforcements. Another two weeks later three ships from Coel Wajasi came. Their captain told us that the king gave us one last chance. When the Nekra scums came one and a half weeks later they had no chance. We had quite a few wounded friends and did work out some more details with the king but tomorrow the first two ships will go on patrol at the border."
"Good to hear that it mostly worked out well in the end.", Yunho says.
We tell Ba'huen what we experienced in the mean time.
"You were on the other side of the wind barrier?! There are people living there?! That's unbelievable! I wish I could have seen it with my own eyes."
"Well, the main thing is that we got the key now.", I say.
"The thing is, we're going to the Nekra Kingdom next and they are already searching for us. Do you have an idea how we can get there unseen?", Wooyoung asks.
Ba'huen thinks for some time.
"They are definitely weakened from the failed attack. So it will be easier for you. Maybe we can distract them by attacking them."
"Isn't that risky for you?", Yeosang worries.
"Won't that declare a war between the two countries?", Jongho wonders.
"It's risky but you are my friends, so it is worth it. As for the war, they attacked first, so they started it.", Ba'huen states.
"I don't know if it's worth to risk your people's lives for us.", Seonghwa argues.
"Why? How can you say that?"
Ba'huen looks at Seonghwa with hearts in his eyes.
"Please don't look at me like that."
"Oh, of course, sorry. But you helped me last time even though I gave you a hard time. So now I should make it up to you."
"Don't you also need permission from the king?", Mingi asks.
"I'll just say that the Nekra scums provoked it."
"Thank you. We will help you with planning the attack.", Hongjoong utters.

We spend the whole afternoon and evening creating a plan before we go back to our ship and fall asleep. The next morning we go back to the general's house for breakfast. Hongjoong takes the swords from the Nekra Kingdom with him. He thinks that they might be useful to the pirates.
We enter the house and the butler brings us to the dining table where Ba'huen sits.
"Good morning! Oh you brought weapons?"
"We found them on one of the islands behind the wind barrier. We don't need them, so I thought that I would give them to you.", Hongjoong says.
"Are you going to the Nekra Kingdom unarmed?"
"It was prince Nekra's wish to not hurt any of his subjects.", Yunho explains.
"But it might be very dangerous."
"I don't want to fight violence with violence. I want to set a good example for my people and gain their respect.", Yeosang states.
"I understand."
Ba'huen takes the swords and examines them. Meanwhile we sit down and his butler brings the breakfast. It's been a while since I ate this much. Since we're always on the ship and need to ration our food, we usually always eat the same small breakfast every day. Although I can't complain because I used to have no breakfast before. Somehow the time where I lived in poverty feels like a lifetime ago. I never thought it would ever be like this.