HOUSE OF TRAITORS [hyunlix]

FIVE

The answer turned out to be "no." San's right arm was smashed and bleeding. Mingi hit his head. Changbin's leg might've been broken and, of course, Hongjoong himself was limping around the ship. The pirates wore sour expressions on their faces. The wolves heard them talking among themselves:

"There's no way we're going to pull this off with so many of us hurt."

That made Minho turn to them, from where he was making Changbin sit down, and say:

"What do you mean? I'll help you out in a minute."

San frowned at him.

"Somebody else can patch me up, but it won't change the fact that I can't fight with my arm being like that."

That made Minho smirk. So, the pirates had no idea what he was capable of.

"Just wait."

The pirates watched the witch disappear in the depth of the ship, only to come back a moment later with a handful of jars and candles. The wolves wrinkled their noses seeing the familiar jars filled with odd fluids and herbs. Minho just started to put them on the floor.

"Light those up for me, please."

Minho pushed the candles in Seonghwa's direction. The other witch was surprised.

"Ah, with what?"

"Your magic, obviously. You just burned the Kraken alive, you can light a candle."

Minho's voice wasn't unkind. He had some issues with the captain and he didn't trust his crew completely, but what he saw in Seonghwa wasn't danger or competition. It was something he recognized from when his boys changed. The uncertainty. The lack of confidence in their own powers. He was sure that the other witch wasn't raised with his kind. He probably discovered his powers by accident. Perhaps something scary happened. Minho could imagine how it affected the other man. But he could also see the potential, the strength. Perhaps, he could help Park Seonghwa bloom as a witch.

Just as he predicted, Seonghwa did simply fine with the given task. A moment later Minho was mixing the herbs with the liquids, burning some leaves and adding them to the paste and then heating it up just a bit. He explained every step to the other witch, who listened carefully, hanging onto every world. It was the first time someone explained how magic worked to him.

Finally, Minho applied the medication to San's arm. Yeosang and Wooyoung were watching him work as if they were ready to intervene if he tried to hurt him. Minho didn't mind the audience. He whispered the familiar words of a spell and watched as shock showed on San's face.

"It- it's doesn't hurt anymore..."

The other pirates looked at them with disbelieve clear on their faces. Even the Captain couldn't hide his interest.

"That's amazing," Seonghwa said. "I never thought we could heal people."

Minho smiled at that.

"We can do good things. Wonderful things. Unfortunately, being a good person involves helping even the most annoying people. Why don't you put this on Mingi's head and I'll go fix up your Captain?"

The comment made Seonghwa laugh. Even San, who overheard it, chuckled.

"Of course," answered the other witch.

Seeing him healing the taller man, Minho couldn't help but feel proud.

...

The next morning was slow. No one was in a mood to get back to the planning. The ship was a mess and so it was decided that a deep cleaning would take place. Worn out after the healing that they did the night before, the two witches were excluded from the event.