(private, solo post)
Jay with
Dev
Somewhere in the Ocean - On a ship using the name Wingôlost
(Some point before the War of the Ring, and after the previous tale)
“He did
what?” Dev stared at the man before him, thinking he must not have heard correctly.
“He
shredded them, Captain. All of them.”
Dev gave a slow nod. “I thought that’s what you said.” He turned his head and looked at Jay, standing just off to the side, sighing in exasperation.
“Did he mess with the spare sails?” Jay asked Grisly, frowning.
“No, those were locked up in a chest, the stupid kid didn’t even seem to know we had backups.” He scoffed with a little laugh, then hesitated. “Sorry,” He added, unsure if the Captain would be be upset at him calling his kid stupid.
“Right,” Dev took a deep breath. rubbing his temple with two fingers, and nodded. “Well, how long till we’ve got sails again? And what about the target?”
“The men are working on it as we speak, but the merchant ship seems to have got away.” Grisly reported with a scowl. “Not only did he shred the sails, but he also ran up the colors so they'd see who we really are. They seen us and took off quick as they could go.”
Dev clenched his jaw, taking a slow breath in before turning away toward the horizon, his hands gripping the railing.
“Uh, how do you want him punished, captain?” Grisly asked, hesitantly.
“I don’t care.” Dev retorted, then caught sight of the moon hanging low, barely showing up yet in the late afternoon sky. Yet, the sight of it reminding him of something. He sighed and turned again. “Wait.” He stopped the sailor. “For now, just put him in the brig. I’ll think on it.” Seeing the puzzled, and somewhat disappointed look on Grisly's face, he added, “Feel free to fill his head with any ideas you can think of about what might be coming to him, though.” He smiled darkly. “That ought to give him something to think about while he waits…”
Grisly grinned. “Aye captain.” He nodded and hurried off to follow orders, while Dev ran a hand over his face and sighed. He held out an arm, inviting Ningaear to perch there. When the gyrfalcon had come down from her previous spot in the rigging, and situated herself on Dev’s arm, he lightly stroked the soft feathers of the bird’s chest. “That boy is getting to be quite an irritation.” The pirate muttered under his breath.
“Yeah,” Jay answered, watching Dev pet the bird, presumably to help him regain his sense of calm. “Which makes me wonder why we keep putting up with him. I mean, I know he’s your son and all, but…”
“It has nothing to do with that,” Dev scowled. “You really think I’d keep enduring the brat just because of sentimentality?” He scoffed and set off toward his cabin.
Jay frowned in confusion and tagged along. “So, why do you want him around?” he wondered, a bit audaciously perhaps, but he was a bit more familiar with Dev than any of the rest, and they had worked together for nearly twenty years. It was why he’d been made first mate, despite his lack of knowledge of sailing.
Dev sighed, pushed open the door, and waved for Jay to come in. “I need to write this in the log.” He muttered, taking a seat at the desk.
Jay, meanwhile, pushed the door closed and leaned against the wall, arms folded as he watched Dev pull out the ship’s log. “So, what? You were acting all… I dunno... friendly like? When he first came aboard, you know. Showing him around, telling us all to be nice and teach him stuff…”
Dev waited while Ningaear moved from his arm to a post he’d placed there at the desk, just for her. “That was the first week or two.” He rolled his eyes. “Maybe I had a vague hope that he’d take to our way of life. Maybe I wanted to.. test the waters, so to speak. Ease him into it, see how it went. But that’s obviously out of the question, given his latest…hobby,” He scowled at the reference to Trevadir’s newfound penchant for sabotaging the ship. “and how he protests about everything, whines about morals and the Valar and all that nonsense.”
“Then let’s get rid of him.” Jay shrugged, confused. “Take him back to Gondor, or leave him on an island somewhere-”
Dev shook his head slightly. “No, I can’t do that.” He sighed. “He stays.. for now, anyway.”
“What about the ship?” Jay asked, incredulous.
“I know…” Dev frowned. “I’m extremely annoyed about that,
believe me. I just.. have to make him come around to our way of thinking, that’s all.” He thought for a moment. “He’ll stop this nonsense eventually, and see that it’s much easier to just go along with us, than to fight us.” He nodded and began writing, focusing on what he was doing.
A little baffled, Jay frowned, watching and thinking. “Maybe..” He hesitated, but continued on. “You might try another approach?” He suggested.
Glancing up, Dev looked at him and raised an eyebrow slightly. “Another approach?”
“Well, yeah. The way you’re going about things now, you’re making an enemy of him.” He pointed out. “But if you made a friend of him…”
“A
friend?” Dev scoffed. “Me, friends with some snot-nosed kid?"
"He's not
that much of a kid, really..." Jay mentioned.
"He’s barely even thirteen.”
“I thought he was fifteen?” Jay rolled his eyes and disregarded that. “Anyway, the point is, he’s a teenager.”
“And a very irritating one.” Dev turned back to writing in his log.
“One who’s angry and lashing out at you, the only way he figures he can. By attacking your ship.” Jay pointed out. “He’s angry at
you, Dev, but it’s your ship that’s suffering for it. And the rest of us are going to suffer for it, too, if we end up low on supplies this far from land, or if he leads the guards to us, or if he causes our Umbarian allies to turn on us...”
His frown deepening, Dev’s quill stilled for a moment as he considered this point. “He keeps this sort of thing up and he’ll see what
angry really is.”
“That’s just my point,” Jay mentioned. “I mean, I’m just thinking, maybe you ought to try being.. nicer to the kid. Like you were on the first.”
“Since when do you care about the brat?” Dev raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t. I care about the ship, making profits, and not getting stranded out in the middle of the ocean.” Jay replied. “Or arrested. Or, you know…” He motioned vaguely in the direction of Umbar.
“And what exactly do you think ‘being nice to him’ is going to accomplish?”
Jay sighed and came closer, pulling up a chair. “Look, I’m pretty observant, right? And I’d have to be blind to not see how he was that first week or so. The kid was so excited to be around you, he would’ve done anything you asked of him. I never saw a kid admire his father so much. And now…” He trailed off. “It’s gone downhill ever since he wandered off in Pelargir that time, and kept us waiting. You said some pretty harsh stuff to him, you know. And even after that, for a while there he was trying really hard to get you to forgive him, and you.. well... anyway, now, he’s just…” He shrugged, finding it unnecessary to finish the sentence.
“So, what, you think I should hold his hand and just give him a little slap on the wrist when he acts up and puts us all in danger or something?” Dev scoffed. “He’s not a toddler. He was insufferable enough back when he was one, and yet… I’m starting to prefer him that way.”
“So, get rid of him.” Jay made a somewhat frustrated gesture with his hands. “Everyone’s getting really fed up with this stuff.”
“I told you, I can’t do that. I have.. something in mind. And it requires him being alive and unscathed.” Dev sighed, sitting back in his chair. “And
unfortunately, I need to keep him close for when the time is right.” He frowned.
Jay gave him an inquisitive look, but didn’t dare ask what the captain’s plan was. “Well, anyway. Just a thought. I mean, he was fine on the first, when things were good between you and him. I even sorta liked him a bit,” he shrugged. “Now, well, I’m pretty irritated that he’s taken all this stuff that we taught him, and using it against us.”
Dev sighed and stared at the porthole at the moon, which was a bit more visible as the daylight faded a little. “Yeah.” He frowned and considered that while his hand, loosely closed, rested against his chin, the other hand supporting the elbow. His fist lightly tapped against his mouth a few times while he considered the things Jay was saying. After a moment, he sighed and looked back at his first mate, folding his arms over his chest. “So, you think I should be nice to him. What’ve you got in mind?”
Jay shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s
your kid.”
Dev scoffed in distaste. “Don’t remind me.”
Jay considered that for a moment, tilting his head thoughtfully. “You really can’t stand the boy, can you?” He asked, hoping he hadn’t been too bold by asking, but it was a bit puzzling to him. While his own father hadn’t been very great at being a father, and had often left him alone for days or more at a time… he’d never acted as if he couldn’t stand Jay’s presence.
Dev stared at the log book with a frown for a long moment. “No. I can’t.” He answered at last in a quite voice. “He reminds me of what I’ve lost.”
Jay looked at him, taking a moment to absorb that answer. He'd met Dev some years before his wife died, and was well aware how much her death had affected him. “He looks like
you though.” He pointed out after a brief silence, a little puzzled.
“Yes, but he’s got
her eyes.” Dev mentioned softly.
“So.. you can’t stand him because..?” Jay asked, trying to make sense of this.
Dev frowned deeper. “Because he reminds me too much of her. It’s like he’s taunting me, constantly reminding me what I
lost.” He scowled. The admission was definitely not something he would tell just anyone. He knew Jay wouldn’t go repeating it, because he had a thing about not backstabbing those he worked with. “That
stays between you and me, Jay.” he added quietly, with a glance at his first mate.
“Of course.” The thief nodded slowly, pondering the reason Dev had given for why he couldn’t tolerate his own son. He sat back. “So. You’re stuck with him, because you need him for something, but you despise him, because.. of that.” he frowned.
“Besides that, I despise children in general.” Dev mentioned, picking up his quill again. He didn’t start writing with it yet, though. He ran the feather slowly through a small loop made with his thumb and first finger, thoughtful. “I suppose you have a valid enough point, though. If we must have him aboard for a while, it’d be much more pleasant if he wasn’t being such an irritation.” He shrugged and carefully dipped the nib of the quill into the inkpot. “Though, he does still need a punishment.” he added with a frown.
“Maybe something light?” Jay suggested tentatively. “You could tell him you’re being lenient, this time, and warn him about how much worse it might be next time, or something. Then..”
“I’ve got it.” Dev smiled in his devious sort of way. “He won’t like it, but at least it won’t harm him. Then.. maybe tomorrow I’ll do some sort of bonding thing with him or whatever.” he shrugged. “She used to make me spend ‘quality time’ with the brat when he was a toddler,” He rolled his eyes. “I could usually come up with something that wasn’t too miserable for me, and that the boy seemed to enjoy.” He shrugged. “I’ll think of something.”
“Great.” Jay smiled, relieved that maybe the captain’s son would get over his sulking, angry mood. He stood up. “I’ll see how the sail situation is going. Want me to pass on any messages?”
“Yeah. Tell Samroth to make Trev empty, and clean,
all the buckets.” He smirked, thinking of the various buckets which were used for when nature called but going out on the deck to take care of it was inopportune or not possible.
Jay paused, raising an eyebrow, and snorted a laugh. “Gross. Yeah, that ought to make him think before he does anything like this again.” Shaking his head slightly, he started toward the door before remembering something else. “Since we didn’t get the merchant,” He turned back. “What now?”
Dev paused in his writing, frowning. “We’ll catch up to them. I’m not going back to Gimlân with a failure hanging over us. We’ll do what we were hired to do, and then we’ll head back to Umbar.” He answered. “And I’ll need to send a message to the temple by the time we get there.”
Jay paused, fighting back a shiver at the mention of that place. “You..uh, planning to send Trev to deliver that message?”
“Of course.” Dev answered, still writing.
“Hmm.” He thought for a moment, cleared his throat lightly, and stepped back toward the desk. “Think that’s a good idea? What with the whole..’being nice to him’ thing? I mean, that place is..” He couldn’t help a little shudder, then.
Dev glanced over at him and smiled slightly in amusement. “What? Afraid he won’t come back? Weren’t you just saying you’d like to be rid of him?”
“Well, I didn’t mean…” Jay shook his head. “No, it’s just, I wouldn’t think Trev would be very eager to do
that errand for you even if you were best buddies, after how shaken up he was the last time. And besides… I thought you said you needed him alive and unscathed? Don’t you remember what happened to the last guy who used to take your letters up there-”
“Kormak was an idiot.” Dev snorted a laugh. “I told him not to open those letters, or the consequences would be severe.”
“Yeah… and as you said before, Trev is practically still a kid. They’re like,
made of curiosity.”
“Don’t worry about Trev. I think I’ve impressed on him how extremely important it is to his health, that the letters arrive with the seals unbroken, each time.”
Jay shook his head slightly, sighing. “And when he protests having to go back there? Won’t that undo whatever progress you will have made with the whole ‘bonding’ thing? I mean, he made it really clear how very
opposed he is to that errand…”
Dev rolled his eyes. “He’ll be fine. I told you, don’t worry about him.”
“I’m not
worried, exactly… just wondering. Why are you so determined that it be him?” Jay frowned in confusion.
“For one thing, no one else in the crew is brave enough,” Dev scoffed and rolled his eyes. “And second.. I don’t trust any of the others to not just hide it away and say they delivered it, or to get stupid like Kormak did. And beyond that… I’ve got my own reasons for why I want him to go. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Alright…” Jay shrugged. “If you say so. I just hope it won’t result in more ship sabotage in the future.” He shook his head, somewhat skeptical about Dev’s decision, but didn’t press the issue.
“Get on with your own message, will you?” Dev glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m going, I’m going.” Jay raised his hands slightly in a vague ‘surrender’ gesture, indicating that he didn’t intend to keep arguing, and left to carry out his orders. At least he’d convinced Dev to make an attempt at winning Trev back on their side, so hopefully, things would be smooth sailing from here on out.
Trevadir (age 15)
His hands were a bit sore. Trev stared at them with a frown, thinking of all the time he had wasted. It took him hours, nearly all night, to cut all the sails into little strips too small to sew together. He'd even tried switching hands now and then to give his right hand a rest from gripping the dagger, but had continued determinedly working at his task, which had turned out to be useless. It took all of maybe ten minutes for them to bring out the backup sails he hadn't realized they had. Even less time for him to be tossed down here in the ship's prison. Brig, they called it. He frowned and flexed his hands, trying to work out the soreness.
Above, he could faintly hear the sounds of the pirates attacking the other ship. He hadn't given the merchant enough time to get away. He sighed and put his head down, wrapping his arms around his shins. He'd tried to help the merchant, but his efforts weren't good enough. It wasn't long before he heard people coming. He lifted his head, adopting a defiant scowl as several of the crew matched their new prisoners down to the brig.
"Come on, out." Da'mikr ordered. Grabbing Trev by the arm, he practically dragged him out of the cell, and pushed the prisoners inside, in his place. Trev was glad to be released, but his stomach sank at the sight of all those innocent people being locked up in his place. The crew of the merchant ship. He stood staring in dismay at the battered and frightened sailors. They'd put up a fight, by the looks of it, and now they'd be stuck here in the brig until they reached Umbar. After that... he didn't want to think about what would happen to them.
"Get up there and help load the goods," Da'mikr ordered, shoving Trev toward the steps. He glanced back toward the captives with a remorseful look, then dropped his head and went to obey orders with a sigh. As the 'Boatswain's mate', Da'mikr answered directly to Samroth, and Samroth was not someone he wanted to provoke. He was already in enough trouble about the sails.
And after doing his part in loading the other ship's supplies into their own cargo hold, under Samroth's strict supervision, Trev was informed what his punishment would be for that shredded sail business. At first, cleaning buckets didn't sound like a big deal. Until he realized what a lot of those buckets contained, and that it was more than just a matter of dumping the contents out. He also had to scrub out the inside of each bucket. He gagged multiple times as he went about his new chore and struggled not to spill anything on himself. It was a miserable day, and by the time it was nearing its end, Trev could hardly wait to climb into his hammock and get some sleep.
At last, he wearily followed the others down to the crew's quarters, his feet dragging with exhaustion. After a night without sleep, he was looking forward to curling up in his bunk, and he expected to sleep well tonight. But, arriving at his hammock, Trev stopped and blinked at the sight that met his eyes. His hammock was shredded. Each end still hung where it had been, stretched between two support beams, but the fabric was in tatters, purposely shredded with a knife. He reached out and picked up the pile of blanket that was heaped in the middle, and found that it, too, had been shredded into useless strips. As snickers began to erupt from around the room, Trev looked up and found that all the crew were enjoying the 'joke' at his expense. He didn't bother asking who was responsible for that, as he assumed they all had a part in it. Dropping the ruined blanket, he mentally thanked the Valar his notebook and flute had both been with him, where they couldn't damage either one.
"What's a'matter, boy? Did the rats chew up your bunk?" One of the guys laughed.
Clenching his jaw, Trev looked back at him. "That seems to be the case, yeah." He retorted, letting them figure out that implication, if they were smart enough. He glanced around the room. All the other bunks were occupied. He let out a silent sigh, shoulders drooping as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He had nowhere to sleep tonight, and was too tired to spend a lot of time searching for a new hammock or anything. Besides, he figured neither Samroth nor Da'mikr would be very enthused about giving him a new one. Of course, that meant he'd have to sleep on the hard floor, without a blanket.
Their laughter followed Trev as he stormed out of the room, going back on the deck. They'd clearly gotten quite a bit of entertainment out of that little prank, and he figured it'd be the talk of the ship for a few days. Everyone laughing at how they got him back for the sail thing. He scowled and kicked uselessly at the deck, wishing there was something he could slam and kick and punch. Or, better yet, some way that he could stop them from doing these horrible things. He thought of the captured men down in the brig, and he felt his heart sink. If only he could help them somehow. But there was nothing he could do for them now.
Instead, he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. "Didn't want to sleep in the room with those guys, anyway." He muttered under his breath. Turning to the rigging, he sighed again and began to climb. Once he had settled in the currently empty lookout's spot, he curled up and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. Maybe, if he was lucky, no one would find him up here until he'd had plenty of sleep.
Just before he closed his eyes, a thought occurred to him. Maybe he couldn't help these particular sailors. But maybe, someday, if he could provide enough information... someone else could. Sitting up swiftly, he pulled out his notepad and piece of charcoal he used as a pencil, and began writing by the light of the moon overhead. He would keep notes, make a log of his own about everything that happened, and gather all the information he could, so that one day he might have a chance to put that information to use. If he could somehow use this situation to make sure that this evil was eradicated, then it would be worth all the misery he had to endure for it, right? Hopefully.