((Not really sure whether to continue this or not))

The seagulls flew high in the sky before diving down, grabbing fish out of the water that were dumb enough to go to the surface of the sea.

Romano looked at them absentminded. The noise the birds made sounded like they were laughing, they were laughing at his brother and him.

He woke up from his daydreaming when he heard someone was talking to him with a raised voice. ''Ey, mate! Name!'' the man sat behind a desk in front of Romano, a writing feather in his hand, waiting to write his name down in a book, covered in dark red leather. ''Vargas, Romano Vargas'' he replied, frowning slightly in irritation. ''And my brother Feliciano Vargas'' The man didn't even look up anymore. ''Age?'' he asked. Romano's eyes wandered over the table, stopping when he saw a piece of bread, his stomach aching terribly of hunger.

Their parents had died when they were very young, their grandfather had taken them into his house, to take care of Feliciano and Romano. About two months ago, grandfather had died too.

Romano and Feliciano couldn't pay the rent anymore and they had been thrown on the street.

Flashback

''Fratello, I'm hungry'' Feliciano whined, grabbing the sleeve of Romano's shirt and tugging on it. ''Damnit! Quit whining right now, crybaby! You're not the only one!'' he snarled back, frustrated while jerking his sleeve away from his little brother. He regretted his words immediately when he saw the change in the expression on Feliciano's face. ''Hmpf…'' Romano sighed irritated. 'We'll go the church''

The priest was never happy if they went to the church to bed for food or money, annoying the people who went to the church. But the priest and the people weren't the only ones who hated the begging ant the front of the church, Romano did too. Begging was below his dignity. Although he even didn't have a house to sleep in, his honor was very important to him. Feliciano clearly had less problems with begging, hunger was worse than losing your good name.

After about twenty minutes, the priest had spotted them, grabbed a broom and shooed them away from the entrance of the church. ''Get a job!'' he shouted at them, while Feliciano and Romano ran away to the alleys.

End flashback

'Fifteen and he's fourteen'' Romano said pointing at Feliciano. When he saw his little brother open his mouth to say something. Romano subtle stepped on his foot to silence him. The writer watched at Feliciano with a measuring look. ''He's small for his age but he's strong!'' Romano said quickly. The man waited for another moment before nodding, although it was clear the man didn't trust Romano's words.

''There's the ship, the Lieve'' the man said with a monotonous voice, pointing at a ship behind him. ''Get on board and pick out one of the hammocks''

Romano grabbed Felicianos shoulder and walked on the plank to the ship. Feliciano hadn't been happy when Romano told him they were going to enlist on a trade ship. He had heard about the horrific rumors about what happened to sailors. Dying of all kinds of illnesses, getting drowned by a mermaid or the ship being sunk by a kraken. Or even worse, not dying and ending up in a far away country as a slave.

But they had little other choice, they couldn't keep living on the streets, begging and stealing for their survival. They had to make the gamble.

They picked two hammocks in the corner of the space below decks, there were a few men already there, busy with their own stuff.

Feliciano looked a bit pale, laying in his hammock. Romano felt sorry for him, his little brother was just twelve years old. They had to lie about their ages, otherwise they wouldn't have been hired and most certainly died in the cold winter. Romano himself wasn't fifteen either, he was thirteen, almost fourteen.

Although the hammock was made of rough fabric, it felt so much softer than the streets. Romano had difficulty keeping his eyes open, the eyelids were getting heavier. But he lost the fight and ended up in a dreamless sleep.

By the time he woke up, all of the hammocks were occupied. Romano felt sick, seasick. He could feel the ship moving on the water.

Romano jumped out of his hammock and quickly climbed the ladder to the deck, pacing rapidly to the railing of the ship. Just in time, the bread he had stolen this morning ended in the sea meters below him, while he was hanging over the railing of the ship.

He heard someone grinning behind him. ''You'll get used to it, eventually'' a voice said. The man walked next to him an threw a bucket in the fast flowing water, attached to a long rope, before pulling it back on board and handing it to Romano.

Romano was a bit surprised by the saltiness while he cleaned his mouth and pist the water back in the sea. ''We can't waste any fresh water'' the man shrugged when Romano gave him a questioning look. ''We're on open sea already''

A few minutes later, every crewember was called on deck. The captain introduced himself and explained the rules.

''The Lieve will set sail to Cadiz, we'll arrve there in a few weeks. I demanded unconditional discipline on my ship, otherwise boatswain will help you with that'' the captain announced before explaining the rules on this ship, including the punishments if anyone dared to break one of them.

When Romano looked at Feliciano from the corners of his eyes, he could see his little brother becoming even paler. The rules were strict and the punishments harhs. It could be called a miracle if they would survive this journey to Cadiz, don't even talk about the way back.

After the rules, the Captain returned to his quarters. The boatswain ordered the new crew to get to work, his eyes looking for someone among the men. ''You there! Come here'' he said, pointing at someone next to Romano. It was Feliciano. With shaking legs, Feliciano walked towards the boatswain. ''Get in the crow's nest'' he commanded, while pushing the young boy to the rigging. Feliciano looked like he was about to faint when he looked up to the crow's nest. It was clear the boatswain was getting a bit irritated because the boy was dawdling too much. ''Now!'' he shouted, doing a few paces towards him, raising his hand. Romano was getting angry, how did that man even dare to speak to Feliciano in that manner? He clenched his fists, because at the same time he knew he couldn't do much about it. He was still a just a ordinary ships boy. Feliciano luckily grabbed the ropes and climbed into the rigging.

Romano was doing a silent prayer Feliciano wouldn't fall out and into the sea. But he managed to get at the highest point of the ship, grabbing the wooden railing with his hands tightly. Jones was clearly satisfied, he had found a new outlook. Romano was ordered to clean the deck and make sure the ropes were properly stored away.

The water splashed from the bucket on the deck, before Romano grabbed a brush and started scrubbing the wooden floor. It wasn't very necessary yet, but the boatswain insisted on following the work schedule.

By the time he had cleaned the whole deck, the sun was close to the horizon, coloring the sky red in the evening. His arms ached, not used to the hard work.

When Romano looked at his hands, they were raw and had turned red. He doubted it had been a good idea to enlist, but when dinner was ready, he forgot any hesitations.

They ate on the deck, the ones who were quick, got the most. Romano snatched a piece of bread and pushed it into Felicianos hands before going after his own meal.

He managed to get some more food and went to Feliciano, who ate behind a few barrels, scared that anyone would steal his food, as happened many times before on the streets.

Romano sat down on the rough wooden deck. After quickly eating the piece of bread, he observed his hand, covered with splinters. He tried to remove them from under his skin.

The other crewmembers had started drinking rum and singing sailor songs. It sounded awful, like cats calling to each other in the middle of the night. Romano stood up from the deck and walked below decks.

In the hammock, he fell asleep, having terrible nightmares about sea monsters sinking the ship. He was woken up a few times when noisy sailors walked around, still shouting and singing before climbing into their hammocks.

The next morning, Romano was again seasick. He hoped he would get used to the rocking movements of the ship quickly, because it felt horrible. His muscles ached from the hard labor and his hands were still raw.

A few days later, the other men began to notice that Feliciano and Romano always went to bed after dinner, trying to avoid the rough drinking. Feliciano was already downstairs and Romano did the few steps down of the ladder when he got grabbed at the collar of his shirt. ''Let go, bastardo!'' he shouted, while being pulled back.

The men were laughing at the desperate flailing with his arms. ''Don't be such a sissy'' one of them grinned. ''Drink some rum, or are you scared?'' a soft laughter went up from the crowd. ''I'm not scared, damnit!'' Romano snarled, his teeth clenched. A sailor with red hair handed him a pannikin with rum. Romano looked at the dark liquor, feeling the eyes of the crew staring at him. He put the pannikin against his lips and tried to drink it as fast as possible. It burned his throat and Romano started coughing, his face turning red.

The men couldn't stop laughing anymore, making Romano feel even more embarrassed then he already was. He had only drank liquor twice before in his life, both times wine stolen from his grandfather. Rum was very different from the sweet red wine.

But he wasn't going to give up this easily, being humiliated and then walk away. There was still a bit of rum in the pannikin. He forced himself to drink it empty, the laughter stopped. He could feel his throat being burned for the second time, but this time he was prepared for it. Romano didn't feel very well but at least he had earned a place among the crew.

The man with the red hair refilled pannikin. Songs were sung and stories were told.

All of them with stories how they got on this ship. One of them didn't have any money left anymore so he had to reenlist, although he had sworn last journey that he would never put a step back on board. It was too dangerous, especially long journeys. And this one brought another risk, the pirates in the south, aggressive and without mercy.

A few guys had been drunk in a bar and some man walked towards them, making them sign a piece of paper. That's how they got on the ship, they were also the ones who drank the most rum, clearly not learning from their previous mistake.

A young man, barely eighteen, had been kicked out of the house, his father told him to go and make his own money.

Romano was glad they didn't ask about his story, most man had passed out or went to their hammocks. After the sun had vanished completely for at least two hours, Romano got up, having difficulty to keep from falling. He stumbled down the stairs, unable to think clear. Romano almost missed his hammock and could barely grab a pole to prevent hitting the ground.

The next morning, a headache surprised him. The men were laughing again, telling him that he will get used to it. Romano hoped it, any tiny sound hurt like hell.

He was glad his little brother hadn't been giving any liquor yet, he knew for certain Feliciano would handle it even worse.

A few weeks later, they were almost at their destination. Romano had gotten used to rum and the hard labor. And they had still not been eaten by krakens or that kind of monsters or being lured into a trap by mermaids. Romano was actually starting to enjoy sailing, it was better than having to steal and beg for your food.

When he heard shouting from the crow's nest, he looked up from the deck, seeing his little brother waiving and pointing at something at the horizon. The boatswain paced towards the mast and called to Feliciano to come down, because of the hard wind he was barely hearable.

Feliciano climbed down, experienced by the past weeks. He looked pale, although the sun had tanned his skin. ''Ship… horizon…'' he stuttered. The boatswain wasn't a very patient man and shook his roughly at his shoulder. ''Flag! What color was their flag?'' he asked, the crew noticed a bit of fear in his voice. The boatswain was normally a confident man, not scared of anything. If he was getting scared of a unknown ship, that must mean trouble. ''Bl…bla….'' Feliciano said, while being rocked back and forward. He didn't finish his word but the boatswain let go of him and began shouting orders. ''All hands on deck! Hoist the sails! Sharp to starboard!'' The captain, alarmed by the shouting, came out of his quarters.

Romano ran towards the want, climbing up to the yard to remove the ropes around the stored sails. His hands were shaking slightly, now he was high up on the ship, he could see the other one coming closer at a fast speed. The sail fell down, wind being captured behind it. The ship was slowly starting to make speed, with all the sails down. Romano rapidly climbed down the want, everyone was running up and down the deck, some were rolling canons to the sides of the ship. ''No need for that!'' the captain said. The crew stopped for a moment, giving him a not understanding look.

''We don't have any cannonballs. Otherwise we wouldn't have enough space to store the tradable things.'' A few men began cursing out loud at the captain for being irresponsible, knowing they had to cross pirate territory. Normally, that would have resolved in a flogging by the boatswain for disrespecting the captain, but even the boatswain was infuriated.

Romano got a short sword pushed into his hands by the red haired man. He was a bit too shocked to move. Were they really supposed to fight the pirates off? Blood thirsty pirates, used to fighting, in contrast to the crew on this trading ship. But judging from the others behavior, it was clear they wouldn't surrender without a fight. Feliciano was gone, Romano couldn't find him anywhere. He hoped his little brother had taken cover somewhere.

The captain was missing either, only the boatswain was shouting his orders to everyone. Romanos heart pounded loudly, adrenaline rushing through his veins. Although all the sails were down, the pirates were advancing. Romano could already see them pacing up and down on the deck.

He was scared to death. They were so close to the harbor, after that they could sail back home. Romano never wanted to board a ship again, everything, anything but he never wanted to go through the same panic as now. He saw men doing a few short prayers, while loading their guns.

Romano decided to follow their example, quickly folding his hands and doing a quick prayer. He had never been a very believing person, but at this time he could get all the help he could get.

When Romano could see the faces of the pirates, he was starting to feel really scared, doing a few paces back, almost stumbling over a rope. The black flag was waving through the wind, showing a skull and two crossed blades.

Grappling hooks were thrown over the railing, Romano followed the example of the rest of the crew by cutting the ropes so the pirates wouldn't be able to climb on board. It seemed to work in the beginning, but it didn't took long before they managed to get on board somehow.

The stories he heard about them were true, a few pirates had eye patches and they didn't look very friendly, armed heavily. They were shouting in a foreign language, fighting the crew as hard as they could. They weren't following the rules in fighting, like one against one. No, they were fighting like real pirates, without any rules or boundaries.

Romano did a few paces backwards, his back protected by a wooden wall. He heard screams in agony, blood flowing on the wooden deck. And even more pirates jumped on board, they were by far in the minority.

One of the pirates turned his head when he saw Romano, smirking before walking towards him, the sharp rapier pointed at him. Romano tried to keep a determined look on his face, grabbing his own sword with both hands and keeping it in front of him. One step closer and he would pierce that pirate on the blade.

Romano gritted his teeth and did another step back, seeing other crew members fight against the pirates with all their might. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain, giving him a terrible headache. He saw the pirate in front of him smirking.

His sword slipped out of his hand and fell on the floor, making a tangling sound. Black spots appeared in his sight, making it difficult to see. He saw the pirate coming closer to him. Romano growled low at him before collapsing at the wooden deck. Before his whole world went black, he could only think about what happened to his little brother.