The ship's deck was bustling with activity. As Phichit had suspected, the ship was anchored at port, so there was calls and whistles as crates were pulled up, and stacked randomly. Yuuri stood, concealed behind a door, and took deep breaths. His hand kept drifting to his hip, where a sword was tied, in a scabbard.

They'd stolen it from the guard that Phichit had knocked out. While stowing him away in a conveniently placed closet, Yuuri had picked up the sword that lay, half drawn, on the floor. When he asked Phichit if he wanted it, he had shaken his head, and pressed it back towards Yuuri, simply telling him "You have more combat training than me"

Now that the taste of freedom was tantalisingly close, Yuuri couldn't get his mind off the blade. The idea of actually using it terrified him. One of the main reasons that he'd managed to get kidnapped in the first place was that he'd refused to learn how to properly fight. He'd sparred with Minako from time to time, but otherwise, he'd never tried to fight anything other than straw mannequins.

But now, a life or death situation presented itself. If he got this wrong, he and Phichit would die. He'd never have the chance to see his parents again, talk to Mari, play with Yuuko's triplets, apologise to Victor…

Learning that Victor never meant to use him for ransom, but only wanted to keep him safe was staggering (even if a small part of Yuuri was a tad miffed because he could take care of himself). Victor had risked a lot for him. The night with the cannon fire, Yuuri had been half-convinced he was going to die. But he he'd barely spared a thought to thinking about why Victor would protect him so avidly, if only to sell Yuuri off later.

Victor had never said, nor done anything to Yuuri that would make him think in such a fashion.

Yuuri's blatant lack of trust made him shudder. If anything, he had to get off this ship to apologise to Victor. He'd managed to get involved with everything that he had been trying to keep him away from. It made sense if Victor didn't want to get involved with him anymore.

But in any case, he had to try.

With grim certainty, Yuuri withdrew the sword from the scabbard, and clutched it tightly in his hand, sunlight glinting off the blade.

Barely audible footsteps began to sound behind him. Someone was climbing the stairs, and were doing it in a way that drew as little attention as possible. They had to know he was there.

Inching ever closer to the staircase, Yuuri dropped into a fighting stance, hands shaking around his sword, sweat building on his palms.

A figure rounded the staircase, and Yuuri slashed at it, eyes screwed shut, pointing blindly with the sword.

"Yuuri! Watch it!"

Yuuri blinked his eyes open. Phichit lay pressed up against the wall opposite, head tilted back as far as possible, Yuuri's blade mere inches away.

Gasping, Yuuri allowed his sword to droop "I'm sorry! I thought..you"

Phichit rolled his eyes and got to his feet "I knew that I shouldn't have left you with the sword. You're going to take somebody's eye out!"

"I think that's the point of you giving me the sword in the first place"

"Well not my eyes." Phichit sniffed, turning his nose upwards "I'll have you know that I put a lot of effort into maintaining these baby blues"

"Your eyes are brown."

He flapped his hand in a whatever gesture, crept over to Yuuri, and peeked out of the door "This is going to be difficult."

"No shit."

Phichit rolled his eyes, and stared Yuuri down "Okay. Whats up with you?" Then a grin stole over his face "Something to do with a certain pirate?"

"Focus, Phichit"

"Okay, okay. We need a plan. What's the plan?"

"I thought you had a plan?"

"My job is to come up with devastatingly hilarious schemes that ultimately end in failure but still send you on a rollercoaster ride of joy. Your job is to be the smart one."

Eye twitching, Yuuri mentally repeated the words 'do not stab him, do not stab him, you like Phichit, do not stab him'. He took a deep breath, and allowed his hands to drop to his sides.

"For once Phichit, cut the jokes. If we're seriously going to get out of this alive, we need to think of something together."

Phichit's face sobered and he sighed, turning to peer at the crew beyond the door "There're too many of them to take on by brute force. At least, with only us. The people at port right now seem to be in league with JJ, so there's no crying for help. In other words.."

"We're on our own" Yuuri finished, and scratched the back of his neck, frowning "Right. Realistically, the only way we can do this is by being extremely covert. We can't let anyone see us"

"You're basically suggesting that we hide behind things" Phichit summarised.

"Yes"

"Then why are we wasting time standing here?"

"Because I'm re-evaluating every life choice that has led me to this moment"

Phichit patted Yuuri's arm comfortingly, and told him in an almost patronising tone "You'll get back to your scary pillaging husband soon enough. Now move it. Race you!"

And then he was gone, leaving Yuuri awkwardly stood behind a door, sword tightly grasped in his hand.

"You'll be back soon" He muttered to himself.

Then he followed

hr

"This is taking too long!" Victor banged his fists against the side of the ship, baring his teeth as he stared at the waves.

"The ship is going as fast as it possibly can, Captain"

"Make it go faster!"

"I'm afraid that's physically impossible. Anyway, we are almost there. Captain"

Victor whirled around to where Mila was standing and gestured angrily off into the distance, encompassing the whole deck, sails, and cabins in one swoop "Just go. Find something to do that will get me there faster, or I swear to the great Ocean-"

Instead of anger at being spoken to in such a way, there was merely pity in Mila's eyes as she shook her head gently and walked off, calling up to Leo in the rigging.

"Oi. Old man. He's going to be okay."

"Yurio, this really isn't a great time"

Yurio stalked up to where Victor was standing, Otabek in tow. He gazed out onto the waves for a moment, before looking at Victor.

"I know that you're worried about him, but Yuuri can take care of himself. He knows how to use a sword. And JJ is an imbecile"

"Trust me, he won't be an imbecile much longer. He'll be blood on the underside of my shoe"

"Yuuri wouldn't like that" Otabek spoke softly from where he was standing, half concealed by Yurio's flashy leopard print, seemingly chosen to deflect any and all emotion.

Victor didn't reply for a moment, staring grimly at the water, as it rippled. Then he murmured "I have half a mind to swim"

That comment seemed to drive Yurio past the breaking point.

"Look, old man, if you're going to stop Yuuri from being sold off to some stifling old noble, then you need to sit down, prepare your weapons , and let us do our damn jobs!" Yurio snarled "You standing here, and pitying yourself because Yuuri left you isn't getting us anywhere! Is the only reason you're rescuing him to get him back. Will you let your feelings for him interfere?"

Victor flinched.

Bullseye.

Then he snapped.

"I am not rescuing Yuuri because I expect anything from him afterwards. Yes, I love him, but that comes second to what he wants. When Yuuri is free, and the threat of JJ has been removed, he can go wherever he pleases. My feelings for him have no play in that matter at all." Victor broke off, and caught his breath, glaring at where Yurio was standing. The blonde boy stared right back, a cold smile playing about his lips.

"Then act like it."

Then he was gone, and Otabek stood alone, facing Victor.

"He didn't mean that"

"Yes he did" Victor flicked his wrist forward "I need to focus less on my unrequited love, and more on the task at hand. He was right"

Maybe not so unrequited after all, Otabek thought, but instead of voicing it, he gave a curt nod, and strolled away.

hr

Quick as lightning, Yuuri poked his head over the crate, and then back down again.

"Halfway there" He hissed to Phichit, who nodded, two crates behind him. The crates had started out with a wide, comfortable berth behind them, but now Yuuri was uncomfortably wedged between a box (stacked with rum, judging by the way nearby crew kept eyeing it longingly) and a wooden wall next to a cabin door.

There was a sudden clamour of voices out on the deck, and Yuuri used the distraction to scuttle forwards a little, Phichit following his every move.

"BOW TO YOUR KING!" Although unseen, the voice was unmistakeable. It echoed over to where Yuuri crouched, and his eyes widened. No. If JJ was here, that meant…

"FETCH MY PRISONERS!"

"We have to go" There was urgency in Phichit's tone, which set Yuuri on edge even more. Phichit never took anything seriously, but now-

He flattened himself against the rough, unsanded, wooden planks of the deck, and began pulling himself forwards at a fast pace, not caring a whit for splinters. Panic began to overtake him, and he crawled desperately, barely allowing himself to breathe, heart hammering in his chest. Everything on the deck was strangely quiet. Surely by now JJ had realised they were missing, right? Wetness began to prickle at Yuuri's eyes, and he inched ever closer to his goal. As soon as they were over the side of the ship they would need to run faster than ever before. Their sole advantage was the surprise factor, but if they didn't hurry, they might not even have that.

But then Yuuri' s thoughts were interrupted by JJ's thick voice, cutting through the air far closer to him and Phichit than he would have liked. But it wasn't just the sound that made him stiffen. It was the words.

"Nikiforov! So kind of you to visit my ship! What on earth could have brought you here?"