It’s an insult that the sun is shining so brightly—that it dares to cast such a happy, warm glitter across the expanse of water spreading out from the docks.
Nate grasps his hat to his chest, as though it will conceal the breaking of his heart as he stares out at the fathomless wretch of the ocean, and its sun-glimmering shine.
To him, everything is duller now. He doubts he will ever see a shine to anything again. The cries of the hungry seagulls circling the boats are nothing but muffled bleeps. The stench of the fish from the nearby fishing vessels is a muted saltiness.
Even the freshness of the breeze is like sandpaper against his face.
And it all it took to break his world was one sentence.
--
One Month Earlier…
“I… do not understand.” The words fumble out of Nate’s mouth as he struggles to work logic around confusion.
“I am sorry to inform you that your brother died on his last voyage.” The sailor stands tall, probably trying to not to show any emotion, dressed in a deep navy uniform glimmering with gold epaulettes.
He hears the words again, but it still takes a few more seconds for it to process.
When it finally does, Nate retches up his breakfast in the nearby urn in the foyer.
“Thank you, officer,” he murmurs, not bothering to turn to look at the man. “I will inform the rest of my family of the news.”
The soldier tips his head and is gone in a rush of footsteps, clicking the door shut.
Finally alone, Nate sinks to the floor and screams.
--
And now he’s here. At the same cursed docks that took his brother to his doom, dressed in the same sticky, stifling uniform that Milton had once been excited to wear.
Perhaps it will take Nate to the same fate?
Or maybe he’ll find the answers his family so desperately needs.
Apart from that fateful day where they sent a sailor to inform them of Milton’s passing, the Navy haven’t exactly been forthcoming. They’ve only been willing to say that the voyage was under a new admiral and things became complicated.
It is this same admiral that was willing to accept Nate as a new recruit…after a very tempting private offer.
Nate sneers at the remembrance of communicating with the admiral. It felt like there was a layer of slime left on each letter the man sent. Doing his best to shove down the haunting thoughts, he makes his way towards the ship bouncing on the water, awaiting departure.
It’s difficult not to think of Charon, ferrying passengers across the river Styx…for a price.
The gangplank wobbles slightly as Nate steps onto it, so he latches a hand onto the rope support to balance himself.
A laugh erupts behind him.
“You’re gonna need sturdier legs than that if you wanna sail on the seas, pretty boy,” a sailor taunts, slapping Nate on the back as he passes, manoeuvring across the wavering wooden pathway with ease.
Nate steels himself.
He knows he’s going to need to have sturdier everything if he’s going to find out anything about his brother. With a rush of determination, Nate stomps across the gangplank and onto the ship to sail into the unknown.
_ _ _ _
This one was the most difficult and painful for me to write of all the backstories! But, I seriously love how this one turned out! It feels...raw. Really raw. It certainly felt that way to write it!
N and A bonded so closely because of their losses, but those losses affected them in very different ways...and still does.