dwgm | Witching Hour: 'Promises'

Written for the Witching Hour challenge on

pirategasm ("One canon character's POV, the worst nightmare ever, 500 wd. min. Due Oct. 31st."). Here I am posting 621 words an hour before the deadline (we're talking Pacific Daylight Time, of course).

I signed up a little late, only two days ago, but I had an Idea for Sao Feng (though I have no icon for him, so my Will Turner one will have to suffice -- he's in it too). Finished it this morning, and

hereswith burned the midnight oil editing it for me -- I owe her!

This is kind of dark, and not in a Halloween sense, so be warned.

~ Promises ~

"Sao Feng! Sao Feng!"

A hand, rough of skin, gentle of touch, gripped his arm, waking him, raising him from dreadful depths, releasing him from the nightmare. He looked up, into the eyes of... William Turner!

And yet not the same man Sao Feng had twice betrayed. The ripple of additional fear eased.

William Turner nodded. "It's all right, you see. Come! We need to get aboard." The Flying Dutchman rose skyward, close at hand, a harbinger of doom. But even as the thought occurred, Turner said, "She's mine, now, I'm the new master.”

"Davy Jones--"

"Is no more. I'm here to take you to the Farthest Gate -- though by a different route than that on your map."

*

The captain's cabin of the Flying Dutchman was a strange place. Madness had dwelt there once, obsession, evil. Yet, like the rest of the ship, it was set upon a new course, and there were somewhat incongruous touches of homeliness here and there. Sao Feng sat at one end of an elaborately carved yet serviceable table, cup in hand and a steaming pot of tea before him, and William Turner, having seen the ship underway once more, came in and disposed himself in the chair opposite, and smiled.

"Do you like the tea?"

"It is the best I've ever had," admitted Sao Feng. "I did not think to ever enjoy such a thing again."

"You don't need to. But it always seems to soothe my passengers."

"The Ferryman of the Dead. A high price to pay for your father's rescue."

Turner seemed to agree, though he looked strangely content. But then he said, "It seems that's something we have in common," and Sao Feng stilled.

After a moment, he spoke. "How do you know of this?"

"Your dream."

"Nothing is hidden from you, then?”

"Not much," Turner admitted. "Is that why you became a pirate?"

Sao Feng was taken back in time. Back to his youth, when he was a thin, half-grown lad, caring for an aged father who took ill and faded in slow, wasting agony before his eyes. They had been prosperous, the two of them. His father was the best fisherman in the village, until the most relentless of misfortunes claimed him. Their money, all that they had saved, dwindled as had his father's flesh, for doctors, then for medicines to cure, then more expensive ones to merely keep pain at bay. Sao Feng had worked hard, fishing, odd jobs, then very odd jobs indeed, which had brought him in contact with ruthless men of wealth and resources and little regard for the law. In the end, he had been unable to work. He had been needed, and what son would abandon a beloved father in such straits? He had stayed, and the days were as years until the terrible end of that story. When it was over at last he had made promises to himself. When the pirate lord had taken him, a few months later, he had gone willingly.

To William Turner he said only, "Yes. Even now I cannot regret my choice." Yet despair threatened, and his eyes drifted from those of the Captain of the Flying Dutchman.

But Turner spoke. "It may be that he waits for you, Sao Feng."

Sao Feng raised his eyes once more. "How can this be so? My final act... Calypso..."

"She is not Calypso."

"No? But one senses…. The hand of the goddess is upon her, Captain Turner."

"Perhaps,” Turner conceded. “But your fate was not what she wished for you, in spite of your actions."

Sao Feng absorbed this. "You believe he waits?"

Turner smiled once more. "You will soon know, my friend."

~.~

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

erinya.livejournal.com

Eeeee. *Will love*

I adore the image of the Ferryman serving his guests tea. And I really like the Sao Feng background. The ending made my throat tighten up. Sao wasn't such a great guy in the movie, but you really made me care about him here.

From:

honorat.livejournal.com

*Needs to finish Sao Feng art for new icon* Lovely and heartwarming even if the backstory is chilling. Will is such a comforting Captain of the Flying Dutchman! I do so enjoy your work. I hope to get time to catch up in reading it!

From:

"Each small task of everyday life is part of the harmony of the universe."

Witching Hour: 'Promises'

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