Chapter Text
"En garde!" The navy officer shouted as the officers and pirates clashed on the deck of the ship. Jimin quickly raised his own sword to block the soldier, managing to push him back.
"You'll have to work harder than that!" Jimin taunted at the male with a playful glint in his eyes. He leapt from the quarterdeck and ducked under the main boom, weaving his way through the swarm of enemies. "Who's next?!"
Before anyone could respond, another voice called out over the sounds of the battle. "Cut! Cut!" The director stood up from his chair. "That was all wrong!" Jimin blinked and looked around, coming out of his fantasy to find he was completely alone for yet another audition. "You!" The director pointed a finger at him. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Jimin rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Acting?"
"You're improvising!" The director corrected with a scowl. "On my set!"
"But you said right before we started that we should improve if we see an opportunity!" Jimin reminded the older male.
"Well I changed my mind." The director huffed. "And besides, you're just an extra. Extras don't improvise."
Jimin blinked. "Technically I'm auditioning for the role of Freebooter, not an extra…"
The director rolled his eyes and turned away from Jimin. "Everyone, take five while I figure out how to fix this mess."
One of the actors turned to Jimin with a small smile. "For what it's worth, I thought you looked awesome."
Jimin gave him a sad smile as he thanked him. He looked up to see his agent waving at him from behind the cameras. He headed over to him before feeling a strange force beckoning him. His vision went blurry and his head spun for a few seconds, making him stumble. Once he regained his bearings, he looked up to see a pirate captain holding his hand out. "Jimin, come find me…" The vision whispered.
"Wh-who are you?" Jimin asked in confusion, not knowing what was happening. Instead of getting a response, Jimin found himself right in front of his agent who was waving his hand in his face to get his attention. "Soohyun, did you see that?"
"See what?" The male asked in exasperation. "You going off script and pissing off the director?"
"That's not fair!" Jimin exclaimed. "You heard what he said before-"
"It doesn't matter what he said before!" Soohyun cut him off. "Or if your pirate move looked cool. You'll never get the part if the director hates you. You're ruining this for us!"
Jimin furrowed his eyebrows. "But you're the one said that if I just had the right opportunity, I could be something special." As he spoke, a smile slowly spread across his face. "Someone who can command the attention of an entire theater, get a standing ovation during a show's premiere…" Jimin trailed off as he began to imagine the applause of an audience after a performance. After a moment, he brought himself back to reality and looked at his agent. "Soohyun, you know I've wanted this my whole life."
Soohyun's features hardened as he looked at the aspiring actor. "You'll never get a standing ovation if you can't even pay the bills. Just be who they want you to be to get this job."
Jimin sighed. "I'm not sure I can do that."
"Trust me, you can." Soohyun assured him. "We all do it eventually."
"Places, everyone!" The director shouted. "Where did my actors go?!"
"That’s your cue." Soohyun turned Jimin around and pushed him towards the set. "Get back out there and don't mess this up!"
Jimin joined the rest of the actors who were lined up in front of the director, who was expressing the importance of not touching anything for that take. "Some of these props are authentic pirate artifacts from the 18th century. You break it, you buy it. Understood?"
"Understood." The actors mumbled in response.
"We're going to pick up on page 15." The director instructed. "The pirates have barely survived the storm and they have no food, no water, and no idea where they are." He waited for the actors to get into place before calling, "Action!"
Jimin took a deep breath to get himself into his character, mind transporting him back to the fantasy of being on a real pirate ship as opposed to a television set. "How in the world are we to get out of this mess?" Jimin couldn't help but look at the director from the corner of his eye, heart sinking when he saw the male on his phone as opposed to paying attention to the scene. Desperately wanting to get the director's attention, Jimin looked around until his eyes landed on a golden compass. He picked it up, ignoring the director's previous warning, and held it up. "This compass shall be our salvation and-" He stopped as he felt an inexorable pull on his gut as if he were riding a rollercoaster.
He fell down, squinting at the sudden bright light blinding him, the warmth from it leading him to believe it was sunlight. "When did the studio get a skylight?" He grumbled to himself.
"Get off our ship, pirate!" Jimin looked up in shock to see someone wearing a navy uniform slashing a sword at him.
Jimin cried out in pain as the blade hit his wrist. "That fucking hurt!" He looked down to see a bleeding cut before glancing around in annoyance. "Where's the medic? Why is everyone still fighting? Cut!"
He kept looking around the ongoing battle, growing more frustrated as no one even paid him the slightest bit of attention. Slowly that frustration gave way to confusion and then to dread. "Either I'm having a very real hallucination, or I've literally traveled back in time." He hissed in pain as he felt a sharp sting, looking down to see a red spot gradually staining his shirt sleeve where the sword had struck him.
Before he could fully process anything, a man dressed in an Admiral uniform pointed a gun at him. "You, boy!" Jimin put his hands up instinctually, eyes widening in fear. "Get off my ship, pirate!" The officer pulled the trigger, but Jimin was suddenly knocked to the ground before the bullet could reach him.
He looked up to see who had saved him, but only saw a black silhouette hovering over him, the sunlight making it hard to pick out any features. He sat up a bit to change his angle, gasping as he realized it was the pirate captain he had seen on set before. "It's you!"
"Are you hurt?" The captain asked, seemingly not hearing Jimin's exclamation.
Jimin slightly shook his head, still staring at the pirate in amazement and confusion. "I'm fine…" He glanced over the pirate's shoulder to see a group of navy officers approaching the pirate from behind with their swords drawn. "But you should probably worry about them."
The pirate glanced over his shoulder before turning back to Jimin with a glint in his eye. "Just a moment."
"Yoongi!" The admiral growled as the pirate stood up and turned to face the officers. "This isn't over, you coward!"
Jimin pushed himself to his feet and looked around for a place to hide from the worst of the battle, soon finding a pile of barrels. He ducked behind them only to knock the whole stack over. "Shit!" He exclaimed, unable to do anything but watch as the rolled across the deck and knocked over a few unsuspecting officers.
Another pirate swooped in and disarmed the distracted men before taking them out completely. He then turned to Jimin and gave him a wink. "Thanks for the help, kitten."
Jimin, still completely overwhelmed by the whole situation, couldn't respond to the pirate, just continued to look around at the battle going on around him. His gaze fell on Yoongi as the captain threw a dagger through the air, pinning a sailor's sleeve to the main mast and disarming him. Within another second, he had his own sword pressed against an officer's throat. "Admiral Lee! Help!"
Yoongi glared at the admiral, using the officer as a shield. "You know what I want." He said alarmingly calmly. "Hand it over and your officer will remain unharmed."
"Why should I trust the word of a pirate?" The admiral sneered.
Yoongi pressed his sword harder against the officer's throat, a thin line of blood trickling down his neck. "Don't trust my word, Admiral. Trust my blade."
The admiral glared at Yoongi, and Jimin could feel the pure burning hatred in the officer's eyes. "Very well." The officer being held by Yoongi began profusely thanking the admiral only for the admiral to whip out his pistol and shoot the officer directly in the heart.
"Yoongi, my boy…" The admiral chuckled condescendingly. "You should know by now that I will never give in to a pirate."
With another glare at the admiral, Yoongi opened his mouth to call to his crew. "Retreat! Everyone, back to the ship!"
Chaos ensued as the officers scrambled to stop the pirates' escape. Jimin watched as Yoongi jumped onto the railing of the quarterdeck and grabbed a rope. "You there!" The actor turned to see the Admiral running towards him with a determined look on his face.
Jimin stared in fear, jumping with a gasp as Yoongi suddenly swung in front of him, grabbing a pistol from a sailor. "I'll take that!" Yoongi raised the gun and shot a rope high above the admiral's head, causing the yardarm to crash down on top of him and his officers mere feet in front of Jimin.
"Okay, that was awesome." Jimin said to himself as Yoongi landed on the opposite railing. The captain reached down to pick up something shiny from the deck, and Jimin recognized it as the prop he had grabbed.
Yoongi tucked the compass away before turning to Jimin and offering a hand. "Well? Are you coming?"
"Uh…" Jimin stared at Yoongi's hand before looking back at the navy officers who were helping the admiral back to his feet.
"What are you all standing around for?!" The admiral roared. "Get them!"
Jimin snapped his gaze back to Yoongi. "Let's go, please." He took Yoongi's hand, squeaking when the captain tugged him into his side before swinging out over the ocean. Jimin held on tight, heart hammering in his chest until they landed safely on the deck of the pirate ship.
"Welcome to the Agust." Yoongi said as he let Jimin go, sweeping his arms out to show off his ship. The pirate crew bustled around the deck, shouting and pulling ropes. Jimin looked around in awe as the sails unfurled, the vessel speeding away from the navy ship. "What's our status?" Jimin's gaze was brought back to Yoongi as the captain spoked to a pirate in a loose green shirt with a sharp nose.
"Minimal damage." The pirate informed Yoongi.
The captain pulled out a spyglass and looked through it at the navy ship that was quickly receding into the distance. "And the Admiral's ship?"
"Jammed their rudder, Captain." A female pirate with mocha skin and beads braided into her hair stated. "They'll not be following us."
Jimin's eyes widened as a boy who seemed to be just a teenager, nowhere near old enough to be on a pirate ship in Jimin's opinion, ran up to Yoongi. "Did you get it?"
"Aye," Yoongi confirmed. "With the finest crew on all seven seas, how could I fail?"
Another pirate with a yellow bandana covering his hair cheered. "Ye clever bastard!"
Yoongi retrieved the compass from his pocket and held it high in the air, prompting cheers from the entire crew. Then one pirate seemed to notice Jimin's presence and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "What are you doing on the Agust?! Are you a navy spy?! Or worse?"
The teen's eyes widened in fear as the cheers died down, everyone becoming aware of Jimin's presence. "What's worse than a navy spy, Sangkyu?"
Sangkyu glared at Jimin, walking closer to him. "If he didn't come from the admiral's ship, then how else did he get out here in the middle of the ocean? There's only one answer…magic!"
The parrot on the pirate's shoulder squawked in alarm. "Witch! A witch!"
As if Jimin didn't already have enough eyes on him, every single pirate on board turned to him. "Well, I'm definitely not a background character anymore." Jimin muttered to himself, swallowing thickly as anxiety danced in the pit of his stomach. "I'm not a witch." He informed the pirate crew, praying that his nerves wouldn't become apparent in his voice. "My name is Park Jimin. And I'm not a spy either. If I was, I would be acting less suspiciously."
"Aye," A brunette pirate with an eye patch over his right eye stepped forward. "Your behavior is a bit…odd. You'd expect a spy to blend in better."
"Maybe he expected you to expect that." The female pirate from before glared at Jimin, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sangkyu's parrot squawked again. "Too risky! Too risky!"
"Just so!" Sangkyu exclaimed. "If I were captain of this vessel-"
"But you aren't." The pirate that had called Jimin 'kitten' pushed his way through the crowd. "Neither you nor your bird decides what happens on this ship, Sangkyu. You lost that right long ago in accordance with the Code." The pirate's gaze hardened. "As first mate, you have to obey your captain, just like the rest of us."
Sangkyu leveled the pirate with a glare. "Don't forget I was once your captain, boy."
Jimin's eyes widened in surprise as the pirate's gaze softened. "Aye, I won't soon forget the kindness you showed me. But the Code says-"
"The Code says all stowaways must stand trial!" Sangkyu exclaimed. "From where I'm standing, that boy wasn't invited on this ship!"
"Not by you, perhaps-"
"Enough!" Yoongi stepped in. "Sangkyu is right. We must follow the Code." He looked Jimin over. "The boy will stand trial tomorrow at dawn."
"You heard the man!" Sangkyu turned to the rest of the crew. "Lock him in the brig!"
"Wait what?!" Jimin exclaimed, stepping back as a couple of pirates stepped forward to grab him.
They were quickly stopped by Yoongi holding up a hand. "We have more hospitality than that, Sangkyu. Mr. Park will spend the evening in my cabin, and I'll sleep with the crew." Some of the crew obviously didn't agree with Yoongi's decision from the way they began to whisper. "I expect him to be treated well until a verdict has been reached."
Sangkyu glared at Yoongi before backing down. "Aye, Captain."