"You're sulking again," Westley said appearing from the lower decks.

"You're sneaking again," Erick said smiling as Westley rolled his eyes.

Westley's presence brought some joy back into his day, well night anyway.  It was very rare they had these moments on the ship, by now they were usually both asleep. He enjoyed these moments the most, the heartfelt conversations always drifting upon the night air and into the sea. 

"Do you believe her?" Westley asked as he joined him against the railing of the deck.

"There's one thing I've learned from being a child, what may seem a fictional tale to an adult is just a child's imaginative tale of what they witnessed. Her story may not be entirely true but I do believe that something attacked her and her family and she is scared it will come after her now." Erick said as he looked down at half a bottle of rum in his hand.

"Then we're going to protect her. She needs us, I don't want her to end up how I have." Westley said sorrowfully as Erick glanced at him.

"What's wrong with how you ended up?" Erick said, hurt by what Westley had said about himself.

Was he not happy here on the ship with him? Erick felt his heartache at the thought of Westley leaving him. 

"When I was a kid I grew up on a small farm in Shroudwick on Tillpar. I was raised by my father and seven older brothers, my mother died giving birth to me and I was left in that small dirty farm with a family that hated me." Westley murmured shuddering at the memory.

"Come now I'm sure they didn't hate you," Erick said trying to be comforting as Westley continued.

"That's what I said growing up. My mother was an amazing woman, she was the kind of person who everyone adored, beautiful and kind. She was perfect. At least thats what I was told. When she died giving birth to me my siblings blamed me for it and tortured me with the fact that I had killed our mother. My father wasn't any better, at first he cherished me as being the last thing his wife had given him, but then as I grew I began to look exactly like my mother. All my siblings either looked like my father or a combination of the two, however, because I had been graced with my mother's looks my father was convinced I had stolen her soul when I was born and that I was the reason she was taken from him." Westley said as tears filled his eyes.

Erick stayed silent and handed him the bottle of rum. Westley drained the rest of the bottle and continued with his story. 

"They made my life a living hell, nothing I ever did was good enough. They would do whatever they wanted to me, it was like I wasn't a person but instead a monster that has weaseled its way into the family. When I turned eighteen I ran away one night. I knew my father would never let me leave if he had known, my siblings wouldn't have either. as much as they hated me they loved having their own peronal slave. they would hav enever given me up. I spent the night drifting trying to find a safe place to hide. By morning I had successfully made it to the port of Lastford, However, one of my brothers worked as a shipman there. My Father realized I was missing in the middle of the night and sent word to my brothers to look for me. I was terrified I was going to have to go back to that life. I gathered the last of my courage and snuck onto the first ship I saw. By Posiden grace I ended up on your ship. Finding your ship was what changed my life around. I hope we can do the same for Norah." Westley said as his tears fell into the ocean.

"Well...." Erick whispered breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

He had never asked Wes why he was on his ship. He figured he would tell him when he was ready, he never imagined that what he was running from was anything like that. He had just assumed he was a young lad looking for adventure that had been spooked by something, that however was a foolish thought in the first place.

"I don't know what in Daveyjones locker they thought, but you are anything but a monster. Your mother would be proud of you, she'd be happy you escaped, for the real monsters are the rest of your family for treating you like that."

Westley gave him a crooked smile as he listened. 

"I hope you don't think it's your fault. your mother dying was not your fault." Erick said as Westley's smile disappeared as he looked down at the deck.

Erick sighed and ran a hand through his hair, of course, he still blamed himself. 

"What was your family like?" Westley asked quickly changing the topic. 

Erick gave him a weak smile. He definitely wasn't going to let Westley keep thinking about himself that way, however, he knew it was time to change the subject for now. He wasnt ready to tell him everything, he had never really opened up to anyone about his own family before. People just knew him from his fathers legacy.

"My family...." Erick chuckled as he looked down at the dark calm waters below. 

"Well my father was a sailor, as you know, one of the best on the seven sea's and my mother raised me on a small island just past Shipwreck cay. My father taught me to sail from the moment I could walk. I still remember running around the deck of his ship eager to learn everything I could as my father chased me around and my mother watched. Then when I was fifteen my mother died from Tuberculosis.  I remember my father desperately searching for a cure while I stayed and took care of my mother. She knew it was getting worse an one day when i was out gathering supplies she drowned herself in the ocean. When she died my father sold the house and I joined him on his ship. He tried his best to be a good father to me but he was never the same after she died. He didn't beat me or anything like that, but even when he was kind there was always a strange distance between us, and unspoken blame that lay upon us both. Then my father died when I was 18 and I was left alone. I tried becoming a sailor for the queen but that was just a bloody mistake. So instead I found my father's old crew and set off, they assumed I'd run things exactly like my father. Had some great stories from those days. Sometime after you joined us they all left me behind. They didn't want to stay with their old Captain's wayward son." Erick explained as he looked off towards the horizon.

His story wasn't as heartbreaking as Westley's was but it still cut him deep. After his mother died nothing was ever the same for him. Both of them had that in common at least. Once their mothers died their lives became terrible.

"I'm sorry, I just assumed they didn't enjoy being Pirates," Westley mumbled as the ocean air gently blew against the ship.

"Would you ever want to settle down Westley?" Erick asked glancing at him.

"What do you mean captain?" Westley asked confused by his topic change.

"Well, your twenty-one just around perfect marrying age. Ever think you'd want to find someone and settle down, have kids?" Erick said as Westley shrugged.

"I-I'm not opposed to it I guess. I'd love to have children of my own and show them the love my family never gave me. However, I don't know if id ever want to marry. All the maidens we've met so far just keep pushing me further and further from it. I'd prefer just to have the children." Westley started after a few moments of deep thought.

Erick lightly chuckled at his answer. Just like Westley to have more interest in the children than marrying a woman, he was always such a loving soul yet he devoted all that love to children and making sure they knew they were loved too. It was one of his favorite traits about him.

"And you Captain? At the age of twenty-three, you have ladies all over the seven seas throwing themselves at you, yet you've never shown interest in any of them ever. You may have kissed a few but we both know that was because you couldn't bear to break their hearts." Westley inquired as Erick rubbed the back of his neck.

"When you have the pleasure of having whatever partner you please, it takes more than just throwing themselves at my feet and begging to make me choose them. However, the begging is a fancy of mine." Erick chuckled as Westley shoved his shoulder. 

"You're terrible." Westley laughed as they both stared into each other's eyes.

Erick smiled as he stared at the green orbs before him, perfect in every way. Anything but a monster. He was going to spend every day making sure that Westley knew that.

"But if I am to marry they must be the treasure of my heart," Erick smirked as Westley quickly looked back over the railing at the sea. 

"What is the treasure you most seek captain? What's your life's treasure?" Westley asked as Erick's head spun with confusion.

"That is a question for another time Wes." Erick chuckled as he ruffled his hair.

"so you have no idea."

"Another time Wes, another time."