The deep gash going down her side sputtered with fresh oozing blood, dying the edges of her soft blonde curls in brick red. Slowly, he brushed them away. She was heavier, colder; Amias knew that no matter how much he whispered and kissed her cheek, she wouldn’t wake up but he tried- he tried for hours, cradling her in his shaking hands that were coated in his daughter’s ichor. He was vaguely aware of Polaris watching quietly behind him, shielding the eyes of the rest of the children. He couldn’t look back, he could only stare down at June’s frozen blue eyes of shock that slowly clouded over in the mist of death. He didn’t want to let her rest.

“June, look at me.” He cooed lovingly, “Come one, June, you can do it. Just say ‘I’m fine, Daddy’….then-then we can go home.” The strength in his voice faltered. He rocked back and forth in the daze of disbelief. Her voice echoed in his head, short, crisp memories of her flashed before his eyes, all of it just stabbing and ripping out bigger holes in his heart. Who did this? More importantly- why??? He vowed to sit there, clinging to her- forever. He buried into the crook of her small neck and stayed there, as if time had stopped in their little bubble all together. By then, most of the gathered crowd had dissipated, losing interest in the mourning commotion like it were another mere inconvenience in their otherwise mundane lives. The night had grown too dark-even for Halloween, and aside from a couple of leftover roamers, the crew were the only ones there in town square, standing under the flickering candle-lit streetlight.

Boots.

Still crouched down, Amias turned on his heel. His puffed, blood shot eyes looked demonic as his pupils seemed to turn into predatory slits. He looked so disturbed that Polaris about-turned in a jump. The police were here. Slowly, Polaris moved the children to the corner. Amias was snarling-having-somewhat turned into mad-driven leopard. His hand rested on a gun that slung at his hip, a gun he had never used ever in his entire life. One step forward from any of the authority personnel and he was going to shoot-shoot all of them.

“Sir, please step away from the crime scene” one of the police soldiers requested. The Captain remained there. His pupils twitched. He was alertly watching their every move.

“Cap’n, they might arrest you” Sylvester squeaked, “I..I wanna go home”

“Hush” Polaris said quietly.

Amias couldn’t think. His emotions did not allow him to. He wasn’t going to leave her behind in the hands of these untrustworthy land beings. They might as well have been the culprits: to lure him in and capture all of them. He shot. Shards of glass and sparks of fire showered down, giving Captain Keggard the opportunity to escape. He ran with the corpse of the girl in his arms, the police not too far behind. He went where his feet carried him.

Amias sat at the very tip of the hull. In the heavy winds of the night, the small caravel had managed to sail into the distant international waters with not a touch of land in sight-he wanted it to stay that way. He had left June in the small closet at the back, having put up her hammock and laid her there in her soft nightgown just as if she were asleep. He had locked the door, regardless of the great number of siblings who cried and screamed to see her once more. Tomorrow, they would give her the proper funeral a pirate deserves.

“Amias” Polaris wandered in, carefully perching himself on the hull’s beam. He was still in his costume. It wasn’t funny anymore, just a painful reminder of the day he let his guard down; let havoc break loose and steal his crew. As usual, he was quiet. He just sat there as if reminding the Captain that he didn’t have to carry this burden alone. Amias Keggard, the strong sneaky pirate of the Seven Seas flopped down into Polaris’s arms and cried. The latter said nothing, but held on tight.

“I understand” he finally said. He thought for a moment, biting his lip as if unsure to ask the question in doubt. “Why didn’t you let the police examine her?”

“They might as-“Amias coughed as he pulled back, “they might as well have been the ones who killed her in the first place. To get me”. His nostrils flared, “Besides,...I want to find out who did it myself. Then send a thousand blades through his head”

“oh”

The Captain got up and headed towards the mast to which he leant on with his entire body weight. He still sniffled and sighed, like the entire world had shattered before him but some thought was keeping him preoccupied from his depression.

“I’m sending them away, Polaris” he revealed, “new names, new lives: first thing tomorrow morning”. Polaris almost toppled into the ocean.

“All of them?” the White Man gasped

“Every single one”