Prologue

Tempestuous waves crashed against the already-unstable ship hard. Thunder echoed in the distance, but it went unheard by the ships inhabitants. Lightning flashed like sharp, pointed streaks in the sky, illuminating the otherwise exceedingly gloomy and distraught atmosphere.

“Rasuto! Tighten the ropes so the sails don’t fall apart!” Takeshi, the captain, barked as a firm order.

Struggling against the furious winds that whipped at his face, Rasuto rushed to obey his father’s command. He gritted his teeth as he neared the main mast and began climbing. The freezing air lashed at him and he winced, but continued climbing.

He could hear the orders being barked, the yells of frustration, and the screams of horror as the storm worsened and knocked the ship. He tried to ignore the distracting sounds in favour of yanking at the loosened ropes to tighten the sails. He cursed when he saw his trembling hands. ‘I can’t grasp the ropes!’ he thought urgently, glaring fiercely at his traitorous hands.

“Rasuto, tighten the ropes!” Takeshi yelled again as he attempted to turn the wheel to avoid a collision with dangerous rocks. Sweat drenched his brow in spite of the cold sea and icy wind. His muscles were tense as he yanked at the almost-immobile wheel in an attempt to change course.

“I can’t—” Rasuto began nervously.

“Do it, Rasuto! Goddamn it, we’ll all die if you don’t tighten those ropes!” the brown-haired pirate shouted furiously, his icy blue eyes momentarily meeting Rasuto’s azure ones. “You can do it.” Rasuto didn’t hear the words, but he saw them.

Hesitating only briefly, Rasuto gave a firm nod in response before sliding down the main mast and dashing swiftly across the deck and climbing the main boom. He gritted his teeth and grimaced as he yanked at the ropes, feeling the burn on his hands. ‘I can’t stop. I’ve gotta do this, or we’ll sink.’ Wincing and biting his lower lip, he wrenched the ropes hard and tied a strong knot. He let out a small breath of relief before running to tighten all of the sail’s ropes.

“Man overboard!” shouted one of the crewmembers urgently.

Rasuto frowned. ‘Four others have gone overboard already. Why weren’t they announced?’ he thought in confusion, but spared no time in grabbing another rope and throwing it into the sea. “Kisuke-san, grab onto the rope!” he ordered, his azure eyes glinting in determination.

The blond man in the sea coughed but swam ferociously towards the rope. “I—I’ve got it, Tanshin!” he shouted.

“Hang on, Kisuke!” another cremate yelled, his eyes wide and frantic.

Rasuto grasped the rope as tightly as he could before planting one foot firmly on the edge of the ship and one securely on the deck before he tugged at the rope furiously. He felt his skin burning as the rope sliced into his cut-open palms and saw blood trickling down them, but he spared it no mind as he tried to pull his crewmate to safety. He would have demanded the crew help, but he knew that they were trying to secure the ship.

He panted heavily as he pulled. He glanced down over the ship to see the he had pulled Kisuke half-way. Gritting his teeth, he pulled hard. Kisuke’s hand appeared over the edge of the ship and Rasuto held onto the rope even as he grabbed Kisuke’s hand and pulled him up.

The blond man fell on top of him as he clambered on deck. “Th—thanks, Tanshin,” he said in a panic-filled voice before forcing a grin. “I owe ya one.”

“Rasuto! The sails!”

Rasuto glanced up when he heard his father’s urgent yet stern and calm command. His azure eyes zipped to scanning the sails until he saw what his father meant. He sucked in a breath.

The main topmast had cracked in half—presumably from lightning—and had crashed into and ripped apart the main sail, along with knocking the gaff sideways.

Rasuto cursed under his breath and grabbed some spare rope before once more climbing the main topmast as much as possible and launching the rope towards the broken part to secure it.

“Rasuto!”

The addressed boy turned and saw his father’s horrified look before he saw the fore topmast flying towards him. Eyes widening, he jump and caught the main mast. His grip wasn’t strong enough nor prepared for the collision, so he slid down the mast and felt wood and debris filling his bleeding hands, but barely noticed it due to the fear and adrenaline coursing through his system.

He looked up to scrutinise the damage and let out a curse upon realising how immense it was. Even if this was repairable, the ship wouldn’t make it to another island!

‘Damn it… There’s nothing we can do to stop this from—’

Rasuto’s thoughts were interrupted when the ship shook violently and lurched to the left. The dark-brunet hastily grabbed onto a rope on the shrouds to prevent himself from falling.

“Captain, the ship’s got a hole. Water’s pouring into the cabins under deck.” Toushirou, the first-mate, announced. In spite of the situation, he sounded as calm and composed as always, and his dark brown eyes only enhanced his tranquillity and control.

Takeshi glared out onto the horizon as he attempted fruitlessly to steer the ship. “Try to block it. Buy us some time if possible.”

Toushirou nodded and hastened to follow his order. After mentally debating, Rasuto dashed after him but was pulled back by Kisuke. “Captain didn’t order you to go with him, Tanshin! You’re supposed to be fixing the sails.”

The brunet responded by meeting his eyes and tugging his arm out of his grip. “You know that the sails are now beyond repair. We should just focus on staying alive.”

Kisuke’s eyes widened before a glare set into his tanned features. “The ship’s important, though! Haven’t you ever thought about that saying – ‘the captain goes down with the ship’?”

Rasuto scowled. “You know, I’ve never been one to follow rules, and I don’t plan on letting anyone ‘go down with the ship’. If I thought the ship was more important, I’d have let you drown, Kisuke.” ‘It’s harsh, but it’s true. I can’t bear to be kind to you anyway, Kisuke. We used to be friends…’ Rasuto shook his head to eliminate his negative thoughts and fixed the taller boy with a glare. “So, I’m going to follow my own rules and help Toushirou-san out.” He managed to tug his arm out of Kisuke’s grasp before dashing down the stairs into the crew’s cabins.

He passed a few before seeing the water pouring out of a cabin near the end and made a beeline for it. He yanked the stiff door open and a rush of water pooled through, but he hastily waded through it. He saw Toushirou struggling with a large cabinet and moved to help him, in spite of his own small stature.

“Why am I not surprised, Tanshin?” the platinum-blond muttered dryly without looking at the younger one.

Rasuto didn’t respond at first and merely continued shoving the cabinet before looking at Toushirou. “Because you’re an emotionless dick,” he answered and then proceeded to wade back through the water to the upper deck.

“You shouldn’t talk to your superiors like that, Ranshin.” Toushirou sounded both irritated and amused, which was an odd combination but the crew was odd anyway so it wasn’t out of place.

Rasuto glowered at him. “As if you don’t insult me, Toushirou-san,” he muttered in annoyance.

The taller man smirked. “Yes, but my insults are true. You look like a girl.”

The brunet boy twitched and scowled. “I’m just going to ignore you.” Shaking his head, he dashed up to the deck. “Captain, what are my orders?” he asked upon seeing the swarming chaos. When he received no response, he dashed up to the forecastle deck only to see that his father wasn’t there. He looked around urgently but saw no sign of his father. He felt worry pool up inside of him but he knew that he had to remain calm like his father always did. He grasped the wheel and tried to steer, but it was frozen.

“Tanshin! Tanshin, look out!”

Rasuto turned to see an urgent Kisuke behind him along with a few other paralysed crewmates and frowned in confusion before looking in front of him. He saw a huge pirate ship before he heard a crash.

Pain erupted everywhere for a second, and then everything went numb. Eyes unseeing, hearing panicked footsteps and screams…

His world turned black.

O—o—O—o—O—o—O

‘World at War’ is our own fiction solely belonging to the creators of the profile Oni Tsukuribanashi – namely Gosangoku and Hellhammerboy.

Preview: Chapter two starts a couple of years into the future where Rasuto is sixteen and living a calm life without his previous memories on a remote island that wants revenge on pirates for cutting their island in half and creating civil wars and poverty. Rasuto begins to gain memories of his previous life that burn the scar on his back that he has had since before he was shipwrecked. They bring back memories of being a pirate – of what he has grown to hate during his time on the island. Stay tuned for more updates of ‘World at War’!

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‘World at War’ and all its content © Oni Tsukuribanashi; Gosangoku (cousin number one) and Hellhammerboy (cousin number two).

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