“William?” Horatio queried, staring in astonishment as the man all but spread himself before the door to stop him from leaving the cabin, “What’s gotten into you?” He supposed he knew well enough – his lieutenant had been against this idea from the start, but still.
“Oh go on,” He sighed, exasperated, “This is hardly the means of managing matters man, come now. Step aside and join me if it will satisfy you, but please do not think you can stop me with antics like these.”
The suddenness of his lieutenant’s embrace took him by surprise enough that for a moment, Horatio simply stood stock still and stunned. Upon recovery, his arms rose and wrapped around the other man reassuringly. In retrospect, he supposed he had rather pushed the limits of probability with his latest venture – the price of loss had been too great to calculate against at the time, and while his success now meant triumph for all aboard the Hotspur, he was not so ignorant as to be blind to the dangers he had undertaken in order to ascertain said victory.
Nor that the cost of failure would surely have meant his life.
Sighing, he patted the older man’s back after a moment, before fearing growing too accustomed to the hold and stepping back, establishing a proper arms length between them as he offered a grim and understanding smile. “Forgive me, William,” He offered quietly, knowing he would doubtless get an earful once they were out of earshot of the men, “We’ll talk it over in my cabin.” An indication that he would hear the man out – but a reminder that all frustration aside, dressing him down before the crew would not, and could not, be tolerated.
{ Wounded Starters }
Brushing off his first lieutenant’s well meaning hands for the third time Horatio found his patience had at last hit a breaking point. “Because I know a man’s limits as surely as I know my own threshold, Mister Bush! Attend to the guns if you please – it is a head wound, she’ll bleed heavily from but a scratch, which is nothing in comparison to what’ll become of you should you leave those men in my favor again sir!”
Canon Base: Duty, but in 1716 – 1717
Age: 30 – 31
Corresponds With: Chasing Shadows And Drinking Gold
Following the situation in Nassau and finally coming to accept the rebellious nature of his own heart, Horatio turns the Hotspur toward piracy. Admiral Pellew had gone missing and without him, Horatio had little trouble abandoning the admiralty and adopting to the Pirate Code with a vicious determination to never again be in a position where it would be deemed acceptable to destroy an island and her people, and call it ‘just’ in the name of civilized society. This verse marks Horatio’s step away from his canon and into the tales of piracy rich throughout the Black Sails and POTC environments, and may be used as a building stone for other verses as time calls for it.
It is within this period that Horatio first meets with Jack Sparrow, and the two hold a brief adventure together that introduces Horatio to the reality of magic. Accompanied by a reanimated dead man, Jack Sparrow left a sharp impression upon Horatio – but nothing struck him harder than the knowledge of the woman responsible for bringing a man back from the dead. Curiosity won him, and Horatio made sail for Cuba in search of the Obeah woman, Tia Dalma, who would in turn craft his fate in ways he never could have begun to dream.
Ocean Archive 