Trouble at The Fort

To say Flint was in a bad mood would have been the understatement of the century. Nothing had gone to plan recently, but when did it ever; he wasn’t exactly the epitome of lucky. Did he bring it on himself? Or was he just that unfortunate? Either way, it was irrelevant; pondering what had already happened would get him nowhere. What was important right now was getting Vane out of the fort.

The only advantage to his anger at this point was being able to use it to motivate his crew, it was never going to be easy having to explain yet another setback, but he’d managed to get a united response…. But of course, it wasn’t that straightforward. The plan had its flaws. MASSIVE flaws. He needed to weigh up the pros and cons.

Now sat at the desk in the Man o’War’s cabin, the captain was deep in his own mind, going over different scenarios and possibilities, when his thoughts weren’t dragged back to the events of the past few weeks. A lot had happened. The fact he had managed to retain his captaincy was something of a miracle, especially after Gates’ death. As much as he reasoned, saying he did what he must, it all seemed inconsequential now they were unable to secure the Urca gold as planned.

Failure wasn’t an option.

Shifting forward in the chair, he leaned against the desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache building up. There didn’t seem to be a better way to remove Vane from his new position other than opening fire, but the damage caused would be another setback in its own right, however, a fixable one. They needed the fort under allied control AND in one piece. This didn’t even touch on the fact there was a British war ship anchored not forty miles from Nassau waiting for such an opportunity to strike. The risks were catastrophic.

Time passed by as Flint remained still in place, his expression severe in the candlelight and his thoughts unrelenting, he was in the abyss of his own mind. It wasn’t that he was ignoring the goings on out on the deck, but rather simply that he didn’t notice, nothing served as a distraction as he tried to come up with the best plan of action.

What a long day it had been, and an even longer few weeks. Honestly, if Silver had been told when he had first got his hands on that cursed piece of paper, what he would have to endure, and what conflict he would find himself involved with, he would've disposed of it and fled long before any of this shit had happened.

That said, he also found himself in that much better of a situation currently. Not too long ago, he had been a dead man, but in such a short space of time he had managed to turn his luck, gaining trust in the strangest of places. He had succeeded in talking his way out of trouble and gaining sufficient trust and respect from the crew to tide him over, whether it was due to his own smarts, or the crew's general amusement of him didn't matter at this moment. In the meantime, it would appear that their Captain had also managed to worm his way back into the crew's good books, for the moment at least. All they had to do was keep it this way. Hopefully over time they wouldn't need to be so cautious.

Now it would seem they faced greater problems. Not only did it look like they wouldn't be getting their hands on the Urca gold as soon as they would like, but also it would appear the Captain had bigger issues. Charles Vane, of course. The other Captain had gained high position within the Fort, and it didn't look like he would be moving anytime soon. So of course, Silver had found himself relaying to the crew what Flint had spoken to him about, doing his best to keep them in high hopes till their oh so devoted Captain could convince, and perhaps even motivate them to follow him into the high risk situation they found themselves met with.

To Silver, it appeared he had barely succeeded in placating them. None the less, it would have to suffice.

Well, things could've gone worse, I suppose.

Now, he found himself leaning against the side of the ship, staring out across the docks of Nassau. He'd come quite a way for a merchant sailor. Even further for a Cook that couldn't cook.

They would find a way, surely. The Urca gold would soon be withing their grasp once more.

With a groan, Flint shifted back in his chair, his thoughts going around in circles and getting him nowhere fast. There really wasn’t an ideal solution. No matter his actions, there would be consequences. The captain already knew what had to be done, he did as soon as he spoke to Miss Guthrie earlier that day, but he’d hoped there would be a better way to solve this fucking shambles.

Pushing himself up from the desk, Flint needed some air before this headache threatened to crack his skull open. It was difficult to stop thinking. It was always difficult to stop thinking, but right now, he had to force himself to for his own sanity.

Running a hand over his hair, he swept a few loose strands back before heading out on deck, closing the cabin doors behind himself. The cool night air hit him in the face, causing a small sigh of relief escape his lips; it was refreshing. Inhaling deeply, the captain glanced around, pale eyes soon settling on a familiar figure nearby.

“If anything else has gone wrong, I don’t want to know.” Joining the shorter man at the edge of the ship, he immediately followed the others line of vision, also watching over the docks of Nassau and then towards the fort.

If there was any one other person on this crew that had been through as much as he himself, it was easily Silver. They’d come through a lot over the past few weeks, occasionally helping each other; or rather, they both had the same cause would use each other to advance this. The younger man had proven useful when he wasn’t being a total pain in the arse.

Hearing the thud of heavy boots approaching, Silver turned his head, eyes landing upon the Captain himself. Grinning lopsidedly, the younger man sighed, standing up a little straighter as the taller man stopped beside him. Chuckling softly, he turned his attention back to the scenery. "You think I can't manage things whilst you are preoccupied? Not that I necessarily did anything...other than reassuring our troubled men. You wouldn't think a bunch such as these could be so anxious, but...", he trailed off, his own amusement calming.

He let the air remain silent between them, only hearing the sounds of soft waves in the distance, and the occasional noise of the crew going about their business. They truly had been through a great deal, and Silver wouldn't hesitate to let the older man know exactly who had got them out of such things. The Captain had manage brilliantly mostly, but he had needed that last bit of help from Silver to gain back the trust he had lost.

“I trust you…. As far as I could throw you.” The older man smirked, briefly glancing down to Silver. As much as he owed the other, Flint couldn’t say he trusted him, but maybe that was why he had been so useful. If the younger man had been honest from the start, they’d probably have both been dead months ago. Besides, the captain had so few he would consider trustworthy, most people were out for personal advancement and he made little claim to be any better. Although, considering recent events, maybe he was the worst.

“They’re still men… Their livelihoods are riding on our words and actions.” And this was the reason Flint kept so many secrets, sometimes it was easier not to be honest. Honesty could bring more drama than necessary, but as had been proven, you could only continue the act for so long. “Would you be happy to hear about another setback if you were in their shoes? We need to keep their eyes on the gold.”

Inhaling deeply, Flint turned his back on Nassau to look out to the horizon; sea melted into starry sky. By now, the view had become commonplace, but it still made him feel calmer.

"You make a fair point, yet you aren't the first person to tell me this. You probably won't be the last either..", he returned the Captain's smirk, his own more carefree. At this point, Silver had no requirement to deny anything, it was clear there was only one thing they both cared about. Of course the prize worth mentioning was across the sea, but it wouldn't remain for long. Both the Captain crew, and Silver had their sights set on that gold, and with enough hard work and skill, it would be in their possession soon. He watched said crew for a while.

"Of course not, let's not forget how shaky their trust is already though. I'm sure we'll make do, we can pull this off. After all, we've managed to get this far.", sighing softly, the younger of the two brought his attention back towards the sea. As much as he was hesitant to admit out loud, this life was starting to grow on him.