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Stede was pulled out to sea when he was a young man. The water had ebbed out far and in his excitement he'd run, chasing the surf far out into the wet sand. The water had come back suddenly, up to his chest, soaking his thick wool coat instantly. His heart had raced as he tried to make for the shore, the waves retreated again, pulling him and his heavy coat back, back, back-
He'd lost his footing in the sand and was dragged under the water. Up, down, left, right had all lost meaning as he was toppled through the strong current, pulling him from the sand shelf, into a deep drop. His coat had pulled him down and he had watched the turbulent waves settle as he sank, the light dimming as he blinked through the darkening water.
Then there was a face and hair and tendrils of black.
Ten years later, Stede Bonnet is scurrying across the deck of a large naval ship as sounds of battle rang out in the twilight. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit-" Stede mutters, his heels clipping in a merry way that contrasts with the booms and flares happening around him. He throws himself against the rail, his throat bobbing against his will as he eyes the dark water churning below him.
“Baby Bonnet-you-fucking-“ Stede looks between the English officer approaching him with his sword drawn and the sea once more before taking a breath and throwing himself overboard.
It’s not a graceful fall and he crashes into the water, the sound of the battle cut off instantly by rushing water. He lets himself fall with the sinking rubble for a few moments, dazed by his sudden plunge.
Another boom loud enough to rattle Stede even underwater sounds. He feels a tug around his ankle and is suddenly being pulled with alarming speed towards the bottom of the ocean, his scream becoming bubbles. He kicks and tugs as the water gets darker around him, paddling uselessly for the surface as his air left him-
The dark blue become and inky black. The weight around Stede’s ankle squeezes once more as the ropes tangling him to a cannon are snapped and his descend suddenly halts. Stede feels the shoe he'd lost with the cannon slip gently back onto his foot.
"Fancy meeting you here." says a smoky voice, somehow in Stede's mind and surrounding him in the water.
Stede's vision blurs and his lack of air catches up with him as his sentence drifts into nothing.
In his unconscious state Stede doesn't notice the arms of a man and a few of the tentacles wrap tightly around him, nor does he notice the frantic speeding towards the surface, then the ship attacking the vessel Stede had thrown himself from. He doesn't feel himself being held tightly by sea creature that's suckling his way up the ship.
Stede does wake to being shaken vigorously and slapped lightly across the face. "Stede! Stede! Come on man-oh thank fuck! Thank Fuck!" Stede coughs and sputters as he's pulled into a bone crushing embrace, messy kisses placed in his hair.
"You came for me."
"I-yeah, of course I fucking came for you! I was going to get you off that ship! What the fuck were you thinking, jumping in the water?"
"Missed you. Couldn't wait any longer." Stede curls into Ed, pulling him tighter.
"Did they hurt you."
Stede's silence is enough. Ed picks him up and heads to their cabin.
"Blow it." Ed tells Izzy firmly. Izzy nods at Wee John
Stede watches as his hostage ship explodes into ocean waves.
"Thanks, darling."