Chapter Text
The sun was setting at sea. The Hail Mary, the mightiest ship of the Royal Navy, sailed the waves as it was born to do. A then dark brown wooden exterior , now almost black, left space to an interior full of riches, as suitable as it had to be for the Governor.
Governor Wheeler wasn't a loved man, but he had always been respected. He didn't really bother himself with his town's matters, only his riches and, most recently, his family.
He had gotten married a few years prior to a lady of noble birth, as was expected. She had then died of childbirth, leaving him trying to pretend he didn't hate the boy for it. They had two children, first there was Nancy, who was now playing with her dolls in the Great Cabin, unbothered, and three years later, him , Michael.
He was a pale small kid, with the blackest hair, striking bone structure and big brown doe eyes. He looked dreamily at everything he saw, with eagerness to learn about it.
That's why he made a habit of looking at the ocean a lot. He couldn't tell why, but it calmed him.
Or at least, it would have usually had that effect on him.
That time was different.
As he was the only one looking, while everyone was busy elsewhere-- the crew chattering, his father signing papers, his sister playing with her most boring dolls-- he was the first to notice the various wooden debris scattered in the ocean.
Curious, he thought.
At once, he saw a hand. Attached to that hand, a body. It was a kid, like him. That's what scared him most.
He ran to his father, screaming.
"Father! Father, there's a boy in the water!"
The Governor pretended not to hear, but Mr. Hopper definitely did.
"What's the matter now, Michael?"
Hopper had been second in command for quite a few years then, but he couldn't really stand the governor's son. He thought him an impertinent cub.
He couldn't argue much, though, when he did in fact see a body in the water.
"Hail the ropes!"
The crew started moving at once, trying to get the boy aboard.
While everyone was distracted, Mike saw a pirate flag in the water, skull and all. He decided not to tell anyone, for now.
Pirates always made him curious anyway.
What if this boy was a pirate? That would be swell, thought Mike. He had always liked the idea of them, he thought they meant adventure, and being far away from home, which he didn't mind much.
They hauled the boy from the water.
"He's breathing!"
"Look, over there!"
Everyone else turned around, to see a wrecked ship, flames flickering in the dark night.
Mike only stole a glance at the wreckage, his eyes going back to the limp body. Kneeling beside him, he took a closer look. He had ash brownish hair, he was slim, he looked really kind, like he should have been tucked into bed with a stuffed animal, not passed out on a bridge. Were pirates supposed to look kind? His father would have said of course not, but he was never right anyways.
The boy opened his eyes. Green.
He looked startled.
"Hello. Umh. I'm Mike! Michael. Wheeler. You are safe now. You are safe. What's your name?"
After a small coughing fit, he replied.
"Will".
"Byers."
Mike smiled down at him. Will fell back unconscious. Mike shot him a confused look. Really?
While continuing to stare at him, he noticed something twinkling on his neck. He took it in his hands, turning it over. A ring on a chain?
"Michael, what are you doing??"
Brought back to reality by his father's words, he tore the chain that held the ring on Will's neck and he hid it in his pocket as fast as he could.
"He told me his name. William Byers."
"Nothing more?"
"No, Father"
The lie came easily now.