Story Title: The Brine Child
Disclaimer: I don't own Yuu Yuu Hakusho.
Author's Notes: Thanks to that hazy between wake and dreaming state providing me with a sudden interesting image of Touya before I woke up one morning, here we have another Jin/Touya AU, this one with a decidedly fairy tale influence. I admit updates will more than likely be sporadic.
For this story, I plan on incorporating as many YYH characters as I can while using only a few OCs where no other canon character will do. Also, in this fic, Touya isn't an ice demon. He's something else... So, yay.
Also, for this story, Sankai (literally, "Three Worlds") is a reference to Reikai, Ningenkai, and Makai. The idea for the setting is a basic fantasy world where humans, demons, spirit beings, and other creatures live side by side without portals and barriers. Enma remains the king.
Ah, I really don't need another fic to write but no one ever writes Jin/Touya so here we go. Partially the reason I'm posting this first chapter is just to gauge readers' interest. Jin/Touya, after all, is a rare pairing and I'm just interested to see if anyone's interested in reading them. As always, I fret over the quality of Jin's accent and I make no assertions that it is even close to good. I'm still figuring out how to go about writing his accent...
As always, thanks for reading.
-o-
Chapter One: Into the Mist, Into the Deep
-o-
Jin flew ahead of the ship and imagined once more as he had done a thousand times before that he was soaring up and alone, that it was just him between the calm sea and sky. Of course, in time, someone back on deck, if not Captain Risho himself, would figure out he was yet again using his lookout duties to slack off in the sky. Oh, they would yell at him and shove him off to his swabbing or onto some other grunt work, but for right now, it was just him and the lovely, perfect, endless blue.
Aye, an' days like these make it just about all worth it, Jin thought, taking a deep breath of the warm salty sea air and feeling the sun's heat surround his strong body. Can clear a man's head of all his ills an' stir a boy's heart to adventure, it will. Only thing that would make this bettah be if I was flyin' under me own free wings.
Guided by the whim, he spiraled down and plunged his hand into the sea, sending up white sparkling surf as he sped onward. Jin was happiest in the air, whether it was sea air, mountain air, meadow and valley air, but as a member of Risho's crew and thus rarely on land or ever far from the coast, he was most familiar with the wet and salty winds of the ocean. Having spent all his life on the sea, Jin had grown a liking to the deep but he was at home and happiest in the air. Only when he was flying could Jin truly smile.
And Jin was smiling. Flipping onto his back with his arms still outstretched, Jin hovered above the ocean surface and grinned up at the sky. Some day, one day, the world's skies will be mine ta soar as I damn well please.
Hearing the cannon's boom and having seen no other ship than theirs for miles, Jin knew he was being called back and that he had flown far out of earshot. Turning around and ready to face Risho's uppity glare, Jin shot off back toward the ship.
There was no doubt in his mind that Risho wouldn't be happy with him for flying so far off but Jin really didn't think that meant anything different because Risho was never happy with him. And since it never mattered what he did, Jin figured he might as well do what ever he wanted anyway and make himself happy. At least one of them would be walking around with a grin on.
Sure enough, Risho was waiting for him. Couldn't miss that red-orange ostrich feather in his deep chocolate tricorne for nothing. Even the sky wearing every kind of orange there was would look down on Risho's cap and turn away from the brightness.
Pfft, not like he'd mind one damn bit, Jin thought as he righted himself and started floating down. Flaunting feathers be all a peacock's good for.
"Ahoy, Captain!" he called, grinning and waving an arm vigorously over his head, as he landed onto the deck. "Wind Master-Swabby Jin at yer service! What can I do fer ya?"
"First things first, how about your job?" Risho shouted, eyes and voice sharp. "Do you expect me to pay you for today's work when all you've done is flutter willy-nilly about?"
Unsurprisingly, Risho had his arms crossed over his chest and he had that stiff–and-rigid-as-a-mountain look about him. Seemed normal to Jin. He was always pissed off at him for something and never had nothing to say to him. Admittedly, half the stuff he yelled at him for, Jin had done on purpose. It was never really anything serious. Mostly Jin spent too much time in the air.
"In fact, I believe you shall go without pay and I will also add the cost of that wasted cannonball to your debts as well." Risho stepped toward Jin and leaned in closer, lowering his voice but leaving none of his stark coldness behind. "I am no fool and I will not tolerate my men intentionally shirking their duties. Am I understood, Wind Master-Swabby?"
Sure, docked pay was nothing new but it still riled Jin all the same. Anytime Risho dared to get in his face pushed Jin to the edge. Teeth clenched together tight and tossing his bunched fists behind his back, Jin put all his will into keeping his grin and remaining still. While every little devil whispered in his ear that he should just punch out Risho and soar away, Jin knew it was better for his own neck if he just kept smiling.
"…Aye, Captain," Jin said, his smile hard. "Heard loud an' clear, I did."
"Well then…" Risho said, grinning in victory. Jin hated that grin. It was the kind of smug grin only a peacock proud of its own shit would wear. "First, why don't you course some wind into our sails? Then you can swab the deck and then head down to the galley and ready supper. Do finish the deck promptly as we would all like our supper served at a reasonable hour."
"Of course, Captain," Jin said in a rush to hold his twitching grin. "Happy ta be of service."
"Such is the way of fools," Risho said, his puppet nose raised high, as he turned and strutted off to relieve Gama and assume his place at the helm. "For future reference, do not force me to waste ammunition on what equates to a master whistling for his dog. If I must waste another cannonball on you again, I will take more than pay from you."
As Risho pranced up the short steps up to the helm, Jin wanted to stick his tongue out at him. He actually wanted to do a lot more than that but that was probably all he could get away with. It still wasn't worth trying, even for the hell of it since Risho would probably catch him and dock his pay more for cheek. Peacocks were spiteful bastards, after all.
Be not worth makin' me debt bigger over somethin' so small, Jin thought, turning away and dropping his smile for a harsh scowl. 'Sides, 'least I'll be workin' the air.
Excited he would spend even just a few more minutes in the air, Jin was ready to push off when he heard Bakken laugh deep in his throat behind him. Jin looked over his shoulder and slung the grinning idiot a dark glare and took off, knocking Bakken on his backside with his burst of wind.
One of these days, or never, Bakken was going to figure out Jin's burst range. It was kind of pathetic how he always failed to learn to keep his distance but being on the ground was usually where Bakken ended up, so Jin felt pretty good about sending a gale his way. Brightened his mood, at least.
-o-
Three days of food was all Touya had left and it was the last the island had to give. There had never been much life on the island from the day he arrived but Touya had been careful in his gathering and had not over-fished and still the sea and land around him had withered and perished. Now, without a doubt, there was no possibility of the island sustaining him.
And there is nowhere else safe for me, he thought as he stared up into the blackness of the small underground cavern and felt the push and pull of the tide around him. The cavern's entrance was only accessible at low tide and it was one of a few places he hid until sunset.
But it was becoming apparent to him that he would have to swim outside of his territory and risk being seen if he did not wish to starve. He had little choice otherwise, much as he would rather never leave his island's shores. But as long as he was not seen, he would be all right. He could protect himself, true, however, it was simply better for all if he just was just never seen.
His stomach rumbled and clenched tightly in hunger. All he had left was tiny, bony baitfish and edible sponges, neither of which could feed him but could ease his stomach pains for a little while. He missed eel, shrimp, clams, and even sea cucumber… He missed tasting the ocean. The sea was his home. Touya was happiest at sea. If it was not so dangerous, he would have been happy to travel the world's seas but for his own safety and the preservation of his kind, he had bound himself to his island.
An island that would no longer have him just like his people.
As his stomach moaned, Touya pressed his hand against it and tried to hold his stomach still. Not at all surprisingly, it would not quiet.
Perhaps there are some tiny mussels left, Touya both prayed for and comforted himself with the potential prospect as he pushed off from the surrounding rocks and headed toward the beds.
-o-
As the sun began to set, the crew gathered in the galley at Jin's call. Though most often Risho took his meals in his quarters, once in a while he would dine with the crew, mostly when there was news to announce. Tonight, there indeed seemed to be good news.
His own plate set aside for him to eat cold with whatever scraps remained sometime in the evening, Jin hurried about, refilling cups and bowls with seconds, thirds (and in Bakken's case, fourths) of drink and stew while his crewmates sat and stuffed themselves.
"Men, we have taken many a lord's vessel and we have made fools of the Sankai Royal Navy. We have even stolen from King Enma himself," Risho said, peacock-shit grinning again at the bejeweled and gold royal crest-emblazoned goblet resting in his hand. "There is no treasure out there that we cannot claim as ours. So I propose we seize an even greater prize, an isle of riches that no man, demon, or apparition has ever spoiled. An isle that has been waiting for a superior king among pirates to dock upon its glorious shores..."
Gama and Suzaku each steadied their spoons and listened with interest.
"Captain, you mean—" Bakken said through a mouthful of bread and cheese.
"Three Kings Isle," Risho confirmed with a smirk.
"Three Kings Isle?" Jin muttered, pausing mid-pour and cocking an eyebrow. He hadn't heard of such a place before but it didn't sound all that grand to him. There were lots of isles named after kings so why would three kings putting footprints on the same beach make the sand so special?
"Your ears aren't hurt, Jin. You heard the Captain right," Gama said, pushing the flagon in Jin's stilled hands down and topping off his cup.
Among the crew, Gama was the only mug Jin could really stand to look at. They were strictly crewmates and Gama wasn't much for talking or putting up with Jin's tricks but he was the only one that didn't strut around like the world owed him eternal gratitude just for rising out of bed or, in Bakken's case, puckered up to Risho's arse at every chance. Gama just wanted to do his job, keep the ship sailing smoothly, and get his fair share out of every take and Jin could find no fault with that.
As Jin still scrunched up his face in confusion, Gama smirked. "I thought you knew, boy." And after a moment to wet his mouth, Gama set his cup down and explained to him in his croaking voice, "Three Kings Isle is said to be the spot of legend where the three great pirate kings, Raizen, Yomi, and Mukuro piled their shares of all the worlds' treasure and fought one another for a thousand years without rest to decide who was the strongest among them. In the end, only the Sea won, as She claimed all three kings and their treasure and guards it to this day."
Hearing the tale, Jin grinned. Truth be told, pursuing and pirating King Enma's personal trade ships four months ago had been the crew's last spark of adventure and Jin was ready and raring to set off for the Isle just for the thrill and fun. He couldn't wait to have something to do other than swabbing and potato peeling. His ears were already beginning to twitch.
"And my, has the Sea not done a fine job?" Risho said and washed down the last of his wine and then snapped his fingers at Jin to hurry over. "But I do believe it is time Three Kings Isle had a new master, don't you men agree?"
"And you believe you will find the Isle?" Suzaku scoffed.
He was the only crewmember that ever dared to criticize Risho's command. It was no secret that he wanted to kill Risho and take his ship for himself. If Risho wasn't stronger and if Suzaku's lightning had any effect on Risho's earth, The Rigged Butcher would have a new captain and lord. Jin almost wanted to help Suzaku take over, except he couldn't trust Suzaku to treat him any better than Risho or free him from his debt. It was easier to handle the peacock he knew than try dealing with a damn phoenix.
"Three Kings Isle is but a legend and that is all that remains. You told me that yourself the last time you set your eyes on the Isle." Suzaku glanced askance over at Risho as he swirled his cup. "You did not find it then and you will not find it now."
If Jin had spoken to him like that, much less glared at him, Risho would have beaten him within an inch of his life and broken his legs, and sealed him in a mountain for days on end, but Risho oddly found Suzaku's rebellion amusing and allowed him miles of leeway. Suzaku used to be the leader of the feared Four Saint Beasts—brought down by the King's Axe, an unknown warrior for the King that settled matters and eliminated threats in secrecy—and was now little more than a broken king, entirely bound to Risho for his own survival.
"Ah, yes…" Risho smiled at Suzaku. "It is true that for years the Isle has eluded my pursuit and crept along the shadows of the sea, but now I possess a means to shine a light upon the waters."
It must have been very surprising and important news, Jin realized, because everyone, including Bakken, set down their bites and drink to listen to what Risho had to say.
Of course, Risho loved the attention. He intentionally drew out his wait before he spoke just to bask in the power of having everyone's eyes on him.
"At our last port," he finally explained, his smirk growing in size and self-greatness with every given word, "I had council with a certain spirit fox and he provided me with an interesting tidbit concerning discerning the location of the path that at its end will lead us gentlemen to the Isle of legend."
"A spirit fox?" Bakken snorted in heavy doubt. "As if he told you the truth. Should've just skinned him and sold his pelt, Captain. That's the only good deal you'll get from a fox."
"Oh, I can trust his word," Risho said as he brought out a tiny wooden box from the shadows of his slate gray coat. "And even if I can't, I have acquired some leverage that will force his fox tongue to speak true." He was full of himself as he laughed quietly and gently rattled whatever treasure of the fox was inside the small box.
"Excuse me, Captain," Suzaku said, with some measure of bile swallowing between words, "but are you implying that you managed to take something from the fox?"
"Implying? Hardly. I declare that I stole it from him outright," Risho said, head held high and proud. "After all, I am the greatest pirate captain that ever lived!"
The crew said nothing and merely stared warily at one another. Even if Jin had no clue of what was going on, he would have figured out from everyone's faces and the shift in the air that something was very wrong. In truth, Jin had only heard whispers in port towns about the spirit fox and he had actually gone with Risho to the fox's shop but Risho had sent him away on errands before he had entered and before Jin could have ever caught a peek of the fox.
"Well, what is it?" Risho said, slashing his eyes across the table at his crew's uncertain, worried faces. "Why are you not cheering and congratulating me? I stole from the fox!"
"Yes, Captain, we heard what you've done," Gama said. His face couldn't get any paler, being stark white already, but the look in his eyes was that of man stranded out in the sea facing a coming waterspout. "…But everybody knows you don't steal from the fox."
Jin may have never met him and had only heard rumors about him but he had definitely heard many, many times across port towns and villages over and over that one did not steal from the fox.
His face twisting in anger, Risho pounded his hands against the table as he shot up from his chair. "You are all afraid and of what? One fox!" As Risho stalked the galley and fumed, the crew kept quiet and held their heads down. "Cowards! I should toss the lot of you in the deep and find myself a crew worthy to sail my ship to Three Kings Isle."
As he stormed toward the galley stairs, Risho smacked the wine flagon out of Jin's hands and shoved him as Jin moved to clean it up. Risho was lucky on two counts—one, that he had gone up the steps and out the galley before Jin's burst of wind blasted him and two, that the rest of the crew was there and would've stopped him if he had actually struck Risho. Otherwise, Jin didn't care if Risho broke his legs, not if he could break his face first.
Bearing his teeth and fixing a glare colder than the North Wind on the steps, Jin grabbed a rag, knelt down, and began sopping up the wine. Stupid bastard's got no right ta call himself Captain when all he be a damn peacock!
"The Captain's right! It's just one fox," Bakken said, grabbing the last halved bread loaf. "There's no way he could take on all of us."
"That's most likely true," Gama said, gazing into his cup. "But I would rather leave that to wonder and chance rather than tempt fate."
"Yeah, you fool, you don't raise your sword and ask lightning to strike you," Suzaku added. "Though if you are keen to know how it feels, I would be glad to contribute."
"I ain't afraid of your little static. You were never any beast and Gama's gone soft," Bakken said, voice raised. "Pissing yourselves over a fox… Hell, I bet I could take him myself."
"Oh, if he were out cold with one leg in the grave, maybe ya could take him," Jin said, laughing as he shook the rag and the flagon shards out in the trash. "But one ta one, I'd bet on the fox."
Bakken rose from the table suddenly, knocking the table and forcing Gama and Suzaku to quickly steady cups and candles. "Is that so?" he shouted. "Well, come over here and I'll rip you apart just like him!"
"Hot air be all ya blow. 'Course ya can't help but, bein' full of it an' all."
"If there's anyone full of it, it's you," Bakken said, not having moved another inch from the table. "Spend half the day making circles in the sky, it's a wonder why the Captain hasn't tossed you in the drink."
"Be pretty obvious why." Jin grinned. "Risho needs one muscle around that won't be takin' an early dive."
Even though he was visibly shaking, his fists curled tight, and his teeth bared, Bakken still remained standing at the table. It didn't surprise Jin. Bakken barked more than a yappy noblewoman's lap dog than he ever bit and when he did bite, he usually nearly choked himself to death. Fact was Jin wasn't so sure he was really shaking out of anger. He was probably shaking out of fear of having to back up his threats.
"You're lucky I don't send you diving," Bakken said and then he grinned. "Not like you'd come back up."
"Yea, yea, can't swim a lick," Jin said, hands on his hips, and smirked, "but underwater I'd still beat ya. Now remember, ta get me underwater you'd hafta get a hold of me an' you'd never lay a hand on me, Biggie. Face truth, the only wind ya evah once ripped be the kind from yer a—"
"Shut it you two before I mark the both of you in chains," Gama said, as Bakken opened his mouth to shout back.
Jin and Bakken both stood staring at one another before Bakken finally sat back down and stuffed his fat mouth with bread once more. Didn't surprise Jin one bit. Backed to the wall and facing Jin with his fists up, Bakken usually dove at the first chance to run.
In a way, Jin couldn't blame him not wanting to chance dying. But then again, if the brown brute just kept his mouth shut, Jin wouldn't have to beat the shit out of him. Truth be told, Jin was getting tired of fighting him anyway. Sure, he'd probably beat him again if he ever pissed him off but he knew he could beat Bakken a thousand times over and what fun was there in that?
Haven't had fun in a long time, I have. Mostly just grin an' bear it 'er wash it 'er peel it. Even our pirating be not much an adventure anymore.
Flinging the rag onto the chopping board, Jin grabbed his dinner and beer and headed out of the galley to eat up in the crow's nest.
One a' these days, he thought as he slurped down his broth and stared at the visible moon in the evening daylight, I'll have reason ta smile true again.
-o-
Touya munched on some seaweed as he broke the water's surface to gauge his distance from the nearest island and surveyed his surroundings. There were no ships in sight and there were no people on the nearby protruding rocks, just oysters and mussels. He had swum about twenty miles out from his self-imposed territory but at last, Touya had found life away from his salt-water wasteland.
He had gone through the mussel beds and took what he needed and added those to the fish and young octopus he had frozen and the seaweed and suckleblooms—underwater fruits that tasted like honey and had the texture of plums. Hiding in the shadows under a protruding cliff, Touya floated on his back, bit into a sucklebloom, and wondered if it was worth searching for a possible bed of granates nearby.
He had seen signs but so far he had yet to find the mother bed. The fruit itself was inedible and hard as stone but the inner flesh held clusters of small seeds that were good to eat after cooked and would be plentiful for weeks. But the work to find and prepare them by himself was more than likely not worth the trouble. There were trained crews assigned to harvest and prepare granates back home, after all.
A warning in the current forced Touya upright and out from the cliff's shade. In the distance, he saw a ship. He had memorized maps and knew the surrounding ports and if the ship was heading to one of them, it would have to change its course soon. Touya waited and the ship showed no sign of changing its course. The ship was heading west. It was sailing in the direction of his island.
Though there was the chance the ship intended to sail toward the mainland, he could feel the sway of the ocean telling him that they were aiming for his island. There was once a time Touya would have been glad to sink a ship without pause but these days, he took much more into consideration before he doomed a vessel to the bottom of the sea.
Swimming over to the rocks, Touya climbed up and stood on the tallest edge he could reach. Pulling a telescope from his supply bag, he surveyed the ship. It was a pirate ship, no doubt about that. He knew enough that pirates were thieves, pirates attacked innocent ships, but most importantly, he knew that a sunken pirate ship would not be missed. And they carried all sorts of cargo and he would find the extra supplies very beneficial.
Leaping into the water, Touya hurried back to his island to prepare his defenses.
-o-
Jin had an itch on the inside of his head and there was no way he could reach inside and scratch it. Gama once said the itch was a thought, actually half of one that his heart knew but his head didn't know what it was yet, and the only way he could make the itch stop would be to figure out what it was he wanted to know and ask about it. Jin thought about it all through his dinner and all through cleaning up the galley and the nightly dishes, half of which were Bakken's, until he finally figured it out back up in the crow's nest. Unfortunately, the only person who could answer him was Risho.
Jin sat cross-legged and scowled in his perch as the wind mirrored his mood and swelled around him like the winds of a coming storm that swayed only the tops of trees. If he could keep from it, Jin tried to stay away far from Risho and only stood face to face with him if he was forced to. Otherwise, Jin had nothing to say to Risho. Well, nothing good, that is.
But no one but Risho would know so Jin groaned out all his frustration and leapt off the crow's nest, using the wind to slow his drop, and landed on deck. The sun had set long ago and the full moon hung above. Gama was once more at the helm since Risho had already retired to his quarters for the night. He knew Gama was watching him as he headed straight to Risho's door.
"Captain?" Jin called yet again and knocked over and over to no reply.
After Jin basically started punching on his door, Risho finally swung open his door and stood scowling and glared at Jin as if he was a pesky rat scratching at his door. "I have no time or patience for you, Jin. What do you want?"
"Just that I was wonderin' what it was the fox said would lead us ta the Isle," Jin said, pulling back on a whole lot of curses on the tip of his tongue. "I wanted ta know so I could keep an eye out fer it, bein' the lookout an' all."
For some damn reason, Risho smirked and snorted haughtily in amusement. "Put simply for you, a door stands before us and we are in search of a key."
"Fine, Captain," Jin replied quickly. "A key you want, a key I'll find."
Risho didn't seemed to care—Jin could've promised to grow bacon-flavored triangle oranges in the belly of a transparent whale and Risho wouldn't have given an ounce of a damn—as he swung the door shut hard. Jin wanted to course the wind and slam the door right back into Risho's puppet nose. The real trouble was making it look like an accident and risking Risho punishing him, whether he thought it was an accident or not. But Jin wanted to do it and he felt the wind stir behind him.
A second before Jin decided to hell with the pain and that he was going to toss the door right back into Risho's face, Risho caught the edge of the door and glared out past Jin and out onto the deck. "What is with this fog?" he said, elbowing past Jin. "Bakken!"
"This is not Bakken's mist, Captain," Gama said, keeping a vigil eye around them as he approached Risho. "It appeared around us suddenly. Unnaturally."
"There are various spiritual powers that will yield such mists but fog is still nothing more than fog," Risho scoffed. "Jin, blow it away."
Jin tried first to simply blast the mist with a powerful gust but the mist kept creeping and rolling back in wherever Jin's wind coursed through. Risho didn't say anything but his knife slash-thin frown and demanding glare was enough to yell out to Jin how ticked off he was that Jin couldn't even scatter a simple fog. Thing was Jin wasn't playing around.
Soaring above the ship, Jin searched and listened for any ship, any person, creature, anything at all that could've made the fog but he heard nothing but the sea roar against the ship as it cruised along. He tried coursing the wind around the ship to dispel all the mist at once but the mist rolled hard and thick right back in and soon blanketed the ship.
"What the hell is taking you so long, Jin?" Risho shouted.
"I can't—" Jin said, landing back on deck, his wind managing to carve a bubble of visibility around himself, Risho, and Gama. "There's nothin' out there. The mist's…not right." It definitely wasn't a normal fog, even if it was spiritually-made to boot. There hadn't been a fog Jin couldn't clear away.
"What are your orders, sir?" Gama asked Risho. "We can't see where we're going, the ship's headed grip knows where, and I'm not sure we're alone out here."
"I didn't hear anything," Jin said, his face scrunched up in confusion.
"Never said I heard anything, boy," Gama replied, eyes fixed to the right. "I'm just not sure we're alone. A normal fog won't shake off wind. Got to mean there's something not normal around us. Right, Captain?"
"I've figured that out already, Gama," Risho said brusquely, his arms crossed over his chest as he considered his next orders. And then, at about the same time as Jin, Risho noticed something small, fluffy, and white flutter down in front of his face.
"What is it now?" Risho growled in exasperation.
"It's snow, Captain," Gama said matter-of-factly as fat white snowflakes fell around them.
"I can see t-that—" Risho said, suddenly sent tottering, and landed on his face as a sudden wave crashed against the side of the ship. Jin had seen the wave and rose into the air just before the white surf pounded the deck.
"Gama, return to the helm," Risho ordered, still a bit jarred by the crash, his soaking wet hair plastered to his pale, gray face, as he staggered back onto his feet. "Jin, take point on lookout."
Nodding obediently, Jin rose high and cut through the mist as best he could, only to realize he couldn't even see the deck below him anymore. There was nothing but white fog as far as his sharp eyes could see. He listened for a change in the ocean's churn or a rumble of a sea monster's growl but all he heard was the sea and Risho's frantic bell tolls calling the crew on deck. He ordered Suzaku to man the starboard cannons and rouse the sky and assigned Bakken to the portside cannons.
Jin floated down and hovered midair, snow flying about him caught in his wind. He found Risho keeping guard in the center of the deck. "Captain, I…I can't see anything. The mist, the snow, it's…not right."
"You're worthless," Risho growled, baring his teeth, and brandished his clay-armored arm, its strike coming inches away from Jin. "Bakken, see if you can assume control and dispel the fog."
"Sure, Captain." The brute turned and grinned smugly at Risho and Jin. "This ain't nothin—gah!" Bakken gasped and toppled over like a felled tree onto the deck. It didn't even take a medic check to realize he was out cold.
Jin cut a gale across where Bakken had stood but he struck nothing but fog that quickly restored itself. Clearly, something had stuck Bakken—men did not black out while simply standing, except for maybe Bakken. Whatever had hit him was a sneaky, quick devil, that was for sure.
Risho's jaw tensed in frustration. They were blind and left unguarded to an assailant yet unseen even by Jin that could easily pick them off one by one. It had already taken Bakken out, not like that was hard to do. Another massive wave pounded against the left side of the side this time, sending both Jin and Risho crashing into the side balcony. They held onto the side railing until the ship centered itself. Jin noticed in several places where thick ice had frozen and frosted over the railings.
"Jin, quit gawking and fly!" Risho ordered, visibly shaking in rage as he crawled up onto his forearms and knees, his hands sinking in the ankle-deep snow cover. "Or I swear I'll wrap you in clay armor and toss you straight in the deep."
"I'm doin' my best," Jin snapped back, stirring the wind around him to assist in his standing. But before he could take off, Risho grabbed hold of his wrist in his clay-bound and formed claws and pulled him back down.
"Do better, you impudent gnat. You call yourself a wind master, so do your job," Risho said bitterly as he used him to get onto his feet again and then pushed him away with the spiked back of his armored hand.
Jin caught his footing and glared back at Risho. Rage arced through his spine, down his arms, and into his balled fists. His frown quivered in anger as his breaths shortened. He was doing his job and he was doing it the best he could and what was Risho doing? Standing around, barking orders, and pretending to be levelheaded as he pissed himself while everyone else did the so-called grunt work.
"You do somethin', you—" And then Gama's calls from the helm pointing out a figure on the mast silenced Jin and drew his and Risho's attention. Thunder rumbled and a flash of lightning vaguely outlined the head and form of a giant sea serpent in the fog and snow sliding along the ship's supports cutting and ripping down their rigging and slicing their sails without pause.
At Risho's command, Suzaku shot a bolt of lightning, missed as the serpent effortlessly dodged the blast, and Jin followed with a burst of wind as it raced across the other side. He too missed and the serpent slipped back underwater as it and the choppy, tumultuous waves pounded both sides of the ship like liquid battering rams.
"It's in the sea. Fire!" Risho commanded as Suzaku's seven clones manned and fired the cannons.
Jin rose into the air and coursed and coursed the wind until he held back the fog masking the ocean's surface. Suzaku's clones fired upon any strange ripple in the churning sea and still the waves did not relent.
"Captain, it'll pull us toward the rocks," Gama shouted as he strained to pull the ship away and out of the spiraling sea's grasp. Cannonballs and lightning bolts and stones assaulted the sea all at once. After several barrages, the waves calmed and Gama took command of the ship's steering once more. Jin remained in the air, dispelling the fog as best he could, and simply waited with Risho and Suzaku for the next attack. In that time of uncertainty and alertness, Bakken woke up and asked if the battle was over. Risho shushed him.
Just as everyone seemed to believe Bakken's boasting that they had won and the scared, stupid beast was gone, the deck was suddenly pelted with Risho's stones, now coated in a hard layer of apparently very sharp ice as the bleeding gash on Suzaku's left shoulder proved.
The water roiled and then suddenly an endlessly coiling waterspout arose from its center. Risho gave the order to attack as the serpent breathed sickle blades of ice onto their ship. Cannons and thunder alike boomed as arcs of lightning spiraled about the serpent in retaliation as it moved swiftly and slipped through their every attack just like water, oftentimes disappearing beneath the ocean's surface and reappearing unharmed almost immediately. After rising from the sea several times, the serpent slammed its tail against the hull, rocking the earthbound crew to the deck floor.
In an effort to distract it, Jin soared toward it and blasted it with focused bursts of wind. To his surprise, the serpent did appear to be made of water, taking his attacks and instantly reforming itself. He had heard stories of dragons made of black demonic flames but never of sea serpents made from the sea. But if it was what it was, if they could not attack it, they and their ship was doomed.
"Jin, do something," Risho called from the ship, his voice raw and strained.
The serpent twisted and chased after Jin as he barely escaped its gaping, chomping liquid jaws time after time. He tried to knot its head in its own body but the beast simply melted the knot and reformed itself. He dodged fangs and cannonballs and lightning as the crew struggled and failed to hurt it. Something had to be done, though. The ship's hull would not last for very much longer.
And then Jin had a crazy idea and while most of his ideas were crazy ideas, even he knew this idea was a crazy one. But his crazy ideas were usually pretty good ideas, even if they earned him a punishment from Risho later on. This time he figured he probably wouldn't get a punishment if he saved Risho's life.
With the wind ever at his back and side, Jin turned and soared straight into the sea serpent's open mouth and down its neck. Guarded by his wind bubble, Jin poured his energy into the air and coursed the wind into a vicious tornado and ripped the sea serpent apart from the inside.
"Ha! How's that for doin' somethin', aye, Captain?" Jin shouted, head held high, hands on his hips, and his grin absolutely beaming. He didn't even need to see Risho's begrudging, infuriated scowl to know it was there.
The sea beneath Jin bubbled and boiled and within seconds the serpent rose and reformed itself. Jin's pride and grin shattered. "Ah, heavens be, you've gotta be kiddin' me!" He trashed his arms in aggravation.
Once again, Jin flew about and dodged its jaws. He noticed no one was shooting off the cannons or lightning anymore. Flying low over the ship, he dispelled the fog to find the seven copies of Suzaku charging their power for a massive lightning attack. Jin didn't think that was going to work. None of the other lightning bolts had.
They needed to get away, cut and run, but with their sails and rigging destroyed and the sea at the serpent's whim, they were stuck. Even if I was better than me best self, I wouldn't have the wind ta course us out of here. Can't do nothin' without a sail, I can't.
After all those times keeping the mist at bay and after blowing the serpent to bits once already, Jin barely had the wind to escape the serpent's jaws. He doubted he could even make a run for it when the ship shattered and sank and only he was left. He was desperate for something to work. Everyone was.
Twisting and turning, Jin poured his spirit energy into the air and gained loft. Randomly, he heard a cannon fire off but he thought little of it, what with the serpent on his heels. He had simply figured Risho was buying Suzaku time.
Until he turned and endured the full impact of a cannonball pounding into his stomach. Caught unaware, his outward flow of spirit energy cut and redirected inward to heal his injury, Jin crumpled over and wrapped his arms around his stomach and plummeted straight into the sea.
Pain and disorientation crippled his movement. He sank, water filling and burning in his nose and throat as he breathed water in. Once he regained some of his senses and spiritual control, Jin kicked and thrashed and writhed to swim upward but only fell deeper and lost what little air he had left. Casting the last of his spirit energy into a wind around him to propel himself out of the sea, he discovered the twist and turn of his wind only whirlpooled the water around him, creating a vacuum that sucked him ever deeper down.
Oddly enough, the moon shone above him. He peered up at its white warped reflection through the dark water. As his field of vision narrowed and faded into black, Jin saw the faint shine of silver-blue scales flit across his eyes before he saw nothing more.