Hello and welcome to a change of pace for my fics! This is an old Legend of Dragoon fic I began when I wondered what would happen if the collision of the Queen's Fury and the ghost ship had gone differently…note, I just found this and it does eventually lead to a bit of violence against a certain Serdian King…
That's enough chat! R&R please, and also, I don't own what's not mine and I do own what is. K
"Ship dead ahead!" The man in the crow's nest cried, all of a moment too late. The Queen Fury gave a sickening lurch as she rammed into the tattered wooden vessel that had appeared from nowhere in the middle of her path. Wood grated and splintered on metal; people were lurched and thrown from their places on the Fury onto the now-adjoining boat.
Dart and his comrades were among these people. When the collision had occurred they'd all been standing at various places along the Fury's deck and had been flung, quite against their will, when the two vessels collided.
There was a horrendous crashing noise; Dart's body slammed through the top of one of the ship's old cabins and he landed hard on his back amid a large pile of wood and debris.
"Son of a bloody..." he growled, dragging himself upright. A spear of timber had forced itself up the sleeve of his armor on the left side, jabbing him painfully in the shoulder. "Damn it." He winced as he yanked it free, feeling the warm liquid begin to run down his arm. At least the bleeding was sluggish. Looking around he could see nothing outside of dust, wood and a pile of white sticks. Bones, he mused with a feeling of uneasiness, how pleasant. This must be the ghost ship the sailors were telling us about. Standing, being careful to avoid tripping, Dart made his way out of the room into a hallway that was just as neglected. Just as he reached the stairs, though, he smelled a faint whiff of smoke and then BOOM. A large explosion from somewhere on the ghost ship rocked the vessel again and Dart, swearing, was thrown against the wall. The shockwave was horribly strong and the warrior felt the ship breaking apart as the vibration ripped through it.
"Gotta watch those aftershocks Dart-- you'll hurt yourself." The young man turned to face the speaker and growled, "I don't find that amusing, Haschel, but at least you're okay. Any sign of the others?"
"No. But Dart, that bang was the coal supply on this boat. Ghost crew or not this ship's real enough and now the fuel supply is on fire. This thing's wood- we need to find the others and retreat."
"Right but...ghost crew?" The old martial artist grinned.
"Oh, you haven't seen them? Best keep your sword loose and ready. They don't appear to be too happy to see live visitors. Let's split up and look." And with that Haschel, still grinning, turned and trudged back down the hallway. Dart reversed himself and marched along the opposite way, looking carefully for any sign of his comrades. Passing an open closet he heard a groan.
"Meru is that you?" He questioned, peering into the blackness.
"Dart?"
"Yes. Can you stand?" The girl sprang to her feet and though she wobbled she managed to pull herself out of the wreckage and into the hall.
"Yeah, I'm totally fine! Was there any doubt!" She hopped for emphasis and when she came down her left knee buckled under her weight; Dart reached out a hand and steadied her. "I think I twisted my knee, though." Dart nodded and offered her his arm as they moved slowly on down the hall, finally reaching a staircase. Just as they started to ascend it a sharp clang of metal alerted Dart to a presence behind them. Letting go of Meru, who shouted an indignant "Hey!" He spun and raised his sword to block the attack. The sight of the assailant made even his warrior's stomach retch.
The creature- if you could call it that- was no more than a human skeleton, skinless and gleaming, that was wearing an iron breastplate of armor and swung the sword that Dart had blocked. It grinned at him with its eyeless skull and swung again; he countered and sliced off its head. Thinking it vanquished- dead was not the right word- he turned back towards the stairs.
"Dart!" Meru's hammer swung at him and he ducked; the skeleton's headless body had been poised to strike him down from behind before Meru shattered it completely, sending the bones tumbling in all directions.
"Let's go before he decides to pull himself together," Dart offered and they hastily made their way up the stairs to find themselves on deck very near to the adjoining Queen Fury. Commodore Puler was standing across the deck and yelled to them, "The engines are not functioning! We cannot pull away yet and the ghost ship's engine rooms are on fire and it is spreading fast! I have all of my men, all you must do is find your friends and we will be set to go when the problems are fixed!" And with that he rushed away. As he did Haschel became visible on the opposite end of the ghost ship's deck, two figures behind him. One was extremely large-that was undoubtedly Kongol- and the silent black shadow at his side had to be Rose. As they neared Dart could see that the Giganto had a large cut from his right shoulder to his waist and that Rose bore a deep gash on her cheek.
"Where're Shana and Al?" Meru questioned.
"Kongol think they big hurt," the Giganto informed her, "Last boom give Kongol big hurt. Me think Albert and Shana big hurt too. We did not find."
"I need to go look for them. I think the rest of you better get back on board the Queen Fury and get those wounds tended," Dart said and made a move to go down another nearby staircase.
"I'm coming," Rose said. Dart looked at her questioningly.
"Are you sure you should?"
"This is a scratch." She wiped the blood on her velvet sleeve. She went off another direction and vanished.
"Yeah, I'll help too Dart! The rest of you go back to the ship!" Meru commanded and, walking better, she started down the stairs. Haschel and Kongol made their back across the planks to the Fury as Dart followed Meru.
The smoke was much thicker in this hall; the fire downstairs had spread to the level Dart was currently traveling on. Meru had gone a bit ahead.
"Dart! I found Shana! I'm so good!" He quickened his pace and reached the place the two girls were: the ghost ship's kitchen. His childhood friend was sitting near a large potbellied stove that had emptied its contents on her. Her clothes were doused in soot.
"Are you all right?" He asked her. Shana shook her head.
"I think my ankle's broken. I landed on it when I came down through the ceiling. The stove tipped when the coal exploded."
"I'll carry you." Dart stooped and lifted her in her arms. Meru gave a comical salute and said, "I'll go find Al!"
Dart hurried back upstairs and sat Shana on deck. Rose had returned and volunteered to help Shana for she had not been able to locate the Serdian king.
"Get back down there before Meru screws this up." He nodded and rushed back down the stairs, wondering why he'd met no more of the skeletons.
There was a distant roar and a yell. The first was the Queen Fury's engines struggling to return to life; the second was Meru.
"Oh Dart...come here quick!" Still running he swerved around the debris strewn in the hall, coughing as billowing black smoke filled his lungs. The fire was coming from the room Meru was in. It appeared to be an old recreational room; Dart could see an old couch and chairs, now in flames, in one corner. In the other, lying motionless on the floor, apparently dropped through another hole in the weak ceiling, was Albert.
The king was in grave peril. One of the four wooden support beams had crumbled, pinning him beneath two of its largest pieces. Fire had consumed the wall on his right, illuminating the scene with brilliant flames. Worse yet, Dart could now see why he'd met no more of the crew- they were all here, about twenty bright white skeletons, standing in a semicircle around Albert's position.
Dart whipped around to face Meru and whispered, "Get back above deck. Tell Puler to be ready to pull out and that I'll be right there. Hurry." And when he finished he drew his sword. Meru whispered back loudly, "No way Dart! I'm totally not leaving you!" The warrior faced her again and growled, "I told you to go!" Something about the wicked gleam in his eyes frightened her, and Meru rushed away.
"Get away from him!" He cried louder, to the skeletons. He was undaunted by the fire- he was the Red-Eye Dragoon, after all- but he had a feeling Albert would not be quite as tolerant. Despite this, Dart knew even he could not last long. The skeletons turned but did not budge and he saw half of them bore broadswords. "I said get back! Do not force me to destroy you further than you already have been."
"Human," one of the things hissed, "We did not disturb our sleep to leave empty handed. You may live, but this one is ours."