A/N: Had this idea sitting around in my head; thought it'd be best to do something with it.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Sega, nor do I make a material profit from this work. It is purely fan made fun.
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The Claudia was a small ship, but together with her wide sails billowing out like wings, she was easily the most maneuverable ship Vyse ever had the privilege of piloting. He was surprised that the captain, Gilder, would allow a stranger he picked up off a deserted island not a day ago to fly his own ship. Then again, if Vyse tried anything funny, Gilder would be behind him, Purple moonstone pistol aimed at the back of his head. Nonetheless it was a ship he enjoyed flying, humming a little tune as the captain lounged back on his sofa en route to Nasrad.
The trip was largely uneventful, smooth sailing, occasional monsters hitting deck aside. Despite the Claudia's size, she also had a small amount of cannons, conventional and magic. Yet there were only four people in the crew, counting the captain himself. Surely the Claudia needed at least one more hand to be running so smoothly. If she were an older ship with older parts, too, like the first Albatross had been. Yet, Captain Drachma had managed the Little Jack, a bigger and older ship, all on his own for years. Vyse's face fell as he thought on the elderly sailor. What happened to him in Ramirez's attack?
"What's on your mind, kid?" Gilder asked, a fat cigar between his fingers but unlit. Any careless smoker could set fire to the ship. A general rule of thumb was if one had to smoke, do it on deck where there were no walls to trap an accidental fire. Vyse tapped a fingernail on the polished wood of the steering wheel.
"Just thinking. You have a small crew."
"For a small ship."
The younger sailor nodded. "True enough." The Claudia's captain burst into fits of laughter, as he did often in the day and a half since Vyse had met him.
"Actually, there is one more hand on the Claudia. A real young'un like you."
Vyse found himself rolling his eyes, though he knew he shouldn't show any disrespect to his rescuer; he had learned that painfully from Captain Drachma. "How long has he been onboard? A day longer than me?" Gilder chuckled.
"Nah, he's been with the Claudia for near seven years now. He makes a helluva Blue Rogue, a bit like you, but different."
"Did he want to be a Rogue?" Too often Vyse had heard stories of pirates, made unwillingly, kidnapped onto their ship by Black Pirates and even the crueler of Blue Rogues. While stories of Black Pirate kidnappings weren't surprising, it appalled him to think a Blue Rogue would force someone onto his ship.
"Yeah. When he was twelve we found him stranded in the Nasrean desert. When we got to Nasrad, I asked him if he wanted to stay in the city, or come with us. He chose the Claudia. She's a tough one to walk away from, if I may say so myself." Vyse could almost hear the flashy grin Gilder was surely wearing at the remark. Nonetheless he nodded, the ship moving with but the slightest touch of the wheel.
"Yeah, I agree. I didn't see him onboard, though. Where is he?"
"In Nasrad. We make him do our resupplying in cities, though he never complains. Even the most hardcore sailor enjoys a bit of walking now and then."
The conversation abruptly came to a halt as Gilder's other crew men burst into the cabin, blubbering about another Blue Rogue's ship, the Primrose. Vyse didn't see any reason to be alarmed, but Gilder sure did. As if he were about to be thrown into a pit of snakes, the captain left the ship in the hands of his crew and leapt in a lifeboat, dragging Vyse along. They were on a tiny lifeboat, with only a week's worth of food and water.
At least they were still going to Nasrad.
-
The Claudia was a small ship, but even she took her fair share of fuel, food, and water for her voyages. Oh, and loqua aplenty. Desier himself drank only sparingly, the captain liked a glass with dinner every night, and the other crew men partook most boisterously. He shrugged. Pirates were pirates, and pirates loved loqua. Although it was alcoholic, it was also made from berries, which made it sweet like fruit but with the kick most everybody, sailor, pirate, or otherwise loved. He himself drank sparingly, but every once in a while he just had to have a drink, just like today.
The bartender of one of the more prominent Nasrad taverns nodded as Desier took a seat at the counter, slapping a few silver coins for a glass of spicy loqua. As the glass was poured, the tender remarked,
"Haven't seen you in a while, Desier. Gilder making you do the dirty work again?"
Desier shrugged, taking his class and sipping from it. "I don't mind. I like coming back once in a while. I was born here, you know."
The bartender quirked a brow. "Heh, you sure don't look it." And Desier didn't: fair skin, though kissed olive by the sun on his voyages, short blond hair, yellow like gold, and amber eyes. His coat, similar to the one Gilder wore, had a high collar, and dyed black with the Blue Rogue's skull stitched on the back. Slung on his belt was a short sword and two pistols, all infused with different moonstones.
"So I don't, but sailors settle different lands from their own all the time."
The man laughed. "Very true, especially what with the Valuan Empire trying to dig its hands in the lands of the Green Moon. Though who wouldn't want to go there, lush forests as far as the eye can see! That's what the rumors say, anyway, I'd never be able to go so far. On the edge of the world, those lands are."
"I've been there. Lush, green, and beautiful, with clean water that shines like silver. But there's vicious beasts, bugs, humidity, and the natives aren't exactly friendly after how the Empire treated them. Can't blame, them either."
"Aye, the Empire has been tormenting the world too long. But the might of Nasr itself can't end the Empire's subjugation."
"That it can't." Desier took a large gulp of his loqua, spicy fruit flavor burning down his throat. "I hear the prince actually disapproves of the way the Empress rules. But until he takes the throne, nothing he can do, and he'll inherit a legacy of loathing and distrust in his Empire. I don't envy him the work." He finished with a laugh.
"Something to hope for," the bartender continued, "is that Valua wastes its armada trying to conquer the unknown lands. From what I've heard, they were retreating from the Green Moon's continent recently. What could make the almighty Valuan Armada retreat?"
It was meant to be a rhetorical question, and Desier didn't answer as he took a swig of loqua. However, a tall young woman clad in a yellow dress, short and made for sailing, with two braids of flaming red hair did answer, and with spirit. In a voice that carried over the storming winds of sky oceans, she proclaimed,
"Why, the Blue Rogue Vyse, of course!"
The tavern tender laughed, slapping a hand on the counter. "I would've said that's a bunch of hooha before, but if this is the same Vyse kid who got through the Grand Fortress alive, then I'll be damned!"
The red-haired young woman approached the counter, but not for a drink; she carried a small serving tray. It seemed she worked in the tavern, for a bit of pocket money as long as she was in Nasrad. It wasn't hard to spot a sailor, pirate or not. Though the girl could pass for an ordinary sailor, if she knew a pirate, she must be a pirate. Blue Rogues were far more pleasant than Black Pirate scum anyway.
"Naturally. Nothing is impossible for Vyse."
"Well, you do strike me as an honest type, Aika."
That, Desier thought with a smirk, is what separated Blue pirate from Black: Rogues were honest and honorable, attacking only armed vessels that could defend themselves, and helping their own and then some with whatever treasure they happened to acquire. Black pirates preferred laden ships that were practically helpless, trading vessels and the like.
He might've struck up a chat with this Aika, to inquire if she was made to do the resupplying for her ship like he was, but when he turned, he saw something that chilled his blood like the hardest ice under the light of the Purple Moon. There was another girl, close to Aika's age, clad in a white dress embroidered with strange patterns in gold thread. Her translucent silver veil made her pale blonde hair seem almost colorless. Most of the tavern's customers agreed that her presence definitely brightened up the establishment. Not where Desier was concerned.
Suddenly feeling quite ill, he rushed from the bar counter, throwing himself outside just in time to cough up all the loqua he drank in the gutter. The fresh air outside slowly ebbed the sickness away as he emptied his stomach and took time to breathe deeply. Were the Ixa'Takans right? Were those women Quetya, the gods of life and death? He thought he knew better, once upon a time, but now he wasn't so sure.
A soft woman's voice called after him. It sounded so distant, until he felt a small hand on his shoulder.
"Are you all right? Are you ill?"
Desier turned, and his insides froze. It was the girl in white. The Ixa'Takan Quetya. He shuddered, suddenly self-conscious that his breath must smell so foul with vomit. Didn't they sell candy mints to freshen one's breath somewhere in the marketplace? Nasrad was supposed to have everything. He shook his head.
"No, not really. Just drank too much loqua, I guess. I don't stomach much Nasrean food very well." It was half-true, he could eat some Nasrean food if it wasn't too spicy. Their spices were as potent as their liquor.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon." With a wave of her hand, a silver flicker of light, the terrible aching in Desier's torso ceased at once. She smiled, knowing that her Silver magic had cured his ailment, provided he drank no more loqua.
Desier forced himself to smile. It was more of a jangling with the corners of his mouth turned upward. "Thank you. I never did get to try out Silver magic for myself; I always preferred Green." To his surprise, the girl took his hand and deposited something in his palm. The Silver moonstone glinted in the sunlight.
"We found one of those on the outskirts of town the other day. I already have one."
Silver magic was thought to be the most powerful, and with so little land under its moon, its stones were rare. "Thanks again. Most people would charge a fortune for a Silver moonstone. What's your name? I'm Desier."
The girl's blue eyes were an intense color, deeper than the skies themselves.
"I'm Fina."
-
It wasn't long before Vyse met this Desier Gilder had told him about. In fact, Gilder had come back to the inn dragging along another young man, in a coat like his except black. He recognized the Blue Rogue emblem stitched on the coat's back, so immediately he knew this must be Desier.
"Desier, Vyse, Vyse, Desier. Do ya believe it? I rescued the crazy kid that escaped the Grand Fortress!"
Desier was not amused, but not at meeting the only living person to have escaped Valua's clutches multiple times. "That's great and all, Captain ... but did you really have to set the Claudia on another stupid decoy mission?!"
"Clara's ship was gaining on us!"
"She's just a woman, Captain! The Claudia would outfly the Primrose any day of the week so what does it matter?"
"Tsk, tsk, Desier. I'm not ready to settle down just yet, can't you see that?"
"Ugh. Seeing how you're the captain, I suppose I can't really give you a Pyrulen to the face. But what about all the crates of food, water, and moonstones waiting for the Claudia in the harbor? In your name?"
Gilder only shrugged. "The Claudia will come to Nasrad after Clara gets sent on another goose chase."
Desier gave an exasperated sigh. "Which will be in how long?"
"A week or two, give or take."
Desier hung his head. Sympathetic, Vyse said, "I don't really get it, either."
-
It was obvious that Gilder had been the one to teach Desier how to fight; the nineteen-year-old young man used two pistols, each infused with a different moonstone, and a short sword if he ever ran out of bullets. His right pistol he infused with a Red moonstone, the left with a Blue, and a Green in the sword. This way he had access to all three types of magic, and he used magic often, whereas Gilder with his one pistol preferred to shoot enemies full of holes.
Either way worked for Vyse, as neither he nor Gilder were particularly skilled with Green magic at least, and he was missing someone to heal his hurts after he'd been separated from Aika and Fina. However, a Wevles on their tiny lifeboat was a bit much, and Vyse had said so. Or would have if Gilder hadn't stopped him.
"You wanna find Daccat's treasure alive, don't you? Desier's proud of his magical skills. He won't send me into fiery oblivion with Pyrulen because I'm the captain, but you might not be so lucky. He's just learned Noxus, too."
Neither fire nor poison was Vyse's cup of tea, so he clamped his mouth shut. He did want to find Daccat's treasure alive, and if he could find that treasure, he could set out to find Aika and Fina. He'd seen nothing of them after Ramirez's attack. Every time he thought back to that blaze of gunfire, he'd shudder. What kind of cold blooded monster fired on lifeboats?
Vyse was nervous when they docked at Daccat's island, and Gilder had designated Desier to watch the lifeboat. He knew Sacres, that was the extent of his knowledge of Green magic. Gilder could learn it, too, but neither of them knew the Silver spell Riselem, or even Risan. If they both fell in the island caves, that was it for them. Granted, Vyse didn't know if Desier knew any Silver magic at all, but a skilled Green mage would be a tremendous help in the caves. Nonetheless, Desier was content to sit back and watch the lifeboat.
-
Desier stood on the deck of the tiny boat as his captain and their new crew man disappeared in the maw of Daccat's island. He passed the time watching flocks of fish flying in the nearby skies, catching some of them with a small net he'd set up under the boat. Fresh fish was preferable to the dried and preserved food they'd brought on the boat. With his looking glass he examined the nearby lands of the Red Moon, spying even the Crescent Isle Gilder had rescued Vyse from.
Since Daccat's Island was so small, remote, and unknown, Desier doubted anything or anyone would come find them, harass them, and take or destroy their lifeboat. However, he did see something in the distance, on the land masses near Nasrad. With his spy glass he got a much better look at what was happening.
His jaw dropped. Great billows of smoke rose from where Nasrad was supposed to be.