Hooray! The second chapter's up! How exciting! Btw, if you want to see what Rai's weapons look like, go to this website: .org/wiki/Twin_hooks
Now then, back to the story.
The Western Wind Blows Hardest
1st Crew I
"Christ, Rai, don't drink all the rum!" Zephyr yelled as he pounced on his crewman. Rai held the rum away from his captain's grabbing arms as he laughed. "Aw jeez, come on, Cap'n, if you're gonna hijack me against my will and make me sail for you, I think I deserve a little rum." He attempted to start drinking again, but Zephyr snatched the bottle away. "THAT'S YOUR 10TH BOTTLE!" he yelled. Rai laughed drunkenly. "Yeah, guess it is...you gonna give it back?" "NO!"
"Hey! Idiot Captain! Idiot Swordsman!" Fune cried as she turned away from navigating. "So help me god, if I hear you arguing again, I will flip this boat over and let you drown! Got it?" Zephyr nodded with a quiet "Yes ma'am." Rai huffed and turned away. "I'm not a swordsman." he whispered to himself. "Swordsmen are macho idiots who get more powerful from a frickin bandanna." Fune turned back around, fire blazing in her eyes. "You saying something, Rai?" Rai meekly shook his head. "Nope. Not at all. Nothing to say, ma'am." Zephyr tried his hardest not to chuckle.
Suddenly, Fune jumped up. "Land! Oh, thank god! We were almost out of rations!" she cried as she pointed. Rai sighed. "Yeah, and rum. Let's land and go to a bar." Fune stared back at him with an eyebrow raised. "Did you forget we have no money? Or were you planning on me just magically finding some?" Zephyr stood up. "If it's money you need, I've got a good way to get it." he said with a grin. Fune immediately put her arms in the no symbol. "We are NOT hunting for bounties!" she said. "Each one of you has a high bounty already!" Zephyr laughed. "That wasn't my idea. My idea was to steal it." Fune smacked him over the head. "We are not going to steal from people! I thought you were a good pirate!" Zephyr frowned. "I didn't mean the people." he pointed to the left of the ship. "I meant those guys."
Fune and Rai looked over towards the left. About 30 feet from them was a huge galleon. Fune's eyes grew wide at seeing it. "When did that get there?" Rai said with obvious indifference. "How do you expect to steal from that? There must be 40-50 people on board!" Fune said, hysterical. Zephyr grinned. "Easy. We beat them up." With that, he clasped his hands together and disappeared. Rai raised an eyebrow. "The hands thing is new." he said aloud. "Ah well. Say, Fune, toss me overboard." She turned to him, an evil grin on her face. "Why, of course."
"I DIDN'T MEAN AT THE SHIP!" Rai yelled as he flew towards the galleon. He closed his eyes and curled into a ball as he collided with the bottom of the ship, breaking the wood cleanly and landing in the cannon area. Soon, he was surrounded. "It's...a person? Who the hell is it?" one man said. Another, who seemed to be a first mate or something of the sort, tried to disperse the crowd, but failed. Then, he poked Rai. "Hey, buddy. Wake up. I don't wanna have to hurt you, but-" He said before Rai rose his hook and stabbed him with the hilt. The man looked down, looked at Rai, frowned, and then fainted. The crew seemed to be in a daze for about a second, and Rai took that time to get into a stance. He stood up and held the hooks parallel to each other horizontally, and closed his eyes. "Wolf Cyclone!" He said as he started spinning, slicing through the crew's feeble defenses. He rushed through, finishing off the entire crew. He then looked around, satisfied with his work. "Pretty good for an attack made up right on the spot." He thought to himself. Then he went around the ship. "Now where the hell is that idiot captain?"
At the time, that "idiot captain" was getting himself in similar trouble. He had decided to reappear inside the captain's quarters, because it was the only room with a window open. However, he didn't plan on having the captain in it. "What the-" was all the other two men in the room could say before they were knocked out. The captain rose and pulled a gun on Zephyr. "Who the hell are you?!" He asked as he plugged a round of bullets into Zephyr's chest. The bullets passed through him harmlessly as he looked around the room. "Nice place you got here." Zephyr said "Now then, before I have to hurt you, will you please tell me where the treasure room is?" The captain, however, was busy unsheathing his sword and ramming it into Zephyr's stomach. Zephyr sighed. "I didn't think so. Vorpal Jet." He said as he unleashed a punch so fast the captain never knew what hit him. As the captain started to fall to the floor, Zephyr looked around the cabin. "Hmm...most captains are greedy...so maybe the treasure's in here." As he said that, the floorboard underneath him collapsed, and he fell through the rotting wood. "Ow! Jeez, who the hell is their shipwright?" He wondered aloud as he dusted himself off. However, as he looked around, he realized that maybe the shipwright had done it on purpose.
In the new little room of the ship, gold was piled all around. There were literally hills of the metal. Zephyr's eyes lit up and he grinned. "Well...finders keepers." He scooped up two piles of gold and threw them up top. He was about to head back up when he noticed something on the floor. "Hm. What's this?" He wondered as he picked it up. It was a note in a bottle. Zephyr broke the bottle and read the note. "To whoever finds this note," he read, "I am gravely injured on Season Isle. I need some medical assistance, right away. High reward." It was signed, "the man on the mountain". Zephyr smiled and pocketed the letter. "High reward. Sounds interesting."
He ran outside and met up with Rai on the front deck. Rai was polishing off his hooks when Zephyr patted him on the back. "Good work. Where'd you learn to fight, by the way?" Rai looked up for a second, then back down at his hooks. "Rather not say. Bit of a touchy subject really. Let's just say that the men who taught me how to fight are in a better place now." Zephyr put his hand on Rai's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss. My teacher's dead too." Rai chuckled. "Right, but did you kill him?" Zephyr frowned. "It was a she, and no." Rai turned towards Zephyr, an evil smile on his face. "That's the difference between you and me."
"Hey! Double idiots! Come on, let's get to that land before I start growing gray hair!" They heard Fune call from below. The two looked at each other, shrugged, and jumped down towards the ship. After recovering from the initial shockwave, Fune pressed the two of them. "So? How much money did you guys get?" Rai held his hands up in defeat. "I didn't find anything. I searched the hull and the entire underbelly of the ship, but I couldn't find anything." Fune sighed. "And you, Cap'n?" Zephyr grinned. "Yup, I found this room inside the ship! It had a ton of gold, and this note too!" He pulled out the note and showed it to his crew. Rai and Fune grinned. "High reward sounds pretty sweet to me." Fune said. Rai nodded. "Yup. More booze." Fune smacked him before turning back to Zephyr. "So? Where's the gold?"
Zephyr suddenly looked shocked. "Oh shit." Rai stared at him in horror, and Fune slowly raised a fist. "Don't tell me...you left the gold...on the ship?" Zephyr gave a half-hearted grin, but Fune saw right through it. "You...IDIOT!" She said as she punched him off of the ship. As Rai brought him back up, she continued venting. "WHAT THE HELL?! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GO GET GOLD SO WE COULD GET FOOD! AND YOU BRING BACK A NOTE AND NOTHING ELSE?!" Zephyr and Rai, exhausted and wet, stared at each other. "You know what's funny?" Zephyr said, completely ignoring Fune as she continued venting. "What?" Rai said. "I'm the captain." Zephyr said with a grin on his face. Rai and Zephyr started laughing uncontrollably until Fune smacked them both. "WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY?!"
By the time the crew got to the shore, Zephyr and Rai had many bruises on their head and Fune's fist was white and red. "Now then. You two are going to go help that man up on the mountain. You're not coming back until you get the reward. Got it?" She said menacingly. Rai and Zephyr nodded. They both looked towards the mountain. "It's a good hour walk to get there. Another two more to climb up." Rai said. Zephyr looked at him and grinned. "Bet I can get to the top in an hour." Rai grinned. "You're on." Then they both raced off towards the mountain, leaving Fune holding her head in her hands back at the small boat. "Why did I have to sail with those two of all people?" she said to herself.
Fune shrugged and opened her small side purse. "At least I have enough money to get something for myself." She thought. "I'm glad I didn't tell those two, or I probably wouldn't have been able to do this." She started walking towards the town, until she saw something that shocked her. The island was known as Mistyic Island. Not Season Island like she had thought. Suddenly she got a feeling of great dread. She went up to a townsperson and asked them what was on the giant mountain. The townsperson shuddered in fear. "There's a lot up there. Wolfbears, Lionmonkeys, Condorfish, the list goes on and on." Fune fell to her knees in comical terror. "Those two are so going to die!" She thought to herself.
Just then, she heard the townspeople hustling over to another building. She ran over there herself, and almost yelled at the sight. A young boy was being attacked by two older men, and he was definetly not winning. The young boy was about 12 or 13, and he was wearing a blue undershirt with a green overcoat on, with a gun holster on each side of his shirt. His jeans were torn and his sneakers were origanally white, but over time had accumulated a lot of dirt. He had short brown hair, and young brown eyes, which at the moment were red from his crying.
"What the hell kid?! You promised us a great show, but all you did was fire off a couple of bullets at us! You tryin to kill us or somethin?" One of the men said. The other nodded and pulled out some brass knuckles. "We gonna hafta teach you a lesson, lil one." He said as he swung his fist at the kid. However, Fune's foot got in the way. "What the hell are you two doing?!" She said as she used her foot to twist the man's fist around and flip him over. "He's just a kid!" She said as she stood up tall. The two men grinned. "Oh. It's a girl. This your sister, brat? Well then, I guess we can just take her life instead of yours." One man said as he pulled out a gun and shot a bullet at Fune. She dodged it, while thinking "Holy shit. I just dodged a bullet." She swung her foot back around and it snapped onto the man's face, knocking him out immediately. The other man backhanded Fune, but she managed to throw her arm up to block it. She brought her fist out and punched straight forward. "Snake Sting!" She cried as the man flew back a good ten feet, landed on his back, and didn't get up.
The boy wiped his eyes and grabbed Fune. "Thank you so much!" He said as he started crying again. "Those guys were being really mean. They wanted me to do some kind of show for them, so I fired off some guns, but one of them got hit, and so I didn't know what to do..." he said as Fune hit him on the top of the head. "Idiot! A little kid like you shouldn't be playing with guns! Where are your parents?" The boy lowered his head. "Dunno. They left a long time again." Fune frowned. "Well, do you have a place that you're staying at?" The boy nodded. "Uh-huh. The mayor's house. Why?" Fune grabbed his hand and dragged him off in a random direction. "Because I'm gonna tell him that you were playing with guns, that's why." The boy suddenly had a look of terror in his eyes. "No! You can't! He'll kill me!" He tried dragging Fune the other way, but she wouldn't budge. "No! We're going!" Suddenly she felt herself being lifted off of the ground. "I said NO!" The boy said as he flipped Fune over his shoulder and ran away.
Fune got up, dusted herself off, and looked after where the boy had ran. "Who the hell was that?" One of the townspeople who had seen the ordeal happen walked up to her and pointed. "That kid? He's a demon. People around here call him 'The Sniper Under 14'. He's only 13, and yet he has done things that pirates can't do. One time he shot an apple from across the island. He doesn't have a real name, but we call him Eclipse. He likes being called Clipse though. Clipse Enigma." Fune frowned. "Why Eclipse?" The townsperson shrugged. "Nobody knows." Fune looked back to where Clipse had run off. "Hmm. That kid seems like he's got a harsh life."
Off in the mountains, however, Rai and Zephyr were having a great time. They had been having competitions in the mountains, and their latest one was going to be the greatest of all. "Allright. First one to kill that wolf bear thing and bring it back to the town wins, got it?" Rai said with a grin. Zephyr nodded. "Uh-huh. Attacking each other is legal." Rai nodded. "Of course." He took out his hooks and ran. "Hey! Dammit, we didn't start yet!" Zephyr yelled as he too ran out from their hiding spot. "Crow Cut!" Rai yelled as he sliced the Wolfbear's top layer of skin off of it's shoulders. The Wolfbear howled and slashed at Rai, who deftly dodged it. "Dammit. This thing won't die easily." He thought. Suddenly, he felt a foot on his head. Zephyr grinned as he jumped off of Rai and punched the bear in the face. "Vorpal Jet!" He cried as the bear fell to the ground. Rai grinned. "I got this one. Gorilla Cannon!" He cried as he horizontally slashed the animal in half. Zephyr picked up the bigger half and ran. "I'm gonna win!" He said with glee. Rai swore under his breath and picked up the other half. "No way, dammit!" He said as he pursued Zephyr.
Meanwhile, Fune had finally reached what she thought was the mayor's house. She knocked on the door and a very important man emerged wearing a tuxedo and a grey toupee. "Can I help you, ma'am?" The man said. "Um, I'm looking for the mayor. Is this his house?" Fune asked. The man nodded. "Right this way. The mayor will be with you shortly." He led her to a room where everything was blue. "This is the Royal Room. The mayor will join you here." The butler said as he left to fetch the mayor. Fune nodded and looked around the room. She noticed the one thing that wasn't blue in the room was a picture of an old man with a boy that looked oddly like Clipse. She stared at the painting and noticed something odd; the old man and the boy both looked alike. Suddenly, the door opened, and the man in the photo walked through the door.
"Hello. I'm Mayor Tomas. Did you want to see me?" the man asked. Fune nodded and bowed. "Yes sir, I was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for me about this boy in the photograph." Tomas frowned. "You mean Clipse? Why? What has he been doing lately?" Fune sighed. "Well..." she told the story to the mayor, who grew redder and redder with anger as it progressed. "Why that little ingrate!" The mayor said when she finished. "I will have him severely punished for this!" He left the room, slamming the door behind him. Worried, Fune left the room and followed him until he exited out the back door. She followed him through town until they reached the forest. She watched the old man sigh and then run into the forest. Alarmed for his safety, she ran in after him.
Soon, Fune found the man yelling at Clipse in a clearing. She hid behind a tree and listened in. "...were found out! Clipse, if you get caught again, you'll get me in trouble!" Tomas said. Clipse hung his head in defeat. "I'm sorry! I didn't know those guys were pirates!" He said with respect. Tomas scowled. "How?! Those two practically reeked of booze and steel! Clipse, what happened to your training? A year ago, you could have known those guys were pirates just by their scent! Now, you can't tell even by looking at them!" He said. Clipse stood and pulled out a pistol. He turned towards where Fune was hiding and fired off two shots. One hit right below Fune's arm, the other hit a branch right in front of Fune's forehead. Terrified, Fune jumped out into the open. Clipse no longer had a look of shame, but instead a look of coldness. "If you're going to spy on us, you might as well just scream I'm here." Clipse said in a completely new voice. Tomas grabbed his pistol and hit him on the head with it. "Idiot! She's a pirate too! And I let her follow me..." Tomas trailed off at the end as Fune pulled out a knife she had hidden in her blouse. "Don't try anything!" She shakily said, her voice cracking.
Clipse sighed. "You shouldn't have followed me." He said as he grabbed the pistol back from Tomas. He shot once again at Fune, who shrieked and ducked her head. However, she suddenly felt that no bullet was coming her way. She opened her eyes and saw a man fall to the ground right in front of her. "Wha-where did he come from?!" Tomas and Fune both thought to themselves. Clipse took the smoking gun and pocketed it. "He followed me when I came out here to train. And you thought I couldn't smell a pirate. This guy reeks just like the guy who took my parents, Grandpa." Fune, recovered, stood up and hit Clipse. "Idiot! Why'd you shoot at me then!" Clipse stood back up, his normal voice back again. "I...I thought it'd get him out of hiding...don't hit me again, please!" He said. Fune, bewildered, pointed at Clipse and looked at the mayor. "What's his deal?" The mayor sighed. "Clipse is...a combat genius. He literally is king of the snipers. But...he hates blood and fighting and all that stuff. So when he was younger, he and I helped him create a second personality. That's the one that fights for him. Clipse himself is just a 13 year old boy."
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from the direction of the town. "What the hell was that?!" Fune said. Clipse suddenly had a look of pure terror on his face. "Grandpa...it...smells..." He said, shivering. Tomas' face became deathly white. "No...the Daac Pirates...what more can they take from me?!" He yelled.
Fune looked over at where the cannonball hit. She gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth. "No...NO!" She cried. Tomas and Clipse both stared at where the cannonball hit, and wondered why she was freaking out. "What is it?" They said in unison. Fune pointed to a silver glimmer on the ground next to the crater.
There on the ground...was a silver hook sword.
Ooh...poor Rai. He got hit by a cannonball...or did he? Find out in the next chapter!
R&R. Come on, it'll help feed the hungry (ok, it'll make me feel happy about myself.)
-ShadowEx
