Blah! I don't want to write more set-up, you can't make me! The rest of the pre-story set and background info will happen later. Fun stuff now! :D
Interruptions
The Steadfast left Argo's shores for Sanc shortly after midday. The wind was not favourable, so the voyage had been delayed while the ship anchored in the harbour, waiting for the winds to change. Zechs stayed in his cabin to record the official results of his trip to Oz. When he was finished he was near the end of his bottle of ink and the sun was well below the horizon. Sliding back his chair he splashed some water on his face from the small basin he was given and settled into bed, wearing a loose shirt and pants. He didn't like to shed everything when the potential for interruptions was fairly high. A ship on the sea was not a palace with a working staff and guards.
"Interruption" would be putting it mildly. Zechs was woken just at sunrise by a sharp cry from the lookout and the rushing of feet outside. He had already slipped into his boots when there was a rapid knock on the door.
"What!"
The door opened fast to reveal the ship's officer.
"Highness!" he gasped. "Arm yourself! Another ship is preparing to engage!"
Here? "And you tell me now?" Zechs snapped at him while throwing his tunic over his head. It would offer a little more protection than the shirt he wore. "I can hear them out there! How close are they?" He snatched his sword and scabbard from behind his pillow and belted it on.
"We thought we could outrun them, Highness! The ocean is clear, we have time." The last in the officer's words were left floating in the air as he turned abruptly back to the open deck and Zechs followed.
He cursed when he saw what was going on. Men were readying cannons while others prepared to cut ropes and remove planks that made across the gap between the two ships, and since the encroaching ship and it's crew's faces were clearly visible, that gap would be closing very soon.
The pirate ship's name read clear across the stern, Bird of Paradise. Zechs made brief eye contact with the captain who shook his head. Zechs joined the the crew at the rails as the first of the boards came hammering down on the Steadfast's bulwark. Several slammed down at once and pirates surged across, some throwing themselves on deck via ropes strung through the rigging. Zechs found himself facing five pirates at once, but only two chose to engage the Prince while the other three pushed past and engaged those arming the cannons.
At least one of the men that passed him didn't make it far. He heard a grunt and a shout directly behind him, then a line of blood drops hit the deck of the ship in his peripheral vision. The sabre that flashed after them told Zechs that the officer had his back.
The pirates facing him were armed with cutlasses, each with a basket hilt. Zechs used that to his advantage. He let his sword slide down the blade of one of the pirates, one with a rough beard jagged with hairless scars. With his longer reach he managed to dodge just beyond the blade of the second pirate. When he felt his blade connect with the rounded hilt he allowed it to bounce off and he swung with the momentum, the tip of his blade catching the pirate's arm just at the inside bend of the elbow. The cutlass dropped as the pirate's arm couldn't support it properly anymore and the pirate backpedalled and snarled through his already disfigured face. Zechs ducked the next swing and then kicked at the legs of the second man who was bringing his sword to bear. Blocking the fall of the second pirate's blade with his own, Zechs sprang up to slice the bearded pirate from the hip to his shoulder and detouring through the neck.
"DOWN!" a crewman yelled as the crack of cannonfire sounded and the far bulwark of the pirate ship disappeared in a cloud of splinters. Zechs and a few others gritted their teeth, and some made holy signs to their gods.
Epyon was not happy, and she made it known she was not happy when a great 'thud' reverberated from below the deck. More than a couple of the pirates hesitated, not aware of the live cargo on board. Zechs took the moment to slice through his remaining opponent's bandoleer and belt and shouldered him over the side of the ship. Zechs groaned. He doubted even Tallgeese could kick his way through a ship's hull, but now there was very likely a horse running loose among boxes and crates that could be smashed by angry hooves, most containing goods he'd prefer not get stepped on.
Beneath the deck where sounds of battle and hard feet echoed, the mare was thoroughly not enjoying herself. In the dark she kicked about at the noises and scurrying of the few humans that remained below, making a dash for the square of light as someone opened the trap door.
Wood stairs and horses do not usually mix well, but frightened and angry horses tend not to pay attention to such details. Epyon hopped and stamped her way up and out of the opening, her hot-blooded build just small enough to fit, taking only the frame and door hinge with her. She exploded out onto the deck in the middle of a skirmish between some half-dozen pirates and an equal number of crewmen.
Once the horse was out of immediate kick-range the men scrambled to engage each other again, each trying to get an advantage on their prone or injured enemies. At least one man did not get back up, his skull cracked by one of Eypon's hooves.
Zechs kept his eye on Eypon. As much as he had resisted his friend's gift, he did not want to lose a new horse to pirates or to the ocean. Pirates and crewmen tumbled over each other to keep away away from the volatile mare. Years of observing horses under battle, trained and untrained, gave Zechs a fair idea of what Epyon would do next, and he had just enough time to brace his feet before the mare bolted through the open space between the fallen men and him. His feet held, and he prayed to whatever god was of a mind to listen at the moment that his arm and shoulder would too. Epyon turned into the sudden restraint rather than pushing against it and Zechs was, for once, thankful of the times that Tallgeese decided to be unruly. He and Epyon might otherwise be swimming to Sanc right about now.
The captain of the pirate ship still had yet to make his way over to The Steadfast. He sat at the helm of his Bird of Paradise; his gaudy blue hat stuffed with outrageous feathers, coming from gods know where. Zechs would have loved to invite the captain over personally, but a throwing knife catching into the fabric of his shirt just against his left side reminded him that these were not moments for unproductive thoughts.
Steadfast's crews were now making short work of the planks and grapples that had to two ships wedged together. Any remaining pirates that attempted to cross did so with battered legs and knees as boat-hooks and short blades slashed at them while ropes snapped and gangways fell. One of the larger men scooped up a loose cannonball and heaved it over the side. The iron ball landed in the middle of one of the gangplanks, spitting it into two pieces and sending three pirates flailing into the narrow water below. Another fell back with a dagger in his eye, plummeting between the two ships. Those that surfaced immediately made desperate efforts to get out from between the two attached ships.
The crew worked fast to disengage the ships, the priority being to separate and get moving again as quickly as possible. Those that were not directly hacking at the ropes and planks were watching the backs of their comrades, keeping the pirates from interfering or taking advantage of a wayward glance.
With the rope to a broken halter in one hand, attached to an arm that he was sure was barely in it's socket, and an impaled pirate heaving down his sword in the other hand, Zechs opted for a change of plans. Gritting his teeth as he steadied his grip on Eypon's lead, he kicked the dead weight off of his sword and yelled at the top of his lungs, "TROWA!"
The green fletched arrows protruding from the pirates at near vertical angles showed that the absent crewman was not shirking the fight.
Eypon was now beyond sour as far as her mood went. Her willingness to flail her hooves and snap her teeth at anything that moved within reach meant that Zechs' right side was well covered, and backed against the bow of the ship as he was, he had only his immediate left and front to worry about. He swing his blade fast at an advancing pirate, catching him across the bridge of his nose and left eye. He kicked at a second man and regretted it as he nearly lost his balance. He found himself using Epyon as much for support as he was trying hold her steady. Another green arrow struck the pirate in the side of the neck.
Another cannon fired and a glob of flaming pitch sailed high overhead, just missing Steadfast's main sail. Zechs breathed a sigh of relief, one that extended into a smile of gratitude as he felt another hand on Eypon's lead and heard a soft voice muttering in an even softer language. Trowa was one of the few men who could speak the elvish tongue, and one of even fewer who had been able to pick up on the subtle intricacies of the language. He insisted it worked best to calm animals, and right now Zechs took his word for it.
The remaining combatants on either side were equally battered by the time the remaining planks were destroyed and the pirate crew had run out of additional boards and grapples. A few ropes remained, tying the ships together but those did not stay long after shrill whistles sounded from lookouts on both ships. Crewmen and pirates both froze, and Zechs ran to the stern of the ship to scan the open water. Trowa, who had managed to coax Epyon into lying down with his shirt tied over her eyes, was looking out towards the north-east. "Here they come."
Following Trowa's line of sight, Zechs could see what many others by now noticed as well; a procession of what looked like rolling boulders floating in the ocean. Sanc sailors called them 'Grave Whales.' They were the largest beasts to be found in the waters around the kingdom, and were well known to become agitated by the sounds of ship to ship combat. Stationary vessels would not last long.
No one needed to say anything. Before the captain could shout "cut the lines!" the men were already hacking at the remaining ropes with short blades and hatchets. The pirates aboard The Steadfast made mad leaps for the Bird of Paradise, some making the distance, some not. Those that didn't attempt the jump either surrendered immediately or fought with renewed vigor, determined fight rather than give in or drown among ship wrecks. A bump from beneath the surface sent both ships listing hard to the right, the timbers groaning under strain. Hulls banging together earned eerie moans from the whales beneath the ships. The last of the ropes snapped as another whale charged both ships, surfacing between them in a grey mass.
The shallow hull that had allowed Bird of Paradise to quickly overrun The Steadfast now worked horrifically against it. Cannons slid on the decks of both ships as they were jostled about by the whale pod. On the slope of a wave the Bird listed badly, pushed by the whales and the ship's own sliding cannons. Open gun ports dipped below the water, taking in the ocean. A crack in the bottom of the hull was revealed just as the ship capsized.
The Steadfast, made for stability and seaworthiness, escaped with a couple split planks in a half-flooded hull. The captain urged the ship to move with the waves until they found the wind again. The crewmen worked fast to empty the water from the hull, salvaging what goods weren't waterlogged or destroyed during the fight.
Zechs was now feeling his sore shoulder and looked for the ship's officer who now had a cut above his left eye and was missing some hair by his ear. Epyon had slid into the ship's bulwark when it listed and Trowa was trying to untangle the horse from some of the netting on deck that she has slid through. The young man looked okay save for a scratch or two on his bare back.
Zechs found the officer securing the remaining pirates and observing the men that were disposing of the dead. A look back revealed no remains of the pirate ship so far. The whales had yet to depart but they remained clustered where the ship presumably sank. The last rogue secured, the officer leaned on the rail of The Steadfast and looked at where the other ship had gone down. He shook his head. "Bad luck to name a ship after something that has no place in the ocean." He pulled a gold coin from his pocket and held it up. "For the journey home," he said, and flipped it into the ocean behind him.
Just going to say that this is the longest single piece I've written in some time. As you can see, most of this is Zech's screen time at the moment, but the others will get more as things move on. Except for Heero. Alas, I must admit that I have no earthly idea of what to do with him so suggestions are welcome. And yes, Epyon's sex changed and she is a girl now. There are entirely too many boys running about.
This chapter was in a good part pieced together from random facts and such that I picked up about horses and ships so if I messed up anywhere -or not- comments are welcome. Pointing out typos is always handy too. I never get them all.
