Chapter 10
Despite the fact there was a chance that her head could be blown off at any moment, Ryn didn't seem too bothered by the woman who stood in front of her. To Salem, it almost seemed as if she had expected it. "This a friend of yours?" he asked, his steely gaze locked on the stranger's firearm.
"Just a regular customer," Ryn replied, her voice relaxed, "although a rather disgruntled one, it would seem. Ahri, Salem, I'd like to introduce you to Sarah Fortune, bounty hunter extraordinaire."
"You got that right," replied the stranger. She cocked her pistol, a clear threat. "I've been waiting on 10 powder barrels from you for a while Ryn, and I still don't have them."
"I have them, I promise," said the arms dealer. "They're back on my ship, but I didn't have any time to give them to you. I left the port almost as soon as I docked to go to the Placidium."
Fortune moved her gun just a hair closer to Ryn's face. "You're telling me that you ditched a business deal to go to a festival?"
"Perhaps," Ryn squeaked. "But the deal can still be made, correct? I'm still here, and so are the barrels."
Fortune seemed to pause for a second, contemplating the offer. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she indicated toward the booth next to her. "Sit."
Ryn complied, sliding into the booth. Salem opted to stay standing with his gun held loosely down by his waist. Ahri stood next to him, unsure of what to do.
Sarah pointed her gun in Ahri's direction, making the fox girl retreat slightly behind Salem. "You too, Fox." Ahri nodded and took a seat next to Ryn. The bounty hunter then nodded at Salem. "Put that thing away before you put an eye out."
Salem looked at Ryn, clearly uncomfortable about the thought of putting his weapon away. She nodded at him, and with a sigh he tucked his revolver away beneath his cloak. With one last glance at everyone at the table, Sarah finally de-cocked her pistol and lowered it out of sight. "That's better. You didn't really think I would shoot you like I was some dirty pirate, did you?"
Ryn smiled weakly. "Of course not." She then coughed to clear her voice before continuing. "So I take it you still want your barrels of gunpowder?"
The woman across the table simply smirked before nonchalantly tacking on "at fifty percent of the original price."
Ryn blinked half a dozen times in disbelief. "You…you must be joking, right?"
Miss Fortune leaned across the table until her face was only a few inches from the arms dealer's. "You tell me. You were supposed to have those barrels for me a week ago. I don't take kindly to people who are late in their dealings, so don't expect anything near full price from me."
Ryn leaned back and crossed her arms. "That would hardly leave me with any profit! I won't accept anything less than seventy five percent."
A click sounded out from underneath the table as Miss Fortune made no attempt to hide the fact that she had just re-cocked her gun. "Care to consider sixty-five percent?"
Ryn froze. "Uh, sure. Sixty-five sounds fine."
The redheaded bounty hunter slid out of her seat and stood up, twirling her pistol in her hand. "Glad we could come to an agreement, then. My crew will be by later to transfer the barrels from my ship to yours. Don't try to skip out on me this time though," she said, stopping her pistol so that the barrel was aimed at Ryn's face. "I'm not nearly as gracious the second time around."
Ryn nodded. "Right, gotcha."
Without another word, Sarah turned and strutted away, ignoring the stares that many of the other patrons of the bar were giving her. Salem watched as well, keeping his mouth shut until the woman had walked out the door. When she was finally gone, he let out a sigh of relief and looked down at Ahri.
"Still want to hitch a ride with this troublemaker?" When the fox-girl replied with a quick "yep", Salem ran his hand through his hair. "Alright then. It's your call." He then turned his attention to Ryn. "What the hell's up with you? I thought you said you were good at this whole arms dealing business. What happened to the loud, boisterous woman that I know?"
The woman shook her head, clearly still a bit frazzled. "There's something about that woman that puts me off my game. Dunno what it is, but damn, she's scary. I promise it won't happen next time."
"There won't be a next time," Salem responded curtly. "No more dealings while Ahri and I are around. I know you're keeping me around for firepower, but the best way to avoid getting killed in a firefight is by never letting it start in the first place."
Ryn shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, whatever. I'd prefer not have to dodge bullets anyway." It was then that she noticed someone approaching. She turned and faced the newcomer, a young girl who couldn't have been more than 18. Her hair was jet black and cut relatively short, not even touching her shoulders. She was pretty, although the solemn look on her face seemed to detract from this a bit. "Glad you could join us," said Ryn with a grin.
The short-haired girl shrugged. "I was watching; figured that was good enough. If you had needed help, you know I would have provided it." She then turned to Salem and extended her hand. "I assume you are the one who Ryn went looking for?"
Salem shook the offered hand. "Unfortunately, yes. Name's Salem."
"You can just call me Yu." She glanced at Ahri. "I don't recall you saying anything about a second person, Ryn."
"I'm just traveling with Salem," Ahri stated. "My name is Ahri. It was my decision to travel with Ryn even though she did deceive us a bit."
"Oh?" asked Yu with a laugh. "I'm kind of in the same boat really."
Ryn laughed at the comment. "Ah, shut it Yuyu. You love me and you know it. Anyway, we need to get outta here. I'm sure Sarah wasn't the only person in here who is displeased with me right now."
Salem sighed and slid his hand into his cloak. "I think it may be a bit too late for that." He pointed toward a group of seven or eight gruff looking men who had gotten up from their booth and had started to walk towards the group of travelers. They were all visibly armed with an assortment of axes, knives, and other melee weapons. All the other patrons of the tavern got up from their seats, giving the group of men a clear path.
"Aw crap," moaned Ryn. "We should probably just run."
Ahri looked back at the woman, a look of confusion coming over her face. "Really? Can't you just talk your way outta this one too?"
Ryn, who had already started backing away, shook her head. "That group has no good reason to talk to me. I just recently cut all ties with them. I may deal with shady characters, but they're real scumbags, just lowlife pirates. I wasn't gonna bother taking the risk of associating with them anymore."
"So what you're saying is that they're just here to kill you?" the nine tailed girl asked.
"Yep."
"Great," Salem muttered under his breath. He quickly ushered Ahri behind him. "Stay close to Ryn. I'll be right behind you." The fox girl nodded and quickly followed Ryn.
He looked up just in time to see one of the men in the group raise his axe into the air. "Hey Ryn," the pirate called out, "I GOT SOMETHING FOR YA, YA BITCH!"
Salem just managed to draw his revolver and shout "RUN!" before the pirate whipped his arm forward, propelling his axe straight toward the back of Ahri's head. His heart pounding, Salem grabbed the table he was standing next to and heaved it into the air with all his might. The adrenaline fueled motion would have normally been quite difficult, but Salem's desire to protect made the action nearly effortless. There was a loud THWACK as the axe buried itself into the table, stopping the deadly weapon's flight. The table was still in midair as Salem rapidly fired two shots straight through it, blowing fist sized holes through the wooden piece of furniture. The thunderous reports erupting from the gun's barrel seemed to drown out the commotion as the rest of the Tavern's occupants scrambled to take cover. When the table finally fell back to the floor, two of the pirates were on the ground. One was screaming as he held his hip while the other was clearly dead; half of the man's head had been blown clean away.
Salem quickly turned and sprinted after his companions, not bothering to look behind him as the group of enraged pirates were stumbling over their dead comrades.
Several yards ahead, Ryn had arrived at the back door to the tavern, bursting through it like a wild animal escaping its cage. She looked back, watching as Yu, Ahri, and finally Salem made their way through the door. "This way!" she shouted, waving her arm before taking off down the street.
The group bolted from the tavern like a pack of mad dogs, trying to put as much distance as they could between them and their attackers. Soon they approached the waterfront, where several docks were lined up perpendicular to the street. Bringing up the rear of the pack, Salem managed to catch up with Ahri, running alongside her. "So this is your idea of a safe trip to the mainland?" he said, briefly looking over his shoulder. To his relief, it looked like they were managing to outrun their pursuers.
"We're still alive, right?" Ahri shot back. She looked back over her shoulder and noticed a man pausing to level his gun at the pair. "Look out!" she shouted, grabbing Salem by the wrist. She yanked the man to the ground face-first just as the shot whizzed by overhead. Up ahead, Ryn jerked and fell, her hand on her chest.
"Damn it!" cursed Salem. He rolled over and let off four rounds, taking out the gun wielding pirate with two to the chest and grazing another one's arm. With another one of their comrades dead, the pursuing pirates took cover behind a building.
Together, Salem and Ahri quickly scrambled forward to where Ryn had fallen. Yu was already kneeling by her fallen captain, a look of concern clear on her face.
"Hell's fire," Ryn grunted through gritted teeth, "this hurts more than I remember."
"Just bear it a bit longer," encouraged Salem, unslinging the arms dealer's rifle from her shoulder. He handed the large weapon to Yu, who deftly swung over her shoulder and onto her back. In the blink of an eye, Salem flicked out the cylinder of his revolver and ejected the empty casings onto the ground. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a quick loader, placing the six rounds back into their chambers. Snapping the cylinder back into place, he cocked the gun and handed it to Yu. "I'm gonna assume you know how to use one of these."
The first mate simply nodded before firing off two more shots at the men who had been chasing them. "We need to hurry," she said, "there's a chance they could be trying to flank us and it's also likely that they will have reinforcements."
"Yeah," agreed Salem. "Ahri!"
The fox-girl snapped to attention. "Yeah?"
"I need you as alert as you can be, got it?"
Ahri nodded with determination.
"Don't suppose you have a role for me, do ya Six? Or should I just stay here layin' on the ground bleedin', because I can do that too," mumbled Ryn.
"Shut up, I'm getting to you," snapped the musician, scooping up the injured woman in his arms.
"Ooohh, my hero," Ryn purred.
"Right, I'm sure that's the blood loss and shock talking. Which way is your ship?"'
"Follow me," ordered Yu. "It's down at the farthest dock." The girl took off at a run, heading towards the dock at the end of the street. Salem followed as best he could, though it was clear that carrying Ryn was slowing him down. Ahri stayed behind him, keeping an eye out for the pirates, who had all but disappeared. Two of them were now behind the group, though it seemed that they were keeping their distance. "Keep an eye out, Salem. I only see two of them right now. There's at least two more out there somewhere."
The man looked behind him and growled. "I don't get it. I already gunned down three of them. Why are they still chasing us?"
"Their boss is a real nutjob," Ryn stated, her voice slightly weak. "I'm sure that anything other than success means death for them. They say the bastard shoots his own men just for the hell of it."
Salem grimaced in understanding. The thought of facing such a man made him shiver.
As the group grew closer to their destination, Ahri found herself growing increasingly nervous. There was still no sign of the rest of the pirates, but she was sure that they hadn't given up. Just when the group seemed to be in the clear, she heard it: a faint, unnatural creak from an alleyway that Yu had just run past. "DUCK!" Ahri screamed.
Not knowing that she had already run past the danger zone, Yu tucked into a roll, came in a kneeling position with Salem's revolver at the ready. The girl was clearly confused as she searched for an enemy that she could not see. Encumbered by the extra weight of Ryn, Salem half dove and half fell to the side as a hidden attacker stepped out of the shadowy alley and took a swing at the musician with his cutlass. The blade just barely missed its mark as Salem hit the ground. Still cradling Ryn, he rolled to his knees, fighting against fatigue as he tried to stand back up. Standing over the fallen pair, the attacker grinned in triumph as he raised up his blade.
From where she stood, Ahri saw that there was no way that her companion was going to make it up in time. From deep within her, a sudden surge of energy seemed to course through her veins. A soft blue aura appeared to surround the fox-girl as she recklessly charged at the man who was attacking her friend. Propelled by the mysterious force, Ahri seemed to cover the distance in the blink of an eye as she slammed shoulder-first into her target, knocking the pirate to the ground. Summoning up her Orb of Deception, she slammed it into the man's chest and watched as the life drained from his eyes. Ahri had hoped that she would never need to kill again, but the bastard had left her no choice. When she was sure that he was dead, the nine-tailed girl slowly stood and looked over to Salem. She expected him to look horrified, or at least dismayed. Instead, the musician met her gaze with a kind smile and a nod of understanding. He then got to his feet and wordlessly followed Yu, who had taken off to the end of the dock.
Ahri could make out the outline of a two ships, one on either side of the dock. The one to the left was a small, two masted blockade runner. The ship on the right was a massive, heavily armed warship. Ahri's heart stopped when she saw a lone figure walk down the gangplank from the warship. Her fear was quickly replaced by mere nervousness though when she realized that the figure was none other than Sarah Fortune. As the group approached, the bounty hunter merely smirked when she saw Ryn, who was still bleeding.
"Ran into a bit of trouble, I see," she remarked.
"You could say that," panted Ahri.
The red-haired bounty hunter pointed over the girl's shoulder. "Looks like that trouble's still after you." Looking back, the whole group cursed when they saw there were now at least a dozen very burly men charging down the dock.
"Hey, Sarah" called out Ryn, her voice a bit stronger than before. "I'll drop the price to 55% if you give us a bit of a hand here."
"Hmm," mumbled the bounty hunter thoughtfully. "I'm not sure that's quite enough." Just when it seemed that the woman was going to leave the group to their fate, a gunshot rang out from the other end of the dock. Everyone flinched, unsure if anyone had been hit or not. Then, Miss Fortune slowly removed the large black hat that she wore and poked her finger through the fresh new hole that had just been put in it. "Well, I guess that settles it then."
Placing the hat back atop her head, Miss Fortune squared off against the charging mass of men. Drawing both of her pistols, she looked back over her shoulder at the group of travelers. "Better step back, kids."
Ahri retreated back behind Salem, who turned his body to shield Ryn from whatever was about to happen. Yu stood nearby, a stoic look on her face.
"Alright boys, you wanna play rough?" barked Miss Fortune, addressing the charging pirate mob. "It's time for a little Shock and Awe!" The next few moments could really only be described as hellacious. Fire and lead erupted from the barrels of both of the bounty hunter's guns as she completely unloaded a maelstrom of hellfire onto the advancing pirates. Wave after wave of hot lead tore through the bodies of the attackers, mangling anything and everything that was hit. Ahri could only watch on with a mixture of fear and amazement. The sight was unbelievable and the noise was just as equally cataclysmic.
The assault ended just as abruptly as it had started, and the following silence seemed nearly unreal. With nothing but a dock littered with corpses now in front of her, Sarah Fortune once again looked over her shoulder.
"Alright then," she said with authority. "I held up my end of the bargain, so now it's time you hold up yours."
"Pfft. Don't worry," assured Ryn, who was now standing with support from Salem and Yu. She gave the bounty hunter a grin. "I wouldn't dream of backing out."