Beta'd by Da-Awesom-One
DANGERS AT SEA
-Pino of the Horo-Sha-
"There you go, little one. Drink up. That's it, easy now," I instructed gently, pouring a small measure, and handing off the small pewter cup into shaking hands, making certain the child didn't spit out the ginger remedy from the first sip, keeping my voice and being supportive as the young girl's face twisted in exaggerated disgust. "Delicious, is it not?"
I laughed away the fervent denials thrown back at me, denials that swiftly turned to cheers as I pulled a piece of a honeyed sweet from a pouch at my belt and saw it disappear in an instant into tiny grasping hands.
Grinning from behind my crimson visage, I stood up, careful to adjust for the gentle swaying of the ship underfoot, and thus stumbling only slightly in the attempt. Far better than I'd been at the start of our grand voyage, that was for certain, and far better than some.
Many of the Horo-Sha, the young and old especially, were not used to such things, and had suffered as a result at the hands of cresting waves constantly rocking the creaking berths. Cases of motion sickness swept through our ranks at a rate that saw Elder Lux confined to his quarters brewing tinctures and remedies, and his overworked assistant scrambling about the length of vessel trying to administer them all to those in need.
'Count your blessings. Things could always be worse...'
A dour if honest piece of knowledge passed down by my mentor at times like this, something to make the experience of wiping vomit from my boots and enduring sleepless nights a bit more palatable.
Not that I needed to. The joy well earned in seeing people's faces light up as discomfort receded was more than enough, at least it was for me.
Lux had called me strange for that, though he'd been smiling at the time. A confusing man, my teacher. Difficult to read, even though he eschewed the mask like many other elders.
Nodding my head at that silent sentiment, I turned to regard the young one's guardian in his own green mask. Her elder brother, I recalled. That was how it often went among the People. Grimm attacks, rare as we struggled to make them, took their toll on us same as any other community on Remnant. We came to together in such cases, caring for our own.
"Pino... Ah, H-Healer, I mean," he stammered weakly, clutching at the furred shoulder of my robes, and cocking his head in silent question towards the girl happily munching on the candy. Already she was showing more energy than before, the color returning to her face as the remedy worked its course. "She's... She's going to be...?" His posture straightened at my nod, a strangled groan of relief echoing behind his "face."
"Make certain she gets at least a cup or two down throughout the day if the symptoms persist," I explained, brushing off my robes and offering the girl one last pat on the head. "No more than that, otherwise seek the Elder or myself. Our hosts should be able to point you to one of us."
The young man nodded gratefully, masked head bowing respectfully before returning his attention back to his charge, leaving me free to wander about the ship for a spell, at least until the next case or one of Lux's runners found me, or it was time to check in with my irascible teacher.
Life as a Healer, one whose skills were valued and admired, could be rewarding at times. Trying at others.
As I walked the length of the vessel idly, I noticed many of those not of the crew, and even a few not wearing the mask favored by the Horo-Sha, giving signs of respect along my tripping journey towards the upper decks, shielding my gaze from the sudden rush of sunlight as I stepped into open air, the glare piercing even the veil of my mask with its brilliance.
T'was still a bit odd, seeing such respect offered in those my own age, and in many cases far beyond it. A feeling that would pass in time, or so my mentor had assured me when I'd voiced my discomfort to him. I was becoming a person others turned to for aid, one from which they would be expecting calm assistance and knowing guidance.
A heavy burden, one I was sometimes unsure I could bear.
Reika had said it was somewhat similar for Huntsman and Huntresses as well, though seeing the way she carried herself, I could admit some trouble believing it. The young woman was all straight-backed confidence and poise despite her small stature, not that I would ever say such a thing in her earshot. Qualities I couldn't help but envy at times, especially after watching her train, the power she wielded, the skill she showed in every motion...
I smacked myself on the side of the head, eliciting a few odd looks from some of the over-muscled crew as I scarpered off, narrowly dodging passed a few others in the midst of their duties, and earning a few choice words I couldn't bear to repeat.
Speaking of the Huntress in question, I was far from surprised to find her perched in quite the same position I'd seen her last. The same vigil she'd assumed almost everyday since the ship had disembarked, sitting atop the prow staring ahead at the wide expanse of cascading waves as Sanus' familiar shores grew further and further behind us, until vanishing from sight entirely.
Reika hadn't looked back. Not even once, as far as I knew from what the crew and my fellows had said of her. She kept her gaze resolutely forward towards the horizon, unbowed. At times, she had been so still, it seemed she was almost a part of the ship.
Most kept a respectful distance, Horo-Sha and sailor alike, unable to communicate, and I supposed unwilling to risk bothering the Huntress. Understandable, seeing as the seas were dangerous, and the prospect of having such a warrior on board to repel sea-born Grimm had been one of the major factors in our transport's captain taking us aboard the massive cargo ship bound for Anima.
From what I could see now, however, her eyes were closed, body swaying gently in time with the rocking motions of the ship. She could have been sleeping, her breathing calm and controlled, punctuated by steady rise and fall of her shoulders, the jingling chime of the bells affixed in her hair ringing in the salt tinged winds.
I watched her for a few long, drawn out moments more, standing awkwardly in the middle of the deck, doing my best to keep abreast of the haggard crew. Unwilling to interrupt, and quite unsure of what I was doing, I actually turned to leave when her hand raised slowly, fingers moving slowly into broad recognizable signs.
"Pino, can you stop staring now, please?" The words, once translated in my slow fumbling way, made me jump. Shock overriding sense before I remembered her Gift, her Semblance. One that made it quite impossible to take her unawares. Well, except for Lux, but he'd always had a way about him when it came to turning up at the worst moments with a rap of his staff and a firm scolding on his tongue... Wait, she's still waiting. I should go to her, right? "It is strange."
''...Strange,' huh?... Wonderful. Just wonderful.'
"Apologies. I didn't mean to offend." I tapped the forehead of my mask and strode over, joining her along the front of the ship, unable to help a nervous glance down at the water smashing against the hull with a roar of over-pressure and foam.
How she could stand being up here all day - and all night, if I'd heard right - was a mystery I'd never quite understand. Much like the young woman herself. "You appeared to be meditating, and Elder Lux has never taken kindly to being interrupted." I glanced down at her, turning away swiftly with a heated flush on my cheeks when I realized she once again wasn't actually wearing the child's mask she carried around, preferring to feel the salt spray on bare flesh.
'How can she be fine with exposing herself?' My mind wondered so many questions, thinking back to the port town we'd visited, all the bare faces regarding the Horo-Sha as if we were the strange ones. 'I'll never understand it. How can anyone live like that?'
The elderly of our people were understandable, precious family and advisors to all who crossed their path. But for those so young... Many of the younger Horo-Sha had been intrigued at the sight of men and women their own age unmasked in town, much like they had been with Reika.
Though, thankfully, the more responsible of the camp reigned them in before trouble could be had.
"Did Lux send you?" My strange new friend queried, still not looking at me, or even having opened her eyes. Not that I wasn't certain she knew I was there, or how flustered she was making me. Reika enjoyed that effect she had on me, finding it amusing for reasons I couldn't fathom, using it to coerce favors like aid in training, or time with which to ask me questions regarding the People. "He needn't worry. Motion sickness is no issue." Her scarred lips grinned, mouthing something that would've been "Arc."
"No, he didn't. Though it's good to hear you are doing well," I explained, giving her a nod she couldn't see, leaving me shifting a bit uncomfortably. "Though he was curious... As well we all are. You haven't been eating with us, and you don't sleep in the holds... or at all, it seems. If we've done something...?" She shook her head fiercely at that, hand waving, eyes shooting open with a fervent denial and innocent panic. "Um, I'm... sorry?"
"Don't be! Nothing wrong!"
She motioned to her chest, shaking her head at my apparent misunderstanding, before slowing down, spelling things out. I would need to apply myself more ardently towards learning her curious hand speech. Make things easier for her... Pay attention!
"...Fault all mine. I guess I'm only... nervous. Apologies."
"Nervous? You?" I hadn't meant to chuckle, regretting it the instant I saw the slight irritation flicker through her eyes, the only feature I found I could look at without feeling overly flustered. I brought my hands up, stuttering and stammering a few apologies until she was sated, somehow still laughing despite the mix up. "It's just difficult to imagine you being nervous over anything. I mean, I've seen you face the Monsters unarmed, without even blinking. If you can do that..." I trailed off, noting the momentary flicker of something in her expression. Guilt... Fear, maybe?
All I knew was I didn't like seeing it. Not one bit.
This was a warrior that had survived the near-fall of a Kingdom, defeating insidious captors to free herself, overcoming injuries that only months before I would've considered irrecoverable, dragging herself along on crutches, hands, and knees until she was fighting once more. Reika Murasaki, Huntress of fallen Beacon, was also human; a young woman carrying her own scars, and not just physical.
She could feel pain just like anybody else... even with Aura. I had to remember that.
Huntsmen and Huntresses might be the heroes one heard about in stories, but they were also people as well.
"Concerns about the journey?" I ventured, picking my words carefully as I clasped my hands together, wishing I could assume the "mask" of the calm, composed healer; the confident confidant. But it rarely worked even among my fellows, and never with her. That curious Sense of hers. Still, no giving up now. I was committed. "Your friends?" Reika's eyebrow twitched, the muscles about her jaw tightening. Those little things that years of diagnosis and practice had trained me to seek out. "You worry for them."
That wasn't even a question. The answer was obvious.
"...I'm close." The signs sounded hesitant, if that was possible, different from the usual lightning quick surety I was used to in the movements. Almost as if giving "voice" to the sentiment would see the chance snatched away. "It's strange. I feel them, all the time now. Differently than before." The Huntress smiled, eyes shining with the distant memory of something beyond this boat, shifting just for a moment back towards the coast. Towards Vale... Towards Beacon. "Moving, fighting, living... and always there. Ben is hurting, Joel is struggling, and Maxine..." Her fingers faltered, forming a tight fist before continuing as if the interruption hadn't occurred. "I'm so close now, but everything is changing so much. What if they've changed, too? What if I change?"
"I... Well now. I..."
I began, only to fail from the outset, what I'd been about to say grinding to a halt in my throat... I didn't know what to say to that, having to run through the motions a few times to make sure I had the right translation. It wouldn't have been the first time I'd gotten confused as to her meanings. But not this time, and Reika had noticed my fumbling, shaking out her head with a jingle of tiny chimes before allowing a smile to grace her features once more.
"Forget I said anything. Just rambling to myself." She signed almost dismissively. Flippantly, even. Was it even possible to sigh to oneself? "I am sure they would be mad at me for worrying this much. It is silly."
"N-no, I don't think it's silly at all!"
Reika's head perked up, eyebrow raised as her attention was piqued. Mine was, too, considering I had no idea why I'd spoken up to respond in the first place.
"It's just... I mean, from what you've told me of them, I think they would appreciate knowing someone cares about them so much."
Frankly, I considered the young Huntress' drive in this matter to be nothing short of inspiring. Almost to the point I was actually starting to feel excited at the prospect of coming face to face with this "Team AMBR".
This leader of hers, Joel, brave and steadfast. Maxine, headstrong, but never one to be cowed. Ben, cunning and... "irritating," I think the sign had been. "Have you given any thought as to what you'll do? When you finally rejoin them, I mean," I clarified, a gust of wind catching my robes, and almost threatening to put me off balance until I finally sat down to join her. Meanwhile, Reika looked on, gloriously unaffected. "Any plans?"
"Indeed... I think I'll break their legs." I nodded along sportively, right up until I was forced into a double take, looking at the girl beside me nervously, shifting in my seat while another gust of salt spray bloomed upwards. She was laughing silently, right up until she noticed my reaction, yawing a hand jovially. "Apologies. A friend's old joke. Poor taste."
"Oh... I-is that so?" Suddenly I wasn't quite certain about meeting AMBR, anymore. Outsiders were a strange, strange breed apart from the Horo-Sha. Other customs and cultures clashing... Was limb snapping the start of some courting ritual? "Forgive me for saying so, Reika, but you seem to have very... odd friends."
"Yes. And I wouldn't have it any other way!" The diminutive huntress slapped her knee in explanation and declaration, one aimed just as much at herself as it was at me. I did jump a bit in place, however, when her other hand found my shoulder, squeezing it with a strength that I could tell, even now, far exceeded my own. "And it makes sense. You are my friend, too, after all. Aren't you?"
A withering look from my masked visage had her whistling, or trying to whistle without much more than a feeble blowing sound to show for it. Strange. When others had said such things, they had meant them as insults, reprimands, urging me to improve in some way, or to act in accord with my responsibilities.
Reika, however... She made the word sound almost like a compliment, or a term of endearment... How strange. "'Odd,' am I?" She smiled at the laughter in my voice, the first real smile I'd seen since we'd boarded the ship. "Hmm, I suppose there's worse things to be known for. You could have said I was 'clumsy,' maybe. Or 'bumbling.' Master seems to prefer that term."
"I would never dream of...!"
"...Hmm? Reika?" She'd fumbled a sign, at least it seemed to me she had. Her concentration slipped a fraction, as if an insect were buzzing in her ear, violet eyes narrowing before closing altogether. "Reika? Is something the matter? Your wounds, a-are they...?" A raised finger immediately silenced my inquiries, the other hand, the one bearing her curious weapon, flexed despite herself.
"...Pino?... Was this vessel, boat, intended to act as part of a convoy? A group?" she clarified, signing again and again until sure I'd understood the meaning, or the meat of it, anyway.
"N-no... Not that I'm aware of, anyway." I was swiftly growing concerned, noting the edge in the young Huntress' demeanor, the shift I'd seen only a few times before, in training, and before a Grimm attack. "Though Lux perhaps might know something. It was he who negotiated the terms of travel." My shoulders tensed, drawing upon Reika's lessons with a brief effort of concentration that saw my own wafer-thin crimson Aura sparking to life for but an instant, just long enough to experience the rush of calm surety and power it offered. "Why? Is something the matter?"
"...Maybe. I cannot be sure," she gestured, looking back towards the stern of the ship, and the far-off waves behind us, seeing something beyond sight. "What I do know is that something has been following us for days now. Another boat, I think... No, definitely."
"And... t-that's a cause for concern?" Not even my Aura was able to keep the note of trepidation from my muffled tone, a cold chill running a path down my spine. An unsubtle reaction to the power exerted from her own soul, perhaps. A pressure I couldn't feel but could feel pulsing around me.
Why I panicked? I had no idea. Two ships meeting on open waters, traveling alongside one another. Such a thing was hardly uncommon, I would imagine. Numbers meant strength, security. It was what had kept the Horo-Sha alive as a people for so long, despite the threat of the Grimm and a world made harsh without the touch of civilization. Those travelers of the ocean blue had to have something similar, yes?
"Maybe, but I can't be sure!" Reika repeated, more fiercely this time, getting to her feet, and checking the embedded Dust crystals of her gauntlet before rapping the enameled chest plate underneath her clothing, checking off some mental list. Just like she did before the Monsters attacked. "Cannot be good."
For my own cowardly role, I just sat there arms folded, propped against the cool wood of the hull, sweating in a way that had nothing to with the...
'...Wait a moment, where'd the sun go?'
I looked about, side to side, up and down, recoiling at the sudden out-flowing mists that had appeared along the surface of the ocean, where once there had been nothing but crystal clear waters and brilliant skies. A wall that had grown from nothing to encompass everything.
Curling, twisting blooms of solidified moisture whirled about the air as if alive, sentient. Shapes swirled and billowed out like grasping hands seeking purchase. It rose higher and higher with a purpose no natural event could possess, at least none I had ever witnessed, surrounding the ship in a murky darkness that set more than one member of the crew and quite a few of my own people scrambling about the deck.
Many shouted frantic alarms, asked questions, or just stared open-mouthed at the strange phenomena coming to life before their disbelieving eyes.
"They're picking up speed now. Lots of it," my friend rattled off, signs snapping like lightning so quickly, I could barely follow along at all. Her head was twitching, gazing about on all sides as what almost could have been laughter from a dozen, or even a hundred mouths, distorted and outrageously wild, began to echo through the fog. All around us, bearing down from above, from the sides, everywhere at once... even right behind me. That made me jump and spin about, only to see nothing at all. "Coming right for us!"
"S-stuck in this mire like us, maybe?" I ventured in a shaking whisper, all but lost through the laughter, the music.
A wordless beat played in time now, pulsing through my senses. A jaunty deluge of drums and percussion sounds that joined the cackles, and in turn raised them ever higher. And whatever it was, Reika was right. It was getting closer by the second.
It wasn't awful, though. If anything. it was almost... I rapped the forehead of my mask, hopefully knocking some sense back into my head.
"Perhaps..." I gulped, mouth dry and my tongue suddenly feeling too big for my mouth. "P-perhaps they're friendly?"
The look I received for that bit of naive hope was almost enough to stagger me on its own, like a physical blow, even without the sudden jerkiness of the waves beneath out feet, the chaos of crew members and officers struggling to maintain order. More than a few broke under the strain of the tune, panic affecting their actions, heightening tensions... Softening us up for what was to come, no doubt.
"..."
"...Right, right. Foolish question," I admitted more to myself than to her, shaking my head before the humming buzz of near silent engines joined the cacophony, audible only due in part to their proximity.
And then... then ship found itself suddenly very much under attack.
From then on, I was ashamed to say I didn't really register much at all.
-Reika Murasaki-
With my Semblance active and my Sense extended outwards, I was able to detect the oncoming danger long before even Aura-enhanced hearing managed to pick out the sound of a motor from the crash of waves slamming against the hull, the shouts of panicked crewmen, and this "music" surrounding our vessel.
A rapidly approaching motor, at that, coming from...
"...!"
I dove forward, snatching hold of the front of Pino's robes, and tackling us both hard to the deck just as something thin, angular, and wickedly fast hummed overhead, riding the ocean spray. Its path suddenly filled the space the Horo-Sha had just vacated in a rush of buzzing propellers, and the smack of wind on thin fabric. My friend was groaning, dazed, but none the worse for wear, not that I had time to check.
All of my focus was fixed on the strange projectile, tracking it as the wind and its propulsion carried it well overhead of the deck, angling towards the clear opposite side of the boat.
It was all vague impressions. So fast did it disappear back into the mists, as if it had never been. A brightly-colored sail, affixed via rig, and a complex web of battens, wires, and metal rods all connected to a thin knife-shaped board. All bending to the will of a rider, that gave me a heartbeat's pause of incredulity.
If my Semblance was telling me anything... someone had been operating that thing!
And evidently, they weren't done, nor alone, going by the approaching motes of Soul light that flashed behind my eyes every time I concentrated. They were like lanterns in the dark, all converging at once like moths to a flame.
Similar rigs burst from the mist as little more than whooping shadows, flitting through the air across the deck in tight, if wildly executed formations, some barely clearing the heads of passengers, or even of each other in some cases. Complicated tricks and aerial displays only added more fuel to their apparent mirth, and from what I saw, it was almost as if they were competing more with each other than focusing on their prey.
Not that they were at all idle, most railing lines of slim chain or rope behind them, the riders tossing them in their passes, and cheering as the stuck home in the decking and rails. The lines already went taut as something pulled on them, a gloved hand clutching a slim silver saber came swinging up into view.
Many of the crew attempted to flee the lightly-armored figures clad in what I could see now were brightly-colored short coats and strips of cloth, with some even wearing what looked to be scavenged equipment from the Kingdoms, arms flailing, tripping over themselves, only to be herded along by cackling shadows and looming smiles bearing sword, ax, and pistol... banging them on railings, or against bucklers to add to the deafening noise with their 'song'.
The Horo-Sha, in comparison, acted far more composed, getting on their knees with hands over their heads, taking themselves out of the mayhem. They did not fight back, even when dragged to the side, or shoved from their attackers' way... No blood, thankfully. Not yet.
Calls about monsters in the mist were lost in the cacophony, only audible by my Aura-fueled awareness. Thing is, I could tell these were no Grimm. In fact, I knew exactly what they were.
How could I not? The audacity of the act, the attitude that no soldier would've born...
Bandits... No, Pirates!
'How ironic...' I mused, pulling a shaking Pino to his feet, or his knees more like. 'Is this... What did Miss Belladonna describe it as? 'Karma?''
That revelation wasn't mine alone, it seemed. Some of the more level-headed sailors realized the threat immediately, and began scrambling to arm themselves with whatever they could get their hands on, or attempting unsuccessfully to move their kneeling passengers along.
Others burst up from the cabins below into the madness, clutching rifles and crude swords, which nevertheless would likely prove more effective than the bucket one of the men up here was flailing about with. Our captain was in his raised quarterdeck, no doubt already sounding a general alarm to all hands.
I was hopeful when they began taking aim, despite the odd feeling it was to actually be rooting against the thieves in this situation. Turns out I needn't have bothered, the rigs returning once more, looped lassos snatching hold of rifle-bearing sailors in particular, and dragging them overboard as if on the tendrils of some massive beast to be consumed by the mist.
Others fell, crying out with knives and other projectiles buried into shoulders or thighs, or under the weight of pirates suddenly among them, grappling them to the deck or putting them there with focused blows. Men who had ridden along with those strange aerial mist cutters, and had leapt off mid-flight with coordinated precision.
"C'mon, you lads!" One of the newcomers, a red-faced, red-haired mountain of a man with more tattoos and gleaming metal ring piercings scattered across his heavily muscled bare arms and torso than clear flesh, called to his fellows. "Take this prize! For Harper and plunder!" Their leader, then, always the loudest with these types, hoisting a thick cleaver-like sword as tall as I was in one meaty hand.
A shifting weapon. No doubt about it, studded further with bulky metal armor plating with a long barrel worked along the back that could've belong to a cannon.
It certainly worked like a cannon, anyway, the sounds of gears grinding and sparking signaling its shift from sword to brutal under-slung firearm, the Dust projectile within blowing a smoking hole clean in the deck floor, sending armed crew flying in clouds of splinters to land dazed on the deck, and barely stirring. That shot signaling the others to charge in a tidal wave, swiftly closing the distance those stunned crewmen still standing or fighting in desperate scuffles of their own with renewed vigor.
"FOR HARPER AND PLUNDER!"
Their leader marched forward then in their wake, placing his devastating shots carefully, so as not to damage the ship or any bystanders unduly, bellowing orders at the top of his lungs. The others rallied around him, which meant I had to take him down if we were to have any hope of...
"Reika!"
A hand fell on my shoulder as I unconsciously made to rise and join the fray, years in the Badlands watching Ben's back, often involving leaping into a scrum head first, driving me on. Frowning, my head turned to see Pino's crimson visage looking back at me, eyes wide behind the fabric slits in his mask. A cursory pass with my Semblance, near instantaneous at this distance, showed me both fear and concern.
He worried about me. He knew what I was planning...
"You can't! There's too many!" His voice was pleading, and his stance... his stance almost perfectly mirrored the others of his kind, an unwillingness to fight back. "Just stay down! Maybe they'll...!"
I smiled at him, even as I brushed his grasp aside with strength he couldn't hope to match, holding up a hand to stop him from following. "Stay down. Be back soon."
And then, to his yelping surprise, that hand shot forward, taking hold of a spar of railing directly next to his head. I wrenched the piece of metal free with an Aura-fueled jerk of my arm, and hurled it behind me in the same motion without even looking. Spinning and whistling end over end, it soared right into the path of one of those curious flying crafts as it made to pass over once more with another trailing length of chain.
Striking the target just as intended, it sheared through the length of fabric that acted as a sail, and all but tore it from its connection with the board, more than adequate enough to send it, and both the unfortunate pirates it bore, pitching over the side of the ship to vanish screaming into the roiling wall of vapor, lost from sight.
'That's two lowlifes down with one spar. Good start...'
One pirate, a lanky soul with a long beard smoking from what looked to be lit fuses woven within it, gaped openly. Right before my boot slammed down on his chest, and bore him down with enough strength to send cracks spider webbing in the wooden boards beneath, leaving me standing with a new groaning foot rest for my efforts.
'Three. Making progress...' Still, it was too slow. Best to speed this along.
The craft's demise had drawn the eyes of both those few crew still standing and pirate alike towards me as I rolled the arm bearing Iron Blossom to loosen my shoulder, relaxing the muscles, and easing my posture forward with a heady sigh. Of course, I was sure to give the pirate beneath me one last good stomp to the ribs before taking my stance, and holding out a hand playfully.
"..."
I cocked my head at the gawping leader and his assembled band, adding a "come hither" gesture that I recalled seeing Maxine make against the White Fang in a similar situation many, many months ago in much the same situation, and eliciting almost the exact same results.
Predictable, really...
"A Huntress!? Here!?" The cannon-wielding Mountain jabbed a finger towards me, his words catching the attention of every pirate not currently in the fight or holding a prisoner down, and turning it my way. "Well!? Get her!"
"Ya'll heard Florid! CHAAAAAARGE!"
Bandits and Pirates. Similar working styles all around. 'Take out the biggest threat with overwhelming firepower... Isn't that quaint.' Good thing Ben and Bill's antics gave me plenty of experience dealing with this sort of thing... The proper way.
'Now all I need is a half-naked Carson, a bit of sand, maybe a bottle or two, and this will all start looking even more familiar...' I smirked, which, if anything, only made the mob sprint faster, adopting some semblance of grouping, cutting off my paths to escape. 'So I make one, simple enough.'
"Alright, lassie, just hold still!" the first screaming pirate to reach me cried out, gap-toothed, foul-smelling, and shabby enough to make me think of home. A silvery forked knife, possessive of the same metallic luster as Joel's Storm Circuit, shifted quickly into a long and wicked spear, jingling and jangling with wooden charms and glinting coins as it aimed for my legs, matching the motion of the partner beside him exactly as he struck for the arm bearing my weapon. "Hahahaaa-uuuuck!?"
It was well coordinated, an attack that would've worked on any normal foe. Such a shame they only struck air, their target having jumped long before she'd been in any real danger. The chimes so similar to the bells only made his weapon more predictable, and shiny, too. Ben would've loved it.
'They want me alive, just like the others.'
My mind raced trying to determine the reasoning even as I fell, boots landing on the back of their heads, and kicking off a moment late, sending them both crashing on either side of Pino, who could only look on in awed stupefaction as I laid into the group head on, a wistful smile clear as day on my face. One that swiftly turned to a confident silent snarl.
Kicks struck joints and collarbones, propelling me off my unfortunate falling victims into shoulders and punches that sent pirates flying like ragdolls. Compared to dodging the broad sides of tree trunks and maneuvering through webs of rope lines and netting, this was simple footwork and leverage. I didn't even feel the need to use my gauntlet's abilities, simply letting it block blows I couldn't avoid, and letting them move me along like the current striking our deck.
I ducked past even the tight swings and stabs of sword and spear they used by sometimes a mere hair's breadth, my height only aiding me in weaving through the melee, toppling pirates like dominoes.
Why, it was almost like skipping through the park, or over juvenile Death Stalker pits or Taijitsu nests back home in the Badlands. Easy enough once you knew the trick to it, if a bit dangerous.
'Ma would be so proud...'
My Semblance only made it easier to map my course through the fight, picking out each soul as it moved and felt, charting every blow. Using their own efforts to propel me further along to the next and the next, concentration and focus in perfect sync with motion.
Knee the scowling woman with the fancy hat in the face, roll over her unconscious body to jab the bloated, one-eyed sod draped head to toe in thick, garishly adorned ceramics in the back of his knee, jump up and use his buckler as a kick board to force him down further. Repeat as necessary with a shoulder charge that threw back three more, thrown in for flare.
Simple... Right up until I realized I was standing alone with a pile of unconscious goons behind me, staring down the barrel of this Florid's cannon. Then things got interesting.
"Well, you're certainly somethin' different, aren'tcha, lass? Captain'll just love you!"
I was about to sign just what I thought of him and his captain when a pearly white smile split his broad features, finger depressing the trigger, and sending a Dust-tipped slug screaming right towards me. I might have heard Pino's cry of alarm, or what could have been the all-consuming roar of a ship horn.
Things got a little scattered after I had the bright idea of punching the projectile from the air.
Iron Blossom's knuckle Dust crystals lit up like miniature stars at the point of contact, the weapon burning white hot, vents clattering open along its length, but doing just as it had been designed to accomplish: stopping the spiraling projectile perfectly in its tracks for a fraction of a second in perfect stasis before our eyes. Just long enough for the redhead's eyes to bulge before everything exploded outwards, sending us both skirting backwards across the raw wood and metal of the decking.
Unfortunate pirates and more than a few passengers cried out as they were blasted backwards by the over-pressure, though thankfully it seemed that only criminals found themselves unlucky enough to go sailing over the sides and into the ocean below, swallowed by the impenetrable wall of swirling haze that held us in its grasp.
I, for one, recovered quickly, rolling to reduce the damage, and get back on my feet, or at least a knee, quickly. A good thing, too, because next thing I knew, I was sidestepping the chopping arc of a massive cleaver, barely able to stay one step ahead with the Pirate Leader barreling forward, using his size and reach to a startlingly graceful advantage.
If there had been any doubts this man was a skilled Aura user, all were dispelled by the flowing arcs of even that massive weapon, each stroke angled to ward off a kick of an elbow, the flat of the blade harmlessly batting aside Blossom, of which he was now very wary of.
And each glancing blow... Gods, even the man's parries were enough to send me staggering, let alone a head on blow. His weapon howled as it shifted forms suddenly, setting me on the run while he blasted holes around me, closing the distance before I could recover with the cleaver once more.
Definitely a former Huntsman, or the closest thing to it outside the Kingdoms.
'Though he's still not moving to finish me off...'
I gritted my teeth when a backhand caught me across the face, aborting my attempts to get close yet again. 'Why?' I had to be sure, even giving him the perfect opening, purposefully letting my foot slip on the salt slick timber, and yet he didn't go for it.
Ether that meant he was far smarter, and far more skilled, than I was giving him credit for, or he had orders not to cause undue harm that he was intent on following, even if doing so meant I got to deliver a pretty clean blow to his inked-up midsection to punish him for the lapse. I was upside down, hair and bells whipping about my face wildly - though I was long past needing my eyes to track my opponents moves - when I had the idea.
"You little...! Grr, just... gah-ive up!"
"...!"
If he wasn't going to finish me off, then I would use that against him. So I abandoned defense, earning a rather deep cut across my arm that if he hadn't stopped himself might've removed it entirely.
By the expression on his ruddy face, he figured out what I was intending, long before my arm kept moving, freeing itself from the blade with a slight spritz of crimson, and crashing headlong against his stomach, the air seeming almost to cease once more, before I kept pushing forward against the forces colliding, blowing back what mist had seeped on board in an explosion of raw pressure, and the clash of Aura on Aura.
I'll give the man his due credit, he was completely silent as he was shot backwards away from me with the velocity of one of his cannon rounds, smashing backwards straight into the mast, leaving a sizable dent before slumping down the foot of the structure, head lolling with spittle dribbling down into his beard.
One could have cut the atmosphere of those last few seconds with a knife, every eye watching in some disbelief of the events before them. The larger Florid was defeated, and tiny little me was staggering, but with my head held high - even if I was heaving relieved sighs - victorious.
"...!"
I let my arm hang down at my side, the wound I'd received already healing, thankfully, glaring about at those pirates still standing, and, satisfied that they weren't going to attack further, bowed my head to my fallen foe respectfully in acknowledgement.
"...Well now, that, I certainly wasn't expecting!"
A lilted voice sounded right next to my ear, my head turning so fast, I was shocked I didn't snap my own neck in my haste. It ached, but that didn't matter, leaping backwards, arms raised defensively.
All that did that moment was make me face the lanky rogue of a man, dressed in a long, half-open velvet frock coat the most brilliant shade of blue I'd ever seen over a fine white silk shirt, and sashes laden with lace and silver embroidery. One who had somehow gotten behind me, and leaned down to look over my shoulder despite my Sense and the metallic silver greaves he bore on his feet.
The newcomer straightened up at my retreat, running a ring-laden hand through long curling black hair too stiff to be wholly natural, eyes the same blue as that garish coat staring back at me from an unassuming face, all cheekbones and sharp angles. Not too handsome, not too plain. Ageless, really...
A frown crossed his thin mouth when he gazed about the deck, namely at the men I'd left in my wake. Not mad, at least not from what I could tell. More... intrigued. Problem was, now that I could sense him, even if his signature was somewhat hard to pin down...
"This either. You really did quite a number on my people, didn't y...!?"
I was in the air and rocketing towards him in a heartbeat before he could even finish what little introduction he'd planned, fist drawn back, and aiming to hopefully at least succeed in finishing this in one well-timed blow, just as I had his man. Hasty, yes, but necessary in my opinion. Whoever this person was, I could tell from his Aura alone that he was far above me. Perhaps not on the level of Marigold, or what I recalled of Headmaster Ozpin, but close to it.
But the punch didn't land...
"Now, now, that was just uncalled for!"
Eyebrows rising, I hit the deck hard and rolled, coming up into a crouch in time to see this newcomer fall weightless from the air - far slower than one should have, anyway - in front of Florid lying several feet away, like the air itself was loathe to let him go. He leaned over the man, brow furrowed before reaching out and flicking the man's forehead with a long-nailed finger.
The pirate bounced back to life in a huffing uproar of spittle and grunts before settling at the sight of the grin on the other man's face. "C-C-Captain Harper! Sir!"
"The Cap'n...? The Cap'n! It's Cap'n Majorelle!"
"Haha! A party now, eh!?"
"You're done, girlie! Payback for Florid!"
'Captain!?' I tensed, finally realizing the sense of awe and respect rippling through our boarders crying out their applause or rapping weapons on the faces of shields or metal surfaces, and the way they stared at the man. This "Harper."
'Just like how the boys used to look at Bill back then. The Hangman...' I myself remembered making such an expression as they did now, always after some daring act of courage, or seemingly boundless score on the old bandit's part. And all stopped as the Captain raised a hand, without even looking back at them, ruffians and scoundrels silenced in seconds.
"Glad to see you still with us, Mister Florid." Harper acknowledged his man with an easy nod, stopping the man as he tried to clamber to his feet, almost toppling over as a result, sword falling from shaking fingers. "Seems you enjoyed yourself with our lovely new friend there, though maybe just a hair bit too much. Wouldn't you agree?"
I felt my cheeks burn irritably as he flashed a roguish smile my way. The very same one Ben used to use whenever I'd caught him doing something he really rather shouldn't. 'No, similar... but just done better.'
I wanted to punch him even more now.
"Agh... Sorry 'bout that, Captain." Florid eased back against the mast, wincing as he felt at his side gingerly. "Lass hits like an Ursa. Rarely seen the like."
"I noticed. Don't trouble yourself overmuch. I was the one who'd wanted this clean and bloodless, after all." He looked about at the prisoners his passengers had taken, bruised and scared, but all alive. Now that I was free to look about, I saw others being pulled up over the sides, Pirate and Crew alike, shivering from their trip overboard to the ocean below. "Can't fault a man for following his orders to the letter, but you can for not expecting a half decent Huntress to be aboard. My mistake, old friend."
He patted the man on the head with a chuckle, and spun on his heel to face me, marching forward with his hands clasped loosely behind his back. "Her manners do need some work, though. Now, as I was saying. You did quite a number on my men. Impressive." He shrugged his shoulders and clicked his heels together in a casual salute. "Captain Harper Majorelle, also called the Strider, Captain of the Colorless Prism, Merchant Prince of the Frontier Port City of Mooring, Explorer of the vast oceans of Remnant, Grand Admiral, and so on, and so on..."
He blew a stray lock of hair out of his face with an almost embarrassed shrug.
"But those are just titles. Sordid things tend to pile up tall where I'm from. Names, though, that's what important! Yours, for example?" He waited, the both of us standing in awkward silence as the wind blew, and voices began to mutter amidst themselves from those onlookers observing. Another frown, pensive and curious this time as he waved a hand. "Um... It's you turn, lass. Announce yourself."
And I did... by charging forward again.
Maybe a bit played out by this point, but it was the best plan I had. And it wasn't like they'd be able to understand me anyway. Harper had mentioned the Frontier. That alone was concerning. That they were navigating the ocean ways between Mistral and Vale, though given the rumors the Horo-Sha had picked up along the way...
"...!" I growled silently, flipping and dancing, using every unpredictable angle and agile move I possessed to try and catch him off guard.
"Hey, whoa!... Ah, Lassie!... Hold up, I just...!" Despite the frantic nature of his words, he was dodging and skirting my attacks with pathetic ease. Side-stepping a punch aimed for his groin, leaping neatly above a striking heel, ducking back almost horizontal to avoid jab after jab, dancing around me like I was moving slow. "Alright, now this...! Ooh-kay, now...! This is...! Enough!"
Refusing to let his ramblings distract me, I braced my feet and struck true, uncaring if I wound up pulverizing his fancily-jeweled chest by this point with all the Aura I was exerting to enhance my movements, Iron Blossom striking with the speed of a Taijitsu, only for my opponent to jump up just as I had those first pirates, coming down to land on my glowing fist... and just standing there, utterly weightless on the back of my quivering palm.
All I could do was gape then, disbelieving...
"Are you quite finished?" I glanced up at the face looking down at me before I was suddenly buffeted back across the timber, cheek stinging and head ringing from the kick he'd laid across both. The man himself tapping to the deck lightly a moment later. "Because I am. Little ball of energy, aren't you?"
'W-what the...!?'
I shook out my head, attempting to rise, only to fall back to my hands and knees, the world swaying dangerously beneath me, or maybe that was just the waves. My balance was gone, and moreover, I was trying to figure out what I'd just been hit with, because whatever it was had felt more like I'd taken a bad blow from one of those swinging practice logs than some simple kick.
'I have to get up... I have to fight! I have to...!?'
All thought vanished as a boot landed gently across my back and pressed down, one moment light as a feather, the next like an Ursa Major had just sat on me. My ribs creaked under the pressure, driving me into the ship itself.
"Alright, enough. I'll try this again..." Captain Harper's voice sounded from above me, no longer amused or playful, just tired, and perhaps a bit annoyed. "All I want is to put a name to the pretty face. C'mon, now, speak up. I know you've got something to say."
"...I just KNEW you had something to say...!"
My back burned white hot with sudden wrathful fury that sent tears streaming down paling cheeks, those words pounding through my senses in a different voice. Suddenly, I wasn't on a no-name ship on the way to Anima. I was back at Beacon, surrounded by monsters, with the cruelest of all searing its name slowly on me as it laughed...
'No... No, no, no nononononoNO! STOP IT! Stop hurting me! STOP HURTING ME! STOP! Not again. Not again! Help me! Somebody help me! PLEASE HELP ME!'
Someone was screaming. Someone... Me?
I was howling, wordless terror spilling from my lips as I kicked, flailed, and struggled, Majorelle's face a stark mask of shock and non-understanding.
"L-lass, it's... It's just a name! I won't...!?" He took his foot off me quickly and I scrambled forward on hands and knees, chest heaving with seared, smoke-filled lungs, heart racing as I couldn't help but tremble, suddenly light-headed, and covered head to toe in sweat, stomach reeling. Far more so than before.
Control. I needed to reassert myself. I needed...
"Get away from her!"
Pino's voice cut through the haze, I blinked. Even the act of moving to look felt like fighting against the weight of the world, but I could see. See a figure wearing a crimson mask swinging wildly at the Captain. Not even coming close to hitting, just trying to ward him away from me, possessing no form, no grace, as if this were the first time he'd ever...
'Oh no... Oh, Pino! Don't...!'
More shouting, Lux's voice now joining the din.
I saw the Healer drop what I realized was the jingling forked spear from trembling hands, looking between the weapon at his feet and Lux, who stood at the door to the lower decks looking like he'd just been sucker punched, the young Horo-Sha being tackled to the ground.
More words... Everything sounded so dull, so far away.
I propped myself upwards with the last of my strength, catching sight of something massive tearing its way free of the strange mist, casting it aside with contemptible ease.
A ship of wood and metal both, the prow alone, shaped into the likeness of some terrifying sea beast, all mouth and hammer-headed spectacle, appeared capable of tearing through any obstacle.
It's bulk from keel to stern festooned in colored cloths of various designs, great tapestries for sails, and the rumble of turbines that I was shocked couldn't have been heard for miles as it chopped through the ocean... But that was all the depth it had, those accents practically the only reason I had any sense of scale at all in the mist. The ship itself... colorless.
And then... Then all I knew was simply black.
-END
-OC Voice Cast Introduced this Chapter-
Nestor Florid - Beau Billingslea
A/N: Pirates and RWBY, kind of shocked something like this hasn't already been in the show. Bandits exist, but no pirates as of yet, hope that changes at some point. Lots of ways they can go about it.
Oh and Reika's not dead, just confirming that after Last weeks episode.
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed the first chapter of the new year and thank you for the continuing support. - Mojo
(Next Chapter: A visitor on Patch Island)