More chapters, yay, a slightly longer one than the last...

Going Under Chapter 11

Game On

Clementine was shaken out of the first actual bit sleep she'd gotten in days, if you didn't count being knocked clean out of consciousness by various pirates. She wouldn't miss waking up somewhere she hadn't been when she'd went out. Her eyes snapped open and lo and behold, Argeth was shaking her thin shoulders, his voice oddly hushed. "Wake up!"

The urgency in his tone made her ears stand on end, "Wh...?" She rubbed her face to rid herself of the feeling of sleep, and out of the corner of her eye she saw him grab Kurues's nose and shake his long head from side to side.

"Wake up!" He repeated, prodding his forehead continuously until the hoofed leader's eyes slid open, foggy still. They expanded upon seeing Argeth.

"What's going on?" He asked instantly, trying to stand but failing miserably. On one hand, it woke the others quite effectively; Maut fell off his head from where she'd been using his ear as a pillow, the little joey that had used him as a pillow also had been dislodged and torn from sleep with an audible 'yeep' of surprise, and Kurues's stiff, sore back leg made sure that he tumbled sideways into Glett, who grunted in alarm.

Argeth watched the tussle with folded arms and, to Clementine's alarm, a hastily tapping foot. He looked agitated. He had never been so, not even seeing bodies floating around the sea. She felt her heart sink, and looked around briefly to see what had startled him...and saw nothing.

Except young Cocoum, who was sat nearby, looking perplexed by Argeth's behaviour as much as she was. "Was it something I said...?"

"More like something you didn't say!" The armadillo snapped, making the little ape jump. Kurues coughed once, forcing his trembling stiff legs to steady.

"Argeth, could you please-"

"The GULL was here!"

Argeth stared at them, hands curled like claws gripping the very air in aggravation. Kurues's sentence was well and truly ended, his face frozen while his mind whirled with the implications. Clementine felt her stomach flip.

"They know how far we are..." She murmured, her hands giving a tremor. She clenched her fists, fingers digging into her palms to stop them. Argeth sniffed, turning his head.

"Yeah, and they also know we've got two kids with us. And they aren't exactly going to help the situation when we get caught!"

"If we get caught." Kurues returned sourly, locking gazes once more with him. They eyed each other down, Argeth fuming. Seeing no reply, the elk continued, "What did you want us to do, Argeth, leave them in the sea?"

"Of Course not." The armadillo sneered, waving an arm dismissively. He turned his back on him, massaging his lined face with a roughened hand. "I'm just saying that now we know we've got two helpless members to take care of. They'll take advantage..."

Clementine's fur bristled as her skin crawled. Behind her, the small joey whimpered in confusion.

"What's g-goin' on? What does 'ee mean? Who..." She looked up at Kurues helplessly, curling up a little where she sat. Nearby, Cocoum wasn't nearly as afraid, but he looked annoyed as he tried to follow the conversation,

"Wait, so that gull's a bad guy? What does he want? Our fruit?" He rose a dark little brow at them, and the group stared back. It was one of those times when no-one wished to explain, thus everyone waited until one person had the guts to do so.

Well, except Argeth. "...Pirates. They've been picking off every straddle that survives the land break."

The small ape stared at him, eyes wide and rather blank. Argeth folded his arms in a plain, lofty manner. "They will kill the weak ones and force the strong to work labour for them, and get rid of anyone who doesn't comply. They'll probably maim your annoying little hide after two sentences."

A heavy silence drifted over them. The boy didn't look like he was taking Argeth seriously and let off a faint grin, but something murky was lit in his green eyes. He was a bit unnerved by Argeth's words, and so where the rest. The little joey began whimpering. Clementine reached to stroke her soft head.

"Argeth..."

"She had to know otherwise she would have gone done quicker." The armadillo snapped back before she could finish. Clementine scowled, now, and he returned it with venom.

"Y-you s-said bad people are gonna get us..." Kai sniffed, looking at the armadillo with watery eyes. Kurues put his hoof down with a thud.

"That isn't going to happen. Argeth..." He glanced at the armadillo, but he didn't look back, "We need to form a plan here. The current is on our side, they can't catch up, can they?"

"The current will finish or slow down eventually. Not all of them go on forever." Argeth noted bluntly. Kurues sighed.

"Spare me the negativity for once, Argeth, and tell me straight if you have an idea." Maut, who was lounging on his head between his ears again, nodded once.

Argeth rolled his eyes, "All right. We need to break from the current, go a different way. Outrunning them won't work when we're on the same course, it's stupid..."

"So we turn, go anotha way, while they keep going all current-happy?" Maut elaborated, a brow raised haughtily. Argeth shrugged,

"Their glacier's bigger, it'll be harder for them to take it from the current. For now, though, the current's still going, I think we've got some time..."

"Can we go back ta sleep?" Maut asked hopefully, grinning. Argeth gave her a flat sort of look, cocking a brow.

"..I take that as a 'no'."

Crash.

Clementine leaped off her feet and ended up turning at a ninety-degrees radios when she landed back on her feet. The joey and small ape gave yips of fright as the lightning flickered crudely around them. Thunder graced the darkened skies. Argeth shook his head at them, a faint grin plastered on his mug at their antics...but then that smile faded.

He'd seen something that the lightning had ignited from the darkness; something the darkness had coated from him. At the back of the ship, there was a vine...a vine that had been hooked onto their ship, and onto one of the floating ice blocks. He wondered when it had happened, because he certainly didn't see it that morning.

And, he realized, the ship had slowed down. If it hadn't, she wouldn't have felt so steady. His grin faltered.

That blasted gull.

He leaped over and sliced through the vine, cutting them away from the unwanted weight that had been subtly pulling them back. Clementine stared, as did Kurues, looking confused.

"How'd that get there?"

"Three guesses...we're not as far from them as I thought." Argeth hissed. The thunder creaked above them, and the barely-lit sky of the early morning seemed horribly unwelcome all of a sudden. The lightning broke again, showering them in light...and the group's breath halted in their mouths.

The outline of the pirate ship was close by.

"Aaaaw naaaaw." Maut's voice rang out around them, breaking the silence that gripped them. Kurues's eyes bulged,

"We have to set up our catapult!"

Argeth kicked the plank of ice onto Glett's back without hesitation. Clementine ran to the small joey curled at the base of the tree and petted her head, then tying a lifeline around her stomach. The child began sobbing gently, too afraid to be louder.

"Wh-hat's 'appening...?" Clementine bit her lip, standing up as she looked back at the child.

"Don't worry, we're just going to have to move quickly...stay there, it'll be fine..." She darted over to Cocoum as Kurues kicked off pieces of ice from the ship that they didn't need, to decrease the weight o the current could carry them faster.

Something smacked into Kurues's head, hitting his eyelids and sending him stumbling. Clementine lifted her head and spotted the very same gull had swiped down to hinder them further. She caught his snide grin as he swooped upwards, and turned. Clementine felt her blood boil and reached down to pick up a small rock of ice, and toss it at him- but he spun in the air, dodging it easily.

Argeth was dragging a piece of ice onto the catapult; the pirate ship was getting closer somehow, braving the current. Clementine had no time to try and figure out how. "Argeth, the bird!"

"Shoot that pest down!" The armadillo called, and Maut gave a strangled sort of battle cry and hefted another shard of ice at the gull as he dived down towards them. He slid past it easily and pulled on Kurues's antler as he went by, this time sending the elk sprawling onto the ground, off balance.

He had the advantage; he knew balance and the wind, he could knock the largest being there off balance. They where inexperienced. Still, it didn't stop Clementine tossing yet another small piece of ice at him.

It bonked off his beak. Clementine felt a surge of victory, but it diminished quickly as his eyes narrowed on her. He sliced through the air down towards her and she backed away, not fast enough to outrun the attack...but then something small, black and agile leaped onto the tree and climbed as quickly as a squirrel, fluidly slipping onto a branch and smacking the bird in mid-dive.

There was a squawk. The bird crash-landed onto their berg, scraping against the surface to a dismal halt, stomach down. Clementine glanced upwards. Cocoum was hanging from the branches, grinning broadly.

Clementine gave a shaky laugh.

Argeth stepped in front of the dejected gull, arms folded, Maut hopping to the side of him, Clementine on the other. Slowly he drew up, a sneer upon his elongated beak.

"You do not have the nerve to f-finish me..." He rasped, the air long been knocked from his body after belly-flopping onto the ice. Argeth seized his beak, clamping shut, and tightened his grip. The gull struggled, giving muffled squawks.

"Shut up, bird brain, you're a hair away from having me pluck every last feather from your body!" He hissed, knocking him away and releasing his beak. The gull gulped down a breath of air, but not before Clementine had swung a vine around him and tightened it, tying a knot with a final tug. He sent her a piercing look, and Clementine retorted with a scowl.

"Not bad, Kid..." Argeth called up to Cocoum, moving past him in the tree and the small joey, who curled up tighter into a small red-pink ball. Argeth stared back at the ship, which was getting closer. Not close enough to send their hooks, but close all the same.

"Tatou fou. You think you can escape us, Mon ami?"

The armadillo glared over his shoulder at the bird, Kurues doing the same. "You have no right to speak. You led them to us, you want us dead."

"En effet." He said, flashing a sly smile the elk's way, speaking quite haughtily despite his position. Clementine didn't ask what he meant; she guessed by his expression that he wasn't exactly arguing with their statement.

"Well I wouldn't me smirking, Friend." Argeth sneered, leaning on his dagger, that was now embedded in the icy floor, "What do you think your Captain would do to get his scout back? Without you he's pretty lost when it comes to sniffing out prey..."

An indignant look crossed the gull's face. "You do not startle me." He said in a shrill voice, pumping up his chest, "You are all doomed."

He said that rather happily. Clementine grimaced a bit. He glanced at her, a brow raised for no particular reason. Clementine gripped her arm, "...Wh-what're you looking at...?" She said, more nervy that firm. He chortled, looking away,

Surprisingly, Kai had appeared beside Kurues's leg, peering at the bird curiously. "Aw, the poor birdie fell down..." She murmured, apparently forgetting he'd signalled them out for attack. However, the group chuckled at his expense, as the most insulted, prissy look came onto his face at being addressed in that way.

"Poorrr birdy?" He repeated in a slurred accent, incredulous. Argeth actually chuckled and seized the end of his beak, giving it a shaky.

"Poor birdy indeed, Flipper-Feet. 'Cus I'm thinking you're our ticket out of this for now..."

The gull stared at him, eyes very wide.

...

"...Cap'in...ya may wanna see this..."

Raz was holding a spyglass up to her squinted eye. The shower of light rain and rippling waves hadn't been easy to see through, but after drifting closer to the smaller ship she'd finally got a good look at what was going on.

Gutt snatched the spyglass away from her and brought it up to his own eye, and his shoulders stiffened upon catching a glimpse of what she was talking about. Silas was hanging upside down from the ship's fruit tree; he couldn't clearly see him, but he was sure the blur of white, blue and red was him. His hair bristled in rage, but he didn't feel like breaking anything. No, he felt...challenged. A spark of elation lit in his chest at the idea of this little game Argeth was clearly deciding to play. Not that he would win; perhaps this tidily thought idea would buy them a day's worth of evasion yet. He gave a gruff, barely audible chuckle.

"Nicely played, Shorty...let's see what smarts gets you." He tossed the spyglass back to the kangaroo standing nearby, who definitely didn't look close to questioning him, and he strode back to the centre of the ship where the rest of his crew had gathered.

"Right, mates!" At the sound of his voice they straightened to attention, eyes on him. He grinned roughly to himself. He did love the hand of authority. "Our new friends have decided to try a hostage game with us..."

Shira looked perplexed as well as perhaps impressed; she clearly hadn't seen much nerve in the group. Gutt halted his pacing and turned to face the lot full on, a slight frown mixing in with his smirk,

"We'll give them their game, shall we?"

"Argh!" The familiar growl of approval rang out simultaneously as the pirates agreed. Squint was snickering deviously to himself, twiddling his bonefish dagger in his fidgety little paws. Gutt wondered if he actually knew what he had in mind, but supposed he was more set on mauling something, which would be available eventually.

"Good." He turned away after that simple word, "Gupta! Fly the colours! Let them see we know their scheme."

"Course, Captain!" Uncontrolled chortles followed the badger as he scaled the mast, and bit into the very top to hang himself up as the flag. Gutt didn't need to tell them to prepare; Raz had already passed out newly sharpened weapons to the crew. He knuckle walked to the side of the ship, staring over with a hard frown, eyes set on the small ship in the not-so distance.

He could see, even from here, a small black blur leaping around the branches of the ship's tree. He frowned a little more deeply and rolled his eyes. He didn't notice Raz glancing at him once with a curious look.

The lightning flashed above them.

The rain had began to fall heavily, but Argeth could see the badger-made flag from afar; a fluttering black blur in the shape of a square..somewhat. The joey and small ape had returned to the base of the tree, huddled close as the rain began to patter down on them. The girl wailed softly.

The bird was swinging a little from the tree branches, upside down. Maut was enjoying her time pushing him to make sure he continued his swinging, shoving him now and again as payback. Kurues stood by Argeth, and of course, he looked a little less easy with the situation.

He spoke quietly, "We won't really...cause harm to him?"

Argeth sighed, shoulders sagging. Kurues continued, "I know he's wronged us, but that doesn't mean we should lower ourselves to his level."

"Save the talk for someone who cares. But, if it'll make you happy, I'll try to make sure it doesn't come to that." Argeth groaned, in an equally low voice so the bird didn't hear. Kurues smiled faintly.

"Good..."

Silas could feel his head begin to tingle after hanging upside down for so long. The lightning flickered once more, sending another chorus of sobs from the joey into the air. His eyes fluttered to the two youngsters at the base of the tree he was strung from. The ape boy had surprised him, though he'd never admit it...and now that the shock to his body had passed, he could feel his wing aching badly, and it felt odd sitting at his side. A rare surge of panic spread through his usually well-postured body. A broken wing would not settle lightly with Gutt...

He grimaced as he tried to move it; the bonds didn't make it any better. The rabbit doe, who was leaning against the tree beside the two younger crew members, seemed to look up at him. He eyed her with a sneer, and she watched back with a reluctant stare.

Her paw was set on a strange pack sitting at her hip. He didn't care what was in it; though admitted slight curiosity as she'd set some of it on fire and tossed it at the Captain.

Slowly, she looked away from him. Silas turned his beak away, too. He hoped every last one of them suffered for this indignity.

Admit it, Silas had that one coming to him.