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Symphony of Stardust

Chapter 14: The Blood of Dragons

Lucina made sure to keep close to Corrin. Shulk had told them that the captain wanted to speak with them. Shulk and Akira stood behind them to act as makeshift guards. Although she doubted anyone would want to mess with them after the incident.

She had noticed that Corrin was still a bit on edge, although she was exhausted after yesterday's events.

Shulk, meanwhile, was acting completely off. She knew he had been fine after the battle but come morning, he seemed distracted and lost in thought.

The group entered the captain's quarters just after breakfast. Upon entering the room, Chrom was leaning over Robin's shoulder as the two overlooked a map. Robin's eyes seemed to be trying to burn a hole in the middle of the ocean while Chrom looked slightly confused.

Lucina was the first to speak, "You sent for us?"

"Ah right," Robin turned his attention towards the group, "come in, come in."

Shulk closed the door behind them. Corrin seemed to relax a bit, although she still seemed a bit stressed. "What was it you wanted to talk about."

"As of last night, I have come to realize the security on this ship must be called into question," he straightened "last night, there was a mutiny attempt, I say attempt as I had snuffed it out before it could get too dangerous."

"Either way, you are all in danger, and so Robin was planning on changing course," Chrom cut in.

Shulk tilted his head to one side, "why would they do that? You never explained that." She remembered that Shulk had spoken with the captain last night, although Shulk did mention something about having suddenly passed out

Robin waved dismissively, "rising tensions perhaps" Akira had told her about the crew saying something about Robin's leadership and something about Chrom all while she was up at the crow's nest with Geri "between my recent decisions and the incident with K. Rool, they may have finally had enough of me."

Corrin spoke out suddenly, tears starting in her eyes, "this is all my fault."

Lucina opened her mouth to say something. This wasn't Corrin's fault, and she knew it. But Robin spoke up first, much to her surprise. "it's fine, dragon blood can be overwhelming at times" the look he gave Corrin was one of true empathy. "don't apologize for what is out of your control, it is in your nature and you were put under stress if anything I should be apologizing for allowing the situation to get that severe"

"What?" Corrin was left confused, and in truth, Lucina was too.

Robin's gaze went from Corrin back to Lucina "anyways, while I would've like to get you as close to your destination as possible, the incident from last night has made me question the validity of being able to get there in one piece."

Shulk shook his head. "Why are you telling us this?"

"We will be docking in Alliance territory," Robin continued ignoring Shulk's questioning.

"From there, I will be escorting you myself," Chrom finished resting a hand on the hilt of the sword at his side "to make up for the inconvenience."

Akira had been studying the map this whole time and decided to cut into the conversation, "Wait, Alliance territory? that's far more up North, why can't we dock in Plegia?"

"That's out of the question," there was an edge in Robin's voice she wasn't used to hearing. "Chrom, you do know how to get to Ylisstol from the docks, correct?"

"... well umm …" Chrom seemed far less confident now "not really," he rubbed at the back on his neck, "but I'll get you there, no need to worry" his determination had returned for that last statement.

Robin grimaced, then turned his gaze towards Shulk and Akira. "How good are you boys with maps?" the two of them only looked at each other hopelessly. Robin shook his head. "I suppose you would need a navigator then."

She was about to point out she could read a map and wasn't too bad at directions when Akira spoke up, "Are you offering?"

Robin looked around the group. Of course, he could read a map. He was a captain and a fine sailor at that. "I should get this off my back before I make any real promises" she wasn't quite sure if that was confirmation, but then she noticed something in his eyes.

Robin took a deep breath and looked directly at her. "I am fully aware of who you are," her heart started pounding, 'uh oh' she wasn't quite sure why this a bad thing, but if what Geri said was true, Robin could be dangerous. "Princess Lucina of Ylisse, daughter of Cornelius Lowell, and younger sister to the Current Exalt."

Her heart sank, was it possible that he knew this whole time, had he just guessed it by her name? "How do you know all that?"

There seemed to be a coldness in Robin's eyes, a darkness she knows she hadn't seen before. "I recognize that mark in your eye" 'How would he recognize the Brand of the Exalt?' her stomach was doing flips. Robin made no mention of ever coming to Ylisstol, and that was the only place the mark was on display.

"Also, I feel I should bring to your attention that I am of Plegian descent and of the Grimleal faith" the realization hit her harder then she had expected 'he's from Plegia … then, of course, he would remember my father's brand, after all, he's done' she imagined her father's banners flying through a burning city, it wouldn't surprise her if the Brand of the Exalt became a hated symbol in Plegia.

Robin's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "I offer my services to you and your friends but should this knowledge bring you discomfort of any kind, then that would be the end of it" he offered her a hand, "but know, I will spend every coin I own to get you the finest guide to Ylisstol I can" her eyes widened with hopeful awe 'he's still offering to help?'

The next words that came out of her mouth happened so quickly she wasn't sure for who they were for. "I trust him," she turned to Corrin, who snapped out of her earlier daze to give an approving nod. She turned to Akira, who waved dismissively as if saying I don't really care. Shulk only gave an approving smile, "it seems we're all in agreement."

"then it's decided" at his words, she took his hand and shook it eagerly. "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Lucina" she couldn't help but grin.

Corrin's tail whirled around behind her. She had been burning with questions ever since the meeting. She waited quietly for the ship's activity to ease up before peeking out her door to see if she heard something. She had been stewing in these questions for days, and finally, she would get her answers. Or at least she hoped she would get the chance to answer them before they landed.

Chrom walked by the door and caught her, staring, "do you need a guard?"

She was too embarrassed to ask Shulk or Akira, and while she enjoyed Lucina's company, the young Princess had taken to lurking around Akira. Shulk had locked himself in the room, and while he made for good company normally, he had been burying himself in his notes lately, and it was almost like she was alone in the room again if she drowned out the occasional scratching of his pen.

Timidly she nodded, and he motioned for her to come out. The deck was thankfully lacking activity, and the captain was at the wheel.

"Needed some fresh air?" Chrom asked, hoping to make casual conversation

"Yes, umm," she began to mess with her ribbon again. "I was hoping to speak to Robin."

"Funny," he chuckled a bit before smiling, "he told me to keep an eye out, said you might have questions about something."

Robin seemed to just know things, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing yet. She tried to smile, "Yeah," she hoped it didn't come out too forced.

At last, they came to the front of the ship, "Well, have fun" he made a motion that she assumed would have been some encouraging physical contact but stopped himself partway and opted instead for a smile and a wave.

He walked back down the steps and leaned against the railing of the stairs. She assumed he wanted to give them space as a form of privacy. However, he stayed just close enough for her to feel comfortable knowing there was someone on guard.

She timidly approached Robin, who seemed to be staring off into the sea.

"Umm, Captain"

"Robin is fine," he waved a hand. She's sure he's had to correct them a thousand times by now.

"let me guess," he smirked and glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "you're here about my comments from the meeting, correct?"

She was vaguely are of her tail's anxious flailing "Yes, I wanted to know what you meant earlier."

He reached down and did something to the wheel before leaning against it. "We're very similar, you and I."

"We are?"

He brought his right glove up and tugged it off. "While my blood isn't as pure as yours," now she was able to see the back of his hand. And while she didn't recognize the tattoo, she did faintly register the aura around him, and how it seemed comforting. "it still burns from time to time."

It took her a second to process what he was saying "Wait! Then that means," somehow she recognized this aura, "You're part dragon."

It was a shot in the dark, but it felt less like a question and more like she was stating a fact. And judging by the smirk that returned to his face, she had landed a bullseye "In a manner of speaking, yes."

But something still confused her. "I thought you were human?" why had she only felt this now, only once the glove had come off.

"I am," he put the glove back on, and she suddenly felt alone again "it is said that all Plegians share the blood of our god, The Fell Dragon, Grima."

"Everyone in Plegia?" somehow, that seemed impossible.

"While it's present in most Plegians, its strongest with my sister and me," he started tugging at the edge of the glove absentmindedly "it's been the pride of my family for generations."

She tilted her head in confusion while he continued, "While I myself can't transform, I can still lose myself in that power."

Robin losing control of himself like she had seemed so odd. "But you seem so composed."

"I was trained as a child," he nodded. "I was taught to use my blood to conder spells, summon the power from within myself," he stared off into the vast blue ocean. She could almost feel his anger "my father would have been in awe at what you did back there."

The thought of someone finding what she did beautiful made her stomach turn. "But I hurt so many people."

"As did he," there was an edge in his voice "have you heard of the Ylisse Plegian War?" and it was in his eyes too. That deep darkness that she had seen in Lucina when she talked about her father.

"Lucina mentioned it briefly."

"My father had a hand in that war, a powerful man who wanted the name Plegia to strike fear into all who heard it" he shook his head, and she knew he was struggling to wrestle down a powerful emotion. "our blood was to be harnessed and concerned so we may act as beacons of what Plegia was capable of"

She didn't remember her father at all. Her mother was a vague memory, but there was nothing that told her she had a father. "I couldn't imagine what that must be like."

Robin shook his head again. "Consider that a blessing," and when he looked back up to meet her gaze, he seemed better. "However, I was also trained by my mother to quell the fire," there was a fondness in his voice at that last part "if you ever fear you are losing control, seek me out. I will aid you as best I can"

She wasn't aware she had tears, somehow she felt like someone understood her struggle in only for a moment. "Thank you."

He stopped leaning against the wheel. "I need to fetch something from my room," he made a motion that directed her attention to the wheel "care to man the wheel while I'm away."

"Of course," she didn't need to think about it.

Before he left, he peeked over his shoulder, "And don't you worry about the crew" there was a smug grin on his face as he added, "they know not to come out at night anymore."

After he left, she looked at the wheel only to realize it had something in place to keep it from moving. She didn't need to be there, yet there was something about what Robin said that caught her attention. 'Why mention the crew at all?' she stared out at the ocean and remembered the faint piece it brought her 'he really is quite nice.'

Back at the harbor, the remnants of the Pirates of Grim were preparing for their next voyage.

There was some deliberation over what their next course of action would be now that their captain was gone, but Gari helpfully suggested making the trip back towards the Hyrulian seas. Supposedly, some conflict was beginning to stir between the Kingdom of Hyrule and the exiled king of the Gerardo tribe. And where there was conflict, there was opportunity for people like them.

So it was that they decided to take the Hylian's advice. After a few days to make repairs and stock up on supplies, they would set off to new horizons full of promise and riches.

Or so might've been the case if she hadn't shown up.

It was late in the evening when she came aboard. The crew was winding down from a long day of prep work. A few of them had already left to go relax at the local tavern. One particular crew member was trying to cover up an image of a cat that had been rudely carved into their ship when he noticed her. The moment he did, all thoughts of his current task fled his mind.

Calling the woman before him gorgeous would have been a gross understatement. Tall and beautiful, the open jacket and form-fitting trousers she wore did little to hide her generous curves. Eyes as blue as the ocean and hair as golden as the sun completed the angelic vision, not that the pirate spent much time looking anywhere above her shoulders.

The only things standing contrast to this picturesque image were the whip the woman had strapped to her side, and a single, polished orange pauldron adorning one of her shoulders. Even those did little to detract from her overall allure, though.

With all the eagerness of a man dying of thirst, the pirate strolled up to the picture of beauty to make his move. Weeks of being stuck at sea with that creepy-but-attractive dragon-spawn had left him and his mates deprived, and he wasn't about to pass up such a fine lass being delivered right to their doorstep.

The woman turned to him as he approached. He grinned. "'Ey there, Sweet-cheeks. Wot brings a fine thing like you to our ship?"

The pony-tailed woman looked around. Some of his mates stopped what they were doing to check out what the small commotion was. Or rather, to check out the fine lady causing it.

"…Is this all of you?" Her voice was deep and smokey, fitting the beauty before him wonderfully. Oh yeah, he was already in love.

"Yeah, pretty much." He answered without much thought, his mind elsewhere. "Couple o' guys below deck, couple more went out ta snag a drink." The pirate leaned forward a bit, not even bothering to hide where he was looking. "Though we lost a few on the way here. A few more bailed the minute we docked, so we're a bit short-handed. Could use a few more… hands if yer interested."

He wasn't looking at her hands.

The woman let out a dismissive puff of air. "Is this all? I expected the Pirates of Grim to be more impressive-looking. Or to at least have the manpower to back up their reputation."

The man's grin fell. "I, Uh… Huh…?" He glanced up at their mast to confirm that they did indeed lower their jolly roger, so the locals shouldn't have been able to peg them as pirates, much less which pirates they were.

The woman answered his unasked question. "Your friends at the bar were kind enough to fill me in. Alcohol is quite the lip-loosener."

The pirate laughed. "Ahaha! So it was the boys wot sent ya here! Those scoundrels! I'll owe 'em a drink next time we go out fo' sure!"

"That won't be happening." The woman said plainly, once again cutting his good mood short. "Your 'boys' have been left with the local authorities. You won't be going out with them again anytime soon."

"W-What? You tellin' me ya snitched on 'em?"

"No, I turned them in." He and his onlooking crewmates were taken aback by that. The woman removed her whip and swept her gaze over everyone on deck. "Samus Aran, bounty hunter. Come quietly."

The pirate shared an uncertain glance with his mates. Surely this woman wasn't serious? Even if she handled a couple of drunkards at the bar, there was no way a lone woman could take out every man on the ship.

He glanced back at the woman, Samus. She was stoically holding her weapon, awaiting their response.

The pirate gritted his teeth. Damned woman! She had another thing coming if she thought she could talk high and mighty like that with the dreaded Grim Pirates! He'd enjoy putting her where she belonged! He reached for his sword to do just that-

Her boot in his face was the last thing he saw before getting knocked out.

Akira watched him out of the corner of his eye. It was clear at the meeting that Chrom was completely blindsided by Robin's sudden request. He eyed the ex-pirate as he stared over their map.

"You know," he started, "if you have a question, you can just ask," the mage locked his gaze, and he knew he'd been caught.

'He has sharp instincts, good to know' Akira took the seat by the fire as Robin rolled up the map. "What was with the sudden change of heart?"

"Change of heart?"

"You were a Captain of a fine ship and had a pretty powerful reputation-"

Robin cut off his sentence with a swat at the air, "Your point?"

Akira sighed, "Why'd you give it up?" he glanced at Robin from the corner of his eye "it's not Chrom, is it?"

"I didn't become the Grim Captain for fame" Robin pulled the collar of his coat up as if pulling at a hood that no longer was there "it was a byproduct of survival."

"Becoming a pirate maybe," Akira tilted his head just slightly so that Robin could see more of him, "but becoming an infamous Pirate Captain?" he smirked. "Yeah, sorry, but I don't buy it."

"I didn't wish to go down this path" Robin looked down but then gazed at Akira from the corner of his eye "although, a thief like you would know a lot about that."

"Thief? Me?" Akira gained surprise, trying to hide his smile 'very good instincts.'

"Don't play coy," Robin growled. "I've seen what you can do. You're not just any petty crook. You're an expert, must how quite the career."

'And he's sharp too, quite the talent' He leaned back, clearly not hiding the smirk on his face "fine, you caught me, I have dabbled in less than savory parts of society."

Robin hunched over a bit more, resting his chin in his palm. "You act so proud."

"Why shouldn't I be" he was grinning. "I bring revolution, I stand for freedom, a rebellious spirit, a rising star, and a DAMN good thief."

Robin only closed his eyes, he gave a defeated sigh before speaking again. "I wish I had your enthusiasm for the path I walk."

'Interesting' Akira leaned forward as Robin straitened.

"I have fallen from grace," he looked down at his hands, "if my sister could see me now..."

"Your sister?" Akira prompted, but Robin only shook his head

"I was once someone of high status back in Plegia," Robin clenched his fist. "I came to Ylisse hoping to help ease the tension between our two opposing nations, but"

'High status? … interesting.'

"Everything that confirmed my identity stolen. Meanwhile, I was left to die at sea," he brought that fist to his chest "by Grima's mercy, I found myself washed ashore and alive."

He knew this part of the story. "That's when you met Chrom, yes?"

The tension in his grip loosened. "For me, the one good thing that came from Ylisse is that man," he shook his head.

"Shortly after we split ways, I got my hands on a vessel with the full intention of going back home, but ..."

"But?" Akira raised an eyebrow

"I abandoned my home to come to Ylisse, and with nothing to show for my efforts, I would be going back a failure" he hung his head.

Realization his Akira a little harder then he had expected. 'So he didn't go back' he clutched at his scarf subconsciously.

"I named my ship the Black Dragon so it can be my guide" there was a hint of anger in his voice. "I didn't intend for my crew to turn my own god against me" Akira could clearly hear the conflict in Robin's voice, anger and sorrow bound together by outrage and shame "when they found out I was Grimleal, there was no stopping them from calling us the Pirates of Grim."

'The term Grimleal is plagued by fear. Any pirate would be foolish not to use that to their advantage.'

His voice dropped. "I dirtied my hands because I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to drag my people, my faith, My God, down with me" the pain in his voice started to overpower his words until it suddenly lost all its energy "this was my shame … I couldn't go back after that."

There was a sorrowful silence that filled the air.

"Is that why you're coming?" Akira finally broke the tension "to make ties with Ylisse again?"

"Not entirely," Robin wiped his eyes, Akira hadn't noticed the tears "as I've told you, there was a mutiny on the ship the night before we had our little meeting."

'Ah, so that's it,' Akira nodded. "So you couldn't stay there anymore."

"Besides," Robin shook his head, "I love the sea, but I never liked being a pirate."

The tension had faded, and Akira was relieved to see Robin had pulled himself together rather quickly. "By the way."

"Yes?"

He needed to get this out of the way now before it became a problem. "I'm going to be sleeping in the tent next to yours-"

Robin gave another dismissive wave. "Say no more" he tried to suppress a smirk and but he did chuckle a bit. "Chrom shared with me your complaints from the ship."

"Alright," with any hope he'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

With a dull thud, the last conscious member of the Pirates of Grim hit the floor, incapacitated.

Samus let out an almost disappointed sigh. That had been… pathetically easy, frankly. These men didn't at all live up to the reputation of the Pirates of Grim. She had come aboard expecting dark magic and cunning fiends, but these guys were the kind of ragtag hoodlums you could find anywhere. She was beginning to think these men were just posers, mooching off the renown of their betters.

Well, regardless, her job was done, for whatever it was worth. Their identities would be sorted out once she turned them in and collected her reward. She had some misgivings about turning in a supposedly Grimleal bunch of pirates so close to Plegian territory, but a generous bounty was still being offered, and it seemed unlikely that these incompetent fools were Grimleal anyway. Plus, escorting the whole crew over to another nation for pay would be more trouble than it was worth.

She set about searching the ship for some rope she could use to restrain this lot with that in mind. She was about to return her whip to her side when slow clapping sounded out from above.

Readying her weapon once more, Samus followed the source of the noise to find what looked to be another pirate, standing high up on the yardarm of the central mast. He must've been hiding up in the crow's nest, watching her as she dispatched the others.

The newcomer ended his slow applause. In an impressive feat of acrobatics, the man leaped off the mast, using the rigging to land himself safely on the upper deck. Closer up, Samus was able to get a better read on him. Lean, pale, looked to be Hylian. He didn't look as rough and rugged as the rest of the crew, but if anything, that only made him more dangerous. Especially considering the nimble display, he just performed.

He looked down at her with a shrewd smile. "Bravo, bravo. Quite the impressive show you put on."

"Are you another member of this crew?" Samus demanded, getting straight to the point.

The lean man gave a dramatic sigh. "After a fashion, as embarrassing as it is to admit any relation to this utter trash."

She steadily edged closer. "You wouldn't be their captain, would you?" The white hair checked out, but nothing else about this man matched the Grim Captain's physical descriptions. That might not mean much if the rumors of dark magic were true, though.

The man gave a slow chuckle. "Afraid not. Seems the dear captain has set out for new pastures. I certainly can't blame him, not when his crew consisted of such worthless scum."

"G-Gari…!" Croaked one of the crew members she had downed. He had regained consciousness, though it seemed he only had enough strength to prop himself up on a shaky elbow. "W-What the 'ell 're ya playin' at…?"

The pale Hylian "Gari" dropped his jovial façade. Out of thin air, a dagger manifested in his hand. Coldly, almost dismissively, he chucked the dagger at the confused pirate, whose eyes widened in shock and fear.

In an instant, Samus lashed out with her whip, knocking the dagger away mid-flight. "Gari" huffed, but otherwise didn't seem all that upset.

She moved like a flash. With a display of acrobatics that matched Gari's earlier display in impressiveness, Samus was on the upper deck in the blink of an eye. She ducked under several more thrown daggers, diving into a roll, brought her to Gari's feet, and lashed out with a high kick.

The pirate leaned back impressively far to avoid the blow. From her position on the ground, she twisted, trying to kick his feet out from under him, but the impressively flexible pirate flipped backward, doing several cartwheels to put some distance between them.

She wasn't about to let him off easy. Her whip lashed out, wrapping itself around one of his arms. Rather than reeling him in, she allowed herself to be pulled to him, soaring at him with a flying dropkick. At the last second, he manifested a cutlass in his offhand and thrust at her mid-flight. With her own impressive display of flexibility and dexterity, she twisted herself out of the blade's path. She felt it graze the metal of her pauldron as her drop kick landed, sending Gari tumbling into the ship's railing.

She went in for another kick, hoping to knock him out before he recovered. Just before her strike landed, however, Gari vanished, leaving diamond-like runes in his wake.

Another round of applause sounded out from the other side of the ship, where Gari now stood.

Samus narrowed her eyes. "I know who you are." This mysterious man didn't match the description of any known members of the Grim Pirates, but his appearance, demeanor, and fighting style brought to mind another prominent criminal she'd heard tale of. "You're Ghirahim. Self-proclaimed 'Demon Lord', and underling of the exiled Gerardo King Ganondorf. Am I wrong?"

The pale man's lips curled up into a smile. He threw his arms out wide. "Hit the nail on the head! Indeed! I am Lord Ghirahim! Dancer of decimation and weaver of woe!." He brushed some hair out of his face in an intentionally flamboyant manner. "And might I say, what a relief it is to finally let reveal my true self after these weary weeks of acting as a common ruffian with the rest of these low lives." He gestured to the defeated Grim Pirates, who were left gaping in shock at his revelation. "Such a stifling performance, pretending to be something I'm so clearly not. Bottling up one's true self isn't good for the heart, you know."

The newly revealed Ghirahim let out a long sigh of relief. If anything, Samus only became more tense. This man was notoriously dangerous. Whether or not he was actually a demon was debatable, but the tales of his magical prowess and skill with blades were well-known. As was his penchant for trickery. All in the name of his master.

"What business does Ganondorf's right-hand have with the Grim Pirates?"

Ghirahim's smile dropped. "Nothing anymore." Before she could press for more, he vanished from sight again. He reappeared on top of a stack of crates the crew had been stocking before her arrival. "My master requires allies. Powerful ones. So when we heard tales of such a dreaded man as the Grim Captain sailing near our waters, how could we not desire a partnership?" Another flash and he was leaning off the rigging, holding a hand out theatrically. "Imagine it! A pact between dark lords, both shunned by society, combining their awesome might to carve out the world they desire!"

He vanished again, and this time Samus lost track of him entirely. She prepared herself for an attack, but none came. Instead, another sigh drew her attention behind her. Ghirahim was sitting on the railing, his legs hanging over the edge and looking forlorn. "But alas, the heralded Grim Captain has his own agenda, it seems. I infiltrated this ship with the purpose of recruiting him, so when it became clear that he would not join our cause, I became positively downtrodden! So much valuable time wasted. I thought at the very least I could take the crew as a consolation prize, but…" He glared in the direction of the crew. "The useless fools couldn't even stage a mutiny properly."

Despite how vulnerable he looked at the moment, Samus held her ground. She had little doubt he would simply vanish again if she launched an assault.

Sure enough, but he disappeared again. She caught sight of him back down on the main deck. He stood over one of his former "allies," sword in hand. Rather than wielding it threateningly, he simply held it in front of him, as if admiring it. "Yes, I figured even cannon fodder like them had their uses. So I turned them to treachery. Subtly, of course. Just put the idea into their little brains that their captain doesn't have their best interests in mind. If all had gone to plan, the Grim Captain would've been out of my hair, and I'd be carting these ruffians back home to begin their new lives as servants to my master. But instead, the dear captain walked out on his own, and this miserable lot got bested by a lone bounty hunter. The epitome of useless they are."

The pirate he was standing overlooked up at him, betrayed. Samus almost felt bad for him, but she wasn't about to waste her pity on someone who pillaged and killed for a living, so she pressed on. "Are you upset that I ruined your plans?"

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow. "Upset?" He vanished again, this time reappearing up on the yardarm, his hands grasping at his hair. "Of COURSE, I'm upset! I'm FURIOUS! OUTRAGED! I feel like the sheer amount of loathing I feel is threatening to seep out of my pores!"

There was a sudden tension in the air, so thick and oppressive that it was as if the sky itself was darkening with his mood. The sickly aura put Seamus's hairs on end.

At once, the tension vanished, along with Ghirahim again. When he reappeared behind her, he was idly brushing his fingers through his mussed hair. "But oh well. Getting mad will hardly solve anything, will it? My original quarry has taken his prize and left, and you've proven just how worthless these men are without their captain. At this point, I want nothing more than to wash my hands of this whole mess and return to my master's side."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Samus said, unperturbed by Ghirahim's show of power, "but you won't be going anywhere. The bounty on your head is nearly as sizable as the Grim Captain's. You'll be coming with me. Then, you'll be telling me where he went."

The self-proclaimed demon lord glanced back at her in an almost uninterested manner. Slowly though, a nasty grin spread across his face. "You want to know where he went? In the interest of spite, I'd be happy to tell you." Samus tensed, not liking the gleam in his eyes. "Have you heard the news? The young princess of Ylisse has gone missing. A sweet little girl with blue hair and the royal crest in her eye. As it happens, she was on this very vessel not too long ago. But our dear Grimleal captain left with her, heading in, and. What he has planned for her is anyone's guess."

Seamus's blood ran cold. The princess's disappearance was news that had only recently spread to these lands. It wasn't unthinkable; that pirates were responsible for her abduction. But a Ylissean royal in the hands of a Grimleal, especially one as feared as the Grim Captain… the thought didn't bear thinking about.

She launched herself at Ghirahim. If his words were true, she needed to capture him quickly and track down the missing princess before something terrible happened.

Predictably, the trickster vanished again. "Sorry to disappoint you," came his voice from back up the central mast, "but I have places to be. Maybe I'll see if I can't pick up that Kremling's captain on my way home. As for you…"

He snapped his fingers, prompting several daggers to appear in mid-air. Then he snapped again, and again, summoning more daggers with each snap. Once he had a veritable wall of them lined up behind him, he pointed down at Samus, sending the blades raining down on her.

Samus back-stepped, dodging, weaving, and deflecting as many daggers as she could until she found cover behind the rear mast. The rest of the hailstorm embedded itself harmlessly into the ship. She stepped out from behind the mast to once again engage Ghirahim, but the trickster was nowhere to be found.

The bounty hunter cursed. She had to get after him before-

One last snap echoed throughout the ship. With it came a series of needle-like bolts of magic that embedded themselves into the railing of the ship. A latticework of diamond-shaped magic materialized between the bolts of magic, creating a barrier encompassing the entire ship.

Ghirahim's voice echoed out, reverberating off the walls. "That should hold you until I'm out of range. May we never meet again, dear bounty hunter!"

Samus cursed under her breath. She walked up to the orange barrier and gave it a nice, sturdy kick. No dice.

For a moment, her hand drifted up to her pauldron. She sighed. There was likely no point. With his ability to teleport, chasing him down would likely be an act of futility. For now, she would take care of the Grim Pirates. She would see if their accounts backed up Ghirahim's claims, then she'd decide her next move.

….And pick up her bounty. She could use a nice meal and a hot bath after this mess.

AN/ well, hope you enjoyed that, also Sorry about Regna Ferox, but wolfy and I needed a place to put everything … Valm too, I guess … should've apologized for that one a while ago.

right well, I think I should probably mention that Wolfy and I will be taking a bit o a break from SoS, he's got school to worry about and I don't wanna put more pressure on him. I'm not sure when we'll be back but I can assure you that we will be coming back, Wolfy and I really do enjoy writing this fic so I hope you'll stay tuned for our return.

~S. Rosy (10/26/20)