Chapter 55: The Voyage South

"Full speed ahead!" Seacat yelled into the speaking tube.

"Copy, full speed ahead!" Entrapta's tinny voice sounded through the tube - and through the open hatch leading down to the hold.

A moment later, the Victory's Daughter seemed to jump forward as the engine propelled it through the waves at ever-increasing speed. Seacat bared her teeth in a wide grin at the wind hitting her face - this was great! Perfect!

"Shouldn't we save some fuel?" Adora asked.

"We aren't going to sprint the whole trip," Seacat told her. "But we need to put her through her paces to test the engine."

"Are you talking about Entrapta or the ship?"

Seacat frowned at her lover. Adora's humour was sometimes lacking. "The ship."

"Ah." Adora nodded with a serious expression. "And why did you use the speaky-tube instead of the controls here?" She pointed at the levers next to the steering wheel.

"To test them," Seacat told her. "I'll test the controls later."

"Ah. Didn't we test the ship yesterday?"

"We did. But this is her maiden voyage. We have to test her endurance now." You never caught everything that needed fixing when fitting out. Entrapta would have to teach the crew about running the engine, too, Seacat reminded herself. Well, running it wasn't really difficult - Seacat could do it already. Unless the new engine was markedly more complex than the others Entrapta had made. The princess hadn't said so, though. But repairing it? Learning that would be difficult. And finding someone who knew more about engines wouldn't be easy, either. Fortunately, they had sails if they ever lost the engine on a voyage.

And for this, they had the best person for the job with them. Entrapta could probably whip up a new engine out of some scraps and some spare parts from Emily. Not that the princess would ever do that to Emily, though, Seacat added to herself as she looked at the bot standing in the middle of the deck, just before the swivel gun in the bow.

"So…"

Seacat looked at Adora. "What?"

"How long will we run at full speed?"

"An hour, I'd say. Enough to test it thoroughly." Seacat looked behind - Salineas was already growing smaller. How fast the ship was! Her ship. Faster than anything she had ever sailed.

"Huzzah!" The Captain seemed to share her impression. "This is like riding the lightning!" He grabbed a line and jumped, swinging around the mast and landing in the rigging.

"He didn't actually ride the lightning, did he?" Adora asked.

Seacat glanced at her. She should know better than to ask such a silly question. Then again, it was the Captain… "No. But he'd do it if he ever had the opportunity."

Her lover laughed at that.

"We're burning a lot of crystals." Mermista had climbed the stairs to the bridge.

"We need to put her through her paces," Seacat repeated herself.

"Yes. I'm just wondering about the availability of crystals," Mermista said, leaning against the railing. "With all frigates getting engines installed, and couriers as well… It's not going to be cheap to keep them supplied. And mines run out. Eventually."

Right. Seacat hadn't considered that. Transports could just sail, but warships and couriers needed engines once everyone else had them. "Did anyone check how large the crystal supply is?" she asked.

"I've sent Admiral Barton to investigate," Mermista said.

Seacat frowned - the name didn't ring a bell.

"She was recently promoted for her actions during the war," the princess explained. "She's good at administration and logistics."

A good choice, then. "Well, if the crystals run out, we'll have to see if we find alternatives. Wasn't Entrapta looking into engines using wood?"

"She was, yes. But they are very inefficient," Mermista replied. "I don't have the exact numbers, but we would need a lot of wood to fuel an engine for a frigate. We would have to sacrifice firepower - or restrict the engine to combat and emergencies. And wood takes time to grow. We can't sacrifice our forests for fuel; we need them for building ships."

"Perfuma might be able to help out," Adora said with a smile. "I bet she can grow wood with a thought."

"Yes." Mermista didn't sound very happy about it.

Even Adora noticed it. "What's the problem?"

"We would depend entirely on her. That's not a good idea," the princess explained. "And what if she retires? Or dies?"

"Oh." Adora blinked. "I didn't think about that.

Seacat nodded. "The Horde didn't really train long-term planning."

"No, they didn't." Adora frowned. "Hey!"

Seacat chuckled. But she was a little concerned about their future. Although that was a problem they could - and had to - tackle after saving Etheria. How to fuel your fleet wasn't really important if everyone died when the planet blew up.

Later that day, they were running under sail, with the engine turned off, and everyone was on deck, relaxing in the warm afternoon sun.

Well, Entrapta was going through a stack of notes double her height, but that was relaxing for her. Seacat wasn't quite sure that Bow, who was helping her, felt the same, but he was a grown man; he could decide for himself whether or not he'd take a break. And Perfuma and the Horde princess were making plans about 'revitalising' more of the Fright Zone. Castaspella, who had made it to Salienas after her detour to Mystacore in time to join them, was leaning over the railing and puking her guts out.

But everyone else except for Horas, who was manning the bridge, was relaxing. Seacat was leaning against Adora's legs on the main deck. Well away from Emily, in case a wave hit the ship and made the bot slide around despite the lines lashing it to the deck. And watching Glimmer trying to avoid showing how unhappy she was that Bow was busy.

Seacat hid her grin when the princess turned towards them. "So! How much longer until we reach the island?"

"About a week or a little longer, depending on the wind," Seacat told her. "That hasn't changed since we've left port."

Glimmer frowned for a moment. "Can't we go faster with the engine?"

"We might run out of fuel if we do that," Seacat replied.

"Don't we have a hold full of fuel crystals? There's barely room for everyone to hang a hammock."

"If we run into trouble, we might need all that," Mermista cut in - probably annoyed at the implied criticism of the supplies provided by the Salinean Navy.

"Trouble?" Glimmer snorted. "In a pinch, I can drop bombs on a ship. Or She-Ra," she added with a grin.

Seacat frowned, but Adora laughed. "Oh, yes! Drop me on an enemy ship, and I start slicing and dicing!" After a moment, she added: "Well, they wouldn't blow themselves up, would they?"

"I haven't heard of any Headhunters deserting with a ship," Mermista said. "Hey, Princess Scorpia! Do you know of any Headhunters in your navy?"

"What?"

"We're wondering if we might encounter people who are willing to blow up their ship to get us," Adora explained.

"Who would do that?" the Horde princess gasped.

"Your Headhunters?" Seacat replied with a frown.

"Who wouldn't?" Sea Hawk spoke up. "It's a tried and true way to sink an enemy ship! I've done it myself; I can vouch for its efficacy!"

"No, I don't know of any such people," the bug princess said. "Most Headhunters who deserted went into the Crimson Waste.

"We're not going to blow up my ship," Seacat said with a slight growl. She'd gut anyone suggesting that! Unless it was absolutely necessary. "We can outrun anything big enough to threaten us. Provided we have enough fuel."She flashed her fangs at Glimmer. Just a little.

Glimmer pouted. "Well, what other threats are out there? Sea Monsters?"

"I can deal with them!" Adora said at once.

"We know," Seacat commented, remembering that particular trip. Her first voyage with Adora. So long ago… She sighed at the memories.

"Something wrong?" Adora asked.

"No. Just remembering how you jumped into the water to kill a sea monster," Seacat told her.

"Oh." Adora chuckled, though it sounded a little forced." Well, that wasn't my finest moment. I so wanted to show off."

"Well, you did - and it was impressive," Seacat said, turning her head to smile at her.

"Thanks."

They stared at each other. Seacat licked her lips. If she shifted a little - well, a lot - she could…

"You're so sweet!" Licy blurted out.

Alcy's sigh was heard across the entire deck. "Licy!"

"What? It's true!"

"You just interrupted them!"

"Oh! Sorry! Please continue! Just ignore me, Captain!"

Seacat stared at the other sailor. Licy was beaming at her as if this was normal. She glanced at Sea Hawk, who was openly smirking. Great.

That part of being a captain she could've done without.

Then Adora pulled her into her lap.

"Hey!" Seacat squirmed, but Adora held her tightly. And trying to force the issue would make her look even more ridiculous than sitting in her lover's lap already did. So she sighed and leaned back. "Any trouble with the ship?" she asked.

"No. Everything's shipshape!" Licy replied.

"We've adjusted the rigging a little, but that was it," Alcy added.

"My yards do good work," Mermista stated with a grin.

"Still, this is a new design…" Seacat lightly bit her lower lip.

"But I've built it upon tested designs!" Entrapta announced. "And I ran the calculations three times! So far, everything's coming out correctly!"

"Let's hope it stays that way," Seacat said, leaning into Adora. Just a nice, peaceful trip, and then they could deal with the First One's mess.

A few days later, they were deep in the Southern Sea, and the temperature told. Seacat, standing on the bridge, shook her head at the sight of Glimmer, who was lying spread-eagled on the main deck under a sunscreen. The princess hadn't stopped complaining about the heat for the last hour. Which was kind of impressive, actually.

Entrapta was in the hold, working on some 'fan-system' that should help with the temperature. Or so she claimed - she'd been down there since the morning. Seacat hoped that Horas, who was sleeping after his watch on the bridge at night, wouldn't be disturbed by whatever the princess was building.

She didn't think, really didn't think, about Sea Hawk and Mermista 'resting' in the captain's cabin. As if Mermista truly had felt faint! And she ignored Castaspella, who still hadn't gotten over her sea sickness. Or over the railing.

"Ah! This feels nice!"

Seacat turned her head to look at the Horde princess stomping over the deck. The big woman spread her arms. "It's almost like home!"

"A little too warm," Perfuma, who seemed to be glued to the Horde princess's side for the trip, said.

"Oh. I forgot you grew up in colder forests. I'm sorry."

"No, no! It's OK. I can handle it. You shouldn't feel sorry for being happy about the weather."

"But if you're suffering…"

"I'm not suffering! I'm merely… unused to the temperature," Perfuma retorted.

"Still, perhaps we should get into the shade. I've seen soldiers collapse in the heat."

"I'm no soldier."

"That doesn't mean you can't catch a sunburn. Or a heatstroke." The big woman picked the princess up and carried her to the sunscreen.

Seacat shook her head at their antics. It wasn't that hot. And the heat had some good parts, too.

She looked behind her, where Adora and Bow were working on the swivel gun, and smiled. Her lover was wearing the sailor's outfit Seacat had picked for her - which almost matched her own - and it showed off her body much better than her usual uniform.

"We're ready for gunnery practice!" Licy yelled from the bow.

Right. Gunnery practice. Horas better had slept enough. "Fetch a target!" Seacat yelled. "And call Horas to throw it."

"No need!" Licy yelled back. "There's a driftwood ahead!"

Driftwood? In the middle of the sea? Not unheard of, of course - driftwood could travel far in the currents of the sea - but… "Belay that! Let's first take a look at the wood!" she called out.

"Do you think it might be a floating bomb?" Adora asked.

"Here? No." And if it was, it would probably be inert anyway; after so much time in the water, the seals would have failed, and the powder would've been ruined. At least Seacat hoped so. There had been incidents with transport ships encountering floating bombs near the coast, even after the war had officially ended.

"So, why are we taking a look at it?"

Seacat grinned. "So we know where it's from. You can find out a lot from driftwood."

"Ah." Adora nodded. "Another thing I need to learn." She nibbled on her lower lip, which made her look very cute but also showed that she wasn't feeling completely happy about this.

"It's not that important," Seacat assured her. "And most of it is common sense. Hey, Perfuma might be able to tell us much more about the wood thanks to her own knowledge about plants."

"Right." Adora smiled.

Seacat turned the ship a little - the wind's direction hadn't changed, so it was easy to sail closer to the piece of wood - and they approached it. Cautiously, of course - driftwood didn't need to contain a bomb to damage a ship's hull.

Adora all but jumped into the sea, so eager was she to recover the piece of wood. She speared it with a harpoon, then pulled it out of the water with the ship's crane. "Doesn't look like a bomb," she said.

Seacat frowned. It really didn't look like a bomb - it looked like a piece of a ship's hull. "Pull it in!" she ordered.

As soon as the wood was on the deck, she took a closer look. "That's a piece of a plank," she said. She sniffed the edge. "Tar."

"Quite thick for a plank," Adora commented.

"Frigate's hull," Alcy told them.

"There aren't any Salinean frigates in this area," Seacat said. Mermista would've told them. "Which means this is a Horde frigate."

"Are you sure? It could have drifted down from the coast, couldn't it?" Adora asked.

"Yes." Seacat pointed at the edge. "This is too fresh to have spent weeks in the sea."

She didn't know what worried her more: That there might be a slightly damaged Horde frigate in the area or that something might be in the area that had sunk a Horde frigate.

They didn't find any more parts of the mysterious frigate as they continued their voyage towards Beast Island. That didn't mean anything, of course - the ocean's currents could've dispersed a frigate's worth of parts all over the Southern Sea - but Seacat didn't like it anyway.

And she kept an eye out on the sea even when she took their position shortly before sundown. Still no drifting wreck.

"What do we do if there's a Horde frigate out there? Here, I mean," Adora asked from behind her.

Without taking her eyes off the sextant - she had to check their position before sundown - she replied: "We can outsail any frigate." No Horde hulk would ever catch the Victory's Daughter!

"But what if they're blocking our way to Beast Island?"

She finished her task first before answering. They were on course. Then she turned to face Adora. "Then Glimmer drops you in the middle of the frigate's deck or on bridge, and you sink it."

"And what if they surrender?"

Then they'd have a prize. Wait - they didn't have the numbers for a prize crew. Seacat clenched her teeth. "Then we drop their guns in the sea and send them on their way. Unless they're pirates, in which case we sink the ship with them on it."

"Really?" Adora looked shocked. "But…"

"Pirates are the scum of the Seas," Seacat told her. "If we took them to Salineas, they'd hang anyway. And as the ruler of Salineas, Mermista can judge them." The pirates would even have a fair trial!

Adora still looked queasy. "And how do we know that they're pirates?"

"If they hoist the black flag," Seacat replied. "Or if they refuse to answer to Scorpia." The Horde princess could order Horde ships around, Seacat reminded herself. Although if they hadn't heard about the end of the war, even legitimate Horde ships might be suspicious of a Horde leader travelling with the leadership of the Alliance. On the other hand, Scorpia didn't know about any frigate dispatched to this area.

"They could just be deserters," Adora argued.

"And what would they be doing here, in the Southern Seas?"

"Looking for a place to live?" Adora smiled weakly.

Seacat snorted. "On Beast Island?" She blinked. "They might be trying to reach Beast Island, actually."

Adora frowned as she thought this over. "To hide?"

"Or to loot whatever is hidden on the island," Seacat said. "Or to use it as a base for piracy."

"Wouldn't it be too far away from the coast and shipping lanes for that?"

Seacat shook her head. "No. The farther away, the better - the Salineans would find a base close to the coast easily." Well, unless led by inept officers. But Mermista had been good about weeding out those during the latter parts of the war. She shook her head as she noted their position in the log.

Adora leaned against the railing and looked at the darkening sky. "I hope we don't meet the frigate."

"Then we will meet whoever or whatever sank it," Seacat said. "There's only one thing of interest in this area of the ocean, and that's Beast Island."

"I hoped this would be over, you know."

"'This'?" Seacat stowed the sextant and the log in the small chest she carried and looked at her lover.

"Killing the Horde."

Oh. "Technically, we'd be killing pirates, not the Horde. Scorpia commands the Horde, and she can order Horde ships away," she pointed out.

"It's still killing," Adora retorted. "I was just…"

"I know," Seacat said. "But pirates are a fact of life on the sea. As are bandits on land," she added - in case Adora had serious second thoughts about sailing with her.

"I know." Adora huffed. "Just… I'm tired. After this is done, can we just sail for a while? Without killing anyone?"

That depended on the pirates being smart enough not to attack them. Or bother them. But Seacat nodded, touching Adora's arm and squeezed. "We will." She cocked her head, the chest under her left arm. "And what about monsters?"

"They don't count!"

"Alright." Seacat grinned. "Let me stow this, then we can join the others for dinner." Once Alcy and Licy were done eating and could relieve them on the bridge. Technically, it only needed one person, but if they had so many people on board, two were better.

"What's for dinner?"

"Look for yourself," Seacat told her.

"You smelt it already, didn't you?"

Seacat had, but why spoil the surprise? "Perfuma's cooking."

"That doesn't narrow it down."

That was true - the princess had a very wide range of dishes. And she could grow fresh fruit and vegetables on the ship! "Just be a little patient!" Seacat replied, grinning.

"Oh, you!"

They laughed as Adora mock-chased her to their cabin.

"Ship ahead!"

Seacat jerked at Adora's call and looked up at the crow's nest. "What kind of ship!" she yelled. She couldn't just scale the rigging and take a look herself - that would make it look like she didn't trust Adora.

"Uh…" She saw Adora fiddle with the telescope. "It looks like… Horde!"

The Horde frigate! Just as she had feared. Seacat gritted her teeth. "Course?"

"North? Their sails aren't… they don't look right."

Seacat moved to the bow. She couldn't spot the enemy ship yet. "Stay the course!" she yelled at Alcy, who was at the helm of Victory's Daughter. "Get ready to start the engine in case we need to run!"

"Run?" Glimmer was at her side. "We can take a frigate!"

"Not in a gun duel. I'd rather have my ship safely out of range of their guns while Adora goes through their crew," Seacat replied. "Just in case they're not as inept at gunnery as most Horde ships."

"There shouldn't be any Horde ships here." The bug princess had joined her.

"Well, there is." Seacat trusted Adora's eyes more than the Horde's records. And… was that a speck on the horizon? She used her own telescope. Yes! That was the sail - the sails of a Horde frigate.

But they looked tattered. And they weren't… they weren't properly secured. Not even a Horde crew would be so sloppy! Had they run into a storm and had had their sails torn to shreds before they could reef? She could see the hull now - it looked intact. At least as far as she could tell.

She couldn't see any movement on board the frigate, though. No sailor on deck, none in the rigging, none on the bridge.

Seacat clenched her teeth as she felt the fur on her neck bristle. This wasn't good. "Take us closer!"

"What?" Glimmer asked.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Seacat told her.

"And so we're going to close with the frigate?" The bug princess sounded surprised. "What if it's an ambush?"

"That would be good, actually," Seacat replied. She flashed her fangs at the Horde princess. "We can deal with ambushes." The enemy wouldn't expect Adora. Or Glimmer. Or Mermista.

"What do you think it is, then?"

"I don't know," Seacat told her. "But I've got a feeling that it's bad."

As they closed with the frigate - but not too close; they wouldn't enter gun range - more details became visible.

"The ship's drifting," Seacat said. "No one's at the helm."

"And the rudder doesn't look as if it is stuck," Sea Hawk added, looking through his telescope. "The ship wasn't set adrift, then."

"No, she wasn't. And she's got an engine," Seacat said. She could see the air intakes.

"Why would the crew abandon the ship?" Entrapta asked.

Seacat could think of a few reasons, none of them good. "She doesn't look too damaged. The sails are torn, but the hull looks to be in decent shape. For a Horde frigate," she amended - they weren't built well, after all. Or designed. "So, it wasn't a fire that forced them off the ship."

"Plague?" Mermista speculated. "They should've set her on fire in that case, but…" She shrugged. "Horde sailors."

The bug princess muttered a curse under her breath at that. Seacat grinned at her. "You can't deny that your sailors are the dregs of your army."

"Not all of them are bad," the princess retorted with a scowl.

"That's not exactly a good defence," Bow pointed out.

The Horde princess grumbled some more.

"If they caught the plague while they were at sea," Seacat cut in, "they could've all died before reaching land. We can't board the ship if this is the case." She wouldn't risk Adora. Even though her lover could heal with magic.

"We can't just ignore it," Glimmer retorted.

"We won't ignore it," Seacat told her. "Best set them on fire. If we don't see any sign that she's still got crew. Licy!"

"Yes?"

"Shoot the cannon. Let's see if that gets us a reaction," Seacat said.

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Licy started to aim the cannon in the bow, and Seacat protected her ears. A moment later, the swivel gun bellowed.

Seacat watched through her telescope again. No reaction. Perhaps the frigate was… Wait! "There's someone on the deck!" she yelled. More than one - she could see sailors, Horde sailors, appearing on the deck. A lot of them.

And then the frigate started to turn towards them - someone had reached the helm.

And they were clearing the guns, Seacat saw.

Damn. "It must have been a trap."

"A trap?" Glimmer asked.

"Alcy! Turn about!" They had to keep away from those broadsides. As the Victory's Daughter turned into the wind, Seacat replied to Glimmer: "They probably tried to lure us in by making it look as if the ship was deserted."

"Who would fall for that?" Glimmer asked.

"Most captains wouldn't just ignore or sink a drifting frigate," Seacat said. "We didn't, did we?"

"But that's…" Glimmer pouted.

Seacat snorted and studied the frigate again through her telescope. "They're not using their engine," she commented. "They're trying to sail with those scraps…" She shook her head. "Keep on course!" she told Alcy as she reached the bridge.

Entrapta stuck her head out of the hold. "Do you want the engine?"

"No, not yet," Seacat told her. "We can outsail a frigate easily."

"Unless that's the trap," Glimmer said. "They want us to think that - and then when we're running under sails, they start their engine and whoosh - they jump us."

"That's not how it works," Seacat told her. "You'd have to be a Horde sailor to fall for that."

"Hey!" Ah, the Horde princess had overheard her.

Seacat grinned but ignored her and studied the enemy ship again. "They're not flying the Horde flag. Or any flag," she said. The flag could've been torn away by whatever storm had torn up the sails - and wasn't that typical for Horde sailors?

"You think they're deserters?" The Horde Princess asked.

"You didn't send a frigate down here. And no Alliance transports are going through this sea," Seacat told her. "So, they can't be a frigate that managed to break out of their blockaded port and started raiding."

"Yeah, I guess so." The Horde princess frowned as she stared at the ship behind them. "So, I guess me telling them that the war's over won't help?"

"Worth a try," Seacat said. "But the only way to get you close enough so they can hear you without getting into range of their guns would be Glimmer teleporting you onto their deck."

"Alright then." The Horde Princess nodded. "You ready, Glimmer?"

"Ah… I can only teleport you - you're a bit too big to carry both you and Adora."

The princess was braver than Seacat had expected. And a little dumber as well. "If they're deserters, they'll probably attack you. At the very least, they'll try to take you hostage," she pointed out.

The Horde princess grinned and slammed her pincers together. "They can try. I'm pretty good in a brawl."

Seacat looked at Glimmer. "That won't exhaust you? We can sail a little closer."

"Naw, that distance won't make much of a difference." Glimmer smiled.

"Alright."

"Wait!" Perfuma raised her hand.

"What?" Glimmer cocked her head at the other princess.

But Perfuma stepped up to the Horde princess. "Be careful!"

"Don't worry! They're just sailors - nothing I can't handle!"

Seacat rolled her eyes. "Just Horde sailors, you mean. I remember one sailor you couldn't handle."

But the Horde princess didn't take the bait - she kept smiling at Perfuma. Really!

Glimmer cleared her throat. "Alright. Ready?"

After a moment, the Horde princess nodded. "Ready."

Glimmer grabbed her hand, and both disappeared.

"Hey!"

Seacat looked up.

"Scorpia just appeared on the frigate's deck!" Adora yelled. "And Glimmer! Wait - Glimmer disappeared again!" Adora reported. "Wait! I thought I was the one we'd drop on the enemy deck!"

Seacat chuckled. "Scorpia's trying to order them to surrender."

"Oh. Well, she's trying to beat them into surrender, as far as I can tell," Adora replied.

Ah. Seacat checked with her telescope. Yes, there went two Horde scumbags into the sea. And another. "It seems she's doing well."

"She needs help!" Adora protested. "For the Honour of Grayskull! Glimmer! Take me over to the frigate!"

And Glimmer did. Without waiting for Seacat's permission.

Seacat clenched her teeth as she watched Adora appear on the enemy frigate and tear through the Horde scum. Well, at least there was no way the Horde could hurt Adora. Still, to teleport without permission...

Well, technically, Seacat was the Captain of the Victory's Daughter, but she wasn't in command of the whole mission. On the other hand, they were in a naval engagement, which put the entire battle under Seacat's command. Although Sea Hawk was an Admiral, and while Seacat's ship wasn't, officially or unofficially, part of the Salinean Navy, this was at least an official Alliance mission, so he could order her around. And Glimmer was the Alliance commander, so, technically, she could order everyone around.

Seacat shook her head. They had to clear that up, but that could wait until the battle was over. Which, she noted, it was - the Horde sailors still standing were just standing there, and the ship started to turn into the wind to come to a stop. And the Horde Princess and Adora were on the frigate's bridge.

"Alcy, take us closer - but don't approach from the broadsides!" Seacat ordered.

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Seacat smiled at the reply - she wouldn't ever tire of hearing this! "Let's find out what the Horde frigate was doing here!"

By the time they reached the frigate's stern, Adora had torn the guns facing aft from their carriages and was standing next to the helm. They were pretty much safe.

Seacat was still the first to climb over the Victory's Daughter's bow onto the frigate's bridge. "Hey, Adora!"

"Ca-Seacat! I mean, Captain!" She saluted with a beaming smile. "We've taken the ship!"

"And they were deserters," the Horde Princess added, carrying a man under her arm. "That's their captain, or so they claim." She dropped him onto the deck.

Seacat looked at the man. He didn't seem to be hurt, but he looked weak. Bedraggled. She crouched down. And his lips were… chapped, Dry. And, glancing around, she saw that the rest of the Horde deserters looked the same. Most couldn't even stand properly. "Did you run out of water?" she asked. That would've been stupid even for the Horde.

"Yes." The man groaned. "The water was cont...contaminated."

"What? Where did you refill?" If there were contaminated water sources, Seacat had to know. She knew how bad it was to lose your water.

"We didn't." The Horde sailor coughed. "We wanted to refill on the island, but… reefs damaged the hull - our charts were wrong."

So they had been trying to land on Beast Island. "And you wrecked your sails?"

"Thunderstorm."

"Ah." Seacat tilted her head to the side. "And how did your water get contaminated?"

"I don't know. It just went bad. We only noticed when the people started dying."

Now that was… disturbing. If it was true. It could be sabotage - she remembered Svetana, the Horde spy who had almost made them die from thirst on the Dragon's Daughter V when they beached the ship for repairs. But who would do that to the Horde and not reveal themselves now? "Is anyone missing from the crew?" she asked.

The Horde captain looked at the broken railing next to him.

Seacat rolled her eyes. "I meant before She-Ra and Princess Scorpia boarded you."

"What? No. Everyone was accounted for."

So the saboteur would have been still on the ship. Why hadn't they come forward now that the Horde ship had been taken? Could they have been killed in the fighting? It was possible, of course, but… unless the bug princess was even dumber than Seacat thought, she would have opened with the fact that the war was over, which should have given any Alliance spy pause, at least. And once Adora joined the princess, it should've been clear; everyone knew She-Ra.

Seacat looked at the main deck. Unless the spy had been flattened by Adora's arrival. Or killed before they could say anything. That was possible, at least.

"Alright. So, we have a mysterious saboteur," she said.

"Or the barrels were defective," Mermista - who had joined them with Sea Hawk - pointed out. "If they had some defect that poisoned the water, like the early cans with their soldering…" She trailed off with a grim expression.

Seacat shuddered at the reminder. Sea Hawk had told her about ships' crews slowly poisoning themselves by eating canned food before everyone had realised that they couldn't use lead to seal the cans. Sailors had thought they could finally avoid getting scurvy for good but had made things far worse instead. Fortunately, that had been far before her time. "We'll have to inspect them, then. Examine them." And, of course, send someone to guard their own water supplies. Just in case there was a saboteur around who hated both the Horde and the Alliance. Like a pirate would.

"And… do you have some water to spare?" The Horde captain looked at her with a pitiful expression.

Seacat blinked. Spare water for close to two hundred sailors? And that was taking a lot of losses and casualties into account.

Damn. She hadn't considered that. And the Horde scum were prisoners.

"We don't need to waste water on them," Mermista said a little later, back on the Victory's Daughter. "They are deserters turned pirates."

"We still can't let them die of thirst!" Adora protested.

"Well, I guess we can hang them before that," Mermista admitted.

Bow looked queasy at that comment. As did Glimmer, though the princess tried to hide it and nodded.

"What?" Perfuma, though, didn't hide her reaction. "We can't just… We can't!"

"Piracy is a capital crime," Sea Hawk explained. "The Law of the Sea is clear on that."

"But…" Adora looked surprised. "We've had former pirates in the Alliance!"

Like Licy and Alcy, of course.

"Pardoned pirates," Mermista said. "We captured those pirates in the act." She crossed her arms. "And I don't see them volunteering to fight the Horde."

"They probably would, if we asked them, given the alternative," Bow said.

"And did they even do any piracy?" Adora asked. "They deserted after the war ended and fled to this area. Before that, they were raiding, but that was OK, wasn't it?"

Seacat frowned. Her lover was correct. Technically, the deserters hadn't yet boarded any ships. They had been ready to attack the Victory's Daughter, though. On the other hand, they had been dying of thirst...

"And they were desperate," Perfuma argued. "We can't just… kill them like this!"

"But can we save them?" Glimmer looked around. "We don't have enough water for hundreds of people. Even if we gave them all our water, they wouldn't make it back to a port or an island with water, would they?"

They wouldn't. Seacat knew that. Without water, not even the Victory's Daughter running under full sails and with the engine at maximum speed could reach land before they died from thirst. The former Horde tub? No chance at all. Hanging the scum would be a mercy. Hell, throwing them into the sea or sinking the ship with them tied to the rigging would be a mercy!

"Can you magic up some water?" Bow asked Mermista.

"I can't turn saltwater to freshwater," she replied.

"Don't ask me," Castaspella, still green in the face - the sorceress had the worst sealegs Seacat had ever seen - spoke up. "I don't know any spell that would create water."

"We just need salt removed from the seawater?" Entrapta asked.

"Yes?" Seacat cocked her head at the princess.

"I can do that!" Entrapta beamed at them. "Give me an hour, and I'll whip up a machine to desalinate the water!"

"Enough water to save the Horde crew?" Adora checked.

"Yes! I might need to dismantle the Horde engine for parts, but it's an easy principle. You just need to turn the seawater into steam and then condense it into liquid again. Easy!" Entrpata nodded enthusiastically.

That was easy? If this worked, it would revolutionise sailing as much as the engines did! Entrapta really was a genius. "Alright," Seacat said, nodding. This was her decision as the captain. "Do that. We can figure out what to do with the prisoners once they aren't dying of thirst any more."

"Alright!"

Seacat looked at Adora.

"I'll ensure no one bothers her," Adora said.

"Good." With the Horde crew crazy from thirst, they might get desperate. More desperate. "And we'll take a look at the water barrels."

"The barrels look OK," Mermista said later. "I can't find any source for the contamination."

"Nor can I," Sea Hawk added.

Seacat couldn't find any problem either. "So… poison?"

"Probably," Mermista said. "But who would have carried poison with them on the frigate. They didn't encounter any other ships on their trip down here."

"It's definitely poison," Castaspella stated. She looked better on the bigger ship - less movement from the waves, Seacat noted. "And it was done by magic," the sorceress went on. "The aura is unmistakable."

Magic? Seacat clenched her teeth. They had a magical saboteur on board?