Chapter 61
The silence was tense as the captain and his crew worked to maintain their top speed. However, as minutes went by, the party could see the pirate ship getting closer. The ship was a little smaller than the ship they are on with just as many sails unfurled. Slowly, the ship came into range and they could see someone dressed in red standing near the prow of the pirate ship.
"Ahoy! I am Marine of the Houshou Pirates!" she announced with a grin, "Mind slowing down so we can board you!?"
"Ignore her!" the captain ordered, "Keep at it! We can outrun her yet!"
"Come on, old man! You know you want a piece of this!" she continued to jeer.
"Save your words!" fired back Aberoft, "You will not be harming anyone this day!"
"Yeah, sure you could, poor little man," she mocked back, "Like I'd have words for a prude like you."
"Ack, such harsh words," he exclaimed in shock as he gripped his chest.
"She needs to wash that with soap," muttered Lamy as Aloe giggled.
"Nene, say something," spoke up Polka.
"Yeah, you have been kinda good at mocking people," supported Botan.
"We're trying to run away, not make people even more eager to catch up," the lore bard muttered in reply, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Aww, c'mon. What's the worst it could do?" urged on the succubus.
She sighed and said, "Fine..."
"Hoi, slowpoke, you might as well stop and give up! You're not getting away, you know!?" Marine continued to call out and bait them.
She went to the stern and shouted, "Oi, grandma! Go back home and shut yourself in your room. You have arthritis to think about."
Silence.
After a while, they heard a roar, "SHUT UP! THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"
And then, "YOU'RE LUCKY I LIKE YOU!"
The pirate captain then shouted at them, "Alright, smartypants! Wait til' I get my hands on you and force you on the plank!"
She then disappeared from the prow, but they could hear her shout, "FULL SPEED AHEAD! I WANT TO HIT HER WITH MY SWORD!"
"What's the worst it could do, eh?" she repeated as she glanced to the succubus, who had the decency enough to look sheepish. She then sighed and said, "Right, we need to help the ship go faster."
"I can help with that," declared Lamy confidently, "Not with the speed of the ship, but in delaying the pirates."
She headed to the stern, stretched out her hands to the sea, and chanted, "Lords of water, lords of the sea, grant this lowly servant of Celanil permission to shape freely your domain."
As she parted her hands, a watery trench slowly formed under the pirate ship. Shouts of surprise and horror were heard coming from it as the ship slowly dipped into and remained in the 40-foot cavity in the middle of the sea. Then, they heard a roar of frustration that sounded like it came from Marine. Everyone else's mouths were agape.
"Gods above, remind me not to anger you," muttered Captain Bhas as he got over his shock and went back to steering the ship.
"That was absolutely amazing!" exclaimed Aberoft, "I am so glad I came on this journey. That was truly glorious."
"If you would be so kind as to tone your voice down," warned the cleric with a frowning glance at the paladin, "I am putting all my focus on this to delay her as long as I can. Please do not disturb me."
He muttered out an apology and retreated hurriedly down the hold.
"Harsh much?" quipped Botan.
"Hush you," she retorted before going back to keeping the water trench there.
Before the archer could say anything else, Polka and Nene took things into their own hands and ushered the other two away.
"Look, it might be true that she needs total concentration on the spell, so give her some space," said the lore bard.
Taking a breath, she relented and muttered, "Fine… but we'll be having words later."
"We'll leave it to you then," the former agreed, "Hmm, I just hope Aberoft wasn't too turned off by what she said."
The ship had successfully gotten far enough before Lamy let go of the spell. She then went down to meet up with the others. She felt a little bad about shouting at the paladin earlier but he was being a little bit too loud. Seriously, he was way too loud that time. She found her friends in the dining room chatting with Aberoft. Readying herself for the inevitable, she walked over and took a seat.
"Yo! Hero of the hour!" exclaimed Polka with a grin, "The job's done?"
"Indeed. They should be delayed long enough for the captain to get us away," she replied with a smile. Turning to the paladin, she said, "I apologize for shouting at you earlier. It was unbecoming of me."
"Apology accepted. I understand," he said graciously, "Things were tense earlier. In fact, I should apologize for my disruption, if anything."
"Well, I'm glad we're friends again. I just hope that's the last we've seen of the pirates," added Nene.
"I'm sure we'll do fine," he assured, "In a straight-up battle, we shall overcome and be victorious."
"Sure," said the fennec girl half-heartedly as she started taking Aloe's and her utensils to juggle them.
"Young lady, put those down now or you're not getting seconds," ordered the chef, a big jolly lady, as she hefted a large cast-iron pot on the serving table.
After everyone else had finished gathering, they proceeded to have a late lunch. Fish and potato soup tasted quite delicious. And much to her surprise, hardtack went well with it despite being… well, tough to chew on. But, after ripping it to pieces and dipping it in the soup, it was quite palatable. The ale was nice enough. Could use some work though. Then again, she had two bottles of fine wine with her in her room so maybe she could have a few cups later.
After lunch, she secluded herself in her cabin to attempt to commune with her goddess. While her goddess doesn't normally appear to her followers, she has appeared to the half-snow elf twice before. And Lamy wasn't even a full elf. She wanted to know why. She didn't know how long she fell into meditation but she was shaken by the faint roar of a cannon and an explosion of splinters and sound that happened when the cast-iron ball blew through the wall of the cabin room and out the opposite side.
She shrieked in surprise as she took cover behind her bed. Her loudly beating heart threatened to jump out of her chest as she hurriedly gathered all her things.
"Lamy! Are you alright?" shouted Botan as she burst into the room.
"Quick, get your things," the cleric shouted back as she slung her pack over her shoulders, "Why are we under attack?"
"Pirates. Not Houshou," the archer simply stated as she rushed in to gather her things too.
"But I thought they were delayed long enough," she muttered in surprise.
"Don't know," the lion girl replied as she slung her own pack, "Nevermind that. Let's get out of here."
Exiting the room, they met up with the others and the party headed topside straightaway. As they made their way to the stairs, Nene informed them that the merchants, all of them, had all hidden themselves in the lowest level of the ship while being guarded by the paladin. However, as they reached the stairs...
"Get them!" shouted a pirate as a group of them clambered down the stairs to confront the party.
"Never gonna get this!" shouted Polka in return as she flew in foot first. Striking the first pirate she connected to, she landed and did a roundhouse kick, kicking him in the crotch. He gave a strained cry and crumpled to the floor clutching his balls.
"And another one!" called out Aloe gleefully as Botan started shooting.
"Stop that!" retorted the fennec girl as Lamy manifested the spirit sword and sent a ray of frost in the middle of the pirates. It unfortunately hit nothing.
All this didn't deter the pirates as they jumped them. Polka got surrounded and her's and Nene's protective blessing broke under the strain of it all.
"Time for you to break and shatter! Be ground to dust!"
Aloe's spell ripped through the hold, blasting the ears of the pirates, causing two of them to collapse with blood flowing out their ears. While the bard did her best to protect herself, the monk tried her best to incapacitate more of the pirates but the one she was targeting was a lot more dodgy than most. She could barely get a hit on him and the only one that she got actually left his head ringing. As she retreated to the party, that pirate decided to do the same.
"Coward! Get back here and-" shouted another pirate but got two arrows to the throat before he could berate any further.
The rest of the pirates charged into the general melee with Polka and Nene getting the brunt of it again. However, just as things were looking hairy, the ear-shattering explosion resounded through the hold and blasted the pirate group. Two more pirates fell bleeding out their ears as they fought back. After another two pirates died due to arrows and the spectral sword, the rest ran away while screaming about monsters.
"Well, that was rude," muttered Lamy.
"Come on, let's get to the top and help out," Nene urged as she led the way.
They came out of the stairway to a burning deck. The mast has been broken into half, probably due to the barrage of cannonballs. The sailors were busy fighting off the boarded pirates. The captain himself was being heckled by two of them. It was a chaotic mess and it looked like it was up to them to-
"RETREAT! DRAGON!"
All the fighting halted from the warning and almost immediately, the pirates started running away back to their ship. The party, the captain, and the remaining sailors paled at the thought of facing a dragon on a burning ship.
"Put out the fires!" shouted Captain Bhas, the first to calm down and take charge, "If we're gonna fight, we're fighting on a sail-worthy ship! Get to it!"
Out came the buckets and the rope, the sailors galvanized by their captain's orders.
Glancing over to the stunned party, he walked over and said, "Looks like I'll be relying on you lot to help… Where's the fighter?"
"Erm, the paladin's downstairs protecting the merchants," replied Nene.
Humming a little, he pulled over the nearest sailor and ordered, "Get down in the hold and get the whatzisthing... paladin. Get the paladin. We need every hand on deck."
"Aye, captain!" he said hurriedly and ran down into the hold.
A few seconds later, Aberoft came rushing topside, huffing and puffing. By that time, half the fires got put out from effective sailor teamwork and the pirate ship had already disengaged. Then, a dragon burst out of the clouds. Its bronze scales gleamed in the sunlight as it swooped down towards the pirate's ship and let loose a stream of corrosive breath on its deck as it made its pass on it. Everyone else tensed up when the dragon flew in their direction.
"Ever fought a dragon before?" asked the paladin with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Er, we have? But I think it was just a young dragon?" muttered the bard, "This one looks like an adult dragon."
"Not gonna talk about trophies, Botan?" asked Aloe teasingly.
"If we get past this, sure," quipped the archer, "What is it doing?"
"Brace for impact!" shouted the captain as the sailors grabbed hold of the nearest part of the ship as the dragon swooped down, aiming straight for the ship.
"What!?" exclaimed Polka in shock.
Before they could react further, the dragon suddenly started shrinking, getting smaller and smaller on the approach. By the time it landed on the ship's prow, it transformed into a beautiful lady wearing studded leather and a rapier on her hip. They must have been magical since Lamy's shield began glowing blue. Her hair was a coppery-orange with a strip of yellow on one side. Her eyes were red and purple with a sharp draconic iris. Two dragon horns protruded out the sides of her head; the right one having a black-and-white striped bow tied to it while the left had a discolored blemish streaking across it.
"Well, this ship has seen better days," she commented as she looked around, walking around the ship, "Who's in charge?"
"I am, milady," spoke up Captain Bhas as he approached.
"Pshaw, none of that. Makes me sound old," she hushed him, "Call me Coco instead."
"Okay..."
"Anyway, did you lose anything?" she continued to ask.
"Not really, other than my damaged ship," he replied before growling when he saw the broken mast, "However, I doubt my girl here will be able to make it to port without getting attacked by pirates and other crap."
After some hemming and hawing, she offered, "Then, how about I help? I can tow you all to the nearest port." By that time, all the other merchants had exited the hold and were now wondering what was going on now.
"Truly!? I shall reward you handsomely should this be true!" exclaimed Kiriden happily, the other merchants also chiming in their support.
She laughed and said, "Of course."
"Alright boys, get more rope. We're heading to port," yelled out the captain amidst cheers.
As the merchants went back down into the hold, the party and the paladin met up with the copper dragon.
"Hello, I'm Nene. Nice to meet you," the lore bard introduced herself and the others.
"Oh, nice meeting you," she replied with a grin, "You guys must be adventurers."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, you hear things here and there," she replied to Lamy with a shrug, "You guys seem a lot more well-equipped compared to the others. You learn to pick out things like these."
"Do you usually fly over here?" asked Polka.
"Every few days, from Draconerica to Lithos."
"The land of dragons? Amazing," said Aberoft in awe. He then cleared his throat and said, "Arigathanks for helping us."
"Eh?" muttered the party.
Coco's brow twitched as she asked, "What was that?"
"Erm… something I learned from a friend of mine in Gekko," he replied, suddenly feeling a little nervous, "He always used these fusion words of Common and Draconic like sorrymasen, yametekudastop-"
"No. No, no, no. Shame on you," the dragon interrupted him, pointing a finger at his face, "Please stop that. No more shitty language. Never do that again."
He nodded, sufficiently chastised. Polka then giggled and muttered, "Yametekudastop. Sorrymasen. Snrk."
Coco suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed the fennec girl by the shoulders with a deadpan glare.
"YEET!" she yelled as she spun around and threw the monk into the sea.
"AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa..."
SPLASH
"Polka!" yelled the rest of the party as they ran over to the side and looked out.
At first, there was just a calm sea. A few seconds later, the monk burst out of the water and proceeded to swim over to the ship. They let out a sigh of relief before Aloe decided to give her a hand and flew out to carry the sopping wet fennec girl out of the water. The dripping girl shook the water off after landing on the deck, still grinning from ear to ear. The others then gathered around her to see if she was alright.
The dragon was going to say more but the captain came over and asked, "So, miss Coco, we have the rope ready. How will you be towing us?"
With a smirk of her own, "Oh, you'll see."
AN: Greetings, readers. Welcome back.
Captain Marine has found them. Time to enjoy raiding. As they scrambled to try and figure out how to escape or at least stop the pirates from boarding, a certain someone called her a grandma...
Oh, no!
Anyway, thanks to some quick thinking by Lamy, they successfully escape. Now, I know that a whirlpool can happen with Control Water, but I rather not finish off a Holomember like that. Although, she would probably survive... but no, Marine needs her crew so they survive another day. Instead, the ship got jumped by another set of pirates. But, these pirates were a bit easier than the other set. And this leads to...
A dragon sighting.
Yup, another cameo. Coco makes an appearance here... as well as some Japanglish. Time to YEET! Some! Bo! Dy! On another note, it's very nice of her to help tow the ship to Lithos. This should make things interesting. However, things can't possibly end this easily. No, there will be some complications... but we'll see in the next chapter.
Next chapter, Coco helps the ship and Holo5. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.