Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm back!!! Alright, sorry for the long time between updates, but… First I had writer's block, then when it wore off, my computer broke. It's fixed now, though, so here I am! In between then and now: I got AIM, I visited Dark Ronin, and gave him a gift card to Barnes&Noble, his reaction to which was extremely predictable…
Dark Ronin: MORE MANGA!!!
Right. So, here I am at last. Hope you haven't lost interest in the story…
Mark's mind raced. There had to be a way out of this situation. There were too many of them for him to take… There had to be a way…
He was being escorted along a corridor of the Valuan battleship Victoriae*, part of Admiral Gregorio's fleet. Around him were several guards, and the captain, who currently was in possession of his weapons. He had infiltrated it to find Carlos, the local information hub, who could supposedly tell him where a great sword master was. He needed to learn from the sword master so that he could free his crew from the Valuans. And if he died now, they would be executed. All this was going through his brain at the speed of light, as he went ever closer to failure. There was no way, it would seem, to escape from this.
Suddenly, an idea raced into his brain. It was crazy-there was no way to tell whether or not it would succeed. But it was his only choice. He knew that the captain would not turn him down, but then the hard part began…
He decided to go through with it. If it failed, he would die, but he would die anyway if he did nothing. So he set it in motion.
They were approaching the bridge. He would wait until they were in…
"So, pirate. Tell me why you decided to enter my fair vessel." The captain spoke with more than just a hint of arrogance. Good. That would make it easier.
"No." Mark's defiance was clear from his voice, and the captain was startled.
"Tell me-or die."
"Never."
The captain sighed. "Then you shall find out just how deep the sky really is. Throw him off the deck!"
The guards moved to obey, but were halted by Mark's next words. "Wait. I have a challenge for you." This was the next step.
The captain looked at him in a manner that showed all too well what he thought of Mark. "You? Have a challenge for me?"
Mark looked back at the captain in the same way. "I challenge you to… a duel."
The captain audibly stifled laughter. "Alright, pirate. I accept your… challenge."
"Alright. But if I win, you must return my equipment, and set both me and Carlos free."
"And if you lose?" The captain seemed sure of the outcome already.
"Then I get to… what was it you said? 'find out just how deep the sky really is'?
The captain laughed a hollow laugh. "Alright." He handed Mark back his rapier, and drew his own. "En guarde."
Mark got into his stance. He looked over his opponent. He had no idea of the skill of his opponent, so he prepared himself for the worst.
The captain started things off with a low strike. Mark parried this easily. He returned it with a lunge, which was parried, he was then put on the defensive as his opponent used a parry repose** followed by some more strikes. He parried all but one, but managed to partially dodge that one, taking only a nick in his cheek. He then went right into a high strike, which was parried, and then a lunge, which was met similarly. His opponent did another low strike, which Mark parried, then struck. His opponent dodged that, so he shifted into another strike. After this was parried, Mark stopped thinking, focusing entirely on the fight, watching his opponent. Lightning moves went back and forth. He took cuts in the ear and shoulder, nothing serious, but enough to cause pain. He managed to land a few hits on his opponent, all in nonvital areas.
As the fight progressed, the duelers dancing a deadly dance up and down the bridge, Mark began to lose ground. His opponent battered him with powerful strikes. Suddenly, he felt something behind him. He was backed up against a wall! With nowhere to run, he could not dodge the captain's strikes.
His opponent began a powerful lunge. He knew he could not dodge it, and he couldn't move fast enough to block it. Time seemed to freeze.
I've come this far, only to fail? He thought. No. NO! I can't die now. The others are counting on me! The faces of his crew floated in front of him. I can't die now… his vision blurred. Without knowing it, a cry that shook the bridge uttered from his lips. His sword moved like lightning, deflecting the captain's blow! Then, faster than he had ever been before, a series of strikes battered his opponent, driving him back and dealing blazing wounds.
***
Captain Augustus Picardius couldn't believe it. A few seconds ago, he was driving this lowly pirate back to the wall, preparing a strike that would finish him for good. But now, the tables seemed to have turned. That same air pirate, who had been so helpless before him, was now pushing him back, lashing out with a fierceness the captain had never seen before. He was hard-pressed to stay alive in the face of his opponent's relentless assault. His left arm had already been rendered useless by a strike to the shoulder, and he was limping on his right leg. He had to do something fast, or…
Suddenly, his opponent struck out, and the captain moved to deflect it, only to discover that it was a feint, and the real strike came, faster than ever, knocking his sword away!
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor, with the pirate's sword at his throat. Subconsciously, he let out a whimper. It took him a moment, in his fear, to realize that the pirate was speaking.
"Do you yield?" The pirate said, death laced into every syllable of his words.
Again, it took the captain a moment to realize that he was subconsciously nodding his head off like a fool. He took control of his body in time to hear the pirate say his next words.
"Get up."
Watching his opponent all the while, he got up, but was halted by his opponent.
"Kneel." The air pirate said. Augustus had never kneeled to anyone but the empress, and the very idea of giving this pirate the same honor was unthinkable. But that paled in comparison to the pirate's next words.
"Now, kiss my boots like you do to your scum of an empress. Do it."
For the third time in minute, Augustus couldn't believe what he was doing. But the idea of the pirate finishing the work he had started with him was more terrifying than the idea of kissing his undoubtedly filthy boots. He still couldn't believe what he was doing…
***
Vice Captain Juan Robertos watched with eyes wide as his captain was forced to lower himself to his knees in front of this… this knave!!!! He dared not make a move to stop him, as the rogue would undoubtedly destroy him with the same mercilessness that he defeated the captain with. He could only stand by on the sidelines as his captain was humiliated by the pirate. Suddenly, the pirate turned. Juan could see in his eyes a blazing spirit, like a demon chained.
"I believe that means I win." The pirate's words were heavy with death. "Now, if you'll just be so kind as to return my pistol, and free Carlos as we agreed, I'll be off this rust bucket."
At that, one of the officers let out a yell, and drew his pistol, aiming it at the pirate. Juan dived behind a console. A shot echoed through the bridge, and the sound of glass breaking followed an instant later. When Juan looked up, the officer was transfixed by the rogue's sword, and one of the windows was shattered. The rogue looked to the other men present.
"Anyone else want to try that?"
The officers said not a word. One of them handed the rogue his pistol, visibly shaking. Another departed toward the brig. After a few minutes, he returned with the prisoner that the rogue had infiltrated the ship to get.
The man had greasy black hair, which was creased back, and a pointed nose, with ferret-like eyes. He was neither fat nor skinny, neither tall nor short, but his weight and stature was masked by his stance, a kind of slouch, which concealed them. The uncertainty about this man was contrasted sharply by the way he watched the environment around him. He looked around with a gaze that seemed to commit everything in the room to memory on some notepad in his brain. His gaze stopped for a few seconds on the captain, who was on his knees in the middle of the floor, his head down, eyes fixated on the floor. He had not moved since he had been defeated, not even looking up when the officer was killed.
The rogue looked out of the window, and added,
"Oh, and I'll need a lifeboat." They were away from Gordo's Bistro, but not too far, for their progress had been halted by the fight. Taking Carlos in tow, the pirate exited the bridge, leaving behind him… One broken body… and one broken man.
*Latin for victory
**In fencing, a move where a parry is turned into a strike
Okay, that was a fun chapter to write. I'm finishing this in the car on the way to my sister's soccer tournament in Virginia Beach, which is about SEVEN HOURS from my house… the uploading will be further halted by that.