3:
"Pow… maybe I didn't plan this as good as I should have."
As the small ship, Salvation,drifted lazily in the breeze, its captain had begun to doubt herself. Aika lay motionless on her back, eyeing the sky with her only crewman curled up next to her.
The huskra sighed and propped his head up on her stomach. Aika laughed softly and scratched his soft, pointed ears. Above her, the sky was a bright blue. It would be clear sailing for the remainder of the day.
Aika had never wanted to be the captain of her own ship. That was Vyse's job. He was the leader; he was the one who was capable of inspiring loyalty and courage in his crew, not Aika. Aika was just… well, hungry for starters. She had left Crescent Isle in a hurry and hadn't had the foresight to sweet talk Urala out of some of her mouth-watering dumplings.
Come to think of it, Aika hadn't considered much aside from fleeing the small island. She had initially planned to go directly to Sailors Island, then realized that that would be too obvious if someone decided to track her down. Next, her thoughts had traveled to Pirates Isle, but she knew she wouldn't be able to face Vyse's parents and any questions they might have. So until she could make up her mind, Aika was just floating.
"Maybe we could go to Daccat's Island…" she thought aloud.
Pow sighed and stretched out on the deck, his tail flopping limply.
"I guess you're right." Aika admitted to the huskra. "Daccat's Island requires teamwork and I wouldn't want to split up with you either."
Pow perked his head up to look at her, one of his ears flopping forward. Aika felt her lips being tugged into a pout as she noticed the animal's naïve look. The only reason her trusty crewman had joined her on her journey was because she had lured him onto the ship with leftover lunch scraps.
"Well, we can't just sit here all day, Pow." she decided as she hoisted herself up onto her elbows. "I know! We could head to Nasrad and I could get a job at that restaurant that I worked at with Fina… if it wasn't destroyed when Ramirez thrashed the place."
Aika stood up and brushed the back of her yellow skirt off. She headed towards the hatchway that would lead beneath the ship's deck, but was stopped by the sound of cannon fire in the distance. The thundering crash was the signature of a G-Type cannon, outdated, but big.
At Pow's urgent bark, Aika ran back over to the edge of the deck. She flung a hand over her brow to block the sun's glare. In the distance the silhouette of an ominous ship edged closer.
Aika groaned. "The Blackbeard." she muttered. "What is he up to?"
She began to hop up and down, flailing her arms as the other ship came closer. The Blackbeard erupted in cannon fire again that landed curiously near to Aika's ship. Pow began to growl as his captain's jaw hung open.
"Baltor, you bozo!" she cried out. "You nearly hit me!"
"Well, that was my aim." came the reply.
"What?"
As the Blackbeard neared, it began to circle the Salvation. Aika grabbed Pow and pulled him into her arms to calm him.
Baltor leaned on his deck's railing casually. His clothing appeared to be new, although his beard desperately needed a trim. He spoke with a conversational tone.
"I'll admit I appreciated yours and Captain Vyse's help in killing that Silvite boy." he said simply. "But I made a promise that afterwards nothing would change between us. There's only enough room in the sky for one band of pirates and you Blue Rogues have outlived your welcome."
"Our help?" Aika spluttered. "Why, you ungrateful slug! If it wasn't for Vyse, the whole world would have felt the Rains of Destruction!"
Pow yelped as Aika's arms tightened around him.
"Be that as it may, darling," Baltor flashed her his teeth. "I intend to make sure that you're not around to write the history books."
"So what happens now?" she demanded. "Are you just going to blast me out of the sky like a coward, or do you have the guts to try and board me?"
Baltor chuckled. "That depends. Does the huskra bite?"
"Pow doesn't bite." Aika snarled over the huskra's barks. "But I just might, you dirty, shameless scoundrel!"
"You understand it's business, don't you?" Baltor looked hurt.
"I didn't realize that back-stabbing numbskullery was part of business!" Aika retorted.
Baltor sighed. "If it's all the same to you then, Missy, I think I'll stay on my ship." he explained. "There's no real reason for me to risk you using your Lambda Burst on me or my crew. But if you must know, I really think it's a shame, especially that Vyse couldn't be here to share your fate."
Aika stuck out her tongue and raspberried the Black Pirate before running towards the hatchway with Pow in her arms. If she could just get to the life rafts, she could escape, but with Baltor's ship being so close she might not get that chance.
The ship tremored under the impact of a shell and Aika and Pow were flung through the hatchway door. The huskra yipped frantically, but Aika kept a firm grip on him. The life rafts were only a room away, they could make it.
Aika leapt to her feet and scrambled towards the life rafts. The constant quaking caused by the bombardment of cannon fire made Aika question her footing as she made a beeline towards the room.
She fumbled with the latch to the door frantically. The ship rattled and she stumbled forward, splinters from the unfinished wood of the door stabbing into her hand. Aika yelped, but continued to struggle with the door.
A sickening crack rang in the girl's ears as a shell finally breached the ship. The stinging wind struck her as she was sucked from the hull.
Pow howled, but Aika kept him pinned snugly to her chest. So this is how it's going to end, she thought as she tumbled through the air.
Aika wondered what the history books would say about it. They would probably forget about her to make room in the pages for the great empire of Vyse and Fina. Perhaps she would be mentioned in a tiny paragraph, a ding-bat Blue Rogue who got too big for her britches and suffered the consequences because of it.
She thought briefly of her parents and how she had always fancied they died. Her father would tightly grip her mother in his arms. Her blonde hair would whip around her, tangling with his red locks. One final embrace as they plummeted into Deep Sky. Aika would share in their fate. For the first time in months, she was truly happy.