Disclaimer: I do not own Skies of Arcadia, Vyse, Fina, Aika, or any other characters found within said game. Any characters in this story not located within said game are of my own creation and I claim ownership to them.
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Chapter 1: Tragedy
"This sucks. I got gypped," Aika mumbled to herself as she was looking out the starboard window from the bridge of her small, treasure-hunting ship the "Top Cat". "I shoulda known better than to trust that crusty old man." She crumpled up the worthless map she bought from said old man, opened the window, and tossed it overboard. She smiled as she watched it fall into Deep Sky, wishing she could do the same to the old man that ripped her off. "Heh… oh well. Live and learn I guess." She turned to her helmsman, Juan, a former Valuan trooper. "Juan, set a course for Crescent Isle. That's enough work for one day." Juan nodded. "With pleasure, ma'am." With that, he gave the wheel a hard turn to the left and set a path for home.
Aika kicked back in her chair and propped her legs up on a nearby table. "Hmph. Wonder what Vyse and everybody else have been up to today? Hopefully they've had more fun than I had tod—"
She was cut off abruptly by the sound of cannon-fire. She jumped up immediately. "What in the heck was that?! Is someone attacking us?!" A nervous man walked into the bridge. "Ma'am! You're not going to believe this, but there's a Valuan battleship flying Pirate colors of the port side!"
Aika stood there stunned for a moment. "I… battle-stations everyone! Whoever it is, they don't stand a chance against us!" The nervous man and several men below the bridge could be heard yelling "Aye, aye!" and the sound of running around could be heard.
"Juan, I'll take the wheel! Stay on observation duty up here," she said to the helmsman. He nodded and stepped aside, running to the main window of the bridge to keep as close of an eye on the enemy ship as possible.
Juan blinked. "Ma'am, it looks like they're going for an all-out attack. They're heading straight toward us!" Aika didn't seem to care much as she said, "Keep your cool, Juan. Their captain is probably just some wannabe Black Pirate with a level of competence equal to that of that moron Alfonso. I'll bet he --…"
She was cut off again as a well-aimed volley of cannon-fire struck her own ship, making an impressive hole in the hull. The men below deck didn't stand a chance. Those that weren't killed immediately by the cannon-fire fell through the hole, screaming as they plummeted towards Deep Sky. To top it off, the engine was not only damaged but also fell out of the same hole that the men fell through. The Top Cat was now completely defense-less.
It was over. Aika knew it and stared in fear at the attacking ship. "Oh crap… I'm sorry Juan…" That was the last sentence she ever finished. A torpedo that was launched along with the volley of cannon-fire found it's mark: the bridge. After the explosion, the remains of the Top Cat fell towards a nearby island and crashed.
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"Damnit, where is she? She's been missing for 2 days! It's not like her to be gone this long!" Vyse said, obviously worried about his missing friend, Aika. The Silvite, Fina, walked up to Vyse and put her delicate hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Vyse. I'm sure Aika is ok. Who knows? Maybe she found a really big treasure." Vyse eased up a little at the sound of Fina's voice. "Yeah… I suppose you're right. Aika can take care of herself. Thanks Fi--."
Vyse was interrupted by Domingo, Crescent Isle's current observer. "Vyse! There's an emergency! Gilder's ship, the "Claudia", is pulling along the side of the island, but he's towing the wreckage of a ship!" Vyse shot back, "What? Who's ship is it?" Domingo paused a moment. A small sigh could be heard. "Vyse, it's… it's the Top Cat." Vyse's eyes shot completely open. Without saying a word, he left the meeting room and ran to meet Gilder to find out what happened. Fina followed close behind him.
Gilder was helping him men with the process of trying to tie the wreckage to the island. Vyse ran up to him and started yelling hysterically, "Gilder! Gilder, where's Aika!? Is she okay?!" Gilder heard Vyse, but didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to break the news to Vyse, but he knew he had to. "Vyse… she's… dead."
Vyse could've died at that moment. It couldn't be true… it just couldn't be. His worst fears were confirmed when he saw 2 of Gilder's men carrying a stretcher off the Claudia. He ran over to them and pulled the sheet that was hiding the body on the stretcher. It was her… Aika. She'd been cleaned up a bit by Gilder's crew, but she still had several mortal-looking wounds on key-points on her body. Tears in his eyes, he took his rugged hand and stroked her soft, undamaged cheek.
"Aika… please wake up… please… I beg you…" He knew it was pointless. She was dead, but he didn't want to believe it. He finally broke down and fell to the ground, pounding it with both fists as the tears fell freely to the soil of Crescent Isle. Fina had been watching the whole ordeal and once Vyse fell to his knees, she walked over to Aika… and the tears started streaming down her cheek as well. She leaned down and hugged the body of Aika, not wanting to let go of her dear friend. She did eventually and fell to both knees, hugging Vyse as she did so.
A tear fell from Gilder's eye as well. He felt so powerless. So terrible. He knew there was nothing he could do other than bring Aika's body back to Crescent Isle for a proper burial. He wiped the tear away and began to speak. "Vyse, there was one survivor. He saw what happened."
Another stretcher was brought off the Claudia, this one holding a badly wounded but alive man. It was Juan, Aika's helmsman. Vyse looked up a moment at Gilder through his watery eyes. "I-is that him?" Gilder nodded. "Yes, but he's badly injured. If you're going to question him, go easy on him."
Fina looked up. She knew Vyse was too grief-stricken to care about something like that. "Wait Vyse. I'll do it. W-wait here." She slowly stood up and Vyse watched her as she walked over to the wounded man. As she did so, Gilder knelt down next to Vyse.
"Vyse, I'm so sorry. I was out on a treasure hunt when I saw the wreckage of the Top Cat on a small island not too far from Nasr. Any valuables that were still inside after the crash must've been looted. All I found was Aika and her helmsman, Juan. She… was already dead when I got there. Juan was barely alive. We took them aboard the ship and attached a tow hook to her own ship. I don't have any idea what happened. I guess that's what Juan is telling Fina now."
Vyse didn't say a word. The island was as quiet as death. Only the inaudible whispers of Fina and Juan could be heard. Finally, they saw Fina nod and stand up. She walked over to Vyse and Gilder and began to speak.
"He says they were attacked by a Valuan battleship flying Black Pirate colors. Their leader and crew must've been highly skilled as the ship was… brought down by the first volley of cannon-fire. A torpedo that hit the bridge was what killed Aika and nearly killed Juan." She stopped and began to sob again.
Vyse gritted his teeth and an unseen fire burned in his eyes. "Valuans turned Pirates… these are the fiends that killed my friend?! ARGH!!!" He pounded the ground furiously. After a moment of doing so, he stood up with a very serious look on his face, tears still clouding his vision. "I'll kill them all! No one that blood-thirsty deserves to live!" He looked at the body of his dead friend. His voice lowered almost to a whisper as he turned to his recently re-hired helmsman Lawrence. "We leave tomorrow morning. See to it that all active crew members are prepared to go by day-break. Also, make sure that Juan is given proper medical attention."
Lawrence nodded slowly. "As you wish Captain Vyse. Any other orders?" Vyse lowered his head a moment and looked back to Aika. "Go among the inactive crew members… see if we can't get any volunteers to help bury Aika by nightfall." Lawrence nodded again. "Aye, aye, Captain Vyse." He walked off slowly and headed off to crew's barracks.
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The funeral that night was silent. Aika was given an elaborate grave right next to Gonzales, the dead man Vyse found on the island when he crash-landed here over a year ago. All of both active and inactive crew members assisted in the burial of Vyse's vice-captain. Small speeches were made by Vyse, Fina, and Gilder before Aika's coffin was lowered into the hole. After a short prayer, Aika's grave was covered up and the crew returned to their respective quarters. A short while later, Gilder returned to the Claudia with his crew. Vyse and Fina, however, stood in front of the grave, embracing each other as they wept. An hour later, they finally called up enough strength to leave the grave and retire to their quarters. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. They would need all the rest they could get.
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So whatcha think? Not bad? Please R&R! Next chapter coming soon!