Author's Note: I apologise in advance for this one. My writing is usually pretty poor, but this time, this chapter turned out to be one of the worse I've ever written (the worse if it weren't for the FFXI Chronicles 3!). I tried to make it good, but really struggled to make it work, and the concept that seemed good in my head just fell flat on the page. It's not just crap, it's short as well! I did consider missing the update for today (which is superbly late anyway I struggled to write this so much) but decided since the chapters are all supposed to be individual adventures at the moment, it was pointless wasting this. Plus it sets up an idea I have for the next chapter nicely.

But I apologise for it being worse than usual. I'm sorry!

In other news, and a bit related, I am struggling with one thing, nautical terms. As you might imagine, I know zilch about sailing, so the actual technical terms for the boat are described the best I can with words because I have no idea what I should call them. Sorry about that too. That's just me being naïve and stupid when it comes to all things watery. Hopefully it's not too distracting.

For somebody who loves pirate stories, I really should learn some things about ships.

CHAPTER 17

DIPLOMACY

Ship's Log 21: Another milk run. Simple transportation of supplies. This time though, we're meeting a ship out in the ocean and transferring them. Apparently they want the supplies but aren't overly keen on divulging the position of their port. Money is reasonable, so we're not going to complain. The crew can get a little restless due to the repetitive ease of these jobs, but they sure beat some of the tougher ones we've been sent on.

The Destiny sailed across the calm ocean, approaching another, larger, ship that had its sails drawn and floated silently on the water.

"I see it!" Suse cried from the lookout perch at the top of the mast. "Urrrm, I mean, ship sighted, Cap'n!" Olose looked out across the water, spotting the large ship, its three sails flying proudly, a golden symbol on them that Olose couldn't quite make out.

"I'm bringing us in. Get ready to raise the sails." Olose commanded. Nadia and Trevia nodded. Phabrizoe prepared to lower the anchor.

"Why does everrrrybody have a better ship than us?" Suse grumbled from the lookout post as they approached the mighty vessel.

"Bigger. Not better." Olose corrected. "Lower the anchor Phabz!" He promptly ordered. There was a pause. "Phabz? Phabrizoe?"

Phabrizoe had frozen, seeing the ship they approached. The huge golden emblem upon the sails stood before him proudly. The entire ship seemed oddly off scale. It was big, but each part of it was small, as if built for smaller people. The emblem was that of Windurst.

"Phabrizoe!" Snapped Nadia, and Phabrizoe snapped around, quickly lowering the anchor. Suse scrambled down from the lookout and walked up behind Phabrizoe.

"Hey! It's from Windurrrrrst!" Suse remarked. "Isn't that wherrrre you come frrrrom?" She asked happily.

"I'm afraid it is." Phabrizoe answered horrified.

"Hello therey-werey!" Cried a tarutaru from the deck of the approaching ship.

"Hello!" Olose called back. "I'm Captain Sampson, this is the Destiny. I believe we have some cargo for you."

"Indeed you should, Captain." Came the response from the little tarutaru. Olose tried to repress laughing at the crew of tiny people scampering around the deck.

"I'll send the boat over right away." Olose signalled to Nadia and Trevia to start loading the supplies onto the rowing boat.

"No need, Captain, we'll come over ourselves." The tarutaru captain replied. Olose breathed a mental sigh of relief at the lack of tarutaru style speak he was hearing. That always drove him crazy.

"I advise against that Captain." Phabrizoe suddenly spoke up, sounding as if he was fighting back worry. "It would not end well."

"He makes a good point." Trevia stated. "A ship from Windurrrrst out here? What happened to them being in exile?"

"Good question." Olose admitted. "Let's just get the job done and go home. The money's good, that's all that matters."

Phabrizoe seemed oddly uneasy as a boat with an unusually large party of tarutaru and mithra onboard departed from the vessel belonging to Windurst, approaching the Destiny. The crew arrived and suddenly, and completely to Olose's confusion, they burst out around the ship, drawing weapons and taking fighting stances.

"What the-" Nadia began.

"What are you doing?" Olose snapped.

"Hand over the fugitive Captain, and nobody gets hurtaru." The tarutaru captain ordered quickly.

"Fugitive? What the hell are you talking about?" Olose cried. He noticed the invading crew were all looking at Phabrizoe. Olose sighed. "Phabz, is there something you forgot to tell me?"
"Not at all, Captain." Phabrizoe replied angrily.

"Did he mention he betrayed Windurstaru and fled to Bastok?" The tarutaru captain asked, grinning.

"That's not true!" Snapped Phabrizoe. "I went to Bastok to get out in the world because Windurst forbid it!"

"We withdrew because of the dangers of magic." The captain explained. "You brought them to Bastok! Imagine, with its technological power and magic at its disposal it could crush the world with its might!"

"What?" Phabrizoe laughed. "Do you really think that Bastok would have not discovered magic for themselves? I didn't tell them anything. I went there to learn to be a mage and an adventurer!"
"Captain." The tarutaru turned to Olose. "This man is wanted by the Federation of Windurstaru. Hand him to us, and we will be on our way."

"Pay us." Olose said coldly.

"I will confess, this job was but a trap for us to finally capture this fugitive." The captain admitted.

"Pay us, and leave." Olose repeated. His crew looked slightly shocked.

"We will, if that is all that allows us to take this fugitive with us." The tarutaru agreed.

"You misunderstand." Olose smiled. "Pay us, and leave. My crew will remain. All of my crew. We did the job we were hired for. You want to capture Phabrizoe, send a bounty hunter and see if he can get past us."

"We have him now, Captain, and we will be taking him with us back to Windurstaru." The tarutaru captain explained smugly. "You're greatly outnumbered Captain, you can't stop me." The tarutaru and mithra gathered on the ship made threatening gestures with their weapons, stabbing at Olose's surrounded crew. Olose drew his sword at lightning speed, and held it extended.

"I'll give it my best shot." Olose grinned. "And I mean that literally." He swept his sword down, striking the cannon sat on deck with such force that sparks flew, lighting the fuse and blasting a cannon ball out across the ocean. It slammed into the other ship. The captain's eyes went wide and his crew prepared to attack.

"No! Stop!" The captain yelled. "That, Captain, was an act of warey-tarey. Hand over Phabrizoe or face the wrath of the navy of Windurst."

"I thought you were in exile. Aren't you trying to avoid wars here?" Nadia asked, confused.

"I will do what I must to complete my mission." The captain stated, folding his arms confidently. "Your little ship can't stand up to the entire nation of Windurst!"

"You can't outwit Destiny, pal." Olose said, quite proud of his pun. The captain rolled his eyes.

"This is your last chance, Captain." The tarutaru warned.
"If we sink your ship and send your corpses to the bottom of the ocean, then you can't report us, and we have nothing to fear." Olose beamed. "So, you can either turn around and leave, or we can blow you out of the water."

"You have insufficient weapons and crew, and no sufficient plan." The tarutaru pointed out smugly.

"Doesn't that just scare you to death?" Olose grinned, suddenly kicked the tarutaru to the chest and drawing his sword. He moved in quickly, slashing two of the tarutarus before they could even draw their swords. Nadia drew her weapon quickly, stabbing a mithra in the back before she could react.

"Backstabbing?" Trevia asked Nadia casually.

"We're pirates." Nadia shrugged, ducking as a fireball flew over her head.

"Destroy them!" Screamed the captain. Olose ran in and began duelling the captain, who was clearly nowhere near as skilled with a sword as Olose. Olose drove him back to the water and kicked him in.

An angry looking mithra approached Phabrizoe who watched angrily.

"You'rrrre mine, you little rrrrunt." The mithra hissed. Phabrizoe drew a sword casually.

"You sure about that?" He asked. "I can be pretty nasty with this thing."

"What arrrre you going to do? Hack my shins? You tarutaru have no skill with a blade!" Laughed the mithra before she got hit by a lightning bolt.

"Magic is a powerful aid, mithra." He spat, lunging at her. She blocked him, and her eyes went wide as Phabrizoe flipped over her head, striking as he did so. He landed behind her and flipped off the mast, sailing past her arm. He managed to slice it and she dropped her blade. He landed and, as she predicted, hacked her shins. She went down screaming. "Never underestimate an angry tarutaru." He gloated. The deck of the Destiny suddenly exploded into flames.

"They're firing cannons!" Yelled Suse in blind panic.

"Phabrizoe! Get to the helm!" Olose ordered quickly. "Bring us about! Hard to starboard!" Olose had already hoisted the anchor, and Trevia had taken the initiative, making sure the sails were flying. Nadia quickly began loading another cannonball into the cannon. Another blast hit the ship, tearing across its deck. The survivors of the raiding party abandoned the ship, allowing the mighty Windurst warship to destroy it itself.

"I was willing to let you live!" Yelled the now soaked tarutaru captain from his ship. "But instead you will die, along with the traitor!"

"Nobody threatens my crew!" Olose shouted back. "Prepare to be blasted out of the water!" Olose fired the cannon, and the single shot hit the warship. The warship fired three shots, ripping the Destiny to pieces.

"We can't stand this kind of firrrre!" Trevia yelled, still maintaining a calm and working hard to put out the new flames.

"Phabrizoe! I have the helm!" Olose ran, taking the wheel. "Can you cook us up some fireballs?"

"Yes, but nothing they can't do." Phabrizoe explained.

"Who cares? Aim for their cannons." The deck of the Destiny exploded spectacularly as an explosive cannonball hit it, leaving the Destiny looking like a gutted fish, from the top at least.

"A hit like that on the main hull and we're junk on the bottom of the ocean!" Nadia yelled.

"Those cannonballs are explosive, and they must be stocked by the cannons. If you can hit them, then we're out of this." Olose told Phabrizoe.

"We don't have much time. This is a one shot thing." Phabrizoe said, his usual confidence sounding shaken.

"Then take the shot!" Olose ordered. Phabrizoe began to cast as the crew on the warship loaded three more cannonballs. Enough to destroy the Destiny once and for all. Phabrizoe fired his fireball in desperation.

It hit the ship, and there was a moment's pause. The warship suddenly exploded spectacularly, a wave of heat hitting the crew of the Destiny. They stood in silence for a moment.

"Well, I bet they learnt a thing or two about safely stacking ammo." Olose quipped. The crew breathed a collective sigh of relief.

It was when the badly damaged Destiny was heading back for Seblina, practically home for the crew now, that Phabrizoe entered Olose's cabin while Nadia practiced taking the helm, struggling with her one arm.

"Captain, I've made a decision." He stated. "I'm leaving."

"What? Why?" Olose quickly stood, springing from his chair, quite shaken.

"I'm a risk to this crew. I nearly got us all killed." He explained.

"Phabz, I'm a werewolf." Olose stated bluntly. "I'm a much bigger threat than you. You're a member of my crew and so I'll defend you no matter what happens, along with everybody else. Windurst will think twice before attacking us again, we blew up one of their ships! They're normally reserved enough about combat as it is. I'd imagine they're willing to let you slip through their fingers."

"But Captain, I betrayed your trust. I didn't tell you of a potential threat that was entirely my fault." Phabrizoe tried to explain.

"We all have secrets. Besides, it was Windurst's overreaction, not you, that caused this." Olose explained. "And we got hell of a loot from the wreckage! With the money we'll make off of all the equipment we found we can afford a full refit for the Destiny, and a well deserved break on land while it happens."

"Thank you, Captain." Phabrizoe said awkwardly. "Many captains would have made me walk the plank for what I did, or worse."

"Believe me, I've done a lot worse." Olose said, trying to hide the pain flashing across his face. "But if you insist you must be punished, you can go and check through the cargo, make sure none of it was damaged. See if we have anything useable that we won't just sell we salvaged from that Windurst ship too."

"Can't I just swab the decks?" Phabrizoe asked with a smirk.

"I never see the point in that. We're at sea! Waves wash the deck clean. Not my crew. Now get to work!" Olose snapped in a mockery of being a formal captain, considering everybody knew he wasn't.

"Yessir!" Phabrizoe saluted sarcastically.