Whoo, back again! Higurashi Month 2019, because it has become one of my lowkey life goals to keep perpetuating this until it becomes a proper tradition for all three-and-a-half people in this graveyard of a fandom. And then keep doing it anyways, because tradition. If you wish to check out the prompt list, its on my tumblr page under the same username.

June 13th, 2019

The bracing scent of salty sea air whisked throughout the perfectly-trimmed riggings of the Bludgeon, and Keiichi Maebara, that selfsame ship's proud captain, whooped in unholy glee as the wooden craft cut through the rolling ocean like a hot knife through butter. The brisk sea breeze danced among the gleaming mahogany and violet plumes of his feathered captain's hat, sending them ruffling and quivering in every direction as he inhaled and filled his lungs with that delightful scent of adventure.

"Bring her about, first mate Rena!" he bellowed from his place amongst the riggings, and heard a chipper "aye-aye" from the poop deck as his auburn-headed right hand spun the ship's wheel about, sending them scudding towards the faint smudge of greenish darkness against the horizon.

Their destination.

Keiichi and his scurvy crew were some of the most fearsome pirates to terrorize the balmy waters of the Caribbean, and they were on the hunt for gold today, a buried treasure said to have come from the very hands of a god many leagues to the east, around the cape of Africa and out towards the Orient. Since Keiichi's own parents had come from that fabled land, he reckoned he had just as good of a chance as anyone else to find and snatch up that treasure, especially with the talents of his mighty and loyal crew at his disposal.

Rena, his first mate and best friend, was an absolute demon with the cutlass, and furthermore, a skilled navigator and something of a mother hen –she ran the ship nearly as much as he did, and she kept the entire crew all in one contented unit. If someone had a scratch or a problem, they came to Rena.

Rika, the petite thief, was a past master of skullduggery and sneaking around, and her adorable, doll-like tiny figure only served to further throw off any suspicions. Keiichi had known her to steal a man almost blind, and then be crooned over in sympathy and given his last remaining farthing, her waiflike appearance was so pitifully convincing.

Hanyuu, their cabin girl, was a timid scholar, and while she wasn't much cop in a fight of any kind, she knew dusty tomes and strangely-written old scrolls like the back of her ink-smudged hand, and Keiichi was counting on her to give him the information he and the others needed to work their way to the cave on this remote island where, allegedly, this fantastic treasure was buried. The scrolls Hanyuu had found were all full of "bliss and joy everlasting" and "a treasure the richest kings would weep to possess," which made Keiichi all but rub his hands in glee as he envisioned the gigantic heap of jewels and gold and other priceless artifacts waiting for him and his crew in that cave.

"Captain!" a shrill voice interrupted his pleasant daydreams abruptly, Rika pointing ahead from her place near the bow. "Trouble up ahead!"

Blinking, Keiichi looked up at the island they were approaching, and his jaw gaped in astounded stupefaction.

There was another ship in their secret harbor, in their secret island, flying a pirate flag and thus undoubtedly intent on stealing their treasure before Keiichi and his crew could so much as clap eyes on it.

The brunet scowled and grabbed a rope, beginning to descend down to the deck. "Full speed ahead, Rena! We won't let those bastards get away with our treasure!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" Rena cried, her blue eyes fierce as she unconsciously shifted her stance, making sure her cutlass was within easy reach.

They swooped into the cove with all the righteous fury a ship could possibly give off, and Keiichi's rage was only further increased when he saw the green hair and ridiculously outsized hat of the captain of their foes.

"Mion Sonozaki!" he cried with a voice of thunder, withdrawing his reinforced belaying pin and waving it angrily as the female captain looked up from where she was supervising the retrieval of a mid-sized iron chest by her two lieutenants, her twin Shion and the doctor Satoshi. "Avaunt and lay down my treasure, you pox-riddled wench!"

The other captain grinned mockingly and folded her arms across her bounteous, lapel-covered chest, her emerald-green cloak hanging down to her knees, all a-sparkle with gold tags and fastenings, with gold-braided shoulders. His was way better, and more tasteful. "Finders keepers, you lily-livered scut-faced coward!" she bellowed back as Satoko, the ship's saboteur, peeked over the edge of the Demon's rails and grinned upon seeing the Bludgeon and all her rivals thereon.

"I'll keep what I find when I nail your gizzard to the sands, you moldy-haired prancing pestilence!" Keiichi yelled, near frothing at the mouth, and pointed his minions on as Shion and Satoshi dropped the box of what was assuredly the treasure, drawing a poison-bearing dagger and a belaying pin of his own respectively. "Attack!"

The ship beached itself with a thunderous shudder of wood and a crunch, and Keiichi leapt down onto the sands of the beach, charging forward to meet Mion's cutlass with his embossed wooden club as Rena darted for Shion and Rika rushed to engage her partner. Hanyuu squeaked and clumsily swung over onto the Demon, well aware of how crucial her role was in keeping Satoko away from their precious ship.

Sparks flew and the crash and impact of steel against steel, steel against hardened and lacquered wood, echoed across the beaches of the deserted island as both crews of pirates engaged in furious battle for possession of the iron chest now innocuously laying on the salt-washed sand. Rena and Shion were well-matched, for Rena knew by experience that a single prick of the blade Shion carried would paralyze her for hour, and though her cutlass was longer, the younger Sonozaki twin cut and parried with such skill that she was hard-pressed to use her advantage. Rika was so much smaller than Satoshi, that despite her nimble ability to dodge, she was equally-hampered in trying to land a blow on him, and Hanyuu of course was barely skilled enough to keep Satoko from doing anything, and the only reason she wasn't unconscious was because Satoko was rather weak in direct combat herself, and the two young girls rolled around, undignified, on the deck of the Demon, squealing and hitting at each other with their bare fists.

No, only Keiichi and Mion were dueling as equals, and even as he swung and battered his belaying pin against her cutlass's implacable defense, Keiichi felt a liquid thrill run through his veins, white-hot excitement burning as adrenaline through his veins as the two of them parried and dueled up and down the sands, panting for breath and caught up entirely in the skill of his opponent.

That is, until Hanyuu fell (thrown, most likely) from the deck of the Demon, directly onto the chest they were so desperately fighting for, and tumbled off. Keiichi barely caught the movement out of the corner of his eyes, too focused on Mion, but he certainly heard her indignant squeal rising above the sounds of battle as Hanyuu scrambled back up again, saw that her impact had bounced open the lid of the chest, and discovered that-

"It's empty!"

All movement stopped, and all eyes turned to the stunned-looking young girl as she stared, jaw low, into the open chest. Without looking at each other, Keiichi and Mion disengaged their weapons and rushed over simultaneously, as the members of their crew followed quickly after. All eight pairs of eyes stared into the bottom of the chest, which was indeed, absolutely empty.

"Did someone take the treasure before we did?" Shion asked out loud in confusion, scratching her head.

"No…there's a note here, and in the sacred language the directions were written in!" Hanyuu exclaimed, and Rika swatted aside Satoko's eager hand as Hanyuu bent down to pick it up.

There was tense silence as the scholar slowly read through the note –turning red, oddly enough– before she finally cleared her throat and put it down.

"Well?" Mion asked expectantly, hand on her hip, and Hanyuu squirmed. Keiichi, knowing that this was never a good sign, groaned, and Rena sighed as she sheathed her cutlass once more.

"It, um, it says that the greatest treasure of all is the love of others, so…"

Groans sounded throughout both crews as more weapons were put away, and Mion swore as she threw her hat upon the ground.

"All this effort wasted, and for what? A smarmy peace message!" Shion grumbled as she picked up her sister's hat, both crews grumbling as they neatened themselves and headed back to their ships.

Hanyuu was left, scowling, by the treasure chest. One would think it would be easy to get two groups of thickheaded pirates to properly fall in love with each other, but alas, even for a goddess such as her, it was proving frustratingly difficult.

She sighed as she tersely folded her note and tossed it back in the chest, starting to trudge back to the ship with Keiichi's crew.

Maybe I could ask some help from Cupid?

11.55 AM, USA Central Time