Unshakable Oath listed as the enormous red limbs pulled down, cutting through more of the deck. Some hunters lost their balance and fell over while those with a sturdier footing used whatever weapons they could to attempt to dislodge the sea creature from the deck. Unfortunately the carapace of the beast made it impossible for them to inflict any damage. It was very unlikely that the giant crustacean could even feel anything.
Farran himself had almost gone over the side of the wooden railing as the twenty foot legs dug their way into the deck behind him, pulling apart the thick planks like they were made of parchment. His stomach slammed into the support winding him and forcing the hunter to take a knee and a few seconds to breath. That was all he could afford as the grappler threatened to capsize his ship! Which was rather confusing to the young captain as to why a grappler was attacking them to begin with. He knew of this mystery class dragon which was known to dwell and feed off of the ocean floor rather than attack whatever was on the surface! The only reason it would attack to begin with was if it was provoked! But how could that be? Right now he only had a crew of eight and none of them would surely have been stupid enough to attack something so large and dangerous! Especially without him commanding so! He would have to ask questions IF they survived this ordeal. For now, his sailors and his ship needed him. His legs buckled as they supported his weight and the young captain yelled for everyone to aim with crossbows and spears at the joint of the legs. The area around it was the only part of the legs unarmoured which allowed them to bend without any restriction.
The hunters attacked without delay knowing that they were all at risk of being buried at sea should the beast continue its assault. Swords and maces were quickly discarded and arrows whistled through the air. Farran moved from the railing and picked up the closest projectile weapon he could find which happened to be a bow with only a handful of arrows. It was far less accurate than the preferred crossbow but in this situation beggars can't be choosers. He quickly changed to a spot where he could hit the pink fleshy joint of the sea beast and fired as best he could.
Twenty seconds of retaliation passed before one lucky hunter with a powerful throw managed to skewer the soft target with his spear and the grappler recoiled pulling its legs back into the sea with haste. However rather than lifting its legs up out of the two holes it had made, the beast had instead ripped them back through the main deck and part of the hull, damaging the ship even further. It was going to take weeks for it to be repaired! The only good news was that the legs had only buried themselves six feet through the floor upon first attacking so the destruction wasn't as extensive as Farran had first expected. But this fight was far from over. From what he had heard of them, grapplers were hard headed and stubborn. That was proven quickly as the dragon had shifted its position and jumped out of the water behind Unshakable Oath, climbing the back of the ship causing it to dip, and over the top where everyone got a good look at the demons face.
At first it was hard to believe that the thing even was a dragon it was so crab-like. But there were other dragons that had similar traits to much smaller and familiar sea creatures, such as the manta ray-looking sea shocker. The crew was met with two large beady black eyes that bulged from its face. Surrounding the area around those eyes and what looked to be a mouth made of four black short mandibles between them was more red armour, only much smoother looking compared to its rocky, blistery legs and back. Its pink fleshy face was rather flat and shifted slightly with every twitch of its mandibles. The beast also seemed to have six legs in total. No claws thankfully, though instead its two front legs were thick and pointed at the tip. Much thicker than the previous two that had crippled that starboard side of the ship. At least eight feet in width, not to mention extremely dangerous looking. Like most other dragons it even had two wings that hung loosely on either side of its shelled back, most likely for gliding through the sea since the grappler was so heavy thanks to its carapace that it wouldn't be able to lift itself into the sky if its life depended on it. These were perhaps the strangest thing about the grappler so far since they were so incredibly thin that they were translucent and looked like they were made of orange seaweed. Were they fully spread they would likely have a wingspan of sixty feet or more! Its tail stretched over the back of the ship, hidden from the hunters. However the thing that got under everyone's skin, including Farrans was the way the 'dragon' moved. No single part of it remained still. Its legs flailed around gently and its face shifted constantly. Even its black empty eyes moved left and right in small rapid movements, eyeing the crew and probably deciding who to eat first. The sounds it made added as a testament to that as from its mandible covered mouth emerged a series of wet gurgles and low growls that almost echoed out to sea. One sailor was so freaked out that he yelled and charged without thinking with sword in hand. This in turn caused the other members of the crew to follow suite including Farran. Perhaps the offense of all nine sailors would be enough to convince the grappler that there were easier meals to hunt.
Each hunter continued to use bladed weapons and bows, this time trying to target the big ugly head of the monster. Most shots either missed or were repelled by its carapace but a couple of arrows hit their mark. While they didn't hit anything fatal, the grappler thrashed and screeched rocking the ship more.
"Hold your ground and attack from a distance!" Farran called out as the last spear bounced off the dragon.
The five bowmen continued to fire while the other three, now weapon-less after throwing all they had at the dragon fell back to re-arm themselves with whatever weapons remained scattered on the deck. The grapplers face now had at least six arrows wedged deeply into its face causing it extreme discomfort, and yet it didn't retreat. If anything it only seemed to make it angrier. To Farran it was more than clear that there was no way they would be able to kill this dragon, no matter what they threw at it. They lacked the firepower and equipment to do so meaning that all they could do was fight until the beast eventually gave up, and judging from the angry hissing noises that came from it, there was still plenty of fight in the crustacean.
That statement was all the more true as the grappler managed to use its two main legs to unexpectedly pull itself forwards, forcing the Unshakable Oath to bear more of its weight. The action was so fast, so sudden that the closest sailor recoiled in shock and screamed in terror as the four stubby mandibles of the beast focused on its nearest target before surrounding and pulling the poor unfortunate man into its hungry maw. Anyone who listened closely would have heard his screams before being silenced and replaced with several disgusting crunches.
Like his men, Farran also froze after seeing his sailor get eaten right before him. It had all happened so quickly that no-one could have done anything to prevent it. None of them had expected such a bulky heavy beast to have a sudden burst of speed like that. The young captain was no stranger to death, but this one was different to all the others. That man had been a member of his crew mere seconds ago. A man that mere seconds ago looked to him for leadership and like everyone else had proved himself a hard honest sailor, now nothing more than food for the abomination before him. He hadn't even known the man all that well, yet the thought of him gone filled him with fright and confusion much like it had years ago back when he was a kid. But more importantly, it filled him with anger and hate too.
This beast had just decided to help itself to one of his own! A fellow sailor who may have had a wife, children even who would never see their father again just so this monster could have a free meal! Farran knew that situation all too well. He had been forced to witness and survive it himself. It was almost like he was experiencing the loss of everything all over again.
Something inside Farran suddenly snapped. The hunter slowly snatched up a weapon up in each hand while furiously eyeing the still advancing leviathan as it looked ready to go for the mast of the ship next. Then, despite the calls and concerns of the crew, he ran at the beast with a furious yell, catching the grapplers attention. The crab-like monster, sensing a second free meal waited until its target was only metres away before opening its mandibles and pouncing forth yet again.
Despite his anger and despite his sudden desperate need to make this dragon suffer, the captain was not so foolish as to let anger cloud his mind entirely. He had expected the beast to try the same attack and dodged to the side before he could share the same fate as the man before him, and with the axe in his left hand he struck. The mandible of the beast had no bones to help protect it and the bladed weapon sliced clean through without resistance, cutting the foul thing off with a single swing. Its right leg crumbled as the creature experienced a new level of pain and the limb soon became the hunters next target. Again with his axe he planted the axe deep into its unprotected joint. The grappler, barely managing to recover from having part of its face cleaved off reacted at once at once and lifted its leg at once into the air in an attempt to keep its vulnerable spot from harm. However the axe remained stuck in its joint, and Farrans grip held true as he too was lifted up into the air. Then, with the sword he carried in his other hand he hacked at the flesh of the beast and despite its attempts to shake him off, 1... 2... 3 times was all the swings needed, and with a satisfying snap the entire limb broke free and crashed down onto the deck with a heavy bang. The already damaged deck barely held and formed cracks along the wooden surface The crew watched in awe and shock. Either the flesh of the grappler was incredibly soft or their leader had a very powerful swing. Either way the leviathan had had enough and threw itself off of the side. Farran lost his grip before he too was dragged into the water and fell onto the deck. It wasn't a long fall but the impact was far from painless as the young captain landed on his back, forcing his head back and banging into the deck hard before he just laid there, not moving an inch even as the frigate regained its balance after the grappler had jumped off the side.
Two members of the crew had enough common sense to run over to their captain, fearing the worst. One mumbled something under his breath while the other pulled off the armour surrounding the young mans chest and searched for a heartbeat. He could barely feel a steady rhythm before sighing in relief. Unfortunately despite being alive, it didn't mean that the captain was in good shape. His left arm was covered in deep scratch marks, likely from rubbing against the rough sharp chitin of the grappler when he was hacking its arm off. The back of his head however looked worse for wear. Blood slowly seeped from an open wound that he must have received upon banging off the deck like a caught fish. Luckily there wasn't much blood, and at worse if treated right would form a scar. But right now it had to be washed out and dealt with as soon as possible before it became infected! A couple of splinters hung loosely from the ruined flesh which would need pulling out too. For now the young captain had to unknowingly rely entirely on the support of his limited crew to not only take care of him but also get back to port and explain to the boss why the ship was in such poor condition. It was for that last reason that the sailors had decided to keep the large limb that still sat on top of the deck, so as to help prove their story.
What few members of damage control remained on board the ship were sent down to the lower decks by the second in command, which happened to be the hunter that was responsible for steering the ship. Everyone else was to either clear up the main deck, mop up the blood or deal with the captains injuries. Once all that was sorted the Unshakable Oath would have no choice but to 'limp' its way to the nearest dock and receive what repairs it could.
Even then, the entire crew would likely be either transferred to other ships or areas of personal interest while the ship would undergo weeks of repairs, including those who had spent the day in the Northern markets completely oblivious to the events that had taken place. It was enough to anger plenty of sailors but at least it was better than being killed, by either the grappler or their bosses once they notice the state of them.
"This turned out to be one hell of a day." One sailor grumbled as he gathered spears.
"You're telling me!" Another responded with a harsh laugh. "Pity that other hunter ship wasn't around at the time to give us a hand!"
"The one that came to resupply us while the captain was away?"
"No, the other one that came. Of course that one you dunce!" The second snapped with sarcasm.
"Alright alright, no need to be rude about it! What was its name again?"
"I barely saw the name on the side of the ship, but if I remember right it was the Dread and Regret, maybe?"
"Think they might have had something to do with this?"
"Dunno. I'd rather wait and hear what the cap'n has to say before pointing fingers."
The first sailor looked like he was about to say something else, but soon dropped it and continued to clean up the deck. Whatever happened next would be the captains responsibility.