Worth the Risk
Disclaimer: Shantae and all associated characters belong to WayForward Technologies and Capcom. GrimGrave does not make money for writing fiction.
A/N:
GrimGrave: Hello again, everyone! It's been a while since I've updated anything - so sorry about that! I'll eventually get some more spare time, so expect more updates in the future!
This time, enjoy the collaboration between me and Kamen Rider Omega as Shantae's little adventure continues! Omega, your thoughts?
Omega: Well, I must apologize as well for the long delay on this story, but I would like to thank all you fine folks for reading this little story of ours, and for being so patient.
I could not have done the work I did, such as it is, without Grim helping me through this. So to that I say thank you my friend!
GrimGrave: You're more than welcome, mate! And with that, do enjoy.
Chapter 2 – Unexpected Affection
Risky Boots was many things. A self-professed Pirate Queen, a crack shot with her pistols, a very capable swordswoman and secretly a collector of seashells in her spare time. But one thing Risky wasn't was patient. Shantae, naive though she was, couldn't miss the sound of Risky's foot tapping the floor rapidly in irritation.
"You know, if you want help, you can just ask," Shantae stated as she observed her guest eat lunch. The lady-pirate sat opposite her, her arm still encased in a splint and a sling. There hadn't been much contact between the two after breakfast, with the Half-Genie shopping to make sure she had everything at home, and Risky Boots trying to get some much needed rest.
Risky glowered at her enemy-turn-hostess. "I'm fine," she retorted, but she was anything but; her dominant arm was unavailable, and using her left arm for eating with utensils proved to be a challenge – a steadily growing, frustratingly challenge. She stabbed the knife into the piece of grilled fish that was today's lunch, only for the fish to slide right off the utensil. "Just fine and dandy…"
It was the Half-Genie's turn to frown. "How about letting me help you before you pierce the plate and the table?"
"I've got this," Risky replied, her gaze fixed on her meal. "I've got this, alright?!" By then, she doubled over and let out a painful groan, clutching her abdomen: her knife clattered against the floor as the pirate doubled over from the sudden pain. Making matters worse was a sudden wracking cough that made her already tender ribs hurt even worse with every harsh hack of air.
She didn't even realize that her rival was already by her side when she looked back up. The guardian-genie was frowning at her, but her hand on Risky's shoulder was surprisingly tender. "Let me help you already, Risky."
The self-proclaimed Queen of the Seas gritted her teeth at the idea; she was a pirate, ruler of the seas who struck fear into landlubbers and sailors alike, and now she was reduced to… whatever she currently was who couldn't even eat by herself.
But she was growing hungrier…
Tch. "Fine, brat. I'll accept your help… this time," she said and mocked distaste, as if the words left a vile taste in her mouth.
To her surprise, Shantae only giggled. "You gladly let me help you before, so I don't see why you're making a fuss now."
That… was a good point. Annoyingly so.
"Tch. Just hurry up and do it already."
"Aye aye," the tanned girl said with a snicker as she cut the fish into small pieces. Once done, she left the fork on the left side of the plate. "There, now you can eat a bit easier!"
Risky rolled her eyes. It was as if she was a child.
"Hmph." Grabbing the utensil, the lady-pirate stabbed a piece and greedily shoved it into her mouth. "…This is… alright."
Shantae gasped. "W-what?! Just "alright"? I did my absolute best with this! I even borrowed the recipe from the old lady down the market!"
"And I'm telling you it's just "alright"." The Pirate Queen managed a smirk. "My tinkerbats can cook better than this, girlie."
"Say what?! I'll have you know that my uncle praises my cooking!"
Risky's smirk grew wider. Oh, this was getting good. "It's half-assed. You could do with a few years of training."
Shantae neglected to comment on that, though Risky had a funny feeling that something to the effect of 'I'd have plenty of time if you didn't keep attacking Scuttle Town' was on the tip of the violet haired girls tongue.
A long silence hung in the air between them, only punctuated by the occasional clatter of silverware on dishware that came from the two young women enjoying their brunch.
Once they were both finished the half-genie gathered up the dishes and utensils, placed them in the nearby sink and set to cleaning them off.
Risky took these moments where Shantae's back was turned to her to look the dark-skinned Half-Genie before her, admiring how the once waifish girl had matured into a vibrant and beautiful young woman in the time since they had first encountered each other.
Her body had filled out, that was certain to Risky, the fact that the lady buccaneer had a hard time taking her eyes away from the Half-Genie's hips, her mind flooded with memories of how she swayed those hips every which way as she danced.
It only took her a second to realize that her cheeks were starting to turn the same colour as the guardian-genie's bedlah pants, so she immediately averted her eyes back to the firm splint that kept her right arm from being of any use. Her brief embarrassment made way for anger and humiliation; she couldn't even use her scimitar properly, let alone fight! And any acrobatic moves would only renew the pain in her ribs.
That left her with only one option: the gun. But neither it nor the sword was anywhere to be found!
´Must've been left on my ship…´ Risky pondered. What a nuisance. She practically had to endure with her enemy's care.
Then again…
Red eyes darted back to her nemesis, silently appreciating the way those bedlah pants hugged a shapely rear that ever so slightly swayed from side to side.
…Perhaps this wasn't such a predicament after all.
Wait-what? That girl was her enemy, for heaven's sake! What was it with these kinds of thoughts popping up in her head without permission?! Risky didn't know whether to vomit or scream from the thought. She needed to distract herself –!
A loud clatter had Shantae yelping and she spun around to find her guest's ceramic cup scattered on the floor.
The lady-pirate smirked. "Whoops. Looks like I made a mess, but surely you'll forgive me? It's difficult to do things with my non-dominant hand and all."
The guardian-genie scowled and looked like she wanted to yell at her, but her anger was forcefully subsided – it didn't go unnoticed, however, and Risky Boots was pleased to have found a new way to entertain herself.
"It's… alright, Risky. Accidents happen," Shantae replied, though the hint of anger in her voice was again not unnoticed.
The pirate grinned. "I do apologize, girlie. Unfortunately, with my arm like this, more accidents are bound to happen…"
"I understand…" the genie replied and sighed. "Just try your best to avoid further accidents, okay?"
"Oh, rest assured," Risky said. "I'll try my absolute best…"
The younger girl grumbled and immediately began to pick up the pieces, and the pirate-queen let out a soft chuckle at the sight. This was going to be funnier than she had originally thought. But with her gaze fixed on her hostess' physique rather than what she was doing, Risky's joy was short-lived.
X.x.X
Waves lapped at the rocks at the base of the cliff, upon which sat Shantae's home. The small but cozy living space had been more crowded of late, what with Shantae having a half-reluctant roommate in the form of the self-professed Pirate Queen.
Thankfully, with her in less than ship shape, the purple skinned woman was far more docile than she would be normally. She huffed in boredom as she looked out at the rolling blue waves as they crashed upon the rocks and shoreline that made up the beach of Scuttle Town. She looked down at the beach, where she then saw a green mermaid suddenly wash ashore in the waves, only for said mermaid to transform with a flash of light into the violet haired half-genie that had been her caretaker.
She couldn't tell, but it seemed that Shantae had something under her arm. As her sight of Shantae became obscured when she ran from the beach towards the winding path that up to the lighthouse, Risky knew that it would only be a few moments before Shantae arrived.
As predicted, the door opened up shortly thereafter as the guardian-genie stepped inside, whipping her hair back and forth in an attempt to rid herself of water. And underneath her arm was –
"Are you collecting driftwood now?" the lady-pirate asked unamused.
Her hostess furrowed her brow. "No! I mean… well, kind of." She pouted. "It's parts of your ship."
Risky arched an eyebrow in confusion. She should've been more surprised than anything but the buccaneer was more curious about the reason behind such an action. "…And why is the guardian genie of this dump collecting pieces of my run down ship?"
"I'm salvaging whatever pieces I can find so I can help repair your ship," Shantae replied. "It was smashed against rocks before crashing into the beach, right? I thought I'd –"
The mocking laughter of her rival interrupted the Half-Genie, followed by Risky sneering at the girl. "You never cease to surprise me, girlie. I knew you were naïve and all, but this right here takes the cake."
The younger girl's cheeks were red and hot with embarrassment.
The older woman grinned. "I hope you're not expecting me to leave Scuttle Town alone just because you're helping me. If you did, then I'm not sorry for disappointing you!"
She expected Shantae to fluster, to either immediately deny it to cover up the fact that she had hoped for just that or admit that she wanted Risky Boots to become "good."
What she didn't expect was for the guardian-genie to calmly shake her head. Well, so much for entertaining herself.
"I'm not like you, Risky. If I was, then I would've left you alone on the beach…" she responded, gaze cast to the floor. "But I didn't. I want to help you because –" Her words trailed off and azure eyes seemed to widen for a moment. "You should rest. I need to change my clothes."
That seemed fishy. The lilac-haired girl had been unusually meek just now and it only served to turn the gears in the Pirate Queen's head.
There was something the genie wasn't telling and Risky wanted to inquire further. The way she had pleaded her uncle to help patch the pirate woman up, offering her a bed to sleep in and cooking food, and now wanting to help rebuilding the Tinkertub… Just what was the Half-Genie up to?
So deeply was the sea-faring warrior mulling it over that her pulse suddenly quickened when crimson eyes was greeted with a bare genie at the other end of the room stripped out of her bedlah-pants and pushing her young, panties-clad backside out on display. Risky would've never imagined her rival to wear something simple as white cotton underwear but at the same time it was oddly cute, though her attention was mainly focused on Shantae's rear and its tempting shape. Not to mention the ample window of opportunity to steal a glance at the decent side-boob –
The buccaneer reeled back, aghast over herself, and turned her head so quickly that she thought her neck snapped. She had to adjust her pants to help ease the unwanted pressure down below, which proved difficult to do with one hand.
Risky hoped that Shantae didn't see that the pirate queen's face was now matching the colour of Shantae's bedlah-pants. 'There was no way her rival could be that easy on the eyes' Risky thought to herself, finally resolving to look at the ceiling.
X.x.X
Carrying the salvaged parts of her nemesis' ship over to a nearby, secret cove, the Half-Genie mulled things over.
Risky Boots had asked the right question; why was she helping the pirate to this extent? Well, she did want to help, and maybe she did hope that Risky would become… well, "good." She couldn't be blamed for dreaming, could she?
And yet it felt as if that wasn't quite it.
Shantae made it over to the cove through a near-impassable passage. She'd have to take the underwater path in the future; this route was narrow and treacherous with loose rocks and thick foliage.
As she skipped down the cave into the cove from above, her thoughts came back to the lady-pirate staying over and she couldn't suppress the smile that spread over her lips. All things considered, the guardian-genie was actually happy – happy over seeing Risky Boots again after a whole year of longing.
But now that the Pirate Queen was back, she would eventually have to leave again and the knowledge hurt the young girl's heart. She didn't want to see the older woman – rival or not – leave again. Why was that?
´This is so confusing,´ she thought. Only one thing was certain.
For better or worse, Risky Boots made Shantae's life a lot more exciting.
