Title: ARR! (#004)
Author: Blue and Red
Characters/Pairings: -
Word count: 1842
Summary: In which the pirates do pirate stuff.
Author's Notes (Blue): Crikey, this one's long... Anyhow, pirating abroad in this chapter! Finally, some swashbuckling action!
"Ship to pooo-ort!"
Echizen was roused from his napping spot under the stairs by the call. Stumbling groggily onto deck, he was knocked backwards by Momoshiro barrelling past with bags of gunpowder slung over his shoulders. Steady hands caught him as he stumbled. There was a brief moment where strong, hard fingers like he dreamed about curved along the shape of his face, righting him, then they were gone. Tezuka gave the cabin boy a long look before striding onto the deck, giving no indication of wanting thanks for having just caught him.
"Echizen! Why are you still standing around?"
Echizen turned and nearly collided with Kawamura. Shrugging, he mumbled tiredly, "What's going on?"
"Didn't you hear? We spotted a small merchant ship ahead. More heavily armed than a typical vessel its size, which would mean the ship's probably carrying valuable cargo. We're taking her on -- Seigaku's a tough girl, and she's outlasted more difficult opponents than this."
"Ah."
"Taka-san!" Momoshiro's voice interrupted. "I need your help with the guns!"
Echizen pulled out a spatula out of seemingly nowhere and discreetly handed it to Kawamura.
"BURNING! Aye, Momo! On my way!" And the cabin boy was left standing behind in the dust.
"Oi, Echizen." Fuji billowed by, and Echizen couldn't help but be caught in the startlingly blue depths of dangerous-looking eyes. "Better get to the armoury and find a sword. We're boarding, but this merchant ship won't be as easy to take as one might think."
Echizen remained frozen only for the most miniscule of moments, temporarily stunned by the terrifying seriousness of the tensai Fuji Syuusuke who seemed so different from the first time they met. A dull boom in the not-so-far-off distance quickly roused him back into action.
Grabbing one of the smaller -- but no less deadly -- swords Momoshiro had laid out for him, Echizen sped back onto the deck to find preparations already in full swing. His sharp eyesight allowed him to glimpse Tezuka gesturing to him in the hive of activity. He took it as his cue to move closer to the captain.
Tezuka didn't waste any time. "Echizen. We're doing this in as little time as possible – there's no sense in dragging this minor skirmish out. Both of us will board the ship, but unlike the rest of the crew doing the same, we'll head straight to the captain. Avoid engagements with any of their people unless absolutely necessary. The others will also cover us."
"Got it."
Tezuka gazed at Echizen searchingly, and clapped a hand on his smaller shoulder. "I trust you, Echizen. We can do this. Together." He lifted that hand, and clenched his fist.
Echizen raised his own to meet Tezuka's. "I know."
"Don't let your guard down!"
Echizen went to make ready the ropes wile Tezuka called out orders. Once Seigaku was alongside the merchant ship though, the captain handed control over to the first mate and took up his position next to the cabin boy. Echizen looked around; Kaidoh, Inui, Kawamura, Kikumaru, Oishi and Fuji were all part of the boarding crew. Only Momoshiro appeared to be staying behind to lead the seamen in repelling any would-be boarders. As he caught Momoshiro's eye, Echizen flashed a smirk; he got to do the fun bit. Momoshiro scowled and loaded a musket with possibly more force than strictly necessary.
"SEIGAKU!" For someone whose voice was practically devoid of any inflection, Tezuka was very loud; Echizen had to resist the urge to plug his ears.
"FIGHT!"
In next to no time, they were swinging over the chasm between ships on long ropes with bullets flying about them. On top of that, swords awaited them on the other side. Echizen had a brief glimpse of two rows of cannons facing each other down below like black teeth in the yawning maw of ocean beneath and then he was flying over deck and he let go. The cabin boy found himself fighting to save his skin the second his boots (a little too large since they had belonged to Fuji -- Echizen preferred to go barefoot on Seigaku) hit the planks of the deck. The man was big and strong. Try as he might, Echizen couldn't disarm him. Then, without warning, his opponent sagged and dropped to the deck with a meaty thud; Fuji stood in front of him, blade dripping blood and gore.
"Try stabbing them next time, Echizen. Tezuka-senchou's waiting for you."
Echizen looked from the dead crewman, to the dripping blade before him, to the tensai. Now, Fuji thought, Is where we find out if he's still just a child and not ready to kill. Poor Tezuka, he had such high hopes for our cabin boy...
"Mada mada dane. Just stabbing them is too easy, Fuji-senpai." A merchant crewman rushed up to them and Echizen's blade flashed, slitting his throat neatly and dropping him like a sack of meat. "But if we don't have time..."
Fuji watched the cabin boy make his way over to Tezuka so deftly it looked like he was dancing. He allowed himself to be distracted for a few seconds by the way the young body twisted and moved before turning back to the battle.
"Senchou." Tezuka took care of his opponent and turned to face his cabin boy. He noted that the newest addition to his crew sported a bloody blade and a perfectly unscathed frame. Echizen hadn't even broken a sweat, and there was the barest hint of his usual cocky grin in place.
"Alright Echizen, let's go."
Find the captain, get him to surrender, hand over his goods and leave. Easier said than done... The other members of the boarding party were covering for them as best possible, but the merchant ship had a full crew with more than a few reasonably skilled swordsmen in their midst. By the time he and Echizen had made their way to the captain's cabin, Tezuka's shoulder was starting to ache from the repetitive hacking and slashing. Still, he pulled himself together, trusting Echizen to watch his back while he assessed the situation. The captain would probably have barricaded himself in, with any number of guns pointing at the door. A direct assault would be suicidal. Unless...
It worked beautifully. Tezuka kicked open the door and stepped back. Echizen darted in, ducking low and was short enough that the first salvo of bullets flew harmlessly over his head. When Tezuka next poked his head around the door, his cabin boy was menacing the merchant captain at sword-point and looking very pleased with himself.
"Letting your boys do the dirty work for you, huh, Captain Tezuka."
"My reputation apparently precedes me."
The merchant captain sneered. "Seigaku is well-known for terrorising ships in these waters. No need to flatter yourself so much, Tezuka."
"You were warned about the 'terrors' around here, but you were beaten anyway. Your cargo, please."
"As if I would just hand it to you," the merchant captain said sullenly. However, the fight had pretty much drained out of his face -- he knew that this was one which he could not win. Even though his ship was quite heavily armed, there was little chance that they would be able to out-muscle Seigaku. Perhaps, it was best to cut his losses then and there.
Tezuka, sensing that the other captain didn't want to talk with a very junior crew member about, raised his own sword and said, "Echizen, leave the room. Check up on the state of affairs outside."
A sigh. "I was having fun, senchou."
"Go."
With one last customary smirk, Echizen tossed the merchant captain a "Mada mada dane" and advised him to turn pirate ("It's more lucrative.") before leaving.
When the door clicked shut behind the cabin boy, Tezuka addressed an irritated and defeated merchant captain. "Now, let us work out the terms that will be most advantageous to both parties..."
"Senchou, that's everything."
Momoshiro emerged from the hold of the merchant ship escorting the last of the valuable cargo. Tezuka nodded.
"Get it stowed. Kaidoh, how are the repairs coming along?"
"They're finished, Tezuka-senchou." Seigaku's carpenter stepped away from the group of merchant crewmen who had helped him; said sailors looked extremely relieved. Tezuka nodded in affirmation of approval again and turned to the other captain.
"Very well, our business is completed. You will be safely conducted out of these waters." The merchant captain only sneered at Tezuka's words -- there wasn't much else he could do seeing as several of Seigaku's seamen were holding him and his commanding officers at gunpoint. Tezuka felt the bubbles of satisfaction at another successful raid welling up but pushed them down. It never paid to get cocky, especially at the end when things were going so well. It was bad karma, it would make anything go wro-
There was the bang of a musket going off and instinctively Tezuka crouched to the deck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that about half of the crewmen he had set to guard the commanding officers were either dead or injured. It didn't take his years of pirating experience to tell that everything was going to go south very fast.
Grateful they had at least secured the booty, Tezuka decided that his first priority should be to get his injured crew out of harm's way. Glancing around, the captain realised that one of the merchant crew had somehow gotten hold of a musket and fired it. Mentally making a note to punish whoever had been in charge of confiscating weapons, Tezuka drew his blade. Of the better fighters of his crew, only Kaidoh and Echizen were on board and could be relied on. At least the enemy had no real weapons...
"Echizen! The gunman." he received no reply save a small figure darting though the crowd of escaping prisoners followed by the strangled gurgle of a man dying. There was a clunk as the gun hit the deck. "Arai. get our wounded off this ship!"
"Aye, Senchou!" The young man looked horrified but Tezuka didn't have time for sympathy. He already had enough trouble with the merchant coming up from behind brandishing an oar. As predicted, things very rapidly got hairy. While Arai and Kaidoh had managed to get all the wounded pirates back on board Seigaku, Tezuka found himself cut off from the path of retreat. Worse, as the battle wore on, more and more of their adversaries appeared to be armed, clearly having access to some weapons cache the pirates must have missed. Oishi was signalling to him, jumping up and down while shouting something.
Tezuka paused to stare and heard a shot ring out terrifyingly nearby. He turned just in time to see Echizen standing between him and a merchant holding a smoking pistol before the cabin boy collapsed in his arms. Then, a rope from Seigaku swung overhead and Tezuka grabbed it, letting it carry him and the limp body in his arms to safety.
Oringally posted: 18/01/2007
Last modified: 30/01/2007
P.S. Blue wants reviews! Reviews please!