Chapter Three
"I keep telling you grub-licking fuckwits to watch what you're doing! I won't have the Puravida's name smeared with shit for your incompetency!" Karkat snapped as he stalked the deck of his ship, looking for any crewmen he could snap into action with a sharp tongue lashing. Not that the crew had any control over the winds, but it gave the captain a sense of accomplishment to strike a little extra fear and hustle into his crew.
For the past three days things had been in their favor. Aradia had assured them all that Aiolos was with them, offering support with strong winds to fill the sails and power the sleek vessel through the water. Sollux had offered her a smile of agreement and both had pointedly ignored Karkat's derisive snort.
The crew was hurrying about the deck, securing rigging, attentively maneuvering the tiller, and keeping all sails taut to catch the rushing winds at their backs. Both passengers were impressed by the crew's efficiency, but the captain hardly batted an eyelash over it. He expected nothing but the utmost competency and obedience aboard his ship and any crewmen that failed in their duties was permanently relieved of duty at their next port. He ran a tight ship and so far he hadn't been late or lost a single piece of cargo in five sweeps. It was a good record, one he intended to salvage as soon as this business with the royals was finished. Karkat glanced over his shoulder at his friend, wondering just how prepared Sollux actually was for a war. Ever since he had first met the young royal he had been privately concerned for him. Sollux was incredibly gifted when it came to understanding and adapting technology, but he seemed unsuited for ruling a kingdom. He was far too disconnected with the politics and demands associated with his position; a troubling outlook for the future of the western kingdom if that didn't change.
"Maybe this is what you need after all idiot. If it doesn't get you killed somehow, if it doesn't get us all killed." He shook his head, considering that perhaps it wouldn't hurt to hope that Aradia's emissaries were actually going to aid them. He hardly considered himself a believer in spirits and supernatural beings but if such creatures did exist then it would be nice to have them offering whatever assistance they could against the Aquarians. Karkat rolled his eyes at his own thoughts and drew a hand over his face slowly. It had to be the anxiety of their mission getting to him. They had sailed without pause for three days, working round the hours in three shifts to keep the ship in top condition under the steady force of the driving winds. In all that time they hadn't caught so much as a peek of skysail from the Kharonii's ship. If they didn't catch sight of them by sunrise Aradia's damning prophetic vision could come true. As if some mocking force had heard his disquieted thoughts, a flurry of distressed commotion suddenly exploded among the crewmen on deck.
"No! The wind? Where's the wind?"
"The sails are sagging! Secure the mainsheet! Trim the sails!"
"Captain! The winds have died!"
Karkat whirled about on his heels, snapping commands at his crew as they scurried about the deck. "Lower the damn sails! Drop the halyard you lumbering knucklebeasts! Fire up the stokehold and prepare to switch over to the engine! Did I stutter? I've seen dying finbeasts with over-gorged parasitic shellsuckers clamped to their wheezing air chutes move faster than you! Move your asses!"
Sollux reached out to take Aradia's hand, his confused expression only intensifying as she shook her head and looked up at the silent sky with a distraught frown. The hum of the ship's engines buzzed below the planking under their feet, the sound comforting at least in the knowledge that they were still moving forward. Karkat came to a halt before the pair, glaring accusingly at Aradia as though she had sucked the winds from the very air herself.
"What happened? Aren't you supposed to be some walking divination totem for these oh-so-powerful elementals? Where's my wind gone? The engine isn't going to propel us fast enough to catch that ship! Where the fuck is your dancing wind pixie now?" Seething, he waved both hands through the air, occasionally tossing a venomous glare toward the sky as if he could somehow menace the winds back to life.
Aradia shook her head again and pulled a trembling hand through a few locks of her dark, curled hair. She had no explanation for why they had suddenly been bereft of their driving force. She hadn't had time to pack any of her summoning charms and she had been assured that Aiolos would be at her side, aiding her and comforting her as always, but now she couldn't detect even the slightest trace of his presence. She wanted to reassure everyone that it was just a passing diversion of attention, that the wind would return momentarily, but she couldn't even comfort herself with such empty promises.
Karkat looked ready to spit poison on everything within a five foot radius but before he could so much as curl his lips over his short fangs the entire vessel lurched violently to the side, an explosive spray of water and splintered wood crashing across the deck, sweeping crewmen heavily into the railing. The sudden attack was abruptly followed by a second blast to the other side of the ship; the heavy sway of the boat and fountain of sea spray and planking drawing a violent mantra of curses from the captain. The barrage threw the entire crew into a panic, some desperately trying to discern the location of their assailants, others darting below deck to assess the damage while others trembled and bewailed their poor fortunes and doom. Sollux scanned the ocean surface but couldn't find any sign of another vessel on the water. The frantic cries from below deck accompanied by the groaning of the engine and the churning sound of rushing water seemed to resound thunderously in his head as one vivid noise. A hollowing cry of destruction and death painfully drummed within his mind, the temptation to seize up and allow the fear to swallow him whole almost too great to ignore. He didn't want to sink into the watery abyss, to stare up at the last bit of star light from the blackness of cold, crushing water.
"Sollux! I need your help!" Aradia's voice cut through the frightening images in his mind, drawing his focus to where she lie sprawled under a pile of broken planking. He hurried to her side, using his psionics to carefully shift each jumbled piece of wood into the air a few inches so that she could safely crawl forward onto the deck without any risk of further injury. Once she was out from under the splintered boards he dropped them with a sharp clatter and began running his hands along her legs from hip to ankle, checking for wounds. Aradia gave a startled hiss when his hand brushed against her right ankle, the muscle all ready plump from damage and a distinctive dark discoloration blooming on her skin.
"It's broken isn't it?" She sounded so defeated, as though the unexplained destruction around them was tearing her very soul apart. Sollux could see the hopeless shadow in her gaze for what it was, and her next words confirmed his fear. "Aiolos has left me; we could not change fate Sollux. Ker's vision was only meant to prepare us for the inevitable. I'm so sorry I dragged you out here to die. I thought I knew the interpretation, I was so wrong, I'm so sorry my dearest friend."
Sollux pressed a hand over her mouth, cutting off anything else she might have said. He brushed the thin trickle of tears from her soft cheeks and leaned in, drawing her close to his chest and dropping a single kiss to her forehead. The ship continued to groan and sway unsteadily beneath them, crewmen screamed as another blast tore through the mainmast, sending it crashing onto the deck. He would save her at the very least, that much he could do. He couldn't stand to see her cry so brokenly, to blame herself so completely for things she had no control over. His Anai, his friend, he wouldn't allow her to die in the tumultuous waters of the sea. He would gather her in his arms and fly them as far as he could, maybe they could reach the shore of some island before he would tire out.
"There! Off the bow! I see it!"
"Where? Fire on it!"
Sollux snapped his head up as he heard the commotion and stood to see a sight he would never have considered outside of a night terror. The water frothed and foamed as if the sea itself was heaving in its rage, the rushing waves churning and crashing back from the emerging prow of a smooth, dark ship. A long, jagged pike jutted forward from the framework of the vessel, its wicked edges gleaming gold in the moonlight. He heard the crewmen screaming around him, heard Karkat's voice call out distantly to fire. The vessel surged forward with unprecedented speed, slamming into their smaller ship with violent force that flung trolls from the deck into the tumultuous waters and rained splintered wood and metal across the deck. Distantly he heard the vain explosion of canon fire from their ship; the dismal splash of a shot too late striking sloshing waves. He wouldn't run from this, wouldn't flee when their assailants were finally showing themselves.
Energy surged through his veins, pulsing and snapping in arcing crests of red and blue as he walked toward the looming vessel. His eyes narrowed in fury, tendrils of vapor beginning to curl about his head as he watched the ship deck begin to crawl with trolls, sea trolls, surging forward from the open crevices of their vessel to pour over the damaged deck of the Puravida in a blood thirsty wave. He caught three of them in a crackling tendril of red energy, tossing their howling forms over board. He could see Karkat and four of his crewmen engaging another group of invading trolls in combat and still more sea trolls boarded the vessel, battling Vantas' crew with wickedly curved blades and sharp pikes. He curled his fingers and allowed his psionics to swirl and twist between them, collecting the energy for a powerful blast that would sweep the oncoming rush of invaders off their ship. Sollux looked up toward the snarling visages and brandished weapons, raised his arms and opened his hands to unleash his psionic attack, and felt a piercing sting in his neck. He faltered to the left, his energy careening out of control around him, decimating both crews and sending the battle into terrified chaos.
Another jolt struck his upper right arm, the pain accompanied by an unforgiving haze in his vision and a heavy weight to every muscle in his body. He staggered a few more steps, heard several voices he didn't recognize call out close behind him and felt a pair of cold hands with sharp claws close around his throat from behind before his consciousness went black.
Less than an hour later the decks of both ships were quiet; the struggle for mastery over, prisoners painfully restrained, the dead left to rot on the shattered remains of the Puravida's deck, and a host of sneering sea trolls lined in rows behind their bloody captives. The sharp click of heels on the extended gangplank between the ships drew the attention of the battered crewmen to the approaching figure of the sea troll's captain. Metal tipped heels clacked ominously against the fractured wood, halting before the first bound and kneeling troll. He squinted at the smooth leather boots before him, noting the embellished golden stripe running up the center of each boot to the neatly folded cuff just below the knee. His gaze continued up, observing the black fitted leggings, the slitted cerulean skirt that allowed just a glimpse of a dagger belt on the left thigh, the sharply cut waistcoat with matching gold buttons and trim, the adorning black cape with thick gray fur around the cowl and the proud face nestled just above the soft tufts. Her features were angular, pointed chin and nose like spear ends, narrow lips peeled back over viciously curved fangs, her violet eyes focused with the intensity of a raging storm, as if the very rage of the seas billowed and surged within her being, awaiting a victim to be unleashed upon. Long, curling waves of hair cascaded around her horns and down her back, the tips falling heavily against the curve of her hips where jeweled hands rested upon the edge of her sword belt.
She removed the narrow blade with a thin smile, tapping the sharpened steel against the squared chin of her captive. "You're not the Captain of this vessel, but you might still prove useful to me. I'll give you one chance, answer me, where is the leader of the Western Kingdom hiding? We know he sailed the ship that left the harbors of Rheia not six days ago. Have you stowed the great lord in a barrel with your pickled squeal beast snouts?" Her mocking voice was layered in a thick, strident tone, punctuated with heavily accented vowels. She broke off from her question for a short bark of laughter that was chorused by her crew. Abruptly cutting short her mirth, she clapped the blunt side of her blade against her captive's right cheek, the pierced fins on the sides of her head flaring in an aggressive display as she snarled down at him. "Produce him now!"
The crewman stared up in grim defiance, at least confident in the fact that this group of sea dwelling buffoons had made a grave mistake in their calculations. He narrowed his swollen eyes and replied with as much condescension as he could muster. "Sink to the depths and rot you disgusting pile of whale shit." He had barely enough time to gather a glob of spit in his mouth before warmth spilled down over his chest, the vivid teal of his blood soaking through his shirt to blossom in heated, slick layers against his skin. As his body slumped forward on the deck the captain turned her attention to her sinisterly grinning crew.
"That was an incorrect answer. Search the ship! Find their precious ruler and bring him to me, he's either hiding or unconscious so check the bodies to be sure!" She rested a hand against her hip, claws tapping against it a moment before she cast a saccharine smile over the remaining prisoners. "As for the rest of this pathetic lot, lash them to the pegs! Let's see them dance in the froth." Her announcement was met with a gleeful ruckus and a scurrying of feet in all directions.
Sea trolls swarmed through the wreckage of the Puravida, seeking for any hiding or unconscious yellow-blooded trolls. Bodies were rolled over, prodded if they weren't all ready bleeding, and tossed over board into the sea if the color didn't satisfy their search. Amidst the pound of tromping feet below decks came the heavy slide of thick ropes across the metal deck of the other ship. Each captive was shoved face down against the deck, their arms painfully wrenched behind their backs and firmly laced together with the rough cords of rope. As the last few were being tied the searching trolls returned with a single, slender troll dragging along the deck behind them. They proceeded to haul his limp body before their captain, dropping his foot once she could properly lean over to inspect him. She toed his chin from side to side with the tip of her boot, scowling as she took note of his features.
"This isn't their ruler you barnacle crusted piss guzzlers! Look how scrawny he is, can't you tell an adult from a wriggling adolescent?" Her ire seemed to diminish as she looked Sollux's unconscious form over a few times, a wicked smile curling her lips. "He is rather powerful though, for being little more than a grublet. Plug him in to the engines! I could always use an extra battery." She cackled merrily with her crew, oblivious to the firm plod of heavy boots on the gangplank behind her.