8: Eye Of The Storm Dragon's Typhoon (completed)
The Foehammer cut through the sky at a moderate pace, nothing but a large expanse, the blue of the sky above and the fluffy void of the clouds below. The sun was shining brilliantly upon Ruby, Yumi, April and Ash's armour- Uragaan, Jhen Mohran, Gurenzeburu and Gogomoa respectively- from the distant west as they stood leaning over the port side of the airship, feeling the wind cutting through their faces.
"Oi! I wouldn't be doin' tha' too much, alrigh'?" Thain yelled at them, espying the four hunters peering dauntlessly over the side. "I cannay do nothin' for ye if ye topple o'er the side!" he warned. "Don't worry about us, mister, we'll be fine!" Ash called back, laughing as the wind, gentler now, tickled her face. Thain sighed heavily and shook his head with dismay. "Young'uns these days…" he murmured to himself, pulling the wooden lever to his left to angle the red sails to the right, to catch the wind.
"It's amazing, isn't it? Being up here, with nothing but cloud, sky and sun in sight," Irvine remarked almost wistfully to the four of them, coming to stand against the edge of the vessel with them, not leaning over. The teens pulled back sheepishly as he came to a stop beside them. "It's not often that one gets to experience something so exhilarating. Even I have only been onboard an airship a few times in my life. You are all very lucky."
It was true. They were lucky; most residing in the outer regions of Altus would never fall upon the chance to travel on a horse-drawn carriage, never mind an airship, or even a sea ship. There were airships that came to and from Outer Altus regularly but the fares were far too expensive for them people there. If they purchased a ticket for even just one person they'd most likely never be able to put food on the table ever again. There were far too many taxes to pay- war tax, air force tax, navy tax, accommodation tax (even those who built houses with their own materials couldn't escape the tax), sliding salary tax (the richer you were, the more of your wages went to the Guild), and many more. The Guild had bumped up the taxes in the last decade because of the war effort- even the riches of Eridias itself could not fund a war for ten years. In fact, Chancellor Tojou himself had said that if the Guild hadn't upped the charges then they would have to start using up the money reserve in Szaras Dúl, commonly known as "The Glass Palace", where the Chancellor and the Archminister lived and the High Court discussed any and all affairs of the country. This was something that had never happened in the seven centuries since the Reformation, when Szaras Dúl was built. Despite the fact that Archminister Grimsley stated that everybody would have to bear the financial hardships until the war with Tenkai came to a close, most knew this to be a sham, but said nothing; they knew that, in the end, it was just political smokescreening to keep the country's spirits up and that it would only be temporary. But still, the Ministers of the outer regions -Tarin, Arken, Galdaan, Sinata, Chi'Huen and Je Bul- knew all too well that it was their people who were becoming poorer while the inner regions like Jonton, Kojo, Zakimuto and especially Eridias (although it was Altus' capital, so it was bound to be rich regardless) remained prosperous. Kojo and Zakimuto even became richer.
Yes, indeed, they were incredibly lucky.
"Really? But you're a soldier; don't you get to travel on airships all the time?" Yumi asked, surprised.
"No. I'm not in the air force; I'm with the black ops department. Most of my time is spent on Yii-Do doing…well, really not much at all. I know when you all hear "black ops" you automatically assume that it involves constant action and adventure. But to be honest, missions aren't that common. This is the first mission the black ops department has been asked to undertake in three years, and even so only a few of us are going." He waved his hand lazily at the other black ops soldiers standing on the far starboard side of the ship, the top half of their bodies obscured by the sails, which flapped madly in the wind.
"Wow…" Ruby said, shocked. "The black ops department is really that slow-going? What do you do when you're not on missions? Doesn't it drive you insane?"
"We're not housebound, Ruby," Irvine stated, "we're allowed to travel into Kojo. Yii is just off its coast, after all."
It was definitely a strange thing to hear, entirely adverse to what the teenagers thought. They knew the black ops department was for very special missions that had to be handled with the utmost secrecy and care, but they had no idea that such missions only came along once in a blue moon.
"Anyway, I must speak to Thain. Feel free to wander about just...don't touch anything," he said, almost as if he expected them to, walking off to toward the bow of the ship, where Thain steered idly. He barely had to even move the wheel. The journey had been blessed with perfect weather, for flying and for general comfort. He only reason he was even at the steering wheel was because it was the protocol; a pilot cannot leave the wheel unattended at any time for any reason.
Irvine gazed into the distant clouds ahead as he came to a stop next to Thain. Despite the peace and calm that surrounded them, Irvine's keen eyes spotted a single blot on the canvas of white and blue.
"It's comin'," Thain said seriously, gravely. Irvine continued to stare ahead. "Ain't it?"
A pause followed. The flapping of the sails and the whistling of the wind acted like a drum roll.
"Yes," Irvine sighed resignedly, "it's coming. It's barely visible now, but eventually, we will draw lose to it. There is no avoiding it. We must be ready. But say nothing to the children." Irvine walked away to tell Miyuki and his subordinates what he'd just said Thain.
"The eye o' t' storm it is, then," Thain muttered decisively, adjusting the angle of the sails to gain speed, edging ever closer the speck of ominous dark ahead.
3 Hours Later
The cabin wasn't a place one wanted to spend the night.
It was rectangular and a little cramped. The walls were simply bare wood, although the Guild insignia was plastered onto the wall separate from the cabin walls, the wall which formed the two-way short corridor that lead to the brig on the left and the lavatory on the right. There were one bed (which the couple had taken), only hammocks, in stacks of three, three columns on the left and right cabin walls, making for a total of eighteen. It was a close call in terms of accommodation. There were eleven of the teenagers and when you add Irvine and Miyuki and the five other black ops soldiers, which makes exactly eighteen. If they had taken one more person, they'd have run out of room. The thought made Dante think of Eiji once again. It was almost as if his fate was written. It was almost as if he was destined to die. Dante strayed from the thought. It sickened him.
"Hey! You alive in there?" Alexis' voice came sweetly, softly on the wind of the world, muffled and phased out. Slowly, the sound broke through to him and his eyes sharply met hers, as if she were attacking him. "You were just far away, weren't you?" she giggled, smiling at him from where she lay, next to him in the one bed that rested against the middle wall, directly opposite from the two-way corridor on the other end of the room. It only meant for a single occupant, so it was cozy and intimate for a couple. Almost naked under the covers pulled up to their shoulders, all they could feel was skin amidst the fold of the fabric.
"I was just thinking that if we had brought one more person with us, we'd have had no room. Eighteen people, exactly. Ah, ignore me; I'm just bored. The others have all gone upstairs," Dante sighed. He almost jumped at first, but then smiled as Alexis' gentle hands smoothed his chest.
"Exactly," she whispered, dangling a vial of watery-blue liquid in her hand. Abortion serum.
It took less than five seconds for Dante to press his lips against hers and for the pair of them to delve in beneath the covers and lose themselves in ecstasy.
2 Hours Later
Night had fallen and Aaron, Teiko and Ichiro stood atop the deck, marveling at the endless sea of moon, star, and sky with Ruby, Yumi, Ash and April. It had begun to rain lightly and the ever so quiet patter of miniscule raindrops pattering against the hunters' armour was a somewhat pleasant undertone, giving soul to the silent sky.
"Wow, it's really great out here," Teiko remarked to his sister, extending his hand into the air from the rail of the port side of the vessel, as if to wade a hand in hot warm water. The air was cool- not too cold or too hot- and tingly on his fingertips. He let out a small, surprise whine. "Ooh, tingly!" he said, tickled by the winds. Ash reached out and did the same. She too giggled as the breeze tickled her hand.
The only thing that spoiled it was the dark clouds they had drifted into that regularly obscured the benevolent light of the new moon, and the low, quiet rumbling that constantly echoed in the nothingness. The teens had dismissed it, thinking it was all part of the petrol-fueled engine of the Foehammer.
But they were wrong. Something far more credible was astir, deep in the nimbus.
And Thain knew exactly what that "something" was.
"Oi! Get yer bleedin' 'ands away from t' clouds!" Thain bellowed, with a sense of great urgency. "NOW!"
As they did, a great screech shattered the silence, thunder, and thunder and lightning fractured the late night sky. Irvine, Miyuki and the five black ops soldiers joined the teenage hunters on the port side to witness the great calamity. Each flash of a lightning bolt gave a glimpse of a gargantuan shadow, a magnificent terror of the sky larger than even the Foehammer.
"Amatsumagatsuchi," Thain uttered with horror, gazing upon the writhing, roaring shadow in the stormy dark. "...Heaven's Catastrophe."
Despite Thain's apparent horror, it took him mere moments to plan a course of action.
"TO ARMS! ALL HANDS AT THE READY!" he roared in deliberate excess, as if trying to contest with the terrible growling a shrieking of the Amatsumagatsuchi. The five black ops soldiers rushed down to the lower compartments to arm the cannons. Miyuki accompanied them to man the sixth. The Foehammer's cannons packed quite a punch; barbed, arrow-shaped projectiles made of pure Noctalite. Such deadly ammunition was sure to rack the Amatsumagatsuchi with pain. Thain hoped that the beast would not come close enough for the hunters to have to use them.
"Thain, look!" Ichiro shouted!, pointing ahead. Thain averted his gaze from the Amatsu and looked straight ahead, to see the bow of another airship piercing through the dark storm clouds ahead. It was a similar colour to theirs, and it had a dragon carved into the front, much like the Foehammer. But as the green sails and the scarlet dragon emblazoned upon each of them came into view, Thain's eyes widened and his hopes were blown away like sand in the wind. All the colour drained from his face.
This was a Tenkai airship.
"What is it?" April asked, concerned at the burly man's sudden speechlessness.
"Tha' there's a Tenkai vessel. The dogs mus' be onto us. Damn it all!" he cursed. Barely a moment's silence passed before one of the teenagers, all of whom where now fraught with concern, prompted Thain to decide upon a course of action.
"Well?" Ash asked, with the voice of a visitor waiting for the doctor to give a diagnosis, ignoring the thunder that mauled the air, the lightning that cut the sky and the rain that pushed against her and the others. "What do we do?"
Thain listened to the shrill cries of the Amatsumagatsuchi whilst staring through narrow, conservative eyes at the Tenkai vessel that was fast approaching their own. Finally, he clenched his fist and nodded affirmatively to himself. He had come to a decision.
"This ship is called the Foehammer," Thain stated with pride, followed by a wry smile as he pulled another lever to adjust the angle of the sails, charging straight toward the enemy ship with fire in his heart.
"Methinks it's about time it did jus' tha'."
The shrieking, the thunder and the awfully sickening sensation of an airship being rocked gently by the harsh, aggressive wind had roused Dante and Alexis from their sleep. Still nude under the bedsheets, they scrambled for the clothes they'd shoved under their pillows (in case something akin to what they were experiencing now happened), managing to pull it all on in about twenty seconds, before getting up from the bed and running off to the left, to one of the cells in the brig where everybody's belongings had been placed, and where Dante and Alexis' armour sets and weapons awaited their retrieval. Slipping the heavy metal on in no time and yanking their swords and shields (Red Divine Flame for Dante, Hi Ninja Sword G for Alexis), they quickly sprinted upstairs to meet with the others.
They were nearly blown over by the force of the winds. grabbing onto the wooden railing that made up the side of the stairs quickly before they were thrown against the side of the ship. Yet, despite this vigourous, unrelenting tempest, the Foehammer held her own, steadfast against the elements. Of course, it rocked harshly to the left or right at times, and the sails were fluttering so much it sounded like thunderous applause, but the ship was clearly sturdy and robust, and wasn't about to get bowled over by the storm anytime soon. Although, it might not have to, if the Tenkai ship that Dante and Alexis now clocked did the job itself.
"So, there's a huge Elder Dragon that we can't possibly defeat lurking in the clouds and a Tenkai ship straight ahead that we're about to charge -deliberately, I might add- into. Do you all know what "insanity" means?!" Alexis yelled over the storm, clearly disapproving of the current plan of action.
"Call it what ye may," Thain began frankly, driving with fervour toward the enemy aircraft even then, "'tis all we can do at this point.
As the Foehammer cruised ever closer to the hostile vessel before them, everbody- and that means everybody- was becoming anxious staring at Thain as if he held the fate of the world in his hands.
Closer...and closer...and closer...and closer...
"What're ya planning to do?! Crash into it?!" Alexis shrieked with fright and alarm. The other ship was so close to them now that the crew could be clearly seen, although they all looked the same- tall, lean figures clad in Dyuragaua armour with short swords upon their backs, about twenty five of them. That was another thing Alexis had just found to add to her list of disadvantages; they were trapped in a storm; an Amatsumagatsuchi- which was probably about the same size as the boat- was lurking in the nimbus; an enemy ship was before them; they were outnumbered. Juuuuuust great, Alexis thought to herself with the utmost cynicism.
Suddenly, she, along with everybody else, felt the wind cut across them as the ship turned as it approached the Tenkai airship.
"What the-?" one of the black ops soldiers exclaimed, confused. But Yumi saw it. Thain was turning to the right side so that the starboard side cannons and other artillery would all be able to hit the enemy. It was perfect.
"I thought I told all o' ye to be at the ready! How is this maneuvre goin' to be any bloody use if there' not a soul to man the damned cannons?!" Thain exclaimed. A few stunted seconds passed and again the hunters stared at Thain like he was an alien. He sighed with resignation before shouting at them much like before.
"MAN THE FECKIN' CANNONS!" he bellowed. Almost instantaneously, Irvine, Miyuki and the soldiers rushed downstairs to get to the cannons while, Ash, Teiko and Ruby manned the three starboard-side crossbow turrets. The recognised the make- it was very similar to that used on the forts that protected vulnerable towns that were unfortunate enough to be situated near the habitats of Shen Gaoren or Lao-Shan Lung, astoundingly last monsters that made the very ground shudder for miles and miles with each step they took. Thankfully, they were too large to bother with tiny humans, and only attacked what was in their way, or humanity would be in serious danger. Teiko, Ruby and Ash were glad to see such reliable weaponry at their disposal in this situation. They narrowed their eyes and focused their aim. With adrenaline rushing through their veins, they were ready for anything.
Meanwhile, Yumi, April, Aaron, Ichiro, Dante and Alexis unsheathed brought their various weapons to bear and consuming their chosen items- demondrugs, armour pills, nutrients, etc- in preparation for the Tenkai soldiers that they would undoubtedly have to face- the only variable was whether they would be the boarders or the boarded.
A moment of standoffish silence- albeit marred by the storm and the Amatsu's roaring- followed before Thain gave the both dreaded and anticipated command.
"FIRE ALL CANNONS, YE BABY-SKINNED LANDLUBBERS!"
Almost instantly, the noise of the stormy skies was drowned out by the deafening, almost sickening *BOOM!* of at least half a dozen cannon shots, complimented by the sharp, quiet sound of arrows from the crossbow turrets slicing through the air. Most of them embedded themselves into the wood of the airship, a couple tore hit the sails, probably tearing holes (although holes so tiny that they'd be impossible to see from where the hunters stood), but only two or three of them actualy hit the Tenkai soldiers. Two were downed almost immediately but the third managed to yank the arrow out of his arm with grit and determination. The cannonballs, however, were another story. They smashed straight into the bow of the ship's hull with a sickening crunch, stray bits of wooden shrapnel flying in all directions briefly before tumbling down into the darkened abyss below. One of the large, rotund projectiles smashed straight into the carven dragon on the very forefront of the ship, tearing the wooden bust's head from its body in a flash.
But there was no time to celebrate. Even as this happened, the Tenkai ship was rotating sideways to be parallel with the Foehammer, preparing to fire cannons of their own. Upon observing this, Thain grabbed a long, winding piece of wood, clearly some sort of makeshift loudhailer, and shouted into it, no doubt to Irvine, Miyuki and the black ops soldiers below deck, manning the cannons and the noctalite tow cables.
"FIRE TOW CABLES! RIP THA' MOTTLED PIECE O' CRAP APART, PLANK BY BLOODY PLANK!"
Not long after, Dante, Alexis, Yumi, Ruby and the other teens watched ahead with awe as, following a loud noise akin to metal striking stone, three gargantuan ropes probably wider than them, sprang out from their vessel, a pitch black attachment on the end of each of them shaped like an "X", each of the bars armed with sharp, cruel barbs that jutted out like an Akantor's spine. An awesome crunch followed as they chomped into the enemy aircraft's woodwork, lodged within it. Once he confirmed that they were firmly in place, Thain spun the wheel wildly, turning the Foehammer about, bringing the Tenkai ship with it, ever so slowly. The Tenkai vessel, which had been about to fire their cannons, did so, but all missed as its aim was sabotaged as it was dragged along by the pivoting Foehammer. After about a minute, he reached for the loudhailer again.
"PULL 'EM BACK IN!" he boomed. Seconds later, the massive tow cables were torn away from their quarry, leaving gigantic maws in the port side of the ship. The huge ropes were quickly pulled back the way it came, no doubt by some sort of mechanism within the ship.
Not long after, everybody on deck jumped with surprise when an almost deafening boom splintered the sound barrier. A huge, cylindrical metal projectile with an arrow shaped head had been fired from the Tenkai ship, and had slammed into the Foehammer with such force that the boat almost rocked to one side. Immediately, the hunters all heard the sound of conflict below, the ugly grinding of steel on steel. Dante then heard Thain groan with exasperation and disappointment, the way a child whines when denied a sweet, only gruffer, thicker and angrier.
"We've been feckin' boarded. Bollocks!" he scowled. A couple of moments passed before he stretched his fingers outward and flexed his neck, bones cracking each time, and armed himself with the monolithic battleaxe he had been carrying on his back. The handle was iron plated wood but the blade (which was about half the height of an average person) was made of "shatterstone", one of the newer ores discovered within the last sixty years, and the last to be found until the discovery of noctalite. Shatterstone was named in apropos, and so was often used for crafting brutish weaponry designed to bludgeon and smash, such as maces, ballistae and battleaxes. Thain's battleaxe's blade was made of said material, and if that alone wasn't fear factor enough, it was still peppered with the bloody stains of decades' bloodshed and a sharp, pointy barb on the tip of the handle. A fearsome and intimidating article indeed, if only in stature.
"We'd best be gettin' ready," Thain grunted at the others. "They'll be comin' up here soon enough; I reckon there's 'bout twenty o' the bastards. They're but cannon fodder, but the same can be said about ants, until they swarm around you. I'd like to make it out o' this thundery deathtrap alive, thank ye very much."
All was then quiet as they listened intently to the heavy, marching footsteps that echoed from under their feet. About twenty age-long seconds passed, before the tension broke like glass as a great sword sliced though the wooden floor of the deck. The multitude of hunters shielded their faces with their arms and the shattered pieces of wood hurled themselves in each direction. As Dante and the others pulled their arms away, a conglomerate of Tenkai soldiers, identified by their trademark Dyuragaua armour and weapons, leapt acrobatically from the maw in the floor, all aiming their weapons at the Guild associates. It took but a second for them to react, each of them brandishing their variety of death instruments and surging forth to meet their foes.
Immediately, Thain set his terrifyingly large axe to work, smashing it horizontally into an oncoming soldier with a howl of glee and determination. The shatterstone armament did what it was made to do and smashed right into its target's armour, cracking the chestpiece open and slamming into the human ribs within. A bloodcurdling crunch sounded out as blood burst out in all directions and the undeniably dead and mangled body was sent tumbling across the floor, leaving a trail of crimson blood along the way. Another foolishly challenged the Iron Fist, to whom Thain responded by swatting him away casually with the flat of his axe. It looked like a light blow, but it was no such thing, as the soldier it hit was slammed to the floor almost immediately, his skull fatally fractured. Yet another came up behind Thain without him knowing and smashed his great sword into the back of Thain's armoured head. Nothing happened. That is, nothing other than Thain's brutal response: a sharp kick to trip the assailant up before the fatal rib-smashing from the battleaxe, followed by a guttural roar of enthusiasm.
"Bleeding flesh and shattered bone, torn out innards and blood on stone, keep me goin', all the while, till all my meals come out as bile!" Thain sang roughly, toying with more feeble Tenkai attackers, cutting them down when he grew bored of watching them feebly tap their weapons against him and his massive weapon. To them, the blows were wearing, mighty and heavy, but to Thain, they were naught but raindrops against metal. Bored of toying with them after a couple of minutes, he quickly dispatched them all in ways as equally bloody and brutal as his other opponents.
Meanwhile, April had been toppled to the floor by a Tenkai soldier armed with a sword and shield after dispatching another of his ilk mere moments before with her Gurenzeburu hammer. She backed away on the floor as fast as she could, looking somewhat like a spider as she frantically moved her limbs to avoid the syncopated strokes of her adversary's Dyuragaua blade. She then raised her hammer horizontally, her hands at each end of its handle, using the aqua blue rod to block another slice from the soldier's sword which would otherwise have been fatal. Seeing the opening she needed, April put her legs together and thrust them toward the man's chest, knocking him over while she used the momentum form her kick to pull herself up to a standing position. She lorded her cruelly sharp hammer over her hapless prey for a few moments before slamming its keen face into the white mask that hid the militant's face, the blood pouring out from beneath signifying that she had definitely mortally wounded him. She then proceeded to smash her hammer into the side of another solder, whom she dodged as he swiped at her.
All of a sudden, she was knocked off of her feet once again as Aaron collided with her, Shiny Rathalos Sword G and all, the pair of them sliding across the now slanted deck (the ship had been blown slightly askew by the wind so that it slanted lower of the port side). They both cried out at the sharp pain of being thrown against the port side railing of the ship, with Aaron actually landing on top of April, almost obscuring her from view behind his ostentatious Rathalos Soul G armour.
"Cudh yuh get the fuck offa me please?!" April's muffled, irritated voice reverberated from behind Aaron.
"Oh, sorry," Aaron said quickly, pulling himself off of the young girl. April put her hammer back upon her back and dusted herself off as if she'd just fallen in mud (although if she was so determined to keep her gear clean, the rain was doing a mighty fine job of it for her). A few awkward seconds passed where the two hunters' eyes met intensely. It just felt so natural.
But it didn't last long.
"Look out!" April cried, shoving Aaron behind her and punting her hammer into the face of an onrushing, gunlance-wielding Tenkai soldier. The warrior and his cumbersome weapon were sent metres away. April relaxed her muscles and let her hammer fall limply in her grip. She turned around and extended her hand out to the boy, who took it hesitantly but gratefully.
"...Thanks," he said slowly.
"Think nothing of it," she said in a friendly tone. Another awkward stare-off ensued. She wanted so badly to kiss him and hold him against her, but she knew that now was most definitely not the time for frivolous hanky-panky between the sexes. The two of them ran back into the fray of the battle that still raged on deck.
The One-Eyed Gurenzeburu flew wildly through the Amatsumagatsuchi's storm, the Akura Jebia still on its back. It flew as fast as it could while lingering a safe distance away from the airship it was following, which was currently in battle with another, heavily damaged airship. All it was thinking about all the while was the many slow, painful ways it could torture the Blue One. The One-Eyed Gurenzeburu yearned for her screams more than anything else in existence. Food, shelter, safety, even life itself. All paled in comparison to the exquisite satisfaction of hearing the Blue One beg for death in its human tongue, most of which it did not understand.
Whether it be today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from today, I shall dance to the music of the Blue One's screams! the One Eyed Gurenzeburu thought. It craned its neck back a little toward the Akura Jebia on its back, its black, empty eye socket boring into the creatures four crimson eyes. The only thing more fearful than the blood red eyes of a monster was no eye at all.
Are you alright, Carapaceon? the Flying Wyvern asked in its usual, angry, growling tone.
I'm fine. But still, are you sure this was a good idea? I mean, what if the Amatsumagatsuchi sees us, or worse, we get struck by lightning and fall to the ground? I don't fancy being eaten, being electrocuted, or falling to a messy doom, the Jebia replied apprehensively.
Fear not, Carapaceon. The Amatsumagatsuchi is one of us. While it hold no interest in helping us, it has no interest in eating us either.
Alright, if you say so.
I do say so, Carapaceon.
Slowly, slowly, the One-Eyed Gurenzeburu and his flightless companion soared through the darkened skies, hell-bent on ultimate revenge.
The fighting still raged below deck.
The Foehammer's noctalite tow cables had really ripped into the Tenkai airship, as had the cannons that Miyuki, Irvine and his team were currently manning, but still the vessel refused to be shot down. It didn't have much in the way of fire power, but it was slowly eating its way through the starboard side of the Guild vessel with its own cannons.
"For fuck sakes," Miyuki sighed exasperatedly, "we've been at this for ages! Why won't the bastard just die?"
"I honestly don't know, Miyuki. But if it's any consolation, it's really starting to get on my nerves as well," Irvine calmly replied, despite Miyuki's rhetoric.
All of a sudden, a cry came from above.
"ALL OF YE GET DOWN BELOW! THOSE MANNIN' THE CANNONS, HOLD ONTO SOMETHIN'!"
It was Thain.
Quickly, Irvine, Miyuki and the Rukodiora soldiers abandoned their cannons and grabbed ahold of whatever they could find first, and waited to see what would happen next.
"Oh, aye, I've fuckin' 'ad enough o' this shite!" Thain muttered to himself. Backhanding a Tenkai soldier, the captain of the Foehammer stomped back toward the steering wheel and grabbed it, then shouted at the top of his voice (which was unbelievably loud) at those above and below deck.
"ALL OF YE GET DOWN BELOW! THOSE MANNIN' THE CANNONS, HOLD ONTO SOMETHIN'!"
Immediately, Dante, Alexis, Ichiro, Yumi, Aaron, Ruby and April abandoned their foes and sprinted for the way below deck. As they did, Thain rapidly spun the wheel, and pulled a level next to him. This caused the ship to tilt madly on the starboard side while it surged on through the clouds, to the point where anything above deck would begin to slide in one direction.
Unfortunately, April hadn't made it below deck, as she had to fight a Tenkai soldier out of her way. She tried to grab the railing of the stars that led below deck for support but it was no use. She cried out as she slid down the now almost vertical deck of the ship, and all the while her frightened eyes were fixated upon the edge of the ship and the abyssal expanse of gloomy clouds below.
"APRIL!" Aaron cried out, almost involuntarily. He grabbed Ichiro's Akura Vashimu dual blades instantaneously and quickly slid down the side of the ship toward her, worrying that he wouldn't reach her in time, having to dodge the falling bodies of Tenkai soldiers, alive and dead, who were falling to their dooms, as Thain had planned.
Just before April slipped over the small wooden railing of the ship's side and to her death, she felt a jolt as her body was stopped form falling. She felt a tight vicegrip around her left wrist. She looked up, and to her surprise, Aaron was staring down at her, the pair of them dangling from the ship- Aaron had stabbed one of the dual blades into the wooden floor of the deck, preventing them from falling. The other was strapped to his waist. He gestured to it with his eyes. "Quickly, grab it! We'll climb up!" he said. Without thinking, April grabbed the blade with her free hand (her hammer was put away) and stabbed it with all her strength into the wood. Together, the pair of them climbed up, Aaron stabbing into the wood, then April, then Aaron and so on, their hands locked tightly together the entire time. Halfway through the ordeal, they felt a wave of relief wash over them as the ship began to slowly right itself.
All the Tenkai soldiers were gone.
Mere moments ago, April and Aaron had been climbing for their lives up a steep, nigh on vertical wooden wall. Now, they were sitting on the flat wooden surface which they had just been climbing, panting and looking down at nothing in particular. Slowly, they looked up and into each other's eyes for the third time since they'd been on the Foehammer. This time, it was different. They both knew that there was no time better.
April made the first move, practically throwing herself on Aaron, her lips pressing tenderly against his. Their eyes slowly shut, and they lost themselves in ecstasy.
All of a sudden, a lightning strike came from above and hit the Tenkai airship dead on. It only took a moment, and the damaged aircraft was little more than a charred, hollow shell tumbling down towards the world below. Then, to brighten the situation even further (quite literally), the rain stopped, the thunder and lightning slowly fades away and the Amatsumagatsuchi's roars and howls were no longer audible.
The sky was clear and starry, the air was clam and dry, and the just visible shape of Starfall Forest, Kijuka, could be seen ahead.
The hunters had reached the Separatist Province of Tenkai. Very soon now, their mission would begin.