"Not a bad haul!"

Back on Plunder Outpost, the Glacial Dragons stood in front of the Gold Hoarders' tent as the liaison, Harry, opened it up, "And you said this was your first voyage?"

"Sure is!" Stella replied with a proud smile. "Impressive! Keep this up and you four might start making a name for yourselves. Of course, that would also mean you'd be a target for other pirates, but something tells me that with a former reaper and an explosives expert on your side, you'll be fine. But that's enough of me blabbering. This is a Captain's Chest, so that'll fetch your crew about…" Harry did some calculations in his head, "Does 1,100 gold each sound good?"

"That's great! We'll take it." Stella replied. "Perfect!" Harry scooped out some of the gold into four bags and handed a bag to each of the crewmembers. "Hope to see you four again. Have a good one!" Harry waved before closing the chest and placing it in the back of the tent.

As they left, Koa spoke up, "You guys go on ahead to the tavern. I'm going to the Merchant's Alliance to stock up on supplies for our next trip."

"Sounds good. We'll order some rum for ya!" Zhen winked. "Mahalo!" Koa called over his shoulder as he headed back to the docks.


"And then a coconut got involved!"

Ali giggled while Stella full-on burst out laughing as Zhen recounted a tale from when he first met Koa. "I swear, I've never seen a man throw a fruit that hard at someone's head. But the best part was that it bounced off that guy's head and knocked out the guy next to him too!"

"No way!" Stella was clutching her sides at this point. "I know! It feels like my life's some sorta comedy play or something!" Zhen laughed, "That part got around and now those guys are known as the Coconut-Head Reapers!"

"That's insane!"

"You telling them about the coconut?" The trio looked up to see Koa enter the tavern and sit beside them. "Shì de!" Zhen grinned as he handed Koa a tankard of rum, "How's the ship lookin'?"

"We're fully stocked on food, wood, and cannonballs." Koa replied, "And before you ask, yes, I made sure to grab some bombs."

"Yes!" Zhen threw up his hands with a cheer before happily taking a swig from his tankard.

Suddenly the door swung open, and the tavern got quiet. "Uh oh…" Ali whimpered, spotting a figure in the door. "What? What's happening?" Stella turned around in her seat to get a better view. In the doorway was a woman, probably not much older than Stella. She had pale skin, her face littered with scars, and purple eyes with matching markings under them as well as scattered around her body. Her hair was black and messy, sticking out in places, with it held in a metal ring near the bottom where it faded to white. She wore a pink and blue dress-like shirt, a leather belt around her waist with a purple gem buckle, a brown leather jacket with small belts around the wrists and torn at the ends, and matching boots. She also wore grey shorts and a black glove covering her right arm. Attached to her jacket with silver buttons was a dark purple cloak. What stood out the most though was an oval shaped purple stone that seemed to be embedded in her chest with purple cracks emerging from it along her skin. It might have been Stella's eyes playing tricks on her, but she could've sworn the stone was pulsing with energy. The woman seemed to ignore Stella and her crew as she walked into the tavern followed by a group of pirates. They walked up to the bar and placed their orders. "Who is that?" Stella asked in a hushed whisper. "Aisling, or Ais for short." Koa replied, "She's a bounty hunter. Seemed to show up out of nowhere 11 years ago. Her main targets are skeletons and skeleton lords, but if there's a crew or specific pirate that's causing trouble on the sea, she'll make sure they never even go near water again purely out of fear. If I'm the reapers' bane, then she's the bane of all pirates."

"Sounds like a stick in the mud." Stella hmphed.

"S-Stella, shh! She might hear you…" Ali whispered.

"I don't care. She doesn't seem that scary."

"Is that so?"

Stella whipped around to see Ais looking down at her, tankard in hand. "Uh oh…" Ali whimpered. "So, you're not scared of me, eh?" Ais asked with a raised eyebrow, taking a sip of her drink.

"That's right." Stella replied, trying to remain confident.

"Big talk for a newbie in a sloop. Saw your ship in the docks. You won't last a day out there. You might as well go home while you can."

"Hell no! I'm have a mission to complete and I'm not leaving until it's done!"

Ais's eyes drifted to Stella's crystal hanging around her neck, "Nice crystal. Where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift from my mom. She said it's magic and that it'd find it's way to me when the time's right."

Ais chuckled, "You? Dáiríre? Your mam must've been deluded if she thought you deserved that crystal."

Stella immediately stood up from her seat, glaring fiercely at Ais as her grip tightened on her tankard, "Take. That. Back."

"Nah, don't think I will. I don't take back things that are blatantly true." Ais shrugged before turning to walk away, "Again, leave while you can. The Sea of Thieves isn't the place for cowardly wimps like you-"

*SPLASH!*

Silence.

You could hear a pin drop in the tavern.

Everyone stared in shock at the ale drenched Ais who still had her back turned to Stella, the latter still had her tankard held out from splashing its contents over the Irish bounty hunter, here eyes fixed on Ais with a furious glare. Ais slowly turned around, her face seeming calm and collected but Stella could hear the rage simmering in her voice, "Now listen, amadán. I'm usually a forgiving person. So, I'm giving YOU a chance to take that back."

"Why would I take back something I don't regret?" Stella growled. Ais stared for a bit before chuckling darkly, "A'ight. I'll tell you what. I'll give you a ten-minute head start to get to your ship and prepare for battle. Let's settle this on the ocean and see if you really are as brave as you claim."

"Let's." Stella agreed before motioning for the rest of the crew to follow her out the door.

"This is crazy! Do you have a death wish?!" Ali cried as they headed onto the docks, "She'll have the Snow Splitter in shambles in 10 seconds flat! The Nightstalker isn't something to mess with!"

"The Nightstalker?" Stella asked.

"Ais's ship." Koa replied, "A Galleon to be exact. She sails the entire thing solo. Rumour has it she's taken down entire fleets by herself."

"Stella, we don't stand a chance!" Ali added.

"We have to try! I can't let her get away with insulting people like that! Especially not my mom!"

Ali sighed as they got onto the Snow Splitter, "It's official. We're gonna die."

"All hands on deck, we don't have much time!" Stella called out, "Ali, lower the sails and be ready to point us out into the open water""

"Aye captain…"

"Koa, raise anchor!"

"Yes, captain."

"Zhen, you're on cannons. Show me what you got!"

"Whoo! You got it captain!"

The sails of the Snow Splitter dropped as it began leaving the dock and sailed into deeper waters. Stella could faintly hear the shouting of Ais's crew as they ran out of the tavern and down to the docks, signalling time was up. "Koa, give me the lowdown on her ship. What's our plan?"

"Ok. As I mentioned, Ais's ship is a galleon." Koa replied, "Total of eight cannons, four on either side. Six rigs of both angle pulleys and length cleats. Three masts; the front and back have two sails and the middle with three. Two harpoons at the front. Our best bet here is to use the Snow Splitters small size against them. Galleons are big but they're hard to turn. As long as we keep moving, we should have some chance. I recommend staying away from the sides to avoid cannon sides and the rear. If they have explosive barrels on board, they'll probably drop them off the rear to blast our ship."

"Right. You heard Koa! Zhen?"

"Cannons fully loaded and ready for battle, captain!"

"Ali?"

"We're gonna die, but I got it. It'll be hard to stay near the front and fire without being rammed, but I'll do my best."

"Here they come!" Koa called out as a ship appeared from behind the outpost. A large ship with a black hull that had purple streaks and diamonds painted on it. The sails were black with a purple wolf head on the front that had flames coming from its mouth. The figurehead was a wolf emerging from purple flames. "Right. Let's do this!" Stella nodded before turning to Zhen, "I'll take the starboard cannon, you take the port."

"On it!" Zhen grinned, all too eager to blast a hole in the enemy ship. As soon as the galleon got within range, Stella finally yelled out the order Zhen was waiting for.

"FIRE!"


It all happened so fast.

Explosions echoed around them. Ali had tried her hardest to avoid the cannon fire from the Nightstalker, but it was no use. It felt like every time Koa patched one hole, two more took its place. Even Zhen had trouble loading the cannonballs and bombs fast enough. Before her brain could fully register what was happening, it was too late. The sloop had begun to sink and the four were forced to jump overboard. Upon plunging into the water, things seemed to fall into slow motion. She could see an orange glow briefly appear above the water before debris from the Snow Splitter fell into the water. She could make out the figures of her crewmates floating in the water near her.

'It can't end here…' Stella thought to herself, 'I've come so far…I can't give up…I won't give up…please…someone…help…'

A low rumbling was heard from beneath Stella as she felt a strange surge in her chest followed by a blue glow.

Ais watched as the last of the sloop sank below the waves. Her crew cheered from behind her as she simply sighed. "Shame. Part of me was hoping she'd be worthy. I didn't want to do this, but I had to teach her…" She turned to face her crew, "Sin é! Good job. Let's head back to the tavern and finish-"

*WHOOSH!*

The Nightstalker shook as a large object emerged from the waves right beside the ship. It was a galleon. It was a dark blue hull with bright blue streaks. Its sails were navy that faded to a bright icy blue near the bottom and had flecks of white on them, with a matching flag flying high above the middle mast. Its figurehead was a glowing, pointed chunk of ice with icy mist emanating from it. The wheel, cannons and capstan seemed to be coated in the same glowing ice. On the sails and flag was the symbol of a light icy blue dragon with three frills on its head, its wings curled at the tips while stretched out proudly and its tail pointed and curled in a knot.

Stella groaned as she picked herself off the wooden deck of the ship, confusedly looking around, "Wha…how?"

"Whoa…" Ali also got up from her place on the deck along with Koa and Zhen, "What is this…?"

"Did…a ship just emerge from the water? Out of nowhere?" Koa was gobsmacked. "Who cares? Thank you ice ship thingy!" Zhen grinned, petting the ship. "I know this ship…" Stella muttered, "It matches her description…it has to be! This is my mom's ship: Icebreaker!" Stella glanced around the ship in awe, trying to fight back tears. Azura had told Stella many stories involving her beloved Icebreaker. She described it as a fine vessel made of pure magic that could come back from destruction within an hour and would always know where to find Azura due to it being linked to her magic. If you had never heard of the Glacial Dragons, you'd think an iceberg had somehow made its way into the tropical Sea of Thieves.

Back on the Nightstalker, the pirates went to load the cannons, but Ais raised a hand, signalling them to stop, "No."

"B-but captain-!"

"That's an order."

Ais walked to the railing and called out to Stella, "Looks like you are the real deal. And here I thought I was the only legendary beast."

"W…what are you talking about?"

Ais pointed at Stella and then tapped the purple stone on her chest. Stella looked down and nearly fell back in surprise. Stella's crystal had merged into her chest with blue cracks similar to Ais's. Blue swirly markings with small dots decorated her skin. "But this is only the start." Ais continued, "There's still a lot of power in you waiting to be unlocked; something only you can do. And a word of advice: I don't actually think that about your mam. I was teaching you something. Letting rage and arrogance control your actions will get you killed. Leave that to your Ashen counterpart." Ais smirked at the last comment before going back to a serious expression, "The Glacial Dragon values healing, creation and kindness. The soul of the first dragon – your crystal – has deemed you worthy. Don't let it down. And don't abuse your power."

Ais went to turn away when Stella yelled over to her, "Hey, Ais!"

Ais looked over her shoulder at Stella. "I'm gonna get stronger. And when I do, let's have a rematch!" Ais was silent for a bit before bursting out into laughter, "Haha! You really do have guts, mo chara! It's a deal!"

Stella watched as the Nightstalker sailed away into the horizon. "Well…that happened." Koa muttered as the rest of the crew gathered at the ship's railing. "But all's well that ends well, right?" Zhen added.

"EEP!"

Stella spun around hearing Ali yelp as something darted past her and leapt into Stella's arms. Stella nearly dropped it in surprise until she realised what it was. It was an inu dog but instead of white or golden fur, it was bright blue with ice blue tufts of fur and glowing ice white eyes. It looked up at Stella with its tongue lolling out and tail wagging a mile a minute. Stella glanced down at it with confusion until a look of realisation and joy appeared on her face, "No way…are you…Nevado?"

The dog woofed in affirmation. "No way! Omigosh, you're even cuter than mom described you!" Stella gave Nevado a cuddle as he licked her face. "Nevado?" Ali asked, calming down from the shock of an icy dog running past her. "Mom told me that there was a magic dog that guarded her ship and helped her on adventures: Nevado. He's an inu that was eternally bound to the Icebreaker."

"I…how does…ugh, I need a drink. There's too much to process right now between nearly dying, and magic ice ships and dogs." Koa groaned. Stella giggled, "Fair point. Let's head back to the outpost and celebrate."

"Whoo! More drinks!" Zhen cheered. "I've never steered a galleon before." Ali said as she cautiously made her way to the ice-covered wheel. It was strange; mist was pouring from the ice pieces on the ship, but it wasn't ice-cold. "I can help if you want. I helped steer my crew's galleon back with the Reapers." Koa offered. "Y-yes please!" Ali nodded happily.

As the Icebreaker headed back towards Plunder Outpost, Stella stood at the bow and placed a hand over the crystal embedded in her chest. She could feel it hum and pulse under her palm. She smiled as she gazed at the horizon. Adventure awaits. Adventure and freedom were what Azura treasured more than anything in the world. And Stella vowed to achieve the one adventure her mom sought for years: the Shores of Gold.

"I won't let you down mom. I promise."

To Be Continued…