The journey to Cocoyashi Village wasn't a long one – barely three weeks. At first, Brynlee did as promised and tried her best to completely stay out of the way of the crew, sticking to a corner and patiently waiting there until it was time to eat or go to sleep. The crew had been a little surprised by the unexpected wayward child their Captain had picked up, but most of them quickly took to simply ignoring her – so long as she didn't cause trouble, they didn't care. She never interfered with their work, never complained about anything, and even ate less than her share.
After a couple of days, though, Brynlee grew bored and volunteered to do some grunt work. A little wary at first, the merchant Captain, Jack, eventually allowed her to swab the deck and wash the dishes. Doing little tasks around and helping out the other crewmembers eventually earned her the favor of the other men, who began to make small talk and include her some more in their day-to-day routine.
But then, barely four days before reaching Cocoyashi, it happened: they came across a pirate ship. And for the first time since she was reborn in this world – nay, the first time ever – Brynlee actually saw death.
Mister Jason is nice. He gave me some chocolate today, and he always talks about his wife. He keeps a drawing his son made for him in his bag, and he's got a locket with a picture of his daughter, who passed away two years ago. He's scared of heights, but he always goes up the crow's nest to help out anyway. Mister Jason is nice…
And now he was dead, his broken body lying on the deck, his blood splattered all over from where his skull had cracked open after falling from the crow's nest he hated so much, where he'd climbed to make sure Brynlee would be safe and hidden. Because the pirates who were now taking over the ship had shot him with a crossbow, the bolt struck his throat – he'd died before falling, at the very least.
Brynlee didn't really know how to feel. It was a whirlwind of emotions – sadness, fear, anger, horror, disgust, pain – so many of them that their varying intensity cancelled each other out, until nothing but sheer numbness was left to swallow her whole.
Mister Jason was dead, and so would be the rest of the crew if she didn't do anything to stop the pirates now rounding them up. So, without thinking much further, Brynlee tore off her cloak and stood on the railing of the crow's nest, towering over deck and men and monsters alike. The sun shone brightly, creating an unholy glow as her wings stretched and spread, dark and imposing.
"What- what the hell!?"
"A monster!"
"Kill it!"
Brynlee jumped as the pirates began firing at her. She was too fast for any bullets to touch her, though, and she landed on the nearest pirate, crushing his head under the sole of her foot. He collapsed in a heap of gurgling blood, and she slowly turned to face the rest of them, fire blazing in her eyes and reflecting the thin flame flickering in her back.
She managed to kill two more before one of them shot her point-blank in the chest. Pain exploded and she stumbled back, the air knocked out of her lungs – but she stayed standing, glaring as the bullet fell on the deck, not a single drop of blood falling along with it. And she killed him too, along with three others before the remaining three managed to escape back onto their ships. But the anger was still there, burning as bright as the plume of fire flickering in her back - the first time it had ever appeared ever since she woke up in this world. And Brynlee wasn't done, and she could feel the power building up, and so she set their ship aflame before they could get away.
Unrestrained power, unrestrained anger - in a matter of seconds, the flames reached the powder kegs stocked on the upper deck and the ship blew to pieces.
And finally… silence.
'DING'
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED]
Invulnerability
Level: 1/20
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[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED]
Pyromancy
Level: 1/20
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[SKILL UPDATE]
Flight
Level: 12/20
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[NEW FEAT ACQUIRED]
Bloodlust
Adrenaline pumps through your veins. Death is looming – for them.
Level: 1/20
+1 (Lunarian)
Brynlee ignored all of the updates flashing before her eyes, unable to care for them as the adrenaline slowly faded away. The plume of fire in her back flickered, then vanished, and her wings drooped under the exhaustion. The only thing she could feel was the aching of the blooming bruise left by the bullet, and the aching of the grief left by her friend's death.
"Oi, kid…"
She stiffened, slowly glancing over to Captain Jack. Now that they'd seen her, they'd either treat her like a monster and chase her away, or they'd turn her in to the marines. Either way, she couldn't go to Cocoyashi anymore—
"Thank you."
"H- huh?"
"You saved our lives," said Captain Jack, offering her a shaky smile. "Thank you."
Well, I wasn't expecting that.
"You're… not scared?"
"Scared?" echoed another crewmember, aghast. "You took on these bastards all by yourself and saved us! You're an angel! An angel, I say!"
Some of the men around echoed his words, clearly relieved. Brynlee looked down at her hands. They were shaking, splatters of blood barely standing out on her dark skin, but they were all she could see. And yet, she couldn't really bring herself to care for the blood she'd spilled – she had just lost much more than her mere humanity.
"I… I couldn't save Mister Jason…"
Instinctively, she glanced back to his body, but two of the sailors almost immediately moved in the way, ensuring she couldn't even get a glimpse of it. Captain Jack kneeled before her and reached out, gently squeezing her shoulder.
"That's not on you, kid. Had you not been there, we'd all be dead."
She knew it made sense, she knew he was right, but the numbness was ebbing away and the terrible feelings from before were gone, too, leaving all this place to grief alone. A small sob escaped her before she could stop it, and she didn't fight it as the merchant pulled her into a firm hug, her tears now falling freely.
She'd never expected a story to hurt this much.
This was all undoubtedly real, and only now did she realize how much was at stake.
I won't ever let an innocent get hurt again. Marine or pirate or revolutionary – it doesn't matter. One day, I'll be strong enough to make this world a better place, for everyone!
[TITLE ACQUIRED]
Angel of the Seas
Hello again! Now, I mentioned it in the first chapter, but some readers seems to not have gotten the memo, so I'll say it again: this story will be composed of SHORT CHAPTERS. It's the POINT. I don't have the motivation or time or energy to write 15K chapters as I usually do and this story is a creative experiment that I do for FUN, and I simply want to share the results with others so they can have a fun, fast read.
But moving on, there you go! Brynlee has now come to the very brutal realisation that this isn't just a game and that real people will suffer real consequences if she fucks it up. It does put the odds in perspective, uh?
Anyway please leave a review, I always appreciate them a lot!
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-CHARACTER PROFILE-
[CHARACTER INFORMATION]
[EQUIPMENT]
[SKILLS]
Flight: 12/20
Invulnerability: 1/20
Pyromancy: 1/20
[FEATS]
Bloodlust: 1/20 (+1)
[ABILITIES]
[TITLES]
Angel of the Seas
[QUESTS]