Draco: Owing to the nature of the cowrite, this is the first time I've written author's comments after the work was completed. Sorry for the relative quiet.
Black Rock Shooter and all related properties © huke. Plot concept © The Longest Johns.
"Their mast is fallen! They're stilled in the water!"
The call from the mid-deck earned a quick response from Mato. "Ready to board! Nana, come up alongside her!"
With a curt nod, Nana brought the helm into a spin; in short order, the Blacksteel made to approach the now-immobile pirate ship, whose crew was readying for a fight. One of the pirates had the bright idea to try and board the Blacksteel before her crew could board them - and had the misfortune to throw himself into the path of the crew's heaviest hitter, Karli, who quickly slammed his brass knuckles into the brave man's stomach to knock the wind out of him. His footing slipped off the railing, and Karli brought another punch forward to throw him into the water as the rest of the boarding party propelled themselves to the enemy deck.
Mato was already standing on the edge of the upper deck, her pistol raised; Mazuma and Lilio took up similar positions on the Blacksteel's railing, guns at the ready. Some of the enemy crew had threatening blunderbusses at hand, which were more than capable of making mincemeat out of their crewmates... if they could fire. A well-aimed shot to the trigger hand was enough to stop that from happening, and then another shot to the hand on the barrel had the weapon falling to the deck, where it was a simple matter for their crewmates to knock the weapons overboard.
Nafe tended to be the one kicking enemy firearms into the water; being a fair bit shorter than the rest of the crew had been a point of contention on her part early on, but when Mato had convinced her to take up a pair of knives and take advantage of her maneuverability, she had turned into a deadly blur. Far too often did she manage to entangle with an enemy just long enough to get their attention, move on to the next, and bait her first opponent into trying to continue, putting him in the path of Mii or Shizu's cutlasses, Zaha or Karli's knuckles, or even one of his own fellows' swords.
The battle was over so quickly, the enemy might as well have put their hands up when the mast was knocked down. Most of the enemy crew had been incapacitated without being killed, and those manning the cannons had been dragged into the light; Mato had everyone tied up and lined up in the center of the deck before giving the orders to her boarding party. "Head below deck and search their hold. If it can't be moved by two people, leave it behind." Then, calling back to the Blacksteel; "How were our food stores at last check?"
"If we add more than a meal's worth," Nana called back, "it'll spoil before we eat it."
"Not worth the trouble," Yuu admitted.
The enemy captain scoffed as the Blacksteel crew headed below deck; Mato and Yuu stayed behind to get the boarding plank set up between ships. "You've got us dead in the water and bound to the deck," he scoffed, "and you're not gonna take everything we've got? Never thought I'd ever see a captain so generous."
Mato glanced upward. It was overcast but not storming; the sun was hidden behind a thin layer of clouds that stopped it from blinding the eyes but still let it illuminate the seas around them. "First off, it's not 'generosity' to avoid letting your hold get filled with rotten food," she scolded. "Secondly, look up the mast, there. All the way up. Look at the flag." Then, when the enemy captain did so; "Does that look like a Jolly Roger to you?"
"...No."
"I didn't think so," Mato insisted. "We're not pirates here - we're privateers. We sail on the queen's orders, and we fight enemies to the country. Getting to take the ill-gotten loot of pirates like you is just a bonus to getting attacked by someone who thinks they can outmatch us - because, lest I remind you, you are the ones who took the first shot."
Yuu nodded. "As far as our generosity goes, we're gonna sail away when we're done here." She stepped forward as most of the boarding party started to come from the hold, bringing their bounty across the plank. "You'll notice the complete lack of indiscriminate slaughter. And if you're smart, you're going to light a signal fire on deck when you get everyone's hands free, and hope someone with a kind heart picks you up."
"And what if we don't measure up to your idea of smart?" the enemy captain retorted.
"I dunno," Yuu mused. "Looks like your mast is still floating; maybe you'll try and fish it out of the water? I mean, it'll probably just fill your hands with splinters, but..."
Karli and Shizu were the last ones to emerge from the hold, each with their hands on one end of a sizable chest. "Captain," Shizu announced, "looks like everything's wrapped up below deck."
"Great work," Mato praised. "Let's get that stuff on board and head off."
She and Yuu brought up the back as everyone returned to the Blacksteel; once the boarding plank was withdrawn, Mato returned to her position at the stern, and the ship started to sail away as the last pieces of treasure were taken down to the hold. Zaha stepped up to the bottom of the stairs, calling up to the captain, "You know, one of these days, this whole let them stew on deck behaviour is gonna bite you in the ass."
"Maybe," Mato admitted, drawing out her spyglass. "But it hasn't so far..." She raised it to peer at the pirate crew before finishing, "...and we're 0 for 30 on 'smart enough to take the mercy'."
The enemy crew had mostly managed to get free, and many of them were heading back below deck.
"Hard to starboard!" she instructed Nana.
The helmsman promptly wrenched the wheel to the side, and the ship arced away as the pirates started to fire. Cannons rang, steel flew through the air, and water splashed as they all hit the tide ineffectively; the gunners below deck had already loaded up the cannons as the Blacksteel came around to line up a shot at the pirates' stern.
Mato raised her hand. "Lock!"
Gunports were opened, and cannons shoved out to take aim.
She thrust her hand forward in command. "Fire!"
The bang of the cannons heralded their own shower of steel, which slammed into the enemy stern with all force. The windows to the captain's cabin were shredded to pieces, the helm was shattered from a high-sailing cannonball... and the lower ones connected ferociously with the powder stores, which Mato's crew had methodically arrayed so that a well-aimed shot to the back of the ship would set off the entire cache. Explosions began to ring out from the pirates' ship, and Mato lowered her hand as the ship was blown apart, slowly sinking into the water with everyone on board.
+x+x+x+
The moment the Blacksteel reached the nearest port, Nafe was squealing and jumping off the deck, much to everyone's chagrin. "Did you see how I just slashed those rascals?! None of them saw me coming!" she boasted after landing with a roll. Shizu sighed in relief at seeing their youngest hadn't gone and broken a leg, while Mazuma laughed in agreement.
He followed after Nafe, just as proud. "We absolutely crushed them all!" Mazuma exclaimed as he fell, except he wasn't quite as graceful at the landing, instead standing still and letting his body ride out the shock. "...Never again," he muttered gravely to himself, causing Nafe to laugh even harder at his state. Karli joined into her cackling, his rough and low voice a heavy contrast to Nafe's.
Shizu, even more exasperated, shook her head. "Wait until we set the damn plank down, you brutes!" she reprimanded while Mii and Lilio lowered the aforementioned plank, the former lacking interest and the latter trying to speed the process. Once they were finished, Mii went to descend from the ship in a far more civilized manner than the other two. "Dios mío, you could not wait another second," she spat towards Mazuma, still recovering from the impact.
Noting Mii wasn't by his side, Lilio ran down to the dock in a hurry, pleading, "Oi, Mii! Don't leave me behind!" Once he reached her, he grinned at her with pride. "Did you see how well we did in that fight? They weren't expecting a sharp shot like me!"
Mii regarded him with a wry smile. "Some of us were busy with the enemy, you jester," she chided much to Lilio's bemusement. He sulked by her side as Nafe ran circles around the pair and Mazuma, who seemed to have finally recovered and was able to somewhat walk straight. Karli roared with joy and pride, before racing to the port as well, with Shizu hot in his trail trying to keep them all under control.
Nana, who had been watching them all from afar sighed in resignation, silently joining the group as she glanced back trying to see if their captain would be joining them.
Nafe still seemed to be riding the wave of adrenaline. "But boy, I wish I could've just gone stab! Boom! Take all they have, gold or else!" she whined, finally ceasing her racing before taking a moment to catch her breath. "Would've been so nice to just end 'em. They attacked first, they deserved it," she kept complaining under her breath.
Mii turned to her, clapping her hands once as she pouted. "I couldn't agree more, Nafe," she admitted, before her lips curled into a smirk anew. "They shouldn't have messed with us to begin with."
Shizu crossed her arms as Karli let out a low growl. What it meant, the group wasn't sure, but they were thankful for Shizu's translation. "You're right, big brother. Someone who threw the first punch should expect to be paid back tenfold." The glint in her eyes as she spoke made Nafe shiver, before a grin rose upon her face as well.
Lilio joined eagerly, brow furrowed and eyes shining with a rather aggressive spark. "Yeah, they should've known they could never win against us." He then turned back towards Nana, who had chosen to simply listen to their ramblings. "Hey Nana, you feel like us too, right?" he inquired, his voice almost a taunt of sorts.
Nana nodded without much thought, with an even voice. "Those bastards should've paid us with their blood," she lied right through her teeth.
Before the rather disturbing conversation could keep going, Mazuma glanced back to the ship, then ran closer to the group. "Cut the threats and jack, the goody-goody cap in on her way," he reprimanded in a hush, making the rest either groan in annoyance or sigh in resignation, with the pointed exception of Nana, who frowned at their reactions.
Mato walked towards them with a smile; Yuu was following her steps with a similar expression, and as the rest of the crew started to follow them onto shore, the captain made to speak. "You've all done excellently," she praised, before she noticed the absence of a certain face. "Where's Zaha?"
A grunt from behind drew her attention; the same man she was looking for was the last one to come ashore, walking down the plank with a weary expression.
Mato glanced at him with concern, before speaking to the crew as a whole. "As you may have noticed, our latest mission was a roaring success! We can prepare for the homeward journey starting tomorrow - tonight, we go to the nearest bar and celebrate our triumph!" she cheered with a smile.
Nafe hollered in joy, Mazuma letting out a loud cheer as well, while Lilio yelled, "Hell yeah!" Shizu, Mii and Zaha clapped in harmony as Karli once more roared as a beast would, drowning everyone else's sounds. Nana smiled briefly once the biggest member was done cheering, sounding a few claps of her own. Yuu chuckled at their antics, before leading them with a cheer of her own towards the best bar she could find.
Mato stared at the group as they retreated, smiling to herself before noticing Nana beside her. "Ah, Nana," she greeted amicably. "C'mon, we don't wanna stay behind." With a pat to Nana's back, Mato left as well as she tried to follow her crew to her best attempt. Nana smiled once more once Mato's back was turned to her. She too followed the group into the bar, feeling momentary relief at not having that bunch of brutes around her for once.
By the time they reached the bar, the crew had already occupied the tables, and drinks were being served; Yuu handed Mato her pint, and she raised her glass towards her crew. "To a job well-done," she cheered, "and a good haul besides!"
"To the haul!" the crew called back.
+x+x+x+
A night to celebrate, and let their worries melt away; a day or two to make sure everything was stocked up, secured, and ship-shape. Only once everything was in order did they start their homeward journey, with clear heads and high spirits. The course was charted, the ship was put to sea, and the sun shone down on them from cloudless skies for the entire first day of travel.
Such, then, was Mato's surprise when she was pulled from her quarters before the second day had broken.
The feeling of her bed vanished from under her, and she opened her eyes to find the floor coming up on her. As she tried to rise, she found her hands and legs bound together; she raised her gaze in shock to find Shizu standing over her, shaking her head. "I told you to be gentle, Karli," she scolded. "We could've done this without waking her."
Karli made an apologetic sound that was drowned out by Mato's protests. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Sorry, Mato," Shizu scolded. "Captain's orders."
"Captain!?"
Karli grabbed her by the rope around her wrists and dragged her out of the cabin... where she found what seemed to be the entire crew gathered on deck. Standing around the entrance to the cabin were the best fighters in her crew - Mii, Mazuma, Lilio, Nafe, Zaha - and Mato started when she realized Zaha was wearing her tricorne.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Mato demanded.
"It's not that hard," Mazuma spat. "We're tired of your goody-two-shoes behaviour, and givin' our enemies a chance to hit us back, and not being able to take what we can or go where we want."
"So we decided a change of captaincy is in order," Nafe insisted. "And being as Zaha has been the one telling you off for not killing folks while you have the chance, we figured he should be the captain."
Mato couldn't believe her ears. "You've got to be kidding me!" she spat. "What kind of privateer thinks a lack of indiscriminate slaughter is a bad thing?"
"Who said anything about privateers?" Mii scolded.
"What?!"
"You heard her," Lilio insisted. "If we gotta be pirates to be allowed to make the people who cross us suffer, then we're done flying any colours but black. Aye?"
Mato's heart sank when the entire crew gave a hearty "Aye!" in response to his call.
Zaha beckoned to the edge of the boat. "Throw her over the side."
With a grunt, Karli started to drag the thrashing Mato towards the port-side railing - and at the same instant, a yell came from nearby. "What the hell is going on up here?"
Mii rolled her eyes as she saw Yuu standing at the hatch to the lower levels. "Right. Forgot about her."
Yuu saw Karli's hand move, and panicked when she recognized the rightful captain tumbling through the air. "MATO!"
Lilio and Mazuma each drew a pistol and aimed it at Yuu - who quickly wrenched them out of their hands before they could fire. As Mato hit the deck, she slipped between crew members trying to bar her path and raised one gun; crew members dived aside as she fired a round across the deck, then cast the weapon aside and fired again with the other. That was as many as she got before Zaha was up in her face; the gun was knocked out of her hand with enough force to nearly break her fingers, and then he drew another punch into Yuu's stomach. As she doubled over, the mutineer raised his foot and kicked her hard enough to knock her over the railing, after Mato.
Zaha sighed. "Damn, but you goody types need to learn to quit while you're ahead."
As Yuu hit the water, she tried to right herself well enough to see; Mato was sinking some distance away, unable to get into a floating position with her hands bound. Her first mate quickly swam towards her, putting an arm around her midsection before climbing towards the surface, and both girls took a deep breath as soon as they were above the water.
The Blacksteel was already gone - they hadn't even noticed it was in motion - but there was a rowboat floating nearby, with ropes still dangling off the corners from Yuu having shot it free instead of untying it. She swam herself and Mato close to it; her hands being bound wasn't enough to stop Mato from climbing into the boat, and once Yuu was on board with her, she set about loosing the bonds.
The mutinous crew didn't notice their victims had survived; they were too busy celebrating their success, unaware of the one remaining dissenter still lurking just below deck.
+x+x+x+
The crew was celebrating almost until the sun rose, the ship sailing the entire time so as to make sure those cast overboard did not rejoin them; as soon as the sky started to brighten up, they retired to quarters.
Nana waited until she couldn't heard any further activity before emerging. Knowing fully well that Zaha and the rest of the fighters were suspicious of where her loyalty lied, she had hidden herself as soon as she realized it was Mato that Karli was dragging across the deck. Now she slowly tiptoed through the ship, her her heart beating intensely enough to send tremors her entire body.
She let out a strangled gasp, trying to steady her breath and failing. Yuu, the first mate, had been thrown into the ocean right after Mato for trying to openly oppose Zaha's rule; hell, they might have already died. She tried drying the sweat accumulated on her forehead, before trying to stand on wobbly legs. Those greedy, good-for-nothing killers would be sleeping off the food and drink for quite some time; she had to act before they realized they still had one more bug to squash.
Taking a moment to lean against a wall, Nana steadied herself as best as she could before resuming her course. Letting them run wild wouldn't do.
The sound of laughter and footsteps nearby stopped her cold. Panicking, Nana hid behind a barrel, doing did her best to silence herself, praying that whoever it was would pass her by. After a moment, she recognized Mazuma's cackle a moment before he walked past. Shizu was accompanying him, looking more annoyed than anything, if a bit pleased with herself. "We sure showed those two, huh," Mazuma bragged, hands crossed behind his head and grinning from ear to ear.
Shizu let herself smile, nodding at his words. "Now we can actually take a good amount of gold," she mused, "instead of leaving something behind because it's too much trouble." They were too distracted by their victory to notice Nana, who only let herself breathe once she was certain they wouldn't hear it.
Once she felt out of hearing reach, she continued to sneak through the ship. After a moment, she came to a halt, reaching for her back in a fit of franticness for fear that she'd left behind what she needed. To her relief, her blunderbuss was still strapped to her back, and she breathed a sigh before resuming. She was moving as fast as she could without making an undue amount of sound, ears strained for the slightest hint of someone to notice her subterfuge, until she reached her destination.
Their gunpowder room.
With her heart ringing in her ears, Nana approached their stock, then sat in front of it all. She let her eyes tear up and her sweat run, let her hands shake and her legs go numb, give them all a moment to settle down. Soon, she let herself sob, trying her best to not freeze up. She knew that, if she tried to take them all on, it wouldn't matter. They were an entire crew against one; they'd easily beat her and throw her overboard right after her captain... or straight-up point a gun to her temple and make sure they got all dissenters. A crew of pirates wouldn't tolerate a "moral type" who took issue with their mutiny.
She tried to think of something else for a moment, as it wouldn't do to have those beasts invade her final thoughts.
"What kind of privateer thinks a lack of indiscriminate slaughter is a bad thing?"
Nana smiled as she remembered captain Mato's words. She slightly regretted not rising to at least try and help her, even if it meant she would've joined Mato and Yuu's fate of being thrown overboard. "Oh well," she sighed in resignation. "At least someone can take them down if I'm here."
Closing her eyes, Nana stood up with relative ease. Her breathing was still heavy, her tears and sweat mixing uncomfortably; even so, she pulled her blunderbuss off her back, loading it with powder and shot before turning it towards the stores. Every boarding party under Mato's command had seen the enemy powder stores placed where they could be struck by the Blacksteel, letting them deliver the appropriate retaliation to those who responded to mercy with cannon fire. A store of this size would be more than enough to blow the entire ship to kingdom come. Her smile widened at the thought.
"There won't be any indiscriminate slaughter," she proclaimed. "This is nothing but justice!"
She closed her eyes; in her mind appeared the image of the captain and her first mate, and she prayed to whatever gods were listening that they were somehow okay.
Then she pulled the trigger.
+x+x+x+
"Cap'n Mato? Is that you!?"
The voice from nearby drew Mato and Yuu's attention. By some miracle, the two of them had managed to wash up in a port called Fūne no Yūgure; between the two of them, they had enough things to pawn off to afford accommodations, and had been working in the local taverns in an effort to afford any captain's services for a trip back home. Today was their day off (despite their best wishes), and they had been perusing the markets for a meal.
A larger fellow was standing over them, looking inquisitive, and after a moment Mato recognized him as the captain of a merchant ship they had done business with often enough in the past. "Oh, hey," Mato greeted. "What's up?"
"Tha's wha' I wanna know!" the merchant insisted. "Did'n' I see your Blacksteel go up in a fireball last month?"
Yuu started. "What!?"
"Aye, I'm sure I did!" the merchant proclaimed. "I'd seen her stern through me spyglass, though' I'd sail by and see if you needed anything. The helmsman ain' even star'ed to turn before there's a bang, and all of a sudden there's a flamin' pile of splinters where your ship used to be! There weren't anyone left floating! Some of the loot was in pieces! I mean, I'm glad you weren' killed when i' wen' down, but wha' happened?"
"That's a long story," Mato admitted, "but the short version is, we weren't there when it blew. My old crew took issue with legal privateering, and threw us overboard."
The merchant pulled back. "The hell?" he demanded. "Your whole crew took issue with followin' the law?"
"Pretty much," Yuu confirmed. "Looked like the whole damn crew was on deck when they cast us off. I mean, our helmsman was a pretty decent sort, but I didn't see her that night... before..."
She and Mato traded glances, silently realizing who was responsible for the Blacksteel's demise - and, most likely, the demise of the mutineers.
+x+x+x+
"Name?"
"Acta!" the young lady replied.
Yuu wrote it down. "Experience?"
"I grew up on a merchant vessel," Acta replied, "I know my way around the riggings. Though... I've never been on one with cannons."
"You can never have too many hands who know how to trim the sails," Yuu observed. "And why do you want to serve on the Brunhild?"
Acta looked kind of awkward. "Um... I'm not that comfortable on land," she admitted. "Without a ship rocking under my feet, I'm just a liability. So if I wanna serve the country, I figured I might as well do it on a ship."
Yuu smiled. "That's a good attitude to have," she assured. "Now, Captain Mato has always favoured non-lethal force when she has the option, and expects her crew to do the same. In the event of an attacking ship, be it from an enemy nation or a free-roaming pirate vessel, we will be showing the enemy mercy unless they try and retaliate while our backs are turned. Do you take issue with that?"
"Who would take issue with something like that?" Acta demanded.
"Suffice to say, experience is a brutal teacher," Yuu replied. She made a mark on her notes and held out her hand. "Welcome to the crew, Acta. Head on board, and Nico will show you around the ship."
Acta took the hand with a smile, making her way down the docks as happily as one can with a vicious pair of sea legs. Someone else stepped up while Yuu was taking notes, and she didn't even get to greet them before she spoke up. "Did I hear you right?" she demanded. "Someone attacks you, and you leave them where they are as soon as you think they're not a threat?"
Yuu raised her gaze to find a very pale-looking woman standing there. "Your name?" she asked.
"Ram," the woman replied.
"Well, Ram," Yuu insisted, "let me walk you through the typical confrontation that I've been in under Captain Mato." She closed up her book. "The enemy fires on us, and achieves absolutely nothing we can't undo while we're still on the water. We open fire in return, wreck the rudder and bring down the mast, maybe break the windows in the captain's cabin if they've got one of those giant expanses of glass on the stern."
"Who can sleep in those things?" Ram wondered.
"Right?" Yuu agreed. "Anyways, once they've gone still in the water, we board, and we beat them down, maybe break some fingers if our sharpshooters see anyone aiming a gun at someone who doesn't see it coming. We raid the hold for anything we can safely get between ships and won't go bad before we make use of it, and we set up their powder stores where we can hit them from the outside, and we leave. And Captain Mato keeps her eyes on the deck, and if they start getting gunners in position again, we get out of cannon range and then sink them down."
Ram scoffed. "And how often do you 'get out of cannon range' without taking a few cannonballs to the hull?"
"So far? 100% of the time."
"You're out of your mind," Ram scolded. "You expect to find a whole crew willing to leave attackers alone after they're beaten?"
Yuu opened up her book again. "We've already got enough to run the ship smoothly," she admitted. "You take issue with people who don't engage in wanton murder, I think I saw a black flag on the far end of the dock."
She got to her feet and started onto the Brunhild, finding the crew she'd been recruiting was already in a joyful mood. With a smile, she made her way to the captain's cabin, knocking on the door. "Mato?"
"Come in," Mato called from inside. As Yuu opened the door, the captain offered her a smile. "I like the sound I'm hearing."
"Who'd have thought you could fill up the ship this quickly when you set terms?" Yuu admitted, smiling back. "Turning away the ones that think decency is a bad thing didn't take as much of my time as I thought."
"I'm glad to hear it," Mato admitted. "I'm just glad we don't have to risk running into the ones who thought decency deserved death."
She turned to the wall of the cabin - to the shrine she had erected there. They'd paid for an artist in Fūne no Yūgure to render Nana on canvas before they'd found passage home; it was currently hanging on the wall, as were some of the treasures that their merchant friend had managed to salvage on their behalf.
"...I hope she found peace in it," Mato murmured.
"More peace than she would have found serving them," Yuu assured.