It was easy to see that they were going easy on her; anyone could tell. Z and Jackson did not strike at her with the same vigour as they did each other. She resented that. Blue had never been one to appreciate being treated as some dainty little thing that required extra care or tending to, injury or not.

The irritation she felt started at a low simmer and quickly began to boil. Letting her emotions get out of hand would do her no good, though. For as much as Blue had been able to once allow for that, allow those feelings to fuel her strength, it was no longer an option. Letting herself go was much more a liability than an aid nowadays, even if this was simply a free-for-all sparring match.

That did not stop her from disarming Jackson a moment later. Neither of their sticks was the straightest or smoothest and she had managed to hook hers against his, wrenching it from his grasp. He stood there looking dumbstruck for a moment.

"Ah. Well, I guess I'm out," he said simply.

This wasn't a surprise to anyone. Blue had noticed that when wandering the ship, Jackson seemed to prefer to carry guns rather than a blade of any kind. He knew his way around a sword, but he was not so familiar with it that it was like an extension of his arm.

Z was a wild card when it came to how he fought. Blue had seen him fight plenty of skeletons with a sword, but when on the brigantine, she noticed that he carried the same weapon set up as Jackson did, preferring a pair of guns. Z, she decided, must have been well-practised in many of the arts of killing.

This thought seemed even more accurate when he landed a strike on her left arm. Jackson had struggled with the awkwardness of having to fight a left-handed fighter; Z didn't miss a beat, and now his attention was fully on her. This, in its own way, was frustrating, but at least he didn't go easy on her. She stepped to the right, putting her weapon between them and lashed out.

It was no surprise to her that Z was not surprised when she brought a leg behind him to sweep him off his feet — he had seen her do this many times now. What was a surprise was his reaction. Considering that he knew best how terrible her shoulder's condition was, she never would have expected him to reach out and grab her by that arm. It was brief, but the sudden piercing pain distracted her from all else and when she was back in reality, they were both on the ground, she having been dragged down on top of him.

There was some sort of stupid, smug look on Z's face and she barely recalled even thinking about striking him across the face before she did it. The yelp he let out sounded like a mixture of pain and shock, and frankly, she thought he was well deserving of it.

She said nothing of what had just happened, simply got to her feet and made her way to the top of Devil's Ridge, leaving the men down at the pond.

"I thought ya might be hungry," he said once stood beside her. Jackson offered her a plate with a large fish filet on it.

Blue had spotted him in the bay on the brigantine with a fishing pole, but she hadn't really thought he would be catching anything to eat for anyone but himself. She certainly hadn't expected him to bring her anything. That, she realised, was something she could expect out of Z; it seemed that Jackson was better at socialising. Why it was he who was up on the mountain with her and not Z, she wasn't sure.

Caught off guard, she stared at him for a moment before accepting the plate from him with a polite nod. A moment later he sat down beside her on the rock, a comfortable distance between them. Now she was certain that he had more reason to be up there than to simply give her something to eat.

It was almost an uncomfortably long time later when she had been finished eating for some time then, that Jackson finally shifted some and looked at her, asking, "Hey, uh, are you all right?"

The way he spoke made her think that he meant something other than how the sparring match had ended earlier. "I am uninjured, if that is what you meant," she said, unwilling to take the bait.

"Oh. That's good." That was definitely not what he meant. Jackson didn't look like he knew what he wanted to ask, but then he asked, "Uhh, so, what I mean's is: did… has… has he done somethin' to ya?"

She wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to mean and was so confused she had to ask; "What do you mean?"

"I mean, ya kinda hit him really hard and Z's been tellin' me how unviolent you are and he talks like you guys are friends but—"

"He is a daft knobhead," she said.

"Yeah!" Jackson said with far more gusto than she ever would have expected. "Yea, he's pretty daft, but he means well. He only fights for real like that when he likes somebody."

Blue scowled at him. Jackson definitely noticed her mood souring. "I mean— not like that. He's done it t' all'a us! Z—" He stopped himself and visibly considered what he wanted to say before continuing: "He's kinda like me. He's not so good at talkin' about his feelings so he shows it in other ways. Y' know, he almost begged me to let you guys crew up with me—"

"Did he now?"

Jackson nodded. "Well, kind of. We got t' talkin' at a point after we had supper and he kept givin' me reasons why it was a good idea t' crew up. Kept givin' me the run-around about what we were doin' 'til he explained that you got hurt real bad." When she said nothing, he added: "It's about the closest he's ever been t' that. Normally he's the one tellin' us what t' do."

"He does like to carry that authority," she commented. She thought for a moment. "I suppose it does make sense that he would be that way around me."

"Yeah," Jackson chimed in; "what with you bein' so new t' here."

She scowled slightly at those words; that was not entirely accurate, but correcting him wasn't very necessary. He noticed her expression before she could do anything about it.

"I mean, he's done that to us, too."

Blue gave him a look. "Has he now?"

He nodded. "Yea, Z's got this, like… well, I guess it's like you said: he's got an authority."

"Arrogance is more like it," she said.

Jackson considered that for a moment before nodding again. "You ain't wrong. Doesn't change the fact that he's the best fighter and thinker in the crew."

Jackson was… somewhat simple. Blue found that she appreciated that about him. He said what he meant without trying to make himself sound more sophisticated than he was, or better overall. Z, she decided, was indeed very arrogant. He was also far smarter than his words usually indicated, and that made him dangerous to those he didn't like.

"I suppose you have a point." She stared at him for a moment before clearing her throat. "But, ah, why did you come up here again?"

"Oh! Uh, well, it just… it just seemed t' me that there might've been more going on there than jus' him pullin' yer arm."

"Ah." That seemed fair. Blue considered his concern. "He is a daft knobhead," she then repeated. Jackson couldn't help grinning at her words that time. She added: "I expected better of him, I suppose."

"Oh. Like… t' not do that sort'a thing?"

She nodded. "Essentially. He should know better."

"Ah." Jackson nodded in agreement. "It's just like ya said." He paused and looked like he was thinking very hard about whether or not he wanted to speak, but he asked, "So you two get on good then?"

"We get on just fine," Blue stated plainly. She still got the feeling that Jackson wasn't being entirely straight with her, but perhaps that had more to do with his awkwardness or poor vocabulary than anything else.

"That's good," he said. "Z needs somebody to sail with when we're all with our families."

She looked at him. Right — they had families, and Z… didn't? She knew why she didn't bring her own up, but that made her realise that Z had never said anything about his, and he had commented that it was 'not for me' when his friends spoke of their wives. To be entirely without family…

"That… I suppose that is not a bad thing at all."

They hadn't spoken that night, but in the morning while she was fishing, when Blue had thought her crewmates both asleep still, Z came up beside her at the brig's stern. Judging by the light bruising of his cheek, she probably could have hit him more softly. He still would have deserved it.

A fish took the hook when she looked at him and now it was too late to see exactly what it was until she landed it.

Z leaned against the railing while she fought with the fish. She appreciated that — this fish required her focus, though it threatened to make the uncomfortable feeling of pressure she felt in her shoulder intensify into pain. When she got it much closer to the ship, she thought she saw that it was just a little thing, but that seemed ridiculous for how hard it had fought. When she hoisted it over the railing, though, she saw that she had been correct. The sapphire ancientscale she landed was barely large enough to get the hook in its mouth; that had not stopped it from thoroughly chewing up the leech.

How such a little thing had put up such a big fight…

Blue blinked and side-eyed Z when he started laughing. Her face must have said it all and then she felt her expression shift into one of great annoyance. He only stifled his laughter enough to grab the line from her and remove the tiny thing from the hook, throwing it off the side of the ship. Blue scoffed and he started laughing again.

"What?" she asked.

He raised his hands up to indicate the size of the little fish. "I mean, that thing?" He chuckled and shook his head. When she refused to be amused, he laughed harder and shook his head. "Well, anyway…"

He spoke as though he had something to say and he certainly did or else he wouldn't be at her side. Probably. Blue looked him up and down. She inquired again, "What?" to hopefully get him talking.

"Ah, well—" He scratched at the side of his neck and stared at her, clearly somewhat stupefied. Curious as Blue was, she was beginning to grow impatient and he seemed to pick up on that. "Well, it— I—" He made a face and looked at her, clearly stupefied. Finally, he tentatively asked, "Are you all right?"

She reflectively rubbed at her shoulder. She figured that Jackson had insisted they speak and she wasn't quite sure what she thought of it now. "I am fine." Whether or not it was out of his own consideration that he asked, that he asked at all surprised her to some low degree. That was slightly touching. He shifted as though to speak and she raised her hand. "If you insist on apologising, don't. I don't need it."

He didn't look like he agreed. In fact, he looked rather annoyed. "Well, fine then."

Definitely annoyed. Blue considered this for a long moment before turning on her heels to face him. "What is it that you want?"

Perhaps getting straight to the point had not been the best idea. Most people thought that was rather rude; she understood this, she just didn't care enough to beat around the bush sometimes. Rather than further annoy him, however, Z looked somewhat relieved.

"I was goin' t' apologise but—" He looked at her and shrugged before leaning on the railing. Blue did the same — she was out of leeches anyway — and a long moment passed before he spoke again. "I jus'… thought yer arm was doin' better's all, I guess."

"I do believe I said something about it not getting better quite a while ago at this point," she said with the slightest touch of amusement. "I am only being truthful," she added when she noticed that he didn't seem to think it funny.

"Scars happen, but unless y' lose the limb, everything usually heals up out here."

There was a deep annoyance upon his countenance that Blue couldn't quite place the origin of, dumbstruck by his words. The urge to bring a hand up to her shoulder momentarily festered in her gut. Apparently Z had the same feeling and was not as successful in shooing it away — she flinched slightly at his hand on her shoulder, but his touch was gentle, even when his fingers dug at the crevices that sword had left behind. She should have struck him again but refrained and wondered why that was when his hand slipped away.

"But I guess that's what happened." He wasn't wrong.

"I suppose so," she said as she finally leaned on the railing beside him.

Another long moment of silence passed before Z said, "Y're not gettin' better, are you?"

She looked at him and considered the question. "No, I am, only… very slowly. The constant pain is no longer so terrible as it is draining, but it is still present and easy to aggravate." He stared at her with that slight scowl before looking away. That hadn't seemed to lift his spirits at all. "I am afraid we will be on this brig for quite some time," she said. Clearing her throat, she added, a little quieter, "Sorry."

Z stood upright after that, recoiling before giving her an incredulous look. "Sorry? Wh— What do you have t' be sorry for?"

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that; what shouldn't she be apologising for?

"Y' killed one'a the most dangerous Skeleton Lords in the whole Sea and y're sayin' sorry? Fer what?!"

She blinked. "… Not without essentially killing myself, mind you. Now we are stuck on this brigantine because I am incapable of defending myself properly, because I am a liability. That Jackson agreed to take me aboard alongside you seems more polite than anything else and—"

She startled when Z slammed his hands against the railing and abruptly turned to her. "Stop talkin' like that. Just 'cause y' can't fight like y' used t' doesn't mean y're useless. Y' can still fight, just not in the same ways, and y're workin' on that and anyway, y' still take care'a us."

It wasn't a lot that he said, but it was enough to stupefy Blue. She had certainly been trying to be useful, but she hadn't believed that she was doing anything particularly noteworthy. Jackson was kind and simple enough that Blue didn't doubt for a moment that he may truly appreciate her presence, but Z was different. She knew very well that he was a cutthroat who wasn't one for pleasantries unless they were thrust upon him and neither was he one for words. She was briefly reminded of how delighted he had been to introduce her to the concept of the Ferry of the Damned, how he had done that, his almost confrontational reaction to not even being asked why he didn't have a closer partner…

… and now that his arms were around her, Blue decided she didn't know him nearly as well as she thought she did.

She shifted slightly on her feet, uncertain of what to do in the situation she found herself in. She was only slightly taller than his shoulders, which she stared past before sighing in defeat and leaning her forehead against.

And to think, things had been going so well up until the Winter's End showed up.

She shifted again, uncomfortable, and Z seemed to get the hint. He stepped back but brought his hands to her upper arms, squeezing gently. She avoided his eyes. "Am I heard?"

Right, he had said a bunch of things. She didn't agree, but it seemed he and Jackson believed those things. Somehow, apologising again seemed both like the most appropriate and inappropriate thing to do.

"Understood."

It took a moment before he nodded and let go of her. "Good." Blue was impressed to see him take hold of the fishing pole that she had dropped against the railing some moments ago. "Let's get some breakfast then."

If she hadn't just taken note of his temperature, Blue would have thought him sick for fishing for himself. How strange this whole situation was.

The incidents at Devil's Ridge easily faded to the back of their minds with time. When they left, a sloop had been spotted in the distance before them. Blue knew her crewmates' initial intent for it, something she dreaded, but the conversation of what to do about it never came up. It didn't need to, either, for the sloop had stopped at Plunder Outpost for a time and then departed before their arrival. As a duo with a love for the treasure of others, that left them with very little reason to bother the sloop other than the thrill of a fight. Blue couldn't say she agreed with that, and her current state must have been why they didn't push the matter.

Try as she might, Blue couldn't shake that feeling of uselessness, of knowing that things weren't as they normally would have been because of her.

The night was spent moored at the outpost. When morning came, they went north — perhaps the sloop would show them the way forward, but they never saw it again and thus couldn't shadow it in hopes of finding anything to do. Eventually, the most interesting thing they found was the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern built upon the giant rock formation. Jackson was quite enthused by the stories of their visits prior, but the last one was most interesting of all to him.

"A fair competition of battle?" he repeated.

Blue nodded her head as she sat on the brig's gunwale, between the cannons and the ropes that controlled the fore-sail. "That is what the lady Amaranta said, as instructed to by the twin leaders. It is some sort of fair battle. It is no duel, however — there are up to five crews all battling one another at a time, so I am uncertain just how fair it truly could be."

She heard Z chuckle from over at the main-mast's controls. When she and Jackson looked at him, he chuckled some more and said, "Never been part of a big battle, eh?"

She looked at him so sternly and for so long that he recoiled and clearly regretted his behaviour. She was glad for that — Blue didn't feel like telling any stories. He crossed his arms and looked away, leaning back on the stern's railing. She turned her attention back to Jackson.

"The point still remains — I see no way for such a battle to be fair." She looked up at the sky for a moment. "She mentioned that there was no curseshot allowed, no gunpowder kegs available…" She shrugged. "It seems that is all they care about for fair."

"What do you think's a fair fight?" Jackson asked.

"A simple one-on-one in which both participants have the same resources available to them. That is all," she said. He hummed thoughtfully and Z looked indifferent, bored even. Blue looked them over real quick before deciding to speak again. "But yes, I assumed you might find some interest in it. Things have been… quiet, lately."

"Ah, yeah, I guess," Jackson said with some amount of uncertainty. "I like a good fight 'nd all, but tucking away on a ship's where it's at for me."

Blue wasn't sure what to make of the statement; Z chuckled in such a way as to sound as though he agreed.

"I suppose there is a certain allure to… finessing a steal versus outright violence," she admitted, her mind wandering back to her and Z's stealthy plundering of the Merchant Alliance fleet.

Jackson pointed at her and quickly said, "Yea!"

Z wrinkled his nose. "Well, t' me is sounds like y' wanna give this Arena a shot."

Blue shrugged, at least as much as her shoulder allowed. She paused for a moment before stating, "It is an interesting idea. What interests me is all the other sailors there might be to try my luck at fighting."

He looked at her for a moment before understanding washed over his face. "Y' mean the fightin' on the islands and decks'a the ships…"

"Precisely." She paused, thinking. "Though, I suppose it really does not matter the environment in which I fight someone."

Jackson titled his head. "Why's that?"

"Well, with the Ferry of the Damned, why should you not want to kill anyone that rivals you to any level? Lives are rather cheap here."

It took Jackson a moment to understand her while Z just looked slightly unsettled.

"I think we should do it!" Jackson said suddenly. Blue and Z both looked at him with curiosity. "Join this Arena, I mean. I think it'd be fun. We'd get paid t' fight other people, and they give us the ships to use, right? So… why not?"

Blue stared at him for a moment before she looked to Z. "Well… I can think of no reason not to."

"I can think'a one," Z said.

"That being?"

"We're lackin' a crewmate." Blue looked away and hummed thoughtfully before he continued: "Three-man gallies don't fare too well in fights."

"That is a good point…"

"We could try pickin' somebody up," Jackson suggested. "They give us the ships t' use, so we wouldn't be risking our own or anything."

Z made a face. "Yeah, but then we gotta deal with a random—"

"I agree," Blue interrupted. "I do not doubt our ability to find someone to take our fourth place, but I must admit, I am not keen on it." She looked over at a far dock, a plain sloop along it. She didn't voice that thought before looking back to the men. "It is only a thought I had, of course, finding others to practise my new sword-arm on. I am sure other opportunities will present themselves."

Neither of them looked like they liked this situation, but neither did they argue it. Jackson kicked at the deck and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Worry not," she said with a smirk; "If our search for a fight becomes too dry, we could always stop at an outpost to pick up a Bounty order."

Jackson laughed; Z just shook his head, but he did hang his head for a moment before looking back up to her like he had realised something.

"Is that yer way'a sayin' y're not gonna fight us about fightin' people anymore?"

The topic hadn't come up so blatantly with Jackson, but judging by his expression, he understood what was being asked and was also curious.

"It has proven very profitable," she admitted. "Very profitable, and while this Arena may attract those who are interested in fighting for the sake of fighting… I find that people fight best when they have a good reason to." Blue took a look at her left hand, considering her few practise sessions with it.

"I think… I think the same may also be true to me, and you two as well. Perhaps we all need a good reason to fight."

It was slight, but there was… something… in Z's face. Jackson simply looked enthused by her words and she had to force herself to look at him so as to not be rude.

"That's a great idea!" he said. "You'll be a top-notch fighter with that arm in no time if that's what we're gonna do."

Blue allowed herself a polite but genuine smile at those words. By the time she was able to look back at Z, whatever fire had burned in his eyes was gone, replaced only by a raised brow and the small, amused smile, just as she had expected.

She couldn't quite shake the chill that went down her spine.