"Take positions!" the steam peddler captain was taking command of the boat once more.

“Sir, the engine room is operational again.”

“Alright, full speed ahead! We have to get away from that ship!”

The orgriash ship was not a warship as it would not be able to maneuver the river properly, yet it posed for a fearful sight as it was a galley with no less than twenty oars, so a crew of at least thirty orgriash was a given. Its speed was now enough to be approaching the steam peddler from behind slowly but surely.

* * *

Aboard the galley, an orgriash looking like a hawk just finished scouting using his extremely good eyesight. He jumped down from the lookout post, gliding towards the helm, where a black-striped white tiger was waiting for the report, arms with golden vambraces behind his back.

He was clad in black and grey baggy pants and a sleeveless short purple jacket featuring a Toukoku sign on the back meaning 'Baji Quan'.

“General Lao-Hu, ya must see this,” said the scout, handling over the spyglass.

“Is that captain Graven on the roof?” said the tiger in amusement.

He could see the raven orgriash doing gestures on top of the steam peddler.

“He's sending flag signs... 'We have failed. The rest is up to you.' ...hmm. It's not like him to make mistakes,” the tiger frowned.

“All men to battle stations. We are to stop them by force,” the tiger handed the spyglass back and pushed the first mate out of the way, “Move. I'm taking the helm.”

* * *

“Sir, they are trying to ram us!”

“Evasive maneuvers!” the captain tried to avoid getting hit as their galley was surely built sturdier moreover with naval warfare in mind.

But as the riverbed was getting thin and curvy, it was impossible to move away enough without hitting the shore.

“Brace for impact!” everyone held on to something as the orgriash ship hit the peddler from behind knocking the crew around like dolls.

“There must be something we can do..” Noix was unsure of the right course of action when suddenly a small hand grabbed his coat.

“Hey... could it be that you... lost your cool?” Anciel was barely moving, but he was already taunting the blue man.

“You re welcome,” Noix was quick to counter.

“We were a good team.... wouldn’t you say?” the blond boy was all bandaged again.

“We still are,” he put his shades up and took out the Éclairs Bleus, “You children should stay here and enjoy the show.”

“We’re no ordinary kids,” Anciel protested.

“And... miss out... on the party? I don't think so...” Label wanted a piece of the action.

“Hmph, quite a bold lot... fair enough. Come out to the deck when you're ready. I'll have a quick assessment of the situation.”

Noix left the boys alone for the time being and headed out to the deck to see the opposing ship with his own eyes.

It was dreadful and not only for the ghastly decor but the sheer size of it compared to the poor peddler.

“Mon Dieu! How do we stop it?” Noix whispered.

The only consolation was that it had no cannons, all the rest didn't look sunny.

“You ok?” blondie asked his friend.

“I've been better... The last few accomplishments took all the energy I've got. You?”

“Just a scratch,” Label grinned although he was all bandaged up.

“Man, you are something to behold,” Anciel remarked and then sat in a pose with his legs crossed, back straight, and palms closed, “Go on ahead, I still need a few minutes.”

“What are you doing?” Label was blunt as always.

“It's called a 'lotus position'. I can restore my energy if I focus like this for a while.”

“....okay,” the blue-eyed boy was skeptical but trusted his friend.

“In any case, I'll leave this here. It suits you more,” he put a black and red katana on the table after examining it for a bit.

He left for the deck.

“There's too many of them. If we let them approach and board us, the battle is lost and it will all be for naught,” Noix turned around and pointed at their ship, “We need to either speed up or slow them down!”

“We could try to sabotage them, as they did to us?” Label was thinking.

“Indeed, but the question remains 'how?'... You see, ours is an engine-propelled vessel, yet theirs operates purely on ‘muscle’.”

“Then, we just need to get rid of that muscle!”

Noix figured the boy had an idea. Probably a completely crazy one, but that might actually be exactly what they needed.

“I'm all ears.”

* * *

Not bad for a steam peddler..” the tiger remarked, “Take over from here. You've seen how it's done. Continue ramming them,” he released the helm.

“Aye, aye sir!” the first mate took over once more.

Lao-Hu strolled down the stairs, arms behind his back, “Row this ship or I'll have your arms chopped off!” he commanded the orgriash crew. Not all of them were here by their own will.

Some who disobeyed the Queen's regime have been chained to the galley to be used as a pure workforce.

The general spotted one of them was rowing especially slowly.

“I see you don't like it here my dear Sheena,” he stood tall in front of the female leopard, “You could have had a nice stature and be served roasted chicken next to a cozy fireplace by now, you know..” he leaned towards her.

“Bite me,” she turned around and spat at his face in defiance.

The white tiger took a moment to wipe his whiskers with a handkerchief.

“All in due time,” he grabbed a whip from the whip master and turned to the rowers, “I sad ROW!!!” he growled.

* * *

As the ship was approaching another ram, the black bird on the roof limped towards the edge, waiting for the right moment.

The ships collided as the stream was getting faster and the river more unforgiving of this lunacy. The water splashed and waves formed under the hulls of two vessels fighting it out like a crocodile and a hypo.

The orgriash captain wearing a bloody mask stood at the edge of the roof defeated. Stripped of his sword and honor, his wings broken, he slowly let himself fall at the moment of collision and was on his way to meet doom, but as faiths would have it; the raven was caught midair by strong white and black paws.

“Welcome back Graven. You look as run down and pathetic as your crew and galley,” the tiger was smirking.

“Thank you..... Bai Lao-Hu. You don't look... too bad yourself,” the raven lost consciousness with ease, knowing he was finally safe.

“Take him to his quarters! Your captain needs immediate medical attention,” the general ordered, and let the crew take the poor bird from his paws.

He then turned around to have a better look at the damage the last ramming caused to the steamer, but to his big surprise, there were two people standing at the other side of his galley who was not really a part of the crew; hell, they weren't even orgriash.

A blond boy was back to back with a gentleman clad in blue wielding what seemed to be two most peculiar muskets the tiger had ever seen.

He quickly grabbed one of the orgriash standing close and put him in front to shield himself as the man in blue took aim.

“Tea time is over!” Noix started barraging the place with the Éclair Bleus, spinning around and taking shots over the shoulder, under the arm, and sometimes with arms crossed.

The incoming bandits fell to the advanced weapon never seen before, as Noix dodged some sabers and machetes that came too close, taking scratches only on his flailing long coat.

The tiger watched as the crew was being slain mercilessly, noticing that the blue man is avoiding shooting the slaves and taking down only the armed crew. Aside from the ones that went under the deck, the general was left alone against the two opponents.

He waited for the right moment to counter, watching the enemy's movements carefully and as soon as Noix stopped shooting and started blocking with his guns instead, he came to a conclusion;

as much as these weapons could shoot more than normal muskets, they have to run out of ammo sooner or later.

He tossed aside the body of the orgriash that served as a shield and started moving towards the enemy.

Noix saw him coming and put his one arm over the other arm's elbow to take a steady long-distance aim, hoping to make this last bullet count.

He shot, his accuracy indisputable, the projectile headed straight for the general's forehead, alas it was blocked by an incredibly quick arm movement and the sturdiness of the golden vambrace.

Noix stopped for a second and gave a signal to Label, who was waiting at his back.

Label nodded and moved out of cover, raising his arms up above his head.

Simultaneously a large wave made an unnatural effort to climb the ship.

In a matter of seconds the whole deck was flooded, water to knees; the orgriash were caught by surprise and slowed down considerably.

Now's my chance!

Noix pressed a switch on his guns triggering a mechanism that send two empty clips sliding down from their chambers.

Nevertheless, as soon as the tiger general saw this, he knew the time has come.

Bai Lao-Hu lifted his foot and made a rotating motion with his arms spread wide, and then simultaneously closing them back in ready at hips, fists closed, he stomped hard on the floor, making himself into an artificial 'spring'.

The stomp was so fast and hard, that the shockwave removed all the water in a radius of a few feet around him.

A split second after, he lunged forward, ‘flying’ across the deck.

Propelled by the floor and air trying to force their way back into the voided space, he took a quick step on the water's surface as his forward trajectory would not let him sink, at the same time stretching one of his arms forward to close even more distance between himself and the target even before the empty gun clips fell into the water.

Before anyone could blink, Noix took a closed paw to the head, followed by a low hit in the knee by the tiger's foot.

As he was about to fall, the tiger put his foot far away in the back; spreading his arms to regain balance while simultaneously hitting the man in the stomach.

The man grabbed his hurting parts while leaning forward, face first into an incoming foot, a hit that started all the way behind the tiger's tail.

Label just managed to turn around after realizing the tiger hurled past him a second before, only to see Lao-Hu's legs stretched from the floor into a vertical split above his head; his arms forming a yin-yang, while the man was flying backward from the sheer force of impact.

Blondie had to help before it was too late, but his body seemed so slow compared to the tiger, who already put his stretched foot far down and made a circular movement with his arms, hitting poor Noix with the heavy vambraces before he even fell back down.

After that, the black and white beast propelled himself with his hind leg making a leaping forward flip that landed as another split, heel-first on the defenseless lying man, after which he pulled his legs and arms together, thus standing above him.

The tiger stepped with one leg on the man's chest and prepared to slice his throat with a claw when he felt a sudden pain.

Label kicked him in the back as strong as he could.

He didn’t want to miss the opportunity in which this killing machine was finally standing in one place.

Surprisingly, the beast didn't go flying or roll on the floor as his every other adversary; instead, he turned around slowly, annoyed.

“Are you the one who made a mess out of Graven?” the tiger's fangs could be seen as he smiled, “SHOW ME!!!”

He stepped off poor Noix, who inhaled after a long wait.

Label took the only fighting stance he knew; the primal one.

H-his back is so hard my foot hurts... what a monster.

For the first time, the boy was faced with someone who did not stumble after getting the initial hit and that fact alone was enough to send chills down his spine. Who was this orgriash who strolled towards him in anticipation, rather then running away, tail between his legs?