Year 765  Hippocampus Rush

Her hope for Connor tethered, her primal instincts making more sense than whatever charade he’s playing.

She wanted more than nothing to destroy everything in proximity.

Connor’s arm squeezed her waist. She didn’t know why, but she found solace in it. A silent promise to keep. It is completely insane!?

“Is that really the Krax? Show me her face.” Kang started his commands without even bothering to introduce himself, which Connor pointed out in spite.

“You must be the leader...Kang of the Death Twisters...I’ll show her face to you.” His free hand pushed her head back and she had almost no time to shut her eyes to keep up the charade. She’ll remember his brashness. Though strange how his hand was so rough in appearance felt gentle to her. “Satisfied?”

There is no doubt that the reason her skin crawled was because of all their eyes. Too many to ever feel comfortable, just like when she was a slave being bidded on stage.

“Hmm. What do ya want....pirate capt’?”

“Information first. Then I’ll let you have the Krax.”

“Info that is worth more than this Krax in chains?”

Connor didn’t answer the gang leader right away, though she could guess he was staring the male down with that same unwavering confidence. He released her head gently, shocking Rhea a little inside. Eventually, the silence didn’t bear any fruit. And Connor had no choice but to elaborate. “The Blue dust...”

“Ya very mad!? Madder to even accuse me of harboring blue dust. One grain is worth three of that bitch” The gang leader spits the ground. The whole crowd of them cackles, it was forced at best.

“But...boss...if ya give him the info-” A smaller voice that is clearly Ranko chimes in.

“Shud up, brat! Another comment more and yar’ll regret ever speakin’. Yar Vicar only has one tongue...”

That bastard... Rhea shook again, fighting down her rage.

“I’m startin’ to think that yar’s bounty and that bitch will cover for all that was taken from me...” Kang finally threatens a man that believes themselves as a god is more than likely going to fail to see the earth about to swallow him. That was proven today.

She wasn’t fast enough to see it, the gunshot from where they stood. There was a split second of panic wiring her muscles to move, lifting her head up to wiggle her body to be free from Connor’s vice hold. Her lane of vision bounced from the shocked faces to Connor’s stoic one, noticing the smoking pistol in his free hand, then looking for Kang. She found his tattooed face somehow paler than the last time she saw him, spitting out blood from his mouth while both his hands pressed against a gush of blood flowing out his neck. No matter how hard he tried, he could not stop the open hollow wound on his neck. He fell forward, either from the blood loss or shock, it did not matter. The man only had a few bloodied breaths, such a wound is not something anyone can walk away from without powers.

Kang’s body landed stiff, still trying to live, and pressing onto that wound. Everyone watched in horror, even Ranko, who had hated the man the most, watched clasping his hands over his own gaping mouth.

The only one that didn’t show fear was Connor, his death glare bore down on Kang’s dying form with a scowl as equally murderous. “I am the Captain of Nightmare Maiden. Most fear the name of my ship because of one thing that is true. I leave no survivors who dares challenge me... This time, I will provide each and every one of you fools with two options. Leave the orphanage alone, and the town. Never come back. Or you can test my tolerance and die trying. Figure it out.”

Rhea should have had an equally shocked expression but really, she was more intrigued than anything. Her initial battle to get out of his arms was lost in the awestruck. He carried himself in this aura of pure unquestionable confidence with a voice powerful and chilling the air with it. His proclamation stirred a warmth in her chest, making her skin pimpled as if she was the one to receive the promise. That confidence in his skills mixed with the coppery, unblinking glare intimidated a few to back away.

Is this...what makes you a captain?

“Choose now...” Connor cocked his pistol, a silver weapon with eight chambers and one barrel. Different from any other pistol because the barrel is bigger to compensate for the bulky pointed bullets. This is where he releases Rhea, shoving the bow at her to force her out of the stupor. She nearly dropped her bow, made of the same woods of the Junxe trees and marked with many endearing notes from her father. It was too important to drop, created on her thirteenth moon as a gift from her parents. It worked to wake her to action, pulling out one makeshift arrow out of her quiver to aim at each of her opponents’ heads.

“Fergit dis!?” A man in the crowd turned to run.

A few followed the first coward. She counted nine very brave souls besides Ranko and the now dead Kang before them.

“Cowards! It’s just the two of dem. Fight!” One foolish grunt hollered to the remainder, as he cocked his rifle at the pirate captain.

Connor brandished the sword, advancing towards the one with the rifle. Rhea questioned if he was capable of blocking a bullet. Not willing to find out, she took aim at the rifleman and released her first arrow. The arrow perfectly whizzed past Connor then lodged right dead center on the rifleman’s chest. The rifleman wailed, falling, dropping his weapon while he strained to rip out the arrow. It was a horrible reaction, one that would only rip out more of his skin and meat.

Connor’s only acknowledgment of her assistance was a twist of his head about to look at her, but he refrained himself for one reason or another. One of those reasons is probably because three of the grunts charged at him. She moves to assist, but the other five decide to do the same with her as their main target.

“Get the lass!?”

“Surround her!? She’s just fast, not strong.”

“Not...strong?” Rhea spit on the ground, showing her offense, putting away her bow and lowering her body for battle. As intended, they did surround her and if she was unskilled, she might have been more fearful. The reckless grin on her face begs to differ, “Come and test me, vishkas.”

“Gladly Krax bitch.” One brute, twice her size, swung down on her with a sword. She danced around that, keeping herself close to the brute and in the twist of her movement pulled out an arrow. In seconds, she plunges the pointed tip right into his shoulder. He bellowed just like her first victim and used his good arm to swing at her this time to keep her away.

It worked enough for her to back away. That was when she felt someone grab her bow from her back and pull her in.

Soon after, his arms rope around her neck as well as her waist. The idiot guffaws as if he was victorious. She only grinned wider and used his ignorance. Her mouth opened wide, and she bit down hard on his wrist. The taste of putrid blood didn’t deter her. She bit harder when he didn’t let go. All she could hear was his panic screaming and his three other friends closed in to help.

One closed in and she brought her legs up to kick him hard in the chest, sending both her captor and his friend on their backs. She fell too, but this time freed from the hold, there was no pause for her. She grabbed the pistol from her ex-captor and whacked him across his face with the handle end. Now that he was unconscious, she jumped on the balls of her heels and backed away from the other three, still awake and capable of taking her down.

The weight of the pistol felt strange in her hand, but she was going to try using it anyway. Her aim is perfect with a bow and arrow, so this shouldn’t be different....right?

She pointed the rusty gun at all of them, ignoring the oddness of the weight and shape of it entirely. They certainly watched her in immediate shock.

“Shoot!” Nothing happened, she shook the pistol and then said it again. Nothing. Her enemies’ shocked expressions evolved to pure disbelief. “Damn...why is this not working?”

“Stick with your bow...”

A voice reached her ears behind her, causing her to wince. It took her another second to recognize that it belonged to Connor, and he sidled up next to her. Her side glance was filled with the visage of the pirate captain in his red cloak, his attention on the opponents she faced.

On her prey.

“You do not have the time to judge. Where are all your-” She turned her head behind her to see the three corpses of three original opponents. A beheading here, one is missing arms, and the last is breathing his last breath. A promise was then created within herself, never piss of this pirate captain. “Well...I got this handled.”

“Hmph..” That was all she heard from him, though his sound showed how not convinced by her statement he was. Every one of his one sound ques has a certain emotion, she is starting to hear the difference.

Brat...

“Enuf of this!? We will take ya both down-” One brute spouted, brandishing a pistol of his own. He was interrupted by Rhea’s quick ingenuity; she threw the worthless pistol at him square to his jawline. The attack worked enough to stun him; his other two friends charged forward to assist. Connor used the time spared for both and bounded towards three buffoons. One of the lackeys reacted to his advancement and drew a sword out. The blades connected. Connor was not deterred by the lackey’s quick thinking. If anything, he pressed more weight into the swing.

Rhea is petty enough to find Connor’s assistance as a form of competition. Especially when he doesn’t regard her in a serious light. She would never allow a stranger like this man to ridicule her.

Her pride is at stake. The fire within her fueled the muscles in her legs and she sprinted towards the next individual.

Using both speed and her weight, she hopped onto the second unsuspecting lackey and threw off his balance. He fell on his side; she pulled out her dagger and dug it into his throat and relished the sight of the blood. Since it was a terribly crudely made blade, the handle broke off. Her heart thudded against her ribcage, sensing the looming presence of another individual. The aura of this individual promised death, the hair on the back of her neck stood at all ends as if Anukrin blew his icy chilly breath on her. Anukrin only ever promises death to her kind.

“RHEA!? Behind ya!” Ranko bellowed from the distance, it was too late anyways. She had turned to see the one lackey that she threw the gun at, pointing his pistol right at her head.

There was nothing she could do.

Not nothing.

Anything but that!

The voice in her head again, it always seemed to goad her to use her powers. The very one that she lost control of and killed the slavers and slaves unbiasedly. Each heartbeat was like a flintstone lighting sparks in her veins, the heat warms every vessel and burns muscle. She can literally feel the smoke of drying liquids fill up her lungs, threatening to escape her chest.

The fire could come out many ways, either by her breath or by touch. This man will surely be doomed by either method, but what about the people she is trying to protect? The Vicar? Ranko? Even Connor doesn’t deserve to be caught in the flames.

These thoughts didn’t need to be delved into further, a blade ripped through this man’s chest, the blood spraying everywhere. The sight of his death even chilled her fire, and she stood up to back away from the events unfolding. Her visage fills with the culprit, the very same captain with a heavy scowl on his face and a cloak as deep red as the blood that flowed out of his next victim.

He saved her.

The pirate captain pulled out the blade from the corpse’s chest, standing clean from blood-unlike her-and inspecting her from bloodied head to toe. Then he grumbled, his first words after a pause of silence always form some sort of criticism. “You are very reckless.”

She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “You are one to talk... walking headfirst earlier.”

“Hmph.” He’s doing it again, swiping the sword to flick off the blood from his blade, then sheathing it. Then he moved towards Ranko. The lad was standing near a set of stairs. Doing so meant passing her with a cold shoulder.

“Anyways...thank you.” She ignored his treatment, still grateful to have him as an ally than not. Now she felt incredibly indebted even though she would have been fine in the end if she hadn’t hesitated.

He was silent, the only show of acknowledgement was when he stopped his stride. Is it that weird?

“Connor...Rhea...Fat- I mean the Vicar is being kept upstairs in the boss’s room by guards...ya can’t go up that way... They will kill him if they see yas” Ranko interrupted any chance for Connor to react to her show of gratitude. There was no time for it anyway, and what Ranko said brought on dread in her.

Connor wasn’t going to take no for an answer, moving up to Ranko and glaring up the sets of steps. “We could try to catch them unaware.”

“Ya’ll already caused enough ruckus to be heard around town. There’s no catching them off guard.” Ranko moved to try to block Connor, the worry etched in every corner of his young, tattooed face. He loved the Vicar enough to even face off a bona fide killer like Connor.

There is one way.

Rhea’s attention scans from the stairs then towards the closest window, her brain cooking up another reckless plan. None that Captain Connor likes based on how he criticizes her every move, every chance that he gets.

“I am going to climb.” Rhea reached to the window and Connor was already right behind her to stop her.

“Stay put. You’ll only-”

“Nope.” She twirled to face him, glowing with the same determination and a grin that reached from one ear to the next. “I managed to steal this place clean, I still remember the layout of this place at the back of my eyeballs. The room is just about three floors up this window, so they will not suspect me climbing through the window.”

“Then how will you fight with one less dagger?” Connor challenged her plan, and it was a sound judgement, since all he saw her do was fight with a bow and a dagger.

“My dagger was only ever meant to skin carcasses. I fight without it plenty of times. I will catch them off guard and you two can come up after a hundred breaths” And I have something within me. Rhea ignored the piercing gaze, sliding right up to the window and straddling between the outside and inside of the building.

He really didn’t like her insubordination, there was that strange look on his face that sort of appeared to be outraged. Yet he was so quick to snuff it down, replacing it with a neutral mask. He’s probably setting this argument aside for now for the Vicar’s sake. “Only sixty breaths. Your only goal must be to make sure the Vicar isn’t in the range of harm. Do you understand?”

Damn. So, demanding.

“Yes, Mister Connor.” With a heavy eye roll, she pumped her fist over her heart in the signature Kraxxian salute, then she slid right out the window to scale the building side, not waiting for this man to change his mind.