⋅⋅⊱༻༺⊰⋅⋅

Everyone hears a quiet rumble coursing through the air, steadily growing louder.

Mito imitates Konran, sniffing the air, but he cannot discern the blood scent from the fish like she did.

Cyrus stands up and walks to Konran, leaning down to her ear so she can hear through all the noise. “Where?”

"Above water, west!"

“Thank you.”

Cyrus pats Konran then whispers something to her again.

"But that's boring!!"

He raises his eyebrows at her and she pouts and walks up to Clematia.

"Let's stay close to each other and get inside the ship if it notices us!" She looks a little disappointed as she says that.

‘If WHAT notices us?!’ Clematia dares not ask, she just nods to Konran and checks if her darts are still in place.

Noticing Clematia's anxiety, Konran nudges her with a bright smile. "Oh don't you worry~ Cyrus is a problem fixer, he'll take care of this!!" It seems she puts a lot of trust in her travel partner... "Ah, and he told you to stay close to me!" Well he told HER to stay close to Clematia but whatever floats your boat, Konran...

Yohei is intently searching for any shadow in the water, he fears the rumbling is coming from deep under.... After a while, he unbuttons his coat, revealing a wool sweater underneath.

The rumbling grows louder, and is soon accompanied by cackles, cheers and most importantly: the collective singing of a sea shanty.

The waves get aggressive, the wind whistles louder, and everyone’s hearts stutter as a large dark silhouette emerges from one of the cave entrances, obscured by an ominous fog...

The shape isn't the clearest, but the group can make out giant sails...

Cyrus’s eyes widen as he processes the situation. "Tch, pirates...!!" He's never dealt with sea homeless people, doesn't know how to, and the only person who maybe did business with them is undressing for some damn reason!!

The captain finally shows a proper emotion, his expression got more serious as his brows furrowed and wrinkled. "We can't turn around in time! The wind is pushing strongly forward! Brace yourselves!" Tsk, the giant ship was moving ridiculously fast for its size, they had no time to react.

Yohei has a second of relief as he realises it wasn't a kraken or a leviathan, pirates at least he can deal with. Probably....... maybe. He finally moves from his sentinel-like position and hurries to Cyrus. "Take Konran and Clematia and get under the hull with the horses, quick! We should avoid a fight if we can."

"Konran can evaluate the situation, I told her to get in when things escalate and keep Miss Briony safe." He lets out a quick breath, then stands straight again, not in a stance that's ready to take out his sword anytime but still keeping his hand on the sword grip. "We'll strike a deal with them. You did business with pirates before, no? I'm sure you've something valuable enough in you to keep them under control."

"Not under enough control when they see a noble and two ladies, it'll be a lot easier if all they see is some fishermen and an amputee cartographer." He's speaking fast and his tone has urgency in it, it’s only a matter of seconds before the pirates see them, if they haven't already. "Pirates are NOT predictable people, you don't want them to have ANY interest in us."

“You’re right, but I doubt they’d leave us peacefully even if we looked uninteresting.”

“I could offer them a map to Enthralla, although pirates aren’t typically interested in inland maps… Let’s hope they’re a crew I’m familiar with…”

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Yohei roll for pirate crew ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 4 ”

The fog slowly lowers from the giant sails, as Yohei and Cyrus can see some heads popping up from the edge of the boat, cackling...

Soon, the mark on the sail is clear… Yohei recognises it... Oh...

A crimson sun setting in a black beer mug: It's The Drunken Sundowner, the one pirate group that specifically has bad history with map makers, plundering workshops and kidnapping cartographers to make use of their knowledge, then unceremoniously throwing them into the sea when they are no longer of use to them...

Yohei’s previously calm and in-control demeanor breaks and he seizes for a second at the sight of the flag.

"COUGH, change of plans, maybe I shoulda been the one hiding ahahahaha…"

Not that it would work now, the pirates must have seen them already. He looks Cyrus straight in the eyes and says with a smile "Don't tell them I'm a map maker." Would they recognise him? He's not sure of his reputation among sailors and pirates, but if he is talked about, he would be easily recognisable from his scars.

"As you wish." Cyrus can tell that they are SCREWED. His eyebrows twitch again as he racks his brain... Should they act like they have nothing to offer? No, they'll likely get killed... But being from the Redwood wouldn't help either, they'll just seize the chance to kidnap him and demand a ransom from the duke, if they even believe him that is... They should be people important enough that it would be considered a direct attack if they were to get killed, but at the same time not important enough to be kidnapped…?

!!

He turns to Mito, a cold sweat dripping by the side of his head. "Give me the recommendation letter."

Yohei's face pales, he looks much more concerned about this than the pirates, he takes a step away from Cyrus. "..........Is that really alright? We can't just give it away... and we're not even sure they care about authority, they are wild creatures-there must be something else-"

"We're not giving it away idiot, we're messengers.” Cyrus doesn't budge as he reaches his arm out. “If we say we were sent to the Enthrala continent to send a letter we might have a chance to at least be spared." This is a race against time, he can tell they're bringing whatever they use to get down from the ship...

“…”

Yohei can't argue against that logic, it’s a pretty solid plan... He reluctantly fishes the letter out from the inner pocket of his coat, where he had it stashed neatly, and hands it to Cyrus, he would be much better fit than him in this situation….. Can pirates read? They might make someone read....

Cyrus stuffs it in his clothes quickly, then looks over at Konran who's leading Clematia to the inside of the boat. Should he assign roles for them just in case..? Yes probably.

"Mito, you're a fisherman, Konran is my partner and Miss Briony...." He thinks for a moment, he should give her a role proper enough to keep her from ANY possible danger... "The duke's personal Gardner...??" This is nerve-wracking...

They suddenly see some of the pirates sliding down their ship, into the water....

Mito literally jumps and rears back. "HHYYYEEE CYRUS THAT FOG FROM EARLIER WAS NOT NORMAL-" he's sweating like a bucket.

"I know, now who's Clematia?" Mito's panic is NOT helping as he himself fights to stay calm, he needs to come up with Clematia's role quickly before they get here!!

Whistles, shouts and energetic cackles are heard alongside the splashing of water that keeps getting closer...

Mito quickly composes himself and turns to Cyrus. "Doctor." It seems his logic hadn't completely left him… He thinks for a moment then turns to Cyrus once more, this time with a serious, sweat ridden face.

"I can't lie, you're on your own."

“So are you.” Cyrus nods to him in agreement before turning to the rest of the crew.

"Wait what-"

To Mito's dismay, Cyrus had already walked off towards the middle of the deck as he exclaims to the fishermen. "Haa... Brace yourselves!”

Right after Cyrus finishes speaking, someone puts their hand on the ship... Then another... And another... And... There are nine pirates standing on the ship now.

Cyrus walks up in front of them, his stance straight and imposing as he looks at them coldly but with no hostility.

“Why lookie what we got 'ere?! A ballsy pretty boy!"

Some of the pirates cackle, and others just stare. Some are even inspecting the boat.

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Cyrus roll for persuasion༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 18 ”

"This is a fishing boat, I don't see why you'd be interested in it." Cyrus says, ignoring the pirate's comment.

"Oh please, ye sure don't look like one of 'em handicapped fishers!"

It seems like the bulkiest and most deranged looking one is the lead speaker of their group. He doesn't wear a shirt and has many belts around his pants, his skin is covered in scars and he's missing an eye...

"Correct. I'm a messenger tasked with sending the Redwood duke's letter over to the Enthralla's without attracting too much attention."

"Well ye sure did a good job at the last part kekeke.”

"But I don't believe you're that interested on the lives people lead on land, let alone disrupting our information or spreading rumors amongst them, are you not? You pride yourself in the sea afterall."

"Yes of course we do..." It seems that one of the pirates has taken a liking to Cyrus...

Now that Yohei has a good look at the pirates, he doesn't know what to make of them. When they slipped into the water earlier, he freaked out; pirates typically prefer to land directly on their victim's deck, so he assumed they were dealing with merfolk. Well, it could still be the case, just because they look human doesn't mean they are... He glances back at the fishermen to get a reference for his own behavior, wouldn't wanna stand out…

The captain seems to be in control of his temper so as to not irritate their attackers, but one would certainly say he is more angry than afraid... They are proud and brave sailors, they brave the sea every day, risking their lives in these dangerous waters to support their families. They aren't cowering away.

All of a sudden, two pirates burst open the doors of the ship… it seems they were already inside…

“AY WE FOUND SOME WOMEN UNDER ‘ERE!”

“weeeeeee~”

The second voice was definitely Konran's…

“The short one is my partner, the taller one our doctor. Both were personally handpicked and recommended by the duke.” Cyrus doesn't need to turn around to understand the situation at hand. He keeps eye contact with the biggest looking pirate whom he was already speaking to.

The pirate looks unimpressed and even a little annoyed now at how this man cuts off every opportunity they get at having fun… Cyrus knows he’ll have to make up for that somehow…

“Ay lil guy ye got a way with words dontcha? Why dontchu have a lil chat with my captain ay?”

“It would be a pleasure.”

Cyrus feels that this will be over much faster if he just makes a good impression on the captain but… this is nerve-wracking… he can feel his heart rate increase as the pirates attach ropes to their fishing boat and haul it closer to the bigger one. A ladder is unceremoniously shoved onto their deck, and they lead Cyrus up and in, leaving the others temporarily behind with six other laughing pirates…

Clematia fiddles with her sleeves anxiously, she tries subtly to shift closer to Konran and further from the pirate by her side, his appearance is disgusting.... her eyes automatically find Yohei's familiar silhouette then Cyrus's as he is led into the huge ship, she really hopes he'll be alright, it seems he's the one handling the situation like Konran said. And he told the pirates she's a doctor, it’s a good call, pirates need doctors! If worse comes to worse they wouldn't kill her…

Beside her, Konran is happily hopping up and down as she hums a little tune, her voice drowned out by the ongoing shouts and whistles from the pirate crew.

The two pirates guarding them giggle and whisper to each other… Clematia and Konran can feel their eyes on the back of their heads…

A few excruciatingly long minutes pass, and the big brute that was previously talking to Cyrus finally jumps down from the pirate ship, hanging on by a rope as he yells at the others below “BRING ‘EM ALL YOUNGSTERS UP! WE NEED SUM FRESH BLOOD FROM TIME TO TIME!”

Two pirates grab Konran and Clematia by the arm as they drag them up to the ship, and Mito’s face is suddenly grabbed by one of the pirates. “How old are ye?”

Mito yanks the hand away, he was so preoccupied with Konran and Clematia that he didn't see him approach.

"..26"

“Eh young enough. C’mon we don’t got all day!”

“Kekek that guy’s always acting like the boss when the big hulk’s not around!”

“Oh screw ye!!”

The pirates cackle as they harshly drag Mito with them up the Drunken Sundowner…

.

.

.

⋅⋅⊱༻To be continued༺⊰⋅⋅