⋅⋅⊱༻༺⊰⋅⋅

Yohei and Clematia climb up the dark, wet and moldy stairs, going for the highest floor since they couldn’t find Konran in any of the cells… they find a big trap door with cracks that allow for some light to filter through, as well as the passionate voices of countless pirates roaring in unison “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!”

Cracking the door slightly open, they notice the many pirates surrounding the center of the deck, a cup of beer in everyone’s hand as they cheer for someone…

”BAHAHAHAHA YE REALLY DRANK IT ALL!!!”

Everyone starts cheering as maniac laughter fills the air… Clematia and Yohei overhear a conversation over the rowdy atmosphere as two pirates sit at the back, not too far from the trap door…

“Gah! I was waiting for that lil guy to lose so we can get the woman to play in his stead but he’s holding up pretty well ain’t he?!”

“Hah! I’m almost cheering for him!!”

“Oh no…” They're most definitely talking about Cyrus... and they didn't find Konran anywhere! this is only getting worse... Clematia tries to spot their companion amidst the crowd.

“…” Yohei is peeking next to her as well, he is standing on his own now, although with some difficulty keeping a straight posture. Cyrus was the one he least expected them to pick on.. some amputee fisherman? Sure, but the noble guest of important background? True to their nature, pirates are most unpredictable...

“Blegh I smell blood and fish!” the voice came from right behind them—“Anyways, how are you doing guys?!”

"Konran!!" Clematia leaps at her and hugs her tightly, then looks back at her while holding her shoulders "Thank god you're okay, they didn't do anything to you did they?!" Her voice is dripping with worry as she scans Konran for any signs of damage.

Yohei almost had a heart attack, where did she even come from?? ...did she go outside..? Oh he shouldn't let her roam free into that mess.... He discreetly closes the trap door and steps a bit away from it and toward them.

"Nah we had lots of fun!! They went to sleep a while ago tho... So I brought back souvenirs and a surprise!!" She grins happily as she digs her hands in her pockets and takes out a bunch of centipedes and cockroaches.

“WHAAAT?? WHY— HOW DID YOU KEEP THEM IN YOUR POCKETS???” Yohei’s voice is almost completely drowned out by the shouting outside that only gets rowdier by the second.

A loud thud is heard, and then the naturally authoritative voice of none other than...

"I think you've had your fill of fun, but this is crossing the line now. Need I remind you who your captain on this ship is?"

Cyrus sounds... furious...

"Ah that's right, pretty boy's backed by the captain ain't ye?"

Clematia signs for the other two to quiet down as she creaks the door open slightly, trying to listen in and locate where the voices came from.

"WHAT IS THIS?!"

"Oh! Speak of the devil! C’mere captain join us in the fun!" The large one of the group laughs as he leans back, motioning for the captain to come closer.

"WHY'D YE LEAVE SCARS YE USELESS DEADBEAT?! NOW WE'VE LOST OUR CHANCE WITH THE ENTHRALLA BASTARDS!!"

The pirate that's scolded rolls his eyes and sighs with a smirk as he stands up...

"Captain captain, ye don't really care about them land fellas aye? We're men o' the sea!" He puffs out his chest and reaches out his arms as he laughs heartily...

The captain rubs his face and gets closer to the center, grunting.

"This kid is useless to us now, throw 'im out once you're done with 'im, that fisherman and the women can still be of use."

"Whatever you wish for, captain~..."

?! Cyrus stands up and draws his sword, then glances at the Enthralla dock that's just...so close...! just a few minutes...! He just needs to stall for that long, and then everything will be just fine...!

"Curses! You two go and get one of the rowboats down, don't attract attention." Yohei climbs up into the deck then shuffles quickly between some of the pirates, just so he's far off enough from the door; no one pays him any mind as they are too focused on Cyrus… so he yells as loud as his hoarse voice allows.

"I THOUGHT THE SEA CONQUERORS WOULD AT LEAST KEEP THEIR WORD!" Yohei is in no shape to fight, but he hopes to stir some kind of fight among them. "AND YOUR MEN DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTIONS, ONE WOULD THINK THE EYELESS HUNK IS THE CAPTAIN HERE!"

The pirates all turn their heads to him…

"AYE WHO LET THE SMELLY ONE OUT?!"

It doesn’t seem to work, some men already drew out their swords as they laugh and throw their cups in the air, itching for a fight...

"WEEEE A FIGHT!!!" Konran pops out of the door as she giggles and hops towards Yohei.

Half the pirates have drawn out their swords, while others are still drinking and enjoying the free entertainment...

Eleven of them run towards Yohei...

‘GAAAAH DAMMIT!!’ He grabs Konran's hand and makes a run for it, toward the edge of the ship. "CAN YOU SWIM?!"

"nah~" She effortlessly slips her hand off his grip and jumps back, running towards the men. "I'M COMIIIINNNG YOUR TOES ARE MINEEE!!!"

"KONRAN NO!!!"

Yohei stops his momentum with difficulty; he looks as if he'd sprint back at her, but then he stops again and throws his previously unbuttoned coat off, it falls to the floor as Yohei starts undressing at incredible speed.

As the situation quickly spirals out of control, Clematia takes out some poisoned knives and makes a quick calculation of who to assist, she then takes a deep breath, holds it in, and makes some throws at the men surrounding Cyrus…

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Clematia roll for aim ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 10 ”

Most of the throws miss but two end up hitting their targets, who chuck the small knives out of their bodies in a short moment of confusion before dropping to the floor, shaking and frothing at the mouth. They do serve as good obstacles though, as one of the more drunken pirates trips on them and loses his balance, stumbling right into Cyrus’s range who finishes him off with a swift swing of his sword.

The circle that had been formed around Cyrus thus disrupts momentarily, and pained screeches fill the air as he slashes at the ones closest to him with newly found energy.

His attackers take a few steps back and a breather, but slowly more of them quit their spectator seats and gather around him again, this time caging him in even bigger numbers than the previous circle… the ship is now filled with both screams and laughter... as though the pirates are merely toying with them...

And yet the screams, little by little, start growing louder and louder...

"AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAA"

Konran is jumping around above the pirate's heads, her laughter the loudest now as a few men fall to the ground here and there...

She finally lands at the center on top of the gambling table, hands on her hips as she takes a deep breath and evaluates the situation. There's chaos... So much chaos... Everyone's fighting and yelling, beer is everywhere, her friends are struggling, it's all going downhill...!!!

So she starts tap dancing on the table...

Yohei was truly taken by surprise by Konran's fighting ability, he had thrown his wool shirt to the floor and is now standing in his undershirt, mouth agape. Maybe they have a shot at this? Surely she'll stop dancing soon and help Cyrus... He buckles his belt back on and picks up his coat. He attempts to maneuver past what's left of the eleven attackers, not aiming to defeat them but rather avoid them and join his companions.

The pirates in front of him were still distracted by Konran's nimble yet deadly burst of attacks and her questionable timing for a dance, so he seizes the opportunity and makes a run for it, rushing past them.

He’s halfway there when a spear barely misses his head; an awfully tall pirate looms over him, spear in hand, blocking his way.

‘Ahhh crap…’

Long arms and a long spear… with his dagger, it would be best if he closed the distance between them… Yohei doesn’t have much time to think though, he barely rolls to the side on time as the spear plunges into the wooden boards where he was standing with excessive force. Mito winces at the movement, his bruises still fresh from the beating earlier (that shameful beating—!) But he has no choice but to move again as the spear pierces the wood next to him once more. The man yanks the spear head off the wood and aims at him again, his face is flushed red from drinking and he’s spearing him like he has a personal grudge..! Seriously—!

“Ah-HEY! GIMME A BREAK!!”

Other pirates cackle and gather around, amused by the scene, as Yohei hops from one side to the other, not even given enough time to stand back up.

He starts to panic as he is backed off into a corner, his movements are getting sluggish from the pain and he doesn’t know how many more he can dodge—

WHAM!

The pirate misses again, but this time Yohei grabs the spear before he retreats it, and the two find themselves in a tug of war. Mito’s lower position on the floor helps him bridge their difference in strength, but he doesn’t know what to do next—

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Yohei roll ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 20 ”

BONUS ROLL: [d20]

dice results: “ 10 ”

Total points:

“ 30 ”

“PFFT Barleyyyy, isss small game giving ye hhard time buddyyy?”

The pirates get bored of watching and approach from behind their tall friend, all equally wasted.

“Come’on boys let’s gib’em a hannndddd~~~!”

“I DON’T.”

The tall spearman tightens his hold.

“NEED.”

Takes a step forward.

“YOUR HELP!”

And tugs back with all his might.

Right as Yohei let go of the spear.

He crashes hard against his friends who lined behind him to tug together, and they all tumble backwards beautifully like dominoes.

Mito takes that as his cue to run and limps his way to where he assumes his companions are: the center around which all the freaking pirates are crowding.

He’s not the only one heading there though, many other pirates want to watch the young nobleman get bullied to death. He reaches the crowd and squeezes between them, he goes unnoticed as they are too focused on the fight —and Mito might as well pass as a pirate too— until he reaches the front and into the imaginary ring.

Except.

“Cyrus!”

There’s no Konran in sight. Only Cyrus, bloodied and teetering on exhaustion as three pirates taunt him dangerously.

But right as Yohei takes a step forward—

"THREEEEEEE.... TWOOOOOOOOO........"

—Her countdown begins.

Everyone suddenly stops at the echoing voice of Konran, her dance has come to a stop long ago...

"OOOOONNNEEEEEEEE.........!!!!"

Everybody goes quiet... The suspense of whatever the countdown is for striking curiosity and fear into their hearts...

Konran throws her arms up in the air, her smile never fading from her face...

"KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!"

...

..?

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.

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Silence...

"..........?" Wait nothing? Oh! Must be a distraction! Sweet! They should take the opportunity to get out of here, hopefully Clematia has one of the boats down by now.

Konran lets her arms flop down, disappointed "dawe I guess that di-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The first explosion was enough to momentarily deafen everyone on board, so nobody realised that the incessant shockwaves were from the multiple following explosions. The ship is shaken to its core, and the crowd is suddenly on the trembling floor of the deck as most people lost their balance. Their ears are ringing as they watch fire pour out the starboard from the lower levels of the ship, various items and wooden planks thrown off violently from the continuous explosions.

The ship leans sideways, a giant hole pierced through its side.

People’s mouths are wide open but one can’t tell if they are in shock or if they are screaming in horror… Cyrus makes his escape through the unsettling silence of the scene and runs as best he can to where he had last seen Clematia, she had been trying to lower one of the row boats like Mito said but the rope knots were too confusing.

Cyrus wastes no time, he cuts them all with heavy blows of his sword and the row boat splashes down roughly into the water. Which is, by the way, far closer than it should be…?

This ship is sinking. AND FAST.

Cyrus turns around to call for Mito but his voice is drowned out by the chaos and explosions.

Clematia has her hands pressing hard against her ears as she screams with each detonation, fearing that the next one will be the death of them. She jumps down into the little boat after Cyrus’s hands threaten to push her into it.

Yohei had lost his balance from the first blast, and while he was on the floor he could feel the vibrations of each following shockwave penetrating through to his bones. An explosion of this size, it’s only a matter of time before the ship is on the sea floor!!! He hurries to his legs and rushes to Konran who’s busy watching the explosions.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING LET’S GO!!"

He doesn't even hear his own voice, so he grabs her hand and pulls her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. He runs as best he can to the port as the ship floor beneath him starts dangerously leaning upwards.

Cyrus is there waiting for them, and Yohei is relieved to find the row boat down when he looks over the edge —although he would have jumped into the water either way— he throws Konran down into the boat first, then jumps in himself, careful not to land on Clematia.

Cyrus is the last to join them, and his jump was also the highest as this side of the ship was leaning up, but the adrenaline in his blood helpfully got rid of any other sense of fear or danger, all he can think of is to get away from the ship NOW.

Everything's on fire now... The unfortunate souls that were caught in the flames are wailing as their skin is melted off, some are panickedly fiddling with the knots on the other row boats while others are straight up jumping into the water...

And amidst it all, the captain, on his knees, watches the ship he'd sailed on for years —the one that took him wherever he pleased and terrorized fishing boats and military ships alike— get torn up from within...

"No... no... my baby... my baby's on fire..."

The hulk of a pirate he had as a right hand man hurries to his side.

"Oh c'mon old man ye'll get burnt to a crisp just like ye ship if ya stay 'ere any longer!"

Caspien pulls his captain by the collar as he yells at him, his voice barely audible next to the deafening bangs...

"NO!!! I CAN'T LEAVE MY GIRL HERE!!! NO!!! I GREW WITH 'ER I AIN'T LEAVING!!!"

The captain cries as he swings his saber at Caspien, his moves sluggish and utterly... Pathetic...

Caspien rolls his eyes and kicks the captain to the floor, spitting at him.

"Ye a pathetic guy y'know? And ya called yesself a pirate! HAH!! What a show!"

He turns around, leaving the old man behind as he stomps towards the last of the rowboats. Most of the ones on the starboard were either ruptured or burned to a crisp by the explosion, but this surviving one was hogged by his usual pals. He gets on, and cuts the ropes... a promise of vengeance burning in his eyes.

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⋅⋅⊱༻To be continued༺⊰⋅⋅