Author's Preface
Year 765 Hippocampus Rush
Connor is beyond happy to see a familiar face, he still conceals that happiness beneath another neutral façade. A typical defense mechanism when he is around people that he is not comfortable with. Although they are strangers, this woman hid behind him as if that did not matter to her anymore, looking a little on edge at the sight of Jerold. Just like how she is when they first met, a tigrou prowling and clawing at the bars of its cage. Rhea can not hide her distrust, just as badly as she is using Connor as a visual shield. Jerold is not a man with a terrifying aura or even the body of a heavy hitter, relying on ingenuity and fast motion to stay as Connor's trustworthy swashbuckler. That dopey grin hides the skills of the best swashbuckler on his ship.
Wait...why is he grinning?
"Jerold..." Connor tries to shift the conversation to his favor. Too late.
"Oh!? Capt' Ya could've just said that ya were out on a date!"
"That is definitely not what I am doing..."
Successfully ignored...
"Nope ya get all dark and gloomy sayin' ya gotta go snoopin' some gang's house." The royal pain in the ass forgets himself. Jerold romanticizes the wrong things, losing himself in some fantasy created by his crazy assumptions. The swashbuckler salutes with a lot of exaggeration in it. "Don't worry Capt’n ! I'll make sure ya little secret is safe with me! Go on with ya day with the lovely lil’ lass."
"Da-date?" Rhea honestly asks behind him, squinting at Connor for answers. The question fuels Connor's agitation even more.
Connor lost his patience, grabbing both of Jerold's shoulders and gripping hard. His jaw tenses, ready to berate him if it is not for the fact that they are being chased. You'll be dusting the cannons later . "JEROLD. No. The Death Twisters are after us. Who-"
"Huh!? Why are the Death Twister chasin’ ya? Unless-" Jerold did a once over on Rhea, who glares at him in automatic response. Connor didn’t blame her for it. "Ya done it and stow away the leader's wifey! SCANDOL-"
"No." Connor shakes him once and hard by the shoulders, which stops Jerold's crazy speculations. "We went to the mansion, killed the leader and now they are after us. Who are you with?"
"Uh. Really? That’s it?" Jerold pouts, losing interest as soon as the facts registers in his head. "I was with Cid. Big guy and I were lookin' for sum mead to take home. Got lost amongst the panic. Just was lookin' for 'im actually."
"Let's find him together and quickly." Connor motions to Rhea with a hand wave to have her follow them. She is now the one to glower, rebelliously crossing her arms over her chest and wrinkling her nose up. Not now!
"Sorry lass. Capt’n isn't good at understandin' folk. The name's Mr. Jerold Cavar! Just Jerold is fine! Happily married with six little ankle twisters to call me own." Jerold left out an offering handshake to the one person that seems ready to end his child-bearing days.
Rhea's gaze focuses hard on the hovering hand, as if she is about to catch on fire if she touches it. Eventually, after a few of Jerold's questions riddled glances toward Connor, the woman took his hand and shook it once.
"Chathalic-rues. My name is Rhea. It is nice to meet you." She retracts her hand after one singular shake, forcing a cordial smile.
"Ya very polite. Unlike the folks here. Say, how did lass like ya meet me Capt’n?" Jerold stands next to her, shoulders almost touching, grinning with his whole face. He's always been the jovial and friendly type, most of the newest recruits will always say so.
"Well-"
"We are being CHASED! Save the questions for later." Connor cannot hold his annoyance back; Jerold had increased his obnoxious behavior over the simple fact that Connor associates himself with the opposite gender.
"When have ya not been in mortal danger, Capt’n?" When Jerold is given a snarl from Connor, he snaps his spine straight and took the lead. "Aye, off to find one big loveable sea-pup. Come, Capt’n and lass!"
Jerold bounds away; Connor follows him with the Krax woman trailing behind. There are plenty of speculations that crosses his mind which shakes his own core priorities.
Why is she still helping me? And what did she do to that burnt corpse I found?
Connor wants to find out what is behind that rebellious grin she flaunts. Especially when she dances terribly around the truth, that is enough for him wanting to press her for more information. There are not many that could spur this interest. This feeling occurs at times when he recruits someone, always picking only the best of people to board his Nightmare Maiden. Boarding the Nightmare Maiden is a privilege that no one has except for his crew. She had not been boarded on by an enemy ship, and it will remain that way for as long as Captain Connor can inhale the air. Is he going to give Rhea that privilege?
Connor didn't spend too much time pondering, they are following Jerold at a good pace. All three of them sift through some of the panicking locals, dodging any that ran and scream away from the aimless pistol shots. Rhea kept oddly close, despite her earlier grievances, she is more nervous out in the open even during this chaos. A normal Krax didn’t get to walk around the town without attracting attention, and she is prep with weapons as well birthed with features that disprove the first stereotype. All it takes is one bored Chimera Knight to come up and ask for her slave documents. Connor will have to thank the Gods for giving them luck. The Chimera Knights are nowhere to be seen, and the locals are too busy running from the violence to care. Some even start pilfering the unattended vendor stands, an opportunity they can't even use.
Missing out on opportunities had been his whole experience in this Gods forsaken town. He misses the sea and its bountiful channels already.
Connor saw the back of an axe-wearing man in the distance, about seventy-nine inches of thick muscles. This man is not hard to see; his height and figure stand out like a sore thumb. People like that are usually known to be half-giants around Yventlin, a small sub-race that branches away from the core giant people: The Grimafolk.
This half-giant's outfit had to be specifically altered to fit, shirtless with a green blazer that looked like two large ones sewn into one. Pants made from fabric stolen from their exploits and sewn together by Jerold's wife. By the wavy brown ponytail and the large silver axe, Connor can easily recognize him as Cid: his friendly boatswain. Cid saw them coming at him and greets as friendly as a fat bovious.
Bovious are hairy, four-legged creatures farmed for their meat and milk. They do not have necks and have wide set mouths to feast on grass lazily. Bushy eyebrows cover their eyes and tusks jutted out their red lips which made them look like they smile. Pretty friendly creatures and so domesticated that they do not waltz around the wilderness anymore. The only big difference is that Cid is not lazy. Those giant muscles of his require a lot of effort on his side, with his profession as a boatswain helping build his physique. And he loves to arm wrestle with anyone on the ship, loves his job anchoring the ship just as much.
"Jerold! Capt'n! Random lass!" Cid hums happily, even at Rhea, who might have forgotten to be polite and gawks at the sight of Cid. It's a quite common reaction when half-giants aren't a normal encounter either.
"Big Guy!? Why ya run off from me like that!?" Jerold whines, punching the big brute at his hardened biceps.
It didn’t come as a surprise that punch didn't hurt Cid, the boatswain scratches a forefinger on his shadowed chin line. "W-well. I saw a match between a man and a kango. I jumped in-"
"Cid...Jerold. Death Twisters are chasing us." Connor re-reminded them, finding that any tale of Cid's could wait another time.
"Darn...I was wondering what he did." Rhea mutters out loud, blushing when she realizes it.
Connor snaps his attention at her; she shifts her face away.
"The Death Twisters? Really?" Cid's grin grew, brandishing his axe. He didn't have any concerns riddle in his voice or posture, not even having the name of the stranger in their midst. "Where?"
"We will post at the harbor where we have the upper advantage. Together we should be able to handle it- " The barrage of gunshots are now a lot closer, behind them all. Cid moves towards the sound, waving his axe around.
"I love a challenge!" Roars Cid, showing his true battle-hungry side.
"Big Guy!? Are ya even listenin’ to the Capt’n?" Jerold grabs the half-giant by the thick biceps and tried to weigh Cid down. His attempt is futile; Cid easily drags Jerold a foot away.
"The battle will be grand at the harbor, Cid! COME NOW" Connor snaps, trying to sell the activity to him, since the big child isn't picky. Never is, even when they were both children on the ship, following their guardians around like cuckoos.
"Oh. okay Capt'." Cid pouts, now picking up Jerold in one arm and taking him away. "Let's go to the ship then!"
"Put me down!?" Jerold yelps did not work to stop this giant child. Cid is jogging away with a helpless Jerold in one arm.
Rhea chokes on her laughter. "He is like a big kid."
"He just turned nineteen." Connor grumbles, rubbing his temples, and following the members of his crew.
"Nineteen!?" Rhea's exclamation did not shock him. Cid neither acts nor looks his age, a conflicting individual, but Connor won't trade him for anyone. This is his crew, and he will stick by them for as long as they stay loyal to him.
"They seem nice." Rhea mumbles something else she did not mean to say out in the open, avoiding Connor's speculative glare again.
She had a weird way of complimenting people, being embarrassed every time she did so. Interesting, how she won't openly compliment someone to their face. Like she did for Connor when the Vicar bad mouthed about Connor and his profession.
Quite strange.... Again, the gun shots are getting closer and won’t give Connor a breath to investigate. The group increase their pace. The captain can trust Cid to lead the way, but the sight of the sails still comforts Connor. The ground is even sandier in consistency. The first ship they saw is not theirs; it belonged to a market vendor based on the size of it. He can see his brig further down.
"Is that your ship?" Rhea asks, filtered clean from any animosity. Connor takes offense anyway.
"No." The temptation to correct her is intense, but it won’t work on someone without any knowledge of ships. There is no need for it when the Nightmare Maiden is just a few jogging paces away.
The four of them jog there in no time, reaching Nightmare Maiden. Her wood is made of black charred elderwood which can withstand damage from mortar rounds. The helm and her wings are tuck away due to being at the dock, but it didn’t make her any less beautiful. She is known to be the fastest ship around and aid his crew to slip through many of their enemies and conquered them.
"That...is your ship." This time it is a statement from Rhea rather than a question. Sounds a lot better than the atrocious inquiry she asked breathes ago. Connor nods once to confirm, his face is stoic, but it didn’t shake away the pride he had towards his own ship. Every other ship in this port is insignificant compared to the Nightmare Maiden, and her outline stands out in Manuk's rays. Cid halts before the ship, dropping Jerold on his own feet. The swashbuckler pats away the wrinkles of his clothes, grumbling the whole time. Something about not being some babe to carry.
"Stay and keep watch." Connor marches past those two, forgetting that Rhea is right behind him who then follows him all the way to the ramp of the ship.
"Aye, aye."
Connor didn't even notice Rhea's reaction when she pauses just before the foot of the ramp. Until her voice picks up to say, "I will wait here..."
Connor froze, both confused and annoyed, thinking of a million reasons why she isn’t just following him up to his ship. He stuffs it down a mental chest for later to ask. Death Twisters are closing in; she can easily keep a look out with the other two. "Aye."
Connor moves up the ramp, and his assigned guards greet him there. He began barking his orders, then, "HANDS LET US SHOW THE DEATH TWISTERS WHAT WE ARE MADE OF!"
The roars of his crew are music to his ears. The crew members are now getting set up for a potential all-out brawl.