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+--- Thread: Avast Me Hearties (/showthread.php?tid=4775)
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RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 01-30-2017
Caira’s body began to shake almost as soon as Gary finished speaking. Zack thought, at first, that she was going into convulsions, but he quickly realized it was actually his own arms doing the trembling. He gently laid her down, while Gary joined him in hovering over her quickly. He looked over to the older man without hate or anger, but for the first time ready to learn something from him.
“How can we help her?” Zack asked. His basic first aid skills sounded wildly useless for an anatomy that bled silver. He was more likely to do harm than good.
“We need to…”
Gary was interrupted by the violent lurching of the ship. It rocked sideways and propelled the old secondary forwards, but he was caught and braced by Zack’s free hand, as the young super soldier continued to cradle his friend safely in his other arm.
Gary looked grateful, but did not speak as much. He remained focused on the business at hand. “Whatever attacked us is still out there. It dragged us to the surface.”
“Can you take care of her?” Zack asked genuinely, while his right hand instinctively reached up and gripped the hilt of the Buster Sword. It was so natural, at the onset of a battle, he wasn’t even aware he was doing it.
“I can try.” Gary made no promises, but it was enough for Zack.
“I’ll deal with our new friend, then,” Zack replied, without humor in his voice, even though one could consider his statement a joke. “Don’t leave out there me again.”
Gary’s tone remained stern and serious, but Zack spotted the momentary flicker of his facial expression when he spoke. “Don’t worry. I might need you after all.”
Gallows humor. Finally, they seemed to be reading off the same script. Zack flashed Gary a smile, before gently setting Caira down and leaving her to his care.
“I’ll be right back. Hang in there,” Zack promised his fallen friend, and wasted no more time.
While Gary got to work on the comatose prime, assisted by the pint-sized Charizard, Zack marched to the door. He pried the entrance to the hall open just long enough to step through and seal it behind himself once more. The water was gone from the doorway, as they now floated on the surface, but it wasn’t completely removed from the submarine, etiher. This didn’t matter to him as much. They would limp through the sea, but they could make it back to Cinnabar, to repair or replace this vessel. For now, all that mattered was getting there.
Zack marched through the hallway where only seconds before he had nearly drowned. Now he moved with determination, confidence, and most of all anger. He felt the same level of rage and heartbreak he’d felt in the Goron Village and on Death Mountain, and it was witnessing Caira’s suffering that had triggered it. This was a realm of infinite possibilities and second chances, and yet it had devolved into petty squabbles and politics like everything he knew before this place. At least Volvagia had the excuse of being a monster. How could the Imperials justify themselves?
He climbed the ladder, and shoved the hatch open. It didn’t take him long to once more find himself standing on the surface of the submarine, and just like his walk through the hallway, he didn’t appreciate the reversal of circumstances in such a short time. This time he wasn’t scrambling to enter the vessel. This time he was drawing a line in the metaphorical sand.
Answering his unspoken challenge, the water rippled and a terrifying monster emerged. The fanged beast wielded at least ten tentacles, each one deformed in some terrifying way. Clearly, another Imperial bioweapon. It had hurt, maybe even killed Caira. Its mistake.
The sunlight reflecting off the Buster Sword let off a large, yet temporary glare as Zack drew it and held it ready. The monster responded appropriately as it lashed two tentacles forward. With an air of eerie seriousness about him, Zack countered with two swift strikes that severed the appendages from the beast. He turned to see a third tentacle approaching him from his right side, and barely managed to duck the blow in time. Not wanting to give it the opportunity to sneak up on him once more, Zack let out a war cry capable of shaking the heavens as he charged down the wounded submarine at the beast.
Holding his massive sword high, Zack leaped at the monster ready to strike. Of course, with his line of thinking telegraphed so well, the bioweapon was predictably ready for the assault. Its tentacles lashed forward, and Zack sliced downwards with his sword to sever them as well, and clear a path to his target. The beast made a final, desperate effort to thwart Zack by striking at him with all its flailing limbs, but it was too late by then.
Zack drove the massive sword into the beast’s right eye, which generated the roar of pain and agony he had been hoping would confirm a quick defeat. As the monster thrashed wildly, Zack was grateful to feel his legs land on the metal surface of the submarine, as he’d admittedly lost track of his surrounding in his uncharacteristic bloodlust.
The monster tried to pull free, but Zack countered by twisting the Buster Sword within its eye socket, causing the specimen to go into complete shock. It was then that Zack violently ripped the sword from the creature and delivered a single slash across its face, turning his adversary into a mere carcass. The genetically modified creature exuded a final gasp as it sank into the ocean, freeing the submarine from its clutches for good.
Zack didn’t feel good about the win, despite how decisive it had been. There was more at stake. The Empire would be back. More importantly, though, Caira was still hurt. He dipped his sword briefly into the saltwater to wash the creature’s blood from it, pleased that he didn’t need to worry about the possible corrosion from the elements, now that he was in this strange realm.
Instead, he focused his fears appropriately as he made his way back inside. One thought rang in his mind now, just like it had the whole time he’d been outside.
Caira.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Caira Ayryn - 03-01-2017
The woman’s sable hair rippled on top of the chill of saline water. Silver blood streamed from her wounds, and covered everything it touched with a slick layer, with a coating similar to oil. Gary’s eyes had fallen piteously on Caira and her eyes blinked open a dull gray, far from the bright violet that seemed to radiate on her irises in the daylight. The light flickered behind Gary’s shape, blending the room into a mushy storm cloud. Her hand lifted to him, reaching helplessly, then ell with a splash into the flooded water once more, she heard the distant thud of her own arm hitting the metal, however no sensation rang from her numbed senses. Her injury still pouring, she’d lost a lot of blood and Gary was doing something just out of sight with his hands, perhaps it was a ritual, she hadn’t the strength to move even an inch, maybe there was poison woven deep in her wound, that could have been the reason for what felt like her life being sucked dry so quickly.
“C’mon now, you’re a Prime, you’re not supposed to die this easy,” his hands were on her abdomen now, trying to sate the source of the constant blood flow, she saw her own chest rising and falling, perhaps her heart had stopped, her mind was too groggy to process the time of his actions as they streamed together.
Die? her eyes widened, fear-lit and enraged by vigor, she couldn’t die, no, this couldn’t be her end, No... No. her mind fought hard but surely her body, though a soon-to-be-corpse, had enough might left in her to fix herself. But the look in Gary’s eyes had told her the monster had hit something vital, an artery perhaps, and something was very wrong. The blood had drained from his face and he was pale with fear.
Zack, where was he? no longer in sight, she hoped having seen her fall, he had not dashed off with the notes, no, he wasn’t that kind of person... She hoped.
Gary had created a black cloud above her, his power taking shape as it loomed over her body and floated around her wound. She felt a god-awful spark of something painful and smoldering, and a dark chill wove into her soul and caused a perturbing tremor.
“G-Gary...” her voice strained and gurgled with fluid that bubbled in her mouth, he shook his head, eyes full of remorse as he beckoned for her to stop, “My necklace...”
Gary was perplexed that the girl with the last of her strength was reaching for a jewel, perhaps it was sentimental, and holding onto something with feeling would help her focus away from the pain, however, Caira’s expression was more determined than at-ease. There was purpose under her wrinkled brow and behind her dying eyes. Her pale fingertips fiddled around her black attire and grabbed hold of the dark jewel. The room ignited in black.
Sound dulled into a monotone of slow-moving molecules, time was hard to tell, as there was no light in this swamp of darkness. Gary was smothered in it and while he used his own energy cloud to sense around his surroundings, his arms were slow and lethargic and he found it took longer than five seconds for his body to react to his thought. What had even happened? What was that necklace anyway? Gary asked himself first, what any other person in his situation would ask, then he reflected back, slowing down the memory frame-by-frame.
She had touched it and immediately a dark bubble had grown from it. Then he had been encompassed. Caira was probably still on the ground somewhere, and Gary was wondering if this was how she had chosen to end her life, whatever significance this giant, monstrous bubble had been.
Zack was swarmed by blackness and immediately taken by stabbings of fear, he recalled the beginning of his journey and Gary’s trial which was meant to not only hurt but to kill him, and wondered if the secondary had anything to do with this new blurb of dimension-distorting transparent muck. He attempted to blink it from his eyes, but it wasn’t a filter, the air had been somehow tainted, like a shadow had been cast but there was no sun. He could move, but it was slow and had a draining toll on his body, his muscles were soon sapped after just a few nearly impossible steps forward.
The Prime was at the point of falling when the sweep of time-slowing shadow slipped back from where ever it had originated. Gary was pulled gracefully from this spacial alteration and found his eyes widening at the sight now occurring around the girl’s body. He searched keenly for a pulse, however he could not see it from the shadowed figure above her. The figure was the shape of a large lion, it didn’t fit well in the tiny halls the sub consisted of, however its transparent body’s muscles could be seen bulging even from the midnight hue of its fur. His eyes blazed wildly as he looked down at the girl, he was standing over her, one mammoth paw on her chest, yet it did not make contact. The lion, it seemed, was not completely made out of physical matter.
Gary froze in place and made no effort to move, for he was more curious than anything, it was happenstance however that Zack’s feet now splashed down the hall, alerting the lion of his presence and causing Zack to freeze a little too late, as his eyes fell on the sight.
The lion’s dark mane bristled into large wisps of shadowy-needle, while his eyes blazed at Zack, telling him with his engorged, tensed muscles to not dare move any closer. Whether Caira was his prey or his master was a situation Zack had only just stumbled into, and he had no clue.
“No sudden movements,” Gary warned as Zack’s face foiled into one of fear and astonishment. (Of course Gary was no help, though maybe if he wasn’t to move, this was Gary’s beast.) No one had ever seen a beast quite like this, shadow-lions were not even in most books of lore, Zack had little idea, or definition to give the beast he was looking at, and remained silent, with no sudden movements, just as Gary had instructed. In fact, he slowed his pace completely to a halt and the only thing pounding profusely in that room was his heart.
The lion’s tail switched closely to Gary’s chin as he settled his dissatisfaction and continued his intended task. The beast bowed his head to her wounds, breathed a fiery breath into them, and the wound stopped flowing with blood just as a stream would cease at a dam. The lion then looked around the room again, his head was cramped and so was his pelt, however, the intangible beast chose to sit on Caira with its shadowy form, and it did not appear to be heeding her now relaxed and smoothed breaths.
“Gary he’s-” Zack protested and the lion’s dark teeth now shown through his parted lips and with them, a burst of vehement wind slammed Zack’s entire body against the wall he was standing two feet in front of. The alarming slam indicated a thick metal, which his thick head of ruffled black hair had now collided with.
“Zack, this is Caira’s creature, it seems it is going to guard her until she wakes, if I were you I wouldn’t go near her, he isn’t hurting her, it doesn’t seem,” Gary informed him, and the lion looked at the speaker with narrowed eyes, his teeth still bared while his nose scented their emotions better than their faces could tell their intent.
“She can’t sit in that water forever either,” Zack pointed out. The lion’s throat seemed to rumble with a grunt as he deemed neither of them a threat, but if anyone came within inches of her, he’d use those jaws of his to send them both to their maker.
“We’ll have to wait, that’s just how it goes, Zack,” Gary said.
“Hey, did you say Caira’s lion?” Zack asked, looking at the woman he’d known as ‘Ayryn’ with a frown on his face.
“Yep. That’s her first name, kid. Guess I let it slip, heh, I think she’ll live though,” Gary spoke in regards to both their predicaments and Zack faced the black lion, who was eying him -the more probable threat- and the massive sword which he wore on his back.
The lion bared his teeth again, as if challenging who the better wielder was to his sword.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 04-10-2017
Zack threw up his hands as Gary walked away, leaving Caira lying wounded in a pool of water with a spirit lion standing over her. Fucking really, dude? Just when he had been starting to like the guy.
He turned back to the lion that was glaring at him, and even a little bit over his shoulder. It was a gaze Zack was used to, as most people tended to notice his massive weapon before him. It was sort of hard to miss. Zack still rolled his eyes.
“You eyeballin’ my piece?” he teased the lion, who only returned a slightly aggressive growl.
Zack kept a smile on as he reached down and grabbed a medkit. He then held it up gently, with no sudden movements, allowing the lion to see the giant red cross on the front.
“See?” I’m just trying to help,” Zack explained gently.
The beast didn’t seem to relax in the slightest. With perfect timing, the box popped open and already soaked contents spilled onto the floor and the water. Zack muttered something under his breath as he tossed the case aside.
Zack slid forward just a little bit, scooping up some packaged gauze. The lion adjusted its stance, ready to pounce. Zack responded by holding a single hand out, trying to comfort it somewhat.
“Easy, big guy. Easy,” Zack tried to soothe the creature. “She needs medical attention. Medical. Do you understand that? Probably not because you’re a freaking lion.”
Another step forward, and the lion stood up. Zack was beyond ready to fight it, but didn’t want to maim and murder something that was protecting Caira, and possibly even a part of her spirit. There was no telling what its origins were. Plus, Gary seemed pretty convinced it would mess either of them up. As little as Zack trusted Gary, it was worth noting. He groaned as he made another move towards his fallen friend. That was one step too far, and the beast leaped at Zack, fangs bared.
“Be cool! Be cool!” Zack shouted as he dropped the wrapped gauze and caught lion by the neck.
It’s gnashing teeth were inches away from his face, barely held back by Zack’s own strength. He felt himself losing ground, so he stepped back with one foot and spun his entire body, bringing the lion with him. As a result, he threw the creature over his shoulder and onto its back in the water, putting himself between it and Caira.
No sooner had he suplexed her spirit guardian than it rolled to its feet. It snapped at him again, and Zack jumped backwards to avoid its vicious fangs. He stumbled back, losing his balance. He remembered Caira had to be right behind him, and he didn’t want to hurt her further by tripping over her prone body. He forced himself to awkwardly leap backwards, losing all sense of balance and bearing. He narrowly missed Caira and splashed into the water behind her.
Quickly he scrambled to get his senses back. He was down and that thing was fast and strong. He couldn’t get to the Buster Sword, so he grabbed the Fire Bar Sword from his belt and ignited it, scooting backwards as he tried to get up.
He wiped the water from his eyes with his free hand to get his vision back, and saw the lion standing before him. It could have killed him quite easily, but instead it stood there before him, not moving. Zack looked confused, then saw the discarded gauze package in its mouth. Great, now it trusted him.
Zack deactivated the sword and returned it to his belt, then gently took the plastic wrap from the lion’s mouth. Confused on how to thank it, he gave it a pat on the head, but a quick snarl told him the lion didn’t like that too much. The next best thing was to just get to work on her. That was probably thanks enough.
He scooped Caira up and moved her from the water, setting her down on relatively dry steel. Zack then ripped the packaging open and began to patch up Caira’s headwound first. Looking up, he noticed the lion hovering over them both.
“She’s a trooper. She’ll be alright,” Zack tried to reassure it. “You probably already knew that, though.”
It’s stoic non-reaction wasn’t very helpful, so Zack just resumed patching her head. She didn’t appear to be bleeding her strange blood anymore, but it was a temporary fix. His field medicine skills were only passable, so if natural Omnilium didn’t take over they would have to find some real help soon.
“Zack, we’re almost back at Cinnabar,” Gary’s voice boomed over the intercom. “How is she?”
The ex-SOLDIER looked to the lion, then back down to Caira. Wasn’t that the million dollar question?
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Caira Ayryn - 05-12-2017
Cinnabar Island was nearing, Gary manned the vessel and was navigating them to their destination. Over their course they’d had adventures, picked up a few friends, one a mini Charizard, the other, Zack could only consider some sort of Shadow Lion, it wasn’t tangible, yet, if it attacked, Zack was sure it would convert from an apparition to something very physical and with ease shred his very tangible muscle.
Outside the porthole was gray with blue overtones, Zack assumed it was dark outside and night had fallen, they’d be arriving and it was hard to say if Clowney would have a medical center for her, surely in his large building he’d have a place for her to rest, in his experience, most primes got a little better with time if the injury wasn’t fatal. They’d treated her wound, now, they would just have to see. Transporting her in the dark would be tricky, if worst came to worst, Zack would resort to carrying her honeymoon style, or the lion could help. It couldn’t be healthy for her to lay in this freezing saline water any longer.
Now was a time better than any.
Hesitantly, Zack slipped one hand under her knees, the next, her back. He watched her bone-colored face as he lifted her, searching for any signs of intrinsic pain, but it was apparent that she’d passed out, for she was limp, even to the touch. Her feet dangled and Zack’s knees pressed off the rust-prone ground, her body slipped out of the grease and blood tainted water and her heavy hair swung, a drenched wall slick with sable and silver. The lion, though an imminent threat, had receded to the back of his mind. The colossal, ever-essential forefront: Keeping her alive.
“I sent word to Jad’s port that she’s injured, hopefully he’ll send a medical team or something,” Gary said over the com, “Prepare to dock, I’m coming up there, kid, and we’ll get her up the vertical ladder one way or another.”
Zack rolled his eyes when he’d been demeaned by Gary and called a ‘kid’ but it dawned on him that the smallest thing would hold them back. He couldn’t climb a ladder while still holding her in his arms, there was nearly no way, and he could risk dropping her, she was pretty slippery, and her blood-dripping wounds didn’t help the cause. Shoot. This was going to be tricky, what a ridiculous, small task, to hold her back from medical care and Zack doubted Gary would take kindly to him cutting a hole in the side of the vessel they needed to sail in later, so lucky, were they, that Omnillium repairs damages, and then some.
The Buster Sword had many, many uses, but today, it was used most recently to fillet a giant sea monster, next, it would be used to cut a hole in the side of a steel ship, hopefully as easy as a can opener.
Meanwhile, Zack had barely gotten to a dense stand and the lion had snarled it’s darkened teeth, warning with the ferocity of his eyes that blazed demonically. Yet, it let him pass.
Caira, meanwhile, had fallen into a dark and desolate slumber, vaguely, she could feel the nudges, pulls, and prods to her body, each as though beckoning her awake while her consciousness continued to drift. The sound of dense, screeching metal grinded together and sparks flew behind the darkness of her eyelids. She was veering close to opening her eyes, like a ship nearing a lighthouse before it crashed into the cove.
Her eyes gently blinked open, pupils wavering and becoming tiny to the light beaming down from above, there was someone looming over her, a head over a set of shoulders. A flash of instinct of the descending threat caused her fist to form and slam into the gentleman’s face. Jad cupped his face and winced at the blow, “Come on, is that anyway to treat someone who just helped you with your wounds?”
Caira blinked a few times and her eyes adjusted to the blurs of movement. On top of her, lay freshly clean sheets and clothes she didn’t remember changing into. Surrounding her, beeping monitors and wires in a very sterile looking room with a view of the island’s finest shrubbery. “Oops, sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you but rather, guess I thought you were someone.. Or something else.”
“Oh yeah?” Jad offered a friendly smile through his throbbing cheek, “So, wanna find the star?”
His smile grew and she reciprocated then worry wiped it away like a cloth over a smooth surface, “W-wear’s Zack? And Gary? Are they okay?! I was attacked by a huge.. Creature.”
“Ya mon, Zack ended up killing it with that big sword of his, to my knowledge. They’re both safe, and the thing that did this to you is gone. The Vasty Deeps can get pretty dangerous, even for primes. You’re lucky you survived with the wounds you’ve sustained,” Clowney informed her.
“So.. Zack?” her eyebrows raised with expecation.
Jad nodded, understandably, “He’s likely resting, you had a long journey to get my papers with the coordinates, he was tired too, and worried about whether you’d make it,” his eyes drifted away and then back to hers.
She blinked and nodded, “Alright,” she oriented her thoughts, “Well hey… Are you coming with us?”
“What kind of researcher do you think I am? Of course I’m coming, I want to see it too, you know,” his grin broadened and revealed his extravagantly white teeth. He winked.
Of course, this was his discovery anyway, why wouldn’t he want to see it, and find out what it was capable of?
“Right then, we should set out, shouldn’t we?” Caira sat up abruptly, and started to stand up before feeling the pull of the plugs embedded in her skin and especially the sudden stabbing in her sensitive abdomen.
“Er… You sustained some injuries, like I said, and you’re lucky to be alive, but you’re ready for adventure aren’t you? Well, we can depart tomorrow morning if you’ve healed up by then,” Jad said in a professional tone, examining some of the wounds that were apparent when she stood up.
“Can’t we go any sooner? I can heal on the way,” she suggested.
“They’re my coordinates, I choose when we leave, plus the weather’ll be bad tonight,” Jad smirked, amused as he claimed his victory, “But you will be healing on the boat too so take it easy. As for your… Body, you know your blood is silver, and it is made out of a very peculiar compound, right?”
“I mean, I’m not exactly from here,” she smiled back, meeting his rather apt sass levels.
“Yes, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to do some tests, the compound interests me. Would you mind telling me of your origins?” Jad’s question filled the room like water absorbed by a sponge, heavy and full. “Also, Gary mentioned that your name is Caira?”
The door opened, causing Caira’s held-breath to release, Gary strode in the door, “There you are girlie, glad to see you have a little more color to ya.”
Caira never had ‘much’ color to her silver-toned skin, but she was certainly looking better than before, passed out and half dead on the ground of the sub. “Good to see you too,” she said in her polite way and looked back to Jad, “Er, first name, anyway.”
“So you’ve got this giant lion that disappears when the sun rises, what’s that about?” Gary said with a smile, but there was an underlying seriousness that tainted his smile. Lines and wrinkles that warned of dangerous thoughts, and the threats of danger coming from the little piece of lore they’d encountered.
“So the man of shadows is curious of my shadow lion, right?” Caira sighed, she didn’t like to tell those around her of the cards in her deck. It was dangerous. Trusting someone was dangerous. Just look at her parents, her village…
“You’re pretty much spot-on there missy,” Jad and Gary’s eyes stuck on her, like a fly on honey. She couldn’t squeeze free.
“I acquired the allegiance of the lion in the Endless Dunes,” her eyes swept from Jad’s cool, pensive persona to Gary’s tense, contemplative stance. “They’re rare creatures, and the lion took a liking to me. There was another and they are territorial, spirit creatures or something, there were two and this one protected me and won.” She shrugged and looked at Gary, awaiting further questions. “During the day he seems to stay in the necklace.”
Gary smiled, he’d made a correct assumption a while back, now, he could bask in it. Satisfaction’s essence. To be proved right.
Jad was a man of science, not the mystics of magic, though it was hard to deny in this world, the parallels of them both. “So do you mind my doing some tests?”
“Actually I do, I’m not a creature, though I may well be considered not quite human in this realm, I don’t see the good it would do, but, tell you what, if we find the fallen star, maybe I’ll let you scan me with one of your machines,” she bartered, “Sound good?”
“Hahaha sounds like a plan, you know, your little Pokemon is waiting for you too,” Jad smiled.
“Oh you mean that little dragon I found?” Caira smiled excitedly.
“Yup, that’s the one. Feeling well enough to stand?” Clowney offered her a hand and took a look at her wounds, “I’ll take your IV out and we’ll get you down there. Are you hungry?”
Food. She hadn’t thought about sustenance for a long time, not that her form really needed it. She nodded for their sake and after a few motions was free and out of the door! Just outside was the ex-SOLDIER Zack Fair, asleep with his chin nearly on his shoulder, crumpled in an uncomfortable looking chair. His black hair was messy and saggy, distinctly, Caira saw the devotion of Zack Fair. Friend and teammate in their mission and adversity.
The strength in his character shone through in little moments like this. Caira’s eyes moved to Jad and Gary as if to say, I had assumed you meant in an actual bed. Jad’s shoulders raised as if to say hey, he insisted.
Caira blinked, unsure if she should leave him be, she paused and her gaze fixed on him. As though he sensed her eyes on him. He sucked in a breath and put a hand through his shiny hair and blinked himself awake, “Oh, hey, glad you’re doing okay,” he appraised her and saw that she was standing at a slant, but still, she was in one piece.
Behind his eyelids he saw her, knocking on death’s door with her skin cold as eyes and limp limbs dangling from how he carried her. Now, she was alive and well. Standing. Sure, Primes are promised rebirth, but this wasn’t the same. Omni hadn’t cast his magic, she’d been strong enough after all.
She was alive.
He felt himself surge with happiness, he could hug her… If she wasn’t in a hospital johnny.
…
It was something akin to the last supper. Caira reunited with her pet, the little Charizard and when she pet its head, and the little guy saw that she was doing okay, it purred almost like a cat would. Smiles spread about the room like an epidemic. Gary got his turn, to meet the giant lion on better, more welcoming circumstances, then Gary turned dark and plumes of shadows spread around the air of his shoulders and they went in a private location as though old friends discussing forgotten memories.
The rest ate. A feast fit for kings was laid on the long dining table, ale and wine was passed around, and the members of Jad's team and their guests filled their plate and stuffed their bellies. The moment was complete, but there were moments that would come that no one could have prepared for.
After dinner, Jad had lead all his companions into a room and they had a conference, Clowney stood before a powerpoint, blew up a holographic topographical map and had explained their route to his calculated coordinates.
There were several red X’s on the map, but it wasn’t meant for treasure, each one, Jad pointed to and mentioned the exact reason why we couldn’t go that way, “Screaming monkeys, giant seaskins, mermaids, man, especially the mermaids.”
There were more, and then Caira noticed that their route was headed straight through one, “What about that one?”
The room full of Jad’s colleagues grew quiet, “That one, I’m afraid, is unavoidable. Plus, well, this map is only based off of statistics so not everything is in the right place, some of these creatures we hope to dodge are territorial, the others, migrate to the seasons. We’ve tried our best to predict their motions, but there is no guaranteeing anything. Well, you know the risks people, but I think we have a great chance, especially with such an amazing team.”
Clowney, genius mind and dedicated researcher, was also a good leader. He’d been professional, kept up the morale of their group and stuck to the facts. Zack’s eyes swept around the room, pleasant smiles, nods of approval, and solemn devotion shone in the eyes of his employees. He’d set a goal, now he’d finish it. One hell of a man conducted all that respect.
They left at dawn.
“So are we following the coordinates?” Caira said excitedly from the freshly repaired submarine, they were all assembled, as well as Jad’s co-researchers, most dressed in official white lab-coats with glasses that squared around the frame of their faces. It made them look sophisticated. All aboard Gary’s new and improved haunted sub!
Well, anyway, they were off, and Caira was wincingly on her feet. They had set off again and the taste of the uncharted was intoxicatingly surreal. Though she couldn’t see where they were sailing, she could hear the little pings on the radar. She knew they were going forward, there were little obstacles on the green scanner showing that they were continuously propelling forward. Going past rocks, coral reefs, and other big fish, monsters that could swim.
The pings seemed to mind their own business, Caira would go to the porthole and not be able to see any of them, she was clouded by midnight blue depths, and pondered just what scale the radar was pinging at and just how close the danger really was.
“So… Are we there yet?” She smiled, lightly as her joke fell on their ears. They’d just left a few hours ago, Gary was navigating, referencing Jad’s research and mapping techniques, they had had a discussion about the Red X that they were assuredly going to pass through, however it was said in murmurs too low to hear.
“Almost,” Gary said.
But Jad scoffed, “Not nearly as close as you think. We’ll mention it when we get closer, we have hmmm, Gary what’s our ETA if everything goes right?”
“We’re at least one hundred and fifty kilometers from our destination, but when you account for the speed of the vessel and the physical obstacles we have to go around, I’d probably give us two days before we are there. Plus, it gives you time to heal up and us time to plan for any number of things that could go wrong,” the captain informed them.
“Gary, don’ you know you’re not supposed to say ‘could go wrong’ on missions like this? It is like a jinx, man,” Jad said cooly. Caira hadn’t heard of this tradition before and Zack was… Wait, where was Zack?
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 05-30-2017
Caira poked her head around a corner to see Zack sitting alone in a common room. The Buster Sword was laying across his lap, and he was surveying it quite intently. Opening the side of the destroyed submarine had caused a great deal of damage to the blade, as would be expected of anything that served as a makeshift canopener.
It was fascinating to Caira to see a guy who lived from thought to thought showing such focus on anything. She knew the sword was important to him, but she never quite understood how much until this very moment. She recognized quite well what was happening as he ran his hand across it and covered it in a coat of Omnilium. A moment or two of intense concentration, and the rainbow-like substance absorbed into the sword. Once the blade was able to be seen again, it appeared to be in perfect condition, like the day it was forged. Caira watched as Zack inspected the now flawless blade once more, looking for the tiniest imperfection or spot that he may have missed.
“I think it looks good,” Caira finally spoke up.
Zack looked up to see her standing in the doorway, then stood up with his classic smile. He slung the blade over his shoulder, returning it to it’s usual resting place, as he approached Caira.
“Just had to make sure,” Zack said with a wink. “You feeling better?”
Caira nodded, but she wasn’t over this conversation yet. “It’s really important to you, isn’t it?”
“Been through a whole bunch with this thing,” Zack acknowledged, reaching up and tapping the handle. “I was pretty surprised to see it here with me, when I arrived in the Omniverse. But I took care of it before I got here, and I’ll keep doing so now. After all, use brings wear, tear, and rust. At least with Omnilium I don’t have to worry about that as much.”
Caira slowly nodded once more. Zack was a mystery, but not because he hid himself. If you asked him the right question, he’d tell you whatever you wanted to know about him. You just had to figure out the questions to ask. It was refreshing, but also confusing in its own way.
“Come on,” Zack gestured out the door. “Let’s go see how I’ve offended Gary, lately.”
Caira frowned. “Zack, I don’t think you’ve…”
It was too late. He moved past her and was already making his way back to the command room. She was quick to follow him down the hallway, not wanting to see another argument explode between the two, especially in front of everyone. Alas, as Zack entered the control room, Gary looked right at him with a scowl across his face.
“Where you been, boyo?” Gary snapped. “There’s work you could have been doing.”
“That’s funny,” Zack replied, with a knowing grin that Caira now understood. “I didn’t see a paycheck in the mail, but you’re sure acting like I owe you something.”
Jad looked up from a radar he was surveying, furrowing his brow. Caira bit her lip apprehensively.
“You’re on my submarine, that means you listen to me,” Gary was quick with his response.
Zack shook his head and chuckled just a little bit. “Just when I thought we were getting along. Is there any shred of decency in that black heart of you-”
“This isn’t right,” Jad announced loudly. The other three looked directly at him.
“What isn’t?” Caira asked quickly, happy for a topic change.
Gary held his hand out towards Zack, as if telling him to calm down. Zack rolled his eyes and brushed past the old captain.
“There’s not supposed to be a land mass here,” Jad explained as he pointed to the screen. Caira and Zack looked over either shoulder, both appearing confused at they looked at the various dots and blobs on the monitor Jad was obesssing over. They didn’t fully understand the situation, but they both trusted Jad for his calm demeanor, if nothing else.
“Then what’s it supposed to be?” Zack questioned the astronomer.
“Empty water, nothing more,” Jad replied, shaking his head. “We’re still a ways out from anything of significance on our maps.”
“Could they be out of date?” Gary asked from behind the group.
“Not that outdated” Jad shrugged. “The Vasty Deep is a large, ever changing monster, but something like this…”
“A Prime could build an island anywhere they wanted,” Caira deduced quickly.
“But this size?” Zack said as he looked closer at the radar’s screen. “It would take a high powered Prime to do something like this.”
“Whatever it is, it’s suspiciously on our route,” Gary remarked. “I think it needs investigating.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” Jad agreed. “If it’s empty, then we know at least. If not, there’s likely information regarding the star piece on it.”
“Could the star piece have made the island when it crashed down?” Zack continued to question the situation aloud.
“There’s no telling what all of their powers are,” Caira reminded him. She knew more about the power of the stars than the Ex-SOLDIER, but there was still much to be learned.
Zack nodded, then the group looking at the console turned around to face Gary.
“We’ll send a small group out on the island,” Gary decided, not bothering to wait for Zack’s opiniion.
“Gee, I wonder who that’ll be?” Zack sarcastically said.
“Watch it,” Gary snarled, having run out of tolerance for their mysterious tag along.
Zack just grinned and smiled. He turned to Caira, admittedly happy with the situation. “Nah, it’ll be fun. Come on, Caira. Still got that jeep?”
******
A few hours later, Zack and Caira were standing beside the aforementioned jeep on the beach of a seemingly uninhabited island. Caira helped her mini-Charizard into the vehicle while Zack unsheathed the Buster Sword and attached it to the side of the truck, in a special holster he’d crafted along the side of Jad’s vehicle. With one last glance, he watched the submarine disappear beneath the surface of the ocean.
“Got everything?” Zack asked as he climbed into the driver seat.
“I think so,” Caira admitted, unsure what they’d been sent to look for at the moment.
Before them was nothing more than a seemingly endless jungle. Humidity plastered against their faces, Zack didn’t let it get to him. There was exploring to be done, and he was happy to do so.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Caira Ayryn - 06-13-2017
“Do you think… It’s here?” Caira said in a soft voice as they crept through the forest.
It was Zack and Caira in the lead, because their deaths weren’t final, and then following them were several of the suits, Zack had begged them to take off their revealing and eye-catching white lab coats but they were reluctant, this fact alone could very well ruin their whole operation. It was hard to predict the cost that would become of it. Zack’s mind kept going back to their worst nightmares, those suits becoming drenched in crimson. Caira’s black attire becoming silver, as it had.
“It’s hard to say, we’ve been looking for so long, it would be kind of a relief though, wouldn’t it?” Zack responded with another question.
“Maybe it being here on this island would be too much to hope for.” She agreed dismally. It was good that Jad and Gary had stayed back to man the ship. Caira had added some extra security precautions too, in case their ship got infiltrated while the primes were away, but Gary and Jad had some tricks up their sleeves too, they hadn’t survived this long with bounties out for them by being just any old secondary.
“Why is your blood silver?” he asked, still, their voices were a murmur as this was a stealth mission, they slipped through the tropical woods of the night. There was little moon to light their way, not that Caira needed it, Zack was less clumsy, however he did often enough stumble on an invisible root, which made Caira giggle.
“The same reason I haven’t told you my first name, Zack Fair. I’m not proud of my past. It’s as simple as that.” Caira said, ripping off the bandage and feeling the sting with a wince as he paused his step with pensive judgement, his eyes falling on the back of her head and then back on the bandage over her injury. The Camelot knight felt bad, sure, but Zack deserved to know. She’d nearly died. He might be next, at the thought of that, part of her she had been repressing squirmed. He didn’t deserve death, not when he’d somehow been dragged into this.
Zack remained silent. There wasn’t much to say to that. He’d thought he’d had some idea of who she was, but now she’d admitting even the name she used wasn’t entirely hers. His pace did catch up to her, but now, they were walking silent. If she wanted to, she’d explain, if not, Zack would remain quiet. It might be imposing too much to ask her to offer her story, especially when she seemed to feel shame from it.
“I’ve been exiled, forgotten,” she began, “And I’ve been responsible for not doing anything when everything was on the line. Civilizations. I wanted to escape, rather than stand up to the evil. Now I’m here, and helpless to right my wrong, so I’m on one hell of a redemption kick. Maybe you can tell,” she admitted, sighing, she didn’t usually swear but it felt like a relief, and something Zack would be somewhat receptive to.
The ex-Soldier nodded. “So you bleed silver because of these?” he laughed, she’d gotten quite serious considering his question was just based on the tone of her blood.
“O-oh,” she exhaled, “Well, I’m not human?”
“That’s not that weird considering where we both are, and the little creature following behind us, and -assumably he- can breathe fire!” Zack exclaimed, still quiet, but this comment alone brought Caira out of her darkness, she laughed again as though brought to new life. Zack may not have been a mage, but his sense of humor was remarkably magic.
Caira stopped mid-step and froze, she used her strength to tear Zack down into the ground where they both crouched, the charizard following behind them bumped into both their backs. “Do you see something?” he whispered.
“Shh!” she hissed, fear was shaking her hand, which hadn’t released from Zack’s arm.
The male prime got real quiet, real quick, looking forward and trying to see what her eyes were. But when he came up blank, for the darkness was tangible and much too thick for him to see past a few feet in front of them, he looked to Caira, trying to read her expression, and saw that she was looking not forward but up.
Zack’s hand steadily crept to the hilt of his giant blade, however Caira’s eyes were wobbling as though lavender flowers tossed about by the wind, something was very very wrong. There was a sense of fear she hadn’t even exuded when she’d been dueling with death. So what could have gotten her so frightened.
No, they can’t be here too, she thought helplessly. The scientists weren’t far behind them, and they likely hadn’t realized Caira had signaled a stop. Finally, Caira’s fearful gaze fell on Zack. Their eyes locked, there was almost an inaudible goodbye in her face.
Caira’s lips grew close to the side of Zack’s face, he assumed initially that she was going to whisper in his ear, but when no sound came from her lips, he hesitated, his mind had to rationalize she’d been aiming to kiss his cheek. But that hadn’t been the case. Her voice had caught in her throat and the fear was keeping the words from coming out. Another moment passed before she could get the words out.
“You need to go to the group of scientists and get them to turn back. There is… A very fatal enemy in the trees,” Zack looked up, he saw what appeared to be a twinkling bunch of fireflies, but he worried about doubting her.
“They look like fireflies,” he said, feeling the need to tell her that she was likely safe, and likely mistaken.
“No… Not these.” she said vaguely. “I’ve defeated them before, however there was a cost. Please, turn back, get the secondaries out of here.”
But just what kind of creature could be this fatal to a prime? Plus, they looked kind of pretty twinkling up there like fake stars. Zack was sure Caira was wrong, but there was enough trust for him to agree, no secondaries would lose their lives if there was even a fraction of a risk. Zack obliged, unsure he should leave her here, unsure if after her truth coming out, that this would be the redemption story she was willing to die for.
The sable haired male rose to his feet and extremely quietly crept through the woods. He was almost out of sight and range when a twig snapped. Caira’s eyes widened with fear, and the creatures above were alerted to the fresh life. Now, they would suck the marrow out of their bones.
“RUN!” she shouted hoping that her voice would reach both Zack and the scientists who were following behind them. The little orange dragon had stuck by her side, she hadn’t realized it, but it was too late to thrust it back in Zack’s hands.
“Think you can do me a little favor?” she asked the little guy. The black eyes glowed with the growing intermingling of light, this island had become their worst nightmare, because the same creatures she’d encountered in the Endless Dunes had come back to haunt her. If they made contact, they would suck away all the happiness from your memories, and you’d be left with an emotionless nostalgia, not to mention you might be driven insane by this, and most people died. Primes came back, but never the same.
It was a psychological attack that was hard to miss. Caira released a charge of magic and commanded the Charizard to create fire, whatever he could do, it would be better than nothing. Though it was half her size, it had some raw power. It released a flamethrower into the trees which was kept alive by the tornado of her magic, it was a flame vortex that smoldered into the trees above and spread still, due to the easily flammable tropical leaves.
“Alright, time for us to run too!” she said as she stood up and snatched the little charizard into her arms and ran off in Zack’s direction. “O-oof!” she said as her face collided into a black wall of dense fabric. Caira lost her footing and tumbled into a fall. Zack followed, consequently.
“What are you doing! You were supposed to make sure they got out safe!” Caira said, leaving out the words You were supposed to get out safe, too. Zack looked at her guiltily but he’d been caught. Quickly the two primes scrambled to their feet and Zack took hold of the little dragon, going for more of a piggyback maneuver while he held his prized sword in his hands, ready to slice down the ‘fireflies’ to the death.
Together, they started running, “Tree in front of you Zack!” Caira shouted through a pant, he couldn’t see that well in the dark, but Caira was there for him, leading the way, mostly. “Stump!” Zack jumped through the dark, trusting her on faith alone. “Long vine dangling!” he sliced his sword through it and it fell limply to the ground.
They ran for their lives, Zack still wasn’t sure he was running from, but he wasn’t looking back. Caira got the chance to glance back when she keeled over and nearly collapsed from the pain in her abdomen, and the starvation of air from her lungs. She whimpered as her hand clutched her left side and felt the fresh squish of gooey blood the exertion had resplit her wound. The flinch shown in her face, but was disguised with the dark. “Oh, Zack you’re going to knee me in the face!” she warned and he barely stopped in time.
“They aren’t following us anymore, or do you need a break?” he said, he wasn’t panting quite as much, though the charizard had hopped off his back and started to fly through the trees, apparently not trusting the clumsiness of the male prime enough to still use him as a wagon or donkey.
“Uh… Both,” she struggled out and her hand clutched the soil, squeezing it into crumbs so she wouldn’t have to weep from the tear-forming pain. Her eyes squeezed tight and she gulped down the worry that she was splitting apart from the broken stitches.
“What were those things? They kept a good pace with us, I guess they weren’t regular fireflies afterall,” Zack spoke, still quietly, though their loud jog through the forest had likely alerted the other creatures of the forest to their presence.
“Where are the others?” Caira managed and pulled on the chaffing back of a tree to help her get to a stand.
“Shoot, I think we lost them when we ran.” Zack admitted.
“I hope… They… Made it.” Caira said, replaying the horrors through her head. “Those creatures basically suck the life out of you, whether you’re a prime or not, they have the ability to drive any man mad, steal memories, steal joy. They’re like a curse. When you die as a prime and come back, you don’t come back the same. I encountered them in the Endless Dunes and the only reason I made it out was because someone had a change of heart, and he’d already fallen victim to them before. God, that idiot…”
“Wow that sounds… Really bad. We don’t know that these were the same things though?” Zack said clutching to the ounce of hope that the whitecoats hadn’t fallen into their clutches. “We’re in a different verse after all.”
“Good point, hopefully you’re right,” Caira said with a curt nod.
Zack stepped closer to her, popping her personal space bubble. “Excuse me?” Caira took a step back, though she found her back against a huge slab of bark.
“Your stitches ripped, didn’t they?” Zack thought she might try and lie, so he placed his hand where the wound was. Feeling the gross squish! confirmed his doubts.
“You’re kind of in my space,” Caira warned him and side-stepped him. But he had acquired his information.
“We should get you back to the ship,” Zack pledged.
“We could be right on top of what we’ve worked so hard for,” Caira riposted.
Zack, recalling her reveal of her purpose here, based on the powerful motivator of redemption; he doubted he could could convince her to go back to the boat, not like this, not when she was reliving the past. “You are wounded.” he stated sternly.
“You don’t know which direction the boat is in,” she said with a conclusive smile. His eyes bulged. She was right.
“Ayryn, don’t play this game, not with your life on the line,” maybe a part of him was reliving his past, too. It felt strange saying her half name now knowing it was a lie but he had to try. It was a request, but there was no way he could command her to do anything. She was one of the most stubborn women he’d ever met.
Caira’s eyes narrowed. She as no longer a weak coward. “We will go see if we can find the scientists.”
She then walked past him, unable to escape her demons, so she inevitably created them so she could face them. The stagnant air of the night drew on…
…
“Zack, I think I see one! Good thing they wore those coats after all!” It had been a half hour of walking aimlessly, it had lightened the mood, on some regards. She pointed to the white smudge of color in the thick branches of the forest.
“That’s… A unicorn… I think.” Zack said as his eyes squinted, trying to regard the shape.
“Is that… Like a pegasus?” Caira said curiously.
“Er… Actually, yes,” he admitted with a smile.
“What’s it… Doing?” Caira asked Zack, they could both hear some strange lapping, gurgling noises.
“Oh my gods…” he said, “You do not want to know.”
“Huh? Of course I do… What do you…” Caira trailed off, narrowing her eyes only to find that below it was a pool of glistening dark fluid, and a lump of crimson stained fabric. Patches of white showed through. The spear on the unicorn’s horn was trickling with blackish blood and it was licking and tearing at the flesh below its hooves.
“Ew is it.. Eating him?” the girl squeaked out.
Zack nodded and put his hand on her back, “Let’s go, the others will be nearby, he’s likely very dead. I don’t see his body moving.”
Caira struggled with the idea of leaving behind the man’s corpse, but to waste time on the dead would mean to sacrifice those who were still living.
“Let’s go, luckily the scientists came here armed,” Zack agreed.
“Armed? They only had those little… Pipsqueak things.” Caira said, she recognized them from her venture to the dunes but they were a foreign weapon to her.
“I think they’re canons or carbines, I can’t be sure, but it is likely they pack a punch to their enemies,” Zack spoke.
“I think I hear something over here, let’s go check it out…”
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 06-27-2017
The humidity was thick in the air, making any movement that much more taxing. Zack and Caira ran through the jungle as fast as they could, regardless of it. The sounds of gunfire came from down the path, and it made them pick up the pace. There was screaming and shouting of some sort, too. It had to be their people. The men ahead were just scientists, and even if they were well armed, they weren’t exactly trained to use their weapons effectively. They needed help.
Zack continued to run, then recognized that he was only hearing the sound of one gun. That couldn’t be good. There was certainly more than one of them, so why would only a single individual be firing if they were in combat with something?
“Zack!” Caira screamed from behind him. “Above you!”
Zack stopped in his tracks, and a large tribal man landed before him. The native was covered in tattoos and wielded a large spear that he immediately swung at Zack. The ex-SOLDIER leaped backwards to dodge the strike, then stepped back in and hit the savage across the face with a right hook. The man recoiled from the blow, but didn’t lose his footing. Zack stepped in and hit him with another fist, but this time the steadfast native countered by smashing the hilt of the spear into Zack’s chin.
While Zack stumbled back from the impact, Caira replaced him in the scuffle. She stepped in with her fist powered up, and slammed it into the savage’s chest. A burst of energy from the violent blow hurled them both backwards. However, while Caira was flung into Zack’s waiting arms, the native hit a tree, jarring his skull against it before collapsing to the ground.
“That was awesome!” Zack commented as he released Caira’s waist.
“I can still hear the battle!” she quickly redirected his attention to the crisis at hand.
Zack shook his head and chalked it up to another mystery of this strange girl, but ran right after her. Caira stayed on point, her heart pounding at the thought of something happening to the scientists they were supposed to protect. They stepped over fallen bodies as they came closer to the gunfire, and Zack looked them over. None of their people were among the corpses, only more tribal men and the strange horse-like creatures that can devoured a man before them. Somehow, they were holding their ground.
They entered a clearing, and the scientists were ducked low, their suits stained and ruined by the mud of the jungle. Standing tall amongst the carnage was a single man, with a rifle shouldered as he fired rounds from it. As they arrived, the lone protector shot down the last unicorn-like monstrosity, giving a brief pause to the chaos. The stench of blood still hung in the air, though. Anyone around would know that a brutal battle had taken place.
Zack couldn’t believe their luck that some nomad had been here to protect their people. He wasn’t a fool, however. He knew there was always a price in the Omniverse. Good hearted people didn’t come by often. Sure enough, as they approached, the man turned and aimed the barrel of his assault rifle directly at the two primes. Zack was quick to step in front of Caira, and raise the Bolt Materia in his right hand, ready to put a lightning bolt into the man’s chest.
“We’re with them!” Zack said as he gestured towards the group of scientists.
Caira looked the man up and down. He had a thick beard, long, shaggy hair, and tattered clothing. He looked more like a homeless bum than any sort of warrior, but she knew not to underestimate any inhabitant of the Omniverse. Especially with his handiwork laying all over the place.
“They don’t know what they’re doing,” the vagabond spat in response.
“We do,” Zack countered with the simple fact of the matter.
A warcry echoed in the distance. More were coming. Zack and the strange man took cover behind two opposite trees, while Caira ducked low a little bit behind them. The man checked his rifle, and made sure when he popped around the corner he would be ready to unleash more hell. Zack, meanwhile, stowed his Materia and drew the Buster Sword, then rested the edge against the ground as he waited. He looked over to the strange man, figuring he’d better get the pleasantries out of the way.
“Zack, by the way,” the super soldier said with a nod. “And that’s Ayryn.”
The nomad gave a brief nod of his own. “Abner.”
Another scream echoed outwards, this time much closer. Zack spun around the trunk of his tree at the same time Abner popped out from his, and the younger soldier ran forwards while the older man opened fire on the approaching horde.
Caira watched for just a moment as Zack began skillfully cutting through the raging natives, supported by perfectly aimed blaster fire from Abner. She realized the two of them had it for the moment, so she doubled back to check on the scientists.
Spears were hurled at the two men from a distance, but Abner skillfully put down the ranged assaulters from long range with his blaster rifle. Meanwhile, the best warriors each tried to engage Zack head on, but with his massive sword and talented handling of it, he was able to deal with the ground quite effortlessly. With each swing of his sword, Zack noted the laser bolts sailing just past his shoulder and striking the right adversaries down. He was used to operating in the midst of gunfire, but this dude really trusted his own abilities to be shooting this close.
As the ranged attackers were finished off, Abner got to work on the crowd immediately surrounding Zack. He noted the speed and prowess of the young warrior, and realized very quickly that he had plenty of formal training. It was nice to run across someone that didn’t need their hand held for a change. Not to mention the guy was operating in the middle of his own firestorm without complaint.
The battle raged for just a short amount of time, and Caira looked back after speaking with the scientists to see that it was already winding down. In short order, the assault trickled down to almost nothing, with the few survivors scrambling into the woods hastily. Abner joined Zack, his rifle’s barrel still smoking.
“Are they alright?!” Zack shouted back to Caira as he slung the Buster Sword over his shoulder and returned it to its resting place on his back.
“They’ll be okay!” Caira confirmed.
“They’ll be back,” Abner advised the young prime. “They always come back. You’d better take your people and go.”
“We can’t,” Zack shook his head. “This island might hold the secret to something we’re looking for.”
“There’s not a damn thing on this island you’d want to take off of it,” Abner spat back, dropping his rifle and letting the sling catch it. “Just these natives and their crazy pets. You’d better cut your losses and haul ass.”
“If that’s the case, what are you doing here, then?” Zack asked incredulously as Caira joined them once more.
“Looking for someone,” Abner curtly answered as he lit a cigarette.
“And if those nutjobs got your friend?” Zack incredulously asked.
“They didn’t,” Abner answered without missing a beat. The confidence in his voice made Zack decide not to press the issue.
“Well, you didn’t happen to see a big star piece fall from the sky and land around here, did you?” Zack asked, changing the subject to their interests.
Caira bit her lip and inhaled a little. She didn’t like Zack just blurting out what they were looking for to any random stranger, even if he’d helped them out.
“On this island?” Abner responded. “No. But there was something kind of like that a ways out.”
“Wait, really?” Caira quickly perked up. “You saw it fall from the sky?”
“I was sailing with some pirates at the time, we saw it hit down,” Abner nodded. “It was a good bit northwest of here. It hit the open water, though, so good luck with that.”
Zack crossed his arms as he thought about that. If it sank, if would be much harder to find, even with a submarine. It wasn’t something that could be pinpointed. Still, eyewitness testimony was good enough for him. They could look for residue from the falling star on the islands in that area to try and get some sort of closer co-ordinates. With Clowney’s team and their brainpower, it was within reach.
“We can work with that,” Zack acknowledged. “Hey, thanks.”
Caira nodded politely, too, having had a similar thought process as Zack.
Zack then thought for a minute before asking a second question. “Hey, this is important to the whole Omniverse, and you’re pretty good in a fight. We could use your help. Why don’t you come with us?”
“Sorry, buddy,” Abner shook his head. “I’ve been to both heaven and hell is this fucked up realm, so I don’t much care for the inbetween stuff anymore.”
“Then who are you looking for?” Caira tilted her head as she contemplated Abner’s words. Did he mean that same heaven she’d seen? She had to push the issue without revealing what she knew about it.
“Heaven, again,” Abner answered, though he cringed a bit at his own cheesiness once he’d said it. Whatever. “Good luck out there, you two.”
“You, too, Abner. And thanks,” Zack shook hands with tattered gunslinger.
Zack and Caira watched as the man turned and disappeared into the jungle, off on his own adventures. The ragged looking man had clearly seen better, if not cleaner days. But, such was the nature of the Omniverse. Everyone was on their own path, they just sometimes crossed with others. Caira mentally noted that he didn’t exactly answer her question, but Zack was meanwhile chalking it up that they might one day meet again.
“Come on,” Zack said aloud. “Let’s get these guys back to the sub.”
Zack turned and began to make his way towards the surviving scientists. After all, they had work to do, too.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Caira Ayryn - 07-12-2017
The adrenaline shot through her veins like the vehement flow of a swelled river during a flood.
What were the odds they'd encountered someone who saw the star fall? What were the odds he was seeking for a different slice of heaven than they were? The mysterious "Abner" reminded Caira a bit of Zack on some... Unspoken level. Abner was older, unshaven, and seemed to have an immense amount of experience in the art of survival.
Heaven again. The feminine, romantic side of the girl fluttered, she had a feeling the stranger had been talking about a girl. She had no proof of this, but still, she smiled. What a man.
Still, they had some surviving to do. This goose chase was becoming the embodiment of Hell. Don't get Caira wrong, surviving Hell so far had been a very accomplished, triumphant journey. But it was one far from over. The female prime hadn't a chance to catch her breath before they stumbled back on the lab coats, almost fluorescent white against the midnight green of the tropical forest.
They stuck out like a sore thumb and Caira sighed as she rolled her eyes, so easy. It would have been so easy for them to change their clothes. Now they were the targets. And Caira and Zack had the advantage of countering as shadows of the night, having always donned black as their usual attire.
But, the one thing the scientists had going for them was that they were putting up one heck of a fight. Behind the pristine lapels of their crisp coats, hidden in pockets and layers of fabric were carbines, cannons, bazookas, glowing plasma grenades, and so much more. Their inventive minds were genius enough to know what and who was worth protecting. The mission, their minds, and the future both would bring.
"Whoa..." Caira said, her faith redeemed and quite evidently impressed, "It's almost like they don't even need us!"
Zack rolled his eyes, a few lucky shots and this girl thought these guys were at the same level as primes. Their aim was sloppy, they had a tough time keeping the heft of their rifles mounted for more than a few seconds, against the natives whose bodies were toned and trained to work against the hours of the night, had the home-field advantage, and likely were fresh warriors. Scientists just didn't have the stamina for this type of thing. The ex-SOLDIER used his sword, chopping across trees to ground the enemies that had perched like snipers in a bird's nest.
"Ayryn, your left!" Zack shouted as a native stabbed a rusty javelin gusting its momentum's wind in her face.
"Grr..." Caira said, having believed falsely that they were free and clear, "Come on, can't we just get a break?"
Her toe spun around in the air and easily disarmed her foe with a swift twist. The native's grasp around the barkless staff fought before it was released and quickly the native's hands went for his poison darts. Whether they were one blow, one kills, or if they simply had elephant tranquilizer, Caira didn't want to find out. So she fought for her life.
Around her, surges of blasts with glowing charges of color shockwaves burst through the night. Neon green, insect gut purple, felix felicis gold, plasma grenade azure, Oververse white, and blackhole black. The labcoats were pushing the skillful natives back with sheer firepower. But was it enough to counter the tireless inhabitants on their own land?
Zack had his own problems to deal with. Not only had he been snagged by two female amazon women, but they'd also hitched him to some sort of beast. Now, he wasn't saying it was a dinosaur, but it sure freaking looked like raptor to him. Tall, spiny, scaly. Jaws of a great white shark, kind of wolflike in demeanor and yet very loyal.
They'd gagged Zack's mouth so he couldn't cry out, and somehow they'd hit points on his arms that had made his arms fall like jiggly jello. "Zack!" Caira felt someone being dragged away, only to look over and see that it was him.
Why was it always him?
Fate had bound them, and yet constantly ripped them apart. Or so it felt.
"Let go of him!" She chased after her fellow prime partner, picking up the fallen buster sword in her hands and holding it heavy and high over her head. The wingless dragon's head was sliced off while two amazon women came up behind Caira in an attempt to flank her. The knight was too good and now held a holy weapon. Channeling the trinity of self, universe, and the holy relic in her hand, she slashed the surrounding foes with a single, constant helicopter motion.
A shower of blood drenched the monk as the fleshy humans were halved and quickly Caira went over to Zack's side, he was bound and mostly paralyzed, his eyes looked at her while she unsliced his ties and he began to mumble through his gag, his eyes darting over her shoulder.
The amazon woman brought down a rock down and into the base of Caira's skull. Zack was sure he'd heard a crack as he felt her head fall like a bowling ball into his chest. He mumbled a muffled scream and no amount of willpower could make his limp arms move.
No amount of anything could change the certainty Zack felt. Caira lay motionless on top of him. She was dead.
The amazon woman with henna-like warpaint smeared across her face. Vengeance for the wrath Caira had unleashed upon her sisters.
Zack's face was the only thing he could move, his expression was initially lined with desperation and despair, then it flashed to inspired anger. Caira had come over here to save him, now he felt like her valiance was cheapened, she had not saved anyone. Yet he thought highly of her for trying and it didn't make him disappointed in her that she'd been overrun.
"UGH! WHAT DOES A GIRL HAVE TO DO AROUND HERE?!" Caira shouted slamming a punch into the amazon woman's sternum and fracturing it. The blow was a martial arts move, and had instantly delivered a death blow.
"Gods.." she huffed, "Zack, Zack? Are you okay?" Her slimy crimson hands cupped his face to see if his eyes were lolling in death or falling into unconsciousness.
"Phew, I thought I'd lost you," Caira said and squeezed his numb arm. "Glad you're alive," she smiled, and Zack thought she was reading his mind word for word, "It isn't over yet though..."
His eyes remained on her though, wordlessly nodding as she smiled with relief and fished the gasoline drenched gag out of his mouth. Good thing they hadn't had the chance to light that thing on fire, that would've been one terrible blaze of blistering agony and would've left some Joker-esque scars.
Zack was coughing now from the poisonous suffocation and the acid of the gasoline caused him to wretch, which made him look like a worm for his arms flopped aimlessly to the side. Caira caught a whiff of the gas and held her nose, disliking the pungent smell.
After spitting out what he could, Zack felt his arms were still helpless from the chi-blocking amazon woman. Had they not been, Caira would've gotten one heck of a hug. She remained oblivious, too, as she whammed the base of the blade into another incoming foe.
"My arms won't move," he alerted her to his situation. "Poison, or some kind of immobilizing attack."
"Haha it seems you're quite the treasure to them Zack," the knight said with an amused batting of her eyes as she protected her defenseless ally. "This time in the knight in shinning armor."
"Is that whaff I am?" His tongue caught on the t and accidentally pressed it through gasoline stained teeth, "I always knew I was worth more than whaff Gary tried to convince me."
He was damaged but still a good sport, Caira was glad about it, he took his hit gracefully. Meanwhile, she, and her pale skin were slathered in crimson. Like a canvas of white splattered with boldly red, her skin was naturally tinged with silver and lit radiantly by the moon. The blood gleamed glossily in the light. Thankfully, none of it was hers.
Explosions raided the world surrounding them, then a lab coat friendly fired with crimson sparks, slamming into Caira's torso and brutally steamrolled her into a tree. Upon the beating, she whimpered and the tree's leaves had shuffled aggressively above her. Her glowing violet eyes faded, but resilience was amazing. After only a moment, she flicked the tuft of hair that had strayed in the path of her vision and heaved herself upwards once more.
She had no choice but to fight and while her attire was scarred as tattered, still no silver blood had been drawn. A relief, for the man who couldn't fight for himself, he felt worse with the burden being immobilized had caused, for the ex-SOLDIER was drawing more natives coming to steal him away. The reason remained unknown.
"Ah! Get your hands off me!" Zack protested, "I know, I know, I'm great, but you tried to muzzle me last time!"
"Ugh," Caira heaved, having taken damage to her already hurt ribs and torso. That misfire had been some bad luck, while her skin wasn't filleted off the bone, she had a tough time using the buster sword and dragged it along, dredging up the roots of the forest.
The girl winced and immediate pain caused her free arm to clutch her stomach. Her whole face was mangled in a crunched expression of agony. Zack had glimpsed from his native foes to his prime companion and felt immediate guilt. He should've been fighting, they would've been winning. Instead, his mind played back the scene of her head falling onto his chest and her getting catapulted into that tree. Sloppy mistakes due to his own absence in the fight.
Zack tried with all his might to flex against the limpness of his arms but paralysis wasn't something so easily overcome with willpower.
"You fucking idiot!" a familiar voice rumbled in the distance. Yes, Gary was looking at him. Zack fallen and appearing as though he wasn't even putting up a fight.
"Can't even slay a few cannibal Indians?" He glared to Zack and wrapped an arm around Caira, whispering for her to drop the sword.
"I can still fight," she persisted. Her voice was strained. Likely from the leftover torment of her previous wounds.
"You've done enough Caira," Gary said, using her true name, and with it, catching her full attention. "Plus, you won't need to. Watch." He said then hollering at Zack, "Time to save your sorry asses!"
The secondary was surely savoring this, saving two primes! That shit didn't happen very often. Caira looked at Gary earnestly and then collapsed to a knee.
Gary took over. The shadows responded to his call. Bent and twisted, sharpened by the moonlight, the captain took one sweep of the area with his eyes and then gripped a clump of shadow in his hand.
Several shrieks were heard from the unfamiliar voices of the Amazonian women. The two natives by Zack's side had been stabbed directly through the heart by shadow-made scythes.
Their forms fell to the ground, motionless, as their eyes glossed over. He'd ended their war in one move. Now that he had triumphed, he was onto gloating.
"You're lucky I got the distress call from Doctor Jameson, else you'd all be fucking DEAD. You hear me boy?" Zack said nothing. He was not gagged, but this time it wasn't his turn to say anything.
"Girlie, what number you at?" Gary turned his back on the sable haired soldier completely, and set a sympathetic hand on what appeared to be both their weaknesses.
"Num..ber?" She said through her teeth, struggling for air.
"For pain, you rate the pain one to ten, ten being the highest. For women that's childbirth, but you've never..." Gary didn't have to get into the secrets the shadows had told him about her. He surmised, "One to ten."
"I think... my own rib... Is lodged in my lung, I sense it's in there, at least a piece... of it.." Caira's labored breaths grew worse.
"There there, it's probably just a piece, you took a beating the earlier too, this wasn't good for ya. Think you can make it back to the ship?" Gary asked.
A single, noble tear fell across her cheek and her eyes had paled to gray as she admitted painfully, abhorring having to give up, "N-no."
"It'll be okay, I've got you." Gary promised and kissed her hair on the side of her head. Caira's concussion made the sensation painful, but the sentimentality of it was something that warmed her through the pain.
Some redemption arc this has been, Caira thought.
As though sensing this Gary replied, "Plus we have the best doctors in the Omniverse. You just helped to save their lives too."
"I... couldn't even... save myself," Caira struggled.
"No talking, it'll worsen your wounds. I'll shadow sweep us all to the boat. I'd like to leave big sword over there but you probably wouldn't like that," Gary joked, and he was right, Caira would never leave anyone behind even if it killed her. "Also you held them off till I got here. Everyone who fought by your side. That should be enough."
A shadow clumped around the entire group and there was immediate darkness. Pitch, umbral, midnight black filled their vision. Until they were back aboard the submarine. Caira was nowhere in sight. Likely she'd been taken below deck.
Off to Zack's side the mini Charizard pouted up at him as though he too, knew. The moonlight fell on the both of them, but while Zack could stand, he couldn't even wiggle his fingers enough to pet the little lizard to comfort it. With a sigh, he fell to the hollow steel, feeling the weight of fatigue and disappointment hang on him. He wouldn't let this happen again.
The rank scent of gas filled his nose, he'd have to flush it out, but that would require hands to turn on a faucet. Unless he wanted to use salt water, which would definitely sting.
"Boy. You're lucky you've got her. I'd kill you here and now if she weren't around to see it. You're lucky she's alive," that's right, she was the reason Gary had initially done this mission. It was odd just how fatherly he had been to her when she'd shown weakness but then again, all men had them. "Those were called man eaters, had they wanted you dead, they would've done it. They wanted to eat you. Which meant no poison. Caira though, they saw not as edible, but as a threat and equal."
"Funny name." Neither were laughing though.
"They paralyze you?" Gary said, his expression had withered with fatigue. Zack assumed the captain had encountered the 'Man eaters' before.
"Yep," the prime admitted, tasting the anger from Gary and hoping not to infuriate the man any further, particularly while Zack remained defenseless. "Here, I'll fix you up."
A faint hint of a smile crested the man's solemn lips, "You know, she's on the operating table, and she still hasn't let go of your huge freaking sword."
Zack could picture it too easily, she was a stubborn one. He found himself more at ease with the thought and realized that was Gary's point, and felt himself relax a little more. Tough-love, but still compassion in the end.
The captain's shadows extended around the prime's arms, also known as "best eating" and within a few moments, the sensation had come back.
"How does it work?" Zack asked curiously, maybe Gary would throw a bone, but the prime didn't want to have to wait for Caira's surgery to be done alone.
"Oh, these old things?" The man smiled coyly, "It's a long story. A story older than you, boy."
"Cheap shot, old man," he bantered back.
"Aye," the sea-worn man admitted. "I'll summarize, because your attention span is likely that of a dog in heat," he brazed the youth's ego before concluding. "I was nearly a victim to genocide, and I was forced to match it."
There was a pause. His powers had been forged out of fire. But there was more, Gary continued, "Only after it was too late and my daughter had already died in my arms."
"Was that here?!" Zack gasped, exasperated.
"No no, it was a long time ago." Another pause, "I was your age. She, not even a year old."
What a horrible tragedy it was for a parent to lose their child. Gary had been so young. So that was how darkness had overwhelmed him and transformed him so symbolically.
There were no reposts to that comment.
An hour or so passed, or it could've been much longer. Gary didn't bother to sail the ship away, he felt as though his heart was anchored here until Caira awoke.
There were some silent thuds agains the metal behind them. "So, what are you guys talking about?" She joked, for they had bathed in true, pregnant silence since the mention of Gary's loss.
They both looked back. And there she was.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 07-13-2017
Zack smiled at the sight of Caira. At least she was alright. He stepped forward and embraced her in a strong hug as soon as they made eye contact. He’d seen her bleeding nearly to death far too much, lately. Caira was surprised, but returned the hug just as quickly. It felt comforting.
When Zack let go of her she looked down, only to see that the man had slipped his sword out of her hands and was already returning it to its resting place on his back. She gave a wide smile. If there was one thing she’d learned about him, it’s that he and his weapon were certainly one being.
“Should have let them take me,” Zack remarked, back to his usual self in no time. “Seemed like they knew all about a good time.”
“You might have a different idea about good times,” Caira remarked, putting her hands on her hips. “Or, you’re just dreaming a bit too much.”
“Can’t blame me for that,” Zack laughed, looking to Gary and seeing his signature disapproving scowl. He figured the two of them needed their own conversation, and he was really just ready to get away from Gary, anyway. “I’m going to check on how we’re running. Don’t scare me like that again, Ayryn. We’ve done that enough.”
Caira gave a sheepish smile, but said nothing more as Zack turned and disappeared further into the vessel. She didn’t know exactly what to say, anyway. She couldn’t quite get a read on how he was processing all of this. Surely, it would come up, soon.
******
A few hours had passed, and the submarine was on the move. Zack had retired to an open room he’d converted to a small training area at some point in their journey. It was wide open, and refreshingly empty, with the exception of the few pieces of equipment he’d personally placed in there. He was working a training dummy pretty hard with his bare fists, as unarmed combat was just as important to him as his abilities with his sword.
The last mission hadn’t gone well, and it burned at him. He and the mysterious gunslinger had thinned the horde to almost nothing, but it only took a poison dart not even aimed at him to undo all of his hard work. He’d leave out the part about intentionally jumping in front of it to protect another. It was irrelevant in the grand scheme.
He took a break from his merciless assault on the punching bag as Gary entered the room, sans Caira. That was an oddity, and Zack was immediately suspicious. Still, he played it cool. As Gary approached him, exuding purpose and determination, Zack casually pulled a towel from a nearby table and wiped the sweat from his face.
“Didn’t think you knew about this place,” Zack opened the conversation casually.
“I’m aware of everything that happens on my ship,” Gary quickly retorted, stopping across from the ex-SOLDIER.
“No slipping past you, huh?” Zack chuckled as he tossed the towel aside. “How’s Caira?”
Gary flinched, just barely, at Zack’s choice of words. “She’ll be alright. No thanks to you.”
Zack dropped his arms to his side and rolled his neck. So, it was going to be one of those talks.
“Well, that’s the fun part about a team, Gary,” Zack said. “Some people click with a situation better than others.”
“Maybe so,” Gary replied, not totally convinced with Zack’s logic. “Either way, the information this individual you two met might be worthwhile. Jad has us en route to a destination where we can follow up on it, after one more stop.”
“What kind of stop?” Zack asked, genuinely curious about what would be worth delaying the expedition at this point.
“There’s an uninhabited island along the way, devoid of any sort of natives like the last one,” Gary explained stoically. “It’s where you get off.”
Zack paused, mentally going over that statement for a second. “Excuse me?”
“This isn’t your concern any longer, boyo,” Gary harshly said. “You’re too much of a distraction, and not worth your weight. You can summon whatever type of boat you please and then be on your way as soon as we’ve left you.”
“And Caira agreed to this?” Zack challenged, turning to fully face Gary, now.
The complete silence in the air was answer enough for Zack.
“I thought so,” the young super soldier remarked.
“I make this decision for her own good, and that of the quest,” the old man snarled as he squared off with the young man in return.
Zack studied Gary’s facial expressions and his body language. The man was ready to fight. And certainly he had some surreal powers, but Zack had experienced a taste of them firsthand once before. He could tell from Gary’s general demeanor that he was already surprised Zack hadn’t backed down, yet. Zack decided he’d held his cards long enough. It was finally time to play his hand.
“You wouldn’t be so stupid,” Zack challenged the older man.
Gary seemed genuinely taken aback by Zack’s brazenness. Still, he took a step forwards, as if challenging Zack to close the gap. “What did you just say?”
“I said,” Zack repeated much louder, taking a matching step closer to the seafaring old timer. “You wouldn’t be that stupid.”
“You foolish child,” Gary spat, as an aura of black energy began to form around each of his tight fists. “I should just kill you here and spare us the detour.”
In an instant, Zack grabbed the handle of the Buster Sword and ripped it from his back. A discernable snarl was present on his face, unlike anything the crew of this submarine had ever seen before. Gary had expected such a reaction, and the darkness on his hands grew larger and more vibrant. Zack watched, keeping his massive blade in just one hand.
Then, the young super soldier tossed it aside. The large slab of sharpened metal clanged uselessly aside on the other end of the wide room. Gary’s curiosity betrayed him, and he watched the entire movement of the Buster Sword, right down to it settling helplessly aside. He turned back to Zack, only to see the young man goading him to attack by gesturing towards himself with his right hand.
Gary was no fool, and he was far from unobservant. Just like Caira, he knew that that the Buster Sword and Zack Fair were all but one being. For all of Zack’s prowess with martial arts, it was only secondary to his skills with the Buster Sword. Zack making a challenge without it was a clear statement on how he assessed his opponent. Gary’s heart burned from the insult that was Zack saying he didn’t need to use anywhere near his full abilities in a fight against him. And yet, the older man didn’t dare make the first move. The aura around his fists shrank.
“This is a war,” Zack broke the heavy silence with a serious tone no one on the ship believed the happy-go-lucky man capable of. “And you’re no warrior.”
An audible growl escaped Gary’s lips at Zack’s insult. “I already told you what I’ve seen in my life, laddy. You couldn’t fathom the circumstances that shaped me.”
“And you have no idea the ones that built me,” Zack countered. He would spare Gary the details of the final year of his life in his own realm. It didn’t matter. “But I know one thing, from all I’ve seen of you. You’re built on hardship, and nothing more.”
“The greatest teacher of all,” Gary retorted.
“Not without focus,” Zack said, taking another step forward. “I’ve seen villages, towns, cities burn over and over in my short life. Families have died before me in the heat of human savagery. But I’ve also trained under great warriors, learned tactics from strong leaders, and grown from every difficulty I’ve faced.”
“And the problem with youth, and primes in general is that you think you’re the best there is,” Gary remarked. “You don’t understand the depths and the worlds others come from, and you think you’ve magically seen more than anyone else.”
“And the problem with age is that you think you can’t learn anything from those younger than you,” Zack countered once more. “Like you’re some wise sage simply because you’ve been around longer. I know a lot of people a lot younger than you I wish were here, instead.”
Gary unclenched his fists. This was a side of the young warrior he’d yet to see. The man was clearly smarter, and more observant, than he cared to admit, but it didn’t shake his dislike and complete lack of trust for him.
“If you keep doing something wrong, it doesn’t magically become right,” Zack finished his outburst.
“I’m still considering killing you,” Gary answered Zack’s statements.
“My sword’s still over there,” Zack dared the man to approach him further. “So come and try.”
Gary hesitated. It was a turning point, to allow Zack to call his bluff so completely. Yet, apparently this hyperactive kid wasn’t as dim as he seemed. He was right about one thing without question, though. Zack was the one with the most military experience, and as the scale of this conflict grew, he wasn’t someone they could alienate. Gary’s demeanor turned to a scowl.
“Fine,” the old man spat as he turned around. “There’s a meeting in ten minutes to determine our course of action. Be there, and have some useful input.”
Zack didn’t answer, instead recovering the Buster Sword silently before Gary finally departed. It was going to be a little weird, the rest of this quest, but damn did Zack feel good about standing up for the little guy. Even though he wasn’t sure how he’d managed to become the little guy this time around.
He shook his head and went back to the training dummy, looking to get a few more reps in before it was time to get back to work.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Caira Ayryn - 07-14-2017
"Hm? Where'd... both of them go?" Caira knew something was up when she realized neither Zack or Gary was around.
Her search began and ended swiftly. Above one layer of the ship the knight sensed the familiar forms of the two bantering men and Caira knelt painfully to the ground, feeling the crunch of her bruised ribs and pressed her palm to the cold steel. She picked up every vibration, that of sound as well. To her dismay.
After just a few words, anger rose in her. "Those idiots!" that was the equivalent to a monk cursing. She was infuriated! She was... Immobilized. A wave of disappointment flooded her senses. Her eyes glittered to the side. It was her fault, though some part of her argued it was inevitable.
Still, even if she moved now, her crippled body wouldn't make it to Zack and Gary in time to stop them from hurting each other. She was forced to ride it out. So she listened.
Gary was far off-base from reality, but the empathetic girl could easily see he was coming from pure emotion. Fear and desperation so as not to have to live the painful events of whatever had scarred his life, yet again.
Zack had buckled him. There was truth in both their words but Gary was acting too erratically. The girl sighed with relief as the static-heat of the onset of battle subsided. Though she was left wondering if Gary would have followed through on his word had Zack taken the chance to slay the captain and end their boyish rivalry.
She hoped the answer was no. That it was all words and testosterone of the two males trying to figure out who had bigger balls.
Zack was a good guy, and on their side.
Gary had to have seen that and had no forefront reason to extinguish him. She was glad he'd seen reason she wouldn't have wanted to have to pin the old captain down and waste more of their time. With a realizing nudge, she remembered that she had to be at the meeting before them, so as not to look suspicious she hastily stood up and hustled out of the room, feeling the proximity of their vibrations separated by a single steel panel. She and Zack were next-in-neck and the race continued. Gary had disappeared with a smear to his own vibration, vanishing like fluffy smoke.
The metallic planking of her lumbering feet carried her through the steel doorways, where she ducked as she passed through, having done it much more swiftly than the man a level below her, for he needed to be more careful with his gigantic Buster Sword.
Advantage!
Caira "ran" and stumbled into the meeting room, labcoats looked around to see what the heck had happened were not surprised to see it was a prime that had made the zinging uproar of tripping commotion.
And her momentum kept carrying her. Balance wasn't something she'd acquired much back since her first initial injury. One of the scientists had swooped in from above, catching her in his arms an inch before he face would slammed into the corner of a control panel, and three feet before she would've plundered into the steel floor.
Her body moved with a rush of speed and she was pulled into the man's chest, much like the swift moves of a tango styled dance. Her eyes met with Jad's familiar face and she blinked in surprise, especially when he didn't initially let her go, his arms were placed around her back, how that had happened she couldn't even rewind the sequence in her head, "You alright?"
Caira nodded, feeling abrupt, wordless, awkward embarrassment. This was not the way Prime leaders such as she should be seen to the crew.
"I may have saved your life once again," Clowney laughed in amusement, the joke was lighthearted. Meant to be taken with the similar sort of humor you'd witness at a plush nicknack store.
To add to the embarrassment, Zack had seen the whole thing and when he'd attempted to nonchalantly enter the room anyway. Acutely distracted, the hilt of his sword pinched the metal doorway with a clamorous CLINK!
Caira cleared her throat, "You can uh... Let go now."
"You're really not the most stable on your feet," Jad observed and instead of letting her go, he picked her carefully up, carried her bridal style, and delivered her to a rolling office chair. "To ensure a safe recovery. Doctor's orders." His humor continued, "Plus, it has wheels!"
Caira smiled at his kindness, but her rib was still aching, but her mind even more so, with the uncomfortable thought of being too close to anyone unexpectedly. "Thank you." The knight accepted politely and Gary poofed into the room with his demonic shade.
Zack's eyes fixed on the captain seriously, Caira debated her course of action and decided to observe the situation from a distance rather than let either of them know she had heard.
Remember Caira, you're just the injured girl now. she had remind herself that her opinion still mattered, perhaps even the most. This was her mission.
The meeting would start shortly, Caira could tell by the way Gary was craning his next to view the nearest analog clock.
A phone rang unexpectedly. There was a tossing glance around the room as the chimes fell in waves over the room full of people, much like a radar. Eventually they pinpointed it back to her. It was in Caira's pocket.
The playful fun had ended as the invisible tint of color drained from her cheeks once more as she saw the contact's name.
"Oh... I guess I have to take this then... Uh, privately," she said awkwardly and started to stand.
"I'll roll you out," Zack appeared behind her and followed through on his stated mission.
"Hello?... Yes, yes it's me.... Your son?... Ugh, that's a pain... Well hey when I get back I'll come. Listen don't do anything I wouldn't do... In that case I would have to banish you... Yeah I'm serious... Yes I can tell if you're lying, which you are... Ugh it isn't a super power! Listen this isn't a good time, and to be honest I'm surprise I have service out here. Technology isn't magic, after all... You WHAT?!" that was the first time Caira had raised her voice in a basic conversation that Zack had heard.
"Listen, I'll find him. I'm partially responsible, I guess. Just don't turn yourself into a vampire. That was really stupid... Huh? I'll remove your curse myself... Yes I can tell you're still cursed, but it's much less now, half of it was taken off. Plus you know you were able to call. It was probably cast by two users, and we warded off the one half... Those traitors! Listen we are going to have a loooong conversation with your son when I get back. For now I'm just trying to do what I know is right. I suggest you do the same... Yes, yes I'll be there... Haha I'm sure Omni would have sent his regards had you not buried me and left me to die. Water under the bridge. No, Omni didn't send me home, if he had I wouldn't be lucky enough to be talking to you right now.... Yeah yeah, sure it does... A hoard of storm troopers?... Well don't kill them!.. Well I don't know what else you're supposed to do, you're the one with the freaky mind powers!... Kay, bye."
Her conversation had pretty much echoed through the ship, Zack had stood there, immobilized to being her wheelchair driver.
"You're one strange girl," he said affectionately and rolled her back to the meeting.
Jad gave both of them a shining thumbs up for using the rollie chair.
The meeting soon commenced... And then concluded with full silence.
That was the plan. They were to follow whether they liked it or not.
Caira wanted to go above deck, get some fresh air after the stuffy seriousness of the meeting. Luckily she'd found a way just like last time that didn't strain her on the way up. Zack followed wanting a mental break before their imminent last stand.
"So who was that on the phone?" He made conversation and was curious considering some of the subject matter was... Strange but not entirely out of place considering this was the Omniverse.
"Hmm..." Caira struggled for the right word, "Old friend."
"Who buried you alive?" My, Zack had a keen ear.
"It's complicated," she smirked. "His curse made him do it."
"That's what they all say," Zack replied with a smile.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 08-01-2017
Zack found himself chuckling once more at Caira, though he didn’t mean for it to be so loud and long. The girl had clearly seen her way across this vast and unique realm, and a had a good share of experiences from it. Something like that might have intimidated most people, but Zack was just content with the promise of more adventure in his future.
He went to question her a bit further, but suddenly his face shifted to a frown as he turned his head and looked out on the horizon. Before them was a rickety, old pirate ship with deteriorating sails. It looked like it belonged at the bottom of the sea, but instead it was moving towards them at full speed.
“What in the…” Zack trailed off as he watched the surreal sight before him.
Caira followed his line of sight and blinked several times in confusion.
Both of them realized it was the first ship they’d seen out here in a long time. In the dead part of the sea they were inhabiting, that was extra cause for concern.
“Gary!” Zack shouted into the open hatch. “Get a look at this!”
The periscope near them began to move, but Zack was already scooping up the injured Caira. This didn’t look like a bunch of friendly neighbors.
“Get inside!” a scientist shouted, likely under orders from Gary or Jad to relay a quick message.
Zack wasted no time hopping down the hatch with Caira, managing to not hit her or the giant Buster Sword on the ladder or any edges on the way down. He set her down and quickly climbed back up the ladder to close and seal it. The second it was ready, the scientist standing nearby rushed back to the control room, and both primes felt the submarine lurching and fleeing beneath the surface.
“Quick!” Caira said as she limped to her feet. “We need to talk with Gary and Jad.”
“You’re right, have a seat,” Zack gestured to the wheelchair.
Caira reluctantly sat back in it, and Zack pushed her right back to the command room. As they entered, Gary was still working the controls while Jad and his scientists were deep in their notes sprawled across the table. They looked up as the primes entered.
“What in the world was that?” Zack asked as he parked Caira by the table.
“The Vasty Deep is filled with unusual sights and creatures,” Gary announced from the controls. “There’s no telling when we’ll run across.”
“This close to where the star should be, though?” Zack asked. “We haven’t seen any other ships out this way.”
On a whim, Caira pulled herself to her feet, painfully, and stumbled over the the periscope.
“Zack’s right. Something’s off,” Jad admitted, and his scientists nodded in agreement. “We need to stay beneath the surface.”
“Let’s just bypass it,” Zack suggested. “It’s not like the star piece is on the surface. It probably sank and we need to go deeper.”
“Um, guys,” Caira suddenly broke into the conversation. Everyone in the room looked at her as she stared in horror through the periscope. “You need to see this.”
Zack looked to Gary as he turned around, but the old man gestured for him to be the one to take a look. As the ex-SOLDIER and the lead scientist made their way over, Jad merely helped Caira back into her wheelchair while Zack looked through the viewing device to see what was happening outside their sub.
“Oh, shit,” Zack said.
Despite the fact that they were easily over a hundred feet beneath the surface, the dilapidated pirate ship was behind them, sailing through the depths of the sea as though it was on the surface. And it was gaining on them.
“What is it?” Gary demanded.
“They’re following us,” Zack reported.
Confusion set across Gary’s face. “At this depth? How?”
“I don’t know, Gary, but they’re getting closer,” Zack raised his voice a bit to impress his point.
“We can’t fight a whole ship, there’s not enough of us!” Caira said with a creeping sense of urgency in her voice.
“Take us to the surface,” Zack suddenly ordered, still observing the approaching underwater ship.
“We’re defenseless up there!” Gary reminded the young man.
“We’re defenseless down here!” Zack countered.
“A fight is unavoidable,” Jad agreed. “We’ll have to take every advantage we can get.”
Gary hesitated, but pulled on the controls. The submarine lurched and shifted as it abruptly moved towards the surface. Zack was already turning towards the door, but stopped to look at Jad briefly.
“Can you get them armed?” the young super soldier asked as he gestured towards the scientists.
“I'll do the best I can,” Jad replied.
“We’ll need everything we can muster,” Zack nodded. That answer would have to be good enough. He and the old man's talents would have to carry this team. “I’ll slow them down. Gary! See you up top!”
“Wait, what!?” Caira interjected, struggling to stand up.
“Me and Black Magic over there got this one,” Zack shook his head as he put a hand on Caira's shoulder, preventing her from standing. “You just rest. You’re too injured.”
“I can still do something!” Caira protested, but Zack wasn’t hearing it.
“You’re the VIP, here,” Zack said with a cocky smirk. “Let me do what I’m good at.”
Without allowing a moment for protest, Zack marched onward. He moved through the submarine with swift efficiency, as if there wasn’t a gigantic slab of metal strapped to his back. In no time he had climbed the small ladder and pried open the hatch once more.
Zack stepped onto the deck of the submarine once again, taking in the strong scent of saltwater in the air. It was overpowering, this far out, but it was certainly better than the smell of burnt ash he was so accustomed to, even this long after his departure from that verse.
The pirate ship burst to the surface, and now a skeleton crew could be seen jumping about the vessel. They were just the same as the ship: deteriorated, with no business still standing. And yet they were. Zack grinned as he heard the war chants echoing from the ship, and watched the creatures bounce around in excitement. He gripped the handle of the Buster Sword and pulled it from his back. He knew he had to stay focused, because with Caira out of commission he was the only one truly capable of holding his own, but there was a subtle excitement in this situation. It was the type of thing he was born and trained for.
Zack raised the massive blade straight up, and rested his forehead against the flat side of it. He closed his eyes, and recited the old phrase that had been burned into his memory by his training officers in the land before the Omniverse.
“Embrace your dreams,” Zack whispered to himself, among the last silence this dead sea would sea for some time. “And protect your honor.”
He whipped the Buster Sword down to his side, and then jumped up with all the strength his legs would allow. It was more than enough to close the gap between the two ships, to the great surprise of the skeletal raiders. As he descended, he held his massive blade ready to strike, to buy all the time Gary, Jad, and the ragtag group of infantry needed to stand their ground.
“Come and get it!!!”
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Caira Ayryn - 08-05-2017
Caira looked down at her crippled “set-up” and tsked herself with monk-repressed rage as she talked to her mini orange dragon, “And if it were the other way around? Oh no, Zack would be coming even if he lost a leg. He’d get a peg, ha! Yeah, that’s it, summon one out of a little Omnillium and bam! Back into action! But they can’t expect me to just wait down here? Like some pet? Well, I least I have you, little dragon. I just hate feeling like some… Oh, uh, hi.”
The girl turned over her shoulder and smiled as a white lab coat stood idly in the corner of her eye, hearing her twisting fuse of complaints. However, it seemed, the white coat had the opposite problem.
“... Hi,” he said laden with awkwardness and sarcasm, “And if I were you, I wouldn’t complain, you’re likely in the safest part of the ship down here, I’m the one who has to go topside and it will likely lead to my death. Primes return, us secondaries always feel like you feel now in that wheeled office chair, kid.”
“I’m not a kid, I’m actually your age, if you count a few loose screws in time,” Caira said with a smile of shame to the middle-aged man. “You look like you don’t want to die and how can I blame you? My parents were in charge of a galaxy slaying empire and they took no survivors. So I fled, not wanting to be their puppet too. Not wanting to die for deceiving them. Running away from home? Ha! Talk about noble, I live a facade and a lie. Your logic is at least reasonable, what sort of human scientist wants to die?”
“Hmm, when you put it that way… Logic is my prime.” he reached for the pun and won a smile, “Hey, if that’s the case, why do you want to go up there? You don’t seem like the classic coward type and you almost seem frustrated to be bound by injury, that doesn’t sound like someone who runs away from their struggles.” The man with glasses mentioned, “Maybe there’s hope for you yet?”
“Well, I never called myself a coward, because I made a calculated decision. It was the wrong one though, by leaving I enabled my parents to continue their tyranny, and I sentenced all under their wrath to die. Not that I could stop it, but looking back, it was a cause I would’ve died for.” Caira admitted.
“Your words strike me, Prime-girl,” the scientist spoke, “If I’m gone any longer, they’ll notice. That’s almost worse than dying,” he said with a playful smile. “Say, if your parents ruled, albeit mercilessly, doesn’t that make you a princess?”
“I gave up the name a long time ago. But I don’t think I can blame the name for the person I previously was, nor the choice I made as her.” She said silently and the man set off to leave and the woman requested, “Share with me your name?”
“Rives, Limin Rives. Kind of an odd one, but you know.” he shrugged. Caira smiled, she did know.
“You’re one hundred percent unique, secondary or prime, Limin Rives. Good luck up there. And if they wonder where you are, tell them you were tying your shoe,” she pointed down and his shoe was untied. His standing idle had given her the chance to notice it.
“Ah, thanks! I wouldn’t want to trip on myself, will you be down here watching through the scope?” he said as he hunched over, quickly knotting his laces.
“Maybe.” She said with a curious smile. “I think I’ll find out which button releases the torpedoes. The ghosts in the walls still whisper.”
“Ghosts?!” the man became pale with fright.
“U-uh I mean, I know where the manual is, don’t scare yourself before battle! You’ll do great!” she said ruefully regretting the truth in her words.
“Okay… Prime, any advice for me?” he said with his hand clutching the first rung of the iron ladder.
“Make them remember your name. Both your comrades and your enemies.”
…
“Freaking pirates man,” Gary growled as his dark eyes glared over the horizon. Right now, they’d simply wait for it to loom closer and its inhabitants to board. That was terribly lame, especially when your company was Zack freakin’ Fair.
“Aren’t… You technically a pirate?” the sable haired youth said with a raised eyebrow as he assessed the situation. Gary was perched with his mighty gait, donned with his spectacular trench coat which had ample moth holes in it. Jad had even joined the fight, though he was never much of a frontman, he’d mounted on a turret that their captain had deployed for them prior to heading to the top of the steel-cold vessel.
Below Zack’s feet was the squelch of still-sliding water under his rubber soles. Gary was watching him, a snicker under his breath. Their rivalry continued and yet, they united in arms. The Prime fell to one knee and procured a long scoped ebony rifle, “I’m not just a one trick pony,” Zack said, grinding salt as he examined the rising moon backdrop against the grossly dark sales of the ship.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a grea’ prime and all that,” Gary huffed and Zack loaded thick, heavy looking bullets into the rifle. “Do ye’ any idea what’s coming?”
“I think I’ll take a peek and see,” Zack said confidently to the secondary who thought himself superior in every aspect of the word.
“I think I’ll tell you, because I’m likely to die.” Gary stated plainly.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Zack rolled his eyes, pulling his attention away from the crosshairs of the scope he’d been looking down. “You thought you could take me on. What’s a couple of freakin’ pirates to you?”
On the prime lad’s lips a smile boasted, “Hmph, suit yourself. You’ll see.” Then Gary recited an old tale.
If ye ever find yourself at the brink,
Ov sailing past the Vasty’s sink,
Tha deathly pirates’ pungent stink,
‘Ll be the last thing ye know b’fore death’s sacred blink.
With darkness in their sails,
Blood will run thick and deep,
Monsters at yer tails?
They’ll never sleep.
The darkness of their curse o’ death,
Will n’er set in this Vasty Deep.”
“What’s that, some old pirate’s tale? Is it supposed to scare me?” Zack scoffed, “Nice try Gary, but my nerves aren’t so easily…”
As the Prime peered down the scope, using the moon’s own silhouette, he thought he saw something not man, but more akin to a ghastly monster with decaying skin and patches of rib instead of flesh for a torso, no lungs in sight. “What…” the ex-SOLDIER blinked to clear his eyes.
“See somethin’ unique laddie?” Gary gloated.
“What are we up against?” Jad called out from his location, mounted in the turret, meanwhile the lab coats were armed with their elite technology, most carbines were made by their own devices.
“If you see them starting to aim cannon balls, that’s when you’re likely in range enough to fire back,” Gary said, “I’m glad you’re out here, we will need every man we can get.”
“I know how range and velocity work, physicist, scientist, doctor, and astronomer ring a bell?” Jad bantered back to his old pal. “You still didn’t say what we were up against.”
Gary walked over, “I didn’t want to spook the other boys, but this’ll be a fight for the books. Their ship gets ever closer. Theirs is the ship of the Crimson Tide’s fallen brother. They ain’t livin’ creatures on that ship.”
Clowney’s face fell, paralyzed by frigid fear, “That’s got to be a joke, brutha?”
“I’m afraid not. Fight to remember,” he said with a not-so-comforting pat on the back. “Turret is a safe place to be though!”
“They’ll be gunnin’ for me!” Jad complained and that was when the first cannonball rocketed toward them, falling just shy and splashing fresh saline on the iron deck in the half-darkness.
“Ha, only if you let them! Now shoot!” Gary encouraged as he lit the shadows of his might, they were flickering, still tired from that tricky procedure he’d performed on that island with the Amazonian tribe.
The foothold underneath the scientists feet was a slippery deck, but at least it was more well-lit than straight-up moonlight. Gary’s ship had some lights lining where the not-so-safe safety railings were, signifying if you passed that point, you’d fall off the bridge of the ship and into the water.
“Oi! What was that boy?” Gary’s eyes dazzled as they caught the sight of a flaming collision on their ship.
“Not a boy,” Zack corrected. “Looks like something exploded on their ship.”
“WASN’T ME YET!” Jad claimed loudly, overhearing their dog-fight of a dispute.
“Well then have at it! We don’t have all night, they’ll be here any minute!” Gary said and he heard the noises of mechanisms chiming underneath them.
“Not just something,” Gary stated with a smile, “The girl found the torpedoes. She’s got good aim too, built-in sonar in her head.”
“How do you know these things?” Zack stated, trying to call his bluff.
“Ugh, don’t just hesitate, take the shot lad! I can see you’ve had ‘im in your sights for a while. Now go! They won’t give us the same mercy. They’re gunning for Jad!” Gary stated.
“HEARD THAT!” Clowney yelled from across the slate-colored deck.
Another torpedo rocketed off with a Ka-thunk! and it too, landed right on target. “Soon we’ll be too close for her to fire ‘em, so it’s good she’s firing now.” Gary analyzed.
Ka-POW!!!!! the loud scream of his rifle sounded and through the scope, though his sniper had kicked, he saw the enemy go down. It was a good shot, Zack even felt prideful about it, considering the sway of waves and the distance and distinct darkness of the night. His jaw dropped, though, when suddenly, his fallen target stood up, a fresh puncture mark in its skull that the moonlight gleamed through. He shook his head, no, it had to be another one, some sort of explanation, darkness, yeah, someone had just been standing near the guy he’d pinpointed.
Sirens began to blare from the tunneling canals that lead to down below, “What was that?” Zack turned to ask Gary, both regarding the sirens and the necromancy he thought he’d witnessed.
“They’ve boarded.” Gary deduced at the sirens.
“Gary what the Hell?! Are these things… Dead?” Zack hissed.
“Shh, not so loud,” Gary hushed him viciously and then turned around to face the men he’d be leading, some to death, others to victory, and all to a battle they soon wouldn’t forget.
“Listen up men, we’ve been boarded. These creatures are not regular pirates, and they’re a lot harder to kill. Pay no mind to their horrific appearance, they’re no better than you or I.” Gary said, “And I’d say we’ve got the better shots, eh boys?”
There were some small cheers, and one keen scientist asked, “What do you mean we’ve been boarded?”
“Ready your aim at all sides. I mean exactly what I said.” Gary said, annoyed at the interruption.
“Their ships all the way over there!” logic told the scientist. Logic did not rule these seas.
Suddenly, the rusted grime of an anchor shot out from the dark waves and like a grappling hook, rested on the safety railings and the orange, barnacle infested chains grew taut as the infiltration began.
“BATTLE STATIONS!” Gary shouted and he and his canopy of shadows went over to the grappling-anchor to sever the first iron-wrought tie.
RE: Avast Me Hearties - Zack Fair - 10-02-2017
Zack stretched his arms at the sound of battle. The ill-trained and barely armed scientists scrambled while Gary began powering up some more of his hocus pocus or whatever. To Zack, things were a bit more relaxed. He knew not to panic and let the moment overwhelm him. He was no good that way. So he took the time to warm himself up just a tad before leaping back over to the enemy vessel.
With another jump, he traversed through the air and descended upon the skeletal ship once again. He slammed down with such force that splinters were hurled in all directions, but the decaying occupants of the ship appeared to be ready for him this time.
Weapons swung at Zack from all sides, but the warrior remained amazingly agile despite his gigantic sword strapped to his back. He deflected each blow as it came from empty hands, while gracefully dodging or redirecting rusted swords into their allies. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, Zack would swing a careful, calculated strike with one empty hand to neutralize that attacker. In short order, he was standing alone among a pile of bones and swords.
His moment of pride was cut short as several rounds from the crew’s guns soared over his head, causing him to duck and move behind the mast. He crouched low and pulled the Bolt and Ice Materia from his belt, holding one in each hand. Wood peeled from the ship with each impact the rounds had on his cover, and Zack knew he wasn’t even the main target. The crew of Gary’s submarine would be much worse off against the volley of gunfire. Zack’s job was to get in the middle of all this and worry about the big threats, and those snipers sure fit the bill.
Zack emerged from his cover, blasting the skeletal gunmen from their perches with bolts of lightning and flying icicles. Their fire turned on him, and he responded by stowing his magical rocks and instead drawing his massive sword. Zack jumped up and landed amongst the snipers, and expertly dismantled them into piles of bones and deteriorated flesh.
Things were going well, it seemed. Zack knew better than to fall into a false sense of security, but the fact that the scientists were storming the pirate ship instead of the other way around spoke volumes. The battle was brutal and bloody, so Zack only spent a second looking for the next threat. It had to be a big, important target.
Something like that didn’t take long to locate. A skeleton decked out in full pirate clothing with a massive cutlass was making his was through the ranks. His skull seemed to be warped into a twisted, demented smile as he raised his weapon, clearly pleased that his victims had come to him. Before Zack could do anything, the skeletal warrior struck down three of the living scientists without a fight. Zack was already in motion as the captain approached Gary.
Gary saw the menacing corpse approach, and two orbs of sheer dark energy left his palms towards the captain. The captain merely swatted both attacks aside with his sword, and broke into a sprint at the older man. His approach was suddenly stopped by Zack’s timely arrival, as the young super soldier slammed down between his ally and new foe. The captain stopped, but held his sword ready to deal with the new foe.
“We’ll deal with him together, laddy!” Gary said as he began to step up beside Zack, but the ex-SOLDIER held up a hand to stop him.
“You deal with the grunts, that’s what you’re equipped for,” Zack ordered.
“And leave you to this thing?” Gary said with a hint of condescension in his voice. “Can you handle it?”
“Maybe?” Zack admitted, but returned his own sass to his teammate. “You won’t make a difference, either way. Go keep our people alive.”
That last point was enough for Gary, and he left to rejoin the fray without further comment. Zack looked to the skeletal captain, and returned his own smile. There was nothing quite like a straight fight against a unique foe. He calmed his excitement only by reminding himself of the death around him. This had to be quick.
The skeleton approached and stabbed at Zack with its sword, and the young warrior easily sidestepped it while brushing the thrust aside with his own massive blade. Zack was quick to throw an elbow into the captain’s jaw, but the decayed man didn’t flinch. Instead, it merely swung its free hand to catch Zack on the back of the head, which sent the prime stumbling forward.
Zack had the sense to bring his sword around his back as he was stumbling, and felt the captain’s sword connect with his. A close call. He turned and swung the Buster Sword with both hands for all the power he could muster, but the skeleton leaped backwards from the attack. Zack’s tremendous blow reduced a railing to splinters, but the fragments of wood hurled into the air didn’t phase him. He kept his grip tight and moved in for the next attack, bringing the sword back around. The captain remained in retreat, and all Zack succeeded in doing was tearing through more of the ship.
With Zack in recovery, the captain approached again, swinging its sword at Zack’s skull from above. Unable to bring his sword around in time to block, Zack merely pushed forward with his legs and tackled the corpse warrior. The two of them fell from a balcony onto the lower level, landing amidst the brawl.
A sick, demented, and unnatural sneer remained on the skeleton’s face as it stood back up, and held its large cutlass up. Zack looked more annoyed than anything, but he rolled to his feet with resilience, just the same. The super soldier performed a wide swing with his massive Buster Sword, and the pirate captain’s attempt to deflect the heavy sword sent him reeling away. Zack steadied his weapon and moved in for another strike, but this time the captain was ready.
The skeleton moved in close, and put its own weight behind the parry. Zack was surprised when they locked blades and he was unable to knock the skeleton back from the initial blow. He just gritted his teeth, unintimidated as he glared into the captain’s soulless eyes. Both of them shoved with their swords, and neither kept their balance.
Zack stumbled backwards, and stopped as he backed into a railing. The skeleton thrashed its arms wildly as it struggled to keep its balance, and barely managed to do so. It looked at Zack with the same horrid look it maintained the entire fight, and approached once more.
In a flash, the lead astronomer tackled the captain from the side. The impact from the blow was so strong that as the skeleton hit the ground its head popped off of its weak neck and flew through the air, landing a bit away from its body and attacker. Zack stared in awe. Where had that come from?
Clowney looked up as he stood up and distanced himself from the body. “Is it… dead?”
Zack ran at the skull and kicked it as hard as he could, sending it sailing into the sea. It was all he could think of.
“I guess!?” Zack shouted over to the astronomer.
“We need you back in the fight!” Clowney said, pointing to the brawl on the upper level.
Zack looked up. The skeletal crew was getting the upper hand. He could turn the tide, as could Caira, if she were able to fight. That wasn’t an option, so it was on him.
Without a word, he jumped back into the fray, and quickly got to work dismantling more of the undead attackers.