"That was the last one!" I announced to K as I lifted a golden chest onto the deck with the others.
"Then off we go!" K ordered and Liz and Leafa lowered the sails.
"Where's Asuna and Kirito?" Liz asked.
"They're taking some time away in my quarters. Best not disturb them." K informed as he made his way to the helm.
Lizbeth just nodded in understanding.
"Shino? What's our status?" K asked from the ships wheel.
"All is well, my Captain! We should make anchorage at port within the hour!" I called back with a smile, knowing how much he enjoyed this kind of thing.
He let out a pleasant chuckle.
"Well done." He smirked.
"Uhh, Kieran??" Asuna said from the back of the ship.
It was the first time any of us had truly referred to him by his real name. K rushed to the back of the ship and peeked down from his place near the wheel.
"What is it?" He asked.
Asuna pointed out at the water.
"...Something's following us..." She realized.
"What are you-" K took a closer look as well.
When I joined alongside him I saw that the sea behind us was being rippled, as if something were moving fast just beneath the crest of the water.
"What the hell is tha-"
"Shh!" K silenced Klein who stumbled behind us.
A tall wooden stick slowly emerged from the surface and below it was a small round platform. A skeleton pirate looked around thru a spyglass until the lens found us. It jumped at the sight of us and fumbled the spyglass a bit before screeching loudly with a point. The water rumbled beneath us and the platform ascended high as a grubby ship practically leapt from the sea at us. Torn sails, an algae ridden deck and a barnacle speckled hull greeted as a maniacal cackle came from the skeletal captain. He gripped his wheel and pointed his cutlass as his crew readied for battle.
"We've got a tail!" Kirito took initiative.
"Obviously!" K barked before rushing back to the wheel.
"Can't we outrun it?" Leafa asked.
"Maybe with wind in our favour." K made the choice and turned us into the wind.
Leafa and Liz quickly angled the sails and our ship was given a kick of increased speed.
"How's that?" K inquired.
"We're losing em'!" Klein informed.
"Good. Shouldn't be too long before they bugger off." K scoffed.
"No, wait..." Klein got a closer look at the ship pursuing us.
"What is it, Klein?" I moved to the back of our vessel to also get a better look.
The ship was indeed becoming more distant as we moved, but something was happening at the same time. Many hatches on the sides of the enemy vessel had opened up and from them sprouted long paddles made of dark oak wood. All in unison they rowed and rowed the water by, giving them a gradual but clear acceleration.
"They're gaining on us!" Klein yelled.
"What?? But those sails are tattered." K peeked back, not making sense of what was happening.
"They're using oars to close the distance! If we don't do something soon, they'll be on top of us until we sink!" I frantically informed.
K clenched his teeth as he took a moment to make a decision. We all looked to him for guidance but none was given. Instead, K looked menacingly back at the pursuing ship and slowly took his hands off the helm.
"Then I'll slow them down." K approached the back edge of our ship.
"What? But, K-" I tried to refute.
"Stay the course." He said before diving off the back of the boat.
"K!" I tried to stop him, worrying about his visceral fear of the ocean.
Instead of entering the water tho, K opened his wings last second to allow him to glide just above the ocean's surface. When the enemy ship was in front of him, K flapped abruptly upwards to come down onto their deck suddenly.
"What's he doing?!" Klein asked.
I looked at him and realized that I was the next up to command this vessel.
"Buying us time. Everyone! Prepare for battle! This is gonna get hectic!" I grabbed the ship's wheel to stabilize it.
"Yes, ma'am!" They all called back to me.
I looked left in hopes of turning us to fire but before I could even dare, the cursed vessel began to overtake us. Upon the deck of their ship, I noticed a mass crew of skeletons all rowing together as one on each side. Between them was K clashing swords with their pirate captain who was defined by a red bandana and hat.
"K!" Leafa noticed as our ships became side by side.
He blocked a blow and pushed against the skeleton captain he fought.
"Fire, dammit! Fire!" K yelled just as his opponent screeched.
His crew all got up and began to ready their weapons. Some manned the cannons, others climbed the edges.
"They're planning to board!" Kirito drew his dual swords.
"Keep them back!" I ordered.
That's when a few skeletal pirates swung over on ropes, landing directly behind our crew who defended the sides. Kirito immediately turned and faced them, protecting the others who guarded our ladders.
"Get off, ya git!" Lizbeth barked as she forced her heel into a boarding skeletons skull.
It's head fell off but instead of its body falling too, its arms grabbed Lizbeth's leg. She shrieked briefly before aggressively trying to pull away, sitting down to brace herself with the deck of the ship. When she got free, the headless skeleton and his allies climbed aboard. Another put back his head, having caught it before it was lost to the seas. They drew their blades and cackled as they slowly got closer to fight.
"Kirito!" Leafa called out preemptively as she readied herself.
"I got it." Asuna stepped forward with a pivot and dashed thru all of them.
They fell to pieces with a single strike just as Kirito performed a spinning whirlwind to finish his opponents.
"I've got a shot!" Klein called out from a cannon.
"Wait!" I called out as K still fought the captain.
The rest of the skeletal crew scrambled to manage their ship to pace ours and the captain scowled at them even as he fought.
"You mustn't command your crew," K broke the stalemate and cut the captains skull clean off his spinal connection.
The skull was tossed upwards for a moment but K caught it and smiled as he faced the headless body.
"You must lead them." K stated just as the body began to charge him.
K creatively kicked the headless skeleton in the sternum to knock it back a great distance, then swooped back over to our vessel with a turn.
"Into the depths with ye!" He pointed and Klein fired upon them.
"Come on!" Leafa helped up Liz and they manned our other cannons.
In a battering barrage of absolute chaos, destruction, smoke and booms, their ship was suddenly no longer next to us, left behind for the watery abyss to take them below.
"Well done, me hearty crew!" K cheered.
"What!??" Liz turned an ear to listen better.
The rest of us couldn't help but let out a few laughs.
"Your wheel is ready for you, my Captain!" I told him, still at the helm above everyone.
"Aye! Leafa! I'd like you to cast a wind spell to keep our sails full until we reach Alfheim's coast!" He delegated.
"Aye, Captain!" She accepted happily, following him up to the wheel I held steady.
K approached me with a smile, softly taking the helm from my grasp.
"Alright... Everyone? You might want to hold onto something." He warned.
"Should I hold onto my grog too?" Klein asked.
"Leafa? On your go." K peeked back.
"Okay..." She flicked her hands a bit and began to summon a powerful green aura.
A circular rune appeared before her palms and she suddenly pushed forth a great wind. The many black sails caught it and our ship immediately sped up, beginning to rock like crazy upon the quickly advancing waves.
"Amazing! We oughta sail like this from now on!" K praised.
Leafa let out a light chuckle but one that sounded slightly strained. We made great time back to the harbour, but I couldn't help but feel there was something more. Something we might be missing or overlooking some place. Whatever the case may be, it'll be damned not to find us sooner or later. This I can be sure of.