Tah Min turned to see what had Ea so riled up, only to come face to face with the arrow. Ea was quick to pull a stream of water from the ocean that enveloped the flaming arrow, effectively putting the fire out and dragging it back into the ocean. Fierce battle cries and the clamour of weapons could be heard on the approaching ship. The crew didn't even have time to respond as the earth began to rise beneath them, halting their movement and trapping them in small pillars that rose from the ocean floor to stop the ship. it wasn't long before the enemy began scaling their ship. Once on board, they began to attack.
Ea's soldiers were by no means incompetent. His forces quickly worked to push back the enemy, ensuring they couldn't proceed further into the ship. A few stragglers got past and were clearly targeting Tah Min. scaled wings sprouted from Ea's back as he leaped off the upper deck and grabbed Tah Min, only letting her down once he had flown over to the opposite end of the ship.
"KILL THEM ALL AND TAKE THE GIRL!" A woman's voice rang throughout the ship. Ea glanced back at the commotion to find the same woman from before, leading the attack.
"She must be the captain...Priestess, please hide in my quarters. I'll come to get you when this is over."
Ea gently pushed her up and she hastily followed instructions. When he was certain she'd be safe, he turned his attention back to the woman. Frost began to swirl around his right hand as a sword of striking blue ice formed. Seconds later he was behind her. He swung his sword down swiftly. It was so fast that any normal person would have been cut down immediately, but as he would soon find, this woman was no ordinary person.
She turned to him and with a smile on her face, roared a fiery breath that pushed him to the edge of the ship. He may be a dragon but it was only half of who he was. If he remained in the fire he'd surely start to burn with his ship. Tah Min glanced out of the small window on the door and saw him valiantly fighting the mysterious captain. His blade clashed with her tail numerous times but he couldn't land a fatal blow. The crew, despite their strength, was also having a trouble fighting off their vicious attacks.
Hidden at the tip of the woman's tail was a snake head that sunk its fangs deep into Ea's skin when he dodged. He fell to the ground in pain as venom entered his body at an alarming rate. He pushed himself up and gripped his sword but dizziness soon set in and he found himself unable to see clearly. His skin burned where the snake had bit him. So much so that in his hazy state, he thought that the fire on the ship was begginning to burn him. His body became heavier than it had ever been before and his senses were overwhelmed by the burning sensation of venom flowing through his veins.
In a rush of impulse, Tah Min ran over to an injured enemy soldier and grabbed his sword. Without a moments hesitation, Tah Min rushed into the fray of battle and with superb agility, she was able to surprise the woman and knock the sword out of her hands. Quick on the uptake, the woman snuck her tail beneath Tah Min's legs and knocked her to the ground. She opened her mouth, ready to unleash her flames but before she could, Ea's ice daggers pinned her to the ground while her back was towards him. She writhed and struggled against the restraints but could not get up. However, just as Ea had pulled himself up and was going to deliver the final blow, an all too familiar flurry of flames rushed over her in a bright wave, melting the ice in the process.
"EVERYONE STOP!"
Ea looked up to see a blurry figure flying just overhead, but he wasn't able to identify them as his body began to give out. He fell to his knees and the last thing he remembered was the gust of wind hitting his face as the figure landed in front of him.
•~•~•~•~•~•
Ea awoke to the soft sounds of chatter and the gentle sway of the ship. The heaviness on his body seemed to have lessened a great deal. He opened his eyes slowly. His head ached horribly as the rays of light that shone through the windows hit his eyes.
"Oh! Look who finally woke up!"
Ea groggily turned to the voice. Next to his bed was Sin and across from him sat the mysterious woman. Ea shot up when he saw her, earning himself a wave of nausea and dizziness. He felt Tah Min's gently lay him back down.
"Don't get up so suddenly! Let your body adjust."
He relaxed at the sound of her soothing voice.
"Where are we. This isn't my ship."
"About that...your ship was kinda...well...burnt down. So we're on her ship right now." Sin gestured towards the woman.
"I kinda stopped them too late haha! Oh but everything's cool now so don't worry!" He laughed nervously as Ea shot him a bewildered glare.
"What! This woman attacked my ship, burnt it to the ground, tried to take Tah Min and almost killed me! How the hell is everything cool?"
Sin deflected Ea's rage with humour, as he always did. "Oh? So you're on a first name basis with the pretty priestess now? Who knew Mr.Serious was such a sly dog!"
He teased, a playful smirk on his lips. Tah Min looked away timidly and Ea flared part in frustration and part because he was flustered.
"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!"
"Look. She isn't as bad as you think. Get dressed and come up to the deck," said Sin.
Sin got up and placed a hand on the woman's back urging her to leave, which she violently brushed off. Tah Min and Sin followed her out of the room. Now left to hid own, Ea sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes as he forced himself to his feet and slipped on the clothes Tah Min had left at the foot of the bed. When he was done he headed onto the deck. He first spotted Sin leaning against the rails watching Tah Min chat with some of the crew. He shifted his gaze when he noticed his brother's approaching form and brought a hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter.
"What?" Ea asked in an annoyance..
"I never thought I'd see the day where my dearest most perfect brother looked like nothing more than a thuggish pirate!" Sin burst into a fit of laughter.
Ea grumbled, tugging at the loose cotton fabric over his chest. "Shut up." Ea walked over and stood beside Sin. "How did you even end up here?"
"My ship was burnt down too. I...well...she sorta agreed to help me and well...I didn't really have a choice y'know, but after getting to know her I can promise you she really isn't as bad as she comes across."
Ea glanced across the deck and spotted the woman in question. Now that he wasn't trying to slice her head off, he was able to get a better look at her. She was tall and slim, with violet eyes that sparkled against the sun like glass. The short ash blond hair that fell around her shoulder fluttered in the sea breeze, exposing the beauty marks on her neck. Ea took note of her other features as well.
"Are you sure you didn't have...another...reason for following her," he asked, eyeing Sin suspiciously.
Sin shrugged. "I have no idea what you mean dear brother!" He said innocently.
"How did you even run into her?"
"Well..."
•~•~•~•~•~•
The hot sun beat down on the land. Sin was sat in the crow's nest with his hands behind his head and legs propped up on the edge. He was enjoying the afternoon breeze and warm summer sun. His crew was idly following his lead, leisurely relaxing as they sailed across the gentle waves on the ocean. All was tranquil until one of the crew members spotted something curious a little ways away. He called for the attention of the rest of his friends and they all leaned over the rails trying to catch a glimpse. However, by the time he had brought his friend's over, whatever he saw had vanished.
Disappointed, the crew went back to drinking. It wasn't long until the ship came to a violent stop, sending everyone either tumbling to the ground or straight into the rails. Sin was now awake and cautiously peeking over the edge of the crow's nest to see what had caused their abrupt stop in the middle of the ocean. It had been quite a while since they initially left, so Sin assumed they were close to Antalya. A little more and they surely would have reached land. Suddenly an eruption came from beneath the ocean surface and it rocked the ship in an alarming way.
"A volcanic eruption? All the way out here?" Sin quickly scanned the surrounding area for any signs of an attacking enemy ship, but he found nothing.
Storm clouds began to form overhead and the sky turned an ominous gray. A flash of lightning came crashing down onto the ship and set it ablaze. The storm clouds disappeared and the eruptions stopped leaving the burning, sinking ship in its wake. Whilst many of the crew jumped ship in order to avoid the fire, Sin remained on the burning vessel long enough to see the mysterious woman from before step onto his ship.
"Right! Loot it all. We'll pick up whatever's adrift later." She ordered, not expecting anyone to still be on the ship. Sin had pulled out his whip, it cracked against the air loudly as he knocked her crew a few hundred feet back and into the water. While she was distracted by the sudden attack, he took the opportunity to get closer. He had her pinned to the edge of the ship with his gun pressed against her chin.
"Didn't expect such a pretty lady to be the mastermind," he laughed.
She frowned and swung her tail underneath his feet, which he skillfully dodged. He ended up behind her, restraining her hands and pushing her to the floor of the burning deck. As she fell, she took note of the Solarian insignia on his sword.
"Who the hell are you?"
He noticed her distracted gaze despite her trying to conceal it. "First Prince of Solaria, Zur-sin. Nice to meet ya Missy. I'm gonna need to commandeer your ship and all that jazz seeing as you...well...burnt mine down."
He bound her hands behind her back and pulled her up. With a gentle slap on the back, he pushed her towards the edge again.
"So I'm gonna need you to call off the attack so my crew can do their thing."
She took a glance at the insignia again before closing her eyes and sighing.
"Back to the ship everybody! Don't resist the soldiers!" She begrudgingly called out.
With a smug smile on his face, he wrapped his hand around her waist and in a matter of seconds, he was soaring through the air. He made it to the other ship and dropped her onto the deck before landing himself. Her crew, confused and slightly worried, look on as Sin's soldiers corralled them on the deck of the ship. The woman pushed herself up and glared at Sin who simply stared her in amusement.
"Good afternoon everybody! My name's Zur-sin. First Prince of Solaria blah blah blah. I'll be taking this ship. Everyone here will be coming back to my kingdom feel free to get comfortable. We'll need to co-exist for a while."
He watched their faces light up as he mentioned being a Solarian Prince with a look he knew all too well. Greed was always easy to spot after all. A soldier stepped up behind Sin and gingerly tapped his shoulder.
"Highness are you sure it's okay to just go back? Aren't we supposed to be looking for the Fire Priestess?" He whispered.
Sin peered over his shoulder and waved dismissively.
"We're not going to find the Priestess here. The priestesses are usually from highly religious areas. Antalya isn't exactly known for being very religious, what with its history of being the victim of many invasions and civil wars. Safe to say the many different beliefs of others have been imposed on them for far too long for them to consider religion an imperative factor in their lives."
"What! Then why did we come here!"
"Before we left, my mother gave me a heads up of a pirate crew causing havoc around these areas. Our job was actually to apprehend them. Getting rid of them would rid Antalya of its little issue of ships with valuable cargo being targeted almost daily, thus opening doors for a potential ally. Buuuut mom doesn't like to gain allies out of obligated gratitude and instead instructed me to bring the pirates back to Solaria. Seems like she's taken an interest in them. Us searching for the Priestess was just a cover up in the event our mission was leaked and the pirates got wind of it."
A heavy, exasperated sigh left the soldier's lips as he massaged his temples in an attempt to relieve himself of the oncoming headache. Sin pulled the woman up and ushered her towards the captains quarters. Once inside he slipped the bindings off. She shot him a confused glance.
"What's this? Letting me roam freely? Aren't you afraid I'll sneak off? Or worse, kill you?"
"You won't kill me." He shrugged as he crossed his arms and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
The sheer certainty in his voice irked her. She unsheathed a hidden dagger and swiftly maneuvered herself on top of Sin with the dagger firmly pressed against his throat. Despite her slim frame she is was incredibly strong. So much so that she was able to pin Sin down, leaving him immobile beneath her. Not that he minded but whatever the case, judging from the dagger threatening to rip his throat open, it didn't look like he wasn't getting out of her vice like hold anytime soon.