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In the depths of the Broken Petal, Cadbury stared intensely of a most piercing sharpness from his stable. James in turn stared at him unblinking, sitting with his hand on one knee keeping his chest supported up as felt twitches round his pupils. The stables of the ship had been kept well cleaned by Navarro diligently as per their deal with Kruz, though James suspected she would have done so either way regardless. Amidst the piles of crates containing various cargo, he kept watching his mount stare back at him. Unflinchingly still as both stood each other down. "You cannot win this, kupo." "I can try," said FG. "Chocobos can be VERY stubborn creatures, it is pointless." "So am I." "Then what is the point of this even?!" "It's a test of endurance...whoever's first to blink doesn't have the will to keep going." "You will find no better will than that of the noble steed, so don't even try." "I won't...when he submits." "Kweh." The black chocobo stared back at him fervently, eyes clear as bitter salt as he kept watch upon James, the raptor looking straight-on unmoving. Time passed into infinity, the moogle simply crossed her arms and sighed heavily at this foolish display of pride before walking off to tend to Rinoa who was getting rather excitable. For the most part the chocobos had managed to calm down, if only because they were slowly starting to get tired and needed rest regardless. Navarro started settling them to sleep, brushing them down clean in order to soothe them. Occasionally she would have to clean out their hay-covered floors of any mess they made, a practice she did not ask anyone else to do. She did however demand her group to come down at least four times that day to feed their chocobos and to not lose any contact with them, knowing how important it was to maintain relationships. James had the least stuff to do compared to any of them and was the most attentive, wasting enough time to play contests with his steed. Then he blinked. "DAMMIT!" "KWEHH KWEH!" He could not take much longer after three solid minutes as he rubbed his eyes harshly avoiding Cadbury's smug gaze preening himself. The choke collar he now wore from the markets shone neatly in the soft light of the ship's hallways, the raptor standing as he cricked his back with slight fatigue. "Okay fiiiiiine you win, but next time I'll own you." "Kreehhh." "Don't sass me chickenfuck...heh." He stepped forwards and rubbed Cadbury's head as he leaned forwards, smirking as the chocobo smiled back before shaking his body down slightly to clear any possible loose feathers off him. "Alright I'll see you tomorrow then. Night tough guy." "Kweh-ehhhhh!" With a brash farewell the chocobo settled down to sleep, second to do so after Navarro's more diligent steed Lightning made certain the rest of her "pack" were well-behaved enough to do so. Luke and Asch bickered slightly, nitpicking at each other with tiny bites but playfully before they were made to sleep. Rinoa was last after bouncing around a little too much, having her last bit of food before roosting. The creatures bent their legs and sat down onto the soft hay Navarro replaced, seeing they were comfortable enough before leaving with James, heading down the wood-panelled corridors.

"First day of voyage went well kupo." "Yeah?" asked FG. "They were not so anxious as most normal chocobos would." "That's because you trained them well." "Hm." "Hey uhhhh Dahlia might ask you later on if it's okay she sleeps in the same room as you." "Why, kupo?" "Because I'm gonna sleep in Kruz's room, he invited me because we're old friends." "...isn't there only one bed in the captain's cabin?" "...y-yeaaaaaaah..." The raptor rubbed his neck nervously as the moogle rolled her eyes whilst walking through to the upper deck, lanterns firmly in place above them to keep the way well-lit with a charming soothing glow. "I-it's not like that, we don't do anything!" "Of course not." "No I'm serious, I got a boyfriend already and it's not him okay?!" "I don't care." "Right, well, just saying Dahlia might wanna sleep in your room since she's got no one else." "Not Fayne, kupo?" "You know he's never away from Baldwin," said FG, "and besides those two uhhhh-" "Oh for gods' sake," muttered Navarro, "you are all such petulant little-I thought we had dealt with this!" "I thought so too but this-...Dahlia's got some other issues with Baldwin, I think maybe she did not realise he was wanting to date her and now that she sees him as a closed-minded bigot-" "You are making assumptions, kupo. Do you have any evidence that is the problem?" "Well...no, but why else would Dahlia be so angry about him?" "Perhaps she might still be traumatised from her experience and chose Baldwin as her scapegoat." "But he didn't do anything!" "Exactly." He looked at Navarro quizzically not exactly following her, people passing by them amidst their duties carrying the last supplies before bed. "Because she never saw Baldwin when we came to rescue her, despite Baldwin claiming he loved her so, she might feel as if he has betrayed her." "But he was looking after his brother, also aren't YOU assuming?" "I am, kupo. And that is all we can do unless we ask her directly. Have you asked her?" "I tried to but-" "Tried? Didn't." "I didn't wanna push her, she got uncomfortable about it!" "Fine," said Navarro firmly. "Is the artifact safe kupo?" "Yeah she's still got it," said FG, "no worries." "Good, frankly she's the only one I trust out of all you." "Wow, I'm right here, also kind of your leader." "It does not help that you argued over-" "Okay stop." The two stopped still in the hallway outside the guest rooms underneath one pulsing magic lantern that lit the top of their heads, the raptor overshadowing Navarro literally with darkened glower. "Look, I actually tried to resolve the issue, and yanno what, Baldwin even thanked me and said he trusted me enough when we got to Balfonheim, okay? I mean it's not an apology but I'll take what I can get, I don't care what he says so long as he avoids that one word, that's what I told him." "Really? Hm. Very well, I withdraw my complaint, I'm off to sleep. Goodnight, kupo." "G'night."

Navarro went straight for her room where she slept alone, like always as she prepared for bed. James did not feel so tired and decided to check up on Kruz at the cabin, but not before checking in on Dahlia, whose room was currently between Navarro's on the left and the brothers' on the right as he tapped on the door. No reply came, as he unlocked the door with the guest key he had been given for his room finding nothing in it. No nu-mou no nothing, as he departed locking the room up again before checking in on both Baldwin and Fayne. "Knock knock," said FG. The door unlocked from inside as Baldwin slightly opened it showing his head around the doorjamb. "Hey, what'sszh up?" "Just checking on you guys before bed, how's your brother?" "Oh doing great, we totally cleaned out the crew at leasszht half their fool'sszh gil, it wasszh awesszhome!" "Hahaha, awwww that's sad." "For them, heheh." "Have you seen Dahlia at all? I can't find her in our room." "Didya check under the bed?" "...why would she be under the bed?" "Haha I'm kidding, I have no idea where sszhe went." "She went below deck," called out Fayne from within. "Huh?" Baldwin looked back towards the room as James opened the door by himself, stepping in to find Fayne propped up on his bed whilst reading a book. The bishop, undressed as his clerical clothes were put away into his dresser, looked rather lean for his age despite James not knowing how bangaas would look normally upon being healthy, wearing only his white woollen undershirt and pants. It was oddly adorable on him for how cozy it looked, making James smirk slightly. He was certainly less muscular than Baldwin, thin arms and legs down to the more blatant foot where he now saw what prosthetic he had, the entire right foot having been sawn off and replaced by a near-perfect copy. However James could see where the discolouration between false cast and real skin was if he looked closely around the ankle, despite managing to see the foot actually rock back and forth slightly. The raptor quickly asked in order to not leave any awkward silence: "What do you mean below deck?" "Dahlia went to the engine room," said Fayne without looking up. "She mentioned that...she became rather...fascinated by how the technology worked and needed more...stimulating dialogue to help...distract her." "Heh, well I guess she won't get any here." "Heeey!" said Baldwin. "I'm just kidding don't worry...how's the foot?" Fayne put down his book grimly before replying: "Could you not make that a topic everytime we talk?" "S-sorry I'm just...really curious, I didn't mean-" "I am not. Forgive me but I am trying to not think it anymore than my left foot mirrored to my right...as-opposed to being an actual foreign limb." "Right, gotcha...so Baldwin told me you cleaned house at the card games." "Indeed...and what more, they told me that a tournament would be happening in Bhujerba within a month or two." "What?! Heeeey that's awesome, you gonna enter?!" "Of coursszhe he'sszh gonna enter!" Baldwin swooped up alongside Fayne and noogie'd him hard with an armlock and a grinding of knuckles on the forehead. "My little brother Fayne'll break the decksszh an' flusszh them out!" "A-aaagh you-get OFF Baldwin!" Fayne pushed him away irritably as the bigger brother cackled, sitting up onto his own bed opposite before Fayne went back to his reading. James smirked and turned away but not before asking: "Hey uh, Fayne if you're still up by the time I get back from finding Dahlia, could you...play a game with me?" "You want to play?" "I've got nothing to do and I'm...sorta curious about it, why it's so popular here." "Have you ever played?" "Nah but I did pick up some cards over at the market soooo I might as well use 'em." "Hmm. Very well, when you return I will play with you, I will remain awake for the time being delving into my book." "Alright then, later." The two brothers waved before he fully left the room, Baldwin closing it as James headed to the engine room. It took him a while to remember where it was but so long as he kept going down towards the increasing hum he knew he was on the right track. He did not get too much of a chance to see it earlier, as he walked into the larger hold where the engine itself kept pulsating the very life of the ship. A radiant translucent skystone beating ethereally from within its glass sanctum, the resonant aura vibrating his very teeth with power from it. The various workers moved back and forth, the night crew keeping everything going with occasional checks and tweaking of its power output, a constant job for the most part but merely for observations' sake. The chief engineer, Cid, marked clearly out from the crowd was talking to Dahlia as he gladly gave her the grand tour of engineering as James stepped up close to hear him.

"An' that's how the resonance chamber works, now you see those main pipes right above the skystone? That's where they pump out power to the main mast which acts as our transmitter of sorts to all four hoverpoints." "That's a very unusual design," replied Dahlia, "why not send the power directly to the engine?" "Oh we do, that's where the BIG boy is right behind it, you can't see it from this angle but there's one HUUUGE thick length that goes right to the engine and pumps out at least fifty-five percent of the skystone's main output." "And what of the hoverpoints? That is, why not have a direct cable output towards them rather than this mast transmitter?" "We tried to before but the hoverpoints getting it direct from the ground cable just wasn't good enough! The problem is that we couldn't send the magic to all four points at the same speed because the engine room's at the back of the ship, not the middle of it. So I devised a plan, the captain wanted sails cuz he kinda didn't understand how all this magicite works yanno, so I thought 'hey, what if the sails could AMPLIFY that power AND send it to all hoverpoints with equal distribution from the very centre of the ship!?' An' that's what I did!" "That's amazing! I've never heard of someone using a shipmast as a magic transmitter." "Welp, that's why ya need Cid dontcha?!" The chief engineer thumbed his approximate nose as Dahlia giggled at such confidence, watching the machinery with awe all around before she spotted James behind her. "OH, hello James!" "Heeeey there," said FG. "Checking the ship out huh?" "Oh, yes, I...hope that's alright I was just fascinated by this engine and-" "How could I refuse?!" replied Cid arms spread. "When a lovely lady with a heart as big as her brain comes down here askin' about machines I can't say no to that!" "Heehehe, s-stop please I-i was just curious." "Curious is when you don't know about the basics of magicite design. You come walkin' in here sussin' out my generator setup fer maximum drive steerage, I go 'hey now this filly knows sumthin' good I gotta give her the ol' tour' yanno?!" "W-well you are such a gracious host, thank you for letting me see your marvellous machinery." "Heh, no prob! So uhhhhh...James wuz it, ya need sumthin'?" "Actually no," said FG, "I just wanted to check on Dahlia, I told Navarro you wanted to share the room with her." "Oh!" The nu-mou blushed softly with a hand to her lips. "W-was she alright with it?" "I think so, she did say she trusted you the most out of all of us." "S-s-she did?!" A harder blush came to her cheeks as James almost heard a near-silent squee behind her fists covering over her mouth. She then realised what she was doing and cleared her throat, putting her hands down formally. "W-well...that's...good, thank you for informing me James. I will be right up after I've talked with Mr. Rzepka more on machines." "Ahh huh...okay then MISTER Rzepka." James looked suspiciously at Cid who, even beneath his onesie had the widest shit-eating grin he had ever seen as he winked behind his goggles, placing one arm right around Dahlia's shoulders in a friendly manner. "NOW, you were askin' about the sails werentcha miss?" "OH, yes actually, how exactly does that work?" "Well ya see," began Cid, "the thing is that the sails are not actually made of regular sailcloth, they're actually woven arcane tapestry left intentionally blank, threaded specially fer increased maximum magical output! That way when the magic fires up through the mast, it gets absorbed into the sails before they expel it in turn out to all four hoverpoints, bringing equal distribution of the skystone's power up to them!" "But wouldn't that simply dissipate its magic into the air?" "Not if you put osmose drives on all four hoverpoints, sucks the magic right outta the sails an' they store it all up, ya think the sails' actually pushin' it out but it's not, it's bein' leeched by all four hoverpoints equally, yanno like one of those Magic Pot things." "OH, the Magic Pot theory that is BRILLIANT Mr. Rzepka, absolutely brilliant!" "Heh...please, call me Cid." "Tell me," asked Dahlia, "have you ever heard of Mr. Tesla's resonant transformer?" "Nnnnnooooo?" "Imagine a machine that can generate an INCREDIBLE power of electricity...without any magic." "...seriously?" "I have this revue which explains everything, I would love to show you!" "Ohhhhoho this I gotta hear, tell me all about it missy! I'm all ears!" The chief engineer grinned happily at such enthusiasm, showing Dahlia more of his machinery eagerly as they covered points on generational physics, magic properties of steel distribution and of course the concept of electricity that James knew nothing about completely. Heading back upstairs, he decided there was still time left before bed and so took up on his offer to play some card games with Fayne. It wasn't too long before the two of them sat with a small table between them and a sheet of paper acting as the "board", of nine rectangles inscribed in order to place the cards down fairly.

Fayne cautiously introduced the raptor to the game of Triple Triad, explaining the point of the game was to have more cards earned than your opponents' by the end of the game when all spaces had been filled. The cards themselves were partly magic, one side automatically changing their backgrounds upon the spin of the triangle, which appeared to be the decider for who goes first. For now Fayne decided not to explain the complex rules simply letting James get a feel for the game, starting with Open rule as the most basic of all. The rule was simple in that it allowed James to see both his own cards as well as his opponent's, a beginner's setting to let him plan out his moves more easily. The real difficulty was remembering what numbers looked like in Ivalician, having had to make a cheat sheet in order to memorise them properly. It didn't help that his own starter deck was so weak that none of them had any numbers go beyond that of 6 but Fayne compensated with his own starter deck he had specially made when dealing with beginners. First game he knew he would not win having only won two of Fayne's deck, but the second game went even worse with almost all of his own cards taken as Fayne gave them back just to play fair. James did finally understand how to play it by the fourth game, but he was also terrible at planning numbers to the point that Fayne inadvertently had made a clean sweep and swiped all his cards entirely. "FUCK!" The raptor flipped the whole table to one side in a fit of rage as it clunked heavily onto the floor upside down, the sheet of paper flying off with all the cards stuck to it still by magical propensity. Baldwin cackled behind FG clapping derisively from his bed, loving the humiliation. "HA HA HA HA HAAAAA, aaaaaah you got cleaned out bosszh!" "S-SHUT UP! Fuck...can you not be just a LITTLE more easy on me Fayne?!" "No," said Fayne smugly, "I may be your tutor but I will not play favourite, for that would become a poor...education." "I'm not in school, it's a card game for fuck's sake." "You are now, when I teach you in my domain, I...am your master." Baldwin picked up the table to place it back once more, as well as the sheet of paper which still kept everyone's cards in place on it, annoying James even moreso. "Oh my god what is this magic bullshit, WHY ARE THE CARDS MAGIC?!" "How-else would we play?" asked Fayne patronising. "What other way do we have to keep them locked firmly by board or know which...side-has won?" "This is really stupid..." He laid back cupping hands to his face, dragging claws over his snout before seeing Baldwin up above him smiling. "You're jusszht mad that you sszhuck at thisszh." "I-i'm not good with numbers okay?!" "But you are good at sszhucking...that'sszh what you molliesszh are good at right, sszhucking?" "...ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, fuck you." "HAHAHA!" He could not help but smile a little more seeing Baldwin ease up around him, looking not so defensive whenever even the briefest mention of such topics came up. Fayne smiled too, feeling more relieved than ever that his brother and leader were slowly starting to come back around onto good terms. With a little good spirit come back to him, the raptor decided on one last game and then he would be off to bed, easing up more into it as he placed his Wolf card down asking: "So how did you get into this game?" "I enjoyed collecting in my younger day," said Fayne with his card down, "the-bestiary of every portrait in Triple Triad intrigued me greatly and I began to play when I became twenty-one. Studying the game more I began to comprehend more of the pattern, and took it further to a more competitive level when I became thirty-two." "So you just had a hobby and it grew?" "Indeed." Fayne casually stole James' Wolf and Viper cards once more with a single Garchimacera card at the same time, top and left of his own as they magically flipped to his colour. "Then I began to try for the tournament much later, after Baldwin greatly encouraged me." "I didn't wanna sszhee him wasszhte it," replied Baldwin, "he really became a terror round the card playersszh at Lea Monde, even the high priesszhtszh could not handle him!" "Indeed, I remember Mother Mariel being the only one that ever beat me...a long time ago." "She plays it too?" asked FG. "Regularly."

The raptor put down a beefy-numbered Wu to counteract against Fayne's Garchimacera. The combo rule was not in effect so sadly he could not regain his cards back, but it was a small victory he enjoyed briefly as Fayne kept talking. "Mother Mariel taught me and Baldwin greatly, about love, hatred, light and the Dark...children's-card-games, healthy eating-" "Everything really," said Baldwin, "sszhe'szh the mosszht important persszhon in our life, if it wasszhn't for her I...well-" "We'd be dead." The cleric said this solemnly as he slapped down a card that destroyed James' Wu, a vile Gazer that returned the majority of the board back to him. "I am not making hyperbole." "Jeez," said FG, "I mean...I understand, I had someone raise me too and taught me everything too." "Ahhh true, I forget you are an orphan too." Baldwin sniggered at this before adding: "Look at usszh three huh? Regular orphanssszh club right here." "Hhheheheh yyyyeaaaah," mumured FG awkwardly, "my uh...my 'mom' wasn't the nicest lady. She was good, she cared about people but she was also a real mobster, like a true gangster." "Really?" asked Fayne. "Yeah, she controlled a neighbourhood like it was her own mafia, kept everybody safe, controlled crime in order to keep it down and organise it to help people. Sometimes it worked really well and everybody got fed, all working together to keep warm and safe, mainly stealing from the rich cuz it's not like they need so much." "Amen to that," said Baldwin chuckling. "But sometimes she had to get tough on people and...well, she could become really fucking cruel that I got...pretty terrified of her." "Ahhh..." James put down his second-last card of the game, a feeble-minded Cactite trapped in one corner with one single strong 6 to defend itself. "But we did our best, it wasn't the perfect situation but she gave me warmth, food, a job, someplace to live, and I stayed with her for eight years. She even stopped being as cruel on certain people after I sorted out stuff with her, kinda really talked it out with her on stuff and we got on a lot better." "Why only eight?" asked Fayne. "I got kidnapped...long story." "Ahhh...do you plan to return to your 'mother' one day?" "That's what I'm trying to do now." "Really?" replied Baldwin. "How far away isszh sszhe?" "Very far...I need something more than just an airship to get back to her." "I...don't get-wait, what'sszh sszhtopping you from getting back home?" "Are you blind Baldwin?" said Fayne sternly. "Clearly he would require...transportation that can reach beyond the Jagd." "Ohhhhhhh...wow, that far?" "Yeah," replied FG tiredly, "sorta I guess, you're not far off." "I think we are done for now." The cleric put down a weak Mu card as James made his last stand, a feebler effort of another Viper card that at the very least managed to take Fayne's Mu in its final struggle. Stretching his arms with a heaving yawn he stood up and took his card deck with him, heading out the door as Fayne waved goodnight to him saying politely: "Thank you for the card game. For-once I can play with a friend other than my brother." "What you mean?" replied FG. "Navarro, well...her maturity would rob her of any enjoyment from the game and Dahlia......is not a fan of the game." "Ahhh...huh weird, I always thought she'd love it." "I thought-so too but...apparently not." Fayne's rather guarded tone made James look at him oddly, but he was too tired to care saying: "Hokay I'm off to bed, night guys." "Night." Both brothers gave him their wishes as James headed up top, ascending the staircase short as it was to the outside world. A soft cool wind had come blowing the moment he stepped onto the main deck watching the much quieter activity of what remaining night crew was awake keeping guard on all points. Night had come forth pouring its stars all over Ivalice, the sky as bright as anything from port windows and top deck with such clarity, that James could almost be able to tell each one apart from the other.

Rzepka, the real one, was on top deck next to the wheel having left his navigation room for the first time that day taking note of the stars as he scribbled them down. His bangaa assistants also were charting other parts of the night sky in order to complete a picture between all three, a constellational portrait as the ship turned less active, people moving back to their quarters to rest up down below. The female nu-mou, Michelle, remained on point at the steering wheel whilst conferring with the cartographer, laughing away as they shared jokes keeping course along the star points. Heading into the captain's cabin, James saw Kruz framed against the night, his large rear window showing his lean brown body without cloak and a hand pressed firmly against the glass. Heavy shoulders hung briefly downwards, claws scraping downwards shakily as a sigh came wistfully from his lips. "Kruz?" "Hmm-OH HRH-HEM, hey Rex, been waitin' fer ya!" The kremling turned with a wide grin wiping his eyes briefly, stepping up towards the raptor with arms stretched out before FG asked: "You okay?" "Oh yeah yeah don't...don't, worry I wuz readin' a book while waitin', war novels, romance, stuff like that...got really into one." "Ahhh...heh, sorry." "S'alright man! I just finished my bookkeeping an hour ago so lemme lock the door now yer here, you just get yerself ready fer bed." "Alrighty." Walking over to the door Kruz firmly locked it by his key, placing it in his armoire along with the hook he began to unscrew before bed. James undressed his armour politely along with his scissors in their baldric, placing it to one side safely as he stared over at the cupboard's interior, watching Kruz undress in turn until both were completely naked. It was oddly relaxing to be nude in the same room as his trustworthy friend, admiring each other silently with soft grins of intrigue as James could not help but gaze upon Kruz's fine-toned rump, better looking than his he thought. In the cupboard's smaller drawer was a whole range of hook attachments with one empty space. Excluding the simple hook that Kruz was using currently, there was one bronze attachment with two double-jointed claws, one that resembled a nail file with sharpened point, an actual knife with its handle whittled to a smaller width and finally one that was simply a replica of his own hand mirrored to fit the left arm along with a pair of fine white gloves. It was a strange set of tools that, out of context, James never would have comprehended asking: "How many hook attachments do you HAVE?" "Just these," said Kruz, "I don't got many I need now lessee...my standard hook I already got, my riggin' hook, my stabbin' hook, I like to keep that fer serious fights, my dinner knife hook-" "Dinner knife?!" "What, I gotta eat an' use cutlery like everybody else James seriously. S'why I need the wires too, gotta be able to twist things yanno?" "Okay okay...why a knife though and not a fork?" "Because I like the fork in my right hand, I get a good thrusting motion outta my left hand more fer cuttin' things see." "What's that fake hand?" "That...khhehe...that's the Stranger." "...the what?" Kruz grinned widely back towards him with a soft wink asking: "You ever sat on yer hand 'til it goes numb then try to stroke off with it?" "...ohhhhh, oh god Kruz really?" "Khhahahaha, yer so easy, that's not whut it's fer." "Oh good, what then?" "That's my fake hand fer social events cuz, people get real uptight about you showin' up to some fancy ball with a hook fer a hand." "Wow, fucking ableist am I right?" "I know." "Don't you have to bring your dinner knife though?" "Well yeah, the handle's designed to fit into my stump."

He waved said stump cheerfully in the air with a wry smirk, showing the metallic endpoint with a circular hole in the centre of it as the wires rattled slightly, one on each side of his left arm. He demonstrated such by taking the dinner knife, its lower half of the handle filed down to a fine cylindrical length, and screwed it inside his stump easily until it locked with the upper half of its handle sticking out. Ready to serve as indicated by Kruz's pretend cutting motion of slicing a fine wafer thin piece of imaginary ham. "See?" "Doesn't that...hurt?" asked FG. "Naaaah it's right in the middle, I don't got nerves in my wrist anymore, hell I don't even have a wrist." "How'd that happen to you again?" "Rope got caught on my wrist whilst I was in the rigging. Wuz a bad storm lashin' all over the place an' this rope just swung round tightly right round my wrist squeezin' it until it POP. Broke my wrist an' crushed it like an eggshell." "Eesh...you ever get like a new hand, maybe they got some prosthetics here for actual finger movement or-" "Naaaah I'm fine with this, I'm not sure how they do it really." "Well you could ask maybe." "Ehhh," said Kruz wearily, "we'll see, I kinda like having the hook hand, mostly what I'm used to after nine or...fifteen years." "You got used to the wires." "True...but it's still kind of a big leap to go from hook to hand, I had enough problems goin' the other way." "Alright then." The two slipped down under the sheets, the raptor sighing pleasantly at the prospect of another good night's sleep as Kruz peered over him, noticing an odd section of the armour pile James' had. A white pair of boxers with hearts dappled all over, shimmering with an oddly fresh and clean glow. "Heh...didn't notice the boxers." "Wha, OH yeah um...I kinda like them." "They look cute on you...course everything does on you." "Hhhhehehe, sure. That was a nice dinner we had earlier today." "You liked it?" "Oh totally it was the best! Seriously that fucking grilled pork MMMMPH god I could taste every bit of it." "Khhhehehaha, glad yer crew wuz enjoyin' it too, I told ya Marshuk wuz the best." "Mmmmm totally...yanno it's weird, I never seen the captain join in eating with his crew. I mean, K. Rool never joined us when we ate." "Well he didn't have a mess hall really," replied Kruz, "we all just ate where we wanted. Plus he always enjoyed privacy when he ate fer some reason." "Self-entitled fuckwit is why." The kremling shrugged half-heartedly with a soft sigh as James continued: "I can't believe I used to respect the guy, even like him, fucking worthless asshole." "Doesn't matter anymore, it's been seven years." "Still, the shit he did I just hate the fact tha-" "Well that's not the point!" said Kruz interrupting firmly. "I just wanted to be with my crew, not stuck in my cabin eatin' alone, dinner's a group experience, you share food, you talk, you eat, you laugh with people. You don't go sittin' on yer own remorseful, makes the food bitter." "I guess...man your crew really loves you, I don't hear a word from them against you." "Considering I saved most of 'em from slavery I hope not." "How did that happen? You never told me about it." "I...I'd rather not talk about it right now." "Why?" "Just...I'd rather talk about nicer things fer now, it's been a nice day, I have you, we had a nice dinner altogether an' Fayne whupped my crew's ass at card games. Then I whupped your ass." "Right, hehe...okay well, Dahlia loves your ship, I just saw her down the engine room and-" "Wait...one of yer people went down to my engine room?" "...um...shit I forgot, Kruz I-" "James, look." Kruz sat up slightly to become more serious in his official status, the raptor sitting himself up with back against the headrest. "We're good friends, an' I trust YOU. But that doesn't mean I trust everybody in yer group so I'm gonna let you off with that first warnin', but from now on nobody in your group goes anywhere near the armoury or engine room. I'm sorry, I just wanna play it safe." "Alright, I understand, my bad sorry." "Why wuz she in the engine room anyway?" "She was really fascinated, she got on really well with Cid, they start talking about generators an' stuff about electric energy, they were real great together!" "Ohhhh gods she better not be putting ideas into that guy's head, we got enough problems already with him!" "Hahahahaha...are you alright?" "Course I'm alright, I have you!" "Just, you seem kinda down...is there anything you wanna tell me?"

The raptor sidled up closer towards his friend as a show of sympathy, watching closely along his eyes wondering if something was up. Kruz simply smiled and wrapped his arm round his shoulders pulling him close towards his chest. "Pffft like you care about my problems." "Wh-what hey!" "Yer not gettin' another bargain offa me James, you get what you pay fer!" "G-get off!" "Not until ya kiss me!" "D-dude!" "NOPE! Not lettin' ya go until ya kiss me come on what are ya scared of, faggot?!" "OKAY THASSIT!" James wrestled slightly out from his grip, grabbing him by the head and pulling him down towards the mattress as they rolled underneath the sheets. Kruz had a disadvantage having only one hand and was not able to pin fully, leaving James the upper hand as he rolled him sideways with a sudden pull of his arms one way to lay on top finally, hands slapped onto the upper arms trapping Kruz from lifting up. "NNNGH...khhah...fiiiine you win." "Heheheh..." "If I had the Stranger on you'd really be in trouble." "Pfffft yeah right...you're such an ass you know that?" "Takes one to know one." "Hhhhhahahaha...yanno what, fair point, we were pirates." "I'm STILL a pirate, well, Sky Pirate's what they call me, I know I'm a cargo trader by trade buuuut that's my class I guess." "Well hey, better than Seaman." Kruz smiled widely with a dirty grin before saying: "...trust me, nothing's better than-" "Don't." James put a stern warning face before breaking it with a giggling fit, the kremling joining soon after as he chuckled before leaning his head up towards him with a tender kiss, smirking bashfully as he let go of the captain's arms. Before he even had a chance to move off of him, Kruz swung his arms softly around James' back and pulled him in close. James tensed up slightly wondering what he was doing but the feeling of Kruz's hand upon the back of his head softly soothed him, pressing him against the kremling's brown-scaled chest. For a moment he heard a heartbeat, his eyes closing peacefully as Kruz gently began to stroke his head breathing gently, his chest rising and lowering against FG. James did not protest, and before he realised it he had fallen asleep on top of his friend sweetly. Kruz looked down upon him, taking longer to sleep not moving an inch of his body except for his hand upon FG's head. His chest began to hiccup slightly, a soft gasp escaped his lips as shuddering hot breaths, pulling James in for one last embrace. Nuzzling against him before he laid back upon the pillows, there came soft tears down his cheeks before his eyes closed shut, drifting off to sleep at last. It was only the next morning that he would awake, earlier than FG for his duties as he rolled him gently off his body, tucking the covers around him safely to keep him warm. Shaking his head clear, Kruz began to dress himself once more with a new cloak of choice, a black one with more modest brass fittings that did not shine so neatly as his green cloak had. The only thing that woke up FG, perhaps two hours after Kruz had awaked, was the sound of gunfire as dawn had risen outside the window. "BATTLE STATIONS!" "CHECK THE FAIRWIND, KEEP A LEVEL HEADING!" "JAMES, WAKE UP!" "WH-HUH!?"

Bolting upright almost immediately he fumbled his way out of bed and quickly snapped into gear with his armour on him, slipping it on neatly with practiced vigour before seeing Kruz readily arm himself. The cupboard was full-open, the captain pulling out his own cutlass of huge chopping blade at a hefty 2.5 feet long including handle before attaching his stabbing hook to his hand. The lethal 10-inch silver length resembling a nail file with ruthless single point, shone fiercely in the morning light as Kruz put on K. Rool's hat swiftly. "What's going on?!" cried FG. "We're under attack," said Kruz, "bandits from the Black Mist." "Black mist?!" "Name of their ship, you ready fer a fight?" "Always." "Good, bring yer friends if they want in on this but you do as I say, if I tell you to jump you fuckin' jump." "Aye-aye...captain." "Wait!" "What?" "...help me with this." Kruz held up a glove for his right hand from his hook drawer as James looked at him oddly, wondering why he even needed such a thing before the kremling shouted: "THAT'S AN ORDER!" "S-SIR!" Before he could further question it, he slid the glove onto Kruz's single hand neatly covering his four clawed fingers perfectly, which included the thumb. He flexed his hand a few times to make certain it stayed on before ordering his friend: "Alright thank you, now go find yer people an' tell them what's happening." "A-alright, but-" "You can ask me whatever after, we gotta go, now MOVE IT BOY!" "S-SIR YES SIR!" James smirked confidently with a slight nervous salute before Kruz grinned back softly, winking at him as the two headed out the door with the sounds of battle burning in their ears. To James' left on the clear dawning sky, burning orange lightly from the south, was a dark ship slightly larger than the Broken Petal of a more typical design of Ivalician technology. Pure skystone steering with twin engines boosting their way up towards them, slowly turning to the side as lights began funnelling through to fire cannons. The two ships began to circle like sharks within the air, shots firing from the cannons down below deck that rattled throughout the hull brimming with strength. Sometimes the cannons were solid iron spheres like typical warfare of the sea. Other times they were charged with an intense glowing light, pure balls of magic concentrated to crack upon the enemy hull and shatter through the steel. But in turn they also took hits, explosive across the hull and even on the top deck as burning magic scorched through killing one or three unlucky crew members. Kruz stood at the helm alongside the nu-mou Michelle, his black cloak fluttering in the breeze as he watched his crew maintain their stations. The sails kept pulsing magic, the engine kept up the same pace as the enemy ship circling the sky perfectly, whilst first mate hume Tennyson was down below deck screaming at the moogle gunners to keep firing. The armoury's cannons were locked in place to prevent them rolling about, the moogles filth-ridden by smoke as they fired up the magic-powered cannons, blasting potent energy as either straight-lined shots or tightly-wound pulsating spheres. "KEEP YOUR CANNONS WARM! SHOW THESE BASTARDS WHAT WE'VE GOT!" "CANNONS TWO AND THREE ARE DOWN KUPO!" "THEN REDIVERT THE SOURCE, FIRE AT THE BOW OF THE SHIP, SEND IT OFF-COURSE!" "AYE-AYE SIR! LOOK OUT!" Another ball of magic shattered across the hull, sending fires deep throughout the armour scorching across the very ceiling as the moogles ducked to the floor along with Tennyson. One of the cannons lost its anchoring as the rope holding it snapped, frayed by the fire and violently rolling backwards across the deck, right towards the young male moogle who was cowering from the flames. "MARTIN NOOOO!"

The scream of his family made him look almost too late, the cannon charging upon him like a battering ram black as death as he froze with fear. But not before he saw Tennyson, his clean-cut face scorched partly by flames as he dashed towards the young male moogle, grabbing him by the neck and pulling him fast out of harm's way right before the cannon slammed into the wall behind them, cracking the wood panelling with a solid snap showing the steel hull underneath. The mother of Martin held him tightly sobbing with fright and relief as Tennyson clicked on the intercom nearby. "CANNON TWO IS LOOSE, THE FIRE'S ON THE CEILING IN HERE!" "GET SOME AQUA DOWN THERE THEN!" cried Kruz on the other end. "I NEED THOSE CANNONS TO KEEP FIRING!" "AYE-AYE SIR!" "...WAIT, BELAY THAT ORDER, PUT CANNONS THREE AND FOUR ON COOL DOWN AND STUFF EM' WITH A SMOKE BAG!" "WHAT!?" "YOU HEARD ME, STUFF 'EM WITH THE SMOKE AND NAIL 'EM DOWN FRONT AND CENTRE, WE'LL GIVE 'EM A REAL SHOW ONCE WE GET CLOSE!" "AYE-AYE SIR!" The captain saw the next volley coming down upon them as he turned partly, trying to avoid some of the damage to his ship by making a smaller target to at least let half the shots fly over them. The mast barely survived a hit, screaming past its sails before cracking down upon the right side of the top deck, vibrations rattling fiercely through the entire hull. Kruz began watching to see the mages of his crew do their best to try and stand firm upon the deck, a small armada of them wielding their staffs and summoning spurious spells of Protect and Shell. "KEEP THOSE SPELLS UP, PROTECT THE CREW! RZEPKA!" "YES SIR?!" cried the intercom from Navigation. "HOW'S THE WIND SHIFTING?!" "TURNING SOU'WARDS WITHIN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES SIR, THERE'S NO SHIPS IN THE AREA BUT US!" "PERFECT, LET ME KNOW WHEN THE WIND CHANGES!" "YES SIR!" They did their best trying to either defend or divert against the blazing fires of both solid steel and pure incandescence, protecting the top deck best they could against radiating fire across the deck. Two of them mistimed their casting only to be furiously burnt. Screams of agony tearing across the ship as their clothes burnt out, flesh and fur blackening within an instant of cataclysmically-powerful fire. James found himself being thrown against the walls as he made his way down the ramps, as well as a few other crewmembers also hitting the wood panelling hard and stumbling towards the floor as he limped his way down to the guest cabins. He barely had the chance to knock himself against the door when Baldwin screamed from within, shouting: "WHAT'SSZH GOING ON!?" "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" called FG. "THERE'S A SHIP FIRING ON US!" "WHAT!?" "YOU CAN STAY HERE OR COME OUT AND FIGHT, YOUR CHOICE!" "YOU DON' GIMME A CHOISSZHE YOU FUCKING MOLLY I'M COMIN' WITH YA!" "BALDWIN WAIT!" Fayne pulled his brother back panicked from the situation, but the monk would not hear of it. "Lemme go I gotta fight!" "TH-THIS ISSZH NOT YOUR FIGHT!" "DON'T BE A COWARD, WE'RE ON THISSZH SSZHIP WE'RE IN THISSZH TOGETHER!" "But...m-my leg." The bishop looked down at his foot fearfully, wincing as he felt the stress start to come through fearing it would hurt. Baldwin pulled him close into a tight embrace and kissed him on the cheek. "You can either sszhtay here and pray for me, or you can join me out on the battlefield. I won't judge you either way." "...this...this isszhn't a battle on the field, Baldwin it'sszh madnessszh we are out above sszhea!" "A fight isszh a fight right?! I'm not sszhtayin-GAAAH!" The ship suddenly vaulted to one side as the sound of the next volley came hammering down upon their feet, hitting the underside of the ship and shattering through to damage part of the underhull. People began screaming louder from down below deck, as Dahlia began screaming in turn whilst covering her ears begging for it to stop, shrieking from the other side of Fayne's wall as James ran for her aid. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" "THE SHIP'S UNDER ATTACK!" "WHAT!?" "I'M GOING UP TOP TO HELP!" "B-BUT, YOU COULD BE KILLED!" "DIDN'T STOP US RESCUING YOU DIDN'T IT?!" She realised with one punch of his words and did not make any further attempt to argue, looking around fearfully as she fretted with her hands on the bed. "B-but...I-i-i could not, I can't fight!" "But you are my healer...you can either stay here and keep our artifact safe...or you can come up and help people. You'll do good either way." "...where's Navarro?" "Huh?" "Sh-she's not here, where is she?!" "I don't know!" "F-FIND HER! GO, PLEASE, I'LL COME WITH YOU IF YOU FIND HER FOR ME!" "Alright!"

He ran from the room with a passing shout to Fayne and Baldwin that he was off to find Navarro and to wait for him upon return, the two agreeing to stay in their room as James rapidly jumped down the stairway towards the storage room. He knew there was only one place she would go to upon any danger, finding her keeping watch over the chocobos who were panicking over the sheer intensity of battle. They became restless, biting and squawking with screams of either frustration or absolute fear in them as Navarro struggled to secure them. "STOP IT! STOP IT KUPO! YOU WILL BE FINE, YOU JUST NEED TO CALM DOWN!" But they refused, simply flapping their feathers violently and biting each other with no other choice, shrieking and tearing at their restraints trying to break down the stable doors. Navarro grabbed Lightning first, the least-stressed of them all despite primal fears rising up within her. She held her by the cheeks staring firmly into her eyes and maintaining a confident low voice. "Calm. Down. We will fight this, not you, you fight on the ground, not in the sky, you WILL trust me and the people of this ship, kupo. Now, let me jus-AAAAGH!" Suddenly in the midst of frenzy, Cadbury grabbed her by the shoulder and tore her away from Lightning with a vicious bite hard from his beak. The tightness was sudden and were it not for her armour there was a serious threat that her bone could have been snapped as she was thrown across the floor, the black chocobo screaming the loudest and banging his head insanely against the stable door, trying to break free. The moogle stumbled slowly with a throbbing shoulder, looking up towards James' chocobo and seeing his violent outburst endangering not only himself but the rest of the pack. She was about to stop him when she felt something missing, grasping at her neck. Her eyes went wide with a sudden fear as her heart started racing. "Wh-...where is it?! Where is it?!" Panic rose up inside her throat as she feverishly began searching all around her, eyes stricken with sheer fright amidst the crackle and boom of the ship rumbling. The chocobos screamed even worse, Rinoa trying to fly out with her whitened wings whilst Luke and Asch began fighting each other in fearful frenzy. Lightning was trying to soothe them, but eventually became too nervous and started biting at Asch and tearing him away causing him in turn to attack her. Cadbury was halfway through breaking the stable door, the wood cracking against his vicious headbutting. All Navarro could think of however was that she had lost, panicking with hands shaking as she began scrabbling along the floor with tears streaking down her face. "WHERE IS IT?! WHERE IS IT KUPO?! I CAN'T LOSE IT! I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!" She finally saw something glint from the corner of her eye hidden beneath a large pile of crates thankfully well-secured to not even fall during the main assault. She ran towards the crates grabbing a pendant from underneath, a glistening red locket the size of a hume's fist she opened just briefly enough to catch the scent of something within it as she breathed in deep, gasping with relief. With a heavy sigh she put it underneath her armoured chest just in time to see Cadbury barge out from his stable shattering the wood, screaming with bloodied splinters across his face. "NOOO!"

The black chocobo tore his way out of the storage room ready to cause trouble, but the moment he did he saw a flash of brown suddenly appear before him, grappling him by the throat and hurling him down onto the floor. "STAY DOWN!" That familiar voice he had once despised upon first hearing, but now realised was one worthy of his respect. James had not even flinched upon seeing Cadbury try to escape, throwing him by the head and grappling him tightly despite shrieking disobedience, claws scrabbling at the floor desperate to free himself. "STAY! DOWN YOU FUCKING SHIT, THIS IS NOT YOUR WAR, THIS IS OURS!" "KRRREEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!" "STOP IT!" He forced himself nearly on top of Cadbury's bloody head and stared deep into his eye, piercing with dominance. "You try to go up there, you will fucking DIE, you cannot fight this, this is not your domain unless you know how to fly, do you?!" "K-KWEEEEHHHH!" "You got a job to do here, and that's to keep all of your people safe down here in case anyone tries to come steal you. I don't know if you understand me or not, you probably don't but you are gonna fucking listen or else you and everyone else will be fucking DEAD, you GOT THAT?!" The effort it took to achieve submission was painful already to Cadbury, struggling to not refuse as he kicked and fought until exhaustion started taking him, which in turn was not helped by his fresh new wounds caused upon himself. Seeing James' utter refusal, knowing he was his master, made him slowly start to submit, laying down and allowing himself to be tied up once more in the stable by a new thread of rope. Navarro had made her way already to the other chocobos who in turn had become more humbled by seeing one of their own dominated by its rider. The moogle made certain that Lightning would now take control as second-in-command beneath her, and once she did Navarro began to dress Cadbury's wounds with some temporary solution. Cleaning salves and brushing the splinters out of his face, she saw he had been calmed down enough to be reliable on his own before James asked: "You ready to fight?" "I never go back on my word, kupo. Thank you." "Let's move." With a firm nod the two rushed upstairs rejoining the rest of Clan Koridai as they hurried towards top deck, seeing the midst of battle take a turn for the worse despite the intensity of shots turning weaker between them. People were crying out in pain and fury as fires were doused by mages on board ship, trying to blast water across the flames to wash overboard completely. The black ship began turning fearlessly towards them, heading straight-on for collision as they began to pick up speed for ramming. Kruz stood fiercely at the wheel before Rzepka came through on the console. "THE WIND'S TURNING, SOU'WARDS CAPTAIN!" "That's good, stay down and brace yourself for anything that happens." He turned his head towards Michelle standing next to him with her tight fists around the wheel. "When I give the signal, you turn to hard port." "But...s-sir that puts us- "I KNOW IT PUTS US FACING THEM NOW WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL! Unless you are ready for death, helmsman!" "A-...a-a-aye-aye sir!"

The captain held the wheel as Michelle stuck with him, seeing the airship as a dark mass of brilliant steel perhaps 60 feet wide and 160 feet long. It had no sails naturally running on its own particular engine situated entirely inside itself, fuelling energy towards the hoverpoints of which it had six of circling around underneath. The enemy ship was fearsome in its powerful charge towards them, six points of purple light spinning rapidly underneath it creating an almost extraterrestrial glow to it, one of nether origin as it raced towards the exposed side of the Broken Petal. "Wait for it." The ship came closer, the steel carapace showing in the light. "Waaaaaait for it." They could see the people on board, a rampant hoard of thieves and killers badly-dressed from various races, mostly of hume and bangaa. "NOW, HARD PORT!" Steering violently sharp, the entire ship lurched as everyone fell nearly to one side as the Broken Petal swung furiously towards the enemy ship, groaning with a powerful burst from its engines creaking with magic strength. The sails pulsated with pure magic channelling towards the right side of the ship, forcing it to turn left harder before the ships loomed towards each other. It was too late for the Black Mist to start steering towards them properly as hard scraping went through the hull itself, shrieking violent noise through everyone's skull. The sound of two ships fiercely clashing, groaning with utmost force against each other as hull tore against hull for several minutes without end, streaking past just barely before they stopped fully alongside each other. The face of their enemy could now be seen by all as the Black Mist immediately began to act throwing out ropes with hooks to invade the other ship. "TENNYSON, FIRE!" Kruz's call through intercom sent a furious explosion between both ships, a cloud of heat that swept across the Black Mist burning everyone inside of it. Screams of agony as pure gunpowder smoke assaulted their lungs, a mixture of brimstone and ash of various concentrated sources as they began wheezing with death, choking in their throats before the smoke could dissipate away swiftly. Those who had survived without suffocating delayed their assault, upon seeing something come walking out of the fading mist, with sword in hand and one steel short blade in the other. Standing on the mast of the Broken Petal above with a whistling signal, was the captain of the ship leering down upon them black cloak in the breeze, crying out with fury brimming in his eyes. "THOSE WHO DARE TO FIGHT ME! MY NAME IS KRUZ! I am but the broken petal, graceful upon the wind fleeting for its moment of chance in the springtime of peace! But when a storm shall come in the face of evil, I dance not for beauty...for I become a sharp razor leaf, one who will slit your very throat and so shall your blood stain me as a petal!" He swung his blade down. " Red like the rose." In that instant, there came another second blast from the cannons straight onto the Black Mist, another violent cloud of smoke that killed the remainder of the first smoke's survivors. In the midst of secondary confusion, Kruz roared to his crew and began his own assault before he leapt furiously across the breach, the raptor and his clan lost within the sea of battle. " DIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Leaping off from the mast he cleared over the brief cloud of deadly smoke with sword driving down upon one Bangaa's head, cleaving him wide open by the skull halfway as he staggered to the side upon death. The rest of his people came rushing through once the fog had cleared, swords and staffs out with fury the captain lead on. At least forty-five members of his crew had cleared the breech and began to fight against the bandit horde with tooth and nail, spell and sword.

The first small wave ready to fight him came in the form of four humes and one bangaa who charged at him readily, before bending himself by the knees and slicing ruthlessly at their legs in a ducking spin. Two of them fell in panic, blood streaking from their ragged knees before he rose up suddenly in front of the bangaa with an arcing sword strike slicing the throat upwards. With the bangaa's head knocked back, his throat was cut but well-exposed enough for Kruz to stab right in the larynx with his stabbing hook, ripping a bloody gash as the bandit screamed pouring blood onto the kremling. The four humes panicked slightly at the sight which was all Kruz needed to make a flying leap of the grand jete, both legs perfectly horizontal of each other to strike two of them in the face at the same time. Dazing two of them briefly, he charged at the third with a sword swipe that the hume countered sharply forcing him to strike back. The moment the bandit swung forwards crying with fury, Kruz pirouetted onto his right foot spinning around the hume who lunged forwards without a target, the kremling twirling behind him before his sword thrust violently into his back. Bloody cutlass burst from his chest, the hume bandit screamed with red down his chest as Kruz made certain his heart had been split through before pulling back out, spinning fast as the blood flayed from his sword like morning dew. The two humes he had stunned briefly tried to assault him en masse, one on each side of him but he simply jumped on the very spot with both feet out on either side of him, slamming his scaled heels into their faces powerfully. The one who took it worst on his right, the only female of the group, staggered from the headache, but even worse was the plunge of Kruz's stab-hook into his eye. Lunging forwards at the dazed opponent, the hume had his hand to his face and never saw the silver sharp length penetrate through his hand before driving into his skull socket, screams cut short as blood trickled thinly down Kruz's arm. Tearing his straight-hook from the dead hume, he focused on the last two, one of which tried to back attack him whilst he was busy slaying his friend. Timing the pounding footsteps hurtling along the steel deck, he kicked out behind him right in the bandit's gut, his three-clawed foot scraping slightly across the pale skin as the hume clutched his stomach with pain. With his arms above him Kruz spun swiftly into a violent twirl, the stab-hook aimed down into the top of the man's bent skull penetrating with a spurt of blood, before he forced the head up and sliced his sword directly across the hume's throat. Had he driven his sword deeper in he would have fully decapitated him, but he was already dead either way before he gazed upon the last frightened hume. The sight of the hook piercing his friend's brain wrenching itself free from fractured skull, black cloak fluttering in the wind as Kruz raised his bloodied sword.

All around him were mages and swordsmen casting fire and water, wind spuriously rushing from both sides trying to destroy the other. Healers tried their best, and for the most part none of them were ever attacked except by the most ruthless of fiends. Even then they remained on the far edge of battle simply doing their best to keep friends alive as two ships clashed into a blood-fuelled frenzy. The family of moogle gunners from Kruz's ship lined up all along the rigging, firing their pistols with precision shots, almost never missing a target to kill. Bullets rained down upon the Black Mist as friends suddenly fell within an instant, almost as if the reaper had come to take them without any warning, but even then that only accounted for one-fifth of the seventy-strong force of combatants able. Tennyson stood taller than most of his men, imposing with the air of a captain as the enemy rushed towards him sensing his importance. Two bangaas and one charged as the first mate brought out his sword, a beautifully straight longsword of elegant Archadian design, almost Arthurian in its sheen. The first one, a hume, struck forwards as he blocked expertly with diagonal guard, slamming his shoulder by the turn of his foot during swordsman stance to throw the enemy off-kilter before he striked him through. One slash carved his face open shrieking with blood down his tears before falling, the bangaas running forwards roaring insult at the first mate. Taking both on at once, Tennyson managed to block both cutlasses by the length of his sword, even when they struck indeterminately, always lining up his sword just right to deflect both of them simultaneously. Eventually they realised and began attacking one at a time, the first bangaa striking hard bravely to push his sword against him with gritted teeth whilst the second bangaa moved round to attack from the side. Tennyson was wise to this and weakened his guard briefly with a feint letting the sword slide off from his before turning around in a whirling strike to strike down the second bangaa. But the fiend was quicker than expected, barely blocking himself with the sword before Tennyson drove forwards in one mighty thrust in his moment of weakness. The longsword drived deeply into the bangaa's stomach, gargling scream as blood vomited up from his snout with noplace else to go, dripping onto the deck. Tennyson made not one word of insult, nor shout, nor proclaim victory as he turned himself around forcing the impaled bangaa to move with him in his last moments. Facing the other fiends of this fight, he thrust entirely through to the hilt terrifying the other bandits with the sight of their friend executed before pulling straight back out, letting him fall at last. In a screaming rage the other bangaa rushed forwards with a flying leap to cave his head open, but the first mate dodged right with a sword strike upon the bandit's back carving a gash down to the tail. Shrieks of pain followed by a tearful swipe of his cutlass, the foe spun round right into Tennyson's own blade upon his throat. The first mate decapitated with extreme prejudice right through as the reptile's head rolled briefly down his fallen back before he hastened to find his captain. James kept close with his clan as Dahlia and Fayne stood close to each other's backs, keeping an eye out for any sign of danger heading to them as two swords and pair of fists braced themselves for a fight. A small group of humes, seven of them male and female, found them to be an interesting target as both Dahlia and Fayne chanted a new spell together, radiating from their staffs combined as they stood back to back. "NOS PROTEGAT!"

Shimmering a bluish sheen upon all of them, the wrath of fiends became delayed as their swords deflected upon an unknown shield suddenly formed by an invisible aura around James and his people. Protected by the light they made their first move, the raptor thrust forth with his pair of scissors wide open to slash through the first female hume's throat, both tips scraping past either side of the neck before he near-decapitated with the first cut. Navarro ducked beneath one blade swiping for her head as she leapt straight underneath the hume's chin with her raised sword upwards, a striking blow that carved through the man's head and split his jaw wide open. Screaming as he fell back, his tongue staggered falling from the split-apart abscess caused by her blade before she drove into the hume's throat ending his suffering upon instant. Baldwin did not even give them a second quarter, rushing forwards to block one female by a fist slammed into her bicep preventing her from striking, before his elbow snapped her throat viciously backwards. Cracking the spine as she breathed her last, he grabbed the rasping hume by the arm and threw her towards the other nearby combatant to knock them down before attacking. The other hume managed to stagger up from beneath his fallen friend enough to take on Baldwin toe-to-toe, a fellow brawler in unarmed combat. With rough-hewn arms of oily skin the hume rushed forwards as the bangaa monk waited on guard for the first punch, dodging to his right before he cracked his elbow straight across the hume's face. Giving him a chance, almost playfully, he let the fighter recover from the blow before the next strike came in the form of a brutal thrust to the knee, but Baldwin saw the tense of his leg and slammed his arm straight down upon the upper thigh creating a painful shudder that blocked it, before his other arm crunched its fist into the hume's solar plexus. Blood choked up from the fighter's throat as he roared with pain, grabbing Baldwin by the head and slamming his forehead against him with a brutal headbutt. It was enough to make the monk fall onto his backbut in a fit of rage Fayne had leapt in from out of nowhere and cracked his staff across the fighter's face like a golf club, breaking his head open to a bloodied porous spurt. The bishop pulled up his brother swiftly as the two smiled before Baldwin rushed forth with his own knee strike, killing the hume once and for all with a neck-snapping crack straight underneath the chin. He had little time to celebrate his victory before a fireblast slammed into his chest and pummelled him back across the deck with the force of a cannonball, burning his skin fiercely as he cried out falling. Fayne did not waste time healing him, summoning a spell of Cura which rejuvenated his skin and disintegrated the burns as Baldwin recovered his stamina, checking to see if nothing broke. His breath was raspy and a little shaky but he had no time to check, the black mage from opposite them standing with cloak and hat covering his face except for dark glowing eyes. Readying another spell to kill with, he summoned a blast of fire heading straight for them knowing they could not attack from this distance. But before the next shot was made, James rushed inbetween and put up his guard with the Tetra-shield on his left arm forming instantly, dozens of brilliantly-coloured blocks forming perfectly into a motley-holed shield that repelled the fire perfectly. Flames scorched across the guard with no effect to James as he summoned his own "field of magic" before boosting across the deck, the blast of wind sending up dust behind him before his scissors violently impaled to the very hilt inside the black mage. The ragged cloak fluttered briefly as the mage screamed beneath his hat, fallen as the raptor extricated the scissors dripping hotly with red ichor, almost quivering with orgasmic bliss at the death and destruction all around him. It was in that moment that he suddenly felt the deep pulsating of evil he was so familiar with, that old darkness burning inside him as he bent over doubled with pain. Groaning with fury as he became wrought with pain, the demon burned fiercely wanting to revel in the furore of bloodlust. He forced with stern will against the influence, shivering hotly before a cold burn throbbed thickly into his heart. His friends hurried over but James bade them back gasping with desperation. "GO, I'LL BE ALRIGHT!" "WHAT'S WRONG?!" asked Dahlia fearfully. "JUST...DARKRA...SPELL, SOMEONE HIT ME WITH IT JUST GO! FIGHT TO WHERE KRUZ IS HEADING I'LL FOLLOW YOU UP BEHIND!" "B-BUT...BUT-" "_JUST DO IT G-GAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAARGH! _" Roaring his order back to them, they hurried off as one unit through the screaming masses as Navarro took point with her blade driving through the side of one bangaa's knee, slicing apart the scaled flesh as the pirate buckled under roaring. He swiped across towards the moogle but she threw her whole weight behind the sword with such fury that she disarmed him in one block twisting it from his hand, before the plunge straight into the fiend's skull driving through the left eyesocket, screaming as blood poured down his cheek. Fayne however kept watch on James noticing his struggle with some unknown darkness, pulsating through him. He saw but a blip, his eyes turned dark as night with ethereal energy, before being swallowed back down into his being as those familiar green pupils returned to him, partly glazed over like a withered leaf. Stumbling his way back up, the raptor shook himself clear not noticing his eyes become more faded, but caring less as he rushed forth towards Kruz's position along with the rest of his group.

The tide was turning in favour of Kruz's people as he fought through with expert agility, dancing through the teeming hordes with slender body never letting anyone stop him for a minute. A sword swung from the left, he spun low to the right with a graceful rond de jambe before spinkicking straight across the opponent's head. A group of three stood in his path, he made a running frogleap from a sliding motion as he bounced from his knees splendidly, with the grace of a swan over their heads. His eyes locked onto the captain at the stern of the ship, the highest point of its deck design. With an open spot amidst the field of combat, he sheathed his sword and pulled off the glove from his right hand by his teeth before grabbing it in his claws, throwing it down hard in front of the captain. The higher subordinates saw this and shouted hollering: "DUEL! DUEL AGAINST OUR CAPTAIN, HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE! _" The battle began to cease, the sounds of fury dying down as spells dwindled and swords were gently lowered. Kruz stood awaiting the captain's reply as he sheathed his blade. a brash-looking tanned hume of silver moustache and cold potent single blue eye, the other having long since faded beneath its scar. The captain heard him loud and clear before stepping down off the stern of the ship in front of the kremling, the wind gasping between them as the Black Mist's captain felt his red cloak rustle in the breeze. The captain of the bandits put his hand up to his crew, forcing them to sheathe their blades entirely as Kruz did the same. Both sides ceased with dwindling bloodlust, even James and his clan simply stopped but kept wary for any heartless disobedient. A crewmember came from the bandits to act as mediator for the upcoming duel, a green bangaa of furrowed brow and plated armour, possibly of higher rank as James staggered up towards the scene impending, slowly recovering from his near-struggle with deathly evil. The captain of the Black Mist began his discourse. "It has been years since I have known another true gentleman of the skies." "I have yet to meet one," said Kruz coldly. "Captain Vincent, am I right?" "Yes, verily. And what is your name, stranger?" "Kruz Tenderleaf." "...aaaahhhh." The captain smiled with eyes slitted full of intrigue as he put his hands behind his back, shuffling his feet to walk slowly towards his right. "The Broken Petal himself, the hero of the Karmesan Rift. Hmhmhm...your ship is a fine little thing, such speed and unusual design, I could do with a flagrunner alongside my Mist...tell me, what will it take to have me part it from you cleanly?" "My cold dead claws, that's what it'll take." "That can be arranged. Be thankful that I still adhere to the old rules of gentlemanly conduct. So few these days ever do, we are a civilised people." "I agree. But I see nothing gentlemanly about you other than the silver spoon in your mouth." "At least it is a spoon I own, what language do you speak originally?" "One you don't deserve to hear." "No...I suppose not." Vincent tapped his boots gently rocking on his heels as he stood back in the same spot. Kruz was not amused saying: "The only reason I haven't killed you yet is so I can hear the wind whistling through your ears." "Hhhahahaha...are you more humorous near death or is that vanity I hear?" "Ask that question to your mirror, you'll have your answer. Why did you attack my ship?" "I told you, I want that little brigantine and well, all is fair in love and war. If you deserve it then you shall have won this skirmish with it alone." "So basically, if I wasn't good enough to win against you, you'd be doing it a service taking it from me?" "Correct. I would be dismayed at such a wonderful little beauty in the hands of a brute who could not treat her well." "Khheh...you call yourself a gentleman, but you're no better than a schoolyard bully." "It is the strong of heart and the strong of mind who shall succeed in this world." "This isn't the veldt, this is civilisation. People duel the old-fashioned way, not by wanton murder slaughtering their kin for a prize. A real commander does not sacrifice hundreds of men to prove a point, he fights his own battles...alongside his friends who wish to help him." Kruz touched his sword still sheathed on his left, his gun holstered on the right below his elbow as the captain nodded quite fondly. "So it seems even in this day and age there is honour amongst dogs." "I'm not a dog." **_Bang.** "...I'm a kremling."

Silence fell. The captain of the Black Mist struggled to look up as he could taste blood dripping down his throat, from the hole burrowed through his head by a single steel bullet. His hand clasped up to his neck struggling to breathe, forcing his brain to keep fighting against it but there was naught he could do, spasms from his wrists signalling the end as he fell onto his knees. Kruz stood before him with smoking flintlock, a large-handled weight held tightly by his grip with iron barrel length reminiscent of a small blunderbuss, not even blinking as the mediator screamed: "F-FOUL! FOUL YOU MURDERER, YOU WORTHLESS FUCK-" The second shot went straight into the bangaa's head beside him, killing him instantly in mid-sentence without Kruz even turning his head, silenced outrage as the crew gasped before him. Both his people and the bandits watched with fear trickling through their teeth as they nervously gulped back, the kremling pointing his pistol towards the rest of them. Demoralised greatly by the unsightly death of their captain, they dared not attack as Kruz's people began taking their weapons coralling them into one single crowd in front of him, the uncertain sixty-five strong crew of the Black Mist staring defiantly at the kremling who commanded: "Who is your first mate?" No one spoke back. He fired another shot killing a hume straight through the heart, as shocked gasps came from both sides amidst whimpers. "WHO IS YOUR FIRST MATE?! I will kill every single one of you right here unless you tell me who is your superior, NOW!" James did not expect such ferocity from his friend, the gun unflinchingly straight towards the next bandit crewmember ready to fire once more. He was wondering how far he would truly go just to dominate his enemy completely in humiliation, until it was answered shortly. "Your loyalty is admirable...I hope your lungs are just as good, Tennyson, bring me the Sleeper." Tennyson, without fail, brought forth a large-looking explosive the size of his head, the hume holding it in one hand looking oddly light for a dangerous-looking bomb streaked with green tape and a button on top of it. The kremling explained. "See this? Anyone hit by its radius will fall instantly asleep, and you will never awake until the next morn. Your ship will fall within the next hour by my hand in your engines, and you all will sleep peacefully, at the bottom of the ocean forever. That's a greater mercy than you ever planned for us, your captain is dead and if you do not give me your first mate then I have no time to deal with this worthless ship." "FUCK YOU!" The one who shouted received death at the hand of the fourth bullet, fired from Kruz's weighty gun which had four more shots left inside it. "If you are not going to tell me where your first mate is then you will die, all of you. This is your last chance." Five seconds passed. Six. Seven. Eight. The sound of soft winds blowing across their cheeks felt acrid and bitter with the taste and smell of gunpowder. Ten seconds passed before Kruz said: "Gas them." Tennyson made the motion to click the grenade and throw but never did, the bandits panicking and about to run before there came another sudden sweep of gaseous fumes, pulsating out from the very centre of the crowd itself. The crew of the Black Mist unaware before it was too late, began to succumb to the sweet mist, a sickly emerald hue that sent them off to sleep wrought by the bomb discreetly placed within one crewmember's pocket, by one of Kruz's own crewmembers of lithe hands without anyone noticing.

The coughing panic of the bandits was somewhat sickening for Clan Koridai to experience, whimpering their last as they fell asleep, possibly for the last time as James stepped forwards. "What the hell are you-" "Shhh-shh-shh." Kruz bade him to wait until the last one had drifted off to sleep, before allowing James to speak turning to him. "The fuck are you doing?!" "Puttin' on a show," said Kruz. "Tennyson, get Michelle to the steering on this ship and drive us off to Bhujerba." "Wait, what?" "...had you fooled there fer a moment didn't I?" His smile grew more like a snake-oil salesman, chuckling as he walked over with a pat on the shoulder whilst the rest of his crew began to work, shuffling around the Black Mist with their orders. Tennyson ran up towards the steering room which was situated inside the ship, taking several people with him in case of any guards below deck. Navarro however was indignant, marching her way up towards Kruz asking: "What in gods' name are you playing at, kupo!?" "I wasn't going to dump this ship in the ocean, nor was I going to kill everyone on this ship. That was just an act." "What?!" "You have to play the part if you want to make them break, and if they do well...that makes things easier." "So," asked Dahlia softly, "nobody...died?" "Oh no, those four people are dead, very dead. I don't do gun tricks." He showed off his flintlock pistol, sturdy enough to concuss a child by its sheer weight alone before he holstered it neatly, the raptor imagining it to be similar to a Desert Eagle in terms of power. "This thing kills anyone I shoot at, highly-powerful pistol, Cid made a few modifications on it to make it hold more ammo and shoot...harder somehow." "B-b-but they...they weren't armed, they surrendered!" "Not entirely, unarmed yes but surrendered no. They were planning to kill me and my crew as well as you. They insist on defying me before I give them the chance to 'die' with dignity, then they die for real." The clan looked at him with distrustful eyes, including James who whilst was uncertain of Kruz's morality felt encouraged to defend him, adding hastefully: "Yeah but, you're not actually going to kill them right?!" "Of course not!" said Kruz still in Ivalician. "They did not surrender no, but I'm not a mass murderer. I'm not so cruel to destroy a ship and its entire crew unless they fight to the very end. A few casualties are unfortunate but these criminals only learn by one way. Besides, they'll be taken to punishment up on Bhujerba once I fly this ship there, we'll also get a good bit of money for bringing this ship in as well as a good amount of convicts. You'll have your share of profit too for assisting me." "Wait," added Fayne, "I thought Bhujerba did not adhere to any law." "It has SOME law, just not the ones you know down on earth, we have some law and order to punish those ungrateful, or wicked truly." "Then why the act, why the duel?! You...dishonoured that man by breaking your own contract!" "I lied, so what? Am I better than the assassin who kills an unarmed despot to prevent a war? No, I'm just the captain trying to save his crew with the least amount of bloodshed I could possibly make in this situation. If he was any smarter he would not have lowered his guard but he was too arrogant to think that a 'gentleman' like him could make others around him be the same. Vincent was nothing but an arrogant swine who thought he could take anything he wanted, people, ships, it's all the same to him, I know the Black Mist, and I know what it's done. Never bought a damn thing without making somebody else pay with their blood." "I...I understand, captain but you do not offer a duel then kill him before judgement!" "Would you rather I fought him to the death alone, whilst my men die around me fighting the Black Mist's crew for the sake of my vanity? He might have been a gentleman or so he says but I doubt that his crew would be the same."

Fayne had no answer for this as he began to see Kruz's logic, despite his reservations at such means to do so. The captain saw that they were reasonably disturbed and walked closer to explain himself. "Listen. Defeating armies doesn't just take skill with swords, you have to use some smoke and mirrors. It's like a play and I'm an actor, if you play the part of a cruel tyrant captain, you have to make them BELIEVE you are a cruel tyrant captain when in reality I'm just someone in a suit. But the point is, I have to make them believe in my role, that way they'll believe anything I want them to...even when I don't plan on doing so. And if I have to play to one audience the role of a merciless captain to save my people, then I'll do it. My people are much more important to me than my reputation." Much as the clan felt uncertain about this diversionary tactic of unsavoury deception, the moogle knight nodded knowingly with understanding as she eased their fears seeing "I see...very deceitful...but clever of you, kupo. I suspected you were nothing more than a brigand with a false sense of education...but I see now you are more than that." "Would a brigand with a false sense of education know how to play the part? I don't enjoy playing it always, but when I have to, I will, or else my friends will suffer for it by the hand of these bandits if they ever saw me for one moment turn weak." "Hm. Good point, we will assist with the delivery of these bandits and their ship to Bhujerba if you request, kupo." "And I thank you most greatly for your assistance, madame Navarro." He swept off his hat with a most graceful bow towards her, the moogle bowing in return formally. "The pleasure is mine, we will wait for you back on your ship." Flipping his hat back on, Kruz nodded with a smirk before he backpatted FG hard chuckling as the raptor grinned awkwardly back. "You alright?" "Y-yeah sure man," said FG, "just...surprised you of all people were rather-" "Cold?" "...yeah. Heh, kinda worried me there for a minute." "Good." The kremling winked happily. "That means I played the part good, khheheheh. Seriously, come on you know me, I'm not-" "It's just the hat and gun you know, you sorta looked...like..." He dared not finish this sentence but Kruz knew exactly what he meant, nodding as he brought him close with an arm around his shoulders. "Trust me. I have no intention of ever becoming like him. I promise." "Alright...heh, I knew that dude, you're just a good actor." "Theeeere ya go, NOW!" With a sprint and a leap hopping straight onto the high deck of the ship, he swooped his arms out flourishing towards the sun with finger raised to it, a picturesque spry-looking captain of long cloak and slender heels. "SET FORTH FOR BHUJERBA!"