The Wolf and the Flame

Chapter 2

    The winds and waves crashed against the ship violently, forcing only a skeleton crew to remain above deck, with water and air mages fighting against the forces of nature attempting to add another sunken grave to its collection. Captain Hanzo himself had taken over steering the ship, the crew furling the sail before going below deck, relying on rowers.
    Much of the crew were in the galley, drinking dragon blood wine and fistfighting. Khubalai and Hestia were drinking as they went below deck, where Rosa knelt in front of five beds, covered corpses laid upon them.
    "May Thanatos accept you, brothers and sisters, for you have died in glorious battle to protect family and home" Rosa whispered to the corpses, her eyes closed. She had traded away her gray armor for a gray robe, the hood down to reveal her long raven black hair that draped over her shoulders.
    She drew a dagger from her robes and stood, approaching the bodies and sliding the blade across her left palm. She winced at the pain but kept going, allowing several drops of blood to fall on her fallen comrades. Hestia and Khubalai watched in Silence as Rosa stood and touched the bodies' foreheads with her own
    "Maya. Largon. Mugyai. Danzig. Chimeg. Rest now. Enjoy your rest and when we meet again in death, then may Thanatos grace us all with a peaceful afterlife. I shed my blood now so I may shed my tears alongside you"
    She stood and turned to her friends, smiling at them and approaching them. Like Rosa, Khubalai and Hestia both shed their armor. Khubalai wore brown pants with a green shirt, his black hair tied back into a black ponytail, a short, thin mustache decorating his face below his sea blue eyes.
     Hestia wore gray pants with a red shirt. Her dark red hair was cut short and was messy from her helmet. Her green eyes continued to show litrle emotion as she approached the corpses herself and examined them
    "Don't worry, Rosa, they wont ever be forgotten" Hestia turned back to Rosa and held her hand out to Khubalai, who handed her a wine bottle. She took a deep gulp, the dragon blood wine erupting her blood. The wine was mixed with dragon blood using magic, the result was a strong drink that made it feel as though a persons blood ignited into flames with each sip.
     Hestia passed the bottle to Khubalai and Rosa, both of whom took a long drink. When each of them had a drink, Rosa took it and poured some into the corpses mouths "A final taste, my friends." She chuckled and poured what was left all over their bodies.
    She placed the bottle on the ground and the trio left the room. They went over to the galley, where a fistfight was going on. Hestia grabbed Khubalais shirt and pulled him back as a female soldier threw a male soldier across the room.
    The soldiers cheered and raised their glasses of wine, three soldiers were cooking meat in the corner to feed the crew, joining the cheering. The Hazel skinned female soldier raised her hand in victory "I said no, Pharos! Ask me for a date again and Im feeding you your own balls!" The crowd laughed, Pharos groaning in pain as he leaned against a wall. Compared to the rest of the soldiers, Pharos was skinny. He was a healer, not a fighter, but despite this fact he always found ways to get himself hurt.
    Rosa chuckled and rested her arm on Khubalais shoulder, leaning against him"Kala! Thats mean! Even an insect could find a heartier meal!" The crowd once again exploded in laughter. Two soldiers smiled and helped Pharos up, who pushed them away
    "Fuck you, Kala! I-" "Not like you can!" Laughter once more as Khubalai spoke, chuckling and trying to push Rosa away, only for the girl to grab a chair and stand on it, resting her elbow on Takizawas head. The boy sighed, resigning himself to his fate as he stood still.
   Pharos flipped everyone off before looking at Hestia and smirked. He approached her and leaned close to her "Hey, Hestia. You did good in the fight. How about we go celebrate together?" His smile turned to shock as Hestia grabbed his shoulder and brought her knee between his legs. Pharos made a high pitched noise before falling to his knees.
    "Sorry, dumbass. Not my type" Hestia patted the failed lady killer on the head and slammed his head into a table. Pharos crumpled like paper as he fell to the ground, his eyes closed, fully unconscious.
    The soldiers continued their laughter, Kala chuckling and kneeling down next to Pharos "Damn. He got knocked the fuck out!" She laughed and grabbed the unconscious soldier, draping his arm over her shoulder. She nodded to Hestia "Thank you. He was getting too drunk for his own good." She softly kissed the boys forehead before carrying him out.
   Rosa smiled and smacked Khubalais shoulder "Poor Pharos. You were too mean Hestia!" She stuck her tongue out and rested her chin on Khubalais head, like a puppy resting its head "But gotta hand it to the bastard. Kala keeps kicking his ass and he just keeps coming back!"
    Hestia shrugged and grabbed a bottle of wine from a table, taking a nice long drink."He should watch how much he drinks. Hes a good soldier but when he's drunk, he gets stupidly annoying." She shook her head and handed the bottle to Khubulai.
    Rosa smiled and stood up, putting a hand on Khubalais head and pushed it down as she jumped over him, forcing him to dump half the bottle onto him. Rosa stepped in front of Hestia and smirked, Hestia smirking back.
    The soldiers went quiet, even the rowdiest of them putting down their bottle and watched the two. The tension filled the air, several seconds of the girls simply smiled at eachother, the 6 foot 3 Hestia looking down upon the 6 foot 1 Rosa as the two came to a silent agreement.
    "Are you sure you want to do this, Princess?" Hestia clenched her fist, for once her usual blank eyes lit up. Rosa pushed her thumb down on her ring finger to crack it. She was always annoyed when people called her princess, but when Hestia did it, she only wanted one thing.
     "Take cover!" Khubalai shouted and ran outside the room as the two girls threw their punches. Hestias fist was covered in flames, Rosas in wind. The soldiers screamed and ducked for cover, fleeing outside the room as their fists mase contact. The flames mixed with the wind, creating a wave of fire across the room.
    Two soldiers flipped a table and used it to protect the cooks, one of them popping his head up and shouting at them "By Siasmus not again! The fuck is wrong with these two!?" He ducked again as a blast of fire shot for him.
    The two girls laughed as they threw punch after punch at eachother, their fists encased in their respective elements. Hestia landed a lucky punch on Rosas side, a flaming punch producing a burn beneath her clothes. Rosa yelled in pain but kept a smile up as she grabbed Hestia and tossed her to the side, smashing through the cooks poor excuse of a shield.
    "Well! Im out!" The soldier that yelled at them tried to go out but Hestia grabbed him by the collar. He swallowed before being swung for Rosa.
    Rosa jumped back and kicked the poor man into a wall, knocking away Hestias makeshift shield, unfortunately knocking him out in the process. The second soldier that tried to protect the cooks simply hid behind a brolen piece of table, doing his best to avoid their attention. Unfortunately, Hestia grabbed Rosa and swung her up, bringing her down on the table piece, and the soldier.
    Rosa groaned and laid atop both of them, the soldiers head being used as a leg rest "Save yourselves! Leave me behind!" He raised an arm to the cooks, who were way ahead of him, having ran for the door as soon as Rosa came down.
    Hestia yawned and nudged Rosa with her foot "Is that all, Rosa?" Her eyes widened as Rosa grabbed her ankles and brought her down. She dug her knee into the soldiers back as she stood, the pitiful bastard trying but failing to crawl away, and grabbed a dragon wine bottle.
    Rosa chugged its contents before smashing it on Hestias head. The fire users head bobbed as she threw another punch, missing by a wide margin. As Rosa smiled and tried to stand up, Hestia grabbed the sides of her head and headbutted her, causing the princess to fall back.
    The fight ended, once again, in a tie as both girls collapsed and lost consciousness. Khubalai poked his head in when things went silent, sighing as he saw the two.
    Much of the Galleys furniture was destroyed, the galley itself on fire in several places. The two girls laid in the center of the chaos, peacefully unconscious as if they were not the ones that caused it all.
    "Alright. Everyone! Get these fires out! Then help Batu and Goramon. They fell honorably in battle" He chuckled as the soldier beneath the girls, Batu, raised his arm weakly "Still alive, you fucks!" He went limp as he too lost consciousness.
    Kala came running back from the crew quarters, covering her mouth at the destruction. "What set them off this time!?" She turned to look at Khubalai, who shook his head "I dont know. They wanted to fight. Like I can read their insane minds!" He looked at the two, a smile tugging at his face"Come on. Lets get them to their bunks"
    Kala nodded and followed Khubulai to grab the girls and drag them to their bunks. Both girls were smiling in their sleep, a fact that gave Takizawa a smile of his own
    "At least it makes them happy. As long as nobody dies, its no harm no foul, right?" He laughed, dragging Rosa while Kala deagged Hestia. They laid the girls into their bunks and covered them up, Khubalai laying in his own bunk to make sure both were okay as they slept.
    After 6 hours of sailing, and dealing with the storm, a horn blew from the deck. Warriors came down to the crew quarters, where most of the soldiers were asleep, ans began dumping buckets of water on them
    A few kids jumped up while others rolled out of their bunks. Hestia simply engulfed her body in flames as she stood, evaporating the water. More water was needed to put out her bed.
    Rosa and Khubulai got out of their beds and stood next to Hestia, Rosa rubbing her head "Khubalai..my head hurtssssss" She whined like a child, mostly to annoy her friend
    "Its either the fight or the wine. Either way, ha" He smirked before the warriors began directing everyone to go above deck.
    The storm continued to rage on, thunderclouds and lightnint consuming the skies. With every flash, the group could make out shapes and figures, mostly shipwrecks and the occasional sea monster trying to determine if the Skian ship was worth the trouble.
    In front of them, a large reptillian head, half the size of the one hundred and ten foot ship, rose from the depths, water pouring onto the ship as it opened its mouth, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth.
    Seaweed hung from its large nostrils and its eyes were a piercing blood red. The soldiers gulped and grabbed their weapons, Rosa and Hestia both stepping forward to fight it, when the water shifted and formed a large hand.
    The sea monster roared at it, its roar louder than the thunder, before the hand crashed down on it, slapping it down beneath the waves. Hanzo flicked his wrist and the water hand broke apart, forming a large wave as it fell back into the sea
    "Dont worry! As long as a Hydra shows only one head, it loses interest once you show some power!" He shouted to the crew, who did their best to relax but failed in the middle of this storm.
    Finally, another silhouette appeared in between flashes, a large fortress looming over a cliffside. At the bottom of one side were the docks. On the other side, however, several tunnels spat out water quickly. Even from their distance, the stench hit them.
    A few soldiers puked overboard, some watching as sharks gathered around the tunnels, a hydra popping out its head to try to force itself into the tunnel, only to pull back and grab a shark as it went down.
    "They smell blood..." Hestia noted as she witnessed the event. Hanzo nodded as they neared the dock, the fortress looking down upon the ship as though it was a giant about to crush a bug.
    A dozen guards stood at the docks as they docked, tying the ship down as best they could to keep it from floating off. The pirate captain had come too, his eyes red and puffy from crying. Like any who heard what Tarabus was like, he preferred Hestia had killed him.
    Hanzo crossed his arms and turned to his crew "Many of you have not been here since turning thirteen. Make no mistake. Tarabus is still the hell you remember it was. Be grateful we are only visitors and not residents. We will meet the warden inside, and eat before heading back out. Eat what you can, children! The beasts get your scraps"
    Rosa stopped behind everyone else to look at the stone staircase leading up to the fortress, the pirate captain being brought up through a pulley system. Her ancestors created this place. Turned it into the pit of siffering it is. She saw it briefly when she was thirteen, all Skian children had, but now they were delivering a prisoner. Now she would see it in its full glory.