Shadow of the Raptor: Part 1

Chapter 3: Journey

Madeleine lead the group along the dull gray concrete walls, past several flights of stairs, and past the break room, which was chiming with life. She arrived at their destination, the Metal Dock. Not a very creative name, but it wasn't an official one, just local usage. Yellow-Tooth snorted "You expect us to drive that hulking thing to the Arctic? We'll need thermal emitters for these warmth huggers" He said gesturing at the rest of the group. Madeleine replied very briskly "This is the GSS Frostbite, specially built for voyages to the Arctic, so yes, we do expect you to drive this to the Arctic, and no, you do not need a convoy." Yellow-Tooth was unconvinced. "I will admit, it is gorgeous. But aesthetics do not matter to me, it's efficiency I look for. We'll need a miracle to get this to The Sun's Rift" Alexis was not happy at this news, The Sun's Rift was the area where the Arctic met the warmer lands. But it was also a hotspot for pirates. "Well, I guess we'd better be off. The sooner I can get out of this ghastly underground facility, the better. I long for fresh air." Thalian remarked. He hated being underground, or in the air. Also in the sea, but he tried to focus on hating being in the air and underground more than water. Yellow-Tooth reluctantly boarded the ship, grumbling about the Frostbite being a bucket of bolts, and went to take the stern. Tacticus objected at his action "Who said you can take the roe as captain? I've spent most of my life in a ship as well." Yellow-Tooth, ever quick to anger, bellowed at him "You may have spent most of your life in one, but you didn't live in one, as I did. Nor did you spend your entire life in Arctic Banishment!" Alexis took a step back "Banishment? Why did you get banished, and why did you not tell us?" Yellow-Tooth sighed, he had spoken before thinking this through. "I was banished for my high temper, and my berzerk rage. I had committed many treacherous deeds in my time in Yorfolk, the capital of Grizzleheim. My final offense was when I nearly killed our Oberjarl, Erik. Erik banished me to the hostile Arctic in this world for ten years, I was banished at the age of six. Erik marked my head, and chest with white, as symbolism for my banishment. I am forced to bear the markings of shame for the rest of my life, and no bear trusts me, except Erik. He understood my rage was uncontainable and he was sympathetic to my... condition, if you will. Though, I still think it was harder on Erik than it was me." Yellow-Tooth looked grim. "Why would it be harder on him? Were you two friends?" Alexis asked, trying not to frown. "No, we had a much stronger bond. You see, Erik is my twin brother. Our father died during a great battle against the Dragoon invaders, so Erik was made Oberjarl, as he did not have my temper or rage, and was more considerate of others than I was." Alexis nodded "I must concentrate on traversing these waters, at this time of year, the tide is high, and the currents are fierce." Yellow-Tooth said, ending the conversation.

The waves lapping at the sides of the boat were strangely calming for Thalian. He was troubled by the journey, it would be at least two days before they would need to refuel, and he was terrified of the monsters that the depths of the ocean might conceal. He did, in fact, feel childish for these thoughts. He would need to be calm if danger were to arise, and quaking in his boots because of said danger, would help no one. "We've got a ship coming!" Alexis informed Yellow-Tooth, who the group had elected their captain. "Can you tell if it's hostile? Or is it a merchant ship?" Alexis peered down her scope "I can't tell from this range. Should I fire a warning shot?" "No! That'd only anger them, merchant ship or no, they're bound to be packing some heat." A glint flashed in the distance, and a small object whizzed past Thalian. He turned around and saw another ship gliding towards them "Yellow-Tooth! There's another ship coming!" Yellow-Tooth looked over and saw pirates brandishing weapons, a mix of swords and guns. He roared at his crew "Battle stations! Everyone!" Tacticus unsheathed his sword and swung it experimentally. Both ships were drawing closer to the Frostbite, and the first ship that was spotted now also had angry pirates. The angry galleons had drawn in on either side of their ship, and tall man, whom Thalian had guessed was the captain, walked briskly to the Frostbite "Hello, friends!" He bellowed "I intend no bodily harm to you three, as I can tell you are just off on your first expedition! Wether or not you are friends going on a vacation, which I highly doubt, as you are on a heavily armored ship, or you are searching for a crew, or are content with a three man crew, does not matter to me." The captain had not noticed Alexis on top of the tall captain's cabin yet, and hopefully Alexis didn't reveal herself. The captain smiled at Yellow-Tooth "Ah, the captain of this fine vessel, I do hope you are not plotting to fight us. We out number you, ten to three." The captain swung his arms around at his crew, and indeed, there were ten pirates aboard their vessel. The other crews members on the pirates' ships did not look like fighters. Yellow-Tooth raised his hands "I would not wish to disable your crew too much." Yellow-Tooth clenched his fists, and his muscles tightened. Obviously, that was what he was going to do. Thalian's hand drifted to his pistol, which he had acquired from Madeleine as a parting gift. His hand hovered above the leather grip, and his other hand clenched tightly, the captain noticed his movements "Don't try anything boy. I'll slice you in half before you can even get it out of the holster." Thalian clenched his teeth, he seriously doubted that he could, but he moved his hand back from the gun, and decided on waiting for Yellow-Tooth to instigate the battle. A man was behind Yellow-Tooth, and he prodded the bear with his rifle at the captain's nod "Where shall I put him, Captain Reque?" the goon asked "Put 'em all in the brig, we'll commandeer this vessel for our own uses." Reque said, rubbing his hands together greedily. Yellow-Tooth walked down the steps from the stern, onto the deck. As soon as Yellow-Tooth got at the bottom of the stairs, he whipped around, and threw the pirate goon at Reque. Reque, with seemingly no regard for his crew, unsheathed his curved sword and slashed the pirate down onto the ground, who promptly died. "Kill them. All of them." Reque ordered angrily "Unlikely. Thalian- give these fools a shower." Thalian smiled "With pleasure, my friend!" Thalian raised his hands into the air, making the water rise around the ship, he then clapped together his hands and swamped all the pirates in water, effectively causing their clothes to become heavier. This, combined with the fact that Thalian could control water, shocked the pirate crew. "I said, ATTACK!" Reque roared, while he threw off his red coat, and charged at Yellow-Tooth "The bear is mine." he growled. Thalian drew his sword and unholstered his pistol, the elements wouldn't help him in close combat. He stabbed at a pirate, and then fired a round at one who was going up the ladder to the crow's nest. He slashed at another pirate, who had a round buckler shield. Thalian's sword clanged against the shield, rattling his arm, causing his arm to ricochet to the right, while he normally held his sword left-handed. When Thalain recovered, the pirate slammed his shield into Thalian's nose, knocking him out.

Tacticus was having more luck than Thalian, he sliced through the opposition like they were paper dolls, he advanced towards the Reque, slicing down anyone who tried to usurp his efforts. Yellow-Tooth had met his match in Reque, the captain was incredibly fast and agile. Yellow-Tooth hadn't yet landed a blow, while Reque had slashed the bear's chest several times. Yellow-Tooth was strangely calm, and had not yet entered his berzerking rage. He spotted Tacticus approaching towards them, Yellow-Tooth only got more reason to not rage at the captain, he might fatally injure his comrade, so he decided to revert to his old battle tactics. Yellow-Tooth got on all fours and charged at Reque, and landed the desired blow, hurling the captain back at Tacticus, who slammed Reque down on the floor with the butt of his sword. A shot flew past Yellow-Tooth's face, and struck a pirate behind him, who was about to backstab the bear. Tacticus lifted the pirate captain above his head, and threw him at a cluster of pirates, causing the cluster to tumble back into their ship. "The captain's down! Back to the ship!" shrieked a pirate. Every pirate onboard the Frostbite swarmed back to their ships, and set sail away from the group. Yellow-Tooth shambled over to Thalian and picked him up, taking him into his cabin and setting Thalian on his bed. Blood dripped from his nose, but there were no other wounds that needed attending. Yellow-Tooth emerged back onto the deck, and immediately took command "Raise anchor, we must make haste if we are to make it to the Arctic in time." Tacticus grabbed the chains that anchored the anchor to the ship (Ha-ha! Puns.) and pulled with all his weight and strength against the anchors downward force. When he managed to get the anchor in it's normal resting spot, he gave Yellow-Tooth the thumbs up signal, and they set off into the waters, unsure of what awaited them in the depths.