Rough Seas

1 - Captive

Katherine gripped her sword tightly as the ship began to quickly gain on the smaller merchant ship. She heard a distant yell from the other ships crow's nest, and the deck was immediately swarmed with the crew. Unsheathing her sword, she turned to her crew. Many of them already had their swords drawn, and she grinned slightly.

"Try an' keep the casualties to a minimum!" She called out, watching as most of them nodded. "Lady Ianite asked for the only captive to be the champion, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Captain." Rupert smiled at her and jokingly saluted, before running to the front of the boat. He would be leading the attack on the Captain and crew of the ship, so that control could be easily gained over the other ship. Katherine would have to incapacitate the champion, a task that she was unsure that she could fulfil. Letting out a breath, she tried to calm herself down. There would be no use in getting all worked up and letting her emotions getting in the way of the task at hand. This was their only chance.

The deck had only a few crewmates on it, all with their weapons drawn. Katherine waited a moment, while her crew leapt onboard of the smaller ship, before going on herself. She landed with a dull thud, glancing around at the crew of this ship. None of them seems particularly out of the ordinary. She would have to keep looking.

"Captain, go find the champion!" One of her crewmates yelled out, disarming the man he was fighting with easily. She nodded back to him, before glancing around the main deck of the ship. What she assumed was the mess hall door was wide open, and a few more members of the crew were inside. Other than that, she could only see one other door that was closed off. At least she could rule out this room if the champion wasn't inside.

Making her way to the closed door, Katherine prodded a little at the closed door. To her supervise, it moved open slightly, and she could hear someone moving around inside. Readying her sword, she carefully pushed open the door with the tip of her sword and made her way inside.

-

After the initial shock wore off, Tom rushed into his room. If these pirates attacked the ship, he had to be able to defend himself. He was Dianite's champion, after all. He scrambled around, trying to find his sword. Where had he lost the damned thing? Tom froze, hearing the sounds of many people dropping onto the wooden planks of the deck.

"Captain, go find the champion!" A voice yelled outside of his door. He assumed that there was a response to the shout, but he couldn't hear one over the sounds of fighting, metal hitting metal. They were here for him. Quickly, he made his way across the room and began rummaging through the dresser, frantically looking for his sword. This ability to get things lost in a span of days was what got Tom in trouble with Dianite the most. That, and his uncanny ability to cause trouble anywhere. He was so caught up in his search that he didn't hear the door creak open behind him.

Quiet footsteps approached Tom from behind, and he was only made aware of their presence by the sword tip that pressed against the back of his neck. He froze, hands still inside of his dresser drawer. Katherine let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Drop your weapon and turn around." She commanded, watching as the man pulled his hands out of the drawer and turned to face her, hands in front of him to show her that he was unarmed. The first thing she noticed about him was his skin. It had a slight green tint to it, making him look like the undead that roamed the world at night. He swallowed as she pressed the tip of her sword to his chest, near his heart. At this point, she had very little doubt that this was Dianite's champion. He stuck out like a sore thumb. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tom." He said, eyes darting from her to the door where shouts could still be heard. Katherine pressed a little harder into his chest and he took a step back, his attention back to her. "What are you doing here?" Katherine frowned at Tom's question. If he was the champion, surely he would know why pirates flying Ianite's colours were boarding the ship. Maybe he was playing dumb?