The Voyage

Chapter 4

The Demonic Beasts Island looking like a peaceful paradise, but once you get past that first line of trees, the fight for your life begins. Scarlet stood on the beach wearing an emerald breast band that had a silver chain that went around her neck, to help keep the front up. She wore black shorts and ankle heeled boots. The island was incredibly hot, so to avoid being over heated, she wore as much as she could without being naked. Her hair was braided, and her hat was on her head. She was determined to get an ability that would truly define her. 

The guys were all shirtless, waiting to begin. "Last person back to the ship with an ability is the one who has to tattoo our symbol on to us," Lux declared to them. "Why are we just now going to tattoo," Dio asked him. "I wanted us to get our abilities first so we could see how the abilities change our bodies so we know where to tattoo," Lux explained simply. Lux then held up his pistol. "Good luck and don't die," he then fired a shot into the air and they all set out into the woods. 

Muris found a set of incredibly large tracks. He decided to follow them to see what kind of beast they belonged too. He managed to follow them to a clearing where a giant beast was eating another beast. A beast circled in the air, before dive bombing the large beast. The skin on the beast turned to what looked like steel. The flying beast rebounded off of the large beast that continued to eat, not acknowledging the beast that attacked it. He continued to watch as the winged beast was unable to even scratch the armor it had made appear. When the large beast finally grew annoyed with the winged beast, it attacked it. It only needed to sink it's armor coated teeth into it before throwing it into the air, catching it in it's mouth. Muris smirked as he readied to face the beast. 

Brian made his way to a large spring. He hadn't found a single track, but he could hear plenty of beasts surrounding him. He turned to try and figure out which direction to go in, when water was suddenly dumped on him, a large shadow covering the area. He tensed as he turned and saw a giant sea creature. It's gills in it's neck were hard to see. He jumped back, a couple of poison smoke bombs flying towards the gills. The exploded when they hit the creature, but the colored smoke only hung in the air around it's neck, not being breathed it. Then the gills opened and purposely sucked the poison gas in. The creature then blew the smoke at him and he had to dive out of the way. "Neat trick," he said with a smirk. "Mind if I take it for myself?" 

Pince hopped from tree branch to tree branch, tracking a creature on the ground. His goggles also acted as binoculars. He had his sniper ready, waiting for an opportunity. The creature become a black mist, moving rapidly. Pince struggled to keep up with it. When it solidified, it was behind it's unsuspecting prey. The prey had large ears, meant for being able to hear it's opponents, but it wasn't able to hear the beast that was now biting into the back of it's neck, killing it instantly. The beast then made most of its body mist, except it's teeth so that it couldn't be killed while it ate. Pince smiled and set his sights on it. 

Dio walked in the woods lazily, hands in his pockets. He walked till he noticed the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. He looked at the ground and noticed the grass had frost on it. He pulled out his pistol and began to follow the trail of frost that began to turn into ice. It lead him to a large cave with a large four legged beast curled up asleep. It had a hard ice shell, covering it's body for protection. He fired a shot and watched his bullet bounce off the beast, not even disturbing it. He smirked and loaded another shot. 

Lux had past a few beasts, so far not finding any that appealed to him. He braced himself as he slid while standing, to the bottom of a hill. I found a large hole in the ground, a beast with large leather wings, a body covered in scales, and large curved claws. Bingo, he thought, shifting his weight, causing a few pebbles to fall, waking the beast. It lifted its head, gold serpentine eyes finding Lux instantly. Lux dove out of the way as it shot fire from it's mouth. Lux laughed joyously, ready for the fight ahead. 

Scarlet walked, careful to keep her footsteps light. She didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to her. She had spotted a large tree in the center of the island from the ship, and she had been curious to see which beast called it home. When she finally got to the giant tree she saw a large beast with wings, fighting another beast. She watched the beast with wings. It was able to change it's wings from leather to wings much like an insect, allowing the winged beast to move faster. As it moved quickly, it changed it's wings to steel, shooting feathers as sharp as blades at it's opponent. It cut it's opponent with ease. It then changed it's wings into a solid shield, protecting it from the oncoming attack. Scarlet waited till the winged beast finished it's fight before taking it on as her opponent. 

Back at the ship, Scarlet sat on the deck, sore, and injured. She was only able to get the large wound in her side patched up. She was in too much pain to handle the rest of her injuries. Brian dragged himself onto the ship, his left ankle broken, his right eye swollen shut. "You alive," he asked her. "Barely," she whispered. He plopped down heavily beside her, pulling the first aid kit to him, "Same. Did you kill it?" She nodded, "Yeah, and you?" He nodded, "Yeah." They fell silent after that, waiting for the others to return. 

Muris returned, a few scratches here and there, but nothing life threatening. "You two look like shit," He commented. "Look who's talking," Brian commented with what little of a chuckle he could muster. Muris looked at the beach at the heavy trail of blood that lead to the ship, to the deck, leading to where Scarlet sat, "How big was it?" "Bigger than the ship," she whispered before smirking. "I killed it though." The feathers alone had been as long as her swords. It was the first time she struggled in a fight. She would just have to train harder once she recovered. Muris chuckled and began to help the two of them get patched up. 

Pince returned, a deep scratch on his forehead bleeding profusely. "Here I thought I was gonna be the last to return." He sat on the other side of Scarlet. "And I'm glad to know I wasn't the only to struggle." Muris sighed and began to patch him up as well, "You guys know I'm no damned doctor right?" "Until Lux finds one, you are," Pince said before hissing in pain as Muris cleaned his wound rougher than necessary.  They then heard Dio whistle a tune as he returned to the ship. "It appears our great Captain has yet to return," He said as he looked around the ship. "He's probably toying with whatever beast he found," Brian said and the others agreed. 

They waited for him to return. When he did, he had a smirk and a bright shine in his eyes. "I see I'm the last to return," he then boarded the ship. "Who was injured the most?" "Scarlet and Brian are in the worst shape, but they were also the first to return," Muris answered. "So what took you so long," Dio asked him. "I went to look for you guys, to make sure I didn't loose anyone," he answered. "I got a little worried when I saw the damage done at the spring and the giant tree. You two fought the largest beasts all by yourselves." Scarlet and Brian managed a weak fist bump. "Let's hope your new abilities were worth it," Lux said with a chuckle. "Let's get some rest then we'll set sail in the morning." "Aye Captain," Dio, Muris, and Pince said in unison. Muris then helped Brian back to his hammock while Dio and Pince helped Scarlet. Lux released a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. When he saw the amount of blood at where they had, had their fights, he worried they truly had been killed. The other's fights weren't pretty either, but they looked pretty good for given what they had faced. Let's hope the near heart attack was worth it, he thought.