Flying Blind

Would you rather catch hands of feelings?

On the second night of their travel, Alfonse was abruptly awoken by the sound of a crash somewhere around his room, a harsh change of volume when compared to the soft sound of the rain outside. It took him a second to realize the various things that noise might have meant, after which he suddenly jolted upright, and-

"Shit." he hissed under his breath, as his head hit the underside of the bed above him. He quickly threw his usual cloak around his shoulders, hurrying too much to bother with changing his sleeping clothes, then poked his head out the door.

The room that the sound seemed to had come from, he remembered Alistair mentioning, sometimes served as a separate storage room. Not this time though, as all of the packages in it had been dropped off at the last port they stopped in. The room was empty. The problem was, however, that the room's floor also had a trapdoor built in for easier access. Which meant-

Alfonse gasped. "Which meant that, had Alistair forgotten to lock it, someone could've broken inside."

He tip toed down the narrow corridor, quietly climbing down to where Alistair was carefully piloting the ship through the rain. A kind of radar beeped softly on the control board. The room was fairly dark, it's main source of light being the moon shining through the windows, on which rain came down quickly, overwhelmingly, and making Alistair rely more on the radar map than his own eyes.

-Can't sleep? Alistair, began, turning around. It's la-

-Sh.

Alfonse raised a finger to his lips, frowning.

-Did you lock the trapdoor in the back?

The other's face went blank for a second, before worry began setting in.

-...I think I forgot. Oh god, what is it? Intruders?

Alfonse averted his gaze, reflexively tucking his hair behind his ear.

-Well... I didn't check. I thought I should tell you about it first. It might've been silly to just worry you like that, sorry, he mumbled. 'Suppose this whole flight thing made my paranoia get the best of me. I'll go... investigate it a bit, he laughed nervously.

Alistair turned around to look at Alfonse.  There was something oddly charming in the way the cold moon light tinted his skin almost porcelain white. In the sharp canines he nervously bit his lip with. In the soft, lighter streaks of his hair, color shining through like the feathers of a crow under the dim light. But he stood there, hands wrapping his dark cloak protectively around his frame, eyes darting involuntarily between Alistair and the feared reminder of the ship's altitude the dark windows were, and all that the uncommon combination of already unusual traits managed to do was make him look... vulnerable? Scared? Alistair shook his head.

-We'll check together, don't worry. But we'll need to hurry, he added. Hell, this has never happened in these conditions. I'll stop the ship, but with how the wind's blowing right now I'm not sure it'll manage to stay properly still by itself.

-You think I should just...

Alfonse's eyes darted behind him. The intruders could have burst in any second now. But why... weren't they? His hand slipped into the pocket of his coat, gripping something that felt like cool metal.

-No, I'm coming with you. If they're thieves, there won't be many. They do this in small groups. More men are heavier for their own ship, leaves less space for baggage. But if they're not, I don't know. There might even not be any intruders at all, he shrugged. Still... let's be careful.

They carefully made their way to the back of the ship, Alfonse shakily gripping the metal item in one of his pockets. A few steps away from the room, he quickly pulled it out. A sharp dart, the only special thing about it being its handle. Hollow inside, filled with sedative, and a release mechanism triggered by quick pressure to the needle. In other words, all he had to do was... aim the dart for one of the thieves, and he would be out cold. In his other pocket was a larger dagger, with a wavy blade, a small distance weapon yet not unlike the first one in its use. God, his fascination with dangerous things really was going to help him in life.

Alistair's eyes widened, terrified.

-Sedative, not poison, whispered Alfonse, gesturing towards the dart.

In front of the door, they stopped. No sound came out of the room. "But... why weren't the intruders doing anything?" Alistair thought. "The room they had entered was clearly empty, shouldn't they... advance?"

-Let me in front of you, the other whispered again. If I get a good shot, there'll be one less man to worry about.

"Alright," Alistair admitted to himself. "maybe characterizing him as vulnerable was not very accurate. Hell-" he gulped, staring at the other once again. "-I'm not sure he even looks scared anymore."

Alfonse turned the doorknob slowly in his hand. A flash of movement caught his eye through the barely opened door. "Well... here goes nothing."

He threw the door open, rapidly aiming for the stranger's turned back. The two other men shot up to their feet as their "friend" collapsed.

Alistair dodged the first hit, but the second one hit him right in the jaw. He aimed his fist at the other's nose. The man cursed under his breath, blinking quickly as his eyes began to water. Taking advantage of his confusion, Alistair forced his arms behind his back, pushing the intruder up against the wall.

In the other corner of the room, Alfonse blocked the hit of the other man. He wasn't like Alistair, wasn't strong, he knew that. He had to rely on his speed instead.

The ship swayed just a bit, most likely from a gust of wind, but it distracted Alfonse just enough to catch a punch straight in his chest. He coughed, wheezed, panted, trying to recover from having the air knocked out of his lungs as he dodged the oncoming hits. He lunged quickly at the man, tackling him to the floor and pulling out his dagger.

-Put your hands up, he snarled. I didn't kill the first guy yet, but this thing's substance is a different story. You'll be dead before you hit the floor.

Well... that was a lie. But the intruder did look truly horrified by the state of the other man, which meant Alfonse had the upper hand.

-Put your damn hands up. The poison on this blade will make your blood thicken up like gelatin, he pressed his bluff on. It'll asphyxiate you. You'll choke to death on your own blood.

To be fair... he wasn't truly sure a substance with those effects could even exist. But the other man looked terrified to hell and back as he followed his order, so he assumed his facade was working.

-We- we aren't here to steal anything, the man stammered at last, which was impressive, considering the threat of the knife against his neck. We... escaped from prison. All we wanted was to flee to another country.

-Don't tell him your whole life story, you brainless idiot, snapped the other man, trying to twist around in Alistair's grip. Ow!

Alistair grabbed one of the few loose package ropes strewn across the room's floor, tying his arms tightly behind his back. In a few moments, the other two had the same done to them.

-Alistair, Alfonse tried to joke once they were done, still a bit out of breath. Just how confused do you think the first guy will be when he wakes up?