Post by tovaana on Jun 7, 2021 17:01:34 GMT -5
Turn 2759, 10th Pass, 4th Turn
after sailing a new dawn
after sailing a new dawn
Fehloax;
So far, he had been able to get by without much action. Whether his own luck or efficiency of the first ship, he wasn’t sure – but even when there had been some action, it hadn’t been around Fehloax. Now it seemed his luck had run out, either they had caught up to the action quicker than usual, or the crew they were battling was more stubborn. He’d been given a sword, but only when they had already boarded the ship. It felt heavier than the one they practiced with and wondered if it was the material or the significance of being on a strange ship with the sound of clinging swords and daggers could be heard.
He took a breath, glancing around him at the fools that fought back uselessly. Why did they fight? Couldn’t they see it was pointless and a waste? With a sigh he joined a handful that went around to figure out how the situation was going near their cargo, since that was the point of these endeavors, not mindless killing, supposedly. He had to remind himself that these… pirates, didn’t kill for fun. Sometimes a grimacing smile or other expression in passing as he glanced at the contention, he did wonder if there really was no pleasure in what they did.
They slipped by unnoticed and went down stairs to the next level, and the first person was ambushed by someone waiting. Soon the small group had submerged into the dim lit area, and Fehl had tried to slip by the action to get to the cargo. He knew subduing the ‘enemy’ was vital, but he didn’t want to fight. It wasn’t like he’d grown up thinking he’d ever be in such a situation, an occupation where he had to fight. Not other people, maybe Thread, but even that required a great deal of sacrifice for others.
A shadow of a man cut him off and swung at him with a dagger. He rolled his eyes. “You’re outnumbered, just give up.” Fehl hissed as he countered another few mad swipes with the short blade. The man didn’t respond, but his face was livid with anger and he sighed at the relentless personality. The whole ship seemed relentless. This man had only a sharding dagger. "Fool." In a few calculated blows he struck the man at his legs until he was down and holding himself in pain. While he was a beginner with the blade, he was able to keep cool and not as emotionally charged as many others got when they battled.
“That should keep you down…” He muttered and shifted his attention to an encounter where the opposition seemed to know more about the blade than usual tradesmen. Fehl certainly hadn’t had much experience before being run over by pirates. For a moment he just watched, keeping his attention half on the man he had injured in the leg to keep him down, making sure he didn’t do anything stupid while he split his attention.
After a moment of catching his breath his head tilted slightly, realizing that the furious blows of the enemy was overpowering the other. Enemy. He thought bitterly, who was the enemy? When the pirates had boarded his home, they had been the enemy, but now? His breath hitched and saw the opening that the enemy had seen, one that in a normal duel Fehl would have ignored and gone for something to disarm rather than kill. The man had been so focused on his target that he didn’t see Fehl coming in to defend his new crewmate. There had been no easy way to deflect him, so his sword went into the man’s side. Fehl let go of his sword, surprised at the way his sword felt as it entered the man, everything around him seem to blur and he got shoved out of the way and found himself on the wooden floor of the ship’s innards…staring at the man whose intense face was starting to contort in pain and confusion.
More pirates flooded the second level, pushing on through, others falling dead – and he wasn’t wondering if they thought he had died. He was just watching the man with his sword in his side who was still, his arm stretched out to Fehl, as if he needed help. For Fehloax who had never known his parents or family, he didn’t wonder about the man’s family that he was being torn away from by mortality, but he did wonder of who the man had been and what he had been like. There one moment and the next, just… gone.
“Get your sword, man.” Fehl looked up, one of the crewmembers looking at him with a bitter expression. There was no compassion, but perhaps some understanding, but Fehl was sure this man didn’t understand. He shuffled and got up without looking at the man who had moved on, and Fehloax was somewhat aware that the sound of clinging metal was less, if not done. They’d done it. Done… what? What cargo was worth the death of so many people? While people weren’t worth much in his mind, he had never thought that anyone deserved death…
He bent down and held the handle of his sword, swallowing at the extra weight that he could feel at the other end. Closing his eyes he waited for a moment, his eyes opening and seeing on the hand extended to him had a couple rings on it. This time greed was far from his mind as he reached out and shifted the intricate silver off his middle finger and pocketed it at the same time he stood and pulled out the sword. He didn’t look at the body again, cleaning the sword on a rag when they went back to the top deck to get his next orders. He didn’t want the sword, so he returned it in the growing pile of swords from the few that had surrendered. His brown gaze avoided everyone else’s, glad he wouldn’t have to deal with moving the bodies as he went to assess what had been in the cargo. Whatever it was worth dying for.
