Years after arriving at the Erberus Islands, Spike begins his path of growing stronger alongside new friends while facing new dangers. All while being secretly manipulated to his destiny that will decide the face of the world
Well, Aquilina might be an idiot and be terrible at stealth, but maybe her stupid move will end up helping them if this works out. I was very surprised by Yasahiro speaking, especially in another language. Can’t wait to see what happens next, but I know it is going to be epic.
Well let's see how this plays out. I hope they can stop these guys but I get the sad feeling that they may not be able to save many of the poor souls on this island.
“I can’t believe what kind of place this is,” Captain Razorwing growled, clenching his paws so hard that blood was drawn. “The fact that my daughter is here...”
“We’ll do everything we can to get her free. Her and everyone else,” Spike vowed, looking at the window as the slaves they saw earlier continue their torment under the hot sun. Their voices speaking the accursed hypnotic words of their sad state echoing in the wind. If Aquilina was here to see this, she’d be turning the place red with blood.
That's right, we're not leaving with out her.
“Spike, I don’t know how we’re going to get them out,” Azura said, shaking her head. “Not only is there a small army on this island, but these slaves are so brainwashed and broken I wouldn’t be surprised if she can just order them to stand still or attack us in return. No, we’re better off just finding the girl and getting out of here. We can tell about the island to others who might be able to deal with this hellhole, but we don’t have the numbers or the means.”
Hate to say it, but Azura does have a point, there's no guarantee that you're going to get them all out. On other hand, the least you can do is try.
Closing his eyes, Spike tried to think of a way to counter what Azura was saying, but he couldn’t come up with anything. The fact was, they were already barely able to keep suspicion off them so far, even with Yasahiro nearly screwing it up. “By the way, what happened with Yasahiro back there?” Spike asked, crossing his arms. “I’ve never seen him lose his cool like that. Not that I blame him.”
That's what I'm wondering too.
Mistress Loveshot was waiting for them with a smile. “I hope you're ready to see our collection?”
More like ready to take it our of your hooves.
“Of course. If we could hurry it up? I really wish to leave this island and return home,” Azura answered, acting as if she was already bored of the place. It amazed Spike just how good she was in flipping from one mood to the next.
“Of course.” Loveshot then nodded to one of the guards who walked away with a small squad.
Gotta give props to Azura for her acting.
A few minutes later, they returned with a long line of griffins. Many were young, female, and looked half dead by the lack of meat on their bones and loose skin. Their wings and feathers were ruined like they hadn't had a good preening in months, while whip marks and bruises could be seen clearly on their faces and sides. Some, especially the older ones, looked ready to collapse, but kept moving forward in fear of the watching guards.
Oh sweet Celestia.
Spike had to hide his disgust when he saw a few children in the line. However, his eyes soon focused on one that caught his eye. He recalled the picture of the smiling griffin that Captain Razorwing showed the team when they started this job. She may not have been smiling, nor did she have that adventurous glow in her eyes, but even with her light brown fur dirty and covered with whip marks, he could see that this particular griffin was their target.
Is that her?
At first, the young griffin looked happy as a smile began to appear, but that soon faded as she seemed to have thought of something that quickly changed her face from joyful to horror. Lowering her eyes, she turned away from the gaze of her father as if she couldn’t summon the will to look at him,
Wait, that is that has her even more scared?
Azura must have noticed their target captive as well, having eyed her since she came in, but pretend not to notice. When the last of them were lined up, Azura strolled forward and pretended to give a good look at each one before her. It took some time, but she was able to finally reach the griffin they were looking for, even using her magic to lift her head to get a clear look at her.
“Hmm, this one... tell me about her,” Azura asked, interested.
“She’s quite a feisty one,” Mistress Loveshot answered, smirking. “Her name is Lana. When she came here, she was a rebellious as they come, but after a few weeks in the black cells, she was more... obedient.”
“What’s she skilled in?”
“She’s a terrible cook, as well as a cleaner. Honestly, we were afraid she wasn’t going to be of much use, and we were just going to slit her throat and be done with her,” Mistress Loveshot continued, strolling forward. “That was until we found out she was... quite a hack in the sack.”
...I already know what that means, and I'm not going to dwell any further on it.
Spike could hear the captain muttering curses under his breath. Some of which he had never heard of in all the years he had been in Erebus. I guess sailors do know more curse words.
“Males or females?” Azura asked sharply.
“Both.”
“I’ll take her,” Azura said, turning around. “How much?”
“Well, sadly she’s not for sale, but we do have other griffins which are just as good,” Mistress Loveshot answered, shrugging her shoulders.
Oh DAMMIT!!!
Azura sharply turned around and narrowed her eyes. “Not for sale?! I don’t think you heard me? This is the one that I want. I’m paying a lot of money just to be here, and for her, so you better have a good explanation as to why I can’t have her.”
Loveshot smirked before asking, “You haven’t been in Erebus long have you? There is a war currently going on between two warlords. One of them is Warlord Vandar. He has pretty much dominated the southeastern islands and its nearby territories. I doubt you want to mess with him, as he and Lord Swanburn have been trying to dominate the entire islands for five years now.”
As shown in One Piece, Warlord are bad news. Crocodile, Moria, Mihawk, Jimbei, Handcock, and Doflamingo surely gave us examples of that!!!
This isn’t good, Spike thought with a growl. He was tempted to just curse Nora at this point for screwing things. Warlord Vandar, a griffin who was said to come from nothing, was one of the two most powerful forces in the entire Erebus Islands, having taken over most of the southern and eastern areas under his control. He was a particularly brutal individual, using total warfare and scorched earth tactics to submit or eliminate those who were against him.
It didn’t matter if it was civilians or enemies, everyone was a target if they didn’t come into his fold. It was harsh, but practical, as he had taken over more territory in the past five years than most other warlords had in their lifetimes. Warlord Vandar’s lands were said to be often safe from raiders with stability many had never seen before. Farming and agriculture were said to be well provided for, but it was mostly handled by the enslavement of those conquered and turned into labor forces. Apparently, it was done differently than normal slavery, but Spike didn’t care, as a slave was a slave, and it was still wrong to be one. His army was large, powerful, and fitted with many generals and warriors who were capable of fighting against any significant force. It was said that as tribute, you needed to donate bodies or resources to the army so that you could be given welfare, provisions, and protection. Plus, the southeastern area was known for its horrible conditions. A hellhole even among the Erebus Islands. So it wasn't a surprise that many pledged their loyalty to the one who freed them and gave them better lives.
No matter how its put, Slavery will always be wrong in my eyes.
Warlord Vandar spoke of a united Erebus that was strong but in need of a harsh cure after many years of chaos and anarchy. To cleanse the filth, ruin, and immorality, he needed to burn it all away fast and without mercy so that a proper civilization could be born from its ashes. Only when all was finally submitted to a new order could change begin, and culture allowed to flourish into something new.
Start from rock bottom in order to get to the top.
Spike preferred his opposite and chief rival, Lord Swanburn. An earth pony originally from Equestria, but grew up in the Erebus Islands. Nobody knew why his family moved here from the once peaceful lands of ponies, but Lord Swanburn rose to high ranking status after his father and mother died from a plague in the northeastern islands. Deciding to use his wealth altruistically, he began helping nearby villages with his money and charisma, gaining a broad set of followers who asked him to be their leader. Forming an army, he began to defend their territory from other warlords and bandits, eventually spreading further and further as more villages and cities decided to join them. Lord Swanburn spoke of a united Erebus as one nation to take its place among the others in the world. It had a broad set of resources and population while placed in an excellent location for trade. Many began to loyally follow him as harmony, virtue, and justice were common in his lands. However, others said he was too naive, often making mistakes, and thus his conquest was slower then Vandar. There were even rumors of corruption in his ranks, forcing him to constantly weed out those who were hindering his progress. There was an argument for a leader who couldn’t lead a nation if he couldn’t control his own house.
Even ones from non-noble families can make a difference, but like Spike said in the last chapter, while one person can't make a difference on their own, friends united can.
Two warlords with different methods of ruling, each vying to do the one thing nobody had ever done: unite Erebus as one. It hadn’t erupted too much yet, but it was predicted that eventually, everyone would have to pick a side. Yet, even now to cross one, especially Vandar, was not a good thing to do.
As I have stated, Warlords are bad news!!!
“Why would this Vandar character want with her?” Azura asked.
“Apparently, she found something in her travels as a sailor,and the Warlord wants it. Not sure what it is, and I’m not getting paid to find out, but he’s coming in two weeks, so I can’t sell her to you,” Loveshot answered before raising her hoof to stop Azura. “And it's not a matter of money. He’s a very powerful griffin, and I have no intention of crossing him. Even with the backing I have for this place, so the answer is no.”
Shit!!!
“Well, this hit the shitter,” Windward said, crossing his hooves. The others had come back to the ship, using the excuse of needing to think about which slaves to take, to tell the others what had happened. Combined with all the mistreatment they had seen for the slaves, it took an hour-long song from Peewee to help put everyone in a slightly better mood. “Crossing Vandar is a bad idea. I don’t know about you, but I want to sleep with both my eyes closed at night for the rest of my days.”
“She said something about your daughter finding something Vandar wanted, do you know what that is?” Spike asked the Captain, who was staring into the island itself from a window with narrow eyes.
“No, Grandus help me, whatever it was it couldn’t have been good,” Razorwing answered, lowering his head.
Not good at all.
“So we can’t buy the girl, why not just spring her out?” Aquilina said, balancing a dagger on her palm. “We just make it look like she escaped or something. That should work out, right?”
“After we apparently failed to buy her? It would look suspicious,” Spike pointed out, huffing. “No, we need to think of a new plan. One that doesn’t summoning the wrath of this place or Warlord Vandar on our butts.”
And then all would go down to even more shit!!!
“Well, we have until tomorrow to figure something out. For now, I’m hungry, and I need something to eat. And a drink, I hated the fact that I had to act like such a... bitch all day,” Azura replied, tossing her mane back.
“Really? I couldn't tell the difference,” Aquilina teased, getting a glare from Azura in reply. The young griffiness got up and made her way up the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Spike asked.
“Going for a fly. I’ve been inside this stupid ship for hours, and I want to spread my wings,” Aquilina said without looking back.
Oh no....
Spike was about to follow the others to get some grub when he noticed Yasahiro meditating near the corner with his back turned. Remembering what had happened earlier, he turned to Peewee and motioned him to join the others while he walked over to the silent kitsune. Stopping before him, he placed a claw on the ronin’s shoulder and whispered, “Look, I don’t know why you did that... but if you want to talk, we can.”
Yasahiro didn’t answer, but he looked more relaxed upon Spike saying that. Spike waited a few more minutes before leaving, but if he had stayed around longer, he would have seen Yasahiro shed a single tear as a memory entered his mind, echoing as it had always for years.
Something really horrible must've happened to that poor Kitsune to make him lose his cool so quickly. Poor guy...
Waiting until nightfall to make her move, Aquilina waited on the mast of the ship before silently flying off. She flew low to the ocean as she went around the island, keeping herself as out of sight as possible. When she saw one of the lookout towers, she used her claws to latch onto the bricks and slowly climb up. Waiting above was a zebra guard, holding a spear while struggling to keep his eyes open. Said eyes went wide when a dagger entered his throat, and he found himself falling into the ocean before he could let out a final scream.
Aquilina waited to hear if any guards were going to come and investigate the splash, but after a few minutes of nothing, she crawled up to the top. With the area clear, she swiftly used her wings to float down to the central courtyard area, making sure to hide among the shadows. The guards were patrolling while some of the slaves were busy cleaning up any blood that had been spilled earlier that day off the floor. Much as Aquilina wanted to slice the guards necks and free the poor bastards, there was no time.
She spotted a nearby door where a slave was being shoved towards and figured it would be the best place to start. Sticking to the darkness, she watched as the guard, a female pegasus, opened the door with a key before kicking the slave, a young male earth pony, into the room by his rump. Aquilina waited until the door was shut before moving as swiftly as she could towards it. Taking out a set of pick locking tools her uncle gave her on her eleventh birthday, Aquilina worked fast to undo the lock before she heard a satisfying clicking sound. Before anyone would notice her, she was inside with the door behind her.
Time to be stealthy... Aquilina thought as she descended down a flight of stairs.
She's gonna fuck up, isn't she?
“Okay, not so stealthy,” Aquilina muttered to herself as she wiped the blood off her daggers. Carefully, she walked over the bodies of the guards she had to put down while being careful not to slip on the pools of blood. “New plan. Get the girl. Wake up the gang. Sail the ruck out of here before the castle notices they’re missing ten guards... or eleven, I lost count.”
What had disturbed Aquilina the most (other than her inability to be stealthy at all) was the fact that she was now in the cell area. She had seen crappy cells before, but these were the worst of the lot. There was little to no light, and each of the cages was made of black steel that looked too sharp to even touch. The smell of waste and piss made it clear there wasn’t a plumbing system for the prisoners. Not to mention it was so void of sound that one could be mistaken for suddenly becoming deaf. The worst part was seeing the slaves who never once reacted to Aquilina, no matter what she did.
No cheers for seeing their abusers killed. No begging to be released. Not even a gasp of shock when spotting her. They were all motionless. Standing there like statues with dead eyes.
Broken beyond repair...in the very pits of despair.
It brought a lot of uncomfortable memories that she didn’t want to deal with right now. Not without a good helping of scotch anyway.
Aquilina continued to search through each of the cells until she finally found the one she was looking for. Her target, Lana, looked at her with real surprise before backing up to the wall. Aquilina smirked and, using a key from a now dead guard, opened the cell. “You Lana? Daughter of Razorwing?”
“Y-yes...” she croaked, weakly. “Who... you...?”
One of the most colorful talking members of Red Lightning!!!
“I’ve been hired to get you out. Come on, we’re going to my ship and-”
Thwek.
Something tiny and sharp pierced Aquilina’s neck before she could finish. Her claw pressed against the object and she pulled it out, revealing it to be dart. The moment she saw it, her vision began to get woozy, and her stance was getting weaker.
“Oh, son of a...” was all she could mutter before collapsing face first onto the floor.
Aaaaaaand called it. Welp, Spike's gonna burn her a new one!
***
“Caught your friend trying to free that prisoner you wanted to ‘buy’ but we know that’s minotaur shit.
Killed a few of our guards, had to make it look like a few other prisoners rebelled and killed them instead. Those ‘rebels’ are to be executed in a few hours by Mistress Loveshot’s orders, but your companion isn’t among them. Far as she knows, your loud-mouthed griffin friend is still on your ship, and she’ll continue to believe that if you visit me at the North Tower at 10AM if you want to save not only your friend’s life, but all those slaves as well.
I know who you are, and I understand why you’re here, and I want to make a deal with you. Let’s just say we share very similar career paths.
-Sir Marshall
Crap.
P.S. You’re friend’s stealth skills are crap.”
Least they can agree on one thing.
“I’m going to kill her,” Azura muttered, rubbing her temple.
“Get in line,” Spike sighed, shaking his head. “Why does she pull stuff like this?”
“To be fair, it wasn’t like we had any other ideas,” Windward said, shrugging his shoulders. “So, what now?”
Spike crumbled the letter and tossed it into the sea. “I’ll go to see Sir Marshall. Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into a bloodbath, and we can get Aquilina back for a good chewing later on. Yasahiro and Peewee?” The kitsune stood at attention while the young phoenix landed on the former’s shoulders. “Unlike Aquilina, you’re a living shadow. Follow me and stay out of sight. The rest of you prepare to leave just in case. If things go bad, Peewee will teleport back to the ship as my signal to get the hay out of here.”
Good luck Spike.
“--before I slice off your dick and send it to your mother so she can fuck it in her ass to remember what a piece of shit you were as a child!”
Sir Marshall, leaning against the door, looked at the tied up griffiness with a raised eyebrow before noticing Spike by the entrance. “So, does she always curse a storm every five minutes, or only when she’s angry?”
All. The. Time.
“Pretty much whenever,” Spike replied, closing the door behind him. “She get to the part where she’ll use a time travel spell to have your father aborted and play around with the fetus like a football before making it into a soup for your mother to eat?”
“Yeah, that one was quite disturbing,” Sir Marshall replied, shaking his head. “At least it finally concludes what I thought you two were. She’s Aquilina because of her loud mouth, and that must make you Spike, apprentice to Marc of the Red Lightnings. I’m guessing the rest of the crew is Red Lighting as well?” He walked up to Spike with a knowing smirk and crossed his arms. “And I take it that the girl your friend was trying to save is your target for rescue?”
Spike growled and readied himself. “And if we are?”
“Relax, I’m not going to fight you. Rather, you coming here works out for me,” Sir Marshall replied, reaching into his pocket. At first, Spike thought it was a weapon, but instead, it was a medallion that surprised both him and Aquilina at first.
Oh, in what way?
The medallion was a red and bronze metal that showed a minotaur head wearing a helmet known as a Galea. A bright silver like a helmet that covered the sides and back with the front clear for the face to see in all directions. The thing that stood out most was the top crest, which was like a mohawk of red hair. Only one group had this symbol.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Frumentarii Agent Rexius of the Legion, and I need your help in rescuing our brothers.”
Well, Aquilina might be an idiot and be terrible at stealth, but maybe her stupid move will end up helping them if this works out. I was very surprised by Yasahiro speaking, especially in another language. Can’t wait to see what happens next, but I know it is going to be epic.
9703394
He didn't speak, he was thinking of a flashback
9703398
Oh, I see now. Sorry about that small mix up.
Well let's see how this plays out. I hope they can stop these guys but I get the sad feeling that they may not be able to save many of the poor souls on this island.
Well...that Warlord being involved certainly has complicated things...
That's right, we're not leaving with out her.
Hate to say it, but Azura does have a point, there's no guarantee that you're going to get them all out. On other hand, the least you can do is try.
That's what I'm wondering too.
More like ready to take it our of your hooves.
Gotta give props to Azura for her acting.
Oh sweet Celestia.
Is that her?
Wait, that is that has her even more scared?
...I already know what that means, and I'm not going to dwell any further on it.
Oh DAMMIT!!!
As shown in One Piece, Warlord are bad news. Crocodile, Moria, Mihawk, Jimbei, Handcock, and Doflamingo surely gave us examples of that!!!
No matter how its put, Slavery will always be wrong in my eyes.
Start from rock bottom in order to get to the top.
Even ones from non-noble families can make a difference, but like Spike said in the last chapter, while one person can't make a difference on their own, friends united can.
As I have stated, Warlords are bad news!!!
Shit!!!
Not good at all.
And then all would go down to even more shit!!!
Oh no....
Something really horrible must've happened to that poor Kitsune to make him lose his cool so quickly. Poor guy...
She's gonna fuck up, isn't she?
Broken beyond repair...in the very pits of despair.
One of the most colorful talking members of Red Lightning!!!
Aaaaaaand called it. Welp, Spike's gonna burn her a new one!
***
Crap.
Least they can agree on one thing.
Good luck Spike.
All. The. Time.
Oh, in what way?
R...rescue???