-Jacky B. Chickadee-
“Can you steer us closer to the port without us all dying?” Captain Jade might not have understood that this was my chance to start life for real and do something with myself, but I forgave her for that.
“Aye aye, Captain La Perm!” I started to steer the ship for the port. As long as I didn’t go too far out, then things wouldn’t hopefully get so bad.
“For the record, despite her calling me that, we only met yesterday and I think she’s unintentionally trying to kill me.” That hurt a bit, but she wasn’t wrong and her anger towards me was completely understandable. I wasn’t trying to kill her, I was hoping she’d actually survive me.
My captain had been lucky so far, the banana peel thing had made me sit up and take attention. Sure all the banana peel slips I’ve seen had been funny, but the laughter was bitter as I'm reminded of my… situation.
The thing she said about always landing on her feet had quite a bit of meaning. It mean that no matter how bad things got for her, she’d always try to come out standing. That really meant a lot to me.
That cannonball missing by several feet and only getting her covered slightly in dirt was what really opened my eyes to the possibility that I had finally found my captain.
It was bad enough that my presence probably somehow let the diamond dogs sneak up on Captain La Perm, but she dealt with them well enough. Now she had five pirates on both sides of her down on the deck and things didn’t look too good until she called for a parley. Captain La Perm would probably be better off if I didn’t try to help her right now.
-Jade-
Once we were parked over the open water above the port, I decided to get things moving along.
“Okay, to start things off I absolutely need this ship. The pirate parrots want this ship, but don’t necessarily need it.” I pointed to Celaeno and then turned to Captain Gash. “You Captain Gash want both this ship… and my head.”
“Aye, you’ve run my patience down and I’ve none left for you.” He waved his sword in my direction with a scowl. “Parley is just delaying the inevitable. We can all just finish you off quickly enough and then get to dealing with each other.”
“I don’t feel like killing someone today, also there’s the code to think of.” The young teenage Celaeno wasn’t on my side, but at least she wasn’t bloodthirsty like Captain Gash currently was. “She has made no aggressive moves against any of us yet since calling parley, she also has yet to barter with either of us. Just to be sure we’re all on the up and up, parley to the both of you.”
“Okay then.” While in parley I was safe for the moment, Captain Gash could not order his men to attack me and he couldn’t attack me himself until we absolutely talked about a possible deal. In turn I couldn’t do anything aggressive either and since Celaeno agreed to parley with us both, that means she’s also bound by the code. “Hey Jacky, can you find me a sword and toss it to me? I'll need it when we get to fighting.”
Chickadee looked a bit worried about the idea of even throwing a sheathed sword at me.
“Are you sure about that captain, couldn’t I just… give it to you?” Well you could do that Jacky, but I’d really like to see what will happen if you threw it at me. “Do I really have to throw it?”
“Yes.” I just really wanted to confirm something here. Jacky opened her mouth to say something and I made her stop with a glare. “I’m quite sure.”
“Fine, I’ll do it. Just know that I’m warning you now that something will go wrong.” With that Jacky set out to look for a sword in the ship and I sat down to wait. The parrot pirates and Gash’s griffons followed my lead in taking a seat.
“While she’s busy with that, I’m going to suggest a ‘mêlée a trois’ for ownership of The Double Dare.” I was getting a stink eye from Captain Gash at the suggestion, but Celaeno seemed interested in a fight. “It would be fitting.”
“Hmm… no magic is allowed in the fight in any form.” It was Captain Gash’s right to set a term if we’re going to fight. That’s a big if, depending on what Celaeno said.
“Agreed… what say you?” After I accepted Gash’s terms, we turned to Celaeno. His conditions had me a bit worried, at least he didn’t anything say anything too hard to follow. “I’m sorry, I don't know your name. This guy is Captain Gash and the pink hat is my fault, just to give you an idea of why he’s so keen on drawing and quartering me.”
“Call me Celaeno, I actually think that hat looks charming on the old codger. I agree to his terms.” She closed her eyes to think and her four friends looked in her direction. After a minute she opened her eyes, I had no idea what she was thinking when it came to Gash’s terms or my agreement with them. “No swapping in substitutes or getting outside help during the fight, we three fight until we can’t fight any more or give up.”
“Agreed.” I and Gash agreed to the terms at the same time.
They both looked to me, it was my turn to set the terms if I could actually think of anything. The one suggesting the mêlée was the last to set a term. If I couldn’t think of anything, then we’d go with what we had.
“We all fight on even footing. No backup weapons, just the swords and our bodies.” The two pirates looked thoughtful at my words.
Each one of our terms was to give ourselves an advantage.
Gash wanted the advantage over me and didn’t want me using magic. This fight was going hurt, a lot. I wasn’t exactly trained to fight with a sword.
Celaeno’s advantage was an escape clause and not having to deal with more than two opponents, young pirates would often use it if they didn’t think they had enough experience to survive the fight.
My advantage was worded carefully, even footing meant that captain Gash couldn’t fly and had to fight us on the ground with just a sword or whatever his body could do naturally.
“Agreed.” Celaeno didn’t see any problem with my terms and it was up to Captain Gash, we haven’t exactly said anything about not killing one another.
“Agreed.” It took Captain Gash long enough, he was definitely thinking hard about whether or not he could take either of us without flying. “It seems we are waiting on your sword you ugly guttersnipe.”
“Of course we are bleeding beard.” If he was going to start insulting, then I was going to do some myself. “Don’t open any more arteries in yourself, you might accidentally fill the world with your taint. Goodness knows, your blood is not fit for the sea or the sky.”
“You are absolutely the worst priestess I’ve ever heard.” Celaeno didn’t insult me all too hard, she then turned to Captain Gash. “You are a scum sucking pufferfish and the only thing that inflates for you anymore is your ego.”
“It’s not the size that matters, but what you do with it you wailing harpy of a fat manatee.” Last insult fired, we all waited for Jacky.
Jacky came back three minutes later with a sheathed sword and was about to walk down the steps.
“I told you to throw it to me.” She was quite uneasy and she looked at the steps between me and her, she tossed the sword.
I quickly got up to my feet and took a single step back. The sword somehow fell out of the sheath, spun end over end and slammed down between my legs blade side up almost touching my new pants. The sheath smacked me in the head making me rub the spot it hit, but nothing much worse happened.
“That could have killed you.” Celaeno said lazily as she eyed Jacky with some suspicion. “If you hadn’t moved… it could have pierced your head.”
“It thankfully didn’t though.” That was all I had to say on the subject as I put the cutlass in the sheath and held it upside down, it didn’t fall out. Ms. Chickadee was really unlucky. “I suggest she be the one to start us off on our mêlée a trois.”
“Now you just be tempting fate horribly, I accept.” Anything to get an advantage, eh Captain Gash?
-
We three stood at the ready in the middle of the deck, equidistant from one another. To my left was Captain Gash and on my right was Celaeno. I held my cutlass forward with my left hand, both Caelano and Gash were holding theirs in their right.
We had nothing on us except our clothes and our weapons.
Weapons pointed towards the center of the three person circle, we waited for the battle to start.
Green feathers, white plumage, the rose eyed Celaeno look ready with her sword. Pink hat of rage and a beard of red feathers, Captain Gash wanted to rip his opponent’s apart. I was the odd one out as I held my sword, of which I had no training or any skill with.
“Ready arms… begin!” Jacky quickly backed out of the way sending me a worried look and we immediately started.
Captain Gash went for me, but I in turn went for Celaeno surprising both of them. Celaeno blocked my clumsy leftwards slash and I danced out of the way of Gash’s stab taking a light graze to my left arm.
We all stopped and looked between one another, then we started tapping our feet to an unseen rhythm.
Celaeno struck out at me, I ducked under her swing and tried to swing for Gash who deflected my blow and riposted expertly and tried to get Celaeno in the shoulder. I had already backed out of range and Celaeno deflected Gash, now we were looking between each other more carefully.
I was the least skilled and experienced, but a wild card was always dangerous. Celaeno was young and strong, Gash was old and experienced. We were balanced, as neither of them wanted to lose sight of me or each other.
All three of use clashed our swords together at the same time, while they were locked I swung my right hand claws at Gash’s face catching him sharply above his left eye. Give that wound a minute to bleed over the left side of his face and he’d be blinded in one eye. Celaeno quickly sucker punched me turning my right eye black with a bruise and she took a shallow cut to the right leg from Gash.
We backed away and were now stomping to an intense rhythm and we started to slowly move in a clockwise circle with the parrots and griffons egging us on.
One of us had to go down if any of us were to gain an advantage, my best bet was to play Celaeno and Gash off one another.
We moved, I stabbed my sword downwards into the deck. Gash’s sword hit it stopping it from getting any closer to hitting me. I ducked under Celaeno’s blow coming in from my right and I kicked Gash in his belly winding him, I grabbed my sword and spun around with it to the left. It clipped Celaeno’s left shoulder and hitting Gash’s sword as it came up to deflect me. I stumbled back from the deflection.
“Are you sure you’re a priestess? You’ve got good instincts.” Celaeno said conversationally as she came at me with a flourish, I blocked her first swing and the second slid across the left side of my face drawing blood. I launched my fist at her and she stepped backwards with a smile. The smile was soon gone as she had almost gotten run through by Captain Gash.
I charged and managed to smack the attacking Gash’s wrist with the back of my sword with an upwards flick, it almost made him almost drop his sword.
He growled as he strengthened the grip on his sword and changed tactics to unleash a rapid flourish at me. I barely managed to deflect the worst of it as I took several painful wounds across my body. Celaeno thankfully distracted him.
Celaeno held her own against Captain Gash and they traded blows sending some sparks flying. I interrupted them by thrusting at Gash’s side and managed to get a good portion of his right wing making him grunt in pain and staggering him.
“She’s not traditionally trained, but her instincts for finding openings is admittedly quite good.” Gash actually complimented me, I’m touched. we started to slowly circle again watching one another’s movements closely. “Wish she’d just up and die though.”
Less touched.
We were practically dancing with how fast we were moving into and out of each other’s range trying to find a good opportunity to press the attack. We deflected blows, blocked them and attacked one another in a shifting rhythm.
With a twitch of my right ear I swung for Celaeno’s head as Gash came at me. Celaeno blocked and I held that block shifted it into the path of the blow meant for me from Gash and then slid my blade upwards catching Gash shallowly in the throat beneath his beard.
Gash started coughing as he backed away from me clutching his throat and I quickly dropped my sword. This was much to Celaeno’s surprise when her first attack wasn’t blocked and her following attack missed me because I was busy knocking her legs out from under her.
Once she fell, I got into a crouching position where I somersaulted forward and slammed my right heel into her chest winding her. Celaeno grabbed my leg and slammed me belly first to the deck, she took my sword and deflected Gash from stabbing me through the back while I was down.
I soon stood up shakily from that near death experience, I would have to thank Celaeno for that later. Both Celaeno and Gash were busy fencing with one another, Gash was looking quite unbalanced and Celaeno was getting roughed up by him.
I looked to Celaeno’s sword, I had an idea. I took aim and kicked the sword forward while charging Celaeno.
The sword I kicked ended up between Gash’s hind legs, his left foot shifted backwards and into the hilt, the next shift of his legs sent the blade digging into his right heel. Howling in pain, he toppled and smashed the back of his head against the deck. He was out of the fight.
Celaeno tried to react to the change in the battle, but I had already gripped her wrist with my right hand. I might not be good at sword fighting, but I definitely knew brawling.
I sent my left elbow into Celaeno's face dazing her, I brought my right knee straight up into her elbow while lowering her arm with my grip. This resulted in her to dropping her sword, and then I maneuvered myself to slam my head into hers.
I was hurting badly, but I was standing.