If there were any words that could be used to describe Wallflower, it was subdued. While others enjoyed loud parties and flashing lights, she preferred the simple serenity of a quiet afternoon with a cup of tea and a good book. Not that her "condition" left her with much of a choice in the matter. As such, she wasn't sure what to make of the new situation she found herself in.
Sid and her sat in a bar, the Absol smiling widely over a tall mug of ale held tightly in his grip while she shyly nursed a small glass of iced tea. With the clanking of glasses, the smell of tobacco smoke, and the dim lighting that surrounded her, it would not be a small understatement to say that she felt out of place. At least, she did when she looked away from her laughing friend.
Just watching him reminded her of the cavalier scoundrels from some of her more thrilling novels. He was playful and relaxed, but she could see the cunning sitting just beneath the surface. Even now, she could see him dawning a hooded black cloak as he slinked quietly into a dark dungeon for a treasure that had been long forgotten by time. To others, he was a dreaded omen in a town known for its ill fortune, but to her, he was the kind hearted thief Robbing Hood or the pirate king Sin Bad. HIs stories of his life further adding to that image as he regaled her with tails of braving the high seas outside of Equestria's borders. It all added to the small blush he gave her when combined with a far more important fact.
He could remember her.
"And so," he continued, pointing a claw through his buzz at the ceiling. "While we were falling, I stared down at the sea monster and yelled, 'I refuse to die today!' and fired a Thunderbolt down its gaping maw, frying the poor bastard to death from the inside out!"
"Really?" Wallflower blinked. "You managed to kill a Kraken just like that?"
"Hand to god," he smirked, putting a claw up over his chest while letting the other one fall to his side.
"Hand to...what?" she blinked, tilting her head.
He chuckled, then said, "It's a saying. It means, 'I swear I'm telling the truth'."
"Oh," she smiled.
A smile that took on a small mischievous glint as she asked, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"You don't," he shrugged, taking a long pull from his drink. "And that's half the fun."
Wallflower giggled at that, something she was happy to say she was doing a lot more often nowadays.
"So, have you gone on any other great adventures, or is monster hunting the only thing you've got under your horn?" she asked, taking a small sip of her tea.
"I wish," he snorted. "One time, I had to help a group of pirates save their captain's daughter from a rival crew. Damn near died six times in that job."
"What happened?" she asked, worried excitement shinning brightly in her wide eyes.
Sid chuckled, then said "At the time, I was working as a claw for hire, taking whatever jobs payed well, but didn't involve me getting my claws too dirty. Of course, taking a job from a group of Pirates was a pretty easy way to mess that up. I made it clear that this was going to be a one time thing. I help them raid their rival's ship, get the girl, get out, and go our separate ways the second I had my money."
"I take it it wasn't that easy," Wallflower gulped, taking a nervous sip of her drink.
"Not even close," he sighed. "The pirates that hired me were mostly griffins, with a couple minotaurs and some unicorns. The enemy ship was mostly unicorns, but the captain that hired me forgot to tell me that all of the unicorns were Necromancers."
"N-N-Necromancers?" Wallflower gasped. "B-But that's forbidden magic!"
"Pirates seldom care about laws," Sid grimly intoned. "Be it summoning a demon or raising the dead, if it will help them get what they want, they will do it without a second thought."
He took a long pull from his drink before he continued.
"It was too late for me to back out, so I had no choice but to try to get the job done. Compared to what I had to deal with that day, fighting a Kraken would've been a blessing."
***
Cries of battle, the bangs of flintlocks, and the clangs of swords mingles with the howling gales and sloshing of waves as the two parties clashed. The thick gray clouds above the ship poured rain down onto them like a sadistic fountain, lighting and thunder adding to the already chaotic scene . Steel met bone as the living clashed with the rotting dead under the command to the handful of unnaturally thin unicorns at the far back of the ship. Each of them was garbed in a hooded black cloak covered with sickly runes that gave off an eery teal light. At the heart of the conflict, sporting a similar, albeit more tattered and without ornament, hooded cloak, was Sid. A cutlas made of dark energy was held tight in his claw as he ran it through the desecrated diamond dog corpse. His red eyes held a cold indifference as he let the dark energies of his weapon corrode the zombie from the inside out, looking away from his handy work only to level a withering glare at the monster's masters.
The intensity of his stare and the ease at which he destroyed their minions made the Necromancers flinch back.
Like the reaper himself, the Absol slowly walked through the madness, a quick barrier easily deflecting any flintlock fire that came his way and just a few quick strikes from his blade destroyed what few undead crossed his path. They had heard the rumors, but none of them thought that they were more than that. None of them believed that they, creatures above the laws of life and death, would ever see a creature that could make them feel fear. They had never thought they would meet The Bai Ze of Kluge Port.
Some of the more bold among them fired bolts of necrotic magic at him, but a quick pulse of dark energy from his own horn annihilated them and six more undead before they had a chance to touch him. A few necrotic seagulls were summoned, but were quickly destroyed by his horn as well, a bolt of lightning taking the place of his previous attack. Some among them started to quietly mutter incantations, the words tugging on the souls of the unicorns surrounding them and earning them bitter glares. Glares that turned into looks of shock when the casters let out strangled screams and fell bonelessly to the ground, all of the life seemingly ripped from their bodies. The sight brought a small smile to Sid's lips, a faint lavender shine briefly coming off of his coat before it faded away. All the while, he continued his slow waltz towards his targets.
The unicorns briefly considered sicking the rest of the undead they had on the Absol, but quickly killed that line of thinking. It was only thanks to them that they had only the lone demon to deal with as opposed to him and the entirety of Red Talion's crew. All the same, some among them were not completely sure that the monster closing in on them was the true lesser of two evils.
"Worthless specter," one of the stallions in the group hissed. "Be gone from our sight!"
As he said that, his horn glowed a sickly black, before a large blast of toxic magic burst from it towards Sid. He frowned at the incoming attack before he tried to block it with Protect. The results was mixed, the shield easily protecting him from the blast, but the force of the attack was slowly pushing him back. He grit his teeth as he pushed back against the tide, the strain his shield put on his mind and the effort needed to move forward taking its toll on him. Unfortunately for the unicorn casting the spell, his toll was much more demanding.
Little by little, the stallion's body began to wither away, his figure thinning and bailing by the second as he continued to fire his wretched spell. Blood leaked past the stallion's lips and his flesh started to rot off of his bones, but he continued to push back against the Absol's advance. A battle that his fellow casters knew was becoming more futile by the second.
With a pained wail, the tide of death magic abruptly ended, the spell's caster reduced to nothing but a pile of bones under a cloak. Sid glared spitefully at the pile before he canceled his move and continued his march towards the enemy.
Without the constant distractions, he now had the time needed to get a headcount of the twelve remaining Necromancers. At least, the ones that still had a pulse at the moment. Considering the school of magic these ponies followed, it would be unwise of him to disregard the five intact corpses and the skeleton the ponies now had at their disposal at the moment. In time, he stops his advance three feet away from the group and points his blade at them.
"I could put and end to your ceaseless wanderings, but I have come for another soul. Free Red Claw's daughter and I will allow you all to continue your wretched existences beyond this day. What are your answers?"
The unicorns shared unreadable glances, then nodded as sickly magic started to coat their horns. Sid sighed, but refused to show any other sign of emotion as he primed his blade to strike. Cruel smiles formed on the unicorns' faces as a cold etherial mist surrounded them. Moments later, a screaming mass of ghosts emerged from the mist, rage and pain spread out across their faces like melted wax figurines. The summoned souls surged towards the lone Absol, his face a cold mask in spite to the howling damned coming to claim him. With a flurry of swings from his blade, the ghosts were slashed away with an echoing howl, said blade disintegrating as a result. Not missing a beat, he charged into the heart of the fog, his claws now coated in eery violet energy.
All sound came to a sudden halt, save for the rain and the splashing of the waves as all of the undead froze. The pirates stared at the monsters in confused caution, not quite sure what to make of this sudden turn. They let out relieved sighs when the monstrosities collapsed into piles of ash, most of them being taken by the raging winds.
The pirates traded cold smiles amongst themselves before turning to face the now fading fog at the back of the deck. In time, it parted to reveal Sid with the dead bodies of the Necromancers surrounding him, large puddles of blood soaking into the wooden floor from hideous neck wounds. The Absol took in the sight with a hollow sigh before leaping out of the ring of carnage to rejoin his employer's party.
While the griffins gave him a wide berth, one among them greeted him with boisterous laughter. Captain Red Claw was large, even by griffin standards; the hulking feline raptor standing a staggering seven feet at the shoulder. The bird half of his body was that of a blood-red condor while his feline half was that of a liger, the stripes, coat coloring, and the orange pom of fur at the end of his tail evidence of this rare claim. Countless scars from past battles covered his impressive form, adding to the already mensing aura he exuded. A black and withered tricorn hat with a red feather sat proudly on his head, while a rune-riddled scimitar was strapped to his hip.
The captain stared down at Sid, a strange mix of warmth and predatory pride present in his smile. Sid met it with a blank stare, an act that made Red Claw smile wider.
"Fine work, my boy," Red Claw chuckled, his voice a dry growl. "NIce to see you live up to the rumors."
"They exaggerate," he flatly intoned. "I gave them a chance to exist. They chose wrong."
"Indeed," the captain nodded, numb to Sid's cold responses. "A shame that this is a one time deal."
A faint glare made it past Sid's mask.
"As I have said, I have no desire to become a pirate. That will not change, no matter what you try to use to sway me."
"We will see," Red Claw chuckled. "Every creature has a price, my boy. I just have to find yours."
Sid's glare sharpened further.
The captain's smile fell away as he shifted his attention towards his crew and harshly barked, "What are you sea rats waiting for?! My daughter is on this cursed rat bucket! If she isn't at my side in the next five hours, I'll decorate the ship with your gizzards!"
The crew instantly went to work, most of them knowing full well that their captain may not be posing an empty threat. Sid was less energetic, moving down into the ship's lower deck at a much more relaxed pace. While not as massive as a Carrier, the ship the Necromancers had taken ownership of was still quite large. In addition to the main deck, the ship had seven lower decks along with a massive storage deck at the bottom and several dozen living quarters.That wasn't even taking into account all of the rooms that the sorcerers had used for their foul practices. As such, even with a full crew of extremely "motivated" pirates, it was unlikely that they were going to find Red Claw's daughter in his demanded timeframe.
Assuming she's alive, he grimly mused, wandering aimlessly through the first under-deck.
Moving through the levels were met with far fewer hazards than both Sid and Red Claw expected. Apparently, the Necromancers relied very heavily on their zombies to man the ship in addition to defend it. Hundreds of ash piles found near discarded tools or weapons was the most damning evidence of this fact. Each level was darker than the last, the walls practically oozing with residual necrotic energy. By the time Sid and Red Claw (having long grown impatient with his crew's lack of progress), made it to the bottom deck, it was as dark as night and the air was thick with the chilled aura of pure death. Were it not for Sid's night vision and his natural resistances to the foul energies that surrounded them, he would have let the captain brave the depraved depths alone. Unfortunately, the grizzled griffin held the pursestrings in his deal, a fact that made payment for this disaster of a job more difficult if he died.
A quick glance at their surroundings painted a grim picture.
The Necromancers had turned the cargo hold into a prison, dozens of steel cages filled the vast chamber in neat rows. Some of the cages held the skeletal remains of past victims, souls lucky enough to not become members of their tormentor's crew. In the farthest corner of the chamber, chained to the floor of her cell laid their prize. Waisting no time, Sid ran towards the cell, Red Claw not far behind him.
When they reached the cell, Red Claw let out a relieved sigh while Sid raised a brow.
Laying in the cell bound in chains was a jet black hippogriff with teal wings. Her coat was shaggy, her feathers were in desperate need of a preening, and it looked as if she had missed a few good meals. All things considered, she could've been in far worse shape.
Sid gave his employer a questioning look.
"Adopted," the griffin huffed, giving the Absol a challenging glare.
He shrugged, then shifted his attention back towards the cell. More specifically, the thick steel key lock holding it shut. Not particularly in the mood to take the time to pick the lock, he ripped through it with a Shadow Claw. The door opened with a loud squeak as Red Claw threw it open and ran to his daughter's side. A small smile formed on Sid's muzzle as he watched the normally ruthless pirate lord delicately pick at his daughter's bindings.
An action that roused the haggard hippogriff from her sleep with a savage hiss.
"Fuck off you corpse straddler," she growled, dry voice holding more venom than a nest of vipers. "When I get out of here, I'll use your skull as a chamber po....Dad?"
"Quite the mouth there my little gull," he chuckled, carefully snapping a chain between his talons. "MIght need to wash that beak out when we get to port."
The hippogriff smiled up at him, blinking tears away as she chuckled, "Do it and I swear I'll switch your rum with hot sauce."
That earned a barking laugh out of Red Claw and small snort out of Sid. The small noise dragged the hippogriff's attention towards him, her eyes narrowing the second they did.
"Who's that?" she asked.
"HIs names Sid," Red Claw smirked. "I hired him to help me save ya'."
"Needing a Skag to save me?" she smirked, resting her head onto the floor. "You finally starting to lose your edge?"
Another barking laugh.
"This old hawk ain't ready to leave the skies just yet!"
"Damn," she snorted.
Red Claw sighed.
"Don't worry Storm, your time will come."
"I know," she huffed, then hissed as the chain binding her wings was snapped.
As soon as she had her freedom, Storm staggered to her feet, pleased grunts falling past her beak as she popped some stiff joints. Her smile grew when Red Claw pulled a leather belt out from under one of his wings, a holstered flintlock held firmly onto it. Sid watched her lovingly slip the leather strap around her waist with a barely perceived smirk, the sight reminding him of his sister. Her absence killed the smile almost as quickly as it emerged.
***
Sid stared bitterly at his mug, brief memories of the state he found his sister in flashing through his mind. Taking a spiteful swig of his drink, he forced a smile onto his face as he locked eyes with Wallflower. The mare in question was staring at him with wide eyes, the sight forcing a drunk snort out of the Absol.
"Y-You killed a whole group of Necromancers by yourself?"
"Yeah," he shrugged. "My Moves are extremely effective against ghosts and other kinds of undead. It's part of the reason Red Claw hired me."
"But....did you have to kill them?" she asked, a faint quiver coloring her tone.
Sid sighed, then nodded.
"I gave them a chance and they made their choice. I didn't want to kill them, but the Wild Tide region is not a very kind place. Sometimes, it was either me or my opponent. Simple as that."
Wallflower nodded at that, a small frown marring her muzzle. As thrilling as Sid's stories were, she had to remember that they were more than just stories. If she was forced to live the kind of life Sid lived before coming to Equestria, she wasn't sure just how long she would've been able to live. Even with her new abilities, she wasn't very optimistic about the kind of odds she would've had.
Shaking off her discomfort, she forced a small smile and took a small sip of her tea.
"I'm guessing it was all smooth sailing from there, right?" she asked.
"Not quite," he sighed, waving a waiter over to get another refill. "I said this job was more trouble than it was worth, right?"
"Yeah?" she nervously nodded. "What happened."
He frowned, took a swig from his refilled mug, and bitterly growled, "Two words; Captain Basilisk."
***
Having spent as much time as he had sailing through the Wild Tide, the three weeks he had spent aboard The Searing Tide barely affected Sid. What nearly made him want to drink himself stupid, or throw himself overboard, were the creatures he was forced to share the ship with. In spite of being a Skag, or shore-dweller, Captain Red Claw was giving him the royal treatment, a fact that drew much ire from the rest of the crew. Add the less than subtle ways the Pirate King was trying to nudge Sid into joining his crew and his it became very clear where his patience was starting to thin.
As such, in order to hold onto what little fragments of sanity he had left, he hid himself in the cargo hold whenever he had the chance. The fact that Red Claw had a huge wrack of rum bottles stored there was a mere perk at that point.
"Can we please get to port already!? he groaned to himself, laying in a far corner with a half-empty bottle of rum sitting next to him.
He glared bitterly at a wall, the swaying of the ship going well with his heavy buzz. Boredom was the death of any sailer, but it was a better fate than popping a blood vessel trying to politely tell a Pirate King where he could shove his offer to join his crew. Letting out a tired sigh, he laid out on his back and tried to ride his buzz to sleep, the rocking motion of the ship doing a pretty good job in aiding him in this task.
He was just about to enter the land of dreams when something heavy landed on his gut. He floundered about for a moment with a startled squawk, quickly taking note of the withered brown sack laying next to him. That wasn't what earned a sharp glare from him though. That honor went to the black and teal Hippogriff hen standing to his right, a crooked smile aimed at him in spite of his ire.
"Lazing about, Skag?" she asked, pulling a small jar out of the bag, twisting open the lid as she fell to her haunches.
"Very observant of you, princess," he sniped, ignoring the sour smell of vinegar and fish coming from the jar. "Now, would you be so kind as to leave me be?"
She hummed in thought for a moment, then gave him a playful smirk as she said, "Nah," and plucked a pickled oyster out of the jar and popped it into her mouth.
Rolling his eyes, Sid forced himself to his haunches and gave the grinning hen a deadpan.
"Very well. What can I do for you?" he asked flatly.
"How's about telling me why you don't want to join our crew," she said, casually leaning against a nearby create. "I'm sure dad could pay you pretty well if that's a problem."
"He could," he nodded. "I simply have no desire to be a pirate. End of story."
Storm stared blankly at him for a few seconds, then shrugged and popped another oyster into her mouth.
"Fair enough. Real shame though. A creature as strong as you would make a real good First Mate."
"Your father told me the same thing," Sid sighed, then smirked as he added, "Though I don't think he meant "mate" in the same way you do."
"HAH! Doubt that!" Storm barked. "That old buzzard is as straight as it gets."
"I never said it was his crew he was talking about," he snorted.
Storm blinked at that, then face-palmed with an irate groan.
"I take it this isn't the first time," Sid sighed, grabbing his bottle and taking a swig.
"No," she growled, slowly letting her talon slide down her grimacing face. "Damned buzzard. I'm gonna tie his tail to an anchor one of these days!"
Sid snorted at that.
"Planing a mutiny? I'm not sure how well that would go after everything the crew went through to save you," he smirked.
"Might be better than dealing with him trying to match me up with random creatures," she huffed, swiping Sid's rum our of his claw and taking a swig. "I'm my own hen damn it! I can find a hawk on my own!"
He chuckled at that, his mind wandering back to a time his sister had said something similar to him.
"What's so funny?" she demanded, eyes narrowing.
"Nothing," he smiled. "You just reminded me of something my sister ranted about once."
"You have a sister?" she blinked, then smirked as she said, "Maybe we can get her to knock some sense into the old buzzard when we get to port."
"Not likely," he sighed. "We got separated a few months back. Our ship got caught in a hurricane a few months back. I've been trying to find her, but haven't had any luck so far."
Storm's smile fell at that.
A heavy silence settled between them as the Hippogriff gave the Absol back his bottle, an act that brought a small thankful smile to his face. At the same time, her mind was running through just what she could do for him. If his story was true, then the fate of what she presumed was a female Bai Ze was not a very optimistic one. Hurricanes on the Wild Tide were not known for their kindness and even her father knew better than to test his luck with them.
Still, if there was even a chance that she survived...
"Hey," she frowned. "I'm not saying to get your hopes up, but...."
She looked away, her cheeks getting a little warm.
"Dad has a pretty big information network. Since you helped save my hide, I guess I could ask him to ask around for you."
Sid blinked at that, then nodded with a smile as he said, "Thank you. That would be a big help."
Storm's cheeks reddened a bit more at that, some of her feathers fluffing up in response.
"L-Like I said, don't get your hopes up too high," she sputtered, refusing to make eye contact. "Worse comes to worse, at least you can get some closure or whatever."
A bit of pain entered his smile, but it still held a level of thankfulness Storm seldom saw. Before either of them could move further into the conversation, an eery howl tore through the peace around them. Neither of them had time to question or recover from it before the ship suddenly lurched and nearly knocked them over. Storm staggered and looked around in shock, but Sid stood as still as a statue, pure horror spread clear across his face. A frozen tingle was shooting down from the back of his mind to the base of his tail and back again in a rabid-fire continuous loop. It was a feeling he had only felt once and wished that it had stayed that way.
Something terrible was about to happen and there was no way to escape it.
"All hands to station!" Red Claw roared, his voice thundering through the whole ship with a burning rage.
Nodding to herself, Storm drew her flintlock and ran for the door. Only pausing to grab his cloak, Sid ran out alongside her. All around, he could hear all kinds of activity as the crew jumped into their stations. When they made it to the deck, they were greeted by the sight of Captain Red Claw and no less than thirty armed pirates, most of them griffin while the rest were unicorns.
What put a chill down Sid's spine was what they were glaring at.
Rising from the sea like a sickly serpent from the damned fifty feet away from the ship was a ship made entirely out of sun-bleached bones. The bones making up its front was arranged to look like a snarling face, green fire burning from its sockets like a pair of hateful souls. The masts were void of sails, yet the ship continued to keep pace with The Searing Tide with next to no strain. Standing alone on the haunting vessel's deck was a sight that further filled Sid with dread. A dragon skeleton leered back at Red Claw, burning green light taking the place of eyes as the two captains stared each other down. Sacred ornaments covered the dragon from top to bottom, gold bracelets, rings, and necklaces decorated the foul creature like some haunted totem.
"You have a lot of gall to show your face to me, Basilisk," Red Claw growled, his claw nearly strangling the grip of his sheathed sword.
In a voice like grinding two stones together, Basilisk hissed, "Gall? Tell that to your wench of a daughter! She who dared to steal from my hoard deserves no fate worse than to become one with it!"
"Touch her and I swear that not even The Sirens will find your remains!" Red Claw snarled.
"Bold words, old friend," Basilisk bitterly chuckled. "Will you be able to give them weight? On land and sky, you are a king, but in the Wild Tide.....I AM A GOD!!!
As he said that, he spread his wings and a rancid energy filled the air. The screams of an uncountable number of creatures filled the air like a hellish choir, the magic the elder lich commanded blotting out the sun behind a pitch black curtain of energy. Green orbs of spectral energy started to float out of the water in a thick mass only to be forcibly pulled into Basilisk's chest and fineries. Etherial green energy congealed around the lich's skeletal wings before they morphed into transparent glowing membranes. With a flap of his now functional wings and still more souls flowing into him, Basilisk stared down at the defiant mortal crew beneath him.
he called down to Red Claw with a tone full of pride and malice.
"Surrender the wench, or be added to the corpses that litter the sea, mortal."
Red Claw met his stare with a look of determined fury, his claw still gripping his sword. Knowing what was to come, the pirates stepped away from their captains sides. He barely acknowledged them as, in one fluid motion, drew his massive weapon. Its runes glowed a hateful red as matching lightning surged around the blade. At the same time, a fierce whirlwind raged around him that pushed his crew further back from him. Thunder echoed above them as a storm started to take shape, the first few drops of rain already striking the deck.
"Know this Basilisk," he growled, pointing his blade at his foe. "I rule more than the land and sky. All of the Wild Tide is my kingdom. Any who wishes to claim it, be it god or mortal, shall face my blade. But for those that come for my daughter? I WILL SEND THEM STRAIGHT TO THE ABYSS!!!
With a cry worthy of a raptor and a single flap of his wings, Red Claw soared towards the cursed dragon. Basilisk did the same, the lich diving down to meet him with claws surrounded by whirling balls of green spectral fire. A loud explosion of power erupted from their contact, red lightning and green flames tearing into the sky around them in a vibrant display of power. At the same time, a bit of movement from Basilisk's ship caught Sid's attention and his heart sank into his gut.
Cannons lined the deck and side of the ghost ship, seemingly operating under their own power as they aimed themselves at him and the crew. A few of the unicorns noticed as well and quickly moved to the front of the crowd while Sid put himself in front of Storm. Less than a second after they all cast their barriers, a loud series of 'booms' rang out of Basilisk's ship. Instead of cannon balls, screaming orbs of green fire flew towards The Crimson Tide and nearly slammed through the hastily built defenses. One of these orbs flew straight towards Sid, just as he had predicted it would, to try to get to Storm, but his Protect was more than enough to hold it back.
Storm stared blankly at the orb as it faded away on the deck, then clenched her jaw in barely held rage as she pushed Sid to her right side.
"What are you bumbling slags doing!?" she demanded. "Your captain isn't the only one fighting! Unicorns, set up a proper shield before the enemy fires again. Gunners, get those cannons ready in the next ten seconds. GET MOVING!!!"
A loud chorus of "Aye!"s filled the deck as everycreature scrambled into position. Sid moved to join the unicorns, but Storm pulled him back by his shoulder.
"You stay with me," she frowned.
He nodded, then pulled his hood over his head to guard against the growing rain. Storm barely reacted to the downpour, her focus shifting between her crew's actions and the battle raging above them. Sid did the same, the tingling in the back of his mind shrinking and growing in fluctuated waves.
The two captains flew at each other with the ferocity of raptors, neither of them willing to give an inch to their opponent. With a swing of his blade, Red Claw sent a blast of compressed air, but Basilisk counted it with a blast of spectral fire from his mouth. The undead dragon closed the gap between them with demonic speed and threw a punch with a limb burning with rancid green magic. Red Claw blocked it with a crimson wall of lightning then followed it up with an electrically charged swing from his blade. Basilisk split himself in half to avoid the strike then quickly reassembled before he let out another blast of undead dragon fire from his maw. The rain around him quickly turned into a swirling barrier that warded off the hellfire, only to turn into a hail of water bullets the second the fire passed.
Meanwhile, Basilisk's ship fired another volley, this one better defended against, but still enough to shake The Crimson Tide. Cries of irritation mixed with the thunder of cannons as the mortal artillery shattered parts of the undead vessel, only for the bones to reassemble moments later.
The sight added to the dread already festering within Sid's gut.
While they could hold off Basilisk's attacks, he knew that they could not hold out forever. They were going to eventually run out of cannon balls and the unicorns wouldn't be able to protect them from the soul cannons for much longer. Even now, just after blocking a fourth volley, he could see the unicorns start to tire. Unless Red Claw managed to kill Basilisk soon, it was very obvious just who was going to lose this battle of attrition.
His eyes shifted to the sky and the two titans clashing.
The sight pushed his dread away with frustration, his mind trying and failing to find a way to put what few options he had into action.
"You've got a plan," Storm stated, her eyes narrowing as a predatory smile spread across her beak.
"Mostly," he nodded, eyes still locked onto the waring captains. "It's a little risky, though."
Storm laughed at that.
"You think I'm afraid of a little risk?"
He snorted at that, his lips pulled up into a small smile.
"First, we need to ground Basilisk," he stated. "I have a few moves that can hit him, but nothing strong enough to do more than piss him off."
"Where do you want him to land?" she asked, fiddling with her flintlock.
"His ship would be good," he frowned. "Less of a chance of him turning the crew into minions and...well....we don't want to lose our ship."
"Damn straight," she growled, sliding something into place on her weapon. "Is that all?"
"Yes?" he blinked, finally looking away from the battle above to the hen at his side.
Said hen was sporting a wild smile as she pointed her gun in Basilisk's general direction, one eye closed while the other stayed locked onto the demented dragon. Before he could comment on the futility of her actions, she pulled the trigger. Two loud bangs filled the air as a pair of silver beams of light fired out of the weapon towards the dragon. Seconds later, Basilisk let out an agonized howl as his wings fell off of his back, the appendages crumbling away into ash long before they hit the deck of his ship. The rest of him was not quite so fortunate, the decorated skeleton slamming hard into the deck with an angered roar.
Sid blinked dumbly, quickly shifting his focus back and forth between his ally and enemy.
"Morgana here is a real fancy toy," she beamed, playfully waving her weapon with the muzzle pointed at the air. "Give her some of your magic and she can fire all kinds of bullets."
Sid rolled his eyes at that.
Two years living in this world and magic still manages to get a one-over on him.
"Now, go get him, Skag," she smirked. "I'll cover your flank from here."
With a smirk of his own, he nodded, braced himself, and bolted to the front of one of the cannons. He laughed at the look the griffon manning the weapon gave him before he used a Protect to shield him from the ball and propel him to the deck of the other ship. As he rolled to his feet, Basilisk did the same, eldritch curses rolling off of his nonexistent tongue. Red Claw touched down onto the deck with all the grace of a wild bull, the griffin's eyes burning with hate.
"Stay out of this," he growled, pointing his blade at Sid. "This filth is mine!"
"I would, but your First Mate told me to take this guy out," he smirked, summoning a Night Slash into his claw. "Sorry."
"Foolish mortals," Basilisk hissed, the etherial energy surrounding him surging like emerald fire. "Neither of you have the power to end me. I AM THE IMMORTAL RAGE! NONE SHALL BRING ME PEACE!!!"
"Let's test that," Sid glared, pointing his blade at the lich
Basilisk roared at that and released a wave of etherial energy towards his two opponents. Sid's dark blade cleaved through the attack while Red Claw blasted through it with a burst of air. Foul words in an ancient language started to fall out of the dragon's mouth, but before his curse could take any effect, a beam of light from The Searing Tide shot his lower jaw off. With hate burning in his eyes, the cursed pirate raised his claws up above his head. Some of his spectral fire broke away from his body and turned into a dozen armed minotaur skeletons, all of then shimmering in an eery emerald light.
In response, a pair of blue etherial swords appeared above Sid's head, the two blades crossing before they turned into a ball of light and flew into his chest. Sid's smile widened as he felt a portion of his core sharply rise in power, his Night Slash suddenly growing an extra two inches in length. He charged into the fray, dark blade ripping through the skeleton's defenses, rotting them out from the inside out. Red Claw ripped through the undead hoard like a beast from the abyss, lightning and blasts of pressurized air decimating the mighty foes that surrounded him.
In spite of the carnage before him, Basilisk refused to relent.
Etherial blades formed in his claws, each wreathed with foul black energy. With a furious battle cry, he charged towards his two combatants. Both met his blades with their own, a haunting howl filling the air as they did. The lich fought as relentlessly as a demon from hell, quickly switching between offense and defense in less time than it took one to blink. Even with the overwhelming power of Red Claw's Storm Blade and the swift precision of Sid's Night Slash, neither of them could find a way to do any meaningful amount of damage. Even Storm's shots failed to change the tide, the lich refusing to take anymore hits from her flintlock if he could avoid it.
A pained yell made Sid risk a look back at the ship.
Laying on the deck were three of Red Claw's ten unicorns, each of them heavily panting with barely focused eyes. He grit his teeth and turned back just in time to block another of Basilisk's strikes. He wracked his brain for some way out of this. They were running out of time and even with the three of them combining their efforts, they couldn't make it past the lich's defenses. There had to be something he could do to turn this around, anything! Anything but....
He shook his head, hating the very thought of using that with so many people around. It was too much of a risk! But what other option did he have?
Both mortal fighters were knocked back by the lich, each of them glaring hatefully at him and winded.
"The beast won't die easy," Red Claw spat, eyes never leaving his foe.
"Not if we keep playing this safe," Sid growled. "I have a spell that might be able to take him out, but i need you to get the crew out of here first."
"What?!" Red Claw balked, still keeping his eyes on Basilisk. "You want me to flee?!"
"I want you to win," Sid corrected, eyes turning cold. "And you can't do that if you or your crew get caught in what I have to do."
Red Claw glared down at him, ready to tear his head off for his arrogance, but paused when he saw his eyes. In them, he saw a creature plagued by a heavy burden. A sight that sometimes greeted the captain himself each morning when he looked into the mirror. The story behind those eyes and many more mysteries were the reason he was so eager to have the Absol join his crew. It was also because of those eyes, that with a heavy heart, he nodded.
"Die and I will bring you back to kill you myself," he grunted, sheathing his weapon.
"I will hold you to that," Sid snorted.
With one last nod, the captain took flight once more.
Seeing this, Basilisk tried to intercept him, but a single Thunderbolt from Sid was all it took to shatter what plan the lich had in mind, the force more than enough to send the cursed dragon flying to the other end of the deck. With a few quick shouts from the gruff griffin, The Searing Tide started pulling away from the monstrosity Basilisk sailed.
Sid watched them go with a relieved smile, before aiming a cold frown at his staggering opponent.
"Sacrificing yourself for Red Claw and his crew? How noble," Basilisk spat in spite of his lack of a lower jaw. "But ultimately foolish. Once I am done with you, I will continue my hunt for the thieving wench."
"No you won't," Sid coldly stated, his demeanor chilling a soul even as rancid as Basilisk's to its core. "And there's a very good reason for that. Do you want to hear it?'
With both blades primed, the dragon gave a stiff nod, curious where this little monolog was headed.
Then, with a voice void of heart and eyes as cold as the abyss, Sid said six words that, for the first time in centuries, struck fear into the lich's heart.
"Because you ran out of luck."
With that, he dispelled his Night Slash and raised his claw to the sky.
"Come to me, Phantome Albatross."
A leather grip formed in his outstretched claw that quickly formed into a jet black cutlass the second he grabbed it, not an energy replica, but a solid metal weapon. Glowing violet eye-shaped markings covered the blade in random spots, each of them pulsing with eery energy. With practiced ease, he flipped the sword around in his claw before he leveled it at Basilisk.
"The real fight starts now."
Refusing to show his fear, Basilisk charged, ready to bring both his blades down onto the fool that dared to stand in his way. Sid met both blades with his own, chilled emptiness never once leaving his eyes. Basilisk roared with rage at the sight, only to let out a confused cry with both of his weapons shattered in his hands. Before the dragon could react further, Sid landed a quick flurry of slashes. Roaring in confused rage, Basilisk jumped back , conjured a new pair of swords, and resumed his attack. The second his weapons made contact with Sid's they shattered as well, further adding to the dragon's ire. Changing tactics, the dragon leapt back and fired a barrage of spectral fire from his claws, only for Sid to casually knock them aside with his sword.
Before the dragon could try a different attack, Sid stabbed his sword into the deck, an act that stunned Basilisk. The sword didn't stab the bone deck so much as it phased through it! A second later, cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of contact, all of the spells holding the ship together failing to function in a vast domino effect. Basilisk sent out a spell to try and fix whatever damage Sid had caused, but it was already too late.
That wasn't the only thing that started to fail.
Basilisk gasped, falling to his knees as one by one his ornaments started to fall apart. With each piece of broken finery, more souls fled from his wretched body. With each soul, more and more of his power was taken away. The lich could only watch in terror charged hatred his strength literally slipped through his bony fingers. As his ship continued to collapse he aimed his hatred at the Absol standing a mere six feet away from him.
"Wh-What have you done?!" he demanded.
Sid stared coldly down at his weapon, barely acknowledging the fading dragon.
"Swords Dance, Night Slash, and Shadow Claw. These, combined with my Super Luck ability create this nasty thing. Thanks to that, all the luck of every thing around me is drawn into this blade. It can even cut through that which cannot normally be cut. A phantom blade made to kill phantoms and the longer it is awake," he pointed the blade at the kneeling dragon. "The more powerful it becomes."
With that, he ran Phantom Albatross' blade through the lich's skull, the last shreds of his magic holding his soul to his bones severed. A pained roar echoed through the darkened sky as Captain Basilisk, The Immortal Rage, died, his soul freeing itself from his bones as a pillar of green spectral fire. With its master gone, what remained of Basilisk's ship crumbled away, Sid's weapon fading away as soon as it left his hand. With little strength left to spare, he fell bonelessly to his side off of the edge of what was left of the deck. Before the depths could claim him, a pair of talons sank into his back and he was pulled into the sky.
Too tired to do more that let out a pained grunt, he forced himself to look over his shoulder at his savior. Expecting to see the gruff face of Red Claw he was pleasantly surprised when he was met by Storm's cocky grin instead.
"You're alive, right?" she called over the rushing winds.
"Unfortunately," he snorted, smiling weakly. "Think you can be a bit more gentle with me?"
"Don't know how," she shrugged. "Just bare with it until we get to the ship."
"Sure thing, princess," he sighed.
"My name's Storm Gale, damn it!" she snapped.
"I know," he chuckled.
Cheeks reddening a bit, she forced herself focus on the ship.
"Stupid Skag," she muttered.
***
Wallflower stared at him with wide eyes, the tea held tight in her hooves long forgotten. Sid smiled wearily in his seat as he took a long pull from his mug.
"And that's how that went," he sighed, setting the mug onto the table. "Luckily, most of the jobs I had to put up with after that were a lot less of a headache. I guess most people didn't want to deal with the guy that put down one of the Wild Tide's biggest fish."
"There's no way you did any of that," Wallflower frowned. "You have to be pulling my leg."
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, all I can offer is my word and ask for your trust," he smirked.
Wallflower huffed at that as she took a sip of her tea.
"Still," he continued. "Ponyville's a pretty nice place. A lot less hectic than Kludge Town anyway."
A second later, the bar door burst open, a panting Nirik stomping through the opening like a raging bull.
"SID! WHERE THE BUCK ARE YOU?!"
"Is that Autumn?" Wallflower nervously asked.
"No, Autumn's taller," he mused. "Can't think of any other Kirin I've talked to lately, though."
The second the mystery Nirik spotted him, she made a heavy-hoofed beeline straight towards him.
"I'm gonna torch your sorry flank for what you did to my cousin's mate!"
"Her cousin's ma- ohhhhh, she's Autumn's cousin," he mused. "Welp, time to run!"
With that, he dumped a good sized stack of bits onto the table, grabbed Wallflower's hoof, and ran as fast as they could out the door. The green mare blinked dumbly for a moment when she suddenly found herself draped across Sid's back, a slowly growing blush coloring her muzzle as they bolted away from the bar.
"GET BACK HERE YOU ASH STAIN!!!" Spring roared, tailing them like a raging comet.
Yep! Still better than the sea!", he thought, just barely staying out of Spring's reach.