//------------------------------// // Chapter 35 // Story: Captain's Journey // by Sphinx_Herald //------------------------------// Rose lets out a sigh once the door is closed. She turns to face the the stallion. “So, what brings you around, Current?” she asks. Current looks from Rose to the door. “Sorry about that, but this is important.” She walks back over to the other side of the counter and grabs her bottle again. “No need to be sorry, The Lucky Mare is closed anyways. Besides, I’m always willing to help a friend. So, what’s the problem?” Current shifts nervously still standing in the middle of the room. “Some pirates are looking for the trident.” Rose pauses for a moment, after a few seconds she starts laughing. “Is that all? If I knew that was it I wouldn’t have told Ebony to leave.” “Rose, I’m serious. These pirates have been asking around and have been sailing the area for at least a week now.” “Pirates sail everywhere, what makes them so different?” She finishes her bottle. He stops his hoof onto the floor. “They passed right over the temple! They’re getting close to it, I’m sure.” “And what do you think I could do? Fight them, sorry but my ship happens to be about half the size of most pirate ships. Don’t you guys have a military anyways?” Rose retorts. “Not really, they’re all busy trying to stop the smugglers and sea beasts. I just think you should follow them, I know you’re ship has the firepower to stop them if you need to.” Rose sighs and ducks under the counter for a moment. “Fine then, let’s pretend that they really are after the trident and they actually know where it is. How are they going to get it, it’s at the bottom of the ocean for buck sake.” “Did you already forgot that I said we have smugglers? It’s not hard to pay them off to get anything.” She pokes her head over the counter again. “Wait, are they willing to betray their entire race for some gold?! I don’t think anyone is stupid enough to paid to steal the most religious and powerful artifact of their own race!” “You’d be surprised what some sea-ponies are willing to do.” She thinks it over for a few seconds. “Fine, I’ll help you keep your bloody trident. But, only because no one should have something like that. So, what’s the ship’s name?” she asks heading for the door. “Sea King.” There is a heavy thud as Rose stops abruptly. “Gale! You mean the pirate you want me to go after is Gale!” “I told you it was important.” She simmers, glaring daggers at him. “Now, I don’t have a choice. Out of anyone, he should not have that type of power.” She points at the door. “Go and guard the stupid temple, while I get ready, and you had better damn well give me a hell of a night once this is all done.” He gives a half-bow and walks out into the street. Rose huffs and heads up to the second floor. Remembering that Willow is still there she opens her bedroom door quietly. Willow is lying on her bed sleeping soundly. Rose creeps over to her drawer. Pulling it open she takes out an elegantly made sword, the blade has a red tint to it and a jewel is embedded in the hilt. The next thing she takes out is an odd metallic device, it looks to be able to fit a hoof. Rose slips it onto her right forehoof. The last thing she takes out is a saddle bag. After attaching the sword belt around her waist she walks over to Willow. Smiling down at her friend she whispers, “I’ll be back soon.” With that she walks out the door, quickly throws a few bottle of rum into her saddlebag and starts for her ship. Captain slams his hoof down on the railing of his ship, the part of the railing snaps off and falls into the sea. “Why would she go after him?” Willow slinks back away from him, having already seen him in a rage and not wanting to go through it again. “Calm down, Captain,” Ebony says placing her hoof on his shoulder. She turns to Willow. “So, how do you know all this?” “Because they didn’t know I was awake,” Willow says a bit more confident that Ebony is there. “And why didn’t you stop her?” Willow stammers for words, thankfully Ebony speaks first. “Captain, Rose wouldn’t have told us anyways. We’re hurt as it is.” She looks over the deck, they had brought the rest of the crew with them, even the unconscious Arrel though he is in the hold. “Don’t worry about her,” Starry says. “She owns a tavern, she knows how to handle a fight. What I would like to think about is how she is involved with sea-ponies, more so when it come to the matter of defending one of their most prized possessions.” “I don’t know, they never really spoke much about it when they were talking.” “Do you at least know where she’s going?” Captain asks. Willow points southward. “I saw her ship taking off that way.” Rose leans against the railing breathing in the ocean air. An island sits off in the distance, not too far. A galleon is anchored just off the shore of the island. Her own schooner is anchored, and simply watching them. “Do you think your friend could have just been over reacting?” asks the navigator, who is at the helm of the ship. “No,” Rose replies, she keeps her eyes on the ship. “They might not be after the trident, but he’s up to something. Why else would he anchor here?” “The why didn’t you just send Captain?” “They’re busy recovering.” She looks down on the deck at her small crew, although larger than Captain’s, still smaller than what Gale has. She looks back up at the island, there’s no doubt they know she’s there. The navigator sifts his stance but leaves the side of the helm to stand next to her. “So we just sit here till what happens?” “We sit here until my friend comes.” A sharp whistle from her cuts across the deck catching the attention of a particular crewmate. Rose points to the crate he is sitting on. He cracks a smile and throws her a bottle of rum. “Might as well get ready,” she grumbles. Just as she opens the bottle she spots a green-blue pony climb up over the railing on the portside. “Good to see you decided to tell us we can go,” she shouts then takes a swig. He walks up the steps to stand next to her, he has a grim look to him. “It was taken, they slaughtered the guards and took it, I was lucky to get out.” Rose winces at the statement. She looks back down at her crew who look up at her expectantly. “Fine, unfurl the sails!” She takes another swig. “Let’s get to them before anything else does!” “What part of the military that I could muster together should be here soon.” “Rose, we have a problem!” shouts the lookout. She turns to watch the Sea King’s sails fall into the wind. The galleon starts moving away from the shore, though Rose can still see a fair number of crew on the sand. “Don’t bother fighting, just run. There’s no way you can win against that!” Rose starts making her way through the crowded deck. A few of her crewmates notice and start to follow behind her. “Where are you going?” Current asks. “They’re waiting for something, they could have easily waited for the few minutes it would have taken to get the rest of their crew onboard! I’m going to snuff out the welcoming party.” She walks up to a blue unicorn stallion with a green mane, a pair of glasses sit on his nose Rose punches him in the shoulder to catch his attention. “Starlight, get us over there!” The unicorn nods, but pop and flash of the teleportation is drowned out by the thunder of the Sea King’s cannons as it open fires. Rose and her few crew mates appear in the jungle off the side of the beach. From where they appeared Rose can see the cannonballs ripping across the deck of her ship as it slowly turns away from the giant. She tries to look away from the scene and looks back at the beach. I hope Current’s army decides to help my crew first. Followed by her three crew members she makes for the cover of the bushes. On the beach are about twenty crew, no crates or barrels, only crew. Gale is nowhere to be seen. Twenty against four. Rose turns back to Starlight. “How many do you think you can handle?” “How many do you want me to leave for you?” “How about you take those two," she points at her other two crew mates. "And maybe twelve of those guys?” She takes one of the bottles from her bag, a piece of cloth is sticking out of the top. With a quick twist a spark shoots from the device on her foreleg. “I get the rest.” The unicorn nods. With a flash and a pop the three stallions are gone, so are most of the pirates on the beach. Those that remain look dazed and confused. With another twist she lights the cloth hanging out of the rum bottle on fire. She pulls out her other bottle and takes another swig. Time for some fireworks. Rose chucks the flaming bottle over at the pirates. None of the pirates notice it until it shatters on one of them, the pirate is engulfed in a ball of fire which also catches on another. The two pirates scream and flail as they burn. Rose doesn’t give the others time to figure out what’s going on. She jumps out of the bushes, she twists the device again and sprays out the rum she had drank. The spark catches on the alcohol quickly transforming the rum in a torrent of flame. Another pirate is caught in the fire breath. A bullet flies past her as the pirates begin to fire at her. She jumps to the side avoiding another bullet. Neither of them bother to reload their guns, instead they draw their swords. Rose grins as they approach her, clearly weary of the fire she had used on the three others. She draws her sword and holds her ground. “I see you guys don’t recognize me. That’s fine, not good for your health though.” They continue all the same. “Alrighty then.” She strikes at the nearest one, who lifts his sword to defend. Rose’s sword glows bright red and slashes straight through the blade, turning the area it made contact with into slag. The pirate doesn’t have time to scream as the sword burns it’s way through his chest. He fall to the ground in a flaming heap, the other stop and stare in shock. “I am Rose Wine, I have other names, but that is the most common. My enemies generally know me as Fire Rose, or Dragon-Breath Wine.” She swings her sword to the side sending a wave of fire over the sand. “I think you can guess why.” Captain growls under his breath as he scans the horizon. Where are they? The ships leans slightly to the starboard as Howler makes a slight turn. “Staring angrily at everything won’t solve anything,” Ebony says. She’s also leaning against the railing. “It’s not that I think she’s in danger. It’s not that I want to be the one to beat him. It’s that he’s after some sort of super weapon, and if he gets it who knows what kind of damage he’ll cause.” “Calm down, Rose can handle it. You should just take this as an opportunity to relax.” She gives him a kiss on the cheek, but his mood doesn’t improve. She sighs and walks away. “How you holding up?” she asks the diamond dog. He gives her a nod. Ebony smile at him and walks to the hold of the ship. She uses her magic to light the lanterns that hang from the wooden cross beams, giving the inside of the ship an eerie glow. “Yes, make this place more depressing, why don’t you?” Starry calls from further inside the hold. Ebony sighs as she walks between the crates toward one of the cabins. “Sorry, the lanterns don’t tend to like my magic,” she says. Starry is sitting in the room next to Arrel. The pegasus is still heavily wrapped in bandages. “Still hasn’t woken up yet?” Starry give Arrel a concerned look. “No, not yet.” “Why did you bring him, knowing that me might end up in a naval battle?” “I couldn’t just leave him!” Starry shouts. “I need to look after him. He saved me, now it’s my turn.” Ebony is about to say something, but far off cannonfire kills the words before they form. She shares a glance with Starry before sprinting for the hatch. The ship veers suddenly to the portside sending her tumbling until she hits the hull. Once the ships evens out she runs up the steps. Captain is at the helm as usual, the ship is pointed toward a small dot on the horizon. “What happened?” Ebony calls to him. “Don’t know, but I do know that’s my old ship’s war cry though.” Without giving the four remaining pirates time to do anything she swings her sword in a wide arch, a wave of fire flying off the edge. The closest one goes up in flames and screams as the wave washes over him. The other three jump out of the way, though not fast enough. The leg of one of them gets caught in the fire and he falls to the ground screaming in pain. Getting back to his hooves one of the pirates charges her. Rose jabs her sword at him, even though he a good ten hooves away. A bolt of fire shoots from the tip of her blade, the pirate jumps to the ground. The bolt burns away a large section of his mane, though he avoids taking any actual damage, the bolt continues into the jungle. Before he can get back up another wave of fire washes over him. She sends a blade of fire in the direction that the other two were in, this one traveling vertically. There is a new scream added to the mayhem as the one with the burnt leg is caught in the fire. Rose watches the last remaining pirate scurry off into the jungle. The fire running along Rose’s sword dies out and she sheaths it back into her scabbard. She looks back out toward the sea as her ship circles back around. Better get out of the open before Gale comes back around. “Hmm, never expected to see you here.” Never mind. She turns toward the jungle, the dark grey pegasus is standing before the trees. “Not on your ship?” she asks. “Not in someone’s pants?” “Oh, touché. Normally I would be willing to solve that problem, but this isn’t one of those times.” She draws her sword again. “Now, you can leave, and leave my ship alone. Or, I burn you to a crisp.” He grins at her and spreads his wing, a long metal weapon falls from under it. Oh, buck me straight up the ass. She launches a wave of fire at him. He rolls out of the way, but not before he slips his hoof around the trident. Everything between Rose and the trees erupt in flames. She hears the hiss of extinguishing fire from behind her and soon she feels water lapping against her hooves. “Sure you want to fight me?” Gale shouts. A familiar low roar comes from her left, the type that only the sea can produce. She watches as a line of blue rises over the trees. Rose quickly runs toward the line of flaming trees, knowing the alternative wouldn’t even give her a chance of survival. The roaring grows louder and is soon followed by snapping wood. She jumps through the fire, she screams as the fire licks at her side. Thankfully she lands on her unburnt side, she wipes away a couple of tears and sees Gale standing further inside the jungle. Before she can move any further, the tidal wave slams into her and easily sweeps her away in the current. The water slams her into a tree and she gasps for breath but only gets water. A snap resounds around her and the tree give away, once again leaving her to the current. Another tree stops her, this time meeting with her back. And, as quickly as it came, it leaves and with it the laws of earth reasserts itself. She falls to the ground, coughing up water as soon as she hits the mud. Captain watches as fires erupt across the beach of the island. He can see his old ship sailing around the island chasing after Rose’s far smaller one. “Looks like we got here just in time,” Craven says. “The heck is that?” Captain asks. More fires spread across the beach. “I told you she’d be fine,” Ebony says. Rose’s ship passes in front of the island. Once it passes the tree line bursts into flames. “But, I never knew she could do this.” “Uh… I mean the heck is that?” Captain points to the side of the island, a massive swell of water rises above the horizon. Before anyone can answer it starts rolling forward, morphing into a homemade tidal wave. They watch in horror as the wave rips across the beach, putting out all the little flames, uprooting trees, even picking up Rose’s ship and pushing it onto the island. Once the wave reaches the other end it disperses into the sea. “Was that the trident?” Willow shouts from the other end of the ship. The Sea King pulls along the beach, stopping for only a moment before continuing on. It completely ignores the beached ship and starts heading south. Misfortune veers wildly as Captain steers for the galleon. “Captain, Rose is still on the island!” Captain looks between Gale’s ship and Rose’s a few times, then he steers his ship back toward the island. Before they get much further something jerks the ship. The crew stumble back as the water beneath the ship begins to move. Large waves rise around the island, forming a wall of water around it. All at once they crash down on the small landmass. Rose’s ship is caught by one of the waves and is pushed across the island until it arrives in the middle where it meets the others. In less than five minutes, the island is gone. Gale stands completely awed by the primal force ripping across the island less than a hundred hooves away. The barmare is gone, any trace of her gone. The wave passes and then disappears into the sea. He takes few steps onto the newly muddy ground, uprooted trees cover the ground, even the schooner his ship had been chasing is now on the island. He smiles to himself. Nothing can stand against me. He slips the trident back under his wing and starts walking to the, now closer, shoreline. His ship comes around the island, he signals to them, the anchor falls into the murky water. Not bothering to climb up, he grabs the steel chain of the anchor and signals to them to lift the anchor. He reaches over the side of his ship and lifts himself up. Taking a look at his crew they all seem to be keeping a good distance between him and them. “Well, what are you waiting for? Set sail for Kigerston!” They scramble to get moving, afraid their captain will turn his newly acquired strength on them. One of them is brave enough to speak to him. “Sir, what's the plan now?” “Don’t know, let’s see what I can do with it first.” The sailor nearly trips over himself trying to get away, almost positive that Gale meant testing it on him. Gale grabs the trident again and swings it around to the island. A low rumble fills the air as a wall of water rises up around it. With a quick swing the waves come crashing down. He loses sight of anything on the island, the ship, trees, small hills, in fact even the whole island. He smiles when the island is completely gone. “Well, I think we’re going to hold the entirety of Kigerston for ransom.” “Uh, S-sir, what about the other ship?” “Other ship?” He looks to the stern at a black-flagged brig. The ship, he learnt, that belongs to Captain. “Leave it, if he follows tell me. We’ll see how well he deals with the sea.” A rumbling fills the air, with the sound of cracking wood. The ground trembles as a wall of white water comes crashing toward her. Nothing works, nothing wants to work. Her legs won’t move, she can't even lift her head, it’s getting hard to breath, all Rose can do is watch her impending death come rushing toward her.