"First I'm going to gather up my crew," you growl, "and anyone else on this island with the balls to follow.
"Then, I'm going to take my ship and anyone else who'll come and sail it straight into the wind and rain that's never going to so much as
inconvenience my ship. I'm going to find every last slaver in that gods-forsaken storm and tear the lot of them apart with my bare hands."
"And when I'm done carving a bloody new eye into that gods-forsaken maelstrom, I'm going to sail back here with so much plunder you'll
beg me for a larger share and I'll say 'no'."
You fold your arms. "You got a problem with that?"
The room is dead silent. Caihong is looking at you like you just slapped her. Cao looks angry. For a moment, you think your queen might try to shoot you.
Then she laughs.
"Ah, I've been looking forward to seeing you snap off the leash. Do what you have to do, lad."
"Caihong!"
"Already on my way, shanwei."
"Three days!" You call. "With or without the crew we need."
"We'll have 'em!" She called back.
-
Hana served as one of the Pirate Queen's closest hands when she worked on the same ship. So now, she has a pretty nice piece of property at the wall of the villa. You've never been keen on finding out why, but she's made a small building she calls her orphanage at the westmost side of the cove. She even made it two stories. Two stories of flotsam, you're not even sure how she managed that or why she wanted to.
She glares at you. "I can't keep her here."
You sigh. "Look, I know she's a bit… sickening, but it isn't her fault, and I can't bring-"
"If you want to take this soulless thing on as a hobby, be my guest, but you're not leaving it here with me to go on some suicide mission."
"I'll be back in a month, tops."
"Fine, let's pretend you can guarantee that. She's been here for half the day and everyone around her wants her dead." Hana growls. "What the hells
is she?"
"She suppresses the abilities of witches around her."
"And makes everyone else sick and angry in the process."
You draw yourself up to your full height and glare down your nose at her, the sky above you both rumbling. "That's their problem, and yours. Not hers. Fan is to be kept here and kept safe until I return and can make better arrangements for her, like the rest of the children. Is that understood?"
Hana doesn't shrink away but you see her muscles tense. "Don't think you can threaten me, boy, I can still bend you over my knee and spank you like a disobedient child."
"Be as angry as you want, just keep them all fed and watered."
"And if you aren't back in a month?"
You shrug. "Oda's looking into the noble mute's background. Get his help."
"You're leaving?"
You glance to the side. Fan's come out, and everyone is shrinking away from her per usual. But the boy in noble clothing is out with her. He looks a little sickened, but that was to be expected.
"Only for a few weeks." You say. "I'll come back with treasure."
"But you just got here." Fan says, confused. "Don't the others need to go home?"
"We gotta figure out how to get you home, sweety." You say. "A friend of mine, Oda, is looking into it."
Fan shakes her head vigorously. "I don't want to go home."
… Ah.
You kneel down and place a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I'll be back, okay? Just stay here with Hana and we'll figure something out."
The blonde doesn't say anything, but you can see the tears welling up.
"Excuse me, shanwei." One of the helmted boys – Ming, you think – has come out to see you. His eyes are glassy and placcid. "May I return home?" he asks. "I was taken from the field. Ma and Pa don't know where I am. I'm sure they're very worried." He speaks in a light monotone, as if 'my parents think I'm dead' is a minor concern.
"We…" you hesitate. The contrast between his tone and his situation is a little off-putting. "We'll see what we can do, son. For now rest up, you've been through an ordeal."
The boy nods and returns to the room he and the other children have been staying in. You're a bit surprised they want to stick together, but perhaps you shouldn't be. No one else could really understand what they're going through.
Fan watches him leave. "… I get it now."
"What?"
"The helmet." She says, her eyes still fixed on where Ming used to be. "The heads without it change when I go near, like screaming but quiet. But the ones with helmets never changed. I didn't understand why, but…" She looks at you. "They were always screaming."
She turns and walks back.
"Hana," you whisper, "what can you do about the helmets?"
Hana's eyes grow dark and sorrowful. "Don't suppose you kidnapped a tech monk on your raid, too?"
"Kidnapping children and handing them off to slavers doesn't really fit the monks." You mutter, though in all honesty you don't know much about the Kuji-Nan. That's the problem with secretive cults; they're secretive. In retrospect, an obvious issue.
She shrugs. "Well this is advanced stuff and the slavers are getting this tech from somewhere. And if they need witches specifically then it must come out somehow."
"…out?" You repeat. "Not off?"
"Whatever they are, they dig into the child's head. Deep. I'm not sure how one would even begin taking it out without killing the kid."
You don't voice the possibility that the kid isn't meant to survive the trip. Neither does she.
"Thank you, Hana." You say. "I owe you."
"Sixty shillings. Minimum."
-
The Cutting Dagger's prow cuts through the water like its namesake, and at the exact right moment the sails fill with the wind. You grin and look out at the sea.
There is something thrilling about the first day of a new voyage. The scent of the air, the certainty of victory, the sea expanding in every direction while home shrinks away behind you.
Caihong's found replacements for those you've lost. It's a strange feeling… you didn't even realize how much you'd already associated those people with the ship until they were gone. There aren't many lost, but those who you did stick out like a sore thumb.
"Wait. Where's Hideyoshi?"
Caihong blinks. "…that's fucked up, shanwei."
"What is?"
"I…" She hesitates. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"He died." She said. "In the fight on the
Rude Awakening. Head got blown open."
You stare at her a moment. You'd only barely known him.
"… well, his killers got one hell of a sendoff." you finish lamely.
Caihong turns away, trying and failing to hide her disapproval.
You don't disagree. You'd only learned his name right before you went into the battle, after all. Part of you wishes you'd known more about someone who died for you.
-
You're dreaming. It's one you've had many a time before.
You're laying on a beach with bright white shores, the air filled with the soft sound of sea shanties from your far-flung youth. There's something else just under it too, some other music you don't recognize, but per usual it's out of reach. There are 'gauls calling out to each other in the air, with a sun more golden than even Tabgach's. There's a perfumed scent in the air, but it's overwhelmed by the salty smell of the ocean. You dig your toes into the white sands and sigh, perfectly content as the water laps at your ankles...
A new sound shatters the peace, and your eyes open. You blink and sit up, nonplussed. This is… new.
In the surf, there's a woman waving to you from her place in the water. She has bright orange hair, a color you've rarely seen on anyone, and her smile melts your heart slowly. She leaps into the surf, and you see that her body below her waist is not human at all; it's a deep violent with a split tail, like a fish, but studded with bright clear diamonds. As she swims, leaps and twists through the air, you start to realize she's putting on a show.
You smile. She's a good dancer, and you whistle. It takes a moment for you to realize that the two of you are alone on this beach; she's showing off for you.
At the same moment you realize this, you realize she's swimming closer. And she leaps out of the surf, flopping down just at the edge of the tide, before crawling on the sand to lay next to you. You're not sure you're okay with that, but you feel too relaxed to force the issue and so you just lay there for a time. She does the same, seemingly content with simply staring at you on the white stands.
"Do uh…" You begin. "Do I know you?"
"Do you? Oh no." She smiles. "But I know you.
You are my new best friend."
You blink. "Uh, I don't recall anything I did to earn such friendship."
She puts her finger on the tip of your nose. "Oh no, don't worry about that dear. You've already given little ol' me quite the present, oh yes. I only wish to show you my appreciation."
You raise an eyebrow at that. "I never gave you anything. We just met."
"Oh?" She flutters her eyelashes. "You had quite the time on the
Rude Awakening, did you not? So many dying in agony? So much pride and pleasure running through your crew? All for me? You shouldn't have, oh no~"
"I didn't sacrifice them for anyone," You say, bemused. "I did it because they deserved to die."
"A battlefield isn't meant to feed the crows, yet it does." She purs, splashing her tail in the surf as it comes in, then crawling up to you on the sand. "But I am no crow. I am Delai, and I'm here to benefit you."
"Benefit me?"
"Is that not what friends do?" She wraps her arms around yours. Despite the appearance of smooth, flawless skin, you feel something rough against your arm, like a crustacean's outer layer. It's a surprisingly pleasant feeling: sharp pressure one moment and relief the next, almost like acupuncture.
This creature is… confusing. She looks so beautiful and innocent, the kind of young mermaid woman you know many sailors dream of (including yourself now, apparently), and part of you wants to lean in and enjoy her affection… and yet something else in you wants to pull away. You open your mouth to ask her to leave…
She's looking at you, and you notice a tiny, almost imperceptible expression. Her eyebrows are knitting together, her eyes widening, a frown coming into being as her lower lips quivers...
"… What kind of 'benefit' are you offering?" you say instead.
"Knowledge." She says simply, a bright smile on her face now, and you release a breath you hadn't realized you were holding. "I keep many secrets. And I know a few that you will want to know, oh yes indeed."
-
Delai is appreciative that you threw the slavers of the
Rude Awakening into the sea. She's here to provide you with a secret. What does she tell you? (Be aware that Delai has already picked what she tells you; Ching Sun-Sin will not be aware the others were even options).
ETA: Refusal is an option, but if you do so, Delai will find some other way to 'help.'
ETA2: I want to reiterate because this is coming up a bit in the thread: Taking any of the offered choices will
not doom Ching Sun-Sin into becoming a chaos primarch.
[] – Information on the enemy you face
You really have no idea what you're up against; no mere fringe cult, this, no servant of some charismatic demagogue. There's real power here, power you aren't ready for. Delai will tell you, making your task much simpler once you get through the storm.
[] – An attack that is coming for you
Your new enemy has quite the surprise in store for you and your ship. Something you have no way of knowing about or preparing for. Delai will tell you, allowing you to face it (or perhaps avoid it) and make it through the storm unharmed.
[] – Someone who will betray you
There is someone on your ship who will betray the trust you placed in them. Delai will tell you, allowing you to confront them on the matter. This will not help you with the storm or with your enemy, but it will remove a surprise.
[] – Write in; Delai knows many secrets.
Submitted by
@SpacePaladin
[] – Write in; Delai knows many secrets.
-[] "Do you ever wonder where you came from?"
Submitted by
@The Lone badger
[] Tell me about yourself instead. I would rather get to know you better than be offered material benefit.
