The Master Sea

[Asila]

Astra had only just managed to plant her feet firmly on the deck when Squall grabbed her wrist, once again compromising her balance. Her eyes widened, and when she saw his quick grin she felt a distinct sense of dread sweep through her. She had no time to think anything substantial before Squall's boot caught her in the ribs and she tumbled over the side of the ship...

Lionel laughed at Faelin's account of her captain, knowing full well that if she truly found him distasteful she would have left this ship by now. However, their banter had, strangely enough, begun to put him at ease, and this time, rather than leap aside, he swung his sword to crash into Faelin's, knocking the blade aside. He smirked at her nickname for his captain, sparing a brief glance in Astra's direction...just in time to see her fall. "Astra!" He shouted, and, just before sprinting to the aid of his captain, he pulled a dagger from his belt and hurled it toward Faelin so that it would lodge in the wood at her feet. This was a distraction that he hoped would give his cousin reason for pause as he raced toward Squall with every intention of finding out just what had become of his captain.

When the dwarf pirate as good as tackled him, Dixey responded with a muffled "Oomf!" of surprise. No, this was no good. He was bound to lose this tussle, seeing as the dwarf had him outmatched in terms of strength and was all but invulnerable to any blow the older pirate could land. Dixey soon dropped his sword in the struggle, but the pirate still had a full bag of tricks and he was about as difficult to hang onto as a greased pig. Having lost his longsword, he drew one of the smaller blades he kept tethered to his belt and tried to plunge the knife into the weaker elbow joint of the dwarf's armor, putting as much force behind the blow as he could considering his compromised position. It was then that he heard Lionel's cry of "Astra!" and, guessing that his lady captain had managed to get herself in trouble already, he scrambled out of the dwarf's grasp, gave him him a gape-toothed smile and a wink, and also made his way toward Squall.

Ignatius, on the other hand, wasn't aware of anything except his foe. Since he had expected to mow his opponent down, he had not foreseen what Jove would do, so the other pirate did indeed manage to sink his blades into Ignatius' legs. The dramatically muscled pirate roared like a wounded bear and staggered, tracking blood across the deck from the heavily bleeding cuts. The pirate managed to keep his footing, but it was clear that standing caused him pain. Yet he still managed to turn and swing his heavy sword that, should it actually manage to catch the other pirate in the side, could very well cut the man in half.

Much of Astra's remaining crew had faltered, glancing toward the two captains when they heard Lionel shout. Without their captain, the battle was lost and a few particularly yellow-bellied individuals even dropped their weapons and surrendered to their foes. A crew was only as strong as their captain, and with Astra out of sight her crew was about to disband.

It was too bad that most pirates had such little faith, for Astra was not out of the picture quite yet. As she fell, she had managed to catch hold of the rail with her sword arm. It had been a violent fall, and she had twisted her shoulder badly, causing her to hiss in pain and drop her sword as the hand holding it went numb, but she managed to hold on. "Damn him," She snarled to herself as she reached into her straw-colored vest and produced a single, well-balanced throwing knife. She then waited for Squall to look over the edge of the boat and gloat about her downfall. Should he dare, she had every intention of lodging the blade in his eye.

****

The two archers standing with Roche were of the few pirates who continued to fight, for they could clearly see (since Astra would have been closer to the side of the ship that faces the Serpent when she fell overboard) that there captain wasn't lost quite yet. Roche, not having a lick of loyalty in his scrawny frame, had already slunk off below deck with the map in hand...

((I'm not trying to ambush Squall, so feel free to have your crew detain Lionel and Dixey. Or, if you like drawn out fights, you can have Squall fight one of them while Astra tries to recover. *shrugs* It's up you.))

[Rojo]

Squall laughed loudly as the opposing captain fell overside. He didn't try gloating, for now his opponent was out of the way his only concern was the map. He took a look back at the two pirates rushing for him before jumping the rail and landing on the other deck and impaling a stunned archer. The other had fired a well-placed arrow into Squall's leg. He grimaced at the pain and pulled out the arrow, jabbing at the archer's neck with the arrow. However, he didn't check to see if his blow had landed as he had burst through the wooden door to the below deck of the Serpent, peering around in the gloom.
"Don't be a pillock, mate, gimme the map, don't fool yerself."

Faelin looked at the other captain as she swung over the side of the ship, looking at her cousin's look of worry and the knife plodding into deck near her foot. Faelin quickly wrenched the
throwing knife out of the deck and at Dixey, hoping to slow him at least.

Turin growled as the opponent wriggled out of his grasp, then gasped as a dagger plunged into his elbow. He knelt down, then pulled the weapon from its hole and tossed it aside. Turin stood again, discarding his helmet and running after Dixey, yelling again.

Jove was suprised. Most opponents would have fell down and bled to death. But now a sword was coming towards his middle, and he was with two daggers.
He brought both weapons around in a cross to block the sword, putting all his weight behind them.

Squall's remaining crew cheered as the other captain disappeared over the side of the ship, but were still focused, in case of a sudden break out of fighting.

[Asila]

In the gloom of the lower deck a lantern burst into flame, revealing Roche and the map that he tilted toward the small fire. "Now, what good would that do me, Squall?" The turncoat smiled darkly, studying the infamous captain of The Crusader with both greed and a seething desire in his gaze. It was the type of gleam a man got in his eyes just before he killed his partner over a chest filled with treasure. "It would be more to my advantage if we could make a deal."

It was Lionel's worried countenance that appeared over the side of the ship, not Squall's arrogant one. Astra froze, her arm already halfway through the motions of a throw and the blade glinting sharply in her grasp. Lionel arced an eyebrow and she immediately sheathed the blade in a pocket of leather that had been sown into her vest for just that purpose. "Sorry," She said, and gave him her most charming smile even as her eyes continued to burn with fury. She was such a poor loser. "I thought you were someone else."

Lionel laughed and grabbed Astra's free hand as she offered it to him, pulling her onto the deck. Now it was Astra's turn to raise an eyebrow. Unlike other members of the crew, her first mate took battles like this one seriously. She narrowed her eyes, misunderstanding. Did he think it was funny that Squall had made a fool of her? Out loud, she said "What? Are you just that happy to see me?" Lionel gave a small smile, the closest thing to a grin that the serious pirate ever wore, his eyes twinkling as he responded. "Astra, I thought you were food for the fishes!"

Astra just rolled her eyes and retrieved her sword. Sheathing it as well, she walked straight to the nearest rope and gripped it with the one hand that she could still feel. "Let's see how much trouble our traitorous companion has gotten himself into," she spoke in a soft growl, having just noticed the fallen archers and the vanished Roche.

Lionel grabbed a rope as well, preparing to swing over with her.

Dixey may have been the third pirate that would back them up, if only his short walk hadn't been interrupted. Clever as he may be, however, he hadn't seen Faelin throw her knife and the blade caught him in the upper arm. His stride faltered, then stopped as he yanked the blade out with a pained grunt and a curse. He turned, looking for the pirate who had thrown it but his gaze centered on his dwarven opponent instead, who had apparently decided to pick up the fight again. "Not this again," The older man grumbled, impatient now. He had seen Lionel reach the railing their captain had fallen over and knew that the elf would do what could be done to help her, if anything, but he had planned on scouting out the scene for himself and did not appreciate the interruption. He faced the dwarf and held up his longsword in a two-handed grip, ready to twist aside and set his sword on a course for the weaker joints on the dwarf's armor when he reached him.

Ignatius struggled to force his great sword down, to force the blade beyond the obstructing knives, but he couldn't put all his weight behind the blow. His legs just couldn't take that much strain. Yet he continued to struggle, beads of sweat trailing down face as he grew weaker and his own blood began to pool at his feet. Still, he didn't stop or even seem to notice.

What remained of Astra's crew threw themselves back into the fray, some with even greater fervor as they feared the reprimand their captain was sure to deal them once she was informed that certain members of the crew had abandoned the fight so quickly. Some men would get thrown overboard for the folly...

[Rojo]

Squall paused.
"Ah. I see you are a traditionalist..."
He locked eyes with the other man, and flashed him a...let us say..."enchanted" grin of gold.
"Are you sure you don't want to give me the map?"
His charmed magical teeth got to work, soothing Roche's tenseness, trying to convince him to see Squall's side of things...hey, he was cheating, but then again, he was[i/] Squall.

Faelin looked from the newly re-energised vigour of Astra's crew against the tricksters and sleazebags of Squall's crew. She shook her head before grabbing a rope of her own and making to the other ship. She put her sword in a threatening position before speaking:
"I wouldn't have such quick feet, if I were you, Astra..."
She called the other captain by her first name, a most disrespectful thing to do if the captain in question was not on good terms with you or you were a low-ranking crew member...then again, since when have Pirates ever considered honour or respect?

Turin grunted as he punched the sword out of the way, still rampaging full blow, head down into Dixey's stomach.

Jove held out, his face passive and calm. He still had strength left, but now it was anyone's guess who would bottle out first, Jove's breathing was deep and his feet were moving centimeter by centimetre. He couldn't remove a dagger, or he would either be stabbed or knocked back. But he noted something slippery and wet beneath him. The pool of blood was moving...this regenerated hope within him, urging him to keep fighting.

The crew of The Crusader fought back, puching and kicking and biting their dirty arses into the thick of the opposition. Most of them were nameless grunts who would easily be replaced...some captains did not care for their crew as much as others...well, it wasn't as if Squall didn't care, he just sort of...didn't mind...