SarthDarah felt ridiculous being tied up as she was. She had only come and gone along with this because she was told to wait for Kuru’s command. None had come.

“Psst. Jorn, what’s happening? I can't see.”

The big man leaned down closer to where her head was. SarthDarah could hear the chains clink as he moved. The deck pitched sideways just as Jorn started to speak.

“There’s…” He cut off to restrain himself from vomiting as the ship rocked. “There is… oh god, I hate being on the open ocean. New ship, getting closer. Me closing eyes now.”

SarthDarah rolled her eyes at his grammar and weak stomach. She could only see the wooden floorboards of the ship's deck. The chains pulled tight and forced her to sway along with the ship.

The waves had been getting more and more violent since they came to the top of the ship. Below decks had made it seem like it was barely moving, now SarthDarah felt like she was swaying like a pendulum. Duerlin was tied upright, but far enough away they couldn’t talk without yelling.

“What do we do?” She had to ask, the desperation coming out clearly.

“We wait, hope it’s not a slave ship. They might just kill us if we try to fight back.” Jorn sounded better with his eyes closed.

The big man was swaying against the motions of the boat, trying to keep his head steady above his body. Out of the corner of her eye, it looked like the worst reverse bobble head impersonation Sarah had ever seen. She snorted a laugh, then couldn’t help but burst into all out laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Duerlin yelled from the center of the ship.

A few guards turned to look at them. They didn’t look like much of a threat to her. SarthDarah had let them lead her up here and tie her down because she was waiting for Kuru’s signal. She was going to trust that the time was about right, and do something crazy.

SarthDarah kept laughing, her scheme coming into her mind as quickly as she could think it through. Her laugh went from belly laughs at Jorn’s confused face, to a maniacal imitation of what she had heard from Kuru in her nightmares.

The guards backed up a step, unnerved by the sound. SarthDarah laughed even more, seeing her plan working with such ease. One of the men turned and ran for the command deck, screaming about the lunatic prisoner.

“Sarth? You good?” Jorn sounded genuinely concerned.

SarthDarah panted out a few more laughs, then stopped as quickly as she had started. She took a few long, deep breaths. Then her eyes glowed as fire flared around them. It licked up to her ears and left wisping trails of sparks flying away from her head.

The intense heat was what made Jorn open his eyes. He blinked a few times, not expecting the bright light that SarthDarah was generating all around her body. His eyes went wide as he saw what she was doing.

“Sarth! Wait, I’m still chained to the ship!” Jorn squirmed, feeling the warmth grow more and more around him.

“Just sit still, don’t be a baby.” SarthDarah’s voice was deeper, darker.

Her fire burned, melting the chains away from her wrists and ankles. It didn’t consume the ship, but the metal fizzed away as it was vaporized in her presence. She reached out for Jorn, caressing his arms and pulling the chains tight, before incinerating his bindings as well.

“Holy shit…” Jorn fell speechless as she helped him stand.

SarthDarah had been pushed to the breaking point. She wasn’t a slave; and didn’t agree to end her past life just to be killed so suddenly in this one. She could feel the power in her body. The core upgrades she had simply been aware of before, now felt like another limb to her.

The power generator had a throttle to it, she could boost her speed and her mana generation with it. The fire she had been careless with before was still burning bright, but she contained and compressed it. SarthDarah could feel the increase in heat and what she could do with it; as well as the control and how much she could tame it.

Burning those that tried to keep her down, freeing those that would stand with her. Lighting the way for the ones that she owed her loyalty to. SarthDarah was ready to take down this pirate and anyone else that stood in her or Kuru’s way. She would be the spark that lit the signal here.

“Jorn, get Duerlin down.”

SarthDarah was already moving toward the crowd of guards and sailors gathering near the door leading below decks. They were running, again. SarthDarah wanted to bellow out in rage, but bit her tongue and settled for a confused glare. She had sauntered up to the guard that pulled her and the others up to the main decks moments before he could disappear below.

The man was muscled, tanned with bleached blonde hair. His outfit was stained with so many different colors that SarthDarah wondered for a moment if it was the only set of clothes the man owned. He was reaching for the railing, the last of the crew still on the main deck. SarthDarah’s show of exploding into a burning rage monster had sent them all running as fast as they could.

“Why are you in such a hurry to run away? You do realize you all simply cornered yourselves down there. I could simply incinerate the top decks, and you would all suffocate or drown.”

The man looked her in the eyes, unfazed by her threat. He didn’t seem frightened at all, just in a hurry to be out of the way.

“Death is not so bad, once you get to know him anyway. You should be more worried about the Captain, than me.” His accented voice was clear, and he was hustling his way down the stairs before SarthDarah could blink.

The Captain, what was she going to do with that little punk of a girl? Last time she had rushed at her and been made a fool of. This time, this time she needed to remain calm.

Jorn had untied the rope holding Duerlin aloft. They both watched and waited as SarthDarah confronted the last of the crew. Her body was glowing brightly and her eyes bellowed flames out to the sides of her face. The reds and oranges left trails of embers flowing away from her face, giving the Illusion of a bonfire burning into the sky from either side of her head.

“What now? Do we attack the captain, or wait for the other ship to arrive?” Duerlin asked.

Jorn looked back out to the open sea, held his breath for a moment, then shook his head. He held up a finger to indicate for Duerlin to give him a moment to collect his stomach.

“Oh god, I hate the water. Still, we can’t let that ship catch us. We need to either get Kuru to teleport us or steal this ship and flee.”

“She can’t port us if we don’t free her. The captain won’t just sit by while we attempt to rescue her.”

“So… attack the captain?”

“Let me lead, try and catch Sarth’s eye quick.”

Jorn looked back to where SarthDarah had been; but the door leading below was suddenly full, and SarthDarah was fighting off half a dozen crocodiles. Jorn just tapped Duerlin’s arm a few times. A muttered string of curse words in a different language followed.

Kuru was watching the start of the little resistance SarthDarah was attempting. The timing was almost right, that girl was as impatient as she was hot. Kuru’s smile was at odds with the seriousness of the situation, but she knew in the end it was just a game, a test.

“You’re awfully confident for someone about to lose three more companions.”

“You are extremely calm for a captain about to lose her ship.”

They looked at each other, each smiling broadly. One dark haired and pulsing with an exotic uniqueness. The other's dark green skin visibly changing to harden and thicken the scales.

“I will lose nothing.” The girl leaped, and was gone from sight.

“Check…” Kuru whispered as she alone remained at the large steering wheel.

SarthDarah was actually enjoying herself. Battle seemed to be a source of exhilaration for her. It made sense, she had always enjoyed the new games she got to try out. This was just a hyper realistic one, her brain still had problems telling her this was actually real. The idea that she was actually able to bend fire around her was more boggling than the feats of superhuman strength she was displaying.

The crocodiles were large, massive and weighed enough to crush her easily. Or they would have crushed a normal body her size, any real person should have died over and over. SarthDarah just continued on, pummeling the crocs with as much ferocity as they showed her.

Two of them already lay dead, her flaming fists had caved in the skull on one, and the torso of the other. Scorch marks left the hides of numerous others scared and hesitant to attack her. They had all launched without thought at first, but now they were wary of the girl with the flaming fists.

The crocodile that SarthDarah was wrestling with currently had a long and powerful body. The dark green scales were peppered with burn marks but didn’t slow the movements of the crocodile. She rolled with it, punching over and over with her free left hand.

The crocodile let out a guttural hissing sound, then twisted hard the opposite way. SarthDarah felt her right arm crack as it was pulled away from her. She let out a sharp cry of pain, then following the roll instead of fighting it, she landed atop the beast.

“Die!” She shouted, holding her now broken right arm above herself.

Before she could bring down the Napalm Strike, two loud thuds interrupted her. Keeping the attack at the ready, and holding the crocodile still with her left hand, SarthDarah looked up to see which of the others had dared to try and stop her.

She didn't see a crocodile there next to her, she saw two bodies. Each lying prone and eyes closed. The Pirate Captain standing above them, her green scaled skin gleaming in the sunlight.

“Stand down.” The command made SarthDarah’s rage boil all over again.

“Or what?” SarthDarah growled, her fists clenching even tighter.

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The crocodile under her hissed, not menacing, but pleadingly. It had turned to face the Captain and it was making soft and long cries at her. Begging?

SarthDarah looked back at the girl, noticing that her glare had softened as her eyes moved to the beast under SarthDarah. The command had been one not simply out of authority, but of desperation. This girl cared more for this beast than for the lives of other humans. It almost made SarthDarah snarl, and she was about to follow through with her attack.

“Wait!” A rasping male voice shouted out.

The crocodile in her hand suddenly became light and soft. The shirt she now held up was around a young boy rather than a scaly beast. Her eyes went wide as she took in the frail, dusty blonde haired kid.

SarthDarah drew inward for a moment, reflecting on herself and her decisions. What had she fucked up to get to this point?

She was holding a boy, on a pirate ship, on an alien world, in a new body, while her eyes and fists glowed with fire. Wasn’t she a normal person? Someone who just enjoyed nature and fantasy. Sarah had wanted adventure, but SarthDarah had always been on the side of good. Was a good person really capable of killing another person just because?

And when that someone was important enough to make a crocodile stare down with sadness, SarthDarah couldn’t do it. She let go of the boy and turned to the Captain. The bodies of Jorn and Duerlin lay motionless in between them.

“What did you do to them?”

“They're alive, for now. If you don’t stand down and return to your shackles…”

The girl trailed off, smirking a little at the implied threat. SarthDarah stood, letting the crocodile boy scamper away on his hands and knees.

“Fine.” Her fire went out as she stood. “I won’t be your slave though, we are leaving.”

“And where would you go? There’s nothing out here but us, and maybe a swimmer that would use ya as a quick meal if you venture out inta open waters.”

SarthDarah looked around, scanning the horizon quickly. Water, water, and more water. There were the other ships within jumping distance for her, but that didn’t get her anywhere. Could she out swim a shark or whatever lived in these waters? Probably not.

She took a stance, widening her feet and squaring her shoulders. SarthDarah wouldn’t harm the boy; but the Captain was in her way, and she knew how strong that little girl really was. Her fire reignited, her eyes blazing and sharpening on her target.

“You get one warning.”

The girl did nothing. SarthDarah relit her flames.

“Move.” SarthDarah’s voice was flat, but clearly sent the message.

Captain Queen blinked at her words, not sure what to make of it. She couldn’t truly think of running? Where would they go? The Minotaur’s envoy was almost here anyway, if they started fighting now…

SarthDarah’s lunging strike cut that thought off. The flame passed right by the Captain’s ear. If she hadn’t moved at the last second, reacting only by instinct and not because she saw the attack, that blow could have scorched her face.

“You have no idea what your impatience is going to cost.” The growl was more beast than girl, as the Captain exploded into motion.

Her body twisted as she lunged at SarthDarah. The elongated fangs looked like someone took a blender and ran the blades at max speed without the cup on. SarthDarah didn’t have time to dodge.

The Pirate Captain was in a hybrid form, larger now with scales all over her body. SarthDarah’s brain was taking in the movements of the Captain like she was watching a stop motion film. A blink of light and teeth cut across her left flank.

Pain and searing heat was all she could feel. The flames weren’t burning her, but they were sealing the wound she had just received. The blood had not even managed to start spurting out before the heat seared her closed.

Her robe now torn, SarthDarah turned and let it flutter away. The Pirate crocodile bitch had just about killed her with that attack. She could not let another one land. Her broken right arm was numb, but she could manipulate it somewhat through will and effort alone.

SarthDarah the Badass would not end herself here to this little girl.

“You get one more chance, stand down.” The words came out raspy and harsh, but clear enough that SarthDarah knew she would not aim to maim this time.

With a large intake of breath, and a little spark of insanity, SarthDarah let her smile turn manic. Her power generator kicked into overdrive and sent her yellow and red flames into a frenzy. The heat tripled, then doubled again, as the flames turned blue then white, finally settling on a silver core around her body with trails of deep crimson.

The ship creaked and whined at the sudden outburst of power. Waves rocked away from them and out over the nearby vessels. The sun that had been trailing overhead suddenly looked dim in comparison to the Porosus. The black flag that had been flying so valiantly, blossomed with heat and vaporized under the intense rush of flame.

For the first time since they had been on the ship, SarthDarah saw the Pirate balk. SarthDarah took a step forward, then another, watching as the Pirate Captain took a step back. Jorn’s body was the first she came to, he was breathing long and deep. Duerlin seemed to be in the same condition. SarthDarah accepted that they would be fine so long as she pushed the Captain back and kept the fighting away from where they were.

“Do you really think I’d stand down? Do you not know who I am? No, you can’t know me yet I suppose.” It was an odd feeling, to be the one giving a monologue. “But soon your whole world is going to know me.”

SarthDarah didn’t know where the bravado came from, but it felt empowering. Her emotions had settled on calmness of all things. This was just another boss fight, she was already past the fear of any surprise the Pirate Captain had once had over her. Her anger at the usage of her life as a testing tool had boiled over when she saw Jorn and Duerlin laying on the deck.

This was the ultimatum the little girl had chosen to throw down, SarthDarah would rise to exceed that challenge.

“You’re going to let us off this ship, or it will be at the bottom of the sea.”

The Captain didn’t even blink, she took the threat to her ship as a clear sign that this deal wasn’t worth leaving this disrespectful flame sprite alive. She would tear her in half as she plunged the impudent trespasser into the depths to sink to her new home.

SarthDarah was burning, letting her flames grow higher and brighter. When the attack came, the girl had to force her way through a burst of hot air. They met fist to fist and SarthDarah had to throw up her left arm to block a twisting kick that nearly took her head off.

Flames erupted out of her blocking arm and a rush of wind roared the flames to a frenzy around them both. Whirlwinds of crimson swirled around in circles, rising up to the center and making it look like they stood inside a whirling blender. Teeth flashed and SarthDarah was forced to break away from the girl or lose her arm.

She didn’t separate far enough however, and the sudden flash of a scaly tail blocked out her vision. The blow was solid, and SarthDarah was forced to take a few steps back to steady her balance. As soon as she was standing still, SarthDarah reeled her right fist back and let a huge ball of crimson flame coalesce in it.

“Crimson Star!!” The shout felt natural as she released the condensed energy.

A jet of blood red flame exploded out from her punch aimed straight at the Captain. Silver flame and rising heat waves followed it, causing it to look like a momentary bright red shooting star. The Captain, unable to avoid the attack, twisted and took the blow on her shoulder.

It seared into her scales, marking the first attack SarthDarah dealt actual damage with. It had only taken her getting serious and pushing her new body to its upper limits. SarthDarah didn’t feel like it was going too far yet, the power generator in her was humming along happily. A melody began intruding in her head, not distracting enough to take her focus away from the fight; but almost as an accompaniment to help sync her body and modifications.

The flare died away, leaving SarthDarah standing ready to continue, and the Pirate curled up and laying still. The trap was clear, the Captain had only taken a glancing blow. SarthDarah was forced to shoot her star slightly upwards, or risk damaging this ship or the other about to dock in at their starboard side.

Her body was still humming, the pain of the broken and battered parts of her just added to it. She was relieved to see the other ship coming had a familiar face riding aboard it. Anunt, healer and caster of the skill Starburst, barely waited long enough for the ships to bump gently into each other before leaping over.

“I am sure glad to see you.” SarthDarah raised her broken arm a little before letting it fall limp.

“You reckless fool…” Anunt raced over and gently took SarthDarah’s arm in her hands. “Let me see that.”

The feeling of cool water running down her arm soothed away the pain, and it took a moment before SarthDarah realized she hadn’t let her flame aura down. With Anunt standing inside her aura, and now physically handling her, she felt the need to turn it off.

With a look at the Captain, who still hadn’t moved, she relaxed her body. The flames whirled upwards into the air as they dissipated. A bright sunny, cloudless sky remained. A sudden gust of air blew a chill across SarthDarah’s neck.

Looking to the opposite horizon, another ship was sailing towards them. It was getting close, and it had a massive bull skull flag flying above it. The crimson and white bone shape stood out plainly against the darkening sky behind that ship. The wind was blowing it all right at them.

“No time to reprimand me now. How much longer do you need with my arm?”

Anunt glared at her like she was being asked to get naked and roll around in the pig stables.

“Give me two minutes, then you can go get yourself nearly killed again. Then I will put you back together, and gain tons of experience from sewing an arm where a leg should go.” Her look made her statement sound deadly serious.

SarthDarah swallowed hard, then put on a smile before saying.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you had wanted to become the Pirates’ slave. Looks like they're selling us to the bull people coming in on the next ship. Ever healed someone that’s been raped by a bull?”

“No, and I wasn’t saying I wanted to be sold off. Just try not to get yourself mangled in the process of saving all of us. I can only do so much before you lose functionality.”

“Deal, wasn’t as fun as advertised anyway. Think we can get away before the Captain decides to stop faking it? Or before the other ship gets here?”

Anunt shook her head. SarthDarah didn’t think so either. She looked around at the ship’s deck. A few large ballistae set to the sides and two cannons at the prow. The masts and sails took up most of the rest of the main deck. The walkthrough doors leading below and the large opening right in front of the steering deck were the only ways below decks.

“I think you should fight, we just got our reinforcements.” Kuru’s voice came from right behind SarthDarah. “The Minotaur commander won’t accept no. He came for slaves, and if that is what this little girl promised, that is what he will expect.”

Kuru waited for SarthDarah to turn to meet her eyes, then made a meaningful eye movement towards the Captain and then down to the deck. SarthDarah thought about it, then sighed heavily. The crew members below would end up being the slaves if they left.

“You want me to fight a minotaur?” SarthDarah’s voice was a mix of exasperation and excitement.

“No, well, yes. There’s more than one. It will be the whole ship of them.”

SarthDarah’s eyes went wide.

“That excited, are you?” Kuru purred. “There are eight of you, Anunt will remain here along with Lyria and myself. The rest of you should be ready to defend our ships. The Captain might be willing to help, but consider this my ship now. Take it as an order, and as the informal beginning of your new squad.”

SarthDarah smiled, she knew she would eventually be taking orders from Kuru. It sounded like she had already commondered this ship. With Anunt and the others arriving from the other ships, it seemed they had overpowered the pirates easily enough. Now it was time to defend their booty.

SarthDarah wasn’t about to let a bunch of bullheaded freaks end her winning streak.

When Anunt was done with her arm, she had quickly gone over to assist Jorn and Duerlin. While those two were being woken up, four others came to stand around SarthDarah and Kuru. A stout dwarven looking man that reminded SarthDarah of Maguura was playing softly on a lute.

The dwarf noticed SarthDarah’s stare and did a slight bow without stopping his music. A younger looking man with white hair and blue robes stood next to him. A smaller, winged woman with short black hair floated a few inches off the ground. She still only came to about shoulder height on the dwarf when she did this. Towering over all of them, even Jorn when he came to stand nearby, was the largest woman SarthDarah had ever seen.

She had a long halberd that was nearly as tall as the giant woman herself. When she reached out to shake SarthDarah’s hand, she actually had to bend down a little to be in a reasonable range to not accidentally lift SarthDarah off the ground.

“I am Lavia. Nice to meet you.” Her voice wasn’t extremely loud, but it did have a noticeable rumble that SarthDarah expected could shake everything around her if Lavia got angry.

“Nice to meet you as well. I hope you’re ready to use that thing.”

SarthDarah shook the massive hand that was offered, then pointed at the halberd as she spoke. Lavia hefted it up and twirled it once above her head. It made a swooshing noise as the wind was ripped up and around Lavia.

“Of course. We all know what is at stake. I watched my friends get massacred by that plant thing. Your fire saved me, I wasn’t able to save my friends, but you saved me. Now, I fight for you. If we are all stuck here, then I will do my best to make sure anything you need me to do, I do it.”

The others all nodded their agreement to Lavia’s statement. Even Jorn and Duerlin were smiling and nodding. SarthDarah looked to Kuru, who’s eyes glittered with anticipation. She had her own squad, with fantastical powers, and a boat full of minotaurs to slaughter. SarthDarah pushed any thoughts of how her life used to be out of her mind, this was her new life and it was one heart racing encounter after another.

It was time to see if the Pirate Captain would provide aid, or resistance.