Chapter Three Hundred and Sixty-One - Bite the Gust

“Wait, what?” Commodore Megumi asked.

“What what?” I asked right back.

“What are you two talking about?” Amaryllis asked right over my shoulder. “Do keep in mind that we can’t understand a word of it.”

I smiled back at her. “Well, she asked me if I’d join her side if she asked me nicely, and I said yes.”

“You said what?” Amaryllis asked.

“That was her reaction too!”

Amaryllis pinched the bridge of her nose between the tips of her talons. “Broccoli,” she muttered. “What do you mean you’d join her if she asked?! She’s the bad guy.”

“I know that,” I said.

“I can understand you, you know,” Commodore Megumi said.

I smiled over at her. “And that’s okay. Anyway, what I mean is that I’d join her if she wanted to become a friend. Of course, friends don’t let frirned kidnap innocent people and hold them hostage. But... well, friends also help friends work through bad habits, like a penchant for piracy, and I’m sure that with some hard work and a few long conversations I’d win her over and she’d become a nice person and then we’d be friends and then we wouldn’t have to worry about any of this piracy stuff.”

“Why did you just say that? I can literally hear you,” Megumi said.

I shrugged. “Why would that matter?”

“Because... are you an idiot?” she asked. “Obviously if I know your plan then it won’t work.”

“But it’s a plan based on friendship and trust and niceness, all things that work best when you have open and honest communication,” I pointed out. “Besides, I wasn’t planning on being subtle about it. I’m never subtle about making friends.”

“You don’t make sense,” Megumi said. She gestured grandly, encompassing the tower and the pirates atop it and the whole world around us. “Look at this place. Endless potential. A whole world that we can grasp and control and do whatever we want in, and you want to do... what? Play silly games with your friends and act like a hero?”

“That’s... yeah, that’s exactly what I want to do,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve met so many nice people, seen incredible places and things, and I think this place is beautiful. Just look at this tower! It's a huge tower built by secretive snow-people and then abandoned for mysterious reasons, built to dock airships, and surrounded by a hostile forest filled with colossal trees and giant spiders! There’s so much to see and explore! Why would I want to ruin any of this by being mean and hurting people when I could make more friends instead?”

Commodore Megumi seemed stumped for a moment, then she frowned at me. “You sound a lot like Rainnewt,” she said.

I blinked. “I what?”

“Hmph, now it’s your turn to be confused, isn’t it? You do sound like him. He would always go on and on the way you do, sounding so supremely certain of himself. Maybe whatever picks out Riftwalkers has a tendency to pick out people of your sort. But me? I’m not like that. I’m just here for the power, and I’ve admitted that to myself already.”

“I don’t think I’m like Rainnewt,” I said. “Although, I guess we’re both idealists, it’s just that our ideas are very different. Are you sure I can’t convince you to give up on the bad piracy? You could become an adventurer, or just sail around and have fun, or become the good kind of pirate that fights against corrupt people and stuff.”

Megumi grinned. “I’m afraid not. I’m not an idiot, Captain Bunch, but I know how the world works. If you submit to an authority, you'll never have any power beyond what they allow you. You'll never be free ... I'll be sticking with Rainnewt, I think. The two of us are equals, and he treats me as such."

I frowned, then raised Weedbane up between us. The blade swung out, then snicked into place. “I don’t want to fight,” I said.

“That’s rich, coming from someone who invaded my base and wrecked my ships.” She grinned, then raised a hand.

“Broccoli!” Amaryllis shouted.

I was grabbed from behind and flung back while Amaryllis created a staticy-shield between us and Megumi. A hard gust of wind slammed into the magical shield and I saw stray sparks of mana snapping one the edges of the half-dome.

The Lunchbox creaked behind us as the wind continued to press against its side, and the gangplank scraped across the rooftop until its lip slipped off the edge and the board went tumbling away.

Megumi stood across from us, coat whipping around her as she continued to blow a storm our way.

“We need to move!” Amaryllis shouted.

The sylph were tossing up shields, but they were barely doing anything against the constant wind. How much mana did Megumi have?

I allowed Amaryllis to drag me away, then I saw Awen being carried over to the Lunchbox. The last few sylph on top of the tower were already heading over.

So I scooped Amaryllis up in a princess carry, let her fire off a spell over my shoulder, then jumped over to the airship to land on its deck with a thump.

“Cut us off!” Bastion shouted.

Ropes were snapped and the Lunchbox lurched away from the edge of the tower.

A howling downburst fell on us from above.

My legs flew out from under me as the ship jolted from the gale, then I was slapped to the deck as the balloon was blown down on top of me.

It felt like we were falling. I tried to scramble out from under the balloon, but I could hardly tell up from down.

"Engine to full!" a voice shouted, weirdly muffled through the material of the balloon.

The engine bellowed, vibrating the deck beneath me and audible even over the wind. The force driving me to the deck increased.

Without warning, we seemed to tear free of the blasting wind, and the balloon jerked free from me, rising up above the ship to its proper station.

I pulled myself upright, gasping for air and looking around wildly.

We were much, much lower than before, just about brushing the tops of the trees.

The crew collected themselves, then ran around the deck, resetting sails and checking for damage while our flight steadied itself and we started to regain some altitude. The ship’s engine was roaring below deck as it countered whatever that had been.

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Did Megumi just shove us straight down with a blast of wind? That was... strong.

And yet if she wanted to kill us, it might have been as easy as just continuing to press us down until we crashed, or pulling us into the side of the tower so that the Lunchbox was dashed against the tower.

I smiled. There was some good in her still, which meant there was hope, even if Rainnewt had sunk his claws into her. Maybe we could talk some more? Oh! We could become penpals! Did pirates get the mail?

“Captain?” Caprica called out. The princess was standing on deck, feet spread to keep her balance.

“I’m here,” I said as I stumbled to my feet, then I rubbed at my bum. I hoped that wouldn’t bruise. “Is everyone okay?”

Caprica looked around the deck. Everyone seemed to be getting up, though a few of them were doing that strange little walk people do when they just hurt something. “If they’re not, then we’ll see to it they get treatment,” Caprica said. “We’ll make it. My bigger worry is with the battle that’s about to take place.”

“Battle?” I asked.

I was under the impression that we’d just finished that.

Then Caprica pointed over my shoulder and I followed to see that the frigates were busy circling around one of the pirate ships, the more damaged of the two. The other was racing ahead to intercept us.

“Oh,” I said. “Where are the Featherfall and Beaver Cleaver?” I asked.

“Above,” Caprica said. “We’re trying to gain altitude. Being beneath your opponent in an airship battle is a good way to lose in a hurry.”

I nodded. That was... good? Maybe? The Beaver was above the incoming pirate ship, so that leant it an advantage, right? I wasn’t expecting such a big pit of worry to open up in my tummy, but if I was ever going to be stressed out of my mind, well ... this is how it would happen..

“We’re going to have to help,” Caprica said.

“One thing at a time, princess,” Bastion said as he came over. “We just got out of one difficult situation, it wouldn’t do to leap into another. Now, I’d usually order a VIP below decks, but I know you won’t listen, so please just find a place to stand that isn’t in the way and don’t allow yourself to get shot.”

Caprica nodded. “Yes, Bastion,” she said.

I pulled her towards the rear where my friends joined me. Calamity was tapping the string of his bow and Awen reloaded her crossbow, taking her time to refill the magazine below it with fresh bolts.

“I don’t like this waiting,” I said as I looked out. The Lunchbox was climbing, but it wasn’t very fast. The captain had directed the ship around the tower, towards the space where Commodore Megumi’s ship had torn free of the tower and crashed to the ground. It looked like a number of pirates were swarming around the ship, putting out fires and picking themselves up. They were very close to the forest, so I hoped for their sake that they hurried up before the spiders came to investigate all the noise.

“Oh no,” Awen said.

I spun and looked out and above.

The injured pirate ship was close enough now to trade fire, and its first target was the Featherfall.

The pirate ship was the same one that had limped back to the tower, the same one that the two frigates had taken potshots at. It was a tough ship if it was still airborne after so much constant punishment, and now it was firing huge bolts at the Featherfall which it outweighed by a factor of three.

The Featherfall’s crew, and probably all the soldiers and harpy onboard, brought up a screen of magical defences. Wind spells, fireballs, magical barriers of different shades and sorts. The bolts crashed into the shields and through the first few before losing enough momentum that they flew under the ship and fell to the ground.

They weren’t always going to be so lucky.

The Featherfall fired back, but all it had to defend itself was a rather pitiful set of ballistae. A few mages onboard fired some longer-ranged spells which either missed outright or splashed harmlessly against counter magic.

Then the Beaver Cleaver came rushing in. Or it rushed as much as my strangely designed home could rush. “Someone’s on my ballista battery,” Awen said.

Caprica turned her way. “You built that thing?”

“Ah, yes?” Awen said.

“You have no idea how wildly illegal it is, do you?” Caprica asked.

“Awa? Really? I just wanted something to fight off pirates with.”

“Well, I suppose we’ll see how well that works out,” Caprica said with a nod.

“I wonder if they loaded on the explosive bolts,” Awen wondered aloud.

Caprica whipped her head around. “The what?”

Above, the Beaver opened fire. It took some squinting to make out Oda at the gun, with Sally next to her helping to aim. The air filled with a hail of bolts which went wide, then they walked the bolts down towards the pirate ship.

The pirates, of course, intercepted with spells. I don’t think they expected every-other-bolt to explode with a loud crack-boom though, and for a moment the spells fizzled out and a number of bolts flew right through and slammed into the balloon’s side.

It had thin armour but a few plates fell off, revealing the underneath. It looked as though there were multiple, smaller balloons within, or maybe it was just one well-compartmentalised balloon meant to take a bit of a beating.

In any case, it wasn’t rated for Awen’s special ammo.

As the glass-tipped bolts slammed into the ship and exploded, I could see the faint glimmer of glass shrapnel in the air and fist-sized holes punched through the armour where whatever gas the airship was using to stay afloat started to leak.

They, of course, started to turn to bring their ballistae around towards the Beaver and the Beaver only had the one gun on the one side, so it was going to be vulnerable soon.

“Caprica, can we charge that ship?” I asked.

“That sounds reckless,” she said. Then she shrugged. “But we’ve been doing nothing but reckless things all day. I’ll give the order. Get ready for some ship-to-ship fighting.”

***