The rest of the day came and went. We had no interruptions to our voyage either from weather or from players; lookouts were keeping a sharp eye out for the latter in particular, even though we judged that we were basically ahead of potential rivals by days at this point. Sunday, also, came and went; we had our rotations as we needed them for our real lives, and Rachel and I took a two-hour break (including dinner) to go over our lines for the musical and to ensure that we had gotten all of our homework in order.
When we got back into the game after this, our fleet had just gotten to the Moon Currents which were further north and which came down from the northeast along the Thundering Icewall. We were closer to this now, and as soon as I caught sight of it upon logging in I hoped that we would get further away from it sooner rather than later.
“And there's islands behind that thing? How do you sail to them through that?” I heard Peaches remark; looking over at the hauflin guild-leader, I saw a decidedly bemused look on her face as she observed the ceaseless storm.
“Ah-heh-heh-heh,” I returned nervously as I looked away from the storm. “Luckily those islands aren't specific to our quest, insofar as I heard, so we don't need to bother for now.”
“Oh, there's supposedly clues to get to the Shiverangs on Ewar. My uncle was interested in a certain rumor about a special kind of wood on those islands, you see--a story of a story of a story, as it were--and he made particular note of the hints our ancestor had found regarding the passage through the Thundering Icewall.” Anna Belle told me then.
“Eh?! But, frost-giants, sorceries!” I replied at once.
“Rumors! Though doubtless not without a source of some kind; perhaps these potential clues are wards or such to get through the storms!” the Ragamis smiled.
“Ah--! Anyway; we'll deal with that when we can. For now, let's get to the Hitherlands specifically.” I said.
“Of course! Time enough to try our luck with that, later.” the other returned, and I nodded back in definite agreement. I then got a notification; Wildeye wanted to make contact.
“You got that too, chick?” Peaches said to me.
“Yep,” I nodded. “Let's go in the cabin,” I said, and the two of us, along with Snow Dancer, Ariana, and Eyra, headed inside.
A few moments later we had established a conference call via magic, and Wildeye looked at us with grave concern. This isn't good, whatever it is, I thought to myself at once. Ariana took my hand, gently squeezing it.
“Bad news, gang; I don't know what kind of trouble you may or may not have had with the pirates so far, but one of their members just posted triumphantly on the forums that they have indeed found the quest from the Silvestri to head up to the Hitherlands.” Wildeye told us.
“Oh lovely.” Angelfire sighed. “Well they're pretty far behind at this rate, despite all of their interference. We're in the Moon Currents now, and we should be a day or two out from the Hitherlands.”
“Agreed.” Jannie said.
“I'm sure the Pirate Alliance will be making double and triple time as soon as they get organized, which most likely won't be very long from now; and they have the advantage of Paradise Island.” he said to us, and I quietly frowned at the reminder.
“Which is further east than Covenhame.” I noted aloud. “If they're really gonna try and catch up, they'd likely go northeast, away from that and the Outer Isles, and then they'd be able to come up behind us; not that they know we'd be in front of them, but it'd be convenient. I doubt even they would go towards the Thundering Icewall.”
“All good points.” Mad Dog remarked. “How big a fleet are they planning to send? Or do you know?” he said to Wildeye.
“The boasters on the forums have put up screenshots of a literal armada; and I've heard that Admiral Squidclaw is quite eager to get underway.” the other replied.
Heh. No surprise there, I thought with a wry grin.
“What about Venomheart? They were with the pirates for a while, helping to chase us.” Jannie then asked.
“There was some sort of scuffle I think,” Wildeye said, “But it looks as if they got clean away from it. Where they are now is anyone's guess.”
Tch.
“That figures,” Jannie said with a soft smile. “In any case, Angelfire's right; we should be at our destination in two days at most, and then we'll begin establishing our claims.”
“In regards to that; the Wildlands are being neatly carved up again tonight. Our alliance and Guardians of the Eternal Citadel are the two dominant powers here; though we might begin conceding some territory in light of this expedition, once you get the wayports established.” he told us.
“We can't abandon the Wildlands after all the effort we put in to holding our forts there!” Barbarianne said at once.
“Agree.” Valkrysti nodded.
“I said 'might', and only if our gains up north supersede what we gain from them now in the long run,” he amended with a faint grin.
“Still a hard 'no' on our end, pal.” I said with a shrug.
“I understand,” he said with a laugh. “It's something to consider, though.”
“Right,” Jannie said with a nod. “So basically we have a horde of pirates coming up after us. And our smaller expedition needs to establish a strong enough foothold so that we can get reinforcements up here.”
“We have our three dragons; we can hold out.” Hua Ling said confidently.
“Agreed.” Mad Dog nodded.
“Whatever we do, we need to get it done swiftly. I want our younger people to be thinking about school in a few hours and not Panarena.” Jannie said adamantly, Winnie nodding beside her.
“Good luck with that,” I said under my breath, and Ari softly giggled.
“Ahh... yes, dear.” Wildeye returned at once. He looked over at someone we could not see on the other end for a moment, then turned back to us. “I have to go. Get to the Hitherlands quickly. As soon as you establish a wayport we can begin sending reinforcements.”
“Will do!” Jannie said, and he vanished from the meeting. “All right! Angelfire, your ship is going to stay with five others, preferable the galleons and three caravels, on the eastern side. The rest of the fleet will circle around the other islands and stake claims on them while you and the others mark out claims on the eastern islands.”
“Right,” Angelfire nodded back.
“Send the cog and one of the junks to Iprin,” I then suggested.
“Good idea.” Jannie replied.
“I will escort it there.” Hua Ling said.
“Where will we set up the telepad?” Peaches then asked.
“Probably on Ewar, in the southeastern corner,” Jannie answered her.
“That works for me,” I agreed.
“I agree. It will be a front-line for our defense there,” Hua Ling nodded.
“We have another,” Mad Dog then said. “I will set it up on Sirna Tai, in the northeast.”
“Good.” Jannie said with a nod. “Let's get through these waters and start establishing our bases in the Hitherlands! Meeting adjourned!” she then said, and with that the conference ended.
“Let's get to work so we can get our little ones off for the night,” Snow Dancer then said with a smirk.
“Hm, hm,” Peaches nodded in agreement. “Got to get them thinking about school in the morning, after all.
“Oy...” I groaned as they headed out of the cabin.
“We can't stay in Panarena forever.” Ariana said with a small grin.
“If only.” I sighed.
“Would you stay forever like this?” she then asked me.
“Hmm...” I mused, and then shrugged my shoulders. “I'm not really sure,” I told her honestly.
“Well, luckily, we'll never have to find out!” she grinned, and, taking my hand, she led me back out on deck.
***
It was difficult to get out of the Moon Currents once we had gotten into them. They were stronger than the Molten Currents, and the wind was against us no matter how we tried to angle the sails, finally settling on having them positioned so that the wind blew parallel along their length and width. Someone suggested trying to a few mages and their wind-spells to get us out, but Ariana remarked that it would have caused more issues with the winds in this region, so we scrapped that plan. So with patience and persistence, we made our way across those currents and then made note of our position.
“Nearly perfect,” Eyra remarked as we observed the map and charts. “Looks like we'll be heading north by northeast for the rest of the voyage.”
“Right,” I nodded in agreement. “And then when we get close to landfall we'll begin splitting up.”
“Hopefully we get ourselves dug-in well enough so that we can fend off the pirates.” Peaches said as she contemplated the maps.
“We'll have Cylodel take the wayport groups to land first so those can be established; that should allow us to get reinforcements, at least.” I returned.
“Your friend Wildeye seemed in a rush when he let our conference; I wonder what's going on down south...?” Eyra then wondered.
“Hmm...” I sighed, starting to wonder that myself.
“Well--” Peaches began, but then we were interrupted by the ship's bell ringing. The three of us exited the cabin, our discussion now on hold, as we made our way to the deck.
“What's the alarm?” I called.
“We're gearing up for a possible attack,” Ariana informed me. “Look at that!” she pointed out towards the east.
There was a ship there, being pulled along at a great speed by a large sea creature. Was it a leviathan or sea-serpent of some kind? I had little time to think about that; for Ari handed me the spyglass, and all speculation about the creature went poof instantly. The pennant on the mast was Venomheart's banner.
Gyeck?! Wait!! They're alone...
“They're alone... and I doubt they got those sea-creatures without cooperation from a guild more in touch with the sea than themselves...” I remarked.
“Hornigold's Revenge or Deep Blue Kings have tamers.” Eyra said to me.
“I guess their alliance is patched up.” I said with a sour look. “They're probably doing the 'spotter' thing again.”
“Agree,” Ariana nodded. “And at that pace, they might get to the Hitherlands first.”
“Hyeck?!” I tensed up as a jolt of realization struck me. “Where's our dragons?”
“Dracky and Guntaru took to the water with Shuĭyŭ; they're over there now,” my partner pointed them out to me.
“Send a message to Qi Lin, tell him to pick up Mad Dog and his telepad with Guntaru!” I said to Anhe who nodded at once.
“Okay!” she replied.
“What about Dracky?” Ariana asked as I whistled for him.
“We're gonna take Jannie to Ewar like she planned--send her a note, too!”
“Right!” she nodded to me.
“Qi Lin says of course he will help!” Anhe reported.
“Tell him thanks!” I said as Ari and I scrambled up the mast, the younger girl smiling back as we hurried. Dracuoatlax was waiting for us when we got there, and we hopped on to his back.
“You noticed them as well, masters?” he said to us.
“Yep; we've got to get Jannie from her ship, along with the wayport she has, and then fly straight to Ewar!” I told him as he glided towards the ship in question.
“Are we abandoning the fleet, my Lady?” he asked me.
“Not exactly; Shuĭyŭ will be here to help in case Venomheart tries anything, and a lot of good fighters are still here,” I replied, seeing Guntaru flap off with his passengers. Jannie and Tabitha were ready and waiting, and they hopped aboard as well.
Dracuoatlax being who he was, he could not simply leave without sending a fireball in the direction of Venomheart for spite. We had the satisfaction of seeing it strike one of their masts, and with that the great dragon of the Torching Mount soared off to catch Guntaru.
“I am decently rested despite my struggles under the waves; we shall make good time, masters!” the dragon told us.
“Ho-ly!” Tabitha exclaimed from behind. We looked back; the sea-monster towing our enemy's ship had sprayed the vessel with water.
“Tch!”
“Figures!” Ari and I sighed.
“That thing is moving faster now. We made ourselves a target.” Jannie said.
“Better us than our fleet,” I remarked.
“True!”
“Hold fast!” Dracuoatlax told us, and we did so as he went higher up into the air, seeking a faster wind.
“Dragon Express!” Tabitha quipped; I half-worried our dragon friend might make a snippy comment about the jibe, but he looked back with a fierce grin instead.
“There are indeed none who can compare to me in flight!” he declared as he set his face forward again. We found a strong wind moments later, and Dracuoatlax settled into its current as he beat his wings to gain still more speed.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Have you ventured this way before?” I wondered.
“No dragon has come this way since the dawn of time,” he replied. “But now three of us venture forth to the utmost north of the world; Lady Lana! Below! Our enemy is as fast upon the water as we are in the air!” he then warned.
“We'll make it; I trust you!” I replied, placing a gentle hand on his neck.
“I know that well, master, and it honors me!” the reply came. I almost felt as if we picked up another burst of speed shortly after that.
Just as I had at least half-hoped, Venomheart came after us and left the main fleet alone. No doubt Hua Ling and Johann had adjusted the course slightly so as to avoid drawing interest from them. Which was fine. Anyhow. It was a long flight across the open sea, with the monster-pulled galleon chasing us and keeping pace the whole way. We overtook Guntaru and the others when we were halfway there, waving merrily or cheekily to the others as we passed by them. Qi Lin laughed, and Mad Dog gave out a grin, shaking his head. Then we heard the sound of a--
“Was that a rocket I just heard?!” Tabitha said as we looked back.
“Oh snap, it is!” I said. “Ari!”
“On it!” she said, knocking it away with a wind-spell. It blew up a fair distance away from us, releasing a poisonous mist.
“Of course!” Jannie sighed.
“Lana!” Qi Lin called over.
“Hurry to Sirna Tai!” I called back to him. “They have poison-rockets!”
“With the dragon poison?”
“Exactly!”
“This is not good! Guntaru!” the other guild leader said, and Guntaru turned towards the east.
“We should do the same,” Jannie said.
“No! If Guntaru is actually slower, that would end up hurting them!” I said at once.
“Correct, Lady Lana. Guntaru, for all his bravado, is slow a-wing than I,” Dracuoatlax said. “We will keep their attention, then!”
“You got it, pal!” I said, drawing out my bow and loosing a couple arrows towards the ship chasing after us.
“Another rocket!” Tabitha said.
“On it!” Ariana said, striking this one down with a fireball. “Lana, fire at the launcher; I'll help you!”
“Right!” I nodded back, taking aim and firing the arrow towards where I had seen the initial burst; Ariana sent a flurry of flame-darts after it, and a few moments later we saw an explosion on the ship. But we also saw another rocket coming at us.
“More than one launcher, I guess...” Tabitha sighed.
“Wonder if those are the alchemist's doing...” I wondered.
“Think you can hit him?”Ari asked me.
“Not without your help,” I told her, and she smiled.
“Let's try it, partner!” she said as I took aim again; she enhanced my vision with one of her spells, adding some enchantments to my arrow as I queued up Dragon Breaker.
“He'll be the easiest one to spot,” Jannie told me. “Remember: flamboyant colors, lots of steampunk gadgets on his person, golden hair,” she recounted.
“Right,” I said, scanning the ship for him.
“This'd be impossible in real life. We're about three-hundred meters away and that's a bow.” Tabitha couldn't help but remark, and Jannie giggled.
“Well, since it's not real life...!” I smiled as I caught sight of Merc Mandrake, the alchemist for Venomheart. “Got you!” I said, loosing the arrow. Right as it neared him he looked towards it with a sudden shock, and then he was gone with a poof. The rest of his guild, and their NPC hirelings, began scrambling to get their defenses up.
“All right! That should disorient them long enough!” Jannie said.
“A favorable wind!” Dracuoatlax announced, heading upwards again. We began heading for our destination at a swift pace; I noted that Guntaru and his passengers were now heading north, and were slightly ahead of us.
“I see them!” Ariana said.
“The Hitherlands; they are yet at a distance from us though!” the dragon remarked. “Another two hours of flight at best!”
“Venomheart might turn back to the fleet...” Jannie softly remarked.
“Tch...” I said grumpily, looking back towards them. I patted Ariana on the shoulder.
“Hm?” she looked over at me.
“Handle the rest!” I said, running along the length of Dracuoatlax's back.
“Lana? Lana!!” Ariana shouted as she realized what I was about to do.
Angling myself, I used Shadow Speed, and then raced the rest of my way off of the dragon and into mid-air, gliding down towards the enemy ship -- I hoped. It was probably one of the dumber decisions I had made in the game, but who's counting? As I neared the ship, I saw Clara getting one of her spells ready. I managed to get an arrow off somehow, interrupting her chanting; a second one knocked her back, and the third finished her. This time, anyway. Then I quickly put the bow away and grabbed onto the rigging, sliding down the rest of the way and entering the shadows to take down the necromancer.
“Get away from her!” Melody said after I had taken him out. “All of you! She's mine!”
“But--!!” Jana complained, only to be cut off by Melody's sword being pointed at her.
“Jana! Let her deal with it!” Cobra told her.
“R-right,” the archer said, backing away from the scene as Melody advanced.
“We'll still get there, even if you kill us. And we'll still bring the pirate armada to the Hitherlands; the crew already have orders to activate the beacon once we reach our destination, no matter what.” she told me confidently.
“Well thanks for that tidbit,” I said with a shrug, throwing down a cluster of lotus and smoke-bombs as I vanished into the shadows again, deciding to take down some of the NPCs.
“Dammit, Melody--” Cobra shouted in anger.
I had taken down two of them and was about to take down a third from the shadows, when Melody herself interrupted me with a fierce strike that silenced even Cobra.
“Just like I thought.” she grinned.
She predicted me!?
“You're predictable, to a certain extent, Lana. I thought someone with your reputation would be more wary of falling for lines like that, despite your usually unpredictable nature.” my opponent remarked as she began unleashing her arsenal of strikes at me again, now that I was out in the open.
It felt almost the same as our rehearsals, but unlike those, this was definitely a more intense, no-holds-barred sort of duel. I felt almost compelled to use the basic routines I had been learning for the stage-fight, but I managed to keep from doing so, relying on my actual style instead. She frowned as we fought back and forth across the deck, the ship moving forward all the while. Merc, Clara, and Cyan spawned back a few moments after we had begun, the three of them warned by their comrades to let us fight it out ourselves.
After being pushed back by a series of her lightning-fast thrusts and slashes, I decided to slip into the shadows again with a flurry of lotus-bombs. Melody coughed, but did not stagger. I decided to take her down using the combo-skill. But as soon as I was in position to deal the blow she reversed the grip on her sword and stabbed backwards, nearly striking me. I rolled out of the way, still in stealth, but it was enough for Melody to figure out where I was. Again she came after me with powerful strikes, forcing me to the visible world again to continue our duel.
“Shame! Now stay in the light and fight me properly!” she taunted.
“As if!” I quipped back as I parried her blows, blocking them as best as I knew how. Her eyes widened with surprise as this exchange occurred, and she gave me a keen glance.
“I didn't know you were a fencer, Rachel,” she said with a teasing smile. I made no reply. “Not talking? Well, then, let's have our swords do the talking for us!”
“Kinda busy!” I said as she swung again, while I vanished once more. I scurried off to take down more of the NPC crew, getting four this time before she caught me again.
This time, she drove me to the prow of the ship, right to the edge of the jibboom. I looked towards the northeast; the dragons were still visible, and the land loomed ahead mysteriously. Melody glanced over as well.
“So they'll make it first; fine. But we'll drive them off once we're in position. And you, you get to die--for the first time, I hear,” she turned back to me with an eager grin.
“Not so fast,” I said, yet again vanishing so that I could jump past her and scrabble up the side of the ship to a less disadvantageous position. She leaped back onto the deck at once, her glance furious.
“Are you done playing cat and mouse, Mel-mel?” I heard Clara say.
“I said to stay out of it, and I meant that!” the other girl thundered back.
Dracuoatlax said two hours. That means at least an hour and forty minutes left, I think. What do I do? Ugh, I really didn't think this one through. Here I am on an enemy ship; Melody's predicting me uncannily for once. I've got to do something that she won't... hmm! I thought to myself, an interesting idea suddenly striking me.
I leaped up onto the rigging, throwing down all the smoke and lotus bombs I had left, and then scurried up while my enemies were dealing with these. This time, I made my way to the front of the ship of my own accord, hurriedly cutting the lines that kept the sea-beast harnessed to it. When I had finished with the last line, I grabbed hold of it as it slipped into the water, and was tugged along at a speedy clip by the beast still in motion. Behind me, I saw Melody at the prow, her face dark with anger. I pulled myself up onto the beast as it swam away from the ship, getting into position so that I could “steer” it towards the islands.
Why didn't I just do this in the first place...? I then wondered to myself with a bemused expression. It certainly would have been a lot simpler, I chided myself, and then chuckled as I heard shouts and exclamations of outrage behind me. Cheekily, I looked back and blew a kiss. A second later another thought struck me.
What the heck did I just do?!?
Even without the beast pulling them, Venomheart's galleon was making decent time. It made me wonder how I had gotten away from them so nicely. Yet the others had definitely gotten there ahead of us. I could see Qi Lin and his party landing, and I saw Dracuoatlax and the others making their descent. Deciding to stay upon the beast (it seemed like a leviathan, more or less. I'll just go with that), I headed it into the area between the islands, and then came about, pulling back on the make-shift reins I had fashioned to halt it. Venomheart's ship was still a ways out, but I guess they decided they were close enough.
As before, a few moments after the enemy galleon had stopped moving, an entire armada began rising up out of the waves. There were at least sixty ships. I saw The Black Brine and Rackham's own ship, Dread Queen, at their head. As soon as they had appeared, I heard the sound of a major spell's completion. Second later the Mother Kraken began emerging from the sea. I felt a chill go down my spine.
Sorry, Mel, looks like you don't get to kill me after all, I inwardly quipped to the distant swordswoman.
“Lana!” Dracuoatlax called out to me from my left. But a flash of light to my right was what caught my eye at that moment. Mad Dog's wayport had been established. People were coming through. Wait, no--just one person?
“Huh?!” I said aloud as I recognized the person in question. “Fènghuáng?!”
The guild-master of Guardians of the Eternal Citadel waved her staff around in an arc as she hastily chanted. That's for the--!! I recalled with a flash of memory the last time I had seen her use this skill, against us; it was the phoenix summoning. The Mother Kraken began advancing, as did the pirate armada. I saw Qi Lin and the others form a protective circle around Fènghuáng as she continued chanting.
“Go!!” I flicked the reins of the leviathan, spurring it forward.
It lurched forth with a bellow towards the other titan of the sea, its black eyes glaring at me with hatred. I set an arrow to string, queuing up Dragon Breaker yet again. I wondered if it would be effective against a beast like this. At that moment I heard the sound of a bell and a piercing shriek; the phoenix had appeared. The majestic, flaming bird gazed down coldly upon the pirate armada as once it had gazed at us. It began unleashing flames upon them, and with that the two dragons also began attacking.
“Lady Lana! You have something that belongs to me!” Admiral Squidclaw called from his ship with a speaking trumpet, “And now I will have it back!”
Uh-oh, I gulped.
A second later, the leviathan bucked and reared, throwing me off into the air. Quick as lightning, Dracuoatlax caught me on his back.
“Trust not another beast so quickly next time, master, lest it be Fyu!” he quipped to me.
“You betcha!” I agreed.
“Still, this is a mighty obstacle indeed!” the dragon noted as we flew upwards, taking note of the armada. There was nothing smaller than a galleon in it, all of them packing a full complement of weaponry and pirates, whether NPCs or players.
“You're telling me; can the three of you even beat all of this?” I wondered.
“With the phoenix on our side, as it seems, we stand a better chance; and it cannot be poisoned, either!”
“Which would make it the best candidate to attack Venomheart!”
“I should hope it does so, master,” the dragon replied. “But first!” he added, diving back towards the leviathan.
He doused it with fire, then raked it with his foreclaws. The creature howled angrily, trying to strike back, but Dracuoatlax managed to get a grip on it with his taloned back-feet, hoisting it out of the water and rising up into the air over the armada to finally drop the beast onto one of the enemy ships. In seconds the ship was down, and the leviathan too injured to keep assisting its masters. Several other ships were ablaze; the phoenix had indeed gone after the galleon Venomheart was on, and now it was practically a funeral-pyre at sea.
“Rackham!” I heard Squidclaw shout. “They're getting reinforcements! This won't be worth it in a few minutes!”
“Master Rackham, Master Rackham!” a reedy voice said. I saw a cat-like creature prancing towards the man in question. “My lord's ancestor also spoke of fabled lands further to the north when he made his own voyage; let these have their claim, and let us claim better glory by being the the first to reach the utmost north of the world!”
“Won't our quest fail, then?” I heard Rackham wonder.
“Not at all, Master Rackham!” the diminutive creature assured him. “Our objective is to establish operations in the north; it never specifically said the Hitherlands, did it?” the cat-creature remarked slyly.
“What say you, Admiral?” Rackham called to the other ship.
“I say it's better than fighting them and trying to get them off these islands!” Squidclaw returned at once. “Unless the kraken gets that summoner there!”
“I agree -- signal the fleet! And have our contacts give our spotters the agreed fee and some compensation for their deaths!” Rackham ordered.
“But not before we take down this little bird!” Squidclaw pointed up at us.
“Bird?” Rackham scratched his head.
“Not the dragon, you dunce! Look who's on it!” the other retorted.
“Ah-ha!” his leader grinned merrily. “Why, yes, let's take down Lady Windstrider before we go, give them something to think about for next time we come across each other!”
“Dracuoatlax; you think that monster's a world-boss?” I hastily whispered, motioning to the Mother Kraken which was still hanging around. It was still heading for Sirna Tai to try and take out Fènghuáng so the phoenix would disappear. Which would only encourage the pirates to stay.
“I do not know what you plan to do, Lady Lana, but I will take you towards it.” the dragon said obligingly, guessing correctly that I wanted to try and attack it.
Before I could, however, Ariana had gotten ahead of me. I heard a second bell-sound; this one marked the activation of her doomsday skill, Abyssal Portal. It opened right under the Mother Kraken, sucking it in, along with a ship that had been alongside it for support. A few moments later the ship and the beast were gone, and the pirate armada, or at least the part of it that wasn't burning or sunk, began retreating from the Hitherlands.
I totally forgot you could do that, I blinked in surprise as we landed on Sirna Tai where she now was, courtesy of the wayports we had placed. As soon as I was on the ground she marched over and put her arms around me tightly. I couldn't even hug her back.
“We're taking the rest of this week off. You owe me for those scares.” she said adamantly.
“Ah--!! Sure, Ari, we'll do that,” I agreed, and she let go, smiling at me.
“You're crazy.”
“Heh.”
“Ahem!” Mad Dog said, and we turned to face the others who had gathered on Sirna Tai as well, along with Fènghuáng.
“Right, so... you're here; what's going on down south?” I asked her.
“We have agreed to a non-aggression pact; part of which includes my guild staking a claim on at least five regions on these islands.” Fènghuáng announced to me with a slight grin.
“And part of which includes cracking down on the pirates, when we encounter them.” I intuited, and she nodded.
“I think we did much to discourage them today,” she remarked, and we all turned towards the retreating armada. Guntaru had blasted a few more just for his own amusement, leaving only two-thirds of their fleet even mostly intact. The phoenix did the same, and then vanished into the nether for the time being, its job complete.
“Let's get the others here and start surveying; then we'll start negotiating claims,” Jannie then said.
“Agreed.” Fènghuáng nodded.
“Agreed.” I said with my own nod.
After the others had arrived, I delegated our role in the upcoming negotiations to Maryn and Healina, who looked surprised but accepted the task upon Ari's explanation.
“Leave it to us!” our healer beamed.
“And don't worry; Anna Belle says she respects us enough to work with us, too, so we won't get abandoned for your not being here!” Maryn added.
“Oops, didn't think about that part!” Ari blushed. “Oh well! It's fine, then!”
“Hahh...” I sighed, partly in relief and partly in exasperation. That would have been a fine ending to the quest, if Anna Belle had left us because Ari and I weren't online for a while.
Speaking of the quest, it updated to the next stage as soon as our Ragamis friend got to shore a few moments later.
Hitherlands Expedition, Chapter One, Part Two: Staking a Claim; establish a base of operations on one or more of the islands.
“Welp, the others will handle that part,” I said as I read it.
“Yay! We made it!” Anna Belle cheered as she came over to us.
“We'll be away for a while, but we'll definitely be back to help you explore,” I said to her then.
“Of course! I understand! And don't worry; as long as your friends are around, I'll be glad to help the expedition in any way I can!” she told us with a bright smile.
“Thanks, Anna,” I smiled back.
“Just be sure you come back in one piece!”
“I-I'll try,” I returned, my grin dissolving into a wry one.
“La-na! Come on,” Ariana beckoned, and we headed back to our cabin on the ship to take a well-deserved sleep until morning.
It took a while for me to fall asleep; I was still pondering the events of the voyage. The only thing that really struck me was the thought of lands further north of us; were there? This was far enough out already, as far as I was concerned.
And that pirate armada might really have had us if not for the phoenix, especially with Venomheart hanging around... tch, Melody's gonna be even more antsy at school this week, or at least tomorrow, I sighed, finally slipping into the world of dreams a moment later.