Maya’s sickle lashed out, wrapping around one man’s foot. She yanked the chain, sending the man tumbling to the ground. The other two retainers closed the distance and encircled Maya. She tugged on the chain, but her sickle was tangled up around the first man’s leg.

“Sorry ‘bout this, miss. You should have known better than to tangle with the Ashwind family,” one of them said as they drew closer.

Maya didn’t respond. She jumped past one of the men, using the chain to sweep his legs out from under him. She acrobatically danced out of the way as the third retainer lunged at her and then dashed to the first man she’d entangled.

He was halfway to his feet when Maya’s knee crunched into his nose, knocking him back to the ground. She ripped the sickle off his leg and rolled out of the way as Axel’s axe crashed into the ground where she’d been standing.

Maya’s sickle sliced a furrow through Axel’s face. He let out a cry of pain and rage. His axe whistled through the air, but Maya danced around his blow without breaking a sweat. Her sickle bit out at him twice more.

Axel lunged towards Maya, forcing her to roll out of the way. Her acrobatics abruptly came to a halt as the retainer that she’d tripped earlier grabbed her foot. Maya tumbled to the ground, twisting as she fell to avoid being injured.

“I’ve got you now,” Axel yelled victoriously, jumping towards her and bringing his axe crashing down.

Maya squeezed her eyes shut, but the blow never connected. Cyll stood above her, his clothes still fluttering slightly from his sudden movement. He’d caught the axe by its hilt with a single hand. Cyll backhanded Axel in the face. The boy lost his grip on the axe and tumbled into the crowd with a garbled cry of pain.

“Not bad,” Cyll said, turning the weapon over in his hands. “It’ll do, for now.”

The axe hammered into the ground. Maya rose to her feet, kicking the retainer’s now severed hand off of her foot.

“You sure took your sweet time,” Maya said, but she couldn’t hide the relief in her voice.

“Sorry Captain. You looked like you were having fun,” Cyll said.

The retainer whose arm had been cut off let out a cry of pain. Cyll silenced him with a violent kick to the head. When he saw the look Maya shot him, the axe wielding pirate raised his shoulders in question.

“What? He’s not dead, just a little scrambled. They would have killed you.”

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“That’s not it. You got blood on my clothes,” Maya said, pulling at her pant leg.

Cyll bared his teeth in the direction of the remaining two retainers. He cracked his neck and pointed the huge axe at them with a single hand, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“I don’t suppose either of you have any interest in helping your friend out?” He asked.

They didn’t. The two uninjured retainers vanished into the crowd without even glancing back at their fallen friend. Cyll scoffed and turned back to Maya.

“My apologies about the blood, Cap. Can I call you Cap?” Cyll asked, briefly heading back into the weapon shop to grab his bag of steamed buns.

“Whatever you want. I just need to get some new clothes,” Maya grumbled. “And now we need to get out of here before the whole damn city comes down on our heads. I told you to keep a low profile!”

“You’re the one who cut the kid up,” Cyll pointed out.

“That was Axel. He’s the one that tried to kill me in the first place,” Maya said, restraining her fury and forcing herself not to chase after her enemy.

“Ah. My bad,” Cyll said. “I should have killed him.”

Maya glanced back up at the crowd. People shrunk away from her like she was diseased. The young woman smirked.

“Ah. I suppose some of you are worried I’ll hold a grudge about how none of you ever helped me, huh?” She asked, scanning the crowd.

Nobody responded.

“Well, I don’t. I’m leaving today, and I’ve got no plans of meeting any of you ever again. Now, I happen to be in need of some basic traveling goods and a new set of clothes,” Maya said. A golden coin flashed in her hands.

All of a sudden, everyone forgot all about the Ashwind family. Merchants rushed to their tents and reemerged bearing goods. They shoved them towards Maya, blinded by the glint of gold in her hands. It didn’t take her long to get two sets of decent traveling goods and a change of clothes for each of them.

“We should get out of here before the Ashwind family sends anyone of relevance after us,” Maya told Cyll. “I might have been okay against Axel, but I don’t think I’ve got a chance against any big hitters.”

“I reckon that’s a good idea,” Cyll agreed. He slung his sack of buns over one shoulder and the axe over the other.

Maya led the way as they departed the market square. The gazes of all the merchants and citizens followed them as they disappeared into the alleyways, but nobody tailed them into the darkness.

The yells started up a few minutes later, just as Maya and Cyll departed the city. The two of them exchanged an amused glance as the Ashwind family begun to tear the city up in search of them.

“We should get a move on before Heral comes after us. I don’t really know how strong you are, but he’s quite dangerous,” Maya said as her walk turned to a jog.

“I’d have no problem on my own, but I’m afraid I’m no good at keeping other people alive,” Cyll apologized. “So, where are we headed? I find it awkward to call myself a pirate without a boat.”

“Hook bay,” Maya said. “It’s a small port only a day’s travel away. We should be able to get our hands on something small there.”

“And what about a crew, Cap? It can’t just be the two of us forever. After all, it’s a crew, not a duo.”

“I’m in no rush,” Maya said as she adjusted the captain’s hat on her head. “I want good crewmates, not the first people we come across. For now, let’s just focus on getting me something to replace my missing Life-spark.”

“Whatever you say,” Cyll said.

The city-state receded in the horizon behind them. By the time the Ashwind family realized the people that had assaulted Axel weren’t in the city, Maya and Cyll had already become two of many travelers making their way across the coast.