Chapter 2

How long? It seemed like hours had passed since he was asleep, like he had been asleep for a while. His eyes would open, looking around the room a little bit. Something felt a little bit off though, his head hurt, and his wrists did too. What happened exactly? Last thing he remembers was sneaking on to a ship and hiding into a cabin, not just any cabin though. He hid inside the captain's cabin, a bad choice for him. Slowly, he began to remember what had happened, his mind going back to that moment when he was in the cabin, he wasn't asleep.

He was spotted by the captain and knocked out right away, his head was throbbing from the pain. His mouth was gagged, so screaming for his sister wouldn't work. But what else was there, right, his hands were bound at his wrist, his eyes looking more around the room. He could see bars, a stool and even a bed, but he was on the ground. At least his feet weren't bound together, he could get up at least. Slowly, and painfully, he would force himself to stand up, looking around once more. Not even a guard on duty, he's a child though, so what's he going to do, fight them with only his head?

He has to think, why keep him alive when they know he's a stowaway? He looked around once more, to try and see if there were windows, to tell the time of day, but there was nothing. There had to be a reason for all this, he paced around the cell he was in, stuck in the brig. How far down was he? Was he far enough that the ocean was right next to him? He approached the wooden wall and placed his ears to it, listening. He didn't hear anything splash to the side, so he must be under the ocean. He took in a few deep breathes, to try and keep himself calm, but soon hearing a noise.

He swiftly turned on his heels and looked in the direction of the sound, footsteps hitting the floor of the deck above him. He kept staring at the direction of each sound as they were made, seeing them stop at the door. The sound of keys jingling, and the lock being opened made him wary of what might be behind the door. The door swung open, illuminating the room more with another light, making it brighter inside. A man stepped down garbed in tattered clothing, like the child, but he wore shoes and carried, not only a lantern, but a tray of food as well. As soon as he stepped down on to the deck, the same as the boy stands on, he would smile a little bit.

“I see ye're awake little runt, the captain tells me to feed ye. He thinks he might be able to get some work out of ye. Hope ye like gruel, that's all prisoners like yeself get around here. Guess I'll need to ungag ye too, and untie yer arms, any funny business, and I get ye and make ye the next meal, got it?” The man said to Gaslyrok.

He could only nod his head, his stomach grumbling a little bit as he stared at the food. He didn't care what it was, it was something he hadn't had the chance to have too often. He walked to the cell bars and turned around, to allow the man to cut the ropes binding his arms. He was smart, he didn't want any trouble, he just wanted to get as far away from the island as possible. He heard the cook lower the tray of food to the ground and pull a knife, cutting the ropes around the younger male's wrists. He slid the tray into the cell and started to walk away, letting the boy be alone.

He pulled his gag down and grabbed the tray, eating the gruel swiftly, with a disgusted look on his face. He had no choice but to eat this food though, it was the only thing they served him, and will ever serve him. Now that his stomach was full, he was able to think more clearly, wonder where his sister might be and what she's doing. He knows she's on the ship, but where on the ship, it was a complete mystery to him. He looked to the ceiling, wondering which deck she might be on right now.

He can't be too worried about his sister right now; he needs to focus on himself now. They didn't shackle him, so they don't think he's a strong person, which they're right. He needs to use his other skills to get out of the brig though, but what were his other skills? Well, he can make a sea-serpent tail, but that won't do him any good, unless he picks the lock with the tip of the tail. Gaslyrok soon sighed as he was about to give up hope of escaping, standing near the cell door. The sounds of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door, the sounds of someone that's not too happy, or in a rush. He hoped it was just someone in a rush.

The door swung open, almost flying off the hinges. A man stepped through, wearing iron Cuisse, polyene, greave and sabaton, protecting his legs. He didn't wear any other armour than that, the rest of his outfit were all cloth, a wrangled old vest and pants. He didn't wear any other clothes than those, his hair was medium length, covering a good amount of his face. He stepped down, staring at Gaslyrok, not taking his eyes off him. After a bit of time, he would pull a stool over and slam it down, taking a seat upon it, still staring at Gaslyrok.

“You thought it'd be funny to Stowaway on my ship, did you?” The man asked.

Gaslyrok shook his head, keeping a good distance from the man, a little bit scared. He was trying to see the man's eyes, who he was and what rank he held. Although, it was kind of obvious he was the captain of the ship, the boy still thought it odd he didn't wear a hat, or the proper garb. The captain stood up swiftly and tossed the stool to the cage, pieces of wood flying everywhere, some of them splintering Gaslyrok, making him wince in pain.

“Answer me!” The captain yelled.

“N... No sir...” Gaslyrok replied.

“Then why are you here? Are you with the military? Are they hiring children now?”

“N-No sir... I just wanted to get away from the island. It... it's dangerous there.”

“You think I don't know that? I heard the rumours of the One-Armed Man approaching the town. That's why I set sail before we were ready. That's not important though. You think you're safer here with me, than back there with him?” The captain questioned more.

If only the man new he had one of the people the One-Armed man was after, to kill the boy, but for what reason, the child doesn't know. Should he tell the man the truth, he'd likely be killed without even a second thought from the man. He didn't want to risk getting himself killed before reuniting with his sister, so he'll just have to tell a little fib to the man.

“I... I didn't want to die and... I thought... m-maybe... you wouldn't notice me here. Maybe I would be safe if I hid inside a cabin. I didn't mean to hide inside your one, sir.” He said to the man.

“Hmm... You're going to have to work for your meals from here on. We could use a new shipmate anyways. Since we just lost one, thanks to a stowaway.” The man said, standing up and unlocking the cage. “My name's Mao, what's your kid?”

“G-Gaslyrok...” He responded, slowly and cautiously taking a step out of the cage.

As soon as he was out of the cage though, Mao slapped a collar around his neck, keeping the shackles close to himself and tugging on it. Gaslyrok tried to struggle against the chained collar, but really couldn't, not having the strength. The two walked out of the brig, soon reaching the top deck, Mao clearing his throat a little bit.

“Listen up!!!” He shouted to his crew. “This here is Gaslyrok, he is now our slave and will have to do whatever you guys tell him to, or else he risks taking a dive, to be with the sharks. Now, who has need of the little runt first?”

As soon as he asked, the ships cook's hand raised into the air swiftly. He seemed eager to receive help in the galley, running up to where Mao and Gaslyrok were standing. He swiftly grabbed at the chain, looking between Mao and Gaslyrok, soon speaking so that he might be heard.

“I could use the extra hand in the galley, I'll have him peeling potatoes and boiling water. Hope you can do something in the kitchen, kid.” The chef said to Gaslyrok.

Without a word, Mao released Gaslyrok into the chef's care, allowing them to head down a couple of decks. The chef tied the chain to the collar to the wall and pointed to the peeler and potatoes. Gaslyrok flinched a little bit, expecting to get hit or something, but looked to the stack of potatoes. With tears running down his face, he reluctantly walked over to them and began to peel the potatoes. He made slow movements, making sure not to cut himself. The chef went back to cooking the next meal for the crew. Gaslyrok kept crying the entire time, peeling the potatoes, the chef not giving a care in the world.

Gaslyrok spent so much time peeling the potatoes, he had stopped crying, soon looking towards the chef as he felt the man's pudgy finger tap his shoulder. Now that he had a good look at the man, and his eyes weren't filled with tears, he would get a better look at the man. The chef seemed to stand one meter tall, with a very round physique. His face was covered in think facial hair, creating a beard that Gaslyrok only read of. His shirt was red, looking along the side of crimson and his pants are black, he wears a traditional chef's hat and apron to go along with the outfit. The chef's hair was barely visible under the hat, but seemed rather, as a little bit of it was seen. He pointed to the pot in that moment, glaring down at Gaslyrok with his beady little eyes.

“Get us some water, gotta go above deck though.” The chef said to the small child.

Gaslyrok simply nodded his head, getting to his feet and looking to the potatoes, he sure peeled a lot of them. The bucket was overflowing with them at tis point, making him wonder how long he had been doing this for. He walked over to an empty bucket and picked it up, hearing the rattling of his chains a little bit, he looked down and remembered he was chained to the stove.

“Ex... Excuse me... how am I to get the water, if I'm chained here?” He asked.

The chef walked over to Gaslyrok and removed the hook on the collar, leaving the collar on the boy. It's a good thing Gaslyrok is smart, he's not one to try to escape, especially with them so far out to see. He inched away and turned his back on the man, starting to walk away from him for now, to gather the water needed. He made his way through the dark ship, walking past other pirates as he moved about. They all seemed to just glare at him, none of them liking the boy being on their ship. They allowed him to pass freely throughout the ship, as they had orders from the captain not to harm him.

It was a bit of a walk for him, getting lost inside the walls of the ship as it swayed left and right. The sounds of waves hitting against the ship were starting to get stronger. Where were they now? Were they approaching a storm? He needed to hurry up to the deck above and see for himself, his feet picking up speed as he moved. It only took him a few seconds to get to the top deck, getting splashed by water right away. His eyes went wide with shock as he saw what was going on, they were in a storm all right. The winds blew hard, tearing the sails off the masts, water splashing about freely upon everyone. He kept looking around, the captain screaming orders at all of them, telling them what to do. Now wasn't the time to be gathering water for the chef, if he wanted to live, he'd have to help.

'I need to think of something. If I don't help them, then Jasfu will die. I will die. Everyone might die. This storm is worse than anything I've heard of. I never heard of a storm ripping masts off ships before. How was this storm created?' He thought to himself.

He was about to go try and help, but one of the sailors stopped him, pointing to the captain. Even in this storm, he was still commanding of his crew, walking around the ship a little bit. On his back was a thin two-handed sword, Mao reaching back and drawing the blade. His gaze turned towards the sky as he kept walking around the place, holding the blade in one hand. Gaslyrok could only stand there and watch, the captain's eyes seeming to zoom in on what it was he was seeking. Drawing the sword back, he channelled a small amount of blue energy into it, what most would call mana. Both hands tightened their grips on the blade, and he soon swung down in a vertical motion, unleashing what he charged up.

High in the sky, something was hit and beginning to plummet to the ocean below. He hit his mark and cleaved it in two, sheathing his sword on to his back once more. He looked to Gaslyrok and smiled a crooked smile. He pointed to what he took down, letting his men know he wanted to reel in the prey they caught, a good meal to last them a while. Slowly, he approached Gaslyrok, the boy gulping a little bit and taking a step back, before remembering he was near the stairs.

“Remember, boy, if you ever plan to do anything against me and my men, which will be you.” He spoke.

After that, he turned around and started to walk away. Gaslyrok picked up the buck and moved to get some more water, until he realized there was already enough in the bucket. The storm finally stopped, and he made his way back below deck to help with the cooking once more. There was no way for him to get off this ship and he can't abandon his sister either. He's stuck here until they decide to release him, and he finds his sister.

He walked past many of the pirates on his way back down below the deck. To him, they all looked the same, all of them wearing the same outfits, how did the captain know who was who? He looked to one of them, the pirate stood to be around six feet tall, almost double Gaslyrok’s own height. He wore torn up shorts and a striped muscle shirt under a torn up long coat. His boots were strapped, probably to make getting changed quick for him. After a couple of moments, he lowered his head once more and kept walking down the corridors of the ship.

There was one room he passed; noises were heard on the other side. He tried to get a peek of what was inside but felt something grab him from behind. It was the chef; he was getting tired of waiting and looked that way on his face too. He exhaled a lot of air, before yelling down at the child.

“You're late! It shouldn't take THAT long to get a simple bucket of water!” He bellowed.

“T-There was a s-stor-”

“I don't care what happened! You are a servant to ME today and as such, you do NOT do anything to help above deck, do I make myself clear?!” He screamed into Gaslyrok's ears.

All he could do was nod and then go back to walking to the kitchen of the ship. Once he got there, he was chained back to the wall, forced to making the meal for a bit longer. Several more hours passed, and he began to get tired. He was given a meal, a small one, more gruel, but that was it. Once the sun had set, he was taken back to the brig and allowed to rest. He could use it too; he wondered what that noise was and where his sister was. Perhaps that noise was his sister. He hoped not. For now, he just needed to sleep and wait for morning, to do some more work. His dreams were filled with his freedom and hopes of seeing his sister again, soon.

♂___________________________________________________________________________♀

The sun had set, the ship was dark, only lanterns lighting the room. All the pirates, except for a few guards for night duty, had gone to bed. After the storm earlier, caused by an unknown origin, the ship had become quiet. Jasfu remained under the bed she had been hiding under for the past several hours. The pirates that slept snored loudly, making things easier for her to sneak around the room. She crawled out from under the bed, dusting herself off as soon as she did. The stench of the room was still strong, making her wonder if they ever cleaned their clothes.

Remaining as silent as she can, she snuck her way to the door, opening it a little bit, to look through the crack. She was making sure there were no guards headed her way, so she could sneak around the ship. She needed to find where her brother was, hoping he was someplace safe and not dead. She took in a big gulp, about to step out of the room as she saw no one around. A light from a lantern shone her way, making her step back into the room again. A guard walked her way, then past the room she was hiding away inside of.

She didn't get a good look at him, but had a feeling there was something different about him. As soon as he was passed, she opened the door, a quiet creaking noise being heard when she did. As soon as she was able to, she made her way to the nearest barrel, hiding behind it. She took this chance to look around the hallway, to see which way might be safest and where she could use to hide. To her left, there was an assortment of crates, more doors that may contain bed chambers or storage rooms.

To her right, a long hallway, leading to a set of stairs leading above deck. She could see a light beaming down from the stairs, assuming that to be moonlight. She looked back to her left, thinking it best to go down that way, to find the galley, like she told her brother, before they got on to the ship. She waited for the next patrol to pass, keeping her head low, so none of the guards could see her. As soon as one passed, she got to her feet, silently running towards the stack of crates. She hid herself between the gap of the crates and the walls.

The sounds of more boots hitting the ground were heard, but this was more than one person, an odd number for a simple patrol. Do they know she's there? Do they know where she'd hiding? They walked past her, stopping in front of a door a few feet from her location. The sounds of keys clanging together was heard, a locked room. It was odd though, pirates barely had locked doors, unless it was the captain’s quarters, or they had some treasure locked away. Maybe they were going to count their gold. She inched a little closer, the door slowly opening, the creaking sound being heard from it.

As soon as it was opened, two of the men rushed in, the sounds of a rustling sound being heard now. What exactly was going on? After a few more seconds, the sounds of people getting punched were heard. Was there someone locked away in there? Was it her brother? No, he's not strong enough to fight them, not alone. One of the men that rushed in was sent flying out of the room, Jasfu flinching a little bit. What did they have locked in that room? Soon the other man was sent flying out and straight after came a woman.

She had long black hair, silky skin, a woman looking to barely see any light. She wore a white summer dress and knee high, strapped, boots. She had her knees up, hitting one of the men with a knee to his face, making him hit the railing and fall backwards. The woman stood tall and proud, glaring at the men she assaulted, not a care in the world about them. More guards were called to subdue her, the woman running off elsewhere, but who was she? Jasfu didn't get a good enough look at her, but she seemed different as well, just like the man she saw.

Just who were these pirates and how did they capture someone that strong? These questions will have to wait, with all the commotion going on, she could take this chance to sneak to the galley. She is quite hungry and could use a bite to eat. She went back to sneaking around the place, hiding behind barrels and crates from any guards that might run by. It took her a bit of time, but she finally made it to the galley, her tongue licking at her lips.

There is so much food in the place, she won't have to worry about going hungry for a while. Right when she was about to begin on her meal, the commotion from before got louder. It seemed they were headed in her direction, was she ever going to get a chance to eat? She swiftly moved to duck behind the counter, keeping her head low as she heard swords clashing around the galley.

It seems the woman was able to get her hands on one of their swords, things starting to seem a little bit interesting. All Jasfu was hearing was the clashes of their blades, each one of them striking the other. Her hand reached up, trying to grab a piece of food, to calm her stomach down. As she was doing this, one of the blades fell on her hand, the flat end of it. Jasfu pulled her hand down, blowing on it a little bit with tears starting to form. She was doing everything in her power not to end up screaming out in pain.

She could hear them still fighting, one of the people on the counter now, fighting back against the people, or person, still on the ground. There were no words shared between them as they fought, but the clashes between blades were getting faster. Jasfu raised her head once more, to get a good look at what was going on. The woman was holding her own against three of the pirates, making them back away from the counter. She watched as the woman leaped over all three of them and landed on one of the tables close to the counter.

She turned around, holding a cutlass in each hand. Jasfu was amazed by this woman's skills, she was thinking about talking to her, if they were ever alone together. Three more pirates came down the stares, each of them snarling at the woman in the summer dress. No one had noticed Jasfu was there, yet, which was a good thing for her. It meant no one was aware she was even on the ship. Since they were standing still, she was able to get a better look at the woman, black hair stretching down her back, green eyes that seemed odd for a regular human. As she kept staring, she realized what it was that made the eyes so odd, they were sharp, like a dragon's eye.

She ducked behind the counter once more, a look of shock on her face. There's someone else here, like herself and her brother. But which one is she? She must know. She peeked her head up from under the counter once more, to see what it was the woman is. Just like with her tail, the women back began to glow, wings starting to sprout from them. The light was still too bright for her to tell, but when it diminished, she could see what wings she has now. The woman's wings spread wide, scales along them, no feathers seen. It's clear, to Jasfu, she is a member of the dragon like race. What were they called again? Jasfu couldn't remember, Gaslyrok was better at that stuff than her.

The swords began to clash once more, the woman looking in Jasfu's direction, noticing the child. She ducked down, behind the counter once more, listening to the clashing of the swords. More footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, Jasfu trembling a little bit as she listened. This time, it was only one set and it sounded heavier than the others before him. She poked her head around the corner, to see who it was that came down, only to see a large man, a meter tall and round with a belly that stuck out as far as he is tall.

“What the hell is going on in MY kitchen!” The man yelled.

She hid once more, hoping no one saw her, if they had, she might just be doomed. Her brother might still be on this ship somewhere too. She must stay alive long enough to reunite with him. The man's footsteps are heard going towards the fighting, the screams of men going flying, towards the stairs, are heard. There was one he had troubles with moving, the woman, she wasn't so willing to be tossed around like a rag doll. The sound of the chef's butcher's knife and the woman's swords clashed together, all the other pirates fleeing away from the kitchen. Jasfu could jump out and help the woman, but that would give her away and what could she do? She's just a child.

All she could do is tremble in fear as they kept fighting, after a while, the woman could be heard leaping over the chef. She landed on the ground, the sound of his knife hitting one of her scaly wings was heard, it must be a rough material. It sounded as though he was hitting a shield, but that couldn't be right.

“Hey, you want to see something that will rile you up?” The woman chuckled, then grabbed one of the apples that was on the counter eating it right away.

She said no more words, but ran up to a higher deck, the chef chasing after her. Jasfu was alone once more, the girl releasing a small sigh of relief. She popped up and looked around, she has free reign of the kitchen now. Time for her to get some food. She ran to one of the cupboards, opening it up and looking inside to what they have. A wide smile was on her face as she looked to the large amounts of stock, and she is hungry. She reached up and grabbed a loaf of bread, pulling it down and going back to the counter. She placed it there, running back to the cupboard, grabbing some strawberry jelly. She ran back to the counter, pulling a bread knife from the knife board and cut the bread until she thought there was enough.

She spread the jelly across each slice of bread, making herself ten sandwiches all together. She was hungry enough to eat them all and eat she did. Within seconds, all the sandwiches were eaten, the girl letting out a small burp. She hopped down from the stool by the counter and looked around, she needed to hide the evidence. So, she cleaned up the mess made from her making the sandwiches, now all that was left was to find a better hiding place. But where can she hide where they won't find her?

She looked around the galley after cleaning her mess, there are plenty of tables around, but none of them seem good enough to hide under. They all have the bottom of them visible, nothing to cover them up. Her plan was to hide in the galley until they hit any land. That plan is now in ruins, now that she got a good look around. There are barrels she could hide behind, but the chef might move them at any moment while she sleeps and find her, then she might end up on the menu. She could hide in the cupboards, but those would be used quite often. She can't hide anywhere in the galley without getting caught, so where could she go to hide?

The sounds of swords clashing against swords, and a knife, have ended, the victor is unknown to Jasfu. She hopes the woman won, but she was horribly outnumbered. She slowly went to make her way up the stairs, to a higher deck, remaining cautious with each step. Her head was down low, and she made sure to keep listening for any of the pirates that might come down the stairs. A couple sets of footsteps are heard approaching her location, Jasfu moving with haste to hide behind a nearby crate. Two pirates are seen, carrying the woman they fought, her sundress was torn up and the woman looked to be in bad shape.

“Think she'll survive the rest of the trip?” One of the pirates said.

“Who cares, we just need her for a little while, until we reach the next land, right?” The other said, the two heading for the room she was found in.

“Yeah, besides, we don't have any other way of reaching the next land without her. I heard the boss say she has some sort of magical power that even he can't use.”

“Well, she is a freak, did you see those wings she had spread out? I tell you, she ain't normal.”

The two opened the door and tossed the raven-haired woman inside. While their backs were turned, Jasfu noticed one of them drop a set of keys, maybe she can get in there and get to know who this woman is. The two walked off, looking to be headed towards the galley. Maybe they're going there to get drunk, or maybe they need a snack after all that fighting, whatever their reasons, Jasfu was free to get herself into that room.

She sprung out from behind the crate and grabbed the keys that were left on the ground. She shifted through the keys, trying each one of them, having tried five already. On the sixth key, she found the right one and opened the door. She pulled the key out of the lock and closed the door behind her, locking it as well. Once it was closed, she would turn around and look at the room she just snuck into.

The room was as large as the cabin that held all the crew inside of. There was a wash chamber, filled with water, directly to her left. To her right was an open armoire, filled with dresses, each one of them looked expensive. In the far back of the room was the woman that was fighting the pirates, on a bed, injured from the fighting and her dress looking torn. Jasfu slowly approached her, continuing to look around the room, seeing a counter with various jewellery scattered about it. She could have taken some but was concerned for the well-being of the only person she could talk to on this long voyage.

As soon as she made it to the woman, she would see the injuries had yet to be tended to. She ran to the counter she walked passed, opening up the lower section of it and looking through it to find what she needed to. She would pull out bandages, gauze and something meant for disinfecting. She wasn't sure the pirates would have it in here for her, but she seemed to have fought them quite often. As soon as everything was grabbed, she returned to the woman's side, placing everything on the ground next to the bed. She was about to get started on tending to the wounds, but realized she needed to clean the woman a little bit first.

She walked to the wash chamber and lifted it off the table it was set on, slowly walking back to the bed. It was set down, right beside her as she grabbed a piece of her shorts and tore it off, making a rag to clean the woman with. The rag was dipped into the water, rung out a little bit and was started to clean the blood the woman was covered in. She would take soft, slow, dabs on to the wounds, seeming to have done this before. After the woman was all cleaned up, she would begin to wrap bandages around the areas of her body where there were cuts. Her arms and legs were completely covered by the end of it all.

When the woman's injuries were tended to, she walked the wash chamber back to the table, setting it on top of it. She returned the bandages, gauze and disinfectant back to the counter and took a seat on the ground next to the woman. Perhaps it wasn't so smart for her to sit there, in the open like this, so she decided to crawl under her bed. It seemed to be the only safe place for her now and with the key she had from the pirates, she can escape whenever she wants to, hopefully with the woman and her brother. Today was an adventure for her, one she didn't expect to have. She yawned a little bit and felt groggy, perhaps it was getting close to time for another of her naps. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, snoring lightly as she did.