Skyward Dreams

They hadn't seen each other in such a long time and yet Ruka and Ryo still worked as if they were two halves of a whole mind. Upon reaching the main deck again, they encountered two more pirates who looked dead serious about stopping them at all costs. Ruka flashed a grin toward Ryo and gave his glaive a little twirl in his hand. "Just like old times, eh Ryo?" he chuckled. Then he made light work of his opponent by knocking aside the blade with the lower end of his glaive, pivoting on his left foot to lean, kick, and catch the pirate under the chin with the heel of his right foot.

When both men were neutralized, Ruka grabbed Ryo's hand and tugged lightly. "Come on. The others went to find the captain and I think I know where they might be," he said as he directed them both toward the wheelhouse. The scene he burst in on wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting. Mist and Kai were there, but confronting a rather scantily clad woman. He cocked an eyebrow at the woman, then turned his gaze back to Ryo. "Oh I see now. You let yourself get caught." He gave his friend a rough pat on the back and let his gaze wander back to the woman. "With a captain like that, I would too..." he muttered with a grin.
 
"Pirates? Not trusted?" Sh'kina couldn't help but laugh. It's not say it wasn't true, but it was rather amusing to being generalized. She wondered what else the boy thought of pirates. "Now, now. You must understand that even pirates have an honor system," She smiled before adding, "of sorts."

She continued to smile as she took a step forward, gently tapping the bow. "Now for that condition…," It was a deliciously good plan – if she could get away with it. "I want off this ship. In exchange for the captain's whereabouts, you take me with." Oh, Sh'kina could already see herself dressed in finery, traveling the world like a lady – wealthy, well-fed, and in better company.

It was then the door swung open. She was a bit surprised to see the captive was roaming about, but quickly ignored it for the moment. The man next to him was just as odd-looking as the rest of the group he came with. She laughed off his comments.

"Oh, you're sorely mistaken."
 
Mist nodded at Kai, he did strike a valid point, she was on this pirate ship and wasn't a prisoner, in fact it looked like she was very much enjoying herself. She raised her bow once again, not really knowing what to expect from the woman. There was some talk about honor systems but then she made her offer. She wanted to come with them? Off the ship she was already on? But it seemed like she had everything she had wanted for on this very ship. There had to be a catch and Mist certainly wasn't going to let the woman in on the Empress' quest.

"Very well, you can come with us but I'll be watching you very closely, now help up fend off the rest of 'the captain's' crew so we can get on our way." Mist said, turning on her heel and shooting an arrow across at the Heavenly Maiden where a pirate was charging at one of her crew members.

"Ruka, Kai...er, new guy, and Miss 'Not-a-Pirate', let's go."
 
Kaijan shrugged his shoulders and followed behind. He couldn't agree more to leave and fought off any of the oncoming crew. "How are we gonna get off the ship?" he asked blankly.
 
Kai's question was a good one. Glancing to the edge of the ship, Ruka could see the last harpoon being pried from the side of The Heavenly Maiden. With a loud crack, it broke free and the ships slowly began to drift away from each other. "I've got an idea," Ruka announced with a grin. He glanced at Ryo with a mischievous look in his eye and then turned back to the others. "Get ready to jump."

He left Ryo to decide whether to follow the others or stick with him. His long legs took him quickly back to the wheelhouse, pausing only to pick up a sword from a fallen pirate. The plan was simple enough, though he'd have to get the angle ju~st right if he was going to avoid more damage to The Heavenly Maiden, which shouldn't be too hard since he himself was a first class pilot like Mist. Taking hold of the wheel, he brought the pirate ship as close as possible to The Heavenly Maiden, brow furrowed as he concentrated fully on his task. It was difficult, because Mist's ship was moving at an odd angle, but he managed to get the pirate ship to fall alongside nevertheless.

Jamming the wheel with the sword he'd scavenged to keep it on track, he hurried back to the group with a grin. "That's as close as I could get it. She won't hold for long though so..." He gave Ryo a rough pat on the back and then took off running right for the railing. Leaping over a ditch was completely different to leaping over a gap between two airships in high altitude with a hell of a long way to fall if he misjuged the distance. Thankfully he was right on the mark, landing on the deck of The Heavenly Maiden in a crouch with a hand pressed to the floor to balance himself. Standing back up, he glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Not bad for a human."
 
Mist nodded to Ruka, he seemed to know what he was doing and she trusted him, at least when it came to not crashing the ships into one another. She was already going to have to get a lot of repairs done to the Maiden from the harpoons, the last thing she needed would to have a faulty flight ring. Mist led Kai to the edge of the pirate's ship and readied herself to jump.

"Make sure to jump when we get close!" Mist shouted, the rushing of the wind making her voice quieter. The ship pitched when Ruka turned it and when the ships came close enough Mist charged and dove from one ship to the next. All she could hear as she sailed between the ships was the pounding of her own heart. It seemed like a million years passed as she watched herself get closer and closer to the deck of her own ship. This was much more of a challenge for her being barely four feet tall. She felt the deck beneath her and she rolled along the deck and skidded to a stop. She was safe, for now. She picked herself up and quickly ran for her own wheelhouse, she was going to get as far away from that other pirate ship as she could.

As if there was any question as to who Ryo would follow! He followed behind Ruka closely, making sure to shove one of the foolish pirates that was still trying to fight against them out of the way. When Ruka had finished jamming the wheel Ryo followed him again to the edge of the ship. "That should be good enough, it looks like that girl you're with made it over with that boy okay, let's get out of here." Ryo smirked.

Ryo ran alongside Ruka, matching his steps with his own and launched himself over the gap between the airships. He landed flat on his stomach on the deck and instantly cringed up, holding his stomach. "Owwww! Misjudged my landing..." He would've laughed but he was sure that would just hurt too. "Tell her that we can get going now!" He said to Ruka as he felt the Heavenly Maiden pull away from the other ship and the cool mist of it flying into cloud cover.
 
"Geronimooooooo!!!" Kaijan jumped from off the edge and flew across flapping his arms around and rolled back onto the ship deck. He shook his head, jumped up, unstrapped the sheath off his back and propped it up against his side, "That was fun, wasn't it?! I'm almost kinda sad it's over!" he grinned at the others behind him and watched the other ship as they pulled away. They sure came out of nowhere and he wondered if there were any others around. He also had a chance to really look at the new people of their little team, and he was amused by what he saw. "Sooo....who are you others?"
 
It might have hurt Ryo to laugh but not Ruka. His old friend's landing was so comical that he fell over on his side, laughing so loudly that he almost missed Kai's words. Still snickering, Ruka pushed himself back to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. "Ah. So my two buddies are finally meeting," he said with tone that wasn't unlike a man caught by both of his girlfriends. Grinning, he gestured between the two with a hand. "Kai, this is Ryo." He drapped an arm around Ryo's shoulder and ruffled his hair. "We go way back, when I was still wet behind the ears." Hell, they'd both been that way, kids with scabby knees and dirt on their faces. "And Ryo, this is Kaijan," he added as he shifted over to the younger boy and put him in a friendly headlock. "Met him a couple years ago when I was on a trade run with the elves. Isn't he cute?" he purred, nuzzling his cheek against Kai's.

But then he pulled away and grew serious for a moment. "It seems the crew is taking care of the remaining enemies on board. I don't know what you two plan to do, but I'm going to go see if our lovely captain needs a hand with something." With a little salute, he pivoted on his heel and strode off toward the wheelhouse, whistling a tune as he went. "Oi, Captain~" he called when he reached Mist. "What's the plan from here on? Can The Heavenly Maiden make it to our destination in one piece?" He leaned with his back against the railing, holding his glaive lazily in his left hand. The right reached up to gingerly touch the eyepatch over his eye and adjust it a little.
 
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