FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The second day of their cruise began earlier than the previous one. Tom went to their cabin and woke them up after a few moments all three of them went up to the main deck.

Will went to exchange a few words with the captain, so Jade had a few moments to herself.

Jade leaned at the side of the ship and looked towards the sea. She watched the rising sun and the calm sea waves, but in the distance she saw something else. Jade focused her sight and saw a tiny point which seemed moving along with them, but ignored it because she focused on the pain in her chest.

Jade again felt the massive wave of pain and looked down at her hands. She noticed that today is even worse than yesterday. She thought it would get better after resting. But with each passing hour It was only getting worse.

She looked at the sea for the last time, and after that Will finally came back, together they went to the old sailor, and he told them what they needed to do, and after that they went their separate ways.

And like yesterday, The dragoness arrived first and must have waited for him.

“Are you alright?" Will immediately asked her after entering their cabin.

“Yes?" She Immediately replied.

Will got closer, Jade could see his worried face. “How about your transformation? In the morning I saw that your hands were shaking"

“I am fine" She insisted.

He sighed. "I'm starting to worry about you," he said with concern.

"I'm fine" she repeated, a little louder this time.

Will raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure?"

This constant pain, this useless body, his constant questions. It was too much...

“STOP CARING SO MUCH ABOUT ME! I AM FINE!" she snapped.

Will was in shock and just was still looking at her, he hadn't seen her in that state before.

Something isn't right, She had never been so angry. He thought.

Jade wanted to scold him more but heard something weird and tilted her head.

“Jade, what's-"

She looked at him with fury in her eyes. “Be quiet! I heard someone" The dragoness hissed and started listening.

He ignored her plead. “We are on a ship, there are a lot of people here" he whispered to her.

Jade shook her head. “These sounds are different…" The dragoness continued. “Could you say nothing for a few moments? I need to concentrate" She got out of bed and did a few steps.

Will also concentrated, in hopes of hearing something, but he only heard the quiet sound of the sea.

Jade started counting, after a while she finished and turned her head to Will.

Will saw a mix of scare and confusion on her face.

“I heard at least 10 different voices" She whispered.

He waved his hand. “These are probably people from our crew"

She focused on these sounds for the second time. “No, yesterday, I heard a couple of voices, from there." She pointed at the floor.

She continued. “But these are new voices." She insisted.

"Where did you hear those voices?" he asked her.

“I heard them from there" She pointed at the wall. “But these voices are weak like they are far from us… like they were in-"

“Another thing like this" She didn't remember the word. “This big thing that is floating on water" She described it to him.

Big thing floating on water… Oh, a ship! A ship? Another ship?! But we are on the open sea, far away from any land… He thought.

“I need to catch some air" Will said, got up, and went upstairs.

Although Will was skeptical, he decided to check her theory about the other ship. He arrived at the main deck, went to the side of their ship, and froze in shock. Jade was right! There was actually another ship next to them.

In Will's head were only two questions, What is this ship doing here, and is it an ally or enemy?

Will curiously observed the other ship, but he didn't see anyone, the other ship seemed... empty. After a few moments, Jade caught up to him.

“I told you" She said and smirked.

Will looked at her. “Stay close to me, we don't know who are they"

Jade nodded.

He leaned against the hull. “Hello?" He said loudly, and waited for a few moments but nobody answered. It was quiet, too quiet.

Jade also leaned against their ship's side and looked around and saw a plank that connected their two ships.

“Will, I saw a large piece of wood, it connects the two ships together" She whispered to him.

He didn't reply to her. “But until now nobody showed up. That's weird" He whispered, and again looked around. He decided to walk for a while.

When Will went for the fifth time route back and forth and didn't saw anybody, he got bored by waiting.

“If I don't come back, send help" He said to her, and went on the wobbly plank, after a few careful steps he got onto the other ship.

“Hello?! Is anybody here?!" The young mage again asked loudly.

Shortly after, a man carrying a candle appeared. The man was dressed in elegant attire and had a sword attached to his right hip.

"Hello, young man. We have been sent by the king to collect half of your cargo," the man stated in a composed manner.

“Really? Who are you?" Will asked the man.

"I have received an official order. My name is David, I am a merchant and the captain of this ship," the man stated, bowing slightly.

Will was confused. "The captain of our ship didn't tell me you were coming to visit us"

“Because we received this order a few days ago" replied the man.

"Why do you have to take exactly half of our cargo?" The young mage asked suspiciously.

“Because of the pirates, If one ship got robbed, then the other will be still fine" The captain explained to him.

Will thought for a moment. “Actually that's a good idea, I am going to tell our captain about you, and we are going to move half of the goods" Will said, and turned to the plank connecting the two ships.

“Don't do it!" The captain yelled.

The young mage jumped, and turned towards the captain.

“We don't want to wake up everyone on the ship, right? Don't worry I have my own crew" The captain explained in a hurry.

Something isn't right about that captain. The mage thought.

“So if you are a merchant too… Then maybe you know our captain's name?""

“I don't know his name, I sail from far away" Replied the offended captain.

“So you are new, you got a direct order from the king, you had to take half of our cargo and don't even know our captain's first name… Oh, but don't worry I do… HER name is Amelia"

The captain wanted to say something, but Will continued. "Well, it seems either I'm a fool or you're a liar." He smiled.

The merchant started to lose his temper.

The man clenched his fists. “If you don't give me that cargo I am going to take it by force"

Will fixed his posture, rised his hands and got ready for casting spells.

The man saw this change and put his right hand on the saber.

The captain put down the candle. “What are you doing?"

“I am not going to let you take our goods"

The man finally stopped pretending. “Move away kid, you have a full life ahead of you.

I really don't want to kill you" The captain said calmly.

“You want our cargo?" Will asked him with a smirk. “Then you must defeat me!" The young mage shouted and rushed at the pirate.

“Die, you fool!" Shouted the pirate, drew his saber, and rushed at him.

Will created a wind gust that knocked out the saber from the captain's hand. His opponent, seeing that lack of his weapon, loses his confidence and starts backing out to a safe distance.

“So, you are a mage" He nervously said and chuckled. “Change of plans boys! We attack now! Show them no mercy!" Shouted the captain.

Will looked around and saw that pirates in every direction were approaching him.

But because of that, he lost his guard and a pirate rushed to him and punched him straight in the stomach, Will backed away a few steps.

“You are going to pay for this," Will said and spit.

He quickly got to that pirate, grabbed his arms, and slightly froze them. The pirate winced and felt to the floor.

But Will didn't have a moment to rest because the pirates kept coming. The young mage threw a few fireballs and scared a few of them, he created wind and blew off the rest of them.

When the flood of enemies stopped, Will decided to rest for a while. He caught a few breaths and looked at their ship and remembered that Jade was on the other ship, completely alone.

“Jade!" He shouted and rushed her.

Will got back on their ship and looked around, and saw that she was backing away, and three pirates were approaching her.

Neither Jade nor Will saw this, but Will's eyes unnaturally changed, now they were completely blue.

He rushed over to her and with two streams of wind, knocked the two men, he bumped into the third man and froze him, The man's skin slowly turned blue, when the man stopped moving Will let him go, his limp body dropped to the floor.

Will swiftly went to the second man, put his hands on his head, and created a wave of heat. The pirate started yelling in pain when the mage released his victim, the man ran straight ahead and jumped into the water.

The young mage went to the third pirate, with his wind pushed him to the ground, after that he created a few ice shards and shot them directly at his enemy's face.

Will looked around, and when he didn't saw anyone else, he calmed down.

After calming down. Will's eyes returned to normal. The mage didn't notice it, but the crack on his necklace got bigger.

He caught a few breaths and went to Jade.

Will put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?" he asked her.

“Y-yes" she said after calming down a little.

She looked at the two bodies, and then at Will.

He had to hold back before. She thought.

Will looked around. “Follow me closely" he said and started walking towards the other ship.

When they arrived at the other ship a few people rushed directly at Will. He quickly created a wind gust, and with ease blow them off the ship.

They went down and arrived in the room filled with cannons and the distinct smell of gunpowder.

Will with his left hand created a fireball and they went further into the room.

Jade looked around the room. “There is a man hiding there" She quietly said and pointed at the end of the room.

“You decided to come back" A voice from shadows mocked him.

Will went closer and the light from the fireball lit the man's face, he instantly recognized this face, it was the captain from earlier, the man was calmly sitting at the barrel.

“I defeated your crew. Now is your turn!" He said with anger in his voice.

The man stood up and looked at his fireball “You need to be careful with that, one wrong move and we will blow up"

Something isn't right, this human is too calm. Jade thought

“Don't tell me what to do! Get out of here! Or I will destroy you!"

“You have great power, but…" he smirked. “You're not very attentive" The man scolded him.

After a moment Will realized the meaning of his words and realized what the sailor had planned, they fell right into his trap…

In the blink of an eye, someone rushed to Jade from behind and pierced her with a saber, Jade howled in pain and slowly began to lose balance.

“Will" she whispered and after that, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

Will, without thinking rushed at the other man, cornered him to the ground, created a ball of fire, and with fury in his eyes shoved it into his mouth.

He snapped out of his rage when he heard a weird voice nearby.

“Jade!" He shouted and went to her.

Will created a bright light and looked at her. She was lying on her side, her whole body was shaking. The edge of the saber was still inside her, which was good because the saber sealed the wound and stopped a lot of blood from pouring. Will wanted to get closer, but then she started gasping for air, and blood started pouring out of her mouth.

Will focused on staying calm, but the view didn't make it easier. “Jade nod once if you hear me" He said.

She weakly nodded.

“G-Good" He bit his lip. “I am going to remove that sword, and then heal your wound"

She just blankly looked at him.

“Are you ready?" he asked her with a trembling voice.

She didn't react.

Will took the sword out of her, an instant more blood started to flow. The young mage placed her on her back, placed both his hands on her stomach, focused, after a while the wound was almost healed.

“Jade! Jade! Can you hear me?!" He shouted with a cracking voice.

She didn't react to his shouts.

Will looked at her face and then at her wound and assumed the worst… His vision blurred as tears streamed down his face.

NO! NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS! NOT HERE! He scolded himself and wiped away his tears.

The captain went closer to them. “Look what you forced me to do" The captain said to the mage without any emotion.

Will clenched his fists. “IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" The young mage yelled.

“That's how this world works, you either kill or get killed" The pirate replied coldly.

Will in the corner of his eyes saw that the captain stopped looking at him. Will took advantage of this opportunity, he swiftly grabbed his enemy's ankles and froze them. After a few seconds both of his legs were frozen. The man howled because of the sudden rush of pain. Will let go of his ankles, stood up, and punched him right in the stomach. The man fell off.

The man stopped feeling his legs. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" He howled through his teeth.

Will slowly approached him. "I did to you what you deserved"

The captain tried to stand up, but his frozen legs didn't allow him to. “WHAT DO YOU WANT?! I CAN GIVE YOU EVERYTHING!" The man said with a trembling voice.

Will's face remained emotionless. “The only thing I want is… revenge" he said and created a fireball with his right hand.

Will wanted to avenge Jade, he was about to throw the fireball at the captain, but then someone grabbed his ankle, he looked down and saw Jade. When she saw that he was looking at her, she turned her head back and forth.

Will looked at her… and saw that she was alive. She was still alive! He came to his senses and focused on saving her.

He knelt by her. “Can I carry you?" He asked.

She didn't have the strength to reply.

Will grabbed her into his shaking arms and slowly stood up.

She didn't react to that either, and her eyes were closed, she was still breathing, her breaths were shallow, but she was still alive.

Will started to walk away but stopped. “Get out of here, or you are going to be a captain without a ship. Did you understand?" He said without even looking back.

The captain mumbled something.

“Did you understand?!" He roared.

“Y-Yes" The man replied with a trembling voice.

They slowly went to their ship. They met a few pirates who Will threw into the sea, but they didn't want to confront him again.

They arrived at their ship.

Will saw their captain with a candle in her hand. The captain went closer to them.

“What is going on?" She looked at the ship behind them. “Why is there another ship?!"

“Pirates…" He simply replied.

The captain's eyes opened wide. “Pirates?! But when?" She looked at Jade. “Is she-"

He tightened his grip. “She may if we are going to stand here and do nothing," He said angrily.

Amelia hesitated for a moment. “Put her on my desk, I am going to bring someone to check her wounds," She said and immediately went for help.

Will went to her cabin and gently laid Jade on her desk.

He held her hand. “Everything's going to be alright" He said to her, but she didn't reply.

Why didn't she change back? Maybe in her dragon form, that wound would be less dangerous. He thought.

After a few moments, Will heard fast footsteps. The captain returned with a man.

The man went to him, Will saw that the man was caring a bag.

“Hello sir" He looked at lying Jade. “Can I?" he asked.

“Yes" Will said in an instant.

The man went closer to Jade and gently inspected her.

He stopped and looked at Will. “I am going to prevent further blood loss"

“Do what you need to do" Will said with a shaking voice.

The man took the bandage from his bag and wrapped it around her wound.

“She would be alright?" He nervously asked.

“She lost a lot of blood… but I think yes"

Will hearing this calm down a little. “What can I do now?"

The man spread his hands. “Wait"

“Are you going to be with her until she wakes up?"

The man sighed. “Her state seems stable, my assistance is no longer necessary" the slightly pissed medic replied.

“Goodnight" Said the medic and left the room.

Will didn't want to see Jade in that state, so he left the room and went outside, he looked around, the other ship was gone. Will wanted to occupy his mind with something, so he began cleaning the ship.

After some time…

Will was about to dispose of the last body that was left after the earlier fight but stopped when he heard footsteps. He looked behind and saw the familiar old sailor.

The sailor went to him. “Is everything alright?" he quietly asked.

Will dropped the last body out of the ship. “What do you think" he said sarcastically.

“I am sorry, we were unprepared, if we had reacted-"

Will interrupted him. “It's not entirely your fault, we could call for some help" he said with guilt.

The old sailor started imagining bad scenarios in his head. “I can tell you how grateful we are"

“We did what everyone would do" Will coldly said.

“How did you even find out that they were here?"

“Julie went to catch some air and heard weird noises" He told a small lie.

“I heard about… your wife" He looked at the captain's cabin. “How did that happen?" the sailor sadly asked.

The young mage looked at the sea. “Everything was going easy, but when we went to confront the captain…" He gulped. “We walked straight into a trap" He said and released his anger by punching the side of the ship.

Will calmed down and leaned against the ship. “Tom, please go back to sleep… I… want to be alone"

“Goodnight Will"

“Goodnight" He mumbled.

When Will was sure that the sailor left, he for the last time looked at the sea and went to check on Jade state.

He went to the door, and as he was about to open it, he heard a crack, the door swung open. The captain stepped through it and stood in front of him.

“She woke up?" He asked her with a hope in his voice.

Captain Amelia slowly shook her head.

“It's been a few hours" Will sadly said.

“She must recover" The captain looked at him. “And I am sure you need a good rest too" she advised him.

Until now Will didn't noticed how exhausted he was. All of these spells greatly exhausted him, he was barely standing on his legs.

He looked at the captain. “You are right, I need some rest… goodnight" Said Will and went to their cabin.

“Goodnight" replied the captain behind his back.

The young mage laid on his side of the bed and thanks to his exhaustion he was able to quickly fall asleep.

END OF CHAPTER 5