# Aspire Arcadia: Chapter 2: If You Could Be Free...

Author: Koda_The_Wolf
Tags: Adventure, Canine, Epic, Story Series, Wolf

It was surreal.
Just that morning, Patch had received his first sword as a
birthday gift from his parents. The idea of going off on his own had occurred
to him from time to time, but was never so real... so serious as it was that
night. He would have never guessed that even his parents, Kodiak and Copper,
supported the idea. He tossed and turned with so many different thoughts
crossing his mind. He knew he was ready, but where would he start? What would
he do? Would he really be able to survive out there in the real world? The door
to the room creaked open and Puzzle slowly poked her head in the door.
"Patch?" She whispered quietly.
"Yeah?" he replied, sitting up in his bed. 
She glanced nervously at the ground before returning her
uncertain stare back at him.
"Are you going to leave?" She asked quietly, "forever?"
"Well... not forever..." he replied nervously, "I'll visit from
time to time..."
Puzzle sighed and quietly squeezed into the room, closing
the door behind her. Her face was reddened as she tried to hold back tears.
"D-do you have to
go?" She asked weakly.
Patch understood how sensitive Puzzle was. Even when their
parents went out to hunt, Puzzle was always filled with so much worry that she
would be on the brink of tears. Somehow, news spread that he was planning on
leaving the den to set off on his own. The first of all nineteen of his
brothers and sisters to do so. There was no way Puzzle would be okay with that.
"Hey..." Patch said calmly, approaching her. She glanced away
as he approached, cupping her paw around her muzzle to hide her sniffles. He
gently wrapped his arms around her, placing his head against hers. 
"I know you're scared," Patch whispered calmly, "to be
honest, I'm kind of scared too... but I've been dreaming of this since forever."
He felt her tears soaking through his fur as she gripped him
tighter. 
"You always wanted to be a pilot right?" Patch asked, gently
rubbing her back, "you want to fly dragons like mom don't you?" 
She nodded.
"Well... in order to do that, you're going to have to try at
least, right?" He explained, "At first it would probably be scary... because you
don't know what to expect or what might happen... but if it's something you
really want to do, you have to be brave and power through it..."
He rested his head on top of hers, holding her tear-covered
face against his chest.
"This is my dream," he said, closing his eyes, "I want to
see the world for myself and help as many animals as I can on the way. I want
to feel like I made a difference somewhere... no matter how big or small. I can't
do that without taking a chance."
He held her for a while longer until she stopped crying.
"B-but you'll be alone..." Puzzle said, wiping tears from her
eyes, "what if something happens to you...?"
"I won't be alone," he replied with a smile, "and I promise,
nothing will happen to me."
Puzzle glanced away, unconvinced at his attempts to calm her
down.
"I know!" Patch said, sitting down, "how about I send you
souvenirs from the places I've been? I'll come home to visit every so often,
and I'll bring you stuff back! Not to mention all of the stories about
adventures I might find myself on."
"I don't think I'd want to know..." Puzzle replied with a
small smile, "It'd only make me worry about you even more..." 
Patch sighed and smiled.
"True," he replied, glancing out of the window.
"Just... promise me you'll be careful..." Puzzle said after a
while, "and that you won't do anything reckless and stupid like you always do."
"I promise," Patch replied.
"Say it," Puzzle demanded, glaring at him.
"Say what?"
"Say that you'll be careful and won't do anything reckless
and stupid."
"Okay... I'll be careful..."
"And?"
"And... I won't do anything reckless and stupid."
Puzzle smiled and nodded.
"Okay, it's a promise then," she said proudly, "I feel a lot
better now." 
She stood up and headed towards the door.
"Wait, when are you going to leave?" Puzzle asked, stopping
and turning towards him.
"I uh... I don't know yet," he replied, "there's still
something I have to do."

 

 
Juniper sat at the circular window of her cabin, staring
outside at the ocean. She couldn't sleep either... for the same reason Patch
couldn't. The massive, wooden ship they were on rocked gently, side to side
with the calm ocean current. It had been her birthplace, her home... her prison.
The other members of the crew had already gone to sleep... either that, or they
collected in the cargo bay to celebrate yet another safe return to the hidden
bay with alcohol and music. She turned around and sat against the wall, glancing
around at pictures she had posted all over her walls. She had gotten them from
explorers and her fellow pirates, who had the opportunity to travel around and
captured their experiences to share with her. Some of them had beautiful
mountain ranges, vast deserts, and massive bodies of water while others had
dense, tropical forests, snow-covered plains, and fields of grass that glowed
neon green and blue under the moonlight. They illustrated the stories she was
told that piqued her interest in exploring in the first place. Just the thought
of it made her heat race.  
"Easy girl..." she whispered to herself, feeling as though she
had gotten her hopes up once again. It happened many times before. She would
get the feeling that her day of freedom was near, only to be disappointed in
the end. Somehow, Patch was different though... She had never felt so close to it
before in her life. Despite this, she desperately tried to convince herself
that it was just another dream... in order to avoid being disappointed again.
"Thanks patch..." she muttered with a small smile, laying
sprawled out on her bed, "now I can't sleep... What kind of bastard toys with a
girl's heart like that anyway...?"
She sighed and smiled.
"What an idiot..." 

 

 
The next morning, Patch woke up before all of his siblings
did. Running on only a couple of hours of sleep, he wrapped his sword around
his waist and darted outside. Dew covered the grass surrounding the den, and a
thick fog hung round the forest floor. 
"Oh Patch, good morning," He heard his mother, Copper, say,
approaching him from the forest, "you're not headed off already, are you?"
"No, I've... I've got something I still need to do," he
replied in a rush, "I'll be back."
Before Copper could reply, he shot off into the forest.
Indeed, there was something he still needed to do. He had
already gotten permission from his family to go, all he needed was his partner.
The girl who was to travel the world alongside him. He had to get Juniper. Of
course that was easier said than done... since he had no idea where she was or
how to find her. It was unlikely that she'd be in Eidous at this time of
morning... her family was a band of pirates, so it's not like he'd be able to
easily find them hanging out in public... it was almost futile to try and search
for her. Oh course, that wouldn't stop him. Along with his hearing, Patch was
able to tune up his sense of smell as well. With that ability, he hoped to pick
up Juniper's scent on the path they had met on, and follow it back to her. It
was a longshot, but one he was definitely willing to take. 
The bottom half of his legs and tail were soaked from all of
the dew he barreled through. Every now and then, he'd stop to brush off the
freshly woven spider webs he'd run into as he shot through the forest. The
chirping of the birds as well as the gentle rustling of the trees filled the
air around him as he continued, sprinting full on towards the path. Eventually,
he reached it. The area in particular where he first saw Juniper and her
attackers. Without wasting time, he hopped on the path and stuck his nose to
the ground, searching for Juniper's familiar scent. Hundreds of animals had to
have taken that road between the last time he saw Juniper and now. The area was
cluttered with all of their scents though. It would be impossible to-
"Wait," Patch said, stopping at a particular scent. Though
it had been weakened from exposure during the night, it most definitely
belonged to her. He immediately tuned up his senses and followed the scent down
the path. As he went on, the scent's presence faded in and out. In some areas,
it was barely noticeable or even absent altogether. In others, it was plainly
obvious. The hundreds of other scents on the road didn't make things any
easier, but the thought of giving up never crossed his mind. He passed by
several other animals, both predators and prey. He passed by wolves out on
early hunts and bears foraging through berry bushes. He passed by massive herds
of alicorns, that grazed over the dew covered grass. Eventually, he reached a
branch from the road that led into a dead end. From that point on, it was
nothing but dense forest with barely enough room to squeeze through. Juniper's
scent headed right into it and so did he. 
Although it was obvious that this path wasn't in regular use
by a lot of animals, Patch could still pick up the scents of a few others... probably
members of Juniper's pirate crew. The path was most likely leading to their
hideout.
"Huh..." Path muttered to himself, "They're not going to be
happy with me just walking in like this..."
"Hey, I've come for your captain's daughter," he said to
himself, imagining the pirates' reactions, "hand her over you dumb criminals."
He shook his head and chuckled.
"I'd better not get skinned alive today..." He muttered,
traversing through the dense forest.
Despite the obvious danger he was throwing himself in, he
kept going without a second thought. Eventually, the scent of another nearby
wolf caused him to stop in his tracks. Up in one of the trees, a female wolf
sat back, leaned against a branch with a bow in her hand. Her face was
concealed behind a bandana, and another one tied her hair back. The wolf was
probably a lookout... though she didn't appear to be taking it too seriously. She
appeared bored, almost half asleep, staring off into nothingness. Judging by
the redness of her cheeks, she was probably hungover. 
"You still awake?" Another wolf called to her from an
adjacent tree. Probably another lookout.
"Unfortunately," she replied, annoyed at him asking, "Maybe
I'd get some sleep if you'd stop waking me up every five minutes..."
"Must have had a bit too much to drink last night," the
other wolf replied, "I hear things got crazy back there."
"Aye, crazy is an understatement," she replied, pulling her
bandana over her eyes.
Neither of them seemed to notice Patch as he snuck through
the area they were supposed to be watching. Carefully, he stepped over leaf
piles and branches, avoiding anything that could alert the lookouts of his
presence. 
"Definitely the right direction..." he thought to himself as
the jagged path opened up into a narrow, dirt road. Several paw prints and
cartwheel tracks lined the path, which led deeper into the forest. He was
careful not to stay out in the open, just in case there were other lookouts
that were more alert than two he had seen so far. Every now and then, a column
of horse-drawn carts would pass by, carrying crates of pirated goods towards
the market place in Eidous. Probably to be traded for supplies or gold. He
would duck further off of the road as they passed, careful not to be spotted so
soon.
Eventually, the path led to an opening revealing a massive,
hidden bay. A large river (that probably flowed in from the sea nearby) fed
into the bay, creating convenient access to the sea whenever needed. On both
sides, the bay and the river was guarded by thick forest that wasn't very easy
to traverse. That provided an excellent hiding spot for the huge ship that was
docked there and the bay in general. The river didn't look big enough for such
a massive ship to flow through. The sail rafters had to be lowered for it to
even fit within the forest. But somehow they found a way. As a result, no one
would even imagine a huge pirate ship being stashed there.
"Pirates..." Patch whispered to himself, looking around for a
spot to get a closer view.
The ship was docked against a wooden pier, which was filled
with both cargo crates and pirates. They hung around, laughing and playing
around while others loaded and unloaded the cargo through a large ramp. If he
were to get on that ship, it would have to be through that ramp. The only
problem was finding a way to sneak past the pirates that dotted the pier. 
He crouched down behind crates that sat on the shore nearby
and eased his way up to the pier, quietly avoiding passing guards. The closer
he had gotten to the ship, the more it became apparent that he wouldn't be able
to keep hiding like this. There were just too many of them. Behind him, he
could hear several other guards returning from the forest...
"Great..." Patch muttered, "perfect time for a shift change..." 
On his other side, more guards approached from the ship in
order to replace the ones that left the forest. Both groups headed straight for
him, ready to close him off, and there was no way he would be able to sneak out
of this one.
"Alright, here goes..." He motivated himself, peaking up one
last time towards the path he was to take. Either way, things were going to get
pretty loud. He may as well get as far as he could and as quickly as he could. 
Patch took a deep breath and hopped over the crate, running
right into the guards that were coming off of the ship.
"Hey! Who the hell is that?" He could hear someone say as he
ran.
"I've never seen him before..." Someone else replied.
"Well? What are you waiting for?! Stop him!"
It was game on. 
An earsplitting alarm began to sound from the deck of the
ship as several of the guards turned their attention towards Patch, who was
working his way up the pier.
"After him!" Some shouted from behind as a wave of pirates
drew their swords and chased after him.
"Don't let him get away!" 
Patch's heart raced as he reached the ramp that led onto the
deck of the ship. Without looking back, he darted up onto the huge deck where
he was met with several more pirates that waited for him. Before he could turn
around, the ones that had been chasing him blocked his path.
"Crap..." he muttered. 
"End of the line, invader," A particular female wolf said,
emerging from the crowd of pirates in front of him. She didn't look like
Captain Keira, Juniper's mother and the Captain of this group, but somehow she
appeared more important than everyone else. She was a dark-gray wolf with a few
battle scars of her own. A familiar, green bandana was wrapped around her
forehead, holding her thick, black hair out of her dark brown eyes. Two leather
straps crossed each other on her chest, both with knives attached on the sides.
Two, twin swords hung on each side of her waist, both being held by a thick,
leather strap. On the bandana (and pretty much everything else that belonged to
the pirates) was the emblem of a wolf's skull with three stars over it.   
"Who are you?" The wolf asked as the pirates that surrounded
him closed off all possible exits.
He was surrounded. Encircled by pirates that probably looked
to kill him. Now wasn't the time to lose his cool. 
"Captain Keira," Patch replied calmly, standing up on his
hind legs, "I'm here to see her."
The wolf, obviously unhappy by his casual attitude, drew one
of her swords and pointed it at him.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" She roared, fury
burning in her eyes, "don't you know who you're screwing with?!"
"No," Patch replied, drawing his sword, "but I'm here for
Juniper... and you're getting in the way." 
The rest of the pirates were shocked at his audacity. Was
this kid insane? Didn't he know that he was talking to Captain Keira's personal
lieutenant? The second in command? Not even the most senior pirate would dare
talk to her that way.
"You've got a lot of nerve, pup," she growled, "I don't know
if you have a death wish or something. But you sure as hell found one." 
She glanced back at all of the pirates that surrounded him.
"Show him what we do to trespassers!" She ordered, causing
the others to cheer with sheer excitement. The sound of swords being drawn from
their sheaths filled the air as one by one the crowd converged onto Patch.
"Alright, let's do this," patch muttered, zeroing his focus
on the fight. Thanks to a lot of practice and a variety of different teachers,
Patch was rather skilled with a sword. One by one, he blocked and defended
against multiple attackers coming from all directions. He avoided sword after
sword, while dishing out his own attacks, careful not to seriously injure
anyone... or get himself seriously injured. It was a never ending wave of guards
and motivated pirates, all after his head.
"Can't we just, start over?" Patch asked, narrowly avoiding
having his throat cut by a sword, "I tend to come off a little strong when I'm
nervous..."
"The only thing coming off is your pelt," the wolf replied,
watching her wave of soldiers converge on that one invader. Despite being
terribly outnumbered, Patch held his own against them. He kept his focus,
careful not to put himself in an overwhelming situation while maintaining an
attack pattern that wouldn't easily be broken. The other pirates were
impressed. 
"You a cop kid?" One of them asked, going at him with his
sword, "I didn't know they recruited this young."
"I'm not," Patch replied, avoiding the other wolf's attacks
(and several others at the same time).
"A pirate? Are you from the southeast crew?" Another asked,
drawing a second sword.
"Not necessarily," Patch replied, putting a little bit of
space between all of his attackers, "I'm not really anyone special... I'm just
here for Juniper." 
"And what business do you have with her?" The wolf in charge
asked, standing up, "don't tell me you're here to take her out on a date or
something. Don't you know who she is?"
The crowd stopped attacking for a second while they caught
their breath. In that instant, a fresh new wave of pirates replaced them in
mercilessly attacking Patch. 
"Well... not exactly," Patch replied, maintaining his attack
and defense pattern. The sound of steel grinding against steel filled the air,
making his ears ring. 
It went on like this for what seemed like hours. Waves of
new pirates replaced tired ones in a relentless attack against Patch. Through
it all, he maintained his focus and strategy, careful not to leave himself
open. After a while, the lieutenant wolf stood up. 
"Enough!" She ordered, stopping the wave of attackers. They
backed off at her command, still maintaining a tight circle around him.
"There are HUNDREDS of you, fighting ONE trespasser, and you
mean to tell me that NONE of you could land even a single strike?!" She roared,
glaring across the sea of pirates, "is this what the feared, Southern Veridian
Pirates has come to?!"
She pushed them aside, entering the circle of pirates where
Patch waited. 
"Impressive kid," she said, approaching him and drawing both
of her swords, "you held back your attacks, when you could have easily killed
the lot of them. Very noble." 
She took up a stance, one he had never seen before.
"You hold back against me, and that'll be the end of you,"
she warned. 
Quickly, she rushed in and collided with him, both of her
swords swinging for his chest and neck. In an attempt to gauge her skill, he
blocked and avoided at first. This one was extremely fast and strong. She
hardly left any opening for him to exploit, and had him on the defensive for
most of the time. She was right, holding back against her would only get him
killed. He had to get serious. 
In an instant, he triggered his second ability, named the
agility gene, where his speed was dramatically increased with the tradeoff of
high energy expenditure. At this point, he was able to keep up with her
attacks, avoiding both swords while defending with his own. Now that they were
moving at the same speed, he would be able to find an opening to attack. 
The pirates around them were stunned at the fight. How could
a random trespasser... a puppy... be on the same level as their second in command?
It was unheard of. They watched in awe as Patch and the lieutenant traded
attacks back and forth for a little over an hour and a half. On the second
hour, their attacks stopped. This time, Patch sustained minor cuts and bruises
from the fight. A little bit of blood poured from some small cuts on his arms
and face. More surprisingly, however, was that the lieutenant did as well. 
"What the hell?" some of the pirates whispered to each
other, "He landed a hit? On Reka?"
"S-sorry," Patch said, trying to catch his breath.
Reka was surprised herself. She licked the blood from her
arms and readied her swords again. 
"Save it," she growled, "Prepare to-"
"What the hell is going on out here?" A powerful voice
called from the stern of the ship. They all turned to see yet another female
wolf approaching from stairs leading below deck. She was a huge wolf, with
long, brown hair and sharp, purple eyes. One of her eyes (with a notable scar
having been torn across it) had been covered behind a black patch. She wore a
long coat that had the symbol of the Veridian Navy on it. Under it, many
leather straps encircled her body. Some around her waist and chest, others
around her arms and legs. Each one of them probably held some sort of weapon.
Most notably was the scar she had on her neck. That, and her striking
resemblance to Juniper.  
"C-captain Keira," Reka said, turning to her, "we were
dealing with some trespasser... he said he was here to see you, but..."
"I'm here for Juniper," Patch said confidently, turning
towards Keira. The rest of the pirates fell silent at his words.
"Watch your tongue!" Reka growled, but Captain Keira calmed
her. 
"What do you want with her?" Captain Keira asked, with a
small smile, "You think you're going to invade my ship and bone my daughter?
All while keeping your hide intact?" 
"Wh-what? No! Not that!" Patch replied, his face reddening.
"Patch?" Juniper's voice called from behind Captain Keira.
She appeared at the door, right beside her mother. A look of surprise and fear spread
across her face.
"Wh-what are you... h-how did..." she began to say.
"I couldn't sleep last night," Patch said, relieved that he
found her again, "I was thinking about what we were talking about the other day
in Eidous... about travelling the world and seeing all kinds of different things...
then I kept asking myself... why not? What exactly was stopping us?" 
He nervously scratch his ear.
"Oh s-sorry, I guess I accidentally told on you didn't I,"
he said, glancing away, "they weren't supposed to know you were there... sorry
about that."
He glanced back up at her.
"Anyway, My brother told me that life was too short to spend
it dreaming," he continued, "that if I let this chance pass, I'd regret it for
the rest of my life. I don't want that to happen. And I don't want to do it
alone."
Juniper's eyes watered and her heart raced. That night, she
had convinced herself that it was only a dream. That nothing would change after
that night. Despite that, she dreamed over and over again, that Patch would
appear and take her away from the monotonous life she had lived on that pirate
ship. That her conversation with him the day before was more than just a tease.
It wasn't a dream anymore. There he was. Standing alone in the midst of
hundreds of pirates to free her. 
She clutched her chest with her paws, unable to find the
words to say as tears fell onto the floor beneath her. 
"If you could..." Patch asked, clutching the hilt of his
sword, "If you could be free. Would you go off
and see the world with me? Leave your current life behind and go off into the
unknown with someone like me? Who would invade a pirate's cove
unprepared? To make this world a beautiful place to live again?" 
Juniper sank to her knees. 
She was too weak to say anything. She was terrified for him,
but at the same time, she was purely overjoyed. 
"I don't know what we're going to do and how we'll do it,"
Patch continued, "but together I think we'll find a way. Maybe we could sneak
on board a ship somewhere, or walk for miles in any direction. Where ever the
wind takes us."
He glanced back at her.
"If you could be free, would you go? Would you seriously do
it?" He asked.
"Yes," Juniper replied weakly, tears of joy welling up
inside her, "If I were free, I would do it..."
"Okay," Patch replied, glancing up at Captain Keira, who
listened intently to their conversation, "there's just the matter of getting
you free then."
He pointed his sword at Captain Keira, standing proudly
among the wave of pirates that surrounded him.
"You heard it from her!" He announced, "I won't leave this
place without her!" 
Captain Keira smiled.
"Oh, this is quite interesting," she said, crossing her
arms. 
She then glanced at Juniper.
"Is this what you want?" She asked, "Will it make you happy?
To go along with this pup?"
"Y-yes mother..." she replied quietly, "it would..."
Captain Keira nodded and smiled.
"Well then, what kind of mother would I be to deny my
daughter's wishes?" She asked, walking down the stairs towards Patch. The
circle of pirates opened up to allow her in before closing behind her.
"At the same time, what kind of mother would I be to allow
my only daughter to go off with a random stranger?" She asked, approaching
Patch, "I knew this day would come. Where Juniper would outgrow her cabin and
yearned to make a path for herself in this life. As much as I hated the thought,
I knew I couldn't avoid it forever. However." 
She drew her sword. A long, slender blade etched with
decorative markings. 
"I will not allow my daughter to go off with someone who
cannot protect her," she continued, "someone who's all bark and no bite." 
She pointed the blade at him. The sun reflecting off of the
tip. 
"Go home," she said, glaring at him. Her eyes flaring up
with murderous intent, "save your smooth words for a bitch in the city living a
comfortable life. Save your own hide before I skin it off and sell it on the
market."
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear," Patch growled, becoming
impatient, "you can write me off as some common kid chasing adventure or some
mutt chasing tail. I don't give a damn. I already made my intentions clear. I
am NOT leaving here without her." 
He wiped blood from his cheek.
"If you still think I'm a joke, why not see just how much
'bite' I've got?" He growled, approaching her face to face, "one day, we'll be
coming back to arrest you anyway. I don't care who you are. This world won't be
at peace until evil is erased." 
Everyone was silent. The crew, the lieutenant, even Juniper
watched in awe as tensions flared up between Patch and Captain Keira. 
"Very well then," Captain Keira replied. In an instant, she
rushed at him, unleashing a wave of powerful attacks. He dodged as fast as he
could, sustaining some minor injuries in the process. Her attacks were so
strong, that each strike of her sword against his pushed him back a few feet.
Patch zeroed his focus in on her attacks, calculating her technique while
avoiding her rapid and powerful attacks. There wasn't much room for error with
her. She was a pirate captain after all, so she had to have been in worse
fights than that before. He wouldn't easily win this one... hell... he wouldn't
easily survive. 
Captain Keira unleashed her own agility gene, moving so fast
that her movements could hardly be followed with his naked eyes. Based on her
attack patterns before, he now had to guess the direction and strength of her
attacks and block accordingly. One miscalculation could lead to a critical
strike somewhere. 
The crew around them have gathered in the hundreds as
members climbed atop each other to get a view. The teenaged invader versus
their own captain. Juniper watched, terrified at what could happen. She
personally saw her mother kill many rival pirates and sailors. Could Patch,
along with her hopes and dreams, be next? 
"No way," she thought to herself, "there's no way Patch
would allow that." 
The wave of attacks continued as Captain Keira refused to
let up on him. Their movements shifted from just fighting within the small
circle to using the entire deck. Sparks flew and steel crashed together as they
went at it, Patch carefully calculating Captain Keira's moves and Keira dishing
them out relentlessly. 
"Very good kid," Captain Keira said with an intimidating
smile, "let's turn it up a notch shall we?" Her eyes began to glow red as her
attacks became stronger and even faster. Patch could barely keep as it was
before, now it was nearly impossible. Captain Keira triggered her berserk gene,
yet another special ability that allocated a ton of adrenaline to her muscles,
making her movements quicker and more powerful. Each strike became increasingly
more powerful until finally, one blow knocked the sword out of his hand. It
flew off a good distance before landing against the edge of the deck near the
wall.
"Good try," Captain Keira teased as the crew erupted in
cheers.
"Shut up," Patch growled standing up. He faced her and
assumed another stance, this time without his sword. 
"Don't underestimate me," he muttered, balling his paws up
into fists. 
"Oh?!" The crowd shouted, "it's not over?!" 
Keira smiled and nodded. 
"Very well then," she said, readying her sword, "it's your
funeral!" 
She rushed in to attack again, not letting up just because
he was unarmed. It was her sword against him now, so he had to be careful about
where it was at all times. As usual, he carefully calculated his attacks,
dodging (instead of blocking) her sword while waiting for an opening. It was
likely that she'd get a bit more relaxed, since Patch didn't have a sword.
That's what he was hoping anyway. In that case, he'd easily be able to pick an
opening to disarm her with.
The fight carried on for thirty punishing minutes.
Throughout that, Patch received even more minor cuts from Keira's sword (though
a lot less than what was expected). In a twist of luck, he eventually found an
opening and rushed in, seizing and twisting her arm in a way that caused her to
drop her sword. 
"Finally," Patch muttered, kicking her sword away and
assuming another fighting stance, "now we're even..."
"Not quite," Keira replied, rushing in again to attack.
This time, they were both disarmed, coming at each other
with only their fists. In the same way he handled it with his sword, Patch kept
a careful eye on her fighting style, in order to learn from it to find an
opening.
"This is insane!" One pirate cried out to another, "I've
never seen anything like this!" 
"Just who is this kid?" Reka muttered to herself, crossing
her arms.
"Patch..." Juniper whispered, watching the fight carry on. Her
heart was filled with joy that he came back for her... not only that, but he was
skilled enough to challenge her mother, the most feared pirate in the region...
what an impressive pup. 
"Good boy," Keira said, blocking some of his attacks before
landing a hit on him, right in the cheek. Patch fell back a bit, but made sure
to keep his guard up. She rushed in and hit him again, this time right in the
center of his chest and on the other side of his face. He lost his momentum and
broke his guard, allowing her to get several, painful hits in on him. 
"Had enough?" Keira asked, hitting him multiple times in the
stomach and face before roundhouse kicking him in the chin. 
He flew back and landed on the wooden deck of the ship. 
"Damn," he muttered as he picked himself up. 
"Go home before you get seriously hurt," Keira warned. 
"Shut up already," he muttered, standing up on his two feet
and causing the crowd to cheer wildly. 
"He won't stay down!" One of them shouted.
"Just go home kid," one of them said, "It ain't worth your
life."
Patch spat out some blood before reassuming his fighting
stance.
"What do you idiots know..." he muttered as Keira rushed in
for another attack. 
The two went back and forth for another hour, both
exchanging hits on each other. Naturally, Patch began to get tired from all of
the fighting. First from all of the crew, then from Reka, the Lieutenant, and
now from the Captain herself. With his stamina draining, there came a series of
mistakes that left him open for hits. 
Time and time again, he would survive the initial wave of
attacks before his stamina would run out and he'd get knocked down by Keira.
Each time, he picked himself back up and prepared for another fight.
"I won't leave here without you," Patch thought to himself,
whenever he felt like giving up, "I swear I won't."
At the end of their fifth round, Patch found himself on the
ground once again. He spat out more blood and wiped some from his nose before
trying to stand up once again.
"That's enough," Keira said, calming down, "it's over."
She walked over to Patch who fell to his knees, struggling
to catch his breath.
"You did well kid," she said, kneeling beside him, "I'll
admit, I was wrong about you." 
She motioned for one of the pirates to bring him his sword.
"Your technique is solid, but you lack strength," she
continued, "your attacks are zeroed in on the right area, but you're not strong
enough to make them effective. Your agility, and your endurance would benefit
from you getting stronger."
They handed her his sword before she handed it back to him. 
"Before I'll allow you and Juniper to run off together, I
want you both to become stronger," she said, "I know Juniper is capable of
handling herself, since I personally trained her. But you both need to get
stronger before you're ready to set off on your own." 
She stood up. 
"We'll teach you," she said glancing at the sea of pirates
that had gathered to see them, "each one of us has learned skills on our
travels. Methods of strengthening up weaklings like you in preparation for the
real world. If you survive that, you'll truly be ready and I will allow Juniper
to go with you."
The crew cheered in sheer excitement. 
"Give him to me," one of the crew said, "I'll put some meat
on them." 
He was a brown bear with a tired but hearty expression on
his face. He was also packed with muscle, probably from handling cargo over and
over. 
"Ever shot a bow and arrow before?" Another one pointed out.
"Wait, what happened? I can't see!" Another one whined. 
"I'll determine who will do what training," Keira announced,
"that's assuming, you're up for it? Patch?"
"I guess I don't have much of a choice," he said with a
small smile, "although I hate the idea of working with criminals..."
"Then it's settled," she said, picking up her sword and
returning to the stairs, "all of my department leaders, meet me in my office
immediately." 
She glanced back at patch with a grin.
"Guess that makes you an aid to criminal activity."
The crew gathered in to congratulate Patch on his 'victory'.
Though he had been defeated multiple times, his refusal to give up motivated
the rest of the crew.
"You're alive kid, be happy," one of the pirates joked,
"others weren't so lucky you know."
"Where did you learn to fight like that?!" Another one said,
poking at him, "that was insane!" 
"Are you sure you're not a cop..." Another one muttered, "no
way a kid can stand up to the Captain like that..."  
Juniper sorted through the crowd, rushed up to Patch and
wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh my god, Patch are you insane?!" She cried, rubbing her
head against his, "following me to the hidden cove and calling out my mother in
front of everyone?! Have you completely lost it?!" 
"D-did I look cool though? When I did it?" He joked, hugging
her back.
She sighed and shook her head.
"Yes Patch," she replied with a smile, tears filling her
eyes, "I guess you looked kind of cool."

 

 
Below deck, in Captain Keira's office, the top leaders
within the pirate crew met to discuss Juniper and Patch's training. 
"Captain... are you sure about this boy?" Reka asked, "Is it
really a good idea to allow Juniper to go with him...? Around the world?"
The other leaders glanced at Captain Keira too.
"We all know that she isn't a pirate," Keira replied calmly,
"she's always had her mind on other things. Bigger things than just this. I
knew that one day she'd get antsy and start looking for ways out... especially
when she started sneaking out to go to Eidous..."
She sighed.
"Honestly, I never wanted her to become a pirate. As you all
know, I tried to avoid exposing her to the pirate's life as best I could... I
didn't want her to live like I did. This is no life for a girl like her."
She glanced out of the window, towards the pier, where all
of the pirates had gathered to celebrate.
"It doesn't take much for them to find a reason to get
drunk," Keira said with a smile, "Anyway, When Juniper saw him, there was a
sparkle in her eyes that I had never seen before. Something was awakened in
that girl the moment they met."
"I saw it too," Reka replied, staring at the ground.
"I think they'd be able to do it," One of the other leaders
replied, "with a little fine tuning, I really think those two would be able to
survive anything together."
"That's what I want to make sure of," Keira replied, "and
that's also why I called you all here. I'm putting each of you in charge of
training those two while I handle our operations here. Put special emphasis on
strengthening them up. I also what survival skills placed in there somewhere.
Teach them how to escape and evade capture, hunt with just the two of them, and
some weapon skills. At the end of that, we'll give them the team building exam.

"Wait, just the two of them?" Reka asked, "Doing the entire team building exercise on their
own?" 
"That's right," Keira replied, "The entire thing. If they
can do that, they'll be able to survive anything. Don't you agree?"   
The other leaders nodded.
"Alright then," Keira replied, "give them time to rest.
Especially him. They're going to need it." 
She glanced at all of them.
"And DO NOT go easy on them," she said seriously, "their
lives may count on this training. Make sure they know what they're doing."
"Aye captain," they replied, filing one by one out of her
office. 

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/928202

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