Evander couldn't help but smirk as he listened to her answer, his head tilting to face the earth below for a moment, an effort to mask his amusement. He threw in a few quietened words and hums of agreement as she spoke, elaborating on her answer somewhat. Admittedly, she'd lost him as soon as the winds of fate were mentioned. It wasn't an altogether unsatisfactory answer, and his amused confusion did not mask annoyance or irritation. No - there was something beyond these 'winds of fate', he was sure. She merely wasn't ready to share her reasons for answering the call with him, and he understood why. They had only met that day, after all. And it wasn't as if Evander had no secrets of his own.

As they continued to head down toward the docks, now slightly behind other divers that had hurried past, Solia moved past her answer to his own questions to instead offer up some questions of her own. He listened carefully as they walked along, offering the occasional nod as her question developed. It was a fair one, and something he'd probably wonder himself were he in her shoes.

"Aye - sorry 'bout the questions.", he remarked while looking toward Solia, gauging her reaction. "I don't mean to make you feel as though you're being interrogated."

He noticed her head had dropped to face her feet once more, something Evander had now come to expect as common for Solia. Was it simply that she was shy? Perhaps - but he had the distinct impression Solia was someone often trapped in their own thoughts. He'd known her for only a little while, but it often seemed to him as though she had much on her mind. Evander couldn't know what - and indeed while he had many questions for her, most glaringly the question of what she was, he reminded himself that he had already decided she was 'one of the good ones'. His gut instinct trusted her, and so would he. Asking question after question would do no good.

With this in mind, Evander continued on. "But 'ach, don't worry about it", he noted with a slight wave of his hand dismissively, "You're perfectly right to ask. Truth is, I don't have too much waiting for me in the frozen sea. No family, no work, nothing. I left not long after my father passed."

Though the conversation topic may have easily been quite a hard one, Evander spoke of it with a surprisingly casual tone. It was clear he'd since moved on. "I joined the Diver's Guild 'cause I figured it was easiest route away from nothing. I was never in it to get rich or anything like that - I was content with the idea of protecting cargo, navigating rougher waters. I got plenty of experience doing that in the frozen sea, so the idea was to that experience an' travel around with it."

Raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, now that they had escaped the shade the tavern provided, Evander continued on. "So anyway, I joined up, well. Must've been eight years ago? I did a few dives here and there, but only on a smaller-scale. Years ago now, and I can't really remember much of them. I do remember not liking most of the divers I met, though. Always in it for themselves. Never felt like you could trust them, you know?"

"So I kept that up for a year or two, but I got bored of it. Bored of the competitiveness, of the backstabbing, all that. I joined up with a merchant-captain who'd spotted me through the guild. Give or take a few years later, I switch crews to Reballo, which I've been doing for two years." He paused at the mention of Reballo. His part in the crew of the questionable merchant had troubled him for a long time.

"Reballo's... 'ach, he's a guy making a living, I suppose. He just... exaggerates a lot of the stuff he's selling. It was a good job - I sailed all over. From the Dragon Sea to the Imperial, but I've been looking to get out of that for a while now." Grinning, he added, "Then, as fate would have it, I ended up here, and you asked me to tag along."

By the time had finished his small-story, the two had reached the docks. They'd fallen behind the majority of the other divers, and caught the end of Bron's final address to the crowd. Looking around quickly, Evander caught sight of the purple-haired girl and her accomplice from the frozen sea that he had spotted at the tavern, and it would seem that both likewise spotted them, as Evander briefly caught the eye of Terhikki while she too surveyed her surroundings.

Turning to face Solia in full, and with a confident smile, he clasped his hands together.

"...and that's the very short story of me!"

He gestured an arm toward the Skullfish as the other divers began to board.

"Shall we?"

Evander’s answers stayed her, momentarily, and she nearly fell behind him. There was much to consider about this man, much more than she had previously thought to expect. Or perhaps for his kind, these sorts of stories were common. She had no way of knowing. On Maelstrom her understanding of people was not simply basic, it was limited. Her home had attracted specific types of minds, most of which thought beyond her own reasoning. It was what staggered her when she’d tried to explain herself, and for a while even before she’d come to Windward, this gap in knowledge troubled and embarrassed her. But, she’d figured, does an enchanted sword understand the mystical intricacies of its own enchantment? No. It simply knows what it is and what it does.

She frowned to hear his own father had passed away. He hadn’t explicitly stated as much, but she wondered if that had been what drove him from his home. It was easy for Solia to assume that he must have cared deeply for his father, and wonder then how close they might have been. Like her and her own, perhaps? She could empathize with the loss, then, which seemed to her a new, if bitterly exciting feeling.

It troubled her as well to hear that his experience as a diver had been…less than excellent. She knew well enough that some people were prone, often even justly, towards self-preservation. She did not know that so many were divers—a profession she had previously thought to be comprised majorly of selfless, heroic souls. Evander’s story had her glancing around again at their company. Many with strong, healthy forms and well-made equipment, suddenly required a consideration not simply for their worth as aid on the mission, but for the origins of their own fortunes. How many had stabbed allies in the back for a glimmering artifact? Left divers behind so that their cuts might swell in the absence? How many would jeopardize this mission, and the safety of Windward Islands residents, the moment danger forced them to choose between themselves, and another?

Troubling, she thought, and thought no more on it.

As the two of them approached the Skullfish, she noticed once again the Imperial and her louder, bolder teammate, who in fact made it hard not to notice them. The young man and his blue-haired friend were nowhere to be seen. She supposed the fewer children there were putting themselves in danger, the better, but she could also not forget how furious the chief had been. Once this was all over, hopefully the tempers will have cooled.

Evander gestured to the ship, ready as were the other divers.

“Certainly,” she agreed, and did her best to match his grand smile with one of her own, as she followed his lead aboard the Skullfish.

The goggled man from earlier had more tidbits of information to pass out, it seemed - and Eliza chose to listen carefully, not planning on letting a single word go unheard. After all - knowing the situation was typically better than not having an inkling of what was going on. Knowledge was power. The first thing that stuck out to Eliza that the goggled man said was the Diver's Creed, or at least, what could be described as an abridged version of it. 'Treasure to be found, jobs to be done, and knowledge to be won! That's the Diver's Creed!' was what the man spoke.

'I mean, that's a good Diver's Creed, but that doesn't go how I remember it. It's something like... Courage, Honor, and Integrity... which is nice, sure, but I like this guy's version a heck of a lot. It makes us feel more like... swashbucklers! And that's dang cool, so I'm on board.'

The next things that the man spoke of was of a particular boat. A particular boat called the Skullfish. Something about the name sounded familiar to Eliza - maybe she'd heard of it throughout the years. Though, there was another reason that the name stuck out to her. Simply put... the name was damn cool to Eliza Rebargo. 'Holy crap... that's a kickass name for a boat! It really gives you the feel that it means business. And... it just kinda sounds like the type of boat some pro Diver would be sailing aboard. I mean, I'm not at that level yet...' Eliza gazed out at the Skullfish - which was a rather impressive boat, and Gullspire Rock, off in the distance. 'But I know I'll reach that level someday. I kind of have to. I wouldn't be a Rebargo if I didn't get better at this whole diving business. But I'll know that I'll get there someday. I can just feel it in my blood!'

And then - the speech by the goggled man - that Eliza still didn't know the name of - was over... and the time had come to board the Skullfish. Eliza headed towards the boat at a somewhat speedy pace, thrilled to be taking a part on this diving mission... though, she paused, as she realized something. Instinctively putting a hand onto her back - where her sword and shield were, Eliza realized something that could be possibly problematic. Her shield was formed of metal - which was good. Her sword, though? A mere, somewhat unwieldy blade of wood. This presented a problem. A wooden sword wouldn't be entirely great at fighting off monsters, nor would it allow her to use her Aether abilities.

The divers did have time to head into town quickly and get anything they needed, but... Eliza didn't know if she should. Holding up the other divers wouldn't exactly be a great first impression - and from what she'd seen, they seemed like a pretty swell bunch. She mulled this over in her head for a minute as she slowly paced towards the boat... then, as if she'd made a decision, picked up the pace and headed onto the boat.

'I'll be all fine and dandy, I reckon. I'll just focus on being an iron wall for these guys. That's what I'll do, and I'll make sure to do it well!'

As the Skullfish drew nearer to Gullspire, the winds borne of the storm that surrounded it began to beat against the ship, and its crew. There had been a time Solia had reveled in gales like these, she could cut through them with ease and grace on the back of her aether wings. Now, though, she steadied herself, and held her cloaks in a tight brace.

When Evander had been summoned to the helm, she followed. With their goal closing in on them, few had their eyes turned backwards, and she did not need to worry much about someone spying her if a rogue gust tossed her hood back. Soon enough it wouldn’t matter, thankfully. Once they reached Gullspire she had every intention of abandoning this ridiculous ruse. They would be too far in, no one would argue hard enough to send her away. Something had proposed enough of an issue to warrant a request to turn around, but before she could put much thought to it, the ship was rocked, suddenly and rather violently.

Solia was able to keep her footing without much issue, though she did ready herself to catch Evander should his own fail him. It became immediately clear that this was not simply the storm, and sure enough, only moments later she was met with a familiar, albeit unwelcome sight.

‘Now what are you doing here, so far from home?’ she wondered.

The Savorask were a common sight in Maelstrom, at least in the lower docks. When the storms passed through, ships unfortunate enough to be caught on their way to port often found themselves harassed by the abyssal things. She and her siblings had come to blows with them many times. Then, she had her wings, and her spear. Her harpoon, the wretched thing, was still on Windward. She would have to make due.

Solia yanked her hood down, and briefly rolled the sleeve of her left arm up. The damage there, under the bandages, was still evident to the touch, and she resigned that it would be best if she fought mainly with her right hand.

She started to descend onto the deck, then remembered Evander, and remained by the helm. She could not tell if he was armed, nor did she know if he had experience fighting such beasts, or how much, if he did. Down below the Imperial girl and plenty of the other crewmen had already drawn their weapons. Together they would manage, alone, Evander might not. It wasn’t a risk she was about to take, regardless.

“Keep at the helm, or descend to the deck?” she asked. “I’ll have your back, either way.”

Marea nodded in response to Marlowe's plan, remaining silent and statuesque as their short, cramped journey began. Mother Ocean protect us...

As the ship rocked, and Marlowe found himself almost ontop of her, the girl just kind of stared up with her usual calm, helping him back into a comfortable spot with a few gentle pushes. That's way too close! For a second, I thought that was going to...

Her blue hair shook with her head, and Marea returned to her previous stillness until it was finally time to leave the crate. Once they were free from their self-imposed prisons, she would stretch her entire body before hurrying to catch up with Marlowe.

Marea remained collected through her companion's frantic explanation in trying to keep his place up until the very moment the ship made a hard rock that caused her to stumble and fall flat onto the wooden floor. Pushing herself up, she quickly looked around until her gaze found Marlowe once more. Then, the sounds of battle above-deck began to ring out. He's going to rush up deck. I should try and get a head start so I won't be too far behind.

At that, the girl sprung back up to full height and pushed past the man watching over them as she started rushing to the top of the ship.

Terhikki eyed Marina in bewilderment as she spoke the creature's name. Sa..rovask? Saskorav? Savoskar? Terhikki's mind chewed on the word for a few seconds before she ended up at the proper 'Savorask' as she initially thought she'd heard. What a weird word.

"You wha-" She cut herself off as Marina gave the warning to 'grab onto something'. Terhikki wasn't one to be slow on the uptake, so she squared her stance off and went from a full-stand to a sort of primal crouch, making her tall frame quite low against the deck as the turbulence hit. She grit her teeth as the boat rocked suddenly, her body taking the impact and refusing to do more than slide a few feet towards the side. Her head snapped to the side as a crewman got launched off the ship and she seemed wholly intent on diving into the sea after the individual, but she found herself rising slower as her senses kicked into overdrive-- danger was afoot.

In that instant that the sarovask leapt aboard the Skullfish, Terhikki's demeanor shifted. Her eyes became like ice- no longer mirthful or happy, just hard and cold. Her usual aura of jovial energy seemed to collapse and leave an eerie primacy to her actions. Her stance shifted to keep her weight low, her footing in control as the ship rocked violently. It was like being back in the Frozen Sea.

Just unbearably hot and full of frogs with razor sharp teeth, apparently.

Her hands went to her hips and she pulled out the curved ice axes she carried, swiftly looping her hands into their safety leashes as she gripped the climbing tools by their handles.

Terhikki made eye contact with Marina and nodded. She silently lurched forward and sped across the deck at the nearest Sarovask, ducking low and sprawling forward as its tongue shot out at the space where her throat used to be. She tumbled forward across the deck of the lurching ship and found herself quite low at the creature's quadrupedal feet, where she planted herself and swung her ice axes out. Rather than biting into flesh, they hooked behind the creature's frontal legs. Terhikki swung her arms out, throwing the creature's legs apart and forcing its body to crash forward and down to the deck.

She then launched herself to the side to avoid being fallen on by the sarovask, and upon its frontal body toppling down she moved herself to swiftly bring the handles of both ice axes down on the back of its head in a rather brutal bludgeon with her weight and strength behind it. Didn't matter how hard a thing's armor was if you rattled its brain in the shell. She didn't like having to kill things and despite the danger to the crew she was willing to try to incapacitate the creature if she could.

Move, move, move! C'mon girl, don't let them eat your new friends! She thought frantically as she felt her heart begin to race. Combat wasn't what she was explicitly trained for, but some of her hunts had turned dangerous in the past and she'd found bopping things on the head often made them stop wanting to eat you.

The trip to Gullspire Rock was well in progress - Eliza found herself aboard the Skullfish, alongside quite a few other Divers. With every second that passed, they drew closer to their destination... and Eliza couldn't wait to arrive, and take a look at whatever the situation was with the place. It was a mystery, but she'd already pondered that enough. Now? It was just time to wait. With a yawn, Eliza sat herself down, and placed both her shield and her sword from off her back, and set them down onto the ground.

While the sword was in good shape - it hadn't seen much combat, her shield - nicknamed the Volt Vanguard, had. It was rather dented and even a little rusty... it was clear it'd seen better days. But even still, that shield served its purpose well as well - a shield. 'Geez... I'll need to find some repairman or something. Or... buy a new one. That works, too. Because it's really starting to lose its luster... in both senses.' Glancing over at the wooden sword, Eliza rolled her eyes with mild irritation. 'I really regret leaving my Shock Sabre... not my wisest move, but I'll be fine. If I really need to use my powers, I'll just find anything that's pointy and metal. That's real easy... I think?'

But, unfortunately - at that moment, the boat rocked something fierce, which, in turn, moved both Eliza's sword and shield. Instinctively, she grabbed her shield and braced herself against, as to not slip herself, but unfortunately... her sword slipped out of reach. With a sigh, Eliza began to eye the rest of the boat. Several of the others present on the ship yelled out with various cries for whatever reason, though Eliza didn't immediately see why. However, when she did... it immediately made sense.

Green, quadruped beasts that almost resembled frogs - Eliza immediately recognized these. Savorasks, beasts infamous for their tongues - and the sharp, ravenous maw that awaited anything unlucky enough to fall victim to said tongue. With her shield in hand, Eliza glanced over towards her sword... which was far out of reach. "Motherf-" Eliza exclaimed. "Y'know what?! Screw it!"

Shield raised to defend herself, Eliza rushed at the frog-like beings. 'I'll deadlock them, so the rest of these fellas can really let loose! Nobody's getting hurt under my watch." Eliza thought to herself, then she looked over at the rest of the people aboard the Skullfish, and shouted so they'd hear her. "You guys! No need to worry, I'll be your iron wall! The iron wall that'll block everything they throw at us!"

Then, her eye on the Savorasks, Eliza glared and spoke once more. "If you guys think you can take me... you're dead wrong."

Having dutifully agreed to serve at the helm while the Skullfish’s captain headed below deck, Evander took up his position behind the wheel of the ship, with Solia close behind. Yes, the Skullfish may have been a vessel entirely different to anything he had boarded in several years, but behind a wheel of the ship, they may as well have all been the same. Gripping the wheel itself, he could feel the oceans below and the gusts of wind from above. This was where he felt most comfortable in life - most in control - and it showed. His posture relaxed, and the corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile. This is home, he thought to himself.

Feeling a presence near him, Evander turned his head slightly, catching the figure of Max - one of the crewmen. He spoke of turning the ship around, and of a situation, but before Evander had a chance to inquire further, the Skullfish was rocked violently to the side.

Holding a tight grip of the wheel, he managed to stay on his feet. “What th--..”, he yelled in shock. A Reef? Surely not - I’d have spotted it. What, then?. His thoughts raced for the few seconds of confusion, before several crewmen could be heard yelling.

“To arms! Defend yourselves! Savorask!”

Their voices were soon drowned out by the ringing of the ship’s bell to signal alarm, and the yells of crewmembers engaging the Savorask on the deck below. Instinctively looking toward his belt, where the usual weaponry of a diver would be sheathed, Evander found himself woefully unprepared. Indeed, he admittedly hadn’t expected much trouble at all during the course of the expedition - and certainly not this early. So much for his plans to grab some gear from the Skullfish before the dive.

Moments later, several Savorask began to rapidly clamber over the side of the vessel, having reached the somewhat raised height of the ship’s helm. The fighting on the deck was well under way, and had now reached the helm.

“Damn”, he cursed under his breath. Savorask were trouble at the best of times - but here, now? It was going to be a trial by fire.

Spinning on his heel to retreat from two Savorask now advancing towards the ship’s wheel, having already cut down the feeble attempts of a crewman to force them back, Evander spotted Solia making her way towards him after having initially headed for the deck. They hadn’t been partners for long - but already he was realising the benefits of this arrangement. “By the helm!”, he remarked as she approached. His answer to her question was short, and for a reason. Turning to face the two Savorask, having heard their increasingly loud approach as they drew nearer, he found himself face-to-face with the two. Barely managing to avoid the first strike by the frog-like demon of the oceans, he was soon thrown backwards by the other, landing with a loud thud and accompanying groan.

Sitting half-upright as he recovered from the painful landing, he saw Solia begin to face-off against the Savorask.

Marea turned as she heard Marlowe's pained cry, her hair whipping about as she looked over towards him. However, by the time she began to channel, he had already dispatched the creature. We need to get him protection...

Responding to the advise with a nod, the blue-haired girl turned to the main fighting and began to channel her aetheric abilities. The air around her rapidly cooled, creating a thick fog around Marea as the freezing cold met with the hot, tropical air. a series of large icicles were created around her. Stay in control...You can heal him when he is safe. You have the power to end this. Just keep the water in the glass.

Stepping forwards, a trail of fog was left in her wake that whirled around and almost instantly dissipated. Once she had vision again, Marea began to launch the icicles one after the other, the chunks of ice whipping through the air and lodging themselves into several of the savorask.

After striking her targets, Marea turned back to Marlowe and began walking towards him, channeling the aether one last time as she caused the icicles to fracture before violently erupting within them.

Terhikki lifted her arms back to a more defensive position once she was suitably satisfied about the unconscious state of the amphibian creature she had been bludgeoning. She maintained her low stance next to its body and ducked low as icy projectiles, gunshots, and combative yells whipped around above her head.

This is so coooool! part of her mind giggled, despite the danger. they're all so awesome! This'll be the best crew ever!

She felt the familiar tingle of danger wriggle down her spine, and in a moment of pure instinct she sprawled to the side as she had when the combat initiated- but it seems that the creatures wouldn't fall for the same maneuver twice. As she dove to the side, she felt the sliminess of one of their rough tongues bind itself around her left calf. She hit the deck hard and slammed both axes down, embedding them into the deck and holding herself in place against the monstrous pull of the creature's tongue.

She reasserted her grip on the axes, then lifted one out of the deck and let it hang from her wrist by the leash. She twisted onto her back and gazed down at the savorask that had its grip on her and grit her teeth.

"M-Marina!" She called out, her now-free hand flying to her hip and drawing the queer triangular dagger she carried. She tucked her legs up tightly, pulling against the Savorask as strongly as she could, as she swung the dagger out. The serrated edges of the blade bit into the creature's tongue viciously, and the girl sawed once more with her arm and severed the organ near her ankle to free herself from the tugging of the frog-creature. She was still prone on the deck however, and as she kicked at the bit of tongue still stuck to her leg to try and pry it off, the Savorask lumbered over the railing of the ship and scrambled towards her. She felt she could handle it, but laying on her back was not the position she wanted to be in to face any foe. Especially one that wanted to eat her.

I hope Violet heard me- Crap I used her real name, didn't I? she thought as she shifted the grip she had on her dagger.

---

One of the Savorasks leapt towards Eliza, teeth bared as if ready to attack... yet, Eliza saw this strike coming. Nay, she'd been waiting for such an attack. The Savorask was in the air... which, naturally, made it more susceptible to being knocked about. Readying her shield, Eliza put all her force into a shield bash. The attack hit its mark, sending the Savorask tumbling through the air - then back onto the ship, toppled over. Spying an opportunity, Eliza darted forth - her plan to attack the Savorask while it was vulnerable. Yet, the shieldbearer had made a miscalculation. As she got close to the enemy, she noticed that she'd lowered her shield... yet it was too late. The Savorask leapt up, claws at the ready, and swiped at Eliza's left shoulder, drawing blood.

"D-damn...!" She winced, as a wave of pain rushed through her body. Eliza tried her best to shrug this off - and stepped back from the Savorask. Being up close wasn't a wise idea against a beast that was capable up close... especially if you didn't even have a melee weapon of some sort. 'Wait... I think I've got time to get my sword back!'

Eliza attempted to clutch the wound on her left shoulder with her left hand, though it wasn't particularly efficient, as she rushed over to her blade - which lied off in the corner of the boat uselessly. 'I need to be quick... I need to hold the line!' She told herself in her mind, grabbing her wooden blade off the ground once more. Pain surged through her body once again, but she knew that letting it hold her back - that doing such a thing would only lead to a worse outcome.

Now with both her sword and shield in hand, she found that the Savorask she'd been fighting was following in close pursuit. Having learnt her lesson from before, Eliza raised her shield to defend herself... yet, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something of note. One of her new companions - who she knew not the name of - was on the ground, with a Savorask approaching them.

'... I have to step in! I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't - ever!' Eliza thought. 'Under my watch, nobody's getting hurt - I think I said something like that earlier, and I plan on sticking to it!'

Eliza rushed from the Savorask she'd been fighting - to the one approaching the person on the ground. Readying her shield, she planned on blocking the Savorask from attacking the person on the ground. "You alright?" Eliza inquired to the person, not turning away from the enemy Savorask. "I'll hold these slimeballs off - I guarantee it!"

'At least... I think I can hold them off.' Eliza mulled. 'Well... let's just hope I don't get any worse than that cut from earlier...'

Solia hastened back to Evander, stepping between him and the beasts. The closest one was smaller, adolescent, and ignored her at first. She caught it by the arm as it lunged for her partner, jerking it up off of its feet, then as if the thing had been made of dirt and feather rather than flesh and scale, she hurled it away, against the helm’s railing.

The second was fully matured, with a wide jaw and hands big enough to grip a man’s skull and tear it to ribbons with its claws. She glanced to where the unfortunate crewman had been cut down. His sword lay there, skittering about the wood as the waves rocked the Skullfish. Too far for her to reach, but perhaps Evander could.

Before she could suggest as much, the bigger Savorask crashed into her—or more accurately, against her. For its size it might have expected an easy tackle, but instead she only staggered back, and its claws scraped awkwardly past her ribs and collar.

Solia had an instinct for momentum, especially in combat. She knew if she tried, she could right herself and try to force the beast back outright, but even caught off-guard this position was no disadvantage. She leaned into the stagger, stepping into a sturdier stance, then took the Savorask by its neck and side and in a whirl threw it head-over-heels across the helm.

The younger one had composed itself, and its sights had not strayed from Evander. It stalked towards him, evidently wary of any more surprises, but seemed no less ferocious. Solia meant to engage it again, but before she could even start for it, a sudden and powerful force latched itself about her left arm and stayed her.

Turning, she saw that the adult had its tongue wound up her forearm, and from across the helm had begun trying to reel her in. To her surprise she had to fight just to keep herself stationary, and as the Savorask found its footing, that too became a struggle. Not for the first time, she had underestimated flesh.

“Evander! she called, when it became clear she could not intervene. “The sword! Arm yourself!”

Evander didn’t need to hear her call twice, eyeing the approaching Savorask making its way toward him at a menacingly slow, measured pace. He met the eyes of the creature as he pushed himself up from the deck to stand on his own two feet once more, before suddenly dashing for the sword. The creature reacted to his sudden movement by quickening its own pace, hurrying toward him in a race to reach the blade before Evander could grab it.

With the advantage of initiative, Evander managed to reach the blade not a second before the long claws of the Savorask would have sliced at his vulnerable flesh - and instead the creature now found itself on the defensive, with Evander grabbing the bottom of the blade’s hilt and lifting it in an upward slash aimed in the general direction of the beast. It may have been young, but it was not an easy target, and it lept backward in a quick reaction to the swing of the blade that allowed it to escape almost unscathed, bar a slight slash on its chest.

The creature backed off for a moment as it re-evaluated the situation, and began to feel the shock and pain of the light wound from the blade.

In this moment of opportunity, Evander turned his attention quickly back to Solia, who was still wrestling against the larger Savorask that had its powerful tongue wrapped around her forearm, attempting to pull her towards it.

Spinning on his heel, he hurriedly took the few steps required to shorten the distance between himself and the two, raising the blade in the air and bringing it down with considerable force to cut the tongue of the Savorask and free his partner.

Unfortunately the beast was spurred into panic by the oncoming blade, briny adrenaline surging through it that granted it the kind of strength only living things could will themselves into. It did not release Solia, but rather tightened its grip and threw itself back, and her forward—directly into Evander’s path.

The sound was unpleasant, but it was also unlike the parting of flesh, and there was no agonized scream to join it. Instead, the slamming edge skirted down her shoulder and embedded itself a few centimeters into her bicep. She blinked, thankful that her upper arm was in better shape than her forearm. Even though the sword was plain and simply-edged, a powerful swing might have shattered her elbow completely.

“I appreciate your efforts, Evander—” she began, only to be hauled ever closer to the large Savorask. The sword wriggled free of her arm and clattered to the ground at Evander’s feet.

It may have been worth trying to resist, plant her feet into the deck and hope she didn’t crater the wood. Instead she let herself go on, nearly jogging into the beast’s pull until the moment of truth arrived, and it made to clamp its jaws down on her weakened arm. Right then, she took a solid stance and swung the fist of her right arm, free of chips and cracks, in from the side. Most of the teeth there broke free, or just broke. She took a firm hold of the hinge of the beast’s jaw to anchor it, gripped the tongue with her damaged hand and wrenched it back with as much force as she could safely muster.

This sound was unpleasant. Something further down in the Savorask’s body came loose, or perhaps it was many things; admittedly she wasn’t entirely savvy of their biology. Regardless, the thing went limp, its tongue slackened, and she shoved it away.

Her focus returned to her partner to see how he was faring.

Evander was admittedly taken aback by the situation, still processing the relatively quick succession of events that led to Solia destroying her opponent. He made a mental note that it was probably a good idea to remain on her good side if he didn’t want to find himself dismembered. Indeed, the source of her strength was puzzling - but he didn’t have time to think on that for now.

The younger Savorask, seemingly enraged by the rather brutal death of its companion, parent, or whatever it might have been, let out an almighty screech as it sped towards him.

“Ah, damn”, he thought. Awkwardly planting his feet firmly on the ground with a slight space apart from one another, in an attempt to mimic the stance he had once been taught to use when ‘bracing’ for an impact, he was well aware that his days of trained combat were but a distant memory. And his abilities in the battle against these creatures only highlighted as much.

The creature came within striking distance of Evander after only a few seconds, arms outstretched and flailing wildly at its target. Given the pace of his foe, he had found himself with little time to properly react - and beyond bracing for the inevitable and physical clash between the two, he could do little more than raise his sword. Evander gripped the hilt of his dull blade with both hands and raised it to his side so that his shoulder faced the creature. Grimacing, he awaited the attacks of the creature as its claws came hurtling toward him.

Strike, slash, the Savorask’s claws were vicious and quick, but thankfully it hadn’t saw fit to employ its razor jaws. In truth, there wasn’t enough time for the beast. Even if Evander had been entirely unarmed and immobile, there was too much of him to go through, and too little space between them, and his partner.

Solia closed the distance much like the Savorask had—a few long strides, a nasty swipe, and she had the thing by one of its slimy wrists. She dragged it away and flung it heavily against the railing. At first it managed to stay aboard, but one crushing blow to its underdeveloped ribcage was enough to cave them in, and the beast toppled over, back into the crashing waves.

“Evander?” she called back, and returned to the helm. “Are you alright?”

Evander looked himself up and down, noticing a slight gash on his right upper-arm. The adrenaline had prevented him from feeling any great pain thus far - but now that he had noticed the wound, he would be lying if he said it did not hurt. Despite this, however, he had escaped remarkably unscathed, and it wasn’t merely luck that had saved him.

“Just fantastic”, he said in reply through gritted teeth. He covered the wound with his left hand, with some drops of blood escaping through the gaps between his fingers. It had been a while - a long while- since he’d been injured, and even though his new battle-wound wasn’t anything serious, he hadn’t yet become re-accustomed to the experience.

“Looks like we got all of ‘em up here.”, he remarked while surveying the helm one final time. “Rather, you got all of them. It’s a good thing you were around!”

“I appreciate your assistance in kind,” Solia said, eyes hovering over his wound. “I apologize for leaving you alone against the beast. We should find a healer for that, when this is settled.”

Evander offered only a slight shrug in response, typical of a Northerner unused to accepting much help. “We’ll see. It’s not too bad.”

Turning his attention to the situation on the rest of the ship in an effort to steer the conversation away from the wound, and better hide the pain, he gave a slight nod to the deck below the helm as he looked over the railing toward the fighting still ensuing. It was chaotic, but it appeared as though the crew were gradually bringing things back under control.

“This is not how I thought today was going to go.”

Marlowe winced in pain as looked over to Marea as she violently eliminated several savorask. He looked over to see Terhikki in trouble, and another girl armed with a shield running over to assist her, and he turned to see two more figures; another Northlander and a woman battling the largest Savorask.

The alpha.

With Solia having killed the alpha and it’s brood, many of the Savorask left on the ship seemed to move back now—as if without their alpha, their plan of attack was gone. The blonde man, Max, took a moment to lunge his blade into the head of one, and the few survivors took the opportunity to leap into the ocean, fleeing the ship.

“Ocean’s blight,” the booming voice of Bron came from behind. “Savorask aren’t native to these waters.” He walked over to the wheel of the ship and looked over Evander. “You alright to steer us into that storm?” He turned back to the others, tired and wounded on the deck. “Bandage yourselves, unless one of you lot can heal! We’re about to enter the-“ A huge wave smashed into the side of the ship.



“Damnit!” Bron roared, grabbing onto the wooden railing of the Skullfish. Lightning erupted overhead and thin flecks of rain began to bear down onto the ship. “Marty!” He bellowed to their engineer belowdecks. “Activate the Aether Engine NOW!”

Huge winds began to rock the deck, and as the rain began to increase in its intensity, it became difficult to keep a stable footing. Bron grasped the wheel, motioning to Evander to help him keep a steady heading. “Hang on!” He roared, steering them now on a direct course into the raging storm.

Marlowe was nearly thrown into a pile of dead Savorask bodies as the storm began to kick up, and he quickly steered his head around the deck, looking to see where everyone was. “Marea!” He called for the girl, grabbing onto the hatch leading belowdecks. “Get inside!” If he let her fall overboard and if she was lost to the sea…Talu’s forgiveness wouldn’t be the first thing on his mind. No, he wouldn’t be able to ever forgive himself, either.

The storm raged harder, and it seemed that the crew would be blown completely off the deck; when the booming of the engine erupted in the hold, and a bright green-blue orb of energy began to encase the ship. The wind stopped on the deck, and the rain began to bounce off the barrier.

“We only have a few minutes,” Bron grimaced. “Max! You and a few of these divers get the harpoon ready to fire!” He turned to Evander. “You keep us dead ahead towards that rock.” He jumped down. “You-“ he pointed at Marlowe and Marea. “You help me get the diving gear from the hold. We’ll deal with the stowaway deal later.”

As the wave crashed into the ship, Marea almost immediately lost her footing and began sliding along the deck. Back and forth, she was whipped about as her vision constantly flashed between the deck and the stormy skies above. Grasping at the air, she finally was brought to a stop as she found a holding.

Hearing her name being shouted, the blue-haired girl looked up to see her hands tightly holding onto the collar of Marlowe's shirt, pulling it tightly into his throat. Marlowe...Why are you- I'm choking him!

As the engine finally activated, giving the crew reprieve from the storm, Marea released her suffocating hold on the shirt collar. For a moment, she let out a sigh before placing a hand on Marlowe's shoulder as a dim glow of aetheric energy radiated from the spot and seeped into him, mending the injuries he had sustained from the fight prior.

"There. You...you should be fine to continue."