Blood on the waters. Dying people still conscious thrashing. The pirate ship still chasing after the Floating Fantasy. Nenandil warns that a lot of predators are coming for the banquet. I hope nothing too huge with ship-crushing tentacles co.
I must've wounded a hundred pirates now. I know I took fewer hits than that but my HP is almost half now. While I fight with the small fry, the high-level pirates just watch, biding their ti for the killing blow. More hooks are loaded on the ballistae. I'm running out of options and out of ti. I don't want to shift, not yet. Shifting ans killing all these pirates. I want to interrogate them. I'm not even using {Assassin's Contract} to spare myself from another form of exhaustion. Even Nenandil is low on MP, the waves she made to keep the ships apart took a lot from her.
The captain lady is watching the brawl with an amused smirk. I would sass her if I had the ti or the motivation to.
No. I need ti to recover. I think I'd evened the odds enough that the crew of the Flying Fantasy can keep the pirates at bay. It was a lost fight for them by what I saw. The pirates ca outnumbering the sailors badly. I jump, duck, dive, dodge, and go for one of the stairs leading into the lower decks. From there I go around and descend once more, into the darkness. Darkness is good. I can see, they can't.
The pirates were ordered, "all hands on deck". There's nobody around. Maybe soone hidden but an ambush is not much of a concern. I shift into my hybrid form. Lacking the structure to hold them, my boots fall off my rear paws. I pick them up and tie them to my belt. The bracers too are loose. They go on the other side.
Now it's the waiting ga. Regenerate HP, shift back, and back onto the fray. My pseudopods start to clean the gri, blood, and gore on . I gave up thinking if that's cannibalism long ago. I'm not actually eating - put in my mouth and swallow - people. And even if it is, that might be the among the least of my sins.
I hear the ballistae fire. The pirates didn't co down to get but I hear the trapdoor above shutting closed and heavy chains rattling over them. They think I'm trapped in the hold. Silly pirates.
The hull is made of wood. Thick wood but still just wood. Like a cartoon animal, I claw a circle on the wood and start to carve a wide circular groove, as tall as . After ten minutes, water starts to squirt in so places. From the outside - I don't want to be bashed by a flying disk of wood - I keep carving and more water sprays. The wood creaked and starts to break. I crawl far away.
The disk I carved shatters and seawater starts to seep inside, quickly filling the hold. I take a lungful of air and dive.
The fairy rejoins and casts water breathing. Once the pressure in the hold I'm in stabilizes, I crawl outside and up the rear of the ship. The place with the least eyes. Near the surface, I notice that the usual waterline marks are more than my height beneath the water. Just like with Taylor, Dodge, and Landon, the pirates' vessel is sinking.
Once above the water by a good margin, I turn around and latch my back to the ship hull. With my free limbs - guess not even Mr. Parker can do that - I don my bracers and boots again.
The sharks are having a field day. The water behind us is blood red. I rise and take a peek between the railings.
The Pirate lady is shouting orders. The officers are worried and I hear water splashing. One of them cos to the poop deck and reports.
"Past salvage, ma'am! We are going down in shark waters."
Her first reaction is to caress her lower abdon and frown. The hand briefly caressed that area but in that split mont, she had a tender and sad expression. I know what that mans. Lady's pregnant. Damn.
Now she tugged my heartstrings. I jumped from the deck. The pirate officers drew their weapons.
"You can try. Back in Pynkney, I killed Sullivan and Salvatore without breaking a sweat."
My na-dropping did its magic. They backed off, studying and my stance. I was uninjured, rested, refreshed, and clean. The vultures that were expecting to prey on a worn {Heroine} were the cowards I expected. Then realization hit . I killed Salvatore and Sullivan but it was the Death Princess, not . I hoped they didn't catch my slip of tongue but probably not. That was only twelve days ago and I took five to get here on a fast vessel.
"Back off," The lady captain said. "Let the girl speak. What do you want, Demon Slayer?"
"I can help you guys survive. Maybe we can reach so kind of deal. Na's Apricot. {Heroine} Apricot." A pirate cos closer and looks down. I wave at him. "I invoke guest rights and a truce to parley. If you guys still want to fight, we can fight underwater. If you want to save your booze-swilling faces, stand down and let us talk."
I let {Divine Negotiation} work its miracle and sway the pirates to accept my offer.
They argue but the captain lady shouts, "Let her up. Nobody attacks."
I jump over the railing and back on the deck. "Smart girl," I grin.
"Can you save us from sinking?' She asks.
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