Part One, Chapter Three

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The four came down to the first floor of the inn. Immediately, the pirates left their beer in favor of surrounding their captain. "We're to go, Captain?" they asked.

Faris's purple locks shook along with the head the locks sat on. "No, this is as far as I want you guys to go."

"But Captain!" one protested. "We're a team."

Faris's head shook again. "It's only going to get more dangerous from here on out. Besides, if you come with me, who'll protect the hideout? At any rate... we'll have Syldra with us."

The pirates watched their captain leave with the other three. Once out of the inn, Lenna turned and faced Faris. "You really care about them, don't you?"

"Yeah, they're family... or whatever I have that passes as one."

A young kid ran up to them. "Hey, is it true you're going to go through the canal?"

Butz smiled. "Yeah, why?"

The kid looked at Lenna. "You're going to have to drink a lot of potions."

The four of the team stared at the kid. "Why?" Lenna asked.

The kid looked at them like it should be self evident. "'Cuz the monsters of the canal only attack women."

Faris frowned. "Hmm... no wonder."

Before anything else could be said, the kid ran back to his playmates and started a mock battle. The four reboarded the ship, Faris immediatly took the wheel, directing Syldra underneath by touch. The ship sailed easily through the seas... the windless sky... with the speed of the sea serpent underneath, the ship quickly reached the gate to the Torna Canal.

Without warning, Butz jumped up onto the railing and off the ship onto the Canal's lock. From a pocket, he withdrew a key and inserted it into the lock. The lock swung open silently. But withdrew the key and stuck it back in his pocket... getting back onto the ship.

"Butz," Lenna said. "Where did you get that key?"

"Does it matter?" Butz asked, remembering Zokk's request not to tell Lenna. "Let's go."

With swift hands, Faris deftly the ship into the canal. Except for the occasional monster, the trip through was largely uneventful, and for the most part- the monsters did leave the men alone. But then... the ship stopped moving forward.

Galuf was the first to raise his head and look at Faris. "Huh? Why have you stopped the boat."

"I didn't," Faris said. The ship moved backwards. Faris looked over the side. "Ah shit."

"What?" Butz asked.

"That damn whirlpool."

"Can't you get out of it?"

"It's not the whirlpool that bothers me. It's the monster that lives inside of it."

Lenna looked up. She wasn't too happy, having gotten more than her fair share of hits from the matriarch attacking monsters. "What kind of monster?"

Said monster jumped out of the whirlpool and landed on the ship's deck. It looked something between a scorpion, a lobster, and a squid. "Karlabos," Faris said, getting between the monster and Lenna.

Karlabos's stinger shot out, blowing through Faris and jabbing Lenna. The stinger retracted as Karlabos moved back and forth, eyeing both Faris and Lenna. It reared itself, ready to strike again, save that a lightning bolt struck out of the clear sky. Galuf dashed over, screaming something that sounded like, "Lightning!" Another lightning bolt followed quickly thereafter.

A blast of fire followed, but from Butz instead of Galuf.

Karlabos's hook came out, smashing into Faris, shoving Faris into Lenna. "If I didn't know better," Lenna gasped, "I'd say he was attacking you too."

"Knight's skill is covering," Faris explained.

Another bolt tossed Karlabos overboard. "Well, that's that," Galuf said.

The ship sailed out of the canal, but it lacked it's thrust that had been expected. Faris looked up, looked overboard. "Syldra!" the captain bellowed.

The others looked to where Faris looked. The magnificent head of Syldra was sticking up out of the middle of the whirlpool, the claws of Karlabos was dragging him down.

Galuf and Butz grabbed Faris's arms, preventing the captain from diving over to swim to Syldra... preventing the captain from getting killed. "Syldra!" Faris cried out. "Let go! Let go of him!" Syldra gave one last pitiful cry and sank beneath the water. Only then did Faris stop struggling. "Syldra...?" The captain sat down hard.

"We're drifting, aren't we?" Butz asked Galuf where he stood by the railing. Galuf nodded. Butz turned and found Lenna standing behind him. "Is Faris okay?"

Lenna looked over her shoulder to where Faris stood alone on the port side. "Just leave him alone. Faris is going to need time to sort this out." Silence followed.

The ship jerked to a stop with an audible crunch. Galuf practically dove out of the ship's innards. "We've breached!"

The other three didn't need Galuf's observation to be able to tell they've breached. They had run into the side of a massive mound of ships, broken and decaying. "Where are we?" Butz asked.

"The Ship Graveyard..." Faris hesitated in saying it, and it was not without reservation. "And now, my ship's become just another one of them." The captain's purple haired head was hanging over the side, looking down at where the ship was punctured.

"Well," Galuf said. "I've got more important things to do than to sit here and wait for my bones to follow. I'm going to find a way out of here." The mast of Faris's ship fell, creating a kind of bridge to the next ship. Galuf jumped onto it.

Butz shrugged and followed. Lenna dragged Faris behind her. Before long, they had caught up with Galuf, he had stopped just inside the entrance into the innards of the next ship over. "What's up?" Butz asked.

"Map," Galuf held up the article of paper he found.

"Great," Faris muttered. "Always wanted to know where I wasn't."

"Faris," Lenna chided, though it really didn't look right since Lenna was the youngest of the group.

Butz had advanced to the next door that lead farther into the ship. "Uh, guys, we've got a problem. Wanna get to the other side of the ship, gonna have to take a swim."

Faris moved to his side. "Ah... do we really wanna do this?"

"Chicken?"

"Hell no! I... just don't wanna get all wet."

Butz shoved Faris in. "The sooner you're in, the sooner you're out." For his actions, Faris reaction was to pull Butz in. "Whaaaa!"

Faris splashed water in his face. "The sooner you're in, the sooner you're out... you said it." To spite Butz, Faris swam off into the dark murky water. Butz followed in Faris's wake. This time it was Galuf's turn to shrug and follow.

"Oh dear," Lenna said before diving in.

A few underwater battles later, they had emerged on the other side of the boat. "Man, I'm soaked..." Butz shivered.

Lenna looked around the room they had entered. There were some old chests, rotted so badly that they showed their dark interior, nothing of interest. Some beds with passable covers, and another door leading somewhere. "This place seems safe. Let's take a rest." With almost too much girlish enthusiasm, Lenna made for the other door. "I have to go dry my clothes... Don't peek!"

When she disappeared, Butz looked to Galuf and Faris, "Should I?" His grin disappeared from one look at Galuf's disapproving gaze. He grabbed some of the wood and tossed it onto the floor in a large tin casket. Galuf came over when Butz had lit it. "C'mon, let's dry out clothes."

Faris's head bowed. "I'm just fine... really..."

"How can you say that?" Galuf demanded. "You'll catch cold!" Immediatly, Butz and Galuf advanced on Faris.

"Stop that!" Faris pulled away in vain. "Hey, I said stop!!" Faris's tunic was torn away.

In one swift movement, Galuf and Butz had stepped away from Faris while the captain reached over and shrugged the tunic back on... covering perfect breasts.

Lenna came out, attracted by the sound of the commotion. "What's wrong?"

Butz held up a shivering hand, he was still in his own wet clothing. "Lenna, Fa... Faris is..."

"A girl!!" Galuf exclaimed.

Faris looked over her shoulder. With the wet clothing hugging her body, there was no doubt to anyone that Faris was female. "What's wrong with that!?" she seemed ready to bite heads off.

Lenna walked over to Faris's side, nothing but sympathy was there. "But, why...?"

Faris shivered. She still donned wet clothing, so she stepped closer to the fire. "I was found by the pirates when I was little, and they raised me."

"So you pretended to be a man?" Butz asked.

The captain's back was to the other three, but they saw her shoulders sag. "I was afraid that if the pirates knew, they'd make fun of me because I was a girl."

Knowing glances passed between Galuf and Butz. "Hmph." Galuf smirked. "I knew you were too beautiful to be a man!"

"You and me both," Butz said.

Faris faced them. While Butz and Galuf shared glances, Lenna shrugged showing she had no idea what they were talking about. She smacked Galuf's shoulder (it was the closest to her), "Hey, just remember that my being female doesn't make me any less important. I'm just as good as you guys."

Butz shook his head. This drew a stern look until Butz finally explained. "Yeah... I've seen you in battle. You're a hell of a speed demon. If anything, I'd say you're better."

Faris growled, "Well, get over it." She gave her clothing a glance, they had dried partially from her time standing by the fire. "Time for bed."

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