The Horat-verse

"I'm just saying maybe we shouldn't eat people!" Yuwen exclaimed as Ginchiyo departed for the cabin. He started after the woman but immediately slipped on deck and smashed into the wet planks head first. Soaked and bruised, he glanced up to see Ginchiyo duck into the doorway of the cabin. He frowned. Jensu wasn't going to like this.

Yuwen steadily got to his knees and rose. The soaking wet dog stared at him from across the deck. "What?!" Yuwen said to the beast. "I'm pro-honouring the dead, how am I the bad guy?!" The dog simply shook its head and wandered off. Yuwen sighed as he adjusted his hood and wiped his face clean of the falling rain. "Okay, Fortune... time to explain why Ginchiyo just wandered below deck."

The guild leader began to climb the wooden steps up to the top of the cabin. He held on tightly to the railing as the Milkweed tumbled through the narrow water. "Captain Jensu, um- so, my crew are getting wet. Like really really wet- and stinky! So I was wondering..." Yuwen began as he stepped up to the top of the deck. But at the wheel he found no pint-sized captain, instead it was the oni first mate held onto the wheel tightly, and ignoring Fortune's words, like always. Yuwen frowned as thunder clapped. Where was the captain?

"I'll um... I'll be back," Yuwen nodded at Matsyan before retreating down the steps and racing toward the cabin door.

Gaining on the Milkweed with intensity was the black kayak, its small and nimble design allowing it to speed through the stormy waves where the large Junk was hindered. As the vehicle approached the back of the ship the cloaked figure inside kicked open the protective elephant-bone cage. Before him, at the bow, a massive form stepped onto the kayak from the darkness of the waves beyond. The hooded figure squinted at the large form and smiled. "Impressive," He murmured to the sunen. "It will never... cease to amaze me who Fortune manages to con."

With sudden speed the hooded figure began to run forward along the nose of the kayak, directly toward Sunaarashi. But a few steps in, before he reached the man, the figure leapt off, flying above Sunaarashi's head. Behind him lighting came down and struck the wood of the kayak, igniting it into flame.

The hooded figure stabbed into the red wooden hull of the junk, beginning to scale up it with a knife in each hand.

The great guild members that had gathered at the back of the boat witnessed the sudden explosion of fire, and at the stern of the ship they waited for the figure to leap over or call out. They waited as the rain continued to pour down, covering the red painted wood in water, but no one came.

"GUILD!" A voice cried. The gang turned to find great balls of fire flying toward them. In a black leather cloak lined with silver coyote fur a figure ran along the railing, his head hidden beneath the cloak's hood. The cyclones of flames smashed into the deck, their fire spreading weakly under the rain. "Where is he!" The man spat, kicking outward. The air around his foot combusted into fire and flung forward violently toward Matsyan, who smashed to the ground to see it hit the wheel of the Milkweed, instantly engulfing it in flames. The man jumped off the railing and slid along the wet deck until her reached the mast, which he grabbed with two hands and began to burn. "Where is Fortune?!"

***

"What!? Are we doing here?!" Yuwen's voice echoed after Ginchiyo's. Ginchiyo, Samyan, Namari, and Shuin all turned to see the guild leader, soaking wet, at the bottom of the hull ladder. "We had an agreement with the captain guys, come on!" Yuwen complained, approaching the group unsteadily as the gravity of the hull shifted again.

"I didn't," Samyan replied casually, raising a hand. She pointed to the tall raven-haired woman. "Me and the hot one never gave anything."

She turned her face to the other man. "This is why I said to keep watch, by the way. No one listens."

"You buffoons! I speak for the guild, and according to the contract you signed that means I speak for you," Yuwen said as he walked between the shipping crates down the spine of the hull. "What are you guys doing down here anyway?"

Samyan hopped up and met Yuwen before he rounded the last of the crates, taking his shoulders and wheeling him right back around. "Gambling. You're not invited."

For a moment, she thought she smelled smoke. Maybe the mast had been struck by lightning? Hm. She glanced back at Namari for a brief moment, then continued marching Yuwen back toward the ladder.

Many questions darted around in Suiken's mind at the moment. How did this man know of the Guild when they had formed only days ago? He wasn't one of the Tengu bandits, so a villager of Poyo perhaps? The thought seemed preposterous given his lack of appearances during the festival and the subsequent Hatago Warrior attack. But then he mentioned Fortune. How long had he been following Fortune and why now?

"If it's not one damn thing, it's another...We have to stop him! I'll join you after I check on the First Mate!" Suiken snarled as he ran towards the ship's wheel. Drawing out his Fang-Mallets, he attempted to use the ice infused within them to douse the flames on the wheel. "First mate!" he shouted at the downed Fire Oni. "How do you fare?"

The demands for Fortune were answered with a powerful gust of wind, the fires on the deck and mast blown out. Lo-Muna landed upon the deck, one hand upon it to steady herself. The chi that had enhanced her legs for the kick now flowed through her entire body.

"He'll be ash in the river if you insist on burning this boat down," Lo-Muna said as she readied herself to kick again. Her ears were swiveling around but they weren't listening for Fortune. Instead, she was listening for the others. She knew Takai was already fearful and that there were stronger warriors than her in the guild. She herself only had one chakram and wasn't very adept at fighting elemental chi users. At most, she could offer a distraction. Her body tensed, ready to tag out when the others stepped forward to deal with the threat.

"It's a small boat! Maybe if you had asked nicely, we could have worked something out!" Lo-Muna called out.

"I hate fire," Sunaarashi muttered, smashing a foot down on the kayak, cracking the burning wood in half and sending the craft into the water. As darkness doused the fires, Sunaarashi's shadows slipped upwards, grasping the wood of Jensu's craft on one side. With a mighty heave, Sunaarashi erupted from the water and landed on the deck, the liquid accompanying him dousing the fireman's attempts at igniting the craft.

Unfortunately, this entrance also made the craft skew violently to port, sending everyone and everything not attached to the deck tumbling and the driverless boat towards the rocky shore of the river.

"I'm dead, I'm dead," Matsyan insisted, waving Suiken off as he approached. "Wouldja quit it already I said I'm dea-" She shot bolt upright, eyes snapping open shortly before her face crinkled in disgust. "Ah, god dammit, I'm alive."

"Agh, figures it'd take more'n some prissy wizard to end me." The fire oni took a long swig from the jug at her waste, using Suiken's shoulder to pull herself to her feet, muttering a string of Hokoran swear words. "Cap'n, I think we may need t' reconsider our plan," she called out.

"Still, guy's got some experience at least," she continued, not bothering to the snow oni. "Knew enough to not face a fire oni on the water, since he went for me first. Or maybe he figured I'd hard counter his little light show, what with me bein', well," She gestured to her long red horns. "'Which is funny 'cos uh, heh." She splayed out her fingers, wiggling them at Suiken. "Look ma, no magic!"

The ship was rocking in directions that it wasn't designed to move, and the turbulence sent the unrestrained crates sliding left and right, nearly crushing everyone's shins into bone dust.

"I sensed something squirming around in the hold," Namari said, weaving past Yuwen and Samyan and climbing up the ladder. "But we have bigger problems now." Shuin caught himself on one of the boxes as the ship's sway tilted him off balance and hurriedly trailed behind.

"No clue what's going on up there, but this is the last place I want to be if this thing starts to flood!" he raised his voice over the sounds of both fire and water crashing around them. They kicked open the door to the cabin and were met once again with the torrent of rain pouring down on the upper deck. He stared out toward the mast and then looked back at Namari. "That guy?"

Her fingers wrapped around her hilt. "Yes." Namari leapt off of the cabin platform and hit ground level, circling around to the stranger's side opposite to Sunaarashi. Shuin squinted through the downpour, making note of the scorch marks around the mast and the smoke blowing away from its surface. A fire chi user, huh...

"Looking for Fortune?" He said with his hand on his chin. As if suddenly remembering something, he struck his closed hand into his palm and nodded. "Have you checked under the ship?"

Yuwen frowned as Namari and Shuin shuffled passed him. Yuwen watched as the two began to climb up , the rope ladder swaying left to right as the ship did. "Squirming around in the hold?" Yuwen repeated, turning to Samyan and Ginchiyo. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. between Samyan's arms he spotted goblin appendages reaching out. Yuwen pushed through the two taller women and stopped before the caged goblins. They stared up with him with emerald eyes, their heads entrapped in metal gags. "Gods in heaven," Yuwen breathed, horror on his face. He began to pull on the metal of the bars. "Ginchiyo, Samyan- help me free them!" He yelled. It wasn't a request, it was a demand.

Suddenly the ship rocked again. Yuwen was pulled off his feet, flying towards the port wall of the hull, the cage of goblins soaring after him and threatening to flatten his body whole...

***

The cloaked figure's body flung back at Lo-Muna's kick, his arms raised in a cross and absorbing the impact of the blow. "He'll be ash in the river if you insist on burning this boat down," The soaking rabbit called from across the deck.

"Do you even know who this Yuwen Fortune is?" The mysterious attacker called out over the waves. "Because I promise you, staying aboard with him is no less deadly than staying aboard with me." He charged, the water on deck spraying up with his boats as he did. And then he launched into the air, blasting himself up off the ground with a swift burst of fire to avoid Lo-Muna's next kick. The hooded villain landed behind Lo-Muna and reached out, fire engulfing the beast-woman from behind.

Suddenly river water rained down like buckets, putting out the fire on Lo-Muna's fur. The hooded figure turned to see the sunen from the kayak rise from behind him, having apparently made it back to the Milkweed in one piece. "Looking for Fortune?" A voice called. The attacker turned to the cabin entrance, where Shuin and Namari emerged. "Have you checked under the ship?"

"Under the ship, eh?" The hooded villain smirked. As if on queue with his words the ship was smashed into by the kayak, causing the vehicle to tip. The river water splashed up over the port-side of the Milkweed and the guild began to fall toward the choppy waters. The hooded villain leapt up, stabbing into the deck with a knife and steadying himself as the ship rocked.

Across the deck Suiken and Matsyan began to slide away from the wheel, over the edge of the cabin rooftop platform and onto the deck with the rest of the guild. With a snarl the cloaked man began to climb toward the sliding pair of Oni, combing in with a strong kick to Suiken's stomach. The hooded villain turned to Matsyan, who was trying to stay stable aboard the lopsided deck.

"Hey friend, about your ship," The cloaked figure began, raising one hand from his knives. "Don't sweat it." Suddenly the sweat on Matsyan's body ignited, burning her alive.

Suiken looked on in horror as he sat up to see not only the ship beginning to swing violently to the portside after a sudden violent lurch, but Matsyan suddenly being lit ablaze. "St-stop this!" He reached a hand one hand out to plead to the hooded villain while the other clutched his stomach in pain. "I don't know what ordeals you've gone through with Fortune, but this madness ends here!" Suiken stated.

His Ice-Fang Mallets had slid over to him as the ship began to keel over. With surprising speed he grabbed one by the handle and tossed it like a boomerang at the cloaked man's ribs. He then rolled over and suddenly tackled Matsyan over the starboard side of the hull to douse her in river water. "By the great spirits, I hope you can truly swim..." he muttered.

Xanth slipped and tumbled like a stray ball across deck as the ship lurched, shooting over the railing - only to be held on by the very ends of her tippy toes managing to stick on it. She looked up at the choppy water that splashed at her head and held out a finger towards it, gazing across it towards the sharp rocks reflected on it which - which the ship was now headed towards-

The ship swayed back upright and she went with it, not once looking away from the incoming disaster. Her head whipped to the wheel, which was on fire, along with the helmsman and a steadily increasing array of things and people. Everyone was focused on the hooded man. Xanth sprinted over the railing, managing to stay upright despite the rocking, and whistled for the dog to follow her. He was sliding about the wet deck helplessly and dug his claws into the slick wood to follow her out of immediate combusting range.

She leapt off in front of the helm and began to pat frantically at the flames with wet hands. No such luck. She wanted to scream at everyone, Where is the Captain?! A candle lit up in her head and she dashed with a blade ready towards the wet tarp she'd had her lesson under, slicing it free from the ropes that tied it down, and ran back to smother the fire with it. Phew.

Wheel looking black and crispy, she noted why Jensu had their first mate helm half the time. She could barely see over it. She needed a box or something - no time, no time! Xanth clambered up, fixing her feet and hands on the wheel so she could see where they were going, and began to turn the ship violently away from shore.

Lo-Muna cried out as fire erupted onto her back, doused moments later by Sunaarashi's arrival. The damage was done however and she gritted her teeth as pain came from the area of burnt flesh. She didn't have long to dwell on it however as the ship began to rock violently. Her feet slipped and she dug her claws in to keep herself from going overboard. The hooded man was already off though.

"Because I promise you, staying aboard with him is no less deadly than staying aboard with me."

"Hooded man!" she screamed as grabbed her only chakram from her waist. Chi flowed through her arm and she launched it at his legs as Suiken launched his mallet at his ribs. She needed answers and she needed him alive.

Sunaarashi watched with detached interest as the man in the hood and a few of the others attacked each other. The man did not seem a slaver, and Suna held no animosity towards the man setting his own kayak on fire. Thus the Sunean was content with letting the others handle the situation, at least for now.

However, the hold below where he had heard Yuwen yell from moments prior, that held more interest. Using shadows to root his feet, Sunaarashi crossed to the hold and descended.

"Yuwen," Sunaarashi said calmly as he took in the scene. His hands reached out and grasped the cage, halting in its tracks. "You've been requested above. By the way, have you seen our captain? I would love to gut them slowly."

Yamato hovered inches above the deck to avoid the ship's violent swaying. He took Suiken's place as the Oni tackled the fire Oni into the water. and drew his blade to face the hooded man as well. "Enough of this, what is it you're hoping to prove here?"

The scenario as a whole was almost comical, the captain they had chartered was using them as a cover for smuggling slaves, and the proverbial icing on the tanghulu was that they were of the same race as the captain. "Black or white Mr. Fortune? Since we are freeing these goblins, I assume you intend to have good Captain tried and executed?" Before Ginchiyo had the time to assist his efforts to free the slaves, the ship rocked violently; she almost lost her footing, but the shake had also caused the cage full of huddled masses to slide towards Yuwen with vicious intent to flatten him.

She needed only not act and she would be free from her servitude, Yuwen would be crushed between wood and steel. That would weigh entirely too hard on her conscience, however, the awkward man had carried her out of the catacombs. She prepared to leap to his aid, but before she had time to throw herself between his body and the cage, the dark-skinned Suni halted the steel deathtrap.

"Yuwen... You've been requested above. By the way, have you seen our captain? I would love to gut them slowly."

With a smug grin, Ginchiyo's golden eyes locked onto Yuwen, who was still plastered against the port side of the hull. "Black or white," Her golden eyes shone brightly in the darkness of the hull, reflecting the light of the lanterns hanging sparsely about, her view fixed on the Guild leader. Tensing her legs, Ginchiyo deliberately made her way to the staircase, careful not to fall and be tossed around like the rest of the cargo. The Suni before her had a fire smoldering in his eyes, one that held an intense ire.

"The enemy of my enemy," Her low voice was almost ominous in that it could be heard throughout the entire hull. She waited for Yuwen before heading topside, "So Mr. Fortune, I heard this great joke recently. A mysterious goblin who doesn't divulge that she is a slaver, demands you provide your weapons as collateral; a short time later you are attacked by someone who knows you'll be on her ship. After you die, there is no line for the Hwachae."

Samyan crossed her arms as the others stomped around, leaning the opposite direction as the ship tilted sideways until she was nearly laying on the floor, then righting herself as it tilted back. These humans were awfully quick to arrive at their conclusions, but something about all this...

Why would a slaver hide their slavery in a country where it was legal? Weren't goblin slaves as common as bread in most places? And when one considered the chain binding Namari and her tagalong, the Great Circus Fortune didn't exactly give the immediate impression of an abolitionist mindset. Hm...

"What's Hwachae?" she asked, her train of thought immediately evaporating on contact with this incomprehensible new phrase. Samyan followed the tall woman quickly up the ladder, eyes momentarily fixed on the human directly above her.

The ship had erupted with bouts of fire and fighting, a hooded figure appearing, confirming that their stalker had in fact had malicious intent all along. When the boat listed, Ren began to slip down the slick deck, but managed to aim himself towards the cabin, colliding with the covered area he'd been teaching in earlier. Xanth was quick to grab the tarp from over top of him, running to douse out the flames on the ship's wheel. He allowed a slight sigh of relief, pleased to have avoided a watery fate, at least for now. The ship began to turn away from shore, leaving its listing position, while Suiken and Lo Muna coordinated attacks against the hooded figure.

It was at this point that Ren Van realized he had dealt with more than enough inconveniences and near death experiences the past few days. Certainly the attack on Poyo was enough, but this had crossed several lines for him. The swordsman stood back on his feet, and drew both his swords.

Dual wielding swords, while a very cool sounding concept, was a terrible idea. The length, the weight, the ergonomics, made it incredibly impractical to fight like this, and nearly impossible to properly block attacks. Many warriors who'd attempted it lost limb or life for their mistake, hence why most armies, combat schools, teachers, etc. make sure to stamp out such silly ideas to avoid more of these losses. It was stuff better left to myths and legends.

Which is what makes the Dual Blade Van Royal Wardens so unique. The Yeuxkyenan warrior nobles, tasked by their Kings and Queens as defenders of the island's northern regions for what has likely been centuries. A lineage born with chi abilities that gave them bodily strength, speed, agility, nimbleness, that was almost unsurpassed by any other humans. All the qualities that wielding two, full length swords, would demand.

Ren grinned as he twirled the two blades once, twice, thrice, watching the hooded man as he approached. "Your words of praise for Mr. Fortune seem to lack a certain sincerity to them, perhaps because you're lighting some innocent Goblin Captain's ship on fire, which also incidentally puts our lives in mortal peril." The swordsman gave a slight shrug as his grip tightened on both swords. "So you'll have to forgive me, but I don't feel particularly convinced."

His feet pressed hard into the planks of the ship, and a moment later he was propelled towards the enemy at lightning speed, blades readied and intended to target the man's arms. Ren had decided he could likely live without those. Besides, there was plenty of fire around to seal those wounds up with later...

"Whats Hwachae?"

Her ascent stopped right before it finished while she pondered how to describe the beverage. "It's like a fruit drink that is served cold but it puts a fire in your belly. I think the elders call it 'punch,' or it has a punch, something like that." She shook her head before finally throwing herself back on deck just in time to see the other Gwanish human in the guild draw both swords and throw himself at the newly arrived stranger.

"It seems the Guild Fortune is protecting its leader."

The Milkweed swayed violently upright as Xanth took the wheel, narrowly dodging shoreline rocks. The hooded villain skidded on the soaking wood of the deck. Like a tracking missile one of Suiken's ice-mallets flew towards him. With a grunt the hooded man rose his hand, blasting fire out toward of his palm as if it were the mouth of a dragon. The ice-mallet was dampened by the flame but still came through, and at his legs one of Lo-Muna's chakrams threatened to cut his limbs clean off. He lurched to the side, somehow weaving between both the weapons whilst only being grazed: a long, bloody mark slicing across his fur-adorned chest, and his leg soaking in red.

The hooded villain touched down on the deck with a thud, his left leg twitching at the wound. From above the man Yamato hovered, sword drawn and aimed. "Enough of this!" The tengu demanded. "What is it you're hoping to prove here?"

The hooded man looked up at Yamato, letting the rain splash his open eyes. "Oh, you're beautiful," He breathed, raising his knives and readying himself. "Believe it or not, great guild: I am trying to help you!"

From across the deck Ren Van sped forward, two blades drawn. It was at this moment that Yamato dived. The hooded villain raised his knives, and with an athletic leap flew between the two men, deflecting both as he slid through. The villain landed heavily behind Ren and with a scream stabbed forward, sending a kick of fire at Yamato as he did. Ren was faster though, and with a single blade blocked the man's knife. "I met Yuwen in the village of Bao Lo over five years ago! At a festival!" He said. Ren's other blade flew toward's him and with a blast of fire the hooded villain propelled himself backwards in retreat. "Soon the bell rang and the festival was said to be under attack."

Yamato was at the man's feet with a half-cut. The ragged villain caught the blade with his knife and managed to deflect. "He said bandits were coming to attack from the mountains, and that he wanted the bravest of warriors!" The hooded villain called out to the guild, sending a kick at Yamato and blasting the deck with another douse of fire. The hooded man scattered onto the stairs of the bridge. "But Yuwen had a plan! He said he would launch a surprise attack, he said that the bandits were camping in a field not far from town, but when the warriors and I arrived there were no bandits. We were confused but soon understood."

The hooded villain ran across the command deck, sending fireballs out behind him as he did, before bounding out and stabbing into the damaged mast of the Milkweed once more. "It was a setup, and the guards, when they arrived, were convinced that it was we who had been plotting to attack the town. And joining Yuwen's guild was the only way out... the one loophole." The hooded villain looked at the guild below him as thunder clapped above. "Sound familiar?"

***

"Wait, guys!" Yuwen called out to Ginchiyo and Samyan, climbing out from behind the cage as Sunaarashi pushed it away. But it was no use- Ginchiyo and Samyan had already disappeared through the wooden manhole. Suddenly the ship shifted again, Yuwen losing his balance and falling sideways into Sunaarashi. Beneath the roar of the storm the sounds of violence and fire could be heard above deck. Yuwen looked up at the man who had caught him wide-eyed. "We need to get the goblins out of here- now."

"No, Fortune, you're not taking them anywhere!" Yuwen turned to see out of the darkness a geta-bound foot fly forward. It slapped him in the face, sending him to the ground and across the hull. Landing where he stood was Captain Jensu in a wide stance, a bottle in hand- the entire hull swaying around them like a sea of wood. Jensu gnarled at Sunaarashi and with shocking sent their hands forward. They smashed into Sunaarashi's stomach with the hit, the tiny goblin somehow hitting him toward a crate like a rock- steady even in the chaos of the wobbling hull.

"Suna!" Yuwen screamed. From the wall of the hull he pulled a mop out, aiming it like a weapon at Jensu. Yuwen breathed, channeling his chi into the weapon as if it were a sword. He ran forward, bringing the mop down with a mighty overhead strike on the goblin. Jensu grabbed the wood between their hand and pushed it away...

The shadows in the craft lurched upwards and around Jensu as Sunaarashi raised a fist. Tendrils latched on to the goblin captain's wrists and ankles, stretching them tight. Sunaarashi recovered his balance, his face emotionless as he stepped forward once again.

"I'll give you one chance to defend yourself, Captain Jensu," Sunaarashi said, his voice as sharp as the blade he drew from the scabbard on his back. "You asked for a gift for passage. This is mine to you. One chance to persuade me you aren't a slaver, and that my oath of blood and shadow should not extend to removing your head from your shoulders."

"If what you say is true..." Suiken began to.cough, the flames now spreading anew across the deck. "" Then leave us be! We can deal with Fortune on are own. You seek to warn us but you endanger us all!" The snow oni looked up at the damaged mast. This ship wouldn't hold with this...And everyone who had gone below deck still had yet to emerge...just what was taking them so long to emerge?!

"Lo-Muna, Yamato, Ren!" Suiken shouted back at the others, forced to shout over the road of the flames. "We're not going to make it as is on the Milkweed!" He continued slamming his hands onto the deck, ripping the already weakened floorboards apart. "We need to push him back...and get ready to hang on for dear life!"

Lo-Muna tsked, putting a hand on her hip as she considered the hooded man's words. It wasn't a surprise to her since she knew the shifty little weasel had something to hide. He had yanked the scroll from her hands, forced them all into the guild, and had led them into a situation where a prized possession was used as ransom. Each crime was being tallied up but so far, Yuwen hadn't merited death... Yet.

"Too bad you couldn't have delivered this fortuitous news in a nicer way," Lo-Muna muttered as chi began to flow through her legs. "We could have worked together!"

With a thunderous spin kick, Lo-Muna sent out a large, more powerful blast of wind towards the Hooden Villain, intending to knock him off the boat and into the choppy waters.

At Lo-Muna's blast the hooded villain was sent back. He dug a knife into the wood of the mast but the timber snapped in two. The hooded villain fell, disappearing before the bow of the ship, entangled in splinters and burning sails. Suiken continued to rip the boards of the deck up, rusty nails flying out at his pure strength.

In the hull Yuwen paused as the planks above them were pulled apart, revealing Suiken covered in rain and backlit by fires. Yuwen looked up at the man in surprise, trying to make out what was happening above the hull. "Suiken?! What's going on up there?!"

Rain splattered on Jensu's face, the firelight illuminating their form. The shadows Sunaarashi had used to bind Jensu retreated in the light, and the goblin landed on two feet and a hand at Sunaarashi's feet. Before the Sunen had time to react Jensu leapt, smashing their bottle against the man's jaw, and propelling themselves off him and up. They launched themselves out of the hole Suiken had created and skidded to a halt on the slick, rain covered deck. Small fires lit up the wood, their mast was heaved in two, and around them the stormy river waters grew more and more violent. They looked up to the wheel, spotting Xanth trying desperately to control the vehicle.

"You desert dwelling idiot, you're going to kill us all!" Jensu screamed, leaping up and landing before Xanth. Jensu approached the human of shockingly a similar height and tried to grab their hands off the wheel.

"Xanth, don't listen to them!" Yuwen called, emerged onto the deck and pushing past Namari and Shuin, who had remained at the cabin entrance watching the chaos on deck. "In the deck below us there is a cage filled with goblins," Yuwen turned to Jensu, lightning striking behind them. "Captain Jensu is a slaver."

"What?" Takai snapped, holding on with his tail to the railing of the ship that lurched and threatened to send them all overboard in the storm. Anger and betrayal filled him - a goblin slaver was despicable - yet another emotion began to creep in, forcing Takai to squint at Fortune in the wind and rain: doubt.

If what the hooded villain said was true, then should they trust the word of this Guild Leader? Or was this another one of his tricks? But why?

"We need to get off this boat," the monkey man shouted over the storm as he carefully slid his way toward the deck below, "We can deal with you and Jensu later - we need to free those guys and get off this boat before we all drown!"