The calm sea gave hope to the small merchant vessel that made its way cautiously across the Palanen Ocean. It meant that one, it would be an easy trip and two, they could easily spot an on-coming pirate ship on the horizon. But for one, small member of the crew, it was a blessing. Jess hated ships, and if she had it her way, she would be more then happy to be several miles west, on the beach and away from all worries of pirates and seasickness.
But for now, she would have to keep to her role that she was a lowly cabin-boy, otherwise she would probably be made to walk the plank for stowing away onboard, or worse. So, with a hat pulled low over her face, her hair bundled up inside it and dressed in a rough jacket that was far too big for her, Jess continued to scrub down the deck, glancing darkly at any who came too close.
About an hour later, she heard the boy in the crow’s nest yell something and there was a murmur of fear from the crew. She stood and turned to the front of the ship, looking for what had startled him so badly. Then she saw it. A black flag topping the horizon. Jess groaned inwardly. Pirates. As usual.
Dimly she realised that this happened to her nearly every time she got on a ship of any sort. The half elf stood, watching the pirate ship with narrowed eyes. It was coming way to fast to avoid, and in any case, it had seen them and the crew wouldn't stop chasing them until they were caught.
Jess sighed and checked the bindings she had around her chest. It would do her no good to have them come loose and prove to the two crews that there was a girl onboard the merchant ship. That done, she backed towards the mast and waited tensely as the other ship grew level with them. She could see the pirates from where she stood, every one of them ugly and bloodthirsty. She sighed, drawing both her swords as the pirates swung grapples across the gap between the ship, and the first brigands hit the deck. They had been boarded.

Kitsu was still trying to hold off a fit of giggles that had started several hours ago, she was completely hidden from sight at the back of the ship and was helping herself to a small pile of apples she'd pinched when nobody was looking. A while ago, when the ship was last at port, she'd managed to sneak on without anybody noticing her. This was about the second time she'd snuck on a ship right under the crew’s nose and they hadn't noticed which caused Kitsu a massive fit of the giggles. She lay back and took a bite out of one of the apples having finally managed to calm down, if anybody saw her here there was absolutely no way out at all.

She looked up and saw a figure, who looked similar to her, standing in plain view with her arms folded, the only differences were her violet hair, red eyes and moody expression, and that her image was slightly faded and only Kitsu seemed able to see her.
Wow, wish I could stand in plain sight without anybody being able to see me she thought fantasizing.
"Well it's not exactly peaches up here you know," Ashi replied "I can't exactly eat when I'm like this and those apples are getting on my nerves."
"I thought you were a spirit?" Kitsu murmured through another mouthful.
"Hey, evil spirits get hungry too okay!" Ashi said glaring at Kitsu.

Kitsu stuffed the rest of the apple into her mouth and swallowed hard, she peeked out briefly from her hiding place to see what was going on, most things looked normal, after all there wasn't much to do on a ship except walk about and throw up over the side. Kitsu crawled back out of sight again and giggled softly while curling her tail round another apple and taking a bite out of it.
"You're a moron," Ashi sighed "you get one stroke of luck and you..."
A yell interrupted Ashi's complaint and she looked up noticing the cabin boy yelling something about pirates.
"Oh for the love of hell," she snarled "they see one pirate ship and immediatly panic."
Ashi sighed and folded her arms. Kitsu however shrank further back into her hiding place.
"Err; I'll just be here 'kay?" She muttered.
Ashi glared at her. "Oh come on, I'm not going to pass up an opportunity like this am I."

The amulet around Kitsu's neck suddenly began glowing scarlet and a sudden light wrapped around her causing a slight wind, it enveloped her completely and faded, Kitsu hair waved about a bit before falling back onto her skull; it had changed purple. She opened her eyes, revealing them to be scarlet, and a smug smile crossed her lips.
"Playtime," Ashi muttered "so where's my woolen ball?"

The pirate ship drew level with the merchant ship and grappled flew across allowing the first batch of pirates to swing across onto the deck. Ashi dashed out of her hiding place and drew her dagger, holding it backwards in her hand and immediatly slashed it sideways cutting the back of a pirate's neck who had stupidly landed too close too her. Ashi's smile grew, she didn't care that she had just blown her cover, humans were such ungrateful creatures anyway.
"The cats out of the bag," she joked "so come get me you savages!"

Xoco kicked open the doors to the cabin’s hold, where the pirate commander was busily loading cutlasses and knives into any pocket he could find. Xoco rolled his eyes. “Pirates…” he thought. He noticed the captain shiver as a chill filled the room. There were advantages to being a Wraith, and one of them was definitely the fear that he could instill in humans.

“I expect that the boarding preparations have been made?” he asked. He was in his human guise, and his cold blue eyes were locked on those of the captain.

“Yessir, all o’ the men r’ right-n-ready for action, sir,” said the captain in a thickly accented voice. Xoco drew Ice, examining the blade at it gleamed in the sunlight that was pouring in through the large back window the captain’s quarters. The gentle lapping of the waves against the large pirate warship was all that could be heard. Xoco began to hear various scrapes and shouts from far-off. The crew of the other ship was well-frightened.

“And, of course, I will be receiving my fair share of the loot?” he hinted. He knew that captain would have no problems forking over what he owed, but Xoco just wanted to make sure. He didn’t trust pirates, or enjoy their company. But they were easy to woo some money out of, especially if you were skilled with a longsword.

“O’course, sir. You’ll be gettin’ yer… uh… what was it again?” asked the captain. Xoco smiled.

“My 20%” he said. The original agreement had been fifteen, but the pirate captain wasn’t apt to remember that with the amount of rum pulsing through his veins. His guess was correct.

“Right you are, sir. Your twenty percent,” said the captain before pushing past Xoco to go out and check the boarding preparations. Xoco smiled to himself, and then walked out of the cabin to a bustling ship. The wind whipped his dark blue cape around behind him, and Ice gleamed brightly in the full, unaltered sunlight. They were very close to the other ship, and when the captain gave the order, various grapples were flung over the side. With a crunch of wood, the two ships collided with one another, and then ground slowly to what seemed like a dead halt. Xoco knew that they were really only coming to a mutual speed, but hey, it wasn’t like he cared. Taking one last glance at Ice, he sized up the enemy ship. Mostly just a bunch of soldiers protecting a merchant ship. The pirates would be easily able to take care of them. Xoco noticed a rather young girl take a pirate twice her size down with a small, well-aimed strike to the back of the neck. He shrugged, and then dashed across the open deck of the pirate ship. He grabbed onto one of the grapples, swinging himself across and into the thick of the sea battle.

Swingin Ice up over his head, he sliced downwards, dropping one of the confused soldiers. He looked about for the girl he had seen, but she was nowhere to be found. He parried a sword blow from another soldier, reposted, and drew a counter-attack. He led the soldier away, spun, and hit him on the back of the head, sending him careening over the railing and into the sea below. Xoco turned, and charged into another pocket of soldiers. At least he was earning his share now.

When the grapples hit the railings and the ships slowed, Jess noticed another girl onboard. She had definitely seen her before, although she looked slightly different. It took the blonde half-elf a moment to remember where she had seen the other girl before. Yes, that was it, she had been hiding at the back of the ship at one point when Jess had run past, but with more pressing matters, such as the yelling boy in the crows nest, she hadn't paid much attention. The girl looked quite different now however, her hair had changed colour, as had her eyes and the amulet around her neck. Jess wasn't quite sure what her intentions were and so she watched her for a few moments as she danced around, dagger drawn.

Jess was suddenly brought back to reality as a burly pirate gave a bloodcurdling yell and leapt at her, a serrated cutlass in hand. Jess blocked the downward swing with one sword, while driving the other one in to the mans stomach and up through his chest. She kicked him off her blade and dove out of the way of a clumsy swing with a hand axe. She squared off her opponent and found herself back to back with one of the soldiers that guarded the ship. The pirate in front swung the hand axe at her and jess used the same trick to defeat this opponent as the last. There was a loud clunk, and then a splash as the soldier behind her was taken down and fell over board, so the blonde girl spun to see who had killed him.

What she saw made her blood run cold. It appeared to be a tall man with long white hair, which billowed freely in the wind that now attacked the ship. He wore light blue clothing that was trimmed with silver, and a dark blue cape swirled around him. He seemed to cast his eye over her but either didn’t register the presence of the small half-elf before him, or he didn’t think a mere cabin0boy would be enough of a challenge to waste the time on. In any case, he turned and drove his way into a group of soldiers, leaving Jess more then slightly unnerved. She was sure, for that the first time in her life, she had seen a wraith.

Of course, she thought as she tried to head in the other direction of the wraith, she had heard stories of them, the fabled grim reaper and the like, but she had never believed them. Well now she definitely changed her mind about that point. Dodging another pirate, she kicked him twice in the stomach and blocked another sword swing from behind. As she turned, she found herself side by side with the girl she had seen earlier. 'Good to see I'm not the only female onboard.' she said to the kitsune as she threw one of her daggers at an on-coming opponent. Then she froze.
She had just blurted out that she wasn't the cabin boy she pretended to be.

Cut. Parry. Repost. Spin. Thrust. The simplistic nature of fighting seemed all too complex as Xoco sliced his way through the ranks of merchant-ship defendants. He blue clothing was now covered in human blood. Ice seemed to gleam and shimmer more brightly now that streams of the dark red liquid flowed down it’s length like tiny rivers. The sword seemed almost happy to be killing. This metaphoric observation was mostly lost in the heat of battle, as one lucky soldier managed to land a strike on Xoco’s leg. It was only a surface wound, but it hurt. Xoco gasped in pain, and then threw his sword down and cut the soldier across the length of his back. The soldier fell away screaming in pain.

Ignoring the protests of his wound, Xoco promptly cross-parried a trust, spun and landed a large gash on his opponent’s neck. The battle raged around him for a few seconds. His injuries began to trouble him. The cut on his leg was healing, and sucking his strength in the process. He had several minor cuts and bruises, and he thought one of his fingers might be broken. He shrugged. It was a small price to be paid for twenty percent of the ship’s cargo.

He turned, charging and swinging Ice as he leapt and bounded into the thick of the chaos again. He was soon driven backwards by a small pocket of soldiers who lashed at him with swords from behind the protection of large wooden bucklers. He was forced up the narrow stairway onto the upper deck of the ship. The chaos was not as prominent up here. The soldiers began to studder up the stairs, but a small band of pirates flanked them and cut them down. From his perch atop the upper deck, Xoco got a better look at the unfolding fight. The soldiers were badly trained, and the pirate’s experience with hand-to-hand combat gave them an advantage. Xoco was confident that their victory was not too far off. And yet he took note of a pocket where the fighting was intensified around a single point… to his surprise, two young girls stood back-to-back, fighting with an intensity that neither the soldiers nor the pirates matched. Xoco was impressed by their stamina and vigor. He decided to get a better look.

Hopping down from his perch atop the upper deck, he cut his way through a few soldiers before making his way to the pocket where the girls were fighting. Two more pirates fell away from them, and Xoco boomed his voice,

“Leave them! Go and finish the soldiers and we can collect the loot. There is no point in eliminating a few cabin boys.” The pirates paused, and then obeyed his orders, leaving him face-to-face with the skilled fighters.

The fight wasn't going quite so well from Jess's point of view. The badly trained soldiers were going down by the dozen to the battle hardened pirates, the cabin-boys were running around, screaming in panic and the captain was nowhere to be seen, probably overboard, and to top it all off, the wraith was headed towards them. Hopefully all he could see was a girl and a cabin boy, but then, why would he be targeting them specifically? All in all, Jess wasn't sure how much longer they could possibly last.

Ducking under a heavy blow from a stout cudgel, Jess's far too large hat dropped over her eyes and for a moment, she panicked, thinking someone had captured her in a bag or something. She started flailing her swords around aimlessly until one collided with the side of the cudgel wielding pirate’s head and he dropped like a stone to the deck. The half-elf leapt to her feet and lifted the hat so it was back properly on her head. Then she paused, and after a moments thought, tossed the hat aside. It was probably too late seeing as she had pretty much already announced herself as a girl and in any case, the damn thing was becoming a nuisance. After another moments pause, she ripped off the baggy jacket and trousers, revealing a green, silk dress underneath. Now she had more freedom of movement.

Jess turned back to the remaining pirates, her straight blonde hair dropping down past her shoulders, but for some reason they turned and ran down into the hold. For a moment, Jess stopped in surprise, and then she noticed that it was now just her, the kitsune and the wraith on the deck. Watching first the wraith, then the kitsune, Jess decided that, for now she would have to trust the girl, she had just helped kill half the pirates after all. The wraith was more then just a problem though, she could feel a cold chill creeping towards her as he approached, and she watched him carefully, not yet sure of his intentions. Just to be safe, she sheathed her swords and slid her bow off her back, laying an arrow on the string and pulling it to half-draw. Then she waited to see what he would do.

Ashi ducked clumsy swings and slid between the pirate's legs, at least the body of a small Kitsune girl had its advantages, she got to her feet and stabbed the pirate in the back then span round catching another pirate in the throat. She looked up and leaped backwards in a back flip as another pirate tried to hit her, she threw her dagger and caught him in the neck. She looked behind her noticed who she'd landed next to.
'Good to see I'm not the only female onboard.' the half elf said.
"Well there was bound to be one," Ashi grinned.

She ducked and kicked out, tripping up another pirate then leapt over him and grabbed her dagger from the floor in time to parry another cutlass, and she knocked it from the man's grip and flipped her dagger around so it was facing backwards again and stabbed the man in the leg and then cut his throat. These pirates were practically armatures, after all she was defeating them left right and centre.
"And I thought in 1000 years that fighting skills would improve," she sighed.
She looked up at the rest of the crew battling the pirates and noticed one different from the rest; he was ploughing through the soldiers like paper.

Ashi narrowed her eyes and started off in his direction but three pirates blocked her path.
"You're getting annoying," Ashi growled as she dodged their feeble attacks.
She kicked one sword aside and it conveniently landed in another ones throat, she then took her dagger and sliced it across the pirate's chest before turning to the final one and parrying his attack as well.
"What the 'ell r you 'olding that thing backwards fer?" He asked tauntingly.
"So I can do this," Ashi replied.
She slashed it across and knocked the man's sword aside, and then reversed the motion landing her dagger in the man's heart.
"Satisfied?" She asked.

She leapt backwards landing near to the half elf again who was getting rid of her cabin boy garments, good thing too because in Ashi's opinion they didn't do a thing for her. Ashi looked up and the image of Kitu appeared beside her.
"Hey, who's that?"
"Huh?" Ashi looked about and spied the person she seen before looking down at them.
“Leave them! Go and finish the soldiers and we can collect the loot." He ordered "There is no point in eliminating a few cabin boys.”
Ashi's eyes narrowed and her expression darkened. "Do I look like aboy to you!" She snarled under her breath.

Ashi readied herself for the stranger’s attack, whoever he was he was about to have his butt kicked right into next week.

Xoco strolled across the deck of the ship, each footstep clunking with a hollow knock on the wooden planks. Blood seeped across the deck from the bodies that lay everywhere, turning the water around the ship red. He noticed in the distance that several sharks were coming this way to see if they couldn’t pick up an easy meal. Tossing his hair back over his head, he took stock of the two more capable fighters. He noticed as they both tensed, weapons ready. He sighed, almost chuckling.

“Put it away. A real warrior knows when he is beaten. Or she, as the case may be,” said Xoco. He was calm, collected, and now, completely in control. He motioned for two pirates carrying chests of spice to set down the loot.

“I want these two kept alive. Tie them and place them in the brig. I want to… talk with them,” he said. The pirates went to grab some rope. In the meantime, Xoco stood on the deck, Ice dripping with the blood of its fresh victims. “That was some rather impressive fighting. Lucky for you, you’ve peaked my interest. Otherwise you’d be dead already,” he said, chuckling to himself. The pirates returned to the deck moments later with some fairly substantial-looking twine. The pirates approached with caution, not wanting to end up like the bodies that laid in a circle around the two girls. Xoco sighed.

“It is sad to see two experience pirates so terrified of a few children. Now you have to ask yourselves, boys, as to who you’re more afraid of.” Xoco stared straight into their eyes. They moved a little faster. “But just to make sure,” he finished, and waved a hand in the air. He stared at the girls, and muttered an incantation under his breath. The fear spell was one of his favorites, always a nice help in a tight spot. He knew it’s effects. To the girls, he would appear as his true Wraith form, only intensified, more terrifying. It would leave them scared and feeling hopeless. He smiled fiendishly.

Xoco watched the fear spell take it’s toll, and then motioned for the pirates that it was safe to tie them up. Xoco smiled, sheathed Ice, and then proceeded across the deck and onto the pirate ship with a satisfying sense of victory.

Ashi glared up at the wraith as he walked towards them and narrowed her eyes.
"Ashi-san, I'm scared," Kitsu said "why is he telling the rest to leave us alone?"
"Something tells me we're about to find out," Ashi replied through gritted teeth; Kitsu vanished from Ashi's vision but she hardly cared.
The wraith chuckled as he approached them; Ashi glared hard at him and didn't even blink.
"Put it away." The wraith said.
Ashi's face darkened, this guy was even more stupid than she thought if he expected her just to give up like that.
"A real warrior knows when he is beaten." The stranger continued unaware of Ashi's resilience "Or she, as the case may be,"
A grin spread across Ashi's face, or rather a smug smile but she kept her expression and gaze upon the stranger.
"Yeah, and vice-versa," she grinned "I know when I'm not beaten, like now for instance."

The stranger seemed to ignore her, or chose not to answer; either way Ashi's smile soon faded and she kept her dagger up.
If I had a proper weapon that guy would be in pieces already, she thought I was lucky this naive brat had any weapons at all.
"I want these two kept alive. Tie them and place them in the brig." The wraith ordered "I want to… talk with them,"
Ashi glared over at the pirates he was ordering around as they immediatly rushed off to do his bidding.
"This guy's in over his head," she muttered to the half elf.

"That was some rather impressive fighting. Lucky for you, you’ve peaked my interest. Otherwise you’d be dead already," the stranger said apparently under the impression that he was superior to them.
Ashi almost laughed at the thought. Fat chance. This guy really is in over his head she thought.
The two pirates returned and Ashi turned her attention to them, the stranger was beginning to bore her immensely, she shot a warning glance at them and they backed off wisely. The wraith sighed at the behavior.
"It is sad to see two experience pirates so terrified of a few children. Now you have to ask yourselves, boys, as to who you’re more afraid of."

The wraith shot the pirates a glance of his own, for some reason it seemed to intimidate them even more than usual, Ashi looked at him with suspicion.
Okay, just who is this guy anyway? She thought come to that, who does he think he is?
"But just to make sure,"
"Huh?"
The stranger raised his arm and muttered something under his breath, whatever he was doing Ashi didn't trust him at all. Suddenly she felt her heart skip a beat and she almost dropped her guard. Looking up she saw that everything seemed to appear allot darker and certainly more vivid, after all she couldn't remember the sails being black and torn.

She looked back down at the stranger and saw he'd changed too, into a tall phantom-like creature.
"A wraith?" She muttered.
She looked to her side and gripped her dagger harder and steadied herself as the pirates drew closer. Suddenly she swung her dagger and cut the ropes they were holding in two, the pirate holding it staggered back having been taken by surprise. Ashi gave him a warning glance and turned about, leaping into the air and landing in front of the wraith, she got to her feet and folded her arms.
"Sorry but I don't scare that easy," she said "being an evil spirit will do that to a person. Now if you want to talk then why not talk here, or would you rather I threw you to the sharks?"

"Sorry but I don't scare that easy, being an evil spirit will do that to a person. Now if you want to talk then why not talk here, or would you rather I threw you to the sharks?" Xoco turned at the comment. He raised an eyebrow. Not only was this girl a rather talented fighter, but she had an attitude to match it. Perhaps it was time to knock that attitude down a few pegs.

Xoco jumped fluidly across the small gap between the two ships and landed with a clunk on the deck of the merchant freighter. Pulling himself up to his full height, he glanced over at the broken rope in the pirate’s hands. He scowled now.

“I think,” he began, “That you have over-estimated my tolerance for impudent little brats.” Xoco turned his head to look at the pirates who were still too frightened of the 14-year-old girl to attempt to bind her. Perhaps she needed a demonstration of his abilities. Turning, he raised his hand and muttered a small string of dark incantations under his breath, completing the Enervation spell. He felt his mana explode out of the fingertips on his upraised hand. A crackle burst through the air as he sent a bolt of dark energy sailing towards the pirate. The bolt slammed into the unfortunate pirate, throwing him backwards. The pirate crumpled onto the deck, smoking slightly. Xoco felt his mana drain, a sudden loss of energy. He was unsure if he had enough energy to cast the spell again, but hopefully it would intimidate the girls enough to scare them into submission.

“It’s just so hard to find good help these days,” he said, cackling evilly. “Now then,” he said, turning and scowling at the girls, “I ought to smite you where you stand for your show of disrespect. But I’m not going to, because I’m nice that way. Now you will allow my men to put you in the brig, or… well, you get the idea,” he said, motioning towards the pirate. Xoco motioned for the surviving man to get more rope, and then stuck around to see to it personally that there would be no more insubordination from the two captives.