Fable - Ask The Away Team

[Andromeda]

"When a man gives you a cabin, I can assure you it's never usually for any good reasons," Ana smiled a little sadly. She was of course used to it. Even from her time on shore; men would be men and pirates were the bottom of that pile. She shrugged it off like it didn't matter anyway because it didn't if this plan went the right way. There would be a different ship and a different crew that she was sure would be less... handsy.

Once he had shown her to the cabin she threw open the windows to let the rancid air out and the sea air in before hurling the sheets out too. At Lucius curious look she shrugged. They wouldn't be staying for long but she was pretty sure the sheets were the core of the smell issue. Along with a few crusty looking socks which also went out the window.

With the place reasonably tidy and airing out she went back out onto deck with him and leaned against the rail on her elbows. There was the usual idle conversation about this or that, mainly about the crew so Ana could put names to faces a bit more, until Peyton rejoined their group. Her eyes slid over her, narrowing a bit but she bit her lip and looked back out to sea, her weight shifting from one foot to the other.

"So what crew do you plan on bringing with you?" she asked in a low voice.

 

[Lucius]

"Probably off roosting somewhere in the rigging." Lucius quipped with a smirk, glancing up at the sails to ensure that their friend hadn't been caught in any of the lines and left there.

After a few seconds he looked back town at his two companions.

The ship they were on was not massive, but they'd managed to sway a few like Dav over to their side. He knew when the plan came to a head there might be a bit of trouble, but he figured they'd cross that bridge when they actually got there.

"Dav over there. Vrek, Charlie, and Bol too." Be pointed to the four whose names he said. Each one seemed every part a pirate. The latter two weren't human with Charlie being some sort of an orc and Bol being what he called a "half-troll". Lucius hadn't worked out the mechanics of that just yet. "All part of the Vanguard, good guys."

Lucius had befriended them quickly and had taken measure of them. None were instigators or trouble makers, generally just wanting their piece of whatever catch and a good life. That was why they'd signed on, some of how the Captain and Sol dealt with things hadn't sat well with them.

He glanced at Peyton, noticing adjusting her collar. "Need a new jacket?"

Lucius teased with a smile.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton frowned briefly at Lucius’ words “What? No, why?” she stared at him but his smile caused her brow to lift and her expression to relax “Oh .. no I’m good for jackets thanks.” she eased and smirked at him.

She turned to lean her back against the rail to make sure nobody came into earshot of the three as she spoke, her eyes wandering over the deck. “I have a few more I’ve yet to hold discussion with but they won’t be an issue..” she added quietly.. “We just need to get the ship back to Teth and we can crew up there..” she nodded.

Sure they weren’t going to be overheard she shot a glance to Lucius. “So Sol went overboard, Hm?..” her brow arched in question. “Tell me you haven’t stuffed him in a crate.”

 

[Andromeda]

Ana's eyes ran over each of the people Lucius pointed out. She caught one of their eyes and gave a small wink as if she were just checking them out before continuing the sweep of the deck. It seemed like a pretty normal ship with how it was run and the sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon. Dawn was nearly upon them. It would soon be time for action. When Peyton asked about Sol her eyebrow raised. She was pretty certain they had it pretty much correct.

"Probably more slit throat and sleeping with the fishes?" she leaned against the rail. Her eyes lingered on Lucius for a moment or two longer. There was something... almost familiar about him. That same kind of hidden predator beneath the surface who wouldn't blink about taking someones life. "So how are we going to pretend to be in need of assistance, something broken? Or are we going to go for someone onboard injured and the Doc is dead?"

 

[Lucius]

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked with an utterly blank expression, looking first at Ana and then more deliberately at Peyton. "He fell overboard."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "Dangers of drinking aboard a ship. He should have known better."

It was a bold faced lie of course, something that he was sure at least one of the women would be able to guess. The reality of what had happened to Sol was far more brutal. He had found the man on the deck, and he had in fact been drunk, but there had been no fall.

He had called out to man, spoke to him of his provocations, and then he'd killed him.

The fight had gone quick. Sol had been a strong man, but he hadn't been able to keep up with Lucius. In the end the brute had found his own knife buried in the underside of his jaw. A bloody curse had spilled from his lips, and with an unceremonious kick Lucius had sent him overboard.

It had felt disturbingly good.

"There's a trick Peyton's father taught us." Lucius explained, quickly moving on from the memory. "Makes the sails look like they've been torn. Ship will look like we're dead in the currents."

 

[Peyton]

Peyton’s lips twitched as she fought a smile at the man, her head shaking slightly “Of course he did..” she sighed and gave Ana a look that said she was probably right. “Sol was a bastard.” she told her with a light shrug.

She allowed Lucius to explain the trick with the dead sales and she chewed on her lip in thought for a moment. It wasn’t going to go well with the Captain when she halted their course to make her demands, she was already on thin ice for not anticipating the guard around their intended cargo.

“Just remember that we can’t go killing everyone who pisses us off…” she murmured “Otherwise we won’t make it to the ship at all and won’t have anyone to get it back to Teth.” she eyed Lucius.

 

[Andromeda]

The idea of this Sol person dying didn't really matter to her. One less man who would grab at women wasn't exactly a loss for the world in her opinion. She pushed the whole idea to the side and instead focused on
Ana listened quietly then nodded slowly, it sounded like a decent enough way to draw a person onboard. Would a Dreadlord leave their cargo though to assist with the sails? Or would they see it as far too beneath them?

"Focus on killing the Dreadlord, hm?" her eyebrow raised before she pushed off from the rail she had been leaning on to take a rope out of the hands of one of the younger lads. She had been watching him redo a rope three times and still get it wrong and it was aggravating her now. With quick efficiency she tied off the line and the boy gave her a sheepish look before she returned to the little group.

"I would say we'll probably see their sail soon enough from what the Anirian said."

 

[Lucius]

Lucius held up his hands as though he were completely innocent. "I just do what you say."

The young pirate assured her with a soft smile, though it likely wouldn't do much to assuage her fears.

He knew that she was right of course. You couldn't go about killing everyone that crossed your path. One made more enemies than friends doing things like that. Despite that though, Lucius didn't regret what he'd done one bit.

There was no doubt he'd do it again if someone treated Peyton the same way.

"I told you." He said to Ana. "I got this."

Lucius was confident that his plan would work. He'd even asked some of the crew if they'd have a particular style knife he could borrow. It had taken some time, and coin, but eventually he'd been given what he'd searched for. "Just need you all to catch his attention. I'll handle the rest."

He would have to be fast, faster than he'd ever been before.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton listened to them speak and sighed quietly, her arms folding over her chest as she looked between them and she winced slightly.. "So we're going to have to kill the Captain.." she nodded and cleared her throat. "Maybe, the only way of ensuring we have enough men to crew the Galleon is to take the crew. If he dies during the take over they fall to me. He has no first mate." she lifted a hand to her collar and arched a brow..She wouldn't feel sorry to see him go either.

"We take the ship and the cargo, give the men their cut and get back to Teth where we can crew up. He needs to stay alive until then.. We need to prepare the crew for a difficult battle, we need as many of them to live as possible, then we torch this monstrosity and give the bastards no choice but to board with us." she shrugged a shoulder.

 

[Andromeda]

Ana half arched her back over the rail until her feet came off the wooden plank, almost like she were about to dive over board. The wind was picking up and she was enjoying the feel of it in her hair. Besides, she had no fear of the sea. She doubted there would be much point in saying once more she didn't truly believe Lucius was a match for a Dreadlord, and the play Peyton was explaining was simple enough. In truth she wasn't entirely sure what use she could be to them aside from another pair of loyal hands. She might have been the daughter of a Captain but she had never felt the desire to lead. She much preferred singing and entertaining.

"Take ship, burn this ship, try not to kill men. Sure thing Sugar," she straightened up at last and gave them both a lazy smile. "Let's get this show on the road then."

 

[Lucius]

His eyes watched Peyton's hand as she adjusted her collar again, a frown briefly flickering over his features before he shifted his weight.

Lucius was silent for a moment, then nodded his head. "Good plan."

The young pirate stated simply.

"Though I recall someone before mentioning that we can't just kill everyone we don't like..." Lucius trailed off for a brief moment, flashing Peyton a wide grin and offering a quick wink before he leaned back against the railing.

As Ana straightened Lucius nodded his head.

"I'll go find Finch." The parrot would of course agree with all of this, in fact, he would probably love it. "It's going to be a fun day."

Lucius mused as he stepped away.

 

[Peyton]

They’d had a decent few hours head start on the Galleon, and the following evening on Peyton’s go ahead, the captain ordered the anchor be dropped and the deck hands went about Lucius’ instructions on rigging the sails.

Peyton stood by the Captain’s side, waiting for a sign of sails on the dusky horizon, anxiously tapping on the rails. There was nothing for hours, and Peyton’s stomach flipped, worrying they’d suspected and taken a different course, but theirs was the safest and quickest route, she was sure..

The sky was black now, stars sparkling like scattered diamonds and the moon cast a silvery glow over everything and danced on the inky black water. There was barely a breeze, and her small plumes of breath were visible on the air. Under any other circumstances she’d have enjoyed the peace of it, but right now every muscle was tense as she stared out, barely blinking at the horizon.

“They should be here by now, lass...” the Captain said calmly by her side, but the hand squeezing at her shoulder said much more about his temper than his voice did. She winced.

“They’ll be here..” she assured.

“They fuckin’ better be...” He smiled, obviously trying to let the crew believe all was going to plan. “If you’ve fucked me on this.. You’ll beg me to cut your throat as a mercy.” he warned and squeezed harder. Peyton’s jaw clenched and her fingertips curled around her dagger. She’d slipped it half way out of the sheath before one of the crew called out.

“Sails, cap’n!!”

Peyton let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and shot a glare up at the man. He grinned down at her, and let her go. “To posts!!!”

 

[Lucius]

J
The sails were spotted, and Lucius immediately felt a thrill shoot through him. It was a surge of adrenaline that he hadn't felt in years. Fingers tightened, his chest rose and slowly fell, and he closed his eyes.

He felt lighter, faster, stronger.

The disquiet in the back of his mind seemed to fall away, and something simply clicked. Lucius slowly opened his eyes, a smile painted on his face as he clapped Dav on the back and secured his own sword.

"SHE'S PULLING TO PORT, COMING STRAIGHT AT US!"

He heard the call and looked to Ana, smirking slightly in the knowledge that he had been right. It seemed over the last five years some things hadn't changed, and one of those things was Vel Anir. Lucius quickly took a few steps, gently touching Peyton's arm. "Don't do anything stupid. Just hold the Dreadlords attention long enough for me to climb up."

The last thing he wanted was to see her hurt. A smile touched his lips, and he let go of her.

"Good luck." The young Pirate said as he moved to head below deck.

For a brief second Dav looked after him, following Lucius' quick step with his gaze. After a moment he shook his head and looked to Peyton.

"That man's braver than I am."

He commented quietly before giving her a rather sheepish look and slowly sidling away. After a few moments Dav moved to cross the deck of the ship, moving to the railing of the ship where Ana stood. He cleared his throat respectfully, and then smiled at her.

"Kiss for good luck?"

Dav jested.

 

[Andromeda]

"Man's an idiot," Ana shook her head, muttering it more under her breath than to Dav in particular. He might not even hear it with all the other shouting on deck going on. She had only met Lucius the day before but there was a certain amount of... concern inside of her. Something she wasn't used to feeling either. Gods the last few weeks had just made her a caring wreck. She was going to have to drink a bar out of business to go back to her usual self. She had found a rather splendid hat in the cabin she had been given and had dusted it off and requisitioned it for her own purposes. It was a large brimmed thing with one side pinned up with elaborate gold trim. It was a deep burgundy red but the feather which stuck out the back was a bright blue, though she was contemplating asking the parrot if she could swap it for one of his.

It was from under the brim of her hat she looked side-ways up at Dav. Her lips twitched somewhat.

"Kisses from me aren't usually good luck, Sugar," she patted him on the cheek instead before drumming her finger tips against the side of the ship. The sooner this was over with the better.

 

[Peyton]

“Me? Take your own advice why don’t you?..” Peyton blinked at Lucius’ advice and she laughed under her breath. She was clearly nervous, and she reached to grip his hand as he touched her arm. “Please be careful. If this doesn’t work we’re all fucked..” she frowned.

“Don’t die.” she said shakily in response to his wishes of luck and forced a smile, but it fell quickly as she watched him go. She rubbed at her shoulder and cast a grin at Dav. “The bravest.” she commented quietly, and returned her attention to the approaching Galleon. Their Galleon. Their fresh start..

As the ship approached, the Captain waved them down. She’d leave him to it, Kestra would recognise her so she stayed out of the way. After a surprisingly short discussion, she heard demands yelled to cast the ropes and the gangplank was passed across to let a few corsairs aboard along with a very imposing looking man that even his own shipmates seemed nervous of. Peyton looked to Ana with a subtle nod toward the man. That had to be the Dreadlord.

 

[Lucius]

"Can't blame a dead man for trying."​

Dav commented as the Anirian ship slowly pulled closer and closer into view. The vessel was a magnificent sight at sea, moreso than it had been in the harbor. It's massive mast and huge now seemed to be built for nothing but war. Dav gaped at the ship for a few moments before clearing his throat and darting off to take his position.

The crew of the ship did their level best to look the part of haggard and angry sailors. Some lay against the rails, others stood nervous, but most were terrible actors.

As the Dreadlord stepped aboard a dozen Corsairs quickly moved with him, more remaining on the Anirian Galleon. All of them carried weapons, though none of them were yet drawn. They were hard men, something easy to tell from the very first glance. Most watched the crew with eagle eyes.

"Who is Captain here?"​

The Dreadlord demanded as he looked at the rabble of a crew expectantly.

Below deck Lucius was slowly moving through the back cargo hull. He shifted a few boxes and adjusted a stack, moving towards one of the portholes and flipped it open. He frowned a second as his head peeked out just in time to see the Anirian Galleon tie itself to the ship

"You volunteered." He told himself quietly. "You have to follow through."

That strange sensation in the back of his mind called out to him, but Lucius ignored it as he slowly slipped out of the tiny window and latched onto the side of the ship.

He only hoped they could distract the Dreadlord long enough.

 

[Andromeda]

Ana watched Dav go with a faint smile. There was something about a man who tried his luck the Siren liked. Maybe on a less pressing day, she thought as her eyes flicked back to the task at hand. She caught the look Peyton gave her and her eyes too drifted to the Dreadlord with an air of boredom. Inside her heart was hammering. This was a man who could rip this ship apart. She could feel the power rolling off him in waves. It coated her tongue and choked her.

Her fingers tapped against the handrail once more before she pushed off the edge and sauntered over to join Peyton, keeping her hat low over her eyes. Like her, Kestra would recognise her. As it was she couldn't actually see the woman as of yet on deck. Perhaps the Captain had chosen to stay aboard her own vessel and leave the politics to the Anirian.

"Any ideas on distractions apart from womanly wiles?" Ana slowly tugged off her leather gloves and stowed them in her pockets.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton's heart was hammering so hard against her ribs she was sure it was trying to escape. What was Lucius doing? How was he going to take the mage down, he simply screamed power. "Fuck what have I done?.." she muttered under her breath to Ana, trying not to look as worried as she was. "Anderson's lost his fucking tongue too I see.." she frowned "Where did that greasy bastard go??..." she huffed.

Her eyes searched around frantically.. "Watch my back.." she sighed and slowly shouldered through the men and she lifted an oil lamp from the top of a barrel and dropped it, the flames burst in the face of one of Anderson's men and he lifted his hand to shield his face with a shriek. She smiled at the man, and he drew his blade on her and reached to grab her throat as she backed off..

"You silly bitch!" he barked at her

"I'm sorry I'm sorry it was an accident, Collins, I swear." He had a grip like their fucking captain. She didn't draw her weapon, and the men started scuffling.

"Enough! Let her go." the Dreadlord bellowed above all of them and the crowd silenced. Corsairs barged through them and pulled Collins from her and pulled Peyton away from the 'mob' to the side where the Dreadlord stood whilst a few others tried to dowse the flames.

"Thank you sir, he'd have killed me for sure. Gods I'm so clumsy.." she shook her head and rested a hand on her chest as she tried to breathe and look shaken.

 

[Lucius]

The Dreadlord stared, clearly displeased with what he had seen. His eyes carried over the members of the crew, fingers slowly sprawling outwards from a fist as though he were preparing to burn each and every one of them alive.

His lips thinned, and slowly he turned towards Peyton.

"What happened on this ship?"​

It was clear that the man was asking her and no one else, his gaze shifting quickly towards other members of the crew in order to silence them. The Corsairs formed half a ring around Peyton herself, half guarding the Dreadlord, and half holding against the crew.

A fact that left the Anirian Mage open to directly where Lucius was climbing up.

Of course, the young pirate was having more trouble than he'd initially thought. Handholds on the side of the ship were difficult, and more than once he had to stop and search for another grip. His fingers began to prickle with pain as he reached near the top of the railing, overhearing Peytons words as she replied to the Dreadlord.

 

[Andromeda]

Ana only gave a brief nod then turned away, pretending to busy herself with something or other whilst the commotion occurred. She watched the other woman out of the corner of her eye as she undid a sloppily done knot and redid it then pretended to be checking that everything else was tied and secure. When the flames went up she started to make her way over but kept her pace slow and her position in the background so that nobody noticed her. That was until they formed a half circle about Peyton which was when she put on her best distressed face and rushed over.

One of the guards put a hand out to her - a terrible mistake.

"That's my sister," her voice was just the right amount of pleading, the command she sent through the connection as her hand brushed against his had his face melting into understanding and stepping away to allow her close. "Peyton," Ana gripped the girls arm, lightly touched her cheek as if checking her all over before glancing to the Dreadlord as if she had only just noticed him.

"Thank you for intervening," she dipped her head, seeming to be uncaring about any such warning looks of silence given to her. She gave a sigh. "Pirates happened, right Peyton?" she shook her head slightly. "Always pirates, it's hard to make a decent living in truth out on the seas anymore. Though I sense you don't have that kind of trouble," her eyes ran over him slowly, her smile hitching higher. "They tried to run us down but our ships a little faster see, still they did as much damage to our sails as possible before spotting some other poor souls who would make an easier meal. We're lucky you came along, we're dead in the water and don't fancy them coming back to pick us off."

 

[Peyton]

“Well you see—“ Peyton cut off as Ana gripped her arm and she smiled at the woman’s fussing “I’m alright just my clumsy self as usual..” she sighed and shook her head, Collins still ranting about her being a crazy bitch. She let Ana speak and nodded along with her.

“It’s like she said sir, the men haven’t had much luck with fixing the sails and the rudder’s jammed. Afraid us women aren’t much help are we Ana?” Peyton presser her fingertips to her lips and chuckled.

What the fuck was Lucius doing?!

 

[Lucius]

Lucius was climbing. As it turned out scaling the side of a ship wasn't really as easy as many thought it would be. He'd done it before, but not in a long time.

As he reached the top of the ship, his fingers grasping just below the railing he heard the Dreadlord speak. Ana's voice came next, and then Peyton chimed in. A frown touched his lips, and he wondered why the hell the Captain wasn't saying anything.

"Bah, that's was wrong with you people. Women are just as capable as men. You just don't want the-"

The man continued to speak, no it was more like he was berrating Peyton for what she'd said. Lucius frowned, and reached dback to grab the hilt of the knife that he'd gotten from the crew. The blade made no noise as it left it's sheath. Slowly his chest rose and fell, eyes closing as he focused.

Fingers tensed slightly, and he allowed himself just a brief moment of focus.

Then something washed over him.

A surge of adrenaline, a spike of something that didn't seem quite natural. Letting a long breath leave him Lucius tensed his muscle and then ripped himself upward. With a strong yank the young Pirate launched himself over the railing of the ship.

His eyes were half open, gaze filtering over the deck until he locked on the Dreadlord.

Heart thundered on his chest, thumped again and again as he broke into a sprint and lurched across the deck. It too him five steps to reach the man, his arm raising to slam the blade down into the back of his next. A scream went up behind him, and suddenly the Dreadlord turned. A hand came up, catching Lucius' wrist as the man moved with inhuman speed.

"Nice try scu-"

The man suddenly looked down, peering at the space between himself and Lucius. A sword had buried itself in the Dreadlord's stomach, the very blade Peyton had bought him back on Teth.

Then utter Chaos broke loose.

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda flinched slightly as she caught the movement of Lucius out of the corner of her eye. He hadn't been lying about being fast and there was a sharp taste of power as he had moved. But... familiar power. Again, where had she felt that before? It was like the sharp salt of the sea and the roar of the ocean then it was gone again. For a moment all she could do was stare at him. It seemed she was not the only one because there was a silence that ebbed out from the stricken Dreadlord.

Then chaos.

The Captain had suddenly reappeared and was bellowing about grappling hooks and removing these Anirians from his ship. The guards who had been around herself, Peyton and the Dreadlord lurched forward, weapons drawn, towards Lucius. And then there was the orders coming from the other ship. The crew who were in the know about the real plan, that is Peyton's plan, were already making for the other ship, whilst those not in the know were focused on the enemies on their ship. Ana drew her blade in time to block a blow from one of the soldiers with a whistle of steel cutting through the air. Their blades clashed only a few inches from Lucius, who was slowly dropped as the Dreadlord collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Move!" Ana grabbed Lucius by the elbow to help steady him as he landed before shoving him towards the other ship. There was probably a little bit of magic in those words but nothing overly obvious. Just enough to snap him out of any trance and get him going. She parried the blade and gripped the Anirian's wrist. The man stiffened.

"Kill the Anirian's," the man went rigid, his gaze glazed then his hold against her weapon slackened and he turned towards his own people with renewed vigour. Leaving him to create even more confusion she started off after the others towards the other ship. Archers were firing arrows to stop the pirates from boarding and Ana narrowly avoided one as she dived behind a barrel on the deck. The peppering stopped and she took a breath, counting the seconds it took them to reload then waited out the next volley. When the lull came round again she moved. With a hop she jumped onto the rail of the pirate ship and then jumped.

She clattered onto the deck of the galleon and rolled to her feet only to lock swords with Kestra herself. Ana gave her a mocking salute and the two met in a volley of blows.

 

[Peyton]

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. She held her breath as she watched Lucius make his run at the Dreadlord, and she felt as though her heart had stopped entirely as the man turned to grip him and Peyton let out a gasp of air that caught in her throat, her hand shooting out toward him subconsciously. It took her a moment to realise, and her heart instantly started hammering again when she noticed the blade she'd given him, protruding from the Dreadlord's back, and she let out a dizzy breath..

Peyton drew both anelace daggers, one of which quickly buried itself up into the jaw of the first corsair who turned his blade on her. The deck erupted, and Peyton could only pray to all the gods that she and her crew survived the fight to get the ship in the first place. She was able enough, Lucius amongst others had trained her well growing up, but she'd have to be smarter and faster than the corsairs as she'd never be stronger.

She moved quickly, dodging and parrying blows with a few near misses here and there, and her daggers bore into necks and tore at the backs of knees as she fought her way out of the turmoil to get to the Captain. When he looked at her he knew, it was the way she gripped her blades tighter as she stared at him, calculating exactly how she was going to kill him. "Treacherous BITCH!!" he roared, and ran at her.

Captain Anderson was a brutish man with a lot of muscle and weight behind him. He used it to his advantage, and she'd have to try and keep him at as much of a distance as possible. The blows from his blade rattled her bones as she defended the onslaught of attacks before he lunged at her. His bearish body slammed her onto the deck and he twisted her own dagger from her hand and plunged it into her shoulder to pin her to the deck. "I fuckin' warned you!"

Peyton screamed and her voice broke with searing pain. He twisted the blade as she tried desperately to push him from her, but the man was a mountain and he was crushing her. She slammed her blade into his ribs, and twisted back.

 

[Finch]

Finch jolted awake from his slumber in the crows nest. The planned trap and ambush hadn't required his input - a lookout wasn't too useful if a ship wanted to be boarded. Likewise, his contract had been to rouse the spirits of the crew. He had done just that, although... he had roused their spirits to the wrong captain.

As such, he thought to take a well deserved break - but something cut through him. The scream of a, formerly, little girl. Finch found himself growling and soon, peering over the rim of his little bed atop the mast he saw the carnage. He saw Peyton.

By the time he drew his curious tuning forkesque sword, he was stood atop the mast. His voice cutting across the terrible noise of battle below him.

"Oh... A drop of Anderson's blood won't do us any harm." His sword glowed an incandescent blue as he sung in his beautiful voice. Yet those who knew him could sense it, could hear the venom, the intent, the anger.

He was a blur as he glided down towards the deck. The Captain stumbled back towards the Bird as Peyton's sword opened up a wound in his side. The behemoth, however would not fall that easy.

"Finch you BASTARD - YOU AS WELL?!" He screamed and lunged for the bird, his sword sending a vicious sweeping blow towards Finch.

"A drop of Anderson's blood won't do us any harm." Finch repeated, ignoring the man's speech, his eyes stared off into the distance - piercing through the captain. He was an actor, an entertainer, he kept his emotions reigned in tightly - yet he gave off an aura of sheer fury.

His sword batted away the strike - a small pop as the energy contained in his weapon redirected it away. The captain, momentarily confused, was left to wonder as Finch's beak smashed him across the brow in a wicked headbut.

"A drop of Anderson's blood won't do us any harm." He repeated for a third time as he stepped over the figure of the reeling captain. Finch was neither small, nor weak, yet the captain still had a head on the bird. Despite this, the fury and intensity on the Aaravoka seemed to make him dwarf the Captain.

He wasted no time as the captain began to recover, Finch punched the sword cleanly through his neck.

"An' we'll all hang on behind" He murmured, the falling figure seemingly causing him to leave his trance.

"You okay Peyt?" He spoke, unconcerned with the battle around them, his voice a low whisper - hard, and far removed from his jovial sing-song persona.