The days had passed quickly, and here they stood, on the decks of the famed black-sailed ship, drifting out towards the sea. Though, currently, they did not hoist their black sails. They wore white.
They decided to adopt the same pattern as they had when they retreated last time, and change their sails behind the same peninsula of land. But before then, they merely had to sit and wait, watching over and waiting for the ship that Isabella had pointed out.
They were a good distance from all other sh.i.p.s, and so, even though they were dressed in their black armour and masked, none could see enough of them to feel suspicion.
The Morojo's had done their repairs admirably, and if anything, the ship felt better than it had before. They had not yet managed to coat the interior of the hull in iron, or steel – to strengthen it – but the new wood used for the repairs certainly added a lot.
Even from where they stood, they could see hundreds of city guardsmen lining the port, attempting to assure all the traders that they were safe. But they felt no fear upon seeing them – they trusted in their own speed.
"Nothing yet, Togashi?"
Morohira decided to ask the more eagle eyed man, for he was growing impatient.
"Afraid not, no."
"Perhaps the lass got her information wrong."
Morohira mused. It was a possibility. Though, even with the right information, it did not mean the ship would turn up on time.
"Don't start talking like that – it's not even noon yet."
Rokkaku complained.
"Yup, Isabella will definitely have gotten us the right information, we just have to trust her – right Rin?"
Akiko asserted.
"Exactly!"
The two girls were feeling more confident this time, as they had found no difficulty in the battles before, and they had been training ever since. They knew that they were far stronger, and so, if anything, they were eager to demonstrate their proess.
Before he had left, Rin had all but caught up to Kitajo, and when they fought, it was more of a chess match – one that could go either way – and their wins ended up being equal. Surprisingly, the young man had responded mildly to this. He did not feel threatened by her talent, and that she was catching up on him so quickly, quite the contrary. He appeared genuinely happy for her, and said as much.
And Akiko, for her part, was doing just as well. She could now confidently beat each one of Ii's friends. Their talent was mediocre, and their experience less, and so, under Jikouji's instruction, she had progressed quickly.
"I feel sick!"
Ii complained, clinging on the side of the ship, growing to hate the swaying of the deck.
"I feel sick too – sick of you. Shut up, will ya?"
Enya complained.
"Hey now, don't worry about it Ii. I feel a bit sick too."
Sasaki reassured him. He was one of the few people that did not openly berate the lad, despite his irritating personality.
"Mm… I think that might be it."
Togashi announced, squinting. His eyes were on a small trading vessel that was rounding a piece of land, and heading towards the port.
Without even seeking more confirmation, Morohira gave the order, trusting in the bearded man's eyesight.
"INTO THE DRESSING ROOM! WE'RE CHANGING!"
He announced, as the crew responded instantly, changing the direction of the sails, and spurring them behind the small panincula. Having not known how to refer to this piece of land, Morohira simply gave it the nickname 'Dressing Room' and it had ended up sticking.
Inside the dressing room, none of the sh.i.p.s by the port could see them, and they were able to raise the second mast swiftly, and changed the sails from white, to black.
"GOOD! ALL MEN BELOW DECK!"
He ordered. They needed to begin rowing immediately. As soon as they came out of the Dressing Room, they were likely to be seen, and so they had to prey upon the trading ship quickly, and get out just as fast.
Only Togashi stayed on deck alongside him, as he had last time. They changed the sails together, and caught the wind, getting a burst of speed as they shot forward.
The oars were lowered into the water, and he called out the time.
"ONE, TWO. ONE, TWO. ONE, TWO."
He intoned, eyes firmly on the horizon, and on the target that they were heading towards. As soon as their ship was revealed there was an uproar from within the port.
"THEY ACTUALLY DARED COME BACK! EVEN AFTER ALL THE DEFENCES!"
A man shouted, his voice a mixture of surprise and fear, for he was a trader himself.
The guardsmen forced civilians out of their way, as they pushed towards their sh.i.p.s.
As they neared, it became obvious to everyone who their target was, since they remained on a straight path, like a loosed arrow, and continued towards the silk trading vessel.
Soon they were close enough to see the fear on the men's faces, as they frantically attempted to change the sails and move out of their path.
"ROKKAU, SASAKI, IT'S TIME!"
He shouted, calling the two beastial men above deck, whilst he had the rest continue to row. It required a careful hand on the sails in order to direct them accurately enough, but Togashi had grown rather good at it.
The men just barely made it above deck in time, as their ship would soon pass the trading vessel. They had to sprint towards their hooks, and loose them quickly, before they missed their window of opportunity.
But despite the haste, both hooks landed. They had been close enough to the trading ship as to make the shot easy.
"ALL MEN ABOVE DECK!"
Morohira called out, as he moved behind Rokkaku and assisted him in pulling, whilst Togashi went to help Sasaki.
Their piercing gazes were firmly fixed on the terrified traders, who stood above deck, holding quivering swords. There was no way they could defend against the rumoured black ship – and they knew it. Some of them dropped their swords out of fear. One man – the only man amongst them who could swim – threw his sword to the floor, and dared to brave the waters.
It was his only chance at survival, and though there was a good mile of swimming to be done before he reached the beach, he had to take his chances.
"F.U.C.K YOU JONOKO!"
They heard one of the traders shout, cursing his crewmember's cowardliness. But on the inside, he wished he was capable of swimming, so that he could do the same.
They pulled close, the side of their ship crashing against the side of the trading ship, as all the men came above deck.
At this point, it was a race to see who could board the enemy's deck the fastest – for there was nothing to fear from the foes in front of them.
But in one graceful bound, Rin secured that place, and drew first blood before she even hit the ground.
"HAHA! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER!"
Morohira bellowed proudly, seeing her fight so fiercely. But there was no way he would allow Rin to take all the fun, and he leapt after her, securing a kill for himself.
A wave of the men crashed into the terrified traders, and they were cut down easily, with almost no resistance. It was not a fight at all – it was an execution.
Within seconds, the fun was over, and they had to sheath their blades, and assume a more laborious task, for there were a certain two sh.i.p.s that were closing in on them fast.
The city guard had finally organised themselves, and they sent their largest ship rowing towards them, laden with over a hundred men. A small bow vessel with 50 men sped on ahead.
"LET'S START LOADING THIS – DON'T GET BLOOD ON THE ROLLS!"
Morohira instructed, cleaning his hands on a scrap of cloth before he went below deck and scooped up an armful of rolls. When he made it above deck again, he simply hurled them onto his own ship, without bothering to cross back over, and then he went below again.
By such a process, the silken rolls were cleared out quickly, though there was a certain young man who – despite them being right next to their own ship – managed to miss, and send two rolls crashing into the water.
"How…"
Rin asked quietly, almost shocked, seeing such an impressively poor performance.
But they had no time to ponder how he had managed it, and they crossed back over to their own ship, and sliced through the ropes.
The sails were set, and they were sent below deck to row once more, with the rhythm being called out. They were all very aware of the threat the city guard were intent on posing, but seeing the measly sh.i.p.s that they sent out to stop them, they could not feel too much fear.
The large vessel was far too slow to pose any problem, and even the bow vessel – though it could make things awkward – was not quite as fast as theirs.
Morohira controlled the angle of the sail, and sent them forward. Before long, it became apparent what direction he was intent on sending them, and Togashi could not help but question such a decision.
"Morohira… We will struggle to fight so many men."
Togashi warned. He did not dare criticise the man so heavily, after his performance last time – he clearly knew what he was doing. But he still knew that it would be far safer simply to sail around the two vessels, for they did not have a chance at catching them.
"I know."
Came Morohira's simple reply. He did not operate on logic, but instinct, and this to him felt right.
Their ship was angled to go between the bow ship, and the large vessel that trailed so far behind it. There was a rather sizeable gap. But their intent was obvious, and the bow ship slowly turned itself around, before it began rowing back to close such a gap up – it would be infuriating if they managed to escape between their legs.
The large ship continued to power forward all the same, and soon, both sh.i.p.s were lined up, decreasing the gap between them at speed.
They were travelling frighteningly fast – it was true. But the gap was decreasing at a similar speed, for it was the combined speed of bow ship, and the larger vessel.
Togashi began to grow anxious as they neared. They were at least twenty metres away from the gap, and it already looked too narrow. They could hear the guards jeering at them, sure that they had caught the big fish. The bearded man turned to Morohira, about to ask him to change course.
But Morohira continued looking forward with his demonic mask grinning wildly. He made no adjustments to the sail, and merely continued to call out the rowing rhythm. If those below deck had known what danger they were in, then the complaints might have been louder.
Nearer they came, all three sh.i.p.s. Those from the port watched in anticipation, excited to see the demise of the black-flagged vessel, that had left so many traders worried for their lives.
Ten metres.
"Impossible…"
Togashi breathed, bracing himself.
Five metres.
He had to close his eyes now, as he hugged the lower deck, hoping the impact would not be too vicious.
"…"
CRWOOOOOOOK
The terrifying sound of groaning wood battered his ears, as within milliseconds it splintered, and bits of wood were sent flying everywhere. Sharp chunks hit his cheek, drawing blood, affirming that it was the right choice to keep his eyes closed.
Yet oddly, the force of the impact did not rock him too heavily, and he could still feel the solid wood of the deck beneath his feet, and so, he dared to open his eyes.
"By the gods…"
He breathed, seeing the destruction around them. Their ship was unscathed, and was powering through the water. But the same could not be said for the bow vessel.