"Are the cannon balls loaded?" A certain captain asked, eager to get away as he walked the decks with a vigour, his black leather armour leaking as he went.
"Yes, everything is ready." Came the firm reply. The crew were just as eager as he.
"Remember – there is the gold shipment, the armour shipment, and the gunpowder shipment. If you are able, take all three, but do not burden the lower decks too heavily. Remember, Morojo-san said that if you filled the entire lower deck, then the ship will sit too low in the water, and some might end up getting in through the cannon hole." Isabella warned. She too was on the deck as they went about their frantic last-minute arrangements.
"Aye, that's right." Morojo affirmed.
"It's alright, Ishi, we'll make sure he does as he's told!" Rin assured her, since Morohira had once again disappeared into the lower deck and was not there to hear her.
"Yup, we'll tie him up if he does anything silly." Akiko agreed, though Ishi looked at the two of them doubtfully. She did not think anyone on the ship was capable of stopping Morohira if he were to put his mind to resisting.
"Okay, but be careful." Came her less than optimistic reply.
"Everything is ready, let's get away!" Morohira called out, storming up from the lower decks with a grin on his face. Everything was as it ought to be. As his words were called out, Rokkaku and Sasaki went towards the ramp in order to raise it, but Isabella and Morojo had still yet to disembark, and so they hurried on ahead.
"Off you go – there's sh.i.p.s to be blasted." Rokkaku clucked, shooing them down the ramp. They began raising it before they even reached the bottom, and soon the two of them found themselves sliding down the last part, before they were deposited on the jetty beside Takeshi.
With that, the ship began to pull away.
"Wish us luck!" Rin called out gleefully.
"Good luck!" Multiple cries echoed out from the cove. From Morojo, his sons, Isabella, and even Takeshi.
Within moments their ship had sailed out through the gap between the two masses of rock, and was out on open sea. They did so with both masts raised high, and black flags donned. There was no point in hiding anymore. They would let the world see who was on the waters that day, and allow them to feel the chilling fear as they made their approach.
"Will… Will they be alright?" A nervous Takeshi asked. Despite his timid nature, he had no qualms about their involvement in piracy. In fact, he was simply happy that his services were required somewhere. Even if they had been worse people, as long as they were able to notice his skill, and appreciate it, then he would only be too happy to stay.
And so now he had developed an involvement with them. An incentive to wish for their success. There had been talk of permanent hire should all things go well, and it did not take too much guessing to find out what had to go well.
Though the both of them looked towards the little man, it was Isabella that made the effort of replying, and she did so with a smile on her face.
"No doubt. They have achieved much harder things under far worse circ.u.mstances. Today will be a welcome change in the scores, where they hold the absolute advantage. It's not a question of whether or not they will succeed – not any longer. The question is merely how long will it take them." She spoke eloquently, with her arms folded, holding that satisfied smile. They were her people, and the successes that they'd had – she was mightly proud of them.
Takeshi looked up at the beautiful woman, unable to contain his blush. 'How can she be so confident?' he wondered. But there is no doubt he would find out in time.
"Pull the rope tighter, Rokkaku. Today is our play day – let's not be making rookie mistakes tying off the sails, aye?" Morohira instructed, seeing that there was a good amount of slack of the sail line. Normally he'd have been able to tie it perfectly in one go, but it seems the excitement was affecting his skills.
"Aye, I'll get right on it mum." He replied dryly, but still doing as he was instructed.
"Who will operate the cannon?" Togashi asked in a whisper by Morohira's ear. No doubt if he had asked any louder, then the entire crew would have their hands in the air, and be vying for a chance to fire one of the heavy metal balls.
"Me!" Morohira responded without hesitation. He was the captain, and he wanted to fire the cannon, and so fire the cannon he would. There was no one he had to beg. Togashi held back a sigh as he heard that rather predictable reply, but such was the man their captain was, and the good had to be taken with the bad.
Heads were turned because of his loud response, and it was easy to infer what the question might have been about. But there was no one to complain. Everyone had assumed that it would be that way from the start, yet it mattered not, they would still get to pay witness to the glorious destruction that would ensue.
They passed the familiar rows of cliffs, and passed over the old water as though they were greating an old friend. It is an odd thing to say, but many of them would claim that even the sea was on their side that day, as it allowed them to charge forward uninhibited, spurred on by even the wind.
They very soon peaked their head into the port area, continuing straight on without a single alteration to their course, as though they were just another vessel intent on trading business. The fear of the nearby captains was manifest in their sh.i.p.s, as they fumbled with their sails, and caused their boats to run off in all kinds of unsensible places.
Cries went out from the port – they'd been spotted by the land dwellers. The sound of a drum being beat could be heard in the distance, as their arrival prompted some kind of signal. It was amusing to see that an entire signalling system had been set up to accommodate the likes of them. In a way, it was flattering.
They had three sets of prey, and had been given all the knowledge they needed to identify such vessels from Isabella – the job of which fell to Togashi and Rin, who seemed to have the sharpest eyes out of anyone in their crew.
"That's one over there, isn't it?" Rin asked a little uncertainly.
"Mm. Spot on." Togashi glanced over, and gave a nod of his bearded head in approval, as he returned his gaze back to the sea, and attempted to spot the others. "Oh, we're in luck, captain." He announced. Off to the west, the last two sh.i.p.s – sailing almost side by side – were the armour dealers, and the gunpowder merchants. In pursuing them, they could kill two birds with one stone.
"Aye, in luck indeed! Not that we even need luck today, eh fellas?" The captain announced. He did not even need to give the orders, for the crew were entirely in tune with his thoughts by now. It was time to pursue these big fish, and capture all the cargo that they had acquired. The sails were alterted, and the spurred forward.
Their position was an almost perfect one. They out sped every single ship in the port. They were able to merely sit there, and watch, like a hawk looking for prey, and because of their superior speed, they would be able to catch the fleeing mice before they strayed too deep into the ocean.
As they saw the course the black ship was intent on following, the other traders breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Someone would die to that day, they were only glad that it would not be them.
There was all kinds of chaos happening on the port, as traders made way for seas of charging guardsmen who boarded their sh.i.p.s, matchlocks in hand, as they shouted loudly to be away, and stop these cowardly pirates from taking more from the weak than they already had.
This time six sh.i.p.s pulled away from the dock at once. It was a veritable armarda. The traders would not settle for anything less, and it was likely that the majority would not have returned to Toyokawa port had the commander not agree to follow drastic measures like that, though he kept insisting that he had a plan in motion, and their end would be assured promptly. Still, nothing had come of that yet, and they assumed him to be bluffing.
Their black ship closed the distance as quickly as a tiger would on wounded prey. They had long since been close enough to use that cannon of theirs for the first time, but such a decision would prove counter productive, as they would send their merchandise plummeting to the bottom of the sea, alongside the ship they had just sunk.
Instead, with expert manoovering, they ran and placed themselves between the two trading vessels, who had dared to sail so close seemingly for some sort of protection, figuring that two was better than one. And two certainly was better than one, at least for the Red Feather.
"One, Two!" Rokkaku and Sasaki cast their hooks off to either side. One targeting one ship, and one targeting the other. They had grown rather good at such a thing now, and their hooks landed both time. With all the crew on deck, they threw themselves on the rope, and pulled in aggressively.
The reason why these two trading vessels had a degree of confidence soon became clear. They had went to the bother of hiring guards, who stood on the decks of their ship now, swords and axes drawn. There were at least thirty per ship, and the pirates were hopelessly outnumbered.
But it did not matter. Their reputation had proceeded them. Looking down on who they would have to fight, and the demon masks that adorned their faces, the majority of the pirates found themselves trembling in fear. Even with many men on their side, they knew a good amount of blood was bound to be shed.
With no hesitation and no fear, the crew split themselves evenly, one group fighting on one front, whilst the other fort and the other. They carved through those that stood in their way as if they were nothing more than straw dolls. Even the weakest amongst them became whirlwinds of fury, felling multiple men within the span of a few seconds.
SPLASH
And once again, the captains jumped overboard, judging it better to risk braving the sea, than to stand against these monsters in vain hope of survival.