FSE

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Chapter 4

The ship itself was seaworthy, at least to Urch's limited knowledge. Provisions were another matter. Aside from a few barrels of flower and grain, there was nothing worth noting. Barrels of water and rum were plentiful, though Urch didn't have the knowledge or experience to estimate how long it'd support a full crew.

Gunpowder and cannonballs were well stocked as if the ship was ready to go into battle at a moments notice. Rifles, cutlasses and pistols were nowhere to be found unfortunately. This meant if they were overtaken while at sea then they'd be screwed.

'Vic better have a plan for that,' Urch grumbled in thought.

With the thorough inspection of all rooms and quarters complete, that left the task of checking the sails, which Urch had no idea how to go about. Sure he had seen it done from the docks, but that didn't translate to him knowing the specifics on how to go about such a task. He could only hope one of the crew Victor was bringing would know those finer details.

Thinking on the bear, Urch looked to where the sun had just dipped below the horizon. The last dying vestiges of light still painted the western sky. Victor had ordered to be ready by sundown, as far as Urch was concerned he had done all he could in the time restriction given.

Seeing as no new crew had been sent his way, Urch walked across the deck and leaned against the railing of the Aureum. He could see many booths and store fronts of the market district from here, the various businesses closing for the evening. Other, more vice driven businesses would be getting ready for the night rush.

The tops of taller inland structures could be seen, though they would soon vanish under the cover of darkness. For a moment Urch wondered if he'd ever see Avarice again. Vic had made it sound like they would be burning bridges and never looking back, which the jackal decided he was fine with.

Having nothing more to do than let his mind wonder, Urch began to think about the rum barrels down in the ship's hull. As far as he knew, he had been the only one to take stock, so if he was to slip down into the ship and have a sip or five, no one would be the wiser. Ready to give into temptation, he was just about to move away from the railing when he spotted three figures jogging towards the Aureum.

"The 'ell?" He muttered to himself, pulling out his shiv incase of trouble.

As the small group came closer, Urch realized it was Vic in the lead. His friend was moving with more haste and concerne than Urch had ever seen from the bear before. Keeping pace with him was that bat Vic shacked up with on occasions. Urch couldn't think of a single good reason why she was being brought along...okay maybe one reason.

Following just a few passes behind them was a giant of a rabbit that Urch had never seen before. Normally he'd have thought this was muscle Vic was bringing along, but despite being an unnerving height, the rabbit was nearly as skinny as Urch was and even from this distance the jackal could see the scrawny giant had none of the killer instinct or street smarts he did.

As Vic quickly ascended the ramp to board the Aureum, Urch gave him a baffled expression. "Where the crew ye were bringin'?"

"This is the crew," Vic quickly explained, not even bothering to look at Urch.

For the jackal's part he wasn't sure if he should laugh, cry or take a swing at Victor and consequences be damned. "Your barmaid and a bunny aren't crew!"

Urch noticed Jess boarding next, her contemptuous eyes glaring at him. "I forgot, lowlife homeless drunks are much more reliable on a ship." she shot back at Urch.

Gritting his teeth, Urch was ready to really lay on the insults when Crowley's authoritative voice spoke over them. "Enough! We have greater problems at the moment than you two not liking each other!" Pausing a moment, Vic looked back to the docs and then up at the folded sails. "We have to get out of here, now!"

"We're not goin' nowhere with no crew!" Urch shot back. This whole thing was getting ridiculous, even for him. Did Victor really not get this ship could not be managed by four idiots with no sailing experience? But then the bear's other words finally sank in. "Wait...wha' problems."

"One of the Princesses saw us leaving," the stranger rabbit pointed out as he finally boarded, looking around like he had never actually seen a ship this size before.

Urch's empty stomach suddenly felt more pain than usual. "One a your sisters?" He asked Vic in a much more reserved tone. "Which uhh...which one?" Urch barely managed to keep himself from gulping with worry.

"Drusilla." Vic answered, as if the name was supposed to mean something to his friend.

"Right...which one that bein'?" Other than Victor, Urch was not well versed on the names of all the royal children and to his credit, most citizens weren't.

"It's the Gambler you idiot," Jess chastised. "Where's the armory, we're going to need it in a minute."

A cold shiver ran up Urch's spine. He knew of the Gambler, most of the lowlifes and scum like him did. While making a point to never have dealings with her himself, in fact anyone with half a wit to them avoided business with the royal children, Urch had seen her cunning and ruthless skill. She often ventured the bowls of high stakes black market gambling. From games as harmless as poker to blood sports like king's roulet, she would always join in and had a reputation to win more often than not. There were even rumours she had fought in a cage match or two, but Urch had never seen those shows for himself.

"Depths alive," Urch growled. "So we expectin' to be fish food or wha'?"

To his alarm, Victor turned on him. Blue eyes flashing a golden color as he grabbed a pawfull of Urch's head fur, causing the jackal to yelp in pain. "Not if you get this thrice damned ship off the docks now!"

Urch was roughly shoved away, causing him to stumble yet just managing to stay on his feet. He had to fight back the urge to bare his teeth at Vic. Now was not the time for them to be at odds, but he would sure bring up the rough treatment later.

Giving his now sore head a quick rub, he looked at the so called 'crew'. He was going to need some help if they were to have any hope of leaving the peer. "Ya heard him! I be lookin' fer the draw fer the sails. Jess, ye can help by untyin' us from the peer. Rabbit...uhh...ye can go steer this gal I guess."

Thankfully Jess didn't try argueing or insulting him for once. The rabbit on the other paw just looked confused. "How do I do that?" Uch couldn't help but note the rabbit's tone was rather calm for his species and he spoke much more clearly than he had been expecting.

"It not be politics! Ya just go to there big wheel and turn it away from the docks once we start movin', savvy?"

"Savvy?"

Mistaking the rabbit's unfamiliarity with the word 'savvy' for agreement, Urch quickly ran for the main mast, trying to get a crash course study on the Aureum's sail mechanics. Jess had rushed down the ramp, quickly making her way to the first rope.

"Leaving without saying goodbye Victor?" A voice called out. Urch looked to the docks and spotted a black bear, slightly larger than Victor himself. He was wearing fitted chainmail that covered him from neck to torso while plain purple pants adorned his lower half. "When Drusilla told me her hunch that you had actually bargained for Marcus' ship, I thought she was pulling my leg. Now if I had heard you simply ran off to the Wild East, that I could have believed. Tell me brother, do you really think you can find safety in the sea?"

Urch didn't like the calm, almost friendly tone the black bear had. It was that same false friendliness he had seen Vic use before ripping someone's throat out. But like the royal he was, Victor showed no signs of intimidation as he walked to stand at the top of the ramp.

"Ronan," Vic exclaimed with a false smile. "I truly am touched you were worried enough about your little brother to come down to these lowly docks. But rest assured I will be fine. In fact I expect the seas to be no more tretures than our own dear home." Urch may not have been able to see it with Vic's back to him, but he could tell by the sound of his voice that the false smile had become a condescending sneer.

"Cute," the other bear scoft. It was then Urch noticed the Ronan had brought company. One was a rather muscular crocodile and the other a feline of some kind. To his not so keen eye, Urch was certain the crocodile was borrowed muscle from one of the criminal syndicates. The feline was obviously an assassin, the leather mask covering the lower half of her face being the major clue.

Ronan seemed intent to stop Vic from leaving and while their crew slightly outnumbered the threat, Urch had serious doubts on their chances of winning this fight.

Before he could voice such worries, Victor spoke in a hushed tone. "Make sure the sails are ready and Jess gets safely back on board. I'll handle this." Without further instructions, the now former prince descended the ramp to meet his brother head on.

"I hope you realize Ronan, if you kill me than our sister will take the credit for herself, claiming that you were simply the pawn she used to carry out her will."

"Oh I'm well aware of that Victor. But getting the privilege to end you with my own claws is well worth the price of losing a point in my favor."

Even as Ronan spoke, his two comrades stepped away from him, one moving to the left and the other to the right so that they would have Vic surrounded when he joined them on the peer.

"Oy, fat free buns!" Urch called over to the rabbit. "Leave yer post a minute and help..." He trailed off as he noticed the giant of a bunny was not at the ship's wheel and was instead rushing down into the hull of the ship. Urch allowed himself an angered growl. "Typical flight species, soon as trouble shows he runs and hides!" When this was over with he'd have to check with Vic and see if he was allowed to discipline the rest of the barley existing crew.

Forcing himself to not just stand around and watch whatever Vic was planning to do, Urch put his full attention on figuring out how the depth forsaken sails worked.

***

Jess wasn't sure what she was doing. The only experience she had with ropes and knots was when she tied on an apron or one of her bandanas. When Urch had given her the the task to get the ship untied, she had already planned to just cut the ropes to save in time and frustration. It would have been an even worse task if she had tried such a thing. The docking ropes were simply too thick and well treated for her low grade dagger to cut with any efficiency. So it was a blessing when she discovered the ropes could be undone with minimal effort.

She had nearly finished with the first rope when one of Victor's siblings had arrived.

Jess was no fool, she was well aware she was in the worst position in this situation. With Victor blocking the ramp and Ronan with his allies blocking the path to the rest of the docks, there was no reliable place for her to take cover. But by all the wealth in the Eastern Kingdoms, she would not be grabbed and taken as some useless hostage! In fact Jess was resigned to throw herself into the sea before that happened. Though considering one of their opponents was a crocodile that was probably a bad idea.

Still, she focused on being as unnoticeable as possible, removing the last lengths of the rope that had been attached to the peers clink. That was one down, now she had to wait for an opportunity to make a run for the other rope, which inconveniently was on the other side of the peir from her current position.

"I see. Well if it's my life you truly want," she heard Vic speaking, leaving the illusioned safety of the ship's ramp. "Than you should have brought an army instead of little pawns." And with those words, the fight had begun.

It was difficult to tell who made the first move, but the next few moments played out clearly. Victor was going for Ronan and the croc was going for Victor. Instead of trying to block or counter the incoming coldblood, Vic focused on speed, making sure he simply wasn't standing where the crocodile had been aiming for.

The gambit worked as powerful jaws snapped on empty air. A look of surprise passed over Ronan's face as he had underestimated his brother's agility. He barely had time to take a step back as Victors claws slashed upward across his chainmail, the force of the strike causing sparks to flash in the dimming light.

Victor took another claw swipe, this time aimed for Ronan's face. The older bear raised an arm, easily blocking the attack, claws once again striking harmlessly against chainmail. Before Victor could continue the assault, a powerful kick to the back of his leg dropped him to a knee. He growled in rage, but before he could recover a thin metal wire was suddenly around his neck.

It was the feline assassin who had the drop on him, her strong grip on the wire cutting off Victor's ability to breath. Not willing to circum to such an end, Vic leaned forward with gritted teeth. With force of will and strength he stood and lifted the feline off her feet, causing the wire to dig painfully through his fur and into his flesh. Pushing off the deck, Vic fell onto his back, crushing the assassin underneath him. Instantly the tension on the wire was removed.

The assassin had been stunned from Victor's weight crashing down on her. Not passing up the opportunity, Victore slammed his elbow into the side of her head multiple times to insure she would stay down.

With all the combatants focused on one another, Jess took the opportunity to run across the peir. She dropped down low, hoping she had stayed close enough to shadows as she reached the final rope. Seeing her presence still overlooked, she made haset in getting the Avarice unbound.

Once her task done, she looked back to the battle. Vic was back on his feet, standing off against the crocodile. The coldblood had at least a foot on Vic and as the bear delivered blow after blow to the croc's hide, it proved ineffective as the natural armoring of scales absorbed most of the blows.

Ronan had drawn a sword and was rushing in to take advantage of his brother's distraction.

"Look out!" Jess yelled, but it was too late. The blade slashed across Vic's back, causing him to roar in pain, but still standing. He turned quickly to deliver a powerful left hook to Ronan's face, but the crocodile was surprisingly faster this time. He had seized Vic by the back of the neck, dragging him away from Ronan.

As Jess drew her dagger, ready to give Vic some backup no matter the outcome, a deffing booming sound erupted through the new night sky. Grasping her ears on instinct, Jess could feel them ringing loudly as she was momentarily stunned.

It took a moment for her to regain her composure and realized what had happened. The first thing Jess noticed was that the crocodile was no longer in one piece. The remains of it's lower body laid on the dock, a bloody mass of chunks that had once been a torso, arms and head were smeared and scattered across the docks. Her mind still not registering the turn of event, she looked towards the Avarice, easily noticing the black and white furred giant that was visible through one of the ship's gun ports. He was standing next to a cannon and looked just as stunned if not more so than Jess herself.

A disbelieving smile came on her face as she laughed, realizing the quight and harmless Bartholomew had just obliterated the crocodile.

Not wasting more time, Jess ran back to the ramp, making her way back onto the ship's deck. Urch was waiting, his own task finished and watching intently on the conclusion to the battle. Joining the jackal, Jess watched as the two princes finally stood off against one another.

Even from the distance she was at, Jess could still see their eyes burning a golden hue, Vic's claws flexing as Ronan took a defensive stance with his sword.

"You really should have just let me go," Vic growled, paying no mind to the blood that had gotten on him from the crocodile's sudden demise.

"And give you the chance to return with an army? Never. I'd rather survive under Marcus' rule than see you take the throne."

The conviction and mistrust in Ronan's eyes caused Victor to laugh in a mix of amusement and sadness. "And that's how our father always wins this game. None of us really know each other do we? Not our wants or desires, certainly not our morals. You see Ronan, I've learned that we are bred to be enemies only so that we will simple except our real enemy."

With a snarl Ronan lunged at Vic, but the younger bear dodged the sword aimed for his head, rushing in low. His right paw struck out, slashing upwards across Ronan's face and slicing through flesh and eye. Quickly gaining distance from the roaring black bear, Vic's claws dripped crimson as he watched Ronan fall to his knees, dropping his sword as he grasped at his wounded face.

Ronan's remaining eye glared at Vic, daring him to finish him off. But Victor did no such thing, the gold fading away from his blue eyes. Pulling out a hancercef he began to wipe the blood off his claws, eyeing his brother with something mirroring pitty.

"I'm not going to kill you. Despite whatever you are thinking, you are not my enemy, just another pawn in this game I am forsaking."

Jess watched as Vic folded his handkerchief, keeping an eye on Ronan as he rose back to his feet. Still gripping his face, he made no movements to attack.

"You actually believe father will allow you to leave so easily?"

"Maybe not," Vic admitted. "But if he really wanted to stop me, he would have done it himself." The two bears fell silent, neither having anything else to say to one another.

Finally Victor turned away from Ronan and at last boarded the Avarice before it could drift away from the pier.

***

Bartholomew felt sick, if his species had been capable of such an act he was certain he would have thrown up. It had been an hour at most since he threw his lot in with Prince Victor and already he had killed someone. Being passive in both personality and simply being a rabbit, Bartholomew had never even thrown a punch before and now he had taken a life.

His ears still hurt, ringing loudly from the cannon blast that had been so near to him. Honestly he hadn't even been trying to hit the crocodile. The plan was he would fire one of the cannons and scare off the attacking group. Be it accident or fate, his aim had been too true and now the docks had been covered in gore.

The rest of the fight didn't register in his mind as Bartholomew found himself stuck in a state of shock. It wasn't until he felt the ship moving that he was able to finally move with purpose.

Despite his heart still racing, he forced himself to breathe steadily as he made his way up to the deck.

First thing he saw was Victor, his shirt off as he sat on a crate. It looked as though Jessica had used some spare clothing as a makeshift bandage to wrap around the bear, keeping the wound on his back from bleeding more.

Urch was at the ship's wheel, loudly complaining about the situation. Bartholomew choice not to listen.

Jessica was finishing wiping blood out of Victor's head fur when she noticed him. "Hey, you okay?"

Her voice was muffled as Bartholomew's hearing still hadn't fully returned. Still he nodded, hoping no permanent damage had been done to his ears.

It was then Victor looked his way, an unnerving smirk on his face. "Had no idea you could be so dangerous big guy. I owe you one."

Bartholomew's instincts wanted to insist that Victor owes him nothing. But with him still being in shock, Barth could only shrug in return.

"Oy!" Urch called over to him. Barth looked over to see the jackal grinning. "Was thinkin' ye just abandoned us, didn't know ye were gonna save the day. Glad ta have ye aboard buns!"

Running a paw over his head and ears, Bartholomew was forced to sigh. Thinking on the sudden brutality they had all just bore witness to, what he had participated in...just what had they all gotten themselves into? And why was he the only one who seemed worried?