Several more hours passed. The sun hovered directly above them, and there was no longer any doubt. The ship was headed straight for Wavedance.

“It’s not a merchant,” Patty decided. “Cyll told me that merchant ships were big, and had a lot of room for cargo. This one has way too many guns, and it's rather small.”

“A pirate ship, then?” Maya asked.

“Most likely,” Patty said.

The ship was now well within vision. It was rather plain, with no figurehead and white sails. It flew no flag and was larger than Wavedance, although not by too much. However, it clearly had them outgunned.

While Wavedance only had one cannon on either side of it, the approaching ship had two rows of four cannons bristling from its sides.

“Well, the good news is that we’re definitely faster than they are,” Cyll observed. “There’s no way they can move that bathtub around quickly with all the cannons she’s got onboard.”

That piece of knowledge didn’t stop Maya from grabbing a cannonball from a barrel below deck. She lifted the heavy rock with a grunt and lugged it over halfway up the stairs before Patty took it from her with a single hand. The puppet easily walked over to the cannon and slid the ball in.

“Thanks,” Maya said, grinning at her crewmate. “I think you’ll be on cannon duty in the future.”

“We better hope that isn’t too often,” Cyll said. “Wavedance is meant to be fast. She isn’t going to hold up against larger ships in a cannon fight. Not yet, at least.”

“Not yet?” Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cyll returned his attention to the wheel, whistling.

“Don’t worry about it for now,” he replied. “We have bigger issues on hand, and they’re sailing right at us.”

Maya made a mental note to drag whatever Cyll was hiding out of him, then made her way to the front of Wavedance. The other ship was now easily within eyesight. Maya could make out the blurry forms of people on the other deck, but it was impossible to see any details.

“Do you think attacking first would be out of the question?” Patty asked, sliding up beside her captain.

“Might not be a bad idea, but let’s hold off for a bit. I really don’t want to get into a firefight with a ship with eight times our cannons,” Maya said.

She extended her mind to the ocean, but all she received in response was cold indifference. The captain grimaced. At least the lake-turned-cloak, despite its mischievous disposition, actually responded to her requests. The ocean, on the other hand, hadn’t done anything since it saved her during her match with Patty.

“We won’t be getting any help from the sea,” Maya said. “We should get ready–”

Maya trailed off as a small dark form launched itself from the deck of the approaching ship. Instead of falling back into the water, the form continued to rise into the air and headed straight towards them.

“What in the four seas is that?” Maya muttered.

“It’s not a cannon,” Patty put in helpfully. “I didn’t hear one fire.”

“It’s a person using an ability,” Cyll warned them, stepping away from the wheel. “They’re flying!”

Maya and Patty drew their weapons as the figure hurtled towards their deck. A gust of wind buffeted them back and the flying form alighted gently on their deck. Their unwelcome passenger was a thin, dark-skinned man covered from head to toe with jewelry.

“Good day,” the man said, bowing graciously to Cyll. He had a rich, smoky accent that Maya had never heard before. “I apologize for intruding on your ship.”

“You’re speaking to the wrong person,” Cyll growled. He jerked his chin towards Maya.

The intruder turned, surprised. Maya and Patty glared at him, but the man seemed unphased. He simply repeated the bow in their direction.

“My apologies,” the man said. “I should have recognized from the hat. I did not mean to cause offence.”

“I see,” Maya said suspiciously. “I’d like to know why you’ve boarded my ship. After that, you’re welcome to do your flying trick and head back on over to your vessel.”

“Reasonable demands. I am Humbol,” the man said.

“Humble?” Patty asked, smirking at the shimmering gold that covered his body.

“No. Humbol,” the extravagant man replied, stressing the first part of his name. “And I have come to claim some treasure in your possession.”

Maya’s crew tensed.

“You do realize you’re outnumbered?” Maya asked. “You might find it hard to take anything from us, not that we’re carrying anything of value in the first place. Your ship is still a few minutes away, so you won’t be getting any reinforcements.”

“Nothing of value?” Humbol scoffed. “You insult me with such lies. I have been listening to the wind for five years. You are the first ones to escape that rock formation. No other ship has ever sailed away from it. There is no way you would have left without the island’s treasure.”

“There was no treasure,” Cyll scoffed. “Just a shitty dungeon. Are you sure that was the wind and not just a fart?”

Humbol’s lips pursed, but he quickly regained control of his expression.

“Your rudeness will not give me pause, but my patience has its limits. Give me the island's treasure, and I will let you leave here alive.”

Maya put a hand on Patty’s shoulder before she launched her axe at Humbol.

“Hold on,” Maya said. “I don’t want to mess up Wavedance’s deck so soon.”

Humbol’s eye twitched slightly.

“Look, Humbol. I’m in a rather good mood today, so I’d rather not spoil my clothes by getting your blood on them. Get off my ship and I’ll pretend this never happened,” Maya said.

“Your clothes are already ruined,” Humbol observed. His eyes caught on the cloak wrapped around Maya’s shoulders. He paused as he realized that it was actually water and not fancy fabric.

“I too do not wish to kill anyone,” Humbol said, his eyes narrowing. “But I have lost too many men to that island. I will not dishonor their sacrifice.”

Wind rippled around him dangerously, carving white scars through the air around him. Cyll leapt from the raised portion of the deck, landing like a cat behind Humbol. Maya raised a hand to stop her man from lunging at the newcomer’s throat.

Cyll froze mid dash, skidding awkwardly to a stop several feet away from the bejeweled man.

“He’s got a lot more firepower than we do, Cyll,” Maya warned her crewmate. “For the record, if we were alone, my crew and I would have cut you into little fish snacks and tossed you to the bottom of the ocean.”

“Noted,” Humbol said, a small grin crossing his face as his guard lowered slightly.

“But…you’re still thinking too little of us. Do you see Cyll over there behind you?”

Humbol’s eyes flicked over to Cyll. The immortal pirate presented him with a mouthful of daggerlike teeth.

“He’s been bored for a very long time,” Maya continued. “He doesn’t get much opportunity to have fun since we’re trying to keep a low profile, so I can’t take this opportunity from him. He has five minutes to kill you. If you can survive, I’ll call him off. Then you can search the ship for your so-called treasure,” Maya said. “And for wasting our time, I’m afraid this offer is non-negotiable. You may continue, Cyll.”