The crew of the Marquette was around twenty five strong, but not all of them were fighters. Good, that is. There comes a point though, when you have to fight.

Whether you can, or not.

“Listen up,” Captain Aron Gray said, looking at them with sad eyes. “Not everyone is going to make it. Let’s get this out of the way. But we ain’t losing this ship. Cut down anyone that jumps aboard, any way ye can. Keep this in mind though, pirates don’t take prisoners.”

That’s a bunch of crap, Jinx thought busy dipping her arrows into a freshly opened bottle of poison. A mixture of her own, made out of red frogs spit and rat droppings, with a bit of cayon massed leaves added in. Mostly a paralytic; though it did the job, just not as well her mainstay, a yellow-green mix she produced from the bark of the Upas tree. Rare to find, and lasting not as long, when bottled. Ten times as deadly though.

So there was that.

“They take prisoners,” She murmured seeing Dante, warming up his muscles, sword in hand. Soren right next to him, was munching on something, with pieces of puke still stuck in his red beard. “If they’re valuable, or pretty.” Soren laughed hard at that, so Jinx showed him her mid finger in response.

“Fear not, Pretty,” Dante said, a merchant’s smile on his face. “This is but a nuisance. We’ve faced much worse. Right?”

“When?” Soren asked.

“That wolf’s pack was nasty.” A rare comment from Pale.

“Basically they were mountain dogs, a bit well fed, I think,” Jinx noted unsure, the incident a couple of years in the past already, in the woods near Midlanor.

Cessara and Kirk were still alive then.

“Bah, not even close!” Dante responded theatrically, sword cutting an eight in the air.

“Go on a journey, he says,” Zola whined across from him, arming her crossbow. Her stare acerbic. “Do nothing for a month and get paid,” Dante gave her a hurt look, which pissed the Issirian even more. “Cut this shit out, else I'll shoot you in the fuckin' face.”

It worked like a charm.

“Okay, myself, mister Victor Hook and the Captain will hold this gangway, Glen and the big guy will stay back, block anyone that pushes through. You Ladies, find a good position and keep those arrows away from me.” That was Sir Emerson Lennox, their employer for the trip. Dante’s easy contract.

“Don’t worry,” Jinx said with a grin, “I’m a good shot.”

The knight frowned.

“I’ll worry, just the same.”

“What about the sailors?” Asked Glen, green in the face. Either from another case of seasickness, or a heavy case of the jitters.

Jinx would bet good coin on the latter.

“They’ll fight it out on the upper deck. Pray they hold firm, or we’ll sleep wit ‘em fishes. Same way they’ll pray we do well and they don’t get flanked.” Replied the knight casually, explaining everything, which was fuckin’ impressive. He was clad in his armor and pulled an oiled chainmail coif over his head, to complete the look.

And that was that.

The first pirate that landed on the rails, Jinx shot in the shoulder. He staggered, then yanked it out angry. Eyes mad, over a heavy beard laden with jewelry, the man raised his cutlass and let rip a garish bellow of defiance. Sir Emerson’s blade cut away his hand turning it into a cry of pain, before Soren’s axe split his head in two, dousing everyone near in blood, brains and pieces of bone and put a stop to that too.

“STAND BACK!” The Knight yelled at the Northman, pushing him away, just as another two landed between them.

Four more, right after that.

Everything turning to chaos.

Zola’s bolt punched through a Cofol’s chest clean through, killing the one standing behind him as well, striking him below the jaw. Dante dodged a hairy Northman into Pale’s blade and ducked under an axe swing to cut a Lorian, wearing a fancy plate on his chest, above the knee.

The Pirate cursed his late mother and got him with his axe, as he tried to jump away; axe’s blade badly set, unwittingly turning at the last the deathly cut, to a hard whack on his shoulder. Down their captain went just as well, with a cry of pain matching that of his opponent’s.

Jinx had nailed him through the wrist. Forced the man to drop the weapon and dance around howling obscenities. The Gish rolled on the hardwood floor of the forecastle, catching out the corner of her eye, Lith kill a man with Zestari’s short blade, use him as a shield right after, to approach the next one.

The pirate, a sturdy Issirian, with an impressive white mustache, dangling in fury, hacked away at his dead colleague ardently, pieces of him falling off. A hand here, piece of skull there. A couple of bloody fingers landing near Jinx. Blood splattering the deck, until Lith let go of the mutilated corpse stepping aside and pushed the entire length of her blade into his eye.

Ouch, Jinx thought.

Down the man went, just as five raiders, well armoured with leather and some metal pieces, mainly on their chests, broke through Gray’s crew and moved to flank them.

“GLEN!” The knight, busy fighting two wild eyed pirates, bellowed at the dumbfounded young man standing to the side. “STOP ’EM LAD, OR WE’RE DEAD!”

Glen parried the first cutlass away and almost got skewered by a nasty steel hook sharpened at the edges, the man coming after him had, instead of a hand. Jinx flying over them saw everything, just before she let go of the line, she’d cut and used to jump over the forecastle’s rails. Could've used it to swing over the whole upper deck and escape the worse, but she didn't.

Most people get killed attempting something flamboyant.

Jinx raised her knees slightly, bowstring drawn, to aim at the man flanking Glen, in the seconds her insane drop lasted. She fired, then tossed her bow down, drawing a long dagger in the same breath. Blade out, just as she landed on the hardwood deck. Blood spurted out her nostrils, force of the impact too great, knees hurting, but holding.

The Gish had rolled forward anyway to ride the momentum, ending up between the legs of the man with the wicked hook. The pirate, stared at the pink haired girl sprouting out from underneath him, lips split showing her bloody teeth, in astonishment. It lasted not even a second, hook raised to gauge her eyes out, but Jinx beat him to it, punching the dagger into his jewels.

“Fuck,” A disgusted Glen cried, as the man let out a groan of immense agony and doubled over, maimed for life.

As much of it, as he’s left in the tank anyway, thought Jinx, wiping the blade and going for her bow, a sharp pain in her spine almost sending her down as well. The cost of her acrobatics, more than she’d initially thought.

“WATCH OUT!” Glen cried out, scaring the piss out of her, pointing at a large raider, instead of giving her a fuckin’ hand. He was one of the five that had broken through. The big man run towards her, nasty axe in hand, his eyes mad with bloodlust and rage that oozed out of him in waves.

Probably the hook’s fuckbuddy, Jinx thought, moaning something fierce, as she rolled out of the mini orc’s way. The Northman went for Glen next, instead of turning, which was a blessing from Luthos himself; but left her facing a dangerous blond-haired, leather clad woman. Her blue eyes painted black with ink, just as her mouth, seeming skilled as fuck, which was vile Abrakas, giving Jinx the middle finger. She’d a cutlass and a dagger in hand and watched her frantically hobbling for her bow, before dashing forward and kicking her hard in the back.

The same back, she’d hurt in her mad drop.

Seemed a right stupid idea now.

“Oomph..” Jinx groaned and went down like a sack laden with rocks. Having no control on her body, she smacked her head on a barrel twice her size, the cut bleeding down her face, alike her nostrils. A stunned Jinx, turned and sat on her arse, to watch the pirate woman approach her, all sassy on her slightly heeled boots, but still angry as all hells.

“The fuck are ye?” She snapped, square jaw clenching, seeing her more clear now. “What manner of bloody freak…”

Jinx tried to spit on the woman's tall fancy boots; too dazed, she fumbled the whole thing and most of the bloody spittle landed on her own leather vest.

There it is then, Pretty thought. No fancy ending for ye, girl.

“A fuckin’ cunt.” She said miserably, running out of options.

The female pirate, shook her black mane and raised that nasty cutlass to take her head.

Only to stagger back a couple of steps, coughing blood. She’d an arrow right between her breasts. She made to cut it away with the cutlass, wonder on her face, but another struck her almost at the same spot, this one punching through, out her back.

“A cunt…” The woman muttered coughing up a splash of blood that landed on her boots, just before her eyes emptied and she collapsed lifeless on the ship’s deck.

Yeah, Jinx thought, watching Lith casually walking on the thin gangway rail, an image right out of a gypsy’s circus performance. Her back straight, putting one foot in front of the other, without looking, while shooting arrows time after time again, with mechanical precision. Landing more times on people, than she missed. Which was once, sort of. A shot to send a tossed knife into the sea and save Glen, still duking it out against the man with the axe. Less damaged, than her, she thought sourly, a jolt of pain coming out of nowhere, when she tried to move.

Well, her back mainly and her bleeding head.

When did I fuckin’ hurt that?

So Jinx stayed where she was, next to that barrel and watched as Lith put the fear of Uher, into the remaining pirates. Yeah, she thought again, agreeing with the dead pirate lady.

A blue cunt, all right.

“Well, that went well, I suppose,” Dante announced pleased, an hour later. Seeing as he was only slightly maimed himself, it made sense to him. Also the fact, Jinx supposed, the remaining pirates surrendered, when their ship cut and run, seeing their leader fall.

That would be the pirate lady.

Words not well received understandably, by the shock shelled crew of the Marquette.

“We need to fix the ship, but before that, move through the straits,” Aron Gray announced, giving the mercenary a nasty look. “It can’t wait, I’m afraid. We licked ‘em good today, but they may be back with reinforcements on the morrow.”

“What about the men we lost?” One of the surviving crew asked, sounding angry.

Jinx grinding her teeth walked away, her body hurting with every small step, not really interested in the debate that started right after. Ye can’t fix stuff wit fighting, she thought. Either before, or after. All you can do is survive.

Lust after revenge, if you’re a fool, or seek redemption, for things ye did in yer past.

If you’re a bigger fool.

She stopped before the Zilan, silently picking through her used arrows, keeping the better ones or less damaged on a different pile. Lith had a tear on her cape, but that was the extent of her injuries.

“I can mend that,” Jinx offered, her mouth bitter and too tired to make light of their species notorious frugality.

Old jokes, nobody really cared about anymore.

Lith stopped her work, raised a still hooded head and examined her for a moment.

“You should keep it straight. Preferably on a soft bed,” She said, eyes a pale gold.

“Yeah,” Jinx replied, looking about them. “Gratitude, for before. I was probably a gonner.”

The Zilan nodded, going back to her work.

“I owed you, a life.” She whispered softly, when Jinx turned to limp away.

Yeah, the Gish thought, crooking her mouth.

Figured as much.