Batten sat perched on the edge of the crow’s nest, her legs crossed, wings moving in short, lazy sways. The sky was blue, the clouds large and puffy. They cast shadows on the water as they drifted over the Angel’s Voyage, and from this vantage she had a clear view of the whole deck, as well as the sea around them.
The ship rocked gently in the soft waves that pushed her, and the bat made minute, unconscious adjustments to her position to keep her balance. It was second nature, not only in the slight shifts of her body, but also her wings. Having a few extra appendages than most folk made her more graceful and sure footed, so to speak. Even this high.
Movement on deck below her, and soon the sounds of angry voices floated up. She glanced down, always up for some good gossip or public displays of embarrassing arguments, and found her captain and first mate gesturing wildly toward each other, caught in the heat of battle.
Again.
Sails Tails flew toward her, the fox’s twin tails spinning like a propeller, and the look on his face told her she wasn’t the only one growing tired of this near constant conflict between the two people who supposedly cared more about each other than anyone else.
“What’s got ‘em all riled this time?” she sighed as he landed in the nest.
“Who knows,” he said, crossing his arms on the lip of the rail and leaning forward. They both watched as the two in question kept up with their agitated movements, while Black Rose attempted to play peacemaker nearby. Catfish stood off to the side, trying to blend in with the deck and pretend he wasn’t paying attention. “Scar came stormin’ out first, with the cap’n hot on her heels.”
Batten rolled her eyes. “They’re hopeless. He musta said somethin’ stupid.”
“Maybe.” Sails shook his head. “But Scar c’n be kinda sensitive sometimes. Take things the wrong way an’ get herself worked up over nothin’. ‘Specially when Dread’s involved.” He paused, flicking his eyes to hers. “Don’t tell ‘er I said that.”
She snickered. “Nah, ye’re right. She can.”
They watched for a moment, as the fight below seemed to reach a crescendo. More wild gesturing, louder voices, and Scarlett stepped forward and got right in Dread’s face. Rose was attempting to referee, with little success.
Batten let out an amused huff. “Ten coppers she slugs him.”
Sails chuckled, shaking his head. “Nah, she usually goes dead silent b’fore throwin’ a punch. Too ramped up fer that.”
There were indeed no punches thrown, and after another few moments, things seemed to have started calming in a rare instance of cooler heads prevailing. Rose was talking, her hands clasped before her in a calm manner, looking back and forth between the cat and echidna.
Batten gave a soft hum. It wasn’t necessarily unheard of for the two to settle things without coming to blows, but she had to admit, it was fun to watch them go at each other like mortal enemies sometimes.
Movement caught Batten’s eye, and she looked away from the scene below to follow a large shadow moving over the water.
No, wait a minute.
It was moving under the water.
Her brows furrowed, and she followed the shadow for a moment, flicking her eyes up to check for any clouds overhead that may have simply caused some odd refraction in the waves. There were none in the right place, and the shadow moved counter to the direction of the wind.
“Sails . . .” she started, but was interrupted by a loud shout below.
“THAT’S IT! YE’RE DONE!” Dread bellowed, and Batten looked down to watch as he lifted Scarlett off her feet, holding her over his head as he walked toward the rail. She must have said something, some scathing parting shot that snapped through that tentative calm and reignited his anger.
Sometimes that girl didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. Especially with him.
Scarlett was still arguing, twisting and turning in his grip to try and free herself. Rose followed, her voice rising in an attempt to intervene. Dread wasn’t having it.
“Ye c’n come back aboard when ye got this bug outta yer ass!”
Batten’s eyes widened, and she looked back to that shadow.
It was coming toward the ship.
“Dread, don’t!” she called, right before he hurled Scarlett over the side.
She cartwheeled through the air—Dread’s strength was legendary, and he hadn’t gone easy in his toss—and she hit the water in an undignified sprawl, causing a very large, very loud splash. The water swallowed her for a few seconds before her head popped back up, hurling obscenities at the echidna practically before she took another breath.
Dread was laughing—hands on his hips, head tilted back, thoroughly amused by his own antics. Catfish looked like a spooked deer, unsure whether or not to help Scarlett back aboard. Rose was downright pissed, and punched Dread’s arm before crossing her own before her.
That shadow came closer. Now that she had some scale, Batten could see just how large it was. And that could only mean one thing.
“Sails, weapons!” Batten ordered, before she launched herself off the nest, heading straight for Scarlett.
The fox leapt out of the nest behind her, screaming at the top of his lungs, “KRAKEN!!”
Heart pounding in her ears, Batten sped toward Scarlett. The cat bobbed in the water, her argument with Dread apparently forgotten when she’d heard Sails’ cry. She spun in a circle, treading water and looking around herself, trying to pinpoint the threat.
When she saw Batten coming, she raised one arm up toward her. Batten reached back, closing the distance quickly.
And that’s when Scar was pulled under.
“Shit!” Batten hissed, pulling up short to hover over where she’d last seen Scarlett. Dread bellowed the cat’s name, before it was drowned out by other voices. Batten risked a quick look back and found the rest of the crew trying to keep Dread from diving into the water himself. She could imagine the arguments Rose would offer, mostly to the tune of “Ye ain’t a fish, ye fool! Ye can’t help her if ye drown tryin’!”
Looking back to the water, Batten ran through her options.
Option one, she could dive into the water to try and pull Scarlett to the surface. But if she did that, her wings would be wet, and it would be harder to fly them both back to the ship. Not to mention, that would put her in the range of that beast’s tentacles, too.
Option two, she could head back to the ship for weapons and reinforcements. All she had on her at the moment was a small dagger in her belt, and that wouldn’t do much against a kraken. But what if Scarlett resurfaced just as she flew away?
Option three, she could simply stay and wait, hoping Scarlett could somehow make her way back to the surface.
And despite the feeling of helplessness that conjured, that was truly the only thing Batten could do.
“C’mon, Scar,” she whispered, eyes flicking across the water in the hopes of spotting a flash of orange. “C’mon, girl. Ye ain’t goin’ down that easy.”
The water churned beneath her. Sails was hurrying closer, carrying a cutlass in each hand, and a small cylinder in his mechanical hand on the arm gadget attached to his belt. He tossed one cutlass to Batten, and they both took up positions hovering over where Scarlett had disappeared.
They didn’t speak. They knew the truth that hung between them.
The longer Scarlett stayed under, the less likely she’d ever resurface.
“Too long,” the fox muttered, casting a nervous side glance to Batten. “She’s been under too lon—“
A long, low pitched growl sounded from beneath them, and the water churned more violently. A black slick rose to the surface, just before Scarlett broke through, gasping in a deep breath. She held her dagger in one hand, and the end of a tentacle in the other.
Batten and Sails exchanged a shocked glance.
Then they were moving.
Batten swooped down and grabbed Scarlett, yanking her out of the water just as a stubby tentacle oozing black gore split the waves. Sails moved in to slash at it, drawing its attention so Batten could pull Scarlett to safety.
Not wanting to be thwarted, or maybe out for revenge for Scarlett’s hack job, the kraken breached, crashing out of the water before coming back down and hitting the water’s surface with a loud slap. The resulting waves, and flailing intact tentacles, knocked Batten sideways, and she dropped Scarlett before she could right herself.
Scarlett flailed as she fell toward the water again, a tentacle reaching for her to snatch her out of the air. Before it could latch onto her, Sails zipped through, grabbing her by the ankle and evading two more tentacles as he came around to head for the ship.
Batten was just about to follow, when a tentacle smacked her out of the sky. She hit the water, losing hold of her cutlass and giving a cry before getting a mouthful of saltwater. She pushed herself upright, spat out what she could, and coughed to try and clear her airway.
A shadow fell over her as a large tentacle took aim to force her under.
She’d just enough presence of mind to try and scramble out of the way, when Sails flew directly overhead. He still held Scarlett by her ankle, but the cat now wielded the cutlass. As they passed the attacking tentacle, she slashed it clean through, drawing an angry, pained cry from the beast.
Without pause, they made a run for the creature’s head. Scarlett slashed and hacked, and once she’d opened a gash near the thing’s eye, Sails gave the small cylinder a sharp twist, before tossing it inside the wound.
Then they came about, and Scarlett pulled Batten from the water as Sails flew them back toward the ship as fast as his tails would go.
They’d just about made it when the kraken exploded.
The thing about Sails was, he was smart. A genius, in fact, when it came to gadgets and contraptions. And one such gizmo was what he called a flashbomb—a small container filled with gunpowder and some other choice minerals, that produced a blinding flash of light, as well as a concussive boom that worked very effectively to stun enemies if they were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it.
And if that aforementioned boom happened to occur inside a very testy kraken, the result was . . . messy.
The three crashed to the deck just as the first bits of kraken meat rained down. Chunks splattered across the ship, bounced off the sails, and splashed in the water around them. Batten righted herself enough to look out in the water, and watched as what remained of the beast slowly sank below the waves.
Then the rest of the crew descended on them, hugging and laughing and checking for injuries.
“Sails, you little genius!” Scarlett laughed, before grabbing the kit in a tight hug, and planting a kiss on his forehead. The boy laughed, his muzzle blushing hot at the attention.
“Ah, weren’t nothin’ special.” He rubbed the back of his neck, flicking his eyes away.
Scarlett ruffled his bangs before turning to Batten, pulling her into a hug, too. “Thanks for watching,” she said, her voice softer. “I owe ya one.”
Batten gave a soft laugh, hugging her friend back. “Ye saved my skin back there, too. Think we be even.”
A tighter squeeze and the two pulled back, only for Dread to push his way forward. Scarlett’s face pinched, and she gave him a sour look. “I’m still mad at you—“
That was as far as she got before the echidna pulled her into a hug, holding tight.
“Don’t care,” he said, his voice rough. “Be mad. Jus’ keep breathin’ while ye shoot daggers at me.”
Scarlett wanted to stay mad. Batten could see her trying. But eventually, as happens with these two idiots, that anger faded, and Scar reached around to hold onto Dread. Their bond was always stronger than whatever foolish argument they’d thrown themselves into, even if they tended to ignore that fact when screaming at each other loud enough to wake the dead.
“Right, then,” Dread said after a moment, pulling back and helping Scarlett to her feet. “Now that that little bit o’ excitement be done, think it be time t’ find friendlier waters.” He looked to Batten and Sails. “Ye both done good t’day. All three o’ ye head below an’ get yerselves cleaned up. The rest o’ us will clean the kraken guts off the Angel, an’ then we’ll see where the wind takes us, aye?”
The crew nodded, calling back various “Aye” responses. Dread nodded again, and something unspoken passed between him and Scarlett before he released her hand. She walked over to join Batten and Sails as they headed for the door that led below deck.
“What were you and the cap’n arguing about earlier?” Batten asked.
Scarlett shrugged. “He accused me of stealing a bottle of his best rum.”
“Did ye?” Sails asked as he held the door open for the ladies.
“Course I did,” Scarlett said, offering them a little smirk. “It’s under my bunk.”
Batten and Sails paused, exchanging a glance. Scarlett looked back, offering a little smile and wink.
“C’mon,” she said, tilting her head toward her cabin. “I think we’ve earned a drink after all that.”
Another glance between bat and fox, before they smiled, shaking their heads.
“Hopeless,” Batten said, a little laugh in her voice. “Utterly hopeless.”
I’ve been thinking about that scene in XMA where Erik comes to kidnap Charles and just. But what if. What if Charles chair was made of plastic (like the one he was in when he visited Erik in prison in XM1) to prevent such possibility. Erik has his helmet to prevent Charles from getting into his head and Charles gets a plastic wheelchair in retribution to prevent Erik from grabbing him like that. Can you imagine how scandalized Erik would’ve been. Can you imagine the sheer indignation on his face--
"and i said that i wasn't going to sit and wait around, now did i?"sonny pushed herself off from the cemented ground that was now filled with blood splatters from the pack of werewolves. if there was one thing about sonny, she could be just as stubborn when it came to hunting monsters because she wanted to save everyone. even if it meant hunting alone. so of course when dean heard she was going off on her own, he tried to be involved. which he decided to beat her to it. "and don't lecture me about being reckless when you do the exact same thing. so let's just go before the cops get here, alright?" pushing past him, she made her way out of the warehouse.
