"You think that you can defeat me alone?" Valen laughed, drawing his sword as he held it up towards Zenith. "You won't last more than a moment," he growled.
"Then so be it," Zenith said, sliding his left foot back into his attack ready pose. "I have a goal to become the strongest man alive, you will not stand in my way." He said, catching onto a happy Dragon grin at his side, as Madison stood witness to his fearless encounter with the captain of the ship. While Zenith mustered up the courage to strike though, Madison turned away and let out a bellowing roar towards Valen's crew, causing some to abandon the ship in fear of losing their lives. Elez on the other hand was left coughing up water nearby, shakily unravelling himself from the ropes that bound him to the anchor.
"Die!" Valen roared, surrounding his blade with a burst of magic as he swung to slice down upon Zenith, only to have the deafening sound of clashing metal meet his ears. In less than a moment, Zenith had raised his sword to block, glancing up towards Valen as he forced his blade forwards and shoved the massive man back, almost toppling him off balance.
"I won't fall to scum like you!" Zenith yelled, slashing his blade quickly towards Valen's shins and slicing open the delicate skin on the Captain's legs, causing him to instantly wince and groan in pain. Valen retaliated quickly though, thrusting his sword forwards and slicing past Zenith's side, ripping through his shirt and allowing his blade to glisten with the boy's blood. Naturally, Zenith stepped back and gripped his side in pain, wincing as his own blood dripped from the tip of Valen's sword. Slowly, he pushed himself to ignore the pain of the pointless gash, as he glared towards Valen with a determined stare.
"You stupid brat!" Valen hissed, stumbling back and struggling to keep his balance as Madison began rocking the ship with her massive Dragon body, bouncing around happily while she chased after the remaining crewmen, causing the vessel to rock back and forth with her movements. While Valen was struggling to stand though, Zenith approached ease, leaning his body effortlessly back and forth in order to balance himself with the motions of the ship.
"You never should have underestimated me." Zenith smiled, raising up his sword and slicing quickly across Valen's chest, splattering sticky crimson blood directly onto the deck below. The captain instantly screamed and groaned in pain, stumbling back towards the edge of the ship before Zenith rushed forwards and slammed his fist directly into Valen's chin, launching him flawlessly over the side of the ship, before the satisfying sound of splashing water calmed their nerves.
A few moments of silence passed, as the last of Valen's crew members lept fearfully away, landing down into the salty water below and swimming away as fast as they possibly could. As soon as they were finally alone, Madison shifted back into her human form and pouted softly towards Zenith, crossing her arms madly over her chest while she spoke to him.
"Zenith," she whined. "Why do you get to have all of the fun?"
"Stab wounds aren't fun," he groaned, stumbling back and sliding down against the mast pole nearby, striking pure fear into Madison as she watched her only friend wince in pain.
"I-I'll get help, don't go anywhere!" She said, rushing off to search the ship for medical supplies.
"Didn't plan on it." Zenith chuckled weakly, forcing himself to sit upright against the mast, before his eyes fell to Elez laying dizzily nearby. "Hey Madison!" He yelled. "Grab some extra bandages for the Angel!"
"On it!" She called back from down below, shuffling through a few mismatched cabinets before rushing back onto the deck with an armful of supplies.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Zenith asked, refusing to pull his hand away and allow her to look at his wound.
"Nope. But you can't patch up yourself." She said, mumbling out a cryptic set of words as she played a game with herself to see which treatment was best. So, in essence, she was basing Zenith's treatment on luck alone.
"Go help the Angel first," Zenith groaned, pushing her back with his right hand while his left stayed still at his side, applying constant pressure to the wound. "It looks worse than it is, but go and help him." Zenith said, nodding towards the shaky boy nearby.
"Ok," Madison nodded, picking up one of the rolls of bandages and running off to Elez's side, kneeling down next to his body as she carefully rolled him over and lifted up his head in order to smile down on him. "Hey, you're gonna be just fine, ok?" She said softly, wrapping the bandages gently around his skull and making sure to tightly secure them, before slowly laying Elez down onto the deck and opening up his wings so that they could dry out in the sun.
"Who are you people?" Elez muttered, unsure of how many crew members Madison had. "Why did you save me?" He questioned.
"I think your wings are pretty, and you look super strong." Madison smiled, unaware that Zenith had rolled his eyes in the background. "I want you to join my crew!" She grinned.
"Your crew?" Elez mumbled. "What kind of pirates are you?" He chuckled weakly, holding his head as he sat up and slowly looked around, his wings stuck to the floor due to the weight of the sea water that they had absorbed. "Didn't you have a Dragon or something?" He mumbled, staring around at the abandoned deck, only for his eyes to fall back to Madison.
"Yep! Hi, my name's Madison." She said, holding out her hand towards him.
"...I'm Elez." He replied, shaking her hand softly before he caught onto Zenith's death stare from afar. "Is he ok?" He asked, causing Madison to turn around while Zenith instantly lost his brutal stare, instead he looked away and looked completely innocent.
"Yeah, he's super strong, he'll live." She smiled, turning back towards Elez and missing the small smile that appeared on Zenith's face. He was honoured to receive such a compliment from his captain.
"Where's your ship?" Elez asked, glancing around at the open ocean which surrounded them.
"This is our ship now," Zenith said, pushing himself up from the ground only moments after he had bandaged up his own wound. Thankfully, it felt worse than it looked, and Valen's sword had only sliced half an inch into his skin, so no vital organs were damaged, and most of the pain came from the ripped muscles and decreasing adrenaline.
"Your ship? You beat Valen?" Elez gasped, looking around in fear and surprise.
"Urrrr yeah. Like five minutes ago." Madison giggled. "Zenith beat him up real good!" She smiled, looking back at her trusty swordsman with a happy and adorable grin.
"Ah! I need to check on the others!" Elez gasped, scrambling up from the ground as he rushed off below deck, leaving a trail of water from his dripping wet wings.
"Others?" Madison hummed, skipping curiously after the Angel while Zenith kept his hand firmly on the handle of his sword. He was sceptical about stowaways or any other potential enemies, so he kept his weapon close.
While Zenith and Madison trailed behind, Elez had already stumbled into the cell room, looking around at all of the caged prisoners with the start of tears in his eyes. They were all ok - but they were also overjoyed to see his face.
"Elez! You're not dead!" A young child called out, smiling brightly up at him while the animals whooped and yelped with joy.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Valen is gone; I can set you guys free." He smiled, grabbing the keys from nearby and unlocking all of the cages, earning hugs and joyful tears from everyone that he set free. Valen had been keeping prisoners for many years, and they were often people who had defied him or animals he planned to sell. Elez on the other hand had found his way onto the ship at a young age, growing up with the crew as they taught him many things about a pirates natural life. The moment he stumbled upon the prison room though, Elez had planned for many years to find a way to set them all free.
"Oh my gods! Is that a wolf with wings!?" Madison gasped, rushing into the room and picking up the small animal that had nuzzled up on Elez's chest. Her entrance caused fear to strike through each and every prisoner, but her warm smile and adorable giggles soon calmed them all down.
"Who's this?" A woman called out to Elez, holding her child close while she smiled at Madison's awe-fuelled obsession with the small winged wolf.
"Oh. This is the woman who saved me, and her crew defeated Valen." Elez explained, smiling happily as he turned and admired Madison.
"Zenith did most of the work." Madison smiled, standing up after she had gathered more of the animals into her arms. "But now for a feast!" She chirped, rushing off in search of the kitchen.
"A feast? We can finally eat as much as we like?" A young boy asked, earning a happy and joyful nod from Elez.
"Yes, you're all free now. We'll drop you off at the first island we come by." He smiled, instantly receiving another round of hugs from every grateful person who he had come to help over the years.
"I'll help out in the kitchen." A woman smiled, walking off with a baby in her arms and eventually joining Madison in the kitchen, before immediately sending her out after the Dragon girl had tried to eat a raw steak.
Meanwhile, Elez stayed put to entertain the animals and the kids, allowing them all to have as much water and snacks as they could possibly ever want. He was overjoyed to have rescued them, and was happy to see their grateful smiles. Slowly, Elez realised that he owed his life to Madison and Zenith, so he soon planned to tell them that he would accept their invitation onto their crew.