Unfortunate Circumstances (open)

[Sol the 1337th]

Eriadu grimaced as his captor kicked him again; he wished the Condie Petie Guard didn't wear steel-toed boots.

"You can stop the footwork anytime now. Honestly, your leg must be getting tired."

The guard kicked him.

"Quiet yer wordhole, boy. I'm sssure my leg will outlassst your ribsss."

The young pirate lay bound in the back of a prison boat on its way to Bervenia; it was large enough for fifty prisoners, but there were only two other non-goldcoats here now; the captain, a small bald man with a handlebar mustache, and another unfortunate prisoner with several fingers missing, equally bald as the former.

"I should probably inform you that besides being charming and handsome, I'm a powerful magician."

The goldcoat shrank back for a second, then kicked him again. Eriadu coughed and wished he hadn't preyed on the fear for magic the Condie Petie guards seemed to have.

"There'sss nothing in your bounty about magic."

"They lied?"

The goldcoat kicked him again, and Eriadu grimaced again.

"Could you at least take off your boots? I find the smell of your feet wonderful. I want a more concentrated whi-"

The guard silenced him by jerking the young man roughly to his feet.

"Thisss kid'ssss sssstarting to bother me. Can I have a little fun before we hand him over, Sssalazzzar?"

A bangaa leaning against the wall by the door moved forward; he was the captain of the unit, Eriadu could tell by the red cloak over his gold coat. The ship seemed to rock as he moved, and though the bangaa's eyes were covered by the gold-colored helmet, he felt a chill run down his spine and knew the captain was staring at him.

"Don't rough him up too bad. Bervenia wantsss him in one piece."

The first goldcoat laughed and pulled out a dagger. Eriadu eyed it warily, prepared to tackle the bangaa, but he instead used it to cut his bonds.

Salazar said something in the rough bangaa tongue, forsaking Common to speak behind the pirate's back right in front of him. The first goldcloak laughed again, then sheathed the dagger.

"We're going to fight, boy. I haven't gotten to punch anything in a while. I promissse I won't use the dagger!"

Eriadu flexed his hands and feet, glad that the circulation was coming back, for they had tied the ropes too tight.

"Right, right. If you do so please."

Salazar jerked his head towards Eriadu and spoke a word in the bangaa language, one of the few the pirate did understand: "The face."

Eriadu ducked a swing just in time, but the boat chose to rock at just that moment, and he fell backwards against the wall. His opponent was already upon him, but this time a kick; the pirate sidestepped and felt the air whistle past his face, heard a crunch, and saw the foot break into the cabin beside them. Eriadu used this to his advantage and swung at the goldcoat; he found to his dismay that the bangaa was wearing heavy mail and leather.

"You gotta be kidding me."

[Sol the 1337th]

-several minutes later-

Eriadu whirled to escape the bangaa's reach, at least thankful that the armor was heavy; after five minutes of this, the bangaa seemed to be getting tired. He had succeeded in flattening his opponent's long nose a little, but had his own scrapes and soon-to-be bruises.

"Finissh him, Raph," ordered Salazar, watching intently. The other goldcoat huffed and charged Eriadu; with nowhere else to go, the pirate was forced into the corner of the room, where he barely managed to duck a now-drawn dagger.

"You said no weapons!"

"I lied.", the bangaa said with a grin that was missing several pointy teeth due to one of Eriadu's kicks.

The blade slammed into the wooden panel beside his ribs, and Eriadu saw an opportunity; he lifted a sore foot and sent the goldcoat sprawling, then reached down and tore the knife from the wood. His opponent had already gotten up.

[Sol the 1337th]

Eriadu was already at him, and had kicked the guard against the opposite wall. This time, his opponent's head hit it first, and the bangaa passed out. The pirate turned to Salazar.

"There, I fought him. Now can we take the rest of this pleasant trip in silence?"

"Drop the dagger."

"Then what?"

"Jussst drop it."

He kept an eye on the bangaa and lowered the blade to the floor, watching for any movement.

"We're going to land in Bervenia in..." Salazar turned around and called behind him. "How long?"

A faint call came back from the bald captain, but Eriadu didn't hear it. Salazar turned back and shrugged. "Two minutesss. I've sssent word ahead about you, and there'sss a sssquadron of the Blackcoatsss waiting on the docksss. There'sss no escape for you thisss time, Ssstekah."

"We both know I don't murder. I'm innocent. I could have killed your friend Raph over there at any time. Sure, I might do a little Robin Hooding here and there, but you're as aware as I am that I find killing despicable."

Salazar let out a chortle of laughter, stopped, and spit at Eriadu's feet. "It'sss your word againssst the Mayor'sss. Even if you didn't do it, you have a high enough bounty on your head from that 'Robin Hooding' that bringing you in isss worth it."

[Sol the 1337th]

Eriadu sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Ressigned to your fate, eh? Glad to know I've lived long enough to ssssee it happen." said Salazar with a smirk. "I'll take you up on deck to let you sssee your 'honor guard'."

The pirate had to keep himself from smirking, but asked a question nonetheless. "And this Raph?"

Salazar had turned his back, but glanced over at the unconscious heap of bangaa. "He lossst a fight to a human. He can wake up on hisss own."

They exited the room.