Chapter 127: THIRD POV.
After they were drawn, He tied the lines securely to the wooden cleats, letting the clean white canvas catch the steady wind.
Soon, the First Hornet was fully ready and set off into the open sea.
The smaller ship was built for speed, and it sliced through the water with ease, moving farther and farther away from the massive battleship.
Within a few short minutes, the giant warship they called home shrank into a small wooden dot against the blue sky, leaving the two of them alone on the vast waves.
They sailed the seas for a while, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of trouble, yet nothing came into view for the first few hours.
The ocean seemed completely peaceful, with nothing but rolling waves and a few white sea birds flying overhead.
Of course, they didn't panic or get discouraged by the lack of activity; they had expected this already.
The sea was an enormous place, and finding trouble took a bit of effort.
The both of them had lots of patience to spare and continued to sail in the exact direction they'd planned beforehand.
Jacob steered the boat with a relaxed grip on the wooden wheel, while Priscilla stood near the front, her nose catching the scent of the salty sea and her eyes scanning the distant horizon for any unfamiliar shapes.
And like that, time quickly went by. The sun climbed higher into the sky, heating up the wooden deck beneath their boots as the steady breeze kept them moving forward at a good pace.
Eventually, after a long period of quiet sailing, they saw something worth peaking their interest.
Far off in the distance, a small cluster of dark shapes began to break the flat line of the horizon.
"We finally found one," Priscilla said, grinning from ear to ear as she leaned over the front railing of the boat.
She pointed a sharp claw toward the right side of their path. Out toward the starboard side, there was what looked like three pirate ships completely surrounding one single pirate ship, trapping it in a tight circle.
Their cannons and hostility bared for all to see.
While the ship being flanked in the middle was a medium-sized vessel, the three flanking ships surrounding it were much smaller scout crafts.
However, even from this much distance, Jacob and Priscilla were able to see that the total number of pirates standing on the three smaller ships was far greater than those on the single target boat.
The decks of the attacking ships were absolutely packed with shouting men waving all types of blades and loading heavy ropes in an attempt to board the surrounded ship.
"First mate, full speed ahead!" Priscilla said, grinning wildly while standing right next to the front mast of the ship.
Her white fur seemed to bristle with pure excitement, and her eyes flashed with the joy of a true fighter who had finally found a worthy target to crush.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Jacob gave a formal, slightly playful salute as he turned the wooden wheel with all his might, steering the ship directly into the target direction.
He pulled the sails a bit tighter to catch the maximum amount of wind, forcing the boat to lean into the turn.
The First Hornet quickly speed forward, its narrow hull churning the white waves into a thick foam as it turned sharply toward the battle scene.
The wind howled through the rigging, pushing them faster and faster toward the four fighting vessels.
'Huh?' But on getting closer to the trapped medium-sized vessel, Jacob couldn't help but blink his eyes several times, as if he had suddenly seen something incredibly strange and impossible.
'It's not possible, is it?' He squinted his eyes tightly, rubbing them with the back of his hand in utter disbelief.
He shook his head, trying to clear his vision, but even after doing all that, what laid before his very eyes was still right there, clear as day.
On the raised bow of the flanked ship, standing right near the front railing, there were five distinct figures facing down the crowd of attackers.
Three of those figures he remembered quite well from his past encounters.
For one of them was Douglas, the very same pirate captain he had sent flying through the air with one single blow back during their first chaotic meeting.
The man was still wearing his familiar rugged clothes, looking just as stressed as before.
But the other two figures standing right next to him were none other than a couple of familiar faces that made Jacob's jaw drop.
There was a pink-haired woman and a blue-haired woman respectively, both of them being extreme beauties whose sharp features stood out even in the middle of a dirty pirate battle.
They were undoubtedly Persephone and Artria!
' What are they doing there?!'
Jacob stared at them, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how on earth these characters had managed to cross paths with Douglas and end up surrounded by a fleet of hostile raiders in the middle of nowhere.
Priscilla, who was completely gearing up to fight, drawing her heavy sword and stretching her muscles, wasn't aware of the massive shock her first mate was currently undergoing behind the wheel.
All she wanted at this very moment was for their small ship to get close enough to the enemy lines so she could jump across the gap and sink her heavy knuckles into those villainous pirates' bones.
She was already picking out her first targets among the shouting men on the smaller vessels.
Alas, things did not go according to her simple plan.
Before they even got close enough to throw a rope or shout a warning, the both of them witnessed a scene through the open air that they never thought possible.
******
Down on the deck of the trapped medium-sized vessel, the shouting of the attacking pirates was growing louder by the second.
The three smaller ships had drifted so close that their wooden hulls were almost scraping against each other, trapping Douglas and his crew in a tight wooden box.
AN: Still have exams by the way guys, but decided I need to own up since I haven't filled up the privileges for this month. Hope you're enjoying the progression so far. Also, sorry for uploading this late. Editing really isn't easy.