Chapter 1: A New Family

Sidd cracked his knuckles, "Name's Sidd," he said, "and I think I just might take you up on your offer." Sidd had really been thinking about this the whole time. He liked the way this pirate fought, and he knew he'd be finding something worth his time if he followed him.

"I'm about to show you just why you want me on your crew!" he said, and leapt at Hyouga with a jumping kick.

Hyouga smirked as he saw how fast Sidd attacked after the talking. He was impatient... but powerful. Hyouga thought this as he sidestepped to avoid the kick, only to watch as Sidd's foot smashed into the ground, forming a small crater beneath.

"Not bad, you'll come in handy during battles!" Hyouga said with a smile. "I think maybe it is about time to get things interesting. Blades are back in."

In a flash, Hyouga had drawn his steel cutlass from it's scabbard at his hip. The blade glinted in the sunlight.

"The rules are simple... anyone who is disarmed is beaten, anyone who has the opponenets blade to their heart, neck, or face is beaten." Hyouga said.

At that, Hyouga jumped high into the air and aimed his blade for the swordsmen.

"Let's see how you use those swords!"

"All right!" Sidd leapt for his knives. Put one between his teeth, one in his right hand, and two in the left, between the fingers, as was his main style.

"Come at me whenever you're ready," he said, "but make it quick!"

"Well now," Zein drew his left hand over his right katana, unsheathing the long blade from its hold. "Allow me to properly demonstrate my ability." Zig-zagging in a narrow path, he jumped into the air after Hyouga. Zein spiraled towards the ice pirate. "One Sword Style: Scatter Blitz!" The long katana sliced vividly through the crisp air as it clashed with Hyouga's cutlass. A small shockwave could be felt as the swords made contact.

As his feet touched ground, Zein jolted backwards and moved in a crouched circular motion. His sword approaching from above instead of below. "One Sword Style: Crescent Storm!"

Hyouga stood in front of Zein, his ice cold blade at the side of his neck. He smirked and looked to Zein.

"Sorry, your out of the brawl... but you are definitely a great swordsmen. By traveling with me in my crew, you'll be the best!" Hyouga promised.

As he took his blade from Zein's neck, he focused his attention to the next opponent. Seeing the chef, he knew that if he let Crow have the Sidd, he could have Cecil.

Cecil pulled out his cutlass with a smile on his face. It was time to put all that sword practice to use. He let out a yell and charged towards Hyouga, sword raised. This is it, he thought to himself mid-run. The whole battle will probably count on this strike.

Cecil pulled his blade back and slashed forward with much power at the Captain, hoping to win the match...

Hyouga, surprised by the power behind the strike, blocked it as fast as he could. From the impact, a shock-wave was formed, and he was moved back a ways, his feet slid back in the snow. With great speed, Hyouga parried Cecil's blade from his own, and spun around to his side. The tip of his blade rested right in front of Cecil's eyes. A small crack formed at the tip of his blade.

"hoooo... game end, but great last strike there Cecil... you actually managed to knock me away and chip my blade. Your swordsmanship is quite impressive. I will end up training you further than you obviously have been once out to sea, here is your first lesson." Hyouga paused and clapped Cecil on the shoulder. "Never charge straight at a Pirate, it will be your downfall."

At that, Hyouga sheathed his cutlass and looked to his new crew-mates. A smile reached his face from ear to ear. His eyes seemed to burn with excitement and eagerness.

"Welcome to the Glacier Pirates! Gather any belongings you might have, we shall be setting sail tomorrow! I will go over the rules of my crew here, all of my veterans already know them, but it is a creed, unspoken, that all must follow, lest' they wish to be sent to Davy Jones' Locker!" Hyouga said with a colder tone. "Law one, the Captains' word is law on the sea, law two, mutiny will be dealt with death, law three, fight till yer dying breath, as the pirates tradition is a long one, and finally, rule four, all treasure plundered is split equally amongst the crew, including me. And... there is one last rule which all pirates on the sea follow... and that is parley."

Sidd brought his foot up with blinding speed, between his assailant's weapons and into his stomach, then brought him to the ground, where he put the blades in his left hand to his opponent's neck.

"I'm in," he said to Hyouga, sheathing his knives and walking off to grab his coat and hat.

Before all of his new crew-mates left to go retrieve their things, Hyouga yelled out his commands.

"We are leaving here tomorrow by 6:00 am, so be at The Tempest by then. You can sleep on the ship tonight, or you can sleep in town, either way is fine by me. You can find our ship by looking for my Jolly Roger."

Hyouga tightened his belt and saw that his pistols and cutlass were still there. He sighed and headed off to a Blacksmith to get his blade fixed up. As he made his way down the street, he glanced at his first mate and his crew mates who watched the brawl.

"You can go back to The Tempest, I'll be there in a while."

He left them behind and headed up a hill to another street, reached the local Blacksmith. The smith's name was Rakann, a man he knew quite well. He was an elderly fellow, with a long white beard. His arms had faded scars from his own previous life as a pirate, but his eyes were still sharp as a nail. As he entered the small shack with a straw roof and smoke billowing slowly from a long stack, Hyouga met with Rakann.

"Yo, I need a little something repaired. It shouldn't take all the long." Hyouga said.

The old man looked to Hyouga's cutlass and sighed. With a mallet, he knocked Hyouga on the top of the head. Hyouga held the top of his head and looked to the old man.

"Oww...Oosan, what was that for?"

"Fool, I can't mend a blade like this.. it's ruined. Once the top cracks like this, I need to make an entirely new blade. Not to mention, the hilt and guard are worn down on this... utterly useless!" Rakann said impatiently.

"Fine, then just make me a new blade." Hyouga said.

The old man started up his smithy, getting the coals burning bright and red. From another end of the shop, he gathered an odd piece of metal. Looking brightly at Hyouga, he smiled... something rather unusual.

"What's wrong with you, Oosan?" Hyouga said questioningly.

"I will make you a blade that won't ever break again... then maybe you won't come back here as much. This is a rare metal that I found around here buried beneath the soil of Frigid Heath. It's name is Arkonium.. one of the strongest metals that I will ever use to smith. No other blacksmith has used this metal before." Rakann said.

"Ho... that would be helpful... a sword that won't break eh? Yeah, I'll take that. How much do you have?"

"Enough to make ten blades, a total of 50,000 Beli's worth."

"Is it worth it?" Hyouga asked.

"Fool, of course it is!"

"Fine, I'll take ten blades.. I'll just distribute them around the crew to my best swordsmen." Hyouga said.

"Humph.. how is that crew of yours doing anyway? What are ye called, the Glacier Pirates?" Rakann asked.

"Yeah."

Rakann grunted at this and immediately started to work on the new blades. Some were made into a broadswords design, other into a cutlass, and some into a wakizashi's form. Before Rakann started to form the last blade, Hyouga asked that he made a full-tang with a curved handle for him. Rakann laughed at this and nodded.

"Always wanted to be different than everyone else, hehehe. Fine fine, I will make you a full-tang." Rakann said.

For ten hours straight, Hyouga stayed with Rakann, sometimes helping to smith the swords. It was a long and arduous process, but soon the blades were formed. It was quite early the next morning, only hours before he was to set out of their voyage. The blades were beautiful, in the design and workmanship. The blades stood out as appearing like stainless steel, but much harder, and oddly lighter. Hyouga's full-tang was given a grand sheath, which he strapped to his side. On the pommel of the new sword, was a large ruby of the finest red, which glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight.

The rest of the Arkonium Blades were put into a large bag, and given to Hyouga. He hefted the bag by its strap, onto his shoulder. As he was about to leave, he nodded to Rakann, who sat by the cooling rack.

"Thanks Oosan, these should come in handy. Here's the 50,000 Beli, worth every bit." Hyouga said with a grin.

The old man merely nodded and shoo'd him away with a hand, saying that he had much work to do. Hyouga left the shop, and headed off toward the portside. The journey was about to start.

~~~~~~~~~~~

btw, for those of you who care, this is what the swords would look like:



^^^ My Full-Tang



^^^ The Cutlass'



^^^ The Wakizashi



^^^ The Broadsword (Basket Hilt)

Lydia sighed as she walked back towards her master's house. The fool lived up a hill overlooking the port. She shook her head, carrying three dead chickens in one hand and a package of lamb in her other. Her steps were steady as she walked towards the south, mentally preparing herself for the barage of questions nodoubtly to be asked by the maids.

"If only I could permantly silence those fools....well...this side of mass homicide. Such a thing is far too messy to pull off in a matter of hours."

Cecil had decided to stay at the ship that night. He didn't have a home anyway, as he used to stay in one of the rooms at the inn (mainly because they didn't get much business anyway). He was happy to be accepted in this crew. He wasn't too fond of pirates, but this Captain Hyouga seemed like a good guy, and a very good fighter. If that wasn't reason enough to join, he didn't know what was.

He sat at the bow of the ship with his mandolin, plucking the strings and making a slow and mellow tune. It was very calming to him and he felt bored, so it was a nice way to pass time...

Early that morning, Hyouga returned to the ship, bringing with him the bag of new swords. His crew was small, only a total of thirty, plus himself and his first mate. He had twenty warriors, two gunners, two scouts (including Crow), three gunners mates, and three cooks aids. He was able to gain three new crew mates, a cook and a gunner as well as a musician, a swordsmen, and another warrior.

As he walked up the gangplank, he looked at the pirates who were up. He thought about how he still could use some more fighters, and more gunners. Some more cannon and shot would have to be purchased that morning from the naval shop. Frigid Heath luckily catered to pirates. Hyouga was in high spirits as he stepped foot upon his main deck.

"All hands on deck!" Hyouga yelled in a commanding voice.

Soon, from the crew-quarters below deck, the sound of many feet on the ladders became audible. The hatch on the deck flew open and his crew assembled before him. Usually pirates looked like a rag tag band of brawlers, but Hyouga was famous for especially picking the best fighters he could find. They all wore good durable clothes, carried the best weapons affordable on the crew's budget, and shared the same pride and sense of honor as Hyouga himself did.

But, as every pirate, the rule was solid... in a battle, there are no rules. They listened only to their Captain and first mate, they fought for the crew... and would die for the crew. Each had their own special ambitions, each wanted the other mate's ambition to come true as much as their own. They were more or less a family, and the newest members had arrived.

"Morning Cap'n." Many of the crew-mates greeted.

A couple of them were hung over, the telltale sign showing with baggy eyelids and black and blue marks on their cheeks from where women had hit them. The women who were in the crew laughed upon seeing this, obviously knowing what they did to deserve such abuse.[/i]

"Hope you all had a good rest, we are setting sail today." Hyouga said.

Walking out from the nearby inn, Zein marched calmly towards the Tempest. Today was his first day as a Glacier Pirate, and to be honest he was quite content about it. The fight yesturday really got him pumped up and ready for more adventure, but he didn't leave thought of what he had to do. He reached the docks as the crew was scurrying around and preparing for departure. He had gathered what materials he needed and hopped on deck.

Looking for Captain Hyouga wasn't a problem, he was standing out in the open. Zein held his hand out in greeting with a light rutsack over his shoulder filled with his belongings. "Mornin' Captain Hyouga." Glancing around, he got a good perspective of the Tempest's main deck. Everything seemed ready to go. "Where should I drop off my stuff?

Hyouga smiled upon seeing Zein board the ship. He shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. He pointed to the open latch down below deck.

"Go down two floors, and there is the crews quarters. Pick a hammock or a free room, your choice. Oh! And here, I have a little something for ya." Hyouga said.

He reached into the bag of swords and retrieved one of the Arkonium Wakizashis. He threw it over to Zein, who caught it immediately.

"That is made from a rare metal called Arkonium... a metal that is very light, but will never break. Guaranteed, and it only cost me a tenth of the 50,000 Beli that I payed for them." Hyouga said, he laughed sourly as he looked to his near empty wallet. "Ahhh... oh well, it was worth it, eh?"

He nudged Zein in the side and then climbed up to the Forecastle Deck. There, where the wheel stood, Hyouga started to yell out many commands to his many, who ran off to complete them.

"You, set the rigging. Climb the mast and make sure the sails are in good shape for departure! Untie the moorings! Check the keel for damages!"

Sidd had slept at the inn. He didn't have a problem with ships, but he still preferred dry land. In the morning he made his way to Hyouga's ship, made himself comfortable and began sharpening his knives, which was the way he liked to relax.

Cecil awoke from the bow of the ship, where he had dozed off in the night, and stretched. He felt a little cramped from sleeping on a wooden floor the whole night, but was otherwise wide awake and full of energy for the day. He picked up his mandolin and walked around for a bit until he found the captain yelling commands to everyone.

"Mornin', Captain," Cecil said, attempting a salute with his free hand. "Today looks like a good day for sailin'. Would you mind if I went into the storeroom and got some stuff to make a quick breakfast for everyone? I guarantee they will work twice as hard with the extra energy."

Zein held the new blade firmly as he made his way below deck. He walked into a free room, it was as if no one had touched anything in here yet. Setting his belongings on a bed, he drew the Wakizashi from its sheath and identified it thoroughly. Then glancing at his worn out long katana, his decision was made. "Even though this blade has been with me since I started my practices, it's been completely worn out." Zein set all of his swords to the side of the bed he had chosen as his own. Still holding the Wakizashi in his hand, he kept in mind what the captain had said.

"That is made from a rare metal called Arkonium... a metal that is very light, but will never break." The hilt had a nice firm grip, just like his old katana. It was a little longer too. A half-smile wiped across Zein's face. Hyouga had done a lot for him already and they've only just met. He got back to his feet and returned to the main deck. It looked like we were ready to set sail.