It was important that everyone was behind her on this. They couldn't pull this off with a divided crew. They were already ridiculously outnumbered, and for once that actually [i]mattered.[/i] Thankfully, both men were able to put aside their pride and agree to follow her on this.

"Good," she replied. "Listen closely, then..."

[hr]
"It's one O'clock in the morning, Cap'n, and all's well!" The whip-fang pirate reported to Ragnvald, the larger man dipping his head in acknowledgment.

Thankfully, they hadn't seen hide nor hair of Gauwulf since earlier in the day. It seemed his execution of the hostage had struck home. Good, because he didn't want to be here any more than that blasted swordsman wanted him here. Though, there was always the possibility that he would come after them after the set sail, so he was probably going to have to take some of the townsfolk with him as insurance.

With the "assistance" of the town, however, their ship should be seaworthy soon. They might even keep to the admittedly short deadline Blackwell had given them.

They still didn't know who was behind the loss of contact with Redwell. It could have possibly even been a freak storm like the one that hit them. Either way, they needed to investigate, and then complete his task by ensuring that town paid its due to the Marquis.

Smoke poured from his cup of joe, the exhausted Captain drawing a heavy swill. He'd much prefer rum, but he had to stay awake right now, just in case something--

"Captain!"

"Ughh...what? Don't tell me it's Gauwulf?" Ragnvald groaned at the panicked cry of his subordinate, already knowing this was going to be something he didn't want to hear.

The man was sweating profusely. "N-no, Cap'n, the tide around [i]the Blue Lynx[/i] is seriously starting to batter the hull! The men are starting to panic and--"

"Gyagh!" Ragnvald yelped when his vessel rocked, his coffee spilling onto his lap. "Goddamnit! What the hell?!"

Quickly pushing past the smaller man, the ten foot tall Captain of the Whip-Fang pirates ascended to the deck above. What he saw caused his face to pale.

It was an actual-fucking-[i]whirlpool[/i] off the coast of the island, and it was sending increasingly violently waves into the sides of their hull. At this rate it was going to be dragged out to sea.

"What's with the weather today?! Abandon ship!"