#and their tofu is soggy

[presidential-alert-system]

I feel like legally I should be allowed to be mean as hell to people who make stupid comments on my memes on other media platforms.

[lunaetis]

coming down with a fever and cough ... i'm counting the minute to clock out from work, go home, and pass out ... my head is spinning ...

[akai-anna]

i started looking for One Specific Thing TM but then i got utterly distracted by Another Specific Thing (related to the first) and here i am almost an hour later with No Thing Done

[oatmeal-corpses]

Quagsire trio here to tell you that you're doing a great job and everything will be alright!

[depresseddepot]

I have yet to make sourdough bread that meets my standards for bread BUT I love my sourdough starter like a son

[existentialflirt]

You know, I think the reason why tofu isn't a thing (In America? I'm speaking as an American. I know it's at least considered a viable protein in other countries and regions of the world) is cos no one can fucking it cook it properly. I have yet to have it made well at a restaurant. It's either too dry and chewy or barely more than a warmed up chunk of bean curd. Just had some General Tso's made with tofu and it was the most disgusting thing I've ever had. Honestly, I wish I'd just gotten a proper vegetable dish. (And you know it pisses me the fuck off, cos being a vegetarian or vegan is nothing new at this point. It shouldn't be a thing that dining out anywhere is this fucking ordeal. I understand not wanting to necessarily mess with the plant based shit, and frankly I'm not too impressed when I pay for someone to fry me up some impossible or beyond whatever, like bro, I can do that at home. But idek, there's a lot you can do with beans.)

[takitori67]

your art makes me smile so much-you draw both arjunas so softly and sweetly and full of love and have such a lovely style I really adore seeing your work

anyway I just wanted to say it’s totally fine if you don’t post rn but I’m grateful you shared some of them with us bc they really brighten my day whenever I see them

If i had been more impulsive braver i would have drawn a piece of Arjuna or two for you (just for you) anon as a thank for how grateful i am to your sweetness in this ask <3 thank you for taking your time out to send this

Drawing them softly and sweetly is the only capability i have...? Very self-indulgence (gotta make them happy or i die from heartache) but when these kinds of drawing i made got the best approval from everyone including you i do feel extremely delighted. Thank you for being supportive and reassuring. If i can try more in the future you may just see a different "theme" i choose to draw Arjunas in (Perhaps angst or suggestive works, but im kind of a baby so the angst can be half-assed); and put more proper efforts into my art (obviously you have seen they were all traditional with monochrome style, i shoulf really try some digital practices)

Thank you so much again anon. May you have a good day and Arjunas always do crit attacks in your game sjsjshs

[spontaneousmusicalnumber]

It's Make a Terrible Comic Day! Because it's approximately Fuck degrees out with a heat index of Hell, I decided to share my favorite summer recipe. I credit this with saving my sanity when I lived in a South facing apartment without central air. Actual approximation of a recipe under the cut.

This is a very forgiving recipe that you can mess with a lot and it'll still come out great. Originally it was this recipe here, but it's very far removed.

What I used today:

About half a package of soba noodles, boiled until done and rinsed in cold water to stop the cooking

Two bell peppers, one red and one yellow, julienned

One cucumber, partially peeled and sliced pretty thin

One pound of carrots, cut into thin matchsticks by hand because the store didn't have any matchstick carrots and you couldn't find the grater

At least a cup if not 2 of frozen corn because damn you love corn

A package of green onions, sliced. I think there were 6 in there.

A big handful of cilantro

Firm tofu, squeezed of excess liquid and left to sit a bit in some soy sauce, lime juice, and rice vinegar. Crumble it up so it looks like feta.

You can go wild here. Radishes. Cabbage. Red onion. Crushed peanuts. Snow peas. I'm gonna try edamame next time. If you think it'll go well together you have my permission to go nuts.

Give that whole thing a mix in the biggest bowl you own and then in a littler bowl make a dressing. This has literally become vibes to me so I'm not even gonna guess at measurements.

A lot of lime juice

A little less rice vinegar than that

A good glug or two of honey

More ginger than that (I use the squeeze bottle stuff)

At least as much canola oil as lime juice

A good few shakes of toasted sesame oil

Salt and pepper

If you weren't a weenie like me you could add Sriracha or red pepper flakes here but I'm weak

DO NOT COMBINE THE SALAD WITH THE DRESSING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!!!

The salad and the dressing will keep in the fridge seperately for several days, but once you mix one into the other you're locked in to eating it or it'll become a soggy greasy mess.

I love prepping it for work, it's a lot of chopping but you can make a huge batch that's several meals (or enough for a pretty good group).

[najia-cooks]

[ID: Five large, enclosed bao piled on a plate. The topmost bao has been opened to show a bread-like dough texture and a vegetable filling. The bao are garnished with chopped chives. End ID]

Bánh bao chay (Vietnamese vegetable dumplings)

Bánh bao are an iteration on the Chinese da bao (大包) brought to Vietnam by Cantonese immigrants. Like da bao, bánh bao are commonly filled with some combination of minced meat, Chinese sausage, and hard-boiled eggs; however, some versions of bánh bao are also made with Vietnamese vegetables, herbs, and flavorings. Vegetarian bánh bao (bánh bao chay) may have no filling, a filling consisting of a variety of vegetables, or a filling of sweetened beans or sweet potato.

This recipe combines Vietnamese vegetables, herbs, spices, and sauces with Vietnamese meat substitutes to make a well-rounded filling that's equal parts umami and fresh. The yeasted, enriched dough is tasty, fluffy, and light, but still has enough structure to hold up against the filling.

Recipe under the cut!

Patreon | Tip jar

Makes 16-20; serves 6.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

4 cups + 2 Tbsp (500g) all-purpose flour

2 tsp (7g) active dry yeast

7 Tbsp (90g) granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp (10g) baking powder (optional)

2 Tbsp (16g) cornstarch (optional)

1 - 1 1/4 cup (135-295 mL) lukewarm soy or oat milk, or water

1 Tbsp cooking oil

The basic components of this dough are flour, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, and milk. The baking powder is added to help with leavening; the cornstarch works to create a light, fluffy dough that will not become soggy when filling is added.

For the filling:

1 large carrot (100g)

4-inch piece (120g) cassava root / yuca

1 cup (100g) shiitake or wood-ear mushrooms, diced

4 large pieces (50g) sườn non chay, or 1/2 cup diced or crumbled chả lụa chay

1/2 cup water + 1/2 tsp vegetarian 'chicken' broth concentrate (optional)

50g tofu skin (đậu hủ ky)

1 red onion, minced

5 cloves garlic, chopped

4-5 chives or scallions, finely chopped

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sugar, or to taste

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

2 tsp bột nêm chay, ground to a powder (optional)

1 1/2 tsp fermented bean paste + 1/2 tsp light soy sauce (or 2 tsp vegetarian fish sauce)

2 tsp vegetarian oyster sauce

1/4 cup soybean oil, peanut oil, or other cooking oil, divided

Sườn non chay (roughly, “vegetarian ribs”) is a meat replacement made of textured soy protein. It may be found in bags online or in the pantry / dried goods section at your local Asian grocery store—the bags will be labelled “sườn non chay” as well as “vegan meat slice,” “textured soy bean protein,” “vegetarian food,” or “vegan food.” Most sườn non chay are large and pale in color, but they sometimes come in "beef" or "pork" styles—the difference is not the flavoring but rather the size, shape, and coloring of the pieces. In my experience, the "beef" ones are more darkly colored, and both "beef" and "pork" styles are smaller in size and thinner in shape than the non-specific ones, which I often use to replace chicken.

Chả lụa chay is a vegetarian version of a Vietnamese pork sausage. It can be found in the form of a large loaf in the refrigerator section of a Vietnamese or Asian grocery store. It will be labelled "chả lụa chay" or "gio lụa chay," as well as "vegetarian pork roll," "wheat meat," or "vegetarian food."

Đậu hủ ky, or tofu skin, is prepared by taking the film off of a batch of tofu as it sets. Tofu skin may be purchased fresh or dried, in sheets or in sticks: for the purposes of this recipe, any kind will work! Chinese tofu skin produced for sale abroad may be labelled "dried beancurd sticks."

Bột nêm is a Vietnamese seasoning sold in powder or granule form. Vegetarian ("chay") versions of the seasoning may contain shiitake mushroom, lotus seeds, carrots, tomatoes, and kohlrabi, as well as salt and MSG. It can be purchased in pouches or boxes from an Asian grocery store, or you can use any other vegetable stock powder.

Fish sauce and oyster sauce are common inclusions in pork fillings for bánh bao but are often simply omitted from vegetarian ones. I've used vegetarian substitutes for these ingredients—if you don't have vegetarian imitation fish or oyster sauce, just increase the amount of salt, sugar, and bột nêm to taste.

Instructions:

For the dough:

1. Heat 1 cup (135mL) non-dairy milk to lukewarm in a saucepan or in the microwave. Stir in the yeast to dissolve. if you’re not sure your yeast is alive, proof it by allowing to stand for 10 minutes—it should foam.

2. Add the baking powder, sugar, and salt and whisk to dissolve.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch. Pour in the milk mixture and mix well to combine. Add additional milk 1 tsp at a time if it remains too dry to combine. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky.

3. Add oil and knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for about 3 hours until doubled in size. If you live in a cold climate and don't have a proofing drawer, heat your oven on the lowest setting for a few minutes, turn it off, and then proof the dough in the oven.

For the filling:

1. Prepare the proteins. Soak the tofu skin (if you're using dried) and sườn non chay in cool water for about half an hour until rehydrated (or simmer them for a shorter amount of time). They are fully hydrated once flexible and a couple shades lighter. Gently squeeze the water out. Dice tofu skin; rip sườn non chay into small pieces lengthwise and then dice widthwise.

2. Prepare the vegetables. Peel cassava root and carrot. Cut both into a fine julienne, or grate them. Dice the mushrooms; mince the red onion; chop the garlic.

3. Cook the filling. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.

4. Add the red onion and continue to sauté until fragrant and slightly softened. Add black pepper, bột nêm, and salt and allow to cook another 30 seconds.

5. Add carrot, cassava, mushrooms, chả lụa chay (if using), and tofu skin and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often, until tender. Remove from pan.

6. If using sườn non chay: in the same pan, fry sườn non chay in 3 Tbsp of cooking oil on medium until they’ve absorbed the oil. Whisk 'chicken' stock concentrate into a small amount of hot water, then add the stock into the pan. Cook until mostly dry.

Soaking in water, deep frying in oil, then simmering in a flavored broth is the typical Vietnamese preparation of sườn non chay. The simmering in stock could potentially be skipped if you're including vegetarian oyster and/or fish sauce, but personally I find that dried soy products benefit from being soaked or simmered in something other than water.

7. Mix sườn non chay in with other filling ingredients, salt, sugar, sauces, and chives.

To assemble:

1. Turn dough out from its proofing bowl and gently divide into two even parts. Cover the half you're not using and gently roll the other out into a log of even width. Use a dough cutter or sharp knife to divide the log into 8 or 10 even pieces.

2. Place each disc of dough on its side and roll it out into a circle about 5" (13cm) in diameter. The edges of the circle should be much thinner than the center, since the edges will be bundled up and folded together.

3. The folding method is the same as for baozi and momos. Hold a wrapper in the palm of your non-dominant hand and add a couple tablespoons of filling (if you’re not experienced with making dumplings, it may be easier to add less). While pressing the filling down with your non-dominant thumb, use your other hand to pinch pleated folds in the dough all the way around the circle of the wrapper. Remove your thumb and make one last fold to close the bao. Pinch firmly at the place where all the pleats come together (where the drawstring would be if it were a drawstring pouch) and give a small twist to seal.

4. Set each finished bao on a small square of parchment paper on a baking sheet or in a steamer and lightly cover with plastic wrap or a light kitchen towel. Continue folding until you have formed all of the bao.

To steam:

1. Place a bamboo steamer in the bottom of a wok or large pot, and fill the wok with enough cool water to cover the bottom rim of the steamer by ½". If you've added baking powder to your dough, you may add a splash of vinegar to the water to help neutralise the dough's pH and combat yellowing of the dough.

If you’re using a metal steamer, tie a kitchen towel around its lid to prevent condensation from dipping back down onto the dumplings. Carefully place the bao, along with their parchment paper squares, into the steamer, leaving an inch or so between each one. They will expand as they steam!

If you don’t have a steamer, place a small bowl in the bottom of a wok or large, deep pan or pot. Place the dumplings, with their parchment paper squares, on a plate and place the plate on top of the bowl–the plate should fit inside your pot. Make sure that you can cover the plate and dumplings with a lid. If your lid is domed, there is no need for a kitchen towel, since the condensation will run down towards the outer rim. If your lid is flat, tie a tea towel around it just as you would with a metal steamer. Fill your cooking vessel with 2 or so centimeters of cool water.

2. Raise the heat to high and allow the water to come to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and cover your steamer or pot. Steam the dumplings for about 8 minutes, until the dough is tender and cooked through. Keep finished bao warm in a covered casserole dish in an oven on low while you steam the others.

[trupowieszcz-moved]

i am bestowing a bangin tofu recipe upon you (easy)

disclaimer: i am polish and these ingredients are literally just what i had in the kitchen. so you can also add some fancy stuff that's common where you live but i don't have it. i don't know. i had sesame and forgot but you might want that too. this is easily modifiable so do whatever you want i'm not a cop. also the tofu in the photo came out Not Crunchy Enough because i added too little potato starch but yours should be Crispier. anyway. recipe under the cut

INGREDIENCE

tofu

potato starch

oil

soy sauce

garlic

ginger

honey/sugar

water

lemon juice

rice optional:

sprouts

chives

string bean

whatever vegetables you want that go with these flavors you can google stir fry recipes to check them out

WHAT TO DO

cut tofu into cubes, not too large, just bite-sized, whatever suits you best

put it into some tupperware box/pot with a lid/whatever and add potato starch (two-three tablespoons for a whole 200g cube of tofu) and shake for a while to make it coat evenly

heat the oil in a DEEP frying pan/wok, it can't be a pancake pan, pour enough oil that the tofu is at least five out of six sides inside the oil you know the drill we're deep frying this bitch

fry the tofu so that the coating turns golden, over medium or high heat (not on low heat or it will turn out soggy, but be careful not to accidentally burn it)

in the meantime cook your rice and prepare the sauce

for the sauce you have to get about two tablespoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of water, one tablespoon of oil, one big clove of garlic (crushed or grated), about the same amount of ginger (grated too), one teaspoon (roughly) of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of honey/sugar and you just stir it all until it's mixed together

now attention Pour off the tofu into some sort of metal colander, but don't dump the pan into the sink yet, just put it back on the stove because it will still come in handy and you just want to get rid of the excess oil because you don't need that much anymore

now onto your pan (in which there is still obviously some oil so you don't need to add anything) you put your vegetables along with a teaspoon or two of the sauce and fry for a while stir-frying on a higher rather than lower heat, but not for long, just enough to sauté them slightly

turn down the heat a bit and put the tofu back in, but now pour the rest of the sauce over it and stir it until some of the water is cooked out and it's a bit more sticky.

you put it on the rice and you're DONE good job bon appetit etc :)👍

[living-pain-but-not-enough]

day 3 of my challange

weight: 50.7kg

bmi: 18.6

meal: slightly soggy fried rice with tofu (390cal)

fast: 24 hours

im happy with today, i did eat a grape but ik if i log that i'll binge so im not going to

today was a really bad day but at least i didnt eat

[casteliacityramen]

Previously: Hana ordered a bowl of Kitsune Udon and Ray asked a rather deep question to which Hana responded with clarity. @pokitsune

Ray listens attentively. But, as Hana takes a pensive stop to think, his hands sneakily shifts to the x-transceiver behind the counter away from their view.

Sounds easy enough...

His attention is brought back to Hana as they started to talk once more. Other than a slight twitch at the words "I hated it-", Ray gives Hana his full attention..

It wasn't long until Rio came back.

She trots off, shooting a thoughtful glance over to Hana to see if her presence bothered them any longer. Nevertheless, she continues to do some "book keeping" away from Hana’s area–most likely to give them the reprieve from the cynophobia she was informed about.

After unpacking the groceries, Ray takes stock of what he has in front of him.

Hana has already humored him with a deep response to a heavy question, so to keep them waiting without food would just be rude. He’s going to have to work with what he’s got and take short cuts.

Short cuts or not, this was a delicate operation. Skipping the steps to soak the seaweed to boil it might risk a bitter and slimy stock if boiled too long. Take time too little to twice fry the tofu and you’ll end up with a sad addition of soggy tofu. He has to time it right…

The broth shimmers with golden clarity. The noodles look like they are not too firm and not too soft. While there may be traces of some of the spice falling to the bottom of the bowl, it looks complete and carefully concocted.

A tasteful addition of the necessary toppings sit proudly on top. The Inari-Age looks like it's not typical of what you'd expect from Kitsune Udon, but reminiscent of the sweet and salty taste despite its hardened and crispy texture.

This is the type of a lunch that will have you ready to take on the afternoon without feeling too bloated. 

By all accounts, Ray thinks he did a pretty good job. He’s quite proud of himself for this one. 

I followed this recipe to do some research!

I gave myself the limitation of "ok there's a customer who needs their food asap." So 10-15 minutes max. Here's what I found:

The recipe is absolutely right in claiming that dashi powder isn't as good as homebrewed dashi. HOWEVER I live in a place where Japanese ingredients are hard to come by. I'm actually surprised I didn't find bonito flakes.

You can skip the soaking konbu part, but I hiiiighly recommend it. You'll end up with a broth that doesn't feel complete if you skip this part. Speaking of broth, udon noodles are also extremely filling--if you make a broth with it, it better not be heavy because you'll be a vegetable after you eat. But if you get all the ingredients right, you'll end up with a good meal that I totally forgot to take a picture of. Just imagine it's what I drew because that looks better anyway

I didn't read the instructions close enough--the inari-age is supposed to be a marinated/seasoned in dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. I just had bland tofu puffs... In my defense, there's a lot of Japanese terms thrown around and the recipe blog was un-intuitive to follow.

Granted, there's absolutely no way you can make inari-age in the span of 20 minutes, especially if you're making the tofu from scratch. One way to change that, however, would probably be in the process of combining the seasoning/marinating process with the frying process. I can't confirm this, I haven't tried it and I was getting too antsy to let this reply go unfinished.

[iucemon]

i'm gonna kick your butt re: salad opinions

I'm not a salad aficionado but there's like, two kinds of salads that are good. Savory and sweet.

Savory should have a spinach base, plus pickled red onions, roast chicken/tofu, banana peppers, diced off-the-vine tomato (NOT CHERRY TOMATOS OR A SOGGY VARIETY, WE LIKE FIRMNESS HERE), maybe some fresh garlic. Maybe some kinda light Italian dressing but not much. Olives only should be eaten whole from the jar/can like a goblin

Sweet should be like. A mixed green base, plus candied pecans (or plain peanuts), some fruits such as strawberry, mandarin orange (the type with no pith), and apple slices, feta cheese, plus lemon juice overtop and/or raspberry vinaigrette.

[ruvviks]

ehehehehe hi. vitali ask. what kind of food does he like. what does he like to cook for others. <3

OUHHH THIS IS INTERESTING THANK YOU >:] so vitali is all for convenience, he does like to cook but generally just doesn't have a lot of time for it because of the long hours he makes at his office so the meals he mostly makes are easy to put together and don't take a ridiculous amount of time. that being said he IS a freak with kitchen knives and can cut veggies insanely fast so if vincent were to try one of vitali's recipes he would take almost twice as long SBHGFDJNGHDFG

he's not a picky eater and can and will generally eat anything, as long as the texture isn't too soggy / slimy. he loves a good stir fry or curry or soup because of the vast amount of different things you can put in it and this is also what he usually makes at home for him + vincent + mikhail to eat :]

also generally stays away from very greasy food because his body can't handle it very well :/ so he wouldn't be quick to eat a good ol' american hamburger. tbh i wouldn't be quick to trust hamburgers in night city for starters but especially vincent loves burgers so in that case vitali will just eat something else LMAO whenever they order takeout he tends to go for whatever has the most veggies in it :]

this is gonna get super specific but i love self projecting on ocs LMAO so some of his favorite meals to make would be chicken pilaf with peach, hungarian goulash and rice, tahu telur (indonesian tofu omelette), and tuscan butter shrimp! very varied palette which is mostly the result of him experimenting a LOT when he was in arasaka's training program and also later when he was officially working there, he had a lot of spare time on his hands in the evening hours now that he didn't go out anymore (or at least not as much as he used to) and he wanted some variation from the slop his mother used to serve back at home and the instant ramen and soggy tacos and burritos he used to eat in college 😭

so yeah all in all, lots of flavors and variation as long as it's easy to do!! stuff that takes longer to make like goulash would be a weekend thing for him, and he also ends up ordering takeout a lot because well he has the money for it. doesn't mind getting more expensive stuff either and he always likes trying out something new :] also asks his friends and mercenaries for fun new recipes to try ^_^

[ffxiv-f13ndish]

Magnus has a Big Storm Coming

Collab. drabble with @ro-valerius [Tofu, Tio, Daen Lad, Peach], @sorrel-haven [Kore, Mina, Nerida, Berry], @punkiestmonk [Punk], and Ser Sorrel (author not on Tumblr).

[image shot by @ro-valerius and edited by @sorrel-haven !]

The storm rages towards Magnus' end.

The ship, the Hound’s Revenge, sailed steadily, fair skies and winds overhead, but the storm looming in the distance was their destination. Mina at the helm glared at the foreboding clouds, her jaw set. It had been some time since she sailed with such purpose, and with others aboard. She noticed a shift in the wind and looked to the sail.

“Trim that sail!” she shouted, forgetting these were not sailors on her ship for a moment. Tio moved without thinking, grabbing the line to the outside of the sail, increasing the tension to catch the wind. Satisfied on how tight the sheet was now, he tied off the line before turning his attention back to Mina.

She smiled at Tio. “Good lad Rory!” 

Tio noticed that Mina was smiling at him, and therefore was talking to him… Oh right, he was Rory. He blinked.

“R-right.”

Mina took in a breath as she realized what she had called Tio. She shook her head, she couldn’t focus on that now. She looked down at the deck below, looking over the rest of her temporary crew.

Punk was firmly grasping the port rail, trying to keep her lunch in her, with great difficulty. She had her helmet by her feet, slowly getting soggy with the sea water. Tofu gave Punk a pitying look, patting her on the back. Strawberry walked up to Punk’s side and gently placed a hand on her head, applying some light healing magics to help. She turned to Strawberry, giving her a shaky thumbs up.

“You can do this, I believe in you,” Strawberry said, attempting to soothe her. Tofu gave Berry a quick pat on the head as well.

“Keep your heads high, there's no point in stressin’ failure,” Ser added. For him, this was just like any other day.

“There will be no failure, I assure you,” Tofu said with a steady gaze. He gave a more assuring smile. "Besides, we have a Ser and a Punk, what could go wrong?" 

Miyu could only think of all the ways they could achieve failure. They were silent, tuned out from the conversation nearby – oblivious of their friend’s fight with sea sickness – and tuned into the storm of their thoughts.

Ser directed his attention towards Miyu, almost sensing their struggle. Despite the sea upsetting him, he could only imagine how they were feeling. He swore to do whatever it took to ensure the success of the mission, and in the end, Miyu’s happiness with it. He knew everyone did, and they could all count on each other.

Tofu noted the expressions on his friends, and with a sigh, he walked over to Ser, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder before making his way over to Miyu. He brushed their hair gently out of their face before pulling them in for a one armed hug, leaning his head comfortingly against theirs. 

Miyu blinked, startled out of their trance. They looked perplexed for a moment at his initiation to hug them, but gave a little smile and eased into the embrace for as long as it lasted. 

He pulled back and placed both hands on either side of their face, giving them a reassuring smile. With one last trace of his thumb across their cheek, he made his way over to Kore. He reached out and took her hand in his, brushing a thumb over her knuckles. Kore brought the back of his hand to her cheek and closed her eyes as she let out a breath she had been holding in.

Tofu gave Kore and Miyu one last reassuring pat on the head before he made his way towards where Peach was sitting, watching him with curious eyes. He sat down on the deck beside her, giving her a look like “what?” 

“You’re antsy,” she stated.

“No I’m not,” he replied quickly, narrowing his eyes at her.

“You’ve been pacing the whole time, no wonder poor Punk is sea sick, she’s got the sea and you making her dizzy!” She smiled at him to show jest. Tofu groaned and leaned back. 

“So that’s why the boat is moving more than it looks…” Punk said as her stomach moved with every wave.

“I just… It’s fine. I’m just ready to get this over with. Have been for weeks,” he murmured. Peach reached out and patted the top of his head, like he’d done for Berry a bit ago.

“Soon, Boss. Soon,” she said, resisting every temptation to ruffle his oh-so-soft hair. She gave in and ruffled his hair anyway. With a grumble, he smoothed his hair back down. Berry slid in next to her sister and fiddled with her necklace as her knuckles became white gripping her staff as her nerves started to show. Tofu affixed both of them with a stern look.

“Remember, you promised to stay on Mina’s ship. Please, be safe,” he murmured. Peach huffed and shrugged.

“Yeah yeah…” 

---

Two ships came into view as the blue skies were left behind and the storm enveloped the Hound’s Revenge. Kore stared at the ships - They were still undetected. It was now a race against the clock, though they didn’t know how long they had. The quicker her and Punk could do their job the better. She gave Miyu’s hand one last squeeze before joining Punk and Daen Lad at the prow. 

Miyu’s hand remained hanging at their side after Kore had let go, quivering ever so slightly in their anxiety. Their eyes flickered over to Kore, watching as she walked away, before they turned their eyes back to the sea once more. 

Punk handed Kore several wrapped tubes with a sparkler in the middle, taking care to not let the dust wrapped inside to spill out. “Light the sparkler and then drop it down the barrel of the gun, should melt the guns so it's safer for the others to board, the other ship’s cannons however will require us to deal with their shooters though.”

“Got it. We should have no trouble taking out the second ship’s people quietly.” Kore smiled. 

“Oh we were doing that quietly?” Punk then hid the remainder of the equipment she had brought. It was very much not quiet. 

“You can make as much noise as you want after we get everyone else on board, don’t you worry. But the more time we can buy unnoticed the better,” Kore said as she bumped Punk’s shoulder with the back of her fist. “We have one shot at stealth so we should make the most of it.” 

Daen Lad flitted down and sat on Punk’s shoulder “Are we ready to cause mayhem then?” The pixie grinned, a flash of malicious intent sparkled in their eyes. Thankfully such energies were directed to the Basilisks.

“Ready as I’ll ever be with the way this thing is rolling.” Stuffing the rest of the… party favors in her armor, she grabbed her club and put on her helmet, giving a final thumbs up to the pixie as she closed her eyes and prayed to Hydaelyn. 

Kore grabbed hold of Punk’s arm as a portal opened up and enveloped them. On the other side, they found themselves in a mostly darkened interior, the swaying suggesting they were still at sea. It was quiet. Nobody was around. Perfect.

Kore gave Punk a quick reassuring tap on her shoulder before heading over to the furthest canon from the pair. She moved quietly, wary of any loose looking floorboards, trying to time her steps with the natural creak of the ship. Daen Lad flitted towards the door to the room to keep an ear out for anyone approaching.

Pulling out her own stash of wrapped tubing, lit the sparkler poking out at the end, and reached past the hull of the ship to slip the sparkler down the barrel of the gun. Moving to the next one, she heard the sound of the sparkler increase in volume, as the gun behind had its chamber turn to slag. She brought her finger up to her helm while looking at Kore, pointing to the next one down the line, and tossed her one of Punk’s many spare lighters. Kore caught it and set to work on disabling the canons on the other side.

It wasn’t silent, but it also didn’t sound worse than a firework, and she had hoped that the pirates had never heard it before, giving them time to melt the rest of the guns on this ship before Daen Lad whisked them away. As they finished off the last of the canons Daen Lad caught the sound of muffled voices and approaching footsteps. 

Daen Lad flew over to Kore and grabbed a lock of her hair to get her attention. The pixie pointed at the door and then to Punk. They signed “Time to go! Now!” as the door swung open. Kore grabbed Daen Lad and hopped over the crates in the center. 

She rushed over to Punk and grabbed onto her armor as Daen Lad opened a portal to the other ship below them. Punk left behind some party favors for the sailors as they jumped through the portal. A series of concussive BOOMs could be heard from the other ship as Kore landed on the floor gently. She was still holding onto Punk to help keep her steady on her feet. They could hear the alarm bell from the ship they were just on.

“Fuck.” Kore looked at Punk. “Guess we’re done being quiet.” 

All Kore could hear was a chuckle coming from Punk. But underneath her helmet Punk was grinning ear to ear. She dropped the remaining wrapped tubes she had, and pulled out some “proper” explosives. If her friends knew what she would be reading, they might not have taught her. 

“We need these guns and ship right?” Saying this she gave Kore a single iron grenade. “When I open the door, I need you to light this and throw it as far as you can up the stairs. I’m going to slam the door so we don't get hit with it, then I’m charging.” Punk readied herself at the door and gave a small nod to Kore. “Ready?”

Kore gripped the grenade tightly and held it to her chest. She looked at Daen Lad and nodded to the pixie. Daen Lad returned the nod and teleported back to the others. Everyone back on Mina’s ship could hear more explosions going off from the second ship.

The pixie popped up next to Tofu, “Alright~ time to go! Are we ready? Okay good!” Not waiting for an answer, they snapped their fingers and portals opened up at the feet of Ser, Miyu, Tio and Tofu. They all fell through and were shuffled onto the two ships.

Tofu landed heavily, pressing his hand to his chest with a brief muttered “Thanks I hate it,” before straightening for the task at hand. 

Mina steered the Hound’s Revenge to close in on the two close together. The battle opened with a bang.

Or three.

Ser landed amidst the fray of the pirates on a crouched knee, with the wood beneath his feet ruptured. His left hand placed on the ground, and his right drawing the monstrous blade off his back, the purple aura igniting. He slowly stood up, watching the pirates charge at him. With a crack of the neck, he was ready. 

He nodded to Tofu and Miyu to get going as he lowered his stance to his left hip and zipped forward 15 yalms. He caught a head in his left hand, and cut through a dozen men in a blink of an eye. After planting his feet, he crushed a woman's skull with his hand, her blood spraying his arm and helmet. His head shifted rapidly to a hesitant opponent, using his sword to flip himself into the air and cleave the fearful foe. With the force of the blade, he crushed the ground beneath him, and fell a floor lower. 

Some opportune enemies formed up around the hole with their weapons primed while the elezen was getting back to his feet. They all fired in unison, but he unleashed a barbaric roar, his scream throwing the projectiles off course, and leapt up. With a swing of his blade, he separated their torsos from their legs, and stuck his foot out to plant it on a pirate's head, crushing it as he landed.

Miyu just barely could steady their feet when they landed on the ship before they were thrown into the full storm of the fight. Or more so, they were getting the splashback as Ser burst forward and tore through the crowd of Basilisks like a tidal wave. Miyu looked around with a wide eyed gaze. 

Where was Kore? Punk? The twins? Was this even the ship they were supposed to attack first? It looked like Daen Lad threw the battle plans right out the door.

But they will have to make do. Miyu’s eye’s met Tofu’s. Their feet steadied and they straightened up. Miyu gave him a nod, and then they set off with Tofu to take the path that Ser had begun to clear off. It was time to carry out what they had come here to do.

Still, even when launched into the flurry of the fighting and the storm, their gaze continued to linger across to the other ship. They could only pray that Kore was okay. 

—-----

Kore looked back at the door barely left on its hinges after the grenade went off. She nodded to Punk, who drew her club from her back. Kore grabbed her chakrams from her hips as she prepared to follow after Punk. Punk charged up the stairs with her club ready and slammed into the first pirate that had the luck to be unharmed by the grenade. Despite the pirate being taller and heavier than punk, he went flying with the force of Punk's charge. 

While the big pirate was knocked flat on his back, Punk swung her club in a wide arching strike and brought it down on the man’s head. She spun quickly on her heels and realized she was slowly getting surrounded by the remaining crew not being engaged by her friends. She let out a boisterous laughter, for the ship was her mosh pit, and she was here to thrash.

“So this is how many of y’all you think it takes, you’re gonna need more bodies.” The pirates chuckled at Punk’s overconfidence, they outnumbered the woman ten to one, or rather, had outnumbered her nearly 20 to one. Despite Punk’s quick execution of the burly pirate, his fellow crew members at least pretended to not be intimidated by the armored woman's speed and ferocity. 

One of the furthest pirates opened up with a salvo of their flintlock pistols, getting a glancing blow to Punk's helmet, making Punk’s head ring with the force of the blow. Darkness overtook Punk’s vision, making it flood with a dark fog that was only cut through by her fury and pain. She jumped and flipped towards the Pirate, landing with a blow with enough force to splinter the deck underneath the poor man that dared to fire at her. Seeing a second comrade die to the strangely armored woman, one of the pirates let into her fury, eyes glowing with rage as she threw her axe at punk. 

Punk was only just barely able to get her club up to block the axe. The pirate gave Punk a staggering right hook, making the already dazed woman see stars as well as the darkness. Seeing the armored woman stagger with the force of their comrades' blows, the pirates regained their lost confidence, one circling the woman, looking for an opportunity to sheath the blade he carried into the Dark Knight's body, shortly before getting sent flying from a swift blow to the face.

A masked hyur woman emerged from below deck, a hand on her rapier as she assessed the situation. She tried to pick out how many there were assaulting the ship, noticing one heavily armored individual taking on a bulk of the crew themself. She drew her rapier and spell focus to join the fray when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She dodged a flash of steel coming towards her.

Tio had been winding through, taking on pirate after pirate until his eyes landed on one with a spell focus; in short, a mage. His only thought was ‘I can’t let them get to Tofu’ before hse dashed towards them, blade drawn up to strike. A low growl escaped him as they dodged out of the way; a woman, he discovered. The woman swung with a half blind slash as she turned to face her attacker. Her goggles were partially obscured from the rain, which was not helping. She took a more defensive stance, if this was her chance to turn on the Basilisks then she didn’t want to injure him. 

“Wait a second! I’m not-” A violent jerk of the ship knocked her off balance.

Tio swung as she stumbled, though his blade only took her goggles. His brain caught up with his body as her words set in. He stood above her, sword pointed at her, but he was willing to allow her to say her piece.

“Go on, then, out with it,” he said. 

That voice…

The woman looked up past the sword in her face. There was no mistaking his dusty orange hair, or the scar under his eye. This was the ghost that’s been haunting her dreams in the flesh. She stammered as her original train of thought completely derailed. 

“R-Rory?” she managed to get out. 

Tio blinked, taken aback. That name… That bloody name again! How did he keep managing to run into people that knew him better than he knew himself?! He felt the rage bubble up inside of him at the unfairness of it all. 

“Who are you? How do you know that name!?” he demanded. 

“Wh-“ The woman noticed the lack of recognition in his eyes. She stood and ripped off her face mask and tossed it to the side. “Rory, luv, it’s me Neri!” 

The rage within filled to burst. “That doesn’t tell me how you know me!” he yelled. And then, softer, with eyes awash with distress, he murmured, “I don’t even know me.”

“Who are you…?”

“I… I’m yours... And you’re mine…” The rain didn’t hide the pain in her voice. “We… were… Look out!”

Neri pulled Tio out of the way of an axe swinging for his head, putting herself in between Tio and the Basilisk engaging them. With a flourish of her rapier, she fended off the attacker. Neri glanced over her shoulder to Tio.

“We should talk about this after these bastards are dealt with. Just know… I’m not with them.” 

With a growl, Tio parried another attacker. “For your sake, you’d better be telling the truth.”

At that moment, back on the other ship, a relentless Roegadyn jumped on Ser’s back, trying to restrain him. Ser raised his left arm, grabbing the rear collar of the pirate, and yanked them ferociously, biting off their head with his helmet. The present pirates gasped in terror, and the dark knight hurled the headless corpse at a crowd of them, knocking them over. He switched to half-sword, and charged at a line of opponents, impaling each one and catapulting the pirate-kebab off the ship.

Quickly, he dashed forward at another group of bunched pirates, using his shoulder to launch them. They smashed together, with the cracks of their bones audible, dying on impact. Ser raised his blade again, slicing horizontally below the shoulders of another half dozen pirates. The Elezen is now plagued by the smell of their fear, realizing he must act quickly before the cowards flee. A pirate stepped over the rail, and jumped off ship, but was caught by Ser. He placed his sword against the rail, ripped their heart out, and threw them to the ground, crushing their head with his foot. Afterwards, the dark knight galloped around the ship at superhuman speeds, each swing of his massive sword effortlessly cleaving multiple opponents, as if it were a toy. He then stopped, with his blade over his shoulder and a body stuck on it from being impaled. 

Menacingly turning his twitching head, he noticed two remaining pirates pinned together, shaking in horror. He put one foot in front of the other, moving at a snail's pace as he approached them, shaking their comrades body off at the halfway point. He shifted the blade into his left hand, and planted it into the ground. Ser reached his other hand out, grabbing one pirate and forcing their face into the blade, sliding it down to the pointed end as he kept eye contact with the other. The vicious Elezen then poked the tip into the other's throat, and stuck his hand inside, extending his arm with them raised as he paraded around the ship of corpses. Finally, he tossed them aside, relishing the moment as he was drenched in the blood and innards of his foes.

Ser stood there for a moment, contemplating what he could do next. The thought of completing the mission on his own crossed his mind, but chose to trust his comrades, believing in them. The tall man took a knee, and looked over the carnage around him. He had done enough to give the rest a leg up. He could afford a moment to catch his breath.

Numbers on the ship were rapidly dropping, either by deserters or the addition of lifeless bodies. What is a bastard Captain without his crew? A vile man waiting to set sail to his doom. 

–

Magnus stood tall and firm as the ship rocked beneath his feet, hand clasped tight around his gun. He could hear footsteps fast approaching — none of which he recognized. The hyur took in a deep breath, rolling his neck as he prepared himself for what had long been coming. Magnus turned and took a shot. Tofu reached out, pushing Miyu just enough for the bullet to whiz between the two of them, his eyes fixed on Magnus.

Miyu steadied their stance, teeth clenched together at the zing of the bullet that flew by their head. They turned their body in the direction of where the bullet came from, raising their staff in preparation to react. But nothing could have prepared them to who they would see standing only but a few feet away. Their face paled, and they instinctively staggered back. Tofu noted their hesitation and rested his hand firmly on their shoulder, not once taking his eyes off Mangus. Miyu could take their time, but he wasn’t going to let Magnus act in the meantime. With a quick motion, one of his throwing knives made its way to Magnus’s shooting hand.

A grunt of pain sounded from Magnus as the knife embedded into his palm. The man narrowed his eyes at Tofu. 

“Ah.. it’s you. You’ll be a fun piece’a work, wont ya?” he growled, ripping the knife out of his own palm. He kicked his gun back up, catching it in his other hand before he lurched towards Tofu. He aimed again for Tofu’s torso. 

Tofu dodged out of the way, but only barely as the bullet grazed his ribs; it mostly caught the fabric of his shirt, but a stinging pain across his flesh gave the indication of a small cut. His eyes narrowed as his muscles tensed, before he launched himself towards Magnus, if only to keep him occupied until Miyu could snap out of it.

The next shot spun Miyu back into action. Just as Magnus aimed his gun towards Tofu to take another shot, they cast a wind spell, knocking the man back. The gun sounded off before it launched from his hand.

A yell sounded from Miyu, and they held their hand to their shoulder as warmth spread through the material. Tofu’s eyes darkened as he came up on Magnus, reaching down and grabbing him roughly by the collar of his shirt, hoisting him up as his knife found its way deep into the pirate’s shoulder. 

Magnus attempted to writhe out of Tofu’s grasp. Having presumed that the other didn’t have much strength to him, his eyes widened a fraction at the grip. He hissed in pain at the knife sheathed in his shoulder. 

“For everything you inflict upon them, you will receive tenfold,” he growled as he shoved the man back, wiping his knife off on his pants before kicking the gun away from Magnus’s hand. 

Magnus shot Tofu a heated stare, silent a moment as he caught his breath. Slowly, a smile made its way to his face. A low, bubbling chuckle grew into a whistling cackle. 

“All this for my used up trash, huh boy? Yer a pathetic one, ya know. Ya wanna keep on talking big, or will ya do it already?” Magnus spat. 

“It’s not for him to do,” Miyu cut in, stepping forward. They stomped down on his shoulder, digging their heel in. In their hand, they held a blade. Their expression was steely and cold – but their hand noticeably quivered. Tofu wrapped his hand around Miyu’s gently to still the shaking.

“Seems you’re blind as well as stupid if you want to call them ‘trash’ so casually. They’re right, it’s not for me to do, as much as I would love to,” he said with a smirk.

“That so, hu-” Tofu kicked Magnus in the mouth harshly.

“Shut up.”

Magnus turned his head to look Miyu dead in the eyes. They froze. Miyu felt the initial instinct to step back, one foot moving behind them, but they made no efforts to step away. After taking a breath, they positioned themself over him and grabbed Magnus by the hair, leaning down as they held a blade to his neck. Again Miyu froze.

In the moment they paused, Magnus shoved a blade into their abdomen, just above the hip. Miyu cried out, moving back in a panic. With the knife they held, they closed back in and plunged it into his chest. 

Tofu’s eyes flickered to their injury, noting that the small blade was his own that he had thrown. His chest weighed heavy with guilt, but he could take a small measure of comfort that the blade couldn’t do much in terms of damage when used the way it had been- Magnus clearly had meant for it to be more of a shock to Miyu’s system than anything.

“Miyu, are you alright?” he murmured softly, his eyes trained on Magnus once more. Seeing that Miyu stayed in close, he didn’t know what he could do outside of assessing the situation. He kept his muscles tense, ready to react should Magnus still have any fight left in him.

Miyu gave no verbal response, eyes trained on Magnus. With a final attempt to raise his hand, Miyu twisted the knife. He gave a shout and fell back, breaths quick and shallow.

“I need to do this,” Miyu murmured quietly. As they pulled the knife back out, they kicked his head back. 

Perhaps they did it to ensure that he was dead. Or perhaps, on some level deep within them, they felt they didn’t deserve a clean conscience out of this. They couldn’t close their eyes as they carried through with what they came to do. 

They turned the severed head’s face away from them, and collapsed to their knees. 

Miyu let out a shuddering sigh, burying their hands away into their face. Tofu crouched beside them, resting a hand on their shoulder. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket, clasping his hand around a smooth, pale stone. He knew his limits, and didn’t go too far, but he applied a small amount of healing to Miyu’s abdomen; not enough to fully heal it, but enough to make it more bearable. 

“Proud of you,” he said softly.

They should’ve made an attempt to decline, or go on to heal themself, but they could only sit there in a daze. 

“I... I froze,” was all they murmured back, voice faint. 

—

Kore followed up the stairs in the wake of Punk’s destruction. Her plan was to find a way to get to Tofu and Miyu. She spotted Tio on deck preoccupied with helping out Punk. They must have landed on the other ship. Just as she was about to call for Daen Lad, she narrowly dodged a fire spell, turning to find a mage readying another spell. They’ll be dealt with first.

She attacked with a flourish of her chakrams, using her aether to guide and recall the circular blades, using the flow of her strikes to dodge their spells in the same fluid motion. The battle was her dancefloor and the mage did not stand a chance. She moved to deliver the final strike when suddenly she was struck from behind with a spell. Her chakrams slipped from her hands as she started to see stars. Collapsing to the ground, her eyelids grew heavy as the sleep spell took hold. 

There was a loud thunk as two boots landed on the ground nearby the spellbound Viera. M’ezzo stood over Kore with a venomous glare. She kneeled down on one knee to get a look at her, to ensure the spell was cast efficiently. 

“Just can’t keep your damn nose out of family business, huh?” M’ezzo hissed. She attempted to hoist her up over her shoulder, but was jostled by the unsteady surface as the ship went deeper into the eye of the storm. Carrying Kore off to the side rail would take too long. She’ll need to take care of this now. M’ezzo wrapped both hands around her neck and began to squeeze. 

“Tofu!” The cry from Peach carried across both ships, causing Tofu to whip around to find her. With panic in her eyes, she pointed to where Kore was being strangled. A burning rage boiled within Tofu as he caught sight of M’ezzo and one of his dear ones. 

“Daen Lad.” He didn’t have to call loud, they appeared by his side in an instant. “Get me over there. Now.”

Daen Lad, feeling his fury and seeing Kore in danger, did as commanded without hesitation, dropping Tofu directly on top of M’ezzo. He pushed aside the increasing pain in his chest from each teleport spell and his minor healing spell and pinned her to the ground, one hand on her throat to hold her down as he crouched above her.

“Do not touch her,” he growled, low in his throat, almost animalistic.

M’ezzo gave a grunt at the surprise attack, the back of her head smacking against the deck as she was pinned down. 

“You’ve taken away everyone I’ve loved. I’m only paying back a favor,” she sneered in a hoarse wheeze, “And you’ll just have to watch ‘em drown.”

With a quick move of her wrist, she cast a wind spell. The spell knocked him back, though he bit back the pain and shot her a glare.

“You killed Miyu’s family, and maybe it wasn’t directly, but you allowed it to happen. You don’t get to talk to me about revenge, bitch,” he spat. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, though he hadn’t realized it was there beforehand, and drew his knife with his other hand. Rage fueling him, he lunged at her.

M’ezzo knew that her best advantage would be to put distance between the two of them. A spell would take much too long, so the woman had to act fast. M’ezzo grabbed an empty bottle nearby, tossing it up in front of her. The quick-footed miqo’te swiveled back and kicked with the metal heel of her boot, a burst of sharp glass flinging towards the charging viera as M’ezzo jumped back. 

Tofu ducked out of the way of the glass, a shard catching him across the cheek as he dipped low to put on an extra boost of speed. Tofu’s movements to dodge the glass bought M’ezzo enough time to cast a full spell, but not enough time for her to dodge his blade. He brought his arm in and swiped at her, catching her across the ribs deeply. Stones materialized, rushing at Tofu’s head.

“Daen Lad, get Kore out of here!” he called, dodging the rocks and indicating Kore with a nod of his head and Miyu with another. With a flurry, Daen Lad opened a portal beneath Kore and sent her to land gently beside Miyu. Tofu turned his attention back to M’ezzo.

The moment Kore had been dropped off beside Miyu, they brought her close, and they had no intentions of parting from her. As her head rested in their lap, they kept one hand gently brushing through her hair as they cast a healing spell. Their eyes remained frozen on the severed head of their former captor, as if expecting him to stir at any moment. 

When Berry saw Kore being teleported to Miyu’s side, she didn’t hesitate running to the other ship. Promises be damned. She jumped, grabbing a rope to swing over to the Serpent. Peach, following suit, summoned her Garuda Egi to act as her wings to get her to the other ship. Berry hit the deck and sprinted towards Kore and Miyu, Peach close behind. She knelt beside the pair and began assessing Kore’s condition as Peach stood watch.

Miyu tensed upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps. They started to reach for their dagger, only to grimace at the pain of moving their shoulder. Bullet embedded deep inside, they hadn’t yet made the effort to heal the wound. Or at least, that was part of why they didn’t make an attempt. Nevertheless, perhaps it was a good thing that it stopped them from reaching for their blade, as it wasn’t a foe which approached. 

Their expression softened upon seeing Berry. 

“You’re here. Good. She’s been out for a while… I don’t… I don’t know what happened. But it's not safe here,” they spoke tensely, voice wavering in their panic. 

Berry reached over and opened one of Kore’s eyes. It looked like it had a shimmery fog over the iris. She took her staff and began channeling to cleanse the malignant spell. 

“She got hit by a sleep spell. It'll be alright. We can wake her and she’ll be fighting fit!” she said, trying to be uplifting with her words.

Back on the other ship, M’ezzo was trying to fight off the blood gushing out of her body. She gritted her teeth, holding her hand over her ribs as she focused a cure spell. There was not a moment to breathe a sigh of relief afterwards, as she went straight into another cast of a wind spell in Tofu’s direction.

Tofu raised both arms in front of him to block the spell, sliding back a few paces before shaking off the mounting pain in his chest; he was starting to take too many spells, but he could still handle it for the time being. With his free hand, he sent a throwing knife at her to throw her off guard, immediately following after it with his knife at the ready in his other hand.

Punk was used to fighting multiple opponents without magic from her time spent fighting the empire, and knew that when people thought she was busy with another fighter, they tended to forget to block when she suddenly switched targets. This time did not disappoint, as she introduced a pirate’s helmet to their chest piece. 

Down to a small handful against one Punk, another pirate took aim with his bow, while his comrade finally got a blow to land with one of their swords. Trying to miss his comrades in melee distance with the terrifying woman, he loosed an arrow while Punk’s back was turned and preoccupied with the sudden pain of being sliced with a sword. He watched in dismay as the woman ducked and spun, knocking down multiple pirates to the deck. Not accounting for the sudden movement of the original target, the arrow found another target to lodge itself in. The poor woman was more focused on killing Punk than dodging friendly fire, and took the arrow directly to the chest, finally cutting through the berserker rage she was in. 

With sudden clarity, she realized it was her friend that was the source of the fatal arrow, a look of betrayal in her eyes as her eyes glassed over. Final insult to injury, Punk spun to swipe her legs out from under her.

Grabbing the smallest pirate, one with two knives that had already landed half a dozen small knicks and cuts, had suddenly found himself on the ground flat on his back. Punk flung the poor Lalafell at another of the gun wielding pirates. Dropping his pistol to catch his comrade, the gun wielder never noticed the freight train that slammed into him and his friends’ bodies. Getting caught between the club and the ship's rail, the lalafell breathed his last as he and his comrade were crushed by the force of the blow. 

Pushing both bodies overboard, now broken and beaten, Punk turned her attention to the final three pirates; two wielding dual swords and the last one with his bow. They finally decided that the briney deep was a far kinder fate than facing the mad woman that had already taken multiple wounds but moved and acted like she felt no pain. They dropped their weapons and dove over the rail to escape, leaving her with three fewer pirates to fight.

Her adrenaline finally fading, Punk succumbed to the darkness in her vision, and the multiple slash wounds weeping blood, falling to her knees on the deck. Using her club to keep herself upright, she saw Kore being tended to by Berry, with Tio and a new friend guarding the healers as they tended to her fallen friend. 

Neri saw the armored woman take a knee and turned her attention to her to throw her a few quick heals. While Neri wasn’t a dedicated healer, her quick casting ability would do to get a fighter back on their feet. Besides, the healer of the group was preoccupied.

Daen Lad caught sight of a bloodied Punk dropping to her knees, and while the mage that seemed to be working with Tio had closed her wounds, Punk herself was still in the middle of the ship alone, and that was dangerous. Daen Lad opened a portal beneath her, dropping her carefully next to Kore. As the feeling of falling and landing broke through the darkness, Punk opened her eyes slowly, a groggy moan escaping her throat. She sat up, pressing a hand to her head to steady the residual spinning, and looked around. 

The fighting seemed to be coming to a close. There were a small handful of pirates left, but Tio and…a hyuran woman Punk didn’t recognize were well capable of taking care of them, while it seemed like Tofu was going toe to toe with a woman that was familiar, but how.... Punk had landed amongst Miyu, Kore, Berry, Peach, and Daen Lad. With a realization, she fully turned her attention to Daen Lad.

“I need my bag, can you bring it here for me?” she asked. Daen Lad looked at Punk with a curious tilt of their head and nodded, swirling their hand in front of them to open up a small portal in the air in front of Punk, letting the bag drop through from its spot on the Hound’s Revenge into her awaiting arms. 

With a giddy smile, Punk rifled through the bag, pulling out and dispensing glass bottles that housed a viscous liquid, a bit of cloth sealing each one. She did so love fire. The others seemed less enthused at the objects, but she figured it was because they didn’t yet know what they were for. 

“Once we’re ready to torch this tub, light the cloth and throw the bottle. Make sure it’s hard enough to smash it. The liquid will catch fire and spread like crazy,” she said, grinning madly. 

The others, well the ones that were awake, solemnly took the bottles from her, but they nodded in understanding. No matter their current mood, they were alive, and she would ensure they stayed that way. She cast her eyes around once more, landing back on Tofu, locked in combat with that woman… Right, she had called herself Miyu’s sister. That battle raged on, and soon, a fire would begin its own rage…

--

M’ezzo cracked a little smile, seeing that the spell landed. Maybe she couldn’t land a blow on Tofu in hand to hand combat presently, but she knew of the damage done with Tofu’s weakness to magic. She would be unlikely to see the results, however. M’ezzo moved to dodge, but was unable to pivot out of the way as the throwing knife dug itself just beneath her collarbone. 

As Tofu rushed toward her with the knife, she leaned back and swung her leg to kick at his temple. Tofu brought up his arm, not for the first time glad for the metal bracers he wore as the metal of her boot collided with his arm. He was used to close combat, however, and took a small bit of the momentum from her kick before pushing back to knock her off balance.

As M’ezzo lost her footing, she used all the weight in her body to hop off one foot. Her hand gripped on tight to his wrist as she kicked against his chest in an attempt to pull his shoulder out of the socket. For once, Tofu’s Echo kicked in at a useful moment, and in the brief window before she grabbed his arm, he caught sight of her intentions, already working to release his arm before she brought her foot up to his chest. He barely budged as she flipped back and landed flat on her back.

He closed the distance between them and brought his knife down towards her, aiming for her chest. But before the knife could plunge into her chest, M’ezzo swiftly kicked the knife out of his hand. She promptly jumped up and went for the uppercut with her spiked knuckles, managing to firmly land a hit, but not as much as she intended it to be. 

Peach's eyes scanned the area as Geruda ripped through a man that had come too close. It was her intent to keep Berry and Miyu safe while they worked on getting Kore awake. She glanced at Miyu and their shoulder wound, tapping Berry on the shoulder and bringing her attention to it as well. Once she was sure Berry took note of it, she turned back towards the fighting, her anxious heart leading her to check on how things were going with Tofu-

She watched as his knife got kicked out of his hand. She saw where it landed, and how he didn't have time to retrieve it, it was too far away. She knew. She knew what those knives meant to him. And without a word, she darted towards the far flung knife.

Tofu’s head barely snapped back as he glared at M’ezzo, his other knife already in hand. He had to end it now, he wouldn’t be able to last much longer in a drawn out fight against a mage like this, and it had already lasted longer than he would have liked due to her melee prowess. He grabbed the arm she had just punched him with and pulled her towards him, embedding his knife firmly into her stomach. 

Time stood still as he remembered something very important.

“You mentioned you had a kid around Hana’s age. Are they somewhere safe?” he asked softly. 

M’ezzo’s breath caught in her throat. Reflexively, her hand went up to her stomach, and the steady warmth that rushed over her fingers conveyed the severity of the wound. She was quiet for a long moment, save for the faint wheezing beneath labored breaths.

“...Please. She’s just a kid,” M’ezzo spoke, voice strained as she tensed her jaw while waves of pain rushed through her. “She’s… she’s onboard still.”

Tofu rested his free hand on the top of her head gently. “We’ll find her somewhere safe, I will be sure of it,” he murmured. “I promise she will be safe.”

Geruda carried Peach over to the next ship easily. Peach sent her back to keep an eye on Berry and dashed to scoop up the knife. As she did, she held it gently to her chest as if she were cradling it. And when she looked back up to make her way back to Berry, she realized the danger she was in. 

Her cry of fear echoed across the sea. 

As M’ezzo faded in Tofu’s arms, a shrill scream echoed from the direction she had kicked his knife. He knew that voice, and as the dread settled in his stomach, he bolted towards where Peach was, his lost knife in her hand as a pirate bore down on her. Putting himself between them, he wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t react to the blade that slid across his back, leaning back slightly and smiling at her gently. 

“Get back to Berry,” he said softly, brushing a tear from her cheek that she hadn’t noticed had begun to fall. He closed his hand over hers as it gripped his knife tightly. “Use this if anyone gets too close for your summons.” And with that, he turned towards the man that had attacked her. 

Peach watched as he buried his other knife to the hilt into the eye socket of the pirate, her eyes widening at the sight of the injury he had taken for her sake- from shoulder to hip diagonally. As tears welled up in her eyes, she did as she was told and ran back to where Berry was working to get Kore awake; it was all she could do. She had only been in the way, but his knife… The only man he had known as a father had given them to him. She couldn’t just let it get lost in the fight. 

As the pirate fell before him, Tofu took a glance around. Berry was with Kore; that was good, she could help Miyu, too. Ser and Punk seemed to have gotten a large majority of the crew. Tio was working with a woman he didn’t recognize, but he didn’t have time to think about it. He had to move before the adrenaline wore off. He had to find the kid before someone else did, he had to make sure nothing bad happened to her. If it were Hana, he’d want someone to do the same, to protect her. He located the doors to the living quarters and made his way towards them.

--

Kore’s eyes fluttered open as she took in a deep breath, roused from her magically induced sleep. She took in her surroundings; she had been moved. She looked up and saw Miyu had her propped up in their lap, reaching up to touch their face.  Miyu gave a sigh of relief as they leaned their face into her hand.

“Hello lovely, do you feel okay?” they asked, voice barely above a whisper as they leaned down to kiss her forehead. 

“I’m a little confused…” she said before wincing, the Echo giving her a little clarity. She blinked the visions away. “Oh… I’m sorry I wasn’t there…”

Miyu shook their head. “There is nothing to apologize for. You are safe. That is all that matters to me.”

Berry turned her attention to Miyu now that Kore was awake. She examined Miyu’s shoulder, noting the lack of exit wound for the bullet. 

“I’m going to heal what I can… we need to close it up for now so you don’t bleed to death, but we will need to get you to a chirurgeon to get the bullet out later,” Berry explained as she began healing the wound.

Miyu’s jaw tightened at the thought of the bullet having to be removed later. Reluctantly, they gave a nod – though Berry wasn’t exactly asking them a question. A yelp sounded from Miyu as she began to heal the wound, a hand clasping over their mouth to silence it. They’ve only had a bone injury healed once before in their childhood, but that didn’t make them anymore prepared for the discomfort as bone fragments and sinews assembled back into place around a foreign object.

---

A lone child lay beneath a bed amidst the turmoil. She could hear the scattering of feet, shouts, and the spilling of blood that happened throughout the ship. It wasn’t the first attack on the ship that she had been witness to, and it wouldn’t be the last. Except, with how long it was going on now – there was a foreboding finality looming in the air. 

All Kora Moxxie could do was wait out the storm. 

Tofu leaned heavily on the wall as he made his way down the stairs. He couldn’t try to keep his footsteps quiet even if he wanted to, but he kept moving. He had to. He scanned the hallway ahead of him, noting that every door sat open, save for one. He approached it and knocked softly. Moxxie‘s limbs tensed at the sound of the knock. 

“H-hey, kiddo? I mean you no harm. M’ezzo said you’d be here, please be here…” he said as he opened the door gently.

Her hand clenched tightly around the knife. The girl held her breath, withholding as many sounds as possible to prevent being found. While the mention of her mother saying she was located here did make her second-guess her decision to stay undetected, she did not recognize the man’s voice. 

Besides, her mom knew lots of people. Lots of bad people. And she wasn’t exempt, which she’d come to understand by now.

She scooted back beneath her bed, shying away from the edge and closer to the wall. His sensitive ears heard the shuffling and he sighed. 

“I promise, I’m not here to hurt you. You can’t stay on this ship, and I promised her that you would be safe. I am a lot of things, but I do not break promises,” he said, a tired edge to his voice. His chest flared briefly and he barely bit back a cry of pain, pressing a hand to his chest as blood dripped heavily to the floor. He could feel the warmth as it traveled down his back from the injury there, but he pushed it all aside to ensure the kid was safe.

A promise. Nothing good ever led up to a promise. She swallowed hard as she brought herself to face the acceptance that something very wrong had gone on outside. Her eyes flickered to the droplets of blood that hit the floor. 

Slowly, she crawled out from under the bed. Her chin tilted up as she steadily met the very tall stranger’s gaze.

“She’s dead, isn’t she? Everyone is. Or at least, that’s the plan, huh?” She spoke coldly, though the waver in her voice remained clear and present. Tofu averted his gaze. 

“I’m sorry. I had to make a choice, and this was it. It was either your family, or mine, and I did what I had to. As did yours,” he said, keeping his tone even. There wasn’t a hint of pride or gloating, just solemn acceptance.

The young au ra’s stare did not once falter. Still, her limbs shook with overwhelming fear and despair. 

“Are you satisfied with your choice? This is what you wanted?”

“Magnus backed us into a corner. They would just keep coming for the ones I hold dear, it wasn’t a choice made for satisfaction, it was the only choice I could make,” he said, his hand clenched at his side; not out of aggression, but out of remorse. 

And Moxxie made her choice, too. She rushed at Tofu with a knife. Given her inexperience, it wasn’t hard to grab her hand, though he wasn’t harsh with it. He gave her a patient look, even as she glared at him. 

“Like I said, I promised to get you somewhere safe. I have to be alive for that, kiddo,” he said, his voice a neutral mask once more. Moxxie’s burning stare filled with tears. 

“I’d rather die on this ship than live alone without them,” she hissed through her teeth, squirming to try and get out of his grasp. No use. His eyes took on a sad edge, though he tried to keep his expression neutral.

“M’ezzo would rather you live, and I promised. I’m sorry. If you must blame someone, and you can’t bring yourself to blame Magnus or your mother, blame me. No one else.” 

His words were soft, not a hint of anger or hatred towards this child who did not choose to be in this situation. He knew what he had done. And he knew it would not be fair to expect her not to take the same steps Miyu did; better she came for him than for her to go for anyone else.

A clamoring could be heard from the hallway as a set of boots that Tofu didn’t recognise raced down the hallway. Neri used the doorframe to stop her momentum and catch herself. She quickly scanned the room, settling on Tofu and Moxxie. 

“Kid!” she exclaimed, rushing to the pair. Neri pulled her from Tofu’s grasp, holding both of her shoulders. “Hey, I’m here. I’m here. I’m gonna take care of you okay?”

There was a breath of relief that escaped Moxxie upon the arrival of someone familiar to her. At least there was someone. It was in that moment that Moxxie allowed the tears to flow. She grabbed onto Neri in a tight embrace and buried her face away as she sobbed. Neri returned the embrace as she smoothed Moxxie’s hair. She looked over Moxxie’s head at Tofu and looked him over; he looked like hell. 

“I take it you have a ship to get us outta here?” Neri asked in an even tone.

Tofu's eyes barely focused on the woman as she addressed him; the hyur that had been fighting alongside Tio. He looked back to the kid.

"...Mina's, should be pulled up beside the other ship. I…I gotta get the kid to safety, I said I would, I-" He wavered slightly, but pushed it aside. "We should get going, what's it look like topside?" 

“Seemed like they were wrapping up…” She looked at Moxxie. “Kid, I need you to listen to me.”

Moxxie drew back and wiped her eyes. She stared at the ground a moment longer as she composed herself. When she looked up to meet Nerida’s gaze again, she gave a nod. 

“I’m going to blindfold you.” Neri held up a finger to silence Moxxie before she could say anything in protest. “You do not need to see this. I mean it.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Tofu mumbled, but didn’t interject further. 

Moxxie stared back vacantly, her lips pressed together tight as she held back from speaking right away. Faintly, she sighed through her nose.

“If that is what makes you feel better, go ahead. You wouldn’t be shielding me from anything I haven’t seen before.” 

“It’s different when it’s your own… Trust me.” Neri tore some fabric from her sash and carefully tied it around Moxxie’s eyes. 

“I know. I saw my brother murdered,” Moxxie responded coldly, but nevertheless kept still as Neri tied the blindfold around her eyes. Tofu stiffened; he really hoped it wasn’t any of the guys in Horizon.

“If you’re both ready, we should go,” Tofu said, though his voice sounded tired as he turned slightly towards the door. His eyes flickered to the last four or so steps he had taken before he got to Moxxie, noting the blood in the shape of his shoe. He glanced at the hyuran woman and hoped she hadn’t noticed.

Neri nodded to Tofu, her eyes flickered to the blood but said nothing. She gently guided Moxxie out of the room. For a pirate, she had a delicate touch.

Tofu kept his eyes on them as they passed and followed close behind. There was something he needed to be sure of, though so far he didn't have reason to believe otherwise.

"I don't know who you are, but you helped Tio. Thank you for keeping my brother safe," he said. After a beat, he remembered that Tio wasn't his name before. "Oh, uh…what did Mina call him… Rory. You helped Rory." 

“Yeah... Of course I helped him, he’s my world.” Neri looked at Tofu and knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. “Wait… Rory was surprised I knew that name… Who’s this Mina you keep mentioning?”

Tofu shook his head to clear the spinning, not that it did much good, but he looked ahead as the entry to the deck came into view. He struggled to get his brain to formulate words through the fog that had started to fall upon his head. 

"She's…she was his captain? So your captain too? I-I don't know…" He was speaking to keep himself from passing out, but the act was still increasingly laborious. 

“His- my Capt- Gods you’re about ready to pass out. I can heal you,” Neri offered as she caught him from falling back on the stairs with one hand.

Tofu shook his head once more with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Nono. Can't," he murmured, trying to flash a reassuring smile at her. "I'll be alright at least for a bit longer." 

“I’m inclined to agree,” Moxxie flatly interjected. Tofu ignored her words as he held up a hand to catch her as she missed the edge of the step in front of her. 

Moxxie steadied, tensing upon feeling an extra hand guide her. She turned her head in Tofu’s direction, as if to silently give him a look, despite being blindfolded. Tofu muttered a quick apology, but made sure she was stable. 

“Why be stubborn about it? Can’t rightly keep your word on getting the kid out if you’re dead.” Neri looked at Tofu as she lifted Moxxie under her arm to carry her the last few steps up. A huff and squeak of complaint sounded from Moxxie at the shock of being lifted up. But given the fact she couldn’t see, she didn’t put up much of a fight.

"I assure you, I'm stubborn about a great many things, but I have an actual reason for this one. I won't be dying any time soon, don't worry," Tofu said, trying to flash a reassuring smile at the woman as they reached the deck. Tofu tensed as the sound of running footsteps towards them, but breathed a sigh of relief that it was just Tio. 

"Tofu! Gods you look like shit, are you alright? What happened? Who's the kid?" the miqo'te said, glancing at Moxxie but otherwise unable to turn his gaze away from the blood that dripped heavily from his brother's mouth. Tofu waved a hand dismissively at Tio.

“Yeah yeah, so I’ve heard,” he muttered. 

“The kid’s with me, don’t worry about her. Worry about your… Brother? He’s about ready to keel over if you ask me,” Neri said as she squeezed past the two with Moxxie. “I hope you retained your first aid skills…”

“My what now?” Tio said blankly. First aid was not something he could just…muscle memory through.

“Then we best get him to the getaway ship,” she said while shifting Moxxie from under her arm to an over the shoulder carry. 

“Surely there’s not nearly as many steps needed for me to be carried the whole time – I can walk just fine,” Moxxie remarked. 

“I’m not guidin’ you through all the rigging and debris on the ground, quit your complainin’,” Neri huffed.

“I said I’m fine,” Tofu hissed through gritted teeth as he glared at Tio, ignoring the kid for the time being, even as his chest flared up. Tio shot him a look and stubbornly took his arm, pulling it around his shoulders to help the stumbling.

“Now is not the time for stubbornness, the refusal for magic I can understand, but let me help you,” he growled. Tofu rolled his eyes and looked away, but didn’t fight the help offered.

Neri looked for boarding planks to cross but noticed a distinct lack of them. “How didja even get on the ship? Did you swim?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at Tio.

As if on cue, Daen Lad appeared, though their usual fanfare appeared to be missing; no sparks or lights to be seen. Tio looked at Neri, then pointed at the pixie. 

"Uh. Them. Though perhaps a different approach for Tofu, considering his condition…?" Tio said, directing the back half of the comment to Daen Lad with a raised brow.

"Don't bother, I can handle one more, it's fine…" Tofu grumbled.

“Right then,” Neri blinked at the sudden appearance of the pixie. 

Daen Lad shot Tofu a worried look, but sighed heavily and held out their hand to open up a portal in front of them that led to Mina’s ship. They were being merciful of Tofu’s condition, which was rare, but even they were concerned at the lengths he had gone to. 

“Keep your arm around him, cat…” they murmured. 

“Already planned to,” Tio said with a half shrug as he helped Tofu through.

After everyone stepped through, the portal closed behind them and Neri took Moxxie to the side, sitting her down on a barrel. Berry walked over to the new pair to check them for injuries.

“Picked up another pair of people in need of our aid, have we?” Ser questioned in slight annoyance. He observed in silence until he noticed Tofu’s condition. “Halone’s tits, you’ve got to do better.”

The dull haze in Miyu’s daze dashed away upon seeing Tofu step through the portal alive. The relief came and went the moment they saw the condition he was in. Still holding onto Kore’s hand, they quickly walked over to support Tofu’s other side with Kore following their lead.

“Thank the Gods you’re here. Are you…” They trailed off, giving a tense swallow as they looked Tofu over up close. He looked to be in bad shape. 

Kore cupped Tofu’s cheek with her free hand and looked him over, guilt setting in. Tofu smiled in relief, shaking off Tio and bringing both hands to cup her face. He pressed his forehead to hers.

“You’re alright…” he murmured gently, taking a moment to appreciate the moment before leaning in. His lips brushed hers carefully. Kore gasped in surprise both at the kiss and the flashes of visions of her on the ground with M’ezzo over her. She blinked them away as fast as she could. She returned the kiss, taking back the moment.

He leaned back, smiling at her once more. “I was so scared…”

“I was too when I heard you had fought M’ezzo because of me…” she said at almost a whisper. Tofu brushed her hair out of her face.

“I’m alright, I’ll be fine,” he said. 

He turned towards Miyu, closing the distance between them and kissing them as well. One hand lowered towards where they had been stabbed, the pad of his thumb brushing gently against the mostly-healed scar.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I wasn’t fast enough,” he whispered. 

Miyu gave a faint squeak of surprise, their tense expression softening at the kiss as they leaned in. As much as they wanted to enjoy a first kiss, the taste of iron left lingering on their lips sent alarms off in their head as they recalled the last time Tofu had coughed up blood. There was a sick feeling in their stomach when they realized Tofu had fought M’ezzo.

“You… let’s… let’s sit down, yeah? No apologiz-” 

The sigil in Tofu’s chest burned white hot as he staggered away from Miyu with a barely subdued ‘fuck’ and dropped to his knees. Blood erupted violently from his mouth as his hands hit the deck roughly. A low moan escaped him as his vision faded to black before he toppled to his side.

Kore quickly knelt beside Tofu, slipping from Miyu’s grasp. She turned him onto his back, taking his knife and ripping his shirt open with it. The sigil was lit up brighter than she expected it to be. His wounds were still bleeding as well, They needed to be dealt with so he wouldn’t bleed out. She looked up at Miyu.

“I need you to trust me. You are going to have to heal him-” 

“You can’t!” Daen Lad interrupted loudly. There was panic in their eyes as they realized her intention to use more magic on him. “The talismans, they don’t stop the damage, they just subdue the pain for a brief time. If you use more magic, it will just hurt him more later, when the effects have worn off.” 

“If we don’t he’ll bleed out on the ship.”

“You can stop the bleeding without magic! Please, please, his body can’t…”

“Talking about it isn’t going to help either! I don’t know, bandages, stitches, anything! Please, he’s my brother,” Tio snapped. He had almost lost Tofu once, he didn’t want to lose him this time. He ignored the tears that brimmed in his eyes, ignored the panicked breaths, looking around for someone, anyone, with traditional medical knowledge.

Miyu could only stay kneeled beside Tofu, one hand clutched around their white mage stone, but they couldn’t bring themself to act as they listened to the warnings. In the foggy haze of their panic, they heard of yelling to stop the bleeding. They tore off their jacket, ripping off the cotton lining on the inside. While they heard others still talking, they temporarily held it to his back to try and slow the bleeding. 

Mina, hearing the panic in Tio’s voice, rushed over from the helm. She looked at Daen Lad. “In my quarters there’s supplies, in the cabinet.” 

The pixie nodded and snapped their fingers. All of the medical supplies in the cabinet appeared next to Tofu. Mina quickly sorted through the pile, grabbing what she needed. Berry moved to come help but Mina interrupted her.

“No, give us room to work. You and you. Go check the other ships for survivors and civilians. Gives you something to do instead of fretting,” she said pointing at Berry and Peach. She looked at Tio. “Go hold the helm steady.”

“Ser, Punk, go protect the small ones as they check the other ships,” Mina said as she turned back to Tofu. Ser sighed as he hoisted himself off the railing he had leaned against. He gave Punk a pat on the shoulder as they both followed after the sisters.

Tio stared a moment, but nodded, knowing there wasn’t anything more he could do where he was. He set off towards the helm, pausing halfway there and gripping his head with both hands, barely holding back a scream of anguish. There had been so much blood… That’s his brother! That’shisbrotherthat’shisbrother. He had to snap himself out of it, shaking his head and focusing on the task he had been given.

Neri reached out a hand as Tio passed, but she couldn’t bring herself to make contact. She closed her hand and brought it to her chest. Was it still her place to comfort him as she had done so many times in the past? She didn’t know. 

Seeing as they had arrived, Moxxie reached up and tore the blindfold off to look at her captors. Her hands tightened into fists as she watched the mess around her. The young girl’s eyes settled on the bloodied viera passed out on the deck. Being in such a sorry state he was in now, she could hardly believe that he had walked all the way to the cabins to find her and bring her to the next ship. It would have been admirable, if not for the fact that he was responsible for her mother’s death – as he had insisted himself.

“I hope he bleeds out and dies here,” Moxxie spoke coldly, her voice steady.

Neri smacked her upside the back of her head. Not hard, but enough to get her attention. She gave the child a stern look. “Don’t say such things. You know what Basilisks did. You knew they were not in the business of making friends. This is what happens when shit catches up to you. Learn from their mistakes, don’t go making enemies when you can stand to have a few friends.”

Moxxie flinched, her body remaining tense despite feeling it had only been a light tap. She shot Neri a heated glare from the corner of her eyes.

“I know. But do you really expect me to be grateful right now? It’s not that I don’t care, but that I… I don’t know. I don’t know how to feel about any of this. I don’t know anything,” she started off with a snarl, but her voice softened as she approached the end of her statement. “My whole family is gone. Maybe they were bad people, but they were my family. So if he… if he dies… maybe I wouldn’t celebrate, but I won’t be feeling sorry, either.” 

“Not sayin’ you should feel anything.” Neri put a hand on Moxxie’s head and continued, “Thing about family is… You actually do have a choice on who it is. I hope you can grow past where you came from, kid. I’m here for you now.”

Moxxie remained silent, only tightening her jaw and staring off across the sea. 

All that was left was to attach the ship they would be taking for Mina’s use to the Hound’s Revenge, throw the molotovs, and set sail. This chapter was finally over…

The wind and waves had begun to settle. On the horizon, the setting sun peeked from between the clouds. This day had marked an ending, and a beginning. But for the moment, the storm that had been brewing, the storm that had raged, was finally beginning to pass

[peachypede]

Decided to just write for this prompt since it would be easier than drawing.

Calhoun

Favorite Flavors: Savory, Spicy

Favorite Curry: Spicy Mushroom Medley

Favorite Sandwich: Ultra BLT 

Favorite Dessert: Jam and Biscuits

Master of survival cooking and making it taste like you’re living instead of surviving. Forages his own mushrooms and berries. Was and still is big on natural foods (dislikes un-natural sugars, industrial oils, and other man-made products in his food). Raised his kids on this diet as well, and even got more hardcore when both Pecha and Rawst turned out to have IBS.

Pecha

Favorite Flavors: Sweet, Spicy

Favorite Curry: Spicy Salad 

Favorite Sandwich: Great Zesty 

Favorite Dessert: Anything sweet (cake, icecream, macaron, etc.

-She loves strong flavors, but dislikes anything remotely bland. Also dislikes soggy textures. Has kinda kept up on the diet that she was raised on by Calhoun, but mostly because she makes her own food more often than buying it. Loves sugar a bit too much though, even if it hurts her stomach.

Rawst

Favorite Flavors: Bitter, Sour

Favorite Curry: Sour Cheese-Covered 

Favorite Sandwich: Ultra Cheese 

Favorite Dessert: Sour gummy worms

Also likes strong flavors, especially sour. Went completely off the deep end from the diet that their father set them. Had one bag of chips and they were gone. More likely to buy junk food than make their own food. Eats like trash. The only healthy food they get is the stuff Pecha makes since they still live together.

Aman

Favorite Flavors: Spicy, Dry 

Favorite Curry: Sweet Fried-Food 

Favorite Sandwich: Ultra Tofu 

Favorite Dessert: Wasabi Icecream

Was raised by both sets of his parents trying different fancy or experimental artsy foods. Gave him the strangest palette ever. Either needs all the flavors or none. He’s at the best restaurant in town or you’ll find him at home with a bowl of tofu. Just tofu. Strangest tastes out of all his family.