The men saw the first man fall and looked at each other. One of them told her she was a whore and brought his sword out. Sophia brought her spear that was separated into two pieces and put them together quick. She moved quickly and while he was striking to only hit the ground, she swung her spear and cut his throat in one move. The blood flew out as he held it and he struggled for words. He fell and bled on the ground looking at her. One of the men tried to turn back and run but was stopped by both Fon and Luma. When he tried to fight them, they easily took him down and brought him back. Sophia was waiting for the other two that stood frozen. She smiled and told them they could attack at the same time and blinked one of her eyes seductively. They said they had changed their mind and only wished to leave. Her expressions changed and she then said it made no difference because she would kill them both. She then ran towards them holding out her spear aimed towards them. They tried, at the same time, to strike her when she came close but she avoided easily and stabbed one man in the back which caused the spear to go straight through him. She then kicked the leg of the other man so he fell forward and as he hit the ground, she kicked him in the back.
When he hit the ground with his head, she struck the spear in it. She put the spear away after drying it off on a cloth hanging from a wagon. The man with the teeth kicked in was mooning on the ground and was in much pain. Aido said he was still alive but Gon walked up and with a crushing blow to the head using his foot, he ended the man’s life. He then said to Aido that he must have been mistaken because he was dead and walked towards Sophia. Aido nodded and told him he surely was wrong in his assumption. The last man begged for his life and said he was sorry many times over. Gon could not stand these people as he had seen too many bad men and as they threatened his daughter; he had no interest in sparing his life. He told the pirate he would let his daughter handle his fate and the man looked at her to begin to beg for mercy.
Sophia kicked him hard in the stomach before he could say anything. She then used her other leg to deliver one direct hit over the back head. He lay there bleeding from his mouth as several organs must have broken when she kicked him in the stomach. She grabbed his hair and told him she didn’t like his kind then walked behind him. Tiger looked at Gon and hoped he would stop her since he thought Sophia should not do such a thing herself but Gon looked proud. Sophia punched him a few more times then grabbed his head and snapped his neck killing him instantly so he fell down on the ground.
Tiger was surprised at the violence of Gon’s daughter but knew the land was no safe haven for a girl and he had himself seen horrible things happen to young women. The fact that Gon had so much hate against the bad people was because they had brought him so much grief during the years. This was probably why he let Sophia go for full, he believed. He did feel Sophia already, for her age, didn’t seem to mind killing with her bare hands which worried him. Neither Aido nor Eesa seemed to not care either as they, for many years, had had problems with the pirates stealing from their boats and sometimes killing their fellow monks. They stashed the bodies in the barrels that were empty and put them far back.
Luma said that the smell from their dead bodies would not make any one notice as the whole port smells of filth. They left and walked further in to the small town of Thado. ‘The stink and rubbish everywhere is enough to make anyone sick,’ Eesa said. They walked into a square where several tradesmen had set up stands and offered different jobs for bounty hunters. Selling weapons as well as offering their services as hired killers and also changed gold for gems or other things. Somehow, there was also a stand selling buns and they seemed to be busy. They stood and were watching the crowd that was a mix of many different people.
‘So many of them in the port,’ Luma said and pointed to a gathering of about twenty that were gambling. Tiger was looking at a tent selling a kind of herbs that was considered poisons when he noticed Gon’s eyes fixing on something. He looked surprised but when he asked what it was, he got no answer. Everyone looked at Gon and Sophia pointed her eyes in the same direction but could only see a bunch of men sitting in nice clothes.
Gon said he knew the man sitting in the middle of those men. Sophia had never seen him and wondered who he was. Gon said that when he lived in Shetana, he met the man sitting there and made some trouble for him. He was a bad man with the name Chien and Sophia then knew who he was because she had heard the stories from Shetana. Chien was with some other men and looked like he was wealthy. They decided to leave before he had a chance to see Gon since Chien would certainly recognise him. They would have to stay the whole day and with them killing five pirates, it made the day feel extra long. They would have to keep an eye out for any more trouble that could come before they left.
Walking around in the town was dangerous and Sophia was attracting some attention as she was a very pretty young woman. They walked past a brothel and one man tried to grab her as he was drunk and thought she worked there. She twisted his arm and pushed him to the ground causing some attention. The other people at the brothel laughed at the man who was now on the ground and the girls at the brothel that had seen what happened cheered Sophia on. They found a more quiet part of the town and sat down next to some cliffs to look over the water. They could see some ships coming in through the entrance of the mountain and some leaving it. They saw a map of the town and also of the next towns not too far away. There was another fisher port town not too far away at the other side called Gemcorr but they saw it was next to Darcolia. None of them knew there was a town there except for Tiger who had been travelling around the world.
It looked like there were a lot of townspeople coming to spend their money in the port and during the day, more kept coming in with the same sort of small boats as they were riding on. Many bigger ships could be seen sitting still over the waters inside the port. They found the information great as they might blend in as people going back to the town. They decided to walk back to their boat and got ready to leave earlier. On the way through a couple of some long walls that held houses inside, they had the bad luck to meet up with one of the men that was with Chien. He talked to another man and probably didn’t notice them but if he was there, then perhaps Chien could be close by.
They hurried away and had no problem until they came to the dock. There were several men that looked like they were the people in charge of the whole port town. They walked around with a pen and paper and were taking down notes on the boats and ships in the port. There were others that talked to the captains of some ships and anyone coming in. Gon hoped they were too busy to care about them and told the others he would go ahead and talk while they made the boats ready. The others stayed for a bit and looked at a stand selling maps and they picked a new one up to bring with them.
As soon as they started walking, a man tapped Fon on the shoulder and asked him what ship he rode on. The others stopped and stared at the man that repeated his question. Tiger said fast that they were from Gemcorr port and just came to look for buyers for old weapons used in the war that were there. They found some that were interested to buy and would bring them next time. He pointed at the small boats and said they came on that earlier that day. The man looked at the boats and told them to wait until he came back. They stayed close to the boats and wondered what the man was doing. He came back and Gon was wondering if it would work and was about to walk up when he saw something else that annoyed him.
In front of the others came the man Gon least wanted to see that day. Chien introduced himself and smiled creepy as he wondered what Sophia’s name was. She told him her name was Sonja and he kissed her hand. She pulled it back quickly after and made a fake smile. He asked Tiger what weapons they would trade and Tiger told him the ones he wished to sell had history since they were from the war between Grasoll and Darcolia. He said he didn’t have anything with him this time because he wanted to be sure he could find enough buyers for them. The man that previously asked Tiger what he was doing there told Chien there were some weapons in the boats. Tiger w
as fast and said they had some of the weapons he had bought in Thado port that he would deliver to Shetana city. He showed the weapons and told him they had been made especially to be used in the arena there.
Chien said he used to live in the city and knew the mayor of this city but said he was a fool. He didn’t see anything wrong and instead asked them to come to see him next time they were there. He looked at Sophia and told her he would pay a good price if she sells him some of the weapons. Sophia smiled fake again and said they might see each other soon then. He said good bye and the other man told them to leave before the water became too wild. He then walked to another couple of men just arrived in the port. Gon came up from the stairs and met the others as they came down. The sky had begun to change colour so they got into the boats and left with some other ones heading out. They came out and continued towards Gemcorr.
After an hour, they stopped going to Gemcorr and instead, turned the boats. Eesa said they were straight under the island and after making sure no one was close by, they changed direction and headed towards the island. Gemcorr was still a few hours away and any ship heading there had disappeared to leave them alone. They would have to sail for 2-3 days and going through the night would get them far as the sea had picked up because of the wind being strong. The rope that was tied to keep them together was making a noise as it stretched. They had half a moon to light the way and looking at the stars helped them to stay on track.
In the morning, the wind relaxed and the speed was not as fast. The ocean was big and they were alone. They sailed for a couple of hours and had some food and water as Tiger told them about where he went before he came to the monastery. They listened and enjoyed the sun that had begun to warm up the air. They were sailing the whole day and they were making good time and with the speed, they might reach the island next evening. They passed a small rock formation that was on the map and they felt relieved to be going the right way. They were picking up speed again and the sky had again started to change shade.
Gon relaxed and was half asleep. Even on the ocean. The wind was warm and comfortable. Suddenly, Fon spotted something in the distance. He looked at the map but could not see any formations of anything being there so he told the others. Whatever was in the distance seemed to stay the same size but soon, they realised it was a ship and it was now coming closer. Suddenly, there was a dangerous situation instead of the calmness of the sea. Since they couldn’t see what kind of ship it was, they could only try to sail on and wait. The ship was coming closer and Tiger left nothing to chance and got his equipment ready for combat as did the others. It seemed they were correct in worrying as finally, the ship could be viewed for what it was. The old Tarikan flag of the ancient rulers could be seen clear.
‘A pirate ship,’ said Aido and then the danger was real. If they had spotted them, they would get attacked. Even in the night, they would have been easy to spot as the ocean was calm and the moon shone a light over the ocean. Gon told everyone to get ready for impact because it was possible they might get rammed. When the ship came close enough, they could hear the voices and how they made noise of men screaming for excitement. It was clear they intended to attack them so Gon gave the fast decision to try to attack first. He asked Tiger to get into the boat and told the others to get ready. Gon’s pupils understood immediately what to do and told the monks to jump when told to. Tiger smiled and said he hoped he got to fight as well and not give everything to the others.
Gon said maybe they should let the younger ones do the dirty work for once and Tiger laughed. The ship came close and at the side of them from behind. Before the pirates had realised what was going to happen, Gon and Tiger sent Luma up by joint strength with their hands. He flew up and wasted no time on the surprised pirates and drew his sword. Sophia was next with her spear and then Fon and the two monks. Tiger grabbed a net that hung down and was followed by Gon who grabbed the rope of the ship and did a fast knot so the small boats would follow.
When they came up, the others were taking care of the pirates. On the ship, there were seventeen men on the top deck and even if they all had swords, both of the pupils and monks found it easy to disarm and beat the pirates. Gon and Tiger stood at the edge of the ship and just watched. When a man came close with drawn sword towards Master Tiger, he grabbed the hand holding the sword as it swung and threw him overboard. Gon had a man also striking against him but he avoided the strike and kicked him hard in the stomach. As the man was on the floor trying to catch his breath, Gon lifted him up holding his neck and threw him at a man coming close with a spear.
The man thrown got impaled and with the weight of him, the man with the spear could not stand and fell with the man on top of him. Sophia had killed two men by herself with no sign of holding back and the two monks had each two dead under their attack. Fon and Luma had three under their belts together as they cooperated as a team and they just finished off another pirate when a door swung open fast. The remaining four pirates rushed to the man standing there. He was an older man and he looked like he had been through a lot during the years. He told the men to move out of the way and he drew his sword. He ran towards Aido and swung his sword. He rolled to the side and the man swung against Sophia as she stood closest. She moved fast and avoided the strong swing of the blade but her spear got hit so it came out of her hands.
The pupils attacked the last four pirates together with Eesa. They took them down fast while Aido and Sophia fought the captain. Sophia got a hit from the elbow on the side of her body and she rolled away towards her spear to avoid him getting too close. Gon told them to stop playing around and finish him. When the captain tried to swing again, Aido kicked him on the leg and when the captain went down on one knee, Sophia struck him with the spear that she picked up again that went straight through his body. He went down and died on the deck while making a noise with his final breath. They now stood on the ship and there were dead pirates all over the floor. The ship was in bad condition and they were quick to search it. The dead pirates were placed in a corner of the ship by the monks and pupils while Tiger helped steer the ship.
The Tarikan flag was removed immediately but even without it, the ship looked to be trouble for anyone crossing it. Gon was walking down to the hull and found four barrels full of wine. He figured the captain must had liked the alcohol and had his quarter full of empty bottles. There was a bigger Tarikan flag hanging on the wall and words that said “death to everyone not Tarikan” were written above. Gon found a door that had a lock on it and Sophia had already tried to open it but had had some trouble. She was on her way back with a heavy metal hammer that she had spotted in the corner.
Knowing her father could deliver a much heavier blow, she handed it to him. He took it and with great force, smashed the lock in one hit. They walked inside and it was dark. Gon took an oil lamp and shined it in the room. The first thing they saw was a person that was chained on the wall. When he turned the light, they saw a naked female body on the floor. Sophia pointed to a lamp in the roof and said it might light the room up. He lit it and slowly the light began to shine the room up. It was clear the room was used to held prisoners. Sophia felt for a pulse on the woman but she was dead and probably had been for a couple of days since her body was so cold. They searched the room for life but everyone was dead. They came up to another female laying on the floor and when Gon touched her to check for life, she moved and moaned as his finger touched her skin. She said, ‘Please, no more,’ and Sophia wondered what horrible ship they were on.
Gon turned the woman and covered her with a blanket he was given by Sophia. He told her she was safe then and she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes tried to adjust to the light and she could finally see after her eyes had gotten used to the light. She wondered where the other pirates were and Sophia told her they were all dead and they had taken over the ship. She started to cry but only a small line of tears was able to come out. She said, with shaken voice, to please kill her. They were surprised and asked her why she wanted
to die and who she was. She said she was on a different ship with her husband and two sons coming from Ocenia when the pirates boarded the ship. They were headed home to Redonia and there were three other families on the ship together with the crew. They were all friends that had left to Ocenia to secure a trade deal between their mines and the mines of Ocenia.
With their cargo of silver from one of the Ocenian mines, the pirates must have known about it and attacked them. They were in protected waters but pirates came through with the help of the fog. The pirates boarded them after shooting canons balls at them that brought damage to the ship. When the pirates came aboard, they killed every one of the crew and also her husband. When the captain came aboard, he ordered the children to be killed. She cried more and said they threw her sons overboard and laughed as they did it. She was beaten and dragged with some of the others to the other ship and put in the room and locked.
When they returned from plundering the ship of the silver, they stripped her and another woman to then rape them. Every day, she was raped and other prisoners beaten until they finally died. When asked how long she had been there, the woman said she was not sure but at least for two months. Sophia said she never had to worry about them again as they were all dead. She thanked them again but repeated her wish to please kill her. Gon asked if she was sure and she said she wanted to meet her family again. Sophia was upset and felt uncomfortable with what she had seen and heard. She walked outside while Gon cleaned the woman’s face with the cloth covering her body. He told her to think about anything that made her happy and close her eyes. She said her family was the only thing she could see in front of her.
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