As the sky changed from Orange to blue, and the sun could be seen rising from behind the forest that lead to the city. Arashi was sitting on the beach, he had already packed his things in the ship, he didn't carry much just some food and his weapons, but as he waited he observed as the poor sailors were being nagged by the nobles of the starlight council to carry crates and bags full of probably unnecessary things, while still trying to do their actual job and pack necessities as well as emergency supplies. Let's just say he was glad to be part of the bodyguards and not the sailor crew.

As he waited for the vessel to be ready for the voyage, he noticed as one of the members of the council eyed him, probably berating him for sitting down while everyone else was doing something, which was maybe fair but he had already packed his things and he was hired as security not as a servant...

Still he picked up his Katana Fastening it to his hip, as well as grabbing his newly acquired staff/blade/walking stick, and approached the noble from the council. "I don't even know why we hired you if you're just gonna lounge around." Arashi had seen that coming "Sorry sir, I already packed my things, do you need help with anything?" He said in the most unenthusiastic voice he had. This got him another look of disdain from the nobleman "Just get in the ship already!" Well he got off easy but it's not like this particular councilman had much power by himself and he probably knew better than to irritate a bodyguard too much, mostly when this bodyguards allegiance wasn't to him specifically.

Arashi boarded the ship and went to the deck.

The double decker wagon fit on the deck of the ship, but not comfortably. Sailors cursed under their breath as they had to make paths around it, crossing themselves as they caught sight of the demonic reindeer that pulled it. Atop the wagon Cirice is perched looking out over the waves with a smile, her short white hair and flowing skirts being tossed about by the breeze. She hops down onto the deck as the last of the people climb aboard and the plank is raised, ready for the voyage to get underway.

Seeing the human standing by himself she bounces over with delight, “Ohayo!” she sing-songs to him in a cheerful voice, noting his sword. “Are you the other bodyguard that was hired for this journey? I’m Cirice, nice to meet you!” She bows slightly at the waist in the fashion of the Crescent Isles.

“Its a fine day for sailing isn’t it? I think this job will be super easy! Let’s work really well together, new friend!” She grins at him, "In fact if you'd ever like some tea or company please come join me in my wagon, I've got lots of tea and muffins and plenty of books to read. I live in a library you see."

What he found in the deck was not what he expected though... where he expected a Clear open space with some crates to the sides, he found a huge wagon, in the middle of the deck... well that could make it harder in case there's trouble. He thought it must've been some dumb request from a noble but then again if they were bringing their house with them... it probably wouldn't be a wagon. So it had to be someone else, that's when as the voyage was to begin and he walked farther in he noticed not only the creature pulling said wagon, a sort of ghostly deer, but also a small Moon elf woman. who jumped down enthusiastically to go and meet him.

She seemed quite bubbly and friendly, as she asked him whether he was the other bodyguard, Arashi nodded, still a bit taken aback by her friendliness. but she sort of hit a soft spot once she called him new friend. "That's a very kind offer Cirice, I'm Arashi and it is nice to meet you too" He bows too, "And while it does look like a nice day, and I hope it goes well too, Let's try to keep an eye out. After all it's our job to make sure everyone arrives safely." He smiles warmly trying to make sure what he said wasn't taken in a bad way or as a refusal to her offer, but rather as a friendly heads up.

The truth was even now Arashi didn't have many friends, so when Cirice called him one out of nowhere he couldn't help but feel... Happy... So he tried to keep a bit of the conversation going. "Although it must be quite nice to have a traveling library with you, it's always nice to have a good read during a trip!"

“Arashi-san… Oh you might like my traditional name better, its Tsukinaga Shizuki, I’m so used to using my other name that I forget in the Isles I can go by my traditional one. It is wonderful to meet you! Of course we’ll be doing our jobs well. Hitia and I are on high alert, that’s my deer.” Cirice returns his smile warmly, happy to have a friend on thie journey that actually talks. “Oh yes! Having a library with you always is wonderful! I never get bored and I always have plenty of room for the books I purchase!”

She giggles, hanging out over the ship’s railing with wild abandon. “At least the sea is relatively calm today, the last few weeks it has been quite testy. Tall waves even when there’s no storms, rumblings beneath our feet… It’s been messing with my home island quite a bit, thats why I came to Starlight City, to see how bad it was here. It seems to be a little calmer up here, or at least it has been in the few days I’ve been in the city.”

She lowers her voice and leans into Arashi’s space a little, conspiratorially, “I’m not really sure why they’re on such high alert for this trip, but I think it might have something to do with the crazy things that have been going on with the world. The crown said nothing was wrong but they also refuse to admit the truth about Ziev so they’re probably trying to gather everyone important together to decide what to do.”

"Oh? Don't worry about that, it's your name so it should be whichever you prefer rather than the one I do." Arashi didn't really have a preference between Shizuki or Cirice, He was used to names not traditional to the crescent isles, so he would leave it up to her which name he should use. "Indeed, you're an avid reader then, I used to read a lot to although it's been a while since I picked up a book."

He looked as she leaned over the railing of the ship, for a brief moment he worried she would fall but she seemed to have a good sense of balance. Arashi walked until he was next to her on the railing and nodded as she commented on the aggressive nature of the sea as of late. "I don't know exactly what's going on but I have heard of some... rough... weathers." Suddenly as she leaned a bit closer and talked in a whisper, Arashi looked a bit confused. He had heard of weird things happening, and the rumors about what happened with the criminal Scern, but since he had been adventuring for relatively little, and he didn't know that many people yet, he wasn't sure what to believe. But one thing was certain for him, the crown was probably lying to fuel some sort of agenda, but while he didn't care for the gods, and even despised some of their actions, he was a bit incredulous that they could've been killed just like that.

"That's likely, although I don't know much about this truth I never was a big fan of the Gods. So if they are indeed dead... all the better. Would've rather there wasn't a usurper, But one megalomaniac is better than five as far as I'm concerned." he whispered back at her.

Cirice giggles, “Well Ziev wasn’t very nice and he kinda looked down on all of us so I’m glad he’s gone. But Mother Moon is still here, she’s just not as powerful as she once was. But I’m helping build her faith a little at a time. She’s not a megalomaniac, she’s a kind and caring mother! I can tell you all about her, if you’d like!”

People not being a huge fan of the gods was not something she was unfamiliar with and she didn’t let that deter her, not everyone likes starberry but that doesn’t stop it from being her favorite flavor. She still was going to offer him the chance to try.

The ship finally begins its departure, peeling away from the dock slowly and heading out towards the sea. Gulls call loudly overhead, swooping down occasionally to try to see if the travelers had anything yummy they could steal. Things on the ship itself have started falling into the steady rhythm of activity as the sailors take their jobs.

“The people we’re guarding, I wonder if they know the truth of what happened…” She muses aloud, “I wonder what will happen when people find out. Do you think that there will be fighting? I hope not...”

Arashi ponders about what Cirice told him, is it really possible for a god to be caring..? If it is he'd like to see it. After all, something that believes themselves to be so far above the rest as to call themselves a god would probably not care about the lives of common people, then again it would be nice to have an actually caring, gentle, and good agent with such power, but calling themselves a god would sort of show their true colors as it implies superiority.

"I wouldn't mind hearing you out on that, but I still have my reservations... while I am not particularly into that sort of stuff, I do understand that religion brings comfort to some people, be it in community, sense of purpose or belonging. So I'm not really against them." as the ship sailed he looked around, hopefully she wouldn't be offended he tried his best to be as sensible and open-minded as possible while still sort of setting an expectation and boundary.

"Hmm it's likely that there'll be some fighting, most groups will have differing views and react differently, while hopefully it won't be very widespread, some conflicts will likely arise. It'll depend on the strength and values of each community and how eloquent and calming their leaders can be... I guess there are other ways to impose order but those usually end up in fighting... still I also hope the impact is not too devastating, I'm sure it's part of why they're taking their time and keeping most of it under wraps." He didn't really know much himself, he wasn't there after all. he just knew some rumors and inferred that Cirice probably knows more than him since she seems pretty confident in what she said. Either way he gave his honest opinion of how it might go down, Arashi can be considered a hopeful and slightly idealistic person, but he's also a bit pragmatic and knows a bit of how reality works, or at least how it usually behaves.

“Well religion isn’t for everyone. I know that.” Cirice smiles warmly, “Mother Moon is a loving mother, she loves those who don’t worship her too. I agree that religion brings people together and that is one reason I’m grateful to be able to spread my faith and create a community.”

She nods along with Arashi’s wisdom about the state of things and the likely future. If worst comes to worst at least there are nice and rational people out there ready and willing to help the common people.

The seas get a little rougher the further away from shore they venture. The waves get higher, tossing the ship from side to side. Cirice’s wagon nearly begins to roll across the deck but Hitia holds it fast.

“Wow… It seems like the weather turned on us…” Cirice says. “Do you think it could be magic?”

As if in answer to her question a thick fog starts rolling across the water towards their ship, fingers of it grasping against the deck and making things difficult to see. Sailors begin to shout in alarm and the sails are brought up to slow their travel. This seems to work. Until suddenly the ship lurches forward as if caught in the current.

“Watery grave ahead!” Comes a shout from the crow’s nest. “The fuckin sea is trying to swallow us whole!”

---

1 Bog Fog (enemy spellcaster)
2 Swirling vortex (enemy spellcaster)

Arashi was glad Cirice was understanding even if they had their differences which he began thinking that it might be more on the method than the opinion or view itself. He also appreciated her listening to him rant about what the future might bring, it wasn't everyday someone listened to him about a topic like this, much less someone who seemed to agree.

As the weather worsened something felt quite off to him... it had changed too fast and almost without warning, he nodded as Cirice commented on it but his words were taken out of his mouth when she wondered whether it was magic. "Yeah... I don't like this..." as soon as he mentioned that the whole ship was pulled by an impressive current, and the crew went into alert and emergency mode. "Keep an eye out, I don't know how far they are so I'll go look for my ranged weapon!" Arashi then hurried towards the inside of the ship were he had left his things "Ah shit... I knew I shouldn't have left the bow inside! I know it was uncomfortable but come on you have a job to do!" he muttered to himself as he went below deck, frustrated at his own lack of preparedness, and at leaving Cirice alone in the middle of that even if just for a small amount of time.

he hadn't packed much so as soon as he got to where he kept his things he immediately saw his ray bow, he grabbed it and rushed back outside, hopefully he'd still have time to get there before anything happened.

Cirice starts going into problem solving mode ready for whatever is happening, summoning her whipsword into her hand. She turns towards Arashi and… He’s gone. What? What the…? She blinks at the space he had been in, his weapon? Downstairs? Why would he…? Bodyguards need their weapons…

Before she has time to really conclude her confusion, the ship lurches again pulling them into the swirling vortex of the whirlpool. From the dense fog a shadow stirs, forming into a small black ship with deep crimson sails. The schooner swiftly catches up to the side of their ship, the fog clinging to it tightly. A sharp thunk sounds on the deck, followed by several more. Grappling hooks embed themselves in the wooden railing of the deck and shouts are heard as men begin crawling onto the ship like rats.

Going up the stairs to the deck, Arashi stumbled a little as he opened the door, the attacking ship was using grappling hooks to try and board the ship. Well... I didn't need the bow at all then... shit... I shouldn't let it go to waste though. He aimed the Ray bow, took a deep breath, pulled the string back, an energy arrow knocked itself on the bow, And as the first of the men jumped into the Ship, Arashi let go of the bowstring.

A short beam of light was shot at impressive speeds, piercing through the fog and the chest of the first man who tried to board the ship. He was pushed back as he was mid-air, he fell into the water. "Hope you enjoy falling into the maelstrom of your own creation!" He then pulled the string again and shot at the Grappling hooks, he wouldn't be able to shoot fast enough to stop the enemy getting in but he'd be sure to try and take away their reinforcements, and escape...

The swarm stopped for a moment as they saw their comrade fall, but as soon as the first rope was severed they went into the offensive again, Arashi ran towards Cirice as he shot another arrow towards the grappling hooks, Severing two out of three of the holds on their ship, as he arrived next to Cirice he began aiming at the last grappling hook, there were already 10 or so pirates on the ship, and they were approaching rapidly. "Sorry about that, I find carrying the bow all the time a bit uncomfortable... I didn't expect for us to get attacked so soon either." he pulled the string of the bow as one of the pirates ran towards Arashi, and slashed at him. Arashi quickly sidestepped ducking under the strike and moving away from the pirate. he fired his arrow right at he rope of the grappling hook...

but it didn't hit it's mark...

The enemy spellcaster, who until now thought his job was done and the pirates would take care of the rest, had created an ice wall, blocking the arrow and keeping the hook safe.

---

Ray Bow (Arashi)

Glacial wall (Enemy Spellcaster)

Cirice watches the swarm with interest, planning to take them on once they set foot on their ship, but Arashi barely gives them the chance. She watches as arrows of pure energy drive the would-be invaders back and sever some of the lines.

“Nice!” She cheers as Arashi rejoins her, “You’re fine, you made it just in time.”

The pirate Arashi sidestepped gets entangled in the barbed whip Cirice’s blade has become and cries out in pain before getting thrown overboard.

“We need to do something about that mage or the ship is going to go down.” She says, “Can you get over there on your own?”

She reaches a hand out towards the spellcaster and the runes below her glove begin to glow with violet light, oh the other ship the mage doubles over and throws up, Shaking he tries to stand but his limbs are weak.

“He shouldn’t be able to cast anything for a bit. I’m going over there, if you can come too otherwise I leave this ship to you.” Cirice gives Arashi a smile and a wink and disappears, materializing on the pirate ship’s deck².

---

1 Desperation
2 Blink

"I could, but if you're going I better stay here, we're the bodyguards so I don't want our clients as annoying as they may be sometimes to get hurt..." as Cirice disappears Arashi calls out to the pirates, Most of them were already on this ship so she shouldn't have as many to deal with, although she would have to deal with the spell caster, but she seemed more than prepared for that. Arashis' voice turned into a threatening shout as he taunted the pirates. "Hey! You useless cannon fodder! come and face me! or are you just a bunch of cowardly landlubbers!" He figured it would anger a pirate to be called that... he wasn't particularly proficient at sea travel but he didn't pride himself in that... probably a low blow for someone who makes a living out of raiding ships like this one. regardless it seemed to work as most of the pirates angrily charged at him Arashi let go of his bow and cracked his neck by swinging his head to both sides.

Quite far away on the beach that they sailed from there was a silver spear with lightning patters stuck on a log, some kids from the crescent isles had found it and were looking at it curiously "What is that? and Who would leave it here..?" a boy of about 10 years of age said "I don't know! but it sure is cool isn't it!" his younger brother around 7 looked quite excited as he went to poke it "Wait! don't!" too late, the younger child poked the spear, nothing happened to him though "It's fine! See! now you try!" as the older kid went to touch it a bit of blue lightning cursed through it, the kid stopped as he felt something weird. both of their hairs began to stand as static electricity built up, the older kid grabbed his brother and took 2 steps back. Suddenly the spear became lightning and shot up into the sky, like a thunderbolt. Screaming the kids fell on their butts. "Waaaaaaah" they both cried not knowing what happened. As Arashi lifted his hand as a thunderbolt landed on it, A silver spear with lightning patterns, his lightning spear. "Let's get started!"

A swarm of pirates charged at him, Arashi pulled his hand back and threw his spear towards them, it became a lightning bolt aimed towards the center of the swarm. Ichi, ni, san... and... shi, were impaled by it before hitting the ice wall, the four bodies remained stuck for a second before the wall shattered and their lifeless bodies hit the ground. Casting quickness on himself, his enchanted wakizashi unsheathed itself and began floating in circles around him. Arashi sprinted towards them not afraid in the least.

as he neared the first one his wakizashi lowered almost to the floor and pointed it's blade up, Arashi crouched and with a kick he swept at the pirate's legs faster than he could react, then with a spin he got up and elbowed the back of the pirate's head as he fell, his face landing on top of the dagger its tip coming out of the other side of his head, go. Two others tried to slash at him at the same time, Arashi punched out with his right arm to the one on the right, firing the wrist launchers which attached to the pirate's face, pulling on him he jumped towards the one on his left before he got to slash and with his increased speed elbowed him on the stomach, as the pirate bent down the other one stumbled by the pull on his face, Arashi stepped back as they crashed into each other and fell, With lightning cursing through the air he summoned back his spear and slammed it down on them both, getting through their torsos. shichi.

The pirates had surrounded him by now, believing they had the strength in numbers, still they hesitated for they didn't want to be the one to attack first as that would most likely mean they wouldn't live to see the end of this fight... funnily enough, none of them would. In Arashi's mind they had become nothing more than cutting targets, he saw himself in the army's dojo, his instructor yelling at him to perform better, the ship was gone, so were the pirates. Only a stormy night in the dojo and a lot of cutting mats remained... Arashi smirked

Cirice looks back and sees the masterful display of Arashi absolutely destroying the poor pirates and she laughs. She hadn’t been sure what to think of him at first, but its always a pleasure as an adventurer to see one of your fellows really cut loose and go all out. Lightning crashes remind her of her first adventure, her first taste of this life and that brings a smile to her lips.

But she can’t let Arashi have all the fun. The pirates left on their own ship are hers to destroy now. Her whip-sword flashes out, gripping the last of the hooks and setting it free from behind the wall of ice.

“Hello, I’m not sure what you all thought you were doing, but I’m afraid that’s over. If you don’t want to die, feel free to surrender, otherwise come at me.” Cirice says playfully to the leftover pirates. The spellcaster still grasps his stomach in anguish, unable to do anything for them. At first it seems some may have lost nerve and decide to step down, but they shake their heads and begin to rush her.

“So you have chosen death. Mother Moon keep your souls.”

The shadows around her shift and waver, reaching towards the pirates like grasping clawed hands. One of the pirate's faces becomes blank for a moment, then quickly flashes through myriad expressions of fear before settling on an angry snarl¹. He turns and slashes the nearest of his fellows cleanly across the chest, felling him. Before the pirates can get their bearings, Cirice grabs a pair by the faces with her clawed hands. The runes under her gloves glow malevolently violet and their expressions morph from fear to malice as they topo turn on their brethren. Swords clash and the deck falls to chaos, the three enthralled fighting like demons against their former allies. Too easy.

Cirice steps over to the spellcaster with a lazy gait, taking his chin and making him look up at her. “Drop the whirlpool, its not going to do you much good.”

The spellcaster spits in her face.

“Ew okay gross.” With a flourish of her wrist her blade wraps around his neck and she twists the ring on the hilt, cleanly severing head from torso as the whip retracts. The maelstrom quiets down almost instantly and as the head tumbles to the planks of the deck, Cirice flicks the blood off her blade. The one unoccupied pirate covering behind a barrel makes eye contact with her and she blows him a little kiss before wiping the spittle from her face.

---

1 Profane Command
2 Infuriate

Arashi remained still for a bit, suddenly one of the target's charged with a battle-cry, it was behind Arashi but it's rallying shout was more than enough to have him instantly identify it. the rest began moving towards him, Arashi lifted the spear from the ground with his right hand and elegantly swiped at the spear's blunt end with the left, it gathered momentum as he turned back swiping at the feet of the approaching target, meanwhile he threw his teleporting dart towards another target in the distance. as the first to charge got swept Arashi thrust his spear to it's belly Hachi, then he grabbed the spear with both hands and threw the corpse at the next pirate leading the charge. Another target the one farther from him was hit in the neck by the dart, once more Arashi threw his spear in the same direction as the dart, some of the target's were ready, they were a bit more than cockroaches at least as far as their learning speed goes. still it took off the shoulder of Kyu it won't survive for long...

Suddenly as 5 slashes rained down on him he disappeared¹, Grabbing the dart on Juu's neck he pushed to the side slicing it's throat open, the spear was still flying now towards the place Arashi was standing, grabbing it he used it's speed to rotate on his heel and redirect the spear now catching half of those who first dodged it by surprise, Juu-Ichi's Stomach now had a hole in it, Juu-ni lost his legs... As they began charging again Arashi grabbed his hidden blossom blade, right at that time the whirlpool and fog disappear, he barely even notices the only thing he realizes is it should be even easier now...

Another fool approaches before the rest, a cutlass slices at him, Arashi slaps it to the side with the staff form and with the same movement he spins the polearm and thrusts at the neck, fracturing Juu-yon's larynx. less than a second and another bunch attack from the front Arashi switches the staff to his left hand gathering a bit of his energy² before he unsheathes the blade, the impressive reach of the Hidden Blossom Blade is enhanced, a sword sharp and heavy enough to cut through at least 3 people becomes even more deadly... Juu-go, Juu-roku, juu-nana, juu-hachi, Juu-kyu, and ni-juu, get split in half.

He drops the blade as he begins walking towards the 15 left... if Arashi could see them as people right now he'd notice their terrified looks, they weren't just afraid, they didn't simply realize their mistake of boarding the wrong ship... they knew they had no way to escape. Their strongest member easily felled by Cirice, as chaos went on the ship that they could no longer escape to... they were done... they knew it, and from what they've seen it is unlikely that this bodyguards would take prisoners... Some of them wanted to have a final charge, die with a bit of honor... others wanted to let go of their weapons and plead mercy... a few even wanted to jump overboard, now that the whirlpool was no longer a thing it might be their best bet... still there was no land on sight so it wasn't that promising either. Arashi could notice all of this... if he could only see them as people, sadly they had lost that... they were nothing more than practice targets, nothing more than a number waiting to be cut down.

Arashi unsheathes the Katana at his hip as his dancing wakizashi floats to his side, Arashi grabs it with his left hand Suddenly he disappears again³. The cutting target's look around, a scream of pain, cut short. they turned around to look at one of them... the one farthest back, he had been afraid for a while. now he had his arm cut off, that caused the scream, then his head followed, that was what interrupted it. Ni-juu-Ichi.

one double slice⁴ with the katana, Ni-juu-ni. A stab with the wakizashi, Ni-juu-san. a few steps, downwards slice, Ni-juu-yon, a block with the left hand a stab with the right, Ni-juu-go. not much resistance was offered afterwards, Arashi just walked slashed, walked slashed, the stormy pirate raid, had become a sunny cutting practice day.

a few numbers went by and finally San-Juu-go fell, by this point Arashi's weapons laid on the deck, covered in blood, Arashi himself was mostly covered in the same life-giving crimson substance. But the practice was over.

his eyes were dull by now, He began to shake a little...

---

1-Dart of Teleporting

2-Art of the soul

3-Blink

4-Double Strike Enchantment