Explosive Dealings

	The expansive and boundless sea, with its roiling and churning waves, can be the best thing in the entirety of the world for some people. For some, it's their livelihood. For others, it tends to be their ticket to riches, fame, fortune, and amazing adventures. Though, for the three people that are currently bound and squirming in the depths of one particular ship, it's looking more and more like a casket with each passing minute...
	"...Lydia? Ezzie? I do believe we should best be countin' our prayers. What, with us bein' all hogtied like we are now." The oldest of the group, an elf woman wearing a tanned trench coat, fringe, and a rancher's hat speaks out towards the two other captives aboard this rocking prison. The other two are squirming and trying to break through their bonds as best they can, but with as roughly as they had been handled within the past few hours or so, they can barely strain themselves without giving their arms and legs a bad case of rope burn.
	"Oh, no, really? I could have sworn that everything was like a FUCKING RESORT TOWN HERE, YOU ASSHOLE! Ugh." The one who just spoke, a Cu-Sith female wearing a set of robes, a number of bags, and a pointed hat looks down towards the one other girl on the ground. "Hey, Lydia, how you holdin' up? Ropes coming undone at all?" The female on the ground, a Cait-Sith wearing a dark blue tunic, leather leg padding, and a small necklace looks up towards the canine girl with a bit of a stress-filled face.
	"Ezzie, um... do you know where my arrows are? If I could reach one of them, I believe I would be able to get us out of here." The Cait-Sith girl sits up a bit, and looks around for a moment above the boxes and barrels that dot the interior of their prison. Though, after a moment, she ends up slumping down into her seat once more, her muscles aching from that bit of exertion. The canine, however, shakes her head at the end of that statement.
	"Saw one of them assholes take it with 'em on their way out. Fuckin' ingrates, the lot of 'em." The canine slumps into her own seat after that, and tries to tug on her bonds once again before wincing at the pain that she's gotten into. Though, after a moment, she looks up at the sound of a small chuckle from the elf girl across the way. "Eh? 's got you so fuckin' happy over there, Clementine?" The elf girl shakes her head for a moment, a bit of nervousness making itself present by way of a sweatdrop rolling down the side of her face.
	"Oh, nuthin', nuthin', darlin'. I jus' figure that by th' time the ship makes its way t' shore, someone'll find the thing and send someone in t' help us. Ah mean, that's only right, innit? I mean, who wouldn't wanna find some loot to take for 'emselves?" The elf girl sits back against the side of a nearby crate to right that bit of uncomfortableness growing in the small of her back. After all, might as well make things comfortable until something happens, right?
	"...Clementine, you fuckstain, we're heading towards Lothressa Port! Don't you know what happens to unmanned ships around that area? The ones that aren't there for a specific purpose aren't put into port, and no one fuckin' bothers 'em! They'll probably take us out after they send a scout to figure out that there's no one on board but us!" At the sound of that, the feline-like girl laying near the ground lets out a sudden cry before devolving into deep snivelling sobs. The canine looks towards her friend, clamps her mouth shut for a moment, and lets out a bit of a sigh. This wasn't something that she wanted to be doing in the first place, after all. "Look, all I'm saying is that if CLEMENTINE," she looks towards the elf girl, who jumps a bit at the mention of her name, "didn't bring us out on another of her adrenaline binges, we wouldn't be in this mess!" The elf girl in question lets out a bit of a nervous chuckle before looking away. It had been her idea, true, but she certainly didn't know it would turn out this way!
	"Ah, well, yeah, yeah, that's kinda' true. But, how the heyell was ah supposed t'know that we'd run into pirates, anyhow? Ah jus' wanted t' take a ride on the waves 's all! Ah didn't know we'd run into marauders an' all!" She lets out a sigh before continuing on. "Oh, ah wonder what lil' Gidy's up to right now... Heh. I bet ah could just snuggle up t' his fluff once we get outta here."
	"Don't you fuckin' DARE talk to me about Gideon! Ugh, the nerve...!" The Cu-Sith girl growls a bit and bares her pointed teeth at the elf. The elf girl in question leans back a bit at the sight. She had gotten on the wrong end of those fangs more than once, and this certainly wasn't helping her case at all. The Cait-Sith girl, however, lets out another whimper at the sound of that.
	"U-Um, girls? Girl, I... I don't believe we're going to make it out of here in one piece. Wh-... What Ezzie was talking about earlier is rather true. Lothressa Port doesn't welcome foreigners outside of business, and they tend to scuttle ships that are left adrift. Did you two n..." She sniffles for a moment before continuing on. "D-Did you two know that Lothressa has the largest s-scuttling record on this side of the continent? W...We're most likely going to become wish food. U-Um... that, and I believe I heard one of those ruffians say something about replacing our cargo with something that will help s...s-send a message." After the feline-like female finishes speaking, with tears dripping down her face onto the hem of her tunic, she looks to the both of her companions.
	"...Oh, shiet. You don' think it was... somethin' t' make things go 'boom', do ya'?" The elf girl sits there, eyes wide with worry and fright. The canine girl, on the other hand, starts struggling more and more against her bonds. Clearly, that wouldn't be what anyone in their current situation would want. No, not in the slightest.
	"H-HEY, SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! HELLO?! SOMEONE GET US OUT OF THIS FUCKIN' HELL HOLE, WOULD YA'?!" The Cu-Sith girl, pressing her ankles and wrists against her bonds, screams out into the expanse that makes up the ship. There had to be someone out there, right? Someone that could help them? Hell, even a stowaway would be what they were looking for! The Cait-Sith girl, on the other hand, starts to cry more and more, wracking her body with deep, mournful sobs. This was the absolute worst way to go. The elf girl just sits there, looking around nervously. There wasn't a way in hell that something like that could take the three of them out... could it?


	"KRA-KOOM!"


	The sound of something exploding, followed by the sound of a high-pitched whistle makes them all jump in their seats. That couldn't be...!
	"H-HEY, SOMEONE!! ANYONE!!"
	"AH DON'T WANNA DIE!!"
	"G-G-GRAN!! KARAMAT!!"

	Meanwhile, at the docks of the nearby Port City, the dockhands were busy aiming their artillery at the approaching ship. One of the scouts had sent in one of their familiars, and they had confirmed that there was no one on board. Certainly not welcome here. Just clogging up the byways and the canals like they own the place. With a soft "thud" sound, the cannonballs that were always there in case of something like this were loaded into the cannons. The Portmaster running the entire operation raises a saber towards the sky.
	"Cannons at the ready!" The various dockhands aim one last time down the sights of their weapons. Right in their sights... "Ready, men? Aim, and FIRE!" The deckhand swings his saber forward just before a group of "KRA-KOOM"s echo out into the water. The hurled metal balls whiz through the air before landing on the side of the wooden hull of the ship.
	Suddenly, what was once a peaceful ship heading straight towards the ports turns into a massive fireball out on the open water, shrapnell and splinters heading in every single direction.

	"H-Hey, Someone...! Anyone...!"
	"Ah don't wanna die...!"
	"Gran...! Karamat...!"

	The portmaster blinks for a moment, looks around, and turns to a nearby crewman.
	"Sir, did you hear something?"
	"Eh? Uh, no sir, nuffin' bu' the big boom from dat' fing over there."
	"Hm... so be it. Carry on. See to it that we can salvage anything from the wreckage."
	"Aye aye, sir!" And like that, the Portmaster makes his way out from the cannonade perches... The scouts made sure that there was no one on there. Absolutely no one. There could be no way that they were wrong, after all.