A Sailing Pt 2

Two weeks past when the new plan back home was put into action. Though the atmosphere of the ship did lighten up over the weeks, Anon found it to be like any other tortuous tour on the sea.

Day in and day out, cleaning, mopping, and, if he was lucky, scrubbing the cannons. Meanwhile, the other four indulged in alcohol and Natsuki's feast, leaving Anon to clean after them!

He shouldn't be too bitter, though; ever since they left two months ago, Anon hasn't seen the others laugh so hard than when they did last week. Even now, the four stood at their respective post, giving a small grin of hope that maybe they'll be enough booze for another drunken night in the near future.

For now, though, Anon was finally off duty and could take the time to relax. Despite being on the H.M.S Doki Endeavor for nearly a year, Anon never really got to take in the sight it offered. Luckily for him, the waves were calm and just so slowly bobbed the ship giving him a chance to simply look out at the open sea. As the clouds parted, Anon witnessed the bright moon shine down on the dark waves, lighting the once empty ocean. With the calming sounds of the waves pushing against the ship and the salty smell in the air, it truly was a moment to behold

Despite the beautiful view, Anon decided it could be better experienced with food. After gathering his cleaning supplies, Anon made his way down to Natsuki's makeshift bar to find her taking stock of the items with her back against him.

"Hey chief," called Anon sitting on a creeky stool," what's on the menu tonight?"

Natsuki perked head up from her checklist before turning her head to Anon.

"You haven't eaten yet?" she questioned," I was hoping you'd wash everyone else dishes from earlier."

Anon let out a whiny groan as he lied his head down on the crumbling bar.

"Come on, Natsuki!" begged Anon," let me just have one your delicious fresh meals!"

As Anon clasped Natsuki's surprisingly soft hands in an attempt to plead, a light blush ran up to Natsuki's face. She eventually shook away the blush and attempted to pry Anon's hands off her own.

"L-let go!" she stammers as Anon released his grip on her hands," maybe you should've just eaten with the rest of us!"

"I had cleaning duty again," reasoned Anon," just one meal, not even a meal, I'll take a simple steak!"

Natsuki crossed her arms over her spotty apron while Anon pushed his hands together in an act of begging. She eventually caved and gave a sigh.

"I'll find some random meat," she muttered hiding her red face," that's all."

Anon grew a wide smile before giving a relieved laugh. He knew Natsuki's small body had some ounce of pity left.

"Thanks, Natsuki," he sighed.

"Still washing those dishes," she added.

"Deal," grinned Anon.

Natsuki gave a nod and made her way into the makeshift kitchen. After only a few minutes later, Natsuki came back with a plate of randomly assorted meats. Despite being somewhat suspicious of the meat, especially of the random squid thrown in, Anon was content with just getting a hot mean for once.

As Anon poked his knife into a slab of meat, there was loud thump from the deck above. The two looked up to find some dust come down from the aging wood.

"What was that?" Natsuki questioned.

"Did Sayori do something wrong?" added Anon.

Before either of their suspicions could be answered, more thumps came from the deck above. As the thumps beated against the ship, it started to violently rock nearly knocking Natsuki off her feet. Before Anon could get his bearings together, the hand rung emergency bell rang on the deck above.

"We're getting boarded!" realized Natsuki keeping her balance.

Anon shot his eyes to the stairs leading up remembering the other crew members; they would've been the first ones to be hit. As thoughts of his friends fighting to the death raced through Anon's head, a hurried pitter patter started echoing down the stairs. Anon stood from his stool and gave his dull knife a death grip; let's hope Yuri's lessons were helpful.

"Anon!" cried Sayori a wide grin on her face," we're getting boarded!"

"Why are you smiling!?" Anon questioned slamming the knife down on the table.

"It was a really boring two months!"  answered Sayori halfway to the armory across the room.

Anon gave an annoyed groan before unwillingly following. Fighting relentless pirates wasn't the best way to fill the time; especially if they're only five crew members aboard!

Nonetheless, Anon had to deal with Sayori's giddiness as she unlocked the heavy wooden door with, what Anon assumed, was Monika's key. With the lock off, Sayori bolted into the room with Anon and Natsuki soon following.

"We need to hurry!" urged Anon lighting the oil lamp in the corner with a nearby match," grab what you need and let's go!"

Anon turned back to find Sayori holding a full-sized musket in each hand.

"Ready!" claimed Sayori simultaneously cocking the two muskets.

"You don't need two!" reasoned Anon.

Sayori gave a pout before reluctantly putting down one of the muskets. Hoping she would find something more suitable, Anon went to the weapon racks himself wondering what would be best to take.

Before he could think deeply about it, though, another hook rocked the ship. Realizing how little time they had left, Anon grabbed a saber and pistol off the racks. Anon turned back to the other two to find ready and armed; Sayori holding only one musket this time around, and a cartridge box slung around her shoulder; Natsuki, meanwhile, armed with only a wooden club.

"That's all you're going to take?" Anon asked.

"Wh-what about it?" asked Natsuki," it's just as good as any gun!"

"Do you still not know how to shoot a gun?" continued Anon.

"Sh-shut up!" cried Natsuki.

"Guys!" hushed Sayori looking up at the ceiling seemingly trying to focus.

Anon joined her to find it suddenly quiet and still. The ship stopped, the hooks fell silent, and all that was left were countless, slow footsteps.

"We need to hurry," muttered Anon dashing for the stairway hoping they were down enough for their steps to not be heard.

The three emerged from the stairs to almost immediately get discovered by the invaders. Luckily, a small gate working for a doorway sat at the top of the stairs giving the three just enough cover to not be seen.

After a few seconds of hushing, Anon peeked over the gate to find various men dressed in dark garments patroling the top deck. Anon remembered the warning of being boarded by Frenchmen, but by their uniforms, these men didn't look like French sailors. That was until one of them ordered another to take a nearby barrel in French. It suddenly popped into Anon's head that the warning told mercenaries rather than sailors.
Though, by this point, it wasn't too relevant.

"The booze!" whimpered Sayori.

"Not now!" snapped Anon," we need to focus."

"Damn Frogs!" snarled Natuski before noticing Anon's concerned gaze," J-just taking our booze like it's theirs." she quickly shifted her eyes hoping Anon would accept the excuse.

Anon gave a mindless nod before turning back to scan the deck, his heart pounding against his chest. Despite having a handful of skirmishes and lootings under his belt, Anon always had the butterflies in his stomach before a fight. Monika always told him that was normal, but when shit hit the fan, Anon always worried he would finally buckle and suddenly see nothing but darkness.

Anon shook the thoughts away. Now wasn't the time for that; he could simply drink those thoughts away after he survived this; if there was any booze left. Anon scanned the deck for a few more moments to finally find Monika and Yuri crouching behind a few barrels only a yard away from where he was.

After a few moments of attempting to get her attention, Monika finally signaled the three to make for the barrels a few yards next to her. After giving the three a countdown, they dashed to the barrels they're footsteps merely being pitter patters of an aging ship.

Once at the barrels, Anon motioned toward the boarding party as if asking what to do with them. Monika waved her hand in a motion telling the three to sit tight before turning to the dual wielding Yuri. After a few murmurs, Monika gave a nod to the three before standing behind cover and firing her first shot.

"Go!" shouted Sayori shooting the from behind the barrels.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins, and his friends charging in, Anon soon lunged over the cover and point-blank shot the closest man in the chest. Not wanting to distract himself with another inner monologue, Anon rushed to the next man, his saber out for a thrust.

With the element of surprise gone, though, the scruffy Frenchman parried to Anon's right putting Anon's opponent in a prime position for an overhead strike. With an instinctive reaction, Anon blocked the oncoming saber with his open arm. Ignoring the sharp pain and small gushes of blood, Anon wound his saber back to plunge it into the Frenchman's ribs.

The Frenchman dropped to the ground, taking his saber with him. As Anon pulled his saber out of the moaning man, he gave labored, broken, breathe as he stared down at his open wound. With his vision getting blurrier and blurrier by the second, though, Anon couldn't tell how deep it was; or if his arm was still even there.

"Anon!" called Monika bumping shoulders with Anon," are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," answered Anon covering his wound," how are the others?"

"They're fine," replied Monika darting her eyes from one end of the deck to the other.

Anon followed her eyes and looked back at the deck to find it nearly empty. It was just the five crew members alone; no cracks of musketry, no clangs of metal, just the calming waves of the ocean. Anon looked out at the sea behind him to find one rowboat still floating next to their own ship while a second rowboat paddled off into the darkness.

"Did they just steal some booze and leave!?" questioned Anon.

"Seems like it," noted Monika," they didn't even go below decks."

"M-Monika!" called Yuri running up to the two," two more row boats ran off; looks like they're retreating."

"Typical Frenchie," snarled Natsuki walking up to the three with Sayori behind her," leaving just as suddenly as the came."

"Especially since they stole more of our booze!" added Sayori.

"We can always buy more," reasoned Monika shining her sweet smile to the four," at least we're all still here."

The three girls shined a smile back realizing Monika was right; they were lucky to be alive themselves, so to have their friends live through it was even better.

"Uh, Monika," started Anon hating himself for breaking a heartwarming moment," you have a little... something on your face."

Anon vaguely motioned toward the edge of his mouth. Monika wiped the edge of her mouth with her fingers to find a smear of blood traveling across her fingers.

"Guess it was pretty intense, ahaha~," laughed Monika," how about we celebrate with a good night's rest?"

"Sh-shouldn't we start heading away from here, first," suggested Yuri her sabers now sheathed," if they took row boats out here, chances are we're close to a port."

"But I want to sleep!" whined Sayori.

"I'll take over the helm for tonight then," offered Monika," the rest of you go rest."

The three gave a nod before making their way back to the stairway.

"I wonder why the decision to board us," spoke up Yuri walking with the Sayori and Natsuki," it's pretty dark, and we barely had anything."

"Maybe Monika was right, and they were the guys from half a year ago," suggested Sayori," from what I remember, they got some good loot from us last time; why pass up a round two?"

Monika gave a tired smile as she watched the three discuss the battle as if it were a daily routine; by this point, it basically was for them.

"Aren't you going to join them A-"

Monika turned to find Anon face down on the deck his sleeve colored a dark red.

With his exhaustion from cleaning and an empty stomach, the bleeding wound didn't help condition improve. Now, face down on the dirty deck, Anon was paying the price for not taking proper priorities and leaving that plate of meat go cold

The worst part was he had to wake up in the morning and clean the deck of dead bodies.