[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

She steels herself from her shaking hands, from the fear that threatens to clam her up. One boat is out of commission - hopefully, if she had done it right. One glance over her shoulder catches the next boat shifting when Lance jumps across to it.[break][break]

She follows suit a little more slowly, sucking in a breath as she prepares to leap to the next boat.[break][break]

The attempt is undershot and she clings to the railing, gasping as quietly as she can as she pulls herself up and over. When she catches her breath, she resumes searching for the engine on the second boat.[break][break]

Hopefully no one on the shore has noticed their ships are bobbing a little more aggressively on the quiet water.[break][break]

Stormy is biting her lip to concentrate as the knife cuts clean through the black wire. She gets to her feet, heading for the captain's ship. But she wouldn't remain there for long - there was another ship just after it that they needed to take out before they could leave.

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

the interior of the ship is just as grand as the exterior. he stays close to the walls and when he approaches the door at the end of the hall, which he assumes to be the captain's quarters, he feels the ship move beneath his feet, presumably from stormy jumping across. he waits for it to stop moving before pressing his ear against the door.[break][break]

it's quiet. and so he twists the handle before pushing to reveal the captain's quarters.[break][break]

it's empty. his eyes narrow in confusion as he rises to his feet. his first mistake is not checking his corners. the moment he steps into the room is when he hears a damning click. he won't be allowed a second mistake.[break][break]

"put yer' hands in the air."

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

Stormy would be oblivious to the danger that Lance is in the moment she passes him on her way to the final boat. She doesn't actually see him and, coincidentally, would pass by the pirate pointing a gun to the guys head minutes later. She had been too quick for the pirate to react to and corner - her dark hair blending into the shadows or something.[break][break]

Upon reaching the final boat, she stands still to catch her breath and find her balance. It doesn't take her long to realize that something is wrong. She can see crates strewn along the deck - some of them opened. She takes a few painstaking moments to investigate, only to discover that this ship has the supplies Lance is looking for.[break][break]

She feels dread clench her stomach painfully and she turns back to the captain's ship. Something's wrong.[break][break]

Stormy manages to get back onto the captain's ship and begins to slowly and quietly investigate. Her voice is a quiet whisper as she calls out to Lance, not realizing it may be a mistake.[break][break]

"Lance? Where are you?"

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

there is no other option but to comply. lance raises his hands in the air and finalizes the power dynamic in the room. he is at the mercy of men known to be merciless. the way the man positions himself further away speaks volumes of his experience. he knows not to give lance any opportunities. if only he had checked his corners.[break][break]

"the gun."[break][break]

lance reaches a hand for it and the man speaks up again, this time louder.[break][break]

"slowly."[break][break]

he is forced to comply. the moment the gun leaves its holster is when he drops it to the ground. he turns his head then to look at the man, unsure of what he was expecting to see, but a smile seems harrowingly appropriate. the silver in the man's teeth glistens as he speaks.[break][break]

"now, wer' gonna go say hi to some of my friends. i bet they'd love to meet the man who tried to steal from the silver hand. walk, and if yer' make a move, i'll blow yer' brains out."[break][break]

for a moment, he considers his options, and it's in that moment that a voice calls out for him. he tenses then, closing his eyes as his anxieties start to materialize. it's not only his life, but hers.[break][break]

"call her in."[break][break]

the man moves and positions himself behind lance. his finger hovers over the trigger, lacking bad trigger discipline. lance says nothing, and that provokes a reaction. he feels the barrel press against the back of his head and he knows it's the only warning he'll get. with a restrained sigh, lance calls out for her.[break][break]

"in here."

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

She hears the clatter of something hitting the deck. It makes her flinch because it is so loud and jarring in the silence. The beach doesn't stop crackling, the drunken laughter doesn't pause - but she does.[break][break]

Would Lance have intentionally made that much noise? Where had that come from?[break][break]

She continues forward slowly, anxiety making her burn up. The dampness of her wetsuit has evaporated and she no longer leaves damp footprints. Her hand grips the handle of her knife, the handle warm in her hand.[break][break]

And then she hears something indiscernible. Like mumbling, shuffling. She swallows, following the sound that would soon turn into Lance calling out for her.[break][break]

Of course, she trusts it. She's never been great at picking up cues.[break][break]

She walks into a nightmare: Lance's gun is on the ground and kicked to the side. He's standing across from her, stiff, grim. There's a man behind him and she can see the glint of his gun pressed to the back of his head. [break][break]

Panic steals her voice from her, but perhaps that's a good thing. She doesn't scream and she doesn't move.

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

despite the knife in her hands, the man does not cower. he doesn't even consider her a threat; he holds that much control over the situation. but just like lance, the man had made a grim mistake when he closed the distance.[break][break]

"how cute. are yer' here to rescue yer' boy?"[break][break]

adrenaline pumps through his body, expecting what's to come. but even he knows it's foolish to do it now, not without a distraction. his eyes dart around the room trying to find one.[break][break]

"yer' get to watch 'im bleed soon. maybe they'll skin 'im alive."[break][break]

but he finds nothing.

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

In spite of the fear pumping adrenaline into her veins, her fight or flight instinct doesn't kick in to make her run. When the pirate approaches, shifting Lance and himself closer to her, she stands up straighter. She's not confident and she's terrified, but she won't run. She can't.[break][break]

She's gripping the knife so tightly that her knuckles are white. She's struggling to think of something, how to respond. Her voice is weak and she's humiliated by her inaction. In the heat of the moment, she was incapable of action.[break][break]

It's actually the woman's Kingdra that acts as the distraction Lance is looking for. Somehow, someway, the Pokemon can feel the stress of the situation. An arc of water spits over the side of the ship, perfectly aimed to dowse Lance in water.[break][break]

And it's that action that startles Stormy into action. The knife is white-hot and sizzles when it touches the cuff of her wetsuit, any semblance of moisture makes a loud noise when it comes in contact with the hot metal.[break][break]

She's standing too close to something fabric. Her fingertips are hot enough to burn and the smell of smoke curls around her.[break][break]

It's too hot in here. Her wetsuit is smoking.[break][break]

"Please.. please don't hurt him."

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

in a blink of an eye the situation changes, balance shifting back in their favor. his eyes close out of instinct as water drenches him. it catches him by surprise but he only takes a second to react to it. the opportunity has been given and it will be seized. [break][break]

shifting his weight, lance tilts his head to the side, out of the way of the barrel, and swivels on the ball of his foot. he reaches a hand up at the same time and grabs the man's wrist, shoving it away before slamming the man's wrist with his palm. the impact causes the man to drop the gun, and that's all lance needs to tackle the man back to create distance.[break][break]

but these aren't ordinary pirates. his intel was right: they're trained. the tackle is met with resistance as the man sprawls his legs back to catch his weight. he hooks an arm over lance's head and drops his entire weight, dragging lance to the ground with him. and from there they begin their fight for control.[break][break]

the room feels hotter but lance is not allowed a moment to notice it. nor does he notice what's happening with stormy.

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

Everything changes and she's moving in slow-motion, desperation and fear making her feel slow.[break][break]

But Lance is the one who takes control of the situation, disarming the pirate and slamming him backward. The moment the man's gun hits the floor she lunges because she has to do something. [break][break]

She manages to grab the pirate's weapon. But her nerves, her pent up energy, it's unstable. She's unstable. The gun is too hot in her hands and she knows how dangerous it is for her to keep holding it. So she does the unthinkable - she tosses it out the window and into the water.[break][break]

It explodes when it hits the water.[break][break]

Her eyes flash to the second gun, Lance's. It's off to the side, near the entrance to the room. The two are fighting it out on the floor, but it's only a matter of time before someone lunges for it.[break][break]

She steps for it, her feet leaving scorch marks against the floorboards. Her breathing seems to steady, some unseen control washing over her. [break][break]

Without really thinking about it, her boldness overcoming her, Stormy charges for the pirate. Her hands are aflame and she's reaching for his face to pull him back and off of Lance.[break][break]

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

an explosion rings through the air, causing their struggle to cease for moments as both of them turn. water bursts upwards, falling with a splash but it's the sound of the explosion that's damning. the sounds of laughter from the shore stop.[break][break]

it's from this distraction that allows the man to tilt the scales back in his favor. with lance looking to the side, he throws a solid punch across his jaw which knocks him off. they switch positions; the man now with the high ground.[break][break]

light leaks across the room and the flickering orange and red is familiar. lance sees the brightness growing and growing before the man is tackled off him. he turns then, rolling to his feet to finally see the flames wrapped around stormy's hands. for moments, he's stunned. confused. why is she on fire?[break][break]

no time to think. he brings a hand to his belt and from the flash of white comes his shedinja. click, click. aave flutters forward with a CONFUSE RAY which makes the man dizzy enough for stormy to win the struggle. lance hears a flurry of footsteps and sees the gang of pirates rapidly approaching. shit.[break][break]

"we need to go."

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

"Fuck."[break][break]

The explosion is loud, too loud, and Stormy realizes she's made a mistake. In her haste, she's doomed them all.[break][break]

And yet she doesn't stop grappling the man, burning his face until he's screaming, begging for her to let go. In the process, he's burning his hands and her anger, her blind rage and fear is engulfing her in fire up to her elbows. [break][break]

She doesn't let go until Lance punches him in the face, jarring her off of the man. She stumbles backward with the momentum and her own horror. Her focus is on her hands, on the flames eating at her fingers and yet causing no damage. [break][break]

"No, no, no, no, not again."[break][break]

Stormy remains there, scrambling backward as the pirate falls to his knees, hands to his face, to his eyes.[break][break]

And then Lance releases his Shedinja and the Pokemon confuses the man into silence. But the ship is no longer silent. The sound of feet pounding across the deck, confused shouting. It all becomes white noise when she braces herself to get to her feet.[break][break]

Fire spreads from her palms to the deck. It catches fire due to her lingering fingertips. The ship is on fire.[break][break]

"Go ahead of me! Just get to the next ship. The supplies are tucked away there. I-I'm coming."[break][break]

She isn't lying. She takes a step after him but seems adamant about finishing setting the boat on fire. She might as well use what gift she's been given before the flames fade away.

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

there are variables at play that lance does not understand. the man screams in pain at the sizzling of his skin. he clutches his head in his hands before the CONFUSE RAY renders him incapacitated. he rocks back and forth, confused, unable to beak out of the trance.[break][break]

and then fire spreads all around them, burning everything it touches. lance takes an involuntary step back but his focus remains on stormy, on her palms that seem to be exuding fire. he's confused and left to play catch up but he's not even afford that much before she's yelling at him.[break][break]

the shedinja soars straight to lance's back and that's enough to snap him out of it. she's fine, he tells himself, before he turns and runs for the next ship. he makes it across without an issue and immediately heads to the helm of the ship.[break][break]

the engine roars to life as he rushes to ready everything, and in his rush, he leaves himself vulnerable. a harpoon impales itself in his thigh and the sheer pain causes him to stumble. "fuck--" the rope its connected to immediately tugs and he's sent skidding across the floor. aave cuts the rope with a SHADOW CLAW to save its trainer from going overboard.[break][break]

lance drags himself back to the wheel and uses it to help him back to his feet. he yells, growing desperate.[break][break]

"stormy!"

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheaderbig"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","league"]

Lance turns to run and she turns back to defend his escape. She misses the man with the harpoon gun because she's busy trying to sink the ship. Everything she touches ignites. The clothing of the men who had been drinking catch fire and several of them jump from the boat to put themselves out in the water. But it's buying them time.[break][break]

When she feels she had a chance to run she takes it, shaking her hands madly to try and put out the flames. She's too hot, it's too fucking hot.[break][break]

It's only thanks to Kingra's sniper ability that douses her in water and puts her out before her hands grapple the rope ladder on the side of the boat. She makes an impact that knocks the wind out of her chest and she's gasping. A harpoon whistles past her ear and she tenses as it plunges into the hull of the ship.[break][break]

But she's quick, cutting the rope before they can pull the ship closer.[break][break]

She is not, however, quick enough to dodge the second harpoon that grazes her arm. It flares up with pain immediately and she cries out, pulling herself up. It had narrowly missed trapping her against the ship, but blood drips from the gash that's opened.[break][break]

Another flick of her wrist cuts the rope for the second one and she hits the deck running. Her hand grips her bleeding arm tightly. The thought that she had almost been on death's door was daunting.[break][break]

Stormy nears the front of the ship in time to hear Lance call for her. She steps in the blood he leaves behind from his own wound and she gasps, searching, only to find him at the controls.[break][break]

"Lance!"

[break][break][break]