Old wood splintered off the door under the rapid pounding of the otter's fist.
"Cap'n! Cap'n!" the crew member shouted to the closed door. A loud grunt of discontent was heard on the other side, followed by a stream of harsh words before the door was pulled open. The black bear was still buttoning up his pants, bracing his feet against the doorjam as the wooden ship bobbed uneasily on the open water.
"This had better be important." The captain grunted. Behind him on the bed, the covers moved a little, allowing the head of a vixen poke out. "I was getting to know one of our passengers."
The otter had stepped back under the massive height of his captian. "Sir! We've spotted a ship off the starboard, approaching rapidly. She's flying pirate colors!"
The bear growled and slammed his fist on the wall as he looked out in the direction indicated, just able to see the outline of the approaching ship.
"Damn! Set sails for full speed. Get all other hands to weapons, just in case." His ship, Alena, wasn't ment for speed. In fact his was just doing his regular passenger/supply run across the Tershin sea. Never had problem with pirates before, but there's always a first time....
As the white sails billowed out to catching the wind, most of the rest of crew come up on deck. They were a good and loyal crew, all armed with a sword or two. A few of the larger passengers had asked to fight too and the captain welcomed them, provided the understood the risks. And it looked like there was indeed going to be a fight. Try as the crew might to gain more speed, the smaller ship was quickly closing the gap. The captain stood by the rails on the main deck, calling out orders to his men and the volunteers when a figure in a dark cloak and hood approached.
"Captain. I belive I think help you with this situation." the figure spoke, most of his face hidden in the hood.
The captain didn't need to look closely at the stanger; in fact he tried to ignore the man for as long as possible. When the shadow didn't move, he sighed.
"Fine, go to the aft and watch for any that try and sneak aboard." That ought to keep the freak out of everyone's way.
The figure in the cloaked snorted, then pushed past the bear. "Perhaps I'll help you now anyway." He withdrew the hood, letting the sun on his tan furred head. The captain growled.
"Listen, I don't need..." He was interrupted as the passenger started to remove something from around his neck. Held by a loop of leather, a small black stone glittered in the sun. Barely two inches long, it was roughly shaped like a tear. The cloaked figure held the stone between his paws, closing his eyes. In a few seconds, a bright lighted started to seep through. Opening his paws allowed the stone to start floating slowly up into the air. Everyone around stared at the flying object, the approaching ship almost forgotten.
The captain snapped out of his staring, ready to tear into this guy, when the stranger started to speak again. Not to anyone around him, but more to himself, and most could've sworn to the floating stone.
"Spirts who lived, Spirts who died.
Spirts of those that tried.
So I might live, you died by the fire bright.
I now call on that element to end this fight."
As the last word was spoken, a flash of orange came down out of the sky, hitting the small stone overhead. As those on the ship gasped, the stone started to glow more brightly as a line of fire shot out, scoring on the pirate's ship. A moment of panic could be heard on the other ship before a mighty explosion tore it to pieces along with the crew. The bear captain yelped and covered his face, as did the surrounding crew. The only one unfazed by the experience was the one who owned the stone. Holding out his paw in time to catching the falling rock, the stranger turned to go back to his room below desk. More then one person jumped out of the way as other just gaped at the one who saved them. The captain watched wide eyed. Perhaps his perception of hybrids had been changed by this display. Not likely....