4

Jumping from rock to rock along the shoreline, Daich draws closer to the fight... The fight of pirates vs. dragon that can be heard a mile away. The sounds of shouts and canon fire echo within his ears like thunder. With every other step there is a bright flash. A flash in which Daichi isn't sure where it is originating from. Is it coming from Nika? Is it coming from the ship? Daichi feels worried. Daichi feels scared.

"Kuroo," Daichi shouts, upon spotting the mermaid with the messy hair. "Oikawa's worried about you! I am too." Kuroo, miraculously hearing Daichi over the sounds of the fight, turns to look him in the eyes. When their eyes connect... When Daichi sees that Kuroo is crying, he can feel his heart grow heavy. Daichi continues to move closer to Kuroo as he speaks, "What's wrong?"

When Kuroo and Daichi are just a foot away from each other, Kuroo whimpers a response, "Nika is bleeding. Look at the water. Look how blue it is. It's because of Nika's blood. Dragons have blue blood." Now that Kuroo mentions it, the water is abnormally blue over ... In fact, the water looks more like blue paint than water.

"Help is coming," Daichi says, "so Nika just needs to hold out until then."

"I don't think they can wait, Daichi" Kuroo says, his voice sounding hollow. "We have to help them somehow. At this rate..." Angrily swatting at the water near him with one hand, he adds, "We've got to do something!"

After staying silent for a moment to think, Daichi comes up with an idea. "I have an idea... It isn't the greatest idea, but it isn't the worst either..." With a nervous chuckle, Daichi explains his idea.

"Your plan is stupid!" Kuroo shouts, "But it might work. After all, pirates aren't that smart."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pirates on the ship, Jozenji, are muscular men (and a woman) who are known for fighting fierce, relentless battles. Despite this fame, they are human. They are capable of growing tired both mentally and physically. Right now, after having fought a dragon and a sea serpent for so long, feel tired... Even though the sea serpent swam away, they are still fighting the dragon. The dragon, with blue scales and blue blood almost blends in with the sky. The dragon is also quite smart and seems to be capable of guessing the range of the canons. All in all, the dragon reminds many of the pirates of a human.

"I'd say this dragon is actually a shapeshifter, but a shapeshifter would have changed forms at least once by now," the crew's only female member, a girl with shoulder length brown hair tells the captain. The captain barely hears her words since he is too busy encouraging his crew to fight with full power.

To the surprise of all present, the dragon flies low... The dragon flies low and lands on the ship. From the dragon's a tan figure sits. A tan figure with blue lips and blue veins... A blue that matches the blood of the dragon.

"Captain Terushima!" the girl shouts, although it isn't really necessary. After all, the whole crew had stopped fighting in order to stare at the dragon and the mysterious man. "He looks like the man from the legend! You know, the one where the very first pirate spares a dragon's life and becomes a god?"

Even though the crew, including the Captain had always written of the legend as a child's story, they now have doubts. After all, such a grand legend is a hard to fake. "He even has the blue lips and blue veins!" the girl adds, "in the legend, the dragon gives the pirate some of his blood to make him immortal."

"I know, I know," the Captain responds, all the while waving her away. "You don't need to explain it. I know the legend... And I know what is before us." With a brief pause, he adds, "Everyone, we must apologize!"

"You can apologize by leaving this cove and never returning. You've injured a mighty beast! It seems as though you've forgotten that part of my story involves me explaining that a true pirate would never hurt a dragon or a creature that has done them no wrong. This dragon has not stolen any of your treasure. Sure this dragon may have harmed you, but it did so in order to protect their home. Now, I suggest you go home before I make you. Or before the Royal Navy makes you." The man's gaze is so intense that it automatically sends shivers down the spines of the whole pirate crew.

"Y-Yes, sir!" the whole, terrified pirate crew shouts in response. "We w-won't let you down again!"

With the matter settled, Daichi climbs back onto Nika's back. Once the two are in the air, Daichi says, "I'm SO glad that pirates are stupid! Anyways, sorry for using your blood. It's pretty gross, now that I think about it." To this, Nika wheezes in a way that reminds Daichi of laughter.

The wheezes are different than normal, however. They sound heavy, as if it is hard for Nika to breathe. As if confirming his suspicion, Nika hurries to return to the cove and land on the rocks. Once one the rocks, Nika lays down.

Oikawa and Kuroo, who had been nervously watching the whole scene, hurry over to them. "There's a lot of blood..." Oikawa says, with a nervous chuckle, "but it's alright. We can stop the bleeding. Everything is going to be okay. You'll be okay, Nika."