A/N: Only the first few chapters will be short, the rest will be of standard length.

Halo

"Captain, a wooden ship is approaching!"

The words were enough to pull Captain Glee and his sailors out of their drunken
merriment, all their faces stilling with seriousness. Steamships were slowly and surely becoming the norm. The fact that a wooden ship was this far into deep waters meant that it was either a slave ship or a pirate ship.

Neither option was good.

The men ran for their swords and charged onto the deck, seeing the ship had already extended their gangplank towards the Big Mirth. Finn was actively trying to stab the thick board of wood with his cutlass. A storm of men running over at once forced him to stumble back and retreat, giving them room to board the Big Mirth.

The men were raggedy and filthy. Hair long and unkempt. Halo never liked to judge criminals as he knew some of them only turned to criminal activity as a way to not die of poverty. But the look in the eyes of these men were menacing.

"What a pretty little ship," a large man mused. He dragged the point of his sword on the deck. "She runs on coal and water, aye?"

"We don't have anything to give you," Captain Glee said. He didn't really want to fight. "We're just a poor ship transporting clothes and cheap goods. No worth in pirating us."

The large pirate flashed a grin. "I want your ship, mate. We need an upgrade. Our Bloody Petunia over there is getting old."

"His ship has ugly holes in it from cannonfire," Finn said, frowning in disgust. The pirate whipped around in anger.

"You dare call my Petunia ugly?" He said, gently gritting his teeth at Finn.

Finn flatly stared, appearing unbothered even in this state of distress. "She's obviously ugly, which is why you want our ship."

"Round these suckers' up, boys!" The pirate shouted, glaring at Finn. "We're goin' to have some fun!"

In just seconds, chaos broke loose on the deck. A group of pirates made a run for Finn, determined to slice him into bits. Halo flung himself into the group, shoving two of them into the railing with his broad shoulders. He grabbed the shirt of one and tossed him overboard.

Finn realized that Halo was in the middle of four burly men, and while he could hold his own, it wouldn't take long for things to get ugly.

He burst forth with his cutlass and swiped at a man's calf. He howled in pain, giving Finn and opening to knock him in the forehead with the hilt before hurling him over the railing.

The sounds of metal sliding against each other echoed throughout the deck, accompanied by the grunts and growls of men.

Halo's sleek silver rapier clashed against the curved blade of the pirate's cutlass. A clock ticked in his mind, calculating every strike like Augus taught him. The pirate carelessly jumped into the air like a madman, swinging with no valor. Halo parried expertly, slicing up to his stomach.

The pirate screeched as a long line of red appeared up his torso. His next swing was desperate, allowing Halo to knock his blade down to the deck. Halo drove a hard kick into the man's chest, then picked him up and let him meet the Southern waters.

He twisted around, his blade moving like an extra limb as it brought countless men to their knees. Finn was feet away from him, matching their brutality as well. He could see Captain Glee hitting the pirates with every heavy object his hands found.

Halo was unprepared for the bodyslam that came from his right. He fell to the deck, looking up to see the pirate leader looming above him ominously, his blade drenched in blood.

His eyes went wide. He hoped none of his mates had fallen to him.

"Green hair, green flair... but every lad falls to me Triton's blade eventually!" The pirate yelled maniacally, stabbing the spot where Halo's legs were. He widened them to miss the blow, clumsily getting back to his feet.

Just as he found his footing, the pirate leader slashed across his chest, a strike he only narrowly missed by putting his rapier between them. Halo was pushed up against the railing, his back arching over as the pirate leader forcibly pushed his blade against Halo's.

"Stop...!" Halo forced out. "You...bastard!"

Finn's eyes narrowed when he noticed the scene. Halo's feet was beginning to lift off the ground as the pirate leader pushed him.

Finn carefully aimed with his eyes, spun the weapon around his fingers, reeled back, then released.

The pirate leader went stiff as a board when the blade landed between his shoulderblades, releasing his grip on Halo almost instantly. He rocked back and forth on his heels, then hit the ground.

Halo breathed heavily, looking between the dead pirate leader and Finn. The orange-haired man wore a smug smile on his face, to which Halo laughed nervously and shook his head.

The last of the pirates were expelled off the gangplank by Kanneth and Humdrum. Flod and Glen were the only ones seriously injured, having two deep gashes in their legs and backs.

"How shit do you have to be to lose to drunk sailors?" Kanneth howled with laughter, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "Those twats had us right in their hands and lost!"

"Pffft, they learnt to fight in the valley, that's for sure," Captain Glee said. "No form, nothing. Just mindless swinging like we're bloody playing jumprope!"

Halo walked up to Finn, slapping his hand on his shoulder. "You're a lifesaver. Do you have any idea how close I was to being sharkbait?"

"It's no big deal," Finn said with a smile. "The voyage may be ending, but we're still best mates."

"I'm forever indebted to you—" Halo started, to which Finn interrupted.

"It's really no big deal, mate."

Halo scoffed. "No big deal? Over my dead body!" His eyes brightened remembering what he meant to ask before this chaotic situation unfolded. "You said you have nowhere to go, right? Come with me to Kukoa!"

Finn blinked unsurely. "Kukoa?"

"Yes! Leave with me tomorrow. I can show you around and you can see if you like it. And if you don't, I'll send you off on a new ship. I'll pay for everything."

Finn thought about it. Then a lopsided grin hung on his ruby lips.

"Alright then. Let's go to Kukoa."