Spinning around, my back digging into the railing behind me, I really wished that what I was seeing was a dream. I'd rather be having a nightmare, safely tucked up in my bed, than dealing with this. Rising out of the water on the other side of the ship was a giant sea serpent, the largest I'd seen in years. Blue and green scales shimmered in the sunlight; water danced where it rolled down the creature's head and body, back into the sea below. Its eyes were huge where they sat on top of its head and they were looking right at us. Charlie flew from his perch on the lookout, dive-bombing the monster.

"Fucking hell." I groaned as I reached for my pistol, Kal doing the same beside me. "Charlie! Get away from it!" I fired off a shot, aiming for the thing's giant eyeball. It roared angrily, jerking back from its hold on Rev. My feet nearly gave way underneath me when the ship abruptly righted itself again. Charlie squawked angrily but came to my shoulder nonetheless, his wings clanking loudly as he slapped them against his sides.

Kal fired once he found his footing. "I think we're gonna need a bit more firepower than our little pistols to take that thing down." The creature dove under the waves again, clearly annoyed at our pesky pistols. I knew they couldn't do much damage to these things but at least it made the monster release the ship.

Nodding, I made for the stairs we had only just rushed up moments before. "Yeah. It'll be back and probably a little angrier. Stay topside, tell me where it is." I disappeared down the stairs, jumping down the last few with a thud. Kal's voice yelled down at me, "How am I supposed to tell you anything if you're down there?"

"Tell Rev! He'll point me in the right direction." I yelled over my shoulder as I made my way down the hall, passed the galley and store rooms. A metal door stood at the end of this hall, a giant crank in the center. Groaning from the strain it took to turn it, I braced a boot on the wall beside me. Come on, come on. Open! It had been a while since I needed the blasters held in this compartment. Charlie, bless him, planted his own little feet against the door and pushed his head against a spoke. Gritting my teeth, I pushed with everything I had before the wheel finally began to turn with a loud whine. A few turns later and the door rolled open on dry hinges, the sound it made hurting my ears as it echoed down the hall.

A grumble filled the brief silence just before the ship rocked to the right. Grabbing for purchase against the doorframe, I huffed. "Yeah, I know! I'm coming! Tell Kal to keep it busy." Charlie flew in ahead of me, making for the control panel situated in the bow nook behind where the figure head of the ship was on the outside. The lights turned on as his claws ran across the keys.

Remember how I had said some things that Fell were worth keeping? I had put this weapons system into Rev years ago and although I didn't use it often, it sure as hell came in handy when I needed it. Rushing to the panel, I inputted the code to activate the system. A low hum began to fill the air; the hair on my arms rose, tickling me. "Charlie, go topside. Make sure Kal isn't touching anything metal." He brushed his nose against my arm before taking off. I visualized his path in my mind as I set the weapons to charge. I had to time this perfectly if I didn't want to fry my current shipmate — although why I was concerned about that was a mystery. He could fry with the creature for all I cared.

The Revenge groaned again, the sound almost impatient in tone. A blast somewhere towards the stern made me wince. Sorry, Kal. Hopefully, that was enough time. My fingers flew over the keys once more as I armed the weapon and fired. For a brief second nothing happened, the air itself seemed to hold its breath, before a wave of electricity flew outwards from the hull. The Revenge shook from the force of it; my ears popped from the sudden change in the atmosphere. Even in the bottom of the ship I could hear the creature let out a screech. Turning the system off once more, I ran for the stairs to see if my ship was whole and if Kal had gotten fired or not.

But I apparently didn't need to worry. Charlie had gotten Kal to stand in the middle of the deck with no metal in sight and the Revenge seemed to be in good shape. Kal turned to me when he heard my boots against the deck.

"What in the world was that?" His brows were high on his head as I neared. He pointed out over the port railing. "That thing looked like it stuck its tail in the lighthouse and then dove. I don't think it'll be back this time."

Sighing, I nodded at his words but my mind was wanting to check on the blast I had heard. "That is basically what happened. I had hoped it would kill it but I guess we weren't that lucky." Charlie landed on my shoulder, purring loudly as he rubbed against my cheek. I headed for the stairs to the quarter deck, wanting to get a look over the aft railing, "Good job listening to Charlie or you would've been fried, too."

His boot falls followed me up the stairs, a laugh crashing against the air like the waves against the boat. "He didn't give me much choice. His teeth are sharp if you weren't aware."

Smiling, even if he couldn't see it, I patted Charlie's head. "Yes, they certainly are. Now come over here and help me. Can you see the rudder from here? I heard a blast below." As he came to my side, his shoulder brushing against my own, the smile didn't want to leave my lips. It felt nice, actually, to have someone else around to help when trouble brewed. Not that I was about to admit that out loud though. Gods, if I ever told Willa I'd never hear the end of it.

~~~

The sun was high in the sky by the time the Revenge neared the Barrier Islands. The line of islands, miles separating each of them, looked friendly enough from the safety of the ship. The sky was blue and the breeze just cool enough to wick the sweat from the back of my neck. From my position on the forecastle, I could see the waves as they broke on the sandy shore. Trees lined the beach, palms swaying in the wind. They looked like picturesque islands that made you want to anchor your boat and take a nap on the warm sand. Good thing I knew what was hidden on those islands.

The wind whistling off Charlie's wings signaled his arrival before his claws hit the railing beside my hand. Turning, I watched Kal ascend the stairs after him. "We're going to want to anchor Rev here. Don't want him too close to the coast."

Raising a brow, I ran my fingers over Charlie's spined back. "Don't tell me what to do with my ship." I turned back to face the island as it got steadily closer. When the waters began to turn from deep blue to a light turquoise, I knew we were as close as we wanted to get. I didn't need Kal to tell me that, though. "Rev, put down anchor here. We'll take the row boat in." The ship grumbled his response as the engines cut, a moment later and I heard the anchor his the water. Kal came up beside me with a smirk on his damn face. "What?"

"Nothing." The smirk got bigger. How was that even possible?

Biting down on my tongue, as to not engage in yet another useless argument, I turned for the main deck. "Whatever. Let's get going. We have three ingredients to grab for that damned witch and three islands we'll have to set foot on. I want to complete this fool's errand as quickly as possible."

"You could've just traded her me, instead."

As I gripped the rope to lower the rowboat, I cringed at his joking tone. He was clearly feeling more like himself, with miles of ocean separating us and the witch. Shaking it off as quickly as I could, I got the boat lowering all before Kal came up to offer a hand.

With the boat safely on the sand — and anchored to a tree for good measure — Kal and I made our way into the thicket of trees on the island. His earlier joking had stayed back on the boat; I could almost feel the tension in his muscles as he walked close to my heels. I didn't know if he'd ever been out here before but I sure had and I didn't have any intentions of ever coming back.

It was on this very island where I had found Charlie, his wings broken and barely any life in his little eyes. I hadn't seen anything that day, hadn't dared move further than the sand, but I had heard it. A loud growl, one that shook me to my very bones. And now Kal and I were tromping through its territory in search of a fucking plant. Damn witch and damn my protectiveness of the stupid pirate in my company.

"What does it look like, again?" Kal's whisper was harsh to my ears, even if he was trying to be quiet it felt too loud. Bugs and other creatures were making sounds in the trees but I didn't hold any hope that they would cover up the noise of humans walking through. Or talking.

Shoving my hand into my pocket, I pulled out the list in the witch's scrappy handwriting. Holding it over my shoulder, I let Kal read it instead of speaking out loud to answer his question. My ears were straining to here anything bigger than Charlie's wings as he flew ahead of us. The plant, apparently called a Ghost Pipe, was a parasitic plant that grew out of the roots of trees. It leeched off their gathered nutrient and grew under the shadow their branches gave. It was white in color, hence the name probably, and grew in little clusters. I didn't bother asking why it only grew out here, on the Barrier Islands. I probably didn't want to know.

A loud snap pierced the forest to our right. Freezing, I slowly turned my head in the direction of the sound to try and see anything. My hand sat on my pistol and I could hear Kal as he gripped his cutlass, drawing it slightly from his belt. The sound it made no louder than Charlie's wings as the wind whistled over them. My breathing sounded loud to my own ears; I could hear how Kal was controlling his own breaths. Moments passed and nothing moved, even Charlie, now perched on a branch a few feet away didn't dare move a wing. When nothing came barreling out at us, I released the hold on my pistol and gestured for Kal to keep moving.

A few dozen fete further into the island and Charlie landed on my shoulder with a gurgle. He bumped my cheek before taking off again, landing on the ground under a giant palm. There, growing out of the shadows like an eel, was a group of Ghost Pipe. Some of the tension I had been holding in my shoulders loosened at the sight. We'd found it — now we grab it and get the fuck off this island.

Kal moved passed me, pulling a knife off his thigh. I stood near his back, looking out at the trees surrounding us while he dug the plant out of the earth with his knife. The witch didn't say she needed the roots but we were going to take as much of them as we could. I wasn't coming back here again. As Kal worked, Charlie sat on my shoulder, his eyes scanning the trees, too. He didn't make a sound, but he held his body as close to my neck as he could, trying to look small. I didn't like his unease. "Kal." I hissed as quietly as I dared. "Hurry it up."

"I've almost got them."

The trees had gone quiet. No bugs were chirping their songs and no birds were singing. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up so fast it made me shiver. "Kal. Now."

"I've—."

The trees to our left moved, the branches high above swaying from the force. I barely had enough time to grab my pistol before a loud screech filled the air and a giant shadow came barreling through the trees. I fired off a shot without even aiming properly. All my brain registered was that it was massive, hairy, and had very sharp teeth. The smoke from my pistol was still heavy in the air when I grabbed behind me for the collar of Kal's shirt. Pulling him to his feet, I saw him stash the plant into the small bag over his shoulder. In front of us, the creature shook its head like it was trying to dislodge an annoying bird, before it's eyes landed on us. A low growl, the same one I had heard from the beach all those years ago, filled the forest.

In my peripheral, Kal's arm rose with his pistol held tightly in his hand. The creature's growl got louder and it took a step toward us. I was already running when Kal's shot went off. Charlie flew only a couple feet in front of me, guiding our way as we tore through the trees. Low-lying branches grabbed at my clothes, cutting into my cheeks and arms. My lungs felt like fire as we ran but I didn't dare slow; I could hear the creature's giant paws hitting the ground behind us. The ground itself shook at every footfall.

Abruptly the trees fell away to reveal the beach, just a pristine as ever. It was a harsh contrast to the thing at our backs.

"Get on the boat!" Kal yelled as we ran for it. I wanted to ask him what the hell he thought I was going to do if not get on it but didn't have the lung capacity to speak. As I jumped into the row boat, Kal cut through the rope that tethered the boat to the tree and pushed the boat into the waves. The creature burst through the trees a moment later, not pausing for a second as it came directly for Kal. His feet were in the water but not nearly far enough away. I scrambled for the side of the boat, grabbing his arm and yanking him over the side. The creature's giant paw took a swipe at him, missing him by inches, as the boat moved further from the shore.

I could get a better look at the creature now, safely in the water. The sun bright as it shone down on his reddish fur. It looked like a lion, or another breed of giant cat, but it's tail was whip-thin and had a point at the end. It's face resembled that of a dragon, so similar to Charlie's that I did a double take. It was only when the creature turned, the sun catching on it's side, did I notice the plates of golden metal covering its sides. As we got further away it let out a roar that shook my very bones. It disappeared back into the trees a moment later, clearly upset that it had lost a good meal.

"Thanks for that."

Turning to Kal who was slumped against the side of the boat, his chest rose and fell quickly as he tried to catch his breath. There was blood running down his temple from a cut on his forehead and his shirt was torn to the point where there would be no saving it. I didn't dare look down at my own blouse to see the damage, I was just glad I had put on a leather corset that morning.

Shrugging a shoulder, I looked away from him and to the Revenge as we neared his starboard side. "I couldn't exactly let you get eaten. You had the plant. I wasn't going back for another one."

Kal was still chuckling as we climbed the ropes onto the safety of Rev's decks.