Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Sakuya had managed to escape from Wolfwood Forest, leaving Maria to whatever fate waited for her. She ran and ran all the way back to city of Drakestone until she couldn't run anymore. The night was lit up by the dimly glowing city lights and the moon that hung overhead. Most of the townsfolk have locked up their homes for the night and the streets became pretty mild, or so it seemed. The small Qin girl, wracked with guilt for leaving her friend behind, could only sleep for now until morning came around. Meanwhile, thugs out for some easy money were out and about and searching for weak person(s) to prey upon. Will Sakuya be a victim to these criminals?

Sakuya sighed, she hadn't been of any help to Maria, she had been so focused on her research on the Qin and the Amarok that she had neglected her training and maintaining her blade. While it is a bit dulled it could still do a fair bit of damage but those wolves were though. She adjusted her sash she was using to secure her weapons making her wakizashi and tanto more easily accessible just in case. She knew her way around reasonably enough and went on her way towards a place she could lodge for the night.

As Sakuya tried finding a place to sleep, she was being stalked by some rather unsavory characters, waiting for her to be somewhere that was out of sight. They followed her into an alleyway and cut her off on both ends. There was 3 of them, all cackling as they slowly closed in on her. They were all quite muscular and wreaked of sweat. Two of them wielded knives on them while the other had a club. "Well 'ello there, my lil' lovely~ Normally, me n' my cohorts here would just kill ya' and be done with it, but we're feelin' a little generous today." The goon put his hand on Sakuya's shoulder and quietly with his lips curled slightly. 

"If you just drop everything you've got right here... including this fancy garb of yours, we'll let'cha go!" He took out a dagger and gently prodded at one of her breasts with it while saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth. "B-But... I thought we'd have some fun with 'er before th-" "Shut'ya trap, ya' damn simpleton!! I'd like to apologize, he 'asn't been very well off lately and that's made 'im fairly stressed. So, how about it, love?" So the choice for Sakuya was to either hand over all of her belongings or be prepared to fight for her life.

Sakuya applied her training to slip out and make some distance between herself and the men who had approached her, she didn't quite like a dagger poking at her breast and she knew it would be difficult to initiate any form of combat with a blade so close to her heart. She took out the wakizashi and tanto and sets up in the specialized stance for this form of dual weapon fighting that was taught to her by her father. Luckily these blades were relatively well maintained as they were very rarely ever used. She looked over at the thieves and sighed "Look I have had a really bad day, why don't you guys run off and find some easier prey and we can all run along unharmed."

Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Drakestone City
The Samurai

Sakuya managed to escape from the thugs that were harassing her, but she wasn't out of the woods yet, the thugs were still after. They chased her all the way to the docks. The docks proved to be an excellent place to hide for it was jam packed with people and a multitude of hiding spots. The thugs decided to abandon chasing Sakuya. It would be extremely difficult to look for someone so small in a place as big and congested as the docks of Drakestone.

Even though the City suffered a tragic event a few weeks ago, it didn't stop the activities in Drakestone City. The slavery business was still operating. More slaves arrive at the docks everyday, than there are food and clothing. The Fighting Pits were also reconstructed and the blood bath continues.

Back at the docks, Sakuya is unaware that the thugs have stopped chasing her. She unknowingly bumps into a large sailor who's sheer mass pushes her backwards. She then accidentally steps on a slimy mess on the floor, composed of fish guts, and slips. She falls into a large wooden crate, half filled with fish, and hits her head on the edge causing her to lose consciousness. The crate was then sealed with Sakuya still inside. Then it was loaded into one of the ships. After only a few minutes the ship sails off. It's destination, Redhold to supply the remaining Ramoan forces their with food and materials. The ship Sakuya was sailing on belonged to the Ramoan Army. By the time she wakes up, she'll be halfway into the voyage.

Sakuya rubbed her head as she slowly woke up. Thankfully the crate she awoke to find herself in was only half full which allowed for some movement. She first started to kick at the sides of the crate while clawing at the top. It would be an awkward task to get her weapons but she felt she could if she had to. She yelled out for help hoping someone could hear her, she could tell by the smells and sounds around her that she was on the sea.

Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Drakestone City
The Samurai

One of the soldiers heard Sakuya's call for help. At first he thought it was just his imagination but then he heard it again. He located the crate and placed his ears near the it. After determining that someone was inside, he picked up a crowbar and pried the crate open revealing the fish covered Wolfqin. 

"Oi what are you doing here!?" The Soldier asked. He grabbed the girl by the collar and dragged her out of the barrel. Then he tied Sakuya's hands with a rope and dragged her up and out into the deck. The rest of the soldiers looked at Sakuya and followed her with their eyes as she was taken into the captain's cabin.

The Ramoan soldiers were made up mostly of humans but there were some qins and half breeds in the mix. The Ramoan army isn't like the Empire that only accepted humans. Nor is it like the Alfeirian army composed only of pure breed Alfeirs. It is in a way most similar yet different from the Delvish horde. The bulk of the Delvish forces are composed of Delvas but other races are also allowed.

Sakuya was brought in front of Captain Seldan Gaines of the Ramoan army. The soldier who brought Sakuya told the Captain where he found the Wolfqin and then he left after gaining the Captain's permission. 

"So little one. What are you doing in my ship?" Cpt. Gaines asked.

Sakuya sighed "I wish I could tell you myself, the last thing I remember was running from some men who were trying to force themselves on me, I made it to the docks but I bumped into something or someone. I was caught by surprise and ended up falling back and then I remember nothing until I woke up here. Makes sense though as I have a nice bump on my head at the moment." 

She looked down at herself, not because this was embarrassing, but because she wanted to see how bad her clothes looked after sleeping with the fishes.

Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Drakestone City
The Samurai

The ship was stuck by a heavy wave causing it to sharply tilt over to one side before balancing back to it's original position. The glass of wine on the Captain's table nearly tipped over but he caught it gently with his finger. The seas were rougher after for some reason. It all started a few months ago, even before Bahamut attacked Redhold. Some believe that the water God Leviathan was upset and others think that the violent waves are caused by the expanding seabed brought about by the erupting volcanic vents.

The Captain nodded his head, seeming to accept Sakuya's explanation. Looking at the girl he didn't see her as a threat, he saw a young Nyanqin who was lost at sea. "Right. Well you're still a stowaway so while you're here in my ship, you will do as I say. You can start by sitting down and telling me where you're from." the Captain asked.

Meanwhile the ship was passing the halfway mark of their journey. The passengers, composed mainly of soldiers, were getting ready to rest but they were having trouble with the turbulence. A swirling sink hole suddenly appears several meters on the port side of the ship. The crew didn't mind it until another one appeared, much closer than the last, on the starboard side. The skies suddenly turned dark and thunder rang from the heavens. It appears that the ship was caught in the middle of a storm, but was it an ordinary storm or something more...

Sakuya kept herself steady as the waves rocked the ship, she had plenty of training to keep her surefooted, but it was admittedly a little harder with her arms being cuffed, this effectively limited the ways she could maintain balance in case of emergency or catch herself. Thankfully having a tail helps when you can't use your arms as far as balancing goes. 

She looked over to the man and gave a small yawn, not out of disrespect but because she had just woken up from what was a rather poor state of rest. That yawn sounded a bit odd, mostly due to her nature as a wolfqin, it sounded almost like a weak howl. She sighed a bit as she was asked to take a seat and explain herself

"Well I would appreciate if before I sat down someone would remove these restraints. you can take my weapons or whatever makes you more comfortable, but with all these waves I don't want to be sitting down and then end up tipping over and landing face first as I couldn't catch myself. Certainly you can see the inconvenience." She spoke with a nature that seemed to betray her cute image. While Sakuya was as cute as she looked a fair bit of the time, during serious situations she can also take a step back and act in this more calm and sophisticated manner.

Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Drakestone City
The Samurai

Captain Gaines smirked and said, "The knots will stay on. I have no reason to trust you yet. Why don't you tell me more about yourself first. Who you are and where you're from?"

The amount of turbulence was increasing. Then the ship's bow raises and dips after meeting with a large wave. The Captain seems disturbed, he looks out the window and finds out that they're in the middle of a storm. Heavy rain falls from the skies, soaking the ship's deck. Thunder and lighting dances above them, this was slowly turning into something other than an ordinary storm.

A giant whirlpool emerges several meters in behind the ship. The ship suddenly stops accelerating as it was slowly dragged into the watery vortex. 

A soldier, soaked in rain, enter's the captain's cabin and says, "Captain! We're being sucked into a whirlpool!". The Captain is forced to leave Sakuya for a moment. He heads over to the bridge and sees the forces they were up against. He immediately orders his soldiers to lighten the load and to help the ship advance against the pull of the vortex. The soldiers quickly dispatched of their heavy artillery such as the canons and even the anchor. This aided in the ship's mobility but it wasn't enough to fight off the whirlpool. There they needed to lose more weight but the only cargo left was the supplies they needed to deliver to Redhold.

The Captain had no choice but to order his men into throwing out all the cargo. The lives of his men were top priority, they could always get more supplies elsewhere.

Sakuya huffed a bit and took her seat, a bit sad she wouldn't be getting those restraints off at the moment. She had pondered where to begin telling her story, should she start from the beginning or maybe just what she has been doing recently. She decided she should probably limit the discussion of her past to a summary and be more detailed on her recent undertakings.

It seemed though that she wasn't going to say anything this time, because as soon as she opened her mouth to speak one of the crewmen came in and announced that a whirlpool had appeared. Sakuya knew it had to be bad as she could pick up the severity of the storm with her senses. She knew things could have only gotten worse when she noticed the ship had stopped moving forward. She had been struggling to keep balanced this whole time, but with the whirlpool nearby surprisingly things became more stable. She noticed the crew tossing everything overboard and hoped they wouldn't do the same to her. She took this time of being unsupervised to try and loosen her bindings.

Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Drakestone City
The Samurai

Sakuya's struggles paid off, she was able to loosen the binding and free herself from the makeshift cuffs the soldier placed on her. The door to the deck was also left unlocked, however the door where the captain entered leading to the bridge wasn't. The Soldier also forgot to rid Sakuya of her weapon, a careless mistake.

Just as Sakuya was finishing removing her bindings, the ship suddenly shook violently. The walls were creaking like it was being subdued to an intense amount of pressure. The ship shakes up and down like something was pulling it like a toy boat and tossing it up and down into the water. The windows shatter allowing water to flow inside. Screams could be hear from beyond the door and down in the lower decks. Then a large snapping sound was heard, the mast has been broken, then followed swiftly by a sudden drop. Sakuya, along with all the other stuff that wasn't bolted to the floor was sent crashing into the ceiling and then back down on the floor again.

The screams have stopped, the room was flooding with water. But the worst was far from over, the ship begins to tilt inward. The window was now the ceiling and the floor were the walls. Water rises from the bottom, the ship was sinking. Unknown to Sakuya, but the ship was split into two from the middle and was now sinking into the ocean. The storm had stopped and the violent waves were gone.

Thanks to her sensational hearing she could tell that various parts of the ship seemed to be taking some sort of damage, but there was so much noise around her that she couldn't tell the extent of the damage, what she could tell though was that the ship seemed to be sinking and that currently it was tilting. She didn't have to be an expert shipwright or boatswain to know that a ship really shouldn't be taking on water or rising at such an angle and she decided now might be a good time to see if she could get herself to safety.

She couldn't get herself to where the Captain was, though she was trying to escape she assumed he'd probably know more about what to do in this situation. Regardless she was with no choice but to go the opposite direction. She exited the room, while the ship was clearly sinking it seemed the storm had stopped and so it was easier for her to move through the ship. She walked until she found a way to the top deck where she could tell just what had happened to the ship. She now had to ponder just how to get to safety. She looked around for anything she could use to get to a shore, a lifeboat, a large piece of wood, anything buoyant.

Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

Drakestone City
The Samurai

Sadly there were no lifeboats afloat, and strangely there were no Soldiers out in the deck either. Even if they all have died there were no bodies floating in the water. But there were splatters of blood everywhere indicating that there was a lot of violence recently. There was one last whirlpool and it was sucking the broken ship in.

There were several objects floating in the water made from different parts of the ship. Many of them could be used by Sakuya as a flotation device. But there was one problem, the whirlpool was sucking everything in. Sakuya would have to fight her way out, but did she have the strength to swim against the current?

*Moderator Challenge Event*

Sakuya must fight her way out of the whirlpool's vacuum. In three separate posts, you must roll a one in each post and get at least 3 within 5 attempts from the Challenge Dice. Each attempt to swim against the Vaccum is one post. If you don't roll the dice after your post, it will be considered as an

You need at least 3 checks in order to escape the vacuum. The Challenge starts now.

Sakuya moved over the the side of the ship and dived off, knowing she couldn't just stay on a sinking ship. She tried to jump as far from the whirlpool as she could and once she splashed down into the water she swam up and began to swim as hard as she could from the swirling pit that was sucking down the ship she had just been aboard. It was times like these where she wished she worked more on her swimming, luckily she wasn't half bad at it and at least her lean body wasn't large enough to be of too much hindrance. She was also quite happy to not be in any extra armor at the time. Her current extra bit of armor was a bit of a burden to carry around so she left it with her parents.

The member 'dovenwolf' has done the following action : FFMSL Dice

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'Challenge' :

Result :

Sakuya wasn't making much progress at all and at the point was considering removing something to reduce her weight and the resistance.