Headed by a Snake

Krysaos stood tall, wearing his usual shite-eating grin, "Tell me the ship's seaworthy, Bob."

"Da ship 'azn't taken any damage from da skelly-folk," Bob pointed his thumb at himself, "I'z made sure of it-- was da previous Cap'n final orda."

"Good to hear," Krysaos nodded.

"Mister Bob..." Tycon cleared his throat, "I'm curious as to the current goals of the-- of our crew."

Bob gestured towards the battle on the sands, "Da boyz... we'z fightin... and we'z winnin'."

"...And how long have you been doing that, exactly?"

"Li'ul more'n a week, I fink."

Tycon sucked in air through his teeth, "Very well."

Krysaos mouth twitched, "Tight. Tell our forces to withdraw to the ship."

Bob furrowed his stony brows, "We... we runnin' away, Cap'n?"

"Well, yeah?" Krysaos twisted his lips to the side, "That's... why we're fighting, aren't we? To secure an escape?"

"We'z fightin' to win," Bob insisted.

...In that moment, the Coral Boy known as Bob sounded more like a whiny child, rather than a hardened combatant.

Krysaos placed his hand on his chin in thought... "We's... we're withdrawing... to fight on distant shores."

"Anuvver fight?" Bob was taken aback, "Why didn't ya SAY SO, CAP'N?!?"

He leaned over the ship railing and raised his voice, "BOYZZZZ!!!! WIF-DRAW TO DA SHIP!! WE'Z HEADIN' TO A NEW FOIGHHHT!!!!!!"

"""DEFF!! DESTRUCTION!! TOTAL ANNIHILATIONNNNN!!!""" The Coral Boys resounded.

The chorus of deep voices ignited Tycon's desire to take part in battle. It also made his still-healing arm throb in pain, his body warning him to... not do that.

"Dey'z comin', Cap'n," Bob smiled. "Awaitin' yer orders."

"Hoist the anchor," Krysaos adjusted his hat, "We're setting sail."

...

It took another bell for the tide to rise high enough to sail away... and another thirty minutes to forcibly drag the last Coral Boy aboard.

The easily excitable fellows kept charging back onto the beach...

It was likely that they left one or four... but Captain Krysaos said that the twenty-two they had was enough to man the ship.

The Captain used red paint to write over the ship's name displayed on her side. What was once Neptunia was now Neptune's Revenge.

After the withdrawal, the Coral Boys were in an overall state of melancholy... which was to be expected. It was even worse, considering the fact that the dark-green, blue, and gold gentlemen had the single-mindedness of dwarves and the maturity of elves.

They moped about the ship, halfheartedly performing their duties... One had been swabbing the deck, stopping to sigh and look back at the undead island every few minutes. Another bundled rope around his arm at a snail's pace.

Even Bob, likely the most intelligent Coral Boy in his generation, was slow in the sharpening of his axe on a whetstone.

Admittedly, Tycon expected no less from Sea Wolves.

The men and women that served under High-Captain Lang Hai... very much liked to fight.

Tycon conversed with the former Twelve of Twelve on his origins, confirming that he was indeed sired by Seven of Eleven.

Previously, the Neptunia had sacked Nemayan settlements in the north, as well as preyed on their merchant and privateering vessels. Ever seeking battle and spoils, they landed on the haunted isle hoping to loot the abandoned ships, before their commanding Officer was killed by the undead.

Most interestingly, Tycon discovered that Lang Hai was neither paying the Coral Boys, nor did he swear them into service.

He trained them-- which was obvious by their ruthless and roughshod methods, but it seemed permissible for Krysaos to borrow them for a time.

Tycon would write a letter to High-Captain Lang Hai to explain the situation. The young Sea Wolf Admiral might throw a fit, but as long as the Coral Boys acted against the enemies of The Kingdom, he would eventually accept it.

He didn't have the coin to keep them lawfully employed, anyroad.

Krysaos mentioned that he'd likely avoid any confrontation with Kingdom forces. The man might have been a shameless lech... but he was not a fool, to challenge his crew members' loyalties.

Not ten minutes after Tycon reorganized the ship's armory and supplies, the ship began to buzz with activity. At first, was a wave of excited murmurs and gargles, then yelling and shouting.

A peach-colored Coral Boy with dark seaweed hair ran down from the top deck, past him and Bob, and began to pound on the Captain's cabin door.

"Cap'n, Cap'n!! Dere's trouble in da wa'ers! Big trouble!!"

Krysaos burst out of the door to his quarters, knocking the Coral Boy onto his rear.

...which shouldn't have happened, as the fellow weighed nearly twice the Captain.

"WHADDYA WANT?!?!" Krysaos groaned.

"Dere's a monsta, Cap'n!! A monsta!!! An' it's 'UUUUGE!!" The Coral Boy got to his knees, then whispered quietly, "We fink... it's da ghosties and da skellyboyz comin' ta foight again."

Bob nodded, getting to his feet and pounding his fist against his wood-plated chest, "Let's crack some skulls, Bosun."

Tycon raised an eyebrow, but nodded in appreciation. He had gained yet another title.

"Very well," He turned back to Krysaos, "Captain?"

"Yeah, I'm comin'," The man grumbled.

...

"We'z see it now, Cap'n!" The peach-colored Coral Boy, Catshit, pointed over the railing.

Captain Krysaos had assigned names to the Coral Boys, depending on their luck... or misfortune. As for why he named that particular one Catshit-- Tycon was not privy to that information.

There was a gigantic creature underneath the water's surface, easily the size of the Neptune's Revenge.

...It didn't look particularly hostile... Tycon thought it looked... ponderous. It was heading in the same direction as their ship, and it was possible it was following them.

Also, whatever it was, it likely had nothing to do with the denizens of the haunted island. Catshit and the other Coral Boys had correlated the current enemy with their previous in false hope.

"I figured we'd have to deal with this sorta thing," Krysaos shook his head. "With a ship of our size, we'll probably get these things a few times each week."

Catshit shook the stoic Bob excitedly, "Hear 'at? OoOoh, 'is gonna be gooOood!!!"

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