“I think so, too. Whatever it was, it looks to have pulled the ship half over to get to them, so it’s either big, or heavy, or both."
"I couldn’t see any bodies, so we need to check for that first. If they’re alive, then we’re going to go get some practice in!” I said, grinning at her. She grinned right back, clearly up for testing her new skills. “Did you level when we fought at the Tower?” I asked, and she nodded enthusiastically.
“Twice; I put half my points into Stamina, and the rest into Strength.” It was a solid tank’s choice there, and I hoped that it’d help in the fight. We’d barely had time to train together as we’d prepared for the fight for the Tower, and since then, well, Barrett had given them all some help, but it was very little. I’d be carrying the majority of the upcoming fight, I already knew.
“Gather round, team!” I called to the others, and went to meet them, waiting until we were all together, and ignoring Oren as he came flying out of the captain’s cabin, wearing pants that were far too long and carrying a load of other gear.
“From what we can tell, something attacked Decin and his ship,” I said, looking from one to another. “Whatever it was, it’s probably big, and it likely came from, and returned to, the forest. We’re going to check it out, but I want to cover some tactics before we get any closer.” I pointed to myself and Bob. “We’re the tanks for the party; we take the hits and deal them out, which means we’re the front line. Lydia, you’re going to be to the right of me at all times, but far enough aside that I don’t gut you. Remember, this isn’t exactly a precision instrument.” I banged the base of my naginata down once, hard. “It’s basically a giant stick with a damn sharp knife on the end, and I don’t want to hit you with it.”
“Isn’t that a spear, Lord?” A voice came from my left, and I turned my head to look at Arrin, who grinned at me. “A stick with a knife on the end, I mean?”
“Okay, point. This is more like a staff with a sword on the end, but…”
“So, a swordstaff? Or a polearm?” Lydia interjected, and I glared at her.
“Okay, fuck you all; this is a NAGINATA, and I don’t want to hurt you with it. Or at least I didn’t until now. You all got that out of your system?” I asked, and Arrin opened his mouth, but shut it quickly at a glare from me. I could hear snickering from the rest of the group, and I had to work to hide my smile as well. Cheeky bastards. “So, moving on: Jian, you’re on Bob’s left. Stephanos and Miren, you’re behind them; keep back a bit so you’ve got space to use your bows. Cam, you’ve got fuck-all armor. Even Miren has some, so why is that?” I asked the big dark-haired elf, garbed in a rough tunic and pants, but he held that bloody enormous wood axe in one hand. He’d blatantly piled all his stat points into strength, and I just had to know what he was thinking with not wearing armor, I mean, I knew we had some…
“Don’t like it.” That was it. That was all I was going to get, clearly.
“You don’t like it?” I asked, getting a nod in return. “You don’t like the armor, or that it protects you, and you know, could keep you alive?!”
“Yup.”
“Well, fuck me. Thanks for explaining that so well. I feel much better about things now!” I said, facepalming. “Okay…”
“You’re welcome, Lord.” He muttered, interrupting me. I looked up at him and glared.
“Right, clearly you’re either more batshit crazy than you were, which I didn’t think was possible, or you’re trying to wind me up. Congratulations, you get to be ass end, Charlie.”
“I’m Cam.”
“You’re annoying, is what you are. It means you’re staying at the back of the group, and you’re going to protect the archers until you prove that you’re stable enough to trust by my side.” I retorted, turning back to Miren and Stephanos. “Take shots when you can, but not until I say so, or unless we get spotted. If you think there’s a chance you’ll hit one of us, move, or hold your fire. We don’t need an arrow in the knee to fuck our day up further, okay?”
Once everyone knew their roles, I told Miren and Stephanos to take up places on either side of the ship and watch for anything that might be dangerous until we landed.
Then I pulled out the robes and Staff I’d looted from the mage that had attacked the Tower. “Arrin!” I chucked them to him. “Put these on and use the staff; consider them a loan until you prove yourself.”
“I get to wear a dress?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Aye, well, Lydia told me about your sexual tastes. I thought you’d like it!” I shot back at him and got a laugh in return, as well as a nod of thanks.
I made my way across the ship to rejoin Oren, who was half naked on the upper deck, pulling clothes on he’d clearly looted from the captain’s cabin.
While they were meant for a human, he’d been both short and fat, so they weren’t as badly fitted as they could have been.
After a long minute of huffing, sweating, and far more dwarven ass crack on display than I ever wanted to see again, Oren was wearing a pair of rollup trousers, his own shirt and breast plate and a hat, with a large overcoat thrown on the floor, and a pair of gloves that came halfway to his elbow.
“I’ll have to get tha’ altered; they be too good to pass up!” he muttered, kicking the coat aside and adjusting himself. “Och, these pants do be a bit tight,
