The storm had come and gone. Sunny days and dark nights followed, sometimes they were blessed with moonlight and just once, a full moon.
Leonard sat crossed legged tending to Gravorn, oiling its sides and edge to avoid rust. His hands and garment were covered in grease. He stood up and performed two swings before putting his saber into its scabbard. Leonard paced to the rails,he took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, the chill sea breeze felt good on his face. He enjoyed the ship and the calm waves
The door to the inner deck swung open and Kael came staggering out. His hair was messy, eyes shrunken and half closed. He looked thin and very pale like a corpse awaiting its laying
"Morning Captain" Leonard greeted softly with a smile
"Huh Leonard…" Kael's speech came slurred, he made way to his favorite spot and sat.
"You'll fall off" Leonard reminded him for the hundredth time now
"I won't fall" Kael repeated the same words.
They didn't say anything and just went on enjoying the morning how best they could. Leonard listened to the wave beneath them like some melody following a certain musical note. The sun escaped from the cluster of clouds and bathed them with a soft morning rays
Kael's stomach growled, loud enough to Leonard's hearing "I'm hungry" He said
"All we have is fish" Leonard told him with a shrug
"I'll rather die"
"You need to eat something Captain. You already look half dead" Leonard adjusted on the rail and place his hand on gravorn's hilt
The food they had lasted them for about a week after, that is both main dish and leftovers. After which they lived on fruits and raw meat, at first the raw meat caused a bit of a problem in digestion, but in time their stomachs got used to it. By the second week all food stocks left had been exhausted Leonard decided to start fishing for edible sea kings. Kael was one that couldn't stand fish but given the situation would neglect the act of selecting food, but the fact that Leonard was a terrible cook made life unbearable.
"We need a cook" Leonard said
"And a doctor" Kael quipped in
Leonard pulled out the three pointed log posts, one of them was shaking. And a navigator. He said in his mind "We haven't spotted a single person, a ship or an island"
"A ship" Kael repeated after him
Leonard placed the log pose back in his pocket "Yeah. A ship"
"No, A ship" Kael corrected.
"That's what I said Captain, a—"
"Look. It's a ship" Kael was pointing to the horizon, at a glance it seemed he was just pointing at the sea however Leonard peered and could see something miles away. He sprinted to the mast and climbed quickly, picking up a telescope and was able to sea the ship clearly
"It's a pirate ship" He identified them by their jolly roger.
"A pirate ship?!" Kael flew down to the deck and glanced up "They must have food. Meat" He was already dripping wet from the edge of his mouth "How many are they?"
Leonard moved his gaze mumbling some numbers "About twenty to thirty. They have quite the number Captain"
"Big numbers equals plenty mouths to feed. Plenty mouths to feed equals plenty food. Let's take them down" There was no shred of humane in Kael's words, as if his hunger had gained consciousness and taken over his body
Leonard jumped and landed on the upper deck and took hold of the helm. All sails were down and all that was left was to catch the wind. He gripped the helm and spun it skillfully maneuvering the ship until the sails flapped catching the gust of wind and the ship began surfing the sea at incredible speed
Kael ran into the cabin and came out with his rapier in his hand. His mouth dripping with a devious smile, He unsheathes the blade tossing the scabbard away
"Food" He growled
Leonard's helm skills made them close the distance in minutes. At first it looked as if the other pirate group were fleeing, maybe they hadn't noticed them but by the time they had realized they were the targets they decided on fighting.
The ship was sideways, and at a glance it looked like Leonard was about to ramp their glorious Damnation at the enemy ship.
"They are shooting at us" Leonard announced, taking note of the men manning the cannons. As though he saw the future, in the next moment six cannon balls were headed straight at them. By then Leonard had pulled the main sail to reduce the ship's speed. "Leave them to me. Go for the ship" Leonard pulled gravorn. The saber turned black from the hilt to the tip. Two of the six cannon balls were head straight at them and with a single slash the cannon balls exploded in a loud boom.
Kael flashed to the bow, squatted and kicked himself into the air. He was flying straight to the other ship. He clamped his hand hard on his rapier, bits of haki surging out from the blade. "Food" he looked dreadful. A devious smile plus the drooling at the edge of his mouth as he swung his blade from one side to the other in a long arc that cut down the sails of the ship.
Kael made a hard landing on the ship that looked like a crash. He didn't waste time studying his opponents like Leonard always advised, he went straight to business. "Where's your food?" he asked, ready to cut down anyone who acted out of line