The group scrambled up the final docking spire, their boots clanging against the rusted metal until they reached the gangplank of Aero's pride and joy. Standing at the railing was a stout, elderly man with a grease-stained beard and magnifying goggles.
"Grandpa!" Aero shouted, waving his arms as they hauled a weary Ash onto the deck. "We're back! One of my friends gotten injured so can he stay here?"
Aero's grandpa looked over the ragtag group and let out a hearty, raspy chuckle. "Any friend of my grandson is a guest. Bring him in, bring him in!" He patted the hull affectionately. "You kiddos wanna have a fun ride on my airship while he recovers?"
"That would be cool!" Quinna and Eevee said, finally looking awake.
Mugen walked over to the main mast, running a massive hand over the reinforced plating. "Wow, old man... you built this yourself?"
The old man beamed. "Every bolt and gear, lad. She's a beauty, am I right?"
As the engines began to hum and the ship lifted from the spire, Ash slumped against the railing. The gold of his hair seemed duller in the morning light. "I don't think I belong anywhere," he murmured. "Not the palace... not here..."
Lucidia stepped up beside him with a rare, genuine smile. "You don't belong to a place, Ash. You belong to a group and thats us!"
The rest of the group paused, blinking in surprise. "You seem oddly optimistic today, Lucy," Aero joked.
Before any response, a violent CRUNCH echoed through the hull.
The airship lurched sideways, the deck tilting at a terrifying angle. Alarms blared as black-hooked harpoons slammed into the wooden railings, dragging the ship downward.
"What's happening?!" Eevee shrieked, grabbing a rope.
The sky filled with the roar of engines. As the skiffs pulled closer, the sun caught the emblem on their black-iron hulls: a white skull with a single, glowing Egyptian eye and a horizontal hourglass below it.
"The Sandmen Vulgus!" Grandpa Aero roared, fighting the steering wheel. "They're apart of a fairly large mafia! They don't just rob you they strip the ship to the skeleton!"
Another harpoon slammed into the deck just inches from Ash's feet. The ship groaned, tilting further as the bandits winched them toward the jagged rooftops below.
"They're trying to drag us out of the sky!" Quinna yelled, drawing her gun.
"Not on my watch!" Aero screamed. "Grandpa, keep her steady! Mugen, those hooks!"
Mugen didn't need to be told twice. He stomped toward the nearest harpoon, grabbing the thick iron chain with his bare hands. The metal hissed against his palms, but he didn't let go. With a guttural roar, he began to pull back against the mechanical winch of the bandit skiff.
Meanwhile, Lucidia stood at the center of the deck with her heavy sword. She watched the shadows of the bandits leaping onto the rigging.
"Ash, stay down!" she commanded. "You're still weak from the pills!"
Ash looked at the terrifying symbol on the enemy ships, then at his trembling hands. "I... I can't just watch," he whispered, a faint, flickering golden light beginning to spark at his fingertips despite his exhaustion.