"What the HELL happened!?" The Devil thundered. Ignoring the burning sails, and the crew frantically scrambling to salvage what they could, he stomped across the deck to the aft rail. Glaring down at the soft looking man that had been hired to 'assist' them, his fist clenched in barely restrained fury. "When you spotted those two earlier, you said you could handle them alone!"

"I will remind you not to take that tone with me, Borlis." Oakheart said, not even looking at the Devil towering over him- not that the hulking idiot was truly a threat to him, anyway. "And you should be thankful that I faced them; While the Demon did little other than watch, Oliver, the human, would have decimated your men."

"You mean the small one?" Borlis scoffed. "How could that little bastard-"

"He did all of that." Oakheart cut him off, gesturing over his shoulder to the burning wreckage. "Don't forget that you looked down on me for my size as well... Until I taught you better."

Oakheart's eyes flickered briefly to the small scar on the Devil's cheek and smiled mockingly. "As for what happened... I fought with him. And, while I am the better swordsman, and faster, he is not a simple opponent."

The Elf leaned against the rail, a glint of admiration in his eyes as he replayed the fight in his mind. "He fought like a madman, accepting wounds for the chance to retaliate and only protecting against killing blows. And, despite injuring him dozens of times... none of his wounds bled. I have no idea how he managed that, but I can appreciate the psychological impact it can have..."

"Even then..." He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "The madness never truly touched his mind. His objective was never to beat me; he merely fought me to test himself... and perhaps out of politeness, or perhaps respect?"

"Wounded dozens of times, out classed for both speed and skill... And he never forgot his real goal: disabling this ship and preventing us from attacking them. Make no mistake, Borlis, that human is smart. And dangerous."

"I quite like him- other than the fact that he just cost me my reward, but such is the risks one takes in this line of work."

Borlis growled in anger. He wanted nothing more than to strangle this arrogant little man... But he had seen Oakheart's skill with a blade, and the fact that bullets just bounced off of him, and knew better than to try.

Suppressing his anger, the Devil turned back to his duty- with the Captain dead, he had command of the ship... and Lord Chegor had already instructed them on what to do for similar situations, though he doubted even he had anticipated something quite like this. "Omar, release the bird! Lord Chegor needs to be notified!"

The pirate in question immediately hurried below deck and quickly returned with their messenger bird in hand, a simple note already placed in the tube attached to its leg- a prepared message, explaining that the Isodora had passed them... and that they had failed to stop it.

"Let's see how that 'human' deals with the Fleet..." Borlis smiled darkly as the bird took wing before his eyes...

But the crack of a rifle, and a splatter of avian blood, twisted his expression into a snarl... and the small splash of the bird disappearing into the water marked his first failure as Captain.

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"I told you he was smart." Oakheart smirked before walking away, leaving the new Captain to stew in his misery.

"One ship destroyed, the other disabled." Oliver said into his radio as he lowered the rifle. "I also stopped them from sending their messenger pigeon- assuming they don't have another... Oh, and if you see an Elf when you pass here, do NOT engage! He's got a magic shield that protects against bullets, and he's damn good with a sword."

"They won't." Ram was quick to assure him. "They aren't easy to care for on a ship, and, if they had another, they would have released them at the same time. Doubles the chances of the message getting through..."

"Good enough for me." Oliver shrugged. "We've still got some scouting to do to make sure that the path is clear... And, if we finish with enough time, I would really like to gather some samples."

"Samples?"

Seeing the confusion on Ram's face, Oliver chuckled and gestured around. "Some fruits and plants, maybe some animals- if we can catch them. Toxic or poisonous plants actually sell better than the edible stuff..."

"Maybe some wood too?" He muttered softly, eyeing the black bark of the tree he was perched behind. "Is it as dark as the bark? I could see some people wanting wood like that. It would look rather nice for some furniture..."

Ram sighed, still not fully understanding this strange man he was working with... Though Oliver did seem to be a decent guy, it was impossible to follow his mindset- especially with all the unusual things he had access to, and the secrets that he obviously held. "Ah, no... These trees, while their bark is black, the actual wood looks more like smoky glass. It is prized for its appearance, though the distance from our kingdom makes harvesting and transporting expensive. Only the wealthiest nobles are willing to fund such a venture."

"Excellent!" Oliver's eyes nearly glowed at the possible payout, only to dim slightly as he contemplated the possible complications. "But... I don't have a lot of space. I could only harvest a couple trees at the most..."

"Unless I expand the Warehouse again... But is it worth it?"

Shaking his head slowly, Oliver stood and started away. "Come on, Ram. We've got a job to do. I can debate my storage issues later."

Oliver could see the open sea ahead of them once more, their scouting mission nearly done, when the echoing thunder of cannon fire brought him up short. His heart clenched in fear at the sound, as possibilities flooded his mind.

"Poli!" He shouted into the radio, already bringing the raft around to head back. "What the hell is happening!? We can be back in five minutes!"

"Everything is fine, hon." Polina's voice crackled over the radio. "The Captain just wanted to be sure the pirates wouldn't be a problem, and he didn't think to warn me before giving the order- which he and I will be having words about. Not that I blame him, really, but a heads up would have been appreciated."

"We wouldn't want my crazy boyfriend to get the wrong idea and freak out, would we?"

Oliver slumped in his seat with a sigh, glad that everything was ok... and recognizing her tone. While she wanted to reassure him, most of what she said was clearly a pointed rebuke, aimed at Captain Sterling.

"Yeah, maybe save that conversation for later, though. I'm pretty sure we'll have other stuff to talk about when we return..." He tucked away the radio, chuckling at Ram's wince- clearly the Demon expected the conversation to be a problem. Patting the larger man on the shoulder, Oliver smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Ram. I'm not pissed off about it; I just figure the Captain will want to discuss things..."

"I've never met a Prince, though. Think he'll finally join the conversation?" Oliver grinned at the hint of panic creeping into Ram's expression...

This job had already been more fun than he had expected.

"But first... Which plants do you think are worth grabbing? Do any of them have any medicinal benefits? I've got this one customer that is a Mad Scientist, and I'm sure she would pay well if I found something good..."

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