The sounds around him all faded into the background as Oliver focused fully on his odd new training routine. The swords in his hands wove a mesmerizing pattern of thrusts, slashes, and parries as he danced across the deck. In the next moment, the twin swords vanished back into the warehouse, replaced by his halberd- only for it to be swapped out seconds later for a pair of knives, then a simple hand ax.

At times, he shifted the combinations; an ax with a sword, dagger and pistol- a dummy pistol, since he didn't want to cause an accident while training- and any other combination he could think of. In a blink, lightning fast thrusts of a dagger would be replaced by the broad sweeping slashes of his halberd, or the heavy chops of an ax...

"Too slow." He grumbled softly to himself, pausing his practice.

"What was that, Oli?" Polina asked, interrupting her whispered conversation with Lily- Oliver had no clue what they were talking about, though they had been throwing glances his way the entire time... But, based on Poli's leer and Lily's blushing face, he thought it likely related to him practicing shirtless...

Which was only mildly embarrassing, but it was just too damn hot to wear a shirt while training.

"The swap feels slow." He sighed, pulling a towel from the warehouse to wipe of his sweat. "I mean, its not the swap itself, but me deciding which weapon to grab. I feel like I need to think ten steps ahead just to keep from tripping myself up..."

"It will probably be worse in an actual fight, since I'll have to take into account my opponents weapons and what moves he could make..."

"Like playing chess." Poli nodded in understanding.

"Exactly."

"Then you should keep something in mind, Oli." She smiled gently, seeing she had his undivided attention. "People don't become a grandmaster at chess the second they start playing. It takes time and practice."

"You just started working on switching weapons like that in a fight, don't expect perfection right away. Just keep working at it, hon. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Oliver paused,a thoughtful look on his face as he considered what she said. He knew she was right, and that it was unrealistic for him to want to get things right on his first attempt... But he also knew how useful it would be once he got it right...

Of course, he also knew that stressing over it wouldn't make his practice go faster. If anything, it would just cause him to make more mistakes.

"Yeah, that's fair." He sighed as Lita, his living armor, surged up to cover his bare chest once more.

Shifting his gaze to Jal, his adopted daughter- which was still an odd development to him, though a good one- a small smile flitted across his face as he watched her for a second. She had come a long way in such a short time, learning everything that the couple could throw at her- and always eager to ask more questions.

And, apparently, she was extra fond of the technology they had access to.

Sitting on the deck not far away with his laptop open in front of her, her tongue poked out in intense concentration as her fingers shifting across the screen of his cell phone... was absolutely adorable to him.

At first, he had been wary of allowing her to pilot his drone- after all, replacing it would likely prove to be difficult, and risking such a valuable tool in the hands of a little girl didn't seem to be the wisest of ideas... But, eventually, he had caved to the idea.

And his daughter hadn't disappointed him.

Despite knowing how common things like phones and laptops were for them, Jal treated every item like a precious artifact- in part because of the simple wonder such items brought, but likely also due to her desire not to disappoint her new family.

Of course, he still insisted that either he or Poli be nearby to supervise, just to be safe.

"How's it looking, Jal?"

"This is... cool!" She said slowly- but clearly- in English, before switching back to the local language, throwing a hopeful look his way. "I said that right, didn't I?"

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"Yep." He said, giving her a thumbs up. "Your English is coming along well, even with me being a terrible teacher."

Poli shook her head, an amused smile firmly in place. "You've been doing great, Oli."

"Yeah, dad is the best!" Jal agreed before stiffening slightly, throwing an awkward smile at Poli and quickly correcting herself. "Um, I mean he's the best dad... Because mom is also the best..."

"It's ok, sweetheart. I know what you meant." Poli quickly reassured her, hugging the young girl to her side.

"Right, ok." Jal nodded, trying to hide her blushing face. Eager to change the subject, she glanced at Oliver, her eyes shining with curiosity. "You said that there are games like this at home, right? Would I be able to play them?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of games." Oliver chuckled as he leaned against the rail. "Flight sims are the closest to being like flying the drone, and there are a bunch of them. I only know of a few, but I'm sure Ed or Gary know of more... Probably Gary, as that's more his speed..."

"Plus there are a bunch of other types of games: action games, RPGs, first person shooters... Hell, there are even games about running a grocery store! It would take me a while just to explain all the genres..."

"But, yeah. Once we get back, we'll see about getting some games for you to play. Maybe some educational games to start with, just to help you learn more about the world, and we can look at getting some other games after that." Seeing the look Poli shot him, he was quick to add on. "Of course, you'll only be allowed to play games as long as you keep up with your studies."

"Yes dad! I promise I will!" Jal smiled brightly, clearly excited by the idea of exploring everything a new world had to offer. "I can't wait! The flying games sound amazing! Do people on your world really fly a lot? What's it like to-"

Cutting off her sentence suddenly, Jal leaned closer to the screen in front of her, eyes laser focused.

"I think there's a ship ahead." She said slowly without looking up.

Within seconds, the area around her was filled with people as Captain Sterling, Ram, and Prince Dorrim hurried over to join them at her words.

The air grew heavy with tension as the group stared at the laptop's screen, and Oliver could see Jal begin to tremble under the sudden pressure. Leaning in close behind the girl, he gently set his hand on her shoulder and spoke softly to her. "Don't pay any attention to them, Jal. Just fly it like you always do, ok?"

"Maybe... maybe you should take it?" She whispered nervously, afraid to even glance back at her adopted father.

"I will if you want me to." He answered softly before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "There's nothing to worry about, Jal. The drone is so high up, no one will even see it. So just fly like normal; you've got this, ok?"

"Ok, dad."

"You did great, Jal." Oliver said as he gently snagged the drone from the air. "You keep flying like that and I'll start to think you want to be a pilot someday!"

The young girl blushed under the praise, shifting in embarrassment for a second before blurting out a surprising question. "What's a pilot? I've heard you say the word, but..."

Oliver paused in storing the drone, thinking back over some of their conversations. While he had explained a lot of things to Jal, he knew that he was no where close to explaining everything.

Chuckling softly, he quickly explained. "Ok, well... You've heard me say 'pilot the drone', because the word 'pilot' can be used to describe the action of flying something. But, on our world, the word 'pilot' is also used to refer to people whose job is to fly planes and stuff."

"So... being a pilot would mean flying all the time?" She asked, bouncing in place. "That is awesome! I want to be a pilot when I grow up!"

"If that's what you want, sweetheart, then I know you'll be great at it." Poli chimed in, ruffling the girls hair affectionately. "There are a lot of possibilities; you may find something else that sounds fun and exciting that you'll like more. You have plenty of time to explore and find out, though."

"I do not wish to interrupt your family moment, as I know how precious those can be." Captain Sterling said suddenly, but gently. "But we do have things to discuss..."

"He's right." Oliver sighed, nudging his daughter. "Why don't you head to our cabin and practice writing the alphabet some more while we talk?"

"Ok!"

The group waited in silence until the little girl was below deck once more, a grim air surrounding them. The silence stretched on for a few seconds before the Captain sighed.

"Three ships- that we could see from here- and one of them is definitely the Inexorable... But we expected something like this." He said with certainty. "We're only a few days from waters usually patrolled by the Olam'den'Vale Navy. This is the pirates last, real chance to stop us."

"They likely have more ships, spread out in a grid to search for us." Poli added, to which the Captain and Ram nodded agreement.

"I would be surprised if they didn't; they would have to cover a large area to prevent us from simply slipping through- and we know his fleet has more ships, anyway." Sterling said softly, a small, confident smile on his lips. "But them being spread out can be used to our advantage, as fighting them isn't our goal-"

Oliver's groan cut through the group, interrupting the Captain. As all eyes turned his way, he slumped against the rail and sighed. "It's going to be a chase, isn't it? We're going to try to slip through and end up being chased by those assholes..."

"I would rather just kill the bastards and be done with it..." He grumbled in annoyance, much to the bemusement of Poli and Lily...

… and the displeasure of the Captain.

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