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The sound of a bell clangs throughout the ship, the peals easily reaching the cabins below deck.
Such a sudden racket is what rouses Keyleth from an otherwise pleasant evening with Vax.
She specifically asked for no interruptions. She should have utilized a silence spell to muffle it out.
What in the hells is going on?
Vax, who was also rudely awoken by the noise, is much more alert than she is. “Wait, is that the warning bell? But that would mean…”
Shortly after, a voice can be heard from the porthole across the way.
”We’re under attack!”
The urgency is not lost on Keyleth as she quickly comes to the same conclusion as her partner.
“Rain check?” She asks with just the right amount of annoyance and resignation.
“Rain check,” he reluctantly agrees as he grabs his daggers while Keyleth takes hold of her staff.
Not enough time for either of them to fully gear up, but at least enough time for them to get clothed before going above deck.
It’s only fair, of course. Part of the agreement of being on this voyage for free was that they had to occasionally pitch in. Thankfully such moments were rare.
A moment like this, though, where they run the risk of being shipwrecked in the middle of the Ozmit Sea?
That warrants an intervention from two Protectors of the Realm.
And so, with only their weapons and wits to arm themselves, Keyleth and Vax make their way to the deck.
The sailors are barely managing to handle what can only be wild bipedal sea creatures. Sahagins, if she recalls from her many studies back home in preparation for her Aramenté.
And these guys were packing steel as well. Tridents with barnacles adorning them.
If this were still early on in her journey, Keyleth would be reluctant, even hesitant, to fight these creatures and keep her wits about her.
Thankfully, traveling with Vox Machina and becoming more seasoned in combat, let alone taking down five chromatic dragons, has made her a force to be reckoned with. She manages to dodge several trident stabs as she skids across the slippery floor, tackling one sahagin to the ground before bringing her staff up and stabbing it with the sharp end.
She then hears the unmistakable sound of metal whistling down upon her head and brings her staff up, blocking the strike. With her free hand, she conjures a flurry of ice knives and blasts the sea creature full force, blood oozing from every entry point.
Again, she has to give credit to her many battles making her experienced. Otherwise, she’d freeze up by now.
Across the deck, Vax is managing to hold his own despite not wearing his armor. Even if he did have it on, it was bad weather for flying. Probably better for him that he left it in the cabin.
The way he moves and dances around each terror from the deep is mesmerizing, especially when he does a stab here and there to wear them down before moving in for the kill.
Her younger self would be appalled, but her current self is… aroused by the way he dispatches his foes.
It wouldn’t be the first time, either.
It’s probably because it’s Vax doing so that she can justify this feeling within her.
But no level of arousal can truly distract her from any danger coming her way as she blocks another sahagin strike.
He can hold his own, and so can I, she thinks to herself as she clocks her attacker hard on the head, simultaneously snapping its neck and full-on sending it back to the open water with a mighty splash.
In the midst of the fray, she locks eyes with Vax. He looks so damn attractive soaked in seawater and daggers dripping viscera. At least it’s not his.
If they get through this, they are due for more fun times down below.
Though that might end up in question as she suddenly spots something rapidly approaching him.
“Vax, look out!”
She points and he looks, and he barely manages to dodge a very large tentacle that could have crushed him.
Unfortunately, that was only the start of their trouble as it begins to curl around, threatening to cut him off.
Vax goes to move, but tragically slips from the ground being thoroughly soaked in water and blood.
Keyleth moves to intervene, but only ends up getting stabbed in the side by another trident.
“Fuck!”
The impact and unexpected shock of pain causes her to plummet. Vax instinctually runs towards her after recovering but is only able to briefly graze her fingertips before the tentacle rears back…
…and wallops into him, sending him careening towards the railing…
…which ends up breaking from the sheer impact.
“VAX!” Keyleth screams as with the lack of railing to support him, the Champion of Ravens begins to fall overboard.
Thankfully he had recovered enough of his senses to reach out and stab the deck, holding him in place for the time being.
By that point, the tentacled beast emerges from below the sea.
A nightmarishly large squid-like creature that easily dwarfs the entire ship.
Another tentacle is already reaching for Vax, who is slowly climbing his way up with his daggers. He’s not going to make it in time.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Keyleth roars out, not in Common but in Primordial. And for very good reason.
The air starts to turn a lot warmer in spite of the cold rain.
The sahagins all turn in unison towards the source of heat that is only getting hotter.
Hot with rage, with anger, with just the right level of vengeful fury at a monster that dared to lay its inky suction cups on the love of her life.
In what could only be a blink of an eye, Keyleth’s form changes almost instantly. From a rain-soaked plainclothes half-elf covered in battle scars and a fresh trident wound… to a mighty fire elemental that causes all the moisture around her to evaporate into steam.
She stretches out her arms and lets out a mighty gout of flame towards the colossal cephalopod. The impact leaves its rubbery skin scorched and blackened.
Such a display of power from a true force of nature causes the creature to immediately flee in terror.
Such is the law of the world. Survival of the fittest.
Keyleth’s form shifts back in another instant flash. The steam billowing across the deck blends with the remaining rain, creating an eerie fog.
She then turns her head, eyes still orange-white from her fiery rage.
It has the expected effect of scaring the shit out of every sahagin still alive and they all flee the ship, diving back to the deep in terror.
If she wanted to, she could have gone down there herself and hunted them all.
But the sound of a tired and hurting half-elf barely making his way back up is what snaps her out of her anger.
Keyleth runs towards Vax and helps him make the last bit of effort needed to pull himself up, helping him sit against a part of the railing that’s still standing.
“You okay?” She asks as she takes stock of his injuries.
Apart from what has to be several bruised ribs and a few trident stab wounds, he doesn’t seem that worse for wear.
The mark on his wrist is the same as before, thankfully, and of course it’s openly exposed since he’s not wearing a fresh bandage cast or a bracer from the Deathwalker’s Ward.
Vax places a hand on Keyleth’s cheek. “I’m okay, love. But… you don’t look good yourself.”
“Huh?”
It’s only now that she finally takes notice of her own state.
Apparently it wasn’t just the one trident stab from earlier. In her own fugue state during combat, she had taken quite a few hits.
And of course, in just her plain sleep clothes, her much older scars are quite visible through the thin material. Namely, the necromantic scarring from Whitestone when she had shielded Vex from Delilah and the giant tooth marks from Umbrasyl’s jaws, a memento of their first long-term victory over the Chroma Conclave.
And it’s only now that the adrenaline rush from the battle weakens and the fatigue and delirium from blood loss catches up with her.
“Hey!” Vax manages to catch her before she lands onto the deck. He then pulls her up and flush with his own body, holding her close in an embrace. “Take it easy, you really overdid it.”
“Hmph.” Keyleth may be hurting but she is still very lucid as she looks Vax in the eye. “You’re not untouchable yourself.”
The Champion shakes his head. “Oh, Kiki…”
He pulls her in for a kiss before helping her into a sitting position next to him.
At last, the storm clouds begin to part and the sun is beginning to crest the horizon. Was it really that early in the morning right now?
She doesn’t really care right now as the sailors begin cleaning the deck and seeing to any repairs that need to be done.
Keyleth does take stock of the sails above her. Miraculously, they didn’t catch fire from her brief transformation.
She should be more cognizant of her surroundings next time.
Though hopefully there won’t be a next time where she has to fight sea creatures to earn a free trip on a boat.
After some time, Captain Adella walks up and helps them back to their cabin, repeatedly offering her thanks for their swift action in defense of her vessel.
It was nothing, Keyleth thinks to herself. Vax, on the other hand, says it out loud.
There are more words shared between the three of them, something about Vesrah still about six days away at their present course and speed.
But Keyleth is already nodding off.
She’s tired.
And she’s not quite done having fun with her partner.
Vax politely says farewell to the captain who then heads above deck.
“Now then…”
“Where were we?”
Vax hoists Keyleth up into his arms. And as they cross the threshold, Keyleth conjures a gust of wind to shut the door.