The Island of Many Fates

Artemis panted, still laughing. "That was better than I expected. Most excellent." He re-entered the cabin and sat down next to Axelle again, bursting with macabre mirth and running his hand across his bloody sword.

Axelle stared. "You're chipper. Good fight?" She asked rhetorically. Rolling her eyes, she threw a piece of cloth at him. "That's gross, wipe it off."

Richard wiped his blade off with the inside of his robe. He sheathed it and walked back into the cabin. David sighed, and also walked back into the cabin.

Artemis looked at Axelle, eyes widening, as if he had just remembered what had had taken place before the fight. "Tch. My blade enjoys the blood." He sighed. "Do I have to?"

Axelle nodded. "Of course you do."

Artemis frowned, but wiped his sword's blade clean. He then realized what he was doing, and muttered something about girls getting into his head and making him do stupid things. "I hadn't wiped my blade for over seven years."

Axelle grinned. "Another to scratch off that list of yours."

Artemis blushed slightly. Stop blushing, you moron! "You remember that? Uh...uh..." Tongue-tied again.

Axelle smiled and winked. "Of course I do." She leaned back and stretched her arms out.

Kasam strode back into the cabin. The rest of his crew followed him silently. Anris kept a gentle grip on Tason's arm for guidance, while Tason was nearly foaming at the mouth with battle-rage. Kasam stopped by Cora, and knelt to speak to her. She nodded up at him solemnly, and he stood again, returning to his place by the porthole.

David looked confused. "Why did they feel the urge to attack us? What had we done?"

He sat on the floor with his back to the floor, resting his arm on his upraised knee.

"Oh." Artemis looked flustered, and at loss for anything to say. "Erm.."

Axelle looked at Artemis. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

"Gah." Original. Artemis stared at Axelle. "Um..." He shook his head. "What could I say?"

"I dunno." Axelle shrugged. "Something interesting."

"Like what? You've already proven that nothing I say is good enough." Artemis looked into her eyes. "Why waste my time? You tell me something instead. Anything."

"You're a silly boy." Axelle said. "Now you."

"You're an annoying girl," said Artemis, clearly enjoying their pointless exchange. "Your turn."

Axelle crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I'm a pirate princess." She said jokingly.

Kasam turned his upper body and looked at David.

"David, we are bound for the Island of Many Fates. There are many guardians of that place. The storm is the first guardian. The Sea Folk are the second guardians. The third guardian is the line of underwater rocks that surround the island. My charts have guided us through the worst of the first guardian, our blades have conquered the second guardians, and my charts will once again bring us to victory when we meet the third guardian."

He pointed at the porthole. Already the skies were lightening, and the rocking of the ship was subsiding.

"This is the easy party. Once we make land, then it gets hard."

Artemis didn't know whether to laugh or kill himself. That...was a joke? "No you aren't," he said. "I'd be swooning already if you were," he muttered. One random joke deserves another. Artemis started feeling faint. What? That was a joke. I'm not actually going to...

Axelle laughed. "You're funny."

Artemis was tempted to stab his leg with his sword. Instead, he turned to Kasam. "So the storm is over? Can we go back to our rooms now?"

"Only if you two both go to your quarters, and you stay there." Kasam said.

Axelle rolled her eyes. "Whatever."