The ship was in for the worse.

It was pretty much obvious that it had surely seen so many better days than the one which it was in. And not only that, it was being supersped, through the dreary clouds that had formed in the sky while transporting a not so merry group of mixed race on it.

It was the ship which had just been used in the battle against the larger CFR ship which had been in order to recover the ship and then to stop the ex captain of the CFR, bringing her to books. However, they had given it their all, the result being the reason why they all had their faces solemn even as they were cleared of any antagonist.

At least for now.

The sails of the ship rocked into space, spearing through the clouds, while the blue skinned Hadjan male stood, holding one of the beams while looking far into the distance.

After squinting that far and not being satisfied with what he saw or whatever he was looking for, he shook his head in disappointment and then let his body drop down.

At that same time, his lips flickered, even as the hood on his shoulders flapped into the wind.

Simultaneously, a shield for light appeared just underneath his feet, the impact of it causing the Hadjan to bend his knees even as he dropped faster to the almost destroyed deck of the ship.

Once down, he heaved and then patted his knees carefully while shaking his head once more. He looked on to the steering wheel of the ship which was just at the cockpit, being manned by Hana and then grimaced at the way she grimaced too.

Usually, that would be something to laugh about but not now. It wasn't the time for that. For while he had gone to maintain a lookout post out there, on the sails, he had Hana take over the handling of the steering wheel. She had promptly agreed, even when she knew that it would not be convenient for her. There was literally a photon boost of energy blazing out at the stern of the ship so powerful that it could literally incinerate anyone who touched it.

Yet, Hana had chosen to mann the steering, despite the heat that erupted out from the continuous combustion of photon energy as a speed engine to the ship.

All around the ship, bits and pieces of the hull gave way, melting and churning down into chunks of burnt out masses as they could not hold out against the energy of the technique he used. It was that powerful and something which he knew he would not be able to do on a normal day, unless of course the recent events had not happened.

It was because of Bayo he had been able to maintain some kind of control over the two laws, a feat which would not be ordinarily possible. It would be considered a fairy tale but even so, he was able to hold a large-scale technique continuously at bay, while using the energy from the opposing demonic law in him as fuel. The more the energies of light and darkness rejected themselves, the more he used the discordant pieces to fuel the technique that was currently moving their ship at hyper speed.

While it was fun and all, Shin knew it was only a matter of time before his body gave way. But until then, he had to act like he was fine. After all, If it was Bayo who was out here, Bayo would do the unthinkable to pull the most unimaginable feats out in seconds. He had to pay his own dues here.

KRASHHHHH!

Another chunk of the hull fell off but this time, it went down with the pointed hull of the ship, making it look like they were travelling in a blunt nosed ship. Luckily for them, there was no fashion event around so the bad shape of their rickety ship could very much be ignored. And even if there was, it was not something which they would take into account, based on the urgency that they were travelling with anyways.

He moved closer to the cockpit now when he heard a frustrated stomp of boots coming from behind him. Knowing where it came from, he turned around, looking at the frustrated and haggard looking figure of Ronke, the familiar Captain of sorts.

She stomped her right foot now, one more time as she shook her head at Shin , her eyes moistening. Shin did not need to be told what was on her mind, for behind her, on what remained of the bed just past the companionway was the frail figure of Bayo. And as each and every second passed, the more his body turned pale as if it was going almost transparent.

For lack of better words, Shin knew that this could only be that Bayo was dying. It was just a matter of time for him to finally kick the bucket.

“He used to have a trump card of coming out of things like this. I don't know why this is an issue for him, Shin." Ronke said, seeing that he was looking past her to the cabin.

“Maybe this really wrecked him. '' Shin replied absentmindedly as he turned to face Ronke by his side.

Ronke herself was not doing too good. Her body is in terrible shape and the smell? She smelt of burning sulfur, so strong that Shin had to deliberately look away from her to catch fresh breaths of air. Her gown was tattered, the result of being singed and burnt by the fire to the previous encounter out here. The only part of her that was untouched by the fire was the area around her privates, as if that was deliberately intended from the start, anyways.

“Look, he will be fine. Bayo has a way of turning the worst of situations around like it was not a problem the first time. Is that not why he is the First born?’ Sin said, trying as much to hope as he could to cheer Ronke up.

It was Ronke who was in charge of their route and it would not make for her to believe that Bayo could not be saved.

It was the vestige of a leader, to believe that everything would turn out right even when it was in the worst case scenario. Perhaps, who knew, if Ronke remained strong in this matter, then the Orisha of luck may once more sprinkle some good fortune on their way.

“I had that thought too. But each and every time, his body deteriorates. Look at him.” Ronke said, throwing a shaky left hand back at the almost destroyed cabin.

Her moistened eyes slowly ahd eyelids cover them for a split second, resulting in some balls of tears running down the breadth of her cheek.

Seeing this, made Shin alarmed now as he sucked in air, moving closer to her and ignoring the taste of burnt air that was about her. Only for him to stop then, because just then a random burst of reddish energy erupted from his body. He was still maintaining the construct for the Photon Blast technique which was moving the ship at hyperspeed. That meant that he was going to be covered in his cloak of energy for the time being and in that state, he was not sure if moving closer to her was a great idea.

Who knew what would happen next? After all, even dragons were not entirely immune to fire.

“You have to be strong, Ronke. It's not like he is dead, right? He isn't. We all know what happens when we spirit beings die, our body vanishes into energy almost immediately unless some other means have been applied. Which does not apply here yet. Bayo is still here, intact in flesh.” Shin paused, taking one look that way at the cabin. “Maybe he is fighting it.” He muttered.

“Or maybe… maybe he is just tired of fighting. What if his efforts are not enough, Shin? What would happen? Would I lose him too?” Ronke said, using her hands to smear off the tears on her face.

“Hey, you guys... Did you not mention that if we saw anything festive, right? That it was an indication that we have gotten to? “ Hana suddenly called after being quiet in the cockpit.

She was leaning to the left side while the two figures in front of her turned at her in confusion.

“Wait.. what?” Ronke blinked before coming into reality of what was said. “Yes, yes, That is correct. It is about this time that they are having their masquerade festival so it would…” Ronke mumbled as she dashed off to the portside of the ship. “Shin… Kill the boost!”

“Wait… No!” It was Shin’s time to be startled as even more of the ship fell to brittle bits. ‘If that technique dies off now, the next thing that would happen is that we would all crash land to the ground. No warnings.” He complained.

“Just do it!” Ronke fired back, observing the scene before her which was somewhat hard considering how fast they were moving. “I will do my best to slow the ship.” Ronke said, stomping her leg as a wreath of wind suddenly enveloped the entire ship now, creating resistance to the still burning blast of energy behind the ship at the stern side.

Shin stomped his feet now, steelling his mind as he bit down into his lower lips. The wind sparked with random bursts of energy now as a reddish aura cloaked him entirely. He heaved now, gritting his teeth as he tried to stabilize the rioting law of light reacting to the law of wrath within him. In a flash, his eyes reddened, a gust of blood red aura exploding out in all places.

Time stopped for the brief moment as they all stopped to recollect themselves, Hana gripping hard to the steering wheel as she spun it around forcibly to return back to the land they had just sped past. The clouds drifted further away from the ship, providing a clearer view of the somewhat festive town with balloon decorations and shiny linen over wires here and there. Before anything else could happen., time clicked and….

KRAKAKAAAABBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!

A gust of explosion whiplashed through the entire ship, ripping the decking into half while the rest of it began to disintegrate to bits.

Ronke yelled out, her eyes turning pure white now as she strained.

Gusts of winds circled across the ship violently as some bandaid that sought to restore the ship back together. Hana on her own part had been blown further, the Hadjan only caught by the hand of Shin who, at the same time was hovering over the paled out body of Bayo.

How he had gotten Bayo out from the cabin was unclear but then not even Hana questioned it.

She brought out her sword and then stabbed it down to the shattered decking using it as an anchor.

“NNnnnnngghhh…. We… we... w-e are…. We are… g-going to crassshhhhhhh!” Ronke groaned, her hands spread out wind as she conjured the forces of the wind to form a cradling cushion over the shattered ship, the only thing which was still holding the ship back in shape.

“Yes, pretty much obvious. You don't just stop a high scale technique like mine suddenly and expect no backlash.” Shin grumbled.

“S-stay close…” Ronke rumbled out now as she bent over, the hull of the ship dropping down rapidly to the town below.

Her chest rumbled now, a needing sensation rolling out a wave of pain through there. She had pushed through to her limits back then in the fight against the huntress and now again, she way out here, straining out. Her vision went blurry until she blinked, biting her lower lip and willing her spirit to still stand firm. She would not allow herself to be ousted by this.

Not when she had to save Bayo and the new family which she had come to . She would give it all she had.

The ship bounced against something below it before then skidding down to ground. Or at least, that was what she felt as she fell forward, a heavy gasp expelling out from her lungs. She was spent but then it was worth it.

They were in Fairweather. Finally!

//@sir_impeccable