Swords and axes clashed and clanged against each other. Screams, yells, and shouts covered the area. The many footfalls of charging warriors sounded about. A war raged on in a small port. On one side, a band of pirates assaulting a ship that had recently docked their shores. On the other, a group lead by a red-haired priestess, named Celica, fought back against the pirates.
"Pirates on your six!" Saber, a mercenary working under Celica, warned his "boss".
"Got it!" Celica confirmed, and cut down the charging brute. Though this girl looked demure to some, and had an unmistakable aura of grace and piety around her, this young priestess was more than capable of handling her own in battle.
It was Celica and her party who had been forced to take up arms against the marauding pirates, though not everybody in her party saw it that way. To the redheaded Celica, though, letting the ruthless cutthroats run free and pillage and plunder and take what they wanted without any regard to human life or dignity was enough for her to feel like she needed to do something to stop the madness. Being attacked by pirate ships nearly every step of the way across the sea also helped fuel her allies' need for revenge.
After a long journey to the pirate's headquarters, Celica and others had landed just outside the pirate base. The ensuing battle had started strong, but the leader of the pirates, Barth, had proven to be a formidable foe however, and his units were pushing back Celica and her allies to their ship. It was there that Celica had formed a strategy to defend their vessel for as long as it took. The battle again shifted in the favor of the priestess and her allies, but this could only last for so long, as Barth had called in reinforcements to aid his side. As soon as the other seadogs arrived, Celica's forces were once again outmatched.
Now, the battle raged on with the ship becoming the battlefield. Celica made a hard decision to order Genny inside the cabin of the ship, for the youngest member of her group's own safety. The little girl was reluctant to run and hide at first, but Celica insisted she do so. With their most vulnerable safe and sound, Celica and the others could focus on fighting their hardest. It was odd though, it appeared that no matter how many foes were cut down, more pirates kept showing up to replace their fallen mates. Celica kept her focus and fight admirably, until she heard a most troubling cry.
"Ungh!" The pained cry came from Saber. The mercenary fell to his knees. He'd taken one too many hits, so much so that even a man of his caliber was not able to continue on. Luckily though, he had managed to take his opponent down with him.
"Saber!" Celica cried, rushing to his aid without thinking. One of the invading pirates noticed this reckless action from the girl, and charged at her from behind. Celica only just heard his loud footsteps moments before he was on her, she stopped in her tacks and turned to face the brute.
"Down you go, girl!" He yelled, just before raising his awe high in air to strike down the pretty priestess who been taken by surprise. Celica gasped, and held up her sword to shield herself from the oncoming attack. But suddenly, a pink-haired girl jumped in front of Celica, throwing her arms up and blocking the pirate's axe from connecting to her friend. It was Mae, who Celica had grown quite close with in their time at the monastery.
"Nooo!" Mae screamed. The pirate smirked, and brought down his axe, striking Mae's breastplate and knocking the brave girl to the floor.
"Mae!" Celica cried. Her close friend was sacrificing herself for her sake! Celica grunted and quickly used her sword to thrust a hole in the pirate's side. He looked stunned from the redhead's actions, and slumped forward, remaining on his feet, but coughing up blood. Celica removed her sword, letting her enemy fall to the floor. She then rushed to Mae's side, noting that the blow she'd just taken didn't appear like it had cut through Mae's armor.
"C-Celica..." Mae was wheezing.
"Mae! Are you alright? You shouldn't fight anymore, join Genny in the ship's cabin." Celica told her while holding her.
"Y-Yeah, I can move. Geez..." Mae insisted. Celica nodded, smiling now that her friend seemed to be all right. Mae got up, slowly, and stood to her feet with the assistance of Celica. Mae grinned proudly, though her wincing gave way to how much energy she was using to simply stand there. Mae nevertheless dusted her armor off, "See?" She winked at Celica.
"That's great, Mae! Now get yourself to safety and let us handle the rest, ok?" Celica told her. She could tell Mae was just putting up a front for her not to worry. Mae shook her head in response to the priestess's request.
"No way! Nuh-uh! I'm not going anywhere without you!" Mae said. She bent down, groaning from the aches in her sides, and picked her sword up. Celica looked unsure of how to handle her energetic friend. But Mae gave her leader a confident smirk, and added, "Let me protect you. If we lose our trusty leader here, what kind of crew would we be?"
"Fine. You're right, Mae." Celica closed her eyes, and sighed. Now was no time to get sentimental, not while a big fight was still raging. Celica smiled at Mae, and wondered what she ever did in life to deserve such an amazing friend. She told her, "Go and help Boey, and I'll look after Saber."
"Yes, ma'am!" Mae saluted Celica, then giggled before running off to assist Boey, wherever he was on the ship.
Celica watched her friend leave her side. Mae looked like she truly had undergone a great recovery of that last attack, or maybe it was just a weak enemy, or maybe it was just Mae's ever-hyper personality that drove her onwards. Either way, Mae was off, leaving Celica on her own. The redheaded priestess wasted no time after that, she immediately darted toward the fallen Saber...
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