Katherine gripped her sword tightly as the ship began to quickly gain on the smaller merchant ship. She heard a distant yell from the other ships crow's nest, and the deck was immediately swarmed with the crew. Unsheathing her sword, she turned to her crew. Many of them already had their swords drawn, and she grinned slightly.

"Try an' keep the casualties to a minimum!" She called out, watching as most of them nodded. "Lady Ianite asked for the only captive to be the champion, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Captain." Rupert smiled at her and jokingly saluted, before running to the front of the boat. He would be leading the attack on the Captain and crew of the ship, so that control could be easily gained over the other ship. Katherine would have to incapacitate the champion, a task that she was unsure that she could fulfil. Letting out a breath, she tried to calm herself down. There would be no use in getting all worked up and letting her emotions getting in the way of the task at hand. This was their only chance.

The deck had only a few crewmates on it, all with their weapons drawn. Katherine waited a moment, while her crew leapt onboard of the smaller ship, before going on herself. She landed with a dull thud, glancing around at the crew of this ship. None of them seems particularly out of the ordinary. She would have to keep looking.

"Captain, go find the champion!" One of her crewmates yelled out, disarming the man he was fighting with easily. She nodded back to him, before glancing around the main deck of the ship. What she assumed was the mess hall door was wide open, and a few more members of the crew were inside. Other than that, she could only see one other door that was closed off. At least she could rule out this room if the champion wasn't inside.

Making her way to the closed door, Katherine prodded a little at the closed door. To her supervise, it moved open slightly, and she could hear someone moving around inside. Readying her sword, she carefully pushed open the door with the tip of her sword and made her way inside.

-

After the initial shock wore off, Tom rushed into his room. If these pirates attacked the ship, he had to be able to defend himself. He was Dianite's champion, after all. He scrambled around, trying to find his sword. Where had he lost the damned thing? Tom froze, hearing the sounds of many people dropping onto the wooden planks of the deck.

"Captain, go find the champion!" A voice yelled outside of his door. He assumed that there was a response to the shout, but he couldn't hear one over the sounds of fighting, metal hitting metal. They were here for him. Quickly, he made his way across the room and began rummaging through the dresser, frantically looking for his sword. This ability to get things lost in a span of days was what got Tom in trouble with Dianite the most. That, and his uncanny ability to cause trouble anywhere. He was so caught up in his search that he didn't hear the door creak open behind him.

Quiet footsteps approached Tom from behind, and he was only made aware of their presence by the sword tip that pressed against the back of his neck. He froze, hands still inside of his dresser drawer. Katherine let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Drop your weapon and turn around." She commanded, watching as the man pulled his hands out of the drawer and turned to face her, hands in front of him to show her that he was unarmed. The first thing she noticed about him was his skin. It had a slight green tint to it, making him look like the undead that roamed the world at night. He swallowed as she pressed the tip of her sword to his chest, near his heart. At this point, she had very little doubt that this was Dianite's champion. He stuck out like a sore thumb. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tom." He said, eyes darting from her to the door where shouts could still be heard. Katherine pressed a little harder into his chest and he took a step back, his attention back to her. "What are you doing here?" Katherine frowned at Tom's question. If he was the champion, surely he would know why pirates flying Ianite's colours were boarding the ship. Maybe he was playing dumb?

"I think you know, champion." She replied, scowling a little. Tom's face went slack, and his eyes widened. Katherine was sure if he had a normal skin tone his face would have drained of colour at the mention of him being a champion. His mouth opened and closed for a few moments, as his mind scrambled at the knowledge that she knew who he was.

"I- How did you-" Tom was interrupted by Rupert appearing at the door, a mad grin on his face.

"The place is secured, Captain. This the champion? He sure looks like it." Rupert voiced, leaning against the door frame with a grin still on his face. "Though he also looks a bit too soft to be a champion, maybe we've got the wrong guy?" Tom scowled at Rupert. He mumbled something under his breath and Katherine shook her head. These two were going to fight, and, knowing the rest of the crew, they would probably react the same as Rupert. Rupert opened his mouth to reply, but Katherine was quick enough to cut him off.

"Skipper, stop." Katherine gave him a precautionary look, to which Rupert sighed and nodded. Glancing back to Tom, she knew that they had to leave soon. Backup for the merchant ship could be called, and they would be in a lot of trouble if that were to happen. "Champion," She jerked her head towards the door. "That way. Keep your hands where I can see 'em." Nodding, Tom began to walk towards the door, keeping his hands in front of him. Once he was near enough to the door, Rupert grabbed one of his arms just above the elbow, forcefully guiding him onto the deck. Re-sheathing her sword, Katherine followed behind the two of them, sighing when she got back onto the deck. She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. They had the champion, Tom, now, and all they needed to do was to make the week-long journey back to Ianarea. Back home.

Hearing some scuffling, she turned to see that Rupert and another member of their crew had forced Tom's hand together and were binding them together with rope. The champion looked thoroughly annoyed with his treatment. Smiling slightly, Katherine turned her attention to the crew of the merchant ship.

"We've got what we came for, and we'll be leaving your ship as soon as the champion gets onboard ours." She said, crossing hers arms over her chest. "Any objections?" Katherine watched as the crew glanced at each other and shook their heads, realizing that the Ianitee's outnumbered them at least 2-1. Nodding, Katherine started making her way to the plank that would serve as their way back onto the ship. "Good." She murmured to herself as she carefully crossed the bridge.

"This is Dianite's champion?" As soon as Katherine got on board she heard Jordan before she saw him. She saw that he was in front of the champion, eyeing him curiously. The other man stared back at him, eyes narrowed slightly. She made her way towards them, wanting to protect Jordan in case something went wrong.

"That's me. It's much easier to call me Tom though." Tom replied, eyes darting up and down Jordan's bandaged chest. "You should consider always being shirtless. It's a good look for you." Jordan coughed, his face heating up as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, glancing away.

"Thanks... I guess?" Katherine raised her eyebrows at the remark. Normally captured people tended to clam up when their captors tried to talk to them, but Tom was blatantly flirting with Jordan. This was new.

"You alright Jordan?" Katherine asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Jordan jumped a little, seemingly not noticing that she had been standing there.

"Y...Yeah I'm good." He replied, his face still somewhat red. Jordan, no matter how suave he tried to be, was always a blushing mess when it came to compliments; Katherine knew this from experience. "Where will he be staying, again?" Jordan asked, trying to change the subject. "Cause I thought he'd be with the crew, but I dunno if that's such a great idea anymore. He kind of made a few of them mad." Katherine raised her eyebrows at Tom, who merely shrugged.

"It's what I do best." He stated, giving the two of them a small smirk.

"We should feed him to the sharks." Rupert muttered as he passed by, giving Tom a dirty look. Tom responded with a look of his own, the smirk turning into a scowl. Katherine rolled her eyes at her brother and sighed.

"We do have that specific holding cell for this kind of thing, Jordan." She said, Jordan nodding in agreement as she spoke.

"Yeah, that'll work I guess." Jordan replied, rubbing his chest slightly. "Did you wanna take him there of should I..." Katherine shook her head.

"You're hurting, Jordan. I'll do it. Plus, I've already got the key." Katherine answered, before turning her attention to Tom. "Come on. This way." Tom walked slightly behind Katherine, and before long they were in front of a cell. It was near the bottom of the ship, and really only contained a wooden bench. There were bars instead of walls for two of the walls, one of them with a door and a large padlock. Retrieving the key from her pocket, she opened the metal door, watching as Tom walked into what would be his new living quarters for a week. She closed the doors behind him, making sure they were fully locked before motioning him over. "Oi, Tom." Glancing at her, Tom made his way over to her. When she pulled out a knife he stepped back a few steps.

"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere near that." He said, pointing at the knife. Rolling her eyes, Katherine replied.

"It's for your hands. You do want to have them free, right?" Katherine, raised her eyebrows at him, pointing at his hands. Sighing, Tom made his way over to the bars, sticking his bound hands as close to her as he could get. Katherine made sure that she wasn't going to cut him and got to work at sawing through the ropes. It only took a few moments before the ropes fell to the floor and Tom let out a sigh of relief, rubbing the tender marks on his wrists.

"Thanks, Captain." He said, still holding one of his wrists. Katherine smiled, before nodding slightly.

"No problem. Breakfasts at eight, lunch is at noon and dinners at seven. Someone'll come down with your meal." Tom nodded thoughtfully. "Any questions?" Shaking his head, Tom walked over to the bench in his cell. "Alright. Just holler if you need something, though depending on the person you might not actually get it." There was a quiet laugh from the champion and Katherine smiled as she saw the small smile that had crept onto Tom's face. She liked his smile, and his laugh. She should make him laugh more.

"I will." Tom replied, biting his lip once he realized that he was smiling like an idiot. A pretty girl tells a joke and now he can't stop smiling? Come on Tom, get it together. He watched her leave, before he started to take of his jacket. It was sweltering down here, and he was going to suffocate in it. Folding it gently, he placed it at one end of the bench, before lying down with his head on it. Sleeping would make this go by faster, and he would at least be able to contact Dianite when he woke up. Feeling worn out from the events of the day, Tom let himself fall asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship as it made its way to Ianarea.

(Yay first actual chapter! I wrote so much ore of this than I though I would lol. Plus I added what was going to be Chapter 2 in this. I think it fits better here tbh.)