~Chapter 3- Coppah~

         Under the full moon, Coppah ordered her crew to start hauling their take for the week onto her ship. Ropes anchored her ship to a small beach with an overcast of rock hiding it.

         The shapely Mecarne, Coppah, wore thin clothes over her chest and legs, with several daggers along her hip. She had a distinct bronze tint to her metal-looking flesh. Occasionally, she'd catch her men ogling her. One of the more foolish men under her command was missing an eye, the price he paid for daring to touch her.

         Ekor and some of the other commanders had recently dropped off their hauls to Coppah - it was her job to bring it back to Cook and Chill. Wooden barrels filled with supplies they had stolen were stacked on the sand, while Coppah's crew lugged it onto the ship.

         She narrowed her eyes as she watched them move at a snail's pace, picking up only single barrels at once. For such muscular men, they were pitifully weak. She always advocated to recruit more Mecarne, but Cook and Chill didn't like that - they were harder to reign in. Cook and Chill could more easily intimidate Ralosians and Phantines. Like those Phantines in the Bog Woods.

         Every few years, Cook and Chill sought to expand their enterprise and amass more numbers. After hearing about Ekor's crew falling apart, they decided to expand. When they discovered a weakened Phantine tribe living in the Bog Woods, it seemed like easy pickings.

         Cook and Chill gathered some of their commanders, including Coppah, and attacked. All the Phantine men were detained, and the women fled. Of all the men, their Chief was the most problematic. But once Chill stepped forward, he defeated him in an instant.

         The Phantine men of the tribe were shackled and sent to the Pit. Coppah knew that most of them wouldn't survive. They'd be pitted against each other to find the strongest of the bunch. They'd be broken until they understood their only choice was to obey Cook and Chill. Same as what was done with Ekor many years ago.

         Coppah impatiently tapped her foot in the sand as her crew slowly filled up the ship. She was becoming anxious. She saw a shadow of a bird on the ground, looked up, and saw nothing. She found it odd - why would a sky rider fly around there? Even if it was one of the seagull or pelican riders from Tortusa, it's strange for them to fly around at night.

         She saw silhouettes approaching her ship before disappearing near their supplies. Coppah pulled one of the daggers from her hip and readied it.

         "Everything alright, boss?" One of the members of her crew asked.

         Coppah narrowed her eyes. It appeared as if one of the barrels moved on its own. She threw her dagger - it plunged through the barrel and came out the other side. She circled the barrel and found no one.

         Maybe she was just seeing things.

         "It's nothing," Coppah answered flatly, "Just hurry up and get everything onto the ship."

         Barrels were carried onto the lower deck of the ship for storage. Coppah couldn't wait to set sail; she had this feeling of unknown eyes on her. Brisk sea winds carried them far out onto darkened water. She could've sworn she saw the silhouette of a sky rider lingering above them, but as soon as she checked again, it disappeared.

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         On the bottom level of the ship sat dozens of supply barrels that had been stolen by the bandits. But that was not all they held. One of the barrels began to wriggle about, compelled by what was inside. With a tiny beam of blue light, a hole was created in the barrel and blue eyes peered through it from inside.

         "Looks like the coast is clear," The barrel's cap was pushed open, and Jirro emerged from it. From two other barrels surfaced Nout and Temp. The three had snuck onto Coppah's ship.

         Corri and Aero flew overhead on Rojo. Ruben didn't like the idea of going out to sea; as a Densius, its stone body would sink to the ocean floor if it fell into the water. So, Ruben stayed with Kelvin and Hopper back on land.

          Jirro peered out a window of the ship to get his bearings, "How strong is Coppah?"

         Temp stepped out of his barrel, "Stronger than me, but either of you should be able to handle her."

         "Okay, once we get farther out to sea, we'll take over the ship. Aero and Corri will come down and help us when we do," Jirro explained his plan. He looked at Nout; he was anxious to get moving.

         Jirro waited until an island came into view from the ship's window, "We should take the ship over before we get there," he said.

         Nout needed no further words and proceeded up to the next floor. Some of the crew aboard the ship were playing a game of cards on a wooden table when Nout came into view. They all drew swords and attacked.

         The young Phantine charged at the group and blocked a sword strike with his arm - the blade shattered to pieces. In moments, he had knocked the entire group out, but other crewmen came as reinforcements.

         As always, Jirro fought swiftly and precisely, dodging blows, and attacking when they left openings in their defense. Nout was uncharacteristically aggressive, withstanding blows of the crew and following up with his own harsh strikes. Temp didn't possess the same raw strength that Jirro and Nout had developed, so he fought carefully, using wit and cleverness to outdo the bandits.

         They broke out onto the top deck of the ship. Jirro saw a bronze-colored Mecarne woman standing at the wheel. Coppah.

         Jirro punched up into the air, and a blue stream of light emerged from his fist. He used his Focus Burst like a flare. Moments later, Corri and Aero descended from the sky to help.

         While Jirro continued to knock the crewmen unconscious, he saw Aero confront Coppah directly. She threw a series of daggers at him, but they simply bounced off him. They exchanged a few blows, and after a few quick strikes from Aero, she was down.

         They had taken the ship in moments. Temp took the wheel of the vessel and had it idle in place on the water.

         Nout stomped towards Coppah, cracking the wooden frame of the ship with each step, "Where are my people!?" He shouted at her.

         "Better answer him! I don't think we'll be able to restrain him if he goes off," Temp told Coppah with a smirk.

         Coppah looked bewildered by the kids. No one ever expected individuals this young to be this powerful. "I assume your people were the Phantine living in Bog Woods?"

         Nout nodded.

         Coppah pointed to the nearest island, "They're on that island over there. That's Cook and Chill's base of operation. They're probably detaining them in the Pit."

         Temp's eyes widened, "The Pit is real?"

         Jirro asked, "What's the Pit?"

         "When I worked for Ekor, he said the Pit was a training ground for new recruits that they kidnapped. They'll put them through all these fights to see if they're hardy enough while trying to break their spirit. Ekor was held in the Pit for a few years. One of the few that survived."

         Everyone looked to the nearby island. It had palm trees scattered sporadically around it and a few ships docked at its periphery. Torches were set across the island.

         "Where on the island is the Pit?" Jirro asked.

         Coppah clicked her tongue, "You're an idiot if you actually intend to cross Cook and Chill. If you go onto that island, every last one of you is going to die."

         There was silence among all of them. But despite the threat, they were all still determined to save Nout's people.

         "Corri," Jirro began, "Can you and Aero fly over the island and try to figure out where the Pit is? We'll keep an eye on Coppah while you do."

         "Look for a passage that could go underground, I imagine that's where they'd detain them," Temp added.

         Corri and Aero nodded and mounted Rojo. The red sparrow shot into the sky and soared towards the island.

         "What's the plan once we find the Pit?" Nout asked.

         "We'll want to get in and get out as soon as possible. If Cook and Chill are as dangerous as they sound, we'll want to avoid them," Jirro looked at the island and noticed an especially large ship on the far side, "Maybe we can try and steal that ship. I bet they brought your people here on it."

         "It'll be pretty difficult for us to do all that without running into them."

         "If Cook or Chill show up, Aero, Nout, and I will take care of it. I don't care how strong they are. Between the three of us, we should be able to handle them," Jirro declared.

         Jirro and the others watched as the sparrow flew over the island, and their attention shifted off Coppah. She saw an opening, sprinted away from them, and dived into the waters.

         Jirro rushed to the side of the ship and saw her swim through the water with great speed towards the island.

         "That complicates things."