To Scare a Monster

Morn finished the last morsels of his dinner then stood from the table, bags in hand. His two nights at the inn were up, he felt well rested. His fatigue and aching was yet to completely disappear, but it wouldn't affect his performance, he was ready.

Morn made his way out of the inn, thanking the innkeeper as he left. By the time the sun was balanced on the horizon, he made it to the main road. There, he continued until he reached a dense thicket at the edge of the road. Manoeuvring carefully so as to not get caught on the bushes, Morn hid in the dense treeline and began to change into his 'Rain outfit' that he had retrieved earlier in the day.

After folding his normal clothes and putting them in his pack, Morn set off, heading for the Florist's cabin. Tonight, it would Rain.

***

In a moonlit meadow, a certain muscular pirate stood watch over the Florist's cabin. At some point in the night, when the sun had fully sunk below the horizon, giving way to moonlight, he grew incredibly cold. It was as if the night air was nipping at his skin.

The pirate entered the cabin, determined to continue keeping watch from the warmth of the cabin. As soon he closed the door behind him, he suddenly felt a warmth wash over him.

"Ah, that's more like it."

The pirate basked in the warmth of the interior, sitting alone in a chair by the entrance, lit by a single lantern. As he lay back in the chair, the comforting warmth slowly dissipated, taken over by the same chilling feeling as the outside air.

"Damnit... What's with the weather tonight!"

The pirate held his lantern close, hoping to abate the chilling air, but it did little to stop the cold. A freezing, numbing chill permeated the cabin. Feeling as if he would freeze to death, the pirate grew panicked, rushing to the gas fireplace. He quickly fiddled with the knob that controlled the gas supply, then listened closely as he prepared to strike a match.

However, the familiar hiss of the gas did not come. With the freezing feeling sinking into his very bones, the pirate grew panicked and rushed to the kitchen, attempting to turn on the gas stove, yet once again it was silent- no gas.

Now in a state of immense panic as his fingers and toes felt as if they would freeze, the pirate rushed to the supply of lanterns and set up as many as he could around him, turning them on. First lantern, no gas, second lantern, no gas, third lantern, no gas, fourth... fifth... tenth lantern, no gas... eleventh... a hissing sound filled the pirates ears, giving him hope at combatting the cold. The lantern worked!

The pirate fumbled in his pockets with great difficulty, his hands feeling as if they were numb. After nearly half a minute, the pirate managed to remove a match.

Strike- strike- strike- hissss...

An explosion rung out, flames filled the living room in an instant, incinerating the freezing pirate in an instant. The sturdy cabin remained intact, though barely. The windows shattered, sending glass flying into the night. The pirates sleeping in the next room were awoken by a flash of light, then burning scorching heat.

Though the insulated walls managed to protect them from the heat, they did little to stop the splinters from the exploding door. The wood fragments shot into many of the pirates, causing light wounds in most, but killing several instantly.

Flames burned, licking the walls of the cabin, charring them to match the night sky. At the same time upstairs, the Florist shot awake as flames shot into his room through cracks in the floor. Thankfully, his bed protected him, from the initial blast, though the flames latched onto the ground, burning madly as they made their way up the walls. Soon, the cabin was engulfed in fire.

The Florist, terrified of the flames, launched himself from the nearest window. A bed of moss rose from the ground outside, cushioning his fall. The pirate rolled from his landing, rising to his feet and sprinting to the edge of the clearing. Only when he was far from the flames did he stop to look around.

The cabin was entirely enveloped by the flames. His crew was shambling towards him, climbing out of the window of their sleeping quarters, noticeably missing several members. Of the eight people who were at the cabin besides him, only 5 survived the explosion. Among them was his first mate, Gary.

When Gary and the other four pirates arrived at his side, they looked to him waiting for orders. Finally calmed down from his fear of flames, the Florist took a deep breath and addressed his crew.

"I doubt this was an accident, someone must have been targeting one of us. For now, we need to get to the dock and meet up with the rest of the crew."

Without waiting for his crew to respond, the Florist marched down the path. Vaihniir poured from his pant legs into the soil, stretching and connecting with the roots of the nearby plants. The forest undergrowth parted before the Florist and closed behind him and his crew who were following quickly behind. This prevented anyone from easily tailing them.

The crew marched swiftly through the forest, taking a direct route to the dock rather than following the road where they could be easily ambushed. The forest was the Florist's most advantageous terrain. It would be difficult for anyone to attack them while they travelled, so long as he kept his Vaihn spell active.

As they walked, Gary approached the Florist and whispered to him.

"Boss, what about the slaves, we just left them at the cabin."

The Florist didn't stop, continuing his path as he responded.

"The cellar was heavily reinforced, it should have survived the explosion and the flames. The ventilation should also keep them alive. Anyway, if they die- then we only have to find more. If they survive, we can come back for them in the daylight with the whole crew."

Gary nodded, it made sense. After all, they could just find more people to steal, but they could only do so if they survived their potential attackers first. As he pondered the captain's reply, he thought of another issue.

"Boss, who exactly do you think attacked us? Do you think it has anything to do with that monster?"

The Florist shrugged, he was wondering the same thing.

"Could be anyone, we make a lot of enemies after all. But if I had to take a wild guess, I would say that crazy captain, Rain. He slaughtered all of Franta's crew by himself, and Tyrvoh isn't too far from here. Maybe he took a liking to my bounty and decided to try his luck, though fire doesn't seem to be his style. Either it's a coincidence, or the person who attacked us knows my fear of fire- which leads me to believe its someone who knows me well. Either way, I'd rather not fight our attackers. It's best if we flee Palk and go to a major city or a small island."

The first mate remained silent, agreeing with his boss. He too would rather not fight any of The Florist's enemies, or that crazy Rain character. Whatever the case, he kept his hand on his revolver, his finger on the trigger well at all times, ready to fire at a moment's notice. This time, he wouldn't run away from danger, he would confront it! His eyes scanned the darkness, resolve setting in. If anything attacked them, he would kill it!

Soon, he began to hear sounds of rain. A spark of fear flitted through his mind as he the sound reminded him of Captain Rain. Why did it have to rain tonight of all nights?

After several minutes, amongst the sound of rain on the canopy, he heard occasional movements, too loud to be an animal, perhaps even too loud to be a human... He slowly moved his finger from the trigger well to the trigger, raising his revolver higher so that he could aim in a blink of an eye.

Movement flashed through his peripherals on his right side! Nervous, he quicky alerted his captain.

"Boss! There's something moving on the right!"

The Florist paused, using his Vaihn spell to move the forest further back, making a bubble around him. He walked slowly to the edge of the clearing, a sabre in hand, his mind ready to attack any ambushers with the full force of his Vaihn spell. He focused entirely on the area in front of him, knowing his crew would watch his back.

Behind him, Gray stood with his revolver raised and aimed in on the bushes. In a single moment, when he blinked, his captain had moved further to his right than expected.

'That's weird..." Gray thought, though he quickly wrote it off as his nerves getting the better of him.

Suddenly, a creature emerged from the bushes to the left of his boss! Right where his boss had been standing only moments prior. Though he hesitated for a moment, Gray quickly swung his revolver towards the monster, aiming directly at head height.

"Watchout, captain! On your left!"

Gray locked his arms and began to pull the trigger. 'I'm not afraid of you this time, Monster!'

Gray pulled the trigger. Bang! The monster fell to the ground, but Gray didn't stop. He continued firing his revolver into the fallen monster until all of the cylinders were empty of gas and bullet. He smiled widely, excited at having overcome his fear.

"Boss, I got it- Boss!" Gray's excitement quickly turned to horror as his boss faded from his vision, reappearing in place of the monster's corpse.

The Florist's head had been completely obliterated... by him! He'd killed his own Boss. Before he even had a moment to consider what had happened, a clicking sound echoed behind him, and his own head was turned to a fine mist. Behind him, the hallucination version of Morn slowly evaporated, leaving no trace.

The remaining crew stood completely still in shock. Their two leaders had died in the span of several seconds, the Captain by the first mate's hand, and Gray in an even more sudden and unexpected way, his head exploding as if by its own will.