Hero landing
-random fisherman pov-
It was quiet a fine vessel that our new lord lent to fish the waters around sea dragon point, fast, sturdy and with plenty of room below deck to store our bounty's of the day out of the sun.
It was an excellent day fishing with the rest of the crew, as we kept pulling in net after net we soon realised just how much more fish we actually caught compared to a normal day.
After discussing it for awhile we came around to the fact that a single day trip fishing with this ship could feed the whole town for close to a week…..gods be good that was a difference.
There was no constant worry about the ship being tipped because of the waves outside the break water being too big or strong….it was truely a blessing to fish on this ship…
That was until we spotted 3 iron born ships coming our way, and judging by the direction of their heading they just raided bear island, so I can only assume they had thralls and salt wives on board aplenty..
This morning before we launched for the day, we removed the kraken from the main sails as none of us wanted to sail with that banner over our heads….and that turned out to be what attracted the pirates to us….and unluckily we wouldn't be able to make it back to sea dragon point before they caught up to us, call them what you will, but those squids know their way around a ship…and being more familiar than us, they would catch up to us in less than an hour…
We could barely make out the coast….we would make it close but not close enough to request reinforcement from lord Fenris…. Fate can truely be cruel…everything was just starting to turn around as he appeared, I just wish I could have been there to see what he accomplishes….
But suddenly one of our crew shouts.
"Look there! Down in the water!! Something is coming our way! I can't tell what it is but it's moving fast!"
Everyone's very on edge about the fact we are about to meet 3 ships full of likely very angry iron born for us being on one of their ships…
But even still everyone ran to the rails of the ship to see what the man had seen….and it was…..i-I'm not sure what I'm looking at….it's still quiet far away but it's closing in fast.
We all watched it for a bit of a distraction from the iron born blight about to be set upon us….but as we watched this mysterious…thing…. get closer and closer it started to become clearer and clearer….and It seems fate had one last cruel joke to play upon us poor simple folk…..an illusion of our new lord swimming toward us at speeds no human could hope to swim so far away from the shore….
They say in your last minutes you see what you want to see, and it seems we all wanted to see our new lord….if only it were true…
But all of a sudden the boat shuttered a bit like it was hit with a large impact and the it tilted slightly to the side….and all of a sudden a large hand it grabbing the rails from the side of the boat….
By the gods!
It wasn't an illusion!?
Lord Fenris pulled himself onto the deck….completely naked for some reason…he seem slightly bent over and rubbing his legs?
"Wheeeewww!…..i seemed to have jumped the gun there a bit….I did not respect the effort required of trying to keep 500 kilos of Demi god muscle above water….. I nearly drowned few a times there….swimming for an hour was more exhausting then sprinting full speed loaded down all night…."
It's really him!! How is this possible!?
" hey fellas, i was getting the gear ready to upgrade the boat when you got back and noticed you were escorting some of my new new ships back home and thought I'd stop in to see how it's going"
Everyone, my included were shocked into silence at his arrival and casual dismissal of the 3 iron born ships barring down on us….and how did he see the ship from so far away? We can barely see the shore from here…and he swam all this way?
" alright guys here's the plan, keep sailing back for sea dragon point as you are now, but when they get a little closer slow the ship down so I can jump ship to start...negotiations"
I would normally call him a mad man….But I was watching when he fought the ironborn attacking our village….if you can even call it a fight….
" but we have one major problem…."
He spoke that last part in a grim tone…..he's probably to tired from swimming out here to try and rescue us…..we will have to find a way to fight them off and protect lord Fenris…
Before I could try and think up a plan to stall the iron born ships someone asked
" what's the problem m'lord?"
" i don't have enough men to man all these ships that keep showing up on my door….it just feels like a waste of resources not having people to sail them"
That's his issue? Not enough people to man the ships he keeps stealing from the iron born?
" ah well, not the worst of problems I supposed, it should be easy enough to pinch some people once I set up the village a bit more…..I reckon 6 months and we'll we right on track…"
The whole crew seemed both confused at the nonsense he seemed to be talking and thrilled that their lord swam an ungodly amount of distance to save us small folk from a cruel fate…he probably just wanted the ships though.
"Well, that swim has really given me a touch of the munchies, so someone get some fish grilling, I'll need enough for about 15 people for myself…"
Without much resistance everyone just went back to what they were doing before being pursued by those cursed iron born, minus a few of the fisherwomen who were about, who went about gutting, preparing and grilling some food for lord Fenris.
It's amazing how less then half an hour ago we were all ready to accept our fates, and are now in high spirits waiting for the iron born to get close enough for lord Fenris to begin his "negotiations"
-mc pov-
Man was I a little worn out after that "not drowning"…..I wouldn't call it swimming as it was me using every muscle in my body to not drown while moving forward…
I sat down on a stump that could support me on the deck while a few of the crew got to cooking some food, though a little startled at the amount I requested, but still obeyed all the same.
I haven't been getting the calories I need lately….I don't have that insanely calorie dense nutrient gel, I'll have to make up the difference of quality with quantity….which is what we usually used to do on Fenris when I used to feast with my battle brothers when not out defending the imperium….
Only 20 minutes and 30 fish later am I standing on the edge of the deck looking one of the bloodthirsty iron born In the eye as they have almost caught up.
I can hear them speculating how we got this ship and how they were going to make us pay the "iron price", typical iron born bullshit really…I turn to the nervous looking crew loitering around
" alright guys I'm gonna pop over there, murder the crew real quick and pop back….I want you to pull up along side the ship and some of you board and pretend your fighting each other so the other ships think a fight's still going on and don't run away….you got that?"
A few nervous nods and I turn back to see the first ship is within spitting distance…. I'm gonna do a hero landing for sure...I back up to get space for a running jump…..and as I run to make my leap, a deck board gave out under my left foot as I leap causing me to fall just short of my destination…. I hit the boat chest first causing the railing I landed on to shatter….with only my top half making it onto the ship while my bottom half dangles off the side…..there goes my epic entrance
The iron born looked shocked at the distance of my leap but it soon transitions t laughter and mockery for my fuck up…..if I wasn't going to murder them before….I should would have now….
" look what we have here lads….a land walker trying to play at being a seaman…..grab him and tie him up with the others below deck"
I pull myself up in shame, and only then do the men waking over to "capture me" hesitate slightly at the size of me….but quickly gain their confidence back as I'm unarmed….
What followed was 3 minutes of me ripping and tearing into the iron born with savage fury to mask the humiliation I felt at my failed attempt at a hero landing and the pleas of surrender and curses of the iron born scum who witnessed my failure…they cannot live with that knowledge
Not long after my ship of fishermen board with planks, take a few swords from the iron born corpses and pretend to fight which draws in the other two ships which prompts a repeat of ripping and tearing until it was done... just regular landings though…
The 3rd ship did figure it out after the 2nd ship was nothing but corpses….but ships are slow and I'm not
I lost no one in my fishing crew, they didn't actually have to fight anyone though so that's probably why…
I had the fishermen split up between the newly acquired Fenris ships and sail them with some difficultly back to sea dragon point….
I also noticed some "not slaves" below deck but decided to deal with that after we got back on shore..
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