Headed by a Snake

Jiang Ying Yue's eyes shot open, "Excuse me?!!"

She was actually... a really stupid woman.

And besides that, she was incredibly clumsy-- all the time.

But, so what?! She was good at fighting! That was more than enough!!

She grabbed onto her sword hilt and widened her stance, "I'll show you!!"

Before she could show Krysaos how smart she was... she was blinded by a bright, gleaming smile.

It was like the moonlight shone directly on the sailor's face, making all his teeth sparkle...

"Oh, come on," He chuckled. "I'm sure you got lotttts of good traits~"

"I uh..." Ying Yue gulped as she spun around, giving Krysaos her back, "I've been called worse."

That man had a... very handsome smile. It made her think that... maybe he wasn't so villainous.

Attractive people can't be bad guys.

"I'm... really smart," Yue grumbled to herself.

It was a lie... but saying it out loud made her feel a little better.

"You think so?" Krysaos smirked, "Well... what can you say about me, then?"

Ying Yue cleared her throat as she turned to face the clearly not-Elven Krysaos.

Looking at him again, he wasn't exactly wearing armor...

He did have a personal weapon-- a rapier, but it looked more ornamental than functional. If anything, it wasn't really something she expected an invader to wield.

He obviously wasn't a Martialist... If Yue was being serious, Krysaos would probably die in a single punch.

With his get-up... he was maybe... some kind of rogue trader?

A pirate, maybe? No... it looked like he cut his hair and shaved regularly. Pirates don't do that.

...The more Ying Yue thought about it, the dumber she felt for attacking without making sure Krysaos was actually an enemy. She could have killed him!

"Well..." She puffed up her cheeks... "Judging by what you're wearing... you're a Captain of some sort."

The man pursed his lips and nodded, "Captain Krysaos of the Neptune's Revenge, at your service."

"And... with the storm... your ship probably got blown off course."

"Yeah... the storm was pretty bad only a little while ago," Krysaos scratched the side of his head... "like the sea god was real pissed at somethin'."

"Oh, and... even though you said it," Yue smiled. "You're left-handed... Oh. Oh, seven hells..."

Krysaos threw his head back in an honest laugh, "Hah! Don't feel too bad about it, girlie."

"Noooo!!" Yue hurriedly bowed, "I'm so sorry. OBVIOUSLY, a peaceful trader would keep their weapon on their weak side to make it more difficult to draw."

"You're good. You're good!" Tha man waved. "Hey, listen-- we may have gotten off on the wrong foot... like I said earlier, my name is Krysaos. Nice to meet'cha."

The Captain offered his left arm forward-- still encased in its ice.

Yue flinched-- her adventuring instincts telling her not to trust a handshake so easily.

Her mind raced as she stared...

What would her brother do?

Gather more information. That's what he'd do...

She had to trust him-- but just for the meantime.

While anyone could be an enemy, they were also potential allies.

Put up to the standards of the Hidden Lake Martialists... Captain Krysaos wasn't much of a threat. However, he must have been both smart *and* resourceful to have gotten past Wang Lei and his forces. In the current sun and age, that was just as important as personal strength.

"My name is Ying Yue..." She approached Krysaos and put her hands on his frozen arm, "Just hah... give me a second and I'll get you out of this."

Channeling her chi, she began to unfreeze the ice. She was being extra-careful, in respect to Krysaos strength. The last thing she wanted was to break his arm off...

"Niiiice," Krysaos nodded. "Pretty good mana control, you got there, Ying."

"Oh, haha. Right," Yue giggled. "Sorry, I was confused for a second. What you Outsiders call mana, we call chi... Ah. And my friends call me Yue."

"Uh huh," Krysaos grinned. "Yue.. Yue... that's a pretty name. It sounds--"

Ying Yue leapt back, her body moving before her mind could comprehend what had happened.

Her robes had been cut, a thin, diagonal line of crimson across her abdomen just shy of her chest.

She crossed her arms over her head to block, just as Krysaos smashed his ice arm against them.

He... he had attacked her. And for some reason... his arm didn't shatter when the ice did?

"You..."

"Hah! I'm stronger than I look?" Krysaos laughed, "Yeah, I get that a lot. ⌈Fan of Knives!⌋"

The crystalline fragments on the ground immediately started pelting Ying Yue. None of the attacks hurt much, but each ice knife exploded in a burst of blinding white powder.

She... had been TRICKED!!

And she deserved it wholeheartedly to have listened to the words of a decently attractive guy!

Gritting her teeth, she began to circulate her chi.

"You're not left-handed at all!!! Fist of the-- oof!!"

"HAH! I like how that's what you're mad about!"

Ying Yue felt a brief weightlessness, then the wind escaped her lungs as her back hit the mud. In an instant, Krysaos kicked his legs over her chest and--

"Let's see how well you fight with a broken ARM!" He grunted.

"AIIIIEEEE!!"

She screamed as she felt her right shoulder dislocate. Then, felt a solid heel strike take her breath from her lungs.

Krysaos-- he was... really good. But unfortunately for him, Ying Yue didn't need to breathe to kick his arse!

Ignoring the pain, she kipped up and rotated her body... swinging her entire arm over, smashing Krysaos' full weight into the dirt.

He managed to let go, rolling with the momentum... but Yue wasn't going to let him escape-- not after embarrassing her like that.

She scrambled over and mounted Krysaos' chest, lifting up her good fist.

"Let's see how well you fight with a broken FACE, Outsider!!"

"Brother-Captain," A man's disappointed voice called out, "get away from there."

A cold chill ran down Ying Yue's spine, making her hesitate.

As skilled as she was, she didn't sense that man's approach, at all!