Private | Got Your Back | Ceto & Miles

The day was finally drawing to a close. As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the breeze picked up in its stead, sending debris and sand particles rushing through the bustling town. Walking through the slowly growing crowd, the lone blue roan tried his best to shield his eyes from the sand that was getting kicked up while keeping an eye out for the sign he was looking for. Once the bar’s wooden sign came into view, flapping with the next gust of wind and its rusted metal hinges creaking, Miles moved out of the crowd and entered the building. There weren’t that many patrons currently, but it was still early. If the weather outside picked up and turned for the worse, the bar would fill up in no time, but that would be an hour or so from now and hopefully by then he would be out of there. He didn’t want to stay too long, but he needed a drink after the long day he had and some time to think.

It just so happened that living off of a couple of bounties a day just wasn’t cutting it anymore. He was wasting too much time out looking for someone or something, or gathering information for a price that he could barely live on anymore. Sighing to himself as he found a spot at the bar to rest at, the reality came to him. ’It might be time to join a crew again…’ 

”Hey, you gonn’ order somethin’ pal?” the bartender asked, a slight look of annoyance on his face. Miles pinned his ears back for a moment, startled out of his predicament, before nodding and asking for pint of sherry. He didn’t want to get plastered tonight, as he probably couldn’t afford too much to begin with, but the taste would be comforting and remind him of the good times.

Just as the bartender brought him his drink, trouble decided to rear its ugly head. Couldn’t there be just one peaceful night in one of these places?

The commotion was coming from behind him and as much as he would’ve liked to ignore it, the equine in the center of it all was a mare. She had just taken out a stallion that seemed to have been harassing her, the last bits of glass hitting the floor as others started to surround her. Others had taken it upon themselves to jump in and soon the bar was just one giant brawl. Miles took a look at the sherry in front of him, contemplating if it was a good idea or not to interfere. He barely had time to register anything as a shadow loomed behind him. With quick thinking, the sherry in front of him suddenly jumped out of its cup and hovered in the air, giving Miles a chance to move out of the way as two horses crashed into the bar. 

Another bar patron took a swing at him out of nowhere, causing the blue roan to duck quickly and lose track of where he was going. The horse kept coming, and Miles kept backing up until he had bumped into one of the stallions surrounding Ceto. ”Ah, excuse me, but, can you hold this for a moment?” Miles asked, glancing at the hovering orb of sherry. The stallion pulled his attention away from Ceto to say something, but in the next second the sherry was down his throat and the stallion started to gag. ”Thank you sir, I’ll be with you in a moment.” Miles turned to the horse that had been trying to drunkenly hit him.

With a quick glance, Miles took inventory of what he could use. Someone had broken a chair, and with a leap, Miles was able to grab one of the legs. Swinging the leg, he met his mark. The stallion that had been after him slumped to the ground and now had a nice open wound to wake up to.

The gagging stallion was now stumbling towards him, face turning blue and eyes slowly losing focus. ”I almost forgot about you…” Miles concentrated on the stallion’s neck, thinking of the sherry expanding and blocking any air from getting in or out. It was only a few more seconds before the stallion slumped to the ground, mouth open and sherry slowly leaking out onto the floor. ”What a waste…” he muttered, before noticing some of the others had now turned towards him. Pinning his ears back, he steadied himself for the onslaught, his mind reeling with ideas on how to defend himself.

As the chaos around him continued, Miles looked for more watery substances that he could use to his advantage. His gift was his weapon and by Cascade’s grace he was going to use it. His mind flooded with ideas when something distracted him all of a sudden.

He suddenly noticed the presence of the mare whom had been the catalyst to this whole thing. Somehow, they had come together under the scrutiny of similar foes. She was taller than him, almost a full hand taller, and with just one look he could tell she was like him. She was a hippocampus. Now he could see her tentacles coiling around her tail, like they had a mind of their own. Fins graced her shoulders, legs and belly, and even seemed to replace her mane. In just the first second of meeting her, he was awe struck.

Her words made him blink as he realized she was talking to him, holding the leg of a table in front of her as if it were a sword. He could see the fire in her eyes as she stood there with full confidence in her abilities as a fighter.

Before he could reply, one of their attackers had enough balls to come at them. Even though he had an idea that this mare could defend herself, as she clearly did a few moments prior, he took the initiative to defend her. While he had been looking around, he had noticed a large puddle of rum, probably caused by a table being flipped over at some point. He shot a quick glance at the puddle and soon the liquid rushed across the ground before launching upwards. As the rum rose into the air, it formed into a column and crashed into the on-coming stallion’s underside, sending him across the bar.

Miles pulled the rum to him and the alcohol hovered before him, slowly twisting and thinning out.

Two more of the group came at them next, a light grey and a bay. They did not taking their fallen comrade’s failure as a sign of their own defeat. With a sly grin, Miles moved his head back and the, now, thinned out rum lashed out like a whip at the attackers. They jumped back, surprised, though the bay stallion took the opportunity to try and go for Ceto, breaking away to come at them from the side.

”He’s all yours.” Miles said, as he whipped the rum again, this time lashing the grey across the face. The grey stallion let out a cry as a thin, red line appeared and blood started to appear at the surface of his face. Taking the opportunity handed to him, Miles attacked again, leaping forward to give the next lash more strength behind it. The grey jumped back, avoiding the whip and tried to turn on his heels to run. He didn’t make it very far as he suddenly tripped. When the grey looked down, he could see Miles had twisted the rum whip around his hind legs, preventing his rush to freedom.

Miles didn’t have enough liquid to be able to drag the stallion or even fling him at this point, and it would cost him time to try and gather more. Plus, the last remaining members of the group were either fleeing or now coming at them together in one last attempt to beat Ceto and him down. He might have to turn to physical attacks now.

His grip on the rum whip went as a horse brought a bottle down at him. Miles reared back and lashed out with his forelegs, his hooves connecting with a jaw bone. As he landed, he dodged a unicorn trying to run him down and gave him a quick kick in the hindquarters to use his force against him and knock the unicorn over. Bar fights were so easy to get through these days. It amused him to think that many years ago he probably would’ve been on the floor knocked out, or hiding in a corner unsure of what to do. The personal growth he had gone through stunned him sometimes.

Finally, it seemed the group had thinned out or fled and the rest of the bar was preoccupied with their own rumbles. Miles realized he had forgotten to introduce himself, and looked around the destroyed bar to see Ceto. He waited for her to finish off whatever she was doing before clearing his throat.

‘M’name’s Ceto, Captain of The Huntress.’

His ears perked up with interest and his eyes widened. That was interesting. He hadn’t expected to run into another captain so soon, though the Isles never seemed to disappoint him with opportunity. Miles tried to rack his brain quickly, trying to think if he had heard of The Huntress, but the bar owner had come out before he could make any sort of connection. The red hippocampus before him turned tail and left, Miles following her without hesitation. With a quick glance behind him at the angry equine it seemed he wouldn’t be welcomed back at this bar for quite some time.

A few paces away, the mare slowed and turned to face him, walking backwards as she started to converse with him.

‘How would ye like to have a stable job, Miles?’ she asked, winking at him before motioning to her ship off in the distance.

Miles’ gaze followed and spotted the bright, red dipped sails. Ah, that would be The Huntress. He recognized the name now. Apparently, his old captain, Kraken, had beef with this ship and her crew. If he remembered correctly, the crew was made up of hippocampi and were supposedly a more reckless crew, unable to trade with the mainland for pissing off more than one influential equine. And here he was, standing before the captain, being offered a job.

‘I pay well too.’

There was a clear change of expression on his face from curious to suddenly interested. It seemed Cascade was shining down on him today. Luck was on his side for once. He did need something stable, and to be apart of a crew long term was more than that. It meant he wouldn’t have to worry about anything aside from making sure he stayed on Ceto’s good side, which would be pretty easy. Just do as she says without question and things should be smooth.

“It would be my pleasure to accept your offer, Captain.”