Yagos and other crew members were spreading havoc down below, although the fact that the deck of the Phoenician ship was full of holes from dropped cannonballs did help, as did the lit barrels of gunpowder Rotter had thrown over the side of the ship, and which had spread the Phoenicians apart on the deck in bloody remains. Yagos was a monster in combat, and by the end only scorch marks on the scattered limbs would tell which enemies were blown apart and which got within reach of the first mate.<br/><br/>"Cap'n! We've a blin' pass'ger." one of the younger crew members shouted from below deck. Rotter could not remember his name, but was outraged by the way he dragged the young woman around.<br/>"Well, don't push her around like that if she can't see, man. Give her a hand, some support."<br/><br/>The young pirate - who was still too old to be called a boy - looked confused and reached for Aris' arm to lift her up before he understood what Rotter meant.<br/>"Ehh... no, cap'n, Ah mean she's snuck 'board, cap'n. 'Out tellin' you."<br/>"Oh, well, no matter, throw her over the side of the ship. If she lands on someone when dropped from this height she'll kill them just as instantly as anything else we throw at them."<br/><br/>The young pirate had only killed a few people in his lift, but he did not mind another death, not even one of a pretty girl. He dragged Aris against her will, and another two pirates came to give him a hand.<br/>"Oh, no wait, our men are down there. We don't want to hit them, that's why we stopped throwing things. We did stop throwing things overboard, right?" Rotter nodded to himself in confirmation, "our men have swung out to finish the job manually, yeah? Wonderful, then we can't throw her out. You're in luck, girl, until the battle is ended you'll survive. Maybe a bit longer, actually, because why would I throw you at a defeated enemy? I mean, they would all be dead, except for the ones we want to live, so if I throw you at them I just risk hurting people I want to live. So, yes, until we encounter some new ship you'll stay alive. Right."<br/>Rotter nodded to himself once more and looked over the edge of the ship once more, seeing if his men really were down there, fighting.<br/>"Unless, I suppose, the next ship we encounter is Captain Tom Leumas and his Sunken Vessel. I am not opposed to attacking him, but I wish to try the diplomatic approach first. So, I can't throw you overboard at the next ship either. And who knows when we'll see another ship after that? Hey, Crow, you don't see another ship or two, do you? He doesn't see another ship, so I have no way of getting rid of you, girl."<br/><br/>Rotter frowned, and looked contemplative, until someone bellowed from bellow. You couldn't hear what was being said, but Yagos and his men had stopped moving, and had amassed a pile of booty on the deck of the ship, so the battle was over and it was time to retrieve the loot. Rotter's frown turned jubilant when he ordered the nets to be wired down. And in his mind Rotter was working out how to divide it all.<br/><br/>"I expect there will be salted ham on that vessel. Phoenicians are master tradesmen, who ferry all sorts of goods, so there could be anything on it really; daggers, knives, tantos, stilettos, hell, even a bejeweled kris or two, but Phoenicia itself is really only renowned for their pig farming, their sea salt, plus some river turtles that are getting strangely popular in academic circles. Even if they don't have valuables in their cargo, then we'll dine finely tonight. It's going to be rough for our chef, though. Girl, can you cook turtle soup? I don't trust you, but I trust the kitchen skills of the crew even less. If there's turtle or ham on that ship you can earn your life for the night. We'll dine, we'll laugh, we'll go to sleep with full bellies, and then I will most likely kill you in the morning. Deal?"