Vhaern clutched tightly onto his little bundle of heat, still holding his left arm down at his side to stop her from accidentally hitting him in the rib during her fevered cling to him. "We'll be ok, little one..." He stopped and looked at her before the chaos outside washed over the moment. "I'm not going to allow you to come to harm... but, we need to get my gear back if we..." Screaming and shouting spilled off the deck and through the open door, men surrounding something that looked near close to female at the far end of the deck and the exchange didn't look mutually friendly. "Stay back, if you can love... if you can't, set something on fire." He gave Sirka a winning look, his eyes grinning far wider than he'd ever allow the smirk on his lips to creep past. Vhaern nuzzled her a little, squeezing her with one arm... possibly giving her a little gooch and a pat on the bottom a few times before setting her down behind him and following Tyora out of the cabin.<br/><br/>As soon as they were outside they were accosted; still blinded by the rush of sunlight in his eyes, Vhaern took a few missteps and found himself separated from Tyora and Sirka with pirates moving toward them now. Trying to put himself between Sirka and the pirate coming after her, he was assaulted by one of his own. "You'll have neither, what you want... or what you hoped for!" He screamed, pushing off the railing, back against the pirate that had tried to corner him and swung back with an elbow aimed well enough to smash the man square in face. Pain exploded through his ribcage in reward for his efforts; the crunch, the breaking of cartilage under the strike and the warm squirt of blood on his elbow would have been satisfying were it not for the fire burning through his nerves. Groaning in pain, favoring his left side, Vhaern grabbed the pirate with the broken nose and managed to get him close enough to the railing to push him over. "Stop flashing your goods at them dear and set him on fire..." He pointed at the dagger drawn man approaching Sirka from where he slumped next to the deck railing.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>