### Chapter 17: The Black Winged Storm

The Sea Panther cut through the open sea, its dark sails taut with a steady wind. The waters stretched endlessly in all directions, their surface gleaming beneath a golden sun. The crew, sunburnt and salt-stained, worked in quiet efficiency, their spirits tempered by the promise of treasure and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

It was One-Hand Jack who first noticed them—dark specks on the horizon. At first, they seemed like storm clouds, an ominous front rolling in from the direction of the fabled treasure island. A hushed silence fell over the deck as the crew gathered at the rail, peering uneasily toward the sky. But soon, the ‘clouds’ began to separate, their formations shifting unnaturally against the wind.

And then the realization struck.

“By the Deep,” Kaito rumbled, his golden eyes narrowing. “They’re not clouds.”

The shapes grew larger, revealing the monstrous wingspans of ancient sky-hunters. Pterosaurs—massive, leathery-winged creatures, their hooked claws curled like grasping fingers, their long beaks lined with dagger-like teeth. They were circling, testing, watching. A silence fell over the ship, broken only by the distant sound of wings cutting the air.

A shadow passed over the deck.

A piercing screech rang out as one of the beasts broke from the formation, angling toward the ship. It landed atop the crow’s nest with a deafening THUD, its talons crunching into the wooden mast. The whole ship seemed to groan beneath its weight. Its sunken, black eyes regarded them with an unnatural intelligence as its wings flexed, spreading a shadow over the deck. Then, as if answering an unheard signal, the rest of the flock descended like a hurricane of teeth and claws.

The Battle on the Sea Panther

The deck exploded into chaos.

A pterosaur swooped down, its wings kicking up a gale as it snatched a sailor clear off the ship—his screams cut off as he vanished into the sky. Another crashed onto the deck, its clawed wings outstretched like a living nightmare. A crewman lunged with a harpoon, but the beast snapped its beak shut around his arm, shaking him violently before tossing him aside like a rag doll.

Kaito roared, drawing his curved cutlass and slashing upward just as a pterosaur dove for him. The blade sliced through the creature’s wing membrane, sending it spiraling into the mast with a sickening crack. But before he could react, another lashed out, its beak snapping inches from his throat. With feline reflexes, he ducked low, rolling into a crouch before driving his blade up through its chest. The beast let out a strangled shriek before collapsing, twitching on the deck.

Ai fought with the fluid grace of a storm-tossed wave. Her spike-ball and chain spun like a whirlwind, catching a pterosaur across its elongated skull. The beast staggered, its eye bursting into a mess of black blood, but it lashed out with a clawed wing, raking across her shoulder. She hissed in pain but retaliated instantly, slamming her round shield into its chest before kicking it over the rail into the hungry sea below.

Meanwhile, One-Hand Jack found himself cornered. His hooked hand was no match for the taloned horror looming before him. He swung wildly, his wooden peg-legs scraping against the deck as he stumbled backward. The beast lunged, its hooked beak snapping—until something caught its eye.

The peg-leg.

A sudden, cruel instinct flared in the creature’s mind. With unnatural precision, it darted forward, its claws sinking into the wooden limb. One-Hand Jack let out a guttural shout, hacking at it with his cutlass, but the beast had already beaten its wings.

The last thing the crew saw was One-Hand Jack being hoisted high into the air, his screams echoing as he was carried away, flailing against the dying light of the sun. The pterosaurs, their mission seemingly complete, let out a final chorus of shrieks before breaking away, their dark wings casting fleeting shadows across the ship’s bloodstained deck.

Then, just as quickly as they had come, they were gone.

The Chase

A heavy silence fell over the Sea Panther. The crew panted, bloodied and bruised, their weapons clutched in trembling hands. Kaito’s grip tightened on his harpoon, his golden eyes scanning the sky.

“We have to go after him,” Ai said, breathless but determined.

Kaito nodded grimly. “Set the sails. We chase the storm.”

The Sea Panther turned, cutting eastward beneath the darkening sky, following the fading shadow of their stolen comrade.

Entered by: 0xe9a1…78d3