Headed by a Snake

Li Qiuyu, the white-haired guard of Mistress Francesca Couture, tightly gripped his shoulder. His entire existence was reduced to agony, the pain spasming throughout his entire right side. The only other sensation besides the pure agony was the warmth of his blood spilling onto the floor.

Who were these people? How could they shrug off deadly and life-threatening injuries so easily?

The dark-skinned man, Hammer, bellowed and raised his weapon up. Qiuyu watched his incoming death with open eyes.

A sword clattered along the floor. The person the thugs referred to as Captain had kicked Qiuyu's sword to within arm's reach...

He didn't have the spare time to think about it.

Seizing it quickly with his good hand, Qiuyu rolled forward, narrowly dodging the heavy impact of Hammer's swing. He grounded his feet. He twisted his body and swung his sword upward. The thin blade cut through the flesh of the man's biceps, stopping at the bones.

The tendons in the dark-skinned man's arms were severed. Qiuyu pulled the sword out as quickly as he struck, spilling blood all around.

"It's me," he whispered in a small voice.

Ignoring Hammer's pain-filled screams, Qiuyu staggered upright, wincing in pain. He took a red cloth tied around his sword and tied it tightly around his shoulder wound.

Qiuyu wiped the blood off of his face, eyes full of confidence, "I am Li Qiuyu."

He slashed the blood off of his blade, painting the floor red, "I serve the mistress of my own volition..."

He held his blade out with his off-hand in a defensive stance, "I don't need a savior."

"It's like a rainbow!" Rico exclaimed.

Qiuyu turned behind him, witnessing the cheerful brunette running in a circle around the bleeding Hammer. An arc of blood spurted majestically from Hammer's arm, slicking the floor... Qiuyu thought he was fast, but the girl was on a different level.

Thnk. Hammer finally fell without grace, smashing his nose and chin against the adjacent wall, his rear pointed at the ceiling. Without her fountain of blood, Rico lost interest. She casually picked up the heavy, long-handled metal hammer with her fingers and transitioned to poking the dying man's face.

The slightly taller boy, the Captain, shook his head shamefully, "Hammer, you literally could not have disappointed me any more than you have."

"Can I have his share of rations?" Rico cunningly inquired.

The Captain continued, ignoring her, "I'm not looking to save anyone, Little Yu. But your Li family is a branch family of my Lang family... And I'm just trying to take care of my own."

Captain Lang motioned to his crew, "This is it. The hated. The downtrodden. The oppressed and the lacking. I've gathered them together to fight against the sea, against the cold steel of men... Against the monsters residing within ourselves."

Qiuyu narrowed his eyes. The monsters? Finally, Li Qiuyu sheathed his sword. He was willing to listen.

The dark-blue haired Captain closed his eyes and crossed his arms. A smirk crossed his face, a look of utter arrogance, "We're cursed, Little Yu. The man on the floor behind you? He won't die from just that."

The Captain opened his eyes, revealing inhuman black sclera, "We're monsters, cursed to transform into great and terrible scaled creatures from the abyssal depths."

A chill ran Qiuyu's spine. He loosed a cursed whisper, "Sea Wolf Hidden Sect..."

Lang shrugged, breathing a deep, defeated sigh, "We're just as cursed as you, Little Yu. We heard you're enslaved by a crotchety old hag with... unhealthy tastes."

He flicked the metal slave collar with his fingers, causing a dull *ting* noise. Qiuyu frowned but resisted the urge to cut the man's arm off. The similarities in Lang's face and his made him uneasy.

"Olesya is dead," Qiuyu muttered.

Where did these people get their information? Olesya had been dead for years.

"--Well, that's beside the point. Look, Qiuyu, we can help you," Lang offered his hand.

Li Qiuyu stared down at it. He... almost wanted to take it. He had never known a real family. Mistress Francesca Couture and Olesya before her was all he had after he'd been discarded by the Li clan.

The Captain smiled, "Come with us."

"I..."

"You're cursed by a Gender Transmogrification spell, right?" Lang nodded gravely.

"...Eh?" Qiuyu frowned.

Captain Lang continued, "I mean, it's obvious, looking at you. But Rico said you smell like a boy, so there's still hope. We'll head back-- oh, we have a Sea Witch in the crew! She knows a lot about curses! Come on! That's what you want, right?"

What... in the world...? These people were absurd.

"I'm... not cursed by some spell," Qiuyu looked away. "I was born with this face."

Lang tilted his head, "So, you're telling me... You're... not cursed by some sort of sexually deviant Reverse Gender curse?"

Qiuyu shook his head, his brow quirking slightly.

Lang wiped some sweat from his brow, "Because this is incredibly embarrassing, but I'm... not 100% in the wrong for assuming, you know."

Qiuyu glared.

"How about your uh... 'Mistress' keeping you around for unspeakable sex acts against your will? Because that sounds like it would be a crime on more than one level. You look like you're 10."

Qiuyu reached for his sword.

"Rico is 4!" the snaggletoothed brunette proclaimed with pride.

Qiuyu looked behind the Captain to Rico with confusion.

Lang pursed his lips in embarrassment, "She's actually 3. Rico doesn't understand the concept of 0, so she started counting her age from 1."

Qiuyu frowned.

"You know, it's a nice night. Windy. Calming. It's a good night to sleep early, right, cousin?"

Qiuyu unsheathed his sword with his good hand.

Captain Lang yawned and stretched. Qiuyu discerned that the boy stealthily pointed with both fingers towards the door his crew had broken down, "If there's nothing else, weeeee're just gonna get outta your way."

Qiuyu watched as the crew of Sea Wolves picked up their fallen and quickly escaped the hall. He looked around at the pools of blood, broken furniture and debris. They stomped in and made an absolute mess out of everything, but Qiuyu was too exasperated to even berate them.

"Best of luck, then," Qiuyu mustered the last of his energy to depart the young man with those words. He promptly resheathed his sword and hoped he'd never see them again.