~Chapter 4- Mauri's intent~

Ruben traveled with Mauri and the crew to their metal brigantine. The young Densius was very curious as to how it functioned. Mala headed below deck and soon after, the ship began to rumble. The drive which powered it had been turned on.

Mauri stood at the helm of the ship. There was a wheel that faced him, a second wheel which was turned at a 180-degree angle to his right, and two dials on his left. He turned one of the dials, and the ship began to rise into the air, with jets of fire shooting from the underside of the vessel.

Once they were sufficiently high, Mauri turned the second dial, and the ship began to move forward. Mauri placed one firm hand on the main wheel and a loose hand on the second.

The main wheel turned the ship, just as it would on a seafaring vessel. The second wheel controlled the vertical angle of the ship. When Mauri pulled the wheel back, the brigantine tilted upwards. Once they rose higher, Mauri pushed the second wheel forward, and the ship tilted forward before leveling out.

Ruben looked over the edge of the ship. A hundred meters beneath them was the ground. Such a fall would certainly spell death. It made the boulder child anxious.

Mauri shouted out to Ruben, "Hey, where did you say your Densius settlement lived again?"

Ruben pointed towards the grey-scale mountains to the east, "That way. Why?"

"No reason," Mauri answered quickly, "Hey Mala, take the wheel. I want to take Ruben on a tour of the ship."

"Got it," Mala answered, taking up position at the helm.

"Wasn't I supposed to help you navigate?" Ruben asked.

Mauri shook his head, "Ah, that can wait. Let me show you around," Mauri walked towards the opening to the deck below. Ruben was starting to question him but followed him down anyways.

There were several cots for each of the crew members below deck, as well as tables where they could play cards or drink in their leisure. Ruben suspected that the drive of the ship would be somewhere at the back of the ship, but Mauri took them towards his personal quarters.

"Your Heartstone, what exactly is it? I've heard they're usually some sort of gem," Mauri asked as they entered his quarters.

"Usually that's the case. Mine is a ruby," Ruben answered. It looked around Mauri's quarters and saw a black flag with a symbol representing flames on it. Cabinets and drawers lined the walls, with all sorts of trinkets lying around on them. There were a few golden rings, each with its own gemstone on them. On one of them was a bright blue sapphire. Seeing it made Ruben anxious.

"That ruby ought to be very valuable," Mauri said lowly with a greedy look in his eyes.

Ruben froze up.

They were quiet for a moment as Ruben's situation settled in. It needed to get off this ship as soon as possible. Mauri drew closer to him, and Ruben didn't hesitate. The boulder child lunged forward with a rocky fist and struck him in the snout before storming out of his quarters.

Mauri chased Ruben through the deck of the ship. He grabbed the young Densius by the arm and swung him around. Ruben struck him again in the chest, but it didn't seem to hurt him that much. Mauri was strong.

Ruben couldn't simply jump ship to escape. They were so high up in the sky that such a fall would lead to death. There had to be another way. Then the boulder child remembered the drive of the ship. Ruben hurried to the back of the ship, tossing tables and equipment at Mauri to try and keep him at bay.

He found a mechanics room at the back of the ship with a big metal machine that functioned as the ship's drive. Ruben plunged a rocky fist into the mechanism and felt the ship violently rumble. Mauri caught up a moment too late. The vessel was already starting to plummet towards the ground.

"You idiot! What do you think you're doing!?" Mauri shouted. He grabbed Ruben and began to pummel him. His strikes were so strong; bits and pieces of the rocks that made up Ruben's body began to break apart. The boulder child kicked the Pizon off of him as hard as he could and scrambled away.

The ship's orientation had completely changed and was now in a nosedive. Both Ruben and Mauri were clutching to whatever they could. They braced for impact as the ship rocketed into the side of the Platt Mountains. The drive combusted into flames at the collision.

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Ruben survived. But its body was largely destroyed. Its torso and head remained mostly intact, but its legs had been severed entirely, and it only had one rocky arm left. It crawled out of the wreckage of the ship with its single arm. Around it were the screams of others injured in the wreckage.

Small thudding sounds came from the ground behind Ruben. It sounded like hooves walking along the ground. Ruben was picked off the ground by Mauri. "Stupid kid! What did you think you were doing?"

Mauri began to claw at Ruben's torso; he was trying to get to the Heartstone that rested inside the boulder child. A glint of red was visible through the young Densius's chest. But before Mauri could tear the ruby out of Ruben, he was suddenly struck by someone, knocking him back.

Ruben fell to the ground and saw Jirro. The blonde-haired boy hurried to its side, "Are you okay?"

Ruben tried to shrug, but it was difficult with only one shoulder, "I've been better. I don't think Mauri is a nice guy anymore."

Jirro smiled, "Yeah, me neither. Just hold on for a moment, I'll be right back," He stood to face Mauri, who was only now picking himself from the ground, "I know who you all are now. You're a part of the Ember Brigade."

Mauri raised his fists and beat his hooved knuckles against each other, "You should've minded your own business, kid."

Ruben could only watch as the two clashed. Jirro took a defensive stance and carefully guarded against Mauri as he tried to batter him. All throughout, Jirro had a relaxed and confident look on his face as he expertly parried and blocked each of Mauri's strikes.

But Jirro was caught off guard by Mauri's sudden head butt. The Pizon followed up with a strike with his hooved knuckles, knocking the boy to his knees. Mauri raised his foot and went to stomp on him, but the boy jumped out of the way just in time.

Jirro clenched his fist, and it glowed with a bright blue light. He punched the air and a burst of light erupted from his fist. A Focus Burst.

Mauri was struck by the Focus Burst and he careened into the destroyed brigantine behind him. The drive of the ship exploded into a burst of flames, devastating it further. It really was remarkable how powerful Jirro was.

Jirro turned back to Ruben, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Just get me to the other Densius. They'll be able to fix me," Ruben assured.

A noise came from the burning vessel. They turned and saw Mauri, Mala, and a few other Pizon leaving the ship as a group, embers flickering behind them. Jirro stood to face them with narrowed eyes, though they did not attack. Ruben looked at their faces; they seemed somber.

Mala asked, "Is Ladi alive?"

Jirro didn't dare drop his guard. He answered, "He is."

"Where is he?" Mala asked.

Jirro stared at the group of Pizon and hesitantly motioned to the southwest. The group looked at one another before heading down the mountain in that direction without any more fuss.

"I wonder why they just left like that?" Ruben asked.

"Their ship is destroyed, so they're probably stranded here now," Jirro answered, "They're lucky I had to protect you. I wouldn't have let them get off so easily otherwise."

Jirro knelt down, picked Ruben up carefully, and began heading up the slope of the mountain towards the Densius settlement. Ruben remarked, "Hopefully, they don't cause any more trouble."