All in all, 3 crewmen had died in the fight, which left them down 3 sail crew members, adding the Many Faced God's member they lost, and one regular crewman. But they added 8 pirate crew to the sail crew and 4 of the pixies, who were all adept sailors, which left the sail crew up by 9. They could easily man 3 full sails in a pinch, and their rotations improved as the new crew adjusted to the method, gear, and terminology. One of the pixies was a healer by way of magic and became an indispensable member of the medical group. Belaletrix was everywhere translating and making things as clear as he could. He helped read the dragonkin's maps and charts, as well as some missives and orders in the collection. He also conveyed that the "pixies" were not pixies, as they despised them, but instead called themselves treekin. The treekin were adjusting quite well to their new life aboard the ship. One of the treekin was a cook, and Bart was surprised by how adept he was. Three regular crew and 3 knights were badly wounded and would require a month or more to recover fully. Jack was probably the worst, as he had received serious burns to his chest, and one arm wasn't functioning correctly anymore. Brienne was hurt badly with burns to her stomach and chest, but her armor had clearly insulated her against the lightning better. Her armor was worse for wear, and Gendry worked hard to melt it down and reforge it as best he could. A week later, the ship was much farther along, and Brienne was up on the poop deck taking the air while the others in the battle group sparred to keep sharp. Drena was amazing at fighting, and she and Jon were great additions to their defense and attack abilities. All 7 of the treekin could handle a bow excellently. Drena could beat Bronn 3 out of 10 matches; she outdirty-tricked him and gave better than she got. Only Bronn's reflexes and long, hard-won skills kept him ahead of her, and as the weeks went by, she was gaining on him. The new crew members took a while to recover from months or years, in many cases, of being chained and forced to row for the dragonkin. But with treekin, human healing, tonics, well-fed meals, and full exercise, they were regaining their strength.
Arya had formed a real council, and they met once a week. They pored over maps and discussed strategy. The council was Bronn, the three captains, Belaletrix, Caelan, Arya, Jon, Brienne, Thomas, and Gendry. Belaletrix translated for the treekin dutifully, but when it came to actual intelligence on the dragonkin, he was less forthcoming. Thankfully, the treekin, who were the dragonkin's arch enemies, relayed a great deal of intelligence that their people had collected over the years. Occasionally, Belaletrix would pipe up in disagreement with the treekin's assessments.
Calancy was so happy to have kin around her, kin she knew and was family to. Through Caelan, most of the full story about how she had been set adrift came out. Caelan had been tasked with ferrying her to some island deep in the mythology of the treekin. Calancy was to undergo mystical training there, but about its location, they were mute. They had been blown far off course by a terrible gale, their ship denuded of sails and masts. When they spotted the dragonkin coming after them, they had set Calancy adrift with supplies to save her life. They were truly overjoyed that the humans had found her and were at the moment trying to bring her home. They praised her care, treatment, and the language education they were providing her. Evening classes were regular now, with Beth teaching Calancy and all the treekin the language, and Belaletrix setting in to also learn and to translate both ways. Much progress was being made. Beth and Belaletrix learned all three languages slowly, and they became almost close friends in those classes. The group was large enough that they took to doing class in the mess hall during off-hours. Bart would even slip them tarts and drinks; he seemed to enjoy their company. The other almost close friend Belaletrix made was Thomas. Outsiders couldn't tell whether he truly liked the lad, recognized his intelligence, or was being friendly to gather information about his knowledge and inventions. Even money was on a bit of all three.
Three weeks had passed since the battle, and they were getting closer to the islands. The treekin were adamant that they should skirt away from the islands to avoid the dragonkin, but Belaletrix piped up and said, "Having killed their king at sea, the dragonkin would miss him and be on high alert. Patrols would be everywhere, south and north of the main island. The captains then relayed that they had a serious water issue. They had collected many barrels during the rainstorm, but several of those barrels had been punctured with three-bladed knives, and some had been fouled by both red and green blood. They needed to stop at "Beast," as both Caelan and Belaletrix called it, an island for water. In the middle of one night, Nymeria began pacing, sniffing, and whining, and sure enough, the next morning, they sighted land. No one was sure why the island was named Beast, but they were about to find out...