Captain Long was on deck when the first explosion happened. He watched in horror as smoke and stone rose into the air and then started raining back down on the town. He watched as the castle wall went up and ordered his 10 troops in to reinforce when the whistle blew. He knew something big was up, and he had neither soldiers nor a crew. He sent his first mate into town; he knew shipmen were staying at the inn and taverns, and some of the riff-raff could be found at taverns. His mate called out in the inn for any shipmen to come at once to the port station for duty, and in the taverns and brothels, he offered a gold coin for any man ready to fight in 1 hour at the port station.
Long watched as 15 crew and 16 ne'er-do-wells showed up and were hustled aboard. Then he was amazed to see a horde of slaves wash through the city and board the 4 troop ships that were waiting.
Arya and Brienne finished clearing the last ships below decks as the wave of treekin flowed out of a street and towards the ships. "Best get back to the first ship," Brienne said aloud. So the two of them worked their way across vessels to the first ship.
Lee had been the healer for this team, and there hadn't been many injuries to treat so far; they had been lucky. He went down to the infirmary and found Doctor Hua Tuo. He studied what the man was writing at the desk and pointed to a section of the work. In halting Zon, he tried to explain that his experience showed it was not true. He gave examples and hard-won knowledge. The doctor looked gratefully at the healer and thanked him. It was then that the slaves from the ship were shown in, and they began to treat their injuries. Then the freed treekin boarded, and the seedy fellow was brought to them along with the former castle slaves who had real issues and wounds. It was going to be a long day, but the two healers worked swiftly and in sync and solved the issues together. They became a team instantly, which surprised them both.
Caelan sent all non-sailing proficient treekin to the bunks below on all 4 ships, and about 60 remained on deck. These joined with the 30 crewmen from Westeros to form sailing crews for the four ships. They worked out a skills list for each, and they broke into 4 roughly equal teams. Springer took one ship, and both of Dirk's first mates took the other two. Captain Dirk took the first ship and shouted across all 4, "Make ready!" Treekin wind affinity people were placed at all controls, and they were ready to make way.
Gendry and Thomas were gluing casks into barrels, the last six they had. They were going to have to do another cave run for more guano after this. General Chuyn had begun struggling on the deck, and two crewmen roughly hoisted him up. Arya ordered them to start taking him to the prison on the ship and followed them. Brienne followed them all. These Zon troop ships were constructed mainly to hold troops; they had cut corners on hallway widths and cargo space. So when the two crewmen got the general down the companionway, they had to stand behind him and push him down the stairs. He fell as they were going down, and as they dragged him up, he snatched a dagger from one's belt and freed himself. He then drove the dagger into the man's neck and pulled his sword free as he went down. The general was a fighting machine; he worked his way up the ranks by his swordsmanship and his ruthless guile as a fighter. He understood that they were going to imprison him, and he was not going to go without a fight. He backed away from Arya until he had an opening at the mess hall entry. Arya charged the man in a full rage. She leapt at him, falling short, and then slid on her knees to slam Needle in his hip. She didn't realize the general was so fast, though, and he was already striking a blow in counter. It struck her full on her right shoulder, and then he swiped his blade at her neck. As Brienne leaped to smash him over Arya, he caught Arya's hand as it was raised to fend off the swipe. He took the middle and ring fingers of her left hand just above the knuckles as Brienne's blade struck his head flat. Arya inadvertently shrieked when she saw her own maimed hand. Brienne said with tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry I couldn't get past you to close fast enough to take him." Arya looked Brienne in the eyes, saying, "It's alright, it was my own stupidity that made me attack him. Do not blame yourself, this is on me." Thomas got to them then and saw what had happened. Without saying anything, he scooped Arya up and carried her to the infirmary. A myriad of expressions crossed Arya's face. Anger at being handled so bodily and joy at having someone who was concerned for her, so that he acted first without any questions. Then there was the deep pain....and she passed out. Brienne snatched the general's body like he was a rag doll and dragged him to the infirmary, shouting, "Someone get chains and iron for this bastard!"