The gang howled in laughter.
"You? In that ridiculous skirt think you're tough?" A cauliflower nosed thug jabbed his stained cutlass at Raum's chest. "We've got numbers, boy. You're just a beardless sky rat playing hero."
Raum shook his head.
"Third from the left. Try not to get any blood on your clothes. Okay? You and I are similar in build" Raum said pointing at him. The man flinched. Raum's eyes went through him the way a hand goes through smoke.
"Just what do you think you're-" One of the goons said before they died in his mouth.
He stumbled back, his face draining of all color.
One heartbeat he stood six feet away. The next he was simply there, eyes devoid of any color, face not showing any emotion.
"None of you have a pulse," Raum said, voice dropping low, "and you chose to pick a fight with one."
His fist drove straight at the thug's face and dislocated his nose in the follow-through. Teeth and blood splattered across the white sand with a wet crack. Raum grabbed his head and used it like a wrecking ball, viscerally pounding at the next person he saw. The impact caved the second man's cheekbone with a sound like stepped-on eggshells.
Bone fragments exploded from the two goons' skulls, filling the air with red drops.
One of the fragments grazed Raum's cheek. He snatched it mid flight, gripping the jagged shard and using it like a shank on the remaining one still breathing, the sharp edge finding soft flesh with surgical precision.
"Don't let him fight you alone" The captain ordered "Circle him you dogs."
Raum was surrounded by the seven remaining thugs.
One of them swung a cutlass which Raum caught the blade straight with his hand, letting the steel slowly cut into him.
"Get away from him!" The captain ordered but it was too late.
With a sharp twist he stole the swing's momentum, spun his entire body, and hurled the screaming thug like a flail into two of his comrades.
"So-Someone. HELPPP" The body being swung yelled. The leather boots continued to kick the heads of his comrades despite how much he tried to soften the blow.
"Just let go of the stupid thing you idiot" the captain bellowed receiving a kick to the shoulders.
The goon finally decided to release the cutlass, but Raum saw the moment. He kicked his stomach hard, sending him crashing into three other men with a sickening pile up of limbs and curses.
He winced as he peeled the cutlass back and away from his flesh, the warm blood pooled as it slowly dripped on the soft white sand around him.
Raum dropped the cutlass, it was too large and primitive for someone like him to use.
Three bodies remained, one of them was the one Raum was keeping clean.
"How about you tell me about the girl, and you three can go after you give me all your clothes," Raum said, slowly approaching them.
Bang
A pistol shot was fired straight from the holster of the gang captains waist.
"What did you think you were going to do with that?" Raum said slightly annoyed.
The gang leaders eyes opened after the recoil to see the bullet hung midair as if it hadn't decided if it wanted to continue on its trajectory anymore.
"What... Are you!" The leader yelled trying to take steps back.
"Reaver."
The bullet reversed course in a blur and impaled straight through the captain's skull. The man dropped to his knees, then face planting into the bloodstained sand.
The last two goons took one look at the scene and bolted, stripping off their clothes as they ran so they wouldn't be next on Raum's list. Their feet kicked up dusts of sand in their desperate retreat.
Raum calmly collected a gray tattered shirt and brown pants from the pile of flung clothes, changing right there on the beach.
"Much better" Raum said straightening out his new outfit.
"You're really strong!" Vaelora said clapping like she just saw a marvelous play, eyes wide and sparkling, oblivious to the carnage painting the white sand red around her crimson hair.
The stained sand had gone the same shade as her hair.
"Vaelora, who are you?" Raum asked, washing his hands in the sea's water.
"Before I answer, do you have any negative relationship to the Great Phoenix Clan?" Vaelora asked
"Will you stop stealing my lines and answer. The next thing you'll do at this point is point up at something what you don't know looks like."
Vaelora's violet eyes flashed with playful defiance. "It was really cool, though. The way you just… took their strength and made it yours." She started lifting one hand dramatically toward the sky.
Raum appeared in front of her in a flicker, gently but firmly closing her fingers before she could strike another pose. The moment he touched her, he felt it. She was warm. Far warmer than any human should ever be. Heat radiated from her skin like a living ember.
"I'm a half-phoenix," she declared proudly, chin high, as if he should kneel before the revelation.
A gust of wind kicked up the sand between the two.
Raum raised an eyebrow. "Okay then. I'm leaving."
He turned.
Vaelora's warm hands instantly latched onto his arm with surprising strength. "Wait! Please, I'm serious."
Her eyes flared bright red for a split second, filled with genuine determination.
Raum sighed. "What even is a phoenix?"
Vaelora smirked, a single canine peeking out. "What even is a sky pirate?"
"Someone with an airship," he shot back. "Your turn."
"A phoenix is a phoenix," she answered confidently. "How do you say what a turtle is without just saying it's a turtle?"
"I can at least see a turtle. How do I see a phoenix?"
"By looking at me!" She grinned wider, cheeks flushing with heat.
Raum drove his palm hard into his face. He was starting to wonder whether surviving the fall had been a mercy or the universe's cruelest joke.