Frederic: "I'm concerned about Karina, these things will try to pick her up and carry her off if they can and you two aren't exactly chief body blockers."

Leon: "Hm. Well, er. Yes, yes I do."

Frederic: "Mm. Solid."
You all take your positions with Karina taking cover just inside the door to the cabin, while from the other ships you start hearing shouts, bird screeches, and the loud sounds of magic being cast. The screeching intensifies as you see the bird flock spread over all of the ships, all having at least a half dozen diving and attacking the sailors onboard. A group of five peels away from the main cluster of ships and locks their sights on your group, quickly approaching your ship.

As the birds close in, a series of crackling bolts of electricity dart forward from the other side of Frederic, streaking past the birds and making them scatter and scramble their approach. You fire off one shot at the nearest bird, missing, then take a kneel and aim carefully.
Your second shot hits the leading bird's wing as it swoops toward the ship and it cries out as its flight falters, then a moment later shrieks frantically and falls to the deck as a large patch of brown feathers around the shot turns pale and brittle, many shattering when it hits your ship.

Leon continues the bolts of electricity, managing to strike one of the birds before it reaches the ship, and the struck bird falls out of sight. The other three birds, unharmed, arrive at your position in a streak of feathers and talons, one for each of you.
The impact knocks you back against the wall of the cabin, and your vision is filled with flapping wings and feathers as the bird wildly claws at you, trying to find purchase on your gun arm. It manages to do so, sinking its talons into your right armguard, and then your arm itself. You feel hot stabs of pain all through your right arm, but it doesn't stop you from roaring and shoving your knife repeatedly into the bird's chest, now firmly stuck within melee distance.
It shrieks in pain and flaps wildly, trying to rise up into the air, but you're too heavy for it alone to pick up and it refuses to let go of your arm.

Suddenly to your left, there's a loud and bright blast, and the bird on Leon goes flying across the deck, in pieces. Frederic has thrown his bird off him and is swinging at it while it flies just out of reach, dodging his broad sweeping attacks.

With one last stab putting all your strength into it, you stab the bird deep and leave the knife buried, then swap the gun to your other hand and immediately fire off the last bullet into the bird's chest. Its shrieks die mid-sound, as suddenly its entire torso stiffens and turns pale. You're in a bad spot to kick, but with your free hand you do give one last swift punch to the knife, and there's a distinct cracking noise from the bird. It goes completely limp, falling to the deck unmoving, and unfortunately with its talons still embedded in your arm.
You raise your head to check the others, and see Frederic still batting at the bird out of reach, while Leon is, curled up on the deck. There's, a lot of red. You see his face for a moment as he turns to look at the last flying bird, and it's both grimacing horribly and very pale.
Suddenly, a veritable deluge of magic springs forth, at least a dozen elemental bolts of light, wind, and fire all shoot rapidly at the last bird. It is caught completely by surprise, and as the spells all hit within the same moment, it is also reduced to a mangled carcass that falls to the deck with a wet thud.
Frederic freezes at the sight but quickly regains his focus, and hurries to finish the first bird you froze, cutting it in two with a swift chop.
Frederic: "They're down! ♥♥♥♥, Karina get Leon!"

The knight drops his sword and runs over to you.
Frederic: "Gram, are you alright? Is, that thing still gripping onto your arm?"

Frederic: "That's, not gonna- Ok fine.
Stabilize them. This will hurt."
He grabs your knife, and you grab one of the bird's feet down low near the talons. Frederic then starts hacking into the knee of the bird, chopping and slicing from all around the joint. The flesh is surprisingly tough, taking a lot of abuse from the blade before finally separating enough to pull the rest of the leg off. While he does this, you try your best to not cry out as the talons still in your arm are jostled around.
Then he does it again.

You're sweating and panting by the time Frederic finally finishes, and you still have a pair of bird claws stuck in your arm. But you can move.
You scramble over to Leon, now laying on his back with his arms laid on his stomach. His arms are bloodied and covered in deep slashes and punctures, and still leaking blood slowly. You had your armguard to soften the blow and get the bird stuck on the first strike, but Leon only had a robe.
Karina kneels next to him, whimpering as she casts her healing spell on Leon's arms.

Karina: "It's, it's not working, it's not enough, magic's not enough. Gram, Gram help..."

Karina lifts his arms up while you cast your healing on yourself. There's the familiar warm itching, but the pain of the wounds doesn't vanish, only abates a bit. It doesn't help that you still have the bird's feet embedded in your arm. But, it's enough that you can use both hands again, very uncomfortably.

You then get to work applying a tourniquet to both arms. Your own arms are kind of weak from your injuries, and Karina is busy elevating Leon's arms, but Frederic is easily able to tighten the cloth, and you quickly get both arms done.


Leon: "Rmrnot... shutup..."
Despite that, he accepts the canteen and gets several mouthfuls of water down.

Karina: "Oh, oh no, Gram I, I'm out of mana. The bleeding stopped but he's still not, not-"
Sailor: "OY! You all okay down there?"

You hadn't noticed while doing first aid, but the sounds of fighting have stopped from the other ships.
Frederic: "We need a healer! Our mage lost a lot of blood!"
Sailor: "Right! Be right over!"



It only takes a minute for a muscular adventurer to leap off the edge of one of the larger ships, bounding over to yours. He lands surprisingly lightly on your ship's deck, and you see that he's carrying a flustered looking woman in his arms, with a heavy bag slung over her shoulder. The bag has a large red cross over white circle on it, same as your first aid kit.
Woman: "I hate doing that... Is that the one?"
She asks while approaching Leon, not waiting for a response, though Karina nods vigorously all the same. The woman kneels next to Karina and examines the wounds, then lays her hand on his arms while moving her attention to Leon's face.
Before your eyes, the wounds on Leon's arms ripple, the flesh around the cuts and punctures seeming to sag slightly. The woman begins carefully pinching each injury closed, holding for a few seconds before moving to the next wound. After she releases, each wound stays shut on its own, and like this over about a minute she seals all of the large injuries on his arms. Once all are done, she slumps back and exhales loudly.

Woman: "Phew... Either of you kids know healing magic?"