Let's find out

It took a while for Hilda to get into her old armor again, and she got to thinking that maybe her husband had a point about her size. Her leather pants and shirt from her days as a knight were far too ragged for her to wear anymore, so she had to get creative with her craftsmanship in order to make them wearable. The chainmail had to be taken in several times in order to fit Hilda's chubbier body, and even when it was big enough for her to wear, it wasn't as comfortable as Hilda remembered. The plate armor wasn't much better, as much of it was rusted over from years of disuse, and several pieces were missing. Still, the prideful knight would not go out without proper protection, so she sent for her favorite armorsmith to produce a new set of plate armor for her. It wasn't cheap, especially with the rush order fees, but Hilda wasn't going to spare any expense with her daughter and her pride on the line.

Finally, a few days and several thousand golds later, Hilda found herself making the trek to the harbor town of Captivia, alone. Her horse, having little experience with carrying this kind of weight, was making the journey rather slowly, but Hilda didn't want to waste her stamina for the fight ahead. She knew that Tina was in danger, but exhausting herself getting there before she had to fight off the pirates wouldn't do either of them any good.

After a day of travel, the pair finally made it to the edge of the town, and sure enough, Hilda saw a large black ship floating in the middle of the bay, a wooden carving of a demonic creature on the bow. That had to be where Hilda was meant to go. Straightening her helmet and unsheathing her magical sword. She got off her horse and made her way down to the harbor. Taking out a small dingy, Hilda rowed herself over to the boat, her ill-fitting armor making things a little difficult. Once she sidled up to the pirate ship, She threw up a rope and wrapped it around the edge before climbing up onto the main deck.

As Hilda flopped onto the deck, landing on her back, she heard a quiet chuckling like a small bird. She turned to see three women, an elf, a dwarf, and a blue-skinned orc, dressed in black and brown clothing, finer than she expected pirates to dress. Still, she was not one to be intimidated by just three women with swords.

Bringing herself to her feet, Hilda held out her sword and put on her most intimidating scowl. "I take it you ruffians are the ones who absconded with my daughter."

"I take it you are Hilda Brandt." The elf chuckled, her arms crossed. "I must say, you are in better shape than I heard, yet just as foolish if you came alone."

"I don't need my soldiers to beat some lowlife like you, Captain Darkwing," Hilda growled, holding her sword in a defensive stance.

Hilda then felt a pinprick on her butt and turned around to see a small winged person sticking what looked to be a tiny thorn into her left cheek. "She not be the captain, cow." The fairy said, fluttering up to the knight's face. "I be Captain Darkwing, and ye better have brought my requested ransom if ye be expectin' me to hand over the young Ms. Brandt."

Hilda's eyes went wide; she hadn't had the best experiences with fairies in her past adventures. They had a tendency to break the rules of proper combat and were exceptionally difficult to beat one-on-one. Still, Hilda put on a brave face, not wanting to give this little one any advantage, and said, "I won't be giving you anything. I will be leaving here with my daughter over your bodies unless of course you comply and hand her over now."

The fairy guffawed, prompting the other three pirates to do the same. "Oh, now I see where the young lass got that attitude 'a hers. What do ya say, girls? Should I do the honors?" The other pirates cheered and laughed, causing Hilda no small amount of concern. Just as the knight lifted her sword up in the air, the fairy captain waved her arms and sent a swirling mass of pink lights into Hilda's face.

Now, Hilda was not the most learned knight when it came to fey magic, but she remembered what this particular spell did, and her heart sunk as she looked down and confirmed she was right.