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Post by Joliette Thorne on Feb 10, 2009 6:33:27 GMT -5
---Cenril Cove---
Leoxander jumped down from the cliff ledge where he'd been scouting the immobile ships on the horizon, joining Jack in the sand with a few thick soled boot prints that would be washed away by the tide later, because of where he walked. Buried in the cove, where the rocky wall hooked into a cave formation and concealed the whole of that sleek schooner, the Eternity was moored dangerously close to shallow pools of stone, where one wrong bump would damage the hull and the tallest mast alike, in one unfortunate sway. But because of the hour and the activity on sea, he knew his precious ship would be safe enough, hidden from Cenril's defenses, and convenient to board when the rest of the crew returned. As it were, several seemed to be napping on the deck behind the railings, waiting for-... Leo's eyes suddenly darted from the watery horizon toward the sand, cliffs and foliage beyond. Whether or not he caught a scent, he seemed aware that something was approaching, already. Jack only wagged his tail in eager anticipation.
Senka is once again back in her comfortable wolf’s skin, her tail lightly swaying and paws seeming to be steady even on the unfamiliar surface that is sand. The glaring white of her fur is just a shade lighter then the sand she’s moving over and as the cliffs rise on either side of her the wolf only seems to stand out that much more yet as always the beast barely seems bothered by this. Curiosity makes sure that red eyes seek out the ship before they even land on Jack, tracing the curves and taking in its dangerous position before moving to the mutt. As always the wolf seems displeased but her moody growl is gentler then other of Jack’s kind would’ve earned. Only then does the albino bother to turn her attention towards Leoxander and greet him in the only way she knows how; a moody growl and a brief toss of her head.
Leoxander fixed his eyes upon the speck of white against sand and stone, while Jack circled nervously but happily around the back of Leo with a shy wave of his paw, batting the air to warn Senka it was all in good fun. No brutal, bloody sessions necessary. Never losing that dog-expression grin, the black lowered his head and snuck in a quick kiss toward the albino's scowling maw before she might turn and catch him in a bite, though she might very well snap the air in his wake. Laughing silently, he hobbled away and started bounding around like a jester, amused by himself, moreso content with all the familiar faces and teeth he's been seeing, lately. More or less ignoring the dog's jovial behavior, Leo looked down toward the moody wolf and responded in a similar way - a lift of his jaw in acknowledgement. "You bring company with you?" He asked this lowly then stupidly lost eye contact to look around the area cautiously, so he probably wouldn't hear her response clearly, anyhow.
Senka refuses to be amused at the dog’s antics, lowering her ears even as Jack grins in a way her own maw would never dare to. The kiss is a surprise, making the albino all but flinch and the resulting bite is more reflex rather then anything else. But the black little devil is faster then her, as so few are, and instead ivory teeth hit air and the moody growl continues rather like the muttering of a disgruntled sailor. Luckily for Jack, Senka’s always so easily distracted and the rogue makes ears twitch even before the beast looks up. Her mind reaches but fails as eyes turn away, and not having spend enough time around the other lately the lycan knows better then to strain her mind to enter his anyway. So instead the wolf lets out a snort, nostrils flaring and malicious eyes turning to study the area with their usual intensity. The wolf isn’t known for bringing guests.
Tenebrae had elected to remain on the ship, having woken to a bed of shredded cloth and discarded bottles, the regular buzzsaw inhale and exhale of the night's watch in their new-morning beds and the quiet scramble of the day shift rising to their duties. She knew they'd come to Cenril waters even before the creaky plaints of timber under her slight weight brought her above the stairwell, through the hatch and into the pink glare of dawn, because the air itself carried some vague electric sense of danger, tension rife even in the shriek of frenetic gulls, the reek of fisherboats and-- most of all-- the tensioned frame of her Cap'n. Somebody had to stay behind and oversee the ship, keep the crew from goofing off and possibly giving away their position shipside. She only prayed that the rest were as careful on land, knowing several had 'wanted' stamped on their foreheads, and several more hardly masters of subtlety. She did not expect Leoxander to heed, or need, her admonition to caution, but it was for him she watched, when peridot eyes needed rest from their seaward alert and took to searching the for signs of his return. White birds wheeled over the deck, shrilly piping their expectation of a meal; Tene squinted upward. "Swab these boards free of scent, keep motion to a minimum. Keep the cannons trained upon the bay." But McCoy was already on it, scowling to the tell-tale skies. Like Tenebrae, he'd throw himself overboard before allowing Cabal to be undone by flock of bastard gulls.
Caedan meanders up the shore, lugging a mop over her shoulder and a small chest behind her. Every so often, she pauses, turns, and wipes up her trail a bit before continuing onward and inward into the cove.
Leoxander assumed just that, so all the more reason for the note of caution in his eyes as they scanned the cliffs in the distance, tamed to red and blue. He knew the bark that sounded behind him was meant for a courageous crab risking a brave, sideways wander onto forbidden territory, and claws lifted like dukes up in defense, snapping for Jack's nose in a way similar to what Senka had. The rogue paid very little attention to all this, and trained his eyes back to the ocean that would become a battlefield, in the hours ahead. Once the dog was done with his crustacean patrol, a noticeable silence settled down on them with the unseen weight that the rogue carried upon his tense shoulders. The Black followed flocking seagulls in the direction of the ship, while Leo sank to a crouch and sat upon the heels of his boots, apparently unafraid that the massive wolf stationed nearby might attack him. Picking a broken half of a sand dollar from the wet, bubbling sand when the lazy current washed away, he tossed it pensively back into the water, tattooed arms rested over his knees and scarred hands draped between them. It was as if he was tasting the air, the way sun chapped lips slightly parted, and he knew then they weren't alone on the shoreline. Without turning his head much, his eyes lifted and traveled, searching for some sign that could confirm his suspicions.
Leoxander saw that sign when his eyes followed the girl with a mop.
Senka has all but forgotten about Jack, caught by the interest of the other lycan and unable to fight of tension that slowly settles on her own shoulders, brought there by the mood of her current companion. Not even the mutt’s brave face off with the crab manages to distract the normally so impulsive beast then, though he does earn a twist of one white ear. Only Leoxander’s movement draws Senka’s attention but it’s barely a glance before the wolf is back to following his gaze. For once she doesn’t mind not being seen as a threat, to him she’s not a big one anyway. Yet to this mysterious stranger, a two-walker, coming up to her she may very well be. Hackles raise, shoulders tense and the already massive wolf does her best to appear even bigger as ears flatten against her scalp. The scent of Tene hangs in the air, it’s enough for Senka to remember to look for that black mark she vaguely remembers being told about and so no growl is uttered. But the albino doesn’t need sound to appear threatening, and barely even needs to wrinkle her snout and show her teeth is she wants to show her aggression. No, she’ll keep her fangs covered and her growl at bay until she at least figures out what that is that’s slung over the female’s shoulder.
Jack was a pirate's dog, above and beyond being his own dog while in the company of the rogue, and so swallowed the bark of greeting he might have otherwise given the ship and the black-clad speck of whipping hair and almost-white folded arms. He'd let out a whine, though, lost to the cries of disappointed gulls that fled like errant papers in the wind back out to sea. McCoy wasn't a dog-person, he was sold on cats, particularly silent Calico cats that crept and hunted and did not inconveniently woof, nor lift their tails on the mizzenmasts, nor smell like dogs. Even so, this wasn't his ship, so he'd scoop Jack up on his way to the rowboat, despite the mutt's indignity and resulting white-toothed protest, and sling him to the floor of it. "Siddown, y'greasy bag'o'bones, or we'll have ye fer stew." The Black, disgruntled, looked ready to demonstrate to McCoy that dogs could at least pretend to like the taste of human flesh, but didn't. He'd even restrain himself on the climb up the rope ladder, no easy gangplank offered any snoops to come wandering by, that were not murdered by the lookout crew. Scrabbling feet hit the deck and brought Jack to Tenebrae's feet on the new-washed boards. Her fingers mimed a greeting in the ruffle of his ears, and while his tail thumped a metronomic measure of canine happiness, still his brown eyes joined her green in watching between the expectant shore and the dread and ominous emptiness of the Cenril bay.
Caedan lolls her head Senka's direction and flashes a buoyant grin, chiding teasingly, "Tch. You shouldn't wage war if you don't know the enemy." She walks by the albino lycan, vaguely recalling their first meeting when she first showed up in Kelay tavern; but the memory is gone as quick as it was remembered, and she finishes her sojourn in front of Leo. She salutes him with the mop and drops the chest at his feet, explaining simply, "My unmentionables" -- which are probably better left unmentionable. She peers out over the horizon, and though she can't see anything out of the ordinary, she'll wave in Tenebrae's direction anyway -- not because she can see her, but because she knows the ex-vampire is out there, for entirely different reasons than Leo or Senka.
Tenebrae said to McCoy, "That'll be the last you need to go ashore. We're ready up here." She gave the peg-legged mariner a chill look. "I don't like leaving them there." She wouldn't insult him by askin if he'd hidden the dinghies well enough, The armed men left on the beach to counter any early landward attack needed an out from the bay, if and when and however the battle ended. McCoy tipped his slouched cap and strode off, muttering orders as he passed the remaindered men.
Leoxander took the teenager's appearance for what it was - a sign. He unfolded with a crack in his spine and stood before her, eyes dropping to the equipment she unloaded as though she expected him to carry it. And most surprising of all... he did, stooping to collect the chest, and even offering out a hand to wield the mop on the trek to the ship, if she preferred. None too grateful, he responded to her with a growl of words and a motion of his jaw toward the dark vessel moored in the shallow cove, accessible in plenty of ways. "It's about damn time..." It was just that: Time. His attention moved to Senka, and he looked just a little disappointed glancing over the albino in her white fur, stanced upon four killing claws. Not that she would willingly board his two-legged home, anyhow. "Preparations to make." He explained quietly, meeting her scarlet eyes for a significant moment, where she'd have the chance to 'speak'. Leo hardly expected her to waste a thought.
Senka answers Caedan’s words in the only way she knows how, a moody growl that’s deeper then the ones she’s uttered before. But the beast holds her temper, as well as she can anyway, and is left to watch as she approaches the pup. The female’s scent is noted more fully then, imprinted in her memory so that next time the wolf will hesitate to kill. She knows the pup so there’s a good chance she knows Tenebrae as well. Leaving it at that, Senka only offers Caedan one last broody look before her attention is caught by that weird…weapon? It smells dirty, the albino absently notes even as the white of her fur flattens while her ears rise again. Yet her exploration is cut of, words spoken towards her and the albino wastes no time in meeting the pup’s eyes. Surprisingly, red does become glazed and a familiar husky voice enters Leoxander’s mind with more ease then even the wolf herself expects it to. “Preparations?” Briefly her eyes focus again, this time sliding to the hidden vessel with obvious curiosity, “To do what?”
Caedan surrenders her mop reluctantly, and grumbles at the pirate, "You watch your ruttin' mouth around ladies." She delicately smooths a wrinkle in her crumpled couture and stalks towards a dinghy, shooting Senka a rather icy glare while mumbling things about upstart wolves under her breath. She'll take a seat on one of the benches and wait patiently for her chest to be desposited and her mop to be returned.
Leoxander would pause, uncertain how to answer the question right away. He looked purposefully toward the horizon of sunlit waters, where every day those passing by must notice the fleet of 'fishing ships', armed for war but long since abandon of cause or activity. "Jess a little fun on the waters..." He'd finally offer that casual reply, but something like that said by a Pirate Captain could never be so simple. Back to her his eyes went, in case she had something to make known, but also to regard her four legged status again. "Not really your thing, I guess..." This was added in a deep tone that would somehow remind her she was welcome to come along, and risk her life for the fireworks.
Sixteen long cannons were manned, heavy shot in half-barrels on the deck below. Quiet murders were already performed, strategic lookouts secured. One of Cenril's fleet at least was now manned with Cabal-paid crew and primed to throw red herrings at the rest, black flags to be hoisted or lowered as was needed, cannons fired in the wrong places or at the fleet itself, providing confusion through which the Eternity might slip. Signals, messages, were sent and received. Tenebrae stepped to the tip of the prow to let the wind blow through her fears, lips pressed tight in silent thanks to the men that willingly went to likely death for the sake of her Cap'n and his word. She was plainly visible from land now-- but no need to hide when you're on a big freakin' ship with the skull and bones flying, that shouldn't be there at all.
Senka is more then happy to return that stare, though her own is heated and barely restrained whereas Caedan’s look is much more suited for that of a two-walker. A low growl is an answer to that mumbling but there’s no real venom behind it for now, her attention soon caught by the pirate again instead anyway. The beast is torn; it’s visible in the impatient shift of her weight from paw to paw. It’s been a while since she’s done –anything- really, that blasted hangover taking care of that, and the creature is itching for a little fighting again. But water’s never been her thing, and red eyes soon regard the sea with a weariness that suits a creature born for land, rather then sea. “I’m not afraid of water,” the words are forceful, a rise to the challenge she thinks to hear in his voice even if her paws give an impatient hop again. Really, the beast looks all but prepared to follow him and that new stranger towards the sea, even if her toes burry themselves in the sand as she refuses to move. “But I’m not changing,”
Darrien was spending his time pacing and being dismissed all around the deck for being more of a hindrance than help wherever he volunteered. His duty was unseen, but vital as he was told, and kept monitoring the complex Diiroehn disposition. Eventually, he settled at the bow, rubbing his chin and developing more wrinkles on his forehead by the minute. There was something off about the sky, disrupting the frequency of the lich's vibrations. Darrien was having a hard time deciding who to talk to about it.
Senka snarls at Leoxander, pride ruffled even if the suggestion is brought by a wince. Ears flattening, hackles rising the semi-wet-mostly-cranky wolf indeed looks a dangerous thing to carry only putting more stress behind the very suggestion. But the rope ladder looks even more threatening then being carried and as the albino’s eyes linger on it she’s almost contemplating leaving. The unfamiliar has always made the survivor a bit weary as it tends to be a bad thing in her life. But then a familiar voice calls out and more out of reflex that comes from seeing something that moves rather then out of knowing what the words mean does the white one jump out of the way. The item is given a blank stare as it reaches them without harming the wolf at least for Senka, clueless as ever when it comes to ways other then her own, isn’t quite sure what to do with the offered harness. Turning to the only one who will give her an answer, Leoxander is soon greeted by that neutral look of a relaxed wolf’s head, though red eyes indeed look rather blank in her lack of knowing. It’ll be fun explaining, surely…
Leoxander looked up toward the sound of Tenebrae's warning, reaching out with a hand to catch the weird harness thrown before it landed in the salt water. Stepping back into the shallow pool, never seeming to care that it soaked through his boots and almost reached his knees, he held the contraption out in comparison to Senka. "Oh, this'll be rich." Was all he had to say, more or less to himself but shared with those nearby. A glance back over his head and he yelled up at Tenebrae, "You get down here and go about reachin' for buckles, then. I'm through." If Senka allowed it, he rested the harness over her back to wait for the Necromancer's descent, hands up defensively as a thief's should never be. If not, her other option was for him to toss it to shore, where she'd have to deal with sand in her fur, on the way up.
Leoxander will be denying Senka's answer, this time. He isn't about to tell her to let him strap her like a horse to a buggy, let alone attempt that.
Darrien stretched his neck out over the larboard side of the ship where he heard an extra set of canine vibrations. It took him a little while to feel anything at all about the new passenger with eyes of blood, fur of harsh snow, and could only really solidify a slight concern. All he had to go by was that she sounded very much like the Captain, and he could not feel splendid about that.
Tenebrae gave her roll of skyward eyes while still on deck, so Senka wouldn't see it, nor the amused smirk that might've gotten her bitten. By the time she'd descended to splash down into the shallows, she was all business. "Hold still." Senky-poodle, she didn't add. "Won't take a moment." If Senka complied, she'd soon have the wolf buckled in, the necromancer conscious of how the straps might remind the wolfess of less pleasant bindings. "Thirty seconds, that's all." She glanced up to where strong-armed men were ready to haul Senka up, told to be cautious of wolf-teeth, but not to back away. A bite would have the lycan tossed neatly back into the sea. This ship was pirate territory, and she wasn't about to have the whole Eternity bend itself backward for single individual, even if it was ‘her beshtesht friend inna whole world‘.
Leoxander knew Tenebrae would be coming down the ladder, so without making show of it, the rogue went to the side of the moving, breathing ship to latch himself onto the mithril-reinforced siding like a spider. Finding hand holds above his head and foot holds in the few dents and cracks that existed, nothing to threaten their smooth momentum, he scaled the hull like a rock climber and soon pulled himself up and over the railing, possibly passing Darrien in the process, to look for Caedan's mop. Her chest had been placed at her feet, in that reserved dinghy that remained unmoving, stationed half in sand, half in the water.
Darrien made way for Leoxander with a ducked head and a finger scratching at the back of his ear. He had a lot of salty phlegm at the back of his throat and did his best not to clear it until Captain was more than a few paces away from him. Keeping an eye on both Leoxander and Senka, Darrien could not help but squint toward the horizon. A muscle bounced in his jaw, and after a few minutes, his face relaxed not in relief but in escalating fear. He ran back to the bow and used his hand as a visor to block the sun. "Uh. Uh .. " They kept increasing in volume. Everyone was occupied, and Darrien really, really did not want to speak to Leoxander.
Leoxander came to stop and stare at Darrien with his shoulders squared and his eyes narrowed impatiently. A shift of his weight splashed sea water across the freshly moped surface of the deck, much to the dismay of silent onlookers, but he showed nothing in the ways of caring, or being sorry. Lycan eyes were locked upon this crewmember, who he'd noticed the night before, but didn't bother to recall his name. "The hell do you want, ya scurvy dog?" he came to snarl, since Tenebrae wasn't there to give poor Darrien a hand with the pirate Captain.
Senka seems to miss the added stress of the ‘simple’ action of getting her on board brings. Instead she merely stares at Leoxander in confusion, still expecting that answer and unmoving even if the harness if briefly dropped on her form, though habit urges her to voice her protest. The appearance of Tenebrae has the wolf’s protesting dying out however, black lids closing over her eyes in a blank blink as that command is given. Yet she’s back to stiffening again as straps move over her form, entrapping her in a way that has her tossing her head restlessly. Snorts escape the black spot that is her nose, urgent even as her anxious movements continue to make the work difficult. Briefly the beast can almost feel silver burning in her flesh, memories making her all but panic but the scent of Tene is enough to have her mind settle enough to keep her from fleeing. Angry as she is, her eyes all but roll back in her head as they widen enough to show the whites of her eyes that usually remain hidden but teeth stay clear of the only one who has named her horrible names and got away with it. In the end the wolf is all but a puffed up ball of stress, hackles all but hiding the straps as ears seem unlikely to rise anytime soon and her muscles frozen as if she’s not going to move anytime soon. Senka is pulled up just like that, legs stiff and eyes wide, adrenaline making her pant as higher and higher she moves. Finally the wolf is dripping on the wood of the deck, all but paralyzed but watching those around her, upper lip trembling to show her fangs in brief flashes. The simple act of getting lifted has all but traumatised the wolf, apparently.
Diiroehn appears, regardless of the antics in progress, as if a shadowy hell; his tombstone gaze lofted above that death's head grin so malicious within the countenance of something moreso wicked. And thus this frame, appearing right in front of Leoxander, holds sway, gathering darkness and shadow about him as if some sort of funereal beacon.
Leoxander had been looking at a fumbling Darrien, suddenly overwhelmed as death looms in his vision. The pirate does not take the needed step back, but sneers slightly and warily, nervous that more haunting visions might come. If that was what the Lich sought to achieve... a sliver of fear, consider it done. "What..." He states simply, more in defense, than inquiry. He's waiting for something to happen, now, frozen in that moment.
Diiroehn cants his head slightly, that grin enthralled. Suddenly, a twitch occurs, spasming movement in a chaotic fashion so unfamiliar to the Lich; his very figure wavering slightly in and out of existence. "I've chosen you. You will be my crutch when you find my body. Upon you I will focus, to avoid the chaos that will surely ensue during the daring rescue." A moment's respite, almost hesitant. "Will you accept this burden?" O, how the Lord of the Dead owes that pirate now.
Darrien was only breathing through his nose once Captain so direly implored for source of his anguish. Thus, he could only point at the holographic image of Diiroehn phasing in and at the sky with two separate hands. His vocal chords in cramps and gasping, Darrien could only play charades and bring his hands together, point them out again, and then clasp them back together. If that was not enough, the glossy fear in his eyes would be a great clue in the equation.
Caedan is still sitting in her dinghy, primly positioned and watching the increasing goings-on with aloof detachment. She musters a wry smile while watching Senka hoisted aboard, a smile that shows more in her eyes than on her lips. The Lich's appearance causes her nose to crinkle, and a lengthy sigh to precede her rapping on the ship's hull with her knuckles, and brusk call, "Oi. Send me down my mop!"
Tenebrae took hold of a remnant rope. "Haul away!" Climb the ladder, when she didn't have to? Pft, let the men lift her aboard. Her boots, unheeled and sturdy, were soon on the deck, and despite her lazy ride upward there was no pause before those boots were heading for the nearest cannon to check it was operational. Ships, she was ignorant about. But weapons of war she knew, and so employed herself fussing over this frayed fuse, or that uneven ball of shot likely to stick in a long, brass barrel. The gloom that descended was barely heeded-- she knew the Lich was bound, and for the most part where, and whatever visitations he paid were less important to her right now than making sure they'd actually get to the Lich's prison whole and unsunk.
Anshera circles, a way up in the sky above the gathering, polymorph taken of the form of a silver feathered falcon; small, like a merlin. Her demeanour is tense, as it has been, a keening cry emitted every so often. At Diiroehn's appearance, however, the diminutive bird of prey drops from the sky like a shimmering, miniature meteor, plummeting straight for the space between Creator, and Leoxander.
Dergious scratches vigorously at his crusty codpiece as he downs an ale.
Senka is strapped, stressed and apparently seeing things. Because the predator knows death, and that prickling that’s covering her skin can surely only be that but how can that be when the ship hasn’t even attacked anything yet? Ignoring the (rightfully) weary look of the sailor around her the beast begins to move again, the sound of the harness rustling, ropes sliding along still attached to it, and the sound of her nails gently tapping pretty much giving away every movement she makes. The beast can’t care though, not when the pup ends up being the centre of attention in a happening she…really can’t understand.
Leoxander would have typically called Diiroehn the first clever, cruel name he could dig from his broad vocabulary, before telling the Lich where he could shove the mop that the pirate was still hunting for. But something kept him there, staring darkly toward Darrien, without even realizing that the man was still there speechless by what he had come to witness, aboard the Eternity. Leo had actually mulled over the words Death offered him before, he'd taken a precious moment to consider his crime of distrust. A far cry from his worst, overall, but the burden of guilt was among that unseen on his shoulders. Still fairly young in appearance, especially when standing before a creation like Diiroehn and faced with those quiet, decision making moments, he kept his mouth compressed in a grim line and maintained a calm expression in his eyes. He answered like that, a promise more significant than words would allow, and spoke in the usual growling tones. Bartering for progress. "I need cover..." and his eyes risked a glance above, toward the cloudless sky.
Diiroehn cannot hear the call of his adoptive daughter, nor busy himself idly with distracting Tenebrae. Darrien's mind is far too aloof; Anshera's chaotic to boot. Dergious, seemingly done for the night, yet Senka falling victim for her plight. Cuki -where magic dare not treat, and Satoshi untrustworthy with forgetful hands. Who is left? Who is sane and composed enough to aid? Leoxander. Leoxander.
Diiroehn said to Leoxander, "I can give you that."
Darrien seemed able to afford a laugh, which actually sounded a bit more like a smoker's whinny. Nevertheless, it helped him acquire enough oxygen to bring some much needed coherence to his brain. At first, he went larboard again and spun his finger around to signal a much needed expediting of Senka's boarding. Then, he just felt stupid, realizing his lack of authority. After a few more breaths and the courage his Anshera brought upon her appearance, he rushed to her side and spilled the important information to her. "Crows. A whole, a whole murder of them. And they're big. They're really big, and, and they're coming. They sound hungry, and they smell dead things, or they sense it. I don't know. Him." He pointed violently at Diiroehn, and then apologized. "But him, he's bringing them here. They're coming. Big. Big crows."
Tenebrae was finally satisfied with the ship's guns, the rest of the crew armed with cutlass or pitch-ended arrows ready to be sent flaming into the Claw's guardships, and only then would she take a moment to greet her mate, only a glance to him, a nod, same given to the dwarf, to Darrien, even the polymorph bird. Her gaze settled on Senka, who was not forgotten. "Want some help, gettin' out that contraption?" Her grin was wide, and white, and fangless.
Caedan bobs along in her dinghy, which is moored to the much, much larger Eternity. She stands up to shout about her mop again, clearly unimpressed with how Leo intends to use it, when the dinghy is thrown into the side of the looming vessel and she nearly loses her footing. Her wail for her mop is abruptly lost to a string of half-mumbled, half-shouted curses until she plops back down again and sulkily watches those she can see, and listens to those she cannot.
Anshera plummets. Down, faster and faster as her small form tumbles from what remains of the great height she'd achieved, wings pressed tight to her body to accommodate even more celerity. Talons rasp by Leoxander's face, just barely out of reach, and perhaps meant in some sort of feral warning, wings flaring at the last moment to allow her a steady, if hard landing between the image of her Creator, and the Cap'n. Darrien is found close not a moment later, her head canting, and her wings fluttering as she seems to listen to his chattering. She in turn shrills at him, in the manner of the little bird she'd chosen to impersonate.
((OOC Preserved for posterity: Caedan is [dinghy].))
The dwarf stomps about, assuring his own surprises were ready. Bags of crystal had been deposited along the deck. The stones molecules were agitated to the point where a good jostle would cause a violent explosion and cause shards of crystal to scatter in all directions. A nasty surprise to any within a good ten feet.
Diiroehn is heedless of Darrien's words, instead turning from Leoxander to face the unforgiving skies of cloudless light. Both arms ascend, as if to grasp hold of the sun's own mooring and violently rip it from them, robes falling down his arms to a cascading ebony that yields the presence of bony appendages and rotting flesh. "The skipper lay with his nob in gore. Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore. And the scullion he was stabbed times four. And there they lay, and the soggy skies. Dripped down in up-staring eyes. In murk sunset and foul sunrise." A hellish cadence of singsong spell; the effects immediate. As if a curtain being drawn over the entirety of the above, blanketing it with cumulus clouds that are stark in their purple and black darkness. Shade and cover is given, and eyes dilate to adjust to this newly found lightlessness.
Senka pauses at the appearance of the bird, coming to stop with a rustle of ropes being dragged, and fixates upon Anshera with an intensity that’s almost unhealthy. That scent, she could never forget that scent. But it’s impossible, isn’t it? The silver witch being in the territory of those of her pack, is that possible? But it’s not the figure of one who helped torturing, enslaving her that she sees; merely a bird. A harmless bird, silver or no, is something the wolf should be able to take care of, no? But malicious thoughts end as she’s approached instead by a grinning Tenebrae. A snort is uttered in response to those words and slowly the wolf turns so that she can easily be freed. But it’s not the newly turned human who earns her heavy stare, for red soon settles on the bird again. That scent. It’s enough to drive the wolf all but mad, and Tene will have no trouble feeling the tense set of her muscles beneath those straps she’d be undoing.
Leoxander fell back into a defensive reaction, away from the talons that went across his face, far too close from his lack of shave for comfort. He placed a hand down to stand, glancing back as the Lich sings a grim song, and that is warning and cue enough for the captain to get things on the move. "On deck, the lot of you!" His voice is due to get louder each time he yells, drowning out the conversations from below and above. "Line up! Any extra cargo left out of my sights is long due overboard - HAVE I MADE THAT CLEAR?"
Leoxander shouted, "Up on deck, I won't damn well say it again!!"
Caedan shouted, "Aye aye, Cap'n!"
Caedan said, "Ruttin' mouth, good-for-nothing, flea-bitten landlubber."
Diiroehn turns toward Leoxander, "And now I am drained. Keep composure, cap'n." With that, the frame flickers, and blinks out of existence.
Leoxander growled as he pushed through several crew hanging around on deck, and you might just be one of those unfortunate few shoved in the crowd. He caught the railing and hoisted himself onto it, climbing the handrail to the upper deck where he could turn and look down at what was left of those hands.
Tenebrae's eyes were less likely to adjust, these days. So, she'd work in the dark to unbuckle the last catch binding the wolfess. She's managed to see that hungry stare, though, before the lights went down. "I'd not be biting that." Her tone was matter-of-fact. "Trust me, it'd taste like sh..." A crewman stumbled on her kneeling leg, one curseword superseded by another. "Watch it, you!" But he was only human... She'd continue, to Senka: "We're in for a rough spell ahead. Gotta ruun the Cenril gauntlet, find a haunted ship, free the Lich. Lots of mayhem. Perhaps we'll die. Most likely, we'll get to take a few with us before we do." Tene summed up the worst-case scenario, leaving out the nastiest bits for now. "Now, find something to do." Her eyes canted up, half-blind in the murk. "We'll be going soon."
Cuki was content in the kitchen. Fast asleep with Satoshi in his arms. He was propped in a half sitting angle against a counter. Many people lose their stomachs, over eat, or can't sleep before a big battle. Cuki was not one of them. A good warrior knows to get sleep when they can. The rocking of the boat and Satoshi had lured him into sleep quickly. It was not a good sleep. Hardwood was unforgiving and his respite was light. In case danger follows too close. Booming Captain’s call woke him right up. Cuki was quick to straighten out his clothes, seeing as how he didn't have any weapons or non-cooking gear with him. Shamelessly he grinned at the prospect of a good fight.
Satoshi scrambles to the main deck with Cuki in tow at the captain's call. The cat wasn't going to test Leoxander's temper today. She knew better.
Caedan is still grumbling something undoubtedly picked up from her time on Cenrilian docks and shores as two crewmembers begin to hoist the dinghy. At Leo's second shout, the psychic sniffs and pulls out a dagger from the flamboyant pair of boots (two sizes too big) she's wearing and takes hold of one line with one hand, and cuts the moorings with the other so that she is basically launched upward and on deck. Of course, they're minus one dinghy now, but that's never caused any problems before or anything. So she's up, pacing along the railing on the Upperdeck. She thinks.
Anshera shrieks her shrill merlin's cry, the small falcon of a polymorph hopping around to position herself before the Lich, body stance once more low, wingtips dragging along the ground. Senka is either ignored, or simply not taken notice of as the polymorph focuses on those nearest to her, namely Diiroehn, Leoxander, and Darrien. Leo she stares at crying out her chaotically driven suspicion of him in birdy tones - Only to find her Creator's composure depleted, his image vanishing behind her. Her feathers bristle and puff.
Darrien 's upper body shrank into zygote frailty. There was cognitive dissonance every which way. He felt protected and threatened simultaneously by Diiroehn's magic, for it must have been in good intentions. Still, it disrupted his concentration on the approaching dark scavengers. Captain's directions were abrupt. He scrambled left and then scrambled right, mowing his voice over the hustle and bustle. "The crows are still coming, they're, they're still coming. Th-the deadness, it still lingers! We have to go, we have to .. "
~CAWGH~ They were within mile away. ~CAWGH~ It was getting louder.
Leoxander remained composed, even as a swell of dark clouds would loom in above his head, a crackle of lightning the last of his bargained power. "Where the hell's my compass?" This guttural remark offered, the only note of the psychic's disappearance before he went to pointing out people, getting them to work. McCoy saved him the voice, his high pitched shriek a little less tolerable than Leo's wolfish brogue. McCoy shouts: "Hoist that anchor, lads. Sails to the wind! Secure those lines double-time or consider ye'selves shark bait!" The Captains brief speech of warning went on, noticeably more aggressive with his words than the crew member from the Calico Queen. One was a pirate, the other was not. "Dead men tell no tales, no quarter for the weary. Not a soul or a scrap of left behind. We kill what stays in our path and race with the winds until we find what we're after." Only would he allow his Navigator on the Upper Deck along side him, unless of course Tenebrae happened to wander to the Captain's station. He looked to the psychic and offered her in more quiet tones, still bristling with a natural growl. "You know what we're after, Ghost."
Leoxander shouted, "Dwarf!" Meant for Dergious, transferred toward Darrien. "Take care of this slacker."
Leoxander returned a glare toward Anshera, trying to decide whether to get rid of it, or look passed the appearance.
Dergious grins and stomps over to Darrien. "Not pullin yer own, eh... " He says as he grabs him roughly by the back of the neck and shoves him to the deck. "Ah be meanin te find me an example... be ye it?"
Darrien was still pointing in every which way, stammering, "B-b-but, th-there's trouble. Y-you have to tell the Cap-Captain that there's murder, uhmm, murder of crows on the way. And they're humongous. They could eat us like worms, they..." He did not need to explain any further, for one dropped right onto the main deck in front of Dergious preceded by a stale gust of wind. The crows was the size of a cow. And soon, three, four more alighted onto the main deck. When they didn't find Diiroehn, they pecked or rather, raped cargo and at persons alike that could possibly give them sustenance.
The necromancer turned her attention to the Cap'n, like a good crew member, her own authority nominal whilst they were at sea, and much deferred to the man who knew what he was doing. That she trusted to get them through these damned enemy waters, and.. well, into more danger, really, but they'd deal with that when they got to it. Darrien was eyed. "Somebody shut him up..." A pale hand waved Dergious over, the woman having a few ideas the dwarf might help with. Once the Cap'n was done talking.
Leoxander folded his arms across his chest to watch everything going on for a moment, not even bothering to take the wheel of the ship. And if the moment came where the vessel needed guidance, and he found himself busy, he fully expected the petite teenager, who could probably barely even see over it, to turn those pegs in the proper combination for him. One inked arm pointed toward a foreign bag tied to the base of a mast, and he yelled toward some random lackey, who'd found Caedan's mop. "Give me that and get whatever the hell those are off my ship. Leave them in the sand." Immediately, he rallied several who started hoisting the dwarf's mischievous plan off the deck, but before they got far those several cried out in terror, flinching away from what appeared to be... giant crows. "Bloody hell..." What else would you expect him to say but that famous line, as he drew the compound style bow from his back. "Always with the... damn... distractions."
Tenebrae, as if Darrien was somehow making sharp reply, was smacked in the head by a crow.
Caedan grins at Leo's speech, clearly pleased by its reception amongst the crew. Full of self-importance, she makes her way to the Cap'n, and rests her elbows on the railing, a gaze similar in color to the sky reaching across the expanse of sea in front of them. "It's time to raise the dead," she breathes into the wind suddenly picking up and gusting around them. "He'll have a tale to tell, I reckon." Eyes that glitter with mischief flick the Captain's way and eventually settle on the commotion around and below, for now.
Dergious sends a right hook flying towards Darrien's jaw as he grins at the birds. "Mebbe der be enuff o' em..." he says with a grin. He speaks in a voice that carries to the ears of Leoxander... "Mebbe we can be usin da beasts."
Caedan said to Leoxander, "Cap'n. The dwarf has a point. He is a base thinker. I think he can persuade them to pull us. I don't want to row today." She's still screwy, after all. "And I'm going to need my mop."
Darrien rotated about seven hundred and twenty degrees in midair once the cannonball fist collided with his face. Lucky enough for him, he was sent flying down the flight of stairs to the underbelly and would spend some time unconscious.
Leoxander took three appropriately black feathered arrows from the quiver nestled against his ribs, nocking them into the metal strings that would serve far better than nylon or cloth ever had. "Like hell..." He replies to Dergious suggestion before sending several arrows flying toward the beast harassing Tenebrae, first. One solid thunk of a crow corpse with it's dying call would likely warn the others to get the away from his ship. Despite appearances, all arrows would avoid impaling the necromancer. Truly.
Leoxander sent a storm of arrows at Tenebrae.
Caedan smoothly pulls Leo down as a crow-cow dives past them and onto the deck of the ship where it proceeds to peck rather insistently at one mast.
Tenebrae ran from Leoxander.
Caedan did that after he was done saving Tenebrae so he wouldn't like, miss or anything.
Leoxander fell, preventing him from taking out any more crows, in case the psions care to try their luck with them.
Tenebrae said, "Tryin' t'feckin kill me, or somethin' jeez...."
Anshera is off at a shot with the appearance of the crows, their intentions perhaps sensed, lest it otherwise be blamed upon the immense, overwhelming desire to murder and destroy such a chaotic state brought to the polymorph; a lack of control, where the grasp was already tenuous. It is in midair that the little bird changes, appearing a moment as a strange streak of silver, growing and resolving into a dragon of similar size to the crows, and of course metallically hued. Talons outstretched, she full on tackles the nearest of the black-feathered birds, straight off the side of the ship. Both she and the crow plummet out of sight, the vanishing act continuing for a few tense minutes until the entangled pair shoot up, climbing above the line of the horizon. Propelled largely by the polymorph's wingstrokes, the crow seems in desperate straights, taloned paws dug into it's flesh, razor-tooth lined jaw clamped into it's shoulder. It pecks and caws, tearing at the Lich's creation and trying to free itself from her grasp.
Dergious shrugs and then grins at the sound of Darrien landing, "It's yer ship!" he says as his deadly whip lashes out, striking a crow's wing. The enchantment of the weapon freezes it instantly, and the wing shatters like glass as the crow falls to the water below.
Tenebrae was grateful. No, really. She'd glance down at the crow's carcass, thoughtfully.
Senka jumps out of the way with a reflex well practised, ears flattening and snout wrinkling even if the enormous crow all but flattens an unfortunate crewmember that doesn’t have her reaction skills. Growling low in her throat, never one to back away, the beast slowly steps out of the crow’s reach, eying the throat not yet bared to her. The crow seems equally weary of her, uttering a sharp cry that has her snarling in reply and cocking its head, never once wavering in its stare. The moment is soon broken, tension shattering as the albino lets out a sharp snarl that has saliva flying and teeth revealed. A lunge towards the bird’s neck is made, a bird just a tad bigger then her original target, but only earns the wolf a snout full of feathers abnormally big. Feathers that block the wolf’s vision until she too is knocked back a few steps, shaking her head to clear her star-filled-vision.
Tenebrae said to Dergious, "He said these were from the Lich. Can you get the feathered sods to do somethin' useful?"
Dergious said to Tenebrae, "Bah! Dey be animals... dey can be put te werk."
Caedan disappears from Leo's side, easily making her way down a bit of rigging to the lower deck where she'll wind up just next to the dwarf, whom she'll tap insistently on the shoulder, and then spare a curt whisper to.
Leoxander was aboard a pirate ship becoming littered with black feathers. Crow carcasses seemed to be floating in the water, now. If there are any left, now's the time to start taming.
Caedan whispered something to Dergious.
They were not hostile, to be honest. It was only their beaks that wreaked severe destruction, no their intentions. The group had gotten to some of the dried fruits, but one was very curious about Tenebrae surely, and indeed met the first death. The other did panic, but unfortunately there was a strange ceiling dividing them from their sky. They were hesitant to attack, but they began shouting madly and leaping toward various crew members as bluffs. An unfortunate one caught itself in Dergious' explosive powder and seemed to most of the rest of the crew to spontaneously combust.
Tenebrae would stow that oddly large crow-carcass in a handy barrel, away from canine jaws. She had plans for the thing... but for now, she was studying the other corpses, frowning. "I can raise these. Once I do, Derg, could you get the things to like... maybe descend on one of the fleet? They're fresh dead enough to have a mind left. Or take the living ones.. I can handle these."
Caedan moves to the stairs, casually walking between two bewildered fowl that nearly crash into each other. She passes Tenebrae and gently tucks a black feather into her hair, whispering, "For luck. Cap'n's compliments." The psychic makes her way back to her post, but not before nicking a rum from the kitchen to tuck in a safe place next to Leo, where she explains with a cant of her head to Tenebrae, "First Mate's compliments."
Darrien was crawling up the stairs and held up two fingers, stating the obvious before losing his grip and returning to the underbelly on his head. "T--two LEFT!"
Tenebrae shifted her gaze aside to Caedan, then to Leo with a grin of thanks that might hint to her enjoyment of the impending fight, even if she were more likely not to survive it these days.
Anshera sees only red, cares not for the cries of a crow who's perhaps being murdered without need. It struggles, and continues to shriek as it manages to free one wing from the polymorph's grasp, frantic fluttering battering the feathered appendage to the side of Anshera's head. Their path upwards falters, slowed after the initial burst, and now, after a few moments reversed, the pair plummeting towards the ship. They land heavily on deck with the faint crack of wood beneath, only to immediately tumble into a writhing, dangerous and deadly mass of black and silver. Approach with caution.
Leoxander would look in Tenebrae's direction now that he was on his feet and deciding just how much damage was done to the deck, before they'd even left shore, including that offset explosion. His mood was becoming darker, obvious by the fact he wasn't bothering to yell orders. He'd just start shanking people, and booting their bodies overboard, at this point. Biting the cork from a bottle that would help to calm him, Leo took a long drink, waiting for people to get themselves in line and back to work.
Cuki was being tugged past the mast as the foul fowls struck. Ugly foes them lot. One lands on the mast itself above the couple while the other makes a clumsy landing on the deck. All evil intentions leveled at Cuki and Satie. The Anti-Mage had to act quickly. A yanked away left hand grabs at the large rope holding peg sticking out of the mast. Using it as leverage the Human jumps backwards in the air. Mighty legs latch around the crow's neck amidst the backflip. Tightening as it feebly tries to bite. The action yanks it free from the side of the wooden pole. Down and back they tumble, carefully guided by the Monk, with an almost inhuman feat of skill on Cuki's part. Monstrous bodies collide with a sickening thud. Crow had taken out crow. Cuki had fallen also. A painful smashing against the deck. A trio they where dazed for the moment.
Tenebrae caught the look, her grin fading, and was hasty in bounding up the steps to the Cap's side. "I can raise us an airborne foil, with that lot." A thumb to the felled birds. "Maybe Derg can get the rest in line." Her tone was quiet, calm. "Let's just freckin' go get the Lich."
Leoxander raised his brows, betting to himself whether or not the chef would get up from that one.
Caedan said to Leoxander, "He will."
Caedan wiggles her sleeve-covered fingers at Tenebrae, pleased that she has joined them.
Darrien was looking like a lich himself, slinking up the stairs from the underbelly onto the main deck.
Dergious throws into the air a great number of crystals, which glitter even in the dim light around them. The crows as one, turn their heads to regard them. Transfixed they land upon the rail and watch the glittering stones and nothing else. The dwarf's telekinetics holds them aloft and turning. "Get sum ropes on em!" he speaks through gritted teeth.
Satoshi wisely leaves Cuki to his unnaturally agile backflips--he'd make an excellent cat honestly. Only after he's managed to tangle himself with the oddly sized birds does she come to his aid, with the heavy, ice-coated tome hurled at the nearest crow her first line of defense. "Oi! Dinner, I'd duck if I were you!" The bird squawks indignantly as the book connects with its head with a 'thud', stumbling away from the monk. The second bird his assaulted by the normally unmoving Mdf as the dragon increases his size to match the feathered beast, thick draconic tail coiling around the enemy's neck and lifting him free of Cuki.
Leoxander spoke in a tone contrasting that of the necromancer, loud and abrupt. "Weight that damn anchor. I want me proud beauty the fastest these lands have seen. Rig those sails, dog!" This last remark thrown to someone who happened to be standing there, still recovering from the crow attack, and Leo just had no time for a breakdown over a few birds when they were headed into 'Lichland'. To Tenebrae, he spoke more quietly and respectfully. "I'm about ready to feed the fish with this lot..." And that, itself, deserved another drink, before he passed the bottle to his 'First Mate'.
Leoxander let go of a breath that was more a growl, bow strung over his back once more.
Leoxander looped an arm around the back of Tenebrae's waist to keep her on her feet when the ship sails would catch the death scented wind, and propel them away from the cove. Caedan would just have to grab on or stumble, as the wheel turned mysteriously with the current, and would have to be stopped soon.
Tenebrae pointed to the birds, eyeing the crew, replying to Leo. "Save em for duties... or supper. Later. We need to get a move-on." She'd save Leo the job of ordering the ropes tied. "Y'hear the dwarf? Ropes about the birds, hasty!" The crew might be wondering why, but wouldn't spare the time to ask. Tene took long drink from that bottle.
Anshera , with her crow opponent come hurtling towards Darrien as he makes his way up to the main deck, streaks of red and silver respectively, left in their wake. They come to an abrupt halt as Anshera gains an advantageous position, pinning the oversized fowl. A brutal end for the bird, as with a harsh motion, the polymorph tears the crow's head clean off. Then, she proceeds to start tearing the rest of it's body to bits - this one might not be too suitable for raising, no siree.
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Post by Joliette Thorne on Feb 10, 2009 7:24:52 GMT -5
Tenebrae stared at Leo. "The wheel. Captain."
Dergious scowls at the waste of possible resources, but says nothing. He turns to the crew, "Quit yer damn starin an be gettin te work! We runnin silent.. an we be runnin dark! Get yerself's movin and keep yer traps shut!"
Darrien , in combination of fear and momentum was once again sent tumbling down the steps to the common sleeping quarters. There were several resounding cracks and a subsequent moan. "That ... that... that actually didn't feel half bad."
Leoxander waited, satisfied with the Bosun's work, and once his eyes were taken from Dergious he paced back for the ship's wheel to steer them away from the paler water.
Satoshi retrieves her book while her semi-conscious target is roped by a crew member.
Caedan bats at Leo to shoo him away. She's got this, and she's using her mop to keep the vessel on course.
Dergious shouts, "Extinguish da lights, get yerselfs te station!" His whip does not cut the air, for silence is now their ally. Leoxander allows Caedan that honor, silent, while he inspects the working order and starts his prowl among the crew.
Caedan frowns at the crows and wonders if she'll be able to steer them as well, but reckons they'll be steering her -- or the boat, rather -- in a few seconds' time. She alerts Leo to this fact by trying to trip him on his way to inspect his crew.
Anshera has made, and continues to make a mighty fine mess of the upper deck, splinters of wood from a broken railing mingling with slick blood. More and more of that crimson fluid is spread around as silver talons tear past ebony feathers and into flesh. Those discarded, stained feathers flutter around her in a cloud, painting a macabre portrait.
Darrien plotted a strategy to ascend the stairs without falling victim to gravity and peered around the corner, up towards the mast and the moving clouds darkened by the dark, translucent cover. At a sprint, he ran up the stairs and clung onto the first thing he could get his hands on, a dead crow. He yelped like Leoxander over a decade ago.
Tenebrae busies herself dragging the several gigantic crow-carcasses into a pile. She'd eye Anshera darkly. "...kick that ornery bucket of quicksilver over board, if it keeps that up..." She eyed the living birds next, hoping that Derg's plan for the roped corvines might get them moving quicker through these hostile waters. But her thoughts must focus, now. Collect. She had work to.
Leoxander took the rum from Tenebrae before descending the steps to the Lower Deck, after a stumble that permitted Caedan a glare, which is still a bit cluttered with loose cargo being hauled to specific destinations by Calico Queen crew, with blood smears and feathers to indicate a first battle, thus far. Crow carcasses will be dealt with and bound together for proper use, on order of the First Mate - Tenebrae, as designated by the captain. Another drink of his rum and he'd stalk toward the prow of the ship, hopefully with the Necromancer still along at his side. To watch the water split for the Eternity's dedicated movement, which made it painfully clear why this pirate got away with living as long as he has, in his line of work. He'd stolen a damn good ship. Before he could speak his plans, he hears Darrien yelping again, and responds by giving Tene' a flat look.
Dergious stomps over to Darrien and grabs him roughly by the hair. He leans in close enough for the man to smell his rancid breath when he speak, "Whut part o' silent dun ye be unnerstandin, boy!"
Darrien sat on deck cross-legged, keeping to himself and making sure nobody was silently judging him. He made himself look busy by meditating, tracking Diiroehn's vitals. Mostly the healthy squirming of maggots.
Darrien was then lifted by his hair that miraculously did not rip off. Through gritted teeth, he complied, "Yessir. Won't, won't happen again, sir."
Rhian had stood below deck after scarcely an hour's sleep it seemed, soaking every arrow known to man and ending with a colossal pile. The woman finally journeyed up from the underbelly towards the lower deck, black curls peeking from the hatch and dark eyes searching the pairs of legs bustling about in search of those to whose charge she belonged. She risked a, "M'lady!" shouted, scarcely audible above the bustle of the crew. Anshera son reduces her crow to nothing but a jelly-like mass of flesh and blood, trembling around and clinging to the mangled bones of the bird's skeleton. Her point of focus devoid now of it's interest, she turns instead to Dergious and Darrien, the low rumblings of a growl climbing up her throat.
Dergious grins and releases Darrien, and stomps over to Leoxander. He looks up at the captain and points to the crow. "Mebbe... we cud be causin a diversion wit dat. " he says softly. "D'ye be thinkin dat lights an sound crossin da sky away frum us... wud be follered by dem boats?"
Satoshi raises a hand into the air, the little mage's outstretched limb hardly reaching above the head of crew members. She could only hope it caught Leoxander's attention and he was in a good enough temper to hear the feline's idea for a distraction.
Leoxander said to Dergious, "I say quite stompin on my damn ship and you can do whatever the hell you want with those bodies, short of makin' them explode." That subtle remark made it clear Leo knew who set up the bombs on his ship, but surprisingly he wasn't tossing the dwarf overboard. Perhaps sympathetic to his inability to swim with short limbs, but likely not. "Another distraction can't hurt, but on her call." He'd motion to Tenebrae, then lower his feral eyes to his newly appointed Bosun to speak a friendly warning. "An' if you try to hurt my baby, again... I promise you'll meet the rope's end by her mast, mate."
Leoxander didn't allow much to escape his notice, especially a potential threat. And a hand was considered just that, when you spent your life as an assassin. Dergious said to Leoxander, "Me bombs were fer dem udder ships, not dis un. Me own fault fer not clearin it... but dun be thinkin I wanna be sinkin te da depths... me kind dun be swimmin well. We be sinkin real good.."
Satoshi said to Leoxander, "Think the boats we're trying to avoid might follow a big white dragon," she gestures quickly to Mdf, "making a hullabaloo away from us?"
Leoxander heard Satoshi's question, then proceeded to look at Tenebrae with a mutter. "...Big... white...dragon.." A grin started to form there, on rugged features.
The ship suddenly pitches violently, scattering whatever isn't latched down far to the port side of the ship. The psychic corrects her error immediately and calls a feeble, "Sorry! Sorry! False alarm! I thought I saw a mermaid having tea with the Queen of Rabbits. Sorry." They are back on course in no time, with a sheepish navigator inspecting her fingernails and steering the ship with a mop stuck between her knees and two of the spokes on the wheel.
Darrien got to his feet. Apparently, the man of the mission was at some kind of peace for the moment. Understandably, this calmed Darrien some and gave him reason to sigh deeply. He closed his eyes to recollect the events that had transpired in just the past two days. Searching for Anshera in the air, on the railings, or on crates, he stepped over feathers and limbs with a certain degree of sadness.
Darrien simply fell overboard and began screaming.
Leoxander motioned toward Dergious "Get some crew on the gunwale. I want two to a cannon, ready to load and fire on my command." This same order equally offered to Tenebrae, who would have to prove her rank to earn it, as his 'First Mate'. Leo couldn't go ruining his growling tone for when he really needed it. "You get those birds animated and do what you got to do. Where's the shape changer!" Now he started hollering for people, back to business you could say. Leo was eager to be on the move and destroying things, unnecessarily.
Rhian 's lanky arms latched to the deck, fingers digging into the wood as the ship threw her, were it not for her status of being half in the hatch. The woman, after suppressing a 'bout of nausea, proceeds to scramble with some effort onto the lower deck of the ship.
Leoxander lurches to one side of the railing, catching himself with a blink.
Dergious utilizes the science of psychometabolism, heightening his senses to near superhuman. His eyes burn as he sweeps the horizon, seeing much further than he otherwise could. He whispers to the captain, "Ship dead ahead... she be dark like us. Dey ne be prepared fer battle!"
Leoxander said, "Damnit...."
Tenebrae would employ a disgruntled Senka to aid her in her cause, the wolfess spitting black feathers while glaring dolefully at the necromancer once the bodies were in place. No time for sacred sigils, nor the other fol-de-rol of magical accoutrement. This was no fancy human summoning, nor the rebirth of a familiar that Leo might recall from early days, long ago in their partnership now, but the raising of dumb beasts. If that dark sky would darken a little more, who was to tell, while the deathmage's lips moved in silent coruscations, fingers clawing by her sides when a natural talent for bringing dead matter to life was let loose-- the magics did more to harness it than cause it, so that they did not have animate ex-krakens or undead whales to add to the mix. "Get back...." It was hissed to a crewmate venturing too close for her liking, in danger of having their every dead skin cell explode to cancerous life. "Get..." And black tresses flew back as her spine bowed, hands tearing the air.. the magic crackled and hissed, and then the once-vampire straightened. Her eyes were blacker than the sins she ate, no shadow-wrought pall over irises, but the stored force of arcana she was bred for. That ebon stare was turned upon the crows, who as one shuddered and ruffled. Dergious could do what he wanted with 'em now. Tene was full of magic that sundered Death itself, and needed a goddam drink. Just in time for Leo's look. She knew that look. "Uh...." Oh. More trouble-- for Cenril. "Leo....white.. like a ghost?"
Darrien shouted, "Uh. Help? Please?"
Dergious shouts, "To yer guns, men! Be ready on da command! Keep dat powder dry an yer wits sharp!" He nods as the men scurry, despite his not sending a whip at them.
Leoxander shouted, "Man overboard!"
Tenebrae managed to keep her feet through the lurching. But only because of her boots, which she probably got from the same place Leo got his well-gripped ones.
Dergious stomps over to the rail, and scowls. "Bah, I wud be lettin im sink!" He unfurles his whip and sends it at the man, it's length increasing with the bearers need. "Stay on yer guns!" He shouts to his men.
Anshera would not have been difficult to find, however Darrien's departure overboard causes her to search for him, instead. Acting with haste, she dives after her son, silver body disappearing beneath the surf and crashing waves.
Leoxander could only look at his Mistress of Death and Darkness from the railing, a silent nod offered before he waited to see what would become of Darrien. He was far too busy to help, personally, and hardly slowed the ship with a gesture to alter the sail rigs, to forfeit only a moment of their cherished wind. Jogging for the wheel, he'd take over from Caedan with a mutter through his teeth. "Queen of Rabbits?"
Dergious watches the whip strike the water near the man, the magic freezing a good amount of the salty water. "Swim ye waste o' time! " He shouts to Darrien.
Rhian was out by now and standing in the middle of the lower deck, moving out of the way of any who passed and somewhat delirious without direction.
Leoxander shouted, "Which one of you had the dragon handy?" Called from the Upper Deck, he'd motion to the bottom of those stairs. "Get o'er here!"
Satoshi weaves her way through the gathered folk to the stair of the Upper Deck. She waits at the bottom, peering up at Leoxander as the dragon chirps curiously from his perch on her shoulder. "Sir."
Tenebrae looked horribly pale once the undead birds stood on their claws, null and void mentally since nobody was pulling their strings so to speak. "Best... " She fought the rising sick back down. Magic was hard, on a mortal. "Best we... bloody...." Her finger pointed to the Cenril flagship. Yup, it was right there, bobbing in the ocean. She could hear shouts, in the distance.
Darrien 's hands slipped on the algae-laden surface of the bottom of the portside. Though he was about to be suffocated by the embrace of the Lady of the Ocean, he still had the nerve to exclaim, "Guns! I don't want to be shot. I still have to find .. have to find my .. my gun, and my bullets." And then he was submerged, but conveniently drifting toward Anshera's direction. "I'm useless," he thought, "I might as well just give up."
Caedan surrenders the wheel and entertains her hurt feelings for only a second as the Captain takes over. "You can't upset the sea dwellers or the sea will go mad with grief. Their prince is in love with a landlubber." She smiles and waves farewell at something indistinguishable in the murky sea. "Someone is using an illusion to make you think the ship you are looking for is the ship you are looking for. But it's not. You'll have to raise it. And we need to be going much faster."
Dergious ties off the whip to the rail, and turns away. "Either dey be swimmin fast enuff er dey dun be... " he states matter of factly. He turns to Tenebrae, "Whut d'ye figure bout dat boat?"
Tenebrae had a little colour back by now. "Well, Bosun, I figure -- it's gonna blow us outta the ferbuggity water if we do not do something about it."
Dergious said to Tenebrae, "Hehe, den we best be doin sumthin bout it, eh?"
Tenebrae snapped her glance to Rhian, "Get some men, pull those waterlogged ninnies up, pet?"
Anshera appears at that critical moment, son drifting into her saving embrace, held tight to a silver scaled chest. They are left behind as the ship cuts swiftly through the choppy waters, and she angles upwards in lieu of forward, polymorph recalling vaguely in the back of her mind, that most she knew needed to breath - a convention she herself wasn't bound to, and was wont to forget. Breaking through the crash of a wave, mother and son rise above the tumultuous surface of the water, bursting for the to hover upon spread wings in the darkened sky. After a moment to get her bearings, the polymorph labours, beating wings carrying herself and Darrien after the ship and her crew.
Leoxander turned his head, mostly in the direction of the necromancer, at the opposite end of the ship. "It's now or never!" He informed her, before turning his attention to Satoshi. A squint of his mismatched eyes on the dragon, and he muttered lowly, as though it were such an easy feat. "I need it bigger. Have it fly to Rynvale and lure what you can apart from the fleet." Another yell, this one meant for the Bosun, which would be a description of Dergious if Webster knew who the dwarf was. "Arm those cannons, aim for the fishers!" He'd already informed those on the dock early that morning to stay out of the seas, and being a sailor, Leo had this quiet connection. So naturally, these 'fishing' ships armed to the teeth, were anything but. He'd swivel the wheel to aim the rudder and steer the ship east, into dark waters. On the battlefront.
Tenebrae said to Rhian, "Or you know... get me and the crew kitted up with them arrows. Tinder, too."
Dergious shouts to the crew, "Ready yerselfs, battle be comin! Ready yer weapons... be ready te be boardin er!" He turns to Leoxander, "Ah figure a few men wit me bombs goin o'er, disablin er main mast, an we can be blowin er by."
Caedan said to Leoxander, "Much, much faster."
Leoxander is torn, between saving crew and saving time. Needing to make a decision, and having made a promise, he yells. "Let go of that sail and give her to the wind."
Leoxander shouted, "Full ahead!"
Leoxander said to Dergious, "Stick to the plan."
Rhian 's ears luckily heard the necromancer's shouts and from afar she stared a bit dumbstruck. As talk of rising action came through the place she swiveled around towards the railing, trotting over on wavering legs. She spotted silvery wings through the air nearing and looked back to the necromancer, shouting, "Th're flyin' back th'mselves 'mlady!"
Tenebrae unslung her own bow, missiles being her specialty, and waited for that stock of pitch-soaked arrows. Meanwhile, the undead birds swayed side to side, unpretty -- but all in a row.
Dergious shouts, "Ye heard im! Move!" and he is among the men now, slapping shoulders and pulling at the ropes with them. The dwarf is sturdy and strong, and his short, stubby legs work well on the moving deck. "Get yerselves arredy! We be gettin thru dis, men!"
Tenebrae said to Rhian, "Can you shoot a bow?"
Caedan whispers to men that can't hear her, thankfully, "But not all of you."
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "Send one of those birds as word to the copy. Now!"
Satoshi throws Leoxander a crooked salute and scoops the dragon off her shoulders. She speaks low and swift to her pet, the bright eyed beast nodding in understanding once before stretching white wings and beating them once to free himself from Satoshi's hold. The dragon kept his size to that of a small dog's as he skimmed the waves away from the ship and only when he'd gotten himself a decent distance did the dragon take a much larger form, easily the size of a small ship from snout to tail tip. The dragon bellowed a challenge to the dark ships on the water once before swooping high and making a jagged line for Rynvale's coast. White glistening hide against dark clouds marking him an easy target.
Rhian said to Tenebrae, "I'll do wh't I can!" This, shouted across the deck.
Rhian then proceeded to trot through the bustle of battle to where Tenebrae stood on the upper deck.
Darrien coughed out water and was only a stupid leap away from drowning again, for he gained consciousness and was soaring in the air in the arms of a form of Anshera he had never seen before. But he recognized the sounds of her body and eased into the hold. The closer they got to the scene, the more the worry and skittishness came back. "Is that a .. Is that a dragon? Where, where did that come from? And? We, we're going to be perforated by cannonballs!" Darrien would duck and cover as soon as they made it back on deck.
Caedan calls to the feline, her voice rich with admiration, "Oh, that's fantastic. How lovely."
Satoshi watches after her pet a moment longer before letting out a sigh and returning to the incapacitated Cuki's side.
Tenebrae whipped her head to the line of corpse-crows, more sere words stumbling over the lips of the necromantically-charged woman. "It's time." She repeated the Cap'n's words for no reason apparent, her tone a dead chill that the decoy ship's own Captain would hear from an unsavoury beak. "Now, GO."
Satoshi offers Caedan a quick salute. "Why thank you."
Dergious finishes helping a sailor secure a line and then turns to Satoshi, "Ye be un o' dem tricksters! Take dis!" He passes her a white staff that seems to throb with power, "I can no be usin it.. mebbe ye can be makin yerself useful!"
Cuki has been lying on the deck. Needless to say that landing hurt. It hurt a lot. The whole world buzzed feverously and did not subside for several minutes. By the time the Monk could even stand they were skipping right along into battle. Cuki held his head as he whispered a bit of a curse to himself. Horrible time to be lying down on the job. Quickly he looks about, trying to gather as much information as he can. Yet there is not much he could do. He is a cook and monk. Cuki's knowledge was in his hands not alchemical cannons or bows.
Tenebrae watched the corvine take unsteady flight, great wings beating the sky, and turned to Rhian. "Take mine. It's too big for me. I'll find something... get in the rigging, and aim for theirs, if they get close... can't fight us if they're ablaze."
Anshera 's progress to catch up to the ship is stalled, smaller form not suited to carrying much weight far, at considerable speeds. As such, what ground they gained is beginning to be lost, polymorph only half listening to the words her son speaks, "Cannonballs, yes..." She murmurs, once more angling them upwards in lieu of forward, climbing to a considerable height, "Trust me." She murmurs, suddenly letting go of Darrien and sending him into a free-fall. She dives after him, gaining in size as she strains to overtake him, and swoop beneath to catch him upon her back.
Satoshi stares numbly from the dwarf to the staff and back again. The magic in the item was apparent to the mage and it rested naturally in her hand. "Thank you, dwarf! Just you wait and see what I can do with this beauty."
Dergious turns to the men at the cannons, "Ah want em all ready te fire, an the makins o' anudder shot at da ready! It be yer hides if ye no be gettin off two volleys afore dey be upon us!" he threatens... his whip once more in his hand.
Tenebrae dashed to find a smaller bow, and would join Rhian in the rigging, with the other archers.
Leoxander could never be called out for his impatience. He had bided his time, allowed defenses to fall, and on that particular night none of those remaining Cenril soldiers could have suspected that impending attack. What they would first see is the surprising, unexpected but somehow vaguely familiar silhouette of a dragon, gathering their attention to look southeast. They would never shoot down this easy target of course, it inspired a sense of awe and confusion. From the west, came the doppleganger, right on time. An immense, crimson sailed structure, but only meant to duplicate the pirates' black sailed vessel, this time around. If any dusty cannons would be aimed in warning, this is the direction their weapons would go. "Aim for the first bloody Blaggard that doesn't gangway!" The Captains orders rang from the underbelly to the crow's nest, no matter where the crew occupied at this point. Sails rippled and Jack suddenly appeared, anxious for activity, his bark meant to encourage and rally those off course to be doing something helpful.
Rhian took the bow handed to her from the woman, eyeing it with obvious unease. Yet, such with such a big target, why worry? With a supply of arrows snatched, she dashed back to...rigging rigging, only guided to such as other men rushed up the ropes. A wave of nausea passed before she began shakey climb up the rigging with the others and nocked one in the bow with precarious balance, readying for a first shot.
Tenebrae loaded a bolt to her smaller bow, calling to Rhian. "On my orders, and only if they breech the side. Don't forget to set the arrows on fire first.." This, with a grin.
McCoy offered help by suggesting loudly. "We need more on the gunwale! If you can fire a cannon, get to one!"
Rhian 's eyes widened down towards Tenebrae, they had to be on fire now? One of the friendlier archers nearby offered aid in this process with a few muttered words, a thankful mercy among this rabble.
Dergious runs to the pointy part of the ship, looking ahead and watching the darkness. The very same sight that allowed him to see in the deepest, darkest caves allows him now to scan the ships ahead. His senses still tingling via his enhancements, kept alive by the artifact atop his head, he kept a close watch as many of the ships did exactly as the captain had planned. A straggler, looking to the distraction and not in his own direction, would not be clear. "Comin up te me left! " He shouts behind, and the crew makes ready with the cannon.
Tenebrae swung herself around, via slender legs twined to the rope she appended from, steadied herself, and raised one arm ready to fall as the signal for the archers to light up and fire.
Darrien nods confidently to Anshera, nothing worth more than a mother's promise. He did not even scream when he began to sink back toward the ominously darkening waters. The soft landing came quicker than he expected, and the feathery surface he was on was colder, stiffer, and greasier. He landed on one of the born-again crows and it was not very happy about that. This inevitably affected the crow's flight patterns and the rope attaching it to the ship was severed by a stray arrow (when they began firing). What luck. It began flying toward the ship. The enemy ship.
Satoshi shoves her way toward the mast that bore the crow's nest, her new toy serving to knock a few of the slower crew folk out of her path. Once through the group the feline makes short work of climbing the mast, staff clamped between fangs during the action. Claws dug into the wood as she swung herself into the crow's nest only to climb further up the mast where boots managed to find impossible purchase at the very top. Leoxander's words fell on deaf ears, the mage too focused with her nearest target. Staff held above her head the feline allowed herself a chuckle. The already present dark clouds thickened above the slowest of the gather ships, swirling and clashing as a heavy snowfall began, the frozen rain falling only on the decks of those ships. It'd take a few moments for the blizzard to reach maturity.
Leoxander lifted his eyes toward Satoshi with a scowl, noticing her blizzard dance upon the crow's nest, attracting a storm. "The hell is that damn cat doin' on my nest?!" He demanded gruffly, expecting to find out before he began this war.
Anshera snarls quietly to herself, the polymorph banking in sharply to pursue the resurrected crow carting off her son. An air of protectiveness is about her, however in part it seems more a possessive protectiveness, as the polymorph truly was rather possessive of objects and people. In the clear line of fire, she quickly gains upon Darrien and his reanimated steed.
Rhian , with the aid of another, lit the end of her arrow, the entire shaft lighting fire and at Tenebrae's signal she aimed for less time than reasonable and shot the arrow high with the rest of the others. In all luck her shaft was lost to view in the horde of the other flaming missiles headed for the enemy ship.
While the Eternity's crew focussed on the portside approach, two further shadows, soon to be revealed by white sails, scored through the waves, swift trajectory toward the vessel they'd been ordered to guard against. High excitement ran through Cenril's navy that eve, all eager to claim the right to tell of how they downed the great pirate vessel, as if each had done it single-handed.
Caedan stays at the wheel in case she is needed, or if the Cap'n goes off to help avert some disaster. The teen leans against a port-side railing, peering over the edge intently before his gaze lifts to the horizon. She hmm's thoughtfully.
Tenebrae shouted, "Incoming, Starboard!"
Darrien was riding backward this whole time, scared stiff and shouting to Anshera to demand her attention. When she was close enough, he jumped off the back of crow and lost his shoes. He collided with her, and prayed to the gods he was still divinely loved.
Leoxander called abruptly. "Starboard side! Ready the guns! NOW, DOGS!" An abrupt jerk of the wheel varied the aim of the prow of the ship, turning her to prepare for confrontation, rather than be taken from the rear, as it were. It might lurch those not ready from their place, and they would learn.
Caedan said to Leoxander, "That's my nest, and you know it."
Leoxander hardly gave them a chance before he'd hop right up on the railing and scream, loud enough that enemies might hear:
Leoxander shouted, "Fire!!"
Darrien said, "Oh dear."
Caedan takes the wheel accordingly, and steers in accordance with Leo's thoughts and inclinations.
Leoxander waited to hear the first 'BOOM', with a tremor from below. Followed by at least two more. He looked toward Caedan as he spoke, rather casually. "Then stop her..." Growled warningly through his teeth, before his eyes trailed on the white sailed ships, despite their deceptive colors, knowing their aggressive advance would not be honorable. He waited to see the outcome of the Eternity's attack, hoping not to be cornered. Leoxander willed them east, right through the heart of Cenril's defenses.
Satoshi wavers on one foot a moment as the ship lurches, only frantically flailing arms providing her with enough force to right her balance again. The snow she'd called down already building in heavy layers on her previous target and doing its proper job, the mage turns her attention to the new threats. "Oi! Captain!" she calls down to Leoxander, or any commanding officer in hearing range.
Tenebrae motioned for the archers to turn to the approaching ships, none close enough yet to warrant orders to fire, but ready in case. The crew of Cenril's flagship, first frozen and slipping on the boards, then ordered by their furious Captain to extinguish several fires among the sails, were understandably lax with cannon-fire-- one iron ball hit Eternity's side with a terrible 'clang' and the sound of splintering wood.
Leoxander said to Satoshi, "Damnit! What is it?"
Rhian yelped and she lost what little footing the had, saved from plummeting to the deck below by mere chance by her bony fingers desperately gripping a rope. Her legs flailed till they found new footing and she resituated herself with a great deal of effort, even more as she struggled to re-nock her bow.
Satoshi shouted to Leoxander, "I can freeze one of those wooden beasties in their place. Don't have the magic for more. Take your pick, sir!"
Dergious reiterates the order to fire, nodding as the men loose a deadly volley at the nearby ship. "Move! Get em reddy again!" he shouts as he moves towards them. The men grin now, and are soon ready to fire again as the gruff dwarf had demanded. The first volley had struck the enemy with great effect. Men lay still upon the deck, and the main mast was cracked, though it still stood. The survivors ran about, working to manoeuvre the ship and to return fire.
Rhian also had to factor in the newest orders...this feat of resituation was not an easy one. The resounding canon fire did nothing to help any nerves either.
Anshera bobbles in the air as Darrien's weight hits her awkwardly, the man dangling, precariously half-perched upon her shoulder. She manages to boost him up, just in time to bank in and narrowly avoid the heavy weight of a cannonball slamming into her back and dragging them both back down into the water. A wet, cold fate avoided for now, the dragon-formed polymorph turns to start on the precarious path back towards the ship.
Leoxander checked the horizon to see one ship mortally wounded, cracked in the hull and taking on water. They would retreat, but their comrades would remain, to fire the equal missile that oddly enough didn't forgo the same damage. The Eternity would sway appropriately, but fall no less victim to the murky deep. Leo ordered them on. "FIRE!" He looked back toward Satoshi in time to hear her offer. "The white sails in the back, then!" That would clear their starboard side, entirely, by his estimation. Only Caedan might confirm that.
Tenebrae gave Rhian something else to worry about: "Oi, girly! You're in charge of the archers, I got a little job to do..."
Dergious shouts, "Steady men, dis no be o'er yet!" as he is once again among them. "Dat powder be wet, get a new charge ready!" He says to a crew.
Leoxander waited impatiently for that second explosion.
Tenebrae slid down the rope, suffering only a little loss of skin on the way to the one hand gripping the cord, the other employed in fishing something from her pocket.
Dergious grins as the cannons fire once again with a tremendous, and hopefully satisfying, BOOM!
Darrien shied away from arrows on fire, some of them coming so close he could feel the warmth across his cheek that seemed to last forever. Just as they were within shouting distance of the ship, the second cannon fired, and the reason why Leo would not hear the ubiquitous ~BOOM~ of cannonballs hitting targets came in the form of Darrien's ~ARNNNGHGGGGGGGH~ which erupted for miles. The bardic failure deflected a cannonball headed straight for his face and shot it right back at The Eternity. "Oh, dear," he said again.
Leoxander shivers on the spot to watch the outcome, already preparing those ready on the opposite side. Though they still needed more... "Ready the port side! Lock and load..." Just a quirk of criminal speak mingled into his pirate lingo, since this particular rogue was both. But in the zone, he only saw a goal here, and concentrated on the targets outside his ship, trusting those aboard the Eternity would see to its survival. Or risk the consequences....
Leoxander shouted, "The hell-..?!"
Satoshi nods, though the gesture likely goes unseen by any below. The mages turns her attention to the vessel the captain had indicated, a smirk spreading on her face as she lowered the staff's head to point at the ship. Only a whispered word, the sound lost on the wind, was any sign that a spell had been set before the water that ship cut through as well as the droplets upon her sides and moisture throughout the decks hardened, her hull locked into a solid block of ice that ran to the ocean floor. The ship was forced to come to a jarring halt instantly, plenty of her crew thrown overboard with the loss of motion.
Skiving across the deck like a grounded bat out of you-know-where, the necromancer skidded to a halt beside the remaining undead crows.
Leoxander would topple backward hard as... whatever Darrien shot hit the deck of his ship.
Darrien has managed to set the deck on fire, or at least ruin a good portion of it.
Darrien shouted, "I'm sorry!"
Darrien might have just jeopardized all the lives of the crew, but he was fearing more at that point what Captain would do to him if they all survived this ordeal.
Rhian , upon Tenebrae's new order, then knew the woman had a deathwish. Her black eyes squinted through the night, gut writhing like something was alive within as she gauged a great many more factors with so many eyes and ears on her at once. There were new threats, and whatever order the woman gave was on guesswork, there were only so many arrows. She imitated Tenebrae's signal, the gesture aimed for the surviving sails of the broken masted ship. Her arrow came a bit late in the volley that headed for the white tarps. After such she is abruptly jerked from the rigging as the cannonball makes impact with the lower deck. She made sure to cling better this time...
Tenebrae snarled, half-sprawled on a half-ruined deck, and it wasn't Cenril's finest who'd receive the black-feathered end of her wrath. "Get.. that.. idiot... to ... shore...." This, to the corvine fleet, better needed to fight the enemy than... sheer foolishness. As one, the birds rose and would swoop and dive upon the bard, wherever he was now, mother included.
Dergious turns to see the flames upon the deck, and howls vague and rather disgusting threats against Darrien. He drops his whip and hefts his mighty warhammer, lifting it above his head and then down against the deck. The magic of the Blizzard-Enchanted-War Hammer freezes the deck immediately, quenching the flames. The deck is slick now, but seasoned sailors have seen such before, he is sure.
Tenebrae pointed to Darrien, in case the stupidly dead crows didn't get it the first time.
Caedan confirms it, but frowns at Leo for what she views as wasting an opportunity to take out the most powerful fleet vessel -- the one to the port coming roaring out of another cove like a bat out of hell, and beginning to gain on the Eternity. Did the Cenrilian officials manage to put together another ship as fast as the Eternity? The psychic squints into the glare of the blizzard, whispering a quiet, "Twelve-pounder, Cap'n. We've got to outrun her." Through the chaos on deck, Caedan's gaze sought Tenebrae and then fixed on Leo. She impatiently steers for the remaining fleet, east toward the outer band of defenses. "Much faster. Cannons ready." A quiet grimace. "Much faster."
Anshera 's wings flare as the second barrage comes, her flight coming to an abrupt halt as one particular cannonball comes flying towards her and the passenger she carries, wingstrokes pulling her back sharply. She finds it unnecessary in the end, as Darrien inadvertently reflects that heavy metal ball back at the very ship they'd been heading for. A brief air of mild confusion is her only response to that particular event, her mind far too preoccupied with getting herself and her son out of the line of fire. It was proving difficult, the polymorph now a considerable target, and finding projectiles coming at her no matter which direction she tried to go. Her own well being was of no matter to her, polymorph certain to the point of arrogance that she could survive anything the hail of death could do to her, however Darrien was another matter entirely.
Tenebrae shouted, "Where's that f..." ~BOOM!~ "...ing decoy?" Then, despite well-gripped soles, she slipped over. Luckily, her behind is adequately padded to prevent a broken tailbone.
Satoshi slides into the crow's nest, panting for breath. The little mage needed time to recover from calling forth a blizzard and glacier in a single night.
Dergious stomps once again among the men, "Get yerself's ready boys!" he says. "Get ready te be firin... dey be comin fast!" The dwarf watches the approaching ship, judging how soon it would overtake them. "Get ready te be repellin boarders!" He shouts finally, and from his many pouches he begins handing out weapons of his own design.
Tenebrae happened to land for awkward slide toward a growing pile of weapons.
Dergious drops fierce, menacing metal tigers upon the ground, and they prowl the deck as if impatient for enemies to appear. . Leoxander agreed by demanding loudly, "FULL AHEAD, or I'll DUMP THE LOT OF YA." Leave it to the rogue to resort to drastic measures when they needed to get by, but he would come to trust the psychic, given their past. Who else would get away with tripping him down the stairs? "I want this vessel moving full speed!" And just for good measure, one last round was ordered for diversion, and to dump the weight of extra cannonballs.
Rhian 's eyes widened as the new ship arrived and averting towards the new threat she awaited a proper distance, a proper range. After agonizing moments with the distance reached she cried, "F're at will!" Her arrow was now the first as it was lit and a flaming volley went careening towards the newcomer of the Cenril ships.
Dergious turns to his crews, "Ye herd da man! Let em go!" and flinches as another volley of cannons are fired.
Leoxander listens to the last round of fireworks, in sight and sound, exploding on the horizon. Who would honestly contend with all this?
Rhian 's foolhardy orders might waste a few of their arrows and once the ship began picking up speed in the opposite direction she'd signal a cease firing once a few of them hit the water.
Anshera 's reaction to the crows is no different than before, the polymorph seeing them as a threat; something to be torn to shreds. Her state of mind helped the situation no more than being caught in the crossfire of battling ships did, only lending to the inclination to react with violence before thought. Talons, tail and jaws flash, serving to strike at each crow, seeking to tear their flesh into strips. Unfortunately, this leaves her vulnerable to arrows and cannon-fire. A fine predicament indeed.
Darrien could barely think in this dizzying scene, but he did know how close to death he was treading, or soon to be swimming. Once he saw the murder of murdered crows flapping toward him on Tenebrae's orders, he shouted to Anshera, "Mum, let me go. I'll find a way. Just - just don't worry. You. You can help much, much more than I can now. Save, just save your strength, and I'll meet you, somewhere, somehow later." He didn't give her much of a choice, as he let go of all Anshera and gripped onto one of the crow's feet. He was heading toward Cenril, and felt completely screwed up.
Leoxander said to Dergious, "Remind me to keep you around..."
Anshera misses her son's departure, one crow slipping past her guard and carrying him off. Alas.
Tenebrae also happened to have landed near Senka, who was even more unhappy than usual to be subjected to confusing two-legged behaviours. Tene made it simple for her: "Whatever isn't wearing a red bandana, maul its face off." Of course, all Eternity's crew would wear one, and at that she stood up, nodding to the dwarf as she grabbed up a sword. "Good job, Bosun." From her pocket, she’d pulled her own red scarf, but since Senka knew her scent, she tossed it to the dwarf. "Safer'n sorry.." But the ship leaned hard to wind, and it seemed they might outrace the great ship after all... Tene kept hold of the sword though, a wide grin spreading her features as the crimson-sailed decoy shot into the middle of the fray. "Dergious! Cloak us!"
Caedan relaxes, and lets a lazy grin to spread to her lips. Lashes flutter close and she'll let the wind play over her face and through her hair. Eyes still closed, she makes minute adjustments, and prays for more speed as they zoom towards the horizon.
Satoshi shimmies her way down the mast until the unsteady deck floor meets her boots. She sighs wearily.
Leoxander said, "How many did we lose?"
Tenebrae tilted her head up to Rhian. "Good work!" And staggered off through remaining bits of ice dead crows, potentially a few corpses, broken wood and cranky dwarven bosuns to the Upper deck.
Rhian was too busy clinging to the rigging like a scared cat without footing as some of the archers scurried down in preparation for boarding. There was a sudden fit of a crippling fear of heights engulfing the woman at the moment...
Dergious eyes Tenebrae with a look of surprise. He shakes his head and drops to a knee, and sends his will into the artefact atop his head. The combined power of the man's formidable will, and the power of his crown might be up to the challenge. He shakes, and strains... and the crown pulses with light as the dwarf tries to cloak the ship. He erects an inertial barrier first around himself, and then extends it outwards. The agitated air molecules make the air waver and churn as the field extends further, and then further still. The dwarf's eyes close, and his nose and eyes bleed. Soon the barrier actually does circle the entire ship, and the dwarf holds... for now. The dwarf's field bends the light itself, leaving them effectively invisible.
Caedan said to Tenebrae, "And I thought he couldn't get any uglier ..."
Dergious rallies and finally stands, though he does look a bit dizzy. He laments the loss of much of the stored energies within his crown, but the field will hold for the better part of an hour. He turns to Tenebrae, "I no be knowin I cud be doin dat..." he mutters before lifting a flask to his lips.
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Post by Joliette Thorne on Feb 10, 2009 9:32:15 GMT -5
--Rolling Waves--
Darrien looked away from the Eternity for a moment to take a good look at his destination. He wondered how much longer until they boarded the Ghost Ship that separated his yin from his yang. Suddenly, he heard himself laughing from some distant corner of the sea, mocking and at the same time, charismatic. Darrien shook his head of the laughter and turned back to the ship which had disappeared. He promptly passed out onto an attentive crow, still subservient to Tenebrae's will.
Leoxander would witness the loss of 1 crewman here. The unfortunate sailor was thrown onto seas as the wind began, and the Captain, from the upper deck, made a motion for those aboard to get below, where it was safer. His eyes traveled in search for Tenebrae as the first sprinkle of rain wet his recently cut hair against his brow.
Tenebrae's eyes were in search of Leo. The twain would meet, across the what was left of the deck. "There y'are.." A nod back to Dergious, and a wink, and she was on her way to the Cap'n, words of relief spoken. "Sven's codpiece, that was close."
Anshera cuts her way through the beginnings of rain, finally to land upon the ship's bow. Her size has increased, yes, and while it's enough to make the ship dip forward and rock, it's not so much as to pull the tip under, thankfully enough. For now she remains perched, curled, precarious and weighty upon the bow, polymorph taking a moment to examine one of the arrows dug deep into her side.
Rhian looked down barely to catch the captain's motion and she steadily made the climb down the rigging to obey. This was done with hasty clumsiness upon the ropes, making many close calls before her feet finally touched an ice ridden, yet solid deck. The woman carefully makes her way with any others to the underbelly.
Satoshi makes her way to the underbelly, unsteady on her feet from weariness and the moving ship yet unbothered by the sheet of ice.
Dergious joins the others below.
Tenebrae said, "If I bring that bard back..." A hard look Anshera's way. "... give him a hammer and nails. There's deck to fix." She would wait to sort that out before going downstairs.
Caedan is calmly steering, oblivious to anyone and everyone as the great vessel cuts through the water and dark, and a fine snow that trails after it, and blends in with the stars twinkling against the black canvas above.
Leoxander stepped back involuntarily with the weight on the bow of the ship. A glance over his shoulder, but he would devote his attention to his mate, for now. "I want them doomed on the haul back." He reminded her sharply, not satisfied with an escape. The pirate craved victory, for more than his fellow clansman. The lycan lingered back with the Necromancer in the rain, making certain those they needed in the day ahead were below deck, and not victim to the rise of an unpredicted storm. "Get below!" He'd shout into the wind, a last call for those above, though a select and pitiful few would tend to the sails and wheel.
Leoxander said to Caedan, "I'll be back to take 'er from you."
Darrien in about an hour's time would be snoring on the fine sand of Cenril's beach surrounded by a crib of giant crows.
Caedan salutes.
Anshera pays Tenebrae's look little heed, the Lich's Creation instead attending to the matter of the arrows lodged in her body. Long neck craning, she sets to yanking each of the arrows out, however unfortunately, the added, often forceful movement causes the ship to rock some, again.
Caedan frowns at Anshera and clearly conveys that she wishes the polymorph were a) smaller, and b) not jostling her handiwork.
Tenebrae considered kicking the polymorph overboard. Instead she gave Leo a long look. "Aye, aye Cap'n."
Leoxander hesitated when the ship jostled in ways foreign to him. "The hell's goin' on up there, Ghost?!"
Dergious meditates, something he normally would allow no one else to see. With the limited space available, he had no choice. He sees nor hears anything while his mind recovers some of what had been lost with the exertions above.
Tenebrae's long hair, freed long since from its loose braid, whipped in the chill and wet wind, to slather against her features. Fingers drew it out of her eyes, while she waited for the order to get below.
Rhian clung to the wall of the underbelly for dear life, and thus the nausea returned in semi full force, as the woman swallowed down the bile and willed herself not to spill any meals.
Satoshi offers Rhian a bucket. Just in case.
Leoxander has sent all Below Deck, to the Underbelly of the ship at this point, and only Caedan and Anshera should remain above. He finally followed, behind Tenebrae, Jack long since snoozing near the smell of Cuki's cooking.
Tenebrae said, "Blimey, I'm cold..." She took the steps two at a time, risking a broken neck to get out of the rain and closer to blanket. "And starving."
Caedan said to Anshera, "Stop jostling this ship. And be smaller. You're weighing us down and I don't care how good that gorram dwarf is."
Caedan tries to look as menacing as Leoxander or Dergious, or a mixture of the two. She even shakes her mop a bit.
Anshera begs patience from Caedan with a brief whine before she takes the few moments to plunk enough arrows more so that she won't look like a porcupine once shrunk. With only a smattering of arrows left, she complies with Caed's wishes and shrinks, ferret's-size no longer posing any threat of capsizing the ship. Slithering her way down the bow, she makes way towards the psychic, adopted child.
Caedan allows Anshera to sit with her, but still manages to look grim and serious, as befitting someone in charge of an entire ship -- for Sven's sake, are they all mad? -- but is secretly glad for the company. She belays her mop.
Anshera clearly was intimidated, maybe... patronizingly by Caedan, and thusly shrank. This wee-little dragon 'Shera proceeds to wend it's way up the deranged girl's leg, heading invariably towards her shoulder.
Leoxander would not trust another soul to the guidance of his precious.
Caedan 's stoic expression betrays a hint of a smile, but she'll scowl at a man adjusting a bit of the rigging and cast a knowing stare at her mop. Whatever Leo's told his men about her, they grant her wide berth, and the man hastily finishes his chore and moves on to something else. Caedan feeds Anshera a peanut she finds in her pocket on the sly.
Anshera once more proceeds to indulge the girl with a patronizing hint, wee dragon paws grasping the peanut, and bringing it up to be gnawed upon despite the polymorph's lack of need to be fed. Soon, once no trace of the pocket discovered treat is left, Lich's Creation, addresses Lich's adopted daughter, "Do you know where we are going, dearest?"
-- Underbelly of the Ship--
Satoshi sees to the semi-conscious Cuki and sleeping arrangements for him before tending to his abandoned stew. The mage was no cook, in fact she preferred her food fresh caught and raw, and thus whenever she was set before an oven she treated it warily. There'd be stew for the hungry folk tonight. Burnt when left unattended and now chilled by the inexperienced mage.
Tenebrae would soon be eating her own shoe leather, or at least that's what her stomach told her.
Satoshi gave Everyone 1 Semi-Edible Stew.
Anshera is /pretty/ sure it's better for all that she isn't cooking. /Pretty/ sure.
Leoxander was moving into the Mess Hall, hungry for stew. Hopefully with his necromancer, still conferring the night's events.
Leoxander said, "Come on, out with dinner, already!"
Leoxander would also be expecting brew, from somewhere.
Tenebrae sniffed the bowl handed to her by the feline mage, somewhat suspiciously, and then eyed her shoes. Decisions, decisions. She decided on the stew at last, with a nod of thanks to Satoshi.
Satoshi avoids the stew all together.
Satoshi ate a dead rat.
Rhian sat against the closest wall, the woman glancing up towards Satoshi as the stew was placed in her hands and without a moments hesitation she brings the bowl to her face. There are many a slurping and smacking noises coming from beneath the dark woman's mop of curls.
Satoshi would have kicked Cuki, were he anyone else, for leaving her with cooking detail.
Tenebrae handed Leo her own untouched bowl. "It smells... " Eyes on Satoshi. "... delicious."
Satoshi said to Tenebrae, "Oh, I know it's a bowl of crap. All he had prepared though. Less ya want some rats?"
Tenebrae opened her mouth to lie, then closed it again. "Okay, it smells like crap. Any left?"
Leoxander opted not to eat his ancient friend, and lifted the bowl like a mug to drink from it. The wolf was starving and this cooked 'crap' didn't quite make up for his appetite.
Leoxander disregarded Tenebrae's appetite to clean her dish, licking the bottom while she begged for more.
Tenebrae eyed Leoxander.
Leoxander continued to lick the bottom of that bowl, frustrated.
Rhian didn't seemed too put off by the 'crap', considering the young mother was too starving to care.
Leoxander said, "The hell am I eating..?" His dish was tossed into the middle of the table with a scowl. "That tasted like crap."
Tenebrae said to Leoxander, "Stop that!"
Leoxander looked at Tenebrae.
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "...What?"
Tenebrae nodded to Satoshi. "She worked hard on that..." Tene was a bit pink in the cheeks. Probably from the cold.
Mahri , who had apparently been asleep this whole time, blinked open her eyes to stare at a bunk above her. Fortunately, she didn't get claustrophobic, but hey, some look out she made, right? Swinging her legs over the roped side, the lycan eases herself off the lower bunk to meander out of the small space and into the [Mess Hall] the scent of stew, as nauseating as it was, drawing her. Mumbling some sort of greeting, Mahri takes a seat, if one is available, next to Rhian, staring at the stuff in her bowel before it disappears in a curtain of the girl's curls.
Leoxander said to Satoshi, "Haven't you got something raw back there? You've got wolves to feed, here."
Tenebrae was still hungry, and helped herself to a bowl of the evil-smelling stuff. "Anyway, it's edible."
Mahri jerks her head up at the mention of something fresh, and raw, "Dun even care if it's fish," she mutters.
Leoxander leaned forward on the table beside Tenebrae, across from Mahri and Rhian, or at least a ways from them.
Leoxander said, "An' someone break open a keg, already."
Rhian had licked her bowl clean, doing such didn't help the nausea gained at sea... Her head perks up as 'fresh' was uttered and Mahri was instinctually scooted closer towards, the woman's dress dragging against the floorboards with her cloak. Mahri was granted a brief crooked grin, not completely devoid of mirth before Satoshi was looked towards expectantly.
Tenebrae took a large mouthful of stew, and abruptly decided to help Satoshi look for raw meats. While she was there, she'd roll bottles and barrels out to the main part of the Mess.
Mahri sniffs, her nose wrinkling in distaste at the smell coming from the cookpot, "What died?" she asks suddenly, not being privy to whom the chef was, or that anything'd really been cooked.
Leoxander crept toward the collection of raw meat, first among the bunch.
Satoshi returns from foraging for raw food stuffs. Tenebrae had clearly been more successful in the hunt...
Leoxander tested it by sniffing at it, none too subtle, but he trusted those watching over him. Just as they might trust him when he bit down on the first piece of raw, undercooked meat, and tossed the other thawed steaks in Mahri's and Rhian's direction, along the table.
Tenebrae was happy with her candy apple, which she'd lick happily while the lycans were inspecting the meats.
Mahri watched the meat land in front of her, neatly on the table. She might have growled before picking one up and taking a rather healthy bite, and she might have hunched over to cover her meal, curling one arm around it protectively, but what can one expect from a wolf, and this close to a full moon at that. Realizing what she'd done, Mahri forces herself to relax and eat, at least halfway normally, given what she was eating. Satoshi scoots closer to the dwarf that seemed to have so many ice goodies. Or as close as her sensitive nose would allow her curiosity to.
Rhian 's black eyes raked over the meats hungrily, yet she held back despite her want as her gaze flicked to first Leo, then Mahri in an expectant fashion.
Rhian then put her face into the steaks, the woman taking one in both hands and tearing at it rather ravenously...but what else was new?
Tenebrae took her seat again, mumbling through the red fruit, "Anyone play a lute, or somethin'?"
Mahri said to Rhian, "Eat, you're going to need it."
Leoxander felt the instinctive urge to find himself in a corner for that meal, but he remained at the table and kept his head bowed, hands holding the piece of raw meat that he went at with his canine teeth, stripping bits at a time with a bloody pallet left on the table and his chin, in that attempt. An almost mirror display of the protectiveness that Mahri assumes, only he doesn't stop to care half way through, and gives a gruesome image to anyone bold enough to look at the pirate captain, slash lycan.
Leoxander didn't look at either Mahri or Rhian, as he let his Alpha take command of the younger wolf.
Dergious drops the hide, which ices up the floor beneath it. He then drops some more fruits and drinks atop it, chilling them all.
Tenebrae cleared her throat, repeating the question, sans candy apple, "Anyone play the fricken lute, or not?"
Tenebrae said, "Harmonica.... something‘?"
Leoxander looked at Tenebrae.
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "Hell no."
Tenebrae looked at Leoxander.
Trey stretched her fingers. Her joints ached and she was filthy and soaked; the sailor had stayed above in the rain and had continued working until she was just about ready to collapse. She remembered the dry spare clothes she had stashed in her satchel under the bunk she was using and changed into them before joining the rest of the crew.
Tenebrae licked her apple.
Leoxander said, "I found a music maker awhile back, but I won't touch it again."
Tenebrae eyed Leo. "Better be talkin about an instrument..."
Leoxander gave 1 demon-spawned harmonica to Tenebrae.
Leoxander chuffed laughter as the harmonica slid her way.
Satoshi said to Tenebrae, "You thought my cooking was bad. You really don't wanna hear my lute playing..."
Trey 's stomach spoke up when Satoshi mentioned cooking. She was damn hungry. "Still got some of that bad cooking I've been hearing so much about?"
Leoxander goes back to chewing rudely upon that piece of raw, bloody meat. Enjoying it, quite thoroughly.
Tenebrae glanced to Satoshi. "Go on, pet." She waggled the harmonica. "I can't play. Was gonna sing us a chantey though."
Mahri made quick work of her meal, settling back to lick at her fingers in a leisurely fashion. Lazily, her eyes scanned those present, pausing on the dwarf to say , sweet as can be, "Oh, so that's what died." before her gaze moved on. "Music would be nice," she says in agreement with ..Tenebrae.
Tenebrae waggled the harmonica some more. Mainly in an attempt to put the --literally-- damned thing down.
Tenebrae looked at Leoxander.
Rhian was far too busy tearing at the meat, juices soaking chin by now, to note the talk of music, and seemed quite content getting lost in her meal.
Tenebrae said to Leoxander, "Oh, thanks."
Satoshi points at Dergious. "I'm thinking he could make better sounding music, the dwarven way, than that metal thing could."
Trey raised an eyebrow.
Satoshi gave Trey 1 Bowl-of-Svenawful Stew.
Dergious said, "Me voice be fer da caverns..."
Trey took one sniff of the stew and almost made use of one of her iron buckets. Her stomach insisted though, and so Trey made quick work of the vile, putrid stuff.
Tenebrae stared at the mouth organ, shaking her hand. And she did, wheezy sounds came from it. "What the Fertangle...?"
Trey said to Satoshi, "Delicious"
Satoshi said to Trey, "Filthy liar."
Trey looked herself up and down and couldn't bring herself to argue. She WAS filthy, and she made a living off of lying. Instead she shot the feline a grin and handed the drained bowl back. "Next time try not to burn it, yeah?"
Leoxander licked his fingers and palms of blood. It was a heavenly wolf moment, for them.
Tenebrae waved her arm in wide sweep. Almost knocking it into Leo's head. Sorry, Leo. The instrument emitted a jaunty melody.
Mahri said to Tenebrae, "I've heard you have a passing voice, sing for us?"
Leoxander ducked instinctively.
Tenebrae experimentally flapped her arm up and down. The music only got livelier.
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "Yeah, love. Sing..."
Tenebrae scowled at the lycan. "How c'n I sing, flapping about like a chicken. You sing." She flapped some more, to good effect.
Mahri snickers, not even trying to hide it as she watched the two, quite content at the moment, though a drink would be nice, for which she looks around. "Damned if I'm not thirsty now.."
Trey turned to Tenebrae, interested now in the conversation. "Aye, you gunna liven up the place? I certainly could use a good tune."
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "You know I'm no good for that." Brows wiggling, as though prepared to indulge in the crowd what he was good at. "I know you've got something for the occasion..."
Rhian was finally snapped out of her meat reverie with the bloody juices dripping from her lips as singing finally came into play. The dark woman looks up from her meal for the first time that evening and her lips press into a line. She quickly tore at the rest of her dinner before it was too completely consumed, only to leave behind the blood.
Leoxander wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Tenebrae zig-zagged her arm bearing the cursed harmonica, whereon it fairly produced very passable sea chantey’s tune.
Mahri 's foot taps in time to the tune, folding her arms and letting her eyes drift half closed.
Tenebrae cleared her throat, one last scowl at her mate, and sang,
"Ohhh.... There once was a barmaid named Tessy O'Toole, who had a dark secret but nobody knew. She played all the lads in the village for fools-- and nobody ever guessed why....." Dearrrrr.... Tess, gods bless, refused to undress, with her cast-iron knickers, the boys weren't impressed She'd tease 'em til sun-up but never say 'yes', but they all wanted Tessy O'Toole."
Tenebrae waved her hand about during the chorus, so that the tune varied slightly.
Leoxander had hold of a few spoons by then, one left on the table. To Mahri's rhythm he'd progress her a step up, like always, but quietly, tapping a swift rhythm in an underlining percussion.
Tenebrae sang:
"Now, Tess had a sweetheart, a sailor named Jim, she'd not even drop 'em to half-mast for him. One day, in frustration, he grabbed for her trim-- and suddenly understood why.... Dearrrr... Tess, gods bless, refused to undress-- when Jim made his journey far south of her vest, he went missing two fingers, the price of his quest for the secret of Tessy O'Toole."
The ship rolls, creaking and groaning -- but it's a comforting noise, like a lullaby, or proof things are operating as they should. One sweater-clad arm is clasped across her rumbling stomach, and she'll pull another peanut out of her pocket and munch on it while determining just how long it has been in there by the consistency. The sounds coming from below keep her company from now, as well as the sporadic crewmember keeping watch or adjusting a sail.
Satoshi claps lazily to the tune, occasionally nodding, although whether it was for the song or from being drowsy she wasn't sure.
Tenebrae sang:
"These days she's a dancer, in cabaret style, famed through the lands as "The Blonde Crocodile" For a coin she'll bend over and show you her smile, nobody needs to ask why... Dearrrr.... Tess, gods bless, just loves to undress, her fanged nether regions are quite the success but you'll never see anything like 'em unless you pay to see Tessy O'Toole."
Mahri 's foot keeps time, the cadence fairly easy and her hands soon join in. Sitting up straighter, the lycan smiles, amused by the ditty to no end.
Leoxander clanked against a glass like a crash symbol, beating that quick tap in tune to Tenebrae's song for a while more. His eyes drifted toward the ceiling, hearing the drums of rain.
Rhian 's grim expression stayed as she watched the music makers nearby, not even the humor of the lyrics seemed to bring a grin.
Trey could never resist a good song. She had joined in the clapping and was stomping a foot as well and just about ready to start hollerin', though she wasn't in the loud and rambunctious tavern company she was used to.
Tenebrae made a flourish as the song ended, her face red with the exertion of flapping her arm throughout. The harmonica, however, continued to play. "Bastard thing.. y'mean after all that, I might as well have sat still?"
Leoxander found a way to kiss Tenebrae's cheek in mild show, as he stood.
Mahri soon heard the pounding of rain herself, "Oh..that can't bode well." Idly, she scratched behind her ear, frowning. Was that...a bug..crawling in her hair?
Leoxander progressed his way to the Lower, and then the Upper Deck, in due time.
Satoshi said, "Would the one above deck, with the mop, want any stew?" She frowns slightly. "And I use the term 'stew' lightly..."
Leoxander said to Caedan, "Go on. Down below..."
Leoxander figured even Ghosts needed their rest.
Tenebrae smacked the harmonica on the table. Hard. "Shut.... up!"
Caedan said to Leoxander, "But the rain is telling me where it's buried things."
Satoshi offers Tenebrae a rag. "Stuff it to shut it up, mayhaps?"
Caedan frowns, but casts a forlorn look towards the nether regions of the ship, and the various smells emanating from it.
Leoxander took hold of the ship's wheel. If nothing else, he would hold onto it and weather through the storm to keep the Eternity on track. But that was all the Captain could promise, leaving his faith to his vessel, as the rain pattered harder upon the lower deck and the waves cymballed against the hull.
Leoxander said to Caedan, "We won't go far from here."
Caedan , by the time Leo has spoken a second time, is already gone, making her way below decks for a meal of whatever's leftover.
Trey frowns. Tenebrae had sung one song. One. Now she wanted some singing and dancing and routyness. A quick gaze over the other crewmembers made her lean against a wall and sigh. They just didn't seem like the kind of folk.
Tenebrae had an idea. "Treyyyyy..."
Caedan shakes rather vigorously just outside the galley, creating a Caedan-sized puddle for everyone to slip through as they leave.
Trey raised an eyebrow at Tenebrae, frowning, "Oh no, I'm not touching the thing."
Tenebrae grumbled. And banged the now rag-wrapped thing on the table a bit more.
Trey cursed, "Oh for heaven's-- toss that thing overboard."
Tenebrae stared at the seafarer. "It won't come off my %$#& hand." She'd learned that language from Leoxander. Blame him.
Trey grumbled, apparently getting irritated about the tune continuing but the cheery singing not, "Cut yer hand off?" she offered, though doubted that was the solution Tenebrae was looking for.
Satoshi makes her way to the main deck, slipping a bit in Caedan's puddle along the way, to look out for the return of her dragon.
Tenebrae said to Trey, "Sing a bloody song?" Her tone was as cheery as her face wasn't.
Caedan piles the excess material of her sweater full of goodies and returns to the ship's deck, preferring to be out in the open instead of cooped up below. She even nicked something for Leo in a rare show of courtesy.
Mahri pushed away from the table, slipping and sliding past Caedan on her way out, and up to the Lower Deck. From there, she raises a hand towards Leo before staring up at the Crow's Nest..the one place on this ship she'd decided to claim as her place. Wanting a bird's eye view of this storm, Mahri pushes her dripping hair out of her eyes, knotting it at the nape of her neck before making the climb up. After a few near falls due to slippery conditions, the lycan settles herself in the basket, bracing herself against the mast to squint out at the rolling sea.
Leoxander was soaked by now, but fairing the storm with a deliberate calm. Hands upon the wheel, he kept it steady against every lurch and churn, maintaining the intended course, with his head bowed and his eyes respectfully closed against the onslaught of rain.
Trey agreed, but insisted on keeping it clean, since Tenebrae seemed to have the dirty language down.
Caedan said, "Ruttin' hell. That's two people claiming my berth."
Caedan chucks an apple at the crow's nest.
Trey sang:
"There was a young sailor Who looked through the glass, And spied a fair mermaid With scales on her," she paused,"island"
Caedan shouted, "Don't mind all my personal effects, you mangy runt!"
Leoxander said to Mahri, "Go below..." Barely heard above the winds. "It's bound to get worse."
Trey continued:
"Where seagulls fly over their nests she combed the long hair that hung over her," another short pause, "shoulders"
Rhian fell into somewhat of a meat coma as she folded her arms atop the juice soaked table and rested her head in the pillow they made.
Mahri was lucky she had crouched down at that moment, having thought she saw something shiny. The apple whistled past her head, landing with a bounce and roll right off the deck and splashing into the water below, "...the hell?" Looking up, Mahri rose slowly, peering over the nest's low wall.
Tenebrae grinned, and uncovered the harmonica which continued the lively music. And showed no sign of letting Tene go.
Trey sang:
"And caused her to tickle and itch. the sailor cried out, There's a beautiful … mermaid, a-sitting out there on the rocks, the crew came around a-grabbing their," pause, "glasses, and crowded four deep to the rail, eager to share in this fine piece of," pause, "news"
Which the captain soon heard from the watch. He tied down the wheel and he reached for his ... crackers and cheese, which he kept near the door, in case he might someday encounter a," pause, "mermaid."
Tenebrae broke into a bout of laughter, her foot tapping in time to the continuing music.
Trey sang:
"He knew he must use all his wits, crying "Throw out a line, we'll lasso her …flippers and then we will certainly find if mermaids are better before or be BRAVE, my good fellows!" The captain then said."
Trey continued:
With fortune we'll break through her mermaiden .. head -ing to starboard they tacked with dispatch and caught that fair mermaid just under her ELBOWS and hustled her down below decks, and each took a turn at her feminine se..tting her free at the end of the farce, she splashed in the waves, falling flat on her a…fter a while one man noticed some scabs,"
…..paused, a disturbed look on her face…..
"soon they broke out with the pox and scratching with fury, cursing with spleen, this song may be dull but it's certainly clean!"
-- Upper Deck... Mostly--
Leoxander warned again, louder at that point. "Go below!"
Satoshi ventures as close to a side rail as she dares in the rough weather, a hand going to frequently push wet hair from her face as her eyes search the horizon for any glimmer of white.
Mahri said to Leoxander, "What? Horse? There's no horses" yelled at the top of her lungs, more like, a wary glance given towards his "ghost". "What stuff? This stuff?" and that comes tumbling down, where it lands is anyone's guess, "Ha!"
Caedan said, "Cap'n ...."
Caedan makes her way up to Leoxander's side, only to grab her mop and return to her previous location. Her belongings raining down around her -- all the artefacts and knick knacks she's picked up along their various adventures is a cause for some distress, though the psychic doesn't show it. Instead, she calmly takes another apple from her pocket and throws it up in the air. The mop is swung like a baseball bat to send the thing streaking towards the crow's nest and the head poking out of it.
Leoxander tied the wheel just as Trey's song should predict, finding a handy, sturdy rope among his person for the moment. He could hardly hear a thing beyond the torrent of rain, now.
Leoxander said to Caedan, "The hell're you doing, ghost lady?"
Mahri was actually having fun, albeit, at the expense of one angry psychic, and in the middle of a storm no less, one that was bound to get worse before it got better. Even the lycan could tell this wasn't some small squall that had simply sprung up. This one, just might be a doozy.
Tenebrae chuckled once more, unaware of the drama and personal effects and.. water.. raining down upon the others above. "Good tune, Trey." She looked at the harmonica. "Please. Go away."
Trey eyed the harmonica, "oh for all that is--" and angrily stomped over to the dreaded thing. "Give it to me. I'll deal with it."
Tenebrae dropped 1 demon-spawned harmonica.
Trey raised an eyebrow. "Well that was easy."
"Have it..." Tene raised a brow to Trey. "But give it back to Leo, when you're through."
Tenebrae frowned at the groaning and pitching of the ship. "Somethin' going on up there..."
Trey holds up her hands, backing away, "I just wanted it to shut it. I ain't touchin' the thing now."
Caedan makes sure her voice is heard over the din of the rain on the decks. "I'm getting that landlubber," she pauses to allow the full effect of her insult to sink in, landlubber being worse than others she's picked up on the docks, "... out of my ruttin' bed."
Leoxander yelled toward Mahri, "Get down from there, already!"
Once again, came another piece of fruit, this one landing the 'nest, "Ah, a snack.." she chortles, picking it up in her hand to begin munching away.
Leoxander started to growl through the storm.
Satoshi drags her sorry tail back below deck, soaking wet and dragonless for the effort.
Caedan is out of fruit, and consequently tugs a few throwing daggers from her sleeves.
Mahri grumbles, though she does finally, with great reluctance, comes down. Planting her feet firmly on the deck, the female narrows her eyes at both the Cap'n and the ghosty girl, "All I'm going to say is, I was there first. If you've got something else for me to do, "she yells, "Then give me a bloody job!" And this..would quite possibly be the only time Mahri conceded that Leo was alpha..at least on his ship.
Trey raised her gaze and quickly agreed with Tenebrae. "Looks like I'll prolly be spending another watch up there."
Tenebrae canted her head. "Let's go see what's up."
Caedan said to Mahri, "If you were there first," she narrows her eyes too, acting every bit the petulant, spoiled teenager she is, " ... then what was all my stuff doing up there?!"
Satoshi sees it as her civil duty to shake off the excess water, in animal fashion, while standing beside Trey.
Mahri shrugs at Caedan, "Was there when I got there, and you weren't."
Caedan 's daggers have disappeared into her sleeves again, except for one she's tying into the moppy end of her mop. Why she's creating a spear in the middle of a veritable maelstorm is anyone's guess.
Trey 's dry clothes became soaked because of the feline. Now nothing was stopping her from joining the crew on deck. Eagerly she agreed with Tenebrae, "Aye, lets head up there."
Tenebrae stepped around Trey and the puddle Trey'd discovered before her. "Sounds like a storm."
Trey stepped after Tenebrae, shooting Satoshi an annoyed look before loosing all of her concentration onto the storm coming down upon them.
Leoxander said to Mahri, "That was the ghost's nest, always will be." As far as he was concerned. Mahri had her title, and it certainly wasn't 'look out'. Get below and see if you can't fix that disaster that's happenin' with the kitchen, will you?"
Satoshi sighs and follows Tenebrae and Trey back to the deck, not enjoying having her only company in the underbelly a meditating dwarf and a girl in a meat coma.
Tenebrae was hasty up the stairs, and thus the first to blasted with a torrent of sideways rain. Gritting her teeth, she clambered up, seeing through the sleeting water for sign of her Captain.
Mahri simply stares at Leo..nodding shortly, she skirts around the spear wielding Caedan, giving her as much room as necessary before heading below decks to the [Mess] and galley. Her boots thump harder than is really needed on the stairs, threatening to slip out from under her as she passes Tene and another woman on the way up. Nodding to them both, Mahri is already planning how to best save what passed for stew.
Tenebrae shouted, "Leo...? It's raining!"
Trey 's hair was quickly plastered to her head with wetness and as she burst out onto the deck, she was glad they had already tied down the cannons when the rain first showed itself.
Leoxander looked at Tenebrae, hovering near the wheel until he was sure they would survive. "...Yes, it is!" He didn't want to make her feel stupid, but he considered applauding her observation at that point.
Caedan is attacking her belongings with the spear, impaling her treasures as they pitch and roll with the ship. She's pitching and rolling too, so her aim is a bit off, and now there are a bunch of feet on deck and people connected to them to boot. What possessions she does recover are dumped in the middle of a blanket she's tied to a bit of rigging for now.
Tenebrae lowered her head against the downpour, tucking her arms around her as she walked. "The deck has big freckin holes in it, dunnit?" She stood below the upper deck, squinting wetly up at him. "Won't we take on a lot of water?"
Mahri stared at the mess that had been made of the galley, muttering to herself as she banged pots and pans around, setting some sort of order to the place. Hanging utensils that could be hung, and pots as well, she checks the supply of veggies, finding it..well, she didn't really want to find it, but it was there. The apples were a bit too ripe for her liking, but hopefully they'd last long enough. Mentally, the wolf-woman was making a list of what she had on hand. The stew, now that was a total waste, couldn't be saved if the Gods themselves took pity on it, and Mahri thought briefly about tossing it. Changing her mind, she wonders if it might not instead be used as a method of torture for information. Setting it back on the stove, she wanders back into the Mess. Soon,even that place is tidy, despite the dampness that seems to have found a home there.
Tenebrae stepped aside, as a sharply-ended mop was hurled at some bric-a-brac close to her foot.
Caedan said to Tenebrae, "Oi, catch that would you? That's my best souvenir ashtray."
Satoshi hops her way to the starboard railing for safe cling with feet tucked beneath and out of pointy mop reach. From her clawed perch she plucks the occasional stray item rolling by on deck. "Did a toy box explode or somethin'?"
Caedan curbs a dark stare at the feline as a small horse on wheels ironically rolls past her, on its way to the other end of the ship.
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "We'll be fine till morning light." He reassured, for reasons that would remain all his own, discovered in initial inspection of that ship. Another reason why the Eternity remained adrift among the seas considered a 'criminal' for as long as she had. He ducked his head against a new gust of wind, with some hail flecked into the rain, frozen from the temperature of that weather. If Diiroehn had anything to do with that storm... he looked toward the humans, or what was left of them, "Both of you get below, this is the last time I'm gonna damn well tell you."
Tenebrae bent to retrieve the ashtray, which ironically was emblazoned with the caption, "Sunny Cenril Welcomes You!", and handed it out to fill with rain before Caedan might claim it. As for Leo's comment, she remained oblivious.
Leoxander said to Caedan, "An' mop below, while you're down there!"
Trey isn't one to argue with the captain of a ship she's on. True, in a storm she would come in much use, but Leo must know what he's doing, and Trey wasn't about to get into the mess of those that were.. well.. less of a normie like her.
Leoxander 's dog found his way to a sausage, after the party was dismissed.
Trey slipped back below deck, suddenly realizing that no dry clothes awaited her. Perhaps it was a good thing, she secretly hoped to be called back on deck.
Leoxander wasn't about to risk his best to that weather.
Here, to those awake, the Eternity would begin to rock hard. No rhythm could keep up with the erratic sway of this vessel. For as hard as the storm beat, there was no spin to encourage sea-sickness, and they would only have to deal with hitting either wall from time to time and the furious pound of the rain on the deck above, and the hulls around them.
Tenebrae was all but flattened to the deck, and would blindly grope for some fixture or fitting to cling to when the waves swelled high and the ship's pitch and winds combined threatened to toss her over the side.
Caedan stalks by Tenebrae on her way to capture that little wooden horse careening across the deck. Toy firmly clasped under her arm, she snatches her ashtray, doesn't bother with a thank you and dumps them both in the soaked blanket. This is tied in a bundle, stuck on the end of her spear mop and tucked against her shoulder. To the Captain, she'll all but snarl, "I'm putting my things away first." After all, he can argue with a ghost, but he can't really enforce his mandates, can he? She'll worry about it in the morning. In the meantime, she's got a crow's nest to reclaim ... and re-decorate. She climbs the rigging with characteristic ease and disappears inside, one hand briefly emerging to swing a sign that warns 'Occupied' over the edge.
Trey paced back and forth in the underbelly of the ship. The swaying made her itch, and she knew there'd be no rest for her until it was over, even if she was confined to below decks.
Mahri simply sat against a wall, drawing her knees up and glaring for no apparent reason at anything the rolled or walked by.
Leoxander finally gave in, good minutes into this storm, when the sail went flailing without a man to hold the lines stable.
Leoxander shouted, "Trey!!"
Leoxander gripped the wheel for his dear life at that point, unable to check on Tenebrae's well being. The ship lurched, tossed and tipped, with half the ocean crashing over the deck and taking the non-important cargo with it.
Caedan watches the rag-sign lose a battle to the wind and disappear toward the lower deck where it might end up flattened to Tenebrae flattened to the deck.
Rhian was sent sprawling to the underbelly's floor with a great rocking and she merely laid there, softly snoring as her body was tossed about every so often.
Mahri burries her face against her knees, wishing at this point for dry land.
Trey was amazed that she heard her name over the roaring winds, but she did. Cursing the waves that tossed her about, she got to the deck and noticed the sail. Damn. Yelling an order to several crewmen, she yanked on the line, her strength joined by those men she called for assistance. Together they wrestled the lines down, pulling the sail against it's boom and helping to decrease the thrashing of the ship. With their assistance to hold the line taught, the drenched woman tied the line securely to it's post then headed off to check the others.
Tenebrae had, by chance, gripped the barrel into which she'd stuffed that last, dead crow. She'd about gained her feet when some object from above knocked her down, and she was forced to grapple the barrel in her fall, and the barrel snapped it lashings, and... well, that was how an ex-vampire, a barrel of crow and a sign saying 'Occupied' wound up landing in a heap in the underbelly of the ship. Through one of holes she was telling Leo about.
Tenebrae shouted, "Ouch!"
Leoxander was left at the wheel with a few crew surviving. The storm was at it's peak, leaving most blind to a foot beyond their perspective. He hoped for Caedan's guidance somewhere in the back of his brain, but otherwise went with instinct as his eyes closed, and he fought to keep them on course, or at least centered in the middle of the sea. Somehow, they would survive the morning, likely due to several individual participations aboard that ship.
Satoshi waits for the briefest lull between waves to disengage herself from the railing, the wood now sporting deep gouges from the feline's visit, and attempt a stumble back below deck. The first gust of wind has her flattened to the floor in a trend becoming wildly popular tonight. "Why can't it just snow? I can handle snow. Rain is... blech..." the feline muttered to herself, clawing her way hand over hand towards the hatch, losing plenty of headway whenever a wave chose to slide her back again.
Caedan assumes Leo knows that her immediate presence is probably a good thing, and the fact that she's fast asleep in the crow's nest in the middle of a gale the best news he's gotten all day.
Tenebrae disengaged herself from sign and broken bits of barrel. None of her bits were broken, thanks to the dead crow, which was slightly flattened as a result. "Damn...." The soggy bird was shaken, in an attempt to plump it up again, but its innards only slid to one side, bulging. "It's still good," she assured herself, only a little doubt in her tone.
Leoxander maintains that course, or at least his position behind the wheel, throughout the storm.
Trey kept an eye on the crew, with immediate disaster diverted, she focused on the lines above, hoping that they would keep. The last thing they'd need was snapped lines getting everything tangled up there.
Satoshi successfully finds her way to the underbelly. Unsuccessfully by using the same means as Tenebrae. And flattening the squishy bird carcass a bit more in the process, to boot.
Tenebrae eyed the catwoman. "That's my familiar your tail is parked on..." Or was going to be. Maybe.
Satoshi said to Tenebrae, "Yikes. Sorry." She fluffs the crow's feathers a bit. "Still good?"
Tenebrae bent to retrieve the sorry carcass. There again.. maybe not. She made a little sad face. "I can only try."
Satoshi said to Tenebrae, "I'll make you one of ice to replace it?"
Tenebrae studied the bird. Maladroit had coped with being in worse shapes than this-- and in worse shape in general. Whether the disembodied goblin -- his goblin form long ago having passed as protein through the belly of a certain ship's Captain -- would choose to occupy such a wreck would remain to be seen. "Oh, thankyou, pet but.. he sort of likes being a regular old crow, after all these centuries. Poor bugger."
Satoshi blinks, having no better reaction to learning that any creature would prefer to be a plain crow. “Right. It's your familiar." The cat shrugs before making a beeline--or as near to one as possible in a rocking ship--for the bunks to ascertain the sleeping Cuki was properly tied down.
Trey felt sorry for some of the crew. They had been up in the rain and the storm and the fighting before that and they looked exhausted. Yet they still worked in the roaring gale. One of the cannons snapped loose then, and one of the younger lads rushed to catch it. It plowed into him, taking his breath away and sliding him across deck. Then another one came loose as a large wave smashed into the Eternity's side. Trey cursed and lunged for the second loose cannon. Who was it that tied these?
Tenebrae took the dead crow and laid it tenderly to the top of a barrel of pork. "Tomorrow, old bean." She then made her way to the Cap's quarters, stopping to pick up the sign on the way. This was hung on the door, letting the crew know the room was "Occupied" before falling into hammock or bunk, she didn't care what.
Trey had the rope around the bits of cannon that a rope was best wrapped around before the lad with the other cannon had even managed to stop it's movement. She cursed the experienced sailors under her breath-- not that they would have been able to hear her anyways, and pulled her cannon back to it's position. "Someone get that cannon tied down before it takes someone out!" She shouted because she'd be damned if they lost the lad because she was tied up and everyone else was exhausted.
McCoy, no slouch, had been hard at work repairing that hole in the deck so no further passengers -- he refused to think of the landlubbers as crew-- would fall down. At Trey's shout, he was hurriedly peglegging toward the brass gun, "Outta me way, sprout."
And so the storm continued, till near dawn.
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