Setting Fire to Canvas [MAIN PLOT]

[Tris]

Seasickness Valsta was told once is natural for some people and that they eventually got used to the rolling of the waves and the sea water smell, but she didn’t believe it. “Long time no see, mate, been alright?” Nemo said she said with a smile, Valsta smiled back and said she was well and it was good to see her again but tried to keep the conversion sort because her stomach was rebelling and she didn’t know how long she could keep her lunch down. But she needn't have worried because Nemo was the sort of the leader of this guest and was soon called away to keep the peace between a man that Valsta had not noticed before and the elvin general, usually she would have watched with interest at these goings on but at this moment she just wanted to find a pace on board that didn’t rock back and forth back and forth. Right after the brawl had ended the captain came forward and asked everyone to say their names, at this Valsta moved closer to the group to say her name then moved back to the railing but kept her attention on the names so she could file them away for later. “Honoured guests, my sailors will escort you to your rooms.” The captain said and the group filed down to the holed where there where hammocks, so much fo rooms Valsta thought looking at them like they were monsters, the very thought of sleeping on a thing that would swing was torture, but she was sick of her stomach thinking it was a ball and sleep sounded like relief so she rapped herself in her cape and lay down and it wasn’t long before she fell asleep.

[Emma]

I had been stretching my arms above my head as I headed below-decks, looking forward to being lulled to sleep by the movement of the sea when Latro’s burst of rage froze me in my tracks. Cocking my head, I turned in one smooth movement, arms still above my head as he promptly launched into a long, cutting rant that, in a nutshell, revealed his total disdain for Ikehr, so much that he hadn’t even bothered to remember his name. Once he was finished, he bowed arrogantly and strode off, clearly quite pleased with having the last word- but not before Arashi decided to pronounce his own disdain to the minds of all, defending Ikehr- or perhaps only his species. As the human disappeared, I turned to look at Ikehr for his reaction- whose face was blank.

‘What are you after this time, Ramsey?’
‘You were just flipped off by a ‘foolish mortal’, you prat. No promises of pain an’ death?’
‘Tell me this, Ramsey. When an insect bites you, do you stop to consider it a fool? The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it. That would be an accurate summation of my feelings towards being disrespected by a mortal.’
‘So… you ain’t insulted, then.’
‘No.’
‘No conflict whatsoever, here.’
‘No.’
‘Shame.’
‘Truly.’

I headed down to the forecastle. Normally, it was used as the crew’s quarters, but seeing as this was an overnight trip with the danger of spring tempests looming over us, they would all be staying awake while we honoured guests got to sleep. As I made my way down the creaking steps, I saw that the mood had most certainly changed from when everyone had first arrived. Doubleblade was in a rarely foul mood, not speaking to a soul and curling up in his hammock with a frown on his face. Valsta looked nauseous, creeping into her own and falling asleep almost immediately. Danta and Arashi did the same, while Georgios, Sunglow and the panther-girl, Von Cleft, all opted to stay above deck. Myaja Kolbjorn and Wengsi Yuan walked past us and towards the captain’s cabin, entirely ignoring everyone around them.

“Do they treat you well, my General?” Von Cleft called down.
“Begone, whore,” the blonde elf answered cuttingly. “It is none of your concern.”
‘Why are we here?’ came Sunglow’s voice. ‘Why is the General here?’
‘I cannot help but wonder the exact same thing,’ said Ikehr flatly.
‘Stow it and get to bed!’
‘As you wish, First Mate Ramsey.’

I found myself smirking as I leapt into my chosen hammock, sliding my hammer out of its strap and placing it within easy reach beside me. As much as Ikehr knew how to drive me up the wall, he knew how to cheer me up. As I settled myself in, removing my hat and shaking out my copper tresses, I saw the girl that had entered with the panther- Bridget, she’d introduced herself as?- curled up on her hammock, her shoulders wracked with silent sobs as large tears rolled down her cheeks. I raised an eyebrow and curled my lip, not sure how to react. From how that panther woman treated her, she was clearly a slave- but the fact that she was crying bothered me more than a little bit. I watched her weep for a few more moments before I sighed loudly and irritably, removed my blanket and tossed it over to the poor wretch.

“Always happens. I’m just too bloody nice! Here, if yer cold. And you…” I’d noticed that Latro was still awake. “Cracking good job, how you shot down my dragon! Spoiled the bastard rotten, I have. Jus’ next time, be a little less wordy.”

---

As the doors to the Grand Chamber rolled open, I squinted against the flash of bright light. The soldiers guarding me did not allow me time to adjust, however, and shoved me past them, our footsteps echoing in the marble hall. I gazed around the circular room. It was crowned with a glass dome, and positively massive- to fit the dragons, no doubt, that now sat with their Riders, regarding me with those inhuman eyes. All of the Elder Council had assembled for the Generals’ hearing. Edan Valaician had been first, and it was now my turn. Along with the Council were a few younger Riders, likely there to learn from their elders. Unlike the level, icy stares of the Council, their gazes were wide-eyed and curious; craning necks and shoulders to get a good look at me. I walked stiffly, only halting when I stood before Almalexia and Anurin.

“It’s rare,” I said slowly, “for the famed Riders to wear their swords to negotiations these days.”
“General Myaja Kolbjorn,” said Anurin sharply. “The Order has more effective weapons than swords these days. Kindly take your seat so we may begin your trial.”
I walked towards the tiny wooden chair placed in the center of the Chamber. Made tiny, I thought with a wry smile, to make the occupant feel small in comparison to the Riders.
“General Kolbjorn,” continued Anurin once I had seated myself. “According to your report, your movements have been made against strange denizens haunting Du Weldenvarden’s borders.”
“The mission of my military is to end all earthly activities of those who would endanger my Goddess, my queen, and my country,” I said clearly. “In the process of completing this mission, we are expected to have many direct encounters that can and will result in open battle. I cannot be held responsible for any fighting that spills into Broddring’s borders. Nor is it my responsibility to investigate these creatures and determine who is responsible for them.”
Anselm Volasy, one of the Consuls, cleared his throat. “We’re in the midst of conducting our investigation. We’ve made great progress regarding the Ra’zac and the Lethrblaka-”
“‘Great progress’ that nearly got the Consul of Defence killed,” I challenged.
Volasy did not have a response to this. Anurin spoke once more. “You misunderstand the situation, General Kolbjorn. We all attend these conferences to share our power and knowledge with each other out of a loyalty and reverence to Alagaësia.”
I watched him for a few moments. “I understand.”
‘No, little Myaja,’ came Almalexia’s hiss, ‘I don’t think you do. Your activities…’ she began to crawl towards me, ‘have been a little too flash of late. Monsters have existed in Alagaësia since the dawn of my kind, and the Riders have managed to keep this quiet, controlled, and contained until those disgusting humans turned up. And now you, Myaja Kolbjorn, are leaving a stain on Alagaësia’s illustrious history.’
“I’ve had no choice-”
‘You’ve been too loud and too public!’ She rammed up against me, black eyes full of contempt. ‘One wonders if you’re qualified for your job. Your father would never have been so irresponsibly brash.’
“My father,” I said coldly, meeting her eye, “was my father.”

A splintering crash tore me out of my dreams, followed by the deafening groan of the wind. I opened my eyes and sat upright as the ship rolled to the side, so far I feared it would flip upside down. But after a few heart-stopping moments, it keeled right-side up, but continued to tilt back and forth dangerously. I leapt off the bed- I’d gone to sleep in my uniform, boots and all- and tried the door. As Saethe promised, it was indeed locked. Growling, I raised my foot and kicked it in. The weak wood splintered, but the door did not give way. I kicked again and again, silently cursing all the time. What had made the boat roll like that? It had felt like a cannon shot- but larger than any cannon shot I’d ever felt. The eerie moaning continued all the while as I finally broke through the door and tore down the hallway, making for the forecastle.

‘Yuan! What’s going on?’
‘Looks like a harpoon.’
‘WHAT?’

I came to a juddering halt, staring down into the forecastle. The crash had woken even the heaviest sleepers, and they were all staring at the massive object that had torn through the ship’s hull. It was indeed a harpoon- one that was dripping with something thick and dark that certainly wasn’t water. And speaking of water, bilge was pouring in through the broken hull- not nearly enough to panic about, but certainly something to keep in mind. I knew little to nothing about how to run a ship, so I decided the best thing to do- and one that would positively murder my pride- was to find Saethe and his men. They would likely be responding to the threat already. I flung myself above deck with Yuan right behind me, and came to a stop. It was quiet. Very quiet. The wind was low, and the deck was completely, entirely empty.

“What…” I sputtered. “What fuckery is this?”
“I can see a wind coming,” said Yuan, who was leaning over the railing.
“You can’t see the wind-” I began, but trailed off.

I was wrong. I could see it. Wherever the ship currently was, it was calm- the air was hot, the sky seemingly low and dense, and the sea, once sparkling black, was turning a greasy bluish-grey. The stars were unusual colours- brown, red, mauve- and the quarter moon was eerily hollow, marked all over with shadows. But further off, I could see galloping waves racing towards us, and huge clouds rising over the horizon. The ocean became a boiling saucepan. All at once, I realized what had happened. The total lack of a crew was reinforced when I saw that all the jolly-boats were missing, and the fact that they had decided to disappear, by their own accord, conveniently immediately before a spring tempest was about to hit-

“GONE!” Ramsey screamed, shooting onto the main deck with the speed of an arrow. “All of them! Abandoned us, can you feckin’ believe it, left these buggers to fend for themselves-” she staggered to a halt upon seeing the storm. “Bloody hell! What is that? What the hell is that? WHAT IS THAT, IKEHR?”
Total silence. Ramsey stalked to the edge of the deck.
“If they put a muzzle on my dragon, swear to Nyx I’ll-”

She went, for the first time I’d ever seen her, quiet. Nemo Ramsey had been stunned into silence. She placed her trembling hands on the starboard’s railing, green eyes wide. I approached her slowly, peering down to see what had struck her mute. Immediately, I saw what it was. The harpoon that had been struck through the hull of the ship had not been meant for us, but for Ikehr. The dragon was trapped up against The Enterprise, the weapon lodged in its chest. And the groaning that I’d first taken to be the wind was in fact his moans of pain. I quickly looked at Ramsey. She shuddered for a few more moments before emanating a stream of swear words that turned into a hot gout of flame, much like a dragon breathing fire, shooting out of her mouth and into the air. Tearing out her hammer, she made to jump overboard.

“Ramsey, what are you doing?” I asked icily.
“Saving my bloody dragon, you priss! Now move-”
I reached into Yuan’s belt, tore out one of her daggers, and, twirling it in my hands, pointed it at Ramsey’s throat. She froze where she was, turning her furious stare on me.
“Tell me, Ramsey- is it not the Riders’ duty to protect all beings of Alagaësia? Putting your own scaly animal above your own team’s- you aren’t doing much to uphold said duty.”
“I ain’t here to impress you, General! Get the hell out of my way, or-”
“SHUT UP!” I roared at her, holding the knife even closer. “Honestly, why did the Riders ever make you Consul of Defence? Were this ship under my command, I would toss you overboard without a second thought!” I leaned closer. “You are a troublemaking wretch, but you are also the only person on this ship with sailing expertise. I won’t let this weakness to save your beast damn us all to a watery grave. Are you on our side or not?”

I’d been expecting Yuan- or at least one of the others, who had doubtlessly already arrived on deck- to push me away from Ramsey, but nobody came at me. The Valkyrie in particular was watching the goings-on with deep interest, hands nowhere close to either of her whips. Ikehr’s groans of pain did not subside, but I only watched the diminutive Rider. I regarded the fire burning in her verdant eyes, so enraged that I expected her to lop my head off with her hammer at any given moment. I never knew what she would have done- as at that moment, the ship took off like a wild thing, and the first wave of the storm crashed down onto us. Water shut in above my head, closing everything- my eyes, my mouth, my nose, the night, the world. This century underwater ended in perhaps three heartbeats- and I found Ramsey strutting along the deck.

“Lash on, mates!” she bellowed as she tied herself to the mast, and then leapt onto it, beginning to climb her way up to bring in the rent sails. I looked down at Ikehr.
“I am sorry, dragon,” I said quietly. “Perhaps this suffering will rid you of your arrogance.” Raising my head, I rounded on the others, shouting through the driving rain. “The rest of you! You have work to do!”

Characters Used;; Nemo Ramsey with Ikehr and Myaja Kolbjorn with Wengsi Yuan
Words;; 2280
Muse;; Utter hell!
Thoughts;; I felt it was rushed, but I'm anyway almost pleased with it! Specially ze flashback. ^^

[toriyuu]

Every person had there quirks, and Toriyuu's was that he couldn't sleep in knew places. Sure he had dosed off once or twice, but never for more than an hour at a time. When the ship was rocked as if it had been hit by a mountain, he was awake. The sorcerer was staring at the boards from his head when the vicious quake through him out of his hammock and onto the floor. He hit his head on the wall next to him, and he felt a strong sting in his butt from landing on one of his swords. Quickly the warrior strapped his swords and dagger to his belt, and through his quiver across his soldier. He had no clue what was going on as of yet, but the adrenaline that was being pumped throughout his body by the rapid beats of his heart told him it was an attack. Once all of his armor and weapons were on his person he realized that water was running along the floor.

When he finally looked up and took a stand, Toriyuu was struck with the severity of the situation. A harpoon was stuck in the center boat and water rushed in along its sides. He was confused at how sudden the boat had been compromised and stared at the harpoon in wonderment. He had no clue what he could do to fix this. As a mage he wondered if magic should be used to try and plug the hole, but he knew that he wasn't that strong. He looked along at his shipmates, watching them stir a bit slower than he had, looking for one of them who's magic would be strong. Plenty of them could handle the job, but just as he opened his mouth to suggest that one of the elves use magic to fill the hole, Myaja came bolting past. She moves quickly and graciously, first staring at the harpoon and then jolting up the stairs to the deck. Nemo Ramsey did something similar, and ran up the stairs as if she expected Kolbjorn to make a break for it.

Toriyuu turned his head toward the others and took it upon himself to make a suggestion. He wasn't sure if it was his place, but as a lieutenant he couldn't help but take charge in a crisis situation. "Two of you need to stay here and try and keep the water out, preferably Niko and Tasia. You two will be able to hold it the longest. Clarus, if you could use your magic to look for any other leaks that would be excellent." He didn't take the time to see if anyone listened to him, part of him didn't believe that they would. That didn't keep him from yelling out one last suggestion. "I don't know what's going on up there," he said pointing up the stairs. "But I think they need the rest of us." With those words he turned to the stairs and ran up, bow in hand.

When he found himself on deck the first thing he noticed was Ikehr's large, shimmering body stuck to the side of the ship. Toriyuu instantly realized the dragon had been struck by the harpoon, and his heard almost went into arrest at the thought of the dragon's pain. Just as he moved to try and help the great lizard he noticed the on coming winds. The winds froze him in his tacks, and immediately he assumed that even they were of magical nature. His head whipped around the ship when he noticed Myaja, Yuan, and Nemo standing together. Myaja had a dagger in her hand and it was poised at Nemo's throat. This sight, combined with the craziness of everything that was going on, made him extremely angry. Two of his masters had been immobilized by a weapon and he refused to just watch as it happened. Quickly he strung his bow and aimed directly at Myaja's forehead, slowly walking forward.

"Mayaja put the dagger down!" He couldn't hear what they were discussing, but before he could get a response from either of them the ship was washed in an immense wave of ocean water. Toriyuu felt was if he had jumped into the ocean and the entire time he was totally confused. Luckily he was thrown against the ship's railing instead of overboard. He latched on to it as hard as he could, his bow and quiver in his arms as well. Once the bathing was over he looked up to see the people on deck had been scattered. Nemo had jump up into the sails, and Myaja was barking commands at everyone else. "Well if Nemo's not going to rescue him then can I?" His question was aimed at Kolbjorn, and it was laced with venom. Despite how beautiful she was, he disliked her for the moment. Apparently she didn't value the life of a dragon, but Toriyuu had spent his most valuable years under the knowing eyes of those magnificent creatures. It wasn't just about what the dragons had taught him, but they had a power he never could and he knew that they stood for something greater than himself. If Toriyuu could save the life of any rider or dragon, he would feel complete.

[dantieduurden]

Unlike the others who all went to sleep Artemis stayed awake and out into the shadows, even going as far as to calling them to cling to her so that it was much harder to spot her. For a few hours all seemed as it should and she began to dove off, keeping a close eye on the entrance to the area where everyone slept except for me, the rider Tasia Anna, her Dragon Sunglow. And the great and mighty dragon Ikehr. Knowing that she was already not liked she doubted she would be able to accomplish her mission, but she would still try. Getting to do what she set out to do was one of the only things important to her. And now because of Clarus it seemed like it would not happen, even her general had denied her. That was the most heart breaking thing of all to her at the moment and her cat like eyes showed that clearly to all that could see them. Slowly she made her way over to the aft of the ship and curled up into a ball, falling asleep.

Artemis awoke to a loud cracking sound of wood, and when she went to investigate it she saw the ship eerily empty. The only ones still on the deck of the ship from what she could see where Tasia and sunglow. Ikehr was no where to be seen, but she was sure something was wrong and quickly went running to Bridget to see if she was ok.

Bridget had been crying for only a short time for fear of being in the area. It reminded her of the crampt corridors that a slave was kept in, with no privacy, no nothing. So she was surprised and shocked when the woman with the large dragon, Nemo Ramsey, I believe she called herself threw me her blanket. “ No thank you.” Bridget said with a soft smile. “ Its just this reminds me of the quarters of a slave that Artemis saved me from. She is really not as bad as that man makes her out to be. She is kind to me and trys to look out for my best interest, just I suppose its hard for someone like her to understand the fears of a slave.” Bridget said with a soft smile as she whipped the tears away from her eyes. “ Your dragon is quite beautiful. Ikehr I believe he called himself.” Bridget said trying to forget about her surroundings. Soon though she fell asleep when her and Nemo finished talking.

Bridget awoke from a black dream to Artemis in her mortal form shaking her awake. “ Bridget, something’s wrong, you have to wake up.” Artemis said to her and Bridget slowly began to stir. Soon both were up trying to get out of the water that was filling the floor that there feet walked on. “ Bridget see what you can do, I know you have some skills with boats, I must go and make sure everything else is well. We have been attacked it seems while we slept.” Artemis said, kissing Bridget goodbye before she went above deck with Myaja and a few of the others.

As Artemis followed after the human who had been barking orders like he was in control of the situation.. If not for the fact it would be counter productive at this point she would have put the child in his place. When they reached the deck she saw the mighty dragon was the target of the harpoon and a scene that almost certainly spelled death for someone. But the human took out his bow and drew an arrow and I knew what it was my job to do, without thinking I lounged at the human, shifting into a panther all at the same time, swiping at his arm so that he would retract his bow, thus getting Myaja out of danger. My general would not be harmed while I was alive and had a breath in me. But as she was about to land her blow a mighty wave tossed her out of the way and over the edge of the boat. If not for being in her panther form she would have surly been sent into the mighty ocean, but instead she sunk her claws into the hull off the ship and began to climb back up it till she reached the dragon. “ Tell me what I may do for you dragon.” Artemis said looking at the dragon as she shifted from panther form into her human form once again, disturbing her weight against the dragons body as she took in the wound.

While Artemis went above deck Bridget stayed below with those who had stayed below deck and looked to the harpoon. Taking it out would only worsen their problems by unclogging the hole it would open in its absence. But leaving it there would bring the chance that it would catch on a stray rock and tear the hull completely open as well. “ Maybe someone should go trim the harpoon so that it can not strike against anything tearing open the hull and sending us all to the bottom of the sea.” Bridget said as she then looked to the red tinge that was close to the hole. No it couldn’t be. Bridget thought as she remembered the giant Ikehr floating next to the boat.

[Amur]

Solomon had been shocked by the response of the rider to his earlier rant, but had allowed himself a small smile all the same.

“Less wordy, I’ll keep that in mind.”
He responded, keeping his eyes toward the ceiling directly above him, even as he drew his knife and began playing with it again, mostly to keep himself busy.

As he had thought he did not sleep at all, merely passed the time by playing with the knife he held in silence. And, much as he expected time crawled by silently at an almost agonisingly slow pace –something Solomon knew would happen with little to do- though he was more than able to keep his frustration in check.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he heard the sound, but recognised it instantly as a sign of attack and had leaped out of his hammock and grabbed his quiver mere seconds before the side of the vessel splintered and breached. He had reacted just in time, if the impact had not set his Zerstechen arrows off then the vessel almost capsizing more than definitely would have. Even with his pre-emptive reactions, however, he landed solidly on his back when the vessel finally stood back up as it was supposed to.

“Never a good sign.”
He noted as he sprang to his feet and secured his quiver to his lower back that would allow him to draw his bow with his right hand and his arrows with his left and sprinted toward the exit of the large open area they were all in, taking note of the object that had breached the side of the boat he sighed heavily as he noticed the water already filling the boat.

“No clue how these things work, leave it to someone with know-how”
He mentally commanded himself, as he followed the route he had taken here back to the top of the vessel, knowing that it would be the likely place for a regroup. He had noticed the dark liquid along the length of the object and had noted that due to the dark colouring and viscosity of it that it was most likely blood, his mind thought back to the lizard swimming alongside the boat and he felt the sides of his mouth twitch with a smile. He would wait to see if that was the case before he laughed about it, right now, he was more concerned about his own life.

He emerged on the top deck and took note of the situation around him, drawing his bow seconds later, allowing it to snap open and lock itself in place he drew an arrow and fitted it, taking up a position between the Rider and the other one he had not had any interaction with as a knife was drawn. And for a brief moment he was indecisive, the people on the boat would undoubtedly have to come first, the lizard later, if anyone wanted to survive this they would have to prioritise things that way and frankly, Solomon was fine with that.

He would have said something as he was folding his bow and re-securing it to his lower back, but the words caught in his throat as a large wave tore at them. Solomon could only hold his breath and close his eyes as the ship was struck hard by the wall of water, submerging it entirely for, what to Solomon, felt like an eternity.

Even after the water had drained and Solomon was able to feel the air on his skin again he stayed knelt on one knee, his breath held, his eyes closed and his fists clenched tightly. It took a small moment to dawn on him that he was still alive before he released the breath and relaxed somewhat with a sigh of relief which he did a bad job hiding, all those checks had proved their worth his Zerstechen arrows and vials had not fractured and he was still alive.

Events like this were part of the reason why, that, along with flying Solomon was very uncomfortable with sailing, the protective casing for his Zerstechen equipment was not meant to withstand the kind of impact he had just felt. Now he would have to take extra care to make sure that the fragile glass vials were secure and not about to fracture on him, even the smallest of cracks would start the reaction and cause them to explode.

He had taken note of the others beginning to arrive and offer their help to the wounded lizard; did their lack of survival instinct know no bounds? He began to walk to the side of the ship, slowing down as he did so, he knew nothing about the inner workings of sea vessels, and he was in no real rush to help with something he did not understand.

“Don’t be stupid.” He said sharply. “Our survival comes first, no matter how much you want to be remembered for a noble act it’s a futile prospect if you die in the act.”
He finished off, reaching the side of the boat and looking down at the wounded lizard as he did so and once again felt the corners of his mouth twitch with a smile. And as usual he managed to keep himself under control and not allow a full smile break through his current demeanour, he needed to keep himself together here, he would have to mock the lizard later on... Or mock it more a little later on.

“That must sting.” He said calmly, still managing to keep a straight face as he spoke. “A weapon of 'mortal' craft putting the self proclaimed mighty in their place.”
He allowed a small smirk that time but managed to control it as he returned himself to the severity of the current situation. He had of course noted the lack of the crew and was already putting two and two together which had overall both impressed and infuriated Solomon.

“A smart tactic, classic but effective, they’ve impressed me that much I will admit. However, I am of course now going to have to hunt them to the end of the world and back again.”
He said calmly, more talking to himself than anyone else present. Finally running his hand through his wet hair and pushing it out of his face he set about to making sure that he was somehow secured to the vessel while at the same time making sure that his Zerstechen arrows and vials would not fracture when they were hit by another wall of water, this was going to be a difficult struggle for survival.

[Nayeli]

( T A S I A A N N A )
Featuring
Sunglow

[/size]

As I laid my head on Sunglow's belly, I listened to the waves hitting the side of the boat. As my eyes closed, I focused on Sunglow's thoughts, how she was watching everything going on around us and Ikehr. She found him handsome, but she also looked up to him... A lot. He was older and he knew enough about the land. She looked up to many of the other elder dragons... Almalexia, Anurin Sarethi black dragon... Elisedd, Anselm Volasyl's Fern Green Dragon... Ivory, Emery Eilaesyl's bronze dragon... Kaveh, Lilith Vaer's heliotrope dragon... and Rashn, Kamon Cosal lust dragon... Sunglow had expressed her admiration for each. Almalexia was a harsh dragon sometimes, her hatred for humans hurt me sometimes, but Sunglow also had a understand of her. She was very strong and she knew a lot. Elisedd and Anselm was someone we both liked, they were very gentle and kind, but strict, though, he had been taken weekly trips North West.

I opened my eyes as I looked at the star filled night sky. As Sunglow asked Ikehr something, her response was quick, but also, very bland. I felt Sunglow's questions continue to come, but she did not say anything, her head was sitting on the rail and soon, we were both sound asleep. I could not hear anything below, it was silent and I had fallen into a sleep like none other. The rocking of the ship was very sweet and very gentle...



"You good for nothing tramp!" Her voice echoed through the air as I woke from the hay in the barn, my heart had now jumped from my chest. "It is because of you! You caused her to run away!" I felt my step-mother's hand run across my face and her curses came at me quickly. I was stunned by her words, I did not understand anything. She huffed and puffed and then, left the barn, cursing under her breath and then, my father was in the door way. I scratched the back of my head and grabbed the vine crown from the hay. "What is that woman talking about?" He knew I did not like her, she was always yelling at me for nothing. Calling me ugly, though I believed differently, I did not really care at all.

"Your sister left during the night... She blames you." My sister? She was gone!? I felt my heart jump and my stomach tense. I could not believe it. Just that night, the beautiful dragon had come, had caught my eyes during the night and my dream to become a rider was strengthen. I walked outside, seeing that the dragon rider was gone as well. I looked at my father for a moment and he smiled. "He left late last night with his beautiful dragon." I saw something in my father's eyes that just told me he knew something, but even I was not sure. I tried to not think about it, but as I walked towards the house, I started hearing stuff...

I turned and I was on the battle field, my bow in my hand as I raced through the small tree line towards the lines with the other archers. I moved quickly, my body painted green to hide my body and my green outfit, though not much of a outfit, moved with me. As I got on the lines, I let my arrow fly true, going towards the human army on the plains. I was not going to allow my homeland to be taken. I pulled another arrow from my back and sent it again flying. My father was out there, of that I was sure. I looked into the sky, only seeing what appeared to be a dragon, but I could not tell... They had not been around these plains during this war and many elves were beyond pissed off. I, however, was not... This war was for nothing more then greed and I did not plan on holding a grudge against those I fought. They did so to protect their homes and families, as I fought to do the same.



The sound of something crashing caught my ears, along with Sunglow who jumped and woke. Something was wrong and I could smell blood. "Ikehr!"

[/color] I turned my head to see Sunglow scrambling over the side of the boat, towards the large blue dragon. She was clinging to the side of the ship, her tail wrapped around a rail and her talons stuck deep in the wood. She examined the wound, the harpoon... I turned to see the others come aboard and then started looking around. No one was there, no man stood on the deck but those who had come on board to do this mission and the boats... They were gone! How had they gotten away without wake me? My body turned quickly, looking around for a moment. "What…” I looked towards the General. "What fuckery is this?” I did not know, I watched as Yuan went to the rail. "I can see a wind coming,” I was confused and turned... Seeing the same as she did. "You can’t see the wind-”

I looked at her for a moment and then back at the waves coming towards us. I could not believe it... We were stranded and we were going to die! "Don't think like that!"[/color] Sunglow's voice was like a sting as she focused on Ikehr. She was trying to figure out how to free Ikehr.

"GONE!” I looked at Nemo as she came on Deck, the thoughts were the same as me. I grabbed my bags though, putting them on my back so I did not lose my things. "All of them! Abandoned us, can you feckin’ believe it, left these buggers to fend for themselves-” I looked at Nemo again, she had not seen her dragon... How had she not felt the pain he felt? "Bloody hell! What is that? What the hell is that? WHAT IS THAT, IKEHR?” I watched as she headed to the side of the deck. "If they put a muzzle on my dragon, swear to Nyx I’ll-” She had seen. I was standing not far from her, my hand on my bow as I felt it tightly in my hands before putting it over my shoulder and head, making it stretch from my right to left.

I watched as her green eyes went wide as she saw Ikehr, the moaning dragon. He was in pain and Sunglow was going through ideas. She could chew the harpoon off, but it would take hours and he could die within that time if he did not get healed soon. I touched my gem... I had the power, I had energy built up from hundreds of years. It would take a lot to replace, but I could do it if I had to. We could not lose a dragon, we could never lose a dragon. I watched as her stunned face went to anger and soon, she was about to jump ship, to joined Ikehr and Sunglow.

"Ramsey, what are you doing?” I looked to the General. We needed the dragon, without him, most of our protection was gone. "Saving my bloody dragon, you priss! Now move-” I watched as the General took the dagger from the belt of her guard. I had my bow out, a arrow in my hand, along with another. I had it pointed at the General. "Put it down General!"[/color] My voice was stern and I could hear Sunglow growling at her from over the edge. I looked at her, my eyes fierce. “Don’t be stupid.” It was Latro now, speaking sharply. "Our survival comes first, no matter how much you want to be remembered for a noble act it’s a futile prospect if you die in the act.” I felt Sunglow rage boiling at this point. She wanted to kill them all, forget about the riders, she wanted to have them all for dinner, even Latro who she ahd respected. He was making sure to change everything that we had seen before in the plains. He had been a good guy, someone they had trusted, but he was not anymore.

"Tell me, Ramsey- is it not the Riders’ duty to protect all beings of Alagaësia? Putting your own scaly animal above your own team’s- you aren’t doing much to uphold said duty.” I could not believe what I was hearing. Yes, it was, but without a dragon, who could fly... We were dead in the water... We would all die and I did not want to die. "I ain’t here to impress you, General! Get the hell out of my way, or-”

"SHUT UP!” The General voice roared, just like it had on the battle field. "Honestly, why did the Riders ever make you Consul of Defence? Were this ship under my command, I would toss you overboard without a second thought!” I narrowed my eyes. Nemo knew more about living on a ship then anyone. "You are a troublemaking wretch, but you are also the only person on this ship with sailing expertise. I won’t let this weakness to save your beast damn us all to a watery grave. Are you on our side or not?” I looked at Nemo again. The General was right, but it was my turn. "General, without a dragon, who can fly, this boat won't make it very far... We don't know what is out there and we need a dragon who can fight those things."[/color] I called towards her.

The others were watching as Nemo's rage continued. I thought she would kill the General, which would only cause another worthless war, but I could see it now, however, Sunglow's words to get down caught me and I turned in time to see a wall of water and then turned to see the Panther lunging at the human. I let the string move back to a relaxed position, put the arrow back and held on for dear life to the rail. Sunglow was holding on with her own talons, her neck pulled into her body. After it was gone, I looked to see Ramsey coming along the date. "Lash on, mates!” I watched as she went up the mast. She would need help. I grabbed a rope and started climbing quickly towards the main mast.

"Tell me what to do Master Nemo."[/color] She said to her towards her mind. It would be easier and would allow her to focus if she kept her mouth shut and the salt water out. I was soon up on the beam with the mast and watched as she started to untie the sails. I followed quickly, watching her to make sure I was doing it right. Through Sunglow, I could hear the General.

"I am sorry, dragon... Perhaps this suffering will rid you of your arrogance.” Sunglow hissed in anger before she went back to focusing on Ikehr. She did not know what to do, but she was not leaving him. She could not do anything, so her job was to free the dragon. Once he was free, I knew elves could help heal him... The was Niko, the General, myself and a few others. "The rest of you! You have work to do!” I worked hard, my body dripped of water. My cloak was still on and I didn't care. I would remove it once I was back on deck. Through Sunglow, I saw the Panther joining Sunglow, trying to help, but Sunglow was growling, having seen her attack someone who was trying to help the rider. "Get away from Master Ikehr!"[/color] Her voice was Broadcasted to everyone, she did not care. “That must sting.” It was Latro again, this time, his voice held Amusement. Sunglow hissed and start work on clawing at the Harpoon, trying to make it thinner so she could break it. She wanted to help Ikehr. "A weapon of 'mortal' craft putting the self proclaimed mighty in their place.” She let her eyes go to him, but this time, she did not wait not wait or hold back, she crawled to the top and I watched from above.

She was on deck in a matter of seconds, her body, though only as big as a Dog was powerful as she whipped her tail around like sword towards his upper thigh. "Keep your mouth shut, you good for nothing piece of meat! Before I take you as my full course!"[/color] She was not happy, but she did not care, her main objective was to free Ikehr so he could do something, so he could be healed. Before he could continue, she was back on the side of the ship, clawing once again at the harpoon to make it thinner and thinner.
[/size][/blockquote]

( W O R D C O U N T ) two. one. four. three.
( T A G G E D ) Ikehr the Dragon, Myaja Kolbjorn, Nemo Ramsey, Wengsi Yuan, Clarus Maleficarum, Khael Settic, Xaen the Werecat, Niko Dante & Arashi the Dragon, Artemis Von Cleft, Valsta, Solomon Latro, Toriyuu Doubleblade
( P U P P E T S U S E D )[/color] Tasia Anna Georgios & Sunglow the Dragon
( S U M M A R Y )[/color] Goes to bed... Has a dream of her past... Sees all that has been happening and watches as Sunglow tries to help Ikehr. Tasia helps Nemo. Sunglow loses her temper and starts to work the harpoon and make it thinner so she can break it.[/size][/blockquote]

[Elloria]

Niko's eyes drifted closed as the swaying ship rocked the hammock and him. It reminded him of when he and Josk had been quite little - perhaps only two or three years old. There had been an old elf maiden who had cared for them the first five years of their life. He wished he could remember her name. What he did remember was how she would rock them to sleep each night, soothing them like a mother should after a day of berating and harshness. He chose to relive those memories for his dreams that night, wishing for a brief moment to return to that comfort. But he was jerked rather uncomfortably from his slumber by a near-hysterical Arashi. They’ve left, they’ve left, and something’s wrong with Ikehr! The sensation of excruciating pain flared through Niko's mind, pulling him to complete consciousness. Arashi was not in his lap anymore, but on the floor. The dragon was snarling viciously and almost flailing from his desire to get moving! What are you talking about? he demanded, setting his feet on the floor and rising. He looked down, surprised. There was water slowly filling the room. Arashi dragged him towards the hallway by way of explanation - where a curious sight greeted them. What looked like a harpoon was sticking through the ship's hull. He frowned as first Ramsey, then Myaja flashed by headed topside. The human, Toriyuu, suggested that he stay to deal with the harpoon. “Tasia’s not even here,” Niko murmured. He didn't like the look of the water rushing in and Arashi was insistently tugging on his pants leg. He shook free. “Give me a moment, would you?!”

Arashi is completely beside himself as his Rider rushes back into the swinging-bed-room for some unfathomable reason. Did he not tell him that the creatures sailing this ship had left and Ikehr was in trouble? Did that not warrant some sort of damn urgency? He hisses before turning to barrel up the stairs. He feels Niko close behind, carrying that pack of his. What he needs it for is beyond Arashi. It had better be to help Ikehr. The moment he clears the hatch, he buries his talons into the deck as a wave hits the deck and washes over them all. Once it passes, he shakes himself to rid the water and bounds across the deck to where Ikehr is pinned to the hull.

Niko followed his irrational dragon after he recovered from the shock of the wave. He noted that the only people up top were himself, Tasia, Myaja, Nemo and some of the humans in their little group of adventurers. None of the crew whatsoever. That was what Arashi had meant. He took a moment to assess what was happening. Myaja appeared to be taking control, demanding that Nemo abandon Ikehr in favor of saving them all. Ramsey was the only one with sailing experience - and in this weather, that would be critical. Yuan stood calmly beside Myaja. Nearly everyone else up top seemed to be in a right state over how the general was reacting. Even Toriyuu, who clearly felt affection towards Myaja, was decrying her. Only Solomon seemed unfazed...perhaps even gleeful of Ikehr's plight. Admittedly, Ikehr was very self-centered and had no problems killing a fleshling or two when the mood suited him. Arrogant? Most dragons were to some degree. Why shouldn't they be? They were the single most powerful creatures in Alagaesia. Even Shades took pause at going up against a dragon.

For once, Arashi agrees whole-heartedly with Sunglow as she snaps at the Solomon-Latro-two-legs. It knows not what it speaks of. He leaps over the side even as she speaks, his wings snapping open to catch the wind as he dives. It’s rough and almost too much, but he swings around and lands heavily against the ship’s side. He sinks his claws in and pulls his wings in with great effort. He crawls along the hull to where Ikehr is pinned, wincing at the pain he feels rolling off the older dragon’s mind. He doesn’t know what exactly he can do, but he’s going to start by trying to free Ikehr. And for that, he will need to get to the...what word did Niko use? Har...poon? Harpoon. Mindful of Ikehr’s wound, he clambers onto the dragon and goes to work on the harpoon. The wood is thick and strong, the wind buffeting him and the water crashing over him. It is difficult, even with Sunglow there clawing at it as well. And then she rushes back above to deal with the Solomon-Latro-two-legs. Sunglow, stop dealing with that pathetic two-legs and get down here and help me!

For once, Niko was thankful for Arashi’s single mindedness. He wasn't sure he wanted to see what the hatchling would try to do if he were paying attention to all the yelling and fuss. "The rest of you! You have work to do!” He looked at Myaja with eyes darker than the storm clouds above them. “Yes. In this case, my work is helping the one creature who could actually handle whatever threats will come to us whether the ship survives or not. If that displeases you, then I’ll simply have to apologize for it later. Or you can kill me, if you wish to lower the number of useful people on board,” he said calmly. Without another word, he pulled two lengths of rope and his dagger from his pack. Lashing the pack securely to the ship and strapping the dagger to his belt, he began tying the second rope to the rails with intricate and secure knots. He tugged on it to make sure the wood would not snap, but would bear his weight. The last thing he wanted was to get stranded in the water. He then tied the rope around him just as securely and went to the ship's side. Looking down, he could see Sunglow and Arashi clawing ferociously at the harpoon - trying desperately to get it out of Ikehr. He wondered how wise it would be to shove Ikehr off the harpoon and into the sea. The saltwater was undoubtedly already stinging his wounds painfully. Immersing it would probably be enough pain to cause even a dragon to black out. He climbed over the railing with the rope’s length firmly in hand, faced downwards and carefully walked towards where Ikehr was. Arashi and Sunglow were almost through the harpoon by the time he reached the trio. He tried to breach the pain of Ikehr’s mind to explain what he hoped to do. Ikehr-ebrithil, I know you’re in pain and probably ready to kill but I ask that you refrain for a moment so that I can try to heal you. As soon as Arashi and Sunglow have removed on end of the harpoon, I’m going to try to push your body away from the ship so that I can get at the harpoon from the other side. Then we can remove it and heal you. If you can, please help me by moving as well and holding onto the ship so that you don’t fall completely into the sea. He wasn't sure if Ikehr had heard him and at that moment, it didn't much matter. He just barely heard a splash as the gnawed-and-clawed end of the harpoon fell into the sea. Setting his feet firmly on Ikehr's side, he began trying to shove the dragon's incredible weight away from the ship. It would likely be a fool's errand if Ikehr didn’t help him even a bit.

[Kite]

*Clarus is awakened by the shuddering as everyone else is, and he rolls out of his cot and straightens himself to his full towering height, examining the harpoon covered in something that Clarus could not imagine was a good idea to mess with. Surprisingly, though, there were no crew members rushing through to see the status of their "guests", so Clarus casts out with his mind, attempting to feel the presence of them upon the boat. Annoyingly, and worryingly, he found none but the members of the groups that were supposed to be VIPs, and the assort dragons. Many of the members of our group snap into action, and Clarus follows suit, although he more or less ignores the orders snapped at him, having no real intention of casting his mind about to just block holes that were not threatening to the ship yet.

The scene on the deck is something of a mess, and it seems to be surrounding the wounded Ikehr and Myaja Kolbjorn's fight with Nemo Ramsey. It was all nothing to him, but he walks close to those surrounding the two women, close enough to hear the fight and the reactions that the others have. That is simply more enjoyable than the help that Ikehr is receiving. Why? Because the reactions were hilarious to him, from the laughing that came from Soloman, to the protests from the whoreishly dressed and improperly covered Tasia to the well-studied Niko. The first comment from the Riders that caught his attention and disdain was from Tasia, who is covered in a cloak, but with the wind whipping around it probably wasn’t much of a help, buttons or not, as the wind is massive and it often reveals parts of her scantily clad body and her skin. He smirks at her as he steps forward to the foreground and begins to speak.*

Forgive me, I may be mistaken as a "mortal", but I seem to know that there is no relationship between dragons being able to fly and ships being able to travel, seeing as most ships will never have a dragon present on them and they still move fine.

*He shakes his head slightly in amusement at the suggestion that we needed a dragon to fight the threat. Rider arrogance, although he didn't plan to say it as such. The thought moved from his mind as a massive wave rears up and covers the ship's decks for a moment. Clarus is soaked but manages to grab hold of one of the ropes and hang on through the momentary onslaught. Myaja then yells for us to do our jobs, and Clarus lingers for a moment, thinking of what his job might be, and overhears the third Rider, Niko, tries to take the higher ground and teach Myaja a lesson before snapping to. He laughs at that idea, and shakes his head, unable to hold his tongue and speaking to the General.*

Typical Rider arrogance, nay? Funny how they think that, among this truly powerful company, they are the only ones who can save the day. They fail to see the power we hold.

*He then smiles and moves over to the side where the dragon is pinned and sees most of the remaining members of our group, including a Rider and several of the Dragons attempt to move Ikehr off of the now broken harpoon, and he shakes his head once more before gathering power to himself and taking a deep breath, before speaking and infusing his word with power.*

Ach!

*His word guides the power to the back of Ikehr and pushes Ikehr off of the harpoon into the water, successfully achieving what Niko had until then failed at. He looks at each member of the group present, excluding Nemo, Myaja, Wengsi, and Tasia, the latter of which was incidentally giving anyone who looks up quite a show should they choose to see, and speaks calmly.*

Maybe now we can do something actually productive?

[Arizae]

This voyage had been a mistake. Such an awful decision to be mixed with bloody elves and riders. Even with his faithful guard nearby he could feel a prickling in his skin. An anxious nervousness brought on by those pointed ears and cold steel carried by nearly every being on the ship. He struggled to keep his composure, remain calm and dignified, but his ears were buzzing, memories from the war flashing as he looked into the faces of his enemies. One well-trained elf could easily take down ten men, and it was this fact that made his hand itch to grab hold of his sword before any of those tall creatures could. Jhored was keeping a close eye, and he trusted the man more than any, but it wasn’t enough. If something happened to incite these elves he would not last long. Especially since those riders would simply watch.

Leg aching at the remembered battles he moved further onto the boat, trying to distance himself from the bloody elves. Suddenly he saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye, perhaps nothing, but his nerves were not calm, the four essences had left him. Khael Settic was on the battlefield once more, and one did not think if it was movement, you struck before the enemy could attack. Without hesitation he turned, careful to keep his weight off the bad leg, and struck at the face before him. As if in slow motion he saw his fist connect with the foul general’s face. Someone that could not attack him, he had been paranoid, but it felt good to see her head turn from the impact, to watch her stumble even as the sting spread from his knuckles. He did not let his mind sort through the problems he might have just caused, and felt grimly satisfied for a moment. If there was one creature he would want to crush it was Myaja, bitch could be blamed for many of his numerous problems.

At his back Jhored had his hand already grasping the hilt of his sword, eyes flashing for warning signs, and immediately spotted Wengsi’s movement. Khael’s guard moved swiftly, either from years of training or simple grace he positioned himself to strike the woman, bring her down even as she let the whip crack in front of his master. Mere seconds were all it took for him to read the situation, and he noticed that she was merely making space, scaring off Khael. So instead striking at the girl from his advantageous spot he relaxed is grip on the sword, and let Khael be sent reeling backward. Better to avoid a larger conflict without injury. Jhored was confident he could kill this white haired whip master, but even he could not face all of Myaja’s friends and peace keeping riders.

With a look on face more fitting to a snarling fox Khael stepped back, stumbling slightly as his weak leg buckled. Jhored was there to catch him however, and before any eyes could catch the moment of weakness he was back standing tall. Khael said not a word, only glared at Wengsi, and looked down at Myaja as one would observe filth in the street. Then turned his back with a flourish of his cape and moved on. As everyone slowly introduced themselves he took them each in turn, measuring them up and putting faces to names. He still wasn’t pleased by anything he had seen. It would have been better if he had simply hired his own ship and gone on from there. Gathering his calm he introduced himself in turn, giving only name and title. The count knew none here, and had no desire to entertain any of them.

So much for the grand riders…it seemed this Nemo, for all her years, was a brash hot headed fool. Who in their right mind dove off a ship to confront a dragon? It was simply preposterous. Tiny elf thing was supposed to lead their adventure, but she was too busy fighting with her own dragon. Feeling rather wretched Khael could only sigh with relief when they were dismissed and allowed to go below deck to rest up. He had not expected special treatment, but as he watched that vile Kolbjorn head towards the captain’s room he could not help but feel loathing for her and the captain. So a prisoner of the riders deserved more spacious living than a Count? They were still in Broddring, and his title should count for something. Foolish captain, most likely one of those pathetic smuggling pirates. He would see to it that the count of Aroughs was informed and this ship burned before he left for Tears. Jhored walking on his right he found a decent place to rest. He had dealt with worse during the campaigns or war, and he could deal with this slovenly place for now. Taking care to keep his sword close he took off the cape and constricting outer coat. However, he slept with his boots on, did not dare take them off with this rabble surrounding him. Jhored sat nearby, Khael had given him leave to sleep, but the scarred man only nodded and leaned against the hull. With practiced ease the frustrated Count drifted to sleep in the humble bed, keeping half a mind awake as if waiting for a surprise attack from the enemy.

Minutes, hours, he could not tell how many had passed, but his mind had snapped fully awake before the harpoon had finished breaking through the hull. As water began to stream through the hull his sword was already in hand, the naked steel flashing in the dim light as Jhored stood at his side. The smell of blood was strong, even as it was overpowered by the salty air. Eyes flashing he looked about the area, noticed everyone else snapping to attention. All surprised…so none of them were the danger. Still he stood in a practiced stance, both hands on the hilt of his weapon as he prepared to strike. “Sir…we should move.” Khael glanced behind him to see Jhored standing at ease, blade undrawn, and nodded. With a quick movement he sheathed his sword and followed the rest onto the deck.

The count’s eyes went wide. He didn’t know much of sailing, but he knew of storms. Swallowing hard he came running to a halt before Myaja and Nemo, he didn’t care if either of them killed each other, but it would be helpful if the one that knew something of sailing didn’t die. Faintly he heard the moans of the dragon, and pushed it from his mind. Best if they but the creature out of its suffering. First the ship and the storm, they must be dealt with first. So he did what any seasoned veteran would do, he looked to the one with most experience to lead. His eyes went to Nemo, and there was no hint of his previous rage at what she might be. Whatever the circumstance they were in battle, and he was a soldier. Put the count behind in order to survive. He remained silent, words and anger would do little for this grave situation. Better if someone told him what he could do to help….something like knocking Myaja overboard…or tying down the rigging. Perhaps that would be better.

Khael moved quickly, and copied Nemo’s movements; he quickly located bits of rope, and with help from Jhored lashed himself and his guard to the boat. Best to take the precaution as any wave could easily toss him overboard, especially with that leg of his. He had a knife handy if he had to cut himself free, and with that he did what he figured what must be best, make sure cargo be on board didn’t knock him to his death or crush anyone. Tie down what was necessary and tossing over useless bits.

-------------

Normally he would be enjoying himself. All this hate an animosity should be enough to make him glow. Blast all water, oceans, and seas. Instead of igniting the kindling surrounding him he was reduced to a terrified kitten clinging for all he was worth to a barrel. A frustrating situation to say the least. When they were off this bloody ship he would have to release the pent up rage. Make a city burn for this fierce humiliation he was enduring. Ah, but they were distracted and involved with their own actions. He was allowed to exist in his own world away from their hatred. Xaen wished to be with them there soak in that frustration and fear. Licking his lips he looked on with wonder as a human struck an elf and a rider attacked her own dragon.

Tail twitching slightly he kept his claws hidden from sight, keeping them well covered by his long tail. To any looking at him he was the picture of calm serenity. Sure he was terrified, but he was a werecat and he would not bear his emotions to these pawns before him. No, for all they would know he was bored by their petty actions. A silent observer, see her came a yawn. Stretching his mouth wide he uttered no noise as they introduced themselves. Flicking his ears he took in the tones of their voices and the twitches in their faces that betrayed their emotions.

Still he was frozen, unable to act on any of the animosity displayed before him. It made his skin crawl. Flexing his claws he dug them further into the barrel he had claimed as his own. They found easy purchase in the soft wood and he was confident nothing short of that beast Ikehr could dislodge him from his perch. Barrels floated, so he should be safe even if this little boat decided to sink…then again…what if what caused the boat to sink made the barrel plunge to the depths of the ocean? Fighting back his own fear he blinked and looked around the deck. To his surprise most everyone was gone now. Below deck to sleep, or finding a spot up here to rest.

Xaen could not rest, would not be able to sleep. He did not dare move from his barrel to find a more comfortable place below. There was no way he would leave the open air up here. Down there he would be trapped. What would happen if the hull broke and he became wet? No. He would stay here, and endure even the rain if that should happen. Xaen would not go below no matter what happened. He could be trapped there, and drowning was not an option.

More twisted fear went through his mind as the night wore on, and he tried to watch the curious crew to keep his mind off his troubled head. They skittered and skattered about, and then they began lowering smaller boats! Wasn’t this one small enough already? Why would they get in something like that?!? He shivered, hackles rising involuntarily…and then he noticed the scent in the wind, the dark ominous clouds approaching. Water was in the air, and those clouds bore only one meaning. A great storm was on its way…the crew was fleeing in a craft he could never get himself into…and he would have to ride it out on his barrel.

Xaen could not help himself, he yowled one loud lonely call after the crew, his mournful cry swallowed in the sound of the waves. His fears were coming true, that wretched witch had been right. Never board a ship or you’ll find yourself swimming. Blast it all to bloody hell he loathed swimming! As the harpoon struck the dragon anger tightened in Xaen’s breast. All his fear rushed from him to be replaced by adrenaline and rage. Myaja came storming to the deck, followed by Ramsey and the others. Fools all of them! None of them were doing what must be done. Well, at least that general had been able to get Nemo to do her job. With a snarl he leapt from his barrel. Emerald eyes glaring at all the fools worrying over a dragon dying below. The beasts died every day…why worry about one when they might be swimming soon. Ignoring them he grinned fiendishly at Nemo.

In with the sails, captain?

Before she could answer he followed her up the mast, his claws digging deep into the wood as he ran straight up, quickly overtaking the elf. She may at one with the ship, but rage and the grace of his kind was gifted to him, but claws were not so handy for tying sails to mast. Even as Myaja shouted for everyone to get things down the werecat had reached the top of that soaring mast. Heights did not bother him, but he was already infuriated by the driving rain. Leaping across the rigging he shifted midair, the shape of a boy grinning fiendishly taking his place. Quick hands brought in the rent sails, working quickly, watching Nemo to learn quickly and tie down what may drag them to their death. Xaen could tolerate this bloody rain…but he was not swimming!

Words : 2200
Characters : Count Settic and Xaen
Muse : Good, but rushed. Needed to post and get it done.
Interaction : Khael is running about trying to help with 'shiply' things and Xaen is helping Nemo at the moment, after being too terrified to move or sleep all night. Now he's just pissed XD Would have liked to do more interaction and talking with others...but I was rushed. Wanted to get this post done since I was behind.

[Tris]

Valsta woke with a start, her hammock was swinging hard and she heard everyone below rousing, she wasn’t sure what had woken her up but she wished she could just forget about it and get back to sleep, and of course the one time I sleep well something happens she grimaced as she turned around and sat up to see what was wrong, as soon as she saw the harpoon sticking out of the boats hull all thoughts of sleep where forgotten. Quickly she stood up and looked at everyone, first Myaja ran to the main deck Ramsey right on her heels, everyone else took a second longer two collect themselves then most of the others followed.Valsta waited to go up a little longer than most of the others so she could make sure that the harpoon hadn’t done so much damage to the ship that it would go down in ten minutes, thankfully it hadn’t and Valsta felt safe to do up leaving it to leak slowly.
When she did get up there the first thing she noticed was the air, it was calm but dense, the sky dark and shadowy, when she looked out at the sea she saw waves moving fast toward them.
But she had no time to think because she saw Ikehr pinned to the side of the ship with the harpoon in his chest and Myaja with a knife to Nemos throat, Valsta filly expected one of the crew to pull Myaja away from her but none did and for the first time she noticed the total lack of crew anywhere, but again she had no time to think because the storm hit them like a lightning bolt and the biggest wave she had ever seen hit the ship and all the people aboard, Valsta had just enough time to close her eyes and hold her breath and then she was hit and flew backwards skidding against the deck.
When she opened her eyes again the storm was in full swing, the lightning cracking like a whip across the sky, ear splitting thunder and the wind making the rain feel like needles against her face.

Valsta was scared she would admit it, she picked herself up off the ground and she was shaking all over, the ship was rocking back and forth like the whole world was being tipped over, she felt sure the boat would go down with each wave that hit and that soon they all would be at the bottom of the sea, but she wouldn’t let her mind give up, there was a slim hope of survival if they all helped and acted as the crew.
But that didn’t happen because half of the team was down on the side of the ship trying to help the trapped dragon, and some of the others were up in the mast with Ramsey, all the while Ramsey had made a mental connection with them all and was swearing and giving orders.“WANKERS! STOP PISSING AROUND ON THE MAIN MAST AND SHORTEN THE BLOODY SAILS! AND YOU!" she pointed at Valsta."GRAB THE WHEEL! GET KOLBJORN TO GIVE YOU A HAND IF YOU CAN'T HOLD IT!" Before she could think about what she was doing she followed the orders and took the wheel, she held it for a moment not knowing at all what to do now, but then it started to turn with the wind, it tore out of her hands and started to spin but she grabbed it again and this time she tried franticly to keep hold of it. ”WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS THING, RAMSEY!,” Valsta yell angrily back at her.



Notes: she doesn't do alot of thinking in this post XD

[Emma]

The sea was in the sky.

It stood on its side, The Enterprise heeling right over before it, and yet somehow effortlessly keeping its upper deck free of the wet fury that was the thrashing, roiling waters below. The sky was black. Thunderbolts blasted the masts, and crackling lightning occasionally lit up the seascape- the sky turned lime-green, the ocean white as scoured china, giving the world an eerie gloom before black crashed down on everything again. The Enterprise crunched, growled, and even meowed like a huge fighting cat, bounding like a white horse across a midnight mountain. The wind was screaming, like a canvas sail that tore at throats and ears. The sky rolled over, sending the ship plunging towards the shattered depths of the sea, and stars fell like snow all around for mere heartbeats before it turned right side up once more.

It was a strange, disturbing beauty that I found myself unable to look away from. Perhaps it was the sheer force of the elements that obligated me, or simply the need to distract myself from the pain. The harpoon hadn’t even hurt at first. As I’d lain in the waters, easily keeping pace with the ship’s progress, I had seen several mortals almost silently loading all the jolly-boats, Ramsey called them, and taking off when sea and wind had still been calm. Upon raising my head to get a better look, I’d been rewarded with something large, cold, and metallic lodged in my chest. The salt and iron taste of blood had filled my mouth, and then the pain made my vision turn red. Only when the storm hit and the mortals returned did I regain some sense of what was happening, and did I finally attempt to make mental contact with my Rider.

Ramsey’s mind was a barbed fortress, unconsciously put there by a fury uncharacteristic even of her. She was not in the least bit interested in speaking, focussed on tugging home the flyaway canvas. Instead, I turned toward the only calm mind on board- Yuan’s, who, though tense and coiled like a cat ready to spring, wasn’t too concerned. It had spent its earliest years on a ship, apparently, and though it did not possess Ramsey’s sailing expertise, it had personally weathered storms like this- and was quite aware that they were survivable, especially on a ship such as this one. It freely opened its mind to me, obviously concerned about my safety. I pushed it away, more interested in watching the mortals stumble and trip and howl in terror. Ramsey was the only one who was comfortable, swinging like a monkey, making the ship her playground.

‘WANKERS! she bellowed into all minds present. ‘STOP PISSING AROUND ON THE MAIN MAST AND SHORTEN THE BLOODY SAILS! AND YOU!’ She pointed an accusing finger at the human female, Valsta. ‘GRAB THE WHEEL! GET KOLBJORN TO GIVE YOU A HAND IF YOU CAN'T HOLD IT!’
“WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS THING, RAMSEY?!” shrieked Valsta over the wind.

But if Ramsey heard the mortal, she didn’t make any sign of it. Instead, she roped herself to the mizzen- now that the main sail had been tamed, there was no point in struggling to get down- and flung back her head to watch the stars spinning like silver daggers beyond the banners of the storm, lashed by the galloping waves. She grinned, even as a wave washed over her, and then burst out laughing. It rapidly turned into a maniacal, pealing cackle that echoed down to the upper deck, even audible over the teeth of the gale. Legs locked around the spar, she rode the storm, challenging it, entirely fearless, and loving every moment of it. As she howled with laughter, I saw the elven General, which had lashed itself to the deckhouse, cut itself free with one of Yuan’s knives and move to aid Valsta. But my attention was only for Ramsey.

‘She’s insane,’ I declared, more to myself than anyone else.
“So she is,” said Kolbjorn aloud as it came up behind Valsta, gripping the wheel with surprising strength. “But tell you what, monster- a good person nearly always is. But a good captain? Always.”
‘Why?’ I demanded, still cross with pain.
“Why? Why else would the damn fool willingly put out to sea in the first place?”

Its voice was good-natured, even amused. I had heard Kolbjorn barking at my Rider mere minutes ago, felt Ramsey’s fury at having a dagger held to her throat- but had not been worried, even for a moment. Ramsey knew how to take care of herself, and the insane General had even been in the right- when Ramsey got angry, she got stupid. Fatally stupid. Who was to say that she wouldn’t be dashed to death against the prow of the ship by the waves when she leapt in for her heroic deed? I, for one, would struggle to shed a single tear at her death, but then I would have no one to amuse myself with. Most of the mortals agreed with Kolbjorn’s decision, but I’d also heard several individuals expressing outrage at the yellow-haired General regarding its decision. It regarded them with those icy eyes, and replied evenly.

“By all means. I simply intended to stop the only one among our group with sailing expertise. However…” she gave a particularly glacial glare at Doubleblade. “I will not be spoken to in that tone, especially not by a mere human. Get it?”
All of a sudden, I was aware of being crowded- being surrounded.
‘Tell me what I may do for you, dragon.’
‘Get away from Master Ikehr!’
‘Sunglow, stop dealing with that pathetic two-legs and get down here and help me!’
‘Ikehr-ebrithil, I know you’re in pain and probably ready to kill…’

Claws. Tiny, pincer-like claws, all over me. The harpoon shifting, reverberating as teeth nibbled into it. I was being touched. I shrunk away from Yuan’s mind just as the Valkyrie headed below-decks in the interest of draining the bilge flooding the forecastle. It felt like insects crawling all over me. I disliked being touched unless I personally sanctioned it. The harpoon cut wider swathes into my flesh, culminating in a snarl of pain. I wriggled, wanting them to get off. I could hear talking up above, and, at the edge of the pain and anger, feel Ramsey’s horror.

“IMBECILES!” she roared aloud. “The feck d’you think yer doing? That bloody harpoon’s the only thing keepin’ him afloat- NO! NO! YOU TOUCH MY DRAGON; I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!”

I heard a word of power, one that somehow pushed me off the harpoon, which remained embedded in the hull of The Enterprise. All at once, I realized what Ramsey already had- I didn’t possess the strength to swim. The stinging salt water shut over my head in a white scar, and I descended into the ice-cold, lightless depths. I tried to move, but the cold rendered me almost instantly numb, dulling the pain- but a wave of lethargy swept over me, and the eternal silence was actually relaxing. However, this was somehow ruined by the clamour of mortals trying to get into my head, of which I only allowed one- Yuan, which was with the slave child in the hold of the ship, draining seawater, and had watched me sink into the ocean’s depths. As soon as this connection was made, I suddenly felt myself hit the bottom of the ocean.

Yuan was as surprised as I was. With how far out to sea we were, I should have been sinking for a very long time, until I either ran out of breath or the sheer pressure crushed me. The shallow ocean could only mean one thing. At my bidding, Yuan roughly and wordlessly grabbed the slave child’s hand, pulling it to the upper deck. There was no point in bailing out the water now. It ran out on deck, where mortals were still flailing desperately and Ramsey was still wrapped around the mizzen, shaking, but not from cold. She was holding on tight to her hat, staring across the ocean, and laughing hysterically. At the horizon, the cliffy shores of an island had appeared behind two waves like black brick walls. It was quite clear that The Enterprise was going to crash and burn- it had too much speed. Ramsey began to shout into everyone’s minds.

‘WHAT A BEAUTY! This ain’t war, it’s sport! Two cats playin’ at a fight…’ she spread her arms. The great Consul of Defence had been reduced to a giggling lunatic. ‘This ship, she’s mates with the sea. They know how to behave with each other… an’ if we die, we sleep among pearls an’ mermaids an’ sunken kingdoms!’ She sucked in an enormous breath. ‘That ain’t so bad.’ Then she changed her tune, roaring down at the mortals. ‘BUT WE COULD USE MORE BLOODY PEOPLE AT THE BLOODY HELM!’

She pointed aggressively to the wheel, which looked about ready to snap off its stand. Yuan was there in a flash, securing the helm with its blacksnake whip, and joined the General and the human female. Their combined strength was no match for the ship’s undertow, however, and all were knocked clear off their feet as a great green salt wave washed over the deck. Ramsey used a knife to cut herself free of her rope and held onto her fedora, watching as the rocks grew ever nearer, waiting to give a signal. She had to time it just right- too soon, and some of their number could drown. Too late, and they’d be crushed against the land like insects.

Her scream could not be matched by the wind. “ABANDON SHIIIP!”

Yuan was one of the last to jump, plunging backwards with whip in hand. As it descended, I watched as the ship struck the shore, doing a magnificent flip through the air before smashing onto the rocks and erupting in flame. The heavy rain, however, quickly moved to put it out. Then water closed over the Valkyrie’s head, and I felt it lose consciousness. I slipped out of its mind, retreating back to the darkness of my mind, and to the cold sandy bottom where I lay. Just above me, I saw the triangular shape of a small boat making for the isle. I smiled.

Perhaps I would live to make Ramsey’s life miserable after all.

---

I awoke to a mouthful of sand and the gentle coolness of water lapping against my body. The second sensation was of pain and great discomfort- as well as the odd feeling of being exposed. I propped myself up on one elbow, feeling the bruises I’d suffered on the ship- but most of all, a wound on my back. I reached backwards, feeling where the back of my dress had been torn, by a rock, most likely, and the white feathers of my half-grown wings, caked with blood and fluttering helplessly. I growled, sitting bolt upright. I saw a stretch of orange clouds and pink sky, and the beginning glow of the sun rising in the east. I looked down. A stretch of white sand, beyond which was a hill, crowned with trees and spring flowers in various shades of red, gold, and green. And just to the left, perched on the rocks, were the remains of our ship.

The Enterprise was no longer very enterprising. It lay in a wreck of torn canvas and splintered wood, which smelled slightly smoky, as if from a recent fire. I had no idea how long I’d been out. I tested out my arms and legs, and was convinced that nothing was broken, but I didn’t dare get up just yet. Instead I turned, gazing out to sea. Other bodies littered the waters- whether dead or unconscious like I had just been, I couldn’t tell- and there were no other signs of life. Myaja Kolbjorn was just beside me, blonde hair obscuring her face. Her shoulders rose and fell with even breathing, but I could see that the water was stained red around her- but whether it was from my wounds or hers, I didn’t know. I lay still for a few more moments, counting my breaths and stilling my heartbeat, and waiting to see what would happen.

Unsurprisingly, Nemo Ramsey was the first one on her feet, spraying water everywhere.
“BLOODY PIRATES!” She put her hands on her hips, sighing happily. “Takes me back. Now then, who ain’t dead?” She glared down at us. “Well, come on!”

I got onto my knees, peering up at her. Her hat and orange hair both dripped water, and there was a notable dark spot on her thigh- it looked like she’d been punctured by a splinter of wood. She stood straight and tall, in a surprisingly good mood- odd, considering that her dragon had disappeared. I looked at the shore once more. The sand sparkled as if it was full of diamonds, and blossoms beaded the trees, rosy and peachy in hue. Flowers carpeted the ground, and further off, the velvety green ruffles of a forest was prominent, out of which a huge bald stone monolith rose forth. So we were in Parlim, by some stroke of luck. I stood up, furious that my wings were exposed and at all that had just happened. Served me right for deciding to tag along with these fools. And now Ikehr was gone- ah, no, he was there, lying on the beach.

And he looked very dead.

Ramsey, who’d also been peering at the landscape curiously, followed my gaze and saw her dragon’s body. Her eyes widened with panic, and, swearing so viciously that I balked at some of the words she used, took off across the sand. I stayed behind to assist my ward, Kolbjorn, who was groaning with pain and holding her face in her hands. Blood streamed out of her mouth and down the side of her head, stark crimson against her ivory skin. She looked up at me, clearly disoriented as I pulled her to her feet, and spoke with slow, measured words.

“What… what happened?”
I pointed.
“Fools.”

She stood up straight, and once I was convinced she wasn’t dying and could walk, I moved on ahead to see Ikehr. Ramsey was jumping around his body like a flea, shouting his name amidst even more profanity. Concern gave speed to my steps. His chest, where the untreated wound of the harpoon still bled, turning the sand pink, was open to the elements. He wasn’t breathing, and his eyes were closed. Was he dead? He was so silent, so empty. It was literally as if the life had just vanished, leaving nothing but a husk behind. Tears were now in Ramsey’s eyes, fuelled by hot rage- rage that increased when she saw something just behind his body. Not even thinking to pull out her hammer, she bolted at it, raining down blows with her fists. I peered over Ikehr, and blinked when I saw it for what it was- one of the sailors that had abandoned us.

“You son of a bitch!” she sobbed amidst punches. “You murdered my dragon! I’LL PAINT MY BEDROOM WITH YOUR BLOOD-”
“Ramsey, has the concept of ‘personal space’ ever been explained to you?”

I tilted my head, smiling and at the same time losing interest. I’d seen him do it before. The sailor slowly rose to his feet, staggering, seemingly uncomfortable, and raised his head to meet Ramsey’s eye. Already, the body was changing- becoming less thuggish, smaller, and with inhuman features developing at speed. The hair became blue, and the eyes grey-blue with slits for pupils- rather like a reptile- and the skin became deathly pale and smooth. His nails were white talons, and when he smirked at his Rider, he bared two rows of serrated fangs.

“I had the luck to stumble upon this quartet of fleshlings making for the shore.” He gestured with a hand I now saw was dripping with copious amounts of what I was sure couldn’t be his blood. Nearby was one of the jolly-boats- now with three mangled corpses lain up inside. “They were appalled by my possessing them, so I was forced to dispose of the tiny insignificants. I crunched them and crushed them and watched them fountain blood.” He glared up at his hand with disdain. “But now I am covered in human filth. Ew.”
“That’s creepy.” Ramsey raised an eyebrow. “You’re creepy, Ikehr. But, I’LL BE DAMNED…” she wrapped him in a hug. “You’re alive!”
“And Ramsey, if it is possible… you are even smaller when I am in this form.”
This brought the happy moment to an undignified, screeching halt.
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL, YOU MINIATURE-SIZED FETCHER?!”
“You’re shorter than your temper.”
“YOU’RE SO SHORT YOU’RE TWO-DIMENSIONAL!”

This escalated into more snarky comments from Ikehr, rebuked by violent swearing from Ramsey, until she ended up knocking him over to give him a good pummelling, resulting in the two of them rolling across the sand, trying to kill each other for the umpteenth time. I instead gazed up at the island, which I now had a better view of. I could see lonely white buildings just over the hill, their still-intact glass windows reflecting the light of the rising sun. But there was nothing- not the call of birdsong, nor the chirp of insects. It was silent as a grave.

“Nemo Ramsey,” said Kolbjorn commandingly.
Both Rider and dragon stared up from where they were tussling. “What?”
“Contact the Riders and tell them what happened. This island is inhabited, isn’t it?”
“It was,” I said, reaching into the boat. I saw a yew bow and arrows tucked up by one of the bodies. I took a moment to test the string before continuing. “It happened during the Blue Divide- maybe that’s why no one paid any attention to it. But over one night, every single person…” I pointed the bow at the buildings up ahead, “killed themselves. The aristocracy, women, children- those who didn’t want to, were forced into it.”
“Well,” said Kolbjorn after a long silence. She smiled, then turned her head and spat a huge gob of blood into the sand. “I’m going to explore.”

Characters Used;; Ikehr with Nemo Ramsey and Wengsi Yuan with Myaja Kolbjorn
Words;; 3050
Muse;; Pretty good!!
Thoughts;; It's hideously rushed, but I had so much stuff to cover! I'm very happy with the dialogue and events, though.

[Amur]

He had expected hostility from someone due to his remark to the lizard but nothing had prepared him for the action that was eventually taken against him, and from whom the action had come. The young dragon he had already worked with once sprang to attack him shortly after his comment, while he had meant it as a mocking gesture he figured that it was mostly just pointing out the truth. Though he highly doubted that such an event would serve to lessen the lizard’s considerable ego. That would probably take much more work.

He had taken several hurried steps backwards from the young dragon, he was sure that the hit to the head he had sustained during his fight with the wyvern was much worse than anything she could currently deliver, but Solomon was not one to take such chances. And then she spoke, leaving him no time to retort before she was back trying to help the lizard. His most prominent reaction to the outburst was confusion, and this time he was sure that he was doing nothing to hide it. Up until that point the young dragon was one he had thought of as an ally, was this the way all allies treated each other here when two people they knew did not get along? This was an odd land.

“What... Just happened?”
The question was not meant for anyone in particular and he had originally had no intention of asking it out aloud, but on this single occasion his confusion had overcome him as he genuinely began to wonder what had happened.

“I see...”
The realisation hit him as things began to get tense, the storm worsened and the ship was buffeted by harsher waves and harsh winds.

”Blind admiration and idolisation... Must be a lizard thing, regardless the code will forbid me from killing her even in defence. This is a problem I’ll have to rectify.”
He concluded mentally, unfortunately there were only two ways that came to mind which would allow Solomon to do so, both of which had the potential to make him vomit with rage merely by thinking about them.

“Ack”
He made the sound without even realising it. He clenched his fists tightly enough to force his knuckles to crack loudly.

He calmly walked to the center of the deck and stood in further silence for a while, well, if he was going to try then he was going to need some form of relief before and after. Though he highly doubted there would be anything able to survive that kind of rage until its conclusion, running his hands through his hair he felt his rage peak.

“Gragh! Warust mussle en so ein weibchen ist!?”
He yelled out loud as he began sprinting toward the edge of the ship, taking short and sharp breaths as he did so. He jumped at the last second, planted his feet on the slightly elevated position and then leaped off of the ship and kept his arms pinned to his side and kept his legs straight as he forced himself into a nose-dive toward the water, still intentionally taking short, sharp breaths as he descended.

He drew in one final moderate breath just before he hit the surface of the water. As the water surrounded him and cut off the majority of the previous noise he had been unaccustomed to around him he felt a slight pang of disappointment when his Zerstechen did not explode. Then again, he had known the chances of that happening to him were low in the first place, there was a reason he made all those checks.

He was fast to right himself and swim the direction the boat was still travelling in; however, he did not pause to take a breath, not even when his head broke the surface of the water. That was the advantage of forcing hyperventilation; it made it easier to hold your breath if done properly. It took him a moment to notice that the others had all started jumping from the ship, though that was probably for a very different reason.

His thoughts were confirmed seconds later when it finally hit something and flipped through the air. That, however, escaped his interest; he had caught sight of a smaller boat a short distance away and it was manned.

Silently he swam after it, weighed down by arrows and his coat as he was it took a long while to do so, and as was the norm during his hunts, his prey was completely oblivious to his presence. Excitement was already beginning to take hold as the kill drew ever closer.

He drew his golden hunting knife and held it tightly as he approached the boat from behind, and then with a single movement hauled himself onto the boat while yelling only a single mocking word.

“Gentlemen”
He had caught them off-guard as always, already had a weapon in hand and far more experience in close-quarters than they did. The first of the four had his throat slashed and was pushed from the boat as Solomon calmly took a seat between the guy he had just killed and his next target, the man was trying to draw a weapon, but the boat rocked from the sudden loss of weight allowing Solomon the sink his knife into the right thigh of the man.

His fist shot out, a reaction Solomon predicted and reacted to by braking the man’s left wrist and then elbow in rapid succession. He then tore his knife from the man’s thigh and then thrust the heel of his palm into his nose, forcing the man’s head to snap backwards. As with the previous man Solomon merely pushed him from the boat and smirked as the man frantically tried to keep his head above the surface of the water with only a single arm and leg.

He rounded on the last two, the men on the oars.

“You keep going. Get us to land and then I’ll pick one of you to have a little ‘chat’ with.”
Their wide-eyed expressions were a mix of shock and fear, in that, Solomon already had them where he wanted them. They continued toward land with no resistance, their eyes flicking from Solomon to his knife constantly, a situation Solomon exploited by performing some single handed tricks with his knife, deliberately making the motions as slow as possible.

There was a jolt as the boat came to a stop against the shore and all three men got to their feet at once, Solomon with his usual predatory grace, the other two with a panicked back-step than had them tripping over their own feet. He reached the first of the two with little effort and almost casually stomped on his right knee, with a crunch the leg broke as the kneecap inverted, leaving the second to try and run from Solomon.

Even the panicked sailor seemed to know the futility of his struggle as he fell away from Solomon, cowering the second he was within arm’s reach. Solomon slammed him to the ground, drawing the man’s sword and allowed him to hit the ground before he plunged the sharp length of metal through the man’s throat. He smirked as he looked down at the man and left him to die where he now lie.

With no more loose ends to deal with Solomon turned his attention back to the man he had left alive and approached him with a cruel smile on his face.

“Looks like you’re our winner. So comrade, let’s have a chat.”
He mocked with a whisper, grabbing his quarry by the scruff of whatever top it was he was wearing he dragged him up the sandy shore and toward the tree line he could just about see in this dim light. Much to Solomon’s delight the man was not quiet about it, he began screaming incoherent words and pleas of a family he had to feed, even as Solomon carefully place his bow and quiver at the tree line and continued past it.

He did not allow himself to go too deep, he had no intention of getting lost in an area he did not know, but he made sure that he was out of sight of onlookers. He paused as he reached a decent sized tree and then with effort forcefully lifted the man to his feet, took the man’s sword and stabbed him through the shoulder with it.

The satisfying sound of steel cutting flesh echoed in the quietness of the remaining night. The best part was that Solomon had put enough force behind the strike to pin the man to the tree, and had positioned him so that there was still some weight on his broken leg. He was going to be in constant pain from this point on, but first Solomon had one other matter to attend to.

“Machen sie wissen wie lag es nimmit diseen mantel en reinigen?”
He asked, the man, already in pain froze, his eyes frantically searching around the area for an answer. Solomon merely smiled warmly (the deception clearly throwing the man) and continued.

“A simple question, answer yes or no”
The man paused for a moment longer and then nodded his head slowly as he answered.

“Y-yes”
It was then that Solomon allowed the warm smile to twist and become a cruel sneer as he slowly took off his coat and set it across a nearby branch. As odd as he thought it was that the people here did not know his language there was the odd time where Solomon loved the language barrier. And this was one of those times.

With a calm glee he reached out and broke the smallest finger on the man’s left hand, the man flinched and drew in a sharp breath but otherwise refrained from vocalising any further pain, it was almost as if he had the audacity to mock Solomon, well, that was going to have to change and quickly.

“I must warn you. I tend to get a tad ‘excited’ during these little chats. The more you try to resist your pain, the worse I’ll make it.”
And with that Solomon set about setting out his knives in the order he planned to use them, the three he had chosen were his usual golden kill-knife, the blade that had a dual use as a skinning knife and a bone saw and finally the knife that his clan had affectionately dubbed “wyvernkiller”. He looked back into the eyes of the man, enjoying his fear as he picked up the golden knife and slowly began about his project.

He had lost track of time, by the time the sun had started rising, or was somewhere during the process of rising he was still working off his last little bit of anger. He was impressed, that much he would admit, no matter what punishment Solomon gave, no matter what Solomon broke, no matter how much skin he forcefully tore from the man and threw to the ground he barely made a sound, and more importantly he stayed alive.

“I have to admit, I am impressed you lasted this long.”
He said dismissively as he used rainwater to clean his knives and wash the blood from his hands. Returning each knife to its sheath he threw his coat back over his shoulders, equally proud with himself for managing to keep his clothes free of blood as he worked the time away.

“Well, our time here has come to an end love, was it good for you?”
He mocked; “rubbing salt in the wound” his mentor had called it. The man remained silent but managed to grimace, though whether that was down to the pain or Solomon’s taunting he was unsure. Regardless, he planned to end it soon. He reached into the pouch on his belt and withdrew the small black case containing 2 vials of Zerstechen compound. He opened it and carefully removed one of the two vials and showed it to the man.

“Be thankful it isn’t wyvern venom. That would take most of the day to finish you off.”
He whispered, the mocking tone never once wavering.

“However, I do hear that these give one of the worst burning sensations imaginable just as they explode.”
He gently held the vial between his thumb and middle finger as he turned his back to the man and began to walk away.

“Why.... Are you... Doing.... This?”
Solomon laughed harshly as he heard the feeble question, the difference in culture making the ignorance of this man all the more amusing.

“Where I come from there are two unwritten rules people always follow. Eins”
He paused for a moment, turning his back to the man once more.

“Always have a suicide plan should Nemesis Morona ever return... Zwei”
He stopped, checking his distance as he raised his arm.

“Don’t fuck with a Hunter.”
He finished off, casually flicking the Zerstechen Vial at the man and then instantly turning his back to the guy. He took several more steps toward the tree line and smirked when the explosion confirmed the hit, and he continued walking. He had been far enough to avoid the blast-radius, but the biggest lesson he had learned with Zerstechen was to never take chances.

The blast of hot air to follow the explosion was a harsh wind that caused Solomon’s coat to lash fiercely as he passed the tree line and reclaimed his quiver and bow and then nonchalantly re-secured them to his lower back. His fury worked off (for now) he assessed the immediate situation and watched as people began to show themselves, most of them he recognised from on board the ship, so he was not alone, that could not be all bad.

He headed toward the largest gathering, taking in the scene as he approached he caught small bits and pieces of the ongoing conversation. He ran his hands through his hair to at least get rid of the windswept look that the after-shock of the explosion had caused, he disliked that look.

“So, I’m not the only survivor.” He said out loud. “Maybe on this occasion I’ll admit it’s a good thing regardless of the company.”
He finished off calmly, casting a quick gaze to the motionless body of the lizard and then down to the rider and the “man” she seemed to be fighting with. Possession was not something he was completely unfamiliar with, but this was his first time seeing such a thing in person. He shrugged inwardly it was not something that overly bothered him, though now it would be strange called the lizard by its race while it looked as close to human as it was ever going to get.

His mouth twitched slightly as he caught sight of the boat full pulp, which Solomon was sure had once been human. He barely managed to suppress a smile, glad that they had been put in their place at least. This time around he had nothing to say, he had spent most of his “chat” mocking his “friend” earlier and for the time being any further mocks eluded him, so he merely stood in silence, it would have probably been more productive to see if anyone else had survived. At least for the time being.

[[Oddly, I'm quite happy with this one =/]]

[dantieduurden]

Artemis did as the dragon's commanded and left them climbing back on board. She did all that she could using her magic to try and slow down there fast approaching speed to land. But when she knew it was all for not she cut off the flow of her energy and waited until the ship was up in the air before she launched herself off of the boat and into the air holding Bridget in her arms as she did so. They land hard on the land and Artemis is knocked unconcious.

Saying no one pays attention anyways i dont think my crappy post really matters.

[Elloria]

Niko watched, horrified, as Ikehr flew off the harpoon after the Shade cast a spell. His hope had been for Ikehr to simply wriggle off enough for him to heal one end of the wound - not to send the massive dragon barreling into the frigid waters. He would have cursed the Shade, tried to kill it even. But there was something more which terrified him to his very core. Something which prevented him from thinking of much else. Had Arashi still been on Ikehr? He didn’t see the hatchling clinging to the ship. He cast his mind out to his dragon, panicked. Where was he?

For a moment, Arashi feels the wonderful sensation of weightlessness. The sensation one can only get while flying. Except he is not flying. He was scurrying away from the harpoon when suddenly Ikehr-ebrithil was moving. It was most disconcerting and he is glad that he was almost completely clear. Otherwise, he would probably be sinking to the very depths of the sea with Ikehr. Naturally, he does not want that. But he was not quite far enough away to escape Ikehr's movement. Thus he is still plummeting to the water below. When he hits it hard, the breath is knocked from him by both the force and the cold. It takes him a few moments to regain his senses and it is almost his undoing. The ship is moving far faster than any seemed to have realized and it is almost gone from him before he can reach out and latch on. It is only Niko's frantic thoughts that bring him back quickly enough. He crawls upwards and breaches the water's surface. Sending many reassuring signals to his Rider, he continues to crawl up. He eyes the fast approaching black mass that can only be land. He feels the mounting fear in his Rider as a wave washes over them. He feels it and understands it...and immediately seeks to bury it beneath his own mounting excitement. Timing will be everything. Leap too soon and they will not have the strength to make it to shore. Too late and it will all end here. Peripherally, he can feel Niko frantically cut himself free as Ramsey shouts “ABANDON SHIIIP!” As one, they leap off the ship and towards each other. Again, the icy water slams into him but he is prepared this time. Niko? Not so much. He can feel his Rider flailing a bit, panicked and exhilarated. He soothes the panic enough for Niko to surface in the rough waters and take a deep breath. They are not too far from the shore now. He strikes out for it and Niko follows.

After an interminably long time - or so it seems to him - the water becomes shallow. Soon, Arashi can walk through the waves that occasionally buoy him forward. He turns his head to make sure Niko is near and watches his Rider stagger upright and forward. Not exactly the triumphant arrival he had envisioned, but Arashi is okay with this. They are alive, that is the important thing. And if he ever finds the two-legs that caused all this to happen, he will ENSURE that they are most definitely NOT alive anymore. “Don’t be ridiculous, Arashi. You’re still...a bit...small...” And Niko speaks no more as he collapses in the sand, exhausted. Water washes over him from the surf. Two-legs could be so delicate. With a sigh, Arashi squirms through the waters. He knows that if Niko is like this, the elf will be completely out of it and not pay attention to the water and probably breath it in. He'd seen a furred-predator-four-legs do it once. One of the smaller ones that does not wave its tail when pleased. What had Niko called it? D...dr...drowning. Yes, that’s it. And he does not want that. So with a good deal of work, he manages to shove, nudge, and drag Niko out of the tidewater and onto the “drier” sand. If that’s what one can call it, considering the rain has made it as damp as the sand beneath the ocean waves. He then goes about inspecting himself. The sand clings to his wet body, but he cannot do much about that now. No sense licking himself clean when he would just be getting dirty later when they moved to seek out the others. He scans the area and sees very little. The ship is in the distance, smoke drifting up from the fires the rain has put out. Perhaps they could still salvage his Rider's pack from the debris. It's entirely possible. Should he go look? No, he cannot leave Niko in this state. Something might come along and harm the elf while he's unconscious. Gah! He cannot wake him up, either. The elf needs rest, though Arashi feels invigorated. He scans around again and notices two forms not far from them. Making sure that Niko's not likely to move, he goes over to investigate. It is the elf-that-is-and-is-not-an-elf. What was it called? Artemis? The broodmate of Niko's friend, Darek. They are just beyond the reach of the waves and very much knocked out. He nudges each one gently, but receives no response immediately. So they are currently not a threat. Excellent. They can be dealt with later, then. He hops back over to Niko and curls up beside him, waiting for the elf to awaken.

Sometime later, Niko finally woke up. He felt Arashi's warm body beside him and the comforting mental presence of his dragon. He instantly felt at ease before noticing the pain shooting through him. He winced as he tried to sit up. His body protested rather violently. Arashi looked at him, concern dulling his bright gold eyes. “I’ll be fine,” he managed to push out. His voice, normally smooth and deep, sounded hoarse and breathy. What a wonderful adventure this was turning out to be. He murmured a healing spell and felt magic flood his body as it sought to repair the damages last night's rough treatment had incurred. A few minutes later, he sat up with a much less pronounced wince of pain. He could now move about with serious pain. He looked around. There wasn't much to see, just as Arashi had noted much earlier. Just as his dragon had, he noticed two forms huddled on the sand not far from them and the smoking ruins of the ship off in the distance. Lovely. He rose stiffly from the ground and hobbled over to the two bodies. Violet hair immediately identified one as Artemis. The other was probably Bridget. Or was it Heather? Artemis had seemed unable to stick with one name for very long. Other than a lack of consciousness, they seemed to be all right. He wondered if he should shake them awake. Or would they respond to a verbal call? “Artemis? Bridget?” He nudged Bridget gently with his foot. “Are you two alive or shall I prepare to cast your bodies into the waves, your grave to be within the depths of the ocean?” he asked sardonically.

[Kite]

*The only thing left to do was abandon ship.

Clarus hears the order as it is given and doesn't give it a second thought. Second thoughts were for those who were awarded honors posthumously, and he did not feel the need to achieve anything posthumously. He takes a deep breath and dives off of the side of the ship, his body slipping into the cold blackness of the sea water.

Clarus makes it to shore in a small amount of time, pulling his sopping, frozen body out of the sea and shaking the water off himself before standing and looking around. The sun is just starting to rise, its light tinting the clouds and the night sky with pinks and oranges. He also sees the broken and burnt ship that was once the Enterprise, and resolves himself to at least be momentarily stuck on the island that they all now inhabited for the time being. Ramsey yells something about pirates and then asks about whom is awake and Clarus raises his hands slightly, speaking out as he does.*

I am alive.

*He dras he feet slightly as he moves about common are that we decided to arrive on and move slowly, hearing converstations from the history of he island to questions on whether Aretmis will awaken. None of it truly phases him, however, until Myaja spits and then declares that she is going to go explore, and Clarus brings himself to his full height as he speaks out to her.*

I will come too, if you do not mind General.

[Tris]

When Ramsey made no response Valsta gritted her teeth together and planted her feet, assuming that if she did anything wrong Nemo would tell her. After a few minutes of holding the wheel or trying to, she was exhausted, her shoulders and arms felt like they were being ripped off, now she couldn’t care less what happened to the ship and was just about to let go when the Kolbjorn women came up behind her and grabbed the wheel, with her there it was a little easier but Valsta was sure the wood would crack with how much pressure they were putting on it. Another few minutes past and then Yuan came to help them as well but just as she grabbed it the undertow caught the ship and the three where thrown off their feet, and for the second time that night Valsta found herself on her back staring up at the dark heavens. She sat up, her head felt far heavier then normal and her whole body ached, she looked at the helm as it turned faster and faster with no one there to hinder it.

“ABANDON SHIIIP!” was Nemo’s frantic scream a second later, Valsta got up and ran to the side of the boat with the others, she took a deep breath and jumped in to the icy water below. There wasn’t a lot of need to swim to get to the shore, the waves did most of the work, all she had to do was keep herself above water. When on shore Valsta just lay on the sand breathing hard, she didn’t know how long she lay there when she finally got up, her knees buckled beneath her but she managed to stay up,she looked around, the parts of the island that she could see was pretty with a few hills beyond the beach that were littered with trees and spring flowers, further down the beach she could see the rider Niko and his dragon talking to Artemis and Bridget, beyond them she saw Myaja and a few others leave the shore. But before could see more the world spun and went black.


Thoughts: Mind numbing boring XD

[Emma]

It was intriguing how familiar things could become unsettling, given the right circumstances.

Elven soldiers did not take fright easily, and I was proud to attribute the same ideal to myself. But I could nonetheless feel a veil of unease around the little town of Parlim, despite it being a perfectly pleasant setting. White buildings on chalky cliffs, still veiled in the last remnants of morning mist, would normally cheer the landscape. Though the town was now overgrown with untended foliage, it was anything but reclaimed by nature, and I could still see painted signs over stores, open windows, and garments hanging on clotheslines. There wasn’t even broken glass, crumbling buildings, anything to suggest erosion from the countless amounts of storms that had rocked this area or treasure-seeking plunderers looting the town. Outwardly, there was nothing wrong with this quiet seaside village- except, of course, that it was completely empty. Places that were normally supposed to be full of people were very eerie when devoid of them.

I hadn’t been expecting bodies, but I didn’t even see any signs of the likely enormous mass burial site for the villagers that the Riders must have erected once they had discovered what had happened. Indeed, utensils had been left lying about as if dropped and forgotten by the peasants in a great hurry. I was curious as to their reasons. Humans had only one instinct that surpassed all others- and that was to survive. I couldn’t begin to imagine what had possessed them, even their children, to take their own lives so readily. Yuan knew nothing of the matter- apparently the Riders didn’t like to speak of it, and I figured they wouldn’t share information like that with a mere Ward like her. However, I was more focussed on the situation at hand.

We were trapped on an island with no feasible means of leaving, and had been betrayed. I hadn’t expected much more from a pack of humans, especially their clever ploy to not slit our throats as we slept and instead send the ship on a doubtlessly marked path to our watery graves. The one thing they hadn’t been expecting was Ramsey’s sailing expertise. However, I felt the need to be wary. Ikehr hadn’t been paying attention to where the rowboat from where he’d most disgustingly possessed a body had been headed. Were the pirates going home to Aroughs after a successful mission, or would they forge onward to here, where the Chalice supposedly lay? I would bet on the latter possibility. Saethe hadn’t brought such thugs along for nothing- which meant that there might be other dangers here that we would have to keep an eye out for.

I hadn’t waited for anyone to follow along, but I knew that several others had joined me in my exploration- two being Yuan and the Shade, both within my line of sight among the orchards and fern-fronded ground. We hadn’t entered the town itself, standing on its outskirts under a liana-webbed palm tree. I had found a mango that I now bit into- and was disappointed to find that the normally sweet fruit was excruciatingly salty. But our food supplies from the ship were destroyed, so I wouldn’t complain. I stepped onto the now barely-visible dirt path of the town and walked carefully down it. I was dizzy from sustaining a hit to the head, and didn’t want to rush myself. The feeling of unease became a cold clamminess as I made my way to the main square. Maybe it wasn’t just what had happened here, but my own abhorrence of small human towns. But before I got near, I saw something that made me come to a sharp halt.

Lain up against what might have once served as a meeting place was a body. It belonged to a man, his shirt soaked in blood, and his head was missing. From the stink, it wasn’t recent enough for one of the pirates or one of our group to have done it, but that wasn’t what arrested my attention. Above where the person had used to have a head, and very stark against the blanched wall, was “VENGEANCE” written messily in now-dried blood. Beside me, I heard the others stop as their gazes followed mine. Frowning, I turned towards them.

“Prepare yourselves for combat and let’s get back. The others will want to know about this.”

---

“Whaddaya mean, ‘We don’t have any viable means of transporting you at this time?’ DO YOU FECKERS NOT KNOW JUST WHO THE BLOODY HELL I AM?!”
Almalexia balked and snarled, leaning forward to snap at me. Even though there was no possible way she could touch me, Anurin held her snout back with one arm. He took a moment to cool her down as the black dragon whipped her tail and hissed vehemently.
“You should know better, Nemo. We weren’t expecting this.” Anurin folded his arms, which I noted were bandaged up. “And you’ve made quite a mess of things, if I understand the situation correctly. Almost abandoning your company for Ikehr, not even thinking to place any magical wards…” he raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed you’ve all survived.”
‘Under such shabby leadership skills, no less!’ spat Almalexia.
I tensed up, but didn’t have a retort. Instead I sat back on my rock, glaring at them.
Anurin sighed. “None of you are critically injured, and we have enough on our hands with the Urgals at our doorstep. We’ll send along a dragon, certainly, but it won’t be for several days’ time. Time you can use effectively to discover if this Chalice actually exists.”
“And Ikehr?” I said hotly. “We don’t got the bloody manpower to heal his wounds!”
“I can tolerate this pathetic mortal body for several days if need be,” said Ikehr, which made me jump- I wasn’t used to hearing his voice outside of my head. “My only concern is the utter weakling that I have been reduced to. One touch… and I will explode in a fountain of gore.” He visibly shuddered.
Something approaching genuine sympathy flashed in Almalexia’s eyes. Being the daughter of not one but two wild dragons, she viewed mortals with as much, if not even more contempt than Ikehr did. My dragon being trapped in such a body was terrible enough to elicit an actual emotional response out of her. ‘It won’t be for long, little one.’
“You have your orders, Nemo,” said Anurin breezily. “You’re to guard your fellows with your life- especially Tasia and Niko. Keep Yuan and Doubleblade close.”
‘You escaped this attack too easily,’ came Almalexia’s hiss. ‘It’s likely one of the others- one of the humans, no doubt- are working against you.’
“Naturally,” quipped Ikehr.

The Grandmasters’ images became blurry, and then both of them grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared, leaving only the clear tide pool I’d used to contact them, and the tiny octopi and corals inhabiting its bottom. I supported my weight against Ikehr, again noting how odd it felt with him as a humanoid. He ignored me, peering across the ocean with his reptilian eyes. I took a double take of how strange he looked- blue hair, blue eyes and even his skin, though it appeared white at first glance, was actually a very pale shade of, again, blue. Some shallow part of me was still trying to decide if he was good-looking or not. That sickly pallor, blank, inhuman gaze and the big purple bags under his eyes made the choice somewhat one-sided, and I realized that I didn’t actually care. He was still Ikehr, simply no longer economy-size.

“As usual,” came Kolbjorn’s voice, “those incompetents were no help.”
I turned my head, seeing her ram a metal-sheathed sabre against the rocks. It clanged against them. For a moment, I wondered how she’d gotten it, but then remembered the men Ikehr had killed.
“Ah, yes, the insane woman-general,” said Ikehr. “It wants something?”
She ignored his remark. “Come with me to the town square.”
“Why? You’re a bloody prisoner,” I snapped back. “Your leadership skills got nothing to do with-”
“Unless you want your superiors to execute you, little orange runt, you’ll do as I say.” She waited patiently while Ikehr restrained my arms and legs, preventing me from giving her a proper throttling. “We’re not alone.” She raised her head to bark more orders. “All of you, haul your asses over here right now! Anyone that gets separated gets dead. Is that clear? And Ramsey, wipe that mess off your face.”

Upon raising a hand to my forehead, I felt sticky wetness there. I pulled it back, watching blood run between my fingers like ink. Ikehr had scratched me with his talons during our tussle. As the thought crossed my mind, Ikehr himself rose to his feet, taking me with him.

“So you’re listening to it?”
“I find its nerve entertaining. Always it is the arrogant ones that are crushed and mutilated first, or at least the most horrifically.”
Ikehr’s casual talk of death and gore had always gone past my head, but hearing it now after seeing what he’d done to the sailors jarred me. “Ikehr, you don’t feel… remorse?”
He cocked his head at me. “They attempted to murder us. Did they not deserve it?”
“You really feel… just… bugger all?”
“I made them go squish and spill warm liquids everywhere. Incredulous, how much fluid mortals contain in their bodies.”

There was no point in pressing the matter. Still, as we left the beach and began to forge our way through the vegetation, it nagged at my mind. The Riders had declared at Ikehr’s hatching that he was not in ‘good mental health’- an understatement. All dragons were arrogant and looked down their noses at ‘lesser beings’. It was a racial trait. But Ikehr’s total disregard for life and lack of empathy was more than a small matter of concern in Ilirea- and a very private one. Most people were convinced that there was a softie of sorts hidden inside Ikehr that he chose to never reveal, rather than the truth of his being arguably psychopathic. He’d undergone treatment, I always kept an eye on him, and frankly, the matter came up so rarely that I normally brushed it off. But now it added to my confusion and unhappiness- especially when Ikehr rendered me utterly dumbfounded when he suddenly turned around and carefully wiped my face with his sleeve.

“So, what do the great Riders make of this?”

It was the General speaking again. I stopped and looked. The word “VENGEANCE” was what arrested my attention first, and then the body. It only added to my distress over Ikehr. I turned around to face the others, all with expressions of disgust, and not just at the stink of decay from the corpse. Only Yuan, who was currently supporting Valsta, had a glacial expression on her face that matched Kolbjorn’s.

“Truly, it leaves one to wonder,” said Ikehr sarcastically. “What shall you mortals do now?”

Characters Used;; Myaja Kolbjorn and Nemo Ramsey with Ikehr and Wengsi Yuan
Words;; 1840
Muse;; Okay at first but steadily went to hell in a handbasket.
Thoughts;; REALLY... not happy... with this. The entire post seems totally pointless AND it's a week late, which I have no excuse for. I'm sorry, guys. =(

[dantieduurden]

Bridget was the first to awaken. When she woke she heard the elf named Niko talking to her in a sadistic voice. As she found her voice she spoke up, though still not strong enough to move, " Why are you so mean to us? We have done nothing wrong. You say we are not friend to her brother, and you are a rider. Then you know there are two sides to every story." Slowly Bridget tried pushing herself up, but found that her legs were to weak to support her, so instead she went over to Artemis and whispered into her ear. " Wake Artemis,we are here." But nothing happened. Bridget began to panic and then remembered how close they were to the water, what if she had swallowed some of the water. Making a quick decision she began blowing air into Artemis's moth and pumping against her chest cavity trying to breath for her. After a few minutes of this she was rewarded with hearing Artemis taking in a deep breath and spitting water out everywhere. " Its good to see you alive my sweet." Bridget said smiling down at Artemis as she held her head up.

" It's good to be alive Bridget. Thank you." Artemis said when her breath finally came back to her. " What is the situation..." Just then she noticed Niko and his dragon standing very close to them and right away got defensive of Bridget. " They did not try to hurt you did they Bridget?" Artemis asked her concern in her voice, but Bridget only shock her head no. She did not want Artemis getting into a fight so weak.

Artemis relaxed as she heard Bridget tell her that Niko and his dragon did not try to harm them and so let her strength regain while she looked around. From where she sat she could see Niko and his dragon clearly. Off in the distance she could just see the faint outline of what appeared to Myaja. But due to her lack of strength, and the great distance she was not sure. Next she saw Clarus, figured the shade would make it out alive.

As both Artemis and Bridget got their strength back they saw that it was Nemo and Yuan over their, as well as some odd looking creature which neither of them had ever seen before. All they knew was that it held much power in it, and thus was something to be wary of. " Shall we find some of the others? " Artemis asked Niko and his dragon already knowing Bridget was on the same track mind as she was at this point.

[Amur]

Solomon had stayed behind as a small group had left to go and explore, as a survivalist his better judgement had deemed the best course of action to be wait for other survivors to find their way to the current congregation. As an avid hunter his pride burned to be out ahead of the rest of the group scouting new territory in his usual solitude, however, in this situation his survivalist instincts had gotten the better of his hunter’s pride and now he sat in silence on some kind of rock formation performing simple tricks with Wyvernkiller as the female rider attempted to contact someone.

He was content for the time being to sit in silence and focus only on the blade of knife he span in his palm and then around his finger using the steel ring on the side of the pommel before returning it to his palm to spin again. The blade of this particular knife was plain steel that had been stained by the blood of the wyvern that Solomon had killed; the differing shades of red clashing and giving the splotchy colouring an almost entrancing effect. From the lighter blood found in the wyverns gums to the slightly darker blood found in the flight membranes of its wings to the almost black looking blood found elsewhere. The differing shades of red even melding together in places almost making the staining look like an intentional design quirk, he smiled somewhat absently, only he knew the truth.

Solomon held his ground as the wyvern charged him, robbed of its flight this would be the final charge for one of them and in his current state Solomon began to fear that his time was limited. The evil grin was parting as the beast rapidly drew closer.

Solomon inhaled sharply as he was jolted back to the present by the sound of shouting, somewhat thankful for the interruption. Every time he had this flashback he felt as though the fear it forced him to feel took longer to fade each time.

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”
He told himself mentally, the voice of his mentor overlapping his thoughts adding further emphasis to them. For the most part he had ignored what was being said between the riders. What was said between them was their business and for the most part he had difficulty taking any of them seriously which would probably only lead to him mocking them. And an entire order to pissed off dragons was not really an adversary he had any desire to face. Well, at least not yet anyway.

“Are you always this loud?”
He asked out loud, this time not intending to mock. He shook his head lightly, running his hand through his hair. He was not used to this, solitude was the norm for Solomon; there were far too many people here for his liking and he was beginning to tire of them all. But, as always he kept his calm self intact and merely smiled moments later.

“I’m not sure if you’ve been through situations like that too many times, but even I have to admit. I’m... Interested to see what we’ll find here, or does intrigue simply not exist these days?”
He continued calmly getting to his feet, still spinning his knife from his palm, to his finger and then back to his palm again. Of course he was only telling a half-truth, he was more interested in finding the rest of those commoners and hanging at least one of them with their own entrails. They were only lucky they hadn’t known exactly who and what Solomon was, for that would have only made things worse for them when the time came.

The brief silence to follow was broken by the female elf that had decided to explore a short while ago, returning with the few others that had followed her she immediately made a comment that Solomon forced himself to bite back laughter at.

“Incompetent? Perhaps there were just one hundred different stiff formalities and regulations they had to see to before they could add our situation to their clear list of growing ’worries’.”
Solomon sneered in response, since learning of their existence Solomon had seen the riders as a potentially awesome prey, but after seeing them in action he had been severely disappointed. He would probably still end up hunting one of them, more just to see if they were as powerful as the stories made them out to be. But from this point onwards he wasn’t going to hold his breath.

He listened and returned wyvernkiller to its sheath, he preferred to use his bow when he had it on hand given that it was the easiest to reach weapon he had on him at any given time.

“Prisoner? No use in keeping order where there is none.”
Solomon commented calmly, following the crowd as he spoke, at first he had intended to get some distance between himself and some of the others but he halted himself, confusion set in once more at the question from the rider of the lizard. Though it was not directed at Solomon personally, how one could not entertain the thought of revenge against someone whom had made an attempt on their life confused him.

“You mean you wouldn’t slash the throats of these would-be ‘assassins’ with a smile on your face for what they just tried to do to us?” He asked in confusion, and then shook his head. “Great, now I’m agreeing with the lizard... Leben muss aufgehort worden ne.”

He sighed. Falling silent again for a moment, that however, did not last long as he ended up laughing at the next remark the lizard made on the anatomy of ‘mortals’.

“So tell me lizard does it sting that you’re forced to walk in the feet of a ‘mortal’ in order to avoid dying to that mortal wound you received?”
He mocked, almost playfully this time around; his mood had been considerably lightened since the previous day, all due to the way he had spent his waking hours since landing. He knew such a feeling would be short lived and was ready to have his sour mood renewed at any given moment, but for the time being he was relatively happy.

He was somewhat jolted from his good mood by the words of the elf woman; the smell was the first thing that got him. He had been around death enough to know the smell so he didn’t even make a face at it. But when he saw the body he cocked an eyebrow, well, whoever or whatever was responsible for such a brutal act was clearly angry. However, that was common sense and Solomon had decided against pointing that out. Keeping his expression impassive he walked forward and knelt before the corpse, raising the hood of his wyvern skin coat as he fell to a single knee, casting his face in shadow.

“Well, the ‘greatness’ of the Riders is up for debate at this point.”
He said nonchalantly, examining the positioning of the body and the way the wound had been inflicted, while constantly flicking his gaze to the surrounding area to check for possible ambush points and hunting perches, if who or whatever responsible for this was still around disarming them of the element of surprise was a priority. And now with his hood raised and his eyes shielded from view he could look freely without having to worry about a potential sharp-eyed hunter catching on to him.

“Heh, you almost sound as though you care lizard. I hope you’re not going soft on us, I’d be disappointed if you dropped your charming personality over a single dead body.”
He mocked, twisting the sarcasm of the lizard’s words and using it to his own advantage as he continued examining the body and the surroundings, his eyes instantly drawn to the slightest flicker of movement. He had spotted several possible perches and ambush points but none of them showed any signs of usage, of course that never meant anything to Solomon. After all, he was skilled enough to achieve such an effect when he was using such points.

“Regardless, the beheading wasn’t clean, quite difficult to tell the cause because of that.” He said calmly, checking the ankles and wrists of the body he made a mental note of what he saw. “No signs of restraint, or any indication of a struggle. Either killed while he slept or caught off guard and unable to react.” He concluded.

“An amateur regardless of which answer is the correct one.”
He finished coolly, getting back to his feet soon after and began to dust himself off.

“If you want me to point out the obvious now, this is intended as a warning not as bait.”
He said suddenly, taking the time to make sure his ruse of brushing away the dust on his coat was convincing as he continued to scan the area. No new details revealed themselves to him, so he calmly walked to a point in which he could lean against something to feign nonchalance while he continued to scan the area.

“What is slightly disconcerting is that there haven’t been any scavengers, normally they would have had their way with a corpse long before it got to this stage.”
He pointed out calmly, adjusting his hood slightly to make sure that both it and the shadow it was casting covered his face entirely. Now his eyes were ever moving, never staying on one specific spot for more than a moment as he analysed the effectiveness of each potential ambush point and moved on to the next. This was the one major downside of abandoned settlements, the number of potential ambush points was often huge, a potential hunter needed very little skill to use a place like this to their advantage.

[Elloria]

(OOC: Except for Niko’s italicized speech, everything is in Common. And I hope you don’t mind what Arashi says at the end, Emmz. >.>)

“Yes and I am certain your master’s is a depressing tale indeed. One worthy of tears,” Niko quipped to Bridget in Common. He watched the servant move over to Artemis and attempt to resuscitate the unconscious elf. He made no move to help, though, choosing instead to flick his gaze to the distant group gathered by the ship. He recognized them all as part of the adventurers group. It seemed that nearly everyone had managed to survive, though he did not see Tasia. It worried him. His attention was pulled back to the pair before him when Artemis demanded to know if he or Arashi had harmed Bridget. He fairly bristled at the idea. “Just because I take issue with YOUR existence, Artemis, does not mean I would be so callous as to make your servant pay the price,” he said. Beside him, Arashi hissed at the pair. Niko was tempted to let the dragon have its way with the two, but decided it would be unwise at this point. He was supposed to have some sense of honor and be a level or ten above someone like Artemis. So with great effort, he calmed Arashi and stood silently by as Bridget and Artemis slowly regained their strength. Soon enough, the elf woman was suggesting they find the rest of their party. “I think that might be the most intelligent thing I’ve heard you say thus far,” Niko replied coolly before walking past the two and heading towards the group gathered near the ruined ship.

Arashi follows closely behind Niko as his Rider approaches the group of two-legs near the ship. He glances back occasionally to make sure Artemis and Bridget are following - more to ensure the Artemis-two-legs does not attempt to do anything stupid like attack. He has taken an instant disliking towards it, much like his Rider. But Niko does not wish to cause trouble, so he will keep his claws and fangs to himself. That does not mean his guard will be down, though. Not after last night. They arrive in time to hear the tall elf-two-legs called Myaja demand that Ramsey-ebrithil follow her to somewhere nearby. He dismisses the Myaja-two-legs from his thoughts as he opens his mind up to get a sense of the rest of the group. The Solomon-two-legs is making its usual quips and the Clarus-two-legs seems to be in as good of health as a Shade can get. He does not feel Tasia or Sunglow, which worries him slightly. More worrisome still, though, is the strange blue two-legs holding on to Ramsey-ebrithil. Its mind feels exactly like Ikehr-ebrithil's. He looks past the pair to see Ikehr-ebrithil's usual form lying on the beach. There is no movement or mental activity coming from it. Ikehr-ebrithil was in a two-legs form? What a horrifying prospect. The two-legs were so...weak. He is strongly attached to his own two-legged Rider, but he certainly never wanted to be a two-legs! He shudders as he brings his mind back behind its usual barriers. He can feel Niko's sympathy, but knows his Rider cannot truly understand what it might be like to be in such a position. There is nothing comparable.

Niko frowned slightly as he and Arashi followed the others through the vegetation. Aside from Arashi's horror at Ikehr's current state, he knew the town itself would be eerie. He remembered the franticness of his mentor Melatoth when news reached them of the fate of Parlim. It wasn't like humans to just decide to kill themselves. They were survivors, as Niko had learned from Mchumba. He did not relish the idea of entering the abandoned town and seeing what remained of the once-thriving townspeople.

Arashi jerks to a stop just outside the town square. The stench of death is strong here - stronger than it should be. Niko goes further in and sees the corpse. Arashi can feel his Rider's disgust and horror at the sight of it. Niko is not a killer. Most elf-two-legs are not or so Arashi gathers. Still, he can see the body through Niko's eyes and feels a twinge of unease. The kill is an older one, but - as the Solomon-two-legs soon points out - it is odd that nothing more has happened to it. There are plenty of predatory animals on the island. He can feel the pulse of them, the same hunter instinct as his own. There is little else in the near vicinity, unless there were two-legs that could mask their presence with magic. With great reluctance, Arashi moves into the square and settles down beside Niko. Now he sees the corpse for himself and still feels disgust. It is such a waste. But something smells...off about it. He broadcasts his thoughts in his soft, deep voice. I believe it has been tampered with in such a way as to make it seem undesirable. Its stench is...different.