OOC: Thank you for posting on such short notice. I appreciate it.
I wonder who this could’ve been. Perhaps they are still alive. I’m going to have to check later. Mako thought examining the boat.
Mako hesitated. Through the many ships Mako stowed away upon, he had seen glimpses of the Wolfords handiwork. Truly a sight to behold. If one of them is on this island…well, they could possibly fix this ship. And judging from their tools, that’s probably their profession. They probably walked off the boat and headed towards that way. But then, what with the giant imprint? A body? But then whom? Who? And where did they go?
“No lasting harm done.” Althain says with a small chuckle. “Hmm, you say you had to forage for your crew? I’ll tell you what, if you go that’a way, there’s an Orchard. Check with it’s owner, but in the name of the crown I’m sure he’ll donate some food to your cause.” As he spoke he raised his hand and pointed straight opposite of himself relative to Ari and Dolphus.
“It would be absolutely terrible of me to not have you return with your objective, whilst I know where it’s to be found.” He paused. “I could send a pair of my Marines, to ensure you get there safely of course.” He smiled at them, in this he was being genuinely truthful, he’d gotten enough information to satisfy the Admiral.
Most of the story was fabricated of course, once a man starts lying about his name he’ll lie about anything. However, the rare kernels of truth hidden inside, no doubt to make the lies believable, those were the prize here.
A short distance away, on another small island, a small figure lay on a beach. White gloves, now wet and dirty loosely gripped about a cane. Nico Markl was dying, but not dead yet, he was also unconscious. A shadow fell across his face.
A clicking voice called out to it’s fellow, “Found it, it’s a human. Near dead, what should we do?” The speaker was a young female Halinth, her red shell spotless and glistening in the sunlight.
Her fellow, a larger male Halinth grunted. “Take it to the Village, they won’t die if we can help it.”
Dolphus blinked once. Some part of his brain had managed to be pretentious enough to stay grounded in reality. But the amount of good that would do was evidently quite unreliable, as his cynical attitude could not focus his vision.
Thankfully, although it didn’t feel that way at the time, the fellow’s eyes were still too intolerable despite their intoxicating draw, and Dolphus was forced to avert his own. His heart seemed to beat against his ribs until it bruised, and his senses started flooding back in just in time to stop his hand from trying to sneak under his cape and smooth down his ruffled feathers.
Dolphus never turned to face the direction he was pointing, fixed only on his hand. It pointed, returned to his side, and did not move again, with his words slowly trailing back into Dolphus’ mind after having gone in one ear and straight out the other.
“…what-” He looked around slightly, as if the world suddenly became real again. “Yes, uh, we’ll be glad to-”
He froze, his eyes locking with the lightless ones which looked right through his soul. “-to do that. B-Best of luck to you, sir.” He raised in salutation for only just long enough before swiftly turning around, walking off in the direction the captain had pointed. His knees were starting to tremble.
He knows he knows he knows he knows he knows he knows he knows he knows
Ari silently listened to the captain’s speech and, when he was done, responded with nothing but a mocking grin on her face, not trying to hide any of the disdain she had for him, turned around and joined Dolphus who already started walking in the direction that the man pointed to.
He was so darn lucky that she is out of shape right now. If they ever meet again, he won’t be having that smug look on his face - she thought to herself.
But those eyes… she will be seeing them in her nightmares next time she falls asleep, that’s for sure. She would give away everything for that nap next to a campfire.
That complicates things, Althain thought. Luckily he always kept a few incompetent and more importantly expendable marines just for this eventuality. He called these two forward. They were garbed in the same fashion as their captain, although simpler.
“Accompany these two to the Orchard, then meet me on the ship. Ensure no harm comes to them, and most importantly that they not get lost.”
After they departed, and making sure Ari and Dolphus were out of earshot. He called the rest of his troops out, including the two Caelin he had in his company. “Back to the ship please.” He spoke to his mages. Barring the potential loss of his marines, the day had been an unqualified success. He’d had his doubts about this backwater posting, but Ghalwyn had been correct in the end. Which reminded him.
“I’ll also need to send a message to the Admiral. At your own time please.” When the portal opened he waited for the last of his Marines to step through before he went through himself. When the Caelin stepped through the portal closed behind them with a slight pop, leaving the small clearing empty and silent once more.
The two Marines jogged along behind Ari and Dolphus, their bows still in their hands. As they went along, one looked to the other. “Is it just me or do we always get the worst jobs?”
“Eh, can’t be worse than waiting on the ship for some other ship to pass.”
As they went along, the packed trees started to give way for a pleasant clearing of fruit trees. Lemons, Oranges, Apples, and other perfectly ripened fruits sat on uncountable fruit trees. About one kilometer away across the orchard sat a pleasant little cottage. The marines started to catch up as the beginning of the orchard started to become visible ahead.
It was a squat little building, stone construction, with timber framing around it’s windows. The only thing ruining the rustic image, was the stone dragon curled around the building. Head on one side, Tail on the other.
(OOC: are their faces exposed, just like the captain or do they have some kind of face protection?)
No harm, huh? What a joke!
Ari threw a quick glance at the pair of marines approaching her. It wasn’t hard to tell that these two didn’t hold themselves even with a fraction of the confidence of their leader. On the contrary, they looked like this was the last place they wanted to be.
These two were definitely not returning to their ship, that she knew for sure.
As Ari and Dolphus were leaving the clearing where they had been surrounded, followed by their newfound “guards”, she looked around her, examining the surroundings and hoping to catch a glimpse of the other archers hiding between the trees as she went by.
As Ari walked through the woods in compete silence, she tried to listen carefully to the footsteps of the marines.
They were quite behind and did not let go of their bows. Bad. Even if she bolted towards them at maximum speed, she could bet that she wouldn’t be able to get close enough before they loaded their bows. That’s what she hated about archers so much. They always kept their distance, not giving her any opportunities to attack.
So she could only keep walking towards the mysterious Orchard, getting more and more visibly frustrated each passing minute.
They are leading us straight into a trap, aren’t they?
The group has been walking through the dense woods for quite a while, until Ari started noticing that the gaps between trees became bigger, letting in more light, undergrowth became more rare, it got windier. They were getting out of the forest.
As if confirming her thoughts, a big clearing between the trees came into view about 300 meters away, revealing a big luscious garden consisting of well-kept fruit trees. And beyond it, Ari could barely make out the silhouette of a small house. It was a surprisingly peaceful, pleasant sight and Ari couldn’t help but think just how long ago was the last time she ate.
As they approached the property, reaching the exit of the forest, Ari suddenly heard the footsteps behind her back get louder. Much to Ari’s delight, they were getting closer, closing the distance between them rapidly.
The thing about bows is that they become completely useless once you get close enough. You can’t load an arrow and aim reliably when the opponent is right in front of you, and these imbeciles just did it to themselves.
It was either now or never.
Ari moved her hand, attracting Dolphus’s attention, looked straight into his eyes, gestured towards the two marines with a slight movement of her head and gave Dolphus a huge grin, with a meaningful look in her eyes.
If he had the opportunity to take a good close look at the coast, he might know which island they were on, and that could have completed his act. But, unfortunately, SOMEONE had whisked him away before any of that could be determined, and he was now being ushered to some unknown destination, to receive an unknown fate.
Unknown. Yeah right.
He knows.
Dolphus’ depressed hyperfixation on the revelation of the ages was overpowered by the natural beauty of the orchard. His stomach twisted and knotted, caught between being so hungry all of a sudden and the horrible, gut-wrenching feeling of what that little cottage represented.
It wasn’t a home with a peculiar stone decoration. It was a chopping block.
I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to d-
Dolphus’ head slowly turned, his grieving eyes having fully visualized the burial at sea, the partially upset Pyotr back at home, the opportunities with Alexis lost forever, the rest of the ship’s crew dancing merrily at the revelation that the stupid kid was finally gone, and other associated topics and events which continued to get much worse and much more unrealistic, to finally settle on Ari’s eyes. Maybe she had a plan for how to get away from the two guar-
Her eyes were wide and glowing, and her sharp teeth were set in the widest and most devious grin imaginable. Dolphus narrowed almost his entire face in confusion, before his eyes impossibly widened with the realization of what was about to occur.
The marines were close to being right alongside them. Dolphus swallowed - hard - as his fingers touched the handle of his delicate blade, fully aware that it would take all of the Armada’s forces to convince Ari to change her course. These men were going to die.
Ari saw the change in the boy’s face and the movement of his hand towards the handle of his laughable sword, signifying that he understood the hint and somehow the grin on her face became even wider than before.
Let’s do this.
Not wasting a single moment, Ari turned around sharply and immediately bolted towards the closest marine with the same wicked grin on her face, momentarily closing the distance between them and, transferring the energy from this motion, gathering all of her might, swung her right arm, the nail from earlier jammed in her fist in between her middle and ring fingers, long sharp end facing forward, towards the bottom of the man’s jaw, in a devastating uppercut motion.
Finally, for the first time since she took to the sea, she had a chance to do one of the two things she knew how to do best.
The Marines eyes widen in shock. He barely had time to whimper “Mercy” before Ari’s blow slammed home. His body slumped down on her fist. Hanging limply from her hand.
The other Marine gasps as his comrade is attacked. He grabs the dagger on his belt, in the same motion as pulling it out, he takes a furious swipe at Dolphus. He then took off at a full sprint, heart pounding furiously, hoping he’d managed to at least cripple one of his pursuers.
The Stone Dragon lifted it’s head at the commotion, faintly interested in the fight. The rock like scales that made up it’s armour ground against the detris that had gathered between them in it’s long nap.
OOC: This isn’t immediately after Mako’s comment, just needed a quote here so I could tell where Ari’s ship is.
Karl glanced from the obviously preoccupied Alexis to where the remains of what may have been a vessel lay in the shallows. A ship of some kind already here? Or a bunch of scraps washed up from the storm? Where are we, anyway?
“Say, does anyone know where we are? We don’t happen to have that figured out yet, do we, Captain?”
He rubbed his head, wishing he had something to get rid of the lingering pain in his skull, and that he could have at least found some food for a belated breakfast…
Dolphus clicked the blade from its sheath and drew it halfway, but the sudden and horrific recoil of the Marine’s body against Ari’s fist froze him in place. He died. He’s dead. No mercy. Instantly. Remorselessly.
His skin grew cold as his eyes followed a drop of crimson roll down Ari’s forearm and drop off her elbow. He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s gone. You’re gone. You’re going to die. You’re going to die. You’re going to die. You’re going to die. You’re going to die.
His hand gripped the handle of his sword so tightly his knuckles felt like they would burst. You’re going to die You’re going to die You’re going to die You’re going to die You’re going to die You’re going to die You’re going to die
No no no no no No no No no no NO no No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Reflex overrode every other emotion. The knife coming at him was the only thing in the whole world, and nothing else mattered. His wing tensed, reeling back before suddenly snapping forward at blinding speed, the power to shatter bone behind the strike as it blasted past the cape which concealed it…
…And directly over the arm of his opponent, completely avoiding all contact, save perhaps a couple of feathers hitting his helmet. The blade of the knife stung as it cut through his shirt, ripping easily through the thin amount of now-exposed flesh on his side thanks to moving his wing and bouncing off one of his ribs. The wound was mostly superficial, but Dolphus wouldn’t have believed that for a moment, as all the color shot from his entire body and he gasped in horror.
As his attacker departed, Dolphus collapsed, barely keeping himself supported with his wing as his hand felt furiously about the wound. Shakily unbuttoning his vest, he could feel his undershirt growing moist. Surely this was a fatal wound unlike anything else.
Or, if it was not, the resulting shock caused slightly by the injury and mostly by his intense hyperfixation on his own mortality being threatened by it maybe had a slight chance of taking him out.
Dolphus heard the dragon rise, but as the whole world was shaking violently in his eyes, he could not bring himself to look at its origin.
Arriving at the ship, Mako climbed up onto the deck, approaching Mariner.(@Winterstorm345 ) “Sir, i searched the wreck and found these.” He held the toolbox up. “It seems we were not the only ones who washed up.” He said, before hesitating.“Also, sir. Before we were attacked…”
She let go of the nail, sending the man’s lifeless body plummeting to the ground and turned around just in time to witness the other marine pull out a knife, take a swing at the boy and…
Ari froze in place as she watched an enormous grey wing unfold from under the boy’s cape and snap towards the guard’s head with such impressive speed and force that her brain could barely process it. Enamoured by the sight, she stared at the wing, unable to look away.
Moments later, she snapped out of it when she saw the kid waver and almost collapse to the ground and the marine cowardly go running towards the woods. Her surprise turned to burning rage.
This coward was not getting away.
She took a wide stance, right foot in front, hastily unclipped her metal bat from her belt, tightly wrapping her fingers around the handle, and swung it around, winding it up behind her head as far as she could, her back arched behind and shoulder twisted around. All her muscles tensed to their limit, her entire body focused on one motion. Her arm and torso snapped forward, her centre of mass shifting forth, her fingers letting go of the handle and sending the heavy iron bar hurtling toward the man’s legs.
Immediately Ari used the forward motion created by the throw to come charging after the marine.
Mariner took the toolbox from Mako and looked it over. He stared at it so entranced he almost missed Mako’s question. Wohlford &Co, the company that had made his favourite ship, and the very one Tharwyn had been apprenticed under when he’d first met him. It brought back memories of a better time, a simpler time.
Tired of his tendency to sink whatever ship he happened to captain. The Queen had ordered he procure and pay for his own ship. So he’d sought out the finest shipbuilder he could find. The company was ran at the time by a man called Halfshell, Mariner couldn’t remember his actual name, but the two had become fast friends.
His friend had named the ship The Halfshell’s Hope. Which was short for “The Halfshell’s hope that Mariner can keep a vessel afloat.” Mariner had always raged at him that he would change the name the second the man finally dropped dead. He never did of course, he was never going to, privately he liked the name. It reminded him of his friend. Had the ship not sunk at the battle of Emberhold it would still be named that to this day. Still that ship had lasted over twenty five years
Mariner never found out exactly what happened to the company, but he was glad the Halfshell wasn’t alive to see it’s end.
Mariner said something very low and quiet what Mako was able to catch was “Sea God…Long time…Dead” he then turned away from the conversation, and stared down towards the sea, looking to see if he could spot any of the ship’s missing supplies. Mariner wasn’t fully paying attention however, he was thinking about his friends, and how they were all dead now. Dead, or they hated him.
The marine cries out as the bar hits him, sending him to the ground. “Why are you doing this? What did we do to you?”
He tries to rise, but is unable before Ari is upon him.
Alexis stood still facing towards the beach, watching the boat with interest, there was movement over there, but she stopped paying attention when she received the news.
“What…” she tried to restrain it, contain her rage at the caelin, after all it wasn’t certain he was at fault for the loss, but even so her magic betrayed her. smoke billowed off in wisps from her hands as she turned around and stormed over to Tharos. “Who was watching him?” She spat out. “And at least tell me the other kid is safe or so help me gods.”
Tharos could only shrug. “I just saw him go overboard, I was busy trying to hold the ship together through that storm. I tried to pull him back but I wasn’t able to for some reason. He will be missed.” Tharos stared deep into the flames at his feet. “As for the other, I don’t know, last I saw he was below deck.”
Tharos felt like crying again. He blamed himself for the wreck, he should have been able to hold back the storm. Why couldn’t he? Was that storm especially powerful? Or was he just… Weak?
“Who is dead, sir?” Mako asked, patient yet cautious.
He made no motion to move towards the Halinth.
“Mariner, is there something wrong?” @Winterstorm345
Ari slowed down next to the fallen marine, descended onto one knee and gently put her hand on his back, completely pinning him to the ground.
Hearing his words, Ari scratched her head with the other arm: “To me? Nothing personal…” she paused to think for a moment, “but the boy sure did look like he had a lot of questions to ask when you surrounded us… And you my friend might just be able to answer them.”
She grabbed the horrified marine by the back of his collar, raised him up a little and smashed him into the ground to ensure that he won’t resist. She proceeded to raise his torso up again and dragged him towards the tree that was closest to Dolphus. She harshly set him down facing the forest, his back against the tree, took off the long thick chain that wrapped around her waist, and used it to tie the man to the trunk.
Ari looked over her shoulder and her sight fell onto the lifeless body of the other marine. The one she murdered just before.
She turned her head back towards the man: “Ah, right, sorry for your friend. I probably shouldn’t have done it…” Despite the poor wording, a glimpse of genuine regret could be seen on her face.
“Have a little rest now!” Ari exclaimed as she raised her fist and punched him right in the temple, holding back her power, but just strong enough to knock the marine out for a little while. They’ll come back to him later once she takes care of the boy.
Ari went around the tree, now facing the distraught Dolphus, and slowly set down on the ground, her back against the same trunk that the marine was tied to.
how tired she was…
The adrenaline finally completely ran dry, she felt her exhausted muscles relax and the reality of the situation started to set in. She has had to kill before to defend herself. It was always either her or them. But was this one necessary? She looked over at the dead marine once again. What did he do to deserve this?
Ari shook her head, trying to get these thoughts out of her head. They were too heavy. She didn’t like having heavy thoughts.
She switched her focus to Dolphus. Right, it’s better to move her attention to him right now.
“Did he get you?”
She attempted to look at his face, but failed miserably. There was something else relentlessly grabbing her attention.
Ari stared at Dolphus’s wing with amazement and child-like wonder unapologetically showing on her face.
Dolphus’ muscles were taking turns contracting and releasing aggressively, in whatever parts of his body happened to be dealing with the brunt of the suffering at the moment. Surely this was a fatal wound; surely he was going to die any second now, surely he…
…Very slowly, reason was conquering his other thoughts. But very slowly. He was so convinced that this was the end for him, that somehow his heart had been sliced clean open even though that didn’t make any sense, that the blatant and obvious facts of the world slowly coalescing back into a consistent form and the blood seeping out not nearly quickly enough to constitute a mortal injury taking quite a bit of time to get past all the panic and symptoms of physical shock he was suffering from.
He needed something to cut through the noise and emotion, to get to his actual brain instead of the reactionary static overwhelming him at every turn. Something like…
Well, like that.
Or more accurately, what happened right after that, as Dolphus fought his repeatedly constricting neck muscles in order to look up at Ari, who was eyeing him with all the whimsy and wonder of a child watching the stars at night now don’t you get started on that again, this is not the time or place for that melancholy. See, it was already doing wonders.
Dolphus pulled himself slightly up with his wing, only for his stomach to suddenly contract at the added pain and force him right back where he was, almost completely flat on the ground, save for his wing acting as an elbow. “He- I don’t-”
WING.
The feathers all jolted along with the rest of his body. Dolphus tried to suck it towards his body purely as a reactionary measure, but he was simply leaning on it too much for it to do anything other than pull at his side again. The clarifying thought had cut through everything else; she could now see the wing.
And I missed with it as well. The guard saw it too.
Dolphus blinked as his head rotated back towards Ari, in stiff, shaky movements, his uncaring brow now contorted by the grief of this revelation. He couldn’t see it, but his eyes were starting to grow red again, easily visible on his pale, cold skin.
Wing. She can see the wing. The wing is out because I was being attacked. I got hurt. I’m bleeding. Blood is… On my hand…
Dolphus slowly pulled his hand away from the fresh wound to find… Less blood than he had expected. He gripped the soil to get as much of it off his hand as he could, but this action’s true purpose, which was to break eye contact with Ari, could only keep him looking down for so long. The return trip was even more awkward than the first glance towards her had been.
“I’m okay,” Dolphus tried to say, but in between the red around his eyes as liquid built up behind his lids, the cold sweat building on his forehead, and the scarlet-stained palm now facing the soil, it was clear that - regardless of how hurt he actually was - he evidently wasn’t doing okay.
ooc: I think this is the first post I’ve made in this topic without quoting someone at the start of it. That’s wack
