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Post by James Darkwater on Nov 8, 2012 21:13:34 GMT -5
Everyone was quiet. It was a fine day with a fine wind, as the Tidemother was sailing across the Anean sea. James Darkwater was holding the wheel, his eyes looking around the ship with a certain kind of sorrow. First it had been the storm. That old man in the pub had been right so far. Then, it would be the Kraken. James knew that the Kraken was already on his tail after blinding it and humiliating it. The worst though had to be the idea of having the Leviathan hunt the Kraken down and you caught in the middle.
He looked at his crew, as they were doing their chores, without speaking to each other. They knew about the Kraken as well. The Leviathan side of the story, James hoped that they would never learn about. Most of them were doomed men anyway. He certainly was doomed.
James looked at the sun rising on the horizon. At least, he wasn't going to die without someone knowing that he was in love with someone else but the sea. James had spent the other night with Hestia Black, and as he thought of it, he managed a half-smile.
"Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum." he mumbled, as his first mate started to sing as well. The crew caught on soon afterwards, and the ship was making its way through the calm sea under the sound of two hundred men singing.
"Fifteen men of the whole ship's list
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped all day down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. "
And then, suddenly, the wind changed. James looked to the east. The ripples of the water could be seen from far away, and James sighed. "It is here." he mumbled, as the first mate yelled. "KRAKEN!"
Every single man started to grab weapons and manned the ballistas. They were yelling and provoking it, ready to tempt their fates once more. James knew that there was no chance of survival this time. There was no one to distract the Kraken while they attacked, there was nowhere to hide.
He looked at the sun, and while the ship started to shake violently, he thought he saw Hestia's image reflecting on the waters of the sea, smiling at him. Why hadn't she taken the rose? Why? She wouldn't be here to save him this time.
"CAPTAIN!"
James turned his head to the west. His eyes widened as he saw the biggest wave he had ever seen making its way towards them. And on its head, the Leviathan. His eyes widened again, and then, out of nowhere, his lunatic smile made its appearance on his face.
"The... The... The..."
"Our distraction!" James yelled. "Air sorcerers! Now!" he said, as he raised his left hand too, the wind changing and propelling them forward, escaping the tentacles that were now visible above the surface of the sea.
"THE WAVE!!!"
"ANCHOR! BRACE YOURSELVES!" James yelled as the anchor reached the bottom of the sea, the wave hitting the ship with a terrible force, as James held on to dear life on the wheel. He couldn't breathe for a few seconds, as the ship tried to hold on to the depths. And then the air was back, and he could breathe again. Taking a deep breath, James turned around to look at the battle that was raging behind him. More waves, and suddenly the clouds above turned a black colour, as thunder rolled in the sky and the lightning hit the sea right in the middle of the battle.
"MAELSTORM! CAPTAIN, WE MUST GO!"
"No!" James yelled, his lunatic smile visible. "I haven't broken all my promises yet!" he said, as they raised the anchor and the ship turned around.
"Forward to the maelstorm!" he said, as he drew his cutlass sword. "Mouth and ballistas to the Kraken!" he yelled, as he gave the wheel to his first mate and jumped to the ropes. "I'm sorry, love." he said to no one in particular. "It's me the Kraken wants."
And with that, he jumped forward, grabbing a rope and jumping on top of the Kraken, slicing his way through, testing his fate.
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Post by Captain Hestia Black on Nov 9, 2012 17:44:50 GMT -5
The Sea Bitch approached with caution, a tense silence had settled on the crew. Blood on the water was not a good sign. Not when Hestia knew James had sailed a day before the wave hit. He stomach was tied in knots and her knuckles were white where she clung to the railings as if they were the only thing keeping her up. Emotion was void from her face though, she managed that much.
The surface of the water was littered with wreckage, chunks of wood torn from a ship. A body her and there made her stomach lurch, but the most terrifying thing that floated, blood oozing slowly from its ends, were three great tentacles. She could feel eyes on her back, her crew were looking for orders, preferably ones that put them as far from here as possible. She closed her eyes and prayed silently to the Sea Goddess that this was not what it seemed, before turning to face her crew.
“You all know what this is. I do not need to tell you.”
“Do you think he did it, cap’n? Do you think he killed the Kraken?”
Hestia rolled her eyes and made a noise of discontent. “Do you see a dead Kraken, Mr Brown?” she asked irritated. “No. The bloody idiot didn’t do it.” And Hestia swore to all the Gods she would beat James Darkwater for lying to her, she allowed this anger to fill her to drive her. Anger was easier than sorrow, than fear.
“Search the wreckage. Check the bodies, if there is anything useful there I want it.”
“But cap’n-” Someone began to protest but she increased the volume in her voice ignoring them.
“Shifters, in the water I want to know if the Tidemother survived this. We need all the ships we can in our next heist.”
“WHAT ABOUT THE KRAKEN?” Sara yelled at her. Something inside Hestia snapped and she crossed the deck and seized the woman around the throat, fire bruning in her hand. Sara screamed, as she tried to tear Hestia’s grip from her throat as the flames licked her face and hair. Normally a scream would have sufficed, but Hestia was more than angry. Her heart ached, her head pounded and she could not bear the thought that James could be dead.
This was the only way she could channel those emotions. So she watched, expressionless as Sara burned away at her hand. Only when the screaming stopped did she let go, letting the smouldering body drop to the floor. She looked at the remaining crew, none of whom had dared to move, even less dared to look her in the eye.
“Get a boat on that water.” she commanded quietly, a handful scurried off to obey. “YOU LOT!” she pointed at the shifters. “Get in that water. Now.”
“Aella, make sure they search deep, I want proof they’ve been to the sea bed. And keep an eye out for that bastard monster.” she told her first mate without looking at her before hopping into the boat that was being lowered to the waves. Another followed on the other side of the ship and they waited for it to join them before rowing out among the wreckage.
Hestia made sure they turned everybody that lay face down in the water, and for each one that wasn’t James, she counted her blessings and decided where she would place a bruise on him. Satisfied he wasn’t here she merely stood at the head of the boat scanning the water’s surface as the others hauled in the odd barrel of rum and netting.
“Only someone as crazy as Darkwater would try to kill the bloody Kraken.” Someone muttered behind her. “Horrible way to die...Though, I spose it makes for a good story.” someone chuckled in agreement. Hestia smiled darkly, knowing how much he would be enjoying this.
“You fucking bastard.” she whispered, glancing up at the sky before looking back at the waters surface. That was when she saw it, bobbing on the waves, as perfect as it had been when she had seen it in his cabin.
“Take it, it’s yours.”... “No, you can give it to me when we next meet at sea.”
Lurching forward she snatched the enchanted rose up from the water, staring at it twirling it slowly between her fingers. The colour had drained from her face and she was dangerously close to crying. She could feel the lump in her throat. Swallowing hard against it she looked at the eyes of the four women with her. “Get me back to my ship.”
They obeyed without question, and once aboard she grabbed the nearest crew mates arm barely controlling her emotions now, the rose clutched so tightly in her other hand the thorns had pierced her skin and blood was running down her fingers. “Tell Aella to make sure the sight is searched properly. I will be in my cabin. No one comes in but her.”
The few steps to the cabin passed her in a blur; she pushed the doors shut behind her and took two steps into the room before her emotions overcame her. Like a tidal wave, unstoppable, uncontrollable and with devastating effects if they were witnessed by the crew. The sobs racked her chest, adding to the pain already in her heart. She became aware of wood beneath her fingers, beneath her knees. She was on the floor, the rose still clutched in her bleeding hand but she could do nothing until the storm passed, so she knelt there, blood staining the wood beneath her hand.
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Post by James Darkwater on Nov 9, 2012 18:16:13 GMT -5
He woke up with a lot of pain. He could feel his back lying on top of something wooden, and as he opened his eyes, he saw the large black wooden mast of the Tidemother over him. He coughed and spit a few drops of sea water. He tried to turn around but a few men held his back on the deck.
"Don't move Captain"
"Let me go!" he ordered, but to no avail, as the men kept holding him down. His eyes fell on his cutlass sword a few inches away, piercing one of the big yellow eyes of the Kraken. He had finally done it. He had blinded the Kraken. He couldn't remember a thing, and his eyes widened as he felt an ounce of pain coming from his left hand.
"OUCH!"
"HOLD HIM!"
He tried moving his fingers. He couldn't feel them, he couldn't feel that he even had a hand anymore. He tried to move but the men kept holding his back on the deck. It was when he heard a clicking sound that they let him be.
"You scared us shitless, Cap'n."
He pushed himself up, as he raised both his hands. The right one was intact. The left one on the other hand... Well, there was no hand. Only a black mechanism with a hole in the middle. It was made from steel, he could tell that.
"What..."
"You need to lie down, Captain." said Gregory.
He tried to relax. He took a deep breath, and then it all came back to him.
He had cut through three tentacles. A tentacle grabbed his leg and tried to throw him away. Plunging the sword in the tentacle, James managed to hold on, as his lightning elementals attacked the mouth of the Kraken. He pulled out his sword and jumped, slashing another tentacle before reaching the eyes. He carved his way through and plunged the sword inside the eye, pulling it out. The Kraken started to dive in the depths, as the Leviathan attacked his head, James trying desperately to hold on, as another tentacle grabbed his left hand and tried to pull him with it. He knew what he had to do."
"I am the master of my fate, not the Kraken." he mumbled alone. There would be no sorrowful feelings for his lost hand. He had made his choice, and he was grateful. Grateful to be alive, grateful to have another chance at beating the Kraken.
He realised that they had thrown anchor wuite close to the battle site. He got up and made his way to the wheel, realising that his ship needed desperate repairs as soon as possible. "Gregory." he said, as the man approached him.
"Yes, Captain."
"How many dead?"
"Captain, I think you need to know-"
"How many?" he interjected, and looked at the man coldly.
"Thirty. Captain, your cabin. The tail of the Leviathan..."
"It doesn't matter." he said, as the men raised the anchor. He turned the wheel to the right. "We're going back. I want to see it for myself."
Gregory took one step forward. "Captain, we thought... I thought that you may like this."
James turned around and saw a silver hook in the hands of Gregory. "Darkwater's mark." he said, referring to the previous Captain. He took the hook and pushed it inside the mechanism, another clicking sound reaching his ears.
He could get used to this. At least he tried, as they sailed for a few minutes before reaching the Sea Bitch. He smirked and jumped on top of the mast, his good hand grabbing a rope and jumping towards the other ship, reaching the higher mast.
Pulling both of his "hands" besides his back, he yelled "Did you miss me?!" while smiling widely and mischieviously.
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Post by Captain Hestia Black on Nov 9, 2012 18:31:17 GMT -5
She slowly regained control of her tears and peeled herself off the cabin floor. She moved to a bowl and filled it with water splashing her face with one hand before she carefully opened the one clutching the rose, wincing at every thorn that tugged at her skin. Laying it one the side she washed the blood from her hand and set to inspecting the damage when the pattern of the waves lapping against the side of the ship changed.
A simple sound, but one she was very attuned to. She paused listening intently, for panicked shouts, but none came. Frowning, her eyes still red from where she had been crying she stepped outside her cabins door, a hand resting on her cutlass. His voice reached her ears, and for a moment she just stared at him, standing there, grinning. Grinning like nothing had ever happened, like he hadn’t just put her through hell and he wasn’t about to suffer for it.
Forgetting the alliance, forgetting that she was being watched by her crew a snarl rose from her and her hand shot out, propelling a fireball straight for him. She was going to kill him for this. She didn’t stop to see if the fire had hit, she ran to the side of the ship and began climbing the ropes and hauling herself up onto the mast on which he was standing. “You lying little shit bag, Darkwater. I’m going to make you hurt so much you’ll wish the Kraken did fucking kill you.” Drawing her cutlass she leapt at him.
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Post by James Darkwater on Nov 9, 2012 18:44:23 GMT -5
James looked as the eyes of the crew of the Sea Bitch started to widen upon looking at him. He raised an eyebrow and scratched his beard with his right hand. He was holding his mauled hand behind his back and close to the mast so that no one would see yet. "Why are you all acting so surprised?!" James questioned, as the crew started to laugh after a few moments of awkward silence. Making a formal bow with grace, he added "Did you all think that the Kraken would kill me?"
He laughed and bowed again. "I'm Captain James Darkwater, I can't be killed." As he bowed, a fireball flew right past him. He was certain that it would have hit him had he not bowed. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Hestia starting to climb the ropes. "Oi, why do you have to hate me?" he said, laughing. He was quite certain that she was coming over to kill him. But he had other plans, and as she made her way up to him, he tried to reach for his own sword.
There was no handle there. Raising an eyebrow, he watched as Gregory pulled the sword out of the eye on his deck. Bugger, he had forgotten to arm himself. She drew her cutlass sword and started to yell at him. Giving her an awkward smile, James took one step back. "Why are you so bent on destroying your own ship, love?" he said.
He brought his right hand behind his back, took one step backwards with his right foot and lowered himself in a proper duelling stance. With one swift movement, he met her blade with his silver hook, finally making it appear in front of all of them.
"It's only fair. You get my heart, Kraken gets my hand." he said, and gave her one of his lunatic smirks. "I thought you would be happy to see me again, Hestia." he added, and winked. He pushed his hook against her cutlass and turned his back to her. "And it's Captain. Captain Darkwater."
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Post by Captain Hestia Black on Nov 10, 2012 11:58:17 GMT -5
Hestia ignored his jest at her fireball. The sail were on fire but a casual glance at them and a flick of her wrist and the fire stopped. Fire would never destroy her ship while she still drew breath. The hook caught her short though, it leeched whatever fuelled her anger from her and she lowered her sword staring at it as he turned his back on her.
“Happy to see you?” she repeated sheathing her sword, grateful that they were so high up and this conversation would not be heard by the entire crew. “I’m ecstatic. Thrilled. Over the moon to know that I openly gave you my heart and you lied to me. And to think, the moment I saw your rose on the water, I felt like my world was coming apart.” her voice cracked at the end and she looked down swallowing a fresh wave of emotions, spotting the crew looking up at them.
“GET BACK TO WORK YOU NOSEY BASTARDS!” she screamed at them, they scrambled over each other to get out of her sight. She ran a hand over her face and stared at James for a moment before closing the gap between them and slapping him as hard as she could muster, again and again. “You stupid, pig ignorant, lying bastard. I. Thought. You. Were. Dead.” she snarled at him as she rained blows upon him wherever her hands could find a gap.
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Post by James Darkwater on Nov 10, 2012 18:59:03 GMT -5
He hated fire. He had always been a person that favoured water over fire, that much could be told easily. He was quite happy that Hestia had dismissed the flames, though he could have done it as well by taking the air necessary for them to continue burning. He was quite tired already, though, which was why he didn't push it. Nobody wanted to faint this up high, and especially when the crew of the Sea Bitch was watching.
James raised a finger to stop her. "Correction." he said, quite boldly. "I didn't lie, I merely hid certain parts of the truth from you." he added, and then smirked. "Like, the Leviathan. The fact that I didn't go against the Kraken, it went against me first." he said, and made a graceful gesture with his remaining hand. "I didn't know what you expected, really, did you think that I would stay in a port for the rest of my life trying to escape the Kraken? You don't know me at all!" He feigned being hurt and smirked again, his smirk becoming even wider when she mentioned the rose. "See, I told you I would give you the rose the next time we would meet at sea."
And then she started to slap him. James was certain that had he not just escaped the jaws of death he wouldn't have felt a thing, but his magic and the battle had taken a certain toll on his body and constitution that every slap she gave him hurt him really bad. Trying to protect himself and pulling his hands above his head, he said "Again. I. Didn't. Lie."
He couldn't stand it anymore. His right hand was clenched to a fist, drawing power from the air, and then he released it in order to push her away. "OI!" he yelled, and his expression turned to one of pure coldness. "I fought against the Kraken and the Leviathan in a maelstorm, my body hurts so bad I am about to collapse, I lost my hand, lost thirty men, I am about to pass out and you hit me?"
He sighed. "And I thought you loved me." he said, apparently joking, as his back hit the mast in order to support himself. "Much better..." He clicked his tongue and scratched his beard. "You know, for a moment out there I thought I was dead too. Funny little world, innit?"
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