Crossing the Rubeh-Con, Part One
Sep. 1st, 2015 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rubyrubyrubyCrossing The Rubeh-Con
Leaving the docks of Amber was merely a trifle. After waiting their turn to clear their berth, the Dipsy-Daisy soon able to unfurl its triangular sails and catch some wind. The larger vessels nearby did not pose a hinderance as the weather was favorable and willing to share wind-power. The caraval was certainly zippy as well. Ruby showed where one could store their things in cubbyhole or hold and allowed passengers to diplomatically determine who would get one or both of the dark and empty cabins with their strung-up hammocks. Not even wearing a tri-corn hat and looking clean and tightly dressed in clothes suitable for inclement weather, Ruby steered the vessel and shouted orders to the two hired hands that were helping with the rigging. It did not take long to enter Minosian waters, steering clear of the Rebma triangle. Winds have steadily increased, as have darker clouds and the odd squawl.
The wind howls around them and the spray of salt water adds a tangy taste to the air. Autumn is on the deck and dressed in wool pants and boots. Her torso bundled up in a wool coat that is favored by Pathi sailors. Today her tresses are covered with shawl of wool and her hands are covered with kid gloves. She breathes in deeply. The storm is raging but around her there is a pool of calm. "She is not happy that one, I think she is having her version of a tantrum. Then again she was shattered and brought back by another, the goddess is not pleased. From my understaning she has some issues."
The darkening skies, rising wind, and possibility of harsh weather were not enough to drive Cristof below. Instead, he remains on the deck, helping the crew when they needed an extra pair of hands, or simply leaning on the rail at the ship's bow to watch the rolling sea for signs of life. Occasional fish, porpoise, seal, or whale that would breach in the distance. Birds that wheel overhead or cross their path in flight. Like Autumn, he is wearing sturdy swollen pants and oiled boots with rough soles. His shirt is loose but not in the outlandish puffy styles that some nobles seem to favor. He wears a hat with a wide brim and a lanyard to secure it. Beneath his billowing cloak is a sword, and at his feet are a bow and a quiver full of arrows. He turns when Autumn murmurs something indistinct to his ears. "If you mean the sea, you might be right. We've sailed so far without difficulty. We must pay for that soon."
Ruby squints and keeps a hand on the wheel. Her attention falls to Autumn, with a bit of worry and anxiety for the other woman. It's an irrational kind of concern, as the Ambassador seems calm and is taking things in stride. There's a creak from the mast and rigging as winds mingle and twist about to be the source of fuel for the sails. The material is not stormsilk, just honest canvas. Ruby raises her voice over the wind, it able to carry well despite the weather. "We gotta speak on tha, Truth…Minoos gots troubles, aye. Most ootside 'o Minos don't 'ave yer insoights though!" With a sweep of the wheel, Ruby draws the ship towards a nearby island of Hacha and its northern satellite island. She's avoided Manzanil as trouble is not needed from the island of pirates. The craft is steered closer to the shore and Cristof's efforts to assist during the voyage have ensured a better voyage thus far. The DD groans, foam cascading beneath the prow while the ship is blown faster and closer to land, the waters becoming more boisterous. "Karma…aye! If we lucky she just wants tah play!" Ruby divides her concentration between that of directing the ship and seeking a canvas within her head. The two hired hands, Pete and Rickerson, descend the masts and rigging, shouting oaths of the moment to bolster their spirits.
The deck and sides of the ship darken as the foamy spray spills over the side. The waves seem to aim for the ship pounding against it. Tossing it like a cat with a toy mouse. Lightening flashes across the sky and Autumn respond by changing her stance as the ship dips moves closer to shore. "She is angry that is for certain, she is the Patron Goddess of that land. She loves those form Amber about as much as would love the sea to run dry." She explains to Cristof. Her voice seem to rise and fall with the wind and the dips of the ship. She catches her balance again. That pool of calm clings to her. "Ruby I am hoping you are right about the play and I really hope she has bigger fish to cook! How far are we from shore and are we going to dock or keep sailing?"
Cristof turns more fully to peer at the creaking mast as if judging it. He nods and then looks to Ruby. "The ship is sound. She has seen weather worse than this, if her scars tell truth." When Autumn starts to move and seems to stagger, he steps toward her, offering a hand while he glances toward the wheel again. "Do we have allies on that island?" he questions.
A lugubrious groan issues up from the bilge. The sound of water trying the pressure the hull into a different shape. The forces of nature uneasy by the way the craft is being sailed, and the slight changes being compelled upon it. Ruby leans to the side and eyes what she can see of the bobbing horizon, wishing the craft displaced a little more water like a frigate or galleon. The boat surges onwards and Ruby gives the wheel another adjustment before locking her arms and keeping the rudder fixed in position. "More I learn aboot Gods, tha less I understand. Truth. We not around long enough tah give 'er satisfaction or flick 'er teets." Ruby glances up to the sky, dreading the hint of a displeased face. Then she's closing her eyes, the corner of her mouth tugging in a palsy as she tries to carry the ship rather than steer it. She murmers to Cristof rather than yelling, though her voice stills cuts through the stormy situation, "No enemies at least. Storms love't though. Love't tah death. It'll do for us…" There's a subtle change in what the lightning and squalls allow to be seen beyond the railings. The lightning that threads forth from the clouds becomes sharper and better defined. And when they strike a wave, there's paper-shredding sound. A heavier atmosphere pressing down against those on the deck, as if another gravity had been added. The island of Hacha, perhaps a mile or so off, attracts a number of lightning bolts, and as they strike the highest points of the island, they reverberate like sound waves through water, flooding towards the ship.
The deck hands cross themselves or ward themselves with superstitious gestures when the Goddess is spoken of. Capable as they are, they try to find a slippery paradoxical position to both praise and curse the Minosian deity. Pete rolls down his sleeve to display a lightning bolt tattoo and slaps at it wetly when the sky flashes. He yells, "It's up to her! Rickers…stay away from the metal, lad. She's ever so fond 'o metal." "I know my business, mind your side, I'll trust my stormsilk to your bloody skinart you coward!" This is bantered back and forth in form of comradery.
A leather clad hand reaches for his as her mismatched eyes look up at the sky, "Oh she is angry, she wants revenge and she wants what all want. She wants to be loved." Autumn responds back. "I think she is more interested in others than she will be in us. We are but one fish in a vast ocean and not even an important fish." A wave sloshes over the deck railing. Autumn grips Cristof hand tighter as the deck drops beneath her feet and then finds her feet again. Her eyes are on the boiling sky. "Ruby, I am there with you, the more I know the less I realize that I truly know about the fabric of creation." Water licks at the soles of their boots. The booms ringing out have her taking a deep breath in. She looks to the mast nest. "What do you need me to do?" She asks both Ruby and Cristof. The goddess cracks her whip and sharp bolt of lighting travels across the sky.
Cristof's arm stiffens to steady Autumn as soon as her glove touches his hand. Like everyone else aboard the ship, he turns to gaze at the silver lightning. "We are a small fish, and we're here to return a treasure, unlike those pirates who take from those who entrust their lives and their fortunes to the sea," he comments. He looks to Autumn and suggests, "If you can convince the wind and waves to favor us, so that we sail to that island in one piece, that would be a great help."
"Don't get swept oof!" Ruby offers through gritted teeth. Rooting herself to the spot, her thighs flex, helping her keep her balance while the deck shifts underfoot.
The two deck-hands wipe away the spray that drips down their face and wrap a hanging rope around their wrists until the veins stand out on their forearms. Pete tugs the bandana off her face and stuffs it down the front of his shirt. "Carrie will kill me…kill me if I loose it…again…" he grins nervously. "She'll have none of my person, my possessions or my piss. I swear it!" He gets an answering grin from his deck mate. "Don't worry! I'll comfort her later when you go overboard!"
A lightning bolt, swollen with primal energy, connects the troubled sky with the deck of the ship. It's hard to follow, the speed at which it manifests. Thunder rides the lightning in another fabric tearing sound like reality was coming apart at the seams.
By freak chance, it seems to want to complete a conduit with Autumn, and Cristof in a lattice of nature and human beings. A banshee wail tries to crack crystal as the bolt arcs a few meters above Autumn and then veers suddenly, strangely and fortunately, to take out the nearby railing in a sudden explosion of blackened wood slivers that go off like a grenade into the turbulent waters. Burning embers and sparks blossom and are lost to the storm…and transmogrify into firefly-like insects that have no business out here. A few more bolts bracket the caravel, chopping into the water like giant daggers….literally carving shafts and wedges that refills with seawater. Ruby pipes up, "We're goo'n! 'Ang on!" The ship lurches hard and the storm begins to change colour. The nearby island rises. The sea fills with strands of lightning that once filled the skies, illuminating the depths in a vertigo-inducing vista of underwater shelves and chasms.
"I will see what I can do." Autumn responds to Cristof. She is about to responds to Ruby when the force of the lightening blast sends the waif like Ambassador to the deck. The embers hot and wild dance in the wind around her as if trying to find a place to land, wool coat smolders but does not catch. The sky opens up and the rain begins to pound down on the ship as the seas fills with the strands of lightening. The water is electrified. Autumn struggles to her feet and there panic in her eyes with the smell of wood smoke and smoldering wool. She is breathless from her fall; quickly she begins to gather power to her. She shouts out commands in arcana as she begins to push the water from the ship. Her eyes are bright, the wind whips around her, tugging and pushing at her. The lightening snakes and snaps and seeks out the water, island and not to mention what is left of the ship. The air is alive with energy, hair is standing on end. Autumn stands there defiantly weaving magic not to attack against the lady in question but to protect the ship. Her shawl that covered her head has fallen and her hair is now wet. Her magic is strong and makes the air tingle. The water coming into the ship is being pushed out.
The ship groans and spins when as the wind slams against it and the currents change suddenly. Heralding the lightening strikes and thunderous waves of sound from the thunder. The ship groans and creeks as another wave tosses it up into. The deck falls beneath her and she lands with a thud. She manages to hold on to the magic.
A rope unfurls wildly and slinging water from above, cutting through the rain and making a soft whirring sound until it's end comes near to hitting the deck. Feet semi-braced against the mast and ropcurled around his back under his arms nad held in both hands, Gaval slide-runs down the tall wooden beam to the deck. With a thud his boots meet the horrizontal surface and he stands taking in the madness from this point of view.
he's soaking wet , hair plasterd to his forehead and down his back. He's blinking it out of his eyes and against all sanity the madman is grinning. So very apparent as hsi white teeth contrast against his darker skin.
Autumn's efforts shield the Dipsy-Daisy from being turned into toothpicks. The insanity of coming so close to Hacha during one of its frequent storms risky enough without shadow-walking the ship at the same time. The lightning attracted to the ship tries to sew a pattern of needled strikes from a celestial sewing machine, the efforts being coerced, deflected and spanked away from the bobbing sanctuary.
And…
Reality takes break and everything beyond the rigging and wood of the Dipsy-Daisy becomes a fun-house reflection of was previously there. Fluid and changing. The lightning looses its edge and curves in swells, returning back to its rightful place higher in the sky, though bounds in and out of the clouds like playful porpoises rather than jagged arcs. The ocean loses its crystal clear view and is a riot of foam, the ship cutting through it frothily like they were sailing upon a healthy head of beer. Flecks of suds that spray past the bow cling to the topmost rigging. The island proclaimed as Hacha, has one of its higher peaks decapitated sometime in the last few moments, and begins to smoke from a wide caldera. Ruby has her eyes closed and is muttering to herself while she keeps the wheel locked. She either doesn't notice the droning that builds high in the clouds like a single giant humungous bee, or can't spare her attention.
The blow from the sky that threw Autumn from her feet sent Cristof hurtling into the large barrels on the deck. He remained unconscious for a time, but another peal of thunder, crash of lightning, and rush of salty water rouses him. His hand seizes the ropes that hold the barrels into place and he hauls himself to his feet int time to see Autumn struggling against another blast, Ruby bracing to hold the wheel, and Gaval descending like some crazed deus ex machina from the shrouds. What rivets his attention, however, is the rope that has snapped. As soon as it flails near his position, he swipes at it and catches it with both hands. Hauling on the rope, he heaves backward until he finds the railing. He whips the rope around the rail and wrestles it into a firm knot so that the sail will hold its place for now. Then he looks to the island looming ahead. "More trouble ahead!" he calls.
Power courses through her body as Autumn channels and bends it to her will. Her eyes are wide and she is taking it all in. The foam is pushed back. The water the ship took is being shoved out and barriers of magic erected. In this twilight the magic pours into her as if it is her long lost lover. She is breathless. The world around her changes and bleeds and her stomach churns. The shadow and moving patterns, causes her to shiver. Still she holds and continues to chant and command that power she is holding inside of her. Her gaze goes to Gaval and then Cristof.
Gavals' grin slips as the world, already crazy, turns mad. The changes coem and go and he realizes that someone aboard has moved them through shadows. He glances at the two most likely sources as he follows aittle of Cristof's lead and finds more rope and lashing it to the base of hte mast and standing by clitching hold of the bitter end. he tries to make eye contact with each of those within sight and asking if they're ok with a questioning look and a 'ok' hand sign.
Ruby whimpers, rather uncharacteristically from her stoic place by the wheel. Cristof's warning has her peering with her murky cataract towards the volcanic obstacle. She didn't really want to look until the transit was complete. "We ain't there yet. Too soon! Need a wee bit more. Just a wee bit more!" There's nothing for it but to haul the rudder to delay running aground. Fortunately, the sails have been made serviceable by Cristof and Gaval, and they're not going to flounder. The volcano is more than steaming now, also rumbling out an odd acoustic distortion over the tops of the foamy seas. Like yet another angry deity clearing its throat. For those with good eyesight, an ant-like stream of individuals are making a solid double-line procession from the base of the pressure-filled hill to the very rim where heat distorts the air visibly with mirage effects. The hill has a face carved into it.
There's a scream as something wedgelike curls over the prow and tries to hug Pete. Flat, wide and a vibrant purple, it folds like a damp towel. A carpet of suckers. "Star! Wandering Star's got Pete!" yells the mate and reaches for a nasty cargo hook after a hasty kick does nothing but make the creature wetly wobble. Another of its kind slurps and undulates up past where the railing was previously disintegrated. The two denizens of this shadow are completely out of the sea as the ship shifts into a reflection closer to their hopeful destination. Stowaways into a new realm with the crew. The foam is replaced by rocky jade seas.
Once the rope is secure for now, Cristof looks first to Ruby and then to Autumn. He frowns for a moment. "Laval!" he calls. "Ruby might need help with keeping the rudder on course. If you can, help her. I'll watch over Autumn in case she succumbs to the magic." Then he sees one of the creatures creeping over the side of the ship. Instantly, he draws his sword with a ring of steel and slashes at the suckered tentacle-like appendage reaching for Autumn.
The air shimmers and the smell of ozone intensifies as Autumn shouts. The air moves from the behind the creature as something is formed. An invisible lance of air, she drives the lance into the one holding Pete. Shoving the creature forward onto the ship and away from the edge where he is trying to drag Pete away. More magic is called and tiny balls of water being to dance around her. The light glitters off them like crystals they cast dancing rainbows on the deck. She moves a step back behind Cristof giving him room, to fight with the sword, while she wields magic.
Ruby snarls from her position at the wheel. "Git those fookin things oof!" The sight of them is clearly terrifying to her from her vantage point. Not something she sees often in Minosian waters. She stares wide-eyed as they want to become part of the crew, or fill soon to be empty positions. She releases a hand from the wheel to swipe at the air in their direction. "I be alroight! None near me!" Thank Bog. "Kill'm! Death! They gots no bloody eyes! They beasts!" Clearly not a sea creature lover.
Gaval does not question but starts moving towards Ruby's direction. Yet skids and turns direction as the woman behind the wheel yells out in her test to keep the wheel on course and gives him another command. he skids slightly at the sharpness of the turn and dashes on.
He comes from the opposite side as the others and instead of pulling the blade at his side her reaches out and snags hold of.. nothing. A sword of darkness forming in his hand and he comes apon the creature's flank and slices upwards into the eyeless thing becore fallign into a combat stance.
The purplish jellyclad monstrosity near Autumn is in the process of reaching forth, and extending thinner whiskers, like piano wire, to the Ambassador for a tickle when Cristof is there to intercede. His sword meets them and when they separate the ray from the main body, the jelly provides thin resistance, but the whiskers cause sparks as they're severed, jittering across the deck in wobbly spasms. It recoils at the loss of one of its five arms (or rays) and retreats into range of the wicked black sword that Gaval summons, nearly cuts the creature in half. No blood from either of the wounds, though sparks fly again where metal threads run vein-like through its body. It curls into a ball and then barrels in a tight u-turn before settling on a murderous course towards Gaval's ready stance.
There's a rather ugly internal light building while it rolls. A sequence of flashes that radiates outwards in a threat display or a fatal promise. It echos in the Star that is trying to throttle and peel Pete.
Cristof raises the blade but when Autumn moves, he glances to one side and nods to her before he brings the blade downward. After the blade slices easily through the whisker-like tendrils. Although the creature seems to retreat, Cristof follows, slashing again and again. "Stay away from her!" he snarls.
The Star that /was/ on Pete, has pulled some epidermis from where the suckers met flesh and the poor sailor howls as he scrambles away from the thing. Rickerson is there and throws the hook at the thing before curling his hands under Pete's underarms and dragging him the heck away. Pete kicks like a madmen as he's pulled away, shouting curse. The Star arches like a spider and clup-clup-clups suction-cup pucker steps on after the duo, flashing.
The water Autumn created is formed into daggers, sharp as any of the swords being held, with force they are hurtled towards the one holding Pete. They move with force cutting into the flesh. She takes another step away. The air shimmers and moves with magic as if answering what it is happening to the Star children. "Fire." She shouts in warning as next a tiny bickering flaming ball of light appears in front of her.
Gaval half slides half jumps back, eyes alittle wide as the thing turns into a ball and rolls at him. The swordsman is agile and avoids both being rilled over or touched, though not by much. The close roll-by does afford Gaval a good view of the jelly-like creature's insides as the wires flash and arc within the being.
INstead of continuing to retreat as the attacker rolls on he reverses course as his feet touch the deck after his jump. He lunges forward, dark sword point first. The shadowy blade dripping smoke like fog and is kris on one side, serrated on the other. His aim towards something he saw withing the creature.
Beyond the ship, the scenery has undergone another transition and day is starting to turn to dusk. The hill is no longer an active volcano, but has a crack down the center of the hill and a verdant jungle is a wreath, worn about it like a shawl. Within that crack is metal. Smooth and angular. A very thin shaft of metallic contructions scaffolds upwards to be the highest point. A beach of white and grey sand catches some of the light that the overcast sun is trying to pierce through the cloud cover.
Aboard ship, the melee and magic show, the clambering horror after Pete is suddenly pinned to the neck by the shafts of ice. They pierce into the body and then into the decking like a biological specimen on display. It wriggles with flapping grotesque noises. A child chewing jelly sandwiches with their mouth open could do a close impression. It's flashes intensify and it shakes epileptically.
Cristof's strikes carve dreadful new sections into the wounded Star as it rolls, sending it off course, again and again as it barrels along. It loses another ray and is rather less than adequate at mobility. It sets up Gaval handily after he avoids the first roll-by by the bloody determined thing. Gaval's inky nightmare blade /shlucks/ in hard and true, piercing the briefly seen cluster of something deep inside. Something is severed and the ball unfolds into weary mess to careen and flop. Barbed Suckers to the sky, it has a brief residual light show within and becomes utterly inert.
The Star pinned by Autumn, where suckers still connect to the deck, emits a sound like a power saw allowed to run amuck on a concrete floor.
At Autumn's warning, Cristof steps back to give the fireball room. He allows himself a split second to glance back to Ruby and raise the blade in salute. "Perfect work!" he calls. Then he returns his attention to the beast that is pursuing Gaval. He keeps his blade level, ready to strike at the creature, but the other swordsman strikes forcefully. Cristof watches warily while the creature slowly dies, and then returns his focus to the one that Autumn has pinned to the deck like the victim of some mad knife-thrower. He raises his sword high and then drives it into the center of the creature in an effort to still it once and for all.
"Cut it from the ship!" Autumn call out as fire ball is released. "Toss them overboard, they are the energy." She shouts out her guess. The fire ball dims before it simple winks out of existence never having been used. The air shimmers still with magic. Her eyes are wide as she begins to forma a sword of stone in her hand.
Gaval moves at a more sedate pace over to join Cristof at the sight of the pinned and now sliced creature. "The necklace-like node within it. It needs to be cut. If you haven't already killed it. Slice it like a cake." He calls out loud enough to be heard but no loud yell. His eyes stay locked apon the buzzing whirring thing ready to spring should it manage to free itself before it expires.
Cristof nods to Gaval and with great arcing motions slashes an X, and then vertical and horizontal slashes to form an eight-pointed star with its center over the center of the creature. When Autumn urges them to remove the creatures, he nods to her. "Swab the deck!" he calls to the others.
Pete is almost in Rickerson's lap, a postcard image of a couple having a spooning embrace, though without all that romantic backdrop of park benches or crackling fires. Sucker marks on Pete's skin look raw and angry as the sailor in question looks on, angry and feeling raw. His chest heaves, filled with adrenaline.
The Star shudders as Cristof sends deadly thrusts into the core of the big wobbly beast. At the ends of each ray thin questing tendrils reach out desperately for something to connect to, the ends having dark hard suckers that are wonderously uniform in appearance. So identical are they to their neighbours, and so fine and even. They shiver and go blessedly still when the lights and componets inside are rended. It doesn't even stink. Neither do. Nor are there fluidic spills of gore within the conglomeration of jelly. Nodes within a mold of wobbliness with the occasional spark from a revealed filament.
Ruby releases the wheel and takes a step away from it when she and pry her fingers loose. She licks at her lips in a compulsory fashion and swallows as she peers at the chaos on deck. The residue of magic from Autumn has Ruby very tense, or perhaps its the fact that they're at their destination.
Gaval nods to to Christof and opens his hand. The smokey blade drops from it and then disappates into nothingness before hitting the deck. He takes a knee closer to the last kill and studies what he sees. the stange flesh. the metal strands and the necklace thing within. He even tempts fate by touching one of them with his finger before jerking it away.
he stands and looks back at Autum na and then to Ruby. "Well. They do say getting there is half the fun."
Cristof waits until the creature is completely inert and Gaval has finished his examination. Then he sheathes his sword and moves cautiously toward the creature. "Back to the deep with you!" he grunts while he shoves the mangled toward the gaping hole in the rail. "This ship will need repairs before we return," he comments. "If this is typical, I doubt that we'll find a friendly port."
Ruby raises her palms to her face and dry-washes and smears her features a tad before lowering her hands, eyes needing time to refocus. Multiple blinks and approaches the wheel again to grab it one-handed and do a small course correction. "Tha's new, tha is." she clears her throat and tries to home in on an inlet or cove while the drips a bit lower.
The weird composition of the Star creature is the very definition of un-life now that its internals have been probed with a sharp edge. The jelly is very dense and resistant to impact trauma, though a sharp edge seems to do just fine. Encased rather safely, apart from blades, the tendrils are wonderous evolutionary developments. It's all rather neat and tidy, just encased within the amphorous shape of the gel. There are an exact number of arms, an equal number of suckers (another ring inset within has a sphincter to allow the thinner tendrils to port out), an standard number of threads travelin up the rays to the center of the ruptured nodes. And those latter round globes are filled with sandy particulate. Very fine and hot ball-bearings of ridiculously small proportions. There's no residue to wipe on one's thighs at all. Apart from seawater and a bit of suds from the previous sea. Consigning it to the sea, the Star sinks from sight quickly, wads of threaded gel and all with nary a twitch.
Gaval watches the thing go over the side and he can be seen to relax alittle. The tensionacross his shoulders easing as it disappears from view. He moves to join Ruby and gives her a small bemused smile. "New things to discover. One of hte joys of life. Now.. what can we expect here and what exactly might our plan be? Or.. do we not have aplan and we're just winging it?"
"Aye," Cristof confirms with a glance to the hands. "This is part of it. You didn't think that we were taking a simple afternoon of sailing, did you? You'll have good pay and quite a tale to tell the lads at the docks when we return." Then he looks to Gaval and nods. "You don't venture into shadow without a plan."
Ruby jerks her chin towards the central formation on the island while she palms the wheel and the craft jauntily careens a little closer, shallow keel not so great on the open ocean, but gangbusters closer to shore. She rasps to the two deck hands. "We collapse them sails, roight? Get ready tah drop anchor. We coast tha coast a wee bit." The tall gal turns to Gaval and eyes him for a pregnant pause. "Aye…loike what we talkie-talkie earlier. We gots somethin we should return. Tidy. Then it all be in one place…an then what 'appens, 'appens. What I 'ope tah 'appen is we sneak inland a bit. We gots wee dinghy for them tha can't swim tha distance or wanna keep bowstrings dry. This smells roight. Ain't tha same spot I came b'fore…but same shadoo…or at least, close enough." She licks along the front of her teeth. "Jungle be…odd. Aye. So plan be tah git on dry land an wriggle toes in sand, then stalk to tah mountain. In there we foind tha idol. It's got…'elp. Lots 'o femmes. Femmes loike me. But they under sway 'o this…idol, roight? You'll see what I mean. There's a 'eresy 'ere. I don't understand it. An I hhhhate it loike bloody Begma."
Rickerson balks a little at Cristof's wisdom and goes over to slap Pete on the uninjured shoulder. "We don't have to go ashore, Pete. Remember? We keep things ready." "Oh great. Praise the Unicorn. Wonderful…with all the starfish monsters." "They're dead, relax. They made short work. You're alive and new scars for your girl to stroke." Rickerson pats at the air and then gestures to a mop. "Swabbing. Let's swab."
Gavl studies Ruby right back and then gives her a slow smile after she finishes explaining the plan. A single nod right after. "Alright then. That's the plan. In and out. No fuss unless we can't help it." He moves a few steps away and peers out at the shore and the jungle looking for movement or signs of life. Or more inhospitable things lucking nearby.
Cristof nods to the hands and adds, "We passed through several realms of shadow with those things still aboard. They're far from this shadow. You should be safe from them." He looks up to the masts and urges, "So, make ready for shallow water. You'll have tales to tell soon enough." Then he leaves the man and moves to check on Autumn, sensing that her work took its own toll on her.
The quiet calm returns and clings to Autumn. With a wave of her hand she dries herself and anyone else in the crew who is wet. She then releases the magic. She as she does this she listens to the flow of conversation around her. She is seated on the ground and leaning up against a barrel.
The deck hands take orders rather well from Cristof, detecting a commanding presence and/or wherewithall from him. They don't expect him to get a boom in the forehead during this voyage. And he's put them more at ease. And it's not very long until Ruby gives a low whistle, meaningful look to the deckhands and juts her pelvis forward. This odd sequence results in Pete helping Rick to release the anchor they were making ready around. It sinks quickly to the bottom, which is not long in being reached. She murmers, "Loike down in Damsel's Rest. What you said, Gaval. Between you'n me, I 'ope Autumn gots more 'ot stoof when we amongst them othah books. They precious. Tha's why I took't. Use't as shield when I ran. Wish it 'ad been…biggah. Back wouldn't 'ave gotten torn oop as bad. Tha's anothah thing…They gots darts or somethin. Small. Too fast for me tah dodge. Cristof 'elped get them ook. Loike wee hhhooks. We 'ead central…we end oop where I was."
The place where the jungle meets the beach is quite quiet. No lights or movement apart from what the wind does to fat fronds. It looks deserted.
Gaval turns from his view of the beach and moves to join Cristof and Autumn briefly, also giving Autumn a look of concern as well as a grin and a nod. "You've been practicing I think. You're doing well." And then to Cristof another nod and grin. "Nice sword swingign there, good sir." And then he's moving on towards the small boat, see ing what he can do to help prepare the vessel. Faster out, faster back, faster home.
Cristof inclines his head to Gaval. "And you as well. Those were an odd pair, but they all of us managed to fend them off. Ruby's right about those barbs. They're like tiny fish-hooks. They flay at the skin if you try to remove them by pulling. I brought drawing salve and a trunk of other medicines and gear that should help if we take more hits. Ideally, I'd prefer to return with all of it unused, but I've never had such luck in a battle." While Gaval heads for the dinghy, Cristof kneels beside Autumn and touches her shoulder with a gentle hand. "He's right. You did a fine job."
"Thank you Gaval, still the fire throws me off. I am getting better." Autumn says to him. Her eyes go to Ruby. "I would rather not do that again, did you have issues on the way home with them?" She asks in a quiet manner. "The books I about cold start, hard starts and remote starts, and let me not forget restarts." She explains. "I am thinking it is about how to do those things to the creature you described. Like summoning and banishing." She says this to Ruby. Her gaze goes to Cristof, "Fire is not my friend. You all were wonderful."
Ruby release the wheel and lopes belowdecks to fetch something a little extra to bring ashore. Apart from the bent Kukri at the small of her back, she's acquired a large pistol. Emerging and peering on at Gaval helping to prepare the smaller craft, she eyes Cristof gently inquiring after Autumn. Her bottom lip extends and tries to then swallow her upper in a flare of jealousy. Never an appealing look. She attempts to wipe it off her mug like surf retreating from the shore when attention is back onto her and she stands to the edge where they can clamber down into the boat. "Didn't know what to expect last toime. I not get 'ooked again." She rolls her shoulders in irritation. "This bettah make good karma. If tha book 'elps rid oos of tha thing…tha metal god, I doo all I can tah 'elp. If things goo bad, or we git separated remembah tha ship. But, bettah tah foind me. I gots tha tickets ootah 'ere, roight?"
Gaval peers over at Ruby and chuckles softly. "I think you're doing the right thing here, Ruby. Even if it's dangerous I think it's the right move. And no one gets left behind, right?" He climbs into the small boat and offers a hand for those climbing aboard. "IN and out."
Cristof nods to Autumn when she complains about the fire. "Let's hope that we've seen the last of it for this trip, then," he answers. Standing, he nods to Ruby. "We know a thing or two about them, thanks to you," he agrees. "We'll watch your back, and all of us will return to Amber with as little damage as possible." Like Ruby, he descends beneath the deck briefly, and returns with a medical satchel. He goes to the front of the ship and retrieves his bow and arrows before following to the dinghy.
Autumn nods her head and rises from where she was seated. She too heads below the deck and when she returns she is has a backpack slung over her shoulder. "This will be good." She carefully goes to get into the dingy. The shawl has been put back over head. When she gets settled into the boat she waits for the others. When they arrive she offers them a warm smile.
Ruby nods hurridly. "Aye. 'O course. I gots me conscience. She's roight there." Ruby gestures to the Ambassador and clambers into the boat and shifts her weight until she's not going to capsize the venture. She takes an oar in each hand and prepares to sweep them down into the jade waters. "Aye, bring no damage back." Running down the side of the hull are sucker-marks from where their inhuman boarder tugged its way upwards, running parallel to the descent of everyone into the dinghy.
Once everyone is settled, Ruby pulls them away from the Dipsy Daisy. Goign at a good clip, Ruby rhymically propells them along. Sand is about to scrape the bottom of the boat when a sound drifts from further inland. There comes a wooping air-raid siren that travels up and down the octave for a single rising and falling note. Some giant demonstrating a slide whistle. Ruby's stomach clenches reflexively, does a little half-abdominal crunch, and gurgles pavalonian. The amazon frowns, confuzzled. "Dinnah-bell."
Gaval is watching the shore like a hawk. Nothing like being out in the open with little to no cover to make oen nervious. And when the siren goes off he jumps alittle. Never in his life having heard such a thing. He gets out and starts pulling the boat ashore even as he curses at their discovery and the noise.
Leaving the docks of Amber was merely a trifle. After waiting their turn to clear their berth, the Dipsy-Daisy soon able to unfurl its triangular sails and catch some wind. The larger vessels nearby did not pose a hinderance as the weather was favorable and willing to share wind-power. The caraval was certainly zippy as well. Ruby showed where one could store their things in cubbyhole or hold and allowed passengers to diplomatically determine who would get one or both of the dark and empty cabins with their strung-up hammocks. Not even wearing a tri-corn hat and looking clean and tightly dressed in clothes suitable for inclement weather, Ruby steered the vessel and shouted orders to the two hired hands that were helping with the rigging. It did not take long to enter Minosian waters, steering clear of the Rebma triangle. Winds have steadily increased, as have darker clouds and the odd squawl.
The wind howls around them and the spray of salt water adds a tangy taste to the air. Autumn is on the deck and dressed in wool pants and boots. Her torso bundled up in a wool coat that is favored by Pathi sailors. Today her tresses are covered with shawl of wool and her hands are covered with kid gloves. She breathes in deeply. The storm is raging but around her there is a pool of calm. "She is not happy that one, I think she is having her version of a tantrum. Then again she was shattered and brought back by another, the goddess is not pleased. From my understaning she has some issues."
The darkening skies, rising wind, and possibility of harsh weather were not enough to drive Cristof below. Instead, he remains on the deck, helping the crew when they needed an extra pair of hands, or simply leaning on the rail at the ship's bow to watch the rolling sea for signs of life. Occasional fish, porpoise, seal, or whale that would breach in the distance. Birds that wheel overhead or cross their path in flight. Like Autumn, he is wearing sturdy swollen pants and oiled boots with rough soles. His shirt is loose but not in the outlandish puffy styles that some nobles seem to favor. He wears a hat with a wide brim and a lanyard to secure it. Beneath his billowing cloak is a sword, and at his feet are a bow and a quiver full of arrows. He turns when Autumn murmurs something indistinct to his ears. "If you mean the sea, you might be right. We've sailed so far without difficulty. We must pay for that soon."
Ruby squints and keeps a hand on the wheel. Her attention falls to Autumn, with a bit of worry and anxiety for the other woman. It's an irrational kind of concern, as the Ambassador seems calm and is taking things in stride. There's a creak from the mast and rigging as winds mingle and twist about to be the source of fuel for the sails. The material is not stormsilk, just honest canvas. Ruby raises her voice over the wind, it able to carry well despite the weather. "We gotta speak on tha, Truth…Minoos gots troubles, aye. Most ootside 'o Minos don't 'ave yer insoights though!" With a sweep of the wheel, Ruby draws the ship towards a nearby island of Hacha and its northern satellite island. She's avoided Manzanil as trouble is not needed from the island of pirates. The craft is steered closer to the shore and Cristof's efforts to assist during the voyage have ensured a better voyage thus far. The DD groans, foam cascading beneath the prow while the ship is blown faster and closer to land, the waters becoming more boisterous. "Karma…aye! If we lucky she just wants tah play!" Ruby divides her concentration between that of directing the ship and seeking a canvas within her head. The two hired hands, Pete and Rickerson, descend the masts and rigging, shouting oaths of the moment to bolster their spirits.
The deck and sides of the ship darken as the foamy spray spills over the side. The waves seem to aim for the ship pounding against it. Tossing it like a cat with a toy mouse. Lightening flashes across the sky and Autumn respond by changing her stance as the ship dips moves closer to shore. "She is angry that is for certain, she is the Patron Goddess of that land. She loves those form Amber about as much as would love the sea to run dry." She explains to Cristof. Her voice seem to rise and fall with the wind and the dips of the ship. She catches her balance again. That pool of calm clings to her. "Ruby I am hoping you are right about the play and I really hope she has bigger fish to cook! How far are we from shore and are we going to dock or keep sailing?"
Cristof turns more fully to peer at the creaking mast as if judging it. He nods and then looks to Ruby. "The ship is sound. She has seen weather worse than this, if her scars tell truth." When Autumn starts to move and seems to stagger, he steps toward her, offering a hand while he glances toward the wheel again. "Do we have allies on that island?" he questions.
A lugubrious groan issues up from the bilge. The sound of water trying the pressure the hull into a different shape. The forces of nature uneasy by the way the craft is being sailed, and the slight changes being compelled upon it. Ruby leans to the side and eyes what she can see of the bobbing horizon, wishing the craft displaced a little more water like a frigate or galleon. The boat surges onwards and Ruby gives the wheel another adjustment before locking her arms and keeping the rudder fixed in position. "More I learn aboot Gods, tha less I understand. Truth. We not around long enough tah give 'er satisfaction or flick 'er teets." Ruby glances up to the sky, dreading the hint of a displeased face. Then she's closing her eyes, the corner of her mouth tugging in a palsy as she tries to carry the ship rather than steer it. She murmers to Cristof rather than yelling, though her voice stills cuts through the stormy situation, "No enemies at least. Storms love't though. Love't tah death. It'll do for us…" There's a subtle change in what the lightning and squalls allow to be seen beyond the railings. The lightning that threads forth from the clouds becomes sharper and better defined. And when they strike a wave, there's paper-shredding sound. A heavier atmosphere pressing down against those on the deck, as if another gravity had been added. The island of Hacha, perhaps a mile or so off, attracts a number of lightning bolts, and as they strike the highest points of the island, they reverberate like sound waves through water, flooding towards the ship.
The deck hands cross themselves or ward themselves with superstitious gestures when the Goddess is spoken of. Capable as they are, they try to find a slippery paradoxical position to both praise and curse the Minosian deity. Pete rolls down his sleeve to display a lightning bolt tattoo and slaps at it wetly when the sky flashes. He yells, "It's up to her! Rickers…stay away from the metal, lad. She's ever so fond 'o metal." "I know my business, mind your side, I'll trust my stormsilk to your bloody skinart you coward!" This is bantered back and forth in form of comradery.
A leather clad hand reaches for his as her mismatched eyes look up at the sky, "Oh she is angry, she wants revenge and she wants what all want. She wants to be loved." Autumn responds back. "I think she is more interested in others than she will be in us. We are but one fish in a vast ocean and not even an important fish." A wave sloshes over the deck railing. Autumn grips Cristof hand tighter as the deck drops beneath her feet and then finds her feet again. Her eyes are on the boiling sky. "Ruby, I am there with you, the more I know the less I realize that I truly know about the fabric of creation." Water licks at the soles of their boots. The booms ringing out have her taking a deep breath in. She looks to the mast nest. "What do you need me to do?" She asks both Ruby and Cristof. The goddess cracks her whip and sharp bolt of lighting travels across the sky.
Cristof's arm stiffens to steady Autumn as soon as her glove touches his hand. Like everyone else aboard the ship, he turns to gaze at the silver lightning. "We are a small fish, and we're here to return a treasure, unlike those pirates who take from those who entrust their lives and their fortunes to the sea," he comments. He looks to Autumn and suggests, "If you can convince the wind and waves to favor us, so that we sail to that island in one piece, that would be a great help."
"Don't get swept oof!" Ruby offers through gritted teeth. Rooting herself to the spot, her thighs flex, helping her keep her balance while the deck shifts underfoot.
The two deck-hands wipe away the spray that drips down their face and wrap a hanging rope around their wrists until the veins stand out on their forearms. Pete tugs the bandana off her face and stuffs it down the front of his shirt. "Carrie will kill me…kill me if I loose it…again…" he grins nervously. "She'll have none of my person, my possessions or my piss. I swear it!" He gets an answering grin from his deck mate. "Don't worry! I'll comfort her later when you go overboard!"
A lightning bolt, swollen with primal energy, connects the troubled sky with the deck of the ship. It's hard to follow, the speed at which it manifests. Thunder rides the lightning in another fabric tearing sound like reality was coming apart at the seams.
By freak chance, it seems to want to complete a conduit with Autumn, and Cristof in a lattice of nature and human beings. A banshee wail tries to crack crystal as the bolt arcs a few meters above Autumn and then veers suddenly, strangely and fortunately, to take out the nearby railing in a sudden explosion of blackened wood slivers that go off like a grenade into the turbulent waters. Burning embers and sparks blossom and are lost to the storm…and transmogrify into firefly-like insects that have no business out here. A few more bolts bracket the caravel, chopping into the water like giant daggers….literally carving shafts and wedges that refills with seawater. Ruby pipes up, "We're goo'n! 'Ang on!" The ship lurches hard and the storm begins to change colour. The nearby island rises. The sea fills with strands of lightning that once filled the skies, illuminating the depths in a vertigo-inducing vista of underwater shelves and chasms.
"I will see what I can do." Autumn responds to Cristof. She is about to responds to Ruby when the force of the lightening blast sends the waif like Ambassador to the deck. The embers hot and wild dance in the wind around her as if trying to find a place to land, wool coat smolders but does not catch. The sky opens up and the rain begins to pound down on the ship as the seas fills with the strands of lightening. The water is electrified. Autumn struggles to her feet and there panic in her eyes with the smell of wood smoke and smoldering wool. She is breathless from her fall; quickly she begins to gather power to her. She shouts out commands in arcana as she begins to push the water from the ship. Her eyes are bright, the wind whips around her, tugging and pushing at her. The lightening snakes and snaps and seeks out the water, island and not to mention what is left of the ship. The air is alive with energy, hair is standing on end. Autumn stands there defiantly weaving magic not to attack against the lady in question but to protect the ship. Her shawl that covered her head has fallen and her hair is now wet. Her magic is strong and makes the air tingle. The water coming into the ship is being pushed out.
The ship groans and spins when as the wind slams against it and the currents change suddenly. Heralding the lightening strikes and thunderous waves of sound from the thunder. The ship groans and creeks as another wave tosses it up into. The deck falls beneath her and she lands with a thud. She manages to hold on to the magic.
A rope unfurls wildly and slinging water from above, cutting through the rain and making a soft whirring sound until it's end comes near to hitting the deck. Feet semi-braced against the mast and ropcurled around his back under his arms nad held in both hands, Gaval slide-runs down the tall wooden beam to the deck. With a thud his boots meet the horrizontal surface and he stands taking in the madness from this point of view.
he's soaking wet , hair plasterd to his forehead and down his back. He's blinking it out of his eyes and against all sanity the madman is grinning. So very apparent as hsi white teeth contrast against his darker skin.
Autumn's efforts shield the Dipsy-Daisy from being turned into toothpicks. The insanity of coming so close to Hacha during one of its frequent storms risky enough without shadow-walking the ship at the same time. The lightning attracted to the ship tries to sew a pattern of needled strikes from a celestial sewing machine, the efforts being coerced, deflected and spanked away from the bobbing sanctuary.
And…
Reality takes break and everything beyond the rigging and wood of the Dipsy-Daisy becomes a fun-house reflection of was previously there. Fluid and changing. The lightning looses its edge and curves in swells, returning back to its rightful place higher in the sky, though bounds in and out of the clouds like playful porpoises rather than jagged arcs. The ocean loses its crystal clear view and is a riot of foam, the ship cutting through it frothily like they were sailing upon a healthy head of beer. Flecks of suds that spray past the bow cling to the topmost rigging. The island proclaimed as Hacha, has one of its higher peaks decapitated sometime in the last few moments, and begins to smoke from a wide caldera. Ruby has her eyes closed and is muttering to herself while she keeps the wheel locked. She either doesn't notice the droning that builds high in the clouds like a single giant humungous bee, or can't spare her attention.
The blow from the sky that threw Autumn from her feet sent Cristof hurtling into the large barrels on the deck. He remained unconscious for a time, but another peal of thunder, crash of lightning, and rush of salty water rouses him. His hand seizes the ropes that hold the barrels into place and he hauls himself to his feet int time to see Autumn struggling against another blast, Ruby bracing to hold the wheel, and Gaval descending like some crazed deus ex machina from the shrouds. What rivets his attention, however, is the rope that has snapped. As soon as it flails near his position, he swipes at it and catches it with both hands. Hauling on the rope, he heaves backward until he finds the railing. He whips the rope around the rail and wrestles it into a firm knot so that the sail will hold its place for now. Then he looks to the island looming ahead. "More trouble ahead!" he calls.
Power courses through her body as Autumn channels and bends it to her will. Her eyes are wide and she is taking it all in. The foam is pushed back. The water the ship took is being shoved out and barriers of magic erected. In this twilight the magic pours into her as if it is her long lost lover. She is breathless. The world around her changes and bleeds and her stomach churns. The shadow and moving patterns, causes her to shiver. Still she holds and continues to chant and command that power she is holding inside of her. Her gaze goes to Gaval and then Cristof.
Gavals' grin slips as the world, already crazy, turns mad. The changes coem and go and he realizes that someone aboard has moved them through shadows. He glances at the two most likely sources as he follows aittle of Cristof's lead and finds more rope and lashing it to the base of hte mast and standing by clitching hold of the bitter end. he tries to make eye contact with each of those within sight and asking if they're ok with a questioning look and a 'ok' hand sign.
Ruby whimpers, rather uncharacteristically from her stoic place by the wheel. Cristof's warning has her peering with her murky cataract towards the volcanic obstacle. She didn't really want to look until the transit was complete. "We ain't there yet. Too soon! Need a wee bit more. Just a wee bit more!" There's nothing for it but to haul the rudder to delay running aground. Fortunately, the sails have been made serviceable by Cristof and Gaval, and they're not going to flounder. The volcano is more than steaming now, also rumbling out an odd acoustic distortion over the tops of the foamy seas. Like yet another angry deity clearing its throat. For those with good eyesight, an ant-like stream of individuals are making a solid double-line procession from the base of the pressure-filled hill to the very rim where heat distorts the air visibly with mirage effects. The hill has a face carved into it.
There's a scream as something wedgelike curls over the prow and tries to hug Pete. Flat, wide and a vibrant purple, it folds like a damp towel. A carpet of suckers. "Star! Wandering Star's got Pete!" yells the mate and reaches for a nasty cargo hook after a hasty kick does nothing but make the creature wetly wobble. Another of its kind slurps and undulates up past where the railing was previously disintegrated. The two denizens of this shadow are completely out of the sea as the ship shifts into a reflection closer to their hopeful destination. Stowaways into a new realm with the crew. The foam is replaced by rocky jade seas.
Once the rope is secure for now, Cristof looks first to Ruby and then to Autumn. He frowns for a moment. "Laval!" he calls. "Ruby might need help with keeping the rudder on course. If you can, help her. I'll watch over Autumn in case she succumbs to the magic." Then he sees one of the creatures creeping over the side of the ship. Instantly, he draws his sword with a ring of steel and slashes at the suckered tentacle-like appendage reaching for Autumn.
The air shimmers and the smell of ozone intensifies as Autumn shouts. The air moves from the behind the creature as something is formed. An invisible lance of air, she drives the lance into the one holding Pete. Shoving the creature forward onto the ship and away from the edge where he is trying to drag Pete away. More magic is called and tiny balls of water being to dance around her. The light glitters off them like crystals they cast dancing rainbows on the deck. She moves a step back behind Cristof giving him room, to fight with the sword, while she wields magic.
Ruby snarls from her position at the wheel. "Git those fookin things oof!" The sight of them is clearly terrifying to her from her vantage point. Not something she sees often in Minosian waters. She stares wide-eyed as they want to become part of the crew, or fill soon to be empty positions. She releases a hand from the wheel to swipe at the air in their direction. "I be alroight! None near me!" Thank Bog. "Kill'm! Death! They gots no bloody eyes! They beasts!" Clearly not a sea creature lover.
Gaval does not question but starts moving towards Ruby's direction. Yet skids and turns direction as the woman behind the wheel yells out in her test to keep the wheel on course and gives him another command. he skids slightly at the sharpness of the turn and dashes on.
He comes from the opposite side as the others and instead of pulling the blade at his side her reaches out and snags hold of.. nothing. A sword of darkness forming in his hand and he comes apon the creature's flank and slices upwards into the eyeless thing becore fallign into a combat stance.
The purplish jellyclad monstrosity near Autumn is in the process of reaching forth, and extending thinner whiskers, like piano wire, to the Ambassador for a tickle when Cristof is there to intercede. His sword meets them and when they separate the ray from the main body, the jelly provides thin resistance, but the whiskers cause sparks as they're severed, jittering across the deck in wobbly spasms. It recoils at the loss of one of its five arms (or rays) and retreats into range of the wicked black sword that Gaval summons, nearly cuts the creature in half. No blood from either of the wounds, though sparks fly again where metal threads run vein-like through its body. It curls into a ball and then barrels in a tight u-turn before settling on a murderous course towards Gaval's ready stance.
There's a rather ugly internal light building while it rolls. A sequence of flashes that radiates outwards in a threat display or a fatal promise. It echos in the Star that is trying to throttle and peel Pete.
Cristof raises the blade but when Autumn moves, he glances to one side and nods to her before he brings the blade downward. After the blade slices easily through the whisker-like tendrils. Although the creature seems to retreat, Cristof follows, slashing again and again. "Stay away from her!" he snarls.
The Star that /was/ on Pete, has pulled some epidermis from where the suckers met flesh and the poor sailor howls as he scrambles away from the thing. Rickerson is there and throws the hook at the thing before curling his hands under Pete's underarms and dragging him the heck away. Pete kicks like a madmen as he's pulled away, shouting curse. The Star arches like a spider and clup-clup-clups suction-cup pucker steps on after the duo, flashing.
The water Autumn created is formed into daggers, sharp as any of the swords being held, with force they are hurtled towards the one holding Pete. They move with force cutting into the flesh. She takes another step away. The air shimmers and moves with magic as if answering what it is happening to the Star children. "Fire." She shouts in warning as next a tiny bickering flaming ball of light appears in front of her.
Gaval half slides half jumps back, eyes alittle wide as the thing turns into a ball and rolls at him. The swordsman is agile and avoids both being rilled over or touched, though not by much. The close roll-by does afford Gaval a good view of the jelly-like creature's insides as the wires flash and arc within the being.
INstead of continuing to retreat as the attacker rolls on he reverses course as his feet touch the deck after his jump. He lunges forward, dark sword point first. The shadowy blade dripping smoke like fog and is kris on one side, serrated on the other. His aim towards something he saw withing the creature.
Beyond the ship, the scenery has undergone another transition and day is starting to turn to dusk. The hill is no longer an active volcano, but has a crack down the center of the hill and a verdant jungle is a wreath, worn about it like a shawl. Within that crack is metal. Smooth and angular. A very thin shaft of metallic contructions scaffolds upwards to be the highest point. A beach of white and grey sand catches some of the light that the overcast sun is trying to pierce through the cloud cover.
Aboard ship, the melee and magic show, the clambering horror after Pete is suddenly pinned to the neck by the shafts of ice. They pierce into the body and then into the decking like a biological specimen on display. It wriggles with flapping grotesque noises. A child chewing jelly sandwiches with their mouth open could do a close impression. It's flashes intensify and it shakes epileptically.
Cristof's strikes carve dreadful new sections into the wounded Star as it rolls, sending it off course, again and again as it barrels along. It loses another ray and is rather less than adequate at mobility. It sets up Gaval handily after he avoids the first roll-by by the bloody determined thing. Gaval's inky nightmare blade /shlucks/ in hard and true, piercing the briefly seen cluster of something deep inside. Something is severed and the ball unfolds into weary mess to careen and flop. Barbed Suckers to the sky, it has a brief residual light show within and becomes utterly inert.
The Star pinned by Autumn, where suckers still connect to the deck, emits a sound like a power saw allowed to run amuck on a concrete floor.
At Autumn's warning, Cristof steps back to give the fireball room. He allows himself a split second to glance back to Ruby and raise the blade in salute. "Perfect work!" he calls. Then he returns his attention to the beast that is pursuing Gaval. He keeps his blade level, ready to strike at the creature, but the other swordsman strikes forcefully. Cristof watches warily while the creature slowly dies, and then returns his focus to the one that Autumn has pinned to the deck like the victim of some mad knife-thrower. He raises his sword high and then drives it into the center of the creature in an effort to still it once and for all.
"Cut it from the ship!" Autumn call out as fire ball is released. "Toss them overboard, they are the energy." She shouts out her guess. The fire ball dims before it simple winks out of existence never having been used. The air shimmers still with magic. Her eyes are wide as she begins to forma a sword of stone in her hand.
Gaval moves at a more sedate pace over to join Cristof at the sight of the pinned and now sliced creature. "The necklace-like node within it. It needs to be cut. If you haven't already killed it. Slice it like a cake." He calls out loud enough to be heard but no loud yell. His eyes stay locked apon the buzzing whirring thing ready to spring should it manage to free itself before it expires.
Cristof nods to Gaval and with great arcing motions slashes an X, and then vertical and horizontal slashes to form an eight-pointed star with its center over the center of the creature. When Autumn urges them to remove the creatures, he nods to her. "Swab the deck!" he calls to the others.
Pete is almost in Rickerson's lap, a postcard image of a couple having a spooning embrace, though without all that romantic backdrop of park benches or crackling fires. Sucker marks on Pete's skin look raw and angry as the sailor in question looks on, angry and feeling raw. His chest heaves, filled with adrenaline.
The Star shudders as Cristof sends deadly thrusts into the core of the big wobbly beast. At the ends of each ray thin questing tendrils reach out desperately for something to connect to, the ends having dark hard suckers that are wonderously uniform in appearance. So identical are they to their neighbours, and so fine and even. They shiver and go blessedly still when the lights and componets inside are rended. It doesn't even stink. Neither do. Nor are there fluidic spills of gore within the conglomeration of jelly. Nodes within a mold of wobbliness with the occasional spark from a revealed filament.
Ruby releases the wheel and takes a step away from it when she and pry her fingers loose. She licks at her lips in a compulsory fashion and swallows as she peers at the chaos on deck. The residue of magic from Autumn has Ruby very tense, or perhaps its the fact that they're at their destination.
Gaval nods to to Christof and opens his hand. The smokey blade drops from it and then disappates into nothingness before hitting the deck. He takes a knee closer to the last kill and studies what he sees. the stange flesh. the metal strands and the necklace thing within. He even tempts fate by touching one of them with his finger before jerking it away.
he stands and looks back at Autum na and then to Ruby. "Well. They do say getting there is half the fun."
Cristof waits until the creature is completely inert and Gaval has finished his examination. Then he sheathes his sword and moves cautiously toward the creature. "Back to the deep with you!" he grunts while he shoves the mangled toward the gaping hole in the rail. "This ship will need repairs before we return," he comments. "If this is typical, I doubt that we'll find a friendly port."
Ruby raises her palms to her face and dry-washes and smears her features a tad before lowering her hands, eyes needing time to refocus. Multiple blinks and approaches the wheel again to grab it one-handed and do a small course correction. "Tha's new, tha is." she clears her throat and tries to home in on an inlet or cove while the drips a bit lower.
The weird composition of the Star creature is the very definition of un-life now that its internals have been probed with a sharp edge. The jelly is very dense and resistant to impact trauma, though a sharp edge seems to do just fine. Encased rather safely, apart from blades, the tendrils are wonderous evolutionary developments. It's all rather neat and tidy, just encased within the amphorous shape of the gel. There are an exact number of arms, an equal number of suckers (another ring inset within has a sphincter to allow the thinner tendrils to port out), an standard number of threads travelin up the rays to the center of the ruptured nodes. And those latter round globes are filled with sandy particulate. Very fine and hot ball-bearings of ridiculously small proportions. There's no residue to wipe on one's thighs at all. Apart from seawater and a bit of suds from the previous sea. Consigning it to the sea, the Star sinks from sight quickly, wads of threaded gel and all with nary a twitch.
Gaval watches the thing go over the side and he can be seen to relax alittle. The tensionacross his shoulders easing as it disappears from view. He moves to join Ruby and gives her a small bemused smile. "New things to discover. One of hte joys of life. Now.. what can we expect here and what exactly might our plan be? Or.. do we not have aplan and we're just winging it?"
"Aye," Cristof confirms with a glance to the hands. "This is part of it. You didn't think that we were taking a simple afternoon of sailing, did you? You'll have good pay and quite a tale to tell the lads at the docks when we return." Then he looks to Gaval and nods. "You don't venture into shadow without a plan."
Ruby jerks her chin towards the central formation on the island while she palms the wheel and the craft jauntily careens a little closer, shallow keel not so great on the open ocean, but gangbusters closer to shore. She rasps to the two deck hands. "We collapse them sails, roight? Get ready tah drop anchor. We coast tha coast a wee bit." The tall gal turns to Gaval and eyes him for a pregnant pause. "Aye…loike what we talkie-talkie earlier. We gots somethin we should return. Tidy. Then it all be in one place…an then what 'appens, 'appens. What I 'ope tah 'appen is we sneak inland a bit. We gots wee dinghy for them tha can't swim tha distance or wanna keep bowstrings dry. This smells roight. Ain't tha same spot I came b'fore…but same shadoo…or at least, close enough." She licks along the front of her teeth. "Jungle be…odd. Aye. So plan be tah git on dry land an wriggle toes in sand, then stalk to tah mountain. In there we foind tha idol. It's got…'elp. Lots 'o femmes. Femmes loike me. But they under sway 'o this…idol, roight? You'll see what I mean. There's a 'eresy 'ere. I don't understand it. An I hhhhate it loike bloody Begma."
Rickerson balks a little at Cristof's wisdom and goes over to slap Pete on the uninjured shoulder. "We don't have to go ashore, Pete. Remember? We keep things ready." "Oh great. Praise the Unicorn. Wonderful…with all the starfish monsters." "They're dead, relax. They made short work. You're alive and new scars for your girl to stroke." Rickerson pats at the air and then gestures to a mop. "Swabbing. Let's swab."
Gavl studies Ruby right back and then gives her a slow smile after she finishes explaining the plan. A single nod right after. "Alright then. That's the plan. In and out. No fuss unless we can't help it." He moves a few steps away and peers out at the shore and the jungle looking for movement or signs of life. Or more inhospitable things lucking nearby.
Cristof nods to the hands and adds, "We passed through several realms of shadow with those things still aboard. They're far from this shadow. You should be safe from them." He looks up to the masts and urges, "So, make ready for shallow water. You'll have tales to tell soon enough." Then he leaves the man and moves to check on Autumn, sensing that her work took its own toll on her.
The quiet calm returns and clings to Autumn. With a wave of her hand she dries herself and anyone else in the crew who is wet. She then releases the magic. She as she does this she listens to the flow of conversation around her. She is seated on the ground and leaning up against a barrel.
The deck hands take orders rather well from Cristof, detecting a commanding presence and/or wherewithall from him. They don't expect him to get a boom in the forehead during this voyage. And he's put them more at ease. And it's not very long until Ruby gives a low whistle, meaningful look to the deckhands and juts her pelvis forward. This odd sequence results in Pete helping Rick to release the anchor they were making ready around. It sinks quickly to the bottom, which is not long in being reached. She murmers, "Loike down in Damsel's Rest. What you said, Gaval. Between you'n me, I 'ope Autumn gots more 'ot stoof when we amongst them othah books. They precious. Tha's why I took't. Use't as shield when I ran. Wish it 'ad been…biggah. Back wouldn't 'ave gotten torn oop as bad. Tha's anothah thing…They gots darts or somethin. Small. Too fast for me tah dodge. Cristof 'elped get them ook. Loike wee hhhooks. We 'ead central…we end oop where I was."
The place where the jungle meets the beach is quite quiet. No lights or movement apart from what the wind does to fat fronds. It looks deserted.
Gaval turns from his view of the beach and moves to join Cristof and Autumn briefly, also giving Autumn a look of concern as well as a grin and a nod. "You've been practicing I think. You're doing well." And then to Cristof another nod and grin. "Nice sword swingign there, good sir." And then he's moving on towards the small boat, see ing what he can do to help prepare the vessel. Faster out, faster back, faster home.
Cristof inclines his head to Gaval. "And you as well. Those were an odd pair, but they all of us managed to fend them off. Ruby's right about those barbs. They're like tiny fish-hooks. They flay at the skin if you try to remove them by pulling. I brought drawing salve and a trunk of other medicines and gear that should help if we take more hits. Ideally, I'd prefer to return with all of it unused, but I've never had such luck in a battle." While Gaval heads for the dinghy, Cristof kneels beside Autumn and touches her shoulder with a gentle hand. "He's right. You did a fine job."
"Thank you Gaval, still the fire throws me off. I am getting better." Autumn says to him. Her eyes go to Ruby. "I would rather not do that again, did you have issues on the way home with them?" She asks in a quiet manner. "The books I about cold start, hard starts and remote starts, and let me not forget restarts." She explains. "I am thinking it is about how to do those things to the creature you described. Like summoning and banishing." She says this to Ruby. Her gaze goes to Cristof, "Fire is not my friend. You all were wonderful."
Ruby release the wheel and lopes belowdecks to fetch something a little extra to bring ashore. Apart from the bent Kukri at the small of her back, she's acquired a large pistol. Emerging and peering on at Gaval helping to prepare the smaller craft, she eyes Cristof gently inquiring after Autumn. Her bottom lip extends and tries to then swallow her upper in a flare of jealousy. Never an appealing look. She attempts to wipe it off her mug like surf retreating from the shore when attention is back onto her and she stands to the edge where they can clamber down into the boat. "Didn't know what to expect last toime. I not get 'ooked again." She rolls her shoulders in irritation. "This bettah make good karma. If tha book 'elps rid oos of tha thing…tha metal god, I doo all I can tah 'elp. If things goo bad, or we git separated remembah tha ship. But, bettah tah foind me. I gots tha tickets ootah 'ere, roight?"
Gaval peers over at Ruby and chuckles softly. "I think you're doing the right thing here, Ruby. Even if it's dangerous I think it's the right move. And no one gets left behind, right?" He climbs into the small boat and offers a hand for those climbing aboard. "IN and out."
Cristof nods to Autumn when she complains about the fire. "Let's hope that we've seen the last of it for this trip, then," he answers. Standing, he nods to Ruby. "We know a thing or two about them, thanks to you," he agrees. "We'll watch your back, and all of us will return to Amber with as little damage as possible." Like Ruby, he descends beneath the deck briefly, and returns with a medical satchel. He goes to the front of the ship and retrieves his bow and arrows before following to the dinghy.
Autumn nods her head and rises from where she was seated. She too heads below the deck and when she returns she is has a backpack slung over her shoulder. "This will be good." She carefully goes to get into the dingy. The shawl has been put back over head. When she gets settled into the boat she waits for the others. When they arrive she offers them a warm smile.
Ruby nods hurridly. "Aye. 'O course. I gots me conscience. She's roight there." Ruby gestures to the Ambassador and clambers into the boat and shifts her weight until she's not going to capsize the venture. She takes an oar in each hand and prepares to sweep them down into the jade waters. "Aye, bring no damage back." Running down the side of the hull are sucker-marks from where their inhuman boarder tugged its way upwards, running parallel to the descent of everyone into the dinghy.
Once everyone is settled, Ruby pulls them away from the Dipsy Daisy. Goign at a good clip, Ruby rhymically propells them along. Sand is about to scrape the bottom of the boat when a sound drifts from further inland. There comes a wooping air-raid siren that travels up and down the octave for a single rising and falling note. Some giant demonstrating a slide whistle. Ruby's stomach clenches reflexively, does a little half-abdominal crunch, and gurgles pavalonian. The amazon frowns, confuzzled. "Dinnah-bell."
Gaval is watching the shore like a hawk. Nothing like being out in the open with little to no cover to make oen nervious. And when the siren goes off he jumps alittle. Never in his life having heard such a thing. He gets out and starts pulling the boat ashore even as he curses at their discovery and the noise.
