Pirates of the Sorcerean: Fair Winds, Foul Weather

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Meatloaf jumped out of his seat. He had just sat down for a quick snack when something had changed. That tingling feeling he'd felt constatly sinse that first day upon the Rock had stopped.

Peering out of his cabin, Meatloaf couldn't see anything different. He climbed up onto the deck and looked around. The navy ships were still there, so that couldn't be it. The Rock was still in view, so it couldn't be that either. Then he noticed it was raining.

Strange, he though. How could rain stop that? Shrugging, he went back inside to his food.

 

Mister Fabian didn’t find the storm cleansing at all. The loss of the magic he had always known left him with a dull numbness in the back of his mind; he turned to his second love to navigate the void. It seemed strange to seek stability from the sea in the midst of a storm but it worked, his firm grip on the helm providing the focus he needed. Even without magic he could see the Catherine bulking large ahead in the gloom, her graceful prow cutting the foam as her sailors raced to haul in the sheets against the wild, unforseen wind.

He chose a series of tacks that would bring the Pride alongside the navy frigate in a great sweep disguised as a desperate attempt to stay with the retreating Ariel – lurching towards her, only to be pushed closer to the navy’s clutches by the next several waves. He hoped the ploy wasn’t as obvious as it seemed.

Chuckling slightly, Mister Fabian wondered how Nimue was managing through the storm of disruption. If she fell back to her earliest non-magical skils as he had, the pirates aboard the Ariel had best watch their purses.

 

Standing by one of the cannons, Tanya peers through the heavy rain as they come closer to the St Catherine. Seeing Fabian follow the plan, they glided into close parallel position of the royal ship.
"All lose their footwear, then abandon ship! You know what to do men!" she called out and the command spread like a rumour throughout the men. She was hardly able to hear the splashes of the men jumping into the water through the window in the captains quarters, but noted that fewer and fewer were visible.
This is it..
Arming the cannons with the help of a few of the men, she let them wait on her command and ran up to get Fabian. Shouting through the rain and wind, he nodded and set a barrel to hold the course, then followed her to the cannons.
"Right men, fire and bail!"

*boom* *boom*

Having fired the cannons they could barely see the cannonballs hit the side of the frigate that was their target. Not much time to lose now!
"Out! Out!" Tanya roared as she pushed the lads into the captain's cabin and out through the window where the others had gone. Quickly discarding her boots, Tanya dived headfirst into the water.

The sensational feel of water swallowing welcomed her and she felt home. As she opened her eyes, she could see the others already swimming towards the frigate, keeping below the surface. Making sure all the cannoneers were with her, she started the swim through the clear water. It was an odd sensation, the surface above her like a carpet in constant motion due to the raindrop bombardment. This was her element and a smile formed on her face as she sped through the water, noticing a stream of yellow-black small fish swim past her.

Halfway there, she heard the blurred roar of cannon fire and seconds later the shattering impact upon the Pride. Emerging the top of her head, she peeked back toward their ship, or rather what was left it. Half the side had been ripped away and you could peer into the hull. Already taking water, Tanya knew it was a matter of minutes before she'd go down. She took a deep breath and dived again, swimming double speed.
Following the men under the frigate, she emerged on the other side just in time to hear a second broadside from the Sct. Catherine, ensuring the doom of the Pride. The cheers from above on the deck were unmistakeable, the Pride was going down.

She looked up upon the bow of the slow moving ship, then swam towards a rope ladder and after a few steps, turned around to give the men the "go" sign, then proceeded silent as a cat up the ladder and saw out of the corner of her eye that the men were coming up the side like ants invading a hill.

 

Matt slowly creeped over the side over the boat. His bear feet felt cold as the rope cut into them. He clothes dripped wet, sending drops splashing towards the water, only been stopped by hitting the person below him.

With his knife between his teeth he slowly creeped up the ladder, foot at a time. Once or twice the rope ladder would swing slightly, as someone else would begin climbing up. The first time this happened Matt was pushed into the side of the ship, cutting his left knee open on the shells gripping to the side of the boat. The salt from his clothes creeped into his ripped open knee, increasing the pain with a horrible stinging feeling. Matt bit down on his knife harder and continued on.

Nearing the top now he glanced to his right. There were two more ladders that way, each with another crew member waiting for the word. He didn't recongise them and guessed that they must have been new crew members from somewhere. To his left there was Tanya, slowly climbing up the ladder. He knew that the signal would be given soon, it was only a matter of time.

As Tanya reached the top of the ladder he nodded to himself. All was ready it seemed. And there was the signal. All four of them at once jumped up and let loose their knives, flying into the four nearest Navy sailers before they could let out a cry.

Matt drew his sword, trying to ignor the stabbing pain in his knee he looked around. It seemed that no one had noticed them yet, apart from the ones with daggers through their throuts of course, but they weren't a worry. The rest of the Navy people seemed to be admiring their work on the Pride. Behind him Matt could hear more of the pirates slowly creeping up the ladder, onto the ships deck.

When it sounded like there was enough of them aboard Matt slowly started creeping foward, limping heavily yet still making no sound. He walked slowly up to the nearest sailer and sliced his sword across the saliers neck.

A scream came from behind and Matt charged fowards, swinging his sword this way and that, trying to hit as many navy soldiers at once.

 

Kassandra grinned to herself as she drew her rapier from the side of her hip. If it was a fight these men wanted, she would give it to them! Although she was extremely cold from the grueling swim and felt like a soggy cat, her heart pumped in anticipation at the oncoming fight. She saw a nasty looking navy man approach her, with nothing more then a dagger in his hand and a menacing look in his eyes.

"If you think that I'm going to let you get that close to use that sticker, it'll be the last mistake of your life!"

The man cackled and spat on the deck viciously. "Nah, I don't need me dagger to teach ye a lesson, wench!" He lunged at her, his dagger poised to slide straight into her heart. But, like so many of his kind, he had underestimated Kassandra's skill with her blade and her speed. It took almost no energy for Kassandra to sidestep the overzealous navy dog and even less energy for her to very blithely slash her rapier across his belly, watching with a sort of perverse pleasure as he dropped down to the deck, howling in pain.

She snorted in contempt as she watched him clutch his stomach in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "'Tis no more then a scratch, sea dog. Perhaps you're not as tough as you would like to be."

But, she had no more time to speculate on the writhing man's situation as she was immediately attacked by another navy scoundrel, someone who had at least had the sense to fight with a decent weapon.

"Ye ugly pirate harpy! I'll see ye burn in hell for this," the man yelled at her as he used his superior strength to push Kassandra down hard on the deck and attempted to run her through with his sword. However, Kassandra had managed to roll away just as the blade would have struck her square in the chest. She quickly scrambled to her feet and assumed a defensive position, bracing herself squarely, so she would not be so easily pushed down again.

That was one of the reasons that she was such an excellent fighter. Whenever she got careless or cocky, Kassandra could easily adapt her fighting style to accommidate for her previous failings. The first navy man wasn't really expecting her to fight so well, but this one came prepared, so she had to be on her guard.

"What are you waiting for," she taunted, an evil smile dancing across her lips. "Come at me, and I'll strike you down just as easily as the last one."

"I'll carve ye black 'eart outta yer chest, you evil witch," the navy man screamed as he charged at her, slashing his sword wildly.

Kassandra almost laughed at her opponent's sloppy fighting. She could easily parry his slashes with several well-timed flicks and rolls of her wrist, but she shouldn't delay this any further. When a man calm, he was predictable, but when he was angry, he'd do anything to win, and this one was a wee bit angrier then she should have let him get. It was time for her to get on the offensive.

She quickly loosened up her limbs from the defensive position and began pressing forward, performing quick slashes and thrusts with her light weight rapier. It was easier for her to recover from executing a failed attack with her weapon, then it was for him, so Kassandra was easily able to gain momentum in the fight.

Still, the worst wasn't even upon them, and she had to conserve her energy, so she quickly ended the fight by feigning a low blow, low enough to immediately make the navy man cover up his most sensitive areas with his hands and then she effortlessly slashed her blade across his throat, making sure to back away enough that the spray of blood didn't splash on her.

She watched as his body dropped and said a quick prayer, offering his soul to the Lord of the Sea. Then, she walked away from his lifeless body, ready to start the cycle all over again.

 

Fabian was slow to climb the rope ladder. Sailing was just fine and he didn't mind the swim, but armed combat on shipboard was certainly not his best element. While he was glad that the storm was strong enough to hide their ascent from the ships at their backs, that also meant that the return of his magic was less than imminent. He'd have to find another way to take the helm from the two sailors who fought to hold the wheel as the Catherine tossed in the heavy sea. He crouched low against the rail and began moving forward.

Desmond noticed Fabian's surreptitious approach and took a different angle to the same place. The pommel of his cutlass came down on the head of one of the sailors before his fellow could call out a warning. Fabian wanted to grab the fallen man's uniform coat as a disguise but couldn't take the time, as the other sailor was forced away from the wheel to defend his life on the point of Desmond's blade. It wasn't a long fight, and Desmond quickly returned to guard Fabian's back against any attempts to re-take the helm.

As Fabian slowly started to steer the Catherine out of the tangle of navy vessels, he felt a small tingle in the back of his head that told him the storm was beginning to abate and that magic would slowly be coming back...

 

George's mind swirled to bananas and flying pancakes as he fighted with a somewhat mediocre enemy. Focusing on the battle, he parried a slash and then cut his opponent on the shoulder. As he expected, he fumbled his blade and George knocked him out with a well-placed punch.
Carrying on with the battle, George discovered that more and more enemies engaged him, probably because he only knocks people out.
"Back off." came a grunt from the enemy side. George felt the ship rumble as a tall, topless, dark-skinned and bald fella lumbered from somewhere. The fella's carrying a huge scimitar in his hands, and George's attackers dispersed.
This is trouble. George thought, as the tall guy approached him, grinning, and swinging his scimitar viciously.

 

As the battle commenced, Tanya finds five people from her crew and starts heading downstairs toward the gunpowder storage. Following a bunch of running soldiers through the bowels of the ship, she reached a doorway they just had gotten through. Before running after them, she only just heard the cry "Down! Guns!" from behind her before being pushed aside.

She heard the guns fire then, three or four. Looking around to who had pushed her aside, she saw Archer was grinning at her. Tom, Jack and Araes lay on the other side of the open doorway, "We're fine ma'am! You?"

She merely nodded and looked around. Barrels, tables and other random storage was lying around.
Tom was standing waiting at the door, and they kept silent, even though their presence was hardly audible due to the battle up on deck. A muzzle came slowly through the open doorway, and with one quick gesture, Tom had grabbed it and pulled of all his might, causing the wielder to tumble onto the floor between them. A jab of the cutlass from Tom and the blood gushed out of his chest as the soldier groaned incoherently in pain.

Tanya gritted her teeth and sighed. Necessities wasn't always to her liking. Tom Black carefully picked up the rifle, as he kept out of shooting line of the door. He looked around as he examined the gun, nodding with approvement.
"Well.. we got one gun, what now?"

"I heard three or four shots, three more came in there. We're four, and there's one less of them with him."
Tanya pulled her dagger and tipped it in the air, grapping the blade between her fingers.
"We'll have to get there now or more soldiers will come down here."

Araes, being short but strong with muzzled hair and a little mustauche, hopped up and pulled up the dead royal soldier.
"I have an idea. You all just follow me with weapons drawn, Tom, aim and shoot someone when I tell you.. and gimme your shirt."
Then he pulled off his shirt and spun it round the dead soldiers waist, and put Tom's way too large shirt on him as well.

Some disguise.. maybe a good scarecrow Tanya thought.

Araes had no fear though, "Now Tom!" he said and started a long warcry as he pulled up the dead body and ran through the doorway. In the second he was through, Tom took aim and hit a navy sniper in the head, then followed with cutlass drawn. Once again three or four shot at the charging Araes, or rather, his body that should cause the second of confusion that it did.
Tanya spurted in after them, throwing a dagger at a last one who was still aiming. A ralling sound could be heard from his throat as his life passed away.

Seeing the two odd pirates coming charging, Tom looked like a bear size compared to the small Araes that reminded more of a tiny barrel shape of muscles, the royalists drew their rapiers and engaged in the fight. "For king and country!" they roared.

Tanya and Archer came up quickly behind to even the odds. A quick step backwards saved Tanya from the oncoming rapier toward her face that cut away a piece of her hair, What skill!
She had her own rapier with though, from Ruthbarb's hoard. Amazing quality of a sword.
It was emerald adorned, made curiously light. Making a counter attack for the man's swordarm, he agilely dodged and brought his own rapier in between and kicked her knee.

"Argh!.." she winced and fell, and as he approached and stood over her she instinctly kicked as he was ready to strike her heart with the rapier. Unprepared for the unconventional attack, her leg flew up between his leg and hit him hard in the groin. The man coughed and dropped his rapier, falling backwards in sudden pain.

Tanya was breathing heavily as she got up, noting the others had been victorious, no, Araes was leaning over Jack. "Is he alright?" she demanded, but saw the mere shrug of Araes shoulders with following silence. Not good.
"We did it ma'am. I dont know if there's more gunpowder around, but I doubt it. Unless for officers of course."

She nodded at Tom, he was a good man. "Alright, you all stay here and guard this place. I have to return to deck. You're in command, Tom. No heroics, just keep the fort."
He nodded and withdrew her dagger and her rapier, and after getting a gun she limped back towards deck.

 

Even though he’d never sailed anything as large as a frigate-class ship, especially one that had taken cannon fire, Mister Fabian found the St. Catherine easier to manage than the Pride. The ship was built for manuvering in battle and distance between them and the rest of the armada grew steadily, if more slowly than he would like. The storm was abating and he didn’t know how much longer they had before the crew on the Isabelle would notice the incursion – or before the navy’s Stewards would be back in the battle.

He risked a glance with his magical vision, trying to assess the condition of the other mages. To his surprise, the others’ auras were still largely streaked with yellow confusion, although he could pick out Nimue’s familiar purple and Elder Pietronello’s red. He had an advantage, but he’d have to move quickly to make use of it.

The first order of business was to get farther away from the Isabelle. Mister Fabian gathered the ragged winds of the storm and directed them into the St. Catherine’s sails, pushing the ship away from the other navy vessels and accelerating their separation. Next, he tried to extend the concealment of his bracelet to Nimue, but the remnants of the storm put the Ariel out of range and blew his spell away, useless. He was grateful for the wheel under his hand and focussed on helping the Catherine ride the winds until the magical dizziness passed.

Casting a confusion towards the Isabelle would give them more time to get away, and wouldn’t require much concentration… That done, Mister Fabian looked across the St. Catherine’s decks to see how the battle was faring, just in time to see Desmond fall as the shot from a sailor’s pistol burst into his chest.

A wordless cry of fury sprang from his lips, carrying a jolt of power that tore through the sailor. The man hit the deck, bleeding from the nose and ears, but Mister Fabian had turned to catch Desmond and never noticed. His healer’s senses followed the path of the ball through his friend’s body and repaired the wake of damage it had left. Ripped muscle, shattered bone and torn flesh knit themselves together; within seconds, all that was left was a small scar and a bloodstained shirt. Desmond coughed briefly as Mister Fabian helped him to his feet.

“A good souvenir,” he remarked with a hard smile. “Now, to get out of here so I can show it off in a tavern, instead of a brig.”

[ December 01, 2003, 18:06: Message edited by: Rallymama ]

 

Coming onto the deck, Tanya looked around the battle scene. Apparently they seemed to be winning, however, many casualties could be avoided.. perhaps.
The captain might be able to make them stand down!

"White! Barrow! Follow me!" she called out as she ran the fastest she could while limping. The two pirates came swinging to her side from a mast where they'd had been fighting. Entering the captain's private storage room, fight had already taken its toll there and bleeding bodies lied at random on the floor and crates. Tanya tried to avoid the staring dead eyes of the bodies as they ran to the final door with rapier's raised. Barrow being the largest, made a charge at the large wooden door.

*thwump* *creak* *crash*

At the third attempt he rammed it in, and the three pirates stormed inside inside. The sound of thunder rang in Tanya's ears as Barrow took a direct hit in the head and she could the splintering of the skull of her comrade that fell before her. Instinctively, she rolled a side and jabbed up her rapier, in luck she found she had struck through the rips of the ambush royalist. "arrgh.." was all he muttered as he fell to the ground with a thump.

Another roar of the firearms, and she saw White fall back out the door, hit in the chest by whomever else was in here. Jumping to her feet, she raised the gun at whom turned out to be the captain of the ship. Black hair, crooked nose, small build yet fairly tall, he reminded her of Jack.. her son? But he was older than her! Yes.. Son?

He stood behind a table that had several guns on it, one currently resting in his hand, yet he was frozen. Staring back at the gun muzzle, he seemed undecided what to do. What the devil was a girl doing on equal terms with the other pirates!

Tanya shook her head a bit and asked in a confused disbelieving voice, "Jack Perry? Is that you..?"

The captain made a sly grin and tilted his head, looking at her curiously, "No, he's my grandfather," and as soon as he had spoke, he took advantage seeing the doubt in her eyes. Fast as a ready cat jumping upon a mouse, he dropped himself to the floor behind the table, raising the gun at her and fired.

Regaining her pose, alas too late. As Tanya nearly clicked the trigger, she was hit by the bullet. NO! Damn you Perry!
Thrown backwards, she stumbled and fell onto her back, pain being the only reality as she felt life oozing from her chest somewhere. Gritting her teeth, her blurred sight looked into the ceiling. It displaying a large painting, four angels come to bless the crown of the king. Beautiful angels..

The face of the captain approached and now blocked her path completely. She could feel his examining touch, and feared the worst as he made a wolfish grin.
"I know you.. you're the Admiral de Trinst's daughter. He did call you wild, never thought he meant something like this. How did you know my grandfather?"
His face made a more curious mask as he turned the topic to familiarities.

Tanya remembered some of the tellings of the other officers her father had pointed over dinner. Even proposing some as future husbands for Tanya.

"Shawn..?" she whispered hoarsely.

"How did you know!" he asked demanding and slapped her hard. Tanya could barely feel it as her head followed the movement, staring out the cabin window in the wall.
My storm.. I made a storm..
She smirked and felt a surge of happiness override the pain before all faded to black.

 

Kassandra sighed annoyingly as she looked around the deck of the Isabelle. The fighting was no longer stimulating for her, the few navy men that still stood could easily be handled by the overanxious pirates who seemed to want more blood spilt. As for Kassandra, she had had enough of it, and decided to leave the men to what they apparantly did best.

She knelt down, cleaned her bloodied blade on some dead navy man's shirt, and stood up, ready to explore the ship a bit further. Kassandra strolled across the deck, making sure to dodge the still fighting navy men and pirates. She could admire their "Never Give Up" spirit, but the navy men were getting tired, and the pirates were relentless. A victory for them would be inevitable. That would probably make Tanya smile, she thought as she hopped down the small staircase leading below deck.

The hallway was clogged with bodies, blood, and much evidence that there had been fighting, which could be very dangerous for her. Kassandra raised her rapier up defensively, ready to block any surprise attack and then strike at her leisure. She quietly crept through the hall, making sure not to step on any of the lifeless bodies. She winced slightly as each of her steps brought forth a light creak from the pressure on the wood. Something didn't feel right here, and she would definitely have to be on her guard.

Kassandra made her way through the passageway and jumped slightly when she heard a solitary gunshot, then a cry of pain. A woman's cry, and there was only one other woman that she knew of that was on the Isabelle. Dammit, Tanya, she thought fiercely as she raced through the passage, her sword drawn and ready to strike down whomever had hurt the first mate.

She gasped as she saw two bodies cluttered outside the doorway. They were pirates, she knew instinctively, and if they were dead, then, only the Lord of the Sea knew Tanya's fate. Instantly, Kassandra wished that she was better armed. It was obvious that the navy dog that had killed these men was armed with a firearm, and she flexed her left hand, wishing that it was appropriately armed as well. But, it was too late for regrets. Those pirates didn't need her, they needed Tanya, and she had to be sure that she was still alive.

Gathering up all of her courage and strength, Kassandra stormed the room and stopped immediately when she was met with a gun aimed directly at her chest.

"Not another move, woman. Lower your weapon."

Kassandra groaned inwardly as she scanned her surroundings. The room was littered with bookshelves that were filled with maps and nautical books to the point of bursting. As she slightly focused behind the man, she could see the open sea behind him. She heard a soft moan, and looked in the direction of whence it came. It was Tanya, who seemed to be unconscious and bleeding from her shoulder, which must've been from the shot she had heard earlier. Heh, so this is the captain of this ship. I must be careful with him.

"Did you hear me, pirate? I said to lower your weapon."

Kassandra looked at the captain and smiled softly. "Would you leave me utterly defenseless then? Where is your honor?"

"There is no honor for your ilk, woman, especially for such a group to put two women on the battlefield."

Her smile deepened as she recognized an opportunity for her to leave this room alive. It was risky, but she had to take it, not only her live, but Tanya's live depended on it. "So, good captain, are you saying that because I am a woman that I cannot win against you in a duel?"

The captain smiled and laughed boisteriously, his hand never leaving its mark. "My dear pirate girl, you could never be a match for me."

Ah, arrogance and a sense of pride. Perhaps my plan will work after all. Kassandra nodded as she drew up her rapier close to her body, preparing herself for a match. "Then, draw your sword against me, captain. Let us see which of us is the better."

"Are you mad, wench? I am the one with the revolver! I am the better!"

"Are you really," she said coyly. "You have an overwhelming advantage over me, sir. You are male, and yet you point a weapon at me that gives me no chance to survive from. Where is your honor?"

"How dare you question my honor?!"

She grinned openly now. He was falling into her ploy, she only needed to drive the knife even deeper into his back. "Well, a truly honorable captain would meet his opponent on a level playing field. Since I am but a mere woman, that field can only be leveled so much. Come now, Captain, you are stronger, smarter and quicker then I could ever aspire to be. Meet me with your sword. I will die either way, but at least give me this fighting chance. It would be the honorable thing to do."

Kassandra's breath came out quick and erratic as she nervously watched the captain mull over her words in his mind. She had hoped that she had boasted his pride enough to fight her with his sword, because no matter how fast or how strong she really was, there was no way for her to dodge the ball in that gun.

 

"Hah! You'll fall before my blade you pirate scum, as easy as that one."
he nodded at Tanya while keeping his eyes fixed on Kassandra.

"Engarde!" he sneered as he raised his rapier in a swift motion, five paces from Kassandra.