Pirates of the Sorcerean - A dawn at sea

Remove all ads!

"The Order of Stewards, are a strange lot, look at Mr Fabian, oddest fella' I've ever seen. Or even yourself, even if you do have nice legs" he said with a wink.

 

Nimue's eyes blaze. For the first time, there is real anger in her voice. "I am a Steward, if only an Apprentice. I am not here for you to lust over. I have had bad experiences with your sort in the past, and I warn you, they have taught me something; you try anything and I warn you, you will find yourself unable to do anything about your appreciation for the rest of your life!" Her voice has risen steeply, though she is not quite screaming.

After a deep breath, she is again calm, although the fire smolders still in her eyes. "I am not here to be a woman. I am here to be a Steward. The office Fabian and I share is necessary to your mission. Anything else I am is of no concern to you. Do not think of me as a woman. I am a Steward."

 

"She speaks the truth about the Order," Mister Fabian interrupts smoothly, seeing that Dante is getting angrier. "We have no interest here beyond the safety of the ship and crew, and the success of the mission. Such has always been the purpose of Stewards. But enough of generalities that you all should know anyway." Mister Fabian knew that everyone in the galley was listening to him.

"I, too, know only that we head to Sorrow's Rock to seek the Treasure of Ruthbarb. I was hoping to learn more about the mission from our First Mate." He turns expectantly to Tanya.

 

"Calm down you old maid, I was only joking, although, I'm a little confused as to what 'my sort' is." he said with a quizical smile.

 

"Your sort will do anything," Nimue replies very softly. Then she turns to Tanya, waiting for the woman's answer, quite pointedly ignoring Dante and indicating that the conversation is at an end.

 

"Now wait a minute. If you are implying I will rape you, then you are sorely mistaken, and if you are indeed implying that, then I believe this needs to be sorted out right now. I have never, and never will assault a woman! You had better believe this or the two of us have just seriously fallen out"

 

"Were we ever 'in'?" Nimue replies, with a grim smile. "I have had reason to reach this conclusion, and screaming at me only solidifies. If you want me to change my mind about you, and others, prove me wrong - over time. If it's worth it to you."

 

"You are damned right that it's worth it to me. I have never been accused of any such thing until now." Dante sighed, his anger slowly flowing away "But if it's proof you want then you had better wait and see. The voyage is long, and perhaps you will come to trust me. Now I hope you will all excuse me, I seem to have lost my hunger." He stood up then, and stalked away.

 

Mister Fabian looks at Nimue disapprovingly, drumming his well-manicured nails on the table. "You have considerable natural talent for magic, my dear, but your potential will remain unrealized if you cannot learn to control your temper. Remember, too, that a Steward's primary duty is to maintain harmony on board ship, not destroy it." He nods to Tanya as he rises smoothly from the table. "If you'll excuse me, Ma'am, I'd best go make our apologies to Mr. Dante. If there is anything I need to know about this mission, Nimue can fill me in later."

He leaves the galley in search of Dante, grabbing a small basket of fresh muffins from Meatloaf just as he emerges from the inner sanctum of the kitchen.

 

'Ah, a break from the Kitchen at last!' Meatloaf thinks, as he takes a in deep breath of fresh sea air.

Leaning on the rail at the very edge of the deck Meatloaf looks down in below. The Ariel swiftly cuts it's way through the water, leaving a long white trail behind it, as far as Meatloaf could see.

Getting sick of being treated like a servant Meatloaf had left the Kitchen in the capable hands of Hef, the old cook. Even though his cooking wasn't remarkable, Meatloaf had quickly learnt he did have some talent and had decided to take it on as a personal task to train Hef up properly.

Looking out at the horizon Meatloaf jumps a little as he sees a while spot on the very edge, the mythical place where the sky reaches the water.

With a small yelp Meatloaf releases that that must be a ship, he quickly pulls over the nearest crew member to have a look.

"See! See! Just over there!"

The crew member spends a while looking before shaking his head.
"Ah, there be nothin' out there sir, but us and the sea. You must 'ave bein' imaginin' it. The heat does that sometimes ye know?"

As the crew member went back to his work Meatloaf leant as far as he could over the rail with out falling off, looking for this thing. He could have sworn it was out there just a second ago, but now, just a blank horizon.


What Meatloaf, and the rest of the crew for that matter, didn't know was that just over the horizon did sail a ship. A fleet of ships for that matter. At the head of the fleet was none other than The Waitoa, captained by Admiral William de Trinst.

The Waitoa was a ship, not all to different than the Ariel. Infact it was the same in every detail. William himself had had this ship built off the designs he got off some poor ship builder a few years back.

They had left early morning a few days back, and had been sailing non-stop ever since. So far everything had gone according to plan. There had been no sightings of any other boats, the weather couldn't have been better, and the ship seemed to be holding out.

"At this rate, we should be there before it's to late," the Admiral said to no one in particular.

 

Peyweth staggered out of his repulsivly clean cabin. He rubbed his bleary eyes and tried to figure out why everyone was yelling so early in the morning.
Slouching, he made his way over to where Dante was now standing. He put one hand on his shoulder for ballance. "Wassamatter?" came his slurred voice as his still sleepy brain tried to figure out what was happening.

 

"Nothing captain," Dante said "Here, let me walk with you to the galley."

 

"Surrre thing, matey," said Peyweth. He started staggering towards the galley, presumably with Dante.

 

Seeing Dante in conversation with the Captain, Mister Fabian decides that the apology can wait and heads up to the deck to enjoy breakfast in the morning air.

[ October 16, 2003, 15:26: Message edited by: Rallymama ]

 

Tanya set her mug down, a little more hard than would be normal and turned to face Nimue, giving her an annoyed look as if the episode messed up her entirely peaceful morning.
"You'll mind your attitude while on this ship, or you're not on this ship. No excuses. I don't care if you're Stewards or not, you'll comply chain of command as everyone else or this voyage is sure to fail... on my command. We're here to find treasure, and you're here to find whatever.. for some reason." she shrugs and rises, walking up on the deck to the prow.

Feeling the wind flying through her hair, she looks to the horizon trying to recall her many adventures upon these waters. However feeling as something bothered her, it had to be something she'd forgotten.
What was it.. before that episode at the galley. Fabian..
She turned around and noted the rising sun and the dissolvement of the red color into shining clear golden.
Ah.. yes

Walking across deck, she found the old Georgio eating an apple while lying on a pile of robe enjoying the sunrise. Tanya stepped in front of him, and her shadow covered him.
Opening his eyes, he looked upon her and smiled an innocent smile, reavealing all his teeth.
"Er, Ma'am... I haven' done any'ing wrong now, have I?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Not at all Georgio, I have a job for you. The Steward says it'd be better to watch out for a violent change of weather on a red dawn, I don't know about you, but if a storm comes I guess we should be prepared. Even though we had worse."

"Har har, indeed ma'am. Help an ol' hawk up. Me backside is getting a lil' creaky." he pats his back and offers a hand that Tanya takes with a firm grip pulling him up.

"Excellent Georgio, just make a call if anything happens."

"Aye ma'am." he said and crawled up towards his post.

[ October 16, 2003, 19:15: Message edited by: Lokken ]

 

Finishing breakfast in peace, Mister Fabian tried to put Nimue out of his mind. The girl really did have incredible potential, and after that episode in Port Mynor the very least he owed her was the opportunity to develop her talents, but sometimes she was just so trying… He managed to clear his thoughts, then stirred a pinch of bluish powder into the dregs of his coffee (well-brewed, but he really did prefer tea) and downed the potion. After a few seconds his spirit roamed across the waters, free as any bird.

There was a storm coming, but nothing bad… a few merfolk were on the move…
a pod of dolphins hunted in a school of herring… All well and good, but not what Mister Fabian needed to know. There was no way that they’d be the only ship in pursuit of the treasure, and no way that any ship on such a mission would be without a Steward. The Elders hadn’t told him about any similar assignments, but he’d been in the Order long enough to not expect them to be forthcoming with information, or to believe them when they said they were relying on him to bring Perry’s lorebooks back. He had to know who he’d be facing if he were to prepare properly…

The spell had almost run its course when Mister Fabian felt a familiar presence, something that tugged at an ages-old memory. He kept his distance, not revealing himself, while he tried to place the feeling, then broke contact suddenly. St. John? David St. John? He hadn’t been the brightest talent but he had managed to pass initiation, and his father’s contacts had earned him a commission in the Royal Navy. If he were on the chase, that added a new twist to the mix. Mister Fabian’s mission became that much more crucial – if he didn’t recover the lorebooks for they Order, they faced either complete destruction or subjugation to the Crown. Not a pleasant fate, in either case.

Mister Fabian’s grey eyes smouldered as he sought out Tanya. “It seems that you know more about the hazards before us than you’re saying, Ma’am. What’s this about the Royal Navy being involved?”

[ October 16, 2003, 20:08: Message edited by: Rallymama ]

 

Tanya smirked and looked at Fabian. "We all have our sources. The Royal Navy has fallen over information of the whereabouts of the treasure, a map I'd suppose," she shrugged and continued, "but it should be authentic enough if they're amassing ships to find it. The Captain found out about this information in a harbor before coming here seeking out a crew. Suffice to say he found one, and knowing the extent of the crew I found it wise to launch the mission at least a day or two before the royalists..."

"As for that which I may know, it is sometime decent not to spread. When a tale gets wings, the true content of it might be shrouded in illusions, wouldn't you agree?" she looks at Fabian.

"Indeed, ma'am, but... what is it you speak of?" Fabian replies, looking genuinely curious.

"Ah, well that. I've known about the Royal Navy for some time, and 'tis my fortune when I heard of Peyweth coming to town. You see, there's a reason I've never mentioned my last name. 'Tis not one of great morale value upon a ship like this, if you get my meaning. I suppose I could trust with a secret? You seem like one who's to keep the peace aboard, admirable indeed."

Fabian nods and smiles, "Of course ma'am, I think I'd be offended if you would suggest otherwise."
A chant, and Fabian brought forth another ward of secrecy around them.

"Very well... I'm Tanya de Trinst, daughter of Admiral William de Trinst, one of those that will come looking for the treasure and a loyal subject to the crown. Seems rather logical how I would know about them now, does it not?"
She smirks and gives him an observing stare.

"Keep in mind, should this be spoken of for any members on this ship I'd have your head. I might be a daughter of the law, but my spirit certainly reminds more of the storm should things go astray."

 

"You can count on my discretion, Ma'am," Mister Fabian murmured with a slight bow. "Even Nimue won't know. If I may ask, though - if you know your father's fleet's mission, what reason do you have to believe that he's not aware of your actions?"

 

Tanya laughs and smiles charmingly at Fabian.
"Pardon me, but I'm sure he's quite aware I'm on the hunt for the treasure. I have been for the last ten years, sir. He said it didn't exist, and damned me everytime I went to sea in search for it. He was however... always glad to have me home safe, everytime I came back from sea."
She sighs, and looks to their rear, pondering when the navy would set sail.

"Now he knows better. He'll probably suspect me going for it, even though he ordered me not to. And I would have, be it on this ship or any other."

 

"Any ship but one of his, you mean?" Before Tanya could answer, Mister Fabian added quietly, "They're already under way, you know, and I don't think this is a two-way race."

[ October 17, 2003, 02:24: Message edited by: Rallymama ]