RP Pirates of the Hard Nox 2



The Baron nodded, content to leave Juniper to deal with whoever this sod was. Judging from his remorse over Sinead's death, he seemed to be someone who fancied himself a friend of the captain-- a far different fate than actually being one. Still, it was neither his place nor his interest to judge, and he offered a small look of reassurance to the girl before he left for the Captain's quarters. Not a long walk, by any means, but enough for his mind to drag back to the events of the night prior. Try as the world might to move him forward, he was rooted in that memory until he could make sense of the clamor.

The roots were no closer to being untangled when he reached the door to Caleb's room, knocking on it twice with the cadence of an intrusive father.

"Captain O'Cain." He rumbled. "You're needed on the deck. There's a fellow here, says he knew Sinead."

 
Caleb woke up naturally after his first good hours of sleep in days, but refused to leave the bed. With his eye still closed he groped the bed in search of his companion, who at that hour had already left. Of course she had.

He heard the two knocks on the door followed by Emryk’s calling and slid out of bed, still wearing the pants of the night before. He put on his boots, covered his torso with an untied red robe and checked himself in the mirror before opening the door to meet the baron.

“Good morning, quartermaster. You’re quartermaster now, congrats on the promotion, Alys will tell you the details.” He tapped his arm as the shoulders were too tall to reach and walked past the scaly man to get to the deck. “Did he say anything else?” He asked.
 
After a spell the two separated, Nessa giving her good night in a distracted sort of way. She drifted around the ship, there were plenty of little nooks and crannies one could sit and think in, if they wanted somewhere to be with their thoughts. For the moment, that’s what Nessa had, her thoughts, and a conversation for her to replay as she spun a ring around the tip of her finger, staring at nothing. Stronger than she thought? Or was she just —

— Maybe sleep was fitful, maybe it wasn’t, but it was dreamless. One moment eyes closed, and the next saw sunlight shining through boards. The morning sun didn’t prickle like probing fingers looking for a weakness as it usually did, instead it simply felt warm and unpleasant. Like it was trying to cook her skin through the little slats it glared at her through.

With a stretch, Nessa raised from the crate she had curled up on, though she felt no better rested than she had the night prior, nor did she feel worse. The young vampire slid her legs over the side of the crate, and dropped down to the grumbling boards below. She rolled her neck as she made her way back out of the storeroom she had spent the night in and worked her way back to the women’s bunk. She felt that she should write a letter soon, if only to clear some thoughts out of her own mind.

Nessa made her way up the stairs at the end of the hall, two at a time.
 
News traveled quickly that morning. By the time she left her room and made her way down to the mess, Alys knew about Leo's fate. Knew, and had to pretend that she'd known for longer; biting back her surprise, then remaining solemn and quiet.

Why the fuck hadn't he told her? Wouldn't a united front be better? For him, as the new Captain? And her? So that she didn't look like a fucking idiot?

A steaming bowl of stew sat in front of her, and for a couple minutes, she picked at it, mind drifting.

She'd killed men she'd known longer for far less. He'd been a liability - knowingly or not - and in their last moments together, he'd turned on her, for whatever reason. Alys thought back to the words she'd spat out at him, refusing to regret them. Why was it that she felt saddened then?

Deciding that she wasn't hungry, Alys rose and left the mess, wordlessly descending deeper into the Nox. Deeper, until reaching the brig. Surprisingly, she heard voices within, and upon reaching the doorway, recognized who they belonged to.

Talk of limbs and decomposition. Lovely. Especially when an one-armed body laid between them, head caved in, chest ripped open. Contained with Lucien, both of them behind bars. Alys swallowed and looked up, towards Mal and Lucien. Crossing her arms across her chest, she stepped through the doorway. "Morning."
 
Juniper's face screwed up in distaste at the mention of Crow and Sinead sharing a bed. It was no secret that she'd been promiscuous, but the changeling had never needed to speak to one of those people afterwards. They made no comment though, hoping to let the conversation move on. Unfortunately, the next topic made them regret that decision.

They remembered all at once. He'd been at Fen Manor. Had fought the captain directly, challenged her if memory served. Juniper frowned, and curled their arm and hand more tightly around the staff. "That was me, yes. If you don't take a step back like I asked, you'll get to feel firsthand what that felt like." After their blowup the previous night on the guard of that manor, they were unlikely to actually follow through, but he didn't need to know that. "How about you get to answering those questions now, yeah?"
 
No damage. That was a relief- it seemed this dog had been around long enough to know how to keep himself leashed. His question on their arm elicited a faint smile. Mal stood up from their work, wrapping their hand around one of the bars, before pulling it violently to the side- and nearly snapped the metal clean in two.

"I suppose it does." They said, "Good thing I found that out, eh- that's one nasty design flaw. At least you haven't done anything that would land you behind those bars properly."

Vampire-proofing would be a rough task, and it wouldn't be anything Lucien would be willing to help them with. That... necromancer, perhaps- Hester, or whatever she said her name was. Mal hadn't spoken to her much, but perhaps it was time to reach out. Collaborating with someone who knew how to rein in the undead would make things go smoothly, as much as- god, there really was something wrong with them. Allowing someone else to work on the ship's mechanisms alongside them? They'd keep an eye on Hester, for sure, but they knew they'd need her expertise. It made them sick.

"It interests me, too."

They flexed the hand before them, watching its movement.

"Vampires don't rot, but dead vampires- they can't last forever, can they? I wonder- do you think my usual preservatives will..."

Ah. An interruption. Mal turned to face Alys who, though somewhat guarded, at least had the courtesy to greet the pair.

"Mm." They nodded, "That, it is."
 


The prospect of being promoted to quartermaster overnight was a stronger slap to the face than if Caleb had simply backhanded Emryk himself; not an insulting one, mind, but the shock crested along his face all the same. Given the stoic nature of Al'Ashtavahk expression, it manifested in a raise of the brow, his arms crossing.

"That..." ... is the right choice. Hardly an appropriate thing to say; Alys would've made a fine quartermaster, if the hurdle of her illiteracy had been cleared. Something prideful stirred-- his ego caressed, some long-dormant part of him satiated-- and he was quick to wrangle it by the neck, fingers curling as he gave a nod and soft smile. "... will be a decision I do not take lightly, Captain. I'm honored to have your trust, in that regard, and I'll fit the station as best as I am able." He followed beside Caleb, hands locked behind his back as he looked down to the man with a pensive expression. "I do hope Alys wasn't demoted to provide such an opportunity. She seems a loyal friend to keep close; you two work well together."

And he said nothing more upon the matter, looking back towards the approaching sight of Juniper and the newcomer. "He said nothing further. Seemed to be troubled by the old Captain's death, and then I left to fetch you." A shrug. "Given Sinead's, ah... purported tendencies, well. Another pirate, would be my guess, or something adjacent." And he said nothing more upon that matter, as well. "Shall you have me remain here, or would you like me to speak with Alys posthaste?"

 
Now the threat was serious, but Crow wasn’t as scared of it as he was curious. He trusted his skills well enough to believe he’d survive if they followed through with their word, and what better way to see what that staff was capable of than that? He took a step forward.

“Show me. Can you do that without blowing up your ship?” He asked, feeling the anger burning in Juniper’s eyes. His irises glew purple; a cold flame, preventive and controlled.

***

“She wasn’t demoted,” Caleb explained, trying not to smile too widely. “From now on, you’ll split responsibilities. You as quartermaster, she as my first mate.”

Caleb didn't feel the need to tell Emryk how well they worked together, knowing that the longer they kept the extent of their relationship private, the safer it would be for the both of them. Emer knew of his feelings, but that was different. He trusted Emer. A spark of doubt grew on his chest, one he forced away as quickly as possible. The talk about their new visitor was a welcomed distraction.

“The only people who would be troubled by her death are on this ship.” Caleb said, based on the ten years he’d watched her. As they stepped outside, he noticed the sun was already high up in the sky, peaking through the clouds of Leimor.

“There's no rush, do as you wish. Do you know what time it is?” He asked, remembering of the meeting he’d scheduled the night prior. Walking towards the man in purple Caleb didn't feel the need to hurry his step as from afar, Juniper seemed to have him under control.
 
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Oh, so he was one of those. Their weight shifted, from leaning on the staff to their feet, as they brought it around to sit in front of them. "Y'know," they started, as a tingling sensation began to travel up their arm, "last night was really bad for me. Really, really bad. Bad enough that I haven't gotten much sleep, and only barely had a meal before coming up here." That feeling was up to their elbow. Juniper shifted the staff, picking the end up off the ground and turning their body to a narrower angle, taking half a step towards the man.

"I can see you know at least a little bit of magic. Dunno how different yours is from mine, but I can tell you, mine gets angry. If you're not going to cooperate, and answer my pretty simple questions, I might just have to try out this staff on you." It was creeping up through their shoulder, towards their back. The hairs on their arm were standing on end now. "I've been pretty eager to give it a go, and haven't really gotten a chance yet. Can't imagine it would feel very good, though."
 


"Juniper."

His voice was gentle, never harsh-- one hand coming to rest upon her shoulder, a moment, as the Baron quietly interjected himself. "Thank you for keeping our guest occupied. You should fetch yourself something from the mess-- you'll find better conversation with last night's stew, I imagine." If she were to look at him, a calm and asking glance would be given her way; not a forceful command, but a hopeful attempt to de-escalate whatever this was. Given he'd walked back to find Juniper threatening the unknown man, he could only assume he'd done something to deserve it.

A glance was spared to Caleb, and his hand left Juniper's shoulder. "I'd lost my pocketwatch on the Truth Teller; couldn't be any earlier than... mid-morning, though." He made a note to acquire a watch from a vendor, today, and shrugged. "I'll leave you to it, Captain."

He walked past Crow, gaze set forward. Stone-faced.

"Cause no trouble. Sir."

Footsteps thundered along the deck as he made his way beneath, attempting to find wherever Alys had situated herself. He'd try the mess first, then the crew quarters.

 
Situating herself beside Mal, purposefully leaving plenty of space for the upright vampire to leave, Alys found herself looking down at Leo's remains.

He was unrecognizable, and for a moment, she debated whether this was better or worse. Better, she'd decided. The gore didn't bother her anymore; not when she'd once had to scrub many a deck of it. Back when she didn't have anything else to offer; a small, stick-thin girl who could hardly wield a sword resembling a needle.

It should've been a quick death too. That was good. Unfortunate that his arm was taken, but what could she do? Knowing Mal, they'd use it to better the ship somehow. She supposed that was good too, even though she didn't necessarily agree with it.

When she died - no, if she died on this fucking ship - would they come to tear her apart too? Probably not, her body wasn't anything special.

At the thought, she felt the taste of bile trickling up her throat. Swallowing, keeping her ever-charming neutral expression on her face, she looked between Mal and Lucien. "Can I take him now?"
 
Lucien remained stoic as Mal demonstrated their newly-gained vampiric strength, nearly snapping the bars that Caleb had thought would hold Leo. Perhaps he had not known his own strength yet. Or perhaps he did not wish to escape, and did not wish harm upon the other members of the crew. Lucien would have almost certainly still killed him regardless of that fact, so he remained unbothered.

"When a vampire dies, time finally takes its toll." He grinned joylessly, gesturing to the drying gore at his feet. "This one was fresh, barely a second skipped on the clock. On the other hand, you most likely will not live to see what happens when I am finally put down."

As if on cue with this macabre discussion, the quartermaster's whore came down to join them. Gaining her paramour's hierarchical sloppy seconds seemed not to faze her, and if anything had made her more of a chore to be around. Lucien raised an eyebrow at her request, smoothly stepping out of the cage before gesturing towards the open door with a deep, and clearly mocking, bow.

"By all means, take the pup to those who would mourn him. Precious few as they may be." Lucien righted with the ghost of a sneer on his face. He doubted Leo would be missed, and if he was it would not be for very long.
 
So the answer was no, they couldn’t. Crow remembered how he’d been before training, how uncontrollable his magic was. It took him time, a lot of training and the dreadful books. He hated those.

“A little bit… That’s an understatement.” He said with a chuckle, leaning his head to the side to pick his ear with his little finger. He would have taught the young girl a lesson, had the giant lizard not returned with the brand new captain. Even if it was just for show, he didn’t think they’d take his magic lightly, and three against one was too much, it wasn't worth the risk.

“What were the questions again? Oh, right. I met Sinead in Fen Manor, we got closer in Allegria and I came here to accept her job offer. It’s too bad I can’t do that anymore.” He turned to the Deadly Shot, eyeing him from head to toe, unimpressed. He was shorter up close, and didn’t have the attributes Sinead had. The lizard meddled into his conversation with Juniper, telling them to leave it up to the captain and Crow interjected. “There’s no need, I’m on my way as I’m clearly not welcome here.” He shrugged, flashing Juniper a smile before turning his back on the group. “If you really wanna give it a go… I’m staying at the inn across from the library, there’s a field behind it. I won’t charge the hour.”

Crow’s raven croaked and flew past them, at the same time, the man’s boots were engulfed by his familiar purple flame, lifting him off the ground. In style and without resistance from the captain he flew back to shore.

***

Stew. The suggestion wasn’t meant for him, but Caleb’s stomach complained as Emryk brought up the stew. When was the last time he’d eaten? Before the ball, and it was never a good idea to discuss business on an empty stomach. Luckily for him, the stranger he never learned the name of decided not to cause any trouble, though the fact he knew Sinead and she had apparently offered him a job was trouble by itself.

“I’ll go with you, I’m starving.” He told Juniper, inviting them to join him at the mess after the baron and the mage had left.
 
Lucien's presence was never welcome, largely due to his unpredictability and hateful personality. He was still here though, for some unfortunate reason, disguising his wallowing and grief with even more hatefulness. How original, albeit consistent. She could appreciate that.

Forcing the smallest of smiles, Alys strode past him, and into the cell he'd been occupying moments before. Without allowing herself to think or inhale too deeply, she grabbed Leo by the ankles and tugged - hard. "Lucien - what a kind idea," she acknowledged, dragging the body out of the cell. "I was just going to burn him. Did you think of that during your night together?" He was out now, laying between the three of them. No longer caged.

She looked up at Lucien and smiled again, this time with less restraint. "Would you be a gentleman and help me carry him up? Or am I truly to believe that Ciaran's one of a kind on this ship?" Of course, she could do it herself - she had done it herself, back in the Ice Lands. He'd likely weigh even less now, with the amount of pooled blood beyond the cage.
 
Had it not been for Emryk, it likely would have devolved into a full on brawl. Thankfully, the comforting, and frankly grounding, presence of the Baron caused the sensation building throughout Juniper's body to dissipate. They held back more biting remarks, and watched him fly off. He certainly hadn't impressed them, if that was what he was going for, and he was not as bright as he pretended to be if he thought they would meet up with him after this. Happy to see him off, their shoulders relaxed, only to stiffen once more at Caleb's request.

"Uh, yeah, sure," they said, not even remotely enthused to have him come along. Frankly, they had been hoping to avoid him for the foreseeable future, but that clearly wasn't in the cards. Instead, they'd be trapped in conversation. The changeling began the walk to the mess, desperately hoping he didn't follow.
 
"Not in this form, I won't." They nodded, "Not unless you want to follow his lead."

Vampire biology wasn't something Mal was used to working with. Most of their parts had come from easier marks- humans, some fairies, an elf or two, but nothing so challenging. It was unfamiliar, and therefore interesting. Still, they wouldn't push their luck- not now, not here.

Once the inspection was complete, they walked over to the lock and passed a thread through it, opening the cage doors for Alys to pass through.

"I'll take another limb." They said, reaching for their knife, "His other arm, unless you particularly need it intact."

They didn't much care about respecting the dead.
 
Caleb felt the tension between them, thick as a block of ice. He knew it had to do with the crow cages and him not getting rid of it yet, but feeling like he didn’t owe Juniper anything, the captain followed them quietly into the mess hall without as much as an apology.

“What else did that guy want?” He asked once they got there, dodging the chains on the floor. Now that he could, he took a mental note of making the hall more accessible in the near future. After unscrewing the cages.
 
"Please don't."

A quiet voice, from the stairwell, close enough on the heels of Mal's request that the speaker must have been there for at least a little while. To be fair, she didn't shadow very much of the doorway.

"He wouldn't have liked that. He didn't like... being used." She didn't really know him very well, or, hadn't really known him very well, she supposed, but Pris knew enough about Leo to know that much at least. He'd been very clear about wanting a chance to make his own choices, after...

...well, there had been a lot, that it had been after. The body didn't bother her, though. She was used to bodies. She was also used to things happening to bodies, once they were bodies. There had been a lot of that, on Mr. King's ship. It had always just seemed like the way it was. Maybe it still was. Maybe it always would be. Mr. King would have known what to do, of course, but Pris thought that just because someone knew what to do didn't make it a good choice. And Leo...

...Leo would have chosen differently. She took the last step down, off the stairway, and stepped aside, reaching for a bucket that was just inside the doorway.

"I'll clean up. That's what he would have wanted."
 
It appeared as though the scavenger hadn't eaten its fill. And to wait overnight for seconds? Alys raised a brow and turned her head towards Mal, gut churning with a mixture of apprehension and disgust, only for the movement - and then voice - of a small figure to capture her attention. Her expression softened and she watched as the young necromancer stepped into the room, reaching for a nearby bucket.

She hadn't been much older, scrubbing the floors of shit and gore - look how she turned out. And without residing amongst the horrors of the Truth Teller.

"Take it, and then we're taking him upstairs," she whispered fo Mal. Opting to protect the living, rather than someone who was already dead and torn apart, she stepped towards Pris, attempting to place herself between the girl and the others. The grisly scene, the vampire who'd torn apart another little girl, and the being with four stitched limbs.

"Someone else will come clean up, Pris. Tell me, have you seen Emer today?"
 
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After over a year and a half, stepping over and navigating around the chains holding everything down was second nature, even in their relative exhaustion. Juniper shrugged as they stepped over one, hardly stopping to look in Caleb's direction. Anyone passing by in the opposite direction could see the discomfort on their face, and the new captain could almost certainly hear it, if he cared to listen, when they spoke.

"Not a damn clue. Some curse by the gods sent specifically to piss me off, I guess. Said he wanted to talk to Sinead a few times, but wouldn't elaborate past that." In truth, Juniper hadn't truly cared what he had to say past that. It was the second time in recent memory someone had just waltzed on to the ship unannounced, and given recent events, it made them supremely uncomfortable. It was only a matter of time before something went wrong again at this rate.

The changeling collected a bowl of stew, simmering in perpetuity, and made their way to a seat.
 
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