Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open]

Perhaps it wasn't an appropriate time to fuck around - Alys wasn't quick enough answer Hester's question, let alone enjoy her bland potato when Caleb began to corral the rest of the crew. It was for the better, wasn't it? And despite sitting down for less than two minutes, she had to get up, didn't she? "I feel like shit, but collecting gemstones can fix that." A sly grin danced across her lips. 

She stuffed the rest of the potato down, chewed, and swallowed, before glancing towards Beck. Juniper and Hester seemed to be pairing up - again - and Nessa would obviously be treasure hunting, leaving the young archer alone. The mousey brunette picked at her potato, brown eyes looking anywhere but at the fae. With a small smile, Alys rose and turned to look towards the girl. "First treasure hunt? You'd look damn good with a red amethyst or emerald on each ear." Without waiting for a response, she grabbed one of the pillows that sat on the empty armchair and left the room. After all, Beck certainly didn't answer to her - not yet anyways. But who could resist the promise of beautiful stones? 

Standing in the empty hallway, the fae stopped by her pile of belongings and began to slip on her coat. Her eyes wandered though, finding Caleb and watching as he leaned against the doorframe. Without a word, she hoisted the chest back into her arm, pillow and sword balancing on top, and walked towards the door. "Pardon me, Captain," she whispered as she passed, giving him a sidelong glance, only to emerge onto an empty street. 

"I think it's back. I haven't looked yet." And she wasn't going to. Not now, at least. Too many people around. She had no idea how it'd react to such a crowd.

Before she could say more about the idea of a trip--to agree, or disagree, or whatever she was going to do--Caleb got in the way. Which was probably for the best. The less talking she did, the less chance of her saying something completely out of pocket there was.



"Aye aye," she said, allowing only the barest smidgen of irony into her voice. "Is Team Alys on treasure hunt duty, then, or way-to-escape-impending-doom duty?" Maybe more than a smidgen. The whole 'stop talking' thing really would do her a world of good about now. It'd been better when it was completely incoherent; at least then nobody had really been able to blame her for the nonsense she'd been spewing. They'd mostly just ignored her. Except for Vena, but Vena might not have known any better. "There are worst places to die, I suppose. The bottom of the ocean, for one." Oh, by the fucking gates, shut up already.



Her mouth slammed shut like a steel trap. She nearly bit her tongue again. Right. Naveen. Okay. Plans. What was she going to do about this?

No, yes, she knew what she was going to do. If Caleb assigned him to their group, she'd just drown herself. It couldn't be that difficult to get the lake open again, surely. And once she had a hole in the surface, all she had to do was swim away from it before he jumped in after her. It'd be very simple!

Perhaps this line of thought was a little overdramatic, but she was not really in the right state of mind to be stared at as if she were an especially ugly piece of hard candy some spoiled child had tossed into a bowl of sewage. And she couldn't exactly drown him. He'd probably like being submerged in freezing corpse-water. It'd be like a day in the public baths for him. Ugh.

Oh, good.

The call from the quartermaster was a relief, because it offered Vena an escape from this conversation, which had gotten weird and awkward. Most conversations tended to do that, they had noticed. Sometimes, they wondered if it was them, and then they considered the people around them and decided there was no way to prove it.

But no pots were needed, so Vena made a well I guess we're going back the way we came sort of motion and followed their own advice, rather hoping that the murderous floor cleaner didn't stab them in the back. Or the anywhere-else, really. There were a number of places to be stabbed that were not good, and very few that were.

Apparently the group was splitting up into team might as well get something out of all this and team how do we get out of all this, actually. Good choices, they supposed. Quite valid, all things considered.

Oh, dear. Hester was having the same thought. That was not a good sign. Hester's thoughts had been rather all over the place, and Vena wasn't sure if they wanted to be sharing headspace with her. Lovely girl! Fun to talk to! But, perhaps, more in the wow that sure is a thing you said sort of way than the hey me too sort of way. Or perhaps she had gotten better since last night. They would just have to hope that was the case.

And since things seemed to be going well, there was Naveen. Of course he was. He had a question. Of course he did. Where was Naveen supposed to go? Vena offered the solution of "Away?" and more or less instantly regretted it, because they didn't really want Naveen's attention on them, which was the reason for that answer in the first place.

Of course, the question also prompted another question, looking between Sol's pet vampire and the quartermaster. "Wait. He's the captain?"

The bottom of the ocean, for one. Or the bottom of a lake. Caleb’s jaw clenched, but his attention soon shifted from Hester to the source of everyone’s discomfort, with his fangs exposed in a carefree smile. The room was silent for a moment until Juniper broke it by fleeing, followed by Hester, and they were joined by the other former crew member of the Truth Teller. Caleb chose to ignore their question.

“With me.” He answered firmly, taking a step forward at the same time Beck stumbled down the stairs, with a green blanket being dragged behind her. They shouldn’t need that many people to get a few stones, so he walked over to her and grabbed her wrist, leaning closer to whisper:

“Change of plans, you’re with Alys. Try something and I’ll put a bullet in your head.” By her expression, the girl seemed to have understood the message. He pulled the sheet from her hand and caught Naveen stepping away from the wall out of the corner of his eye.

***


“Nice to see you too.” Naveen said, walking over to Vena. He hadn’t had a taste of them yet, and now that his appetite was back the aroma was quite tempting. He licked his lip. “Captain Caleb O’Cain. Didn’t you get the memo?”

“Nessa, let’s go. You too.” The captain said, narrowing his eye at Naveen and leaving him with no choice but to obey and follow him out of the mansion and towards the portal. He’d make sure to blow Hester a kiss on his way out.

Most forms of magic were obscure and unknown to Juniper, their complexities and function something they'd never been taught. That was not to say, however, that they were completely clueless. The other elements, they knew those. They knew the reason they felt so impatient, the reason they had so much energy, was because of the staff. Lightning, as an element, was energy. They just needed to adapt to it, grow accustomed, but it'd take time, so they tried to focus on anything else, instead.

It was challenging to hide the disappointment of being designated as part of the find the way out group rather than the dig through and collect expensive gemstones group. To make matters worse, she was named the leader of said inferior group. Holding her belongings in the street like a goddamn pack mule, Alys didn't have much of a chance at stopping her crew, currently consisting of Juniper and Hester, from running ahead like a pack of children and disappearing through the portal. Her mood instantly soured and she turned to follow after them. "Well, fuck me," she muttered, shuffling down the street after them. 

Even better when she appeared on the other side and noticed that they were not alone in the massive cavern. Juniper was already rattling off their questions - completely fair questions - when Alys finally caught up with them. "Better yet, how do we get out of here?" Perhaps the stranger could solve her current problems so that she could spend some time lining her pockets - a far more exciting prospect. 

Ronan attempted to hide behind the rock, but it wasn't tall enough to prevent his seven foot body from being seen by the people who stepped out of the shinny hole he'd never been brave enough to venture through. Those people, they weren't like him. They were shorter, and one of them carried a staff that was undoubtedly charged with magic. Ronan had learned to fear magic, like he'd learned to fear the creatures with long ears and wings behind their backs. Oh great, they had one of those too.

"I'm nobody! Please, don't hurt me!" He cried, his heart racing as he wondered if that would be his eternal resting spot. Ronan had only lived past his 40th year of life, he was too young to die, and his mom would never find his body that far away from home. He closed his eyes and hoped for the best. "I know the tunnels, I can get you out if that's what you want!"

***

"You should do that now, I don't think we'll be coming back." Caleb said to Nessa, even though his eye was on Naveen at all times. "Don't take too long." He didn't bother telling her to stick to the more precious looking ones, he knew Nessa had an eye for that.

Following the first group through the portal, Caleb accompanied everyone's gaze to the redhead giant attempting to hide behind a rock.

"Step forward! No one shoots."

***

Beck could feel Caleb's eye on her, and didn't draw her bow and arrow. The brunette had walked in just a little after Alys, making sure to keep enough distance from her to discourage any small talk, as well as concerns from the captain and from Juniper.

She watched as the person did what they were told, stepping into the light with their arms in the air. He didn't look much older than she was, despite the size, and if he was armed, it wasn't with something that would've been spotted from that distance. Beck kept her mouth shut, letting the authorities do the questioning.

***

Naveen made sure to slow down his pace as they approached the portal, stopping to a halt after the captain walked through it.

"Vena, isn't it?" He asked, slowly turning around to face them. "What's with all that blood?"

It was just the two of them at the main square. Others could appear at any time, but it only made it all the more exciting.