high_seas | Giant Spiders Oh My

Entry tags:

Giant Spiders Oh My

Who: the current Hazmats
Where: sailing to Manahana-lia Island, then on the island
When: August 27 through September 5th
What: sailing as fast as they can to rescue Cynthia, and the rescue thereof. They'll try to save time by jumping through Empieza but...
Warnings: spiders. Violence, talk of death, Gan Ning's mouth
Style: whatever you want, don't mind the setup
Status: closed to Hazmat crew

The minute the scream came though his journal, Gan Ning was moving. There was no time to waste fiddling around, they had to set sail to find Cynthia before it was too late. He tore through any maps and information they had on the ship, looking for anything that suggested spiders. Her clue, the spider-webs, meant that was all he had to go on. Fortunately, other pirates around the docks totally knew which island that was, and aside from impressing on him the "don't go there" part of the legend, told him where to find it.

It did seem odd that no matter where they were, if they set sail for Isla Empieza, they'd make it there in a day or so instead of weeks. Gan Ning relied on that, even though he didn't do more than skim through the harbor before setting a new course for Manahana-lia in the far west of the land. Hopefully weather wouldn't be against them. They had a long way to go and didn't have Wan there to guide the winds in their favor.

Spiders, the other pirates said. There'd be large spiders and his crew would be killed. Nope, Xingba would not let anyone die if he could help it. But that meant they'd have to fight. Roxas needed to heal so he could guard the ship, but everyone else, well...

Let's hope they make it on time.

[ooc: info on the island is here - make and date your own sailing threads but we'll hit the island about the 3rd or 4th and there'll be a fight log for that]

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Oh... [hmm yes there is that. He sets his hands on his hips.] Well, if you really wanna, I won't argue. But there's other things you can do. I saw you swimmin' alongside the ship yesterday, you were keepin' pace pretty damn good. You can do things like check the keel for damage, figure out the ocean currents...

[Huh... he noticed that did he? She was smiling a bit more.] I've been chased by sharks. I can keep up pretty well with this ship. I'm also pretty good with currents...

[She COULD be helpful right?] Last few islands we've hit, I've been staying with the ship, for the most part. Keeping an eye on it.

That's good on ya. Yeah, I suppose there wasn't much on Deesuko Ballia for a lady like you.

[ahem.]

Don't suppose you could help us find faster currents to get us west as fast as possible?

[She chuckled at that comment.] I managed to find things to do. There were a lot of interesting people there.

Oh, well... yes. I think I could. We're headed west to find the Lady Cynthia, yes?

Yeah, and I don't got a lot of information to go on, besides the name of the island and the fact that it's not inhabited. And it's in the west, a few days' sail from Empieza.

...she might be in danger, so I don't wanna waste time.

[She didn't care much for 'trouble' but who did. Bitting her lip, she gave a sharp nod, pushing back on her boat tub and leaning tall on slender arms.]

I'll find something. There's got to be something moving faster then we are. Keep a look out for me at the helm, okay?

You got it!

[he nods sharply and dashes off to the wheel, bells jingling the whole way. At least he can see the ocean from there on all sides, whichever direction she surfaces.]

[She turned and hoisted herself over the edge of the outside of the boat, and dove far out to dive with barely a splash.]

[Keeping the ship bottom in her sights while she moved she searched around a bit, taking in clues to the currents in the area. This wasn't like the oceans back home but it had the same rules, or at least sometimes it seemed to.]

[After talking to a school of fish she darted in the direction the pointed. About 15 minutes later, a spot of red might have been seen forward and slightly starboard. She bobbled out of the water, arm waving tall and wide. If he doesn't catch sight of her she'd swim back to the ship and direct from there. She's less then a single notional mile, only a few thousand yards away.]

[After waving, if he sees her or not, she starts swimming back towards the ship.]

[He spots her, all right, though it takes a bit longer to turn the wheel to ease the ship to starboard. Gotta do it gradually, after all, can't just yank it over and possibly hit her while he's at it.

When he has a chance to steady the helm, and Ariel is in range, he calls out over the side.]

How much further till we catch it? This way?

[She understands that much about ships, to know they are slow and careful at turns. it was rare to SEE a ship, as she wasn't suppose to go above water, but that was home, not here.]

[And he wouldn't run into her. She was far enough away and a lot faster anyhow. She dove under and up again, coming closer. As she popped up again she grinned up at him.]

Talk is that it will head West and not far from the island of Don't Swim Here... so... [she paused in her call up, swimming along the boat and... reaching out to grab a hold, then another. For a small girl she can scale the side of a ship with ease.]

[Pulling her self over the rail she plopped, wet, on the deck, stretching her arms over her red head] Ah, so the fish don't go close to it. I have a feeling that might be your island.

Keep heading this way. You'll feel it when you run into it.

[he didn't know she could talk to fish, but eh, that makes sense. Nodding, Ning heads back to grab the wheel and keep it on that heading, until he can feel the shudder in his hands as the rudder resists and then catches in the current. Their speed doesn't jump but he can tell it'll be a help in the long run]

Fish don't even go there, huh? Damn. Yeah, that sounds like our place, all right. Good work, Ariel! See? I'd say that's worth havin' somebody fill up your water for ya.

...uh. Need a hand getting back over there?

[Yep! Couldn't everyone? --oh, right. No, they more then likely couldn't, huh Well, that looks like another thing she can do for them.]

[She held onto the railing and looked over where she had climbed on. It's not the fasted current, definitely not a slip stream, but when it combines with another one that was connecting with it later? It'll help a bit more.]

[Still hanging to the guard rail she grinned over he shoulder, proud to have helped.] Alright. I suppose that is fair. If they don't mind.

[she glanced back to where her life boat was. it was a ways down, but she could manage this because of the railing. Besides...]

Would it be okay if I stayed up here for a little bit? The view is nice.

Edited 2014-09-01 23:16 (UTC)

...uh, sure. If you really want to. Take a rest, I'm gonna have a hand on the wheel until I'm sure how strong the current is.

[if she doesn't mind, he sure doesn't. Company's nice, and man she's pretty.]

So where d'ya come from anyway? You're not like...the only mermaid, are ya?

I think it should get stronger. They said Sea Turtles use this. If they're anything like the ones back home they only go for the fast streams.

[Yay! He said she could. Grinning grandly she moved to pull herself up, belly on the railing and hands holding her up, looking out over the water and where they were going, her fin draped behind her partly rested on deck.]

[Though she did look back as he asked questions.]

Atlantia! My father is King Triton, [she said that with a roll of eyes and annoyance, because shes still mad with dear old dad] ...though I don't suppose that means anything to you either. There is a whole kingdom of Merfolk there. I've even got six older sisters.

A whole kingdom? [Damn! But no, he shakes his head] No kingdom like that where I come from. But then, hardly anybody here has heard of my homeland either, so it's fair.

That's somethin', though. [six sisters, huh? don't ask what he's thinking...]

Mmmhmm! It's a fairly big kingdom. But it feels so small compaired to this. [someone didn't get out of the castle as much as she would have liked, well, other then sneaking.]

And where does Xingba come from? A... city? On land? [She learned of the City of York from Raph!]

Oh, I suppose so. It's not as interesting as all of this. [icon oocly relevant to thoughts on the six sisters]

Ehhh...not really one city. The kingdom of Wu spans most of the eastern part of what used to be the Han Dynasty. I do hang out in our chief city at Hefei pretty often, but I've spent time in other places.

So, what, you didn't explore the whole ocean back home, like you're doin' here?

[she's leaning, chin in hand on the rail, looking over her shoulder at him again. Kind of dreamy like] What wonderful names... [Sigh. She wants to explore all the people cities and places.]

[wha--Oh! She huffed and stared off at the water again.] Of course not. My father would have killed me if he had known I--if I had... gone out. It's forbidden. 'Humans are dangerous, Ariel!' [she said in a mock father voice]

Here though? Yeah... I can explore as much as possible.

Edited (uuurg htmlll) 2014-09-02 00:25 (UTC)

Heheh! It's rough bein' a king's daughter, eh? Yeah, I bet. I've seen the type. Not Lord Sun Jian, no - I didn't actually know him. But he let his daughter run with her brothers all the same.

[His laugh made her smile. Someone gets it!] A bit, yeah. Oh... that would have been fun. I always wanted brothers.

[her fin waved a bit behind her, grinning at the idea.] If I had six brothers instead of sisters, maybe I could have run around more. But everything had to be proper. Ladies don't swim around wildly, after all.

That so, huh? You could never tell Lady Shangxiang that, she'd take your head off. [he grins, though, because yeah, he gets it]

No brothers at all, huh? That's a shame.

Oh my! [She said with a giggle, thinking he didn't actually mean that, though you can never be sure. Some people like to fight over words] It's just how my father feels. Which is why I am glad I'm here. I was considering running away from the castle but... here I am.

What about you? I know Raphael has three brothers, and Hicup has Toothless. Do you have any siblings?

Me? Nah. I've got some real good friends back home, but no family anymore. War's tough, yanno. [it doesn't occur to him that she probably doesn't know.] And aside from one lady from Wei, there ain't even anyone else from my world here.

[Nope, she doesn't know at all. War? Never been in one or around it. It's kind of peaceful times where she is at. But she nods carefully in the conversation, like she understands.]

That sounds so very lonely.... [Even when she ran away she ran away with friends.]

Nah, it's not so bad. I met all the folks here, got to be part of a crew, now I'm captain of that crew. Sure, I get a little homesick once in a while but who doesn't? We got some good people here, lots of fun to be around.

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legsarerequired - 2014-09-20 10:01 (UTC) - Expand

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