An island lost at sea.

[lost_sailor]

Who: Piers, the crew of the Alcyone, and YOU!
Where: Isla Empieza
When: 15th of October
What: The Alcyone returns to port to rest, gather supplies, and pick up a very important person while they decide on the next leg of their journey...
Warnings: None. Oh wait. We have Jade.
Style: [Brackets] or Prose. I'm sure we can adapt.
Status: OPEN. DO AS YOU WANT.

[With the adventure at Manila behind them, Piers is glad to land for once. While he tried his best to hide it from the rest of the crew, he was tired from the slew of offensive spells that he hurled at the moths to keep them at bay.

That was one island they weren't going back to.

They, as a crew, needed to regroup. He personally hoped that he could meet some of the voices that he had heard through he networks. But, above all, he wanted a good night's sleep in a bed.

Inns always solved everything.]

Comments

[OPEN; FIGHT ME!]

[curries]

[It's been a crazy three days to say the least. Asbel almost misses his parents and the nice comfy beds back in Lhant, even in light of the brave new world which has conveniently fallen into his lap. But with rumors of pirates and even more adventures waiting on the horizon, well, it's not all bad! At least his friends are safe, and Hubert's here with him.]

[Getting around is a problem, though. Which is why the two boys have taken a hike down to the harbor. Asbel stands back, hands on his hips, looking up at all the different boats. Big, small, fancy, plain, damaged and taking on water... He's never picked out a boat before. He doesn't know the first thing about it, all truth be told.]

[He scratches his head finally and points to a ship with a gleaming new paint job and questionable seaworthiness.]

...Uh. How about that one? That one looks good! Don't you think so?

/FIGHTS YOU

[bitty_blue_brother]

[And since Hubert is the ship expert of the two (relatively speaking), he goes to take a closer look at the ship Asbel pointed out. Well, technically he doesn't need to, because...]

Don't you think that's too big for us?

[How are two kids like them supposed to sail a behemoth like that?]

[curries]

[Asbel turns to look at him, seemingly unconcerned with this technicality. At least he dreams big.]

No. Why? Wouldn't you rather have some room to move around?

[With friendship. That's how.]

[bitty_blue_brother]

[FRIENDSHIP IS NOT GOING TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM, DAMMIT]

Yeah, but...it'd be hard to keep all that clean. And I don't think we could work those sails without help.

[Look at those things. If the wind blew while the both of them were trying to fix 'em, they'd be sent flying into the air and flapping around like a banner.]

[curries]

[Asbel grimmaces at the mention of the word "clean". He figured the sea water and the rain would take care of that plenty, but Hubert seems to have other ideas.]

Oh, right... Well, I guess we could look for something a little more scaled back. [He points at Hubert, grinning slightly because good grief his little brother's a genius. He just doesn't need to know Asbel thinks so.] Or maybe we should ask around for help; get people to join our crew.

[bitty_blue_brother]

[They're definitely going to need a bigger crew (although Hubert thinks it's more likely that they'd have to join someone else's group, as opposed to others jumping on board with two kids). But they haven't found Father yet (or Richard and Sophie for that matter), and so far most of the people he's seen on this island strangely don't seem inclined to help two lost children. Still, Hubert turns his gaze around the harbor, evaluating each person in sight for potential trustworthiness and helpfulness. Finally, he points out his choice:]

H-how about we ask that guy?

[The guy in question is a muscled-looking man with long blue hair and a headdress. Unlike many of the other denizens of Isla Empieza, he seems quite relaxed and not wary at all. He might be less likely to turn them away.]

[curries]

[Turning, Asbel follows the line of Hubert's finger towards the man in question. He seems all right, not that Asbel's a reliable judge of character or anything.]

Him? The one with the blue hair?

[He glances back at Hubert over his shoulder to make sure. Knowing his little brother's not about to volunteer to go first, Asbel scratches the side of his head for a moment and then strides forward as if he visits this harbor every day, smiling widely.]

Hey, Mister...! Excuse me, but do you think you could help us out with something?

[lost_sailor]

[The young man's question, asked with all of the bright confidence of someone who felt like they already knew the answer, drew a smile from the sailor when their eyes met. Piers, clearly distracted by his current goal, set his bag of fresh supplies aside. Although he had been warned by various parties time and again about his own giving habits, there were some parts that would take a long time to erase.

It was a child who asked him. There were so few in Lemuria that children felt like a novel concept to him. He simply couldn't help himself.]

I can try. [His crew could argue with him later on this count.] What do you need help with?

Hubert ➛ Asbel ➛ Piers tagging order, to be broken as needed

[bitty_blue_brother]

[Hubert, of course, is never far behind his brother if he can help it. He speaks up from just over Asbel's shoulder:]

Um...

[Man, where to even start.]

Wh-where can we find a crew?

[Because it would be rude to just ask this guy upfront to join them, right?]

Re: Hubert ➛ Asbel ➛ Piers tagging order, to be broken as needed

[curries]

[This guy seems pretty nice. Nice enough that Asbel has no problem adding another request on top of Hubert's.]

Or a decent ship? We've been looking at the ones around here but they're either too big for us, the wrong color, or a total piece of junk.

[What. He admitted they were too big first.]

[lost_sailor]

I don't think you need to worry about those things. It's the people on board that are truly important.

[Lesson One: Trust the people you're on board with. It was a hard lesson to learn as well.]

What kind of crew are you looking for?

[bitty_blue_brother]

....just...nice people, I guess.

[This seems like an obvious thing to say, but considering some of the people they've seen in Isla Empieza, probably also a necessary thing to specify. Also, to be honest, Hubert's really not sure how else to answer that question.]

[curries]

[Huh. Yeah, Asbel thinks he could like this guy. His logic strikes a note with him at least. So the ship doesn't matter, it's the people you spend the journey with, huh?]

Works for me! A bunch of nice people who'll be our friends. And it'd probably help if they knew what they were doing, too. With navigation and manning the sails and all that stuff.

[lost_sailor]

I believe I may know a crew like that. But, that brings us to yet another question:

What do you two think you can do on a ship? It isn't easy out there.