Fire Emblem: Soul of Heaven [IC/PG-16]

[Blake]

"Excuse me?" Ada hissed quietly when she was pushed to the side and ignored. The shaman balled her fists as the arrogant man, who she now knew as Susan, continued to give only Raynor the time of day... Until he decided to harass Rona some more instead. Placing her hand on the tome in her satchel, she considered attacking the man... but she decided against it. Maybe if they weren't in Aeora.

 

As Rona was dropped, the brute began to actually address them, but Ada had seen enough. Walking next to Rona, she offered a hand to help the wyvern rider up, keeping narrow eyes on Susanoo all the while.

 

"Hey, let's just head out. It's pretty clear to me that we're not... required at this time, and I think some time with Cormag would do you good."

 

Once the girl was up, Ada began to leave without a reply, seething. Men like that couldn't be reasoned with, and there was no point in trying. Some distance to keep her cool was for the best, and Ada could only hope that she wouldn't have to see his ugly mug again. Stepping outside, she rubbed Gojira on the head, sure the lizard had been watching. If he had, he hadn't shown any signs of agitation... So Raynor must have gotten in trouble like this regularly. Shaking her head, Ada looked back to see if Rona was following, motioning for the redhead to follow.

 

"Stupid prick..."

[King K. Azo]

Raynor raised an eyebrow as he watched what was happening. The tall red head was... flirting(?), with Rona, which he found odd. Like, yeah, Rona wasn't bad looking, but he was sure it would take a woman that was like, nine feet tall and could wrestle a wyvern to impress the big man. He could be wrong though, but that was just the way it seemed. 

 

"Excuse me?" Ada called out, causing Raynor to take a deep breath. That wasn't good, and he had a pretty good idea that Gojira wasn't going to be happy with him. The lizard really liked Ada, after all. 

 

“As for you…” Susanoo turned his attention to Raynor.“Name’s Susanoo, but you can call me Susan or Bull. You the leader of these guys?” he tilted his head back to regard them, specifically staring down his nose at Leon.“They don’t look like much of a crew. Where you all tryin’ to get?”

 

"Bull? sheet, that's a cool nickname," Raynor mumbled. "Anyways, I'm not the leader, just the newest recruit to this group. He's the leader," Raynor said before motioning to Leon. "Actually a pretty good leader, even if looks would suggest otherwise," He rolled his shoulder a bit before grinning. "As for what we're tryin' to get, we've been hired to exterminate some monsters infesting an island nearby, and we need a badass captain to sail us to said island. You wouldn't happen to know anyone like that, would you?"

 

---

 

Gojira looked up as Ada approached, giving a lizardy purr as she rubbed his head. He had indeed seen Raynor do this a million times, and would probably see him do it a million more times. So the lizard wasn't too concerned. Instead, he did his best to follow Ada. Raynor could take care of himself.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Oh! Um...Al-Aleithe? Oh, um...this is embarrassing...sorry for yelling at you,"

 

"It's fine. I am here now. Come, let's return to that bar. You can trust me to protect you from any unpleasant people."

 

Aleithe looked at the person that Yue almost bumped to, and bowed in apology. He hadn't been fast enough in getting Yue back and calming her down...or maybe since he was so hurried in his chase, Yue ended up thinking that he was a thug. Well, it was his approach that was ultimately the fault here.

 

"Hm, or maybe you'd rather not be around the bar for now? I can accompany you if that is what you needed. Although...splitting off from the group might lead us to be left behind by them once they leave for our next mission."

 

---

[Sethera]

"It's fine. I am here now. Come, let's return to that bar. You can trust me to protect you from any unpleasant people." Aleithe then bowed at a man...oh was that the man she had almost crashed into? Oops.

 

"Hm, or maybe you'd rather not be around the bar for now? I can accompany you if that is what you needed. Although...splitting off from the group might lead us to be left behind by them once they leave for our next mission."

 

"Ugh..." Yue groaned, trying not to just...sink to the ground and burst into tears. She had regained a measure of her sanity just now, with Aleithe here, Aleithe who was always so calm and confident. The archer shook her head, looking at the ground. "I...maybe," she said hesitantly. "Just for now...I don't really know if I can handle returning, or if I'd just run away again." She bit her lip. She knew...she was holding the others back right now, but she really, really didn't think she could do this.

 

"I just...need to calm down for a bit, maybe." She looked away. "Sorry," she muttered.

[Alaina]

The man acted about as pleasantly as Leon was expecting. After the man let out a loud bellow of a laugh, he was swiftly shoved aside from his comrades, causing the man to stumble back as a result. As he grabbed Rona forward and began to threaten her, the mercenary's stare of indifference turned far more cold towards the red headed man. While he had stayed his hand, he watched the man intently, waiting to see if he would do anything else and relaxed only slightly when he hadn't. While Rona asked if he had any intent on cutting the man down, Leon merely shook his head saying, "no. Not yet." 

 

While he was inclined to agree with Ada, he was almost certain that this man was the one they were looking for. And, as a result, they didn't have a much of a choice in the manner. As he asked about the leader, Leon merely raised his hand as Raynor motioned to him. His icy glare had warmed any towards the man, and his tone was doing nothing to mask it either as he said, "yes, I am the leader here. And yes, we need a ship to take us to the isle off the coast of this village to take care of some monsters. You happen to have that ship, correct?" 

[Hakima]

Susanoo raised an eyebrow and stared at Leon incredulously. “You? Really?” he guffawed. “No offense, kid, but daddy hiring you some bodyguards doesn’t make you a leader.” He struggled to stifle his laughter as he took another drink from his mug. “If you’re actually lookin’ to hire someone to take you across to the isles, I’ll talk business with whoever is the captain of his guard. I’m guessin’ you?” He looked back to Raynor once again but was met with an icy silence.

 

Okay. Raynor was the rough-and-tumble type but maybe he wasn’t eager to command. “So it’s you, girlie?” he redirected his attention towards Rona. “Awfully young to be leadin’ anything, but okay, I’ll bite. Pull up a seat and we can talk.” He was once again met with a dreadful silence where no one said anything.

 

“... You’re jokin’ me. You gotta be... This can’t be the right guy.” Susan shook his head. Leon was unassuming as they came. There was literally nothing that would imply he was the leader of a band of warriors, especially not one with fighters the caliber of Raynor. “Fine. You wanna talk, pull up a seat. Maybe grab a crate to sit on while you’re at it so you can see over the table.”

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona wanted to leave. She didn't like this. It felt as though she were the center of attention and she didn't know what do to with that. If an actual fight broke out again would she be able to protect Leon when it mattered?

 

She was tempted by Ada's offer to leave. The girl was upset and she gave her the perfect excuse to leave, making sure she was alright, but she couldn't let herself turn her back on this man and leave like that. So she stood her ground, giving Ada an apologetic shake of her head.

 

When Susanoo asked her if she was the leader she almost trembled at the thought. Her leading anyone was such a terrible idea and she couldn't fathom how quickly everyone would fall if she was left in control.

So she just gave a stern shake of her head. "I assure you the commander is more than capable of leading." She said. Though she couldn't help but understand his skepticism. Leon certainly wasn't like any leader that she had seen before. Which just meant that she had to stick by him all the more. To make sure he doesn't go in over his head.

 

That was her job, after all.

[Alaina]

Leon was quite aware of how he looked, especially in comparison to the rest of his men. Yet, he did not seem to change his expression at all as he continued to give his cold stare at Susanoo, as the man looked from Jouran to Jouran about who was actually the leader. Upon the man's defeated realization that Leon was indeed the leader, the man moved to get a chair, ignoring the last comment made by the brutish man. Sitting down, Leon looked to Yonan before him, saying, "I'll make myself brief. As you already know, we've been hired to do a job here that involves moving to the small isle to the south. There are monsters there, and we need to get rid of them. Most of the people here won't give us a boat to use and so, since you seem to have a vessel much sturdier then everyone else's, I'm asking that you aid us in getting there." 

 

Meanwhile, while Leon was talking to the man inside, the group outside would see a clear crowd forming. The town itself was no stranger to a hectic bar fight here and there, especially since Susanoo had made his presence known. Yet, some still made their way to check it out, just to see if there was any excitement to be had. Of course, they were greeted with a sight much stranger then normal, and as a result called attention to others. A small crowd was gathered just a bit away from the group, though they seemed to be chatting amongst each other, some worried faces and some clearly pointing towards the salamander that had found its way next to one of their bars. 

[Sethera]

Yue was waiting for Aleithe to reply, biting her lip when no answer was forthcoming. Oh no oh no oh no, she thought, sweat starting to bead on her face. Did I...make him mad? Ugh, of course I did, he probably thinks it's a bother coming over and dealing with me. She cringed, looking around for a way to make her escape from this awkward conversation, when she straightened suddenly at a nearby conversation.

 

"What's a salamander doing here? Do you think...the Jourans?"
 

"Nah, what would they be doing here?"

 

"But still...maybe we should do something about it."

 

Uh oh. "E-excuse me!" Yue tugged briefly on the first speaker's shirt. "You said...a salamander?"

 

The man looked at her clothing. "You Yonan? Yeah, found it over near one of the bars. Best stay away from it, missy, you never know what one of those'll do to you.

 

"Um...I don't know..."

 

"Well, take it from me. They're bad news," the man shrugged and resumed his conversation.

 

The archer turned back to Aleithe in a panic. "Aleithe! W-we need to go back, now!" her voice grew shrill and actually fairly audible in her panic. And with that, she ran back toward the way she had come. However, as unerring an inner compass she had in the wilderness, she could not help but become hopelessly lost in town. Soon, she lost sight of Aleithe, and anybody, actually, finding herself in the back alleys of town.

 

"W-where am I?" her lip trembled. "I'm scared..."

 

"You'll find yourself even more scared lest you give me some of your gold..." a voice whispered into her ear accompanied by the sharp prod of a knife against her back.

 

"Eep!" Yue shrieked and accidentally clubbed the poor mugger with her elbow, running for her life before he could do anything else. Her eyes were wide and scared as she ran without thought, until she nearly crashed into a large scaly hide. "Oh, Gojira, hello!" she smiled, "And uh...hello...Ada...Layne," her voice dropped to a whisper as she stared at her feet. "Um..." she searched for something to say, to be polite. "Oh! Yeah, people were talking about a salamander...maybe we should...um...move?" she looked up, gnawing on her bottom lip. "I don't like it when people stare..."

[King K. Azo]

Gojira was doing his best to stay patient, but the smells of the city was distracting him. He almost wanted to just drag the person holding on to him, but he knew that'd get him scolded, and then he wouldn't hear the end of it from his roommates, so there he sat, quietly waiting. It didn't take long however, for something to collide into him. He looked up lazily, seeing it was a delicate looking girl. He had seen her before and knew her scent... she seemed pleasant enough. 

She also seemed scared.

He moved his head over to her, gently rubbing his head against her side. He obviously was trying to comfort her.

 

---

 

Raynor watched as the group spoke to each other. It seemed talks were going well, so he might as well check on Gojira. Getting up and heading outside, he noticed that a group of his fellow party members was gathered around his salamander... and it seemed the town wasn't comfortable with Gojira there. Of course... well, maybe they could help...

 

"Hey guys," Raynor said with a grin, raising a hand in greeting. "Talks seem to be going good, but I'm gonna stay inside in case something happens. Do you all mind if you take Gojira for a walk? It seems the town isn't all too welcoming to him, but after the bandits took him, I didn't want to leave him alone outside of the town,"

[Ralsei]

Layne relaxed outside of the bar as the fight seemed to be calming down, his focus on the people in the town whenever someone walked by. He grinned a little bit as he got a little idea, reaching into his bag to pull out a hat and started to make his way down the street, towards a more crowded part of the fishing town as he hummed to himself...

---

"Hello, hello everyone! I'm your host this evening on a magical adventure." Layne grinned as he held the staff in his hand up into the air, twirling it as the end of it began to shine with a little light, before tossing it up into the sky. The staff exploded into light the shine flowing into the air as he grinned towards the small crowd that had gathered around. He snapped his fingers as the glow suddenly ended, the staff having vanished out of midair, instead replaced by a ball that bounced up and over the crowd, before exploding into a cloud of smoke in the air...

---

Layne hummed as he sorted through the hat, noting the different little tips he had gotten, counting it up as he nodded his head softly. He began to make his way back to the bar where the rest of the group should've been at, twirling his staff in his hand as he held the coins in his hand, the hat safely stowed away in his bag once again, "Alright! Little bit of success, got some spare spending money now, maybe I can grab a bite to eat before the others get the information we need. Now, where to go..."
 
He was about to go and find something to pick up, but it seemed like he wasn't really able to. Without much warning, he quickly ran over to Ada, seeing her exit out of the bar with what was clearly a very... Upset look on her face. He narrowed his eyes as he ran over to her and Gojira, a small frown on his face as he spoke up, "Ada! Are you okay? Are the, uh... Negotiations not going so well?" He mumbled as he rubbed at his cheek, brushing a little bit of sweat off his forehead as he took a little glance around, "...It's just you, so I guess the others are still in there..."
 
"Oh, Gojira, hello!" she smiled, "And uh...hello...Ada...Layne."
 
Layne mumbled a little bit as he rubbed at his neck, trying to keep his voice down as he glanced back to Yue with a small smile, "Uh... Hey, Yue. Ada just came out from the negotiations." He tried to keep the interaction with her down to a minimum, but he noticed the sort of panicked way she had appeared, the scowl on his face coming back, "You alright? Has someone been harassing you?"
 
And almost immediately following that up, Raynor stepped out of the bar himself, and seemed to come with decent news! After seeing Ada storm out of the bar with that look on her face, Layne had kinda assumed the worst, but now...
 
"Well, Yue, Ada... You think the two of you can handle the big lizard? I'm not the best with animals myself, so... Whatever you two think would be best is good by me."

[Hakima]

Susanoo sloshed his half-empty mug around, idly mulling over the boy’s request. He hadn’t originally been planning on helping them—he had only offered to talk business with them to kill time—but the “leader” of the Iron Falcons was more interesting than expected. It wasn’t often he met a man who didn’t back down once he stood up and gnashed his teeth at them, rarer still for someone to do so after they had seen him in action; anyone who did stand up to him either had a small army of a reason to be confident. “What’s in it for me?” he finally asked, turning his head away to spit a mouthful on blood onto the floor, wiping away what was left on his lips with the back of his sleeve. “Assumin’ you plan to pay, the trip would cost around a hundred gold up front; another fifty on the way back, once again assumin’ you survive. Throw in another hundred and I’ll join you on the island to make sure you survive.”

 

His eyes slid over to Rona, once again sizing her up. He honestly wasn’t too interested in the girl—the only thing she had going for her was a nice rack—but seeing how it irritated the brat was too funny. “I’m open to other kinds of payment, though, if you don’t have the coin.” He raised an eyebrow suggestively at Rona, smirking. “What do you say?”

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona glanced over at Raynor as the man left. Now it was just her, Leon, and the so-called captain. On one hand it was good not to have so many people crowded around but on the other having so few people around such a wild man was not the most relaxing situations.
 
It appeared as though the commander had everything under control, however. They had reached the point where the man was asking for payment instead of refusing to help which was most likely a good thing. He even gave a price. The girl wasn't sure if it was too much or too little, she was never good with money, so she was going to merely gauge Leon's reaction to the offer.
 
Though that was when the man turned to her and spoke in his vile way. She had some idea what he was asking for. And the thought was absolutely disgusting. She kept her expression set as she looked at him. "You waste your breath asking me for that. I fight. My body is not meant for anything more than that." It was the closest she had come to admitting her feelings of self-worth and the moment she said that she worried that Leon would realize what she meant by it. She had to hope he'd think she was merely refusing the man's advances.
 
Though if Leon did order her to do it...what would she do?
No, he wouldn't do that. That wasn't the kind of person he was.
But what if he did?
 
"Commander I should remind you once more if we don't want to spend coin on this I have no doubts I could take Cormag and head to the island myself."
 
That's right. Remind him that she was worth something. Anything to get out of this conversation. Get out of her head. She'd rather charge into an army of monsters than spend any more time thinking about horrid possibilities.

[Alaina]

Leon looked towards the man in front of him as the discussion went underway. While the man seemed to be interested in what it was that Leon had to offer, he didn't seem to care for too long as he instead made an offer his own. While he at first found the terms acceptable, as he made his comment towards Rona the boy's eyes once more took on an icy glare towards him. With Rona herself denying the advance of the man, Leon sharply spoke, "you'll have your payment in gold." 

 

As Rona made her offer to go to the island by herself, Leon looked to her, shaking his head saying, "that won't be necessary. We'll go and complete this mission as a team." Looking back to the man he asked again, "now then Susanoo. Do we have your services, both to take us to the island and aid in any combat?" 

[Sethera]

Yue started to calm down a little as Gojira rubbed his head against her side. "Aww, thank you Gojira!" she giggled.

 

"Uh... Hey, Yue. Ada just came out from the negotiations." Layne said, his tone surprisingly soft. He scowled soon afterward, causing the archer to flinch before she realized what it was about. "You alright? Has someone been harassing you?"

 

"E-eh? No, um..." she trailed off, remembering just then that somebody had in fact tried to rob her, but...she had elbowed him in the face, hadn't she? Oh dear, that was no good. She was raised better than that. Oh gosh, if she saw him again, she would have to apologize. "I think I...um...bothered somebody else though. Oh, and Aleithe! Oh no, I left him behind!" she gasped.

 

"Hey guys," Raynor said with a grin, raising a hand in greeting. "Talks seem to be going good, but I'm gonna stay inside in case something happens. Do you all mind if you take Gojira for a walk? It seems the town isn't all too welcoming to him, but after the bandits took him, I didn't want to leave him alone outside of the town."

 

"Well, Yue, Ada... You think the two of you can handle the big lizard? I'm not the best with animals myself, so... Whatever you two think would be best is good by me."

 

"I can handle him," Yue smiled, smiling softly as she looked at Gojira. "Right, Gojira? You're just a lovable little cuddle bug, aren't you?" she started to scratch underneath his chin as she spoke, forgetting momentarily what she had just been panicking over.

[Hakima]

---

Susanoo pushed himself to his feet and cackled. “Keep those coins coming and I’ll make sure those heads keep rolling!” he promised, brushing the handle of his axe with his thumb in a sensual manner. “I’ve been itching to raise anchor for the last few weeks anyways. This town doesn’t have much left for me to break.” He grinned and gnashed his teeth suggestively, making it clear that he wasn’t just talking about buildings.

 

People all around them were beginning to stir. Susanoo took that as his cue to head out. He extended his hand for Leon to shake, wiggling his fingers impatiently. “Shake on it to seal the deal and then I’ll be out of your hair. Just swing by the docks with the gold and your crew whenever you’re ready to get going.”

[Blake]

Ada had meant to leave the city and wander around the outskirts, so caught up in her fuming that she hadn't even noticed Yue talking to her. It wasn't until Layne spoke that Ada realized she was being spoken to, at all.

 

"Ah, I guess I'm alright? The guy in there's an jabroni, and Rona won't walk away. What else is new?"

 

Trying to break away without much more to say, she was interrupted as Raynor came out soon after, asking them to take Gojira on a walk. Looking to the eager lizard, Ada gave a resigned sigh and nodded, petting the beast.

 

"Alright, I wanna get out of the city, anyway. You both gonna tag along?"

[Alaina]

With the deal having been set, Leon begrudgingly shook hands with the man. He was not very comfortable with the deal as it was, nor did he want to spend anymore time with this man than he had to. However, he was the only person with a ship they could take and the ability to sail it, and he likely was strong enough to hold his own in a fight to be an asset for them. Besides, Leon knew how serious Rona was about going to the island by herself. With the deal set, Leon said, "go get your ship ready and we'll be ready to go in a few minutes." 

 

Once Susanoo had left, Leon looked to Rona and said, "sorry about making you put up with that. It probably won't be long before we're done and have nothing to do with him again." Leon's expression seemed apologetic, though he himself was unsure that even if this was necessary it was the right decision to be making. The man was crude, quick to temper and had little respect for anyone in his surroundings. And given how Ada and Rona had already expressed their negative feelings on the Yonan, Leon was less than optimistic this mission would go at all smoothly. All the same, he merely said, "alright, let's go get the others."

 

---

 

While the group was ready to get going across the sea to their mission's location, it had appeared not all was well. With Reina suffering from a cold, it was hardly combat ready and as a result neither was Aleithe. Opting to stay behind with their mount to make sure that nothing went wrong with it, Aleithe had elected to not come on the mission. Yue too, feeling uncomfortable with the new stranger and worried for Reina had decided to stay behind as well and see if they could help nurse it back to health. As such, of the Iron Falcon only Leon, Layne, Raynor, Rona and Ada had gone aboard, alongside Susanoo. 

 

Once the group had set sail, the seas themselves were smooth sailing and the wind did not much to work against them. Though, not long after they had left the port had they managed to sea what it was the townspeople were so afraid of. In the distance  the group could see a wake of vulture flying through the air. Though on closer inspection they were actually Carrionl much larger and more grotesque in form than what an average vulture would look like, having a cluster of smaller red eyes where each eye socket was and a much more pronounced skeletal structure with fewer feathers covering its body. Furthermore, the seas themselves had the Molanchi; a shark-like monster with skin that seemed to be brown and wasting and more jagged like fins. While the Molanchi got close to the ship they never took any action against it, as it was too large for them to actually fight. 

 

Eventually, though, Leon's attention was grabbed by something. In the middle of the sea, floating level with the deck of the ship was what appeared to be a black shadowy figure. The figure didn't seem to move, however, Carrion appeared to start circling around it, and the large grotesque bird like creatures seemed to be carrying...skeletons in their talons. Before they got close enough to wonder more about this, however, more of the Carrion swooped around at the stern of the ship, dropping off a collection of skeletons there, as more without any passengers appeared on either side of the ship. Drawing his sword out, Leon merely said, "Iron Falcons, get ready." 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Alright, all the combat info will be in discord because that's way easier for all of us. At the moment the black figure is not on the map, but even still there's no real "invisible wall" blocking your path if you wanted to move after him. 

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"sorry about making you put up with that. It probably won't be long before we're done and have nothing to do with him again."

 

"It is of no concern. I've dealt with the scum of the earth time and time again and I'm sure I will have to again." Rona waved Leon off, hoping that she didn't sound as panicked as she felt.

 

She couldn't lose her cool here. Soon she'd be aboard a boat with no where to run, after all.

 

Speaking of...

-----

It took a solid ten minutes to convince Cormag to get aboard the boat. And several more minutes for Rona to work up the courage to fly the wyvern above the town and to said boat. The people of the town seemed to be alarmed but, as she kept up high and Cormag kept his glares to a minimum, nothing came of it.

 

Once she landed on the boat she realized Cormag would have trouble getting below-deck. And so she decided to stay on the deck for the entire duration of the trip.

She was nervous about departing without Aleithe and Yue but she had simply decided she had to work as hard as three people to make up for it.

---

This would be tested rather quickly as they were soon set upon by surprisingly coordinated monsters. She noticed the dark figure and called out to Leon. "If you need me to investigate I shall do so. I can't imagine that's anything good."

 

But for now she had to keep near the others. To protect them.

 

Unfortunately they were surrounded on three sides. No matter which way she went she'd leave two groups open. Glancing over the field she wondered if she should attack the skeletons, who were closer...

 

But no, the Carrion were the real threat. Without Aleithe and Yue they would be difficult to bring down for anyone else. Thus she had to bring them down as fast as possible. And, if she could, keep them above the water and away from the rest.

 

And so she ordered Cormag to take off. He flew over Layne and towards the Carrion on the port-side. "Leave these flying rats to me!" She called out, her voice loud and confident. She couldn't quite reach the middle Carrion before it was able to make its own move but she puled her axe back, ready to counter it as it dove by, and hoped that the three would converge on her and stay away from the others.

[spoiler=OOC]Rona moved 3 down and 4 to the left on the map. 6 is her Counter target.

 

[Hakima]

It was an overcast day. The sky was awash with dark, dreary clouds, and the air was muggy and warned of an approaching storm. Most savvy seaman had docked their vessels and headed inward to ride out the weather.  

 

The Ulei Yumi's captain was not among them. Susanoo stood at the helm, stomping his foot and belting out a rather crass sea shanty. “When I was a little boy, my momma always told me,” he sang, his voice a surprisingly pleasant bass that carried across the deck. “C’mon, sing! Nothing else to do to pass the time,” he called out to the Iron Falcons when no one joined him after a few verses.  

 

Nobody joined him. Most of them were crowded around the edges of the boat, gawking at the ugly beasts that had surfaced from the depths. “Hehe! Ugly little bastards, aren’t they?” he said. “Think the locals call ‘em Molanchi, but I know ‘em as Rot Fin.” He patted the helm. “Bad news if they can get you in the water, but Yumi here’s too big to care about ‘em.”

 

Susanoo had a bad feeling though. He had a sixth sense for trouble out on the water. The stench of decay was faint, pushing against the wind, but he could smell it. He squinted and spotted Carrionl with skeletons on the horizon.

 

“They on the other hand…” Susan snatched his bronze axe off his belt and wedged it between the spokes. The wooden handle groaned and splintered, but didn’t break. “That should keep us on course long enough to deal with ‘em.”

 

Behind them, the impact of half a dozen rotting boots shook the deck. Susan drew his Iron Axe and twirled it around his fingers with a grin. “Hold ‘em off for a minute, Raynor. I’m goin’ bird hunting.” Without bothering to see if the man cut them off, Susanoo moved over to the nearest cannon. These things were his pride and joy; machinations of gunpowder and steel that packed a punch strong enough to blow a hole in a dragon. He scooped up one massive ball of iron, shoved it into the barrel, then angled it toward the nearest Carrionl and fired.

 

The sheer force of the explosion sent him tumbling backwards. A thick sheet of smoke billowed from out of the barrel, and all Susanoo could hear was his ears ringing. But he had found his mark. In the distance, the nearest bird squawked once before exploding in a puff of feathers and blood.

 

Susanoo was laughing as he clambered back to his feet. All he could think of now was shooting a pillow full of feathers, because he was sure it would have looked nearly identical. “Whoo!” he hollered, tossing his axe up into the air and catching it. “Dinner’s on me!”

[spoiler=Combat Log]

Susanoo moved to the right two squares, then down two squares and fired the cannon. His attack killed Carrionl 5.

[spoiler=Inventory]

[spoiler=Character Card]

 

[Ralsei]

---

Layne hummed along to the sea shanties that their... Escort? Ride? Had started to sing with a little smile on his face, leaning over the edge of the boat to watch the ocean as they drifted out to sea. The calmness of it had surprised him a little bit, he had been expecting something a little more... Bombastic with the concern and the occasional rumors he had heard, but this? This just seemed like a pleasant cruise to their destination, nothing to worry about.

 

So, with a lighthearted whistle, he kept watching the skyline as Susanoo kept singing his own songs, trying to pick up the words to his memory so he could join along with the next bout, only to catch sight of something that was actually... Mildly concerning. The shark creatures on the water definitely seemed to have seen better days, judging by how their skin was practically rotting and falling off, at least... It looked like it was. It was hard to get a good judge of if it was actually rotting or if it just looked like that from atop the ship, but Layne certainly didn't have any plans to jump down to get a better look...

 

And then, on the horizon, those strange vulture like birds appeared. The slightly uncanny appearance of those birds  The sight of the almost skeleton birds caused Layne to flinch as the others talked, a little mumble escaping him as he did, "Just... How dangerous are those?"

 

Judging by the way that Susanoo immediately ditched the helm of the ship to fire a cannon at one... And how Rona took off into the air,  Layne took that as a good indication that he shouldn't just... Sit around. He grabbed onto his staff as he glanced over at the opposite side of the ship, calling out to the three over there, "If any of you get hurt, move towards the middle so I can get to you faster! I'm gonna learn to use a cannon."

 

If any of them could have actually seen his face as he turned away and quickly dashed towards the cannon, they would've seen a wide grin on it. Even with the life and death situation they've found themselves in, here was something new, something novel for him to do! Who knew when the next chance he would get to fire a cannon towards something would be? And with Rona charging off to fight with these strange birds, he knew she was going to get into some trouble... So the best thing to do?

 

"Rona! I'm taking out the one on your right, keep an eye on the other two!"

 

Layne rushed to the cannon and began to mimic what he saw Susanoo doing with the other cannon, setting his staff down against the side of the ship as he did. He scooped up the iron ball, though slower than the pirate had, and loaded the cannon, before setting it off. With another loud BOOM, the hunk of iron was sent soaring through the air, towards one of the Carrion. Though this, only one thought had run through Layne's head as adrenaline rushed through him.

 

I might never be able to hear again.

---

[spoiler=OoC]

Layne moved up 2 and left 2 to fire the cannon, targeted at Carrion 1.

 

Heal Staff 1: 19 Uses Left.

Heal Staff 2: Unused.

 

 

[Blake]

As much as she hated it, Ada had accepted that the group would be taking Susanoo's boat from the moment they met him. Riding on the boat seemed like an issue at first, but Ada simply read from her books and tomes as they moved, preferring to keep to herself a little ways away from everyone else. However, she had mostly focused on a tome for the creatures of the sea... Both of this world and not. When the rotting sharks came up alongside the boat, she merely peeked over the rail to see them before returning to her book. She was safe with her books, so why should she be disgruntled... Aside from the singing.

 

Looking over to Susanoo with a scowl, she grit her teeth. She had no idea why Layne was going along with the brute's boorish song, shaking her head and willing it to shut up. However, when it did end, it was hardly a cause for joy. The girl was shocked as the skeletons landed, only now noticing the wicked avians assaulting them. Standing up quickly, she noticed Susanoo then Layne use the cannons, both seriously damaging the carrion that they hit. 

 

"If I were to use the one nearest to me... I'd be in range of those skeletons... I think I can take a few of them, and I can use the cannon for some cover..."

 

Quickly placing her book inside of her bag, she rushed over to the nearest cannon, loading the cannon with only a little more effort than Susanoo had put in. The loud noise from before told her to be prepared, plugging one of her ears as she fired the cannon. 

 

Even bracing and minimizing the sound, Ada still took quite the hit from the kickback and boom, shakily picking herself up with a hand on the cannon. Her free hand produced her tome as she looked at the skeletons, throwing a quick glance back to see where everyone was. And, with no Rona in sight, she cursed, unable to see her through the mast. She turned to the skeletons again, a scowl painted on her face, one that said 'not this again'.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Ada moves down twice, then left twice, firing a cannon at Carrion 3.

 

 

[Alaina]

With the crew beginning to move out, many of the company members went to man some of the cannons across the top of the ship. With one loud bang after the other, successive shot after shot, three cannons were aimed and fired t the Carrion that were attempting to strike at the boat. Each of the cannon shots rang true, both at their targets and at the ear drums of the firers, turning the Carrion into nothing more than a pile of rotted feathers and bones that scattered and fell into the sea below. 

 

Moving himself forward, Leon got himself ready and into position, in order to deal with the small group of skeletons approaching the ship from the left. Bracing himself, one of the skeletons with an axe had made its way over to the boy, bringing its axe up and trying to swing down on the boy. Side stepping the axe blade, the young company leader swung his blade in a horizontal arc, breaking off a few of the bones in the skeleton's side. The rest of the skeletons behind it merely advanced, weapons at the ready. 

 

While one Carrion near Rona had been killed, the other two still seemed raring to try and strike at the passengers of the vessel. While one Carrion tried to merely keep pace with the skeletons, the other swooped into strike at Rona. While the bird managed to strike at her, her wyvern was an interposition between the two and the Carrion's beak was unable to pierce the thick scales of the wyvern, resulting in nothing more then a minor annoyance. While the bird had missed, it was nothing if not nimble and managed to avoid the counter swing from Rona's axe. 

 

The skeletons on the east side of the boat, however, had a much better time and much easier prey to go after. With Ada manning a cannon, the girl had exposed herself to the group as they began advancing upward. The first, a gnarled looking bow in hand, moved ahead of the pack and drawing an arrow out took aim at the shaman and fired. The arrow flew true and struck Ada in the shoulder, though this would be the least of her worries. Two more skeletons had moved past the archer, one with a lance and the other with an axe. With little effort, the girl was soon found herself swarmed as the both of them managed to bury their weapons into her as well, severely wounding the shaman. 

 

Meanwhile, the shadowed figure began to advance as the ship made its way towards it, the Carrion still circling around it. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

The shadowed figure it now 10 spaces away from where the tip of the boat. 

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona's grip on her axe tightened as the Carrion swooped in. They certainly looked disturbing this close didn't they? And if they got past her then...

She nearly jumped as the cannon went off nearby, taking one of the bird-like creatures down in one blow.

 

It was a disturbingly hollow feeling to know a hunk of metal was more useful than she was.

 

Despite this it meant there was less of them to face and thus only one of them came in to attack. While it looked frightening the creature was far too weak to pierce through her and Cormag's defenses. She tried to counter attack it, aiming for its head, but the creature was able to flap its wings and propel back to avoid her swing.

 

It was then she heard the sounds of combat behind her. Glancing back for a moment she noticed Leon, and Ada, were both being swarmed by Skeletons. Stomach in knots she called out. "Get to the starboard side, everyone! Let me handle these they can't so much as scratch me!" Her outward confidence was only matched by her inward doubts. After all she couldn't even hit this thing yet the cannon....

 

Which was why the best she could hope for was to be bait. With a battle cry she took aim once more at the Carrion, sending her axe down in a strike meant to hinder the bird's ability to dodge a second time...If she could manage to hit.

[spoiler=OOC]Rona attacked Carrion 6 with Locking Strike. And marked it as the Counter target.

 

[Hakima]

Susanoo couldn’t hear the battle over the ringing in his ears. “Time for me to earn that gold, is it?” he said, noticing the sorry state they were in. “Well don’t worry. Ol’ Bull’s worth every coin and then some.”

 

The skeletons had surrounded the Iron Falcons magician. She was in sorry state, bleeding from more areas than she wasn’t. Susanoo closed the distance between them with a three massive strides. “Leave the melee to the big boys, girlie,” he shouted, grabbing her by the remnants of her cloak and throwing her behind him. She was completely hidden from sight by his massive frame.

 

“As for you bony bastards… My Mama taught me not to desecrate the dead, but I’m not about to start listening to her now!” Susanoo grinned and swung at the first skeleton he could reach (Skeleton 7).

[spoiler=Combat Log]

Susanoo moved down 3 squares, shoved Ada behind him, then attacked Skeleton 7. He designated Skeleton 4 as his counter attack.

[spoiler=Inventory]

[spoiler=Character Card]