Fantasy The Sundering Star

[Felis]

It took Marguerite, drowsy as she was from dozing off, only the fraction of a second to place the sheets of icy cold water that woke her. With a hoarse scream, she jumped to her feet, only to stumble and fall back on her knees when another wave rocked the ship. Not a thunderstorm, not now, not when she was outside, oh please... Oh god, they were out on the water, weren't they, the worst place to be right now...!

The pelting rain, the bursting of wood, the flashes of lightning, the moving shadows and the howling of the wind all blurred in Marguerite's mind and she found herself frozen in place. If she had thought their encounter with the mercenaries earlier was a nightmare, then what was this? Another wave struck the ship, and when it tilted, Marguerite felt herself tumbling towards the railing, then over it and into the ocean.

She sunk, resurfaced, only to swallow sea water when the next wave broke over her, lost her shoes when she started to tread water but somehow stayed strapped to her bag - at least until it caught on something, or something had begun to pull on it. Marguerite flailed, trying to both get away and wrest her bag free, and the strap had ripped. Against better reason (anything that would weigh her down was something to not hold onto, objectively speaking), she had grasped for the broken strap, but it slipped from her grasp. Marguerite quickly forgot about her bag, however, when she noticed a shadowy form close to her in the water, moving towards her.

With a scream that turned into a cough, she started kicking frantically, but it was virtually impossible to swim in any direction but the one dictated by the waves. So when the sea pulled her under once more, instead of fighting against it, Marguerite allowed herself to be carried away by the current. Even if she didn't come up again, it had to be better than facing that ominous shape. The next flash of lightning, however, allowed her to find 'up' again, and a little later, Marguerite resurfaced, eyes stinging from the salt. She couldn't spot the shadow, but that didn't mean anything, of course. There was a piece of wood floating close by, however.

Still more splashing around in a panic than swimming in a purposeful manner, Marguerite reached the broken plank and wrapped her arms around it. Another wave picked her up and carried her farther away from the remainders of the ship.

After what seemed like an eternity to Marguerite, the sky began to clear up and the sea calmed. Now that her field of vision extended farther than to the next wave peak, she could make out the shore in the distance. At least the current hadn't taken her out to the open sea. Her limbs numb from the cold, she began paddling weakly, speeding up her drifting towards the beach a little.

Marguerite didn't dare to let go of the wood supporting her until the water didn't reach higher than her knees. From there, she dragged herself to the dry sand and collapsed. Everything gone just like that. The ship, her belongings- How ironic that she'd lose her Aeneid in a shipwreck, and book one at that. Storm and Refuge. And her student ID, sunken to the bottom of the ocean in a foreign world. It was unreal.

Finally Marguerite remembered that she wasn't the only person she was supposed to worry about. If Morinia or Calista couldn't swim... She pushed the thought away and struggled to stand. If the current had carried them to the same beach they couldn't be far, at least. She shivered in her wet clothes. Even though the wind wasn't strong now, it chilled her to the bone.

"Mori-" she croaked, then coughed. "Morinia? Calista? Anyone?" Did she even want to look whether anything other than debris had washed up? If either of them hadn't made it... Marguerite had had more than enough of corpses for a day.

 

[Verena]

Verena hugged her knees to keep the heat in and placed her head to top. She was hoping to be able to nod off for a few hours before reaching New Salieri. After all, it had been a full day of excitement and drama since she last got some shut-eye. She remembered the necklace she left with the barkeep and decided not to worry about it. After a night like this, the Serpent was feeling generous.

Verena was rudely woken by shouting and the now significantly more violent rocking of the ship. “What?”, she murmured, as she sleepily rose to her feet to look around. When she saw what they were approaching, her eyes widened. “What in Salieri’s name?!” This was not supposed to happen. It had been a clear night. A storm like this didn’t appear out of thin air, its source wasn’t natural.

“Calista! Marguerite! Hold on to something!”, she shouted through the wind that was mercilessly dragging them into the quickly growing eye of the storm. Verena herself wrapped a nearby rope around her wrist and took a wide-legged stance to keep herself centered. Right on time. A rogue wave slammed into the hull, sending some of the crew screaming into the dark waters, swallowing them in an instant never to be seen again.

Another wave was immediately followed by a lightning strike. The wheel exploded, sending wood shards flying in every direction to impale anyone standing close to it. A second one befell the mast, splitting it in half. Verena felt her hair stand on end and a horrible tingle through her skin. She was so glad that she had chosen the opposite side of the ship.

Verena was just about to follow the rest of the sailors willingly leaping into the monstrous waters to flee the flames, but then she saw the demons. “Wait!”, she called out to her companions. They had to choose the lesser evil and let the demons feed on the crew rather than on them. However, their time was running short. The waves weren’t putting out the ever-growing inferno that was quickly approaching them.

Before Verena could decide her next move, a bunch of squid-like tentacles shot from the water and clasped her leg, quickly followed by the rest of the body, which faintly resembled that of a woman. Verena drew her sword just as its trident was swinging her way and used the momentum to slice at the demon’s arm. The creature screeched and loosened its grip around the Serpent’s leg just enough to allow her to turn. Verena grasped her weapon with both hands and brought it down on the demon’s head with all her strength, splitting its skull but remaining stuck.

For a moment, Verena felt relief. But then she realized she should have cut the tentacles first. The violent swing had thrown her off balance. As the dead body of the creature fell into the waters below, so did it drag its killer below the surface. An unforgiving cold hit her like a hammer to the chest, knocking the air out of her lungs and paralyzing her. Darkness embraced her.

For a split second, Verena could see herself screaming inaudibly, faceless souls of her victims tearing her body limb from limb. Luckily for her, she regained consciousness before she could see the end of it. When Verena opened her eyes, the first thing before her was her shimmering but still very much stuck blade. Using the demon's corpse as her leverage, Verena pulled it and subsequently her leg free and swam up with all her remaining strength. Her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen but her instincts wouldn’t let her die this easily.

The closer she got to the surface, the stronger the currents became once more, reminding her of the raging storm above. Verena gasped for air when she did finally reach it and hugged a piece of mast hurrying past her, letting the flow carry her away. For a moment, she could see a shadowy creature chase after her and she aimlessly swung her sword in its direction. However, there was hardly any need to. It soon lost interest and chose to turn its attention to easier targets – few of the still remaining crewmen.

Verena spent the next countless minutes frantically looking around for more of these unknown demons, swimming whenever she had the energy to do so. When the storm finally died down, she could see land in the distance. It certainly wasn’t New Salieri but it was something. Her feet could soon feel rough sand and rocks under them and she barely dragged herself to the beach before collapsing just after a few feet on dry land.

 

[Meme Machine]

Calista, an adventures soul who wasn’t accustomed to the set of stars before her eyes, had climbed to the tallest of spots on the ship, staying up in the night to watch the clouds roll over. The sea was teaming with lost souls, those who had drowned. But Calista payed them no head.

She should have thought better then that.

Such a unobservant mind was her undoing. She hadn’t even noticed the clouds and storm rolling in, regardless of how quick it had been. Sitting in the tallest part of the ship, when the wind blew it blew her off. Calista grabbed onto a rope, barley close enough for safety. Her eyes scanned her surroundings as she realized she had been distracted; to distracted to notice the storm and creatures around it. She slid down the rope, something her hands wouldn’t thank her for later, and narrowed her eyes. She heard shouts, and screams. Particularly the one of Verena and Marguerite.

Verna has yelled to hold onto something. So she did. As the wave slammed into them, Calista clamped her mouth shut to avoid a mouthful of salt water, and grabbed a man close to her. He was almost a wept away by the storm, but Calista wasn’t so sure if they would survive anyway.

She heard something explode, and then a massive crack. She flinched from the impact, before turning around. The mast was falling, and right on her. She rolled out of the way, shoving the man in the process, and dodged the massive thing. She was about to call out, before she was thrust into the murk.

Calista resisted the urge to scream; she knew it would only kill her faster. She tried furiously to get to the surface. She could swim, but she had trouble in calm waters. This was difficult. Calista was almost to the surface, before she fall something strangle her leg. Her eyes already open, she looked down to see a dark, angry demon creature. Calista growled underwater, and took her weapon out from its hold. Swinging furiously at the creature, regardless of the sting her eyes and hands were providing, she somehow made it loose interest. Maybe it was because she was fighting back and there were plenty of sitting ducks in the ocean.

Calista finally made it to the surface, but felt a mouthful of water swallowed as she breathed. Coughing violently, Calista grabbed onto a small piece of wood to help her. She kicked away as well as she could, her vision fading in and out from lack of oxygen. She swore, she was never going on a boat again. The first experience was the worst, and the only one she needed.

Calista could feel everything become still(er) and the sun start to peak out from the clouds. As the girl raised her head up, she saw an island. The island might be her one hope at this point.

Calista kicker until she made it to shore, upon which she violently dry heaved until she felt like she was coughing up her stomach itself. After that, she groaned, and looked around for anyone or anything she knew. She opened her mouth to call out to them, but all that came out was strangled coughs.

“Anyone!? Hello?” She called out, having to lay down not the sand a moment afterwards. She was exhausted.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Addir Steelspear looked out from his hut. The beach laid a mile across if not more was covered in wreckage. Last night, the winds and waves were as strong as Hastur himself stirred the waves into being. With heaving effort, the dwarf went out using his trusty spear. The yells of waking survivors had roused him from his slumber and only angered him. He grumbled to himself before putting on his cloak and wandering out bare chested wearing only his sleeping shorts on.

Up and down the beach he went, he thumped men on the chest forcing the water out and air in. He didn't say a word only pointing at his hut where his brother similarly dressed began a roaring fire. He bandaged wounds, tied tourniquets and other medical steps to allow the survivors to get to the hut unaided. A few stayed behind to help those who couldn't help themselves. Soon, a dozen sailors had made their ways up the hill.

On he went ignoring those who asked questions or direction. He had no desire to speak lest his anger boil over. Like this, the squant dwarf went about aiding the doomed fleet. He was a most peculiar sight. Those men who wondered why a dwarf lived outside the cities. His eyes and great beard grey as grey could be. His bald head a ragged mesh of sunburns and flaking skin. A permanent scowl on his lips. He helped all he could find as he gathered the survivors to his hut.

 

[Meme Machine]

Calista was still trying to cough the water out of her lungs when she heard the crunching of foot steps. She raced to her feet, and drew her weapons, coughing as she did. The water had made her throat raw, and weakened her more than she let on.

She pointed the weapons at whoever was approaching her, and saw a dwarf. She was mixing up the dead and the living. She forced her power on the dwarf, so if he was dead he would know she was talking to him, and if he was alive he wouldn’t feel anything. “Are you living?” She asked skeptically. She lowered her weapons slightly, and stood straighter. He didn’t seem threatening, whoever he was. Her angry face face fell, and she was about to ask him another question until she started coughing again slightly.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Am I living? Am I living! Am I living!?!?!?! Addir grunted and muttered angry replies under his breath to what he would really like to say. He dug a hole in the sand and roughly forced the girls mouth over it so her head remained out of the hole but if she puked out water or needed to drain water from her lungs it would go straight down the hole while the outer edges supported her head.

He knew enough about needing to drain liquids from the lungs. This usually worked well enough until he could get someone else to drag the woman to the hut. His brother Gunther probably had a better idea to help the young lass.

He painted an odd picture sitting next to the young lady and patted her back and rubbed it to encourage her body to expel anything unwanted from her body. He looked around and didn't see the mass pile of bodies. He did a good days work and deserved this short break. Spear spiked into the ground. Addir took off his cloak and hung it over the spear to form a very very rudimentary form of shade for the young lass. It only kept the sun off her face and no more. Her body was shaking and he once again grunted in agony as he stood back up and piled sand on top of her covering her. He swatted at the back of her head if she dared to move.

The quick sand pile he placed upon her would hopefully help regulate her temperature to something either hot or cold. Addir care not if at all. He scratched at his hairy chest and looked out at the sea watching dead bodies and refuse wash up on the beach. A practiced eye looking out for any more survivors.

 

[Meme Machine]

Protesting as the man forced her head over the small hole, Calista felt the water bubble from her lungs. She coughed, dry heaving a bit more, before water came tumbling out. She noticed the liquid was stained a light pink, signs she was coughing blood. As she coughed, she felt her knees almost give out, and placed her weapons back in the case.

Wiping her mouth, Calista let out a single breath that seemed like a laugh. “I guess you are alive, then.” She spoke with interest, as he moved his cloak to shade her face. She smiled, and put her hand in front of her so he could shake it. “I’m Calista. Who are you?” Her tone was soft, and scratchy almost. She seemed completely unaffected by the red color that had come out of her mouth, and instead tried to sit up.

That is, until he covered her in sand. Calista looked at the man oddly, and went to move before he hit the back of her head. “Ow! What?” She asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at the man. She noticed the sand was really warm, and she herself was freezing. She didn’t try to move anymore, hoping that the man knew what he was doing.

“Not much of a talker, are you?” The tone was questioning, but not sarcastic and mean. She started to notice the dead and the living separate, and started to search for any specific dead that might either be significant, or kind enough to give her the man’s name. She already used her power; any dead in the area now knew what she could do.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

The young lass was worse than Gunther and his hot cider. Ale was meant to be cold there and done. He ignored the woman and rubbed his chiseled abs and was disappointed at feeling only fat that stretched over where a belt should be. One would think he wouldn't be surprised by his own body, but the scowl on his face argued a much different story.

He grunted intentionally making each grunt louder than the next to show his displeasure at conversating. Damn woman won't leave him alone while he saved her life. Her lying prone and her face against a hole in the sand with sand covering her seemed to do nothing to keep her mouth shut. Woman damned annoying pestering fools.

Unknown to the dwarf, a tall woman easily twice his height stood near. The women's ghost hovered next to him. She slapped him in the back of the head yelled nonsense into his ear and used him as a rail to lean and laugh against and make a general annoyance out of herself. She waved to Calista before once again continuing with her antics.

She wore scandalously revealing clothing. A torn shirt to display her flat belly and shorts more fit for a cleaning rag for how much they covered. Her ghostly hair was braided to the right side and was once a plain gold blond as normal as the hair color came. Her eyes were gentle and full of life as she poked and prodded the dwarf.

It was obvious the two shared some odd bond in life for her to stay behind. Her eyes glimmered with mischievous intent in contrast to Addir's stony faced personality. Where he sat in relative patience, she danced, laughed and was a ball of light. In life, it would be a shock to learn he didn't kill the woman to just keep her from annoying him in life.

She continued these games relentlessly. Eventually, she grew bored and tried to hug the dwarf. Her arms passed through him. The look on her face was one of misery as ghostly tears streamed past her face. With a practiced measured move, the ghost kissed his nose so she wouldn't pass through him. She then sat next to him and placed her arms around him careful not to make them go through him.

 

[RoninN7]

Leon watched as the dwarf emerged from the hut ahead and walked up to him and pointed toward the hut before moving on. He looked quite upset with being woken up, something Leon probably couldn't blame him for. Despite his mild exhaustion, Leon took a moment to turn around and look over the beach, finding new survivors that probably washed up further away and walked toward the hut. Many of them were much the same as the others he'd spotted when he woke up: of no importance to him. For a time, Leon wished that he would spot his own crewmen, other than the dead bodies that washed up on the shore. It was an odd feeling for Leon, but not a new one. Losing his men was something Leon had become well-acquainted with during the last Sundering but that didn't make it any less painful. It wasn't that he cared about his crewmen or held a particular love for them but they helped him. Despite his coldness, Leon always found useful people to be good company, especially out at sea.

As he looked around, Leon found the dwarf messing around with some woman who was probably sick, by the looks of it. He didn't pay much attention to this woman, still inspecting the survivors to find anyone of interest. That, of course, was until he took another glance at her and realized she looked a lot like one of the people he was hired to follow. In fact, she was one of the people he was hired to follow. Suddenly, Leon found himself a whole lot more interested in the scene playing out before him, now noticing a few other figures moving about in the distance. They seemed to resemble the rest of the group he was hired to follow but were too far him to tell. For the moment, Leon simply fixed his one eye on the dwarf and the woman he seemed to be helping out. For a moment it seemed like the dwarf was getting distracted by something that Leon couldn't see. Leon raised his eyebrow with mild curiosity, trying to decide whether the dwarf was insane or seeing something Leon couldn't.

Leon sighed and cracked his stiff neck and back, making his way toward the woman and the dwarf. Even though he hated the thought of having to socialize at a moment like that, Leon decided that it was his best chance to keep a close eye on the group now that his ship was gone. He approached the dwarf, his posture straight and his demeanor cold. "Is she alright?" Despite Leon's best attempt to seem "friendly," his voice was colder than he'd intended it to be.

TheLoyalAcorn Meme Machine

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Addir gave another grunt instead of a spoken answer. Damn kids wouldn't shut up. He just pointed back to the hut. His eyes glued to the sea. His hands no longer rubbed the young lass' back instead clasped in his lap. If one saw the dwarf from a distance, they wouldn't be blamed for mistaking him as a well painted statue.

After a few moments, the dwarf sprung into action and stood up throwing sand everywhere. His heart dropped as he saw the golden flash as another dead body washing up to shore. He slowly and angrily sat back down now his arms crossed across his chest like an angry child sitting exactly where he was only moments before.

This continued for a stretch of time. A flurry of movement as he saw any golden hair in the sea wash ashore. Each time, he was just as diligent and just as quick. He was like a hound waiting for some grand gift to be recieved that would be brought on the tide.

 

[Verena]

The warm rays of the late morning sun woke Verena up from her unconscious state. She blinked and lifted her head from the sand a bit, spitting and coughing. She had been laying on her stomach and had sand all over her now painfully dry mouth. Her lips were chapped from the salt and amidst all of this water, water is just what she was craving at the moment. Using her hands, Verena slowly pushed herself to a kneeling position, then to a crouch and finally to a stiff upright position. Her long coat was still soaking wet and weighing her down so she gathered the tails and squeezed what excess water she could from the fabric. At least it was black. This would attract more sun and keep her warm.

She noticed her saber close nearby and carefully bend down to pick it up, nearly toppling over in the process. A thin salt crust had formed over the leather hilt and she cursed, knowing that she would have to clean it as soon as possible before the salt had managed to deal any damage. Verena sheathed it and grimaced at the scraping sound it made in the process. The fur lining of the scabbard had suffered the same fate.

Now that she was upright, Verena rolled her shoulders and neck and looked around, only now noticing the little hut up the hill. A few survivors had already gathered around it but neither Calista nor Marguerite were among them. Her heart jumped at the possibility of them never reaching the shore but she pushed these thoughts aside. Perhaps they were inside enjoying breakfast. Verena had little doubt that they were missing her all that much. Going to New Salieri had been her idea and so she was partially to blame for the state they were currently in.

Verena headed uphill but found herself out of breath only after a few strides. Dehydration and exhaustion were exacting their toll. She turned towards the sea and was just about to sit when she noticed the tall man clad in black and the shirtless dwarf from the somewhat higher ground. At their feet was the unmistakably curly head of Calista. From this distance, Verena couldn’t determine if the head was severed or if the necromancer’s body was buried down to her neck. Either way, she would make them suffer. Verena might not be thrilled to be part of the two girls’ world-saving trip but she still wanted them to succeed. If one of them died, everything would fall apart.

Verena could feel anger rising and adrenaline pumping through her veins as she sprinted down towards them. No use of trying to slither out in the open. As she ran, both her hands reached around her waist to grab a pack of five throwing knives each, one for each man. When she was a comfortable distance away from them to send the small blades flying though, she hit the brakes. Calista was only partially covered by the warm sand, looking exhausted but otherwise completely fine. In fact, the dwarf was shirtless because his cloak was keeping her head out of the sun. Verena had acted rashly. She lowered her hands and exhaled deeply to calm her nerves. “Gave me a fuckin heart attack. Have you seen Marguerite?”, Verena asked, only now realizing how dry her voice sounded and felt. She coughed once and looked down the coastline, trying to spot the girl.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

The old dwarf was seething. Damn you fools running around and yelling questions. He swatted the young girls head who was prone in the sand daring her to speak. His hand was still raised as to threaten the young man to say one more word and recieve the same smack of judgement.

His eyes were drawn to the young hoodlum screaming and demanding the world in his eyes. All the while, he saw the tell tale exhaustion of survival and the drenched clothes. He waved his hand to gesture to his state of undress and pointed to her. He then made a threatening jab at the prone woman, who was either talking or puking pink, as a message to the drenched woman her fate would be the same unless she got dry and warm.

He eyed the boy and smacked the prone girl again and motioned the boy to deal with this hoodlum as his eyes trailed back to the sea. He pulled a pipe from the pocket in his cloak and with magic he used flames to light his pre-packed pipe and started to smoke and grumble under his breath.

 

[Meme Machine]

Calista had stopped talking, watching the woman with slight interest and seeing her reaction. She grimaced slightly as she saw the woman’s tears, and her own face fell. It tore her apart to see the dead in such a state of depression. They didn’t deserve that. There was enough misery in life.

She laid her head back in the sand and took some deep breaths, shaking her head slightly as she did. She was suddenly ripped out of her thoughts but the sound of feet, and sand sliding. Her eyes opened, and she saw before her Verna, soaking wet and tired looking. “Verena! No- Ouch!” Calista cried out as the dwarf smacked her again. She relaxed into the sand, and shut her mouth tight. She didn’t want to get smacked over the head again.

Calista ignore the two, knowing if she spoke she would get smacked again. So instead, she turned to the ghost woman. She was tired, and her powers would simply add to that, but she had to know who this girl was. “Hi.” She whispered to the woman. “Would you be kind enough as to tell me this man’s name, since I can neither get out of the sand, nor get him to speak?”

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Addir wasn't sure if the young woman spoke, but he decided to smack the young woman again. She was just as bad as Lily! Damn annoying little pesky! Without realizing it, his hand fell and began to rub the back of her neck. The other hand firmly on his pipe as he let wispy trails of smoke fly into the air.

The ghost seemed surprised someone saw her at all. She held out on a small flutter of hope just like Addir's as he watched the seas. "His name is Addir... Addir Steelspear"

 

[Meme Machine]

Calista flinched as the man hit her again, but was even more surprised when he rubbed the back of her neck. He couldn’t get much of a read on this man, that was for sure.

She smiled at the woman, and hummed with interest. “Addir, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that name before.” She spoke simply, before holding her hand out to the ghost woman. “My name is Calista. Who are you? Sorry if I’m annoying you, I just go crazy if I can’t talk to people. Habit of never being alone.”

 

[RoninN7]

Leon eyed the dwarf who seemed to be more of a man-child than anything. When he raised his hand toward him, Leon had half a mind to cut it off with his dirk. Careful little man, I've killed bigger and stronger than you... Despite his thoughts, Leon didn't say anything and simply glared at the dwarf, turning back to the young girl he kept smacking. Poor thing couldn't even talk without getting hit, but Leon didn't care about that.

It was then that another woman came running up toward them, holding some type of throwing knives. Almost immediately, Leon forgot his anger toward the dwarf and raised an eyebrow nonchalantly. He realized that she was another one of the people who he was tasked with following. Everything was coming up nicely, despite the setback and his wrecked ship. With his attention focused on this woman, Leon didn't even notice that the dwarf and what he was doing. He stepped around the young girl who'd introduced herself as Calista to something. Maybe she was also insane, or maybe there actually was something else there with them. Leon couldn't say.

Leon took a few steps toward the woman with the knives, keeping distance between them to avoid her feeling threatened. His one eye looked her up and down as he decided what he should say to her. "She a friend of yours?" Leon motioned his head toward Calista and his voice was as cold as his expression. When it came to appearing friendly, Leon had a long way to go.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Addir smacked the young woman again as he saw he move her hand. He then forced her arm to her side like she was long and piled more sand on her before going back to his grumbling smoking self. Damn young kids and their damned annoying movements and damnrd annoying looks. As Addir continued to make up more complaints in his mind, the ghost went to move and sit cross legged in front of Calista.

"Its best not to do anything Addir doesn't like. He's quite set in his ways." The ghost giggled and threw back her head in laughter watching the young girl being abused. She clapped her hands in fun. "Oh! This is funny! Hahaha it is funny when you aren't the one being smacked!" She clutched her sides before she gathered herself letting out snorts of laughter.

"I'm Emily! I haven't talked to anyone in.... 3 decades? You aren't annoying me but-" a barrage of slaps hit Calista's head as Addir felt a speck of sand get in his eye. Instead of being angry at the sand, he decided the young dying girl was a better choice. "-Addir is annoyed by everything"

 

[Felis]

As Marguerite let her gaze wander along the coast, the first thing she spotted was the hut on the hill. At least that meant she wasn't miles and miles from any civilization, she supposed. Then as she followed the road leading down from it with her eyes, she soon saw a few people standing on the beach. One figure in particular looked familiar, but from the distance, she couldn't be sure.

With leaden, bare feet, she trudged towards them, and as she drew closer, Marguerite could say with certainty that it was Morinia she had spotted among the group. And was that Calista on the ground? She didn't know the other two men, one of which wouldn't be overstated to be but dwarfish in size, but the situation seemed relaxed enough, so Marguerite began waving her arms and tried calling out again in a scratchy voice. "Morinia! Calista!" Another cough almost threw her off balance, and she stopped waving to use her arms to steady herself.

 

[Meme Machine]

Calista hissed in pain as she was smacked again. She was sure if this kept up, a concussion could be added to her injury’s. She raised an eyebrow at the ghost lady and laughed herself, more of a giggle than an outright laugh.

“Well, I’m sure that it is. Sadly, I’m on the receiving end of the hits.” She said, humor lacing her voice. She nodded her head in agreement with the ghost, and was about to speak again when the man started hitting her. She yelled something out in Latin before smacking his hand. “Hey, I didn’t send a flurry of sand in your eye, so could you stop?” She added tension in her whispered words, but didn’t attempt to move any more. She then turned back to the ghost, and smiled. She knew the dwarf was trying to help her, and figured that he was truly a kind person. Besides, Calista

“Emily is a lovely name. It’s a shame such a nice person like you hasn’t talked to anyone.” She only smiled, it seemed. A saddened expression hadn’t crossed her face once. “He is easily annoyed, isn’t he.”

Calista heard another voice, and turned her head. Her eyes widened as she saw Marguerite near them, calling out in a quiet scratchy voice. Calista tried to sit up, and called out to her. “Marguerite!!” No sooner did she, that she started coughing again. No water came up that time, just some red. She wipped it away before the others could see, honestly more concerned for the two whose injury’s hadn’t been taken care of.

 

[Verena]

Verena watched as Calista began talking to one of her ghosts again. She was trying to get used to this habit of hers and was going to ask, no, beg her to help with her own ghastly problems. Ever since she found out about the spirits following her, Verena felt haunted by them. Fearing the dead was bad for her career.

The Serpent completely ignored the dwarf’s gestures. She wasn’t getting undressed and she certainly wasn’t going to allow getting buried in the sand. The hood was still over her head and it would stay that way. Instead, Verena turned her attention towards the second man before her.

When he looked her over, she did the same, all the while returned her knives one by one into their designated pockets. He, too, was keeping his head under a hood but definitely wasn’t a Serpent. He, too, had seemingly suffered eye damage but his injury looked much more severe than hers. On the other hand, he might just be keeping one eye adjusted to the dark at all times. The tattoo on his arm was very peculiar and Verena held her gaze onto it a second longer before answering his question. “You could say that.”

Verena had lost interest in killing the pair but she didn’t particularly have to like the grumpy old dwarf. Calista was looking worse for wear already and the Serpent wasn’t going to tolerate any further injuries or abuse. Before the dwarf could land another hit to stop another of Calista’s protests, Verena had already smacked his bald head, grinning at the satisfying sound it made and hoping to send the damn pipe flying out of his mouth.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

A loud smack echoed off his bald head. Addir was visibly shaking now. He ripped the pipe off of the sand and shoved in back in his mouth. He smacked Calista again and then summoned air to shoot at his smacker. The air was just strong enough to make the young insolent smacker drop in body heat dramatically. A stiff breeze in strength. Satisfied in his passive aggressive stance. His honor restored in his mind.

Addir continued to ignore the lass until pink came from her mouth. He only saw it out of anger feeling her move again. Standing over her, he flipped her over sending sand every where as his stubby fingers poked and prodded her. He wasn't well versed in healing magic, but he was able to search for problems well enough.

Meanwhile, Emily's smile faded as she spoke. "He wasn't too bad... until... this?" Emily's face held a strained smile as she gestured to herself in an attempt of humor. "I wish he would go and leave this place, but another part of me selfishly wants him to stay forever.... if you really want to annoy him tell him you like your cider warm" she giggled and laughed at that and rubbed her hands already thinking of how she could annoy Addir from the dead.

Addir finally found the issue and his eyes widened. He ripped his cloak from the spear and put it around the girl. He pointed at the other humans to help him drag the girl to the hut before beginning the process alone.

 

[RoninN7]

Leon's expression remained unchanged as the woman looked him over. While she looked at his arm, Leon realized that his cloak had torn to expose his arm, which annoyed him mildly. Regardless of the tearing, Leon reached over with the opposite hand and pulled the cloak up so it was covering his arm once more. Her answer didn't surprise him, as the question he'd asked was mostly a formality at that point. Leon couldn't let these people know that he was tasked with following them or they'd never let him near without a fight, which forced him to pretend he'd seen them for the first time.

That was when another voice called out. Leon didn't recognize the name "Morinia" but he assumed "Calista" was the same girl that the dwarf was abusing. He did assume that the woman with the knives might be Morinia, but he wasn't sure. His head slowly turned in that direction and he almost smiled. For all his misfortunes and problems, Leon now had an eye on all three people he'd been paid to follow. It was as though the same sea god that had taken his ship from him and swallowed it whole was now spitting out his targets to recompense him. Even though Leon knew none of their names, other than Calista and maybe Morinia, he decided it'd be best to save introductions for later.

Calista kept talking to thin air, which was more annoying to Leon than it was disconcerting at that point, but he didn't let it show. "I assume that one is your friend too," he said as he pointed toward the girl who'd called out their names and was now steadying herself. The dwarf's gust of wind blew past Leon and hit Morinia with full force, which was quite intriguing to Leon. A man-child with tricks... He wondered for a moment if this dwarf might know something about the symbols and letters on his arm before his thoughts were cut short. The dwarf had flipped the girl over and seemed somewhat alarmed at what he saw in her, which was surprising considering how much he'd enjoyed making her a punching bag. When the dwarf began dragging the girl after seemingly asking for help, Leon walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, gesturing for him to step back. Leon then put an arm under Calista and picked her up over his shoulder, keeping her wrapped in the dwarf's cloak. "Carrying is faster."

 

[Meme Machine]

Calista simply grumbled at being flipped over, and snickered when Verena hit him over the head as well. As the dwarf man poked and prodded at her, Calista simply crossed her arms and sighed. She didn’t try to do anything about it, and simply sat there waiting for him to finish.

Calista smiled at the woman, trying to make her feel better. “Death does bring out the worst in people, Emily. It’s not selfish of you to wish for him to stay. Aren’t you bound to him?” She asked curiously. She could have sworn that the woman was bound to the dwarf, not the island.

Calista laughed at the woman, and then turned to Addir. “What’s so wrong with warm cider?” She directed the question more to Emily, and turned back to face her. Her words were muffled as the cloak fell on her, and Calista narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt herself being dragged across the sand.

She shot straight up, trying to keep her balance, and coughed some more. “Hey, I can walk you know.” She said to Addir, standing up straight. She stretched a little, her sore muscles still tight, and looked to the others. “So, probably a little late to ask this, but who else saw the creepy octopus monsters that almost successfully drowned me?”

Her speaking was interrupted when a man she hadn’t seen yet picked her up, and started to carry her over his shoulder. Calista squirmed and yelled at him, trying to get him to put her down. “I’m sorry, who the hell do you think you are? Put me down, jerk!” She said, and started to kick her legs trying to take out his knees.

 

[Verena]

A sorcerer dwarf. Well wasn’t that great? Verena almost regret her decision and instead giggled as she stumbled back, even though she felt the biting gust of wind and her teeth chattering. She was about to sit and enjoy the warmth from the heated sand and the sun while the dwarf and the mysterious man tended to Calista when she heard Marguerite’s faint voice calling out to them.

Verena crossed her arms around her chest to try and bring her shivering body’s temperature back to normal and followed the source of the voice. Soon, she could see her second companion, or at least what was left of her. The strange bag she had been carrying around all this time was now gone and with it, most of her belongings. Other than that, she honestly looked in the best condition out of all three of them. “Thank Salieri both of you are alive.” She spun around when she heard Calista protesting and saw the darkly dressed man carry her towards the hut. It didn’t look like he meant any harm so she didn’t intervene. Verena simply waited for Marguerite to catch up to her and walk up towards the hut herself.

 

[RoninN7]

Leon grimaced as Calista kicked at him. "There are nicer ways to refuse someone than kicking them." He put her down. His expression remained unchanged but his voice was colder and harsher than it had been before. It began to dawn on him that if that was the type of thing he would have to deal with on a daily basis, he'd have to ask his employer for a bonus.

"If you collapse I'm not helping you again." Leon simply stood by and watched to see how Calista would fare walking on her own. He wasn't a doctor but whatever the dwarf saw in her clearly scared him enough for him to stop smacking her. Sheepishly, Leon turned his head to look at Morinia, who stood to wait for the other woman. He did say if they died I'd get paid regardless, but it's still good that all of them are still alive. If someone important wants them, I don't want to be the scapegoat should something happen to them...