I wasn't fired, I'm RETIRED [wandering_giraffe][M]

[Goldie]

Nik walked silently beside Elara taking in the lay of the ship. It was a beautiful vessel; large and elegant - especially for pirates. If there hadn't been a big ass blade on the bow, he might have assumed it was a transport vessel for nobles.

His entire demeanor was somber, almost as if he had entered an odd state of mourning the moment his feet left land. He knew why. He wasn't planning to share.

Ah...so horsey was the medic. That....could prove difficult if Nik continued to insult him. Never piss off the cook or the doctor. One could poison you and one could just deny you care. Wouldn't do to make enemies of those you need in a tight spot.

He took the key, but didn't enter his room. He was hung over, sure, but the bark he was chewing had helped immensely and he wanted to watch the land as it disappeared in the distance. Instead, he dropped his pack on the foot of his cot and then turned to maneuver his way back on deck.

The cool seabreeze kissed him straight on the lips like the embrace of an old lover. The kind who understood all of your quirks and could get a rise out of you with a look. He closed his eyes and breathed in the salt, the sunlight, the fresh and perfect sea air.

He made his way portside and leaned on the rail watching the land disappear.

How he had missed this.

How he would cherish each moment he had.

While it lasted.

[wandering_giraffe]

A rousing cheer went up from the pirates as the ship left the docks and went out into the sea. Elara had left her quarters and was standing up by the ship's wheel, keeping a watchful eye out on the water. Aikios came up and took over for her, so she could go make sure the crew was doing their duties. She noticed Nik over by the edge of the ship.
She walked up beside him and leaned on the rail.
"Watchin the land disappear?" She asked.
"Supper is soon, I think. Kkärsvïg hasn't ring the bell yet. She took out a small map from her coat pocket.
"Do ye know anything about the North Isles? There's a certain pirate ship that prowls around there that I've had my eye on for a while, but the North Isles are tricky to navigate."
She unrolled the map and smoothed it on the ship railing, pointing to a very intimidating looking group of islands.
"They normally lie around there, on the south tip of the island. I was thinking about going weaving through the group of islands instead of going around to sneak attack them." She traced the route she was thinking of with her finger.
"What do you think?"

[Goldie]

He nodded at Elara's question, "Yes. Always been a tradition for me and we all know it's bad luck to break tradition." It was also considered bad luck to have women on a ship, too, but sailors adapted over the years.

It's not like a woman sunk his last ship....or anything....

Damnit what are you doing, Nik?

Too late for that.

He looked down at the map the captain presented him, half listening to her as she pointed out a grouping of islands to the north. He recognized them immediately. After all, these waters were basically part of his blood and he could navigate them in his sleep.

"No, that'll end up in heavy losses. The current there is basically mini whirlpools." He stared out at the horizon, the sun having past the apex a few hours ago and making its daily pilgrimage towards the edge of the world. "You'll want to go here." He pointed to the largest of the islands on its southernmost coast.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara nodded as he was showing her, and yelled for Aikios to modify course. As the ship turned towards the new course, a ship appeared on the horizon. A yell came down from the crows nest:
"Aye, Pirate ship off the starboard bow!" The call was repeated until the crew was all on deck. Elara was getting excited; the first new raid of the journey and she didn't even plan this one! She turned to Nik.
"Well looks like adventure is happenin' sooner than I thought! She turned to the crew and started barking orders.
"Gunners, to the cannons! Boarders, take positions on starboard deck! Attackers, make ready behind them!" Her eyes glinted in excitement.
"Run up the flag!"

[Goldie]

Well, that didn't last long. The peace, that is.

No sooner had Elara called for a change of course than another ship appeared on the horizon. The crew moved about like a dance troupe. Everyone knew their place and went there seamlessly.

Nik smiled. He liked watching them. Little lemmings prowling about.

Good little minions they were! Elara ran a tight ship.

Now, was it a loyalty thing or fear...? She was too nice. So. Probably fear.

He looked after her shouting orders and everyone just scattering. Yup. Fear for sure.

As they approached the ship, he pulled his blades from his boot, where he kept them for safety reasons, and flipped them a few times to get used to their balance again. It had been some time since he had been in a fight and he was looking forward to the excitement.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara climbed up one of the masts and yelled for attention. Most of the pirates stopped and looked her way.
"Ye know the rules. No needless death, if there's women or children aboard do not harm them. This is a Mercenary Collector ship, as evidenced by the flag, so expect high value loot aboard." She grinned.
"Expect a hard fight!" She drew her rapier and waved it, eliciting a cheer from the riled up crowd of pirates.
"Lastly, grab any magical artifacts aboard." They were fast approaching the ship, so Elara jumped down and landed right beside Nick. Her eyes were lit up with excitement. She noticed the blades in his hands.
"Aye, nice blades! We're almost broadside! Attack!!" And she took off running towards the other ship.

[Goldie]

The boats connected and the swarm began. Elara's crew were indeed quite talented at destruction within reason. It was a new experience for him. His last crew just kinda....pillaged and went on their way without a care who got in the way. That wasn't to say they didn't try to keep the innocent....kinda safe.....but...yah know....pirates and stuff.

Honestly it was his least favorite part of the whole deal. He was a good fighter. Nay, he was a great fighter. Better than most! But...

He didn't like killing.

So....he stayed back from the initial surge and used those moments to get a lay of the land so to speak. Every inch of the portside deck was littered with fighter vs fighter. Blood splattered the deck, both friendly and enemy.

No good. There was no way in that way. He looked to his left. The bow of the enemy ship was a few yards off of the Midnight Marauder. Too far to jump so, naturally, it was deserted.

He looked up. An idea formulating in his brain.

No time to second guess, only time to act.

He tucked his knives in his belt and walked briskly towards a rope that dangled from the sails near the edge. With the ease of a gazelle flying on a trapeze, Nik grabbed the rope and silently swung over to the other ship.

Thankfully no one noticed. They were all too busy with their own fight.

Now he crept.

On his way he picked up a fallen hat and placed it on his head which made him even less conspicuous.

Time to find the treasure. he thought to himself as he slipped below deck into the deserted halls. He'd probably run into some non-fighters on his way.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara did a running start and grabbed a rope, swinging over and using her momentum to land on the other ship. She had put too much energy into the jump, and swung right into an enemy pirate. He snarled and swung at her and she parried, barely blocking it. He swung again and Elara smirked. This guy was good. Instead of parrying, she merely dodged, and swept his legs out from under him. The pirate slashed as he fell, and nicked Elara on the leg. She quickly stabbed him and stomped on his wrist, breaking it and causing the pirate to lose his grip on his sword. She grabbed it and thrust him in the chest with it, taking her own rapier back and running to join the main fight. She didn't even realize she was bleeding until she started to run, and she winced. She'd have to get Aikios to look at it later; there wasn't time right now. Across the ship, Aikios was dueling two hulking pirates at once, fighting with two broadswords and yelling occasionally just for the fun of it. Kkärsvïg came swinging onto the ship, swinging a skillet in one hand. He bowled over two pirates and landed on deck. The fight was intense. Elara noticed that a few of her crew were either struggling or wounded.
"Aikios!" Elara yelled.
"Crew on the bow needin' help!"
And she picked up her pace, trying to get there quickly. But Aikios got there first, dispatching two of the pirates, but not before one of her crew was wounded. The battle was seeming to go in her crews favor, but she wanted to end it quick. She needed to find the captain.

[Goldie]

Nik crept down the stairs, hoping the sounds of the battle above masked the creaking each step made.

Gods, how did anyone do some solid sneaking on a ship without the aide if magic? The squeaks and screeches were deafening.

fucking ships. he thought to himself, sliding his blades down into his hands as he continued to creep forward.

After what felt like an eternity, he found himself in a long, seemingly abandoned, corridor with half a dozen doors lining the sides. A final, ornate door stood at the end, closed and most likely bolted.

Nik pulled the hat down over his eyes. It made him feel....sneakier. The master of sneaks. The sneakiest retired pirate pulled out of retirement of them all.

He needed to check the rooms first to make sure no one would try to sneak behind the sneaker. Obviously, the big ornate door was the end goal.

Quietly, he opened the door on his left and peaked in through a crack.

Empty.

Still, best check.

In he went, quietly closing the door behind him. There was a chest in the corner filled with trousers and a few shirts that needed mending, but not much else. A small writing desk held a fancy quill (which he pocketed) but even the papers in and on the desk were blank. Nothing really important in this room, so onto the next.

Across the hall was much the same, though this person was clearly a slob and clearly had never folded a shirt ever.

Nik helped with that, leaving a nicely folded pile at the end of the bed, before moving on.

Nothing in rooms 3 or 4.

He paused outside room 5. He could hear sniffling. He frowned. He didn't want to scare whoever this was any more than they already were but...he also knew that shiny things tended to be with people.

He pushed open the door and came across three women huddled with a handful of children all under the age of 8. The oldest, a young lady, stood up with a sword held out in front of her to protect her people.

"Stay back!" She stammered, "You won't have us!"

Nik remained by the door and held up his hands. His blades had already been slipped back under his sleeves and out of sight. "I'm not going to hurt you. Any of you. I'd just like to see your fancies if you please."

One woman cried harder at this, but another whispered to her and her wails quieted.

"I mean it." Nik assured them, "I only date Sirens and my captain was clear that we should treat you nicely." He reached into his pocket and held out some hard candies towards the kids, "would you like one?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Above deck, the battle was almost over. Elara noticed Nik wasn't on the upper deck, and surmised he must be below deck. She hoped he was ok.
"Kkärsvig!" Elara yelled.
"A bit busy, Cap'n!" Kkärsvig grunted. Kkärsvïg was a sight. His apron was stained with blood, he honestly looked like he just walked out of a butcher's shop. He swung his skillet and the pirate he was fighting fell in a heap.
"Check below deck, I haven't seen Nik since the fightings started."
Kkärsvig nodded.
"Aye, Cap'n!" And he went to make sure things below deck were ok. Elara spotted a figure near the helm of the ship. She quickly ran the length of the ship, trying to stay out of the main fighting, or what was left of the main fighting. When she got to the helm, rapier in hand, she paused, frowning, looking at the "figure". It was nothing but two barrels on top of each other with a cloth and a hood thrown over it. It was eerily quiet on the helm, almost as if the sounds of the fighting weren't present. All she could hear was the ocean, and the creaks of the masts and the sails billowing in the wind. A chill ran up her spine. Something wasn't righ—the crisp sound of a sword being drawn interrupted her thoughts. She whipped around, sword in hand, only to be caught by a blade to her face. White-hot pain seared across her face. She stumbled back, clutching her face. Elara couldn't see for what felt like hours, but in reality it was a couple of seconds. She kept her rapier held in front of her, hoping to keep her attacker at bay.  She quickly wiped the blood off of her face.
"That was a good blow," she admitted. Damn, the cut on her face hurt. Her attacker was a tall princely elf. He sneered at her.
"You fell for the oldest trick in the book." They circled around each other, testing each other for openings.
"You've lost, mate. Just surrender already," Elara taunted.
He smirked.
"I don't surrender until I'm dead," he shot back.
Elara shrugged. "So be it, then," and she swung her rapier and attacked.

[Goldie]

The children stared at Nik in shock and then at the candies in his hand. He didn't quite understand why they didn't just take it. He got hungry so he liked to carry snacks. Was it wrong to offer it by way of a peace offering?

"Go on, take it." He urged, "They're apple flavored. A nice lady named Nina makes them for me."

One of the younger children stepped out of his mother's arms and snatched a candy. The woman wailed.

"Shh. Shhh." Nik said kindly, though maybe with a hit of sarcasm, "They're not poison. I mean...unless you're allergic to apples. And sugar. Then I guess it would be poison." He popped one in his mouth to prove a point, "See? Look. They're delicious!!"

For some reason this made the woman cry even harder, but the children scooped up the rest and hurried off to hoard their treasure.

"Alright ma'am, that's enough." Nik sighed, rubbing his temple, "I already told you you're not going to be hurt. I also clearly stated my type are sirens." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the quill he had found in the other room, "This is for you. I just would like your stuff of value. It's a good trade. You'll be able to write your story down and make millions!"

He held out a pillow case he had filtched from one of the other rooms. Silently, and through tears, they placed their items in. One started removing her earrings but Nik stopped her.

"No...I think you should keep that. You'll need something to help you get on your feet again when you get to shore." He smiled handed each of the women a candy. He gave the kids another for good measure. "See? You're gonna be just fine." He tapped the wailing woman gently on her head like a cat before laying the quill at her feet. "For your trouble."

He bowed low and swept his hat across the floor.

He was a gentleman.

Then he stepped out of the room and closed it, putting the pillowcase of jewels next to it.

Footsteps boomed from behind causing him to pivot quickly, dropping his blades back into his hands and stooping to ready for the attack. He didn't know everyone on the ship seeing as he had only been on it for a few hours, so be might have assumed it was an enemy pirate had the man not held a frying pan.

"A frying pan???" Nik exclaimed, "Now why didn't I think of that???" He pointed to the pillow case, "Found some jewels, cleared all the rooms but the big one right there."

[wandering_giraffe]

Kkärsvig looked at Nik, then the jewels he had found.
"Battles almost over on deck, Cap'n sent me to find y"—-he stopped and looked at the door.
"Well blast this ship, look at that!" And Kkärsvig whistled.
"How do ya reckon to get that door open. I bet we're going to need a key." Then Kkärsvig remembered he had a skillet with him.
"Ain't never been nary a door I could bust through," Kkärsvig boasted, and then swung at the door. The door didn't  even scratch.
"What the sirens hell is this?" Kkärsvig mused.
"I bet," Kkärsvig surmised, "there's a captain somewhere around this ship. And where we find the captain, we find the key." He was about to say something else when Aikios thundered down the hall, a panicked look on his face.
"The captain! Elara, she's in trouble! Theres something off about this ship, I can sense it," Aikios said.
"It's either cursed or enchanted, or both."
Kkärsvig nodded.
"Aye, I figured as much." He turned to Nik.
"Let's go help the captain!"

[Goldie]

The cook guy, what was his name? Aardvark? That was a weird name....between him and Horse-man the crew maybe needed some help picking more menacing names.

Anyways. Aardvark did NOT know how to properly care for his cookware, nor did he even consider the beautiful craftsmanship he could have potentially ruined with his ill-thought-out flinging. Nik was about to reprimand him when the cry went out to help the captain and off he went.

Good little Aardvark. Loyal to everything but his craft it would seem.

Nik sighed and turned to the door. He pressed two fingers to his lips and lovingly dragged them down the center of the door. "Soon, my love. Soon."

And then he turned and followed to help the captain.

The fighting was still raging on deck, but it was clear Elara's crew had the upper hand. They were well selected, that much was apparent. The enemy shipfolk were dwindling while their people had a few down with wounds, but everyone looked very much alive. Hopefully Horse-man would be able to patch them all up without any casualties. Of course, Nik wasn't a medic so who knew, maybe people were close to death from their ship.

Not something he could worry about, though.

On the upper deck stood a very comanding looking elf - Nik could see his ears from here - and Elara. Nik's usual jovial demeanor faultered when he saw she was clearly injured and needed help.

Gods he hated fighting.

But Elara was his captain. And he was good at it....so....

He let out a quiet, prolonged groan and proceeded to climb up the door to the lower cabins to reach the upper deck without using the stairs. He clung to the railing like a monkey and took in the scene.

Elara had a nasty wound on her face that made him wince. It looked awful and he couldn't tell if it had taken her eye from here. All he could tell was there was a lot of blood.

In a crouch, he pulled himself onto the rail and reached into his pocket where he had placed a pretty locket from one of the women below. He had thought to keep it for a gift, but maybe it could be useful here.

"Oy! Pointy!" He held up the locket, "I think I found something you might be interested in!"

The elf, most likely the captain it would seem, spared him a quick glance and then froze when he spotted the locket. Ooooh, Nik thought, This is definitely important to him then.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara also stopped when she heard Nik yell, and it gave her time to wipe her face some. It was hard to tell how bad the cut was because of the adrenaline coursing through her body. While the elf was distracted with Nik, she quickly hit him on the head with the hilt of her rapier, hoping to just knock him out. She stooped down to pick up his sword, and held it out to Nik.
"Please, take the sword, you have won it. Aye, I have to admit, if ye didn't show up when ye did, I probably wouldn't have won," she wiped away some more blood off of her face. Pesky face wounds, they bleed so much. She noticed her vision felt off, but she just brushed it aside. There were more important things to attend to. She quickly looked Nik over.
"Are ye hurt?" It didn't seem like he was, and for that she was grateful.
Kkärsvig spoke up.
"Cap'n, Nik discovered something on the lower deck that I think ye should see."
Her eyes lit up at that.
"What is it?" she asked.
Kkärsvig turned to Nik.
"I think Nik should show ye."

[Goldie]

Nik didn't want to take the sword. That sword had done some awful things and he was certain its evil would wipe off on him. After all, it had drank Elara's blood not but a few minutes earlier. That sword was evil.

He just...stared at it for a moment before looking at her face and changing the subject.

"Listen. I'm no medic. I don't have four legs to stand on. But wiping your face like that is just going to make it worse." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief, "Take my lucky hanky and press it on that cheek real tight."

It had been a very lucky handkerchief. Since finding it he had located a giant bag of riches, gave some candy to nice people downstairs, and met the door. AND he hadn't been injured at all!

Damn....why was he giving it away? They had only just gotten acquainted.

Well...no help for it and no use crying. Elara needed it.

He signaled for the group to follow him.

"If we can save it, Captain, I'd love to install the door on our ship for my room. It's something special."

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara noticed he deferred the sword rather quickly, so she merely stuck it through her belt.
"Ye sure? Ye know blood stains are next to impossible to get out." She did hesitatingly take the handkerchief and press it to her face, wincing as she did so.
"Aye, much appreciated, mate."
Kkärsvïg came up to them just then.
"So uh, I searched the elf for a key, no luck." He shook his head. As much as he wanted to see what was behind that door, he wasn't sure they could. Then he eyed the sword Elara had tucked into her belt. There was a small eclipse engraved into the hilt.
Kkärsvïg frowned. He'd seen that symbol somewhere before. Oh well. Maybe he'll remember where later.
Nik motioned for them to follow him, so they followed him back to the mysterious door. Elara's mouth dropped open in sheer amazement. The door was breathtaking.
Kkärsvïg pushed past them and looked at the door. It had symbols of an moon going through various stages. He looked at the sword Elara had, then at the door.
"Elara, I think...the sword is the key!" Kkärsvig exclaimed. Elara cautiously took the sword and held it to the door.
"Here's hoping the door stays in a good condition," Elara said to Nik. Suddenly, the sword flew out of Elara's hand and stuck to the door. The sword glowed, and the eclipse on the handle matched the moon on the door, glowing with a silver color.
"Goddamn, that's beautiful," Elara breathed. The door then opened, and Elara gestured to Nik.
"You found it, so you should go in first."

[Goldie]

"Oooooooooo," Nik whistled while watching the magic take effect, "fancy!"

Yes. That door would be his. Hopefully it fit. Oh the adventures they would have! And hopefully it had some kind of concealment enchantments on it. That would be most convenient. Considering the captain's sword had been the key, it probably did.

The door swung open and Nik lipped Thank you, beautiful at it as they stepped inside.

It. Was.

Unassuming.

A nice large desk sat inside with a backdrop of the ocean outside of large glass panes. There were intricately carved decorations throughout the cabin and a few smaller locked chests on shelves.

One large chest was to the left next to a pair of fluffy blue and silver armchairs and this chest looked like the door's twin. Same wood, same carvings, and - if Nik had to guess - the same enchantment. Something told him the sword wouldn't open this one, though. It just wasn't good security to have one key for every lock.

So he started looking around for something that looked like the sword but....wasn't.

A dagger maybe?

A letter opener???

He pocketed an even fancier quill from the desk to replace the one he had gifted.

"Oh," he suddenly remember, "That door out there to the right has some women and children. I gave them some candy so they should be ok."

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara had almost forgotten about the cut on her face, but as the adrenaline wore off she was starting to feel...not great. She'd been cut by swords before but this cut hurt, a lot. She removed the handkerchief from the cut and tucked it into her coat pocket. Elara frowned. Her vision still felt off.

Elara was absolutely amazed as she walked into the room. She also looked around the room for keys or anything that would open the chest, but no such luck.

"Aikios—-where is Aikios?" She looked around. She hadn't seen him come down with them. Elara shrugged. Maybe he was doing something with the enemy crew, probably putting them in their own brig.

The other, smaller chests, if they weren't too heavy, they could just take with them back to their ship. She turned to Nik.
"Do ye happen to have that locket that elf was so startled to see when ye distracted him? That might do the the trick."

[Goldie]

Nik looked down at his hand where the locket still hung around his fingers. He frowned. It was a pretty little thing and he wasn't exactly thrilled to give it up but...he was going to give it up earlier so...what did it matter now?

"Don't know if it'll do anything. I got it off one of the ladies in the other room. Do you think Captain Elf would have given a key to one of them?"

Unless maybe it was a wife or a daughter or... who knows. Something important to him.

He handed the locket to Elara with a sigh, "Worth giving it a try, I guess."

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara noticed his hesitancy to hand her the locket, so she smiled.
"I'll give it back."
She held up the locket to the chest...nothing. She sighed. She examined the locket more closely. Nothing. She handed it back to Nik.
"Well, it was worth a try."
Her eyes scanned the room, looking for any potential hiding places. Her eyes found the desk, and she frowned, walking over to it. One drawer was slightly bigger than the other. There must be a space above the drawer, but she didn't see any indication that there was. She knelt down and pulled the drawer open, and there wasn't any keys. There was, however, a bottle of whiskey, and she grinned and set it on the desk.
Elara idly fiddled with the knob on the desk drawer, and she heard a click.
No way that's a puzzle desk. She's had experience with a few, maybe she could figure this one out. She cautiously turned the knob, listening for another click. It clicked, and the bottom of the drawer slid open, revealing a hidden compartment, and a small cylinder engraved with various runes. She picked up the cylinder and turned back to Nik.
"I think I found it!"
She turned to Kkärsvig, who was messing with the small chests.
"Can you gather our crew and start to make your way back to our ship? We've been in one spot long enough," she said.
Kkärsvig nodded, and left.
She took the cylinder and walked over to the chest. There was a small hole where the keyhole would normally be, so she cautiously put the cylinder in it. The lid to the chest made a clicking sound, so Elara slowly opened the lid.
Red light shot out, and Elara took a quick step back, cautiously watching the chest. Nothing happened, so she continued to open it. Wisps of smoke were curling out of the chest and swirling around the room.
Elara quickly reached inside of the chest and drew out a piece of parchment.
"That's it! A map? I can't even read what this chart says. Oh well, maybe someone onboard our ship can translate it." She shrugged and turned to Nik.
"Let's head back to the ship"—-Aikios burst in the room.
"Cap'n! The elf escaped, and we can't find him!"
Elara groaned.
"Is our crew safely back on board?"
Aikios nodded.
Elara sighed, and turned to Nik.
"If you're up for it, want to help me find that elf?"