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

[Goldie]

Nik watched Elara bustle about, intrigued. The locket, no surprise, didn't work on the chest and he kept his face neutral eventhough he was secretly celebrating his knowledge in his head. He was just glad to take it back and put it in his pocket. Just in case. He thought. Always just in case...he was back on the ocean after all.

That could prove dangerous.

A problem for another day!

He followed Elara a little too closely and peaked his head over her shoulder as she worked. Huh. A fake out drawer. Well that could come in handy.

Not this one. Everyone knew how this one worked now.

No. He'd need something much sneakier. Like...the sneakiest!

"Yes!!" He hissed from his position by her left ear as the drawer opened. What could he say? He was invested.

"You're a smart captain, captain." He acknowledged sagely. He probably would have given up looking for a key to that thing. Searching stuff was exhausting. Especially when it was hidden.

Or...maybe that was just when he lost things and couldn't find them.

He shrugged to himself.

The chest opened with quite the spectacular display, but no one seemed to get hurt so that was good. He liked dramatics so this was a good chest. Just like the door! Well done, objects. Well done.

Then horse-man busted down the door he had clearly claimed with some kind of drama with Pointy the Captain.

"Uh...sure." he said, curious as to what she had been so keen to find, but also reconizing that he should probably follow along since she was kinda his boss now. "Lead on."

"Actually, wait!"

He practically skipped to the door with the women and children and opened the door with a bang. The women let up terrified shrieks.

"Oy! Sorry, ladies. Just...quick question. Your elfy captain man didn't stay asleep and now we have to find him. Not to kill him," probably, "just to....chat." he reached into his pocket and pulled out some more candies, "Candies for your thoughts?"

He wasn't certain it was because of his bribe or because of the big burly pirates behind him, but he got a response.

"He would...there's a false door in the galley. Behind the knives."

Nik bowed low once more and tossed them the final bits of his apple candies before closing the door once more and beaming at Elara and company.

"Shall we?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara was watching the exchange between Nik and the women with amusement. He was so casual about it! But then when the lady actually told Nik where the elf captain was, she shook her head in wonderment.
"Aikios, could you take that door aboard our ship? Nik has taken a liking to it." It didn't look damaged, praise the siren gods below. Aikios nodded and picked up the door, carrying it above deck.
Elara gestured down the lower deck of the ship. 
"Lead the way Nik!" As they made their way to the galley, Elara kept her rapier drawn. Her eyes flitted about the passageway, straining in the rather dark  passageway, trying to see ahead of them.
Suddenly Elara stopped, pulling on Nik's shirtsleeve to get him to stop. She made a "shh" motion with her hand, and gestured to the door in front of them. Presumably, that was the door to the galley, but something felt off. While the rest of the passageway was dark, that doorway was lit, the flame of the torches flickering and casting shadows about the hall.
"Something's not right," she whispered to Nik. She quietly moved in front of Nik and sheathed her rapier, and took a throwing knife out of her coat. She spotted a piece of wood on the floor, so she picked it up and cautiously crept up to the doorway. She threw the wood into the room, nothing. It was quiet. She walked into the room; the coast was clear. She motioned for Nik to come in.
"Where did she say that elf guy was? Behind the knives?" She whispered.

[Goldie]

Hmmm...well he must be a monkey's uncle because Elara was right. Everything was open to them....inviting....too perfect.

His bravado slipped away slightly as he pulled out his daggers into a defensive position and gently touched the captain's shoulder. He signaled to let him go first.

After all, he was much more replacable than she and it would look awfully bad for him if she got stabbed and he walked away from the fight.

Nope, he needed to keep her safe to keep him safe.

He held a finger up to his lips to indicate silence and then slipped through the door as silently as he could. And that was pretty damn silent. His sneakability was probably the only reason she hadn't found him when his last ship sank. No way was he let go.

So sneak he did.

The room was well lit and had the looks of a meal half prepared before being rudely abandoned. Fish heads were still half attached to bodies, scales were half on their flesh, hell, even the stew pots were still boiling and the fires had never beem extinguished.

It was a beautiful scene of life.

It was also completely eerie.

Nik crouched behind a barrel and took in the room some more, looking for the knives that the woman had told him about. He thought it would have been easy to spot, but he didn't see it upon first sweep. Then...

But that couldn't be it could it? There were like....3 knives...not much of a knife wall?

He felt a woosh of air behind him and felt something painful press against his side.

"Hello, friend." A rather unpleasant voice rasped in his ear with hot, stinky breath, "I'll take that locket back, now."

Nik did rather like the locket, but he liked his life more, "Side pocket." He muttered back. Ugh, this guy's breath would kill faster than his blade. Did he even understand hygiene? "There's some mint leaves too if you want to take care of that breath."

The blade on his side punched into Nik's gut.

Well...damn...

And he'd given up his good candies for this, too.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara was about to move forward when Nik crept past her into the room. It took all within her not to yell at him, but she had to admit he was quiet.  At least the room was lit with the light from the torches. She cautiously crept into the room, crouched down, hiding by a table, throwing knife in hand. Where did Nik go? She heard a "whoosh" and that was it. Her ears strained to hear anything else. Her instincts told her to hide by the table near the knives, so she did. Then she heard the elf, yelling her name. She stiffened. If nik was missing, and the elf was this brave...she had to kill the elf. She gripped the throwing knife tighter and waited. The tall imposing form of the elf walked to the doorway, with someone—-oh gods it was Nik—-held hostage with a knife in his gut. She winced. That looked painful. She only had one shot of getting the elf. She eyed the elf's neck. As much as she hated it, it was the only option she had. She threw it with all her might and it hit its target, causing the elf to drop Nik and fall over with a thud. Elara leaped up and completely ignoring the elf, ran over to Nik.
"Ye're gonna be alright, mate, Aikios is the best healer around. Don't touch the knife ok? If ye pull it out, ye'll bleed to death in literal minutes. Savvy?" She said, her voice full of concern.
"This is gonna hurt like a bitch, but I gotta do it, mate. Sorry."
And she ripped her shirt sleeve again, making an occlusive dressing for the knife and stabilizing it. Kkärsvïg burst in just then, worry lacing his face.
"Cap'n! I heard the commotion"—his face paled as he saw Nik.
"Oh seawitches that looks terr"—-a withering glare from Elara cut him off. He coughed awkwardly. Elara cleared her throat.
"Kkärsvig, carry him to the boat. Lay off all ropes and prepare to leave as soon as ye see me runnin' along the deck. Tell Aikios to prepare a bed and some potions for Nik. Don't just stand there! Go!" And Kkärsvig took Nik and went as fast as he could.
Elara turned to the elf. She walked over to him and knelt down by him.
"Listen, mate. Ye tried to kill my friend, and I don't take kindly to that. But if ye tell me what that map leads to, I'll let ye live," her eyes were full of false assurance. She had absolutely no intention to keep that promise.
The elf, coughing up blood and hardly conscious at this point, didn't even put up a fight.
"Something called the Celestial Aegis," and the elf coughed. Elara didn't even wait for him to finish. She yanked the knife out of his neck and turned and left, running to get back to her ship.

[Goldie]

The blade in Nik's gut sent fire through him, but he was lucky that the elf captain had decided to keep the blade in. However, he was less lucky when Pointy decided to hoist him to his feet all while holding the blade firmly in his torso.

Nik grunted painfully and he could feel the steel shift through his innards. Each bumbling shuffle expanded the wound.

Not good.

Oh so not good.

Nik did was he could to stay as still as possible but when his body started shaking involuntarily he knew he was running short on time. Blood loss would kill you quick, but shock could do it too.

Breathe, buddy, he told himself. Gods it hurt. The burning was expanding through his body like a slow spread of molasses on the floor.

He wasn't a doctor but that seemed like a bad thing? What organ had the elf pierced?

The knife tore through his side when his murderer fell. The stab wound was stretched to more of a deep slash as Nik tumbled to the floor with him.

"Ah. Shit..." he coughed, hands instinctually going to his side.

The elf laughed, "Hope...your healer's...good." he chuckled just before Elara made her way over to them. Nik turned his head to look at him and saw blood streaming from his lips. "Ya got something there...." Nik shakily pointed to the blade in his throat, but Gods moving was hard. Then he spotted the locket in his hand.

He needed it.

With a burst of adrenaline, Nik reached forward and wrapped the chain around his fingers just as darkness snuck in to claim him for a time.

His vision swirled in and out. There were short bouts of pain followed by sweet release. Voices sounded muffled. Muddled. Perhaps he was just imaginging it?

"Think..." he struggled to speak, "something on the blade."

He had been stabbed before, but something about this one just hit differently. He was injured, sure. But he had never felt himself go this fast into unconsciousness before. Damn elf. Made sense that he would have done something like poison tip his daggers.

Maybe Nik should do something like that?

"Don....donlet my blood touch the water." He tried to say, and hoped he was successful.

Then he remembered nothing.

[wandering_giraffe]

Aikios, as soon as Kkärsvïg got there, luckily already had a bed ready.
"Lay him on the bed. Gently, ye bastard! Don't jostle the knife!" Aikios, as soon as he saw the knife, paled and grabbed two different potions. Kkärsvig stood to the side, concernedly watching.
Aikios, meanwhile, was bustling about, grabbing a small glass jar that had leeches in it. He turned to Nik, who was unconscious.
He took the lid off the jar and reached in and grabbed two leeches. Aikios was all business now, any signs of his normal joking demeanor gone. He took off the dressing Elara had put on. He put the leeches on the wound.
"They're gonna cause your blood to clot so you don't bleed out when I take the knife out."
Aikios didn't know why he was talking to an unconscious man, but he felt better doing it.
"Alright mate I don't know if you can hear me but this is going to hurt...a lot."
He took the leeches off and put them back in the jar.
Aikios quickly cut off Nik's shirt so he could see the full extent of the wound. He grabbed a small vial that had a viscous, pink liquid and poured it on the wound and around the knife.
"Syrånøchth cįhæ ęhç thå nøc," he murmured as he quickly pulled the knife from the wound.
He grabbed a second vial that had a black powder in it. He sprinkled that all around Nik, and whispered, "sleep, friend."
"Kkärsvig, can you go prepare some broth and a cup of water for when he wakes up? Bring it in here."


Above deck, Elara had just made it back and the Midnight Marauder sailed away from the other ship. She quickly made her way to Aikios's healing room.
"How is he?" She asked.
Aikios sighed.
"That blade did a number on him. I had to use a bit of dark magic to get the poison out. If he had gotten to me a minute later, he wouldn't have made it.
I put him to sleep for now, but when he feels ready, he'll wake up."
Elara sat down next to Nik's bed.
"It should have been me, Aikios."
Aikios looked up from Nik.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"He rushed in before me. I couldn't even stop him."
She angrily punched the wall.
"Goddamn it!"
She winced as she put her face in her hands. Aikios walked over to her.
"Cap'n, what did you get cut with?"
She groaned.
"Whatever that elf was using, oh shit. I think it's the same knife he cut me with." She looked up at Aikios.
"I haven't even had a chance to see how bad the cut is," Aikios mused.
He suddenly snapped in front of Elara's right eye and she didn't even flinch.
"Cap'n...I think he, or the poison on the knife, got your eye." He quickly gave her a vial to drink to stop the poison, if there was any, and she downed it, cursing.
"Can't you make good tasting stuff? God that's awful—-wait you said my eye?"
And she tested that theory herself, waving a hand in front of her right eye. She sighed.
"An eye for a life, I guess."
Aikios went and rummaged around in his desk, bringing back a leather patch.
Elara looked at it.
"No, if you think I'm going to wear that"—Aikios interrupted her.
As the ships only healer, I say you have to wear it, and that's final." She sighed and took it, putting it on. She looked over at Nik, who was still out.
"Ye sure he's going to be alright?"
Aikios sighed.
"I already told you, Cap'n, he will wake up when he's ready."

[Goldie]

Fevered dreams haunted Nikkolai the moment the darkness took him. It trapped him beneath layers of memories and stacks of regrets.

"Hush now, love." A soothing voice lilted through his thoughts, "Hush now and sleep. Let the waves take you far from these cursed lands and fall into the waves..."

Her words were like a song which he instinctually followed. No, not followed, drifted. Control had been left behind and all that remained was the darkness; a deep all consuming black that ate light until only nothing remained. And what a nothing it was. Serene. Silent.

Then pain.

He tried to scream, but he was rooted to the spot and his body refused to listen. He was becoming nothing. He was nothing. He had always been nothing. He deserved to be nothing.

More pain. Not in his body, but in his mind. Her face floated before him. She was still perfect with skin the color of midnight and eyes like the moon. Her hair swayed around her like a crown that was reflecting the stars. And her smile...Gods her smile...

Which ripped along the seams revealing a row of sharp teeth. The tear kept going until her entire head tipped back and split in two with a screech that would make eara bleed. Nik ran to her. Reached for her. He had to save her!

But he was falling....tipped over the edge of the world and falling...

Falling....

And his eyes jolted open with a gasp.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara had fallen asleep on the chair beside his bed, and when he woke up, she abruptly woke up.
"Oi, you're awake, mate! Ye had us worried! I'll go get Aikios!" And she got up to go get Aikios and he walked in, glaring at her and making a "shh" gesture.
"He just woke up mate, give him some time."
Aikios had a hot bowl of broth and a mug of water.
"Whenever you're ready to eat, you need to eat this," and he gestured to the soup.
He walked over to Nik's bed and set down the broth and the water.
"How ya feelin? I assume you're in pain? Is the pain at least lessened?"

[Goldie]

Nik's eyes were blurry and his head spun as consciousness struggled to take hold. He was still half in and half out of his dreams and struggled to differentiate between waking and sleeping.

"Thaleia?" He gasped, reaching a shaky hand towarda the captain, eyes transfixed, "Thal, you're...you're here....?"

Fire engulfed his eyes as panic set in, "Captain! Captain we have to go! It isn't safe!" He tried to sit up, to run to arms, to find some kind of weapon to protect his crew. This couldn't be happening. Not this quickly. Not this soon.

His body crumpled the instant he tried to move and a groan escaped his lips just as his head fell back onto the pillow. The images were slowly fading from his mind and the pain of his injuries lended him a sharpness needed to fully come to.

"Wha...A...Aikios....? Captain?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara didn't know what to do.
Aikios, on the other hand, laid a comforting hand on Nik's shoulder.
"It's alright mate. You're safe. You're back on the Midnight Marauder. You had gotten stabbed," he explained, "with a poisoned blade."
Elara held up a locket.
"Ye dropped this as ye passed out, I grabbed it for ye."
She gently gave it to him.
"That map we found, if the scoundrel was telling the truth, leads to an artifact that could be life changing for us," she smiled, a strange sadness haunting her one unharmed eye.
"It wouldn't have been worth it if ye had died, mate."
Aikios had been looking on the shelf for a certain vial, and found it, turning around to Nik.
"If ye are still in any pain, drink this."

[Goldie]

Nik looked down at his hand where the locket was placed. It was just as pretty as it had been the first time he saw it. It was even carved with a T, which is what drew his attention in the first place.

It might be of help....

He closed his fingers around it and leaned back on the pillows taking in slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and take account of his wounds.

Each breath was a struggle. His chest was tight and his right side was on fire, but he was alive. That had to count for something, right?

A quick peek at his side revealed slivers of black lines inching out from behind the bandages. The poison, it would seem. He poked it and winced. Ok. It hurt. So that was something.

"I'll take that drought." He concluded through clenched teeth, and immediately downed the concoction Aikios presented to him. Nik immediately felt a cooling affect in his veins and sighed heavily from the relief. Oh beautiful beautiful instant relief.

"What kind of artifact?" He asked, eyes closed, "and is pointy still walking about?"

[wandering_giraffe]

When Nik took the vial and drank it, Aikios inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He definitely was doing better.
"Those black lines should go away in a few weeks," Aikios explained.
"In a few hours I'll change the bandage, and give you more of that vial if you need it." Aikios gestured to the broth.
"There is food here if you feel like you can eat it."
Elara answered Nik's inquiry about the artifact quite willingly. He was her first mate after all, he deserved to know.
"I'll tell you everything I know, which isn't much. There was this artifact, created with celestial magic, which was rumored to right the 'massive misdeed committed in times of old'. What that misdeed is, historians argue about. But some say that it is the aftermath of the civil war in Connlaoth, others argue it is something that hasn't happened yet. Problem is, no one is quite for sure where it went. The stories of it first emerged during the civil war in Connlaoth." She sighed. "I do know that there is a huge risk involved with finding this artifact, as the risk for corruption is quite high."
The second question Nik had she answered, albeit rather hesitantly.
"As for the elf, he is dead."

[Goldie]

Nik nodded, closing his eyes, "Good. Damn elf cost me my last apple candies."

He considered the story about the artifact and contemplated the facts which...in all honesty....weren't much more than a child's story from what he gathered.

"What makes you think this is even real?" He asked, eyes still closed, "Sounds like a fairy tale. Or some kind of horror story you tell kids who won't behave. And Connlaoth? How the hell are those backwards folk tied to some kind of ancient magic....thingy."

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara took out the map and unrolled it, walking over to Nik.
"I haven't had much time to look at it, so maybe you would like to. Connlaoth for some reason is slightly highlighted. And, I mean, myths have been wrong before. It didn't originate in Connlaoth from what I understand, but people started hearing of it and there were rumors beginning to spread during that time," Elara explained. She seemed quite reluctant to hand the map over, but she did. There was a rough outline of Le'raana, but if you looked closer, the continent seemed to be slowly shifting and moving. The sea on the chart almost looked too real. Elara was rather entranced by the map, but kept that to herself.

[Goldie]

Nik reluctantly took the map.

Bah. Maps. They were the tools of people with no sense of direction. Why not just use the stars? Or just....you know...pick a direction and go see what you can find. Lots of treasure worth finding can be found when you don't realize you want to find anything.

Sometimes things just needed to stay lost.

"Oy what's wrong with this map?" He blinked and looked away from it, "It's like....little worms...."

He looked over at Elara, "You sure this kind of map is from Connlaoth? Or about it?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara shook her head.
"Nay I don't think it's about Connlaoth at all, but it was glowing just a second ago..." she trailed off as she looked at the map Nik was holding.
"What the hell."
The map had changed. A lot. There was no sign of Connlaoth on it now. She blinked. She was losing her mind.
"Well it's either cursed or enchanted, it's hard to tell."
"I need to go lie down for a minute. I'll be back." And Elara got up and left, closing the door behind her.

[Goldie]

Nik practically threw the map back at Elara when she realized the entire map had altered.

"Nope. No. Nope." He sputtered as the pages left his hands. "That's got some kind of bad attached to it and I don't need more bad attached to me." He kissed his finger tips and held his hand up in the sky to ward off bad spirits.

And just like that, Elara was off looking....shaken.

As she should be. She had found a fucking cursed map.

"She ok, you think?" He asked the doctor.

[wandering_giraffe]

Aikios watched Elara leave. He sighed, measuring out some medicine, and pouring it in two different vials. "It's hard to tell." He turned to Nik, shaking one of the vials and then handing it to him. "How are you feeling? Are you still in pain?"
Elara, meanwhile, had to stop and lean against a wall, trying to control her breathing before she started to hyperventilate.
"It's just a map," she told herself. "A cursed map but a map nonetheless."
Suddenly she felt a "whoosh" of frigid air. The torches lighting up the hallway went out. Elara looked down the hallway, chills going down her spine.  A brooding figure stood in the middle of the hallway, mist swirling around him, and an eerie glow emanating from behind him. With a leering grin, he lifted up his hand and looked at Elara.
"The map. Where is the map? Give me the map." He wasn't asking. He was commanding.
"I...I don't have the map," and that's all she said before she lost consciousness.

[Goldie]

Nik nodded to Aikios and pushed himself to sit on the edge of the bed to prove it. He held up a hand to dissuade the horse-man from stopping him and promptly stood up with a good amount of cursing and effort.

"See?" He smiled through gritted teeth,  "Right as rain."

He took a few steps and used the wall as a crutch. Damn pointy had really done him in, huh. But the poultice and droughts were doing their job well and he felt like he could at least walk around to figure out if the captain was ok or not.

"I'll be back, Horse-man." He promised, "Won't do anything but talk, ok? The captain needs some strong words against evil is all."

And out he went, right into a cold, dark corridor. What? He shuffled forward and his feet bumped flesh.

"Eh?" He slowly stooped down and realized,  "Elara?? What are you on the ground for???"

That was when he saw the ghost.

"Fuckin fuck..." he breathed,  "whole place is filled with demons. Oy!" He shouted,"Crew's full. Ain't got no more space for you!"

[wandering_giraffe]

The ghost sneered at Nik.
"The map will lead you through terrors beyond your deepest imaginings. I was only meaning to warn her," the ghost lied, inching closer to Nik.
His eyes glowed silver.
"Give me the map," multiple whispered voices were saying, all discordant and even though the voices were quiet, they seemed to be everywhere.

Elara groaned, slowly regaining consciousness. She weakly pushed at whatever was behind her.
"No, get away," she muttered. Then she realized that was Nik. She turned her attention to the ghost in front of her.
She slowly stood up and drew her rapier.
"Get. Off. My. Ship." Her eyes glowed in fury. She wasn't about to let some ghost take the map she almost lost her first mate over.
The ghost screeched and rushed at her, its form changing and evolving so fast it looked like a billow of smoke.
"Anch'tcharį yęæ hyœs!" She yelled with as much strength as she could muster. The ghost seemingly passed through her, and disappeared. Elara felt a rush of frigid air as the ghost went through her. It definitely didn't feel pleasant. She turned and looked at Nik, attempting to smile.
"Like you said, crew's full," she said, and then leaned against a wall, breathing heavily.