What Are the Odds Again? [Lazy!]

[Anonymous]

He'd traveled far to reach this town, some small and virtually unknown port. It was peaceful really, quiet and just what Dominik had been searching for. As he reached the top of the hill he stopped, looking down on the little town, the type that rarely saw trouble, where any serious crime was considered to be myth. The people were almost frightening in their bliss, but he needed this opportunity to relax and get away from all of the hustle and bustle of the cities where he did business. Yes, this place was perfect for him and he broke off the small path that would lead him into town, instead opting for a chance to stretch his wings before he went back into society.

Navigating a thinner trail into the woods, he set down his bags and took off his coat before releasing his wings from the binds wrapped around them, unfurling the mass of black feathers and reaching upwards to the sky for a prolonged moment, enjoying the feeling of the sun against his skin. Happy for the chance he had, he ran back out and shot up into the air, catching the wind on his wings and flapping to gain altitude. He did not notice at first, though, that a girl had been coming up the path and was now staring at him as he dove and twirled in the air above the water. He remained oblivious that eyes rested on him, though, absorbed in his own thoughts as he looked down at the water.

Dominik had heard stories about the ocean on his travels, stories of creatures both glorious and frightening, though he saw nothing now but small schools of fish darting beneath the surface. Content with his short flight, he beat the air furiously to make a quick return to the spot where he'd left his belongings. Now, though, he noticed the girl that was still standing motionless, watching him as he came down to land. Frightened that somebody had seen him, he darted behind the trees, snatched up the things he'd left hidden and ran deeper into the woods, all the while tucking his wings close to his back.

The girl had followed him, though, and when he heard the familiar snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves he cursed and ducked behind a group of bushes in hopes that the girl would pass him and he could then make his escape. He stayed motionless for what seemed like hours until he was sure nobody was around anymore then relaxed as he heaved a sigh of relief. Securing his wings in place again so they wouldn't be as noticeable, he slipped on his coat over them to create the illusion that they weren't even there.

What Dominik didn't know, however, was that the girl had returned with news to her village, explaining to her friends that there was a flying man hiding in the woods. Of course they didn't believe her, but she knew she'd seen him, had gotten a good look at him. When he came into town later that evening, though, the girl's friends told her that they'd seen a new guy come in. Curious to see if she could catch a glimpse of his wings again, she followed him out to the docks where she tried to stay hidden behind a stack of crates, watching from the corner as the tall man looked down at the water lapping against the wooden posts supporting the main dock. She thought he looked as if he were thinking, which captured her further attention as she wondered what someone like him might be thinking about in that very moment.

[Anonymous]

[OOC:  sorry if you were waiting on this, but I dont think you are.  Feel free to take your time here, I'm not waiting.

Also, any part of this thread involving ship terms and stuff, you can just use words I use to describe stuff, or from pirates of the carribean or something.  Dont stress knowing the right terms for stuff or anything.   I'll know what you mean.   :)  

also, this guy is pretty violent.   lol]

All along the ships forward deck, pirates of the 'Salt Rider' were working shoulder to shoulder.   Buckets were thrown overboard and hauled back up and exchanged for an empty bucket.  Those towing the fire lines (the water buckets tied to rope) heard only panic, splashing water, and scrambling feet behind them.  

A fire onboard a seagoing vessel was always a frightening thing, and oftentimes fatal.  The captain, however seemed oblivious to the commotion and fire.  His eyes scanned the horizon, waiting for land to come into sight.  Smoke from the fire made his view clouded, but it was disappearing quickly, his crew was expert at fire control by now.  

Rubin hunched over, his forarms catching his weight against the wheel.  His eyes followed the horizon ahead sharply.  Somewhere below, a rough voice claims 'The fire is secure!  All hands to prior duties!  Swabbies restore the forward deck!'    For a moment, Captain Rubin looks down to see the burned bodies scattered.  The deck was a mess of water, ash and the bodies of used up slaves.  The newer deckhands began pushing the burned bodies overboard with long sticks.

One of the newer deckhands, who was obviously upset, mumbled to another: 'He could have burned the whole ship down.   I know he doesnt care about the slaves, but doesnt he care about the ship at all?'  The other man did his best job of ignoring him and getting away from such talk.  'Burning the slaves alive, thats just cruel, even for him.'  The man continued venting, unaware the captain hears everything on his ship 'As soon as this ship reaches land, i'm out of here.  You should...'

A loud grumbly voice broke his train of thought.  He looked up to see the captain pointing towards him.  'That man goes overboard, I will not tolerate mutiny on my ship!' Rubins finger pointed to him, but his eyes were fixed on the young man he had been talking to.  He was telling one pirate to throw the other one overboard, and most likely just to see the excitement.  As if 4 burning girls running around trying to jump overboard wasnt enough excitement for one day.

As the shuffle began below him, A grin came to his mouth as he finally spotted land, and he was right on course for the next port.  It was time to replace the women.  A final word from him as he headed below decks to prepare.   'Make sure he cant swim.  We've found Land.'

[Anonymous]

Oblivious to the presence of the girl, Dominik sat along the edge of the dock and stared at his reflection in the water. He blocked out all noises and movements from the rest of his environment and just stared as he allowed himself to slip into a deep state of thought.

The young lady, though, had other plans and swiftly made her way down to him from her hiding place. When she tapped him on the shoulder Dominik flinched and turned his head to look back at her, which brought him immediately into a state of alarm; he remembered the girl's face from earlier that day and also the sharp memory of her as she witnessed his flight. At a loss for what to say he hastily brought himself to his feet and took hold of her arm as he dragged her down the dock and to the crates she'd been hiding behind before. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, his usually friendly tone replaced with one filled with absolute seriousness.

The girl just smiled at him, though, oblivious to why he was upset and happy that he'd remembered her. "I heard that someone new had come to town and wanted to see who it was...and it just turned out that it was you." She stayed quiet for a moment, looking past Dominik to the empty streets of the market as moonlight kept them from complete darkness. "Can you really fly, though?" she asked eagerly, looking back to him.

"I'm not talking to you about anything, you shouldn't even be here right now," he complained, at a loss for what he was going to do with her.

"I just...thought that maybe we could be friends, you know? You seemed a bit embarrassed earlier but I don't mind if you have wings, I think it's neat." Hearing that made him cringe and want to pick her brain to figure out exactly why she thought something like that when so many other people in the world thought him strange or scary for the oddity.

"If I find out that you've told anyone about what you saw...I don't know what I'll do but you can be assured that it won't be good for you. I guess if you want to...be my friend you'd have to know my name first and, well, it's Dominik and--" He was cut off by a sharp cry from nearby and quickly took to scanning the area for the cause of the sudden noise. He found it directly behind him, a ship fast approaching the port town. Why someone might be frightened by a ship going to a port was beyond him, though he did not know the ship was sailed by pirates.

Watching as more emerged in the streets, looking out on the water as nervous chatter made its way through the gathering people, Dominik turned as well before he felt the girl grip his arm. "We have to move...that's a pirate ship," she whispered in his ear as she tugged at his shirt. Hearing that was more than enough motivation for him and he followed after the girl to hide behind another group of crates further from the docks. Having never experienced a pirate raid before he wasn't sure what to expect exactly, though he'd heard stories of the brutalities committed and was sure that he wanted none of it to happen to either himself or this girl he found the sudden need to protect. Only for the offer of friendship he stayed hidden with her, watching between slits separating crates as the ship moved ever closer.

ooc: I'm really sorry about the amount of time it took me to post this. >_<

[Anonymous]

Rubin walked purposely and surely thru the inner halls of the 'Salt Rider.'  His underlings rushed past him towards the deck for docking, each trying their best not to attract his attention.  His attention now was far from the the pirates, the slaves or anything else.  As the ship approached land, his only thought was on the nervousness in his stomach.  He had felt this feeling before: a sense of unknown danger.  Danger is something he would only fear on dry land, and very seldom there.

The last time he had felt it was just before meeting that sand witch at the southern bay shore.  She was one of few that had the ability to hurt him.  In his long existence, he has felt this many times, and nearly each one proceeded contact with a dangerous person or situation.  He would not take this feeling lightly.

The captains room door swung open, the walls connected to it trembling from the force.  The bulky captains frame caught on the had to collapse slightly onto itself to fit thru the door.  He pulled a key out of his pocket as he felt the ship turning slightly and slowing even slower.  The first mate was pulling them into port.  Dropping to one knee, Captain Rubin unlocked his storage chest, and pulled something out.  Locking the chest and securing the key once again, he head back out of his room.  Stopping at the doorway, he looked into the empty chains hanging from the far wall.  He would have to find women in this town, he only hoped there were some pretty ones left.  He slammed the door shut and continued topside.

 Somewhere above a voice rang out sternly, "Get those lines overboard before we drift too far inland!"  They were docking.

Back topside, Rubin was pleased to see a look of disgust and aggravation on several of his men.  Apparently they had actually did as they were told with the mouthy sailor.  A grin came to his face and he walked to the side of the ship.  The gap of ocean had withered to a couple yards between the ship and the pier.

As the plank was set up for disembarking, The captain made a loud decree.  "Noone leaves the ship but me and Groggins (the first mate).   This will be a short stop!"  Not a mumble was heard, but every face onboard was burning with rage.  

As the captain and Groggins stepped off, he caught a glimpse of Rodgers hiding behind a crate.  "You there!," the captain yelled, his finger pointed the scared pirate. "Why arent you dead?  I thought I ordered you thrown overboard!"

Silence met the captain from everyone on the crew.  Rodgers simply tried harder to disappear behind the crate.  "You can come too, lets go."   The simple phrase bewildered the crew and especially Rodgers.  What was the captain planning?  It certainly couldnt be good.  Rodgers walked slowly and quietly towards the gangplank, where the three men disembarked to the pier.

[Anonymous]

The pair was crouched and motionless as half the town watched from their respective hiding places, an attempt to create the illusion that there weren't many people there at all. As the ship docked Dominik heard shouts from the men aboard and kept his eyes locked on the trio that exited at last. He was curious, he'd never seen pirates in all his life, only heard the occasional story. While trying to get a better look he found his head tugged back into hiding by his hair and he gave a sharp cry at the stinging left on his scalp. Instinctively he lifted a hand and rubbed the sore spot and when he looked over to the girl, confused about why she'd done such a thing, he saw a note of sadness and disappointment in her face, like he'd done something wrong.

Watching her, the expression of the oblivious across his face still, he followed after her like a faithful dog when she moved to hide deeper into the maze of crates and barrels. By the time he realized that him making noise most likely had blown the cover the girl had been trying to keep, he felt bad about it and touched her arm lightly once she'd stopped and crouched down again. "I'm sorry," he whispered, prompting an abrupt shushing from her and a look of disbelief that he still insisted on making a sound. Feeling defeated and wanting whatever they were waiting on to be over, Dominik finally shifted himself and leaned his shoulders against a barrel, hoping to get himself situated in at least a slightly comfortable spot.

He didn't understand the girl's tense actions or her urgent wish for silence when she'd been so eager to talk only moments before. Pirates can't be that bad, why is she so afraid? he wondered. Glancing at her only earned him a stern look, which confused him even more. He knew there was something that everyone was afraid of, but other people just like them?! The thought was comical to him, his experience with pirates of course equaling to none, and he was sure that he could at least help this girl overcome her fear.

His thoughts decided, an eager look appearing on his face, he leaned his weight against the barrel as he tried to stand but only succeeded in knocking the barrel down, the top popping off and the wine it was holding spilling out. He felt himself tugged down and the girl shook him roughly. "What are you thinking?!" she screeched, quickly dragging him deeper into the maze of stacked goods for fear of attention being drawn by the fallen barrel. "You're supposed to be quiet! Those are pirates! That's a pirate ship! Don't you know anything?!" she scolded in a hushed voice once she thought they were a safe distance from the spilled wine that was surely making its way into view of most of the town by now.