The Master Plan, Meet the Canary Crew [M] [DragonSong]

[Lowen Thorn]

"How the hell should I know?!" he snapped back at the woman, not before temporarily losing his balance again.

The ship creaked threateningly as it barged against the cliffs once more, and the weight of the waves began pulling the vessel into the depths below. Din threw his arms out in the air in frustration as he realized what exactly was happening.

He threw the woman an annoyed glare. "This is just great. We're sinking!" he huffed. "Look what you did!"

---

"Get'em on the life boats!" Rata yelled as Spade carried the injured Jarvis over his shoulder. Regen had gotten there just in time to prevent him dying that day, but he was still in too bad of a shape to walk.

"How the fuck did this happen?" Spade yelled, dropping his comrade into the little boat. "Where's Din?"

"He must still be with that girl!" Markus moaned, recently awoken from his unconsciousness. "I knew it was going to be trouble bringing her."

"This is worst job we've ever done," Regen said frantically. "First, Jarvis gets stabbed, then Markus gets knocked out. Dinny's little play thing turns out to be some wild murderess, and now the fucking ship is sinking!"

"We can't just leave Dinny here!" Spade barked, turning his focus to the boss. "We need to go get him now!"

"The hell we will," Rata barked back. "I told him if he screwed this up, he's out of the band! And look where we are now! We're leaving without'em!"

"Sorry, but I can't," Spade continued to argue. "I'm going after him-"

As soon as he turned around to find his friend, he was unconscious on the ground. Rata stood over him with a look of worry and irritation after dealing him a blow to the back of the head. "I won't hear of it, boy," he muttered under his breath. "Markus. Regen. Get'em on the boat, too. We gotta get off this thing now!"

"What are we going to do with them?" Markus asked, motioning to a tied-up Ruby and her remaining guard.

Rata shrugged and spit. "Fuck it. Keep'em tied up, but put them in the other life boat. Let'em fend for themselves."

"Yes sir!" Markus and Regen said simultaneously. They did as their boss ordered, and soon enough Ruby and her other guard were on their way, as well as the rest of the Canary Crew.

[DragonSong]

Rose bared her teeth as the ship lurched again, just barely managing to avoid slipping in the ever-growing pool of blood that spread from Elias's body.

She didn't bother to dignify Din's quip with an answer, instead barking, "Get above deck, this boat is going down!"

[Lowen Thorn]

"Right," he answered, looking around. They could argue later, right now they needed to figure out how they were going to get out of this. Oh, the life boats! There were two life boats on this vessel! Of course!

"Follow me!" he said frantically, running out of the guests cabin and in route to the deck of the ship.

Sure, Dinny was unhappy with the situation at hand, but he wasn't going to leave the woman here to die. He had more honor than that, even for a thief.

He could only hope the rest of his crew held that same honor today.

[DragonSong]

Rose growled and followed him out of the cabin, stripping off the top layer of her sarong.

As the fabric fluttered away behind her she stretched her wings, crouched and prepared to take off at a moment's notice as they reached the upper decks. "Alright, genius, what's your plan?" she shouted over the creaking and groaning of the battered hull.

[Lowen Thorn]

[OOC: Just a note, in an earlier post I mentioned them being far enough from Thantos. I meant Yoreiqi haha, just got two of my characters' locations confused xD]

Din continued forward, not looking back at the woman at first to notice her change. "We have some life boats on this ship!" he called back as he ran at full speed. "If we can get to those in time, we can hop on one with the rest of the crew and make our way back to the Port."

Just a few more strides and they were there, but the life boats were not. A look of dread washed over Dinny's face as he realized what happened. "S-Shit! They left without me?!" he asked, mostly to himself.

'Now what the hell are we suppose to do?!'

There was really no time to think about why they left without them, or be bitter about it. He could do that later.

He whipped around to face the woman when he saw her now exposed wings, wide-eyed in awe. "F-Fuck! You have wings!" he shouted, taking a step back in surprise. "So you are Yoreiqi too?!"

Not only had the woman been fooling him this whole time, but she was of his kind and she actually had wings, unlike him.

How humiliating.

[DragonSong]

"We don't really have time to talk about that," Rose snapped, and she held out her arms as though to embrace him, expression sour. "Come on!"

She couldn't fly far, but she could at least get them away from the sinkhole that the ship would create when it sunk beneath the water.

[Lowen Thorn]

He looked at her with further disbelief, before throwing his arms up in the air in defeat. "Oh, for fucks' sake!" he yelled as he ran over and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't you dare drop me!"

Another large echoing boom rang out through the ship and it was slammed against the cliffs one more.

Well, it was now or never.

[DragonSong]

Rose snorted. "Don't tempt me," she muttered as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and eyed the approaching cliffs. One...two...

She crouched, tensed, then sprang into the air as the ship slammed into the rocks, using the momentum of the crash to vault them up. Beating her wings powerfully, she banked away from the sinking vessel.

"Mind your hands," she warned Dinny as she searched the water for something, anything they could light on. She wasn't exactly a practiced flyer, she couldn't keep this up for very long.

[Lowen Thorn]

"You mind yours!" he snapped at her, holding on for dear life. "What kind of guy do you think I am?!"

He cast a glance below to view the capsized ship crashing against the waves and the rocky barrier of the unknown island. If he fell now, surely he would die. He gripped his hold on the woman just a bit tighter... just to be safe.

[DragonSong]

Rolling her eyes, Rose banked out over the rocky outcropping. Gods, she hoped this would smooth out...there!

Swooping low, she barely managed to touch an expanse of sand before her wings, unused to such exercise, just about gave out. They went tumbling over the sand, a tangle of arms and legs and wings.

Wincing, Rose tried to disentangle herself, swearing colorfully.

[Lowen Thorn]

Oof!

The wind was knocked out of the man as soon as he plopped onto the sandy surface. It took him several moments to regain his composure, but when he did he slipped out of the tangle they were in and got back to his feet.

"Damn. That hurt," he groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

He peered down at the woman who just narrowly saved them, and offered her a hand. "Are you okay?"

[DragonSong]

Groaning quietly, Rose pushed herself up onto her elbows and shook her head, spitting sand. She eyed Din's hand warily, then took it as though it was a venomous snake.

"Fine," she huffed. "You?"

[Lowen Thorn]

"My ass hurts," he said shortly, helping the woman to her feet.

As soon as she was back up, he let go of her hand and walked a few steps away, turning his back to her. "I can't believe those bastards left me here," he muttered under his breath. "I just can't believe it."

He turned on his heel to face the woman. "This is just great. Stranded on some bumfuck island with... I don't even know who you are! Loke, then? That's your name?"

Off in the distance, through the trees, someone was watching.

[DragonSong]

She narrowed her eyes. "Rose," she snapped. "My name is Aria Rose. Do not call me Loke."

Too battered and frustrated to pay much attention to their surroundings, she rolled her shoulders and winced as her wing popped uncomfortably in its joint. "Gods! Damnit," she hissed, trying to crane her neck around to see the joint. Had she sprained it?

[Lowen Thorn]

"O-Oh.. Okay," he said quietly. Apparently he hit a nerve.

He watched the woman for a moment. She was in pain. Clearly, more so than he was. He thought about trying to help, but knew it would only be met with further distaste. What had he known to garner such behavior toward him? He should be the one that was the most upset: being tricked, being abandoned.

But then came her name, and it was nice to hear some actual honesty. Of course, he hadn't been completely honest with her from the start, but still!

"Rose," he repeated softly. "That's a nice name. It suits you much better."

While she attempted to get herself back into sorts, he decided to take another look around. From the beach they were on, he couldn't see anything beyond the waves. He had no idea how far they made it from Yoreiqi.

The realization of their situation came flooding in, and a hint of panic rose in his face, and even more so in his voice.

"Rose, we need to get off this island," he stated with hesitation. "I am going to go look for some material to build a raft, and maybe I will find some food in the process. I know you don't like me, but right now you're stuck with me. I hope that isn't too much of a burden on you."

Without waiting for a response, he began walking toward the wooded area of the island, a smug smile on his face.

'That'll show her.'

---

The eyes watching the two from afar were getting closer.

[DragonSong]

Rose rolled her eyes at his back.

"...I like you fine," she sighed, relaxing slightly once she was relatively sure he was out of earshot. It was true, she didn't have anything against the bandit-- she almost felt bad for tricking him, he seemed sweet enough, as far as such things went. But he'd be useful, so she used him. Simple as that.

Another sigh and she sank down onto the sand, taking stock of her body. Nothing broken, but she'd definitely strained her wing somehow. She grumbled to herself and tried to roll her shoulder back again, testing the bruised muscles.

[Lowen Thorn]

Dinny moved further in the woods, searching for something, anything, that could be of some use to them. Luckily, during all that commotion, he managed to hold onto his daggers. There were some dead trees laying over - those may help, but he wouldn't be able to carry them by himself.

Dammit!

He huffed out in frustration. What's the use? Rose was hurt, he wasn't going to be of much help. The raft may have to wait, they needed to find food first just to make you through the day/night. That, or start swimming.

"I can't believe those bastards left me!" he said to himself while rustling through the area. "I guess the Boss did say I would be outta' the band if something went wrong, but this wasn't my fault! Gods' sake. The others I get, but Spade, too?!"

He sat down on a nearby stump, taking in the sights around him. Where was he exactly?

Wonderful.

He was lost. He lost track of where he was going and now he couldn't even see the beach where he left Rose.

"Oh, this is just too perfect," he muttered under his breath, placing his face in the palm of his hands.

Just then, he heard a rustling noise, followed by the sound of what he thought were footsteps. Did the woman follow him out there? His eyes widened in total disbelief - she didn't listen to a word he said! She was in no condition to be wandering around.

"Rose! You're hurt, you need to stay-"

He started to turn around but was interrupted by the momentary feeling of a force slamming against the back of his head, and then everything went black.

[DragonSong]

What was that?

Rose raised her head. "Din?"

No response. He couldn't have gotten that far, could he? And what was that noise?

"Dinny?" Still nothing. Frowning, Rose got to her feet and cautiously started picking her way in the direction the bandit had gone. "Oi. If you've gotten yourself stuck in a ditch or something I swear to gods..." she grumbled, eyes flicking around warily.

[Lowen Thorn]

The tribesman of the island did not take too kindly to unexpected visitors. First, they went for the boy, and then they would go for the girl.

The strange people of this land looked Yoreiqi, but in a much less-developed and more primal nature. They wore loose articles of clothing that one could to compare dirty rags, were barefoot, skin kissed by the sun, and carried wooden spears carved from the trees.

With the brunt of a spear, one of the men had snuck up behind Dinny and slammed it across the back of his head, rendering him unconscious. More of the like flooded out the trees, dragging the bandit off into the unknown territory.

With a signal to head for the beach, more of the peoples headed in Rose's direction.

---

Din's eyes opened slowly, his vision slightly blurred for a moment as he regained consciousness.

"Fuck me," he moaned, trying to get his wit about him. "What the hell happened?"

His vision finally cleared up, only to realize that he was alone in some dark little shack. Not only that, but he was tied up.

Shit.

[DragonSong]

Fuck me, Rose swore silently, for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

As the people-- natives of the island, she assumed-- approached, she raised her hands in an effort to show she was unarmed.

"Hello?" She tried her mother's tongue, Yoreiqi, or what little she knew of it. She could get by, but she wasn't exactly fluent.