The Quest for the Celestial Aegis (@Nightcrawler)

[Goldie]

Nik still didn't quite understand what was happening, but Fletch had seemed so adamant and sure that they needed to get into Aikios' things. And then he was down.

Oops. That...he didn't mean to hit him that hard. But he was also very much feeling the shots and the ale at this point and the room was spinning. Not his best performance by any means, but now he felt like he needed to make it up to the man.

"Whas his problem." He asked the horseman with a shrug, "Whadd I do t'him?" He made a show of his drunkenness, playing it up to a level of intoxication that far exceeded his current condition - not that his current condition was a good one anyways.

"Talk widme horseman." He slapped Aikios on the shoulder, "Tellme 'bout looooove. I looooove love."

He kicked the seat next to him away from the bar and waved for Aikios to join him.

[wandering_giraffe]

TW FOR MURDER

Aikios didn't really know quite what to make of the whole thing that just happened. He shrugged. Maybe Nik had a point. He did need something to drink.
He sat down in the chair Nik offered, suspiciously eyeing the door Fenris and Fletch had just walked out of.
He cocked an eyebrow at Nik.
"I thought you only dated sirens? Of which, I'm afraid, this ship is out of," Aikios joked, ordering a Scotch from the bartender.
"Do you know what those two were on about?" Aikios asked, trying to glean some information out of Nik. He was trying to figure out just exactly how much of a threat Fletcher and Fenris were.
The bartender slid a Scotch to Aikios, who caught it and sipped it.

The werewolf fighter had gotten up and gone back to his table, nursing his jaw where Fenris had hit him.

The door to the tavern opened and in walked an elf, who walked up to Aikios and Nik, seemingly not noticing Nik.
"Everything is ready, but Elara hasn't touched the map today. Should I switch out her drinks again—-oh shit," he said, noticing Nik.
Aikios tensed up and then played it off.
He set down his scotch on the bar and stood up, excusing himself to Nik.
"Excuse me. I'll be right back," he said, forcing a smile.
Aikios motioned for the elf to follow him. As soon as they were out of the tavern and down the hall, Aikios pushed him into a storage room, pushing the elf against the wall, drawing a knife out of his belt.
"What the fuck were you thinking? That was Nik sitting next to me! You could have jeapordized this whole mission! You might have now!"
Aikios shook his head.
"You just had to fuck this up," and stabbed the elf in the torso, over and over, until the life went out of the elf's eyes and he slumped to the ground, dead.
Aikios didn't even bother wiping the knife off and just stuck it back in his waistband, and stacked up a few crates, hiding the elf's body from view.
His eyes widened as he remembered something in the med bay.
"Oh fuck," he whispered, closing the door to the storage room and heading to the med bay.

————————————————————————————————-

Fenris gently set Fletch down on one of the beds.
"Don't move around too much. At least not until I clean it up. None of the cuts are terribly deep."
She walked over to the shelf above Aikios's desk and rummaged through all the medical supplies, grabbing what she needed.
"Oh my gods..."
There was a book on Aikios's desk, a potion in the book being circled. Elara's name was written in red next to it.
The potion circled was abstract of Lycan and manticore. Which induced irritability and rashness.
There was the said potion on the desk.
She grabbed the book and brought it back to Fletch.
"Look at this..."

[Nightcrawler]

Fletcher waved her off with one hand while holding the other to his head. He groaned. What in the bloody hell had that man hit him with? He'd meant to start a fist fight, not be a murder victim. This ship was full of crazy people. It was a floating asylum manned by zoo animals. For the eleventh time that day, he wondered if he was hallucinating it all.

"Cuts are the least of our problems, woman," he grumbled as he slid off the bed and joined the search. "Focus. If it's him, he'll be on our arses in a minute." He fiddled with the bullets in his pocket as he looked around. Then he realized something. "Fuck me," he hissed under his breath. "I haven't got powder or wad for this fucking thing." So all he had was his damned belt knife, and it was too short for comfort. He'd keep his eyes out for a rapier, he supposed. Swords weren't his favorite, but...Rolls had used him for practice enough times that he probably still knew his way around one. He hoped.

"Look at this..." said Dog Lady.

"Hmm?" Fletcher glanced over. She held a book out for him to examine. He scanned it impatiently, chewing on his lip in lieu of puffing on a smoke. The further he read down the page, the more skeptical his expression became. "Bit on the nose, innit?" he grunted finally. He straightened and rubbed at his forehead. "Little too convenient. He doesn't seem the sort not to cover his tracks." He checked over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone. "Still. Let's take it and get out of here, yeah? Before someone sees us rummaging around."

[Goldie]

It took every bit of practice becoming other people that Nik had in him to remain seated at the bar with his attentions fixed completely on his drink to ignore the conversation between Aikios and the elf. He couldn't move, couldn't react, just had to exist like a too-far-gone idiot while every part of him was screaming.

What the fuck. What the fuck! What the actual fuck!?

When Aikios just calmly got up, Nik forced a loopy smile and procured an off-kilter salute.

"Sure thing horsemansir." He slurred, "'Nother time then yeah? Tells me aaaaaall 'bout th'world n'shit." And then he turned back to his drink and seemingly forgot about Aikios all together. He felt the eyes of everyone from the horse's table on him - they had to have heard the exchange. They had to know that Nik had the power to ruin everything. Maybe they'd just kill him. Maybe this was it then? Maybe it wasn't the sea that would take his soul after all.

Nik waited, pretending to finish his drink while purposefully allowing a good amount to slide out of the sides of his mouth. It added to the overall drunk fool effect while also bathing him in a good odor to sell the facade.

Dammit he had already had a bit too much before this all happened to be completely sure of himself, but he'd have to make it work. Aikios left far too quickly for anything good to come out of it. He had to follow. He had to get up and make sure that...what? That Elara was ok? That the ship wasn't just going to turn into a bloodbath? That he wouldn't die?

Gods dammit.

He stood, slamming purposefully into the stool, then the bar itself and apologized loudly to the table. He could see the table with Aikios' crew visibly relax as he stumbled out of the bar.

Once he was out of sight he dropped the act and he picked up the pace. Fenris and Fletch were going to the hospital which meant that had to be where Aikios was going, too or he wouldn't have left so quickly. Right?

A noise caused him to skid to a stop, heart racing as he was just passing storage. Thuds. Grunts. Squelches.

Oh Gods oh Gods oh Gods.

He turned the corner and held himself still against the wall, listening for the door that opened and closed. A quick peek told him to everything he needed to know.

Aikios...was covered in blood.

[wandering_giraffe]

"Oh fuck," Aikios muttered, and instead of going to the infirmary, he went straight to Elara's room. He knocked hastily on the door, and Elara opened it, a charters map to Essyrn in one hand and a compass lying on the desk.
She gasped, seeing the blood on him.
"Oh gods, Aikios, what happened?!"
"Oh, just a minor fight in the tavern. You know how it is, pirates need to blow off their steam and shit. I got to let them win some, you know? Keeps morale high."
He needed to stall her for just one more day...
"But I'm fine," he said, walking around to her desk.
"You've not drank very much today...is something bothering you?" He questioned, casually inspecting the maps strewn across her desk.
"Just the rumors circulating on board," she sighed.
He nodded.
"Well, as concerning as some of them sound, I think honestly, if you just get the crew a good loot before we get to Essyrn, we'll be set. You know I've always got your back," he said, discreetly adjusting the maps so that the traders shipping lane maps were on top instead of the mercenary ship maps.

"Can I borrow your washroom real quick?" Aikios asked, the dried blood on his hands beginning to irritate him.
She nodded, absentmindedly studying the Aegis map she was holding.
He came back from the washroom, his hands clean but his clothes still stained.
He took out his flask and smiled.
"A toast? To make you feel better and to wish luck upon our next venture?" Then his smile faded and he shook the flask.
"It seems my flask is empty. I keep my extra special stash in the medbay. You can come along if you aren't needed above deck."
Elara shook her head.
"No, I need a good drink. My stash is low anyways."
Aikios and Elara walked to the medbay.
"I see that you survived the fight," he addressed Fletch, one hand now tightly gripping Elara's arm. 
"Now if you'll excuse me, we have a toast to drink to, Aikios said, choosing a nearly empty matte black bottle and then attempting to shoo Fenris and Fletch outside.

[Nightcrawler]

Fletcher startled. It was the horse. Why would it be anyone but the fucking horse?

He thinks you're tipsy. Play dumb, he thought in a panic. He turned slowly and blinked even slower. He held his hand to his forehead and stumbled a bit as he did so. It took all of his willpower not to bolt away from the horrid beast. He hoped to the emperor that Dog Lady had hidden the book in time. It was too late to check now. "Erm...yeah," he replied sheepishly. "Guess your first mate packs a wallop. Shouldn't've picked a fight with him. Learned me lesson."

Then he noticed that the horse blocked the door. And that he gripped the captain awfully hard for one of her underlings. Fletcher could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. He cleared his throat. "Oh. Yeah. Captain...your man...Nik, was it? I think he's looking for you. Seemed important. Very important. Might be worth skipping that toast."

[Goldie]

Nik stayed behind the wall for a lot longer than he probably needed to, but his heart was beating heavily in his chest and it took awhile to figure out how move his feet again. Gods...what the fuck was happening. How the hell had he been so wrong about horseman all this time?

"Breathe, Nik." He muttered. He didn't know for sure it was Aikios...maybe there was a barrel of cherries in storage. Gotta fight off scurvy.

Yeah. Cherries. Had to be cherries.

He had to check.

Fuck he had to check. Why couldn't he just be the fool he pretended to be? Why couldn't his actual personality be the one he created to survive.

The horseman was long gone when Nik opened the door to storage and the smell of copper was enough to confirm his darkest thoughts. But he kept moving. He had to see. He had to see the gurgling form of the elf that had slipped.

Nik fell to his knees and immediately started applying pressure, but he knew it was too late. There was nothing he could do. The elf stared up at him, blood gurgling from stained lips, "It's ok...it's ok shh. You're ok. You're going to be ok." It was a lie. They both knew it was a lie. But as the life left the elf's lips, at least they weren't alone.

He wiped sweat from his brow, leaving a streak of blood across his face. He'd come back and make sure they got an appropriate burial at sea. It didn't matter that they were in league with the centaur, no one deserved to go that way. There was so much blood. It was a frenzied attack.

Nik couldn't stay here. He had to find Aikios. The horse was unhinged. Unhinged and going after Elara.

Oh fuck no.

With a hasty wipe of his hands on the elf's pants, Nik stood and fled, hoping to find Aikios before he could do anything to the captain. He just hoped he wasn't too late...but where to first? Would the horse go after Elara or go to medical? He had to pick...he was too drunk to reason this out, despite the quick sobering up that finding a fucking dead body offered.

"Med bay." He decided, and slipped back into the hall.

He moved swiftly but quietly, slipping around corners like a thief using his many skills of stealth he'd picked up over the years - skills that had kept him alive this long. He didn't encounter anyone on the way which was a fucking blessing, but his heart was threatening to burst from his chest.

Then, voices.

Voices coming from Medical.

"Nik, was it?" But that wasn't Aikios, that was...he peaked around the corner to see the backs of Elara and horseman and made the briefest of eye contact with Fletcher. He didn't have time to think, didn't have time to decide if it was the right decision or not. Aikios had just murdered someone as if he was cutting up a steak. Gods knew what he would do. And he was holding onto Elara with a vice-like grip. And now he might turn and actually see Nik thanks to Fletch's words.

Gods fucking dammit!

The short blade at Nik's hip rang quietly as it was pulled from the hilt and, before he could decide against it, he swung the blade down, severing Aikios' hand from his arm in a desperate attempt to free Elara from him.

"Fuck you, horseman." He growled.

[wandering_giraffe]

Damn, the tension in the med bay was so thick. Elara's eyes went from Fletcher to Fenris to Nik.
"What's going on?" She nervously asked.
Aikios yelled in pain and released Elara, whirling around onto Nik.
Elara, startled as well, turned around, seeing Aikios's hand on the floor and blood dripping from Nik's sword.
Her eyes widened and she stepped backwards, away from Nik.

Aikios cunningly, despite the pain, made himself look every bit the victim.
"I wanted to tell you in private, Captain, hoping that maybe we could take the perpetrator aside, but I don't have a choice now," Aikios took a deep breath.
"It's Nik, Captain. Look at his hands, they're stained with blood. He's been planning this since before you and him went overboard. Don't you think it's a huge coincidence that the week he comes on, a siren attacks the boat?"
Aikios looks pleadingly at Elara.
"I would have said something earlier but it's difficult to get you alone!"
Elara lunged at Nik, her hand drawing a knife from her belt. She was going to kill him.
"You traitor! I-I trusted you! How could you?" She wasn't even angry. She was sad.
But before she could reach him, Fenris managed to grab her from behind, wrapping her in a strong hug and disarming her.
"Stop this, Elara. You'd kill a man because he was merely accused? Let him defend himself," she said firmly. But Fenris's tail was stiff, and her ears were alert. She was ready to fight. She knew something didn't add up. It didn't make sense.

[Nightcrawler]

He flinched and cried out in surprise as the blade cut clean through the horse man's wrist. The hand fell to the floor with a sickening thud. Fletcher's stomach churned at the sight of it. His ears began to ring. He'd seen blood and bile and brains, sure. That was life. But somehow, dismemberment never got any easier to witness.

The horse spoke. How the ugly thing didn't pass out from the pain and the blood loss, Fletch had no idea. The ringing grew louder. He thought he might puke. Focus, damn it, he thought, and caught the tail end of the monster's string of excuses. "Don't you think it's a huge coincidence that the week he comes on, a siren attacks the boat? I would have said something earlier but it's difficult to get you alone!"

In the blink of an eye, Elara lunged for her first mate, but Dog Lady pulled her back. As she did, the book — the evidence — fell out of her hands and face down onto the floor. The pages began to drink up the blood. "Shit," Fletcher hissed. He wove behind the scuffle and snatched it up, narrowly dodging a boot to the face. "Elara," he snapped as he rose again. He had dropped the drunken act. The fear was plain in his eyes, and his fingers shook, but he held it together. He circled back around to face her. It put him perilously close to the monster. "Captain. Pull your head out of your arse and look."

Fletcher hastily peeled the pages apart until he found the one that had been dog-eared. The moisture from the blood had begun to smudge some of the ink, but it was still legible enough. He shoved it under her nose and glared. "Your horse-man had this on his desk. Now, I know fuck all on the subject, but this looks damning even to me." He held it in front of her for a moment longer, then clapped it shut. "Your rum. Whatever it is you drink. Does he have access to it?"

[Goldie]

"The fuck you listening to him for!?" Nik practically shouted, his short blade dripping blood onto the deck. Sure, he hadn't known Elara as long as Aikios, but she knew him and knew his history. They had survived Thaleia together and Nik was clearly not in kahoots with her.

"You don't even question the fucking blood spatter on Aikios? The actual proof of who committed the crime isn't from what's on my hands but what's on him. You're not stupid. Think!

"He murdered one of the crew and left them to die in one of the cargo holds. I tried to save them but it was too late." His teeth were clenched so hard it was hard to talk and his voice came out like a low growl. He was ready to kill the damn horse.

He was about to say so himself, but Fletcher and Fenris had been busy and the mystery only kept getting deeper. Why did they care about her drink? Why did he want to know if Aikios had access to it?

Oh Gods...that couldn't...but that would mean the horse had been planning this for a long time. A really fucking long time.

[wandering_giraffe]

"Of course he has access to it!" Elara's hands were shaking. She didn't know who to trust.
Then Fletch showed her the book. That was pretty damning evidence.
That shocked her. Aikios had been poisoning her, or corrupting her. But why?

Her heart was pounding. Her heart felt ready to shatter. Elara fought to think, forcing her mind to ignore the betrayal, anger, and sadness she was feeling. If what Nik said was true, and she really had no reason to not trust him, for he saved her life countless times; and if he was leading the mutiny he wouldn't have saved her.
"Fenris, let me go!"
Very reluctantly, Fenris released her, keeping one hand on her arm though in case things went south.
Elara did notice Aikios had a huge blood splatter on him...
"Did anyone see the dead crew member?" She quietly asked, a strange, unreadable expression on her face.

The question went unanswered. During all of this Aikios had been quietly weighing his options and watching the chaos unfold. He was grossly outnumbered.
Very calmly, he walked closer to Elara and Fenris, stopping quite close to them.
"I can explain everything," he said, beseechingly looking into Elara's eyes.
"That book was..."





"A mistake on my part."
Then, in a flash, inhumanely fast for someone of his size, he grabbed Elara's hand holding the knife and twisted it, taking the knife and stabbing it into Elara's chest.

It was pandemonium after that, as soon as Aikios stabbed Elara, Fenris shifted into her werewolf form, grabbing Aikios by the throat and pinning him against the wall with one hand, her claws digging into his throat. 
"Somebody help Elara!" she yelled.

"You fucker!" Fenris growled, her canine teeth bared and her eyes feral. Her eyes had changed to red. She looked absolutely terrifying.
Fenris knew Aikios deserved to face justice...despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to him being a murderer on top of everything else.
"I want to know why," she commanded, her 3 inch claws sinking deeper into his neck, blood beginning to seep down his neck. Fenris was going to kill him.

Aikios coughed, his eyes glazed over from pain, his voice hoarse.

"Elara attacked the wrong ship...a few months—-fuck—-a few months back.
Opus Dey is not a forgiving man. So, he sent me to—-to deal with her. I almost had her, too."
Fenris retracted her claws, but held him there.
"Someone else want to deal with this bastard? I-I need to see to Elara.

[Nightcrawler]

The Captain hit the floor with her own knife still in her. And then...and then, time stood still, and everything twisted into a freakish nightmare. Dog Lady wasn't Dog Lady anymore, but a massive wolf on its hind legs. The first mate looked equal parts horrified and stunned by it all. Fletch dodged between the two monsters and narrowly avoided Fenris's razor claws. His foot caught on hers and he stumbled to the floor. His knees struck wood. He caught his fall over Elara just before his weight sank the knife in even further. "Shit, shit, shit," he whimpered as he scrambled back to his feet. Wasting no time, he grabbed fistfuls of her coat and dragged her away from the scuffle. The exertion sent sparks flying across his vision. "LITTLE HELP HERE, BLONDIE?" he roared over the cacophony as he glanced frantically around him.

Nothing. Not a single thing in arm's reach that could stem the flow. "Fuck me, not again," he hissed as he tore his coat off and flung it over Elara. He bunched it around the blade and held it firm. He didn't dare pull the knife. As he knelt there, crimson coat staining darker with the captain's blood, he caught two very familiar words: Opus Dey.

He thought of the blonde. Not...the first mate. The woman. The one from before. The one who'd been stuck in a web. The one who reminded him of an old friend. His expression darkened. Just how far did that man's influence reach?

"Someone else want to deal with this bastard? I-I need to see to Elara," came a voice. Fletcher blinked. Dog Lady?

"Bit busy right now!" he managed. "You want answers, woman, you're going to have to hold him. Wouldn't mind them meself," he added venomously. "Tie him up, maybe. Or knock the fucker out."

[Goldie]

Nik lunged the moment he saw the blade flash in Aikios's hands. He had seen the body. He knew what this monster was capable of and it still shocked him completely to his core. Despite his love of ridiculous nicknames, it wasn't because he felt any disrespect towards the centaur, quite the opposite. There were times when Elara was off making questionable decisions and Aikios stood with Nik as the voice of reason.

His heart was breaking. This entire disaster was making his head spin and then he was too slow and the blade had sunk deep into Elara's chest.

The sailor was already on his knees and removing his shirt before Fletcher even had the chance to call for help. He didn't care about the scars that were now visible on his side and in sweeping slash marks across his back that were clearly blue-green scales now instead of flesh. Normally he would keep them covered, not wanting to risk questions he didn't want to, nor could he, answer. Now, however? Now he just needed something to staunch the blood flowing freely from the wound and a shirt was replaceable.

He pressed it tightly against the stab wound, "Elara you son of a bitch, y'gotta stop getting stabbed, ok??" Why was she always stabbed??? And this time the person who could actually heal her had fucking done the stabbing in the first place.

"Hold this. Here. Firmly. Don't you dare let her die do you understand?"

And then he stood, blood once again on his hands, and pressed his blade against Aikios' throat to free up Fenris.

"Help her." He told her firmly, making sure the blade was pressing so hard it was starting to draw blood.

"We trusted you." he hissed.

[wandering_giraffe]

It all happened so fast.
One second her brain was trying to comprehend everything Nik had just said, a blind rage about to make her attack Aikios; then the next second a searing pain and a sickening crunch as Aikios stabbed her in the chest, right in the middle of her sternum.
Elara was so much in shock that she merely looked down at the blade in her chest and then back at Aikios, who was now pinned against the wall by—-she faintly figured that must be Fenris. One hand went to grab the knife, trying to pull it out, then she collapsed to the floor, a betrayed "why?" leaving her lips before her world went black.

Fenris tried to keep a level head...but it was awfully hard when rage was clouding her judgement. She wanted to make him choke to death on his own blood. Her feral side was wanting to rip his throat out. But she pushed it down. She grabbed a strip of coarse cloth annd roughly tied Aikios's hands with it. Then she let Nik take over. Nik hardly had the blade against Aikios's throat before Fenris was rushing to Elara's side, dropping to her knees next to Fletch
"Hold pressure on it, don't stop holding pressure."
She couldn't tell where the knife had punctured.  Gods she prayed it wasn't anywhere vital...
She ran over to Aikios's shelves, picking out a few potions she recognized from back home, and then rifling around in his cabinet for the medical supplies she needed.
Having her supplies, she ran back over to Fletch.
"If you don't know how to do a surgery you're gonna learn."
Elara was already unconscious, but Fenris placed a hand on her forehead, closing her eyes and drawing on her ancestral magic, muttered an incantation that would keep Elara's heart going.  Her hand barely glowed red, but it worked.
"Very carefully, stabilize the knife." She ordered Fletch, already uncorking a glass vial with a substance in it that looked like it was liquid pearl.
"Nik, I could use another set of hands...could you somehow subdue Aikios and come over here?"


Aikios was in pain too. The fucking werewolf had practically impaled her claws in his neck, and she had made it realllllly difficult for him to breathe.
When Nik pressed his blade against Aikios's neck, Aikios could feel it cutting into his neck.
"You trusted me?" Aikios hoarsely whispered, a dangerous malice in his eyes.
Aikios was dangerously clever, and he knew he was probably going to die anyways. So he decided one last time to try to turn it all against Elara.
"You have Elara to blame for all of this. She was stupid enough to attack one of Opus Dey's ships? She gets the consequences," he sneered, not an ounce of regret in his voice.

[Nightcrawler]

The first mate added his own shirt to the pile. "Hold this. Here. Firmly. Don't you dare let her die do you understand?"

"I'm trying," Fletch hissed through gritted teeth. He pressed down harder around the embedded blade, determined to slow the bleeding. "She won't croak if I can bloody well help it." Then the sailor left, presumably to deal with the horse, and for a moment he was alone with the unconscious captain. "You don't get to do this to me," Fletcher growled down at her. "Show me a chance and then take it away. You aren't dying. Not when I'm so close."

The next instant, that massive wolf had knelt down on the other side of Elara's unconscious form. He startled and avoided her gaze. How had he not known? She was just as much a monster as the horse. Was it really just him and Nik and Elara? Were they the only normal ones on this nightmare ship? For a split second, occupied by his own fear, Fletcher forgot to press down.

"Hold pressure on it, don't stop holding pressure."

"Shit, alright, alright, I'm holding," he insisted, and redoubled his efforts. He still refused to look at her. At the mention of surgery, he went even greener, but he followed her instructions and held the knife steady. All the while, the horse kept spouting the utter bullshit of a dead man.

"Oh, shut your fucking trap," Fletch snapped at him. "You failed. Four against one, you're down a hand, and you can't even fucking stab right, you absolute cabbage. If I were that Opus prick, I'd be embarrassed. From what I hear, he doesn't take too kindly to his minions cocking up, either."

[Goldie]

Nik had heard of Opus, but only so far as to know getting entangled with him was bad business so he tended to steer clear of that kind of crap. The man had a reputation and Nik wasn't a fool. Mostly. But he also didn't blame people for getting trapped or making poor decisions. Hell, he was the poster child for poor decision.

But to hear Aikios try to blame Elara again just made him angry, "Shut your damn mouth." He hissed at almost the exact same time as Fletch told him practically the same thing. He didn't know the man very well but already he felt more of a kinship. Maybe he had his own set of problems, maybe Elara was erratic and shouldn't have brought him on board, but he seemed like good people. The attempts to help Elara proved it.

"You're lucky we want answers or I'd kill your right now." Nik continued to hold the blade firmly. As a general rule he didn't like killing. He did everything he could to make sure things didn't come to that, but here? Now? Knowing what this person had done and seeing it with his own eyes? He was angry. But he was also unsure if he'd be able to knock out a horse....if he failed then it would put them all in danger because he'd be free and...well...he was a horse. One switch kick with his hind legs could kill them and Nik wasn't too keen on dying.

"Is there a potion of something?" Nik asked Fenris, "I can hit him, but there's no guarantee it'll be hard enough to knock him out. He is a fucking horse."

[wandering_giraffe]

Kkärsvig, meanwhile, couldn't find the captain or the first mate anywhere.
He knocked on Elara's door, no answer. He knocked on Nik's door, no answer.
So he made his way to the medbay and stopped short. What in blazes is going on in there? It was really hard to tell, but it didn't sound good. He could hear Elara though, and Nik. And Aikios and the two new people.
He left, and came back with two of the cannoneers.
"Just stay right outside the door...I don't know what's going on in there but I'm going to go see."
Kkärsvig grabbed his skillet and cautiously went in.
He was not prepared for what he saw. Elara looked dead, on the floor, and the two new people-wait a WEREWOLF?!-were kneeling next to her. There was blood everywhere. The first mate had Aikios up against the wall with a knife to his throat.
This didn't look good. This didn't look good at all.
"What's going on?" Kkärsvig asked, his grip on the skillet tightening.

"Aikios, he's not who you think he is...he tried to kill Elara," Fenris hurriedly explained.
Kkärsvig's eyes narrowed, before gingerly making his way over to Nik and Aikios.
"Need a hand?" He asked, and then knocked Aikios out with the skillet.

Fenris, meanwhile, had taken another potion and sniffed it to make sure it was the right one.
"No, I can't look right now, sorry," she apologized to Nik.
"Ok you're going to have to very quickly lift pressure so I can pour this over the wound. Just remove the clothes you were using. As fast as I can, I'll pour this. It will stop the bleeding. Then, I'll take the knife out."
As soon as he lifted pressure she poured the potion, the potion bubbling and then seemingly disappearing. The bleeding stopped. Quickly and smoothly Fenris pulled the knife out, pouring more of the potion onto the wound afterwards.
She threw a roll of gauze and bandages at Fletcher.
She cut off Elara's shirt, and carefully set the potion and scissors down, grabbing the needle and thread.
She stopped and glanced at Fletcher, who looked alittle green.
"Just think of blood as life giving fluid, it's not that bad, Fletcher."
She quickly sewed the wound shut and then checked Elara's pulse.
It was weak. Concernedly so. Fenris's face paled alittle. But at least Elara was stable.

Then she heard Kkärsvig speak. Wait, when did Kkärsvig get in here?
Fenris summed everything up.
And then Kkärsvig just...knocked Aikios out.

Well.

That took care of that problem. She shrugged.
"You're in charge, Nik, what do you want done with Aikios?" Fenris asked.

[Nightcrawler]

Between the monsters and the cut off hand and the weird magic shite, Fletcher still thought he might faint. Hold it together, he told himself. He shot another glance at Elara's pallid face as her head lolled limp to one side and her mouth hung open. "You don't get to die here," he repeated, his raspy voice wavering. "The crazy ones don't go out like this. Yeah? They never do. So don't embarrass yourself dying in a half-assed mutiny. Save it for something that counts."

Then Dog Lady started with the orders, and he got small and quiet. Until, that was, she began to cut the shirt off. "Hey — " he sputtered, and threw an arm up to block the view. "Warn a man, will you?" He tossed the gauze down, swallowed, and looked pointedly away, mortified at Fenris's dismissiveness towards the Captain's modesty. It was a room full of men. What was she thinking?

"Just think of blood as life giving fluid, it's not that bad, Fletcher."

"Yeah — that's not what — just give her some damned — "

But she didn't seem to get it. Flustered, Fletch huffed, gathered his bloodied coat, unshook it with an agitated little jerk, and held it up as a makeshift curtain. "Privacy," he finished. "Let me know when it's over." He turned and bored a hole in the horse-man instead. Ugly as the thing was, it still felt good to look it in the eye and watch it contemplate its own failure. Nik and this newcomer — a big man with a frying pan — seemed to have it in hand. But then...not entirely.

BAM.

Fletcher watched the would-be mutineer crumple to the floor. Well. At least big man was on their side. He thought back to the tavern. Best to warn the two of them before it was too late. "Oi," he barked. "Keep your guard up. It might not be over. The horse wasn't alone." He shot a quick glance over the top of his coat at the thing Fenris had become. "She could still be a target. We need to hole up somewhere and keep her safe."

[Goldie]

Well....that worked. The skillet was definitely a heavier weapon that the hilt of a short sword and Nik wasn't sad to see the centaur go down. He spit onto the floor next to him in disgust and took deep steadying breaths to keep from smashing his face in with his foot.

"Thank you." Nik told the cook, clapping his hand onto his shoulder before turning towards Elara with concern. Fenris was working quickly, but it still felt too slow and he was powerless to do anything about it. "Dammit, Aikios...." He muttered to himself, still reeling from the hurt and betrayal that came from all of this.

But also....it all was starting to make sense and to fall into place. The first few sailors who had come to Nik about their concerns had sent Nik to Aikios for advice – mutiny wasn't unheard of on ships, especially pirate ships, but he had mostly been on merchant vessels and trusted the more seasoned folks judgements over his own. But, but going and confiding in Aikios, he had been convinced they were petty grievances and nothing more.

Fuck, this was his fault, wasn't it? His gut had been right from the beginning, but he put it off because he trust the man...er....horse....

"I'm in charge...." He repeated, blinking a few times as the weight settled on his shoulders. No no no, he wasn't the right person for this job. He was the king of bad decisions and bad relationships. He had trusted Thaleia, he had trusted Aikios, and now they were both out to destroy him...not just him, but everyone he cared about.

He ran a hand over his face, completely sober by this point.

"Ok. Ok." He looked around the room and found a length of heavy cord which he cut into three lengths and handed on to Cheffy, "Tie up his hind legs. Tightly. He can still talk if his hooves fall off."

Then he leaned down and began fastening his own piece around horseman's hands before moving onto his front legs. If he woke, he wouldn't be able to do much else.

Gods...this wasn't over. This was just beginning.

"Gather the people you trust." He commanded Kkarsvig, "Get everyone on deck as fast as you can. Make sure that you're armed in case things go south. Five minutes. Got it?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Kkärsvig tied Aikios's hind legs tightly, and then looked at Nik.
"I've got two men outside this room that can take him down to the brig, if that would help. They could manage him."

Fenris bent down and wrapped a blanket around Elara, carefully lifting her up and laying her on one of the beds.
"Ok Fletch, she's modest again," Fenris said, standing up and checking Elara's pulse again.
"Nik, I don't know if she'll ever wake up. Her pulse is slow enough that she's either in a coma, in shock, could even be a mix of both."
Fenris angrily rubbed her eyes.
"I know she was reckless, but gods she didn't deserve this!" Fenris yelled, a growl seeping into her words.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.


Kkärsvig nodded at Nik's orders, and started to leave, then paused, a worrisome thought creeping into his mind.
"Did anybody see how many, if any, were in the tavern?"

"I'll gather as many as I can," Kkärsvig promised, running as fast as he could. Slowly, a general commotion could be heard building up as the crew learned of what was happening.