On Stranger Tides

MadEmperor · December 24, 2023, 08:03:31 AM

Thrax grinned at her over his shoulder. "Time for some fun, eh babe?"

He turned his attention back to the threat. "Break on three."

On three, he charged the many-legged skeletal abomination coming down the stairs from the quarter deck. His axe swept low, breaking the unnaturally long and sharp front legs of the monstrosity. It shrieked and leaped before he could recover, sinking its mandibles into his shoulder.

"Gah! Get off me you little bastard!" he hollered, attempting to pry it off.

DragonSong · December 25, 2023, 09:46:58 AM

"Your idea of fun might need some reevaluating," Hana quipped back, but there was a laugh in her voice.

She lunged for the insectile creature closest to the rail, snapping massive jaws closed on it and jerking her head up sharply to send it over the edge and into the sea. It seemed to work--but then the water lapping their hull began to bubble, and it started skittering its way back up.

"Damnit--"

She heard Thrax cry out and whipped around. She was already panting, still exhausted from her overextension, and the blue flames that normally leapt from her paws in such a state were barely spitting sparks.

She ran to him anyway, swiping at the creature with a heavy paw to try to knock it loose.

MadEmperor · December 25, 2023, 11:24:09 AM

The creature was knocked away, landing on its back, its legs scrabbling at the sky. It lacked the proper instinct to roll up and right itself.

"Thanks." Thrax huffed, feeling at his wound with a hiss. He looked down at the creature and brought his axe down on it until it was too broken to be a threat, saying, "Why. Won't. You. Die!"

DragonSong · December 26, 2023, 10:34:40 AM

"I think..." Hana blinked, her vision fuzzy at the edges. "I think...they're already...dead. Right?"

The blue sparks around her paws flickered, then died. Her head hung heavily, though she still made sure to keep the bulk of her massive fox form between Thrax and the rail where the last bone creature had been climbing back onto the ship.

MadEmperor · December 26, 2023, 11:24:29 AM

As the remaining creature crawled over the rail to chitter angrily at the pair, their sharp hearing picked up more scrabbling legs climbing up the starboard hull. A lot more. The ones that had crashed into the ocean had caught up.

Thrax tensed, looking worriedly down at Hana. "That... doesn't sound good..."

DragonSong · December 29, 2023, 03:40:00 PM

Hana growled, the sound thrumming low in her chest. "No," she agreed warily. "It doesn't."

They need to get out of here.

Tails lashing, she crouched low and tried to focus through her fuzzy-headed exhaustion. "Can we keep them back long enough to..."

Eyes widened, she whipped her head toward him. "Wind. Can Stormsong call up a wind?"

MadEmperor · December 29, 2023, 04:26:16 PM

Thrax sighed. "I saw my master do it once, but he never had a chance to teach me wind magic. He wanted me to get better at lightning first. Not that I never tried."

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a slow breath. "Least I can do is try."

Cradling Stormsong, he began to play the Song of Wind as he remembered it. He focused his thoughts on the wind, visualizing the flow of the air and grabbing it with a great, invisible hand. Slowly, the wind picked up; it was working. But would it grow enough to matter?

DragonSong · January 03, 2024, 07:30:52 AM

Okay. Okay, the music was definitely doing something.

She and the crew just had to hold off the bone-bugs long enough for it to start filling their sails.

Weaving slightly on her paws, Hana took up a guard position directly in front of Thrax, serving as his main line of defense while he played, and barked to the sailors, "Use the wind, and try to keep those things off us as long as you can!"

MadEmperor · January 03, 2024, 09:27:11 AM

The crew rushed to work, those without a specific role grabbing weapons and moving to intercept the creatures climbing over the rails. Steel met bone and bone met flesh as the two forces clashed.

Thrax was getting tired from the constant drain of his magical energy, but he knew that he couldn't stop until they were safe. One missed note and the wind would falter. His relief when the sails finally billowed was palpable. Just a little longer and they'd be away from there.

DragonSong · January 06, 2024, 10:06:09 AM

Hana had just batted yet another bone-constructed over the rail of the Lady when suddenly the ship broke through the far line of fog into suddenly blazing sunshine.

She sighed heavily in relief and started to slump onto the deck, panting. Hopefully Thrax could keep the magic up just a little longer, just to make sure they had left this thing behind them.

MadEmperor · January 06, 2024, 12:32:47 PM

The instant the sunshine hit them, every one of the constructs shrieked in agony as they were reduced to dust. The battle was over; they had survived. There were a few casualties but, miraculously, no fatalities.

Once they gained a safe distance from the fog bank, Thrax slumped to the deck, drained by the unprecedented level of spellcasting he had just performed. "There's no way I'm making it to our bunks..." he yawned tiredly.

DragonSong · January 09, 2024, 07:42:31 AM

Hana just barely had the energy to roll toward him and flop her vulpine head into his lap. "Mhm..." she agreed tiredly, eyes already fluttering. The usually constant blue sparks that would swirl around her paws had disappeared entirely, and her tails hung limp with exhaustion.

She thought she heard a familiar voice, Gracie, calling for the crew to sound off, but she couldn't even make herself respond before the darkness at the edges of her vision claimed her.

MadEmperor · January 09, 2024, 08:27:47 AM

Thrax gave her a scratch behind the ears before he succumbed to the siren call of sleep.

He awoke in the corner of the map room, where the crew had dragged them to get them off the deck. "Where...?" he mumbled, momentarily confused by the change of location. Then he noticed Hana curled up next to him and couldn't help but smile at how adorable she looked sleeping in fox form. He couldn't stop himself from snuggling up against her.

DragonSong · January 10, 2024, 11:15:08 AM

Hana was so thoroughly exhausted that she barely stirred when he curled against her, and she made a sleepy whining sound in the back of her throat that was almost more a squeak than anything else.

"...Shoeprints," she muttered, barely audible. Her eyes were still firmly closed. "Bananas in...the coffee..."

MadEmperor · January 10, 2024, 02:45:08 PM

Thrax fell back asleep with an amused smile on his face.

After an unknown length of time, the door creaked open. Gracia winced. She had hoped to slip in and use the map room without waking the pair. They had saved the whole damn ship, so they deserved all the rest they could get. And, damnit, they were being absolutely adorable.

Thrax's eyes fluttered open and he shot Gracia a sleepy, annoyed look.

"Sorry," she mouthed.

DragonSong · January 13, 2024, 07:55:12 AM

Hana grumbled and shifted sleepily--and her shape shimmered around the edges before it started to shrink, collapsing in on itself with a faint pop of blue sparks until she was left curled in her halfway shape.

It was hardly the first time she'd shifted in her sleep. In fact, it didn't even seem to have awakened her, as she simply rolled onto her back and gave a puppyish sneeze.

Gracia snorted quietly, then caught Thrax's eye and nodded behind him to the bolted table in the center of the room. "I need to check our course," she said quietly.

MadEmperor · January 13, 2024, 08:20:09 AM

Thrax met Gracia's snort with one of his own and nodded. They couldn't monopolize the map room forever. He quietly extracted himself from his snuggle and sat up.

"Everything okay?" he mouthed.

DragonSong · January 14, 2024, 09:51:15 AM

She nodded and edged around the two of them toward the table. "We got turned a bit in the fog. We're set on the right course again, but I need to figure out how much time we lost."

Hana grumbled sleepily and reached out with one hand after Thrax as the warmth snuggled against her disappeared. Gracia snorted quietly and nodded to her. "Take her to my quarters, the two of you can sleep it off there. I won't be needing them for the next few hours, and you did just save the ship."

MadEmperor · January 14, 2024, 10:22:51 AM

"Thanks," Thrax said quietly as he kneeled down and picked Hana up, cradling her easily in his big arms.

"Storm, she's adorable when she's sleeping, isn't she?" he chuckled in a fond whisper. "I really do love her, with everything that I am."

DragonSong · January 18, 2024, 07:42:18 AM

Hana curled up comfortably in his arms, nuzzling into his chest. Either she just wanted the warmth, or even in her sleep she recognized him.

The captain rolled her eyes, though her lips twitched up slightly on one side. "Off with you both," she murmured, waving them toward the door. "You'll rot my teeth with all your lovey-dovey stuff."