Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Promises of gold, bad luck and more gold (1x1)

"Oh, Halfling, are ya?" Rat smirked as he took a spoonful of stew in his mouth. The broth was thick, but hardly had any chunks of meat or fish in it. It was a rare pleasure if you had a piece. The man tightened his bandanna a bit tighter."Really? I'm surprised he didn't hit ya over the head. I overheard a conversation and the bloody codger shot me in the foot. I doubt the captain likes this new nosy Rat. Heh, not my problem."

Only once Rat finished his stew did he speak again."You're a friendly creature. That's an interesting change of mood around here. I'm eager to see where it takes you, but I don't believe you don't have a story on ya." He seemed to examine her face and came uncomfortably close to her."If I had to guess... you'd be a runaway. Probably came from an abuse family, or perhaps they didn't want you. Droll. Most of these people are criminals trying to get away from their jailtime." He grinned."I'm a runaway myself. Came from an orphanage, but then I realized it was boring as hell down there. I was meant for the seas, alright. Perhaps people should call me Fish instead."

While Rat talked on, Hooke came downstairs and headed straight for Stevie."Street rat!" He called her out."Bender wants you to work. You didn't hope to sail along with us and do nothing in return, did you? You look the lazy type." The Orc snorted."You've got a choice. Either sit in the crow's nest with Ambras and keep a lookout for ships and land, or help Red in the kitchens."

Stevie took a spoonful as well. Stew is always nice. Even if it didn't have much in it, warm stew was always a good feeling going down. "He prolly wanted to. But then I caught 'im diggin' up a grave and stuff. I got nosy," she stated rather bluntly.

The Halfling pulled away a little bit, a tad nervous when he inched closer. When he guessed her story, her eyes widened a little and she nearly dropped the bowl in her lap. NEARLY. "How d'ya know that?!" she whispered. Then she looked around. "...Criminals...?" Like murderers? Well she supposed she was too. She was a thiefy little thing.

Swallowing nothing but air, she jumped when Hooke's little nickname for her had been called. "G-guess I have a name after all, heh...," she added, turning to face him. Yelling at her across the room... that was embarrassing! She felt her face flush, but also tried to man up a bit and yell back.

"Well, a'course! Knew I was gunna hafta work. I ain't daft!" With a moment to consider, she made her decision. She'd be terrible help in the kitchen. Wouldn't be able to move much without falling over from lost balance. If she sat in the crow's nest with a quiet Drow, she'd probably have an easier time. At least until she got used to walking on the ship. "I'll stay with Ambras."

She'd still visit Red after she was done here, though. Her attention went back to her bowl and Rat. She was nervous from yelling back, but knew being a quiet pushover wasn't going to help. She felt intimidated and it was obvious, but she still tried to be loud and assertive. Not working well.

Once dinner was done, everyone went back to work. No rest for the wicked! Just because the sun was setting, it doesn't mean the sailors get to wander around aimlessly. A pair of new recruits would take all the dishes to wash them. Later on people would be able to collect them again.

For a pirate ship there was much to ensure one's cleanlyness. At the top deck there were two toilet cabinets. Well, toilet is a big word, it was just a little area with a hole in the floor that lead straight to the sea and to wipe there were either newspapers or seaweed. There was even a bath in the bottom deck, though it wasn't exactly private. It was just a big wooden tub where one manually needed to boil seawater and bring it towards the tub via buckets. Most people didn't bother with it, or just took a cold and salty bath.

Next to the tub was the armory, where Stevie would find Red, polishing up a rifle. The armory was neatly ordered. The pistols, sabres and rifles hung from the walls via hooks and were very numerous. There were barrels filled with gunpowder as well. Should Stevie pay attention to this room, she would realize this was made of steel, and with good reason. There was enough gunpowder in here to replenish an army, or to make one explode in one fell swoop by a stray bullet or cannonball for that matter.

Stevie, when left alone, ate the rest of her stew rather quickly. Afterward, she forced herself to man up and go pursue Red in an attempt to ask for a gun. How does one ask for something like that, anyway? She bit her lip in frustration, grumbling a little as she thought of all the ways it could go wrong and that she could make a complete fool out of herself.

Upon finally finding Red, she timidly approached. She was fine yelling at Hooke and not freaking out too bad, but why couldn't she puff up and approach the more-than-likely approachable guy? Oh yeah. Guns.

Taking a deep breath, she brought her tiny hand up to wave and her face stretched into an awkward, far-too-wide grin.

"'Ello," she said. "Um, I was told to say to - er, wait. I was told I gotta come see you for a gun? Cause my dagger's tiny and hm...," she trailed off, realizing her wording was awkward and she should probably just shut up. Maybe she was hoping he'd not give her one and tell her just to leave? She was sort of concerned that by having one, that meant at some point in her life she'd have to use it. But she might. There may be even worse people they encounter on the seas and to avoid getting killed or what have you, she'd probably need to learn how to use one.

One less cruel person the better, right?

She sighed, finally talking herself into being comfortable with the idea.

Red looked over to the Halfling as she struggled to speak. The man didn't flinch at her nervousness, nor did he show any contempt. He simply put the rifle down when she was done speaking and stood up. Somehow in the shadow the carved out tattoo on his chest looked even more gruesome. It looked like a fresh wound, though the man has been on this ship for years.

Red stepped next to Stevie and took a long barreled pistol from the wall. The barrel was copper while the handle was made of a simple soft wood. The man knelled down next to Stevie and handed her the gun, guiding her hands to the handle. He gestured for Stevie to carry the pistol with two hands and pointed at her eyes, telling her to try and look down the sights and see if it wasn't too heavy.

While Stevie would either figure out what Red meant or look down the sights, the mute would get a little jar, scoop out some gunpowder and place it in a leather bag, which he would then hand over to Stevie as well, together with a small iron rod and a small bag filled with bullets.

After all that business, the mute would gesture for Stevie to follow him. They didn't have to travel far, though they had to found their way through a maze of crates. At the end, though, Stevie would find a pair of target dummies, who looked already worn. Red leaned against a crate and looked at Stevie expectantly.

Stevie felt bad that in the moment she ceased speaking, he put the rifle down. Somehow he didn't seemed phased by it at all, so she didn't really question it. Instead, the Halfling accepted the pistol and looked between him and it. With both hands, it wasn't really that heavy. Heavier than her dagger, but that was to be expected. She looked down the sights and she supposed it was alright. She didn't have anything to compare it to, but really it was fine.

After that, she accepted the bags and rod and followed him. When they got to the tiny "shooting range," she peered between the dummies and Red, then her gun after she saw his expression. Again, that forced, humongous smile of hers appeared and she hunkered up her shoulders. "I don't know what to do," she said quietly. Was it already prepared? She didn't know how to prepare a gun for shooting! She'd never even touched one before.

Red nodded. It seemed he had been expecting her not to know how to use a gun. He walked up to her with his own pistol in his hands. He showed her what to do; pour a little gunpowder down the back of the gun, roll a bullet down the barrel, poke in it a few times with the rod, pull the safety pin back, aim and fire.

After he showed her, he nodded and let her to try it. His bullet didn't quite hit the target dummy. But with a bit of luck, Stevie's would.

((YAY awesome!))

Stevie watched Red very carefully. She didn't want to mess this up in the future, of course! When he finished and fired, she jumped, but nervously went to mimic what he had done. When through, she held the gun up with both hands and looked through the sights. She should probably aim for the widest part of her target, but she decided that this was just a test and it wasn't all that important if she hit or not on her first try. So why not? She brought the sights up to the head of the dummy where she'd fire and... hit?!

"WOW! I DID IT!" she squealed, practically bouncing in her spot.

((Nicely done! +1 internet.))

Red didn't smile, but instead he clapped a few times. He didn't show it, but he was definitively impressed. Not many could manage to score a headshot on the first try. It would seem Stevie is either incredibly lucky, or has a hidden talent she never discovered until now.

Soon the sun was going down, but not everyone was heading for bed. Most of the people would still be on deck, working the night shift. Unlucky souls such as Norin and Hooke had to work both day and night. No rest for the wicked, right? Tomorrow would be a big day. Stevie's first job to sit in a crow's nest with a racist Drow. This can only go well.

Steve grinned widely when Red clapped. She understood his lack of facial expression, but his clapping was enough to send her pride souring through the roof. She hoped it wasn't a talent, though. It'd be an incredibly morbid one. She thanked Red and left.

Now she moved to the barracks where she'd crawl beneath Bugface and curl up, tucking the gun in a safe place nearby. The rocking of the boat somehow helped her slip into sleep quickly, and kept her asleep until morning. That was probably the best she'd slept in days, honestly.

The next few days would be rather dull. Sitting in the crow's nest was not as fun as one would think. Sure, you had a nice view, but there was nothing more to see but the ocean and seagull passing by once every while. One day there'd be a small fleet passing by, but neither party would engage to one another. To add to that, Stevie had to listen to Ambras' mad rambling.

"Oh, you're my partner?" He'd scoff at her the first time they met, never removing his cowl."You're barely tall enough to look over the bloody railing." He'd sigh."Very well, just keep your eyes out. All you need to do is holler when you see something out of the ordinary. Whales, islands, ships, you name it, you yell. Everyone down bellow will react as needed."

Later he'd be sharing stories of how he saw the bronze lady that hung in front of the Moneymaker move. Or how he'd seen Death himself, who'm he promptly made a bet with at cards, and won as well. But his favorite stories were about tribelings deep in jungles or mountains who haven ever even met other outside of their own clans. He spoke of huge anthropomorphic bears and cats. He sounded as crazy as Eli'Syn when she was alive.

This was quite a learning experience for the Halfling, though. It would become clear working on a ship relied on routine. Plus, some of the more prominent crew members couldn't really keep secrets from one another. In the end, if you spoke, someone would find out secrets. So she would soon learn Norin was once a worker in the mines, but was forced to flee for his life after beating his wife's secret lover to death with a shovel. Hooke was not all what he seemed either. He was once the son of a great and rich warlord, who expected much from Hooke. The Orc had always made his father proud, but from the moment he lost his hand, his oh-so proud father disowned him, and Hooke was cast away. It broke his heart, and turned him into the jerk he was today. All this Solst would tell her. No way in hell Hooke would admit this to her.

Both Solst and Bugface had taken a liking to her, and because of this, few of the pirates dared approach her. Stevie would be free of any shenanigans. That was, until the rumor spread that Bender was dead.

Ambras told her this."The man hasn't left his bloody captain's hut in ages. You saw how horrible he looked without his arm, didn't you? No one entered his cabin, except for Norin and Hooke, his lapdogs." He say as he laid back in the crow's nest."I'm telling you, he didn't survive, and those two bastards won't tell us the truth of it! The man isn't checking the map anymore, he's a bloody corpse. The real question is whether he's still rotting in his room or if he's been thrown overboard already."

Stevie didn't mind the crow's nest too much, mainly because there was no over-exertion. She was used to being made fun of, so although it bothered her, it wasn't anything new. "No, but I'm at the perfect height to hit you where it hurts," she mumbled in retort. She nodded at his following instructions.

It was a relief when he began sharing those insane stories. These were the sorts of things gullible Stevie ate up. She'd probably tease him about how the bronze lady was turning away from him, or how Death let him win. She didn't have anything playfully sarcastic to add about the tribes though, but she did seem enthralled with that story, imagining every bit of it.

After learning what she did about the individuals, she began to have a higher regard for them. Hooke she pitied a bit, and understood a little more, so she decided to give him less of a hard time. Norin she already liked, but now she thought him a heartbroken man who lost everything. It was depressing. She was both relieved and embarrassed that her past left her nothing to talk about. Her father liked booze too much and it made homelife kinda crappy, and her mother was just an awful wretch of a lady. So she left. That's all.

It was nice no one really tried to harrass her. She genuinely liked Solst and Bugface, and felt a little guilty that she was also free of irritating encounters because of them, but also equally enjoyed that. There was little to worry about! The rumor that Bender was dead worried her, no-- nearly sent her into a panic.

"Why hasn't anybody else tried to go see him?" she asked desperately. "He couldn't die that easy, could he? He wouldn't just die and not say anything to me right?" she questioned, frowning a little. Her voice finally lowered. "I'm gonna go in. He'll probably kick me for it if he's still alive but it'll be ok. I'll do it when it's starting to get dark."

And when her time in the crow's nest concluded that day, down she went. Her walking was getting better. Lots of things were. Even the burn on her arm didn't hurt anymore, despite the tight ribbons of flesh there in place of what once was normal skin. She had a battle scar! It was odd how excited she was for that. She felt less... unseasoned compared to the rest of them.

In any case, now she sneaked around, hiding behind barrels of various things or wooden structures jutting upward, anything she could fit behind. She was worried of being caught and not being able to try again until later!

At sundown, many of the pirates went below deck for their grub. Even Hooke went down, who spent most of his day behind the wheel. But today he'd join his fellow mates for a meal. Red had cooked an entire pig, so the Orc had reason enough to take his leave. Only Norin, Rat and a few others were on deck now. Rat was climbing up the rope ladders to the sails to fix a hole in the main mast, and Norin was inside Bender's quarters. The deck was very empty and Stevie could probably sneak her way towards the captain's quarters, though some might miss her for dinner should she decide to make her move now.

The captain's quarters were one level higher than the stairs that would lead below deck. A level higher, and you'd reach the steering wheel.

The door was colored red, and inside there were already a few candles burning. One of the three visible windows was left open ever so slightly. If Stevie couldn't fit inside that, there might be a loose plank in the 'roof.'

((The dice roller did nothing alksdjf I probably messed up. I rolled on another site and got: 17/100 yay. ))

Stevie thought it best just to get this done and over with. All she wanted to know was if he was alive. She just wanted a peek inside and she'd be on her way to dinner here soon. She was awfully hungry, though.

Thanks to how empty the deck was, she seemed to have no problem sneaking up to the captain's quarters. The window was likely an easy place to get to, but before she'd sneak through it, she would peer inside. If she saw Bender and noticed he was breathing, whether unconscious or not, she'd leave it be and go to dinner. If he was not within sight, the Halfling would struggle through the open window and tumble down on the other side. When there, she'd immediately jump to hide behind something nearby, trying her hardest to be quiet. It didn't work very well at all.

((Hurrah! Failure!))

Inside the cabin was spacey, and it wasn't a single room by the looks of it. There were two walls separating this chamber from two others on the left and right sides of this room. In the middle were two large bookcases filled with all sorts of colorful books. In the middle of it was a large oaken table with a quil and a pot of ink, as well as a few scrolls and the clay map in its full and complete glory, twisting and moving on its own like a squid avoiding a knife.

At the sound of the thud, it was Norin who came in to look inside of the room."Hello?" He'd call out."Cap'n, we got an animal in 'ere. Not sure if it's the talkin' kind or the vermin type." He'd say as he looked around. Stevie would probably be hiding behind a pair of barrels or a stack of wooden chests. A familiar voice answered."Probably both." Bender's voice rang."If it's Rat, take 'is hand. It's 'bout time that vermin learns 'is place." He didn't move in the other room to see who'm might have entered, and Norin wasn't doing such a great job finding Stevie either, until his parrot flew off of his shoulder and flew to the place where Stevie could be hiding."Pickles! Pickles!" It'd be shouting.

Stevie smacked her hands across her mouth when she heard Norin. She couldn't help but sigh in relief when she heard him address Bender, and felt even more pleased when he spoke himself. It disturbed her a little to think he'd actually have someone else's hand removed, so now she was a bit terrified of being found.

Her hiding place seemed to be pretty sound. That is, of course, until Pickles came screeching his name up above her.

"Shhh! Please be quiet, Pickles, shhh!" she whispered, waving her hands a little to shoo it away. She tried to further tuck herself into the corner there, crossing her fingers in hopes that she wouldn't be found.

Norin followed his parrot."I think we got our lil' sneaky basterd found. Mr. Pickle's got better hearin' than a dog, wouldn't ya agree?" "Yeah, yeah, just tell me who it is, will'ya?"

Norin moved aside the barrels to find fingers crossed Stevie. Norin didn't seem surprised."It's Stevie, Cap'n. The Halfling ya dragged along."

For that, Bender came out of the room."Stevie, what the bloody hell 'r ya doin' 'ere?" The old man has asked once he saw her. Bender didn't exactly look good. The shadow on his chin that was meant to be his beard had grown thick, and it made him look even older than he is. His hair was messy and greasy, though most disturbing of all were the copper rods and spikes coming out of his shoulder, there were his steel arm used to be. In the old man's hand were a pair of pliers. There was still blood coming where the rods and spikes pierced the flesh."No one bloody knocks 'nymore these days."

A little wince was had when she heard her name, but her hands fell and she grew disheartened. However, to Bender's voice, she grew a bit more excited. He didn’t seem violently livid or anything! At that, the Halfling inched out of her hiding spot and she waved nervously.

"I woulda knocked, but people were sayin' you were dead n' that Norin and Hooke were runnin' things behind the scenes. I was worried and was tryin' to find out without bein' caught… Didn't work too well, but at least I know yer alive. Barely though – are you alright?" The Halfling looked incredibly concerned now that she was able to see just how worse for the wear the Captain was.

At Stevie's concerns, Bender started laughing, loudly."Ya hear that, Norin? People actually think I'm dead instead o' usin' their common sense 'n ask. Sorry if I've scared ya, lass. In case none o' ya salty dogs noticed, I got me a map ta figure out. Besides, I ain't comin' out 'till I re-attached me arm. 'N as ya can see, it ain't exactly attached yet." He explained.

"Y'know what, lass. Don' tell 'nyone 'bout the fact I'm alive. It's been too long since we had a good ol' mutiny. It'll prove as a test to see who 'ere is actually loyal to their captain 'n who's not." He grinned, strangely amused by the idea his crew would turn against him.

Mr. Pickle flew back onto Norin's shoulder as he looked through the window."Best you leave now, lil' lass. Don't ya worry 'bout Bender's health. He just needs a shave." He chuckled.

Stevie's smile was crooked, but genuine. "It's okay. Glad you didn't have my hand cut off," she teased. With a bit of a stretch, she moved to the window and looked back to the Captain. "Should I tell them yer dead? Or that I didn't see you?" she questioned. After she got her answer, Stevie would leave through the window, just for added effect in case anyone outside was around to see. She felt almost too giddy to get this rumor out of control, wondering just what extent people would misbehave. She should probably wipe that smile off her face and look disturbed or sad or something, though.