Re: Sun, Surf, and Demons (insaney)
You're big, and angry, and you've just encountered something else of your size prowling around in what you probably think of as your waters. And how do you solve that problem?
The giant tentacles slithering up the ship were all the answer that was needed to that question--it said you were dealing with a creature that didn't believe in mediation or diplomacy--the only sounds you'd hear from it were splurches and gurgles and roars, and none of those were particularly friendly. The responses the thing was getting back were none too articulate either--they were actual words, but nothing over two or three syllables, and nothing more eloquent than a "Help!" or a "Where's my leg!?" Water was rushing onboard, children were screaming, and the whole ship had just tipped over onto its side like a squirming turtle.
Cadenza sat against the wall, thankful that the ship was tilting in the direction that made her lean against the wall rather than have to cling to it for dear life, and closed her eyes. She was far too hung-over to be showing much excitement, and honestly, she wasn't the least bit surprised that her luck had brought her to a ship that was being savaged by a sea monster. She actually might have been more surprised if everything had gone smoothly and she'd only arrived back home with an even darker tan and an umbrella drink.
The monster had felt her when she'd poked him through the shadows. It had been none too happy about it either--there it had been, preparing to attack this other behemoth that had wandered into its territory, and so far things seemed perfect since the white, shiny giant hadn't noticed him--and then all of a sudden something's prodding it in the ribs like it was their fat uncle at the cookout and it couldn't even see who had done it. It was unnerving.
It never could have imagined that the thing that had poked it was a slender little woman of twenty-nine with a system full of tequila and a strong dislike of swimming. But it also couldn't have imagined that this petite woman also had a system full of shadow magic, strength, and speed, and a generally bad and uncompromising attitude.
When the slash from an unseen blade came through the shadows and sliced the beast's stomach, it let out a blood-curdling wail.
The ship started to rock again--it tilted forward until the bow kissed the water. Underneath it, the creature was thrashing about, trying to throw off its unseen attacker. People were falling into the sea, but it ignored them--they might make good snacks later, but right now there was just this bloody thing swiping at it and hitting...
There was a sensation of rushing wind and abrupt gravity.
Cadenza opened her eyes, realized she had about two seconds to grab onto a hook along the wall before she plummeted into the ocean, and reached out just in time to get some of the tip and most of the shadow underneath. But that was fine too. Crewmembers and passengers were screaming off to either side of her--in her experience, trying to help someone at a time like this only seemed to get you into more trouble, but she stretched out a sort of net of magic anyway from the shadows they were falling towards and scooped them up. Hell if she knew where to put the people after she'd caught them, but at least they weren't falling anymore...
There was another roar.
Something could be heard coming up through the water--many somethings, actually, like volcanoes rising up from the frothing sea. The gypsy thought she saw a pinkish head, topped by glassy green eyes and...there were more? Another set of eyes rose up now, full of a sort of primeval fury; the kind of look a lion might give to something that just unknowingly stumbled into his feeding grounds. One last bubbling, boiling sound came from the front of the ship--soon, there was one last pair of eyes, staring the boat down.
Another wail--like a banshee's wail. It was amplified times ten in Cadenza's hung-over brain, only adding to her headache.
Then the heads rose up, bearing teeth...
OoC: That was probably one of my best posts in quite a while. : D