Across the Open Blue...['nyone wit'a lust fer treasure!]

[Notsil]

Port Allison, a jewel of the Avelian Empire. It was a somewhat sleepy little sea-side town, its only real source of interest was the expansive port that gave her her namesake. Regardless of a small population of just above five hundred, it was quite well defended. A sizable Royal Garrison, bristling with cannons and full of troops watched over narrow entrance to the docks. Security in the town itself was quite a bit more lax, making it a good place to find "adventurers" and "treasure hunters" amongst the large number of traders who called Port Allison their home.

Pirates also frequented as well.

Just a few miles out, two small ships were drawing ever closer to one another. One vessel, a smallish pirate corvette had taken heavy damage. Its black sails cut to ribbons, and its darkly colored hull was billowing smoke. The other vessel, a forest green ship of similar size was on the defense now. It was in far better condition than its attacker. Obviously, whoever was in command of the darker ship had simply hired a crew of mercenaries, and had taken command without much knowledge of ship to ship combat.

"They're boardin' us, Cap'n! Those damned brigands ar-"

Aegis Spade, Captain of the Wind's Dance II laughed as he unslung his saber. Smoke blotted out the quite clear sky, casting a dark shadow across the chaotic deck of his ship. He ran towards the portside railings, where black-garbed men, surely mercenaries hired by some pirate lord, were climbing up onto the deck of his ship. There were roughly twenty of them already over, some taking aim with muskets while others readied their blades for the approaching onslaught.

"Yargh! Get'ese bast'ids off our ship, boyos!" Aegis shouted as he charged into the boarding party. His men, dressed in mostly reds and greens let lose their battle cries, most of them extremely vulgar threats. They too took aim with their pistols and raised their swords high as they followed their red-coated Captain into the fray.

The first brigand that crossed into Aegis' path tried to clothes-line him with his forearm. His blow came off too early though, and Spade easily ducked under the man's arm, grabbed it with his left hand and swung his blade down on it, leaving a nasty slash across his forearm. Without pausing to see what happened, he released his grip and let loose a swift punch into the man's nose, knocking him to the ground. Aegis spun back towards the battle, and charged after a large soldier wielding dual swords. The man rained down a flurry of blows against Aegis, which he deftly blocked with quick, agile deflections of his saber. Screaming obscenities, the warrior continued his furious attack.

Spade quickly launched his booted foot into the man's knee, pushing him off balance. He stepped in, following the man's stagger backwards, and thrusted his blade forward, stabbing the man through the stomach. With a flick of his wrist Aegis' already blood-stained saber was free.

He ignored the wounded man's cries of pain, barely having time enough to dodge a massive axe head. The huge weapon crashed down with tremendous force, splintering the wooden deck. Aegis hopped backwards several times, pushing himself to the very outside of the fray. The warrior wore a horned helmet and a battered metal chest piece. He roared with fury and raised his axe high over his head. "I KONGUL! YOU WILL BE DESTROYED BY KONGUL! KONGUL SLAYER OF MEN! ANCIENT BLOOD RUNS IN ME! KONGUL SMASH! YOU CANNON DEFE-"

A dark red flower blossomed on Kongul's forehead, and his body slackened, sending him crashing to the deck. Calmly, Aegis lowered his ebony revolver and blew the smoke off the barre and holstered the gun in an overly dramatic fashion. He snorted out a laugh as he stepped over the body, "Aye, nice talkin', Professor." Captain Spade took out his flask and took a quick swig, wiping the amber liquid away with the sleeve of his long red jacket. He moved quickly through the brawl, shoving several dueling pirates out of the way and side stepping the occasional saber swing.

Time tah fin' their captain, 'n get 'im the hell off'a my ship...

[insaney]

“Arr, where’re ye headed, Gold-eye?” the man grinned, showing off his both his gold teeth and none-present ones. He was dressed extravagantly, with a belt diagonally across his chest and another around his waist, holding a silvery saber. In his hand, he clenched a bottle filled with alcohol, which he swirled around before raising it to his lips and taking a long gulp. The pirate captain spoke again, “Ye look like you’re going someplace.”

Rain only smiled in response as more of the captain’s crew walked up behind him, grinning at the gold-eyed person in black.

“I’m not going anywhere, good sir,” he finally spoke.

The captain stood silent for a few moments before grinning once more. He looked at his comrades behind him, beckoning them closer.

“Aye…” he turned back to the dark clad man, “Ye seems to me to be too well groomed to be one of the poor ‘uns from this ‘here port. Perhaps we should…relieve ye of your coins to make sure that they don’t get in to the ‘ands of the thieves and beggars…lots of them around here, ye know?”

The captain’s men laughed as they drew their sabers, the captain himself drawing his own extravagant one last.

“You…may not want to do that…” Rain smiled faintly as the captain charged in first with a thrust. What happened next bewildered the men, they couldn’t see what had happened for the captain’s silver saber to end up in their target’s hand, with the sharp end of the blade pointing at the captain himself, no less.

The man raised his arms in surrender, looking fearfully at the tip of the sword. Rain was not willing to engage anyone in combat, not at the moment, anyway. The men were all riled up and ready to brawl, but that didn’t stop Rain from running suddenly. He didn’t drop the sword, but held on to it tightly, running at an average speed and fending off any of the men who got too close while chasing him. During the chase across the port town, he managed to relieve a chasing pirate of his belt, pistol and sheath. With a swift movement, he hit the pirate on the head with the saber’s hand-guard and picked up the belt.

“My belt.” he grinned while sheathing the saber and fastening the leather around his waist. He wasn’t planning to obtain a saber or pistol, but hey, when opportunity knocks…

There was another outburst as people began rushing toward the docks. Two ships were a little way off at sea; one was smoking terribly, looking badly damaged, while the other seemed to be in perfect shape. Rain decided to join the crowd, hoping to lose the pirates on his tail.

While at the docks, he looked out toward the ocean at both ships coming in; one still was looking as if it would sink any moment. In the midst of the murmuring, he heard a familiar voice shout “the man stole me prized saber! Find ‘im now!”

Rain pulled up his collar and sunk a little, bending his knees to stay level with the average height of the crowd.

[Ciroton]

*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*

Like many a day spent in her life, the demon hunter ventured through the treacherous forests of Europe in search of monsters to destroy, for a price of course. Alas, this new demon – a vicious bull-like apparition that haunted the local village – only came out during the night. Seeing rays of light pierce through the thick canopy, the woman grew confident that night would not come for a long time yet.

“What a pain,” she sighed quietly as she wondered. “If the thing doesn’t come out until night, why insist on sending me during the middle of the day!?” Sometimes, despite her best efforts, Kristina could not figure out how the minds of some people worked. It didn’t matter though, for she already caved to their demands, thus her current location in the heart of the forest.

Shrugging off her inhibition and annoyance in the town folk, she merrily carried on with her ‘hunt’ for the time being. I guess I’ll find a river to camp by until nightfall, reasoned the clever hunter, weary from all her walking so far. With a plan set, the woman continued her hike whilst looking for a body of water to stop and rest by.

Afternoon soon turned early evening as she climbed rocky hills, and lush valleys alike. To her utter annoyance, she had yet to find an elusive stream, or any body of water, for that matter. Climbing one last rocky hill, she looked down in defiance of the many trees that blocked her view. No water met her eyes, but rather, a sight far more strange.

Carefully climbing down from her perch, Kris approached the anomaly with caution and silence. Sure, she knew what it was, but rather, she had no idea why it lay here or what it could do, if anything. Stepping over jagged rock and sticks alike; she came upon the shadow of the large set of granite doors. Letters of many foreign, unknown languages sat etched into the hard surface, unyielding testaments to its age and purpose.

Seeing alone would not do justice in her mind, outstretching a hand to touch the enigmatic door. However, before her skin even made contact with the stone surface, it pulled away, showing naught but blinding white. Indeed, as the door opened fully, she looked inside to see that grass and trees suddenly turned to stone and glass, light pouring into the hall via tall stained-glass windows. Initially, she mistook it for an extravagant cathedral before realizing there were no pews.

A loud, slamming echo sounded from behind her. Looking back, Kris saw that some mystical force pulled her in somehow, then slammed the door behind her. Yet, as she tried to open it again, the massive granite door faded into a large marble wall, seemingly mocking her natural curiosity. She very nearly cursed at her foolishness, embarrassed for having this happen to her. Sighing loudly, she conceded to the fact that now she could only go forward along that hall.

Walking down the mysterious structure, she looked at the many stained-glass windows as she passed. Each one seemed to tell the most interesting, outlandish stories she ever heard of. Tales of knights, dragons, wizards, and even some things she’d never heard of adorned the glass collages. In fact, she paid so much attention to the windows that she failed to notice the end of the hall, another large door that opened out to the vast sea.

“What the…?” She started as she looked ahead just in time. A death-defying leap straight into the sea stood less then an inch away. “How the heck did this happen!?” Kris exclaimed, unable to comprehend the situation. Alas, as a swift ocean breeze pushed from behind, she let out a blood-curdling scream as the ocean swiftly met her face.

*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*

“Captain!” Came the voice of a rather small, mousy man. “Two ships are entering the port, one of them heavily damaged. What should we do?” Little did he know he just disturbed their captain from a dream, or what seemed like it after so long. Looking up from under the wide brim of their hat, the captain merely smiled.

“We’re laying low, remember? Watch, but don’t draw attention to yourself. If things look dicey, signal the ship immediately,” they replied sleepily.

“Aye, Aye!” The small navigator shouted as he ran out of the bar. Meanwhile the captain, resting their boots on the table with their chair tilted back, straightened up and got to their feet. With the shadow of their hat obscuring their face, they made their way over to the docks. Sure, sending one under your charge was all well and good, but nothing could compare to seeing the actual thing for yourself, right?

[Notsil]

Captain Spade sprinted down the darkened corridor, the sounds of combat all around him. He'd checked every cabin he had come across so far, but had yet to find the attacking force's captain. However, he had noticed something a little off. Besides from the first men that had boarded his ship, the rest had seemed oddly professional. Their equipment and uniforms were very well maintained, much more so than the usual pirate raiding gang. To top it all off, he had heard several of his own men being taken as prisoners, not finished off.

Pirates didn't take prisoners.

Finally, he reached the end of the corridor, a large plain looking door. Aegis slid to a stop, revolver in one hand, cutlass in the other. "Better get't the end'a this quick..." He took aim, and shot the bolt of the door straight off, and swiftly kicked it open.

"Alrigh', get the hell over'ere, ya bastard!"

No response, the room was empty. A quick glanced showed it looking like an average captain's quarters. Overly decorated with all sorts of odds and ends. Some looted treasure here, an obviously expensive looking desk covered in various charts all the usual trinkets.

He stepped inside slowly, both weapons at the ready. Behind him, he heard the ever familiar click of a rifle. Instantly, he turned and fired, catching a blue coated Avelian marine in the chest. Two more were at his side, rifles at the ready. Without hesitation or thought, Aegis let loose a shout and charged at the men, catching them both in a low tackle, knocking all three to the deck. Both men grunted and cursed in response, slamming their riflebutts towards their attacker's face. One of the heavy wooden stocks caught Aegis in the cheek, audibly cracking the bone. He responded with a strong stab to the man's gut with one hand, and a strong blow across the other's face with the grip of his pistol. Before he could take another swing, a hammer cocked behind him. All three of the men's shouting and cursing stopped at once.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mister Aegis Spade himself. Fancy seeing you here."

Spade's blood ran frigid at the sound of that every so familiar, and hard female voice. Of all the damn luck...

"Well, well, well. If it ain't Santan's lil' slut daughter herse-"

The hard steel of a rifle barrel slammed into his spine. "Get the up. Now!"

Slowly he holstered his revolver and raised both of his hands slowly while climbing to his feet. Below, both marines groaned in pain, and stood up to obviously uncomfortable stances of attention.

"You two, get out of here. Tell the others we have a new prisoner."

Hands still raised, Aegis turned to face his assailant. There she was, just as sultry and demonic as she was seven months ago. Capitán Amanda Todeskind. A young girl, hardly over twenty years, she was amazingly beautiful. Long blonde hair, curves in all the right places and a uniform skirt just ever so short. The wore a gray version of an Avelian Command uniform, completely unmarked. No name, no medals no ribbons or pins, the sign of an Avelian Intelligence Officer. Todeskind was the best.

Known as "Death's Daughter", Amanda Todeskind was the most feared woman on the seas. It has been said that she was the illigitament child of the devil himself, and she acted just as evil. Any man, woman or child under her eye who stepped out of line was to be punished severely, on location. She alone had lead to the deaths of hundreds of sailors, many good friends of Aegis. Every man marked by her had been killed, a flawless record.

Well, nearly flawless.

Aegis cracked a smirk, "So, still mad I broke out of yer lil' playhouse?"

The hardwood butt of the Spencer Carbine she weilded smash against Spade's face, drawing blood and cracking bones. Before he could counter, a gloved hand was around his throat, and a rifle barrel to his forehead.

"Oh, I'm not the only one mad this time. Things are different. I'm not the only one mad, and I won't be trying to kill you. We'll let the executioner have a little fun, this time. Guards, take him ashore and bring him to Royche. He'll enjoy this as much as I."

Aegis grunted as two marines came from behind, and tightened handcuffs around his wrists. Todeskind lowered her rifle, and started to head to the door.

"Oh, no goodbye kiss this time, lass-"

The back of Death's Daughter's hand slapped Aegis in the broken cheek, as she walked out into the corridor.

Ten minutes later, Captain Spade was sitting in a small rowboat, surrounded by four armed marines. His ship had been lost, crew either dead or taken prisoners, and he was headed off towards Port Allison.

He sighed to himself as he struggled with the handcuffs, Why couldn't it have been pirates...