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 Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:04 pm
It was a relief to have her call out to him, even if she purpousely changed the pronunciation of his name halfway through. If you can even call 'Maggie' a mispronunciation. Mórdae heard the thud of a landing and the scrambling of paws against the wood of the deck. Soon enough, she was attempting to help Mórdae up the railing, her armor slick and cold as the stranger attempted to pull him in. His wriggling probably wasn't doing much to help, and the shockingly cold metal on his skin not only couldn't get a grip, but made him pull away from help. Suddenly, one paw was gone, returning without a coating of hard metal. The other did the same, and then both paws were around his waist, heaving Mórdae over the rail.
Before Mórdae knew it, he was on the safe side of the rail, sides heaving and pelt matted every which way. After a little bit of coughing, Mórdae settled on a sitting position to help him recover his composure. He looked over at his 'savior', lying on her back. She looked more helpeless without her armor on, but the scars her armor usually concealed revealed otherwise. He diverted his gaze to the sea, wondering why he looked at her in the first place. Then she called him a madman. Bursting into laughter probably didn't convince her otherwise. Perhaps he laughed in relief, in victory, or he really was mad, but her words made him laugh nonetheless. I'm turning into my father. A stubborn madman. The laughter abruptly stopped. Mórdae turned to look directly in the other fox's eyes, a rather uncontrolled grin on his face.
"Yes, perhaps I am. And now that that ordeal is over with, we should start getting back on course. Would you mind telling me where we're headed? And your name. We must not forget that again, shall we? Afterall, now that I'm here I'm not going back. Unless you're willing to lose that much more time bringing me back when I won't get off." He spoke firmly as usual, but he spoke cheerily, amused that he finally got where he wanted. Of course Mórdae had no idea what would happen from here on out, but his short-term goal was succeeded. And there he was, smiling and staring into those red and black eyes, waiting for her reply. Which was bound to be laced with poison.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:33 pm
The moment their eyes met, Katla got lost in them. They look just like a stormy sea... She soonly snapped out of it sna sat up next to him, pondering over her possibilities. She could of course take him back to his ship, but she found it hard to believe that Mórdae wouldn't try some more of that monkey buisness. Also, there was the option to turn back and get him safely back on solid ground, but looking at his jewels, he could very come after her again with an even grander vessel. This struggle within her, not willing to admit his voctorious move, yet fearing another failed attempt to shake him off, one that might end up as horrefying as this madness just barely did.
Katla went and picked up her armor, polished it slightly with her legs and put it back on. "Morris, ready the sails, we're heading south! We've surely missed our chances of catching up with the other slumdogs because of you, but we should still be able to arrive at the spot just in time."
She turned around and looked at him, wind blowing through her hair, slowly but firmly stepping closer to him as she spoke, untill she could almost stick her nose in his ears. "We're going to Meldonia, where the president and his army has declared war against the very population itself. They rebel army is ridiculously weak, and all other governments have decided to stay out of it. That's where we come in, rich boy." She made another harsh turn against him and highered her voice to the point where she was nearly shouting. "I am Katla, and you shall call me no other! You do as I command, and you do it fast, or I'll have you off on a distant cliff somewhere unknown before your stupid little eyes can blink. UNDERSTOOD!?" She turned her head just enough to see Mórdae in the corner of an eye, giving him a serious look.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:13 pm
It was odd that his words were not instantly met with a sharp tongue. The fox seemed to be deep in thought, quickly diverting her eyes and then sitting next to Mórdae, a very interesting expression showing on her face. Without a word, she got up and put on her armor again, pausing slightly to polish it. And then the words came.
Well, Mórdae thought, if you decided to bring me with you from the very beginning, there wouldn't be any delay. But he kept his mouth shut, about to move towards the sails to begin prepping them, when she whipped around to look at him. And yell some more. It was almost amusing, the fox slowly walking up to him as she talked. I wonder if she always acts like this to gain respect. Then again, this method would work perfectly for a soldier. Meldonia. For some reason, that name sounded familiar. Perhaps it was in some documents Mórdae signed; after all, he rarely read what he signed. He allowed the fox to continue, now knowing she was called Katla, and found it rather ridiculous, the way she was trying to earn his respect. Equality makes the world go round. To top it off, Katla's serious look made a sarcastic smile creep onto Mórdae's face.
"Kayla," he began, "I would like to inform you that I am not part of your crew. I am not your underling, and I would prefer not to be treated as such." Mórdae's paw reached up to straighten his monocle. "I would be happy to accompany you on your journey, however, and I will do what I can to help. I would like to be treated as your equal. Nothing more, nothing less. Perhaps we can give each other pointers on negotiation." Mórdae headed towards the sails, intending to point them due south. There was no point with arguing, was there?
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:52 pm
So, Mórdae still couldn't seem to realise how truely cruel she could be. And she liked it. Afterall, it's so much more amusing when it comes as a surprise, like coal in your sock at christmas. That was the major reason as for why she enjoyed fooling around with cocky jerks on and off; they were always off guard. The true whimps would expect it, but whoever thinks she's playing usually had their regrets the moment she turned into a fierce tornado.
She smirked at him. "There's something you're forgetting, little Mourice... You're depending on me now." Katla took a quick look towards Mórdae's boat. It had allready gotten rather far off. "If you cause me any further trouble, even so the slightest little delay, you'll be off swimming towards nearest land. And, you do know..." She couldn't help but to snicker a little. "Unless you have the luck to end up on a friendly area, which I assure you isn't very likely, a guy like you is an easy and most wanted pray..."
Katla walked off to the rail and looked out at the land they'd left behind them. With the wind blowing through her hair and fur, she couldn't feel much calmer than this. "And I shall never treat you as my equal, seeing as we're nothing alike. You've lived your life, and I've lived mine, with all the pros and cons that has given us. But nonetheless, even the blind would see that we're of different worlds and different class. The only thing we have in common now is the wood we stand on and the direction we're heading, and that, sire, is not what I'd call equal."
Looking at the water and the sky, the wheather seemed calm and positively on their side. Even so, she couldn't other than worry of what would be if this changed. This boat may be fast, but it's also too small to be able to stir correctly in unpleasant weathers... Katla went to search through the ship, as she'd need to know exactly what was available for the long journey ahead of them. Especially if trouble struck upon them.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:21 pm
Mórdae began to move the sails when it seemed that Katla began to talk to him again. The cranking and the wind seemed to drown out her voice, allowing him to only hear every other word. From the look on her face, he judged that Katla was most likely threatening him. Though he should feel threatened, Mórdae couldn't help but feel as if she was hiding something. That there was something inside of her that made her feel as if she couldn't treat others kindly, that it would somehow harm her to do so. Or he was just trying to twist it to portray her as nicer as she was, to further justify his actions. But there was something tugging at him that knew there really was something hidden. Oh! It suddenly came to him. At the cafe. She was completely polite there.. Perhaps it's me.
He jumped down after securing the sails, hoping to talk to her. But before Mórdae could locate her and form some words in his head, Katla spoke. Mórdae turned his head towards the voice and saw her, cape and hair flowing, looking out to see. She began to make a point of their different backgrounds, their different experiences, their different worlds. But how this made them unequal did not make sense to Mórdae. Surely she could at least be courteous. She was the one to randomly attack him, after all. She's the one who prompted this whole adventure.
Mórdae caught up to Katla, preparing a reply as he went. It looked like she was going to make a run of the ship; surprising that she didn't think of doing such earlier. "Yes, we're of two different worlds. I honestly don't know how that prevents us from respecting each other. Our differences should only make us appreciate what the other has, and what we have. There isn't anything preventing us from getting along, per say, if you don't include your unwillingness. You have something against me... don't you? Yes, I may have delayed your journey, but you have to realize you brought that upon yourself."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:54 am
Katla didn't want to go on about it, but she couldn't give in. In her opinion, she had all reasons of the world to mistreat Mórdae. Afterall, he was of that kind. He may seem better than the rest, but she doubt he really was. They're false creatures, depending on their own lies. All of them.
Still, he was acting overly kindhearted, over and over. No matter how she provoked him, he wouldn't let her slip from his justice. But what justice is it really to have such wealth why there are cubs dying in the streets... Life only exist due to a matter of coincidences, yet some act so damn more important than the rest. If he cared that much for all around, he wouldn't be walking around with jewels in his ears like a lord.
Katla kept on searching through the boat as she spoke, not giving Mórdae any further attention. "I have no reasons to pay you my respect. Respect belongs to those who earn it, which you clearly haven't. It's those just like you who..." She had to pause and breathe a bit to keep herself from getting too upset. She wouldn't allow herself to cry for the sake of someone lik him. "Listen, you may or not have done much bad in your life, but nonetheless I'm certain you haven't done a lot of good either. You're one of those foxes who probably sits couped up in a tower all day, with the unpleasing view of the peasants far from the view of your window."
She finnished her scouting and settled down on the rail, looking up at the clouds, longing for a fight. For when she was at war, she never had the time to sit down and think like that, and thinking just seemed as unnecessarely painful.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:00 pm
Mórdae couldn't contain his frustration as he followed Katla around, the want to interrupt her explanation escalating as they went. When they had finally stopped at the rail, Mórdae couldn't' contain his anger. And he exploded. "You think I'm not aware of these things? You don't think I know how much everyone despises me? Hell, I didn't even work my way up to being a duke! I didn't expect it this soon, I didn't want it! My father, that malicious, single-minded, self-absorbed fox, didn't give a damn about how I felt, ever! And then he goes and dies on me, leaving me to follow a trail he prepared me for but never laid out!" Mórdae paused, taking a deep breath. This helped him calm down a bit, but he wasn't done laying out his own story.
"When I was a cub, during breaks from all of those grooming lessons, I went out to the garden. That was the only place I could feel like I wasn't some sort of puppet. I remember looking beyond the fence and seeing other cubs playing in the forest, always longing to go out there and play with them. When I finally mustered up the nerve, I did go out and join them one day. But my father saw me, dragged me inside, and yelled at me, telling me that I wasn't supposed to interact with those so bellow me. I protested, but from that day out, I wasn't allowed outside without a servant there to watch me, to make sure I didn't do anything unlordly. I was never allowed the freedom of cubhood, never allowed any friends!" Mórdae sighed, and when he spoke again, his voice was normal, if only a little bit shaky.
"I don't know if his death is a blessing or not, him leaving me to a job I couldn't finish. He never told me what I was in charge of, why I was so 'important'. But the servants knew. And I had to follow their orders to finish my daily work. I can rarely find a chance to escape outside since his death. But here I am, covered in cursed jewels. I seem to have finally gotten away after all these years. Don't you see why I can't understand your accusations?"
Mórdae looked out to the sea, staring into its blue depths. After his words of frustration, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He didn't mean to go that far, to say that much, to raise his voice that high. But he felt like a great burden had been lifted off his chest, nonetheless. Not once was he able to express how he felt until now.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:59 pm
Mórdaes story touched her deeply. She felt that maybe they had more in common than she thought, but in different ways. As if all this time they'd had the life the other one wanted. The burning feeling at the back of Katla's eyes pushed her to cry, but she resisted the urge. She wasn't about to cry over the sad story, though, but the fact that it just reminded her of the past she kept trying to forget.
She looked out at the sea in the same direction as he did, trying not to sound like the weakling she felt like, eventhou she didn't quite manage. "You know, Mórdae... Atleast you had a father..." For a silent moment there, looking at the waves, she wondered which was deeper; Mórdae's eyes or the sea? Or maybe that blank emptiness that kept following here where she went.
She looked back up at the sky. The clouds where still white as cotton, but they were hooping up, not far from blocking the sun. "From what you said, the old man couldn't be that bad, y'know. He cared for you, worried of your safety. Didn't tell you of the hard work, probably denying the fact that he'd one day have to leave it all to you. Maybe he too dreamt of getting away? Heck, if I would've cared like he did... Then atleast..." Katla's voice started shaking. That burning feeling came back, and two big tears made their down her cheeks before she could shake it away. She shook the thoughts out of her head, focused and went back to her usual, emotionless state. "You know what, nevermind..."
Katla hopped down from the rail and went over to the seacharts, pretending to be in deep thought. She had a glance at her brightly red cape, remembering her goal. She couldn't let herself be weak like that. Afterall, she did it all for him.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:22 pm
Mórdae was ready to badmouth his father more when he saw two lone tears roll down Katla's face. That was enough. He had obviously brought back some painful memories, and he wasn't about to lower the morale further by starting some sort of argument. Nodding as Katla basically told him to drop it, Mórdae began to let her words sink in. Everything he had ever known, everything he went through combated what this fox had just said. But that didn't stop the little feeling deep inside him, telling him that he might have actually cared. Perhaps Mother's death.. Mórdae shook his head, clearing the thoughts from his mind. There was no reason to bring her up as well.
Instead, Mórdae focused on reverting back to his normal state of mind. Well, the one that existed if he wasn't in his house. He looked out to the sea, wondering how long it could go on and the adventures it must hold, the memories it must have. Head rested on the rail and mild mood recovered, Mórdae wondered what he could do to start over again. A fresh new start as two random foxes on a ship that isn't theirs. With barely any money. Before the reality of his odd situation sunk in, Mórdae decided he wanted to somehow put a ring of adventure around it all. But before plunging into that train of thought, Mórdae said in a voice barely audible above the roar of the waves, "Just let me know if you need any help with anything.."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:47 pm
Katla started drawing circles around all the islands that they'd go by on their path, all of them being rather small. She didn't plan on making any stops, but she felt the need to be on the safer side, for once. She crossed out one that they'd allready passed while arguing, thinking of how odd it was that she barely noticed how far they'd actually gotten untill now. Did we really go on for that long? She heard Mórdae speaking, but she couldn't hear what he said, and figured he probably just muttered something to himself.
Her plan was simple; not letting anything slow her down, never allow the duke get to her like that again and keeping an eye on the weather before passing an island. This way she shouldn't end up with any further delays, nor would she let down her guard and forget her purpose. It couldn't possibly fail.
After taking some short notes, Katla went down on the lower deck for some privacy, taking the bags of groceries with her. Sorting them should give her haunted mind some ease, especially without Mórdae interrupting. But it didn't take long untill her mind wandered off, and soonly she only thought of him. Was he okay up there? Maybe she oughta go and lend him a hand. Oh get over yourself allready! This is by far more important than that twit and his deep eyes and soft voice and his... "IDIOCY! Arrgh!" Katla threw whatever she was holding into the wall with a smash, dicovering it was a coconut. "Oh how great, now I've gotta clean it up too..." It would be a shame to just throw it all away, though. And all screaming did tare on her. Maybe it was about time for some cooking...
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:20 pm
Mórdae continued to stare out to sea, wondering how much of a spin he would need to put on his situation to make it an adventure. Actually, he realized that what he earlier thought to be his situation was only the negative factors. He was out on the sea, which he loved, breaking his chains, and heading for somewhere new. Not to mention his seafaring companion. She's not as hostile anymore, he thought with a smile on his face, perhaps I really can make a difference. Albeit slowly. One Carou at a time is all that I need. And I actually get to see how I'm helping.
A sudden, loud sound from the lower deck prompted Mórdae to abandon his thinking and go under. He slowly descended the steps, wondering what the source of the noise could possibly be. A gunshot? Something heavy falling? Regardless, it was rather loud and sent a vibration throughout the ship. Mórdae's eyes slowly adjusted to the light under the deck. His head turned every which way to find something out of the ordinary when he spotted Katla cleaning up the remains of a coconut. He laughed lightly, walking closer to the mess. "Well," he said lightly, "that's one way to crack open a coconut. What did... do you plan on cooking with it?" Mórdae paused, thinking of another way to extend his help, wanting to somehow repay her for allowing him to go along. "I've never tried my paw at cooking, but if you're willing to walk me through a couple of steps, I'm happy to help. Better late than never, right?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:09 pm
Swearing like a sailor, Katla went down on her knees and started cleaning up the mess, knowing that losing provicion was the least they needed in their situation. Afterall, she had only brought along enough food for herself, and that fox must've been used of getting all the food in the world if he so waved his finger.
She saw Mórdae appear from the dark. Oh great, he's back to mock me. Cook it? Of course, though the coconut milk was spread over the wall and the floor, there was still enough flesh in it to atleast throw togeather something decent.
"Move along, punk. You'd only be in the way." Katla picked up the pieces and grabbed a knife, starting to roughly peel off the edible parts from the hard shell with it. "Boil up some rice." She didn't even look at him, nor tell him how to.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:52 pm
Mórdae frowned. So much for having her turn around attitude wise. But it was only natural; a fox doesn't change all at once. That was just the first step.. He turned around to look at the table; some groceries laid neatly in piles, others still in the bags they were carried down in. This was rather odd. If Katla had planned on cooking the coconut, why did she stop her sorting to throw it against the wall? It was a rather unconventional way to open a coconut as well, so did she really even plan on cooking with it? Mórdae shook his head and focused on the groceries, looking for a bag of rice. At least that's what he thought the rice would come in.
After a brief moment of searching, Mórdae came across a bag of dried rice. The search made him realize whatever they did have wasn't much, leading Mórdae to promise himself that he would eat as little as possible during the trip. He turned the bag every which way, attempting to look for instructions, but there were none. This was going to be interesting. Mórdae wandered over to the kitchen, wondering what to put the rice in. Katla said boil, right? And since the rice was dried, it was only logical that you would need to cook it with water to make it edible. After some more searching, Mórdae found a pot that he thought would be good for the rice. He put the pot under the faucet, letting the pot be halfway filled with water. Hopefully it wasn't too little.
Mórdae set the put on the stove, wondering how much rice to put in. He decided to pour enough rice into the pot to be half of the amount of water he put in. And now there was the problem of temperature. Turning the nob that he assumed controlled the size of the stove's flame to halfway as well, Mórdae was rather proud of himself. He did all of that without asking for help. "Katla," he asked cautiously, "would you mind looking at the rice?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 4:06 pm
She was surprised that he actually did as told without any further arguing for once. Not that she actually turned around to see it for herself, but she heard the rattling of pots behind her. She was only halfway through the carving, but she could allready see that it would just barely be enough for the two. Sure hope he boils enough rice..."You have eyes, use them." Still not turning around, she went up on the deck to look at the map.
Katla saw only one island worth stopping by, the rest seemed rather too small to be populated, even less have any stores or markets. It wasn't all too far away, but they'd have to change the course, and therefor lose some more time. Naaah, I can go on a semi-starve for a while... But... Can he? She turned to look towards the hatch down to the lower deck. Eventhou Mórdae was rich enough to make it on his own normally, his foolish acts had put him, and her, in a hard situation. I can do no other than to consider him a helpless civilian, atleast for now... And you NEVER leave a civilian in danger!
She drew a large circle around the island and went back down to Mórdae.
She looked at him silently for a moment. He didn't seem to have noticed her yet. She smirked a bit, thinking of how sweet it actually was of him to atleast give it a try. Slowly she slid up behind him and went back to whatever was left of the coconut. "I'm almost surprised. The place isn't up in flames. I'll take it from here thou, Magnus, you get up there and set the course to southwest."
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:58 am
Predictably, Katla brushed off his request, going to the upper deck for some reason. For all Mórdae knew, she was getting some more coconut-throwing practice in. Of course he was using his own eyes; it was his inexperience that made him ask for her to look. It was fascinating, though, how such hard, little grain pieces could turn into soft, delictable goodness with a little care. Mórdae had never put much thought into the process of how all of his meals had gotten to him; every bite he had taken seemed to have a new meaning now. All of the work that must've gone in to keeping me well fed... and I never knew the true nature of what I was eating. He stared at the rice more, noticing small bubbles forming in the water. It was amazing.
I've never stopped to look at the good things in my life, seeing how preoccupied I was with the negative. Perhaps... Something about the situation Mórdae was in didn't seem appealing anymore. He was fine with the company, the destination, the making do -- so what was the sudden feeling in the pit of his stomach? Before his mind got the chance to source the feeling, footsteps prompted him to bury his thoughts. Mórdae stood there silently, staring at the rice more. He expected Katla to say what she needed to say as soon as she could, seeing that she would probably like to get him out of her fur, but she was silent for a moment. Did she need to think of what she was going to say? No, she's the type of fox that does everything with a purpose -- so what was she doing now? It was almost uncomfortable, staring at the rice with an uncharacteristically silent fox as a companion. Finally, Katla spoke. Insult, order, mis-pronunciation of his name, continuation of the order. Though the contents of her dialogue where the same, the way she stated them was less hostile than before; it was nice. Mórdae turned around to face Katla and flashed her one of his winning smiles. "Sure thing. I'll be back down before you're used to me being gone," he said rather cheerfully. His stomach ache was almost erased as he carefully climbed the ladder to the upper deck.
Getting to the surface was a breeze, as expected. Mórdae sauntered over to the sails, taking in the sea air. He looked up to look at the sky, and much to his surprise, it seemed to be filled with grey, puffy clouds. They appeared in such a short amount of time; Mórdae was on the deck just a moment ago. It hadn't occured to him why Katla would want to stray from her direct path to whatever country she was helping, but avoiding a storm seemed to justify her orders enough. Mórdae quickly adjusted the sails and nearly ran to the lower deck -- the wind was starting to pick up, too. Pulling a chair out for himself at the table, Mórdae positioned himself in a way that allowed him to observe Katla without getting uncomfortably close. What else was there to do? If there was something productive to be done, Mórdae would probably be told so. He looked at Katla, wondering what to say for a moment. "I'm sorry the weather is now agaisnt your prompt arrival at the battlegrounds as well.." Mórdae paused for a moment, letting his brain slowly comprehend the abnormally loud waves crashing against the boat. "Hopefully it allows us to eat dinner in peace," he said tenatively. "It's rather special, being the first time I've actually made food for my own consumption. I really should do that again sometime."
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