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It had been awkward, but Sahlana had successfully gotten her arms underneath Geilen's and begun dragging him across the floor towards the door. She was trying not to think about the splinters that someone (probably her) would have to pick out the man's backside later at the moment that the blue light flared.

Later, Sahlana would privately congratulate herself on not accidentally dropping Geilen in shock. Faster than her eyes could see, blue energy had surged over Locke and the remains of the ballista and encased them, separately, in two huge chunks of ice.

Well, the fire was virtually extinguished, at least. Only now there was the problem of having a crewmate in an icecube, and -

Oh, s**t. As the ice cubes began to overcome their inertia and slide with the ship's heaves, Sahlana wondered if the ship's hull could stand such a heavy internal beating.

Rushing down to the holds just behind Sao, the effort of maneuvering through the crowd of sailors and pirates alike was largely done for her by her companion. Morgan was not bothered by ice the way Sao was, but neither was she particularly strong compared to most of her contemporaries, a fact that she usually made up for by being quicker and more agile than most by far.

Agility was not going to help much in this situation, but Morgan put her shoulder directly on the far side of the nearest ice block anyway and pushed all of her weight against it. She was so focused on just keeping the ship from tipping into the brine that it took a while for Jewel's chattering in her ear to register.

There's a man trapped in this ice! the little ferret warned. Well, Morgan didn't exactly speak ferret, but that was the gist of Jewel's warning anyway. "C'mon lads put yer backs into it!" she hollered to the crewmen, a few pirate captives sprinkled into the mix, who had responded to Sao's urgent call.

With the help of the extra men, the block slowly slid its way across the weathered wood of the floor. Although the block was heavy, the lubrication of the slowly melting surface underneath helped to ease it over more smoothly. One down, but they weren't out of danger yet.

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Wilhelm Cairn frowned deeply at the sight of the floundering, yet steadily retreating ship before him. He knew the seas enough to know instantly that his prey had somehow eluded him this day. It didn't exactly make sense. There was evidence of a mutiny aboard when they had first approached. He had to give his begrudging respect to whomever had managed to gain control of such a situation so quickly. A fact that he would not let his crew become aware of, however. Absolute fear and respect must be maintained at all times, and he would allow no amount of leaniancy to undermine that.

"Ahem, Captain, sir?" the small man next to him rubbed his hands, nervously fidgiting.

"Report, Thrain," Cairn barked sharply.

The first mate licked his lips nervously. "Well sir, it seems that despite your magnificent leadership, the Stonefish will reach port before we can catch them." Captain Cairn did not reply immediately, so the little man used the moment to attempt to secure his own life. "I did manage to temporarily disable the ship, but it seems their crew reacted more rapidly than we had anticipated."

Internally, Cairn smiled at Thrain's stammering flattery. These were all facts he already knew, and he needed no reminder of Thrain's usefulness, perhaps the only thing that had spared the wiry mage's life this long. The rumors that would arise from this scuffle were unfortunate, but not insurmountable. In fact, word that the infamous Nautica was actually escapable would likely make many ships a bit more lax in their defenses. A fact which would profit Cairn greatly.

This was all internal, however, for externally he scowled even deeper, and turned to face the rest of his crew, all of whom were busily going about their duties, trying to keep as inconspicuous as possible. Cairn scanned the crew carefully, then turned to Thrain. "This will never happen again, or you will pay for the loss personally," he threatened menacingly. Saying nothing more to the sweating first mate, the captain strode resolutely to a man who was fastidiously battening down the main sail, drew his sword, and quickly ran the man through. He had been a bit of a trouble maker and too much of a drunkard for his own good lately anyway.

"The rest of you get back to work! NOW!!" Cairn didn't give his crew the relief of retreating to his cabin immediately, but instead went directly to the helm and took direct control of their course himself, keeping well within sight of the terrified pirates.

Sahlana noticed Nida's directive, but she hardly thought about the order before putting it out of her mind. She felt she could be more useful dealing with the injured and getting them out of the way, particularly since she wasn't certain if anyone else on board could heal.

Carefully negotiating Geilen's limp body through the hold, she spied a soft pile of dirty cloths and rolled him onto it. He'd smell afterwards, but it was better than lying on the hard wood. Sahlana secured some nearby fishing poles and laid them down beside Geilen, then piled some of the cloths on top of them to provide a small cushion so he wouldn't roll with the tossing of the ship. She leaned in closely to make certain he was breathing before heading back to prepare disposal of the dead.

It was somewhat difficult - and disgusting - to grab hold of the bodies and bring them up onto deck while everyone else was dealing with the ice blocks. But it wasn't impossible. By the time she had finished, the ice blocks had been secured, though Sahlana thought that the one containing Locke appeared noticeably diminished in size.

Morgan had also begun to help chip away at the ice surrounding the strange young man. Even Jewel started scratching at the ice, his sharp claws making deep impressions almost immediately. While they were working, the gruff young woman looked over to Sao. "So sin' tha cap'n and first mate have sunk ta the bottom o' Davy Jones, how do ya 'spect we should git tha mates, pirates, an' captives all sorted-out-like?"

Locke remained in his dazed state, simply existing. The rhythmic beat seemed to continue on. He was sure it was not just his imagination when it became suddenly louder, almost a light tapping. Almost as though someone was trying to reach him.

I'm right here...

The tapping grew louder. It soon became a knock, and finally a very loud banging. Locke tried to put his hands over his ears to shield the blows, but he could not move. He tried to open his eyes, but all he felt was cold - ice.

What is this? What is happening to me?

He could swear that the banging was coming from three seperate places. After a bit, he could start to feel warmth on his left side. He tried to move his hand to stop the noise, but nothing happened.

Just make it stop! I can't take this!

What Locke didn't realize is that he could not feel his hand moving; it was numb from the ice. His three companions chipping away at the ice could easily have noticed a flutter of fingers on his left hand.

Morgan grunted her agreement, "Aye, wha' ye be sayin' tis tha right thing ta do." She fell silent, turning her attention to the task at hand, when she noticed a small motion in the corner of her eye. "Ah do believe this be workin," she exclaimed, indicating Locke's twitching fingers. "Hurry now lads, he'll catch his death if he's in thar long."

By the time the others had pulled the unfortunate Locke from the large ice chunk, the other injured were sleeping soundly and most of the dead had been wrapped in preparation for a burial at sea.

Sahlana, who was kneeling on the deck and finishing up on the last body, heard a jubilant shout from below. The shout startled her; Sahlana hadn't realized how on edge she had been. She wiped her brow with the back of one forearm, making certain that nothing which had been in contact with the corpse went anywhere near her face, and stood up. The rest of the wrapping could wait, or someone else would pick up where she left off. It'd be more important for Locke to receive some healing spells.

Belowdecks, she washed down with half-melted icy slush, and then followed the relieved voices to where Morgan and Sao had pulled Locke out.

He was a sight, make no mistake, but it wasn't anything a few Cures and good shut-eye wouldn't fix. More good news! That meant they hadn't pulled him out alive only to have him die later. Locke was a good guy, and Sahlana liked him; his death would have weighed heavy on her heart.

She wordlessly rolled her sleeves up and began to prep for a Cure spell.