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 Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:30 pm
He was patient as she crossed, his arm lowering an inch with every step she took. He laughed at her question, ever amused by the things she said and did. She might have been nervous regarding the whole ordeal, but Finn looked forward to witnessing her transformation and how she might handle impersonating a man. His laughter had also been caused by the deepening of her voice, but he resisted verbally teasing her about that - at least, for now.
"I be the first mate; ye have my permission." Not that it mattered - they frequently took on new recruits, most of which barely lasted a week. But that was the nature of the job; you were mad to step aboard Hades' Strumpet if you didn't know you could lose your life at any moment.
Seconds later, a crew mate stepped over and kicked the gangplank aside. Men shouted and scurried about, the wind took hold of the sails, and slowly, the ship backed out of the harbor, leaving land behind. "Too late now anyhow. Yer a pirate now."
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:44 pm
Rose straighened as though she'd been slapped, her head snapping up to look at his face in perfect time with Dante's. Her cheeks were pale; indeed, she felt a little faint as she took a step closer, still searching his face for any sign that he was teasing. He was smiling, but no. No, he was absolutely serious. This was a pirate vessel, and it probably actually was called the Hades' Strumpet. There was a flash deep in her eyes as a hundred little things fell into place in an instant. The rum. His strange manner and perpetual lack of a shirt. The scars. His suspicious level of comfort with death, murderers, murder, and crime. Oh, she had been such a trusting little fool. No wonder he was so bloody amused. She felt the heat creeping up under her collar as her anger boiled over and everything faded to a fuzzy sort of whiteness. The sights and smells of the ship, her crew, the shrieking of the gulls and the creaking of the rigging all dissolved into a singular urge to wipe the smug smile off of Finn's lips, if only for a moment. Distantly she registered that, quite without her conscious direction, her fist was swinging right towards Finn's face.
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:30 pm
Finn saw the change, but couldn't fathom what had caused it. She was...angry? The tension of her frame, the hardness and the flash in her eyes...the signs were there, but...why? Something he had said?
Lost in his musings, he didn't notice the way her fingers curled, the way she pulled her arm back, and then swung it forward...Didn't notice until her fist collided against his nose. He'd had no time to brace himself, so there was no tension to prevent the way his head snapped back against the force of her attack. It was a good hit, for a lady, and blood spurted from his nostrils. He howled, more from shock than pain, and his hands fly up to cover the wounded appendage.
He reared back, shaking his head, and for a moment, he forgotten who had hit him - all that registered was that he had been attacked. Rage boiled in the pit of his stomach, and he growled, dropping his hands from his nose, only to raise one in an offensive manner, poised to hit back...But then their eyes met, and he paused, realization clear in his expression. This was Rose; he couldn't hit her.
Frowning deeply, he instead moved his raised hand to wipe the blood from his nose, smearing it across his cheek. "The hell..." He growled, eyes sharp. "Was tha' fer?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:51 pm
Dante's narrow head turned sharply between Finn's face and Rose's, his hooves set wide on the deck and ready to charge if the loud one followed through on the promise of his curled fist, but it seemed that wasn't what was forthcoming. Rose's eyes had widened fearfully as Finn had instinctively moved to strike her, but the spark of anger rekindled at his question. "Are you daft?" she hissed, torn between the need for discretion and a powerful need to scream. "You never said anything about being a... a... a..." She took a sharp breath through her nose and tried again. "A pirate!" She looked towards the shore, wondering if she could make the jump to the dock, but it was already receding. Not even Dante could have made it... she was well and truly stuck. As she watched Palisade drifting farther and farther away (shaking her head in mute protest, not that it helped), that tingling, lightheaded feeling returned, together with an unpleasant turn of her stomach. "Ohh... this is not good," she murmured weakly. Bending at the waist to rest her hands on her knees, she ignored Dante (who was nosing her worriedly) and fought the urge to either faint or try to lose the nothing she had in her stomach.
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Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 1:33 pm
Finn glared, frustrated with her. Never had he been hit, and unable to retaliate accordingly. He wavered, hands curled at his side, blood trickling slowly from his nose. It throbbed with pain, but he didn't think it was broken. "Wasn' it obvious?" She seemed a well educated woman - surely she could read, and had read the tales. Surely she had some idea of what a pirate was like, and didn't he fit the bill? What other sort of man strutted about town, rum in hand, and was quick to draw his pistol? Had she no inkling at all?
"Besides..." He began, pausing to turn his head and spit the blood from his mouth. Had she busted his lip too, or was it the blood from his nose? "Don' think you're one te judge...murderer." He didn't mean it - he knew it hadn't been her fault - but he needed to return the pain somehow.
A few men nearest them had stopped to watch the altercation, but quickly got back to work as a new individual stepped forward; the captain. He was a tall, hard muscled man with a long black beard and small, green eyes. He looked to be roughly ten years older than Finn, and his cutlass gleamed at his side. "Finn...Who's this?" The captain asked gruffly, eyeing Rose. Finn glanced away from Rose, who looked like she was about to be sick, and shrugged nonchalantly. "New recruit. Showed some promise." Finn grinned, gesturing to his nose, and the captain nodded slowly, stepping closer. "Yer name, boy?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:14 pm
Never before had Rose felt such an urge to use impolite language. She had actually felt bad about hitting Finn, especially when she saw the blood trickling down his face. That was, until he'd sneered and needled her about the incident at the tavern. She'd looked up at him with wounded eyes, about to retort over Dante's disapproving bleat when they were interrupted. Name? Oh.... oh, bother. Rose was no boy's name. "R..." quick, think of something she could remember to answer to... "Robin, sir," she said at last, remembering to drop her voice a couple of notes to sound less girly. Hopefully the hesitation would just seem like nerves. Heaven knew she had those aplenty. Her instinct was to stare at the deck, but she made herself look the man in the eye instead. "Robin Fallow." It had been her mother's maiden name, and she was not from a well-known family, so hopefully it'd pass muster. "And this is Dante, my guardian," she added as the fawn came to press against the backs of her legs.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:43 pm
Shady Maru Should we wrap this up and plot our next one?
The captain cocked his brow, scrutinizing Rose. Slowly, his gaze slid to Dante, and then over to Finn, who, at his captain's glance, merely shrugged. There was a long pause, and then finally, "Keep 'im out of t'way." The captain demanded gruffly, inclining his head toward Dante. "Don' 'ave time fer babysittin'." Without waiting for an answer - he expected his order to be followed without confirmation, and would just throw Rose and Dante overboard if either of them proved a nuisance - the captain turned and swept away, shouting orders to those he passed.
Finn watched the captain walk away, and then turned his attention on Rose. His gaze was hard at first, but then he sighed softly, and his expression lightened, lips curling. "Well...best git to work then, Robin." He grinned, the pain in his nose ebbing and the blood smeared across his face forgotten. He'd clean up later - hell, maybe the sight of the blood would startle other new recruits aboard into obedience. "The captain ain't one te be trifled with...So I'd avoid hittin' him, were I ye." He sneered, before walking away, following after the captain. He knew he should be kinder, should have stayed to give her more direction, but as it were, he wasn't in the mood.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:56 pm
Rose's fists clenched as she watched Finn walk away. While it was possible her own ignorance had led to her current predicament, but mostly she just felt like she'd been duped and taken advantage of. But right now, Finn held all the cards, indeed, her very life was in his hands. Who knew what the cruel Captain would do if she were revealed. She could feel herself starting to shake as the reality of her situation set in. It was looking more and more likely that, her father's temper notwithstanding, she wasn't likely to see her home ever again. Fortunately for everyone involved, the bo'sun chose that moment to scruff the "new recruit" and hand "him" a bucket and scrub brush, pointing at the mess that had ensued on the deck from the loading and unloading, and ordered her to start cleaning. While she'd never done it before, scrubbing dirt like this was a fairly self-explanatory task and and Rose set to work, welcoming the distraction. Little did she know what awaited her in the coming days...
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