Quest A Deadly Hunt

[Akilia Dosert]

Akilia Akilia snapped her head around to the sound of another voice. Great another human...just what I need. The girl thought sarcastically, her expression turning sour. She regarded the woman who was sitting on a barrel. Red hair, obiviously taller than Akilia, the woman looked to be an adult and by her scent also a human. Akilia didn't have anything against humans but she resented them. Envied them even, the girl herself had never met another of her kind. Another Kelvic, but humans seemed to be all over the place. Ginger let out a faint growl at Azcadelia but it shriveled down to a whine then nothing at all but the dog's chocolate brown eyes were fixed to the red head. "I'm glad you noticed. Anything else you'd like to mention?" Akilia said sarcastically to the woman. "And if you had been successful in overhearing our conversation you would have caught my name by now and should have been addressing me by it, because my name is in no shape or form...miss thing." The girl said coldly. Akilia didn't like being called out for something, her agitated sickly mood only increasing as she talked. "It's Akilia Dosert. Just call me Akilia though. No, miss Akilia or miss Dosert and certainly not miss thing." Akilia made a pause for emphasis before continuing, "Now as common courtesy I've shared my name so what's your's?" Akilia inquired the edge in her voice slipping away. It was odd, she never sassed an adult like that in a while. Probably because in the Bronze Woods there where few people who talked to her and even fewer that gave her a reason to resent them. She thought about what the woman said about neutral ground and being equals. Equals? Neutral ground? Where did that come from? The only equals she knew about where any wolves she happened to run into in the Bronze Woods. To Akilia those two facts meant very little to her when she shifted into a wolf but meant something else when she was human. I wonder why this woman tells me neutral ground and equality if she had every intention to scold me for questioning the boy on his name. At the thought of the boy her gaze flicked to him for a moment before returning to Azcadelia's. Akilia her mind now distracted by conversation forgot about some of the seasickness so she was able to support herself better and more balanced on her legs. Or maybe her sea legs were finally kicking in?

[Azcadelia]

Azcadelia Rosan

Azcadelia had long returned her hearing towards the storming, half listening to the snapping girl. The girl had spunk that's for sure but was the most disrespectful runt that Azcadelia had seen in a long while and she was sure to make it known. "You sure are a bold thing, I respect that. But, you're also very disrespectful, didn't your mother teach you to address your elders with respect? How old are you anyway, Akilia?" Azcadelia said, standing and approaching the girl. Azcadelia was a whole foot taller than her so she had to be young.

"Fourteen? Sixteen? You can't be any older than that. You're certainly not my age, you don't act like. Immature, volatile attitude and snarky comments when you're in the wrong. Hmph. You're a hot headed one. You're not normal either, not human. There's an air about you but I can't put my finger on it." Azcadelia continued to investigate the girl, looking into her eyes, deeply. Azcadelia jade eyes and her intense glower would make some of the strongest uneasy but it was different for everyone. The way Azcadelia's eyes could stare and take in information just as professionally as her ears made her an excellent look out, even more so, an information gatherer.

"Boy," she called out to the blonde haired teen on the other side of the ship, "mind stepping over here some, please. I'd like to meet you too. It seems I'm simply having the most wonderful time with your friend here."

[Akilia Dosert]

Akilia Akilia listened to all this fuming. She had opened her mouth several times to slip a retort in but was shut down by the onslaught of words spewing out of the woman's mouth. "Elders? Really your pulling that one on me? Don't you dare talk about my mother." Akilia snarled teeth grinding against each other. She had overcome her seasickness so far and was standing defiantly head held high in defiance. Ginger sensing Akilia's aggression perked her ears forward eyes still fixed on Azcadelia, a louder growl escaping the canine's lips. "I respect who I feel has done something to earn it. So far you haven't made it onto that list." She paused thinking the question of her age for a second or two. To tell this woman or not to? Eh, why not? But wait...who was this lady? "The real question is who the heck are you? You keep asking me a bunch of questions so why don't I ask you some as well? How old are you and why are you so nosy?" Azcadelia's insults rang in Akilia's ears and it took all her willpower from losing it completely and charging at the redhead. That probably wasn't such a good idea because Akilia had no idea who or what the woman was capable of. The feeling of something rubbing against her legs calmed Akilia. Ginger had began circling the girl easily grasping her attention and distracting her from think of doing something stupid and rash. This woman...I've got the feeling as if she's toying with me, throwing those insults in my face because she figures I'm a stupid hothead. I bet if I turned into my Kelvic form she would get what she was looking for, proof that I'm not human. Its not like the lady wouldn't see that eventually when the fight happened but why should I show her what I'm capable of right now? I bet she's just sizing me up at the moment. Like a wolf to a sheep. I choose not to be in the role of a sheep. "Ofcourse I'm not normal. No one's the same right? Isn't there a saying that we are all different? As for my race, I'm human." Akilia stated simply, its not like Azcadelia could tell right? The girl hoped not. Akilia stared bodly right back at the lady's intense stare with a steely ice blue one. "Back off nosy. And the guy's not my friend and as far as I'm concerned neither are you."

[Azcadelia]

Azcadelia Rosan

Azcadelia listened as the hotheaded teen prattled on. Respect was obviously not understood by this one as she didn't portray it. You get respect when you earn it by insulting another without much rhyme or reason was no way to gain respect with Azcadelia. When Akilia had insulted the boy on the other side of the ship she had lost any respect that Azcadelia had to give her. The boy had done nothing wrong, barely uttered a word to the thing and here she was defending herself as if she was getting assaulted.

"Calm yourself, child. No one was talking about your mother, I was simply saying that you should know better than to spout off, fuming, at another simply because you feel that they look at you the wrong way. I think you're reading too far in between the lines and just seeking for some reason to keep up this argument, this pointless argument." Azcadelia said back, calmly. Her words were used for dismissal, for the argument to not continue but surely Akilia wouldn't drop it. That's not how this teen was built. It was easy to tell seeing as she was so heated up the mere mention of a few otherwise minor things.

Azcadelia turned from the girl to start below decks. Once at the stairs she turned to Akilia to address her once more. "You're right, by the way. No one is the same but you're truly, truly different. I can't put my finger on it but something about your rings queer. You're a strange one, hotheaded, but strange nevertheless. No doubt I'll see when it's our turn for combat, hmm?" With that Azcadelia took down the stairs slowly, disregarding her previous comment to the blonde haired boy at the other side of the ship. The debate that she was having with the teen was child's play. She'd rather seek out the companionship of a more mature person, an adult.

[Ethen Calden]

Ethen swollen the bile in his mouth that been threaten to come out and started talking "stop everyone and Azcadelia come back we live on the same ship, you can't hide every time something doesn't go your way! We went off the wrong Foot. Since we all going to have each other backs, we might not want to start trying to kill each other and try to get along. My name is Ethen from Sylias and I have two handed sword that I can weld" Ethen shouted loud enough to reach the stairs to the lower deck.

"I have ginger that the captain given me. He says that it good for seasickness. I have plenty of ginger to share. Maybe it will help your dog, Akilia?" Ethen asking one of the girls and hoping to calm down the angry girls. "I swear that if Im going be alone with the captain and hear his laugh again, I'm going to throw myself overboard" thought Ethen.

"I know how unusually that my fighting style is going hard to fight on a ship but I have hope that I can help you all in any way possible. I hardly see dogs in sylias but hope that this ginger can help her or him" asked Ethen and offering the ginger to the dog with caution.

[Akilia Dosert]

Akilia "Maybe...maybe not." Akilia replied to Azcadelia as the woman defcended down the stairs. "But hey!" Akilia called to the lady. "You never told me your..." The girl let her voice trail off at the sound of a voice. The boy. So his name was Ethen and the other one...Azcadelia? Well at least I know her name. "You have ginger?" She laughed. "My dog's name is Ginger." She said amused, then moved towards her dog. Ginger looked up groggily at the boy's outstretched arm skeptically then glanced at Akilia for advice and the girl nodded that the dog should take it. On that note, Ginger grabbed the ginger from Ethen's hand rather gently placed the ginger between her fore paws then licked the boy's hand in thanks. Akilia stood up as Ginger began to eat. Looking at Ethen she smiled a little. "Thanks...and Ginger is a girl."

[Anchor]

Chimes passed and the closer the Svefra got to their target, the more tense and quiet it became. Even the nervous and smiling banter that some of the seafaring people exchanged slowed to a halt as they drew up on the lone boat they had their sights set on. Full sails lurched the vessels forward, bobbing as they crested each wave. Then a shout rose from one of the boats, followed by another and growing into a general roar, a chorus of concentration and bloodlust. Cutlasses and weapons of all sorts were raised, the blue-eyed Svefra joining in the cry from all positions, at the wheel or in the wigging or near the bow. Ahead of them, Vafres looked back at his pursuers as they shouted after him, their war cries making them seem all the closer. He was quite visible from his position atop the stern platform, red eyes glaring at the Svefra from beneath his hood, hair pulled by the wind. He made no response as those who hunted him raised their weapons at him, a declaration of combat and aggression as blatant as the sun blazing in the sky. There was no acknowledgement, no indication of fear or anger. Just his even gaze as it absorbed the ships that were quickly gaining on his own. “Is that all?” asked an unconcerned voice from behind the caped captain. From the deck, a figure wearing thick dark garments, even more unwieldy than those worn by the rest of the crew, mounted the steps and joined Vafres at the railing. A black robe and cloak covered him from head to toe, so heavy that the wind could only pull it behind him rather than play with it like other material. “That’s just a fraction of the forces we saw earlier. I would have thought that there’d be more after you given that you’ve probably offended their god more than that brutish Braten ever has.” Another man began climbing the steps up to the platform, his garb a good deal more colorful and lighter than the other man’s. Swirls of blue and red congregated vibrantly in random patterns across his cape, beneath which was only a simple leather jerkin and breeches. “Braten’s a big name in this sea,” he said, voice much lighter and more dancing, almost playful despite the uproar of warriors heading after them. His eyes shone and he smiled brightly as he talked.“He was their original target, so it makes sense the majority would want to go after him. Besides, our captain is a much more popular figure in taverns of cities than boats of the sea.” For a moment, the three stood in silence, which was broken by Vafres as he stood up straight, eyes still trained on the Svefra and their allies. “Razi, open your eyes and ears. Pay special attention to beneath the waters, I want to know if any Otani have deigned to help our attackers. Nodding, the brightly colored man closed his eyes, black hair whipping about his face as he joined the other two at the railing. When he opened them again, he was scanning the sea, ignoring the other two completely, directing his attention to whatever else might have been out there. “Do you think they would?” asked the heavily cloaked man. “They’re not the type to take much interest in events on the surface.” Vafres kept his eyes facing the approaching fleet himself, eyes darting from point to point as he answered. “They are the moldlings of Laviku, his faithful servants. They’ve been known to join the Svefra on extravagant social occasions, so they might do the same for a more violent gathering. Whether or not Laviku has told them who I am, their presence would add another element to this fight that I’d like to keep track of.” His eyes fell on one of the leading ships, a small casinor, from which something had taken to the skies and was approaching them. It was too distant to be anything but an indistinct blob, but the fact that it was flying seemed to indicate a bird. Smiling, Razi turned to his captain and shook his head. “Nope, no Otani. Either they’ve not deigned to join their surface counterparts, Laviku hasn’t thought to mention your presence, or you’ve scared them all off.” Without pause, Vafres pointed at the little splotch in the distance, which was becoming slightly more defined as it grew much closer. Its flapping wings were distinct now, but despite its apparent normalcy the captain’s attention was still riveted on it. “Tell me what that is.” Razi’s eyes quickly followed the finger, squinting for a moment as he looked for what was being referred to. Then, once he saw it, his eyes relaxed and his face went expressionless again, this time focusing on the object in question rather than scanning the sea. On the other side, the man in dark snorted, boots thudding as he turned and moved to the opposite railing, surveying the crew. “It’s a bird, isn’t it? Even I can see that, and I’ve not had any training in Auristics at all.” A moment later, “It’s a Kelvic.” Razi turned to face Vafres. “The aura is much too large to be a non-sentient creature. She’s gaining on us really quite quickly, though I doubt she’ll come much closer.” His eyes darted back to the person he was talking about. “Probably intends to investigate us, tell from us what she can from the sky and then tell the Svefra so that they may develop tactics.” Despite the imminent threat that might have posed, Vafres did not seem bothered by it in the slightest. In fact, he didn’t react at all beyond nodding, red eyes still focused on the little bird in the distance. “What do you think, Ndul?” he asked suddenly without turning. The man in black snorted again, thudding back to his original position beside Vafres. His own eyes peered between squeezed slits at the Kelvic in question, as if that would tell him more about it like Razi’s Auristics. A harsh sound came from the material of his robe as he folded his arms over his chest. “I think you should go ahead and let it,” he commented. “There’s not much they can tell by looking at us anyway. The most dangerous things on this ship are the things that can’t be seen yet. Perhaps its report will push them into a little overconfidence, letting us surprise them when they board.” “Where’s the fun in that though?” Razi asked playfully. “If they come over with no idea of what we can do, it’ll be far too easy for us. We should keep them after us as long as we can before they give up and go after Braten, so we should at least give them something to prepare for us. That way, it means we get to play with them more.” His eyes were shining brightly, but now with a much more insane gleam in them. “She’s out of range of your Reimancy, but a little warning shot won’t be hard, and you’ll really shock the Svefra.” On the word shock Razi laughed, as if sharing a joke with the other two men. Shrugging, Ndul stomped back to the opposite railing again. “That works as well. It’s true that our purpose is not to wipe them out and force them to give up. Buying time for Braten to escape should be our top concern, so perhaps a little display of what we can do is called for.” Vafres nodded, then without a word extended his hand out before him. Before long a red mist-like gas began rising from his palm, collecting in a small dense orb that rested in his outstretched hand like a ball. Once it had grown to about twice the size of a fist, he withdrew his hand and let the ball rise a bit, hovering in the air in front of himself and Razi. Then it began to uncoil, extending in the direction of the bird which had, in a lapse of judgement, gotten a little closer to the ship. Still not close enough to be hurt badly by Vafres’ attack, but close enough to become quite frightened by the little show and, more importantly, make it look more believable to the watching fleet. Then there was a flash. Though the storm was so far away, a bright stripe of lightning suddenly appeared in the air between the boat and Scarlet, streaking towards her faster than could be seen by mortal eyes. The day remained just as bright around them, but the sound of electricity coursing through the air traveled across the water and for a moment the air around them seemed to grow a bit darker as the flash came up right near the little bird. Just as soon as it had happened, the lighting was gone, dissipated into the air and sea. All that was left was Vafres’ ship, the pursuing fleet, and those on board. The captain’s eyes were as severe as ever. Beside him, Razi was laughing and clapping. “Good show, good show,” he chortled, clapping as if he’d just attended a street performance in Alvadas. “I wasn’t reading her aura as it happened, but I’m sure she got quite a fright from that little warning. Think the Svefra and their little pals might have a better picture of who they’re fighting now?” Vafres remained as equanimous as ever, still not visibly reacting to anything that had happened. However, behind them, it was Ndul’s turn to be amused, chuckling darkly. “No,” was his foreboding answer. “They have no idea.”

[Scarlet Evony]

Scarlet’s first impression left a little too much to doubt to return. She had seen a few people on deck, but that was hardly a proper number. She had counted probably a couple dozen people, which was hardly the number they were going to face. She crept a bit closer, trying to figure out more while still keeping a safe distance. She thought it the most sensible course of action for the first strike the Svefra were planning. She would, of course, need to talk to the other ship captains before the assault began. But Lucy and her ship would be the first to know what they were facing. Scarlet assumed such a ship would hold a couple hundred people, but this was only a wild guess. The few she had seen probably had already noticed her approach. Soon, it would be time to return.

However, before this was even possible, a group of three had caught her eye. They seemed to be apart from the rest of the crew, and not just in appearance. They looked… She didn’t exactly know how to tell how they looked. The words she would have picked for them would be hardly credible even for Lucy and her crew. It was something she needed to investigate a bit closer. Flapping another couple times, she drew a bit closer, getting a clearer view of the mysterious trio. The three were fully cloaked, but even from that distance Scarlet knew something was unclean of them.

The three were only distinguished by the hue of their cloaks, which covered them almost fully. One of them was covered in a fully black coat, which posed no specifics to it. The other had brightly colored garbs, and kept walking around the other two. He seemed agitated, but the details couldn’t be told from the distance Scarlet was at. The last, he looked as if he was important. His white, golden lined clothing made him look… dangerous. There was no proper word for this man, and upon closer examination, Scarlet felt immediately compelled to pull back. For a few seconds, she could tell exactly each detail of the man in white.

He was channeling some kind of red liquid into a ball. She didn’t know what it was for, but felt danger as soon as it started unfolding towards her direction. Before steering, somehow, she saw them. The eyes, those dreadful eyes. She was imagining it, of that she was sure. The only pair of red eyes she had ever seen was that of the ghost, Fubuki. The eyes were fixing her, drilling into her very soul, probably a phantasm of what was to come. Frozen in place, Scarlet shifted in what seemed to be the last second. Then, it happened.

A bolt of lightning crossed the sky, source and destination unknown. The kelvic could’ve sworn it was aimed at her, and that her dodge had probably saved her life. Heart racing, before she realized anything else, she turned around aimlessly only to see… White. The flash had temporarily blinded her, making her flight almost hit a dead end in the waters of the Suvan. During the fall, she regained partial vision, managing to steer back in a proper trajectory and gliding fiercely across the salty water. She then took mid-altitude back towards Lucy’s casinor, vision impairing recovering slowly. Considering she had just escaped death, it was only a mild inconvenience she had to deal with right now.

The landing back on Lucy’s ship was forceful, to say the least. It probably worried the watchers to see the way she hit the wooden mast. However, she managed to regain balance and shift back into her naked human form, before lously proclaiming, covering her eyes from the light. “I don’t have an exact number. I only saw twenty or so on deck. That’s not important, though. Mages. Three. One black, one red and blue, the other white and gold. Probably red eyes. Could have caused the lightning. Might have been a cloud and I’m seeing stuff.” She tried opening her eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the new lighting. “No time, must warn others.”

[Ethen Calden]

Suddenly Ethen and all the members of the crew on the half sail palivar called Oiolyka. Froze and as the sailors and Ethen saw the streak of lighting arching across the sky in the far distance. "That was no normal lighting bolt and there are not a cloud in the sky" thought Ethen. 

One of the crew viewing though a eyeglass shouted "ship ahoy, it seems to be a unknown ship. Not one of our allies captain". "Okay Vagiks get to your rigging, fill sail everyone. Let hunt this pirate petchers down" Vega said loudly as possible to his members of the crew. 

The sailors ran to ropes and start pulling while others climb the sails without any rope support. The men could fall easily from the wooden beams that hold the sail sheets above onto the deck below without skill and practice. The first mate started ringing the ship's bell loudly calling to any ship allies close by to pick up speed. While other men set up flags to signal that an enemy ship been seen.  

With a sudden jolt the ship picked up speed as the sailors did the rigging and unfurl the sail sheets. However there was a side effect, the ship rocked side to side with more effort. Which Ethen felt as he tried to hold down more of the contents of his stomach. With the angle of Ethen's body and weight. Ethen clumsily fall on the hard wooden oak of the ship ending up face to face to the bitch called Ginger.

With the helmsman at the rudder of the ship. Captain Vega approach Ethen and Akilia said with a gruff voice as well a grim smile. "Akilia I want you to use all your wolf senses to learn as much as possible about the unknown captain, his crew and his ship. Best that you use your dog to get Azcadelia to the top deck and tell her to get ready with her magic incase of a surprise attack" asked Vega. "What should I do?" Ethen asked as he tried to get up with repeating errors. Vega barked a laugh and said "you just learn how to walk properly. We going to need you walking and fighting like a warrior of Svefra."

[Akilia Dosert]

Akilia A streak of lighting flashed against the cloudless sky, leaving Akilia stunned and gaping in awe. "What the hell was that?" She said loudly with concern for their well being, but addressing no one in particular. A man, the captain of this ship, the girl recalled, approached both her and the boy, Ethan. She frowned a little at the mention of her Kelvic senses. "How'd you know I could do that?" She asked Vega annoyed. The Captain sighed, "I figured you for a demanding one... But no matter, if you must know, though you should already, when you signed up we asked all participants to state their abilities to help us on this mission. You stated that you were a Kelvic, a wolf one and that you heightened senses as well as combat abilities could be of use." He began to turn away, "Now if you would be so kind, I have a ship to run." "So much for hiding my identity..." The girl huffed, then she took a whiff of the air. The salty smell of the sea stung her nostrils. She smelled nothing, nothing as in only the sea and sweaty bodies of the seamen who were hard at work on board. She needed to change, if she shifted into a wolf she would have a better chance at smelling at least something maybe, but it was not guaranteed since she was surrounded by the strong scent of salt from both the sea and sweaty men. So she did she shrugged off her clothing swiftly just as she'd done so many times before and shifted. It was the same feeling as always, a sudden rush before finding herself weighed down somewhat by thick silky dark brown fur and standing on all fours instead of two. She turned to Ginger who was better now after eating the ginger that Ethen had given her. The dog merely raised an eyebrow not at all surprised with Akilia's sudden shift from human to wolf. "Finally decided to join me on all fours instead of on your unsteady two?" The dog asked pleasantly, as she stood up standing half as tall as Akilia. Knowing the others around her except the dog couldn't possibly understand the complex canine language of barks, whines and yelps with the majority of it all being body language, Akilia felt free to speak her mind about their new human company. "Yeah, I guess." The wolf-girl replied giving a sideways glance on her pile of clothes left behind on the deck. "I was growing tired of wearing those, they get too itchy after awhile. But listen-" "Yes, yes I know. You want me to go with the witch or whatever. But I won't, you know why?" "Because I'm super awesome and you'd rather be with me?" Akilia guessed grinning. "No, because if you don't like someone there's a good chance I won't either. And besides, I don't see the point in climbing any higher on this ship than I already have." Ginger replied smugly. "Uh huh, is that so. Well come on then, lets go see if we can find a better spot to pick up some data on the other ship. I doubt it would work but its better than standing around arguing with this lot." The wolf-girl began walking away towards the bow of the ship where a crewman steered the wheel, Ginger at her side. "I see now you just want me to come along to have someone you know to argue with you. And you must know someone needs to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't do something stupid." Ginger chattered, in step with her Kelvic friend. Akilia just snorted at the remark and came to a halt by the front of the ship where the crewman manning the wheel stood nearby concentrating on his duties. Or he was until he spotted Ginger and Akilia. The Kelvic watched with some amusement as the man visibly blinked twice whispering a faint, "Wot the 'ell?" Before shaking his head as if to clear it and then ignoring them, his eyes returned to the sea on the lookout for unpleasant surprises the ship was in need to avoid. Akilia closed her eyes and took a moment and inhaled slowly taking a moment to register the scents with her strong nose and the sounds afar with her sensitive ears.