An Unexpected Turn of Events (Open)

[Tara]

Winter 27th, 511AV.

Tara awoke to the rhythmic splashing of waves on wood and the calm ocean breeze. The ship beneath her rocked with the calm waves and the air was quiet without a seagull in sight; they had to be far from shore. The hard ship flooring beneath Tara had hurt her back from sleeping on it all night and her hair was in a mess of knots and tangles. She got up and sauntered to the edge of the boat and looked out to sea, breathing in the salty air. However, a small thought interrupted her peace. ”Why the hell am I on a boat?” Tara wondered aloud. She turned around and walked to the other side of the ship and then back again, thoroughly confused. She had never been on a ship before so there was absolutely no reason why she would be on one now.

An unnatural mist was surrounding the ship, the thin grey fog coming around from all angles. Tara began to panic, the deep-seated fear rising up from her stomach into her throat. Her breath became short. Then, all of a sudden, everything stopped. The mist stayed where it was and did not approach any closer, the ocean stopped moving and the waves stopped crashing against the side of the boat. Everything was still and quiet. Tara’s panic was short lived and died as quickly as it started. There was neither a breeze in the air nor a stirring in the sea and everything was as silent as death. It was eerie and somewhat unnerving. Tara moved slowly, pacing around the boat. Her footsteps made no noise and there was nothing to suggest she was even moving despite seeing things from a different angle.

And then yet again the sea was animated and the breeze blew, though the air was still deathly quiet despite the background noises. The fog was gone and everything was as peaceful as it was to begin with. ”Much better” Tara said, unable to keep any thoughts to herself at this point. It seemed once she thought it the thought was spoken without a second’s delay. It was as if nothing was private, that everything must be spoken aloud. ”That’s damn irritating” Tara growled, snarling echoing into the air. It was then that Tara felt the prickling feeling of being watched. Slowly she turned around to look at whoever stood behind her. ”Who the hell are you?” she asked, raising a sarcastic eyebrow. By now Tara had realized that this was a dream, and now her dream had an intruder. ”And why the hell are you on my ship?” she growled. She had come to claim the dream-ship as her own and any intruder would be treated as a trespasser.

[Colin Oliver]

Colin looked through the miniature telescope that hung from his neck. It was his family heirloom and had offered clarity to those generations before him, but it wasn’t helping today. A dense fog surrounded the entire ship, reaching as high as the crow’s nest where Colin stood. No matter where he turned, all he could see was a foggy grey. Colin tucked away the telescope and nimbly climbed down to the deck. As he landed, he was startled to see another figure standing on the deck of the ship. Judging by the slender body, the person in front of him was short and female. And apparently a bit crazy; Colin was pretty sure that sane people didn’t talk to themselves. The person turned towards him, confirming that she was indeed a girl, and perhaps a bit insane, “Who the hell are you? And why the hell are you on my ship?” “Your ship?” Colin replied, staring indignantly at the girl who appeared before him, “You just appeared out of nowhere and started talking to yourself!” The dark-haired youth paced down the deck, and gave the girl a quick once-over. “I’ve been here since… well I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure I was here first.” Colin’s brow furrowed in confusion as his mind began churning. “Although... I don’t think I own a boat. Maybe it is yours.” Colin reassessed his surroundings. The waves continued to churn against the side of the ship, lightly rocking it back and forth. As the two faced each other, Colin couldn’t help but notice the overwhelming quiet surrounding them. Initially it all seemed peaceful, but now it seemed that the whole world had gotten the life sucked out of it. Colin leaned against the railing of the ship and looked into the pale sky. “To answer your first question, my name’s Colin.” He turned his head down to look at the girl and he heaved a sigh, “And if you’re the captain of this ship, do you mind telling me who you are and where we’re going?”

[Tara]

Tara glared at the man in front of her. Excuse me? I was on my own until you showed up” she snarled. Though, this man didn’t own a boat and neither did Tara. In fact Tara had never even been on a ship before, but either way she had pretty much claimed the one the two were standing on and would not be swayed easily. Tara turned on her heels and sat on the edge of the boat, her feet facing the sea. She grinned a little when called captain, Maybe I should get a boat she mused to herself, but dispelled the thought. She was not a svefra and not a sea animal. She was a cat. And besides all that Tara hated water.

”Well, I’m Tara and we’re going wherever we end up” she said, not letting on that she really had no idea why she was even on the sea let alone where she was sailing to. She closed her eyes as a salty breeze blew, making her hair fly in all directions. Suddenly Tara decided she wanted to steer. If she was only going to have this ship for a short while she’d make the most of it. She got up and walked along the edge of the boat and hopped off when she reached where the wheel was. She took hold of it moved it slightly to the left and right, not really paying much attention.

[Colin Oliver]

Colin wasn’t in the mood to argue with Tara. If she wanted to be here first, she could be here first. As Colin saw it, here was actually nowhere. Colin watched as Tara took to the helm of the ship and felt a certain uneasiness spread through him. It was a feeling that had nothing to do with the rocking ocean. In his opinion, Tara was one of those ‘emotionally unstable’ people. The kind who lashed out at the most mundane words. The kind who smiled at you one moment and tried to claw your eyes out the next. In one word, she was a woman. And Colin had a knack for setting women off. Colin watched as the girl walked across the railing of the ship with practiced ease and grabbed the steering wheel. He instinctively backed away from the edge of the ship and gripped onto one of the ropes around the mast. The uneasiness had turned into a slight fear. Tara experimentally began turning the wheel, lightly spinning it from one hand to the other. “Priskil grant me courage! What are you doing!?” Colin shouted as he felt the boat lurch, almost upsetting his balance. Colin bowed his head and sent a silent prayer towards Zulrav and Laviku, gods of the storm and sea. Yet when he opened his eyes, Colin noticed that the dense mist around them had started dissipating, turning from a murky grey to a smoky white. Rays of light peeked through here and there, and Colin felt better, slowly loosening his grip on the mast. Perhaps his prayers had been answered and things weren’t going to be as bad as he thought. “Tell me if you need any help, Captain Tara.”

[Tara]

Tara looked up when Colin yelled. ”I’m not sure but it’s kind of fun” she said, spinning the wheel around. She grabbed it forcing it to stop and the ship lurched to a sudden stop. Tara wasn’t sure what she was doing but it didn’t seem like it was getting her anywhere. How the hell do you sail this thing? she wondered to herself. Tara looked to the side as the mist was lightening a light began to shine through. Perhaps it was night time earlier and now it was day. She turned her head and acknowledged Colin but gave him little thought. She began to wonder where they were going.

She left the wheel, her hand lingering slightly as she went and walked to the other end of the ship, exploring what she hadn’t earlier. She passed Colin and went to the end of the ship and looked out over the edge, squinting as she looked into the mist. Even though her senses were heightened and much better than those of humans she couldn’t see much. She frowned and her amber eyes didn’t move. She thought she saw something in the distance but she couldn’t make it out. Whatever it was it was huge and coming closer to the ship. Tara pointed her finger at the thing, hoping Colin could see it as well. ”What’s that?” she asked him, as if he would be able to figure it out better than she could.

[Colin Oliver]

Colin left the safety of the mast after Tara let go of the wheel. As he stood there watching the girl, he couldn’t help but feel that she seemed familiar to him; as if he had seen her somewhere before. Colin shook his head, he was absolutely sure this was the first time the two were meeting. “But then, why are we on this boat together?” Colin readjusted his headscarf, wondering if he had tied it too tightly and cut off circulation to his brain. As he finished the last loop, he heard Tara call him over. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing in the distance. Colin walked to the back of the ship and stood at her side. Whatever she saw, he couldn’t see any better. He could make out a dark-grey shape in the distance swimming towards them, but it had almost no defining characteristics. Something told him that whatever it was was quite large, but logic told him it could be a trick of distance. Troubled by this disturbance, Colin pulled out the telescope that hung around his neck but gave up after a few seconds. It was much too dark for him to see any details. Slipping the necklace off his head, Colin handed the telescope to Tara, “You tell me, Captain.”

[Tara]

Tara took the telescope and looked through it, trying to determine whatever was coming towards them. It took a couple seconds before the creature came into view but when it did Tara let out a gasp. It was not something seen in Mizahar, it was some sort of mutation. It was long and had no limbs like a snake but it had a long snout and pointed teeth like a crocodile. It was leaping in and out of the water much like a dolphin. It reminded Tara of a story she heard when she was little, a sort of fairy tale only the creature in the story had huge scaly wings and claws. It would be coming into view for Colin in a few moments, when his human eyes adjusted.

Tara let the telescope drop and frowned. She turned to face Colin. ”I’m not sure what it is but I don’t think it’s here for a tea party” she said and ran down to the main deck. She looked around, wondering what made the ship go faster.

OOCSorry, it's a bit short

[Colin Oliver]

Colin grabbed his necklace and watched as Tara practically sprinted down the ship. One glance through the telescope and Colin was following her path. Colin felt his crossbow thumping on his back as he ran, yet it offered minimal comfort. If a creature like that were to attack them, his ranged weapon would offer almost no protection. And just looking at the monstrosity told Colin that his arrows wouldn’t be hindering the creature. Colin sprinted back to the mast, letting the sails open as he watched the creature gain distance. As he tied the ropes and watched the wind force the sails open he silently chanted numerous prayers to Zulrav, hoping that the god of wind could grant their sails a breath of air. Barring divine intervention and immense luck they wouldn’t be getting out of this in one piece. Colin just hoped that all those days watching the sailors as they crossed the Suvan Sea would help him on this day.

[Tara]

Tara watched as Colin opened the sails. I knew that was it.. she thought indignantly, though she was lying to herself. She glanced back and saw the creature approaching at an alarming rate. Tara’s brows furrowed as she thought, trying to come up with some sort of plan. She knew speed was not something that would get them out of this and they needed something clever. They would not be able to fight the creature… And even if they were Tara’s bow and arrows seemed to have misplaced themselves, Tara noted as she reached for her back.

Then she had an idea. She needed a distraction, though she doubted this ship had anything worthwhile. It didn’t seem to be helping them out so far so she didn’t think it would happen to have a large stash of meat handy. She glanced at Colin. He would be a perfect distraction. If she threw him overboard he would probably shout and splash around, attracting the monster’s attention giving Tara the perfect opportunity to get away. There was a flaw in her plan and that was she simply lacked the strength. There was no way she would be able to push Colin into the sea and not get pulled down as well, or get killed by Colin himself. She also probably wouldn’t even be able to get him close enough to the railings. She let out a hiss, annoyed at her own weakness.

”You don’t happen to have a large chunk of meat on you, do you?” she asked, almost desperately. She was out of options and had no idea what to do anymore.

[Colin Oliver]

Based on Tara’s question, Colin could easily infer what her train of thought had been. “There are three chunks of meat here” Colin replied, glaring indignantly at the girl, “That would be you, me, and the one that wants to eat us.” Although he disapproved of Tara’s plan for obvious reason, her logic was correct. They wouldn’t be outrunning the beast, so they had to distract it. “The hull. I’m going to check the inside of the ship. If there’s anything at all down there, I’m going to throw it out to you.” Without waiting for a reply, Colin ran into the pitch black depths of the ship. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust and assessed his surroundings. There were crates of fruit and barrels of pickled vegetables, unappetizing even to him. Ropes and more ropes. A wall of buckets. A couple weighty bags of… something. And hidden against the very back wall, a net. And not just any net, one of the nets used for catching large schools of fish. Colin let out an excited whoop and ran out with it. “Take this, stretch it out. We need to force that thing underwater and into the net.” Colin ran back inside, leaving the task to Tara, and started unloading the crates and heavy sacks.