Furrae Chronicles: Webs of Destiny (IC) [M] {3}

[Sunblink]

Within the span of a second, Keaton almost felt herself succumb to an unfamiliar and long-loathed sting of intimidation as she realized how absolutely, opaquely dark the bat's eyes appeared, something which became increasingly more apparent to her after noticing the effect the sinuous column of light had over Ignatz's features. Unwittingly, she compared her own eyes to the bat's - her right eye was a solid, chocolaty shade; its opposite companion oddly pale and lusterless, the pupil a diminutive dot framed by the pallid ring of beige-brown.

When Ignatz explained that he had no idea what Mel or even his own race was, Keaton's expression adopted something akin to both a disgusted scowl and a pout. Judging by the sigh of resignation she emitted, she didn't believe Ignatz's excuse, but wasn't going to pressure him for answers anymore. Reaching down, Keaton picked up the wine bottle again, lifting it to the light so to measure the remaining contents pooled at the bottom. Deciding there was enough to drink, she tipped her head back, and started to down the leftover wine, only for her to start choking as an unexpected exhalation of breath left her at Ignatz's remark about Catastrophe, thus causing her to swallow both a lungful of oxygen and wine. Keaton started coughing loudly, doubling over and hacking away. When the coughs subsided and she was able to breath again, she tremulously set the mostly-empty bottle on the ground and glowered defiantly at Ignatz.

"Catastrophe is better than any fuckin' Being" - nearly said something unpleasant again, just barely avoided it in her moment of vehement anger - "gun," retorted Keaton. When Mel offered to rejuvenate her injuries, Keaton sighed and shrugged off the belt, prying the holster from her back and gently lowering it, and Catastrophe, to the floor in front of her. She then redirected her glare to Ignatz while gesturing for Mel to approach and heal her. "Can't find a better mace."

When she said this, it wasn't her merely speaking to intimidate or infuriate - she sincerely believed Catastrophe was the finest mace in existence. Most likely a far, far cry from the truth, what with the wide variety of magically-imbibed weapons on Furrae, but after all the memories Keaton had attached to Catastrophe, she wasn't going to admit that it was inferior to any other weapon in any capacity.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Keaton's mood might have been more effective at irritating Stygian, were it not for the fact that quite suddenly the bat had suddenly twitched and lowered his ears as far as they could go, clamping his hands over them, looking upward with a snarl caught on his face. When her coughing fit was over and the angered comments came, he had canted and turned his head to the side and was scratching and prodding the inside of it with a clawed finger, his expression one of utmost annoyance. He blinked with one eye, and then flicked his ear wildly, beating the side of his head with his palm.
   'That... hm... may be as it will,' he said distraughtly, before shaking his head and sitting straight again. 'But a mace or a clumsy weapon as such is of no use to me. The targets that I don't kill, I most likely want to keep undamaged. A gun has more range, is more practical, and much harder to react against. And besides,' he said, and placed a hand on one of the darkly glistening metallic firearms strapped to his side in a concealed holster, 'these are not just "any fuckin' Being guns". They're professionally crafted. My own.' He looked at Keaton more seriously. 'I make ones like them, among other things. Not that I won't have these replaced soon. I have been working on a new design.'

[Cogidubnus]

 "You should try the meat pies the leopard got for you, Mr. Peterson!" the wolf called back as he walked up the stairs to the second level. "They are quite good."
His voice was actually quite friendly sounding, although one could hear the subtle admonishment inflecting his tone.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be upstairs." Cog said to no one in particular as he disappeared up the stairwell to the second level.

Nothing wrong with being prepared, but I'm surprised at that kind of blind assumption and judgment. the wolf thought, standing by himself on the second deck. He's not your typical incubus, no. But I suppose...ah, well. Perhaps demons have troubled him before.

Cog stood by himself for a moment, before murmuring something to himself, and going to stand in the middle of the deck. Crouching down and then sitting on his forelegs, the wolf sat, breathing for a good few minutes before grabbing his sword.

It wasn't long before the a low, slow swish of blade cutting air could be heard, regular, paced, and slow.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

When Keaton consented to the healing Mel stood and moved beside the jackal, putting one cool hand on her shoulder. Mel paused for a moment to watch Ignatz strange behavior but he stopped as quickly as he started so she went back to the healing while the other two debated guns versus maces. She was more of a crossbow type herself, not that she resorted to physical weapons very often. Keaton's injuries were more annoying than serious and in only a moment the healing was over. "There. That should be a lot more comfortable."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Ephreal sulked as she ate some meat sticks from her pack. 'I only ment it as a joke...' She thought, only to be hit by a second. 'Eeep I hope they don't throw me out! Gods I don't know what to do, I'd never see Jade again!' Eph radiated sheer panic.

She was torn between going and begging forgiveness, and worrying about them giving her the boot if she went near them so soon...

[Sunblink]

Deep down, some concealed, mostly-smothered part of Keaton found Ignatz's graphic reaction to her loud, guttural coughing hysterical, but it was distaste and furiousness at his unintentional insult about Catastrophe which prevented her from laughing. Instead, she simply folded her arms and diverted her glance, even as Mel approached and started moving her cold-saturated hands over her back. Beneath the gentle, healing ministrations, the bruises started to shrivel and disappear from nasty, black-and-blue lumps to mostly-hidden dots. Experimentally, Keaton flexed her shoulder-blades; the sorest part of her body, testing whether or not they were liberated of any pain.

"Catastrophe isn't any normal mace," Keaton countered viciously, "See him?"

Reaching down, Keaton picked up Catastrophe, and cradled the weapon close. It was apparent that despite how proportionately large the morningstar was in comparison to her body, she exerted no visible effort in carrying it around. The weapon was mostly black, from its giant, spherical-spiked head, to the rigid, diamond-shaped blade adorning the opposite end of its handle, almost an opaque, atramentous shade. Each of the spikes coating Catastrophe's clubbed head coalesced from black to a strangely whitewashed alabaster, not pure or pristine in hue, but lifeless, like the light emitted from fluorescent bulbs. The same gradient effect was reflected in the blade at the bottom of Catastrophe. Finally, and perhaps the most notable characteristic about the morningstar, was the strangely angular symbol carved beneath Catastrophe's head, also in white, also glowing with that dim, moribund luster.

"He's capable of manipulating and controlling the darkness itself," Keaton snarled. A wicked smirk played at the edges of her lips as Ignatz fingered his gun-holster. "I don't care if your guns were custom-made or made piece-by-piece by underpaid, overworked orphans forced into labor in sweatshops" - although overworked and underpaid and sweatshops often went hand-in-hand - "I don't think any gun can match up with Catastrophe. I've fought Beings with guns. And guess what happened to them?"

Keaton extended her index finger, then drew it with painstaking slowness in a horizontal line across her throat, eliciting a choking, garbled noise in the back of her throat. No further explanation was needed.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Tapewolf]

Maybe I am too paranoid, Jakob thought, and selected one of the smaller pies.
Giving Cog a few minutes to settle down, he made his way discreetly to the open area where the other wolf was practising and watched, keeping his distance.

Jakob had gradually lost interest in swordplay when he was about half his current age, but it didn't stop him appreciating it and it was clear that Cog was very good at it.  Too good, he thought to himself.  He's either a child prodigy or there's more Creature to him than I thought.  Demon lifespan, perhaps?

He waited politely for a pause in the other wolf's training and then spoke.

"Very good," he said.  "Better than I was at my height.  Now, forgive me if I'm intruding, Mr. Mithlome, but I thought you ought to know one thing... save for times of emergency, I do not pry on my allies' thoughts."

"Anyway, I hope that helps to set your mind at rest," he added, and turned to leave Cog in peace.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog sat across from another, in an almost meditative state. He'd been speaking for some time, and the things being said were not pleasant. He could see the others tension.
He'd been a thorn in his side for a long, long time. Cog realized that he hadn't come to speak as soon as he saw the other leaning forward.
Cog's hand slid to the guard of his blade.

As close as they were, drawing would be difficult, but he wasn't going for his sword. The other reached for Cog's hilt, intending to snatch the blade from the wolf. Cog reacted in the subtlest manner, tilting the hilt of his sword down closer to the ground.
The man leaned forward further, reaching for the hilt, and just barely overextending himself.

It was all Cog needed. Moving the hilt in a quick circle, he brought the hilt around and over the other's hand, and bringing his other arm around he grasped the hilt and lunged forward, rising on his knees and thrusting his still sheathed blade forward. The sheath slid with only a little resistance in the wolf's belt, and the metal-capped hilt smacked the other square in the nose, knocking him back. Quick as lightning, his left arm pulled back on the sheath while his right arm kept the sword out, drawing the blade and cutting out in a silver, horizontal arc.
The cut drew a line through the other's chest, severing muscle and tendon. It would be very difficult for him to lift much of anything without any strength in his chest to assist him.

Miraculously, the other somehow managed to draw his blade, and struck - but the wolf had already brought the blade back, and in a block that flowed into an overhead strike brought his sword down on his opponents head.
The other dropped onto the deck, blood pooling around him.

Cog watched for a good while, motionless, before bringing the sword over and around to his side, and then as he stood swinging it in a short arc. A spatter of blood whipped off the blade to fall onto the deck, and keeping the blade's tip pointed at the other's body for a good few moments, finally brought it back. It crossed his body, and using his hand as a guide the wolf slid the sword forward over his hand, and then back into the sheath. Imperceptibly, his index finger and thumb clasped the flat of the blade, squeezing the blood off the weapon as it slid into the sheath.

Cog looked at the body, waiting for it to stir. When it did not, the wolf clasped the hilt in his right hand and pulled back, situating the sword back into it's normal position.
He turned and looked at Jakob, listening, and then nodded in recognition.

"There are some things you may not want to read in my mind, Mr. Peterson." the wolf said, watching the filmmaker leave him alone on the breezy deck.

[Stygian]

The much-exaggerated dramatic gesture drew the corners of the bat's mouth upward, and made him chuckle a bit. The Cubi really did have a way of going over the top with quite a few things. Like a teenage girl with an automatic carbine thrown into a criminal syndicate meeting, trying to prove herself. Or, at least that's what it seemed like to Stygian. Not so much adorably cute as laughable at some points. But still a bit to smile at, in a dysfunctional way.
   'Is that so? Well, I suppose that's rather impressive,' the bat said, stifling his chuckling and making a slow, respectful nod toward the jackal. 'Just remember that it's always good not to depend too heavily upon a weapon. Your own skills are always the backbone and the strength. A weapon is just an extension of that.' The bat smiled dimly, eyes narrow, and then drew his guns. The long, dark-steel revolvers gleamed terribly in the murky light. Spinning one and raising it, cocking it with the side-mounted hammer next to the frame-integrated shock absorber at the back, Ignatz held it out to the side, as steadily as if his arm were fused iron.
   'These guns, I made myself. Not the best piece of equipment I've constructed, I admit; they suffer somewhat from some impracticalities and ammunition shortness,' he said, before slowly turning the gun, training it on Keaton's forehead. 'But they certainly get the job done, despite some over-penetration.' He held it there for a few seconds, then span it back and around as quickly as if the heavy piece weighed like a feather. 'A bit clumsy as well. Which is why I am going to pick my new ones up as soon as possible. Those are the ones I am hoping to start manufacturing,' he added, looking down at the steel in his hand, before putting it back in his holster. 'And you then, Cubi? What goals are you chasing? Or... perhaps, since you are what you are, I should say people? Creatures? Items? Few of your kind seem to make an honest living.'

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha let her eyes wander over the ocean, while her ears kept on the sea of controversy that seemed to grip the party.  She could hear a latch from far away as Mel left the main group and went to see her accomplice in the hold.  That left people talking on the deck, speaking behind her about the newcomers and expressing general discomfort, however peaceful the view around them seemed to be.

One thing that was said however was what dropped her out of silence with a loud snort.  It was the conversation between James and Jakob, along near Gareeku and Ephrael, more or less about keeping within the law in their doings.  Aisha shook her head slightly, wondering how any experienced adventurer could follow the law when often times they take the law into their own hands...or in the case of bounty hunters and for-hire assassins, play the arm of higher powers; in many cases so that their own hands are never sullied.

The panthress herself had gotten into trouble a few times in her career.  She could respect the laws of different cities to a point...but to her, the only laws to follow are those of common sense and decency.  Take only lives of the murderous, defend yourself, steal when you have to, and never hurt innocents.  The vows she took when she first became an adventurer.  And none of her targets have ever given themselves up without a fight.  In a world as diverse as Furrae, it was hard to be completely pacifist without being thought of as weak; unless they have enough force to throw around so that they can argue otherwise.  An ironic catch.

"Case in point," Aisha muttered, watching the rest of the conversation.  She was curious, watching the strange whistle that Jakob produced and seeing Cogidubnus and Gabi nearby wince upon hearing it.  The panther rolled her eyes and leaped onto the railing of the boat, balancing herself perfectly as she sat on it and took in the sights and smells of the sea.

[Sunblink]

At seeing Ignatz's lips curl upright in a subtle, malicious smirk, Keaton scowled distastefully and allowed her grip to clench around Catastrophe's melanoid handle. Other than that slightly aggressive, telltale shift of position, that venting manner she clutched the shaft in her hands until her knuckles popped rakishly like bony knobs against her skin, she reflected no other movements which presented an intention to strike. Even her grip subsided, her fingers relaxing, but her face remaining fixated in that scowl as Ignatz amiably continued talking. Irritated as she seemed by how he didn't seem to be taking her seriously, Keaton said nothing else which could be interpreted as belligerent.

"Catastrophe is a magnifier," Keaton explained bluntly at Ignatz's remark about balancing her fighting abilities, "I can control the darkness on my own, but Catastrophe helps magnify them and make it easier for me to control." Before she could say something particularly insulting about Ignatz's selection in weaponry, he flipped out his revolver and centered its barrel in the direction of Keaton's forehead, cool light glinting off of its sleek metallic surface. Pupils pinpricking in the blinding light gleaming along the revolver's barrel, Keaton's muscles stiffened defensively and she started to bare her fangs, as though she were preparing herself for the moment Ignatz was going to fire.

Fortunately the bat didn't want to, or so it seemed, as he pocketed the gun a moment later. Casually, the bat asked Keaton what her goals were, apparently allowing some of his aforementioned Cubi-hatred seep into his words. In the face of this, Keaton merely snarled, her ears flattening. "None of your damn business," she remarked coldly. Reaching down, she scooped up the belts strapped around Catastrophe's holster and drew it up, starting to sheathe the weapon back in its leather pocket. "That's what. 'Sides, I take it even if I was after any souls, your goals wouldn't be all that much different..."

Her pierced eyebrow raised, the silver stud perforating it emitting a slight glow in that thin slash of light. "I heard what you said. You said you were staying here only cause of me. What do you want?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Keaton's explanations and then her harsh words didn't faze Ignatz enough to so much as twitch an eyebrow. However, her last words, the very direct question of his former statement, did make him slowly shift. A dangerous glint appeared in his eyes, as they widened, and his gaze lowered while he sat forward, underarms resting on his knees, until the black spheres seemed to melt together with the shadows beneath his brows, and all that was left was the glint of light reflecting off them.
   'You,' the bat said, slowly and darkly. Putting his chin between finger and thumb, he held his eyes on her, the cold of his gaze seeming to fill the room. However handsome and suave he had seemed at one moment, and petty and assholeish at the next, those former images were whisked away like smoke in a swift breeze right then. He wasn't grinning. Not even smirking. There was the merest inclination toward a smile on his lips, but with the deep shadows over his pale features, his face seemed to have turned a facade over something dark, a characterless mask of white hiding something of which only those icy, bone-chilling gleams of light could be seen. His gaze was still, unfaltering and intense. The sort of transcendent look that frightens even in ordinary people, because one can see that there is nothing but sheer focus behind it, cold and hard. Deadly sharp intent. The look of a killer without hesitation.
   'I intend to stay with these people, because it serves my goals. I could have chosen to simply move on without them, perhaps use them if such a time would come. But you went along now, and that's what settled this,' he said, voice still and nonthreatening, but something in the background seemingly accompanying it, causing shivers. 'You pricked my interest, Cubi. You know nothing of my goals, and I don't think you would understand them. You know nothing of my business, and I don't think you would want to. Now you know at least that I will be watching you, waiting for a reason. Take that knowledge to heart, and be glad for it. Because it might keep you from making a mistake you will forever regret.'
   A few hard, heart-clenching seconds passed, as the bat simply sat there. Then, the bat closed his eyes and breathed in, sitting back once again, face fully illuminated once more. One could not help but feel as if he had slipped that mask back on again. He had opened a crack in a seemingly ordinary door, and exposed something tantalizing and absolutely frightening beyond it, and then shut it firmly before anyone had chance to catch more than a glimpse. Now, instead, he lazily rolled his neck a little as he leaned his head against the crate under the tarp, looking a little tired.
   'But really, I don't think I need any more particular reason than making things easy for myself. We've gone for a long time,' he said, his tone back to normal. 'This looks to be an interesting and restful business. If we can just shake the ire of the others, I'm sure it will be pleasant.'

[Sunblink]

Initially, Keaton felt somewhat confident. Spouting her typical acrimonious assholery always endowed her with a certain sense of self-control and superiority, making her feel elevated over the situation, over the consciousness of others; beyond concern or any other perceived weaknesses. And those who resisted were routinely disabled with a suckerpunch to the jaw or an uppercut which sent them reeling, or if they were particularly troublesome, an attack from Catastrophe "himself."

The chiropteran before her, however, was different.

And that bothered her, especially when his eyes seemed to narrow, their shadowy outlines smothered by the surrounding darkness trickling in syrupy streams over his alabaster features, swallowing up the sacrosanct white and drenching it with scattered pool-pits of ink. Then for that moment, Keaton did the unthinkable, and hesitated. When she was perfectly sound in body and perfectly sober, not made vulnerable by inebriation and lack of weapon. It was something she'd hate herself for later, something she couldn't cover up with lies or denial. The acidity of Keaton's words vaporized on her tongue, leaving her mouth dreadfully evaporated and devoid of moisture, or the articulateness needed to define her future sentences. All she could do was just listen to Ignatz, indignation and outrage starting to escalate somewhere beneath the absolute, stunned surprise. Looming on the sidelines, wanting to lunge and interrupt the bastard in the middle of what Keaton saw as his condescending rambling, but finding itself anchored to its spot by that dreadful hesitance.

Again, Keaton found herself bereft of action or appropriate behavior. She hated it. She wanted to shout, suddenly reacting irrationally to this increased stress. Stress was never something Keaton loved. In fact, she was prone to nervous breakdowns, little episodes which were routinely kicked into the same skeleton-closet all her other meltdowns were caged and contained, along with some she had even shunted out of her memory.

Amidst the silence, she stumbled and groped for any emotional resonance exuding from the chiropteran. But she received nothing. How could the bastard not emit any emotions?! The only time she had felt that happen was when--

The bat leaned back, and the sparse light in the room flooded his face again, chasing away the shadows. Keaton suddenly felt grateful for the cool darkness coating her face, oozing over the black shapes cleaving into her saffron-furred features, because it effectively masked the unreadable blankness to her expression. That was clearly the look someone made when the words they had were chased away. At Ignatz's next comment, Keaton merely sunk in her seat, simmering, her hands still gripping Catastrophe with an iron-hard tautness, and diverted her glance to a suddenly very interesting crate of cargo collecting dust in the far corner.

"I don't see that happening," was all she said, and then Keaton went very, very quiet.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

The bat kicked his feet up a bit, and folded his arms across his chest, covering most what was visible of his torso through his open shirt. Tilting his head a bit to the side, he looked at Keaton with mild surprise and an expression of innocence that would have held up in the most scrutinizing court. 'You don't believe me?' he asked, tone falling in with his expression. Then they both adjusted to confidential pleasantry. 'I can be a nice person too. Don't believe me?' He chuckled. 'Being a nice person is easy, contrary to what people believe. Being an idiot is what is easier, but it's only because you you don't have to think. Being a nice person takes half a brain. Being a bad guy? And making it, being a bad guy?' He smirked, but in an eerily friendly manner. 'Now that takes your full attention.'

[Sunblink]

Innocence or not, Keaton didn't appear amused nor convinced with Ignatz's nonchalant demeanor. Whatever intimidation she had experienced seemed to evaporate in the face of his innocuous expression, indicated by how flat her countenance collapsed. Quite a sudden and dramatic transformation from vulnerability, yet some of those lingering vestiges of discomfort remained in Keaton's form, even as she forced herself to behave indifferently.

"So you're saying you can actually act nicely to these people?" Keaton asked coldly. Her death-grip still intact around Catastrophe's handle, she leaned back, although her posture was devoid of confidence. She seemed as though she was unconsciously, with some barely-existing pocket of self-hatred or preservation, making herself appear as uninteresting or unappealing as possible. "I'd like to see you try that."

Actually, she didn't. Keaton just wanted to make it out of the hold alive, or at the very least without a fight. She didn't want to get thrown off of the ship for misconduct, instigating any fights, or even worse, being shunted out of Gareeku's traveling-party a scant few hours after she was actually introduced among its members. Keaton had no problem discussing her motives for traveling with Gareeku, but with someone she feared and loathed, she wanted to keep her intentions as disguised as possible.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Tapewolf]

Jakob glanced down in the rough direction of the hold.  I'll have to pay them a visit later, he thought, but there was something he had to do first.

"Excuse me," he said, collaring one of the crew, "When are we likely to be arriving?"
A fast steamship could make about 35mph, cutting a journey of several days on foot into a few hours.

[Stygian]

Still smiling, Ignatz leaned a bit forward and looked attentively at Keaton, attentively and perhaps a bit challengingly. The 'smug bastard' role was edging into his behavior a bit, but he tried staying as courteous as possible.
   'Prepare to be entertained then. Or, perhaps you would be willing to make a deal?' He chuckled shortly, passed Mel an equally short glance, and then licked his lips. 'If I manage to inspire some sense of... trust and companionship, not to mention agreeability in them... Would you be willing to try the same, and behave around them? Of course, that should include not only them but us as well.' The bat made an indicating gesture between himself and Mel. A slight grin was forming on his lips. 'And that of course includes having such good manners as to not exercise excessive violence, steal any souls, burn or pillage, rape or torture innocents, etcetera...' He rolled his eyes and waved his hand as if mentioning those things were mere trivialities and a perfunctory addition.
   But while the bat may have been speaking calmly, behind the mask he was rather excited, and going through a number of better and more purposeful points to acting 'decently'. Firstly, it would hopefully stem the quarreling of the group, and more importantly show the others that if the jerk of a bounty hunter and a vicious Cubi could get along, they should feel a bit ashamed about not being able to put hostilities aside themselves. Secondly it would be a nice little needle in Keaton's side. But best of all, from how he had formulated the suggestion, it sounded as if he expected good behavior all the time, however he had not exactly put it that way... After all, cheating could only be called so if it were discovered. Otherwise it was often referred to as cleverness.
   'What say you, sweets?' Ignatz finally said, with that particular expression of his and a gentle smirk on his face.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel smiled at the pair and their ongoing contests. "Who gets to be the judge of this decent behavior challenge? I am sure the preacher would volunteer, but somehow I get the feeling he will be our biggest challenge. Any reminder that we are not beings sets him off. His highly romanticized picture of beings as naturally gentle and harmless creatures." She laughed at the very idea. "Perhaps Mr. Mithome. He has no bias from earlier events."

[Gareeku]

Hearing Jakob's voice, the crew member, an otter to be precise, turned around to face the wolf. Listening to his question, the otter thought for a second before replying.
"We should be arriving at our destination in a few hours, sir. Our intended time of arrival is 4pm." the otter replied.


After the others had left to wander off somewhere else, Gareeku had turned back to watching the waves as the ship continued on it's journey. Taking a deep breath, the wolf took in the fresh sea air and felt it fill his lungs as he did so. It was then, however, that Gareeku thought about how he had snapped at Ephrael. Although she shouldnt have fooled around like because of the attention that they could have attracted, he still felt bad. Turning his head, the wolf looked as Ephrael was sat on a chair some distance away.

"Hey." A voice said to Ephrael's side. If she looked up, she would see that Gareeku had made his way over to her. "Mind if I join you?"
Pulling up a chair of his own, the wolf sat down next to her, looking at her with a soft, reassuring smile; a far cry from the scowls that he had displayed in recent times.
"I want to apologise for the way I snapped at you." the wolf explained. "It's just that I'd rather that we didn't get lots of attention, especially from authorities. If we were to be stopped by them, it could jepordise our efforts to find the ones that we care for. I hope you can forgive me."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Ephrael looked up as Gareeku called out to her. "N-no I don't m-mind." She said softly in response to his question.

As he sat down Eph noticed that he was smiling nicely a her,  something she and not seen the wolf do since she had met him. 

She fidgeted as Gar apologized, knowing she should have read the situation before she tried the joke, 'I just wish I was better at that' Eph thought.

"It was my f-fault Gareeku...I shouldn't of p-pulled that p-prank. I guess I wasn't t-thinking straight, I'm kinda out of my depth. I mean I've never been an adventurer before, and yesterday I k-killed someone...A few people actually. So I should be asking for your forgiveness, I'll try not to do that stuff again."

[Stygian]

'Apt choice. I'd say we ought to invite him down here...' Ignatz began, then swigged and drained the last of the wine in his black glass. He then leaned forward on his knee, and with a swift movement of his hand, dematerialized it in his hand, the solid matter turning into thick blackness which dissolved in an instant into inky, drifting smoke. Only, it didn't look quite like smoke, and it evaporated far too quickly in the windless cargo storage. '...were it not for the fact that I wish to rest,' he concluded, his gaze blank and cold.
   Standing up, the bat straightened, and cracked his neck a bit, rolling his shoulders once and flexing his fingers. He closed his eyes, sighed, and then looked down at Mel and Keaton with a far more pleasant expression than just a moment ago.
   'I think I will retire for a short while. Alert me when... things are looking more pleasant,' he said, eying Mel during that quick pause in his words. She would know that what he meant was that she should tell when it grew dark. Smiling a bit more charmingly, he faced Keaton next. 'And please consider my... offer, miss. I think it would be quite fitting of the situation.'
   Even as his form darkened and disappeared into the shadows and out of sight toward the back of the cargo hold, the bat was still smirking.

[Tapewolf]

"Okay, thanks for that," said Jakob to the crewman, and headed down to the cargo hold.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you people," he began, unsure how to phrase what he was going to say.  "But, well... hmm...  Are you sure it's a good idea to be in here?  The crew might object..." he said, rambling slightly.

"Uh, anyway.  To be frank, I don't trust you, and it's pretty clear you don't trust me either.  But we are in the same party, so I was wondering if we could set aside our differences for now, and at least agree not to provoke each other too much?"

[Gabi]

Gabi took a few moments to recover from the whistle, and looked around to find out what was going on. She noticed Cog seemed to have been disturbed by the noise, but most others didn't seem to have registered it. "Oh, great," she sighed.

She still didn't understand why Mel had stormed off like that. Why was she offended if it was her who kept treating others as objects, and their lives as currency? She wished she could figure her out. She was still a puzzle, and a potentially dangerous one. Cog was a mystery too, but at least he seemed to be trying to be nice. Exaggeratedly so, but still. Maybe he was trying to be both nice and funny.

When Jakob left, Gabi decided to follow him. She had a feeling she'd learn something if she did, and she didn't feel comfortable staying where she was anymore. She arrived in time to here his proposal. She felt she had arrived at a bad time. She had to say something or else others might think she was sneaking.

"Err..." she began, biding her time. "I... guess I agree," she finally said. Not that any of you care about what I think, she thought, but at least I may be able to stay here now.

She knew it had been a lame entry, but then again it might be for the best that Ignatz and Mel didn't think much of her. They might ignore her, which was better than being the focus of their attention.

[Gareeku]

As Gareeku listened to Ephrael as she explained how she had never been an adventurer before, Gareeku nodded in understanding, having been in her position once himself.
"...I know how you feel. It can be hard, being an adventurer." the wolf replied, his voice somewhat distant as he began to think back to when he first started out. "Unfortunately, killing is one of those things that becomes easier the more you do it..."

It was then that Gareeku snapped himself out of it and turned back to Ephrael.
"I also want to apologise for the way I've been acting in general. Things have been...well...hard." the wolf said to her.

[Sunblink]

Keaton seemed to hold the demeanor of a scolded puppy as Mel and Ignatz discussed the terms and conditions to their so-called "good behavior contest," her shoulders bunched inward and her muscles bristling with barely-condensed tension. Teeth ground together as a minuscule way to curb her frustration, eventually gritting together as her vicious fury petered away into obscurity. For the most part she had been stunned into silence by the fact Ignatz didn't seem to be trying to deceive her, and that the cunning chiropteran actually was going to make an effort to be polite. The rest of her was just mostly indignation. Seemed all the troublemakers in the group were peering over each others' shoulders to take a page from their books.

In-between her fuming, Keaton realized that Ignatz had disintegrated the drinking glass in his claw, its outline dissolving into fading particles of diaphanous smoke. He looked far too pleasantly at her. Keaton irrationally hated it, especially since she was used to having enemies who went out of their way of making her miserable, instead of using conniving and ambiguous techniques disguised behind a benevolent facade. As Ignatz addressed her, Keaton felt her hands tense around Catastrophe's handle, and she forced herself to numbly nod her confirmation.

And with that, the bat seemed to simply disappear, swallowed up into the blackness of the cargo hold. Keaton blinked, gawking for a minute, openly stunned - until she realized that he probably orchestrated the darkness to contain himself in it, or something to a similar effect... she was able to execute the same ability. It was a favored skill she ordinarily used for subterfuge. Around that same time, Jakob chose to enter the hull, apparently with the intent of talking to them about their behavior.

Glancing up apprehensively, Keaton eyed the fellow Cubi, then said, "You're a bit late. Ignatz" - she refrained from impersonally referring to him as the bat - "Just... erm... left." Keaton decided to skim over the details, and simply cut to the chase. Time to exert how "polite" she could be. "Look, you're... what's your name? Sorry for, well, earlier..."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Tapewolf]

"Distance doesn't seem to matter where Ignatz' hearing is concerned," Jakob said, "I'm sure he's listening.  In any case, all I'm really saying is that we should (A): Keep our petty squabbles to a sensible level, and (B): Try to avoid doing anything that would upset the locals.  Being run out of town or getting a bounty on our heads really isn't conducive to completing our mission.  So far we seem to have avoided that, but only just.  It was simply good fortune that the guards Mel killed belonged to the bad guy.  If the demon bloke's alter-ego had been the charismatic leader of the town, we could easily have lost our heads by now."

"Not a problem," he replied as Keaton apologised.  Deep down he was a bit surprised given her previous behaviour, but he was going to have to keep an eye on them anyway.
"Call me Jakob," he added, and almost gave her a card, but stopped when he remembered that she'd apparently been kicked out of the Academy.  "Jakob Peterson."

[Paladin Sheppard]

"Its ok Gareeku." Eph said as she scratched the back of her neck. "I think all of us are a little on edge with our loved ones missing. We don't even know if they are ok...That scares me and I don't know what this is all about, why would they take Jade and the others."

She fidgeted eventually pulling out her piece of the map. "Even these are a little strange...why give us clues instead of a ransom? I mean isn't that why people get kidnaped??"

[Gareeku]

Listening to Ephrael as she spoke, Gareeku nodded his head in understanding as she spoke of the fact that it wasn't even known whether their loved ones were alright or not.
"I know how you feel." the wolf replied. "At first I thought that this was all some kind of attempt to claim the bounty on my head or something, but I don't understand why the others had their loved ones taken from them as well. This has left me quite confused, but you can bet that I'll be getting some answers."

Looking on as Ephrael drew out her part of the map, Gareeku listened as she spoke of how they were given clues and not a ransom or anything.
"I know what you mean." the wolf said as he looked at her map. Drawing out his own piece, Gareeku looked at the two of them and noticed how there were no markers or anything similar on them, which was probably due to the fact that they were on a ship sailing across a very large body of water. "I don't know who sent us these maps, or who is giving us clues, and I don't know whether we should trust them or not, but it's the only thing that even remotely helps us in our search."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Nodding acknowledgement to Ignatz just as he was disappearing into the darkness Mel hopped off her box and was giving a bit of a stretch prior to climbing back up onto the deck when the wolf cubi started down the ladder. She sat back down if the party was going to keep going.

Mel listened politely quiet while the two cubi conversed. Sitting atop the crate with her legs crossed, elbows on knees and chin in hand she gave every appearance of a young child listening eagerly to an exciting story. But there was a new edge to her voice as she quietly asked, "Mr. Peterson. One question before we throw a blanket of civility over our expedition, just so I am in complete understanding of where we stand with each other. Are you assuming that I am stupid or that I have impulse control issues? It must be one or the other for you to be so worried about my behavior when in a catalog of yesterday's adventures I rank far below you and your trusted companions. In either case let me assure you that I am one of the last people you should worry about bringing attention to the party. "

[Tapewolf]

"It's too early for me to tell if you have - as you put it - 'issues'," Jakob said simply.  "But the fact remains that we found Gareeku by following the trail of corpses you left behind.  Perhaps I'm being old-fashioned, but the way I see it, that's just not being socially responsible."  And a big black mark in the behavioural issues game, he added mentally.

"As for us attracting attention, would you be so kind as to remind me what we did wrong?  Until your shadowy friend spoke up we were, to all intents and purposes, a perfectly normal set of adventurers fresh from a battle."