the best lack all conviction

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

Who: Ari, Calum, Brandon, Ray
What: Ari's been kidnapped. Some big damn heroes join in to rescue her
Where: Neverland
When: Sometime after Ari's post

The Neverland sky was beginning to fade from gold-red to the blackish-blue of night, and he still was patiently waiting... but the question was for what.

The ship wasn't deserted, but the other pirates had ventured off to different parts of the ship - something about the quiet man who had brought the girl with him spoke of an evil that they didn't dare want to encounter. Besides, he had asked nicely and there was something in his words and demeanor that suggested a kinship... but no one stayed around to find out what it was. Not even Hook.

He glanced back at his "prisoner" curiously. "I suppose this isn't the type of pirate ship you're used to, Miss Ari?"

Comments

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

Ari for the most part was silent, content to just follow along grumpily, cursing whatever deity was still watching out for her. Guan Yin for all she knew already had forsaken her to whatever fate awaited. So much for the Goddess of Mercy. Then again she had watched too much Saiyuki and imagining the real deal as their version prolly didn't help

"Not really." she replied casually, her eyes sweeping across the ship. "Mine was rather more...elegant." Nevermind the fact that it was a stolen Navy ship.

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

"Aye, it's not a hard feat when compared to a ship like this," he replied, turning to face her fully. He grinned slightly at her, but the smile didn't even begin to reach his eyes. A small orb of some concoction of blizzard and lightning magic, no bigger than a quarter, appeared just behind him, over his shoulder and cast dark shadows across the gunwales.

He fell silent again for several minutes, and then quietly asked, "Why haven't you tried to escape yet?"

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

"Mmm true." The smallest of smiles appeared- mainly just there for appearance, while her eyes glanced towards where a few of the crew was last seen. She almost sneered, unable to hold back the pride of their crew being so much better (and braver) than Hooks. So lost in thought the appearance of the light ball made her jump slightly, and turned back to the dead zombie pirate, blinking slightly at his question.

She was silent for a while, pondering on it for a bit. "Curiosity really. Guess it's just been a perfect opportunity to see you for myself." A slight smirk appeared after, while glancing at him bemusedly. "And I've never been kidnapped before. I wouldn't mind a daring rescue."

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

"I'd hate to disappoint you, Miss Ari," he replied with a quiet laugh. "But may I just remark that sometimes you children let your curiosity get the better of you?" He gestured nonchalantly, and the small orb of magic moved from just behind his shoulder to sit on the deck between them, its blue-white glow growing brighter and causing the temperature within a few meters to drop to chilling levels.

"But..." He paused again. "They will come looking for you, which is enough." He tilted his head to the side, and looked as if he were about to say something else, but he never did. But he kept looking at Ari intensely, as if trying to figure out what was on her mind.

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

She shrugged, the small polite smile never fading. "I guess it just comes with being a young whippersnapper?" Her eyes followed the orb, frowning just the slightest when she realized that even with whatever lingering trances of her resistance to cold she could feel the temperature drop.

An eyebrow quirked at him, curious on what he was trying to say. A small part of her fretted loudly, now worried if anyone did show up to save her ass. None of it showed on her face though and she blinked innocently, curious on his rather intent gaze.

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

He raised an eyebrow at her, half-turning to look back at the coast less than a quarter of a mile away. "The other girl knows you're here. Or at least where you posted from." The tiny magical orb moved closer to Ari, shrinking but glowing even brighter as it so. "She'll come here looking for you regardless... so there's no rule saying that I have to keep you alive."

He smiled slightly at Ari, leaning back with a small shake of his head. "It'd be far more convenient to dispose of you anyway."

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

Oh. Oh great. This was so very not good. Times like this, Ari wished she was waay more witty than she actually was. Snarky comebacks would be a breeze.

So she laughed instead. "From kidnapped to being told I'll be possibly dying in the next few minutes or so. This is so not my week."

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

Calum laughed at her comment, and the collection of blizzard and lightning magic vanished, but the cold temperature did not. Instead, he gestured again with his hand, murmuring something under his breath in his native Welsh, and then stretched out his hand towards Ari, almost as if he were politely asking her to dance.

But then he curled his fingers in slightly, reaching back towards himself. And there was an inexplicable pull on Ari, unseen magic to draw her closer against her will. His smile had completely vanished, and a cool, calculating look had replaced it instead.

"I need a reason why I shouldn't," he said. "Do you think you could give me one, Miss Ari?"

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

If anything, her heart was pounded away erratically in her throat, watching him with trepidation. Ari's mind was a frantic mess, the mental image close to that of a SD version of her running in circles going 'HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE'

"A reason you say." She said, as calmly as she could, mentally thanking her fourth grade teacher for teaching the whole class how to poker face. "I guess the main reason is that I don't want to die yet. Too much to do, so much to see and all that."

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

"People die all the time, Miss Ari," came the quiet reply. "Many before they... want to, as you say. I hardly see why you should be the exception." He gestured again, this time lifting her off the ground and, with a quick, sharp movement, over the gunwales and therefore, over the water which churned darkly below.

"Try again, but I doubt you'll impress me and answer. I can keep you under the water long enough for water to fill your lungs - I've heard drowning is a most unpleasant death." He chuckled a bit. "Unless you're open to a deal."

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

"Aw fuc-" There was no time to take a breath as she was literary thrown overboard, cursing obscenities at both herself and the stupid zombie pirate above.

She flailed, panic setting in as she choked on the sea water, unable to get breath. And he wanted a deal? She mentally went on a bit more, things involving certain body parts and sideways broomsticks. What kind of deal would he even offer? There wasn't much she could do anyway.

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

He leaned over the side of the ship, peering down at the thrashing young woman, but didn't seemed inclined to help her just yet. He waited a few moments, watching her carefully, before muttering something again in Welsh. The waters surrounding Ari glowed a faint bluish-green, and then-

-just like that, she was out of the water, back on the deck again. Water now gathered on the deck in a huge puddle, and once again, Calum created another ball of magic - but this time, it was only filled with electricity. He held it in his hands, glancing from it to Ari and then back again.

"A deal then, Miss Ari?"

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

Ari choked, chucking up whatever sea water she could and sneered at him, whatever polite mask she had earlier gone. She flipped him off, breathing harshly from her near death experience.

"What kind of crazy deal?" She rasped, damming her insatiable curiosity.

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

Now that her curiosity was piqued, Calum dismissed the magic again and approached her, though still restraining her with that same invisible force from before. He knelt down near her and blew a stray strand of dark hair out of his eyes - a gesture that he may have borrowed from the person whose body he currently inhabited.

"It's nothing much," he said, apparently unbothered by Ari's agitated state. "Simply your life in exchange for information." He reached out, brushing his fingers against her right temple, his eyes going distant and unfocused for a moment. "Fi angen at canfod."

No sooner had he spoken the spell did a sharp burst of static fly from his fingers to Ari's head. He paused for a moment, staring at something just beyond the woman he had kidnapped, before frowning and pulling away. He rose to his feet and walked away from her, not saying anything else.

*facepalms* you didn't see that

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

Ari watched tiredly, too drained to even struggle against the annoying invisible forces holding her down. She scowled more at his 'deal' already figuring it'd be something along that line. Geez. And here she thought it would be something more interesting and ow. Static hurts.

Staring at him, possibly unhelpfully cursing him out mentally some more as he read through her memory or whatever he was doing dammit, why couldn't he be like every villain ever and announce what he was doing instead of being all vague-like she frowned right back at him as he got up. Maybe she didn't have what he wanted~? ...But that would be bad. Even less of a reason to keep her around. Dammit all.

just like you didn't see that XD

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

He stayed silent for several minutes, long enough for the last remaining light of the sun to vanish and plunge Neverland into blue night. Off in the distance, on the coast of the island, red and gold bonfires from the natives sprang up, sometimes interspersed with the gold and silver lights of the fairies. He rapped his fingers against the side of the ship, lost in thought, before finally turning back to Ari.

"I could use that," he whispered, more to himself than to her. He frowned curiously at her, and then nodded at his conclusion, stepping away from the starboard side of the ship and approaching her again. "You have been most helpful, Miss Ari. But I'm afraid all you will be from this point onward is a hinderance."

He circled around her, stopping behind her and then kneeling down on one knee. He reached out, still keeping the spells that held her in place in tact, moving quickly and silently as if to break her neck. But at the last possible moment, he leaned forward, moving his hands to her shoulders, and said in a voice completely devoid of emotion or accent, "Sorry, Ari. But you need to sleep." And at that single word, the spell was cast.

dude, I so did. I see /everything~/ 8D

[nachtstar.livejournal.com]

Dammit. She needed to stop being so correct on these things. "I'd say you're welcome but you really aren't." She said dryly.

There wasn't much she could do expect sit there, her stomach twisting in fear as he circled behind her. His voice made her eyes widen a bit, trying to turn and see before everything went black.

including dead peo- /shot/

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

One of the crew members who had overhead the splash earlier had finally made his way up on deck, gazing cautiously past the barrels and the coiled ropes and the cannons. It was dark, but the moon provided enough light to see by. He could make out the two trespassers just aft of the gangplank, the woman slumped in sleep and the man gently lowering her to rest on the deck.

The crewmember gulped as the man's attention swiftly turned towards him - there was cold, precise fury in his strange blue eyes, and he thought that maybe he shouldn't have investigated the scene. And then he thought that there was something strangely off about the air between them. And he didn't think anymore.

Calum rose back to his feet, crossing back across the deck to look back at Neverland. He closed his eyes wearily, and then waited. The girl would be here shortly, and then... he shook his head. All in good time. All matters would be sorted out eventually.

He would fix this mess.

Please ignore the distant cords of heroic music >.>

[anzila.livejournal.com]

These past few months had been hard, in so many ways. He'd had to be apart from his family, friends, and the woman he loved for long stretches of time. He'd had to struggle to keep his college education afloat while balancing terrestrial and other worldly crises that seemed to pop up on a weekly basis. He'd had to plan a wedding.

The hardest of all, however, had been having to sit back and not help his friends as they faced crises after crises, save for the occasional bits of information, when everything that made him who he was demanded he do everything in his power to help them.

Still, YenSid had insisted that was the best course of action available to them. It was obvious someone, or something, was on the move, and given how they had just barely survived Xemnas they would need every edge they could get. That was why he needed to move in secret, learning as much as he could and getting as strong as he could while trusting in his friends to be able to put out the wildfires that were popping up all over. He had to pick his moment very carefully.

Only now, his moment had been chosen for him.

Calum may not have been behind everything that was going on, but one thing was certain, he was smart, ruthless, and very dangerous. Now this smart, ruthless, dangerous man had Ari, and the only one close enough to fight him was Ray. Brandon knew Ray was powerful and determined, but that didn't mean he was going to let her fight alone. Refugees supported one another, and if he couldn't even do that, then there was no point in calling himself one.

That was why he had broken his silence, why he had taken his ship to Neverland to grab Ray, Peter, and Tink, and why the Cork was skimming over the water, new stealth systems activated, making a beeline for where Ari was.

This man had been hurting Brandon's friends for months while he'd been helpless to watch. Now it was time to pay him back for that.

*provides heroic... er... lighting?*

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

Ray, now a fairy, sat on the console with Tink as Brandon drove. Peter was hovering restlessly, listening to them talk.

"I don't even know where she is," she was saying, "not for sure. She said she was in a forest where she could hear Captain Hook, but--"

"Hook?! He's got her?" Tink demanded.

"No, no... well, maybe. She said she heard him, but I dunno." Ray sighed. "I dunno if I'll be able to do much to help, but--"

"But she's your friend isn't she?" Peter interrupted. "You have to try!"

"I will!" she retorted, taking flight in agitation. "But first we have to find her." She floated over to Brandon, glancing at the map for a moment before looking up at him. "Do you have any idea where we're going?"

Unfortunately for her, all he would hear is a bunch of doubtful jingles.

/rolls in the fog machine for added dramatics/

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

He listened carefully - other than the quiet murmuring of the crew belowdecks and the lapping of the water, the night was silent. Not even the ticking of that crocodile interrupted the peace. He closed his eyes, using that ability Josiah had to sense other people's souls. He almost smiled - an unwanted gift from the demon - even as he bypassed the souls of those on the ship, and extended the sense towards Nev-

No. Behind him. Across the water.

He looked back over his shoulder, and this time, he did allow himself a small smile. Well. This would be interesting.

[anzila.livejournal.com]

Brandon did have to admit, Ray's current form somewhat undercut the...seriousness of the situation.

Especially the jingling. The jingling was really hard to take seriously.

Still, he could extrapolate what she was probably asking about, given her body language, and what Peter had said. Tilting the joysticks slightly to keep the ship low to the waterline, he checked the sensors before saying, "When I heard Ari was in trouble I went to check the last planet she'd been on before we got world shifted again, just in case. I managed to find some signs of a battle, and the place stank of Calum's magic. After that I headed straight here and used my ships sensors to find where Ari is. She's on a ship just a few minutes away."

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

She didn't miss how he responded to the jingling. She could practically hear him laughing. But, given the current situation, she ignored it.

"Oh," Ray said simply, sitting back down. She wrung her hands and tried to think of ways she could help. She'd tried using her magic before, but for some reason it wouldn't work when she was like this. "What am I supposed to do to help," she mumbled, "shine light in his eyes?"

"That could work," Tink said brightly.

"Until he calls up those shadows," she muttered darkly. "But we'll get her." They sat in silence until Ray and Tink were both in the air again, fluttering in excitement.

"Is that it?" Peter demanded. "Is that the ship?" He squinted at it. "That's Hook's ship, isn't it?"

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

He walked to the port side of the ship, past a sleeping Ari and glanced out over the star-dotted waters. He sensed two souls that he recognized from Josiah's memories, and two that he didn't. Citizens of this world, perhaps? It didn't matter either way.

He closed his eyes, murmuring a spell in Welsh, and then held out a closed fist over the waters. The black waters bubbled ominously around a given radius of the ship, but other than that, did nothing spectacular. But the pirate didn't falter, just continued the spell, letting it die down after a moment.

[anzila.livejournal.com]

Again Brandon had to piece together what Ray was saying from her body language and Peter's words, though this time all he could figure out was that she was irritated about something. Of course, this being Ray, there were a fair number of possibilities for why she was annoyed.

"Peter, could you do me a favor and translate for those of us who don't speak fairy? Like me?"

Alan, sitting on the shelf where he was plugged into the ships computer squaked indignantly.

"Right sorry, and Alan. He doesn't speak fairy either."

Peter's question, however, preempted any further attempts to communicate, and looking back Brandon nodded grimly. "That's it."

Switching the Cork to autopilot, Brandon unstrapped himself from the pilot's chair and began making his way to the ship's entrance ramp. The Cork, in the meantime, lifted itself up so the ramp would line up with the deck of the ship.