wrfmlogsarchive | the light still dances beneath the skin

Entry tags:

ari,
ray

the light still dances beneath the skin

Who: Ari, Ray, and their crew
What: The co-captains decide to check up on their ship.
When: Friday, November 20
Where: on board the Amaranth
Status: in progress

Ray stepped out of the portal into the Captains' quarters, blinking rapidly at the sudden change of light. She swayed dangerously with the ship, and leaned heavily against a chair for support. They were out at sea, she realized. Flashing Ari a grin, she stepped out onto the deck, taking a deep breath of the ocean air.

Without wasting another moment, she strode past members of the crew toward the fore, ignoring the surprised cries they gave at the women's appearance. She stared out over the waters with a bright smile, realizing just how much she missed being on the water - especially without some crazy mission in mind and a nigh-murderous passenger.

Taking another deep breath, Ray turned around and spread her arms wide, slipping back into her accent easily as she shouted to anyone who could hear, "It's good to be back!"

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Ari followed directly behind Ray, relaxing almost immediately once they were firmly on their ship. Her grin was as wide as she could make it, and she hurried out to the deck, a slight blissful expression appearing. All the stress she had been feeling the past week fading into the distance.

She hung back slightly, giggling softly at the crews reaction to their sudden appearing act. "You've been behaving while we've been gone, have you?" She teased, glancing at a few of crew.

Members of the crew fidgeted at the question, and Ray's grin faded, arms falling to her sides. Only one of them was known for getting into trouble; the others were fairly well behaved, considering the fact that they were, well, pirates. The first mate gave a resigned sigh when she stared at him meaningfully.

"There was... a close encounter the other day," he explained without emotion. "We were near another ship when it was attacked by some sort of... monster, and we fled as soon as we could. It tried to come after us when it was done with them."

Ray couldn't help but stare as a feeling of dread welled up inside her. She glanced at Ari and back at John. After a pause, she said slowly, "I think we may need to talk in private."

The smile slid off her face, and the expression dropped right off as Ari stared at them. She listened quietly, worry creeping back into it as she eyed them all for any injuries, the mother hen part of her unable to not worry over them.

Knots tightened in her stomach, and she breathed deeply, glancing at Ray. "I think we do." Ari said quietly, biting her lower lip.

With a nod, she led the way back into the Captains' quarters, grabbing John by the arm along the way. Once the door was shut firmly behind them, she released her grip on him and sighed..

"So, a monster." Ray sat heavily on one of the beds. "Let's start with the basics. What did it look like?"

"It was... like the Kraken of legend, but not," he began. "It was black, with yellow eyes and purple markings all over its body. And there was a strange red mark on its head, in the shape of a heart." He paused, looking down at the floor for a moment before raising his eyes to meet theirs. "It destroyed that ship, and everyone on it. And then it came for us. We barely escaped it."

The knots in her stomach got worst as she listened, what little light in the room making her face paler than it already was. It didn't sound good. It didn't sound good at all. They were all lucky to be alive and she was extremely glad they were. Ari had no idea how she'd come back to a missing crew and no ship.

She glanced at Ray, gnawing on her lower lip. Would this be the part where they spilled everything....?

Ray's eyes narrowed as he described it. There was no doubt about what it was, and the crew had come so close to being lost because of it. She gave a sigh and ran her hands through her hair. She looked up at their first mate with a resigned look in her eyes.

"Well--"

She was cut off when the ship suddenly shook violently, nearly throwing her off the bed and knocking John to his knees. They heard the muffled, surprised cries from crew members, and, after a few moments, a scream before the ship shook again.

Ari did some windmill arm flailing as the ship shook, not having grounded herself to a chair or something. Landing ungracefully on her ass, she swore a few favorites hearing the sounds going on outside.

"We'll have to save the explaining for later." She said, doing a quick check of her supplies. Unhooking her fans, she grinned viciously at Ray. "And if that's the damn Kraken coming back for seconds, I guess we better go greet it."

Ray stood, keeping her feet spread just enough to balance herself for the next time it shook. She shot Ari a smile, a furious spark in her eyes betraying the calmness in her stance.

"We'll give it a meal it won't forget. John, if you have a gun on you, draw it. We're not running away this time." Without drawing a weapon herself, Ray strode out onto the deck, carefully controlled facade in place. It wouldn't do to show fear in front of the crew, after all.

There was a odd calm about her, almost like this was so familiar there was no reason at all to freak out about heading into a battle. Hell, to be honest it felt good going back to familiar territory. Heartless was something she at least knew how to fight.

She glanced at John smiling reassuringly and followed Ray out, her expression calm. "Well for one thing, it's pretty ugly." She said conversationally, staring at the Kraken. Her eyes swept across the deck, checking on the crew before turning back to Ray. "Shall we?"

Ray hung back as John began to give out orders. She didn't have any long-distance weapons, which was probably for the better, if she were to be completely honest. Aim wasn't exactly her forte.

"So, I can't really fight this thing unless we want to use magic," she told Ari in a low voice, "and that might cause a riot among the crew, maybe even a mutiny. Sailors can be really superstitious, after all... But if you're up for taking that risk, I've got a spell that should do a number on this guy." She stumbled as the ship rocked again, but somehow managed to stay on her feet by clinging to the various ropes strung about. Fire would be fun to use on him, but we probably want to be a little more direct... "If not, I can just snag a gun from someone and go wild. Fuck knows they've got enough of 'em."

"We might want to hold off for the moment." Ari murmured, making a slight face. "Although I'd love to test out that new move I was working on right now."

She made another face and took a moment to shout a few orders of her own, grinning when someone began bringing out the big guns they had stashed. "I sorta wish they were automatic, but I guess we can rock the Pirate Style Rambo." Ari added offhandedly, before grabbing one of the said guns.

She nodded, snatching up a gun for herself and making sure it was loaded and ready. "Just because they're not automatic doesn't mean they don't hurt," she said as she took a shot at the Kraken. She'd fully expected to miss completely - her aim wasn't exactly the greatest - and found herself surprised and a bit elated when it hit a flying tentacle. She pinned that one down to luck.

Of course, as with all refugees' luck, it turned sour a moment later when that same tentacle came hurtling toward her and the surrounding crew members.

Ray had enough time to yell, "Shit!" and dive out of the way, dropping the rifle in the process. She cursed again and glanced at the spot where she'd been, only to see the Kraken snag one of the men and drag him away, screaming in terror. She growled and grabbed the nearest gun she could find and opened fire.

"I'm not losing my ship or my crew to a fucking Heartless calamari! Boys, let's send this bastard back to Davy Jones!"

Ari opened fire on the Kraken, determined not to lose any of her men. "You're damn right we're sending him to Davy Jones." She shouted, tossing the empty gun aside for another. "We'll even stick a pretty bow on it."

The good thing about her magic was for the most part is was rather invisible. With a lightly casted aero, her bullets had a decently better accuracy and hit the offending tentacle faster than she was firing them. Hopefully no one was paying close attention.

However, doing such a thing needed focus and Ari never noticed the tentacle slamming into her back, sending her flying across the deck.

"Ari!" she yelled as her co-captain was tossed around like a rag doll. She stopped her attack, watching the girl anxiously and mentally arguing the pros and cons of using magic now.

As she finally reached a decision, Ray yelled, "Keep it up, boys! This thing'll be gone in no time!" Then she raced to a secluded spot, grabbed tightly onto a rope coiled around one of the banisters, and began to meditate. She needed positive emotions for this, so she focused on the ship in perfect shape and everyone being normal pirates and enjoying the life that entailed. Soon enough, light was pooling around her feet. She opened her eyes, quickly locating the nearest tentacle, and sent her magic hurtling at it like a lance.

Ari slid down the pole she hit, her head swimming from the pain. "I think I've been tentacled." She said giddily, a dazed smile crossing her face. "I've always wanted to try that once."

She clutched onto one of the boys who came to her side, frowning slightly when she realized her eyes weren't quite focusing. "....I do believe I require a potion."

She had just enough time to make a face at the comment before the Kraken let out a bellow of pain and no small amount of rage as the magic barreled into its tentacle. The ship jolted violently, nearly throwing Ray overboard. She hit the banister hard, all the air in her lungs escaping in an instant, and fell back onto the deck in a daze. She clutched weakly at the rope, hand twisted painfully from getting the full brunt of the impact. Darkness swam before her eyes as she gasped for breath.

When her senses finally began to return, Ray found herself rolling with the ship and let out a quiet groan. "Maybe... that wasn't such a good idea," she murmured.

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the light still dances beneath the skin

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OTL I just fail at tags this month

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