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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Jan 24, 2011 15:54:54 GMT -8
It was another day on the Green Veil, and Captain Charlotte Jacobs stood at the foc's'le, spyglass in hand. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing... and their pursuers had been left far behind. It had taken a bit of a fire fight, and a lot of outsmarting the crew of the other ship, but they had gotten the upper hand. All in all, it was a very good day. Now, it was time to set sail for their home port, where they could divvy up the bounty, carouse, and determine where to set their sights next.
But for now, it was the open seas, and the wind filling the emerald green sails. They had a long way to go... and anything could happen.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Jan 24, 2011 16:15:17 GMT -8
"Captain, Captain" squawked the predominately orange parrot. "Ship, ship there's a ship!" The little bird relayed its message as it landed on the captain's shoulder. Moving quickly to sit atop Charlotte's hat the bird looked toward where it'd come from and called tauntingly. "Beat you, beat you!"
"No fair!" Ashlin yelled as she scrambled over to the pair. "You cheated!" she accused the bird.
"Did not!"
"Did too!" This continued for a few moments before finally the girl declared quite seriously. "Did so! And if you don't admit it I won't give you any treats!"
Squawking in distress Bo-Bo left his perch and landed on his human's shoulder. "Sorry." he apologized rubbing the girl's cheek.
"Apology accepted." Ashlin gave the bird a quick pat before she seemed to finally remember why she'd left the crow's nest in the first place. "Captain there's a ship to our starboard side, but it looks quite burned up."
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Jan 24, 2011 16:30:19 GMT -8
Charlotte grinned at her first mate... and her first mate’s parrot.
“Well, let’s go see what happened, shall we?” The thrill of the mystery thrummed through her veins. Of course, it’s bound to turn out that the danger still lingers and it’ll end up hounding us. That is the way our luck runs. But for now... the unknown was right off their starboard side.
She spun around, bounding towards the helm a few steps.
“Ahead starboard,” she called, “Prepare to board!”
She spun back around to face Ashlin again, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Ready to go see what secrets she holds?”
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Jan 24, 2011 17:07:33 GMT -8
"Of course!" She agreed happily. Ash would follow her captain wherever she lead, the woman had saved her life after all, and this ship was the only place that had ever really felt like home. "Ready Bo-Bo?" she asked the little bird who'd been her companion long before she'd boarded the Green Veil for the first time, and even before she'd met Charlotte. Squawking in agreement, the bird puffed himself up the way he always did before the went running head first into danger, and adventure. He thought it made him look tough, really it just made him look fluffy.
The closer they got to the ship the more eerie it appeared. Like some kind of ghost just drifting along without a destination, or a crew, or a soul. The sails had holes burned in them, charred scars littered the hull like it come out the wrong end of a fire fight. Laying one hand on musket and the other on her sword Ashlin prepared for whatever they would find.
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Jan 24, 2011 17:18:34 GMT -8
Charlotte leaned forward, brow furrowed, the grin sliding off her face as the wrecked ship grew closer. One hand tightened on the hilt of her sword. Whatever had happened had been massive... and it looked like more than just a normal fire fight. There was too much fire damage for it to have been suffered by merely trading volleys with another ship.
“Be careful,” she told Ashlin. “We don’t know what’s waiting for us below decks.” She turned to the rest of her crew that had gathered on deck. Quickly issuing standing orders, she returned her attention to the matter at hand.
They pulled alongside what was left of the other boat, and began the final preparations for boarding. Gripping the rope tightly, Charlotte swung over to the other deck, landing nimbly on her feet. She returned the rope so the Ashlin and the others chosen could join her.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Jan 24, 2011 18:19:14 GMT -8
Nodding to Bo-Bo the little bird took off, and Ashlin prepared to swing across. Giving it a nice running start Ash made the jump, body language practically screaming 'weeeeeeee'. Once she landed though she was the image of seriousness (okay so the effect was a little ruined by the bird sitting on her head and the amount of bright colors she was wearing) musket at the ready.
"Where to first Captain?" Ash asked as she glanced around the empty deck. It really did seem deserted, the fact that no one had come out yet was disconcerting enough, but to have no way at the wheel? What had happened to the lady.
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Jan 24, 2011 18:41:12 GMT -8
Charlotte surveyed the deck thoughtfully. Might as well start here.
“Let’s start by making sure there’s nothing up here. Then we’ll take it level by level. Stick together. We don’t know what happened yet, and there could still be trouble.” Drawing her sword, she began to carefully and methodically examine the ruined top deck. There had to be something; either something of value or a clue as to who had done this and why they had done it.
Seeing it up close confirmed what Charlotte had thought viewing the damage from the deck of her ship. This was caused by something more than a run-of-the-mill fire fight. Normal sea battles didn’t cause damage like this.
This was a ghost ship, caused by something unknown... and it sent shivers down her spine. She wouldn’t let this happen to the Green Veil.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Jan 24, 2011 19:36:06 GMT -8
"Creepyyyyyy" Bo-Bo commented from his perch and Ash nodded in agreement. As they made their way across the deck they found exactly what they'd thought they would: nothing. Making their way deeper into the ship the crew of the Green Veil seemed on edge. Nobody liked to see a ghost ship, especially didn't like being on one, just the wrongness of it. There were few things pirates feared but Ashlin would have to say ghost ships were one of them.
Finally reaching what Ashlin would guess were the Captain's quarters the girl tightened her grip on the musket in her hand, gun at the ready. They'd likely find as much nothing inside as on the rest of the ship but, nerves were on high alert, and she didn't want to take any chances.
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Post by The Smoking Man on Jan 24, 2011 19:43:07 GMT -8
Sitting in front of the door to the Captain's Quarters was something...less singed than the rest of the ship. This was strange, because it was, in fact, wooden -
A barrel. A barrel that seemed to be full of...preserved fish.
It stood like a mockery towards the rest of the scorched ship, the brand on the side plain to see - the skeleton of a bird in flight, a ribbon of smoke curling into a spiral from its open beak.
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Post by Tamika Weir on Jan 24, 2011 19:56:18 GMT -8
As Ash and Charlotte enter the Captain's quarter's they would notice that it is probably the most intact room of the ship. The quarters still smelled just as strongly of smoke as the rest of the ship, yet most of the furnishing appeared to have survived whatever had destroyed most of the rest of the ship. Yet the most unusual thing in the room would be found in the back, on what must have been the captain's bed. A small young woman with blood red hair lies motionless with one hand tightly clenched around a knife that is stuck in the wall.
The young woman's clothes are simple, a plain white long sleeved shirt and a plain pair of brown pants. Both are covered in ash and grime. The young woman herself is covered in the same grime. Her eyes are closed and she appears to be unconscious, though she still has a death grip on the black hilted knife.
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Jan 24, 2011 20:14:08 GMT -8
Charlotte paused by the barrel of preserved fish for a moment before heading into the Captain’s quarters. Preserved fish? Unburned preserved fish? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Did the symbol on the side of the barrel mean something? Represent who it was that had done this? She’d never seen it before. She pulled a scrap of parchment from a pouch on her belt, and quickly sketched a remarkably accurate copy of the brand before tucking the parchment back where she’d gotten it from.
Opening the door to the Captain’s quarters, she was surprised at how intact it was. Still smelled sickeningly of smoke, though. Even more surprising, however, was the survivor lying on the bed.
“Shit,” she muttered quietly, before crossing to the unconscious young woman’s side. “Can you grab the knife?” Charlotte asked Ashlin, “We’re taking her back to the Green Veil.” Sheathing her sword, she began trying to release the young woman's death grip on the knife in the wall.
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Post by Atlas on Jan 24, 2011 20:34:39 GMT -8
In another corner, a pile of weapons laid. Amongst them were pistols, rifles and swords. several empty liquor bottles were scattered around a limp body on the floor. The body belong to another survivor, known as Atlas.
He stirred a bit. There were other footsteps in the room. "Shit. How much rum was that again. I'll need to do better next time." he thought as his eyes came into focus. He let out a belch that got everyone's attention. He turned to his pile of weapons. "Morning, ladies. Ready for another day?" he asked them.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Jan 24, 2011 21:47:03 GMT -8
Looking in surprise between the two survivors (and just finding one was shock enough, given the state of the ship) and gun still pointed at the man when she'd turned in surprise at the belch. Further surprised by the man's cheery greeting, given the state of the ship she asked warily and just a hint confused "Captain?" nodding her head toward the man. Eyeing the bottle she wondered just how drunk the man had to be to not remember what ever it was that had happened here.
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Jan 24, 2011 22:58:58 GMT -8
The only sign of Charlotte’s surprise at finding a second survivor, and a DRUNK one at that, was a tilt of the head and a blink. She sighed, quickly formulating a new plan. How the hell could he be drunk enough to not remember what the hell happened? His bloody boat was on fire! You’d think that would stand out even through the alcohol-induced haze.
“Okay. Change of plans. I’ll get the girl AND her knife. Can you handle the drunk? Knock him out if he gives you any trouble.”
Her instincts were telling her to get off the burnt wreckage that used to be a boat as soon as possible. They hadn’t steered her wrong yet, so it was time to finish this expedition and get back to the Green Veil. On a whim she decided that the barrel of preserved fish would be going overboard. There was something... off about it.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Jan 25, 2011 23:02:27 GMT -8
Nodding at the instructions Ash made her way toward the drunk (ready hit him with the blunt of her gun if she had to.) "We need to be going now, captain's orders and all." she was rather cheerful in her delivery of her little order. Rather unpirate like one might say, but Ashlin did tend to win a good many fights by confusing her opponents. Well that and boobs. An overwhelming number of sailors tended to be male and their brains seemed to leak out of their ears just a bit when they were presented with an actual female instead of just the cabin boy in a dress. Not that Ashlin was all that aware of this particular advantage, or that she wore a dress (corsets were hell on one's ability to breath after all) but she reaped the benefits of it all the same. "So you can come along quietly or I can hit you till you black out again. Really its up to you but I don't think the hit will help that hangover you're likely sporting right about now, and you look rather heavy so I don't want to have to drag you anywhere."
Bo-Bo who was just a tad more aware of the occupational hazards toward Ashlin's maidenly virtue was more than ready to defend his mistress by pecking and clawing at any man who tried anything. He was rather like an over protective brother that way, and had been for a good while. Which was lucky for Ashlin as it wasn't easy to remain quite so naive in such matters when one was a bastard orphan.
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