Private Tales All That Glitters is Gold

[Xavion Stratus]

Dusk, west of Kiva...

The Akiva Sea glistened with gold beams of light protruding from the gathering storm clouds above. A whimsical fog danced along the water's surface. The silhouette of a fine sleek sailing ship carefully maneuvered through the fog, steadily cutting across the dubious waves as it gradually moved towards a tall island peak that could barely be seen in the hazy distance.

Xavion Stratus walked along the length of the black ship's upper deck, clad in his form-fitting uniform, cape, and his usual few pieces of armor. His keen eyes vigilantly peered into the obscuring mist as he came to a stop at the ship's bow. The crew quietly waited around the deck, most of them armed with crossbows and blades while a few others operated the ship's ballistae mounted at each of the vessel's four corners. The sound of the tide could be heard breaking across the obscure cliff edges to starboard, echoing throughout a narrow passageway that curved in towards the center of the uncharted island.

A few moments later Xavion held up the back of his fist to the crew, gesturing for them stop the ship. A wave of orders were silently relayed throughout it, causing the crew to reel in the rest of the sails. Not far from the entrance of the island's dangerous passage there seemed to be the edge of another ship, seemingly anchored and waiting as though its crew had already disembarked. Or at least some of them anyway. As they gradually slowed to a stop and drew closer Xavion could faintly make out a couple figures patrolling the deck, not yet aware of the slowly approaching ship to their stern.

Xavion reached back and pulled his silver spear out to his right side. His grip tightened around the weapon's upper half while he lowered the tip towards the deck. His left foot stepped up onto the ship's rail. He calmly drew in a deep breath, steadied himself, and patiently waited until the ram of his ship peered out of the fog just enough for one of the patrolling men to finally notice. That was when Xavion burst into action. The breeze fiercely whipped up around him, billowing his hair and cape for but a second before he suddenly shot forth from the bow of the ship and across the gap to the other's stern.

The startled man barely had a chance to call out before Xavion stepped out of the air in front of him and lanced the tip of his spear through the guard's chest while landing on the deck. A blast of wind followed and threw the man's body down in the wake of the attack. One of the other nearby crewmen gasped and staggered back upon noticing the lethal ambush, then drew his sword and began to alert the rest of the crew when a large ballista bolt suddenly impaled him through the side of his ribs and shot him over the ship's bulwark to the dark waters below.

Xavion took a steady breath as he yanked his spear from the fallen man's chest, and snapped his icy blues up to the next guard across from him.

 

[Lamirose]

The ocean was getting darker by the minute as dusk slowly fell over the Akiva sea. Lamirose cut through the water, her gray tail slicing through the water with precise ease. She kept her eyes peeled on the ocean floor as she swam, and she was so focused that it took her a moment to notice the shadow that fell over her, casting everything beneath it into an even deeper darkness. She slowed and paused, looking above her to see the bottom of a massive, wooden ship.

She followed it with her eyes as it moved closer to another ship that was anchored at a nearby island. She had been swimming in no particular direction, and suddenly she found herself surrounded by landfarers on both sides. A mixture of excitement and fear coursed through her, her previous search momentarily forgotten. She continued swimming towards the island until she reached a secluded cove. She pulled herself out of the water, her black hair parted on either side of her neck and plastered to her skin. Water droplets ran off her skin and tail in rivulets as she decided whether or not it was worth it to shift to her human form.

When she heard a splash she decided it would be best to stay in her current form. She found a large rock she could lean on without being seen, so the base of her tail could also rest in the water. The air was cold on her skin and goose bumps rose quickly on her skin but her excitement overshadowed it as she saw what appeared to be a naval battle unfold in front of her.

The ship anchored to the abandoned island was mostly deserted and for a brief moment Lamirose wondered if the rest of the crew was on the island but she was in a secluded enough part of the island that she would hear anyone coming before they saw her.

She saw a fair-haired man in blue jump from one ship to another and proceeded to kill the first man he met, while a weapon from behind him got another one. The few men on the ship quickly gathered around the man in blue and Lamirose leaned forward a few inches as the wind picked up, drying her hair and lifting a few strands around her face.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

Without hesitation Xavion quickly rotated his right wrist clockwise and back, whipping the tip of his spear up through the air to parry away an incoming attack from one of the enemy crewmen. After flicking the man's blade away, Xavion then stepped forward with a powerful lunge after angling the spearpoint back down towards the man's chest.

The man painfully yelled out as the weapon pierced his heart with enough force to throw his body back several feet where he collapsed. It seemed more of the waiting crew had been alerted by the ambush, and more of them spilled out from the lower deck to charge the seemingly lone warrior. Then another large ballista bolt ripped through the air and skewered another guard that had almost reached Xavion's left side.

Xavion brandished his spear from left to right in a smooth motion of double arcs that almost looked like he was spinning his spear around until he grounded his stance and flicked his steely gaze between another pair of crewmen that charged at him from the front of both his sides. The blue caped soldier swept his left foot forward and advanced to intercept their charge.

The silver spear gleaned with a golden ray of light as Xavion used its metal shaft to knock away the first sword coming his way, then used his offhand to grab the lower half of the spear and twist it so the tip pointed down nearly into the deck to stop another man's sword from cutting into Xavion's thigh. Without stopping, Xavion then quickly rotated his spear back up to deflect the other man's blade.

The spear's tip hastily flashed through the air, slashing across the throat of the guard on Xavion's left before he used the opposite end of his weapon to parry another attack from the guard to his right. He then kicked hard against the man's torso, sending the crewmen staggering back just far enough away from Xavion that one of his own crew was able to get a clean shot on the guard.

A volley of crossbow bolts whistled through the sky as Xavion's ship gradually coasted up alongside the enemy vessel, bringing the crew into an advantageous position to start picking off the enemy who were still scrambling into action. Xavion flourished his spear and caught it under his right arm so the tip pointed at the deck and the other end pointed skyward behind his head. With his crew thinning out the number of reinforcements, Xavion calmly began to walk down the stairs on his way to the captain's quarters.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose watched as the blue man fought and killed anyone that tried to come near him. She watched with a strange awe until he descended below deck, leaving carnage above. The ship he had come from came out of the mist and more men jumped from one to the other. A man with a large, feathered hat stepped across the small gap and it didn't take a genius to understand that that man was the captain. Lamirose wondered who the blue man was.

A fat raindrop plopped on her head and she shivered involuntarily. She raised herself higher up on the rock as the wind picked up speed and the rain fell harder. Her hair whipped around her in thick, wet strands and she was so wet now she didn't notice that her tail was no longer in the salt water of the ocean.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

The door to the Captain's Quarters flew open from the breach by Xavion's armored foot, which quickly returned to the floor after kicking it open. He barely had time to react to the sudden glow of a red rune etched into a stone slab on the desk at the other side of the room.

"Uh oh." Xavion bluntly stated before he pivoted his left side towards the radiant stone and raised his left gauntlet to cover his face. The warded slab then burned bright and ignited with a loud thundering explosion that rocked the entire ship. A massive shockwave erupted outward in all directions, blasting the senses of everything within range of the explosive magic blast -- above and below water.

The enemy ship's stern blew apart in a sudden plume of flame and smoke. Smoldering chunks of wood and debris splintered out like shrapnel. Xavion loudly grunted as he was thrown back halfway across the ship and slammed into a wooden beam. His ears were ringing and his vision was dizzy as he slumped off the beam and landed on his knees.

Multiple lacerations covered his chest, hips, and thighs. A few pieces of wood stuck out of his body, dripping faint trails of crimson. Xavion coughed and tried to steady his breath when he noticed the end of the ship in front of him was quickly filling with water. He could hear his crew shouting above deck, the sounds of their footsteps above him echoed in his ears as he stabbed the tip of his spear into the floor of the lower deck and used it to push himself up to his feet.

"Xav!" His Captain yelled from the top of the stairs near the bow of the ship. The bulky man took a step back as the wooden planks under him began to crackle and snap. "Get yer ass up here, lad!"

"Get back to the ship!" Xavion coughed out, yanked the speartip out, and staggered towards the stairs he'd descended earlier, back in the direction of the Captain's Quarters. The back end of the ship was already submerged enough that he wouldn't be able to get into what was left of the quarters for now, if there was even anything still left of it.

Then his balance shifted and lurched to the side, or rather the entire ship was beginning to angle skyward as the back half of it began to break apart and sink. Everything around Xavion gradually rotated counterclockwise with the dipping and rolling of the groaning hull. He was still dazed from the explosion and impact, on the brink of collapsing yet he preserved with one foot pulling in front of the other until he heard the wood above him crack, and snap.

Xavion's vision then suddenly went black, and his body disappeared under the dark water that was flooding the lower deck. Part of the upper deck had collapsed on top of him, and was pinning him under the water while the rest of the ship continued to break apart and sink with him trapped inside. Meanwhile, his Captain and the rest of the crew that survived the rune's explosion had made it back to their own ship, which was now in dire need of repairs but still afloat.

A few minutes began to pass, and more of the enemy ship continued to sink while the other crew watched over the rails of their own and continued to search for any sign of Xavion.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose's hand slipped on the wet rock from which she was watching and she sliced open the underside of her forearm. She hissed in pain and slid backwards down the rock an inch, examining the cut. Suddenly the air was torn by an explosion. Lamirose lost her grip and tumbled backwards down the rock, partially from surprise but also due to her proximity to the two ships.

She splashed down into the water but quickly pulled herself back up in time to see the pirate ship anchored to the island begin to go down. She forgot momentarily about the blue man that had gone below decks and not returned, and dove back into the water. She swam around the edge of the island, and towards the sinking ship, dodging debris. The ship created a current, tugging debris and some unlucky sea life with it as it sank to the bottom of the ocean. It was less work for Lamirose to follow it down and soon she came even with it.

She stayed back a ways, watching the wreckage as it slowly hit the ocean floor; the ocean was not as deep this close to the island, maybe ten, twenty feet. She saw a flash of blue and in a flurried panic darted behind a large armchair.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

The Allirian soldier's golden locks shimmered with the waning light that barely reached the bottom of the coral reef. Rocky protrusions towered up in the direction of the island, where countless sealife had taken cover in small alcoves and large coral structures after the explosion.

Xavion's body was limp, and though he had been pinned between the collapsing decks during the slow descent to the ocean floor he seemed to have a little more space around him once the ship finally set down and rested its broken hull.

Planks and beams shifted during the final moments of the ship crashing down on top of vast stretches of the coral reef. The last bits of motion from the eeriely creaking ship finally freed Xavion enough from between the decks that his seemingly unconscious body would be a little easier to pull out from the pair of beams pinning his left leg and arm.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose slowly swam out from behind the chair when she saw the blue was indeed the man from earlier, and he seemed to be unconscious. Blood wafted out from his body in deep red plumes, making it almost beautiful as his body drifted in the water. A bubble escaped his nose, proving he was still alive. Without thinking, she swam forward, wriggling between the wooden wreckage of the ship.

She grabbed the man under his arms and pulled him backwards out the way she had come in; ignoring the sharp slice she received along the base of her tail. Once they were a few feet from the wreckage, she swam back to the island to her secluded corner, so the crew looking for him couldn't see her bringing him back up to the surface.

When they were both completely out of the water, she stilled, not knowing what to do to revive him, or if he would come around of his own accord. His bare chest rose and fell slowly, wooden shards plugging some of his wounds. She leaned over him, her hair falling on either side of her face like a curtain, the tips brushing his face and chest.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

A few brief moments passed before Xavion suddenly coughed up a mouthful of water. He gasped for air again, and slightly sat up as he spat out the remaining water. His chest heaved. He took in a large deep breath, faintly coughing up a couple more times before he finally realized someone's hair was still partly clinging to his damp skin.

Xavion paused and slowly turned his head towards the source of the long black strands. Instincts caused him to reach for the handle of his longsword once he saw the being next to him, a Kivren from the looks of her, but then he stopped himself. His eyes hesitantly shot around the alcove, then back to who he assumed must've pulled him out of the sinking ship. Or perhaps he'd just washed up and she'd already been here. He wasn't sure, but she didn't seem to be hostile at least.

"Not keeping me for a snack, I hope." A slightly sarcastic remark, though he wasn't sure if that's actually what she was planning or if there were others of her kind nearby.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose jerked back, her long black locks on either side of her neck, reaching her waist. She did not miss it when he reached for his weapon and she scooted back, her tail folded under her. His hand dropped however, but he still looked at her warily. Any other of her kind would have easily killed him in his weakened state where he lay, despite his brave attempt at defense.

When he spoke, she let out a soft exhale. A snack? This man must be stupid. If she wanted him for a snack he would not be conscious, let alone on land.

"I don't crave the taste of lander flesh," she said, her voice soft and powerful all at once.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

"Well that's reassuring." Xavion let out a slightly unnerved breath, but still seemed to lighten his mood in the process. He started to check his wounds and the damage to his gear, pulling at a few of the cuts across his uniform before looking around the alcove again. He didn't seem to have his spear around for now. Likely it was still around the same place he'd fallen.

"Did you pull me out of there?" He asked with a more grateful tone. She more than likely would've noticed the way his eyes trailed across her exotic and beautiful form. He paused, taken aback by not only her beauty, but by the kriven's alluring voice as well.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose was grateful when he decided not to kill her, or at least attempt to. She watched silently as he looked around himself for his belongings. She did not miss the way he look at her; many male Kivren had looked at her that way- but not for long. Once attracted by her beauty and magic, they were quickly repelled by her rebellious nature and obsession with landers.

"Yes," she replied. "You should go back to your crew, they are looking for you," she continued, starting to slide backwards into the water. Her tail was now completely in the water, her stomach pressed into the wet rock. It was still raining lightly.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

"Guess I owe you one then.." Xavion flicked his eyes up and down the girl's exotic frame. It was his first time actually encountering a Kivren, as she might be able to tell from the way he curiously gazed at her tail and bare torso.

"Ahm.." He cleared his throat and respectfully looked away from the mysterious stranger. "Thanks. Xavion, by the way." He then stood and gazed at her again, this time doing his best to keep his gaze on her eyes rather than her alluring features.

"Looks like it might be getting too dark out there for me to dive for my spear and return to the ship. I'm sure they'll be here for a day or two working on repairs. Which means I'll just have to camp out here for the night I guess, that is--if you don't mind me staying here, of course." The blond swordsman that politely tipped his head and bowed his chest, returning his eyes to hers once more after straightening his posture.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose paused in her re-entrance to the sea. “Lamirose,” she replied softly, introducing herself after Xavion had given his name. She looked around the cave, and then outside. It was getting dark, and there was room in the cave for Xavion to make camp.

Lamirose shook her head. “I don’t mind,” she said. She slid further backwards into the water until it lapped at her chin, her black hair floating on the surface around her. “I’ll be back,”

Her head disappeared under the water.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

"Hopefully not with more of your--" Xavion sarcastically began as Lamirose disappeared into the water. "--kind." Then he shrugged and looked around the little cove some more. He could feel the brisk air against his wet clothes and exposed torso, giving him a slight chill across his skin.

Several pieces of damaged wooden planks had washed into the cave, some of which were dry and old, while a few others seemed to have arrived only recently. Xavion gathered a few of the dry pieces, bundling them together near the middle of the cave.

After a few minutes of gathering wood and breaking some of the planks into smaller kindling, Xavion prepared a small area with bits and pieces of the dry wood. Then he knelt down and pulled opened one of his sealed pouches to bring out a small piece of steel and flint. With a practiced hand he struck them together and sent a few sparks into the kindling, repeating the process enough until the fire began to crackle along the wood.

"That oughta do it." He released a heavy breath and placed the tools back into his pouch again. Then he placed his tattered shirt on a stone near the gradually growing fire so that it would begin to warm up and dry out, along with the wet pieces of wood so that they'd be ready for use if he needed them.

Then he leaned back onto his hands, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. The events leading up to the explosion played back through his mind. His objective was still down there, if the relic he'd been after was still somehow intact. For now he'd wait, listening to the soothing crackle and pops of the small warm fire in front of him.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose swam quickly away from the cave where the man she had rescued stayed. Like she had suspected, her pod was quick to close in on the wreck, diving for the unlucky drowned sailors. Though she did not know Xavion, no one deserved such a fate; she looked away from her pod sister tearing into a man's flesh, dark red blood pluming like ink in the water.

One of them caught sight of her and darted towards her. "Where have you been, sister?" she hissed, grabbing Lamirose's wrist, her nails digging into Lami's wrist. Lami opened and closed her mouth, yanking her arm out of her sister's grasp. "Are you surprised I got to the scene first?" she hissed back, thinking of Xavion in the cave a distance behind her.

The sister flicked her tail, swimming backwards a ways. "Stay here, and watch us," she said, gesturing to the bloody feast taking place. "Your mother would hear otherwise; you're in enough trouble as it is," she continued, before turning tail and diving back into the fray. Lamirose swam backwards slowly, nausea rising in her stomach. She faced the cave she had come from and swam down a little, rather than lead her sisters to Xavion.

It was dark and Lami sat on a boulder wedged into the murky bottom, surrounded by the remains of human men. Her sisters had left a while ago, and she had searched the carnage, finding the pendant. It now hung around her neck, the small gold pendant resting on her sternum, glinting between floating strands of her hair. She swam around the back of the cave to the secret nook where she hid a set of clothes in case she felt the urge to shift to her human form. She shifted and pulled the clothes on. She had discovered rather the hard way that a human woman ought to cover herself up, torso and legs, which she found rather annoying but she did it anyway, considering the way Xavion had looked at her before she left.

She swam back into the cave in her human form, the clothes wet from the waist down. She wore only a white smock and an overskirt and her legs were a little shaky as she straightened in the entrance of the cave. It appeared Xavion had made himself a fire, and it warmed her cold, wet skin.

 

[Xavion Stratus]

Xavion found himself clearing his throat and standing once Lamirose reemerged from the water. "Welcome back." He gave a small respectful bow, trying not to draw attention to the fact that he was surprised not only to see she now had clothes and legs, but that the very item he'd been looking for seemed to be dangling from her neck.

"That's a rather nice pendant." Xavion eyed the relic suspiciously, familiar with the look of the item he'd been ordered to retrieve. If this wasn't the same item, then it must've been some sort of duplicate. He wouldn't jump to conclusions for now, and it didn't seem right to just claim the item and take it from her, even if it was the very same relic that had been in the ship he and his father's crew had chased across the sea.

"Had it for very long?" The question was mostly rhetorical, though the curiosity was clear in his tone. He then pulled up a large stone not too far from where he'd been sitting and extended his hand towards it to offer the girl a seat.

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose raised an eyebrow as Xavion dipped his head to her in a sort of bow, but didn't say anything. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, trying to decide what to say, when Xavion spoke first. She fingered the pendant; she could feel the cold metal through the fabric of her smock and her heart beating against it.

"It was my mother's," she replied, letting her hand return by her side. She took a seat on the proffered stone, glad not to have to stand on her new legs any longer. No matter how many times she shifted to her human form, her legs always seemed to be a little weak and she could never get anywhere fast on them. She found herself staring at Xavion's legs, wondering what it would be like to watch him run. She raised her eyes back to his when he spoke again.

"It was stolen from her, and I retrieved it." she responded, technically not answering his question. "Why?"

Xavion Stratus

 

[Xavion Stratus]

Xavion sat back onto the rock he'd been relaxing on earlier, keeping an eye on the girl's new accessory as he did so. He couldn't deny her story, for all he knew it had once belonged to her family. He didn't know much about it's origin, other than it had originally been rediscovered by his father's mysterious organization near this part of the world.

"I see." He slightly bobbed his head to the side, and did his best not to sound like he was too interested in the pendant even though he was. Then he turned his gaze to the fire. "I've heard of a relic similar in appearance to the one dangling from your neck. It's said the item is capable of casting light in the darkest of places."

The blond haired swordsman flicked a curious glance back to Lamirose's pendant. "That's just a rumor though. Don't suppose yours is capable of anything like that."

 

[Lamirose]

Lamirose was not dumb, she knew Xavion wanted the pendant around her neck. His description of it giving light in the darkest of places matched the one that rested on her breastbone. She tilted her head at him, absentmindedly fingering the pendant.

"It is," she replied bluntly. "I suppose the landers would pay good money for it," she continued. "Is that why you want it?"

The most common tale her mother would tell her of landers was their greed. They could never have enough money and power and they would do anything for it. As if that justified the Kivren's own actions, their own greed. But as she watched Xavion, he did not appear to be of the greedy sort. She wondered, then, why he wanted the pendant.

Xavion Stratus