Private Tales Too Heavy a Treasure

[Danny]

MJK

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Unnamed fishing village
Black Bay, Aina O Ka La
Nightfall
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​

The winds howled as soon as the man set foot outside his ship, docked in the tiny harbor of that village. Danny's hair were messed up as he felt the cold sting of the sea breeze for the first time that day, after days of slow travelling thanks to the lack of wind. He was sure something was up with his luck, or someone had done some kind of juju for him. Either way, the lack of activities that month prompted him to take a rather extreme measure, one that he preferred to avoid, but alas, circumstances ended up forcing his hand. His quartermaster, Rhondon, already set aside some of the crewmembers to go into town and search for supplies for the long journey ahead, before joining up with Danny, walking amongst the crowds of villagers.

"You sure we should take this contract, captain?" Questioned his best mate, the only half orc in the world to actually earn Danny's trust and friendship. He wasn't a big fan of them, or their brutish and sometimes cannibalistic ways. Well, at least the orcs that he did meet were like that, and Rhondon always said that they were honorless rogues. He'd take his friend's word for the moment, as his mind was occupied with other thoughts.

"We don't really have a choice. Month's been slow and we have wages to pay, else we could have a mutiny on our hands", Danny replied swiftly afterwards, rudely pushing aside a villager with his shoulder, without even looking back. He didn't enjoy being anywhere near the Black Bay, especially since he was kind of a wanted man in those parts. There were more than a few pirate crews just itching to take his head for his infamous ways of taking prizes and attacking other pirates, instead of defenseless merchant ships. But that was the Calypso's way. They never attacked weaker ships when there were more rewards to be pried off some other pirates' hands. Always seek the biggest target, as his adopted father used to say. It wasn't just a matter of honor, but a matter of pride, and Danny was a prideful man.

"This is the place then", Rhondon said as they stopped in front of a broken wooden gate leading to a uninhabited place filled with big, wild plants and a terrible scent that could be felt from miles away.

The whole fishing village was a poor facade to a very discreet business, tended by wealthy and corrupt merchants seeking no attention from raiders or other unwanted parties. Top grade smuggling, as they used to boast around. One of their fences was the one to contact Danny shortly after his little venture in Alliria, having heard of his deeds and his expertise, and they were very serious about his contract, whose reward was far too great to pass on. Danny and his crew needed the coin, and those fatty merchants were stupid enough to pay so much money for such a simple job as transporting illegal cargo through royal ports.

"Ah, the man of the hour! Welcome, Captain Reed!" Spoke one of the leaders of that shady business as soon as Danny and Rhondon stepped inside a much more organized area, a clean and rich courtyard filled with many wonders and a few large wooden boxes, which Danny assumed to be the cargo they were to transport. The contract spoke of the cargo to be taken to an associate of theirs in Elbion, but it said nothing of what exactly it was.

"Not really up for small talk, gents. Just give me the cargo and hand me half my payment in advance so I can set out about my business, if you would", Danny said with an air of light rudeness as he rested his hands on top of his guns holstered on his wast, almost hidden from sight thanks to his long and dark cloak. Rhondon was already checking a few of the boxes, but he had no success in opening them to check their contents, as some of the guards appeared to help them in carrying them to Danny's ship.

"Very careful, Mr Reed! This is most important and fragile cargo, and a bit heavy too", said another one of the merchants, his face so taken by wrinkles that Danny thought he was talking to a walking corpse.

Before he could muster up a toxic enough response to that man, their guards started lifting the boxes and taking them towards Danny's ship, with Rhondon fast behind them, his brutish figure enough to put off a few curious looks from the villagers as they passed through the very small, seaside town. The third merchant arrived with a purse heavy with coin, carefully putting in Danny's palm.

"Pleasure doing business", Danny whispered before taking his leave and started walking towards the exit, failing to hear one of the merchants' own whispers before he departed, back to his already loaded ship.

"I'm sure you will, Captain Reed... I'm sure you will."

 

[MJK]

It was dark. Too dark. Darker than any abyss she had tried to swim into, even on dares as a young child. Zara knew that whatever place she had been put in wasn't itself devoid of light...it was instead the thick, itchy blindfold that had been wound around her head to cover her ears and eyes. Sirens were deadly, but like any creature they relied on their senses. By both blinding her and muffling any noise she could hear, any attempts she made at escape were bound to fail.

Not only could she not see, but her back was beginning to ache terribly. The small space forced her to hunch over in a fetal position. Only lying down or sitting against the wooden wall at her back with her knees at her chest was even vaguely comfortable. Things had been silent for what felt like hours, but a few moments ago she had been moved from one room to another. Even if she couldn't see, she could still feel her weight being lifted up and carried from a much cooler, underground room to somewhere warmer above ground.

What she was focusing on now was the voices, straining her ears to pick up any details at all through the cloth bound around her ears. Despite her best efforts, she could hear nothing but the rise and fall of different tones and no distinct words. She might have screamed for help, banged against the sides of the walls...but the criminals who had captured her had been well prepared. Gagged and bound at the wrists and ankles was how she had woken up, both of which would not have been possible if she hadn't been in her human form when they found her.

Lucky bastards. It was a stupid mistake I made, trying to get them at the warehouse instead of cutting their throats in their sleep. Zara cursed again in her head, feeling her anger bubble up inside her once more. She had been sent to investigate the mysterious disappearances of her clans soldiers. All of them had vanished while scouting for items from islands around their territory. She knew now, all too late, that they had been captured by radical smugglers after bigger prizes than simple tobacco or sugar off of merchant vessels.

Zara was forced back to the present when she was lifted up once more, the sudden movement making her fly into the wood beside her and sending splinters into her cheek. If she could swear out loud she would, but instead had to suffice with the string of foul words in her siren language that went off in her head. It got cooler again, but she knew she wasn't being taken back underground. The faintest sea breeze reached her nose, the siren's eyes widening under the blindfold. She strained against the ropes binding her, her face was firmly pressing up against the sides of the container so she could breathe in the scent deeper.

The sea called to her, singing a woeful song that longed for her to return home. The salty scent only reminded her of her time spent out of the ocean, her skin feeling drier than it had only seconds before. A small whimper sounded in her throat, before Zara forced herself to become more steely. I will return. I just need to find a way out of here first.

Eventually, she was placed back down. What was strange though is that she felt a slight swaying beneath her, as if the floor wasn't completely still. Little did she know she had been placed on Captain Reed's ship, the swaying being the ship bobbing on the waves of the incoming tide.

 

[Danny]

Without looking back at those strange eyes seemingly stalking over him, Danny went aboard his ship just moments before the crew started loosing the sails and detaching them from the village's docks. With a few pats on backs and shoulders of his trusted companions, Danny made his way towards the ship's helm, being greeted by his fellow Ship Master and one of the wisest people he ever met, Mr Declan.

"Set a course to Elbion, Mr Declan. As swift as you can", the captain spoke, his hand resting on the man's shoulder only slightly as the Master responded him with a friendly smile.

"As fast as the winds will take us, captain", said Mr Declan. Danny nodded to his words and took his leave, being surprised by one of the crew members, who stated that the boxes were already fully set below, well organized and now just waiting to reach their destination. And he had to admit, that was the moment that Danny's curiosity started to get the better of him.

One of the main clauses of his contract with those pompous smugglers explicitly said that any defect to those boxes, especially if they were opened before the intended destination, meant a huge breach of conduct and that Danny would be 'dealt with' as per their lease. To be honest, Danny had quite the laugh when he first read that part, imagining those merchants and their filthy little mercenaries trying to put up a fight with him, but that seemed to change when he laid eyes upon that village. It was all so tidy and calm, not really fit to the Black Bay's standards, especially not when they're taken with raiders, pillagers and all manner of scum that aren't brave enough to ply their trade in more... noble and fortified areas. Of course, they would hide in their twisted comfort of that fortress, Cerak At'Thul, and that was the one place that Danny was of a mind to never try and storm. Not unless he had a whole fleet of war ships, that is.

Reed tried to think himself different from those ordinary degenerates. Aye, he was a pirate, and a mad good one at that, mind. But he and the Calypso's crew liked to call themselves more of a group of buccaneers, or less organized privateers. They had honor, codes of principles, and more than anything, they liked to target the bad guys. Danny never took a merchant ship as prize, but preferring to seize their cargo from the hands of other unfortunate pirates who thought themselves too great a shot in those waters.

He made quite a name for himself for that. The Scourge of the West Seas, the Honored Buccaneer, they even called him a pirate hunter at times. He actually enjoyed the attention, and it provided him with the means to climb even further and establish himself as a true pirate captain, with the help of his crew.

A few hours later, Danny woke up in the bed of his cabin, with a few heavy knocks on his door. Wearing only a long sleeved loose shirt, pants and boots, he made his way towards whoever was crazy enough to wake him in the middle of the night when he was able to finally sleep after a few rocky waves.

"Captain, I think you should see this", and it was Rhondon who came calling after Danny opened his door. But before Danny could shout a few words about his precious sleep time to his quartermaster, the half-orc's look gave away the serious degree of that situation. With a short sigh, Danny closed the door and picked up his belt, holstering his guns and knife before opening the door to accompany Rhondon below deck.

Two other people, Mr Declan and the cook, a odd man named Billy, were already waiting for them, next to one of the crates. The air around was strangely colder than usual, and that was picked up instantly by the captain. Were they fooled? What if those crates were loaded with some kind of weird magic, about to blow up in their faces?

His thoughts were interrupted by Declan's words before he could carry on with his crazy theories. "Mr Billy here said he heard some noises coming from below deck, from these crates. We thought it would be wiser to check in with you before taking any action, captain."

"Good man. Not like we would be losing loads of coin if those crates are already open when we get to Elbion, right?", Danny replied with his usual witty humour, before looking towards the crates with suspicion.

"I say we open at least one of them, see what this is all about, captain. They won't notice it if we're careful and seal it right after", said Rhondon. After a few moments of careful thinking, Danny nodded in agreement and the half orc drew his sword from his waist, carefully putting it next to the crate.

He slowly breached it open, but was taken back with surprise when it was eventually fully pried open with force, as if from the inside. The crate fell onwards and someone rolled from it. Danny widened his eyes, in shock after realizing what kind of trouble they just got into.

"What the..."

 

[MJK]

Once she had been put back down things grew musty again in scent. Wherever she was now was damp and slick with dried salt, salt which had not felt the coolness of the ocean or warmth of the sun for some time. She felt the thudding footsteps of those who had carried her walking away and somewhere nearby a door slammed shut. Then, it was truly quiet again, with distant sounds of waves lapping sounding from a far-off place.

Zara waited still, holding her breath so she didn't miss the sound of any person or animal somewhere nearby. However, whether it was a fortunate thing or not, no one was nearby. No one to save her....but also no one to hear her trying to break free if they were intent on keeping her bound. Now, she began her struggle anew, working on rubbing at the bindings holding her ankles and wrists, doing whatever she could to loosen at the knots in the rope. Her skin was already raw from previous attempts, but she knew that eventually the ropes would have to loosen enough for her to slip free.

A few hours later, she achieved what she had been trying to accomplish for days. The knot in the rope slipped ever so slightly around her wrists, just enough for it to loosen so she could yank out her one hand. It hurt like hell, the skin scraping away and leaving blood droplets rising to the surface of the broken and bruised skin. However, it was a small, much needed victory. With her one hand free she was able to take the rope off the other, then strained herself until her shoulders felt they might pop out their sockets to reach her ankles. She loosened that knot too with time, finally able to move with a considerably more dexterity.

Now that she was no longer bound she pulled off her blindfold, surprised to see light filtering through slats in between wooden boards. Zara realized she was in a crate of sorts, the girl letting out an angry growl at the thought that she had been boxed up like an inanimate object. Her anger fueled her, the female worming her way around until she was in a better position to try and heave her way against the lid. Luckily for her, they had put the crate the right way up or things would have been made a whole lot more difficult.

The lid had been nailed shut - one nail in each corner of the lid. They were a sinful obstacle to freedom to say the least...but after being cooped up for days Zara was on the brink of losing her mind. Not even the grip of a kraken around the crate would keep her from escaping. She began heaving up against the lid with her shoulders and arms, realizing after a few bangs that she did not have enough leverage. Trying a different strategy she curled onto her back, using her legs to kick up at the lid instead. This seemed more effective, with the smallest squeaking of nails trying to free themselves from wood reaching her ears. The sound was like musing to her ears, the female grinning smugly.

However, she was interrupted by the sound of the same door from before opening with a creak of hinges. This time, she could hear the voices clearly and knew that she was running out of time. If they're going to open the box, then I might as well surprise them by doing it first...wouldn't hurt if I get them to give me some help though. She waited for the opportune moment, holding her breath to listen for the sound of the sword being used to pop two of the four nails free. No sooner had the second pop sounded than she pushed with all her might against the lid, using such force that the rest of the box went splintering opening on one side and sent her tumbling out.

Zara rolled like a stone on a hill, hair flying in all directions and her dress (which she had stolen from some woman's clothes line) fluttering out like it had caught a gust of wind. Despite her near-concussion she leaped to her feet, eyes blinking furiously to try and adjust to the light of the lamp being held by the cook. Feeling vulnerable she grasped for the nearest weapon - a broken piece of wood from the broken crate. She held it in front of her like a stake, bent low to the ground in a defensive stance even as she tried to still adjust to seeing after being blinded for days. Muttering in siren she cursed loudly, trying to use her free hand to shield her eyes from the orange glow of the lantern.

 

[Danny]

Danny was still trying to figure out what had been going on in front of his eyes. A woman just jumped out of a crate they happened to be transporting towards Elbion, per contract with merchants too snobbish to call themselves for what they truly were -- smugglers. The captain blinked a couple of times, realizing that the woman probably thought that they were the ones responsible for her capture, holding a piece of a wood like a glorified weapon in front of her. Danny's first thought was to reach for one of his guns, thinking that maybe the threat of doom looming at her would be enough to put her down, but then he paid closer attention to her. Of course, he noticed her uncommon beauty, like a creature of wonder, but then he noticed her cuts and bruises. The blood dropping heavily from her wrists, a clear sign of struggle and pain. She wasn't even paying heed to the pain, she only wanted to fight for her life.

Looking to his sides, he noticed the cook and Mr Declan already reaching for their blades, with Rhondon close behind her, just waiting for a signal to deliver a killing blow. Danny stepped forward and put his hand up, letting out a shout that probably woke up the rest of the crew, if they weren't passed out from drinking until late, which they probably were, if Danny knew them any better.

"Stop! Don't hurt her!", Danny's loud and rough voice put them all at pause, with the half orc looking at him, still obnoxious to everything that was happening.

Danny put his hands up and started slowling making his way towards the woman, trying his best to ignore the annoying screams of danger by Billy the Cook.

"Cap'n! She-She's one of them! Them creatures!", he said. Danny had no idea what that man was blabbering about, until Declan's more serious tone put him at pause for a moment, prompting the captain to look at him.

"A siren, here? It can't possibly be...", the Ship Master added, his voice slowly dropping down as he set his mind to the task of figuring out what was happening. Danny returned his attention to the woman, trying not to startle her even further.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, lady. You can call me Danny, I'm the captain of this ship", Danny halted his advance, deciding not to stray too far and get himself in range for a quick killing blow, since drawing his guns this close would be hard enough even for him. Still, the last thing he wanted right now was for that hurt woman to think of him as another enemy.

Reed glanced at his quartermaster Rhondon for a moment, his gaze enough to set him in motion, already knowing what to do. The half orc started to open the other crates, in a much faster way than before. As he did, bodies started falling out and pilling up, with only a few alive. The dead were mostly man, warriors by the look of them, with their throats cut and a few other injuries from a possible battle. The others were children and women from all ranges of age, barely alive after all this time denied food and water. They were transporting slaves, and those damn merchants made them trade lives for coin. The worst kind of blood one can possibly have on their money.

As they all looked in shock after Rhondon finished opening the crates and tending to the injured, Danny started to feel the other side of his mind buzzing. It started slow, but then it began to pace up as his fury grew in size to fit the horror of that current situation. He had dead bodies and slaves on his ship, and he had been played for a fool by those rotten bureaucrats. The spirit started to crawl his way towards Danny's conscience, his right eye beginning to glow in a fiery red as if half his body had been taken by his presence, but it instantly drew back when Mr Declan reached for Danny's arm, bringing him back to the brink of reality.

"What do we do, captain? If any authorities catch us, we'll be hanged as slavers! We mustn't go to Elbion!", he pleaded, although Danny was still as lost as everyone else in that situation.

When Declan let his arm go, urging the cook to get some bread and water for the survivors, Danny turned his attention back to the woman next to him.

"What is the meaning of all this? Who are all these people?", he questioned, feeling the warmth of his body rise up in the troubled heat that night was bringing. His head was hot, the spirit still trying to fight his way through the mind barriers that Danny had trained himself to put, to try and stop that evil presence to take over his body and further endanger everyone there.

However, before they could have a proper conversation to understand what was all that, another sailor entered the room, panting and clearly taken with fear. He barely managed to utter understadable words, not before Rhondon screamed at him to try and calm him down and make him breath. And Danny just wished he had never said anything.

"Sails, captain! Ship chasing us!"

 

[MJK]

Blinking furiously she let out a sort of hiss, a warning to stay away for whoever's silhouette against the orange lamp was closest to her. She hadn't yet fully grasped the human tongue, it would take a little longer of her listening to it to communicate properly. For sirens, spoken language was rarely used unless on land which they almost never were. Otherwise, underwater, telepathic communication with those in close proximity was much more efficient. However, they had a knack for learning things quickly. Now, she knew though, was not the time to experiment in her vocalization skills. Heaven forbid she say something that could be taken as a threat.

She caught sight of metal glinting in the light, even if her eye sight was still adjusting. Blinking more she swung around where she stood, looking for a way out away from the weapons that the humans were already withdrawing. The men were everywhere though and she seemed to be quite trapped between them all. Zara hissed again, ducking her head low and squeezing her eyes tightly to take away the dots swirling in her vision.

One of the men was shouting at the one in front of her. She could only understand two of the words, 'she' and 'creature'. That did not bode well, she assumed, not relaxing from her defensive position. Her eyes had begun to adjust, her ocean-coloured pupils darting wildly from side to side as she sought a way to escape. Her muscles tensed, the female expecting the red-coated one to react aggressively. He seemed to be the leader of sorts. The men reacted on his words and she sensed some sort of reverence towards him. If it came down to a fight, he would need to be the one she took down first.

However, he surprised her. Rather than a harsh, brutish tone he spoke quite calmly. There were more words she recognized....'name' and 'ship'. Confused she lowered her weapon-loaded hand, cocking her head to the side like a curious bird. He's not attacking - just trying to communicate. Perhaps I should try to do the same? Either way, it stalls me some time to get my sight and hearing back as well as for the room to stop spinning so much from that fall.

"Name....Danny....Dan-nee..." Her tongue felt thick and dry, the girl swallowing hard to try and improve her ability to speak. "Mine is, ah, hard to speak in....in your tongue. Short name Zara." She felt vulnerable and exposed, but something was off about the situation. The humans from before had attacked her as soon as they had seen her, while these ones were having a conversation. At least, they were attempting to.

While she finished speaking one of the other men moved quickly. Zara flinched, tensing back into her defensive position while her eyes watched his every movement. Instead of moving towards her he moved away, going to unpack more of the crates like the one she had been in. Zara was motionless, easily mistaken for a statue with how tense she was - until he opened up the first few boxes that is. Dead bodies came tumbling out, instantly recognizable to her by their adornments and clan armour much like the one she had on her before coming ashore. Whatever demeanor of fortitude she had before melted away at the sight of their pale, lifeless flesh, the female dropping the stake to the ground before rushing forward instead.

Some small part of her had hoped they would still be alive. If she had to guess, the warriors from her clan must have been too dangerous and threatening to be kept alive past capture. She melted to the floor near the closest body, checking the pulse at the neck just to confirm her suspicions. Despite her strongest hopes, he was truly dead. The human male in the meantime continued opening boxes, but none of the others she recognized even among those alive. Feeling her heart grow heavy in her chest she examined the dead warrior siren's wrist more closely, holding up her blood-hued flesh to his pale, greenish-toned skin to compare the tattooed marks they shared. There was no mistaking the identical nautilus shell seen below their hands, curved in black on on both their bodies.

Zara sighed with a harsh sound, a great depth of sadness evident in the way the breath was almost choked out of her tightening throat. I was too late to save any of them. It was a somber thought, one weighted with shame and depression which afflicted her. She looked up from her lap, leaning forward to close the dead sirens eyes which had been wide open as if he was still awake. Sending up a silent prayer she rose, turning in time to see a new sailor enter the room.

He spoke again of a ship, but his tone suggested danger. Gritting her teeth and eyes widening, Zara looked immediately towards the red-coat man that all the others respected and reported to. What exactly is going on here? How are these humans caught up in my capture and the death of my fellow sirens?

 

[Danny]

Danny couldn't shake that vision from his mind. Before he went up to the ship's helm, before he prepared himself and his crew to take on the battle to come in the morning, above that sea so familiar to them, so full of blood and bone, Daniel couldn't shake away that vision of the woman, lying next to one of the dead bodies below deck, probably someone familiar to her. He saw it, before he went up, only he chose to ignore it, so he could focus on what's to come. But Danny felt it, the heartbreak, to look at her and see her so distraught and lost, even when he was lost too with all that situation. Injustice was one of the burdens of the world, one that always weigh heavy on Danny's shoulders, and to survive to that injustice, he had to become strong and ruthless. He had to become Daniel Reed, the Scourge of the West Seas, the Twin Thunder of the Calypso, killing and plundering as he saw fit. It was his payback against the cruelty that took so many things from him and others like him.

Danny knew what it was like to lose something, and he could imagine how that woman, who called herself Zara, felt after seeing her people killed, left in crates to be transported as guinea pigs to some crazy wizards in that pompous city, Elbion. He would have his answers, he damn well would, but first, Danny had to deal with the cretins a few sea legs from them.

The dark of night was one of the major obstacles that he faced in that moment. Danny used his golden spyglass to analyze his enemy, face still straight even while everyone was running around, barking orders and preparing for a ugly fight.

"War ship, too heavy to outmanuever us, but she has the wind", he said quickly, closing the spyglass and throwing it towards Rhondon, who waited his orders beside Mr Declan. Danny jumped from the stairs to the helm pit, twisting the wheel a few times.

"We're turning to face her, captain?", asked the half orc. Danny merely kept his eyes on the horizon ahead, noticing the first bits of the sun appearing beneath the clouds in the distance. He let out a short smile, his heart beginning to pump faster with all the commotion. Danny loved a good fight.

"We'll never escape her, but she's as blunt as a rock. Mr Declan, get us around that cliff and wait for the morning. That's when we'll strike", Danny spoke, confident. The Ship Master took the wheel and began to calculate to coordinates to take them towards the place pointed by Reed.

He took the short staircase down, moving quickly through the deck with Rhondon close behind him. Danny spent a few seconds looking at the ship in the distance from the side of the Calypso, formulating the best plan of attack. He wasn't a scholar or a very smart man by any means, but Danny was a mastermind at the sea. It was only through his wits and quick thinking that that very ship had been able to best others much more formidable, and live to tell the tales. Rhondon waited beside him, arms hanging over the wooden counter which kept the sails well knotted and locked in place.

"She'll take at least a couple hours to reach us, even with the wind at their favor. When we reach the cliff, turn all the ballistae to the side and lighten the fires. We'll need the fire javelins to punch that hull. And get a few of our best marksmen on archery duty, I don't want any surprises", Danny spoke yet calm, with Rhondon smiling after seeing his captain well at work again. Reed had been one of the few humans to surprise him, so shrewd and yet brutal at the same time. As he always said, Danny would've made a fine orc warrior, but that thought had only been half the life for Rhondon.

He had been cast out of his tribe, for looking too soft like the rest of humanity. Even if he towered above the average human and had thrice their strength and muscle, the orcish tribes were as ruthless and throughout as the deadliest poison, never ceasing. Growing up by himself much like Danny, the half orc learned both the orcish ways and human ways alone, fighting to survive. They saw in each other the strength and admiration of common warriors, and their partnership flourished at the sea.

Wherever Captain Danny went, Rhondon 'The Half Berserker' followed, and one could bet that trouble followed close behind.

The morning finally arrived, and the hour of battle was upon them. The Calypso waited patiently for the opportunity to attack. Danny had been correct in his assumption that the ship chasing them wouldn't risk circling the cliff, since Danny's ship could as easily pick up the wind and leave them behind. Now, the crew waited in silence and prayers for the right moment to strike. Danny was the sole man at the helm, having told Zara to stay with the rest of the survivors below deck to get some medical attention, and Rhondon was coordinating the archers at the front, as well as the ballistae, fully loaded and just waiting for the signal.

The warship reached the optimal distance, being dangerously close to the Calypso, with her own weapons mounted and aimed at Reed's ship. The crew could see the war ship getting ready to fire, and grew even more restless.

"Captain?!", one of them shouted from below. Danny's response was the silence, as he saw the last of the enemy's ballistae loaded and getting ready to be shot. From his spyglass, he saw the enemy captain signaling them to fire. And by Danny's own intuition, he smiled when they miss their mark only slightly.

The Calypso's ballistae had been heavily modified and possessed greater reach and potency to the common ship ballista, and that was one of Danny's main strategy for engaging from afar. Putting away his spyglass once again, he put one of his hands in the ship's wheel and lifted the other.

After a few more seconds of suspense, then came the signal as Danny lowered his arm.

"Fire."

 

[MJK]

The red-coated man fled with the rest of the crew who had been below deck, making haste to match the serious tone of the sailor who had brought the news. Zara followed behind them, why exactly she did not know. Was she curious to find out what exactly the men were so worried? Did she wish to seek answers to the man questions popping up in her brain? Or perhaps, did she just wish to not be left alone with the stench of her dead people already filling the air. It might have been all of the above, if she was truly honest with herself.

Her feet pounded up the wooden stairs leading to the deck, Zara easily keeping pace with the men even though she stayed in the very back. She was quick and agile, making sure to keep out of the way with the crew scurrying chaotically around her. Once up on the lower decks she stopped, her sight filled with the vision of ocean stretching around her. It was a relieving sight to her, the female taking in a deep breath that stung with salt and cool night air. A shout from a nearby crew member brought her back to reality though, the female moving her gaze from the dark ocean waters to instead inspect the ship.

It was neither too large or too small, railings carved with a finely skilled hand and sails that snapped in the wind above her. She needed to lean her head back to try and see up to the crows nest, nearly losing her balance in the process. The siren had barely had time to adjust to walking before she was captured, after all. More shouting sounded around her, Zara swiveling on the spot to try and absorb all the activity as the men prepared to fight with the chasing vessel.

Before long one of the crew took note of her presence, coaxing her back down into the cargo hold on Danny's behest. She tried to resist of course, hating being cooped up at all after her days spent in a crate, but there was little else she could do. Her only other option was to fight her way back or make a break for the ocean. Doing either of those would deny her the chance to try and find out what had happened to her dead people or why they had died in the first place. As well, going underwater now when there was the likelihood of cannon fire and ship-wrecking would be close to suicidal. Debris of falling ships and the giant boom of guns firing to sensitive underwater hearing could kill a siren as easily as any sword.

For this reason she did as she was told, allowing the crew member to take her to the ship's medic before he returned to the upper decks. Zara huffed irritably, denying any medical attention when the doctor tried to approach her. There's no ways he is coming anywhere close to me with those strange liquids and needles. Not after I was injected with whatever liquid those smugglers used to put me in the crate in the first place. She paced back and forth, freezing on the spot when she heard distant guns firing. Bracing for the impact she expected to come the female knelt to the floor, her hands covering her eats. However, nothing hit the ship, the female instead surprised to hear the now semi-familiar voice of the red coated man shouting a word she hadn't heard before.

At his shout it sounded to her like the ship exploded, the first of the ballistae firing before the others followed in rapid sequence. Zara assumed her position from before, covering her ears and closing her eyes against the loud booms that shook the walls and made the ship rock in the water. A feeling of claustrophobia was filling her, her heart quickening and a the need to scream building in her throat. I can't stay here. I will not be trapped here if the ship sinks and crushes me when it sinks to the bottom of the sea. I wouldn't be able to transform in time to escape. Despite the medics shouts of disapproval she bolted, finding her way down the narrow passageways until she found the stairs from before leading up to the deck.

She hurried up, gasping in a deep breath once she was greeted by the first lights of morning's sun rays. Zara flinched again and ducked at the sound of another ballistae going off, the female running in a zig-zag pattern between scurrying crew members to the railings. The sight of the ocean calmed her, the female doing her best to remain calm as she dragged in several more breaths to clear her head.

 

[Danny]

Danny closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the sea breeze and revelling in the silence as everyone held their breaths before the impending battle. It was in that margin of seconds before everything came crashing down, that a man glimpsed upon the cold blanket that was his life, stretched straight in front of them, so one could see everything of good or bad, his marvelous deeds and utter failures. And even that his own blanket had been filled with both, Danny felt he still had much left to write there, before it could all end.

He opened his blue eyes, looking straight towards Rhondon while the entire crew stared at him, just waiting for his command. The gunners were already holding the flaming javelins in place in the ballistae, patiently but eagerly waiting for the captain's signal to fire. Desperation started to kick in when they saw no sign other than the ship in the distance firing their own bolts of sharpened metal against them, thinking they were about to die for nothing.

And yet, the enemy's bolts never made their way towards the Calypso's hull. Danny opened a short side smile, almost unnoticeable by the people there, as he knew that the first step towards victory had been his. He put his hand down, and the captain could see as Rhondon widened his big green eyes and almost jumped forward in excitement, already motioning towards the gunners to engage.

And then... came the signal.

"Fire."

A single and yet so powerful word, voiced with almost inhuman coldness and unemotional as Captain Reed gave the order to open fire upon the chasing ship. The sound of the metal mechanisms started twisting wildly and soon the whole ship felt like it had been hit by a hard wave as the first round of ballistae fired, their potency so great that the strength and speed around them caused small drops of water to surge upwards from the sea as they travelled low and true, easily piercing the sturdy war ship's hull.

In the night, Danny had noticed the wooden pattern in that side of that ship, which is why he had told Declan to turn around the cliff and to position them as they were, with all ballistae and archers turned towards it. As strong as a war ship was, the bulk vessel had a few flaws to make them viable to longer sea travels. It needed weak spots where the wood wasn't so dense and impervious so that it could make up for the rest of the weight in other sides, or else the ship would easily be sunk at the slightest signs of stronger waves or sea storms.

Lucky for them, that ship had already exposed itself in their night chase, and Danny had been quick enough to pick that up. After seeing the damage caused by the first two rounds of volley, the crew paused a brief moment to celebrate intensely the strategy put in place by their captain, who calmly examined everything from afar with his spyglass at the ship's helm.

"She's stuck...", Danny whispered to himself before placing down his device and looking towards his Ship Master. "She's wide open, Mr Declan! Let's go meet that little beast, shall we?", he spoke, confidently and always with that smile, so full of himself. Declan merely nodded and gave the orders to loose the sails, the wind quickly picking up the ship as the Calypso hinged forward to meet its attacker, now vulnerable close to the cliff.

Danny climbed above a small box, taking position a few inches above everyone in the deck save for Rhondon and his natural gigantic stature and Declan, holding the ship at the helm.

"Gentlemen!", he shouted, grabbing everyone's attention as they already prepared their weapons for battle. "I know we've all been through this before, and frankly, it's starting to get dull!", Danny laughed, and everyone quickly followed suit, while a few others cheered, their swords held high in the air.

"We have a prize to take, and it's right there, opening her legs for us, lads!", Reed pointed at the war ship a few sea legs away from them, their weapons already disable thanks to the Calypso's pinpoint firing.

"So I'll put it to the vote! Who's in favor of boarding and taking that ship, stomp and shout aye!", soon, the only sound one could hear were the crew in agreement with their captain, excitingly waiting for the big moment. Their hands were shaking and their were already bathed in sweat, and even with the resk of losing their lives, there was nowhere else they'd rather be right now.

"Those who oppose... Well, I'll deal with you later!", for a short moment, silence stood. Then the laughing came back, and the crew didn't even need his captain dismissing them to their posts as they rushed to grab the rest of their weapons to prepare. Danny searched for the woman from before, the one they called 'siren', his eyes going from men to men until they reached her.

He knew she wasn't one to just sit by idle and wait for her problems to fix themselves. Yes, of course, he feared for her safety, as wounded as she was. But part of him enjoyed the thought of her witnessing all that and the battle to come. Hell, he was doing that for her as much as it was for himself. They both needed answers, and Danny feared those answers were to the same questions.

The Calypso closed in on the warship, ramming its side until they were practically tied with each other. Some of Danny's crew threw hooks inside the enemy's ship, locking them in the railsides and Mr Declan gave the signal to drop the anchor. There was no going back now.

Rhondon gave the signal and archers opened the volley of arrows upon the scared sailors as they finally saw the banner of Captain Reed, flying high above the Calypso's crow nest.

The predator was upon its prey now.

Danny ran from the side of his ship and grabbed a rope, swinging effortlessly towards the vessel. He fell, and quickly drew his guns, realizing a small blast of red energy from them that pierced cleanly through the chest of two sailors that were about to attack him. The rest stood frozen with fear, but not for long, as Rhondon and the rest of his strike team started their own boarding, cutting through the rest of the enemy crew with ease.

Not even 10 minutes had passed and the slaughter had been complete, with only a few of the war ship's crew being spared the claws of death, including the captain, whose's face was being hammered by a flurry of Danny's punches.

Danny gave the order to round the survivors and take them to his ship while the rest of his crew searched the ship for any supplies or things of value, especially parchments of information. After his little stunt with the enemy captain, he also went on to search his private quarters himself, blasting open the door handle with a shot from one of his guns.

He stood there, contemplating the richly furnished room, his eyes scouring it from top to bottom. Now, the search for information began.

 

[MJK]

She ducked below the railing with another shot of cannon fire volleying out from below her. The sound left a slight ringing in her ears, the female looking between the gaps in the railing to see the cannon fire hit it's target in the distance. This ship is mightier than I first thought it to be...

With the shots fired the ship suddenly lurched forward, the sails snapping as wind filled them like a large set of lungs. Zara might have been thrust over the railings had it not been for her strong grip on the banister. The voice from before, the leader of the men who had freed her, spoke nearby. She turned, curious as to what he was planning next as well as wrapping her head around their language. The more she heard it, the easier it was becoming for her to pick up on it.

Whatever he had to say, even if Zara only understood a minuscule amount of it, seemed to rile up the men further. The stench of their dripping sweat and adrenaline filled Zara's nose, their excitement growing to a crescendo as they cheered and worked themselves up into a frenzy at his encouragement. The were seeming to prepare themselves with weapons, Zara realizing all to quickly what was about to happen as she looked on to the direction the Calypso was now headed. The mad men....they're going to take the ship.

Gritting her teeth and eyes narrowing, Zara looked around hastily. Despite it's rusted appearance and the hazardous stitching holding the leather together she grasped at a nearby sword belt. It had been hanging over an empty barrel, but she figured whoever it belonged to had either already armed themselves or wouldn't be missing it. She buckled it low on her hips before grasping at the hilt, pulling the weapon free and feeling relieved that the cutlass within the sheath was still in working order. The weapon, although plenty menacing enough, was still not something she was completely comfortable with. After her capture, she wanted something small and easy to use at extremely close proximity. Rushing around she searched frantically, eventually catching sight of what she wanted: A dagger lay embedded in one of the masts, the crude metal unpolished but still sharp. For all she knew, it might have been used for gutting fish. All that mattered to her is that it could gut an enemy as easily as it could cut open the belly of a tuna.

Stretching forward she reached for it, swearing under her breath as she tripped on the hemming of the dress. "Useless human clothing - no wonder the human woman are consider so mild and harmless! What did those men say when they first saw me? Damsel in distress? " She cursed some more, stretching just a little further to reach the dagger and pull it free. Taking it in her one hand she bent down, grabbing a handful of the dress skirt before using the dagger to cut a slit up the one side. Zara completed her clothing adjustments just in time, looking up to find the Calypso throwing grappling hooks over to the enemy vessel.

Gripping the dagger in her teeth she rushed forward with the rest of the men, her gut telling her that she might find answers on board the other vessel. If they were chasing this ship so soon after it left the harbor, then they either know what they were carrying or were intent on stealing it for themselves. Either way, they must know something about why I was boxed and my people were slaughtered. Grabbing a free rope much like Danny had she swung across, however almost didn't make it when one of the enemy sailors cut her rope. She dropped like a stone, needing to stretch out a hand to catch the enemy ships railing instead of plummeting into the water. Falling in between the ships would have meant death...the hulls and the way they were jammed together would have crushed her as soon as she sunk below the surface.

Grunting loudly she hauled herself up, jumping up and over the railing in an agile motion. Almost instantly, the man who had cut her rope rushed forward to meet her in an attempt to catch her off guard. He almost succeeded too, his own cutlass leaving a thin slice across her cheek. If she hadn't ducked, the steel would instead have gone straight through her neck. Retaliating she pulled the dagger from her teeth, thrusting in a single quick motion into his stomach before slicing across deeply. The man dropped to the deck while holding his abdomen, Zara moving onward to try and make her way to the captain's quarters.

By the time she had managed to reach it most of the enemy crew had been subdued, the female heaving in breaths from her exertion before bending at the hips to put her hands on her knees. Fighting on land is harder when you aren't used to breathing air. She straightened with a moan, looking up to see Danny enter into the Captain's quarters. Her brows furrowed, the female moaning irritably as she strode forward quickly. I need to get in there quick. There's still no knowing if I can trust him and the last thing I need is him finding out information and then hiding it from me. As she walked she could feel the eyes of the crew on her, many staring at the blood spattered on her clothing or the makeshift slit she had produced with her own hand. She cared not what they thought, for she only had eyes for finding out more on what had brought her here.

Zara walked into the cabin straight after him, using the sleeve of her now ripped dress to wipe away at the blood trickling from her cheek.

 

[Danny]

Captain Reed looked intrigue as he scoured the room from the door, curious as to how a war ship full of common mercenaries possessed that many riches. Or at least, the captain did. He would have his minutes of questioning with the poor sod later, but now he had a whole room to search, and quickly, before more reinforcements were sent.

Danny didn't even notice as the siren approached him and passed right beside him, her dress from before now ripped to resemble more of a warrior than a damsel in distress, soaked in blood that now wasn't only hers, but of the bad people that may have been involved in what happened to her and her friends. He smiled shortly as the woman stormed inside the captain's quarters and started going through his oddities and trinkets.

Reed, on the other hand, was much interested on his papers. His table had been left empty of anything that could be used for information, but he managed to unlock some of his drawers, throwing away some navigation and study devices that now would be useless to that mercenary and trying to grab any parcel of paper that his eyes could find.

More than ten minutes had passed and the pair were yet to find anything useful. The search was starting to get tiresome and boring, and Danny now found himself squeezing yet closer to the woman as she still searched through the mercenaries' stuff, not yet ready to call it a day and accept that they were only dealing with some hired thug who had been stupid enough to accept a miserable pouch of coin to kill one of the most dangerous pirates in the coast.

"So... Zara, right? You can undestand me?", Danny awkwardly tried to start chatting. "What were you doing back there anyways? Locked in a crate, sent to a pirate ship and all that... I don't suppose you do it for fun, ya?", he couldn't help but let out a short laugh, trying to get a few smiles out of that woman. He didn't mean to sound childish or insensitive, he understood her pain and grief, but physically and mentally, but at least they had faced battle and the possibility of death and prevailed. That oughta count for something to be happy about, at least for him.

As they talked, Danny couldn't help but pause to admire some of her features. He had heard a few stories about sea creatures, although he rarely paid attention to mythical gossip. He knew about the sirens, hauntingly beautiful women, half human and half fish, that sung their way through sailors' hearts before drowning them to a terrible death. Of course seeing her now did those stories little justice, because she seemed as harmless as she looked innocent. An outsider, forced to endure the struggles of a depraved world that cared nothing about races. And yet, she was the one to suffer at human's hands.

It did sound tragically poetic.

Slowly, Danny carefully drew himself closer to her, his hand travelling towards her bloodstained face, the scarlet wet drops painting a beautiful mosaic along with some of her unique markings, showing her evidently uniqueness. She was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before, even soaked in blood as he was. Danny's thumb carefully traced over a small cut on her cheek, his mind numb and his body completely lost of control in that moment where they were both vulnerable, not hiding behind any masks or pain.

His blue eyes finally found hers, but the thundering connection came to a halt when Danny caught glimpse of something strange between the book cases behind her. He distanced himself from the woman and walked straight towards it, grasping a golden brooch from a torn book.

He felt its weight, amazed it was made of pure, light gold. The purple pearls that decorated the brooch also added to its marvelous mystique. It had the makings of masterwork crafting, and it had something written beneath, tiny and in a language unreadable to him.

Inside him, a familiar voice began to crawl its way to Danny's ears. "This little adventure of ours has just turned into something very interesting, kid..."

Reed looked over to Zara, his pupils changing from light blue to strong red as magical energies began to pour from the brooch before it all settled down suddenly and Danny came back to normal, not even remembering what exactly was that energy that he just felt.

The captured captain and the survivors of his crew now remained their only hope to get some answers.

 

[MJK]

She wasted little time, using a strategic method of searching by starting on one side of the room and working her way around. Zara did not care for maintaining any sort of order or neatness in her search, instead becoming like a bull in a china shop as she tore apart anything she could find.

Many of the items confused her, considering that the only real interaction she had with many human objects was what she could find in shipwrecks or read about in books. For this reason a few things made her pause, the female needing to take the time to inspect the item properly before figuring out whether or not it would be of use to her. These included things such as a small ship in a bottle, a rusted razor and empty oil can. All three were quickly flung over her shoulder, followed by confused mumblings in siren under her breath.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Captain Reed inspecting a few of the papers after unlocking the desk drawers. Her ocean hues narrowing and brows furrowing she approached the desk eagerly, grabbing at any papers he discarded and holding them close up to her face to read. Sirens were pretty adept at learning written words, they were curious by nature and did spend some time perusing through any sort of text or manuscripts they could get their hands on. It was this reason and others, such as their sensitive hearing, that made it easy for them to learn languages and other such skills at a much faster pace. Despite what many of the legends said, they were not mindless, dumb fish who thought of nothing but flesh and murder....most of the time at least.

The lack of any solid finds was making her frustrated, Zara's face getting more and more drawn into a sour expression as time passed. The silence was broken when the man, who she remembered was called Danny, sparked up polite conversation with her. He attempted to make light of the situation she had been in, although the reaction he aroused in her was not what he was expecting. She instead frowned deeply, unused to humans sarcasm and humor. "The crate....it was not fu-n." She said seriously, raising a single brow in confusion at how he could of thought such a thing. Some of her words were drawn out and said oddly but still understandable, since she was still learning to speak his tongue.

She continued searching in earnest, not wanting to believe that nothing could be found. So focused was Zara on the papers in front of her, her eyes intensely set on the words she was trying to understand, that she did not notice the man reach for her face. She flinched at his touch, head turning sharply to look towards him as his fingertips grazed her cheek. The touch was an anomaly to her, the female frozen in shock and unsure what to do as he suddenly wiped at the drying blood along her cut cheek. Her eyes searched his face for a reason behind his actions, her mouth forming a thin line as she saw the slight glaze which had gone over his blue eyes. She knew then what had happened.

Gently, Zara lifted a hand and grasped at his wrist, pulling his hand down and returning it to his side. "Do not be fooled, Dan-nee. Sirens are meant for drawing in their prey. I could kill you with a sentence if I wanted, you should be more careful." She went back to searching, only looking up again as a flash of red was visible out of the corner of her eyes when he suddenly reached for an item on a shelf. The event was strange and deed, a definite sign of something not quite normal about the item he had found.

Zara had felt a shift herself, a cool ghostly breeze suddenly dancing over her spine like cold fingers and sending goosebumps rising on her arms. There was definitely something significant about the brooch. Zara turned slowly, taking the item carefully from his fingers and pulling it up to her face. Examining it closely, she traced the purple-hued pearls before speaking. "These pearl-s. They are not easy to get. How could a human man get a hold of such a...a, um..." She struggled to find the right word, eyes shutting for a bit as she searched her vocabulary. When she thought of what she needed her eyes opened again, the female looking straight at the man as she muttered, "- a treasure. How could he get this treasure?" Her eyes lifted to Reed, the pupils shifting from a lighter blue to more of a grey hue as her mind began to spin in the search of an explanation.

 

[Danny]

Reed grew up amongst many kinds of people, human or otherwise. He learned the ways of the streets, piracy, to steal and even kill in order to survive. He learn how a woman's caress could do wonders to a man, and he enjoyed it very much. But Danny also liked to keep his heart well out of harm's way when involving himself with women. One of his old friends from his early days at sea always said that a woman's heart is the hardest treasure box one could open, and even then it could contain a surprise not always pleasant to whoever opened it.

But Danny just couldn't shake off that siren's allure, especially after their gaze met and they shared that short but sweet moment of silence, with the pirate captain unable to comprehend why exactly he did that in the first place. And then came it all shattering when she put an end to it, even though Danny was always the one to do it. Yes, he heard the stories about her kind, the way they used their beauty and magic to seduce poor sailors into excruciating deaths underneath the sea, fed to the fish and other sea monsters, but Danny cared little about myths. He preferred things he could touch, and his fingers wouldn't soon forget the softness of Zara's skin and her face of great surprise when Danny started to clean some of the blood from her cheeks.

Lucky for him, the strange and glowing brooch made itself known as Danny ripped through the books in a nearby drawer, instantly feeling a magical surge flow through him, his mind switching between lapses of flashing lights, then the echoing screams of what looked like many people, forced to endure an endless nightmare of pain. And then came those gigantic eyes, burning bright deep in the sea, illuminating the vast darkness that englobed Danny.

For him, it had been like a whole life spent trapped in that vision, but it all happened in a matter of seconds to the outside, and especially to a shocked Zara, who's fixed stare at the pearl filled brooch gave away a bit about the importance of that tiny artifact, at least to her.

"I can feel the power bursting forth from this gem, and the girl looks very connected to it. You should do your own 'magic' with her, Captain Reed...", a deep voice came from within Danny's mind, enough to put him in a rather stunned state as he looked towards the siren, noticing the surprised tone in her voice as she struggled to speak out.

Before he could take a step and ask her a few questions, the door opened and the brooch became void of any energy. Danny quickly looked to his hand and back at the door as Rhondon came true, bloodied and sweat, no doubt from all the fighting and the work of rounding up the terrorized survivors, and those who were still stupid enough to fight back. At least the sharks could benefit from that foolish behaviour.

"Captain, we're all set to leave. Supplies and weapons are already loaded to the Calypso and we found some crates of sugar, a bit damaged. These scum have been attacking merchant ship as well, by the looks of it", said the half orc. Danny nodded in agreement and his quartermaster left, leaving the captain and the siren alone once again.

Reed spent a few more moments admiring that brooch, trying to perfectly replicate the vision from before on his mind, but having no luck. And then he had one of his stupidly bright ideas, even though it was a risky one. Still, it was a gamble he'd have to take in order to figure out what the hell was happening. The slaves boxed in crates, a warship chasing them only a few hours after they left that fishing village and now this magical artifact.

In a quick and surprising move, Danny took Zara's hand and drew her close to him, dangerously close at that. Without ever diverting from her beautiful eyes, he left the brooch on her soft hand, closing it as he noticed she started to feel the gem's power as well, its energies starting to react to her special touch. Surely a good enough gift to a woman like her.

"What I'm going to do now... It may not be pretty, but it's our only way. You can accompany me, if you'd like", he said before turning on his heels and opening the cabin's door to leave the room, stepping between the lifeless corpses along the way before he got on the small ramp that gave access between the Calypso and the war ship.

The siren joined him aboard his ship a few moments later, no doubt after sparing a few seconds to admire that jewel. He looked over towards the helm, signaling Mr Declan to cut them loose from that battered vessel and get them underway. They still had a long way before reaching Elbion, and whatever surprised waited them.

With Rhondon by his side, Danny went down the deck's stairs and through the mass and the dining hall until they reached a tightly locked door close to the armory, with two guards and their swords guarding it, their eyes not even flinching as the pair appeared in sight. With a nod, Danny bid them leave and the captain quickly unlocked and opened the door, revealing a room whose only light was at the center, illuminating the hurt man tied to a chair at the heart of it.

Now it was time for Danny to ask some questions.

 

[MJK]

Off to the side the door to the cabin burst open, the hulking creature which seemed to follow Reed wherever he went suddenly appearing. Zara had still not quite placed what exactly he was. He was far larger than any human she had ever seen and his facial features and manner of speaking shifted in a way that was different to the rest of the human crew as well. While his origin was a mystery to her, his clear devotion to the blue-eyed, red-coated captain who stood before her was obvious. Whatever occurred between the two men must have been immense for a bond so strong to have formed, she mused.

The creature, who the siren had heard been referred to as Rhondon, informed the man that they were prepared to set off and all of the cargo from the enemy ship had been transferred across to his own vessel. After moving her gaze from the quartermaster back to the brooch, she was surprised to find it duller than before. The glow it had been emitting moments before the man had arrived had ceased. Zara furrowed her brows with confusion, her attention drawn back to Danny when he suddenly grasped her...again....without any need for such contact.

She was drawn into his personal space, finding that she felt somewhat uncomfortable at the close proximity. The man gave off an air she could not quite place. She only knew it was similar to the aura of a statue she had once seen in a sunken ship. The stone had been carved to resemble a man and a woman, the latter of which had been draped over the first arms as if in rapture while the first had a stony but smug expression of victory. Zara did not like to think of herself as that rocky damsel, taking a step back to retrieve some of her own space but still nodded in agreement. "I will follow. What is it that you are suggesting?"

He closed the brooch within her grasp, an act which she had not expected. The brooch was surely better within her care, considering the strange pearls which came from depths only she knew of, but it seemed too valuable a treasure to be passed up on. Zara had already taken some time to read Danny. She had seen men like him from afar, observing from a safe distance away while scouting with other groups of sirens. She had watched them take and steal from others, fight until their blood stained her watery home and the survivors return to their filthy harbors where they drank and drowned themselves in scantily clad woman. The siren had already assumed he would be much like the rest of his kind - greedy and selfish to the core, easily swayed by riches and under the impression that a charming smile could woo whoever he desired. She had prepared herself for that, but the gift still came as a surprise to her.

It was for this reason that she took a few moments to join him on his ship - not because she was admiring the brooch, but more because her mind was turning on itself like cogs in clockwork. He's going to be trickier than the rest to figure out. His motives and thoughts are not as easy to read as most other men I have encountered.

She joined him on the Calypso, working her way down into the belly of the ship past the mess hall until Danny stopped at a locked room with guards posted outside. What is so important that it requires two armed men? She thought curiously, eyes eagerly trying to peer inside the slowly opening room until she was allowed to see inside. Strangely enough the room was devoid of treasures or weapons as she had assumed, instead being faced with a man who was bound and illuminated brightly in an otherwise. Zara would be lying if she didn't say her interest was piqued, the female entering in quietly behind the captain.

 

[Danny]

Danny's slow steps towards the tied man echoed throghout the dark cloistered room, the air heavy with fear and intensity as the young captain's eyes were almost burning with fear, his clenched fists beginning to tremble as his emotions started to get the better of him after all this mystery and goose chase. Reed hated being played for a fool, something that those greedy and corrupt merchants would soon learn, at the cost of their own blood. But he needed something solid, a clue, a sign or anything at all, that could link them and all those slaves being transported aboard his ship to Elbion, before he could run rampart over them.

The trio made of Danny, Rhondon and Zara stopped in front of that man, blindfolded and coldly waiting his fate. He knew he was a dead man the moment his ship got captured and his men set the white flag of surrender. He knew very well that Danny's crew were already torturing the captured for information and some amusement in those gloomy hours after a battle, to get a hold of their senses before the near death insanity possessed them entirely. A sinister therapy if there was ever any, but one that worked for all kinds of soldiers, be they infantry warriors after surviving a gruesome battle, or sailors after the whirlwind of fire and blood of naval warfare.

Danny had his own vices and escapes from that cruel reality, but that didn't factor into the equation now. All that mattered that moment was that man, waiting for his delivery without making a sound. Rhondon watched Danny from the corner of his eye, fearing what was about to come. The poor man's delivery, and Danny's release from the shackles of containment and civility. Danny was sadistic when it came to getting what he wanted.

With a strong punch to the side of the captured captain's face, Danny knocked him along with his chair, his golden rings marking the man's bloodied cheek as Rhondon crossed his arms in front of his chest and merely watched. Danny rushed forward and followed with a vicious kick to his jaw and a few more to his belly, shortly before the man started coughing up blood all over the ground, begging for air. Danny paused, breathing deeply.

"Who sent you?", the young captain asked, grabbing his victim by his head and drawing him close, only a few inches from his own face. His voice was rough and malefic, his own movement and the way he carried himself that moment completely opposite to the playful and cheerful way that Danny was known to have. He cared little that the siren could be greatly terrified just a few meters from him, he only cared to know who sent that ship to attack them, and what was all about those people locked in crates aboard his ship.

The bloodied man laughed him off for a bit then spat on Danny's face, much to his shock. Rhondon jumped forward in alert, but he wasn't quick enough to contain his captain as Reed drew one of his pistols from their waist holsters and pulled the trigger, letting a small parcel of magical energy flow forward and rip through one of the man's knees, blowing it wide open as blood poured out and his screams took over the room.

After cleaning some of the blood from his face, Danny loaded up his gun with more energy and touched the man's head with the barrel of his pistol. "Next one's in your head. Who sent you?", Danny asked again.

"I-I don't know, we never seen a face! They just told us that our reward would be waiting in a cave near the Trident! That's all I know!", he screamed out what Danny had been looking for ever since that whole thing started.

"And why are those fat fucking merchants are smuggling people?! Why have they loaded my ship with slaves?!", Danny shouted, but the man could only beg for his life, saying that he didn't know about any merchants or slaves. Strangely, Danny could feel he was telling the truth, which meant there were more pawns at work in that play than he first thought.

If those mercenaries didn't know anything about the people that Danny was transporting to Elbion, it meant that those merchants weren't alone in that criminal undertaking. He set his mind on Elbion, but Danny knew they had to go to the Trident first, miles of the coast of the cursed Forbidden City and its dreaded deserts.

The very thought of getting near that place had him shivering, but there was no going back now. He had accepted it the moment he first laid on eyes on that siren and all those people down the hold.

Danny let go of the poor man and put his pistol back in its holster, looking at Rhondon. "Take him to the infirmary and get him some treatment along with the rest of his surviving crew. We'll drop them off some nearby island."

The red coated captain started walking towards the room's exit before Rhondon responded. "And what's our next step, captain?"

Halting, Danny took a moment of pause to think about the odds and dangers of that mission before replying. "We go to the Trident."

Danny then took his leave, evading the siren's gaze out of fear that she had been thinking that he was just like the rest of the sea men they were accostumed to seeing. A monster, killing for fun.

 

[MJK]

Zara could taste the fear which saturated the room. Being a siren meant she needed to be in tune with what others were feeling in order to manipulate them towards doing what she wanted. Even without her races ability though, it would be clear to guess what the bound man was feeling. All she had to do was see the cold sweat lining his forehead and the slight tremble in his lip as captain Reed's heavy boot steps thudded closer to him.

Even the half -orc beside her seemed tense, arms crossed over his chest sullenly. Zara could feel something afoot, although what exactly she wasn't sure. There was an inkling of an idea of what was about to happen next, but she still wasn't quite prepared for the moment Danny's fist connected with the side of the man's skull. She visibly flinched, her whole physique tensing up at the tidal wave of pain that emitted from the man in the chair. It was as if the open air was a better medium for reading emotions that water, where the density of the liquid dulled the senses a little. Out here, the pain the man felt hit her like a full force impact.....almost as if she had been struck herself. She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes quickly as she went through the process of dialing down her sensitivity to what the man was feeling. Rather than letting out her sensors like a flood gate, she dwindled it down to a trickle. Only once she reduced the amount she allowed herself to sense did she suck in a breath, the female slowly opening her eyes to witness the red-coated captain dealing out kicks to the man's gut.

It was quite beastly in a sense, the way he seemed to give the man little reprieve. She raised a hand, about to interject when the image of her dead comrade flashed across her mind. If I interrupt him, I might never find out about what happened to them. I could get the information through much easier and quicker means, but I think it best not to let this crew know about my abilities just yet. The last thing I want is to be locked back up again and brought out into the open only when my skills are needed. They haven't done much except releasing me to show I can trust them...and I'm pretty sure releasing me wasn't intentional. She stilled, grinding her teeth before stepping into her spot with her back to the wall.

Danny demanded answers, the captain screaming right into the man's face. Valerie grimaced as he was faced with red-hued spittle that the bound man spewed, her straight-lipped expression morphing into a frown. She had not known the young captain long, but she had observed him enough to know that he would not take the reaction well. The gun shot was loud and unexpected, the female curling over middle and bringing her hands up to her ears too late. The blast left a faint ringing in her ears, no sound audible even though the captain's mouth moved. After a few seconds the sound muffled back into existence, the female painfully rubbing at her ears to ease them. Not only was her senses much sharper on land, but her hearing as well she realized. That was something else she would need to adjust.

He's brutal. Just like every other gods-forsaken pirate, sailor and merchant that stalks the waters. They are evil, even unto their own kind. Good thing I have my wits about me, I'm going to need them if I don't want to end up some skin hanging on this crews mast. The sooner I can find out why my people are being taken, the sooner I can escape and report back home. I'll just need to keep my eyes open and myself armed until that happens.

The sound returned just in time for her to catch the bound man's information, naming some place known as Trident. The name rang a few bells in her head. None of them good. Where exactly she knew the name from was unclear, but the taste of danger rose permeated her mouth like a bitter gall. Zara gulped quietly, surprised when Danny put away his pistol once he had received the answers he wanted. Surprising her more he insisted Rhondon take him to the infirmary when she had instead been awaiting a shot to the man's head.

As he exited, she followed, remaining quietly somber while shadowing his footsteps. There was a question on the tip of her tongue, but she was wording it correctly in his language before saying it out loud. The sooner she perfected speaking their words, the safer she could remain. Those who were different to the majority present became targets...she had learned that much over the years.

"This Trident place....is it stretches of land, shaped like this?" She held up her hand, holding up her three middle fingers in much the same shape a trident would make. Zara continued talking once he had taken the time to look, adding "It looks like one of our weapons, a....um...I think you would call it a trythidhente in your tongue's letters and syllables. Similar to the word trident, I suppose."

 

[Danny]

Danny wasn't even paying much attention to the woman following him close behind, still processing what that mercenary said, and what he had done. He couldn't shake that uncomfortable thought from his mind that left him feeling like a monster in Zara's eyes, even though she was the outsider here. She had been gagged and captured, left to be sold to whoever paid the biggest sum, was put in a crate and thrown to a pirate ship while the others of her kind had their throats slit, and instead of providing her with the safety to smooth her time amongst them, Danny probably made her feel even more scared.

He just couldn't control it. Not then, not now, and maybe not even in the future. The boogeyman inside him, that evil voice that whispers of blood and violence to his ear, it took hold of him back there, even for the slightest seconds, and it almost beat a man to death. It was his own curse, as if he had taken the wrong pearl out of some mystic chest in the bottom of the ocean. It was a sin that Danny had to carry with him for the rest of his life, even though it provided him with enough power to survive in that blighted world.

His line of thought was interrupted when Zara caught his attention, trying her best to output her struggling words in a way that Danny understood, and making a poor attempt of replicating the 'Trident' that she must've heard the mercenary speaking about. She wasn't to blame, since not many knew the stories behind the Trident and the Forbidden City near it.

When they crossed the mess hall full of sailors minding their business, most especifically their after battle food, to a place more secluded, next to the stairs to the upper deck, Danny finally opened his mouth to answer the siren.

"The Trident is--was a great parcel of land once, belonging to a great empire. When this empire crumbled under its cursed sands, now known as the Forbidden City, so too did the Trident. Let's just say it isn't the safest of places to sail past these days", Danny finished with a cheeky side smile to the woman, before moving up through the stairs to the main deck.

The sea sight was serene, even with the crumbling ship in the distance, what remained of the war ship they had sunk only moments ago. There weren't any sailors on deck this time, meaning Danny and Zara had that small place to themselves for the moment. Danny waltzed through a few ropes and crates until he reached the other end of the deck, resting his arms over the wooden railing and gazing upon the sun on the horizon.

"'If you sail onwards to the sun, you'll eventually find what remained under it'. It's a local sailor saying, about the dangerous waters near the Trident and the Forbidden City", Danny spoke calmly when he noticed Zara had arrived beside him, contemplating the sight as well.

"It's a very terrifying place, and we'll be on a lot of danger. Even I don't know what we can possibly face down there. You sure you wanna do this?", he asked, looking at her deeply and taking a moment to further admire her beauty once again, even with the small cuts and bruises on her face. Now that the heat of battle was truly behind them, and with the calmness of the waters below them, Danny could really catch her mesmerizing face.

Cleaning his throat awkwardly, Danny signaled her to walk until they crossed the deck again and reached Danny's cabin, the fancy decorated door below the ship's helm being the opening. Danny took the front and opened it, allowing Zara passage shortly after. He watched with a small smile as she took a moment to see the room's content.

Even though the Calypso itself was a charming ship, much in opposite to an ordinary pirate ship, Danny's room was a gem of its own. Danny liked to think himself a man of refined tastes, his furniture being proof of that. Furnishings of utmost quality, tailored with fine wooden and decorated with small bits of pure gold, tall bookcases filled with stories that Danny enjoyed reading, even though he rarely admitted it himself. The room was a bit dark, thanks to the curtains eclipsing over the windows in the back, and his desk being the main object of attention in that place.

It was well polished and embellished, with many trinks above it, as well as a open book at the center. The latest of edition about sea warfare that Danny had acquired back in Alliria, after his short exploit there.

Danny walked towards it, grabbing one of the trinkets with a smirk. He turned and put the trinket just a few inches from his face, comparing it to the woman a few paces from him.

It was a small golden shaped mermaid, one of his favorite possessions. Reed had a short laugh after seeing the look on Zara's face, even though deep down he hoped she was enjoying the moment, maybe in a hope of making her think him less of a monster.

"I think they captured your beauty well enough, aye?", Danny playfully asked, lending the toy sized statue to the woman.

 

[MJK]

(Sorry for the late reply, I've been studying)

He finally answered her, but only after they had walked through the mess hall. Zara found it difficult to ignore the glares on her back, the men perhaps noticing her presence now for the first time with the haze of battle clearing from their heads. Though it might have been her imagination, she couldn't help but catch the smallest of wolf-whistles aimed in her direction. Although unsure of what it meant she couldn't help but catch the subtle aura of lust radiating from the direction from whence the whistle came. Before exiting the hall she swivelled, casting a a dangerous glare over the entire group of men. Any who had been looking her way quickly returned their sights to their food in front of them.

His explanation about the Trident made sense to her, Zara's brows still furrowing though as she tried to think through why the place sounded familiar to her. She had heard stories as a child about the place, but could not recall what the stories had been about. All she did remember was the feeling of avoidance that had arisen from such tales.

She blinked furiously against the bright light that assaulted her eyes when they exited the stairwell. By now the light of the day was almost fully upon them, making her eyes burn for a few seconds until they adjusted. Zara followed him all the way to the railing, although did not lean against it casually as he did . Instead she stood tall, holding her hands in front of her in a soft clasp. He questioned whether she still wanted to continue, the question making her expression sour and her eyes darken to a deep blue.

"My people are being hunted. Intentionally. We have mostly left you alone despite your ever increasing breaching into our territories and hunting in our grounds until there is little left for us. There is already so little of us left. I need to find out how to stop any more of our deaths until we disappear altogether." She was somber while speaking, showing none of the playful lightness in his voice. Despite her stony response, if one looked closely enough it would be clear to see a much softer, sadder gaze present in her eyes.

"The danger means little to me. I am much stronger than you think and can use a weapon as well as any of your men. In fact, I'd be willing to bet on my winning in a confrontation with any of your crew - perhaps even that towering man who follows you around." She said this as she walked, stopping only when they reached the cabin. At his insistence she entered inside, met with the unexpected sights within.

It was a well-decorated interior, with soft touches here and there that seemed not to suit the appearance, of a hardy, untouchable pirate captain. Remaining somewhat reserved she stayed standing, despite the luxuriously soft furnishings available. Reed wandered in, clearly at home in the space. He picked up something from the desk, Zara taking a step forward until she could see what it was. He held in his hands a crude replica of what her species looked like, the sight making Zara raise a brow and her lips thin. His implying that the beauty of the object suited her managed to make her crack the smallest of smiles though.

"It is not the best representation. There are many inaccuracies in the sculpture. For one -" She gently pried it from his hands, pointing to spots near the pelvis of the statue. "- there are fins here, not just at the tail and the scales are apparent on spots of, um, sk-skin on the top of the body here -" she pointed to the collar bones, and then to the shoulders where she traced a line down the outer arms, "- and from here to here."

 

[Danny]

Danny gazed upon the siren again, his blue eyes deepening into her own as he felt his heart take over again, beating fast as he slowly opened his lips in a short smile, admiring her laugh and soft fingers slowly tracing through the small statue. She looked like the brightest of pearls, lighting up the room with that sparkling and unique aura about her, a puzzle of emotions so different to the ones Danny was so used to that he could never hope to crack it.

He felt his hand trembling slightly before it slowly made its way towards her sweet and barely pale cheeks, the sunlight sneaking through the curtains and peering right over them as the young captain, lost for words, gently traced a few lines of his own over her face, reckless to his well being as he remembered the woman boasting about using that short showing of care to her advantage, as her species always did. And yet, Danny didn't care. He felt something, a unique and unknown feeling about her, that made him feel at ease even though they were both dangers to each other, even as far as saying that they were natural enemies, given their standings. A sea ravaging pirate, caring only for the fires of battle and gold, and a creature not really welcomed on land and surface, meeting in the most unthinkable of places and due to not so pleasant circumstances.

"You're right...", Danny broke the silence, his voice rougher and more mature than before, as his words carried forth a current of emotions completely new to the pirate captain. "They missed these markings", he said, his fingers travelling through the strange and mysteriously beautiful markings on her soft skin. Danny let out a small laugh after the awkward pause, turning from her and walking to a nearby closet, opening with a creaking sound to reveal several bottles of drinks that he liked to collect. He kept some empty, mementos from previous plunders and reminders to chase better ones wherever he went.

If there was ever a treasure that never seemed to end, was booze.

His eyes scoured through the filled shelves until he found it. Taking the large glass vial, he closed the closet's doors and playfully twisted the bottle on his hand as he took a cup from his desk, filling it with pure and clean water. A sailor couldn't live at sea on alcohol alone.

"Here. Must've been some time since you had some", Danny carefully handed the siren the glass filled with water, smiling as he did so.

Danny leaned on and sat on the edge of his wooden desk, feeling the ship slowly starting to get in motion with the waves as he started hearing the orders being barked at the crew by Rhondon. They had finally started their dangerous journey towards the Trident and whatever shadows that crept there, waiting for them. The captain waited for the woman to finish her much needed drink, before sparking up the ambience in conversation again.

"You should keep it. It's an old trinket of mine", Danny looked over at the golden mermaid statue that Zara still held. "Maybe after this is all over and you go back under the sea, that'll help you remember me?", he asked, the playful smirk back on his lips as deep inside he begged that the woman would accept, and that she would truly remember about him. Of course, they needed to see that mission through first, to get revenge on those damned smugglers for doing one over him and murdering Zara's people.

"Given that we're even alive by the end of it...", he whispered, looking away from her and towards the nearby window, feeling the fear on that risky undertaking for the first time. As confident as he was, even Danny couldn't blindly believe that they could end it all unscathed. Even if they managed to get some clarity about the situation in the Trident, they still had to deal with the 'benefactors' in Elbion.

There was still a lot of blood to be shed.

 

[MJK]

She was still looking over the crude rendition of what human men supposed she looked like when she felt his touch on her cheek. The sensation of his skin on hers had been unexpected, the female's feather-light touch on the trinket suddenly tightening. Zara did not recall allowing any of her abilities to seep out, abilities meant to enthrall and enrapture men. She knew though, from experience, that her presence alone could have unexpected effects on humans.

Still though, the touch made her feel....something. Something she had felt long ago, but which had turned into a bitter pain which she thought had been buried. The touch was sweet, yet also a way to rekindle the hardships she thought she had managed to entrap in the deepest recesses of her mind. Her throat suddenly dry and her heart rate increasing she recoiled, coyly shifting so that her cheek was no longer in his grasp even as he spoke of her markings. "They....they did miss the markings. They're unique to each siren. Like your fingerprints."

He had turned away, walking towards a cabinet that swung open with the creaking of hinges. Zara continued to examine the statue, more because she wished to hide the sudden heat that had graced her cheeks rather than because there was any new detail to see in the golden trinket. Get a grip of yourself. You have a mission to complete and lives to save...she said in her mind, chastising herself for allowing her emotions to take a hold of her.

Clearing her throat she straightened, letting her arms fall to her sides with the statue carefully grasped in her one hand. When she turned he was offering her water, the smell of it filling her senses and making her pupils dilate. It was easy enough for her to tell there was nothing but fresh liquid in the glass simply by smell alone. She took it carefully, only the slight shake of her fingers the sign of how eager she was to relieve the dryness in her mouth and throat. Bringing the liquid to her lips she threw the glass and her head back, draining the contents in under five seconds. It wasn't seawater, but it was more than she had had in days. It had also barely satiated her thirst, but she was grateful for it nonetheless.

"I appreciate the gift. Thank you." Whether she had been talking about the water or his offer of her taking the trinket was unclear. Still though, she did not put the trinket back down on his desk. Her words were becoming more fluent now, the language coming easier the more she spoke it. There was still a slight accent though, a lilting in her pronunciation that wouldn't go away.

Putting the glass down she stepped closer to him, her eyes fixated on his features as she neared. Her ocean-coloured hues, more green than blue like the sea after a storm, glared over him carefully. It seemed as if she was on the brink of saying something, lips parting to let out a small breath when she was a few centimeters away. In the last second though, when her face was a small space from his, she looked away. Rather than saying anything she looked downward, gently taking the bottle of water from his grip in the gentlest of grasps. She smirked at him from beneath long, dark lashes, using her teeth to pry open the bottle before taking a long gulp from the liquid within. Leaving a sip remaining in the glass she finally stopped, giving Danny a sideways smile as she finally stepped out from his personal space.

"It's been days since I've had anything to drink. That's might have been the best drink I've ever tasted in my life....even if it was my first from dry-land." She said this in a hushed tone, chuckling as she gave him one last look over her shoulder before walking out his cabin with the trinket still in her hands.