Fire On The Horizon

[Lady_Siren]

Serena stepped ashore shivering slightly in the cooling air. The sun was quickly setting. It had taken longer to row to shower then she anticipated because the on coming storm caused to many waves. She glanced at Alex who stood protectively beside her. "We need to find shelter before the storm hits. I suppose we should have waited until it was over but I didn't want it to carry us off course. I have to many plans that can't be delayed" sighing softly she motioned Alex to follow her. He didn't talk much, well actually he couldn't. His tongue had been cut out a couple years ago in a prison. Thats where Serena had met him. She had stormed the prison intent upon killing a man who had betrayed her when she had run into Alex. The rest was just a long story. Alex nodded and followed her glanced around at the land. "Is that smoke I see? Why would someone live so far from a village?" shaking her head she headed in that direction. It really was her only choice.

 

[poohlive]

"Looks like it'll rain all night."
Rocky turned away from the small window, moving back to his bed. In the cold nights, like this one, he put it next to the hearth, so he could be warm throughout the night. Sabaka stood at his post, looking at the door as if it were about to jump off the hinges and come after Rocky.
The soup smelled wonderful, and he ate his full. Nothing like a full stomach to help the end of a cold evening along. Sabaka hadn't moved, but he could tell the man graciously awaited the time to eat himself.
Sleep overtook him soon enough.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Serena looked at the small dwelling curiously. It was late, the inhabitants were probably asleep. It began to rain in earnest as soon as that thought entered her mind. Cursing under her breath she motioned Alex to follow her. She really had no choice. It was either this or to spend the night soaking to death. Stepping in front of the door she hesitated. Alex placed a protective hand on her shoulder and she nodded resolutely. Raising her hand she knocked... once... twice and awaited an answer.

 

[poohlive]

"At this hour?"
That didn't shake Rocky as much. The truth was, he got no visitors up here at all, anyone clammering up in the middle of a storm at night would be nearly impossible.
Sabaka already had his sword drawn, before the knock at the door. His ears had picked up their ascent. He stood, poised, waiting.
"Now, would you calm down, what if they are friends?"
He growled, "They have weapons, I heard them."
This made Rocky stop for a moment. His hand on the latch. Weapons? He turned back to Sabaka, thinking perhaps it was a joke, but Sabaka didn't make jokes, especially about something like this.
"Weapons?"
Sabaka sniffed the air, "Salty. They are from the sea."
He swallowed, unsure now more than ever. Pirates? All the way up here? What would pirates want with him? Rape and plunder? Oh no.
His frightened eyes looked to Sabaka, still cool and calm with his sword drawn.
"What should I do?"
"Open the door. There's only two, I can take care of them..."
"Wait, wait wait. Now, no death until I say so."
Sabaka only growled.
Rocky opened the door, just a crack. A blast of cold air hit him, rain pelting into his face. He squinted against the storm, looking out to the pirates.
"What do you want?"
It was his bravest voice, but he didn't think it carried very well in the storm.

 

[Darkthought]

Darnak

His back stiffined a little as the news sunk in.

Treachery? Contacts?

Did these meaningless creatures never learn?

His plans would wait. These plots were usually harmless, and quietly snuffed out, but he could tell by Sigrath's presentation of the facts there was more to it. What he lacked in leadership ability, this Gornachai more than made up for with intimidation and intellegence.

"You will seek out these contacts. Find who they are, find what they know, find what they plan. Do what it takes, but do not yet quell the problem. This woman you speak of, she is not..."

He shot a quick glance to Sigrath, and knew...

"... was not the organizer of these ideas. Do what must be done. I will instruct 3 of the others to you. The remainder I need in.... other areas."

He turned from the dark figure and looked to the door.

"Go now, before the others come. Leave word with the Eyes where you are to be headed. You can expect help to be close behind. Formode and Galtzuk will arrive shortly. They will be turned out immediately. The third will be delayed slightly."

He looked back at Sigrath.

He had no love for his minions, but respect remained for a few.

He sat down in the massive stone chair and turned his thoughts to the fields below.

The grass, the trees, the meadows.... so peacefully resting. That will change. It must, for the next foot will be placed forward, and the tread that remains behind would be deep and scarring.

 

[hybirdx]

Max waited silently as he watched the new arival exit the harbour. I doubt they know any thing about Darnak... I pray that Darnak will leave them be, but knowing, he will send his oaths he call minions!

Silvia watched her long time freind Max from the bar stool, slightly worried abot the expression on his face.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Serena looked at the man who opened the door curiously. She caught a glimpse of someone else, a big someone else. Taking comfort in the fact Alex was beside her she met the smaller man's gaze boldly. "My name is Serena, this is my good friend Alex. We mean you no harm" she held up her hands. "We only wish to request shelter for the night and in the morning we will be on our way. If you wish we are will to give you our weapons if you feel threatened." She shivered as the rain pelted at her and her companion. She hoped this man was a generous one.

 

[poohlive]

Rocky nodded, closing the door in front of them both.
"Just travelling folk," he said, already wanting them to come in.
"They smell of the sea. Those kind do not travel on land."
Rocky made a face at him, one of ignorance and stupidity. He opened the door, welcoming them both in.
"Hello, hello, come in out of the cold. It is much better inside. We have some food left, and a nice fire coming in. Please, be our guests."
Sabaka just stood there, unmoving, but Rocky was all too eager to greet his new friends.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Serena was surprised at how welcoming this stranger was but she was also Grateful. She did her best to avoid the large man who didn't look to happy about letting them in. She headed for the fire holding out her hands trying to chase away her shivers. Alex followed suite standing close to her protectively. She turned to their host "Thank you so much for your generosity. May I ask your name?"

 

[poohlive]

"Oh, sure... Come, sit, sit. We do not harbour guests as criminals. Get comfortable, there is stew still on the fire, something to warm your bellies. I don't have much else, some stale bread and cheese, that's about it."
He sat down in his bed, wrapping himself up in the covers once more. The storm outside wailed louder, and even the act of covering himself made him feel warmer.
"My name is Rocky, and my friend..." he still stood, unmoving, eyeing the both of them, "Is Sabaka. He's my bodyguard, which explains why he isn't very hospitable.
"But, come, come. Tell us your names, and what brings you here? Sabaka said you were from the sea, is that true, are you pirates, looking to bury gold somewhere?"

 

[hybirdx]

Max gave an low groan as he stood up, "I'm not going to wait any longer..."

He slowly walked over to he bar where Silvia was cleaning some dishes "Hey Silv, You got any rooms I can use for the night?"

"Of course Max!" Silvia gave an smile as she saw the old Max emerging again.

"Thanks..." Max rubbed his neck, seeing that he kept his head in one position for so long, it became stif.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Serena nodded accepting a bowl of soup. "My name is Serena, and this is my good friend Alex. Yes we come from the sea but I'm afraid we are without treasure." She glanced at Sebaka noticing his stony gaze as he watched her and Alex suspiciously. "If you don't mind me asking why do you live so far from the village? I haven't seen many houses this isolated."

 

[poohlive]

Rocky finds himself sitting on his bed, alongside the fire, pulling his covers over him so that he felt like a bug nestled somewhere for the evening. This time of night, with a storm outside, it was the best feeling a person could have.
"My, you are full of questions. There is someone after us, and we do not like people. It was Sabaka's idea to keep me up here. You see when Da..."
Sabaka growled, something big enough to jar Rocky in his seat, and say no more. He just looked at the man, who stood now, halfway between the door and the guests, eyeing each one equally.
"Ummm, yes," he nodded, "Just some people don't like me, and Sabaka thought it best to live away from others. So we hiked up here and made a nice little home for ourselves."
It was as good an explanation as any, and Sabaka approved of it, although, with those eyes burning into you, he doubted Sabaka ever truly approved of anything unless it was dead.
"Well, come, tell us of your adventures. I love adventures, always wanted to be a pirate myself, sail the seven seas and rise the mison mast, or whatever."
His eyes sparkled with interest.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Serena found herself liking liking Rocky. She liked his personality. With the life that she lived Serena mostly met only hardened sailors. Men who wouldn't devulge their name unless they knew you for at least a year. You had to always be on your gaurd in the pirate business. But now despite Sebaka's glaring she felt herself relaxing. She always realized just how tiring pirate life could be. "An adventure?" she bit her lip thinking for a moment. Alex frowned at the thought of revealing something of themselves. Sensing his discomfort she glanced at him "Don't start glowering. I'm merely going to tell him of that time we saved Lucien from the prison." She turned back to Rocky "Do you wish to hear it?"

 

[hybirdx]

Max slowly lied down on the bed. "Well, I guess we can consider them inocent... I shouldn't worry so much... The look on Silvia's face made ME worried!" Max joked, he laughed to himself, yeyt his laughter came to an abrupt halt when he heard an noise.

"Let me go!"

 

[poohlive]

Rocky curled up tighter, as a gust of wind howeled against the side of the house. Part of it waned, shaking against the storm outside. He tried to move inside himself, to escape the dangerous unknown that crashed up against the side of the house.
"Prison break?"
His eyes lit up, watching as Sabaka moved to add a few logs to the fire.
"You mean you helped someone escape from prison? I didn't even know that was possible. How did you do it? Oh, tell me everything. I want to know."
Sabaka passed them all, nothing more than a grunt as he sat outside of their little hue around the fire, his eyes still turning from the door to the visitors.
Rocky awaited his tale.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Serena felt herself smile at Rocky's eagerness. She settled into a more comfortable position and thought of where to begin. "It was almost ten years ago I believe when my crew and I recieved word that my first mate's brother Lucien was being held in an isolated prison on charges of murder. It seems he caught his wife in bed with another man and in a fit of rage killed them both. When Darian our first mate heard about his brother he was furious. He said that he had known from the beginning that the woman was bad news and he blamed the entire thing on her. He requested permission to leave the ship to rescue his brother. I can still see the expression on his face when I told him no. And how quickly it changed when I told him we were all going to break his brother out" she smiled at the memory. "Well after it was decided we were quickly on our way. Plans were drawn up and decisions made. Suffice it to say we were very well prepared. We arrived on the shores of the prison island in record time. My first mate, Alex and I geared up. We were going to use stealth to free his brother. All three of us searched the outskirts of the prison until we knew where every gaurd station and where every entrance was. We chose one of the entrances facing the cliffs that bordered the sea. As soon as night fell we spit up and headed towards the entrance. Each of us took a gaurd silently taking each one out. We switched outfits with the gaurds so we would blend in more. Alex found the keys on one of the gaurds and we quickly slipped into the prison. Using our hearing we listened for talk of Lucien while remaining mostly hidden. As we slipped deeper into the prison we could hear people mentioning him. When we were at a loss for his location I came up with an idea. With a little creative alterations to my uniform I was able to use..." she paused a moment "My womanly charms I guess you could say and I found out the location. After silencing the gaurd I got the information from we headed in Lucien's direction. When we reached his cell Alex and I stood gaurd while Darian slipped in and dispatched the gaurds and unlocked Lucien's cell. Introductions were quickly given and we began to leave. Well we must of slipped up somewhere because we got no furthur then the second floor when we heard a shout heard in the distance. Soon gaurds were swarming everywhere. Thinking quickly We slipped in a dark room waiting for the swarm of men to pass. We then hurried down the hallway. However the stairway was blocked by about eight men. Luckily we had come armed. instead of fighting to kill we merely faught to injure which took alot less time. We quickly dispatched of the small group and were once again running towards the exit. Many more soldiers were chasing us but we were almost their and we were much faster. We finally hit the open and could see the ship in the distance but we were soon surrounded. About twenty or more men surrounded us there eyes angry. They seemed to have something against pirates. What it could be I will never know" she hid a giggle. "We were sure that it was over. We were all remarkable fighters but there were simply to many. However before they could cut us to ribbons most of my crew suddenly popped out of the trees and from behind shrubs where they had lain in wait. A fight ensued in which we were the victors. Only two of my crew were injured but only minorly. We were all able to make it back to the ship and celebrate our wonderous rescue. Lucien was very thankful to be out of there and Darian grew alot more loyal towards me and my crew for our help. He even talked Lucien into joining us and he has been a loyal companion from then on." finishing her story she awaited Rocky's reaction.

 

[hybirdx]

Nax shot up, and put on his pants and T-shirt, "Son of a... Whoevers the ass-hole thats making all this nose at this time of night is going to pay!" Max looked at the clock and almost hit himself "Its only 6:50..."

Max opened the door and looked out.

"Oh come on! Just an hour!"

"Let me go you jerk, this is not a bordelo!"

A man, (obviously drunk) was holding Silvia by the arm, she strugled as hard as she could, but his grip was strong and over powering her.

"Okay, just a kiss, I'll give you ten gold! (assuming that is the currency)"

"No! Let ,me go you pervert!" she gave another hard tug, she was sick of non forceful tactics, she turned around and slaped him. The drunken man didn't like the action, and hit her upside the head, knocking her down.

That, pissed off Max. Before the drunk could even think about what the boy was doing there, he felt an sharp pain in his gut "...Erk!" The drunk fell on his knees and passed out.

"Lousy shit... Sil, are you ok? Silvia?" Max knelt down beside her, out of it. He slowly picked her up, and carried her into his room, then left the room.