IceAndWave/UnfriendlyNeighbours

Unfriendly Neighbours

In which a meal is taken, ancient horrors arise, and a short break becomes somewhat more urgent...

The 5th Day of Descending Wood, Realm Year 763

The cabin that the three Dragon-blooded are in could charitably be described as "cozy", although a more accurate description would be "horribly cramped".

Venia would mind far more if she didn't take a perfectly hidden amusement in the other two's discomfort.

Sian doesn't much mind, since he's used to occasionally uncomfortable conditions, but he adopts a properly-irked expression for the others' sake.

The sounds of the ship's crew busy beginning to patch the large hole in the flat-bottomed hull filter through the wooden walls, profanity-laden sailor's language and the sound of hammering spoiling the coziness.

Cassia curls up on the small hammock, carefully carving hair pin from bone, and trying to filter out the noise and the profanity, occasionally wincing at especially loud bangs.

Venia stretches out improbably in a corner, mostly watching the other two silently.

Sian feigns sleep, trying to take up as little room as possible, just to be fair. He is just a wee bit taller than the other two, after all.

Venia finally turns to watch Cassia, eventually using that low spine-shivering voice, so as not to disturb Sian. "So, what are you working on?"

Cassia occasionally stretches, before curling herself back up, then looking up as Venia's voice shivers down her spine "Just a hairpin.."

The sounds of the work are joined by another, more ominous sound, the howls of the wind as the storm finally reaches the island that the barge beached on. The beams and planks creak under the load of the wind, and then the loud, rattling sound of heavy rain reverberates through the ship.

Venia sighs, "That doesn't sound good."

Cassia shakes her head "The storm must be right on top of us."

A perfunctory knock at the door is followed by a woman's voice, "Cap'n Rook says that if you're still interested he's serving dinner now, before the storm gets worse."

Sian 'wakes' at this, stretching and yawning. "Mmm... food."

Cassia smiles at this, carefully putting pin and knife into her small bag, and folding herself off the bed, stretching fully as she stands.

Venia works her way out of the corner. "So, what is appropriate formal wear for this sort of situation?"

Sian offers a smile. "You brought formal wear all the way out here?"

"One never knows when it will be useful."

"Fair enough. Though I don't think the captain will hold it against you if you wear something more comfortable."

The roaring of the wind picks up, a particularly strong gust shaking the barge and causing the lantern to rattle slightly.

"I generally find captains most wish to hold things against me when I am in formal wear."

"Har." He hauls himself up, smiling apologetically at Cassia in the cramped space.

Venia manages to find something slightly nautical, and more than slightly formal in the few pieces of clothing she packed.

Cassia gives a small smile to venia and a small shrug to Sian, leaning on the wall to let him pass.

Sian does wander past, heading out to go eat!

Cassia starts to follow Sian out.

Venia follows out when she is appropriately dressed, and not before.

Captain Rook greets the three in a room slightly smaller than their cabin, the only furniture being a large table and four chairs, "I apologise for the cramped conditions. The Jaunty Rose was never really meant for passengers." He gestures to the small, wooden chairs, "Food will be here shortly."

Sian offers each of the women a seat, before taking his own.

"Thank you," Cassia says with a small, but delighted smile.

Venia offers her own-half smile, wordless. Mostly because for some reason, Sian makes her brain shut off.

Sian returns both smiles in a friendly way, and settles back to wait for the food.

Rook turns to Sian, "I must thank you again for what you did. It was very brave to enter such cold water," and then he turns to the others, "And I thank you two, for it is not often that such beauty is sat at my table."

Sian just waves this comment off, leaving the other two to respond to their own.

"Yes, Cassia is a most rare find." Venia smiles again.

Cassia's natural almost-blush does deepen a few shades of red at Venia's comment. "Thank you." she says once more, smiling, pleased.

The door opens again and a sailor carrying four steaming bowls on a tray arrives, depositing one before each diner before leaving. Rook shrugs apologetically, "It's just a thick pea soup, I'm afraid, with some sailor's bread. We don't often get guests."

"Better than what's available on the road." Sian starts into it, quite content.

"It is quite alright, Captain." Cassia tastes some of her own.

Venia nods in agreement, starting slowly into it.

The storm increases in ferocity, the sound of rain and hail impacting on the deck now forcing those at dinner to raise their voices somewhat, and causing a slight drip from the roof.

Sian tries to speak as little as possible, instead, still eating.

Venia moves aside after a drip of water lands in a somewhat eye-catching positon.

The sound of bells suddenly fills the ship, clearly audible over the howling wind. The door into the small room bursts open and a frantic-looking sailor steps in, "Cap'n! There's something out there! It grabbed Stone off the deck and took him before he could even scream!"

Sian blinks at this, removing his gaze from Venia's cleavage.

Venia eyes Sian. "Perhaps you should go handle the monster, Sian? We have dinner to finish."

"What? What was it?" Rook stands.

"Dunno, sir. We can barely see out there! The storm's a fierce one."

"Well, I wouldn't want to spoil your dinner." Sian stands, and brushes past the man, heading back to his cabin to retrieve some gear.

Cassia brings her gaze away from Venia also, looking after Sian's retreating form. She considers, then almost shrugs her shoulders, her hair flicking briefly as a red jade dagger appears in her hand.

Venia waves at her. "See you shortly. I have some bread to finish." She recrosses her legs. "So, Captain, you were saying?"

Sian gears up! Breastplate, sheath, warm gear. All of your normal fighting-demon-in-a-storm things.

Rook blinks for a few seconds, "Umm... well, I hope that someone as... refined as yourself isn't offended by our food. And... well... might I ask as to why you're all headed to Broken Back? There's not much there, just a few houses and a small fishing fleet."

"That's the problem, Captain. For some reason, everyone is interested in Broken Back, and it's nice to know why."

Cassia waits for Sian, then follows him out onto the deck, wincing a little as the winds and the rain hit her.

Sian looks back at her. "Sure you want to be out here?"

• Cassia nods sharply, and steps out further.

Venia gauges things, and finishes up her bread, standing. "By any chance, would you happen to have any tea on board?"

"We only have fish-tea, which is... an acquired taste, even for sailors. We just drink it when we need to keep warm outside," Rook smiles apologetically.

Venia shudders, which would be most pleasant to watch if it wasn't for her slipping a strangling cord from her sleeve. "Alcohol?"

Sian shrugs, and continues on, looking for any signs of this monster.

Cassia sticks close to Sian, looking for this monster.

"That we have. We are sailors," Rook grins and fishes a small flask from his pocket, "It's not great, but it is strong."

Venia nods. "Hold that thought... I'll need it soon enough." She heads to collect her coat, and swords, before moving out to join the other two Chosen.

Wind and rain lash down onto the deck of the Jaunty Rose, sheets of water pouring off its sides as the assembled and armed crew gather around the sides, peering into the storm. At the edge of vision on the landwards side of the ship movement can be seen, indistinct shapes moving between boulders that are visible more as disturbances in the rain than anything else.

Cassia starts, "Sian... did you you see that movement?"

"Movement?" He turns back. "Where?"

"There, on the shoreline" she points.

Venia sneaks up behind Cassia, and neglects to yell boo, instead leaning her chin on Cassia's shoulder. "Found the monsters already...?"

Cassia tenses as Venia touches her, then relaxes, "Venia!"

Sian squints, and is still unable to see anything through the rain. Thus, he starts slowly scanning the lines of the rocks, looking for anything out of place.

Indistinct shapes continue to move just in and out of visual range, when a scream from the other side of the ship pierces the darkness! Everyone turns just in time to see two sailors pulled over the side of the barge, one leaving a large pool of blood that is rapidly washed away in the rain.

Sian grimaces at this, not taking much more than a second to process it before taking off after them, diving gracefully overboard.

Cassia blinks as he vanishes over the side of the ship.

Sian peers through the murk! Though now that he's in his element, a few quick dashes back and forth beneath the waves negate most of this, as he searches for the missing (and likely now dead) sailors.

The sailors, or their corpses, are visible to Sian's Charm-enhanced senses, together with the... things that dragged them off the deck. Humanoid in shape, but with tentacles where their arms should be, they swim through the cold and stormy water like fish, heading around and back towards the island.

Venia nods sharply, "Yes. Me. And demons, or monsters, or something that needs killing."

Cassia briefly looks down. "You shouldn't have been able to sneak up on me," she murmurs softly.

Sian frowns, gathering his strength for a moment before taking off after them, sliding effortlessly through the water.

On the island, the indistinct shapes become a whole lot more distinct, as a crowd of creatures similar in basic shape to the things that Sian sees underwater rush the barge, long loping strides carry the tentacled once-humans to the side of the barge with great rapidity, their deformities not affecting them in the slightest as they begin climbing up.

Sian frowns at this again, drawing a pair of javelin from the sheath and leaving a slim arc of ice beneath the water, then an arrow-straight one as the weapons fly up towards the ship-bound monsters.

Venia shrugs, also speaking softly. "You were occupied with the obvious danger. There is a particular step that implies friendship. I will teach you later. For now... monsters?"

Cassia looks at the tentacles things crawling up the side of the ship and nods!

The pair of creatures Sian was pursuing rise out of the water and lope inland, dragging their unfortunate cargo with them towards whatever it is on the island. Meanwhile, shouts of alarm ring from the Rose, even above the sounds of the storm.

Cassia looks between the advancing creatures then drops down and scuttles forward, spinning as she slashes at one twice before leaping back with a flip. The creature dies on the deck, spilling green blood on the wood and Cassia as it crumples in a mess of flesh and tentacles.

Venia holds her blades in a loose stance, the lengths of steel almost dangling from slack hands as she steps forward, suddenly flipping forwards and relieving a handful of the boarders of their tentacles with a single scissored sweep in midair. She kicks off the falling monsters and returns to her original spot, sighing at the ichor on her blades. She flicks it off with a lazy impression of a salute to Cassia, waiting for more.

Three more of the creatures join their companion dead on the deck, spilling thick green ichor on the deck, quivering in death as their companions continue to swarm up the side of the vessel, while a further pair of the creatures fall, frozen solid by the deep chill that fills Sian's javelins, and they drop to the water's surface only to shatter upon impact with the stones just below.

Venia half-smiles. "I think he wins for impressiveness."

Cassia nods, watching the fight around her, wincing a little.

"Can any of us sail when all the sailors are dead?" Venia asks, exasperated.

The creatures continue to climb up the side attacking the sailors, ignoring losses - at least for the time being. Several of their number fall to the massed hooks and clubs of the crew, but more of the hapless seamen are dragged over the side to their deaths, each leaving with a blood-curdling scream.

Venia moves over to support the poor crwemen, idly dancing and swirling from enemy to enemy with faint flicks of her blades, slashing their necks and hamstrings only to be gone, untouched by the spray of ichor.

Sian eyes the barge for a moment, then swims in a few quick circles to gain momentum, suddenly returning to a straight path at an upwards angle. He breaks the water at speed, one icy javelin already leaving his hand to spear a monster, before he grabs another monster by the neck at the apex of his leap. A second javelin flies towards another hapless creature, before he kicks off the side of the ship, sending both himself and his victim crashing back into the stormy sea.

Cassia lands from her flip infront of the mast, bracing herself against it momentarily before pushing off, tumbling over the deck, the jade on her dagger glowing with heat as it slices, steaming rising from the raindrops that hit it.

The trio of Dragon-bloods scythe through the attackers, Venia disemboweling and decapitating a pair, while leaving a third bleeding on the deck barely alive. Sian's manoeuvre shatters another pair, pinning them to the hull of the barge while the third ends up broken and squishy in his grasp, and Cassia's Charm-enchanced blade cuts through the horrid flesh of the assailants, filling the air with the stench of cooking fish.

Emboldened by the defence put on by their Exalted passengers, the crew rush forwards to beat and spear the twisted monstrosities that have swarmed their ship. Despite many casualties, the crew and the Dragon-bloods work together and drive the attackers away, and they leave more than twenty of their number dead, either bleeding out or frozen and shattered.

Venia sets her blades in their sheathe, wandering over to check on Cassia. "You get hurt?"

Sian climbs back on board slowly, using his javelins as handholds, and retrieving them as he goes. He hops over the rail.

Cassia shakes her head, "No, I'm fine." She smiles happily, "I didn't see you get hit..."

"That is because I don't get hit. Hello, Sian. Enjoy the swim?"

"Mhmm. Most refreshing." He makes no move to dry himself.

"Get hurt?"

"Nope."

The sailors take care of their wounded and dead, kicking the corpses of their assailants over the side. The storm continues to rage as Rook, bleeding from a nasty cut on his cheek and another on his arm, approaches the threesome, "It would appear that, once again, I and my crew owe you a great debt."

"Not really. We would have been just as dead as you if we didn't fight," Sian avers.

Venia's smile is predatory, "You can pay it back by running a nice warm bath and handing me that flask, captain."

Rook grins and passes the flask to Venia, "A warm bath might be harder, but we'll do what we can."

Venia opens it, tosses a bit of it back, and caps it, making sure not to get any water into it. She hands it back.

Rook looks over the side of his vessel, "Looks like this island isn't as empty as we thought it was..."

"Can we leave? I'm sure there are more aberrations waiting out there..."

"Repairs still underway, remember." Sian flicks a bit of green ichor off of the railing.

Rook nods, "The hole is just too big to sail. The Rose would sink after a mile, two at most. We have what we need to fix it, but it's going to take at least another day."

Venia sighs. "Bugger." She taps Sian on the shoulder with the sheathed swords. "Take first watch. I'm going inside. Cassia, care to join me?"

Cassia smiles, then nods. The dagger vanishes again as she follows Venia inside.

Sian just shrugs to himself, and goes to find a place to sit up near the front.