"Even if you die tomorrow, eh?" Luke said, smiling. "Well, I'm not going to let that happen. Not to you, or to anyone else in this group." Lucas quickened his pace when the others caught up to him. They were making steady progress to Dyan, and would most likely be there by noon. Luke was nearly correct. The group arrived in the port city at one o'clock in the afternoon, they were admitted entry into the city by the guards, and immediately Lucas led them through the streets and towards the center of town. He knew exactly what he was doing; he'd been in Dyan several times before, and knew the city well enough. Once they were near the shopping center, Luke stopped the group and went about issuing orders. "Agnorth, Len, Sven, Scythe, and Gloria, you'll be looking for any supplies we may need on our journey. Spend whatever you think will be adequate. More is better than less, and we don't want to run out of anything while at sea." Turning to the rest, he added, "Atrius, Annaleigh, Deathblade, Incendia, Lye, and anyone else I may have missed will go with me to find and purchase a ship. It won't be easy, though. We may have to do some persuading. You see, there probably won't be many ships up for purchase, and they're expensive. But I'm good at bartering." With that being said, he and those chosen to go with him took off in the direction of the ship yard, leaving the second group to shop for supplies. Luke's theory was correct. It was going to be very difficult to get a ship - there was only one left, and another group had already beaten them to it. A rather large team of pirates, thieves, and other rigabands were speaking to the ship master, probably bartering for the brilliant ship that sat in the harbor before them. Lucas snickered and frowned. He'd been so foolish! Why hadn't they headed out earlier? He should have known this was going to happen. But no need to panic . . . They could still get the ship. "Hello, gentlemen," Luke said, making his way to the ship master and enemy crew, waving his hand at them in a polite gesture. "I'm assuming this is the last ship? My group and I would like to purchase it if at all possible." The lead pirate, obviously a tough, dangerous man, stepped forward. "It already belongs to us." He gestured at his dirty, ferocious mates. "Unless you have more gold than you can carry, we'll not be givin' it up." The man's hand went instinctively to his saber, causing Luke to flinch in anticipation of pain. Mustering up all of his courage, Lucas dared defy the man. "I do have quite a bit of gold, sir, if that's what you're looking for." His statement was directed at the ship master. "This fellow already offered me a price. But the ship's not sold yet. Have an offer? This good sir," the ship master waved at the pirate, "offered me up 30,000 pieces." "Gold?" Luke questioned. "Yep, and that's a solid amount, don't you think? Can you match it?" Lucas folded his arms, sighing deeply. He only had 30,000, more or less. This was bad. "I have about that much, maybe more. How will we settled this dispute, gentlemen?" The pirate man drew his saber. "I say we fight for it. Winner takes the ship. Me and my best mate against you and yours. Whaddaya say?" Great. Just great. This town was so uncivilized. They settled their disputes with fights in the streets? Excellent . . . "Let's have at it, then. I can assure you, you won't be sailing today. Two against two." Drawing his sword, Luke gestured for one of his friends to join him. Whoever would stand beside him was good enough. He trusted them all. * * * Sven wasn't too happy about shopping for supplies, but he would have to deal with it . . . for now. "Well, let's go," he commanded, assuming a role of leadership even though it was not his to take in the least. "Come on then. Shopping isn't exactly my cup of tea. Any idea where we should start?" Grinning, he looked to Gloria, the only woman in the group. "Well?" When she didn't immediately reply, he turned to Len, who was obviously the least manly of the bunch. "Do you want to lead us, good sir? I'm not a shopper."
Let's have at it, then. I can assure you, you won't be sailing today. Two against two. "I'll be your second." Incendia spoke up. She despised wrong doers of any kind; and pirates were some of the worst. "Prepare yourselves" She warned the pirates as she reached into her satchel and picked out a small handful of jewels. "I'm ready when you are Lucas"
Deathblade was surprised that Incendia offered to fight, he walked over to her and whispered in her ear, "are you sure that's wise? These guys might be more than you can handle."
Agnorth's eyes opened lazily. Despite his humble bedding, he had had a good night's sleep. He breathed in the fresh noon air- NOON!?! Agnorth bolted upright and looked around for his comrades. His only clue was several trails of footsteps leading down the road. "Blak me karna, garta ken!" He shouted, followed by many more dwarven explicitives. Since he had not unpacked, and had nothing to unpack anyway, Agnorth immediately ran as fast as he could down the road, not caring that his beard had weaseled its way out of his belt until it caught under his foot. "BAK DU BLAKERSTEINS!"
Are you sure that's wise? These guys might be more than you can handle. Incendia turned to Deathblade and gave him a glare that seemed to say "What are you talking about?". "What are you talking about?" she asked. "It's a regular bunch of pirates. What could they possibly do?"
"If you think you can do it, then fine, but I'm just pre warning you. We're not exactly a normal group and our appearance gives that away," he said pointing to his sword "and these guys either are really brave or really stupid."
"Does shopping need a leader?" Len asked, shrugging slightly. Luckily they were already near a bank and several other stores that would have a lot of supplies they'd need. "Well I recommend we all get money from the bank if you have any, and then buy any necessities that we need on the ship."
Atrius heard Deathblade say something about them being either brave or stupid. That was wrong, in his experience. They weren't mutually exclusive, they had more of a symbiotic relationship. All was well, though, he doubted some puny bandits could take on both Incendia and Lucas, but in any case, half the group had their back if something went wrong. After a second or two, it occurred to him that he could have avoided the fight simply by offering to chip in more money. But, no, that wouldn't be fun, now, would it?
Huff puff huff puff... "I... will... skin... those... blakersteins... alive..." Agnorth muttered between huffing and puffing, hands on his knees and doubled over. He looked up and tried to deduce where they may have gone. Well, the only reason we're here is to get a ship... he though, heading over to the docks.
"I'm ready when you are Lucas" Lucas was surprised when Incendia stepped forward to aide him, but she was a good enough fighter and friend. She had more than proven herself during the fight against the demons at camp two nights ago. "I'll take the leader," he whispered to her, and he immediately took a few steps away from Incendia so that they circled the two opponents. For his first move, he faked a thrust at the pirate captain's second and turned to the left, instead heading at the captain himself. Surprised, the pirate clumsily raised his blade to block Luke's blow, and the two exchanged a few slashes and parries. The second pirate grunted when Lucas came at him, but when the warrior turned to his captain he flew at Incendia, drawing his large, club-like sword as he did so. In one powerful swing, he brought his thick blade down on Incendia's head, thinking she would immediately crumble beneath his apparent advantage of strength. * * * "Right . . . the bank. Alright, then, let us head to the bank," Sven called as he went on ahead of the others. The bank was, luckily, close by, and Sven decided to wait for the others. He didn't have any money in the bank. Why would he need any? He could have whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without money. Or, at least, that's what he believed. "Well?" he questioned when the group finally caught up to him. "Who has money?"
Atrius felt a bit jealous about being left out of a fight, so he turned to the ship vendor for small talk. "People are so uncivilized this days, don't you think?" The vendor answered with a nod and kept watching the fight. How come no one sold chips in public brawls? They'd get rich.
OOC:: God-mod alert! Luke and Incendia were doing well in the fight, and that angered the bystanding pirates, who snickered and sneered at them whilst brandishing their swords. The captain stopped for a moment to calm his crew down, and then he immediately went back to exchanging blows with Lucas. One of the pirates just wouldn't listen to his captain, however, and while no one was looking, he snuck up behind Incendia and raised his sword, hitting her in the back of the head with the pommel, knocking her out. The pirates had cheated! They had sworn only to allow two of their men to fight, and a bystander had stepped in. Luke was furious. He stopped what he was doing and knelt down beside the unconscious Incendia. "Incendia . . . are you alright?" No response. Angrily, Luke stood up and spun around to face the captain. "You broke our deal. The ship is mine." "That wasn't my fault!" The captain complained, shooting a fierce glance at the pirate who had broken the rules. "I'll let you choose another to aide you. That should be fair." Lucas still wasn't satisfied, but he nodded and beckoned for Deathblade to join him. "Deathblade. Help me out here." The captain offered them a moment to help Incendia. The two of them dragged her out of the way, making sure she was alright, and turned to finish the fight. "Let's go, then," said Luke, drawing his sword once more. The two pirates charged again, the captain going at Luke and his second charging at Deathblade.
They would pay for breaking their code of honor. He pulled up his rather large blade spinning it in his palm and wielding it in a defensive stance. The pirate stuttered for a moment looking at the size of the blade then looking at his he gulped. He remembered something however, and he looked to his comrade and nodded, another pirate stepped in, muscular, and wielding a huge claymore, not as big as Deathblades broadsword, but it would still cause problems. The pirate charged, and swung the blade, locking it in with deathblade's sword. Now it was just a battle of strength. The two men pushed at each other, neither side letting up.
Atrius watched as Incendia was cheated out of the 'competition' and how Deathblade took her spot. He took the unconcious Incendia into a safe place when Lucas and the others pulled her out of the way and sat besides her, in case she woke up. Not a minute later, Atrius understood how common it was for a group of travelers to have a member with a gigantic sword when a pirate stepped out of the circle with a claymore in hand, ready to fight Deathblade. "Some fight, eh?" He said to the unconcious woman next to him. "You think they'll let me keep the corpses?"
This man was certainly strong, very strong indeed. Deathblade was slowly pushing forward on the man, one step at a time, then he slowly started picking up speed, pushing the draggin man forward, struggling to get a grip in the wood. Having no possible option the large man cheated punching Deathblade in the stomach, and slamming him forward. Deathblade's sword went flying slamming into the wood, inches from Acglaphotis' and Incendia's body. "Ha ha, little man, where's your blade now?" Deathblade growled as he slashed his sword down, he dodged the attack, but then was punched again into a group of pirates. They were pushing him back into the ring, nearly losing his footing he grabbed onto one of the pirates and threw him into the large man. He merely tossed them aside into the water, but it was only a distraction as Deathblade came flying through the air, landing a kick straight into the mans jaw. Bones cracked as the force of the kick sent him spinning into the ground, and slamming with a great thud. The other pirates didn't look too happy, and blades were starting to be raised. This looks bad, he thought
Deathblade had obviously dealt his opponent a mortal blow, for the circle of pirates around the three remaining fighters drew their swords, scowls appearing on their gruff faces. Lucas cringed at the sight. This was going to be bad. Very bad. When the group didn't attack, however, Luke and the pirate captain continued their fight. Apparently the pirates had decided to wait until the fight was over to attack. When Lucas had looked away from his opponent, the captain stepped forward to swing his blade at his head. Ducking, Luke managed to miss the deadly weapon by a hair and dancing backwards to avoid another slash towards his stomach. The pirate captain was now smiling, so confident was he in his abilities. He began swinging his blade again and again, and Lucas was having a difficult time of dodging them. At one point he brought his own sword up to block a strike, and the pirate captain jumped back and stabbed him in the leg, causing Luke to flinch and limp away in pain. He was going to lose unless he stepped it up. Cursing at his carelessness, Lucas shook his head to try and rid himself of the pain and took a few steps forward, preparing to strike. However, in one swift movement, the pirate danced around him and struck out at Luke's arm, wounding him yet again - almost to the bone. Shouting, Luke brought his sword up in a clumsy move and parried the pirate's next attack. * * * Things were not looking good for Lucas, Annaleigh couldn't help but think over and over again. She was starting to get concerned. Deathblade had finished off his opponent, but he hadn't stepped forward to aide Luke yet. Making her way towards Atrius, Anna stood near him. He was the only person she really knew, after all. "Deathblade isn't helping him . . ." she muttered to Atrius, shuffling her feet in agitation. Sitting down, she continued to watch the fight, flinching when Luke suffered a bloody blow to the arm. * * * Luke was really in trouble now. The pirate captain forced him down into a kneeling position when he brought his sword down yet again. Luke was too weak to remain standing. He was going to die. He was going to die in front of all of his friends. Their leader was going to be killed by a blasted pirate! What a death. Wincing, Luke brought up his blade to deflect the pirate's next blow as he brought it down upon his head. * * * Annaleigh couldn't take it anymore. Luke was about to be killed, and Deathblade was just standing there . . . gawking at him. "What is wrong with Deathblade!" Anna whispered harshly, laying her head unconsciously on Atrius' shoulder. "You've got to help Luke!"
Deathblade merely watched the fight, if he could win this it would gain moral, but if he lost or Deathblade intervened, it would lose moral, or it could kill off the rest of his friends. Luke suffered harsh blows to his body and the man was beginning to lose strength. Luke would surely die, he debated whether to help or not then Annaleigh spoke up. "You've got to help Luke!" He'd have to risk it, he saw the large man's claymore still on the ground, he picked it up and rushed. Just before the final blow was delivered to Luke, Deathblade swung the sword up, blocking the attack, then reversing the effect and spinning over he chopped the captain's arm clean off, the arm landing with a thud in the dirt. He howled in pain and the other pirates were agast. This definately wasn't looking good.
"You've got to help Luke!" Atrius jumped on his feet, almost hitting his shoulder on Deathblades sword, but the Captain's sword went down to quickly for him to conjure any spells or even throwing one of his daggers. Fortunately, Deathblade hadn't been as unresposinve as Anna had thought, he had saved Lucas life in a single jump. But the pirates didn't look happy, even less now that one of them had been killed by Deathblade. He was caught in a blade lock with the Captain, who seemed to have the advantage and the normally stoic Anna had screamed. It seemed unlikely that a group of demons hadn't killed the group but that a group of pirates were going to. This was the time to end it. The fight hadn't been fun; not with Anna worried, Incendia knocked out and Lucas wounded. When the heroes worry, the heroes lose. The fight had had no thrill, no adrenaline or joy. He grabbed one of his daggers and spoke in the language no one, even necromancers themselves, understood, while walking towards the captain, into the crowd, before the pirate could fight longer. At first, the other pirates looked at him in a strange way, the way they'd look at a homeless person or a madman yelling in a sidewalk, but as the captain screamed for help, all their gazes focused on him. The Captain dropped his sword and grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, dropping to his knees while yelling horribly loud. Atrius walked towards him, his daggers in hand, in case a pirate decided to suddenly get smart. "Give me your hat, and send your men off. This is our ship now." Atrius said to the man in the floor. All he did to reply was to spit in his shirt. Not a very smart move. His index and pinky finger connected to the back of his palm in one swift motion. "Do it." "Do what he says! Get out of here!" The Captain said, obviously holding back a scream. "You happy now! Let me go!" "I'm not touching you." Atrius said, mentally ending the spell he had casted. "And..." He said, taking away the man's hat. "...This is mine now. Can't go on a ship without a hat even if it's not on the captain." He turned back to face the rest of the pirates. With his act finished, would they go? He hoped so, as he liked the hat.
Atrius blatantly walked over shouting things that must of been gibberish and told the captain the fight was over and to have his hat. Unexpected, but not unwelcome, considering he killed a man and cut off the captain's arm, he wouldn't of had any peaceful agreements. If they wouldn't listen to the captain then things were going to get ugly, luckily Deathblade already had his plan made, should they fight.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the captain brought down his sword to end Luke's life. Deathblade, however, knocked the man's blade aside and decapitated his arm in one swift movement, saving Luke and ending the fight. And then Atrius stepped in as well, yelling at the captain and making demands, which the pirate reluctantly succumbed to. But would the crew listen as well, or would there be an all-out battle? Lucas was having difficulty standing. He pushed himself up with his uninjured arm, clutching his bleeding shoulder and putting more of his weight on his left leg. He must look like a fool. The leader had nearly been killed by a pirate. That would have been a tragic end to their already interesting tale. "Thank you," he muttered to both Deathblade and Atrius, casting them both a half-smile. If they were all going to die, they might as well die together. The band of pirates were against each other. Half of them wanted to obey their captain, while the other half thought it best to forget him and slay the travelers. Their captain would die soon anyways. After only a few short moments, it seemed as if the pirates would turn against each other; however, after discussing things quietly amongst each other, they decided to give in to the travelers' demands. What more could they do? Their opponents had proven themselves to be formidable opponents. "Fine," said a pirate. "The ship is yours." With that, the group of rigabands left, leaving Luke and his companions with the ship. "That wasn't as difficult as I had thought," Lucas said, taking a deep breath and sheathing his sword. Annaleigh was grateful. Both Deathblade and Atrius had saved her brother's life and gained them a ship. Two acts of kindness in one day was more than even she could manage. "Thank you," she said quietly, rushing forward to embrace Atrius. After realizing how foolish she must look, though, she backed away from him, turning her gaze to Deathblade and nodding at him in thanks.
The last thing that Incendia could remember was fighting some pirate and a massive pain in the back of her head. When she finally regained consciousness she saw an odd scene. Their leader was bleeding all over and could hardly stand, the pirate captain was missing an arm, and Deathblade's sword was stuck in the planks only inches from her. "What's going on here?" she asked with a moan. It was then that she realized that the massive pain she had felt must have come from one of the other pirates. "Hey! Who the hell hit me!?" She questioned angrily. She tried to stand up but was hit by a wave of nausea. She sat back down grabbing the back of her head, and glared harshly at the remaining pirates.
"What's going on here?" Deathblade looked to her, then started walking towards her. "Need a hand?" he said blatantly.
Need a hand? "Thanks Deathblade, but i think I need to for a few minutes. So what is going on here? All i remember was the beginning of our fight."
"Thanks Deathblade, but i think I need to for a few minutes. So what is going on here? All i remember was the beginning of our fight." He nodded in understandment, and sat next to her on the deck. "One of the pirate bastards knocked you out cold, then I stepped up, killed a rather large man and sliced off the arm of the pirate captain. You didn't miss much."
One of the pirate bastards knocked you out cold, then I stepped up, killed a rather large man and sliced off the arm of the pirate captain. You didn't miss much. "I see" Incendia said before clutching the back of her head again. "mmm. Dam* pirates..."
