brave_kreyu | OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part Nine

"Mycenae," he replies. "I, I would be forever grateful," he promises.

He hurriedly looks away from Skellig as the Captain comes out of his cabin and stalks over to speak to the helmsman about their heading.

Not wanting to cause trouble, Skellig leaves the young man to his work and moves to head back near where Kreyu is perched and still resting - while listening closely to the conversation regarding their heading.

It seems to be a straightforward discussion...

It is straightforward, though the Captain seems to fear being betrayed once they reach their destination. The helmsman has more of a wait and see attitude.

Kreyu stirs to wakefulness and IMMEDIATELY glances around, looking for Skellig.

Skellig was smart enough to choose a stack of crates to lean against that put him directly in her line of sight - she does not have to scan much when she wakes before she lays eyes on him.

"Mornin', love."

He keeps his voice soft as he allows a small smile to cross his features; his ears are still trained to the deck where the Captain is speaking, but he can do more than one thing at a time.

"Good morning, love," she says back, voice soft. This face isn't capable of smiling, but he might feel it in her energy.

"Looks like we'll be there in another hour or so."

The Captain throws his hands up in the air and stomps off. The helmsman rolls his eyes at the display.

Edited 2024-08-23 00:37 (UTC)

Closing the distance between them, he nods. "The Captain has become concerned for his welfare," he murmurs. "To an extent, that includes that of his crew and his ship, but only vaguely. The man at the helm is less concerned of betrayal, seems to think that we are odd, yet...rich enough to likely not be a true threat, we just want slaves."

He nods towards the man who is picking apart rope with vigor. "I spoke with him. He is only on this crew of necessity, to pay a debt...which is of strange circumstance. Someone claimed to have a paper with his father's mark upon it, but he cannot read, so has no way to disprove it...and his sister is held as collateral. He said she is held in Mycenae," he adds. "I told him we were seeking workers to improve our property upon these lands, which is why we had sought this ship and her cargo...he used to farm. I told him I would speak to you of his situation, and that of his sister."

Glancing around the rest of the crew members who are moving about, he shrugs a shoulder. "The rest of them...I have not heard much either way. They are tasked with sailing, it is their focus at the moment."

"Thank you, love, it seems you've learned quite a bit." Her heart immediately goes out to the young man. "Mycenae, a lot of infighting between local kings there, people getting captured and taken as slaves. Not TOO very far from here, provided one can fly."

There's anger in her energy when Skellig explains the whole of the situation. "Yes, that sounds far too convenient for the man who holds their debt to be honest."

She flexes her talons. "We could pay of his and his sister's debt with a single trip back to the Lair. Have to reinforce the wards before we make the trip to Mycenae, since there won't be anyone to watch the place for the time we'll be gone."

"That was my thought," he says (in regards to the 'convenience' of the one holding the debt). "I just did not know where it was, and if it would be feasible to travel that distance while we are tasked with guarding the Lair."

It eases his mind just a little to know that at least one soul from aboard this ship will be spared (not counting the captives), and will make their upcoming task somewhat less painful.

He considers something else. "Would we take him with us? Or how would that work?" He knows they can fly...

"He should be able to seek the hospitality of those in the nearby village the same as the others we free. I don't know that we could take him with us, as I would need to use my dragon shape."

She tilts her head. "I MIGHT be able to contact someone who could go with him, keep him safe as they make the trip to his home."

"He is most concerned for the safety of his sister," he says. "She is being held in the case that he were to abandon his debt and simply try to run. He fears harm would come to her. Though I do not know of how news of this..."

Skellig motions at the ship.

"Would beat us to Mycenae, if we were to make haste." He rubs gently at his temple, sighs. "I'm sorry," he whispers. "I know this complicates things even greater, I just...I could not help it." And he sounds truly sorry, perhaps even a little...guilty?

Kreyu gently preens the feathers of his wings with her beak "No need to be sorry, my love," she tells him. "I would feel terrible for having killed someone trapped here by circumstances. And even those less innocent deserve a chance to change."

"A way will be found, there are many means we might yet use."

Nodding, he glances at his wing where she is preening, then reaches up and gently touches the side of her beak with his fingertips - he wants to make sure that the burns are still gone, not that he thinks they might have reappeared, but that fire was...odd. Unnatural, in some senses, even though it was not magic.

"Would it make sense to have one of us fly ahead to scout the dock? Or shall we just see what it looks like when we arrive?"

She is still well, but she leans her head into his hand, wanting the contact.

"I think we should wait and see, just in case."

"The thought of one of us being lost because we were not together chills my very bones."

As they get closer, Skellig will see that the dock is mostly intact, though it clearly has had the worst of a few storms! A stone house, empty, sits well back from the dock. The ivy hides its actual state of disrepair, which might be useful for their purposes.

Those on board the ship are busying themselves with preparations for arrival, now that the eventual landing point for their ship has been identified; Skellig takes a moment to point out landmarks that they should be aiming for. What seems 'familiar' to him is simply due to his enhanced vision giving him the opportunity to see what details they cannot make out so clearly until they get closer.

After their course is confirmed, he returns to Kreyu's side.

"The energy of the Captain is still unsettled," he mutters, voice low. "I do not think he will grow hostile until realization sets in, but we should not...linger with our plan."

(Speaking of which...what exactly is the plan?)

"Best to have them get our purchase on land as fast as possible," she tells him. "You can always blame me, insisting I want to have a look at them on proper ground, make sure they can move well."

"A wise angle to play."

And as the ship nears the dock and final preparations are made for tying up, Skellig shakes off any lingering nerves and puts back on the 'persona' of 'filthy rich, more than slightly eccentric' as he moves from Kreyu's side.

"If these slaves are to be worked in the fields we intend to sow upon, my wife insists on seeing them move upon solid ground. We will find other uses for those who might be less adept to farm work; we will require attendants in the gardens, perhaps even a few might be suitable for work in the house itself."

From his tone, he's highly suggesting that the Captain not argue with him...

The Captain isn't thrilled, Skellig can tell, but he doesn't dare protest the demands of Skellig's wife.

He barks orders at the young man they are planning on helping to go and fetch the slaves, most convenient!

Kreyu shakes out her feathers, motions for Skellig to join her as the ship ties up to the dock.

It feels good to be standing on solid ground again.

It takes him a few steps to get his 'land legs' back beneath him but he adjusts fairly quickly, watches at the young man goes beneath the deck to gather up the slaves.

"They are nervous," Skellig says, folding his arms across his chest and puffing up his feathers, doing his best to look 'fearsome' without coming across as overly threatening (that is not the look he intends for the slaves, though he knows he needs to play the part) at the same time. "Below the decks."

A glance at the crew still on board. "Some of them are also worried, but more about their gold, based on the looks of this dock," he snorts, smirking a little.

"Hopefully, those below won't have reason to be nervous long."

The slaves are plainly TERRIFIED at the sight of Kreyu, but they are herded onto land whether they want to go or not!

Kreyu's heart hurts at their fear, their distress. She's trying to subtly adjust her position to put herself between these poor people and the sailors.

Taking more of a 'lead', Skellig also works to partition off the captives as they reach the end of the dock and step onto solid ground, directing them to line up and stand in some form of order - so that Kreyu, who is behind him at this point, can see them from where she remains perched, her talons gripping the wood planks.

"My love," he calls back over his shoulder, as he points. "Which of these men would you like to see move about? We will need several strong enough to break the soil, and I would dare say fell some of these trees, work to build our barns?"

He motions for the women and the few children to stand further back, nodding at the young sailor to have them stand off to the side, out of the way of the men. Their time for examination will come. And then he steps closer to the men, flaring his wings slightly. (In reality, he is protecting them, should anything come flying this direction...)

She is glad that he is taking the lead, here. "Might as well see all of them, love."

The sailors are starting to relax a little, less tense. Kreyu eyes the open space, sees a large rock outcropping that will come in handy in a moment.

She scratches a sign on the deck, a calling, sends energy into it. Skellig might feel the shift in energy, but it will be a minute or two before anything is visible to the eye.

The water around the boat starts to take on shapes vaguely like horses with fish tails as the hippocampi start to congregate around the boat.

The shift in the energy is noted, and Skellig also notices the...is that the water, changing shapes? He manages to keep his glances nonchalant, as he motions for each of the men to step forward in order, bend their knees, flex their arms.

"This one here is missing a finger," he points out idly, before making eye contact with the man, who clearly has seen his share of laboring. "It would not effect your ability to work a plow, though. You may speak."

"No, it would not," he man says quickly, with a firm shake of his head. "I am fully able to work."

"Good," Skellig nods, then calls back to Kreyu. "He would be fine. Next, come here..." as he works his way down the line.

Most of the sailors have gone ashore at their Captain's orders, which makes this easier. Once enough Hippocampi have gathered, Kreyu soars skyward, shrieks a word of command.

The ship SURGES up into the air, born aloft on a column of water to land near the rock outcrop. The wood groans, the ship leans, and it thunks against the stone, mostly upright.

Kreyu lands again on solid ground, but she conjures a tiny ball of fire in front of her beak. "I believe it is time we renegotiate terms, Captain."

The slaves all cower in fear - the women shriek in terror, some grabbing the children protectively as they cry out in fright; a few men break from their positions in the line and go to shelter the women instinctly.

Even Skellig yells in surprise, as he was not expecting that to happen, wings flaring rapidly as he moves away from the sudden upthrust of seawater and an entire ship before it comes to rest upon the rocks.

His heartbeat is now racing, and the expression on his face has to be briefly priceless, before he works to bring it under control. A few of the sailors who have the forethought to protect the captain draw small knives, but not all of them do so.

"Your trade in human lives is an abomination, but I am going to offer you a chance to make better choices," Kreyu tells them.

"These people will be free, and all of you will swear to never again engage in such work. Or you can die here, if you would prefer."

The Captain snarls, goes for the sword at his hip. Some of the others make similar moves, but most don't seem terribly keen to fight.

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