Capturing Lightning.

[Carl]

On a harbored ship at an unknown island there was a heated discussion going on between a captain and a crewmember.


Captain Saphrox: " I don't give a rat's ass about your principles Flynn, these people are more like animals anyway. Besides, you've been in this business for so long, how come you're giving me a hard time lately? I'm telling you now once and for all, once you're in this ... there's no leaving. "


Flynn Reynaerd: " Look, all I'm saying is that we should only take a few of them, it's a small settlement and if we take all the healthy males and females they're doomed. Why bring more pain than we're already bringing? "


Captain Saphrox: " I, DON'T, CARE. Every crewmember brings at least 1 healthy male or female back by sunset or they'll be the one chained and sold. Now get going, you're pissing me off. "


Flynn clenched his teeth and grudgingly said: " Aye captain. " before turning around and walking out on deck and a bit later on shore.


He headed towards the settlement, settled atop a hill in the middle of a forest, so they could oversee the ocean for approaching ships probably, and stopped a safe distance away from the wooden pikewall. There he met up with his crewmates, where they discussed how to best overtake the settlement.


Flynn: " Look mates, they have no doubth seen the ship arrive and harbor. The fact that they're not coming out to greet us or anything shows they are on guard and suspicious. We'll have to try and not take them by force or we'll lose half our " merchandise " in the struggle. Give me some time to come up with a plan and we'll make it work. "

 

[Kit Wistful]

Eclair was exhausted. She'd been out at sea for three months without docking, before coming to this little island...a little island that, given the chance, would be one she'd have skipped over anyways. If only it hadn't been such an emergency! If only she'd had more meat on board...not to mention cedar leaves. Eclair loved cedar leaves, she shoved the foul leaves in everything she ate. She'd seen sailors ravaged by scurvy, and the image didn't appeal to her much.


None on this side of the island, though, and there wasn't too much game either. But she should be able to stock up enough to get to a better city, right?


But before much of her stocking up could be done, Eclair needed to find the essentials. Salt, Vinegar, Water, and Booze more or less were the things that sustained Eclair's existence...but before she could get that, she needed a job.


Work wasn't going to be easy to find, here. She'd been on the island for a week now, and she wasn't having much luck....the locals didn't take too kindly to the merchandise she wasn't dealing, and suggested more than once that she should instead....well, perish the thought, thought Eclair. It wasn't anything she could ever bring herself to do.


Eclair reflected upon the facts. Firstly, she needed some way to get some money. Secondly, she couldn't bring herself to do that. Thirdly, her personal god was that of travelling and good fortune, and he happened to be who she needed on her side now.


...revered to all, his praises come as sweet life to those who sing them...


...good and great, our lord and god, cunning and mighty...


...


Eclair lost all focus, completely absorbed in her worship.

 

[Carl]

The moon shone brightly and the two dozen pirates had scouted and surrounded the entire outside of the settlement by now.


The outposts were manned by natives with bows and arrows and 4 guards were placed at the gate.


The plan had been made and would be set in motion as soon as the moon was covered by thick clouds.


...


At last the moon was shrouded and the pirates stationed at the outposts fired their arrows swiftly and deadly, killing the outpostguards within seconds of the start of the plan.


The guards at the gate were killed at close-range by singleshot handguns and rifles, making a loud ammount of noise in the progress.


The killers waited at the gate, hidden of plain sight, for any new arrivals to knock them out to avoid further casualties.


Whilst the pirates at the outposts, who had climbed them by now, set fire on the wooden houses, outposts and wall, driving everyone out the gate.


Flynn, waiting at the gate saw the scene happening with a stoïc look on his face, no joy or thrill was to be found in him at this situation. No joy, no thrill.

 

[Kit Wistful]

Eclair was shaken out of her reverie by a loud bang. Startled, she'd realized that she was in the middle of...what? An invasion? Shit.


Eclair jumped over the fence and behind a pole, hiding in nearly plain sight...not really a hiding place. Shit.


She considered doing something...did she really have any obligation to help the assholes who would have had her starve to death at sea, or screwing random strangers? She saw a building topple in flames and she guessed yes.


But how? Eclair panicked. She wasn't any good at water magic, summoning rain never came naturally to her - she only knew lighting, which was probably useless unless she was fighting, which wasn't something she did unless hunting counted, and fire, which wasn't anything she could control, only start.


Shit. Shit shit shit.


Eclair fingered her hunting blade and looked upon the scene with the widest of wide eyes. She hadn't signed up for this.


Shaking, she remembered that her god was a god of courage, as well. He was on her side, he had to be...although stumbling upon a village attack was the last thing she'd expect to be delivered to her by a god of good fortune. But she had to believe in him, had to!


Eclair tried her best to regain her composure, and observed the scene. Lots of fire, lots of people running around...and screaming. Lots of screaming.


She spotted a man with a limp, lying trampled on the floor. If I must....I shall, my lord. She would prove herself the better event of this strange new happening.


She jumped the fence and tried to help him up, urging him on. "Hey, Come on! Hurry!" she said through clenched teeth, all too aware that she was attracting attention.

 

[Carl]

As more and more natives came rushing out the gate, headed to safety in their mind, the pirates at the exit clubbed them down in rapid sequence. Flynn ordered several pirates to come with him into the village to make sure nobody was left behind to die a gruesome death by the redhot flames.


Flynn spotted a woman trying to help a near-dead man, the woman had a different skintone than the natives and was dressed differently too.


" Capture them...alive. " He ordered.

 

[Kit Wistful]

Oh, Lord, Eclair heard that. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shitttttttt.


Eclair was terrified, frozen with fear. But - no, there was a way out of this, wasn't there?


She searched for that secret part of her brain, the one that had a direct link to casting. She figured a fistful of lightning would teach these monsters to BACK OFF.


She reached, imagined the power flowing to her hand - but then, the man she was carrying let out a weak, painful groan. How had she forgotten? She couldn't summon an elemental without hurting this guy, too. She cut the power off before it had the time to materialize. This man was her test, the test she had given herself, and she couldn't lose.


"Come on, they're coming, you can't-" Eclair jumped. One of the pirates had shot a warning shot at the ground beside her.


"'Allo, Missy! Just come quietly, we dun want no trouble from ya. Ya don't wanna be hurt, do ya, missy?" The youth said, mocking in his tone. Eclair scowled. "Ya don't want gramps there to get hurt either, do ya? Hahaha!"


He fired another shot, and Eclair couldn't stop from flinching. What could she do? She couldn't leave the man, and she couldn't attack this fellow without hurting the man worse. Seeing that she wasn't about to go anywhere, one of the pirates grabbed her by the wrist, the other taking the man.


Away from the man, Eclair was free to do what she wanted... she reached for that place in her mind, imagined the magic rushing to her hands...


When a blunt instrument knocked her across the head, and off into unconsciousness.

 

[Carl]

Flynn flinched as the woman, freed from the burden of the injured man, started responding to the immediate pirate-threat and a faint, white glow seemed to flow from her underarm to her hand and back.


One of the pirates however had snuck up behind her and struck her with the buttend of a rifle on the back of the head, knocking her out cold.


" Good job, take them back to the ship and chain them, make sure that woman is chained in a separate room, properly, and guarded. She seems to be a sorceress of sorts, don't take her lightly. "


Flynn stayed back to make sure nobody was left to die a gruesome, lonely death. In the ruins and ashes of a house he found a tin model of a warrior.


For a reason unbeknownst to him, at the time, tears started flowing over his cheeks and down his face. He sat there crouched, with the tin warrior safely tucked in his vest, 'till the 'rain' stopped.

 

[Kit Wistful]

Consciousness, to Eclair, came to her more like a dream than reality. Firstly, as in all of her dreams, her head was too fuzzy to immediately register her surroundings. And secondly, as in the majority of her dreams, there was a rush of dread running through her veins, weighing down her gut.


Waking with a groan and squinted eyes, Eclair vaguely wondered if she was hungover. Certainly seemed that way. Everywhere, especially her head, ached, and everything seemed too loud...Voices and footsteps were everywhere. She registered, dimly, the sound of the ocean limping at the side of a boat....but it wasn't anywhere near as loud as her own ship. Something was wrong.


Eclair tried to get up. But it was all wrong... she tugged at one arm, and it stopped fast after a centimeter. The next was the same, and so was the next extremity she tried. Shocked awake, she realized that she was bound to a wall, in a strange ship...and in the most painful way imaginable, the events before crashed onto her.


How long had it been? Days? Weeks? For all Eclair knew, she could have hung there for half an hour. Did it matter? Eclair couldn't escape, she didn't have any magic lockpicks, she couldn't generate enough heat without something actually bursting into flame, and Eclair couldn't use her elementals without burning the place down. Fat load of good magic's done for me, so far, Eclair thought, just a little bitter.


So, what was going to happen to her now? Manual labour for the rest of her life? Or...worse, she supposed.


Eclair felt helpless. Opening her mouth, just a bit, she let out a soft cry...and realizing that speech was the only thing she could exercise, began to groan louder, feeling much better until she heard one of the guards outside telling her to shut up.


Defiant, but not quite ready to face the people who had chained her, she did.

 

[Carl]

Having boarded the ship and finished counting heads of the new merchandise the pirates set sail towards the lawless city ' Bernadon ' where larcency, homicide and rape are just a few of the daily occurances. It was also the recommended city for human traffickers to sell their merchandise. Slavedrivers frequented the city for new prospects on a regular and they paid handsomely for good 'wares'.


Flynn, high in ranking on the ship, was loafing around. Lost in his own train of thoughts and to be honest he was getting sick of it all. The constant aching of the soul, screaming out to his brain that he was on the wrong path and that it was not too late to change. But he always brushed it off by merely remembering the situation he was in. It wasn't like leaving a church group ... once you're in this business, you're in it for life, however short or long it may be.


Captain Saphrox spotted him and patted him roughly on the shoulder accompanied by a bolsterous laugh.


" Hahaha, you've done it again Flynn. A few necessary casualties and a great haul. You've proven yourself over and over again my friend. How about a little gift from me to you ? I'll let you have any of the women down there for yourself for the night, but don't mention anything to the others, they'd get jealous and I wouldn't want a mutiny on my hands. Go, enjoy yourself. "


He said like it was the most normal thing in the world to offer someone else to a 'friend'. Flynn was certain that given the excuse or opportunity Saphrox would be more than happy to get rid of him. Flynn sensed that his missions had been too succesful lately and that the men were more eager to follow Flynn's commands than the Captain's. Something was bound to happen sooner or later.


Flynn didn't let any of his thoughts show, the consequences would be dire for sure. He just smiled, thanked the Captain like he was just been given a pile of diamonds and took off in the direction of the holes. As much as it was against his will, he was forced to pick one, forcefully probably. There was no room for mercy or weakness aboard a pirate ship. After wandering through the holes and looking for a beautiful woman amongst the captives he remembered that woman, the sorceress. Certainly it would be wiser to pick one of the normal ones but there was something about that woman that pulled him to her. Perhaps it was her beauty, her magic....but deep inside Flynn knew, it was her compassion that made her stand out. The way she cared for that wounded man who she probably didn't even know properly, considering her skintone and appearance she was an outsider of that island. Perhaps a castaway, he thought to himself.


Either way, he marched towards the door of her hole and ordered the guards to open it, give him the keys and give them the night.


As he unlocked the door the eery, croaking sound of the door sliding open filled his ears. It was then that his eyes met hers.

 

[Kit Wistful]

Eclair hung. She was too worried, her head too filled with regrets, prayers, and fears, to get any proper sleep...but she was so, so tired...


She'd stopped crying and whimpering what felt like long ago, but the whites of her eyes were still reddened. She couldn't find any way out...there was no way out...oh, lord....


Then came a noise, and, startled, eyes wide, still looking pretty miserable, Eclair looked up - and met the eyes of a strange man. No...he seemed familiar...one of the bastards that nabbed her, she supposed...obviously.


"Well, what the frak do you want, then?" Eclair said, voice breaking. She was trying to be bold, but the fear and misery still showed in her eyes.

 

[Carl]

Flynn just stared into the woman's eyes, she was scared but still capable of acting defiant... a strong woman. Who would blame her for being scared in this situation? Certainly not Flynn, he has seen the strongest and burliest of man crack in front of his eyes minutes after being chained. This woman however, was not only capable of being defiant ... she was capable of magic aswell.


" I just want to talk with you. I can understand if you hate me, even want me dead. But for now, let's just talk ok ? "


He said before crouching and lifting the mug of water close to her lips.


" I assume you could use some refreshment for that probably dry throat of yours. "

 

[Kit Wistful]

Eclair's brow furrowed, but she said nothing. The voice was familiar - and then she understood the meaning behind the words. Yes, she did hate him, and she did want him dead - it was this man who sent the order that placed her in the position she was in now.


"And how is it that I know that what you offer me is not poison?" Eclair said, voice low and sharp with fury. "If you are here to kill me, please, do not try to disguise your intent. It is-it is my own right to an honest death," she finished, faltering.

 

[Carl]

" You make for a special cargo, there is no reason to kill someone as valuable as you. I understand your distrust, but try to believe me when I say I mean you no further harm. "


Flynn sighed, it was foolish trying to persuade someone who was kept captive by his very own crewmates.


" I did not want for this to happen, not anymore. " He said with a sorrowful tone in his voice.

 

[Kit Wistful]

Eclair sighed.


Eclair wasn't sure she believed this, but something in his face - his eyes? The way he spoke? - Caught her with her guard down.


"Anymore, huh? So there was a time you did want this?" she said, her voice bitter but not venomous.

 

[Carl]

" You could say I just wanted to live life the easy way, and the easiest way is by taking advantage of others. But I ... I can't take it no more. The pain in their eyes, the aching of my heart, the screaming of my soul ... it's like I'm losing my mind. "


" Do...do you think there's hope for me ? " Flynn asked sincerely before suddenly laughing loud.


" What am I thinking? Asking for forgiveness and advice to someone who has been brought such unjustice upon by my own hands... I truly am the worst of the worst. "

 

[Kit Wistful]

"...You lost your mind when you refused other paths. You...you're warped, in every sense of the word. Warped enough that when you realize that you're all wrong, you can't even see the world properly." Eclair didn't know why, but something about the man seemed unshakably sincere. And if he was sincere, there was nothing she could do...nothing she could do but try to understand.


"You may be a strange man who has done evil things, but those who followed the orders you gave...somehow, I feel that they followed you blindly...and that is true evil. They are not questioning themselves or their actions, but you are.


I seek freedom from chains, and you seek freedom, not from yourself, but from the trap you've set yourself in...I think I understand. Although, yes, I must admit that it is in bad taste to speak to one you've imprisoned about your own chains." Eclair looked up, with eyes devoid of anger or despair. "Am I correct in thinking this?"

 

[Carl]

" Aye, you are. But to get out of this trap is something that will require much luck and courage. For Captain Sapphrox and the rest of the crew are no easy targets, and they WILL be targets once, and if, I free you. Can I count on your help on this small-scaled mutiny ? "


" I can vow now, I shall no longer go any other path than the one I choose and the one I choose is the one of freedom. Not at the expense of good people, but by my own hand and mind. "


" What are your powers capable off? We'd have to defeat about 15 battlehardened men and one hell of a tough captain. Or do you have any ideas besides brute force ? "

 

[Kit Wistful]

"I...I can fight. I'm an elemental sorcerer, I can manipulate lightning and fire...although, we are on a ship, fire might not be the best idea. I can deliver a killing blow, but it will take energy...I will be able to cover you by stunning the others from a distance. I can use blades, if you have my dagger, although I'm not going to be much use hand-to-hand unless I use elementals, I'm afraid.


I dearly hope this is not some sort of trick, mister...whoever you are. But for all it's worth, I think I trust you." Eclair said, finishing with a sigh.


"Would you mind...? You must have the keys to these shackles." Eclair said, indicating the lock with a glance.

 

[Carl]

" This is no trick I can assure you, and fire you say ? I have a plan, it's risky and can lead us both into these shackles but it's worth a try, hear me out. "


" They're holding a large feast right now, which means they will all drink themselves stupid for the night and once they have we move out and sabotage the few small rowing ships they have on here except for one, which we use for ourselves. We set the ship on fire near the powderkegs and watch the entire ship blast to pieces. Unfortunately, this means the slaves too will face a wattery death. But the rowing ship is only small enough for few and we have to move quickly... "


" Can you agree with this plan ? We'll have to forfeit the lives of many for our own but it has to be done. Sometimes you have to sacrifice in order to gain. "





He sighed, was there really no other option he thought to himself, but due to the stress he couldn't focus clearly and they had to move fast or everything would be lost.