Dusk (Ratskull's Crew!)

[Bella]

Ratskull chuckled silently to himself. Ordeals of this nature usually worked themselves out rather quickly. Besides, Bala deserved whatever was coming to him from the saucy mare.

"Alright, you've met the crew Orivy, now down to buisness." A look thrown to the west showed the sun had finally finished sinking below the hills and trees and it was time to set the plan into cement. Things would have to be smooth tonight. Very smooth. Or they might all end up with their necks becoming good best friends with good strong rope in the morning.

"I'm gonna need Turtlebeak first - go into town and search out the castle. Do your thing and get inside and figure out the lay of the land so to speak. Git yer flank back here before midnight with your report and then we go in." He had been looking at her but his gaze narrowed as he paused. "If ya find any secret tunnels, passages, hallways, anything - stay out. I don't need to loose valuable crewmembers to a rainbow-forsaken underground maze."

In Ratskulls experiance with the castle in Course the maze of secret hallways were more dangerous than any of its fighters combined.

[Turtlebeak]

Turtlebeak, inwardly pleased at having the first job, kept her face considerably blank as she turned to Ratskull.

"Gotcha." She grunted. She picked up Tsunami and tucked him in her pocket, assuming it would be okay. Cloaking herself, she headed off the ship, looking at each shipmate as she passed, and taking an amused pleasure in the fact that they could not see her.

A muttering rose from an empty space a few feet from the ship as Turtlebeak talked softly to her turtle. The muttering slowly quieted as she trotted off.

[Orivy Assassin]

Ah, another case of no formal introductions. That was all right, the captain knew her name, and she'd pick up the others through context. She leaned against the railing to wait.

Orivy let out a surprised whiff of air as the purple pony disappeared, and one ear cocked towards the muttering. Looks like this ship had a touch of magic onboard; she would make sure to be on her guard. One hoof barely touched the dagger beneath her coat, in case she felt the breath of anything invisible on her neck...

[silverfall]

Bala reclined along the main boom, looking bored. He then hooked his heels over the edge and bent backward until he was hanging upside-down.

[Whisper Wind]

"Amusing bunch, aren't they?"

It was one of the new crewmembers. However, Tetra did not feel hostile.
"Yees, very cute..." She smiled slightly.

She fell silent as Ratskull started to command the crew.

[Turtlebeak]

((Ok, Turtlebeak has exited the castle. Should I post here, or will there be another "midnight" thread?))

[Bella]

(Nah, just post here)

[Turtlebeak]

Still cloaked, Turtlebeak trotted back to the ship. She was still disgusted by what she saw. A locket was the big treasure?

Approaching the crew, an idea formed itself in her mind. She had been the obedient little girl for some time. Now it was time to show another side. She grinned wickedly and tiptoed up to Ratskull, standing a few feet in front of him. She stopped for a minute to think about what she was doing, which was strangely rare for her. She realized then that if she startled the capitan, it could prove a fatal mistake.

But, some things never change. Turtlebeak gave a tremendous shreak and stopped cloaking herself, so she appeared all at once. At the same time, she pulled out Tsunami and hurled him at Ratskull, so the slightly surprised turtle would land only a few inches in front of him. Her grin widened. Now THAT was fun!

[Bella]

(Wow, someone wants to go back to Course on the "good" boat don't they )

Ratskull had been bent over a map of the Castle - at least as much of a map as you could get. It was a little travellers brochure highlighting the interesting rooms and hallways with rows and rows of former kings and queens lining the halls. Nothing terribly exciting, but at least they could use it to figure out how to get into the vaults of the Castle once that filly got back.

Speaking of which, she had been gone for hours, where was she?

And that was when she suddenly appeared - screaming like a rainbow-d**n banshee and throwing her pet turtle in his face. The turtle landed on the map that Ratskull dropped as he reached for his long sword and nearly cut her head off. Luckily for her, he caught himself just in time as he registered who she was.

Grabbing Turtlebeaks mane and throwing her to the ground he stood on her with one hoof heavy on her chest, her head held up by her mane in another hoof. "You seem to have a problem listening to dirrections. So I'm going to help you. Maybe without all this fur surrounding your ears you'll hear a little better? What do you think?"

And with that he lopped off half of her left ear. "Maybe now you wont have such a problem listening and following dirrections?"

[LNS]

Cutlass sauntered back aboard the ship just as that blasted filly screamed her fool head off. Ears went flat against his skull at the sound of the high pitched cry for which there was no reason. Lucky for Turtlebeak the Captain was the first to reach her. For Cutlass wouldn’t have been so kind to only remove a chunk of her ear. Though he had to admit the sight of blood warmed that cold heart of his.

He was late and he knew it. Not that he cared. He hadn’t really ventured far from the ship in the first place. No for once the doctor had stayed close-by. Lounging on the banks of the river he had watched the fish swimming in it for a while before settling on attempting to get some of that slimy flesh for his supper. Catching the fish was not so easy. He had used just about every word a good pirate knew as he cursed those fish and their difficulty in being caught. How the bloody blue blazes did Kidd catch them so easily? The thought of the dark mare only put the doctor into a farther bad temper and so he had stayed out later than he should have. His sword bloody and covered in fish guts, he half tossed the mutilated fish down the steps into the galley. Not bothering to give anyone so much as a look he booted Kidd towards the fish. Without so much as a look or an order, he knew she’d fix the fish without complaint. If that was one thing the girl could be counted on, it was her lack of whining or arguing.

Startled by the sudden hoof to her rear, Kidd caught herself only just barely before tumbling down the stairs. Turning to give the offender a glare that would have frozen lava, her eyes came face to face with Cutlass’s. The doctor’s gruff expression seemed to dare her to question him. Without a word she turned and headed down the stairs. A few mumbled curses under her breath were soon drowned out by the sound a pan clanking down hard on the stovetop. No doubt she was imagining the doctor’s head underneath it.

[Turtlebeak]

((Ooh! Owch. I guess she asked for it, though. That'll keep her in line....))

Turtlebeak burst out laughing at the capitan's startled expression, a laugh that quickly faded as the capitan pinned her down and cut off part of her ear. She gave a surprised, outraged scream of pain, clapping one hoof to her ear.

"Now maybe you won't have such a problem following directions?"

Turtlebeak, numb with shock, realized with a start that the hoof she held on her ear was soaked with blood. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a rather dirty cloth, which she held onto her ear.

Her shock turned to anguish, and, though she would never admit it, fear. These pirates took things seriously, and this was Turtlebeak's first ever reminder that pirating was not a game. She suddenly knew that these pirates might have killed her for her offense, had they not needed her. The reality of it swept over her in waves. Masking her fear with anger, she gritted her teeth and growled,

"Get off of me!"

As hard as she tried to contain it, she felt tears running down her face. She cloaked herself and let the unseen tears flow.

"Get off!"

[Bella]

Ratskull let go of her hair and stepped very nonchallantly off of the mare. She was obviously not pleased, but she knew now what it meant to be a pirate. It didn't mean childish games, and it didn't mean forming your own opinions on the current mission. It meant following orders and climbing up the ladder until you became captain of your own ship. Ratskull had done his share of climbing.

"Get yer flank to the doctor and get yerself cleaned up. Can't have you spattering blood on everything tonight, specially if yer cloaked. An' while yer at it take a swig of this - it will kill the pain." A brown hoof held out a dirty looking bottle of very strong whiskey - for a pirate, Ratskull wasn't partial to rum.

He'd let Cutlass wrap it well and then they would be off, with what should be a very complacent mare who knew the way right to the treasure of Dream Valley.

(hehe, Ratskull may not like the rum, but I sure do! *glug glug glug*)

[Turtlebeak]

Turtlebeak, ears back, wiped away her tears away and took the rum. She kept her cloak on, feeling more secure when she could not be seen. "Who's the doctor?" She muttered, shamed. She took a small swig of the rum.

[Orivy Assassin]

When Turtlebeak uncloaked herself and screamed, Orivy's heart skipped a beat from surprise, and every muscle in her body tensed as her hoof flew to her dagger.

But it was the captain who had been pranked, and she watched the ensuing punishment, completely unsurprised. If it had been her, Turtlebeak wouldn't have had any blood left to splatter the deck after five minutes. Slit throats have a way of draining the body like that. But it was the captain's call, and anyhow they did need the mare's information...

Orivy remained silent to await orders. Hopefully there would be some good action soon.

[Whisper Wind]

Not that anybody could tell, Tetra got startled as the kid suddenly appeared.
Almost apathically she watched Ratskull wrestle Turtlebeak down. When he got his knife, she started to get a bit uncomfortable. However, cutting a bit of her ear off was a fair punishment after all. Tetra was so tired of Turtlebeaks childish games.

When it was all over and the captain told Turtlebeak to go and see a doctor, she quietly stepped closer.

"So, what happened out there?" She threw an impatient glance towards the castle.