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Post by Crescent on Jan 4, 2006 14:02:26 GMT -5
Rain swallowed, peeking inside. She tried to evaluate the situation as quickly as possible. The Captain appeared drunk to her. She wondered how badly drunk he was, or was that the way he always looked like. The other stallion, however, was clearly in a good condition. She knew they had no time to ponder as well.
"We break the window," she said. "And then we... we jump them." She paused. "What was your power again?"
- - -
Surge had a dagger in his hoof quickly, and he spat Kail's tail hair out of his mouth, not minding that some of the spit tangled into her hair. There might be worse spills on her soon enough. He smiled cruelly as he approached her. He neglected to notice the two ponies peeking in through the window, as his entire attention was on Kail. She had wings, after all, and he wasn't sure that, if she truly was a Champion like he suspected, which powers she had.
"I do believe the Cap'n asked ye to stay with us, lassie," he said with a smirk on one corner of the mouth. "And ye wouldn't want to be rude, would you?"
He twirled the dagger in his hoof threateningly.
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Post by Jewel on Jan 4, 2006 14:07:11 GMT -5
"Break through the window?" Jewel looked at the other, then stifled a very soft nervous laugh and whispered, "Honey, my only power is seeing the future."
"What if you distracted them here at the window, while I dove down inside and urged her out to follow me? Then we could regroup and fly back to our own ship."
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Post by Bella on Jan 4, 2006 14:10:23 GMT -5
"Well, in certain situations I believe rudeness can be tolerated," Kail managed bravely as she stood up. Looking around quickly for anything she could use against the pony with the dagger, Kail came up empty-hooved. The only other weapons in the room were either on or very close to Ratskull, who was smiling as he watched the display before him.
He sat back in his chair, confident that the peg wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and smiled. "Now, Kailani Hoofspen, you wouldn't be one of those special ponies we've heard about would you? One of those ponies tied to the Rainbow somehow?"
"What would make you think that?" she asked dryly, facing Surge.
Instead of responding, Ratskull took the chain around his neck and hung the locket before his face so that the heart twirled back and forth in the dim light of the cabin. The swing of the chain was certainly moving towards the glowing figure, but on its return path instead of coming straight back to him it seemed to veer off to the right slightly, towards the window. Glarring at it, Ratskull saw nothing but his own reflection in the glass.
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Post by Crescent on Jan 4, 2006 14:19:38 GMT -5
Rain was greatly disappointed in Jewel's revelation of what her power was.
"Seeing the future? That's, uh, not very useful. Well, I mean, at least, not to us."
She frowned to Jewel's suggestion.
"What if you get interrupted on the way? There are other pirates on this ship, too, you might attract their attention and get them after us, too. With just those two we can outnumber them easily." She shook her head, then suddenly her face brightened. She looked at the sword she had strapped around her waist, and pulled it quickly. She pointed to the heavy pommel of her sword. "I'll break the window with this. Then... Then we... we... Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out when we get in."
She raised the sword, ready to smash it pommel first against the window.
- - -
Surge prowled for Kail, knowing it was his responsibility not to let the pegasus away. He held the dagger at the ready and kept his eyes on Kail's every move. He wasn't about to let her surprise him. When Ratskull held out the locket, however, and it swung after Kail toward the window, Surge's eyes darted there as well, and his eyes narrowed.
"If there was one," he said quickly, "who says there isn't more?" His eyes returned to Kail, flashing ominously nearly black as he took a leap toward her, the dagger outheld, his intention to grab her round the throat and get the dagger to her throat, to render her helpless in case there were more of these flying glowing ponies appearing.
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Post by Bella on Jan 4, 2006 14:24:50 GMT -5
"I came alone!" Kail yelled quickly, not having noticed the locket's movements. She ducked out of his grasp and ran for the window, knowing she could throw it open and fly out if she could make it before he got to her. However, she also couldn't see anything but the reflection in the room, and had no idea that the hilt of a sword was about to smash through until it did, nearly colliding with her face and causing her to fall backwards to Surge.
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Post by Jewel on Jan 4, 2006 14:32:21 GMT -5
"Seeing the future? That's, uh, not very useful. Well, I mean, at least, not to us."
Jewel snorted softly, though it was true--at that moment it wouldn't be terribly useful. But they wouldn't have known Kail to be in danger if not for it.
"All right. Can I at least have your dagger, then, if you're going to wield the sword?"
The pegasus thought a moment, heart racing. Maybe a step-by-step plan wouldn't be the best course of action after all. Though dangerous, the most successful plan might be to take a more chaotic approach.
"If we can break swiftly through the window, maybe I can--"
Before she could finish what she was saying. Rain had shattered the window. Without a second's thought, The gold pegasus tucked her wings and leapt into the room, planting all four gold hooves hard on Ratskull's shoulders, and pinning him to the floor. Her wings arched menacingly, and the adrenaline flowing through her body numbed the pain of the small cuts she sustained while leaping through the broken window.
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Post by Crescent on Jan 4, 2006 18:29:47 GMT -5
Surge cursed as Kail ducked and ran, but was in hot pursuit right away, leaping after her. He might or might not have caught her, but in the end it didn't matter, because Kail was effectively stopped by the smashing window. Surge let out a shout and turned his head away from the window and raised his hoof to shield his face from the shattering glass. He recovered quickly, however, having half anticipated there might be someone behind the window, and therefore when Kail fell on him he was quick to react by wrapping a hoof around her waist and pulling a dagger at her throat. However, the weight of her falling body was enough to push him down backwards, so by the time Jewel flew in he was lying on the floor under Kail, though his hoof tightly wrapped round the green pegasus and his dagger pressed just as snugly against her throat. He kept cursing aloud as he felt a sharp pain just above his other eye on his forehead. A shard of glass had sheared a considerable gash there, and blood was trickling down his face, though luckily for him not blocking his vision.
Rain was rather vexed that Jewel leaped in first like that; she didn't want to be left second bravest. And so as soon as the way was clear again, she pushed through the window herself, not sharding herself because of her smaller size and because Jewel had broken a bigger hole into the window already. She jumped into the room with a war cry on her lips.
"For the Rainbow!" she announced, holding the sword up high as though she were a champion of the Rainbow herself. She might have continued had it not been for the surprising sight of Jewel. She had certainly seen that Kail was glowing green, but she had not noticed Jewel's indigo aura while they were still outside in the dark night. Now the blasting light around the Seer Champion took Rain rather by surprise.
By the time Rain had got in, Surge was managing his balance better. He turned to his side, flinging Kail along with him, and started to get up, making sure he kept the pegasus in between himself and the two new ponies.
"Get off from the Cap'n!" he called out to Jewel harshly, disregarding Rain as she appeared to him nothing more but a nuisance. She didn't glow; he didn't recognise her; she seemed young and foolish. "Get off from the Cap'n," he growled again, holding the dagger tighter to Kail's throat, drawing a trickle of blood on her shining green coat, "or I'll gut this little fish!"
Rain's eyes widened as her attention went back to Kail, only having been momentarily phased by her surprise but now cowed by the threat.
As a strange afterthought, she hoped Kail wouldn't be very angry with her for stowing away on the ship.
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Post by Bella on Jan 4, 2006 19:57:10 GMT -5
(hehe, I love the afterthought)
Kail was too surprised at first by the presence of not only another Champion (that would never surprise her) but of the youngest of the Queen's daughters. She almost cried out "princess!" but caught her tongue before she could give away who it was. Rainbows things turned bad quickly she thought.
At the healer's touch (whether she like it or no) the cut above Surge's eyebrow began to stop bleeding and heal itself. The minor cuts across her own face from the shattering glass had vanished nearly as soon as they had formed, leaving the sea green peg unscathed until the knife pressed into her throat.
"Get off from the Cap'n... or I'll gut this little fish!"
"Get the locket Jewel! Go back!" Kail cried to her as she was held back by the knife. The healer was unsure if the part of the Rainbow she currently carried with her was strong enough to heal that particular wound or not - the last time she had carried with her the full green stripe. Of course, if Jewel could get to and open the locket it wouldn't matter what they did to Kail - she would survive.
Ratskull, for his part, was so surprised by the shattering glass and sudden hoofs pressing him into the ground that he hadn't had time to do anything except make sure he had a good hold on the gold chain.
"Aye, I'd get off'n me if ye know what's good fer yer friend there, and fer yerself."
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Post by Jewel on Jan 4, 2006 20:48:17 GMT -5
"Get off from the Cap'n...or I'll gut this little fish!"
"Get the locket Jewel! Go back!"
"Aye, I'd get off'n me if ye know what's good fer yer friend there, and fer yerself."
The indigo aura increased around the pegasus as the intensity of the situation grew. She held her head low and menacingly, glaring with icy eyes at the stallion who held Kail. She did her best to put on the most disturbing and frightening visage she could manage, bearing her teeth and trying to penetrate Surge as much as she could. So much was her concentration on her expression that the indigo symbol on her forehead began to glow, as well as the purple in her eyes.
A golden hoof was now upon Ratskull's temple, holding it to the floor. When she spoke, her voice was even and icy, words dripping with power and poision she didn't exactly have within, but was trying to present.
"No, sir." Her gaze never broke from Surge, and her whole body remained tense and carefully placed over Ratskull, "Let the mare go, or your Captain may soon have applesauce for brains."
The facade continued, with Jewel milking her strangeness to them for all it was worth.
"You don't know what power I possess. Let her go, unless you'd like to find out." She pressed against the stallion's head a bit harder, ears flat against her skull.
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Post by Orivy Assassin on Jan 5, 2006 4:51:44 GMT -5
Up on deck, Orivy's shoulder ached, but she felt the healing beginning, and she moved her muscles gingerly to aid the flow of blood. She stepped to the side of the deck, thankfully filling her lungs with clean salt air.
But what was that? Colored specks in the darkness, and they grew... Orivy hunched down near the rail as shapes swooped towards the ship. They headed not towards the deck, as she would have expected, but seemed to aim to cling to the heaving sides...
As the shapes reached the ship, she carefully looked over the edge. There, just under the illuminating glow of the Captain's window, two winged ponies clung to the side.
Orivy's nostrils flared. Interesting. She had not long been a part of this crew, but she knew the code and the duties she owed to her captain.
Orivy quickly ducked out of sight again, and inched away from the rail, stepping as carefully as she could with her injured leg. The farther away she got, the quicker she hobbled, but her speed was not at its peak, and it was a minute or two before she reached the stairs and began to head belowdecks.
The sight that met her eyes when she rounded the door to the captain's quarters was a strange one indeed. A crew member held a strange hostage who seemed to be glowing green, the captain was pinned beneath one of the pegasii, who was glowing blueish and seemed to be about to smash his head in, and - what was that little pony who seemed so unsure of herself?
Orivy acted quickly to break the standoff. Drawing her golden dagger, she leapt into the room and rammed her uninjured shoulder hard into the mare, knocking her off of Ratskull. The two mares hit the floor and, quick as a flash, Orivy was on top of her, pressing her dagger to the gold pegasus' throat.
Two hostages out of three. And the other one looked weak.
... Mm, this was a pretty mare. Orivy barely allowed her body to register it before she suppressed the wave of heat, weak from years of denial, which threatened to spread up her body. She stared the pegasus in the eye and cocked her ears back towards her captain.
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Post by Crescent on Jan 5, 2006 12:06:08 GMT -5
[ ]
At the healer's touch (whether she like it or no) the cut above Surge's eyebrow began to stop bleeding and heal itself.
A frown came over Surge's brow and he glanced down at the pegasus in his grasp. Seeing her wounds healing as well his brows arched up. Oh my, he seemed to have caught the prime prize, hadn't he? Healer, Ratskull had said, and it seemed that the Rainbow made her ten times so. That was good news - and then again, bad. How quickly could she heal herself? Could he even kill her? How bothersome.
"You don't know what power I possess. Let her go, unless you'd like to find out." She pressed against the stallion's head a bit harder, ears flat against her skull.
Jewel's threat made Surge waver only a little. Well, he did get his paycheck from Ratskull, but then again, Surge felt no strong loyalties toward the Captain. He hesitated, but whatever decision he might have made became soon unnecessary, as Orivy interfered.
"Well it was about time!" he called out to the mare after she had got Jewel down, though inwardly he tensed, in case the gold pegasus had some powerful magic on her.
Rain noticed no one was really paying very much attention to her. This annoyed her a little; she was not a child anymore. But then again, she realised, this could very well work in her advantage. She still had a sword on her, after all. Both Kail and Jewel in pirate hooves didn't really help, though. She swallowed and thought quickly. She desperately needed to at least save her friends. The Locket could remain with the pirates, the main thing now was to get out of there alive. She didn't entertain any notions of grandeur; they were unlikely to be able to get the Locket back, especially with two Champions down. But what could she do? She fidgeted, squeezing the sword tighter, wanting with all her heart to be the hero, but not knowing how.
It was at that moment that something inside her that had slumbered throughout her life awoke. She had always been a little resentful of the fact that she was the only one of the members of the Royal Family of Dream Valley not to have any powers whatsoever. She had not expected them to emerge at such a moment, however.
It began with a slight shimmer around her edges, at which point Surge frowned. Had he misevaluated the flutter after all? Was she a Champion as well? This thought made him waver again and inadvertedly his dagger edge dug deeper into Kail's throat, though not deep enough to kill.
Rain gasped, and suddenly white blinding light shot through her blue eyes as though they had just turned into two horribly bright flashlights. Light broke out from the tips of her hooves and her flowing white mane shimmered and sparkled and burst into white blinding flames. The entire cabin was filled with such light that it hurt the eyes.
Surge gasped and let out a curse, closing his eyes inadvertedly from the painfully bright light that felt as though it cut into his brain like knives. His hold of Kail loosened a little.
Rain was not aware of what she was doing anymore. Her entire body was turning into a blazing fire of whitest light, pulsating through the air.
[[now, the rest of the royals of Dream Valley have sun and light related powers, and hers were still to be found out. I thought this was a good moment to bring forth at least one of her powers. I don't know if she has any others. But we do need to get these Champs out of here alive, yes? ]]
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Post by Jewel on Jan 5, 2006 12:34:02 GMT -5
Orivy's unexpected entrance caught the golden peg completely off guard, such that she easily tumbled to the floor when the other jumped her.
Jewel's plan was only half lost--she still had one thing going for her, which was that none of the pirates knew exactly what her strengths were yet. Though at the same time, the situation was growing more grim by the second, and decisions and actions needed to be made quickly if any of them were to get out of there alive.
The pegasus didn't struggle as she remained pinned on her back under this newcomer. The glass cuts trailing from her left brow to her jaw, as well as across her forelegs from jumping in the window began to sting more noticeably. Her mind raced for options, though there isn't much one can do when they have a dagger at their throat.
As Orivy stared down at the pegasus, Jewel stared back with equal force and with as little fear as possible. She didn't move, didn't writhe, just stared at the pirate with narrowed eyes. And silently, cried for the Rainbow's help.
But before any aid from the Rainbow came, a blinding white light filled the room. Through slitted eyelids, Jewel saw that it came forth from the Princess. I knew I shouldn't underestimate her.. Jewel raised her forelegs in an effort to shield her eyes, while at the same time using the distraction to curl her back legs beneath Orivy's underside, preparing for the strongest kick she could muster.
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Post by Bella on Jan 5, 2006 13:48:34 GMT -5
"Jewel!" Kail yelled as Orivy took her down, but she was cut short by the knife driving a little deeper into her throat. It wasn't killing her... yet... not even close to killing her, but it sure did hurt a good bit and caused her to start a coughing fit.
Ratskull, for his part, was more than happy that the crazy glowing mare was off his head. He hadn't really believed she could squash him like a melon, but then again, he hadn't really not believed her either. As he stood back up and reached for his own sword, the last little pony in the room started to shimmer with light. Not another one was the quick thought that went through his head before she broke out into a blaze of light. Tossing a dagger in the light's general dirrection, the captain hoped to put out the bulb - or at least lessen its intensity.
As Surge's hold loosened with the light Kail pushed the hoof holding the dagger to her throat away. She had her eyes closed against the glare and ducked to a crouch on the floor. Where was the locket? They had to get the locket out of here!
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Post by Crescent on Jan 5, 2006 14:22:13 GMT -5
Rain glowed ever brighter, and brighter, but her mind had fallen into a kind of trance and she had no awareness of what was going on around her. The light pulsated out of her in heartbeats, every wave a little stronger than the last, and her breath was coming in gasps.
The dagger flowing through the air twirled round, the light flashing, flashing, flashing off the blade, until it met its target. In trance or not, pain still came clearly through to Rain's mind, and she screamed, her entire body staggering back. Her back hit the wall behind her, her head tossed back, and as the scream screeched in the air, the light blinked, frizzed and dwindled.
Rain slid down on her knees, leaning against the cabin wall, the Pirate Captain's dagger hilt protruding out of her other shoulder. She gasped as the light faded from around her. It were only her eyes that remained glowing a white light, staring as though she were blind.
Surge let out a gruff sound when he felt his hold of Kail slip and the pegasus duck off his grasp. He opened his eyes, but could see nothing but dancing white sparkles, his vision temporarily fused by the blinding light. He didn't know it was temporary though, and so he was filled with mad rage when he thought the silver little flutter had turned him blind.
"Rrrrgh!" he growled as he hit down with his dagger, going for where he believed Kail to be, hoping to hit her, anywhere, preferrably directly through the heart.
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Post by Bella on Jan 5, 2006 14:39:39 GMT -5
As the light suddenly went out, Kail opened her eyes to the scream of the princess. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the much darker cabin, but she could clearly see the dagger protuding from her shoulder. Before she could run to the filly, however, Surge's knife caught her flank and the force of it sent her back to the ground with a muffled "ooph".
Kail turned so Surge would be forced to release his hold on the dagger, and although it was sticking clearly in her flank she was more concerned with the princess. Throwing a hoof out towards one of Surge's knees, she connected and pulled the dagger out, keeping it in hoof as she made her way across the small room to the filly.
"It's ok Princess," she said softly and turned to face the room, dagger in hand, with the other hidden safely behind her wings.
(Going to see what Jewel does before I post for Ratskull)
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