Champion Gathering

[Jewel]

"Yes, you two go to the upper deck! I'll have a look round, find the others, get them there as well."

Jewel opened her mouth to speak, but closed it promptly as Hollow determinedly took off down the ship's lower corridor. The gold pegasus turned to Roxy with a small smile, "Let's go, then?"

The pegasus climbed up the steep stairs to the upper deck, surfacing not far from Moony and Rain.

"...I sure hope you remembered to bring that one along, 'cause there's gonna be a lot of use for him, uh, her, uh, it."

"Hey, Princess," Jewel greeted with a somewhat sleepy smile. She briefly surveyed Rain's shoulder wound, which looked much better than even the gold pegasus had expected, "How are you feeling?"

The pegasus then turned to the orange champion, "Ah, it's good to see you well.. in better spirits," She smiled kindly.

[Silver Shadow]

"You... haven't been much around, have you?"

In response, the unicorn shook her head in a mute no as she followed the young flutter pony.

"...I mean, with what's been going on lately - I haven't seen you with the others. Man, I say, you Champs would sure need some serious glue to keep you together! Say, wasn't one of you supposed to be the Love Stripe or something like that? I sure hope you remembered to bring that one along, 'cause there's gonna be a lot of use for him, uh, her, uh, it."

With a smile, Moon Crystal listened to the young princess' chatter, finding it both amusing and strangely comforting. The idea of a Love Stripe Champion was particularly laughable since one didn't exist, though it reminded her of the Friendship Stripe which was a type of love in its own way. Realising this, she felt guilty, knowing too well that she hadn't been playing her part in the team like she should of. But exactly how could a shy pony like herself become the equivalent of super glue and help keep the Champion team in one piece?

Frowning a little, the pearly white mare opened her mouth to reply-

"Hey, Princess..."

- And then closed it shut, pausing in surprise when a lovely golden pegasus came into view. The unicorn couldn't quite remember this particular pony's name, though she knew that she was the Indigo Stipe and also on Hollow Heart's wishlist. Of course Moony noticed, to some extent during her hazy dream walking, the way Hollow had looked at Jewel with admiration and adoration. Then again this was just a suspicion of hers, and for all she knew, she could have been hallucinating since she had been doing that quite a bit recently. Besides she had no evidence to support her case, so she let it lie low. For now.

She smiled shyly at Jewel in friendly greeting, just as she had done to Princess Rain. However, she felt slightly disappointed. If one champion was out above deck, another was soon to follow. And then another. So much for hiding from the other Champions. Moony thought. Oh well... I guess it could be much worse...

"Ah, it's good to see you well.. in better spirits,"

Moony blushed shyly when the gold pegasus spoke to her with a kind smile. Not really knowing what to say in reply, she nodded and made a small sound of agreement or thanks, something along the lines of "Nnn", hoping that the pegasus would be reasonably satisfied with just that.

Dangnagit... She thought with irritation, unable to stop blushing. I hate being shy!


((EDIT: ok, so Jewel is the indigo, and Razz is the violet/purple. O.o I've always thought Razz was the indigo... oh well. i must try and remember that XD))

[Crescent]

[[Oh, that's actually the Indigo Stripe that Jewel is. ^-^ ]]

Rain was startled when the golden pegasus suddenly emerged from below deck. She backstepped a few times before stopping fully, but the surprise melted into a happy smile soon. She had rather begun to like Jewel during their little adventure the previous night.

"Good morning, Lady Jewel," she said, recalling instantly that Jewel had mentioned being of noble blood the previous night. She wasn't sure if anyone else knew about it, but that was really no reason to keep it to herself, was it? "Oh, I'm much better, thank you," she replied, certainly not having the shyness problem like Moon Crystal. She moved her shoulder to show off how well it had healed, and then took a few hops around to prove it. "Better than ever, in fact!" She gave a little merry laugh, but then grew more serious as she looked over from Jewel to Moony, and back to Jewel again. She realised Moony wasn't talking. Instead, the pretty unicorn was blushing.

Howevery cute it appeared to Rain, she was sure it didn't really serve a purpose, and so she decided she should try to get the two Champions talking with one another. She waved a hoof toward Moony.

"Orange here was just going to help me find my brother, Kenaz. I don't suppose you've seen him? I rather lost track of him last night when we went out to help Kail." She paused when she suddenly realised she didn't know Moony's name at all. She blinked and looked at Moon Crystal with a shocked expression. "Orange! Oh my, how rude of me. But I don't think I caught your name."

[Silver Shadow]

"Good morning, Lady Jewel,"

Moony glanced quietly from the princess to the pegasus. So her name is Jewel huh? I shall remember that for future reference. And she is a Lady? Noble blood? She inwardly smiled. Now that's hardly surprising.

Moony listened quietly to the flutter talk, though she didn't realise that her attention span had been cut short so whatever the little flutter had been saying afterwards went way over her head. The lights from the sun had gotten all dazzling and pretty to look at; they particularly danced off Jewel's coat in wonderous rays of gold as other pleasant silvery pale colours whirled around them in graceful chaos, calling the unicorn forth with sweetly, yet terrifying high pitched voices. She remained staring ahead of her with a light blush as she had done before, unable to comphrehend what was being said to her until she realised that Rain was actually talking to her...

"...Orange! Oh my, how rude of me. But I don't think I caught your name."

The spell was broken and Moony was once again paying attention. Although confused a little at first, she reallised that she hadn't told the other her name. I was just getting kinda use to being called after a fruit... Oranges distract me. She thought, smiling at the princess.

"I didn't told you my name," She said with a smile in her voice, the shyness wilting away a bit by bit, though the touch of pink on her cheeks dared not to fade away. "It's Moon Crystal... but, feel free to call me Moony, if you wish."

[Orivy Assassin]

Roxanne had gone to clean up and brush her mane while Jewel headed up to the deck. She had gone into the room of her friends without grooming, but thought it would be best to do so before seeing other ponies.

She popped her head up now and called to Jewel and the other two. "Hey Goldie! And heyyy, you Moon-ish type, where you been all my life?" She knew Moon Crystal only fleetingly from the last battle she had... almost... been in with the Champions. And Moony had been very much in the background during this journey.

Roxanne stepped towards them with her best grin.

[]

[Silver Shadow]

The appearance of this new pony of light gold, was also vaguely recognisable. As usual, Moony was cursed with her shyness since she did not know the other too well, yet the unicorn still gave a warm friendly smile of hello.

There you have it... Another Champion, the Blue Stripe, Charisma... hnn... I seem to have forgotten her name though... I'm pretty sure it has something to do with stones or rocks... Moony thought with a little confusion. Eh... Maybe I should wait and listen... I'll pick it up sooner or later...

"...And heyyy, you Moon-ish type, where you been all my life?"

"Err, somewhere... I guess." Moony replied a little awkwardly with a small frown. "But... I'm here now." Saying this, she smiled.

[Crescent]

[[Yeah, Roxy met Rain, though very briefly. I don't think they talked. But she would know her by name and title.]]

Rain smiled when Moony introduced herself, and she nodded pleasantly. She was just about to say "pleased to meet you" and try to continue the conversation, when Roxy suddenly appeared. The princess looked up and over to the Blue Champion. She didn't know Roxy, not by name nor by Stripe, but she could tell she was a champion. She prided herself in being able to tell Champion from pirate. Though from the common - as Rain liked to think - way Roxanne spoke she might have made a mistake. She smiled over to the yellow earthling, however.

"Oh, hello! More Champions! My, I seem to have found everyone except the one I was looking for. I don't suppose you've seen my brother either?"

[Jewel]

"Good morning, Lady Jewel,"

The pegasus smiled somewhat awkwardly, a little regretful that she had revealed her inheirant title to the imaginative younger pony. She said nothing however, as it was often a custom for ponies with titles, however small, to address each other as such. Hopefully few others would overhear... and perhaps she'd have a word with Rain later. That title was attached to a life she had long since left behind.

"Better than ever, in fact!"

Jewel smiled kindly to the princess, amused and delighted by Rain's high morale and energy. Though she did wish her wing had healed as well as the princess's injury. The thought of still-missing feathers caused the peg to pull her wing closer to her body.

"Orange here was just going to help me find my brother, Kenaz. I don't suppose you've seen him? I rather lost track of him last night when we went out to help Kail."

"Ah, your acomplass.." Jewel nodded, remembering the night the two of them were found by Cutter while he was searching for Razz. "I haven't seen him since early last night. Might want to ask the pirates.." The pegasus was just slightly ill at ease with the idea of the pirates having taken Kenaz off somewhere, but they wouldn't hurt a foal..

..would they?

"Hey Goldie! And heyyy, you Moon-ish type, where you been all my life?"

Jewel laughed softly in good nature as Roxy made her usual kind of entrance. It really was hard to be down around the blue stripe, and whether or not the golden mare realized it, she did wonders for the crew's morale.

"This 'Moon-ish type' is Moon Crystal," The pegasus spoke to Roxy, nodding to the orange stripe.

[Crescent]

Rain's eyes went wide as Jewel mentioned asking the pirates, and she put a hoof over her shoulder.

"Oh, my," she whispered. "The pirates... what if they... what if they..." She looked round on the deck, until her eyes met the captain, who was still conversing with the thief farther away, obviously not having noticed them yet. She arched her neck a little. "If you will excuse me... I think I will go talk to the captain about this. It is not acceptable that a royal prince is lost on a pirate ship."

And with determined steps she started to walk toward the Captain.

[Bella]

The green peg's footsteps on the stairs leading up to the deck were heavier than normal. Her mane and tail were knotted and salt-crusted from the night before, and she looked to be in a bad mood. She wasn't, actually, she was only tired and drained, but she was frowning. She needed some breakfast, she needed more sleep, and she needed to not be at a meeting where all the Champions thought she had tried to sabatoge the mission and get herself killed.

Without a word, Kail dragged her feet over to where the other Champions and Rain had gathered, and sat down on the cool boards of the deck with her forelegs wrapped around her knees. She turned her head to look out at the horizon, searching for the other ship. From here she couldn't see anything, but she trusted the captain to know where he was going, for now. She would fly up to the lookout herself after breakfast and make sure she could see the ship for herself.

[Orivy Assassin]

Roxanne nodded to Moon Crystal and winked good-naturedly. "For sure, I knew that. And I'm Roxanne, in case you didn't get it way back when. You're only half there at introductions, sister!" she turned to Jewel, and then shook her head slightly to try to show that she wasn't actually reprimanding the pegasus.

"Champions indeed!" said Roxy to Rain, flaring her nostrils almost imperceptibly. She wasn't sure she liked the small princess's attitude, but she could be wrong, so she decided to scope the other pony out a bit before making any judgements. She nodded in Rain's direction. "Haven't seen a brotherly type, no, can't say that I have." She bit her tongue to stop from asking what a little sister and brother like this were doing on a pirate ship.

"Hello Kail," Roxanne said softly as the green pegasus hauled herself up to them. She didn't pursue conversation. She looks beat.

[Crescent]

Rain had taken a few steps toward the Captain and the strange pony he was talking to - she assumed it was a male - when Kail appeared. She stopped in her tracks again, undecisive suddenly. She felt she still had some unsettled business with Kail. She glanced over to the Captain, then back to the Champions. She had heard Roxanne's answer, and this worried her even more. Where had her little brother got himself to? Finally he decided that she should first settle matters with Kail, and so she came closer to the Champions again.

"Uh, hi, Kail..." she said a little timidly, more timidly in fact than ever. She was usually very much aware of being royalty, and therefore hardly ever were timid of anyone. "I... I hope you're feeling better."



Meanwhile, Hollow had got the breakfast all packed up and now peeked his head out from the door that led to below. He was carrying a rather large basket in his teeth, and another in one hoof, and therefore made his way uncomfortably on three feet, and very very slowly. He peered out toward the little group when he had got out onto the deck and paused for a moment, then started to walk on three feet again, trying not to drop either of the baskets.

[Orivy Assassin]

Roxanne saw Hollow Heart out of the corner of her eye. She took the opportunity to get away from what she felt was an awkward half-formed group situation, and cantered over to him to help.

"Watch it, He- hon." She took the basket from his hoof.

[Bella]

Kail turned her head back from the horizon as Rain spoke to her. "Hello Princess," she said softly, eyes still distant. "I trust your feeling better this morning?"

She wasn't really mad, or rather she was awfully upset but had no one to dirrect her anger towards. It didn't seem any one pony's fault that Jewel and Rain had come to "rescue" her and debautched Kail's entire goal, especially since Kail had so wonderfully debautched it herself before they arrived. She certainly hadn't wanted to be kidnapped by a madman and his piratey friends, but she hadn't wanted to put anyone else in danger either.

"If you have any other aches and pains, just please let me get some breakfast and then I'll take care of them."

[Crescent]

Hollow was most grateful when Roxy came to assist him, and allowed her to take the other basket without a word - well, he didn't want to drop the other basket. He only nodded, her almost-slip escaping his attention this time. He continued walking, this time at a better pace, toward the others.


Rain listened carefully to Kail's tone of voice when she spoke. Nope, she couldn't detect anger, at least not clear enough in her voice to really allow Rain to think anything of it. She smiled brightly to Kail after having concluded that everything was all right between them.

"Oh, no, Kail, I'm all right now!" she said, and again did a few prancing steps to show how well she felt. She wasn't sure if Kail had had the time to heal her shoulder fully but it worked and didn't hurt terribly so she decided it was all right. She stopped her prancing when she realised she was behaving a little too much like a filly and less like a princess.


Hollow stopped near the others and placed the basket on the deck, looking at the others with his ears perked forward.

"I brought breakfast."