Back home there had been a river near the estate that he had grown up in, allowing Fortune to have had the good fortune of learning how to swim, even if it was a rare knight that learned how to do so (Preferring to ride on their horses when wading through rivers). While a stormy sea was far different from the river that he had learned to swim in as a boy, at least he had something to fall back on as he fought he way to the surface with the aid of the rope around his waist. 

It didn't take long to locate Alison on the side of the ship and that was a [i]very good thing[/i] for both of them under the circumstances. Fighting against the wind, waves and deathly chill of the water with the major boom of the rope to assist him, Fortune managed to get to to Alison and wrap one of his arms around her tightly as he shouted "Grab onto me and [i]don't[/i] let go!" over the sound of the storm. Any idea of bashfulness at holding a beautiful girl in his arms was strangled instantly by not only the icy chill of the water, but the desire to not die!

Taking a moment to glance upwards to see how much they would have to climb up before looking over at the oncoming ship that was clearly going to ram them, he quickly came to the conclusion that getting them both back on deck before they got boarded wasn't going to happen even if there were people up top that were going to help pull them up instead of getting ready to repel boarders. Staying here was also not going to work out in the long run either, since the conditions were [i]more[/i] likely to kill them then the pirates about to attack the ship.

Looking at the hand hold that Alison had been clinging to, Fortune had an idea... the Captain wouldn't be happy about it but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. He didn't fancy his chances of creating a hole big enough for the both of them, but he [i]might[/i] get away with one big enough for Alison herself. Turning to look at her, with deadly seriousness in both his eyes and voice he simply said "Don't let go." Before getting to work on grabbing the damp, damaged wood by grabbing hold of it and bracing his legs against the side of the ship to pry it free...

With a wet but sharp snap, a chunk of the plank came free. Throwing the wood through the hole, Fortune breathed deeply as he moved towards it and did what he could as he explained to Alison "I need you to go through there and get to my quarters. My sword and shield are there. Get them and meet me up top... be careful."

As the ships collided, Fortune found both his hands and legs free to try and climb back up onto the deck that now had enemies on it... but they were a future concern. His current concern as he grabbed the rope and started to force himself to climb with his legs against the side of the ship was to not be crushed as the gab between the two vessels closed. It was clear to him as he climbed higher and higher that he wasn't going to make it on his own...

All he could do was keep going and hope for the best (and if that didn't work, that Morr would still take him despite what little would remain of him being lost at sea).   


[hider=Fortune's fate.]
I'm leaving Fortune's fate up to the other players and chance. 

If someone(s) starts pulling him up successfully, then he will be fine. If they can't for one reason or another (namely the large men with axes trying to murder them) then I'll roll a few dice to see what happens to Fortune and just how badly injured (or dead) he'll be because of it.  
[/hider]