[IC] Beyond the Storms

[ML]

Get to The Chopper - Ready for Takeoff

Hangar
Edward had been mildly irritated when Constance had taken the hand which had been proffered to him: in his world, it was almost treasonous to take someone else's conversation away from them. To his relief, however, Krauss and the others in the hangar appeared to be taking the woman with a grain of salt, which seemed smart. To be honest, he wasn't sure what to make of the woman. She seemed to deflect questions with practiced ease, though he knew eventually he'd get something to stick.

It was just a matter of finding the right material to use on her. Still, he noticed she seemed to be treating the whole expedition as if she were still back on the Isles. He chuckled inwardly at that: it was literally a whole new world out here, so the Isles really weren't a good metric of how to behave. Adaptability and mental flexibility were key, although he had to admit that she had shown remarkable aptitude for shooting a fire hose, despite her panicky expressions at the time.

Suddenly the pilot was speaking, telling him to hop into the copilot's seat. The copilot's seat? There was no way he was even remotely qualified for that! "Wouldn't it be better for someone with more experience to be in that seat? I'm sure--" He'd been about to say Constance, but then he realized he didn't want her anywhere near the controls of any aircraft that he was aboard. "--sure there are better options," he finished, painfully aware of how pitiful the sentence had become.

One of the men milling about the ship laughed, a deep, guttural sound of mirth. "Hah! Boy, UINC requires two pilot only for excursions." He spoke with a rough accent that combined the English language with the powerful pronunciations of a Leigri native. Ed resolved to eventually ask everyone on board where they hailed from. It could be useful to the story if he could write about the multiculturalism of the crew. "Two are here: Conway is pilot from before now, yes? Besides, only UINC cares for safety. Krauss is best of best: why ask for better than best?"

The words were oddly reassuring. Edward took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay," he said. "I can do it. But you'd better walk me through what to do if need be." He paused for a second, then pulled his little notebook and a sheaf of papers out of his pocket. "I figure we can head out past the charted zone a bit. Around this sector, that shouldn't be too hard to do." Edward had found the most detailed maps and charts of the currently known sea-level world that he could find before leaving, dotting them with notes and question marks." He looked apologetically at Constance as he climbed into the Copilot's seat. But not too apologetically.

He found himself musing through the maps and his notes, camera in his bag which he had somehow not lost during the shitstorm they had just survived. It was waterproof, too: that thing was like a god damn tank. So it was with a surprising and somewhat terrifying jolt that the aircraft began to move, being wheeled out of the hangar into the bright sunlight.

What was he doing? They were about to embark on the most magnificent trip of his life and he had his nose buried in notes? He shook his head with self-disgust and put the papers away gently. He readied his camera for the upcoming flight and snapped a quick photo of the clear blue sky, the back of the Garrloch, and the ocean stretching away to the horizon. It was incredible to actually see the horizon: the United Isles were all at slightly different elevations, and you couldn't look across from one to the all the others.

Generally you could see the Ring of Thunder, the water far below, and the other islands floating gently, impossibly in the middle of it all. This was so much better. He only wished his camera took better quality photographs: there was no way it could replicate the majesty of what they were seeing.

Main Deck
Keenan caught Captain Conway just as he was heading up to the top deck. "Mister Conway!" puffed the young boy, heaving from the combined exertion of moving so quickly and the terror of the woman who had just threatened him. "Sorry to interrupt you, sir, I know you're busy, but--"

"Wha's that on yer mouth, lad?" Conway tilted his head to one side. Keenan gulped, wiping a smidgen of brown off of the corner of his mouth delicately.

"I-I don't know, sir. Things got r-really crazy for a minute there." His face was a burning red, but he pressed ahead before Conway could question him more. "A-anyway! The freaky Ysmirod girl wanted me to give you a message. She said there are two sailors, Danzig and Rast, that were talking about..." he lowered his head, glancing side to side conspiratorially before whispering, "...mutiny."

Conway nodded. "Ay, sounds 'bout right. Those two 'ave been a bit shifty since we left."

"Y-you know?" splutered Keenan, nearly slipping on the precariously steep ladder of the ship. "B-but--"

"Those boys be a bit misguided, I ken tell. Can't blame 'em none, either: that storm was as much a hell as we're likely ta ever see in this life. S'fair to fear for their lives. Thank ya fer yer information, lad. Best be off now." He finished heading up the stairs with that final parting remark, and found none other than Danzig and Rast in the flesh, working with a third man to clear away some of the irreparable wreckage from the lightning strike.

"Good work, all," said the Captain as he approached them. "That lightnin' strike was quite tha black miracle, eh? 'Course, we're outside tha range o'them now. Let's work ta get this covered and--White Whale, man, yer leg!" Conway pointed to Armas's leg, where a wicked-looking gash was oozing in the thigh. It wasn't gushing blood, and it seemed wider and longer than it was deep, but Conway wasn't about to let the man work himself to worse conditions.

"How are ya not feelin' that, man. Plummet. Find medical an' have 'em take a look at that fer ya. Go on!" The captain shooed the man away, before returning his attention to the other two men. "Let's take care o'this, eh?"

Medical, Starboard
"All right, all right, now that that's taken care of, we can--God be kind, what the blazing shit is this?"

At the entrance of Starboard medical was a middle-aged man with a strong jaw, a strong hairline, and generally 'strong' features. He was dressed in the telltale blue scrubs of a UINC hospital officer. "I leave for a couple of hours and it all falls apart!" He clapped a hand to his face and groaned.

"Hello," he finally said, removing the hand and looking at the catastrophe within the infirmary. "Officer Raoul, chief medical officer. Nice to meet you all. I was treating some poor sap at the engines for seasickness when we hit the storms. Can someone explain what has been going on in my absence? Why is that man bleeding from his nose? Why is that man sleeping on the other side of the room? Who are the two of you?"

He closed his eyes and exhaled with the air of someone who was feeling overwhelmed, but was not necessarily angry. "So much shit to do," he muttered. "Someone get me up to speed. That's an order: I'm pretty sure I can give orders...that's nice."

[MarshiestMallow]

Luna
Okay, so I'm a little angry. Sue me. But man, is this still the best thing ever!

The fury of the doctor-although Luna was starting to have her doubts that they were the doctor-didn't phase Luna in the least. The accusastions that she didn't follow orders did. She stepped up to Sigrun, narrowing her eyes and saying "Perhaps if you had said more then a handful of words to me, I'd have known just why you wanted this man unconscioius. He didn't bother me, in the least, and aside from that, I knew nothing about him. How am I suppose to know if giving him something might not make him worse? I may be a nurse, but I won't do something if I think it is dangerous.

Next time, actually speak to me like I'm not something you find at the bottom of your shoe" Luna spun away, not caring what Sigrun did to her, starting to continue to clean up. She wasn't going to allow Sigrun to control her, and then to judge her when she wasn't given all the information. If Sigrun had merely told her why, Luna would have done all in her power to subdue the crew member. But as it was, she wasn't going to knock someone out when she knew nothing. "As for why the med bay isn't perfectly clean yet, I'm one woman. I'm doing all I can, how about you stop judging me, and help? Or is that too below your pay grade?".

Luna may have been projecting a little bit. Most of the reason for coming on this crazy adventure was to earn enough money to become a doctor. She knew that she was angry, not merely because of Sigrun's words about her, but because Sigrun simply assumed she wouldn't follow orders, and that she should perform miricles. Aside from that fact, Luna was tired. Her shoulders were just starting to ache, her lower back as well, fromt theh force of the hose, her eyes stung from the smoke, the numerous cuts and scrapes were just enough to be annoying, and her legs hurt from being looped around as she helped save Ed from certain drowning. She didn't mind all that. She knew there'd be pain, on this adventure.

Yet it certainly made it a little hard to constantly bend, and lift, yet she was still doing her best cleaning up. At the entrance of another man, Luna turned to see if they needed help, but they soon identified themselves as the chief medical officer, which was curious because she was under the impression that was Sigrun. Relieved that she would have someone higher up to go to, and to take orders from, Luna gave a sheepish smile.

"Apparently the medbay didn't like being thrown about in that wave, Sir. I have been trying to clean up, but as you can see, it is rather daunting. I thought to salvage as much as I could, and I believe Sigrun here went to the Captain to see if we might move rooms, until we can sort this one out, to at least be able to treat patients. As for why that man is bleeding from the nose, Sigrun knocked him out" She decided she didn't particularly care if that sounded like Sigrun had slocked him one. Let Raoul make of that what he would. She wasn't entirely sure what Sigrun had done to the man, but she recognised that it wasn't strictly medicine she would have used in the hospital.

She glanced to the sleeping man, and gave a shrug "I'm not entirely sure myself, Sir. I really only just got here myself, I was helping with the fire...As for why he is still there, well...I'm pretty sure he weighs more than me, and I'm not that strong" She said, sheepishly, "I'm Luna, Sir. I guess I am one of your team" She smiled brightly, "I'm a nurse". She said it with pride, knowing she had worked hard for that, and she would work hard to become a doctor as well.

Luna knew she could be a handful, when first introduced to someone, and knew she had a habit of babbling at times. She couldn't help it. She cleared her throat, smiling again. She found some padding, and she went over to the man Sigrun had knocked out, but didn't get close, biting her lip and wondering just what Sigrun had used on them. She didn't want to pass out herself. She glanced to the other woman, "Is it safe to at least stop the bleeding?" She decided not the mention that fact that Sigrun had said the man might be out to kill her. If she wished to tell Raoul that, that was her business, but Luna tended not to reveal things she had no right to do.

[Chromane]

Main Deck - The Hole

"One more down" Armas grunted as he dropped a deckplate offcut onto the slowly growing pile next to the hole. He shrugged his shoulders a few times, swinging his arms back and forth to clear some of the stiffness as he walked over to where Rast was prepping for the next cut.

"Get back ove' here" Danzing grumbled and the two of them braced the piece of metal as Rast began to cut at the base of it. The saw shrieked and whined as it bit through the toughened deck plating. They'd managed to neaten up a good portion of the hole, but there was still a ways to go before they could cover it with the canvas. Hopefully they'd be able to get the hole patched before there was anymore rain or trouble. He was pretty sure they had some spare material in one of the cargo bays.

Armas saw the Captain approaching over Danzig's shoulder and indicated to the other two men with a jerk of his head. Rast let the saw idle and stood up as the Captain came closer. "Good work, all," Conway said gruffly as he eyed the work they'd done on clearing the edges of the hole. "That lightnin' strike was quite tha black miracle, eh? 'Course, we're outside tha range o'them now. Let's work ta get this covered and--White Whale, man, yer leg!"

Armas looked down as the Captain pointed, his eyes widening as he noticed the gash in his leg. His thigh had been hurting for a while, but he hadn't actually stopped to check it. It must've happened during the mad dash for the journalist when the wave hit. Dammit, he thought, I liked these pants. He poked at it, his fingers coming away stained bright red, though luckily it didn't seem to be that bad. "How are ya not feelin' that, man. Plummet. Find medical an' have 'em take a look at that fer ya. Go on!" Conway said.

Armas grimaced slightly, "Tis not that bad sir, I can finish - " Conway cut him off with a stormy glare and Armas let the rest of the sentence trail off. He nodded, sketching a rough salute with his hand "Yessir", he finished. Conway's glare softened a minute fraction and he waved him off as he moved to take Armas's place with the other two men. Danzig and Rast were looking distinctly uneasy at this sudden development, but they said nothing as they made room for the Captain.

"Let's take care o'this, eh?" Armas heard Conway say as he started towards the Medbay. He wondered if the Captain knew about Danzig's mutinious mumblings. There was no way he could know about what he and Danzig talked about, but maybe the redhead had shot his mouth off before. Not much they could do about it now anyways. Armas doubted the Captain was going to do anything, just let them know he was watching.

Medbay

By the time Armas had tromped his way to the Medbay, along the length of the ship and down a couple of ladders, the cut in his thigh was making itself known, along with the other bruises he'd collected. The cut was stinging from the residual saltwater where he'd gotten drenched, which he supposed was a good thing. He was still going to the medbay though - Conway would tear strips off him otherwise. He could hear a babble of different voices as approached and he stuck his head around the door. The small medbay was actually pretty crowded, and certainly looked as if had seen better days, it had gotten pretty tossed around in the storm.

"Sorry to interrupt" He said, "Cut my leg - 's not to bad, but Cap'n told me to get it seen to, so here I am".

[Skepic]

Krauss pulled himself into the cockpit and hopped into the pilot's seat. Picking up a headset next to him, he told Edward to do the same as he placed his on his head. He then pulled out a preflight check list and began to go through the motions of starting up this beast.

"Alright, alright.... let's see here... electronics, on.... Oil pressure within acceptable ranges, artificial horizon seems to be balanced and good, radio on..... Okay, we're set to start her up." Krauss open his side window and leaned out. "CLEAR PROPS, CLEAR PROPS" he yelled, then turned the starter. The right engine's propeller started to slowly turn, then began to speed up. "CONTACT" he yelled, as he began to adjust the fuel mixture. Just then, the left engine began to start as well.

Soon the VTOL was vibrating slightly as both engines now throttled to idle. Krauss made some fine tuned adjustments to sync the engine's throttle controls perfectly. Once they were properly balanced, pressed the transmit button on his radio.

"This is Atlas One to the Garrloch Bridge, over."

"Atlas One, this is the Bridge of the Garrloch, we read you. Send your traffic."

"We're all set here Garrloch, permission to take off, over?"

"Permission Granted Atlas One, skies are clear, enjoy the view, over"

"Roger that Garrloch, Atlas One out."

With that, Krauss looked to his passengers and smiled. "Let's get our flight underway." Slowly, and with much precision, the aircraft began to lift off of the ground. The ground crew backed away as the VTOL lazily hovered into the air, gradually gaining altitude and distance from the ship. Soon, they were hovering a few hundred feet in the air, the Garrloch now a little ways away from the unique craft. Krauss tapped on Edward's shoulder and pointed the ship.

"This a good angle for you to take a picture, I can shift our positioning if you'd like. Once you get a few good pictures, we'll start putting her through the motions." he said through his headset. The engines were so close and loud, that like many small aircraft, pilots can only really effectively communicate through on board communication systems.

[Atrophy]

Skies above the Garrloch

Constance’s face flashed between both shock and disappointment when Krauss suggested she take any seat except for the one she had claimed for herself was, her lower lip drooping as if she couldn’t comprehend somebody telling her what to do. She expected that the man took her for a fool, and she told herself that she was fine with that. She’d rather be taken for an idiot than mistaken for a genius. There was less pressure in it, for starters, and when you proved them wrong it was much more pleasurable. She recovered almost as fast as she had come undone, closing her mouth into a tight smile as if to pretend to be amused by Krauss’s joke.

“What a grand idea. I’ve think I’ve had enough of seawater, Krauss, and I’ve been meaning to dry off anyways,” she said, abdicating her throne as she slipped back into the “hurricane seat”, pretending not to notice Edward’s look.

As Krauss went through his startup checks, Constance busied herself fumbling with straps and belts. Despite the good humor in his warning, she did believe the pilot when he said she could be flung out of the VTOL, and she had already met her quota for near death experiences for that day. Cinched tightly, she relaxed as best as she could in the stock chair, closing her eyes and trying to calm her pre-flight jitters. She still got anxious every time she was on a plane like she had been the first time she had flown, back when she had made her great change from mongrel to mogul by escaping from the Bottoms by stowing away on a cargo plane bound for Argos. Former suitors had found it endearing, and when she was in the air she was completely fine, her worries replaced with wonder, but she still found it embarrassing, and was thankful that the two in front seemed busy with the takeoff.

She felt her muscles relax as she heard the engine come to life, and slowly opened her eyes a few seconds after the craft had begun to shake and takeoff. Krauss hadn’t been lying, the view from the passenger seat was breathtaking. “Oh, wow,” she mumbled quietly, almost humbled by the vast world of blue that laid outside of the window. The view from the ship, now so far below them that it looked as if it were a bath toy, had been great, but it paled completely in comparison to this one. There was a quiet moment of contentment, disregarding the loud hum of the engines, as she leaned against the window, wide-eyed. Further away, she could she smears of brown and green splashed on the horizon, actual land that was not floating, and she swore she could make out the tip of the other obelisk, although perhaps this was just hopeful thinking.

And then it was down to business. She needed to know how fertile the land was, how ripe for colonization it would be, how feasible it could be to shuttle people from the floating isles to the new land. Then it would be all about creating the right businesses in the right places. A mining company for raw materials to ship back to the UINC would be the most profitable, obviously, and the tentative end goal, but to get there she need lodging, food, and entertainment for the workers. Even before that,she knew that she’d have to work out some sort of contracts and deeds with the United Isles to rightfully claim ownership of the new lands instead of being seen as some seceding threat. Her brow furrowed at the thought; red tape was always the most infuriating. It was a good thing that she planned to have someone else deal with all of that nonsense, although she was still deciding on who could handle such a task without outright stealing the thunder away from her.

As well, it was somewhat odd that she didn’t even consider the largest, most real problem to her grand plans as she daydreamed about the future. She was so confident that her minor hiccup would solve itself the minute she stepped foot onto one of those distant islands littered with silver and gold that, by the time word ever got out, it would be such a non-issue that nobody wouldn't even blink an eye at it. She smiled Only the extremely rich and the extremely poor knew how valuable money actually was; having been both in her life, she felt quite qualified in that regard.

Unintelligible words from the cockpit drew her out of her mind, their meaning drowned out by the hum of the engines. Reflexively, she assumed they were directed towards her, for obvious reasons, and she leaned forward. However, when her eyes finally spotted the camera in Edward’s hands, she recoiled back as if she had just stumbled upon a venomous snake. Violently, she shook her hands in front of herself. She shouted at the reporter, cupping her hands around her mouth. Surely, she could be louder than a plane engine.

_{“DON’T YOU DARE, EDDY! I’M A COMPLETE MESS! WE CAN DO A PHOTO SPREAD LATER! LATER!”}

[ML]

L A N D H O

The Aircraft, Far above the sea-level
They were in the air. It was incredible. Of course, Ed had flown back on the Isles: anyone who wanted to go anywhere flew. Sure there were automobiles, but getting between the Isles required more than an automobile had been able to provide. Although at one point Edward was pretty sure someone had strapped a turbojet engine to a car to try and bridge the gap between Dover and Ventui. Needless to say, that story had not had a happy ending.

Yet despite all his experience with flight, this was an entirely new experience. Below them was the sea itself, not floating islands, and certainly not horrifyingly powerful storm clouds. This was true flight. He laughed with a sudden vigor, thrilled to realize that against all odds, they had made it out of the storms, and now they were well and truly underway.

Constance screeched something from the backseat, but the whirring of the propellers and the rush of wind drowned her out. Even with the communications systems in action, her voice had been so panicked as to be totally muddled by the static. "Sorry, Constance!" he laughed, pointing to his ear with a shrug. "Can't hear a word you're saying!" He turned back to the front and raised his camera, clicking another shot of the sky and water. Naturally he'd have to develop the film later, but he knew how to take a good picture. At least in theory.

A crackle in their headsets caught Ed by surprise. "Cap'n Conway here. What's the status up there, Atlas One? Over."

Ed fumbled with his headset for a moment before figuring out how it work. "Uh...Atlas One here. It's incredible," he said. "I think we're still rising." As if in protest to his assumption, there was a sudden loud noise added to the cacophony around them. When Ed turned in his seat he saw the helicopter blades of the aircraft actually were rotating in place, slowly swerving from upright to forward-facing. With the change in position came a change in acceleration: Ed felt the aircraft gaining speed, and he quickly contacted the Garrloch again. "Scratch that, we're uh...moving forward. I don't really know the proper way to communicate through radio, but we've just begun acceleration. So far things seem to be holding up."

"Great. Ya might be interested ta know that the direction we're goin' is uncharted as of yet. Yer all goin' much faster than the ship, so keep an eye out, an' keep in touch. Garrloch out."

The radio went silent again, and for a short while they flew without words. Ed took pictures as they flew, but he already had so many great ones, and there was no way he could really improve the shots. This was as good as it would get for now. "Uncharted territory," he mumbled. This was part of the world that no one else had ever seen these places before.

After about a half an hour, Ed raised his camera again, absent mindedly taking a snapshot of a blurry mass on the horizon. "That'll make a good spread," he mumbled. Then the realization struck him. "Krauss!" he shouted, lurching forward in his seat. "That way!" he pointed briefly at where he had seen the blur. Then he dove into his bag and pulled out the telescope that everyone at the Winged Gazette had called him crazy for bringing. "Am I crazy now?" he laughed, pulling open the little tube with a clatter of excitement.

It was land! There was no mistaking it. As they continued onward, it became more and more certain. What had at first been a blur was resolved into rolling hills of green, and a golden beach which looked a lot like Lake Marum's, only larger, cleaner, and totally untouched by anyone from the UI. "Land Ho!" he said, and then instantly felt like a total fool. "Krauss, tell the Garrloch! This is it, this is why we left the Isles!" He felt like his face was going to burst from excitement.

"Can we land down there, Krauss? Imagine what we might find." He turned back to Constance with a grin on his face. "See that, Constance! We've done it!"

Sickbay, Starboard
Officer Raoul's irritation melted away when Armas entered the room. "Oh, of course. Yes, yes, right this way. Luna, would you be able to take care of this man's injury? I'll take...Sigrun, was it?" He pointed at the other woman. "She and I will begin prepping the backup sickbay for use. I'm sorry to make you do this without anyone else around, but after that stint with the Ring, we're pretty booked all over the ship. Lots of little injuries. Sailors are such babies sometimes, honestly."

The PA system sparked to life again, and Officer Raoul jumped in surprise. "Plummet! I hate that thing."

Attention all crew. All crew, listen up. We've got land. Uncharted land, about five hours west. Make sure yer affairs on the ship are in order: we'll be campin' on solid ground tonight, God willin', but there's still plenty left to do on the Garrloch.

Raoul's face went pale at the announcement. "God be kind," he whispered, before snapping back to attention. "You heard the captain. Luna, would you be willing to keep tidying up here? You can help her once you're patched up," he said to the new man. "As long as you can walk, of course." He clicked his fingers at Sigrun who, after a moment of hesitation and a glare at the two sleeping patients, followed the chief medical officer out of the room and down the hall. "Let's get this ship spic and span!"

[Skepic]

Krauss laughed as Constance made a fuss about her picture. She took some getting used to, but at the very least, this was going to be an amusing trip for the pilot. He began going through the practical ritual it was to just tilt the rotating blades the VTOL forward carefully. With the lack precicion that a machine might give, this new prototype had a habit of slamming eager and impatient pilots into the ground for being to rough on the transition controls. Krauss however, as always, knew how to treat his baby.

Gradually, he pushed forward on a lever over his head, the engine pods and wings tilting very smoothly forward, just as he'd been doing this, the Captain radioed his plane. He decided to let Ed take the call, as he was, admittedly, a bit busy keeping the plane in the air as they began to dive slightly to pick up speed. The aircraft pulled up and he began to orbit the ship. He heard through the radio and nodded, understanding that they were really into it now.

"Well Ed, I guess it doesn't need to be said that things will get only more crazy here on out. Who knows what we might find. Maybe even land or ancient technology? Who knows!" he said, smiling. The aircraft raced ahead of the Garrloch, Krauss maintaining a decent altitude for now, but it took considerable willpower not to just dive and skim across the surface of the ocean.

Now, Krauss had always had his own theories of why things were in their world, influenced by both his mother's and father's version of history. From what he figured, something came before the islands. Whether it be ancient humans or something else, those islands had to be artificial to an extent, as well as the Ring of Thunder that surrounded it. Now, the more important question, or more truthfully, what actually kept Krauss awake at night, would be why or how such things were built.

He was ripped from his pondering when Ed, to but it simply, freaked the fuck out.

"Krauss!" he shouted, lurching forward in his seat. "That way!" he pointed briefly at where he had seen the blur. Then he dove into his bag and pulled out the telescope that everyone at the Winged Gazette had called him crazy for bringing. "Am I crazy now?" he laughed, pulling open the little tube with a clatter of excitement. "Land Ho!" he said, spawning a suppressed chuckle from Krauss. The pilot seemed to be oddly not terribly excited by the discovery, or at least, didn't show it as much as Edward.

"Krauss, tell the Garrloch! This is it, this is why we left the Isles!" Ed said, the excitement as clear on his face as the new sky they flew through. With a sigh and a chuckle, Krauss radioed in to the ship.

"Garrloch, this is Atlas One, over."

"Garrloch, send your traffic Atlas."

"We got land, bearing about...." Krauss fumbled a bit with his instruments. "20 degrees from your position. Lot's of sandy beaches and green tree tops as far as I can tell right now, just over the water near the coast is our location, haven't turned inward yet...." Krauss was briefly interrupted when Ed jumped in.

"Can we land down there, Krauss? Imagine what we might find." he said. Krauss held up his hand, and prepared to deliver a devastating blow. "Ed, if you were a little school boy, I'd feel horrible, but here we go..." he thought. "Ahem, sorry Garrloch, as I was saying, we will be returning to the ship for now to give a briefing, out." With that, he turned, expectantly, to his passengers.

"Now listen, I understand why you might be so excited, but I want to remind the both of you what is at stake here." He punctuated each of those last few words. "We are in uncharted, unexplored lands. The possibilities could be endless, yes, but think for a moment. That statement cuts both ways. There is just as likely an artifact that could explain the Ring of Thunder as there is a beast that could tear your faces of in an instant. I'd rather us regroup and go about this smartly. Alright?" With that, Krauss banked the aircraft and headed back to the ship.

[Chromane]

As Armas entered the medbay, Luna flashed him a smile, although she was already studying his injury. She nodded to Raoul, already fishing about the supplies she had picked up, for what she judged she needed. "I'm sorry, I should have checked you over for injury before coming here. You've been walking around a bit, so I assume you didn't nick an artery, so you're not going to bleed out, but let's have a good look at it" She said, cheerfully. She waved at Raoul to let him know that she had received his orders and would do what he asked.

The medbay, despite her attempt at cleaning it up, was still a very big mess, and she was sure it would time some time, but once she had patched up Armas, having his help would make it go quicker. Certainly she wasn't getting any help from Sigrun, not did she expect it. Sigrun had already proven to Luna that she was something not worth the time, but that was Sigrun's loss. Luna would just do what she did best. Help people.

"Come on, the place is a mess, but you can still sit on one of the beds. I promise, I'm actually a very good medic for all my craziness" She smiled again, kind and caring. Her manner was soft, caring, and it was clear she was dedicated to her job. She placed bandages, a suture kit, and some other bits and bobs that would help her clean Armas's wound, although if he had got it in the wave, the salt water would have done a good job of that.

Moving carefully through the mess, Luna washed her hands and slipped on some gloves, careful of the two patients they had, knowing she would be unable to move them in anycase. "Is it really bad out on the deck?" She asked, as she returned to the bed.

"Aside from the whopping great big hole, top deck's not too bad" Armas said, grinning ruefully. He picked his way carefully over to one of the free beds and set himself down on the edge. Now he was aware of his injury, it was starting to hurt, but it still wasn't that bad - he'd certainly copped worse in his time as on and around boats. "We knew we'd take some licks getting out from the storms - cleanup's already started." He poked at his thigh gingerly, probing the wound, "That's what I was doing until the Cap'n noticed me leg and set me down 'ere". He looked at Bronson, who appeared to be napping peacefully in one of the cots, despite the chaos around him. He was glad the other sailor appeared to be doing alright. The blonde soldier was slumped in one of the chairs - once his leg was patched up they could see about shifting him to a proper cot. "We'll get the ship patched up good as new in no time" he said, smiling a little more easily now the weight was off his leg, "Then we can actually get down to explorin'". He smiled at Luna as she finished prepping her medical supplies, "How're you holding up? he asked, "Trip out did get pretty rough"

"Well, I knew we wouldn't escape unharmed, I just thought we'd have more than a few hours" Luna said, as she began to examine the wound, with care. "and it's always better to get an injury checked out, in case it's more serious then it looks" She carefully started to clean the injury, examining it for any sign of something that shouldn't be there, dirt, maybe metal or whatever liked in the ocean.

"I'm good" She said, glancing up and giving him a smile, "Tougher then I look. Which isn't saying much, as I know I look like one good wind will snap me in two, but I'm golden" The numerous cuts and scraps she had weren't serious, not were they bleeding, but she was sure she must look a fright. She could feel her hair itself stiffening as it dried in every which way because of the salt, but that didn't really bother her aside from it being uncomfortable.

She returned to her ministrations, soon deciding to stitch it shut, if only to prevent the wound from taking too long to heal, or becoming worse. She numbed the area, careful not to get anything in the injury. "You'll have to be careful not to pop these, but you should be okay, and I'll take them out in a few days" She said, before finally she plucked a jar of substance from her satchel, and smoothed it over the gash gentle "This should help a bit with any pain, but it helps promote healing and avoid injection" She explained,

She slid the gloves off, and gathered up any rubbish, removing it before she began to bandage his leg, wrapping it around tightly, but not too tightly-she didn't want to cut off his circulation, after all. "Let me know if there's any bad bad bad pain, or if it becomes difficult to walk" She said, stepping back.

Armas watched patiently as Luna finished tending to his leg, tying off the bandage with quick, deft movements. "I'll be sure to let you know" he said. He'd never been that good when it came to taking it easy, and with all the work to be done it was going to be even harder to avoid popping any stitches. He levered himself off the edge of the bed, gingerly placing some of his weight on the injured leg. Whatever she had used to numb the area was still working, so he wasn't feeling much of anything from the area. "Thanks Luna" he said smiling, "I'll try not to ruin your good work". He frowned briefly as he looked at his leg, "Guess I gotta keep it dry as well?", he gave a bit of a chuckle, "That'll be fun - I'm the ship's ruddy diver!"

"Eh. Not really worried about that really. You're strong and healthy. Getting the stitches wet won't do any harm truly" Luna replied, "You should be okay, stitches are stronger than they seem. But if be sure to come to me if you do pop one or two, or I'll just have to hunt you down" she smiled sweetly, before sighing and looking about her.

"I really only need help getting them into beds, if you're up for that" she said, although there was a lot more work to do, she didn't want to burden Armas too much. "it's a wonder they didn't think to tie things down or whatever" she would be sure to make sure that happened, so they wouldn't have this amount of mess again.

Armas nodded in relief and returned Luna's smile. Truth be told he probably would have gone diving anyway if the need had come up, but at least this way he wasn't going to get in trouble for it, "Aye aye ma'am, I'll make sure to come back if I pop 'em." He followed Luna's gaze around the Medbay, taking stock of all the mess. "I'll show you where all the tie-down straps and whatnot are kept" he said, "But I don't mind helping you clean this up - 's all work to be done, and besides, Officer Raoul did tell me to give you a hand". He honestly didn't mind helping - if he returned to the top deck he'd just get yelled at by the Captain. Walking over to the unconscious blonde soldier, Armas rubbed his hands together. "Start with this fellow then?" he asked, carefully lifting the rifle away from the man and making sure it was safe before placing it on one of the counters. "If you get one shoulder, I'll get the other, and we'll walk him over to the bed?"

Luna chuckled to herself. Was she really that scary that this big man would be afraid to come to her if he did something wrong to his leg? "don't worry, I'm a pussycat really" she said with a laugh,before giving him a grateful smile. "thank you. I feared I'd be here all night by myself. Raoul seems okay, but Sigrun I think thinks I'm a slave" she said, following him over to the unconscious soldier, he stopped him.

Carefully, since Sigrun hadn't answered her, she held her breath, and washed away any trace of the powder so she wouldn't end up like him, before cleaning up his nose. "okay, we should be okay. I'm not entirely too sure what she used on him but he seems okay" she rose, and gave a soft laugh, "well, I can try. Let's get him up"

Somewhat awkwardly Armas worked his arm underneath the unconscious man's shoulder. When Luna was in position opposite him he nodded "On three then - one, two, three!". Taking care to put most of the weight on his good leg he stood up, heaving the man into an upright position. "Solid fellow this one!" he grumbled, starting to walk with careful steps. It was an awkward job, but between the two of them they managed to get the unconscious soldier over to the empty bed. Draping him over the side of the bed, they swiveled him so he was entirely on the thin mattress. "He'll be alright there till he wakes up" Armas said, pushing the man up onto his side. Turning to Luna he motioned to the Medbay with a slight wave of his hand, "What do we do next?" he asked.

Luna was panting by the time they got the soldier on the bed, and she wiped her hair back, standing up straight and stretching her back She drew her breath in and let it out in a whoosh. "Jeez. Maybe I should do some training or something...". She glanced about at the mess of the medbay, and bit her lip. There really was no good place to start.

"Well, let's move the big stuff out the way, and pick up the little stuff as we go long" She said, walking over to a pile of linen bags, she threw one to Armas, "Anything that can fit in there, put it in, and I guess I'll sort it through later" She said, thinking it was going to be a long night for herself. But it had to be done, so she wouldn't complain.

"Sounds like a plan" Armas said, catching the linen bag and giving it a flick to open it out "It's not actually that bad really, we'll get it sorted soon enough." He started walking around the room, righting some of the bits of furniture that had been tossed about by the storm.

"So, diver? Is that awesome?"

"Diving is absolutely awesome" he said, grinning "I mean, it's work too, but it's always fun". He leant down to pick up some little packages off the floor, putting them in his bag. "I'll probably be doing a dive in the next few days, to check if we had any damage from the storm" he said, "We'll probably be fine though - Garrloch's a tough ship". "This your first time on a ship?" he asked, "You're handlin' it pretty well"

Luna nodded, shoving bandages, swabs, gauze and anything else she came across into the bag, moving anything larger that she stumbled across out the way, towards the walls. She bit her lip thoughtfully, "could I go down with you? It sounds pretty cool, and why miss out on pretty cool adventures?" she glanced over, wanting to see his reaction, and hoping that he would agree to it. She assumed she'd have to get permission from the captain, but she was willing to try that.

She smiled at the compliment, and shrugged, "I use to live on the streets. This is...well it's still crazy but at least I know there's a meal, however rationed it might be, around the corner. And the hospital can get pretty crazy. Besides, why freak out? Then I miss out on so much fun!"

She chuckled to herself, leaning down to scoop up more supplies, "to be honest, this is...is the first time I've felt free in a long time. So I'm going to enjoy it"

Armas cocked his head to one side while he thought for a second, throwing some more small items into his bag. "Unfortunately we've only got the one suit, and it's my size - but we might be able to sort something out" He said with a grin, "Have to see if we get time for a bit of training though - diving can get a bit dicy". Armas was pretty sure they had some snorkelling kits on board, and he could rig them up with the air hose. Armas picked up a large jar and placed it back in one of the cupboards. Slowly but surely the deck was getting slightly clearer - it was still a right mess though - they were definitely going to have to bring in a mop and bucket at some point. He listened and kept working as Luna kept talking. He'd never lived on the streets, but there'd certainly been rough patches, and he could emphasize with her. "Freedom's why I signed on to be a sailor in the first place" he said, "Some dinky old Canthian freighter - and now I'm here!". He grinned as he added some more lost-cause items to the growing pile against one wall. "Who knows what we're gonna find out here - even on that island we're approaching"

Luna nodded. She hadn't thought on the equipment, but now it seemed stupid to think there would be any. Still, she merely wanted to try it out, she didn't need the whole kit and caboodle. As shee worked her way from one side of the room to the other, her bag grew full and she glanced about pleased at what had been accomplished

"yeah. It would be nice to be apart of something big, to have the ability to know that:.:we did something truly amazing. It's the chance of a lifetime, and I'm hoping it will let me have enough money to complete my doctoral studies. I love being a nurse, but...I already know more then some of the doctors back home. I think I could be a good doctor"

She stood, and threw her bag onto one of the beds "it's certainly looking better, that's for sure. Thank you, for the help. How's your leg? No numbness?"

Armas chucked his bag of reclaimed supplies on the bed next to Luna's and stood straight, stretching his arms. They'd managed to get a lot of the smaller stuff off the floor. He looked down at his leg, running his fingers over the bandage. "Feels fine - ya did a bang-up job on it" he said, flashing her an appreciative smile. "Lets keep going - there's a storage locker down the hall I can get supplies from" Armas said. They still had a few hours until they were due to make land, so they would want to keep working to get the medbay up to scratch before then. "We give this place a sweep and a mop and it'll be back to normal in no time"

Luna smiled, pleased with the compliment to her skills. She was sure her cheeks flushed, but she didn't particularly care about that. Looking over the room again, and she knew that if she hadn't had Armas's help, she would have been there long into when they reached land. She owed him, pretty much, for the whole day. Helping her with the hose, keeping her grounded, chasing after her when she sought to save Ed. And now this.

She nodded, letting Armas go to get some supplies, she filled up the mop bucket, giving a sweep of the floor to begin, sweeping up the last of the remaining small stock, gathering that up in her arms, she placed it on the bed with the bags, before she began to mop, glancing over as Armas returned. together, the finished cleaning up the medbay, sorting it to rights. Luna sat on the bed when they were finished, starting to sort what she could salvage from the bags, she bounced ideas off Armas for how they could prevent this from happening again, seeming to be quite comfortable in the sailor’s presence.

Using straps, and whatever containers she could find-which she always labeled so they'd know what was in them-she finally turned to Armas, and smiled once more. "I really don't know how I can thank you for everything today" By now she knew that they had to be close to the land they had found. "But I'll figure out some way". She gave him a hug, then stepped back.

"So. Do you want to help me find my suitcase, we must be close to the land now and these clothes are all salty" She gave a chuckle, starting out the medbay as she did so.

[ML]

T I M E - S K I P : 12 Hours After Departure

A S H O R E

Ed sighed, leaning back from the fire to put his back against the log once more. With one hand he swigged back a drink from the bottle in his hand, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head with the other. They had not been lying about the long trip.

For five hours they sailed, the excitement of the initial discovery first crushed by Krauss's insistence on protocol, then by the trip to the beach which took the rest of the day. Even once they reached land, Captain Conway had insisted on sailing as far up and down the shore as he could, looking for what he called the "perfect place to settle in". To Ed, anywhere would have done: they had been so close.

Once they actually had to disembark, however, Ed had seen the issue. The Garrloch only had a pair of smaller boats to get them to shore, and it had taken a long while for the majority of the crew to get to land. A smaller force, including the ship's XO, were still on board, keeping things from getting too lax while they were ashore.

After a few of the soldiers who had come along swept their chosen campsite for anything even remotely resembling danger, they had finally been allowed to row to shore. The sun had already set by the time they had started the trio of fires, and thrown up the scattering of tarps to protect them from the elements.

Sunset

But they had made it, in the end. Now they were getting making quite merry with their survival and apparent success. Naturally the sailors had brought inordinate amounts of alcohol along: they could probably drink a barrel of rum a day for the rest of the month, and still have enough for a month more. Ed chuckled at the thought and threw a cracker into his mouth. What lovely rations they had been given.

He had been so eager to explore the island when they had first found it, he'd nearly throttled Krauss when the man had forced him back to the ship. Constance had been similarly irate, but there was nothing either of them could have done. Now, however, Ed was perfectly content to wait: the hours aboard the ship had dulled his sense of adventure considerably, and the darkness beyond the fire snuffed it out further still.

"I still blame you for making me wait," Ed said over his shoulder, to where Krauss and the others were located. "Thanks to you my motivation is gone." He took another sip of the brew in his bottle, wincing at the almost acrid taste. "I swear, if I wasn't so genuine and good-hearted, I'd--"

A loud snap in the woods shattered his train of thought. Ed's head whipped around painfully fast, almost drawing a gasp from his lungs. He glanced at the others around him as if to ask, "did any of you hear that?"

[Atrophy]

The Camspite

It had been like a punch to the gut when Krauss had decided to follow protocol and returned the plane to the hangar instead of flying the bird out to the island. If Constance had properly been miked then perhaps her few choice words would’ve been able to convince the pilot to screw regulations in favor of the spirit of adventure, but instead she had been just shouting into the howl of the wind and the roar of the engine until her voice was hoarse. What followed after they had returned was hours of Constance being moody followed by a hectic period of time where she tried to put herself together once the call was made that they were finally going to disembark for the new land. A fresh outfit pulled from the mess that was her cabin, a clean application of makeup, a nice hat decorated with a blue ribbon, and a highball in hand made her appear as if she had been completely unfazed by the otherwise full and rather dangerous day while she waited impatiently for her turn to take one of the uncomfortably tiny boats to shore. She was so eager that, come her turn, she even helped in rowing, despite the laborious work being unfit for someone of her standings.

Still, there was a small sense of disappointment as she landed upon the island. For starters, she wasn’t the first, meaning that it would be crude to try to even suggest naming the island Connie’s Landing. She blamed Krauss and his rules for that. However, what really was a letdown was how familiar the island looked—tan sand, green leaves, and gray stones. She had been visualizing something a little more foreign and exotic than what she saw outside of her vacation house in Lake Marum, like man-eating plants or painted savages like something found in a cheap dimestore novel. At the very least the sailors were thoughtful enough to bring along booze. It was bottom-shelf garbage, to be sure, but it was better than drinking her own supply dry while they waited for nightfall and the subsequent morning so that they could, hopefully, do some damn exploring.

However, in the time that she had been waiting for the men to set up their camp, Constance had managed to imbibe in a bit more than her fair share of the rum. If she was drinking in a standard social situation her beverage was often touched with only a splash of alcohol, not even enough to make a child buzzed, as if she believed that having a drink in hand made her appear sophisticated like the people always shown in the adverts. Back in her heavier business days she hadn’t drank at all, preferring to pretend that her glass of soda water was a vodka tonic.

The close call with death and the disappointment of the realities tied to their expedition had tripped something inside of her, however, and she had been more liberal than she had originally intended to be when she had taken the first mug offered to her. At this point she could feel in her body that she was at the threshold of sloppiness and should probably stop, but somebody had just handed her another and it would be rude to turn it down. Fortunately for her hangover tomorrow, Constance also had the habit of being a slow drinker, largely because it prevented her from talking. And, after a few drinks, she was ready to talk, and she was talking loud. As with anytime someone drinks, the conversation turned to a story about a time that she had been drinking.

She believed it to be an enthralling story set during a cool fall night during one of her many parties. The tale required a bit of a backstory to set up the scenario, and had a rather risque nature to it all that was unsuitable to share around respectable individuals but perfect for a group of drunken sailors. Of course, she changed the names of the people involved because, as she described them, they were very powerful, public figures and if it ever got out that it was them then terrible, horrible things would happen to their careers, and she didn’t want to be responsible for ruining that, although then she would go into great detail to describe them so aptly that only a person who had lived under a rock for the past year would not know who it was, exactly, that she had been talking about. The only fault to the story, she admitted, was that it did take quite a good amount of time to tell, but the punchline was so incredible that it made the investment worth it.

Assuming, of course, she didn’t giggle the whole way through, which, after a handful of drinks, was a pretty tall order.

“—and so, finally, after all of that nonsense, I finally—” She tittered, waving her hand. “—break the lock on my bedroom door and—” She clasped her hand over her mouth, another chuckle escaping. “—and who do I see, dressed as a—” Her hand was clutching her stomach as she gracefully snorted. “—who do I see dressed a woman but—” Constance looked as if she was almost in pain from trying not to laugh. “—but that certain businessman himself. And I say to him, what I says is—” Tears were streaming down her face, at this point. “—is ‘Oi, why you dressed up like a fancy lady?’, and you can see on his face that he’s caught, but then, amazingly, very calmly, he looks at me, and he, shit, and he, he says—”

“—Did any of you hear that?”

“Eddy, please, I don’t interrupt you when you speak. I thought reporters were supposed to be good listeners, at least the good ones are, aren’t they?,” said Constance, loudly, smacking her hands on her knees. “Now the pushy one’s, they’ll just go on forever trying to cut you off to make you look like an ass. Seriously, so rude.” A look of concentration followed quickly by one of lost crossed her face, and she frowned and threw her head forward with a sigh. “Great, now I forgot what I was saying.”

There was another loud snap. Constance apparently heard the second one, because instantly she was on her feet, her hand grasping at her chest as she looked wild-eyed into the woods. “Holy-shit-did-anyone-hear-that-there’s-something-there-what-the-hell-is-out-there?” she spat out as if it were a single word, jumping with a mix of freight and excitement, before quickly shushing the others as she tried to listen for another snap. After a second where none came, she took a cautious step towards the woods, emboldened by the booze, and whispered, “I’m going to check it out.”

After one more step she turned back to the group and put her hand on her hips, clearly offended “Don’t everybody trip over each other lining up to come with me," she said with a whine in her voice, turning her back to the woods. "Come on, it’s probably nothing.”

[MarshiestMallow]

Luna had spent the last little amount of time gathering up a first aid kit, filling it with what supplies she thought might be useful on the island, finding a bag to put it in, and then shoving her own clothes ontop of it, considering herself ready for the trip onto the island. The thought of being on land after only being on the ship one day was a little disheartening to Luna, but ont he other hand land after the storms they'd went through, Land was an attractive option.

As she watched party members being transfered to the land, she waited for her turn, deciding to go on the last ride over, studying the island from where she was, glancing about them constantly. It really was amazing, being out here. The expanse of water...the little bit of land floating in it, the ship itself...Luna let out a happy sigh. She was more then glad she had come here. Shouldering the bag, climbed into the boat, and couldn't help but laugh as they began towards the island.

It had been a long, exciting day, and Luna was, perhaps, a little loopy with it all. Or maybe she was simply...finding herself. That thought perplexed her, and kept her focused, as she sought to figure it out. She knew that this adventure would change her, how could it not, but she hadn't expected it to happen quite so soon. It was just so...freeing to be out here. She hadn't realised that she had felt trapped. father, I remember feeling like this before, on the streets. You do so well by me, I wanted to be the perfect daughter she thought to herself. Well. For better or worse, she was changing. Couldn't do anything about htat. Didn't want to do anything about it.

As they sat around the fire, Luna leaned back, basking in the glow and warmth, letting her thoughts flow, and listening to the others. Constance's rambling, self-absorbition got on her nerves, but Luna decided to merely ignore it, but as she began to berate Ed, she opened her eyes, and glared at the annoying woman, only for a moment, to look around them, having heard the sound herself. Finally, as Constance seemed intent on keeping attention on her, Luna snapped out a quite, "Maybe if you shut the hell up we can hear what it is" She said, already rising, thinking don't have a heart attack, jeez, you'd think after everything today, she wouldn't be so prissy.

Luna found, for a split second, a moment of pride though in Constance as she stepped forward, but it rapidly died at the further actions of the girl. Shaking her head, Luna stepped forward, shrugging her pack of medical supplies over one shoulder, running a hand through her hair, and starting towards the sound without another word, her stride purposeful and determined. She didn't ask if anyone was coming, she just assumed they would. After all, two women going off, leaving the guys behind? That had to surely sting a few of them into movement.

[Skepic]

Krauss sighed as he rested by the campfire. He'd spent all day transporting supplies off the ship with the VTOL, often having to help unload the cargo himself. Even before that, he had to endure the expected impatience and anger of his passengers when he broke the news to them. Even now, Krauss couldn't help but smirk at the memory of a hoarse voiced Constance angrily berating him of his decision not to land. Or the shattered disappointment of Ed's face. Yet Krauss remained confident in his decision. No need to put him, his passengers, and the aircraft at any further risk. All this did make him tired though.

Krauss did not share the excitement of the others to an extent. Sure, it was always fascinating to make new discoveries, but something never really felt right about the island ever since he laid eyes on it. Probably the one theory that stuck in his head, that kept him awake at night, was that the Ring of Thunder wasn't there to keep them in. Rather, it was there to keep some yet seen entity out. Krauss shook his head, pushing aside such paranoid thoughts. More likely, it was just some remote island with little on it.

Zoning out to the ramblings of the obviously now tipsy Constance was all he could do to distract from his concerns. Her larger than life stories and ramblings. Ed still seemed irked by what happened in the plan, and had apparently decided to make a point of it. "I still blame you for making me wait," Ed said over his shoulder, to where Krauss and the others were located. "Thanks to you my motivation is gone." Krauss simply waved dismissively.

"Ya ya, I heard you the last million times on the ride back, I get it." Krauss responded halfheartedly. He returned to listening to the drunk Constance attempting to finish her story. Before she could get to the apparent good part, a noise was heard from the brush.

Krauss stood, staring in the direction it came from. "Ya, I heard it." but before he could say or do anything else, the two girls were already on their way to the source. "Ugh... Those fools.... Well we'd better not be left behind, right fellas?" Krauss said, following after the pair.

[Chromane]

Contance's chatter faded into the background as Armas stared in the campfire. A tree made a convenient backrest as he stretched out, taking the load off his injured leg. It had been a long afternoon after they'd gotten the medbay squared away, and he was enjoying the oppurtunity to relax. He raised his tin mug to his lips and took a tip, grimacing slightly at the burn of the rough ship's rum. The UINC rum was the smoothest drink he'd ever had, but it was strong, and the Garrloch had plenty of it. The spirit was quite useful - helped purify drinking water, improved morale - could even be used as a disinfectant and engine degreaser in a pinch.

They'd made good time steaming towards the island after the plane had gotten back from it's little recon flight. Hollway and the journalist had been moping that they hadn't been allowed to land and check out the island first, and Armas smiled slightly at the memory. He'd ended up part of the work party that had brought the camping gear up from the forward cargo bay, forming a human chain to pile it up on the deck so it could be rowed or flown over the the island. When Conway had finally found a place to anchor for the night they'd starting ferryingover the supplies.

When he got the chance he throw a couple of his things into an old duffle bag and hitched a ride over, helping set up the tents and get the fires started. No way was he going to miss the oppurtunity to spend his first night beyond the storms camping on an actual undiscovered island. He'd already taken a quick walk up and down the beach, picking up a small handful of shells and rocks and chucking them in the side pocket of his duffel - his cousins and siblings back home would go spare for an authentic beyond-the-storms rock, even if it did look like every other pebble he'd ever seen.

“—Did any of you hear that?” Edward said suddenly.

Armas perked his head up at the journalist's words, ignoring Constances caustic response. The second snap was louder, closer, and Constace was on her feet in an instant, “Holy-shit-did-anyone-hear-that-there’s-something-there-what-the-hell-is-out-there?”.

Armas peered into the darkness around the campsite, but couldn't see anything beyond the ring of light cast by the flames. Luna was on her feet as well, and the two women started walking in the direction of the noise. The pilot, who Armas had learnt was called Krauss, sighed and started to follow them "Ugh... Those fools.... Well we'd better not be left behind, right fellas?" .

"Bad show losing the nurse on our first night out" Armas agreed, levering himself up off the ground. He finished his drink with a swig and dropped the mug back to the ground. He picked up one of the lanterns that had been strung up around their little makeshift campsite and followed the small party into the darkness.

The noise was probably just the local equivelant of a possum - the soldiers had already done their sweep of the land around the beach and hadn't found anything suspicious or dangerous looking. But there was always the chance that there was a nocturnal beastie with a taste for slightly tipsy sailors.

With his longer legs he soon caught up the the two women, the lantern casting a dim glow around them as they left the firelight behind. He took a moment to get his bearings - he also wanted to be sure they could find the bloody campsite again.

"So what's the bet?" he asked quietly, "Nothing, possum, wild dog, cannibal?"

[ML]

I N T H E D A R K

No, no, no. Edward could not believe what they were doing. It was night time, they were far, far beyond the safety of the United Isles, and even a soldier's sweep of the little area they had commandeered wasn't enough to make Ed's heard stop racing.

And now Constance, drunk, foolish and loud as the Ring of Thunder, was actually traipsing off into the shadows to see what the noise was. That was probably the most foolish thing they could do, right? Walk directly into the danger zone? They were just crazy.

"Constance!" Captain Conway's voice cut across the campsite sharply. "We don't know wha's out there, lass. Ya don't want ta--oh skies above--stop encouraging her, Krauss!" But it was too late.

With a sigh of dread, Edward got to his feet and followed. "Constance!" he cried. Conway certainly wasn't going to move: the man seemed entirely content to sit and watch. There was no real reason to be afraid, after all, right? The soldiers had found nothing worth worrying over. "Luna, come on!" Surely Luna wouldn't be joining in on this madness? And yet, that was exactly what was happening. A bunch of stupid fools, headed off on a suicide mission. Who could really tell what would be out there?

For a long while, they blundered through the brush. Edward caught up to the drunken business magnate and her band of compatriots shortly, berating them the whole while. "I swear to God, if we end up dying because you couldn't leave well enough alone, I will kill you in the afterlife." He poked the inebriated Constance in the shoulder with irritation. "And Krauss, what the hell is wrong with you? Won't take us here during the day, but you'll waltz to your doom at night? Please, give me a statement for the paper: how exactly did you live so long taking such stupid--"

Then he tripped over a root. With a stifled curse, Ed fell forward out of the brush, landing with a heavy thud on loamy soil. He grunted pain and exhaled heavily, swearing several very, very unpleasant words into the night air.

Not wanting to appear weak or graceless, he forced himself to roll quickly to one side, pushing up on an elbow to survey what lay beyond them. His mouth dropped.

"No." Edward mumbled. "Ohhhh, no. We are not going in there." He would have said more, except for the sudden noise which came from just a little ways in front of them. He jumped involuntarily, then realized the noise had come from a man. Not just any man, however. Edward groaned, already regretting his decision to come along.

The man was wearing a tophat. "God help me." Edward muttered. "And...just...who are you?"

[Draken]

"... The little explorer asked! The Dashing Deceiver grins at the people, his performance, alas ruined. He decided to reintroduce himself, as the illustrious Maxwell Downing, magician and entertainment for this trip. After all, he mused aloud, being stressed is rarely for the best. As such, a trick was planned, to make pretty poppers pop all about. The people would scream, and the people would shout, and laugh after it had all gone about! Maxwell can be quiet, though, as nothing makes practice like perfect. As such, Maxwell must regretfully inform you that he did not make that noise. In- fact he is currently being dragged away into the deep darkness by some big teeth attached to the back of his suit and would appreciate any and all live-saving that could be done right now!"

[MarshiestMallow]

Luna looked back at Edward, and sent him a wink, "sometimes Ed, you gotta do the crazy thing. Besides, I can't let her get hurt can I? Thibk how she'd be!" she smiled, no malice in her tone however, too serious for the moment, letting herself gravitate towards Armas and Edward, feeling comfortable in their presence, she decided that if she had to trust anyone, let it be Armas-he'd proven he already had her back, and Edward-she just liked him. She hadn't been merely joking about Constance-she was already annoying she didn't think she could stand the woman hurt, having to look after her.

She also figured that if she was going to die, she wouldn't do it sitting around a fire. If that noise was going to kill them, then she'd try and kill it. Go down fighting, right? "oh, Ed sometimes you have to have a little risk. Really, after the ring this seems quite tame, don't you think?" or maybe she was just crazy. She wouldn't be surprised after everything. As they walked, Luna glanced about them, strangely unafraid for the moment.

As Edward tripped, Luna started to his side, carefully choosing where she placed her feet, seemingly taking his swears in stride-people in pain often came up with the most creative ways of combine swears. She knelt by Edward, glancing over him from head to toe, checking for any obvious signs of injury, she glanced about at Edwards words, "oh well because that isn't spooky" she said, trying to defuse the tension, Luna turned back to Edward, ready to check him over, she tensed at the sudden noise, and she shifted at once, crouching over Edward, her hand curled over a stone as if she could fight with that-she only knew how to defend herself-more intent on guarding Edward then doing any damage to whatever caused the noise.

At the weird speech, Luna frowned. And rubbed her temples, she sighed. This could all be a trick in itself, but if it was someone that was on the ship, then they couldn't just let them be harmed. She blinked, looking back at the others, her hand still curled around the stone, she rose smoothly, and started towards the voice, where the man was being dragged around. She hoped the others would follow her. She didn't want to face whatever it was alone.

Maybe she was taking this whole save life thing too seriously. Yet she found that she couldn't go against her nature. She drew in a few deep breaths, and continued forward. She was scared. But she couldn't let someone be killed, not if she could help it. Gods help her, she was a fool. please, let them come with me

[Skepic]

Krauss lagged purposefully behind, shaking his head. It would be any wonder in his mind, if they all made it out of this alive. The sound of Edward tumbling over himself through a brush line caused Krauss to refocus on the situation at hand. Before them was the mouth of a cave and in front of that..... what?

He blinked.

What. The. Fuck.

A man, a man that Krauss swears was never on the boat, dressed in, let's say, a rather flashy outfit, posed with a smile before the group. He claimed to be a magician, and looked as if he was about to give a performance, when he was suddnely grabbed and dragged into the back of the cave.

With that, Krauss through up his hands, and began to walk back the beach. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I think the sailors put something in our drinks and cause I'm seeing things. Either way, I'm not sticking around to figure out whether this is all real or not, so in the event that I'm wrong and this is my reality, it'd be best for me to warm up the engines." With that, Krauss, for a lack of a better phrase, got the fuck out of there. Making his way back to the beach, Krauss ran up to the captain.

"Well sir, we may have a situation on our hands, and its just as crazy as you think this will sound. So, I'm just gonna summarize, Edward, that reporter, stumbled literally upon a cave where a man dressed as a magician proclaimed his show before being suddenly dragged into said cave by an unseen force. With that, I'm gonna go get the plane running in case we need to get off this beach fast."

[Atrophy]

Constance had started a trend, it seemed, as the others formed a line behind her as if they were about to dance a samba. It only made sense to her that they would follow her lead; it was the natural way of things. She could hear the others shouting her name (the sweetest sound known to man), and surely the words were of awe and admiration (though she didn’t really catch them). Finally, the universe had righted itself after this hectic day, it seemed. They would stumble through the woods, come across that it was just some wild pig or something, and have a laugh about their worries while roasting their conquest. Then they would drink some more. Damn. Should’ve brought a glass with me, she thought. Who knew how long they would be playing adventurers in the woods, after all? Too long for some, or at least for Ed, who was threatening to murder her ghost.

“Now Eddy, there’s no reason to be such a sour puss. What could possibly go wr—” She lifted her hand up to her mouth as Ed and the Earth became fast friends. As she heard him cursing, however, her hands dropped to her waist and her look of surprise and concern transformed into a frown. She followed him through the brush practically side-by-side with Luna, the nurse racing to make sure that he was all right while she began to deal out the venom. “Now look, you don’t have to go throwing yourself around to make your point. Nobody’s forcing you to come along, and nobody will call you a coward if you decide to go cower by the campfire clutching to ol’ Captain Conway for comfort.” Clearly, she had forgotten about earlier. She raised her finger up to deliver her final coup de grace, rather oblivious to the sight that Ed was taking in. “And—”

Someone rudely interrupted her. She felt her jaw drop, her head snapping to and fro as she tried to zero in on the kind of jerk that would just begin talking and forget to shut up to take a breath of air. She found people like that to be absolutely, positively, and undoubtedly dreadful. Finally, she caught sight of the man in the top hat and her vision practically went red. What kind of schlub wore a top hat these days? It reminded of her of the various hustlers and scoundrels she used to deal with back in the Bottoms, and how they tried to appear rich and powerful by wearing last decade’s fashion. What posers. The very idea of someone like them having snuck his way (because certainly he wasn’t invited) onto the boat filled her with disgust.

And did he just say that he was a magician for their entertainment? She folded her arms over her chest, unimpressed. Magicians were just pickpockets and thieves who “legitimized” their business by targeting the dull minded everyman on the street or the easily fooled children at some crummy birthday party. Their tricks had been her tricks back in the day, only she had proven to be able to utilize them in ways that afforded her more than a basement apartment with nothing but a cot and a table. Constance readied herself to give the man a piece of her mind: she sucked in air, puffed up her chest, and clenched her fist. As she was about to open up on him, however, she saw a shadow emerge from behind the magician Maxwell and drag him away as he narrated the assault. For a second, she was utterly confused; then, she burst into applause.

“That was absolutely fantastic! What a grand trick. For a moment, I thought he was truly in peril,” she said with a squeal of delight, looking around at the others for approval. Maybe it was the dark or maybe it was the drink, but from the look on their faces it appeared as if they did not find his trick as amusing as she had. She stopped clapping, a flustered look briefly flashing upon her face. Krauss had simply just walked away; Luna, it seemed, was moving forward to investigate how the illusion had work. She stumbled after Luna; her curiosity had been piqued, too, and she refused to deal with any of that ‘a magician never realizes his trick’ nonsense.

“Wait for me, sweetpea!” she barked as she caught up to Luna outside of the mouth of the dark cave, her hands patting at her jacket in search of a lighter. She pulled out one, small and silver with her initials engraved into one side and a flowery design carved into the other, and gave it a flick. Thankfully, it had not been waterlogged, and produced a small flame that barely cast an aura of light beyond her outstretched hand. She could see a faint shimmer of the moist cavern walls that were just beside her, but deeper into the cave was only darkness. Notably absent was any sort of devices or ropes that the man could have used to pull himself away for his trick. Constance found herself pressed up against Luna, her hand gripping her shoulder, as they slowly pressed forward.

“Come on out, darling, we all know that was just for show,” she said into the darkness. She was answered only by the sound of her breathing. A shiver went down her spine; she gripped onto Luna tighter still. “Seriously, it was fun at first but this bit has gone on a little too long. You can go ahead a drop the charade.” Nothing still. She muttered a curse underneath her breath, wishing suddenly that she had decided to follow Krauss back to the safety of the fire.

[Chromane]

The small party walked deeper into the woods. Armas winced a bit at Conway's angry shout, but kept going. Hopefully he could swing it as just keeping an eye on the others. Edward kept up his little diatribe as they kept moving, seeming dinstinctly unhappy to be there. Armas tuned it out, trying to keep an eye on the dark forest around them.

Suddenly Edward was cut off with a sudden curse and a crash of undergrowth as he tripped over a hidden root. Armas grinned a little at the blue streak coming from the reporter as he started to pull himself up. He moved forward with Luna, lighting the way and helping her pull Edward to his feet, brushing the leaves and dirt off his clothes. He looked up at Luna's soft joke, noticing the dark cave for the first time.

"Soldier's didn't mention anythin' bout a cave - did they come out this way?" He asked, holding the lantern ahead. A man in a black suit and top hat - of all the things to be wearing on the expedition! - stepped out of the darkness. Armas felt his eyes start to cross a little at the stream of consciousness monologue that followed, but managed to pick up on the salient points. He wasn't even aware they had a ship's magician, but here he was getting dragged into some dark cave by something nasty.

Luna looked at him, a hefty stone gripped in one hand, and started grimly towards the cave. Krauss simply turned and walked off, mumbling something about spiked drinks. Armas couldn't really blame him, and it was probably best they got word back to camp as soon as possible. Constance was clapping and carrying on, “Wait for me, sweetpea!” she said, following after Luna.

Armas had no idea if it was actually some kind of trick or not, but he wasn't about to leave those two by themselves in the middle of the dark woods. Particularly when he was the one with the lantern. They walked towards the cave, keeping eyes and ears peeled for any sign of the beast or strange magician. As they reached the mouth of the cave he leant down and picked up a solid looking stick, gripping it in one hand. He'd never been much for fighting - his experience stopped at the occasional bar brawl, but he had a good reach and solid swing.

“Come on out, darling, we all know that was just for show,” Constance said, pressing up against Luna “Seriously, it was fun at first but this bit has gone on a little too long. You can go ahead a drop the charade.” Armas waved at her to be quiet as he moved forward to be level with Luna, holding the lantern ahead. The walls of the cave were damp, and glistened in the lantern-light, but the back of the cave still vanished into the inky black.

[ML]

G I V I N G C H A S E

Had anyone even thought to bring a weapon? As far as Ed could tell, they were entirely unarmed, chasing a crazy man into a cave that nobody had scouted before. How had the soldiers missed this? They had walked right into it in less than a minute from the campsite. "I still think this is stupid as the Divers," he muttered, even as the light faded from view.

The lantern-light was all they had to go off of now, and Edward felt his heart climbing further and further into his throat the deeper they trekked. The walls twisted and turned until Edward was sure that they would never be able to find their way out. Luckily for them, there had only been one long tunnel in, and one long tunnel out.

That changed in an instant, when they suddenly exited into a larger chamber. There was a dappling of light, he noted. Looking up, Edward could see glowing stalactites on the ceiling, shining down in a small cluster to the middle of the chamber. "Magnificent..." he breathed. "But how--"

A guttural growl echoed off of the walls of the chamber, and a set of five glistening claws clacked down on the stone. Then an enormous paw slid into the lamplight, followed by a fur-clad forearm. Ed felt the breath freeze in his chest as the beast formed in front of him.

The Beast

Claws like daggers. Teeth like swords. Eyes like death. It was a cat of some kind, with a thick furry mane and waves of rippling muscle. It snarled, seemingly locking eyes with him, and him alone. Edward couldn't force himself to look away.

As the beast stepped out of the shadows, Edward saw the top-hatted man dragged out as well. It looked like he was wrapped in...a monkey-like tail? And then from beside him, another tail flicked up from the darkness, writhing back and forth behind the massive animal's bulky body like a snake. Each tail looked thick enough to crush his body in half.

"Guys..." Edward forced out. It was more of a croak than anything, and Edward doubted anyone had hear him. "U-uh, so..."

The leg muscles bunched in the monstrous cat's hind-legs, and Edward had a sudden, awful realization. The tail holding their strange magician man uncurled, depositing him to the ground with an oomph.

Then the beast leapt.

"Shit! Shit!" screamed Edward, reflexively spinning on his heel and sprinting away from the beast. He ducked his head in an all-but-useless effort to dodge his incoming death and through some miracle of life, a set of razor claws whipped over his head, and not through it, but the beast was already sliding to a stop.

He switched directions again as the cat turned. "Please tell me one of you brought a gun!"