[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjg4LjkzOGY4NS5SR2xoYm1FZy4w/geomaniac.demo.png[/img][/center] Diana leaned against the bulwark of the [i]Swordfish[/i], chomping on an apple as she watched the crew prepare to make sail. She was wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt and a wide-brimmed floppy hat: ideal clothing for avoiding both the sun and the stares of lecherous sailors. For the better part of a septum, Diana planned, prepared, and gathered supplies and manpower for the expedition to the — appropriately named by Jorge — Sealion Islands. With the nigh-inexhaustible pockets of the young lord, and the web-like connections of Vipersong, Diana and her higher-ups were more than capable of gathering an exploratory force capable of establishing and defending a port settlement on the Sealion Coast, granted the island was devoid of sentient life. If what she hoped to avoid was so, force would have to be used, whether or not the inhabitants were willing to move or not; orders straight from Jorge himself. [i]Most of these idiots don't even know how to hold a sword …"[/i] she mused as she watched a whale of a man juggle a crate of sweet ale up the gangplank. One misstep later, he was blubbering uncontrollably in the water. Someone would come for him later. Most of the men on board this expedition where family heads, struggling to make ends meet and forced to take jobs such a these that always held the stink of death on them. It was an unfortunate predicament, and she didn't envy them. Tossing the apple core into the harbour, she noticed one final passenger making his way up the gangplank: a man dressed in full leather armour, struggling with two bags full of swords, spears and other things that rattled and clanked. [color=Lime]"If you fall into the water, don’t expect me to dive in and rescue you,"[/color] Diana shouted. [color=Lime]"I didn’t pack my fishing net."[/color] The man gave her a broad smile of recognition as he stepped on board. [b]"It’s easier to wear my armour than to carry it,"[/b] he explained. [b]"And no true knight would even think about leaving it behind."[/b] [color=Lime]"You’re not a knight yet,"[/color] Diana reminded him. [color=Lime]"What are you doing here, Xan?"[/color] [b]"Lord Sealion has sending me to investigate an island chain off the coast. What are you doing here, er …"[/b] He looked at her expectantly. [color=Lime]"Diana,"[/color] she introduced herself. [color=Lime]"I’m going on a bird-watching trip."[/color] She didn’t want to reveal her own association with Jorge Sealion just yet. Nevertheless, didn't Xan understand the concept of confidentiality? [color=Lime]"Here, let me help you with those,"[/color] she said, relieving him of one of his bags. [b]"Thanks, Diana. Let’s go and dump all this stuff in the captain's quarters."[/b] She raised an eyebrow. [color=lime]"The captain's quarters?"[/color] [b]"Of course. As a representative of Lord Sealion, I’m entitled to make full use of the captain's quarters for the duration of the voyage. I trust that he’s already prepared it for my arrival."[/b] Diana looked over to where the captain, a fat, muscular man with a collection of evil scars and a peg-leg, was sharing a lewd joke with two equally dangerous-looking members of his crew. [color=Lime]"I think you’d better follow me."[/color] Diana told Xan. She led him through a hatch and down to the cargo deck. Near the stern of the ship was a curtained-off area with two hammocks, one hung above the other. The place was cramped and small. [color=Lime]"I’ll take the top."[/color] Diana said. [color=Lime]"I don’t want you falling on top of me, especially if you sleep in your armour."[/color] Xan wasn’t happy. [b]"But there are other people down here … and a strange smell. And probably rats, too."[/b] Three sailors were sat hunched over around an upturned barrel throwing dice. They stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Xan. Diana put a hand on his shoulder. [color=Lime]"Don’t worry,[/color] she said. [color=Lime]"If any of these rapscallions so much as touch you, I’ll make sure that they regret it."[/color] The sailors laughed and returned to their game. Xan threw down his bag of weapons with a huff. [center][h2]*[/h2][/center] They were back up on the main deck when the Swordfish passed through Jakwela's seagate. The craft planed eloquently over the flat, blue surface of the White Sea. Its oars dipped and rose, dipped and rose, flashing in the morning sun and sending water flying skyward. A white sail hung furled over Diana's head. Green floodplains beamed bright and warm on either side of her. The ship smelled of cedar, earthy water, and sweat. The Swordfish was just one of around ten vessels that headed out under oar in single file, passing a similar-sized line of incoming arrivals on their port side. In practice, the line of ships would break apart upon reaching the open sea, each free to pursue it's own agenda. Oddly enough, this particular line of ships — upon reaching the open sea — all maintained a single course. Such an occurrence proved itself a curious sight to those on the mainland, but to Diana, it was only procedure. With the Sealion's expertise, Vipersong planned a course long in advance, one to be strictly adhered to or the dangers of the White Sea would claim them. Diana was apprehensive as they struck out into the unbounded, uncharted White Sea. Beyond the secure city walls, whether on land or at sea, anything could happen, and it often did. Xan didn’t seem as worried, though; rather than nervously monitoring the horizon like Diana was, he was scribbling intently in a small scroll. Diana tried to take her mind off thoughts of sea serpents and sirens. [color=Lime]"What are you writing?"[/color] she asked him. [color=Lime]"Your journal? Seventh Day: met a girl,"[/color] she imagined out loud. [b]"Unfortunately, she’s out of my league."[/b] Xan laughed. [b]"No. We’ve got a week to kill, so I’m going to try and finish my epic romance, The Song of Lust. I've filled three scrolls so far."[/b] Diana sighed. She looked over to where the captain was patrolling the deck, supervising the raising of the small schooner’s sails. [color=Lime]"Hey, Dead Leg."[/color] she shouted. [color=Lime]"What can we do to help?"[/color] The captain stumped over to them. [b]"The bilges haven’t been cleared for three days. You did a good job sorting that mess out last time you were on board with us, Diana."[/b] [color=Lime]"In that case, I think I deserve a promotion."[/color] she countered. Dead Leg grunted. [b]"Fine! You can scrub the decks instead."[/b] The captain then turned to Xan and gave him an evil leer. [b]"You, sir, are on bilge duty."[/b] Xab looked aghast. [b]"No."[/b] he spluttered. [b]"The Lord … I represent …[/b] [b]"You’ll need to go and grab a bucket,"[/b] the captain ordered. [b]"Make your way to the very bottom of the hull, near the foremast. The smell will guide you."[/b] Xan staggered away. [b]"And take your armour off,"[/b] Dead Leg called after him. [b]"The bilgewater will do more damage to it than azibo blood!"[/b] [b]"I think I’d rather fight an azibo!"[/b] Xan moaned. Diana smiled. Dead Leg was one of Jorge's most trusted captain's, and one of Vipersong's loyalist gang-member. Upon hearing of the expedition, he immediately volunteered his ship. In addition, using his connections, he gathered an armada of sorts, to further spur the effort. There was no other captain like Dead Leg in all of Amestris, a man who lived his life in the White Sea, conducting all manners of business; whether it be in loyalty to Vipersong, to the Sealion empire, or himself. Diana wiped a droplet of spray from her nose only to feel it replaced by another. The little drips were cold and clear, and they ran together and fell from her skin onto warm cedar planks below her feet. Occasionally, one ran over her lips. Their taste was sweet and clean. In a matter of days, she would greet the unknown, and accept it either with open arms or sharpened bronze. [color=Lime]"Just another day on the job."[/color] [center][h2]*[/h2][/center] On the Swordfish’s mainmast, Diana was on lookout in the crow’s nest. The empty sea stretched out for spans in all directions. It was the thirteenth day since they had left Jakwela, and so far Diana had spotted a few sharks of the port side, most likely a result of Dead Leg's happy hands pushing thieves off the boat. Now she was looking out expectantly for something else. And there it was! A low line of dark green on the western horizon. There were no mountains near the coast around the Sealion Islands, just miles of endless mangrove swamps and mahogany forests under a sweltering tropical sun. Diana was cool under her hat, but down on deck, the crew were bare-chested and sweating as they hauled on the rigging. She leaned out over the basket and called down [color=Lime]"Land ahoy!"[/color] Nobody noticed. The boatswain, a tall blond woman with a loud voice, was ordering the crew around and commanded all their attention. Only Xan, who was halfway up the mizzenmast, heard Diana. He was hanging from the end of a spar, untangling some of the sails; clad only in a headscarf and loincloth, he was quite a sight. [b]"What did you say, Diana?"[/b] She cleared her throat. [color=Lime]"Land ahoy!"[/color] she croaked. Xan gave her the thumbs up and dropped down so that he was hanging from the spar by his legs. He cupped his hands to his mouth and bellowed: [b]"LAND AHOY!"[/b] Suddenly the deck was abuzz with excitement. Sailors abruptly dropped what they where doing to gaze upon the ever growing Sealion Islands for the first time in rapt awe. Having seen enough herself, Diana dropped to the deck and approached the blonde boatswain, the only other woman on the boat. [b]“Sadus, you recluse, I can’t imagine what’s going through your head. To just skip out on working the deck, without so much as a word, and to do what? Muck around and stare at some god forsaken island!”[/b] the deep female voice yelled. Diana couldn't help but smile at the strapping boatswains' antics. Better known as Viatrix, the experienced sailor was tall muscular with short blonde hair. She was taller than most the men on the boat except for the man she referred to as Sadus, but she looked stronger than him. However, her body was obviously that of a female and she still had a feminine figure, just a large one. The woman wore a heavy cloth shirt that was partly unlaced at the top to reveal her ample, better yet, aggressive cleavage. She wore long practical leather pants and carried a rather large sword at her hip. Despite her hulking figure, she carried the grace of a huntsman. [color=Lime]"Sadus giving you trouble, Viatrix?"[/color] Diana jibbed, stopping just short of boatswain's position. [b]"That or he's feeling pretty cocky that I let him put my four quarters to the spit a few moons ago.[/b] Viatrix commented drily without looking her way. Diana smirked and gave Viatrix a knowing look. [color=Lime]"Is that so? I didn't take you as the submissive type."[/color] Viatrix shook her head slowly, almost in awe. [b]"I didn't also! But Sadus has a way of coaxing the bugger out of me. You'd be surprised what little guy is capable of."[/b] [color=Lime]"I'm sure I would! He somehow managed to tame the wild Viatrix!"[/color] Viatrix leaned down to whisper in Diana's ear. [b]"I won't deny it, when he takes the hammer to the anvil, I sometimes wonder whether or not he's human."[/b] A sly smile danced on her face. [b]"What about you and that knight boy, you two are oddly smitten?"[/b] Diana spared Xan a glance. High above the deck he perilously worked the roped scaffolding without so much as breaking a sweat. Diana scoffed. [color=Lime]"Far from it. He's just a clueless dreamer I met a few turns ago at the temple."[/color] Diana paused to adjust her hat against her head. [color=Lime]"Fate seems bent on keeping us together."[/color] [b]"Fate doesn't make mistakes, there's a reason you two happen to be on this boat today, a reason why your destinations are the same, and your missions intertwined. I wouldn't fault Fate just yet, Ivory.[/b] the giant woman mused with a great smile. [b]"Oi! I don't pay you muckers to sit around gawk at the pretty trees! Get back on it! Especially you two ladies.'[/b] a deep male voice boomed over the crashing of waves. The voice belonged to a man equally as imposing as Viatrix was, standing starkly at the helm next to Dead Leg. Short but powerful with a face weathered and dark with exposure and with a balding head shaved close for comfort inside a helm, the Vipersong Beta known as Red Dog, wore the blue tattoos on his face marking him as a man born and made a warrior in the northern tribes of Amestris. Despite that upbringing, he now called the beaches of Jakwale home, where his gang now was centered. Yet, he carried the honor of the northern tribes in his bones, for the buff gangster was as steady as the silver granite of the Hearts. He was disciplined and determined, as implacable as the mountain stone itself and as unstoppable in battle as an avalanche. Combined with a rapier-sharp intellect, those traits made Red Dog the best man for the task of leading the expedition across the White Sea into the unknown. Viatrix let out an inaudible sigh and rolled her eyes. [b]"We'll talk later, Ivory. Remember, let Fate run its course and play its tune. It'll guide you right."[/b] Suddenly her voice rose. [b]"Up, up! You heard the man, enough gawking or I'll have your asses on oar duty till we dock!"[/b] [center][h2]*[/h2][/center] The next morning, Diana woke to the sound of silence. She heard no laughing, no singing, no thumping of feet as the sailors worked the deck above. She swung dizzily in the air and tried to remember where the floor was so that she could get out of the hammock without falling on her face. A moment later, she heard footsteps. She had barely managed to get her toes down before Dead Leg burst through the curtain and brought the light of day with him. The captain’s tattooed face was flush with color. His eyes were shining. [b]“We got trouble”[/b] Diana heard. The sentence was followed by a string of syllables she couldn’t even parse into words. Swiftly, Diana dressed herself. Were they under attack? Were they pirates? Were they docked? Were the Sealion Islands actually inhabited? Were the inhabitants the hostiles? All her questions were answered once she reached the deck. Off the Swordfish's port side, six or seven small fires burned on a hill covered in yellow heather. The sea washed onto a gray beach below them. [color=Lime]“Have they spotted us?”[/color] Diana asked. None of the sailors responded. A high layer of clouds covered the sky. For a moment, the sun broke through it and painted the hill in shades of orange. Diana spotted tall figures scampering along the beach between silhouettes that looked like twin-hulled canoes. Her stomach twisted. Anticipation had been the worst part of danger for her since his childhood. Once a crisis was on her, she could trust his body, trust her heart, trust her mind. But if she watched a problem come on, she had time to think. Time to wonder about the mistakes she might make, and about what might happen if she made them. She envied those capable of shrugging off such thoughts. The minutes passed slowly. The Swordfish's sails flapped lifelessly above. A few birds circled high in the sky. Diana stood alone at the ship’s shoreside rail. The canoes launched one by one. Diana counted maybe twelve boats, with six or seven tall, shadowy figures in each. The Swordfish's crew on deck numbered thirty-five. They couldn't count on help from the rest of the armada, the orders were clear, no one was to move from there post. She spared a glance at Xan. The defender was standing on the ship’s forecastle, near the stairs to the main deck. His eyes were focused on the canoes. His brows plunged sharply toward his nose. His lips were drawn thin, like he was planning. Diana frowned and turned away. Dead Leg whispered something to Red Dog. Red Dog answered. A bead of sweat rolled down Diana's cheek. She slipped her sickle sword from its belt loop and swished it through the air a few times. She hoped she could trust it. [i]Never put too much faith in a weapon,[/i] Caspian had once said. [i]Unless that weapon is yourself.[/i] The words still sent goosebumps skittering over Diana's skin. Her whole life was spent honing her body into a deadly weapon. She would spend hours playing with an array of weapons, learning how to move with them, strike with them, parry with them, and throw them. She was more than confident in her skills, but not overconfident. Her encounter with the Blowfly had thought her to never underestimate an enemy again. Never again. The islanders bobbed in a line on the ocean swells just outside of arrow range. They were close enough to see, and to count. They numbered about eighty. Pale, flaxen hair hung long from their heads over their ruddy bodies. Their chests and legs lay bare to the north sea air. Diana could see their weapons lying beside them in their boats. The islanders sat motionless for close to ten counts. Whispers echoed up and down the sailor line. Some of the sailors twitched nervously, clenched their teeth, or gripped the rail until their knuckles turned white. Dead Leg repeated a word in his own, broken language in the center of the line. [i]He’s calming them,[/i] Diana thought. [i]Good.[/i] And then all hell broke loose. An ululating cry rang out from the boats. The islanders’ paddles struck the waves. Their canoes shot forward. Dead Leg cried out. The twang of bows filled the air. Viatrix hurled obsidian tipped spears towards the canoes. Islander after islander fell from the fast-approaching boats. It would take more than picking off individuals to overcome the numerical advantage the islanders possessed. Viatrix should have known that. Two of the oncoming canoes lost enough rowers that they fell behind the attack. The momentum of the charge faltered. For a moment, Diana thought the islanders might not even make the ship. Then some of them stood up. Dead Leg shouted a word she didn’t understand. The crew dropped to the deck and huddled behind the bulwarks. Immediately she feel to the ground. The sailor closest to Red Dog grabbed his leg and tried to pull him down. He kicked his hand away. Apparently he could guess what was coming, and it did not concern him. The islanders standing in the canoes raised blowguns. They took a few seconds to train them on the ship, and then at some unseen signal, they all fired at once. A volley of darts filled the air. Some flew toward Xan. Others took a steeper angle upward. Diana lost him in the haze. From what she could see, there were still six canoes left in good shape, and more than enough islanders in them to make for a bloodbath if they reached the ship. Her mind was thrust into overdrive. What could she do? A loud thump echoed from the bulwark, and Diana whirled to see a weaponless islander grappling with a sailor next to the ship’s rail. She lurched to her feet. The sailor lost his balance and the islander heaved him overboard and turned in her direction. Acting out of impulse, Diana spotted a set of axes strewn on the deck next to her and lunged for them. Rolling and grabbing them in the same moment, she stood to meet the rushing islander. The muscles in her arms bunched, and she freed one of her axes from the shoulder of the islander and kicked it down the short stairs, jumped down after it, and followed with the other ax, all in one swift motion. The islanders' skull crunched beneath the blow, and Diana lifted his eyes. A stew of struggling figures frothed across the Swordfish's deck before her. Large, bronzed arms tangled with equally thick ones. Bronze flashed against bone. Sailors roared. Islanders hissed. A river of blood soaked her feet. And Xan was in trouble. An islander lunged for Diana with a spear, and she leaped aside. She’d seen Xan moving toward a group of islanders moving against Sadus a moment before, but she couldn’t— Duck. Twist. Hack. Scream. —she couldn’t find him— [i]Easy,[/i] she told herself. [i]Wait. Fight. Keep your eyes open.[/i] An islander taller than the rest was fighting in the center of the deck. Around his waist, he wore nothing but a ragged loincloth. Two bands of leather were cinched around his arms and his hair was long and silver. The man was well-built and wielded two gleaming cutlasses with pearl-like guards. And Diana knew that she would have to fight it. Two sailors descended to the deck behind her. She heard loud, heavy fear in the way they breathed, and she turned around long enough to see that they were young—a black-haired, bright-eyed boy from just outside Yala and an older hain from Ngarlak. They were inexperienced. They were nervous. They would have to do. [color=Lime]“Both of you,”[/color] she said. [color=Lime]“to me.”[/color] Diana had been born to rule. When she commanded, she was obeyed. She moved forward. The sailors behind her did not. Diana did not waste time. She rushed at the islander giant as it was pulling a sword from the throat of one of her countrymen. The deck thumped and flexed beneath her boots. Her hands held tight to the grips of her axes, ready to strike in any direction. The beast turned to face her. Its hair swung before its face. It smiled. Diana snarled. They joined battle a moment later. Diana had to dodge a thrust from the islanders right cutlass to get in close enough to strike. She lashed out for the man's knee and was parried, but the momentum pushed her into an easy spin. She came back around and swung her right axe for the islanders head. The attack forced the man to duck, and Diana followed through with a slash of her left axe toward his midsection. The islander leaned back and the ax missed by inches. Diana kept spinning. She swung for the islander's outstretched, unprotected legs. The warrior took a step back and exploded forward with a kick that caught her straight in the arm. Its shin hit her hard enough to make an impact on her bones. The blow stopped her momentum and her breath whooshed out of her. Nevertheless, the islander came forward. Diana barely had the balance to dodge his next thrust, and the one after that, and the one after that. The cutlasses flickered in the sunlight and were lost in shadow, gone and back again just inches from her body. There was a madness to the way the man fought—an insane ecstasy in combat, as though the dance of death was all he lived for, all he had, and all he needed. The ship’s rail loomed behind Diana. She was running out of space, and she needed to maneuver so that she had open deck at her back again, but she had no time. The swords came too fast. Her heel bumped up against the bulwark. She had to parry a blow from the left with an axe, then one from the right. She breathed, grunted, breathed— —and a young sailor bought her time with his life. The boy charged in from the side screaming a wordless battle cry and slashing with a short sword. The islander leaped back and dodged his first strike, then his second. Diana watched the islander pivot. She hurled her left axe at its chest. The islander stepped forward. Diana's ax flew by it. It thrust. Its left cutlass went straight into the sailor’s chest. The young hain's eyes went wide. Diana rushed forward. The islanders sword was stuck in the sailor’s chest, and the boy had his hands on its hilt. He was shouting something, fighting even as he died. Diana would tell the boy’s family that, if he had the chance. The islander had to let go of the sword to meet Diana's attack. They clashed, spun, clashed. The beast’s movements were easier to track with only one blade to follow. But Diana was down to one weapon as well. Their duel grew tighter. Diana struggled to grab one of the half-a-dozen weapons scattered across the Swordfish's deck. The islander did the same. It angled for a short sword, and Diana cut it off. Diana went for her axe, and the islander nearly took her arm off. The two swirled in a narrow, mortal circle. Diana could sense the fighting quieting around them. There were fewer other combatants to dodge around, and the screams and shouts of battle had attenuated. But she couldn’t be sure who had won. Her breath came in gasps and grunts. Her arms and legs burned. It became all he could do to keep the islander from gaining a second weapon. Bone-deep, searing pain engulfed her right arm. Diana tried to move it and failed. She was forced back on the defensive. The islander picked up his other cutlass. In Diana's arm was a dart. A six-inch, black dart. The islander stuck her in the shoulder and then opened a long gash on her thigh. A kick caught her in the gut, and as she fell back, a knee slammed into her head hard enough to wrench her neck. Her ears rang. The world went fuzzy and distant. She felt blood on her chin, in her hair, in her mouth. She tried to stand, but she couldn’t get her legs under herself. She braced for the blow that would end her life. It didn’t come. Diana's feet couldn’t gain purchase on the deck. Her right arm wouldn’t bear her weight. She squirmed and rolled until she could drag himself up against the ship’s bulwark, and then she pulled the dart from her arm and tried to catch her breath. The world blacked in and out around her. Her head ached. She had difficulty thinking in straight lines. Xan, Sadus, and Viatrix were fighting the giant islander. Sadus parried cutlass blows once, twice, three times with daggers. He almost succeeded in landing a strike to the beast’s left knee, but he caught the right in his head for his troubles. He went to the deck, and the islander turned around to block an overhand club blow from Viatrix. Diana's arm and stomach ached. Her jaw swelled shut. Her thigh and shoulder were crossed by fiery lines. The beast kicked Viatrix away and turned back to Sadus. Xan stepped between them and thrust for its torso. Diana struggled to watch. Xan fought cautiously and quickly, two swords to two. Sadus regained his feet and attacked from the other side. The islander fought them both at once, one cutlass for each. Diana felt light-headed. She wanted to watch the sailors continue their fight, but she couldn’t find the strength. Her leg and arm were black with blood. A dart. The histories would read that Diana, lost princess of Amestris, had been killed in the White Sea by a damn, bloody dart. Diana's chin fell to her chest, and she slumped against another body. Her eyes closed. Her tongue felt dry and swollen. Images of her past floated floated before her eyes as she waited for the darkness to claim her. But the darkness never came. It was as the padding of islander feet and sailor boots, that Diana heard them abruptly slow as if they paused to consider her final moments in delicious anticipation. The symphony of battle, slowed to a low rumble until it abruptly disappeared. In the same instant Diana's mind completely cleared as though she'd taken no blows at all. Blinking in stunned surprise, she looked up. And she found herself marveling to discover everything was frozen in place all around her. [color=Lime]"What, . . .?"[/color] she began to husk in amazement. Only to stammer into silence when her eyes caught sight of what appeared to be a single flake of snow slowly descending from a clear mid-morning sky towards her, leaving a glowing afterimage line behind it against the blaring rays. Levering herself up onto her hands, Diana craned her neck to watch the white flake fall, drifting weightlessly downward like a leaf falling in the last days of autumn. It was about the size of her thumbnail and, as if its mysterious appearance wasn't enough, the flake looked as though it fell directly towards her. It was almost instinctive to reach out to let the intricately delicate flake fall into her palm. And, though there was no shock of cold against her heated flesh to announce true snow, she drew it towards herself to examine it with wondering eyes. Up close, the flake was as intricate and complex as she first thought, finely joined shapes and lines in a smooth construct that only nature could've devised. Yet, there was something familiar about it, as if it bore more than a passing resemblance to the ancient crest etched upon the heart of every Xerxian, the eyed triangle, better known as the cipher. Then, as her breath caressed it, the flake abruptly dissolved, having resisted the summer heat and her own body warmth until now. And yet again, instead of cold water, it was with a rushing tingle that the flake was absorbed into the skin of his palm. Instantly her nostrils were filled with the scent of rose petals and, with soft insistence into the heart of her mind, a woman's familiar voice spoke: [color=Crimson]"It begins."[/color] Even as the words echoed inside her mind, time became itself and the symphony of battle returned. Nevertheless, she struggled to keep the wonder from her face as she felt quicksilver adrenaline flood into her body. As if she had been reborn, Diana jumped to her feet, then watched as once again the world seemed to slow to a crawl. First to fall was giant islander, Diana returning the blunt favor he dished out earlier by hammering her forehead into the beast of man's face, shattering his nose and sending him stumbling backward. Another one who held a blade to a hain sailors' neck was next, using her inhuman speed to grab hold of the islander's wrist to twist the arm so hard, it both dislocated the shoulder and shattered the upper arm, sending the jagged end jutting from tortured flesh. Then she was driving a broken stump spear-like into the islanders side, penetrating his ribcage to what was left of his elbow, piercing his heart and killing him instantly. A hard swing with a knotted right fist flew across her body as Diana twisted to the left, took out two more, jaws breaking with dull 'cracks' from the force of impact. Reversing the twist, she then snapped the fist around to knock aside three islanders behind her. Using the momentum from that attack, she continued to spin around and whistled a reverse heel kick through the air with enough speed that when it struck the giant islander in the side of the face, still falling back from the head butt, it instantly snapped his neck. All within the blink of an eye. Then time sped up and Diana straightened erect as the surviving sailors staggered back into motion. "By the gods, how, . . .?" one stammered in confusion, the bodies of islanders heaped untidily all around the deck. None were left alive. Diana looked down at the hand that had absorbed the flake of light, eyes narrow slits. [color=Lime]"Red Dog!"[/color] she bellowed, her own confusion a hot rush through her mind. She lifted her head to look at the stunned sailors who stared in shock back at her. Red Dog pushed through the crowd that assembled on the deck. Blood covered his body, blood Diana was confident once belonged to an islander. [b]"What in bloody hells did you do, woman?"[/b] he breathed. [color=Lime]"Hike up your britches, Red Dog and get the boys ready. We still have a fight on our hands."[/color] she turned and pointed at massive island growing ever nearer. Even from this distance, everyone could clearly see crowd growing on the shore. Every single one of them brandished a weapon in hand. [hider=Khookies Log] [b]Current Balance[/b] - 13 Khookies [indent]+5 Khookies Earned[/indent] [b]Balance[/b] - 20 Khookies [indent]-2 Khookies in order to [url=http://i1.wp.com/www.maplestory2training.com/wp-content/uploads/maplestory-2-level-up.gif?resize=282%2C210]Level Up[/url] from level 1 to 2.[/indent] [b]Final Balance[/b] - 18 Khookies [indent]Current Level - Level 2[/indent] [/hider] [hider=Summary] [b]Section 1[/b] - Diana stands aboard the Swordfish, one of the many vessels hired by Sealion and Vipersong to transport men and supplies to the Sealion islands in hopes of establishing a sea port or colony in the Sealion name. Ironically, Mr. Sealion also happened to hire Xan, the knight-to-be from the plaza the week before. [b]Section 2[/b] - The Swordfish and a fleet of ten other ships have set course for the Sealion Islands. Diana is bored so she pesters Xan, who is writing a love story. Quickly growing bored of that, she asks Captain Dead Leg for work. He eagerly offers bilge duty but she refuses and instead scrubs the deck. Xan instead is left with bilge duty, much to his dismay. [b]Section 3[/b] - My favorite part. You get to meet a slew of characters, all soon to be apart of the main cast. Diana sits atop the crows nest and soon sends the signal of land. She descends to the deck and has a rather adult chat about adult things with a hulking woman named Viatrix, gets yelled at by a man named Red Dog, make some comments about Fate, and get back to work. I'm keeping it vague so you read it. READ IT. [b]Section 4[/b] - The last an final section features a battle. Upon waking up from a nap, Diana finds the ship quiet. She is suddenly visited by Dead Leg who warns her of trouble. She reaches the deck to find that they are about to be under attack. After a few moment of anticipation, the islanders attack and a battle ensues. Diana manages to take out a few before she faces a giant one who easily defeats here. Near unconsciousness, Diana unlocks her Divine Blood and takes of the islander at peak physical condition, and defeats the remaining islanders. Unfortunately, on the islands shore, hundreds more wait. [/hider]