Élaine, Lizzie & Barboda
9am
Location: Port Vanarosa
Interactions: @Helo Nym
@princess Helio
“Yes, they would have surely punished her for what she just did. If anything I saved this red-haired girl. As for my crime, none were committed here. These men are not as innocent as you think, they murdered three people near a tavern in Myriamor.” He stated, pulling a bounty paper on the two of them given by the guild.
“You see this? Wanted for murder. I have no reason as to why they did it but one of the victims was a member of a high-class family.” Barboda hoped that this was enough explanation for the elf girl. It did bother him to be questioned but when a civilian is brought into things, it is bound to happen.
He looked the red-haired girl up and down examining her.
“It must be fate that you are able to captain a ship, it is at the docks. I will take you there once we find our crew, luckily I saw someone at a tavern who is very able as a fighter and hard worker.” He told the two girls hoping they would follow along. Barboda took a moment to remove the bolts from the elves, placing them back in a case on his hip. He then laid them on the back carefully and closed their eyes, being as respectful as possible. He stood up, returning to look at the two girls. Barboda needed a picture with his memory glass for kill confirmation but decided he should wait till the elf girl was distracted or not looking.
Élaine couldn't believe what was happening. That stranger in his head-to-toe armor just impaled two light elves. And yet... Lizzie was taking
his side? The anger boiling inside Éliane let her consider shooting the woman standing right in front of her arrow.
You think I wouldn't shoot you. She almost wanted to prove her wrong. But she wouldn't harm Lizzie. That much was true. And as much as she disliked it at that moment, her heart softened a fraction at the thought of the woman trusting her enough to step in front of her raised weapon.
There's other options... She could attempt to get her strike by going around Lizzie or simply pushing her out of the way. But she had already hesitated a moment too long. Her mind had made its decision and so Éliane drove darts into Lizzie's eyes as she reluctantly lowered her bow.
Your stupid boat. Éliane had promised the red-haired stranger a ship and she would have gotten her one. What did she need this idiotic tin man for?
Life can be so insufferable.Still ready to shoot, albeit pointed downwards now, Éliane held a tight grip on her weapon. Lizzie's words had stumbled her.
They wanted to use her for some great power. A truth was beginning to drip drop into Élaine's consciousness to fill the missing pieces. A strange woman not knowing where she was, looking for a way to escape two light elves, who apparently would've used her as a weapon, the strange feeling that something with her was just...off. She quickly buried her thoughts deep within a drawer in her mind.
The tin can began to speak to her directly and that alone was enough to boil her anger back up and for a moment, the finger on her bow twitched and the light above her head brightened more. She pierced her gaze upon Lizzie.
Walk out, a voice inside her head whispered sharply.
As long as you can, walk out!Alas, her gaze was forced onto the tin can after all as he pulled out two papers clearly stating the crimes of the two dead elves to their feet. Éliane's jaw tightened. Would she believe him? He either set this up, had wanted to kill these elves, and prepared forged bounty papers to justify his cause. Or he was telling the truth - at least as much as he knew it.
The world is unjust. You don't know the truth. Her eyes lied upon the tin can now. Peering right at the slit of his helmet.
But he murdered two people. And murder is never the answer. ... She wondered, for a moment, how whoever - or whatever - was inside that metal prison could stand the heat of the sun in it. ...
Maybe it is time to adjust your ideals. She recalled having had that thought this morning. War was on the way if it was not already lingering in the alleyways. And it would jump at her with sharp teeth and no mercy if she would not shoot at it first.
"Lizzie...", she spoke through gritted teeth. Her gaze went back to the blue depth that had captured her senses before.
"Don't trust him."Lizzie glanced back at the bounty hunter as he spoke to Éliane, deciding that she definitely wanted this man on her side. If he weren’t on her side there was the chance that he’d be hunting her at some point and with how swiftly he killed those two she didn’t want to be on his bad side. She then took note of him looking her up and down and smirked before looking back to Éliane.
Oh sweetheart, you probably shouldn’t trust me either. She thought to herself, but gave her a small smile.
”Who said I trusted him?” She gave her a cheeky look, but then her expression turned a bit more serious.
”However here are the options, we go with him and trust he has a ship and the hard part is done or we steal a ship and that may involve more murder. I obviously don’t WANT to kill anyone, but I can’t promise it won’t happen.” Truth was she just wanted to go with the easy route. Stealing a ship sounded like too much work.
She then looked back to Barboda.
”Thank you for your generous offer. My name is Captain Lizzie Murphy. Which direction should we head to find this hard worker you speak of?” It was clear that Lizzie wasn't about to budge about taking this man up on his offer and she was going to do as she pleased. She hoped that Éliane would go along with her as she felt the woman could be a good ally to have. She wouldn’t force her to come along, however much Lizzie wanted her to.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. The name’s Barboda Teff. Lizzie is right; I am not asking you to trust me it would be easier on us all to take the empty ship, but we do need to get out of here. I can lead you to the tavern. It is not too far from here... “ Barbolda explained to them, drawing off for a moment. He then added,
”Also I shouldn’t have to say this but staying near two dead light elves is not an ideal situation.” He scanned the area with his thermal vision, making sure the area was still clear in the immediate vicinity.
“We are clear for the moment, but if you need to do anything here. I would get it done quickly before I take you to the tavern. Éliane's eyes darted to her sword for a second. The same sword that still lingered in Lizzie's hand. She could grab her things and be out of here. But deep within her, she knew she had already chosen her path. At least for now. One thing was clear and certain: Whatever road Lizzie was going down, it would not be a clean one.
I can still get out when she's on her promised ship with her promised crew.Finally, the light elf changed her stance. The arrow disappeared into the quiver and she shouldered her bow.
"Your call... captain."As Bardoda spoke, Éliane's jaw tightened.
That canned little- Alright now! None of those thoughts! She gritted her teeth, swallowed her anger and disgust at someone who would kill for as simple a thing as
money and lowered herself to the two dead bodies.
Éliane took a moment to study their faces and to let in a part of the grief she felt. Not for them in particular. She hadn't known them. But for the pain in the world, the suffering, the war to come. Éliane lifted her finger, drew a wavy elegant invisible symbol into the air, and brought her glowing with light magic fingertip down onto the forehead of the fallen light elf. With softness in her heart and softness in her voice, she began to recite:
"Here in this-" She faltered... They weren't in the right place... She took a small breath and began anew.
"Here in this forest, dark and deep, I offer you eternal sleep. May your soul rest in the wind. May your body rest in the roots." It almost pained Éliane to send off two elvish souls with so little of a farewell. But for a deeper farewell was no time. And frankly, she still didn't know if they were worthy of one.
As she lifted herself off the ground, her eyes found Lizzie once more.
"It's settled then. You find your ship, your crew. But maybe -" She took a step towards Lizzie and tipped her fingers against the blade of the sword.
"You want to find your own sword first."Lizzie merely nodded to Barboda, knowing there was truth in what he spoke. She’d pinned the murder of others on someone who hung around a scene for too long before. She surely didn’t want to be on that end of things this time. It was clear to her, as well, that Éliane wasn’t fond of her decision, but it seemed she was still going with her.
Lizzie moved, stepping past the dead elves on the ground, ready to get going. She paused, however, as Éliane seemed to be performing some ritual for them. She was a little confused by her actions, but she didn’t stop her. If it would make her feel a little better then she’d wait for her to finish, as long as it didn’t take TOO long.
Once finished, she seemed to remind Lizzie that she needed to find a different sword.
Well fuck. I almost forgot I promised to give this back. She sighed internally, but then something dawned on her as she looked down at the two dead elves. Sure enough they were both carrying swords. Lizzie moved back to the bodies and knelt beside them.
”Sorry about this, boyo. Thank you for your contribution.” She said softly to the body, crossing her body to show some semblance of respect as she removed his cutlass. She also checked his pockets for any money before standing back up. She strapped her newfound cutlass to herself before turning back to Éliane and tossing her back her own weapon.
”Problem fixed. Let’s go.” She motioned for Barboda to lead the way.
Barboda watched the farewell the elf gave to her fallen people. Even he could understand why she was upset; nobody liked watching their people die. He had watched his father die once upon a time and it had been one of the few moments he hadn’t felt so neutral and cold. However, he had adapted and he was sure this elven woman would move on in no time.
He was curious as to why this elf was still willing to follow after being held hostage, especially after getting so upset that he had killed her people. It was interesting to him that she remained despite her feelings.
Lizzie knelt down and began to take a sword off one of the elves. She clearly wasn’t a woman with a high penchant for being virtuous. He smirked under his helmet as he watched. Surely the light-haired elf would be irked about that choice. Barboda took this moment to take his memory glass and snag a photo of the elves. Shortly after, he placed the glass back on his belt.
“Okay, we’re done here. The tavern is named The Seagull.”He waved his hand for them to follow through the maze of alleyways.
As Lizzie equipped herself with her newly stolen sword - a beautiful piece that would likely catch people's eyes -, Éliane caught her own sword with one hand and sheathed it. It felt good to have it back by her side. Albeit not being something pretty to look at - in fact, it was rather dull to look at - this sword had been her first to venture out with and she had kept it in excellent condition ever since. It therefore almost had a sentimental value. It had been her one true companion. Of course, her bow had always been with her, too, but this one she had had since she was much younger. It was a piece of her soul. But the sword, the sword was a reminder of the beginning of her journey outside of the Elf Sun Kingdom.
Éliane took a moment to grab her daggers from the backpack to conceal them within her clothes where they belonged when she was not swimming in the sea, half-naked.
The Seagull... She knew the tavern the tin man was talking about. She had been there a couple of times and if she recalled correctly, she had met one or two fascinating people there for a drink and a chat. The tavern was combined with an inn. Éliane had spent her fair share of nights at this establishment.
The first spot to look for a pirate's crew.Lizzie and Éliane both followed Barboda, one with more enthusiasm than the other.
Lizzie gets her ship, Lizzie gets her crew, then I can get my supplies stocked up and she will be well on her way. Éliane didn't worry too much about low supplies. She had enough food, two sets of clothes, and her blanket and washcloth were still relatively new. However, she was missing many essentials for survival outdoors if she didn't manage to find a bed for the night. Her amas were more than enough for her to not need to worry about that but since there was always the chance of losing something like coin in numerous ways, she'd prefer to have a rope on hand and matches, at least. Some hair cleanser, teeth cleanser, and a brush would also be nice, although she had dealt without them for some time before when she had been low on amas. First aid was something one would consider essential too, she would say. It had been a rough patch money-wise the last few weeks before she was able to turn her luck around and gain some well-paid work.
Money is such a funny thing. One moment I have 3 amas in my pocket, the next it's 500. She would definitely make a little shopping tour around Port Vanarosa before moving on with her journey.
Her eyes trailed along Lizzie's back as they walked; Lizzie and Barboda both slightly in front of her. Éliane wondered if buying Lizzie some essentials before parting ways would be the right thing to do. She seemed to be doing fine on her own. But she also had no coin on her. But then again, Lizzie didn't seem to be the person to need any coin on her to survive comfortably enough.
Something we might have in common. If she would ask, which Éliane doubted, she could offer to give her a little money to start off her journey. The ship she would take over would likely have all the things one would need: rations (hopefully stocked), rope, wood, navigational equipment, very likely some alcohol - not that one
needed that -, if lucky even some valuable items for Lizzie to sell. Actually, a ship - if fully equipped - would also have first aid items. It would provide Lizzie with everything she needed. That was, after all, what a ship's inventory was supposed to do, if one kept track of it: To have everything aboard for one's survival on the sea.
Maybe she doesn't need any help after all. They turned a corner on their way to
The Seagull.
Maybe that way of living isn't so bad after all.Lizzie walked with quite the swagger to her step despite her internal thoughts. She'd always done well appearing more confident than she truly was.
You're a real chancer, Lizzie. Who would have guessed you'd get out of prison merely to land in this mess of a land. She thought to herself, trying to make sense of her situation. At very least she wasn't imprisoned waiting to be marched to the gallows.
Regardless of how I got here, you're here now and they have ships. No matter what land you're in, a ship is a ship and a crew is a crew. It's time to make a name for yourself here. She was internally giving herself a pep talk as they grew closer to the tavern. Off in the distance, she caught a glimpse of a strange red-haired man talking to an even stranger man with his hands on his hips. Intriguing.
She glanced sidelong at the other strange man in full armor walking beside her. What was under that helmet? For a brief second, she thought to ask but pushed that thought away as the thought of a far more important question.
"So where can a girl acquire a gun around here?" She had a feeling he might know the answer to that question.
Barboda glanced at Lizzie as she spoke,
”You can acquire one from the dwarves. I’m not one for guns myself so you’re on your own with that.” As the three of them made their way into the main part of town, they began to approach the tavern. He had hoped that the red-haired fairy would still be present and was not disappointed. He was outside talking to some aquatic demi-human in a lot of jewelry.
He approached the two, allowing them to finish up their conversation before speaking.
“Helio Millinia, I would like to request your help in joining our crew on a ship. We need to get out of here and a man of your status would be very helpful on board. Your friend here is welcome too.”
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