03-09-2010, 04:14 AM
He swung wildly over the water, finally releasing the rope and vaulting onto the Queen’s Navy ship. The half-blooded Saiyan rolled across the pristine wood, straight into the sights of a few soldiers who seemed all too eager to slaughter him. What type of soldiers were they? Wasn’t it usually the policy of the military to capture high-ranking officers before killing them? He remembered, suddenly, that he was not actually in the time of the pirates but rather inside a game, and that whoever their kidnapper was probably didn’t care too much for capture first. This AI was, he supposed, programmed to shoot first and not ask questions.
A couple of other buccaneers followed him onto the ship, but overall, Juno had gotten halfhearted support from his crew; Alura had not followed, and he could barely hear her deafened shouts from across the waters. He’d barely dodged the treacherous tentacle of the Kraken, and now several navy soldiers had rifles and cutlasses trained on him. The reptilian girl had been right; this hadn’t been the best of ideas, he supposed.
What was this game doing to him? Normally, he’d never had been so rash as to be a fool rushing in, rash and with no sense of consequence. Normally, he’d have been so over analytical that a cannonball probably would’ve decapitated him mid-thought. Upon being shoved into this situation, however, all of his intellectual vices had somehow been stripped away, and he had been cast as the brash, risk-taking first mate. No longer, he knew - he had to get his head back in the game. Alura had been right; this mastermind’s game was their concern now, not defeating the Queen’s Navy, although Juno would argue that perhaps in order to win at the man’s game, they had to defeat their opponent.
He would not say, however, that they had to defeat their opponent fair and square.
But that was a thought for another time - he ducked under a cutlass that swept just above his scarlet bandana, and then launched himself onto the portside rail of the Navy ship. Grasping the rope, he quickly yelled out to the soldiers: “Gentleman, you shall always remember this day as the day you almost caught -” and stepped backward, prepared to finish his speech in the air. However, he was caught off guard by the drop and swung clumsily across the sea back over to the Black Oyster. He was not, however, welcomed with open arms as he crashed onto the deck.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Alura scolded in a half-whispered tone, “You could’ve gotten yourself killed. We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves; we need to stay down and make sure this battle goes our way from here.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Juno replied, and Alura looked surprised, almost as if she’d expected him to argue. “I shouldn’t have been so rash. Don’t worry, I’ve got that crap under control.” He turned and headed up to the helm, taking his spyglass and looking over at the Queen’s Navy ship. The bronze-haired captain was spouting off orders, and the helmsmen was hurrying quickly to his post.
They were up to something.
Juno headed to the railing of the upper deck and gazed around at the crew, weary from the first failure. He glanced from the lazed pirates to the invigorated Navy, and knew that something had to be done. They had won that skirmish, true, but the battle was still in play. The soldiers were cocky; the pirates had to gain that same confidence if they hoped to defeat them. How, though? The Navy seemed to be making a move, and the fortuneteller was not exactly keen on rushing into something else before seeing what their opponents had in store. As this thought crossed his mind, he smiled. He’d been able to free his mind from the grasp of this game. He had, fortunately, retained his seafaring knowledge.
Then, he spotted it. The helmsmen made a large, wide turn, and the Maiden’s Dream began to move around the helm of the pirate ship. They were attempting to get an advantage, be able to shoot their already loaded port guns while the scallywags were attempting to load their starboard guns. Not this time, though. This time, the pirates would be smart.
“Load the starboard guns, they’re changing positions!” Juno yelled, and he glanced at Alura, who had a brief, flickering smirk. They met eyes quickly, and the Saiyan knew that at that moment, they were in agreement - she was obviously happy that he’d intercepted their next move. “Hurry up you slimy dogs, get those cannons loaded!” The pirates moved quickly, and at Juno’s urging, in a much more organized manner. They weren’t fully prepared for the first volley the Navy ship shot, but the scuffs and scrapes weren’t enough to deter them.
“Ready,” Juno called, “aim - FIRE!” At that word, the pirates followed their orders, firing a rapid succession of shots from the starboard guns, ripping into the side of the enemy ships. Few shots missed, which was a distinct advantage they had over their opponents. While the others were better armed, the pirates rarely missed their mark. The half-Saiyan sidled up to Alura. “Listen,” he said, “If we’re over here, then that means that there must be other contestants over there, right?” Juno had puzzled that together by watching the movement on the opposite ship. The captain wasn’t wearing a powdered wig, and that was distinctly a trait that was shared by most other members on the boat. And then there was the kid who fought like no other soldier on that boat - perhaps that was a strange qualification, but it was a hunch he was willing to go with if it got them farther in this game.
“Yeah, I guess that would be plausible,” Alura nodded, observing the ship. “Are you suggesting that to win this, we’ve got to beat them?”
“Exactly,” the halfblood smirked, “So we’re going to take them down where it hurts, Alura. We’re going to ram our ship into their ship.”
“What did we talk about? No more brash moves, remember?” the reptilian hissed, but Juno merely moved forward, took a match out of his pocket, aimed his cannon at the exceptional warrior who looked to be the ship’s first mate, and fired off a shot. The cannonball sailed into the portside rail of the ship, barely missing its mark. The half-Saiyan watched as the other Halfling who would soon come to be known as Belle Hibiki became tangled, and was suddenly and, the Saiyan thought, fatally, jerked off the side of the ship by a ‘loose cannon.’
“Man overboard,” Juno muttered, turning to Alura. “It’s not brash, trust me. They made their move - if we make ours, if our ship rams into that ship hard enough, it’ll make a such a dent in their morale that they’ll be crying for us to spare their lives. Think about it, babe.”
“First off, don’t call me that,” the reptilian replied.
“I won’t if you’ll just go with the flow,” he smirked, and then turned on his heel and bounded up the helm to where the captain stood. “Permission to take control of the ship, sir?”
The captain turned, a scowl on his face. “After what you did last time?” Juno chose not to respond, keeping a hopeful, sympathetic expression on his face. “What’ve you got up your sleeve, First Mate?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see, sir,” Juno said, almost regretting speaking to his commanding officer in such a manner.
The captain paused, but at last gestured to the helm. Juno took the wheel, pushing the normal helmsman out of the way, and made a large turn. The nose of the vessel took a sharp angle, and the men handling the starboard guns paused briefly to look up. The captain screamed at them to fire until they didn’t have a target, and they quickly went back to their duties. Juno, however, merely smiled broadly, spinning the black-sailed ship around in the water until it was directly on course for the Maiden’s Dream.
“What in the name of Calypso are you doing, Juno?” the captain muttered, awestruck, but he did nothing to stop the first mate, who quickly and eagerly watched as the nose of their own boat crashed forcefully into the hull of the enemy, sending planks flying as a terrific hole was ripped into the upper and lower decks of the Queen’s Navy vessel.
The two ships collided magnificently, the black-sailed ship sinking into the wooden hull of the white-sailed, and slowly, the Navy vessel began to lurch to one side, and a few soldiers tumbled overboard in the same manner the young warrior had. A slight growl was emitted from below, but Juno paid no mind to it - the soldiers were, for the most part, running scared.
The Captain, however, had unsheathed his cutlass and now stood on the starboard rail, fully prepared for the eventual arrival of the pirates. Juno leapt onto the rail of the upper deck and unsheathed his cutlass. He looked down at the pirates, a couple of whom lie dead from the impact, and smirked at their uncertainty.
“They run from us, and now we must overtake them before they rise up again - gentlemen, kill all in sight, leave no prisoners!” The scallywags turned and began to charge the soldiers that had been brave enough to stay on the upper deck. Juno leapt down and grasped Alura’s wrist. “Fight the soldiers if you want, but I think it would be more prudent if we found the other guy - the one who the cannon dragged off. It’s up to you.”
The half-Saiyan, meanwhile, leapt over to the pride of the Queen’s Navy and leapt onto their netting, glancing at the captain, who had not yet involved himself in the battle. Slowly, he realized he was being watched, and his eyes rolled over to Juno.
“You’re not really an officer in the Royal Navy, are you?” Juno asked, a smirk on his face. The red-headed man’s eyes lit up, if only slightly.
“Nah,” he muttered, with a chuckle, “And I’m guessing you’re not either. Far too impressive to be a scurvy pirate.” The black-haired boy slipped through the netting and landed down on the non-ruined part of the deck. “Trafford. Ace Trafford, if you want,” the navy man said.
“The name’s Juno,” the black-haired pirate replied, and continued. “Ha. Captain Ace Trafford,” the half-Saiyan chuckled, “It’s got a certain ring to it.”
“Don’t I know it,” the captain of the Queen’s Navy ship replied.
“I guess we’ve got to fight now,” Juno stated, as if it wasn’t obvious that this game was meant to eventually force them into competition. Trafford stepped down from the rail and chuckled before swinging his sword up in a surprise attack that the Foresight user easily predicted. The fortuneteller brought his own blade up to meet Trafford’s, and the other man smiled.
“Impressive,” Ace complimented. Juno chortled a bit, smirking at his opponent before voicing a sarcastic reply.
“Don’t I know it.”
A couple of other buccaneers followed him onto the ship, but overall, Juno had gotten halfhearted support from his crew; Alura had not followed, and he could barely hear her deafened shouts from across the waters. He’d barely dodged the treacherous tentacle of the Kraken, and now several navy soldiers had rifles and cutlasses trained on him. The reptilian girl had been right; this hadn’t been the best of ideas, he supposed.
What was this game doing to him? Normally, he’d never had been so rash as to be a fool rushing in, rash and with no sense of consequence. Normally, he’d have been so over analytical that a cannonball probably would’ve decapitated him mid-thought. Upon being shoved into this situation, however, all of his intellectual vices had somehow been stripped away, and he had been cast as the brash, risk-taking first mate. No longer, he knew - he had to get his head back in the game. Alura had been right; this mastermind’s game was their concern now, not defeating the Queen’s Navy, although Juno would argue that perhaps in order to win at the man’s game, they had to defeat their opponent.
He would not say, however, that they had to defeat their opponent fair and square.
But that was a thought for another time - he ducked under a cutlass that swept just above his scarlet bandana, and then launched himself onto the portside rail of the Navy ship. Grasping the rope, he quickly yelled out to the soldiers: “Gentleman, you shall always remember this day as the day you almost caught -” and stepped backward, prepared to finish his speech in the air. However, he was caught off guard by the drop and swung clumsily across the sea back over to the Black Oyster. He was not, however, welcomed with open arms as he crashed onto the deck.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Alura scolded in a half-whispered tone, “You could’ve gotten yourself killed. We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves; we need to stay down and make sure this battle goes our way from here.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Juno replied, and Alura looked surprised, almost as if she’d expected him to argue. “I shouldn’t have been so rash. Don’t worry, I’ve got that crap under control.” He turned and headed up to the helm, taking his spyglass and looking over at the Queen’s Navy ship. The bronze-haired captain was spouting off orders, and the helmsmen was hurrying quickly to his post.
They were up to something.
Juno headed to the railing of the upper deck and gazed around at the crew, weary from the first failure. He glanced from the lazed pirates to the invigorated Navy, and knew that something had to be done. They had won that skirmish, true, but the battle was still in play. The soldiers were cocky; the pirates had to gain that same confidence if they hoped to defeat them. How, though? The Navy seemed to be making a move, and the fortuneteller was not exactly keen on rushing into something else before seeing what their opponents had in store. As this thought crossed his mind, he smiled. He’d been able to free his mind from the grasp of this game. He had, fortunately, retained his seafaring knowledge.
Then, he spotted it. The helmsmen made a large, wide turn, and the Maiden’s Dream began to move around the helm of the pirate ship. They were attempting to get an advantage, be able to shoot their already loaded port guns while the scallywags were attempting to load their starboard guns. Not this time, though. This time, the pirates would be smart.
“Load the starboard guns, they’re changing positions!” Juno yelled, and he glanced at Alura, who had a brief, flickering smirk. They met eyes quickly, and the Saiyan knew that at that moment, they were in agreement - she was obviously happy that he’d intercepted their next move. “Hurry up you slimy dogs, get those cannons loaded!” The pirates moved quickly, and at Juno’s urging, in a much more organized manner. They weren’t fully prepared for the first volley the Navy ship shot, but the scuffs and scrapes weren’t enough to deter them.
“Ready,” Juno called, “aim - FIRE!” At that word, the pirates followed their orders, firing a rapid succession of shots from the starboard guns, ripping into the side of the enemy ships. Few shots missed, which was a distinct advantage they had over their opponents. While the others were better armed, the pirates rarely missed their mark. The half-Saiyan sidled up to Alura. “Listen,” he said, “If we’re over here, then that means that there must be other contestants over there, right?” Juno had puzzled that together by watching the movement on the opposite ship. The captain wasn’t wearing a powdered wig, and that was distinctly a trait that was shared by most other members on the boat. And then there was the kid who fought like no other soldier on that boat - perhaps that was a strange qualification, but it was a hunch he was willing to go with if it got them farther in this game.
“Yeah, I guess that would be plausible,” Alura nodded, observing the ship. “Are you suggesting that to win this, we’ve got to beat them?”
“Exactly,” the halfblood smirked, “So we’re going to take them down where it hurts, Alura. We’re going to ram our ship into their ship.”
“What did we talk about? No more brash moves, remember?” the reptilian hissed, but Juno merely moved forward, took a match out of his pocket, aimed his cannon at the exceptional warrior who looked to be the ship’s first mate, and fired off a shot. The cannonball sailed into the portside rail of the ship, barely missing its mark. The half-Saiyan watched as the other Halfling who would soon come to be known as Belle Hibiki became tangled, and was suddenly and, the Saiyan thought, fatally, jerked off the side of the ship by a ‘loose cannon.’
“Man overboard,” Juno muttered, turning to Alura. “It’s not brash, trust me. They made their move - if we make ours, if our ship rams into that ship hard enough, it’ll make a such a dent in their morale that they’ll be crying for us to spare their lives. Think about it, babe.”
“First off, don’t call me that,” the reptilian replied.
“I won’t if you’ll just go with the flow,” he smirked, and then turned on his heel and bounded up the helm to where the captain stood. “Permission to take control of the ship, sir?”
The captain turned, a scowl on his face. “After what you did last time?” Juno chose not to respond, keeping a hopeful, sympathetic expression on his face. “What’ve you got up your sleeve, First Mate?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see, sir,” Juno said, almost regretting speaking to his commanding officer in such a manner.
The captain paused, but at last gestured to the helm. Juno took the wheel, pushing the normal helmsman out of the way, and made a large turn. The nose of the vessel took a sharp angle, and the men handling the starboard guns paused briefly to look up. The captain screamed at them to fire until they didn’t have a target, and they quickly went back to their duties. Juno, however, merely smiled broadly, spinning the black-sailed ship around in the water until it was directly on course for the Maiden’s Dream.
“What in the name of Calypso are you doing, Juno?” the captain muttered, awestruck, but he did nothing to stop the first mate, who quickly and eagerly watched as the nose of their own boat crashed forcefully into the hull of the enemy, sending planks flying as a terrific hole was ripped into the upper and lower decks of the Queen’s Navy vessel.
The two ships collided magnificently, the black-sailed ship sinking into the wooden hull of the white-sailed, and slowly, the Navy vessel began to lurch to one side, and a few soldiers tumbled overboard in the same manner the young warrior had. A slight growl was emitted from below, but Juno paid no mind to it - the soldiers were, for the most part, running scared.
The Captain, however, had unsheathed his cutlass and now stood on the starboard rail, fully prepared for the eventual arrival of the pirates. Juno leapt onto the rail of the upper deck and unsheathed his cutlass. He looked down at the pirates, a couple of whom lie dead from the impact, and smirked at their uncertainty.
“They run from us, and now we must overtake them before they rise up again - gentlemen, kill all in sight, leave no prisoners!” The scallywags turned and began to charge the soldiers that had been brave enough to stay on the upper deck. Juno leapt down and grasped Alura’s wrist. “Fight the soldiers if you want, but I think it would be more prudent if we found the other guy - the one who the cannon dragged off. It’s up to you.”
The half-Saiyan, meanwhile, leapt over to the pride of the Queen’s Navy and leapt onto their netting, glancing at the captain, who had not yet involved himself in the battle. Slowly, he realized he was being watched, and his eyes rolled over to Juno.
“You’re not really an officer in the Royal Navy, are you?” Juno asked, a smirk on his face. The red-headed man’s eyes lit up, if only slightly.
“Nah,” he muttered, with a chuckle, “And I’m guessing you’re not either. Far too impressive to be a scurvy pirate.” The black-haired boy slipped through the netting and landed down on the non-ruined part of the deck. “Trafford. Ace Trafford, if you want,” the navy man said.
“The name’s Juno,” the black-haired pirate replied, and continued. “Ha. Captain Ace Trafford,” the half-Saiyan chuckled, “It’s got a certain ring to it.”
“Don’t I know it,” the captain of the Queen’s Navy ship replied.
“I guess we’ve got to fight now,” Juno stated, as if it wasn’t obvious that this game was meant to eventually force them into competition. Trafford stepped down from the rail and chuckled before swinging his sword up in a surprise attack that the Foresight user easily predicted. The fortuneteller brought his own blade up to meet Trafford’s, and the other man smiled.
“Impressive,” Ace complimented. Juno chortled a bit, smirking at his opponent before voicing a sarcastic reply.
“Don’t I know it.”
Quote:Opportunity: Does Juno take the helm and crash into the other ship?
Yes.