03-10-2010, 03:23 AM
It was not as quiet and uneventful in the ship's cargo hold as Alura had originally thought. The musky smell of gunpowder only got stronger as the ship was slammed around like a toy on the strong waves that had grown outside. For a brief moment, the lizard-woman considered why she was even down, safe from the storm, the monster, the cannons and the brutal fighting up on the top deck. She had felt everything...from the vibrations of the waves hitting the wooden frame of the pirate vessel to the turbulence felt when the two boats rammed into each other. Every now and then, a gunshot blasted from above, keeping her on her toes.
Still, she was safer then she was up on top. That boy; the human. Juno. He had first risked innocent (well, maybe not innocent) lives by attacking the opposing Navy and then after one failure, causing another. The two boats rammed, and that was about the time that Alura made the boldest move yet.
She ran like a scared little girl.
The reptilian heir had rundown the stairs leading into one of the cabins, following the passage-way to the cargo hold where she holed up as the action brewed outside. She knew the sound of rain well enough, and the thunder was a good enough hint that the rainstorm was at it's peak. Even over all the chaos that was brought from above, she could still hear the screams of her captain and the roars of the bloodthirsty pirate crowd.
This wasn't where she should be. Something in her heart told her that she should have been up there, fighting like the rest of them rather then bouncing around a storage compartment like a piece of luggage. But she wasn't a warrior: not really. To be honest, she had yet to actually figure out why she was even picked for this virtual game, much less put on a pirate ship that she had no intention of defending. Even though in her scaly chest came the pulsing drive to go out and get right into the heat of the battle, her legs wouldn't move and her mind blocked out any thoughts of rebellion.
This was where she belonged. Hiding. That was all that she ever did. Hiding in the circus. Hiding in the temple. A warrior monk? Ha. Alura was a civilian casualty, caught up in the horrors of a chaotic world because of a lineage she didn't even want.
"Let's go, Pierre!" Came a noise from a floor above. The small-framed reptile looked up towards the door that connected the cargo hold from the rest of the third deck. Footsteps were coming fast, making Alura think of somebody looking for something. "The cargo hold is where we'll leave the dynamite!"
"I'm coming!" Came a gasping breath behind the first voice. "I was making sure nobody saw us go under!"
Alura quickly did what she did best: hide. Slinking into the corner behind a large shelf of oil barrels, the reptilian watched as two figures appeared in the room, one tall and lanky like her and the other slightly shorter but significantly larger. Both of them had the typical white wigs that she had known to be associated with the Royal Navy (she didn't know how she knew that, of course). The two soaked soldiers quickly shuffled over a bag that the skinny one was carrying.
Granted, the reptilian wasn't too familiar with human terms, but she knew what dynamite was.
"We're gonna blow this place to hell and back, Jacque," the bigger man was saying. "We're gonna make Captain Trafford so proud!"
"Stop your blubbering," Pierre said, "We're gonna be the ones getting blasted to the Locker if we set this off too soon."
That was enough to cause the big sailor to lose his grin and start to get serious with setting the dynamite down to the ground. Alura felt that familiar tingle that had tried to lure her out into the stormy fight above the hold. It was causing her to step forward, out from the corner. Her eyes started to light up with a crimson glow, her clawed hands hands balling into tight fists.
Nobody was blowing up Alura's Black Oyster. Regardless of how horrible the name was.
Caught up in the moment and unable to resist the urge to defend her prized pirate ship, the lizard-woman made a deliberate step forward so the creak in the wood would get the would-be demolition men's attention. The big one turned around first, but the girl was too quick, slamming a punch on his burly chest and wide jaw, then side-flipping the big man to the wooden floor. She may not have been a warrior, but she could fight.
"Die, foul beast!" The navy sailor shouted, bringing the unsheathed cutlass in his hand down towards her body. She quickly stepped sideways, allowing it to cut the air next to her. Alura brought her arm up to catch Pierre's, breaking his hold of the sword and grabbing it as it moved to the ground. The resulting swing of her arm brought the blade from one side of the tall man's neck to the other. He remained standing for a moment; his face riddled with shock as red liquid ooozed out of his mouth. There was a thud as his body hit the floor.
Then another when his head dropped.
Alura looked back at the terrified gaze of the big man. She probably looked like evil incarnate to a man that was taught that demons take many forms; especially one in a pirate outfit. She looked down at the stick of dynamite that had been left there, waiting to be detonated. The girl bent down and picked it up. "What are you doing?" Jacque asked, shuffling backwards on his bottom. "That's...that's very unstable!"
A shake feeling crept through her hand. One part of her wanted to grin evily and slice the man's face apart. The other part wanted to run away, breaking the spell that she was under. It seemed to real...she felt this pirate life was so...her.
"I'm an outcast because of what I look like and the things I can do," she said aloud to the terrified sailor, "The world has shunned me and gave me no chance for a normal life. But you know what?" She cocked her head to the side, speaking no longer from what this virtual game was feeding her and now speaking from her heart; her past. "I wouldn't have wanted a normal life even if I could have had it. Being a brigand isn't about stealing, wearing funny hats or speaking in code. It's freedom. No matter what you think of when you see me and regardless of how I'm judged, I know that in my heart I have a place to be accepted. I am a pirate of the Black Oyster and I'll see dead anyone who tries to take it down!"
As the Navy sword was raised up above her tall, scaly frame and her shirt revealed a tight blue stomach, the side of the ship blasted apart with tremendous force. With the impact came the rocking that brought her sideways against the many barrels oil. For a brief moment, she lost her line of sight with the fat sailor and scrambled to find him as the cargo shifted all over the room.
The water from the destroyed bulkhead poured in like a faucet into a sink. Alura jumped over one of the fallen crates and noticed the overweight Jacque trying to get out of the room, but she had jumped between him and his only exit. "You have to get out of my way!" He screamed, his face pale and flushed with shock. Behind him, the body of his partner was being picked up by the water that filled the room. "It's here! It's the monster!"
"What monster?" Alura asked, though she already knew the answer.
A small white tentacle-like figure rolled into the hole it had made near the bottom of the pirate vessel. Judging by the screams from above and the constant splintering of wood, it was safe to assume this wasn't the only breach the bulkheads had taken.
"You don't know?" Jacque asked in surprise. The monstrous tentacle raised up above him as he faced away, looking the blue princess dead in the eyes. "It's the Kraken."
Immediately as he spoke, the tentacle slammed towards him and wrapped around his body, giving him only a chance to muffle a yelp as he disappeared into the pool of water behind him. Alura instantly shot backwards and turned around in mid-air, scrambling up the stairs.
As if she was being chased, the sound of the ship's wall and floor breaking apart followed her, along with the constant piercings of more white limbs sticking into the shattering ship. The Kraken, as the big man had called it, was bringing the pirate ship down from the bottom, pulling it towards the ocean and taking down anyone who was fool enough to be on it at the time. The girl was scared again, no longer the brave pirate she was moments prior. She found her way up onto the main deck, and just barely lept to avoid being taken down with the stairs as they were broken by a suction-filled tentacle.
On the top deck, the first Alura saw was the body of a brave captain, one that had sailed on the Black Oyster for almost his entire fictional life. She paused for a moment, reflecting for him, and then ran into the current of the rain. The panic was strong, with most of the sailors and pirates retreating onto the opposite ship and seeming to put the fight on hold as the Kraken threatened to tear the Oyster apart.
Alura was one of the only living things on the deck. The rain continued to pour as she could feel the ship start to slant backwards, with it's stern being yanked into the water by the tremendous strength of the underwater beast. Alura could see one of the pirates she had sailed with being yanked off of the side of the ship, over the railing. She made her way to the bow, stumbling as the ship continued to rock.
Again, the vessel rocked as the waves hit it and the thunder crashed. She fell forward and just barely grabbed the front railing, holding the bow with one scaly grip. By now, the entire ship was pointed upwards, diagonal only slightly. The entire form was sticking up into the heavens above, with her body dangling towards the ocean threateningly.
"Alura!" Came a screech over the pounding of the rain. Her ears perked. Head turned. Innocent, terrified little-girl gaze glanced through the harshness of the foggy storm and made contact with a concerned pair of human eyes. It was the boy. Juno. Soaked blood on his clothing and a pained look in his eye as he helplessly watched her dangle. "Aluuurrrraaa!"
She looked away. Had to be strong. She had come too far; from a circus freak to the protector of a temple, to a virtual-world's prized pirate warrior. It wasn't that she was blue, or scaly, or a reptile or even a princess. She was a pirate. Whether this game was real or not...that much felt true.
The bow broke apart as another wave hit the ship, and the lizard-girl rolled down the tilted ship, towards the dragon-beast waiting for her in the waters below.
Still, she was safer then she was up on top. That boy; the human. Juno. He had first risked innocent (well, maybe not innocent) lives by attacking the opposing Navy and then after one failure, causing another. The two boats rammed, and that was about the time that Alura made the boldest move yet.
She ran like a scared little girl.
The reptilian heir had rundown the stairs leading into one of the cabins, following the passage-way to the cargo hold where she holed up as the action brewed outside. She knew the sound of rain well enough, and the thunder was a good enough hint that the rainstorm was at it's peak. Even over all the chaos that was brought from above, she could still hear the screams of her captain and the roars of the bloodthirsty pirate crowd.
This wasn't where she should be. Something in her heart told her that she should have been up there, fighting like the rest of them rather then bouncing around a storage compartment like a piece of luggage. But she wasn't a warrior: not really. To be honest, she had yet to actually figure out why she was even picked for this virtual game, much less put on a pirate ship that she had no intention of defending. Even though in her scaly chest came the pulsing drive to go out and get right into the heat of the battle, her legs wouldn't move and her mind blocked out any thoughts of rebellion.
This was where she belonged. Hiding. That was all that she ever did. Hiding in the circus. Hiding in the temple. A warrior monk? Ha. Alura was a civilian casualty, caught up in the horrors of a chaotic world because of a lineage she didn't even want.
"Let's go, Pierre!" Came a noise from a floor above. The small-framed reptile looked up towards the door that connected the cargo hold from the rest of the third deck. Footsteps were coming fast, making Alura think of somebody looking for something. "The cargo hold is where we'll leave the dynamite!"
"I'm coming!" Came a gasping breath behind the first voice. "I was making sure nobody saw us go under!"
Alura quickly did what she did best: hide. Slinking into the corner behind a large shelf of oil barrels, the reptilian watched as two figures appeared in the room, one tall and lanky like her and the other slightly shorter but significantly larger. Both of them had the typical white wigs that she had known to be associated with the Royal Navy (she didn't know how she knew that, of course). The two soaked soldiers quickly shuffled over a bag that the skinny one was carrying.
Granted, the reptilian wasn't too familiar with human terms, but she knew what dynamite was.
"We're gonna blow this place to hell and back, Jacque," the bigger man was saying. "We're gonna make Captain Trafford so proud!"
"Stop your blubbering," Pierre said, "We're gonna be the ones getting blasted to the Locker if we set this off too soon."
That was enough to cause the big sailor to lose his grin and start to get serious with setting the dynamite down to the ground. Alura felt that familiar tingle that had tried to lure her out into the stormy fight above the hold. It was causing her to step forward, out from the corner. Her eyes started to light up with a crimson glow, her clawed hands hands balling into tight fists.
Nobody was blowing up Alura's Black Oyster. Regardless of how horrible the name was.
Caught up in the moment and unable to resist the urge to defend her prized pirate ship, the lizard-woman made a deliberate step forward so the creak in the wood would get the would-be demolition men's attention. The big one turned around first, but the girl was too quick, slamming a punch on his burly chest and wide jaw, then side-flipping the big man to the wooden floor. She may not have been a warrior, but she could fight.
"Die, foul beast!" The navy sailor shouted, bringing the unsheathed cutlass in his hand down towards her body. She quickly stepped sideways, allowing it to cut the air next to her. Alura brought her arm up to catch Pierre's, breaking his hold of the sword and grabbing it as it moved to the ground. The resulting swing of her arm brought the blade from one side of the tall man's neck to the other. He remained standing for a moment; his face riddled with shock as red liquid ooozed out of his mouth. There was a thud as his body hit the floor.
Then another when his head dropped.
Alura looked back at the terrified gaze of the big man. She probably looked like evil incarnate to a man that was taught that demons take many forms; especially one in a pirate outfit. She looked down at the stick of dynamite that had been left there, waiting to be detonated. The girl bent down and picked it up. "What are you doing?" Jacque asked, shuffling backwards on his bottom. "That's...that's very unstable!"
A shake feeling crept through her hand. One part of her wanted to grin evily and slice the man's face apart. The other part wanted to run away, breaking the spell that she was under. It seemed to real...she felt this pirate life was so...her.
"I'm an outcast because of what I look like and the things I can do," she said aloud to the terrified sailor, "The world has shunned me and gave me no chance for a normal life. But you know what?" She cocked her head to the side, speaking no longer from what this virtual game was feeding her and now speaking from her heart; her past. "I wouldn't have wanted a normal life even if I could have had it. Being a brigand isn't about stealing, wearing funny hats or speaking in code. It's freedom. No matter what you think of when you see me and regardless of how I'm judged, I know that in my heart I have a place to be accepted. I am a pirate of the Black Oyster and I'll see dead anyone who tries to take it down!"
As the Navy sword was raised up above her tall, scaly frame and her shirt revealed a tight blue stomach, the side of the ship blasted apart with tremendous force. With the impact came the rocking that brought her sideways against the many barrels oil. For a brief moment, she lost her line of sight with the fat sailor and scrambled to find him as the cargo shifted all over the room.
The water from the destroyed bulkhead poured in like a faucet into a sink. Alura jumped over one of the fallen crates and noticed the overweight Jacque trying to get out of the room, but she had jumped between him and his only exit. "You have to get out of my way!" He screamed, his face pale and flushed with shock. Behind him, the body of his partner was being picked up by the water that filled the room. "It's here! It's the monster!"
"What monster?" Alura asked, though she already knew the answer.
A small white tentacle-like figure rolled into the hole it had made near the bottom of the pirate vessel. Judging by the screams from above and the constant splintering of wood, it was safe to assume this wasn't the only breach the bulkheads had taken.
"You don't know?" Jacque asked in surprise. The monstrous tentacle raised up above him as he faced away, looking the blue princess dead in the eyes. "It's the Kraken."
Immediately as he spoke, the tentacle slammed towards him and wrapped around his body, giving him only a chance to muffle a yelp as he disappeared into the pool of water behind him. Alura instantly shot backwards and turned around in mid-air, scrambling up the stairs.
As if she was being chased, the sound of the ship's wall and floor breaking apart followed her, along with the constant piercings of more white limbs sticking into the shattering ship. The Kraken, as the big man had called it, was bringing the pirate ship down from the bottom, pulling it towards the ocean and taking down anyone who was fool enough to be on it at the time. The girl was scared again, no longer the brave pirate she was moments prior. She found her way up onto the main deck, and just barely lept to avoid being taken down with the stairs as they were broken by a suction-filled tentacle.
On the top deck, the first Alura saw was the body of a brave captain, one that had sailed on the Black Oyster for almost his entire fictional life. She paused for a moment, reflecting for him, and then ran into the current of the rain. The panic was strong, with most of the sailors and pirates retreating onto the opposite ship and seeming to put the fight on hold as the Kraken threatened to tear the Oyster apart.
Alura was one of the only living things on the deck. The rain continued to pour as she could feel the ship start to slant backwards, with it's stern being yanked into the water by the tremendous strength of the underwater beast. Alura could see one of the pirates she had sailed with being yanked off of the side of the ship, over the railing. She made her way to the bow, stumbling as the ship continued to rock.
Again, the vessel rocked as the waves hit it and the thunder crashed. She fell forward and just barely grabbed the front railing, holding the bow with one scaly grip. By now, the entire ship was pointed upwards, diagonal only slightly. The entire form was sticking up into the heavens above, with her body dangling towards the ocean threateningly.
"Alura!" Came a screech over the pounding of the rain. Her ears perked. Head turned. Innocent, terrified little-girl gaze glanced through the harshness of the foggy storm and made contact with a concerned pair of human eyes. It was the boy. Juno. Soaked blood on his clothing and a pained look in his eye as he helplessly watched her dangle. "Aluuurrrraaa!"
She looked away. Had to be strong. She had come too far; from a circus freak to the protector of a temple, to a virtual-world's prized pirate warrior. It wasn't that she was blue, or scaly, or a reptile or even a princess. She was a pirate. Whether this game was real or not...that much felt true.
The bow broke apart as another wave hit the ship, and the lizard-girl rolled down the tilted ship, towards the dragon-beast waiting for her in the waters below.