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[SL the Pyro]

As Shadow landed himself and an empty barrel on shore, he heard heated yelling from atop the ship. He shook his head; his workmates were still arguing. As he proceeded after Kitsune he thought, "If they aren't done by the time I get back, so help me Diel..." "H-Hey Kitsune, wait up!" he called out to the half-demon, wanting to get away from the transpiring situation before he was dragged into it. Just for fun and to allieviate boredom, he turned the barrel on its side, hopped on top of it and ran backwards on it to propel himself forwards.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 15 July 2008 - 08:23 PM.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

It was not long after going through the treeline that Ken noticed a small pond in the distance. He called everyone over to follow his lead, and soon they could behold the small body of water. Ken cupped his hands and kneeled at the pool to get a taste--it was freshwater alright, but moore importantly though, there was a small trickle of the stuff leading into the pond.

"There must be some kind of lake on this island..."

Ken followed the small trickle up, though it never got much bigger than a foot across or an inch deep. Eventually though, the sound of lapping water other than from the ocean became clear.

Ken ran up past the increasingly thicker treeline, eventually pushing a branch out of the way to reveal a view of a lake. The wind blew through the area, waving the water a bit, but otherwise it was undisturbed.

"Well, come on in," Ken spoke, waving the others over.

He kept the branh up and out of the way as the rest of the landing party came through. He let the branch go however, when Ransom come through last, the tree branch slapping the poor winged fellow in the face.

[Tseb]

It was a simple task for Tseb to start filling the water barrels. A few second of concentration and several streams of water lifted off of the surface of the lake, running into the barrels. It wouldn't take long to fill them the streams where strong.

Except that the cabin boys had decided to start a splash fight.... and broke his streams.

"You two get away from those streams, and senior cabin umm boy? can you keep them occupied?"

Tseb restarted the barrel filling streams, and kept an eye on the cabin boys making sure they didn't do anything pointless or stupid.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow turned on his heel; indeed, those two bubling idiots were still fighting. "What the hell? They're supposed to be on the ship." Shadow said to Tseb as he walked by him.

"You want me to drown you!?"

"I dare you!"

The two cabin boys were so preoccupied with each other that they failed to notice Shadow looming over them with his hands over their heads. In one swift motion he clasped their scalps and dunked them underwater. They thrashed quite a bit, though Shadow made sure to release them before they drowned.

"Dude, what the hell!?"

"Both of you, knock it off right now!" Shadow scolded. "Just what the hell is your problem? You're as bad as the Ken and Ransom!"

"Don't look at me, he started it!" the fat boy said.

"Liar!" the thin boy said.

"I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED IT, I'LL FINISH IT!" Shadow roared. The boys immediately shut up, cowering backward. "Do you two think this is a party cruise? We're on an important mission here! NO mission calls for people who do nothing but argue and beat each other up! If I were employing you, I would fire you!"

The thin boy suddenly smiled. "Except I'M employing YOU."

"And you'd have no idea what to do if it weren't for me, so firing me isn't in your best interest." Shadow countered. The thin boy went quiet again. "Both of you, grab a barrel that Tseb filled and take it back to the ship. If you're lucky, the Captain won't abandon you here." Both boys paled at the thought if being left here all alone. "GO!" Immediately the boys scampered out of the lake, grabbed a filled barrel and ran for the ship.

Letting out a strangled sigh, Shadow was about to turn around and approach Tseb when his arm suddenly convulsed. He bit back a scream of pain and fell to his knees. He looked at where the pain was shooting through his arm; it was where he put a makeshift bandage on, when he'd nicked himself on Ken's sword a little while back. Tearing off the bandage, he saw that his wound was glowing. It was a mixture of blue and red...

Wait, this had happened once before. Didn't getting slashed up by Steel's magical sword produce a wound similar to this one? Except Steel's attack was considerably wider. This was only a scratch... but when Shadow touched it, it produced the exact same effect. Light shone out of his body, a mixture of grey and purple; it was bright enough to briefly blind anyone nearby. At this Shadow yelped, a bit surprised at the suddenl surge of immense power that went through his body. When his vision returned to his now-silver eyes... all his surroundings were a calm blue, except for living things; they appeared as golden; except for Tseb who was tinted with green and bright-blue, and Ken who was tinted white. Ken's large sword was completely white. And... when he looked down onto the island, he saw more bright gold, dull but slowly getting brighter...

He was suddenly filled with a sense of alarm. If some things appeared as different colours than dark blue, then...

Shadow shook his head, successfully dispersing the power and the light, his vision returning to normal and his eyes turning back into a cold blue. He collapsed forward in exhaustion, panting.

He cursed in his mind; that had just happened in front of the whole search party. They were gonna want answers, and Shadow didn't have them...

Edited by Shadow_Link, 17 July 2008 - 07:28 PM.

[Steel Samurai]

Steel was bored. The water collecting crew had been gone for far too long, and there was nothing to do. Except, of course, to boss around the remaining crew members.

"Sailor, get that damn sail shipshape or I'll give ye yer intestines fer garters."

"Swab that deck ye miserable scum, or you'll hang from the yard-arm before the day is done!"

"Polish my boots, yew miserable low-life maggot."

"Salt that pork or I'll feed you to the half-demon when he gets back!"

"What in the name of Neptune's Knickers is this hatch doing open? Batten it down instantly!"

Even that grew boring after awhile, and Steel decided to retire to his cabin and get some sleep. He began to dream.


* * * *

He was climbing a rope. Up the side of a steep steep cliff. The large, fat crewman was above him, carrying 3 other people, the Hispanic looking crewman, a short balding man, and something in a dress. Steel was unsure as to why he was unable to catch up to them, he had been climbing ropes like this since he was a stripling, but he gained on them only slowly. They reached the top, and Steel heard a knife sawing through the rope. This was retarded. He grabbed onto the nearby rocks and quickly climbed to the top. All were gone except the Hispanic.

"I thought I would have to toss you a rope or something."

"What? That was like the most jagged cliff ever. Did you not see how many convenient hand holds and footholds there were? It was like climbing a bloody flight of stairs. I have no idea why I was even on the rope to begin with."

The Spaniard shrugged.

"Ok. Come on, we have to fight."

"What? Why?"

"Because You are after the Princess, and I was hired to stop anyone from taking her."

"Right." So. He was after the princess. "Which princess was this again?"

"What? She's just a generic princess, you think they have names?"

"Ah. Ok." Steel accepted this. "So are we going to fight or what?"

"En guard!" The Spaniard took up a fencing stance, his foil pointed at Steel's heart.

Steel's odachi flashed in the sun, and the Spaniard sunk to the ground, blood gushing out of a rather large gash running across his chest.

"Dammit . . . I should've used my right hand." The man expired.

Steel left the rocky area, which was lit quite strangely. He came into a boulder-y field with many large granite blocks scattered around. A large rock suddenly crashed into the ground at his feet. The large, fat crew member stepped out from behind one of the large blocks. Wait. How had that even hidden him? Oh well. The man was obviously hostile, though his aim was horrible. Steel leapt towards him and plunged a dagger into his chest before he could throw another of those bigass rocks at him. They would've seriously hurt if they'd managed to hit him. He leaned down to the giant's chest and listened. The hell? The brute was still alive. Steel pulled his dagger out of the man's chest. Apparently it had sunk all the way into one of his large . . . man-boobs. Ew. Steel slit his throat and turned to go.

"Sleep well, and dream of large women. Not that you'll ever be waking up."

The next set, I mean area was a grassy field on the edge of a mountain. The princess had a bag over her head, and the short bald man was sitting at a table, with two wine glasses and wine on top of it. The hell? What idiot brought a table out here and left it? And he was quite sure no one had been carrying any wine or wine glasses up the cliff.

"Apparently I'm here for the Princess."

"Stop!" The bald man said. "Go no further, or I'll slit her throat."

Steel stopped.

"You've beaten my Spaniard, so you must be very skilled, and you've beaten my giant, so you must be very strong. I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains."

Well. This man was a pompous ass. "Right. So I'm supposed to challenge you to a game of wits or something, right?" That was how things generally worked in these kinds of dreams, right?

"Ever heard of Socrates? Plato? Aristotle?"

"No, actually."

"Moro . . . wait, what? You really haven't heard of them?"

"Should I have?"

"Well they're only the most famous philosophers of all time."

"Right. Whatever. Let's just get on with it. What do I have to do to win this battle of wits?"

The bald man looked confused.

"Wha? Buh? You mean I have to think of the contest? Aren't? Who? GAhhhh!"

"What, you expected me to just come up with a suitable battle of wits on the spot like that? Seriously. That's really expecting too much."

"Oh fine. You don't happen to have any poison or anything on you, do you?"

Steel looked down at what he was wearing. A black costume with a leather belt and a black mask.

"Does it look like I have anywhere to keep a vial of poison? What, you expect me to just magically make it appear out of thin air? Even if I did have some, wouldn't it have been broken during the rather copious amount of fighting I just did?"

"Gah! I'll have to think about this one." The bald man put his chin on his fist, resting his elbow on the table, and stared off into space. Suddenly, he leapt to his feet.

"I've got it! Ahah, ahahahahah, ahahahaha! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! AHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAH!" Steel's dagger suddenly grew out of his forehead. The man grinned and fell stiffly off of his chair. The princess was his. Steel walked up to her and pulled the bag off of her head. What the hell? At first he thought it was that Zora from the Lost Woods, Toan, but as he looked closer, he realized who it truly was, and screamed at the sight of that ugly purple hair and stupid-looking face. The image of that person in a long flowing dress, apparently having received breast implants was too much for his mind to handle. Steel fell backwards, screaming, a kaleidescope of colors surrounding him.

* * * *

Steel awoke in a cold sweat. He shuddered. That image would stay burned into his mind for the rest of his life, he was sure of it. He rolled out of his sparse hammock and pulled on some clothes. He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been asleep, but the water crew should have been well and truly back by now. Steel stretched and went out onto the deck. He closed his eyes and checked the area briefly. Hmm. The stowaway was staying hidden very well. He might send Shadow Link after her later. Wait. Shadow Link. Steel shuddered again. Brandy. That's what he needed. Something to steady his nerves. He reached underneath his pillow and got out a small skeleton key, and went over to the cupboard above his desk. The key turned in the lock and the door swung open. Hmm. 2 BDW was an excellent year. The cork popped out of the bottle and Steel poured himself a glass. He looked out of the plate glass window next to the cupboard. Out there, somewhere, was that bastard. He took a sip from the brandy. Ahh. That was a good brandy. But, dammit, it was no fun drinking alone. Where was that damn fly-boy and half-demon when you needed them? Oh well. Soon they would be able to intersect the Sultan, and he could finally put a close to this joke of a mission.


OOC: Guys, I'm going to go ahead and move things along. If there was aught you wished to finish up on the Island, then by all means do so, but we need to get this show on the road.

One week later

The massive sails of the Sultan peeked over the top of the horizon. The blind-mute had seen them only a couple hours ago. Steel assembled the crew on the main deck. Right.

"All of the NPCs will take this ship back to Almirante. The rest of us will surreptitiously board the Sultan, assassinate the captain, and follow you back. Any questions?"

The Spaniard raised his hand.

"Hello. My Name is . . ." Steel's dagger appeared in his chest.

"No one questions my orders. Anyone else? No? Good."

Steel got into the jolly boat. They would row over to the nearby island, and then swim or fly onto the ship when the night was at its darkest.

[JRPomazon]

A mid-size ship, painted a brilliant white sailed the ocean for a good 5 days, looking for the ship known as the Sultan. Inquired information told that the ship was headed towards this area in the near future, but when and where were anyone's guess. But still, a general area was better than nothing. However, the ship wasn't going to reach the location, in fact it never was going to the location in the first place. According to the records, it was still sitting in an Alliance port in Hatena on the other side of the world. The plan was simple: to get close enough to deploy one soldier and head back for the mainland. Not too difficult to comprehend.

The ship came to a halt, still in the water rocking gently on the waves. The crew looked on as a man wearing green armor left the captain's quarters and headed for the side of the ship. On his right shoulder guard, he bore a white mark that appeared to be some sort of skull design. The crew began to lower one of the life boats, but the man raised his hand, signaling that there to be not need for the boat. The crew looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he was going to do. He took out his glaive, a spear weapon with a large blade, holding the large weapon in his hand. He bent his knees a little and leaped into the air at an astonishing speed. In less than a second, he was 30 meters (90 feet) away from the ship. The next few seconds past and he was almost out of sight, the crew dumbfounded as to what had just happened in front of their own eyes.

Using his weapon to constantly propel him forward by slashing the air around him and creating an air current for him to travel, Jordan of the Whirlwind Spear had begun his mission: Find the ship known as the Sultan and destroy a log of various information on behalf of the Alliance. The only rule Jordan had to follow was that failure wasn't an option in this particular mission, so he'd better not mess this up.

He maintained his speed for several minutes until noticed a small row boat heading towards a small island. Figuring that they might know something about the Sultan, he decided to head over to the island that they were heading, to cut them off and intercept them later and rest from the strain of traveling at a high speed for an extended period of time. Like a sudden gust of wind, he passed by the small craft and landed on the island moments later. When he landed, the sand under his feet was blown meter in every direction. Jordan took his weapon and placed it back in it's sling and walked towards a dense crowd of trees, to stay out of sight.

[SL the Pyro]

(Where are Ken, Ransom, Tseb, Kitsune and nameless? We need to get things rolling.)

--------------------

"What!?" Shadow thought, his eyes widening in surprise at Steel's orders. He turned around to hide his reaction. "I thought for sure Steel would return a ship as valuable as the Sultan straight to the Fortress... dammit, he'll kick me off as soon as we're back to Almirante." He was about to voice his opinion about why the ship should be returned straight to the Fortress, until Steel killed the Spanyard who was about to question him.

Shadow shuddered and surpressed a growl; for a moment, he wondered if Steel suspected that he was up to something and wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible... then again, Steel would probably want him out of his hair as soon as possible regardless of the circumstances.

But whatever Steel's reason for the order was irrelevant; Shadow's plan for infiltrating the Fortress was ruined. Now he needed to find another way... he might as well head back with the other mercenaries to save himself some ti--

Shadow's thoughts short-circuited, his sixth magic sense acting up at a familiar presence nearby. A powerful gust of wind blew, almost knocking Shadow off his feet. He turned quickly to the island that the gust was headed for.

"Familiar energy and wind... that's gotta be Jordan. But what the hell is he doing here?" Shadow wondered... wait, wasn't Jordan a member of the Fortress now? A smirk formed on Shadow's lips; perhaps things weren't hopeless after all.

He hopped down into the jolly boat alongside the others, planning to ditch them as soon as they hit shore. Both out of curiousity of why he was here and the possibility that he could get him to the Fortress somehow -- hell, Shadow figured he made it all the way here on wind-jiuce, since didn't see a nearby ship for him to lift off from -- he wanted to find Jordan first, on his own.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 25 July 2008 - 06:03 PM.

[Tseb]

Tseb boarded the small row boat and started preparing magics they might need when they attempted to board the ship.


(OOC: Sorry I haven't had internet for awhile.)

[nameless]

OOC: ok sorry i have dial up so i dont get on much very very sorry.

Previously....

The water crew had returned and the ship had set sail. Nanashi had been getting nervous, she didn't know if these ruthless pirates would let her stay or not, and she was questioning her decision to get on this bloody ship.

"Dang i had to go and pick this ship didn't I, why did i pick this ship........."

Right about then two vary large crewmen step out from behind some boxes and grabbed Nanashi.

"What the heck?? where are you taking me?? get off"

She started kicking the pirates.

"Let go let go let go let goooooo"

They dragged her above deck and where headed for the captains cabin when one of the officers stopped them.

"The cap'n is sleepin and said not to bother him somit about needin sleep cause'o some bloody nightmares, So what seems to be the problem?"

"Well sir we had to order to go and get this stowaway from the hold, we were gonna report to the cap'n, but you will do i guess" said one of the large crew mates.

"Stowaway? you mean the tike that you've been holding all this time" He looked at Nanashi

"She don't look much of a threat to me, throw her over"

"Aye aye"

As the pirates walked towards the side Nanashi was thinking hard.

"Crap I didn't think this would happen, how do i get out of this." It came to her, she would have to fight.

Quickly she swung her whole body up and aimed a kick at one of the pirates noses, she hit, it broke,he fell, and the other pirate looked shocked, he let go and went for his sword, but Nanashi was faster, she pulled her katana with the sheath still on out of her belt and jumped up into the air, she swung her sword hard and came down on the pirates head, rendering him unconscious.

The officer had seen the whole thing, and stood there dumbly looking at the little girl standing in front of him.

Nanashi walked over to him and drew her sword pointing it at him. "I want to talk to the captain, ok?"


OOC: dont know how this is gonna work out but i guess steel will figure it out

Edited by nameless, 26 July 2008 - 04:29 PM.

[JRPomazon]

The island was desolate, devoid of all any animals or insects. After searching the island, the only food Jordan could actually find was a few pieces of fruit on a half dead tree. He took what he could and kept in in his pouch, he would need all the strength he could muster. He climbed to the highest point on the small island to see what was around the general area. The small rowboat and the larger Fortress ship were still a ways away. Steel was leading the mission against the Sultan, what was he thinking not using his ship? Steel was notorious for stealth, but he would need more than quick feet and shadows to take the Sultan down. He needed sheer power.

Jordan took a telescope from his pouch and looked on to the east, where he could see a small dot on the horizon. That dot however was a massive warship with enough cannons to destroy even the most defended of ports. What Steel didn't count on was the fact that the Sultan became stronger and better fortified with every victory and every successful attack. It was several hours away from his current location, giving Jordan and everyone else who wanted to get on that ship enough time to either plan something out or pray. Jordan already knew what he had to do. He would remain hidden, biding his time and when the moment arrived take his chance and obtain the prize on that ship. Whatever Steel wanted to do to the ship and his crew was of no matter to him. However, Jordan had to prepare himself for anything. If anyone was going to get in his way, trying to prevent him from completing his mission, he would have no choice but to strike them down.

[Steel Samurai]

The jolly boat scraped against the rough sand of the beach. Steel leapt out and pulled it up above the high water mark. He closed his eyes and let his senses expand. Jordan? What the hell was he doing here? If he did anything rash, it could ruin the entire operation. On the other hand, his presence could aid them tremendously. Time enough to worry about that later. Steel set his plan into action.
"Tseb. I want the boat cloaked. Ken, take Kitsune, Shadow Link, and Nanashi and begin building a signal fire. Ransom, go tell Jordan that I want to talk to him. He should be on that hill over there."

Steel had allowed the little stowaway to come with them, under the provision that she not get in anyone's way and help as much as she could. Normally he made stowaways walk the plank, but it was somewhat hard to do that when an 8 year old looks at you with big eyes.

His plan was simple. Those now building the signal fire would light it and, when the sailors came to investigate, would claim to be mutineers from a Fortress warship sent to hunt the Sultan down who had been marooned. Jordan would simultaneously assault the ship from the other side, giving Steel a chance to swim out and climb into the ship and kill the captain. The "mutineers" would likely be put in the brig, which Ransom would already have infiltrated at the same time as Steel. Jordan would hold off his attack until the captain had been found, and then both he and Tseb would renew the attack, at which point Ransom would open the brig and let the prisoners out, allowing them to take the crew by surprise. Originally Tseb was to have been the one to provide the diversion, but Jordan's superior maneuverability meant that he now had the job, assuming he would help them.

Everything seemed to be ready. The only thing left was to talk to Jordan, and then wait.

[JRPomazon]

Steel's party had landed on the shores. Would it be wise to encounter them? No, they had their own agenda. His mission and Steel's objectives could clash, creating a nasty bit of conflict. So then what, stay in the shadows? What was the sense in that, Steel and Shadow probably knew he was here, they could sense these kinds of things. Why bother to hide when it wouldn't make a lick of difference? Jordan resigned from his hiding and decided to encounter the arriving party. A few minutes later, a gust of wind blew past the arriving landing party. Jordan had landed a few feet away. He began to walk towards the crowd, his hand ready to call his spear from its sling if need be.

"So, it seems that you have a death wish or an issue with overconfidence. Either way, I assumed you would like to speak with me." Jordan said.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow muttered something about "building a fire being a waste of his talents" before turning around and starting to walk away. He then heard a familiar voice.

"So, it seems that you have a death wish or an issue with overconfidence. Either way, I assumed you would like to speak with me."

He spun around; it appeared that Jordan didn't need to be sought out, he'd came right to them. He must've known that hiding from Shadow or Steel was an exercise in futility. Nonetheless, this saved Shadow the trouble of defying orders and searching for Jordan himself. But he still needed to get him alone... they both had plans that weren't part of the original mission, that he was sure of; it was obvious that Jordan had an agenda of his own, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to elude Steel in the first place, he would've been sailing on the ship with him.

Shadow needed to get Jordan alone at some point, before the attack on the Sultan began. Steel was probably going to talk to Jordan about a few things, though, so Shadow figured he'd get to work on the signal fire while waiting. He drew his sword and started hacking off some right-sized tree limbs...

Edited by Shadow_Link, 27 July 2008 - 10:04 AM.

[Steel Samurai]

"So, it seems that you have a death wish or an issue with overconfidence. Either way, I assumed you would like to speak with me."

Steel looked up from his study of the terrain of the small cove where he anticipated the Sultan would land.

"Oh, good, you saved me the trouble of having someone find you. Come, I could use your help here. Why exactly are you here anyway? I thought you were wandering around the Alliance. Never mind, tell me later." Steel explained his plan. "Are you in?"

[JRPomazon]

"I've got some business on the Sultan myself, so I suppose lending a hand couldn't hurt." Jordan said, a worn smile showing on his face.

After discussing a few things with Steel, keeping away from the issue as to why he was here. Probably best that it wasn't mentioned until later. Jordan walked over to the recently created fire and sat next to the flame. As he looked on at the fire, he dozed off for the first time in days. He would need all the rest he could get for Steel's plan. Hopefully, someone would wake him when he was needed.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow threw another couple of sticks onto the signal fire and sat down beside Jordan, boringly taking a long stick and stirring the sticks to keep the fire burning strong. Looking out to sea, he saw the Sultan out in the distance, the sails of the warship very slowly turning in their direction. "Well, they're coming... it's still gonna be a few hours before they get here though." he thought. He looked around, seeing that everyone else was either not at the immediate area or was sound asleep, resting and/or getting ready for the mission.

Well, this was probably the only chance he'd get to speak with Jordan without anyone eavesdropping.

"Hey, Jordan. You alive?" Shadow asked in a quiet tone, loud enough for Jordan to hear, but quiet enough to not disturb anyone else.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 27 July 2008 - 04:21 PM.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan woke up after a total amount of 4 seconds of rest.

"Shadow, now isn't the best time." He said, yawning rather loudly.

"But since I'm up, what do you want?" He asked, quietly enough for no one to pay attention to the conversation.

Shadow had that familiar gleam in his eye, the kind of look one has when they are plotting something and are up to no good. It seems that Jordan wasn't the only one here with a personal agenda.

Edited by JRPomazon, 27 July 2008 - 11:46 PM.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow kept stirring the fire up as he spoke. "Sorry to disturb your rest, but we won't get a chance to talk after this is over, I'm sure." he told Jordan, still speaking quietly. "Obviously we're both here for our own personal goals, so I figured we might be able to help each other out."

He tossed the stick into the signal fire when he was done with it.

"To put it simply, I need to get into the Fortress undetected. I was hoping to ride the Sultan straight there, but Steel seems to have his priorities mixed up, since he isn't returning the most powerful warship in the Fortress' employ to its rightful home."Shadow looked at Jordan. "Then you came along, and I thought you might be able to help if it doesn't bother your plans too much... what are they, exactly?"

Edited by Shadow_Link, 28 July 2008 - 01:44 PM.

[JRPomazon]

"My plans?" Jordan asked.

"My 'plans' are something that you'd probably be better off not knowing. Knowing alone cause far too much stress in my opinion.'

Just remembering what his mission was gave Jordan a headache. Jordan leisurely threw a small twig in the fire.

"I don't see why Steel wouldn't take you to the Fortress. I mean, the war's been over for a while now and hostility is pretty much on a personal level. Unless I'm told that it's some sort of taboo to bring you back, I suppose I could help you."

Jordan was beginning to fall asleep again.

"I'm going to black out for a while, I'd appreciate it if you woke me when operations commence."

He fell asleep in no time at all, drifting off into a world of dreams and rest. A disturbing vision appeared before Jordan, a realm of pitch black skies and pale land. Jordan slowly floated down, the white sandy ground forming under his feet as he descended towards the recently created solid surface. As the large chunk of mass shaped, another form appeared from the black atmosphere. A man stood before Jordan, wearing a gray cloak and a hood that covered most of his face. Only a sinister, ghastly smile could be seen on his face. As Jordan's expression became disfigured with fear, he realized that a ghost from the past had come back to haunt his dreams.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow narrowed his eyes at Jordan. He usually kept to himself, but he was only quiet about big things. Shadow didn't like being kept in the dark about big things... especially since it had been happening a lot lately.

This secret plot by the Alliance involving the Princess was unnerving enough. Normally his assignments had all of the details included in written form, it was a prerequisite that Shadow himself made, or he simply wouldn't do the mission. And he was too valuable for the Alliance to lose. But what he'd seen back at the island after the peace talks... it made him question his orders greatly. Not only had he been given false information, but should the General's plan come to fruition, it could start an entirely new war.

It unnerved him further that Jordan was leaving him in the dark, especially since Jordan didn't really keep secrets unless they were big ones; after he'd been found on the Fortress the first time, he was pretty open about the whole Crowe thing even. But this was different... not a good sign, in Shadow's opinion. But whatever it concerned was probably on the Sultan. It was simply a matter of finding it first, in that case. Good thing since he had a head-start. And if Steel said he was defying orders... well, he'd just say he was getting rid of any mutineers hiding below decks. It'd probably wind up being true, anyway...

Letting out a frustrated groan, Shadow layed on his back and waited. There was just too much he didn't know about this whole damned fiasco.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 28 July 2008 - 05:31 PM.

[Tseb]

Tseb looked at the long boat, Tseb looked at the Sultan. Tseb contemplated the various long and complicated ways one could go about cloaking a long boat, creating a reflective mist to make it impossible to see anything in the area, calling up a fog around the island. He couldn't make a real illusion since it would require countless tiny droplets of water all refracting the light in very particular ways to make it look like there was no boat, which meant way to much time and way to much energy. The fog might make it hard for the sultan to see the fire, and make them less likely to investigate. So he decided that the simplest way would be to sink it, so he did, he pushed the boat out far enough that it wouldn't be seen and the water would be harder to see through and then made the surrounding ocean flow up the sides and sink the boat. He could easily un-submerge the boat if they needed it again or if Steel didn't want to leave it behind.

He then began creating foci to use in the upcoming battle. They weren't complicated but they took several hours to set up.

[JRPomazon]

Nightmares are usually frightening experiences. The subconscious displays various horrid images and the view is left helpless in the wake of one's own mind. Jordan was re-learning just how frightening nightmares could be. The hooded man in the gray cloak also known as the wraith Crowe appeared before Jordan, his sickening smile just revolting as it was when the wraith was among the living. Jordan regained his composure, reading himself for anything. He didn't know if he was in a dream or not, most dreamers have no clue as to whether or not they are dreaming until they wake up.

"Good to see you Jordan." The hooded man Crowe said.

"So, I must be in a nightmare. That's the only reason I can think of that explains why you are here you filthy monstrosity. " Jordan said.

Crowe laughed.

"I'll keep this brief: The winds are going to change. I'll see you at the big event."

Jordan woke up, drenched in a cold sweat. The fire had died down to a small flame, Shadow was laying on the ground looking at the sky. Jordan remembered something just as he got up from his resting spot. When being briefed for his mission on the vessel he was traveling on, he was able to catch up with current affairs within the Alliance and nearby countries. Something eventually came up about that princess that Steel had 'escorted' a few months before the war.

"Hey Shadow, want to hear something amusing?" He asked as he looked at the dying fire.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow's eyes moved over to look at Jordan, not sitting up. "Sure."

[nameless]

Nanashi came back with more sticks for the fire, after throwing them on she sat down to watch the fire being revived slightly. She noticed Shadow Link and Jordan talking, "I wonder if they are friends" she thought, "Well nows not the time to worry about that i need to be thinking about the upcoming battle we all face". She had been in her fare share of battles but she still hadn't fully gotten used to them yet and always had that feeling of dread mixed with the longing to fight, "I should warm up a bit", she got up and drew he sword and started swinging at air, "Left, head, lunge, right, up swing, downswing", She continued for a bit longer and then decided to get some rest.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan continued to gaze into the fire, his eyes were fixated by the recently nurtured flame.

"I remember hearing some things when I was coming over here, or was it a little before. They were talking about that night in Van'Duras, the night the labyrinth attacked and left the city in shambles. Then they started talking about that princess Steel had with him. Apparently, she plays quite the key figure in the unity between Uradiel and Vanadiel. Didn't know that when I first met her, then again, I really didn't pay much interest in that woman. Anyway, they were talking about some conspiracy theory about some General possibly planning to kill Steel's lady-friend and causing a big ruckus. Although I can't say conspiracy is my favorite topic of conversation, I have to say it's more interesting when people you know are involved. However, if there is someone after her life for the sake of causing a war, they'd have to get into the Forsaken Fortress to do so and I know for a fact that the bloody idiot would have to do one of two things: Burst in and hope the number of pirates are not greater than his own ranks or bribe us to get rid of the damsel."

He turned over to Shadow.

"Personally, DarkJuno and Steel know how valuable she is and will set a high price if bribery is the method of choice. And if they try the first option, well. . . they might as well give us their height for the coffins we'll give them. I can't say I'm positive whether or not what I heard is credible, but I think checking up on the situation would be a good idea."

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow's eyes were wide as he listened to Jordan's every word. And he called this amusing?

"I'm afraid it might be more credible than you think..." Shadow said angrily. "After the peace talks, a couple of Uradiel soldiers came by personally and showed me info hinting at what you just said." He sighed. "It's just what I was afraid of; someone wants to start a new war... damnit all. Vanadiel is still having troubles because of that Van'Duras attack; if that faction of the Alliance collapses, the other nations are going to go into an all-out brawl for their land."

A disturbing thought entered Shadow's mind.

"Oh... shit..." he cursed. "You work at the Fortress now, what do you think the chances are that the Fortress might stage something to get the Alliance into a civil war again?"

Edited by Shadow_Link, 31 July 2008 - 07:40 PM.

[JRPomazon]

"You work at the Fortress now, what do you think the chances are that the Fortress might stage something to get the Alliance into a civil war again?"

Jordan placed his hand on his head, scratching his scalp as his thoughts were gathered.

"Depends really. I mean, the Fortress loves to screw with the Alliance from time to time. Hell, screwing with the Alliance is why I'm here in the first place. However, I don't think. . . or rather I'd like to think that the Forsaken Fortress has better things to do than to start a senseless war. That's something I'd suspect the Labyrinth of doing. Now that I think about it, the labyrinth has their men everywhere nowadays, it would be easy for them to persuade if not pull the strings to any major decision made by the Forsaken Fortress."

Little did Jordan know, a man had been watching him the entire time he was with the rest of Steel's men. He kept his distance, avoided contact and kept to himself.

"If you really want to look into this affair, make a deal with Steel. I hear if you hand over your weapons and enter as a normal citizen, you might be able to wander around the Fortress as a special guest. I can't say I'm positive about that arrangement either."

Jordan looked to the sea.

"Whens the ship coming here anyway?"

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow turned his head to look out to sea, his eyes seeing the ship now closer, but still a fair distance away. "Unless the wind picks up in the right direction... a couple of hours at least."

He then chuckled at Jordan's idea.

"Yeah, I doubt Steel will just let me in the Fortress; even without a full arsenal, he trusts me about as far as he can throw me." he said. "A special guest at the Fortress, after all their missions I ruined... not in a million years, but it's a beautiful thought."

[Steel Samurai]

OOC: For reference, a crudely drawn map of the island. Not Dragon Lords quality, obviously.

Steel looked at the quickly approaching ship, and then at the sun. It was time.

"Positions everyone. You all know your parts."

He padded across the sand of the south beach into the thick undergrowth, motioning for Ransom to follow him. Finally time to kill this bastard.

The Sultan finally made anchor in the cove, and a large number of pirates swarmed into the jolly-boats and rowed to the island, carrying water barrels much as the Steel's crew had not too long ago. Pity about how that turned out really. Right on cue, they noticed the thin trail of smoke rising from the other side of the trees. Now for Jordan to do his thing, and Steel and Ransom could be about their business.

[JRPomazon]

"Well, shall we all being our descent into madness?" Jordan said to himself, acting far more philosophical for his own good.

The thing understand about Jordan was that he had abilities that allowed him to manipulate the air around him to serve his purposes. One of these purposes is the ability of flight, or rather jumping really high in the air and using the air currents in the sky to glide anywhere he wanted. Jordan leaped into the air, his two glaives in hand and ready for work. He jumped high into the air, at least 10 meters (30 feet) or so before he began his "flight" down. Being on the tallest point of the island added several dozen meters to how far up he ascended and would have no need to propel himself during his trip across the sea and onto the deck of the Sultan.

He went briskly through the air, his body a blur to untrained eyes. On the Sultan, a deckhand noticed that the wind was acting up, his bandanna blowing in the opposite direction it was previously. He thought it strange and looked out to sea, as if he would see the wind blowing at him. What he did find was a young man wearing green armor with two large polearm weapons smiling at him. The deckhand froze completely. Whilst admiring the large size of the ship, Jordan swung his glaive and created a gust of wind that blew the sailor halfway across the ship and into one of the three masts. As the poor man's body made contact with the large wooden structure (shattering several parts of his backbone), the other pirates aboard noticed Jordan on the far end of the ship. This is where the fun begins.