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Post by starrea on Feb 21, 2020 17:43:29 GMT
Noelani ground her teeth as she waited for whatever preparations needed to be made to go ashore the island. In the meantime, her wrists had been tied together and attached by a short leash to the mast. Earlier, she had tried to slip her hands out but only managed to rub her skin raw. The rope around her wrists was tinged red from blood but it was dried now. Now, she sat on the ground, leaning against the mast and looking out to the sea. Even though she had had her legs for a couple of days, she was still unsteady and slow and clumsy.
She was assuming they would use a rowboat to get to shore, and that would be her easiest chance to get back into the water. The wind blew through her hair and her eyes searched the blue for any sign of her sisters. She was relying on their presence but she knew it was unlikely that she would see any of them before an attack. As soon as they saw a ship, they would have gone underwater.
Despite knowing that, Noelani was still anxious. Being aboard this pirate ship had been the worst experience of her life and she didn’t know what she was going to do if they forced her back onboard. All she needed to do was get back in the water. Once she back in the water, then she could focus on bringing the whole damn ship down.
She redirected her attention to look for Saoul and the navigator who would be accompanying her. She was restless and impatient to start moving and get off this damn ship.
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Post by rightasrain19 on Feb 26, 2020 17:16:02 GMT
Saoul dropped into the boat that would carry them to shore, assisting Nova in descending. He then clambered nimbly back up the ladder to the deck above and grabbed Noelani, who was still secured, and tossed her over his shoulder. “Sorry about this, truly.” He grunted, then began the descent once more into the rowboat. He settled Noelani on the floor, watching her warily. “Let’s just do what we have to do and then I’ll let you go, got it?”
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Post by Val on Feb 28, 2020 22:29:13 GMT
Nova landed nimbly in the rowboat and watched as Saoul carried the alleged mermaid down. She'd seen glimpses of her kind before, but never one that had been forced back into their human form. She remained alert as they prepared to depart from the ship. After all, she'd just regained her freedom and had no intentions of letting Noelani ruin that for her, "You do know she's plotting our death, Saoul?" she pointed out, not taking her eyes off the prisoner, "I don't think kindness is our best approach." Realistically, she never thought kindness was a good approach. Negotiation, however... "What do you want, mermaid? What can we give you in return for safe passage onto the island?" she questioned. She'd be damned if they were swarmed by pissed off mermaids the second they approached the shore.
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Post by starrea on Feb 29, 2020 17:13:26 GMT
As usual, no one communicated any part of what the fuck was going on to Noelani. Not that she was surprised, because she wasn’t exactly secretive about her motive to kill each and every one of them, but it was still incredibly frustrating nonetheless. Her eyes had been searching the waters for any sign of her sisters when her world suddenly tipped upside down and she was hanging off of the shoulder of Saoul. Her face twisted into a scowl and she briefly tried to kick before his arm secured her.
Before she knew it, they were descending into a row boat. She let out a hiss of pain as she unceremoniously dropped onto the floor of the rowboat, struggling to sit up with her hinds tied and the rocking of the boat. Her eyes snapped to the water - the ocean was literally just out of reach. She looked between her two companions and back at the water again. She would need to wait until they were both seated and distracted, but if she could get herself back into the water, then she would be okay. Her wrists were still tied, though, with a long rope-leash attached to them. It wouldn’t be easy to figure out how to free herself, but it would be better than being on land.
Noelani knew some of the creatures that inhabited the island but hadn’t interacted with many of them. From what she had seen, they usually didn’t take kindly to humans and she doubted they cared that she wasn’t one. That, combined with being restrained and barely functional on two legs, she would end up fighting for her life just as much as her two travel partners.
She raised an eyebrow at Nova’s words, cracking a grin, “To be fair, I don’t think I would go out of my way to kill him. I’m sure it’ll happen one way or another on this island without any help from me whatsoever.” She pretended to consider her next question and ended up just shrugging. Out of the two of them, Nova was the one who needed to die. There was a reason that this island was hidden from mankind. If Saoul ended up perishing as well, that would just be a bonus.
“So, which weapon do I get to have?”
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Post by rightasrain19 on Mar 4, 2020 20:53:44 GMT
"No weapons for you, unfortunately. You can understand why I can't let you have one. However, if you get us to shore, I'll give you my daggers." Saoul settled into the boat, eyeing Noelani with amusement. For such a hateful creature, he pitied her, and even found her amusing. He really hoped they all lived through this. He reached into his right boot, pulling out a beautiful, slender dagger that could do some serious damage in a fight. The other was tucked into his other boot. Saoul showed her the blade, letting it catch the light. "These are all yours the moment our feet hit the sand." He sheathed it again, taking up the oars. He glanced at Nova, feeling her chest tighten with worry. He hated that she was here, but he knew she could handle herself. "Now let's go," he grumbled and began to row, taking them closer to the island with every stroke.
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Post by Val on Mar 6, 2020 5:07:43 GMT
Nova narrowed her eyes at Noelani, annoyed by Saoul's apparent fondness of the captive. She had no idea what their history was, but Saoul was regarding her with far too much endearment for Nova's taste. Jealousy churned in her gut as they set off toward the island. Maybe Saoul just had a habit of fucking his prisoners. Catching his worried glance, she glared daggers at him and turned toward the front of the boat, focusing in on Noelani.
"If you're thinking about escaping, just know that I can always track you down," she informed the mermaid, noting her longing looks toward the water, "You can't hide from me." She took the moment to commit Noelani's face to memory. She knew the creature wanted her dead. Many people wanted her dead. But, with her newly earned freedom, death would have to wait.
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Post by starrea on Mar 6, 2020 15:36:52 GMT
Noelani had little to no expectations when it came to pirates, so she hadn’t actually expected that Saoul would offer her a weapon when - if - they got to land. She didn’t know why he had so much faith in her when she was being so upfront about her intentions, but it would be his mistake in the end.
Noelani struggled to sit up as the boat rocked. Even after having legs for days, she still hadn’t managed to find her balance. She couldn’t see any evidence of her fellow sisters and she ground her teeth in annoyance. She just prayed that they were lurking beneath the surface.
Noelani was just about to try and throw herself overboard when Nova’s question diverted her attention. It wasn’t hard to see the other female was jealous and she couldn’t imagine what for. She wasn’t ugly and even with her bitchy attitude, it couldn’t be that hard for her to allure men. But then again, humans rarely made sense to Noelani and she had stopped trying to figure out their misguided logic long ago. She made a big show of rolling her eyes at Nova - as if she would be threatened by her. Even if she found Noelani alone again, which was a mistake she wasn’t soon going to repeat, they would be in her territory and Nova wouldn’t stand a chance.
She was about to throw back some retort when a splash caused her head to whip back to the water. A beautiful girl had surfaced just a couple feet away from the boat, smiling warmly towards Saoul while briefly looking at Saoul and then Noelani. She could the flash of recognition and then confusion, but both were quickly hidden. Noelani could barely her smugness as she settled back to watch how this disaster would play out.
“Evening, sailor. We don’t get many visitors around here.”
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Post by rightasrain19 on Mar 11, 2020 23:19:32 GMT
Saoul watched Noelani and Nova interact, wondering if Nova was jealous. Surely not. Surely, she had to know he had eyes only for her. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but was distracted as the mermaid popped her head above the surface. It was imperative that he not look at her, that he not allow himself to be drawn in. Saoul fixed his gaze on Noelani instead, a warning in his eyes. This was why they had brought her. She was supposed to bring them to shore. "Your sister here agreed to bring us ashore in exchange for her freedom. I suggest you let us pass, unless you'd like us to gut her here and have an ending I've been working very hard to avoid."
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Post by Val on Mar 12, 2020 21:13:13 GMT
Nova tensed as the mermaid appeared and was on her feet in the next second, stepping in front of Saoul to defend him from the girl's line of sight, "Back off, bitch," she snapped. As Saoul issued his warning, she turned and snatched the knife out of his boot, spinning the blade expertly in her hand. She wasn't taking any chances. She was about to make the threat very real before they were swarmed by the cunning creatures.
She advanced on Noelani, eager to quickly wipe that smug look off of her face. She grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the center of the boat, placing the blade of the knife against her throat, "Tell your harem to give us safe passage," she demanded of Noelani, "Now." She intensified the pressure of the knife as her eyes found their way to the mermaid lingering in the water. Nova had no attachments to this prisoner. If she felt threatened enough, she would kill her and dump her body in the ocean where it belonged.
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Post by starrea on Mar 12, 2020 22:44:20 GMT
Noelani didn’t seem to be in any hurry to ward off her sisters. She just raised an eyebrow at Saoul as he turned away from the mermaid in the water and threatened her, but otherwise didn’t do much. Her smug look only intensified when Nova sprang to her pirate lover’s defense, nearly unraveling in the span of four seconds. It seemed that Nova was the only one who was really aware of the danger they were in.
Noelani let out a hiss as Nova grabbed her hair and dragged her to the center of the boat. Besides trying to lessen the strain on her hair, she didn’t resist. In fact, when Nova yanked her head back and pressed the blade against her neck, she was smiling.
“Keani... I have promised my friends safe passage.” Before her fellow mermaid could respond, she switched over to speaking in their native language, “They are holding me captive. When I am returned to the water, we will bring the whole ship down. Everyone will feast.”
For a second, the other mermaid - Keani - didn’t move. But eventually, she flashed a smile at Nova and Saoul, “I wish you safe travels,” and then submerged and vanished beneath the surface.
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Post by rightasrain19 on Mar 19, 2020 19:29:56 GMT
Saoul felt himself relax and he let out a breath as the tense moment passed. He was sure there would be many more to come. "Thank you," he nodded to their captive and continued to row until they reached the shore. He vaulted over the side and dragged their boat up on the land. The other pirates would come soon if they did not return within the allotted time. "Now, take us to the treasure."
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Post by Val on Mar 21, 2020 22:15:43 GMT
Nova held her grip on Noelani until the mermaid disappeared beneath the surface. Still not satisfied, she threw their captive back down into the boat and remained alert, scanning the waters as Saoul rowed them to shore.
When they finally hit the sand, she stepped onto the beach and regarded Saoul with a glare as she passed him, "Get your act together," she muttered under her breath. His trust in the creatures was reprehensible to her. She wasn't about to let Saoul's lax attitude get them killed. A quick survey of the beach found all to be calm and quiet- perhaps too quiet.
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Post by starrea on Mar 22, 2020 17:08:47 GMT
The tight grip on her hair didn’t release until a few seconds after Keani submerged and then she was flung to the floor of the boat. The wood sent pain radiating up from her elbows and knees and she hissed as she rolled over, laying on the floor of the boat until it passed.
“That was unnecessary. I did as you asked.” Noelani snapped, eyes glaring at the navigator girl. She was starting to hate her just as much as the pirate who had caught her.
Before she knew it, the boat hit the sand with a lurch and Noelani sat up. True worry started to set in - she hadn’t fully expected that she would have ever made it to the island. She had counted on being in the water by now. She wasn’t often scared but she knew what resides on this island. In the water, she was safe from the other beasts who took refuge here, but walking on this island was a death sentence. Suddenly, she realized what a stupid idea it was for her to come ashore. She had let her pride get in the way and now she was in an even worse situation than she was before. If she lived through this, Noelani silently promised that she would never go searching for trouble again.
In one last ditch effort to return to the sea, Noelani pushed herself up with speed that even surprised her, elbowed the navigator girl square in the face, and dove for the side of the boat. Even if she could make it into the shallows, she had a fighting chance.
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Post by rightasrain19 on Mar 24, 2020 1:48:33 GMT
Saoul was ready for this. He'd appeared relaxed and amenable, but part of what had made Saoul so terrifying to many of his captors was the way from which he could switch so quickly and so lethally from charming captor to violent tormentor. As Noelani made a break for it, Saoul tackled her before she could hit the water, wrestling her into the sand. He didn't begrudge her the effort- he understood the lengths people and creatures would go to to regain their freedom. Nova's words rang in his ears and he straightened up, dragging Noelani away from the sea and shooting his lover a slight glare. There was an edge there that she hadn't seen in him since he'd been her captor. She better not forget it again. He pushed Noelani towards the treeline, his jaw tight. "Lead," he grunted, his voice leaving no room for argument.
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Post by Val on Mar 25, 2020 17:43:53 GMT
Nova turned just in time to see Saoul tackle Noelani into the sand, watching the spectacle with a sense of satisfaction. She responded to his glare with a smug smile, pleased that he hadn't become soft after all. She flitted lightly across the sand, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. If they weren't on a cursed island, she would have been relieved to finally step foot on land as a free woman again.
She pointed toward the center of the island where the elevation rose into small mountains, "My crew ventured to the center of the island. There were supposed to be cave systems that led to the treasure." She turned to gaze pointedly at their captive, "What do you know, anyway?" she questioned, unaware of where exactly Noelani was planning on leading them.
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