[RP]Obake Blade

[JasraLantill]

As Aya climbed up the stairs from the hold, fresh salty sea-air ruffled loose little wisps of her hair, tickling her face and neck. She brushed them away then looked around, sheilding her eyes against the sun with her hand.

 

Most of the people had boarded the ship. And by the look of the height of the sea against the pylons of the dock, it looked like the tide was pretty high now. They'd be sailing soon, Aya thought. Better get her water skin filled before they did.

 

She found the water barrel and began to fill her water skin. As she did, her eye caught movement of someone high up in the crow's nest. Squinting, she recognised the telltale silhouette of a bow, and instantly knew it was Carwyn.

 

"Well, he did say he liked the view," she said to herself. She waved to him, then shouted up to him, "Can you see Ryuu-Tokai from way up there, Carwyn?"

[Rogue Nine]

"Can you see Ryuu-Tokai from way up there, Carwyn?" a lilting female voice called up to him from the deck. Peering down, Carwyn spotted the familiar figure of Aya waving at him.

 

Waving back, he replied, "This mast isn't quite tall enough for that!" Suddenly, he felt his grip on the mast loosen. Uh oh, he thought as gravity took over, sending him off the side of the crow's nest and plunging to the deck below. Turning to face the mast, Carwyn spotted a rope running along its length. He made a desperate grab for it before his momentum took him out of reach. Catching it with the tips of his fingers, he pulled it into his hands and gripped for dear life. The rope jolted taut as it stopped the ranger's fall. Carwyn felt his palms scream in protest, but bit back the pain as he tried to regain his footing on the mast. Placing a booted foot on the mast, he attempted to pull himself up when fate decided to throw another curve at him. The rope in his hand snapped, pulling him away from the mast. It took Carwyn by surprise, so much so that he released his grip on it as it flung him away. Falling headfirst towards the deck now, he prepared himself for a bumpy landing when he felt his fall stop a second time, dangling him upside down right in front of Aya's surprised and concerned face. Looking up, he saw that his foot had caught in another of the ropes overhanging the deck from the masts.

 

Sighing mightily, he let his head sag back to stare at Aya, who still looked shocked. Mustering up a goofy smile, he said, "Yeah, I planned all of that."

[JasraLantill]

Carwyn's fall had happened so fast, that Aya did a double take. Then she slowly tilted her head to one side, so that she could better see Carwyn's upside-down face. "Well, you didn't have to go to all that bother on my account," she said to him. "I could have told you that gravity's still working."

 

She looked up at his foot, still caught up in the rope. "Just a sec... I'll get you down." She capped her water skin, then looked around for something to cut the rope with, but finding nothing readily suitable she reached into her pocket and pulled out the small knife she carried for eating.

 

The rope was up too high for her to reach, so she dragged over a small barrel to stand upon. "Hold on," she said as she climbed up onto the barrel. But then, she paused and looked down. Carwyn was dangling in the air. There was really nothing for him to 'hold on' to. "Erm... sorry. 'Hold on' wasn't really what I meant. I meant, get ready to catch yourself."

 

She began cutting through the rope. It wasn't that thick, but it was still a stretch for her to reach it, her knife was small, and the tough weathered rope was quickly dulling the blade. She sighed. "This might take a while...."

[Master_Archon]

Xan had lost track of Takara, and he was wondering around the deck of the ship. He heard talking, loud talking, and he decided to go investigate it. He came upon a peculiar sight; Aya, on a barrel, and the ranger hanging upside-down, his foot caught in a rope.

 

He approached, staring from one to the other, he couldn't help but want to laugh, but he kept it in.

 

"Need help there?" He questioned as he pulled out one of his throwing axes, and lifting it up towards Aya for her to use if she wished.

[Jason Skywalker]

"What does it seem you're missing Kyo?" An appearing Akira said to Kyo, who was with Bob.

 

"And if it isn't the graceful pony called...Bob."

[JasraLantill]

Aya studied the heavy axe, then cocked an eyebrow as she looked at Xan. "You know, I don't think I could even lift that, nevermind swing it and actually hit anything." She glanced down with uncertainty at Carwyn, who was still dangling precariously above the deck. "Well... hit anything I was aiming at, if you know what I mean. You'd better do it," she said to Xan, as she stepped down from the barrel. "Call me presumptuous, but I think Carwyn would prefer to still have two 'whole' legs when he finally gets down."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn felt the rope sag a bit as Aya was cutting it. He then saw Xan approach and offer up one of his axes to Aya, to which she declined and stepped down, offering Xan to do the cutting. Mr. Metal Muscles here might decide to take a toe off for fun, Carwyn thought.

 

"I think you've worn it down enough that I can do something about it," the ranger said. Rocking back and forth a few times, he pistoned his arms up to catch the rope near his foot. Hanging his other foot downward for balance, he tugged at the frayed bit in the rope that Aya had been working on. It took a few pulls, but it finally came apart. His foot no longer held up by anything, he brought it back in line with his other one and fell the remaining few feet to the ground, his boots taking the impact with a loud thud.

 

Still smiling sheepishly, he turned to Aya and Xan. "Well, that was exciting," he said. "The ropes on this ship don't seem to be of the best quality. Either that, or I should cut down on the cookies." He patted his belly, then winced and looked at his hands, which were raw from the friction. "Boo."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo looked up hurriedly as Akira appeared, silently cursing himself. He hadn't been paying attention, and allowed someone to sneak up on him without notice.

 

"A clue." he lied smoothly. Well, it wasn't really a lie... "I'm hoping that I'll finally get some kind of clue to this...in Ryuu-Tokai." he said, unfurling the parchment again.

[Master_Archon]

Xan was about to simply just lift the ranger a bit so he could get to the rope around his ankle and cut it, when the ranger decided Xan's help wasn't probably the best. Xan frowned, his brow furrowing as he heard the ranger say, "I think you've worn it down enough that I can do something about it."

 

Being partially blind had advantages, like being able to hear things others couldn't, like slight nervousness in someones voice. Xan was lucky they couldn't see his face, he wasn't too happy, but he was never one to be liked, or to have other want his assisstance. Xan just let out a barely audible grumbling sigh and walked off as he put his axe away.

 

Xan glanced over his shoulder at the two as he walked away, still able to hear the two conversating. "Well, that was exciting," he heard the ranger say. "The ropes on this ship don't seem to be of the best quality. Either that, or...." was the last thing he heard before he rounded a corner on the ship deck, and was out of ear shot.

 

Xan went to the prow of the ship where he put his hands on the railing, and looked out across the water ahead. It was blurry, but still beatiful in his eyes, he breathed deep, taking in the sea air, it was stronger for him than most.

 

Xan began to think, his mind wondered, he eventually stopped paying attention to what went on around him as he became lost in his memories. He stared out to sea, almost as if it had hypnotised him.

[JasraLantill]

"You need some salve on those hands," Aya said to Carwyn matter-of-factly.

 

The ship's bell rang, a signal to tell everyone that they were casting off. Aya swallowed hard. She wanted to get below decks before the ship began to really rock with the waves.

 

"Guess we're casting off," she said, as she picked up her water skin and headed for the stairs down to the hold. "C'mon, Carwyn." She motioned him to follow her. "I've got some salve in my pack that should work for those hands of yours. It's actually for Bob, in case he gets saddle sores, but it works just as well for people. Works quick, too. You should be pretty well healed up by morning."

 

She paused at the top of the stairs and turned her head over her shoulder to look at Carwyn. "Erm... you didn't have a night out planned in the city tonight, did you?" she said in a low tone. "You know, with a lady?" She looked around for the beautiful mage Hoshiko, who in Aya's mind had seemed quite interested in the ranger the night before. "'Cause if you do, I have to warn you--the balm doesn't smell that great. I've got some other stuff--smells better, sort of like peppermint, but it doesn't work as well as the horse salve."

[Jason Skywalker]

"May i see it?" Akira said as he slowly took it from Kyo's hand.

 

"Well, just let me tell you, you are messing with some powerful stuff here. My master once teached me about this. He had a friend on Ryuu-Tokai who could decipher this. He usually said it was related or so to the legend of the Obake Blade. Of course, i never really believed it...at that time."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo blinked several times, looking at Akira in surprise. "You know of the Obake Blade?"

[Grace]

"Captivating, isn't it?" Takara said softly. She'd been standing at the bow railing when Xan approached. "If I were not such a wanderer, I would settle on the coast somewhere."

 

"But wandering's in our blood," Katsuro said, coming up on the other side of the weathered guard. "Even I was born with an innate call to wander."

 

"We have never been satisfied with settling," Takara agreed. "There's just too much to see in the world." She turned to Xan with a slight smile. "And what of you? Your job would tell me you don't exactly keep to one place for any extended period of time either."

[steven]

Jonas was sitting on the edge of the boat, however this time he wasn't staring off into space. He was infact enjoying a nice spot of fishing. So far he has been luckly and allread caught three fish, although two of them weren't that big, his third was the size of his arm, it didn't take an idiot to see what he was having for tea tonight.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Not much, really. Just common knowledge, and maybe something more. Depends on common knowledge," Akira said.

 

"Why? Is your reason to do this trip somehow related to it?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo mentally kicked himself. "Dunno. It depends on what exactly this peice of parchment says."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn moved to follow Aya down to the hold. She turned back to him and said something about going out with a lady. "'Cause if you do, I have to warn you--the balm doesn't smell that great. I've got some other stuff--smells better, sort of like peppermint, but it doesn't work as well as the horse salve," she finished.

 

He looked down at his hands, then back at her. "Nope, I wasn't really planning on doing much of anything tonight," he replied. "Maybe practice a bit of night archery, but that's shot right now." He held up his hands. "So salve my night away. Besides, Bob might feel lonely being the only thing that smells like horse on this boat."

[Jason Skywalker]

"So you can get it translated and understand the point of this trip for you. Well, if it ends out to be Buckles for Bubblefish, or something like that, i'll bet ten coins somebody would get angry," Akira joked.

[JasraLantill]

With Carwyn in tow, Aya made her way through the maze of wagons and livestock in the hold. It was tricky, now that the ship was underway, and Aya had to stop several times to grab on to something to keep her balance.

 

"I hate walking on moving ships," she said to Carwyn as she staggered through the hold from one handhold to another. "All this rocking to an fro, feels like...." She paused as a particularly rough sway sent her staggering into the side of an ox. "Sorry," she apologised, patting the beast then continuing on. "Ever cross one of those rope bridges?" she asked Carwyn. "That's what this feels like." She shivered. "I hate those even worse. Height plus rocking?" She shook her head as if remembering a bad experience. "Bad combination for me."

 

They reached the wagon where Bob had his head stuck through the canvas flap in the back. Aya could hear voices inside.

 

"...I'll bet ten coins somebody would get angry," Akira joked.

 

Aya stuck her head in. "Hey!" she said to Kyo and Akira with mock irritation. "No gambling in front of Bob. He's very impressionable."

 

Bob whickered at her softly, and she grinned.

 

"Thanks for looking after him, Kyo," she said with geniune thanks. "He gets restless on ships."

 

She pulled the flap back down, and then went over to her pack to retrieve the ointment for Carwyn. Smelling the medicine, Bob pulled his head out of the canvas, looked at Aya, then swung his head around to stare at Carwyn.

 

"Yes, Bob, it's for Carwyn, not you," Aya said as she opened up the small jar. "Whew!" She grimaced from the pungent odour. "Told you it didn't smell very nice. But it works." She scooped out a bit of the salve onto her fingers. "Okay, Carwyn, let's see those hands of yours."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn dutifully put out his hands as Aya smoothed the smelly salve onto them. She was right, it did smell awful, but it felt cool and soothing on his roughed-up hands. "Whooo-ey," he said. "I'd hold my nose if I could, but that would just make it worse."

 

As he shifted his feet, he heard a familiar clinking noise. Looking down, he sighed. His locket was on the floor again. Great.

[JasraLantill]

Aya let out a light chuckle as she looked down and saw the metal of his locket by his boot. "You know, I would say that you're not having much luck today." She bent down and lifted it with her little finger, which was not covered in salve. "But think how lucky you are this didn't fall off while you were up in the crow's nest."

 

She set the locket on the edge of the nearby wagon, then finished applying the salve. "There. That should do it." She dug within her pack and pulled out an old pair of gloves. "Knew I'd find a use for these.... Here," she said to him. "You should keep your hands covered up. These gloves are old, but they're soft and pliable. Should do just the trick, and then you can just pitch them tomorrow. Unless you like the smell of horse salve," she added, wrinkling her nose a bit. "No offense, Bob."

 

She bit the inside of her lip as she looked at the locket, curious to know what it was and if there was anything inside it, but knowing that she shouldn't pry into what was obviously a personal matter. "It's pretty," she ended up saying, leaving Carwyn to decide if he'd tell her about it or not.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn smiled as he pulled on the gloves carefully. "Heh, if you think that's pretty, you should see what's inside," he said. "I would, but I'm not exactly the most dexterous of people right now. So go on, just hit the little switch on the side."

 

Aya did as he instructed, pushing the switch with her salve-free little finger. The little metal case sprung open, revealing two small portraits set into the tiny frames. The rightmost one depicted a young blonde woman, smiling radiantly. Her blue eyes seemed to twinkle, despite the limitations of the medium. She was beautiful. The second portrait was of an older woman, though she did not appear to give too many years up to the younger one. She had dark green eyes and wavy red hair. She was not smiling, but her face carried an enigmatic look that was impossible to associate with one single emotion. She too was beautiful.

[JasraLantill]

Aya looked at the pictures for a long moment. "They're beautiful," she finally said in a soft, reverent sort of way. She herself didn't have any pictures of any of her loved ones, and for a moment, she felt a pang of homesickness--a strange and unfamiliar feeling for her, but, until now, she had always travelled with her father.

 

She looked up at Carwyn and studied his face for a moment. She guessed the younger woman was his sister, as she had the same sort of sparkling blue eyes and bright smile as he did, though Aya wasn't sure. Although Carwyn had never said as much, the woman could just as easily be his wife for all she knew. Aya decided to take the safer guess.

 

"Your sister?" She pointed to the younger woman's portrait. "And... mother, perhaps?"

[Master_Archon]

"Captivating, isn't it?" Takara said softly. She'd been standing at the bow railing when Xan approached. "If I were not such a wanderer, I would settle on the coast somewhere."

 

"But wandering's in our blood," Katsuro said, coming up on the other side of the weathered guard. "Even I was born with an innate call to wander."

 

"We have never been satisfied with settling," Takara agreed. "There's just too much to see in the world." She turned to Xan with a slight smile. "And what of you? Your job would tell me you don't exactly keep to one place for any extended period of time either."

 

Xan jerked slightly as he heard Takara, he looked around until his unfocused eyes settled on her. "Oh...yes, quite captivating," he said saddly. Xan listened for awhile as Takara conversed, and her son joined her. "Yes," he said softly, "I'd live by the coast as well."

 

Then her comments became a question, and he frowned in sadness as he thought. "I...am no wonderor...I only travel because it keeps my past away from me," he said saddly, quietly, and reverently. "But, my job used to keep me in one place, I didn't mind, I've already seen the world...it's beautiful, strange, but nothing special," he said to Takara.

 

Xan paused, he noticed he was being very depresive, so he changed the subject. "So, you like traveling? Where've you been?" He asked curiously.

[Jason Skywalker]

Akira had smiled when Aya had said not to gamble in front of Bob. He then turned to Kyo once again, giving him the parchment.

 

"So, alongside the trip, wanna spar?" He asked with an inquisitive look.