|  Author | Topic: An Odd Employer and a Strange Request (open) (Read 312 times) |
Firehead
Ranger
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Karma: 9 |  | Re: An Odd Employer and a Strange Request (open)
« Reply #60 on Oct 20, 2009, 1:02pm » | |
His question/statement was, at first, greeted with silence. Eyes turned to others, curiosity mixed with the first sparks of anger as they slowly took in the full import of his words. Without the jib up, it could just as easily have been them at the bottom. Finally, the silence was broken as one sailor rose to his feet. "Et was meh." His defiant gaze dared Sklaw and everyone else to reprimand him for his actions. Sklaw's gaze narrowed as he studied his sailor. "Why."
The sailor narrowed his own eyes and sneered as he replied. "Because I wanted off this stinkin' ship. An' Jack paid meh." he added. It was a reply meant to anger, and anger it received. All across the deck, other sailors came to their feet.
"You betrayed us?!"
"Your own shipmates?!"
How can yuh think ta take 'is money?!"
"Traitor!"
This last cry was taken up by the entire crew, and the uproar that ensued was only tamed by Sklaw's ferocious bellow. "Enough!"
He glared at them in silence, until at last they backed away from the sailor. Then he spoke to the sailor. "Would you like to stay in the isles for awhile, Jigger?"
The sailor smirked."No, I want the ship."
His meaning was not lost on any, least of all Vick. "You mutineer! I'll flog ya meself fer that--!" He was cut off abruptly by Sklaw, as his captain put out his arm to stop the outraged Quartermaster's advance on Jigger. "No. You won't." came Sklaw's calm order. He continued to face the challenger, as he went on. "And by what weapons would you like to take my ship?" A gleam of triumph, of a battle already won, came to Jigger's eyes as he answered, "Swords!"
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"Do not doubt in the darkness, what you have learned to be true in the light."
From The Oracles of Fire |
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ivory
Guest
| | Re: An Odd Employer and a Strange Request (open)
« Reply #61 on Oct 20, 2009, 5:56pm » | |
Oh boy. Just what he needed on this mission. First Jake, then the crazy idea of having him take to arms [with a meat cleaver mind you], and now this. And where the heck was his ship? Or rather, his comrades on the ship that was supposed to provide him with a kind of back-up? He thought to intervene, but the thought quickly flew his mind. Having a hostile crew onboard a ship wasn't the greatest of occasions, but would having a duel, or whatever they were thinking of having, make a better situation? Or just force the lobster to jump into the pot, so to speak?
Eying the crew, Landon decided he'd just better keep quiet and to the edges of the crowd...
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Firehead
Ranger
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Joined: Nov 2008
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Karma: 9 | | Re: An Odd Employer and a Strange Request (open)
« Reply #62 on Nov 6, 2009, 11:51am » | |
Outwardly, Sklaw appeared calm and controlled. Inwardly, it was very much the same, except for a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. "Very well, then. Swords it is." Vick opened his mouth to protest and Sklaw forestalled him. "Would you mind giving us some space here, gentlemen?" It was more of a command than a polite question, and Vick understood that. He backed away from the combatants, along with the others, as they spread out to form a half-circle upon the deck.The open space became an arena then, with a human barrier on three sides and the low ship's rail on the last.
Jigger gave a sneer, confident that he knew Sklaw's measure, as he drew his weapon from his belt, a cutlass, curved of course, with two edges. Meanwhile, Sklaw was revising his own assessment of Jigger, while drawing his rapier. He had a distant look on his face, as if he were somewhere else.
The look proved misleading, however, when Jigger, no longer hiding pretenses, launched a blow toward Sklaw's head that was stopped, just short of the mark, when Sklaw's own blade glided beneath Jigger's, heading upward to deflect the blow.
Jigger froze for a moment in surprise, Sklaw's gaze drilling a hole through him and promising nothing. Then Jigger broke away,whirled while ducking and coming back in low, aiming for the feet. The moment Sklaw jumped to avoid Jigger's blade, Jigger twisted his wrist and brought the blade up on a vertical line in an attempt to gut Sklaw. But Sklaw had not only jumped upward, he had also jumped backward at the same time, so that Jigger's blade came nowhere near his skin. The instant the blade had whipped past his head, Sklaw lunged forward, extending his blade toward Jigger's middle in a thrust that ended when he reached his farthest extent of balance. Twisting the blade as he withdrew, and thereby bringing it away wide and at an angle to the left, Sklaw managed to nick Jigger's right wrist. He then had to duck and leap back quickly to avoid getting his head sliced from his shoulders as Jigger brought his blade up and around in an enraged attempt to behead Sklaw on the spot.
Seeing Jigger's lapse in control, Sklaw shifted his weight forward, and brought the tip of the rapier down across Jigger's sword arm again, causing a thin line of blood to appear there. It was only a scratch, but Jigger, feeling the cold bite of steel again for the second time that day, skipped backward and put distance between he and Sklaw.
Warily, the two circled, watching for an opening in the others' defense and turning over in their minds what each had learned of the other. Jigger now realized that the rumors he'd heard of Sklaw's skill with a blade were, with little room for doubt, true, while Sklaw now understood that he had underestimated Jigger's speed, eye for weaknesses, and the ability to maximize his own skill with a blade based on those weaknesses in others. Now he watched as Jigger's eyes gleamed even brighter and it was only his perception that prepared him for what happened next.
With speed that no one had known Jigger possessed, he lunged forward and whipped his blade around in a maneuver that could best be described as a figure 8.Caught off his guard, Sklaw was forced to give ground before the deadly blade, and give it up quickly. But then Sklaw darted to one side, slid to Jigger's left, and promptly attacked, bringing his blade up and slashing downward diagonally, right to left. He opened a deep gash on Jigger's shoulder, and even as the man turned toward him again, he skipped lightly backward and away from the slashing blade of Jigger, while this time gliding to Jigger's right, so as to keep the man off balance. Jigger over-corrected as he spun back to face his opponent, and earned a light gash across his face--one that narrowly missed his eye as it swept past.
Sklaw always hated the fact that he could be concentrating heavily upon something, only to suddenly catch a movement out of the corner of his eye, or the last words of a sentence on some subject that he had long since begun to ignore, and be, in that instant, both distracted and curious about something other than whatever required his utmost attention. As Jigger regained his balance in such a way so that he could retaliate, Sklaw heard Vick shout, "--Sklaw!" Sklaw started to turn his head toward Vick to see what he wanted, realized it as a distraction, and turned back to meet Jigger's triumphant gaze. It took only the fraction of a second for Sklaw to realize why-- Jigger's outstretched arm and cutlass was pointed in his direction.
He reacted immediately, lunging backward away from Jigger. He over-balanced and fell, striking the deck. He let out a grunt, as the breath in his lungs was driven forcibly out. Jigger believing that victory was near, came on, raising his cutlass over his head and bringing it back down intending to spit Sklaw with it. The ragged blade bit into the wooden deck, as Sklaw rolled away, switching his blade to his right hand, and coming to his feet in time to meet the next onslaught.
Jigger swung his blade for Sklaw's neck and Sklaw blocked. Jigger rebounded quickly with a blow to Sklaw's right side that was again blocked. He allowed his cutlass to bounce off, and prepare him for an overhead cut that was blocked as well.
The instant the force was taken from Jigger's blow, Sklaw immediately disengaged and thrust his Rapier into Jigger's chest, but there was little force behind it and the point did little more than nick Jigger, who backed away again the moment he felt the bite.
As they circled yet again, Sklaw became dizzy and wavered. Seeing his former captain do so, Jigger lunged in again with a thrust of his cutlass. Sklaw saw Jigger's movement as a blur, but dodged instinctively to his left and circled, just out of Jigger's reach. But he stopped when he felt his boot heel bump into one of the ship''s rail posts.His vision became clear and his mind sharpened again, when he realized the significance of his predicament. Jigger could easily push him over the low railing, into the water. All he had to do was charge.
Jigger knew it and he charged, cutlass held out in front. Sklaw waited for the last instant, before ducking and thrusting outward with his own blade. But Jigger dodged the sharp point that would have spelled his demise, instead changing the angle of his rush and pulling up short of the rail, to Sklaw's immediate left. Both spun to face the other, and Sklaw took the chance provided to shift away from the rail.
Jigger paused for a moment, digesting the fact that Sklaw still had plenty of fight left, the closed in on his adversary again, cutlass raised high. Sklaw ignored the potential threat, instead aiming a thrust toward Jigger's middle. Jigger swerved, barely avoiding getting spitted, and twisted away to Sklaw's left, thereby, forcing Sklaw to turn with him or lose sight of him-- something that one did at their own risk, in a fight.
Sklaw turned with him and blocked a blow to his right side. This forced him to back up a step or risk losing his balance again. Jigger pressed his advantage, coming in with an overhead strike that was quickly blocked by Sklaw's slim rapier. As Sklaw switched his sword hand and blocked yet another blow to his right side following the overhead blow, he became aware of a sharp pain in his left shoulder and a wet sensation that was not sweat. For one thing, it was only on his left side.
He jerked his attention back to Jigger who was closing in on him again and flicked his rapier toward the man's face making him flinch back momentarily. Then Jigger lunged forward with a thrust to Sklaw's middle which Sklaw avoided by shifting to his right, and simply allowing him to bowl straight on past without engaging. Almost as an afterthought, he flicked his blade at Jigger's back as he thundered by, ripping the man's shirt and causing another thin red line to appear.
The chill nip of steel at his back enraged Jigger. He managed to slow his headlong rush enough to spin around, and he covered the distance between he and Sklaw in two large bounds, bringing his blade down in a vicious overhead chop, that would have sliced Sklaw in two, had it connected. But Slaw was ready for him, having turned with his blade, and while using his right hand to stop Jigger's murderous blade from descending on his head, he thrust his own blade at Jigger. Jigger's own momentum carried him onto the slim blade with unstoppable force.
The force of Jigger's charge and sudden weight caused Sklaw to stagger back, in an attempt to keep his balance. For a moment, Jigger's face hovered in front of Sklaw's, then his body fell away from him and collapsed in a heap to the deck. For several seconds Sklaw watched Jigger's body, waiting for him to rise, before realizing that Jigger was dead. Then he turned away toward the rest of his crew. "Anyone else?" he asked. When no one stepped forward, Sklaw sighed and allowed himself to relax, as he crew erupted in cheers.
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"Do not doubt in the darkness, what you have learned to be true in the light."
From The Oracles of Fire |
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ivory
Guest
| | Re: An Odd Employer and a Strange Request (open)
« Reply #63 on Nov 27, 2009, 12:48pm » | |
Landon's stomach was in knots during the whole match as he forced himself to stay still. He wasn't big on the whole fighting thing and with the first blood-shed he thought he was going to faint. Of course he didn't, having forced himself to get used to the whole ordeal for if not, he'd never had been able to keep his position with the King for so long. He was being counted on to carry out this mission and he would...as long as he didn't have to actually, you know, kill someone himself. He didn't think he'd stand up to that despite the fact that he had the knowledge. He trained regularly in such a field , but above all was a realist and doubted that despite all his training, when it came down to the moment to plunge his blade into the heart of the foe, well, he'd probably vomit. He'd actually placed such a bet with one of his comrades. But he'd been drunk then....and...yeah....
He shook the embarassing thought away and refocused his attention on his target, praying that he wouldn't have to step in. His luck, he'd probably slip and topple over the side of the ship as he somehow tried to save the captain from taking the man's sword. And even if he did succeed he'd probably get thrown overboard for it wasn't his place to intercept. Oh by the heavens, he prayed, let the outcome be to his liking.
Stomach knotted in what seemed like an interal suffocation, he dug his nails into his forearms as they lay crossed over his chest. Good heavens he was going to be sick.
Landon gave a silent exhale of relief as Jigger collapsed, but then wished he hadn't as his latest meal came rising up his esophagus. Luckily, he was able to swallow it before it went spewing all over the man in front of him. By gosh this was going to be a long journey.
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Firehead
Ranger
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Karma: 9 | | Re: An Odd Employer and a Strange Request (open)
« Reply #64 on Dec 2, 2009, 4:37pm » | |
Vick let loose a shout of relief, and allowed a huge smile to spread across his face as Sklaw turned toward him, sheathing his sword.
"Whew, Sklaw! For a while there, I was afraid he had you! That was a great tactic you used, gettin' 'im mad at you; makin' 'im loose his temper, while you stays cool. I'm glad ta know you Sklaw!" he clapped Sklaw on the shoulder, and so caught up in the excitement was Vick, that he nearly missed catching Sklaw's wince of pain. But he saw the red, rapidly-spreading stain on Sklaw's shirt, and was immediately overwhelmed by concern for his long-time friend.
He kept one hand resting lightly on Sklaw's shoulder, as he glanced hurriedly around the deck for Landon. Spotting him he bellowed out, "Hey cook! Git over 'ere and 'elp! I ain't sayin' it twicet!" Tucking himself under Sklaw's good arm to steady him, he started Sklaw toward the galley stairs. "I should've remembered right away that Jigger'd got a good three inches 'er so a steel in ya. I'd thought for sure..." he trailed off, unwilling to voice those thoughts in the light of day.
In the galley, Vick eased Sklaw down into a chair, and started to tear the cloth away from Sklaw's wound. as he did, he scowled deeply and growled, "Blast that Jigger for putting a ragged edge on that blade! And fer not cleanin' it neither! He's done--"
"That's quite enough, Vick." Sklaw interrupted, his voice slightly gravely from the pain in his shoulder and side. "Just tell the 'doc' to hurry up and stitch it."
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"Do not doubt in the darkness, what you have learned to be true in the light."
From The Oracles of Fire |
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