Modes of Transportation [Closed]

[Joel]

"Aye, I'll agree with that... It's truly a wonderful thing." Joel rumbled in agreement to Roland. The huge man turned to face the railing, leaning all his weight against the wood, and he just stood there a moment, listening to the various noises on board (it mostly involved people vomiting, although there was a good deal of talking in the background). And then the other man, Sabin, directed a comment towards him. The Nabataean twisted his neck back, looking over his shoulder, as he responded. "Haha, nah. I've never been a sailor, although I've been aboard a ship before today. And what gave me away, the tan skin?" Joel chuckled. "You're right, naturally; I'm not from Bern. I'm from Nabata, actually. Lovely place, it is. I haven't been there in a number of years though..."

Joel trailed off, once again just looking back over the wooden railing. He soon tuned out all other conversations, and time seemed to move more quickly than usual for him, as the waves quickly rolled past and the town was left far behind them. And then the rolling waves seemed to slow down, turning a golden brown color; his mind's eye remembering his younger days. His home... The desert. The rolling dunes of sand behind him, a few towns to travel between and fix up whenever he and his uncle passed through... The dunes kicked up in a massive cloud of sand, obscuring his vision for a moment. When it went away, he was once again reliving those dark days of his life, and, once those horror moments were gone, Joel opened his eyes. He had been standing in the same spot for roughly an hour, and the Mistdrifter was traveling quickly, with a strong, steady wind in her sail. The Nabataean sighed, and then walked away from the railing to see where everyone else had ran off. 

((We are performing a timeskip. If you wish to hold Supports, please do so in the in-between time, which is ten days.))

Joel stood on the deck, no longer needing to lean upon the railing for a little support, where the giant of a man was once again watching as the crew bustled around, busy as always to keep the ship going at a steady rate. The trip had so far managed to be completely uneventful, with rather mild weather and calm water. Weedy seemed to be growing increasingly nervous during the past two days, however, and Joel and everybody else could tell that the captain was fearing the worst. 

In the meantime, the huge Nabataean was now searching the deck for Sabin, Roland, or Dee. Where was she? Joel was beginning to get worried about the little girl, although he doubted she would have gone and either jumped off the boat or run off too far. She was smarter than that. As for the other two people, well, he was just feeling talkative, and rather hopeful that at least one of them would be out and about this morning. 

[Sabin]

"Nabata eh? That place is a desert, isn't it? You must be very tough, both physically and mentally, coming from there." sabin said, impressed with what he heard of this huge man so far. The guy must have went through hard times, Sabin respected that.

He looked at the man as he rested on the rail and turned over to look at the sea, and Sabin could see why- it wasn't easy for one to go offshore. They were leaving town, and it was uneasy. Probably the others didn't enjoy their trip either, and those who did would just stare at the vast blue sea and its gentle waves, dancing like how the people of the western isles would. Sabin was eager to go back to his homeland- he didn't plan it, but just boarded the ship anyway because he listened to his instincts. Sabin sighed, he'd just have to wait for a while.

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

Ten days, and Sabin sure got to know a few people. The guy he was escorting nagged like how a mother nags at her children to eat their vegetables. Except this old man acted like he was a VIP, some sort of figure. Sabin didn't exactly like politics, but he did what he had to do for money. Speaking of money, he had recently bought a pretty cool axe a few days ago. A merchant on the ship gave Sabin an axe made out of pure silver- it looked magestic and extraordinary, like it could cut real deep- for the red gem that he won over at the arena about a few weeks ago. Sabin accepted the bargain without little thinking, of course he'd not think if it was a loss or a gain, he was too simple-minded for that.

That morning was pretty cold, actually, darn cold. Even Sabin could feel it, but not much because he wore his overcoat. Sabin was quite experienced with weather changes due to being a pirate, but he certainly wasn't familiar with such a drastic weather change- one morning, its pleasant, the next, its real cold. Still, it was pretty early, not too late into the day, but it surprised him to see Joel standing out so early in the morning, and that too without a shirt. So maybe the guy was used to heat, but could he take the cold too?

"I see you've been up quite early, Joel. How are you able to stand like that, its friggin cold out here!" Sabin said as he walked up to the huge man who was almost a foot taller than Sabin.

[Zerachiel]

He was in the lower deck, getting his things in order. He checked his belongings every day, to make sure nothing went missing which they easily did with a thief on board. She didn't need to say it, but he could tell that shift looking sick girl had been appraising him earlier, seeing if he was a good target. Luckily she was probably too seasick to steal, let alone do it gracefully enough to not alarm the cautious Roland. Everything was in order, good, he wasn't planning to run into trouble on this trip. Well, trouble outside of the pirates that were sure to show up. That part was obvious. He checked around to see if he could find Gwen, but didn't see her. She was probably on the upper deck tossing her lunch everywhere, poor girl. The sooner they were on land the better.

He trotted to the upper deck with a brisk pace, sailors quickly darting around him going about their sailing duties. He couldn't say he envied them, he got to relax this whole trip, make petty small talk. It was rather fun, all in all. Still, the fact that half the ships began vomiting the second they touched the wood was concerning, if not a bit silly.

The cool sea air filled his lungs as he neared the stairs up to the deck, the salty taste of the wind and the smell of fish and water. He couldn't say he loved it, but he by no means hated it. It was rather early, the birds could be heard clearly in the air. It would be a paradise for a nature lover, he preferred the hustle and bustle of the city though. The jingling of gold in one's pocket, the symphony of estranged voices each fighting each other for dominance creating a beautiful cacophony of chaos.

Hrm... he wasn't alone. That's to be expected. It was... Joel and Sabin. The two big guys on the ship, putting sailors aside. Joel was tall, but Sabin was burly and a bit rough around the edges, looking scruffy. Not a bad thing, mind you, it made him look tough in the least. "Good day gentlemen." He said with a wide smile, waving lightly.

[Dee Krisby]

Dee was hanging from the cordage, playing around like the little girl she was. At first the sailors had attempted to stop her from interfering with them working, but decided it was okay (After she began crying) if she wasn't directly in there way.

Like a monkey, she climbed the ropes hanging all over the deck, making sure she didn't miss one glimpse of the sea. She noticed Jumbo not too far below her, looking around. Quickly, Dee tied her cloak around her stomach, to make sure it wouldn't be in the way, and climbed down to him, hanging upside down by her feet.

[white]"Hi Jumbo!"[/white] she said, attempting to move the hair out of her face. Every day her hair seemed to be in more and more of a mess, and hanging upside down wasn't helping.

[Mel]

Mel sighed rubbing her forehead as she kept an eye on Dee as she monkeyed around the ship making sure the girl did not fall. As much of a pain it was to watch the child clamber about on the cordage she knew it was better to keep an eye on her. If she fell Joel would be furious, especially if no one kept an eyes on her. She had a feeling that Joel might not turn out to be such a Pacifist after all if the girl even gained a scratch from negligence and she was not much in the interest of seeing or being in the firing path of his pacifistic wrath.

Still she was greatly annoyed at Zero for what had happened the week before last and had not spoken of met his eyes since then. Yet she had taken the time out of her day to make his stay on the ship as uncomfortable as she possibly could. With sudden upsets in the night as well as many missing necessities here and there. Her most recent escapade involved the captain's now missing hat being slipped into his belongings. She had no reason to do it besides for hate of the hat and Zero as well.

Sighing she walked over to where Joel and the other two strangers that were traveling on the same boat were conversing. It was slightly chilly outside and she pulled her cloak tighter around her small frame letting out a soft exhale watching her breath become misty in the crisp air. It was odd to feel cold, it had been long since she last felt it though the sea breeze seemed to pierce through her a new feeling of cold. She shivered walking up behind Joel the older man looking like a walking mass of heat and rather tempting to drive away the frigid feeling.

Frowning she leaned against him still watching Dee like a hawk careful to watch for telltale signs of her falling like the sudden tensing of her muscles or a sudden slack. "Morning..." she mumbled letting out a large yawn reaching back to scratch her head

[Joel]

Joel turned his head as Sabin walked over, causing a smile to tug at the huge man's lips. "Good morning to you, Sabin." he rumbled, and then rolled his shoulders as he was apparently so prone to doing. "Honestly, it doesn't bother me. You'd be surprised what you can handle after standing out in the middle of an Ilian blizzard with naught but your trousers." The Nabataean outright smiled this time, and he turned to face Sabin as Roland showed up. Joel called out a good morning to the other man, only to have Dee and Mel show up. The huge man's smile didn't break as he walked over to Dee, lifting her up and off whatever she hanging from, and held her upside down for a moment before spinning her around onto the deck. 

"You should see if Mel has a hair brush." Joel said softly, trying to run two fingers through Dee's tangled hair. "I wouldn't be surprised if a bird up and flew out of this tangle!" He chuckled softly, and then crossed his arms as he looked over the assembled people. Shame, of course. It was unlikely that they would see Sabin past the Western Isles, and unlikely that his group and Roland and Gwen would go in the same direction once in Etruria. 

"So, where's Armor and Zero?" Joel asked, this question directed towards Mel, although any of them could answer. In fact, it'd probably be Zero and Armor themselves who answered his question. "And what about your companion, Roland? Is she still busy vomiting her guts out, or is she sleeping?"

[Vashnar]

Vashnar walked up to everyone where they were standing near the railing, and heard Joel ask where he was. "Right here Joel, and please just call me by my name: Vashnar". I've been traveling with these people and they don't remember my name? He thought as he then sat down and pulled out some Jerky and took a bite. Ah, the spicy taste of jerky Vashnar thought as he finished eating then directed a question towards Mel. "How are you feeling today? Not going to throw up?"

[Dee Krisby]

[white]"Hmph!"[/white] grumbled Dee, reeling back to get Jumbo's fingers out of her hair. [white]"I have a brush, but there aren't any mirrors on the ship. I think the sailors don't want them breaking from movements or something."[/white] Since she was usually too busy reading to brush her hair, she had decided earlier to find a mirror and do so. No such luck, and she didn't bring one herself.

[white]"Hey Shiny,"[/white] she nonchalantly directed to Vashnar, [white]"Can I brush my hair in the reflection off your armor?"[/white] She felt her hair while waiting for an answer, it really was in a mess, more than usual at least.

[Vashnar]

"Hey Shiny, can I brush my hair in the reflection off your armor?"
Was what Vashnar heard from Dee before he got frustrated. "My name is Vashnar! NOT Armor! NOT Shiny, Just Vashnar!" he yelled at her before grumbling "I'm going to be below deck if anyone remembers me". As Vashnar made his way below, he found a nice cool corner and sat down. Taking off his armor Vashnar decided to clean it, pulling out a rag and started to work on the pauldrons before he got lost in his own world and hum a tune his sister used to sing. After a bit and starting to clean the breastplate, he saw his reflection in the armor making him remind him of his father. while tears streaked down his cheeks, Vashnar quietly sang the end of a song his father use to sing:
Into the fires of battle, forged on the anvil of war.
They're dead and gone, only remembered and mourned.
With the hammer of truth and the stone of iron will,
I'll carve a monument to them in time forever more.
Wiping the tears from his eyes, Vashnar finished cleaning his armor and set it on the ground next to him and started to read his book.

[Zerachiel]

"I'm... Not sure actually. But, you know how it is. People get bored and wander off, it's a small ship though. I'm sure I'll run into her eventually." He gave a small shrug, he hadn't seen Gwen for a little bit now, but he made sure to catch her atleast once a day. They needed to double, triple, and quadruple check their plans every building moment, it was a cluster of chaos to try to get into Etruria EVEN in this sort of roundabout way. All it did is turn an impossible situation into merely an incredibly unlikely one. He bet these other people weren't even aware of how difficult it will be. He knew he'd be able to get him and Gwen in, he had something set in place the last time he left. Probably could get these guys in too, without too many questions. Drain his personal "donation" funds though. As poor as he let his self sound to be, he always always always carried a stash of money for getting out of jams.

Maybe he should talk to Joel about this...

All of a sudden, someone ran right past him. In a huff none the less, upset about something. "What's wrong with Vashnar?" He asked, he'd overhead how he... more or less screamed his name a moment ago. Even before that he knew, of course, he knew everyone's name here. There wasn't that many people, it didn't take long, and he never forgot a name. There was the girl, the young one, Joel had introduced her when they boarded the ship. Dee, it was, she was sleeping at the time. "Anyways, if you want a mirror Dee, I have a hand mirror in my things you could borrow." He would never call himself vain, but let's face it, he spent longer on his hair then what one may consider appropriate.

[Guinevere von Altenburg]

Guinevere was laying on her bed. She had been up for hours, yet she didn't want to move. For whatever reason, she didn't feel seasick while laying in it. Why would she want to leave it now? They should be almost there now, so she was gonna see if she could just hide down here for the rest of the ride. Granted, she wanted to be able to walk around and meet all the people and interact with everyone. But she would much rather not have to keep throwing up. So much for her getting her sealegs.

[Zero]

"Argh...where has all my stuff gone to? I thought I packed everything I needed when I had set out from the my home village. I even double-checked just before I had boarded the ship a few days ago! Ugh...I can't lose my hunting knife,that was a memento from my fellow tribesmen that was worth a fair amount of money too, Sacaen blades and tools are of high quality."

Zero grumbled angrily as he stormed around the deck of the ship,his normally friendly disposition had turned into an expression of annoyance and frustration over the past couple days. Many of Zero's possessions had mysteriously dissappeared within the past few days including his favorite hunting knife given to him by a family friend. Thankfully, his sword was never taken he as always kept the thing especially secure and close to him,even when he slept. Zero quickly paced the wooden floors of the ship as he searched everywhere he could,in barrels,between crates and barrels,underneath things over thing,in others rooms,just about here,there and everywhere. Zero had decided to double check his pack once more to make sure it wasn't the dizzyness getting to him. As that wasn't the case however,since Zero finally got used to it after about 3 or 4 days of falling down flat. As he searched his bag over once more Zero discovered a strange looking hat,it was rather flamboyant looking with a large plumed feather of some kind of bird. Eye'ing this hat over he thought to himself.

"Hmm...must belong to some rich nobleman or something,certainly dosen't seem to belong to anyone in my group....Wait a second,that man that Joel was talking to before...he seemed rather well-dressed for a swordsman! Perhaps that hat belonged to him!"

Zero held the hat firmly in his hands and searched the deck for that man,knowing that it shouldn't be too hard as he certainly dress much more classy than anyone else on the ship. After strolling the deck for about five or six minutes he came across that man from before,and it appeared he was talking to one of the crewsmen and Joel. It seemed as though that kid Dee was there along with the Knight from the arena. Zero cleared his throat briefly as he approached them and held out the hat,taking a moment to brush aside a few strands of his somewhat long hair. "Man...I need a haircut soon."

"Hey sir! Excuse me for a moment,is does this hat belong to you? It somehow ended up inside my bag this morning!"

[Sabin]

Sabin watched as weird events unfolded. Now as it is the long-haired young girl from earlier...what was her name? Oh yes, Dee. Yes, that girl was pretty playful and hyperactive. All children were innocent, and this girl was no exception. It kinda became worse when she called Vashnar, the guy everyone called armor, shiny. Of course Sabin remembered the guy's name and all that, and he too found it weird that everyone seemed to not remember that guy's name. Well, he pouted and screamed at the top of his voice, berating everyone for forgetting his name. Poor chap.

"What's wrong with Vashnar?"Roland asked, breaking the silence.

" He's probably fed up that some of us don't refer him to his actual name." Sabin said casually. Perhaps he'd speak with Vashnar sometime later.

"I'm surprised that we haven't come across anything weird so far. The Western Isles is known for pirates, surely we'd be attacked by them by now? One would think we'd be near the islands by now... actually it'd be more lively, being attacked by pirates. Certainly more active than just being stuck here in a ship." Sabin said in a joking-yet-serious fashion. He did want to go and battle something, which was weird since he was never usually interested in battle.

Then the blue-haired swordsman came up to them and asked Roland if he owned some particular hat. He said he found it in his bag this morning.

Sabin's eyes looked at Mel and he narrowed his gaze at her with a taunting look. Surely she must have been up to mischief. He knew from twhat he saw a few days ago.

[Joel]

Joel raised an eyebrow as he watched Vashnar storm off. "The crazy thing is, he hasn't had a problem with his nickname before." the Nabataean rumbled. "I just assumed he realized it was a nickname. A term of endearment." The man turned back to face the rest of the gathered people, noting Zero's arrival... And Weedy's hat. And speak of the devil...

"You there, boy!" a very peeved Captain Drake's voice shouted. "I should have guessed that the savage plainsman would have stolen my hat." The tall man in his large overcoat stormed down the deck towards Zero, a sword at his side. "I have half a mind to toss you overboard, savage." Weiss growled as he snatched his hat out of Zero's hands, returning it to his head. A few adjustments were made, and, when he was satisfied with it, Weedy smirked. "My trip on deck is not just to retrieve my missing hat, however. A known pirate vessel is heading our way. It shouldn't be too big a hassle; I've dealt with the Storming Urchin and her crew in the past. I doubt they'll mess with us, but ready yourselves anyway." 

Joel let out a sigh as Weedy stormed off, clutching at the hilt of his sword, and then rolled his shoulders. "Well, I may be a pacifist, but I need to go grab my axe. If worst comes to worst... I think I have a plan to help." And then he too was off. 

[Vashnar]

Vashnar was enjoying his peaceful time relaxing below deck when he started to hear a bunch of shouting and yelling up above. Ugh, may as well find out what's going on. Maybe I should also find Dee and apologize as well He thought as he strapped on his armor and went up the stairs. When Vashnar made it to the top of the steps, he noticed a ship sailing towards them and judging how the captain was acting with the new ship, they weren't friendly. Searching for Joel to fill things in for him, Vashnar happened to walk by Dee, oblivious to her presence as he made his way over to Joel. "Hey Joel, what's going on? Would you please fill me in?"