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Post by liandebark on Jan 27, 2008 13:04:05 GMT -5
The sun was shining, the sea birds were out and calling to their kin, it seemed a perfect day. Except, there was no wind. Not yet anyway. Not that it mattered for this particular ship, the magic propulsion it had made sure it moved, the sails out in hopes of catching even the slightest breeze. The crew were wandering about, there really wasn't much to do, the cleaning had been finished, the ship was on a steady pace.
Boredom was never a good thing at sea. Li'an knew that well enough. He looked about at his crew, and then out at each horizon. They would have to find a merchant ship along the way, if only to stir up things. He grinned as he spotted an approaching ship. "On yer feet lads, we go' ourselves a 'hip comin' this way!"
That was enough to get their attention. They were up, watchful. The ship was still a bit far off, but they might as well be prepared right? "Load the cannons, ge' us ready." Ah the joys of pirating. And this ship looked like it was carrying a heavy load, for as far as it was sunk in the water. It was definitely worth the time.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Feb 22, 2008 14:39:01 GMT -5
The ocean, eternally indifferent to the horrors that took place upon it's waves, lapping up against the sides of the boat gently, making the boat dip from side to side in a slow and soothing rock. It was one of the only things that Nicu seemed to have a real passion for, split the young woman from the sea for an extended amount of time and prepare to feel her wrath. No-one came between Nicu and the ocean, not even the fact that she was female and they were supposed to be bad luck. Psht, if girls were bad luck on a boat then she would just have to be a boy, or that was what she had told herself all those years ago anyway.
She lent against the railings at the side of the ship, hair arranged so that it fell into her face in an attempt to hide the ugly scar that disfigured her face, stirred ever so slightly by the gentle breeze. Her expression was as impassive as ever as she gazed out over the water, blinking to herself as she realized that they weren't the only ones in this stretch of water. Her muscles tensed as she stood up, her one good eye glinting in the sun, the other remaining milky white and unseeing as she watched the boat.
Pirates, it had to be. A spark of pure hatred flickered over her features for a second before it was gone, Nicu straightening up to look back over her shoulder. "We got company." She called, most of the other deck hands dropping what they were doing to look in the direction that she was pointing, looks of shock and probably fear on most of their faces. "Well, don't just stand there, get yourselves to work!" She demanded with authority, stepping away from the railings, her boots making hollow thuds on the deck. "We gotta move ourselves as quick as possible, everyone to it now before they catch us and skin you alive for not being able to fight." Yes, she was mocking them, but Nicu did love to see the fear in their eyes. Psht, weaklings, where did they find this mangy crew? |
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Feb 22, 2008 15:10:16 GMT -5
You are not going to fall, you are not going to fall, that railing is way too high up, you'll be fine, you can't fall, you're holding on with a grip that could break metal... oh God, what if it really does break? Oh no oh no... NO. You are not going to fall overboard and die. You're being stupid. Nudge was clinging to the railings with a glint in her eyes that made it clear she'd never been on a ship this large in her life, and neither did she have that much experience on the water anyway. And, being as small as she was, she didn't trust this big, heavy wooden monster that creaked when they moved and got tossed about by the waves so easily. Her fiery hair was pulled around with the breeze so all she could see was a blur of red, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Her white cloak was also pulled awkwardly around her so it looked like she was wrapped up in it. Darn this sea air.
Bad luck or no bad luck, Nudge had bought a passage on this ship with good money, and she was pretty certain no sailor would refuse money... especially not if she was pretty sure she'd overpayed him. Oh well, perhaps... perhaps they needed the money more than her? Yes, with all of the cargo they had to carry, and the long days spent on the sea. She was sure her money would be put to good use. Sighing, she was just about to release the bars from her iron grip when she heard a voice shout something. She turned to see (through the mane of crimson) a young... man? Yes, it had to be, and he was shouting that they had company. Company from who? But the crew were running around now, like something bad was happening... no, it couldn't be pirates, could it?
She slowly released the railing to step back, relief in her eyes when she wasn't just launched overboard for the crime of letting go. Uh oh, what now? Should she go below deck? But what if someone got hurt? She couldn't let that happen, she would rather die herself than let another get hurt and have to live with the blame. Throwing her hair back out of her face, she padded across the deck towards the young man, arguing with her cloak so that it fell properly when she looked up at him. "Do you think you'll need any help?" she asked brightly, only now noticing the ship opposite them. Oh dear. "What I mean is, do you think anyone will need healing afterwards?" she blushed. Well, he probably thought she was stupid now - her, help? Cannons? That was a laugh.
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Post by liandebark on Mar 10, 2008 17:30:35 GMT -5
"Seems they've caugh' on!" Li'an grinned ear to ear as he watched, even from this distance, as they moved to secure themselves. It was a wonderful day for a little looting. The ship was moving quickly towards the one on the horizon, and the closer they got, the more Li'an could see. Even if they ended up with a bit of repair work to do, it really didn't matter as long as it was worth it.
Closer closer..."'teady down t'ere...kee' yer 'eads an' wai' fer my signal." The sailors down on deck were looking a bit overzealous. It had been a long time since they'd actually attacked another ship. Especially since Seven had not made it back on board. They had stopped at a few ports and asked around. Nothing indicated that Seven had gotten away, or was even around.
Li'an was still looking for news of his friend, but for now, he would take his mind off it with a little piracy. They would be in range soon, and he perched on the edge of the stairs to the deck, looking toward them. They seemed ready for a fight, and that was just a little inconvenience he'd have to overstep. "Aftahnoon loves!" he called over to the other ship, a grin splitting his features. Might as well play up being harmless. "Nice day ain' it?"
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 10, 2008 18:00:31 GMT -5
Nicu's expression was priceless as she looked around, as if trying to work out who was talking to her, before turning her gaze down to find the girl stood there in front of her. What the Hell? Since when did they babysit for little girls? Wait, since when did they take passengers for that matter? No-one had told her that there was anyone on the ship other than the crew, then again why would they? It wasn't as if she had any real authority, it was just that those who dared to question her usually ended up having their not so pretty faces broken. "Help?" She asked slowly, as if to check she had heard her right, pushing her hair from her face as she looked back in the direction of the pirate's ship, which was approaching at a rather worrying speed. "Look kid, the only help you can give right now is to go below deck and we will shout you if we need you." She told her bluntly, pointing in the direction of the steps that lead below deck; Nicu had never been known for her tact.
"Shoo now, or I will kill you myself and save them the trouble." No, she wasn't quite that cold hearted, close to it but not quite, she just wanted to scare the girl away so that she wouldn't have to worry about her when the pirates first hit, and if they did look like they were going to get below deck then she would just have to go and save her wouldn't she? Blasted children, now that she knew that she was there she would have to keep an eye out for her, and Nicu didn't exactly have an eye to spare did she?
A frown settled over her features as she rubbed at the scar over her eye angrily; the thing always seemed to prickle whenever there were pirates around, as if remembering the bite of steel even if her mind couldn't remember it. She turned her back on Nudge, her hand moving to rest over one of her swords as she narrowed her eyes at the approaching ship, shifting a little to get a better view of it. It was too close now, there was no escaping them now. They would have to fight, and loose, and die with honour or drown, both seemed rather appealing out comes really. Oh well, she would have to wait and see. She doubted that she would be lucky enough to have one of them kill her, she never had that type of luck, that was why she was stuck here now.
"Nice day for slitting pirates throats? Aye, I would agree there." She called back to whoever it was that had spoken, not hesitating to draw her twin blades and step back away from the edge of the ship. Damn, it had been too long since she shed pirate blood. |
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 11, 2008 2:28:20 GMT -5
Nudge smiled brightly as Nicu began talking, resting one hand lightly on the railings and drumming her fingers against the metal. It was okay, she'd had this speech before, the one where people couldn't really think she could do anything, and it was better for her to be out of the way. She didn't blame them for it; she'd do the same if she were older, and about a half a foot taller. She frowned lightly at the mere mention of killing, the breeze tossing her cloak from around her shoulders again to reveal the blessed staff she'd fastened to her waist - it wouldn't do at all to lose THAT overboard now would it? "You aren't really going to kill them, are you?" she asked softly; Nudge was terrible like that, it was like she didn't even believe that the pirates would kill them either. "That would just be awful..."
As for being saved, the only saving she'd need would be from NOT trying to heal the gang of bloodthirsty pirates if they came on board. She moved her hand from the railing, following Nicu's gaze out to the other ship. "It is a lovely day, isn't it?" she called back brightly before she could help herself, the innocent smile on her face far too genuine for it to even be amusing. Oh, they were NICE pirates? She'd never heard of such a thing!! This was her lucky day after all, there was no chance a nice pirate would even think about murdering them... But then again Nicu's response was less encouraging. Hm, how negative. "Okay, I'll stand over there," she motioned with her hand to the other side of the ship, "And you call me when you need me." she nodded.
She skipped off over the deck (skipping because even running didn't get her far enough in one step), gazing over her shoulder at Nicu when she was half-way. "My name is Nudge by the way, sir!" she called, shaking her fiery hair out of her face and continuing to the other side of the ship.
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Post by liandebark on Mar 13, 2008 1:02:59 GMT -5
Li'an grinned brightly. "Ah, see, there's one 'appy sailor." He waved at Nudge, grinning broadly himself. He couldn't help himself, she seemed such an adorably naive person. He turned his green eyes to the supposed captain of the vessel. "Splittin' throats? No why'n the name o' the sea wouldja wanna split our throats? Doesn' seem ver' 'ospitable o' ya." He moved to a position where he could board their ship, putting a hand out to stop anyone from following him. He'd be alright alone for now.
He boarded their ship, grinning broadly. "Nice ship ya go'." He winked at her, cheerily disregarding the blade she held as he looked to her crew. "Not a ver' scary lot ya go' 'ere." He pointed over his shoulder at his own mis-match bunch of crew. He grinned brightly, teasing of course, "I'd 'ate ta ma'e thi' a ba' day fer bot' o' us...so why don'cha let us ta'e wha' we nee', an' be on de way mm?" He, of course, didn't expect them to not fight them off, but he liked to offer a tidings of peace before the full blown fight. Then they couldn't really say they had attacked. Not that it much mattered.
It was a matter of Li'an's reputation really. He liked to make sure no one could outright say he was a cruel man. Not that anyone really could. He was a pirate, pirates looted things. Part of their nature really. No one could outright call him a monster either, because he wasn't. He took pride in being kinda to everyone he could, to a point. There would be no mercy if this ship decided to, you know, resist their attempts at looting. At the very least it would give his men something to be excited about, to brag about back on shore.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 13, 2008 16:59:08 GMT -5
Nicu shot Nudge a warning glare as she yelled back to her, raising one of her swords to point toward the corner. "Will you just get your scrawny ass out of the way?" She demanded, annoyance flickering through her one healthy eye. She could see it now, that girl would end up getting her killed. No matter how much Nicu acted like she didn't care she wouldn't be able to let a child suffer at the hands of some criminal; no, she wasn't quite that cruel. Plus, she doubted that Nudge would actually let anyone kill her, she would probably be nice to them until they took her aboard their ship or something along those lines. That girl really was just far too cheerful for no reason what-so-ever, she would have to grow out of her naivety quickly if she expected to survive in this world.
Her attention was dragged back over to Li'an as he spoke again, all thoughts of Nudge abandoned as she flicked her hair out of her face. Nicu wasn't officially the captain of this ship, but the real captain was too lazy to actually be bothered that she had more control and guts than he did, happy to let her do all the work while he kept his title and better accommodation. Psht, it wasn't the perks that Nicu wanted, she had never bothered with anything close to luxury ever since her father had been killed, it wouldn't be out of place to say that she had avoided luxury like the plague really. It was the control she liked, and the respect. Yep, no one would dare to question her or even think that she was a woman if they were terrified of her, and that was how she liked it.
Nicu didn't need other people to survive, she was just fine on her own.
"It is a very nice day, and they are a better crew than you would expect, so I suggest that you make it easier for yourself and leave my ship and everything on it. I don't want to have to shed blood today." Her voice was nowhere near as cheerful as his, the icy edge to it more obvious now, edged with a threatening tone as she stood up straight and tilted her head at Li'an as she waited for his answer, her grip tightening on her blades. Both of them knew that they wouldn't back down, and Nicu had been lying anyway; she was itching to shed blood today. It had been too long since she had had a good fight. |
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 14, 2008 2:36:38 GMT -5
Oh, but that wouldn't work for Nudge at all. She abhored any kind of fighting, and her opinion of Nicu would simply plummet if a fight broke out and it wasn't Li'an responsible for it. She hated pirates with a passion, but this was her first encounter with a real bunch of them and... well, they seemed nice enough. It didn't even occur to her that it might be all a lie, a front they were putting up, and if it was that didn't matter in the end. It didn't look like they were going to hurt anyone, especially from what Li'an was saying... but they were stealing, that was wrong as well. This moral argument was battling on the inside of her head even as she reached the other side of the ship, lifting a hand to wave gently back at the pirate who'd greeted them, a light smile on her face.
Well, there was no chance of pirates giving up their looting, was there? That's what made them pirates! But they didn't want to hurt anyone, not without a choice. Hmm... she shook her head sharply - this was no time to be drifting off! Even if she hated fighting, people would need her if a scrap broke out. Her naivety may have seemed due to her youth, and a lot of it was, but Nudge would probably always just be a naturally cheerful and impressionable person. That's just who she was, it was unlikely she'd ever manage to grow out of it. Besides, healing magic felt so good to do, she just couldn't help being chirpy and happy.
She was itching to go back over to where Nicu was standing and beg him just to let the pirates do their work and leave, it wasn't worth the destruction of a vessel and maybe even lives when it could easily be avoided. And his voice was nowhere near as questioning as his words, as though he WANTED to fight. But she bit her tongue, she didn't want to aggrivate the already overzealous young man even further, or he might decide to send her below the ship. Instead she let her eyes flit over the crew; they weren't a bad lot at all, they probably had families and children to be getting back to, no doubt. Another reason why they shouldn't allow Nicu to start a fight between pirates. What, was this entire ship insane? Was nobody going to stop a single crew member from damning them all to a watery grave?
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Post by liandebark on Mar 15, 2008 1:03:08 GMT -5
"Now, tha's no' very nice o' you, now is it?" Li'an drew the rapier at his waist, winking lightly at Nicu. He always had fun, no matter the attitudes of the people he met. Whether they allowed him to take what they had, or they fought until their ship sank, it was all thrilling. "Bloodshed ain' sometin' I li'e doin', bu' I see yer itchin' fer a fight." Grinning lightly, he took up a firm stance, and lifted his blade for both blocking and attacking.
Then he chuckled, "But I like to ma'e the odds a li'l more'n my favor." He let his sword drop, and the cannons on his ship let loose a torrent of cannonballs as they went off in succession. Once it was quiet again, Li'an rubbed his ears, chuckling, "Do ya still wan' ta figh' me?" His eyes were sparkling with mischief, "I mighta hi' somethin' important, whadda ya say we jus' forget the fightin' an' ya jus' give up?" He was waiting for her to attack him really, the gleam in her eyes was definitely one of a fighter.
It made him wonder how such a person could be on a ship like this. This person could have easily fit in among his crew, and been an excellent second in command...well, if the position was open. But he was determined that Seven was out there, and that he wasn't going to lose his good friend. That and other things kept his mind on just fighting her, not trying to convince her to join him, or really, to not fight him. He was eager to see how well she fought really.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 15, 2008 12:23:22 GMT -5
(-gasp- Does Li'an know Nicu's a girl?)
"Personally, I wouldn't think that stealing our cargo was a very nice thing to do, pity that our opinions seem to differ on this matter." Her whole countenance seemed to alter suddenly then as she smiled to Li'an with a mock look of innocence, though it was rather difficult to seem innocent when you were armed, wasn't it? "You are a terrible liar, if you didn't like blood shed then you wouldn't be a pirate." She tutted to him as she shifted her position a little, swords still held at her sides but her muscles were tense and her senses were alert, ready to react swiftly to any attack that might come. She could feel the gazes of the crew on the pair of them, the real captain lurking not too far behind Nicu, seated comfortably on a step. It seemed that whatever happened between these two would probably define the crew's reaction. If he managed to kill Nicu then there was no point in fighting for they would all be killed, but if she managed to draw the first blood then they would have at least a little hope that they could defend their ship.
Nicu might have had a fiery temper, but she wasn't an idiot and she wouldn't just go charging at Li'an, no matter how much he taunted her. She altered her stance as the sound of the cannons assaulted her ear drums, parting her feet a little to spread her weight out more evenly, legs bent ever so lightly so ensure that she didn't stumble, head lowered ever so slightly to listen to the sound of wood splintering. Hmmm, it didn't sound like there had been too much damage, mainly structural damage that could be patched up until they reached a port, and she had felt no substantial dip in the ship so she doubted that they were taking any water on board. The hollow sound of her crew's boots over the deck told her that they were checking the damage, and that was all she needed to know before she raised her gaze back to Li'an and arched an eyebrow at him, grinning slightly. "Sink the ship and you're just going to waste your ammo and loose all our precious cargo, so maybe you should be careful where you aim those things next time hummm?" There was a definite mocking tone to her voice as she watched him carefully, as if asking him if that was all he had.
Nicu was on a ship like this because she had been brought onto a ship like this, and it would take a lot to persuade her to even share the same air as a bunch of pirates. She was like them in almost every way, but she still counted herself as separate from them. How could she ever class herself amongst a group of people that her murdered her father and almost stolen her vision? The mere thought made anger boil up within her...but no...she had to concentrate right now, she had to ensure that her and her crew, especially that annoying little Nudge, got out of this alive.
"Or, are you too scared to fight me?" She asked and laughed coldly, taking a step closer to him before raising her weapons defensively. |
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 15, 2008 15:10:49 GMT -5
Oh dear... it looked like the crew really weren't going to stop them from fighting. They must seriously be as insane as the young man; even the pirate seemed to have a dose more sense than he did. She was about to step forward to stop them when the boom of cannons made her falter in her step... that didn't sound good. Then the wood beneath her feet was moving and Nudge, being Nudge fell quite ungracefully onto her backside, emitting a surprised squeak as she did. They had fired CANNONS at them! CANNONS! No nice, well-wishing pirate would do that, she knew she couldn't have trusted them! "That simply isn't fair." she murmured to herself through the silence of the ship, collecting herself and getting to her feet, shaking off her white cloak and pushing the mane of fiery hair from her face.
"Neither of you should fight, you're just going to provoke something a lot worse and people are going to end up dead!" she announced, having walked a few steps into the middle of the deck, green eyes flashing and the breeze throwing her white cloak back from her shoulders again. She was getting a little angry by now - she'd never seen two people so wrapped up in their own conversation, fully aware that every word they said could decide just whether the ship sank or whether one of them ended up in a pool of blood. And the crew, they were just as bad! This was proving to be a great experience on a ship; from now on she would stick to land thank you... if she ever made her way out of this alive, that is.
She didn't know why she even cared about Li'an's well-being; his action had just proved that no pirate could be trusted, that her hatred of the looting, cheating outlaws was as justified as she'd always thought. But still, she found she'd still be terribly upset if anything happened to him, or the young man or anyone else. She was learning something new about herself today, that she was really incapable of hating anyone. It just wasn't in her to do it.
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Post by liandebark on Mar 18, 2008 22:30:03 GMT -5
(I wouldn't think he does O.o)
Li'an turned his attention, briefly, to the girl nearby shouting at them. He chuckled, "Ah bu', love, tha's wha' we pirates do." His eyes went back to Nicu, shining brightly. He leaned on his sword though, scratching behind one pointed ear. This seemed to be some kind of signal, because his men grabbed up weapons and came aboard the other ship. Grinning broadly he said, "Let's just you'n me figh'. De crews can figh' et ou' t'emselves."
Pulling his weapon back up, he slid it out to meet Nicu's, winking lightly. "Do ya go' any power 'hind t'ose words o' yours? Seems ta me yer all jus' talk, and no bi'e." He hoped to anger the other more. The angrier a person got, the more erratic their strikes and maneuvers, the easier it was to strike them down without drawing blood. Drawing blood was never the chivalrous thing to do, and even as a pirate he hated spilling blood unless it was absolutely necessary. And there was very few times when such acts were necessary.
Like now for instance. They didn't need to shed blood, all they needed was to successfully pull the cargo of this ship onto theirs. It was just that simple. No blood, no tears, no nothing. Just an honest bit of...bargaining one could say. Though not many people liked his methods, at least he wasn't as cut throat as many of his other seafaring brethren. In fact he was probably the most tame you'd find on the water. Not that anyone was counting. All they knew was that he was a pirate, a bad guy. Heh, showed what they knew.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 19, 2008 17:48:56 GMT -5
"Nudge, you stay out of this." Nicu demanded, allowing her gaze to flicker over to the young girl for a moment to shoot her a warning and threatening glare before turning her attention back to Li'an and the matter at hand. Silly, naive Nudge, it might do her good to learn the way that Nicu had to hate people; it might actually shock her out of her innocence if one of the pirates tried to attack her or something. She knew that it wasn't a particularly pleasant way to understand how to hate, but it would be a swift step in the right direction away from naivety. Nudge didn't want to be filled with as much hate as Nicu, she just needed a little bit of hate in her to get her through rough times.
"Me and you will fight then." She nodded to him. Nicu may be quick tempered and she may be irrational, but there was one thing that she could do well; fight.She had been learning to fight since she was a child and it was the only thing that she had ever claimed to be good at. She was just reckless sometimes, it would get her killed someday, maybe soon and then she could just disappear. Oh well, that day wouldn't be today, she didn't feel like dying today. She moved swiftly and easily to knock Li'an's weapon away when he attacked her, arching an eyebrow at him. "All talk and no bite? I don't know about that, let's test your theory out shall we?" She tilted her head at him challengingly, smirking a little as she rolled her eyes. Did he really think that she was that easy to trick?
Nicu, on the other hand, was just waiting for him to start. The pirates had attacked first and she wouldn't be sorry to see their blood on the deck, though cleaning it up later would be an awful hassle that she wasn't really looking forward to. Silly pirates, why couldn't they bleed over the ship when they died so that she didn't have to run an unpopular and boring clean up operation? Tsk, pirates. |
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 20, 2008 7:23:53 GMT -5
Nudge gave a little growl of annoyance but held back, folding her arms across her chest. Stay out of it? They were right there, about to fight, how was she supposed to STAY OUT OF IT? The young healer passed a hand through the fiery hair and sighed, moving back to the opposite side of the ship. Fine, she supposed, there would be no way to stop them, and it wasn't even worth it to think that she wouldn't bother to heal them if one of them got hurt - she already knew she would, that was the annoying thing. So fine, let them fight. Let them kill each other, she would just stand here and... there were pirates on the ship now. Well, more than one. Oh... dear. Nudge found herself against the railings, rather confused as the crew moved forward to fight the pirates, the breeze throwing her hair in her eyes again so she couldn't see.
"Bloody pirates!" she cursed under her breath - she didn't often get angry or irritated like this, it was an entirely new experience to her. And she didn't particularly like it, anger made people do irrational things, Li'an was right... which probably explained why she promptly stuck out her leg and tripped up one of the pirates, standing over him and scowling. It was a rather comical sight, to see such a small figure looming over a muscly brute of a pirate. "Now you listen to me!" she put her hands on her hips, "Just because you're a criminal and you're strong and tough and tall and... and... getting up off the floor. Oh, um... yeah, that doesn't mean you can... Bye!" she giggled weakly as the man got to his feet, murder in his eyes. She found herself thrown among the fighting crew then, running for her life.
Not that you could actually run very far on a damn SHIP, though. Nudge was soon backed into a corner, wondering where the pirate who'd made chase on her was. Hmm...
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