Strangers and Supplies [Victor]

[Chloe]

Chloe's body flinched when he touched her, getting even closer than his previous advance had gotten him. Now he was practically pressing against her like they were a couple. Had he not explained himself she would have indeed made quite a scene in the tavern, and his testicles would have most definitely been lodged in his windpipe. She tried listening carefully to his words, her teeth digging into her bottom lip to hold back her aggression. Had she been notified of his sudden act, it would have been easier for her to react. She tried her best to act nonchalant, and she did succeed for the most part, but it was pushing her limits. After some time, thankfully, her anger simmered down and she could calmly listen to his plan. It seemed to be fairly simple and there was a good chance it would all work out. However, what worried her was the Knights. Even if she was concealed by his cloak, Victor would surely be recognized by them. Then again, all he had done was help her with her boat. But she felt her fears quelled by his voice. Just the way he spoke made Chloe feel confident. He was so sure. He had the mind of a master thief, that was for sure, and a dark, twisted part of her being was turned on by that. "I see... Well... I guess we better head out now then, aye? Oh boy, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" she whispered in an enthusiastic voice. "I don't think I'll miss my boat too much. The only thing of interest on there is some basic travel gear. Everything else was stolen in Ravok. I'm sure well have most of what we need on the new boat." she pulled out the appropriate Miza for the bartender and removed herself from the seat, wobbling a bit when she was required to depend on her own feet. She regained her composurea nd turned back to face him, swiping the cloak off his pack. "I don't want them to see my scars, dear..." she half-whispered, hoping that anyone close enough to hear would be fooled. After donning the cloak she lifted a hand towards Victor, allowing him to take it. "Lead the way..." she grinned devilishly.

[OOC= I just wanted to give you a heads up that I'm thinking about adding a third to our crew (perhaps even a fourth). She's as poison expert, and a Symenstra, so that should be fun. Her name is Asara Willows. If you have any objections to this, just go ahead and tell me. You won't hurt my feelings

[Vondonos Sultros]

OOCNo problem, Symnestra are almost as cool as these ooc tags "When you get up take the miner's pack and stay at a level height of about 2 inches shorter than me." Victor whispered. He then took off his 60 pound miner's pack and then got up and went over to pay for the drinks. This was a necessary precaution because if he was carrying all the weight, they wouldn't look like much of a couple. The two inches shorter part was important because his cloak had the mark of the Sultros clan on it. If somebody was smart enough, they might know something was wrong by a person 10 inches too tall wearing the cloak. He hoped that they would pass off as a Isurian family that just happened to have a Svefran ship. After all, there was no hiding the fact that he was Isurian. He pretended to check his pockets, knowing that they were empty. Turning to Chloe, he smiled weakly and said, "Sorry Honey, I ran out of money. Mind if you pay?" He waited for her to get up and pay, before walking out of the shop, hoping that she was following close behind him. Once they had exited the store, Victor grasped her hand, this time assuming that she knew what he was doing. Victor was admittedly having fun with all of this pretending to be a couple business, although it was all business of course. Victor wondered when stealing ships had suddenly turned into his "business" but then he shook off the feeling. He knew that the beast was purportedly somewhere between Syliras and Ravok, and a ship would provide money, food, shelter, and faster transport to the site of any important rumor. His dad was gone, and Victor didn't have to follow his principles anymore. As long as he was avenged. Victor and Chloe kept walking, past the spot where they had left Chloe's ship and two boats down where there new ship lay haphazardly docked. It was prime time at the market, so there were almost nobody outside. As he had noticed before, the guards were different and they couldn't know which boat was which. The boats would have to rely on their own protection, and Victor was pretty sure that their boat didn't have protection. Victor, keeping a straight face and not looking at the guards at all, casually hopped into the ship, signalling Chloe to cut the ropes. The put his pack down and helped Chloe with her pack. He remembered when he was 12 and he first had to carry that incredibly heavy pack. He had only walked one hour that entire day, and had been sore the entire next day. He eventually got used to it so that he almost didn't notice that he was carrying so much weight, but even just the miner's pack would probably be very heavy to most people, especially people without the muscle mass and bone density of the Isur. Once he had the miner's pack, he quickly picked it and his other backage up and opened the first door that he saw. It seemed to be an empty bedroom. It had an unmade bed, an empty chest, a book shelf, and a desk. He threw his stuff into the trunk and stepped out of the door. He knew that Chloe would, as soon as she got onto the ship, get them out of there. She would have her hands full with sailing the ship as fast as possible away from Syliras, so he had to make sure that there was nobody else on the ship with them.

[Chloe]

It wasn't hard to reduce her height once she had taken on the weight of the pack, which was a lot heavier than she had previously thought. Victor had lifted it like it was nothing, but now that she felt the weight for herself she had developed some respect for the Isur. She wobbled uncertainly with the new weight, yet managed to steady herself by bending her knees a bit. She faithfully followed Victor out into the nearly deserted streets. There must have been a big event, or something. When nobody was looking she bent her legs more sonthat she was shorter than him. Thankfully the cloak concealed her legs so that it wouldn't be obvious that she was faking it. Also, the hood would hide most of her non-Isurian features. Chloe held her breath as they passed the guards, feeling their eyes burn into her skin. A shiver ran down her spine, and it caused her to wobble a bit. To the guards she probably looked tipsy, but only Victor and herself knew she was suffering under the weight of the pack. She was relieved when her accomplice took it from her and signaled her to untie the ship. She checked to see if anyone was watching before uniting the ropes and leaping up into the boat. As she passed Victor she gave him a wide smile. She then set work to lowering the sails, her nimble body dashing across the boat, her expertise allowing her to pull the ship out of dock in a matter of minutes. The wind caught the sails and dragged the away from port, the cotton sheets expanding to support the gusts of wind that blew through them. Chloe ran to the back of the deck and spun the wheel with a strong shove, causing the ship to tilt away from Syliras, and head off into open sea. Once they were a good distance away, the gleeful pirate leapt down to meet Victor in the captain's quarters. "Bloody hell, that was fantastic! I mean, not a peep of trouble! Amazin'!" she landed a firm punch on the Isur's chest, just enough to feel the muscles underneath. "Looks like your a full blooded criminal, aye mate? Ya know... I had a feeling you were odd. Now I see why. You should feel honored. Not many people are allowed to travel with the great Chloe Riptide, but I saw something rather... Special... About you."a she flashed him a pleasant smile and dropped her hand, her finger lingering a tad longer than they normally would. A rumbling noise came from her stomach. "Bah... Looks like this ship wasn't stocked for long distance, aye? Prolly those folks were gettin' supplies while we took their vessel. That's too bad, since that means we'll have to get them ourselves. Why don't you find something for dinner, if there be anything at all. I'm going to get comfortable." she kicked off her boots and threw them in the corner by the bed, one of them flopping to it's side as it was thrown. Her bare feet looked calloused and bruised, the telltale sign of a runner. Next came the doublet, which she shrugged off to reveal her cotton shirt, a rather light piece of clothing that fit loosely on her. The material was just thin enough to allow someone close-by to see the outline of her undergarment. Typically, whoever noticed this (and further studied it)  ended up losing a few teeth.

[Vondonos Sultros]

Victor shook his head, grateful that the ordeal was over. Though he hadn't shown it on the outside, he was practically quaking in fear. "Between you and me, I'm no master thief. I've just gotten very observant over the years. This is my first real theft." Victor may have been acting modest, but inside he was positively bursting with excitement. He had committed maybe 2 or 3 petty thefts before, usually just a piece of bread or a fruit. Admitedly he had had some...morally dubious experiences. Like that time that he shot an Akalak's ear off with a crossbow. And the time that he sliced open the old man's door. Or the time when he beat up a gang of 10 year old boys for breaking his window. And the unfortunate incident with the Symennstra man and the human woman The woman had looked like she was in danger, but all Victor learnt that day was to never make nude Symenstra man angry. But these kind of crimes were easily done. Perfect theft was much harder to pull of in real life than it was in the stories. Alright, I'm going to make sure that all of my stuff is safe and then I'll see what I can scrounge up for dinner. Victor bounced to his room, still high from the smooth escape. He unpacked the portable forge, quickly lighting the fire to make sure that it still worked. Judging that it did, he moved on to the miner's pack. He opened it to see that the steel and Isurian steel were present and still separate. It was very hard to tell Isurian Steel from regular steel, and he was glad that they were still separate even after his journey. Distracted by what seemed would be his new room, he didn't right away go to the kitchen. Instead, he started to pace around the room, looking at different paraphernalia. He sat at the desk, looking through various letters and papers in the file cabinet. On the desk, he found a map of the ship. Knowing that this would be useful later, he tucked it into his pocket. This had obviously been the father's room, judging from the amount of accounting material that he found. He would have to sift through the drawer later and see if there was anything valuable in there. Victor got up and went over to the book shelf. He had expected to find that it was full of books on nautical terms and creatures, but it was actually full of religious works and stories. Bemused, Victor opened one entitled, Lost Gods. He read about the former god of war, Ruros, who had been killed by Myri, goddess of Victory. As he read, he started to wonder. What was he hunting? Was he hunting a piece of Ruros? After all, fragments were born from the pieces of dead gods. But how could he ever defeat something so powerful that it had ruled the world from the sky thousands of years ago? A muffled yell (something about damn food) awoke him from his daydreams. Quickly throwing the book on his bed, he went to the deck. According to the map, Victor knew that the kitchen was the second door to the left of the main...ah. He opened the door and looked around. It was a sizable room, with a small stone table, a stove, and a few drawers where provision could be left. He opened the first drawer, seeing only one package of salted meat. The next drawer contained a loaf of crusty bread. The next made his heart skip a beat, and the little boy's skip a couple. There was a small boy sitting in the drawer, probably waiting to scare his mother when she came to deposit some fresh supplies. "Who are you?" exclaimed the little boy, his eyes tearing up. "Uhhmmm, I...Th...There you are. I...We were searching everywhere for you. Don't you remember you Uncle Victor? Your Aunt and I thought you were with mummy and daddy. Didn't they tell you that we were switching ships until we got back home." Victor stuttered, still not fully grasping the fact that they had accidentally kidnapped a small child. What the hell were they going to do? They couldn't just ditch the kid or take him with us. And going back to Syliras now would be tantamount to suicide. "Uncle Victor? I don't remember mommy ever mentioning you." "Well, let's go take you to Aunt Chloe and we'll see what to do." Sniffling a little but apparently trying to act brave, the kid followed Victor through the hallway an to where Chloe left them. "Hey Aunt Chloe," said Victor, trying to sound jovial, though his voice only achieved something of a dull croak, " Look who I found in the pantry."

[Chloe]

Upon hearing her name, Chloe bounded down the the second deck to meet up with Victor. However, the title of "Aunt" did not bode well with her. He thought he was just toting with her, but his distraught voice went a chill down her spine. Something was wrong. The wooden boards squeaked painfully as she made her way to where Victor had called from. She was hesitant to enter the room, afraid she would see him standing next to a dead body, or an Assasin's blade pressed against the Isur's neck. What she saw was much worse. It was hard to hold back the shocked expression that exploded onto her face. Fear, anger, and surprise fought for dominance in her features. Of all things, a child? How idiotic could she have been not to check the ship beforehand. Of course, they had been in a hurry. She was ignorant to think they would pull the whole thing off without a hitch. Her lips pressed together tightly, and her eyes flickered over to Victor. "Well. This sure is a surprise." she stated. The statement had been directed towards her accomplice, rather than the boy.  "Uncle Victor, why don't we have a word outside? We'll be right back, don't go anywhere" she gave the boy a half-hearted smile and dragged the Isur from the room, down to the opposite end of the ship and shut the door. Hopefully there was enough space between them and the boy that they would have privacy. She pressed her fingers firmly against her temples, a long irritated sigh escaping her lips. They stood there in silence for some time before Chloe exploded. "FUCK!" Even as a pirate she had attempted to keep her use of explicatives fairly low, but there were moments when her limits were pushed. "A kid? A bloody kid? Great. Just wonderful. Bloody, God-Damn, aces!" She covered her eyes with the palm of her hands, emmitting a dreadful groan.  What were they going to do? They certainly weren't going to keep him aboard. Chloe was terrible with kids. But they also couldn't risk re-docking just for on little boy. For a brief second she theorized killing him and tossing him into the sea, but Chloe couldn't bring herself to take a child's life. "What do we do?"

[Vondonos Sultros]

"Look, you should calm down. I agree that this is really really bad, but we just have to deal with it. There was really no way we were just going to walk away with a new ship." said Victor, trying to mollify Chloe while he tried to think of a plan. There was absolutely no way that they were going to hurt the child, he had to be delivered back to his parents. He may now be a thief, but he wasn't such a bad person. That's when he had the idea. "Alright, I have a plan. Kind of. We obviously can't just barge into Syliras. In fact, I don't know if we should ever go back to Syliras. But there is another place where the boy can be found. His house. He still thinks that we're his aunt and uncle, so we just need to keep playing those roles. We'll say we forgot where his house is, have him show us, then leave him in the house and get out of there. He'll get any neighbors to take care of him until his parents find him. I'll handle it, you're not exactly the maternal type. More of a bad influence really." Relieved that he had come up with a working solution, Victor started heading back to where the boy was. Coming up with these solutions was kind of like making a shape out of metal. It could be made in many different ways, but there was always a best way, and you just had to find it. Elated, Victor opened the door and walked right into the kid. Victor's eyes widened in horror. If the kid had heard their plan, it would all be ruined. "Hey, little guy." The child gave him an annoyed look. "I'm hungry Uncle Victor." "Umm...Right. Why don't we go back to the pantry and I'll get you some food. Hey, Aunt Chole, I'm going to give him some food and then he can show you the place." Victor took the boy's hand and they walked back to the kitchen. Luckily, it didn't seem as if the boy heard anything. Victor sat the boy down and fetched the piece of bread and salted meat. He cut the bread in thirds and put a portion of salted meat on the bread. He took a plate out of one of the cabinets and placed the meal in front of the child. "This is it?" asked the boy grumpily. Victor rolled his eyes internally, but calmly said "This is all we have, so eat it or starve." Victor went back to the piece of meat and made 2 similar meals. This was all the food that they had found on the ship. After this, they would have to rely on the food that he had in his backpack. It was a week's worth for just one person, but for 3 people it would least at most 3 days. Possibly 2. Victor took a moody bite of bread. This would be a long trip.

[Chloe]

OOCSorry it took so long to post. My cousins have come from Florida to visit, so I probably won't be posting as often

Chloe looked skeptically at Victor, her stomach twisting in agony at the thought of having to share a boat with a kid. It wasn't the worst plan she had ever heard, but she didn't like it one bit. Still, she had to trust that Victor knew what he was doing. He was the only level-headed adult on-board at that moment in time, so it was only natural that he made the decision. Chloe brushed her hair back again and looked towards the door. "I hope you know what you're doing." her eyes were clouded with uncertainty, coupled with traces of fear. She wasn't exactly sure what she was afraid of, but her best guess was that she was worried they might get caught kidnapping both a boat and a kid. The only people that would be out at this time of day would be merchants, so there was really no need to worry, but just having the kid on board made her uneasy. It brought back harsh memories about her... limitations. She closely followed the Isur back into the kitchen and sat down at the shabby wooden table pushed against one of the walls, the old chair creaking under the her weight. She felt a little insulted by the furniture, loudly squealing under her body-mass. She had never considered herself fat, though. She shook her head. There were more important things to think about right now. For one, how far away did this kid live? Would they be able to stretch their supplies for that long? Would his parents get the Knights to send a search party for the ship? The last problem seemed to have an easy solution. Wherever they ported they could re-paint the ship and give it a nice touch-up, it's condition right now looking less-than-perfect. She recalled in her mind the faded red coat of paint that clung helplessly to the sides of the ship. Red, blech. She would paint it brown, mahogany brown. Just like her eyes. Her thin fingers picked up her dinner, rotating it every which way, a little disappointed by the shortage of goods on the ship. He would have echoed the boy's words, but Chloe felt it would break the illusion they were trying to cast on the boy. She bit down and tried to relish the taste while she could, knowing that they would have to ration their remaining consumables carefully. The meat tasted aged, which was to say it tasted rather odd, and the bread was hard to chew. "ugh, when we get rid of this kid I'm going to spend a fortune on this boat."

[Vondonos Sultros]

OOCI think we should end this thread after you finish your next post (you need to set course for the boy's house). We need to relocate to the Suvan sea. Victor bit down on the piece of meat and closed his eyes, trying to make it seem like he was eating something half way decent. He had no idea where they were going to get food. The only thing he could think of was either fish, or wait till they got to the kid's house and stealing from a nearby store. Either way, he had to find out where he lived. "Hey," he said tapping the small Svefera sitting there eating his mediocre dinner, "Your Dad already told your Aunt where your house is, but she forgot. Can you tell me where it is so that we can go and have a nice dinner?" The small child slowly nodded and bent over to the older man's ear. He stuttered out a set of numbers, which meant absolutely nothing to Victor. "Thanks, little guy. So how long should it take to get there?" "2 days" he said softly. Victor breathed a sigh of relief. Their supplies would last 2 days, but they would have to get some food at their destination. Thanking the little boy and telling him to go to sleep, Victor walked over to Chloe. "It'll take 2 days to get there, according to the kid" He then repeated the mess of numbers that the child had told him. "I'm guessing that you'll know how to use those numbers, because I have no clue." finished Victor. He turned around to see that the little boy was still sitting there. Picking him up, Victor made his way to the spot marked, Dugan's room on the map. He entered to find a room littered with toys and a small unmade bed. He set the kid onto the bed and said, "Good night". He closed the door and locked it from the outside, to make sure that he wouldn't come out in the night. He layed down in the bed, pulling his covers over himself. It had been an eventful day, but in the end he had gotten much more than he bargained for.

[Chloe]

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