Stepping aboard

[Akivo Quicklash]

Waves lapped gently at the docks as a figure strode along them, gazing up at the three ships as he past them by. He stopped to gaze up at the Keelhaul, squinting his eyes against the wind that blew into his face.

Kivo slowly walked up the gangplank and stopped to gaze about on the Keelhaul's deck. He grumbled under his breath about the lack of activity about the large ship. The lean ferret threw his sack of supplies down beside the rail and sat down apon it to wait for somebeast to arrive. While he waited, he uncoiled his rawhide whip and began checking the length of it for any damage that may need to be repaired.

[Bladefang]

Fang ascended from under the deck, his long green coat coming down to his hindpaws and the wicked axeblade shining from where it hung at his waist, almost blending in with the silver fur and sticking out from the utterly red-orange tail there. Somehow, the fox had made a sort of harness to where he could hold the axe against his back, and when he pulled it, the clasp would release and allow him to pull it from over his shoulder.

The quartermaster of the Keelhaul looked over the deck, shaking his head in shame as he saw how devoid of life it was. Sure, a couple slaves swabbing the deck, but he didn't look at them; they were there to be ignored. Instead, he saw the ferret sitting upon the gunwales checking his whip. A sly smile came to his lips and is red-tinted eyes seemed to flash. Finally, somebody new to talk to.

Yesss... ssomebody new to kill...
No, there be no killin' on th' Keel'aul.

Walking to the ferret, the fox stood in front of him, paws folded and standing in a very arrogant stance. His voice was low and very... professional. "Y'new 'ere, mate? Name's Fang, Quar'ermaster of this 'ere ship, th' Keel'aul."

[Tiralus Deathpaw]

"Y'new 'ere, mate? Name's Fang, Quar'ermaster of this 'ere ship, th' Keel'aul."

Tiral had been sitting in the shadows of the deck, his grey fur helping him hide in the shadows. He opened his eyes as he heard the familiar voice of the quartermaster nearby. Slowly, the grey fox stood up and made his way to join Bladefang in meeting the new arrival.

He stopped beside the rail, a few paces from where the ferret sat on his supply sack. One paw, he rested on the rail, while the other, hidden beneath his cape, rested on the hilt of his cutlass. The helmsbeast would wait until the newcomer spoke before introducing himself.

[Akivo Quicklash]

"Y'new 'ere, mate? Name's Fang, Quar'ermaster of this 'ere ship, th' Keel'aul."

Kivo looked up to see a fox come from below deck and come over to address him. He rose quickly from his sitting position and noted the arrival of a second fox. The ferret kept a tight hold of his whip in one paw while he watched them carefully.

"M'name is Akivo Quicklash"

He looked the first fox over. He didn't like the way he stood there, and he didn't try to hide it as he scowled back at him. Lifting a paw, he pointed at the grey fox.

"Who's that beast?"

[Bladefang]

Fang's ear rose at the sound of Tiral moving into view; he hadn't really noticed the other fox standing there, and grinned in spite of himself. One of the only people he could really trust on this ship, and he couldn't even spot him out. Interesting how it worked like that; you could see your enemies, but not always your friends. He locked eyes with the other fox and nodded in greeting, then turned to the ferret again.

As Akivo snapped his name, and then the question, the quartermaster grinned again, glad to see some heart in the new recruit. "Well, mate, tha' would be a fox, if'n ye can see that. Tiral, why don' ye interduce yerself to our new mate 'ere?"

[Romsca Mistshard]

Romsca awakened gently to three voices. Two see recognized, but the third... She sat up, stretched, then materialized from her place behind the mast. The ferret put an arm on Fang's and Tiral's shoulders, leaning idly.

"Hey, mates."

She nodded to the newcomer.

"Hullo there. I'm Romsca Mistshard, ship's cook."

[Rotha Redfang]

OOC: Alright, first RP post in months. Maybe over a year. Not sure. Time to shake off the rust.

IC:
Waves lapped the ship below, rocking it gently on its moorings, while the sun lapped gently over Rotha's face high above in the little bucket-shaped hold known as the crow's nest. No regular watchbeasts were stationed up here; with the Keelhaul docked, most crewmembers were in town, wasting their precious loot on ale. But that was fine with Rotha. She had been a lookout herself, on her father's ship oh so long ago. That was before she lost her eye. An eyepatch lay over her left eye socket now. An eyepatch that was becoming itchy. She flipped it up to rest against her forehead, and let the sun soak her empty socket as well.

Rotha had been snoozing, but something had woken her. Basking in the tropical warmth, she forced her muggy mind to determine just what had broken her rest. Were they sailing? No, there would be more activity on deck. She felt something goopy on her shoulder. Did a bird...? No, it was just drool. She inwardly sighed in relief. Wiping it away with her paw, she finally opened her ears to the voices drifting up from the deck. Her mind was still too asleep to make any sense of the words being said, though. Something about keelhauling and quickly lashing a new cook? That couldn't be right...

Rousing herself, Rotha shook her head as if to clear it off sleep, stretched, yawned, contemplating ignoring the disturbance and sinking back into her warm doze, and finally peered over the side of the 'nest. Her one gray eye remaining swept over the scene below. The decks were devoid of activity, save for a cluster of four beasts gathered near a railing. Several were unfimiliar, but this was to be expected - Rotha had spent the last long while floating from tavern to tavern, drinking. She only recently sobered up and returned to the Keelhaul.

Rotha ignored the temptations of another relaxing nap - she could feel her face burning hot, indicating she may have taken in too much sun already - the red-furred stoat gathered up her apparel - a discarded cape and shiny pair of boots, which she then donned - and began her descent to the decks below, her throat to dry to mutter about the disturbance.



OOC: Sorry for any incoherency, I wrote that in bits and pieces amidst distractions


Edit: Blah. Spelling mistake.

[Tiralus Deathpaw]

"Well, mate, tha' would be a fox, if'n ye can see that. Tiral, why don' ye interduce yerself to our new mate 'ere?"

Tiral listened patiently to the short exchange between Fang and Akivo. He caught a slight look in the ferret's eye that told him that he did not like the quartermaster. The helmsbeast gently placed a restraining paw apon Fang's shoulder as he stepped forward. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he spoke.

"Take it easy matey, I don' think the cap'n'd like te hear that we had a newbeast onboard an'e jus left 'cause 'e got got mad at yer."

He turned his attention to Kivo as he took his paw from Fang's shoulder. The grey fox's small smile grew slightly as he introduced himself to the new ferret.

"I am Tiralus Deathpaw, helmsbeast aboard this ship."

"Hey, mates."

Tiral looked to his side as he felt somebeast lean slightly apon his should, nodding slightly to Romsca as she greeted them and introduced herself to the ferret.

"Nice ter see yer up here agains Romsca."

[Akivo Quicklash]

"I am Tiralus Deathpaw, helmsbeast aboard this ship."

Kivo chose to ignore the last remark made by Fang and looked to Tiralus as he introduced himelf. He gave a slight nod to the helmsbeast, slightly satisfied that not all on the ship were as arrogant as Fang. Then the ferret noted the arrival of a fellow ferret. This pleased him above all else as he had found that he could only trust other ferrets.

"Hullo there. I'm Romsca Mistshard, ship's cook."

He gave a half bow to Romsca as she introduced herself to him. Once she stated that she was the cook, he had to hide a small smile. His eyes flicked up to the mast as he caught movement above and watched as a stoat made her way down from where she had been dozing. Kivo returned his attention to the three standing before him as he introduced himself to the cook.

"Nice ter see anuther ferret aboard this 'ere ship Romsca. I am Akivo Quicklash, Kivo fer short."

[Bladefang]

"Take it easy matey, I don' think the cap'n'd like te hear that we had a newbeast onboard an'e jus left 'cause 'e got got mad at yer."

Fang hadn't responded to the 'restraining' paw, not really knowing that he needed to be restrained. He wasn't really meaning to be sarcastic, only replying to the ferret's attitude with something of the same thing. He laughed at the statement, however, and just as jokingly responded with "Ah, y'know I be kiddin' wit' 'im. I," he gestured to himself, "think it me job to be makin' sure nobeast too weak be gettin' in, ye catch me drift?"

When Romsca came from where she had been behind the mast -odd how he hadn't noticed her there either-, Fang grinned at her and replied to her as well. "'ello Romsca. We were just introducin' ourselves to Akivo 'ere."

[Romsca Mistshard]

"Nice ter see yer up here agains Romsca."

"Nice ter see anuther ferret aboard this 'ere ship Romsca. I am Akivo Quicklash, Kivo fer short."

"'ello Romsca. We were just introducin' ourselves to Akivo 'ere."

Romsca nodded amiablyin response to the foxes, then stuck out a paw to Kivo.

"'Tis nice t' see another ferret, pleased t' meet ye. Ne'er mind my two friends 'ere, they're a bit odd." Her blue eyes twinkled merrily. "O' course, th't's comin' fr'm me, so take it f' what it's worth."

"Oh!" she snapped her fingers. "I jus' remembered, I've got s'm'thin' cooking down in th' galley. Lemme go tend t' that, 'scuse me."

She made a hasty retreat below decks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once down in the galley The blue eyed ferret fussed about with this and that, probing her memory of bygone years and tasting the stew she had simmering.

Another ferret, eh? That's a good thing, I s'pose. Hm...

Romsca pulled a batch of tarts out of the oven. Quickly, she wrapped up four in a rag, then grabbed a flask and went back to topdecks.