Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on Apr 11, 2007 3:58:24 GMT
Nails turned his head slightly to see where the bottle of drink was, but he didn't seem all that interested in it. lifting his head from the wall he leant forwards like he was about to stand up and walk off but he simply lifted his knees up and let out a quiet sigh, apparently only just now paying attention he whistled to his puppy who'd wandered off over near the bar in an effort to clean up the puddle of lager on the floor that Minny had left behind.
Rover's ears pricked up to attention at the sound of his master's call and he spun around tail still wagging furiously from before, Nails clicked his fingers once or twice and pointed towards his bag at the corner of the bar. Rover seemingly understood this random command and bounded off in the direction of Nails bag diving into it like it was a christmas stocking Rover began searching for something inside.
Nails seemingly satisfied that Rover had understood him picked up the bottle of drink and inspected it carefully as though unsure of what it was before looking over Laslo equally as carefully although he didn't mean anything by it, Rover suddenly barked once loudly and forced his way out of Nail's bag again running in leaps and bounds to reach him again with a small notebook.
Nails put the bottle down in his lap in order to pick up the notebook Rover had promptly placed beside his feet resting the notebook on his knees Nails took a pen out of the binding and dropping the pen in his lap he started flicking through pages until he found a blank one at which point he held the book open with the sleeve of his lost hand and picked the pen back up writing only a few words before showing it to Laslo.
The note simply said "No, Never... I hate flying." making sure Laslo had read it Nails put the book back in his lap with the pen he'd dropped earlier to pick up the bottle. He didn't attempt to open it though he just held it by the neck of the bottle seeminlgy content at just watching the fluid swirling about inside.
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Post by Nolfavrell on May 12, 2007 15:50:43 GMT
Chris had been too busy trying to swallow her burning drink to even think of jumping in all hero like. You couldn't waste the sweet beverage. As Minny left, Chris threw a concerned frown after her and grabbing her pint and rum, she legged it after her. As she was squeezing through the door she spotted Jake entering. "D'ya see where Min went?" Without waiting for an answer from the Harpooner, she headed off again. Seeing as she's found no-one outside resembling Barnes' niece, Chris ran back to the ship, chugging down her pint as she went, not caring that it was going all over her face and front. She needed the alcohol and she kept the rum from spilling by blocking the bottle with her thumb.
Ryan, noticing that some brat was dealing with the fire, simply sat where he was, defending the cash on the table and his cards. After noticing that Jake had run off like a chicken shit*, he placed a hand over his cards as well until the excitable Harpooner returned. He greeted the lad with a nod and wry smile. "Kept your cards safe." That was about as nice as Ryan was gonna get in a hurry.
*Chicken Shit is a quote from the German film: 'Das Boot'. And Ryan has that kind of rough, dirty mouthed personality so it's not censored.
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on May 16, 2007 4:19:57 GMT
Nails just sat his back against the wall, watching as people either left or returned to the bar noticing a table covered with mugs and plates he placed the bottle on the floor and picked the notebook up again, only to put it in his pocket as he stood up. Rover sat at his feet eyeing off the bottle which remained unopened, Nails had seemingly forgotten all about Laslo as he went over to the table and started clearing it for someone else.
It was kind of odd but not having his other hand didn't seem to slow him down much physically it was more of a problem when he wanted to communicate, which unfortunately for Laslo wasn't often. "Hey! Nails... what're you doin?" some little kid had wandered in dodging the few people still left as he made his way over he seemed to have trouble speaking like his words somehow didn't quite make it out of his mouth. Nails smiled at him as the kid grabbed an abandoned waiters tray and stood by Nail's table, Nails sweeped all the mugs and plates into it with his stumped arm before wiping down the table with his good hand.
Rover looked over Laslo and promptly sidestepping his way around the bottle knocked it over with a front paw before rolling it across the floor with his nose until it hit Nail's boot. Nails looked down as he finished wiping the table, slinging the cloth into the tray he picked up the bottle and looked back over in Laslo's direction. Throwing the captain a rather fake looking smile of apology he pocketed the bottle and quickly moved around the table to help the little kid who was about to drop the now loaded tray of plates and mugs.
Lifting it up onto the table carefully, Nails slid it back over onto his hip where he could take it back towards the kitchen, but having nowhere inside he could actually put it Nails simply dumped it onto the bar's worktop. Going back to the other empty tables he continued stacking more trays full of dishes "Hey... I came to... tell you about Sukrai, she says... she's got a present for you." the kid added as they were doing the last one.
Nails frowned, seemingly confused as to why Sukrai would do such a thing he dropped the tray on the table and began to ask him using some of preordained code using his remaining hand and a few odd glances. The little kid just shrugged in reply "I don't know why... she says... 'go-get-Nails' so i did" he added throwing in a few new handsignals.
It was strange that Nails didn't use the same method of communicating with the kid as he just had with Laslo but then again the kid only looked to be about 6 yrs old and clearly lived on the street it was possible he didn't know how to read... "Oi Nails... tell the kid to get lost... he can come back later..." one of the drunks shouted Nails fixed him with a rather angry look and he quickly piped down. The kid didn't seem offended though infact it was as though he hadn't even heard a word of it, Nails grabbed the tray again and tapped the table lightly pointing awkwardly towards the bar's worktop and then the door.
The kid jumped at first, he'd been cleaning the table his head down but as soon as he saw Nails' signal he quickly finished up and headed for the door. "go on Nails, we'll finish sorting out this mess..." The barmaid told him as he stacked the last tray ontop of the others, Nails simply nodded snapping his fingers and pointing to his boot, Rover barked happily and bounded over from the first table where he'd sat waiting for Nails to finish.
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Post by Psychotic Bambi on May 19, 2007 18:57:27 GMT
Jake grinned sheepishly and accepted the cards from Ryan. "Thanks mate." Usually Jake's greetings consisted of a cheerful yell and a slam on the back, but right now he was feeling a little ashamed of his recent actions, "Yeah so, what happened in here? I would've stayed if I knew a fight had broken out or something but I... Uh, had to go and.... Take a leak! Yeah, drank a bit too much beer y'know." He smiled and motioned to his untouched glass, laughing in what he hoped was a hearty way.
Laslo watched Nails walk away and start signaling to a younger boy and smiled as he thought of the note Nail's had shown him. Perceptive boy... He thought to himself as he took another swig from the bottle, tilting his head back as he drained the last few drops. Then again, all captains looked in bars for crew members, the lad was probably used to people asking him to join up with some crew or another, especially since he looked so out of place, working in a smokey tavern, like he'd jump at a chance to get away from it. Laslo scratched the orange markings on is torso, it'd never been wrong before... He frowned as the image of the man who had attacked him earlier flashed across his mind, maybe it had somehow been damaged by that encounter? He sighed and got up to his feet, placing the empty bottle on the closest empty table before heading out of the door for a breath of fresh air.
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Barnes smiled as his gaze swept over the familiar sights and sounds of Alden's workshop, various tools and pieces of machinery were hung from the ceiling, allowing only the very shortest of people a completely safe passage, furnaces blazed along the walls and rows upon rows of work benches broke up the floor, people hurrying up and down them, working on the swamp of metal items that littered the stained wooden surfaces, the banging of hammers and churning of machines making up a strange music that had failed to penetrate the metal door before, but now echoed in their ears as they walked towards the back of the room. Barnes waved to the people he knew as they passed, his gaze settling on to the largest machine in the room, a huddle of mechanics were scrambling around the large mass of metal, it's actual height being just over three grown men* tall. "How's she doing?" Barnes asked, nodding his head towards the machine. "Pretty good, pretty good... She just needs a few more adjustments, but she should be ready for testing in a few months." Alden replied, giving the hunk of metal a fatherly smile before continuing down the rows of workbenches, "Your shipment is just down here." Eventually, after many friendly greetings from Barnes' old work mates and a few junior mechanics asking for Alden's advice, they reached the end of the workshop where most of the wall was taken up by a stack of crates which piled up to the ceiling. "Here's your lot." Alden walked over to a crate which was the same height as him and patted it's side with one large hand, causing a small layer of dust to rise from the wood. "Thank you master." Barnes smiled at the old man before turning his face down to the floor and shoving his hands inside his pockets. "Er.. We need two extra gears for the SC engine aswell..." "Hmmm? Which ones?" "Upper A and D..." Alden tutted sternly and tapped his foot. Barnes, who knew well that this was how his master acted when something disapointed him, continued staring at the floor, his moustach drooping slightly. "Both of them? Hmmm... You should know better Barnalby, those are two very important peices, the whole ship's system would stop working if they got damaged!" Barnes looked up, injustice shining in his eyes, "But it wasn't really my fault, Min-!" Alden silenced him with a wave of his hand, though he was smiling now, "Nevermind, nevermind. I'm pretty sure we have some in stock, just be more careful in future. Now then, how about we-" "Barnes!" Barnes looked over to where the shout had come from, when he recognised who the speaker was he bared his teeth in a strange smile, fire burning brightly in his eyes. Halfway across the workshop a small man about Barnes' age was racing towards them, a wake of choas was being paved out behind him as he knock over tools, peices of machinary and people in his hurry. He was wearing a fairly clean white suit and carried a cloth wrapped package over one shoulder, the same expression as Barnes' shone on his face under a great bushy beard. "Conall!" Barnes yelled back, squaring his shoulders as the man stopped infront of him. Alden merely shook his head, turning to Felix. "I'll go and get the extra gears, can you make sure these two don't go too overboard?" He smiled warmly before walking away to another part of the workshop. Barnes and Conall stared at each other, the strange bared smile mirrored on both of their faces as their facial hair bristled with such intensity that it looked like the two hairy masses were trying to battle each other.
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on May 23, 2007 4:37:18 GMT
Nails quickly scooped up his bag making sure Rover hadn't scrambled anything inside too much before taking off, it was was amazing to see how fast he left the doorway if he'd been programmed with a warp drive he would have exceeded even that. Rover seeing his master had now left the bar took off after him charging through whoever was in the way and off down the street. "Great... there he goes again." The kid muttered dropping the cloth he'd been helping with on the nearest table, he too left the bar and tried his best to catch up.
He didn't have to run too far though, Nails was waiting for him just around the corner a determined look on his face. "i'm ready this time... lets go!" the kid shouted excitedly, Nails looked down at him and nodded in agreement he could see the little street urchin had been practising. Nails took off again the kid right behind him down an alleyway they'd taken the corner too fast though and looked like they'd hit the wall, and hit the wall they did with their feet though... leaping at the last second Nails and the little kid ran along the wall moving gradually faster and up to the roof.
they leapt down again a short time later running through the alleyways along walls and jumping off rooftops again, they weren't the only ones though a few of the older kids also joined in it was almost like follow the leader the youngsters down below could only complain as they were either left behind or ran through the streets to keep up with Nails puppy. snaking in and out of streets up and down walls and past the various stores and villagers they continued until they reached a blueish-purple building as tall as any ships mast it was decorated with badly worn banners depicting ocean battles and great ships that had been caught in the middle.
A few kids were already waiting outside, they'd been busily setting up a row of tables out the front as though in preparation for something important. "What's... going on?" asked the little kid as he hit the pavement again exhausted from keeping up with the others, Nails had already ran inside to fetch Surai. Surai was an unusual girl she was blind for starters but she enjoyed collecting every peice of information she could find on the Shal's dead captains and their ships. Her house was covered with pictures of them almost like a museum of some sort, which was quite odd considering she would never be able to see any of it.
Nails had run up the stone steps out the front, and then wandered inside, making his way to his favourite picture. "You always did enjoy that one didn't you?" asked Surai quietly moving over silently to join him "It's always been my favourite too..." she added with a smile her long dark hair almost touched the floor her eyes always pale and clouded she'd living here for almost ten years although she'd on an island in the middle of the Shal for eleven years before that.
"The Outrigger, and Captain Athira.... right?" Nails grinned he knew it well probably better than anyone else, Surai frowned though as though he'd missed an important detail "Not just the Captain and his ship... his family too... see right there should be his Lady and I think on his shoulders is his son Orion..." she sounded uncertain but Nails knew better than to question it "Yes, you're quite right." he answered with a pleased nod in agreement he knew she couldn't see it but he wished he could go back to that time and place even if only for a moment.
"Well, then now you're here.... " surai exclaimed forcing a present wrapped in brown paper into his shoulder, he turned to grab the present before she knocked him sideways dropping his bag to the floor "ahh, sorry..." she murmured forgetting he only had one hand "it's alright... " Nails added quickly knowing she felt stupid for making him drop something "no... here let me" she apologised bending down to search the floor for his bag. Nails didn't argue he would have preferred to knowing she was less equipped than he was to grab the bag still sitting on the floor.
He liked Surai though, she'd never critisied him for being different and she always insisted on doing everything herself even if it meant she got hurt doing it. He knew she wouldn't be able to see anything he wrote or mimed to her so she was really the only one he ever bothered talking to. Now busily wondering what was in his present Nails moved to one side inspecting the brown parcel carefully as Surai stood up now having found his bag and they headed outside to the tables with the other children. Surai looked like the oldest one there easily towering above the younger ones and half of the older ones.
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on Jun 4, 2007 6:30:05 GMT
"Open it already!" a few of the little girls yelled when they saw Nails investigating Surai's present, Nails frowned at them as though it was not something to be done just yet. Instead he put it down on one of tables a moment to take his bag from the step Surai had left it on for him, as she went to talk to some the children who'd come from the other direction with some food and an old stove top a couple of them had spent all day cleaning and fixing.
"We got the stuff you asked for Nails..." the kids informed him putting it all on tha table at the end, Nails smiled happily with the job they'd done. "Thanks" he muttered quietly for Surai's benefit, as he grabbed the cooktop and set it up in the middle of the table grabbing some of the stuff in the bags they'd brought he then began pulling stuff out of his own bag knives, spices, bits and peices that could easily be found at the bar.
Everything he'd brought with him though was his own, most of the children gathered lived here with their parents the few that didn't have parents stole what they needed even if Surai tried her best to discourage them, it was often Nails who paid for it in the end he was the only one the shop owners could trace and he usually used his pay from the bar to cover it. Although Surai had begun to sell a few old trinkets here and there like souvenirs, to those who wanted them which almost made Nails part in it all very redundant.
At first the children asked Nails questions about what he was going to cook and what he was going to do with all the food they'd brought him but after awhile of him refusing to answer they began to play games with each other and discuss the stuff going on around the town. The boy that had come to get him earlier seemed to draw the greatest crowd he was one of the few that didn't have parents here, his name was Vincent and he was quite good at stealing things that didn't belong to him.
His latest enterprises seemed to be a large silver wedding ring, a pocket watch and an odd looking peice of wood with carvings in it he'd found left in the street. The crowd seemed to be mostly interested in the pocket watch he'd stolen from some guy near the docks, it worried Nails though because it looked like it belonged to someone important. Nails continued what he was doing anyway, sliding vegetables across the table with his sleeve and chopping them up with the other just fast enough to stop them slipping out from underneath the knife he was using.
He then slid them over again to some little girls who were scooping them up off the table and into a huge pot Surai had brought from inside her house. "What now?" one of the girls asked when all the vegetables were gone... there was only some flour, milk, eggs and sugar left on the table "Now is the fun part..." he answered almost enjoying the fact that no one knew what he was doing. When he was finished there was a bowl of soup for everyone, a peice of bread and a cupcake each.
"I wish you'd do this every day... " muttered one of the boys who'd been coming here since he'd learnt how to run. Nails simply shrugged he didn't really have the time, but he didn't mind working for free either when there was hungry people to feed in a way it made him more hero like than he would ever admit but it was great to see all the smiling faces when he was done. He'd just sat down to eat his own food when Rover dragged his present over it seemed some of the kids had tried to sneek a peek inside as a corner of it was ripped slightly.
Nails picked it up forfeiting his lunch as Rover quickly dove into his bowl of soup, Nails started undoing the rest of the present suddenly drawing a crowd himself as the wrapping came off to reveal a heavy cardboard box. "Do you know what's in it?" asked Vincent loudly in his ear as Nails went to open the box, Nails shot him a quick puzzled look as Surai came over "Happy Birthday..." she added quietly as he opened the box.
Nails sat there dumbfounded for a minute, unable to believe what he was seeing inside the box was a golden sphere with intricate carvings of a meteor shower all over it random buttons seemed to be inset throughout its design. Nails had only ever seen them once before and he didn't know how many people had them but it was generally only something a sky captain would use.
The people of the Shal had created them long ago and Nails only knew it by the codeword that was used to activate it, the device was used when there was no sunlight in storms at night or when someone was travelling through large caves. When activated it spread light like a second sun for a short time usually only long enough to give a small amount of power to a ship his father had used plenty of them to travel into the parts of the Shal that often remained dark for most of the year.
Nails hadn't seen a single one since he'd left the remnants of the 'Outrigger' which prompted him to ask the question "Where did you get it?" his question was met with a few furtive glances and some muttered statements like "probably stole it from some rich guy..." but Surai was better than that she'd probably traded something valuable for it. "Doesn't matter... its yours" Surai answered being a little more cryptic than usual, it was an odd awkward moment of silence for Nails that ended all too soon with a few unexpected visitors.
"There's that little brat... quick get him" The leader it seemed was quite angry with Vincent, and it wasn't long before one of the guy's sailor friends had vincent firmly by the shoulder. "Give it back now you little... " he kindly left out the last word, as he realised they weren't alone. "What has he taken?" asked Surai worriedly standing dangerously close to the third sailor who briefly waved his hand infront of her before laughing at her "she can't see..." the leader didn't exactly think it was funny and stood glaring at him for awhile until he stopped.
"he stole a watch of mine..." the leader answered, looking back at the kid angrily "you deserved it you dirty bilge rat..." Vincent snapped he stopped quickly though as the guy holding him started squeezing his shoulder tightly "oww, hey cut it out..." vincent squirmed trying his best to kick the guy holding him in the shins repeatedly. "I see, my name is Surai... and i'd be glad to get it back for you..." Surai added looking in Vincents direction as he cried out for the guy to let him go.
"No it's fine... we'll look after him. What do you reckon Brai shall we take his hand off?" the leader laughed, Surai went pale at the mention of taking the boys hand and she quickly went to stand roughly between where she hoped the leader was and where she knew Vincent was "He still has it in his pocket maybe we could work something out..." Surai was trying her best to come to some sort of peaceful agreement but it didn't seem to be going down well.
The second guy barged his way past Surai knocking her to the ground, on his way over to vincent and the guy holding him apparently named Brai, Nails quickly stashed the golden orb Surai had given him in an empty pocket inside his coat and headed over to help Surai up. "you idiot Sam you knocked the lady over..." Brai growled grabbing Vincent's other arm as the sailor called Sam drew his sword.
Vincent suddenly grew very quiet still occasionally trying to free himself from Brai's grip. The leader was busy watching Nails help Surai up off the ground from one of the tables he'd sat himself down on. "Actually, i have a better idea Sam... How bout a race?" he asked seemingly just throwing the idea out there, some of the older kids seemed to dispute the idea though "Vince can't run all that fast though... let us race you..." they called. "Tell you what, i like a good race... if any of you can beat me to the highest point of my ships mast i'll let his lightness go... in exchange for my watch back. However if he loses and none of you can beat me... I get to do what i like to the kid... " It seemed everyone but vincent was pleased with this idea "fine, what's the name of your ship then... yeah what is it?" asked the kids that had agreed to race him earlier.
"its called the 'Seasick Hound'... we'll use this alleyway as a starting line... you ready?" asked the leader who was obviously getting excited by the idea that in a few minutes he'd be able to leave the kid beaten and handless when they were all left in the dust. "hey, i'm running too..." Vincent snapped reefing his hands away from Brai who was headed for the starting line with Sam.
"On your marks... get set... get back there you little cheat..." Brai shouted getting all the children wanting to race in line. "Go...!" Sam yelled the leader and three of the older boys were first off the line leaving Surai, Nails and the younger kids behind as Brai and Sam evened things up a little from behind by tripping up the slower kids. "i'm okay..." Surai muttered after awhile Nails was still standing there watching the others race off by the looks of it the Leader and probably the captain of the ship he'd mentioned earlier was an old pro at racing through streets.
"You should go... i don't think they'll make it all the way..." Surai added pushing Nails in the direction of the alleyway, Nails didn't need telling twice he took off after the others taking a few shortcuts in order to catch up to them all. It seemed Brai and Sam had resorted to opening doors and throwing boxes in the way of the children who where able to keep up with them. Nails although almost even with them now was still a rooftop and a street away from the actual race but seeing what Brai and Sam were doing made him join them.
Leaping far ahead of Sam and Brai he could see several of the older boys and even Vincent was still up there with the captain of the 'seasick hound' Deciding he'd give Brai and Sam some of their own medicine Nails flung open a door as he swung past. Sam dodged it by crossing to the otherside of the alley but that left Brai who went crashing into it face first. Half the kids behind him burst out laughing and a few of them fell off the wall, only to jump back onto it later when they caught up. "You dirty little cheat... " Sam snapped having seen what Nails had done but Nails was now so far ahead of him he couldn't do much.
"And what does that make you... dirty double crosser..." one of the kids answered pulling a funny face as he passed the sailor. Sam gave up after that unable to run as fast as the captain and without the endurance of half the kids decided he'd go help Brai. Nails soon caught upto those in line with the captain staying back away from most of them he could see Surai had been right there were only three that would ever make it to the ship the others were all falling behind tired and with full bellies those that managed to get to the ship would never be able to jump high they'd all have stitches by then.
Nails picked his feet up and went over to the roof he could beat them to the ship if he took a shortcut but he didn't know how well he could keep up jumping through the rigging with only one hand. it didn't matter alot though he had awhile yet to figure it out.
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Post by Psychotic Bambi on Oct 6, 2007 14:30:44 GMT
Jake felt a bead of sweat slide down the back of his neck as the other gamblers gazed back at him sternly. Laughter dieing in his throat, Jake cleared his throat weakly and glanced over to Ryan, "Right. So... Shall we continue?"
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Minny slumped heavily against the balustrade of the 'Bringer, struggling to catch her breath, but calmer than she had been before, the 'Bringer always made her calm... Although she could still see the flickering flames whenever she closed her eyes. Sighing she pushed off of the thick railing and made her way to the engine room and the sweet smell of oil and metal that would greet her there.
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Barnes and Conall stared each other down for a couple of moments longer then, without warning, they both raised their arms as one, then brought them down in a bulge of flesh and straining muscle. Barnes' shirt was the first to go, a long rip appearing across his right shoulder, then as second on his left. Bringing his arms back, he now expanded his chest muscles until the round buttons of his shirt strained against their threads and pinged off, three flying off and ricocheting off of various peices of machinary, a fourth hitting Conall -who was still struggling to burst his own pink shirt- square in the forehead. Barnes let out a roar of triumph as the whole of his shirt finally burst open in a fantastical shower of fine sweat droplets and twirling shreds of blue cloth, all of which rained down on a defeated Conall as his own shirt burst in a pitiful puff of fabric. "Haha! That's 47 times I've won, to the 44 times you've won!" Barnes cheered elatedly. Conall, however frowned and crossed his arms over his now naked, yet furry, chest. "Hey! I have a jacket on, that makes it harder for me! I want a re-match." Barnes crossed his arms also, though he was smirking not frowning, and gave a superior twitch of his mustache before speaking, "Fine. But you'll just-" "Conall!" Came a booming shriek from across the room, the shrill sound causing Conall to visibly flinch before he turned around with a broad, if obviously fake, smile, "Darling!" A stocky woman wearing a dark green dress with rolled up sleeves, strode through the aisles, her shoulders square and her jaw set. Her brown eyes burning into Conall. When she reached them, Conall tried to embrace his wife, but halted after a couple of steps at the sight of her bared teeth. "That's your best shirt." "Yes, but-" "And I suppose you want me to try and fix it?" "Well if-" Conall trailed off as he watched the woman infront of him draw in a shaky breath, obviously trying to contain a wild rage inside of her. "I told you to watch the shop." "Yes, but there was a delivery and-" "EVERTHING IS RUINED! DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO KEEP THOSE STUPID KIDS AWAY? BUT NO, YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND DO YOU'RE OWN LITTLE THING! YOU STUPID INCOMPETENT MAN! WHAT WILL MY MOTHER THINK? SHOP IN RUINS, YOU LOOKING LIKE A STREET BEGGAR....." Conall cowered and waited as she paused for breath, "I told you how important this is for me." She eventually sighed and ran a hand through her bushy brown hair. Conall put an arm around her, "It's ok, I'm sure if we just-" "Idiot!" She yelled and hit him over the head, "This is your fault! You are the one who's going to fix it." "Yes ma'am." Conall answered whilst rubbing tears of pain out of the corner of his eyes, "Barnes, it's been good seeing you again." He said briskly and slammed him on the back before marching off to do his wife's bidding. The small woman watched him leave then turned her gaze onto Felix and Barnes, as if only just seeing them. Her eyes narrowing as she spied Barnes' own ruined shirt.
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on Oct 14, 2007 6:00:20 GMT
His chest was heaving, drawing every breath through tired overstretched lungs but he could see it, the seasick hound was sitting like a floating duck out on the horizon making it almost impossible for him to reach. a good few blocks away from where the ratrace below was getting dirtier as childrens legs gave out and they stumbled and fell cries of pain as they scraped knees hit walls and generally gave up. As he'd previously predicted the race wasn't going well, the three that had beaten the captain off the starting line were still neck and neck young Vincent seemed to be giving it everything he had and was pacing himself well.
Nails was losing his lead and his concentration, he was used to thinking on his feet and already had several possible routes to the last ship out on the docks but there was still too much difference to make up to even get within a breath of the hound. He'd either have to try and swim a possibility he was sure would lead to his death seeing as he didn't know how... or maybe.... it was slim but until something better came up he'd have to run with it.
Leaping off the rooftop of a rather bleak looking grey concrete block he sped up again for the end of dock he'd run about a third of the way down when he heard an angry shout from behind "You cheating thief get back here!" it was the captain, Nails didn't look back though he sped up "Nails Duck" screamed Vincent from somewhere under his feet looking down and to his left he saw Vincent had passed the captain almost forgetting to duck at the same time he slid forwards almost tripping over himself in a half duck-half running kind of pose. Not too soon either judging by the funky smelling brown leather boot that went flying over his head, it seemed it was aimed more at Vincent than himself but as the Captain and the other three children came closer it appeared the Captain had thought he'd have clearly won at this stage as he barged one kid into a shop wall effectively tripping him up so badly he had to stop and was quickly left behind.
"This way..." One of the older kids called to Vincent breaking off halfway down the dock it appeared they were working together and taking route no. 3 Nails had numbered them in order of possibility the last kid and the captain took route no. 2 and Nails was destined for the no.1 the only route he could possibly manage with one hand two feet and all of his determination.
For it to work he had to launch himself full speed up the flagpole of the biggest and last ship at the dock which happened to be one from the Shal its Sails hadn't even been tied down yet making it the perfect catapault, but it was all the way at the end of the dock which made Route 2 and 3 the faster ways to go. This race was going to be very close....
And he still had a little resource gathering to do on the way, a flash of silver told him the guy several ships up busily engaged in a heated discussion of the price of some sort of cargo had a knife strapped to his boot, rope was fairly easy to find but not carry and the extra weight would make his catapault idea a complete waste so he'd need to make do.
Launching himself round crates, barrels, people and machinery alike Nails was finding it exceedingly hard to get the speed he required but it seemed the race was attracting attention as a loud splash notified him that the kid on route 2 with the captain was now in the water. He'd attempted Nails previous problem of swimming to the ship although with two hands he should have been doing well, sneaking a look over 3 ships from the destined catapault Nails could see the captain and Vincent were really the only ones left in the race the older kid with vincent had given him a lift to the Seasick hound and he was busily trying to climb the mast, as the captain unoposed swam to catch up.
The kid with the captain it seemed had a stitch and was giving up heading back to shore with the other one who'd dropped Vincent off. Vincent was trying his best but as he noticed the Captain coming up the mast behind him sopping wet he panicked and slipped a bit. Nails forced himself to concentrate it would be the last look he would get before this was over, he had to get the needed speed whatever it took.
Leaping up out of the way along the pier's edge along shop faces whatever he could do to get the space "Heads!" shouted a sailor as a peice of rigging swung past Nails Shocked but a little inspired Nails caught up to it latching onto it and the free falling speed he was now obtaining he flung himself off and at the ship he'd been aiming for landing happily where he'd intended to go before he didn't have time to grab the knife he'd seen but was hoping he didn't need it as a few small gusts of air lifted the sails of the smaller ships he'd already passed.
One thing he didn't seem to have taken into account was the fact that he needed a gust of wind large enough to fill the sails and catapault him before he slid too far and fell off again. Which he was apparently just learning as he gained more and more speed in the wrong direction, luck it would seem was in his favor though as a huge gust lifted the sails making the whole ship jolt wildly like a tethered untamed horse, Nails'plan took advantage of this blowback and jolting as it did as he'd expected catapaulting him towards the seasick hound at an incredible speed as the Captain struggled to gain distance on Vincent who was running out of speed fast.
The Captain hadn't even noticed Nails closing in from behind as he made his last leap upwards to grab the flag sitting at the top clearly having left Vincent halfway down the flagpole he seemed confident he'd won, as Nails straightened up a bit wobbly but he quickly regained his balance standing on the very tip of the flagpole which doubled as the mast. The captain still hadn't noticed looking down at Vincent whos face shone of admiration and thankfulness, "You did it!" he exclaimed the Captain was puzzled and a little thrown back. Öf course i beat you, you little punk i used to be the fastest racer on these streets before i became captain, but you should be running for your life not cheering me on" he boasted still unaware of Nails'prescence.
Nails cleared his throat "I believe he looks happy to see me..." the Captain looked upwards and nearly dropped to the deck like his jawline "How did you?..." he seemed unable to accept his defeat "No, no-one knows this ship better than i do" he was trying to remain in control but his head was spinning. Nails just stood there looking very monk-like in his enormous trenchcoat his arms folded in defiance "You may know more about this ship than i do, but i you dont know more about racing..." Nails informed him apparently having broken his code of silence for a better purpose as Vincent slid down and landed on the deck screaming praises to Nails and no doubt Hallelujahs to his own hands and feet.
"Did you not hear me before? Im the best around here..." the Captain although peaceful and in some ways diplomatic appeared to be less concerned with sportsmanship. "Not now..." Nails added as he waited for the captain to climb down and join Vincent on the deck. "Yes... apparently so... " the Captain seemed to have come to the conclusion that Nails had beaten him and that he should at the very least let the bet stand and discuss the release of his watch. "So where's my watch?" asked the Captain sternly apprently not quite over the fact that he'd lost the race although judging by his stern tone he wouldn't mention this to another living soul and would probably make sure they didn't go blabbing it either.
"Here it is...." Vincent beamed happily pulling out of a pocket embedded somewhere underneath his ragged outfit, a dirty old shirt and a pair of ripped and holey overalls with one side tied to the other around one of his little shoulders. He slammed the watch down in the captains open palm still working although slightly wet from the ride earlier, "thanks mate... now get off my ship... both of you" He motioned to some of the other crew who Nails hadn't noticed coming up out of the wordwork to surround them. They grabbed Vincent first and hurled him out over the water he screamed as Nails watched mortified, bolting for the edge of the ship Nails followed ducking and dodging brutish deformed hands until he flew out over the water too although of his own accord he suddenly realised the threachery behind his heroic motives.... he couldn't swim and niether could Vincent.
The rushing sound of water met his ears and the freezing cold rush of the water soaked into his skin and clothes as oxygen bubbles flew everywhere, oxygen he so desperately needed to keep. He could see Vincent jusr above him but over further fighting to get back to the surface and tried to reach him, surely it wasn't that hard kicking and waving, holding your breath until you could get another but he knew was slowly suffocating beneath this chilling black oblivion the dead silence was little comfort as he lay there noticing there was less oxygen bubbles now than there had been before, Vincent too seemed to have gone motionless he'd been too tired... too tired to swim although he'd been struggling viciously it did little good he knew. This wasn't the first time Nails had been in this situation although it was the first time he'd had to save himself.
He wondered if Vincent could hear him as his coat dragged him further and further down would anyone hear him if he cried for help, No of course not he had to do this himself, those monsters calling themselves sailors Nails bet everyone of them were heartless pirates chucking defenseless kids overboard when they couldn't swim he wondered what they'd think by now, getting his feet in order Nails started building up some momentum collecting Vincent who seemed to have blacked out, Nails was almost out of air though he'd left it too long finally ditching his coat in an attempt to gain some bouyancy only to reach back for it a second later he'd suddenly had an idea, although he didn't know if it would work... it made little difference now.
Reefing the sleeves up around Vincent Nails tied his little friend to his own body and began frantically searching pockets where was it? where did it go? which pocket had he put it in. Then his fingers brushed against its gilded surface stone cold but hopefully still operational Nails pulled out his birthday present and using his last breath uttered the word he hoped would save them. "Ickaris" at first it did nothing and Nails feared that not only would his plan fail but that it was a dud just for ornamental purposes no... Sukrai wouldn't do that to him... it was real he knew it. Then as if it was feeding of his hope, the golden ball burst into life flaring out like an exploded star underwater it grew and grew generating more and more light until it was blinding Nails grabbed ahold and held on tight as he felt it moving towards the surface faster and faster until he felt like a rocket must being dragged back in the water he held Vincent as best he could with his stumped arm but he didn't know what would happen when they broke free of the water, and it came all too suddenly gasping for breath as water sprayed all around them but higher and higher they went until Nails couldn't hold on any longer and then they fell, still reeling in what little air he could find Nails was less than impressed when he hit the dock losing all the air he'd managed to suck out of the atmosphere. He quickly untied Vincent and pushed him off still attempting to breathe the rough landing seemed to have revived the kid though as he coughed spluttering and gagging on sea water. "You okay Nails?" asked one of the older kids who'd swam back to shore earlier the kid was pale like he'd seen a ghost but Nails was hardly in the mood for discussing it.
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Post by Nolfavrell on Dec 4, 2007 17:35:50 GMT
((As all my charries are now in different places and the fact that I'm lazy, the posts will all be the same colour ^.^))
Ryan shot Jake a withering look as he sniffed slightly shuffling his cards in an attempt to keep up his stoic appearance and hide the smirk threatening to emerge. Too much to drink? Yeah.
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Chris frowned as she saw the tail end of Minny disappearing below deck. Her beer covered shirt was now slightly disguised as the sweat she'd worked up running so far on an empty stomach, now made the entire tee a total shade darker. Placing the empty tankard aside, she followed Minny, a lot quieter and calmer this time. She spotted her just off to the side of one of the engines and instead of her usual 'chirpy' (AKA: totally enfused, manly) greeting, she just popped her thumb out of the bottle and plonked it down on the table, sloshing the liquid inside.
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Felix stared. That was all he could do. After all, what would you do if you saw the stern engineer 'shirt bursting' (as he could only describe it) against some random guy. At the woman's furious gaze, he subconsciously, cowered behind Barnes' bulk despite the painfully obvious height difference.
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on Dec 23, 2007 7:32:12 GMT
Nails lay there, exhausted... winded and gasping for air like a stunned mullet when he figured he'd gotten enough strength back to get up he rolled over and shakily lifted his battered torso off the ground. sitting there for a moment as strangers milled in around him closing off the space he needed to breathe, Nails couldn't help but wonder why he hated flying so much, when he seemed to do so much of it. Although then again what he'd said to Laslo was a half truth, he didn't hate flying at all it was the people he flew with he hated... he was perfectly fine by himself, looking out for himself.
He finally made it to his knees as the ball burning brightly above decided to switch off and began falling back to earth. "Al'ight give 'im some space ya idiots" a familiar voice came rumbling through the crowd towards him, the old cook always seemed to know when he was needed... Nails leant backward pulling his own two feet from under himself so that he was now sitting on the dock. His body ached from being flung around and hit so hard but he was gradually recovering, throwing an awkward grin to his old mentor. Nails was pleased to see him, maybe now he'd be able to enjoy the rest of his Birthday.
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Post by Psychotic Bambi on Jan 4, 2008 23:33:32 GMT
Laslo smiled to himself as he watched the sun rise, it was almost fully over the tops of the tall spires and domed buildings that made up the port town, Ailmareth. "Watched the sun rise again Lasly?" Laslo yelped and jumped backwards from the porch railing, looking dumbfounded at the woman who had somehow managed to sneak up next to him. "Awwe, why are you so suprised to see me Lasly?" Laslo blinked at her, she was shorter than him by almost a foot, and younger than him too, bright orange hair and dazzling blue eyes looked up at him as a hand with wooden caps on it's fingers patted impatiently at the side of a white dress. Laslo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Oh, it's you.." "I'm hurt Lasly!" The woman pouted and crossed her arms, "You make it sound like my appearance here annoys you!" "It does." A cold wind blew through the porch, picking up a few pieces of discarded paper as it it went. "Why are you here? You're not due to be stalking me for another couple of hours." The woman smiled and winked, waving one of her capped fingers at him, "You shouldn't call it stalking Lasly, I just look out for you when I hear you're in town." She stopped wagging the finger and, after rumaging for a few seconds, brought a stack of battered cards out of her side satchel, "So how about-" "No." Laslo frowned and shook his head exasperatedly, "Do we really have to go through this each time I dock my ship here?" "Puh-lease Lasly? You know how much I want to know your future." "No! And stop calling me Lasly!" "But I like it! It sounds cute." Laslo sighed.
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Barnes gulped and pulled his cap off, squashing it into his bare chest, partly as an attempt at politeness, partly to try and cover up his ruined shirt. Both ploys failed miserably. The woman sniffed at Barnes disaprovingly and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "Barnes." "Adira! I was just-" "I want none of your excuses Barnalby James Rickel!" Adira sighed angrily and closed her eyes. Expecting another tirade, Barnes tensed and subconsiously shuffled closer to Felix. However, when Adira opened her eyes again she seemed a lto calmer, her shoulder's relaxed and she unfolded her arms, she then turned her attention to Felix. There were five tense seconds of silence, before the small woman beamed a the cowering man before her, "And who are you? Barnes has never brought friends 'round before!" "There's a reason why." Barnes grumbled, but he buttoned his lip once he saw the glare Adira shot at him.
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Minny looked up at Chris, hastily wiping away any moisture that had come to her eyes and beamed, "What are you doing back here?" Her gaze fell on the bottle, not waiting for a reply she asked another, hopeful, question, "Any of that for me?" She motioned towards the drink with her bandaged hand.
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on Jan 5, 2008 0:52:56 GMT
"So wha's that then?" asked Scrapless Jack as the glowing orb now pitching furiously from side to side in mid air as it fell slowly seemingly searching for its master. Nails looked at the intrigue etched into Jack's face as he watched it and realised he wasn't really wondering about the health of his kitchenhand at all... it seemed most of the audience was also mesmerized by Nails little golden sphere.
As the little orb finally made it to his outstretched hand, glowing everynow and then like a dying firefly, everyone's eyes lingering on him, Nails grabbed his drenched coat watching carefully. Suddenly a wave of panic swept over him like a flood and Nails was on his feet in a second "Come on lad give us little peek..." what was going on with everyone today... things seemed out of control wherever he looked he had to get away, to go someplace quiet.... Nails bolted forcing his way through the crowd and flying up the nearest alleyway making his way back to surai's she understood his need for space.
Sure enough when he got there all the little orphans had dispersed back to their own little streets although looking back to the sky now Nails could see it was morning, they were probably all asleep. Nails was confused everyone had been watching him, frustrated by their admiration and still feeling confined Nails sat down on Surai's front steps he wasn't sure what had made him feel so awkward surely he'd be used to it... maybe it was the memories.
He sat there shivering for an eternity thinking about those memories, thinking about the sounds and smells... ohh god the smells... they hit him in waves salty bloodstained air, smoke and burning flesh the clashing of swords and gunsmoke as he lay there in the dark... the screams of his mother... he should have been too young to remember these things but they didn't seem to care, they kept hitting him over and over again maybe it was the fire in the kitchen finally catching upto him, maybe it was his near death experience at the hands of those brutish sailors or maybe it was his exhaustion his lack of oxygen and his numerous bruises and injuries... he wasn't sure what it was but too tired to try and force the memories from his mind and too exhausted to move inside he passed out on Surai's steps, still holding his warm little golden orb, One thing was for sure... this would be an interesting 17th birthday.
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Post by Nolfavrell on Feb 24, 2008 16:11:46 GMT
Chris grinned at the kid and swept the bottle towards Minny. "Who else is gonna keep you company. Old sore arse is off with the Vice Cap'n." She threw her a bright grin and shoved her hands in her pockets, tossing Minny a random shrug.
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Felix suddenly realized how pathetic the two of them were being, huddling together from the wrath of a woman when the two of them were strong men who could take her. Still... He wasn't brave enough to try so instead threw the woman a nervous wave and grin from behind Barnes. "Vice Captain Felix Spence at your service Ma'am."
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Post by Psychotic Bambi on Mar 29, 2008 18:04:48 GMT
Minny caught the sliding bottle lightly and took a swig before passing it back. "Yeah, thanks." She smiled and looked down at her hands, fiddling with a fraying end of bandage, her smile quickly collasped and after a few moments of silence she sighed and looked up at Chris. "I guess you want to know why I was such a chicken back at the pub?"
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"Ah, nice to meet you Felix" The woman continued beaming at him, although her smile turned into a more dangerous baring of the teeth expression when she turned to Barnes, "Well, Barnes, it's good to see you again, but I'm afraid I have to leave now. Make sure you thank Alden." With that she turned on her heel and, to everyone's relief, strode out of the cluttered workshop. Watching the woman leave, Barnes didn't notice Alden walking up to them until, with a jolt, felt his hand on his shoulder. "Looks like Conal's in some trouble." Alden smiled wryly and handed Barnes a small brown package, "Here are the gears you asked for, be sure to get it fixed quickly. And I'll have someone bring the crate round later." Barnes inclined his head slightly to the older man, "Thank you master." Alden shooks his head and smiled, "No need to thank me, it's all included in the price. Now then, are you staying for some tea?" Barnes shook his head, "I told Ca- Laslo that we'd meet meet him back at the bar." Barnes remember how his captain had collapsed back in the alley, "Besides we need to check up on him." Alden smiled and patted Barnes on the back, "Perhaps another time then." A shout drifted over to them from one of the larger engines being repaired, a young man with brown hair waved Alden over. "If you'll excuse me then." Alden smiled and hurried off towards said man. Barnes nodded and crammed the gears into one of his pockets, "C'mon then, let's see how Cap'n is."
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Nexus_Inferno
Pear
Nothing is Foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool.
Posts: 155
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Post by Nexus_Inferno on May 5, 2008 10:56:38 GMT
"Nails!" Surai called followed closely by Vincent who was still shaking from his near death experience in fact Vincent was following so closely he almost ran into her as she stopped abruptly. "Do you hear that? it sounds like Rover barking..." Surai exclaimed breaking into a sprint of all things Vincent nearly tripped over himself as he started running "trust a blind lady to hear a dog barking five blocks away, and start running off..." he grumbled as he quickly caught up to her. "Nails!... Rover!" Surai was calling out both names now as she searched for Nails she'd heard what had happened from the other children and now Vincent and Surai was worried.
Suddenly Rover barked loudly and came dashing into view from around the corner a few streets up. "Rover! here boy" Vincent called half out of breath. The little faun coloured puppy merely looked back in the direction he'd come, barking loudly and then dashing off again. "Come on Surai! we've got to follow him." Vincent puffed, grabbing Surai by the wrist with both hands and dragging her to where Rover had disappeared.
Surai quickly started jogging again unsure where exactly they were going she listened to the sound of Vincents foot steps as he ran faster to catch up to Rover. The pup was tearing up the pavement his paws pounded the pavement like heavy rocks in an avalanche as he barked frantically trying to get his followers to hurry up. Suddenly Surai heard their footsteps move to her right and she knew they'd turned a corner. Being careful she also turned hoping not to crash into anyone or anything, she couldn't see anything to tell her where on earth she was but she could smell and touch and right now she could smell the familiar food that was cooked in the market near her house.
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