The Hearts of Men (1x1 with Eternal Chronicler)

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Kimberly Sarani

My mother was a Vampire, my father was an Angel.
I am definitely not what you'd call "normal".

The girl looked about confused, and despite Tessa's knowing look in her eye towards Jack she took Jack's hand and gave it a slight shake, her face easily betraying her unease with present company. "The Scarlett Duchess, you say?" she asked with a hint of familiarity in her tone. "Odd. I've heard a few things about the vessel. Many stories that I imagine would ruin a man's pride, but it appears you have made it a form of habit lately to be as much a passenger ship as anything else...." she took a small breath, "But I'm not usually one to judge on base rumor. Might I ask what you are doing these days, since I seem to have gone astray?"

Vampiric? Sure. Unholy? In a way.
But unholy doesn't define a person.

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


Jack scowled slightly at the thought of rumors, no matter of what kind, but merely shrugged, looked into his wine glass with slight disappointment. "As of the moment we are relaying news concerning the Company and others to the Courts. Mr. Porter?" Jack called, looking up abruptly and over to the man.

"Aye sir?" Miguel asked, stepping up, bowing his head to the girl before directing his attention to his captain.

"You are relieved of duty. Take Adeska and go sight watching, or take a nap or something. You look exhausted." Jack said.

"I'm fine sir." Miguel said in objection but Jack waved him away and looked back to the girl.

"Are you in need of anything? Dry clothes perhaps?" Jack asked.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Kimberly Sarani

My mother was a Vampire, my father was an Angel.
I am definitely not what you'd call "normal".

The girl paused again, pondering for several moments exactly what had transpired, but she shook her head after several seconds. "Thank you, but I will be alright." she said, somewhat quietly with a manner of nervousness to her tone. "I-if I may ask, what news is it you have of the Company? I can't say rumor's held them in much kind respect either."
Tessa stepped forward, almost immediately behind Jack but a little to the side. "I think introductions may be in order for more than one of us here. Who are you, anyway?"
The girl's face flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, where are my manners! Deepest apologies; my name is Kimberly Sarani, a er... resident, you could say... of a castle in mid-Tethys."
Tessa's eyes widened slightly, the name "Tethys" ringing familiarity with her of the Tessalonian countries. "It appears countrymen are more often seen than I realized." she remarked to him with a pat on his shoulder.

Vampiric? Sure. Unholy? In a way.
But unholy doesn't define a person.

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


"Aye, love," Jack said to Tessa with a smile before turning back to Kimberly. "Well met then. Perhaps you would rather sit down for this tale, it might take a longer time than I would allow for a young miss such as yourself to be standing." Jack said, gesturing towards his cabin. He looked back down at his wine glass in shallow thought, trying to remember if there was a spare bottle in the cabin anywhere, or if he had made the bed. The latter he was almost sure he had not. It didn't matter to him much though.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Kimberly Sarani

My mother was a Vampire, my father was an Angel.
I am definitely not what you'd call "normal".

Kimberly let out a small, shy giggle at being called a "young miss", however fitting it might be. She looked over to Tessa on her way and upon passing, tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Is he always so nice with the 'little misses'?" she asked innocently.
Tessa laughed slightly, "Usually moreso, but don't get any ideas alright?" She took a brief look around before settling on a decision. "Jack, if I'm not needed I'd like to take a walk through the woods and if I am well. Need I say more?"
The manner in which Tessa mentioned ideas caught Kimberly a little off guard, but confused her all the same. Still she had no particular place nor desire to present an inquiry, so she simply opened the door into the cabin Jack had indicated and dropped to a seat against the opposite wall, having no particular taste for chairs as she drew her coat around her side and made herself relatively comfortable against the edge of the room.

Vampiric? Sure. Unholy? In a way.
But unholy doesn't define a person.

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


Jack chuckled and pulled Tessa to him softly. "Go, just be careful would you? I have a feeling that there is more than Felix to be wary about on this island as of late." he murmured, brushing Tessa's hair from her brow before brushing his lips against hers and promptly letting her go, entering his cabin and taking a seat casually in his chair, pouring himself a glass of wine before taking out another wineglass and pouring it, setting it down on the table more towards Kimberly.

"Recently, the Duchess has been through unsavory events, both with and without its last captain, and has been destroyed at least once, and threatened far more times than that. The Company had far more than I would care to have them involvement in many of the events, and Henry I fear has been recently possessed by a demon hellspawn fiend cutthroat seductive-" Jack cut himself off and shook his head. "Anyway, the Company itself has an interest I have cause to believe in this ship and those on it, as well as destroying the Pirate Courts." Jack said bluntly, pouring more wine into his glass.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Kimberly Sarani

My mother was a Vampire, my father was an Angel.
I am definitely not what you'd call "normal".

Kimberly got up and walked over to the table, taking the wine glass with an appreciative smile and nod Jack's way, though she was even slower to take it than Tessa's initial bouts of rum. Not particularly in the mood for hiding her capacity to keep eye contact, she retired to leaning against the back wall, listening on Jack's recollective suspicions.
"If I might offer an opinion, it would seem a little odd for any collective agency to hold an interest in both a ship and its crew, wouldn't it? This whole thing kind of screams unrealistic. A destroyed ship still afloat? Seems a little more than chancey to me... and what's this about those on the ship? The ship I can understand, but who would garner the Company's interest so much as to land it sunk once and threatened however many times it was?" She paused, realizing her own position hadn't been taken into account, and she leaned away from the wall with another sip of wine. "I'm certainly no friend of the Company, but all the same I'm no pirate, even if I've sailed once or twice under the command of one." she shuddered slightly, "Not the best of trips. Anyway it feels like there's something missing. What's really going on here, Jack?"

Vampiric? Sure. Unholy? In a way.
But unholy doesn't define a person.

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


"Divine intervention as it were." Jack said with a chuckle, his wine glass frosting a bit in his grip. "The Sisterhood of course were involved, as was my mother, and the Elemental godesses." He said, drinking from his wine glass. "Calypso will be along later, I daresay she is with James at the moment." His eyes darkened in passing. "Gaining control of my ship is gaining control of me, and therefore my mother. But I suppose I should start from the beginning." Quickly Jack recounted his time in the desert, meeting Tessa, Isobel, and the events that had occurred with Illumine and the Company. He concluded with his recent attack from Felix and included Scarlett. "If she is here then Calypso must have seen her as valuable to the Company." He added, drinking directly from the bottle at that point.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Kimberly Sarani

My mother was a Vampire, my father was an Angel.
I am definitely not what you'd call "normal".

Kim's surprise mounted time and again as Jack continued on, but her belief in his words was solid enough, and a thin line of thought narrowly crossed her vision, taking guesses in a great many places to piece together what she'd been told.
"Well I can tell the rumors of this being some by-the-by passenger ship amount to hateful lies." she remarked with a laugh, "Well then, it appears I've landed myself in a bit of a dilemma with only one favorable way out." She leaned away from the wall and polished off her glass before setting it down on the table.
"It so happens that I was on a passenger ship to Serendale and Bresan before it sunk of more natural causes and landed me with a makeshift raft that somehow got me here. It seems to me you have yourself a remarkably sturdy crew to be with you after so much as that in less than two years. Considering I wouldn't trust much of anyone here with my life anyway and it appears you have a bit more level head than most, maybe I could come with you for a time until you happen by Tessalona again?"

Vampiric? Sure. Unholy? In a way.
But unholy doesn't define a person.

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


Jack debated it, head a little less clear than usual. He swirled the last of his wine in his bottle, pondering whether or not to burden himself with the girl. The pirate shrugged to himself and drained the last of his bottle. "Level head is a matter of perspective. Spend a month with me and I believe you will think otherwise. Either way, I don't believe that you being aboard will cause too much of a trouble, as long as you don't mind your stay being long. I have neither clue nor inclination as to where the Duchess will sail next, yet." Jack said, standing and crossing the room, shrugging on his coat.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Kimberly Sarani

My mother was a Vampire, my father was an Angel.
I am definitely not what you'd call "normal".

"Don't worry, Jack." Kimberly giggled faintly, "A few years with Kal has already challenged my levelheadedness. When I say 'more than most' I take into account the average rate of decay. I don't think you have anything to fear in me, and besides I might be a help here and there if some of the men are feeling a bit under the weather."
She stepped over to the cabin's doorway and outside a couple steps with a sigh. She hadn't even any idea how long it had been since the passenger ship had been sunk, and yet the ideas presented themselves very forcefully in her mind, and it gave her a sense of unease.

Vampiric? Sure. Unholy? In a way.
But unholy doesn't define a person.

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


Jack chuckled at the inference his own mind made at Kimberly's words, whether it was right or not mattered not to him and he fingered his weddingring absentmindedly. "Very well then. I can talk to Mr. Porter to see if some room could be spared for more suitable quarters for you." He said, following Kimberly out of the cabin, having little ambition to stay in his own chambers. He moved past her and looked out over the railing at the open sea in thought.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Tessa Orinae

The fear of the many,
the price of the truth.

Tessa wandered back through the woods but as she caught sight of Jack at the railing she decided to wander a bit, and ironically far less discreetly. She circled around to a nearby dock and began to forge a stairway of ice from it to the back of the Duchess, promptly hopping down and heading up to him. She tapped twice on his shoulder.
"Did you know there's a stairway off the back of your ship Jack?" she asked almost giddily, "I made it myself. It's quite cold."

The Wisdom of the Slaughter,
forever drowning...

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.


"Oh really now?" Jack asked, turning to Tessa and leaning against the railing. He pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers softly. "I might need to use said staircase someday." He said with a smile. He brushed his fingers up under Tessa's hair and traced circles on her neck. "Perhaps to escape a certain vampire who threatens to take away my rum." He whispered in her ear with a soft chuckle.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Tessa Cortez

The fear of the many,
the price of the truth.

Tessa shook her head with a smile at Jack's words, but all the same the options as to who he might have been referring to were quite few. "Who would take the rum of the famous Captain Jack Cortez? Sounds like a declaration for a deathwish to me." She giggled slightly, but grew more serious in a moment. "But still, you sound as if you had someone in mind and I have only one guess... is she coming with us?"

The Wisdom of the Slaughter,
forever drowning...

Order Of Chaos: