The Hearts of Men (1x1 with Eternal Chronicler)

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

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

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

"What is it?" Jack asked Tessa as he ducked below deck with her. His eyes held concern, although it could not be discerned if it was for Tessa or for his ship, although guess could be that it was a mixture of both. He looked around the lower deck to make sure that no one was eavesdropping before softly guiding Tessa by the elbow to a more secluded section.

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa leaned back against a nearby wall to the side, her face dropping slightly. Of all the things she pointedly didn't want, the worst had come and she was in no way remotely cheery about it.
"A long time back, there was an uprising in the Divine Council of Keiris. The elemental goddesses - Winera, Fedran, Waeran and Eras - barely escaped their demise by sealing themselves away in the weapons now carried by the Sisterhood, but... it seems they've been found again, and one particular goddess by the name of Illumine came after the Sisterhood."
Her face lowered even further, as did her frown. She pulled Seriel out of its sheath and held it in front of her for a moment.
"I can't stay here, Jack... Illumine will find me on a seagoing vessel, and her intervention is a direct and absolute threat to the Duchess... or even worse, the ocean we're sailing on."

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

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

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

"W-well we need to get you ashore!" Jack said with an exclamation. "How long do we have? The port of Liguina on Ilse de Kanta is a day away," He said turning and ducking under a beam and tugging on a cargo net, tightening it. He returned to in front of Tessa and looked at her, concern plastered on his features.

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa slowly walked over to the door through which she had entered, pausing to turn back to Jack with a questioningly offended look on her face, genuinely struck quite hard by his evident priorities. She shook her head sadly, the words of Scarlett echoing through her mind.
"I'll see myself to shore, Jack," she said quietly, "with luck, we may even meet again before I am nothing more than a pile of dust."
With that she opened the door and ran out, but she did not immediately leap overboard. Having been the Wisdom of the Slaughter for several years, she could at the very least hold faith that in fact Jack would have it in him to put his own wants aside for her own sake, however doubtful of it she was.
Hurrying into a small chamber she drew Seriel and looked at it curiously for a moment, though she knew she would merit no comfort from Waeran with so imminent a threat of Illumine on the horizon. She closed the door and froze a small patch of the floor outside, as if in indication. She sat down against the wall and raised her knees to her chest, looking down at the weapon now laying at her feet.
"What am I to do...?" She whispered, continuously.

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

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

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

"Wait!" Jack ascended to the deck and looked about. "Damn damn damn damn," He cursed while he paced angrily.

"Is there something wrong captain?" Mr. Porter asked and Jack looked at him furiously.

"Is there something wrong? Of course there is something bloody wrong!
Bring us to shore!" Jack shouted, accentuatin his words with his hands.

"Which port?"

"I said shore, land, sand, whatever it may be!" Jack said storming off. He went to the captain's balcony and bitterly looked out at the sea. "And damn myself for being so foolish," He growled. After a moment of reviewing the past few minutes, he chuckled to himself and retraced his steps, and combined with the patch of ice and his sense of smell, he found Tessa.

"If you wish to question my loyalties you needn't send me into a panic," Jack said through the door.

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

"And you needn't decide to prove just as cruel as that damn Hell-mistress!" Tessa shouted, "What am I to you anymore, Jack? Now that you have your precious ship my life evidently means nothing!"
Still Seriel remained silent, mounting quickly on Tessa's worries, but she slowly went to the door and opened it, before immediately retiring to her prior positioning.
"It doesn't matter anyway. Sooner or later you do have to face the inevitable, but I didn't expect you to - "
The blade shone dimly for a moment, and immediately Tessa's face creased with worry. She leaned forward and held the hilt of Seriel in her hand, dropping her head on her knees.
"She's here. Jack, there is a way, but I will need full cooperation here. Illumine takes to a loose hover whenever she can, which will render our every melee option an impossibility. Since I'm still on this ship, we might as well make use of each other... you have cannons, I can create walls of ice. Every..." she paused, "last... man, needs to be stationed at the cannons. At this point my being aboard may prove a blessing rather than me leaving the ship."

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

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

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

"You think me cruel for showing concern for my life's well being? And there I thought that you truly cared about me," Jack snarled. "Very well, I will aid you but mark my words," he opened the door and glared at her. "It will not be for your wellbeing," He said before leaving.

"To stations!" Jack yelled out.

"There isn't a sail in sight captain! I am beginning to quest-"

"I am beginning to question your capabilities to acquiesce to my orders Mr. Porter," Jack said sharply. "Hoist the colors and load the cannons.

"Aye sir," Mr. Porter ran off shouting to the men.

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

---=---Lady Illumine Kerael---=---

You walk in the light.

You see in the shadows,

the world of corruption.

'Tis only a dream.

It will all end.

This nightmare will be over,

And I alone will remain victorious.

A streak of white light burst down from above, stopping a slight distance from the front of the Scarlet Duchess. At its point Illumine seemed to stand afloat, lifted in midair. She held a slightly curved dagger in her left hand, her right glowing as immensely white as her entire choice of attire. She hovered to the side of the ship and touched down just inside the perimeter.
"Somewhere here, I know for certain... you are all hiding someone I am interested in. Now, we can do this the simple way or you can all fade into memory with her; where is Tessa?"

Tessa closed her eyes, Seriel's soft voice sounding through her mind. "Put your differences aside, Tessa... there are worse fates the world can see than his choice of obligations."
With a slight hesitance, she stood again and picked up her blade, stepping out through the door.
"Leave them be, Illumine," she said commandingly, "my friends need not be slain for your intentions."
"Your friends? Hah... most of which you have yet to ascertain the name of, one to which 'friend' is quite an understatement. Come now, Tessa; surely you do not think to bluff me?"
Illumine vanished in a flash of white light, reappearing at the ship's side and gliding about the perimeter, firing an occasional ray of light at Tessa - though pointedly not at any of the crew.
As each shot fired, each was subsequently met with a small barrier of ice, the only defensive Tessa could form that had any chance of diverting the ship's otherwise imminent doom. Her eyes and her frown betrayed no emotion, no thought; focus alone ruled her actions now.



Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

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

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

The crew looked around nervously in the cannon deck, and Mr. Porter could be heard saying, "Easy men," and Jack wound a wrist around a low rigging rope before whipping his dagger towards Illumine with a glance at Tessa.

"Had you ever considered that I was hiding nobody?" Jack asked. "That my crew and I had no idea that we were harboring someone you wanted?"

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

---=---Lady Illumine Kerael---=---

You walk in the light.

You see in the shadows,

the world of corruption.

'Tis only a dream.

It will all end.

This nightmare will be over,

And I alone will remain victorious.

Tessa remained watchful for the first possible opportunity she had, but she could not dismiss Jack's growing feud about her own troubles catching to his. She lowered her head slightly, blinking for only a moment.
Illumine's perfect moment to strike. She paused in her hover, throwing her arms wide as three long rays of light crossed at the Half-Elf's location. With a smile, she turned to Jack.
"Does it matter?" She asked simply.
Tessa knew her opportunity well though. Not only was Illumine distracted, but her collective offensive had a single point of interception.
She stepped back and formed a shard of ice at the point, even the resulting dust simply vanishing from the sheer annihilation overcoming it, and she returned Illumine's smile with two arcing rays of piercing ice, forcing the goddess into considerable maneuvers, but ramming into a newly-formed wall of ice behind her.
"Now!!" Tessa shouted.
Illumine's eyes widened slightly as she realized her mistake though. Directly in front of her, though perhaps not immediately before her was in fact, a cannon.



Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

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

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

"Fire!" Jack shouted and heard himself echoed by nearly all of his crew. Nearly instantaneously all of the cannons were fired and Jack stumbled forward a step from the force and immediatly looked around at his ship, eyes falling to Tessa with concern and a glimmer of regret.

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

---=---Lady Illumine Kerael---=---

You walk in the light.

You see in the shadows,

the world of corruption.

'Tis only a dream.

It will all end.

This nightmare will be over,

And I alone will remain victorious.

The wall behind Illumine shattered with the combined impact of a cannonball with her frame crashing into it. Still after the wall had fallen away her silhouette could be seen fallen over herself, though still floating and quite alive. Slowly, she moved the dagger to her right hand and straightened.
"Well..." she said after a moment, "that was certainly a lesson in humility, Tessa. Well-played, but..."
She jumped into the air, landing at the center of the deck with her dagger's edge glowing fiercely, forming into a full-length katana nearly as long as she was tall, seeming nothing more than a cackling white energy.
"I am far from finished. Come then, now that your cannons cannot find me. Face your end in ribbons, rather than dust."

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[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 sighed in irritation and moved in front of Tessa. "There will be no one cut to ribbons today on this ship," He said bluntly, casting a glance at Mr. Porter who was standing on the first step down to the cannon deck. An idea struck him, but he remained composure while his hand dropped to his cutlass.

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

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

---=---Lady Illumine Kerael---=---

You walk in the light.

You see in the shadows,

the world of corruption.

'Tis only a dream.

It will all end.

This nightmare will be over,

And I alone will remain victorious.

Illumine smiled, but her eyes looked behind Jack to Tessa. With a shrug, she began to circle about them both, light-blade at the ready.
"So, you think you are going to stand between me and the same one you say you weren't even aware of being my prey? Why would you do such a fool thing? Even moreso, do you realize just how impossible you've put your odds to be?"
She stepped forward, but in a flash of white light she reappeared mid-step behind Tessa, blade quickly out at the side of the girl's neck. She did not fully strike, though it was plain she was restraining the urge to.
"One ill move, and I'll have second thoughts about hesitation. Tessa, your blade if you would."

Tessa closed her eyes, hand shakily reaching for the hilt of Seriel. In a fluid movement however, she had drawn it and spun, deflecting Illumine's blade to the side somewhat as she backed away.
"I would much rather die than see you have it," she said, "as I am no fan of the elemental waters falling into chaos. Jack..."
She looked to the captain for a moment, a straight face lit only by a redeeming hope in her eyes.
"Are you with me?"



Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[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, always have been," Jack said softly, spinning so he was at the side of Tessa, ready to strike, his cutlass gleaming. He made a small grin as he calculated his next move, watching, observing. "Well?" Jack asked, indicating to Illumine. "I suppose in the rules of engagement you would be first to move,"

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