The storm tossed the Crimson Eel around for hours and hours, rocking the vessel so far on to her side that it seemed she was in constant danger of going belly up. But each time, the sturdy ship righted herself again, plowing ahead through the waves. The strong wind pushed the vessel far off course, sending her south into uncharted waters.

Below deck, the sailors hunkered down, some white with fear, others smiling grimly as they wondered if this would be the storm that finally did them in.

And below the sailors, in the hull, was their living cargo, shackled and crowded together for the journey...

--

"Three of the slaves are drowned, Captain," Ulric reported as the crew was gathered on the foreign beach, surveying the extent of the damage to the Crimson Eel and the hole in her hull. "But it seems a length of the chain broke and some have escaped." Ulric gestured inland, where a line of prints in the sand showed where the escapees had crossed the beach.

The captain growled in irritation. "Take a few of the men. Find the runaways."

Ulric nodded, smiling slightly as he turned. He lived for things like this...

A pale, wiry, and shirtless man stumble ran through the overgrown jungle, laughing like a madman. He indeed looked mad, with his sunken eyes, wild black hair, and the esoteric symbols alternatively tattooed and carved on various parts of his body. He was naked from the waist up, only wearing tattered black trousers and a crude rope belt, but moved faster than a man with his emaciated frame seemed like he should. There was nothing supernatural about Gregor Heartway's speed, however. He was powered by a combination of elated freedom and bone deep terror at being caught, and not just by the Captain and his dog Ulric. He wanted to put as much distance between him and the ocean right now as possible.

He couldn't help but feel a hint of pride, though. "I told you!" He called to the other escapees. "Piss off a sea god and they'll take it out on the whole ship. Told you I could do it and I did! Ha!Ha!Ha!"

@Gentlemanvaultboy

One of the other escapees, a willowy yet busty teenage albino girl, looked at him. "That was reckless, Gregor! You could have gotten us all killed!" She was just as fast as he was, though a little winded, panting softly. Her white skin was unmarred by any imperfections except a large black tattoo in the shape of raven wings on her back. The other escapees were following closely behind. She was only dressed in a shift as white as her hair and skin, her colorless eyes holding a look of bewilderment at this man running beside her.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Nikki Moonlight
A young boy, looking to be around 14, silently ran a bit to right of the pair, seemingly mute. His fair skin and short red hair marked him as a ginger. His torn grey pants and black shirt covered most of his body, but the left sleeve was missing, exposing a large scar. His green eyes were widened in exhilaration and fear. Oliver McBride.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Nikki Moonlight@DriveEMOut

Over in the distance, a young dark skinned man who appears to be a local of the land watches as the slaves run deeper inland. He has a slightly muscular body, he is a hunter after all, and he was out hunting when he heard all the commotion. He's intrigued by the presence of these foreigners, though not surprised as many have come and gone, often with materials and people of the land. He has no idea who they are or what they want, spear in hand, he decided that it's best to observe the slaves from a distance, trailing them as they run further and further away from the sea.

Brinley ran hard, but found herself barely keeping up with the others and slowly falling behind. A solid band of iron was still in place around her left ankle, a broken piece of chain attached to it and just short enough that she couldn't hold it in her hands as she ran. It kept catching on small plants and sticks, often time striking her right calf or causing her to almost trip.

Adrenaline and fear kept her forging ahead. But suddenly the end of the chain caught firmly between a tree root and a rock. Brinley fell forward hard, the impact nearly knocking the breath from her chest. As quickly as she could manage, she was back on her knees and tried to pull the chain loose, but found it very firmly lodged in place. "Wait! Help, please!" she called to the others desperately, praying that they weren't already too far ahead to hear her.



---

Ulric, along with several hand-picked crewman, set out along the trail left by the escapees. They were well equipped with weapons, ropes, shackles, and rations. But taking the time to gather their supplies had given the slaves almost an hour head start. No matter, he thought as they reached the edge of the beach where the trail headed into the rather jungl-ish terrain beyond. It would take a few days to get the ship repaired enough to be seaworthy again. All the more time to enjoy the hunt.

@Kelewen@xChrome@DriveEMOut@Gentlemanvaultboy

The albino girl stopped and with almost inhuman strength snapped off the chain on Brinley's leg, letting her run. She continued running, the band around her own ankle was free of chain. She caught up with Gregor and the young boy and she continued running, her long, shapely legs rivaling Gregor's in length. Willow, as she was named, huffed a little as she wiped sweat from her brow.

Gregor skidded to a halt when Willow stopped, looking back and seeing her snap the other girls chain. He hastily reversed direction, running back and scooping the broken shackle up off the ground. He would need that, later. He grabbed the girl by the arm and yanked her to her feet, shoving her before him as he started moving again. "Reckless but necessary, Willow." He called forward. "You don't want to know what they do to slaves in Ghurkon."

@Gentlemanvaultboy

Willow continued running. "I've heard stories..." she managed to rasp as she moved her legs. Since she was soaked from swimming, it was a little harder to run. Her shift was dripping wet still, sticking to her shapely figure as her breast heaved. She remembered when she had been taken from her home. The slavers had been following her for some time due to her rare condition of albinsm and had stolen her from her parents' home late at night. They had told her she would make a wonderful collector's item.

The native observed the whole scenario from a distance. He noticed the shackles on the slaves' feet and deduced that they must be escapees fleeing their captors. What caught his eye the most however was the young lady, whose skin and hair was whiter than most common white folk he has seen. He was surprised by her strength and felt a certain grace in her when she helped the fallen girl and continued running.

The jungle is unforgiving, and he knew that they would not be able to survive alone for more than a few days. He wanted to help them, but mostly he was just fascinated by the white girl. He hesitated for a moment, for he knew that interaction with foreigners always end badly, either for themselves or his people. In the end, his curiosity and kindness got the better of him. He called out to them from the tree he was on, hoping they would notice.

"Thank you!" Brinley gasped to both Gregor and to Willow, amazed at the albino girl's strength. But when Gregor pushed her to the front, she didn't waste any time dwelling on it and focused on running and on her footing, able to move a bit faster now that the shackle was free of the chain.

The faint trail they were following headed down a slight slope and looked like it opened up just ahead. In her haste, she missed the call from the native and plunged ahead, only to come to an abrupt halt a moment later when the trail ended at a swampy body of water. It was not large, but heavy with muck on both sides.

@xChrome@Kelewen@Gentlemanvaultboy@DriveEMOut

Willow heard the call and she stopped, looking to see a dark-skinned young man. She called to the other escaped slaves to stop. She waved them over and she walked to him. "I'm sorry," she said in her heavy British accent, "But we cannot stop anywhere." She pulled her wet white hair away from her colorless eyes.

Gregor skidded to a stop at the backs of the muddy water and the reptiles that lazed around in it. "Well, not going that way." he said, sloughing forward to catch his breath. He turned to look up at the native squatting in the trees, then looked around the jungle brush. There was always the slight chance that this guy had his friends waiting to feather them and carry their heads away to do Gods only knew what. That wouldn't be so bad, actually. It was kind of how he hoped to go out.

"You think he speaks the Queens common?" He asked to no one in particular. He then called up to the man, greeting him in the language of the Sea People. They had traveled pretty much everywhere and had met pretty much everyone, and Gregor had spent some years in their Serpent Rider sect studying ritual magic. "Hoi. Tikir Sum."

The native felt relieved as the albino took notice of him, he was worried that she would enter the swamp along with her companion. He climbed down the tree to take a better look at her, he was in shock like he had saw a ghost, which might as well be as the albino was as white as one with her pale white skin and colorless eyes. However he was not afraid, but instead he was stunned by her beauty. Then he turned and looked at the man, giving him a weird look for he could not understand the language of which he spoke. There was a look of insanity on the man, which made the native grip his spear tighter ever so slightly though not in a threatening manner.

He couldn't speak much English, but he understood enough from interactions with previous foreigners but mostly from the breathlessness of their voice. He pointed at the direction of the swamp and said with a monotonous voice: "Danger". "Follow me" he said, as he decided that it would be best to bring the slaves back to his village for their safety while the elders decide what to do next. He looked at the direction of the swamp, hoping the rest of her companions would turn back around.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@xChrome

Willow looked at the man and she nodded. She waited for the rest of the group and she followed the native man quietly. She watched her feet as she was a little clumsy.

Oliver gestured wildly to the others, trying to motion for them to keep going. He sat down, defeated. He flicked a bug off of his skin and watched the others attempt to speak to the man in their language. He could understand them, but they never talked to him. As the man spoke, Oliver stood up, grabbing a sharp stick on the ground. He followed the man, wary.

"Hmmmmm!" Gregor said, stroking his chin. Ah, what the hell? "Brinley!" He called. "New plan. We're following this stranger deeper into the woods." He said, following after the native. Worst came to worst, even if they were all killed this guy and his friends might also kill Ulric when he came following their trail.

@DriveEMOut

Willow turned to the young boy. She said gently, "There's no need to fear. They won't hurt you." She smiled gently at him, revealing teeth just as white as her hair and skin.

@xChrome

She continued following the native man, looking around quietly. She was worried the ship crew would come after these people for helping the escapees. But he seemed adamant in helping them.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Kelewen

She turned to look at the other two slaves to see whether they followed or not. She gave them all a winded smile. She was probably one of the boldest women around. She wouldn't hold a candle, however, to the women of this man's tribe, she thought.

The girl hesitated, glancing at Oliver's wild gestures, trying to decipher what he meant. But when the red-headed boy followed the stranger, Brinley relented and followed too, unwilling to brave the jungle alone. She glanced backwards anxiously, but so far, there was no sign of pursuit and she dared to hope that just maybe they'd put enough distance between them and the ship to make good on their escape.

"Where do you think he'll take us?" she asked Gregor, hurrying to catch up to him. Already, she looked to him as the leader of this small group. If it hadn't been for him, she'd probably still be chained inside the ship's hull.

--

The trail was easy enough to follow through the jungle. Broken foliage and the occasional bare footprint in the soft dirt would have allowed even an amateur hunter to track his quarry. And Ulric was no amateur. "They'll tire quickly if they try to keep up this pace," he commented as he took note of the stride length between two prints. "And when they are tired, they'll do something foolish..." he smiled at the thought.

@Nikki Moonlight@Kelewen@Gentlemanvaultboy
Oliver still brandished his sharp stick, and wrote something on the ground. He could write to a medium degree.'Oliver'. He pointed at the letters, and then at himself. He waited for realization to strike the other slaves. He wrote something else, then smiled. 'Stranger is scary, but only hope.'