Hidden Lilly

Splinters

Amelia obediently followed Scarlet to the kitchen and began her work. Her mind reeled at what she had seen, not even back with her family had she even seen a hanging let alone the bodies strung up after. Mother had always said it was crude and improper for a lady to enjoy such a spectical. It became a little easier with time for Amelia to steady her hands enough to effectively chop up some of the vegetables.

~~~

Daniel pulled a small bunch of fabric from his pack, noting her bloody nose. For the time being he would have to treat her bloody nose. He hoped that was all it was. If she was draining blood then that could be another disease entirely, and one that no man lived long enough to tell the tale of after encountering. With one hand he slid it under her hair and gripped the base of her scull, leveraging her head up just enough that he could get his other hand with the pad to her nose. Having her in this position, the blood should drain quicker and stop faster too.

"Why d' ye d' this t' yerslef, Miss Avery." He said, assuming no-one was watching. Since he had seen her in a state similar to this only a day before, Daniel assumed that what the crew said was true and that she would be fine within a couple hours. Every now and again he checked to see if the bleeding had stopped. Once it finally had he picked her up out of the chair and brought her to lay down on her bed. Using a towel and basin he washed her face and placed the cool towel on her forehead. Daniel then proceeded to check her pulse. He was temped to take it from her neck, just as an excuse to touch her... her skin always looked and felt so lush. Clearing his throat in an attempt to clear his mind, Daniel decided to use her wrist instead.

Splinters

Happy Halloween! :)

Splinters

There was a slow trickle of people who came and waited to see Daniel. He had to stitch many men, no amputations and no broken bones. There were a few broken noses that he did his best to reset. Often he made a small bit of salve to dress a wound and sent the man away. He held onto any excess since he told the men that he would need to check and redress the wounds at a later time. Diligently, Daniel took notes on each person that came through his threshold. Mostly it was the person's name, a quick description of their injury and the actions he needed to take with their treatment. Finally everyone had been seen that had come to him. He noticed that none of the higher ups had come to see him. He figured it would be worth checking on them.

For the time being though, he was exhausted. He grabbed a bottle of something he had yet to touch. The cloudy liquid was a nice spice rum and he took a good long drink. It was his own personal policy to not drink on the job, and in truth his obligation for the day had been fulfilled. With the Shadowstrike as it was, sustained little damaged and seemed to self heal the rest. Daniel sat on his examination table for a moment and took another swig of the strong drink. He sat, waited, quiet... he held onto it like a child would their mother. The finality of silence was what he loved most, it was a comfort he could indulge in on the high seas. Nothing but Amphitrite or Brizo to interrupt him.

~~~

Amelia was relieved to follow Scarlet out from their hiding place.

"Thank you." She sofly spoke, looking up at the strong and confident Iris. The trio moved to the upper desks, since that's where they had to go to get back down to the kitchen. Amelia covered her mouth at what she found. Though the men seemed to be alright there was a rank smell that settled over the Shadowstrike when the salty wind forgot to blow. She looked up and cried out in horror at the sight she saw. She was not prepared for the men, clearly not of their crew strung up among the sails and riggers. She leaned into Scarlet. "Is...that common?" she inquired, terror written across her face believing that it was their crew that put up the display.

~~~

After sitting for a while, Daniel decided it was time to seek out his superiors. He figured it would be best to start with the captain. After all, she was vital to the crew. Hoisting himself off the table he left the bottle back on the shelf and headed out the door. He brought very little supplies on him for minor injuries just in case. He climbed the stairs slowly so not as to trip, he had a mild buzz but was still very much so functional. Daniel had drank a little more than he meant to but his conscience urged him to check on Avery. Before long he found himself in front of her door, knocking as a request for entrence. He paused, no responce.

"Cap'n?" he raised his voice, knocking again. "Cap'n?" he asked again a little louder. Concerned for Avery's well being Daniel lowered the handle and crossed the threshold. To his surprise he found Avery slumped over her desk. As quickly as he could Daniel crossed the room to her side. "Avery." He said sternly, loudly, slamming his hand on the desk beside her head. If she was asleep, it would wake her and if not it would give him an idea of her current consciousness status.

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"Aye." Daniel responded, quickly following Bane through the scrimish on deck back to their own vessel. He had been around ofr less than a day and it seemed as through he was getting his bearings on how Avery's demon behavior was... triggered. "Back t' th' Shadowstrike!" he called all the while, warning their crew of what was to come.

Bane and Daniel found themselves barely across when the boards were drawn back, all the ties between the boats were cut and the Shadowstrike began to pull away for the Spanish vessel. Over the many sounds of battle, Daniel heard her voice faintly call something. That must have been the signal since the two men had just enough time to cover their ears before the Shadowstrike shuddered with the first volley of cannon fire. There was a pause, a lul for reloading. The men on the opposite vessel had varying reactions. Captain-less and clearly without structure, the crew had fallen to shambles. Some seemed to fall to their knees and beg the Shadowstrike for mercy while others climbed the ropes and spat obscenities like angry monkies. The smart ones had knelt where they were and prayed to their various deities. Daniel, still covering his ears, watched them all with pity as the second and final volley was launched.

Bane turned to the crew and yelled out orders. Daniel followed suit, helping where he could to move the vessel away from the Spanish one. It was damned to Davy Jones' Locker, and he doubted that the Shadowstrike crew would want to follow. After frantic heaving and hauling, moving and adjusting riggers and such on the Shadowstrike, they had pulled away enough to be at a safe distance to watch the Spanish vessel be sucked into the deep.

Daniel had another job to attend to now. Among the tired and restless men he found Iris.

"Tell yer men I' be waitin' in' me quarters." He said, slowly trudging to his work-space. Along the way he made a point to reload his pistol. He always kept a small amount of gun powder on him, just enough for 3 shots total. He would have to refill it a little when he got back to his room.

Splinters

Amelia squeaked as Scarlet pulled her close in a rather protective manner. The young lady found herself to be quivering, unable to get used to the noise of clashing swords and screams of terror.

~~~

Danial cried out as he landed swift and effective blows on a man not many years older than himself. There was a sickening shift in strength through the man's arm as the blow twisted his sword, torquing the mans hand and fracturing some bones. Daniel remained serious, awaiting the right moment to strike the man with the hilt of his cutlass.

Bane and himself not long ago had reached Avery. They covered her well and she fought very effectively. Among the craze of the battle and cries of terror a cry of pain stuck out to him. Momentarily swiveling his head around, Daniel saw a young boy be cut down by the opposing captain. He thought Avery would not like that, if she caught it. The heavy set captain continued to make his way over to... them.

"Miss Avery, g't o'er 'ere." Daniel barked, feeling the pressure of a need for a simple and swift course of action. The man he had been fighting lunged at Daniel only to find the bite of his cutlass.

Having created an opening and Avery not responding to him he reached over to her and pulled her from her own scrimish. He was not the strongest man on any crew but he could haul weight, thus when he grabbed her by the waist there was little she could do to protest. Having moved her behind himself, more so than behind Bane but it would be good to note that he was helping as well, he pulled his pistol. Daniel, aimed and shot the man she was fighting, a fatal wound to the chest cavity. He slipped his empty pistol away and pulled Avery's from her jacket. He took aim on the opposing captain and fired.

Splinters

I am so sorry for disappearing >.<
I had to move so that took up all my time :( also, not internet ^^"

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Daniel was hardly distracted that the pendant he wore began to glow, but he was distracted none the less. It was certainly a learning curve to fight with a new crew and on a new vessel. Clearly he was going to have to adjust for a magical ship and demon captain. What was worse was that he couldn't tell if he was at the beginnings of getting swept up in her magic.

The men's screams of terror were chilling to him and he counted it a blessing to be on the same side as Avery and the Shadow Strike. Again, he marked Iris' words. The woman spoke truth if nothing else.

Bane fought bravely, closely following the captain but leaving her side when the men needed him more. Upon his remark Daniel easily countered.

"Than lets cover 'er openin's." It was a simple statement and about all he could muster as he fought side by side with Bane. His cutlass requiring only one hand most of the time but every now and again he would need to use the other for a particularly hard blow. He had yet to mortally wound someone, to his relief, but there had been some close calls. Daniel was doing well in knocking men unconscious after disarming them. Together the men of vary different stature chased after Avery, making a way for her where needed and covering her back.

~~~

The other ships Captain had bravely called orders against the cursed vessel. His crew responded with vigilance for the most part, some ran and hid with fear. He spat curses at the opposing crew for making him take the defensive but when he saw the lady captain cross to his deck, he saw a chance at vengeance. Enraged he began to fight his own way towards her with the full intention of cutting her down. This was a change from his original plan of simply keeping to her to be 'entertainment'.

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Daniel listened closely to Iris' warning.

"Yer words be marked." he said in a much lower, more serious tone. He had felt the shift in the air. Avery's crew began to move slower, watching her with reverence and a hint of fear and pity. Daniel noted that it was not pity or fear for themselves so much as for the other vessel.

It had caught up quickly and the crew looked hungry. Their lust for power was almost palpable.

"Ha! A girl..." The other captain purred back loudly. He clearly wanted all parties to hear his words. "An by the looks of it, a Cap'n!" he called, slowly walking through his crew. They leered back at Avery and her crew. The captain was chiding Avery, testing her, the beginnings of insulting her. He was trying to make their crew stupid with anger. Daniel could see it's roots taking hold in very few of the men, and they hid it well but regardless a hint of hatred rippled through the air. "An by the looks of it, there are more ladies aboard..." He continued, leering at Iris herself. Daniel wondered how long Avery or Bane for that matter would let this go since clearly this captain didn't mind either of them.

Daniel caught a shine of steel moving. "Iris..." he said in warning, a hushed tone. Using his thumb he propped his cutlass out of it's scabbard so that an inch of steel could be seen.

"Go have some fun men!" The other captain called, and his crew exploded off the deck. Clearly that was the go command, and this crew was nimble. They had no need for boards to use to get onto the Shadow Strike. They used ropes to swing across.

Without command, Avery's crew responded to the opposing crew's aggression. This included Daniel.

Splinters

A large boom could be heard as a singular cannon ball was fired. It fell just short of the Shadow Strike's mightily rudder.

Daniel's head spun back, looking past Avery to the vessel giving chase. He grimaced and called encouragement to the men fro them to move quickly.

"Iris, gimme yer spyglass." He asked before she gave it to him. He moved across the width of the Shadow Strike to look back on the vessel. He noticed silver glinting and organized havoc on their poop deck.

"Men! Prepare for battle!" Daniel called, tossing the telescope back to Iris before speaking to her. "They want a fight on th' decks. Tha' Cap'n is commin' fer th' Shadow Strike." he growled to her, already on his path back down the deck shouting all the way. He hollered orders of motivation and comfort to ignore the cannons. He also motioned to Iris to get involved. They would likely more listen to her than a newcomer like himself.

It was far more likely that they were trying to scare the crew in order to overtake them than it was them sinking this vessel. If the ship and crew were as famous as he had been told by the crew and as special as Iris had mentioned, what Captain wouldn't want to command such a vessel? Setting his hands to work he helped men work the rigging and get the deck ready for a fight.

"Fly the colours men!" he called, making a captain's call and the statement that eventually they would stand and fight. He had yet to be contradicted by either Iris or the captain herself.

Splinters

"Aye Cap'n." Daniel agreed. He hardly watched her leave for the stern of the boat where the helm sat. Avery's craft had a mighty fine rudder and was built to easily cut through the water. She was definitely not weighted down to heavily with various kinds of cannons or guns.

"Step lively men! see that anything that we can afford to loose is lost." He bellowed, his chest expanding to a greater degree than one would have expected. The men having heard Avery's command to Daniel responded with a quickness that almost matched that of the old crew he had traveled with.

"Be that her steel?" he asked Iris, already having noted that the blade she carried with her was somewhat simple for a captain. "Or another element o' bad fortune?"