KingKryent

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Luke stood at the side of the ship and couldn't take his eyes off the ocean water beneath him, he kept envisioning the boy. They could've been friends in another life. Luke never had any, being cooped up in house Du Sand most of his life save for the little events here and there, the family was obligated to attend, and most other noble families were so strict the children would never think to speak at them. Living as a street urchin didn't make things easier, no one wants to talk to the dirty little thief, and the baker family had no children of their own. He wished he could've spent more time, or anytime at all with deceased.

As his mind drifted from the imaginary to reality, Luke's mind became all a flutter with thoughts of dragons. He had always dreamt of what it would feel like to fly through the air with the with the wind in his hair, riding on the back of a dragon. Turned out that dragons were more destructive and vicious then he had imagined. He wondered how the Dragon might look. It must've been huge to destroy the city. He wondered if he decided to stay on this journey, when they did find the Dragon, would they even be able to damage it. He began to wonder weather or not he would continue the mission with the captain who's ship had been destroyed, without realizing he'd been climbing all the while.

The net to the crows net was easy enough to get up, or at least he figured it must've been considering he made it all the way up obliviously. Luke looked out on the horizon and wished he could stay up this high, far above everyone else, he couldn't help but look down at all the people milling around. Crew members working to ready themselves for the coming pirates, and everyone else trying to deal with the coming threats on top of trying to cope with the idea that there is a beast out there who could tear down cities by itself. Luke was shocked at first, then he was lost in amazment. Luke covered his eyes with his palms and let out a shout that hurt his throat a bit and caused people below to spin around in search of the sound. "This is crazy. We've been out here only a couple days, and we're fighting mystical creatures, pirates, and on secret missions. Everyone who stepped onto the ship was cursed the moment they boarded." Luke spoke to himself. "How are we to defend these people. They can't defend themselves as we've seen." Luke felt his dagger on his outer thigh, and remembered the ping of his throwing dagger off the suit of armor, and now he thought of the pirates on their way.

With his adrenaline pumping through his veins, Luke looked up and smiled at the cool blue sky. "It's sort of exciting isn't it. How could I leave knowing that I might fight a dragon. Maybe a baby dragon would consider me it's master." Luke lost himself in thoughts of dragons and magic that he couldn't feel the thickness of the air as people below continued to worry and mill around. Which generally how Luke dealt with worry. He stood in the crows nest and began to run cadences in preparation of the coming ambush.

"Bring it on pirates, I'm ready for you." He thought out loud as he threw a small piece of wood that he carved off of the crows nest as if it was one of his flying daggers and it sailed out of view as Luke continued drills with his dagger.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

That sucks. I feel like fairess would've helped create the whole worrying about kids thing.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

I am excited about all this. I can't wait for the story to unfold. I think as soon we start fighting the impending pirates everyone is going to get a chance to show their stripes.

By the way artemisia looks kinda cool

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Luke stood a gargoyle, as the light poured onto the deck and engulfed the armored titan, that nothing seemed to stop. For a moment there was nothing but the light visible to the eye. A bubble wrapped the armored foe, and then splatters. What could be mistaken as blood exploding inside the light, then it raised overhead and grew. For a moment Luke worried that the creatures energy would escape, and become an even more devestating force. Tightening his grip on his dagger and clenching his left hand into the sturdiest fist he could make, he prepared himself. Maybe this new form would be more prone to being pierced or maybe just a strong right hook would end it. Then it was gone. The bubble, the red stains inside it, the lumbering armor, all of it. Leaving only a brief light show, of two of Luke's favorite colors. His grip loosened, and he looked around the boat.

"What can I do?" Luke let slip from his lips, low enough that the words were indistinguishable. Luke saw the hole in the ship where the body of a boy lay lifeless and images of his brother washed over him. Taking a hard swallow, trying to wash away the thought, he wondered, "Is this how George would've seen me? The kid is no older than I was. Would he even have been able to stand, because all I can feel is a heaviness." Luke seemed to never really adjust to seeing people that way, dead, he always took the deaths personally. He knew he'd never really met the boy, but he still felt something.

Luke had remembered the man being carried off by some other crew members, and hoped that he would be alright. After all, he had just fought and defended the ship. He walked to the people who were speaking about what had happened. He kept his cool and stood far enough away to not get noticed. He didn't really need to hide, but living on the streets so long, Luke felt weary trying to join others in any conversation, let alone adults. On top of all the ones who'd saved the ship, however they did it. From the distance, Luke could make out the captain, of course he was pretty distinctive not to notice, then there was the crewman, or at least what he thought was one, maybe just a good friend of the captain, finally it was the women who fired off the light. He hadn't really seen the woman enough to distinguish any features other than her interesting clothing choices, and he wasn't sure he'd want to move in anymore, what with her defeating the armor herself. He couldn't help but feel his heart race when he thought of the power, and he couldn't narrow down whether or not he was scared or intrigued to find out how she did it. He noticed the man who had been knocked almost entirely off the side of the ship with the captain, head down towards the cabin. Luke also thought about the woman who tried to stop him from joining the fight, or succeeded, he wondered if she was alright and if she had seen the show. Then he questioned if she had already known about what was gonna happen, maybe she had some sort of future sight.

Luke was hammering away on the deck with the others, sailors, and civilians alike were working together to fix the ship. Luke wanted to help with repairs, he figured he could make himself useful somehow. He looked up and took in the sun that had opened up the sky. He didn't notice when the rain had stopped, only that it had, and that it made repairs much easier. Last night was full if excitement, last night no one knew if they were going to make it to the morning, and yet everyone seemed to pull together as if none of it had happened. Luke had taken a nap at some point through the night, everyone took a shift where they got a few minutes of rest, however brief. A group of cranky and sleep deprived sailors weren't going to help get anything done, at least not as effectively and as quickly as they could. The group of guys used Luke to hold up smaller parts and slip through small hole and crevasses in the ship to fix other problems that might be wrong. It all looked like simple patchwork, but the crew really knew their way around the ship, which impressed Luke more than he would let on. Shielding his eyes from the sun and then looking back at what used to be a giant gorge in the ship, the repair team all stood up and celebrated. They had done good work, and they definitely deserved to cheer a little bit. Luke always found it funny when the sailors got excited. They are easily excited, and ready to celebrate anything. It was refreshing.

Luke noticed the captain's good friend, Epu he had been called by the other crew members,  head into the belly of the ship to spread the news that the captain needed everyone to gather. What could the captain want to say. Maybe he wanted to reassure everyone after what had happened last night. Luke thought about the two men who had been substantially injured last night and thought about maybe looking in on them. He didn't want the people who fought for the Burning Bitch's to meet their end today and thought that if one person would keep them in thoughts maybe they would be kept alive by the grace of god. So Luke headed down to the underbelly of the ship, where he first sprang into action. He found the doctors makeshift surgery room, and peered in, noticing that one of the men had moved around. Which meant at least one of them was feeling a little bit better. Luke rested on the door and stood there for a bit before he saw the captain pass by him.

Ever curious Luke followed the captain to the captains quarters, and through the door he could hear the sobs of the captain. Luke knew that the boy had been brought to the captain, the lot who carried him away passed him as they had been repairing the ship. Luke needed to find out more about the boy, after all, he was the youngest one to leave them, and so early in their travels. Luke knocked and entered the captains quarters. He knew it was wrong to just barge in without proper permission, but Luke didn't want to miss his opportunity to find out more about the boy. "What is his name?" Luke asked as he slowly positioned himself up near the captain, and just far enough away from the boy's body. The dead like most things never got better with time.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

I'm going to try and post a post this week

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

@MacabreFox I guess we tried our best

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Sorry guys. Fairess and I had hectic work schedules and we were just trying to power through. Maybe it was a little anticlimactic for the amount of material.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Luke took a deep breath, trying to steel his nerves, as he had been taught by his instructors from early childhood. "Fear and passion, serve only to betray you in battle." Were always the words that stung the most through any of his training, because it seemed the words were always followed by Luke making friend's with the ground beneath him. "The only way to prevail, in swordplay, and anything else you do, is to remain calm, rational, and level headed. If you let your emotions take the reigns, you will undoubtedly meet with failure everytime." Luke hated the redundancy of these words, but after being on his own for this long, they always managed to keep him alive. While reaching for his notched dagger clipped in a small sheath strapped to his left outer thigh, he was jerked back into the stairway he had just emerged from. After barely catching his footing and avoiding a tumble, Luke saw the source of his unwilling retreat. Without a moments hesitation, Luke was letting passion speak for him, "Que pensez-vous que vous faites ?"

Luke took a moment and spoke in the Portuguese he had picked up while spending time in Sintra, "They're defending us, and I must help them!"

The woman, now pattered with enough water to make the hems of her skirt and blouse heavy, merely rolled her eyes. Her tight hold on his collar hadn't flinched in the slightest, and with the same unkind strength it seemed she was determined to pull him all the way down to the lower deck. "Running into cannon fire is a lovely way to kill yourself, boy, not that thing tearing everything apart. Did you even think about where you were standing? If it had noticed you, it may have very well come barreling down into the ship where the injured are being taken care of. You're smart enough to know French--be smart enough to know how to stay alive."

Struggling to loosen the grip even slightly, Luke retorted in a sort of grumble, "Any able body should be out there defending the ship, if it doesn't make it, none of us will." Luke tried planting his feet, trying to stay grounded. "Before you decided to intervene, I way preparing to move. I won't let myself be killed here, or any where else." Luke felt around for something to hold on to, hoping that it might give him some leverage, any falter in her grip and he might be able to free himself. "Who are you anyway, and who do you think you are trying to stop me, i don't recall pledging any loyalty to you, or having any of your blood run through my veins." He began to contemplate escaping his shirt, then her hold on him would be broken.

Suddenly, the passageway was lit with the with what couldn't possibly, but seemed to be nearly indistinguishable from that of the sun. Sparked by curiosity, Luke made a last effort to escape, hand on Dagger, Luke spun  and severed the collar, freeing him of the women's grasp. "You can go back and hide, defend those who need it, but I'm going to lend a hand to those men out there, fighting for the ship and all it's passengers." Luke turned back towards the rain and unexplainable light that illuminated the deck and stairway, and as the two worked against his vision, he turned back once more to the lady who held his collar, "Just as others joined this crew, I chose to be here. I'm gonna go find out what's going on up there, and I'm going to help any way I can, if I can't fight, I'll at least be another body for that thing to be distracted by, there's only one of it, and the more of us there are, the more likely we are to land a decisive blow." Luke took a second to catch his breath, and thought to himself, "I'm a Du Sand, and we live by the idea, if you have the means to help, you are obligates to help."

The woman's hands rested on her hips as she stared at the boy, both amused and annoyed. "I think you might be on the wrong ship, boy--it's a place for liars and the hopeless, not heady heroes willing to crush themselves at the soonest opportunity."

Her eyes then squinted towards the deck. "There's not much for you to do either way."

Luke looked back towards the deck trying to see what the woman had when she squinted, "What do you mean, what do you see?"

The woman sighed, waving a dismissive hand. "You're going to run up and look regardless of what I say, boy. I'm done having my fingers nearly cut off by your foolishness, so you can join me down here or go play pretend up there."

"Don't mind if I do." Luke smiled as he turned and ran upstairs to where the action was. With the thought of what the lady said gnawing at the back of his mind he quickly ran behind cover and waited for a moment to strike. Noticing the man limp on the floor next to the heavy armor, Luke's eyes were fixed as he waited for an opportunity to help him, he didn't want to see anyone else hurt.

Credit

@Fairess @KingKryent

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

@Fairess well that was certainly not what I expected would happen to Luke. Now I am excited by the next turn of events.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Enter Luke Du Sand

"Waking up never seems to be any fun." Luke announced, as he stretched his pricking limbs from their cramped position inside a barrel. Having not heard about the voyage until it was too late to actually secure a spot, Luke decided the best way to join the crew would be to stowaway while they loaded the ship full of vital supplies needed for 'The Burning Bitch's' journey to wherever it was headed. He felt a tinge of guilt when he thought of the men who had to carry him onto the vessel, but with further reflection on the matter decided the men probably thought the barrel he was in was quite possibly the lightest one they had lifted all day. "There must be more, elegant, means of sneaking aboard ships than cramming myself into a barrel. Food for thought: no need concerning myself with past mistakes whilst the present seems to encourage many an opportunity for improvement." Luke spoke to himself like this often, it helped that he spoke in his native togune when he did so, others just brushed him off as a poor Frenchman who never learned their language and Luke seemed to be inclined to allow them this false truth as long as it could benefit him.

Upon Luke's awakening from his slumber all he could hear was shouting, and the rumbling of what he assumed to be The Burning Bitch's passengers and crew members alike celebrating just being alive on the seas; seamen seemed to always be willing to celebrate the smallest of things, and it always went hand in hand with an assortment of ales, rums, mead, and other drinks worth a crews time. In the midst of the ship's dance with the ocean Luke hopped up out of the barrel finally standing firm, which was planted on a not so steady footing. This is the same as any sea or land vessel would have during a journey. Luke however was already accustomed to maintaining his bearings in such situations, traveling to and from tutors who would teach him many a skill. Whether it was reading, writing, speaking a language, throwing knives, or swordplay, Luke seemed to always be studying something; as a Nobel should be, or at least how his family thought a Nobel should be. Just as he began to head up to the deck, where he assumed the festive noises were coming from, he felt the rumble of what could only mean trouble for the ship. Immediately Luke began to contemplate whether joining this crew was such a good idea. That's when he saw them, the sturdy looking men who were carrying what -by the looks of it- was the lifeless body of an inquisitor; though the missing eye suggested that he might be more than the mere clergy that always surrounded him growing up, and that of Sintra as well. Luke started to follow the group to see if there might be some sort of service he could offer, or at least to find out what was going on that this man would be so mortally wounded. The doctor, who seemed to be ready for such a man to arrive, helped to level out the uneasy nerves of Luke- who's veins always seem to become raging rapids whenever someone was injured around him- simply by working on the man's injury. Turning to one of the men who had carried the unconscious man the doctor was intent finding out about the situation. That's when Luke noticed a women who seemed to be quite unsettled herself.

With just the slightest glance of the fear or helplessness in her eyes Luke's eyes widened, almost to mirror that of the lady, and all he could see was the Baker's wife vacant and terrified eyes as they pulled her husband from underneath that wreckage which had once been their livelihood back in Sintra. The almost dead and souless vision of the baker's wife, Andrea, was enough to make Luke forget himself and head to the deck without any thought of what might be in store for him when he made it up. Slipping as he ascended the stairs due to the downpour that was coming through the shattered cabin door which lead into the belly of the ship. Luke couldn't help but stand in awe and disbelief as his eye finally met with the source of excitement he was hearing before, and to Luke's dismay he was very much wrong about what had been causing it.

With eyes too frantic to lock on to and one thing, Luke had noticed the heavily armored shell that was missing an arm walking freely as if it had a soul, and will of it's own. "What of this!?" Luke shouted without thought. Falling, intimidated, to the creaking wood finishing beneath him, Luke was stunned as he took in the partially destroyed deck before him. His hand trailed to the small hilt of the hidden throwing knives he kept tucked in his belt, and felt the tremble of his hand as the rain fell over him. This was just like the day his family was caught on the escape ship they had boarded long ago. There was what looked to be a gaping hole in the ship, which was nearly indistinguishable from the mortar fire that hallowed out his family's last hope of survival. He was flooded with memories of his family dying all around him, memories of his mother slaughtered before his eyes, and he was shaken to his very core.

Luke heard his brother George's last commandment to him, as he sat shaken on a ship that he feared might not make it, and in turn neither would he; "Escape this place Luke, live to fight another day. Don't you dare die without clearing our family's name. The Du Sand family cannot be remembered as a bunch of betraying Nobelmen who aren't worth the ground they walk."Luke could hear the words as if George were speaking to him right that instant. "Today is not my day, the lord will see to that!" Luke shouted as he let loose a Dagger towards the towering walking armor. And as it pinged off the shell Luke stood up ready to fight; if not to help, then to survive.