“A’hoy! Land! Land! ! !”

A ship with well over 100 souls aboard yelled at once. The vessel bounced with activity as adventurers of all sorts, shapes, and sizes peered over the edge of the ship to get a better look. Sailors, scavengers, pirates, thieves, plunderers, warriors, wizards, and any other sort of adventurer (or whatever you would call them) let out one big, “Hurray!!!” and nearly shook the boat off course. It wasn’t much more than a dot—the island of Haudhiaur—but with the wind at their backs, the whole lot of them would be on dry land in no time. And this sounded mighty fine to every last one of them, for they had been at sea for over a week now. Drinks were raised and toasts were made, and every greedy thing on the ship made hand gestures of all different sizes (to show just how big their sacks would be after they were done filling them with gold).

Valin walked up and down the deck of the vessel, heartily patting his newfound mates on their backs. He held a tall mug full of ale and drank with his chin to the clear blue sky. For such a dwarf as he, it was easy for Valin to make friends of this rough and murderous sort quite quickly. The whole ship reeked of booze and whiskey, and it was difficult to hear anything over the drunken roars and whooping and hollering.

“Billybrand an’ Krotcook! Ye two had better watch out far me when tha gold gets sorted, or I’ll make you it his only dag eye!” Valin shouted at a bunch of pirates as they laughed along with him, “Oh! Kraiger! Ye best dag well watch yerself about me! Maybe ye and I can get together n’ kill every last one o’ these dag o’ willey tilleys!”

The little barbarian shoved his way through the herd, and found two of his newest acquaintances; two surface dwarves sat at a wooden table with a few broad shouldered humans. They all wore dark brown cloaks and sported great axes on their backs. They all drank from pint sized mugs and cracked jokes about one or the other: “. . . ya smell like a dragon fart ya old drunk!” one shouted at another.

Valin cracked mugs with each of them and they all bellowed out the ship’s latest favored saying at the top of their lungs: “We’ll be rich as kings!”

That was when the Captain of the rocking vessel stepped out of his quarters and stood upon the top deck. He was an old grey-bearded man that looked as much like a pirate as any man could; aside from a peg-leg or a hook-hand, and also aside from the fact that he seemed eight feet tall. A great parrot more rich with swirling colors than anything Valin had ever seen was perched upon the Captain’s shoulder. His tattered black jacket and broad hat had crimson sashes—big and small—hanging from every nook and cranny. A great broad scimitar rested at his hip as he fed his parrot a handful of spoiled green meat. His gold and silver teeth glimmered in the sunlight. This Captain seemed more a pirate than the rest, for not only had he lost an eye; he had lost right eye and half of his left eye too! A thick black bandana covered his eyes, except for half the left one—it shifted back and forth like a bug in his head.

This was a murderous bunch indeed, and it would take all the more murderous a captain and crew to control the lot. The Captain tapped his fingers upon the ship’s railing, and all went silent. In an instant, the entire commotion was cut short, and all attention was directed at the front of the ship where the aptain stood, his mighty bird—as large as Valin himself—squawked for a bit, and then stared at its master as he cleared his throat.

“As you dogs know, we’re going to be at our destination very soon.” his voice was deep as a giant’s, but his speech was as proper as a writ scholar, “Now, there’s quite a few of you here of which I have not met before, but there is a good lot more of you that I know better than my own children.” the Captain paused briefly, and paced up and down the deck, his big black boots thudding loud as war drums, “Of which I have 25. (and it was true, 25 children on seven different islands) “Now if any of you want to test me, and think you are cleverer than I, go ahead and try to keep some treasure for yourselves. But if you do, my friend here”, the captain looked up at his parrot and winked (or blinked if you wish to be technical about it) “he can smell gold, silver, gems, or any other oddity you may find here on this island. And if I find that you are keeping anything of the sort hidden from me and my crew, I’ll chop your head off and feed your filthy brains to him!

“Now as I told you all before, (and he certainly had, in great detail; for the Captain never told a lie) we are going to the east end of the island. That is where Glen had told me where the treasure is at. Is that not so, wizard?” the captain looked down at a half-elf covered in grey with no hair and white eyes, and the wizard gave a slight nod, “Good! Now I cannot be sure how many other sea-dogs caught drift of the treasure we seek, but I can tell you right now, we’ll kill every last one of them that we come across! Now all of you put one of those bandanas on your head and your left arm.” as the captain spoke, three men, each carrying a pile of black cloths, walked up from below-deck, “This way, we all know who is who. Now we still have a few hours before we land, and I suggest you all get yourselves ready! Once we get ashore I’ll let you dogs know how we are going to load the treasure back on the ship.”

And with that, the captain paced down some steps and back into his quarters.

The whole ship exploded as they all grabbed themselves their cloths at once. Valin forced his way through to grab his own bandanas, and tied one upon his head and his left arm before anyone else had their chance. He strode through the bunch of sweaty, stinky cut-throats (at least most of them were) and wondered how his share would be split in the end.

Reinaka was hastily shoved around as the entire crew ran for their bandanas, some were even knocked over and trampled in the massive rush. Reinaka remained at the back of the crowd; he would just wait until the end to collect his bandanas. Many of the men on these ship were rowdy and loud; not the type that a shape shifter such as Reinaka liked. But alas, he was a money-hungry type; so he could not just let an opportunity such as this pass by. This trip would grant him riches beyond the human imagination; that is of course, if he came out alive.

Many of these men and women would kill for riches; and riches was exactly what they were all here for. Hundreds of people had boarded the stern ship, all for the same purpose: to get rich. Reinaka was no exception though, he probably wanted this treasure more than any of these men. He was naturally a poor man; and had lost most of his earnings over the years by gambling. And losing. But now was no time to worry, it was a time of celebration. Yet, the shape shifter knew that not everybody here would come out alive, there were unknown dangers on the island, he could tell.

By the time Reinaka had stopped collecting his thoughts; most of the pirates and adventurers had finished collecting their bandanas, and had now returned to their drinking and celebrating. Reinaka slowly walked to the crate; dodging and avoiding all the drunk people. It seemed he was the only one sober on the ship. Collecting his bandanas, he tied them loosely around his forehead, yet made sure it did not droop over his eyes.

”by Merlin’s Beard! Ye’ momma be the Kraken!” A drunk man slurred from somewhere behind him. Reinaka turned to face the man, who was staggering around and calling out obscene gestures at the other members of the ship. It seemed the others did not take too kindly to the man; which resulted in them slamming the mans face into a table, which shaking their fists and cursing him.

“Ye’ scurvy dogs!” A voice called from above deck, stopping the drunk men dead in their tracks. Suddenly a scraggy man appeared from the stairs, supporting a cutlass on his shoulder. The man wore the clothing of a true pirate; baggy leather shorts and well-strapped boots made of leather. His bandana was a crimson color; with cuts and scratches covering every inch. The other men feared him, it was obvious by the expressions of their faces. ”Now lads’, t’would seem we are getting ‘bit rowdy. Lets all be friends, then?” The man spoke, flailing his fingers around and smiling evilly .

The other pirates all looked at the man; staring as if he had just said something entirely important. Reinaka knew this was not the captain, he had been here only moments ago, plus his face was entirely different. ”Second Cap’n Adman they call me, a true pirate. Been sent in ‘ere by the captain, we’ve now hit land, so ye’ better be ready!” The crew all looked at him wide-eyed, Reinaka knew why. None of these men had readied themselves, well at least most had not gotten ready; they had all been too busy intoxicating themselves.

Reinaka could not help but smile; he was always ready, and that was going to give him an advantage over the rest of this drunk crew. “Off ye’ go!” Adman yelled, pointing towards the stairs and laughing. The crew roared and reared; finally the treasure hunt had begun. Reinaka was one of the first up the stairs, along with a small group of dwarves and a drow.

”This’ll be fun.” the Shapeshifter said, shifting his eyes towards the drow running by his side. "Guess I cannot help some casualties."

[OOC: My post takes place under the top-deck, in a shabby restaraunt type of place.. the stairs lead to the top of the decks, where you can leave the ships. PM me if you want me to change. ^^)

Taiaka was hired by the quartermaster with only the promise of payment for his services. The vessel had pulled into port to restock their invaluable supply of cheap rum and took advantage of the mocha-faced natives that were desperate for a ride off the island. It was a common stopover, a way station for crates of limes and salted fish to be brought on board to sate the sailing men on their long journeys at sea. Taiaka was recruited after being bounced from an inn for squaring off with a pirate that had unceremoniously questioned his ancestral lineage; the shape shifter made it pointedly clear that his mother was not a ‘flea ridden cur’ and was in the process of showing the pirate exactly how that was not true when Second Captain Adman (or perhaps First Mate in some circles) openly commented Taiaka on his spunk. He took the shape shifter for just another ignorant islander, a wild animal that shimmied up palm trees to pop coconuts, but feared that his crew had to keep race relations civil. So, Taiaka became an apologetic porter on the pirate ship as soon as the offer was extended to him and sported tightly tied black bandanas around both of his forearms.

He spent most of his time chasing rats in the bilge room as a wiry black cat, and in doing so he ate better than most the crew. The vermin would scurry when Taiaka pounced from atop the sacks of flour as the only other cat on the ship (a dainty little queen with big green eyes and a case of the mange) would look on with her usual bored look. Sometimes in the dead of night, the shape shifter would slither up the mast of the ship and crawl out onto the sail’s rigging lines to watch the slow burn of the Stars. But he was no stranger to the brine crusted navies, though most of the boats he had traveled on had been nothing more than reed canoes sealed with wax. His father was a fisherman and Taiaka thought that meant sailing was in his blood. He wasn’t wrong, but he had pitched his rodent lunches over the side more than once. Yet, he kept a low profile and spoke rarely to the crewmen; he thought they might resent his presence if they knew he was only there to steal a share of their gold.

Treasure was a delicious word and Taiaka watched with baited breath as the captain clomped around spouting instructions. The shape shifter was pretending to scrape barnacles from the anchor when the men on deck exploded into cheers, scurrying like yummy rats to don their bandanas. Taiaka wondered if they were tying targets around their heads and arms rather than marks of safety; he knew gossip, and he knew rumors of gold to be had were not taken lightly by salty pirates. Still, as he listened, he removed one of his bandanas from his arm and used it to cover his dreadlocks, giving him the appearance of a bloody midwife in a sooty kerchief.

Wiping his hands on his long blue kilt, he leaned against the railing of the ship and saw the great verdant hills of the island rise like rotting teeth from the smooth sea. He had never been to the island of their quarry, wondered if it even had a name, and found himself smiling from pure unadulterated excitement. Of course, he knew he would probably have to carry a yoke of waterskins and slog helplessly behind the other crewmen who would be barking more instructions at him. As the men concerned themselves with strapping weapons onto their bodies, preparing to disembark, Taiaka watched the sea. And sure enough, two dots appeared, riding the horizon.

“Lo!” Taiaka bellowed and pointed out over the waves, “Looks like we got company, boyos!” He shaded his eyes from the glare of the hot sun and squinted into the distance. They were big ships, bigger than the one they sailed on; double masted, maybe triple, and it seemed the wind was giving them the favor of the chase.

A dozen pirates joined Taiaka at the railing and they muscled him out of the way to have a better look. The shape shifter backed away and was tripped up by a rowdy dwarf that seemed to simply materialize on the top deck. The squat dwarf was followed by a parade of sour-faced Drow (all of which winced when the sun hit them and Taiaka could have sworn one burst into flames) from the dark stairs. The passageway emptied and Taiaka allowed for the bottom-dwellers to spill out, holding onto thick hemp ropes to prevent him from being tossed overboard in the chaos.

“Outta the way, ye slag!” A bald pirate with a tattoo of a spider on his cheek yelled at Taiaka. The shape shifter hissed, made a rude hand gesture, and slipped past him to stand on an empty barrel, out of the way. Another Drow whizzed by, hesitating at the head of the stairs for a moment, dazzled by the haughty sunlight.

“This’ll be fun.” Someone drawled, "Guess I cannot help some casualties."

Taiaka turned his head at the voice, suspicious of the proper use of grammar on a pirate ship, and leered politely at the man. Behind him, the crew was already lowering the dingys into the shallow blue water, heaving and hollering as the pirates around them finished off the last of their rum.

“The more casualties, the bigger our share of the gold.” He said with a feral grin, chipped canine like a crag of quartz growing from his black gums. The last creature to make its way onto the top deck was the little green eyed cat with the mange. She hopped up onto the barrel as well and rubbed herself around Taiaka’s ankles, purring.

Reinaka smiled an evil one as the crew looked over deck to see the other ships; this would make it all the funner. A question now struck his mind though: was these bandanas there for identification, or to tell the enemy who they were. Either way; Reinaka could not care, he could easily outwit any of the other men on the boat. These pirates were sure a rowdy bunch; but as soon as they hit land the shape shifter would be free of these men, able to roam the island and search for treasure alone.

The ship swayed wearily in the harsh winds, tipping it to once side, then the other in session. The pirates all roared and cursed at the other ships, which would help them nil. The other ships were three times bigger than the Hunter III (Our ship) and could probably hold many more treasure-hunters, but it seemed the drunk men did not realize this; it would cost them dearly in near future.

The shape shifter progressed down the stairs, making sure not to make eye contact with the drunk pirates; the last thing he wanted was to get them roused. As Reinaka stepped down the stairs he made sight of a group of dwarves, swaying both beard and brew around as they sang a song.

Burn, burn tree ‘nd fern!
Shrivel and scorch, a fizzling torch
To light the night, for our delight!
Ya hey! Ya ho!

Bake and toast ‘em, fry and roast ‘em!
Till beards and eyes are set ablaze;
Till hair smells dry and the rough skin crack!
Fat will melt; bones black
In cinders lie
Beneath the sky!
So dwarves shall die,
To find, to Find;
Where all treasures lie.
We die, we die..

And so they went on. Reinaka had always found the dwarves somewhat amusing; with all there songs and the like, even if they were stubborn most of the time. Yet he had studied on their kind; they did not seem too bad, proud, stubborn, yet easy to get along with, and extremely battle hardy. It was surprisingly amusing how the dwarves were so short, yet could wield massive axes and hammers in battle, and swing them without effort.

”Oi ye’!” A tattoo’ed dwarf with black hair called, gesturing Reinaka to come over. The shape shifter did so, walking over to the dwarf with a hand on his hilt.
”Yes master dwarf?” He said cheerfully, smirking down at the small man.
”Eh, nevermin’ off ye go then!” Reinaka stared at the dwarf with open eyes, he sounded somewhat like he was being smart. But the shape shifter couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything about it, simply walking back to find a desolated seat where he would find privacy.

Yet he could not. Suddenly the ship leered to one side, sending the wall-hangings and everything inside the shabby-restaurant flying, a chair smacking the shape shifter fair in the face. Reinaka jerked back, stumbling backwards over another chair and landing flat on his back; barely able to breath. The dwarves who were once there were now held firmly underneath piles of wooden items, chairs, tables, etc.

”What ‘tis goin’ on!?” He heard one cry, as they tried to knock away some chairs. ”RAID!!!” He heard someone from above call, followed by the sounds of clashing steel. Reinaka quickly changed into a cat, scuttled from the mid-deck and ran up the stairs; quickly changing back into his human form as he was half-way.

Above deck chaos wreaked, cannonballs went flying as another ship neared them, sailing freely on the ocean. It seemed the pirates had roused the other ships; which had probably caused this attack in the first place. The pirates of Hunter III were all too damn drunk to fight; staggering and swaying around as they attempted to engage the enemy in combat.

”Help us boyz’!” Admans voice yelled in the distance, it appeared as if he was in trouble. Reinaka quickly drew his longsword and ran slowly around the deck; looking for an opponent who was not already in battle..

(The other ships have raided, so that we cannot get the treasure before them. O_O Sorry for lack of detail.. not with the muse at the moment.)

The sea splashed against the bow of the ship and was funneled in either direction, frothy waves streaming away back into the ocean. A few sea birds squawked overhead. The salty breeze ran through Valin's coarse hair. The braided tail of his dark hair swung slightly. He took a deep breathe inward and smiled a bit. This sea business is to my liking, Valin thought to himself; a bit surprised that he took to being stranded on a strange boat for seven days rather well. He shifted his tongue around in his mouth and tasted the sweet ale that would not leave his senses. All the commotion of the boat drowned out for a brief moment, and the dwarf was at peace.

“Ahh, I prolly had too much ta drank,” Valin said to himself, partially realizing the cause for his sudden fit of relaxation—at least he would consider it a fit. Most beings had their priorities in complete opposition to Valin's. Most living things considered relaxation a good idea and certainly not any kind of a fit, but Valin was a most peculiar creature, for he found it always necessary to be in a hurry. Whether he was in a hurry to win or lose or in a hurry in his mind, Valin didn't care one way or the other, as long as some part of him was active, and most importantly, not lazy.

A larger splash sounded against the ship's hull with a soft whoosh, and a tiny mist of crystal-pure water sprinkled on his stone-hardened skin. And he smiled.

Valin peered about the ship and his eyes set still on a cluster of bearded men playing a game. They each sat on carved stools with small stone tablets in their hands. Each of the men sported long greasy hair and similar off-center smirks. Most of them (five in all) kept their intricately chiseled pieces against their chests, and keenly peered over them from time to time, peeling the stones from themselves just a tiny bit so as not another soul could get a peek. Valin lost interest in their game very quickly, for he preferred games of a more physical and dangerous nature with more drinking or hand squashing involved.

He looked up toward the sun and squinted—it was more like a grimace, actually. He was gradually adjusting to life on the surface, but he feared that he would never get over the sun's annoying and constant glare. Valin even thought that he had exceptionally poor luck with the sun, for it always peered in wherever he was and blinded him; he didn't seem to understand that this happened to everyone, and quite often, regardless of whether they are a deep dwarf or not. In fact, Valin took no notice whatsoever to the drow on the ship, of whom quite often had to shield their eyes from the sunlight every hour of the day. But that was just Valin's nature; the world did not revolve around him, but quite often he simply assumed it did.

And would you believe it? Valin was having rather narcissistic thoughts at the very moment the attack begun (he thought of the vast riches he would one day have; he had just decided—when he had enough coin for it—that he would like to cast a mail of fine silver and gold rings, and slay his foes with a battle axe composed entirely of the toughest and most expensive gems in Arda).

A cannonball shrieked into Hunter the third and nearly knocked Valin's thoughts all the way to the glaring sun above. The dwarf was tossed all the way across the ship and slammed into a wooden railing: Carack!

As Valin ran a hand along his side, beneath his light armor, he checked to make sure the crack he heard was not his ribs (and, lucky for him, it was only a few rails that split). The entire ship was at war. And Valin had been too drunk and stupid to notice! He jumped to his feet, staggering a bit, and clumsily swiped his sword of the sheath on his back. A man rushed at Valin (or if he were sober, Valin would have noted that the man was not actually rushing at him, but rushing by him). The dwarf hacked the man's knee open and blood spat back on Valin's face. In a blood-drenched fury, Valin put his cold blade deep into his victim's chest one, two, and three times! The man gasped for air then went dead shortly after. If Valin had not been so drunk and had he not been caught so off guard, the raging dwarf may have noted that the man he had just slain wore a black bandanna across his head and upon his left arm! Valin had just unknowingly murdered a ship-mate! And in all the chaos, it would be just shy of impossible to tell who had killed who. The poor fellow had been slain brutally by his own crew; such was the madness of war.

In any case, Valin joined the battle on the deck with an unquenchable fire in his heart and blood-covered steel in his hand. He was one to be frightful of that day on The Hunter III as he ducked and chopped limbs without remorse (luckily for Valin's ship-mates, he never swung at any more allies with black cloth upon their arms and forehead), for his face was doused in dark red gore and he would spit in his enemy's faces when they looked down at him.

Taiaka felt the rope begin to slide from his hands, so he let go. The last dinghy had hit the water, shadowed from the bulk of the Hunter III, and the men pushed well oiled oars through the waves. The shape shifter followed the railing towards the bow of the ship, yelling in his native tongue, knowing there would be no way to make it into the boats before they hit the beach. Raw anger boiled in his belly as he watched the dinghies row away, bound for the island to take his share of treasure. But it didn’t matter; his cries were lost to the boom, the crash and the splinters of powerful arcane magic.

The ships that chased the Hunter had closed their distance and turned their keels to cruise fluidly parallel against the hull. Grappling hooks caught a glint of sunlight as bulky men flung them through the air; the barbed steel caught against the wood and pulled taut as the vessels locked together, pirates slavering to hop decks. Rivals poured onto the Hunter III, mages hurled globes of lightning, and sword arms clutching spikes of steel were drawn back. Archers dipped their arrows in kerosene and launched them at severe angles so the flaming tips tore through sails and began to burn the ship from the inside out. Allies, bound together with nothing more than black bandanas, flailed and fought with anything that came near them, swept up in the panic of the event.

Taiaka had faired well though the initial onslaught though. He was on the far side of the Hunter watching the dinghies when the other boat grappled them. Arrows whizzed by his head and a ruby red fireball had slammed into the coils of loose rigging sending up a shower of embers that singed his shoulders. When the sails caught fully and smoke began to seep from the cracks below his feet, Taiaka realized their situation had grown more than dire. Of course, it didn’t help that most of his crew was drunk, though some, he assumed, would do better in a fight if they were numbed. Luckily, most of the mugs and wooden cups had been drained of their contents, so when the chaotic melee knocked them over, they did not add literal fuel to the fire.

Some had jumped overboard to avoid the fight and the shape shifter had debated doing the same. But he saw archers in the crow’s nests of the other ships and each time they drew back and let an arrow fly, one of the swimming pirates would disappear beneath the velveteen waves. Deciding against such a fate, Taiaka was forced to make up his mind, and do it fast. And it was actually the little mangy cat that had helped him make his decision. The puny feline had bolted, purely spooked and fully aware that she was surrounded on all four sides by horrible horrible water. She ran as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding being trampled (or barbequed), and clawed through a crack in the window to the captain’s quarters.

The map…Taiaka thought, there has to be a map…

But there was a long expanse of ship for him to transverse before he could reach the Captain’s door. In fact, he had not seen the peg-legged ruin of a man (and parrot) since he had set out the crate of bandanas and promised the crew a fruitful search for hard gold. Yet, there were bodies everywhere, some moving, other’s ritualistically massacred or burning slowly and twitching. Steel on steel sent sparks flying and though Taiaka had no idea where the captain was, he could only hope that he could make it to his quarters without losing a limb (or two) himself.

He brought both his hands to his hips and drew daggers from folded leather sheaths. He knew it would have been easier to melt away into the form of a cat or rat and weave his way through the fighting, but sometimes being a smaller target did not work to his advantage. Smiling a crooked smile, the shape shifter dashed forward and was glad that he had been so overlooked as a naïve native porter rather than a definite enemy. Though he wore the proper identifying features around his head and arm, Taiaka just didn’t exude the power of threat. And he didn’t especially look like a pirate. Then again, neither did half the actual pirates (especially the Drow that had caught on fire: Which Taiaka now knew was from an arrow and not the sun.)

Dashing around the numerous small fires that were rapidly gaining strength, Taiaka held his daggers tightly in either hand. He could feel the Hunter III begin to list to one side, wood creaking beneath a rain of ashen canvas. Two men blocked his path to the captain’s quarters, they both wore bright yellow sashes and headbands and they looked like twins. Elves, Taiaka had no doubt; their heights combined barely accounted for the shape shifters stature. Still, they had mean faces and wielded long curved cutlasses that were already dripping with gore and offal. The shape shifter bared his teeth and growled the growl of a grizzly bear as he leapt forward. The elf twins moved to flank him and Taiaka let them focus of the sheen of his daggers rather than the man holding them. They meant to trap him into a practiced pincer attack; the brother’s obviously accustomed to working together in a fight. The shape shifter would use this against them and step between them just before they charged him. One went high and the other went low and Taiaka went into a deep crouch. His body bristled with black spines as thick and long as a man’s arm and they extended with fantastic force into the elves that could do nothing but skewer themselves from their furious inertia. Taiaka felt their pulses slow, spikes extensions of chitin but connected as if delicate antennae; he felt them die before he brought the spindly quills out of their bodies and pulled them into his own. The twins were as perforated as sieves and they continued to leak from dozens of severe holes in their frames posthumously. Taiaka still held his daggers in his hands when he stood back up but now there were patches of blood like decorative polka dots dappling his chest and back.

He kicked open the door to the Captain’s quarters, indifferent as to whether it was occupied or not, and slithered inside. With a grunt, he pushed a heavy cherry wood dresser against the split doorjamb and made a beeline for the navigation table in the center of the room. It was covered in dog-eared current graphs and Star charts and the mangy cat joined him as he rifled through, purring and vying for his attention. Taiaka, bleeding other people’s blood onto the rolls of parchment, cursed himself and frantically discarded the maps until he found the right one.

(Making up for lost time)

The ship rocked on the seas, Buddy was asleep on deck, he was easily sleeping through the hustle and bustle of drunken pirates on the seas. In his dreams he was on the ship, but it was one filled with nothing with ghosts. He could hear the shouting and celebrating, and in his dream he joined in on the fun. But in real life he was simply laying on the edge of the ship, one good jerk and he could fall off and into the cold waters below. Several times pirates tried to nudge him off of the ship as a joke, but were interrupted by somebody grabbing a hold of them and taking them to do something better.

Eventually a group of pirates (Friends of the sleeping Buddy) Came up. The laughed as they poked and prodded him with their mugs, their sheathes and even shook him around. But he still did not awake. "This one be like a log!" One of them said with a heart laughter. "Yeah, and I may be th' only one who knows how to get him up!" Another boasted with another hardy laugh in response. "Watch this, bucko." He said as he pushed oneof his pirate friends away. "Somebody be giving away gold for notin'!" The pirate shouted in the sleeping's ear. "Gold? Where?" Buddy shot awake, falling from the ship but catching himself and quickly pulling himself back up. He laid eyes on his fellow buckaneers and gave out a laugh. "You... suck..." He said as he kicked the pirate away with his boot.

"Be there any other way to wake ya, Buddy?" The pirates asked in unison, this hadn't been the first time they'd tricked him awake like this. Buddy sat in thought before giving his answer, "No..." They all laughed, Buddy hanging himself out over the edge of the ship. He fealt relaxed on the edge of the vessel, if he had been anywhere else... the exact same thing would have happened. He hopped from the edge and wrapped his arm firmly around his friend's head, refusing to let go until his friend eventually said "I be the daughter of a fine pig!" They went along their way, with Buddy added to their group.

Once on the ship everybody stopped and listened to the captain. His beard must have been as grey as a rain cloud, and just as puffy, too. He spoke and reassured that if anybody on the ship attempted to hide away any unfair share of the treasure at the end of their journey, that they would face appropriate punishment. After the captain returned to his quarters the entire ship rushed around to grab bandannas. Buddy had managed to steal one earlier through a crack in the box and he kept it in a pocket. That saved him the trouble of pushing past the sea dos and allowed him to quickly put his bandanna over his prexisting one. He wondered if some of these dogs of the sea were tossed into the waters below.

Eventually the hustle and bustle of the ship immediatley stopped at the shout of one man who stood where the captain had just a moment ago. It was the pathetic excuse for a leader, Adman. At the watch oof nobody but themselves Buddy had bested the pirate in (unfair) combat. both of them cheated their way through the fight, but in the end the slacker beat the pathetic fighter. Buddy ignored him and found his friends among the stopped crowd. "I bet two silver he'll be killed pur captured." Buddy said jokingly to his friends which gladly accepted the bet. But they each bet on him winning, and in differant ways. Buddy was the only one who thought he would be at the bottom of this whole journey.

Not very long after that Buddy heard shouting, he looked and everybody pointed out to the waters. The pirates pushed the slacker out of their way, he was forced to climb up a mast just to see what was going on. He could see large ships in the distance, two or three sailed for sure. It looked like the fun was about to begin on this noisy ship. Dingys into the water, possibly to attack the ship. If one had thought the ship was noisy before, than it was juust amplified tenfold.

Now their were others boarding the ship and beginning conflict, no way was Buddy staying on this ship through the battle. He climbed the mast higher until he got to some ropes that were outstretched over the waters. If he could just grab hold of one that would loosen at the bottom of the mast he could swing over into one of the cannon windows on the pther ship. Even though the were closed he would still try.

He jumped from the wooden frame and onto a rope, he slid down it a ways as it loosened at the bottom, now he was swinging through the air and at the enemy ship. The wind whipped past his face and one of the closed windows was nearing. It was inevitable, he was going to crash. And he did. The wooden frame broke under the propelled force of Buddy Holly, and he quickly recovered on the other side of a cannon. He looked in the barrel and saw it ready to fire, perfect. He wasn't overly strong, but he managed to aim the cannon at the deck of the ship. Now he just needed something to fire it.

A group of pirates rushed in with torches, they immediatley noticed the unfriendly pirate on their large ship and charged him. "Thank you, I'll take those." Buddy mocked as he made short work of the pirates. They had managed to cut Buddy's body and limbs before becoming unconcious, now Buddy was sore all over. But he had an advantage here. He lit the fuse to the first cannon and watched it go up through the deck, killing several men that were attempting to board the Hunter III. "I hope I get a bigger share for this." Buddy gloated to himself as he readied another cannon. It fired, but it was not locked down, it rammed into Buddy and knocked him from it's window. Once again wood shattered at the impace that was Buddy Holly.

He desperatley grasped for the hole in the ship but cut his hand and fell down into a dingy that was sent from the Hunter III to try and covertly attack the giant enemy ship. Unfortunatley it failed and Buddy ended up floating in the water. Alive, but hurt and sore nonetheless. As he lay in the watter he could see a black spot coming down at him. From what he could tell it was round, and looked heavy. It came down beside him and the splash (for some unknown reason) knocked Buddy back to the Hunter III. Now he was as sore as he had ever been, and all he could think about was that the black circle must have been the first cannonball.

A boot stepped on his stomach and somebody dragged him away from the fighting. Buddy was in too much pain to see who it was, but he slurred a thanks to whoever it was before falling into complete unconciousness. Nobody was really going to believe that Buddy fired two cannons at the enemy from their own ship, they were just going to think that he got knocked out and had a vivid dream, no matter how much detail he explains it in.

[Hope you don’t mind peoplez! :o]

Raging water crashed up the Hunter’s hull, sending it into a frenzy of swaying and jeering. The shipmen were sent back and forth in unison, the crewmates to intoxicated too know what the hell was going on. Among those many men was a red-haired dwarf, who swayed around the ship wearily as he swung around his ale. The dwarf was intoxicated beyond belief; he could barely move properly without stumbling and tripping over.

He held his mace firmly on his side as he staggered around, slurring out warcrys at the opposition as they swung over on grappling hooks attached to ropes. Steel clashed with steel as the two ships fought; well, it was more of an all-out brawl really. The old dwarf swayed around in the wind, throwing his mace around like a wild-man. The two ships could only identify each other by the color of their bands.

Yet it did not really matter, most of the Hunter’s crew was too drunk to care, killing crew mates without remorse. The dwarf had some sense of control; he had only felled two or three crew mates, which was nothing compared to the amount the rest had slain without knowing.

Suddenly a steel claymore was flung high over the dwarfs head; blocked only temporarily by Forgos mace. The attacker let off a small scream as the mace met its crotch, knocking him on his back. “Right then,” The dwarf muttered; throwing his mace down upon the enemies head. Many more opponents fell to the dwarves mace; feeling the spiky end of the large weapon.

“Die!” The dwarf roared, throwing his entire body onto an unconscious enemy. The enemy suddenly woke up as the dwarves body met their head, their head flailed over and not another word was heard.

(Sorry for length)

[To prevent this from dying..]

Reinaka moved swiftly around the Hunter III, narrowly avoiding the incoming projectiles; both magic and muscle. The shape shifter simply could not escape this battle; everywhere he went he was nearly struck down by enemy fire. The corpses of both ships were scattered over the top deck of the Hunter, staining its wooden floors crimson. It was a true shame the men had intoxicated themselves; now they stood no chance against the opposition. Yet Reinaka was intent on winning this battle and reaching the shore, so that he could find the treasure himself. In fact, when he thought it over; the rest of the men being drunk was a good thing. Because they were drunk, most of them were felling to the enemies blades; and as Reinaka had thought this entire voyage, the less men there were, the richer he would become.

”Need to go..” He murmured under his heavy breath as he neared the side of the ship, covering his eyes to peer out at the men who had left on dinghy’s. They rowed fast as they possibly could, the oars splintering as they were pulled back against the side of the dinghy. These men were lucky enough to flee the Hunter III, which had now been set ablaze by fire magic. Now even more havoc wreaked on deck, the once battling men were freaking out, running around in a frenzy to escape the burning ship. Some even went as far as jumping over board. ”Not happening, damn..” The shifter whispered as he tried to remain calm, trying to think what he could do.

The boat jeered from side to side, sending the flames to go into a frenzy; as if they were dancing. The entire restaurant (middle deck) had been burnt down, and now the fire was progressing up the stairs; towards the top deck. Reinaka moved violently around the deck, his boots hitting the wooden deck with a thud. His cloak fluttered around in the wind behind him, revealing the many weapons and equipment that was strapped to his person. If he died here, then he would lose everything he ever worked for; and he would never find this treasure. But he would not give up here, he would escape this wretched ship.

Blazing projectiles shot from the opposing ship, ripping off large chunks of wood and steel as they zipped by. ”Magic-casters yes?” The shifter thought, fiddling with a small pendant that was in his hands. Two fully cloaked pirates ran by, golden bandanas wrapped tightly around their biceps. The two did not seem to notice the shifter as he chanted an incarnation, instead they just kept running past, spitting and cursing with a grimacing smile covering their dark faces.

”Estenéli, charnaséa..

Where a normal human once stood, was a Snow wolf, its yellow teeth gleaming in the little sunlight. Its sharp claws dug deep into the wooden floor below, ripping it apart like paper. Its yellow pupils showed no emotion whatsoever; yet its emotion could be told by the dark look on its fur-bound face. The cloak men were now burdened with two fates; by fire or fang.

”What’s it going to be?” The shifter asked, though it just came out in a long, slow, drawl; which was more like a growl.

It got the men’s attention though, stopping them dead in their tracks. The shifter knew he would have to be careful shifting on the boat. No, he’d have to be extremely careful. Alls that the shipmates could identify each other by were crimson cloth, wrapped around their head and arm. And when Reinaka would change; especially into the form of a wolf, the bandana would sink into his coarse fur, hidden away in its shadow. And on top of that, it was not an everyday occurrence to see a wolf on a ship.

Now the men stood there in awe, their grin faded behind their dark features. They drew scimitars from their sides, one ran his finger along the edge of the blade to showcase its sharpness. And then the ship jeered sideways, the shape shifter was plunged into the water; his lungs filling up in a matter of seconds. The wolf tossed itself around under the water, trying to reach the surface and regain air.

Wet fur burdened him and weighed him down, pulling him further towards the depths of the ocean. Bodies surrounded him, both living and dead. He could just feel life slipping between his fingers as he sunk, an array of bubbles emerging from his mouth. The men and women around him were suffering the same fate, though some stayed afloat. ”The less men, the richer I become..” The shifter thought, trying to preach an Incarnation, though it only appeared as if he was miming something.

”It’s not going to..” The wolfs fur ripped apart, covering the water in damp hair. Where its sharp teeth once were, now rows; even sharper then before. The damp fur that burdened him had become a rubbery skin, a fluorescent blue. Now the shifter was a shark; something that could live and breathe under the water.

And so began the long swim to the shores of Haudhiaur Island.

[I'm now leavin' this topic, as Reinaka no longer exists (character change.) Have fun everyone else!]