Raven's Revenge

[Therin]

The First Mate raised an eyebrow. "All the better. Lads," he said, nodding to the two sailors closest to him, "Heave away."

One grabbed each arm, and, together, with Mr. Starbuckle marching in front, they dragged, Rayne across the deck, and manhandled him up the ladders to the raised aft deck of the ship. Captain DeVonne was waiting.

"I do not take kindly to stowaways aboard my ship. What is your name?" It wasn't a question, so much as a command.

[Azurel]

Rayne rolled over such that he was on his back and had an upside-down view of the captain.

"You let me on your ship yourself, Captain, and the name is Dantrel. At the time, I believe you met me as a woman."

[Therin]

"Then you boarded my ship by way of deception. You're a stowaway. Do you know what the common punishment for stowaways is? We throw them overboard. With nothing. What can you give me to keep me from doing that to you?"

[Azurel]

"It seems you have me at a disatvantage, Captain. Once I recover, my magic will allow me to do ten times the work of any man in your crew, I'll also be able to push the ship on windless days as if the gods themselves were pushing a toy boat in their bathtub."

Rayne strained to sit up once again, this time with less pain.

"It will not take me long to recover, I will be active at the end of the day."

[Therin]

"And what would you have me tell my crew? That they are to be replaced by a lone man? You underestimate the power of a sailor's superstition, Dantrel. You'll have to think of something else."

[Azurel]

"You need not tell your crew a thing, save for 'Allow him to work with you.' So long as it is an order from you, your men should obey like the dogs they are. If they have a personal problem with me being an addition to the crew, let them come to me, and we'll see how easily that conflict is resolved. As for my earlier statement, Captain, it is not as if I must do the work of ten men, I was just stating that it is well within my range of abilities."

The pain was slowly ebbing, allbeit by the loss of feeling.

[Therin]

"And I would have to have someone watch you every hour of every day. We do not trust stowaways, Mr. Dantrel. And you do not know the workings of a ship's crew well at all if you think I could just plop someone in among them and expect them to just work around it. They are my men, yes, but they are their own men first."

Suddenly, Rayne felt a hand fall on his shoulder. "He has my protection, Captain. Any man who touches him will die."

DeVonne glared at Raven. "You let stowaways aboard my ship, southerner?"

"Calm yourself, Captain. I will keep him occupied." He grinned wolfishly down at Rayne.

[Azurel]

"I will not be watched by some winged boy," Rayne said, sliding to his left so that the hand fell to Raven's side. "I will stay on this boat until I am rested enough to carry myself to what a place that has magical energies consistent with a city. I will be among the shadows and out of the way of your crew."

Rayne had been leaning against the railing of the raised deck. The sun was helpful enough to cast a shadow of the railing onto the ground in front of it. With Rayne's final words, he dissapeared into the shadows.

[Therin]

DeVonne glared at Raven. "You know him. Who is he?"

"He is my enemy..." Raven said, frowning, "But he is also the enemy of my father. You remember the wars which quarantined the Western Continent until seven years ago? By and large, they were his doing."

"AND YOU LET HIM ON MY SHIP!?"

"Relax, Captain, you are seeing him at far from his full abilities. And if you'll recall, it was you who let him on your ship. Not me. I let myself on, and no one else."

"Keep an eye on him, Southerner. A very, very watchful eye. If he pulls some trickery, you have as much to lose as the rest of us."

"Oh, I intend to Captain, you need have no worry of that." Raven turned, descended the ladder, and strode back toward the bow of the ship, speaking under his breath, "He has much that he can teach me about the shadows..."

[Zzyxx]

OOC: Hey, My Character knows a great deal about the shadows also, could i write him in? Or is it to late?