Burning Seas

[Poker]

If Poker had been in any other state of mind, he would have noticed the natural beauty around him. The cold horror brought by the stone had passed, and the warmth on his skin would have felt as light and beautiful as a woman's touch. The wind through his hair would have soothed him, and whispered secrets and giggled in his ear. The sea waves and spray of the oceans would have sprinkled across his skin, giving his parched skin something to drink. But Poker did not notice it. None of it mattered; it was one of the most important moments in his life and the world around him was broken to him when the world so close to him was falling apart.

Maccenna had glared at him with such a fury. It was even worse than when she had glared at him in the park. God, it seemed so long ago. Like a dream of a life long passed, only a dream that could never actually be reached. As soon as she looked at him like that, Poker felt his heart shatter within him, and for a second, just a second, he felt true regret and guilt for what he had done. But Poker could not look at the ground, not this time. He had to look her in the eye, he owed her that much. He had never spoken to anyone about his growing intentions to kill Khalora. Not even Maccenna, despite the fact she was so close to him, Poker was still not a divulging person, and rarely opened up to her. Poker thought leaving Teer for the Isla de Meuna would give him time to think through his murderous mind, but instead he saw that Khalora was leading the Pirates to another war, and his blind fury had clouded whatever had been in his mind that could have lent the other way.

Poker wanted to say something to Maccenna, to break her silence, but he could find nothing. Apologise? It would be a dishonest apology. Poker would never be sorry for killing Khalora. Maccenna would be able to tell that, he thought in any case. He couldn't apologise, words never mattered. So instead, he turned away from Maccenna. Not in submission to her anger at him, or what he took for anger, but in dismissal. There was nothing left for him to say unless she spoke first to him. He doubted that would happen. They both needed to think now.

Instead, Poker turned around, bound hand and foot in ropes that burnt into his arms to the Pirates. They would blister, how tight were they tied, but Poker didn't care about his physical pain anymore. Poker looked directly at Geddo, and the war-ravaged Pirates around him. In Poker's eyes there was no trace of fear, and whatever regret he had felt a moment ago was gone. He was standing, still as stone, straight as a sword, cold as the ice they had just escaped and as bold as if he himself was royalty.

Archer, having been bound too by Pirates who had noticed his anger at seeing his companion being man-handled by Geddo, lay now on the ground with his four legs tied together. The dog was not making a sound, but Poker could see the hairs along his back raised, and he looked unflinchingly at the Pirates around him with a hate in his eyes that was even worse than when Poker had looked at Khalora. Sometimes Poker though Archer was capable of intelligence far greater than humans, and perhaps emotions as well. Now was one such time. The dog radiated such anger, hate and disapproval that he could well have mistaken him for a human, despite all physical appearances.

"What will you have of me?" Poker asked, raising his voice loud against the world around him, even though everything seemed to be silent. Even the water had stopped its noise to hear him speak his last rights. "Pirates, I stand before you now, a prisoner of my own kind. A captive. Call me what you want, a backstabber, a traitor. But you yourselves are the traitors for alligning with Southerners. I don't care anymore. If you want me dead, kill me then, and get it over with. I'm not going to wait anymore."

[Jarad]

Geddo sighed, he walked over first to the dog, he gently petted the dog's fur, then he cut the ropes that bound its legs. "A dog should not be tied up for something it thinks is right. Such is true for us pirates as well. For, who are we but those who have cut throats and stabbed people in the back. It is expected by mankind for us to do what has happened." He said to the other pirates. He cut the bonds that bound Poker. "I can not kill you for your deed, for if I do, will I no better then the navy? No, so I will let your punishment be what the pirates think is right, but to me, you are as free as the birds that fly." He said to him.

Geddo knew fully well that if he was to kill Poker, it would mean that a lot of the pirates would be displeased with his actions. So, instead he let the punishment be what the pirates belive true. "Your punishment is what the pirates believe is just. That, and the reaction of those who love you. Wheather it be as a friend, or a lover. Your punishment, is not for me to choose." He said to Poker. He sheathed the knife he used to cut the ropes that help Archer, and then he sheathed the sword that he used to cut Poker's bonds. "You are free to go. Let fate's cool wind guide you." He said to Poker. He then walked below deck and left Poker to what other pirates would do to him.

[Nau'ren]

((Gah, i missed so much cos Nau'ren was like by herself, sorry if my RPing is not going with the flow.. I'm just not up to reading 7 pages right now))

Nau'ren glanced back to her ships. They were the sea riders. The ocean belonged to them at heart and Nau'ren wasn't just going to let anyone invade in her waters. She was in a bad spot for seeing what was going on. Splinters rained down from the heavens as a dirty present from the gods. She covered her eyes with splintered and cut hands, torn gloves slacking off their duty to protect her.

She caught a glimpse of ominous clouds, portending a storm. Great, that's just what they needed. Nau'ren thought sarcastically in her mind. A storm brewed up in her thoughts as well; what was going on anymore? The past hour has blown up in her face with events. Nau'ren wasn't doing her job to follow the events through out this battle. Or maybe it was because no one else was doing their job in informing her. Now that Nau'ren thought about it, there was no one in the navy she could really trust anymore. She hadn't seen her Royal Guard, Henry, for a while now. Where are you? she asked the world, hoping the answer would come to her before the insidious clouds reached them. But then again, the navy was here at her side. I guess I can't ask more from them now..

The waters below her feet swirled, throwing a tantrum of holding too many ships upon her back. The Sea's anger lashed out as the skies touched the waters, chaos breaking through. The wind picked up, piping through the sails of her ships. Flag colors rampaged through a war themselves; all the colors clashing with one another. Their ships doing so as well, wood striking wood.

Nau'ren just shook her head and thought: What do they all want? she asked, wondering about her 'enemies', Is it just power? Are these greedy people really going to kill for dirt or slash for authority? I guess that's how the world will run unless I don't do anything.. or anyone else does- BOOM!

Nau'ren's eyes stroked the light for one last moment before darkness surrounded her. The mast of her ship blocked the sun that was fighting it's own battle with the clouds. The enormous wooden mast fell into gravity's hands, crunching to meet the ship's heart. Nau'ren screamed in pain, sound no longer entered her ears. She felt her legs twinge with pain as she was sucked underneath the deck. Everything happened so quickly, her eyes couldn't follow and had to close. Faint screams from her men followed the roar of her ship.

The mast had crashed through the deck and cut the ship through the center. Nau'ren had been unfortunate and stood right in it's path. She couldn't calculate what had saved her, but she assumed it had been an instinct to jump away and she had followed it.

However, some of the wood had been popped out of place and grabbed her ankles with a splintery grasp. Water splattered upon her face, cold to the touch. Nau'ren groaned in horror as her eyes greeted the gory scene of her legs crushed underneath the wood. They were bent akwardly, spilling out blood from gashes. Wood pierced her skin that grey pallid every second, blood bright red against the fading color. Her pants were torn everywhere now, her skin revealed in a bloody mess.

There was no light, but she could see the mast covering her feet. Her legs were propped over a barrel but twisted in a mess of wood from the deck. Water struck through the holes that opened up every second. Nau'ren felt her dry throat supply words but she couldn't hear them, they were muffled in the groan of the ship.

Her lungs couldn't bear the heat as she gasped for air. The wood released dust into the air, burning her throat and eyes. She snapped them shut again, they were no use right now. Her arms were free but pounded with pain as well. She groped for anything, anything.

Her fingers grasped something colder than the icy water. Pieces of it flaked off into the pit of wood and debrit and below it.. water; what was it? Nau'ren grasped it with her beat up hand and tried to pull it from whever it was stuck.

((ooc:U'll have to wait to find out.. haha I'll just have ta have fun with myself if no one'll rly RP with her))

[Henry]

Henry's had been uncounscious on the ship of the Ice warriors for the entire fight. Luckily one of his fellow crew mates had found him and managed to pull him onto a navial ship. Henry opened his eyes and felt a hand slap his face, [collor=red]"Admiral Henry, wake up! We need your help."[/color] Henry tried to get up, but a pang of pain stopped him for a moment. Thats when he knew he had broken a rib or two. He moaned and finally stood up. Henry looked at his surroundings, dark ominous, evil. A storm was upon them.
"Where is the Nau'ren?" He asked the man who woke him up.
"Who?" The man asked Henry.
" The Supreme Lady! Where is she?" He asked the man, Henry was angry now and hoped that Nau'ren wasn't hurt.
"Thats the thing, we can't find her. The mast of our ship fell and she was right under it. I believe her to be dea-" Henry struck the man.
"DON'T SAY THAT!" Henry yelled. He ran over to the ship that Nau'ren was on and found almost a large ship of wooden rubble. He went below deck and started to remove rubble as quickly as he could.
"NAU'REN! Wake up! Please don't be dead! The navy need you. We need you!"
After 10 minutes of searching, he finnally found Nau'ren.
"Oh my god. Nau'ren. Please be alive. He said to her. NOt being able to see much in the dim light.

[Kristen]

(ooc:I hope there's no posting order, tehe)

The water was slowly rising above her ankles. If the loss of blood doesn't take her life first, the ruthless waters would. The Sea's cold fingers groped for her legs, faster than Nau'ren did for whatever she was holding onto.

Her ears opened back up to the world of sound, tuned back into reality. The glug of water emerging from the depths of the ocean invaded her world of sound, but other noises could be heard ;screams of the last breaths some of her men would take, orders yelled out to abandon ship, and the voice of... "Henry!" she shrieked, but again couldn't hear her own voice, it was drowned out by wood snapping into smaller pieces as the Sea took them under. Nau'ren's and whoever else upon this ships' fate was about to be carried out sooner than she thought. The water slowly climbing up her legs and the mast, she shuddered at what fate good soon fall upon her.

But there was no time to swim in her fears, she had to get out of here and anyone else she could get her hands on. Thank God Henry is here, she thought, remembering his voice only a moment ago. Then a thought struck her...

"No Henry! Get as many men as you can find and get out of here alive! My fate lies in the sea's palms now! We mustn't anger her even more by letting lose her waters in the Southerners' or anyone elses' control!" She yelled, this time her voice audible to her ears. But she didn't know what she was talking about. Nau'ren wanted to live more than evertyhing. She wanted to taste sweet victory in a celebration, alive. Maybe it was just her leadership abilities that spoke for her. Maybe she was a true leader to have said her men's lives are more valuable at this point.

Nau'ren groaned as the barrel her legs were fixed over rose in the hightening waters. Her legs crunched to the bone as the mast refused to let the barrel lift it up. Nau'ren finally loosened whatever was in her hand and she brought it in front of her face. It was some sort of pipe. Where its' home use to be, she did not care, all nau'ren knew was if this pipe wasn't weak it could jab her legs out, or what she feared more, cut her legs out.

[Henry]

Henry climbed down to get closer to Nau'ren. "I will not leave you." HE said to her. He came down and saw the pipe. He grabbed her hands and started to try and pull her out of the wedge she was in. He wasn't able to pull her out, so he went to where she was stuck and grabbed the wood and, after getting as much levrage as he could, He pushed up and tried to get her unstuck from where she was. "Go! Quickly, you are more importent then me. I will get out, I promise." HE said to Nau'ren, hoping that she had gotten out of the broken ship.

[Nau'ren]

ooc: Gah! sorry, I accidentily posted with Morwen -_-


Nau'ren gave a faded laugh that was framed by her slowly paling lips. Her face looked pallid, as if she had seen a ghost. Her eyes slowly followed down to her legs, blood free;y dripping from her flesh. Nau'ren could have sworn she heard her blood cry for freedom as it was finally released from her body, splinters holidng the "door to freedom" open.

Nau'ren grimaced at the pain and bit her lip, trying to assuage her fears of being amputated. But there was no other way Nua'ren wanted to die than to slip into her true home, the Sea herself. If dead at sea, it was told one would be welcomed to the great god's that rule her. She would eat at the table of the ocean and join all the other nobles that gave their life honorably for their alliance.

The mast was too heavy for Henry to lift by himself. No man, or woman, could lift up such a weight and live to tell about it. Nau'ren shook her head. "No, your wasting your energy, Henry!" When it struck her that he was loyal to her, she said something she knew was regretable, but would save his life. "Guide the damn army to the victory I have been waiting to give to the sea! Henry," she said, quieter now and grabbed his leg, drawing him close to her, "do it for the Navy, not me," she said, faiding away and continued, shaking her head, "Not me..."

[Nau'ren]

[ooc:Apparently this thread has come to a stop event though I had something planned. So that this doesn't count as one of Nau'ren's places (even though I don't think a war counts) then I'll just end this now]

The very sea boiled with the pulses of the earth and the remaining soldiers' beating hearts. Their memories tagged along behind the repetitive "song", if that's what it must be called. War had, once again, stole away the lives of many, the hopes for futures, the loves of earth's simple human beings.

War had scorched the seas with it's burning flames that licked any hopes anyone ever had dry. Ominous battles click closely behind this wars heels, clawing at any chance it has, hoping to catch a piece of flesh on the tips of its claws. Its shadow extends across the vast ocean, approaching anyone, whether they are prepared for death or not.

War has resulted in what forms now. Whether it be new allies or enemies, the outcome is nebulous. The seas suck clean the lost bodies and pull them to its depths. The souls will never be seen again nor enjoyed in person, but their memories still remain and will be passed on from generation to generation. As war tugs at hope's greeting to the world, more deaths take place. But even such a destruction cannot keep the world from spinning, the seas from rising, the skies from breathing. No such thing will ever stop such beauty, the beauty that adorns life. The fact remains that those who acknowledge life's beauty may have more of a chance of witnessing it's powers longer. Or has fate's power taken over with demanding? So many good people now float beneath the crashing waves, their trust still in their alliances, and their hopes still in the lands.

The ensuing battles will continue to thrive. They will imbibe the warriors' strength like drinking water. They will read their plans like pages in a book. They will step in their path for centuries to come, like a fallen tree in the forest. But hope remains and forever will. No boiling sea or flaming arrow can permeate such a feat, nor shall it ever.

* * *

Nau'ren had persuaded death to let her live longer. Or had it taken pity? She now lives, confused as ever. Had anyone won? No. Have new allies been made? No. Has peace been drawn? No.

Emotions weigh upon the warrior's shoulders, their beating pulse catching up with the world's. Questions can be asked, but are their given answers true? Nothing can be portended, but some can continue to believe so. Will Nau'ren be one to believe? Believe in her people, her lands, herself? It remains unanswered and will until death can no longer be persuaded.

Scarred not only with slices, bruises, and splinters, but emotions, memories, and futures. These terrorizing conclusions can haunt a soul forever, as it is destined for Nau'ren, but their pains can be assuaged if met by the right greeting. The heaven's may continue to offer when death appears merciless, but it can do nothing to prevent such a fate, that will meet all, from happening.

A soul may be released when a body dies, but it's shadow remains. The memories of the very warrior will forever be whispered in the grass and will gallop through the fields. Languages will tell the stories of the fine warriors that roamed.

A warrior is not made up from armor, weapons, and training, but of passion, love, and hope. A simple peasant is a warrior, fighting through life as long as they have their head up. But these stories can never match up to the reality of the Day. The day of this war, the war that thundered through the sea and the minds of those who were captivated by its presence. Those who are left will forever fight the battle of life, and will forever strike the battle that the simple figures, the complicated human beings, have brought upon themselves. In truth, the war will never end, but violence can be buttoned down momentarily by those who wish for it to falter. This war has left bloody bodies in its wake and mourners as well. But the story is told, with effort to walk through the exact steps that were taken through the battle. But the muddy trail is vague. And forever will be. It's the present that leads the clear one.

A storm is here.