Neige hopped in place, scattering a flurry of flakes around her in her movement, of which quickly dissipated in the hot air of the hallway outside the boiler room. She couldn't help but get excited when Nich offered another option of bringing Nathaniel's creation to 'life'. Besides, she never really explored the prisoner hold before. It's probably a great place to pull off some of those ice-bucket pranks. No one would expect it down there! She grinned at Lysander and James, "Well… what are we waiting for?"
After the small interaction between the two men, Li lifted a hand, patting Benji's shoulder in mock consolation. She exhaled a small puff of air through her nose, an amused sound. "That makes sense. I hadn't realized that large places full of different hallways were a problem for people, direction-wise." Li's scowl deepened for a moment, before she snapped her fingers. "Next time you're exploring, see if you can find me. I'll show you around. Certain places aren't under much jurisdiction, meaning free reign."
Amira was tired. Insanely so, to the point that her own body threatened to shut down every time she didn't have anything to do. If she wasn't talking, her eyelids were falling. If she wasn't moving, her mind went blank, longing for a nightmare-less sleep. That wasn't possible though, so she was stuck searching for things to do.
While moving about her ship, stopping by every open door and talking to any of the crew she passed, the captain nearly missed the strange person moving in the direction she had come. It took her a second to compute what she had seen. Once she had, though, she turned, head tilted in confusion and curiosity, hand moving to the hilt of her sword to rest there. "Excuse me, sir. Might I ask who you are? You certainly aren't a member of my crew, nor any of the prisoners."
James cooed happily, babbling to himself for a moment as he looked around at the older people around him. He squeaked a little bit, chewing contentedly on his fingers as he looked over at Neige with big, happy green eyes.
Neige hopped in place, scattering a flurry of flakes around her in her movement, of which quickly dissipated in the hot air of the hallway outside the boiler room. She couldn't help but get excited when Nich offered another option of bringing Nathaniel's creation to 'life'. Besides, she never really explored the prisoner hold before. It's probably a great place to pull off some of those ice-bucket pranks. No one would expect it down there! She grinned at Lysander and James, "Well… what are we waiting for?"
"Nothing! I'm not waiting–, er, let's go!" Lysander stammered. "So, um, which way to the hold?"
"What, you think I would know where the hold is?" Nich scoffed, feigning offense. "Take two lefts, go down the staircase, and go right."
"Thank you!" Lysander said again, and Nich shrugged.
"You kids have fun," he said, then pulled his goggles back over his eyes and went back to the engine room.
"C'mon!" Lysander nudged Neige's shoulder, then blushed. "Er, let's…let's go find the hold?"
Amira was tired. Insanely so, to the point that her own body threatened to shut down every time she didn't have anything to do. If she wasn't talking, her eyelids were falling. If she wasn't moving, her mind went blank, longing for a nightmare-less sleep. That wasn't possible though, so she was stuck searching for things to do.
While moving about her ship, stopping by every open door and talking to any of the crew she passed, the captain nearly missed the strange person moving in the direction she had come. It took her a second to compute what she had seen. Once she had, though, she turned, head tilted in confusion and curiosity, hand moving to the hilt of her sword to rest there. "Excuse me, sir. Might I ask who you are? You certainly aren't a member of my crew, nor any of the prisoners."
Exiting from his teleport, it was not long before Ark came into contact with yet another person. To be expected, given the ship he was on. Ark spent a few seconds catching his stamina back up before turning to meet Amira. His posture remained calm, though he held his guard, especially upon seeing how her hands moved to the hilt of her sword.
“Well,” he breathed out, “My name’s Ark. Just a little..stowaway, if you will. Seeing where the roads may take me.” He gave a brief wave.
Amira blinked, making a face as she eyed the stranger up and down. "A stowaway." She repeated, sounding just a little bit disbelieving of his claims of just being there. "And how did you get aboard this ship? Our last docking was a bit too long ago for anyone to just stay hidden, considering how nosy the children aboard are." It was one of the reasons she didn't bother hiring anyone to officially search for stowaways. If she was too concerned, a quick game of 'hide and seek' with the children would turn up any unwelcome visitors. The kids could find anyone on board, accidentally or on purpose.
After the small interaction between the two men, Li lifted a hand, patting Benji's shoulder in mock consolation. She exhaled a small puff of air through her nose, an amused sound. "That makes sense. I hadn't realized that large places full of different hallways were a problem for people, direction-wise." Li's scowl deepened for a moment, before she snapped her fingers. "Next time you're exploring, see if you can find me. I'll show you around. Certain places aren't under much jurisdiction, meaning free reign."
Benji slumped further into the wall, his tail coiling around him as he pouted even more. He knew Li was mocking him, and it irritated him, but he let it pass since it was Enkidu that he was mad at, not her. She was far more tolerable than the purebred even if she happened to be talking his ear off. It was a matter of principle, really. Enkidu smiled gratefully at the pirate girl. "I'd like that very much, thank you. Maybe then I wouldn't feel so invasive if you're with me." Benji muttered something under his breath that sounded an awfully lot like you're not that invasive, but he'd deny it to his death if Li ever questioned him about it.
Nathaniel eventually finished his food and was a lot more stable than before. He waved to Jax and headed out of the kitchen, going down a hall when he caught Amira's voice. "Miss Amira?" He called out, looking around nervously. "Are you okay? There was a strange man on… board…" He trailed off and froze when he saw Ark. "Y-You said you were leaving!" He pulled out his dagger and pointed it at Ark, his hands shaking like before.
He stopped his wave and held his hand in the air for a few more moments, remaining silent as he did so. After a while, he extended both hands out. “Well, just like I told the other ones, I teleported abroad. Simple enough.” He stated.
Ark’s eyes drifted around to meet the child from before. Again, he went silent. Then he gave a brief, quiet laugh. “Mm, I said I was leaving yes. I was leaving that location, weren’t I?” He notes the shake in his hands. With a wave of his hand, he adds, “No need to point that at me. I mean no threat.”
Jax followed behind Nathaniel after cleaning up the kitchen, only to be faced by Ark again. The girl stepped in front of the angel. "Get away from him," she growled, "Now. Do your teleporty-thing off our ship."
Amira arched a brow as Nathaniel came around the corner, looking between him and Ark before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sheath your weapon. I have the situation more than handled, you two." She assured him, as well as the newly arrived Jax, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze as she smiled slightly.
Then she turned to Ark, smile still in place. "You're scaring the children on board, I assume. If you are going to spend any time on my ship, I need you to be just a tad more respectful of the fact that they are young. Strangers aren't common on board, and they've been taught to be careful. Do you intend harm upon anyone on board?"
“Hmm,” Ark looked at all of them. “Well, I haven’t even done anything to scare anything them that I would know of. For what it’s worth, I’m not doing it on purpose. It just seems that my very presence tends to carry that sort of air.” He brings his hands back to his sides. Though he heard Jax, he did not respond, and instead went right to Amira’s question.
“For your information, no, I do not intend any harm.”
Nathaniel put his dagger away when instructed, but he didn't seem much reassured. He stuck close to Jax, his heart pounding in his throat. He eyed Ark warily and clung to Jax's arm, tears stinging his eyes again. He was always nervous when there were strangers on board, but this one wasn't even supposed to be here, which stressed him out even more.
"Then you have my official permission to stay on board, until the dinner bell sounds." Amira said, feeling slightly uneasy with her own allowance of this. She didn't know how powerful this man was, though. If he could teleport, who knew what else he was capable of. And with two children right here, and a crew to keep safe, she had to play her cards the best she could. "Should anything missing, or any of my crew be harmed, you will answer to me. Clear?" Keep quiet for just a moment, Jax.
“Alright. I’m happy we could come to a temporary conclusion to our situation here.” He gave a slight dip of the head, almost his way of saying ‘thanks.’
Upon hearing what came across as a warning to him, he noted it, and responded shortly after. “Understood,” Ark replied, scratching at his right shoulder with his left hand.
"Nothing! I'm not waiting–, er, let's go!" Lysander stammered. "So, um, which way to the hold?"
"What, you think I would know where the hold is?" Nich scoffed, feigning offense. "Take two lefts, go down the staircase, and go right."
"Thank you!" Lysander said again, and Nich shrugged.
"You kids have fun," he said, then pulled his goggles back over his eyes and went back to the engine room.
"C'mon!" Lysander nudged Neige's shoulder, then blushed. "Er, let's…let's go find the hold?"
"Yes… let's!" Neige playfully blew one of her breath clouds at Lysander in response before skipping down the hallway in the direction the mechanic said. "Nich… thank you!" she called over her shoulder. Once she disappeared around the first left, she slowed down for Lysander to catch up. Are all human boys like him at that age? Nathaniel isn't like him at all, and he's only a few years behind. Ah well… it's not like he's bad. Just… Neige became distracted as she fished for the right word.
Peregrine soon grew tired of training, and decided to continue wandering the ship, only to run into Neige and Lysander yet again.
"N-Neige," the swordswoman stammered, color spreading on to her face, "Wh-what are you doing down here, may-may I ask?"
"Oh? Hello Peregrine. I'm heading down… to the prisoner's hold with… Lysander and James. Nich… said that one of the prisoners… might be able to help wire the… cactus. Do you want to… come with us?" Neige said, ironically with a warm smile.
"Sure," Peregrine managed to regain her composure, her hand back at her side, resting on her sword's hilt. "I was just there any-anyways."
The young swordswoman still didn't know why she felt odd around Neige, but she concluded that the only way to figure it out was to spend more time with her.
"Do you perhaps enjoy combat of any sort?"
"Enjoy… combat?" Neige tilted her head, processing the question. "I mean… I don't normally fight. I just… rely on my magic most of the… time. Maybe I should learn how…" she noticed Peregrine's hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "Hey… if it's not too much to ask… you should teach me how to swordfight… one of these days," she slowed to a normal walking pace, still wanting to check out the prisoner's hold.
Peregrine nodded. "I shall, sometime. Although, I'm the only one who I allow to touch my sword. Unless, of course, they're getting a first-hand experience of the blade's sharpness." The corners of the swordswoman's mouth curved upwards momentarily.
"Many people rely on their magic," Peregrine added. "I believe that those who rely solely on their magic will see their downfall as soon as they are stripped of their powers. It happened to Azami's own brother, once, and he is no longer with us."
"Can I have a sword?" Lysander asked giddily. "If it's not too much trouble, of course. I just think they're neat."
He also didn't have the memory of seeing two people killed with a sword, and was therefore more comfortable using them.
"They trained me the basics of swordfighting when I was at the academy, but only for a few months. Then they had us use daggers, and…" he trailed off. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is probably boring." He shifted James on his shoulders so that the baby could get a better view of the girls.
"We may be able to find swords on board," Peregrine suggested. "If not, I can make training swords for you to use until we land somewhere again." The girl's gaze shifted to James. "How old is the boy? Perhaps he could learn, too."
James cooed when he saw the girls, babbling at them and waving a little fist, smiling happily. He squirmed a little bit, kicking his feet for a moment.
(Sigh my replies usually aren't this short but he's a literal fucking baby, there isn't much for me to do)
"Oh, he's only two," Lysander replied. "I don't think he should have anything sharp. Not that that's stopped him from trying to get the cactus."
He wondered if he was making a mistake with the cactus. Maybe the sharp, pointy metal item shouldn't be wired up.
