forum the Glittering Sea (closed group rp, 6/6)

Started January 11, 2023 by Deleted user

tune

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(sorry it's so short)

"NO!" Tao shouted then checked himself, his heart was racing and he could feel himself trembling. "no. please." he stood up slowly, his wings not moving from their protective casing around him. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He failed and started hyperventilating instead. Tao felt hollow, the air he was breathing in rattling inside him. he closed his eyes and shivered.

Tao moved from around behind the barrel until he was standing directly in front of the man. "please, just don't hurt me." He knelt down at the feet of the man, folded back his wings and held out his hands. He was now completely exposed and in the mercy of the man.

"I will do anything you ask." Tao was crying lightly by now, the tears moistening the collar of his shirt. "Just Please."

Myriil's lips drew into a hard line, he hated this. He hated the way it made him felt, but he couldn't budge now, he'd made his decision the moment he'd sent his creature upstairs. Leaf green eyes watched the child panic, gods he couldn't have been more than nine or ten, no older than his second youngest sibling. He hadn't even been home for the birth of the youngest. Only knew their name through snippets of news.

The child knelt slowly, holding out their hands in a begging motion, something twisted in his gut. He'd seen desperation before, had seen it on grown men's faces and on the expressions of those completely without hope, you grew used to it, sort of. The reasons stopped mattering after a while. But to see the expression on someone so young-

And then then the tears started.

It was always his weakness, big crocodile tears. His younger siblings could get him to do just about anything when he still lived back at home by starting the waterworks, the sound of a sniffle and he was already on whatever task they'd asked of him. Myriil's paper thin resolve crumbled immediately, his eyes widening. He held out his hands and shook his head desperately, making a shushing noise.

"Hey- Hey no need for that!" His eyes flew around the room, what was he supposed to do now? He couldn't hide the kid again could he? Where was that fat little- The tiny pressure of a consciousness under his command was nearby. So close he could feel the mouses mind brush against his own, its will too feeble to offer much in the way of opposition. Whoever was with it was here. Fuck.

Myriil took a massive breath in, lowering his voice. With any luck it was just some inebriated sailor, following what he thought was a fever dream. This could still be played to Tao's advantage if they were very, very careful.

"Hey- Kid, listen to me. Please stop crying. Oh gods. You're gonna be fine. No ones going to hurt you, we just need to play this safe- We'll get you a job or something, drop you off at the next port, stow away on a not pirate ship or I don't know!" The torrent of words poured from his mouth, even in a half whisper the wood elf could still speak quickly. He was willing to say anything to make the child just stop. crying. Any sense of resolve dissolve, his hands went off the dagger and he was running his hand anxiously through his hair. He'd made a mess of things hadn't he?

(Sorry I'm late!)

Tao cried silently. The tears leaving trails on his dust covered face. He knew he had to stop crying, he didn't want the man's pity, right? Or was that the way he needed to play things. His entire life up until this point has taught him to manipulate and play his cards anyway that would make living easier.

He bit his lip and trembled slightly, more tears falling from his eyes. He moved his hands and held them up so that the man could tie them up or hold them easily. To gain this man's trust he needed to be as vulnerable as he could and if that meant giving into this man's every whim, Tao was going to give in.

Tao looked up into the man's green eyes and the soul beneath. There was power in his eyes, sure, but the man was obviously not a fan of responsibility. Maybe he could play off that.

"Hey- Hey no need for that!" The man said with no small amount of nervousness.

Tao blinked and looked down at the ground, dropping his hands into his lap as he did so. He was trying to hear who or what was coming down the stairs. Maybe it was just the mouse alone again. No, the man had told it not to come back until it had someone to bring with it.

"Hey- Kid, listen to me. Please stop crying. Oh gods. You're gonna be fine. No one's going to hurt you, we just need to play this safe- We'll get you a job or something, drop you off at the next port, stow away on a not pirate ship or I don't know!" Tao looked back up at him and bit his lip, trying to calm the tears streaming down his cheeks. HE held up his hands again, obviously confused as to why the man hadn't tied or grabed them yet.

Watching the confusion on the child's face made Myriil's skin crawl. Like he was waiting for him to do something. In this moment, Myriil wasn't here, in the dingy hold in a ship bobbing in the middle of the ocean, but home. In the massive tree cities of Valenwood, crouched down in a courtyard wiping one of the twins faces.

Reci been playing outside when he'd fallen, skinning one of his knees and covering his face and fair hair in dirt. Myriil could remember laughing at the display, amused by the tumble. Until the little face went up and he could see the stinging tears gathering in hordes around his eyes and suddenly he was there with him. Wiped his brothers eyes and waited for the tentative smile before he'd cuffed his ear and grinned. Teasing him all while ripping off a sleeve to bandage the knee. Reci hadn't lived that down, he was barely a teen now and Myriil still mentioned it every time he went home. Drove the kid crazy, and his twin was no help.

Then he blinked and he was back. Myriil bit down on his lower lip, thinking hard. He'd messed this up bad. He did almost anything to shirk responsibility, to make things easier for himself. Look what that had gotten him. A crying child.

Tao raised his hands again, expectantly. Myriil blinked in confusion, trying to understand. He looked at the raised hands and then picked up the discarded paper bird from the ground, one of its wings was crushed and even more of the charcoal smudged onto his fingers. He pressed it gently into the kids hands, closing his fingers around it. Was that it? It was surprisingly easy to crush the voice that told him it obviously wasn't.

Some things were easier not to imagine.

He listened again for sounds, then sighed very softly, his breath moving some of the gold colored hair that had fallen free of its ponytail. He pushed it irritably out of his face. He crouched, trying to make eye contact with Tao and barely managing. The clean streaks on the kids face kept growing and Myriil felt irrationally angry. He wanted to shout at him, shake him until he stopped crying. Just anything to stop the tears. The anger vanished in a puff just as quickly as it came.

"I can't promise you'll be safe- But this is a much better bet than rotting in here until someone else found you." The door opened a crack more and Myriil hissed his last words, before springing up again. "Just stay calm and play along if you have to-"
Myriil put his third best smile on, the one that was slightly too wide, just a bit too sly, as he faced the door.

Reci been playing outside when he'd fallen, skinning one of his knees and covering his face and fair hair in dirt. Myriil could remember laughing at the display, amused by the tumble. Until the little face went up and he could see the stinging tears gathering in hordes around his eyes and suddenly he was there with him. Wiped his brothers eyes and waited for the tentative smile before he'd cuffed his ear and grinned. Teasing him all while ripping off a sleeve to bandage the knee. Reci hadn't lived that down, he was barely a teen now and Myriil still mentioned it every time he went home. Drove the kid crazy, and his twin was no help.

(LORE?!)

(LORE?!)

(Third eldest of eleven kids lol. :D )

(My writing sample lol; I hope this works!)

Tresca stumbled along the cliff face carefully, doing her best not to look down, following a very thin line of rock that at times was thin enough to send her toppling and straight to Scalina and her infinite realms under the earth.

She looked at the cliffs stretching above her and shuddered, thinking that she was lucky she's even made it this far down the cliff without - many - incidents. At one point one of her feet slipped, nearly sending her to the bottom of the chasm.

Another time she placed her hand against the rock face to brace herself; the rock crumbled to dust beneath her touch and she nearly fell again, but that time towards the cliff face.

So, when she finally does slip and fall off the edge, all she can say is, "Well, third time's the charm" before plummeting down, down, down.

What feels like hours later: she's still falling. She can hear something like water now, or maybe it's just a new tone to the wind that had been tearing at her with greedy hands.

But sure enough, with a FLOOM and a resounding BOOM in her ears, she hits the water and sinks.

She fights her way to the surface, her Fae carapace now gone - dispelled by the shock of hitting the water. Now, she was a frail, thin creature, with strange features. Her wings were tiny and withering, compared to the regal and imperious illusions she wears daily.

She sighs softly and lays down on the black sand shores of the river to rest.

Thalia nudged the door open with her pistol. She was met with Myriil, who was smiling a little unnaturally. She didn't know anyone else on the ship with any animal-related abilities (other than Blaze, she was pretty sure he was a shifter). But before she could ask him about it, she noticed the winged child.

Her grip around the pistol tightened until her knuckles were white. She opened her mouth to say something. "Ish-" The woman corrected her slurring, again. "Is that a kid?" The hand that held the gun was raised to loosely motion to Tao as if it wasn't obvious who she was talking about. The child(?) looked frightened. Thalia wasn't paying enough attention to fully grasp the context, with her glazed eyes trying to focus on one thing in the semi-darkness of the hold.

"Why issit here?" Whitlock asked. Later, many more questions would surface, but while she was inebriated, it was too difficult to stick to one thought. She wasn't looking forward to dealing with this that night, and certainly not the next day. She couldn't decide whether it was appropriate to aim for the thing, or if she should wait for answers. Irritated by her confusion, she glared at the wood elf, impatient for a reply.

Reia barged in through the door after Thalia, and while she was much less intoxicated than her Captain was, she was just as confused and shocked. She knew that the animal had most likely been sent by someone, but the last thing she would’ve expected was for it to lead her to a child hiding in the lower deck.

“Gods, Captain. Lower your gun,” Reia said. “With how intoxicated you are, you’ll probably shoot someone’s eye out with that thing.”

She had realize that the captain was at least somewhat intoxicated, but she hadn’t realize how much so. She was slurring her words together, and Reia doubted that she could even walk properly. Plus, the Captain waving around her gun would likely do no good for the frightened child. While the Captain was questioning Myriil, Reia tried to take a step closed to Tao.

“I knew Myriil was hiding something back here, but a child?” Reia snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. “How’d you even make it onto the ship?”

The door opened, and stumbling in was no other than Captain Thalia Whitlock herself. Trailed after by the navigator. Myriil didn't let his smile drop, but his jaw hardened as he bit into the side of his cheek. This was going to be different than how he was imagining. He'd been hoping for an inebriated crew member, but perhaps..

His look sharpened and as the Captain spoke a fraction of the tension left his shoulders. Perhaps an inebriated Captain would do just as well..?

He breathed out slowly from his nose, carefully looking over his store of lies like a farmer would look at their prized fruit tree. So carefully cultivated it almost felt a shame to pick the fruit, but that had never stopped him before. Under the Captains glare the wood elf refused to wilt, though his legs were rebelliously weak. The low buzzing lightness of anxiety crept into his stomach and arms, he tried not to let his nerves show to either side.

“Gods, Captain. Lower your gun,” Reia said. “With how intoxicated you are, you’ll probably shoot someone’s eye out with that thing.” Reia sounded significantly less drunk, so she'd probably be the greater challenge. Though it wasn't certain with Whitlock, the woman kept everyone on their toes, was she pretending to be drunk? He shot a glance at her slightly unsteady look and.. Yeah no, definitely drunk. It'd be a hell of a hangover. Under any other circumstance, Myriil might have been sympathetic.

“I knew Myriil was hiding something back here, but a child? How’d you even make it onto the ship?” The navigator took a step towards Tao and Myriil moved too, spreading his arms just slightly outwards in a shielding motion. Not actually protecting anything, but making it clear he would. Out of the corner of his eye he stared at the kid, did he pretend they knew each other? Despite his quirks, the kid didn't look even slightly like a wood elf, so the sibling option was gone… Family friends kid? Then why rat him out? Maybe just answer the second question with a joke and work from there.

Myriil gave a light snort. "Very carefully." Wait- How did this kid get on the ship? He'd ask that later. Myriil nudged Tao with his foot, he smile straining and he hissed under his breath "Stand up-".

Tao frose as the door opened, his breath catching as a pair of women walked through. His hands fell to the ground from the exhaustion of holding them up for so long.
He watched as the first woman, who was obviously very drunk, swung a gun around, it eventually coming to a rest pointing at him.

“Gods, Captain. Lower your gun,” The second woman said. “With how intoxicated you are, you’ll probably shoot someone’s eye out with that thing.” Tao silently gasped, his eyes widening. Captain?
“I knew Myriil was hiding something back here, but a child? How’d you even make it onto the ship?”
The woman continued as she took a step closer and Myriil lightly stepped to block her.

Tao shifted so he wasn't in the direct line of fire from the Captain's gun when he felt a small nudge from Myriil's foot. "Stand up-" he hissed and Tao obeyed, quickly jumping up and standing off to the right and slightly behind his shoulder.

"With how intoxicated you are, you'll probably shoot someone's eye out with that thing."
"I can aim fine," Thalia mumbled. "M'not that drunk yet." Despite what she claimed, she did let it down. It was still at her side, but her grip was looser.

She tried to catch the child's eye. "Your name?" she asked, limiting the length of her sentences. Thalia placed a hand on the doorframe to keep herself standing straight. It was dawning on her how delirious she was becoming, so in an effort to deny this, she would try not to let her guard down.

She watched Reia step closer to Myriil. "Didj'you bring it here?" Thalia tried to trace her memory back to the last stop. The thing can't have boarded while they were in Astriz, right? She wasn't sure what relation Myriil had to the child, but that didn't matter much to her at the moment. It did occur to her that her sober navigator was seeing things she wasn't, and she trusted her to point anything out.

Myriil was keeping his eyes on the new visitors in the hold, but he could feel the small rush of air and movement as Tao stood up and backed up a little. Good, waiting on the floor was a disadvantage.
The Captain asked Tao his name, and Myriil wasn't going to interrupt if the kid decided to respond, since he had his own question to answer.

"Didj'you bring it here?"

He glanced back at the pale little thing, giving Tao a little half shrug, he didn't know if this answer would get either of them in trouble.

"Did I?" Myriil did his best to sound flippant about it, maybe even a little smug. In truth he was looking back at Tao, an eyebrow half raised. Did he? The wood elf would play along with what the kid decided, it would make it easier to get their stories and lies straight if they worked together. And if he didn't have to answer the question himself well.. That was just a bonus. He just hoped the child would stop trembling in time to speak, where was the sass he'd thrown at Myriil earlier?

"Your name?" The Captain asked slowly.
"T-Tao." Tao said stepping forward and closer to Myriil. "No surname, Just Tao" He adjusted his stance to something resembling a military inspection but with a bit more sass.

"Didj'you bring it here?" The Captain said, addressing Myriil this time. He glanced back at Tao and gave a little shrug, as if he was asking Tao to make the decision "Did I?" he said with more than enough smugness.

Tao raised an eyebrow at Myriil. "Well obviously." He said not breaking eye contact with Myriil. "It's not like i snuck on here by myself." He gave a light chuckle and turned to the other woman, his wings giving a light flutter so as to seem bigger. "What was your name?" he asked her while trying to mimic Myriil's smile as best he could.

Children had always both intrigued and confused Reia. Sirens technically didn’t have children, after all. Yes, sirens could reproduce, but many of these offspring acted more like adults than children. They underwent strict training from the time they were born to the time they went on their first hunt. However, human children were… different, to say the least. They were unpredictable, immature, and weak, but Reia still found them somewhat entertaining. Gods, she might even say that she liked human children.

Reia couldn’t help but snort at his imitation of Myrill’s smile. What a funny little thing. “Reia Barlowe,” she replied. “I’m this ship’s navigator.”

Her eyes went back and forth between Myrill and Tao. At first, she was skeptical about this story, but she noticed that the two of them had quite a few traits in common. The smugness being a major one.

“Well, this little thing is a bit too smug for is own good.” Reia smirked and stole a glance at Myriil. “Reminds me of a certain someone I know.”

"Reminds me of a certain someone I know."

"Who, Myriil?" Thalia added obliviously, breifly pointing her gun at the wood elf then laughing at her own joke for a good thirty seconds. Once she composed herself she cleared her throat before taking careful steps inside the hold, sitting herself down on a crate as well.

Trying to organize her thoughts, Whitlock lowered her head for a minute. What was she to do with the thing? Nothing in her drunken state came to mind. The wings confused her even more- she couldn't think of anything that he could be, other than some kind of demon. But she didn't knoe a lot about those types of things, much like magic; that was usually Ambers's area of expertise.

"Tao." Thalia repeated the kid's name to herself as if testing it out. "Why're you here?" She asked with genuine curiosity, lifting her head and tilting it. More than anything she wanted to know if she had to protect her ship from an intruder or someone who wished to take its supplies. Protection of her property was in her nature, sticking to the front of her mind even while delirious. Whether or not Myriil would have snuck an intruder onto the ship was unclear. Thalia still felt as if he'd stepped aboard only a few weeks ago, given how rarely she saw him compared to the rest of the crew, and it was a big ship.

If Myriil had feathers that he could ruffle proudly, he would have done so. Unfortunately for everyone involved, he just doubled down on the smug smile instead. There was the sass! It was hiding underneath all the feathers and hair. The kid was brave. Braver than Myriil that was for sure. Maybe he was sticking his neck out this one time, but no way this would set off a pattern. Of course not.

Myriil was pretty comfortable with being the ships coward. Elder brother instincts be damned.

He watched the introductions passively, he didn't mind at all that the attention had switched to Tao, so he crossed his arms, resisting the urge to nervously twiddle with his feather earring. When a glance was shot his way he hurriedly preened, trying to seem unconcerned.

Then a gun was pointed his way and he froze up. Just for a second, his pupils dilated with the fear that froze his very spine, washing over his body with an acuteness akin to pain. Then the moment was over. The conversation flowed on, Myriil took a breath. Everything was fine. The kid was asked another question. The wood elf suddenly wanted to go to bed.
How much adrenaline was unhealthy again? All of it? Eugh..

Reia let out a sigh as Thalia withdrew her gun again, rubbing her temples. Gods, how long would this chaos go on? When Reia had become human, she had hoped to finally be able to do some “human” things— fall in love, have a family, get a job. The usual. She would’ve never anticipated that she would be on a ship, babysitting drunk children.

“Look, we’ve all had a long night. I’m sure the kid is no exception,” Reia pressed. “Let’s hold off on questioning for now. Captain, with all respect, you’re obviously incredibly drunk. I doubt we’ll get any information if we interrogate him now.”

Reia could still hear the crew partying above them, likely drunk out of their minds. She had no doubt one of them would likely end up overboard by the end of the night.

“Speaking of being drunk, I would heavily suggest going to bed a bit early tonight.” Reia gave Thalia a slight teasing smirk. “Wouldn’t want anyone to get shot on accident.”

"Let's hold off on the questioning for now."

Immediately distracted, Thalia turned her head to face Reia. She was semi-aware of how intoxicated she'd become but was debating whether or not she cared. There were some things to consider, and the fog in her mind was not helping.

"Speaking of being drunk, I would heavily suggest going to bed a bit early tonight. Wouldn't want anyone to get shot on accident."

The captain chuckled before she realized the navigator was being serious. Aiming improperly at the mouse earlier should've said something about her depth perception, but she was too confident to accept that. If she could focus on one thing she would have glared at Reia. But she was right. "…I suppose," she agreed in a dramatic sigh, trying a little too hard to annunciate. She stood and started to leave. "Keep him in your sh- sight 'til tomorrow," she said to Myriil over her shoulder, referring to the child. "Take 'im wherever for th' night."

Hand on the wall, the captain turned the corner out. She intended to take another quick shot before retreating to her cabin, but after what Reia had said, she reluctantly convinced herself not to do or drink anything other than that. Using the rail for support, Thalia staggered up the stairs and across the upperdeck. There was some confusion about the mouse, but most seemed to believe her when she told her crew she'd killed the rat. If anyone wasn't convinced, she was too drunk to notice. Without any further explanation to her crew, Whitlock told them to wrap up the banquet- she didn't trust them on their own for that long- and took a shot glass with her when she disappeared.

(gonna let you guys choose what to do next, i'll probably skip to morning if everyone agrees, but if you want to mess around for a couple more posts that's cool too (if so i might possibly do the minorest of loredumps for ambers but i'll probably end up doing that anyway haha) Whatever yall want I'm good with. also after the timeskip I wanna make sure we've got a reply from everyone before mixing it up again (which as I said I don't mind) but just to make sure we know where everyone is at. also this has been so fun so far and I LOVE everyone's characters!!!!!)