Batten Down the Hatches [Mature]

[Flamebird]

Batten Down the Hatches!



[Closed to Leoric.]

[Flamebird]

The chilled winds of the harbor city were something Felicity Rhyolite was used to, both due to living her early life in arctic weather and spending the last month here. Salvar was a brutal environment, both in nature and its people. The young woman was only too ready to leave for her home in Corone. Having been transported here against her will, it took Felicity an entire month to navigate the frigid landscape to find the port city of Tirel.

Reluctantly, Felicity had spent the night in an inn. She had only been able to book a trip a day after her arrival. This morning, she had eagerly awakened only to remember it was another three hours before the ship set off.

With a sigh, Felicity huddled in her fur winter outfit. She was sick and tired of Salvar. She was sick and tired of hiding her magical powers under the shadow of the Church of the Ethereal Sway. She was sick and tired of all the worrying, day and night, over the wellbeing of those at home.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris was alive. He just had to be. Felicity had to believe that. She was so desperate to see her mentor again. She was terrified for his safety every second they were apart. Now, Felicity was stuck in Salvar a final several hours before going on a boat trip that would likely take several weeks.

She needed to pass the time somehow; get her mind off of her anxieties.

Through the snow pounded streets of Tirel, Felicity blindly strolled through the red brick roads, numb to the throngs of people in this bustling trading hub. Felicity had grown used to her magical sense being buffeted by the different magical detections by now. It strangely reminded her of Corone, and how she had similar experiences there. The lack of magic in Salvar's towns had left her feeling empty and vacant.

Felicity walked up to the window of a clothing and fashion store. She looked through the frosty window at her own reflection. She had bought this fur outfit at the beginning of her journey here. It once had neat white, grey, brown, and red furs all combined in rugged colors. Now, unwashed dirt, grime, and blood had ruined the outfit. Her straight hair, rustled in the light harsh breeze, was kept under an equally messy fur hat. Her endomorphic, muscular body was well hidden and warm under the heavy outfit. She supposed, she should get another outfit to wear on the ship. Felicity strolled into the brick store, stepping out of the crunch of the snow and onto a wooden beam floor. A women wearing a purple dress with fur lining immediately noticed her and smiled, "Looking for something, dear?"

"I'm going to Corone," Felicity stated bluntly, "I need a new outfit to wear there."

"Well! You came to the right place!" She beamed, jumping a little. She reached out and took a stringy strand of Felicity's hair, "Ah, a redhead! Oh, you'll look glorious when I'm done with you!"

Well, some time had passed. Now, Felicity was standing in front of a mirror. She had no idea how it happened, but she had been suckered into paying for an entire makeover.

Felicity was wearing quite the outfit. A white, v-neck shirt was worn under a red utility jacket with long sleeves. Colored red, the quality jacket had an emblem of a Phoenix on the back. It was an inspiring animal, much more likely to be spotted in Fallien than here. It came to show how much cultural diversity was in Tirel. Felicity wore simple brown straight pants and brown boots; though the pants were enhanced with a red sash wrapped around her waist. Felicity also wore long, brown leather gloves as a safety precaution for her dark powers. She could not risk accidentally cutting her hand and setting her uncontrollable powers off. Felicity also wore a simple silver necklace with a small owl charm on it. Felicity had no idea how she got convinced to spend money on this thing. None the less, it was a good fit for the outfit.

Felicity also had been given a hair cut. The woman had begged Felicity to do something about the long length, blunt ends, and lack of style. This somehow evolved into getting her hair curled in the 2A design. The fronts were pulled back a bit and tied with a red ribbon. The hair still reached down to her waistline, but she had been told it looked great with her new hairstyle.

Felicity reached back and tossed her hair up, which had a lot more bounce now, and let it fall back down. Why did she pay for this? It no longer could be used to cover her neanderthal forehead! Still, Felicity had to admit that she... enjoyed... this shopping trip. It was strange, yet, delightful.

"Anything else I can help you with, sweetheart?" The stylish woman asked as she counted Felicity's money out at the counter.

"Yes," Felicity nodded, "What time is it?"

"Hmm," The woman shot her eyes at a clock with numerals Felicity was unable to read. "Why, it is eight thirty three."

"What!" Felicity cried, staring at the shopkeep in horror, "My ship leaves at nine!"

Felicity darted towards the door, "Thank you! Keep the change!"

A mad dash through the snowy town lead Felicity towards the ship yards. Crisp air and chilly fish stench met her as she darted through the icy docks. She was quite thankful that she already had her possessions loaded on the ship last night. Panting, Felicity kept on running until she made it to the ship. As workers loaded some last minute supplies onto the ship, Felicity leapt onto the loading ramp and ran onto the ship. Breathing heavily, Felicity took in the view. The dark oak ship was glazed in frost, but was sturdy and strong. As crew members shouted and ran amuck around her, the white sails were being raised. For the first time in quite a while, Felicity was flooded with joy. Finally, she was going home!

She raised her fists to the sky, crying out in excitement as she beamed, "Goodbye, Salvar! I won't miss you a bit!"

After one long month, she was finally leaving this stupid snowball. She was going back to Whitevale! She would finally be reunited with her beloved teacher! She was going home...

Nothing could ruin this moment! Nothing!

[Leoric]

Leoric barely had his eyes open before the pounding began in his head. He groaned as he sat up and was overwhelmed by the assault to his senses. He had spent the night drinking his fill and enjoying whatever came his way. The sun beaming in through his window and across his bed warmed him up slightly as the small dust particles could be seen floating through the effulgence. The drunken brawler lazily through his feet over the edge of his inn bed and grumbled as the frigid wood floor caused his toes to curl.

“Where you going darling?” a groggy voice called out from behind him. Leoric blinked and turned around facing the naked woman still in his bed, she had shoulder length red hair that perfectly accentuated her face, her glistening blue eyes seemed to tell the story she was also drinking last night, although he doubted it was as much as himself as he had no recollection of sleeping with anyone last night. he did remember making the deal with her though, in exchange for the magical stones he needed, all he had to do was give her a night of passion and lust that her husband never could.

“Gotta get those stones out of here before the church finds us or them, so leaving as soon as the ship is ready.” Leoric huffed as he forced himself to stand, his head throbbing as the smell of fresh cooked breakfast hit his nose and his stomach demanded sustenance. “Go back to sleep, if i spot the church i will be back to warn you.”

The Brawlers clothing was never really suited for the Climate out here, Plain looking leather jacket, some plain pants, a slightly sweat stained white shirt, and some tar stained thick leather boots, but buying an obscenely large fur cloak seemed to keep him nice and warm. As he was getting dressed he noticed her clothing and thought to himself that they looked too nice for just someone out drinking the night before. But he was really too hungover to care too much.

Leoric grabbed his gloves in his hand and donned his cloak as he walked downstairs and across the sparsely populated Inn to get some breakfast. “The usual” he requested as he sat down at the bar and was brought this inn’s version of a coffee, although it tasted more like hot bog water then anything else. It wasn’t long before an oblong plate was placed down in front of him with a few eggs, some mystery meat that he was never able to really place and a dollop of some beans in a sauce that was oddly indistinct. It wasn’t the nicest tasting thing in the world, but in a frigid place like Salvar? Any hot meal was a beautiful thing to have.

As he stacked a bit of egg on top of the meat and tossed the last bite into his mouth there was a commotion outside, he sighed and stood up tossing some coins to the counter and thanking the man behind the counter. After the drink he had and his meal his headache had subsided mostly but his eyes still hated the light.

“You! Sir! You look like a trustworthy fella!” a slightly over eager man approached Leoric. “Please! You must know something, I am looking for my wife! She told me she was coming out this way last night to get a few things from the shops and she would be back, but she never came back last night!”

“What did she look like? And what was she wearing?” Leoric sighed as he rubbed his beard out of frustration and looked at the now established panicking man.

“Well, she has shoulder length red hair, deep blue eyes, like the color of water in the warm sun, she has a hourglass frame and she has a pleasant voice to listen to.”

Leoric resisted as much as he could from both laughing at the man and giving away that he had spent the night with her. But seeing as he was setting sail soon he didn't mind pointing him in the right direction.

“Last i saw her was at a tavern last night and struggling to walk so i offered to get her, her own room, at this inn. You can find her upstairs, third door on the left. But with how much she was drinking, you may want to lower your voice when you find her and talk slowly.” Leoric gestured behind himself to the door he just walked out of as the man thanked the hungover brute and walked inside. Leoric sighed and slid his leather gloves on over his fingers, and began walking towards the docks, he turned down a few alleyways so that if the man found out leoric had spent the night burying parts of himself into her guts he wouldn't be able to find him as easily as if he just walked straight towards the ship.

After about ten minutes he arrived at the ship as they were pulling up the last of the cargo, several of the ship's crew had some devices on their wrists that were letting them zip around the ship’s rigging, doing last minute inspections, while others were using them to help move large crates of cargo. A talisman would be slapped on a box and then two ropes fired off from each wrist, and then the large crate would act like it was completely empty and could be dragged and rearranged easily. Several crates were lifted up and lowered into the cargo hold using this method.

“Ah! Leoric! Right on time! We are getting the last of the cargo loaded up right now, we are just waiting on our last minute guest from yesterday.” the captain said as he welcomed Leoric aboard the ship, putting a satchel of gold in his hand. “Half as we leave, and half upon completion, as we agreed.”

“Well now I don't need to break anything to get the money at least. And what do you mean last minute guest? I thought this was a cargo vessel?” Leoric said as he pulled the coin purse back into his cloak and clipped it on his belt.

“Yeah, well, she seemed in a rush to get back to Corone, and that is where we are going. So I figured why not make a little bit more coin to recover some of what we are paying you.” the captain chuckled as he elbowed Leoric’s side. The hired muscle rolled his eyes and spotted another crewmember nearby just as they lowered themself down from the crowsnest with their wrist mounted doodad.

“Captain, What are those devices? They look quite useful and fun.” Leoric inquired as he nodded in the direction of the crew member.

“Ahh! Those, a wandering inventor and tinkerer sold a bunch to us, called them Mobility assistance devices, we originally purchased them to help with rigging and getting the sails ready. But one of the crew members found a purveyor of some of our talismans that when slapped on a small to medium sized object would make it almost weightless for about ten minutes before the magic wears off. So we decided to use both items together and it makes loading and unloading so much faster and easier, the crew doesn't work nowhere near as much and we can get a new load aboard and off to a new destination within hours as opposed to days.” the captain was practically beaming with pride as Leoric was tempted to ask for a pair as well for his services but he was already being paid and didn't want to deal with an argument or debate this early into his hangover.

It wasn’t long before the ship was ready to set sail and the captain noticed their late addition to the roster running up the docks. At first Leoric could have swore it was his woman from the night before, but as she ran up the boarding ramp he knew they were completely different people, for one, the woman he saw this morning didn't have a sail for a forehead. But as she was welcomed aboard the captain barked his orders and the sails came loose and they began their several week journey. But Leoric couldn't help himself, she was gorgeous, and he was hungover.

“Captain, if we ever need some more wind, just put her at the aft of the ship, that forehead of hers will catch enough wind to get us to Corone in a week.”

[Flamebird]

And... The moment was ruined.

A couple seconds after the captain had welcomed her, the man he had been talking to poked quite an insult. Her... forehead? Felicity lifted one of her gloved hands and grasped it as memories swayed in her mind.

In a snow laden village, Felicity rested her back against a pine wood wall. The Eiskaltian winds rustled the window shutters above, yet failed to drown out the horrific noise. The little girl, wearing a heavy fur dress and coat, was crying. Two girls, her age, stood in front of her, taunting her.

"Hnegh!" One of them stuch out her tongue, clenching her own black hair. "You are so ugly! Your hair is red like a bull's. Probably scruffy and smelly like one too!"

"Yeah!" The second one taunted, "And what about that forehead! It's so big, it could be mistaken for one of Eiskalt's mountain ranges!"

"And your eyes," The first scoffed, "Green like some sort of weird poison! No one else looks like that!"

It was true. Felicity had red hair, green eyes, and a big forehead. Why was she so different from them? As she huddled against the wall, tears falling, the second girl stalked closer to her. Felicity winced, raising her arm up in defense.

"My mother says she's neanderthal, just like the brutes in the mountains." She crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah!" The leader scoffed, "Why is she here? My dad says all neanderthals deserve to die!" Without warning, she kicked up snow and pebbles, hurling it at Felicity. The girl squealed, sputtering as debris splashed against her face and got in her nostrils. "Ack! Stop!"

"No!" the second girl closed the space and kicked her in the gut, "Your kind murdered my father! You monsters deserve to suffer! Each and every one one of you demon spawn!"

"I-..." The child looked up at them, only to be blinded by the cold winter sun.

Tears flooded her eyes as the young adult looked at the stranger in shock. Her... her forehead was too big. She had heard it before. She lowered her hand, eyes glazed in memories of pain. It hurt. Everything hurt. Indeed, it hurt... And it filled her with rage.

Clenching her fist, she took a couple steps towards the bully, pulling her arm back. She had enough of being mistreated her whole life. She would not be mistreated now. She was stronger. Of course, she also had anger issues and the temper of a raging bull.

"Who asked you, you jerk!" She landed a solid punch, obviously influenced by martial arts training, on his chest. She hit him hard, sending him flying back.

"Ah!" The redhead recoiled, grasping her fist. Her other glove had one finger flapping in the cold wind, due to that hand only having four digits. Beneath the other glove, Felicity was positive her hand was red. She was sturdy and durable, but man it felt like she hit solid metal! Then, she looked around.

The entire crew turned from their duties and grappling hook swinging to observe the scene. The captain himself kept glancing between his two guests; unsure of what to do. Felicity stood there, holding her fist, crying. Her cheeks burned red. A scene had been made, it was his fault, and Felicity had been humiliated for the last time. She turned and stormed off. Despite Salvar's cold, she was hot in embarrassment as salty tears leaked down her cheeks.

"I'm below deck!" Felicity shouted at the captain without pause, making way towards the door leading inside the ship. She needed to be alone.

[Leoric]

Oof, That was a solid punch, he was glad he was wearing his Damascus enchanted leather jacket, it knocked him back and the wind straight out of his lungs. Within a minute or two he was back to his usual self and laughed off the punch.

“Well I expected a punch for something like that, but she hits like a runaway cart slamming into your ribs, holy shit.” he rubbed his side for a moment before leaning against the railing, you didn't tell me she would be so drop dead gorgeous Captain, you would think that would be one of the first things you tell someone. I almost didn't have any words to say when I saw her. Thankfully that forehead of hers had the words printed on it for me.”

“Wait. you picked on her cause you liked how she looked? Isn’t that going to do the opposite of what you intend?” the Captain asked as he dismissed his helmsman and took the wheel.

“Usually yes, but if you constantly point out something, and then reveal that you actually like what you have been pointing out. It will help when she reflects on it. So right now she may hate me for it, but in a week or two when i reveal i actually like her forehead? Give it a few days and she will be kinder towards me and things can progress from there. Its a bit of a long plan, but we have almost a month together stuck on this ship.”

It didn’t take long for Leoric to get bored on the ship, watching a horizon for tiny shapes that are slowly getting larger. He found a spare hammock and untied it from below deck, he then found one of the rowboats that were on the top deck and covered, and squeezed himself inside, it wasn’t the warmest area to hide and sleep in. but it kept him safe from the elements and using the hammock rolled up as a pillow, let him get quite comfy in there. He curled up like a lost puppy and got some sleep, waking up with it pitch black outside.

“First or second watch?” Leoric yawned as he got out of his little boat and asked a nearby crewmember.

“Second, were you sleeping in that boat?” the crewmember cocked an eyebrow as if it was the funniest thing he had seen in quite awhile.

“Well yeah, I need to always be ready for boarding action or sneak attacks, anyways, what the hell is your name?”

“Seamus” the crewmember said as he leaned up against the railing.

“Alright, Well, Seamus, any Rum on this boat? I need to warm up.”

“Head down to the Galley, the cook hides a bottle or two behind a false back on the third cupboard, help yourself.”

“Well then, I will be back and we will share a drink or two” Leoric smirked as he headed downstairs. Once he found the third cabinet it wasn't hard to move the few plates out of the way, remove the false back and grab a half empty bottle. Once back up top he found Seamus again, took a swig from the bottle and offered it to Seamus. “You know anything about the fiery redhead that's now part of our cargo?”

“You mean Crew? And no, I don't know anything about her.” Seamus raised an eyebrow again as he took a sip and passed the bottle back to Leoric.

“Is she working with us? No, she paid for passage, just like someone paid for all the cargo to get from salvar to corone, so until she works on the ship, she is just another form of cargo.” Leoric smirked as he tipped up the bottle and swallowed a few mouthfuls before lowering the bottle and keeping it in his hand. “I mean, a fiery redhead isn’t that hard to find, hell i spent the night with one before we left, apparently, but those gorgeous emerald eyes to go with it? Oof, its like she was plucked straight out of one of my fantasies and dropped aboard the ship.”

“Well, we do have a few weeks with her, maybe you can work towards fulfilling those fantasies?”

“I mean, that is always a part of the plan, but part of the plan is to expect the plan to fail, then throw it away and just wing it.” he took another swig and passed the bottle over to Seamus again.

“So you just expect everything to fail and to just do whatever anyways?”

“That is about the truth of it.” Leoric chuckled as he was handed the last mouthful of the bottle and downed it. “Well time to do my rounds, if you see anything not quite normal just call for me and I will be right over. Just… we have been drinking, it may take me a few moments to get here without falling over.”

[Flamebird]

"No!"

Felicity extended her arm, crying out as the nightmare ended. The groaning of the wooden ship met her as she found herself teleported to her small quarters in the ship. She had those nightmares again... Ghosts of her family's deaths again. She was sweaty and gross, wearing an oversized, loose fitting shirt as she continued to weep. She pulled herself into a sitting position and let herself cry silently. She could never sleep well.

Some time passed as the groggy redhead wiped her tears away. Eventually, she pulled herself out of the bed and walked over to the wash bucket in the corner. Peeling the shirt off her muscular frame, Felicity pulled the shirt off then took a towel and wetted it with water. She washed herself. The water was cold, just like Salvar. She was shivering, but she really did not care. She just needed to get the sticky sweat off. After washing up, Felicity looked over to the bag she had her clothes in. She considered putting on her workout outfit and getting above deck. Would the captain mind? Felicity was trying to be a considerate guest. Felicity sighed and pulled the bag closer, pulling out a yellow outfit.

She soon was standing in front of the small mirror wearing her breathable training outfit. She wore a yellow racerback crop top tank top. Tight black shorts were covered by an asymmetrical yellow short skirt. She had light, black socks reaching up to her knees and wore breathable, flexible yellow shoes. Felicity now placed several yellow sweatbands on her wrists and over her head. She was not used to wearing such a... revealing... outfit out. She had, once upon a time, only worn this in her back yard at Whitevale to exercise in the morning. Honestly, the thought of meeting that jerk above deck disturbed her. Still, Felicity needed out of the tight confinement of this room. She would be spending over a month on this ship. She should be trying to not go more insane than she already was.

Felicity pulled her headband down in a way to hopefully hide her big forehead and finally left the room.

The frosty air of Salvar's cold climate had not loosened its grip on the ship. In the dark, Felicity could feel the warmth of her own breath as she stepped onto the decks. With her arms, upper legs, and stomach all exposed to the cold air, Felicity was shivering. She needed to start exercising quick to get her temperature up. There was one man in the corner, leaning against the brim of the ship with a bottle in his hand. Felicity grimaced, there was bound to be drunken sailers on this ship. Without even acknowledging him, or noticing the way he looked at her through the darkness, she turned and walked towards the poop deck.

Making sure the space was wide and clear, and that she was alone, Felicity started with some basic stretches.

[Leoric]

After what felt like an hour, Leoric had completed his complete walk around of the ship and making sure all cargo was secured. After all he was paid to keep the ship and cargo safe. So shifting loads would be a god awful thing to have. When he came back up to the top deck Seamus had gotten a little too drunk, and was solely focused on keeping himself upright along the railing of the ship while holding the bottle of rum. Leoric figured he could ask anything and got an answer, so he stopped and thought for a minute on what he actually wanted. Nothing was coming to mind, he looked up at the night sky out of frustration and remembered seeing the crew buzzing around just before they left using their Mobility Assistance Devices (henceforth referred to as M.A.D.s) So it was the perfect chance for Leoric to pry, and find out just where they were stored.

“Hey Seamus, where are those wrist thingies you guys have stored?” He asked as he walked about on the ship looking up at the crows nest.

“What, wrishts thingies?” He slurred as he stumbled slightly and caught himself on the railing again.

“The thingies, you know, that you guy’s use to check rigging and get up to the crows nest easily and what not?” Leoric began motioning to his wrists and clasping his left hand over his right to hopefully jog Seamus’ memory.

“Osha! Those welsh, the casptans keeps its outside his quart..” He interrupted himself with a hiccup as he continued. “..quarters, in a blue box. why?”

Leoric, grinned as he turned to the captains quarters and found the blue box, inside were several pairs of the Mobility Assistance Devices. Leoric reached in and grabbed a pair and attached them to his wrists like bracelets before closing the lid and turning around and looking up to the crows nest.

“Now how do i …” The confused muscle started saying as one of the wrists shot off, the stump at the edge of the rope smashed into a mast and locked itself there. “... Oh! Like that! Now how do i…”

There was a slight cry of surprise as the M.A.D. began to pull the surprised brawler towards the mast at a surprisingly quick speed. Before Leoric could begin chanting ‘No’ as quick as he could. The Connected part came loose and he slid to a halt.

“Naw, you needs to focusses, itsh all in the wrists.” Seamus said as he fell over on the deck. “Heh, I fall over go boom.”

“Wait, did you get that drunk from splitting half a bottle?” Leoric asked as he stood up and brushed himself off and re-adjusted his fur cloak.

“I am a Pre-gaming master!” the drunken sailor cried out before doing his best to back up and lean on his railing.

Leoric shook his head, he couldn’t believe how silly Seamus was being, but oh well, he had a new toy. Time to play with it. He lifted his arm and aimed at the top of the mast, near the crows nest and thought ‘fire’, the projectile fired off and hit the top of the mast and stuck. Then the brawler then thought ‘up’ and was pulled up to the top of the mast, at a rather quick speed. But no matter what he tried the dart at the end just wouldn't come loose. He turned himself upside down, put his feet either side of the dart, and pulled with all his might. After a second a quick fizzle and a pop sound was heard as the dart came loose and Leoric felt like he was free floating in the air for a second before starting his fall.

As he fell towards the deck he twisted his back and turned to face where he was heading. Unfortunately someone new had apparently come up onto the deck while he was struggling to get the dart of the wood. And he was about to land straight on top of her if he didnt do anything. Forget his childish flirting, if he landed on her from a fall like that, there wouldn't be much he could do to apologize. Almost out of instinct his right arm contorted in an odd fashion and a dart was fired upwards, he had no idea if it was going to hit anything but he had to at least try something. The fiery redhead seemed to have finished her stretches and took a step back getting into her beginning stance. Leoric mentally sighed as he wasn't going to smash into her but instead just the deck. He could take that humiliation, but crushing his crush? That was going to ruin any chances he had. But just as he was about to crash into the deck, his right arm went taught and his body ragdolled for a second as he was brought up right and swung face first into the erection of his affection, Felicity. After a few moments of rolling on the deck from the impact, Leoric caught himself with his left arm and stopped his roll as he winced in pain. His right arm was dislocated and he had probably pulled a few dozen muscles or so in the rolling.

As he opened his eyes from wincing in pain, he found the aggressive redhead he had been childishly flirting with, was now beneath him and between his legs. He quickly sat up right as best he could while enjoying the view. She definitely worked out, there is no way anyone got a body like that unless they trained every day for years, he would know he had done the extensive training to get his own body like that, and just as he was about to apologize he noticed on her left hand her pinky was missing, he would have to bring that up later.

“I'm sorry these things are hard to…” The humiliated bruiser tried to explain but was quickly and promptly met with pain of the testicular variety and quickly rolled over clutching his twiddle-diddles. “...Why, I don’t get it!”

[Flamebird]

Okay, that hurt.

She felt like she had been slammed into by a cart full of lead. Moaning, she struggled to open her eyes as she felt... was that someone on top of her!

This trip just kept getting worse and worse. The weather was as good as Salvar could possibly get, and the crew seemed like a good lot. Unfortunately, their hired security guard was single handedly ruining the whole thing, and they were only in the first twenty four hours of sailing! She was beet red from the position they were in after he oh so rudely wrecked into her. She could tell, even in the dark, that his eyes were wandering too. He was heavy, very heavy, resting with a look of pleasure in his eyes as he tried to excuse this intimate position. Years of training, and an explosive instinct, had guided her in jamming her knee into where it hurts. Anger flooded her as he curled into the fetal position. Now, scrambling to get up, Felicity berated her harrasser.

"And stay off of me, pervert!" She pulled herself onto her feet, "Serves you right! Leave me alone, already!"

No need to warm up by exercising now. Despite wearing a light outfit in frigid weather, she felt intensely hot - to the point where taking a swim was tempting. The waters of this sea sounded gentle and cool against the ship after all. Still, the thought of swimming in the middle of a large body of water was proposterios. She knew better. She took several steps back, swearing to herself never to wear her bright yellow workout clothes in public again. She felt too exposed to a man child she already was wishing she had never met. So, she darted off. She needed to be as far away from this man as possible. She did not know his name, and she did not want to.

Eventually, she was back in her quarters with the door slammed shut and locked. Felicity was once again washing herself to lower her body temperature. Of course, she was pretty bruised up now too. That man was way taller than her and met her bulk with his own. That collision hurt. Quite contrary to the phrase second wind, the events above deck had brought exhaustion back to her. She had no idea what time it was, but she had a terrible sleep cycle so why did it matter? She changed into a loose fitting, long oversized shirt and let herself drift back to sleep in her cot.

Once again, harsh memories took over. Dreams of losing her loved ones, and of a trusted mentor turning into a monster. Moaning, whimpering, and shouting started to echo across the room, and the whole lower deck, as she twisted and turned in the prison of her past once again. Her PTSD had loosened its grip a little in Salvar, due to Felicity's obsession with getting home. Yet, the nightmares still attacked strong as ever, robbing her of much needed sleep. As she shed tears in her slumber, crying out with outstretched hands, mumbled words and pleas could be heard. At this rate, the entire crew could wake up to this racket.

[Leoric]

Pervert? he hadn’t done anything to be called that. He fell! He may have gotten a peak, but all the important bits were covered! That was hardly worth calling him a pervert for, I mean he was a pervert, but he didn't need to be called one.

“Oh rights! Them thingies don’t work well when you have been drinkins, they have a hards timesh determinings what you want them to do.” Seamus slurred as he struggled to stay up right.

“Seamus, you have been relieved of duty, too much longer and you may fall overboard, I will take the rest of your watch, who is the second watch? I will wake them in a little bit.” Leoric said as he winced and got to his feet and walked over to grab the still empty bottle and shoved the cold glass between his legs to cool off his Tiddly-Bits.

“I believish Aiden, he is second right in hammock.” he replied as he begun slowly stumbling towards his assigned sleeping hammock. The Bruised brawler leaned up against the railing and took a deep breath as he forced his arm back into the socket and let out a little whimper of pain. The stinging cold air felt beautiful across his face at the moment. It helped him focus on the moment and what was around him instead of just on the pain he was feeling, both from his kneed testicles and, from his newly relocated shoulder.

After what felt like hours of staring at the horizon for any ships or icebergs Leoric felt like it was about time to go wake up Aiden for his watch and then crawl into his little make shift room in the rowboat. On his way down the stairs be began to hear some sounds, not much at first but then a very sudden ‘NO!’ from the door to his right. He quickly channeled his magic and shoulder checked his way through the door. The door gave way surprisingly easy and Leoric found himself standing half way across the empty room. ‘Empty’ save for the barely dressed redhead that he seems to keep making a fool of himself in front of. He turned to look at her.

“You alright? I heard a commotion and you cry out.” Leoric said as he tried his best to turn his head away from her and not blatantly stare at her, after all his tenders were still rather … tender. “I’m uh, sorry, I will wait outside till you are a bit more dressed.”

[Flamebird]

Felicity's magical senses had alerted her, even in sleep, that something was amiss. Forcefully yanked from the deep, murky sea of terror, chills took over her as she awoke to harsh winds. For a moment, she had no memory of this room, where she was, or why a gust of wind usually found outdoors was swirling above her. As she shivered, her eyes turned to the small light outside the door. Seeing someone, cloaked in shadow, standing in her lodging caused her to grab a her knife from under the pillow and pull herself up. Her cheeks burned as she realized she was so lightly clothed, and he seemed to realize it too. He turned away and exited as the breeze fizzled out.

Upon his waiting outside, Felicity leapt from her bed. She pulled some fur pants and a cloak out. Hastily throwing them on, Felicity's memory slowly recovered.

I'm on a boat to Corone, my home. I'm on the ship that will be approximately a month at sea. So far, everything is good except for that jerk who keeps gawking at me...

Confused, she wondered which member of the crew had awakened her, and with magical powers none the less. He had sounded decent enough to leave her some privacy at least; better than another member of this crew...

Rubbing her eyes, exhausted, she tumbled barefoot towards the exit. Leaving her quarters, she turned to see that the person who had awakened her was...

... "Oh. It's you."

That same jerk.

With a long, heavy sigh, Felicity leaned against the doorframe. Frowning, she had to admit that he had been somewhat courteous. She was too tired to be that angry anyways. Annoyed? Yes. Angry? Well, maybe next time.

"Can't you just leave me alone already?" She grumbled before remembering his question on her well being. She rested her head on the doorframe, humoring him.

"I have nightmares a lot. I'm used to it though, they've been with me for, like, two years now. I just nap during the day." To think she had lost her family, and faced the abuse of a cold teacher, four years ago. The nightmares simply started further down the line than the breakdowns, stress, constant running from her own thoughts, and insecurities did.

Felicity's arm limply swung back and forth as she slouched, "Satisfied?"