[PQ+] Where the rum has gone

The fighting was over, in large part thanks to Flora's timely channeling, and now they were just mopping up the results of the battle. Ropes were thrown, with varying degrees of success as panicked pirates tried to scramble for the literal life lines. Jack 's rope was a little farther from the largest knot of survivors (and the fancy hat), and only two pirates reached it to clamber aboard. They'd thrown away their weapons and had already been barefoot beforehand, and were sodden, sorry sights as they scrambled aboard and promptly surrendered.

Koa was both less picky and less threatening. Two pirates also grabbed onto his rope, but Hadama guided two of the former captives to it as well, and the young dragoon had his muscles full holding the hawser steady while the group made its way to the safety of the deck, collapsing over the rail in a bedraggled puddle, though the two who had been chained up below deck tottered a few feet away before they sank down again, babbling their gratitude to their rescuers.

And as for Flora ? Given who she'd just called down upon their ship and the fact that she was holding a knife as sharp as her sweet smile only one pirate was desperate enough to grab on to her rope - and even then, only when she saw the dorsal fins approaching. The pirate captain, seeing the incoming sharks too late, suddenly changed her mind on remaining in the water with her ship and struck out for the dangling rope.

Her luck had truly and finally turned against her, however. As her fingers brushed the rough fibers she was suddenly jerked back and down. Her hat continued to float on the surface of the choppy waters, but only a thin stream of red revealed her fate, and even that was swiftly washed away in the tide.

Hadama had taken the last grey-bearded captive in hand and drew the waters up beneath them in a column until he could deposit the fellow on the deck of the Blessing. A few hoarse screams and cries for help echoed from the waters below but were quickly silenced, and the King's expression was tight-jawed and grim as he held to his initial decision to let the pirates face the consequences of their actions.

Four pirates and three of their captives had been rescued from the sea, but one last detail remained before they could turn their prow for home again. "We should interrogate them quickly," he rumbled to his companions. "Before we lose the light."

---

Well done! The pirate ship is well and truly sunk and the crew dead or captured. Three of their captives have been rescued and freed as well, including one man who might look strangely familiar to certain Torchers.

For this round, please ask a question of either a captured pirate or one of their freed captives!

No posting order.

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Is Jack smiling a smug little smile to see Fancy Hat's fanciest hat the only thing left to show for her bad decisions? You bet to fuck he is. That's what you get for being scum, he might have spat, were it not for the two bedraggled pirates suddenly clambering for purchase. Only marginally aware of everything else going on, Jack hauls up the rope and tosses it to the deck.

Around him, water crackles to sharp points of ice and the wind whips up in a fury, and he turns to interrogate the pirates with the smile of a shark. At that moment, however - despite the snarls of a grey beard and who-knows-how-long of captivity making him near unrecognisable - some intimately familiar thoughts spear through his telepathy.

Jack instead turns to the prisoner Hadama had deposited on the deck, his magic sputtering out to little more than puddles of water. "And what the fuck d'you think you're doin' out here?" he demands.

---

Jack considers interrogating the pirates but is distracted by their very familiar looking captive.

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on his sword

{thanks Odd I hate this}

Mission accomplished! With only some death.

Four pirates. That's how many Koa hauls up. His arms ache by the time they reach the deck. But he is proud of their success. Quickly, he ties the pirates' hands. The rope isn't too tight. They've suffered enough, he thinks.

Koa rises and joins the others. Jack starts the interrogation. His focus is a captive of Hadama. The man is almost skeletal. It looks like hasn't seen the sun in days. Or a good meal. Koa sucks his cheeks. He feels awful for the fellow. He doesn't look like a pirate. More likely a slave. It doesn't seem that he would know much. But Jack seems to think so.

Koa turns to the bound pirates. "How do we get to your base?" he asks. He's trying to sound authoratative. "How many ships are there? And how well armed?"

koa

code by sky

flora

(You're welcome, ilu)

Flora is entirely uninterested in how the survivors view her or how they weigh the glint of her dagger against their desire to live. Given that she (sadly) doesn't know of Zephyr as he'd disappeared before her arrival in Torchline, and because she's largely uninterested in the actual purpose of this voyage aside from simply being around to rub in the fact that she'd have been a much better choice for ruler than stupid Harper, it was with only vaguely focused aqua eyes that the girl surveyed the survivors, both bound and not.

'What does the light matter?' Flora asks conversationally, glancing down at Hadama. "Or do you mean that we're going to just throw them overboard once we've got our answers?" This is said in a stage whisper before she grins over her shoulder at the shuddering captives.

But sure, she can ask them a question. "Soooooo, was there anything good on your ship? No point in keeping it a secret now, seeing as it's sunk."

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

Zephyr could speak for himself, so Jack would have to wait a post for his answer, but his display of elemental might was sufficiently impressive to ensure the surviving pirates were on their very best behavior as they were herded together and tied up to prevent any last minute shenanigans. The freed captives were given blankets and some of the food Flora had brought and settled down out of the way while the crew moved about putting the Hel's Blessing back in order and covering the body of their captain.

Koa stepped forward and quickly drew the attention of the five huddled pirates, peppering them with questions. One skinny man with a pegleg looked at his fellow captives and then shrugged. "In those islands," he said, nodding to the dark shapes that loomed black against the sunset. "I'll draw y'map if y'promise t'let me live." The other pirates suddenly straightened up at the bargaining and suddenly the young Dragoon had several eager volunteers.

"Two! They've both got eight guns and crews o' fifty!"

"Aye, but one's out o' the water for repairs after that last merchant gave 'er a broadside afore she boarded 'em," another added. "An' t'other is out scoutin' a route 'round Stormbreak."

Hadama watched them from the side of the ship atop his water column, ignoring the sharks at the feast below. "So the base is currently unguarded," he rumbled thoughtfully. "At least by sea." He turned his attention briefly to Flora with a tilt of his head and a gleam of appreciation in his eyes for her own intimidation tactics as the pirates paled and huddled together, begging Koa to spare them. "The channels between the islands look narrow, and we do not know the shallows." He glanced east to a rising moon; not full, but still quite bright. "We should start now. Once it is dark we will have to go much more slowly."

Though they could make use of that, too. A pre-dawn attack should catch the pirates at the base asleep. The mermanta moved to confer with the first mate and the rest of the crew, setting the Blessing in motion to sail into the islands.

Flora's question of the pirates was met with nervous shakes of their heads as they denied any good loot. "We were s'posed t'be stealin' from you," one wit whined. "Th'captain had some swag, but she... she..." She had been et, and whatever treasures she'd held were in the belly of one shark among many currently in the water.

It was getting late and there was no need to drag out the inevitable conclusion. The Blessing sailed slowly and as she left the sharks behind Hadama returned to the water to guide her, communicating  with the Attuned on board to pass directions to the helmsman so they could avoid the reefs and sandbars between some of the isles. One of their pirate captives pointed out landmarks and led them to the base, hidden away inside a vast cave that yawned behind the peak of one mountainous islet. Ghosting in, they did indeed catch the remaining pirates unawares and quickly subdued them and freed those merchants that they'd kept alive as servants.

They returned to Torchline victorious, and Hadama sent a force of mer and human guards back to lay a trap for the third ship that remained at large.

---

Thank you for participating in this PQ+!! I hope you had fun! :D Feel free to make closing posts and I'll archive it once the last person wraps it up with a Fin!

flora

Upon hearing that there was nothing for which she might acquire for her guild, the Doubletake rolled her eyes and left the pirates to whatever fate Hadama and the others had for them.

Moving back toward the lookout, having found she rather liked being the eyes of the ship, Flora reclined easily against one of the railings glancing at the darkening sky and wondering whether or not to expect Ronin and Remi to be on their way given how she'd pulled Remi down from the mountain. Maybe they should have a little family chat about such things, but that was for another time.

Just now, with the sea breeze tangling in her hair, the Doubletake felt entirely at ease despite how close they'd all come to having things go very wrong.

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

took back my heart but it's never been the same

What the fuck are you doing out here, Zeph?

Good question. Can't say that you really know.

Here's what you do know. You're wet. You're cold. You're not dead (probably, jury's still out). Your boat is a bunch of splinters sinking in the ocean, courtesy of... starlight?

And now you're on another boat, because fuck you, being interrogated by some asshole who looks somewhat familiar but so does everyone these days. You glare out from behind a curtain of bedraggled wet hair, your eyes steel in a sunken, malnourished face. If it weren't for the water in your nose and the muted fury of having your fucking boat exploded out from under you you might be more helpful; as it is, you are not feeling all that charitable just now. Jack's not even gonna get a lot more from your thoughts, which are dulled by hunger and exhaustion and a certain level of substance addiction and the borderline insanity brought upon by having been a pirate captive for well over four years.

For all you can tell you're still a captive, just on another ship.

Ho-fucking-ray.

So yeah, fuck are you doing out here? "Seizing the day," you answer flatly.

And for the rest of the voyage, you say nothing else.

maybe love is a young man's game

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Jack is not a man to get choked up by emotions. Neither is he a man to treat trauma very delicately, despite his own (very personal) experiences with it. And yet as he gets only a grumbled word from Zeph and even fewer sparks of recognition from his thoughts, the good captain is left tongue-tied for a second. Only a second, though. "Well seize your ass to a bunk," he says roughly. "We're headed back to Torchline."

Given that they're a few captains short of a ship and there are sharks circling in the waves below, Jack leaves Zeph to it - and blanks everyone else besides - to go to the wheel, relieving Koa of the responsibility to sail them home (whether the young dragoon likes it or not, admittedly). At least the pathway back should be smooth sailing, if nothing else.

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on his sword

Koa is happy to hand over the helm. And when it comes time to hunt for pirates in the Fingers, he is happy to contribute in whatever way he can.

He is happy at their rather resounding success. He is happy that the rest of the crew (sans captain, RIP) seem to have survived more or less unscathed. It's been a quite happy-making mission, a great foray into the life of a seafarer.

But most of all?

Koa is happy that they are going home. Because heck yes, this has been fun- but fuck if he doesn't miss dry land. This journey has taught him many things, and perhaps the chief among them is this: Koa is a city boy. A pirate's life? Yeah, not for he.

{fin!?}

koa

code by sky