Oceans of blue

Subject: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:38 pm

Weeks had passed and Rid still hadn't heard a word from Kastorin, no word from strangers or from the few friends she had, no one knew where he dissapeared to. She began to lose herself without him, began to feed and kill for the fun of it, not caring who she attacked or who she killed.

Finally one day she had met her match, a victim who refused to simply be a victim, a Paladin named Aladran. He figured she was the one who had been attacking people in Silvermoon, but didn't turn her in, instead, he listened to her story.

After hearing about her poison, and seeing several scratches along her body that should of long since healed, he helped her, using his magic, to hold it back for the time being.

Given the extra time, Rid began her search for Kastorin, while going back to her darker days of being an assassin to make extra money to travel. Soon she had enough money for herself, and others, and decided to take to the seas, getting her own boat, becoming the captain of the Red Dawn, her crew loyal to her.

More and more time passed, and still not a word or a whisper of his where-a-bouts, and she began to lose hope to find him. Sitting at the bar at the Inn in Silvermoon every evening, hoping to hear anything.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:10 pm

Mikal was the shady sort. The kind you never knew what was going to do. He'd take any old job no matter what the price. A copper for a killing? Done. A silver for a slaughter? Done and done. As long as there was money involved...

So when there was money in helping the Sindorei shipping lanes, he was there, but a man with his reputation was quickly seen as unsavory and unwanted. Unlucky for the cargo ship Captain...the others who signed up for that crew were much happier to follow Mikal's lust for for shiny coin and bony lass'.

So it was a mutiny befell the ship and soon Mikal and his new found pirate band were pillaging and looting to their black heart's content. They're exploits became somewhat infamous and would have become legendary to be sure...if it wasn't for a mishap that destroyed the ship and killed most of the crew.

Of those that survived, most went insane, speaking of a ship painted green and decks stained with blood. Of beasts that flew through the night picking up men right off the deck and disappearing into the night, only their terrified screams could be heard, until deathly silent.

The worst of the lot was the Captain of the damned ship. A huge man they said,but more beast then elven. He growled and snarled orders with his dread voice saying to leave non alive and feast on all.

The men who told such rumors were soon vanished from most ports. Some locked away to be studied while others couldn't go living with that nightmare.

All but Mikal. He returned to shore with not a word. Nor would his tongue loosen for any man. He lingered in taverns and the dark places of the world, wishing only to be left alone. However...unknown to him, the family of the cargo ship's captain had put a bounty on Mikal's head. A bounty large enough to interest but small enough most bounty hunters and assassins passed him by.

This night however...while it rained in Silvermoon as if the city had not tasted fresh water in many years...Mikal had broken his one personal rule. He was in the heart of the Sindorei race. The one place he knew he'd finally find his end...but this night...part of him almost wished for it...

He say at the more popular inn. Drinking some fruity drink noble's preferred. He sat in the darkest corner he could find, scowling at those that looked his way. He said nothing, did nothing but drink. Just watching each worthless blood elf go on with their lives as it they had any meaning at all to him.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:17 pm

Rid had drank quite a bit, until she heard scowls from the corner, hearing people say how rude that fellow was. She looked up, brushing some hair from her face, to look at him finally, and narrowed her green faintly glowing eyes.

Her hand moved to a pouch on her belt that held several herbs, but she pulled out a piece of paper, with what simply looked like giberish, but really, she understood it.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she stood and pulled the mask up to cover her face from her chin to just under her eyes.

Pulling a sword from its sheath, she knocked the drink out of the mans hand and nodded her head towards the door.

"Outside, now"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:22 pm

Mikal jumped as the drink crashed to the floor. Was this it? Would he finally be free? Why was he suddenly so afraid...

Still, his face glared at the woman. She had broken his quiet reverie for what? this girl couldn't be a bounty hunter. His eyes looked down the length of her blade to her hidden face. How badly he wanted to speak, but his voice had been lost for years.

So with an unhappy grunt he turned and moved for the door. glancing back now and again to see if the woman was still behind him or if she just was sick of seeing an old sailor waste his last days away in drink.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:28 pm

As they got outside to the rain, she pulled her mask down, it hanging loosely around her neck, and she held her sword out

"Seems some people really want you dead.."

She held up the paper she had pulled from the bag, a picture with his face on it, and she just let it drop to the ground, as the blade slowly moved away from him, and she spoke low

"Tell me.. On that ship, did you ever sail with a man named Kastorin?"

The blade slowly turned in her fingers as she watched him closely, the rain weighing her hair down in its ponytail, but she didnt even blink as water went into her eyes

"It could mean your life.. Although.."

She eye'd him up and down

"Seems there isn't much left"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:32 pm

He turned to face her. Mikal was surprised at how young and beautiful she looked, but ever since that night...that nightmare...he never would meet another person's eyes.

Then that name. That horrible terrible name. It stuck like poison in his mind, making his visibly tremble before he could control himself. He looked away from her and merely shrugged, hopping she hadn't seen his reaction. Hoping she'd just kill him and let him rot like the rest.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:38 pm

"Answer me!"

She moved closer, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt tightly around his neck, but not to the point of choking him

"I swear I will make you suffer until I grow tired of your screams.. You havent spoken a word but you'll be begging for mercy by the time Im through with you.."

She kept her blade at her side, not using it, since he hadnt made any hostile motions towards her

"Now.. tell me.. Did you ever sail, with a man named Kastorin"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:45 pm

Mikal's old eyes grew wise as he stared forward. His mouth opened and seemed to be trying to work itself into forming words but no sound emerged. Rain tasted salty in his mouth, as if it was the tears of the men he saw slain were trying to drown him.

He suddenly...desperately wanted to live. The idea of seeing those men again, tortured...torn apart...-eaten-...he couldn't bare an afterlife of listening to it. His head slowly shook, but the image of the Captain of that damned ship could never be forgotten.

His voice would be lost in the rain, but he had to try...he had to stop her...maybe she could find a way to release his torment.

"h...hhhe..." Was all he could stammer, his vocal cords protesting in pain.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:50 pm

She turned her head a little at the small sound, so her ear was closer to his mouth, loosening the grip on his shirt a good amount, but still held him in place

"He...?"

Her heart suddenly began to race in excitement, hoping this man knew something, anything, that would lead her to the right place. She pulled him closer so his mouth was right near her ear, and she whispered

"Where is he..?"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:57 pm

"G-grr...eee...nnn"

Mikal turned, coughing heavily. The attempt at speech was making his throat raw. He tasted blood now in his mouth and panic rising in his heart.

"Sssh...ip...."

Again Mikal found himself coughing up blood. His body shivered as the only thing keeping him upright was the smaller woman holding him. 'Say the name Mikal...' He cursed himself to save his own life. 'Tell hr the bloody name you fool!'

"..m-mmaann... D...De...Dev..."

He groaned in pain as he looked helplessly to the woman, willing her to just hear the name 'Devon' in her mind as his eyes fell onto hers.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:03 pm

Rid stared into the mans eyes, and sighed deeply, looking up at the cloudy sky, before pulling his arm over her shoulder

"Lets get you out of sight.."

She knew the guards would be after him, so she took side streets, trying to hide him the best she could, until getting to a small house, and going into the basement, letting him down in a nearby chair.

"You said Green Ship.. It has to be him.."

In one area of the basement there were several vials and small flames going for her potions and poisons, and she began to wring some of the water from her hair

"I'll keep you safe for a while.. but if you prove to be more of a burden then help I'll just cash you in for the gold"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:19 pm

Mikal didn't know what it was about the woman. She seemed to drain him. He wasn't in very good health to begin with. It almost killed him to reach Silvermoon at all. But she wasn't going to kill him. Yet anyway. Hells below she might even let him go free if he helped her!

His mind wandered as she helped him through the rain slicked streets. There was something strange about her. Something unnerving. Part of himself wanted to tell her everything. Admit to her the nightmare he survived through. 'Maybe she'd understand' he found himself thinking. 'Maybe she'd forgive me...'

Then the other part of him had it's say. That part of him was -terrified- of her. That same odd feeling of comfort had a sibling that was darker and unending. A thirst for something Mikal could never understand.

Before his mind could comprehend all that was happening, he found himself sitting in a warm basement. He looked curiously to the bubbling vials and potions. Was she some kind of alchemist? Odd hobby for a bounty hunter...

His old eyes watched her young body move and he found himself nodding compliantly to her statement. He looked around the room a bit more. He spotted a piece of paper and suddenly longed to be able to scrawl letters like those snobby scholars.

After studying everything he could from the chair he finally looked at her helplessly and touched his throat, wishing that small touch would suddenly give him his speech back and get her to save his soul.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:39 pm

Ridell went to the vials, looking in them closely one by one, before walking back over to the man, sighing as she looked down at him

"Kastorin .. I have been searching for him for a long time, he dissapeared from here and Im not sure why. But you seem to know something"

Her eyes showed something she hadnt yet, mercy, almost begging, wanting to know anything that could help her

"I dont know why you cannot speak.. but I beg of you to find a way.."

She went back over to the vials, and began to mix different liquids

"Food and water are in that back room if you need it.. You can stay safely down here, the guards will not come here"

Slowly she leaned on the table with both hands, her head hanging some, she seemed weak and tired

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:15 am

How strange it was for someone to say they needed him. What did she want with Kastorin? The way she was slumped over like that...she couldn't possibly...care about that monster could she?

Mikal just watched the woman carefully. She did. She cared. Slowly he got up from the chair and walks over to her. With a tap to her shoulder he stepped back and very detremined he tried to speak.

"Hhhh....hum...man...."

He closed his eyes, the pain burning his throat already.

"N-nname....D-Devvv....on." He took a few breaths. "Nnot...c-crrazy...kn...nnows mmmore...tr-ust..."

He broke into painful coughs as blood fell to the floor but he didn't stop talking.

"K...Kassss... tor...n...is....m-monst....r..."

He looked helplessly at Ridell, wishing he hadn't exiled himself from society. Wishing now to help this stranger who put aside her job of killing just so she might get a little closer to someone she lost. All those years he spent wasting his life away for a bit of copper suddenly weighed on him in reget, and he fell to his knees before the young woman.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:05 am

"Im a monster my-.."

She heard him drop to his knees and turned slowly, a small vial in her hand, and she kneeled down in front of him

"Devon you say.. "

Even just hearing Kastorins name her heart jumped, she finally found someone who knew something, anything, about his where-a-bouts

"Drink this, it will numb your throat for a while. Normally I use it on people to stop talking but for you its to ease the pain"

After giving it to him, she stood again, glancing out the small window to see it was still raining hard

"Just give me one more word.. where can I find this.. Devon person."

She was slightly worried, since first he said human, it was a human he wanted her to seek? An enemy? She wasnt sure.

"A city.. a town.. anything to point me in the right direction"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:20 am

Mikal's head stared at the blood on the floor. his own blood. Was he doing the right thing? 'Sending this poo-... No, look around you Mikal, she's no innocent young girl.' He scolded himself and scowled at the floor until her tended touch lifted his head and the contents of the vial oozed down his throat.

He blinked up at her, the pain almost instantly subsiding. He swallowed a few times, feeling the numbing effect spread down his throat. He blinked slowly and looked up at her. It wasn't caring for him that she used mercy...it was love for that monster. What did she start to say? She was a monster? Could he be damning others with letting her join Kastorin's destructive ways?

He closed his eyes. He didn't care. He was dead soon from her or old age anyway. He'll be tortured for all time but what else could he do? Maybe at least two monsters might find some measure of peace that he never could.

"...Sttock...adddes...St-St....Stor...mwind..."

He lowered his head once more to stare at the now drying blood before him. Unsure of he was damning those in that city to a fate worse than his.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:22 pm

She nods to him, pulling a cloak up onto her back, pulling the hood up onto her head

"Thank you"

Pointing to a nearby pile of books she spoke low

"Stay down here, if you're interested in what happened to Kastorin and myself, its all in those books."

She took a glance at him, stopping in the doorway, then looked up the steps

"Unless you would prefer to brave where Im going, choose now"

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:14 pm

Mikal stared at her. The light from above the steps framed her in an odd glow that almost took his breath away. He blinked his old eyes. He'd love to know more about what that living nightmare was but he never saw the point in learning the scholar's trade.

So it was he lifted his old bones, wondering now if he was damning himself as well, as he followed after her in silence.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:28 pm

Riddel tossed him a nearby cloak

"You must stay hidden.. Our enemies are everywhere.."

She then walked upstairs into the small house, taking a deep breath, finally, after months, she had a lead, she could only pray he was telling her the truth. She checked her supplies, her poisons, her potions, her weapons, everything seemed there. She looked back towards the man

"This isnt going to be a fun time.. just so you know. I hope you dont break something.. We'll have to jump from the Zepp when its near Stormwind city.. But first. We go to Undercity to get it"

And quickly, she ran out of the house, the rain pouring harder then ever, and she welcomed it as a veil from the guards as she went towards the back of the city, to the teleport stone that would take them to the Undercity

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:36 pm

Mikal nodded, it was all he could do. In for a copper in for a gold right? He threw on the cloak, his wrinkled hands fumbling with the clasp and soon his face was shrouded and hidden. As had she, he checked his supplies. Tattered clothes, leaky boots, a too light gold pouch, and a very well made cloak.

A sense of dread washed over him as he followed her out into the rain. All he had was life, and here he was throwing it away for some youthful girl. He knew she couldn't care about Mikal, nor would she ever give him warmth. But maybe she could stop that monster...if she couldn't, maybe she'd give him the chance too.

~--------------------------------------~

By no means or stretches of any word could Devon Manheim be considered sane. When -he- washed to shore that cursed night all he could do -was- talk. He babbled about demons and monsters and dark places no one dare tread.

Somehow he survived long enough to make it back to the eastern kingdoms and back to Stormwind. His arrival in his home was bittersweet, in fact the very day he arrived his insanity warranted the guards to toss him into the Stockades with no fair trial or investigation. They didn't care who or what he was, just that he shut up and stay away from 'nice decent folk'.

The prisoners had, of course, tried to beat him and molest him but it wasn't long before he became feared even among the rabble of the Defias. He seemed to know things, things that no man should know about another. Secrets, lies, betrayals. It didn't matter, when he looked at you, somehow he just knew.

This ability first caused the leader of the Defias to try and kill him, but there was something dark and evil about the man. Whenever a prisoner would get him alone, in hopes to kill him...the prisoner simply disappeared. No sound of a fight or show of a struggle. Just vanished.

Devon had received so much of a superstitious reputation no one dared approach him, which was just to his liking. Locked deep in the Stockades in a hidden cell meant for solitary confinement, he was lost to the Defias' plans of escape. He cared little. He didn't care when the first attempt failed and was repressed by young adventurers looking to get in the guards good graces. He didn't care when attempt after attempt failed but he felt the end coming.

Soon the prisoners would get the best chance, and something new would happen to Devon. He knew it enough he screamed about it, ranted and raved about it. The guards finally stopped coming to his dark little room, too scared of the ramblings he uttered. He was left alone in the dark, waiting, seeing those blood red eyes staring at him out of the darkness.

Those bloodied eyes that took him back to the night he was almost killed. The night he was almost slaughtered. Soon that nightmare would end. He didn't know how or why, but he knew it was coming and he -lived- for it.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:40 pm

Rid ran as fast as she could, taking a glance back once in a while to see if he was following. She wasnt sure still if she could trust him, but didnt care now.

Getting to the stone, she pressed her hand to it, it teleporting her to the gates of the Undercity. Letting forth a sharp whistle, an undead horde came trotting over, as she jumped onto its back, patting its head gently, and waited to see if the man would follow, see just how far he was willing to go to help her

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:55 pm

His hand touched the orb and he felt like he was falling through space and time into some new and horrible nightmare, but he fell to his knees just outside of the Undercity. He coughed up something he didn't want to think about and sat there for only a moment. Not wanting to test the woman's patience.

Whatever she had given him for his throat must have been wearing off, as it was starting to burn again, but he dragged himself up and gave her a sad look of 'Don't make me walk the rest of the way'

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:49 pm

The horse let out a low grunt, but it sounded very unpleasant, as she grabbed the man by the wrist, and with some strength someone of her small size shouldnt have, pulled him up onto the horse behind her.

"Hang on"

She said low, as the horse suddenly bolted off, through the gates, narrowly missing walls, but was strangely graceful. The guards tried to protest as it ran past into the zeppelin tower but just too fast they were gone, jumping onto the goblin made ship that was set for Grom'gol, but she knew they would have to jump when it was closer to Stormwind.

"Itll be a while before we get to the jump point.. Tell me when you need more of this"

She said, tapping a vial on her belt that was full of the liquid to numb his throat

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:26 pm

With a quiet yelp, Mikal grabbed a hold of Ridell tightly as the horse ran. He gripped her tighter still as the walls passed too close for comfort. How strange it was the power from the girl. 'I'm a monster...' She had said. He was starting to believe it was true.

It was many years since he had been through any part of the undead lands but they passed by so quickly he didn't bother to make it much notice. He sat across from her on the ship as it began it's journey.

He shook his head when asked for the vial. He had trusted her so far but if she -was- a monster who knows what could be in the vial. The last thing he wanted was to be poisoned. Not now. Not when he was so dead set on destroying that nightmare that had tortured his heart for so long.

Subject: Re: Oceans of blue Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:31 pm

Rid sat on the front of the ship, the skeletal horse laying down behind her, her legs danging over the edge as she sighed, looking at the ground and trees as they passed over them, and started muttering to herself

"Kas.. Im coming.."

She suddenly started coughing, covering her mouth with her hand as her eyes closed tightly in pain, taking a drink from the vial she had just tapped and soon the coughing subsided, and she went back to watching the ground pass below them. She spoke a bit louder so he could hear

"I hope you know how to fight.. The stormwind guards wont exactly be happy to see us.."