Captured!

Tas glanced at the disappearing Zade's back and shrugged. He turned to see Tave approaching casually and dashed up to the crows nest before she could call to him. He used his keen fairy sight to focus on the ship and see it as clearly as though it was right in front of him.

*gah! writers block! *curses**

Um, ok, question: what's the level of technology supposed to be in this world? I was assuming-- I guess because of the faries, elves, dawarves and such-- that it was a Medieval/LOTR-type world where they just use swords and crossbows and the like. But Firestalker keeps talking about hearing shots and shooting cannons and stuff, which makes sense w/ the pirates.
So, does this world have gunpowder, or not?

-----------

I stared at the Gildor-Annwin joyfully, remembering all the songs and stories about it that I had heard back home. Tas dashed up to the crow's nest and came back down.

"Well, it's definitely an elvish ship," he announced. "But I can't tell if they're going to heed our peace flag, or attack anyway."

"They'll heed it," I said confidently, "unless we make some hostile move first."

"May I ask how you can be so sure about this?"

"We have many songs and legends about the Gildor-Annwin, the Morning-Star, in Eloinya," I responded. "According to all the stories, they'll listen to us."

Tas was obviously still uneasy.

"Besides," I continued, "that ship has more magic in the least fiber of the most unimportant rope that Zade has in his whole body. If they had intended to attack us, we'd be dead by now."

Tas looked a bit comforted with that, but he still didn't seem convinced.

Suddenly, three elves appeared in front of us. I recognized the one in the middle as the Great Lord Ethuin himself!

"Tas of Rorran, you and your crew are accused of piracy on the high seas," Ethuin informed Tas. "You have raised the peace flag, signifying that you wish to contest this accusation. What is your defense?"

"Uh," Tas faltered. I nudged him forward. "See, we never really intended to be pirates or anything. We were just trying to survive..."

Tas then launched into a somewhat skewed account of what had happened since we came aboard this ship.

"...So, we were just headed back to Rorran to have a few drinks and forget this whole thing," he finished. "Um, care to join us?"

"If you were headed to Rorran," said the elf to Ethuin's left, "Why were you going in the opposite direction?"

Tas glared at Zade, who had come back up from his quarters to see what was happening.

"But we were Northeast of there," Zade exclaimed. "We turned the ship to the southwest, I know we did!"

He pulled Tas's compass out of his pocket. Tas leaned over to look at it.

"My compass is broken," Tas cried. "It's pointing towards the rising sun!"

Zade swore.

Ethuin considered for a moment.

"By all that I have seen and heard, you are mostly harmless, albeit foolish," Ethuin finally said. "However, you are also indeed guilty of piracy, for you have killed a pirate Capetian and taken control of a pirate ship. That carries the death penalty."

Tas looked alarmed.

"No!" I stepped forward. "Isn't there anything we can do to clear our names?"

Ethuin looked at me.

"Perhaps there is," he finally said. "But it will not be an easy task. There is a great evil that besets these waters. It makes the sun disappear in the afternoon and only allows it back in mid-morning, and misdirects the compasses made by mortals. This is a magic beyond even our reckoning. Find the source of this phenomenon, and we will consider you guiltless."

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Zade.

"I advise you to begin by going North, to Liua. You may find answers there."

"Is there another option?" Tas asked hopefully.

"We will kill you as pirates," Ethuin replied.

Tas hesitated. "Fine," he said weakly.

Ethuin handed Tas a compass.

"This was made by elves. It will not be misled by evil magic."

With that, Ethuin and his elves. I looked up, and saw that his ship was gone.

"We'll still have to go to port for supplies," Jly stated. "We don't have enough to go all the way to Liua."

Tas sat down weakly on the deck, his mind working furiously. If we run...we could make port... non elven city...make a run for it...hide in the country...sell the ship...

"So what are going to do, captain?" a voice behind him asked.

Tas jumped up and spun around. Tave stood there.

"Um..." Tas tried to think of what they should do.

"You're not thinking of running, are you? The infamous Tas, running from an adventure? What's become of the world?" Tave wondered.

Tas collapsed again on the deck. "I don't know. I suppose we have no choice but to find this...this...thing"

Tave looked down at Tas with a half amused half stern expression on her face. "Tas, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Tas replied weakly.

"Tas..." Tave's voice grew more stern.

"Nothing, okay!?" Tas nearly shouted. He struggled to his feet and walked over to lean on the railing. He watched the waves lap the side of the ship and a pod of dolphins swam past. He pulled out the compass Lord Ethuin had given him and glanced at it. Sure enough, the needle pointed not at the rising sun, but in the opposite direction. He shouted out directions to the crew and soon they were turned in the right direction.

Weakly, Tas stumbled back into the cabin and collapsed against the wall. His breathing was shallow and quick, which alarmed him. He flicked his wrist and the glass of water sitting on the table floated over. Luckily, Tas could do minor magicks and drank greedily from the glass.

The door to the cabin opened again and Tas cringed...

There was definitely something wrong with Tas. I had felt his magical prescence diminish from a fantastically huge ego, to a small blip on my magical radar.

As soon as I tried to talk to him he brushed away my advances and skulked off to his cabin.

I decided to visit him alone and try to asses what was wrong.

I took a deep breath, being nice to Tas was going to cost me a lot of energy.

I teleported to his cabin and appeared in front of his large desk. He looked at me as though he knew I was coming.

"Tas I... I am worried about you. You are not yourself at all."

"How do you know what myself is like? You barely know me!"

I clenched my teeth, "I know you well enough to sense when there is something seriously wrong. I know Zade knows it too."

Tas looked slightly wounded by that last comment. "So?"

"And I think that new boy, Xian knows too."

"How do you know all this, Tave?" He shouted and stood up knocking th glass over. "Hey? Answer me!"

I was fuming. I teleported myself right next to him in the blink of an eye. We locked eyes for a moment as purple met brown and sparks flew.

Finally I looked away and said softly, "I am just worried about you, Tas. Can't you just accept that?"

He looked a little guilty and turned to face the wall. "I am... sorry Tave."

I smiled, I knew that was one of the hardest things he had ever had to say.


*What is wrong with Tas? I am dying to find out, hence the prying!*

~SishBee~
x

I stared at the spot where the ship had been, scarcely believing what had just happened. I had actually seen the Great Lord Ethuin! I was vaguely aware of Tas arguing with Tave nearby. I ignored them, trying to savor the bliss of the moments before. Eventually they went their ways. A few more minutes passed.

"Allynne?" I jumped. Turning, I saw Zade standing next to me.

"Oh! Hi, Zade," I said once my heart rate returned to normal. "I didn't know you were there."

Zade folded his arms. "I've been trying to talk to you for the last four minutes."

"Sorry," I muttered sheepishly. "What is it?"

"Have you noticed anything unusual about the captain?"

"Yeah," I joked. "He's an annoying little jerk."

"I mean out of the ordinary."

"Yes," I mused, "he has been acting strangely. At first I just thought he was trying to get me to go away, but now..."

"You should go and talk to him," Zade said. "I'm afraid it might be serious. He's in his cabin."

With that, Zade walked off. I stayed where I was. Why should I care if there's something wrong with Tas? I thought. I never liked him much anyway.

I stood on the deck a little longer, watching the dolphins and enjoying the breeze. But something inside of me wouldn't let the idea of talking to Tas rest. After all, it wouldn't do to have the captain die or something before we reach the next port...

I walked over to the captain's quarters and opened the door. I was surprised to find Tave already there.

"Erm, hi," I hesitated. "I just wanted to check on Tas..."

---------

Party in Tas's room!!! I say we all send our characters in there and poke Tas until DM tells us what's wrong with him!

Zade





I was surprised that Tas was acting out of the ordinary and more surprised that my friends had not come to meet me. I teleported top the crows nest and looked around. I ran int Tas's cabin.
"Captain!!" I shouted.
"What?" Tas asked shouting.
"The Armada is one and a half days away. We have to gain speed now!!" I shouted back.
At this Tas's face got more confused.
"Oh for our lives sake Tas we have to hurry" I said.

*haha...erm...the funny thing is....i dont really know whats wrong with Tas. I'll come up with something tonight and have Tas succumb to your prodding. *Bangs head up and down* Party in the the captain's cabin!*

Tas, looking rather uncomfortable, gave his commands to Zade to speed up the ship but continue on the the same direction. Then he turned back to the two females, looking at Allynne in particular.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding highly irritated.

"I just wanted to check on you...thats all..." the girl murmured.

"And why would you want to check on me? I'm fine!" Tas fumed, hoping beyond hope that they could not see him shaking. He put one hand on the desk to steady himself.

"Tas, you're not fine, okay? You look terrible." Tave said, her words moist with concern.

"I don't care. I wouldn't want to worry you." Tas cringed as he said it, knowing he had let something slip.

"Ha! So you're not okay!" Tave exclaimed, pouncing on the bit of information Tas had supported.

"Leave me be, now!" Tas commanded, his voice taunt with anger, rage, and possibly fear.

**Head/desk. Writers block. Curses writers block.**

*Hmm...*thinks*...lets try this.....*

"Leave me be, now!" Tas commanded, his voice taunt with anger, rage, and possibly fear.

"Tas, we're not leaving until you tell us what's wrong. You're our captain, we should know whats wrong!" Tave argued. Allynne put in her agreement.

"Why are you so concerned about me!? I got you put in jail!" Tas nearly shouted, directing his words at Allynne. He turned away from them and started pacing the small space of the cabin, his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"Tas, we've already told you, we're not leaving until you tell us! So don't bother trying to get rid of us, because we're not going!" Tave told him. Tas scowled.

"You really want to know?" he asked, scowling again.

"No Tas, we've just been bugging you for no reason." Tave said, rolling her eyes. He cast her a angry glance.

Tas sighed, stopped pacing, and leaned against the wall of the cabin. He closed his eyes warily.

"I'm..." he took a deep breath. "I'm cursed."

Tave snickered. "That's it? Easily fixed."

Tas's eyes flew open and he backed up a pace. "No, not easily fixed! If you try to lift the curse i'll die!"

"Oh." Tave said.

"What is the curse? Who put it on you?" Allynne asked.

"The curse is...well...it will sap my strength and what magic i have until i am left weak and helpless. I 'accidentily' snuck into the mage's home and he...well he wasn't happy. So when the curse is complete he will find me and kill me." Tas explained. He closed his eyes again.

*mkay, thats all i've got! yay! lol*

Zade





"Oh so thats it" I said walking into the room
Tas was my captain and he had to be seen to. I cared about my friends. I had sneaked back to Tas's room and hid there until they made Tas say what was wrong.
"Thats it what do you mean thats it?" asked Tave recovering from the shock
"We just let the mage come to us and kill him. The curse is broken" I said
"And how do we do that?" asked Allynne
"I have no idea" I relied and started thinking how we would do that.

I sat down and took a deep breath. Great, I thought. How much more trouble will Tas get me into? First he got me kidnapped, then he got me accused of piracy, now not only are we running from the empress for some still-mysterious reason, but I find out that we're going to deal with an vengeful mage at some point soon.

"So we're going to have to defend you from a mage soon, is that it?" Tave turned to Tas. "When were you going to tell us this??"

"It's not your problem, okay?" Tas tried to sit up, but fell back again with a groan.

"Why can't you accept help from people who care about you?" I asked.

Tas snorted. "You don't care about me, Allynne. You want to kill me, remember?"

"Ok, now you're being paranoid," I scolded. "What makes you think I want to kill you?"

"You said so," he said quietly, "back when I first let you out of the prison cell."

"Oh." I had forgotten about that.

"Look, I didn't really mean that! I was angry and stuff. And it was sort of your fault that I was there. But I never could have actually--" I faltered. "I mean, I-- I didn't mean it, you know? I was just..." I trailed off, confused.

"The point is," Tave said slowly, "that we do care about you, to some extent. We're kind of stuck with you for awhile, anyway."

"And maybe we can help you," Zade added.

Tas sighed.

"It's not your problem, ok? I'll find some way out of it...eventually." Tas said.

"Tas would let death become an option before he asked any of US help." Zade snickered. Tave and Allynne shot him angry looks.

"He's right." Tas commented dryly.

"Tas, don't say that!" Allynne cried.

"Why not? It's true." Tas said, shrugging. He struggled to his feet, swayed for a moment, and sat back down, a pained expression on his face.

"So the hunter becomes the hunted..." Tave mused, loud enough to allow Tas, but only Tas, to hear. He shot her a annoyed glance and turned away.

"So when will this mage arrive?" Zade asked.

Tas lifted his arm weakly and looked around at the faces all staring at him. "About a day and a half i should be weak enough to give him a grim satisfaction in killing me." Tas said, no hint of emotion in his voice or on his face.

"Um...If you don't mind me asking...HOW does he plan on killing you?" Allynne asked shyly.

Tas shrugged again. "Torture, most likely."

"Why is he so mad? All you did was break into his house. It's not like you stole anything..." Tave said, turning slowly to look at Tas again. He cringed.

"Yeah, i stole something! So what!?" he cried.

"SO WHAT!? Tas, you might DIE because you stole it! That's what!" Tave shouted, clearly exasperated.

"Wasn't anything important. It isn't like he would've noticed it was gone except he caught me..." Tas mumbled, crossing his arms.

"What exactly did you steal, Tas?" Tave asked, looking at Tas like a mother would to a disobedient child.

"Nothing..."

"Tas."

Tas sighed. "A necklace."

*hehe, Tas is in TROUBLEEE. lol*

Woot! Tas IS in trouble! I love it! Can't post now. Tomorrow...

When Tas told us about the necklace, I was about to say that a necklace wouldn't cause a mage to use up his time and energy on cursing and tracking down a person who is well known as an escapee.

Then, I realised a necklace, of course!

I leaned a little closer to Tas so only he could hear me. "The Necklace of Axymalz."

Tas' eyes popped as soon as I said it. I leaned back and smiled smugly. I was right.

~SishBee~
x

Zade





I walked near Tas and then whispered "The The Necklace of Axymalz, what is it?"
I had heard that name before, but i didn't know what it was.
"Tell you later" Said Tas
I walked back to where i was hoping that no one suspected me of something.