Jaras Malco vs The First Mate: Trouble at the Docks

[Kensaki]

There was no moon visible in the sky, and the docks were lit only by the uneven, flickering rays cast by the lamps lit on the few ships that had docked for the night. Haverness was not a prosperous port anymore, not since the outbreak of pirate activity in the nearby waters. Jaras Malco didn't particularly care for pirates; he didn't like how they did things. It just wasn't....gentlemanly. Far too messy, for one thing, and violence was to be avoided if at all possible in his opinion. No, burglary, now there was a gentleman's game. The thrill of sneaking into an occupied house or building, or in this case, a ship, and slipping back out with no one the wiser.

Malco had been watching one of the ships intently. He did not know to whom the ship belonged, and he didn't care. He didn't even know what it was that he was supposed to steal, only that he would 'know it when he saw it'. The ship in question was rather large, sporting two mainmasts as well as fore and aft masts, and flew no colors. Jaras suspected it was a pirate vessel, but again, it mattered little. It was just past midnight when the watch changed again. As soon as those who were relieved went ashore, no doubt to drink themselves stupid, Jaras began to move stealthily toward the ship. After all, he didn't want a guard change to happen while he was aboard and risk discovery. He made not a sound as he crept slowly toward the stern of the ship, and began to climb one of the ropes that held the ship in place.

As he reached the railing, he peaked over the edge of the deck, checking the position of the sentries. There were three on deck, one stationed near the gangplank, one in the prow, and one nearby Jaras in the stern. As he had hoped, all three looked as though they had just been woken recently, and none were very alert. As soon as the nearest guard turned toward the center of the ship, Jaras soundlessly swung over the railing and jumped, catching part of the rigging and pulling himself up. Quickly checking to ensure he hadn't been discovered, Jaras worked his way through the complex rigging system of the large vessel until he was directly over the entrance to the lower decks. At an opportune moment, he dropped to the deck, making a light thud that caused him to wince. The sentries did not appear to hear him, however, and he slipped through the doorway and down the stairs.

[Shin]

Treasure, women and alcohol. No. Treasure, alcohol and then women. Wait!

The First Mate pondered the importance of his three favorite things as he casually walked the length of the docks, a rolled up parchment held firmly in his left hand. By his reckoning there wasn’t much that was more important than those three necessities though he often contemplated adding gambling to that list. But was it really gambling when you always won?

He was dressed well while still looking casual and classy with enough room to fight without being hampered by clothing. It wasn’t easy to pull off such a look and The First Mate prided himself on his dashing good looks.

New boots clicked loudly against the wooden planks as he walked, his lavender eyes scanning the ships for his new baby. He couldn’t remember what the sorry lout he had won it from called it, but he already knew that it would be renamed. Perhaps ‘The Lucky Puffer XII’ or ‘Lucky Sea Urchin VI’ he even toyed with bringing back his personal favorite ‘The Mermaids Bosom” well in reality it was nine but mermaids had only one ‘Bosom’ by his reckoning and was just dam right rude to insinuate they had more.

With hardly a care, flashing those brilliant white teeth, bleach blonde hair swaying in the cool night breeze along with an open white silk shirt he cut a confident figure strolling down the docks. Even more so with how comfortably he wore his weapons, a saber and a main-gauche on his hips.

The ship would be coming up soon he told himself, instinctively tossing the deed to the ship in the air and catching it in his other hand. The First Mate had not a care in the world and was ready to meet his new ship, ‘Lady Luck The First’! He was determined to not loose this one to other pirates, storms, the law nor a dragon falling from the sky. This time it would be different.

[Kensaki]

As expected, the few men who had remained on board when the ship put into port were fast asleep in their hammocks. Jaras moved quickly and quietly, threading his way through the sleeping men. He had memorized the layout of the ship from a drawing provided by his employer, and easily found the passage that lead to the captains cabin. He made a brief check for any traps, although he didn't expect any, and was therefore surprised to find a small needle trap on the latch. He sprung the trap after carefully examining it to make sure he could reset it afterward. There was no reason to advertise his presence.

The inside of the cabin was cramped, with a fold up bunk on one of the walls, and a small table with two stools, all bolted to the floor. Two large chests were set against the wall beneath the bunk. The first, which held no trap, was full of clothing and other personal effects, none of which caught Malco's eye. He moved to the second chest, once again searching carefully for any traps. He was not entirely surprised to find a rather clever one guarding this chest, with a tripwire that became visible only once he had picked the lock and begun to open the lid. Sweat beaded on Jaras' forehead as he realized how close he had come to springing whatever danger the device held. He had barely moved the lid a fraction of an inch, but he could feel the pressure of the tripwire, and did not think he could even slip a knife in to cut it. He mentally traced the tripwire down the side of the box, seeing a small knot in the wood directly in line with it. He gingerly pressed on the knot and it came loose easily, and the pressure on the tripwire immediately ceased. He opened the chest, and his eyes widened as he beheld the four large flasks of what appeared to be alchemists fire, rigged to break and explode should the trap be triggered, thus destroying the contents and hopefully the intruder. Someone did not want the contents of this chest found.

The only thing in the chest was a small scroll case. Jaras had assumed his objective to be a more obvious treasure, but with the trap guarding it, there could be no question. He removed the scrollcase, replacing it with a small figurine of a raven, and studied the trap until he figured out how to rearm it. He hooked the scrollcase onto his belt, and left the cabin, once again resetting the needle trap on the door. Before he could even turn around, Jaras froze.

"Who goes there!"

The shout sounded like it came from the deck, and couldn't possibly be directed at him. Hopefully it was just some drunk, trying to get on board, but it paid to be careful. Jaras remained hidden in the passageway, listening carefully.

[Shin]

As The First Mate neared his new sea worthy vessel he contemplated the different ways in which he wouldn’t lose this ship. Already this one was incapable of plummeting to the ground simply because it could not fly and that made The First Mate smile from ear to ear, a quarter of the ways it could go were already gone.

It didn’t take much longer and The First Mate was standing on the long dock his new ship was at. He gave a triumphant grin and squinted in the darkness to make out the name scrawled into its side.

“The…Shitty Porpoise?” He paused briefly. “ OH! Shinning Porpoise. Well that makes..” Another pause as he registered the new information. “That makes no sense at all! What a horrible name.”

The First Mate continued to rant as he stomped down the docks to where the guards were standing near the entrance to make sure no one got aboard. Yea, that wouldn’t work he told himself.

“YOU!” Be belted at the same time the guard yelled at him. “I am the NEW Captain of this ship…now, get off my Shitty Porpoise!” He un-scrolled the parchment and held it out for them to read, though he wouldn’t let them take it and if they tried the guards would quickly find a the ocean coming up to meet them, literally.

The First Mate was a hydrokinetic among many other things he claimed to be, and with being so close to the ocean and most importantly with all that water in sight he was confident he could dispatch these second-rate, two-bit, shitty porpoise riding guards with hardly an effort.

“EVERYONE, GET OFF MY NEWLY AQUIRED SHITTY PORPOISE! YOU’RE ALL FIRED!” He yelled again at the top of his lungs, though the smile never left his face and it was obvious he enjoyed every moment of this.

[Kensaki]

So, it seemed that the ship had unexpectedly changed hands, an unfortunate turn of events for Jaras. Across the lower deck, Jaras detected movement as confused sailors, the few who had remained, shook themselves from sleep and began shuffling curiously toward the stairway. This was not good; there was little chance he could slip off the ship unnoticed, dressed in form fitting black clothes as he was. The black domino mask he wore would obscure his features, but would also call attention to him should he attempt to leave with the others. He would need some sort of disguise.

Noise sounded nearby as one of the sailors gave his still sleeping crewmate a nudge to wake him before moving himself toward the top deck. Thinking quickly, Jaras turned back to the door of the captain's cabin, once again springing the trap so that the poisoned needle shot back out of the keyhole. He reached, careful not to prick his fingers on the black tipped end, and pulled the needle free. He crept swiftly down the passage to where the sleepy crewman was stretching and rubbing the sleep from his one good eye, the other having been covered with a patch. The man started to rise from his hammock, that is until he felt Jaras' gloved hand clamp over his mouth and a small prick in his neck. The nameless sailor convulsed quietly for a moment, then was still.

Jaras didn't bother to check whether he was dead, as unconscious would be equally desirable, even preferable, but done was done. He quickly stripped the man down to his small clothes, wrinkling his nose at the smell. Didn't these men know it was poor hygiene to sleep in their clothes? He tried to arrange the body so that it would appear to be simply sleeping. He had little time, so he simply threw the loose fitting white shirt and worn tan pants on over the top of his own clothing. He completed the disguise by removing his mask, then donning the eyepatch and tying a nearby black scarf over his head, concealing hair that was the wrong color to impersonate this sailor. He didn't need a mirror to know that his disguise was hardly perfect, but he didn't have time to do more. He would simply have to trust to the darkness to complete the effect. Reaching down to check the weight of the scrollcase on his belt under his new clothes, Jaras made his way to the stairs and began to climb, hoping he was doing a convincing job of acting as though he had just awoken.

[Shin]

The First Mate didn’t give the crew very much time to respond, his smile was quickly replaced with one of a more sinister nature as he made a slight gesture with his left hand something the guards wouldn’t likely see in the dark.

“You are now trespassing.” And with those words a rush of water as round as a fat man erupted from the ocean taking two men off their feet and continuing to push them deeper into the water where The First Mate mused they would likely drown.

With the path clear before him The First Mate nonchalantly strolled onto the ship, bringing with him three swirling orbs of water that circled around his body at a blinding pace. It wasn’t until he made it three quarters the way across the deck that the hull emptied with what few remained, a half a dozen or so he counted.

“Off my ship!” He barked again but with less force this time, he was already getting bored of this. With the flick of his wrist the three orbs split into six and then those six orbs shot out at each man with enough force to pick each one up and toss him over the edge into the cold water.

[Kensaki]

Jaras emerged from the hull just in time to see the strange display of magical power as six balls of water shot toward each of the sailors, one coming directly for him. Before he had a chance to think, he acted reflexively, bending backward sharply at the knees and dropping a hand briefly to the deck as the ball sailed over him and into the night. He sprung back to his feet, a genuine look of surprise on his face.

Silently, the thief cursed to himself as he realized what he had just done. Not only had the move been far too good for the sailor he was pretending to be, but had he let himself be struck, he would now be in the water with the rest of the sailors, whose yells and splashes could be heard in the still night. Now he was alone on deck with a man who possessed some strange sort of magic, his shoddy disguise open to full scrutiny by the apparent new captain of the ship. Just my luck... he mused, as usual, just when things were starting to go well. Still, he had gotten himself out of worse situations before, and this man seemed decidedly...odd. Perhaps he could still be fooled.

"Please sir," Jaras' voice trembled as if terrified. "Just let me go...I have a family! I won't give ya no trouble if ya just let me go!" He began to back away slowly as if in fear, edging toward the ladder on the nearby mast, which probably led to the crow's nest. If he could get into the rigging again, he might be able to escape should things turn even further sour.

[Shin]

( A bit short, getting to the juicer parts.)

The First Mate showed open disgust to the sailor that had somehow evaded his little attack, most impressively at that.

“And you call yourself a pirate! Pathetic, today’s pirates are a mockery of what it truly means to be one. The King himself would be disgusted by your words.” The First Mate drew his saber and moved casually towards the man’s life he was about to end.

“It’s nothing personal. I hope you understand that. You simply give pirate everywhere a bad name and that is something I cannot tolerate. I The First Mate, as Captain of this Shitty Porpoise here by announce you…a dead man.”

[Kensaki]

Jaras smiled grimly as the First Mate advanced. It looked like his disguise had worked, but his act had had the opposite effect he desired. It was fight or flight time, and Jaras knew which he preferred. He had backed up so that he was near to the ladder on the main mast. Before the aggressive new captain could reach him to carry out his death sentence, he turned and scrambled nimbly a ways up the ladder.

"I am sorry to disappoint, my good, albeit strange, Captain. Or is it First Mate? You seem a bit confused about your rank, but nonetheless. I must take my leave now; you have been a most gracious host." As he climbed, he pulled the eyepatch and scarf from his head, quickly pulling his domino mask back over his eyes. He made for a large section of rigging, intending to leave the ship in the same manner he had entered it.

[Shin]

The First Mate came to a halt and watched Jaras’s extraordinary display of acrobatics and agility. He silently saluted the man and if The First Mate had been anyone else Jaras would have likely gotten away. But as it stood Jaras was not going to get any farther than the rigging he was currently climbing.

It took a great deal of concentration to perform his next act, so much so that while he was concentrating on it his hydrokinesis would be tapped out. The water around the ship, starting with the side facing the docks, rose in a thin but powerful stream that would eventually form a dome completely blocking line of sight to and from the ship.

If Jaras tried to simply break through the water he would find it akin to being swept up by a waterfall and be tossed back towards the ship, an experience that would no doubt be painful.

“Both,” He commented after his act of power. “I am The First Mate to the King of Pirates and the Captain of this ship, the Shitty Porpoise. Soon to be renamed mind you.”

[Kensaki]

Jaras cursed inwardly as the water cut off his escape. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy, he thought bitterly. When has it ever been that easy? He pulled a small knife and deftly made a few quick slashes to the loose shirt and pants he had donned before dropping to the deck about ten paces from where the First Mate stood.

"I am loathe to be rude, but you don't seem to make a great deal of sense, my good Captain." As he spoke, he tore the rags free, revealing his dark, form fitting thieves clothing. The scroll case still hung at his belt, although Jaras had no way of knowing whether this strange man even knew of its existence. "My task here had to do with the previous captain of the vessel, and I have no business with you. However, if you insist on a fight, I suppose I can oblige."

With that, Jaras drew his sword, a strangely elongated rapier with a blade that only ran the final three inches of the blade. He had no idea how good his opponent was, but if the dome of water was any indication, this would be dangerous indeed. Outwardly, however, he was all bravado now that his sword was drawn.

[Shin]

“Please, call me First Mate.” He said while he bowed deeply if not mockingly at the obvious thief. As he straightened he drew his saber in one swift motion and presented in front of him, his right foot sliding forward, left foot back with his left hand held behind him for balance.

“That looks a bit out of place,” The First Mate said as he nodded towards the gold scroll case on the thiefs belt. “, it wouldn’t have happened to belong to me before you procured it? I mean, after all, possession is nine tenths of the law is it not?”

A smug smile spread its way across the First Mates face, he too was all bravado and for Jaras it would be like looking into a mirror.

“Better yet!” The First Mate said eccentrically while tossing the deed to the ship on the ground. “Winner takes the ship and that gold case, no? All or nothing!”

[Kensaki]

"A wager? A tempting offer, but I am afraid I will have to decline." Jaras gestured to the scrollcase as he continued. "Unfortunately, this is not mine to wager; things would be rather....unpleasant for me should I fail to return this item."

The First Mate certainly had a flair for the dramatic, Jaras thought to himself. Still, he had little need for a ship, and he wouldn't risk the scroll. Surely the man couldn't keep up this dome of water preventing his escape forever, could he? Jaras studied his opponents posture; he seemed at ease in a fighting stance, and held his saber as if he knew how to handle it. There seemed no way out of a fight for the moment; however, even if his opponent appeared skilled, Jaras was only slightly worried. He was confident that his own skills with the blade could at least buy him some time.

Jaras eyed the scrollcase, then turned his attention back to the First Mate, making a slight beckoning gesture with his free hand. The message was clear: if you want it, come and get it.

[Shin]

The First Mate didn’t have to say he was disappointed for it clearly showed across his face. The wager had been more of for fun sake. If one of them died than it was just assumed the other would take his opponents stuff, or, that was The First Mates take on things. He planned to loot thief in front of him if given the chance.

“Very well.” He said with a shrug,

The saber The First Mate wielded wasn’t particularly made for ‘thrusting’ techniques, but that was exactly how he employed it. The First Mate came forward the first couple of steps rather quickly before dropping into his stance and lunging forward with one swift motion, blade thrusting out before him to skewer his opponent right through the stomach, a simple and straightforward technique.

[Kensaki]

The moment that his opponent adopted his fighting stance and began his attack, Jaras' footwork became a mirror of the First Mate's, his body shifting backward in perfect tandem with the lunge, a flick of the wrist sending his light blade spinning down and out to force the saber wide. The move might almost appear choreographed to a casual observer; it was often this way with two skilled swordsman as each probed the others defense and took measure of their skill.

Jaras could play the game as well as any, and after deflecting the attack he immediately directed the motion of his sword into a thrust of his own, targeted at the First Mate's forward foot. The attack would no doubt be anticipated, but which defense the opponent would choose would reveal much about his ability.