The Greed of the Seven Seas [M] [IC]

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

"Aye Cap'm, thank ye Cap'm." He nodded as he took note of her commands. They would be at port in 2 hours' time. That gave him enough time to talk to the crew, round up a few people, and get some dried meats from belowdecks. He took one last glance at the map before heading out the door after his Captain. He walked out just in time to see her unload on Jimin, the newest. Tsk. Served him right for disobeyin' the Captain's orders.

After she cooled down, he walked around her and down to the main deck. The one time he hadn't given her some room after a yellin' session she had given him a whack on his nose (or rather, where one would be). After that, he always gave her a wide berth until she could gather her composure. His Captain was short-tempered, but a great Captain nonetheless. In fact, she had such an anger about her that he swore on his life that she had once dried a man's shirt just by yellin' at him. That man had promptly needed the same treatment on the front of his pants.

As he passed by the Captain, he brushed near Dragon, who watched him with those same yellow eyes she always did. He couldn't read any emotion in those eyes. He walked down the stairs and made a beeline for Lola. It was curious, how she managed to keep her elven grace with that metal foot. Of course, it was probably some elf magic that made the foot so unobtrusive. Even the fact that it was a foot was elven in nature. If Blackfin had lost a leg, he'd have just worn a peg leg, not some enchanted metal foot.

He waved to grab her attention.

"Lola!" he called to her. She was one of the quieter crewmates, never causing too much trouble. Blackfin couldn't think of a single time he had needed to talk to her on behalf of the Captain.

[Lu321]

As Lola moved forward in the line, she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her. Glancing around, she noticed Dragon's yellow gaze resting on her. She gave the child a smile before returing to waiting in line. She had always been curious about the girl, but never had a chance to talk with her. She had heard that the girl didn't really understand much, but she was a member of the crew like the rest of them.

She winced slightly as she heard the Captain start yelling at Jimin, one of the newer recruits. She felt sort of bad for him, but he had directly disobeied orders. That would never go down well in the Captains book. She was just glad that she wasn't in his shoes.

She had just sat down with her breakfast when she heard someone call her name. Looking toward the voice, she saw the first mate heading towards her. After a moment of panic, wondering what she had done, she managed to calm herself down. If she didn't remember doing anything wrong, there was no reason in acting like she had. Standing up with her bowl in hand, she smiled. "Yes, sir?" she asked, wondering what he wanted with her.

[Enigma]

Dragon turned when she heard the captain's voice yelling angrily at the man at the wheel, then saw her strike him. She then turned to her and spoke softly, beckoning to her. The captain wanted her.

Dragon hopped off the railing and walked over to the wheel, staring up at it.

"Box," she said, trying to keep her voice high so they couldn't hear the deeper tones. She pointed towards the binnacle that housed the compass. Standing on her toes, she still couldn't see the compass card inside.

Boggs appeared on the starboard ladder, holding a small tea chest.

"Capt'n," the graying bearded human said, tugging on his forelock. "She be needin' this ta see the compass."

"Box!" Dragon grinned, her voice more gravelly. She ran over to the human and took the tea chest from him, and brought it back to the wheel, then climbing up on top to grasp the handles on the wheel. "Points?"

"She knows her points, she does," Boggs grinned. "Iffen you tell her the course, she'll do it. Mind you, she's a bit fuzzy between points, you gotta point at the card where you want the needle ta be iffen it's between."

[Moonlit_Fae]

Captain V smiled as Dragon went up onto the tea box to be able to see the binnacle. She also turned to Boggs and smiled at him. "Thank you for that Boggs. You are always very helpful." He used to be hire up in the chain in his younger years. When Blackfin was placed as first mate, it moved Boggs down to third mate. He never seemed to be angry about that and V was thankful for that. Positions changed all the time. Heck one day she might not even be Captain. As a mermaid her lifespan was long and she was still in her prime, but you never know what could happen. Either way she was very happy for his loyal service. He was one of her favorites.

She had one more order for the third mate. "Boggs, would you mind setting up a table with parchment and ink for me? I will be taking requets from the crew before we head to port. I want to make sure everyone is supplied with what they need. I will take your request first."

After he was gone she put her full attention onto Dragon. "See this binnacle? This is where we refernece where we are and set the course to where we want to go." Nagivation took a certain skill, but she would start with the basics for Dragon. "The wind is strong today and blowing our sails, helping us pick up speed, so we need not worry about that today." She paused as she looked down at the compass. "So all we need to do it set course." She pointed her finger at the northwest marker for Dragon to set it at. They were currently going west and only needed to slightly alter the path to be able to reach the coastal port. Captain V waited patiently for Dragon to set the course and man the steering wheel. Their speed of 20 knots was fine for now, they would slow the closer they approached.

[Enigma]

The captain pointed at the compass card, one of the 32 points on it, so Dragon turned the wheel to ease the ship onto the new course. The sails luffed for a moment, then caught the wind.

Mr. Boggs appeared, holding several sheets of paper and a silver inkwell set.

"Beggin' yer pardon captain, but did you want the table on the main deck, or up here on the aftercastle?" he asked nodding his head respectfully.

Behind him, the heads of two deckhands can been seen, carrying a table between them.

"Iffen I be so bold as to put in a good word for Jimin," he added, after receiving the order, "Beggin' yer pardon, but when Jimin was on the night watch, I'd have him on with the girl, side by side as it were, so he could get a feel for the wheel. He was confused since she taught him, you see."

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

"Yes sir?" she called. For a moment, she looked confused, but she quickly replaced it with a smile.

"Lola, we'll be goin' to port soon, and the Captain wants you to come along. We'll be dockin' in two hours, so be ready by then. That's all." He waited for her reaction for a moment, then turned on his heels to find some of the other crew. He went between the decks, choosing people seemingly at random. Siobhan, a human woman, Gaelan, an elven man, Meriadoc, a halfling man, and Cutthroat, a half-orc woman.

He turned to gaze up at Dragon, who was steering the ship while barely peering over the top of the wheel. He gave a quick glance to the nearby ocean, just to see if there was anything that the ship could run aground on. Nothing. Above him, a seagull wheeled around the masts, probably looking for some scraps to steal.

[Lu321]

Hearing the Captain wanted her to come along, she nodded. "Yes sir. I'll be ready." She waited for him to walk off before sitting down and quickly eating her stew. She thought it was odd that the captain had wanted her to go. She had never really gone to port before, and she didn't remember saying anything to anyone on the ship about her past. "My lucky day, I guess..." she muttered to herself, getting up to wash and put her bowl away.

Once she had returned to the deck, she noticed that Dragon was now steering the ship. It was a surprise to her, but she knew the captain knew what she was doing. Getting back to work, she climbed up to a few knots and retied them, knowing that the wind was working them loose. It was a little odd, climbing with her metal food, but after she had learned to walk, she had spent the next year learning how to navigate on a ship again with her metal appendage. By now, it felt like second nature, and if she had put boots on both of her feet, people probably would have forgotten all together about her prosthetic.

She continued to work, waiting until the captian gave the order to go to port.

[Moonlit_Fae]

Captain V listened to Boggs words carefully. "If Jimin was confused he should have never taken the chance to steer the ship on his own in the first place. Boy needs to speak up and let me know what his incompetencies are. Going forward I will train him myself, just like I am Dragon here." V smiled seeing the small child take her insturctions well and set the new course for The Siren's Song. It was also comical to see her small stature just barely over the wheel, but easily steering the ship. V took another swig of her waterskin, fixing the ache for alcohol from her body. "Thank you for the input. I will take the table here up on the aftercastle."

Once the table was set up V sat herself down and insturcted the crew to form lines of 10 to swap out for requests. The ship still had to be maintaned and duties to be fulfilled. Everyone would get their turn in time. V lazily wrote down the crew member and their request for materials. She also collected their coin to cover the expense. Change would be given if needed. V started to think about what she wanted. Probably get some poultry, some more spices, and herbs for her bath. Even though she loved the salt water, there was nothing like a fresh water bath to scrub away the grime from the rough life of a pirate. V would also keep a look out for a brothel at port. V did not have much luck in the way of compansionship romantically or physically. Most found her too intimidating to approach in that manner. Also, she was sure it would not be wise to partake in carnal or emotional pleasure with a crew member. She would just have to take the oppurtuniry when it presetned itself. Not that she was actively looking, her love life was the open sea and The Siren's Song. However, the toughest of the pirates still suffered from loneliness.

Captain V snatched herself back from her wandering mind and paid attention to the last remaining requests from the crew. Blackfin should be returning shortly with a crew as requested. They were probably an hour out from port. Soon The Siren's Song would need to reduce speed and be deftly manuevered by her hands to land at port safely.

[Enigma]

"Incompetencies?" Boggs repeated, astonished, then his eyes grew large and he ducked his head. "Er, forgive me captain, no disrespect, just wasn't familiar with the word as much. Don't remember seein' that in no bible before." Looking behind him, hands full, he glared down at the deckhands holding the table and yelled, "What the devil are you two waitin' on! The captain wants that table up here smartish!"

He tried, but the captain was damn well determined ta train someone, Jimin would have ta do. He'll have a word in his ear, explain that the captain had much more experience that a young man such as himself possessed and should be pleased she'd be willin' ta teach him herself. And try ta convince him that having trained under a dragon, a captain wasn't so bad. Should get him through the first night, and if he survived that, all the better.

And best not to complain about it ta the First Mate. Blackfin had been known ta bite a man's head off what had complaints about the captain, and the blood went everywhere - the overhead, the deck, the bulkheads, even stained the hammocks.

The table though, most of the hands would understand that right enough. Captain was going ashore with a few less-reprehensible crewmen so they could bring back the supplies ta the ship, and not have ta hunt them down or free them from any jail or the hangman's noose. There may be action that night, the pirate kind, and she wanted a crew to be ready for it.

As he laid out the paper and the ink well set, he figured he better pass the word there were ta be no griping, less a few hands find themself put off or worse.

"Well, captain," he said as she readied the lists, putting down some silver, "I'd be most welcome ta a couple jugs of rum to help me comfort me bones, a new shaving soap for my mug, and some boiled sweets for the Dragon, ta pleasin' her mood while she's stuck aboard and don't go arovin', curious beastie she is."

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

After wrangling a crew, Blackfin returned to his Captain's side. He opened his mouth to address her before a thought struck his mind. He briefly considered it and decided in favor of it. He watched Dragon steer the ship for a moment, then finally spoke.

"Captain, I've assembled a crew to go to port. Siobhan, Gaelan, Meriadoc, and Cutthroat will be accompanying us. And if she'd like as much, I was thinking Dragon might as well. If you're in the business of teachin' her, there's more to the sea than, well, the sea."

He flashed a quick smile, before continuing.

"If you'd rather her stay on board the ship, I'll gladly get one more for our landing party. I'll stand by any decision you make Cap'm." he looked at Boggs briefly out of the corner of his eye, considering him for the landing party if Dragon wasn't the last.