Beyond the Seas (guardianjohran)

[farrenlock]

Metra Sonzoe, age 18, stood at about 4.8ft tall before the docks of the great city of Waen. Her lavender eyes were fixed on a large structure of wood, steel, and adventure. Waen. The city itself was a high center of trade. Be it textile, food, or labor, there was always something to be sold. Along with the sellables, there were always people pin-pointing values and scheming theft from traders or buyers. Not truly by common folk, but by the ruthless tyrants of the sea. Pirates.

Metra loved the scenery of the town, despite the on-going battles that lay between city people and thieves. She wanted desperately to be part of the traveling crew, even if they did wrong on numerous occassions. The city, in Metra's mind, was dull and lifeless. Everything went like machinery. Same deals made, same routines, and same old smells. There had to be more out there! And, out there she went shortly after seeing a particular vessel come in and basically abandon ship to go loot.

She crept up to the side of the boat, stared longingly at it in awe. The people who were scurrying about like ants, stole a glance at the young girl, but did nothing to stop her. Well, minus calling her a fool and a loonatic. Metra reached out with her milky white hand to touch the side of the ship. So smooth yet firm.
Suddenly, she backed up a bit then gave a great leap. She made it across the gap and onto the ship. Proud of herself for a brief moment, Metra simply stood there until hearing footsteps in the distance. Someone was still on. Panicked, she ducked behind a thick pile of bagged gun powder and slunk further into the ship.

[guardianjohran]

Barrus Anders wasn't a well known captain around these parts, but the ship he captained was top of the line, and his crew was top notch. At just barely twenty eight years old, he was young for one who ran a pirate fleet, but he'd earned his place with a mix of natural toughness, charisma, and know how, as well as a reputation for getting done what needed done. When he'd sent his men ashore upon hittting port, he'd stayed behind. No need for him to risk exposure to the local navy or city police. He was rather enjoying their anonymity in these waters. It had afterall, gotten them this ship, which was far more sound than their last. They'd only been about a week aboard this particular vessel, and thus he still found himself walking the decks from time to time, just making sure he was familiar with everything. It wouldn't do for a captain to be out of sorts.

And so, he left the partying and pillaging to his men, the only condition being that they came back with the supplies he'd sent them for, in addition to whatever things they'd decided to loot. Currently, he was one of the few on board the vessel. He didn't feel threatened by that though, as he was also probably the toughest individual on this vessel, even when it was fully crewed. He may have been the only threat to overcome for anyone who wanted to befoul the craft, but he'd have been the toughest threat that person faced no matter the situation.

As it was now though, he was unaware of how close he stood to the young girl who had snuck aboard his craft. He stood, eyes cast toward the sea, one hand resting on the bundle of powder bags behind which she cowered, as he swept his eyes across the water, and toward the town. He disliked these supply runs. He had been born on the ocean, and felt more comfortable on the open sea than he did tied down to a port like this. He'd only lived a few years on land, ever, and he couldn't imagine doing it again. He laughed a litte, at the thought, and turned away, heading back toward his cabin. The crew would be back just after sun-up, and they'd be off.

[farrenlock]

Metra peered up at the burly man that towered over her currently. She didn't dare speak and remained silently hidden behind the bags. Her posture kept faultering however, and she really wished that the captain would move elsewhere. Metra remained in that single area for so long, she just couldn't stay still for much longer. She shuffled a little past the bag pile, creeping slowly to get further down the ship, toward the crows nest area. Metra found herself to be doing a fairly good job, until she stumbled on loose rope and fell to the floor with a bitter yet loud thump.

[guardianjohran]

He'd been most of the way back to his cabin, his patrol complete, when his routine was suddenly interrupted. -THUMP!- He turned his head quickly toward the sound of the thudding. What the hell had that noise been? He knew he wasn't the only person aboard the ship still, but he was fairly certain he was the onlyone not below-decks. Everyone else should be working on one of the lower decks, and he should have been the only one out here on the upper deck. He narrowed his eyes, and put a hand on his cutlass handle. Best not to confirm for the intruder whether or not they'd been detected. So he didn't call out so much as a 'who goes there?', just turned and stalked quickly toward the source of the sound. Sounded like it had come from pretty near where he had been only a moment ago, near the mast. It took him only a few seconds to get to that spot on the boat, at which point he found himself looking down at a young lass sprawled rather ungracefully on the deck.

"Well?" He chuckled a little. "What've we here?" Captain Barrus was rather tall, at a little over six feet, so even if she hadn't been down, he still would have towered over her. And though he wasn't exactly a 'big' man, he was obviously well muscled for his frame. He'd cast a somewhat intimidating shadow over her to say the least.

"Tryin' to sneak aboard my ship are you? I'll be having none of that. We're good on crew, and I can't think of anything someone so small as you could do onboard a ship this size, even if there were something we needed. So that must mean ye'r tryin' to steal from me. And I'm most definitely gonna be having none of that either."

He drew his cutlass from its sheath, and pointed it down at her, the light glinting off it, a testament to the quality of its steel. His face was reflected in it, glaring down at her. His shoulder length hair, and short beard doing very little to conceal his angry stare. That face had been considered ruggedly handsome before, by women in many ports. But at this moment, it couldn't be considered anything but menacing.

"Get to your feet, you!"

[farrenlock]

She silently stood up and dusted herself off. Metra knew she would've been spotted at some point, but so soon? Irritated at herself, she scowled downward and almost didn't hear Barrus at all. She turned, her simple dark purple dress flaring up at the sudden movement, hearing the accusation in his tone and harsh overbearing words. His words definitely struck something, for she moved the blade away from her direction and returned his heated stare.

"Foolish man! What reason would I have to steal from you?! Sure, I came aboard here but I definitely don't need any of your trash heap!" Metra spoke absolute venom. She didn't cower in fear, even at his tall figure. At least, not until the last minute when her little speech was done with. Her heart sank somewhat. She wished her mouth would clamp shut before she got herself into more trouble. That wasn't going to happen apparently.
"I only boarded to get away from this city. Hadn't really the money, so when I saw this ship I took a bit of a daring chance." Her glare faltered a bit.

"This little girl can do a whole lot, but would do nothing with your damned tone and insistent insults!" she snapped in a last attempt to keep her composure. Proving that he had some intimidating value did not serve well for Metra. It was a silent little victory he didn't want the captain to have. Just yet.

[guardianjohran]

He smiled a little at her fire, but still scowled at her presumption.

"You come aboard my craft? And have the gall to insult her? This is the finish ship in this port. And ye'r no one to get indignant with me, lass." He waved his sword lightly around, her having pushed the blade away once. "I'll be honest with ye. You have spirit, more than some of my men. And for that I'll applaud you. That's not enough though, to make it worth my time having you aboard. You want away from the city? What if I tossed you overboard?" He rested the flat of his blade gently against one of her shoulders. "Can you swim? Or would your drowning get you far enough from the city to satisfy?" He laughed cruelly. She really was just a young thing, and he supposed he could finish this situation without killing her.

"I'll make you an offer lass, as I'm impressed with your mettle. Two ways to live, or one way to die. Either you get off the ship, and go on about your life. Or, you convince me yer worth keeping aboard, that there's some use to you afterall, and you'll sail with us in the morn. I warn you though. You sail with us, and you dont turn out to be worth it, you turn into fish food."

He really did admire her ability to stand steadfast with a blade in her face. Many men would not have possessed such a mettle. Maybe she had pirate blood in her after all. But she'd most certainly have a lot to prove.

"Which will it be lass? The land, or the sea?"

[farrenlock]

Metra still didn't appear that fearful of his blade, even when it rested on her shoulder. This time, she didn't bother moving it away. Her sight remained steady on his face. She smirked at the suggestion of throwing her into the deep waters, "I can swim, far better than any you could possibly know," she stated in mockery to his cruelty. "I have no intention of living here in the city, so what could possibly waver your opinion of me 'captain?'" she pressed onward. Her arms crossed over her small yet well rounded chest.

Metra walked around him, keen interest flickered in her cat-like gaze. He was definitely attractive, and the threats managed to do the opposite of his possible intentions. He was luring her in. Her long black hair drooped over her eyes slightly as she stopped herself directly in front of him.

"I do well in a medical field," Metra hinted. "That and I can hold up well defensive-wise." She shrugged off the information as if what she offered was merely nothing. "I don't think you'd really be interested in that though. There are many with my skills after all." Metra leaned against the railing of the ship. She waited for his answer, his verdict. "I choose neither. You interest me too much to just give in and leave," Metra stated.

[guardianjohran]

He laughed aloud at her. "Well you certainly have spirit. You choose neither? You'd stay aboard then? That's fine. I made the offer. But as I said ye'll have to convince me you wont be wasted space aboard." He sheathed the blade. "We've always need of a medic, and anyone on my ship will have to be able to defend themself. So those are two things in your favor. If you can prove either of them, that is." He reached behind himself and grabbed a broom from leaning against the mast, and broke the handle over his knee. "Before I'll have you wielding a blade, we'll determine whether or not ye can, without lopping off your own hands, or some other nonsense."

He tossed half of the handle to her, wielding the other himself. The broom handle would do well enough for a test of swordsmanship. There'd be no need to really kill or harm her. And thus, one hand gripping his belt, the other twirling the broken handle, he advanced to where she stood.

"If you can impress me, with more than just your spirit, then you'll have a place aboard. If not, well, I'll try to toss you out nearest the harbor." Even if she could impress him with a useful skill, even if she did have the spirit of adventure he could appreciate, he'd have to teach her some respect for the ship. And for himself as it's captain.

[farrenlock]

Metra looked at the broom's handle, found it a waste to destroy a useful item. Her gaze steadied on him in complete confusion. "How...unwise..." she muttered distastefully. She watched him grow nearer and guarded with the oddly shaped stick with both hands. She kept her distance, backing away a bit so that they didn't end up so close together. She paused when she came near the railing, knowing now she couldn't completely back out of their little sparring match. Her eyes never left his, even as she studied her surroundings with nothing but peripheral vision. The broom stick lowered a bit, then suddenly she charged forward at him.

Just going head on like some rampaging bull wasn't a good choice, but the appearance of the foolish endeavor was what she was trying to trick him with. At the last moment, she quickly crouched and used the stick as leverage to unbalance the captain's stance. In one fluid motion, she then kicked upward to bestow a blow right between his legs. If the odd maneuvering of her stick didn't send him toppling over, that fierce leg of hers would make up for it. Probably. Physics weren't really one to come to her mind - mainly the vast height and size between the two of them. It didn't really flash in her mind that neither move would work. If it did, that would've been a fluke.

[guardianjohran]

He watched her back away, and how she assumed guard. Seems she had a sense of posture, at least to a degree. She was staring him down like someone that had a real shot at this fight. He really hadn't thought she'd be as determined to win as this. He still remained impressed with her for it. And suddenly she rushed him, the surrogate sword lowered. He sighed and shook his head. A rookie mistake. Over agression. He waited until the last moment and took a hard step to the left, spinning to stay facing her, as he assumed she'd go sailing past him. But she'd had a different plan apparently, as she dropped low, and tried to lever the handle between his legs, using it to try and topple him. That was coupled with a sharp upward kick, which had he not already been getting out of the way, would probably have landed hard, in a most devastating place. As it was the foot barely missed a grazing blow, and he was able to recover from the trick with the broom handle by continuing his spin motion. Of course, the the fact that he had a weight advantage against her leverage didn't hurt either. Still she had pretty a pretty good tactic, and had he been closer to her size, he'd have gone down on the deck.

He twirled the handle again, and cracked it across the portion of broom she was holding. Not striking her, just jarring the thing in her hand as she stood up.

"Ye'r pretty good. Wisdom and instinct enough to make up for your stature. Wits can mean the difference between life and death out here on the water, and ye've got that much going for ye. I'd honestly thought you were just rookie rushing me. I guess if you can't intimidate your opponent out of a fight, making them underestimate you is the next best move." He'd still not made any attempt to actually attack her, just letting her do what she would, and feeling her out. "Maybe we do have room for you aboard afterall." He was still twirling the handle. "Who knows. Maybe we'll even give you a blade after too long. What's yer name lass?"