Leaving Gobaith

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:12 pm

At the northern tip of the island, beyond the orcen mountains, a ship looms close to the coast, its rickety mast just barely slicing through thick, unseasonable fog. The pathetic shreds imitating sails that cling to its mast like starving, wretched servants clinging to the only master they know make one wonder if the ship could even leave port successfully. Nevertheless, one form stands motionless on the coast, obviously waiting for the ship. It doesn't look like a merchant ship or a passenger ship; perhaps a pirate ship, or maybe just a woebegone cargo ship belonging to a failing merchant company.

When the ship finally moors, the figure leaps to sudden action. One long braid whips behind her in the gloom as she races towards the ship. Grabbing to its netting, she begins to climb up the side of it; something seems to slow her down, as she continues upwards with an awkward motion. Finally, she reaches the railing, and swings over it, landing flat-footed on the deck; she has an air of catlike grace even despite her obstacle, which now becomes obvious as she stands straight on the ship's deck; she is heavily pregnant. Her face is a little dirty, her hair in a dark red braid. She negotiates quietly with the captain of the ship, who can be seen shouting at her, though the wind steals the words away. With a sudden movement, the captain is being held against the rail, twisting to remain on his feet. The woman, who seems slightly deranged, holds a gleaming silver dagger to his throat. In a placating gesture, he holds his hands before his face and nods. The woman lets him up, perhaps reluctantly, and then heads wordlessly towards the trapdoor leading below deck, presumably to her new quarters.

Arriving there, the woman looks around the tiny, dim cabin that smells of wet fur and old salt. Shrugging, she throws her belongings on one of the two narrow, hard cots built into the wall of the only passenger cabin. Only one of the beds has a blanket on it, a green one that is ridden with fleas and has holes in it as if from rats. She settles on the other bed, her head and shoulders hunched over to avoid hitting the low ceiling. Feigning boredness, she begins to clean underneath her fingernails with the tip of her dagger, which sports an emerald-green handle. Her ears are poised, though, for any sounds around her cabin.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:26 am

After saying her goodbyes to Brer, Irania boards the ackward looking ship which would be taking her from Gobaith. Even in the heavy fog she could see how dirty it was. Various ropes, rags, and other cleaning items were strewn about the deck and obviously were not used in some time. Tieing her long, dark hair back with a ribbon, Irania reshoulders her bags and walks across the ships deck toward the entrance to the lower sections. I can't believe i'm actually leaving... The thought was rather shocking for a moment. It was just too much to handle right now. She lifts her dress to step over a puddle of something which was giving off a rancid odor. Disgusting.

The thin hallway had, after passing the puddle of unknown liquid, taken on the distinct scent of stale, salty, sea air. Now however she comes to to the door of her cabin which apparently, she would be sharing with another woman who had boarded not long before. Opening the door slowly, Irania steppes inside and shuts the door behind her. Turning, she cocks her head to the side holding on her face an irritated expression.

"Devrah Windslasher." She smirks after speaking.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:52 pm

The woman looks up, dark green eyes blank, with an icy glaze. Though adding up her time on the island her age at this point can't be over twenty-two, but she doesn't look it. She looks thirty-five, her face darkened with sun and streaked with dirt, harsh lines drawing their way between her nose and mouth, and around her eyes. She doesn't smile; barely moves her lips in a hiss:

"Liioness," she corrects, the syllables bitter, coming like from a snake's mouth. She stares at the girl with dark, dark green eyes wordlessly, almost daring her to move her things off the other bed.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:44 pm

Irania merely smirks coldy still, her own dark drown eyes taking in each detail of Devrah. She herself was not even the slightest bit dirty, more wet than anything due to the fact that it rained on the trip over.

"I'm glad we got that out of the way." She speaks, her tone sarcastic, and does in fact move towards the other bed. Irania stops however, to gaze upon the moving insects which crawl across the blanket. Removing a wicked looking dagger from her belt with her only free hand she lifts the sad excuse for a blanket and tosses it onto the floor and away from the bed. Irania sets her bags down beside her feet and sits down slowly. Her eyes drift back to the woman who was to be her travelling companion and she simply stares with the same cold smirk painted across her lips. The rest of her face was cold as well, even her skin gave off an icy aura.

Irania is petite and lovely, though bitter looking. Her pale skin contrasts greatly against her dark hair and eyes which always seem to contain a scowl within them. She herself look to be no more than 23 years old, though with her attitude you would assume her to be more of a hag thana young woman.

"Aren't we quite pregnant." It was more of another sarcastic bit than a question.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:51 pm

Coming to life suddenly, with a small stretch that is more like the darting of a cobra than the stirring of a woman, Devrah bites a catty reply:

"No," she says tartly, "I'm just fat."

Her eyes remain fixed on the face of the other woman, expressionless and dark, but her posture is taut. Lithe muscles stand out in feline cords along the length of her body, except for the protruding stomach that looks actually absurdly soft on the hard woman owning it. Her clothing is a sleeveless top, skirt, and strip-leggings made from dark brown leather, her shoes are sandals that lace with brown strips to her knees. Underneath some parts of the leather she wears a thin, gauzy material of a light blue color.

The braid that trails over her shoulder is tightly bound but perhaps slightly tangled. Insects of all sizes crawl near her, but she takes no heed, simply stares unfathomlessly at the other woman.

Hatred radiates from her.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:32 am

Irania rolls her eyes at the reply. "This is going to be a fun trip." Her expression turns to one of apathy before she stretches out on the bed, folding her hands behind her head. The slight rocking of the docked ship she realized was much more obvious when her thoughts drifted away. Irania looks up to th cieling of the cabin, taking in all of it's details. Semi-rotten wood with knots every so often along each plank and a few cobwebs lined the corners like thick wall hangings. In their silence a small animal, perhaps a rat, could be heard scurrying across the floor someplace in the room. Irania shoots the woman a cold sidelong glance before her eyes drift back to the ceiling.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:46 pm

Devrah's eyes glitter maliciously at the other woman, but the expression on her face is only one of boredom. with a sudden, fluid motion she pulls a small blade, only the length and width of a thumb, from one of the lacings of her sandal and sends it from her grip with the force and velocity of a launched arrow at the offending rustling rat. The knife pierces the rat through its neck and effectively nails it to the floor, before Devrah wordlessly extracts the knife, wipes it on the side of her bag, and sticks it back in her sandal. She kicks the rat carcass out the door with a sideways motion of one foot.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:19 am

Irania watches the scene out of the corner of her eye with a blank expression. Well, perhaps not all blank. Her eyes however held a hint of hate in them as they flickered across to her. She shifts slightly on the bed, obviously a bit uncomfortable, though it could be from either her surroundings or her company. Swinging her legs over the bed and sitting up, Irania sways slightly as the ship obviously begins to drift away from the dock.

"Goodbye Gobaith" She mutters under her breath.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:24 am

Very softly, as if she hadn't meant to speak aloud, Devrah responded, "Good riddance, Gobaith."

Then, sending a dagger-glance at her 'roommate', Devrah stood and left the room, climbing the rickety ladder back to the main deck.

---

The crewmen gave the ferocious-looking pregnant woman a plenty wide enough berth, and she wandered the deck a bit before perching near the railing, looking down into the slate-gray, choppy sea. Whatever her thoughts were, they were hidden from anyone that would glance at her -- the one thing they would surely take notice of was her stomach -- it looked about ready to pop.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:05 am

Irania snorts softly to herself after her unwanted companion leaves the room. She stands up and looks around the dirty quarters with a blank expression painted across her face. The journey had only just begun and already Irania was wishing there had been another ship available. Any really. Even one in worse condition than this as long as Devrah wasn't on board. Stepping out of the cabin, she meanders back down the hallway, past the rancid smelling puddle, and up onto the deck. The fog was still clouding her vision but was letting up ever so slightly as they sailed farther from the shore.

Irania wanders across the deck slowly, spying her companion and wrinkling her nose at her stomach. Pregnant? The woman was a barbarian. Devrah is to mother as a stab wound is to stomach. The thought however drifted from her mind as her eyes gazed upon the outline of Gobaith in the distance. Brer should be almost all the way back to Trollsbane by now surely. It would have been foolish to stand in the rain.

"Goodbye Quinnie." She murmered, her words barely audible. She had not even gotten to say goodbye to her sister. Hopefully the elfess would not be too sore with her for leaving. After all, she'd done it many times but never without word.

Irania turns away from the island and back to Devrah for a moment before making her way back to the cabin where she would lay down once more.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:09 am

Devrah gazes into the rough ocean, and her thoughts stray - inevitibly - downward and ahead a very short distance.

She would give birth any day now. This ship wasn't her ideal place, but anywhere was better than back on Gobaith. She had gone there years ago thinking to find sanctuary from her past - but her past had followed her. All her life until three years ago she had been able to bypass the law of three - that each action you did produced a threefold reaction upon yourself. Devrah had never believed in such a concept - but three years ago, it seemed she had begun to repent for everything she had ever done.

She had lost one child already - and she could not shake the sickening feeling that she had deserved such a loss for all the lives she had taken in the past. Perhaps another woman in her place would have prayed for the safety of her unborn child; perhaps another woman in her place might even pray for forgiveness for her past wrongs; but Devrah was not another woman, and she had never prayed in her life - was not about to start now.

She lowered one hand to her stomach, feeling the heartbeats within -- two hearbeats. She knew that Avareniah had been correct in pronouncing her pregnancy a double one. She knew, as well, what she would name the children.

Whatever had happened between them, Devrah knew she would honor their father's wishes in naming them.

Whether or not he ever saw them, was another question.

First, she would concentrate on keeping them alive.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:57 am

As Irania lays upon the bed she focuses her mind on the gentle sway of the ship as the waves rock it from side to side and back and fourth. Hey eyes every so often dart to the door expecting her unwated companion to enter the cabin. Irania certainly had no desire to look upon the pregant wench again any time soon though of course she knew the woman would be back eventually. Maybe she'll go into labor and roll off the ship. She snickers to herself slightly. After a few moments however the mental image drifts away and is replaced with other that really are not any more nice than usual.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:15 am

It is only a few hours later, while roaming the deck semiaimlessly, that Devrah feels a deep pain in her abdomen, and she knows -

Striding to the first mate with an admirably vile look on her face, she demands that the crew leave their cabin vacant for the rest of the night. It was most likely the fact that she was practically foaming at the mouth when she made the demand, that caused him to agree - but let's pretend for the sake of his preservation of character image that it was chivalry.

*~*~*

Three hours later, Devrah holds two tiny infants in her arms - she is alone in the crew quarters. If anyone had seen her, they would have received a startling impression - she was at once far more gentle than she had ever appeared, and at the same time far more fearsome. Through that night, the red-haired assassin cared for her two children - one, a boy with a few strands of dark red hair and deep, jaded eyes like his mother - the other.... Devrah had to bite her lip when she set eyes on the girl. Her eyes were a light sky color, and her hair - it was a cap of electric blue curls. There wasn't a person that would sight that baby and not know whose it was.

*~*~*

The next day, Devrah finally returned to her cabin - in place of the huge belly were the two tiny children. Amazingly, she didn't appear stretched from childbirth - she was a little pale, and a little worn around the edges, but her stomach was nearly flat again, if not as well muscled as it may have been in the past. She didn't even glance at the other woman in the cabin - as much of a feat as that was in the tiny cell of a room - she wrapped the babies in the one blanket and her cloak and laid them on her cot, and she sat on their other side, so the two children slept between her and the wall. Her eyes remained trained on them, though ehr body was tensed and her ears were perked.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:32 am

Irania smirks slightly at the sight of Devrah holding the infants. Her expression other than that was one of disinterest and boredom. She now averts her eyes and looks back to the cieling, dark brown eyes scanning the wood continuously. They had been at sea for come time and were far from Gobaith by now which was almost a relief to her.

A shout is heard from the deck above and Irania rolls over to face the wall, ignoring it and Devrah. Most likely the sound she had heard was simply a member of the ships crew calling to one of his mates. Shifting slightly on the bed, Irania searches for a comfortable position if one could be had on the rough, dirty cot.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:44 am

Devrah, whose ears were keened simply because she didn't trust the woman on the opposite cot, picked up the scream as well. Her body tensed further, and she half-rose, listening for further sounds.

Suddenly, the deck overhead exploded with footsteps and shouts - she stepped into the hallway for a minute, enough to understand two words - "Pirates", and "Surrender".

That was all Devrah needed to hear.

She almost didn't say anything to the other woman, but as she placed her bag aside of the infants to hold them on the cot, and drew a dagger from either side of her belt, she spat a sentence at her, after all:

"The ship's being seized by pirates. I suggest you get your pretty little ass out of bed and do something about it."

The statement was clearly not meant as a compliment.

Devrah raced to the top of the deck with her daggers drawn.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:55 am

Irania sits up, the blank expression still painted across her face as she watches Devrah leave the cabin.

"A hell of a lot prettier than yours..." Her muttered words were sarcastic and dry.

Drawing her wicked looking dagger from her belt, Irania glances to the infants on the bed and places her bag next to the one Devrah had put down, giving the children added protection, then slips out of the room. Heading past the rancid smelling puddle, which had grown more pungent, and up the rickety ladder, Irania takes the fresh sea air into her lungs and holds the dagger firmly in her hands while looking about warily.

The fog was much less dense and the winds had picked up a great deal since they were so far out. It was late in the afternoon and the sky was growing increasingly dim as the sun waned and the moon rose up, it's nightly reign soon to begin.

Irania, to her dissappointment, catches up to Devrah who also was holding her weapon with the same wary expression.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:45 am

A larger ship has pulled up alongside the ship they are on, and dozens of men have spilled onto the decks. Most of the crew is already slaughtered, and the few that survive have haphazardly lowered themselves into the few lifeboats. Devrah immediately attacks the nearest of the men, a brutish, hairy man with arms like pythons and thick, dirty brown hair. She doesn't even bother to see how Irania does; she fights intensely with only thoughts of preserving herself and her infants in mind.

She successfully kills two of the men, and is engaged in a fight with the thrid, when she feels childbirht taking its toll on her. Winded far earlier than normally and with shaking knees, she miscalculates for a split second, and he gains the upper hand. She continues to fight him, but there are now only Devrah and Irania left alive on the ship, and they are surrounded by a good three dozen men, all with very large blades.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:09 pm

Irania steps forward to one od the intruding men with an ackwardness of someone whos skills are a bit rusty. She keeps out of his grasp by using her size to her advantage and twisting away from his reach easily. She slides the dagger across his forearm in an attempt to throw him off though she loses her balance slightly moments after.

The boat rocks with the waves, making it difficult to stand firm and hold footing in a defensive manner. Irania slides away from his grasp once more and plunges the dagger into his gut with a grimace as the blood leaks out on to her hand. After he falls Irania moves forward to view the scene though her eyes cloud in a hoplessness as she lays her vision upon the mnay men who outnumber them.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:18 pm

Resigned to the very high likelihood of defeat, Devrah's mind races through the possibilities. She shoots a look at the other woman: through gritted teeth she says "I'll be right back," and without further explanation she disappears into the lower regions of the ship. When she returns, her two infants are wrapped tightly in clothes and blankets, nestled in her arms in a gesture that looks distinctly out of place - strange or not, Devrah carries them in a manner that can only be described as lovingly and protectively. She reaches the nearest railing of the ship, and as the men loom closer, she shoots a glance at them - hoping that Irania, little weak-looking wench that she might be, can hold them off for just a few minutes. She finds one last lifeboat - a tiny, rickety, one-man lifeboat that looks as if it was built for a child or maybe a small animal, and has more than one wide yawning crack in its sides (The fact that it remains on the ship must be solely due to the fact that no grown person could fit in it) - and begins to cut it away from the side of the ship, slicing through the thick, knotted ropes easily with her razor-sharp, now-crusted-with-blood dagger.

When only one rope remains tying the tiny boat to the ship, she lowers the infants into it gently. She slices through the rest of the ship just as she is grabbed around the neck and waist by one of the men. She distinctly smells intense body odor and a nasty eau de fish as she catches what may be her last glimpse of her children.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:31 pm

Lowering her dagger in a manner of defeat, Irania looks around at the pirates with her usual blank stare, yet her eyes hold a hint of fear. She slides the blood soaked, wicked looking dagger discreetly into her boot before look back to Devrah as she nestles her infants down into the boat. It was a grim situation with seemingly no hope of a turn for the better and only a turn for the worse. These men would do god knows what to them and take pleasure in doing it. Things had gotten far more complicated than Irania thought that they would, and to be honest she certainly did not expect this.

Turning back to the men who boarded the ship and would in mere moments be surrounding them, Irania's blank expression turns to one of defiance. She would not make it easy on any of them. It wasn't her way.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:52 pm

Devrah elbows the man holding her roughly, and the dagger still held in her hand from cutting the rope sinks into his thigh. She turns around and tries for another strike, but she is weakening fast, drained from the pregnancy. The men all surge forward together, several men grabbing hold of the two women. Devrah has one final glimpse of the tiny lifeboat bobbing away before something very large and heavy contacts the back of her skull and she falls unaware.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 5:17 pm

Irania tries to twist free from the grasps of them men who had their hold on her but to no avail. The moments pass quickly and stop suddenly as her mind blackens and she she knows nothing more.

Awakening, Irania blinks and squints, attempts to gain a better view of her surrounding and ignore the pounding ache in her head. She was bound at the wrists and ankles, laying on a familiar and uncomfortable cot. Across from her, upon a seperate bed, lay Devrah. Though Irania knew not if she was awake or asleep.

"Hey, are you awake?" Her tone is cold and dry, it is more of a statement than a question.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 5:19 pm

Devrah groans slightly, opening her eyes blearily.

Gods, her head felt like it was about to explode. Her eyeballs pulsed from the inside.

Devrah replied with a half-formed question:

"They got away?"

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:24 am

"I don't know." She replies and blinks away the sleep again. "I didn't see." From above came shouts from one man to another. Apparently the men who had taken them hostage were busy doing whatever pirates do after taking a ship for themselves. Irania looks down to her bound feet and smirks. Gods, this is rediculous... She shifts them in a failed attempt to loosen the knot. It had been not even a few full days and the trip had proven itself to be more than just a bad idea. What these men had in mind for the two women was not known, but what Irania did know for sure was that life on Gobaith held practically the same future as she now faced. Dissappointment.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:05 pm

It wasn't long before one of the large, hairy pirates came in to check on them. Devrah knew he was coming way before he arrived, because she could smell rotting fish, and hear fat-man footsteps rattling the boards on the deck.

The man, who weighed no less than five Devrah's, smirked at the pair of them. His teeth, what remained of them, were gray-yellow and crusted with whatever pirate teeth are always crusted with. Scurvy, or the like.

"Well, ain't we a pretty piece o' loot," he said greasily, looking between them. He put his hand out to touch Devrah's cheek, an obscene smile plastered to his face. Devrah promptly bit him as hard as she could, and wished immediately that she hadn't. If he smelled like rotting fish, he tasted like the very essence of nasty.

His face darkened and he cursed low. "Bitch," he muttered, slapping her across the face. She spit at him, knowing he had left a red mark on her cheek, and wanting to kill him purely for that fact. "You won't want to do that again," he said softly, warningly, before he turned to face Irania.

"How about you, sweety?" he said, a very dirty tone of suggestion in his voice, "Wanna show Bitch over here how to behave like a real lady?" He tried to stroke her hair.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:30 am

Irania wrinkles her nose at him and glares, her dark eyes glued to him in hatred.

"Don't count on it." She sneers and mumbles something obscene before flinching as his hand reaches to smack her yet stops before doing so.

"You two need to learn what it means to cooperate with a pirate. You will very soon." He smiles devilishly and looks back to Devrah. "I'll be back soon, don't go anywhere." The huge man laughs at his own joke and leaves the room.

"What in the name of Cherga are we supposed to do now..." Irania still wrinkles her nose.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:00 am

Devrah looks at Irania a moment, her expression perfectly blank, her dark green eyes simply cold.

Without bothering to reply, Devrah casts her eyes around the room, searching for a sharp edge. Not finding one, she sends a glance to her feet; her twin fullsize daggers had been removed from her belt, but she doubted they had been smart enough to find all three of her tiny knives. Ever since the murder of her first child, Devrah had done everything humanly possible to ensure she would never be caught unarmed.

After a brief survey of the lacings of her sandals, however, Devrah comes to the conclusion that they had indeed found and removed that particular blade.

There were two more, hopefully. However, she couldn't reach them, bound as she was. She ran her eyes along Irania briefly, coming to the conclusion that the other woman wsa tied just as tightly.

Hm. This was definitely the worst trip she had ever taken.

*~*~*

Later in the day, three men came into the tiny room together, and eyes the women greedily.

"Heh, Falmuth," one, a particularly skinny and greasy blond man said, "What'f we just... had a little fun wif' 'em now? 'Fore Scall does, I mean?"

A short, stubby one, presumably Falmuth, shook his head quickly - Devrah could have sworn grease spattered the walls as he did so - "Scall'll throw us overboard if'e finds out we did anyfink afore he told us to."

The third smirked, toothlessly. This one was at least fifty years old, and very wiry. "Who's gun' tell 'im, mates? I know I warn't." Still smirking, he rubbed his hands together. He was missing a finger on his left hand, and the finger next to it looked like it had been stitched back on, and poorly. It sort of hung off a little, at a weird angle. As he took a step forward, Devrah spat at his feet - actually it was a fairly impressive distance. "You don't want to touch me," she said, her voice very low. There was a distinct growl underlining her words.

The greasy man grinned, "Don't I?"

Her dark green eyes flashing dangerously, she shook her head minutely. The man advanced anyway, still rubbing his hands together. As he drew close, Devrah snapped her teeth threateningly.

The three men laughed.

"Oooh, a feisty one!" They roared appreciatively, clapping. The old one picked the end of Devrah's braid in one hand, and used it to pull her head upwards, off the hard cot. Twisting and lunging, Devrah struck - with a very fluid, snakelike motion.

The man screamed suddenly - held up his hand - suddenly the floor was covered in a pool of spreading red. He waved his hand around idiotically, spattering more blood on the walls. He cradled his left hand in the crook of his right elbow and started to half-scream, half-sob.

With a vicious, rabid look on her face, Devrah slowly spit out his deformed-stitched finger.

"I told you so," she smirked coldly, her face looking suddenly dark. Blood dripped from her mouth, but she didn't seem to notice.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:25 am

Irania winces and shoots them a disgusted look, more to Devrah however. Her eyes travel down to the blood spattered floor and then to his hands, which he grips still tightly. The old pirates face was contorted in pain and all the while his mates simply watch in almost wide eyed awe at Devrahs actions.

"I see this one still has some things ta learn." He didn't smile at all, he was merely stating a fact. "This other one I hope won't do nothin' like that after seein' what we do ta wenches who don't cooperate." His gaze travels over to Irania who lays in her tied up state with the disgusted look still painted across her face. She says nothing however, simply tenses under his greedy, cold stare. Now he turns back to Devrah with an inspectful air, looking into her dark eyes which seem quite feral at the moment.

"You want ta try that with me, Wench?" He grins a toothy, sly grin. "I promise I ain't easily intimidated. I'll make ya sorry you don't treat us with more respect. Or at least with more fear." He strides closer to her and drags fer from the bed and onto the ground, giving her a swift, hard kick in the thigh. Irania herself cannot help but smile at his actions. She of course, could not stand this woman and would not cry over her getting a good ass kicking.

Devrah Liioness · Post by **Devrah Liioness** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:43 am

Devrah took the kick without wincing, but something shifted in her eyes - if before she had been angry and feral, now she was absolutely insane.

She was dragged and rolled through the blood on the floor, and that combined with the look in her eyes gave her a look that was at once frightening and otherworldly. She was dragged to her feet by the three men, and then out of the tiny room and above deck.

*~*~*

Scall was a tall, fat man with lips and eyes that put one in mind of a fish. He was bald, and wore one gold earring, and a beard that ended in two tails somewhere near his chest, His beard was greasy and black, and he had an ever-present look of cruel satisfaction on his face.

The men didn't have to explain much to Scall. He took one look at Ghurkin's mutilated hand and the feral look in her eyes, and grinned evilly.

"Tie her to the mast," he commanded silkily. Her hands were untied, and she took an immediate swing at the nearest one's head, but with seven or eight pirates around, she was overtaken and her arms were tied around the mast so that she appeared to be hugging it. Devrah expected a strike for her struggles but received none. Instead one of the men disappeared below deck for a minute. The others simply stared at her with glittering eyes that held a secret Devrah was suddenly aware she really didn't want to know.

The man returned carrying a long iron rod and a small metal barrel full of burning coals from the galley.

The captain grinned "Wench," he said oily, "We're going to teach you a lesson you will carry for the rest of your life."

*~*~*

When it was over, Devrah had not cried out once - but she was slumped against the mast, barely concious for the pain. When she was untied, she was too weak even to try and fight. They retied her original bonds and put her back on the cot across from Irania.

When she was returned to the room, Devrah didn't speak. Her skin was covered in Gheurkin's blood, black brandings, and ugly, pus-filled burn blisters. Her eyes were so dark they appeared only bottomless pools of hatred - a ferocity so intense that the men left as soon as they had put her back.

Irania · Post by **Irania** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 7:03 am

Irania blinks and shifts on the cot slightly, eyeing Devrah with a blank stare. She makes a sound that one might think to be a soft snicker and licks her lips slightly.

"Well, your looks have improved at least." She speaks knowing full well that the woman is only half concious. The rope around her ankles was beginning to give her a slight burn from the shifting that she had been doing and the rest of her was not doing any better. Her hair was disheveled and she seems very tired. "At least they didn't stick around." The boat swayed still with the waves, it had been a few days not and who knew where they were now. The ship could dock anywhere and these women wouldn't even know where it was they were at. Not to mention that they might not even get off of the gods forsaken ship alive. Irania shuts her eyes and attempts to fall asleep. She accomplishes this but her rest is not one that could be considered 'restful'.