"Leave. Now," Kelia growls dangerously as she turns to go.
But the Nunnehi seems to have recovered his composure and he swings his club at her, landing a staggering blow to her side.
"Mmuph!" Kelia gasps as the club hits her. She looks more surprised than anything else, eyes wide in shock even as she stumbles and automatically clutches at her ribs.
Keighvyn inclines his head briefly to Kelia, an ironic smile on his face. "A thousand pardons for the indignity, milady, but this seems the most expedient way to deal with this," he says, and scoops her up into his arms. Keighvyn calls out, "Lord of the Hunt! Grant your child the speed of the wolf!"
Keighvyn mutters, "Shit!" and takes off at a dead run for the gangplank, looking as if the hounds of Hell themselves were on his heels.
Kelia holds tightly to Keighvyn, whimpering as another stab of pain shoots through her side. "He hit me!" she squeaks in disbelief. She maintains a death-grip on Keighvyn as he starts moving.
"It'll be OK," Keighvyn gasps, obviously trying to reassure Kelia as he keeps running.
Lisa rushes into the fray, her blade threatens the brave as she attempts to force herself between those attempting to board and the attacking warrior. She swings viciously at the brave's weapon arm, leaving a deep cut on his forearm. He curses and backs a step to face her.
Narrowing his eyes, Nutiket mutters "I haven't got time for this, Achsin Mizin. I'll deal with you later." With that, he begins chanting in Leni Lenape a few words he has memorized and stamps his right foot three times.
Nutiket suddenly pushes off from the Rock Giant he is fighting and leaps backwards to land beside Tess.
Sebastian quickly reaches for a coin in his satchel, removes it and clasps it in his fist, spins like a discus thrower and releases the coin at the rock giant Nutiket has just pushed off of. The Nunnehi is suddenly lifted off the ground as if by a powerful force, he hangs about three feet up.
Mianderr continues running down the stairs, up the ramp onto the ship and proceeds to take cover by Jubair.
Jubair peers over his cover and watches Kelia and Sir Keighvyn facing the Rock Giant he shot at earlier.
"Get down!" Rajabal calls. "You aren't trained yet and you may hit your friends!"
Jubair ducks back down. "Soon as I get some time and space, I'll get some training," he says to Rajabal.
Bugge and Brighteyes remain behind cover.
Sylvana and the nocker sailor finish loading the cannon. The sailor fires again at the wall where more arrows are continuing to fly towards those on the ship. Again there is a massive chimerical BOOM! and the sound as if a thousand musket balls were ripping along the wall and through the trees.
The tall sailor by the gangplank yells again, "Come on, get aboard!"
Mianderr stays low beside Jubair and yells, "Hey you land lovers, we need to hit the high seas..." He then flips up and looks out after his companions biting his bottom lip slightly. "Come on, I am highly allergic to arrows!" Mianderr then slips back down next to Jubair.
"Get aboard ship, NOW!!" shouts Nutiket at Tess as he gives a powerful shove to the Rock Giant facing them, growling at him "You'll pay for this later, Guhn Achgook."
His opponent skillfully sidesteps the push, using Nutiket's momentum to pull him forward so he falls face down onto the concrete behind Guhn Achgook.
"Get MOVING," Tess shouts back at her friends, as she concentrates her attention on the Rock Giant before her. Moving her sword defensively she bats the Rock Giant's club aside as it prepares to strike at the prone Nutiket. She then reverses direction trying to slash into his check but she overcompensates and her sword swooshes harmlessly past his shoulder.
Jubair peers up in time to see the Rock Giant strike. Visibly angered, Jubair takes aim with the pistol again.
"Don't shoot!" Rajabal calls. "What if you - "
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Jubair roars back angrily as he fires at the Rock Giant. The ball misses by feet, shattering on the concrete beyond.
Sylvana reaches for the weapon at her belt, and takes aim at the Rock Giant at the bottom of the gang plank. She pulls the trigger, purple electricity coursing through the weapon and setting her hair on end.
The electrical bolt slams into the Rock giant in front of Tess. He stiffens as the purple rays arc across his body and then collapses onto the concrete. He shifts as he falls, his fae seeming disappearing and his mortal self, a powerfully built young man in jeans and a t-shirt, lies comatose in his place.
The ship's cannon again roars and the arrows cease after a few last shots.
Keighvyn sprints up the gangplank as more arrows sink into the ship's side. Soon after Sebastian, Tess, and Nutiket clamber on board.
With a shout the tall sailor leaps to the ship's wheel. "Cast off, Cristos!" He yells.
The nocker slips a chimerical rope from a hawser and the ship begins to drift away from the dock.
Up on the poop deck the tall sailor puffs up his cheeks and blows upwards. the sails of the ship suddenly puff outward though no breeze blows through the August morning. He spins the wheel and the ship heels over as the nose tugs away and leans into the river...
...and then the ship is flying out from dock under an impossibly blue sky with a stiff breeze behind her and the salty tang of the sea in the air. Large white clouds drift across the sky in the shape of large throw pillows. The sky is gorgeous and bright but there is no sun, anywhere.
Looking back, the shadowy outlines of Columbus' chimerical landscape can still be seen beyond the docks. Massive pillars of twisted, honey-combed stone stand where the city's sky-scrapers should be, and dark, winged shapes flap between them.
A sense of wild excitement and adventure permeates through the ship, as if everyone had a large wrapped and bowed box before them just waiting to be opened.
Glancing about seemings are seen to slip away as everyone's fae self comes fully to the fore, burying their human selves deep within.
Kelia holds tightly to Keighvyn, her face ashen. It takes her a moment to release her grip. "Th-thank you, Handsome," she gasps, arm pressed protectively to her ribs.
Keighvyn sets Kelia gently on her feet and leans heavily against the railing, brushing sweat-damp forelocks from his brow. Laying his fingers gingerly against the cut on his thigh, he lets out an involuntary hiss of pain.
Jubair sits down again and looks at Rajabal. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier, Rajabal," Jubair says apologetically, "but I just got so angry seeing one of my friends get injured that I just had to do something. It's not in my nature to just sit back and let bad things happen to my friends."
Rajabal hrrmphs in reply and glares at the eshu for several moments, then relents and hops onto Jubair's shoulder. "I understand and accept your apology. At least everyone is on board now, safe and mostly sound." he replies with as much of a smile as a barn owl can manage.
From upon the poop deck of the gaily decked out pirate ship the tall, thin sailors starts talking loudly, "Well, now, that was an exciting send off, eh? I'm Boreas, I'm guessing you folks are the ones I'm supposed to be carrying, eh? At least I hope so! Those Nunnehi were friends of yours? I see you got one with you, should he have kept them from attacking you? Well, where to then, eh?"
Nutiket shakes his head sadly, muttering soft enough that only those near him could hear "They WERE my friends, once. Not any longer, it seems..."
"I don't care much for your friends, Nutiket," Kelia grumbles. She grimaces again and puts a steadying hand on the railing. "I think I'd like to sit down now," she mumbles.
Nutiket spares a silent glare for her, before turning to face the seascape again.
"Boreas, you addle-pated breeze, give the firking meat-sacks a chance to catch their breath." The nocker by the cannon is carefully swabbing the gun out as he hollers up at the captain at the wheel.
Now fully within the Dreaming the ship's captain seems to have become slightly wispy, tall and handsome, and he is extremely thin. Still dressed in the fanciful clothes of a color-blind Captain Hook, his edges all seem blurry and misty, as if he were about to dissolve into thin air at any moment.
"Cristos is right; rest, relax. Catch your breath." He breaths deep, "Okay then all rested? Great! Now where to? The Dreaming is vast but we've nothing but time, eh? You are on a quest, yes? How can we help you?" He seems incapable of speaking slowly.
Mianderr runs his hand over his sweaty brow and slides himself out of his pack. Looking around with a look of pure confusion he says, "I didn't pick a fight with them, honest. Well there was that one little prank, but they should of forgotten all about it by now." His confused look quickly fades as he turns to Cristos, "I bet they attacked to get my jelly beans. Thanks for getting us out of there. Oh no, I forgot my compass, Sylvana did you remember yours?" Popping a couple jelly beans in his mouth he runs about the ship checking out the sights in visible amazement.
Jubair stands up. "Well, we need to journey to the four Holiday Towns to complete our quest. I believe Sylvana and Sebastian have a compass to guide us to the towns, so we should use that to locate each of the towns and head out for them. Right now, however, we will need to heal Lady Kelia's wounds," he says to the captain. "Oh yes, I should introduce everyone to you," Jubair continues. He introduces everyone to the Captain and finishes with himself and Rajabal.
Boreas nods thoughtfully even as he continues his quick-paced patter. "Holiday Towns, eh? We'll need to go to the Far Dreaming then, and the Great Forest. That's the place. Supposedly they are all in there, somewhere. Not certain how to find them from there though. Any guesses?"
Kneeling by the compass, Sylvana pipes in "Well, we have this compass-thing... but I'm gonna need the dross for the first town. Who's got the furkin' costume? I figger since Halloween or Samhain or whatever freakin' holiday you wanna call it is coming up, we oughta go there first. They're probably gonna try there first, I'm guessing." She blows an unruly wisp of white hair out of her eyes, glares at it, then goes back to poking around with the compass."
Glancing over to make sure everyone is okay, Tess nods to the Captain. "Aye sir, as Sylvana says, we've got a device that should lead us to it, if you can get us close, or maybe even from far away, we haven't tested quite how effective it is."
"Best to wait until we get to the Forest then." Boreas answers smiling at troll, "We wouldn't want you to waste your compass and we can get you that far without it. I've heard of these Holiday Towns but little else. they are a legend even within the Dreaming, though it's said they have connections to the Inanimae Empires but I have never met one who knew them." His face droops a bit.
"Could you give us a general idea of about how long we have before we reach this Forest?" asks Tess.
"Time moves differently here, of course. But I know we shall need to sleep several times at least before we get there. We will need to teach you and your friends abit about sailing the ship on the way." Boreas smiles wispily.
Nutiket, his stony face more sad than anything else, moves off to the rail of the ship, gazing out at the magnificent landscape/seascape of the Dreaming and visibly unaffected by it. Leaning on the rail, he gazes out, his face downturn and his eyes dark despite the inky blackness that they are made up of, as he lets the others do the talking.
Sebastian bows a thank you to Boreas and Christos, and begins checking the contents of his hiking pack.
Favoring his injured leg, Keighvyn retrieves his duffel bag from where he dropped it and opens it up. "I've got some triple antibiotic ointment in here, if anyone needs it," he says, rummaging through the bag for a few moments.
Keighvyn makes an astonished sound as his hand comes up with, not the tube of triple antibiotic ointment he bought from the drugstore, but a jar of salve.
Everyone suddenly notices that their equipment has shifted and altered. None of it is as it was before they entered the Dreaming. Tents have transformed into pavilions, food into cheeses and hardtack, basically all of the modern equipment has transformed into something from a fairy tale, or disappeared completely. The food is about the same in quantity as before, at least.
Jubair looks through his pack of stuff - his books are very neat and well-decorated, his pen has changed to a quill and inkpot and his paper has changed into bound parchment. "Hmm. If our stuff has changed already, how long before we start changing ourselves?" he says, mostly to himself.
"You already have, have not your human halves already receded?" Rajabal says knowingly.
Frowning, Keighvyn pulls out a box containing a selection of neatly rolled cloth strips. "At least these're more useful under the present circumstances than band-aids," he says, more to himself than the others, and then, pitching his voice to carry, "I've got some bandages and salve here -- anyone need some?"
"Uhm," Kelia says, looking down at her side and seeing no blood seeping into her clothing, "I don't think I was cut. Just bruised. I hope," she adds with a painful grimace. She pressed her arm protectively against her ribs again.
"Here," Keighvyn says quietly, his expression concerned. "Lean up against the railing here and let me take a look?" He gives Kelia a small smile. "Being a policeman in the real world is good for something -- I'm no doctor, but maybe I can be of /some/ help."
He looks Kelia over with a careful eye, inquiring where it hurts, and feeling with gentle fingers at her side, attempting to judge her reactions to the pressure.
Sebastian walks over to Sylvana. "So, Where's the compass pointing?"
"I just furkin' told you. Aren't listening too well goatman? Ah, never mind, just teasing. We need to feed the costume into the compass before we can do anything. Hmm... It'd also be nice to work a weapons system into this bugger... hmm... sketchbook time." She grabs a pad of paper and starts furiously scribbling down notes and ideas, muttering and cursing as she goes.
After checking that everyone is all right health-wise, Brighteyes slowly inches towards the large rock giant and stands behind and off to the side. In a small voice, she asks "Are you all right...?"
Brighteyes slowly inches towards the large rock giant and stands behind and off to the side. In a small voice, she asks "Are you all right...?"
Mianderr comes to a sudden stop, from his study of the ship, upon noticing the rock giant's facial expression and body posture. Walking over, slightly tilted as he tries to gain his sea legs, he approaches the rock giant and Brighteyes.
Nutiket blinks, slowly turning and looking down at the young girl. Sighing softly, he nods to her and speaks in a gentle voice, his eyes and face softening a bit. "Yes, Brighteyes, I am going to be all right. It's just..." he sighs and shakes his head again. "It's just that the consequences of coming to help you didn't really hit home until just now. Those were my friends out there, and they were trying to kill you, all of you, who are also my friends." He chuckles without humor and shakes his head "They were trying to kill me, too, but that's beyond the point." He looks at her again, catching her eyes, his looking less hard and angry but more sad than ever. "Do you understand what I mean?"
Brighteyes is about to open her mouth, but is interrupted by the young pooka. She politely closes it again.
Mianderr leans up against the railing next to the giant and looks out at the sea. He then says to Nutiket and Brighteyes, "I am sure it was all a miss understanding we can sort out when we get back, I mean, come on, if they are all as cool as you I want to be their friend or at least find out what the arrows are made of so I can get a new allergy medication." He sneezes suddenly with a grin and then turns and looks out over the ocean while absent-mindedly smoothes out his tail.
Turning back to Nutiket and Brighteyes Mianderr continues, "Once this minor adventure is handled and we get back, we can tell them how we saved them from the darkness and we can all be friends. I will teach them a few of my dance moves and they can teach me some of their awesome fire dances." With a thoughtful look he turns to Nutiket, "Unless you know some?"
At first, Nutiket shakes his head slightly. "No, Mianderr, it could not be a misunderstanding. They would not have attacked us if Chief Leatherface did not order it, and if he ordered it he must be renewing his attacks on the County." He then sighs, looking a bit more downtrodden. "I doubt they would care that we saved them from darkness, if anything they would be insulted that we implied that they couldn't save themselves." His face still hard, Nutiket again looks at Mianderr with slightly softer eyes. "I do know a few dances though, even if I am not really that good at them. I would be happy to teach you."
Brighteyes lets out a little moan of displeasure, but says nothing. Instead, she approaches Nutiket to give him a hug. She hugs him for as long as he wants, and says "Don't worry. It'll be all better. I'll make sure of it."
Nutiket appears startled for a moment as the young girl wraps her arms around his waist and just stands there with a look of surprise on his face for a long moment. Then, his dark complexion melts somewhat into a soft, almost brotherly smile as he wraps his own arm around Brighteyes and whispers into her ear "Thank you. I needed that."
Jubair looks up from going through his stuff to see Nutiket and Brighteyes hug, and smiles warmly. "It's times like this I wish I had a camera," he says.
After a short while, Brighteyes takes a step back and smiles happily at him. She looks as if she wants to say something, but the look on her face is that of confusion.
Looks down at her, his face soft and gentle and the smile beginning to touch his eyes. "What is it?" he asks with a kindness that sounds totally out of place when you look at him.
"Well.. I was tryin' to remember what I know about Nunnihis (said incorrectly), but I guess I was asleep that day." She giggles. "You and me should stick together, y'know.. I haven't seen many other things besides sidhe and pookas and trolls, and you n' I are the only ones that're really... different. Not that it matters, but it gets kinda lonely being the oddball, and.. well.." A blush creeps on her cheeks. "Oh, never mind. I'm sorry.. I talk too much.."
Nutiket chuckles lightly. "I would like that, Brighteyes, if you don't mind hanging out with a big, clumsy oaf like me. And if there is anything you wish to know about the NUNNEHI," he emphasizes the pronunciation gently, "I would be happy to answer."
"Okay!" She grabs Nutiket's arm and attempts to drag him off to a quiet corner of the ship.
Nutiket allows himself to be pulled, still smiling softly.
Mianderr comes out of his visible contemplation, still leaning against the railing, just long enough to wave to Brighteyes and Nutiket as they move off toward another part of the ship. Looking out once more out at the horizon he softly mumbles.... "Miss-understanding.... that is all it can be..."
Shaking his head slightly, Mianderr proceeds to pop a bright red jelly bean into his mouth and goes back to his looking around a smile one more on his face.
Once they are separated from the group, Brighteyes starts asking many things at once: "What are NunnEhi? If yer made of rock, can you feel stuff? What's it like being a Rock Giant?"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" says Nutiket, holding up his hands defensively. "I am happy to answer you, but I can only answer one question at a time." With a chuckle, Nutiket goes on. "The Nunnehi are the Changelings of the Native Americans, who lived in the New World before the Europeans discovered it. As such, most Nunnehi Fae are in Native American bodies, but not always. In my case, I am half Leni Lenape and half Italian. I do feel stuff just the same as you do. I am not sure why, I guess it is because the rock is my skin instead of on my skin, so it is different than normal rock." He pauses with a thoughtful look, then finishes that thought with "Think of me as living rock, I suppose." He chuckles before he answers the last question. "What's it like being a Rock Giant? I'll tell you if you tell me what it is like being a Piskie."
Brighteyes listens attentively to every word. She nods enthusiastically. "Of course I'll tell you! But you first."
With a smile and a bow, Nutiket replies "Ladies first, I insist."
"Oooh.. all right.. What's it like being a piskie, huh? Okay, I guess. People keep askin' me what I am and what piskies are, but I really can't tell 'em much. But it's nice.. I make lots of friends, and everyone's happy around me. For some reason, though, they keep accusing me of stealin' things..." Brighteyes answers.
"Stealing things? That does sound rather odd." Nutiket says.
"Uh huh." And she pulls out a purse of various trinkets, including old pieces of wool, some jewelry, a dime, etc. "And for some reason, these things keep on appearin' in my bag. I don't know why."
Nutiket looks in the bag silently, his expression unreadable, before he continues what he was saying. "Being a Rock Giant is rather different. Among other Nunnehi, the other Rock Giants constantly want to try to test their strength against me, while Nunnehi of the other families have a tendency to lump me into the 'Big, Dumb and Ugly' stereotype, and always half-expect me to fly off the handle at something minor. Among your people, though... I almost feel as if everyone is always watching me, half expecting me to make a wrong move. Not you guys, of course!" he spares a quick, neutral glance for Kelia before he goes on, "but others, like that Lorewick. It's like... being on probation, I guess."
Brighteyes nods. "But you're not dumb and ugly. You just don't think us girls can camp." She flips her hair over her shoulder. "Don't worry! Some people are just dumb!" She smiles, and blinks, and hangs her mouth open in a dazed stupor. The piskie then shakes her head and fiddles with her costume. "An' besides, I think yer kinda cute...."
Nutiket's jaw drops slightly at that, and for a moment he stares, appearing dumbfounded. He then visibly recovers, shaking his head and replying "Well then... umm... thank you. No one has ever said anything like THAT about me..."
After speaking with the Captain for a time, Tess steps away, glancing about the ship to note where her companions are. Noting the rock giant and piskie speaking separately, Tess frowns slightly, but doesn't do much else about it. She searches for another moment, and makes her way over to where Keighvyn and Kelia are standing.
Tethran smiles down at the two as she approaches, and says, "You ought to make sure Sylvana takes a look at both of you also. She's the doctor, after all."
Time: ?
Current Weather: Bright & clear Expected Weather: ?
Original summary by Paul Westermeyer; converted to HTML by Midori Hirtzel-Church