Son of a Beach

[Jenn]

Feb 28th, year 1 

Jenn looked over the open sea from her perch on top of a nearby seaside cliff. There was an ominous wind in the air, dark clouds could be seen just on the horizon, and the crashing of waves against sand and rock filled the air with salt, but none of this measured to the sound of battle that roared in her ears.

The angel took a deep breath, adjusting the leather and metal armor she wore over her clothes. After the last battle, she made sure to come better prepared this time, she doubted Clopin would have let her leave base otherwise. In a flash of feathers, she spread her wings and took to the skies, senses on high alert, eyes peeled for any sign on an enemy to attack.

[Deleted]

Suddenly, the turbulent skies turned a ruinous, gunpowder-black. The sky was stirring itself into a frenzy, with pockets of grey and black clouds colliding. Incandescent lightning flashed and flamed the mamba-back sky. It whimpered and wriggled like a whip-lash flicked across a horse's neck. The ecclesiastical silence was blasted apart by the pealing and yowling thunder. The aftershock hummed in the wind long after it had died.

The sea had been placid until then. Then the lightning slashed down, and the ocean began to boil. Deep below the surface, swollen to its compact depths, the voluminous bowels of the sea were agitated. Rock dashed sand teemed as the sea hissed, wailed, scrubbed and lashed pebbles before sloshing back like a kicked dog. It seemed the sea was its own master, kindling its own symphony.

The wind served a different master and whipped it into a frenzy. The sea's underbelly heaved up, causing colossal waves to rise and crash down upon each other. They lurched across in a mighty leap, dragging their foamy swells with them. The breakers cascaded toward land, and the feral sea once again walloped its brutal waves against the shore, no doubt drenching those who had come to marvel. The water bubbled. Shaking, throbbing to its malevolent beat, its angry soul stirred. Suddenly, rip-tide rolls heaved as the sea foamed, crashed, pounded and bashed galleons, caravels, and miscellaneous naval vessels. The careening armies only had a small window.

The murky black clouds then dipped, and a large dragon clad in iron fell to the sea. A thrumming came from the dragon's mouth and nostrils followed by wisps of smoke.

Ruh oh.

[Perthmail]

The loud roar of the sea was a familiarity that Perthmail had taken for granted. He had always been a keen lover of the waters and space he had soared, but he had failed to realize how much he longed for both after so long. Even with such rough waves beginning to start up he found some sort of content cross through him. Bringing him a long since vacant remembrance of peace. It was almost laughable how much he missed such an old life, but it was the only time in his long life that he had a family to call his own. A crew that had his back.

Perhaps that's why there was also an unsettling feeling in his gut. As though these seas were not as safe as they seemed. Sure, they were in the middle of a battle but there felt as though the ocean was alive more than anyone knew or wanted. Despite this, and despite his own worries he tried to avoid thinking of such an ill fate. He needed to pin his focus on the battle.

His hand was gripping the railing tight while his temporary second hand stirred the ship. His icy blue hues narrowed as the dark sky above opened up, sending a heavy rain down onto those below. Along with it was a huge dragon, and for a moment he couldn't help but pause wondering who it was.

It came very apparent that it was not Maleficent and Perthmail bared his teeth. An audible growl bubbled out of his throat. The background noise of cannon fire not even making him flinch. "GET THOSE CANNONS READY!" He barked, moving down to the deck to be level with the others. "Get the rear guns ready to hit that damn lizard, and get us further out into the water I don't want us caught between the beach and our enemy!"

[John Silver]

“Marahute! Disabled those bastard’s canons if you can! Don’t let them make landfall!” The ursid was stand near the wheel his helmsman sharply turning their own ship, one of the two man-of-wars the ursid had brought to this war. Silver’s eye was a blood red tint as he glares over the battle field, the Freedom Fighters soldiers were already hidden in the jungle ready to lay ambush to the enemy. The ship’s cannons fire, the gunners jerking back from the force as the plasmic cannon balls rip into the earth taking out a group of enemy soldiers in a small vessel.

Below in the thick jungle a pair of lions lay in wait, Mega and Afua’s muscles tense as they wait for the sign to spring forward and latch on with tooth and claw to the enemy.

[Shanty]

Shanty had been.. disappointed, to say the least. A naval fight. It would have been the perfect time to spread her pirating wings. And she missed the feel of a ship beneath her feet so much... But she had other duties, and those duties required upgrades. Upgrades that kept her from the battlefront.

But that wouldn't stop her from attending.

A small, silver bird flits brightly under Jenn's spread wing, giving a signalling whistle before tilting and falling away. Shanty had built the little machine in a rush, but it seemed to be working just fine. Outfitted with a speaker and a camera, the bird had been sent to simply keep an eye on the Rogues and the fight. While not particularly built for combat, the 'feathers' along its wings had been sharpened to a blade-like point, allowing for some defense against any attackers.

The shimmering bird flutters to a rest along a sea-side cliff, settling itself in the midst of a small group of other birds. Black feathers, black beaks... Huh.

Must be crows.

[Marahute]

Thunder and lightning filled the skies, making flying a dangerous affair for Marahute but the giant eagle pressed on regardless of the danger. She had flown through worse cyclones on her journey from Australia to Africa; this oceanic tantrum wouldn't best her.

With a great screech to announce her arrival to the battle, Marahute set her crimson sight on Perthmail's ship and didn't hesitate to fold in her wings to dive-bomb the vessel with her huge, sharp talons aiming to snatch sailors off the deck or at the very least attempt to tear the cannons from the ship. She'd fallen victim to a cannon-propelled net once before - she wasn't about to let herself fall for the same trick twice.

The sound of Silver's vessel firing its own cannons resonated in her sensitive ears but she forced herself to ignore the booming reverberations and focus on attacking the Blackblood ship.

[Kopa]

Kopa lay beside Afua, his whole body tense. His breathing was shallow. He was nervous. He didn't regret coming, but he was still nervous.

[Deleted]

The iron clad dragon looked black against the sky. Her great leathery wings swept up in a fluent arc, then down, then swept up again, uncaring of the turbulent wind and sea. The fleet below the dragon rose and tumbled on the violent waves like corks, but they were so close that she could hardly miss. 

Tehanu's mouth flew open, and the vessel's mast caught ablaze as fire threatened to swallow the pirate king's ship whole.

[Nasira]

Some people felt invigorated by the sensation of sailing, but Nasira was not one of those people. The constant rocking of the deck had made her nauseous, and the wind chilled her to the bone. The voyage had been long, fatiguing and miserable for the desert-born necromancer. 

Perthmail was. It looked as though he had never been happier than on the journey here. Perthmail had not been himself lately, and Nasira was vaguely worried about him. She had no doubt that he was unhappy, but she was not sure why. He would not tell her. Whatever the reason for his unhappiness, it seemed sailing had mollified it. 

The imminent storm made the swaying worse. The quarterdeck suddenly lurched sideways, and Nasira lost her balance. She would have smashed into a bulkhead had she not grabbed the mizzenmast in time. She clung to the beam until the deck leveled again.

Then she saw a dragon.

Nasira's hands twitched spastically as she watched it torpedo in a catatonic stupor, unable to look away no matter how much she wanted to.

"Frollo..."

[Perthmail]

"Son of a bi-" His curse was cut short as the flames set fire to the canvas of his sails and swallowed them whole. In the past, he may have been alarmed by such a thing but he hardly seemed to flinch as the canvas turned into nothing but ash. He was quick to turn his attention to the crew member currently stirring the ship. His teeth bared showing his clear frustration. He had been happy mere moments ago but now, he was irritated, he would have to pull himself together.

He could not worry about anyone else but himself and his ship. "Turn on the backup sail projections, if they want to try and set us aflame they're going to have to try harder then that!" He couldn't help but feel lucky about the fact that his ship was both water ready and space ready, equipped with the highest tech in the universe as far as he was concerned. A little fire hardly ever stopped him before so of course, it would not stop him now.

Still, though the assault continued to grate down on him and the sudden screech of a giant eagle warranted his attention. His gaze widened as a few crewmates were sent flying off his ship and plunged into the ocean by the giant bird. His patience was spent, and now they would just have to deal with what they brought on themselves. He clenched his right fist, blue sparks flying from his palm and up his arm. 

"No more games." His skin rapidly turned stark black, a set of horns appeared on his head and his eyes turned a full icy blue, his iris and pupils no longer seen amongst it. The lightning-like essence that had charged around his arm was quickly cast after the fleeting form of Marahute at a rapid speed. If it did not land then that was fine, it would still explode and break into small fragments that would most likely hit her comrades around her.