Son of a Beach

[Crow]

  Cold, bluish eyes had fixated on the sky, watching the unusual approaching storm with great interest. The silhouette of a dragon had caught the flock's attention, watching its form twist and command the currents around it, both sea and sky alike. It wouldn't be long before this little slice of the world twisted into a maelstrom. Ideal flying conditions. A sudden, unmistakable urge to take wing. But the birds remained still and obedient. Things had to be played more carefully this time.

  This flock, a paltry fraction of its size compared to last time, had settled along the cliffside to watch the show. There would be no combat interference this time. Orders were to observe, report, and to act as the messenger. No more, no less. This came with its frustrations, of course. When a shock of lavender had flown past, the murder had been appropriately startled. This was coupled with light cawing in alarm and annoyance as they temporarily scattered, only to reclaim their chosen nesting spot moments later. They were only birds, after all. But hidden amongst the crowd, a lone crow bore its gaze into purple wings. Crows remember the faces of those who've wronged them, so they say, and hers was a difficult face to forget.

  But the birds remained still, and obedient.

  A flash of something metallic settled amidst the murder, and birds moved and adjusted to accommodate. It wasn't one of the flock, but it could disappear into the small crowd easily enough. There was a clear temptation to attack, to remove an unwelcome guest. But to do so would clearly give away an already precarious position.

  Besides... who was Crow to deny another a chance to enjoy the show?

[Shanty]

"Oh, don't get fussy."

Metal wings shuffle slightly, bright blue eyes turning to meet darker ones. While it doesn't seem she's aware of just what these birds are, it's not stopping her from chattering at them as if they were common crows.

Whoever's behind the metal visage seems to be content enough to keep peace, only chastising the birds for their looks of concern. Instead, however, she's giving... commentary about the sailing below.

"Ugh. Honestly, if they don't trim that mainsail, the boom is going to go flying off... It'd cause some good drama, though. Hm."

[Claude Frollo]

Frollo watched as the Dragon appeared in the sky, it was fully apparent that this was the work of some great evil... Who? at this point who cares. He Kept calm in the situation and got to Nasira as carefully as he could "Get a hold of yourself! That dragon is most likely nothing but a distraction. " Frollo scanned the immediate area and looked toward the East. " We need to make landfall, Slowly. is it possible to have a small complement of men go ahead as the advance party while we head in on the second wave. I need you for this Nasira. For our Lady! we will Slay out enemies!" Frollo shouted raising his sword held high. "Perthmail, we leave the Sea to you! May victory come to you. I shall keep in touch via the messenger Crow.

Frollo gathered a group of men and separated them into 2 groups "Right group, you are the advance party. He gave a candle to one of the men. "As soon as you make landfall, Light the candle. a green smoke will come from it and we will land  and set up. if you are attacked, do not light it; throw it into the sea. Do I make myself clear?" The men were slient but nodded their heads. "Good. Nasira let us prepare for landfall. Left Group will accompany myself and Nasira."

Frollo was unusually calm for the situation, but in his mind this was his chance, and heaven knows he will not mess up. There was also a drive he had never felt before.... a less knowledgeable man might call it bloodlust but no... it was more akin to resolve to kill every sinful individual not on his side, and there were many. He could feel it.

[Marahute]

Too late Marahute noticed the electric blue flash of lightning-like essence that shot from Perthmail's arm, crimson eyes widening before she attempted in vain to swoop out of the way of the demon's attack. A screech of pain left the great golden eagle as the lightning-like essence hit her taloned feet. The secondary explosion and the fragments of energy that impacted her wings caught her by surprise again and the pain almost caused Marahute to plummet into the wild, churning waters below.

Forcing herself to ignore the burning pain that blossomed across her wings as a result of the unavoided attack, Marahute made one last swipe at Perthmail with her talons before she swooped away from the ship as quickly as she could. Even wounded the great golden eagle had no intentions of fleeing the battle. She wouldn't follow in Aladdin's cowardly footsteps and flee without giving this battle her all.

[Nasira]

For a moment Nasira looked at Frollo incredulously. That "distraction" could burn their whole fleet. The ships' cannons could only aim so high, and the dragon showed no sign of slowing down. An unpleasant possibility crossed the necromancer's mind, but she shook it off. There had to be a method to Frollo's madness.

Nasira saw the sails of the enemy rapidly approaching and heard the far-flung bang of cannon fire. The cacophony of splintering woodwork and alarmed screams from an unseen ship carried over roaring wind. The crew on the gun deck of their vessel had already opened the gun ports and undid the ropes that held the cannons in place when not being used. They were ready.

"I need you for this, Nasira. For our lady! We will slay our enemies!"

Nasira gave a determined nod. If anything got her pumped, it was that. "Right," she said, resolved. She stood behind Frollo as the latter split his men into two groups and gave each one their instructions.

[Keto]

There's an odd pressure in the air.

The storm clouds that rode along Therru's wings now turn from their former heading, curling in on themselves.

A massive, dark ring begins forming over the battlefield.

[Turbo]

One could barely tell Turbo was there -- for once.

To be fair, he was in a rather unusual place. The little gremlin was almost right beneath the crow’s nest of Perthmail’s ship. How he was hanging on became apparent once one took note of the massive pinkish-red talons that replaced his hands. It was almost unsettling; everything about him was normal, save those disproportionate, nasty-looking claws that appeared to be in a state between rock candy and muscle tissue.

Claws dug into the wooden surface, keeping him parallel to it. His head peered down to the deck. Yellow eyes glimmered mischievously from below the brim of his helmet. So far, the game sprite had only been a silent observer so it was difficult to tell how cooperative he would actually be. The corners of his mouth wrinkled as his grin grew freakishly wide. Red tongue laid over the small space in-between his top and bottom teeth.

Turbo shook his head and looked toward the sky above. Like hell he was heading to shore. He wanted to be part of the action.

~*~

Below the sea, the Gourmand had mounted an assortment of various crystal-based firearms to his pod, as well as a large spear-like weapon he held in one of his trailing tendrils. Accompanying him was a large assortment of near one hundred carnivorous sea creatures; mostly sharks of varying ilk. How exactly he managed to sway the beasts wasn’t exactly clear, but he most likely threatened, bribed or both. He and his cavalry laid near the seafloor, to avoid the turbulent waters above them.

Red eyes glared as they peered above. The shadowy forms of the flesh-eating fish circled idly around him. He glanced off to one side of him to address his troops.

“Anything that falls below the waves is ours for the taking,” he growled, “But remember, I get first choice! Now go!”

It wasn’t long before bodies began to break the surface above and the sharks began to close in. The Gourmand waited before smiling and placing his hand around the throttle. The stone and metal vehicle began to tilt up as the main turret lowered into view. The crystal shard at its tip began to spark and boil the water.

“Let’s speed the process up a bit, shall we.”

A bolt of jagged white light fired fourth, quick as lightning, directly heading for the center of one of the vessels above him.

[John Silver]

Silver’s eye flickers red at the sound of his friend’s screech of pain he watches the bird twist mid air at the bolt connects with her body. “Blast it all!” The ursid snarled our before gripping the radio that was in his pocket pulling it out.

“Jimbo! If ye can hear me hold this position and keep firing. I’ll be making contact with those bastards” Silver growls into the radio before directing his helmsman to move the massive ship forward “you lot on the ground take care of the rouges who make landfall!” The Cyborg leans over the side of the ship to glance at his group of soldiers below. The cannons fire once more now skimming across the turning water and catches the ship along the side. Silver’s ship was quickly gaining speed as it hovers across the landscape and over the water moving into position along side the enemy ship.

Tagging: Jim Hawkins (whenever Kopa has a chance to post)

[Crow]

  Separated from the rest of the flock, Diablo flew down from the ship's shrouds, on cue, and perched himself neatly on Frollo's shoulder. While he would have preferred a more comely roost such as Nasira, this was a prior arrangement, so the bird behaved. Diablo's gaze drifted lazily over the soldiers on deck; it was hard to say if his stare was judgmental or he simply always looked like that.

"That dragon is most likely nothing but a distraction."

  The corvid perked, and his head whipped around to glare at the judge's apparently poor, well, judgment. Diablo hunched and loosed a sharp caw into his ear. Not terribly loud, but certainly enough to make his complaint known. It flitted up to the closest sail and sat atop its rigging, looking briefly in the direction of the dragon. This was not some idle threat, nor was it an illusion.  He turned back and glared at Frollo.  It took too much energy for spoken word.  Energy that might be needed elsewhere very soon.  He couldn't place why, but something in the air was stirring, and it left the corvid with a sense of unease.  Dragons and thunderstorms were no stranger to him, and in fact he welcomed the latter.  No, something else was wrong.  Something was... unknown, even to him.  

  It made him worry.

[Keto]

As the storm grows, all but the most stalwart of fauna turn from the ocean, fleeing to deeper waters or the mainland.

There's a pressure here, one of a magical sort. Those properly attuned will find it hard to breathe or think, as if the weight of something massive is attempting to overtake them.

Compasses are beginning to spin wildly. All navigational equipment and electronics begin to flicker and sputter, like a dying candle.

The storm continues to turn, winds howling as the clouds threaten to snuff out the sun, and swallow the last light.