Bring the Sea with You

[Perthmail]

April 28th, Year 1

Sand had begun to whisk around the palace and the distant roar of wind echoed through the halls. A large sandstorm had begun to brew outside the walls of the kingdom and it had everyone squaring down in their homes and settlements to brace until it paced. Anyone who would travel in the brewing conditions was either stupid or desperate, maybe even both and though in no way Perthmail was either of these he sought for some sort of familiarity.

He had been hesitant to come back to the walls that had been his temporary home, his few long months with Keto having changed his worldview and reminded him of who he was or at least, once was. In the past he followed no one, he led the fight, gave the orders and dealt with those who needed to be. He was a pirate through and through, and the time being in retirement seemed to have softened him but now he simply wouldn't let that be the case.

He dragged him out of the cold waters of Oceania, trudged through lands he was unfamiliar with and made it back here. Lady Basilisk still remained underneath the waves but he would find some way to get his ship back or get a new one. He would make it a point to leave his print on the Blackbloods, this is where he decided he would be and he would stick with it even if it meant possible death.

Just as his hand went to push the door open, the violent winds whisked by him throwing it open with a loud sudden clatter and Perthmail stood there owlishly as Blackbloods looked over at him. The demon grinned widely at the hostile looks before giving a tiny wave his hand, torn Hawaiian shirt barely clinging to him. "Well hi."

[Nereus]

    Sandstorms were stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Nereus didn't like sand that wasn't from under the sea or wasn't whipping around like some irate air spirit. At least she weren't going to dry out for a while, considering she were still very wet from diving into an open water tub of some kind. Some of her fellow soldiers just looked at her funny, but hey, she was content. But some weird human then came through the doors, though the doors themselves opening was from the wicked wind outside. 

    Jeez, this human was all torn up. Something felt... off about Perthmail though, but well, Nereus was curious. She  padded over to the human and looked at him... a little too closely. A tilt of the head and curious flair of the head fins was all that the mer creature did before she grinned at him with sharp teeth.

    "Hi to you!" She beamed at Perthmail before getting out of his face finally. "What are you? You don't look like food, but you kind of smell like it." Way to be weird there, Nereus! She didn't exactly get the hostile air that was around then either, so hopefully, she got it and acted like a proper soldier... hopefully. 

[Kula]

And just like that a bit more peace descended. From the shadows a leonine form detached and trotted forth to greet the returning demon. With a rusted purr Kula twined herself around Perthmail's legs like an much-overgrown housecat, her pressure pushing and shoving and drawing him farther into the palace doorway. She wasn't in the least surprised that the demon who'd returned her eye to function was still alive. Having a rather intimate method of attachment to him Kula had never been under the impression that he'd actually perished in the battle that had claimed her father. The grief had simply... Distracted her from worrying overmuch.

He was a demon for the Great Spirits' sakes. He could handle himself.

"Welcome home, Sir~!" Kula purred, twining body plastered to his thighs and head nuzzling at his waist.

[Perthmail]

The pirate king stood awkwardly as the Legion still stared at him. Most didn't know how to react, though he saw a few splitting off from the main group, probably to get some higher ranks in the room. His shoulders tensed considerably as a sea beast rippe away from the crowd and got incredibly close to him. His wide eyes stared at her, he was in no way freaked out but definitely startled from the sudden closeness. Her gaze going over him could definitely deduct that he was worse for wear, probably in desperate need for sleep but the obviously hadn't stopped him from getting back.

It was much to Perthmail's thankfulness though that Nereus was friendly enough. Hell, even the corners of his lips pulled upward in the smallest gesture of a smile. He did not know her but her being another beast from the sea was enough comfort for him. "Hello to you as well. I'm a demon definitely not food. I would probably taste pretty foul like tar if I'm honest."

Everything from the sea, lakes, whatever it was had a weird kinship with him in his mind. The sea was his home and as long as he treated it well, it usually treated him well back. Keto had only confirmed and solidified that when he was with her for that short while.

It was then his smile fell just a smidge. The thought of Keto's disappearance still heavily bothering him. She was going to stay around, he was sure of it but something pulled her away. He could only hope that wherever she was now she was fairing well. Just then pressure fell against his legs, his gaze dropped to it and his smile turned into a wide toothy grin. Kula!

He allowed the lioness to push him just a bit further into the palace before he knelt. His fingers scritched over the top of his head and cheeks in greeting before he touched his forehead to hers. His familiar, thank his fellow archdemons for that comfort. "Well hello to you as well Kula." He muttered softly.

[Nereus]

    Nereus just watched and listened to Perthmail with a still big toothy grin. He was a demon (whatever that was), but hell, he seemed okay so she liked him already! But then a lioness who was in the army (Kula? She couldn't remember, but her name sounded like some over world meat and it made her hungry) greeted the human like an old friend. Perthmail seemed to have left some beings behind when he left... whenever that was! It was before the mer creature ever came onto the scene, so she didn't really care.

    But Kula did have that one weird eye that looked like Perthmail's eyes though... Were they related in some way? The mer creature didn't really understand how things up here worked at all yet, so those furry things on four legs could somehow interbreed with things that looked like humans? Weirder things happened under the sea, so-

    "Are you two siblings or something?" She asked, completely straight faced and serious in her question. Smooth move, Nereus, smooth move. 

[Kijana]

The crippled cub wheels his way forward on his home-made wheelchair a confused look on his face as he watched this new man being greeted by the other soliders. As Kijana had never met the pirate king he was rightly confused at his return from the dead or at least the sea.

“Miss Kula, who is this guy? What does he want?” The cub moves forward frowning up at Perthmail’s face much like he had done at other strangers he had met.

[Benjamin]

Benjamin hadn’t been all that acquainted with the pirate king, so when the man had been presumed to be lost at sea thanks to a beast of the deep, the labrador hadn’t really been all that affected by the loss. Because of this, it also stood to reason that his subsequent, and as equally unexpected, return didn’t have much effect on him either. That wasn’t to say that the dog wasn’t surprised to see a man suddenly rise from the dead to walk through the front doors of the palace, however. No, quite the opposite in fact. The dog was actually quite surprised, just, not as admittedly shocked as some of the other Blackbloods gathering around now might have been.

Giving a warm smile back to the man in response to his unabashed greeting, Ben followed up behind Kula and the couple of other Legionnaires who had come forward to welcome Perthmail home. “I must say, out of all the things I expected to see today, a dead man walking wasn’t one of them.” Benjamin’s notably deep tone was soft, carrying with it the smile that was still clearly printed upon his muzzle. The jest was all in good fun. “Welcome back, my friend. Might you enlighten us as to what it was you’ve been up to these last couple of months?”

[Kattz]

“Pipe down, kiddo. He’s with us.”

The voice wasn’t scolding, but it was obscenely deadpan. The ghoul, in his humanoid form, towered at least two feet over most humans. Kattz was big enough to be intimidating, and the undead aura only added to that, though those acquainted with him well would know he wasn’t dangerous. Still, Kattz could use his size to bully others and did so on occasion. He didn’t need to really move toward the front, as his head was above the vast majority of others. He unfolded his arms briefly to adjust his glasses.

“Hm. I heard pretty explicitly you’d died,” said the huge ghoul, before lifting a brow slightly, “Or have you?”

[Kula]

A well-fed kitten couldn't have looked more pleased than Kula did at that moment, leaning into Perthmail's well-placed scratches with a happy hum. When his forehead pressed to hers the leonine familiar stuck her tongue out just a bit, rasping the tip over Perthmail's nose.

Greeting over and hearing the questions of the others Kula shifted to press more firmly into the two-legged demon, forcing her head half-into his torso. It was much like an oversized dog insisting that they climb into their owner's too-small lap, her head peeking out from under one arm at Kijana. "This is Perthmail. He's kinda like my... Boss."

[Kijana]

"This is Perthmail. He's kinda like my... Boss."

The statement puzzled the cub even more as far as he know Sarafina and Zira were the bosses or was this completely different from the type of boss that runs their pride?

“I thought your mom and mother were your boss? They even said at one point?” Kijana had of course overheard a meager
argument about something or other which in his mind put two and two together. The cub turns to Kattz for a moment giving him a confused look as if he could help figure this out.