On seeing the legendary Captain Dawn herself stride forward to greet them, Gav snapped into attention. His ramrod posture would have made any marine proud as the troll ambled over to stand by his partner, its thick three-fingered hands clutching a sheaf of papers. The cat, whose basket was attached to some specially-made harness attached to the gyro's body, had hopped down to begin circling the immediate area with interest.
Woodenly, Gav took the papers from Yub Yub and handed them over to Dawn then saluting. "Scout G 4 V-009378, reporting for assessment! Engineer Yub Yub, reporting for assessment! Pest Control Expert Meowsie-"The little brown cat eyeing Jeina's boot laces, also with interest-"Reporting for assessment!"
edited 21st Jan '13 11:41:57 PM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!"My, my... quite orderly, are you not?" Asks Dawn as she takes hold of the papers the troll handed her, fishing a pair of headmistress like glasses from her pockets to put on as she inspected the papers.
"Hmmm, Meowsie seems rather adept at her field... however... I dunno" she says mischievously before looking at Corona "What do you say? Need a bit more help downstairs, Corona?"
"Alright," Dax said with a frown, his brain somehow processing the fact that nearly every woman on board the ship had rejected him, though dealing with it by realizing he wouldn't remember it anyway. Stepping away from the yeoman - wait, what about that woman who stepped off of the flying machine? The one the captain had just called Corona?
He stepped closer to her. "So... hey. How you doing?"
"I am adequate," Corona answered the drunk elph bluntly, before turning to the Captain and...
...pausing, for a brief moment. For a second, the robotgirl pondered whether or not the Captain's question was serious, before responding.
"...any additional assistance or company would be appreciated, I suppose."
That gave Gav a double take.
"Um, not to complain or anything, your captain-ship," piped up Gav. "But what does that mean? With all do respect, ma'am, I'm a scout. I work best under the open sky an' all that. I'm only a passable mechanic, as Yub Yub here can testify."
Sure enough, Yub Yub mimed that while Gav was a fairly capable engineer, the Gearborn served best as a flyer.
Not to mention sketching out a story where they almost crashed due to Gav's creative applications of gears on the gyro-blades' mechanism.
"And as for Meowsie," Gav watched the little cat with her brown spots flick and bat Jeina's bootlaces. "She'll seek out pests where ever they are. She's a good one when it comes to hunting mice, she is."
edited 28th Jan '13 11:54:18 PM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!"Relax, good Gab. I'm just pulling your wheels. You and your companions are more than welcome aboard" says the Captain with a big smile as she pats his metal shoulder "Jeina, my Yeoman, will arrange for rooms for all of you and hot meals as well"
"For us all, as well!" says the Captain with a bright smile as she hears Nora's comment.
Jeina lets out a little sigh and then smiles... stroking the Azure Pearl necklace on her neck before standing up "Right, right, everyone"
Thus, life on the ship returned to normal... pure routine as they sailed off into the sea once more. Three days should have been more than enough for the new crew to settle themselves... three days until they would find the next event on their magnificent trip.
A day that broke dawn with a grey cloudy sky that had seemed to manifest out of nowhere. Course was set for the arid and exotic port of Shereza, however it would be about a week more before they would find it. However, Jeina looked with some worry at the grey sky.
"It's not like I don't appreciate a rest from the scalding sun... but these clouds were not here hours ago. None of the instruments of predictions even hinted at this..."
"Relax Yeoman... the Dawnchaser can handle a storm or two... and it's not a given that these clouds will even become that" says James as he tries to reassure the young woman.
"Whew..." Nora gave out a bored sigh as she leaned against the ship railings, mop between her arms. It's been three days since they left the port of Virina, and about a week since the ship first set sail. In all that time, there wasn't anything that gave the adventuring warrior girl an excuse to use her sword, sans that one pirate attack.
Pushing herself back on her feet, Nora kept on wiping the deck. Without any major fights for her to tackle, menial jobs like this were really all that were left to earn her pay.
So bored! She wiped a bit of sweat from her forward, and gave a breath of relief when the clouds drifted over the sun. Well, at least it's not so hot now... Now we just need a nice cool breeze...
Meanwhile, the trapdoor opened up and a certain robotgirl emerged from its stairs, closing it behind her. Glancing around, she spotted Jeina and James and decided to report to the senior crew.
"Yeoman Jeina, all ship functions are running smoothly. There are no anomalies to report, so I request permission to rest and recuperate my energy."
"HAHAHA, IS POINT FOR FABIUS!" Fabius shouted at Dax, having managed to grab the ball from the elph, run around the mast, and then place it in the barrel.
"How the hells do you run that fast, Doc?" Dax asked, bending over to put his hands on his knees as he took a deep breath.
"Is from years of escaping barbarian raids in summer!" the doctor cheerfully said, tossing the ball up and catching it. "Play again?"
"Ughhhhhh, yeah, just, whoo," Dax was still catching his breath. He saw Nora mopping the deck. "Hey Nora! Can you run fast?!" he called out.
Yathelalina hefted up the piece of chalk under her shoulder to strike a diagonal line though the IIII that were already written under Fabius' side of the board she was using to keep track of the score. The doctor with his funny accent had more skill than Yathe had been initially willing to give him credit for. Running circles around his opponent was a worthy feat on it's own and especially on a rocking ship.
Fluttering back down to the barrel she was perched on, Yathe noticed a sudden shift in the brightness of the day. She looked up with a frown as the dark storm clouds encroached on what had previously been a clear blue sky. Belatedly, her body sent the instinctual pressing feeling all pixies felt to warn them of coming bad weather so that they might take shelter before being caught in it and blown to who knows where.
"Might have to break out the indoor games if that ends up on top of us." She muttered quietly. More loudly she said to Fabius, "And just why were you running from barbarians on a yearly basis?"
"Alright, Corona. I'll tell someone to bring you your beach chair then" says the Yeoman with a little smile, though she still remained a bit tense.
"Hmmm now this is quite peculiar... we're off course by quite some miles... even though that should be impossible" says the Captain as she stands besides Hyoth, corroborating their position with the maps and measuring instruments of the Dawnchaser.
However, before the Captain could wonder any more about the situation, the whole ship moved as if it had crashed against a mighty wave.
Jeina let out a cry and then held on tight to a mast "What the hell?"
Running to the side of the ship, she looked ahead... and suddenly her new pearl necklace started to shine bright with an eerie blue light. Thus, right in the path of the Dawnchaser there suddenly appeared a massive whirlpool of raging waters, heading into a dark center.
The Captain stepped into the railing of the wheel platform, looking over yonder at the obstacle in their path "Mr Hyoth! Chance of avoiding whatever the hell that is?"
"None, Captain... It's too close and pulling us hard!"
"Was afraid of that... Then by all means, Mr Hyoth, full sail ahead! Try to ride with the current! All hands move downstairs or hold tight onto something! We're going deep!" cries the Captain at the top of her lungs as the ship starts to rock... now being drawn slowly in circles towards the center of the massive whirlpool.
Gav and Yub-Yub had been circling the area of the ship in an outward way, exactly as they'd been taught by the navigators and scouts of the Dawnchaser. The Gearborn loved the feeling of being airborne, even if the work got tedious at times. So far, they had seen anything worth being seen, even as Gav had been grilled for any ideas for interesting sights.
So when he'd seen the ship suddenly going of course, it struck Gav more than passing strange.
"Signal the ship, Yub Yub," Gav ordered. "We'll find out what's going on." He steered his gyro-lower half towards the source of the disturbance.
The hits keep rollin'!There was a sharp rock of the ship, causing Yathe to flew right up off her seat on the barrel. The confused pixie looked around and saw she had not been the only one affected. Other sailors and passengers were looking about wildly, a few looking over the side of the ship.
"All hands move downstairs or hold tight onto something! We're going deep!"
"We're going - what?" Yathelalina looked at the captain in confusion. Then a roar at the front of the ship caught her attention instead. Zipping over to the bow, Yathe stopped in mid-air to gawk at the enormous whirlpool. She swore under her breath. Where had that come from? It looked like it could swallow the ship whole! How could they possible avoid being sunk?
We're going deep!
The captain's words echoing in her head finally clicked. They were not going to avoid the freak force of nature at all!
"This thing can submerge?" Yathelalina shouted half in shock and half in horror. She'd read about man made underwater vessels before. Most of them ended up meeting horrible fates.
But the captain did not seem overly concerned. So despite her growing panic and common sense urge to fly away as far as possible (though she'd most likely get tired and drop into the ocean before she reached land), the pixie turned back around and headed below deck.
"Game over. Fabius wins!" She said quickly as she passed her fellow crew mates. "Now somebody open the damn door so we can get inside before the ship dives and we all drown!"
"Is just water," Fabius said. "Is nothing compare to fishing in sacred barbarian lakes every spring." With a laugh, he opened the door and went inside.
"Yeah, I'm not so sure about going underwater in this sort of thing," Dax said, holding the door open for anyone who wanted to go in. He stayed there, though, starting to take in enormous breaths to stock up on air - just in case.
Corona headed downstairs as ordered along with the rest of the crew, heading past them and towards the engine room. The ship would need to hold if they were going to get through this, and that meant making sure everything ran smoothly.
Meanwhile-
"I don't know what to do for this, so I'm heading for the dining hall!" Nora announced before stumbling her way in that direction.
"Mr Hyoth! Press the green button" Says the Captain as the ships sinks lower and lower into the watery vortex that would surely be the doom of any vessel. Still, she stood tall and unconcerned for the most part, only a single bead of sweat going down her brow as she stared at the whirlpool as one might an amusing challenger.
Then, as Hyoth pressed the button the sound of machinery could be heard... and slowly, from the sides of the raised wheel platform appeared walls, a roof and sheet of glass to make an enclosed cockpit for the ship.
Thus, whenever they held on tight to the ship, rushed indoors or they were standing with the Captain in the new wheel room... soon enough they went mast first into the center of the whirlpool the whole ship groaning tumbling about as it sank deeper and deeper into the darkness and the depths of the ocean...
Many might be dazed by the tumbling of the ship... but soon enough they would be able to recover enough to see that they were a) still alive b) in a ship that had not filled with water c) or destroyed itself. Seeing out of the windows they would be able to see how the Dawnchaser, apparently by some mysterious force, had been dragged to the bottom of this shallow part of the ocean... to rest on a mound of dark rock overlooking a wondrous sight.
The ruins of a whole underwater city, illuminated by an eerie light blue glow. Buildings of stone, some in good state, other tumbled down and broken spread as far as sight would allow... with two drawing the eye. About half a mile away, on another raise in the terrain there was some sort of temple made of white stone and tall columns... and far in the distance one could see the blurry vision of a great castle.
"Well, cut me in pieces and serve me to the sharks... Ain't this quite a something we stumbled into" says the Captain as she looks out through the glass at the submerged city "Though we better get those boys outside into the ship pron... to...? Huh..."
Those who stayed outside and clung to the ship for their lives would be able to notice, once they ran out of breath, that getting their lungs full of water would not herald the doom most would expect. Indeed, the whole water around them felt strange... lighter than normal water. Swimming up was nearly impossible, but somehow the liquid was naturally breathable.
"Ha, is just like hiding under ice in sacred barbarian lake!" Fabius said, heading towards the dining hall. "Except for part where we have ship, and no one has sack of bees."
Outside, Dax was holding his breath with all his might. There was something weird with the water. It wouldn't let him swim up, keeping him on the ship. He wasn't an expert diver like one of his cousins, but he had spent enough time in lakes and on the shore to know that there was no way in the dozen hells that water normally did that. Which meant it wasn't water. It might even be poisonous. With a renewed resolve, he pressed the mouth of his trunk closed, and clamped his mouth shut even harder, hoping not to let any of the toxic liquid in.
There were several other people outside, too, and while he could only swim out to a one person at a time and hook them up to his trunk, he figured that he could just go up to the first one, give them air for a few quick breaths, and move on to the next person who hadn't made it to the door.
Stepping over to the closest person, he tried to force his trunk on their mouth, a bubble of air forming on it as he made wild hand motions and tried to point at it to explain what he was doing.
edited 17th Feb '13 7:36:31 PM by nman
Nora Ridge, Mess Hall
The short warrior kept staring at the window, watching the ship inch closer and closer to their apparent demise... and immediately backed away once the window showed all water. For a second, she paused and wondered if she really wasn't drowning, then tapped on the glass.
"Huh. Water proof. Makes sense," she told herself. "It figures Cap's got something crazy like sub mode on her ship or somethin'."
Corona, Engine Room
Making her way to the ship's diagnostics as quickly as her feet could allow, Corona checked all of the information provided on the screens... and was thankful that the ship was still standing steady. Not wholly surprised, as the captain was eccentric but not crazy. The robotgirl worked the dials of the ship interface and began to raise the shields, hoping to reinforce the ship should the water pressure become less bearable, and forcing out the water on the deck so people wouldn't... you know... drown.
edited 18th Feb '13 10:44:07 PM by Starbound2
Fabius was looking out the window next to Nora, trying to see if there were any fish. "When was last time someone not use "crazy" and "captain" in same sentence?" he asked, chuckling.
Seeing that there wasn't much else to do at the moment, he stuck out both of his hands at her, holding the ball they had been playing with on the deck. "You want play Hitball?"
edited 18th Feb '13 11:45:32 PM by nman

"More often than I'd like" says Jeina with a deadpan look, still sitting in place after the run before looking up at Dax "You're waaaaay too drunk if you thought that would work, Mr Dax. Please you can take the alcohol out of your system starboard side..."
"Ah Corona! That makes everyone back on board" says the Captain with a wide smile before looking at the metal man "Gav, you say? That's a nice ride you got there"
edited 18th Jan '13 6:46:24 PM by daltar