01. Shipwreck [Action]

[applepirate]

[Little did Captain Barbossa know that day at Tortuga that he won't exactly wake up in the same place he had fallen asleep in - that is, the captain's cabin on the Queen Anne's Revenge. So when his eyes snapped open, it wasn't the hull of the ship they were looking at, but instead it was several tall trees they saw looming over him, along with the overcast sky.

The pirate captain proceeded to stand up from the ground, immediately feeling a new sensation in his back - that of a... pair of wings?]

Shiver me timbers... What is this wretched place?

[Fittingly enough, it was then when a chill ran up his spine and caused his body to quiver, making him notice that he was also shirtless - save for the white cotton pants on his legs.

Wait... did that mean...

Yes, turning his head around, Barbossa also saw no sign of his hat anywhere in the forest he was now in. The hat he had only just regained possession of.]

Arrr! Where be me hat? I swear, if somebody took me hat...

[Speaking of, what had happened to his ship that he had just acquired? Did his crew commandeer it somehow and left him here to perish while he was asleep? Just what in the world had happened in Tortuga? And what was up with this drastic season change? And that journal lying on the ground, which he knelt down to pick up - it wasn't a treasure he remembered uncovering. He was too confused and angry right now to make any sense of it.

Was this all that scalawag Jack Sparrow's doing again? If it was, he should better pray that Barbossa doesn't get his hands on him. Just marooning him on that bloody island wouldn't do this time... No, his fellow pirate would remember him as the scourge of the seven seas...

The (former) captain was already walking through the forest, trying to find anything - a path, a tavern, a port. It's there where somebody could find him and possibly help him understand what's going on.]

Comments

[deadlyjuliet]

More like a primer on how not to get yourself killed in the first week.

[She held her hand out for the book again, noting that they were nearing the village.]

It is quite long though, isn't it? Helpful as it may be, it is important to know that your wings are your life; the Malnosso are twisted, death lasts a week, and we are all lovely guinea pigs with the single benefit of everything being free here.

[She gestures forward then to the village opening before them.]

[applepirate]

[Barbossa lightly scoffed as he kept his gaze on the book.] I think I should handle meself well enough, I'd like to think I'm... fairly adaptive given what I have had the pleasure of goin' through.

[He had been through so much already that he lost count of how many adventures he had that he hadn't planned on that he had already endured. Hopefully, this will be one of them and he would find himself back at his ship before long.]

Aye, that sounds like a relatively adequate sum-up of our conversation, actually. [He did furrow his brows in response to the last thing she listed, though.] I assume there is still a limit of some sort to "everything", otherwise I wouldn't mind gettin' me hands on a ship to sail out of 'ere as soon as possible.

[deadlyjuliet]

You'll find that harder to do than expected. Observe.

[Grell picks up and rock and flicks it straight up into the air. It flies up like a bullet, then smashes into the barrier that covers the entire complex - shattering in what would appear to be mid-air a good few hundred metres above them.]

The cage is far more extensive than you can imagine.

[applepirate]

[Hmph. That was an impressive toss, and the rock would have probably kept on going and going for a lot more if it wasn't for that barrier that it just hit. It was quite an adequate demonstration bluntly showing the reality behind the hospitable appearance of the village that was already in view and all the seemingly vast nature surrounding it. Quite literally a cage.]

So that's a 'nay' for any probable escape, be it through flyin' away, sailin' or any other means. The Malnosso folk sure like to keep a tight hold over their "guinea pigs", hmm?

[He then nodded in her direction as he ran his hand through his beard thoughtfully as he looked up.] If even yer powers that ye speak of can't break through that, we are up against a formidable foe indeed.

[Though the ever persistent pirate captain would never rule out the possibility that there was, in fact, a way around it all, despite how much the odds were stacked against them. He was not going to admit defeat anytime soon, oh no.]

[deadlyjuliet]

They've cut my powers, unfortunately. Become strong enough and one can rend a ship in two with a single strike. But here, they've wisely taken us down a notch lest we use our abilities to end them as we truly wish.

[Grell shrugs lightly and motions to the village, ushering him into town.]

I'm sure my darling Captain shall think of something, however.

[applepirate]

[So to add insult to injury, they also had their powers dumbed down, apparently. Not that Barbossa had any special powers to begin with, so he didn't feel particularly weakened, which was a relief, at least. Not that he would mind actually having the ability to end the Malnosso.

He could only cringe, mostly inwardly, at the mention of 'darling' again. A part of this person next to him surely had a few screws loose, he thought, and that was coming from a man who was dubbed insane by others himself (which was debatable). Looking her over from up close, he began having suspicious as to whether she even had the look of a woman. That definitely looked like an Adam's apple to him, for one thing....]

...That's quite the mess we're all in, miss Sutcliffe. I reckon that we'll need all capable minds aboard on this one. [Which, of course, did not necessarily include everyone in the village. However, having actually competent allies had proven useful in the past, Barbossa had to admit.]

Surely, ye have volunteered yerself already, seein' as ye seem quite regretful as to the fact that ye are not able to use yer full powers on those scalawags. [He then narrowed his eyes a bit at her as he spoke.] But whatever ye can do, ye still seem capable of... certain strange things. That peculiar weapon ye summoned out of thin air was not just show, I reckon.

[deadlyjuliet]

I've volunteered myself as thoroughly as I'm capable, dearest. The villagers, however, seem a little tense around someone like me. I would say I didn't understand, but that would be a lie.

[Grell smiles and curtsies again.]

Not everyone can be so casual around Death and her scythe.