<Storyteller> The Estiva turns about and begins to flee from the Ulysses, IronJohn
quickly sprouts wings and flies after them
<Storyteller> The ship lurches to speed after the Estiva
* Simon runs up on deck
<Simon> "Get prisoners! We need to fix the ship!" he shouts to IronJohn and William
<Storyteller> The Estiva opens it's rear guns
* William dodges
* IronJohn begins to let out a howling scream as he flys over to the other ship
* Hans continues to vainly struggle against his bonds.
<Storyteller> The two fliers dodge out of the way as the Estiva fires it's guns
<Remy> "Ah, shi'...."
* Remy tries to brace himself
<Friday> "Oh shit!!! It's heading towards the deck!"
<Storyteller> The crew on deck scrambles out of the way as the cannon fire speeds
towards the open deck
* Brianna dodges out of the way
* Remy gets outta the way
* Remy dives, actually
<Storyteller> The two shots hit the deck and the ship begins to spin
* Abe fights for control
<Storyteller> The two fliers are now near the Estiva
<Storyteller> The Estiva fires again
<Remy> "For the love of Christ! Someone maneuver this ship!"
* Abe turns the ship hard
* William holds out his cross, and uses Castigate to Cast out the spectres
<Storyteller> The shot heads towards the open deck
* Nephrutu pushes Brianna out of the way, she falls to the left as the cannon fire
shatters Nephrutu's corpus
* Remy holds on to the mast with one hand, and grips his pistol with the other
* Brianna screams
* Remy looks over towards the source of the scream
<Storyteller> The crew of the Estiva suddenly begin to jump ship into the Tempest.
Their eyes filled with terror
* Brianna looks up to see what knocked her over
<Storyteller> One of the crew flees off the Estiva
<Storyteller> The Estiva is now deserted except for the struggling Hans
* Remy runs over to see if he can help Nephrutu, and to check if Bri is ok
* IronJohn lands on the deck
<Storyteller> Brianna-you see corpus all over the deck and it's begining to slowly
fade away
<Brianna> "No!!!!"
* William lands on the deck and draws his sword
<IronJohn> "William....secure the port side....I will get the other."
* IronJohn has his pistol out
* William nods and moves to the port side, sword ready
<William> {Bri: ooo...look what you did, he died because you were too stupid to get
out of the way.}
* Remy tries to heal Nephrutu by lending some of his own Corpus
<William> {Bri: don't worry, we'll take good care of him. Muuahahahaha!}
* Brianna sobs into her hands
* IronJohn secures the ship
* William checks the hold
<Storyteller> The ship is empty except for Hans
* William keeps his sword ready, glowing with the power of his Faith
* Brianna slowly stands, looking lost
* IronJohn frees Hans
* Remy looks sadly at Brianna
<Remy> "Wasn't your fault, cher."
* Brianna wipes her eyes
* Brianna shakes her head, not answering
* Remy calls out "What's the damage?!"
* William returns to the deck
<William> "All clear."
<Simon> "Christ! It's not looking good."
<Remy> "Well then, I suggest we lug this ship over to the other one, an' prepare to
board."
<Simon> "The hull is damaged...the deck," he points to an open hole, "Goddamnit!"
* William looks for Hans
* Erik yells "No, Not again!"
* Erik draws his gladius
<ErikShade> "Hahahahahaha!"
* ErikShade tears from Erik's corpus
* ErikShade is an exact duplicate of Erik...except he has a gleaming razor in his hand
<Storyteller> The crew look over the deck at the fading corpus
<Erik> "You won't beat me, shade!"
<ErikShade> "Says you...."
* Brianna stares in shock
* Erik holds his gladius at the ready
* Friday puts a hand on Brianna's shoulder
* Brianna looks over at Friday
<Friday> "He was very brave."
* ErikShade runs to the side of the ship and jumps overboard laughing all the way
<ErikShade> "I will have Sam!"
<ErikShade> "I will have Sam!"
<ErikShade> "I will have Sam!"
<Erik> "NOOOOOO!"
* William stares at the copy of Erik, and loks back at the real Erik.
* ErikShade smiles as he dives over the side
<Erik> "We must hurry! Someone get this ship moving!"
* William turns to the Captain
<IronJohn> "What the hell is going on over there?"
<Simon> "We can't, we must repair some of the damage."
<William> "Give me a hand, we've gotta turn this hulk around and get her moving."
<Erik> "How is the other ship?"
<IronJohn> "Yeah."
* William calls to the Ulysses. "Come on!, get her up along side!"
<IronJohn> "Without a wind....this ship is staying where it is."
* William puts his sword away.
<Simon> "We can't move!!"
<Abe> "Let me try."
* Hans begins assisting in whatever he can.
<IronJohn> "Get the sails up..."
<IronJohn> "We need to get these ships togther."
* IronJohn calls over to Abe "Can you move?"
<Remy> "Let's try to move."
<Storyteller> The Ulysses begins to move slowly towards the other ship
<Storyteller> **Clang**
<Storyteller> **CLANG**
* William looks around
* Brianna looks for the source of the noise
<Remy> "I can't control the ship!"
<IronJohn> "Damnit....The rudder his jammed......"
<IronJohn> "We have to get this ship out of their way or they will smash into us."
<Brianna> "Something is attacking the rudder!! I can hear it!"
<IronJohn> "William....Hans...get the sails up."
<Storyteller> The Ulysses begins to spin ahead towards the Estiva
* William nods
* William begins working on the sale
* Hans helps William get the sails up.
* Brianna looks over the rail to see if she can see anything in the water
<Storyteller> The sail goes up
<Brianna> "Hey! Get over here! It's Erik's shadow! He's attacking the rudder!"
<Storyteller> **Clang**
* Brianna looks back to everyone on ship
<Brianna> "Hurry!"
<IronJohn> "Damnit....now this one is gone...."
<IronJohn> "Brace yourselves......"
* Brianna backs away from the railing
<Storyteller> There is a terrible crash as the Estiva and Ulysses collide
* IronJohn braces himself
<Storyteller> The crew all manage to stay aboard decks
<Storyteller> Both ships have stopped moving
<Simon> "Jesus!! What the hell is going on here!"
* William looks at the damage
* IronJohn looks at the damage
<Storyteller> The damage is slight as the two ships weren't moving very fast
<William> "What happened? I heard something about a shadow!"
* ErikShade burts from the dark water in front of Erik
<Brianna> "Erik's shadow started attacking the rudder of our ship!"
* ErikShade makes a grab for him
* William draws his sword, and jumps to the Ulysses
* Erik slashes at his shade
* Brianna pulls her sword and runs at the Shadow
<Storyteller> The sword misses
* ErikShade grapples with Erik and takes him over the side
* ErikShade sinks into the surface of the Tempest with Erik
<ErikShade> They disappear beneath the water
* William closes his eyes and concentrates
<William> Angelic wings emerge from William's back
<Simon> "Erik!!"
* William flies out over where Erik hit the water
* William searches
<William> "ERIK!"
<Brianna> {Hans : Ahh, the beauty of inaction. Feels like old times, yes?}
<IronJohn> "Damn.....what happened?"
* William returns to the ship, greatly saddened.
<William> {Bri: Isn't there a song about this? 'Another one bites the dust}
<Simon> "I think we can fix the Ulysses. But we need material."
<IronJohn> "Between the two there should be enough material."
* Simon nods
<Brianna> "No! We have to do something! William, what happened?"
<IronJohn> "We can re-forge the two into one."
* William drops to his knees, holding his sword blade down, like a cross, and begins
to pray.
<IronJohn> "It will take some time....."
<Simon> "Yeah we could do that. It'll be a cobb job, but we can do it."
<William> "He...I couldn't find him..." William says between lines
* IronJohn looks to William with concern
* Simon calls to Merriwheather, and begins to tear the Estiva apart.
* Brianna stands by the railing. "But..."
* Brianna looks helplessly into the Tempest
* Hans walks up to the Captain. "What do you want me to do?"
* William remains on his knees now, silent.
<Friday> "He must have been overtaken."
* IronJohn looks to William and Bri and then says to Hans "We need to get this ship
moving...the Spectres could be back."
* Friday bows his head.
<Brianna> "But Erik is still out there! We can't just leave him!"
<William> "Good." William says softly
<IronJohn> "He is gone....when they sink like that they are gone."
<IronJohn> "This may sound cruel but we need to get this ship moving and now....."
* Hans begins to work on helping repair the ship.
* IronJohn oversees the repairs
* Brianna looks sadly at IronJohn
* William finally stands, and sheaths his sword.
* William approaches Brianna
* William shakes his head remorsefully.
<William> "I..I don't think he will be returning."
* Brianna closes her eyes
* IronJohn helps repair the ship
<William> "If he were still out there he would have surfaced."
<Storyteller> The crew begins to get to the task of repairing the ship
* IronJohn works right along with them
* Remy works sadly.
* Brianna opens her eyes and nods slowly. "I...thank you for trying to save him."
<Brianna> "I feel so helpless!"
<IronJohn> "Rodgers...be on the lookout."
* Remy works next to Brianna
<Remy> "You gonna be ok?"
<IronJohn> "I want three men on each side looking for water boarders...."
<Friday> "Aye captain!"
* IronJohn continues to work
* Hans continues to work.
* Brianna looks over at Remy "Yes, I will be.."
* Remy nods to Brianna
<William> "We can all stand here and wonder what we could have done, if we hadn't
done this or...or if we hadn't gone to the other ship..damnit..no. We have to get
to New York. He wanted to get there to protect Samantha. Now we must take up his
quest."
* IronJohn gets some tools "I have to repair the rudder."
* IronJohn dives into the water
<Remy> "It really wasn't your fault. Nothin' you could have done. Infact, you tried
to warn us."
<Friday> "When we are done, I say we have a memorial service. Two brave men were lost
here today."
<IronJohn> After awhile IronJohn climbs back upon the ship
<IronJohn> "Rudder is fixed."
* Brianna busies herself with repairing the ship, trying to block out the visions of
death that fill her mind
<IronJohn> "How are the other repairs comming?"
<Simon> "Good sir. We'll have enough material to fix her, tho she won't be as fast as
she once was."
* William turns to Brianna. "Go to your friend's quarters. Find something of his."
<IronJohn> "As long as it floats and moves."
* Simon nods
* William looks on the deck for Erik's gladius.
* William picks it up and looks at it for a long time.
* Akira helps tear apart the Estiva
<Brianna> "I think that we should wait until the ship has been repaired, William.
Besides, I need some time to collect my thoughts. Nephrutu..." Brianna stops
speaking and returns to her task
* William brings it to his quarters and begins to prepare what he will say
* Remy looks at Bri, and says "I'm gonna drop it now, but if you want to talk 'bout
it, you know you can come to me, alright?"
<Storyteller> It takes two days, but finally the ship is repaired. It's not an expert
job, but it will do.
* IronJohn looks over the ship
<IronJohn> "A damn fine job."
* Simon nods
<Brianna> Finally feeling able, Brianna goes to Nephrutu's room
<IronJohn> "Now lets sail for New York....we have a debt to settle!"
<Simon> "Yes, once we get it to a decent harbor, we can make her as good as new."
<Brianna> She almost knocks, but then remembers and instead slowly opens the door
<Storyteller> As you dig through his things you notice a locker with your name on it
* Brianna chokes back emotion and packs all of his things
* Brianna stops and picks it up
<Storyteller> It's not heavy, but there's something in it
* Brianna opens it
<Storyteller> In it is a long white tunic, an egyptian women's headress, and hair beads
* Brianna 's eyes open wide
* Brianna picks them up and examines them
* Brianna holds them in her hands, using her sense of Fate to pick up what they could mean
<Storyteller> underneath it is a man's long white tunic, and headress
* Brianna puts the clothes down, and picks looks at the others that were underneath
* Brianna carefully places them next to hers, and looks in the locker for anything else that
might be there
* Brianna folds the clothes neatly and places them back in the locker
* Brianna picks up the locker and returns heavy-hearted to her room
<Abe> "Aye aye sir!"
* Remy nods grimly. "More 'den one."
* Abe takes the wheel and the Ulysses begins to move
<IronJohn> "We are going to kick ass from here to New York...."
<IronJohn> "Sails aloft!"
<Storyteller> The crew cheer as the Ulysses' sails go up
* IronJohn goes to his cabin and gets something
* IronJohn returns
* IronJohn hands a bundle of black cloth to one of the crew
<IronJohn> "Run that up the flag mast."
<William> The two days have past and William has remained in his quarters.
<William> Finally he returns to the deck.
<Storyteller> The flag unfurls to reveal a skull and crossbones emblem
<William> He has reshaped his corpus into the robes of a catholic priest.
<William> In his hands is Erik's gladius
<Storyteller> The crew cheer again as the flag waves
* William looks for Brianna.
* IronJohn checks the 3 cannons that the crew took off the other ship to see if they
are mounted right
* IronJohn looks like a pirate now more than a Hierarchy ship captain
<IronJohn> "I want everyone to dress down from here to New York."
<IronJohn> "Let the bastards think we are freebooters."
* Remy smiles. "I don' usually dress down."
* Remy gestures to his fancy corpus suit
* William looks for Brianna.
* Brianna is not on deck with everyone else
<IronJohn> "You can stay like that...only a pirate would dress like that."
* IronJohn says with a smile
* Remy grins
<Remy> "Fair enough."
<Remy> "If not a pirate, den a gambler."
<Storyteller> The ship is now picking up some speed, she isn't as fast as she once was
* Remy looks into something reflective, and makes some changes to his face, however
<IronJohn> "A gambler huh...a man after my own dead heart."
<Remy> "Born an' raised."
* William goes to Bri's room
* William knocks
<IronJohn> "Well if we see the other side of this mission we will have to roll some
bones so to speak."
* IronJohn gets a gleam in his eye
<Brianna> "Um..hello?"
<William> "Brianna? I am prepared for the service. Are you?"
* Brianna comes up behind you, holding some sort of box in her hands
<IronJohn> "I want a full watch from here to New York...if any of those dark bastards
come near this ship blow them out of the water."
<Remy> {So, captian, how much more crew must you lose before you give up this fools
raid on NewYork?}
<Brianna> "I don't feel right about throwing away any of his things, William. We
don't need material objects to remember him by anyway."
* William nods and turns up the stairs, his bible in one hand, Erik's gladius in the
other.
<IronJohn> (War has its casualties...there is a ship full of others to take care of
now)
<Brianna> "I'll be right there."
* Brianna enters her room and places the box down by her bed, then goes up on deck
<William> "It is...symbolic. You need not pick something of great importance."
* William emerges onto the deck
<Brianna> "He didn't own many things. I don't want to throw them away."
* William nods then.
<Remy> {This is no war...it's a lost cause. New York is lost. Save yourselves, and
get away while you can. I'm only trying to help you, John}
<IronJohn> (Thanks...I will consider it)
* William walks to the bow of the ship
* Brianna looks once at the grey rose lying atop her desk before following William
onto the deck
* William motions for Brianna to follow him.
* Simon emerges on deck
* William waits for everyone to gather
<Storyteller> The crew gathers
* Brianna approaches William and stands beside him
* IronJohn joins them
* Hans joins the group.
* Remy gathers and such
* William also has another book in his hands besides his bible
<William> "We gather here, to honor the memories of two souls who have been lost to
us."
* IronJohn lowers his head
* William opens the service with a prayer for the two souls.
* Simon lowers his head
* Brianna wipes her eyes and lowers her face
* Friday lowers his head
<Storyteller> The crew lower their heads
* William looks up when the prayer is complete.
<William> "I would like to take this moment to say a few words about one of those two
souls."
<William> "Erik was a a good man, yet also a tormented one. He was noble at heart. He
fought to save his true love, and he met his destruction fighting his shadow to
keep her safe."
<William> "We should remember him like that. As the good man he was. How many of us
can say such a noble thing as love guides our actions? He could."
* William waits, in silence for a moment before turning to Brianna.
* Brianna looks up, and continues the euology
<William> "Do you have any last words for your friend?"
<Brianna> "Nephrutu was a kind man, and he showed me that even in the land of death,
beauty still existed. He saved me, and I will never forget him."
* Remy nods, and smiles
* Brianna stands silently, tears streaming down her face
* William nods and smiles, then steps forward, Erik's sword in his hands.
<William> "Soon we will enter combat to save New York. I ask you to fight not just to
save the city from darkness, but to fight for those who have been lost on this
voyage. Nephrutu, and Erik."
* IronJohn tries not to show any emotion but it is difficult
* Remy offers his shoulder to Brianna, and puts a pair of dice that he fashioned from
his own corpus into the coffin
* Brianna wipes her tears away, and gratefully takes Remy's hand
<William> "Who agrees? Shout aye, shout it loud enough for Erik and Nephrutu to hear
it."
<Storyteller> The crew shout aye!
* IronJohn bellows an Aye
* Remy shouts
* Simon shouts
<Remy> "Aye!"
* Hans shouts
* William turns toward New York.
* Friday shouts
* Brianna shouts
* William raises Erik's gladius
<William> "AAAYYYEEE!"
* William says as he hurls the gladius toward New York.
* IronJohn brings forth a Hierearchy flag and places it in the coffin
<IronJohn> "May our will be with them where ever they may be."
<Storyteller> The gladius flies into the air and hits the water pommel up, the gladius
stays there a moment before finally sinking beneath the waves
* William says a final prayer before closing the coffin
<IronJohn> "Amen."
<William> "Amen."
<Hans> "Amen."
<Friday> "And ever and ever amen." <Storyteller> to be continued
