<Storyteller> A week has come and passed, it was a quiet week full of preparation, and
study. The day has found you all aboard the Ulysses awaiting Ahuru to join you. Abe
has yet to be heard from, and Cook has taken on his responsibilities until he
returns...if he ever should
* friday walks up to the captian
<friday> "I have the one mission statement here captian."
* Iron_J turns to Friday and accepts the mission statement.
* Iron_J reads the mission to himself.
* William walks up to the captain to hear the mission
<Remy> "What's it say, mon capitian."
* Iron_J hands the mission statement to William and says "Pass it around to the
command crew."
<Storyteller> Ulysses to carry Ambassador Ahuru to meet with the Swarian ship Insdoru
and escort her back to New York Harbor
* Hans walks up to Iron John. "What's the latest captain?"
* Brianna stands near the rail of the ship, looking towards her companions
* William reads it and passes it around
<William> "This must be very important."
* friday sees the report, "Eh, looks like an escort job.."
* Angelo stands by the railing of the ship, looking distracted.
<Brianna> "For whom?"
<William> "The Swarian ambassador."
<Storyteller> You can see several dock workers bustling about their business
<Storyteller> A large detachement of Amenti soldiers are heading this way
* William reads it and passes it around
* Iron_J oversees the work on the ship while the others talk.
<Remy> "Still, I s'pose we got no choice."
<Iron_J> "Orders t'are orders." says Iron John from the midship
* Brianna ties back her long blonde hair to keep it out of her face and slowly walks
over to join everyone else
<Storyteller> The soldiers are close now, and you can see they are escorting someone
in the middle of the line march
<Brianna> "Where are we escorting him?"
<Daniel_C> "With our luck, this mission will be exciting enough for anyone."
<Storyteller> The detachement halts near the plank and Ahuru walks out from in between
the soldiers. He waits at the lip of the plank
<Remy> "Huh. You say luck...."
* Brianna smiles at Ahuru
<Storyteller> Ahuru nods to Brianna
<Iron_J> "Permission to board Lord Ahuru." says Iron John
<Storyteller> Ahuru nods and walks up the plank, many of the crew are staring through
their work trying to look busy
* Iron_J gives the ancient one a bow
<Storyteller> Ahuru bows his head, "A marvelous ship,"
<Iron_J> "Indeed she be, indeed she be."
<Storyteller> "And an appropriate name as well." he says
* William watches each of the others carefully, studying them for a while. There are
a few nods, but also a few frowns
<Storyteller> He walks by the command crew, "Once we leave we must talk..."
* Daniel_C nods
* Angelo nods absently.
* Remy bows to Ahuru
<Iron_J> "Aye."
* Hans nods
* William approaches the captain
<friday> "The ship is ready, captian."
<William> In a lowered voice he says, "I believe it would be good if we talked soon,
privately. I don't think we've ever has the chance."
<Storyteller> The detachement of soldiers load a large crate aboard the ship and then
quickly leave it
* Brianna looks curiously at the crate
* Remy asks one of the crew "What do we have here?"
<Storyteller> Ahuru motions towards the crate
<Storyteller> "Things for the future...."
* Brianna curiosity deepens, and she looks forward to her lessons with Ahuru while on
this trip
<Storyteller> "I am ready, captian. Remy, would you care to show me to my quarters..."
* Iron_J looks at William and says "Perhaps later William."
<Remy> "'Course, Ambassador Ahuru."
* Remy leads Ahuru to his quarters
<Storyteller> Ahuru follows Remy, and when they are in private he speaks
* William nods
<Storyteller> "There is something you must know," he says
<Cook> "Ready to launch, captian."
<Remy> "Alright. Shoot."
<Iron_J> "Very Good Mr. Cook."
* Brianna walks back to the railing to watch the launch
<Storyteller> The ship lurches out of dock and begins to sail out to Tempest. The wind
picks up as she does so
<Storyteller> "Your daughter Emily...is already with child. I did not wish to tell you
this untill in private."
* Remy balks. "She's..uh...what?"
<Storyteller> "In seven months she will have a boy. Matthew."
* Remy looks down. "Why didn't she tell me?"
* William stands on the deck, looking out across the Tempest
<Storyteller> Ahuru looks at you, "She has her reasons. However, I must caution you.
The child is in danger, your daughter is not. Do you understand?"
<Storyteller> "Do not be alarmed, I have made....arrangements to insure the child's
safety."
<Remy> "I don' think I understand. She has her reasons? I'm her father! An' why's
the child in trouble?"
* Iron_J stands near the helm and instructs the helmsman to begin to take the ship
out.
<Storyteller> "Yes, but now is not the time. Come, let us rejoin your friends..."
<Storyteller> He walks out the door and climbs up to the deck
* Daniel_C looks back at the city and sighs softly
<Storyteller> "A beautiful city is it not?" he says as he notices many others watching
it disappear
* Brianna turns when she hears Ahuru's voice
* Daniel_C turns and shrugs
<Daniel_C> "It is the people that make it what it is...for good or ill."
* Hans heads to his cabin to work on some projects.
* Remy shakes his head, but follows
* Brianna smiles and nods, turning back to watch the city slowly vanish in the
distance
<Angelo> "It's a damn filthy city, but it's home."
<Storyteller> "During the twenties it was very beautiful, very much a town that did
not sleep."
* Iron_J stands proud near the helm, it is very obvious that he is glad to be back at
sea.
<Daniel_C> "Would that I had been alive then."
<Brianna> "How long have you been here?"
* Angelo nods. "Those were the days."
<Storyteller> Ahuru smiles, "I have been here....always."
<Storyteller> "Since the seventeen hundreds..."
* Daniel_C nods
<Daniel_C> "Tell me...what did people dream of, then?"
<Storyteller> The ship gathers speed as it sails further and further from the city
* Brianna wonders sadly what could keep someone here so long
* Remy looks over the railing and broods
<Storyteller> "They dreamed the same dreams of everyone ever born. A better life, a
fresh start, a love that was never theirs to have." he says
* Angelo nods slowly.
<Daniel_C> "But was it like today's dreams? The dreams of violence and anger and
hate?"
* Brianna 's eyes get a faraway look and a sadness crosses over her expression at
Ahuru's words
<Daniel_C> "I mean..." He looks down. "Was there always such death?"
<Storyteller> "There has always been death, you have only to look for it."
<Storyteller> "There is always hope, as well you need only seek it, or it shall find
you."
<Daniel_C> "But was it always so ugly? So...common?"
* Brianna watches Daniel closely as he asks his questions
<Daniel_C> "I just...I don't know." He runs a hand through his white hair, his thumb
touching the pointed tip of his ear. "It just seems so...boring and dead..."
<Storyteller> Ahuru smiles, "You ask so many despairing questions Daniel."
<Hans> "The world has always been this way," says Hans, who has been listening to you
quietly.
<Storyteller> "Yes, death has always been common. All things die, Daniel..."
* Angelo grins a little. "If you think the City is boring and dead, you just don't
live in the right neighborhood, pal."
<Storyteller> "All things are born as well, it is all your perception of the world."
* Daniel_C shakes his head. "Not everything dies. Not for good. Not...not like
this..."
<Remy> "Heh. We ain't exactly dead for good either now, are we, Daniel."
<Remy> "Far as I'm concerned, that means there's still hope."
* Daniel_C chuckles
<Storyteller> "You speak truly, but is this death? Or a second chance? Another chance
to put wrongs to right?"
<Brianna> "You must find your purpose, Daniel.. we are all here for a reason.
Something has called us from the natural cycle of birth and death."
<Storyteller> "There is always hope."
<Daniel_C> "I have a purpose...it just seems like this is a mockery of what's going
on with the living. A play, for someone's amusement."
<Brianna> "Fate chooses as she will, it is up to us how to live with what she gave
us."
<Storyteller> Ahuru puts his hand on Daniel's shoulder, "Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, you of all should know this."
* Angelo chuckles to himself and shakes his head.
* Ahuru walks over to the Captian
* Iron_J turns to Ahuru
<Storyteller> The crew watch and listen, some nod, others just watch with amazement
* Daniel_C nods to Ahuru. "I'll try to remember that."
<Ahuru> "Your ship handles well in the Tempest."
<Iron_J> "Aye, that she does."
* Ahuru smiles and motions towards the helm
<Iron_J> "But it has more t'do with the crew then the ship."
<Ahuru> "Perhaps I could steer her sometime during the voyage?"
* Iron_J looks at Ahuru for a moment, a bit surprised, and then says "T'would be an
honor."
<Iron_J> "I knew ye had the look of a man who knew deep water."
* Iron_J says with a smile
<Remy> "Saw this play once, down in New Orleans. Called Waitin' for Godot, or some
such. Strange play, I didn't like it at first. All 'bout these two guys,
waiting, waiting, they just waited for this guy to show up, and he never did. But
they always came back to wait for him anyway..."
<Ahuru> "I have a very long time ago."
<Remy> "See, that's what we all do, Daniel. We're all waitin' for something. Even
the dead. An' we got all of eternity to wait for what we're looking for; what
*everyone* is lookin' for. Salvation."
<Remy> "That's what I think, anyway."
<Iron_J> "Once ye have the sea in ya, ya never loose the thrill."
* Daniel_C looks at Remy. "Waiting for Godot? Sounds kind of silly...and boring. Tell
me...ever read any Guy Gavriel Kay?"
* Angelo grins. "Buncha freaking armchair philosophers."
<Remy> "Nah, never heard of him. What'd he write?"
<Ahuru> "Yes, the Tempest changes you, for good or ill, you are never the same again."
* Daniel_C shakes his head. "I'm not looking for salvation. I'm looking for what's
wrong with me."
* Remy nods and smiles to Angelo. "Better to think from an armchair than not at all."
<Daniel_C> "Just some fantasy books...one series was about some normal people that
got tossed into a fantasy world."
<Remy> "An' what're you planning to do when you find out what's wrong with you? You
gonna do something about it? And if you do, and you better yourself from it,
ain't that salvation right there?"
* Angelo chuckles. "All I'm gonna say is we could be a lot worse off now than we are."
<Daniel_C> "I don't know what I'll do. Hopefully...the right thing, whatever that is."
<Daniel_C> "But anyways...these people came into this other world, with people saying
they were important and stuff...without ever actually telling them what they were
supposed to do, or who they were supposed to be."
<Hans> {Daniel: "With so much indecision in you, how will you ever do the right
thing?"}
* Daniel_C blinks
<William> "The had to find their purpose on their own."
<Remy> "I'm sure you will, son."
<Daniel_C> (The right thing will just...be there...won't it?)
<Hans> {Daniel: "Of course it will, especially when you have to help out Redcaps.}
<Daniel_C> (No! I'll never help them!)
* Daniel_C shivers
<Daniel_C> "I guess the point of bringing that up is...we get put in situations where
people tell us we're supposed to do something...but we're never told what it is.
It's like...a nightmare."
<Remy> "Then you just gotta find out for yourself."
<Daniel_C> "Yeah. I guess...I guess I do."
<Daniel_C> His hand strays to the hilt of his sword. "Ever wonder what it's like to
not have to carry a weapon, these days? How nice it would be, to just hang it up
like a relic of a time long past?"
<William> "Sometimes we must find our own path. It is not always easy, but you can be
more sure that the path you are on is the right path when you do."
* Angelo fingers his gladius.
<Angelo> "Eh. Anything worth having's worth fighting for."
<Daniel_C> "But wouldn't it be nice to not have to fight?"
* Angelo shrugs. "Not for me, it's what I know."
<Angelo> "Long as you're struggling against something, you don't have to think much
about the big picture."
* Angelo shakes his head.
* Daniel_C chuckles. "Yeah, I suppose it's what I know, too." His gaze wanders over
to the open ocean. "I just wish I'd did a few things differently."
<Angelo> "Listen to me. I'm starting to sound like you saps. If you guys make me turn
fruity, I'm gonna kick all your asses."
* Angelo chuckles to himself.
* Brianna smiles briefly
* Daniel_C chuckles
<Daniel_C> "Remind me to make sure you don't hang around some of my old friends...I
don't believe you'd enjoy their company."
* Angelo chuckles. "They wouldn't enjoy mine either."
* William smiles sadly
<Angelo> "I guess what I'm trying to say is that if we're fighting, at least we can
feel like we're DOING something."
* Angelo shrugs.
<William> "Such is the path of the warrior."
* Daniel_C nods
* Ahuru stand from where he was sitting listenming to you
<Daniel_C> "The funny thing is...I'm no warrior. That's in someone else's job
description."
<Ahuru> "The warriors path is not only sown in violence. It is also sown in
waiting...watching."
* Brianna nods thoughtfully
* William nods
<Ahuru> "Waiting for the time to unsheath his sword and fight. It is a time of
patience, a time of vigiliant rest."
<William> "A time to think, to reflect on the past and look to the future."
* Brianna feels the now comfortable weight of the sword at her hip, wondering when
she ceased to be bothered by it's presence at her side
* Daniel_C walks over to the railing and leans against it. "Exactly. I just think
that more people need to see that a time like that is needed...and soon."
<Storyteller> somewhere in New York
<Storyteller> There is a heavy knock on the door
<Storyteller> Tom gets up from the sofa to answer it, Emily heads into the bathroom
<Storyteller> "Hello?"
<Storyteller> "I have come regarding Emily. A mutual friend has sent me..." says the
voice behind the door
<Storyteller> Tom looks through the peephole to find a tall man wearing a suit looking
at him
<Storyteller> "May I come in?"
<Storyteller> "How do I know your'e not going to hurt us?"
<Storyteller> The tall man holds up an amulet like the one Emily now wears
<Storyteller> Tom opens the door and the tall man enters
<Storyteller> Emily walks out with a quizical look on her face
<Storyteller> "What's going on?" she asks
<Storyteller> "This...ah man here says he was sent by the Egyptian guy to help us."
<Storyteller> "Really?" she asks
<Storyteller> "Who are you, and what do you want with Emily?" Tom asks
<Storyteller> "I am Amon, and I am...insurance...." <Storyteller> to be continued
