(Oh sorry, loves! Holidays have been insane. ) Natalia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know," she said. "Jade has almost no enemies here. I don't know who would hurt her. She's going to need protection until we root out the killer."
"Right..." Jared sighed and walked off back to the kitchen to rest, determining that Natalia would let him leave now.
Natalia did let him go. She stared after him for a moment, and then turned on her heel and went up the stairs, two at a time. In her room, Natalia returned to her books. Her fingers drifted over the worn, familiar spines, and they paused for a moment over a journal that was once the deep color of dried blood. Natalia bit her lip for a moment, and the memories threatened to burst through the garden gate in her mind. She wrestled with it for a moment, making sure that they stayed in the garden. They could not enter the deeper expanses of her thoughts. With a small sigh, she pushed them back, and locked the gate. One slipped out, though. One tiny, sneaky little memory. A lock of blonde hair, bluest eyes, a head resting against collarbones. Natalia blinked past sudden tears, and cursed. She pushed her hair back with one hand, and she made her fingers move away from the red journal. They took a small, unassuming black one, and she returned to her desk, and began to write, recounting Jade's story, discussing suspects, and crossing them off the list. She wrote down a plan of attack for the next day, and she returned to the chalk diagrams on the wall. Her garden gate remained closed. * * * Jack was tired. He had just been assigning people on "JadeWatch", and he was being hardpressed to find sailors who weren't completely drunk, or passed out in their beds. He returned to Jade's cabin, where Cobiah and Ellia still sat on guard. "Go get some sleep," he said, rubbing one of his temples. "It's my shift next."
Cobiah got up, half asleep. "Aye..." He said, with a yawn. He gathered his rapier, pistol, and got moving to his quarters. Even half asleep, he couldn't help but worry. Granted, he was planning on crossing the crew when the treasure was found, but he wouldn't go out of his way to unnecessarily harm any of the crew mates. There had to be someone dangerous among the crew, even for pirate standards.
(Ask and you shall receive! I wanted to make sure everyone was done before I did a time skip.) ~TIME SKIP TO NEXT MORNING~ A light breeze flowed across the deck, playing with Natalia's hair as her piercing eyes swept across the crew. She paused for a moment, head cocked in thought, and then she began to speak. "As I'm sure many of you know, a member of our crew was attacked last night. An investigation will be performed, and there will be consequences. In the meantime, however, I will be assigning the crew into pairs." A groan swept through the crew, but Natalia spoke over it. "It may seem infantile, but I'm afraid I have no choice. People traveling in pairs not only secures personal safety, but it is much harder to attack when someone is with you at all times."
"It's not that far removed from what we've done before, mates." Cobiah said. "We've patrolled in pairs before, only difference now is you can't drunkenly shamble back to your quarters alone."
"I suppose it's for the best," Jared said, agreeing with both Cobiah and Natalia. "It's not the end of the world having company with you." He slowly nodded his head, but on the inside, he was flaming. He could not bear to be around any of the drunken imbeciles for more than a minute. The sailors with actual brains in their skulls, that was fine. But the generic, hard-headed, delinquents were an absolute no.
(PM me who you want your partner to be! Also, is Stuffy Mcpatch still around?) "I'm glad you agree," Natalia said, tying her hair back in a messy bun as she spoke. "The pairs are posted on the main pillar. If you discover anything, please alert me immediately." * * * Jade curled in her sleep, and her hands were loose fists against her eyes. She stirred slightly, and then groaned. Weirdly enough, being stabbed in the back didn't feel too good the morning after. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she squinted in the early afternoon light. "Damn it," she muttered, gritting her teeth as she sat up. Where was everybody?
(I have been dead for awhile, but I plan on coming back more often. I'm wrapping head around what's currently happening, and I should be posting tomorrow. My apologies.)
(Woops, I guess I lied. Sorry if the reply isn't up to par, I'm catching up.) Avice leaned on the railing of the ship, watching the unsteady ocean rock. She had a small migraine, and used the ever-moving waters to soothe it. This helped little, as her mind was racing with questions and worries as to why a crew member was stabbed. Steely pain swept through her head again, so she let her thoughts turn blank and pushed the paranoia to the back.
(alrighty. I haven't gotten all the responses, but I think it's probably best if I just randomize everyone anyways. Unfortunately, since I have half the OCs in this roleplay, I think that everyone is going to be teamed up with one of my characters, if that's okay. These are mostly randomized unless you told me who you wanted specifically. I'm trying out some new combinations of characters that haven't really been seen much here.) After Natalia's announcement, the crowd surges forward. As people read the paper, their faces quickly reflect their results. Some grin and look around excitedly for their new companion, others groan and roll their eyes. The list is written in the precise, sharp writing of Natalia, and amidst the various names, it reads as follows: Avice Rohesia and Jack Curnow Cobiah Seatone and Jade Eloquence Jared Rayne and Ellia Mercury
After reading the name, Avice inwardly gave a sigh of relief. Thankful that she was paired up with someone she knew, she looked around to find Jack, a crooked grin on her face.
Jack was standing off to the side, his hands folded behind his back, and his head cocked slightly. Being the first mate, he was already aware of the pairings on the list, and he was trying to look professional, but he noticed Avice looking at him, and he raised his eyebrows, and gave her a half-smile. * * * Jade swung her legs over the edge of the bed, feeling like rusty machinery. She groaned as she tried to stand up, and she fell, cursing all the way down. "This... is.. embarrassing," she growled through gritted teeth. She lay on her back, glaring up at the ceiling for several moments, until she heard excited squeaking. She turned with pursed lips, and she regarded her mouse as he scuttled towards her. "Don't you dare laugh," she said, frowning at him through her thick dark hair. She sighed, and then turned her head to face the ceiling, trying to figure out how to stand up, and praying that no one came through that door.
Avice tried to coolly walk over, obviously attempting to contain her excitement. Once she had approached, words escaped her mouth in a flurry. "OhboyI'msogladthatI'mpairedupwithafriendandnotsomeoneIdon'tknowthisissuchareliefbecauseItendtonotgetalongwithothersandhavebeencalledaprobleminthepastbutit'sokaybecauseIknowyou!" After this, her expression quickly went from delighted, to slightly embarrassed. "Agh... Sorry. I get excited sometimes."
Jack cocked his head, and regarded her with an amused smile. "I can tell," he said, taking a deep breath. "IwasreallygladwhenIreadtheresultstoo,becauseIdon'treallytalktomanyothersonthisship,andiwasthinking,'whatifIampartneredwithttheattacker?thatwouldreallysuck.'butthenIwaspartneredwithyou,so,imean,nooffense,butyoudon'treallyseemlikethestabbingtype,soIthinkI'mgood." He leaned back against the side of the ship, and looked up to the sky for a moment, trying to hide his grin, but when he looked down, it was clear that he had failed. He cleared his throat and shook his head. "So, I suppose this means that we'll just be talking a lot more than usual. I know that we both have our individual jobs, but I think we can find an even compromise for our time, yeah?"
Avice was taken aback by his response, and stifled a laugh behind her hand. "Yes, I agree. And trust me, I'm a pretty cool person to talk to." She smiled jokingly, obviously faking the narcissism.
