OoC// Yes, they are single shot

As soon as the rifle shot was fired, Matthew sighed and cursed under his breath. He immediately headed below deck, "You heard the captain! Bottom two rows alternate with grape shot and regular cannon balls, the rest filled with chain shot!" The crew members that haven't yet heeded the captain's orders scrambled to their stations to load the cannons and ready them, while Matthew headed topside, pulling out one of his two pistols out of it's holsters and began aiming at one of the faster drakes flying in the sky above them, time seemed to slow as he aimed the pistol a bit to the right of the drake and pulled the trigger. The bullet soared through the air, the drake tried to dodge to the right, as expected, but the shot lined up perfectly, piercing the beast's heart.

The first shot stunned it, leaving it struggling to stay flying. Matthew quickly alternated, sliding his foot along the deck to pivot while he pulled out his other pistol in a quick-draw like movement while his other pistol was at his side. He shot his other pistol, and the drake began falling out of the sky, taking one or two drakes along with it as it fell. He then turned to find a new victim. He continued this process over and over in a rhythmic pattern. First shot, slide, killing shot, turn, first shot... The only break in this pattern were the times he needed to reload, which he did with great expertise and time.

Avery let out a string of curses most would have been shocked to here coming from a woman's mouth as the sound of gunfire. She fired upon command, reloading with quick, efficient movements. Her focus was on the Drake that had attacked the ship. Briefly she caught sight of the captain and his firesword, she was envious of that sort of power but shoved it away. She doubted she would ever attain that much power and skill. When the one on their deck was a goner she turned to the ones flying around the ship. Eventually she ran out of rounds, Avery didn't want to leave her location and risk getting hit with a stray bullet from a crew mate. Instead she set the gun down almost gently then turned outwards to face the hoard of Drakes swarming around the ships.

At a young age Avery had learned that water is almost everywhere in one form or another. Water mages could use that instead of creating their own if they knew how. It was less tiring to do and so she had learned it quickly through hours of practice. Small drops of water quickly condensed into a swirling mass of liquid, almost like a waterspout. She sent strips of the water flying towards three Drakes. The water split even further, splashing into their eyes and shooting into their noses to flow into the beasts' lungs to drown them. She watched as they struggled, making sure the wouldn't cough up her attack. The Drakes fell, one of them taking a smaller Drake down with it. Nodding with satisfaction she repeated the attack on other Drakes. As long as she kept an eye on them the Drakes would die. She lost count of her victims.

She could feel a tug on her body, she was overdoing herself. Avery cringed at her body's warning, she was needed. This was no time to push her limits. She sent what was left of the spout twisting into the Drakes and let it go, the water doing much less harm after it was relased.Cursing again she crouched down onto the ship's deck and crawled to the ammunition and grabbed what she could. Most of the crew was facing outwards to attack the skybound monsters but she kept low anyways, doing her best to avoid the stray bullets. At her spot once again she loaded round after round. Her aim was much worse now, but that was to be expected. This was not her best weapon and she was exhausted. Thoughts drifted in and out as she robotically loaded and fired. I need to practice my skills more. She thought grumpily. Practicing here, if they made it through this fight, would feel like showing off. She did not want to show off her gift. Practice, however, was the only way to improve her skills and endurance.

Blackfire let her arrows fly. It sent the babies squealing, but some of the adolescents just seemed to get more upset and angry. One in particular, pretty close to if not already an adult, had its jaws open to spit some very plasma-ish fire at them in particular. As quick as she could she fired off two arrows - right into the fuel glands behind its eyes. It roared in pain and crashed onto the ship, blinded by the fluid, and then launched itself off again only to fly into other drakes in confused rage.

Smirking, the woman got herself over to Rous. "Captain," she said as her bow melted, "Permission to try to snag an egg from the nests once the brood mothers fly?" It was an insane question. Rous had hired an insane demon woman. But she went on, "I don't have much strength left to keep firing my bow, so I'd like to spend what I have trying to get us an asset. These things are very easily trained, assuming it's hatched and raised from scratch. It would be an invaluable asset to your crew, especially if it's male." She glanced over his shoulder and her smirk dropped. Slowly, she grabbed his face and turned it so he could see what she saw.

Behind them, a hulking mass was taking shape. One of the brooding mothers, an alpha female, was coming to play, and she was easily three-quarters the size of the ship. Their ship. Her back and limbs were heavily plated with scales, and her stomach was probably thick-skinned too. She let out a nearly-deafening roar; those closest would certainly have hearing damage. At least only the big males could completely deafen. Blackfire summoned her bow and aimed at the dragon, taking a few steps to try and get closer, but within seconds the hulking female dove right through the fleet; the subsequent wind would crash into the ships like a storm's waves. Blackfire was tossed over the railing without a sound.

How could she have been so stupid? Standing near the rail when that damned drake was near... and it was probably the alpha female! So there were probably more big girls coming to play! She looked down at her feet, where the ship was quickly falling away from. "Shit."

As soon as a drake would latch onto the railing, or land on the deck, Rous would dash at it. If not taken out by one of his very abled crewmembers, he'd split their skull with the axe, or burn their heads of with the flame sword. The babies began to be replaced with the adolescent drakes, bigger by a third, and much tougher. But still, his officers and crewmembers dispatched them with ease.

He brought his right hand back, next to his ear, taking the stance that a javelin thrower would when he was about to hurl his weapon. A fire blade shot out the bottom of his hand, making just that, a fire javelin. Another favorite of pyromancers,the bolt could fly for a pretty long time before burning out. Especially his. And it would fly straight until it did eventually burn out, for it weighed nothing.

As a drake wheeled about off to the side of the ship, Rous took aim with his left hand, and moved to the right a little, leading the adolescent drake. He hopped once, and hurled the fire javelin. It zipped through the air with a mean hissing sound, and met with drake. Just like any 4-legged creature, it's heart would be located somewhere near it's front shoulder, or square I the middle of it's chest if you could manage that, and Rous managed it. The fire javelin struck the drake, burning a fist sized hole straight through it, it's steel-hard scales and flesh beneath it igniting momentarily as the javelin passed through it. The roar it was in the middle of emitting was cut short, and it tumbled through the air.

Rous threw javeline after javeline, taking aim with his left, throwing with his right. He scowled at his first mate's question [I]"I do not trust drakes, dragons, anything of the likes. You can, but if it shows one little bit of disobedience, I will kill it, no questions asked. And if.. "[/I] He was cut short by her grabbing his face, and turning it. His aiming arm dropped momentarily. An alpha female wanted in on the action.

The thing about drake heards, yiu really had to worry when the alpha females wanted to play. There was only one thing worse than them, and that was THE alpha male, the drake King,getting royally pissed.

[I]"Matthew, get the men ready to fire the cannons...."[/I] He said, just now rolling his sleeves up. He'd have to go down and help.

"Oh sh-" Avery swore as an extremely large female joined the fight, she barely had time to register it was probably an alpha before it slammed into their ship. Avery could feel the ship tip underneath her bare feet. Her toes curled, trying to grab onto something but failed. Her body was slammed into a rail, knocking the wind out of her body. She scrambled to grab a hold of the rail before she fell out of the ship. Some of the crew went flying. She wished she could save them, but that was a very fleeting though as she struggled to maintain a grasp on the rail. Her muscles screamed with the effort to stay onboard.

As the ship rocked back to stability she struggled to her feet. "Forget this." she grumbled, hoping she wouldn't pass out from what she was going to try. She rocked and swayed as she tried to not trip any of the remaining crew on her way to a rope. Avery tied the rope to herself and the mast then summoned what strength she had left. "Please don't let me die." she pleaded to whatever god would listen. She let out a breath of air slowly to calm her racing heart and thought of winter and the bitter cold it brought. Ice began to form at her fingers she sent a rain of hail at the beast, trying to direct the attack at its wings. Some of the hail punched holes in the wings but it didn't do much more than slow the creature down. Her vision became a tunnel and she ended her trick. She was too exhausted to do any more.

Her stomach rolled as she fumbled at the knot that kept her attached to the mast. She heaved as she struggled back to her post only to discover her gun was gone. She cursed again before taking a brief rest then struggled below decks. Maybe now would be a good time to tend to what wounds she could rather than killing herself with magic.

"Oh sh-" Avery swore as an extremely large female joined the fight, she barely had time to register it was probably an alpha before it slammed into their ship. Avery could feel the ship tip underneath her bare feet. Her toes curled, trying to grab onto something but failed. Her body was slammed into a rail, knocking the wind out of her body. She scrambled to grab a hold of the rail before she fell out of the ship. Some of the crew went flying. She wished she could save them, but that was a very fleeting though as she struggled to maintain a grasp on the rail. Her muscles screamed with the effort to stay onboard.

As the ship rocked back to stability she struggled to her feet. "Forget this." she grumbled, hoping she wouldn't pass out from what she was going to try. She rocked and swayed as she tried to not trip any of the remaining crew on her way to a rope. Avery tied the rope to herself and the mast then summoned what strength she had left. "Please don't let me die." she pleaded to whatever god would listen. She let out a breath of air slowly to calm her racing heart and thought of winter and the bitter cold it brought. Ice began to form at her fingers she sent a rain of hail at the beast, trying to direct the attack at its wings. Some of the hail punched holes in the wings but it didn't do much more than slow the creature down. Her vision became a tunnel and she ended her trick. She was too exhausted to do any more.

Her stomach rolled as she fumbled at the knot that kept her attached to the mast. She heaved as she struggled back to her post only to discover her gun was gone. She cursed again before taking a brief rest then struggled below decks. Maybe now would be a good time to tend to what wounds she could rather than killing herself with magic.

This battle was one that Jack never expected, a huge whirlwind of well actual wind and fire. Her shot wasn’t strong at first, just another thing that she’d have to work on. Unsure if anything ever actually worked, she did as told to her best ability, and just kept at it. Something would eventually work, she wasn’t a terrible shot, she was just better with knifes. Every now and again she’d glance around the ship, finding herself in moments of awe, marveling at the sheer power the Captain possessed. Even the others around her with something special about them, very impressed with everyone. Constantly she shook her head to break her daze so not to fall behind, in the line of fire, or worse. Ignoring the shadows flying around her, she needed no more distractions, she saw the sheer size of some of them, using it as a way to take aim. Glancing down, Jack took a step back as the alpha female rose towards the ship. The impact tossed her back falling down a couple of the steps hitting the main deck. The gun she was using skidded across the hard wood, she stayed down to dodge some of the bullets and stray shrapnel trying to crawl over to get rearmed.

Catching himself as the ship rocked, Fer noticed some people go over, one in particular being the first mate. He looked around the ship to see if anyone else noticed, simultaneously looking to see if there was a quick way to help her. Being in the air was a bit more tricky. Now with sectional hail, he didn’t know who that was coming from. Just always expect the unexpected in a life of a traveler.

Nikki loaded and fired her rifle methodically. She would have loved to leap on the back of one of the drakes, summon her clawed gauntlets, and sink them deep into dragon hide, but even she knew better than to try to be fancy when so far above the ground. When the creature died, she'd be without a good way to return to the ship. So she settled for the less exciting but more effective rifle. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the alpha female. This would make a great story down the road. The shudder of the deck beneath her feet made her drop the bullet she was trying to load, though it didn't knock her over. She grabbed another one and finished loading, then fired at this latest threat. She wasn't the best shot, but with the size of her target it was hard to miss.

Matthew was standing over a drake that had fallen to the deck of the ship, though no one seemed to notice what he was doing. Once he was done he shoved the drake off the ship right, aiming for a large group of them below. An insane look gleamed in his eyes as he watched the carcass of the drake fall off, taking multiple of it's brethren with it. He looked up just in time to be snapped out of his trance as he saw a very large drake heading directly for the ship. He turned to the captain who was just then giving him orders. He nodded at his orders and once again headed below deck.

His eyes widened at the amount of people still below deck. Some of them were too injured to fight any more, but most of them were simply too cowardly to fight at all. He shook his head. "All right you lot, those of you who don't have the balls to fight, I invite you to jump off this ship right now! Those of you who still want to help, man the cannons and fire on command!" Matthew wasn't surprised to see two or three newcomers actually jump off the ship, just to be snatched up and lifted away by a drake. Other than those, all the ones left below deck manned a cannons, some in pairs, a pyromancer to fire the cannon, and another to aim it.

"On your mark Rous." Matthew said, reporting back to the Captain.

The ship rocked as the alpha female swooped at it, knocking some poor souls screaming into the blue. The deck was slick with blood, both from the drakes and his crew not quick enough to get out of their way. This would be a heavy loss. Good thing they were stopping for a few days anyways, he needed to get more crewmembers, and have heavy repairs done to his ship. Other ships were already firing their cannons, the thunderous noises echoing off the mountains below. A sudden, much, much louder noise boomed, the ship rocking again as the shockwave of one of the ships in their fleet went out in a massive fireball. Their powder magazine must have caught fire. Pieces of wood, metal and people rained upon them. There was a wooshing noise, accompanied by the sound of tearing rigging as a cannon sailed overhead.

Rous didn't notice, but one of the folks who went overboard was his first mate. He would have helped if he saw. He tugged at Matthew's coat and ran for the stairs. [I]"Stand right at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor, relay my orders to fire to the crew! [/I] He manned a cannon, cranking the handles to aim it. He peered through the sight, two rails with a box in the middle of them. He held his hands just above the cannon, and waited. The alpha female soared next to the ship, roaring her challenge. [I]"FIRE!"[/I] He shouted. He spawned a fireball in the chamber behind the cannon. This particular spell was usually used in the open, as a bomb or booby trapped. Depending on the will of the one who set it, it would either explode after a few seconds, or when someone neared it. And, depending on the size of the fireball, it could explode with great force.

Rous had just enough time to pull away and plug his ears, before the cannon went off. The chain shot, which was three small cannon balls chained together, whent whirring through the air. He had shot low, and only succeeded in tearing off one of the female's leg. The next two cannon s to go off where the grape shot/cannon ball pairs. The grape shot would stun the drake, if they were lucky it would kill her. The cannon ball would do considerably more damage, usually fataly wounding or killing he drake outright, dependig on where it hit. And how big the drake was. He began reloading, stuffing a wad down the barrel first, before rolling another chainshot down the barrel.

Matthew allowed himself to be pulled towards the stairs, and nodded when Rous finished his orders. He sprinted down the stair, reaching the bottom of the second floor in no time. He watched as the crew members aimed their hands over the pre-aimed cannons, ready to fire. He watched as the alpha female alpha neared the ship. He counted down from three as she neared. "Three... two..." As if from far away, he heard the captain shout, which he then followed in suit. "Fire!" he shouted, and plugged his ears. He watched as pyromancers exerted almost all of their energy to shoot the cannonballs, the cannons roaring in response to the drakes' challenges. He shook his head at a pyromancer that collapsed to the floor, passing out after exerting every last ounce of his energy.

The sky was filled with fiery balls of lead and drakes began dropping, either from chain shots tying down a group of them, to grape shots shredding them apart, to cannonballs blasting them out of the sky. Multiple cannonballs pelted the alpha female, taking her out of the sky. Matthew watched with delight as she took out multiple amounts of her children as she fell out of the sky with a roar. The congratulations were brief, as the drakes, now enraged, kept hammering the ships.

Finally after struggling Jack got a hand on the stray gun. A slight shadow came over her, as she rolled over to her back to see a small drake looming over her. Without any thought, her first reaction was to stick the barrel of the gun up one of the open nostrils and take a shot, unsure if it was full or not. She didn’t get a chance to get her finger on the trigger before the gun was pulled from her hands as the drake reeled its head back whipping the weapon out of its nose. Jack’s ears rang from the sounds of shots being fired and the close roar of one newly pissed off creature. It gave her time to scramble away, only to slip on blood of the creatures fallen brethren, sliding across the deck as the ship rocked slamming into the railing. Luckily for her staying on the side of the ship as her heart skipped a beat fearing she was going to join the few others off the side. But now there was no help as she frantically looked around for something, anything other than the little dagger she had strapped for her as a weapon. The blade was not long enough to do much damage with a creature as big and though skinned. Scrambling and sliding again, never marking it higher than her knees, she made her way to the stairs. Hopefully something or someone could help below deck. She looked around now covered in blood, unsure really what was hers and what was others as nothing yet hurt. But the hurt was surely to come.

(So... how's everyone doing? Miss the rp? I do because a certain has been apparently very busy lately.)

(( Yeah, same here. hugs))

Starts humming the jeopardy theme

((Alright everyone, Rous will be posting on Wednesday. In the meantime...))

Suddenly, all of the drakes began to scatter. The smaller ones definitely were in a sort of panic, but the alpha mothers just seemed to be a little annoyed. They shifted their wings nonetheless. Over of the din of the squeaks and squawks and yelps, a deafening drake trumpet suddenly blasted. It was certainly literally deafening if the crew wasn't quick enough to cover their ears; luckily the sound didn't last very long. However, even in that short amount of time, the drakes had all disappeared, none of the smaller ones even wanting to hide underneath the ships.

Just as with the alpha females, a large shape quickly formed in the clouds, but it got much bigger and formed much quicker than those. It was the big daddy alpha. Before he was even completely visible, a jet of flame engulfed one of the cargo ships, and then he was upon them. His skin was spiky and thick, large spines running down his back. His stomach was covered in wide plates, like the underside of a snake. On his head was a set of massive antlers perfect for absolute devastation. The end of his tail had a thick club on it with multiple spikes. To top it all off, he was absolutely massive, bigger than the main ship by quite a few yards.

This was not going to be an easy fight.

While the others below deck were celebrating the dispersal of the drakes, Matthew was skeptical. His eyes narrowed, as he was searching the horizon. "Drakes don't just... disperse like that... something's... wrong..." His eyes widened as he saw one of the cargo ships burst into fire, and the alpha male shredded into pieces within 5 minutes, tops. "Everyone, load your cannons with cannonballs, none of the grapeshot or chain shot will be used!" Matthew roared, snapping the crew members out of their fear. They made haste to load the cannons. Matthew pointed to one of the more reliable crew members he saw, "You there! Listen for the captain's call for fire, and repeat it to this lot." The sharpshooter nodded. Matthew began his ascent to above deck.

As he came to above the deck he was met by frantic screams, men abandoning ships, and the alpha male setting fire, claw, and tail to anything in it's path. What attracted Matthew the most was the beast's antlers. The money that kind of bone would sell for hundreds on it's own, as well as he heard from his mother that alphas have special properties in their antlers. He twirled one of his pistols and a glint formed in his eyes, ready for the danger to come, and within the midst of the chaos he said "This isn't going to be an easy fight."

Avery did what she could for the crew below deck. She ignored the ones who griped as she bandaged, there was no time for a good bedside manner. The explosion made her flinch. The crew had a slight break when the drakes fled. She caught only brief glimpses through the cannon ports of them. The sounds of destruction of another ship hurt. She thought of all of the people lost and pushed it aside. She had work to do. The doctor finished splinting a crewman's fingers and shoved her way back upstairs, grabbing a discarded gun and ammo on the way up.

The site of the alpha male was terrifying. She didn't know if any of the ships would survive his brutal mauling. "All of this because one person got scared and fired a bloody shot." she grumbled taking a position to do what damage a rifle could do to the monster.

Nikki flattened her ears against her head at the huge bellow, hissing in displeasure. Her eyes widened at the sight of the massive alpha. He was /huge/, and looked dangerous. She finished reloading, took aim, and fired, but her shot had no visible effect. She grimaced, but didn't see any good alternative. She lacked offensive magic, and her gauntlets would do no good until the beast got much closer. The nekomimi decided against wasting ammo, and simply moved somewhere she could keep an eye on the drake. If it came close enough to attack in melee, she'd be on it in a trice.