Too tired to contest, feathers fell limp into the mage's arms. He gripped her clothes as he was carried to a seat. He held onto her sleeve like a safety blanket. Maybe a Mage was a kind version of a sage. They sounded alike though. He scratched at the base of his broken antler, then took one of the bananas and bit into the side of it. Peel and all. He just looked at the floor, ashamed of himself. He was still kind of crying and he was sorry, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He took another bite and slowly he ate the whole thing. Stem and all.

[i just went so I'll just stop there]

Nikki sat herself in the adjacent chair, and patted Feathers on the shoulder. "I guess people do make a mess of the world, don't we?" she said, sounding unusually thoughtful for once. "But a lot of us don't know better, I guess." She scratched at one of her ears before shrugging slightly. "Also ew, how can you eat the peel? That's nasty~"

“Do I even want to know what that is?” The girl asked turning in her seat to face Matthew more as they talked “Well, even if I don’t, I’m gonna ask anyway. What was your little project!?” She asked with a curious smile. Jack pushed stray pieces of her dreaded hair over her shoulder to get them out of the way, continuing to slightly eat waiting and listening to Matthew’s answer.

((And aren't yinz sweet! Thanks a bunches :) )))

As Rous rounded the corner to go back to his quarters, the boy they called Feathers began to melt down in anger. He peaked his head around the corner to tell him to calm down, when he saw the branches and sapplings be re-animated from long dead wood. As much as this was an important discovery, the situation was dangerous. His hand shot to the handle of his pistol, and he cocked the hammer back, noting the wood splitting, the floor boards cracking.

Even though the boy calmed down eventually, Rous kept his hand on the pistol. [I]"It seems we have a very important find here. Bring him along to our meeting. Afterwards, he /will/ cut down those sapplings, and someone will teach him how to replace the floorboards. He's gotta learn the rules, and the consequences of damaging the ship. Come on, we don't have all day."[/i] He de-cocked the pistol, and went to his quarters. Wyrn Followed along, a grin on his face.

[B]"It's been long, LONG time since I have seen a tree-singer."[/b] Wyrn said, and Rous looked over his shoulder, his crooked grin returning. [I]"300 years. We shall discuss this in the meeting. Along with /our/ 'condition'. It's time I told my officers what is going on. I AM excited, though. The possibilities are endless with this boy."[/i] Rous said, walking back through his door.

[I]"I got roast!"[/i]

Matthew juggled a tiny ball of green flame along his fingertips, before turning his head back to Jack, "You'll see it just as soon as everyone else." He said with a wink not long before the captain strode into the quarters. Rous must have just been talking about the deer child, only just hearing the part about "-endless with this boy. bit. As Rous and Wyrn entered the room, the Gunnery Sergeant gave them both a small two-fingered salute from the sofa he was sitting on. The smell of the meat intrigued Matthew. "Never seen a roast like this in Fyreside. "Is this... Drake meat?" Matthew sniffed twice, then immediately found a plate, holding it out to Rous, "Oi, captain. Wouldn't mind dealing an officer some roast, would you?" Just because Matthew wasn't hungry didn't mean he was full, now did it?

[I]"Hold on. One last thing..."[/i]

He walked over to his cabinet, throwing it open. He dug through some spices, selecting a few. He grabbed his rum, pouring a little into a glass. He filled the rest with the various spices, and stirred it up until it was thick. He rubbed it on the roast, and turned to Jack and Matthew, a smile on his face.

[I]"Now you may eat it! Now...."[/i] He leaned his head out the door, shouting "IF THE REST OF MY OFFICERS WOULD [U]HURRY UP![/U] AND GET IN HERE. WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

He leaned back in, shaking his head slightly. [I]"Jeez. Losing my touch. I remember when crews actually /listened/ to their Captain. Guess I have to do something drastic...or something, I don't know. Anyways, we have some business to discuss. We shall discuss it when the rest of my trusty officers get here."[/i]

Nikki's ears perked up at the captain's voice, and she jumped to her feet. "C'mon, Feathers, bring your food and follow me," she told him, draping an arm around the boy's shoulders. He was so upset, and she hoped he'd cheer up soon. "It sounds like Rous wants us."

The sudden flowers and saplings was weird, but she'd seen a lot of weird, travelling as she did. Still, it made her wonder -- why didn't /she/ get any cool powers? Turning into a cat wasn't very spectacular.

(( Dude, , turning into a cat is one of the coolest things ever XD Also your HA looks amazing :D))

(( You and I know this. Nikki disagrees. And thanks, it's another one of my characters, Sini, in her Halloween outfit. ^.^ You look awesome yourself!))

(( - aw thanks! She's one of my characters, Evolyn, too!))

Avery nearly jumped out of her seat at Rous's call. "I really don't want to eat in there." she grumbled, picking up her plate and wandering towards the captain's quarters. She could smell the roast as she entered, although it still looked questionable to her. She picked a spot next to a table and leaned up against the wall, rather than taking a seat.

It was hard for Feathers to remain upset with food in his stomach. He had a whole armful of fruits and vegetables as he got up and followed Nikki's direction to the room that the captain was in. There was another murdered animal, so he just turned away from it hiding his face against Nikki's chest. He was much shorter than most people his age, and found comfort in the woman's touch.

Blackfire yelped in surprise and hurried into the Captain's room. "Sorry, Rous, just got a little hung up on something. I mean Captain." She smiled to herself and found a place to sit. She'd been better about it, but sometimes that little bit of familiarity still slipped out and she had to correct herself. The smiling was meant to show she found it amusing but in actuality she was very embarrassed. Getting yelled at, or fussed at, or whatever, for something she couldn't help wasn't exactly on her list of things to do.

“Well that’s no fun” Jack told the gunsman. Looking back up to the Captain. “That does make it smell better, still not sure how I feel about eating that.” She admitted, though the smell did make her stomach rumble even with the present food in front of her. “Though I guess I must be willing to try in case that’s ever the only thing left to eat.” Still hesitant of the drake meat.

“I do feel that drastic is a common word in your vocabulary. Everything you seem to do is rather big” She smiled waiting for the others as Fer wandered into the quarters as the others started to arrive.

OoC// Sorry about the disappearance folks! Work has been hella busy past couple of weeks, making sure that I won't be this busy this time next year! Where were we?

BiC//

[I]"Hope everyone likes what I've cooked for you. It is the 'spoils of war' from our last encounter with the drakes! Now..."[/i]

He paced the floor, sipping from the bottle of rum and sticking his fork in the shredded meat every time he passed his plate.

[I]"It has been brought to my attention by my Associate here that we will soon be sailing through hostile waters. The Lèonese are in theiddle of a civil war, and neither sides are too keen on people moving through their territory. We /may/ encounter some angry Royal Lèon Navy ships, or even angrier Separatists. Or both. Either way, we need to be prepared to fight. Rhindel will be a day after that, and that is where this job ends! Rhindel is amazing. Great beer and ale, beautiful countryside. I'll be visiting an old friend until we find another job to do. Now, onto something more interesting than work. What we have here, friends..."[/i]

As he was speaking, he made his way around the table, grappling forkfulls of food as he passed his plate. He finally stopped behind Nikki and the boy, Feathers. He placed his hands on the boys shoulders.

[I]"....is a /truly/ /rare/ find. This boy here just is either one of the last, or the very last, of a once large group of people called 'Tree-singers.' Once there were quite a few tribes of them, they, along with several other groups of people, were hunted and slaughtered to extinction by a nation long destroyed and forgotten. Tree-singers have been known to grow massive oak trees with just hours of their singing. Redwoods and Giant's spirits within days. Their voices bring to life the plants of the world. Important for several reasons."[/i] He rubbed the boy's shoulders, then patted his cheek as he walked back towards his plate.

[I]"It means there were a few who escaped, hence him being born. There might still be others. Good news, good news. It also means that we won't have to pay for lumber any more. Fantastic!"[/i]

He picked up his plate, and kicked his boots up on the table. When looked to the Captain, clearing his throat, before grinning [B]"Not gonna tell them how we know each other?"[/B] He asked, before punching Rous' feet off the table, with mutterings of 'no manners'. Rous' stopped chewing his food, eyeballing him with a look of caution. [I]"/ALL/ of it?"[/i]

((Redacted. Also welcome back!))

Avery raised her eyebrows, More work for me! she thought, surprised that they were going to go straight through a warring place rather than try to avoid the skirmishes. She made a note to start practicing her water skills again so she wouldn't be as useless as their last fight. Being able to only do short bursts of anything before tiring wasn't a good way to win a fight. "I don't think Feather will let you cut down trees." she muttered, casting a wary eye at the boy. Based on his reaction in the kitchen she expected him to explode from the mere thought of cutting down a tree.

ooc/ Welcome back! :)

"Why not just the basics of that story," Blackfire said, casting an eye toward the tree boy. "Based on Rous's... eh, the Captain's comment, it's a long story and I don't particularly want to sit through all of it. Sorry, but I really don't have the patience to listen to that sort of story tonight." She looked back toward Rous and the other man who'd come along. He was sort of a curious fellow, seeming to be fairly outgoing and possibly fairly loud. "I'm sure," she added, "That it's quite the long story."

((OOC: sorry I've been gone so long as well! I've been buried with finals, so I couldn't RP much lately))

((IC:)) Matthew reclined back in his seat as Jack pouted a bit. He turned to Rous as the man offered the newly seasoned drake meat. "Thanks, captain." The Gunnery Sergeant said as he dished himself a plate of the meat. It had a strange air about it. A sour-sweet smell unlike the usual smell of meat, but not rotten like one might associate with it. Matthew took a bite regardless. He knew he had never tasted drake meat before, but it tasted similar to something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. The young man was snapped out of his thought when Rous shouted for the rest of his officers.

Matthew watched as the other crew members began to stream in after Rous shouted for them, including Nikki and the boy. The deer child looked bit shaken up at the sight of the drake meat, but it looked like he was relatively stable. The young man couldn't help but smile as Blackfire hastily apoligized for being late, an excuse at the ready. Matthew listened as the captain spoke about the civil war. "So we're basically sailing straight through the battlefield of a war we have no part in, huh? I guess that's fine by me." The Gunnery Sergeant said, scratching at the base of his horns. The only thing that mattered to Matthew about Rous' story about the tree-singers was the free lumber bit. "I'm sure it's fine with Feathers that we cut down some trees. As long as we don't slaughter animals for no reason we should be fine." Matthew said, turning his head to respond to Avery's comment. "I also agree with Blackfire. It's been a relatively long day, and I think many of us have work to do around the ship."

((Geez, I'm sorry I vanished. I thought I'd posted more recently than I had.))

Nikki escorted Feathers to the Captain's room when he hollered. She was more than happy to help herself to some drake meat. Exotic food was often delicious. She listened attentively to Rous' words about the next leg of their trip. A civil war sounded more bloody than she liked, but the description of Rhindel appealed to her.

When Rous spoke of what Feathers was, Nikki's cheer dampened. That sounded awfully lonely, being the last or one of the last of something. But she was soon distracted by the prospect of hearing a story. "If it's exciting, I wanna hear all of it!" the woman exclaimed, tail swishing eagerly. "C'mon, tell us!"