Mission 1.7: Second Star to the Right

[Dylan Torngate]

[HMS Athena]

James shook his head before offering a response." Absolutely not. If the hull collapses when we hit the beach, which it will, being below deck will be a death sentence. We need to get everyone up here on deck. You and I need to go below and gather everyone up. Mr. Scott, keep us straight on until the last minute. We'll want to turn the ship to port so that we're as sideways as we can be when we hit." James started towards a hatch to the lower decks motioning towards Dylan to follow.

[HMS Athena Top Deck]

"Right." Dylan said, and followed the man. "I guess I'm used to brace-and-cover that we have on Starships." he said, sighing. He was wrong, apparently. Death by splinters didn't sound too good. He went down into the hatch, knowing that there were more than a few people down there to fetch. He stooped under the wooden hatch and looked around the bay, dripping as he tried to tell who was down here. Hopefully they recognized him as one of them and not a lost pirate in need of a sword smacking. "Ok, who's down here?" he asked.

[Catrin Maddux]

Ash enthusiastically returned Cat's hug. "Don't you dare apologize for that. I wasn't particularly helpful myself. I just ran off and left you in the middle of that melee without thinking." Just a little while ago, she had essentially shut down and was sitting on the deck with her knees to her chest... But she wasn't about to mention that.

A little smile quirked up the corner of Ash's mouth as her friend continued to talk. "At least you have some training. I've been making things up as I go - and making a bit of a mess of it, really." Despite what she said, her tone was light. I haven't died yet, so I can't be doing THAT bad of a job. Her smile grew into a laugh as Cat waved her hands about, and she shook her head a little. "Well, both of your hands are welcome - as is the rest of you, of course."

By the time she finished talking, Ash's hair was starting to blow around her face. She took a moment to turn into the wind with her eyes closed and let it whip her hair and skirts around her. She lifted her arms out to the side and exhaled slowly before turning back to Cat. There's something about wind off the open sea... It's just like the stories described. "We should probably head below. The wind is exhilarating now, but I don't like the look of those clouds."

She started making her way across the deck and down a set of stairs as she talked. "C'mon. Let's head into the galley and see what's stocked. This set of stairs should lead there - at least, I think these are the ones that do. I came up one of them earlier, but then I ran into Dylan and followed him down a different set of stairs and my directional sense isn't exactly the best. But I'm ninety-six percent sure this is the right one." A few seconds after Ash finished talking, they emerged into the galley. It was pretty dim as the fire wasn't lit yet, so Ash started rummaging around for a flint and steel.

"I think there's a spare apron somewhere in here that you can use. I was thinking we could maybe try for a stew, but we might need to grab some ingredients from the hold for it. I know I saw potatoes, salted meat, a couple different dried vegetables..." She was rambling, but she didn't really care. The distraction was just what the two of them needed to relax after the chaos on deck.

[Galley]

Cat rolled up her sleeved and tossed on the spare apron. She actually had some skills in the kitchen so she probably wouldn't get into too much trouble. She let Ash chatter, and nodded here and there when appropriate.

"Bit primitive, but not entirely too far off from when my da and I would go camping. I'll handle the potatoes, you said they were over this way?" The counselor/makeshift sous chef wandered into the hold and found a small mountain of potatoes. She filled the skirt of her apron with what seemed like a goodly amount of russet spuds and returned to the galley proper. As there was a clear workspace at the table, she deposited her load and returned with a bucket for the scraps and a paring knife. She perched atop a nearby barrel and began to peel.

"I wonder how long we'll be here. Least I'm not seasick anymore." She quietly hummed a fairly popular tune. If she had realized the artist, she would have been annoyed with herself. It was a newer song, by Jalera Sai and it had to do with oceans and time.

[Ashlynn Ren Morgaine]

[Galley]

Cat rolled up her sleeved and tossed on the spare apron. She actually had some skills in the kitchen so she probably wouldn't get into too much trouble. She let Ash chatter, and nodded here and there when appropriate.

"Bit primitive, but not entirely too far off from when my da and I would go camping. I'll handle the potatoes, you said they were over this way?" The counselor/makeshift sous chef wandered into the hold and found a small mountain of potatoes. She filled the skirt of her apron with what seemed like a goodly amount of russet spuds and returned to the galley proper. As there was a clear workspace at the table, she deposited her load and returned with a bucket for the scraps and a paring knife. She perched atop a nearby barrel and began to peel.

"I wonder how long we'll be here. Least I'm not seasick anymore." She quietly hummed a fairly popular tune. If she had realized the artist, she would have been annoyed with herself. It was a newer song, by Jalera Sai and it had to do with oceans and time.

[Galley]

Ash emptied her own apron of produce onto the table before glancing over at Cat. "I'm not really sure... I know the Captain likely wants to get back to the Athena as soon as possible, but I don't even know how we'd go about that. It's not like she's parked on the beach waiting for us to board again, you know?" Ash started cleaning the vegetables she had rounded up as she talked, removing the parts that had unavoidably started going bad in their time in storage. "From what I gathered, that Ben Gunn - and I really doubt that's his name by the way. Ben Gunn is from Stevenson's Treasure Island; an ex-shipmate of Captain Flint's whom he marooned on the island for three years. And that is NOT how I pictured him -"

Ash cut herself off and awkwardly coughed before continuing. "Anyways. From what I understand, he brought us here somehow. And I don't think he's going to just put us back if we ask nicely. It's never that simple... But honestly, I don't think I'd mind staying here a bit longer. I like the ship. I like the feel of things here - well, now that Danny's incapacitated and the pirates aren't attacking that is. I've never seen the ocean before today, you know? And it's... It's amazing. Exhilarating. This whole situation. It's an adventure better than any holodeck."

The ship rode another swell, and Ash braced herself against the counter, then scrambled to catch the carrots making a roll for it. "But I agree, Cat. Being seasick right now would be no fun at all."

[HMS Athena Top Deck]

"Right." Dylan said, and followed the man. "I guess I'm used to brace-and-cover that we have on Starships." he said, sighing. He was wrong, apparently. Death by splinters didn't sound too good. He went down into the hatch, knowing that there were more than a few people down there to fetch. He stooped under the wooden hatch and looked around the bay, dripping as he tried to tell who was down here. Hopefully they recognized him as one of them and not a lost pirate in need of a sword smacking. "Ok, who's down here?" he asked.

When the wooden hatch opened, the true fury of the storm sounded through the galley. The rain thundered down and the wind howled. It wasn't long before the stairs below the hatch were soaked. Thinking the storm had thrown it open, Ash moved towards the stairs intending to latch it shut when she heard a familiar voice. "Dylan??" After he moved down the last few steps into the light of the fire, she was sure it was him, but she paused with a smile before pulling him into one of her usual hugs. "You look... Wet."

"It's just Cat - er, Ms. Maddux - and I in here. I dunno about the rest of the ship though. What's going on up there? And don't you dare say, 'It's raining.'"

[Dylan Torngate]

[Galley]

When the wooden hatch opened, the true fury of the storm sounded through the galley. The rain thundered down and the wind howled. It wasn't long before the stairs below the hatch were soaked. Thinking the storm had thrown it open, Ash moved towards the stairs intending to latch it shut when she heard a familiar voice. "Dylan??" After he moved down the last few steps into the light of the fire, she was sure it was him, but she paused with a smile before pulling him into one of her usual hugs. "You look... Wet."

"It's just Cat - er, Ms. Maddux - and I in here. I dunno about the rest of the ship though. What's going on up there? And don't you dare say, 'It's raining.'"

[Galley]

Dylan stood aside and let Carter down too, closing the hatch with a solid thud. He stood there dripping as Ash came over and commented on the climate outside. "Well, I wouldn't exactly say it's fishing weather." he said, shrugging. "But according to Mister Carter here, unless we want to end up with death by a thousand splinters, we should get above decks and into the rain. And yes, it is raining." he said, shaking his hand and watching the water drip off of him.

"We're trying to get ashore soon, likely by beaching the ship. You two should get above with Carter, I'll go and try and find more people." he said, already moving off. "If we get ashore before we go down, we'll get to go back to our nice metal storm-free ship."