"I'm sorry," Alyssa reflexively apologized, barely audible over the crashing waves and creaking of the ship, while pushing herself up an and away from the tangled mess they'd fallen into. She scrambled to stuff the more incriminating items that had spilled across the floor back into their bags even before Kaitlyn motioned for her too, all pretense forgotten in the face of panic.
First hastily stuffing the double-ended dildo lazily rolling across the floor into one of the now half-empty packs, she went for anything else important—or suspicious, be them the sex toys or their theives' tools—to the exclusion of anything else. She was acting on instinct now, having had more practice than she'd have liked in making hasty escapes. She'd all but forgotten Alaldin's presence in her panic, until his next exclamation caused her to pause in her efforts for a brief moment.
And then, something roared. It was the loudest sound she'd ever heard, causing her ears to reflexively flatten against her head to try to block out the sound, then press her hands over them when that failed, but to little avail. The disadvantages of sensitive hearing were felt then, as she was all left but deafened and with a sudden splitting headache. She could still hear, vaguely, what sounded like shouting, but it might as well have been complete gibberish for all the sense she could make of it, and Alyssa stumbled around for a few moments before righting herself, her balance badly disrupted.
That was more than enough proof that something was out there, something big. Especially when she realized that the wood had begun to crack and splinter, as if the ship was being crushed, or torn apart. They had to do something... but what could they do? They couldn't run, not unless they wanted to try to swim across the ocean. Could they fight it, was that even possible? Was there any other option? Slinging the pack she'd managed to stuff full again, however hastily, over her shoulder, Alyssa continued her search for anything important which might have been scattered around. Their weapons were of primary concern, and maintaining their cover wouldn't mean anything if they all drowned.
She finally got to her feet as Kaitlyn moved to the door to peek outside, unsteadily moving to follow her with everything she'd managed to reclaim. She could only hope they had some chance... but they has no real options left. What could they do, trapped on a ship in the middle of the ocean?
Kaitlyn: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/minute, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP
It was hard to say whether Alyssa's hurried scurrying to gather up their spilled belongings was successful in completely avoiding Alaldin's attention or not. He obviously had other things on his mind, as they all did, and if he did notice the weapons, sex toys, or various other pieces of incriminating gear that the disguised thief threw into her pack, he didn't comment on it. He went for the door first, hurrying out as Kaitlyn joined in on throwing things together, and when he opened their cabin door a rush of water and howling wind slammed into him, knocking him down the stepladder leading below decks and pulling the man out of their sight entirely. He let out a surprised cry that was drowned out by the sound of the raging storm and barely audible anyway, but he reappeared a moment later carefully holding the railing for stability.
He was up the stairs and holding to the side of the ship by the time the two poked their heads out, barely visible and facing away from them, and the wind and small splashes of water from the massive waves nearly pushed them back like they had Alaldin. There was nothing but raging sky to see from down in the bowels of the ship, however, and the two deafened catgirls needed to go at least a little bit closer to the deck in order to take a look around.
Advancing a little further up, the lightning crackling above lit up the deck far better than the lightstones placed across the deck, and with thunder rumbling every few seconds to accompany the heavenly bolts ripping across the sky and rain lashing across their vision it was decidedly unpleasant out on deck. As they advanced the men scrambling across the deck began to come into view, even they barely able to keep their footing on the rocking deck. Up above, the ship's wizard Urin was visible in the crow's nest, no doubt having been attempting to control the storm. The ship's masts were both folded lest they be ripped away by the storm, leaving the ship's motion at the mercy of the waves as the men tried to use the rudders to control the increasingly battered vessel against the waves.
It actually took a few moments for them to seek out the source of their woes, but they might wish that they hadn't come up to look when they were finished regretting ever stepping foot on the Cryelaneia. Rising up out of the raging waves was a titanic column of scaly flesh, larger around than the ship beneath their feet. Brilliant silver scales reflected every bolt of lightning as the creature towered into the sky, taller than even the greatest spires of their desert homeland. It was perfectly round, with limbs that looked as much like arms as fins extending from its body that appeared incredibly small on its colossal length. It tapered slightly towards the end, the serpentine titan coiling into a draconic head with a pronounced horn on the end of its elongated snout, rows of teeth as large as a man was tall glistening in its maw. Even though it was still leagues away from them, it was so large that it dominated the horizon, and the ship was on a course such that it would go right by the thing.
Luckily, the gigantic serpent wasn't concentrating on the ship, but the reason for that was no source of comfort. A wall of water was slowly erupted from the sea apart from the gigantic serpent, towering nearly as high as the silver titan, but from it came a creature that was nearly its opposite. As the water rolled away, the second monster towered opposite the silvery sea serpent proved itself even more massive. Draconic as well but with a much flatter and shorter snout, the second beast's scales were more jagged and so dark a shade of green that they were nearly black. While the serpent stood higher out of the water, the second one was more than ten times as broad, its form vaguely humanoid with somewhat stubby arms ending in clawed hands. Great black spines ran along its back, rows of jagged spikes the size of houses ending in wicked points, and as if in answer to the first outcry the second monster let out a roar no less deafening than that of its opposite.
The second monster's cry was even louder and deeper, leaving the vessel shuddering and the seas around them roiling, but that wasn't the worst of it. The source of the waves that had rocked the ship the first time had been the serpent rising out of the water, but the darker beast displaced a far greater volume of water with its rise. That produced distinctly larger waves as a result, ones that rose taller than the ship itself even as they began to break on their approach. "Incoming!" Gavin's voice called just barely loud enough to be heard, but no one had missed the rising titan or the waves that it had produced.
Those waves crashed over them a mere minute later, smashing through a defensive wall of water that had appeared, no doubt at Urin's urging, and the only thing the two could do was decide whether or not they wanted to be below the deck or on it when the wave hit. The first one capsized the Cryelaneia, sending men tumbling over the side and throwing Kaitlynn and Alyssa about. Water rushed over them, roiling and tossing them about as they were both blinded by the blackness of the sea. Neither could keep sight or hold of the other as they were pulled into the sea, the ship torn in half by the force of the waves only moments after it had capsized, and all too soon the roiling water and the debris saw them both blacking out or simply knocked unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~
Kaitlynn woke up to the feel of sand beneath her, course grains rubbing against her face and, more painfully, into her eyes. Her chest ached, and every limb felt like it was made out of lead. Her dress had dried, somehow, but she felt wetness on her stomach and realized that she was clutching a hunk of wood... And that her side really, really hurt. Especially when she moved, shifting what she would quickly realized was a jagged hunk of wood that had embedded itself into her side, jutting out from the hunk of the Cryelaneia that had probably saved her life with its buoyancy. She could also feel the sun beating down on her back, and her illusion was obviously gone, but judging by her immediate surroundings and the sound of the waves gently washing up on land coming from somewhere behind her she had washed up on land.
Raising her head and looking around with what strength she had, the battered su-ku-ta would find her pack lying a few feet in front of her, mostly undamaged and, should she check, its contents largely unharmed and all present. There were a few other chunks of loose wood lying around, as well as a barrel that she knew held salted pork, some of the vessel's rations, which hadn't been opened yet and was undamaged by the storm. The beach she'd landed on stretched for as far as her eyes could see along the coast but only lasted for about two hundred feet inland before hitting a wall of woodlands far more dense than any she had ever seen in Anudor, so thick that they were reminiscent of the tales she'd heard of the Amazon. There were luckily no signs of major wildlife, a few small crabs hidden in cone-shaped shells visible scuttling in a circle with one another a few feet from her and a small group of dark feathered birds gathered around something lying about thirty feet to her right. The sun was up, but it felt more like morning than afternoon, and it was behind her. The air was warm and thick with sea-salt, but a soft breeze flitted across the beach, keeping her from overheating, that part at least not all that unfamiliar.
Unfortunately, she had very little else to work with. No supplies besides what she had, and perhaps more crushingly no idea who else from the wreck might be alive, including her sister, or where any of them might be if they had made it onto the same mysterious landmass that she had. The land rose away from the sea ahead of her, a large green-coated mass of rock lying a few miles inland rising high enough that she might get a better viewpoint from it. That would mean going into the woods, however, and in her state an encounter with a large hungry predator most likely wouldn't go in her favor. There was another option, however, as off along the beach the land curved outward, and on the very tip of the small peninsula that she could see was a large dark spot, too far away for her to identify. It might just be a rock, but it might also be the wreck of the Cryelaneia, and if it was the latter she might be able to find some answers on it. She could just as easily go farther away from it, however, towards the tip of another peninsula that would let her turn and view another portion of the landmass she'd hit. Before she started moving, however, dealing with her injuries and possibly seeing if she could find anything else of use in her immediate area might be good ideas. She would learn nothing while lying on the beach, after all, and if she waited too long she might simply bleed out where she lay.
~~~~~~~~~
Alyssa awoke to perhaps the worst headache she'd ever endured. Her head felt like it had nearly been split open, and it took a full minute after opening her eyes for her vision to clear well enough for her to take in her surroundings. While at first she might have thought she was in someplace dark, after her eyes adjusted she would realize that she was in the wreck of the Cryelaneia, or at least a portion of it. Damp wood surrounded her, and water lapped at her legs from the shallows of a beach. Just thirty or so feet to her right the wreck opened out, the downward turn of the shattered hull blocking out the sun but not preventing her from seeing the gleaming water, so clear that she could see right through it. If her situation hadn't been so dire, it would have been quite a pretty sight.
To her left was another section of broken hull that led out onto a sandy beach, no doubt what the ship was resting on, and past that was a wall of greenery denser than any that she had ever seen before. She'd been left resting against a bulkhead, her back to a wall, and other than a section of wood on her left leg there was nothing keeping her in place. At least, until she tried to move her pinned leg and fresh agony shot up from the twisted limb. Her ankle was definitely sprained at the very least, but should she force the matter and test it the limb would prove able to hold her weight, albeit only with no small amount of pain.
Her dress was tattered but mostly dry save for where the water had been lapping at her legs, and besides some dried stains on her head she didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere. Her pack was still somehow over her should, slightly squished but thankfully all of her gear was still in decent shape and accounted for, but other than that she could see no signs of anything useful... Until a soft groan from a nearby pile of wreckage signaled her to the presence of someone else. It shifted softly as the figure stirred, and whether she waited or moved to help Gavin would eventually free himself from the rubble. The man looked battered about but not terribly injured, but whether or not he noticed her would more or less be up to Alyssa at that point, as she might try to hide from the groggy sailor if she so chose.
Kaitlyn woke up, aching. That wasn't terribly unfamiliar, but this time felt different. Firstly, she was wearing clothes. The usual cause for waking up sore didn't really agree with clothing. It also seemed to hurt in different places than usual. Especially her side. And she generally woke up in her bed - or at least a bed - rather than in a sandbox. And apparently outside. She opened her eyes, and explained at least the sand. This was clearly a beach.
Remembering the rest took a minute, not aided by slowly taking a look at her side, careful not to look too much. There was a finger-thick length of wood sticking out from it, and blood running down her side. She put a hand on it, and nearly threw up from the pain. On the other hand... it didn't feel like it was deep. Not through the muscle, to the really important stuff. She pulled it out before she could think too much about it, and this time did empty her belly, mostly of seawater.
Careful to keep the wound out of the sand, she examined her surroundings. The pack was a nice surprise. The lack of other people or even other wreckage... wasn't. Her sister wasn't there. Kaitlyn glanced down at her wound, which was still... oozing. Finding Alyssa would have to be her second priority.
She retreated away from the water, sat down - still carefully keeping her wound away from the sand - and started tearing her dress. It wasn't great now anyway. Her illusion had faded with her consciousness, and the actual material was poorly dyed and stained besides. And then it had endured a shipwreck, which had poked dozens of holes in it less serious than the one in her side, including one tear that went from her bellybutton almost all the way to her collar.
Between the tears it had sustained in the shipwreck and what she needed for bandages, most of it would have to go. Up to about her mid-calf was wet from the sand, and was discarded. The cloth around the wound was bloodsoaked, and went as well. Which left her feeling rather lopsided, and threatened to tear her dress in half anyway. So she did it herself, sparing a strip for a makeshift belt, holding up what quickly became an abbreviated skirt as she finally started cutting bandages.
The cleanest ones went to cover the wound - making her wince with the remains of salt, but there was nothing for it - while the less-clean ones wrapped around her belly to hold it in place. A few extra clean strips went to her pack, in case she had to change the bandage before she could find healing.
When she was all finished, she had a top that was a more-or-less unaltered version of her dress, plus a large tear in the center. It left her arms bare, as it had before, but now also cut off just below her breasts, and had a tear that ran all the way to the thicker cloth of her collar. She also had a now-totally-seperated skirt that stopped shy of her knees, and had several tears running halfway up its length. A few more holes had been cut in the top to let her thread one of the dirtier strips earlier discarded as too wet, for use as a belt. All together it would just about do for modesty, as long as she stood still. But there was nothing holding the top down, and the "belt" felt like it would slip given half a chance.
Kaitlyn had considered switching to her armor instead, but she wasn't sure she could get it on without pushing her bandages off her wound. And it would ruin whatever chance she had of maintaining her disguise, in the event that she found survivors or - unlikely though it seemed - the intact ship. Of course, there was still a problem. She was a redhead again, and wasn't going to feel up to resuming her disguise until her wound was better, and preferably she'd had a meal. And something to drink. It took her a moment to come to the obvious conclusion - she would be Alyssa. At least until she found her sister. People often seemed to get them confused. Even when they'd known both women for a while. For people who didn't know Alyssa *had* a sister, Kaitlyn would probably do.
And once they did find Alyssa... well, she'd get to that when they'd found Alyssa.
That done, she looked up and down the beach. Wherever her sister was, she'd be coming out of the water the same as Kaitlyn had. Which meant that inland was out of the question. But which way? It didn't really matter. She had no idea where she was, no way to figure out which way was right.
More important would be to leave a sign behind, in case someone came from the other direction towards her. A few strips of the cloth she had discarded, and a few rocks and shell from the beach to hold them down, and she had a passable cat, and an arrow pointing in the direction she intended to go.
Then, keeping the ocean on her right, she set out to find her sister.
Alyssa blinked a few times, head throbbing as the world finally came into focus. Where was she? Her vision was finally clearing, but trying to force her foggy mind to replay the events leading up to where she was now just made her feel like her head was going to split in two. Tenderly prodding at her head confirmed her suspicions, finding a few patches of dried blood, and sudden spikes of pain when she pressed too hard. She didn't seem to be bleeding any more, at least, but she'd obviously taken some hard knocks to the head.
Trying to strand, her vision flashed white for a moment as pain lanced up her leg from her ankle. Pushing the piece of debris her leg had been pinned under aside, Alyssa repeated the process with her ankle, gingerly prodding where it had begun to swell, and giving it a few experimental twists. It hurt. It hurt like hell, but it didn't seem to be broken, just sprained. Her memories were still jumbled, but she was starting to pull something together. She'd only seen them for a moment, but there was no way she could forget those creatures, so massive their ship had been little more than an insect to them, and had been casually, perhaps even unknowingly, swatted aside as such.
She remembered the ship rocking violently, gathering their possessions as they spilled across the floor, Alaldin being dragged out of sight as soon as he'd stepped outside their door... looking up onto the deck, and seeing the two massive sea creatures, dwarfing anything she'd even seen before. She remembered a wave washing over her, the blind terror as she was pulled under... of losing her grip on her sister's hand, the two of them being washed away from each other as the ship broke apart around them.
"Kaitlyn!" Alyssa shot to her feet in an instant, before collapsing forward onto her hands and knees in the shallows of the beach as pain flared up in her ankle. Where was Kaitlyn? She didn't see her. Didn't see anyone. A quick glance behind her confirmed that what she'd woken up under was a chunk of the Cryelaneia, but not a particularly large one, compared to the size of the ship. That meant they'd been separated, so she'd have to go searching. First though, she'd have to do something about her ankle. She couldn't help her sister if she couldn't even walk.
Digging through the pack she'd managed to keep hold of, Alyssa was pleased to see that she'd managed to recover most of the important things, but she was looking for something specific. After a few moments of rummaging, she finally produced the bundle of leather that was her former guild armour. She'd probably have to change into the whole thing, judging by the tattered state of her dress, the bodice having been torn right down the centre, making it impossible to even cover her breasts properly, and the rest was similarly in tatters, barely still clinging to her frame.
What she needed right now was to be able to stand, and she had a plan for that. Grabbing her left boot, she gingerly slipped it on over her swollen ankle, wincing a few times at the pressure. That would provide some rigidity alone, but it wasn't enough on its own. She began to tear the already ruined hem of her dress, using the resulting strips of cloth to tie some sturdier-looking pieces of scrap wood as a makeshift splint over her boot. Slipping the other boot on as well, but leaving the rest of her armour for the time being, she carefully pushed herself to her feet. It still hurt, still hurt a lot, but it was bearable now, and she was at least able to move around.
As she began her search of the area, she was given pause when she heard movement nearby. Regretting not having taken her dagger from her pack as well, she slowly turned to face the source... only to discover it was a pile of rubble. Or, more specifically, someone unmistakably humanoid shifting under the pile of rubble. Judging by the shoulder and upper arm she could see, it was one of the sailors. Not her sister, then... but she'd help nonetheless. She had to be quick, though, so she could get back to her search. The debris didn't look easy to move, though, even on a good day. With her ankle like this, she'd have trouble shifting anything big unassisted.
Glancing around to ensure there were no witnesses, she began to channel her magic into herself, a spell the strengthen her muscles. It wasn't meant for this sort of use, but it would do well enough. Feeling the magic flowing through her body, she stepped up to the debris, getting to work on shifting what she could, with more ease than she would have been able to manage normally. Once she'd begun, the man underneath, who she soon identified as Gavin, was able to push much of it off himself.
"Are you able to move?" She asked somewhat distractedly as he was uncovered completely, eyes already scanning their surroundings. Where should she start? There was a lot of beach around, and Kaitlyn could be anywhere. Maybe she could go somewhere higher for a better vantage point? That would probably require going into the forest though, so she'd need her armour and weapons in case she ran into dangerous animals, or bandits attracted by the wreck. Her injury would make fighting difficult if anything got the drop on her, too. Still it seemed better than just wandering aimlessly.
By this point, Gavin was entirely forgotten, Alyssa having zoned out entirely shortly after asking if he could move, and would only react if he spoke again once she turned and started limping back to her bag, to get the rest of her armour. She didn't even consider the fact that she'd been flashing her all-but bare chest in his face the whole time she'd been working.
Casting Unholy Might (Grapple) on herself for +3d10 Grapple, to aid in lifting the debris, dispelling it once she finishes. (Mostly for fluff reasons, grapple was chosen as discussed before because it makes sense to help here as well).
Should be an auto-success unless she's taking penalties from being in general pain, or something else. If she is taking some penalties, her Base Casting is 15, and she gets +10 to casting spells of the Aether element.
Kaitlyn: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/minute, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 34/42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP, +3d10 Grapple (Unholy Might), Upkeep = 1
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~~~~Kaitlynn~~~~
Rolls
Perception: ???
After adjusting her clothes in order to see to her wound as best as her highly limited resources allowed, Kaitlynn would be able to carve her sign in the sand in case her sister happened by, put the sea on her right, and start walking with what little she had in the way of supplies. That had her heading towards the strange dark shape over on the end of the peninsula, and after a few minutes Kaitlynn would realize that the shape wasn't a piece of the wrecked boat. It was too large, too thick, and too dark. Before she could get close enough to really tell what it was, however, she would notice two things. Firstly, that there was a dark shadow that kept on passing over her, and secondly that up ahead and over on the right there was a dark shape lying on the sand, vaguely man shaped but unmoving.
~~~~Alyssa~~~~
Rolls
Perception: ???
Casting: Failed. Then Success.
Making a crude splint for her ankle to offer some support helped Alyssa walk a little bit better, at least. Trying to grant herself a bit of extra strength, however, was not so successful. Alyssa's first attempt to cast her spell failed, her energies forming into the desired pattern only to fall apart again immediately, wasted. Her second effort was more successful, however, and gave the battered young woman the strength to help the crewmen get out of the rubble. As it turned out to be given, she was promptly hit by a whiff of his scent, still detectable beneath the smells of sea salt and sand, but thankfully she wasn't in heat at the time, and in her understandably concerned state easily ignored their effects.
"Nnnn.... Uhhh.... Yeah," he grunted, but then looked up at her in surprise, even adopting a slight blush at the sight of her readily exposed cleavage. "Uhm.... Miss Alyssa?" he said while looking away slightly, though as she turned to retrieve her things with her mind set on finding her sister the man continued; "Are you alright? And.... Did you find anyone else?" Having nothing better to do, the man would follow her, quite possibly leading to further flashes of nudity on her part if she continued to ignore him while changing.
Each step seemed to bring into focus just how bad this situation was, for Kaitlyn. No food. No water, and the sun was starting to wear on her even with the sea breeze. Another hour or two without a stream and she'd have to head for the forest, at least for a while. No sign of her sister. Or the ship in general, really.
Before she had to give up and head for the forest, though, she noticed two things. The first was the shadows that passed over periodically. She looked up the first few times, expecting to see a bird or a cloud or - ideally - even an airship. But whatever it was, it was too small, fast, or blue for her to really see. The second was the shape lying in the sand.
It was, really, the first possible hint of the rest of the ship. Possibly it meant she was going in the right direction. Or possibly this was completely unrelated. Another boat, or someone who lived here, or just a coincidental shape.
The su-ku-ta wasn't really feeling any better than when she'd awoken - at best she'd stopped getting worse, and she wasn't sure about that - but working with light came naturally to her, and it was only a little help she needed. No gross visible displays, or trying to trick people. Just a little bending. Most people would pull more light to their eyes, but Kaitlyn's eyes had always worked best at night. So she blocked most of the incoming light, and let her pupils dilate. The world swam into clearer focus, colors and lines both getting sharper.
Maybe now she'd be able to see whatever was casting that shadow. Or make out the possibly-human shape from a little further away. If neither seemed like an obvious threat, she'd approach the shape.
"I'm... fine. Fine enough, at least." Alyssa replied distractedly as she knelt down where she'd left her pack to collect the rest of her armour. She'd released her strength enhancing magic as soon as she'd finished helping Gavin, already having wasted enough of her energy with her bungled initial attempt and not having any reason to keep it up anymore.
"I need to change, this dress is just tangling me up more than it's actually helping," She seemed almost as if she was talking to herself, not once looking back over her shoulder at Gavin, but speaking loudly enough that he'd be sure to hear. Slinging her pack over her shoulder and gathering the rest of her armour in her arms, she stepped around the side of one of the larger pieces of wreckage for a bit of privacy, but didn't bother to check whether he was still following or not, and wouldn't react at all unless she heard him getting too close to her.
Quickly stripping out of her ruined dress, tearing it even further in her haste to disentangle herself from it, Alyssa appraised it for a moment before stuffing it into her pack. If nothing else, the cleaner parts of the cloth could still be used for bandages or makeshift ties, like she'd done for her splint. After carefully slipping her boots off once again, she wasted no time in sliding into the form-fitting leather, tightening the laces wear required to ensure it fit snugly and wouldn't chafe. The leather itself had been treated to resist chemical attacks, so water just slid right off, though some of the cloth between the leather and serving as padding was still a bit damp.
Still, it was much more comfortable than the tattered dress, and certainly more protective. Strapping her dagger to the back of her belt and slinging her bow and quiver over her shoulder, Alyssa packed everything else carefully into her pack. It wasn't until she looked down at her hand, seeing the pattern on the leather there already shifting to match the sand of the beach, that she realized Gavin might find this suspicious. At this point, she couldn't really bring herself to care what he thought of her though, and she already had a few cover stories popping up in the back of her mind. Finding Kaitlyn was all that mattered right now.
Turning around, and if she didn't see Gavin there, walking back around the wreckage to where she'd left, him, Alyssa paused for a moment, considering her words, then finally spoke up, "I'm not sure if you want to look for anyone else who might have washed up, or something else, but I'm going to head inland a bit," She motioned over her shoulder at the forest behind her, "And see if I can't get to higher ground to see if i can see anyone else who might have washed up from there. I don't really care what you do, but I have to find my– I have to find Kaitlyn."
With that said, regardless of whether Gavin wanted to follow her or not, and heedless of any protests or warnings unless he tried to physically stop her, Alyssa turned around and began to stalk toward the forest, looking for anywhere she might be able to get a good vantage point, be it a large hill or even a particularly tall tree she could climb. One she reached the edge of the forest, she'd quickly fall back into the same all-business attitude she usually adopted while on a job. Sneaking through a forest was different than sneaking through a city, and her injury made it even more difficult, but she'd manage. She wouldn't be able to rest well until she knew her sister was safe.
Kaitlyn: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/minute, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 38/42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP
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~~~~Kaitlynn~~~~
Rolls
Perception: ???
Even with her tiny bit of magic worked to reduce the light and thus better let her see, Kaitlynn wouldn't be able to tell what was causing the shadow that kept passing over her. Looking more closely at the shape lying on the beach, however, the battered young woman would be able to see that it was a man, more specifically one of the sailors. They were lying face down with their arms spread, clad in the familiar dark garb worn by one of the sailors from the ship. Tanner had been his name, or something along those lines, but it was hard to tell whether he was alive or not. He wasn't moving, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was dead. He most definitely wasn't Alyssa, however, and she might opt to simply move past him without even checking to see if he was alive.
~~~~Alyssa~~~~
Rolls
Just putting that I remembered to refund some EP after I herped last post and made Weakened cause -5 BC instead of -10.
Perception: ???
"Huh... What... Oh! Uhhhh....." Gavin stuttered, surprised and confused initially by Alyssa's response, though she was speaking at least as much to herself as to him. At first he just stared at her, but as the battered thief started moving to a secluded part of the wreckage in order to get dressed her hurriedly turned. For a moment he just stood there, but eventually she heard him walk out to the beach, giving her the opportunity to change in relative privacy. Despite the harrowing shipwreck, her gear had all survived intact, and in only a few moments she was as prepared as she as going to be to face wherever they had ended up.
She would find Gavin outside, just a few feet from where the ship's wreckage ended, stretching his limbs and looking up towards the top of the wreck with a dark scowl. He looked to her, however, and though he raised an eyebrow at her snug armor he seemed to think that there were more pressing concerns to worry about at the moment. "We shouldn't split up," he said immediately after Alyssa said she was going inland, and further added; "And we shouldn't leave the beach either. Not yet. Anyone else that washed up would still be nearby. There's no guarantee that you'd be able to see anything useful from higher ground, certainly not anything so small as a lone person. Besides, we've got higher ground right here."
He gestured back towards the wreck, and Alyssa would see that the section of the ship they'd both somehow washed up in included the vessel's main mast. The sails were shredded and one of the crossbeams had snapped off, but the crow's nest was intact and rose high enough that anyone in it would be able to see a good distance off. "I know you want to find your lady," he continued, "but times like this are NOT times when you can afford to act without thinking! We don't even know where we are or what might be in those woods!" The man seemed ready to argue the point, leaving Alyssa with the need to try and deal with him somehow if she wanted to go off into the jungle. The woods were thick, much more dense than anything she'd ever seen in Badaria, but off in the distance she could see a large foliage covered hill, one from which she might get a good vantage point for miles around. She would need to cross a great deal of ground to get to it, however, and if she wanted to do so quickly and quietly it would be better done without the sailor she had woken up with.
Remaining uncertain about whatever was flying around continued making Kaitlyn nervous. But she nevertheless approached the body, intent on removing any food, water, or valuables the poor man might have had. Checking that he was alive seemed... less urgent. If he hadn't stirred by now, he was either dead or critically injured. Either way, he wouldn't be coming with her. A quick glance at her bandages suggested that she was still bleeding, if less than before, and there was no way she was carrying a crewman to... wherever her sister was. Not when she wasn't certain she could make it there herself.
If there were no surprises, once she'd checked the body she'd pause to draw another sign in the sand, the same as the first - showing she was here, and which way she'd gone. Then she would continue on her way.
"I AM thinking!" Alyssa hissed angrily, turning back to fix the sailor with a glare unlike anything he would have seen on her previously meek maid persona. "Do you have any idea how far this beach stretches? How spread out the rest of the wreckage is, if it even ended up here at all? Wandering aimlessly won't get us anywhere except by dumb luck, we need to see what we're dealing with."
"Besides," She finally broke eye contact with him, looking back out over the beach, "I'm also thinking we were lucky. Pretty banged up, but otherwise fine... what about everyone else? While we're sitting here bickering, they could be bleeding out somewhere. We. Don't. Have. Time. For. This."
The su-ku-ta finally sighed, some of the tension seeming to leave her body, "You don't seem to understand though, so let me make one thing clear. To me, her life is the only thing that matters right now. I only helped you because you were close." She met his eyes again as she spoke, this time more resolute than angry, but still yet another look one would never have seen on the simple maid for the month prior.
"You make a good point though." She finally conceded, walking toward the wreckage where the mast still stood tall. "Not sure how sturdy it will be... You should wait here. I'm a good climber, and a lot lighter than you, so it'll be better if I go alone. I've got good eyes, too." With that, she began to scale the side of the wreck to reach the mast, careful to avoid putting any more pressure on her ankle than she needed to. It would make climbing harder, but not impossible. She'd decide where to go from there based on what she saw from the top.
Kaitlyn: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/minute, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 38/42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP
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~~~~Kaitlynn~~~~
Rolls
Perception: Success.
Attack: Miss.
Checking the body for anything of use, Kaitlynn would find that the sailor was already dead, his belly having been opened up and seemingly devoured. The bite marks looked large, but it was hard to tell and she wasn't exactly knowledgeable enough regarding the creatures that might be able to gut a man like this. Luckily it wasn't something she'd have to worry about herself. He didn't seem to have anything of use besides the strips of cloth she could take from his garments, but he did have a somewhat tarnished silver band on one finger, a common symbol of marriage among the poorer classes of Badaria.
As she knelt beside the corpse, however, Kaitlynn would realize that the shadow that had been circling over her was getting bigger. And that it was coming down right on top of her, the sun behind it. A heartbeat later she heard the flap of wings, and she dove out of the way just in time to avoid whatever was coming down on top of her with just enough time to pry the ring from the dead man's hand first if she wanted to keep the minor trinket.
And then she was confronted with a creature unlike anything she'd ever seen before. It was long and serpentine, maybe fifteen feet long from the tip of its tail to the tip of its snout, but it was also fairly thick, maybe as wide around as a small keg at its largest point, though its body was wider from the side than from below. It landed on four fairly short limbs, each with long talons and with enough digits that they looked oddly like human hands. The creature had a pointed reptilian looking snout that ended in a downward curving beak, two eyes, and a vibrant crest of feathers that turned from red to gold as they extended outwards. Most of its body was covered in blue-green scales otherwise, save for the two sets of large wings that sprouted from its body which were also covered in a thin down of feathers. Its tail was long and ended in a flat fan shape, almost like a fin.
The strange creature started ripping at the fallen sailor with its claws while staring at Kaitlynn, glaring and letting out a ululating cry that was as much like a hiss as it was a howl. The creature didn't try to come closer to her as its claws ripped into the corpse beneath it, tearing up chunks of meat, but it wouldn't move its gaze from her so long as she was nearby.
~~~~Alyssa~~~~
"Do YOU have any idea how deep that jungle is or what might be living in it? Or if there's any point from which you'd get a decent view of the beach?" Gavin countered coldly, obviously not thinking much of her argument. "You're being hysterical. Running off into the damn woods won't help you find anyone, and doing so with that leg is as good as killing yourself if you run into anything dangerous."
Her admission that only Kaitylnn's life mattered to her brought a scowl to the man's face, a cold dark look told her that she hadn't bought herself any good will with it. "That kind of stupidity is what kills people in situations like ours," he said calmly, "your loyalty is admirable, but it's not helpful. You're going to have to face the fact that your mistress is probably dead, or at least as probably dead as anyone else. For all we know, we're the only ones left, and again.... What are you going to accomplish by going off into the woods with no direction? You won't find anything in there. Our best bet is to take a look around and then, if we don't see anyone, try to figure out a way to make some kind of signal."
When she suggested that he remain on the bottom, he scoffed and then put a hand on her shoulder, casually pushing Alyssa such that her weight ended up on her injured ankle. Agony shot up her limb, and with that slight push she ended up simply falling over, leaving Gavin standing over her and scowling. "You've never worked a ship lass," he said in a voice of pragmatic calm, "I do this for a living, and on this very ship too. If the rigging won't hold me, I'll know it a lot better than you. On top of that, I'm not bloody crippled right now, so sit down and calm down for a minute! I'll have a look around. If I see anything, I'll let you know when I get back, we probably shouldn't try to make too much noise unless we absolutely have to."
He didn't even wait for her to respond before turning away and heading for the wreckage, and unless she hastily rose to stop him Alyssa would be left to watch the muscular man deftly clamber up the side of the wrecked hull so that he ended up back on the deck. A few moments later he was climbing up the mast, a length of rope wrapped around the wooden pole used to carry him up and up and up despite its smoothness, until he got all the way up to the crossbeam. He paused there, testing it, and then kept going up until he was nearly at the top of the beam. She would hear a groaning wood sound, assuming that she stuck around, but the battered remnants of the vessel would prove able to hold his weight as he held on with one arm, shielding his eyes from the sun with the other.
Gavin would be up there for a few minutes, doing three full scans of the area, before he carefully slid his way back down. Alyssa would have had plenty of time to simply wander off on her own by that point, and if she did the man would be too occupied to notice. If she waited, however, he would come back down and, if she hadn't gotten back up on her own yet, help her to her feet. "There's smoke a ways inland, and it doesn't look like a natural fire. There's also another section of wreckage to the South where I think I saw people moving around, and there are two people move North too. One of them is heading this way, but the other is going further North along the beach. It's too far away to tell who exactly they might be, but the person going North looks to be in a dress. Can you walk on that leg? If we can hurry we might be able to catch them."
Kaitlyn looked over the corpse, feeling a little sick to her stomach. It wasn't that she'd never seen a dead body before. But torn open like this, and just left on the beach... It wasn't enough to stop her doing a quick frisk of the remains, though. Or even to pluck off his marriage band. It wasn't worth much, but it would certainly more than double her available cash, if she could sell it. Not that there seemed much chance of either selling or needing to buy, anywhere close. And certainly she had no intention of paying the other half of the price for the trip, even if she had the money.
She heard the flap of wings at the last second, and rolled out of the way, ring still in her hand. And immediately regretted it. Then she saw the beast that had descended on the corpse, and the extra pain in her side didn't seem like a terribly high price to pay to avoid that. It was some sort of a cross between a bird and a lizard, with a total of eight limbs, scales, and feathers. And not only had Kaitlyn never seen such a thing before, she'd never even heard someone describe one. Where the hell are we?
But there were bigger problems than that, right at the moment. There was the beast she was staring at, and which was staring back. Her still-bleeding wound. Finding her sister. Only then did it really matter where they were.
The thing seemed interested in her. But not as much as it was interested in the corpse. At least she didn't have to wonder what had done that, now. Though... she darted a couple more glances at the sky, and along the beach, making sure there weren't more of the beasts around.
If there weren't... she'd carefully retreat towards the trees. There might be dangerous creatures there, but the canopy should give some cover against aerial attacks. Once she got away from this thing, she could try to decide if it was better to press on ahead... or if she would be moving into this thing's territory.
Alyssa simply reached up to push Gavin's hand aside as it landed on her shoulder, scowling darkly at him. The almost comical difference in the size of her own thin arm compared to his, heavily muscled as it was, made the prospect of her success unlikely, but she never had the chance to try. Her arm had barely touched his before the slight push he'd given her shifted her weight onto her injured ankle, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain and surprise before she lot her balance entirely, toppling over backwards.
She managed to brace herself just in time, and the sand was soft enough to cushion her fall, but that didn't stop her from shooting a death glare at Gavin's back as he began to climb the wreckage, pushing herself back into a sitting position. "Asshole" she muttered under her breath, though still loudly enough he'd be able to hear it if her had particularly keen hearing. He did have a point though, much as she didn't want to admit it, and though she was tempted to simply walk away while he was up there, she wanted to know what he saw. She didn't want to just wander blindly, she needed some sort of direction. She'd meant it when she'd said Kaitlyn was the only thing that mattered to her right now, and if finding her meant swallowing her pride and waiting for some clue from Gavin, that's exactly what she'd.
While he scanned the area from the crow's nest, Alyssa remained seated in the sand, deciding that resting her ankle for as long as she could would be wise, simply slinging the pack off her shoulder and spending the next few minutes organizing its contents. They'd been thrown together haphazardly, and though everything important seemed to be there, it was also a jumbled mess. She hadn't accomplished much by the time he returned, not willing to just dump the whole thing out and take the time to pack it all properly, but it was still better then when she'd begun.
"I'm going North then." Alyssa stated simply after she heard his information. She was tempted to simply ignore his offered hand, but after a moment's consideration grasped it with her own, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "I... am sorry for how I acted earlier," She apologized grudgingly, refusing to meet his eyes as she spoke, "But I still meant what I said. I'll aid others if I come across them, but finding my mistress is still my priority. You don't need to follow me if you'd prefer to check on the wreck to the south. I can walk well enough, and I can pass the message along to the other you spotted north if our paths cross. If he's walking, he's probably better off than others are likely to be, you should find any other survivors first."
With that said, regardless of whether he chose to follow her or go the other way, unless he actively tried to stop her, Alyssa would begin to make her way north along the beach, as quickly as she could without pushing her injured ankle too far. He'd seen someone in a dress, and that was her best lead. It could be someone who lived in the area, come to investigate the wreck... but she had to hope it was her sister. She couldn't have died here, not like this, not after coming this far. They would make it through this together...
Kaitlyn: HP = 20/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/ 5 minutes, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 38/42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP
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~~~~Kaitlynn~~~~
Rolls
Perception: ???
Kaitlynn's cautious glances to the sky would reveal nothing of interest, though she sadly didn't have long to look for fine detail. Taking her eyes off of the strange creature proved a somewhat critical error, as one glance back revealed that it had taken her lack of attention to it while backing away as a sign of weakness. It was loping across the beach toward her, wings flapping to propel it in half leaps that made it able to move with surprising speed despite its short legs. That forced Kaitlynn to sprint for the trees or face it down, and in her state the latter option wasn't a terribly good one.
Luckily for her, she would just barely be able to outrun the creature, and once she entered the protection of the woods it would follow her no further, giving a huff and another strange cry before turning around and going back to the corpse lying on the shore. That left her in the somewhat dense jungle, scrub and bushes up to her waist and thick tree cover making it difficult to see farther than fifty or so feet ahead. Remaining quiet in such a place proved much more difficult than she was used to, especially with the wound in her side causing her regular sharp stabs of pain, her blood showing through the bandages and starting to dribble down her side, leaving a trail in the brush.
From there she had to decide where she wanted to go. Going to the bluff she'd seen from the beach might offer her a better view, but it would take her far from the beach and in her condition it would take a heavy toll. She might not even make it all the way there without collapsing, and if she fell from blood loss it would be unlikely that she would be getting back up without some sort of help. Continuing along the beach gave her a better chance of running into someone else from the ship, maybe even Alyssa, but there was no guarantee of that, or that anyone she ran into would be in any condition to help her.
~~~~Alyssa~~~~
"We. We are going North," Gavin reminded Alyssa sharply, annoyance with her readily evident in his voice, "don't be sorry for it, just stop bloody doing it! I'm trying to help you, believe me! I'd much rather your mistress be alive than dead, but we're a lot more likely to get ourselves killed if we don't look out for each other. Getting as many people as possible together is our best bet, and if we can direct the person walking along the beach to the wreck and find whoever is going North we'll have a much bigger crew to work with."
Gavin wouldn't let Alyssa go on her own, and her ankle proved a bigger hindrance to her speed than she'd thought, leaving him easily able to outpace her. They traveled along, and after two turns, one right and one left, they found themselves approaching another figure advancing in their direction. It picked up its pace quickly, and in a few moments the haze of the sun on the bare sand revealed the ship's captain limping towards them. He broke into a grin at the sight of them, and without speaking he and Gavin hurried forward and embraced, both wincing slightly from their pains as they collided but grinning too widely to care for long.
"Captain!" Gavin said, "it's a wonder to see you alive!" The other man chuckled and broke the hug after clapping his first mate on the back. "Hah! No storm is gonna kill me!" Captain Corbin said, though he glanced at Alyssa quickly and nodded in greeting, "it's good to see you alive, miss. Any sign of your master?" Then he glanced at Gavin, "...or anyone else?" Gavin would let Alyssa answer the first question before nodding in response to the second, "yes, we saw some people moving along a chunk of wreckage to the... South, judging by the sun's position. But we also spotted you, and someone else heading North, so we came this way first. The second person looked like her mistress, so we're going on ahead. Think you can make it a bit further on your own?"
The captain seemed hesitant for a moment, but only for a moment. "Yeah... Just a little stiff, you go on and help her find her lady!" he said, grinning. Gavin simply nodded, and glanced at Alyssa to gesture her forward. "Stay safe, sir!" the first mate said, and the captain replied; "And you, sailor!"
Then they were off again, hurrying down the beach at the best pace that Alyssa could manage. They walked for another ten minutes before coming across.... Something. Some kind of creature with two sets of feathered wings folded over its body, brightly colored feathers there but its body covered in bright blue scales. It was large, but low to the ground, and seemed to be crouched over something.... A body. "Shit... Is that her?" Gavin asked quietly, drawing Alyssa towards the woods and away from it. The creature raised a bloody, narrow beaked maw and glared at them, letting out a strange high pitched cry, but kept to its kill, which looked disturbingly humanoid despite having been butchered and partially eaten already. "Wait... Look at that," Gavin said, and pointed to a bunch of blood droplets on the sand, heading towards the woods and getting steadily larger as they went.
"I can take care of myself. If I haven't made it clear yet, I'm a little... more than what you saw on the ship." Alyssa muttered somewhat bitterly, but followed along nonetheless. She wasn't about to turn down help, but his constant dismissal of her abilities was starting to get on her nerves. Still, she couldn't deny that he had a point, and as she soon discovered once they'd begun walking, she really wasn't in the best shape for this. Pain she could work through, but her ankle seemed to refuse to properly support her, even with her makeshift splint, leaving her limping at a slower pace than she'd have liked.
"Alright, maybe you were right..." She finally admitted a few minutes later, gritting her teeth against the constant aching in her ankle, but she refused to slow her pace further. She was probably only making it worse by continuing to put pressure on it like this, but that didn't matter to her, not until she found her sister. She had some knowledge of medicinal herbs and alchemy, so she could take a look later to see if she could find anything she recognized that might help bring down the swelling. That could wait until her sister was safe, though. "Ankle's a little worse than I thought..." She muttered under her breath, before quickly continuing to stave off any attempts to get her to stop, "I can manage though. I've dealt with worse than this before, and I'm not stopping until I find her."
They found the captain soon after, Alyssa raising an eyebrow at their embrace, but remaining silent as they spoke, until she was addressed specifically. They had probably known each other for a long time, she reasoned, it wasn't an unusual reaction. It had simply caught her off guard. She didn't know the captain too well, but Gavin hadn't seemed like the type to her. "Gavin saw two people to the north. One was, well, you. The other seemed to be wearing a dress, but was headed the other way, so it may be her..." She told him, falling silent again as they spoke for a bit longer. The captain continued south on his own after being told what Gavin had seen there, Alyssa giving him only a curt nod as he passed, impatient to be on their way once again.
What they found there nearly caused Alyssa's heart to stop. She barely even glanced at the creature standing over it, only at the body lying on the sand, torn open and unidentifiable. Gavin's words echoed her thoughts, and she passively let herself be led toward the treeline, eyes still scanning the body, trying to make out any detail that might tell her she was wrong. The creature's cry broke her out of her thoughts, Alyssa quickly slipping her bow off of her shoulder and into her hands, preparing to defend herself, but it seemed content to simply chase them off for now, leaving Alyssa torn between self-preservation and attacking the thing that very well might have killed her sister.
Gavin's discovery snapped her out of her conflicted thoughts once again, and she quickly noticed what he was referring to. A trail of blood, leading away from the body, like someone was injured, but had fled into the trees... and she felt hope once again. Kaitlyn could still be alive... injured, which was worrying, but alive. It couldn't have been too long either, the trail didn't look old. "Let's go, then. Whoever it was can't be moving too fast, we should be able to catch up with them."
And if it was Kaitlyn... Alyssa let Gavin take the lead, not wanting to reveal this particular talent of hers yet. As they walked, she gathered the power needed for a simple spell. It was only a sound, a whistling bird's call, coming from the trees around point where the trail led into the woods, but she hoped Kaitlyn would recognize it if she was still nearby. The two Su-ku-ta were thieves, but had always worked together... naturally, they'd come up with ways to communicate without giving themselves away, a code of sorts using simple illusions and animal sounds. It was even easier to mistake for an actual animal here in the wilderness, but it was all Alyssa could think of short of shouting her name, which was likely to only make things worse.
Using Ghost Sound on the trees ahead, in the direction the trail leads. The specific sounds are part of a code they'd used in their thieving, so Kaitlyn should be able to recognize its meaning if she notices it (And is still close enough to hear it, of course).
Kaitlyn pressed both hands against her bandaged wound, tail curling in pain. Running had been a bad idea. Not as bad as staying put, but... she couldn't risk going back out on the sand. She tried to remember which way the bluff she had seen was... but the odds of her finding it through the jungle weren't high. And her brief run had apparently torn her wound back open. She probably couldn't make it that far and still make it back.
The only hope, then, was to find her sister, or even sailors, along the beach. Maybe someone else could bandage the wound better. Certainly they couldn't do much worse. And Alyssa could mix up a healing potion as well as she could a contraceptive.
But should she continue on, or go back? Her first instinct was that the... flying lizard-thing... had gotten more aggressive because she was heading into its territory. So going back would be smarter. But that would mean time spent going over beach she'd already seen was empty. And the dead sailor meant at least she hadn't gone much too far in the wrong direction.
Onward it was then, continuing with the sea on her right, as before. But first... she cautiously returned to the sand, and was about to draw another sign for her sister, when she saw that she'd left a trail of blood on the sand. After a moment's consideration, she drew a stylized cat face in the sand around some of the blood she'd left, then shook her hand off over it, speckling it with a few more drops of blood. Then she drew a finger pointing north, again, stepped back under the cover of the trees, and continued North, somewhat more slowly than before.
Kaitlyn: HP = 20/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/ 5 minutes, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 38/42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP
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Rolls
Perception: Alyssa fails to notice Kaitlynn's sign in the sand. Gavin does not.
DC to detect Alyssa's spell is 50 - a Perception check on her part, which turns out to be 22 after I stop forgetting that you're both Weakened. That sets the DC to 28.
Perception: 21, failure.
The second check will be 55 - another check on Alyssa's part. 25 makes it a DC of 30.
Perception: 30, success! Just barely!
~~~~Kaitlynn~~~~
Putting a sign in the sand and going North, Kaitlynn would pass all sorts of plants she'd never seen before, and spotted a number of strange birds and insects in the periphery of her vision, some of them almost familiar but others like nothing she'd ever seen or heard of. Walking for ten minutes or so, Kaitlynn would see nothing of note until suddenly she came upon a section of dense bush that began to rustle as she drew near. Freezing, for several moments it would rustle, the motion of its leaves growing louder and more intense until...
A rotund little bird roughly the size of a house cat hopped out of it and chirped at her curiously. It was obviously not fit to fly, its wings tiny and its feathers short and downy rather than the more structured ones necessary for flight. The majority of the bird's feathers were green and gold and seemed to be covered in an oily substance that made them shine, but its underbelly and lines around its body were black. It had thin scaly legs with feet like a chicken, and other than a puffy little tail and its smaller sphere of a head it was mostly a big round fluffy ball. It had small beady eyes and a tiny orange beak, and its head tilted to the side as it chirped at her, tiny wings flapping lightly as it hopped around with agility belied by its shape.
The little creature didn't seem hostile, simply curious, and if she walked away it followed after her in steady hops. Before she got too far, however, Kaitlynn would pick out a strangely familiar sound from all of the background noise, and after a few seconds of listening she would be sure of it. The tiny call of a bird from Badaria, one that she and Alyssa had picked out as a sign, and if she turned around to follow the source of the sound...
~~~~Alyssa~~~~
"I don't give a good god damn if you're a goddess in disguise or an angel from on high," Gavin countered in continued irritation with Alyssa, "I kinda figured you were a bit more than a maid when the fetish gear came out and you started walking around right as rain on a broken ankle! That you're more capable than some lost waif is a lesser burden on me, believe me, but it doesn't mean you ought to go gallivanting off on your own!" He seemed quite ready to argue the subject more if she kept up her bitter protests, but would just as happily drop it if she did, though before she could reply he would quickly add; "It's none of my business what you or your mistress are up to. Neither of you brought any trouble on us, regardless of what some superstitious fools will say about women on ships! But we're in a bad situation here, and the only way any of us are seeing home again is if we work together!"
He seemed pleased with himself when she admitted that she was worse off than she'd suspected a few minutes later, but didn't try to rub it in. "Here, lean on me a bit," he said, moving closer and offering her an arm to clutch so that she wouldn't have to put so much weight on her bad ankle.
Whether Alyssa accepted that offer or not, he would make sure she was good to stand before moving to embrace the captain, and continue on in whichever state they'd been in before once they had met Gavin's superior. It wouldn't much affect how they reacted to the strange creature they encountered on the beach, and as she concentrated on the corpse and then on the blood trail Alyssa would somehow miss the symbol that Kaitlynn had drawn in the sand. Gavin would not, however, and just before they entered the woods would stop and point to it. "What's that? It can't be natural!"
However Alyssa chose to respond to the sailor's question, she would easily be able to convince him to follow its arrow North, and along the way she could cast her spell covertly without him noticing as far as she could tell. The sounds of a more familiar bird mixed in with the totally unfamiliar sounds produced by the native creatures of this strange land, one that Kaitlynn would hopefully pick up on and come toward if she heard it. Either way, they would be able to follow the blood trail North just as easily as the shore...
~~~~Both~~~~
Going in opposite directions, Alyssa simply wandering and Kaitlynn following the signs of her sister, the two would advance through the woods, both nearly crippled and neither able to move quickly. Even so, they came upon one another shortly, both stepping into opposite ends of a clearing at nearly the same time, and suddenly there was only air separating the two of them, and Gavin beside Alyssa looking relieved but easily ignored.
"Yeah... That looks like one of hers, must have been leaving them as signs." Alyssa concluded after getting a look at the sign in the sand Gavin had spotted. She was momentarily amused by the drawn cat face before the blood splattered around it reminded her of the urgency of the situation, "She might still be nearby, we should be able to catch her if we move quickly..."
As they moved on again, following the sign left in the sand, Alyssa took a moment to cast her spell once again, to the north, hoping Kaitlyn would hear and recognize it... They might not have much time left to find her, with all the blood she seemed to be losing. Wincing as pain shot up her leg when she put her foot down the wrong way, Alyssa pushed on regardless. Her sister was close, and possibly badly wounded, she could endure this until they found her.
Finally, they did, stepping into the same clearing from opposite sides some time later. It took a moment for the sight to register, Kaitlyn looking like herself once again in clothes as torn as Alyssa's own had been before she'd changed, with a crudely bandaged wound on her side... but alive. She stumbled as she tried to run forward, hissing in pain as she put too much pressure on her wounded ankle, but didn't let that stop her from rushing to meet her sister—and though she gave it little thought at the time, their incredibly similar looks would be hard for Gavin to miss when he saw them together—resisting the urge to just wrap her in a hug immediately only because of her wound.
"You're alive! I was so worried, when we saw the body on the beach, I thought..." Tears of relief welled up in the corner of the su-ku-ta's eyes as she spoke, one running down her cheek as she gripped her sister's hand in both of her own. "You're hurt though! How badly? Is there anything we can do?"
Kaitlyn froze as the bushes trembled. She reviewed her options. The injured su-ku-ta still didn't feel in any shape for complex magics, but something to blind or dazzle wasn't beyond her, if it was life or death. And it this was something like the flying lizard that had gone after her on the beach... she was in no state to run, not effectively. And she was only getting weaker. Still and silent, she drew in the light, ready to throw.
And found herself facing something like a rounder version of a chicken. A few streamers of light, mostly green, unwound from her hands as her concentration broke, evaporating back into the natural background of magic. Kaitlyn started to laugh, though her wound cut it short in a pained gasp. If she felt a little better she might have tried to kill the thing for food - it looked fat and healthy, and not at all difficult to catch - but that wasn't the most important thing at the moment, the most important thing was-
A bird called, sounding faintly out of place in the jungle, far from Badaria. Her ears pricked up, and she turned to face the source, not even breathing as she Listened to see if... it repeated. The lost catgirl drew in breath to call out, and thought better of it. Her sister was out there, but that didn't mean the danger was gone. Instead, she hurried towards the sound as fast as she dared.
And a few minutes later was rewarded, as she walked into a clearing, with the sight of Alyssa. Her sister stumbled as they rushed to meet, and Kaitlyn realized that she was favoring one leg. But she wasn't bleeding. And had changed into her armor. None of that mattered. They met in the center. Hugging was probably a bad idea, given their respective wounds, but they stood almost touching, holding hands. Kaitlyn kissed her sister, a few silent tears running down her face. "Oh it's so good to see you... I..."
She cut off as her sister clearly noticed the poorly-bandaged wound. "It's not good. I don't know how much we can do unless you found real bandages, or potions, or someone who..."
Kaitlyn's mind caught up with her mouth, following that chain of logic, as she noticed the man for the first time. Well, being pressed up against Alyssa wasn't really a problem - if the sailors didn't know they were intimate, they were deaf - but she hadn't put back on her disguising magic. Wasn't sure she would be able to, at the moment. And people tended to think the sisters looked rather alike.
Kaitlyn: HP = 20/54, PP = 52, EP = 42, Status = Injured, Bleeding 1 HP/ 5 minutes, Weakened, Clothes at 11/25 TP Alyssa: HP = 27/54, PP = 52, EP = 38/42, Status = Injured, Weakened, Clothes at 9/25 TP
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Kaitlyn would get very little reaction out of Gavin despite her sudden change in appearance. The man stared at her in confusion for a second, but then his attention was diverted to the little bird that had ambushed her from the bush, which had hopped after her chirping on her way to meet Alyssa and was now looking up at him curiously. "Uhhh.... What... Is this?" he asked in confusion, though the odd bird would only divert his attention for a moment before he looked back at the two and said; "We might have some way to take care of your injuries back at the wreck. It's getting dark... We ought to get moving quickly, I'd rather not see what comes out at night when it's just the three of us."
