Learning Experience [Fanta and Seraph]

...continued from email

Alastair busied himself with captain duties, ordering and threatening, all of that jazz. His attention was put to better use being on top of the crew rather than the obnoxious brats he'd taken on board. Damn his consciousness. And his softness for kids since his own had grown up.

While everyone else jumped to the captain's orders, Zeih made himself mildly comfortable near the kids, his dark eyes on only of of them. The boys he could frankly care less about. Ana, on the other hand, was his target. Whether or not she'd have him was another story. But there ways. And then there were ways. The first mate was still plotting about the latter of ways.

"Ah woudn't advise killin'," a passing pirate mentioned to the trio. "Cap'n doesn' approve of killin' others on board. Unless they give uh good reasun." Not to mention a death would most likely be a one way trip for the three overboard and back where they started. Deserted in the middle of the ocean. But with no wreckage to cling to.

Set and Anubis turned to glare at the passing pirate as he interrupted their conversation. The older of the two, Set, tilted his head to the side and gave him a cold hard look, "I could think of many reasons in which to kill you." The younger, near carbon copy of his brother, rested his hand on Set's bicep and raised an eyebrow at him. The older one started at Anubis for a moment, and it seemed as if they were having an unheard conversation before Set sneered slightly and took a step back and leaned against a crate on the deck.

Ana frowned slightly before she asked, almost pleasantly, "Where are we to sleep for the eve?" She rubbed her hands up and down her arms almost as if she were cold, but it was really to wipe off the salt that had dried to her skin as she dried off. The white powder dusted off her easily but caused her skin to feel dry and stiff--she wanted a bath terribly. She glanced towards Zeih as he continued to stare at her and watch her every move and arched a silver eyebrow at him. What was his issue? While her fondness for humans had changed slightly since living with them, but she had never wanted to gain their attentions. Frankly, she found them too short lived and too closed minded for her to actually enjoy being around them.

The passing crew member froze at Set's words. Okay... reminder to self, do not piss these kids off. He gave the boy a nervous chuckle, the boy really was frightening. Thankfully the twin kept his brother at bay, giving the pirate time to scoot away from them. He shouldn't e so afraid of children but they weren't just any children.

Before he was able to turn and return to his chores, the girl, Ana was it?, spoke. "Um, that be a good question, missy. One ta ask the cap'n." Alastair was the one who handed out bunks so he could know where to find his crew when he needed them. Usually to berate and give them a good thrashing.

Zeih knew Ana could see him, and disapproved of him, but he didn't care. The tattooed pirate wanted her, lusted after Ana, but was still formulating a plan. One way or another... he was going to have her. Hopefully before they docked again, where she had more places to run and avoid him.

Set watched as the crew member all but pissed himself at such a simple threat and the young royal was...disappointed in a way. He was used to people at least being able to hold their ground for a little while before crumbling under the pressure of his displeasure and, at times, sadism. The only one who seemed to continue to fight against them was their betrothed who he dared not to hurt because of her father and her own monstrous strength. His brother raised an eyebrow at his thoughts, silently encouraging him to speak but Set was in no mood to as he turned his back on his younger sibling and frowned out into the ocean. By Death, did he hate the ocean!

Ana blinked and waited a moment before she slowly spoke, "Then find me the captain."

Anubis glanced around the ship for a moment before cocked his head to the side when he noted the way the tattooed pirate who had fished them out of the ocean stared at his older sister. He glanced at her and shrugged slightly--Ana had been trained by their mother to hold her own ground and she was old enough to fend for herself, more than, he thought as she was thirty-five even though she appeared little older than twenty-five. He sighed slightly but still, he could imagine how their father would react if something happened to his precious daughter. Honestly, he thought darkly, why was it that their father always doted more on his sisters?

The crew member winced at the command. Really, who were these brats to order him around? But when he was about to reply, whether it was to comply or deny, they'd never know. It seemed the captain was going to make himself known, having caught Zeih lazing around again.

Alastair stormed over to his second in command, glare in place as he approached Zeih. "You lazy bastard! Get off of your fat ass and do some damned work!" he yelled, grabbing the tattooed pirate by the front of his salt-encrusted shirt. "Unless you'd like to find yourself scrubbing the hull while we're still moving. I'm sure a few days down there will teach you a nice lesson," the captain snarled, his face hardly an inch away from Zeih's own face.

Zeih just smirked at his fuming captain and shrugged. "Oh fine, fine. Just let me go and get that stick out of your ass, cap'n," he replied with, none too affectionately either. Damn the captain for interrupting his scheming. He'd almost had something too! One day he'd take care of Alastair, show him how a real captain is supposed to act.

Ana waited expectantly for the crew-member to hop to her orders as if he were a well-trained pet, the more time he hesitated the darker her glower became as she watched him stand there. Her fingers tapped a slow and annoyed tempo against her hip and she arched an eyebrow until she jumped slightly as Alastair's booming voice echoed over the ship. She turned slowly to watched the interlude between the captain and his first mate, her head tilted slightly to the side as the breeze from the ocean shifted clumps of salt-encrusted hair across her face. She tucked the strands behind her ear and winced as the salt got into a small cut behind her ear.

Anubis murmured softly, "Mother or Father would have killed one of their underlings for that...or at least had them beaten."

"Or make them wish they had been killed," Set agreed.

Ana watched for a moment longer before she took a step forward and walked up behind Alastair, "Where are we to sleep?"

The crew member just kept looking smaller and smaller as he was trying to think. But thankfully the captain came to the rescue, appearing. As soon as he made himself heard, the crew member took a hasty leave, coward that he was.

When Alastair finally got Zeih to move his lazy ass into gear to do something, anything, he turned towards the children. His arms were crossed in front of him as he heard out Ana's request. "Sleep? Wherever you can find space. Don't bother me with trivial questions. You could sleep out here on deck for all I care, just don't get in the way." Really, he had rations and hungry stomachs to worry about. Which reminded him, his cook was probably having a right old fit in the galley.

Set and Anubis watched the crew member scurry off like a little mouse and for a moment, the pair were in perfect sync as they considered turning the pirate into a mouse. Anubis hid his devious smile behind his hand and chuckled slightly as his brother's hawk-like eyes continued to watch the pirate. Perhaps, Set considered, it would be interesting to see how the frightened crew-member would fare against the much larger and decidedly more aggressive ship rats that seemed to slink about in the shadows and behind crates. Neither paid much attention to their sister as they spoke softly between each other and planned out how to make this trip morefun. Fun for them at the very least.

Ana looked around at the deck and frowned; although she was royalty and had lived in the lap of luxury for most of her life, the parts she didn't she worked hard at her job of being a healer and enjoyed her hikes in the snowy Northern territory. However, she wasn't going to sleep on a ship's deck, not while she had anything to say about it. The silver-haired blue eyed Witch snapped, "I will not sleep on this fucking deck. You will find me a bed, and it will be fucking empty."

The crew member disappeared into the crowd of the rest of the crew, glad to be away from the kids. They frightened him. And if the captain saw him like that, he'd most likely be discarded. Alastair had no use for scared crew members. The high seas were not for scaredy-cats, thus the captain didn't need to know of his cowardliness. And he really did not want to become the twins' experiment, or entertainment.

Alastair raised an eyebrow a gold eyebrow at Ana. Was she demanding him? "Excuse me, I don't have to do anything. I said you could sleep anywhere. Try finding some empty cots." With an impatient wave of the hand and some grumbling under his breath, the greying captain headed below in a nasty mood. Might as well have a nice yelling match with the cook about food. It always turned out to be quite interesting.

Ana's glower darkened and her pretty face seemed to turn bitter as she stared back at the captain. Of course she was demanding him--he had them rescued from the ocean, which made him responsible for them in all counts of life especially the necessities. Her words were clipped and sharp, "Find an empty cot? How splendid. Set," she turned around, her voice becoming silken and dark, "Do create three empty cots."

She glanced back as she watched the captain disappear below deck as her brother chuckled softly, "Now that is a reason if I have ever heard on to...create space aboard a ship. Anubis?"

The youngest of the silver-haired royals considered it and worried his bottom lip as he considered it. It wasn't that he was any more peaceful than his siblings, he just felt the desire to play "nice" for a little while longer. He hummed under his breath for a moment before he shrugged, "He did say we were to find our own...he never commented upon the method."

Ana smiled, the only thing missing from her predator grin was the fangs that should have accompanied it.

Alastair had forgotten to mention the method on purpose. He knew some rats and scared mice were hiding on his ship, and he figured the children could do his dirty work on finding them out. And perhaps even get rid of them. It certainly would save him some trouble of doing it himself.

Any of the members on deck that heard the siblings speak took off and scurried out of sight. They valued their lives and with how those three were acting, it didn't bode well that they would survive going up against them. The only one that stood up, or more correctly was left on deck, was Zeih. Of whom was doing a sloppy job of cleaning and sharpening weapons out in the light of day.

As the crew dispersed most readily out of the sights of the three unimpressed and annoyed siblings, the trio took a moment longer to convene upon their ideas in which to free up a few beds for themselves. The easiest that came to mind was to throw off three (or more, Ana suggested) of the crew members and then take their beds (after, Anubis commented, they had them washed or at least aired out); however, Set suggested, given that he and Anubis needed blood to sate some of their hungers, they just eat three people.

"Even if you were to eat one now," Ana spoke, "There would only be one bed freed. And should you feed on three of them I shouldn't want to on this ship when you two enter a blood-lust."

Set looked at his sister and gave a bit of a teasing smile, "Scared?"

"Horrified," she said blandly and glanced to watch the sloppy job of cleaning and sharpening weapons. She winced for the latter of the jobs--a sharp weapon was a royals best friend even if they did have good guardians and protectors. She all ready missed her favorite blade--it had been silver, slender and easily hidden in her dresses or in a loose tunic. It had been simple in it's beautiful design.

When the members of Alastair's ship had fled, a few of them huddled together, whispering heatedly about something. Seems though they really did not want to die or be tortured at the hands of these children. So now it was a question of who was going to give up their cot for sleeping on the hard deck.

As the group debated, Zeih glanced up to notice Ana watching him clean and sharpen. Her wince wasn't appreciated in the least. The tattooed pirate sneered at her, "What is it missy, weapons make you queasy?" Of course he was being lazy, anyone who didn't have their own devices to take care of their weapons was at the mercy of whoever got the job. They should have spent their pay on better things then girls and grog.

The corner of Ana's lip curled upwards as she sneered, "More like the clumsy hands of an amateur on weapons that makes me queasy." She looked pointedly at the horribly sharpened and cleaned weapons, some of them still with rust spots dappling the smooth surface. While silver was more malleable than most metals, when it was cured with magick like they were back home, they were sturdy weapons to be used against foes; steel was something that was rarely used, and usually only in the case of hunting down Dragons or other such creatures. She snorted slightly before she turned her back on him, there were better things to watch than someone butcher their weapons until the metal was too weak to actually do anything more than shatter should they be used.

Set stood with his head cocked to the side as he listened carefully to the crew members as they muttered together; his ears were sensitive and he had no issue with eavesdropping upon the frightened men as they discussed who would give up their cots. Anubis sighed and shook his head, "I don't believe they understand we really would prefer to just kill them."

Zeih sent a nasty glare Ana's way. Pfft, he wasn't doing it that badly! "Whatever. How would a girl like yourself know anything about weapons?" he grumbled, focusing on cleaning and sharpening the swords and other various weapons. Sure they were rusty and getting thin... not his fault his comrades didn't spend their pay wisely on what kept themselves alive. At least his own swords were in pristine condition, that's all that really mattered.

The grouped crew members were still debating, some even going so far as to suggest they all just ro-sham-bo to choose. Of course this decision was turned over repeatedly, not wishing to leave such things to chance. No they didn't understand the twins' wishes of killing them, they were blind to that fact. All that they cared for was their own hides.

Ana twitched and turned to look back at Zeih and smiled prettily, "Enough to know how to gut a man without getting blood on my dress." Her mother had been very particular on teaching her daughters how to fight, not that it was uncommon or even frowned upon, she just taught them in a style more suited to their body-types. Her fondest memory of her mother, Kaya, was when she looked at her father, Sano, and told him that she would have him pinned in three moves. Ana, who had been young then and saw her father as the strongest man in the world proclaimed loudly that it was impossible! Her mother smiled before she walked up to her father and in one move wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, and then hooked her ankle around his knee and tugged hand, before sitting on top of him after he fell. Her mother, blue eyes bright, laughed and said, 'That is how you pin a man who doesn't want you dead.'

Later, when someone tried to assassinate her for being a Witch in a Vampire family, her mother had shown her how to tear a man apart with such cold confidence that she had been terrified of her for days afterward until Sano explained to her that Kaya would do anything for her family, even if it meant going to Hell for him. But after that attempt of her life, her mother trained her in a variety of weapons and her father taught her how to be courtly about hiding them and using them. 'Poison,' he remarked, 'Works well in settings that it won't be obvious and when a person least expects it. A knife in the throat, however, is an acceptable way of diplomacy.'

Set and Anubis chuckled to themselves before they, taking pity on the crew, picked for themselves who they wanted gone. It was really becoming obnoxious how long they were taking to decide who to divvy up the bedding. To them, the choice was simple: die, or sleep on the hard floor topside.

Zeih just stared at Ana and shrugged. Whatever. This was the job Alastair had given and he was going to do it. No one had mentioned that he had to do it well. But his attention shifted from the slightly scary girl, to the group of his peers. The peers that were debating giving up their cots. Idiots. And some of those said idiots were thrown off. That was a laugh for him.

And Alastair didn't seem too pleased when he saw some of his men thrown overboard. "Guess we just had three cots open," he huffed, glaring at the children. "But that also means we're down three sets of hands. Which I expect you three to pick up."

The month it took them to return to land was hell on water for all on the ship. As soon as it docked, the ship was almost immediately abandoned by all of the crew. Including the captain, of whom went to his favorite tavern to get ready for the trip inland to home. The home that he kept a secret from his crew. If they got wind he was a family man, then his kids and wife were in danger and Alastair was not always home to protect them.

But while he was soaking in a lovely bath, the greying captain was pleased to be rid himself of the annoying children.

The moment three of the crew-members were thrown overboard, the twins gained a reputation. However, when Alistair informed them that they were three hands short--Ana, Set, and Anubis felt a feeling of acute annoyance well up in them as they figured what he was implying. The next month was interesting in the fact that the trio managed to shirk every job Alistair tried to thrust upon them to the point that the greying captain finally gave up. Ana was prone to throwing anything she was told to clean off the ship, barring her own things and should one of the crew attempt to get too friendly with her person, they lost their dignity or a few limbs. She was partial to removing fingers.

The twins were menaces on the ship and took to lying on their cots below deck especially when Alistair bellowed at them to scrub the deck or mend things. However, it was at night that they were the worst, given their Vampiric descent they had to ingest a fair amount of blood to sustain themselves. It was much less than what a grown Vampire would need, but still enough to cause the crew to try to stay as far away from the delicate looking duo as possible. But on a ship, that was near impossible and most of the crew ended up feeding the twins' lust for blood one way or another. The only thing they wouldn't do, was sleep with the crew. As their sister had pointed out darkly, "They are probably all diseased."

And while their mother's Dragon blood strengthened their immune systems, their health would still be considered frail next to their sisters. So they were careful about how they selected their "dinner" and forwent bed mates, something the pair hadn't done since they were fourteen.

After a month of what the royal trio considered "hell on earth" the ship finally docked. They waited until everyone scurried off the ship before they searched from some gold, some meaning enough to buy a good meal, a well-furnished bedroom for the night, a new set of clothes, and a long soak in a bath. Ana divided up the money and let her little brother's loose in the city as she made her first stop: an inn, and a bath. She scrubbed herself bright red in a small cubicle before she finally sunk into a deep tub of water and moaned softly as she relaxed into the scented steam. She closed her eyes and smiled happily, this was much, much better than anything that had happened in the last month.

Alastair was planning on staying in the town for a few days, getting himself ready for the journey he had inland to his family. It would take him a few days and it was going to take a few baths to get the sea salt off of him completely. Not to mention his scraggly appearance was going to have to be taken care of too, perhaps a trim all around.

And of course the usual gifts. The blonde captain was always sure to bring back something for his sons and wife, even if it was only a little thing. Something to prove he had indeed been traveling. His sons and wife thought that he was a merchant on the high seas, so to keep that lie going, Alastair always brought back little trinkets. Usually some jewelry for his wife, Chandra, a new tool for his youngest son Deon. Slael, his eldest, was a bit harder to buy for. That boy had his hands in everything and yet it was difficult to find something he'd enjoy or use. But this time, Alastair had found an old copy of some ancient spells, something he hoped would interest Slael.

While the captain worried over his plans, Zeih was having a ball in a local brothel. Most of the rest of the crew was there too, but it seemed the dark-haired pirate was the most 'exotic' out of the crew and thus got all the girls' attention, fickle things. He hardly even had to put any charm on to have them all swoon over him. Zeih's night already seemed like it would be booked, keeping the girls happy and on their backs. And first up for the night was a fiery redhead that simply demanded his attention. He hoped this would be going on for a few nights, the more girls the merrier!