City of IF

[Kalanna Rai]

Right, couldn't wait to get this up...Enjoy!
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Chapter Three: The Storm

"Well..." Saul said after a moment's thought. "We could always try asking him." Saul blushed brilliantly as four sets of eyes turned on him. Finally Ambrois spoke.

"Saul...that...is...Brilliant!" Saul, who's spirits had been flagging with every word the Arcex said, suddenly perked up and looked very proud of himself. Afterall, is there anything more fragile than a fifteen year-old ego?

Ambrois turned to Jasper and held up a hand to forestall the angery young man's comment. "Before you say something cutting, witty, and caustic, let me point out why the idea has merit." The Arcex held up one hand and begain ticking points off on his fingers, his tone that lofty one that had irritated the group so many times before. It was the tone that said 'don't worry simpletons, Lord Ambrois is here'.

"One, he claims to have built this ship by hand and that includes the cloaking system. Two, if the ship is running the sophisticated cloaking system he built then it's using engines he built as well. Three, if he built the engines then obviously he knows how to get the best speed out of them. Four, powerful engines like that need an experianced hand to guide them which this guy obviously has if he built them. Five," he looked around at the rest of the group. "Even drunk he's got more knowledge of the sea in one feather than the rest of us combined."

Jasper glared from Ambrois to the slim man and back. "Right, we'll put it to a vote. Those in favor of talking to this guy and hoping he'll help us, raise your hands." Everyone but Jasper's hand shot up and the youth rolled his eyes. "Well gee...seems like I'm out-voted." He walked over to the rail and leaned against it, arms folded. "But don't expect me to talk to him."

Ambrois shot Jasper a lofty scowl. "I wasn't. I'll go do it myself." With that the Arcex turned on his heel and walked toward where the slim man was raving to his bottle about 'imaginary voices plotting mutiny'. Taking a deep breath while he was still upwind of the pirate and the air was still fresh, Ambrois plastered a smile on his face.

"Excuse me." The slim man ignored him. "EXCUSE ME!" This time Ambrois was rewarded by a warm splash of liquor as the slim man jumped.

"Who are you...how did you two get here?" The slim man said mistrustfully. "If you're a debt collector or the tax man I'm not who you think I am." The slim man scoweled into his eyebrows. "Come to think of it I'm not who you think I am anyway? I'm really not sure who I am anymore." He looked down at the deck below his feet as the ship creaked.

"Oh don't be silly. I havn't forgotten who you are which means I must be who I think I am...or is it who you think I am?" He looked up at Ambrois a bit puzzledly. "Who am I?"

"You're the man who was going to help us with our problem." Ambrois supplied smoothly.

The slim man lifted an eyebrow. "I was...I mean I am? What was this problem the two of you have mate?"

Once again Ambrois looked around but he was the only one of the group standing anywhere near the slim man. He suddenly realized that the pirate must be drunk enought to see double. A sliver of doubt wormed it's way into the back of his mind. But, with the cheerful smile still on his face, he pressed on like a street schyster with the shell game. "Well you see the sister of my compainion over there has been kidnapped and we need a ship to get her back...you were going to help us."

The slim man glanced in the direction Ambrois pointed and blinked owlishly. "How'd all of you get there? And why the hell would I want to help a bunch of punk kids like you anyway." Anger suddenly sparked in his eyes. "Are you lot the bunch of hooligans that got my deck all messy because if you are I swear I'll..." A gull cried somewhere nearby and the slim man suddenly stopped his tirade. He stood for a moment, head cocked to the side as if listening to voices only he could hear.

Ambrois was about to throw in the towel and go with Jasper's plan. Jasper himself had given up leaning on the rail and was now standing just behind Ambrois...the others not far behind him. Jasper hissed in his ear. "Do something!"

Ambrois shot him a dirty look, managing to recover his smooth smile just as the slim man returned to the real world. For a moment the slim man stared at them all, a slow grin spreading on his face. "Well if you all arn't an interesting lot. We've got two humans," he pointed to Jasper and Saul. "An Arcex," he pointed to Ambrois. "A Canin," he said pointing to Donovan. "And a Pulni, a female Pulni at that!" He smiled at Cobalt who gave him a distrustful look.

He reached up as if to run a hand through his hair, then slowly brought it back down. "That's as mixed a crew as I've ever had...and all of you are green as far as I can tell. Not too appealing a deal if ya catch my drift mate...unless you've something to ya know, make it worth my while. Do you mate?"

Jasper lost it. As far as he could tell all the slim man was doing was stalling in order to gain more liquor money. He lunged forward, fingers twisted into savage talons, and the rest of the group had to bodily restrain him. "YOU BASTARD! JUST HELP US!" He snarled at the slim man.

During all of his efforts to reach the inebriated pirate, his pendant had worked it's way clear of his clothing. It now dangled, catching what little light it could, and glimmered. The slim man's eyes instantly snapped toward it and the strangest look crossed his face. He looked up, eyes clear of all traces of haze, and spoke softly. "She wouldn't happen to be your twin sister...would she mate? Name of...Jade?"

All the fight went out of Jasper and he hit the deck as everyone dropped him in shock. "How did you..." The slim man took one last pull of his bottle before tossing it overboard and heading for the hatch that led below.

"Make ready to cast off mates...seems we've got a ship to catch."
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The orphans could hardly believe their luck. One moment they had been standing on the deck of a scow with no hope of ever seeing Jade again. Now they were starbound, the ships engines sputtering and coughing but sending them ever onward. Jasper was thrilled to be going, as was Saul. The younger boy scampered everywhere like a monkey, attempting to get into everything and succeeding only in getting his fingers bruised.

Ambrois was still puzzled though. Could he have been wrong? Was the ship really the scow it seemed? Maybe he needed his eyes checked? Cobalt was none too happy either. She was worried after the way the slim man had looked at her and examined her reflection in the sheen of filth that coated the decks.

She was 17 and lithe and slim like all her kind. Her fine bone structure was highlighted by her pale skin which contrasted wonderfully with her deep blue hair and eyes. Her ears were slightly pointed, as was her chin, and the way her facial muscles rested gave her a slightly pouty look all the time.

Still, she was strong and fit, and a strong willed girl. What she wanted she set her mind to and eventually got. Like Jasper for instance. He hadn't been crazy about her but he'd certainly warmed up after a while. Still, her stubborn will and temper often got her into trouble and had lately put a bit of a damper on their relationship.

Donovan was lost in the slew of new scents and sounds. Every way he turned there was something new to fascinate his auditory and olfactory senses. His tail was wagging happily, ears swivling, nostrils quivering...he was in heaven for now.

Yet what none of them brought up was the fact that they were still on a slow tub heading into vast space. And that their captain was still missing somewhere in the depths of the ships interior. As Ambrois walked up to Jasper the youth turned to look at his friend. "Well Ambrois...where's the sleek, fast ship that you
thought was hidden under this scow-like exterior?"

Ambrois shook his head, wings twitching in irritation. "I don't know...I'm sure that this ship isn't what she seems..." He was cut off as suddenly eletric sparks snapped everywhere and the image of the scow began to melt away.

"She's not." The voice came from behind them and they all spun around. The moment they turned the image of the scow vanished to reveal a sleek, deadly ship with an ebony black hull, gleaming silver sails, and a design that screamed 'FEAR ME!'.

Their attention, however, was rooted on the man standing at the helm. How he'd managed to sneak up on them all, including Donovan, was still a mystery. The slim man had changed as much as his ship had, from filthy drunk, to...something less filthy but still drunk. His coat was long and red over black pants and heavy black boots. His wings were a brilliant platinum silver, gleaming brilliantly, his beard was gone, revealing a youthful face of a man in that ageless period that might be twenty-something, might be thirty-something. His platinum silver hair haloed his head like the Angels of old earth art, his eyes clear and sharp.

"But then neither am I."

Saul's mouth was hanging so far open you could almost claim to see his lungs. His eyes were wide with shock and adoration. Donovan's ears were flat in surprise, his nose twitched as he tried to reconcile what he'd smelled before with the man now at the helm. It was much more plesant, that was for sure. Cobalt blinked twice, her brain going a million miles an hour as she realized that this guy wasn't as bad as he'd first looked.

Ambrois took one look and uttered two words. "Oh snap." This guy was what being an Arcex was all about. His legs were impressively long and slender without looking fragile. His torso flat and thin, muscular but almost painfully slender at the same time. His shoulders were wide for an arcex, which wasn't saying much since Cobalt's were only marginally smaller, and he had one of those flawless faces. Add the wingspan that made Ambrois's own look like a swallow next to an eagle and you had one impressive sonovabitch.

Jasper only shook his head and went back to looking at the rail. "Well, can we speed this up now? I'd like to get my sister back as quickly as possible. Ambrois, fill him in on the situation."


"No need mate. I've already got our heading. Looks like whoever snatched your sister is also diverting around that big storm up ahead. We'll head right through it instead, that should make up for lost time." With that he send the ship plowing right into the storm, the mists reaching out and wrapping around them like hungery fingers.

Saul groaned. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Jasper snorted. "You were the one who wanted an adventure aboard a Pirate ship."
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Moments later they were being thrown every which way by the ion waves as the solar winds lashed the sails. The slim man was laughing like a bandit as he spun the wheel this way and that easily, taking long drinks off a fresh bottle whenever he could. Yet the storm continued to escalate to the point where he finally looked at the bottle and said, "It's either you or me mate." He then tossed it up into the air where the howling winds carried it away.

The ship pitched forward violently and the slim man's eyes darkened. "Oh shit...HOLD ON!" The orphans, already holding on as tightly as they could, looked to see what the new threat was. There, just before the nose of the ship, was the swirling malestrom that was the heart of the storm. The leading edge caught hold of the ship and they were off, swirling towards the center and oblivion.

The slim man was laughing like a maniac now, turning the wheel hard in the opposite direction. Finally he reached the limit the wheel would turn, his muscles bunching as he struggled to hold it against the strain. "Come on Muse...come on girl." With a surge from her engines the ship broke free amid whoops from captain and orphans alike.

Skidding across wavetops as she sped away from the storm's dark heart, the slim man reached out a hand and grinned happily as his bottle fell out of the sky and back into it. "Now this is living mates! This is living!"

Jasper glared back at him. "You drunk! You almost got us all killed!" For a few moments there was silence punctuated only by the creak of the wheel as the slim man corrected his course...steering despite his instruments. It took Jasper a moment to realize that...took him another moment to figure out that somehow the slim man was homing in on Jade as well. "How are you doing that?"

"What?" The slim man replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You know damn well what you're doing. How are you traking my sister?"

The slim man opened his mouth and shut it again. The kid would never believe the truth so he needed a very convincing lie...and he needed it quick.
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What is the 'very' convincing lie?
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There you are, hope you liked!

[Mephistopheles]

Yeah! we have intrigue! friend lying to friends and all that happy stuff. Nice chappy rai. Thank you for not sending the ship round and round the eye til she finally broke free. I would have been disappointed in you. Hmm, a convincing lie, eh? Hows' about he caught the ion trail or whatever from the ship that jaspers sis is on, and he is tracking that? too cliche? I will think harder and try to get back to you. good chappy though rai.

[Chinaren]

Nice chapter again Rai, though it has some of your trademark typos. Angry doesn't have an 'e' in for example.

Slight niggle. Right at the end we suddenly change POV to the Slim man. It was probably done for the DP, but still...

DP: Well, a caustic (possibly correct) answer is the way to go here:

"Magic kid," he said smiling, a twinkle in his eye.

[Kalanna Rai]

Well I do a fair amount of POV switching throughout the story, although it's mostly from the various orphans.

Magic...please. As if he'd do something so obvious. ;)

[Masterweaver]

I feel silly, I say just tell him "We're characters in a story! The Narrarator guides me!"

On a more serious note, he might add, "And I stole the trading plans from the dock directory before I left."

That's two choices, by the way. Great story!

[Crunchyfrog]

He says it's the ship - he's programmed some tracking info into it, and has homed in on Jasper's DNA as the 'scent'. As they are twins, Jades will be similar.

[Masterweaver]

I think they're fraternal. DNA isn't alike in fraternal twins.

[Crunchyfrog]

'twould make a good lie then, which is what he wants to do. ;)

[Masterweaver]

...What? I don't get it. What's so funny?

[dinranwen]

Hmmm...a convincing lie that you need proto.

Let's see:

He could say that he knows the man that probably took her, having encountered him before, and therefore has the 'enemy's ship siginal programmed on my radar, we'll be humming on her like a bee before long my boys! And Well....lassie."

[Rune]

I knew something was wrong when I first saw him enter the tavern with her. I tried to take her and he had all those hooligans in the tavern attack me to slow me down.Before she got away, though, I managed to get my hands on her and put a tracking device on her clothing just as the brawl was getting started.

And if my memory is bad and that doesn't fit the events of the story continuity-wise then...


use one of the other suggestions. :-p

[Masterweaver]

Actually, this brings up an interesting point: Does he know the man who took her?

[Kalanna Rai]

Right, to answer a few questions and clear the waters again.

1. Yes MW, the slim man does know Mad Dog Marcus, the canin that abducted Jade. He knows him rather well and lets just say that Mad Dog would rather never see the slim man again...at any range under any circumstances.

2. Rune, Jade was abducted outside the Inn of the Black Tramp. They didn't encounter the slim man until they reached The Worst Tavern in Town. The slim man would never have been allowed inside the Black Tramp...he has a tendancy to cause problems.

3. MW, Jasper and Jade are not your average pair of twins, and they are not fraternal. Their DNA is identical save that Jasper has an XY chromosome pair and Jade has an XX. Thus, the slim man could track Jade via Jasper's DNA. And yes, before you ask, this is a major factor to both their psychic abilities and the mysterious 'sickness'.

4. Din, the whole reason Jasper is suspicious of the man is the fact the ion fog is cancelling out the use of systems such as radar and homing signals. Just like real galleons in the 17th century couldn't navigate well in the fog, since the only thing working was their compass, these futuristic things rely mostly on the instinct of captain. I'll edit the chapter to include this tidbit since I thought I put it in there in the first place...whoopse, my bad.

5. MW, what's so funny? I should hope the story is actually. That's kinda the point...

Hope that helps, keep the suggestions coming!

[Masterweaver]

Or he could create a distraction. "Hey what's that?! Oh my! I think you should handle it! I'm driving!" etc.

[solus.serpen]

I feel pretty brain-dead atm, so sorry if the suggestion is not really any good.

However - couldn't he just act (very) drunk? Then he might be too drunk to understand the complexities of the question...

Ah well, good chapter Rai,
I'll try not to miss the poll.

~Solus ;)

[Masterweaver]

I think he blew that cover a while back. But hey, never drink and drive, right?

It might work better if he just shoots at the kid. Who knows?

[The Meaning Of Fear]

I like the distraction idea. Maybe he should pretend to tell the truth but stops quickly, and runs off to stop the doggy guy pissing on his ship.

Something like that.

[Crossfire]

He tossed a strange device at them carelessly, Jasper moving to catch it before it hit the deck. They clustered around it curiously, reading the enigmatic information that it displays. Jasper raised the item slightly, tilting it so that everyone could see and shifting his weight to maintain balance on the deck.

It was flashing periodically, and a single glowing dot with an elegantly blazing trail behind it was veering to the right. Strange symbols and numbers bedecked it, with mysterious readouts flowing rapidly down the screen at irregular intervals. "Ion tracker," he said. "They went by ship, so I'm locking onto their ion signature and keeping close to their location."

In reality, that's merely a navigation device. The dot is merely a nearby current, shifting in the ephemeral waves, in this case in an easterly direction. However, it is highly unreliable in the ion storm, so it's pretty much useless to him here, hence the fact that he is carelessly tossing it to some children he has just met.

[Kalanna Rai]

POLLING! DON'T MISS IT!

[NeverNeverGirl]

i like the idea of a Sparow-esque comment.

Brimming with sarcasm and snide humour, thus making Jasper think that he should know the answer and feel foolish.

thus i voted for the sarcastic, magic kid (or something similar) option...

[solus.serpen]

Yay! I didn't miss the poll!

I voted for the last option because even if it doesn't work, you won't want to have the same poll, and you'll decide for me! :D


~Solus

- if that makes any sense at all. :?

[Mother Goose]

Is the poll closed on a tie? I was just going to break it (in favor of sarcasm) but it's not letting me!

[Kalanna Rai]

Oopse...sorry MG. But since you posted so close to me shutting the poll down I'll allow your vote.

Sarcasm wins.