To the Southern Continent

[Sareth]

Jamie continued to play with Nera until she was certain her mother was sufficiently distant from the door. Then she patted the girl on the head and set her down to crawl about on the floor to her heart's content.

"Tamina," she called quietly. Then again, louder. "Tamina!" She coughed. "TAMI!"

The moment Tamina hurried into the room looking a bit alarmed, Jamie grinned and flung the sheets off herself. "Quick, this is our chance. Hit my knee with some of your mojo and we can make a break for it."

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Having a busy weekend, I'll try and post something in here tomorrow. /OOC

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina, still a little dazed and emotionally drained from her earlier scene with Leli, nodded mutely and made her way to Jamie, the words of a healing spell already dancing across her lips. Her palms glowed.

"Try to relax." She advised. "Might sting a little."

It did. But the teenager was at least able to clamp down on the involuntary yelp which nearly escaped her mouth as her knee suddenly snapped back to its original size. One problem down.

The native didn't waste time, she disappeared into a storage area and brought out a grendell-purchaised, canvas 'pack-pack' (she'd never been able to pronounce that word correctly) from a dusty corner and hurredly shoved in armfuls of essentials for the journey, including the clothes from an eisenfaust wardrobe in Port Lorrel where the sorry mess of her capture had really come to a head. She considered the spear and bow propped in a corner near her front door but dismissed the idea. If her claws, magic and Jamie's guns weren't enough to deal with any potential trouble than her hunting gear wasn't likely to be much help.

She took a deep breath.

"K, k. Ready to go. Got mana left, can run quick if we need to." She said, motioning towards the door.

[Sareth]

"That might come in handy. Dunno how long mom will be." Jamie slipped out of the bed to pick up what meager belongings she still had (having abandoned more than one pack to escape her mother). She quickly settled the gear, scooped up Nera and snuck out the door.

"The first thing we're going to need is a ship to get out of here, and I don't care where. I just know it'll have to be leaving right away. If we hang about town at all it'll give mother time to catch up. So let's hope the tides are with us so we can set sale immOW!" Jamie detached Nera's hand from her hair. "Little stinker." She grinned.

"JAMIE PORTER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"About that speed magic thingy..."

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina made a squealing noise at Jasmine's interruption followed by a curse in her native tounge which sounded roughly like 'Kitzallah' (it didn't have a shorthand translation into human speak, but it meant something about being an illegitmate child who enjoyed the company of the local wildlife). Tamina stole a look back at the vengeful mother bearing down on the pair like the wrath of Luminosita with an expression on her face similar to that of a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She looked back at Jamie, grinned helplessly and murmured the appropriate words.

"Kaymai neuo alka kahli griis jula!" (OOC Thank God for copy/paste and archived threads/OOC)

Tamina touched a hand to Jamie to discharge some of the magical current through her as she had done back in Port Lorrel. The familiar sensation of wired reflexes and hummingbird heartbeats shot through the systems of the pair.

No further words were necessary. In an instant they were a disappearing blur headed towards the horizon, and Grendell.

[Sareth]

Jasmine watched the two disappear in the distance trailing a cloud of dust. She scowled a moment then sighed and collected her traveling pack.

Leli was waiting for her when she came back out to the road.

"Youth." Leli smiled gently. "They think as youth."

"Oh, I know it." Jasmine shrugged. "I guess I'd better go get her."

"That one." Leli seemed to struggle a moment with putting her thoughts in a language not her own. "Jaymee? She will not settle."

Jasmine gave a laugh that sparkled and felt genuine. "I know."

"Then why chase her?"

"Are you kidding?" Jasmine shook her head as she attached her rifle to the pack and hoisted it onto her back. "This is the most fun I've had in years. Just don't tell her that." She winked.

Leli smiled.

****

"Whew!" Jamie wiped her brow as the pair (plus Nera) came to a normal speed in town. "That comes in handy. Alright, let's get down to the docks. We need to find out the first ship heading out of town and get gone before she can catch up." Her stomach rumbled. "And maybe find some food while we're at it."

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina didn't so much reply to Jamie's question as collapse wheezing to her knees as the mental and physical exhaustion from the spell hit her like a wave. She reached out awkwardly and tugged on the teenager's sleeve.

"Rigby..." She managed. "Ship's....over there."

........

"... and the Priest says 'Don't forget your riding shoes!'"

A roar of laughter rose from the deck of The Clark as Wedge got to the end of the joke. The young man grinned.

"Oh wait! I've got another one; what's green and eats nuts?"

"Weeeeddddge!!! Stop doing stand up and get back to work!"

The crew quailed visibly as Captain Rigby's voice (which often sounded as if it belonged on a man 2 feet taller) echoed across the deck. The men scattered, contriving to look busy as their diminutive leader made his way around the ship. He stomped to Wedge with the expression of a man with a spliting headache, a bad temper and an itch to pass his frustrations onto someone else.

"We're getting off this blasted, plague-ridden continent within the hour..."

"Yes Captain."

"...and if throwing you overboard'll speed the process up I'm happy to oblige."

"Sorry Captain."

"Finish tying that mast."

"No problem, Captain."

Rigby turned to find another crewman to unload on when Wedge's voice called him back.

"Umm... Captain?"

"What? What is it?"

"Are those the people we picked up in Port Lorrel heading this way?"

The Captain turned in slow-motion horror to where the younger man was pointing, and paled. Visions of angry mothers, screaming babies and feral kobolds began dancing in his head.

"Oh... bugger." He muttered.

[Sareth]

"Perfect! Let's get aboard!" Jamie grinned and hurried up towards the gangplank, bobbling Nera along on one arm. Nera reached up and grabbed Jamie's nose. "Nera, not right now."

The pair hurried up and aboard the ship before anyone on the crew could stop them. Jamie stood there beaming, taking in the activity on the deck. "Casting off? Perfect timing!"

Captain Rigby came over and stared up at Jamie. "Here now! Get off my ship. You are nothing but trouble."

Jamie laughed. "Awwww. You always say the sweetest things."

"I'm serious."

"My mother's right behind me."

The Captain visibly paled. He spun about. "CAST OFF OR I'LL THROW THE LOT OF YOU TO THE FISHES!"

Nera giggled then noisily filled her diaper. With a sudden alarmed haste the entire crew hurried into the rigging and began setting the sails.

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina took the brief respite as an opportunity to rest against, then slide down the outside wall leading to the Captain's cabin as her breath came back to her an inch at a time.

Rigby, on the other hand, was far from as laid back as his exotic passenger, in fact he was feeling highly motivated at the sight of the enraged and heavily armed woman sprinting across the docks to get to The Clark. He ran around, barking orders, keeping an eye on the rowing boat lashed to the side of the ship as if he were a fortune teller who'd just had a premonition.

In the end, it was a pretty close call. The Clark's sails filled and steered the vessel from port less than half a minute before Jasmine came pounding up the gangway to attempt a boarding. The short Captain breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for Biggs (the crewman at the steering wheel) to point at the horizon and sail for all he was worth. Rigby grumbled, then composed himself long enough to shoot a sarcastic comment in the new passenger's direction.

"This..." He began. "...is the second time you've got on board my ship without payment. And the second time I've nearly been at gunpoint by that hellcat you call your mother. Can you think of one good reason why I shouldn't have my men throw you overboard for all the trouble you've caused me over the last few days?"

"It's third time for me, first time was in a cage. And I saved your life." Tamina piped up, lifting herself wearily back to her feet but looking at the Captain with an expression that conveyed a possible mauling.

"That's... that's a good point." Rigby conceded.

[Graybeard]

"Dey're going back to Port Lorrel," Keyes notified his boss. "Dat girl'd moder id crady, but I tink dey got away prom her."

"Good," came the voice at the other end of the crystal-ball connection. "I was getting worried about them for a while."

"You were worried about dem?" Keyes said, a little strain in his voice. "Why weren't you worried about me?"

He was once again startled by laughter from the ball. Was marriage mellowing Mr. Stagpoole? The last few days had seen a large fraction of the total number of times Keyes had heard him laugh, in decades of service to the man. "Oh, I have faith in you," Mr. Stagpoole said. "Actually, I guess I should apologize. That was a great deal hairier than I expected it to be."

"No problem," Keyes answered, almost as surprised by the apology as by the laughter. "To what do you want me to do now? Tould I tay wit dem when dey make it back to Lorrel?"

Yet another laugh. "No, I think you've earned some time off. Just tail 'em from a distance at sea, to make sure they get there in one piece, and then head back for home base and take it easy for a couple of weeks. You deserve it." The connection was broken.

-------------

And another one was made.

"Annabelle, it's Elke," the ball in Lorrel said, surprising the woman who answered it greatly; her boss was supposed to be off on her honeymoon, and she'd indicated that she was going to be out of touch. "I have a little job for you ..."

OOC: So is it time to move on to another thread, or will there be more adventures at sea? Feel free to start a new thread, and when it's ready, I'll close this one.