(Note: I so had to do that in the des of the rp... Much too tempting!)

Note: I won't post as I usually do. I'll type it out as if I were writing for a story, so characters can be melded in a post. Makes it a bit easier for me, since I have 5 charries >>

Cimmarii Empire:

"Any news on the patrols?"
"No, sire." Cathair Valtieri stared down, hands behind his back. He didn't dare look at his Lord Admiral for a short time. He decided to rest his hands on the oaken table in front of him. All of the Admirals and Generals were sitting in the large council room. Lord Admiral Halskriim, staring at each Admiral with crimson set eyes, smiled coldly.
"Is there any news, at all on our progress in our expeditions?"
"None, sire..."
"Why haven't you found anything!" These were the words he screamed, hitting the table with ferocity only he could dish out.
"I don't know, sire! We're looking in all the right places--"
"Don't use that tone with me, Valtieri..."
Cathair shrunk visibly. He wished his sister was around. She had usually been able to hold the Lord Admiral at bay. Cathair hadn't been on the bad side of the lord Admiral since the incident with a group of Air Pirates around the Mid-Ocean. "Sire," he started slowly, trying to keep his cool- he didn't like the other Admirals around as it was. "Would it be possible if we search other areas- Outside of the Empire's control? This seems the only way to get to the crystals,"

Silence crept over the room. And Halskriim nodded, smiling. "Good thinking, Valtieri... Contact your sister, and see if she knows the patrol routes of the pirates. If we can avoid them, we can search in their territory."
"Why don't we just kill any in our path... Sire?"
"Because, the time isn't right. Fear by cannon is one thing... Fear by a Giga is another thing entirely," the Lord Admiral chuckled a little.
Cathair looked about, wondering if anyone in the room had a better idea.

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

The Hydra Crew:

The blades clashing together made a loud ring and scrape throughout the open air. Weather was fair that day, and Felix 'Chance' Wildefyre smiled brightly. He let his flamberge-style rapier circle around the Vampiric cutlass-styled blade of his friend before he jumped back. "You're getting better each day, Alin!"
"I appreciate the--" Alin lunged forward, slashing at Felix's head. Parrying, Felix stepped to the side, stepping back more. "--Compliment... Felix," Alin continued and smiled as he stood back upright. He was tempted to grab Felix, or punch him. But the rules were you couldn't use your free hand, unless to steady yourself. "But I don't think I'll ever match up to you, or Wraith."
"I wouldn't worry about it..." Felix said, sounding disinterested. He was more focused on the blade, and on Alin's chest. Making sure the slightky younger man- or creature, if you were that mean -wasn't going to make another move. "I'm no better at shooting than a common Empire soldier." Felix blocked another blow, this time towards his side. As he did he quickly stepped back, spinning to hit Alin in the side he wasn't using (also known as the dead side of an opponent). Laughing as he retreated, he saw Wraith staring out at the clouds below them, looking thoughtful.
"Something is wrong about today," Wraith started, he spoke softly but he knew his friends could hear him.
"What could possibly be- Ah!" Felix yelled, laughing boyishly as he blocked another blow from Alin. "Wrong," he continued, "about today?"
Wraith only stared down. "I don't know... Something."
Felix smiled to his Half-Vampire friend- the man was luck to be in sunlight with them -and unleashed a complicated and intricate series of blows. By the end, Felix had smacked his friend's blade high up into the air, and spun around to face Alin's back. Putting his blade against Alin's throat from behind, he caught his friends sword and smiled. "Nicely done."
"But I lost... Again."
"You'll do better next time. Don't worry," touselling his friends hair, he shrugged and handed Alin the vampiric blade. Sheathing his own, he decided to lean against a railing, smiling. "Amelia!" He shouted, looking up at the Crows Nest, "how is everything up there? Any storms coming?" He asked, Wraith looked at his friend curiously.
Felix was an odd one, he could be completely friendly, boyish and playful. But at heart, he was quite the serious leader and a ruthless fighter. He had an air of charisma, yet some sort of defiance. He was the typical hero-archetype. Which made the cloaked man smile. "Felix,"
"Aye?"
"I'm sure there's something wrong."
"Look, Wraith, if Amelia says there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong." He heard Wraith's disciplined, calculating voice ring through his skull.
I've told you before, you shouldn't be so trusting of her.
Felix shrugged, looking to the sky ocean below them. Smiling. He didn't care for Wraith's warnings, nor anyone elses. Hence how he got his nickname: Chance.

Criselda sat quietly, her hands folded gracefully in her lap, listening to the Third Admiral give the news to the Lord Admiral, glad she wasn't the one to tell him of their failed attempts to find the Giga stones, though she did have to admit, it was amusing to watch Valtieri's fear shudder through his body.

She smiled slightly, floating in and out of focus; she needed to feed, her black eyes showed that. It was extremely distracting for her to be sitting in a room of humans, all with blood flowing through their veins, their hearts all pounding in her ears as though to test her self-control. Of course, she would maintain control until she left the room and was on free hunting range. A thought came to her that made her smile lift the corners of her lips. She thought of Caoimhe Hunter, and looked around the table for her. Without much trouble, she spotted the girl and stared at her, letting the thought unfold in her mind, letting a plot form. What a fun thing to do - hunting (and drinking from) the Hunter. She chuckled silently; making a short mental not to think on that one later, right now though, the Third Admiral gave his idea to Halskriim, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it.

Her men could use some testing of strength and ability. Stretch them out. Why not? It would amuse her to no end even if they failed, for if they failed, they would die, and her comrades' lives were expendable, humans were inferior, stupid beings. Well... most were. She let her mind wander a bit before shaking herself free of that past, that life was no longer and it wasn't important. Her thoughts turned back to the battle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

on the Hydra


Kandice and Josh walked along the lower deck, him to his maps, she to the starboard side of the high deck for some fresh air. She'd chosen to seek out the lycan, knowing he'd lost control of himself the night before and locked himself away, but Kandice sought to comfort her shipmate.

All morning she'd been working on some new sword fighting moves, sweat covered her brow, and she'd taken the time only to change into her current red off-the-shoulder-strap dress and tie her hair back with a single red ribbon to match. Now she was headed for the breezy sky to cool her down. "So you feeling better today Josh? I heard you lose it last night. What was that all about?"

"Oh nothing really." Josh mumbled, not feeling much better than the night before. He was indeed less fired up, but changing to the wolf against his will always made him sick. The night before, he'd caught Alin talking to Amelia alone and had been shooed away by the blasted half-vampire, 'It's a pity the sun doesn't effect him' he thought ruefully.

He heard the sword fight and voices before he saw them. Felix, Wraith, and Alin, were all on the top deck. A growl rumbled low in his chest, and attracted Kandice's attention, "What's wrong? What is it?" She asked concerned.

"I... I need to check our co-ordinates." And he sped across the deck and into another cabin before Kandice had a chance to tell him he was going to the wrong cabin. She shrugged and started up onto the high deck.

"Good afternoon." She curtsied to the men on the deck and went to lean on the railing beside Felix, her back to the sky, "How are all of you this fine day?"

"Our soldiers are doing all they can, Lord Admiral," came a quiet voice from somewhere down the table, who remained otherwise unphased by her leader's outburst. "Patience is a factor, you must remember that. Go easy on the boy."
Fifth Admiral Limstella, renowned magus and daughter to the former Fifth Admiral, sat next to the Sixth Admiral and Right-hand Woman, getting quite the earful from the furious Lord Admiral Halskriim. He needed to learn how to watch his temper.
Her troops were currently scattered about the nations with various soldiers from varying troops. Some were keeping an eye on Yafutoma island. Some were in the skies, watching for Air Pirates. Others were on Sailor's Isle, Tesquamereo. and other large cities. So far, however, tracking down the Gigastones was proving to be quite the difficult task.
"If I may suggest, perhaps we should extend our search to more remote areas of the nation. Perhaps Icetore? It would be difficult travelling over harsh land, but perhaps our efforts would reap the rewards in the end?" Her voice held its serenity. Not even the anger of the Lord Admiral could deter that. And that was because she did not fear the Drow. Their relationship was purely business-like. She respected him, and he respected her, as it should be. Magic was a force to be reckoned with. Especially when it was she who was wielding it in combat against him.
She cast Cathair a passing glance. They, too, retained a business-like relationship. But her patience was far greater than Halskriim's, so, while he may dislike the fact that she didn't work as hard to become the Fifth Admiral, she was slightly easier to be around.
She waited for everyone's reaction. The silence was deafening.

---

Amelia perched high atop he crew in the crow's nest, watching the sky float past her briskly, but merrily. It was a beautiful afternoon. And everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
Well, almost everyone.
But Wraith was always like that.
So he didn't count.
She couldn't remember skies like that back in the city. When all she had to rely on was her brother, her knife, and herself. She wished her brother could see the skies like she saw them. They were much different out in the open.
They were free.
But she couldn't afford to get all sentimental and crap now. She had a job to do, duties to perform. First and foremost, she had to stay watchful, in order to keep the ship from falling from the air. And she also had to keep an eye on the air ship, the Hydra. A shame they would all end up in prison or killed by the time she left. She rather liked this bunch.
When she heard Felix's voice, she sat up, looking about. "Skies are clear!" She called down. Funny - the small ones were always the loudest. "Looks like some gray skies a bit farther down, but with any luck, they'll either stay like that, or disperse." She leaned out over the edge of the Crow's Nest. "Hey! Who won this time? Felix again?" She grinned down at them all. "Keep at it, Alin, you'll get 'im soon enough!" An encouraging thumbs up. Amelia, the innocent traitor.
Now if only Wraith would get off her back.

Skiidriath BiWing paced back and forward restless, her crew members watched equally bothered though their concerns did not mirror their Captain’s. Rather, they were for her. “Why…? Why hasn’t it come in yet…? It’s been 6 weeks! We should have heard something by now!” She said, pausing a moment looking out onto azure skies as if searching, waiting for something that was not there. “Where the hell is Seeth!” She put her head down, her mind once again deep in thought as she padded along the deck. “You guys don’t think it could have been intercepted, do you?”

While that thought did not exactly concern the Arion, she and Seeth communicated using the ancient language of her people and one that few beyond her race would recognize let alone read, the thought that the drow may have been found out did. He was in a very precarious position. Not only was he the advisor to the Empress of the Cimmarii Empire, but he was also stationed by The Empress to watch over the Lord Admiral Halskriim’s decision making. Skiidriath didn’t like leaving any members of her crew in such a position, and though Seeth gave the distinct impression of not being the most trustworthy of creatures, he had already been working up to the position when he joined her and she could not deny he had proven to be an valuable asset to their mission so far. Skii knew he could be trusted, if only to a certain degree, but it was a sentiment not exactly shared with the other members of her crew. Especially her First, Kiado.

“It’s not like the Snake hasn’t left us hanging in the past,” Frenniz said, trying to hide his distaste for the wizard but failing, then adding in a kinder tone, if only for Skii, “I’m sure something will arrive soon.”

“Aye…” Edwin piped up, wanting to ease his Captain’s mind. “Seeth has never exactly been consistent in his updates. Perhaps there is nothing yet to report. Or at least nothing we don’t already know. It’s not like they’ve made any real movements of late and they are no where near finding a stone.”

“Perhaps we should turn our attention to the Rogues for the time being…” Kiado offered, preferring not to speak of Seeth. “They’ve been off our radar for some time. It might be wise to get them within our sights again. The Cimmarii Army is a giant, easily traced. The Rogues on the other hand, they are but a few and are easily hidden. If only we could get a plant aboard there ship as well…”

Skiidriath sighed. “Indeed… But I’ve a feeling it will be Cimmarii to make the first move… I cannot abandon that conviction.”

There has been little to no activity from them for months…

“Exactly...” she said, nodding in confirmation. “They’ve been too quite. Either they’ve found nothing and are growing impatient, or they’re about to make their move. I will not turn my back on watching them now only to have them skirt by.”

“And while we’re doing that the Rogues are already sneaking around behind our backs...” Kiado sighed. “I don’t have anyone aboard their ships to watch them and I’d rather know what to expect from both fronts. For all we know the Rogues may have already uncovered one of the stones. If the Snake is as reliable as you say then we shouldn’t have to watch them as closely as what we do. I think we should...”

“No!” Skii said, looking from each of them to let them know that was all there was to say on the matter. “The Rogues… They are honourable enough. If they’ve found any they will be a lot easier to steal from then the Empire. It’s that Admiral and that Empress that truly worry me... We keep our attentions on Cimmarii.”

Edwin sighed. “Aye, Captain…”

“As you wish.”

Criselda turned her head to her right to look upon the Fifth Admiral and let the silence sink in for a few moments, the heartbeats of those in the room, the only sound to her. She held some amount of respect for all of the Admirals, but less for the Fifth who'd been born into her place, not putting a drop of sweat into her rank. Still there was an amount of respect because she did make better decisions than the average militant.

At last she broke the silence that echoed in the room, a laugh peeling from her cold throat. She threw her head back and laughed for a short amount of time, then stood and looked back at the woman beside her, "They are doing all they can? HA! Doubtful." There was still laughter in her voice mixed with a bit of mockery. "Admiral Limsella, it sounds to me like you underestimate your empire. Please correct me if I am wrong, but are you saying that we couldn't possibly stretch our horizons? That there is no way we could look for the Gigastones in places outside our realm of power? And what if the stones are out there, just waiting for plucking? Search the remote areas, pah! We'd be wasting our time!"

As she'd spoken an edge slowly cut through her voice, she was losing control of herself, and so she took a moment. She knew killing an ally would be both stupid and troublesome - she had to force herself not to do that. When she felt more in control, she took a breath, careful to take it through her mouth and not her nose, and spoke again, venom seeping into her tone. "Perhaps you would like to take your troops to Icotere. Have your troops stranded in a frozen wasteland without reason."

At this time she turned back to the Lord Admiral and spoke in a calmer tone, "My Lord, I do not support this idea, I mean, we could always train more soldiers, but if we are to find the Gigastones, I would not suggest sending ourselves into a place where few survive and people have probably already searched for the stones. It is however your chioce, Lord Admiral." She added a quick curtsy to the end of her sentence to show her respect for him and his decision.

Fifth Admiral Limstella took the verbal beating without so much as an acknowledging glance in Criselda's direction. Quite the haughty girl ... she thought that just because she'd attained position of Right Hand Woman, she had no chance of losing it. Very untrue. Though she didn't know the girl quite that well, so maybe her beliefs were quite the contrary ... either way, it wouldn't kill her to be civil.

"My apologies, Sixth Admiral. Though, I would ask you not to shout ... I am sitting next to you, of course, and I doubt our comrades are having a hard time hearing you." Her apathy was infuriating. She'd just been practically insulted, and yet, she was unmoved. Either she was always stoic, or she knew how to keep a straight face and a level head in the midst of conflict very well, indeed.

"Perhaps you find this an unwise decision. However, while our troops may or may not be working their hardest, they have found nothing. This is exactly why we need to search areas that are less inhabited, which are, unfortunately, harsh. Such areas have gone unexplored for decades, making it a prime location to secret away a grand treasure. A treasure like the Gigastones." Her amber gaze was piercing, almost eerily so. It swept over Criselda momentarily, then turned back to the Lord Admiral Halskriim. "The decision is yours, my Lord. My troops are willing to take the measures needed to endure the conditions of Icetore, or anywhere else I will them to go." Secretly, she hoped he would agree with her. Perhaps then his right hand woman would learn her place, and keep her mouth shut.

Annamarie stood leaning against the rail around the ship, looking out at the sky below and above. She listened to the rest of them behind her, but it didn't matter. She knew she could fight. Maybe not on par with the captain, but that was okay. She could survive, she had survived, long enough to get to First Mate. That had been a heck of a trick, but she had gotten it, and would keep it. Shying away from these lines of thought, Anna stood, and stretched, arching her back until it gave some very satisfying pops. Straightening, she heard a chuckle from behind her, and slightly above. "Pere, you tackle me, I swear I'll chain you up and make you the figurehead of this ship." she said, not turning.

======================================

"Aw, First Mate Falcon, I wouldn't do something like that." the voice said, as it circled around in front of her, still above. From above, a young man floated down, clothes being tugged every which way by a wind that she didn't feel, his white hair a spiky mess. With another chuckle, he straightened, clicked his heels together, and saluted. "Fighter Peregrine, reporting for duty, ma'am!" He said, very official sounding, before doubling over in laughter, which put him in perfect range of being smacked in the back of the head, and nobody could ever say Annamarie Falcon is the type of person to whack her elemental if he deserved it. He did, so she took advantage of the opportunity. Pere floated up higher into the air, rubbing the back of his head, sharing a smile with his master.

Criselda growled nearly inaudibly, closing her eyes and balling her fists. She took a breath through clenched teeth. It was infuriating how calm and passive Limstella acted. It didn't help that her heart was just beating normally while other hearts raced. Again she took a breath. "You are right Admiral, you are absolutely right. I need not shout." her voice now just above a whisper. "That was no way to treat a fellow Admiral. And I also see your point in reference to the Gigastones. Perhaps we should give it a shot." Another breath curled through her teeth, her eyes unopened.

"Now my Lord," she said tensely, turning to Halskriim, "I fear I am not in a position to be helpful at this meeting, seeing as I cannot concentrate on what is in best interest of our empire, I ask your leave for now, so that I may return to you in better condition. I need to go kill something." It was a simple fact - her last phrase - one she'd said a few times before in his presence. If she didn't feed soon, someone in that room was going to die, unfortunately for her, she needed the permission of the Lord Admiral to do so and thus she stood waiting, rather impatiently while every muscle in her body flexed instinctively getting ready to strike or stalk out.