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On reaching the bar she quickly attracted the attention of the proprietor. He eyed her up as he came over. 'Not th' usual type,' he thought, taking in her mismatched clothes – black leather pirate-style boots, bright red dress, and a well-worn blue coat a few sizes too big for her. "What'll ye have?" he asked on reaching her. Something that's not grog," she replied with a grimace. That'll be water then, lassie," he replied, taking a mug, dipping it into the water barrel behind the bar and setting it on the table. She looked at it warily, and poked at something floating in the mug. "Bes' not t' ask," the sailor next to her commented. She sighed and took her water to a table near the door, passing a tall Silver Kougra on the way. The Kougra stopped for a moment and regarded the wench who had just passed him. She was slightly built for an Eyrie, with skunk colouring and delicate soft grey wings, and had barely reached his shoulder. She was also carrying what looked like a rather full purse on her belt. He grinned to himself and continued to the bar. He smiled as the bartender handed him a full tankard of grog and scurried off to the other end of the bar without waiting for payment. He leaned back against the bar and watched the young Eyrie by the door while he drank his grog. She was a pretty wench, no denying that, and he'd bet she was running from something. All the better, he thought. Not so likely to go to the authorities if she didn't want to be noticed. Knocking back the last swig of his drink, he stood up and made his way over to the door. As he reached her table he swayed a little – only the sharpest eyes would have noticed him pull out a dagger, cut the purse from her belt and pocket it. The Eyrie wasn't as absorbed in her thoughts as the Kougra had thought though, for as soon as he had passed she looked down to her belt. Hey! He's stolen my purse!" she shouted, pointing at the Kougra. He didn't look back, jumping over a chair and sprinting out of the door. He heard footsteps running behind him and saw a Moehog in Navy uniform ahead of him. 'Please keep quiet!' he thought. Stop him!" he heard her shout. The Moehog swung around, sword out, and stepped into his path. 'Rats!' the Kougra thought, skidding to a halt. The Eyrie caught up and stopped next to him, panting. He hid a wry smirk – no way she'd have been able to keep up if they hadn't been stopped. What's the problem, miss?" the Moehog asked, his eye still on the Kougra. This man stole my purse!" she exclaimed between breaths. Well sir?" he asked, bringing his sword up to point at the Kougra's throat. I have no idea what she's talking about," he declared with a swagger, flashing a very charming smile at the Eyrie. Search him!" she demanded. "You'll find my purse in his pocket! Would you mind turning out your pockets, sir?" the officer requested. Not at all," the Kougra smiled again. He reached into his left pocket first – out came a large dirty handkerchief, a pencil, two dubloons, and a tatty leather pouch. The Moehog looked at the Eyrie. "That's not mine," she said. And the other pocket please?" The Kougra smiled again, replacing everything in his left pocket before turning his attention to the other. Out came a small telescope, a compass and three dice made of bone. Is that it? The Kougra was still smiling. "Ye can search me yerself if ye like…?" he offered. The Moehog was debating whether or not to take up his offer when the Eyrie sprang forwards. Fine," she snapped. "I'll do it myself. Miss!" the officer shouted and tried to stop her, but the Kougra was quicker. He had grabbed the Eyrie and pulled a dagger out of his pocket, and was now holding her in front of him. This has been fun, but now I think I'll be goin'," he said with a mocking bow to the officer as he pulled her off down the path. As soon as they were around the corner he let go of the Eyrie and, with another bow to her, turned and ran down the path. He'd only got a few steps further when the Eyrie landed on him and brought him to the ground. "Give me back my money!" she shouted, pummelling him with her fists. Get off me, ye crazy wench!" he roared at her, rolling over and getting to his feet. Before he could take a step she'd grabbed his feet and he fell back to the ground hitting his head hard and making his teeth rattle. He could hear the Navy officer shouting and people running. If he didn't get rid of her soon he'd find himself clapped in irons and languishing in a cell somewhere at the Neopian Navy's leisure. He hauled himself to his feet and pulled her up roughly. "Stop tryin' t' play hero!" he ordered, flinging her to one side and taking off again down the path. He heard her muttering behind him, two footsteps, and then a flap of wings as she came after him again. He dodged sideways as she came dive-bombing towards him and carried on running. There were shouts behind him as the officer and his colleagues started after them, but his attention was diverted by the Eyrie coming back at him for another attack. Blasted woman!" he exclaimed, deciding drastic measures were needed. Drawing his cutlass, he waited until she was almost upon him then sidestepped neatly and brought his sword down, neatly trimming the flight feathers off her right wing. She crashed into the ground and scowled at him. Sorry m' lady," he said, bowing to her. "Needs must." With that he took off down the path again. As he heard footsteps behind him he rolled his eyes in frustration. What would it take to get rid of the wench?! Rounding a corner, he found himself on a cliff top overlooking the bay below. The sun glinted off the water in the bay where a handful of ships were moored. Most of them were flying the colours of the Neopian Navy, with one or two fishing boats scattered among them. But the only one that had the Kougra's attention was moored some way out in the bay. She was made of a rich dark brown wood with crisp white sails and was flying no colours at the moment, although her captain had his own special black and white colours to fly when the moment arose… The Kougra took in the scene in an instant before veering to the right and heading down a steep path along the edge of the cliff. Taking a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw the Eyrie still following him down the path with the Navy officer and two colleagues following close behind her. Turning his attention back to the path he continued down, glad of the extra grip his claws provided. One advantage he had over his pursuers, he thought. Suddenly he heard the slither of rocks above him and a scream. Looking round he saw the path behind him had started to crumble. Rocks were falling onto the path, and had caught the Eyrie off balance. She slid down the path towards him, gaining speed as she did, and caught his legs as she went past him, knocking him off the path and over the edge of the cliff. Without thinking about what he was doing, the Kougra automatically twisted as he fell, extending his claws to catch the Eyrie's coat in one paw and scraping down the rocky cliff side with the other. Their descent slowed and then, as his claws dug in further, came to a shuddering stop. Looking down, he saw the Eyrie was looking up at him, wide-eyed with fear, but not screaming any more, thank goodness! Hearing shouts from above, he saw the officers looking down at them from the path. The Moehog was ordering another to go and fetch a rope while the third – a Wocky – was starting to look for a way down to them. Looking down again at the sea below, the Kougra wondered if the rocks below were really as sharp as they looked. Got any bright ideas now?" the Eyrie asked acidly. The Kougra snarled at her. "If I let ye drop I cud climb up th' side o' this cliff in a second," he growled. If you hadn't sliced off my flight feathers I could have flown off here with no problem," she returned, glaring at him. The Kougra rolled his eyes, then suddenly jerked as an ominous ripping sound came from the Eyrie's coat and she screamed as she dropped a few inches as her seam started to give way. The Kougra looked up at the descending Wocky then down at the rocks below. Which was the lesser of two evils, he wondered? Making up his mind he looked at the Eyrie. "Are ye feeling lucky?" he asked. What?" Her eyes widened even more as she suddenly realised what the Kougra was considering. Good!" he said, and then looking up at the Wocky who was now just a few feet away he grinned. "Goodbye!" he called, releasing his hold on the rock. The Eyrie screamed, as they plunged downward, flapping her wings but unable to create enough force to stop her descent. The Kougra twisted in mid-air, catching her around the waist and directing their fall towards a gap in the rocks. He entered the water in a graceful dive just before she hit with a huge splash. As she struggled back to the surface, pulling off her coat so it didn't weigh her down, she looked around for the Kougra – had he hit the rocks? Suddenly she felt something grab her legs and pull her under again. On the top of the cliff, the Moehog looked down at the water. There was no sign of the Kougra or the Eyrie. Poor girl, he thought. They'd have to get divers out to look for them tomorrow, but they didn't stand much chance of surviving the fall. The Eyrie surfaced, gasping for air, in the middle of the bay. As the Kougra surfaced next to her she turned on him and dealt him a resounding slap. "What did you do that for?" she shrieked. "You could have killed us both! As she went to hit him again he grabbed her arm and easily held it away from him while she struggled. Shut up an' stop tryin' t' hit me!" he growled. As she realised she wasn't going to free herself she did as he said and scowled, putting some distance between them as soon as he released her arm. "What's yer name? Katherine Grey," she muttered, still scowling. "And that's Miss Grey to you! Who are you anyway?! See that ship over there?" he continued, ignoring her and indicating the ship with white sails. She nodded. "Well ye has a choice," he continued. "Either swim back t' th' shore an' go back t' whatever it is ye're runnin' from or come wi' me t' that ship. Without looking to see what she'd do, he struck out towards the ship, swimming with easy powerful strokes. He grinned as he heard her splashing behind him. As they got close to the ship there were shouts from the deck and then one of the crew threw a rope into the water. He climbed up it easily and turned to the Bori who had thrown the rope. Welcome back on board, Cap'n," the Bori greeted him, handing him his black tricorne hat and a dusky blue and rather dirty coat. "Brought a friend? Aye," the Captain grinned. "Give her a hand, lads! The Bori and three other crew waited until Katherine had grabbed the rope, then pulled her up the side of the ship. The Kougra held out a hand to her, pulled her up onto the deck, helped her to her feet, then took off his hat and made a sweeping – and slightly mocking – bow. "Welcome aboard the Wicked Wench, Miss Grey. Twelve years later, Katherine pushed open the door of the tavern again. The smell of grog leaped out at her as it had all those years previously, but now it was as a welcome friend rather than a nauseating assault. Making her way to the bar, she ordered a mug of grog and sat down at a table near the door. A fat Bruce, lavishly dressed and clearly the worse for drink, was sitting at the next table. Hanging from his belt was a large purse. Katherine downed her grog in one gulp, stood up and walked towards the door. She swayed a little as she passed the Bruce – only the sharpest eyes would have noticed her pull out a dagger and cut the purse from his belt – and headed out of the tavern and down towards the docks. Weighing the purse in her hand and listening to the clink of dubloons inside, she grinned to herself. It had been well worth coming back for another drink. Hmmm... all my opening speech marks seem to have disappeared... very odd! Captain Alaghieri's Log More to follow soon.... |
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