Age of Retribution Part IV: The Gauntlet of Izabran

[Tyler294]

Killroy jumped to his feet and ran toward the door.

"Be we under attack!?" he asked frantically.

[DeadJim]

"Indeed we are, my dear boy!" Melvyn replied, "We are under attack by a most nefarious enemy that seeks to corrupt and demoralize the hearts of all aboard this vessel! But we shall not let this happen! No my boy, we shall not! We cannot!"

"I didn't think Cook's food was that bad," Arlyss shrugged.

"We have the plague that we are not all team players! And I have just the remedy... today, we begin a Crew Building Exercise."

[Tyler294]

"A what...?" Killroy's eye twitched.

"Keep yer bloody new-fangled northerner ideas to yourselves," Gideon whined, "Some of us are tryin' tuh' sleep."

[DeadJim]

"Here is a prime example, Mr. Roy," Melvyn explained as he motioned to Gideon, "This man is so biased against northerners, that he has already closed his minds to the diversity we can all bring to the table!"

"So we are still talking about the food!" Arlyss said, "I knew it!"

"I don't like where this is going," Eamon sighed as he pulled his hat up from his eyes.

[Tyler294]

"Oh, you don't like that this is going to be about food, mate?" Cook burst into the crew quarters, his apron covered in something and a sullied cleaver in his hand, "Well then, you can help me make breakfast!"

He grabbed Eamon by the collar and began to drag him to the galley.

"Mister Vin, what be a diversity?" Killroy asked.

[DeadJim]

"Have fun!" Arlyss waved as her brother departed with Cook.

"Diversity is like a small dragon," Melvyn explained, "but there are no front legs, so it stands on the hind ones."

"That's a Wyvern," Shelannah corrected from the other end of the room.

"Wha... a wyern? Here?" Melvyn laughed, "Don't be absurd, these quarters are much too small to house a wyvern, but they shall serve our purpose for our dragon."

[Shawnex]

"DRAGON?! WHERE?! WHERE?!" Tucker jumped off his hammock and saw the crew already up, "Oh. Must've been a dream or somethin." then he turned to Broose and Deve, "Alright men! Time to get moving!

"Ay! Deve! Wake up! Wake up!" called Broose touching under Deve's hammock which made Deve to wake up and flip off his hammock and crashed on Broose which also made him flip off his hammock and landed on Tucker's foot!

"YEOW!" screamed Tucker, "GET OFF M'ER FOOT!"

"Then get HIM off of me!" Broose grunted trying to get Deve off of him.

"OY! What did you do that for?! ME hate that!" Deve sprung up to his feet.

"You heard him!" Broose snorted after getting up to his feet as well, "It's time to get moving!"

"Oy...!" muttered Deve.

[Tyler294]

Gideon was now sleeping face down with a pillow (he was the only one who had one, and nobody knows how he got it) held tight around his head, trying to block-out the noise.

"I don't understand..." was all Killroy could say to all of that.

[DeadJim]

"It's quite simple, my good lad," Melvyn explained. "What is the one activity that will bring people from all walks of life together?"

"Yes! It is about food!" Arlyss cheered.

"No, we're going to put on the play, The Princess and the Dragon!" Melvyn corrected. "Or as it's known in its original Vensian form, Oglebesh."

"You have got to be kidding me," Shelannah squinted as she rubbed her eyes.

[Tyler294]

"A play?" Killroy looked confused, "But ain't plays only for the rich fancy people?"

"I am going to go sleep on the deck!" Gideon snapped, standing up and heading for the stairs topside.

[DeadJim]

"Yes, my dear lad!" Melvyn agreed as he grabbed Gideon by the collar, "that is why Mr. Gideon, the Fancyman, will be my play directing first mate!"

[Tyler294]

"What? Don't be absurd! I have better things to do than direct plays!" Gideon snapped indignantly.

[DeadJim]

"That is true," Arlyss agreed, "You'll also need to play one of the princes!"

[Tyler294]

"I am surrounded by children!" Gideon roared.

Killroy silently pointed at himself and mouthed the word "one", then looked around to try and count how many other children were in the room.

[DeadJim]

Melvyn released Gideon, and handed him a small wood plank with a piece of parchment attached. He then removed a small bottle of ink from his jacket, as well as a feather pen, both of which he also handed over.

"Now, the most important character in the play is the princess," he said as he motioned for Gideon to take notes, "I think we should cast that part first."

[Tyler294]

Gideon just stared at Melvyn with the blankest of blank expressions.

"Uh, Mr. Vyn, sir... ye may have offended him," Killroy leaned over and said in a soft tone, though not soft enough that it couldn't be heard by everyone present, "He is a pirate, ye recall. He may not know how to read 'an write."

"I'll have ye know I can read and write quite well, brat!" Gideon snapped, pointing the feather pen at Killroy aggressively.

[DeadJim]

Melvyn patted Gideon on the shoulder.

"I knew I picked the right man for the job!" he said proudly, "Please fill out the list of cast members by the time I return. That's a good lad."

And with that Melvyn climbed the stairs and left their sight.

[Tyler294]

"Oh no you don't! Ye ain't leavin' me in here to do a job ye sta--" Gideon began, just before the hatch at the top of the stairs slammed shut.

"Evidently he is," Killroy shrugged.

* * *

Up on the deck, the first person immediately visible to Melvyn was Molly, who was manning the helm. There didn't appear to be anyone else on deck at the moment.

[DeadJim]

"Morning to you Miss Aurora," Melvyn greeted her as walked up the stairs. "I see our good captain is yet to be awoken?"

[Tyler294]

"Still sleeping soundly," Molly replied, "I figured I'd just let him be; older folks need their rest."

[DeadJim]

Melvyn simply nodded as he joined her on the main deck, and stared at the horizon. After a moment he spoke.

"Where do you hail from, Miss Aurora?"

[Tyler294]

"Nowhere in particular," she replied, "I was born at sea and the sea has been home ever since. You could say I live wherever the wind takes me."

She allowed the warm morning breeze to flow through her hair, or rather, she posed herself so that it would do so in a more dramatic fashion than was necessary.

"You don't have the look of a sailor," she resumed, looking at Melvyn, "but I can tell you are the adventurous sort. It wouldn't surprise me if you don't have a set place you call home either."

[DeadJim]

"I have a place to go back to, but you're right, I wouldn't call it home," Melvyn said thoughtfully, "Some people like having a home, cause it means safety and security, but I've found it's sometimes more dangerous to have a set place to live."

[Tyler294]

"Smart," she agreed, "It's better to stay on the move, harder for the wrong people to find you that way."

She sighed and cocked her head in a way to make her flowing hair more dramatic again.

"I remember a time when--"

"MISTER FINNBARR!" Jeff suddenly burst out of the captain's cabin behind them, "How is it that it is already mid-morning and I was NOT INFORMED!"

[DeadJim]

"INFORMED ABOUT WHAT?!" Finnbarr yelled as he shuffled over from the nets he had been sleeping on.