Returning to N.S. Bishop

[rachel]

Kezzia scrambles wearily up the rigging and onto the deck of the N.S. Bishop. There are dark rings around her eyes as if she hasn't been sleeping properly, and she seems strangely tense. Turning to any of the nomads who have followed her, she states flatly,

"I reckon I need to chat to everyone. Gotta see if Gizmo's around and if she's heard about Reuben and Terra too."

[dainul]

Mezacoatl climbs up behind Kezzia, quickly scaling the rigging. While their success in the mountains had done quite a lot to ameliorate his mood, mention of Reuben quickly soured it again, and he growls, low and menacing.

"Yeah," is all he managed to articulate.

[rachel]

His growl seems to jerk Kezzia out of her despondence, and she meets his eyes in a look of warning.

"Don't go starting nothing till we've chatted," she tells him. "Its complicated, and I gotta explain stuff."

Confident that if the beastman trusted her earlier when she'd told him James hadn't meant to hurt Reuben and he'd been in a furious mood, he'd trust her now when he was a lot calmer, she climbs below deck. Rounding up all the nomads she can find, she leads them to the sleeping quarters and sits on one of the hammocks, waiting for them to pay attention before she starts speaking.

(OOC can any nomads who want to be involved/listen to this conversation post so i know who i'm talking to)

[Niamh]

Gizmo has obviously been crying, and is no longer wearing her captain's hat. She listens to what the two other Nomads say.

[rachel]

Kezzia lowers her eyes to the floor, takes a deep breath, and starts to speak.

"Right, well first, I'm sorry that Reuben and Terra are dead. You know how Rilla sent us that letter asking for our help? Well, turned out she was going speak to Erathil cos she thought he might be able to tell her how to save a kid that her god had told her was dying. I pointed out if she wanted to save dying kids she could just spend a day in Mahtar slums healing people, but I think she said this kid was special. Dunno what was special about him. Maybe he was rich or something. Anyway, Reuben and Terra wanted to go, so we did, and we met Erathil, and he gave us these incense things to burn, and teleported us to where the kid was, which was where we had to burn them."

She suddenly feels emotion threaten to overwhelm her, and physically shakes herself. Unable to look at anyone, she continues.

"Thing is, it was a trick. The incense sent us to like this nightmare illusion place, and James and one of the warriors turned into werewolfs, like real powerful wolves. Rosanki just fell to the floor like his throat was cut, and I couldn't heal him. Then the wolves started getting angrier and angrier, and trying to attack us, and we couldn't do nothing. We tried tying them up and calming them down, but it didn't work, and they got stronger and stronger. Then they broke free and... teared Reuben apart. Rilla was shouting not to kill them, but we had to- it was that or we was all dead. So we stabbed them up. Then when we finally got out of that illusion place, we found out that the incense was poison, and this special kid and all the people protecting him was dead. I don't get much of what happened after that. Turns out, cos that place weren't real, James and Rosanki wasn't actually dead, but no matter what we all did, we couldn't bring back Reuben. Some people came looking for Rilla, but I think she was hiding by then. So they attacked us to make us tell them where she was. There was loads of them. Someone hit me in the back, and i can't remember nothing more. When I woke, Zem was healing me, and him and that knight Sir Dias helped get me out. And then I found that Terra had been killed fighting."

She allows a small pause for the nomads to take in all the information, and then looked directly at Gizmo for the first time since she'd returned to the ship.

"That ain't all though. Mate, I'm in proper trouble. Remember I told you how I was a slave to a high elf a bit back and then I escaped? And I maybe told you about Leesa, the light elf I was mates with while I was a slave? Well, me and Mezacoatl and James and Rosanki was hired by this mage to find some magic bracelets for him cos I reckoned we was a bit short of rava, and while we was walking we... Well, we found Leesa's body all dead and cut up on the roadside. And... I didn't want to tell no one who weren't a nomad how I knew her, so I reckoned I'd stay behind a bit and say a proper prayer like how Terra taught me. But when I touched her hand... It was like a teleport. A teleport to this ritual circle with this bloke in it, another mage I think. And he said... He said that the high elf who thought he was once my master had ordered him to bring me back, and that if he didn't bring me back he was gonna be killed. He said my master is desperate to get me back cos he thinks I know stuff about the rituals he used to do, and the potions I helped make, and all that shit. So desperate he hunted out Leesa and killed her, just to set a trap for me, and it ain't even illegal cos she never had essence."

Visibly shivering, she successfully calms herself again.

"So he was gonna take me back, and he was chanting, and i was trying to stop him but i only had my knife, and Mezacoatl was going mental, screaming at him." She forces a smile at the beastman. "And then this bloke must have done a spell cos I blacked out, which seems to be getting a habit of mine when important shit is happening. And when I woke up that bloke was ripped up on the floor. Mezacoatl knows what happened. I was too shaken up to ask then."
"But if my master is desperate enough for me back that he'll kill someone just to use their body, like they was an object not a person, then he ain't gonna stop there. He's gonna keep looking and keep trying. Dunno why he didn't just order this bloke to kill me, but I reckon he wants to torture me a bit first maybe. Point is, no one round me is safe. Like, for serious. If I stay here, ain't any of the nomads safe, not if he's still looking. I've brought a lot of trouble on you. I'm real sorry, and I know that maybe you don't want me to be a nomad any longer. I mean, even if I go its kinda too late cos I ain't seen Leesa for months and she's dead cos of me, but you've got more of a chance if I leave I reckon. And besides, I can't run forever. I gotta do something about him. Dunno what, but if he's gonna hurt or kill me, its gonna be on my terms."

She waits for a reply, tense and nervous.

[dainul]

Mezacoatly listens to the story he wasn't part of, but quietly files the thing as something he's not going to understand. As with so much on this world. But there was a lot of talk about people getting to come back from dead, so maybe if Rilla had an idea how.... he catches back up with what Kezzia's saying and waits for her to finish. When she does, he shrugs. "He tried to do some more magic to make off with you, but it broke the circle. So I broke him."

The giant cat stretches and flexes his hands before getting onto what he wanted to say. "We start splittin' up because we got enemies we're gonna be spread across the world with no-one to back us up when they catch up, or we find them. We stick together, back each other up, we smash a few of our enemies across a couple acres of ground, the rest'll think twice about pickin' a fight with us." He looks around at the others, then back to Kezzia. "You wanna do something about that guy, we'll go find him. You stand behind me'n keep me up. I'll hit him 'till he falls down. He don't bother you any more."

[Luke]

James eyes were red and dark patches inhabited the space beneath them. He spoke, having emerged from the ship in a weary state.

I'm terribly sorry for my part in their deaths. But metzacoatl speaks truth, we should stick together. I played a small part in breaking the magical circle he held you in, and then our great warrior here stopped that man from taking you. Alone we three would not have survived, but together we did. Safety in numbers...

he liked that phrase, it had a clear cut sort of warmth about it.

We as a group have suffered great loss, let's not lose further. We have a fine captain, a fine ship, and a fine idea. We might be a new group, and that means it can be hard to trust each other, but despite your obvious... reservations... towards me, I still, in my humblest of opinions, value each and every one of you. Terra and Reuben were lost souls, but they loved the nomads, and they would want us to continue finding others who have lost their way. I don't know what else to say...

he winced as a sharp pain tore through his arm, nursing it with his right.

[Niamh]

Gizmo focuses on the rest of the group and plays with the captain's hat in her hands.
I agree with what James and Mezacoatl say. Saying you'll leave the Nomads cos you're in a bit of trouble pretty much defeats the point of being a Nomad. All of us only have each other to look out for us, so we'd be failing A LOT if we just told you to clear off cos a bad elf is after you. If he is then we'll find him before he can do anything more, then we'll stop him from hurting you and anyone else. We've already lost two nomads recently; I don't think could cope if someone else went, too.

[Firesky]

Rosanki looks around, and nods at what has basically been what he had intended to say.
"Agreed, even if it weren't the most sensible thing to do, we'd still stay by your side and help you, you're our friend, no matter who's after you. We've all ran from a past that one way or another, threatens to catch us up, and if it does, we survive by staying together."

-Rosanki

[rachel]

Kezzia stares at the rest of the nomads in stunned silence. She'd expected them to kick her out, maybe even blame her for the deaths of Reuben or Terra, certainly not unanimously agree that she should stay.

I've spent too long being treated like I'm nothing, she realises. Suppose it's gonna take me a while to get used to the idea that I ain't again.

Relaxing so quickly she almost loses her balance and falls off the hammock, she smiles.

"Well that was easier than I figured. Cheers to everyone for helping me out when that bloke tried to take me- I thought I was proper dead then. If you lot are up for fucking over the high elf who was stupid enough to think he was my master then I've got some ideas. Killing hims one of them, but I reckon we should only do that if there ain't no other option, just cos..." She shrugs. "I've seen a lot of death, and it don't seem to solve all that much. But first we gotta find out where he is and what he plans to do next. I heard that some people who follow that god of knowledge can find stuff out about other people, dunno if that's true or not. I know part of the high elf's name if that helps."

She directs her question particularly to Rosanki, still impressed by the fact he has studied at university, and then switches her gaze to James.

"I ain't so sure what reservations are," she speaks slowly. "But if there's any nomad who don't trust you then I'll vouch for you. If it wasn't for you and Rosanki then we wouldn't have got no rava, and you looked out for me a lot when we was searching for them bracelets. Maybe not in an obvious way, but you still looked out for me."

She notices the human's pain, but restrains herself from offering him help. In the past he has always refused, and talking about his arm seems to embarass him. Her own arms and shoulders ache from being tense for so long. She starts to stretch them carefully, longing for some proper sleep.

[rachel]

Seeing as there is nothing more that needs to be said, Kezzia jumps down from the hammock, trying to ignore her burning desire for rest.

"I gotta go see May. Ain't gonna be too long; if I ain't back by tomorrow evening then I'm in trouble."

She grins at the other nomads, and then saunters out of the room.