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Title: The Adventures of General Beatrix and Captain Steiner

Chapter Two Part One:
Minor Setbacks

General Beatrix stood still on the deck of the boat going through every detail in her mind about Ruby's kidnapping. She knew very well that Tantalus would never let one of their own fall prey; and, that it was too easy to acquire Queen Garnet's permission to undertake this task. It seemed like a well set up plan. Something wasn't quite right about the whole ordeal and was about to confide her suspicions to Captain Steiner when a monster attacked their boat.
Beatrix drew her sword and braced herself for battle. The monster was a sea serpent with massive jaws and slimy green scales. It's red eyes glared at Beatrix as it slid it's forked tongue over its needlesharp fangs. The tongue itself was enough to paralyze an unwary warrior.
General Beatrix stole a quick glance in Steiner's direction and quickly parried an attack from the monster. She knew she wasn't a match against this foul beast but she pressed on anyway. She had to make an efficient distraction so Steiner could quickly steer the boat to safety.
"Captain Steiner, get this boat to shore!" she shouted as she dodged another of the serpents attacks.
She managed to slash the monster here and there but it wouldn't let up. She became furious with herself for not being stronger. She had once wiped out a hundred men singlehandedly and now she'd meet her death at the mercy of this beast. 'I don't think so!' she thought to herself and used her shock attack on the serpent. Her attack did a considerable amount of damage and blinded it, but still it was not enough.
Beatrix felt pure dread but knew she couldn't die yet. There was something she needed to do. A light formed around her and its glow filled her. She felt more powerful then ever before and lashed out at the serpent with a final blow. But, the serpent had something in store for her as well. It's forked tongue penetrated her arm as she slashed it's head clean off. She had become poisoned.
General Beatrix landed back on the deck not so gracefully, and cradled her bleeding arm. She had felt pain most of her life through each battle but this was a new sensation. She tried her hardest not to scream. The pain flowing through her shoulder was unbearable and blood flowed like a river from it. The last thing she saw was Steiner's worried face followed by pitch darkness.

When General Beatrix awoke, she fopund herself lying down on a soft feather bed. She was dressed in pajamas and decided to take a look at her surroundings. She was in what seemed to be a room in an inn. The walls were painted a sky blue and there was a bureau in front of her. There was also a table next to her bed. The room was a bit small than what she was used to but it could be described as cozy.
She began to wonder what had happened when her memory came back to her in a flash. She was fighting a sea serpent and it had managed to strike her. The memory came so fast she winced and grabbed her arm reflexively feeling the pain. Beatrix discovered that her arm was professionly bandaged, but blood began to soak through. It would need to be changed.
Captain Steinerwalked into the bedroom carrying a tray of food. Beatrix got out of bed and tried to stand on her own feet when her knees gave way and she fell to
the floor. Steiner set the tray on the table and helped Beatrix back into her bed.
"Please Beatrix." he pleaded "You have to stay in bed a little longer."
Beatrix whom wasn't in the mood to argue or fight back did so. Steiner bought thee tray of food to her and she gladly accepted. She felt famished and ate greedily. Steiner watched in silence and a little bit of shock as she shoveled food down her throat. When she finished she looked at him.
"Adelbert?" she asked "Where are we?"
"We're in Conde Petie, the village of the dwarves . Beatrix, if I may you look alot better now and you are making quite a miraculous recovery." Steiner said and smiled at her.
He pulled a phial out of his pants pocket. It was filled with a brownish liquid that bubbled. He pulled the cork off of it and handed it to Beatrix. She took it and after taking a whiff of it handed the stuff back to him. She gave him a look of pure distaste.
"That potion or whatever is of a vile scent!" she stated sounding annoyed.
Steiner frowned. "It does have a rather vile scent but you have to drink this down. Without this concoction you would have been completely paralysed by now."
"Steiner?" she asked a little panicky. "How long have we been here?"
Beatrix feared she already knew the answer but she needed confirmation to it. 'So that was why I had trouble standing?' she thought to herself. She also thought of Steiner and from the dark circles under his eyes knew he was the one taking care of her. She shuddered but then relaxed. She'd rather it be Steiner than anyone else. However, she desperately wanted to stand on her own two legs again and soon.
"We've been here for a few days already." he said sympathetically.
"You are in much better shape now then you were than. Unfortunately, according to the village healer here you bedridden for one more day. Now will you please drink the phial?"
Beatrix looked at him suspiciously. She really didn't want to down the liquid and decided to stall a little more befor facing the inevitable. Inside herself she smiled at this sly moment of hers.
"Adelbert, how did we get here?" she asked him patiently.
Steiner sighed and finally relented. He told her his story.
"After you fell unconscious, I knew it was a race against time. You were poisoned and I didn't have the item to heal you with; so, I carried you and ran as fast as I could to the nearest civilization I could find. That is how we ended up in Conde Petie. I didn't want to bring you to this place but there was no help for it. I did the mandatory entrance wave and was rushed inside. They wanted you to do it too but for obvious reasons you could not participate. The healer of this village was immediately sought out when I told them the events of our adventure.
The healer took one long look at you and ordered me to his house. There he applied an ointment to your shoulder and bandaged it. He poured that liquid you hold down your throat too. He said without it not only would you be paralysed, but possibly dead. Even though the liquid smelled repulsive I was not willing to lose you. No matter what. He made me promise to have you drink the liquid once a day for five days. I did. Now here you are alive and well. I must say I am quite relieved." Steiner finished his story and Beatrix wiped away a tear.
"Thank you Adelbert!" she said and put the phial to her mouth. She pinched her nose so she didn't have to taste it and sucked the liquid down. A wave of nausea swept over her followed by a sense of fatique.
"Adelbert," she said sleepily "What about Ruby?"
Steiner shook his head. He put the tray back on the table and helped Beatrix become more comfortable in the bed.
"We'll go to Madain Sari when the time comes. Right now you need to rest."
General Beatrix didn't have a chance to argue. Sleep had a heavy grip on her. Steiner stood next to her bedside and looked upon her delicate face. He bent over and lightly kissed her on the lips. 'She looks so at peace when she's asleep.' he thought. He stood watch over her and didn't want to face tommorow.
He would have to explain to her the ritual required to get past the village. He definately wasn't looking foward to telling her he had crashed the boat in his panic and that it shattered to pieces. He folded his arms and silently cursed his fate.