Hello, people who are hopefully humans and not robots! Sorry for the delay. Like I've whined about before, inspiration has been coming for my novel and not my fan fiction. *sighs* 'Tis such a terrible world we live in where we cannot do one thousand stories at once. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for reading my story. New peeps have been making comments, and that honestly woke me up in the middle of the night because I got a writing itch that desperately needed scratching via laptop keyboard.
Thank you so much for reading my stories, and thank you even more for taking the extra time to comment. I get all tingly when people tell me they like my stories. *hisses at feelings* I'm a coldhearted bastard with a soul of ice. Why do you people make me so glad I post this crap online? Why?
Plans on a Boat
"She's been what?" the quiet voice of Sven Saab asked from across the round table the Guard had gathered. Typically, this room was solely reserved for a select few members—those being the King, princess, prince, and Royal Guard. Today, though, was an exception to that rule. Sabertooth's top mages were taking part in the conference, and a gang of common pirates were lingering by the main entrance.
"Kidnapped along with Clint Damont and Rogue Cheney," Kraken explained, another oddball in this meeting room.
"And, you didn't think to do anything about it. You just ran to us instead of trying to save my sister?" Sven's voice asked. It was quiet but tense. His lips were held in a firm line, and a muscle ticked in his jaw to show off his tightly leashed rage.
Shaking his head, Kraken reminded, "I am a short, fat drunk specializing in the torture of captured enemies of the kingdom. Chasing down and battling slavers is not a part of my job description, so I took the liberty of alerting the nearest MA Mage and contacting Isaac at the soonest opportunity." True to his admission, Kraken took a swig of a silver flask Katja had purchased for him on the Lancet holiday named the Day of Return.
"It couldn't be helped," another unfamiliar voice to this room chimed in. Kagura had taken a seat at King Isaac's side and hadn't left since the two had entered the council room together. "One more mage unaccustomed to battle wouldn't have made any difference. Kraken did the best thing given the circumstances."
"And, the mage he sent after my sister still hasn't returned." Sven's words were laced with an undertone. That tone was simple. He wanted his sister back and would kill anyone who tried to interfere with that mission. He wanted to be out on the lookout for Katja, but he wasn't. He was in a council room discussing her.
"This isn't just about Katja, Sven. Two other mages were captured. If news of this gets out, the capital will go into a riot. Everything that we've been trying to cure between normal humans and mages will blow up in our faces. We risk losing more Fiorian mages by going public with this incident," King Isaac explained. While Kagura sat on his left, Princess Adamine sat on his right.
The rebel princess was nodding her head in agreement. "The search party sent after Katja consists of Winry and Catori Polterom, two esteemed seith mages from the Lancet guild Kindred Spirit. If they can get close enough, Catori can possess one of the slavers and give us the whereabouts of the mages."
"Or get captured themselves," the ever pessimistic Colin pointed out.
"That's a risk they're willing to take. They volunteered to help the Magician's Alliance. MA will make sure their leader's daughters are safe," Adamine added in, reminding them that Kindred Spirit was second in command of the Magician's Alliance. Spyro Polterom had been appointed by King Isaac as their head commander and underling of Katja and Sven. When his daughters had volunteered, he'd given them full support. They would do fine.
From the outer edges of the room came movement. Captain Erika from the Winter's Tale stepped up to the plate. Her commander's voice stated, "While I'm not too worried about my rigmaster, I do suggest we make plans for a stronger team to collect the trio. A Dragon Slayer, mage who can control perception, and famous assassin would call for a pretty penny on the Black Market. If they set sail through the Zalkian Sea and make it past the Diam River, I doubt that even my vessel could reach them before they made it to another country."
"Ah, but Lassie, don't tell me you doubt me vessel the, Siren's Call," another pirate intoned. "Me brother Vavrinec and I have been snatchin' up more slavers for the kingdom Lancet since ye were a wee little girl." Unlike Captain Erika, Captain Kenwae was a pirate who volunteered himself to the kingdom years ago. He'd helped Princess Adamine develop the Magical Railroad that snuck suppressed mages out of Lancet before Isaac had come to rule. If anyone's ship could be used to capture the slavers, Kenwae's could.
"It's not a matter of doubt, Kenwae. It's a matter of getting my rigmaster and the rest of the mages back before they get sold overseas," Erika commented before looking towards the Sabertooth gang.
As soon as Kraken had explained that Rogue had been captured, Sting had blown up. Even now, he was sitting with seething rage at one end of the large table. Magic danced around his body like constricting vipers. He, like Sven, couldn't have cared less about the meeting. He wanted to get out there and do something about Rogue's kidnapping.
"A large team would draw too much attention," Prince Urian explained from Adamine's side. "We need a small group of our most powerful mages that can be spared. At least one mage from each group here would make the best rescue team."
Immediately, Sting threw his hands on the table. "Then, let me go! Guild masters can only participate in one event, and I've already done that!"
"You might do something reckless on your own," Sven commented, his dark eyes shifting towards the blonde haired mage. "I'll go with you."
"I'll volunteer Sinbard from our crew," Captain Erika replied. She gestured towards the one man who hadn't said a word since entering the room. His lips, like Sven's, were held in a flat line that resembled leashed anger. His tall, stiff stature also hinted that he wasn't the least bit happy about their current topic, but that stature jerked just the least bit at Erika's offering.
Sighing, Adamine drew attention to herself. "I would love to send myself, but Makarov wants me for the next event."
"You're too high up to be sent. Without both the Princess and Prince around, someone will start making rumors," Hollis broke in a little too quickly. "I suggest adding another member from Sabertooth to hold back Sting's recklessness. Yukino?"
"I'm fine to go. Minerva, Rufus, and Orga should be enough to keep our points during the competition," the ivory haired mage pointed out. She cast her team a small smile, and they returned it. Her blessing was sent. They trusted her to get Rogue back.
With a slight inclination of his head, Isaac stated, "Then, it's settled. Sven, Sinbard, Yukino, and Sting will retrieve the others. As for the rest of this group, not a word about this mission is to be uttered. Not even to King Toma. If it comes down to it, I'll tell him myself, but no one else is to even breathe about the topic. We don't want another riot in the capital streets."
Katja felt like there was a riot going on in her head.
Either this was a rewind of the hangover Catori and Cana had given her a day ago, or someone hitting her in the back of the head with a bulldozer really hadn't been a dream. When she cracked open her eyes to see nothing but iron bars waving in front of her face, she could have groaned. She'd really been waylaid by a bulldozer.
"Good morning, beautiful. Would you like your gruel on the cage floor or in your lap. Lady's choice this fine morning," a rumbly voice commented off to Katja's side. Just that voice made the pounding in her skull even worse, but it didn't stop Kat from finding Clint's grinning face beside her.
"What the hell are you talking about?" she growled out, a voice scratchy from cottonmouth and sleeping in a cage beneath what looked like a ship's deck. Just then, the boat rocked. Katja immediately realized what Clint was talking about when a bowl of gruel slid across the floor. The liquidy substance spilled on her second favorite pair of knee high stilettos.
So far, all the Grand Magic Games had done was ruin her favorite footwear. King Isaac was going to have to give her a bonus for all the shit she'd been going through lately.
Catching the bowl before it could ruin her clothes anymore, she lifted it and the vintage wooden spoon. "Millet?" she asked, testing the texture with her spoon. Sure enough, it leaked down like a bowl of disappointment. Then again, prison food was never authentic.
"Only the best for my date," Clint charmed, keeping up his unholy amount of good humor.
"Where is Rogue?" She hadn't heard anything as they rocked back and forth in the ship's hull. As more of her senses woke up, Katja noticed the sound of ocean water rushing. They were on a ship leaving Lancet. Fabulous.
Nodding his head, Clint gestured towards a heap of black cloth on the floor. "I think that ball of nauseous darkness is your boy toy."
"He's not my boy toy."
"He's not? Hmm. Perhaps, I mistook his following you and trying not to look at your rear in those tight jeans for a new friendly custom. My bad." At her scowl Clint gave a nonchalant shrug.
Ignoring him, she bent over to take a look at the Dragon Slayer. He was a writhing, green faced mess on the floor after she uncovered his dark locks from his pale skin. "I'm going to poison you," Katja explained as she took off her gauntlet. Rogue made some kind of grunting sound that resembled an agreement, so she placed her hand against his skin.
As soon as her bare skin touched his, the poison that caused her body to be tinted just the faintest of purple swept across his right cheek. Katja carefully monitored her emotions as she ran the numbing poison across his skin. When it concentrated enough in her hand, she watched a translucent purple drop roll into his mouth. He'd be numb in a few short minutes.
Now, to get to business.
Adjusting in her spot, Katja took in her surroundings. From what little she could see in the darkness, there were at least five cages in front of her and four on either side of her. Nauseous wailing come from kidnapped mages, and a few frightened sobs were crawling into her ears.
"How long have you been awake?" she asked, looking to her blonde haired companion. She'd like to blame him as the reason they were captured, but he hadn't done anything wrong. Just some minor sexual harassment that put him on her People-I'd-Like-to-Beat-the-Hell-Out-of List.
Scratching some short hairs that had grown on his chin since his captivity, Clint explained, "Only long enough to watch your shadow puppet rolling around and holding his barf in. Since you've been out two guards came to feed us. One guard went down the right side of the cage aisle. The other came to our side. Food's poisoned by the way."
"Poison doesn't work on me," Katja commented. She drew the millet gruel up towards her face. Sniffing it, she immediately recognized the poison. It came from the Znor Leaf, leaves off a flowering plant found only in Lancet. In small doses, people used it to battle insomnia. In large doses, it could render a person comatose. As Katja took in its scent, even dabbing her tongue against the mushy gruel, she realized it was between lethal and harmless. These kidnapped mages were going to be out for the rest of the day. "Planning to keep us quiet for the ride then."
"Aye. That'd be me best guess. I'd say we're heading for the Pergrande Kingdom back westward. They've got the biggest underground slave trade around. Even goes further to the mainland versus the peninsula," Clint informed.
Interesting. For a flirty pirate, he knew his geography and trade routes. Though Katja shouldn't be too horribly surprised, she was. The pirates she'd met in her life were typically rough hewn men who only wanted three things: women, liquor, and money. They lived their lives as mercenaries of the high seas. For one to be so calm while sitting beside a government assassin, Katja knew to be on guard. He could turn on her if the tides changed.
Even so, he was her only help at the moment. Rogue's poison needed a few more minutes to numb his stomach, and even then, he'd be too numb to act against pain. Pain helped a soldier in battles. It told the soldier when to back off to move into defense mode or when to back away from the fight completely. Rogue would be at a disadvantage if their escape got physical.
And they would escape.
Katja would make sure of that.
Adjusting, Katja counted the heads of the people she could see. One. Three. Five. Seven. She got all the way to twenty before her vision didn't let her go deeper into the darkness. There were about two to three people to a cage, and their wrists and ankles were bound in magical restraints. Though the restraints weren't chained to restrict movement, instead becoming wristlets and anklets tightly bound to the flesh, they kept their magic sealed. Physical attacks were their only defense, but that was sadly hindered by the cages.
"You wouldn't happen to have a lock pick on you. Would you?" Clint asked when he caught Katja eyeing the door of the cage.
"Do I look like I have a lock pick on me?"
"Given the tightness of that little leather jumpsuit ye got on, I wouldn't check yes as me answer. Trying to cosplay as Black Widow?"
"Black Widow?"
Clint made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. "Aye. Aye. I forget. Ye assassin types don't watch quality movies. The Avengers? Come on, lassie. Have ye never heard of Thor or Hulk?"
"Of course, I know Thor. He's the God of Thunder. His pantheon guards over High Lancet. Most people in the North are pagan, and most people in the North happen to work for me," she growled back, throwing her gruel behind her to move towards the lock. She wanted to get a better look at it, figure out just what kind of tools she could use to break free. She knew she wasn't going to last long with a numbed out dragon slayer, twenty scared mages, and a flirtatious pirate.
When a loud sigh filled the air, Katja tried not to look back at Clint. "Ye. Ye. He's not that Thor, though. Marvel comics. Damned good quality literature. They come from the the same Sorcerer Weekly kid that has the DJ Black Magic show on the radio. She gets 'em from some Time Traveler or something. I don't really know the details."
"Are comic books and tv shows the only thing you're worried about right now?" Katja hissed back. Her eyes may have been locked on the cage door, but she was kind of interested in those comic books. Princess Adamine wrote comic books. Hers were the ones that got Katja interested in fiction.
As for any other stories, Katja didn't know any good recomendations. Colin read dirty magazines. Sven enjoyed reading up on toxins and herbology. Hollis was always too busy, and Felix… he didn't even know how to count. Katja kind of doubted her big warrior friend could even read.
Breaking her train of thought was Clint's voice. "Na. I am a wee bit interested in getting out of here. Rune is gonna kill me if I'm not back at the ship for dinner. Get hit with that lass's ladle enough times in a day, and ye realize that she doesn't make a hot meal for ye to miss it."
"Then, help me figure out a way to break us and them out of here." She nodded towards the other slaves. "I have no idea how many men and women are on this ship, but they surely can't take all of us at once."
"Already on it, beauty," Clint snickered, flashing those flawless teeth of his. Really? How did a pirate keep teeth so perfect and white?
Katja was debating on asking until Clint revealed his forearms. No manacles! How did he manage that?
Guessing her question by the expression on her face, Clint explained, "I wasn't really unconscious when they got me. That's why you're still in your assassin's garb, and I'm all free from me chains. I only made it look like I was chained then kept these puppies behind me back." He moved his other arm to dangle a set of keys in front of her face.
"I guess there are some benefits to having a TARDIS," Katja commented, remembering Clint's explanation of his magic earlier. Eagerly, she reached her hands out and watched Clint slip the key into the locks. "Do those unlock the cage?"
"Nay. We're still trapped inside, and while we're in, I can't use Glimmer. I was hoping since your magic is bodily instead of just the magical manifestation of your soul that you could still use it." He cocked up a blonde brow towards Rogue.
"One of the first things I learned in Poison Body Magic 101—if you're sweating, you're poisonous. Sucks that you two are out of commission though."
Once more, Clint tossed up an easy-going shrug. "I don't know about that guy, but I'm not big on the idea of chivalry. Getting saved by a beautiful woman wearing leather and steel sounds right up my alley. Now, fair assassin, the guards make rounds once an hour on the hour. Me and your boyfriend are gonna cause a scene, and you look like a helpless victim when we slam you against the bars. Then, when the guards come to put an end to our tussle, you grab some skin. Sound good?"
"Not a problem by me, but why are you even helping?" He could turn on them if the slavers offered coin. Kat wouldn't have money until they changed the course on the ship, and she didn't know if Rogue knew how to man the helm. Katja sure didn't. Their only choice was to get Clint to man the ship. Didn't every pirate know how to operate a ship? She hoped so.
Tossing those pearly whites at her again, Clint stated, "Ye may be a tart, Kitten, but not even I am willing to succumb to yer wiles. I got me a girl already."
Flabbergasted, Katja shrieked, "You've been hitting on me the whole time! When did I ever make you think that I—that you—that we—"
"Don't play the fool, Kitten. Any woman with the audacity to wear skin tight leather from throat to foot is only saying one thing."
"Oh, yeah," she snarled out. "And what is that?"
"'Do me.'"
Crimson ran from her throat to her forehead. Had her skin not been the cocoa powder color it was, she might have glowed like a campfire. She wanted to say something to defend herself. She needed to say something to defend herself, to justify her right to wear skin tight jumpsuits, but she couldn't say anything. Clint's observations just made it worse.
"Aw. Come on. It's not like ye didn't realize it. Six inch, knee high leather boots can cause a man to go mad. Then, those claws just call to mind fantasies of cuffs and chains. Ye have been strolling about all this time like a dominatrix. Why do you think men are afraid to look at you? They don't want to be walking around with spontaneous boners."
Gurgling her own words, Katja couldn't form a single argument against his points. Katja knew her clothes were tight. She prefered to wear them that way. They made her feel sexy. Dangerous. Her boots were six inches tall because not only was she short, but she wanted to feel empowered. A whole five feet of poison dipped woman wasn't half as intimidating as five feet and six inches of poison dipped woman.
She knew she looked hot, but her body wasn't! She kept it covered. Were anyone to unzip the leather and steel, she would be nothing but a girl with cocoa powder skin covered in whip lashings. She wanted to look hot because she wanted to feel dangerous. Sex appeal was threatening, hard to approach. It kept people away from her. It kept people from daring to look at her.
Just thinking of the scars that ran up and down her skin made them heat up. No one was allowed to look at her skin. While her silhouette was attractive, what she hid was not. The flesh was ugly and marred. Not just poisonous.
Katja stood there with her mouth gaping open until a dark figure moved in the corner of her eye. It was Rogue.
Leaving Clint to grin in his victory, Katja turned to more important matters. Also, she was praying to her mother's god that Rogue hadn't heard a word of what the pirate said. What would he think about her if he knew the truth?
It was hard being around him because he chose to help her. Yeah, it was because he wanted money for catching the slavers, but he put up with her unruly bitchiness to stay close to her.
She even found him to be attractive.
Rogue was everything she wasn't. Pale, flawless skin without multitudes of scars. Red eyes undaunted by the taking of innocent lives. He had a whole guild of people he trusted, loved.
While Katja had the love of the Princess, King, Prince, and Royal Guard, they were often busy living their own lives. They weren't able to go shopping with her or go on missions with her. Katja had lived as a warrior her whole life. It'd be just a little nice if she could be in a guild, acting like a real girl.
Besides, compared to the people she hung around, Rogue wasn't as damaged. If she could—oh, she hated to sound so pathetic—befriend him, maybe she could have a normal friend who had time for her.
Shaking her head of the various insecurities that plagued her existence, Katja tucked one hand beneath Rogue's head. Red eyes blinked up at her before narrowing. "You numbed me?"
"Yeah. How are you feeling?"
"Not much to be honest. Where are we?"
"We're on a boat," Clint chimed with a wide grin on his face. "And I'm not even wearing my flippy floppies."
"That reference I actually get," Rogue commented before turning to Katja. "Have we set sail?"
"We have. Clint has an idea as to how we're going to turn it around, too."
"And that is?"