• Graded • Libertalia

[Darius Baer]

Arc 720, 23rd of Cylus

Darius was leaning against the large, smooth rock, his eyes peering into the darkness beyond. His breaths were quiet and slow, and he held his mouth close to the boulder so that the clouds that formed as he exhaled would not be easily seen. It was nigh on impossible to see much further up the beach, especially at such a late break and amidst the incessant twilight of Cylus, but that hopefully meant that he and his two companions were similarly difficult to identify.

The bearded blond pushed his large form back off the rock and turned to the two figures nearby. Water lapped at his feet, the cold Hollow Sea grasping hopelessly at him as he whispered to the others.

"No sign of anyone just yet," he uttered, his quiet words floating on the gentle sea breeze, "but I can see a rowboat on the beach."

His own boat, the Lady Jean, had been brought ashore nearby, before they'd dragged it above the waterline and concealed it in the long grasses beyond. After that, the trio had set up position behind the large rock, awaiting the kidnappers who they hoped to follow.

Like himself, his two companions wore cowls, which would have made it impossible for him to know who was who, were it not for the height difference. But Yeva was noticeably shorter than Balthazar, and it was into the shadow of her hood that he looked next.

"Are you ready?" he whispered. "This ends tonight, I swear it."

Darius could feel the passion in his own voice, even as he hissed the words, and he consciously reminded himself to maintain his composure. He had barely spoken the words, however, when he heard distant footsteps approaching.

"Hide!" he hissed, hugging the boulder once more, trying to conceal himself, but convinced that his pounding heartbeat would give him away.

[Yeva]

23 Cylus 720

Yeva was not a woman trained in secrets and skullduggery.

She shifted restlessly, chewing her lip raw as she crouched in the sand, once again fussing over the cowl. Was it covering her hair? Her face? She leaned against the bolder, looking up and down the length of the beach with a tense expression. If she looked scared, it was because she was. So much was riding on their success, Yeva dreaded the possibility of failure, closing her eyes to imagine the smell of black tea and clove. The mother who had sobbed in her arms and the little girl who whispered stories of her brother's last night of safety, "It's cold," she grumbled, sinking against the rock. She dug her boot into the ground, helpless.

Beside her, Darius spoke, voice a low rumble, "No sign of anyone just yet," the breeze cut through her covering and she drew it tighter, dipping her chin downward, "But I can see a rowboat on the beach."

'They're close?'

The villains.

If this was the right trail, then 'they' hadn't bothered with hiding their boat like the heroes had, which meant what? Maybe they were confident they weren't being investigated? Maybe they wanted a quick no-nonsense escape? Bits of grass still clung to her pant leg and she swatted it away. A sailor, and medic and a mage all undercover on the beach; there had to have been a joke there somewhere. On a cold dark night like this, nothing felt funny.

"You ready?"

She looked up, unable to smile. Shrugging, she exhaled and nodded solemnly.

"This ends tonight. I swear it." Yeva could feel the emotion in his voice. The weight of that promise.

"Me too."

She looked over at Balthazar. Like her, his hair was a statement and recognizable feature of his appearance, and covered, his figure became a tall and foreign shadow. He was still a stranger to her, but he seemed an adept investigator. Uncustomary, maybe... but effective. When the mage turned his head, the glow of his gold eyes seemed to hover in the darkness of his cowl, like a predator in the brush. Tonight, Yeva was relieved he was on their side.

The sound of footsteps caused them all to go alert, Darius barking a hushed order while Yeva scrambled behind the boulder and held her breath.

[Balthazar Black]

23 Cylus 720

Balthazar was not well trained in the art of stealth but even he recognized that he was not the ideal companion for a stealth mission. He'd gone on enough smuggling runs with Isabella when he was younger to figure out a pretty decent cover-up. He wore black clothing and the a dark cloak. He had his hood pulled over his head and his hair was tied up into a bun beneath it. He didn't often tie up his hair but when he did... well it was a sign that things needed to be taken seriously. He was more aware than most that his skin glowed so Balthazar also wore a black cloth around his face like a mask to hide as much of his luminescent skin as he could manage without obstructing his vision. In theory he could have gone all the way and worn a bag over his head but he thought it unnecessary.

He hadn't been a smuggler in a long time but he certainly missed the thrill of dressing up like this. The trio were crouched behind a rock that Balthazar had somewhat enlarged to help conceal all three of them and watching the edge of the water vigilantly for the expected interlopers. Yeva seemed to be struggling with the cold created by the long lasting Cylus darkness and while Balthazar felt obliged to help warm her up with a little spark of blue fire, he did not because Darius cried out for them to hide. Balthazar's legs up to his knees sunk lower into the sand of the beach, helping further conceal him behind the rock. He peered over the cover towards the rowboat on the beach while listening carefully to Darius's reports. He trusted Darius but curiosity drove the mage to want to see it with his own eyes.

When Darius and Yeva swore it would end tonight, Balthazar said nothing, instead looking towards the place he'd heard to footsteps coming from while slowly freeing his legs from the sand he'd dug them into. When he'd done it, he hadn't thought about the fact that by sinking he'd trap his legs. "How many are there?" Balthazar whispered to Darius once he'd determined he wouldn't be able to get a good enough view on his own.

[Darius Baer]

Darius held his breath. For what felt like an arc, he held his breath. With every passing bit, the footsteps grew ever louder, but as far as the Scalvorian was concerned, they were no match to the volume of his heartbeat.

Yeva was scared. Even in the darkness of Cylus, and hidden beneath her cowl, that was impossible to miss. The woman who was quite happy to wear a snake around her neck was cowering behind a rock...and she was not alone.

It was only when Balthazar asked how many people were approaching that Darius dared to let himself slowly exhale, and with a brief glance towards the mage's golden eyes, he cautiously moved, creeping up the length of the rock once more. He pulled the cowl about his face, so that only his eyes were uncovered in the darkness.

The bearded blond was forced to squint into the night, and to begin with, he could see little more than shadows and movement. But then he heard voices, and he strained his ears to listen. He could not make out any words, but as the conversation went on, he became convinced that he could only hear two male voices. That did not, of course, mean there weren't other individuals with the speaking pair out there in the gloom.

As the footsteps left the dirt path that the trio themselves had used to get to their hiding space, they moved onto the beach, and the combination of sand, stones and shells crunched beneath them. They stepped into the dim moonlight and it was only then that Darius could confirm that there were no more than two men, and as soon as he was convinced of this, he attempted to return to his hiding place. As he moved, his boot slipped on the rock, and the scraping sound caused him to freeze in place, burying his head against the boulder, eyes clenched shut.

If the noise carried as far as the walking pair, they didn't seem to falter in their approach. Darius was left to assume that their conversation - and their footsteps - had distracted their ears. With a silent prayer of thanks to Chrien, he retreated once more, until he was able to hunker back down with Yeva and Balthazar.

There, he rose two fingers in answer to the mage's question, unwilling to utter even a whisper until he was confident the two individuals were beyond earshot.

It was only a handful of trills later that the trio heard the dragging of something heavy across the beach, and he took a deep breath. It would not be long until the rowboat reached the water.

[Balthazar Black]

23 Cylus 720

Darius held his breath, but Balthazar did not. Instead Balthazar took long, slow breaths because he could keep them relatively as quiet as a normal breath and he knew from lots of combat experience that breathing was important in tense situations. Of the three there, Balthazar was probably the only one who wasn't scared in some shape or form. He was nervous he was about to beat someone up that he should not, but he was not worried about being caught. If they were caught, there was always the wild teleporting option but it was nowhere near as reliable. Darius went to get Balthazar an answer to his question and slipped upon return prompting both a sympathetic and slightly irritated look from Balthazar but the mage said nothing because he knew they needed to keep quiet now.

Darius returned and held up two fingers which Balthazar considered an entirely harmless number but it didn't really matter. They were waiting and watching. If Darius had seen the children with them Balthazar assumed Darius would have indicated it in some way. His mind began to turn with different theories and possibilities. Two people walking on a beach and talking at night weren't necessarily the criminals they were looking for. They needed to be more certain of it before they made any real move. However when they began to hear the sound of something heavy being pushed through the sand, it became a little more clear that these were indeed the two they'd been looking for. The sound of the heavy rowboat being pushed would cover a whisper, in Balthazar's opinion, so he moved a little closer to Darius and Yeva then said,

"Their noise should cover ours. Once they're on the water they'll be harder to follow discretely." Following them was the plan after all, wasn't it? They'd figured out what beach the kidnappers left from based on the color of the sand and now they meant to trail them back to wherever the children were being held. Balthazar had taken the time to prepare by walking around Port Diablo in Almund for a few breaks to familiarize himself with the etheric signature of the area. He had estimated it would cause less of a disturbance to open a portal there and fly to get the Elements than it would to open a portal right in front of the Element Hall. They were incredibly loud things and he wasn't sure where the legal definition of 'using magic on others' really drew the line. Was the irritating sound counted? However that was not the current issue. They'd found who they were looking for and they needed to figure out how they were going to follow them from here. "I could maybe make a bubble for us and we could follow them beneath the water but I'm not sure, I've never tried it. I'm open to ideas but speak softly."

[Darius Baer]

Darius knew that sound seemed to travel more easily after dark. And that made him all the more grateful that the noisy pair who continued their conversation and dragged their rowboat across the sand did so loudly enough to shield their ears from his slip.

By the time his heart rate had begun to settle down, the two quarries were making their way down to the water, and Balthazar was offering up an alternative to their original plan. The idea had been simple, he thought: follow the individuals who had kidnapped children in order to establish where the youngsters were being held. That initially meant following in a rowboat of their own; a cowled Yeva being presented as another captive; and being invited aboard the ship. From there, Balthazar could bring the Elements, and justice could be served.

Darius' gaze drifted between Yeva and the mage. He knew the redhead was nervous. He was, too. Changing plans partway through executing them sounded risky. And when it came to water, Darius much preferred to be in a boat than out of one...

...but he had to admit that Balthazar was right. The same noise of a rowboat being dragged down the beach that he had been grateful for would also give them away. There didn't seem to be an easy way to get the Lady Jean into the water without being heard - unless they waited until the two men were out of sight, and then how could they possibly follow them?

"Aye," Darius eventually nodded, feeling his stomach tighten with anxiety as he did. "I don't know how magic works, so..."

The Scalvorian's voice dropped away, unable to articulate his thoughts. He was nervous, and coming to the realisation that the original plan wouldn't work. He sent another prayer to Chrien, hoping that the new one would.

[Balthazar Black]

23 Cylus 720

He could tell Darius didn't like the plan changing and if Darius didn't like it, he had a feeling Yeva wouldn't either. Unfortunately he was confident in it. When the group agreed without any verbal pushback to the idea of a more proactive tail, Balthazar peered over their hiding place. The men had made it into the water and were beginning to row out to the sea. Balthazar gestured for his allies to follow him and he moved low to the ground as he tried to cross quickly towards the water. His steps were not exceptionally loud but the sand made it harder to move discretely than wood or stone would have. It left a trail and each step dug in deep if you didn't move lightly. Expecting the duo of Darius and Yeva to be close behind, when Balthazar reached the surface of the water he wasted no time in reaching out to the liquid element.

A bubble. It couldn't have been that hard to make and maintain could it? At first, no, it was not difficult at all. Balthazar gently pushed both of his hands out in front of him and the water began to peel back and part as the group moved towards it. From there his arms would rotate slowly back and forth in a gentle circle that he shifted around his body as they pushed deeper into the water. The parting water slowly came to encapsulate the trio as they moved into the ocean and when they were deep enough in, Balthazar began to feel the pressure of the water affecting him. The element obeyed and it continued to swirl around them while they moved, but Balthazar could only walk so fast while guiding his arms through the circular motion.

"Tell me when we are under the ship." Balthazar said in a somewhat strained voice as he fought against the natural pressure of the water. "I'll push the bubble towards the surface when we are there. Then just try to climb aboard and keep quiet." They were gonna get a little wet, no avoiding it, but he was not going to just collapse the bubble on them. He would guide it gently up the surface and used the water to push Darius and Yeva with him. It would be... difficult... but he thought it would work. He didn't think that it might separate them.

[Darius Baer]

Doubt was a curious wee thing. It was not a disease in the traditional sense, but it could be contagious all the same. There were animals that could sense it. There were many tales of nervous riders being thrown from skittish horses.

Balthazar could sense Darius' sense of caution, who in turn could tell from the mage's words that he wasn't exactly filled with confidence himself. And the bearded blond was willing to wager that Yeva could sense the hesitation in both of them.

But the two men had clambered into their rowboat and were beginning to row out of the cove. Attempting to convince Balthazar that another course of action would be preferable - and thus changing the plan a second time - was only going to waste precious trills that they could ill afford to lose.

And so it was with a healthy sense of trepidation that saw Darius standing at the water's edge, squinting through the Cylus fog and hoping to keep the rowboat in sight. As a result, he missed what Balthazar was doing at first, and were it not for his constant internal reminders to remain silent, he would have let out an audible gasp as he watched the mage manipulate the currents in a way he'd never thought possible. As a mariner, he had a good understanding of how the currents worked...and this was like nothing he'd ever witnessed before.

Darius followed Balthazar's lead, keeping step with him as they walked onto the seabed without getting wet, and hoping that Yeva might find the courage to do the same. It was difficult to comprehend, and as their bubble moved beneath the waves, it played tricks on his mind. He subconsciously took a deep breath, holding it as long as he could, until he found himself gasping for another and holding it. It seemed to him that the waves might crash down upon them with a watery wrath at any moment.

The bearded blond nodded at Balthazar's instruction, and he strained his eyes as he looked up. Even in the Cylus gloom, he could see the hull of the small rowboat as the moonlight draped around it, revealing its silhouette. Despite the strain that Balthazar was clearly experiencing, they were able to keep pace with the rowboat, and after a few bits, another silhouette loomed. It was much larger than the rowboat, and Darius let out his held breath and pointed.

"That must be it," he gasped. "What now? Do we need to swim?"

Darius suddenly remembered that he was fully clothed, and that his longsword was resting on his hip. He could easily be pulled beneath the water if the bubble burst.

And that seed of doubt caused him to inhale deeply and hold his breath once more.

[Balthazar Black]

23 Cylus 720

He could feel the weight of the water pressing in around him. He could feel the push of the element wanting to return to it's natural flow. He was fighting it. He was urging it to hold and to wait for them to be through. He was dedicating almost all of his attention to maintaining the bubble of air in the water around them. No more magic after this. Beat them with your hands. Don't take the risk. Doubts began to seep into his thoughts while he pushed against the natural flow of the water. Just a little more. Just a few more trills. Balthazar tried to push back against the dark thoughts that had begun to infect his mind. He heard Darius and without thinking shushed him.

"Shhhh." Balthazar said before immediately realizing what he had done and shaking his head, "Sorry, this is more difficult than planned." Balthazar brought both of his hand around in circles above his head, the motion ending with his hands (palms up) slowly pushing upwards from the base of his stomach to his ribs. He repeated the large circle with the same slow, upward, pushing motion and the water began to run beneath their feet. It would never be perfectly solid but when it got to about their knees, the pressure of the water would begin pushing the team up towards the larger vessel. The bubble grew smaller suddenly and panic seemed to flash on Balthazar's face, but he covered it quickly and the bubble held.

"The bubble isn't going to hold once we breach the surface, you'll have to swim from there to climb onto the ship. Get- agh." The bubble cracked just a little bit beneath the surface and water began pushing in at them. Balthazar used a final push to get them all up to the surface before a sensation like a cramp took hold of the muscles in his legs. He kept afloat using his arms but a pained groan gave away what was going on with his legs. He gestured towards the ship and began moving closer with his arms, but given the temporary pain in his legs he suspected Darius would reach the ship first.

[Darius Baer]

There was little Darius could do beyond holding his breath in anticipation and praying to any Immortal he could think of. In that moment, as he offered silent supplications to each deity in turn, he had never felt more Scalvorian.

So when Balthazar shushed him, he was happy to oblige. The mage answered his question quickly enough, and the bearded blond didn't have long to wait before they were lifting off the ocean floor and heading towards the surface. The liquid around his ankles was more than a little unsettling, and he worried at first that the bubble might rise without him entirely, sending him to an underwater grave, but then he began to feel himself lifting with the giant pocket of air.

That didn't stop him from periodically taking deep breaths and holding them - as if his supply of oxygen might disappear in an instant - but it did at least enable him to feel a little less panicky about their situation.

It was just as Balthazar was explaining that the bubble would not hold once they reached the surface, that the very thing he predicted came true. Darius looked up and saw the torrent of water rushing in, and he took another deep breath. Balthazar's efforts to get him to the surface were successful, but he found himself kicking his legs all the same.

A giant shadow loomed over him, and he realised he was up against the ship, but within trills, he felt himself being pulled back under the water. His fingers fumbled feverishly, until he was able to untie his belt and let it go. The sheathed sword dragged the leather straps with it as it sank; the absence of its weight enabled Darius to kick himself back up to the surface.

He gasped for air as he looked around. He couldn't see the rowboat, which, he decided, meant it was on the other side of the ship. He began to flounder, unsure of how to board the ship from the ocean. He offered silent prayers to U'frek and Chrien.

And then, just as he was beginning to tire, an answer came from above.

"Man overboard!" cried someone on the ship.

A rope crashed into the water nearby and he clung onto it. Presumably mistaken for a fellow sailor, he had been thrown a literal lifeline. With the initial panic surviving, Darius began to haul himself out of the water, sending a quick glance to where he expected Yeva to be.

And that was when he suddenly realised the redhead was no longer with him.