Bruises On Her Ego

[Erika Smith]

The brunette stood, watching the ship as parts of the crew started gathering up materials to fix the holes they'd gotten from crashing into one of the rocks on their way here. Her decision to come here had been purely selfish, but most of her crew seemed to understand that it had been a judgement call. Naturally, few of them knew the real intentions she'd had, but she'd simply told them she didn't want to put the girl into the hands of the Coterie. That seemed far too cruel.

Then as she turned, her brows furrowed and a puzzled, but annoyed look seemed to cross her face. There was one person she couldn't recognize and the young captain knew the face of every crew member.

With her index finger pointed straight at the young man who looked as if he was completely lost (she couldn't blame him; this probably wasn't at all what he's signed up for, regardless of what he was doing on her ship). 

"You," she said, loudly enough for anyone close by to hear her. "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing on my ship?" She didn't recognize him from anywhere in town either. Was he from the Mariner's Union? Was he just some lowlife thief trying to take a peek at pirate goods? Did he need a ride? Well, she supposed there was only one way to find out...

The brunette then stopped in front of the man, her arms crossed as she stared him up and down, waiting for an explanation as to why he was on her ship. She wasn't going to leave him out of her sight until she had some seriously good answers.

[Felix Whitegate]

This, perhaps, now that he'd had some time to think on the situation at hand, had not been Felix's greatest idea; But in the heat of the moment he could see no other option, and even now despite wishing he'd had the time to consider what other actions had been available to him, he was certain this had been his only true course of action.
The city guard had heard of the lady Orland's kidnap from his Duchess Mother, whom had no doubt hoped to stir her son into action in some valiant rescue mission to win fair lady's heart; His Mother had always been a fanciful romantic at times, and although that outcome was in Felix's opinion a complete and utter fantasy, that didn't prevent him from pulling out a few informants who lived in the city's underbelly and making what enquiries he needed to in order to pick up on what rumours were circulating about the dear lady's location.

It seemed the rumours were centred around a notorious ship, and her female captain. While Felix had intended to call upon other members of the guard, seeing the crew clearly preparing for a hurried escape from port stirred the young man into sudden action.
Hiding among the throng of able bodied crew had been fairly easy, keeping a low head and hiding among the barrels of provisions kept below deck. The boat seemed to travel some distance, and upon the heavy drop of the anchor's chain, the young noble sought to creep into the throng of the ship's crew with the hope of finding out not only where he was, but exactly where Ellen Orland was.

Head bowed slightly, the guardsman kept his gaze diverted from meeting that of others, fearful some crew member would make his presence known. His longsword, clearly not the usual weapon of a pirate, was slung across his back; He hadn't had the time to think on bringing another weapon, and he was simply going to have to hope no one thought to question it. He had, however, failed to take the Captain's keen eye into consideration.
Felix froze as the loud, stern declaration came across the deck, a few members of the crew suddenly eyeing him as though they were already ready to ram a knife between his ribs... It seems this young woman commanded a significant amount of loyalty. Felix took a deep, steady breath, and cast the Captain a bright, welcoming smile. "Felix, miss- I mean- Felix Capt'n!" He then gave a salute, his failed attempt at hiding his well spoken accent painfully obvious. "And I'm here to serve the ship."

[Erika Smith]

The man tried; she had to give him that much. He didn't exactly have his wits where they belonged, but she supposed she couldn't be overly picky. Sadly, the man hadn't taken one simple fact into consideration; If he was part of the crew, she would have known about it. After all, she handpicked her new recruits carefully and this one, well, she clearly had not.

"Right," the brunette said dryly, not finding him the slightest amusing - which was obvious, given the way she was staring at him. "That might have been believable had I not been in charge of handpicking my recruits." She raised her eyebrows as if offering him some time to let that piece of information sink in before continuing. "Not a whole lot of nobles opts to become pirates either. Your language is far to fine to be a petty commoner."

She placed her crossed arms on her hips and shook her head, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose out of pure annoyance. "Want to try this again or should I just give these jolly fellows the go ahead to throw you off the ship?" She then looked around as if she was considering that and where to throw him off. After all, the Shattered Isles was feared for a reason...

Sadly, her reputation proceeded her. She wasn't nearly as cruel as pirates had the rumor to be.

[Felix Whitegate]

It seemed acting quickly and off the cuff in this situation was moving Felix from bad into the realm of worse. The formidable Captain's ability to command was quickly evident, and the guard supposed the only reason he didn't already have a blade in his back was because she was interested in exactly who he was and why he was there.
Felix's sunny, slightly goofy grin fell to a pained smile, his eyebrows knitting together as the realisation that his poor attempt to fool her and failed to do anything of the sort.
He let his gaze drop to the side as he considered his options... Lie again, and likely get thrown off the ship and left to the mercy of what terrible land they'd come to, or tell the truth and hope it intrigued the woman enough to allow him to remain on board; No matter how confident he was in his skills as a swordsman, he wasn't exactly going to be able to fight off an entire ship's crew. It was at this point however he truly took in his surroundings beyond that of the ship; And a sickening sensation settled upon him. The Shattered Isles... What use would pirates have for coming to this haunted place?

The guard's eyeline snapped back to the pirate Captain after she threatened to throw him overboard, blinking at the young woman and raising one hand to his hair, running his fingers through it; While it was a nervous trait of his, it also allowed him easy and fast access to his sword's handle should he need to make a sharp snatch at it after his following statement. "You can't blame a gentleman for trying, Miss," He offered, trying to keep his tone light. "I am Felix Whitegate of the Goldcrest City Guard. I'm here because my duty to the city involves protecting it's inhabitants... And I've reason to believe you may have taken one of those inhabitants on board... A reluctant inhabitant."
He felt his body tense in preparation for what could be a fight, although he couldn't help but hope it wouldn't come to that... Felix didn't take any thrill from fighting, and in fact felt highly uneasy at the mere anticipation of what COULD develop into one.

[Erika Smith]

Erika watched the man; studied him. He looked nervous, which she supposed, she couldn't really blame him for. He was, after all, a stranger in the midst of a pirate crew. With a sway of her hand, she could have had him killed. She wouldn't, of course. If worst came to worst, they'd simply have to lock the man up. Though, considering how he acted, she didn't really think that would be necessarily.

"I suppose I can't," she offered with a shrug, though she didn't look anymore amused than what she had previously. Then he offered a surname; she couldn't quite place it, but there was something familiar about it. "City guard," she muttered. "Wonderful." She rolled her eyes - mostly at her crew. She'd find out who'd said more than they should have later; clearly the man had followed rumors despite Erika's best efforts to keep all of this quiet.

"And here you are, playing knight in shining armor," she said with a sigh. "Wonderful," she repeated herself as she shook her head towards the crew members waiting for her orders and they reluctantly went back to work. "Don't worry, Mr. Knight. No harm will fall upon the girl, so you might as well go make yourself useful."

[Felix Whitegate]

As soon as he'd given his full name, Felix wished he had not; While he didn't exactly hide his bloodline, he didn't flaunt it either... And given the current situation, keeping that little piece of knowledge to himself may have been the better option. Thankfully, the pirate didn't seem to recognize his surname, or if she had she hadn't let on. Although her comments hinted to some amusement, she didn't express any in her voice, leaving the guard unsure on if the pirate was simply luring him into some false sense of security...
But that didn't seem to be the case. If anything, the dark haired captain seemed to find his presence more of an annoyance then a threat, which Felix was thankful for; She'd clearly weighed up that there was no sense to be killing a man whom, given the amount of people she had at hand ready to defend her, was currently not a threat. Felix let his arm fall to his side, giving an audible sigh of relief, his expression then shifting to one of slight confusion at her order that he join in with aiding her crew; He had no intention of doing anything until he KNEW Ellen was safe.

"So you say Miss, but you did kidnap the lady and drag her out to..." His voice trailed off slightly as he looked over their landing point. The rocky, grey terrain was draped in a gathering fog, an eerie almost unnatural cold settling on the ship; It felt... Cruel. Unforgiving... "This place..." He looked back to the pirate, folding his arms across his chest. "So why exactly does a pirate feel the need to drag a noble woman to the Shattered Isles?"

[Erika Smith]

Raising her eyebrows as if she expected the man to be joking, Erika scoffed. Here he was, in the middle of a group of pirates and he had the audacity to talk to her as if she didn't know exactly where they were. Still, she supposed it was a fair shot, given that the man didn't know why she had chose to take this path, rather than head for the Coterie islands.

"So you truly believe that taking the path to the Coterie would be better? The very same people who would take the girl you're swearing to protect and more than likely either kill her or sell her as a slave?" She looked around then, her head shaking faintly. "Trust me when I tell you that she's far better off here."

Of all the people here, Erika would know that by heart. After all, she had run away from her mage lineage for a reason. Sure, not going to the Coterie had been partly selfish because she knew exactly what would come of her if they got their hands on her. She was a rogue mage - a mage from a family who had once been well known and she had disrespected the laws of magic and everything the enclave stood for.

"Going north would lead us to more of the fleets and well, south to the Coterie was clearly out of the question. This was the only option."

[Felix Whitegate]

The woman was clearly not to be underestimated, given her clear unwavering command of a rather large vessel along with the crew who manned it, along with her outright brash kidnap of a noble; But to what point and purpose? Money was an obvious assumption, especially given her choice of career... It was pretty much what pirates were known for, using underhand methods in order to obtain currency or goods... But even then, this was pretty far to travel, and to a place of significant danger no less, just to keep Ellen out of sight from her family, but away from the Coterie?
Felix wasn't certain, but based on what he did know of the current situation, there seemed to be more to it then merely an issue of money... But then again, he may have simply underestimated this woman's adoration for riches, and how far she would go to obtain them. Felix knew little about her, save her reputation of being a formidable but understanding woman, something which made her a mark above many others who called themselves pirate.

"And simply returning the young lady to her family was also clearly out of the question?" Felix replied with a light sarcasm to his tone, raising an eyebrow questioningly at the captain. "Or was that too obvious a solution, miss?" He then slumped his shoulders a little, before looking out over the barren, darkening landscape. "... At least let me see the lady. Leave her safety while she's on your ship in my charge, I'll protect her personally until her safe return to the city." What else could Felix do at this point? He was on a boat currently outnumbered by pirates, a boat which was moored at a rather unsavoury location; All he could do was put his all into protecting the girl he'd come for in the first place. "I won't make any moves to undermine your actions here as long as the lady remains safe. Is that a fair exchange?" He then smiled a little. "What say you, Capt'n?"

[Erika Smith]

Erika's smile tightened ever so slightly at the man's poor attempt to be sarcastic. Her eyebrows raised and she pursed her lips. "Need I remind you who's in charge of your journey home?" she asked simply. "Maybe you should consider keeping your sarcasm to yourself." It was as much advice as it was a threat. Really, Erika had her reasons and she saw no point in this man berating her for them.

She mulled his suggestion over; She supposed she understood his reasoning and where he came from. And really, it was a tempting offer, given that the lady in question was nothing less than a nightmare to deal with. "No," she replied simply. Raising her hand then, as if to stop the man from objecting, Erika smiled sweetly. "And that's the end of it, Mr. Whitegate. I ensure you that my crew and I are more than capable of taking care of the lady ourselves without you interfering."

She looked out over the parts of the isles visible to them and nodded towards a few of her crew members before her attention snapped back to the man. "Now, I suggest you either step out of the way or go make yourself useful somewhere else." She had to admit that locking the man up too sounded like an awfully good plan, though she supposed he could do very little harm where they were right now and she doubted he was stupid enough to wander further into the isles alone.

[Felix Whitegate]

Felix raised an eyebrow at the woman's threat, but gave no retort; He couldn't understand as to why the obvious option, and frankly easiest, hadn't been followed. Surely returning Ellen back home to her family would have been far simpler then some wild frantic escape to a place you only had to hear about to know it was likely incredibly dangerous? Was she that desperate for coin, or whatever else she was expecting to gain from keeping the lady on board, that she was willing to risk the lives of her oh so loyal crew? The guardsman knew he didn't know the full extent of what was going on and he doubted the captain would tell him if he asked, but the whole thing felt more on the foolish side then any other.
Felix's smile grew slightly when it seemed as though she was honestly considering his offer, only for it to fall when the woman declined. He opened his mouth to protest but was hushed by a sweet smile and a raised hand. He listened to her words, but his expression only grew towards concern.
"... Given our current situation, and the fact you kidnapped the young lady in the first place, forgive me if I'm not quite convinced that you're thinking of the lady's best interests," Felix replied gently, giving a sigh before he held up both hands in a defeated manner. "But, I won't intervene. But know that if it comes to it, I will protect her, regardless of what you think you can order me to do, or what threats you think can sway me." His tone was stern, not so much that it was a threat but more that he was simply stating fact.

The noble didn't think continuing to plead his case with the woman would do much good at this point, so with that, he gave her a short but respectful bow. "I'll see what I can do to help. The sooner we leave this place, the better." Perhaps he could find a way of checking on Ellen without alerting the crew, or the Captain.

[Erika Smith]

"Whether or not you're convinced, Mr. Whitegate doesn't really matter. 'Less you forgot, you sneaked onto my ship," she began, her voice stern. "And unless you wish for the justified punishment for something like that, I highly suggest you stop repeating yourself." She looked at him, her gaze unwavering. She cared very little for what he believed himself justified to act upon. It didn't change the facts. She could have him thrown overboard or even left here at this damned place if she so much as pleased.

Nodding then, Erika put her hands on her hips. "At last, something we can both agree on." She hoped she'd made the right choice. She also hoped that the man wouldn't cause any further trouble. "You can find the girl in my suite. The doors are guarded at all times, but I'll make sure you get a quick visit." She looked at the boat then, her eyes narrowing. "But if I find out that you're up to anything or even think about trying something, it'll be your head."

[Felix Whitegate]

Felix had never been someone who often took into account the precariousness of his own position; Perhaps he should take more care to do so, but when someone he cared for had found themselves in an unsavoury situation, he couldn't help but put aside his better judgement in regards to himself... He'd always valued the wellbeing of others before his own, and this situation was no different. Although he took in the Captain's threats, they would do little to heed him if it came to him defying her in order to save Ellen; This of course was perhaps relatively foolish, and pretty reckless, but Felix couldn't help his nature.
He smiled softly as she spoke with a stern tone, and didn't protest; There was little point when right now it would only serve to hinder him protecting his friend. Right now, he needed to remain on her good side... Or at least the side less likely to have him thrown overboard; He couldn't exactly help Lady Orland from the bottom of the sea.

His expression brightened up when she offered to let him see Ellen, and he gave a further nod. "Thank you, miss," He spoke in polite response, before raising an eyebrow. "My head, got it loud and clear, Captain."
Again, her threats did little to dampen Felix's resolve. He wouldn't go out with the intention of defying his woman's orders, but if defying her meant saving Ellen... Then he would do so readily.

[Erika Smith]

Another nod - this time to confirm and Erika turned her back against the man. She supposed the best way to handle this was to at the very least handle the man with a certain amount of respect. They were all in deep trouble here and she supposed it would all go all that much smoother if they found a way to work together. She could deal with everything else as those troubles came.

For now, though, Erika could only focus at the task at hand; repairing the ship, getting it ready to sail and not get into deep trouble while being on these god forsaken isles. That sounded, naturally, a lot easier in her head than what she expected it to be when it actually came down to it.