It was twilight, perhaps an hour before dawn, and the air had a marked chill to it. The crew was all beginning to come together. How many more there were going to be, Tanwen was far from certain. She herself had almost not come. The first stench of the harbor had nearly turned her stomach, but she owed Honoria too much not to. No matter that she told her to think nothing of it. A sad smile touched her lips as she looked out over the waters, back turned to the docks. This was what she wanted. More aptly, this was what she needed. To get away from it all, to leave it behind. Even years later, in this chill, her old wounds ached. The memories cut even deeper.

Hugging her arms around herself to ward off the chill, she looked to the sky and the few remaining stars strew across it. Her parents were up there somewhere. At least that's what the orphanage had told her. She wasn't so sure. Here faced with the vastness of the sky and the waters it was hard to question though. Especially when she hadn't slept much in the last several days. Am I doing the right thing? Should I have stayed, found some other way? Conflicted, and unsure, she did what she always did when she couldn't sleep, and didn't want to think. She took a deep breath, raised her eyes to the heavens, and with a fervent wish that something out there would hear her started to sing.

"I pray you'll be my eyes
And watch me where I go
And help me to be wise
In times when I don't know

Let this be my prayer
As I go my way
Lead me to a place
Guide me with your grace
To a place where I'll be safe"

Tanwen dropped her eyes to the water lapping at the hull of the ship. The dark waters that were going to take her away from everything around her. Everything she'd even known. The past was just as dark, the future looked no better. She wasn't going to give up though. Closing her eyes, she continued her song.

"I pray I'll find your light
And hold it in my heart
When stars go out each night
Remind me where you are

Let this be my prayer
When shadows fill my day
Lead me to a place
Guide me with your grace
Give me faith so I'll be safe

I ask that life be kind
And watch me from above
I hope each soul will find
Another soul to love

Let this be my prayer
Just like every child
Needs to find a place
Guide me with your grace
Give me faith so I'll be safe

Need to find a place
Guide me with your grace
Give me faith so I'll be safe"

"I hope that you're out there somewhere," She whispered to the sky as the last strains of her song died away. An unfamiliar scuffling stopped her pleas to the universe, and she turned towards the noise. She hadn't thought that anyone else was up and about at this hour while the ship was still in port. "Who's there?"

"What d'ye mean 'Who's there'? Talkin' like some upstar' cit'zen ye are, and if ye ask tha' on the sea ye'll be shot as an ans'er! This be yer bosun, who be tryin' ta sleep b'fore the crew of scabberous sea dogs get here an' I hav'ta be intimidatin and such. So shut yer trap an we all can go ta sleep." Kei rubbed her eyes sleepily, ruining her intimidating image. She staggered back off the deck and promtly stumbled to her bed and fell over, landing in her hammock. Sleep beckoned and she swiftly welcomed it, the only time she allowed herself to be vunerable.

Nogond sat in the corner at the inn. He had finally found a new lead on his target, but needed to find some transportation. He began to feel frustrated over his inability to pursue his target further without any help. He sat in deep thoughts when he heard someone talking about a job as a sailor on a ship, he wasn't paying attention until he heard about the destination. The destination was the same place his target was located. Nogond went to the man and asked which ship it was that was looking for job and left the inn.
When he got to the ship there seemed to be no one around so he sat down and waited in the darkness until someone would come.

Larkin’s started to make his way down the docks to the ship, a bright smile spread wide across his face. He had his hunting rife strapped to his back, a small sack of what would likely be clothing around his shoulder, and he had already armed his lute; however, he played nothing from it yet. Being someone who believed that, “The earlier one gets up, the more walking can be done before the sun shines so brightly down upon them, and causes them to tire more easily”. So as usual he was happily out and about before the sun would show. He hummed happily to himself as he admired The Dragons Knave, as he slowly approached it. He began walking up the plank to get on the ship, but stepped quietly. Thinking folk might be enjoying their evening rest still. Giving a nod to the lady on the deck, "Mornin' miss!" continuing his walk, he started to make his way down to the center of the ship. Finding the quarters, he crept quietly past anyone sleeping. Finding an empty hammock to claim he placed his belongings directly under it. He pulled himself up into the hammock quietly, and laid back into it. Resting his hands behind his head, and his eyes were still wide open and alert to those around him.

Allyson was walking towards the docks for the ship, along the way she managed to remove three purses from their owners, there was only some copper and silver in them but it was a fair amount. *It is FAR too easy to steal from people without them noticing* She thought morosely. 5 minutes later she arrived at the docks, and the ship, the purses safely tucked away in various places. Seeing Tanwen she smiled and waved before boarding. "Salutations, might I ask who you are? My name is Allyson ailmere, I believe I am the new cabin girl." She said to Tanwen in a soft calm voice.

Waiting for a response Allyson leaned against the railing of the ship next to her, the sun was just barely starting to come up, with strips of pink cloud in the sky. It made for quite a pretty view although the actual sun was not yet visible.

Surprisingly, the ships' bard hadn't awoken the carpenter, who hadn't even really made it to his bunk. He'd been working day and night to perfect the wooden railings and figurehead of the boat, unfortunately, he hadn't had the time to completely finish the figurehead's design. Anyone who'd passed by his crapped, unorganized bunk could tell he'd been obsessing over the design as sketches littered where he should have been sleeping. Instead, he was found laying on the forecastle deck near the bow, sleeping soundly on his back with his arms resting on his stomach. He looked like a lazing cat and it was a wonder how he wasn't shaking in his boots with the crisp, chilling wind beating across the decks. It was also a wonder how he hadn't even stirred with Tanwen's loud singing—it was an every night occurrence, and usually when he slept in his bunk he could hear her singing. Not that he minded a woman singing on the decks of the great ship he occupied, he loved the voice of a women. Even if it was the noisy racket of an accent Kei had—she was still a lovely women, who often chastised all of the men for being lazy tossers.

Inevitably, the only thing that would wake the carpenter would be a swift kick or the rising heat of the sun. Not that anyone else was awake on the ship besides the mornings songstress, newcomers or the night owls who didn't seem to value sleep. Technically, it was surprising that Tinker was even found on deck, whenever they were at port he'd have high-tailed it for the nearest tavern or whore house. Both were his favourites and he'd drag the youngest, most inexperienced boys for fun or take Julio or Chocolate; both were entertaining to have a few ales with, and Julio seemed to be as lucky as horseshoe whenever coin was involved. These few nights the only thing that occupied his mind was: the figurehead.

((*excited dance* Yaaay! I get to see your characters' in action now! ))

Slowly emerging from belowdecks, Neil cast a glance about the ship. He noted the apparent passengers, as well as the figure of Tanwen standing with some other young-ish looking lass, and approached them, seeing as she was apparently the only working member of the crew up this godsbedamned early. With the Captain off on some errand or another though, and nowhere to be found, Neil had to get out of bed. He could put on whatever disciplinarian front he wanted, but waking up at bloody early hours was still no bit of fun.

He blinked his eyes, shook himself awake, and walked up to Allyson and Tanwen. "G'morn, Tanwen. And ye, miss."

Nogond saw a man walking onto the deck from bellow. Nogond looked at the man and thought that he looked like a sailor and probably knew who to talk to about getting a job. Nogond walked to the sailor and said, "My name is Nogond and i have heard you are looking for sailors."

Upstar' cit'zen? Tanwen mused as the bosun finished venting her spleen. "You take offense to the fact that I am literate?" But the other woman had already left the deck. She hadn't realized that she'd been singing so loudly, even with how well sound often carried over the water. At least she hadn't been playing a wind instrument, not that she took any of her instruments out of their cases often. The humidity did not treat them very well. Not so very much later, Larkin boarded the ship, and she returned the man's cheerful greeting. It was always nice to have good humored people about. It kept things from getting too glum when you were on the water for long stretches with no one else about. However, he too disappeared below deck.

She was just starting to considering retrieving her sword and going for a walk to clear the cobwebs of a sleepless night before everyone awoke, when a small girl waved to her, and came on to the ship. Tanwen moved to meet her. "Tanwen Kendric," She returned name for name as she stuck her hand out to shake with Allyson. "Ship's bard, and a good morning to you as well. I'm sure someone will be up soon who will better know what-" Tanwen ceased to speak as she saw Neil come onto the deck, still looking far too sleepy.

"Good morning, sir," She greeted the first mate with a smile. "I trust you slept well. This is Allyson, the new cabin girl. I believe you were expecting her..."

Tanwen trailed off as another man came on to the ship. The fellow was covered in scars, and his long coat and dark clothing were far from reassuring. Raven black hair topped his head, and he introduced himself to Neil as Nogond, paying no attention what so ever to herself or Allyson. Tanwen got a bad feeling about this one. Not that she was overly fond of everyone on the ship. It did take all kinds to keep a vessel going after all, so she smiled, and waited to see what would happen.

Studiously ignoring Nogond for a moment to size up Allyson, Neil nodded grudgingly. "Aye, ye'll do." He pursed his lips in thought for a second then nodded once more. "Tanwen, take the lass down and find her a bunk. Both ye come back up after." He waved the pair of them off, watching them leave for just a moment before turning to look Nogond in the eyes, and gruffly respond.

"Aye, we're looking for sailors. What're yer talents?" Neil knew he'd been keelhauled for hiring a man that couldn't fill any role aboard the Knave, so generally tried to take the precaution of asking at least that one question. He stared the man down as he waited for the response, trying to take a measure of him.

Nogond studied the man, he was tall and had lots of muscles but he didn't seem like a brute. Dismissing his thoughts Nogond said still in a cold voice, "I am a great marksman and lookout, I can repair almost all kinds of guns even build a few, also I have some skills in extracting information from people through pain." As he said the last bit he got a flashback from his past and everything thing seemed to change.

(Flashback)

Nogond woke up after being knocked out and looked around, he felt his hands were tied together and were tied to the roof. Suddenly a door opened and a few men stepped through, he recognized one of them as the nobleman whose daughter he was about to runaway with. The nobleman walked towards Nogond and said, "I knew i should have dealt with you right from the start. Now we have a problem don't you agree? You tried to take something from me, so i think it's fair I take something from you." The nobleman looked at three of the men and said," Go to his family and kill them, afterwards burn the building down." Nogond panicked and yelled, "They aren't involved in this leave them alone."
The nobleman smiled and said, " Don't worry you will see them soon enough." and made a nod to the last man in the room. The man had a cowl over his face and looked like an executioner. He began walking foward and drew a long knife, with a smile he said, "This will hurt a lot my friend." and began to cut him.

(Flashback ends)

Ater his flashback Nogond looked around and noticed he was still on the ship with the man in front of him. He began to feel anger, but he managed to keep his cold exterior even with his emotions raging.

It was only upon hearing Neil's voice when the carpenter rolled to his side and cautiously glanced around. Thankfully, the assembled group seemed to be on the lower decks and he could inconspicuously stretch his arms and pretend he'd been up the entire time—which was unlikely, being Tinker and all. It wasn't that he was a piss-poor worker, but he valued his sleep as much as any of the other stray dogs on the ship. Wiping the sleep from his eyes and brushing a hand across his stubble, he made a note of shaving later on in the day. His hair was a mess from laying on the deck, and he did his best to comb his fingers through his oiled, fragrant black hair. The carpenter coughed a few times before carefully standing, and tucking his tools away into the small pouches at his belt. Maybe there'd be coffee ready in the sailors mess? He could only be so lucky, this was when the early birds got up and sucked up all but the coffee grinds.

Hopping down from the upper deck, Tinker landed and found that there were two faces he didn't recognized: a scarred, grizzled looking man and a small, devious looking girl? Recruits? He couldn't make heads of it but arched his eyebrows and watched Neil analysing the man he was talking to. “All smiles, isn't he?” Tinker couldn't help but comment, before glancing over at Tanwen and the small girl. Well, to him, they were both small but the girl seemed to be no older than thirteen, perhaps fourteen. Neil had a very strong sense of judgement so he never thought of questioning it (unless he wanted a flogging), if someone was accepted aboard the ship, it was because they had a skill that would prove useful. The only thing the newcomers needed to worry about was crossing those in charge. Already, the carpenter guessed that Nogond would not like anyone with any cheery disposition--meaning himself, but he didn't seemed phased by the proposition. Unless the man wasn't as frightening as he appeared. "Mornin'."

Victoria was, as usual, sleeping. Though, for the first time in about weeks, she was sleeping on some sort of bed - namely, a hammock. And also for the first time, she was sleeping aboard a ship. Though it was a new experience, she was not stupid - one hand held her smallest gun, loaded and ready to perhaps even shoot if someone should so much as come within five feet of her. She was a street urchin, pretty much, and what's more, a female street urchin. Vicky was not without her defenses.

Somehow, though, it was not the approach of a person that woke her up, but the sounds coming from above her head - no, wait. It was that stray beam of early morning light that filtered through and struck her eyes. Cursing, she awoke. Her least favorite part of any day. Somehow, though, she managed to do it, and, rising from her makeshift bed, Vicky thought about the turn of events that led her to where she was now.

She thought about death as she put on her boots. She thought about gold as she ran a hand through her hair. She thought about guns as she quickly and subtly changed her clothes. And she thought about water as she strapped on her weapons. All of the dark, deep thoughts were banished, however, when she put a smile on her face. A small one, but it would suffice for today.

Yawning, Vicky climbed up the stairs and trudged towards the small group assembling up top. "Is it really? What a bummer," she replied to what she had heard of Tinker. "You yobs mind being a bit quieter jus' sometimes? We can hear you from below." Despite Vicky's grumbling, she was still grinning slightly and glancing at everyone with only semi-awake eyes.

Shrugging, Vicky turned to go, but stopped herself and plopped down on the ground. Clearly, she didn't really want to go. Or was the rocking of the waves affecting her? No, no, they couldn't be. She liked the waves. It was just what it might be perceived as.

Nogond turned around when he heard someone saying, "Mornin'" Nogond stared at the man with an angry look and said, "What do you want?"

With all the noise just above her sleeping area, Kei had resigned herself to getting no more sleep and begain her daily motions. Even though she parted with almost everything about her past she still held onto the traditional daily rituals of Nohin. (Pr: no-HEE-n) Kei started off the day at a basin of water, cleansing her face before she applied the traditional kohl markings on her face. The next step was getting dressed.

She securely binds her chest with sturdy cloth bandages and pulls on a covering over the bindings. Next she steps into her traditional leggings, covering from her waist to the heels of her feet, and she slipped into her shined black riding boots over the leggings. On top of her bindings and its covering she shrugged on a robe, silk and woven for hard wear- the patterns of dragons in flight and clouds and ties it closed with a blue ibo and green nobir. Herl headpiece is made up of three parts, two long and golden side-pieces intricately engraved on each side of her head and the larger one on top that is fashioned to look like a dragonlings skull, just as intricately ingraved. The next adornment is an heirloom of a necklace, red string-like rope that pierces old coins that aren't in use anymore, she wrapped this around her neck three or four times and let the ends hang unevenly. Lastly, but most definately not least important, she straps on her katana, wakizashi, and tanto set. She is ready for the day.

She quietly, with feline-like skill, comes abored deck. "Alrigh' whi'ch one of ye knows wha' ye be doin' abor'ed this hea' ship?" She called in her heavy Nohinian accent and low -almost femininely gravelly- voice, making her sound quite menacing.

"Mornin' Tinker." Neil nodded briefly before staring back at Nogond, and furrowing his brows, deep in thought. He didn't entirely know what to think of the man who seemed to have all the qualities of a mercenary, and a cutthroat one at that. The First Mate didn't particularly trust people with those aforementioned qualities, but neither did he have much of a choice. The crew was short, as they'd had several jump ship as soon as they hit port... so he sat there in silence a moment longer, staring intently at the man, before finally offering him a slow, affirmative nod.

"Alright lad. You're welcome as crew aboard the ship, but if ye cause any problems ye'll be off as fast as ye were on."

"The rest of ye, what are ye standing around for? yer Bosun 'as it, get back to work. Including ye, Tinker... though god knows what ye actually do around here." He chuckled quietly to himself, and then turned, heading back up the steps to the wheel, looking down upon the main deck and the crew that were slowly wakening from their slumber and getting the preparations for leaving the dock started.

Nogond made a small bow and said, "You will not regret your decision sir." Nogond felt relieved that he had gotten a job on the ship as he was one step closer to his target. However he just realized that he hadn't been given any task to do so he went to Neil and said, "What is my first task?"

When Vicky's sleeping form clambered up the stairs and answered him, Tinker only responded with a wide smile and a wink. The girl everyone coined “Boom-Boom” seemed several years younger than he was, but was only a handful. He couldn't put his hand on why she looked so youthful but he guessed it might have been her easy smiles and lazy graces. The gunner was as much an asset as anyone else on the crew—yet he didn't know what she did during the run of the day, either. It didn't seem like she was heading below to catch a few winks of sleep as she plopped a few steps away, content as a kitten.
“They'll be rousing soon enough anyway.” He yawned, and rested his hand on his hip when Nogond shot him a look filled with daggers. Already, Tinker knew that the they wouldn't get along very well. Sucking in the morning, salty air, he returned a look between half-lidded eyes. “Curious, is all.”

It seemed everyone was rousing from their bunks, Tinker jumped and held a hand to his chest where his heart skipped a beat. The Nohinian had the habit of ghosting about the ship without being heard, it was skill that both irritated him and impressed him. The Bosun was much younger than him yet she still held authority nearly as well as Neil did—her sharp tongue was just as threatening. He scratched the back of his head and arched his eyebrow. “Always a pleasure to hear your voice, Kei,” he greeted with a small salute of his hand, and ducked away from her to avoid being swatted or punched. All the women aboard the ship could hold their own, and he'd been more than once “playfully” punched because of his off-handed comments.

Tinker nodded to Neil, and still stood a few paces away watching the interaction between the newcomer and their First Mate. Whoever this man was, he was no nonsense and hadn't an inkling of humour in his body. He just hoped that Nogond had the tastes for ale and thought maybe it'd loosen his tongue. “Aye aye, mon Capitaine,” the carpenter responded in a lame attempt to mimic the French they'd been trading with for the past few days, he scratched the scruff at his chin before calling after Neil, “I'm finishing up the figurehead and I could use spare hands.” It wasn't much interesting work for anyone else but it involved scaffolding off the moving ship with ropes as well as moving wood around.

Nogond looked at the man called Tinker that had given him his first task. He said to him, "What am I supposed to do when working with the figurehead?" When given a task Nogond would perform it until it was perfect. Most people that Nogond worked with would call him a perfectionist. This was only half true, the reason he worked so hard was because of an overwhelming sense of duty. Nogond walked with Tinker to the figurehead. He had decided that he could actually try to make a friend to have someone to talk to. He turned to Tinker and said, "Why did you join the ship?"

Tinker looked over his shoulder to see if Nogond had followed him, for a moment he thought the rugged-looking man would've refused the work because of their clashing personalities. A smile crept to his lips before he scratched his bearded chin and pointed towards the nearly finished figurehead pointing northward. “Carry me wood, and if you'd like, hang off the side of the ships bow to help me create the ships image. I promise you, the seas' wind feels different when scaling from its side.” He told him, nodding his head before stepping up towards the railing. The rope he'd been using laid invitingly at his work station, and he lifted separate rope in his hand, wagging it towards Nogond. He looked daring enough to try it, most of the others he'd tried to convince muttered something about heights before scurrying off. Tinker worked at tying his own rope around his waist, creating a knot that would keep him from nosediving into the salty water below. “Why did I join this savvy crew?” Tinker mused thoughtfully, staring off into the clouds for a moment. “You could say that my dreams on land were taken from me, and then with nothing left besides the clothes on my back and my hammer in hand, I left home. Besides... everyone needs a carpenter aboard ship.”

The carpenter pushed himself up over the railing, but kept his feet planted on the deck to see if Nogond would join him. Maybe he'd state his own opinion about the figurehead? Much to the chagrin and disappointment of the women aboard the ship, Tinker had whittled away at the figurehead in the image of a strong, bearded man with wise eyes. They'd asked him why he hadn't worked the wood into a beautiful woman, some even stating that it was foolish that he'd chosen a man to represent the ship. He'd only responded with a smile, saying he felt like the ship was a man. Some ships felt like women. The response only raised questioning eyebrows. “So, why did you join this ship?” He quarried, eyeing him ruefully, “Honestly, you look like someone who bruised my face in a tavern days ago.”