3rd Wave

[tentacruelest]

[Jones is a deep, deep sleeper but he wakes with the sunrise. Each day is a new, hellish experience on the Barge but he scowls and stomps his way through them regardless.

Imagine his surprise when this morning he opens his door - releasing a small flood of his usual seawater, which, thanks to Maintenance, is contained by a make-shift dam - and spots children running about.

Not the handful of children he knows to be part of the Barge. New ones. And smaller people are easier to bully than full-grown ones.

Resolving to go about his day unbothered by the mechanics of the Admiral, Davy instead storms his way to the mess hall, literally using his claw to forcefully swat aside anyone smaller than four feet]


I'll thank whoever remains their true, full size to keep the vast majority of whelps under control. I've a mind to toss them over the side one by one; no ship is in need of this many cabin boys. No navy is.

Mind your brats. Or I will.

Comments

[tentacruelest]

And what ought I to be doing, in your informed opinion?

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[tentacruelest]

I'm not going to be intimidated by the likes of a girl's grandmother.

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[little_red_wolf]

She has a crossbow. [And she's just. Really intimidated.]

[with_my_teacup]

Always a woman after my own heart, Miss Kiddo.

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[tentacruelest]

How medieval.

[tentacruelest]

Thankfully, not after mine.

[Oh look, Davy made a funny. That no one else on the Barge will understand]

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[little_red_wolf]

...No.

It's really sharp.

[with_my_teacup]

As long as she is not provoked, at least.

[Tangential and under-informed funny!]

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

I don't know. Don't care, either. But don't whine.

[tentacruelest]

I am not whining.

[tentacruelest]

It would be the end of her if she tried.

[with_my_teacup]

A surprising conclusion to come to. Miss Kiddo is not a woman easily ended.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

You sound like you might start.

[impure_tale]

Why don't you say you're sorry?

[princelingofpuzzles]

The world isn't that great to me, but I don't go around punishing people for it. [Yet.] You should just target the responsible people.

[tentacruelest]

Come to me when you're a fair bit older and can still say that.

[tentacruelest]

Because I am not sorry.

[tentacruelest]

I have not whined since I was smaller than you, girl.

[tentacruelest]

It may take time, granted. But her end, as all others, eventually would come.

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[tentacruelest]

I am not intimidated by an octogenarian with a block of carved wood.

[princelingofpuzzles]

I don't think I'll be on the boat that long.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

Then don't start.

[spam]

[clockworkflower]

Not. Afraid.

[She's lying through her teeth, because he's huge and while Lilith doesn't really believe he'd actually kill her, she's pretty sure she's in for a beating if she gets caught.

The trouble is, he's called her a coward, he's openly dared her now, and she can't make herself run away. Her pride's bigger than her sense of self-preservation. So she sets her jaw, slots a blood-red marble into the cup of her slingshot, and gets ready to sell her life dearly.]

[with_my_teacup]

Yes, if we are to take the entropic view, the universe will end in its heat death, eventually. But I feel safe not concerning myself with that yet.

[spam]

[justplaying]

[There's fish and honey wafting towards him as Victor prowls, but that's not what draws him down the hall. The copper tang of adrenaline and fear works its way into his senses, and three heartbeats overlaid, two hummingbird fast and one slow and plodding, and that's what does it. Instinct digs its claws in, as sharp as his own, and he lopes down the hallway towards the sounds of shouting. A glance towards the smaller form, and then towards the larger, and he really doesn't need an excuse to attack. Doesn't really care, he's been on edge since he first got here, just anticipating a fight that never came.

It's not heroism that inspires him. Not the urge to do right, or to protect those smaller or weaker than he is. It's just predatory instinct and convenience, plain and simple.

He lunges for the captain, claws out, a leap not unlike a lion's pounce. Aiming for his back, somewhere to latch on, not really concerned about where to go from there. He's got ten knives on his fingers, he'll figure it out.]