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

[spam]

[tentacruelest]

[Smart boy, Victor, even when he's not trying to be; as Davy bears down on Lilith, claw out, his back is left unprotected. This is fairly crucial: as slow as Davy turns, and for however powerful that claw arm is, he has relatively little protection or shielding from the back, and is soft and vulnerable when stabbed from behind.

He gives a roar of rage and pain and twists hard to try and get at the boy clinging to his back, attempting to swat or yank Victor off. His attention is successfully pulled from Lilith, this new threat far more irritating]

[tentacruelest]

Hopefully sooner than that.

[tentacruelest]

I don't plan to.

[tentacruelest]

Think again, boy.

[calamari and spam]

[clockworkflower]

[Lilith lets out a positively earsplitting, shrill yell of combined fear for her big damn hero new friend Victor and the sheer thrill of seeing him pounce. WHAT IF HE GETS HURT ARGH.

Naturally, she tries to help. Retreat doesn't really find its way into this girl's vocabulary till she's a bit older. So she aims her marble at the squidman's face, and follows up by launching herself at the clawed arm; she's not over keen on being nipped with it, but she thinks maybe if she can catch hold of it by the elbow she can stop him hurting Victor.]

[princelingofpuzzles]

Maybe you should follow your own advice once in awhile.

[with_my_teacup]

Likely a very little sooner. Only a very little.

[His prim, finicky smile is still obviously a straight-up troll.]

[runslikethewind]

What do you enjoy about it?

[calamari and spam]

[justplaying]

[As Davy twists and turns Victor only digs in tighter, pulling his legs up to dig heels in to keep his purchase. He shifts his heels one at a time to get his shoes off in order to get more surfaces to keep his grip; he's got ten claws on his toes too, and zero hesitation in using them to keep his perch, growling the entire time, something closer to animal than human. From there it's a matter of raking his claws, trying to tear through skin to get him to stop, get to the soft parts where all the good stuff is. Claw his eyes out if he can get to them. He's not letting go, and he's too stubborn to give in no matter how furious Davy's retaliation. he can heal, or so he's still certain. No matter what he's dealt, he'll get better.]

[calamari and spam]

[tentacruelest]

[Lilith and her screaming is of little consequence when compared to the porcupine that's the vicious little Victor; her gripping his claw goes equally unnoticed, since it's about the weight and width of a felled tree. Lilith, when she seizes the claw, is easily plucked up off her feet and swung around with the arm's movement.

Less easy is Victor, who seems to be trying to claw his way through to Davy's insides. The barnacles weighing heavily on the sea coat provides some protection, but none where the claws dig in between them. He can't quite reach behind his back to seize Victor, but when Victor brings his arms around to Davy's face, the tentacles that make up his beard latch hard onto the boy's arms, wrists, hands, elbows, anywhere they can reach. If Victor can't pull free, the sea captain will be heaving the brat up and over his head by his own wrists]

[tentacruelest]

I enjoy nothing about my life, or of sailing.

[tentacruelest]

Such blind confidence.

[tentacruelest]

And maybe you ought to scamper off before I give you a tanning you won't soon forget.

[with_my_teacup]

You should laugh at fate more often. There is a great deal to be said for being facetious even while one knows one is mortal.

[tentacruelest]

A great idiocy, more like.

[with_my_teacup]

You are very sullen. Mockery adds spice to life. It has made mine peppery.

[tentacruelest]

I have good cause to be sullen. There is nothing in my life worth laughing about.

[with_my_teacup]

The more reason to laugh. Do you think I have been so merry for my advantages?

[tentacruelest]

I fail to see what merriment has done to improve your lot.

[with_my_teacup]

It has in its time terrified bounty hunters, kept my will to live, and occasionally lifted my mood. Quite useful for a mere vocalization.

[tentacruelest]

I was immortal, once. And I was not hunted.

[calamari and spam]

[clockworkflower]

[Okay, THAT she didn't expect - Lilith at this age hasn't acquired the understanding of mass and physics that Iris will - but she's brave and determined. She hangs on like a little cursing limpet, and the great thing about being lifted bodily off the ground is that it frees up both her legs for kicking.

She tries to bite, too, in between an astonishing range of swearwords for someone her age. Not that even she thinks that'll do much good at this point; but if she lets go she's liable to be thrown against a wall and that's going to hurt.]

[with_my_teacup]

I can laugh at your scoffing too, you know.

Now eat something and leave the children alone. I cannot stand gossiping with you all day. What is your breakfast?

[tentacruelest]

I'll get my own breakfast.

[with_my_teacup]

As long as it is not a course of little children you are entirely welcome to.