1x1 Dragon/Color

[ColorCoffee]

She staggered out of the bed, wobbling trying to catch her balance. Today was the day, and she dreaded it more than she though she would. She didn't want to go back out into the city and she especially didn't want to get on a boat and travel across the sea. Alas, she had no where else to go except where Gawain went, so she ran her fingers through her greasy, matted hair and followed Gawain out of the inn and onto the streets. It was early and even the sun was struggling to wake up and make its way above the horizon. Even in the early hours of the morning the streets were chaotic. Fisherman were rushing to either get to their boats to beat the heat of the afternoon or coming back from fishing in the cool of the night. She followed Gawain to where the horse had been tied. Valentine walked up to the mare and rubbed her snout. She knew what was coming next.

[DragonDream]

Prince Gawain: Robin Fletcher
Gawain felt bad about having to sell the horse. It was better to let her be somewhere that she was safe and doing the kind of work she was meant to do instead of carting the two of them around though. Leading the mare away he asked around the waking city if anyone knew of someone who would take the horse off his hands. They ended up trekking all the way back to the outskirts of the city to find a farmer who Gawain spent a great deal of time negotiating with and lying to, until finally he got a decent price for the horse that wasn't a total loss.

Then, walking all the way back into the city where people were beginning to rush about the streets they headed towards the docks. He was worried that it would take a while to track down the man he was looking for, but they found him with his large ledger in hand signing in and charging those recently docking. After the small crowd left him Gawain approached. "We are looking for passage to Khira, and were wondering if any ships were headed that way soon?" he said getting straight to the point. The man looked them up and down, probably wondering what they were up to. Then he shook his head and looked down at his ledger, finger running down the page. After a moment he looked up.

"There is one ship at the port that is almost ready to leave. They are set to depart sometime this morning. The ship is the Wailing Wretch, and it is a merchant ship." he said, then pointed them in the direction of where it was docked. Holding tightly to Valentine he headed over to find the ship. Men were loading cargo onto the ship as they approached. Gawain immediately pinpointed the captain who was standing by checking off things as they were loaded up. Straightening up he approached the man, who looked up as they got closer. "Can I help you?" he asked sternly.

"You are going to Khira?" Gawain asked, and the man nodded. "It seems like you are the only ship who is and we are looking to get over there. Is there any way that we could pay you to take us over there? We won't get in the way and if you need help I can assist while we are aboard." Money seemed to interest the man, but his price was a little too high. So Gawain did what he did best and started chipping away at him, lowering the price to what he could afford and to where they would have enough money when they got there. Finally the man agreed begrudgingly, and allowed the two of them on board. Relieved Gawain paid him. He and Valentine walked up onto the deck of the ship, moving out of everyone's way. "Well. I guess this is it then." he said looking to the land, his brow furrowed.

[ColorCoffee]

They climbed onto the ship together. Valentine wobbled back and forth and the waves gently rocked the boat. She was struggling to walk and get out of the way of the workers. When Gawain finally found a place to be out of the way, Valentine plopped down onto the floor of the boat not being able to take much more. She looked at the land and said farewell in her head as if she would never see it again. It took everything in her not to cry. This was her homeland. It was all she ever knew, and now she has to kiss it goodbye, possibly never to be seen again. She watched as the crew carefully brought the last few cargo boxes on board. The captain did a quick glance at the list making sure everything had made it. He climbed aboard the ship and demanded for the boat to set sail. The anchors were pulled up and the sails drawn to catch the breeze. The boat slowly left the dock and headed out to sea. Valentine's heart sank as the view of land disappeared over the horizon. She looked at Gawain, "How long before we reach Khira?" she asked him. praying it wouldn't take longer than a week.

[DragonDream]

Prince Gawain: Robin Fletcher
Taking a seat down beside Valentine he watched with nervous silence as they departed. Once again he felt like he was running from his problem. He had already left his homeland behind, but now the distance was only growing. It was sickening. After a while he closed his eyes, unable to watch as the land faded away to nothingness. Val's voice brought him back to reality and he turned to look at her. "If we maintain the wind like we have it now and don't get caught up in any storms it should only take about four or five days depending on the ship's speed and how frequently they may stop. It is a lot worse sailing from Valmorn." he said quietly.

[ColorCoffee]

"I can only imagine." She has so many questions she wants to ask him about his kingdom and his life, but is too afraid to ask. Especially right now with all these people around. She finds it best to wait. She stares off at the vast blue sea around them. They are now at the mercy of the sea. She can only pray that it will be a smooth several days of travel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Valentine wakes up to the sun just barely peaking over the horizon. It was earlier than she had hoped to wake up, but she knew there was no going back to sleep. She looked down at Gawain who was still sound asleep and slightly snoring. She smiled at how peaceful he looked. He had been on edge like her ever since they got on the boat. Valentine decides not to wake him and carefully creeps up to the top deck. Once up top a few of the crew members gave a nod as if to say good morning. After a couple days on being on the same boat as these guys, she had gotten comfortable with their presence. She made her way to the front of the boat where she just stood there looking over the sea. It was strangely peaceful to her now. She had only been out at sea for two days, but she had already fallen in love with it. Now she is unsure what she was so worried about. About that time the crew members began to scramble and chaos begin flow across the deck. She looked to see what all the commotion was about. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so it couldn't be a storm. She stopped and pondered. If it wasn't the weather, what else is there to be worried about. At that moment the lad up in the crows nest shouted ""PIRATES!"
Valentine's heart stopped. Pirates were only a thing of myth to her since she grew up no where near the coast, but her father always told tales of them that he had gotten from his trips to the port cities. She frantically looked around unsure of what to do. Jumping over board wasn't an option, but just standing there wasn't either. She ran over to the closest crew member and asked what she needed to do. "Hide and pray they spare your life, that's all you can do." He ran off grabbing a sword from a fellow crew member. Valentine went to go and get Gawain but before she could reach the door, the pirates were making their way onto the cargo ship. She stood there, frozen in fear, unable to move a muscle. One by one they flooded onto the deck. She watched as they held the crew members hostage, killing the ones who tried to fight back. As her body began to respond and she tried to slowly step back, one of the filthy men grabbed her from behind, holding her hands behind her back. She looked back at him, "Let me go!" She demanded, kicking, trying to break free.
"Well, well, well." A voice says to her. "Look what we have here!" A tall figure walked in front of her. Judging by the way he was dressed, she could only assume he was the captain. He grabbed her jaw and looked her right in the eye, " Hello doll"

[DragonDream]

Prince Gawain: Robin Fletcher
The man smiled at the girl as the chaos around him faded as his men finished off those who were foolish enough to try and fight. His guess had been right and their weapons were more for show and to intimidate, but none of them could actually fight. It was strange to him that they had a woman on board with them. Then again their ship was named the Wailing Wretch. His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer when there was once again a fight that had broken out. Turning around he saw that a man had came out of nowhere and was wielding a sword. He could tell right away that he was no sailor, and the way he held his weapon along with his stance meant that he was trained. Still he looked like a street rat. That street rat was about to learn a lesson.

Gawain had awoken to the sounds of screaming and fighting above him. Valentine was nowhere in sight and he instantly began to panic. A body fell down the stairs, and he took the sword that was still in its sheath and ran to the top deck. When he saw that they had Valentine he was furious, and began furiously wielding his sword against the pirates that hadn't seen him coming. He had downed two of them when the man, who he assumed was the captain approached him. While Gawain looked furious, the captain looked mildly irritated. He drew his sword and grinned confidently at Gawain. He knew that fighting him was pretty foolish considering they had already taken over the ship and he was incredibly outnumbered but all he could think about was Valentine and protecting her from the pirates. So he swung and their swords collided. The longer it went on he could see that the man was just toying with him, and finally it seemed he grew bored of his game and began to furiously attack him. As hard as he tried he couldn't keep up with the blows that he was dealing. Never in his life had he seen someone so skilled with a sword. If he wasn't on the other side of it that would have been a remarkable thing to see. Finally he feigned and Gawain didn't see in time to block the sword, and it came down hard into his side, then across his lower leg bringing him to the ground. The bloodied sword was aimed at his throat, and the captain looked around.

"Now, would anyone else like to try something like that?" he asked, looking around with a raised brow. When everyone was silent he glared down at Gawain. "You know, I am a little disappointed. I had hoped for once there would be a challenge. Killing you just isn't going to be fun now. What a pity." he said raising his sword arm, readying himself to finish Gawain off.

[ColorCoffee]

She watched as the two men fought. Her heart pounded harder with every clank of the swords. The fight finally ended when the pirate captain stabbed Gawain. "NOO!!!" Valentine cried out. Tears began falling from her cheeks. Her fear and sorrow quickly changed into rage. Adrenaline worked its way through her body. With all her strength she kick the man holding her where the sun don't shine causing him to wince over in pain. When he let his guard down she quickly grabbed his sword from the sheath, and sprinted over to Gawain. She scooped him up into her lap with one hand, while wielding the sword in the other. She looked at his wound. He was bleeding profusely. She looked him in the eyes,"It's going to be ok,I promise, you're going to be ok, YOU HAVE TO BE OK!!!" She quickly ripped off another piece of her dress and turned it into a make shift bandage. She carefully tied it around him trying to stop the bleeding. Tears falling from her eyes she stroked Gawain's cheek. He was getting cold. She pulled him up closer to her chest and held him tight. Fire blazed in her eyes as she averted her direction to the man who had done this to Gawain. Through gritted teeth she spat, "What do you want with us?" She drew the sword up, ready to fight, even though shes knew she wouldn't be able to.

[DragonDream]

Prince Gawain: Robin Fletcher
There was never even the opportunity to strike as the screaming girl threw herself over the bleeding man. The captain stepped back, admiring her ferocity. She was just as bravely foolish as he had been. It made sense now why she was on the ship. She had been with him. The girl was desperately trying to help the one he stabbed. It would be so easy to just finish both of them. However he appreciated the lengths that she was willing to go through for the man. Her question left him with a stern expression. What do you want with them. he thought, weighing whether or not they were worth keeping alive. He didn't see himself killing her. Her friend however... not that it would matter if he kept waiting. "Take all of the cargo onto the ship, including these two. Get Bailey, tell him to try not to kill this one while patching him up. Leave the rest." he said to his men. The hostages were being pushed to one end of the ship and the rest of the pirates began to raid the hold of its cargo. Turning to look back down at the crying girl he frowned at the sword shaking in her hand. "I'd advise you to give Clary his sword back doll, but I won't make you apologize for taking him down." he smiled. Beckoning a rather large deckhand of his over he told him to grab the one he had nearly killed. "I'd advise you to behave unless you want him to become shark bait. You two are coming with me. As for what I want, I guess we will find out." he said motioning for her to get up so that his deckhand could help the injured one onto his ship.

Gawain gasped in pain as he was scooped off the ground. His side burned but for some reason everything was becoming increasingly numb. He could taste blood in his mouth and his vision was fading in and out until finally he couldn't stay awake any longer.

[ColorCoffee]

Reluctantly, Valentine stood by and let the man carry Gawain away. She glared at the captain, oh if looks could kill. She threw the sword back over to the man she took down who as still bent over in pain. She crossed her arms in defiance and mockingly asked, "And where do I go?"

[DragonDream]

Prince Gawain: Robin Fletcher
The girl was very clearly enraged, and the look she was giving him only seemed to further his amusement. “You can come with me. I wouldn’t want any of my men giving you trouble.” he smiled and began to lead her over to his ship. The Sea Wolf was his pride and joy. It was a ship build for speed and durability and the craftsmanship was unmatched. Made of dark wood it was easily recognizable by its blue sails and the flag bearing his mark. He offered out a hand to help the girl across the boarding plank, unsure whether or not she would need help crossing. After all, she seemed pretty daring after what she had done.