Suddenly, there is a sonorous roar from the water. It had the hollow, haunting quality of echoing whale song, but with a steady groan of metal. The water began to roil up in furious white foam next to the docks. The sound grew in its intensity and the rolling boil of the underwater fount quickened. Finally, a mast pierced the waters surface and a ship began to emerge.

The mast continued to rise, followed by more shorter masts and black sails all drenched in water. As the metal plated hull of the ship broke the surface, water splashed up over the docks and rolled up over the rocks, wetting anyone standing too close.

The ship was coated in pitch where there was exposed wood. The metal was not rusted but instead bearing a patina of green. The sails unfurled fully now that the ship was above water and you notice that the water draining off the sails seems to be running over an invisible barrier around the deck. Some sort of underwater breathing enchantment, no doubt. There was a gilded maiden as a figurehead and matching gilding along the hull announcing this vessel as 'Perditions Queen'.

Morgan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's Roberts..." he muttered under his breath.

In reply to Morgan Barbossa (msg # 77):

Most people would, at most, be surprised by the noise.  Gisela, however, actively cringed, her face draining of color.  Like a rabbit caught in a trap and uncertain of its next move, Gisela froze.  She couldn't take her eyes off the rising ship, despite seeing the theatrics before.

At least she now knew it was no sea-monster about to eat her as she'd thought the first time she'd seen the angry waters bubble up from the depths.  In her defense, she'd been six, and hadn't known what an Exile was.  Overhearing exile, monsters, and being fed to wolves, the child had thought the boiling pool was the Exile, the monster they were being fed to.

Strangely, she'd been less afraid then.

This time, Gisela had been out of the splash zone, probably to the disappointment of many men on the dock.  She cast a worried glance over her shoulder and back towards the center of the island.  She might be able to make it.  They wouldn't be desperate enough to hunt her down on the island, no doubt.  But where would she run to?  Like AJ, she had no home left.  Or, if she did, she doubted she'd last long.  Her mother would never forgive her and would find a way to finish what she'd tried so many times.

And AJ would never let her run.  It was an escape from parents and an adventure for AJ.  Anything to get off this rock.  And AJ was sure it would be good for Gi, too, given that she'd never fit in among the island inhabitants.  But, AJ didn't know the mainland as Gisela did.  And Gi never spoke of her family on the other side of the waters.

"Of course it's Roberts," Gisela says, finally snapping enough out of it to respond to Barbossa.  "Were you expecting otherwise?"  She frowned.  "Fitting," she muttered to herself, considering back to the last time she'd made this voyage and trying to recall what Roberts and his men had been like.  She shouldered her bag once more, grabbing her thermos and her cup of coffee.  She'd not been keeping an eye on either, so she'd not risk drinking it, but she made habit of keeping things clean.

"I'd not worry about the message, Nyxia," Gisela adds.  "And AJ, your father probably knows that as well as any one else does.  And I'll bet his goons heard you state it and saw your intentions."  She smiles.  "Besides, you always wanted to try out a big ship..."

In reply to Gisela O'Cuinn (msg # 78):

"I'm sure she has tried out big ships," S'ulfr commented dryly, apparently also unafraid of being shot.

Meanwhile, Wolf wordlessly picked up Gisela's bag a split second before she grabbed it.  He muttered something like "I'll help" as he did so.

Despite taking a few steps back Quinn still shook a few stray droplets from his overcoat as finished his smoke and flicked the butt down the pier.  "See now that is an entrance deserving of my attention," he stated with a smile.

Turning with an over-exaggerated bow to Ilsa he commented, "ladies first," a few seconds before he caught Shan's gaze and waved him forward so he knew that kindness included him too...

In reply to Quinten Heart (msg # 80):

Gisella and Quinten might as well have been talking to the pigeons on a park statue for all the attention AJ had left to pay them, "Yeah whatever you want Gi. Asshole will figure it out..yep...Why does such a lovely ship have to be captained by such a Wanna-Be?"

The "Dread Pirate" Roberts... was supposed to be the most feared pirate on the seas, but if that were even close to true he would have been on the island with the rest of them. No Captain Roberts, or who ever held the title now, worked for the Good Guys and by definition was no real pirate. Privateer maybe, but even then the more Dread ones of those got thrown in this island prison too so he could not be that bad.

It was like... Zorro with a Boat.  AJ bet she could take his pansy ass... and his boat too. Well maybe after she finished drooling over it. Only ships like this on the island resided at the bottom of the bay. It was were she did her best treasure diving as she dodged sea monsters and sharks to get at the goods still in their sunken holds. The next closest they had were a couple row boats and canoes meant for fishing and laying nets or traps.

Missy was so busy gawking at the ship, she hadn't fully prepared for the splash. This left she and Drizz a bit more damp than was preferable. She frowned sullenly as she glared at the ship. "How rude..." she muttered, stroking some water out of Drizz's fur.

A black clad man appears at the railing. He wears the traditional black costume of the dread pirate, including the black mask and the bandana tied around his head that was failing completely at holding back his wild, curly hair. His mustache bristled with a smile and he waved as the gangplank was lowered.

"Hello, hello, hello" he called jovially in his strange accent as he descended onto the dock. "I, if you did not know, am the Dread Pirate Roberts."

The next person down the gangplank had to be at least seven feet tall. He had curly hair as well and was built solid as a wall. He walked up behind the pirate, grinning. "And I'm Fezzick." He waved, adding, "Hi!"

Roberts sighed. "Just open the gate," he groaned.

The overlarge man nodded and pulled out a ring of keys. He started toying with the lock, trying to figure out which key fit it.

For his part, Jack was impressed.  He rose to his feet again, watching as the ship rose from the depths.  Its shining prow and gilded rails glittering in contrast to the darkened hull lent it a strangely sinister air.

He reached down, picking up his suitcase, clutching it tightly, watching the crew with hardened eyes and an impatient tap of his foot.

In reply to Her Majesty (msg # 83):

Soaking wet...again... in Mim's arms Drizz decided that the only thing that salvaged the whole day was the fair sized fish now hanging out of his mouth while Mim stroked water from his fur.
The shiny silver and blue thing wriggled and struggled...and then was slurped; that was the only possible description for the frightening way Drizz simply made the thing disappear into his mouth.

One second there was a fish bigger than his head and the next that flapping tail was disappearing into his mouth. He licked his lips and decided to go back to purring. Mim or a sun spot out on that ship would get him dry again.

"Well I went from impressed to disappointed in record time," Q muttered to his crew nearby under his breath.

In reply to Quinten Heart (msg # 86):

Like the rest, Chance seems less than impressed.   He deadpans, "Oh Goody..."  The teen puts his hands in his pockets, and decides to be snide, "So, Roberts... It's hard to find good help these days, isn't it?"  He doesn't glance at the Giant... but, it's written all over his sarcasm...

In reply to Chance (msg # 87):

Gi heard S'lfur.  However, as AJ was willing to ignore it and Gi wanted no more conflict, she didn't address it.  As Wolf grabbed her bag, however, she started to protest.  "No, I've got - " Gisela began, though pulled her hand back as it accidentally brushed Wolf's.   She'd thought it was Henrik at first, with his faux chivalry, or one of the others with quick fingers.  But she was fairly certain Wolf was just being nice.  "I mean, I, uhm, thank you, Wolf."  She shifted to stand by him, as he was, after all, holding her backpack.

As Chance spoke, the slight smile that had formed at Wolf's civility - the only true civility thus far - faded.  "Be quiet, Chance.  Or be nice.  Your choice."  He wasn't as likely to be good at the second, or even the first, but it was worth a try.  Still there was conviction there, which would either encourage him to try and refrain.  Or, more likely, to challenge her.  "He's good people," she states.  She studies the gentle giant.  "Though I always thought he was much taller," she admitted.  Then again, someone over seven feet tall would always seem huge to a six year old.

She remembered both Roberts and Fezzik.  She remembered them being kind to her on the trip to the island.  Kindness was considered weakness to most on the island, and these kids hadn't been exposed much to it.  The few times they had, most didn't trust it.  But she remembered unrequired, yet freely given, kindness offered, one of the last few times she'd experienced it.  And she wasn't letting Chance ruin it.

In reply to Her Majesty (msg # 83):

Alani hides behind Alameth as the ship surfaced, Alani is masked by Alameths mass and the only part of her that remains seen is her fluffy tail (which now looks like it is sprouting from Alameth himself). Her ears twitch as she hears keys rattling trying to open the gate.She pokes her head around his hip to see if the wave of water is gone and to make sure there will not be another one. She looks up to Alameth as she stands up beside him, "Spying is not a very goody good quality." She hopes to herself the trip goes smoothly.

Nyxia flitted back to AJ, having finished delivering the requested message.  Keeping herself well above Drizz, she hovered in place.  She popped a thumb into the air as a signal of her success.

"Ooh," She cooed. "A giant. He's enormous! I bet he could take on an entire Brute Squad!"

Alameth places his chain down on the cart again, a silent laugh at Alani showing on his face. "Looks like they finally arrived. Maybe we can finally get out of here. Been waiting for this for a while." he signs after getting Alani's attention.

He doesn't show much of a reaction to the ship's arrival other than prepping his cart and angling it towards the ship and waiting for the time when they can finally board and get off this rock. He does make a quick glance back towards the direction his father resides as if he could see him from this distance. The vision of his father fades quickly and a look of sorrow replaces his emotionless face as he looks back towards the ship.

In reply to Alameth (msg # 91):

When Alani sees Alameth spirit fade she flicks her tail playfully under his nose as she starts to help put things away. "It won't be so bad" she whispers to him.

In reply to Alani (msg # 92):
"Thank you Nyxia," Aj said absently not taking her eyes off her chance to really get out to sea. Those betting on who would take a swim first might want to consider that she would be perfectly willing to just dive in and swim the rest of the way to the mainland herself once they were outside the barrier just for the joy of it.

Then she was seeing the giant man fumbling with the keys and suddenly imagied it was going to take weeks for him to find the right one. That meant she was NOT going to get off this island or even more importantly ....out on that SHIP. On about the third key of maybe forty on that big key chain her cheek twitched, On the fifth one she developed a minor tick... on the eighth key she stepped forward and in a fluid motion drew her sword and cut straight through one of the iron chain links that hung on the kids side of the fence.

In a clattering that did not quite over power the ringing of the metal on metal impact the chain rolled through the fence onto the giants side so he was left holding a lock...and two lengths of chain. Aj was breathing like she was calming down after a fight as she said in a tone that was as close to diplomatically devoid of sarcasm as she ever got, "Sorry. Looked like you could use some help. I am sure your buddy the blacksmith on the cart back there can stick a new link on that before we go."

And with that she picked up Nyxia's home and sidestepped the big man to start heading up the pier....

Nyxia zipped after AJ.  She fluttered close to the sword, examining it for damage.  With a whistle, she wondered if the blade was magic.  To just slice through metal like that... It was probably weak steel on that chain.  And AJ was super strong.  Of course, everyone was super strong when she compared them against herself.

"Hey," Quinn called out to Chance and Lola.  "You still taking bets on the first one tossed in the drink and made to swim back?  Cause I've got a bet!"

Gisela hesitated.  She trusted Wolf more than a good deal of the people on the dock at the moment.  But, he still held everything in the world she held dear.  Did she trust him that far?

Apparently so as she moved from following AJ's friend and redirected over to Fezzik.  She had a few guesses why AJ had so much pent up energy, but she was directing it quite poorly and lashing out.  Although, the fat AJ could cut through the metal so easily with that sword was worrisome and somewhat physics defying.  It left her distracted as she considered AJ's actions, but shook it after a moment.

"Here, let me help with that," Gi stated, trying to re-thread the dirty chain, despite the pure white coloring of the majority of her gown.  Apparently, the princess wasn't afraid of dirt, even though she did her best to avoid getting it on her gown.  "It's that key, by the way.  The longer one with the extended tip and oval handle."  As she re-threaded it, she considered the length and if there was enough or if Alameth's services actually might be needed.

In reply to Gisela O'Cuinn (msg # 96):

Drizz wriggles out of Mim's grip and shakes itself free of some of the water that got splashed on it by the ships arrival.  That fish it slurped up had made up for some of that indignity so  the cat walks quickly up past Gi helping with the chain and even past AJ who was giving the goody-two-shoes crew men a 'You going to come at me bro?' look as the pirate lass headed for the gangplank.

Drizz just went straight for the best sunspot aboard ship and curled up to go to sleep.

"Oh don't get your dress dirty," the giant says to Gi in his throaty baritone as he effortlessly picks up the chain. He smiles toothily and adds, "It's so pretty."

Roberts, for his part, folds his arm and clucks disapprovingly at AJ. "While I admire a woman who knows how to handle a sword, I will have to ask that you keep it sheathed on board my ship."

"You're not going to disarm us?" Missy queries from the back.

He shakes his head and gives an 'after you' gesture toward the dock. "No. I like to run my ship with a measure of trust. Besides, you might need them." There was an ominousness in his tone that made it hard to discern whether or not he was joking. You might assume the joke in it, from his rakish smile.

"Hell holds no surprises for us..." Lola purrs as she slips up next to Gi, clearly ready to get off this rock.

"Aaaaaand there goes the once of respect," Quinn commented to his crew.  CK chuckled and even Ilsa smirked slightly.

Chance walks by the pair and comments to Lola, "You've seen a woman scorned too, eh?"   He grins to himself and continues onto the ship before stating over his shoulder, "Heaven... now... Heaven holds possibilites, though.   We'll see just how long that lasts, however."

As far as the weapons comment goes, Chance holds his hands up while leaning against the opposite rail, "Weapons?   Perish the thought..."