Light ventures below... to find out what's going on.  And, possibly, to get those books.

The darkness beneath the deck was something his lens pierced well.  Nor was it total darkness - outside it was day, and despite the fog light (off-blue and gray) streamed in through gaps in the deck and the occasional open doorway.  The ship rocked, creaked, and groaned... but Light knew those sounds concealed the presence of something else.

Some... woolen... thing lurked.

With a pair of books.  And absent one hat.

Murleena was following.  Her eyes were quite comfortable in the dark.  As she scanned the dark halls, she caught glimpses of movement from old spider webs... but nothing more.  Not wool, her eyes confirm, or anything that devious.  But it does show the emptyness of this place...

Besides them.

Murleena was quiet.  But Light?

Stealth wasn't exactly his forte.  She can hear him, but the ghost?  Keeping her ears perked, she struggled to tell where it might be.  At the moment?  She hears nothing new...
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:01, Mon 08 Jan.

Light moves down the stairs to the first 'below decks' level, stopping to look around for the way down further, he finds a trapdoor which he promptly opens before carefully climbing the attached ladder down into the very bowels of the ship.

'Hello? Ghost lady?' he thought it was probably a female spirit, but perhaps it could have been a child spirit... He shook his head, not like he was some expert on the Spirit World. He wasn't even 100% sure it was a spirit. It could just be some kind of weird golem thing with a personality made from magic or some such.

'I brought your hat with me, in case it makes it easier on you to appear again.' he said, holding out the hat.

Just a moment of your time, and a portion of your mind, baby.

Murleena stays hidden in the shadows as she follows behind Light. She paid caution towards their foe as she looked around with her darkvision. Occasional ear twitches and sniffs at the air would also help her search, as she eventuallu moved past Light.

There was silence as they crept down.  Murleena took sniffs, but her prey didn't seem to give off any scent.  Irritating.  Listening sharply, she could at least hear quite well... and see quite nicely in the dark.  As Light holds out the hat and speaks, the ship rocks around them.

Silence...

Then a rustling noise.  Above?  "H-hat?  My hat."  It was on the floor above, but sounded like it was also beside them... either side of them... sounds of something moving, above and around.  But the sounds above were moving over to the hatch, the very one Light and Murleena climbed down.

"Captain's hat.  Captain's hat."

'Does she not know where we are, or is she super aware of where we are?' Light mostly asked the air.

He wasn't at all sure that anyone who answered would even know the truth about the knitted ghost or what to do about it.

'A moment of your time, if you're up for company... I'd like to hear your tale, I'm sure you have one about the hat, the ship and perhaps what became of the crew?'

'Hello?' His mother said if you don't know something, you could try asking someone who might. The absence of anyone bar the odd existence they had encountered made it clear that Light should converse with it/her.

"Part of the crew??"  The voice chirps.  From the top of the ladder, he can see the tangled yarn of red... its hair.  Little black orbs peer down, and a 'mouth' parted in the fabric (not unlike old puppets he saw in towns) as it spoke.  "My adventure!  In my books!"

From behind it, Light can pick out the coils of its body moving around... long lengths of wool and fabric as it apparently maneuvered itself around up there.  The doll/puppet peered at Light... at least, he was pretty sure it was staring.

It couldn't seem to blink, after all.

"Did you come to join my adventure??  On the high seas!  Rescuing maidens and fighting sea dragons!!"  The doll began almost tumbling in place in mid-air, rolling about in excitement at the door of the hatch.

Light ponders the question then after having his hand at his chin in deep thought, he makes a decision.

'I, Light Vessel, The Chef who Dances, seek a brave, resourceful type, to aid me both in and out of the Galley, where needed, be it to create cullinary wonders of the world to satiate the appetites of the hungry, quench thirsts, appease cravings. Beyond that we may need to escort the very important persons between places both dull or exciting, do battle with the misguided and monstrous, or delve into the dark places in search of adventure, treasure, or tales that excite and amaze listeners about the campfire.'

'Who might you be, spirited soul?' he asks.

'Do you answer the call to adventure?' he adds at the end.

If he is reading the situation right, this spirit seeks adventure. Something the crew of the Darkmaiden's Dance seems to keep encountering whether they want it or not. Maybe that will be the best way to get the stranger to talk about itself and become a friend?

He hoped it harbored no whimsical murder thoughts, though it seemed to resemble the mind of a child.

OOC: It was tempting to break out the 'Thee! Thou! Hark! Yonder!' etc, soooo very tempting. Not sure if Light would be familiar with that though, so I tried to keep it in.

There was a rattle and tumble.  The doll rolled off and into something?  But it returns.  Red wool spills down the hatch as it lowers its head, peering down at him.  It had red 'hair' that tangled down over its face as it looked to stare at him for a long few moments.

"Captain... adventure?  Satiate, facilitate!"  It slowly lowered down the hatch, past the rungs of the ladder as it hung from its long arms.  White cloth and wool for its hands and arms, white and red stripes along its sleeves, and a blue dress that looked weathered around the edges.  The... creature was made of a rough fabric for what it was, a mix of different fabrics and wool that was nonetheless not patchwork... closer to an older toy, perhaps a hand-me-down?

Then it falls, and flops to the ground.  From the floor, it's long arms began to flop about, feeling around as it got up.

"Where the cat, where it at?  Are you here, are you fat?"  It began to stand up on small wooden shoes, and walked towards Light.

.oO{It rhymes... A quirk of a developed personality or one forced onto it?}

Light twitched once when it just fell on the floor from the ladder. Like one might watching a baby have its first fall, he felt a twinge of concern, but the wool body of the creature/toy/ghost whatever didn't seem to weigh enough or be brittle enough to break, an advantage of being wooly. Still it startled the Sunstreaker Islander briefly, and he found he had to catch himself from rushing over to check if it/she/he/they were okay.

'Firstly a test of wits.'

'I have one, one at least. As do most creatures, man or beast. The cat has one, my Captain too, yet while they are ours, and ours alone, it is others who use them the most. I have told you mine, and the cat's I do know. But yours, you have not yet shared, for only you know.'

Would the wooly thing be capable of deciphering riddles as well as making them? He wondered if it's apparent bookish smarts might give it problem solving or whether this was too hard basket.

He also thought he heard someone shouting above, but this felt like it might be more important.

Murleena sat back in the darkness of the shadows, watching and listening to the conversation between Light and the Doll. For now it was entertaining, but even that had a limit of time. She would begin to look around for the books, shifting through the shadows and darkness as if she was a part of them in her quest to both listen to the discussion, and find the books.

The books... aren't in sight, not from what Murleena could tell.  Where did this thing put them?

The doll-thing was ambling over towards Light.  At his proclamation at a 'test of wits', the doll suddenly paused!  The red head tilts, and it began to settle back.

After a minute, maybe two, it sat back up!  "A name!  I'm Anna!"  The doll was doing something akin to an odd dance on the ground.  "This means I can go on the adventure?"  Very much like some kind of strange child, (she?) trotted over towards him.  The doll couldn't really be past Light's knee, and peered up at him as one of her mitt-hands adjusted a battered gray scarf that was twisted around her neck.

That bit of cloth definitely felt different than the rest of the ensemble, like it was an affectation added after the fact.  It was more like a tattered cape around her shoulders than a scarf, given the size of 'Anna'.

The interior of the ship grew mistier, and Light heard the call from above again.  Whatever was going on, they might be running out of time...

'Yes! A name indeed!' replied Light as he at least now knew that Anna could think or that someone had taught it something along the lines of the riddle.

'I think our Captain, Rosanhi the Red, might be asking for us to return to her mighty vessel. I'm not sure if we'll be back here, so if you are interested in adventure and exploration and some boring bits in between, then grab what you can carry with you, and join us up top.' he hoped Anna wasn't somehow bound to the ship, or worse, try to prevent her visitors from leaving.

While a bit freaky, he didn't seem to note any obvious malice in her.

The doll scurried over to the ladder, and its limbs seemed to stretch out.  Not really stretch... more like unravel?  Or maybe there was a lot of wool and cloth packed in those arms at normal times.  But it scurried upwards... into the rest of the ship.

Leaving Light and Murleena on the lower deck of a creepy ship.

Murleena's ears swear she hears something -tap- against the outside of the ship.  Just once, like the ship was... nudged by something.  Or poked.  Or tested...

Light started up the ladder/stairs to the next level, looking for Anna as he ascended. If he saw her books, then he might grab those too, if it looked like the wooly one was interested in joining the crew. The tap from outside got his interest. Was someone outside the ship tapping?

Was it above or below the water line?

So many questions, but he kept heading up to the deck to see what if anything, was happening topside.

Murleena would follow Light up the ladder stopping next to him. Out of the darkness her walk with shadows ability wasn't as strong, so a shimmer might be able to be seen. Still, she'd only keep it up for a moment longer before dropping it and becoming visible next to Light. "Murleena heard something give the ship a nudge, just once, on that side just below the water."

Then she looked at Light a moment, and added. "Murleena also feels that perhaps if Light asked Anna to bring Anna's books, Light could do so under the premise that the Captain enjoy's reading and would like to read them with Anna." She said with a small nod. "Murleena feels that would let Anna retain ownership of her books, and allow the Captain to read them as she wishes. Then Anna could join us."

Light almost backsteps into the ship when Murleena 'de-cloaks'. It was especially freaky for a fellow who's powers currently revolved around his strange Cyber-Eye Powers. After catching his breath, he hears the Cat girl who wants to be Batman out and nods.

'Well it doesn't have to be the Captain per se, but yeah, we'll give that a go.'

'Anna? Bring your books with you too and anything else small enough to carry and we'll begin our adventures!' calls out Light through cupped hands.

He wondered whether what knocked on the hull from without was Anna's friend.