=========================== Saving the World Again Chapter 11: Scientists Steal Ships by the Sea Shore Started by Thomas Wilde This Chapter? Why, by No one in particular =========================== Catherine was getting bored. It’d been ages since she had started looking for Miss Aquila, and there had been no sign of her yet! True, the threat of being caught by the soldiers loomed ever present, but it loomed in the same way that falling down stairs did. It could happen, but only if you really weren’t paying attention and tripped. “Ooh! Ooh! Princess! Look what I found! LOOK! LOOK!” ...or if someone happened to surprise you at just the wrong time. Quickly grabbing Mewly, the princess dashed for the nearest door before the guards even finished bothering to turn around. Certain she was safe, now that there was a doorway between her and the guards, Catherine focused on what Mewly was clutching against it’s little pink body. “See? Sea shells! Aren’t they pretty?” For a moment, Catherine’s mind was carried away by the bright colors. “Ooh... this one’s green and pink and blue...” For a princess who regularly escaped from the castle, into the sea-side port town below, she didn’t visit the beach much. With a shake of her head, the part of her that would grow up to be the downfall of Biaka Wyzh (latest in a long line of dabblers in ‘realms man was not meant to plumb’) took over, and reminded the rest of her what needed to get done. “Mewly, we can’t get distracted! Miss Aquila must be in desperate need of our help!” * * * In truth, Aquila Clearwater, Captain of the Aqua Terror, most feared pirate since Dringo the Intimidating became Stumpy the Legless Beggar, was in desperate need of a good pain killer. She was bound, hand and foot, her head was pounding, and it wasn’t just from the mild concussion she now had. What was his name? Severed? Severn? Whatever it was, the little bureaucrat wouldn’t shut up... “...and that’s just another reason why ‘hero’s are such unpleasant people. I mean, really, who want’s justice for all? I suppose next they’ll be telling us to stop building foyers, because they’re impractical! And you know what really gets me? It’s the way...” Aquila tuned him out again, and tried to stop her head from exploding. * * * In the water, they silently whirred. Quick, purposeful, and most importantly, pointy. Shaped like screws, they shot through the water, and towards the hull of the ship passing over them. Through a trick of the dramatics, the glinted. * * * “...and- are you listening to me? I’ll have you know, once we’re finished with Mr. Kestrel and Mrs. Llewellyn, you will be facing some serious charges yourself, Miss Clearwater. I’m sure you’re familiar with the more prominent ones, so let’s take a look at the more obscure debaucheries you’ve had a hand in.” Aquila’s eyes focused a little. Her head pounded a lot. What... what had happened? Last thing she remembered was being jumped by those goons from the Hero’s Guild... and then... then... waking up and being told that Cochran had surrendered. After that, everything was a haze... She turned her head and looked around the room. Searching through a trunk that she was sure wasn’t normally in her room (it had stickers saying ‘Property of Hero’s Guild. Do Not Touch’ in several languages on it) was that man! Septum... Sovereign... whatever his name was. If he got a little closer, she just might be able to grab him with her legs and... Severn stood up, scroll in hand. It was as long as his arm, and twice as thick. “Now, Miss Clearwater, your record of minor crimes and infractions.” Wait, what? “To be thorough, I will read them in chronological order, starting with the time when you, age five, viciously attacked your sister, and stole her lollipop. Next, you-“ Aquila’s eyes started to glaze over again. Just before she slipped into what would have been a rather lengthy, self-induced coma, the entire ship pitched to one side. As the floor was swinging up to meet her, Aquila wondered if the man would keep talking underwater... Then she went into a pretty short, floor-induced coma. * * * She was dedicated. She was unswerving from her goal. She had the intelligence, the courage, the speed, and the cute sidekick to save the day! “Oh! Oh oh oh oh OH! Look! An eyepatch! Somebody must have dropped it!” Mewly quickly put it on. “Arrr! Avast, ye scalawag! I be fierce pirate! Arr!” Catherine suppressed a giggle, and tried to think. Where could they be holding Miss Aquila? They’d already checked the entire- The ship suddenly lurched to one side. Catherine cried out, and would have hit her head very hard, if Mewly hadn’t been sitting right where he was. As it turned out, Mewly ended up a little bit shorter, and a little bit wider. Standing up again, Catherine looked around and asked, “What was that?!” * * * Panting and puffing, two of the small group of three reached the top of the bluffs. The third followed a bit behind, not nearly as out of breath. Slowly the beach had given way to gentle inclines, then steep inclines, then eventually abusive inclines, and finally it had flattened out again. Then, it had just stopped. Such was the nature of cliffs. Julian took the opportunity to collapse, making the effort to make it look like he was trying to get a better look at the Aqua Terror. “I think... if we go down the other side... *pant*... we might be able to take them by surprise... *wheeze*” Darrow didn’t even bother with pretenses. He just fell over and gasped for breath. Hanz stretched his arms and took a deep breath. Ah, it felt good. Not the same way that getting really drunk felt good, but a kind of good that it had been too long since he’d felt it. The clenching of muscles, the sweat of long, low-stress exertion, the sudden rocking of the boats, right before they sank out of sight, the way the sun felt as it... wait a minute... “GAH! ARICA!” Moving faster than an exhausted hero, Hanz reached over and picked Julian up before he managed to throw himself off the cliff in a thoughtless attempt to get to the bottom as soon as possible. * * * The small man beamed with pleasure. “Ah! Excellent! Now, Harold, how long will it be before we can begin refitting the ship?” The man picked up the box he had been tinkering with. “We can begin as soon as the crew of the ship are dealt with, Professor. Speaking of which... what do you want done with them?” The man looked up at Harold. “Throw them in the dungeon, of course! What are you waiting for?” Harold coughed. “Professor, may I remind you that due to the nature of your experiments, and some of the equipment it required, certain cutbacks had to made in the budget? Many non-essential items were dropped, in the hopes of being acquired at a later date. A couple of things of particular interest include the lock to the dungeon door, as well as the dungeon door itself.” The Professor put his work down, and stared at Harold. “...Are you serious?” Harold nodded. “Remember, Professor? You said at the time that you were a scientist, not a dictator, and you would never need a dungeon. You were even thinking of turning it into an extra parlor, going so far as moving a couple of sofas in, and putting some wallpaper up.” “...Well, that certainly makes things more difficult. I don’t suppose that if we asked nicely, they would stay there any way, would they?” “Probably not, Professor. I should think they would be quite upset, and go about being difficult. Perhaps we should just... kill them?” “Nonsense! That would be quite rude, and we’re above that. For goodness sake, Harold, we’re not barbarians.” “No, Professor, of course not.” “Tell them... tell them we saw that their ship was in trouble, and rescued them. We couldn’t save the ship, but would be glad to help them back to town. I don’t know, make it sound convincing.” “Yes, Professor.” * * * “...and that’s when the giant minnows started to attack.” “Giant minnows.” Severn glared uncertainly at the man in the clean white coat, standing before him. “I’ll let you in on a little known fact about giant minnows. They have a spot, right next to their dorsal fins, that if hit properly, will make them fall asleep! Lucky thing for you, we were there, otherwise you’d all be fish-food, eh, chum?” Harold smiled and nudged Severn. Severn looked blankly at where Harold had been nudging him. He then looked at Harold. “...Of course we would. Ah-ha-ha. Let me get see if I understand what happened, precisely. First, the ship’s hull was breached by the... let me see now, the... ‘deadly, horned jellyfish’ was it?” “Yes, but they were scared away when the fearsome plague-trout-” “’Plague-trout appeared, and set upon them like only a starving school of fifty-feet long creatures, whose very touch will cause a man’s arm to rot off, can.’ I believe those were the words you used.” “Uh... yes, more or less. Very intimidating creatures, those plague- trout...” “But not nearly as intimidating as the dreaded and unholy ‘giant minnow’ it would seem, since they swam away as soon as the first minnow showed up.” “Erm... right. Nothing much scarier than a giant minnow, swimming at you at head-on...” “But you just HAPPENED to know how to deal with them, and set about rescuing us, from what would certainly have been an unpleasant end. Hm.” Harold fidgeted nervously. Perhaps the giant minnows had been a bit too far... glancing around the room, he wondered why the two unconscious women had been propped up on one of the couches, and for the most part, were being ignored. Severn coughed, and Harold turned to face him. “I am only a lowly official for a guild, and not a regular traveler of the sea. As such, I can only thank you for your kind assistance. Now, if you will pardon us, I will be gathering up my men and we will be leaving.” With a curt nod, Severn walked towards a group of sailors(or were they soldiers?) that had been talking as soon as they had entered the dunge- parlor. Turning to leave, Harold made a mental note to mix a new batch of sleeping gas for the torpedoes. * * * Somewhere on the Aqua Terror, behind a pile of crates, a little princess and a familiar that couldn’t die slept quietly. =========================== Author’s Notes: See that? See all that stuff written up there? GARBAGE. It’s terrible! And it’s all my fault. Oh, sure I could make a dozen excuses, like how my brother just got Soul Caliber, or it was my birthday on Wednesday, or how I had ‘academic obligations’ like homework, or club meetings to attend. I could even try to get some pity by pointing out how this is my first time writing for an impro. But you know what the truth is? I just procrastinated, and ended up with... *waves hand upward* that. Hardly moved the plot, no specific bits I can point at with pride, and no character development... I mean, I never even described what Harold looks like! Or anyone, for that matter. Ugh. I stop talking now. -No one in particular