Daily #26 - Sergya Duplic and Delgon Culdos (cowritten by Nima)
But he had his pride. His teleporation ability was in the highest of leagues. He had to show that. Consequently, it was only his fifth teleporation, after a few run-ins with angry mountainous beasts, freezing winds, an ocean and more, that Sergya landed neatly on the deck of the Free Joker, a large crate behind him.
He stretched, raising his hands to the air, fingers interlocker, and gave the impression that this had just been no big deal at all. No one need ever know.
A lady adjusted her hat as she spotted the arrival of the yellowblood from the deck of the ship, grabbing a nearby rope and swinging down from her vantage point to meet with him. It was always troublesome landing the ship for resupply, so his services and the use of his power were vastly appreciated. "Spot on timing! I find myself fancying some lunch, bread and mead can't sustain this rowdy bunch forever." This was the captain of the ship, the pirate Delgon Culdos. Flashing the teleporter a smile, she lamented that he hadn't officially joined her crew yet.
"Had any problems with the cargo, mate?" She looked him over and saw the he was a bit worse for the wear, but as long as he came through she could admire his grit. Her powers were arguably stronger than his as she held the Free Joker afloat, but the ability to teleport through space was one that anybody could be jealous of.
"Nah, none." Sergya kept a close grip over his voice, made sure it didn't betray anything. Even for a troll like Delgon, who he admired and trusted enough to offer the full degree of his power to, Sergya controlled himself. That was just an aspect of who he was. "What about you?" he raised an eyebrow. "You've parked the old boat further out of the way than normal today."
"You gotta keep an eye and scope out for those overcompetent men and women of justice." Delgon laughed and scratched the back of her head, considering for a moment the strength of the enforcers and subjuggulators. "When you've got them on your tail, you might as well be a slab of meat in front of some hungry hounds! Hell if I'm afraid of a scuffle or two, but no need to invite raids when they can be avoided."
"Haha yeah," Sergya rubbed the back of his head, looking around. "But they've got no way of telling who's on the ship, right? Long as you're up in the air everything's fine?"
"As long as they don't have bilge rats onboard acting as spies." She eyed Sergya for a few moments, pretending to suspect him as a traitor. Breaking out of that with another laugh and hooking her arm around his neck, she lead him to move a few steps. "Up for a cuppa and some of the meat you brought up? Our galley isn't what you'd call gourmet, but a heartier meal has never been made!" A pair of trolls picked up the crate and ran ahead of them, moving it easily across the deck of the ship.
"Ah, thank you." It was uncommon at best for Sergya to be in such a friendly environment, he traditionally lived a loner lifestyle, his interactions with most people diving headfirst into muted aggression as he ran his everpresent gambits. Mostly it was only Makina and Demari he relaxed with. It had been an impulse, nearly a sweep ago now, that had made Sergya first teleport on board. Of course, that had been fun to talk his way out of, but Sergya was nothing if not skilled with his words. These days, once in a while he'd appear on board with new supplies for the crew, or special requests that had been made of him. It wasn't much, what he did, but it was something, helping the Free Joker, helping them rip the dignity of the highbloods asunder. It was something he was happy to be doing with his life.
"How have you all been lately?"
"Why don't you see for yourself!" With a surprising amount of strength, Delgon pulled Sergya along into the dining hall of the boat. Men and women of the high skies poured into the room after them, soon crowding the long tables completely. One trick to the Free Joker was that aside from Delgon and the positioning of the sails, it could be piloted by even just a handful of people due to her power. The sounds of music soon filled the hall as many who passed either greeted Sergya or gave him a [rather painful] pat on the back. For some odd reason, the familiar sights of first mate Verlis and navigator Viento weren't present.
"We've been doing well! Our raids have been treating us kindly, only a few limbs and fingers are missing from our crew as a whole, and we've now got beef! Life couldn't be better than onboard here." Her fangs were easily seen with how often she smiled, Delgon taking a quick pause from talking with Sergya to throw in her bet on a nearby gamble. After a few moments and the roll of the dice, she pocketed her winnings and returned to face him. "Can't be a pirate without a good bit of luck."
"For those of us with less freedom," Sergya reached over to the table, picking up and dropping the dice. Those sitting around it groaned at the result, before Sergya opened his hand to drop three more dice, all but identical to the originals, "It's easier to make our own." He smiled and shrugged. "Still, it's good to see that I've been able to help, even if it's only a little. It means something to me."
"Making your own luck? Sounds like brave work." Delgon outstretched her hand, a burly man in an apron passing her a metal tankard. Drinking deeply from the tankard and slamming it on the table, she stared Sergya straight in the eyes. "Why not cruise the skies with me? Grasping oppurtunity is what you do, ain't it?" She'd appreciate having both him and his skill onboard, though she already knew what the answer would be.
"I..." Sergya dropped his hands to his side, looking saddened, "I would, I really would. I'm not scared of my face being known, I'm not afraid to be on the bad side of the big guys. But... if I did something, and they got involved... if I got those close to me hurt, or worse I... I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I can't put them at risk. No matter what."
Eventually, the corner of his mouth curled in a faint smile. "But hey, it can't be like this forever, right? Sooner or later the highbloods will come knocking at my door saying I'm engine material, so screw those guys, I'll come right here. I'd rather give this ship and crew my life than some subjugglator asshole. Just... wait for me, okay?"
"..." She adjusted her hat to cover her eyes for a moment, before breaking the silence with another great laugh. It was amazing how much heart was packed into the small shape of this girl. "You'll always have a place here on the Free Joker! Isn't that right, guys and gals?" She gestured to her crew, who responded with a loud "Aye!" Though they didn't know Sergya other than being the man who brought supplies, the fact that Delgon could trust him was more than enough for them. "When we hit the fleet, I might have to become Space Pirate Captain Delgon though..." She leaned on the table and gave him a roguish smile, unafraid of both the present and future.
"Wouldn't that be fun though," Sergya pulled a chair from the table, sitting himself down. "Raiding ships in space, escorting fugitives to and fro, running the entire gambit on the flipside of the empire without them being able to stop us." He leaned back and closed his eyes, picturing the web of games he's played across Alternia. Zooming out in his thoughts, he imagined a web that held the entire Empire in place. "We'd be the best. No doubt about that."
"I'm already the best!" Delgon pumped her fist and took another swill of mead. "I'd say you're great, but you'd have to work your way up to my level." She patted Sergya on the back consolingly. "But I'm confident you'll get there eventually." Leaning back into her chair and looking at the ceiling, she allowed the pirate music that was playing to seep into her. "And untill that happens, I'll wait for you at the top!" Adjusting her tricorne hat once again, she expressed herself using her most valued possession.
Sergya relaxed further, and finally indulged in a drink. He knew that he'd be able to teleport into his hive even if blind, bound and gagged, so a little alcohol in his system wasn't going to hurt any. He looked around the noisy messhall. Huh. "Usually I see that other guy, the blueblood, uh, Verlis? Yeah Verlis. Where's he today?" Hopefully not in any trouble, Verlis was likely the highblood Sergya liked most in the world, solely for not being on the side of the highbloods.
"Love is on some business with Viento, I daresay he'll be back before the sun rises." Delgon stares at the door for a few moments, as if expecting him to burst through it. The galley chef arrives with two slabs of meat on golden plates, looted riches being used as plain tableware on this ship. Turning to her plate and taking a vicious bite out of the meat, she waited till her mouth was empty before continuing to speak. "He's heading some negotiations for me, hard to run parley when people are ordered to shoot you on sight."
"That sounds like a bit of a pain," Sergya nodded in agreement. "The only reason I'm not in the same way is that I use so many disguises. Oh and the teleportation helps too." Sergya smiled and shifted himself and the chair to the other side of the table, so that rather than sitting next to Delgon he was opposite to her. "That helps."
"How're your buddies doing? Haven't tuned into the show for a while, should loot a radio eventually." Delgon knew vaguely of the teleporter's friends, but didn't have quite the same amount of interaction with them. The only reason she could talk with Sergya so often to begin with was his willingness to sneak onboard, so people on land that she wasn't to recruit were rare sources of conversation.
"Oh same as ever," Sergya considered Demari and Makina, what they'd been up to. In the past he'd tried making a case to Demari about joining this crew, how he could run his show from the skies and not have to worry about watching his own back all the time. Of course when Demari pointed out to Sergya that his own power would likely interfere with this Delgon's, that was that idea shot in the foot. Oh how close he'd been that time. If Sergya had brought Makina and Demari to the Free Joker he would have had his life made. But then, it wasn't all about him, and no one gets everything they want. That's just life. "He's still driving me and Makina up the wall with his stunts, we're terrified for his life all the time and he can't stop and no one else can stop him either. Meanwhile she's still going away at her work, slowly getting better and better. It's actually starting to scare me now, the things she's coming up with. That girl's got her eyes on the top of the world of machines."
He sighed, taking a stab at the food he'd been brought. "Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing. He's got his radio show and she's got her engineering and then there's me, just lying around, taking potshots at stupid people that fall into my line of sight." Sergya sighed again, this time around the food in his mouth. "I'm so tired of waiting for everything to change."
She patted him on the back and shared a sympathetic sigh. "You've gotta make things change! That might sound a bit thick, but you're smart and you've got that hop." Giving him a smile and thinking of her next words, she paused for a few moments. "If nothing else, you've helped me out a great deal! I appreciate having you around."
"And if you or Mister Radio Hero get into any trouble, I'll be there with my cutlass and flintlock in a snap."
"Hah," Sergya smiled at that, Delgon was always a reassurance. A reminder that he was doing something, at least. "If he ever does get so far over his head that he can't fix his mistakes I'm putting him safely out of harm's way if I have to stick him in the brig here myself." The thought of Demari, behind bars and giving Sergya one of his trademark sullen glares, earned a real laugh from the mustardblood. "Oh well, maybe one day."
"I have a feeling we're reaching the end of this conversation, so wanna do something that I think will cheer you up?" Delgon had long devoured the meat on her plate, deciding to finish talking with Sergya before asking for seconds. The look in her eyes was wilder than normal, which was saying something much considering how daring they usually were.
"Uhhhh," Delgon had suddenly entered danger mode and were Sergya a more common visitor to the ship, he'd know to get out of dodge by now. Unfortunately, such sense and luck wasn't to be his today. "Ssssssure?"
Grabbing him by the collar and heading out to the deck of the ship, she said farewell to those in the dining hall and implored them to keep enjoying themselves. Looking over the side of the ship with Sergya, Delgon admired the view from the skies as she always had. Rolling hills and mountains, the sea visible in the distance topped by fog, small hives and other trolls looking like small ants, Alternia being mapped out under them and plain to see. "This was the reason I chose the skies!"
Sergya turned his head, studying the landscape below. He was often up in the air, but it was always in a state of falling, so he had to focus on his next teleporation rather than any specific details. Being able to peacefully study the land below was a new experience. "It's good," his voice was quiet. "You can see there's so much of the world. And you know you could touch any part of it. I like it."
Delgon nodded back, before hooking her arm around his side. Focusing for a few moments, she suddenly shouted. "Alright!" Then... she jumped off the ship with Sergya in tow. The rush of falling was likely not new to Sergya, but falling like a meteor at terminal velocity towards the ground against his own will wasn't likely something that happened often. The sights closed in on them as the wind whistled past their ears, and at the moment that they would slam against the ground they found themselves drifting slowly towards it instead. Free from the bonds of gravity, their feet touched the ground gently. "Ahahaha!"
"Okay," Sergya had a hand clutching his heart, and a slightly resentful look at Delgon. That had been unexpected. She still had her arm around his side though. Physical contact. That was the requirement. The two of them reappeared in the atmosphere far above the Free Joker.
This time it was Sergya who savoured the wind without surprise. His teleportation cut out momentum, so once he was done falling, he reappeared neatly on the deck of the ship, waiting for his fellow psychic to descend from the clouds.
A black and blue blur caught Delgon from midair as she fell, landing on the deck of the Free Joker with Delgon in hand. His feet landed hard on the deck of the ship, his gravity apparently being at the normal state. With a spear on his back and a winded brownblood hanging on his arm, Verlis Ginlin had boarded the ship. "I'm back."
"Welcome back!" Delgon greeted him enthusiastically, elbowing him so that the man would let go of her. Viento kind of curled up into a ball for a moment, before slowly raising himself up. "I'll never get used to travelling with either of you." The brown cloaked scholar grumbled, heading into the dining hall to replenish his strength. "That was crafty!" Delgon complimented Sergya, Verlis standing behind her quietly and acknowledging him with a nod.
"Nothing that I knew you couldn't handle." Sergya shrugged. With Verlis returned, it was plain to everyone the sparks now dancing in Delgon's eyes. "I guess I'll head off now, send me a message if you come up with anything more you need," he nodded with respect to the leading pair.
"You know..." Delgon thought to herself for a moment, the blueblood behind her appreciating the wind with his eyes closed. "You should bring your friends here next time! For a visit if nothing else, I'm sure we'd all get along famously."
"That would be pleasant." Verlis added, "looking" straight at Sergya. "More company would be a good deal merrier at any rate."
"I'll see what I can do," Sergya wasn't too confident, but hey, it was worth a shot. "Until next time."
There was forever a moment, in the middle of teleportation, where he could feel himself just a step outside of reality. Like he was sliding from point to point, and he was passing through an unknown connection. That was Sergya's favourite part. That for sure. When he opened his eyes, he was home again. Alone again.
"One day," he said to himself, sitting down at his computer, "One day soon."
"He seems happier being here."
"Quiet down and we'll get something to eat, you sap."
