"Get out of the damn way!" Vinda says to Shiro, shoving her aside.
Chocola swayed a bit. "Guys stop it. You're making me sea sick! Maybe we should try the captain. He is still on board right?" Her face turned visibly green. Petro ppoked his head out from behind Chocola."STEER CORRECTLY OR WE WILL ALL DIE!"
As Shirokuro takes control of the vessel, and almost as quickly seems to lose control, Kayin closes his eyes, hoping in vain that if he can't see his approaching death by misadventure, it'll maybe return the favor and pass him by. He can't shut his ears, however, and so easily hears it when Vinda assumes the helm. The notable lack of panicked screaming immediately afterwards causes Kayin to cautiously open one eye. What he sees--or doesn't, rather--causes a slight flicker of optimism to awaken within him.
Although, that could also be a touch of heartburn. He did sort of think those spicy breakfast sausages tasted just a bit less than fresh, and with the way his luck has been running lately, he wouldn't be at all shocked to learn that the rations were only edible by the loosest possible definition of the word. In any event, the group isn't dead yet, so Kayin turns his attention to the not-so-helpful box and key the Liebrarian had given them. So far, these items have been soundly disappointing in regards to their level of helpfulness, but Kayin keeps messing with them.
Miraculously, the ship makes it's way into the harbor unscathed. Once you set foot on the docks, it becomes apparent that the place is entirely deserted. The sun will soon set.
Suddenly, a man appears in your midst: a robed human with many tattoos on his arms and attire that suggests either a very foppish prince or a very princely fop. He is clearly a ghost, because he is quite transparent. "Welcome to the Queen's Island and the Harbor of Lost Hopes," he says. "What prompts this most unfashionable entrance?"
Before anyone else--well, before Shona, in all truth--can speak, Kayin steps forward and introduces himself. "Good evening, my name is Kayin Ashok. My companions and I are here to recover an overdue book on behalf of the Liebrarian at the House of Unyielding Radiance, in Jalmeray. We've beem informed that the book is here, in the possession of this island's ruler." Kayin hopes that simply stating what are they are for will get them the book in short order, so they can be quit of this unnerving place.
Privately, he wouldn't bet a clipped copper on that actually happening, not with the way things have been going lately. Still, the attempt must be made, because it's a lot harder to calm things down than it is to escalate them. In pursuit of that faint hope of an easy resolution, he continues. "If you could perhaps have someone recover the book and deliver it here to us, we can be on our way."
"Here. Here's a book." The ghost reaches into his coat and withdraws a ghostly pocketbook. His expression suddenly turns angry as he throws the ghost pocketbook through Kayin's head. "But that's not the one you need is it? You say my dear and beloved Queen possesses it? Well then it must be hers to possess! The only thing overdue in this case seems to be some proper manners!" The ghostly man's expression returns to a vague smile.
'Oookay. We aren't looking to be rude, and we apologize for that, mister ghost. We would love to talk to your queen, though. Could you introduce us?"
"Mister ghost? Mister ghost?" Mister ghost roars in outrage. "I am not some mere ghost to be addressed like a... uh... ghost, at your whims! I am Prince Deland! And you shall address me as such."
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"Of course, of course!" Shisōka says, rushing in between Prince Deland and Vinda and giving a tight, but not too deep, bow. "I am Rani Shirokuro Shisōka. Please forgive my companions, Prince Deland. We are all under a great deal of stress. You see, we have been wrongfully accused of...of..." She begins to falter as the prospect of using certain words in any connection whatsoever with herself approaching like an iceberg. "...a bureaucratic mishap in our applications to our school, and have been sent on a quest to prove ourselves worthy."
The Prince clasps his hands in delight. "A quest! How marvelous! What sort of quest would you like me to send you on? Ah, perhaps you'd like to fetch me a rare pain-flower which only grows in the belly of the fattest demon in Worldwound so that I may present it to my beloved queen! Or perhaps I shall send you to the Land of the Linnorm Kings to slay a thousand mammoths and make a marvelous coat of their hides so that I may present it to my beloved queen! Or perhaps..." Prince Deland continues to fantasize about similar quests to send you on in service of his beloved queen.
Getting yelled at, then assaulted--albeit not very effectively--with a book, and then yelled at some more does little good for Kayin's precarious hold on his temper, and he stalks angrily to the end of the dock to mutter some rather searing profanities under his breath for several moments. When he returns, he does so with a teeth-barng expression that can be called a grin in name only. "Or perhaps, Such, you can make a quest out of shutting the Hell up and taking us to the Lich Queen," Kayin says with a biting tone as he cuts across the ghost's rambling fantasies. "Since she is the one in charge here, and the one with the book, we should be speaking to her, instead of her lackey," the young man concludes with a faint growl.
It seems the stress has finally gotten to Kayin, driving him to a level of rudeness that is quite out of character. But he does find it rather liberating to speak his mind at last, even though it'll probably end poorly for himself and his companions. The only real regret is that Lazzy the Wheezer isn't around to enjoy the show, amd even then he'd still get his little escape clause as soon as things got especially bad.
"LACKEY?! HOW DARE YOU! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT THE QUEEN AND I ARE LOVERS!" the Prince shrieks as he sinks into the ground, leaving you alone among the hundreds, if not thousands, of tombs that dot the landscape leading up to the castle.
Night has almost fallen.
Unable to resist getting in the last word in his current mood, even if the target of those words is no longer present, Kayin responds. "But does she know that is the case, I wonder?" Though he is still in a bit of a temper, having one source of his current stress remove itself does clear his mind a bit, and Kayin looks dubiously at the surrounding tombs as he returns to the ship long enough to retrieve his chest.
While stuffing his pack and its content into the nearly empty chest, Kayin, with a somewhat sheepish expression, turns his eyes to the rest of the party. "Sooooo," he says, drawing the word out in a futile attempt to buy conversational time. "Kind of maybe insulted a ghost prince, on an island that I'm pretty sure is infested with undead. And, not trying to worry anyone or anything, but I'm sort of recalling someone saying something to the effect of we really don't want to be outside between sunset and sunrise," Kayin adds with a glance to the west and the aforementioned sun as it steadily sinks below the horizon.
Hefting his loaded chest onto his back with a grunt of effort--damn puny muscles, the one disadvantage of his heritage, in his opinion--Kayin nods toward the castle. "Maybe we should get moving to the questionable safety of the Lich Queen's home before everyone starts yelling at me?"
Chocola nods ar Kayin. "I agree. We should get somewhere before nightfall. I dont want to be out here with other ghosts at night if I can help it."
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"Lich is a funny word," Shona offers, rather than anything helpful. "Lich lich lich lich lich," she repeats starting to skip off in the direction of the castle.
"No!" the thrush calls out, rushing along behind her, "Go slowly. And carefully. Let's actually bother searching for traps and other such intelligent things rather than...whatever this is!"
"I suppose we should follow Shona" Tre says. "We don't want to get separated"
Vinda follows Shona, hoping she doesn't skip her way right into a deadly trap.
Kayin slowly huffs his way up the path, his loaded chest slowing him to the point where he quickly finds himself bringing up the rear the straggling group. Though, in all honesty, that's not entirely a bad thing, from a male's persepctive. And the pleasant view ahead gives him five very good reasons not to look at the increasingly disturbing things clamoring for his attention off to either side of the path. Further, the sounds Kayin hears from behind gives him great incentive to power through his urge to drop the chest and take a short break, since he's pretty sure doing so would give the source of those sounds an opportinity to catch up.
Every so often, however, one the girls glances back at him, and Kayin is faced with the hard choice of being caught blatantly eyeing them up or diverting his gaze off to the side... where the creepy things wait to be noticed. Diverting his gaze further up the path, to the waiting castle, doesn't even occur to the increasingly flustered kitsune. Instead, Kayin trudges along, his face lit with a growing blush that should by all rights be enough to act as replacement for the sun, as bright as it is.
Walking up towards the Lich Queen's castle Tre isn't quite sure where to look ... what with their being so many strange and wonderful things to look at all around. Some of the carvings are a little 'unconventional' perhaps, but of such quality, why some even look as if they could step right out of the stone. Tre wished that she had time to make some quick sketches but appreciated that this was maybe not the wisest of ideas.
Glancing back Tre notices Kayin's face grow an increasingly bright shade of red - with no readily apparent cause that she can discern. He seems a little out of breath but not enough to be quite that shade. Concerned Tre drops back to check Kayin is okay.
"How are you feeling? You're not feverish at all are you? Did you touch anything strange and nasty? Anything that might be poisonous or venomous?"