Serious: Black Cloud Chronicles: The Assault On Middleberry Island (Open to Gael, Maxulus and nishki)

Middleberry island is a very small island most notable for its cuisine and lumber. It is regular stop for naval ships on their way from headquarters to the more dangerous territories, and, as such, has high naval prejudices. The island is shaped like a large, circular berry. The northern coast is enshrouded in a rich forest. The forest is dotted with lumber factories, most of which supply the navy with the wood necessary to build their ships. The coastal town consumes most of the island, encompassing all but the southern region, which is a host to a plethora of coves.

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The clouds cast a gray pall over the sky, and the rain danced upon the rooftops. Sombre sat under the protective refuge of a sharply steepled diner that had at one time been an old belfry. The jovial conversation of patrons served the amicable atmosphere of the establishment well, and were he not so preoccupied, Sombre might have even cracked an appreciative smile. His hot plate of soup provided a rising steam, which he peered through nonchalantly. The Black Cloud's thoughts were elsewhere at the moment. Up there with the clouds and the thunder.

Most of the crew had remained aboard the Rain Kettle VI. The Lieutenant and the handful of the marines that had accompanied Sombre stared at their captain with grim attentiveness that would make one think that they had wished they had done the same. They spoke amidst each other quietly.

"Look at him… how serious he looks."

"What do you think it could be?"

"Why would he be so depressed on a simple supply run?!"

"What could be troubling the Captain... one of the most feared and respected of all the Vice Admirals?"

They goggled Sombre warily.

"Whatever it is… it's something big. Something concerning the fate of the world… something far more important than we could ever comprehend."

They all nodded solemnly.

...

"Lieutenant…"

All the marines snapped to attention. The Lieutenant sprang forth, searching for signs of the importance he had been speaking of but seconds ago.

Sombre's face deepened with consternation.

"What?! What is it?!"

Sombre's eyes averted to the Lieutenant, his face bleak.

"… do you think…"

…

"Yes? Yes?!"

All of the marines waited with bated breath.

...

"… do you think... my beard is bad?"

Sombre's face remained dangerously serious as the Lieutenant fell over. Clearly Sombre's inquiry hadn't been as climactic as his subordinates had been expecting. As the Lieutenant heaved a sigh of relief and began to give a response, the northern wall of the diner exploded into thousands of splintered planks. Patrons arose, screaming.

"Lieutenant-"

A cannonball came flying in from the same direction towards Sombre and the marines. In one effortless motion, Sombre spun to his feet whilst at the same time retrieving Arashi from his back. The movement consummated with a powerful swing that sent the cannon ball flying upwards through the roof and off into the distance. The lieutenant and the marines slowly brought down their arms, which they had instinctively brought up to shield themselves.

"Lieutenant."

"Y-yes sir?! I m-mean- your orders, sir!"

…

"… you didn't answer my question."

The Lieutenant and the marines fell over another time as Sombre gazed at him seriously.

"D-Don't you think we have more pressing matters at the moment?!!"

"So… it's bad then…"

Sombre frowned and heaved a sigh. The rain began to fall with a newly inspired vigor.

"N-no! I mean- your beard! It is very good, sir!"

Sombre mulled this over for a moment. After several seconds, the rain began to relax.

"But sir, we really should-"

"Relax Lieutenant. If they were going to fire again, I think they would've done it by now."

Sombre turned to the panicking patrons with a swift authority. His presence immediately silenced the rampant chaos, and suddenly the shattered diner stood at attention.

"Everybody remain calm. We'll handle this."

Sombre turned his attention back to his bewildered subordinates.

"It doesn't appear anyone was badly injured. Still, get a medical team up here. And take the rest of the men with you and get the others to set up a perimeter. Looks like we're dealing with pirates."

Sombre surveyed the destruction as they rushed off to accomplish their task. He observed a broken table and sighed. So much for a simple supply run.

The sound of rain is calming to many, though that calming feeling is normally restricted to when the listener is indoors, wrapped up in a warm afghan, or something of that nature. Very rarely does a person feel a sort of calming warmth from being outdoors in the pouring rain. Even more rare is a sense of security when out to sea in a flashing storm. To one who sees the rain as a constant blessing or as a source of happiness at all times, a typhoon is little more than a loud drizzle.

Even when in the midst of heavy work, these were the sorts of feelings Skyler felt. He enjoyed the feel of water on his back, the sounds of rain pattering on the rooftops, and the moist feel of the mud and dirt beneath one’s feet. At the moment, he was carrying large timbers on his shoulders; tribute to the Marines for use in building new ships. To carry such important cargo for the Marines made Skyler feel useful, and as though he was being of use to his master’s protectors. To him, there was only one thing more satisfying than helping the Marines, and that was being invited to talk about water. God, did he love water.

What he didn’t love, however, was the knowledge his allies (masters, really) were under attack. The defense of the Marines was one of his foremost goals, and seeing the wall of the diner they were in splintering into many pieces. Skyler picked up his pace, changing from a leisurely walk to a more spirited trot. The Vice Admiral in charge of the situation was very capable of defending the group, at least until Skyler got there to be a more dispensable defense. He placed his timber on the growing mound he had been contributing to for the past few hours, and he entered the diner. He immediately entered a salute, prepositioning Sombre with the question, “Orders, sir?” He didn't make excuses for his late arrival, because if Sombre thought he should be punished, he would receive it willingly.

Sombre looked up from the destruction to note Skyler's presence.

"Skyler. You missed dinner."

He kicked the broken frame of a table aside ruefully.

"Missed out on some stellar soup. Come to think of it, so did I. Shame really. Don't know what you've got until it's gone."

He allowed a whimsical sigh, and with a casual shrug, the Vice Admiral continued.

"Cannonball fire from the north. I'd assume pirates, trying to garner the Navy's attention…"

His brow furrowed as the rain began to drip through the torn remnants of the roof, and with a cautious eye he peered up to the clouds above.

"What do you think…?"

Sombre turned his forlorn gaze back to the fishman.

Skyler was a little perturbed, and not a little confused, at the demeanor of his master in this situation. He was concerned more about whether he had eaten a specific sort of soup? That was... very bizarre. Of course, Skyler had no control over Sombre's thought processes, and would never delude himself into thinking he was anything more than a servant to Sombre. Though, it seemed the problem of cannon fire was still worthy of his attention, so it must be important.

Skyler bowed respectfully to Sombre at his question, not sure what to do. He wasn't supposed to give his opinion, and he wasn't supposed to influence his master's decisions. He had tried that when he was younger, and the result was... painful. "Master, I apologize, but I cannot respond. I must simply await your orders." Skyler was actually really new to Sombre's crew, and hadn't really managed to gauge his disposition yet. Would he view his response as the proper one, or view it as a sign of defiance?

"Master…? Master…"

Sombre looked picturesquely off into the distance.

"Can anybody really say that they are the master of anything…?"

Sombre mused on this, and then shrugged.

"Well, regardless, we'd better inves-

Suddenly, rampant fanfare began to trumpet loudly about them. It was medieval in nature, and obnoxiously loud. Dimly in the distance one could hear 'Hear ye, Hear ye' in a very posh, pompous accent. The rain had destroyed the visibility required to see the source of all this ruckus. Still, it was approaching steadily, until eventually Sombre and Skyler could see.

About 12 pages all in symmetrical, uniform step were trotting briskly while blowing horns. They were decorated in royal, romantic colors, complete with tights and fancy hats; they were all carrying and playing pristine golden trumpets. In the middle of them was a rather short little man with a powdered wig and pudgy features. He continued to shout loudly until the group finally arrived but a couple of feet away from Sombre. He stood regally as the fanfare persisted.

Sombre just stared blankly with an air of incredulity.

The trumpets finally ceased, and after a moment of rather obnoxious throat clearing, the small pudgy man revealed a long scroll and began to read it in a high, lilting squall,

"His Magnificence, the great Arturius Greatimus Benevolenciolius Superius has recognized your challenge to his knights and accepts your claim to chivalrous combat. His greatness requests your presence and has been kind enough to grant you an audience to discuss the terms. Doth thou accept?"

The small pudgy man again decided to clear his throat.

Sombre just stood there, still unsure as to what precisely he was seeing. Just as he was about to speak though, a medieval bard who had somehow remained undetected up until this point leapt into view and began dancing around gaily, basically rehashing exactly what had just occurred except in the form of a rhyming sonnet.

It was beginning to look like a very long day indeed.

This man was so incredibly bizarre. Clearly he was not accustomed to filling his rightful position in the world. Skyler hoped that, in time, he would be able to help Sombre see exactly the position of power he held. For the time being, unfortunately, all of his helping hints would have to be incredibly subtle; Sombre didn't seem very receptive to such ideas. Like, really, was it so hard to understand the concept that one person was better than another?

Skyler tried to avoid getting distracted by the fanfare and the assorted noise spewed forth by the bizarre pudgy man. His attention was primarily focused on Sombre throughout, but he did manage to hear what the man was saying out of the corner of his ear. How strange... this bizarre man seemed to think whoever he was serving was better than Sombre. Oh how incredibly hilarious. Skyler had to stifle a snicker as he awaited Sombre's orders, or until Sombre did anything, actually.

It didn't take long for Sombre to surmise that this Arturius fellow was responsible for the attacks.

Sombre looked over to Skyler, then back to the strange pudgy man.

"We do."

Sombre rolled his eyes as the fanfare sprang to life once again. The pudgy man, with an imperious wave of his hand, began to speak once more.

"Very well then! Prepare the challenger's steeds!"

On cue, the trumpet blowing pages began to roll into place, contorting their bodies into one another, gripping joints and stooping over, until this weird sort've pantomime horse had been formed. There were two respectively, one for Skyler and one for Sombre. Sombre, again, seemed at a loss for words.

"I think I'd prefer to walk, actually."

"Nonsense! A refusal of our hospitality would be an insult to Arturius's hono- AN INSULT TO ARTURIUS'S HONOR??!!"

The pudgy man suddenly assumed a horrified expression.

"SIR! I DEMAND THAT THOU RETRACT THY IMPUDENCE!"

Sombre quickly put forth an easing gesture.

"Ok, ok. We'll ride... them."

Sombre scratched the back of his head grudgingly. The man horse things clambered eagerly over to them, ready to be mounted. Sombre warily climbed atop. Surprisingly enough, it proved to be a very stable piece of ensemble horsemanship, and soon, Sombre and Skyler would be trotting alongside the pudgy man and the bard, along with the few remaining pages whose services were not required. The bard skipped gaily along, singing,

"The challengers climbed atop the steeeeed~ The warning of our master they did heeeeed!~"

Sombre shook his head disbelievingly. He had seen many strange things, but nothing like this. After a few moments lost in contemplation, he turned to Skyler, who was presumably trotting alongside him. The rain lightly pelted them from above.

"So. Skyler. Seeing as how we've both been wrapped up into... well, whatever this is... why don't you tell me something about yourself? What made you want to join the Rain Dogs, for example?"

Huh. So it seemed that these people had the general correct idea. A bit misdirected, of course, but still understanding that every person has his or her place. It was refreshing to see, compared to Sombre's disposition. He kinda missed getting ordered around, slightly. He quickly scrambled atop the bizarre humanoid horse contraption, wondering exactly how they planned on moving. When they did, in fact, start to move, Skyler watched them in complete befuddlement. He was so confused by their behavior that when Sombre began to talk to him, he almost didn't answer.

"Oh my, I'm terribly sorry for my impudence, master." Skyler hurriedly apologized, before taking in Sombre's question and considering what his response would be. The truth would clearly be the only sensible thing to reply with, but what was the truth? "I did not... want to join the Rain Dogs, persay. I wanted to be a part of the Marines if I could be helpful to my master, and I appreciate that he arranged for me to work out here. I follow my master's orders, and those orders led me here." He shifted, slightly uncomfortable on the living... thing he was riding. "I hope that was satisfactory."