Post by Blaka on Jan 12, 2015 5:51:39 GMT -5
With a loud groan, Baltoh Hoxmarch opened his eyes. The sun was standing high, it had to be almost noon. Had he really slept that long? Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he yawned loud and extensive. It was rare for the moray-fishman to get a good night sleep lately, too many things were hunting him in his nightmares.
For a few seconds, he stayed where he was, lying on the Impaler's warm back as it floated across the ocean. The Impaler was Baltoh's pet, a giant black narwhal carrying him across the seas of the West Blue.
The relaxing sounds of the waves were music in Baltoh's ears as he observed the few clouds in the sky being dragged along by the fresh breeze. Today could be a good day. Maybe they would finally reach and island?
In the corner of right eye he caught the glimpse of a single black cloud. Not minding it at first, he followed it with his eyes as it hovered above him. I wonder he thought what is it doing here?
The moment he though that, the black cloud suddenly began to expand. Within seconds it grew bigger and bigger until it covered the entire sky completely and didn't seem to stop there.
Frozen in confusion and terror, Baltoh stayed where he was, staring up. He noticed that he couldn't move even as he tried and couldn't open his mouth either. Then he heard it. A horrifying thunder made the world around the young Wotan tremble. Breathing heavily, he tried to crawl into a fetal position as was his usual measure during a thunderstorm, but he still couldn't even lift a finger!
Suddenly, a bright red gleaming appeared above the thick black clouds. It got brighter and brighter, as if something was falling down. The giant fishman roared in panic the moment said something broke through the clouds and descended further towards him. It was a red glowing humanoid figure with giant white wings, a blazing body and large demonic black horns. In his hands, it held a seashell that was constantly shooting huge fireballs, which shot out of the shell, then started circling around their apparent master. The heat coming from the demonic figure was unbearable. Baltoh took a deep breath and roared a second time, as loud as he could.
That made him open his eyes. The sun was giving off a warm orange light as it crawled up from the horizon. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he yawned loud and extensive. At least he had slept till dawn. That was almost unheard of. For a few seconds, he stayed where he was, lying on the Impaler's warm back as it floated across the ocean. Barely audible, the relaxing sounds of the waves mixed with the sounds of a human settlement: Shouting, doors being opened and closed, wheels rumbling over rocky streets. The smell of roasted meat made it into the giant bounty hunter's nose. Real Food! An Island! Finally!
Baltoh raised his head to look where the Impaler was headed. Indeed, in the distance was a dock, a couple of merchant brigs and a few blue Marine vessels were anchoring there. Behind the ships, he could see the houses of the town, all of them at least two or three stories high in the air, topped off with slooping roofs. None of them were of the same colour, every single one of them was different. From above, the town had to look like a bag of candies.
And then there was the Marine Base: Fort Stanley, it said in big letters on the tower. Now Baltoh knew where he was. This had to be Winchester Island, the famous isle cut in half by a massive wall, cutting the civilians of from the nasty lawless side of the Island. Apparently, the Impaler had brought him to the East shore, where the civilized inhabitants lived. A lucky event, he would get something to eat and ask for the local bountyletters, then go and see a few people on the West side of the island to take them to the Fort for money.
Not many people were wandering around, it was barely morning after all. A good thing, most people used to stare at a 450cm tall blue fishman with hundreds of scars all over his body. Not to mention the Impaler who had drawn the attention of a few fishermen out for a seaking before.
"Hey buddy" Baltoh patted his ride on the back.
"OOOOOUUUEEEE!" was the response.
"I'll be out for a while, hide underwater for the day will you?" With these words, the bald bounty hunter jumped on his feet and from there dove into the water in a single fluent motion.
An agreeing "OOOOOUUUEEE!" was all he heard as he pushed himself away from the narwhal towards the docks.