meritocracy | ♛First Decree: Video {not in kimlasca anymore..}

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♛First Decree: Video {not in kimlasca anymore..}

[Hello Luceti! You might hear some frustrated murmurs of a girl who may or may not sound familiar before the screen opens up. Behind her are trees. You might notice that first—OR! The first thing you might notice is the bright gold/white wings on her back, or maybe it’s the twig she failed to find out of her curly golden hair, or maybe it’s the fact that her cat-green eyes look absolutely furious. She pauses, before she begins to speak, posture ramrod straight, lips pursed.]

I find myself in need of assistance, if you please. While I am not familiar with this sort of fontech, I know enough. To those that have successfully taken me away from my kingdom, listen very carefully.

[her lip curls slightly, a bit of that anger in her eyes slowly spreading to her otherwise regal tone of voice ]

I demand to know where I am, immediately. To those of you who are not involved in this ..this indecency [her cheeks color. This is wrong on so many levels. ] I request all the information you can offer me. [she raises her hand to try and reach back and touch what she knows is clearly a hurt back, but her shoulder lances with pain. What did her captors do to her? Dropping it at her side, she looks back at the screen, raising her chin. ]

You will be rewarded, I can promise you that. As for those of you who had the audacity to pull off this joke, take heed: [her voice rises]

How dare you carry out such a despicable act!. Anyone who considers taking away Kimlasca-Lanvaldear’s Princess in broad daylight without her consent is considered from this point an enemy of both herself and His Majesty, King Ingobert the Sixth. You have taken me from my Castle and my people, and I cannot forgive such injustice.

Once I return to my Father’s side, and I will return, you will be found, you will be judged, and you will be punished according to your actions.

[with one more scathing glare, the Princess shuts off the feed]

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Aye. We've all got them. If you lose them, princess, you're dead.

[That was how he had died, once. Jack spits off to the side of the trail, trying to rid his mouth of that evil vomit taste.]

If you injure one, the pain is immense---though that's never happened to me. Even losing a feather can be painful.

[And sometimes the wings can bring great pleasure, too, but he's not about to go into that with her.]

That..sounds quite ominous. In that case I'll make sure to protect them, strange as they are. [ she narrows her eyes ]

In this case there is little point in ransoming myself any longer. If escape isn't that easily accomplished then I'll work towards the betterment of you all, until justice is served.

Edited 2011-11-14 16:04 (UTC)

Erm............thank you, I suppose? Not quite certain I can be bettered, actually. I've been working with a book, you know. "A Better Man in Seven Days." Talks about bettering oneself through active positivity. Might be a load of horse bollocks, actually; I haven't yet decided.

I don't see why not! I think it's an excellent idea! Perhaps next time we meet you will lead people to the Welcome Center without any desire for jewels!

I...

[He HOPED that wouldn't be the case! Captain Jack Sparrow did not GIVE of himself in that way! Typically! Normally! More often than not, he trolled New Feathers in horrible ways.]

No. I'm a pirate, darling, not some sort of heroic guiding type. There's enough of those around here anyway.

A pirate? My goodness! I've never actually met a real pirate before..[ she turns wide green eyes to him ]

Is it true that you sail on the ocean and..--what is the word, 'Yo ho ho' and whatnot?

[Pretty green eyes. Pretty blond hair. And a father who---

Bugger. Jack squirms uncomfortably and begins walking faster in that flouncing way of his.]

No. That's Brook you've got me confused with. Lad can't stop yo-hoing, really. But aye--I do sail the ocean. I've sailed all seven seas, me. That's what a sparrow is, you know: a jack who's done them all. If it were up to me, I'd sail them forever. Just a ship and sails and a worthy crew, that'd be all I need. A pirate's life.

That's so romantic! To adventure wherever you please...I'm quite envious! It's been some time since my journey with my friends ended, and I confess I miss exploring like we did in those days.

You simply must share a story of your adventures! Speaking with a pirate..it's so exciting!

[He looks over at her, uncertain. Most of his stories are macabre. None of them are appropriate for a good-hearted princess. There is one, though, that he has told no one as of yet. And he's not sure he wants to tell her, either. It's too close to the bone in some ways, yet it has been nagging at him for weeks, now---ever since he went back to read the Codex and the horrors on page 112. He begins in a halting voice:]

Not certain now's the time for me to tell of my adventures. But there was once a pirate named Kairavi. She was one of the most beautiful pirate ladies to sail the Indian Ocean. Possibly the world. Even the fabled Pirate Esmerelda could not match her in beauty. She hadn't always been a pirate, though, you see. She was once a young lady in a fine home in Bangalore. She had everything she wanted---was doted on, really. Praised for her beauty and cleverness.

[He clears his throat. Some parts of her story he had made up himself. There was so little he knew of her in the years before---and Teague had not been too forthcoming.]

But it was never enough, none of it. Had a wild streak about her---some called it madness, which made her parents worry, of course, and deny it straight up and down. But she was. She was mad. She had...a boldness about her, an appetite that bordered on sickness. And then she got into some trouble...with an English soldier.

[ Natalia walks beside him, her eyes growing larger as she continues to hear it. Truth be told she does love all manner of stories. She looks up, hanging on every word. ]

Oh, how ambitious of her! What happened next?

Her belly got large and her parents' hearts were broken, of course. She was ruined. Blighted.

[At "blighted," he snaps off a small, overhanging branch and begins peeling the bark from it. Walking more slowly, now.]

The worst bit might have been her transgression with an imperial soldier. If she'd tarried with an Indian boy of suitably high station and dowry, they might have married her off quietly and enjoyed their grandchild.

As things stood, her parents were going to lock her away for the rest of her life. It was the worst punishment, you see, for Kairavi desired freedom above all things. She paced her room night and day. The child within grew larger and larger. I think...

[He pauses, wrapping one long strip of bark around his fingers.]

I like to think she would have loved her baby, possibly. Maybe. Or would have, if the madness to be free hadn't been so all-consuming. One night, late late---under a horned moon, you see---she contrived to escape by her window. Her soldier was there to bring her away, but she dismissed him with scorn. She wanted freedom, not the man who had engineered her imprisonment. She made her way down to the wharves to seek passage out of India.

Edited 2011-11-14 16:58 (UTC)

How cruel..and yet selfish of her. What happened to the child? [ she looks concerned ]

A pirate gentleman saw her straits. Kairavi's family was hunting her down, and she was looking to run at any price. He took her on his ship, the Misty Lady; she had enough on her to pay passage, apparently.

The child was born in a hurricane after they put out to sea. A boy. It was a wild night by all accounts.

That's..certainly an interesting set of events. Is this indeed factual? And what of the child? [her expression darkens ]

Did..anyone tell him about his father?

Hmmmm? [Jack scowls and kicks a rock out of their way.] It's not about him; it's about her. She survived the night. Reveled in it, in fact, because in giving birth she was setting herself free. Oh, she tried to live on the Misty Lady for some time after. She and the gentleman pirate took up together for a spell, but she was too set on running to stay for long, and far too talented to be kept down in that manner.

Her exploits earned her a great deal of respect in the pirating world. It wasn't long before she had her own ship, the Terrier, and her own crew---one of the wildest to ever sail. That's what they were known for: abandon. Mad conduct. A more insatiable collection of wantons never did sail. It was said that she perfected the art of disappearing---could get her crew and ship out of harm's way in the wink of an eye.

She sounds quite formidable. [ She can't help but compare it to her Aunt's actions of taking her from her own Mother, hiding the truth of her real Father..it's hard not to draw the parallels. She flushes realizing her mistake. ]

I suppose, most pirates are like that? You don't seem to be. You seem rather decent save for that greedy bargaining you tried with me before we met up. [ slight scowl here ]

One can be a pirate and a good man, though I don't know if that includes decency. His imperial majesty the King of England wants my neck snapped for depravity, among other crimes. So, aye, she was formidable, and she was not decent--she left all that behind her. Broke plenty of hearts--whatever lay in her path, really. Her biggest strike was against a merchant vessel called the Arrow.

The Terrier was in hiding, you know---that's how pirates go about it.

[He is actually warming up to this tale, where his tone in the previous part of the story was rather faraway and thoughtful.]

She was using a rocky cove on the coast of Cuba as a hiding-place, and would spring out of this little burrow like one of those horrid spiders they have down in the Australian colonies.

[Cue scary spider fingers icon.]

Oh My! How horrible..[ she jumps a little ]
Like a ghost story, almost...I do love ghost stories. Was she never caught?

Not that day. She took the Arrow with barely a handful of women. The crew of the Terrier, you see, was all lady pirates. And they always took what they wanted. Fearsome fighters! When I picture it, eh? I imagine they took her the way mermaids would: seducing their way on board and then striking when everyone's trousers had toppled, so to speak. Few could resist them.

She did not get caught until much later. Escaped her sentencing, fled to seek the treasures of the Mayans, far down the Amazon River.

So she led a group of powerful, and fearsome women..that is admirable, even if her actions were not. I'd imagine if I wasn't able to act how I wished I might be a little mad myself.

What a romantic story..

You're not able to act how you wish? [He ignores the romanticality of the story and seizes on that topic change like an English bulldog on a bone.]

No, for the most part I can. But I am not just myself, I am an extension of my country, so to speak. I don't just belong to me alone.

That's................horrible. I think, darling, that you're overthinking it.

You think so? As a commoner placed in this position, I have a duty to represent all the people of Kimlasca equally. I stem great happiness from that fact.

[ she does get lonely, though. ]

Here? You don't have that duty any longer. Relish it for as long as it lasts. Find other happinesses.

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