Dreams of the Sunken Moon

"Indeed, that's the plan," Caldswell answered the young man. "Alright, men, take the time to relax while you can, this may take a little time!"

Caldswell and Nyaha, with the assistance of Cazut, got to work fixing the hole in the cloaking material of the Kira II. Within an hour or so, they managed to install the zipper quite expertly. When Caldswell zipped it up, the Kira II was comepletely hidden from sight above the water's surface, with the zipper itself hidden under a fold in the fabric. After they were done, Caldswell helped his men pack up the campsite and start loading everything back on to the ship. As for Zelkova, she knew all along Nyaha would be alright and had gone off to catch herself some fish food.

"Hhnnnnngg! Hahh...hahh...Nnngrrrraaaahhh!!"

Caldswell was straining himself trying to lift the large box that'd taken two people to move it off the ship in the first place with one of his crewmen, but the two of them were having trouble. At a loss for anything from words to air, the captain slumped over on top of the box looking as he tried to catch his breath.

Raimi slowly walked on deck, his clothes wrinkled and haphazardly put on, his hair a wreck, its normal slightly spiked down hair going in all directions, shoes gone, bags under his eyes, and a half conscious stare, blankly looking out at the world. He sat down next to Reg, barely seeming to notice him. A minute or two later, Sekaki made her way up, a similar mess, barefoot, purple hair a wreck, pants wrinkled and poorly lined up, shirtless but wearing a bra, and generally looking like she hadn't slept much. She took a spot opposite Raimi, and shared his blank look-around.

"Need a hand with that Captain?" Lance asked chuckling softly, walking over to him as he saw his troubles trying to get it back onto the ship. "So what is in that thing anyways? It was real heavy when we tried to stop it from crashing earlier."

"Probably some machinery or something, or just junk." Kaitlyn said shrugging, not really thinking much of a box.

"I think that would make things much easier for us," Caldswell answered Lance, much appreciating his offer. "If Nyaha was still here, we could use his sleeves to carry this onto the ship, but he left already to go see another one of his friends."

"He has a lot of friends, hard not to like I suppose." He said seriously, moving to the other side of the box, ready to help Caldswell. "Ready?"

Caldswell nodded to Lance, then counted down from three. On one he attempted to lift the large heavy crate one more time, as did his crewman who was still helping them.

He lifted with him, grunting as they held it, trying to get it back on the ship. "What the hell is in here?" He asked straining himself.

Caldswell took a few steps towards the ship, before dropping the crate on the ground. "Argghhh!" he growled in pain and frustration. "Still not enough. We need one more."

"Yea, anyone up to lifting this heavy thing?" He asked everyone around them, sighing as he panted softly.

Cazut had finally finished sewing up the barrier. He wiped away some sweat slowly before hearing someone call for help. He moves from where he was to see Caldswell and Lance. He moves to them and waves, "I'll gladly help if you need me to."

"All the help we can get would be appreciated," Caldswell said to Cazut. The neko was as confused about the heavy box as anyone. He had'n't remembered having anything this heavy on the ship before. Perhaps some of his crewmen packed extra supplies? That was the only conclusion he could think of.

"Alright lets get this damn thing back on the ship." He said getting ready to lift it with the others.

"Don't break a hip you guys." Kaitlyn said giggling softly.

Shadow stood there laughing a little when they couldn't pick up the crate but then it made him think, what was inside of it? "Hmmm, well whatever it is, hopefully it comes in handy..." He walked up the bunch who was about to lift the crate up again. "I think i'll help just in case you all drop it again heheh... besides something handy could be in there and we wouldn't want to damage it if is." He said choosing a position to lift the crate up from.

Roxanne looked around. The crew is all busy. While they are, I need some real food. She silently slunk away from the ship, ever wary of preds but also on the hunt for Tinies. She hadn't told anyone where she was going, for fear of word getting to Tiesm and... even more problems.

Using her hunting skills, Roxy searched the nearby wood, being sure to stay within smelling distance of the crew...

(Nya, I'll let you determine what happens.)

It had been long since Reg had worked on a ship, but since everyone else was working, as were his legs now, he decided that he might as well help out, too. Still, he scanned the ship, seeking the activities of the others. Most, he saw working diligently. The naga, he noticed, was conspicuously missing. A naga on the loose, unsupervised? This disturbed him.

"Caldswell!" he called. "How long until we're ready to sail?" He wouldn't report her, of course, but the situation couldn't be ignored, and especially not with Tisem on-board.

(By the way, guys, I forgot to mention this earlier, but Falcon is back. The reason I had Reg get seasick was so that he'd still be around for when Falcon got back from his military whatever he did last year, without having to play him myself since I knew nothing about his abilities. He's not back illegally or anything, okay? ;D )

"As soon as we get this thing on board, we're good to go!" Caldswell shouted back to Reg. "If you want a specific estimate, I'd say about five to seven minutes!" Caldswell then focused his attention on the box. "Alright men. One! Two! Three! Heeeave!!"


As the naga searched the forest, she would happen upon a pair of tomthumbs stuck in a small puddle of mud. Zelkova had been practicing her seashell-throwing earlier and had splashed a fair amount of water a considerable distance into the forest with her shells. The tiny people, a man and a woman, were stuck waist-deep in the mud, truggling to free each other.

Roxnne laughed eevily. "Need some help there, little ones?" she said. At the same exact moment, her stomach growled very loudly. She then proceeded to pick both of thme up. "I would love to meet you, but I am absolutely starving, and, well, you look delicious."

Reg walked briskly up to Caldswell. "Five minutes? I'm afraid we're missing one of our recent additions."

He looked in the direction of the forest, then back at the captain. "You may want to wait a while."

Cazut, once finished helping with the crate, he notices Roxanne walk into the forest. He follows her for awhile, watching her. It's not that he didn't trust her, but he needed to keep an eye on her. When he sees her about to eat the tomthumbs, her quickly puts his sword's not sharp part against her lips, "It's not worth it. Think of your friend...the one you lost. What would they think of you?"

On his order Lance lifted it with the other men, grunting as he did so, having paid no attention to Roxanne or anyone else.

Kaitlyn did not interfere with what Roxanne was doing, staying by the ship, it was her business after all, she could eat what she wished as long as it wasn't the crew.

With the assistance of the other men, Caldswell moved the large heavy container back onto the deck of the Kira II, right in the middle where the mast was, planning to move it below deck later. With that out of the way, he and his men began making preparations to set sail on the river once more.


The tomthumbs were visibly afraid of Roxanne as they were trapped in her grasp, and they looked to each other, hoping that the other had a plan to escape. They then saw Cazut place his blade in front of Roxanne's lips and the female one yelped in surprise. Hearing what Cazut said, they calmed down a little bit.

"Hey Lance, Roxanne went into the forest, and Cazut followed her, I wonder if they are okay......" She said softly, looking to the trees, not really wanting to interfere with Roxanne and her habits, if that is what she was up to, and she didn't think Cazut would hurt her, he didn't seem like the type.

"Well maybe she is hungry, though I don't see how she could eat a humanoid after what she has been thought, unless she just shuts out the emotion, or she is just selectively eating." He said shrugging, getting ready to set sail as well, excited to get back out to sea.

"What do you mean by selectively eating?" Kaitlyn asked him, raising an eyebrow, knowing what he meant, even though it was a contradiction, just trying to justify one's actions.

"You know, she sees us as friends, not food. But everyone else is still food to her, seems a lot of preds think that way around here, even though it makes no sense, since we are all basically the same, Fairies, Nagas, Humans, Nekos, Neeras and Mermaids, we are all just as smart as the next, just as intelligent, they are just bigger." He said chuckling as he looked towards the trees.

Roxanne took a good, long look at Cazut. "I will not harm you, friend, but please keep your own ways and let me keep mine. Stopping me is stopping Nature, for this is her way. I have a position higher up on the food chain, and I don't intend to le it go to waste." As she spoke, Roxy slowly moved away from him, and at the end of her speech took off into the woods.

Cazut sighed and called out one last message, "Is it really worth taking a place somewhere on the food chain if it means ruining the memory of someone you loved?" Cazut hit the tree next to him slightly and turned away, walking away slowly. He remember seeing his mother's dead body. He shook slightly, looking at his hand, "People are so arrogant. Stuck in their ways and unable to bend to nature, but if this world is so willing to accept its nature, I won't try to change it. There's no resistance here. I'll stick to the people I already know. Not someone I just met." Cazut turned around and headed back towards the ship and walked passed everyone, heading down into the sleeping quarters. He needed to cool off before he blew up.

"You are not very empathetic Lance, I as a fairy have show more kindness and love to humans and others like you than you do as one of them, it is quite sad, how did you get this way? These are people, even Tisem, and Caldswell, they may be different, but they are people, like you......" She said sadly, waiting for his answer, interfering with Roxanne would only cause more drama, and she didn't want to harm a friendship, especially when she was now one more pred Lance was safe from.

"I survived on my own here for a few years before we met, you know that. But I was to frightened to venture far from where I appeared, I found a spot that was good for shelter, under a tree, the roots suspended it in the air slightly, so I could fit under it, later I found it useful cause no Giant Preds could reach me. I only left to find food, as I did that when I saw another adventurer, I followed them very quietly, and I saw what happened to them, if they passed safely I knew I could search for food there, is they died, I knew to avoid it, simple as that." He said seriously, Kaitlyn not able to believe what she was hearing from him.

"You USED them? You just watched people die so you could live, that explains a lot, you see others being eaten as a predator being full, so you are safe for that moment, a good strategy, but cold, very cold." She said shaking her head as she grabbed his hand, walking onto the ship. "Maybe I should shrink you and have you hang out with Tisem for the rest of the ship, and hope Roxanne doesn't change her mind about being your friend."