The Start of Something...

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

The skipper was already up and awake. Several otters were sitting and standing, Laughing and carrying on about this and that. They all had bowls of food in their paws and were taking their time to eat it being in no rush at all. The Skipper spotted Natasha and walked over to her with a smile...for a change..." 'ave a good rest?" he asked. He Looked deep into her eyes as if searching for the truth. "He held a bowl of cooked and seasoned shrimp out to her along with a Tankard of ale.

[Scarlet]

Natasha took notice of Skipper's smile, but didn't know him well enough to know that this wasn't particularly ordinary. She didn't think much on why he looked into her eyes the way he did, but that was mostly because she had just woken up and she wouldn't remember what she had seen last night until it would randomly cross her mind later. She smiled back, and was begining to feel as if she didn't have anything to fear of Skipper. He seemed like a genuinely honest creature.

"Yes, I did, and you? Oh, thank you." She said, taking the food and drink gratefully. Though ale wasn't normally her drink for the mornings, she didn't hesitate to take a sip because she was quite thirsty. She waited, though, before she ate. She wasn't ever particularly hungry in the mornings either, but she ate because she knew that she would need the food if she were not to pass out later in the day.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"Oh I did. A bit long...but the rest of the night was relaxing..." He said with a tired smile. He sat down near the water pool in the middle and ate a few shrimp. "Nail meh' rudder!" he shouted aloud looking towards the kitchen. "Blade! Did you make this!??!?" He asked. Blades torso popped out of the doorway. "Aye Skip! Ya like it!?!" He asked with a smile showing his teeth. "Aye! Where'd ya get tha' shrimp?!" He asked finishing his bowl of ten. "Tha' Cove! By the ships!"
"Well gimme another bowl!", He said standing up and walking over to the kitchen. "Aye!" Blade grinned pouring another bowl on ten. He enjoyed being able to please his crew with his cooking. And to say it was better than Undertaker's made his day...


The Skipper walked over and sat down next to Natasha by the pool. It was still raining outside. Thunder crashed nearby but the crew didn't flinch. They were used to this kind of weather being on a ship. "We'll...looks as if we might not be going anywhere anytime soon..." he said taking another bite from his seasoned shrimp...It was delightful...Blade had truly outdone himself.

"Any questions?" he asked searching her eyes. He could tell when something was amiss. Being the Skipper, he could also negotiate and speak with other beast and tell when they were hiding something simply by the way their eyes appeared and their body language. He was taught this by the previous skipper before he passed. Anybeast could do do it if they knew what to look for.

[Scarlet]

Natasha followed Skip, sitting down next to him at a respectful distance. Natasha, listening to Skip as he complimented Blade's cooking skills, took a bite of her own shrimp as well. " This is delicious!" She exclaims, taking another bite of the food. Being preoccupied with tasting the steamy shrimp, she almost didn't catch Skip's next question. She thought over for about half a second the question, and that was when the memories of the night before came flooding back. She almost choked on a shrimp tail as she recalled the gruesome discovery she had made in Skip's quarters.

" Ahem.... questions? About what?" She tried to tactfully evade his question and cover up her slightly embaressing choking episode. She doubted it would work though, for she was sure that Skip would be well trained in detecting the different ways a persons body, voice and facial expressions can give away the fact they are hiding something.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

Well that was a dead give away... he thought as grinned eating another tail of shrimp. "Oh anythin'. The layout of the holt, anybeast in the crew, ships,...accommodations...." He asked barely looking up from his bowl. Surely she would be inquisitive.

[Scarlet]

Natasha didn't know the punishment for meddling in other peoples personal belongings here at the holt, she didn't even know if there was one; She just knew that she had no desire for Skipper to know that she had curiously pawed about his room, and underneath a certain black clothed figure in the corner. She had a small knot of guilt twisting itself in her mind, like when she was a dibbun and stole food from the pantry.

She continued eating the shrimp, and simply shook her head. That had to be good enough for Skipper. She really hoped he wouldn't keep insisting there must be something she had questions about. She could tell by his eyes, though, that he knew that she had seen what she guessed he had not intended for her to see.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"At your own time..." he said biting into another shrimp with a grin to say I know you do...
He finished his bowl of shrimp and drank the the rest of the season water. He leaned back against the log and put his paws behind his head. "Are you willing to go on an excursion?" he asked. "We're going to set off in two days to an island about 2 weeks out to acquire some medical supplies for Undertaker and perhaps a few extra things. I would be honored if you would join us." he said with a friendly smile waiting for an answer.

[Scarlet]

Natasha hesitated for a second, then nodded her head. " I would love to, my ship and crew would be happy to get back onto the ocean again. We've been docked in a port farther up the coast for a week now." She said, eating the last of her shrimp. The crew had begged Natasha to let them off for a week to have fun on land, because before that she had relentlessly been cruising the open waters for weeks, only stopping to get supplies, then head back out to sea again.

She had never regretted her desicion to invest in a ship of her own; It proved a convenient occupation for her, for as she searched for Andre she could also profit, though such profits never really satisfied Natasha. No possesion in the world could replace the longing for her Andre. The half-crazed and heart-broken weasel captain had earned much respect and fear amongst her crew. Not one creature had ever even talked about mutiny, for she and her first-mate Pierre infused fear and respect amongst the crew. Pierre was Natasha's only real friend, and the one creature she knew she could trust her life with. He had been left in charge of the ship, while Natasha had wandered off by herself, her feet creating a trail as if they had a mind of their own.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"Ah so ye've got a crew of yer own eh?" he said standing up and walking towards the cave opening watching the rain. "We'll if it means the same you would ye mind if we took my ship? Not that I dont trust yours but...were a fast moving crew...plus seein' 'ah just met ya, two beast split apart on two ships aint exactly a safe idea...again no insult towards you.."

[Scarlet]

Natasha nodded, understanding what Skipper meant. Pirates weren't the most trust worthy of creatures, no matter who they are. This worried her a bit though- even if her crew were under the command of a person with whom she trusted her life, she did not like to be away from her crew or her ship for so long.

" Of course, that would be fine." She said, smiling, It would be a fun diversion from her life-long quest. Not that she wouldn't be on the lookout for her love Andre the entire way.