Mission of Stealth

[Scarlet]

Scarlet couldn't help but be pleased at Jaazers vigilance. He seemed determined to do a good job, and to impress her. She stretched her arms out and shook her head. It wasn't particularly comfortable, sleeping in a longboat, with only the hard wooden boards beneath her, and she felt a little sore. The cold didn't help, and neither did the thought that soon they would have to swim ten feet under the chilled salt water of the ocean to reach the cave beneath. She glanced up at the cliff side; The egg shaped lump was defined in the rock. She stood up in the boat, the gentle morning waves making hardly a sound against the side of their boat. Soon, the tide would be out, and they would make their way into the belly of Salamandastron.

"Have you been awake all night?" She was worried that Jaazer might have stayed awake all night; This wouldn't do, for lack of sleep would only contribute to the chance of failure.

[Firestripe]

*Jaazer stood, turned towards Scarlet and simply nodded. His eyes had gained a distant, hollow look to them, very different from their normal bright appearance. This was not because of fatigue however, but because of his state of mind. He was far from fatigued, he had trained too much to be bothered by something as little as the loss of a single nights rest. He was ready. He'd spent all night preparing his mind for what was ahead so that he would be in top form. He didn't bother shaking the water off of him, even as some cascaded down. He and Scarlet would just be hoping in the sea soon anyway and it wasn't like he was bothered. He looked up judging the time of morning, they would probably need to get moving soon. It looked about time for Firestripe to make his appearance.*[/font]

*The Nightpearl was coming along the coast in grand fashion, sails billowing out and flag snapping in the wind. Firestripe stood at the head of the ship, arms crossed, looking for all the world like a fierce pirate captain, which was partially true. He thought he saw a figure in the distance run into the mountain, probably a hare going to rouse the mountains guard for the possible attack. The black fox had Zierstune, his massive broadsword, strapped to his back and his Six-barreled Sluggers at his hips, ready for battle if indeed battle there be.*

*The crew, roused and ready, were doing their duties well, if a bit stiffly. He couldn't blame them, sailing towards Salamandastron like they were with such a small crew, relatively speaking. They had confidence, though, because they knew that Firestripe was going in right there with them and he didn't look the least bit worried. 'Look' being the key word. He knew that he had to put on a strong front for the crew but inside his stomach was crawling, and not because of the mountain that was looming ever closer. He feared for Scarlet and hoped that she was ok. Of course at this point in time her and Jaazer probably hadn't even made it inside the mountain but that didn't belay his worries. Even so, he kept his cool because he had to perform his part flawlessly. He turned to the crew and spoke loudly for all to hear as they continued their work.*

"Ok boys, I know that most of you are wondering what we could possibly be doing at a place like this. Well don't worry, we aren't here to fight. If you didn't notice by now, our captain isn't here. She is currently infiltrating Salamandastron along with Jaazer. The badger lord, Urith Icebane, has something that she wants and as you all know, what the captain wants she gets. All were doing is providing a distraction to get Urith's attention, no fighting necessary. When we get there, just act like you know what your doing and try to look tough. You guys will stay on the ship, I'll be the only one getting off. Have those cannons ready just in case but for goodness sake don't make it obvious that they're ready to fire. Everybody got that? Good." *He nodded and turned around, facing Salamandastron once more, awaiting whatever was to come.*[/font]

[Scarlet]

"You'd better be alert and on your toes." is all Scarlet had to say to Jaazer. It was time for them to infiltrate the great mountain.

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Inside Salamandastron

The hares of Salamandastron were having a rather ordinary start to their day. They were preparing for a large brunch; Well, large I suppose is a relative term. For hares, this large brunch was normal. You see, they love food, and more importantly they love to eat food. Meals were huge deals for them, and they always devoured each dish with relish. The brunch this particular morning would be a grand feast of fish cakes, salad, skilly'n'duff, hotcakes, nutbread, oat farls with honey and nut cream, and an array of varying types of delicious scones. They bustled about inside the mountain, cooking, cleaning, and waiting for the food to be ready.
The merry hustle and bustle of the dawn was disrupted by a lookout bursting in from the ledge that over saw the ocean and beach.
"Oi! There's a bloody pirate ship comin' up toward the beach!" He said.
Word spread like wildfire throughout the Great Hall, but it didn't bother them. A single pirate ship was hardly a thing to worry about when there were hundreds of highly trained militant hares guarding the shoreline from their mountain. Someone was sent to the Urith Icebane's private chambers to tell him the news.

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Urith woke upon the dawn, as he always did. This particular morning, he had a strange feeling in the back of his mind, but he shook it off, thinking it was merely his aging mind playing tricks on him. He wasn't old, persay, but he was definitely no longer in his prime. Flecks of gray had begun to grow into his black fur, giving him a salt and pepper type appearance. He stretched his broad shoulders and strong arms; even though he may be weaker than he once was, his strength was still tremendous compared to most creatures. His speed however lacked.
He strode over to a corner in his room, where a very small chest lay locked. He glanced at the lock and, affirmed that it was still locked tight, headed toward his door that lead to the Great Hall.
He was surprised when he had barely opened it, to find a young hare lad bounding up the stairs toward him.
"There is a pirate ship approaching on the northern side of the mountain, sah!" He said smartly, obviously trying to give a good impression.
Urith's mouth twitched into a small smile. It had been many months since they had had any action at Salamandastron, and being there nothing much to do inside the mountain, it was rather boring at times. There of course was always plenty for the hares to do, with all the fishing, cooking, and gathering it took to feed them all. But a Badger Lord had little business going out to forage. Badgers in general were mighty creatures, far taller than most. He would be obvious to the entire world, when discretion was very important.
"Alright. If they give us any trouble, I'm sure the guards at the entrance will alert us." He said dismissively, with a wave of his massive paw. He continued out the door and locked it behind him.
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"Alright, let's go." and with that Scarlet dove head first into the cold salt water.

[Firestripe]

*Jaazer slipped into the water after Scarlet and swam after her figure in the water since he wasn't exactly sure where to go. The water was cold and the sea water stung his eyes but he wasn't bothered, he simply followed the vixen captain through the murky blackness.*[/font]

*The Nightpearl was now close to shore and it was time for Firestripe to disembark. He gathered his four lieutenants, Gashtooth, a sleek grey wolf with a cool head, Talara, a pretty, little weasel with a sweat demeanor offset by fierce leadership techniques and the brothers Talon and Falon, rats of medium height with coarse fur and rough attitudes. Firestripe, with Scarlet's consent, had chosen his lieutenants himself based on loyalty and ability. While he trusted most of the crew to be loyal, these four were something else.* "Ok, you know the drill. Be prepared for trouble but don't do anything unless I give you the signal. Now, I'm off to have a chat with a badger lord." *Firestripe started to turn away when Falon spoke up.*

"Oi, are ya sure it's ok to go down there by yerself? We could have a few beast trail you discreetly ya know." *He said with arms crossed and an unpleasant expression on his face, though Firestripe knew he was just worried. He gave a small smile and shook his head.* "No, that won't do. We all know just how good those hares are at stealth. Do you really think they wouldn't notice? No, I need to go by myself. Need to try and be as least threatening as possible and all that." *Talon snickered at the idea of Firestripe trying to not be threatening and Falon whopped him upside the head. Gashtooth spoke.* "Well, just try and be careful out there."

*Firestripe had already turned away and was heading for the edge of the boat so he simply looked over his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. Talara cheerfully waved goodbye as Firestripe took a big leap off the edge and landed about thigh deep in the water. He waded to shore and started heading for where he knew the entrance into Salamandastron was. He knew there'd be guards about and he didn't want any itchy trigger fingers going off so he kept his paws well away from his weapons as he drew closer.* [/font]

[Scarlet]

The water was colder than Scarlet had expected it to be. An involuntary shiver radiated down her spine as her arms and legs propelled her through the water. Swimming toward the cliff side was a little awkward, with her satchel strapped to her back, weighing her down more than usual. It didn't take long to reach the hard rock wall, and she surfaced, taking a breath. She glanced back at where their boat was anchored about ten yards away; They couldn't anchor it any closer to the cliff side for fear of it being battered against the rocks as the tide came in while they were still inside the mountain. It worried Scarlet slightly that it was precariously close to being where it would be visible, if any scouts or guards scanned too close to their own mountainside, but if anything, the incoming tide would pull it further from view, making it less bothersome in her mind.

Her paws found some holds in the rocks, right above where the cave was. She took a moment to gather herself; It would take hard, fast swimming to make it through the cave and into the pool cavern in one breath, albeit one huge, lung bursting breath, it would still be tough.
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Urith settled down for brunch with his right hand hares, Thistledown and Rosemary. They were twin hares of sandy blonde fur, with matching hazel eyes. Both were exceptionally talented at, well, pretty much everything, especially running and organizing the goings on inside the mountain. That's the main reason why Urith chose them to be his personal advisers. It was difficult, even for a badger lord, to keep a handle on everything inside Salamandastron. Thistle and Rose were recognized leaders amongst the rest of the hares, and the measure of respect the other inhabitants had for them was massive.

"Ah, Thistle, having enough brunch to last the day there I see." Urith eyed the hare's tray that was piled high with everything on the menu for the morning, times five. Thistle winked at the badger lord, " The day? This'll barely last the hour, wot wot!" with that he proceeded to dig into his personal feast. Urith laughed mightily, and started on his own dish. Before he even got the first bite into his mouth, he heard a sharp voice that he knew was his head guard, Katniss. " Sir, there's a rather large fox pirate, heading toward the entrance to the mountain. You should see for yourself, it's rather peculiar." She barked in a very military fashion. One could tell she was a highly trained officer of sorts, her stiff back and serious expression were proof enough of that.

Urith looked a little let down as he examined his plate; It would have to wait. "Alright, I'll have a look. Tell the hares to stand down and stay hidden. If he tries to enter, merely intervene; Don't attack unless he does. Understood?" Katniss gave a curt nod and turned on her heel, heading off to tell the others. Urith shook the table as he stood. He glanced at Rose and Thistle. " Let's see if you two can keep your paws off my food while I'm gone." He said with a little smile, baring his sharp white teeth. Their mouths full of food, the twins mumbled something in reply, but the badger lord didn't quite catch it as he left the great hall and headed for the rock ledge that overlooked the beach and sea.

He pulled out his spyglass; A funny little object that seemed much to small for him, made of metal and glass. Holding it up to his big blue eye, he settled it upon the ship. Definitely pirates, it looked like a rather well run and kept up ship. The chipped railing and battered hull obvious results that it had been in it's fair share of battles. It bore a single flag, a skull, always a sign of piracy, but instead of the usual swords crossed behind it, there were instead two red roses, standing out vibrantly from the black back.
It took him a moment to find him, but Urith moved his spyglass to point toward the beach, where he settled upon the lone black fox. Katniss was right, he was a rather large, powerful looking creature. Not near as large as the badger lord himself, but the closest to it as any non-badger he'd ever seen.

As small a threat as they may be, pirates were pirates none the less, and he felt it his duty to be on watch until such a threat was removed, if need be. However, Urith thought, there was a chance, a minute chance, that they could not be threatening. But as he doubted this, the badger lord settled in to continue his observations.

[Firestripe]

*Jaazer surfaced beside Scarlet and tread water as he waited for her to continue. He was actually surprisingly good at swimming, as it had been a part of his training as had most things, so he wasing having too hard a time, though the bag was a little awkward to deal with. Easy enough to compensate for, however.*[/font]

*Firestripe had noticed the three stealthed hares around him as he grew nearer to Salamandastron's main secret entrance. He wasn't exactly sure why the main entrance to the mountain was hidden as well, it must have been a nightmare when moving large amounts of troops and the fact that it was hidden meant that it's main defense was that it couldn't be found. If it was found by a large force, they wouldn't have much resistance until they actually got into the mountain itself. Luckily for Salamandastron, Firestripe wasn't there to fight. Well, at least he hoped not. Before the entrance actually came into sight, however, the three hares that had been following him in what he assumed they thought was a very discreet manner made themselves known.*

*One jumped out directly in front of him just out of reach and held a pistol. He heard another behind him and assumed he had a pistol as well. Further past the one in front of him another appeared with a rifle and dropped to a crouch and took aim. Firestripe stopped but appeared calm, he was calm. The hare in front of him spoke with a disgusted, but nervous look upon his face. Apparently Firestripe's size had unnerved him, which actually surprised the fox seeing as how these hares should have regularly been around a badger which was even larger than himself.*

"What are you doing around here fox? You should know that your kind aren't welcome around here, wot!"

*Well, at least they're talking, that's a good start... Firestripe thought to himself. Well, here goes nothing.* "I have business with Urith and must speak with him immediately." *He said with a look of disdain. He wanted to ruffle the hares feathers, figuratively speaking, but also mentally force him into a less confrontational conversation. The hare nearly laughed at his words but merely smirked.*

"At what would a pirate want with our dear badger lord, wot? Suicide isn't the option, don't'cha know?" *He said and laughed at his own joke. Firestripe on the other hand was tired of the hares impudence and took a step forward, pushing his torso into the pistol and standing over the hare, looking down at him.*

"I have business with him involving the map piece that he has in his possession and yes, I mean that map piece." *He said with almost a snarl in his voice.* "So I suggest that you go and inform him of this so that he can come and speak with me. Now."[/font]

[Scarlet]

Scarlet looked at Jaazer "The cave should be right below us. Take a deep breath!" And with that she filled her lungs as much as she possibly could and dove back down into the water. She swam straight down, keeping close to the wall. There were big rocks and boulders scattered about the floor of the ocean, bare of any living thing aside from the few fish that darted about in the shadows. The cliffside grew rockier as they swam down, and finally they reached the dark entrance of the cave. It wasn't a very large entrance, more like a whole in the wall than an actual cave, It was only about six feet both tall and wide. Scarlet was wary of the darkness that lurked inside the cave, but wasn't about t let it perturb her from her mission. She swam inside and was instantly eaten up by the darkness.
From what I've heard, it should just be straight for a short bit and then curve up... I hope I heard right, I could easily get lost in here. She thought. Indeed, it seemed the informer was right as she felt a curve in the rocks guide her up ward through a tunnel. She was just about run out of air when she saw the flickering of torch light glinting across what must be the surface of the cavern pool. Her lungs burning for air, she finally reached the surface and took a huge gasp. The cool air stung her eyes as she tread the water, knowing that Jaazer couldn't be far behind.

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Bosco, was second in command to Katniss, the head guard. His eyes widened as he heard mention of the map piece; The badger lord was insistent that no other beast should know of his possession of it. "It would only bring trouble upon us." Urith had said, cautioning them all. The hare's feathers were indeed ruffled, so to speak, by Firestripe's manner. He withdrew his pistol from where it was pressed against the fox's torso and backed off. This beast was not to be trifled with. The hares ears twitched though, annoyed that he was being so... condescending. Being more or less creatures of peace, the hares really were left with no option but to send the message from the pirate fox to the badger lord himself, and let him decide what to do.

" Alright there." The hare said simply, his voice void of the sarcasm that it had expressed earlier. He was nervous, he had to admit; It wasn't everyday that such a menacing character showed itself on their shores with such a purpose. He looked over his shoulder to the hare with the rifle, and gave him a nod, sending him running to the secret entrance to carry the message back to Katniss, who would relay it to Urith himself. As he went in, two other guards popped out, one with a rifle, and one wielding two pistols. They kept their weapons trained on Firestripe as they flanked Bosco, just a few paces behind him.

"Now you." Bosco turned back to Firestripe. " I hope for your sake you aren't up to any funny business..." He kept a firm grip on his pistol that he held down by his side, his eyes unwavering as he looked up at the fox.
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Urith watched the exchange from his lookout position. Even with the telescope, he couldn't see details, but he knew whatever the fox said to Bosco was important. When he saw the hare with the rifle run into the secret entrance, he knew it would be a message for him. He continued to keep a watch on the pirate, waiting patiently. He felt a nervous tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face the young hare. Urith inwardly berated himself, for he did not know the name of the hare before him; He tried to make it a point to know everyone's names, like an good badger lord should.
" Lord Urith, the fox sends this message." The guard recited the message to Urith verbatim.
Instantly Urith's forehead crinkled with worry. How could the fox know of the map piece? Few of the pirates aboard the ship we took it from even knew what it was.... He shook his head with worry. If word gets out to all of the other pirate captains, they'll stop at nothing to obtain the map piece... We'll have a full blown war on our hands... So many lives will be lost... With these heavy thoughts burdening his mind, he nodded his big bristly head.
"I'll meet this fox pirate. We've much to discuss, so it seems."
The guard made an awkward bow and lead the way through the tunnels and out to where the black fox stand. Urith had to duck low as he stepped out from the secret entrance. He strode toward the others, his massive paws leaving shallow impressions in the sand.
He stopped before the fox pirate, his eyes taking in all of the details of the character before him. As he had noticed earlier, he was nearly as tall as the badger lord himself, a feat within itself as few creatures, especially foxes were so tall. He seemed to be quite a powerful figure too, obvious strength in his muscular arms and chest. Urith, after some scrutiny, fixed his eyes to the foxes own. He would not be the first to speak, it was a forfeit of power in such a discussion as they would have. He held himself tall and proud and waited quite patiently for the pirate to speak.

[Firestripe]

*Jaazer saw the dark entrance to the tunnel as he followed Scarlet. She seemed to hesitate for a split second before entering, which wasn't surprising. Jaazer lost sight of her as soon as she entered, which was bad because he was supposed to be following her. He didn't know where to go otherwise. As he swam into the hole he immediately lost sight of everything. He didn't know where to go and he was suddenly alone in the crushing darkness of the cold water. If he hadn't prepared himself during the night he knew that he would have panicked now, instead however he kept a cool head and continued forward. He swam forward, not knowing of the upwards curve he was heading for, and ran his face right into the rock wall. Air escaped his lungs in his surprise and he felt at his muzzle. It wasn't broken but there were definitely some lacerations and he could tell that he was bleeding and his lungs were burning for lack of oxygen. He followed the curve of the wall upwards as fast as he could without panicking. He saw light coming through the water as he started to lose consciousness and pushed as hard as he could. He head broke the surface and he gasped for air. Apparently he had made it and, seeing as he wasn't suddenly full of bullet holes, it would seem they were undetected.*[/color]

*Firestripe looked upon the badger lord, he was not impressed. Of course the badger was larger and stronger than himself, but Urith was also aging. Firestripe could see the grey making itself known in the badger's fur. The last badger Firestripe had run into had been much younger and possibly more muscular. Even though he wasn't impressed, he still had a healthy respect for with this badger could possibly do to him if he wasn't careful. As Urith stopped before the black fox, Firestripe looked up into the badger's eyes and stared intently. He knew this game, those in power always played it. Firestripe's pride would not let him speak first, besides, this stare down would give Scarlet and Jaazer more time to get in and out. He was worried but forced himself to take his mind off of it. In order to keep Scarlet safe on his end he had to stay focused on what was right in front of him, quite literally. He hardened his gaze slightly and let his eyes tell Urith that he wasn't here to play games.*[/color]

[Scarlet]

Scarlet was still catching her breath when Jaazer burst up through the water beside her. Noticing his bloodied snout she merely rolled her eyes. "Better....take care of that.... I can't have you dripping blood around......when we go undercover." She managed to get the words between breaths and still sound relatively hateful. Her eyes were finally adjusted to the light to see the shallow steps that led up through the mountain, sconces with torches placed intermittently up the sides of the gently curving stairwell.

Without a word she swam toward them, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. The steps lead straight into the water so it wasn't difficult to get out, she merely had to walk up until she reached the dryer step. She placed her pack on the step above her and shook her fur, trying to dispel any water that clung to it. Wringing out the edge of her shirt, she hoped that they wouldn't end up trailing water everywhere they went. As her fur seemed to be drying off rather quickly, she pushed the matter to the back of her mind; it was time for their costumes.
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Being an older and wizened badger, patience was something Urith was never short of. As he stared at the pirate before him, he was questioning his motives, asking the ever elusive question of Why? Why would this creature be interested in the map piece? For from the look of him, he didn’t appear to be a captain. A creature of reputation and stature maybe But most likely not a captain... Urith thought, his intuition about these things very keen. Why then would he risk so much coming alone to the very doorstep of such a mighty force? For in this moment in time, the hares that inhabit Salamandastron are many in number, an army to be reckoned with. Perhaps his Captain is a cowardly brute like the last one... Urith's ear flicked as a breeze whispered past, yet he hardly noticed the involuntary movement, so intent on answering the unanswerable he was, as creatures of knowledge often like to do.

As the minutes passed, Urith became ever aware of everything; The sand, gritty under his paws. The air salty from the sea. The measured breathing of their unwelcome guest. The hares shuffling of paws and twitching of noses around them. Something was coming, he could feel it in his bones. What were subtle changes of temperature and humidity became more noticeable. And yet they continued to stare. He knows this game well, Urith almost chuckled; It took guts to stare into a badger lords eyes, menacing and cold as they were, for as long as he had.

As if on cue the breeze picked up, sending sand swirling low against the ground. In the fifteen minutes or so that they had been staring, the sky above was overcome by clouds, heavy with rain. Bosco, who had been standing off to the side surveying the two of them, skittered up next to Urith. He didn't want to interrupt, but he knew the weather around these parts; Sunshine one minute and a hurricane the next wasn't abnormal. "Er, um, my Lord? It seems that we have a bit of a situation here..." As he spoke the first few fat drops of rain fell from the increasingly darkening sky.

"It would seem we do." He broke eye contact with the fox and turned his snout to the sky. "Might I invite you inside to continue this... discussion? Before we all get soaked where we stand." He was playing nice; He knew that if the fox accepted, it would be far more dangerous for him then for any of them. He glanced over the pirates shoulder at the ship was beached in the shallow water. They would have to set back out to the ocean unless they wanted the waves to batter and drown their ship against the sand. It was a very dangerous position for the fox, so Urith felt certain that he wouldn't do anything... foolish. Not while being surrounded by hundreds of trained hares, and without the ready aid of his crew members. Urith smiled.

"But of course, we will have to disarm you...That is, if you don't mind."
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Delving into her pack, Scarlet pulled out her favorite bit of disguise; The fake rabbit ears. Thankfully the waterproofing of the satchel had held up and they were in perfect condition. Good thing too, it was bloody expensive getting these... She settled the contraption firmly over her head, her own pointed ears flattened beneath the band and the fake rabbit ears standing to attention in their stead. Feeling slightly ridiculous, she tied the cloak about her shoulders and fitted the ears through the holes in the hood.
"You ready?"

[Firestripe]

*Firestripe smiled slightly, as if he was going into that mountain. Not only was his job to keep focus on himself, outside the mountain, but the danger for himself would increase dramatically. At least out here he had room to scoot if things went south, not that he expected things to. He knew that Urith's only option was to play nice, the simple fact that Firestripe even knew about the map piece meant that he had information that Urith wanted and the only way he was getting anything is if they did things the fox's way.*

"Nah, I'm fine out here. You're not bothered by a little rain, are ya?" *He asked in an even tone with a hint of a challenge within. He held out a paw off to his side, palm up, as if trying to catch a the rain. He looked at his palm as a rain drop hit and moved his gaze up into the sky. A storm was coming and he just hoped that everybeast came out of it in one piece. He looked over his shoulder to the Nightpearl, let out an ear-piercing whistle and pointed a claw to the sky, spinning it in a circle in an exaggerated manner. This was the signal to the crew to get the ship away from the shore. He didn't fancy it getting destroyed while he handled his business at the mountain. He turned back to Urith and smiled.*[/font]

*Jaazer didn't hear what Scarlet had said, as he was barely conscious. He struggled to make sense of things and noticed Scarlet swimming away. He followed her as his head cleared and noticed the stairs leading out of the water. As he stepped up he was suddenly showered in water as Scarlet shook herself, not that it mattered. He opened up his pack and pulled out a towel and dried himself off quickly. He noticed blood on the cloth as he dried himself and remembered that his nose was bleeding. He dabbed at the cut with the towel until blood stopped coming away. Luckily it wasn't too deep and the blood was already starting to coagulate, meaning it wouldn't need to be bandaged up. Before putting away his towel, he pulled out his cloak and ears, not wanting to get them wet as well. He put the items on, not caring whether he looked ridiculous or not and nodded at Scarlet's question.* "Ready."[/font]

*Back at the Nightpearl Firestripe's four lieutenants caught his signal. Talon spoke up first.* "Oi, are we really leaving him here? We can't do that!" *Gashtooth looked over at him out of the corner of his eye and shook his head.* "Yes we can. You've seen the sky, you know what's coming. We have our orders and it's our job to carry them out." *Falon started giving out the orders as Talara spoke up.* "Well, why don't we leave a few beasts on shore, discreetly, to stand by in case Firestripe needs back-up?" *Gashtooth stared down at his footpaws for a few seconds before looking back at her and nodding.*

"Alright, ya never know I guess. Talara, why don't you and Falon take a few beasts with you, stealthy ones. Remember, don't let them see you and don't get to close. We can't afford to mess this up." *Talara smiled brightly and gave a sarcastic salute.* "Yeah yeah, we know how to handle ourselves. C'mon Falon, let's do this." *He nodded and they picked out their crew, five of the stealthiest pirates they had, and disembarked. Talon looked unhappy that he wasn't heading out as well, but he understood why. Simply put, he sucked at anything requiring silence. The Nightpearl slowly made it's way out into the ocean, silently waiting for it's crew to return.*