Stavanger Bay O Captain my Captain

@Smokestep The grand tour of things? Set after she was accepted. Lemme know if you want it all welcome. Sorry for the crappy post.

Wilhelm hadn't shown back up yet but she trusted him to be around somewhere nearby, so with a hopeful heart and an excited glimmer in her eyes she placed her trust within Captain Smokestep's paws and followed him on her once in a lifetime rare grand tour of the place. "How many others are there?" She questioned him curiously, her tail swaying behind her slowly as she followed him.

They neared the edges of the pack and she offered a question in regards to the numbers in the crew. He cast his gaze back to her over his shoulder and smiled softly. “Enough to keep us afloat fer a while. Always lookin' fer more to add, so if'n ye've got yerself some mates ye'd like to join; the more the merrier,” he answered her with a confident tone lacing his voice. She seemed to have opened up some since having arrived near the bay. Smokestep had been concerned that she would have held her tongue for most of the trip. Granted, he had never had much of an issue with silent companions. The corsair did more than enough talking for an entire pack of wolves. Still, she was growing into a social gal and was offering an inquisitive personality.

She smiled at the knowledge that there were others. More than a small amount by the way he spoke confidently. She prayed that they were all friendly or at least fairly nice and wouldn't cause conflict. "How many men?" she asked in a more hesitant tone, peering up at him through her eyelashes. She wouldn't lie and pretend to be a prude, yet she also hoped it didn't seem too forward to inquire about the ratio of opposite sex to her own. At least she would know the amount of competition she had in getting herself a man then. "And how many women?" she added hoping to appear less thirsty than she'd sounded.

The first question struck him a bit strangely and the pale wolf turned to look at the woman with a quirked brow and a questioning expression. If it was men she was after, Smokestep felt as though he hadn't done the best of jobs in gathering those of like sex. He had, as a majority, surrounded himself with a screw of fiery women who didn't seem to take much to set off. There were a few who were sweeter than others, and some that were a bit more feral, but they were all strong in their own right and he was pleased with the lot of them. He mulled her questions over for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “I'd say we've got more lasses than lads,” he said in an offhanded manner. It wasn't something he had truly considered, but then again he had always assumed that the ladies would have wanted him above all other males. Even with Raptor being as suave and confident as he was, Smokestep thought he could lay on the charm in ways that would have made his father swoon. Still finding the inquiries odd, he canted his head a bit and frowned. “Why?”

She nodded at his response, figuring it wasn't unexpected or abnormal. If a pack was run by a man she supposed it was normal for him to gather females over males. Yet she wondered then at how breeding would work if all new generations were of the same father. Coming out of her thoughts she looked at the sand and gritted her teeth at his question. "Well...two reasons." she began awkwardly.

"The first is that I...was raped a short while ago. Men make me nervous and they also make me feel safe. It's...odd" she was surprised at how easily she released this information but since Smokestep was her leader now she needed to trust him. "The second being that despite what happened, I am still a woman and I have hormones and desires like anyone else. I wish to settle down one day with children as well." this was said with a touch of shame though she looked up then to see how he'd respond to her honesty and forwardness.

The Captain listened to her with an uncomfortable stiffness about his frame. He had never been good to chat with about difficult situations. It was thought that he lacked the ability to empathize with those who had suffered a great loss. Really, Smokestep wasn't fond of imagining the darkness that surrounded them. If such a thing were to plague the world, he would wish to be the one administering it. His jaw was clenched until she had finished and he continued to walk slowly through the sands of the bay. The marauder did not meet her gaze, but he finally sniffed and nodded his head.

“Well, ye don't think I'd be surroundin' meself wit' only lasses did ye? Gotta even things out somewhere along the line,” he finally mustered with a half shrug and a quick swish of his tail. Though he could not speak for the majority of his sex, he was often disgusted by the actions that males took to dominate a situation. He could really only imagine his sister in those moments, and it flushed him red with anger. At just over a year, Smokestep was not keen on addressing his emotions.

She knew as soon as she'd blurted it out that being so forward was a mistake. She averted her eyes to the sand in front of her, occasionally looking at him from the corners of her eyes. She'd always been a very forward and open girl, whether it be with emotions or just general conversation. It hadn't really occurred to her that it might bother others. She hadn't even believed in the darkness of the world until the Shadow Man raped her so she didn't understand that it made others uncomfortable. 


When Smokestep spoke up she sagged slightly and gave a small laugh, an embarrassed smile forming. "No...I suppose not."she said and looked over at him. The anger on his features made her wary but she felt it was her fault. "I'm sorry....I shouldn't have told you that. It's not something strangers should share I suppose. I'm sorry for upsetting you" she said earnestly, face falling as she hung her head and followed him in silence.

The two had been thrust into a moment of awkward fumbling. Smokestep was young, and he had never truly been privy to conversations of that nature. He was still immature and insensitive. In light of the serious tone, it was not as though he had made a fool of himself. Surely, he could never understand what she had endured, and he didn't know how he could speak about such an incident. The pale girl apologized and made mention that it wasn't something she should have brought up so casually with him. He wanted to agree with her – tell her she was absolutely right and move on with their rounds. Some part of him knew that it wouldn't have been appropriate.

“Nah don't ye apologize to me, lass,” he assured her with a shrug. “Was only thinkin' o' me sister an' wot I'd do to a man who had the rank to do anythin' o' the sort to her.” It was a brief flash of honesty and one that was rare to cross his spirits. Smokestep never had been fond of being sober. It was a wicked and soulless thing to have done to any unwilling creature. It warranted a moment of solemnity.

She regarded him solemnly for a few long moments. Not only was he charming, handsome and swaggered in a sexy way but he would also defend what he cared about. She felt herself smiling faintly and her tail swayed from side to side. "Gut him like a fish" she murmured because if she'd had a sister and someone dared do that, that was what she would surely try to do herself.


Deciding to change the subject she turned to look at him, an idea forming in her head. One she'd later on suggest to Engel. "I have yet to meet the crew and you had mentioned we're supposed to be close right? Maybe some sort of gathering for bonding would be nice. We could sing,dance,tell stories, eat?"she was hesitant in suggesting this because she wasn't entirely sure how welcome it was.

Gut him like a fish was right, though he did very little to agree with the statement. The pale pirate was far too troubled still with the idea that there were brutes out there who would cause such harm to those of their own kind. Pleasure was ideal, but it was not worth the defamation of another living creature. As they continued along, Smokestep kept an eye out for any of the crew so that he might offer introductions. The bay was quiet on that day, though he did not seem to be bothered by the thought of some peace. It had been a bustling couple of months since having arrived back in the wilds.
 
The girl mentioned that she had hopes for a get together. He turned to fix her with a mismatched stare and he nodded his head in agreement. “Oi, that’s a dandy idear ye’ve got there, miss. Let’s say we plan fer when the weather’s a bit warmer, eh?” he told her with a smile. The idea of gathering around and spending some bonding time with the crew would have been nice. Aside from this, spring would bring fruit berries and honey so that they could make rum and grog.

She walked alongside him in silence, assuming he was contemplating her suggested idea. She spent the silence looking around her and familiarizing herself with the scents of the territory until he spoke up. She grinned and wagged her tail, relieved and delighted that he liked the idea. "I'll definitely work on a few songs then! I look forward to Spring."she said brightly. It would seem that nobody was around as of late and she didn't want to keep him if he had something else to do. "Looks like everyone vanished. If you wanna go I'm sure I can find my way around now."She offered with a small smile, pausing and turning to look at him.

“Aye! Could teach ye a few o’ me own,” he offered her with a swift smile and a soft flagging of his tail. Once she remarked that the rest of the crew seemed to have been off, venturing on their own. Though he was a little disheartened that the other members would have better things to do than hang around the bay. Smokestep was more than eager for the arrival of spring; it would grant them a chance to grow closer as a crew, and he was growing restless without the taste of a good grog against his tongue. The thought of making rum sent a pang through the chest of the young Captain, and he wondered where Raptor had wandered off to. It had been some time since he’d seen the sable pirate roaming across the bay, and they had not last spoken on the best of terms.
 
Awinita seemed as though she had ideas to move ahead on her own. The pale corsair nodded to her with a small smile and offered a wag of his tail before he set out to in search of his Quartermaster. “Don’t be ‘fraid to find me if ye’ve got questions,” he offered to her as a soft reminder before he trotted across the cold sands with his head held high.

Satisfied that she would be let loose on her own, she  gave a goofy grin toward the handsome captain and nodded. "I'll teach ya whatever I can. See you around Captain, I'm sure I'll have questions" She said and then turned, heading away. She would select an area to den down first before becoming familiar with the area, then maybe she'd have a go at fishing. She certainly had a few days to get comfortable.

Archiving!  Thank you!