Hoist the colors [Lyall]

Talisa Sharina Wolfson

The First Mate lifted her gaze when the captain's voice wafted through the cabin in her direction, smiling softly at him, correcting herself from leaning against the door to stand up straight and move further into the cabin – she had the intention of going over and collecting her eagle, Whisper, from his perch but her path was blocked when her husband had risen from his seat to stand in front of her.
“You might be willing to resort to violence with the crew, but I am not”, she said calmly, her voice soft as the very thought dragged her memories back to when her step-mother and step-brother had both been beating her senseless when she was younger. The beatings had stopped after her father had told them off, swearing to send Edrik to Riasglach if he dared hurt her again.

So much for that... considering what he had done to her when she was eighteen. She could just imagine his smug little grin at the fact that he hadn't been sent away, but rather Talisa had been sent away instead. Away from her father... and grandfather. That little bastard! Talisa thought of growling at the memory but instead she snapped herself back to the present when Lyall turned from 'husband' to 'captain', pointing out rather clearly that even she could not get away with slacking off.
“I have our best man on the wheel, aside from yourself of course”, she responded, playing up to his ego that he was simply 'the best' on his ship. The best captain, the best swordsman, the best of them all. But a more private part of him considered him the best at more intimate physical pleasures that he got up to with his loving wife – in other words, Talisa. “He knows to avoid the Bluffs”.

'Dea Matrona wonder why.' Talisa thought silently, invoking the mother goddess. She had frequently wondered why Lyall was so determined to avoid the Bluffs of Sona now. He had taken her out their after a year into their marriage when he had turned her into a werewolf and they had consummated their marriage..... but why not now? What was her dear husband hiding? And Talisa had once thought that they never hid anything from each other... completely trusted each other. The woman knew that Lyall would rather keep her on the ship most of the time when she went ashore purely to sit in the sand, but he tolerated it purely because she missed her desert... she wasn't completely 'ocean'... though she loved the ocean too.

“I never forget to tell whomever I put on the wheel to avoid the Bluffs whenever we set sail”, she assured him, daring herself not to shrink beneath his dark green gaze, even though her smile had already fallen from her lips. Admittedly she had come into the cabin to also to escape from the comments from the grew that they thought were muttered behind her back without her hearing. Particularly calling her 'the captain's whore'.
“If they refuse my orders again I'll get Tau to start biting them until they do”, she joked, mentioning her precious white lion, half hoping that hard gaze would soften once more. In the end Talisa merely stood up on her toes to steal a light kiss from her husband's lips that lasted only a moment. “Am I still in trouble?” she asked him softly, silver-blue eyes looking up into dark green. “Or should I go walk the plank for this momentary occasion of slacking off?”

Talisa Sharina Wolfson

Talisa felt cold beneath his gaze as he reminded her that with some, violence was necessary. She knew that violence was a universal language amongst pirates, no matter what ship, crew or captain you sailed under... it was their way, but Talisa did not want to have to resort to violence against the very men that stood between her and the horror that was her step-brother. True, Lyall was a strict and often harsh captain, but his men were loyal to him... well, most of them were, some where still frequently testing their limitations. Even Talisa had learned rather quickly not to defy his orders, even if she would rather fight against them. If Edrik came after her, Talisa wanted to ensure that her life was protected by not only Lyall, but by her crew, rather than fearing that the same men who she sailed and fought beside would just as willingly hand her over to her worst nightmare. Yes, Talisa had a mean streak and possessed a temper that could rival that of Lyall much of the time, it still did not mean that she could strike a man simply for defying her own orders. It simply was not in her.

The little desert wolf almost smiled when Lyall pointed out that she could not swim in response to her question about walking the plank for her slacking off for only a mere moment. “Living on a ship it not without its risks”, she pointed out in return. “For a desert creature such as myself”.
The foreign girl had been born and raised in the desert where water was scarce, so learning to swim was not something of a necessity for the clansmen that were her people. Each one of her people addressed themselves as 'desert creature', because of their connection to it. They knew what the desert was capable of, and they never underestimated it. 'I am desert creature, I know when to hide', was the typical Marisian response to storms. Lyall had often commented that she should learn to swim, just in case, but the opportunity never arose. It wasn't as if she was likely to be washed off the ship during the ocean storms since they tended to hide from them back at port... and the crew would be sent ashore so that Talisa and Lyall could spend some time alone for a while.

She closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead, telling her that she was the moon of his life – Talisa loved being called that. In some circles the moon was considered the wife of the sun – fiery and dominant as it was – the moon was softer, more serene... and had several Goddesses associated with it. “My sun and stars”, she whispered in return before his loving attitude slipped back into 'captain'. Talisa could not lie and say that she was not disappointed by the sudden change. Granted they had spent the night alone the night before, but Talisa certainly preferred the version of him that was gentle – not the harsh side of him. A slap to her arse and a growl was pretty much his way of saying 'get moving'.

It took every element of her being to resist her shoulders from sagging in disappointment, especially after he had mentioned his “demons” that he did not see fit to trust her with. What could he possibly be hiding? But for now she would have to return to her mask of First Mate, rather than his loving wife – she'd have to ignore her eagle for now too.
“Yes Captain”, she said simply, resigning to formal title rather than using his name as she lowered her gaze and put her hat back on. Talisa turned on her heel and ventured through the cabin doors without a complaint, always following orders. Not even she was allowed off the hook for five minutes, not even to pen down a letter to her father like she had been intending to for months. Lyall's attentions had kept her from it the night before, same as his attentions did most nights when he was in the mood.

For the next few hours Talisa lost herself to the menial tasks that lay before her as First Mate: fixing ropes because her fingers could work the braiding easier than the fat fingers of the sailors, checking the weapons store and sharpening what blades needed to be resharpened, breaking up various fights and even uncovering which sailor had been stealing food rations the last few days. Talisa made it clear that anyone caught stealing rations again would be keelhauled. Hoping that was the last of it Talisa took over steering the ship since it was something that she didn't really have to think about. She didn't want to think right now... not when she knew that her husband was hiding secrets from her. He knew everything about her... he even learned her native tongue since she was still new to the common tongue of Speirling, while the Ancient tongue was present in Harenam Maris as well, it was not their actual language. Talisa often stumbled across the common tongue if she did not know an appropriate word, switching to her own tongue in order for it to be translated.

“SAILS AHOY! SHIP OFF THE PORT BOW!”

Talisa glanced up at the crow's nest at the call before looking in the appropriate direction. Sure enough, in the distance drifted another ship, the wind in it's white sails carrying it across the ocean blue. “COLORS?” she shouted up to the man in the nest, wanting to know for herself if it was a merchant, or fellow rascals of the law such as themselves: pirates.
“SHE ISN'T FLYING ANY”.
The werewolf actually dared a grin, stepping away from the wheel for another pirate to take her place while she issued orders. “Run out the guns! Let's see what she has in store for us”. She walked amongst the crew of the Sanaii, having to stop more than once to kick a pair of brothers awake and tell them to get a move on. She knocked on the cabin doors to get Lyall's attention, daring not go in if that meant he would have her hide. “Captain? You might want to see this”.
Moving away from the door Talisa looked back to their targeted ship, part of her hoped that it was not friendly, she and the bows could use a good fight – but another part realised the reality that it could be the ship of her father-in-law: Wulfric Wolfson.

Talisa Sharina Wolfson

Talisa growled faintly when her captain asked her if she was ready for a fight. Oh, she was ready alright, she wanted to hit someone and bloody them up real good. Of course the preferred target of her anger would be her bilge rat of a step-brother, Edrik. But he wasn't here right now to take the brunt of it... though if he was, she would happily rip out his heart with her bare hands. She whispered his name beneath her breath as she always had before any fight, the fingers on her hands flexing as she resisted drawing her sai's from their place hooked into her fabric sash belt.
“Just give me something to hit”, Talisa finally confirmed from her position standing just behind her husband and off to the side, her hands clasped behind her back. The little wolf had picked up the behaviour from some of the navy officers she had seen walking the ports, the professionalism had intrigued her so she had adopted it into her own personal set of rules she used aboard the Sanaii.

With that she turned on her heel and focused on the men, making sure that they were following orders as commanded, growling silently at how promptly they listened to Lyall but not her. Damn them all to the locker of Davy Jones is that was the way they wanted to play it. She was the First Mate for goodness sake, they were meant to follow her command as well.... and yet they still hated her, well, all but two hated her. Talisa had managed to become friendly with the ships cook, “Cookie” as everyone called him, back when she had first been brought aboard – he was an older chap with whispy gray hair and had spent a life at sea: when Lyall wasn't in the mood to hear out her troubles, Cookie usually had an ear open and would let her hide out in the galley with him, provided she helped out with the cooking of course.

Other than Cookie there was Dakarai. He was a foreign too, from who knows where, but hardly anyone could understand a word out of his mouth his accent was that thick. Even Talisa struggled but she made sense of half of what he said much of the time. Dakarai followed her around much of the time, holding her hand when she didn't need it, steering the ship when she was talking (or arguing) with the captain in their cabin – he had been part of the crew on the ship back when it was still called Valhalla. A large dark skinned lad that had at least twice stopped men sneaking up behind her back in order to try stab her or grab her to throw her overboard, not even Talisa knew that it had happened. Lyall knew of course, Dakarai had told him.

“HOIST THE COLORS!”
Talisa lifted her gaze just a touch to watch their flag raise, smirking at the sight of it. Unlike other pirate flags that would bare a skull and cross bones, Lyall's flag was different: in place of a human skull, it was a wolf skull. Anyone who saw that flag would know that it was at least one of the Wolfson pirates that came to call: either Wulfric, or Lyall. Talisa was well known in her own right, a Wolfson herself now and a female pirate, but even then everyone knew she sailed under Lyall's command.

Talisa's nose twitched half a second before she raised a hand to catch a bright green apple that had been thrown at her without even looking once, biting into it not long after.
“Thanks Cookie”, she called over to the old man. Talisa always ate an apple before attacking a ship, it kept her focused and gave her something to occupy her while they were in the chase. Soon enough she would go back to her cabin and fetch her eagle, letting it fly above the ship where it would not be harmed. Her lion, Tau, on the other hand... he would fight right beside Talisa no matter what ship she found herself on. And Talisa was often the first to board an enemy ship... she liked to throw herself into a fight before anyone else had a chance, and being a Werewolf gave her speed and strength enough that she could just run off and jump across to the other ship when they drew along side.

Darakai walked up to stand beside her with his arms crossed. “You ready my friend?” she asked him quietly, her eyes shifting back to trace the movements of the crew before she looked at her fellow foreigner, seeing him nod silently. He never said a word to her when Lyall was present, but Talisa didn't mind. “Good”. The wolf drew one sai and pressed a finger against it to make sure that still sharp, not even flinching when a rich scarlet droplet appeared from her skin. Still sharp. Talisa narrowed her eyes, smirking wickedly at the ship they were drawing closer to.
“We're catching up...”

Even Darakai looked at her strangely as those words fell out of her lips. Talisa was not usually one to state the obvious much of the time. And even he had noticed her quite reserve when she had been steering the ship, essentially zoning out. It was like she had been depressed one moment, and now she was fiery and ready to hit something. There was something different about her, but he couldn't work out what it was. Bad day perhaps? The First Mate didn't give the dark skinned pirate much time to think about it when she began walking towards the spot that she would inevitably jump from to land on the other ship.

What was with Talisa anyhow? Why had she gone from happy and relaxed on the sad, to feeling like she was in trouble with her captain, to feeling like her husband didn't trust her at all because he was clearly hiding something from her, and now suddenly wanting to turn a person into a bloody mess?! It was like the werewolf had suddenly turned into a yoyo...

Talisa Sharina Wolfson

The wolf had not even reached her launch point when the enemy ship came about and shot a cannon right into the Sanaii, rocking the ship and throwing a few people off their balance, stumbling around or falling over completely. Talisa was one to be thrown off her feet, landing on the deck with a hard thud. Talisa cursed and scrambled to her feet, running to the edge of the ship and launching herself onto the other ship. Lyall was not going to like the enemy blowing holes in his ship. It was better that she stopped those guns before any damage was done. The desert girl took a flying leap off the Sanaii and landed on the other ship with a roll, raising up onto a knee with her weapons drawn in each hand.
“You are going to regret doing that”, she growled through her teeth as she fixed her blue eyes on the men around her, slowly raising onto her feet. Most of the men just laughed at her, big mistake considering they were underestimating her. Talisa smirked and almost pounced on one man, stabbing her Sai's into his chest before flipping over his head and standing on the outside of the ring that had surrounded her.

Half of the men stood there with jaws hanging open while the other half scrabbled to draw their own weapons. Talisa took a moment to cast her eyes back to the Sanaii. Were the crew seriously going to let her take the credit for taking a ship on her own? She didn't think so, and they proved her correct when a few of them climbed into the rigging and swung across the span between the ships on long ropes, taking advantage of the commotion Talisa had created. The desert wolf continued the attack, blocking swords with crossed blades of her Sai's, twisting them and spinning them in in her hands because they were small and light, throwing them as well to cover distance.

Being short, light and flexible gave Talisa an advantage that larger, heavier men did not have at times, she was able to flip and bend, avoiding strikes that would ordinarily strike a man down. And it had been Lyall that had taught her hand to hand combat himself, but it was Talisa that had adapted and continued to her training to find weapons that suited her best. But she had the one thing that all men suffered from: overconfidence. She didn't always look behind her, only ever in front of her, and it often got her into trouble. Luckily for her, Lyall or Darakai was always there to watch her back and right now it was Darakai that used his impressive size and bulk to lift the man that had struck at her back and throw him off the shit.
“Watch your back girl!” he snapped at her in his thick accent.
“If we get through this, I'll remember that!” Talisa shouted back, stabbing a sai into a man's eye. “We need to stop the guns!”

As a pair Darakai and Talisa ran across the ship to the hatchway that led to the depths within, finding the gun ports easily enough. Killing the pirates that were blasting holes into the ship was harder, however, especially when there was only a small amount of room to move. It was not impossible however, even when she had to strangle one with her legs because he had her pinned to the floor with a sword to her neck, prevented from killing her thanks to her crossed Sai's. From then on the only sounds were the guns of the Sanaii and the sound of clashing swords. The wolf and her companion walked calmly back onto the main deck, until a man leaped at both of them, screaming like a mad man, taking them both by surprise – and for a moment Talisa lost her bearings because that scream sounded all too familiar, he even looked like her nightmare.
“Ed-ed-edrik....” she stumbled across the name as she froze, being knocked aside by Darakai. Talisa hit the deck, her sai's skidding out of her hands as she rolled over. She scrambled backwards, panicking that her nightmare had come true. No... no... it couldn't be him! It couldn't be!

It wasn't, but Talisa was still frozen in panic that her treacherous step-brother may have found her, taking a slice to the arm as she foolishly blocked a strike from his sword. The werewolf screamed out in pain before regaining her senses, tackling him, growling in anger. No, this wasn't her brother... but he was still from her country. And for that very reason she treated him as if he was, digging nails into flesh and tearing out his throat with her hand. Then the wolf stood up, collected her weapons and made a break for her home ship – with a guess that soon enough the unfriendly ship would sink... and she didn't want to be on it when that happened.

Talisa just hoped she actually made it off in time. Now was not a good time to drown!

Talisa Sharina Wolfson

“Keep to the code.... Keep to the bloody code!”

Talisa muttered that line over and over as she ran the length of the ship, not knowing or caring if Darakai was anywhere near her, or even following.... she would not risk turning to see if her friend was alive. He was her friend, but she was the First Mate, she HAD to get back to the Sanaii, so help her soul if she did not... Lyall himself would damn her if she did not. “Run girl!” a familiar thick accent shouted behind her, making her run faster, harder, channeling into her werewolf speed, pushing herself past her human limitations. Her silver-blue eyes glowed a brighter blue as a growl rumbled deep in her chest. 'I am NOT going to the locker'.

The ship was sinking, Talisa and Darakai were racing time as well as trying to outrun death's clammy outstretched hands. But for them, time was running slow, crawling, each footfall seeming to land minutes apart rather than the seconds that each stride took. “Run Tali. Run!” Darakai shouted again, urging her on... even if he came short of the Sanaii, Talisa was the important one – his friend, the wife of his captain that he had long considered a brother, and his first mate. If either of them, it was Talisa that HAD to survive. Talisa pushed herself as fast as she could possibly manage, leaping off the very end of the sinking ship minutes before Darakai would reach the same point, using all her might and strength to cross the distance between the two ships.

Talisa fell short.

Both Sai's in her hand the little wolf stabbed them into the side of the Sanaii, stopping her fall to hang from them rather than falling into the ocean below. Reaching behind her half a second later to catch onto the outstretched hands of her tall, dark skinned comrade. Talisa screamed out in pain, her injured arm being pulled by his extra weight as she tried to hold them both by her sai's. “Darakai...”
“Let me go Tali. Let me drop”, he mumbled gently, letting go with one of his large hands. Talisa shook her head, the grip on her sai's turning into white knuckles while she gritted her teeth through the pain in her injured. “I am not sending you to the locker!”
“Let me go”.
“NO!”

With a stubborn growl Talisa swung her them both on the sai's back and forth, building up momentum with each swing before she finally did let the dark man go, throwing him up the side of the ship and over the railing. Gasping, the desert werewolf climbed up the side of the ship, rolling over the railing onto the deck. She stayed there quietly, catching her breath, letting Lyall give the orders to have the plunder stowed away properly and for the ship to push on back to the bluffs were they would launder their plunder amongst some of the 'less than honest' traders in port, such as Wylla back in Lethunnsa Port. Wylla was well known amongst pirates as a business savvy woman, she knew that pirates meant good money if you continued to trade with them regardless of reputation.

“First mate, my quarters, NOW....”
Talisa trembled beneath the angry tone, standing up on her own feet to look him in the eye, holding his angry gaze, and in that moment she knew – she had taken too long getting off the ship, and the angry red gash down her arm was clear evidence that she had faltered in keeping her guard up. The First Mate watched the captain turn and leave for their quarters – or as he had ordered, his quarters. “I'm in trouble....” she muttered quietly, not caring who heard her. “Cookie! Give me a bandage for my arm. Real quick, doesn't have to be pretty”.

Once her arm was in a bandage Talisa walked into the quarters she shared with Lyall, finding him instantly. “If you're going to shout at me, get it over with!” she snapped at him, hiding how afraid of him she was when he was angry. The emotion took her back to the first day they had met, she had been a frightened little girl that had shied away from his touch whenever she could. Over the years she had come to trust him, and love him, but when he was this angry he still terrified her. “I did my job, Lyall! Just as I always would. First in the fight, last out... as always. Yes, I nearly went down with the ship... but I got off as fast as I could. I ran faster than my limits! I'm alive... don't be angry at me because I'm alive”.

Talisa stopped speaking to quickly swipe away a few tears that had tried to spill out of the corners of her eyes to maintain her dignity in front of her husband, even though her voice was faltering, dropping her gaze from him. She felt about an inch tall under the angry gaze of those dark green eyes.
“Don't look at me like that Lyall”, she whispered in defeat. “I know that I screwed up. I... lost my bearings for only a moment. I thought I saw Edrik.... I thought that bastard had found me....”

One of her hands went to her stomach as she thought about her bastard step-brother, her memories going back to the little girl she had carried for nine months, only for that little girl to be dead on birth. Sanaii, the namesake for Lyall's ship. But there was another reason why Talisa's hand had gone to her stomach, and even she did not know that reason.
“I'm sorry”, she mumbled, admitting that she had failed in keeping her guard up, a screaming madman had gotten the better of her, and her arm was bleeding like a red fountain because of it. A wash of exhaustion flooded her head in that moment and the werewolf reached out for a support beam to steady herself.
“Lyall....” she called out weakly before her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the floor.

Talisa Sharina Wolfson

Talisa was out cold before she had even hit the floor of Lyall's cabin, an arm curled around her stomach as if she had been protecting it for some reason. She had often fell when she had been pregnant with Sanaii, and her first instinct was to always protect her stomach, she still pulled the same act, even when she wasn't pregnant... it was a tough habit to break. Though Talisa had no infant that she needed to protect – no werewolf pups to carry on the long line of Seafaring werewolves after they were all dead and gone. It would be a lie to say that Talisa had not even thought about trying to convince Lyall to allow her to send a son (if they ever had one) back to Harenam Maris when it was older – her father still needed an heir to take over as Clan leader when he was gone, and that was not a role that she would ever allow that loathsome cockroach Edrik to have.

The cockroach had long desired to be clan leader, and his vile mother had often encourage him and tried to convince Talisa's father and grandfather that he should be the heir and next clan leader – but Talisa was of the bloodline, Edrik was not. Talisa was the last of her line, the only way around it was for her to have a son that her father could name as heir in her place. Sure, the clan name would change from Nassar to Wolfson, but even Talisa saw no fault in that, the Wolfson line would then have power over not only the ocean, but a portion of desert. Sea Wolves and Desert Wolves.

Talisa groaned faintly as her head landed in Lyall's hands, but she did not wake, the arm curled around her stomach finally slipping to at her side with a dull thud, while her injured arm (right arm) laid uselessly on her other side, her hurried bandage soaked with scarlet as the gash that ran the length of her arm continued to bleed, even threatening to soak through the bandage and stain the wooden floor. However, the little werewolf was not under the threat of dying – she had just exhausted her cor by pushing herself harder than she would normally, even though her injured arm causing blood loss had contributed.

Her eyes flickered under her eyelids as if she was lost in sleep, while her fingers twitched and flexed occasionally, but the majority of her muscles were completely relaxed, that if she had been picked up Talisa would have simply hung limply in Lyall's arms; however all her vital signs were present, her chest rising and falling with each breath and her heart was still beating – poor Talisa was just out for the count.

However, what was happening within Talisa's mind was not something that matched current reality at all...

She fell, her hands digging into the sand as she scrambled to regain her feet, why now was her precious desert betraying her this way? She had always loved her desert, but the moment she had wanted its help the most, it denied her.... and the demon was catching up. Like all the women of the desert, Talisa was dressed lightly, nothing more than a short top and a long skirt that was split up the sides, her midriff was bare so that an ample amount of skin was shown off most of the time, and Talisa was certainly not one to feel ashamed of her body – granted, she was short, but she had all the right curves. But the demon had tricked her! He had said that her grandfather was in danger... and lured her out here, her grandfather was no where to be found... Edrik, he had lied. Of course he knew the one thing that would have lured here away from safety, and he had taken advantage of it. Talisa yelped as her ankle was grabbed, pulling her backwards, turning to look her fear in his wretched face...

There werewolf's hands curled into tight fists, her hands digging into the palms as a whimper sounded in her throat before her eyes flickered open. “Lyall...?” she whispered as her head lulled to the side. “W-w-what happened?” Talisa asked as she lifted a hand to her face when she felt moisture on her cheek. “Did.... did you lick me?”