RPG The Quest for Zubeida's Gold

[terra]

Cast: ([url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33490]recruitment thread[/url])

[b]Caballeros (pirates):[/b]

[i]terra[/i] -- Captain Flint
[i]Dragon Warrior[/i] -- Damario Dantes / "Notorious"
[i]Wolf Maximas13[/i] -- Lang / "Wolf" (if you could run your posts through spellcheck before putting them up, it would be much appreciated :))
[i]SilpheedPilot[/i] -- Conrad Crowe / "Spar"


[b]Desperados (cowboys):[/b]

[i]Arcadia[/i] -- Finn
[i]Ben[/i] -- Benjamin Waterdike / "Buckshot Benny"
[i]Mitch[/i] -- Mitchell Smith / "Beater," "Itch," "MG Smith"
[i]Wondershot[/i] -- Vincent R. / "Saladman"


Expectations: readability of posts, intelligence, but above all, common sense.


[center][img]http://pantheon.yale.edu/~elc23/fun/r_zubeida.gif[/img][/center]

The entrance of Captain Flint caused the full saloon in Galveston to go from bawdy laughter to silence in 2.2 seconds. All eyes turned warily to a figure sitting at the bar, a certain man by the name of Finn, before returning to the silhouette that stood against the bright light filtering in through the saloon doors.

Flint?s voice was calm and quiet. "Everybody out."

A few moments later, Flint easily made his way through the now-empty room towards the bar. "You, too," he said shortly to the bartender, who nodded, mouth agape, and fled the room, relieved to have been excused.

"Now, what's this about you having the other half of my map?" Flint inquired as he ducked behind the bar to help himself to a glass of hard whiskey.

Finn chuckled, a deep, patient sound. "[i]Your[/i] map?" he repeated in his easy drawl. "I thought we agreed we were going to have a reasonable meeting for once."

Flint smirked as he thought of their last meeting. The shootout that had taken over half the town probably couldn't have been termed 'reasonable.' It was no surprise that the saloon had emptied so quickly; the townspeople would've been shocked to see Flint and Finn occupying the same room without being at each other's throats. And Flint had had no particular desire for that idea to dissolve. Hell, he still wanted to be at Finn's throat, and the man hadn't even said much of anything so far.

"All right," Flint said, coming around to the customer's side of the bar to take a stool one away from Finn. "Let's see your half of the map then."

Finn nodded and pulled a well-worn piece of parchment out of an inner pocket of his vest, placing it on the bar top. Flint laid his own piece of the map next to it, and it was easy to see that the two halves fit together perfectly.

"Now who's to say I don't kill you and take [i]your[/i] half of the map right this moment?" Flint said, his voice casual as ever.

Out of the corner of his eye, Flint could see Finn smiling. "I could've guessed you would say that," he said. "You might want to turn the map over and read what's there."

Eyebrows knitted in unwilling curiosity, Flint did as Finn suggested. After quickly scanning the page, the pirate turned to actually face the cowboy for the first time. "This isn't some scam of yours, is it? Why is this on here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Finn shrugged. "Think smart, Flint. There's no reason on Earth I'd have written that on the back of [i]our[/i] map. I don't want to share the treasure with your incompetent Caballeros anymore than you probably want to share it with the Desperados ... but it looks like that's the way it's going to be."

Flint had only been half-listening, instead flipping the parchments back over to study the map. "Well, if we're going to have to work together, I suppose we could fit both our crews on the Damned Mistress," he planned aloud. "Ship'll be the best way to get there, at any rate."

"You might find it harder to set sail than you'd expected."

Flint looked up, his eyes suddenly hardened. Finn met his gaze placidly, a small smile dancing across his face. "Just what is that supposed to mean?" Flint said, his voice possessing a deadly calm.

"If we're going to be working together," Finn said deliberately, "I want just that -- a collaborative effort. Half the journey's going to be across the plains on horseback, Desperados territory. We'll head towards the port at Baltimore, I hear you have connections there. Then the other half of the journey will be on sea, Caballeros territory. Half and half -- it's only fair."

"And what makes you think I'd agree to hijacking or finding a ship in Baltimore when I've got my own Damned Mistress right here in Galveston?"

Finn's small smile grew imperceptibly wider, and he checked his watch. "I'm afraid an unforeseeable, yet unfortunate accident has made your precious Mistress quite unsuitable for sailing."

Flint's mouth would have dropped open had he not been so expert at controlling his facial expressions. As it was, his eyes appeared to be aflame. "I must say, Finn, if this is your way of starting a collaborative effort, I don't have very high hopes for this quest's success."

"I believe that our collaborative effort only started a couple minutes ago, at most, and the accident was probably at [i]least[/i] five minutes ago," Finn drawled calmly, taking a sip of whatever liquor he had. "I suppose it's an unfortunate relic of our past misunderstandings? But here's to our peaceful future." And he raised his glass.

Flint drew his arm back and crashed his whiskey into Finn's drink so that both the cups broke, glass tinkling to cover the floor.

"I gotta say, I see why you did it, Finn," Flint said, eyes boring into Finn's. "And I'll agree to your little half horsey, half boat scheme. But any more treachery like this crops up on the journey and whatever effort we had towards 'collaboration' will be out the window. You understand?"

"Absolutely," Finn nodded, flicking a bit of blood off a cut on his hand that had resulted of the collision. "I'm glad we're on the same ground, Flint. Now I think we'd better head to the pier and break our men up. The Caballeros probably didn't take kindly to an explosion while they were on board."

Teeth grit together in anger, Flint was the first out of the saloon, Finn close behind.

[size=1](OOC: I'd encourage ye pirates and cowboys to get in an introductory post for your character while in the midst of a Desperados/Caballeros "battle." Picture ... a sinking ship, a stereotypical wild Western town, and angry pirates and cowboys :p. There are other pirates and cowboys besides you guys, so feel free to kill any of those non-playing characters if you're feeling bloodthirsty. After a little while, Finn and Flint will arrive to break things up.)[/size]

[Dragon Warrior]

Damario looked up at the crummy docks that were of Galveston. He stood a bit away from the ship, Damned Mistress, to wait for Flint to return, even if it's disobeying rules. Damario didn't really care. Taking out one of his fine cigars from his coat pocket, he lit up and puffed out a cloud of smoke into a passing man's face. He coughed and moved on with a crooked frown to shoot back in Damario's direction.

Damario had been looking around at what he's been considering "primitives". He mostly thinks of himself as a big shot, land or sea. He didn't even think kindly of for his crew or Captain Flint. He looked up at the cloudy sky and sniffed. "Muggy weather."

Damario was already aware of the "ship incident", but he didn't bother arguing with the lessers of the ship. Finding a peaceful spot to smoke his cigar was what he needed right about now. He particularly hoped Flint would move it. He couldn't wait to see the face on his Captain's mug when he finds the ship in ruins. He sighed when he finally got his wish.

He chucked his cigar down into a bucket of dirty well water when he spotted Flint and Finn approaching. "Ah, bloody 'ell." He stood up from leaning against a beam of a building and nodded at Flint. He didn't pay any mind to Finn.

"'Ey, Cap'n. There seems to be a pro'lem down by the docks about the Damned--"

"I know, Damario," Flint replied sharply. "I know." Finn made a grin he was all too happy to make. Damario just wasn't sure what was to come next.

Besides, seeing Flint mad was what he was waiting for and not seeing that happen just pissed away a good day for him.

[Ben]

"Heh heh heh, watch me get that one." Benny cackled, taking aim with his shotgun.

The Desperado to whom he was speaking looked to where Benny had indicated. His eyes widened and he shoved the barrel of Benny's barrel upwards. The gun went off with a loud BANG and several Cabalerros fell from the rigging of the Damned Mistress.

"Now what'd you go and do that for?" Benny demanded.

"Because you were about to shoot a stack of dynamite, you blind coot!" exclaimed the cowboy.

Benny frowned. "Oh..."

The Desperado was stabbed from behind by a Caballero, and elicited a shrill scream. Benny whirled and fired, blasting the Caballero's arm clear off. The pirate spun and fell to the ground. When he tried to shakily get to his feet Benny smacked him across the face with the butt of his shotgun.

"That'll teach you." he affirmed.

"Hey, old man." came a voice from behind him.

Benny turned quickly. Standing behind him were three Caballeros, each holding a cutlas in his direction. One of them struck him across the hands with the flat of his blade. Benny dropped his gun, wringing his hands.

"That hurt, you young'un!" he exclaimed.

Just then a group of Desperado's rode by and began firing at the pirates. The pirates turned and (they have guns too, right?) returned fire. Benny reached into his coat and pulled out the sawed-off shotgun he always carried. BANG! Three more Caballero's gone. Benny reloaded his barrel-less shotgun and replaced it in his coat. Then he picked up his other gun, reloaded that, and grabbed his horse. He rode off with the other Desperados to the Damned Mistress.

[Arcadia]

[size=1][color=maroon]To be perfectly frank, Finn was ecstatic. It wasn't every day he could get a definite one-up on the infamous Cap't Flint; usually they were always at odds with each other, unable to gain any sort of ground in any direction. But now, it was like Christmas in July. Finn felt like throwing a party in Flint's honor. Or dishonor, as it may have been. As the two of them watched the sparks and smoke from the scuffle fly wildly about from their place on the dock, he just couldn't help but chuckle, and recieved an unearthly glare from the pirate at his side.

They boarded the boat with little difficulty, and just as Flint opened his mouth to speak, Finn brought his thumb and forefinger to his mouth and blew. A shrill, loud whistle erupted and all those who heard it stopped immediately. Others shortly followed, as all noticed the strange behavior of their respected leaders. That is, the two were standing next to each other, and [i]weren't[/i] trying to kill each other. Needless to say, not even a blue moon could warrant such an event.

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen.." Finn began loudly, his arms outstretched as he enjoyed the shocked looks of all the men around them, but was cut off by Cap't Flint and his thinly veiled annoyance.

"The Caballeros and the Desperados have reached an accord," He announced, rather reluctantly. "The fighting will stop at once. Drop your weapons."

The men all just stared, unsure if they heard right. Guns were still aimed and dangerous, and sabers were frozen in the air in mid swing, blades glinting harshly with the sun's light. All eyes were on the two imposing figures standing at the head of the ship, wondering what could possibly make their leaders act so.. [i]civil.[/i]

"I said," Flint repeated slowly, his voice dangerously low, "Put your weapons down." Finn made a small gesture next to him to his own men, and slowly, the two rival groups let go of shirts and dropped their arms. Guns were holstered and swords sheathed; all waited for some sort of explanation.

"The agreement, then," Finn started, licking his lips once. "The Desperados and the Caballeros have temperarily joined forces for a... special occasion. Our past differences end now, and from this moment on we'll be working towards a common goal that I'm sure we'll all find very agreeable. Any who disobey will find the consequences not to their liking."

Cap't Flint surveyed the ship from where he stood, specifically the explosion area, with a critical eye. "Since the Damned Mistress has met some misfortune," his voice dripped with distaste at that, which only made Finn smirk, "We'll be moving out on horseback..."

"And I'll provide the horses," Finn finished. He tipped his hat forward with a grin, glancing at Flint before turning to leave. "Come on, cowboys. I think these pirates may need some sturdy steeds of their own."

As the Desperados took to the docks, some grumbling about their inability to fully kick some Caballero ass, the pirates did the same in the ruins of the Damned Mistress, though none second-guessed the order. Not out loud, anyway. It didn't take long for Finn and his boys to rustle up a few dozen horses - no one questioned the ways and means of how exactly they managed to procure the animals, but they managed it nonetheless. The Caballeros were waiting on the docks as they returned, watching the smoking, sinking ruins of their beloved ship with anger and dismay. As the horses came into view, that look turned into one of resentment and disgust. But there was no turning back now.

On his own fetching mount, leading another behind him, Finn gave a slight nod to Flint before calling out to the rest of the Caballeros, "Your transportation awaits, gentlemen."

Not one of the pirates moved, however, until Cap't Flint himself gave the signal with a careless wave of his hand. They then clamored onto their horses, cursing and making a general racket. A moment passed before the Captain took the reins offered to him by Finn and mounted the horse, not saying a single word. His eyes, however, said thousands, and Finn could only just hid his smirk. [i]What a long quest this will be,[/i] he thought.[/color][/size]

[terra]

Captain Flint was annoyed; he was still in mourning for his beautiful Damned Mistress, who'd been with him and his father for as long as he could remember; and worst of all, his butt was incredibly sore. Did cowboys just have rawhide for asses or something? because as tough as he was, he didn't think he was cut out for this horse-riding thing.

It was three days into their journey and somehow the Captain had avoided speaking to Finn the entire time. The Desperados rode ahead with Finn at the forefront, the Caballeros slightly behind with Flint in a parallel position, and so far there had been no overlap between the two groups. It was probably a curious sight, Flint mused, two groups obviously travelling together and yet so obviously separate. Damn Finn. There wasn't any particular reason for his curse at the moment, but it had nearly become a reflex, particularly over the past three days. Riding all day and sometimes into the night was taking its toll on the Caballeros, who were unused to the constant movement and the uncomfortable saddles, and Flint was no exception.

At least Flint had a gorgeous ride. He had to admit that when he looked down at his own steed, he could finally see what was appealing about horses. She was a chestnut mare, with a fine form and eyes that seemed almost human. Damn straight that Finn had gotten him a horse that seemed nearly as good as his own. He deserved an animal just as good as Finn's. [i]Better[/i], even. Flint realized his mind was wandering and took a swig of water from his canteen to bring him back to Earth.

He turned his head slightly at a noise to his right, and was met with the sight of Anya riding up to him. She was a good pirate, one of his best probably, and Flint didn't hold with that silly superstition about women being bad luck if you brought them on ships.

"How's it going, Anya?" he said easily.

"To be honest, not good, Cap'n," she replied, and he could see lines of fatigue on her face. "We're all damn tired and nobody's pleased. Think we might be able to catch some rest anytime soon? The sun's about to set and we've been making good time, haven't we?"

Flint's company wasn't known for complaining, and Flint was feeling the strain of the ride himself. He nodded curtly to Anya and coaxed his horse forward, merging the two groups for the first time during their journey.

"Finn," Flint hollered before he reached him, so that he'd know he was coming.

Finn didn't turn even when Flint had ridden up along next to him. "I said, [b]Finn.[/b]"

Still no response.

Flint pulled out his cutlass and stabbed it towards the other man's head. It sliced cleanly through his cowboy hat and Flint pulled his cutlass back, taking the hat with it.

Flint heard noises from the Desperados just behind them, but a small hand motion from Finn kept them in check. He finally turned his head slightly to meet Flint's eyes. "Oh, hello there, Captain. Is there a problem?" His falsely polite tone made Flint want to stab his cutlass towards him again, but with rather a different target.

"Finn, we need to stop for the evening," Flint said, holding the reins with one hand and swinging Finn's cowboy hat around his cutlass with the other. "My men are tired as all hell and I can see why. We're not like you stupid cowboys, we're not used to riding day and night until our asses fall off."

"I don't think it'd be a good idea to stop just yet," Finn said, turning again to face forward.

"Damn it, Finn, we're stopping now and that's that," Flint growled. "At least I know my pirates and I are, so if you want to stay with this half of the map, you might want to stay with us as well." And with that he veered to the right towards a small copse of trees, and as one, the Caballeros followed him.

Finn rolled his eyes and turned his horse to go the same way. One of his men rode up behind him and said, "Finn, we're not stopping here for the night, are we?"

"Flint and his men are tired, so I guess we are," Finn drawled lazily.

"But don't they know this is coyote country?"

"Of course they don't know. But you know Flint, stubborn as a mule, telling him wouldn't have made a difference." Finn sighed. "Besides, the son of a gun has my hat."

[size=1](Cowboys/pirates: you guessed it, the coyotes are coming in the night. Feel free to be awoken by them and fight them off. :p)[/size]

[Wondershot]

Vince rolled his eyes and dismounted. He pulled his hat even lower down over his eyes and turned his back to a couple of Caballeros, who appeared to be mocking his unkempt appearance. He grinned slightly and walked over to them, hand at the ready. He looked up slightly, but his eyes were still hidden.
"There some kind of problem?" He asked coolly, the two men looked at each other and laughed even harder, and Vince reached for the Colt under his jacket.
"Hey, you boys have children?" He asked with a small smile, the two men continued to laugh. There was a small wooshing sound, and the two men looked down in some surprise to see two Colt six shooters pointed between their legs. Vince grinned maliciously and holstered his weapons as quickly as they had been drawn. He walked off, leaving two furious-looking men behind. Vince heard a small ting of metal, and he whirled and pointed his knife at the man's throat who tried to sneak up behind him. He grinned and leaned close to the man, whispering in his ear.
"You cool down, now, it's only a bit of fun." He whispered as he released the man. Vince looked over and saw a huge dead tree looming in the middle of nowhere. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then walked over and climbed up to the topmost branches. Up there he sat for the longest time, while his fellow Desperados ignored him, knowing that he did this only too often.

Later that evening, the men were gathered around a small fire, and despite being in such close proximity, did not seem to come to blows. Vince gazed down every so often to see what was happening, but nothing so far. He winced as he saw the group closest to the fire eat, and he looked down to see much of the group was in fact, eating. A few of his companions looked ovr in his direction to see if he would come down, but he didn't. One of the Caballeros turned around and stared at him for the longest time.
"Why doesn't he come to eat?" He asked with annoyance, A few of the Desperados stopped and one looked over at Vince as well.
"We call him the 'Saladman' cause he never comes down to eat, crazy son of a gun." the Desperado replied with a grin, turning his attention back to his food. Vince, on the other hand, stayed lying up there, even though his stomach was starting to protest slightly...

[Arcadia]

[size=1][color=maroon]Finn eyed the campfire they'd made with distaste. He had this bitterness stuck in his mouth, and not even dinner and drink could wash it away. And his hat... he missed his hat so dearly. It had been a long time since any of the Desperados had seen him in such a foul temper, and some found it slightly unnerving. Occasionally the whispered about it amongst themselves, mostly blaming [i]"those darn pirates"[/i] for all the trouble. They were the ones who had to stop, right? And in such a place..

After a long moment of no movement, Finn stood and stretched, yawning loudly. Those sitting near him glanced up, and he only responded with an idle instruction to keep the fire burning. "It'll keep away any unwanted.. visitors."

He made his way over to the tree where Vince was perched, his hands on his hips as he called up to him, "Gonna eat anything?"

"In my own good time," The Saladman replied, despite the growing rumble in his stomach. Finn grinned slightly in response - it was always the little things, he reminded himself, before nodding his head in understanding. His hand moved up, as though he wanted to tip his hat, but instead he settled with just ruffling his hair a bit. But it just wasn't the same!

Fixing his expression to something more easy-going and relaxed, he sauntered over to the circle that was the pirates and more importantly, to the spot where Flint sat. The cowboy was quite sure Flint knew he was there, but he seemed rather intent on ignoring him - just as he had earlier. Bloody pirates. "Flint."

No response.

"Flint, where's my hat?"

Still no response. Rolling his eyes, deciding to play by the rules Flint had previously established, Finn pulled out his pistol and shot the log the pirate was sitting on faster than one could blink. Flint did blink, but didn't bother turning to look at the pistol-wielding cowboy. Instead, he just pulled the hat from somewhere next to him and handed it over, the smallest of smirks forming on his face.

"Your hat."

"Gracias," Finn muttered, stuffing the hat on his head despite the rather visible hole as he walked back towards [i]his[/i] side of the camp.[/color][/size]

[terra]

It was Anya who came over to poke Flint with the toe of her shoe at 3AM. "Captain. Your turn as guard."

Flint rolled over and groaned, rubbing his eye with one hand, and his back where she'd poked him with the other. "We're in the middle of the wilderness," he moaned. "Why do we even [i]need[/i] to keep watch in the night?"

Anya shrugged. "It was your idea, Flint. Now get your ass up and watch." She walked away without waiting for a response.

Flint grumbled, "I thought my pirates were supposed to treat me with [i]respect[/i] ..."

Grumbling notwithstanding, Flint managed to crawl out from under his blanket and head towards the fire, where he could make out another silhouette amongst the flames. Odd, he mused. The cowboys hadn't been bothering to post a guard nights, being quite used to the country they were riding through, but Flint had wanted one just to be safe. Strange that they'd finally post a guard tonight.

As Flint neared, he groaned inwardly. Of course Finn would have the same shift as he did. Of. Course.

Flint took a seat on the log placed next to the fire and threw a couple more dry sticks on it, not acknowledging the other man. The fire sparked satisfyingly, but that was about it. Flint stifled a yawn and wondered how he'd possibly get through two hours sitting next to Finn like ... well, like a bump on a log.

What was that guy doing, anyway? Finn had stood on the log and was sniffing the air, squinting out into the distance, like some sort of weird dog.

And then Flint heard it. A howling, a low sound and distant, but unmistakably coming from something that wasn't planning to snuggle up with you while you were sleeping. Well, maybe it would be, but with its teeth unpleasantly bared.

"Coyotes," Finn said quietly, using the stereotypically cowboy two-syllable pronunciation of the world.

"Coyotes?" Flint repeated with all three syllables. "Here?"

"It's coyote country," Finn said, stepping off the log to load his ... shotgun? Flint couldn't quite tell in the dark. "You stay anywhere in this twenty-mile radius, you can expect a visit from them in the night."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Flint exploded, no longer caring about keeping his voice down. Apparently he'd be getting his men up in about a second to fight off some howling beasts that could easily have been avoided.

Finn shrugged. "You're stubborn. You wouldn't have listened."

"And your not telling me because of it isn't part of your stubbornness?" Flint said pointedly.

Finn didn't respond, turning back towards his half of the camp. "You'd better get your men awake," he said over his shoulder. "Coyotes aren't pretty when they're hungry, and I can tell you that [i]my[/i] men aren't gonna be the ones doin' all the fighting."

Black as thunder, Flint headed over to his men and bellowed. "UP! COYOTES!"

[Dragon Warrior]

OOC: The thing about coyotes in real life is... they're scared of humans XD
--------------
The pirates shot up, unsheathed their cutlasses and such and looked around.

"Where?" one questioned while looking around. Then red eyes seemed to glow as they emerged from the shadows of the night.

"There," Finn said, blasting the spot where the coyote stood. Everyone went in an uproar and they shot and sliced at the coyotes.

Damario himself just stood there and when a coyote approached, he swung his blade skillfully to frighten it off. It was usually a Desperado to shoot the ones he scared.

The rest of the party were already doing their own stradegies and it seemed like the coyotes didn't stand a chance against such a large group. But it also didn't seem like they had an end to their numbers. Soon, they were outnumbering the group. Flint and Finn had no choice, but to call in all their men to the middle and fight them off one by one as they approached.

It was working, but not for long. There were so many, even the pirates who possessed guns had to fire them on the beasts. "Bloody animals," Damario cursed as he shot one jumping at Anya. He then raced into the crowd of dogs as the others did as well and soon, it all started all over again.

"We're not getting anywhere, you know," Finn said as he was fighting the coyotes back to back with Flint.

"I can see that."

"Then how do you expect to defeat them, hm?"

"How [i]do[/i] you expect to beat them? I believe my pirates are doing fine."

"Well, my Desperados are doing better." Finn shot another one flying at his chest, then reloaded his pistol.

"We're not getting any further fighting like this."

"True. We'll have to plan better."

"Then let's do just that."