Don't think this has been my game has it <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->.
Ok, well I'll vote for <b>Cyndane</b> for the reasons I mentioned before. STC as always.
Fortunately, not all of im lost's secrets died with him. As mouse said, he confirmed Theslan to be a wolf. He may have been lying, his 'seer' may have been lying, but at the moment i don't think that we have much of a choice but to accept him.
Better yet, the seer succesfully found a wolf last night (from what im lost told me). This wolf is <b>Quaunaut</b>.
As i said before, he may well have been lying to me. For the moment, however, i don't think that we can do much but accept his word for what it is. Obviously, this vote is subject to change. It will take something pretty important to change it, though.
My problem is that I've yet to see any particular reason to trust anyone and, without a guardian, it's not safe for any role to step forward. So far we have quaunaut as the main suspicion and yet looking back his posts don't look that suspicious or, at least, they look about as bad as everyone elses does. All we've got to go on is chinese whispers from a dead man.
I'll go for <b>Quaunaut</b> just to put some pressure on him so that I could hear his viewpoint but I don't like it at all.
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>IT IS NOW NIGHT 7, NO POSTING</span>
Much cursing and muttering later, the remaining 9 crewmates were standing in a circle outside the smoldering remains of im lost's cave. The walls were beginning to crumble from the force of the blast, and it seemed unlikely that anyone would risk life and limb (but mostly life) to go in and search for clues. That particular issue was settled only moments later, as the ceiling of the cave collapsed, filling the mouth of the cave with rubble, forever sealing im lost's secrets away with his charred remains.
"Alright, we've obviously still got at least a few traitors in our midst. Any suggestions from the loyal crewmates on how to weed 'em out?" <b>Breakthrough</b> inquired with a doubtful look on his face.
"Well, I've been thinking..." started <b>TheMuffinMan</b>, who had finally woken up from his semi-unconscious state just this morning.
"Oh really? I thought you were braindead that whole time," said <b>EMP Demon</b>.
"No, no, just deep in thought. And I've come to the conclusion that sitting still is the last thing we want to do. I mean, look at the killings. Most of them have been traps that obviously took a bit of planning to lay down, and more time to get people in a position to walk into them. I propose we just keep moving, hopefully that'll keep the mutineers on their toes enough that they won't be able to kill anyone else."
"Good idea. And being that you're still the Captain, where should we go first?" asked <b>Isamil</b>.
"Well, we could either swim back to the original island, or we could still try to find that treasure, which would mean taking a page out of Theslan's book and making a raft outta some logs. I don't particularly treasure the thought of returning to that bloodstained island, so all in favor of building a raft say aye. Aye."
"Good. Now, GET TO WORK!" <b>TheMuffinMan</b> was definitely back, and in full control as captain. And he was <u>loving it</u>.
It only took an hour for the group of seasoned seamen (and seawoman) to build a respectable vessel capable of carrying them all safely but quickly. After roughly a half-hour of paddling (which is more work than it sounds like) they arrived on the next island, only to be greeted by the sound of smoke.
"Fire? Here? Should we go?" asked <b>Quaunaut</b> with a nervous smile.
"Shh, listen," ordered <b>TheMuffinMan</b>.
"What are we listening for?"
"The sounds...of men." Sure enough, if one strained the ears above the sounds of the seagulls and the crash of waves on the beach, you could hear the faint voices of an unknown number of men, presumably from the far side of the island.
"Yes, this might be our salvation!" cried <b>Quaunaut</b> as he leapt up and started running down the beach. He only got a few steps before feeling a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Suddenly his legs seemed to not take orders from his brain, and <b>Quaunaut</b> crumpled in a heap. The entire crew turned in astonishment to <b>TheMuffinMan</b> (save <b>Quaunaut</b>, who was too busy being in pain to look) who had thrown the rock knocking him down.
"Why...why did you do that?" stuttered <b>Breakthrough</b>.
"This was a test," came the grim reply, "Those voices, they're speaking the language that the band of marauders yelled from the cliffs as they ambushed us. Might I remind you that they killed our good Captain, and set this entire killing spree into action. My theory is that the mutineers are in cohoots with those bandits. Anyone who tried that hard to give us away to them when they obviously have weapons and are not afraid to use them on us is most likely a mutineer," casually walking up to the fallen form of <b>Quaunaut</b>, <b>TheMuffinMan</b> peered down on the crewmate he had pronounced dead to rights.
"Ah, still alive I see. I can fix that," pulling a knife from a hidden sheath inside his robes, <b>TheMuffinMan</b> made a quick slice along <b>Quaunaut</b>'s throat. A gurgle of pain, a splash of red, and <span style='color:red'><b>Quaunaut</b></span> moved no more.
"...Well that's not-" started <b>CMEast</b>.
"Actually, it's very good," interrupted <b>TheMuffinMan</b>, "Now, about those bandits..."
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>IT IS NOW DAY SEVEN, POST AWAY</span>
"...I say screw my original idea of bribing a passing captain with the gold from the treasure. We'll never find it in time, now that we're on this island with those murderous bandits. What we're going to do now...is steal one of their ships. The smallest sea-worthy one we can find. And another thing, I don't want anyone, leaving the group. No more of this going off on your own crap. Might I remind you all that that was Quaunaut's idea in the first place, and we all know what I just did to him, eh?"
"Yes sir!" came 7 harried replies.
"Alright. MOVE OUT!"
The group of 8 remaining crewmates quickly scrambled up the path up the volcanic mount to get a better view of the harbor where the mysterious marauders had set anchor. After just one glance, <b>Cyndane</b> knew they were in trouble. There was not just one ship anchored, or two. No, there were <u>three</u> ships sitting in that cove, each swarming with men. <b>Cyndane</b> groaned; it seemed like all hopes of stealing a ship had been shot to pieces.
"Now just a minute," said <b>Breakthrough</b> before <b>Cyndane</b> could speak, "how exactly are we supposed to get past all of those guys unnoticed, AND have time to rig a ship to sail?"
"It's actually better that there are so many. If there were only one shipload of men, it'd be hard to go unnoticed," replied <b>TheMuffinMan</b>, "What we need is some kind of distraction, to lure them away from the ships, make them confused. Then, we slip in, and wait for our chance. Of course...there's probably still at least one traitor in our midsts...so this might be suicidal. But staying here is just as suicidal, so unless anyone has any better ideas, we'll do it that way. Now, everyone get some rest. Night's coming, and I want 2 people posted as guards at all times. I'll take first watch with <b>CMEast</b>."
As the group found relatively soft spots in the dirt to sleep in, <b>CMEast</b> and <b>TheMuffinMan</b> perched themselves on rocks to start their watch. Slowly and silently, the crew drifted off to sleep, save the two watchmen. About two hours into the night, <b>CMEast</b> found himself pacing along by the cliff wall, staring down at the fireside lights of the camp below. "You know, it'd probably be a lot easier to do this if we got ahold of their wea-" <b>CMEast</b> was cut short by a blow to the back of the head. He crumpled to the ground, clearly alive and clearly unconscious.
Startled by the sound of the impact, <b>TheMuffinMan</b> came out of his half conscious brooding with a jolt, only to find himself looking at a very familiar face, but with a completely foreign smirk on said face. The assailant was carrying two swords, one of which he threw to the ground at <b>TheMuffinMan</b>'s feet.
"Now, we fight, unless you are the coward I think you are," growled the figure clad in black.
"You! But...why? You're-"
"You know exactly why, <b>TheMuffinMan</b>. And if you don't, well, that's just part of the problem then."
As soon as <b>TheMuffinMan</b> bent over and picked up the fallen saber, the traitor made his move. A swift lunge straight for the chest was met with a quick upward parry. Slash was met with counter-slash, jab with parry. The traitor was being pushed down the path, farther and farther away down towards the beach. A strong blow made them lock swords. "Have you forgotten," <b>TheMuffinMan</b> said through gritted teeth, "that I helped teach swordsmanship to our crew?"
"Have you forgotten," came the grim reply, "that I never needed that class?"
On and on they fought, neither seeming to yield any opening. They both were a blur of motion, fluid and graceful, the tip of the sword tracing curves through the air, the sound of the whiplash echoing along the lonely beach. <b>TheMuffinMan</b> saw his opening. Faking a lunge, he did a spin thrust forward and swept the pommel of his sword into the attacker's temple. He was knocked to the ground, his saber clattering on the rocks a foot away from his outstretched hand. <b>TheMuffinMan</b> leaned over and breathed heavily.
"No...are you....going to come....quietly?"
"No. But you can go...to HELL!" with one quick motion, the traitor threw a handful of rocks and sand in <b>TheMuffinMan</b>'s eyes, picked up his saber, and stabbed him through the heart. <span style='color:red'><b>TheMuffinMan</b></span> crumpled and fell, a look of shock upon his face, his eyes bleary and red both from the sand and tears of failure.
The black traitor stood over him one last time, "Oh Captain, my captain, our fearful trip is done," he said with that same smirk, as he thrust the saber through those blood-red eyes.
Now as instalynch is at 4 that means that the best EMP can hope for is a draw as I'm pretty convinced of Cyndanes humanity... at least, more than I am of anyone elses <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> (and that still isn't 100%, not really even 90%) so I won't vote for her.
I'm going to vote for myself for awhile just to get a vote in, I don't want to instalynch yet as a) I'm not completely convinced that EMP is evil and b) I want to see if there can be any more discussion rather than just ending the day already.
I might give it till the end of my work day (about 5/6 hours, add another 1.5 hours if I wait till I get home) and, if I've not seen any other pertinent information then I'm gonna be making EMPDemon walk the plank.
cya later <b>EMPDemon</b>, good game <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>INSTALYNCH</span> <span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>IT IS NOW NIGHT 8, NO POSTING</span>
The scene was a somber one the next morning when the body of TheMuffinMan was found sprawled lifeless on the sand. Some wept for their fallen captain, some wept for themselves as it seemed like their last hope for survival had been taken from them. <b>EMP Demon</b>, however, just stared stonily at the gored and bloody face of TheMuffinMan. His brooding was remarkably out of place considering the circumstances, but then again given the events of the past few days discerning anything of value about one of the crewmate's psyche from his or her behavior would be difficult at best.
No one commented on or even noticed <b>EMP Demon</b>'s apparent lack of emotion. No one, that is, save <b>Cyndane</b>. <i>'Interesting...'</i> she thought to herself. But before she could bring the group's attention to his odd behavior, <b>Breakthrough</b> spoke, "Well, no use crying all day. I guess we just have to pick ourselves up and try to get ourselves off this island on one of those boats, eh?"
<b>CMEast</b>, who was still nursing the hideous bruise on the pack of his head, (slowly) nodded his agreement, "We need information. What's their schedule? How do they dress? How do they behave to one another? I know I would love to find where they store their weapons; they obviously use a lot."
<b>Breakthrough</b> cut in, "Well, as the highest ranking officer here, I suppose I'll be assigning positions. Now I want <b>Isamil</b> and <b>Cyndane</b> to-"
"Now hold on just a minute, what's makes you think <u>you're</u> ranking officer?" <b>EMP Demon</b> barked angrily, "Morgan always ranked us equally."
<b>ZeroByte</b> perked up, "Yeah, he ranked me with you guys too, if you remember. I don't know why, but I got as much loot as the rest of the officers."
<b>Breakthrough</b> replied with a scowl on his face, "Well, only <u>one</u> person can be in charge, and it seems to me that person should be me. After all, I've been an officer of this crew far longer than you, <b>EMP Demon</b>...and you're a bloody cook <b>ZeroByte</b>. You really think you're cut out to make command decisions. I think you all are just making trouble. Especially you, <b>EMP Demon</b>. You know how hard it is to be in charge, this drama is unnecessary. If this fails, we DIE, do you understand that? You're going to get. Us. All. Killed." At this, <b>Cyndane</b>'s head came up. <i>'<u>Very</u> interesting...'</i>
"I'm just looking out for the welfare of this crew. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that having a sole commander hasn't done us much good recently. Heck, you should be scared to take on that responsibility yourself, given the corpse laying to my right."
"Having one commander may not have helped much, but running around like idiots each person trying to take charge of the situation on his own has actually hurt us. Where do you think I was that day you lynched Theslan? I saw the whole damn thing from the other island. im lost took power for only an instant, and it only took that long to have someone killed. Do you really want to go back to that, <b>EMP Demon</b>?"
"So now you think if I take control, I'm going to start killing people?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say 'start'," <b>Cyndane</b> broke in from the sidelines, "more like continue. You've acted funny for a long time <b>EMP Demon</b>. You haven't acted like an officer at all, you haven't even tried to lead us, content to just sit back and watch murder after murder. I saw you just minutes ago express absolutely no grief at the first sight of TheMuffinMan dead."
"Now hold it right there, <b>Cyndane</b>, who are you to say what constitutes grieving? I was too shocked to cry. After all that's happened, is that really that unreasonable?"
"Maybe, except you also tried to undermine <b>Breakthrough</b> just when we needed strong leadership and teamwork the most. Even if you're not a traitor, you're not helping, but I'd say odds are you'd prefer if each and everyone of us died right now. Say goodbye, <b>EMP Demon</b>." A quick hand signal later, and <b>CMEast</b>, who had silently crept behind <b>EMP Demon</b> during the argument, smacked him on the back of the neck with a rather large rock. "Hurts, doesn't it," <b>CMEast</b> sneered. <b><span style='color:red'>EMP Demon</span></b> fell to the ground twitching. A few blows later, he twitched no more.
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>IT IS NOW DAY 8, POST AWAY</span>
"Alright, as I was saying," <b>Breakthrough</b> turned from the corpse on the ground to continue his briefing, "I want <b>Isamil</b> and <b>Cyndane</b> to go around the eastern side of the island, and <b>CMEast</b> and <b>Mouse</b> to head around the western side, to get visuals of their camp from both directions. <b>ZeroByte</b>, you'll take the high road for a visual from above. I'll stay here and try to fashion us some weapons and tools."
"What weapons could you make that would give us an advantage over their guns and cannons?" asked <b>Isamil</b> with a doubtful face.
"It's not the weapons you have, it's how you use them. We have the element of surprise," <b>Breakthrough</b> replied with a grin.
As the group went off to complete their various assignments, they noticed how low the sun was in the sky. <i>'Only an hour or so of daylike, looks like,'</i> thought <b>Mouse</b> to himself. By the time he and <b>CMEast</b> had gotten themselves set up in a spot close enough to the bandits but far enough away to avoid detection, dusk had covered the land. The fires still burned brightly in the camp in front of them, so visibility was not much of an issue. Of course, there were other things awry with the situation, one of them being that the pair had no idea what they were supposed to be doing.
"So...what exactly are we looking for?" whispered <b>CMEast</b>.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing," replied <b>Mouse</b>.
"Well let's start with the boat we need. Which one do you think looks easiest to capture?" <b>CMEast</b>'s question was met with a blank stare from <b>Mouse</b>. "O...kay...how about weapons? Do you see where they store the weapons?"
"No, I don't see a weapons locker, but I <u>do</u> see a lean-to that looks like it's got a whole mess of explosives stored there. We could definitely use those."
"Hmm, it's pretty far from where they sleep on the beach, probably so an accidental spark doesn't kill them all. I think we could grab some when most of them go to sleep. You gotta believe that their sentries are just a little out of it after so many nights, of nothing, right?"
"Alright then, we wait." Hours passed. Slowly but surely, the unknown bandits dropped from either fatigue or drunkeness to a (hopefully) soft spot on the sand. All of the sentries were posted in lookouts in the one biggest ship; <b>Mouse</b> noticed how neglected the other two ships seemed to be at night. <i>'If only we could divert their attention for just a little while, we'd only need maybe 5 minutes to finish rigging that ship and be off.'</i>
Sure enough, the flames from the moderate-sized bonfire were dying, their glow shrinking. The 3 sided shack where the explosives were stored lay just a few dozen feet from where the two men sat waiting. They watched the line of darkness creep inwards toward the shrinking fire, ever so slowly....there, it had passed the shack, they could attempt to grab them unnoticed. Noise and quick motion would still give them away, so the two took nearly 20 minutes to move that short distance to the shack. It took another half hour after that for them to get the goods and get back to safety, but at the end of it, tired, sweaty, and absolutely destroyed by the stress, they just wanted to collapse where they stood.
Of course, that would be suicide, because they knew once they lay down they weren't going to get up again until day, when they would surely be caught. <b>Mouse</b> half-carried half-dragged the big barrel of gunpowder he had chosen back to the beach where they had started, <b>CMEast</b>'s load was a bit easier as he was carrying just 10 sticks of dynamite and a flint lighter. Suffice it to say it took them a bit longer to get back to where they started. Light was beginning to bloom over the horizon, and they could just make out the figures of <b>Cyndane</b>, <b>Breakthrough</b>, and <b>Isamil</b> sitting on the beach, leaning against what appeared to be...barrels of gunpowder? Stocks of dynamite?
"What took you guys so long?" asked <b>Cyndane</b> with a smile, "We made a couple of trips back and forth between this explosives shack we found. Got quite a supply, I'd say." <b>CMEast</b> and <b>Mouse</b> just sat there dumbfounded. "Well we were all going to go to sleep anyway, rest up for tomorrow, you know? Have you guys seen <b>ZeroByte</b>?"
"No...no...he'll be back soon enough I guess," <b>Mouse</b> said right before he passed out where he was sitting. <b>CMEast</b> followed suit about 3 seconds later.
"Guess there's nothing to worry about then," <b>Breakthrough</b> said as he too fell asleep almost instantly. A bit of absent-minded scratching is all the motion he made. <b>Cyndane</b> and <b>Isamil</b> shrugged their shoulders and also curled up to go to sleep.
The group was awoken a few hours later by the sound of a single small explosion, maybe the size of one stick of dynamite. "It came from up near where <b>ZeroByte</b> was supposed to have been. He's still not back!" <b>Cyndane</b> discovered with a shock, "We have to go help him."
"No, listen." <b>Isamil</b> grabbed <b>Cyndane</b> and forced her down, "Do you hear that? The bandits, their warcries. They heard the explosion, and they're going to investigate it. Somebody set <b>ZeroByte</b> up to be caught!"
"...Well that's not good," <b>CMEast</b> said with a bewildered look on his face.
Sure enough, had the group been able to see the other side of the mountain top where <b>ZeroByte</b> lay bound and wriggling, they would have been petrified at the oncoming wave of vicious marauders. <b>ZeroByte</b> certainly was. His desperate final scream echoed over the mountain, assuring the group that <b><span style='color:red'>ZeroByte</span></b> was indeed dead.
This is the longest TWG ever.(well, in the NS forums) Nice try wolves, but you aren't going to win. I am the seer; <b>Breakthrough</b> is the last wolf. Hurry up and end it people.
I instalynch thee <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> We were discussing your wolfish tendencies before EMP was even killed <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
As soon as the sounds of screaming and mayhem had died away, the remaining 5 crewmates just stared at each other for a while. Surrounded though they were with mounds of explosive power, they couldn't help but feel just a little helpless. And the murderous mob of bandits on the far side of the island wasn't even their biggest problem; they obviously still had to contend with a traitor in their midst. The fear of danger from without is one thing, but the fear of danger from within? Betrayal shatters the most courageous minds unlike anything else a man can do to another man, and this lot had had their fill of betrayal to last several lifetimes.
Of course, things are never what they appear to be, especially not for this group, especially not for the past couple of days. There were precisely two people who knew exactly what was going on, and of course those two people had entirely opposite plans for the immediate future.
<b>Breakthrough</b> roused the rest of the group to alertness, "Well, ZeroByte's dead. I suggest we get over it and start thinking about how to save our own skins. I propose we wait until tonight, haul these things up to the highest cliff, light some fuses and drop 'em. See how many we can kill or wound, then grab a boat in the confusion."
It was time to act. <b>Isamil</b> stood up and stared straight at <b>Breakthrough</b>, "That would be a fine plan, if you had any intentions of letting us live that long. <b>Breakthrough</b>, you've been selling us out. You are the traitor who helped kill so many of our friends."
"How dare you talk to your commanding officer like that. And how dare you make such baseless accusations, right before our final attack, no less. <u>Your</u> behavior is far more suspicious than mine, <b>Isamil</b>. All I've done is try to lead this murderous group."
"Oh, my accusations are anything but baseless. Remember that friend im lost talked about? The one who was doing some kind of experiment? That was me he was talking about. I recently developed before our departure a compound made primarily from sulfur. Well applied to human skin, it causes itching. The dead cells fall off of the person in droves, carrying with them a certain amount of the compound, which reflects a certain frequency of light. I use this glass filter here," <b>Isamil</b> brought a small glass lens that looked to be completely opaque out from a pocket, "to basically track where you've been since I infected you with the compound. Noticed some itching since last night, <b>Breakthrough</b>? Your trail leads straight up the path to the spot where ZeroByte was perched, and since you said to us that you hadn't seen him since he left that morning, you're obviously trying to hide that fact. Why do I get the feeling you're being less than honest for a reason?"
<b>Breakthrough</b>, stunned by this evidence against him, looked wildly at the circle forming around him, "Oh cmon, you're going to believe this? He says that he can track my movements, and he says that those movements put me right where I have to be to kill ZeroByte, and you all just take him at face value?"
"They can have a look see through this lens right now; you positively glow, and your trail is clearly visible on the ground, and it's against a background of complete black. No one else could have made those tracks leading up to the summit."
"Yes but-" he was cut off by a crushing pain on his right ankle. <b>Mouse</b> had smashed his ankle with a large rock, crippling the exposed traitor. "Now we end this," he snarled as he lifted the rock above his head for a final blow to <b>Breakthrough</b>'s head, "but first I want to know, why? Why did you betray us?"
<b>Breakthrough</b> lifted his head slowly and stared at each crewmate individually. After a long pause, he flatly uttered one word, "Revenge."
"Revenge?! What did we ever do to you!"
"You four, nothing really. You don't know this, but I was Captain Morgan's original first mate. We were pals, until just one dispute over the "proper" treatment of hostages. I suppose he looked down on me for not thinking it too bad to use starvation as a ransom technique...he held me in silent contempt from then onwards. It would have been better if he just released me from the crew, but no, he just demoted me, knowing full well that would hurt me more. And then he promoted that...basterd TheMuffinMan to fill my place...I couldn't take it. I had to get out of this crew, but he wouldn't let me go. He'd blacklist me as a turncoat if I ever disappeared in some port somewhere, I'd never be able to sail again. So, I promised these guys I'd deliver the Obsidian Island treasure if they helped to free me from this crew. Theslan and Quaunat were in on it too; they knew they never were the favorites of the Captain, and TheMuffinMan inwardly despised them, so it didn't take much to convince them to join me. You all were supposed to find the treasure, that's why we only killed you off one by one. I suppose looking back on it we shoulda just axed you all and joined with the Portuguese over yonder, but I guess that's not really an option anymore..."
"Oh boo frickin hoo. I've had enough of this, you're done. Lights out, <b>Breakthrough</b>, you pig!" <b>Mouse</b> screamed.
"Wait!" cried <b>Cyndane</b>, "I have a better use for him, one that might just get us the hell off this island." She carefully outlined her plan to <b>Mouse</b>, <b>CMEast</b>, and <b>Isamil</b> while <b>Breakthrough</b> lay whimpering on the ground motionless. When she was finished, they all looked at her with smirks on their faces. "Let's do it!" yelled <b>Isamil</b>. Preparations took over an hour, because they involved manhandling the crippled but still fighting <b>Breakthrough</b>. He was gagged, blindfolded, and tied to fallen tree trunk that could be positioned to stand upright.
"Alright. One way or another, we're leaving this island today. We only have to decide if we're taking our bodies with us."
"Wonderful inspirational speech, <b>Cyndane</b>," commented <b>Mouse</b> with a worried look on his face. Now that the initial excitement had worn off, the craziness of this began to weigh heavy on his mind.
"Don't worry <b>Mouse</b>. It's just a few explosives." The group as one lifted the still wriggling but tied down <b>Breakthrough</b> and carried him attached to his tree trunk to the very top of the mountain.
"Let's see how predictable these guys really are," <b>Isamil</b> said as he lit a single small explosive and ran with the other three down the back of the mountain. They didn't stop running when they heard the crack of the explosion, nor when they heard the angry shouts of the Portuguese. They didn't stop running when they hit the beach either, instead they turned left and kept on going, around the side of the mountain towards the bandits' camp. They were catching glimpses of the men clambering up the hill towards the bound form of <b>Breakthrough</b>, but more important was what they <u>didn't</u> see. They didn't see a single person manning any of the ships sitting in the bay in front of them.
<b>CMEast</b> spoke in between hard breaths, "So...we....just....leaving...him?"
<b>Cyndane</b> replied with a laugh, "No...you'll....see. 5.......4........3........2.........1........" The sound of an enormous blast was heard echoing down the cliff face to the beach below, a gut-rumbling roar that shook the four runners until they nearly fell flat on their faces. Swiftly recovering, they looked over their shoulders just in time to see a collossal rock slide engulf many of the men still climbing up the cliff towards the spot where <b>Breakthrough</b> had been perched.
After reaching the smallest of the boats, <b>Isamil</b> turned to <b>Cyndane</b>, "Where was that in the plan you told us? I remember no violent explosions."
"Oh, I wanted it to be a surprise. I attached a fuse to a couple of barrels of gunpowder, set to burn about as long as it took them to reach ZeroByte last night. I left the barrels directly behind our former officer; suffice it to say, <b><span style='color:red'>Breakthrough</span></b> is very much dead, along with most of his friends."
"But not all of them," <b>Mouse</b> pointed at the shore they were ever so slowly moving away from, "Look, they're going to catch us in that larger ship. Dammit, why did we take this one?"
"Because we can't hope to sail that ship with just four people," replied <b>Isamil</b> calmly, "Besides, I've got something special for those guys. Pull up next to the two anchored ships, <b>CMEast</b>!" <b>Isamil</b> pulled a few sticks of dynamite and the flint from underneath his tattered outer shirt. "Let's see how you guys like being stranded on an island. Catch!" he cried as he chucked a handful of dynamite sticks at one ship, and the remaining few at the other. Explosions rocked both ships in the water. The smaller ship started to sink outright, it's hull cracked from the strain of the blast.
The larger ship, more sturdy than the other, was nevertheless still made of wood and cloth. A fire on the deck soon became a raging inferno as it spread up the mast, and, unknown to the four fleeing crewmates, down into the hold. Just as their small stolen ship was clearing the edges of the natural harbor, an explosion threw them off of their feet. Turning back, they gazed in wonder at a fireball even greater than the one that had sunk their own ship, the <i>Luz de la Luna</i>, what seemed like years ago.
Finally, after all they had been through, they were alive and victorious. They had beaten the traitors, beaten the deception, beaten the bandits. They were going home.
<b>CMEast</b> cleared his throat and turned to <b>Cyndane</b>, "So, now that we're in the clear and all, I was wondering-"
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." she cut him off with an icy stare.
Comments
Don't think this has been my game has it <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->.
Ok, well I'll vote for <b>Cyndane</b> for the reasons I mentioned before. STC as always.
Better yet, the seer succesfully found a wolf last night (from what im lost told me). This wolf is <b>Quaunaut</b>.
As i said before, he may well have been lying to me. For the moment, however, i don't think that we can do much but accept his word for what it is. Obviously, this vote is subject to change. It will take something pretty important to change it, though.
Whats with the lack of discussion?
If the day's not over before I get back, I'll be able to change it.
I'll go for <b>Quaunaut</b> just to put some pressure on him so that I could hear his viewpoint but I don't like it at all.
bl <b>Quaunaut</b>
Much cursing and muttering later, the remaining 9 crewmates were standing in a circle outside the smoldering remains of im lost's cave. The walls were beginning to crumble from the force of the blast, and it seemed unlikely that anyone would risk life and limb (but mostly life) to go in and search for clues. That particular issue was settled only moments later, as the ceiling of the cave collapsed, filling the mouth of the cave with rubble, forever sealing im lost's secrets away with his charred remains.
"Alright, we've obviously still got at least a few traitors in our midst. Any suggestions from the loyal crewmates on how to weed 'em out?" <b>Breakthrough</b> inquired with a doubtful look on his face.
"Well, I've been thinking..." started <b>TheMuffinMan</b>, who had finally woken up from his semi-unconscious state just this morning.
"Oh really? I thought you were braindead that whole time," said <b>EMP Demon</b>.
"No, no, just deep in thought. And I've come to the conclusion that sitting still is the last thing we want to do. I mean, look at the killings. Most of them have been traps that obviously took a bit of planning to lay down, and more time to get people in a position to walk into them. I propose we just keep moving, hopefully that'll keep the mutineers on their toes enough that they won't be able to kill anyone else."
"Good idea. And being that you're still the Captain, where should we go first?" asked <b>Isamil</b>.
"Well, we could either swim back to the original island, or we could still try to find that treasure, which would mean taking a page out of Theslan's book and making a raft outta some logs. I don't particularly treasure the thought of returning to that bloodstained island, so all in favor of building a raft say aye. Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Good. Now, GET TO WORK!" <b>TheMuffinMan</b> was definitely back, and in full control as captain. And he was <u>loving it</u>.
It only took an hour for the group of seasoned seamen (and seawoman) to build a respectable vessel capable of carrying them all safely but quickly. After roughly a half-hour of paddling (which is more work than it sounds like) they arrived on the next island, only to be greeted by the sound of smoke.
"Fire? Here? Should we go?" asked <b>Quaunaut</b> with a nervous smile.
"Shh, listen," ordered <b>TheMuffinMan</b>.
"What are we listening for?"
"The sounds...of men." Sure enough, if one strained the ears above the sounds of the seagulls and the crash of waves on the beach, you could hear the faint voices of an unknown number of men, presumably from the far side of the island.
"Yes, this might be our salvation!" cried <b>Quaunaut</b> as he leapt up and started running down the beach. He only got a few steps before feeling a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Suddenly his legs seemed to not take orders from his brain, and <b>Quaunaut</b> crumpled in a heap. The entire crew turned in astonishment to <b>TheMuffinMan</b> (save <b>Quaunaut</b>, who was too busy being in pain to look) who had thrown the rock knocking him down.
"Why...why did you do that?" stuttered <b>Breakthrough</b>.
"This was a test," came the grim reply, "Those voices, they're speaking the language that the band of marauders yelled from the cliffs as they ambushed us. Might I remind you that they killed our good Captain, and set this entire killing spree into action. My theory is that the mutineers are in cohoots with those bandits. Anyone who tried that hard to give us away to them when they obviously have weapons and are not afraid to use them on us is most likely a mutineer," casually walking up to the fallen form of <b>Quaunaut</b>, <b>TheMuffinMan</b> peered down on the crewmate he had pronounced dead to rights.
"Ah, still alive I see. I can fix that," pulling a knife from a hidden sheath inside his robes, <b>TheMuffinMan</b> made a quick slice along <b>Quaunaut</b>'s throat. A gurgle of pain, a splash of red, and <span style='color:red'><b>Quaunaut</b></span> moved no more.
"...Well that's not-" started <b>CMEast</b>.
"Actually, it's very good," interrupted <b>TheMuffinMan</b>, "Now, about those bandits..."
1. TheMuffinMan
2. EMP Demon
3. CMEast
4. Breakthrough
5. Mouse
6. Cyndane
7. Isamil
8. ZeroByte
Night will end Saturday at 9PM EST
"...I say screw my original idea of bribing a passing captain with the gold from the treasure. We'll never find it in time, now that we're on this island with those murderous bandits. What we're going to do now...is steal one of their ships. The smallest sea-worthy one we can find. And another thing, I don't want anyone, leaving the group. No more of this going off on your own crap. Might I remind you all that that was Quaunaut's idea in the first place, and we all know what I just did to him, eh?"
"Yes sir!" came 7 harried replies.
"Alright. MOVE OUT!"
The group of 8 remaining crewmates quickly scrambled up the path up the volcanic mount to get a better view of the harbor where the mysterious marauders had set anchor. After just one glance, <b>Cyndane</b> knew they were in trouble. There was not just one ship anchored, or two. No, there were <u>three</u> ships sitting in that cove, each swarming with men. <b>Cyndane</b> groaned; it seemed like all hopes of stealing a ship had been shot to pieces.
"Now just a minute," said <b>Breakthrough</b> before <b>Cyndane</b> could speak, "how exactly are we supposed to get past all of those guys unnoticed, AND have time to rig a ship to sail?"
"It's actually better that there are so many. If there were only one shipload of men, it'd be hard to go unnoticed," replied <b>TheMuffinMan</b>, "What we need is some kind of distraction, to lure them away from the ships, make them confused. Then, we slip in, and wait for our chance. Of course...there's probably still at least one traitor in our midsts...so this might be suicidal. But staying here is just as suicidal, so unless anyone has any better ideas, we'll do it that way. Now, everyone get some rest. Night's coming, and I want 2 people posted as guards at all times. I'll take first watch with <b>CMEast</b>."
As the group found relatively soft spots in the dirt to sleep in, <b>CMEast</b> and <b>TheMuffinMan</b> perched themselves on rocks to start their watch. Slowly and silently, the crew drifted off to sleep, save the two watchmen. About two hours into the night, <b>CMEast</b> found himself pacing along by the cliff wall, staring down at the fireside lights of the camp below. "You know, it'd probably be a lot easier to do this if we got ahold of their wea-" <b>CMEast</b> was cut short by a blow to the back of the head. He crumpled to the ground, clearly alive and clearly unconscious.
Startled by the sound of the impact, <b>TheMuffinMan</b> came out of his half conscious brooding with a jolt, only to find himself looking at a very familiar face, but with a completely foreign smirk on said face. The assailant was carrying two swords, one of which he threw to the ground at <b>TheMuffinMan</b>'s feet.
"Now, we fight, unless you are the coward I think you are," growled the figure clad in black.
"You! But...why? You're-"
"You know exactly why, <b>TheMuffinMan</b>. And if you don't, well, that's just part of the problem then."
As soon as <b>TheMuffinMan</b> bent over and picked up the fallen saber, the traitor made his move. A swift lunge straight for the chest was met with a quick upward parry. Slash was met with counter-slash, jab with parry. The traitor was being pushed down the path, farther and farther away down towards the beach. A strong blow made them lock swords. "Have you forgotten," <b>TheMuffinMan</b> said through gritted teeth, "that I helped teach swordsmanship to our crew?"
"Have you forgotten," came the grim reply, "that I never needed that class?"
On and on they fought, neither seeming to yield any opening. They both were a blur of motion, fluid and graceful, the tip of the sword tracing curves through the air, the sound of the whiplash echoing along the lonely beach. <b>TheMuffinMan</b> saw his opening. Faking a lunge, he did a spin thrust forward and swept the pommel of his sword into the attacker's temple. He was knocked to the ground, his saber clattering on the rocks a foot away from his outstretched hand. <b>TheMuffinMan</b> leaned over and breathed heavily.
"No...are you....going to come....quietly?"
"No. But you can go...to HELL!" with one quick motion, the traitor threw a handful of rocks and sand in <b>TheMuffinMan</b>'s eyes, picked up his saber, and stabbed him through the heart. <span style='color:red'><b>TheMuffinMan</b></span> crumpled and fell, a look of shock upon his face, his eyes bleary and red both from the sand and tears of failure.
The black traitor stood over him one last time, "Oh Captain, my captain, our fearful trip is done," he said with that same smirk, as he thrust the saber through those blood-red eyes.
1. EMP Demon
2. CMEast
3. Breakthrough
4. Mouse
5. Cyndane
6. Isamil
7. ZeroByte
Instalynch is at 4!
Day ends Monday at 9PM EST
Anyway.. vote is for <b>EMP Demon</b>
Lets win the game boys!
Lets win the game boys!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That little cheer of yours and your vote are saying two different things, <b>Cyndane</b>...
EMPDemon - 3
Cyndane - 1
Now as instalynch is at 4 that means that the best EMP can hope for is a draw as I'm pretty convinced of Cyndanes humanity... at least, more than I am of anyone elses <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> (and that still isn't 100%, not really even 90%) so I won't vote for her.
I'm going to vote for myself for awhile just to get a vote in, I don't want to instalynch yet as a) I'm not completely convinced that EMP is evil and b) I want to see if there can be any more discussion rather than just ending the day already.
I might give it till the end of my work day (about 5/6 hours, add another 1.5 hours if I wait till I get home) and, if I've not seen any other pertinent information then I'm gonna be making EMPDemon walk the plank.
<b>CMEast</b>
cya later <b>EMPDemon</b>, good game <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>IT IS NOW NIGHT 8, NO POSTING</span>
The scene was a somber one the next morning when the body of TheMuffinMan was found sprawled lifeless on the sand. Some wept for their fallen captain, some wept for themselves as it seemed like their last hope for survival had been taken from them. <b>EMP Demon</b>, however, just stared stonily at the gored and bloody face of TheMuffinMan. His brooding was remarkably out of place considering the circumstances, but then again given the events of the past few days discerning anything of value about one of the crewmate's psyche from his or her behavior would be difficult at best.
No one commented on or even noticed <b>EMP Demon</b>'s apparent lack of emotion. No one, that is, save <b>Cyndane</b>. <i>'Interesting...'</i> she thought to herself. But before she could bring the group's attention to his odd behavior, <b>Breakthrough</b> spoke, "Well, no use crying all day. I guess we just have to pick ourselves up and try to get ourselves off this island on one of those boats, eh?"
<b>CMEast</b>, who was still nursing the hideous bruise on the pack of his head, (slowly) nodded his agreement, "We need information. What's their schedule? How do they dress? How do they behave to one another? I know I would love to find where they store their weapons; they obviously use a lot."
<b>Breakthrough</b> cut in, "Well, as the highest ranking officer here, I suppose I'll be assigning positions. Now I want <b>Isamil</b> and <b>Cyndane</b> to-"
"Now hold on just a minute, what's makes you think <u>you're</u> ranking officer?" <b>EMP Demon</b> barked angrily, "Morgan always ranked us equally."
<b>ZeroByte</b> perked up, "Yeah, he ranked me with you guys too, if you remember. I don't know why, but I got as much loot as the rest of the officers."
<b>Breakthrough</b> replied with a scowl on his face, "Well, only <u>one</u> person can be in charge, and it seems to me that person should be me. After all, I've been an officer of this crew far longer than you, <b>EMP Demon</b>...and you're a bloody cook <b>ZeroByte</b>. You really think you're cut out to make command decisions. I think you all are just making trouble. Especially you, <b>EMP Demon</b>. You know how hard it is to be in charge, this drama is unnecessary. If this fails, we DIE, do you understand that? You're going to get. Us. All. Killed." At this, <b>Cyndane</b>'s head came up. <i>'<u>Very</u> interesting...'</i>
"I'm just looking out for the welfare of this crew. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that having a sole commander hasn't done us much good recently. Heck, you should be scared to take on that responsibility yourself, given the corpse laying to my right."
"Having one commander may not have helped much, but running around like idiots each person trying to take charge of the situation on his own has actually hurt us. Where do you think I was that day you lynched Theslan? I saw the whole damn thing from the other island. im lost took power for only an instant, and it only took that long to have someone killed. Do you really want to go back to that, <b>EMP Demon</b>?"
"So now you think if I take control, I'm going to start killing people?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say 'start'," <b>Cyndane</b> broke in from the sidelines, "more like continue. You've acted funny for a long time <b>EMP Demon</b>. You haven't acted like an officer at all, you haven't even tried to lead us, content to just sit back and watch murder after murder. I saw you just minutes ago express absolutely no grief at the first sight of TheMuffinMan dead."
"Now hold it right there, <b>Cyndane</b>, who are you to say what constitutes grieving? I was too shocked to cry. After all that's happened, is that really that unreasonable?"
"Maybe, except you also tried to undermine <b>Breakthrough</b> just when we needed strong leadership and teamwork the most. Even if you're not a traitor, you're not helping, but I'd say odds are you'd prefer if each and everyone of us died right now. Say goodbye, <b>EMP Demon</b>." A quick hand signal later, and <b>CMEast</b>, who had silently crept behind <b>EMP Demon</b> during the argument, smacked him on the back of the neck with a rather large rock. "Hurts, doesn't it," <b>CMEast</b> sneered. <b><span style='color:red'>EMP Demon</span></b> fell to the ground twitching. A few blows later, he twitched no more.
1. CMEast
2. Breakthrough
3. Mouse
4. Cyndane
5. Isamil
6. ZeroByte
"Alright, as I was saying," <b>Breakthrough</b> turned from the corpse on the ground to continue his briefing, "I want <b>Isamil</b> and <b>Cyndane</b> to go around the eastern side of the island, and <b>CMEast</b> and <b>Mouse</b> to head around the western side, to get visuals of their camp from both directions. <b>ZeroByte</b>, you'll take the high road for a visual from above. I'll stay here and try to fashion us some weapons and tools."
"What weapons could you make that would give us an advantage over their guns and cannons?" asked <b>Isamil</b> with a doubtful face.
"It's not the weapons you have, it's how you use them. We have the element of surprise," <b>Breakthrough</b> replied with a grin.
As the group went off to complete their various assignments, they noticed how low the sun was in the sky. <i>'Only an hour or so of daylike, looks like,'</i> thought <b>Mouse</b> to himself. By the time he and <b>CMEast</b> had gotten themselves set up in a spot close enough to the bandits but far enough away to avoid detection, dusk had covered the land. The fires still burned brightly in the camp in front of them, so visibility was not much of an issue. Of course, there were other things awry with the situation, one of them being that the pair had no idea what they were supposed to be doing.
"So...what exactly are we looking for?" whispered <b>CMEast</b>.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing," replied <b>Mouse</b>.
"Well let's start with the boat we need. Which one do you think looks easiest to capture?" <b>CMEast</b>'s question was met with a blank stare from <b>Mouse</b>. "O...kay...how about weapons? Do you see where they store the weapons?"
"No, I don't see a weapons locker, but I <u>do</u> see a lean-to that looks like it's got a whole mess of explosives stored there. We could definitely use those."
"Hmm, it's pretty far from where they sleep on the beach, probably so an accidental spark doesn't kill them all. I think we could grab some when most of them go to sleep. You gotta believe that their sentries are just a little out of it after so many nights, of nothing, right?"
"Alright then, we wait." Hours passed. Slowly but surely, the unknown bandits dropped from either fatigue or drunkeness to a (hopefully) soft spot on the sand. All of the sentries were posted in lookouts in the one biggest ship; <b>Mouse</b> noticed how neglected the other two ships seemed to be at night. <i>'If only we could divert their attention for just a little while, we'd only need maybe 5 minutes to finish rigging that ship and be off.'</i>
Sure enough, the flames from the moderate-sized bonfire were dying, their glow shrinking. The 3 sided shack where the explosives were stored lay just a few dozen feet from where the two men sat waiting. They watched the line of darkness creep inwards toward the shrinking fire, ever so slowly....there, it had passed the shack, they could attempt to grab them unnoticed. Noise and quick motion would still give them away, so the two took nearly 20 minutes to move that short distance to the shack. It took another half hour after that for them to get the goods and get back to safety, but at the end of it, tired, sweaty, and absolutely destroyed by the stress, they just wanted to collapse where they stood.
Of course, that would be suicide, because they knew once they lay down they weren't going to get up again until day, when they would surely be caught. <b>Mouse</b> half-carried half-dragged the big barrel of gunpowder he had chosen back to the beach where they had started, <b>CMEast</b>'s load was a bit easier as he was carrying just 10 sticks of dynamite and a flint lighter. Suffice it to say it took them a bit longer to get back to where they started. Light was beginning to bloom over the horizon, and they could just make out the figures of <b>Cyndane</b>, <b>Breakthrough</b>, and <b>Isamil</b> sitting on the beach, leaning against what appeared to be...barrels of gunpowder? Stocks of dynamite?
"What took you guys so long?" asked <b>Cyndane</b> with a smile, "We made a couple of trips back and forth between this explosives shack we found. Got quite a supply, I'd say." <b>CMEast</b> and <b>Mouse</b> just sat there dumbfounded. "Well we were all going to go to sleep anyway, rest up for tomorrow, you know? Have you guys seen <b>ZeroByte</b>?"
"No...no...he'll be back soon enough I guess," <b>Mouse</b> said right before he passed out where he was sitting. <b>CMEast</b> followed suit about 3 seconds later.
"Guess there's nothing to worry about then," <b>Breakthrough</b> said as he too fell asleep almost instantly. A bit of absent-minded scratching is all the motion he made. <b>Cyndane</b> and <b>Isamil</b> shrugged their shoulders and also curled up to go to sleep.
The group was awoken a few hours later by the sound of a single small explosion, maybe the size of one stick of dynamite. "It came from up near where <b>ZeroByte</b> was supposed to have been. He's still not back!" <b>Cyndane</b> discovered with a shock, "We have to go help him."
"No, listen." <b>Isamil</b> grabbed <b>Cyndane</b> and forced her down, "Do you hear that? The bandits, their warcries. They heard the explosion, and they're going to investigate it. Somebody set <b>ZeroByte</b> up to be caught!"
"...Well that's not good," <b>CMEast</b> said with a bewildered look on his face.
Sure enough, had the group been able to see the other side of the mountain top where <b>ZeroByte</b> lay bound and wriggling, they would have been petrified at the oncoming wave of vicious marauders. <b>ZeroByte</b> certainly was. His desperate final scream echoed over the mountain, assuring the group that <b><span style='color:red'>ZeroByte</span></b> was indeed dead.
1. CMEast
2. Breakthrough
3. Mouse
4. Cyndane
5. Isamil
Instalynch is at 3.
Day will end Wednesday at 11PM EST
I am the seer; <b>Breakthrough</b> is the last wolf. Hurry up and end it people.
TBH, I think you're lying.
I instalynch thee <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> We were discussing your wolfish tendencies before EMP was even killed <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Of course, things are never what they appear to be, especially not for this group, especially not for the past couple of days. There were precisely two people who knew exactly what was going on, and of course those two people had entirely opposite plans for the immediate future.
<b>Breakthrough</b> roused the rest of the group to alertness, "Well, ZeroByte's dead. I suggest we get over it and start thinking about how to save our own skins. I propose we wait until tonight, haul these things up to the highest cliff, light some fuses and drop 'em. See how many we can kill or wound, then grab a boat in the confusion."
It was time to act. <b>Isamil</b> stood up and stared straight at <b>Breakthrough</b>, "That would be a fine plan, if you had any intentions of letting us live that long. <b>Breakthrough</b>, you've been selling us out. You are the traitor who helped kill so many of our friends."
"How dare you talk to your commanding officer like that. And how dare you make such baseless accusations, right before our final attack, no less. <u>Your</u> behavior is far more suspicious than mine, <b>Isamil</b>. All I've done is try to lead this murderous group."
"Oh, my accusations are anything but baseless. Remember that friend im lost talked about? The one who was doing some kind of experiment? That was me he was talking about. I recently developed before our departure a compound made primarily from sulfur. Well applied to human skin, it causes itching. The dead cells fall off of the person in droves, carrying with them a certain amount of the compound, which reflects a certain frequency of light. I use this glass filter here," <b>Isamil</b> brought a small glass lens that looked to be completely opaque out from a pocket, "to basically track where you've been since I infected you with the compound. Noticed some itching since last night, <b>Breakthrough</b>? Your trail leads straight up the path to the spot where ZeroByte was perched, and since you said to us that you hadn't seen him since he left that morning, you're obviously trying to hide that fact. Why do I get the feeling you're being less than honest for a reason?"
<b>Breakthrough</b>, stunned by this evidence against him, looked wildly at the circle forming around him, "Oh cmon, you're going to believe this? He says that he can track my movements, and he says that those movements put me right where I have to be to kill ZeroByte, and you all just take him at face value?"
"They can have a look see through this lens right now; you positively glow, and your trail is clearly visible on the ground, and it's against a background of complete black. No one else could have made those tracks leading up to the summit."
"Yes but-" he was cut off by a crushing pain on his right ankle. <b>Mouse</b> had smashed his ankle with a large rock, crippling the exposed traitor. "Now we end this," he snarled as he lifted the rock above his head for a final blow to <b>Breakthrough</b>'s head, "but first I want to know, why? Why did you betray us?"
<b>Breakthrough</b> lifted his head slowly and stared at each crewmate individually. After a long pause, he flatly uttered one word, "Revenge."
"Revenge?! What did we ever do to you!"
"You four, nothing really. You don't know this, but I was Captain Morgan's original first mate. We were pals, until just one dispute over the "proper" treatment of hostages. I suppose he looked down on me for not thinking it too bad to use starvation as a ransom technique...he held me in silent contempt from then onwards. It would have been better if he just released me from the crew, but no, he just demoted me, knowing full well that would hurt me more. And then he promoted that...basterd TheMuffinMan to fill my place...I couldn't take it. I had to get out of this crew, but he wouldn't let me go. He'd blacklist me as a turncoat if I ever disappeared in some port somewhere, I'd never be able to sail again. So, I promised these guys I'd deliver the Obsidian Island treasure if they helped to free me from this crew. Theslan and Quaunat were in on it too; they knew they never were the favorites of the Captain, and TheMuffinMan inwardly despised them, so it didn't take much to convince them to join me. You all were supposed to find the treasure, that's why we only killed you off one by one. I suppose looking back on it we shoulda just axed you all and joined with the Portuguese over yonder, but I guess that's not really an option anymore..."
"Oh boo frickin hoo. I've had enough of this, you're done. Lights out, <b>Breakthrough</b>, you pig!" <b>Mouse</b> screamed.
"Wait!" cried <b>Cyndane</b>, "I have a better use for him, one that might just get us the hell off this island." She carefully outlined her plan to <b>Mouse</b>, <b>CMEast</b>, and <b>Isamil</b> while <b>Breakthrough</b> lay whimpering on the ground motionless. When she was finished, they all looked at her with smirks on their faces. "Let's do it!" yelled <b>Isamil</b>. Preparations took over an hour, because they involved manhandling the crippled but still fighting <b>Breakthrough</b>. He was gagged, blindfolded, and tied to fallen tree trunk that could be positioned to stand upright.
"Alright. One way or another, we're leaving this island today. We only have to decide if we're taking our bodies with us."
"Wonderful inspirational speech, <b>Cyndane</b>," commented <b>Mouse</b> with a worried look on his face. Now that the initial excitement had worn off, the craziness of this began to weigh heavy on his mind.
"Don't worry <b>Mouse</b>. It's just a few explosives." The group as one lifted the still wriggling but tied down <b>Breakthrough</b> and carried him attached to his tree trunk to the very top of the mountain.
"Let's see how predictable these guys really are," <b>Isamil</b> said as he lit a single small explosive and ran with the other three down the back of the mountain. They didn't stop running when they heard the crack of the explosion, nor when they heard the angry shouts of the Portuguese. They didn't stop running when they hit the beach either, instead they turned left and kept on going, around the side of the mountain towards the bandits' camp. They were catching glimpses of the men clambering up the hill towards the bound form of <b>Breakthrough</b>, but more important was what they <u>didn't</u> see. They didn't see a single person manning any of the ships sitting in the bay in front of them.
<b>CMEast</b> spoke in between hard breaths, "So...we....just....leaving...him?"
<b>Cyndane</b> replied with a laugh, "No...you'll....see. 5.......4........3........2.........1........" The sound of an enormous blast was heard echoing down the cliff face to the beach below, a gut-rumbling roar that shook the four runners until they nearly fell flat on their faces. Swiftly recovering, they looked over their shoulders just in time to see a collossal rock slide engulf many of the men still climbing up the cliff towards the spot where <b>Breakthrough</b> had been perched.
After reaching the smallest of the boats, <b>Isamil</b> turned to <b>Cyndane</b>, "Where was that in the plan you told us? I remember no violent explosions."
"Oh, I wanted it to be a surprise. I attached a fuse to a couple of barrels of gunpowder, set to burn about as long as it took them to reach ZeroByte last night. I left the barrels directly behind our former officer; suffice it to say, <b><span style='color:red'>Breakthrough</span></b> is very much dead, along with most of his friends."
"But not all of them," <b>Mouse</b> pointed at the shore they were ever so slowly moving away from, "Look, they're going to catch us in that larger ship. Dammit, why did we take this one?"
"Because we can't hope to sail that ship with just four people," replied <b>Isamil</b> calmly, "Besides, I've got something special for those guys. Pull up next to the two anchored ships, <b>CMEast</b>!" <b>Isamil</b> pulled a few sticks of dynamite and the flint from underneath his tattered outer shirt. "Let's see how you guys like being stranded on an island. Catch!" he cried as he chucked a handful of dynamite sticks at one ship, and the remaining few at the other. Explosions rocked both ships in the water. The smaller ship started to sink outright, it's hull cracked from the strain of the blast.
The larger ship, more sturdy than the other, was nevertheless still made of wood and cloth. A fire on the deck soon became a raging inferno as it spread up the mast, and, unknown to the four fleeing crewmates, down into the hold. Just as their small stolen ship was clearing the edges of the natural harbor, an explosion threw them off of their feet. Turning back, they gazed in wonder at a fireball even greater than the one that had sunk their own ship, the <i>Luz de la Luna</i>, what seemed like years ago.
Finally, after all they had been through, they were alive and victorious. They had beaten the traitors, beaten the deception, beaten the bandits. They were going home.
<b>CMEast</b> cleared his throat and turned to <b>Cyndane</b>, "So, now that we're in the clear and all, I was wondering-"
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." she cut him off with an icy stare.
"...Well that's not good."
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>GAME OVER, HUMANS WIN!</span>