The Evening of Day 5

[Anwen]

Aria stood in the softly falling rain for a moment with a faraway look in her eyes. Yes. Alex had begun to thaw. But her wings were going to freeze if she didn't get going. She flew up to Alex's window in gave him a tiny wave. Wow. You're really going soft Aerial. she told herself as she sped straight up into the clouds before someone noticed the girl with wings.

She flew due west at 300mph for quite a while til' she saw sky-ports. She did not want herself to get caught by pirates, so she dived.

[Brock]

Edward

Edward Hook was walking along the starboard side of his docked ship when he saw a black shape speeding straight towards the port. He quickly pulled out his electronic binoculars and focused in on the shape. Seeing that is was an I.S. he limped over to a canon, loaded a net round, and fired.

[Anwen]

Aria heard the net before she saw or felt it. She swerved--

But too late.

The net had caught in her wings and she was beginning to plummet down towards the Badlands.

Hurriedly, Aria unsheathed her knives and began slicing through the ropes with an efficient speed, freeing herself in a matter of seconds. She had fallen below the level of the sky-ship and saw the line that was supposed to be hauling her up to the ship floating gently in the air.

She smiled, a smile that never reached her eyes, and flew up to the ship's main deck where the captain was standing. She gave him a mock salute and flew up to the highest point of the ship, where she grinned impudently at the crew below. "Hello down there!"

[Brock]

Dumbfounded Edward looked up and frowned. He was normally used to getting his way and this was not what he expected. Loading another round he tried to train the cannon on the I.S. but she was gone before he was finished loading. "Where are you!" he yelled.

[Anwen]

Humans. Aria snickered to herself. She had left the mast and was below the ship now. She floated up to about a foot behind the pirate and easily took his weapons.

"Where are you!" the pirate shouted up at the mast.

"I'm right here you silly!" Aria said teasingly as she tugged his hair and waited for him to turn around.

[Brock]

Edward whirled around and reached for his plasma blasters but they weren't there. Lunging in an attempt to grab her he tripped on a rope and hit his head on a cannon.

Dazed, he felt his head and winced at the pain. He stumbled up, grabbed a net, and flung it at her.

[Anwen]

By the time the net had landed, Aria was already back up on the mast. "Tch, tch, tch," she clucked mockingly. "Again with the nets!"

She smiled cheekily down at the fuming pirate below. "Don't you know better than to throw a net when you can't see much besides stars? Seriously! What is the honest business of piracy coming to these days?"

Aria sat down on top of the sail. "You're definitely a pirate. You certainly don't look like one though. Pirates are supposed to be dark and swashbuckling! You're just a little pale thing with hands that are too big for the rest of you. My name's Aria, what's yours?"

[Brock]

Sitting down, Edward grumbled, "Hook, Edward Hook." Then he leaned back and hit his head again on a lip on the cannon. "Ouch!" He yelped and sat straight up again.

[Anwen]

Aria began floating down from the mast. "You really are a puzzle aren't you, Cap'n Hook. You look smart, and you dress well, but you really are clumsy. As she alighted and began to walk towards him she continued talking. "You've banged your head on that cannon twice now, and you should probably have your head looked at. Hey wait a minute--" She looked around. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

[Brock]

"Half are in the cavern down the dock drinking their money away and the other half are sleeping down in their bunks getting ready for and early start tomorrow." He replied. "Why do you want to know?"

[Anwen]

Why do I want to know! Seriously, how thick is this guy? Out-loud, she said, "I always prefer to know the whereabouts of the forces a potential friend or enemy has. It makes for less surprises." She peered at Hook's head, mock concern wrinkling her brow. "Your head is bleeding a bit."

[Brock]

Edward said, "I don't care about my head! What I care about is capturing you and getting a good amount of money off of you at the slave dealers." Then seeing Conner walking up from his cabin he put his hand to his head and pretended that is was giving him a lot of pain. While he was doing this he quickly and non-noticeably signaled over to Conner to capture Aria.

[Hwin]

Conner stepped out of the shadows, his piercing grey-blue eyes taking in every detail. Captain Hook was supposedly hurt and there was an I.S flying above the ship. Conner couldn't deny the fact that she was beautiful with her golden wings and elfish appearance. But he put that aside and focused on the best way to get her out of the air and onto the ship.

Better use a net or at least when she last suspects it. It looks like the last I.S I handled. That guy had knives and I suppose she'll be the same way, seeing as their built is almost exactly the same. Better use my strongest netting. I'm not going to let this one get away...Conner's jaw tensed as he remembered his accident which had gotten him kicked off the last crew he was a part of.

Swiftly, he reached down and grabbed one of the guns on his belt. He already had a bullet he had pulled out from the other side of his belt, which used more of strong but light weight steel web instead of average netting. In a few seconds his gun was loaded, he took aim and shot. After a little bit of ways the bullet shot out into a net and wrapped itself around the girl's eagle wings.

[Anwen]

"Ooooooh, very nice. It's not even rope this time. I really am sick and tired of nets." Aria said, running and climbing the mast as quick as a wink. "But, you know, I'm not just an eagle." She looked down at them with a feral smile. "I'm a cat. And a cat always lands on her feet." She waved and jumped overboard.

[Hwin]

Conner's face showed no disappointment but his eyes flared with failure. Letting out the slightest sigh, Conner realized he should have known Hook would have tried a net already. It seemed they thought alike in their strategies. Conner looked up, the I.S jumped. Of course she wasn't exactly like the last flying I.S he tried putting down. There never seemed to be two alike. Finally, Conner made up his mind. Before Hook could dish out orders, Conner made eye contact with the girl as she leaped. He hooked his unsettling eyes onto her amber ones. "Wait," he called.

What am I thinking? Let’s shot nets and bullets at her and see if she'll stop to chat when I try talking with her. Conner, you're losing it.

[Anwen]

The last thing Aria saw before she jumped was the smarter pirate's grey-blue eyes looking intensely at her. "Wait." He called.

Quickly, Aria turned herself around and landed on the edge of the deck, she would never know what made her do it, looking him straight in the eye. "You have so much pain in your heart." She whispered to herself. "The same sort of pain I have. Why must we be enemies?" Her short hair blew in front of her face for a moment, the wind blowing her words away.

[Hwin]

Conner took a step back, slightly surprised she had listened to him. Their stare never faltered as she nimbly landed on the edge. The longer Conner looked at her the more familiar she seemed. Not in a physical way but in an emotional one. Something about the look in her eyes...something so painfully real to Conner.

A breeze fluttered by, their hair whipping back and forth in the wind. The I.S whispered a few words to herself but Conner caught them.

"The same sort of pain I have. Why must we be enemies?"

"The same sort of pain..." Conner repeated under his breath. Suddenly, he did something that surprised himself. Conner put away his gun, held out his hand and in his deep, calming voice said, "No. We needn't be enemies." The blue eyes lighting up for just a moment.

[Anwen]

Aria's eyes narrowed at the pirate's words, searching his soul for answers. Could she trust him? Maybe so. His eyes were windows, and they wouldn't lie. She softened slightly as she probed. Those eyes were honest and understanding. And in them, she saw herself.

Still...

"If this is true, will you free my wings?" Aria asked, her eyes daring him to defy his captain's orders, as she walked forward and stood in front of him. If he was going to speak with his eyes, she sent him a message with hers.

For the love of the brothers we lost.

[Hwin]

"If this is true, will you free my wings?"

The girl came nearer and in that instance Conner let his eyes slip downward. To free those golden wings would mean to disobey Captain Hook. A flash of what might come flooded through his mind. I might get kicked off of the ship, it could take days to find more work, time that could have been spent finding Gage...but then again, Hook might not be too upset. You never know though... His mind continued to race but as Conner raised his eyes to meet her diamond ones all of his worries vanished. Lowering his hand to his side, his gloved hand quickly grabbed his knife and in a moment it was at her roped wings. "For the one's we have lost," he said into her ear before skillfully cutting through the tough netting.

[Cytherea]

"De Heer is mijn Herder, mij zal niets ontbreken. Hij doet mij neerliggen in grazige weiden, Hij voert mij aan rustige wateren. Hij verkwikt mijn ziel; Hij leidt mij in het spoor der gerechtigheid, om Zijns Naams wil. Yae, al ga ik door een dal van de schaduw des doods, ik zou geen kwaad vrezen, want Gij zijt bij mij. Gij stok en uw staf, die vertroosten mij. Gij richt de tafel toe voor mij, in het bijzijn van mijn vijanden. Thous zalft mijn hoofd met olie, mijn beker funneth voorbij. Ja, heil en goedertierenheid, zullen mij volgen. Al de dagen van mijn leven. En ik zal wonen, in het huis van de Heer voor altijd ..."

Softly, softly, Faustine sang the 23rd Psalm in Dutch. Her hands folded together, and she leaned her head back on her sill. She gazed out at the sun that was so close... how she wished she could actually see its true beauty from where she sat. Troublesome matters tore at her heart, even after she had taken time to reflect on everything happening.

"Father and Mother want the best for me, but... am I too selfish?" she murmured to herself. A phrase stood out to her from the Psalm she had just sung. She had sang it many times before, but only this time did the sentence, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... for You art with me." create a firm understanding in her heart. She stared back up at the dazzling sky, finally feeling comforted.

"You are always with me..."

[Anwen]

Aria felt the net falling away from her wings and caught his whispered words in the same moment. For the ones we have lost, She thought. Yes, this is a bond.

As soon as she felt her wings fully freed, she spread her wings to their full span, a wild moment of freedom and happiness overcame her and she smiled for pure joy. Her eyes fell back upon the pirate, the kindred spirit, the one who had risked his search to help her. "The one you lost, what was his name? And what is yours?" She asked, preparing to take-off.

[Brock]

Edward couldn't believe his eyes. "Conner, what are you doing!" He shouted,"you're supposed to catch her not free her. I order you to capture that I.S. and bring her to me, NOW!"

[Hwin]

It felt unusual, the way his lips crept up, into a smile. Strange but wonderful at the same time. He couldn't help himself from letting out that long forgotten grin. The way she lighted up in that moment. Conner felt as though he could feel her happiness.

Suddenly, Edward's voice rung in Conner's ears. It was loud and demanding but Conner shook his mop of light hair and kept his back to the angry man. "My brother's name is Gage and mine is Conner." he said to the I.S, his voice warning her to leave and his eyes flashing a wave of concern. "But before you go please tell me your name."

[Anwen]

"Aria. My name is Aria." She said, seeing the happiness mixed with concern in his blue gaze. She flung her head back and gave a wild, deafening shree of joy and defiance to the world, as she gave a powerful thrust with her wings and was above the clouds in a heartbeat.

Immediately, she floated down to just below the clouds. "See ya later Cap'n Hook!" She said, saluting cheekily and sending a wink to Connor. Then she flew back up out of range of anything they could shoot at her.

[Hwin]

"Goodbye, Aria." Conner whispered into the wind as he watched her fly away into the distance. The smile on his face had faded and his face was back to it's usual, almost expressionless, self but a merriment remained in his blue eyes. Turning around he came face to face with Captain Hook.

"I'm sorry, Captain. Did you call?"