Horizon (open)

    A thin stream of light snuck through the cracks in the boards far beneath main deck, casting a dim glow across features contorted in discomfort beneath sweat slicked strands of dark hair that clung to glistening, sun-kissed skin.
The Pirate Captain lay hunched into the corner of the cell he'd had made in the bowels of his vessel to house the wolf that came when the full moon rose high, as it had done the night, prior.
Every muscle screamed with over-exertion and eyes the blue-green of the ocean waves that normally housed a vibrant energy were dimmed with sleep-deprivation and sunken in to the Captain's skull giving him every appearance of the freshly risen dead. Which- he rather felt like, as well.
The cage, once again, proved durable to the wolf's rage, the only markings of the beast left behind being fur stuck into thick gashes in the metal that did not, even, remotely, come close to penetrating through the thick rods.

_"Em-..."
Finn's voice cut off by a rough hoarseness, most likely from a nighttime of howls and roars tearing through his throat for hours on end,
"Emry-!"
He successfully croaked out this time, calling to his first mate as his fingers curled around the bars and hung from them, using their strength to keep him upright when his body had none.
"EMRY!"
His shout much louder now, breaking through the creaks and groans The Wolfsbane unleashed, the old girl loosing a howl of her own.

"A'right, a'right,"
Came the gruff, familiar voice of the Captain's most trusted adviser and friend,
"I 'eard ya the first time, ya great lout! Call any louder and ya make t'wake the slumbering Mistress of t' Seas, 'erself!"
The older man scolded, taking his sweet time about unlocking the cell as he fumbled with the Captain's ring of keys, the grate loosing a screech like an angered Banshee as it was wrenched open.
"Put some clothes on," Emry demanded, hurling a waded up bundle of cloth in his Captain's direction as Finn fumbled to catch it, unprepared in his sleepless state for the projectile garments.
"Nae'body wants t'see yer....Lil' Wolf...there, Cap'," Emry huffed, turning away to offer some semblance of dignity as the Captain wrestled in to the tight leather pants like a butcher fighting with a sausage-casing, a feat made much harder as leather, certainly, did not agree with sweat-soaked skin. The loose fitting, dark tunic proved a much easier feat, sliding on near effortlessly as Finn pulled his silvery pendant that always hung from his neck, even during his transformation, through the fabric. The one souvenir he had kept from his childhood, a small coin from Ziorang that had been made from melted stolen metals and pressed with the symbol of the illicit pirate trade, the accepted currency of his home town and the one thing his Mom had given him before he ran from those who wanted to see his Wolven head hung from their mantel. A token to remember her by, and where he'd come from- as she'd called it.

"Ya decent?"
Emry asked, already wagering to peer backwards, satisfied to find his Captain in the midst of simply pulling on his boots.
"Yea, I'm good," Finn replied, waving off his First Mate's pestering.

"Good, cause we got eh ship off  t'horizon."
"A ship-?" The Pirate echoed, perking up as visions of a vault filled with jewels glistened behind eyes that lit up his face from his tired state, better than any flagon of coffee ever could have.
"It seem t'be stalled, Ser," Emry offered the verbal nudge, perking an eyebrow, "Seems t'me....we should offer- a'hand."
"Oh, quite, Ems," Finn agreed, a greed filled grin curling his lips upwards, "T'would be, ungentlemanly to ^ah- leave some poor folk stranded on the seas..."
Rising to his full height to make way for his Captain's cabin.
If they were to be meeting some new, er, friends....he should don his usual finery.
It was no way to make one's acquaintance in these disheveled garments, and without his hat?
Unthinkable.
"Make course for the vessel, Mr. Emerson."
"Aye, Captain. Right away."

    Eyes squinted outwards towards the small dingy The Wolfsbane fast approached with her sails pulled to their full glory, displaying a vibrant shade of crimson beneath the rays of the early morning sun,. Menacing wolf heads painted across the canvas barring their fangs in an aggressive manner as if the ship itself were leaping outwards to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.
"Where's this vessel you spoke of?"
Finneas questioned his first mate, turning a dull look in the older man's direction who rolled his own eyes in return and vehemently gestured to the small longboat their much larger beast was poised to total.
"Right 'ere, Cap'!" Emry growled.
"You mean the piece of glorified driftwood we're about to turn to splinters?" Finn scowled, looking back at the other boat.
"Aye! Tis been days since the men been paid and they grow restless, Ser..." Emry explained, "Least we can do is raid the coffers and see if t'ey got any a'vault t'plunder."

    Finn let out an exasperated sigh as he shook his head in disbelief. His visions of a treasure room of jewels flitting away in the ocean breeze. He wagered they'd be lucky to find so much as a coin purse on that little canoe.
"Fine...fine," he relented, running his fingers through his windswept hair, "We'll see if we can come aboard, but-" pausing to raise a finger before the first mates eyes, "If we don't find so much as a safe aboard that waterlogged plank, YOU, owe me three-" adding two more fingers to the single one he'd already had lifted, "-coppers. Gentleman's bet."
"S'a bet, Cap'," spitting into his hand and shaking the Captain's in agreement.

"Dalia!"
He called to his Crew-boss.
"Lower the sails! We come up much faster and our wake is gonna flip that thing!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!"
A dark-skinned woman with long, elven years piped back, her beaded dreads whipping about as she turned to scream over the winds at the rest of the crew, the red sails fading away as they were pulled against the mast allowing the vessel to drift further in to meet the other boat, rather than steam roll its way into their port side.

"Ahoy!"
The Captain cheered as they approached the longboat lined with men that looked like a pack of lions, battle-hardened and brash. It was an intimidating sight to be sure, even from the safety of his own, massive ship.
"You lads, alright!?"
Shouting towards them as he hung over the edge of his main deck, a rope wrapped to his wrist keeping him from plummeting into the depths between them.
"You seemed a bit stalled out here, wasn't sure if you strapping young men could use a pair of hands- or ten... Y'know I haven't quite done a head count on my men recently, but...POINT BEING, plenty of hands."

    A large man towered over the rest of the burly individuals around him, somehow even bigger than the fellows Finn had already been a bit intimidated by. A behemoth of an individual to be sure, like a Grizzly cracking through dense trees, his accented voice easily booming out over the gusts of howling winds that Finn, himself, had to strain his throat to yell over.
Then there was another, much meeker individual, that glowered in the Pirate Captain's direction the way a galley chef might stare down a rat in his store room.
Evidently the vessel was perfectly fine and despite seeming it might sink beneath the weight of these hulking individuals, the boat's owner seemed to be right on as Finn allowed his gaze to wander the length of the longboat, spotting no immediate problems. Perhaps it had been stalled for personal reasons. It had been a full moon last night and save for his own affliction he had heard the lunar phases brought out the crazy in menfolk, perhaps crazier than he could've known, eyeing the dried blood that matted golden strains of hair to the warrior's face.
An eyebrow perked at the sight, but he would make no comment, unsure he exactly wanted to know the answer or find out what a den of bears could do to him.
Be a shame to mar such a pretty face, after all.

"Well, I'm not so prideful I can't admit when I've made an honest mistake,"
he called back, when the brute's adviser chose to pipe up, basically shouting at him to 'stow their piratey ways and keel-haul their arses on out of here'.
"Messer,"
Finneas called out, his hand not holding him steadfast to his own ship, splaying against the skin of his chest that peered out through a gap in his loose tunic, a mock facade of hurt and indignation twisting his chiseled features.
"I'm hurt, wounded even, that you might suggest an upstanding gentleman such as myself might guise beneath a helpful hand only to rob you blind! I would never..."
The same hand that had been pressed to his chest now twisting behind his back to wiggle outstretched fingers in his first mate's direction, a silent demand to 'pay up'.
Copper coins fell into his grasp and he slipped them into the pouch on his waist before continuing on, never once having torn his eyes from the vessel before him.

"I completely understand,"
Nodding as if he had any concept of what lay within a person that could possibly buy more goods than an armful of treasure.
Preposterous.
"Well! Atelus!"
He cheered, a grin splitting his face,
"Ah yes, home sweet home. Judging by your thick accent I can see you men aren't from around here. Well, let me welcome you to the Great Kingdom-" pausing at the near threat that this pack of wild looking men and their small life-raft of a ship might somehow be able to so much as dent his glorious Wolfsbane. A laugh, joyous and humor-filled, cut through the air, the man's confidence nearly enough to convince the Pirate they might actually be able to dent his beloved vessel.
But no.
He had no intention to fight these men, especially with no spoils to be gained from it.
"Well tis a fine city of wonders...and horrors, a like- just watch what dark alley you stumble down and avoid such ventures, you should be grand!" he shouted towards Aurelius, "But no, I have no intention of keeping you from the wonders of Atelus, or risking the integrity of my lovely Wolfsbane. Please, allow us to take you into port. She may be large, but you'll not find a faster vessel on these waters."
Flourishing a bow that had his coat billowing out behind him in a manner much akin to a showman taking the stage.

    A soft chuckle escaped the Pirate at the evident excitement splashed across the bear of a man's face, ignoring the disgruntled mutterings of his first mate who did not some the least bit pleased in this turn of events. How they had gone from aiming to pillage this vessel only to find not a cent to be gained from the venture and yet now their whimsical Captain who seemed to make decisions as fickly as the moods of the Sea, herself, was want to aide these foreigners ashore. Years with their Captain and still Emry seemed incapable of predicting what venture might strike the man next.
Very well, he was loyal to his Captain through and through, but the man would be getting an ear full from Emerson later, when they did not stand before the rest of their crew. He knew better than to second guess the Captain in public. It could waver the faith of their men, and he would not have that.

    Finneas raised his free hand to wiggle several fingers in Angantyr's direction, noting the look the man gave him as if he wished the Pirate to lose his grip or his footing and plummet from the top deck of The Wolfsbane.
Yea, you keep wishing little man.
Finn thought to himself with a charming smile still aimed at the adviser, as if only to goad on his disdain.

"Splendid!"
Finn cheered as they were taken on their offer of quick passage, waving his free arm to have Dalia set about getting the crew to toss the longboat ropes so they might properly secure the longboat to The Wolfsbane, enough rope to keep the much smaller vessel steady as the Wolf would catch these strong winds quite readily.
"But of course!" the Pirate shouted in response to the question Aurelius posed, calling to his deckhand, Erik, a young lad but strong, to drop the gangplank between the two ships so that the other Captain might come aboard. The Wolfsbane was Finn's first love, he relished at the opportunity to display her majesty to others. She might be smaller and less flashy than a military vessel or a noble's ship, but he'd wager any of them to out finesse this beauty in a storm.
Once the plank was dropped between them, Finn moved to stand at the end attached to his own ship, pulling his hat from atop his head and dipping low into a bow, one leg stuck out behind him in an almost comical rendition of how one should greet a royal of any stature.
"Captain Finn Whelan, at yer pleasure," he greeted himself, "Welcome aboard The Wolfsbane ah--"
Had he gotten the other man's name?
He didn't believe he had, tilting his lowered head upwards to twirl his hat back atop his head and arch a brow in the much larger man's direction, silently asking the other's name in turn.

    It was hard to suppress the self-preservative need to back away from the man looming before him, inspecting him over like a predator might to its prey. And here he'd thought being the Pirate made him the dangerous one- okay...no he didn't. He probably had a handful of kills under his belt compared to a Warrior like this man seemed to, indeed, be. Bloodshed was messy and not in his nature, though it may be in his wolf-beast's. It was not his way to take another's life unless absolutely necessary. He found most battles could just as easily be won using cunning, finesse, deft hands and a modicum of stealth.
Though he often struggled with that last one. Going unnoticed was not exactly his favorite pastime.
No.
He loved a good bathing in the lime light.

"Tis,"
He assured the King of his name, motioning for his crew to withdraw the plank once it was clear no more men, save for these two, would be coming aboard.
Though it seems his brand new, "number one fan", had followed his lordship along as well. Finn leaned around the larger Aurelius to give the adviser another flourish of a wave, finding no end to his enjoyment in teasing this fellow who so clearly held malice in his returned gaze that was met with nothing more than a sickeningly cheer on the Pirate's behalf.

"Aurelius of Yhavastus!" the Captain greeted, spreading his arms wide in excitement to display the main deck of his ship before grasping the King's much larger hand with his own and giving it a vigorous, but friendly shake.
"My you are much bigger in person, love,"
he chuckled,
"I thought it might've just been my eyes deceiving me based on the size of your own vessel. Must have felt cramped aboard that thing. Well. What is a welcome to a new land without booze?!"
Motioning for Emry to fetch them all some drink, only to be met with a stern glare of disapproval at this whole situation, to which Finn mouthed a stern 'Now. Please.' and his first mate relented, though not without a dramatic roll of his eyes as he uncrossed his arms to head bellow deck as to fetch the liquor.
"Make it the good stuff too, Ems!"
Finn shouted after him, getting only a grumbled response.
"Fine, man, my first mate," the Captain assured Aurelius, beckoning to the staircase that led up to the wheel.
"Come, you gorgeous giant of a man. Join me at the helm. Dalia will make sure your men have the longboat secured before having the boys unfurl the sails."
He assured him.