#every time i reply to this i go: the girls are fightingggg

[hiddenvaldis]

Where Elokian and his crew worshiped the Lysaran sea god and attempted to leave no messy leftovers to their meals, Rán’s Armada aimed for the contrary. To worship the goddess of storms, drowning, and drowned souls, one had to leave behind the aftermath of a tempest. Broken masts and drowned hulls, not a single surviving soul they had not chosen to spare. Monsters they both were, each choosing to stalk their prey through different means but the thirst for blood remained, carefully hidden beneath brilliant smiles. Nari might be the well known siren amidst their club, but that did not make the rest of them any less a creature from the seas. They had inherited or built their armada’s and by naming them they had named the most dangerous part of themselves. 

Valdís had always known this, but there is a particular sort of thrill born from coming face to face with yet another monster wearing a familiar face. Before her it’s Neptune’s chosen, his wrath manifested, and she rather enjoys the thrill of knowing she stands amidst giants, having become one of her own. From a nameless orphan to a devoted worshiper of the drowning depths, from a prey to a predator. Oh, how much a few years and some determination could do. 

“Caribella is a respite from the storm,” she agrees, a simple nod acquiescing to the other Captain’s point. The island is the Eye of the Storm, and without it, she doesn’t know what most of them would do. The careful calculations and reckless abandon that followed each of them out into the waters could only find their peace on the island where debauchery ran free but unity kept them leashed, their violence stayed until they left these unhallowed grounds. There is something delicious about the racking tensions, the barely leashed urge to bare one’s teeth and sink them into your opponent’s throat. 

The tension ratchets up and up, until it’s cut by Valdís’ laughter. It’s a mean spirited thing, meant to undercut Elokian’s high and mighty speech, to show her disdain for his claim on the waters they both call home. “The seas belong to no one, Captain,” she says with a sharp grin, eyes lidded as she tilts her head. “Even the gods that we worship, your lord of earthquakes and my lady of drowning, share it. To believe oneself in ownership of it it’s to fall prey to ocean madness. I assumed someone of your advanced age would be well aware of this fact, but I suppose that not all elders gain wisdom with their years.”

The image of his fleet that Elokian pushed could only be created with careful folding of his tongue. It was no secret that in terms of the wreckage left in the wake of an attack, his armada was cleaner than any other. They honored the waves never poisoned them, a very classy act if he had any say in it. However, this was the same captain who'd launch himself onto an enemy ship and have his way with them until he was drenched in the blood of the fallen. Monstrous didn't even begin to describe the level of brutality Elokian exhibited or what he demanded from his crew.

"Aye, but he's more known for his wrath. Those who upset him find themselves on the receiving end of it. Like the seas, his fury has no bounds and dark depths. Those bearing his namesake do well to remember that, just as they do well to live up to it. That's why I love Caribella so." The island was his home, but more than that it was his refuge. A place to lay his rage to rest and enjoy the pleasures life had to offer because when Elokian led his armada into open waters, it was with the full fury of the sea god. "Setting that all aside lets me relax and take stock of all I want to plunder when I leave."

Elokian's tone turned pointed and his grin turned evil. His captain's swagger on full display, the energy between them was the kind of thing he lived for. Two forces of nature, standing face to face with their congruent ideals causing tension neither would do anything about right now. He truly was a fan of Rán's armada.

"My sweet Valdís, a sailor never looks back into the storm, they always peer ahead. It's important that my centuries of wisdom is used to build the future, and so I provide my lessons freely. That includes the one you seem to have missed from the tale of that culling. If my then second mate had known it, maybe his mushy insides wouldn't have been pulled outside." With all amusement quickly draining from his eyes, his expression became one of sternness. "The seas are mine, and that includes everything that graces their waters. Forget that, and you might find yourself witnessing firsthand what kinds of things are left to me and my ilk."