Eren hasn't spent a lot of time on boats, really, so he might not be prepared for this one, the way the boat rocks and all. Don't worry, no seasickness here, just an adjustment period on sea legs!
He almost didn't wear the provided pirate clothes because he has no idea what pirates even are or what the clothes are for. But ugh, fine, costume it is. (He ditches the eyepatch right away, because he's pretty sure that it would not be appreciated by the two people he knows who can't magically regrow eyes, and anyway he might freak himself out wearing it and no one needs that just pretend it's gone in all these cool pirate icons.)
Ultimately he's also not sure why he can't just punch holes in these ships as a titan (maybe the water is too deep for that?) but again, he goes along with it. The pay will be fine if they sink more than one. Anyway, his inherent desire to win is still there somewhere. Beating these ships is doing that, isn't it? Destroy enemies? He can do that all day.
There's not really a ship captain on this quest. It's a work together type thing. But Eren more easily defaults to not issuing orders. What does he know about ships? At least cannons are familiar.
At one point, he might say, "What's even on that ship? It looks empty but it's still moving." (He missed the ghost ship memo, possibly.)
At another, he might say, "What the hell are those things?" in regards to octopus pirates. He sort of knows what an octopus is, but this is weird. Maybe as weird as Folkmore was. Or just…differently weird? He's staring instead of shooting the cannon, whoops. Or he is firing cannons! Whatever.
Or if you're feeling spicy, maybe one of the crews boards their ship and there's a sword fight. Eren knows how to fight with a sword but also, fuck that, guns exist. He has a regular modern style handgun that now fires magic bullets (or regular ones if he runs out of those). In a scrape, he might choose that instead of a sword. But if the ghosts board the ship…what now?
Levi doesn't deign to dress up for the mission. In fact, he chooses to wear casual clothes rather than his nice uniform (though honestly, some of his ideas of casual clothes isn't too far off from pirate aesthetic), though he does have his gear on, and he is, in fact, sporting an eyepatch.
Not one from the research center, though. It seems to be a spare one of Hange's (of course thoroughly disinfected), or at least it looks the same. Levi isn't too happy about it, but after accidentally poking himself in the eye with a teaspoon once or twice thanks to his new blind spot, he figured it's probably best to cover it when there's a chance he'll have to do battle.
For now, he's taken over steering, as it seems Eren prefers working the cannons (it may or may not be a bad decision, considering Eren is the only one who has a license for piloting any kind of ship), but so far they were sailing into the lake without much issue.
Until, that is, an empty-looking ship starts heading toward them, perhaps intending to board or simply ram their smaller boat. There may be some locals sailing with them, in which case they probably urgently unroll more sail for speed, while Levi struggles turning the giant unwieldy wheel so the damned ghosts can eat some lead.
That's right, he can bloody see them. It doesn't matter until they have to actually fight them, though; as long as they can destroy the ship, that should be unnecessary.
"Aim for the sail pole," he instructs Eren, shattering any illusion that they actually know shit about ships, as the boat finally turns the way he wants it to, broadside cannons facing the approaching ghost ship.
Eren does know how to pilot an airship, but this seems pretty different from that. Besides, then he'd feel like the captain and he'd rather leave that up to…the captain, obviously.
So far it's not going poorly, and it's not like this ocean-lake is really all that choppy. There's no storm on the horizon. They're fine. Shooting things is possibly fun, or as close to it as Eren really acknowledges these days. Skewed? Sure, but as always: it's not genocide.
Levi doesn't answer his question. He is aware Levi can see ghosts, but he sort of forgets they're a thing here most of the time. He doesn't believe in ghosts, or didn't until now, so they're not often on his mind anyway. Well, even if the ship is driven by magic, they can still take it out.
"Sail pole, got it," he says. He doesn't know much more about ships that go in the water and not in the air, alas. But regardless of the lingo, he understands what it means. He rotates the cannon, a slower process than he'd like, and takes aim.
It's hard to correct for the motion of the waves, though, especially as the ships turns. So when he fires, it misses. Not by much, but it's still a miss. The cannonball blasts a hole through the sale and only grazes the wood of the mast ship pole. Still, it causes the other ship to falter and to slow. Without a functional sail, it's better than completely missing.
He turns to pick up another cannonball from the pile of them. He's strong, but it's not the fastest reload in the world.
It is indeed not genocide, especially since the things they're shooting aren't technically alive, anyway, so Levi supports it as an idea for entertainment.
And they're also getting paid, that's always a plus.
It's not a clean shot, but with the other ship slowed down, it should be easier to outrun and maneuver around it. Levi lets their own boat sail a little further, just to make sure there's enough room for turning, and steers them after the ghost ship again.
"Take the chain shot," he yells at Eren over the voices of their few crewmen struggling to keep up with following the captain's orders because he's not saying half of them aloud (but luckily, the ship's turn is completed successfully this time).
At least they know some shit about artillery, since they did have cannons and variety of ammo back home. And considering what chain shots could do to titans, not to mention the much more generous margin for aiming, Levi's quite confident it should decimate the other ship's masts sail poles quite easily.
Getting paid for murder, fine, getting paid for sex, not fine? Priorities, apparently.
Eren holds on to the side of the ship as the ship swings around. He's not entirely sure what direction is going to happen since many of the orders Levi is really issuing are to him, leaving the crew to figure it out and Levi to steer. See where he gets his lack of communication from, captain?
Chain shot. That's a good call, he thinks, though he doesn't bother saying that aloud. He loads the chain shot into the cannon. The ship moves into position. He fires again, the twin balls sailing through the air, rotating until they slam into the mast sail poles, first the bigger one, then a second lesser hit to the smaller ones.
The bigger one falling is really what takes out the weakened smaller one, torn sails collapsing around them. Are those shapes caught under the cloth? Ghosts made more corporeal but still not visible to Eren? Hm, weird.
"Captain! Another shot?" he asks, but he's already reaching for one. The sail poles might be down but that's not gonna sink a ship.
They're both fine! Eren just clearly has way more experience with one of those, so they're concerned he might not ask for help if he needs it!
Indeed living together must not be doing any favors for either of theirs communication skills, but Levi will happily ignore that fact for now. He was absolutely communicating right now, wasn't he?
He hears the satisfying crack of the enemy mast main sail pole, which then falls on another one bringing them both down. The ghosts appear to be in disarray, which is just as good, because it means they don't have to worry about a counterattack just yet.
Which means they should try and use this opportunity to sink it.
"Get the heaviest one you can find," he shouts over the noise, "and aim right below the waterline!"
If they can just punch a hole anywhere in the hull below the surface, the fight should be won, right?
Eren is annoyed that he can't see the fucking ghosts. The most he can really do is shoot holes in their ship instead of shooting them directly (stay tuned, though).
He's pretty proud of that sail pole shot, the way it cracks and falls. He'd have been pissed at himself if he missed. Even after all this time and all his bullshit, he doesn't really want to disappoint Levi in a fight.
"Yes, sir!" he shouts back, weighing a couple cannonballs out of the pile. He picks one that seems pretty heavy and gets it into the cannon.
The water is choppier now from the last shot, the way it rocked the other ship. It really does make aiming a challenge. How could they have trained for something like this, a cannon that isn't on solid wall ground? He doesn't quite know how to compensate for the movement.
But he aims and fires it anyway. It hits just above the waterline, which is not what it was meant to do. But it's still a hole, and as the ship rocks on the water, water is still pouring into it, just…slower than it would have.
"Damnit," he says, reaching for another cannonball to shove into the cannon. If he just aims a little lower this time, maybe he can get that hole bigger.
If only he also didn't want to disappoint Levi in general. (He was very disappointed by the genocide, just saying.) At least it's something, though, and for their current situation, it'll do.
There are shapes under the fallen enemy sail, something either of them could shoot at with a gun, but it's too far away -- or at least that's what Levi thinks, as he's only aware of the limitations of weapons from their own world.
Eren flubs the first shot (okay, it's better than nothing), but he seems to want to keep trying. They're not really on a time limit here, so...
"Go ahead," he calls back. "I'm bringing us in."
Which is probably not the best idea, especially with a ship they want to sink, but Levi's argument is that it will surely be easier to hit and cripple that vessel from closer by! So as they sail past the ghost ship and start getting further away from it, he puts his weight on the wheel once again, turning the ship to continue circling their target.
He doesn't quite hit an incoming wave the right way and it pours over the deck, washing a few loose crates overboard. All the crew, luckily, seem to have managed to grab onto something in time to avoid that fate.
Levi bringing them in to the ship is (more or less) successful. Some of the ghosts are tangled in the sail, which makes them not traditionally visible, but visible enough to fight them.
When the ships crash together(?), Eren and a couple of the people helping man their ship fight their way to the ghost ship. It's maybe a dumb thing to do to fight what you can't see, but rather than rely on Levi for everything like he's 15 and useless again (he doesn't have any complex about this whatsoever, don't worry about it), Eren goes for the ones under the sail.
They're not exactly easy to fight so in the end, he remembers he has a weapon on his belt. It's a somewhat modern style revolver, loaded with magic bullets. A ghost turns towards him, reaching even through the fabric, and he just shoots it in what is probably the face. Good enough.
The ships absolutely crash together; it may be pure luck that the angle means their ship did not get too damaged to sail. The ghosts are not quite as lucky, especially once part of their crew board the ship to mop up.
Considering that murdering individual ghosts isn't really on their agenda and somebody should probably mind the ship lest they try to escape on it, Levi stays behind for now, though he does keep an eye on everyone just in case they need help. So he does absolutely see Eren pull out what -- looks like a gun, just fancier and sleeker somehow -- and blasts at a ghost.
What the shit.
He considers asking that, or maybe when did you get that, or since when do you use guns, but there's not really much point to it. It's not like he has authority to take it away, nor does he think that's necessary at the moment. Eren must have picked it up at one of those fancy magic stores or something, especially since it seems to be working on ghosts, and that's just as well.
So instead he just says something like "...Nice shot," and then yells at everyone to finish cleaning up and get back on the ship so they can get clear before the ghost ship sinks.
One down, however many they still plan to take on to go!
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dreamsofwings) wrote2020-11-19 01:04 pm
pirates of the great lake - CLOSED
He almost didn't wear the provided pirate clothes because he has no idea what pirates even are or what the clothes are for. But ugh, fine, costume it is. (He ditches the eyepatch right away, because he's pretty sure that it would not be appreciated by the two people he knows who can't magically regrow eyes, and anyway he might freak himself out wearing it and no one needs that
just pretend it's gone in all these cool pirate icons.)Ultimately he's also not sure why he can't just punch holes in these ships as a titan (maybe the water is too deep for that?) but again, he goes along with it. The pay will be fine if they sink more than one. Anyway, his inherent desire to win is still there somewhere. Beating these ships is doing that, isn't it? Destroy enemies? He can do that all day.
There's not really a ship captain on this quest. It's a work together type thing. But Eren more easily defaults to not issuing orders. What does he know about ships? At least cannons are familiar.
At one point, he might say, "What's even on that ship? It looks empty but it's still moving." (He missed the ghost ship memo, possibly.)
At another, he might say, "What the hell are those things?" in regards to octopus pirates. He sort of knows what an octopus is, but this is weird. Maybe as weird as Folkmore was. Or just…differently weird? He's staring instead of shooting the cannon, whoops. Or he is firing cannons! Whatever.
Or if you're feeling spicy, maybe one of the crews boards their ship and there's a sword fight. Eren knows how to fight with a sword but also, fuck that, guns exist. He has a regular modern style handgun that now fires magic bullets (or regular ones if he runs out of those). In a scrape, he might choose that instead of a sword. But if the ghosts board the ship…what now?
well then,
(though honestly, some of his ideas of casual clothes isn't too far off from pirate aesthetic), though he does have his gear on, and he is, in fact, sporting an eyepatch.Not one from the research center, though. It seems to be a spare one of Hange's (of course thoroughly disinfected), or at least it looks the same. Levi isn't too happy about it, but after accidentally poking himself in the eye with a teaspoon once or twice thanks to his new blind spot, he figured it's probably best to cover it when there's a chance he'll have to do battle.
For now, he's taken over steering, as it seems Eren prefers working the cannons (it may or may not be a bad decision, considering Eren is the only one who has a license for piloting any kind of ship), but so far they were sailing into the lake without much issue.
Until, that is, an empty-looking ship starts heading toward them, perhaps intending to board or simply ram their smaller boat. There may be some locals sailing with them, in which case they probably urgently unroll more sail for speed, while Levi struggles turning the giant unwieldy wheel so the damned ghosts can eat some lead.
That's right, he can bloody see them. It doesn't matter until they have to actually fight them, though; as long as they can destroy the ship, that should be unnecessary.
"Aim for the sail pole," he instructs Eren, shattering any illusion that they actually know shit about ships, as the boat finally turns the way he wants it to, broadside cannons facing the approaching ghost ship.
finally gets here 10 years late
So far it's not going poorly, and it's not like this ocean-lake is really all that choppy. There's no storm on the horizon. They're fine. Shooting things is possibly fun, or as close to it as Eren really acknowledges these days. Skewed? Sure, but as always: it's not genocide.
Levi doesn't answer his question. He is aware Levi can see ghosts, but he sort of forgets they're a thing here most of the time. He doesn't believe in ghosts, or didn't until now, so they're not often on his mind anyway. Well, even if the ship is driven by magic, they can still take it out.
"Sail pole, got it," he says. He doesn't know much more about ships that go in the water and not in the air, alas. But regardless of the lingo, he understands what it means. He rotates the cannon, a slower process than he'd like, and takes aim.
It's hard to correct for the motion of the waves, though, especially as the ships turns. So when he fires, it misses. Not by much, but it's still a miss. The cannonball blasts a hole through the sale and only grazes the wood of the
mastship pole. Still, it causes the other ship to falter and to slow. Without a functional sail, it's better than completely missing.He turns to pick up another cannonball from the pile of them. He's strong, but it's not the fastest reload in the world.
oops,
And they're also getting paid, that's always a plus.
It's not a clean shot, but with the other ship slowed down, it should be easier to outrun and maneuver around it. Levi lets their own boat sail a little further, just to make sure there's enough room for turning, and steers them after the ghost ship again.
"Take the chain shot," he yells at Eren over the voices of their few crewmen struggling to keep up with following the captain's orders because he's not saying half of them aloud (but luckily, the ship's turn is completed successfully this time).
At least they know some shit about artillery, since they did have cannons and variety of ammo back home. And considering what chain shots could do to titans, not to mention the much more generous margin for aiming, Levi's quite confident it should decimate the other ship's
mastssail poles quite easily.no subject
Getting paid for murder, fine, getting paid for sex, not fine? Priorities, apparently.Eren holds on to the side of the ship as the ship swings around. He's not entirely sure what direction is going to happen since many of the orders Levi is really issuing are to him, leaving the crew to figure it out and Levi to steer. See where he gets his lack of communication from, captain?
Chain shot. That's a good call, he thinks, though he doesn't bother saying that aloud. He loads the chain shot into the cannon. The ship moves into position. He fires again, the twin balls sailing through the air, rotating until they slam into the
mastsail poles, first the bigger one, then a second lesser hit to the smaller ones.The bigger one falling is really what takes out the weakened smaller one, torn sails collapsing around them. Are those shapes caught under the cloth? Ghosts made more corporeal but still not visible to Eren? Hm, weird.
"Captain! Another shot?" he asks, but he's already reaching for one. The sail poles might be down but that's not gonna sink a ship.
no subject
They're both fine! Eren just clearly has way more experience with one of those, so they're concerned he might not ask for help if he needs it!Indeed living together must not be doing any favors for either of theirs communication skills, but Levi will happily ignore that fact for now. He was absolutely communicating right now, wasn't he?
He hears the satisfying crack of the enemy
mastmain sail pole, which then falls on another one bringing them both down. The ghosts appear to be in disarray, which is just as good, because it means they don't have to worry about a counterattack just yet.Which means they should try and use this opportunity to sink it.
"Get the heaviest one you can find," he shouts over the noise, "and aim right below the waterline!"
If they can just punch a hole anywhere in the hull below the surface, the fight should be won, right?
me pretending I know fuck all about ships
He's pretty proud of that sail pole shot, the way it cracks and falls. He'd have been pissed at himself if he missed. Even after all this time and all his bullshit, he doesn't really want to disappoint Levi in a fight.
"Yes, sir!" he shouts back, weighing a couple cannonballs out of the pile. He picks one that seems pretty heavy and gets it into the cannon.
The water is choppier now from the last shot, the way it rocked the other ship. It really does make aiming a challenge. How could they have trained for something like this, a cannon that isn't on solid
wallground? He doesn't quite know how to compensate for the movement.But he aims and fires it anyway. It hits just above the waterline, which is not what it was meant to do. But it's still a hole, and as the ship rocks on the water, water is still pouring into it, just…slower than it would have.
"Damnit," he says, reaching for another cannonball to shove into the cannon. If he just aims a little lower this time, maybe he can get that hole bigger.
"I'll fire another one!" he calls to Levi.
same tho,,
There are shapes under the fallen enemy sail, something either of them could shoot at with a gun, but it's too far away -- or at least that's what Levi thinks, as he's only aware of the limitations of weapons from their own world.
Eren flubs the first shot (okay, it's better than nothing), but he seems to want to keep trying. They're not really on a time limit here, so...
"Go ahead," he calls back. "I'm bringing us in."
Which is probably not the best idea, especially with a ship they want to sink, but Levi's argument is that it will surely be easier to hit and cripple that vessel from closer by! So as they sail past the ghost ship and start getting further away from it, he puts his weight on the wheel once again, turning the ship to continue circling their target.
He doesn't quite hit an incoming wave the right way and it pours over the deck, washing a few loose crates overboard. All the crew, luckily, seem to have managed to grab onto something in time to avoid that fate.
feel free to wrap this up next tag?
When the ships crash together(?), Eren and a couple of the people helping man their ship fight their way to the ghost ship. It's maybe a dumb thing to do to fight what you can't see, but rather than rely on Levi for everything like he's 15 and useless again (he doesn't have any complex about this whatsoever, don't worry about it), Eren goes for the ones under the sail.
They're not exactly easy to fight so in the end, he remembers he has a weapon on his belt. It's a somewhat modern style revolver, loaded with magic bullets. A ghost turns towards him, reaching even through the fabric, and he just shoots it in what is probably the face. Good enough.
o/
Considering that murdering individual ghosts isn't really on their agenda and somebody should probably mind the ship lest they try to escape on it, Levi stays behind for now, though he does keep an eye on everyone just in case they need help. So he does absolutely see Eren pull out what -- looks like a gun, just fancier and sleeker somehow -- and blasts at a ghost.
What the shit.
He considers asking that, or maybe when did you get that, or since when do you use guns, but there's not really much point to it. It's not like he has authority to take it away, nor does he think that's necessary at the moment. Eren must have picked it up at one of those fancy magic stores or something, especially since it seems to be working on ghosts, and that's just as well.
So instead he just says something like "...Nice shot," and then yells at everyone to finish cleaning up and get back on the ship so they can get clear before the ghost ship sinks.
One down, however many they still plan to take on to go!