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Hauberk passed her half of the melon. "Here you go. It's the least I can do after you kept me fighting off those shadow ponies." Hauberk smiled at her, then picked up his own melon half and took a bite out of it. He made sure to chew slowly with his mouth closed. It never paid to be loose with common courtesies. It always helped to make a good impression.

Wind didn't notice Raven's discomfort. "I'll get him to come over here, then you blast him or whatever you do to make him feel stuff," Wind whispered to Raven. She then stood back up and shouted, "Hey! Hauberk. Come meet Raven!"

Hauberk turned away from Allivia and trotted over to Raven and Wind. "Making friends are we Wind? It's good to meet you, Raven. From what we were told, it sounds like you'll be a valuable ally in the time to come. If you need any help whatsoever, then you can count on my team. We were ordered to keep you safe and comfortable. You can rely on us," Hauberk said.

"Sure, yeah. We can totally do that, Raven. You need anything, ask me and I'll do it. Just like that. Except for anything icky, then you'll have to ask Hauberk, but if you need anything fast, then I'm your mare." Wind Runner then gestured with a tilt of her head towards Hauberk.

(OOC: You don't have to do it if you don't want to. This is just Wind's personality, I don't know whether Raven's personality will let her actually do it.)

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Hauberk suddenly began to feel uneasy. Something was wrong. The sky began to darken and he took a step backwards. His eyes narrowed. His gaze returned to Raven's eyes. They seemed so innocent and pure, but he could feel something behind them. Something strong. He went for his knife and pulled it out when the scene around him completely dissipated into darkness. "Hello?" he called into the blackness. A distant disembodied voice called out something garbled. In concerto, other voices joined in suddenly. Hauberk took another step backwards as a bead of sweat ran down his forehead. "Stay focused," he whispered to himself. A voice suddenly started up behind him so he span around and lunged forward with his knife.

Wind Runner burst into a fit of giggles as Hauberk stumbled around, his eyes darting this way and that. She had never seen him that unfocused, even when drunk there was a sense of in control calmness about him. Now he was almost paralytic. Then he pulled out his knife, and suddenly she wasn't so sure. "Hey, Rave? Should he be doing that? What's he going to do with that knife?" She then watched as Hauberk leapt at the mast and buried the blade into the mast. "That isn't good, is it?"

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(OOC: Sorry about the brevity, but I want to let Raven respond (for once.))

Hauberk's mind returned and his vision instantly cleared. His knife was buried in the mast. Sailstorm was going to kill him. He looked around for any trace of the darkness that had filled him seconds ago. His eyes returned back to Ravens. The darkness that he saw before, did she cause it? No... no... it must have been a side effect of exposure to dark magic. He needed to lie down. "I'm sorry," he said curtly as he pulled back out his knife and headed down the steps to the bunks.

Wind Runner waited until he was gone and then sighed loudly. "That was close. You made him totally flip out! That was awesome! Until the whole breaking the ship that we're sailing on thing happened, but still awesome!" the red pegasus cheered. She gently slapped Raven on the back. "Rad-i-cal!" She then grabbed another fruit from the chest, a papaya this time, and munched on it noisily.

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Raven finished her papaya and went to grab a banana when she hear Alliva speak to her. "Still am! For some reason I use energy really fast, Hauberk says if I slowed down when I did things I'd be able to go for longer, but its not my fault everypony else is so slow. Sometimes I feel like noponies actually listening to me because they don't reply and it makes me feel sad because I don't like being ignored. It's really annoying," she said a bit sadly then instantly perked up again. "Anyways I eat a lot and rather quickly!" she said as she peeled the banana and bit down on half of the fruit. "Plus this fruit is absolutely rad!" she added as she took another bite and the banana was gone.

Hauberk sighed loudly as he lay down into one of the hammocks. He hadn't let anything get at him in so long. It was odd to feel vulnerable, even though he had tried to hide it from himself under a veneer of anger. He had also embarrassed himself in front of his new charges. It'd be hard to get recover his reputation after this. He lay back and sighed again.

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(OOC: I completely agree with you, although I kind of sabotaged my character development by having Mind's bow out so early. Could we jump until we hear the cries of "land ho!")

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Mind's Eye shot awake as Allivia bumped into him. The other night he had finished recharging his device and had a few discussions with Hauberk. Deespite his curiosity as to the magical capability of Allivia, he had only had very limited contact with her. He had spent the majority of the two days trying to boost his own magical potential by improving the interface of his horn device. He had made a point to not get to know Raven however. Last time he had worked with a filly... it hadn't been pretty. Mind's Eye would defend her to the death by Hauberk's side, but he would not let his guard down around her. Mind's Eye clambered out of the hammock and followed the other ponies outside.

Hauberk heard the cry and quickly untangled himself from the mess of hammock that he had been sleeping in. Hauberk had eventually warmed back up again after Wind Runner had gone and seen him. She'd neglected to mention Raven's part in it, but had assured him that it was just a bit of harmless fun. He'd then proceeded to teach everypony how to play some of his favourite card games, although he hadn't accepted gambling. Hauberk was a very moralistic pony who didn't let any Earthly vice get to him. Hauberk made sure to replace his knife in its scabbard and marched off after the group.

When they all left the cabin they found that Wind Runner had already beat them there. Wind Runner could sleep anywhere, and had quickly taken a dislike to the hammocks as they constrained her wings. She had set up a few cushions in the crow's nest and made it a pegasus's nest. Wind Runner had managed to annoy everypony on the ship so far, but Raven seemed to be growing on her. Wind Runner smiled wildly as she repeated what the captain had said, "Land! We're finally here! Pull us in captain!"

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"Ooh! Ooh! I volunteer for a fly-by! I can fly to the shore and find us a good place to land the boats. Then I can fly further in and try and find this temple, and while I'm doing that I can search for friendly ponies. It'll be an adventure in itself! Ooh! And Duri can come 'cos he's got wings too. It'll be fun!" Wind Runner shouted excitedly at the news that the others would be going by boat.

Hauberk grimaced at the news that they'd have to row the rest of the way. Even this salty old dog was afraid of an island like this. He knew that his team were in over their heads already, but if he hadn't then this would have been the final nail in the coffin. "I'll prepare the anchor," he said curtly and paced off towards the other side of the ship. Sailstorm had told stories that made his stomach churn, but even he knew to stay away from here. He mouthed a silent prayer to whatever gods were left out there as he prepared the chain. "Waiting on your call, Captain!" he bellowed over to the other side of the ship.

Mind's Eye already knew he was going to die. The whole team were going to fail. He'd heard of this island, and its treasure. He had always pursued anything to get him the magical edge over another pony, but even he knew to avoid this spellbook. Even so, he prepared a few charms and wards and placed them over himself. It was all well and good making sure that Raven made it through alive, but if he was going to lose his life here, he'd prefer to at least see the legendary treasure before his death. If it was as powerful as it was claimed, it may even help him avoid death. He hadn't considered that before. He turned to Allivia, "So, if we're to go into this foray together, I need to know that I can count on you to cover my back. You already know that the Crimson Hooves never leave anypony under their care without protection, but I've never heard of you, Allivia."

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"Very good. Best of luck out there, then. Celestia knows we'll need it," Minds stated plainly and trotted over to assist Sailstorm. He deactivated his horn device and set about enveloping the areas that Sailstorm pointed out with his magic and helping out. "If you don't mind me asking, captain, why don't you come with us? I'm sure your combat experience will prove invaluable on the ground," Wind asked as he fiddled with the sails.

Hauberk dropped the anchor exactly as asked. The chain whirred as the anchor fell into the ocean with a splash and vanished beneath its briny depths. Eventually the chain pulled fast and stopped. Hauberk locked it into place and bellowed back, "Anchor deployed, Cap'n!"

Wind Runner flitted about excitedly as Duri flew into the air to join her. "Buck Yeah, Duri! Let's do this, give me some wing!" She shouted as she brought one of her wings around and softly touched it to Duri's. "We'll be back before you know it, Raven! Let's see what makes this island so scary!"

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Minds Eye fought back the urge to scoff loudly. His ship is in so much danger here near a dangerous island that nopony ever travels too. Last time he had insulted the captain of a ship though, he had been marooned on a desert island for four days. It wasn't his fault that the pony didn't like being called out on his inferiority complex. "He did though..." he mumbled aloud as he untied the knots. Instead he opted to push for information. "You're a well travelled pony, correct? Can I assume that you've met somepony whose set foot on these islands? Any information that we don't know could prove invaluable to the team."

Hauberk watched as Wind Runner vanished from view. "Stay safe, Winds," he said softly to the air. He then turned his attention to the two girls. "I propose that Mind's Eye and I trot at the front until Wind Runner gets back. When that happens, Mind's can move to the back to join Allivia, and Winds can take his place at the front. Everypony'll need to stay diligent. Allivia, our priority is Raven; if we all get hit then get her to safety first. Raven, apparently you can commune with wildlife. Can you question animals we find for any extra information?" Hauberk ordered in his royal guard commander tone.

Wind Runner meanwhile was having a blast. Loop-de-looping and corkscrewing about was fun. She had been allowed to fly on the ship, but not too far for fear of getting lost. Duri cawed excitedly beside her. "Yeah, Duri! This is so much fun! Whoosh!" She shouted as she pushed an extra spurt from her wings. The pair then found themselves above the island in question. Overgrown jungle covered half of the island so thickly that Wind couldn't see beneath the thick canopy of trees. The island's only bay was on the complete opposite side of the island from the cliff where the Temple sat. The imposing structure was very Meso-Equestria. Well, that's how they described it in the Daring Doo novels. Wind Runner whistled appreciatively. "Hey, Duri! Let's skip these boring woods and go straight to the scary temple!" Without waiting for a reply she sped up in the direction of the ancient structure.

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Mind's Eye once again barely avoided a scoff. He'd been in enough ancient ruins and forbidden forests to know to always keep one eye on the floor. He had been a mercenary for twenty years, longer than Hauberk, and not all of it had been savoury. He had moderately looser morals than his stalwart friend, but time spent with the upstanding stallion had uplifted him somewhat. "I thank you for the advice, Captain, but I was fishing for anything a bit more... specific."

Hauberk smiled as he saw Raven having fun. A few last laughs before the coming storm. He pulled out his knife and inspected the blade. Hauberk normally wielded a spear, but once he had heard that he was being assigned to an island, he had quickly traded his spear for this thing from one of the guards. A simple steel machete. With it he could easily cut through the thick vegetation, and if need be, fight off enemies in confined corridors. He sheathed it again and turned towards Sailstorm. "Cap'n! Are we ready to deploy the boats?"

Wind Runner wa shaving a great time speeding around, so much so that she didn't notice Duri splitting off and diving into the the thick foliage. She flew up to the temple when she suddenly heard chanting. A convenient lone cloud hung nearby, so she dashed towards it and concealed herself within. (OOC: Tribal Cultists, or Magic Cultists... you know robes and stuff. Illuminati style.)

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Hauberk clambered onto the boat heavily, causing it to rock to and fro. He took a seat next to one of the rowing positions and flashed Allivia a comforting smile. "Mind's Eye'll get them," he said. "Last chance to back out of this," he said conversationally. Although he prepared to make note of her resolve as he said it. To that effect the leant forwards and whispered, "This isn't your fight, you know. You could easily stay here with the captain." He saw Raven out of the corner of his eyes and nodded curtly before pulling back away again and waiting for a response.

Mind's Eye nodded politely, "Very well then Captain. I'll prepare the boat." With that said he turned and trotted away. He arrived at the rowing boat to see Raven watching Hauberk in what he perceived as a nervous manner. "Worry not, young one. When Hauberk makes a promise, he never breaks it." He said with a light laugh. His tone then darkened a little. "Now what did Celestia tell you about this book. Is it as powerful as the rumours say? Can it really grant the reader unlimited magical potential?"

Wind watched entranced as a small group of robed ponies trotted out whispering dark words that seemed nonsensical, yet extremely familiar, as if just skirting the edges of the pony concious. The words seemed to seek her out in her cloud and wrap around her head, flitting in and out of her ears and repeating themselves. She shook her head to try and clear it, but the whispers became harsher. She was suddenly scared and spun around before shooting out of the cloud and as far away from the odd procession as possible. Not aware that some of the words followed her in her mad dash.

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(OOC: Very good point on the word's thing. That was really silly of me. I was thinking like sonic pulses. Also Celestia of Equestria rhymes. )

Hauberk smiled. It was rare to see such commitment from one so young. Satisfied with her answer he gripped one of the oars and prepared to cast off. "Well then, Raven, stick by us and you'll do just fine." He turned to Mind's Eye just as the unicorn clambered onto the boat as well. He gave a nod which the blue unicorn returned in kind before sitting beside him. "Cap'n is right. If there is anything you want to do, now is the time to do it. Otherwise we'll cast off now."

Mind's Eye eyed up the other two in the boat as he took his seat. Raven was one of those kids he'd have to protect. He hated it when kids were the mission. They almost always got them all into trouble. Allivia had proven herself more than capable, however. He actually looked forward to seeing her spells in play. "Last chance for an inspiring speech, Sergeant," Mind's said mockingly.

Hauberk laughed back. "Were there need," he returned. A shriek then caught his attention.

Wind Runner shot through the sky, her mind still buzzing as if full of bees. A pulse of sonic energy followed her until it caught sight of the boat, then it span around on it's axis, and returned back deep into the island. Wind's heart was pounding too loud for her to notice though, as she shot back to the boat and borderline crash landed onto deck. "Unicorns! Robes! Evil!" she shouted incoherently at the captain.

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(OOC: I suppose that would have been easier. Sorry. I have a habit of under-explaining things.)

Wind Runner was still babbling as she felt herself lift off of the ground unwillingly. A firm punch to the shoulder snapped her out though. "Captain!" she shouted happily as she hugged him. She then quickly realised that she was hugging Sailstorm and leapt backwards. "Sorry," she said with a sheepish grin. She then suddenly looked sad again. "There were these crazy evil robed unicorns up at the temple who saw me even though I hid behind a cloud, and sent these evil spells after me, so I had to fly away really really fast, and it was so terrible! They were all evil! They might be guarding the temple! They looked tough, and they knew I was there!" she shouted quickly at the captain. She then noticed Allivia and repeated the message word for word in the same quick babble.

Hauberk had his hooves back on board as he galloped to his somewhat delirious comrade. "Wind! Are you okay?" He shouted worriedly.

Wind Runner turned to her sergeant with a relieved smile. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking, but I did get super scared and..." Wind started.

Hauberk's smile vanished as his expression suddenly hardened, and he barked, "Status report!"

Winds personality did changed completely as she saluted dutifully and said clearly and succinctly, "Sergeant! I spotted hostiles outside the temple!"

"How many?"

"I only saw four sir, but there may have been more."

"Anything to note?"

"All were unicorns sir, probably powerful spellcasters."

"Very good, Private. How about the island itself?"

"Thick jungle, sir!"

"Anything else?"

"Temple's on a cliff, sir! Possibly a volcano."

"Very good, Private. Job well done. Now get on the boat and await further orders!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Wind saluted dutifully then trotted over to the boat.

Hauberk turned to Alliva. "We'd better head out then, no point loitering. With luck we can be in and out by sunrise tomorrow." He then strode back into the boat.

Mind's Eye nodded as they both sat down, and looked up to the Captain. "Have you got that map?