Rescue Attempt (Bell)

[Joan Fletcher Baxter]

A hammock was a blessing that was highly underrated. He lay cradled in the rope contraption, swinging gently with the tropical breeze that flowed through his little slice of heaven. The dark haired man was simply relaxing, he had a rather large outing tonight and he wanted to be sure that he was in prime condition for it. That meant lots of rest before embarking on the quest. He'd carved out a nice little space for himself on the island, and it was respected by the amazonians and the pirates. He'd worked hard to gain their respect and through his travels and helpfulness had managed to keep him mostly on their good side.

Joan had heard of a teenager dropped in with the pirates. He had informants in the camps of the others, paying with whatever currency they would accept. If he was going to "rescue" someone, he would generally go through proper channels, but Bull was a bit hardheaded and Joan knew that getting this teenager out might be a bit of a challenge. There was no telling how long he'd a captive, or what Bull had offered to entice him to accept the life of a rather debauched pirate. He recalled when he'd been dropped in with them, and the life had seemed so awesome, pillaging, looting, womanizing. But it had gotten old, and Joan knew that the boy might be excited at first, but it would lose its excitement soon enough.

He rolled from the hammock and began moving. He made his way through the jungle, skirting the edges of the women's encampment, and reaching the pirates beach after a few hours of tramping through the rather wild greenery. He met with his contact and they told him that the boy, Bell, had accepted the life of a pirate and was currently somewhere on the beach, proving himself. A small laugh followed that bit of knowledge, as proving oneself generally meant that you got all the crap jobs.

A bit more sneaking, and he saw the boy, and he took a deep breath before strolling onto the beach. "Hello boy."

[Jacob 'Bell' Kent]

Pft... proving himself was a piece of cake. Right now he was laying on his back staring at the stars a big heap of fish in a net laid beside him. Charlise had been give her meal for the night and he was nicely fed himself. He'd waited till the guy who had been guarding him had fallen off to sleep of course he rushed to go and give Charlise her food then rushed back to finish his work quickly and now, using his hands folded under his head as a pillow to keep his head above the sand. The stars were out, the ocean was singing softly to Bell and he was yawning, content about his hard work.

Bell smiled up at the stars remembering fondly how Jay and he used to count them playing lazy connect the dots games with their fingers and arguing about who's picture was the most rediculous. Bell yerked when he heard the nearby voice and one minute he was still lain out across the sand. The next he was standing behind the stanger, his eyes wide with wonder. He'd actually planned to put the guy down with a heavy punch but when he saw the wings on the guy he couldn't help but stop and stare.

"Whoa! Dude! You have wings!"
Bell's big blue eyes lit up like diamonds as he stared at Joan and hope sprang to life in his eyes.
"Please tell me you're from Pilot Ridge?! Please! "
Then the title he'd been give sank in and Bell finally frowned.
"I'm not a boy! Take that back or I'll slit yer throat, I will!"
Yeah, is Pirate accent needed some work but he was working on it!

[Joan Fletcher Baxter]

"Pipe down, pipsqueak!" The last thing Joan needed was for the boy's shrill exclamation over his wings to wake the camp. This was why he generally hid his wings, but this Bell moved faster than he had anticipated, and he didn't have time to hide them. Still, he would deal with what was given to him and attempt to help this poor traveller if he was able.

"I don't know what Pilot Ridge is, and of course I have wings, I'm Fae. I'm here to take you away from here if you want, but we need to move now and we need to move quietly." Joan knew that the pirates set up a secondary guard sometimes, and that was what he was most worried about. A rear guard could scupper his plans to escape through the forest, and that was the last thing he wanted right now.

He waited for the boy to decide his fate and scanned the beach with deep, worried eyes. He could see a few figures stirring in the distance and he didn't want to give them a chance to get close enough to them to realize that he was not a pirate like them. That would end up being very, very bad. While the Pirate Captain was generally tolerant of Joan, if he learned about how his captives were escaping, Joan would be willing to bet that the tolerance would end lickety-split.

"Decision time...stay or go."

[Jacob 'Bell' Kent]

Bell blinked at the request and frowned at being called pipsqueak. His eyes flicked to the figures in the distance before sliding across to the far end of the beach where he knew Charlise's cave was. He wouldn't leave without her. No chance in hell would he do such a thing so Bell turned his attention back to Joan and quirked a brow at him.
"Can I bring a friend? I'm not leaving without her."
He really didn't care about Ace or anyone else.

All his priorities lay with Charlise and making sure she was safe and comfortable and happy. Maybe this Fae person would look after her when he couldn't or had better accomodation then that wet cave she had to make do with.
"She's just on the other side of the dunes. Please can we go get her? "
Bell implored Joan. He'd hoped that he'd discovered a Hammelite but figures that his luck would be totally off when it came to this sort of thing.

[Joan Fletcher Baxter]

Joan sighed. Of course the child wanted to bring his little friend. This was going to be a disaster if he couldn't get them moving and on their way. "If your friend has to come, then we have to go and get there through the woods. We can't risk staying on the beach." Joan grabbed Bell's arm and forced the boy towards the woods. Once they reached the safety of the woods, Joan could attempt to talk the boy out of going back for his friend. Trying to save more than one person was foolhardy and Joan didn't want to scupper his chances of getting Bell out.

When they hit the edge of the woods, Joan relaxed a bit. He grabbed Bell and moved into the trees, his wings providing the needed thrust. "Look, kid, if we go back for your friend, we are more likely to get caught. Your disappearance is going to make them more vigilant, and they are more likely to catch you and I. It's going to be very difficult, if not impossible to get her out."

Joan knew that if they waited a few days, they would have a better chance at getting Bell's friend out. Right now was not the time to do it though, and he just had to convince the younger man to go along with the original plan. Get in, get out, that was the way this worked, and this obnoxious child was screwing it all up.

[Jacob 'Bell' Kent]

Bell gave a deep frown when Joan said to go into the woods. Most of the pirates had told him not to go into the woods ever and now this guy was telling him to do just that. Bell glanced over back at the dark town but before he could object he was grabbed and forced to the jungle. He struggled a bit in his objection. These islanders were all just weird.
"Hey! Stop shoving me around! I can walk well enough!"
Bell grumbled darkly but made sure to keep his voice from echoing too far into the distance.

"She needs saving more then I do you know? I have a power and I could have gotten away any time I wanted. I just like the idea of being a pirate so I want you to save her first. "
Bell said with a slight air of determination.
"I can go and get her. She's just off to the east there... I won't be five minutes and you'll only slow me down. "
Bell's rambling was cut off when they were suddenly lifted off the ground.

He gave a yelp and clung to the winged male eyes wide when he found himself in a tree.
"Oh my God! Don't you ever randomly do that again!"
Bell growled in anger at the winged man as he started to talk but Bell listened. Bell frowned deeply when he heard what Joan suggested.
"I don't WANT to be saved! I don't mind living with them. Don't you get it? I'm a guy. She's a girl. They are sex hungry men. Do you know what they would do to her if they found her where I hid her? "

Bell's face turned swiftly into a pout.
"I get it. I understand why you picked me. I look like a thirteen year old kid. I get it but you don't get how self sufficient I can be. I... also didn't know there were people in the forest."
He looked off into the darkness listening to the living breathing forest with its night time creatures and dangers all around.

[Joan Fletcher Baxter]

This boy was turning into more trouble than he was worth. Most of the travelers he'd rescued had been more than happy to come with him. They had just wanted to get away and this Bell was simply arguing with him every step of the way. On top of that, he was going to risk them both to save some girl that the pirates hadn't even found. And Bell hit a nerve by saying that Joan would slow him down.

"You've been slowing me down since I arrived. If you don't want to be rescued, then go back! Excuse me for trying to help you!" Joan's voice was a hiss, but the anger still came through clearly. Just because the ungrateful child wanted to be a pirate, he was in danger of being exposed.

"I'll go find your girlfriend and make sure she's safe. Hopefully she won't give me as much trouble as you have." Joan set them on the ground and gave Bell a little shove. "Don't mention that you ever saw me. I don't need the pirates coming after me." Joan was frustrated at the trouble that Bell had caused. He couldn't believe the child was so ungrateful. He stalked off into the woods, ignoring the boy, and began to make his way east. Despite the trouble, he would try to help the poor girl, no one should have to live in a cave.