[The Grim] Havoc Unleashed! (open to the crew~!)

[Australia]

Sometimes, James hated being a pirate, and not for what some people would have thought. He loved the traveling, the adventures, the treasure hunting, and his crew. The one thing he hated though was the time it took for those adventures to happen, the days where all they would see was the ocean. The Australian always became restless. He would always be shifting, pacing the deck, walking along the railing of the ship (and falling off a few times), or climbing the masts. But he never could keep himself entertained for long.

There was an upside though. It wasn’t like James was alone. Grinning he snuck into the kitchen, slipping food into his back before leaving it, tossing an apple up into the air and catching it. It wasn’t a well kept secret amongst the Grim that James had an affinity and love for any animal. What was a well kept secret though was that the Australian had broken the rule of no pets allowed on the ship (except for the Captain). It was a secret James guarded, because he knew how much trouble he would be in if Arthur ever found out.

Really though… He couldn’t resist keeping the ‘pets’. They had become family to him just like the rest of the crew. And it wasn’t like he let them run free. He was very careful.

… At least… He thought he had been. Through the course of their adventures James had acquired quite a few pets. Two tiger snakes (Bertha and Jeremy), a copperhead (Annabell), a numerous amount of geckos, one kowari (Fluffy), a tarantula (Judy) and a Koala (Bruce). But he had always been careful. Each one of them had a tank, except Bruce; because James couldn’t bear to cage the koala up.

But apparently, those tanks weren’t enough. James felt his blood run cold as he saw his bedroom door cracked open, and upon opening it further he felt his stomach drop. The tanks were all shattered, and some of the geckos were crawling all around his floor. But that wasn’t the most alarming thing.

The snakes were missing, so was Judy and Fluffy. His eyes darted across the room and yes, so Bruce was MIA too. A curse escaped him, and James was quick to toss the food inside and onto his bed, before shutting the door, keeping the other geckos inside. Then he was racing down the halls of the ship, trying to spot any of the animals before they were found.

He was seriously screwed.

[Principality Of Wy]

Sydney was in quite a pickle.

She stared at the paint stain on her floor. A beautiful aqua blue that she was using for her latest painting [the morning sky and the ocean at dawn, along with a tiny rendition of the Grim in the water] was scrawled across a good portion of her room, covering the nice, priceless wood the ship was made out of. Normally, she wouldn't worry about it, if it was her ship. But it was Arthur's ship, and one of her crew members had told her he was very protective of it; any sort of damage to it would make him quote: "Flip all of the British shit he has." And he was very British.

Although Arthur looked like a complete pansy to Sydney, she realized one did not become a captain of a pirate ship without busting a few heads in their day. And Arthur could not be an exception to this.

Sydney had tried to mop it up before it was too late, but the paint was too potent to rid the floor of all the colour. It certainly wasn't as bright as it was when she first spilled it, but the aqua had leaked into the crevices and it was no longer possible to get rid of it without some heavy-duty equipment. Unfortunately that sort of equipment drew a lot of attention.

Dammit, I'm screwed.

If Arthur was as much as a hard-ass as Sydney believed [the man who told her about him was joking for the most part], she was sure he'd kick her off the Grim. Which, quite frankly, would break her heart. She, although she wouldn't admit it, loved the Grim. She loved living on it, she liked the crew for the most part, and it granted her freedom she never had before.

She was determined to not lose her home again.

She quickly ran into her bathroom, looking desperately for anything that could remove the stain. She didn't notice the slithering at first; her mind was simply on other things. One of the escaped snakes, Jeremy she would soon find out, had wrapped himself around her shower, and watched her in what one would assume snake-like amusement. He flicked his tongue out at her, who finally noticed there was another presence in the room.

She turned slowly, oh god is it Arthur waiting for me oh god, and saw the long scaly beast move its head closer towards her.

"WAUGH!" she screamed, jolting backwards. She quickly scrambled up, and bee-lined it to the one person who would know what to do. And quite possibly the person to blame for this.

She threw his door open angrily. "What the heck did ya do now?! There's a snake in my bathroom!"

[Australia]

The scream was what made James stop dead. His stomach lurched. That was Sydney, there was no mistaking it. The worst case scenario played in his mind. What if one of the snakes had found her and, out of fear because they were really harmless, bit her? James took a shaky breath, before turning on his heels and barreling down the hall towards her room.

And just about plowed into the girl when she opened a door. He stumbled back, relief flooding through him when he saw that she was indeed alright. Before only registering what she said.

The relief was quickly replaced by a bewilderment as he held up his hands in defense. ”How d’you reckon it’s my fault!?”

He’d ignore the voice in his head reminding him he’d be the only one on the Grim that would have a snake.

(Baaah sorry it’s short ;[/color]

[Principality Of Wy]

She put her hands on her hips. "Who else is dumb enough to keep a buncha animals on a ship!?" It was true. James was the only one with this secret. But usually he kept them all safe, so it was strange that he messed up. "Do ya have a bug up your butt or somethin'? How'd you mess this up?" Delicately put as always.

She pouted at him. Really, he must have been in a complete panic. She knew he loved all his animals very much, and she did too. They were cool! Bruce especially, she already considered him a good friend. A fuzzy one, but a good friend nonetheless. "Hmpf. You're such a dumb face." She grinned egotistically. "Ah well! Good thing ya got me to help ya out! You'd be screwed!" She laughed at him. But it was true that she'd help him no matter what.

"I already found Jeremy. S' in my bathroom." She frowned. "Bugger almost gave me a kiss." Hopefully James will be too distracted to notice the paint stain on her floor. "So, is it just him that's gone?" She hoped it was just him. If there were more...that would be catastrophic.

[Australia]

James opened his mouth to argue that there could, in theory, be someone else on the ship with animals. That and he wasn’t dumb. However he sighed, hanging his head. No there really wasn’t anyone stupid enough to do this. There really wasn’t. Only James would and the moment the Captain found out he’d be kicked off the Grim for sure. A thought that was terrifying for the Australian. He really didn’t fancy losing the only home he’d come to know.

Shrugging at her delicately put question James tried to keep smiling, trying to play it off that he wasn’t in an absolute panic. Sydney would probably tease him about it forever. ”I screwed up.” Was all he could say. Because really he still wasn’t exactly sure how they’d gotten lose. He really wasn’t.

When she said that she would help him James had to resist the urge to pull her into a bear hug (he didn’t feel like getting kicked in the face). The fact that she’d already found Jeremy was an added relief. However her last question made him shift uneasily, scratching his cheek. ”Ah… No they all kind of… Got loose…”

How he still had no idea; but he would figure it out when he found them all. [/color]

[Principality Of Wy]

".....are ya serious?" Sydney frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Ya really did mess up." Ignoring the fact she did something similar with the paint thing, she shook her head disapprovingly. "Well, might as well start with Jeremy."

They arrived at her room, and she suddenly realized he would probably see the paint stain on her floor. Hopefully the situation was bad enough for him to over look it. And hopefully her help would encourage him to not tell Arthur.

She opened the door quickly, marching into her quarters without looking at the stain. "Hurry up, quit dawdlin'. He's n'here." Her heart sank slightly as she opened the door to the bathroom, as Jeremy was not in the same spot as when she left. She peered around, and sighed in relief when she spotted Jeremy wrapped around the shower head. "Glad yer havin' fun," she told the large snake, annoyed. Sydney certainly preferred Bruce over all his animals, not that she disliked the snakes or anything, but they were difficult to handle. Better leave it to the expert who somehow let them loose by accident.

....god help us all.

[Australia]

He ducked his head at her frown. Messing up was an understatement. With a deep breath though he looked back up, following after her and trying to keep the panic off his face. He put his hands behind his head, following her into her room to collect at least Jeremy.

Raising an eyebrow at how quickly she hurried through her room, before taking in the mess on the floor. A low whistle escaped him as he glanced at the paint to Sydney. He wanted nothing more then to counter her comments on his mess up with his own but... Well knowing her she was probably about as panicked about the paint stains as he was about the animals.

Grinning he walked over to her bathroom door, ruffling her hair. "Maybe we'll get lucky 'nd the Captain will find out about my mess before yours. He'll be so pissed at me he won't even notice some paint." Though admittedly he'd preferred not to get the Captain angry. Nodding his head to the stain. "After we find 'em all I'll help you clean up."

Entering the bathroom he glanced around trying to spot the snake. Her comment drew his attention to the shower head where the snake was perched looking absolutely content. James rolled his eyes as he approach though he kept his steps slow. While he trusted each of his pets, he also knew how bad it would be if he startled Jeremy. James really didn't want to get bitten. Keeping his eyes locked on the snake, and keeping a lazy smile on his face he called back to Sydney. "You wanna do me a favor and get a box, or bag, or something that I can put 'im in?"

This was going to be a long day.

[Principality Of Wy]

She blushed when he patted her head and comforted her, annoyed that he found it right away, but grateful at his offer. She mumbled a 'thanks' quietly, and stepped back to let him do his thing. She had watched him handle his animals many times before, so it was still hard to believe that he messed up this much. It didn't seem like him to carelessly overlook something that resulted in the animals escaping, she always assumed he was smarter than that. Something smelled fishy to her; did the animals just escape on their own accord, or did someone help them escape? She knew it wasn't James or her, and the captain was pretty much out. Then again, no one on this ship seemed to have it out for James....she didn't even know if any of them knew he kept these pets.

Still deep in thought, she blinked and jolted slightly when he asked her something. Oh, a bag or box? "Yeah...sure. Just a sec." She walked briskly out of the bathroom and rummaged through her closet. She surely had...something....aha! She dragged out a large enough box to contain the snake, even if for a little bit. She had the habit of collecting found objects and painting landscapes on them. This particular box had a brightly colored jungle covering all of its old and beaten wood. It was all she had, so she brought it to James. "Here....s'all I got. Kinda fitting though." Putting an exotic snake in a jungle was quite fitting!

[Australia]

While Sydney went to retrieve the box James made sure to keep his eyes locked with Jeremy. All things considering the snake didn’t look to bothered. In fact it looked quite content to be wrapped around her shower head, fork tongue flicking out every so often. Which meant he was not going to be pleased when James shoved him into the box. That was for certain.

He glance briefly at the decorated box, snorting slightly as he took it from her. ”You can’t have anythin’ just plain can you? Always gotta paint it.” He grinned at her, before taking the lid off and taking a step towards the showerhead. That seemed to clue Jeremy into what was happened, James taking careful note of the way its body curved into an ‘S’, prepared to strike. Raising his free hand he continued to smile, talking in the most soothing voice he could manage at the moment. ”Now, now don’t get all stressed mate, just gonna put you in here for a couple minutes and- Ack!”

He reacted just in time to avoid being bitten – a chuckle escaping him. ”Hey, that wasn’t very nice!” He tried again, and this time was quick enough to grab the snake and made quick work of placing him in the painted box and closing the lid (leaving a little crack open so it could breath). ”Phew! One down!”

With Jeremy successfully caught (though James wasn’t sure where he could actually put the mischievous little snake) he turned to look at Sydney. ”Wanna give me a hand trackin’ the rest of ‘em down?”[/color]

[Principality Of Wy]

"Course not." Sydney replied curtly, with a small snort. "Everythin' needs my paint. S' borin' without it." She didn't see the reason why a box shouldn't have a forest painted on it. If she had her way, her entire room would be a combination of sky, ocean, animals, and some other scenery, but she was positive the Captain wouldn't appreciate his ship being painted.

She watched James approach the giant snake with held breath; she figured Jeremy would put up a fuss about being moved. She was fine around most of his animals, but Jeremy was awfully big and powerful. He wasn't cuddly like Bruce. She gripped her arm when he curled his body, flicking his tongue out threateningly. Sometimes she forgot how terrifying these animals really could be, but she trusted James. Begrudgingly.

She jumped back when Jeremy lunged at James, even though Jeremy was no where near her. Geez, he had a big mouth on him...

She watched carefully as James placed the huge snake inside the box, keeping it slightly open for air. The big dummy had a huge smile on his face, a success in capturing the snake made him beam like the sun. She rolled her eyes. "Well, I SUPPOSE I could help ya. Useless without me, aren'tcha?"

[Australia]

”Yup, completely useless,” he continued grinning, laughing at her remark. Shifting the box beneath his arm he shot Jeremy a sharp, irritated look when the snake peeked out from the crack he’d left for air. No doubt planning another escape. James was going to have to have serious words with the animals once he found them all. The irritation vanished in a blink however, the grin returning full force as he looked at Sydney, the panic he’d had moments prior fading just slightly. ”What can I say, looks like you have better luck with findin’ these guys. And two heads are better than one right?”

He passed by her as he exited the bathroom, pausing briefly to ruffle her hair because he knew that annoyed her – and he really couldn’t help it.

Alright he would need to drop Jeremy off in his room first then continue his hunt. Patting the box he glanced over his shoulder. ”Think we can use some of your boxes to collect ‘em all?”

He would seriously have to repay Sydney for all her help on this. Maybe next time they docked he’d take her out for ice cream. [/color]