Th’Adventures o’ Cap’n Dyke Continue…

When we last left Th’ Cap’n…

Tig looked quite confused. “I do not understand why you have done this thing,” She said to Th’ Cap’n, “Why would you kiss me so?”  Owain merely stood and watched.

The lesbian Pirate Queen blushed (aye, uncommon for Her t’be certain-sure…) turned and approached the stranger who had saved them. “I thought I recognized your stance,” She announced as She stepped up. She reached over and plucked the mask from the executioner. “Caroline,” She breathed as the SwordMistress’ face was revealed, “You always stepped back on the left ball of your foot before you struck…”

“Do you think I would not know you?” Caroline smiled. “The eye-patch. The voice. Your beauty. There is no one like you in the world, Alix.”

Chapter 9

“You are the Underground’s Executioner?” Th’ Cap’n queried in a bit of disbelief.

The attractive SwordMistress shrugged. “It was a living.  I had the choice of being a prostitute or the chance to administer justice in the Underground. Needless to say, I chose the latter. At least I had a say where the fairness of it was concerned. Neb tends to be a bit short on the wise side.”

Tig looked at the lesbian Pirate Queen. “What means this…this kiss you gave me?”

Cap’n Dyke smiled, if somewhat slightly. “You stole the first kiss in Nihon, Biao Khan.”

Tig smiled inscrutably, “Then we play a game…”

“Of a sort,” Th’ Cap’n answered.

A tilt of her head and the Chinese Pirate asked, “And the loser?”

“There doesn’t have to be a loser in this game. That’s the beauty of it,” Alix stated softly.

Caroline shook her head at the pair. “I’m enjoying the hell out of trying to get what the two of you are trying to say to each other without actually coming out and speaking what you feel, but we probably should get out of the city as soon as we can. Neb literally has eyes everywhere.”

“Right then,” the Sapphic Seafarer remarked, clapping Her hands together, “We’ll get spiffied up a bit and get a bit of food…”

“NO,” the SwordMistress stated, after a glance out the room’s small window, “We have to leave now. Think ‘mob’ and French Revolution and you’ll have a bit of an idea of what Neb can send after us. Get the blood off you and we go.”

Tigger stiffened and she stepped towards the woman. “You will not speak thusly to the Captain.”

Alix tugged Tig back and steered her towards the wash basin and the pitcher beside it on a table nearby. “Easy then, My Tiglet,” She smiled as she poured the brackish water in the bowl, “I wouldn’t be alive right now twice, if it wasn’t for Caroline. We’ll put some slack in the rigging, eh?”

As Caroline watched the two women wash, she queried, “How did you come to be in Ned’s hands?”

Th’ Cap’n dried Her face and hands then tossed the cloth to Tig and answered, “We came looking for you and, lo, there you are ready to cut our heads off. Magnificent timing, I would say, what?”

“Your Aunt Jane…”

“Is dead. Yes. I came to fetch you back to Orford to watch over Lady Eliza. Barnabas told me that Richard ousted you as quickly as he did Eliza.”

“That blaggart!” Caroline exclaimed, “it took all that I had in me not to kill him!”

Cap’n Dyke finished tying a strip of cloth about one of the wounds on the Asian Pirate’s forearm and looked up at the SwordMistress. “He’s dead.”

“You killed him?”

“No, I didn’t, but he’s dead nonetheless. I set Barnabas to gathering information while I rode out to find you. We had to cut down some of Neb’s men who were robbing a group of traveler’s and then they nabbed us later in the night. The rest, as they say, is a kerfuffle gone horribly wrong.”

Caroline turned after peering out the window once more. “We can’t delay any longer. We must leave. You can tell me the rest on the road.”

The three women left the tavern and made their way down the dark cobblestone side streets, only halting when they came too close to any halfway large crowds of dreadfully dressed people – who were no doubt Neb’s ‘eyes’ or the beginning of the trouble that the SwordMistress was speaking of.

They were near one of the city gates when their path was blocked. In front were the King’s soldiers; behind them a gathering crowd. The Pirate Queen looked at Caroline, “I guess this would be the mob?”

“One thing I have to say for you, Alix,” the SwordMistress remarked, “You’ve always had the most wonderful sense of discernment.”

“As you’ve always possessed the supreme gift of Dry Sarcasm, Love,” Th’ Cap’n returned, “Your advice then on the situation?”

“We turn ourselves over to the King’s Men.”

“And the alternative?” the Sapphic Seafarer pushed.

“We turn ourselves over to the King’s Men,” Caroline smiled, “Much preferable than being torn limb from limb. Take my word for it.”

On Th’Head

From LiveScience:

Any man who has ever pounded nails for a living has hit his thumb a time or two. One possible reason: he’s just not that good at it. Another factor: He’s probably doing it in broad daylight.

Women are more accurate at pounding nails, a new study finds. At least in the light.

Women hit the nail on the head more often in lighted conditions in a lab, but in the dark, men did better. Scientists aren’t sure why, but they have a provocative idea.

In hammering out the differences between the sexes, the researchers used a mechanical plate that measured force and accuracy. They put small and large targets on the plate, to represent small and large nail heads. Then some test subjects pounded away.

“We filmed how subjects hammered, and how close the subject hammered to the target was an index of accuracy,” explained study leader Duncan Irschick at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

“On average, men were about 25 percent more accurate than women in the dark, women were about 10 percent more accurate then men in the light,” Irschick said.

Irschick told LiveScience that the difference could be that men and women have different hammering strategies: Perhaps men favor force over accuracy, and women the opposite, he said. “However, if this were true, men should always be less accurate than women, which is not what occurs.”

Read on, Me Loves…

Aye, It Appears t’Be ‘Quote Week’ on th’Mound. What Can I Say? It Happens.

‘Your mind creates your reality. If you expect nothing, you open up the universe to give you options. If you expect the worst, you usually get it.’ – James Patterson

Neda Agha Soltan

I warn ye, this video be not pleasant, but it be somethin’ that needs t’be seen an’ remembered – an’ it needs t’be noted that this happens not only in Iran, but in many countries every day.

From NY Times:

‘At the time, not much was known about her—who she was, why she was at the protest, or even if her name was really Neda. But today, the details are emerging. We now know that Neda’s last name was Agha-Soltan, and that she was only 26 years old. She majored in philosophy, but even though women in Iran aren’t allowed to sing in public, she secretly took lessons and wanted to be a pop singer. In fact, she was with her voice coach when she died. The two had gone to the protest, but as it started to turn violent, headed back to their car. When Neda stepped out to get a breath of fresh air (the car had been roasting in the sun all day) she was shot, most likely by a sniper on top of a building.

As if the death itself is not tragic enough, the Iranian military has restricted Neda’s family from holding a memorial service, and ordered them to bury her immediately. Traditionally there is a 7-day mourning period, followed by a large memorial service 40 days later. But Neda will never get that chance—all mosques have been ordered not to hold funerals to any of the people killed in the protests.’

“Violence is not merely killing another. It is violence when we use a sharp word, when we make a gesture to brush away a person, when we obey because there is fear. So violence isn’t merely organized butchery in the name of God, in the name of society or country. Violence is much more subtle, much deeper, and we are inquiring into the very depths of violence.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

Listen

‘You do fit into it. You’re part of everything, and everything is part of you. Everything should flow together. The more you resist, the more pain you’ll feel. The more you go with the flow, the more whole you’ll be.’ - Voice to Maximum Ride

From Me Godling

The difficulty to any endeavor is exponential to the number of people involved.

Just a theory, y’know…but a good one. Piratical Wink.

Awwwwww

Had to. Just had to.

Adore This Song

She Looks t’Be One That Th’ Cap’n Would Have a Bit o’a Stickywicket With

Time…

Of course ye have t’be clickin’ th’puppies t’see what Th’ Cap’n means.

We Don’t Know Much, Do We Then?

The human race will one day split into two separate species, an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, according to a top scientist. 100,000 years into the future, sexual selection could mean that two distinct breeds of human will have developed. The alarming prediction comes from evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry from the London School of Economics, who says that the human race will have reached its physical peak by the year 3000. The report claims that after they reach their peak around the year 3000 humans will begin to regress. These humans will be between 6ft and 7ft tall and they will live up to 120 years.

Click here to read more, Me Sweets.

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” – Mark Twain

Have It, Me Darlings

“With confidence, you have won before you have started.” – Marcus Garvey

Do not let another’s words or demands define you. Be whom you are in every sense. If you are less than that, you have only failed your Self. When you lie to your Self, the only fool in your life is you. Believe that Th’ Cap’n speaks from Profound Experience…

Th’Adventures o’ Cap’n Dyke Continue…

When we last left Th’ Cap’n…

Th’ Cap’n saw a tall figure masked and with axe in hand step out of the shadows. A step up beside Tig and the axe was raised high over her head. The Pirate Queen struggled, trying to rise to Her feet, and was shoved down again. “No!” She cried out to the executioner, “Kill me first!”

The axe wavered…slightly.

Owain’s head tilted a bit then lowered the axe and motioned the men back that held Her. “Koishii…” Tig rasped to her captain. Owain walked around to stand beside the Cap’n, who looked up, glaring. She watched as the executioner took a firm stance. Suddenly Her eyes widened; startled into recognition.

The axe rose in the air and slashed down. Th’ Cap’n was freed as the blade cut through the ropes. The executioner tossed Her the sword. The High Seas Warrior caught it handily. “What then,” She quipped to the masked figure, “a chance? A fight to the death?”

“No,” a raspy voice came from behind the mask, “a fight to the life, Alix. Free your friend.”

Cap’n Dyke cut Tig free as Owain swung the weapon wide to chase back the men that jumped forward as soon as they realized what was happening – then hades broke loose (aye, ye know th’drill…). Axe, sword, fists and feet flew, fought, beat back. A dozen dead in a dread moment; a score more wounded or insensible. The Sapphic Seafarer dropped the man who had stolen the Honjo Masamune from Her as She had promised and threw the executioner’s blade towards Tig, who snatched it out of the air and spun a second later to cut down two men nearby. The trio cut a path through the underworld denizens, burst out the door to the London streets and ran like demons were after them. Darkness all around them, unknown streets to Tig and Cap’n Dyke; the executioner leading the way.

They made London Bridge, chased by Neb’s mob. Th’ Cap’n looked at the other two. “One way out. I hope you both can swim.”  She leaped from the bridge into the waters below. Two splashes followed Her own. She made Her way to shore; searched the shore for Tig and the other. Soon, all three were joined up and they trusted the executioner enough to take the lead. Owain led the way to an inn, paid the innkeeper and then the trio were alone.

Th’ Cap’n stood dripping in the chamber. She threw a quick glance at the executioner then grabbed the Chinese Pirate in Her arms and kissed her soundly. “I was afraid they would kill you afore I could get to you.”

Tig looked quite confused. “I do not understand why you have done this thing,” She said to Th’ Cap’n, “Why would you kiss me so?”  Owain merely stood and watched. The lesbian Pirate Queen blushed (aye, uncommon for Her t’be certain-sure…) turned and approached the stranger who had saved them. “I thought I recognized your stance,” She announced as She stepped up. She reached over and plucked the mask from the executioner. “Caroline,” She breathed as the SwordMistress’ face was revealed, “You always stepped back on the left ball of your foot before you struck…”

“Do you think I would not know you?” Caroline smiled. “The eye-patch. The voice. Your beauty. There is no one like you in the world, love.”

Well, We ALL Know It’s Truth

Plundered This

Well, that’s what a Pirate Queen does for a livin’, savvy?

Aye, ye be supposed t’click on th’pic t’get there…