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The Blacke Letter; Part 4 |
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The trouble now was actually getting to home. Meek dawn light filtered through the dusty clouds of ash and smog and I was tired. I was tempted to bed down in an empty alley for the morning, but today being the triect (third) day of the week meant that I had school.
I did not have my books with me, but I needn’t worry about having not done my homework again. I didn’t have any homework so even without the school books, I could still head right for Old Jerek’s dock. I did not know exactly what time it was, but I did know that I was probably a little early. That only left me a few minutes to get to the transport skiff from the opposite side of the main port.
I put sleep out of my mind and ran as fast as I could on all fours down the streets and toward the other end of the main port.
On my way past the clock store, I saw that I had mere minutes left with a mile to go. I could sprint a mile in just under seven minutes and this would be good practice for the physical training part of the outside course.
With a bit more confidence, I put on more speed, staying close to the center of the street where not many people were. Finally, Old Jerek’s dock came into view and I poured forth my last energy and collapsed, breathless, before the little skiff on the dock.
The old Sirin looked surprised at me as I heaved and panted hard, laying on the deck. “Steady on there, young Chase! I was just about ter leave, but I kin wait a minute or two for yew to catch yer breath. Don’t worry. Lass, today ye won’t be late.” he patted my head good humouredly and I got up, still breathing hard, and dropped down into the boat with him. He started the engines and headed for Proxima Four.
The school day was an uneventful besides Miss Emily’s surprise at my being early.
As I related the short, boring tale of what my day had consisted of to Old Jerek on our way back to the Port, he asked me what day my class would start on actual sailing lessons.
I told him that everybody knew how to sail already, but since this was a class for Captains, we would be learning how to sail with a full-fledged crew. How to order, how to keep the crew in line and also how to avoid mutiny and keep one eye on what everyone’s doing at all times. We already knew the whereabouts of any other ports we might be carrying cargo to if we got ourselves a Captain’s job nearby, we knew how to map, and also every nautical term in the book. The Captain’s main role as the captain is ordering the crew to do the right things in order to keep the ship and cargo safe. Getting the cargo to it’s destination safely was the Captain’s top priority and being able to work and cooperate with his or her crew was the way to do it.
I told Jerek that next day we would be starting those outdoors classes. Every day, a different student from the class would be chosen to be the captain for the day and the rest of the students would have to be the crewmembers. Miss Emily would give everyone a role to play; the trouble maker, the galley cook, the lookout, the cabin boy or girl, the first mate and a few others like navigator, advisor and someone in charge of mapping. It would be a lot like a role playing game.
Miss Emily would tell how each of the “crew members” would act, would tell them certain things to do that would make the “captain” have to decide on one thing or another and what to do, and she would judge the students on participation for the day, and the “captain” on his or her decisions and leadership skills.
All of the students had also been given a book to study on how to be a good captain and the first twenty pages were to have been read by the next morning.
I leafed through it quickly on the way back to Port but did not actually do any reading. I was fairly certain that I knew what I was doing.
Tyrsse was already there when I arrived home, and she greeted me with the same old question. “How did today go, Chase?”
I walked past her and nodded as if not having heard her. Tyrsse looked oddly at my retreating form, then shook her head sadly, whispering “Damn bat.”
I went straight for my bed, knowing that sleep was needed before tonight if I was going to meet Shinara for my important mission tonight. Only now did I let my thoughts drift, wondering what ahead for me may lay.
I met Shinara that night at the specified time. For once I was not left waiting for her arrival; she was already there…how important was this next mission?
Halftail and Inari knew how important their mission was and made every effort to stay quiet as they searched along the alley ways.
“What’re we gonna do Inari?!” Halftail wailed. “It’s after sunset and we haven’t spotted hide nor hair of that kit! Captain’ll skin us alive!”
Inari dealt the unfortunate Crea a stunning blow between the ears. “Quit your yellin‘, you great lump! I know what I’m doing! If we bring the kit back then it won’t matter, so shut up!”
Halftail crept along behind the six-tailed fox, silenced only by worriment rather than orders. The disheartened Crea looked around nervously, shaking slightly and jumping at every unexpected noise that Inari made and generally making Inari more and more angry at having to be paired with the cowardly weasel.
Just as they approached one dark alley, Inari halted Halftail in his tracks and motioned him to be silent. They stood rigid up against the fronts of the shops on either side of the alley, listening to the last of the conversation Shinara and I were having.
“I don’t care when you bring it, just bring it before sunset two days from now!” Shinara hissed ill-temperedly. “Now remember! Just one and no more! And don’t forget the victim’s name!” there was a muffled sound of consent from another creature in the alley and Inari knew that his suspicions had been correct.
“Good.” the bat finished. “Now get going!”
There was the hurried sound of scuffling and scrambling and then a small white blur shot out of the alley entranceway, past the two hapless crewmen and down the street. With a shout that alerted Shinara, they raced after me, firing off random lasers to perhaps scare me into stopping.
I dodged and weaved aimlessly, confusing my pursuers immensely. Finally, as I was beginning to tire, two shots struck me simultaneously: one in the right forepaw and another in my side. I fell without a sound.
Not only did both the two guards and Shinara witness my fall, but one more did as well.
Tyrsse leapt forward from the shadows and in front of the two crewmembers. She had only been on the main port at that time of night to see that I got myself into no trouble. Well, now I was in trouble and the blacke Ibaras was going to see to it that I got out of it safely. Or at least try.
With a maddened roar of rage, the blacke thunderbolt hit both Crea and fox hard, fighting madly in the light of battle spirit no longer the smart and caring Ibaras. A primitive beast surfaced to let loose that primordial instinct, but although she fought savagely and bravely, she was no match for two armed crewmen.
Only once, did I open my eyes to see from where I lay on the cold stone ground the slain form of a blacke lioness.
Halftail knocked on the door to his Captain’s cabin on the KC Leviathan, not bothering to control the trembling in his paws. It had suddenly began to snow hard, but Halftail trembled out of nervousness as Streek Vervain opened the door of the cabin.
She peered out at him through the crack, not daring to open wide the door and let the gusts of cold snow and wind blow inside. “Well?! What do you want?!” she spat at Halftail and the hapless Crea cringed at the sharp words.
“Um…uh…” he started. “W-we need yer to um…come down to the docks n-near the sails shop, Cap’n.”
She glared at him. “What for?”
Halftail had prepared himself for this question. “To, ah, er, well, to identify if the kit we got was the right one, Miss.”
Finally, she threw the door wide and asked “Why didn’t you just bring her here rather than having me freeze out there?!”
“Um, er…ahem. She’s been injured.”
Captain Vervain looked at him strangely then stepped out, locked the door and followed him off the ship and onto the deserted docks. As they walked, she asked Halftail “Who injured her?”
Halftail saw his chance for appraisal and said “Sorry, Miss. ‘Twas us. She was runnin’ and fast too. So Inari shot ‘er blinkin’ paw off!”
“Hmm. Good then. She’ll not be stealing again for awhile then.”
Halftail’s attempt at making Inari look bad had failed, so he had to add. “Er, I shot ‘er too, Cap’n. Got her good! Right in the back a the thigh! Went down like a rock, so she did!”
Again the attempt failed. “You idiot! That’s why she’s not able to walk here! Shot her in the back of the thigh indeed!” she huffed as Halftail slunk low and behind his Captain.
Streek Vervain was not in the happiest of moods upon arriving on the scene, so Inari had to make himself look as if he had been guarding me rather than pacing aimlessly. He didn’t think guarding me was very important…I was, after all, unconscious.
He stood to attention as his Captain approached and made no sound as she looked over the situation.
A white, young Markien lay in the snow, both white fur and snow alike stained a vibrant red, and off to the right, lay the slain carcass of a large blacke Ibaras.
“What happened here?” she asked both of the crewmen. “I want the truth!”
So the truth was indeed given to her, even though a few heroic highlights and an extra chase or two were thrown in as, of course, they tried to look their best in their Captain’s eyes. There was an apprehensive silence before Streek Vervain spoke. “Aright. You did well. But I fail to understand why it is that neither of you have any damn sense! You kill an Ibaras and nearly kill the kit, then you stand here right in the middle of the port! Were you trying to be caught by security, Inari?!”
“No, Miss. It’s just, that I…I-”
“Didn’t think! Neither of you! Now, before I get angry, get rid of that body and get back to the KC as quick as ye like!”
She approached my still form and Halftail ventured a hesitant question. “Um, where do we put the body?”
She scoffed at him. “Anywhere, dolt! Dump it off the dock or stow it somewhere it won’t be found!”
“Aye-aye!” they both saluted as Vervain took the unconscious Markien from the snow by the scruff and walked away.
Captain Vervain shook me once, hoping to wake me, but I remained still. She sighed angrily and hoped that I wasn’t dead from cold or blood loss.
She soon knew that I was alive and breathing as misty clouds of warmth billowed from my mouth from the cold.
Vervain wasn’t too happy about her crew members’ work, but she must admit that they did get the job done. She knew very well that any other of her motley little crew wouldn’t have even gotten half of it finished.
While walking, she used her keen eyesight to see through the dark and examine both wounds I had received. My right forepaw wasn’t too badly damaged; only grazed, although deeply, the top of the paw, but the other injury was what concerned her. Just below the right flank the laser blast had struck and now bled freely while the other wound had nearly stopped bleeding.
She was slightly surprised that I was still living through these conditions; I was wounded in two places and I was still young and vulnerable; by the look of it, I hadn’t even grown into my fur yet. It wasn’t exactly fur, not like what covered the rest of me, but human hair really. Most species, no matter what they were, would grow human hair, just like their ancestors. All of the new anthropomorphic species that had been created had a human trait, like standing upright to walk, talking, thumbs, and hair. But most of the members of any species’ age could be identified by how much hair they had grown. Of course it was traditional for the boys to cut theirs short and sometimes the girls, but almost all had hair. I hadn’t even grown mine yet, proving how young I really was.
Vervain made it back to her ship quickly, eager to be out of the snow, and took me right to the cabin.
When I awoke, my wounds were bandaged and although two legs were stiff, I was feeling quite alright. Until I remembered what had happened the previous night. I grieved for my friend Tyrsse quietly, as no one was in the room, and soon tried to figure a way to get off this ship unnoticed and quickly: I had a mission to complete for Shinara.
I looked around the room but did not recognize where I was. I didn’t care though. I would be leaving as soon as possible to get what Shinara needed.
This time, the item she needed was not something all that precious and she didn’t even need it for the market. She needed one silver coin. I remembered everything that she had told me that night perfectly:
“Okay,” she had started without even asking if I had been followed. “all I need from you this time is a single silver coin.” I had been overjoyed at this. I knew how easy that would be. Of course, there was a catch though. “But, I want to see you do it. I need to know that you get it from the right person. There’s a certain someone that I have a bone to pick with, and I’d like to remind her how much time is left that she’s got for either an apology or some sort of precious item. She carries a pouch of silver with her, there should only be three left. I need you to get one. Just one. She hasn’t heard from me in exactly a year, and normally I’d do it myself, but I’ve got other things to attend. You can be seen if you like, but get just one coin. That’ll leave two left. She has two years left to decide her fate.” I nodded, but dared not ask why she held a grudge against someone.
“Can you do this Chase? I need the coin.” I nodded again. “Good. Now, you need to get it from a certain captain…” I remembered being a bit apprehensive at hearing this bit of information. “Her name is Streek Vervain. Got that?”
I nodded one last time and started to walk away. Then I turned to ask Shinara “When do you want it?”
She had suddenly lost her good mood and hissed at me “I don’t care when you bring it, just bring it before sunset two days from now!” I turned one more time to go and she said “Now remember! Just one and no more! And don’t forget the victim’s name!”
I nodded, saying “Aye!” and then hurried to get out of there quickly. That was when I had been pursued and caught by Inari and Halftail.
I leapt up onto the windowsill decisively. Right. I would need to get one silver coin from this captain. Now, if only I knew where to look…
Leaping from the cabin window this time was not so easy. Just having hopped onto the sill had been a terrible strain on the injured leg. I considered tossing aside the captain’s cutlass that was quite the burden at my waist, and as I checked to see that it might not still be there, was surprised that it had not been taken by my captors. I still did not know who they were, who they worked for, where I was, or how I had ended up here.
Finally, I jumped from the windowsill and down onto the docks below. This time I did not need to struggle to haul myself over the edge. I made it right onto the dock but landed hard with the sword at my waist clanging loudly against the wood. I looked up and back over my shoulder to make certain that my escape had not yet been discovered. With a ragged sigh of pain, I limped away from the KC Leviathan.
After one hour of walking, it became increasingly apparent that I was not going to make it home. Many long rests were needed, and even a nap halfway. I swept back a bit of new annoying strands of hair from my face and sighed again. At least I could make it back to the transfer skiff and meet Old Jerek for school. I was almost there and it was almost dawn. I could make it there easily now, limp or no.
I was disappointed to see the Sirin asleep in his boat. I shook my head but took the chance while he was still sleeping to remove the bandages from both paws. I could hide the limp more easily now that it no longer bled; I did not want Old Jerek to know what I had been doing.
I pounced into the boat as best I could, waking Jerek with a start. “Yah! Wha-?! Who’s there?!” he flailed his arms wildly for a second. “Oh, Chase! Thought I was bein’ robbed fer a second there!”
I did not share his good humor. I scolded him instead for falling asleep again. “Jerek! I thought I told ye not to fall asleep! You could be robbed or killed! You thought so yerself!”
He only shrugged. “Er, I wasn’t sleepin‘…no siree! I was awake da whole time, Chase! Eh, what’re you doing ‘ere so early? ‘Tain’t even hardly light yet.”
“I know. I was just on my way through and thought I’d be early for once cuz I wasn’t gonna make it home.”
“Oh, okie then.” he shrugged again as he started the engine, then commented on my newly stolen treasure. “Tha’s a great purty blade ye got yerself dare, young’n. Did ye buy it yerself?”
I handed it over for him to inspect and tried to think of something quick. I was such a fool! I should have thrown it away!
“Uh, someone gave it to me.”
Jerek, who was inspecting it closely, raised his eyes a bit to look over the edge of it at me. I turned slightly away in obvious nervousness. “Oy, dat ain’t right. Surely no one’d be given sich a fine cutlass to yeh. It’s made mostly a silver and got’s gold in it, makin’ words on the blade and on da hilt too.” he said it all calmly and held up the blade to show me the words engraved in gold upon the gleaming blade.
I tried desperately not to show the sudden wave of nausea that overtook me as I read those words, and had nearly to stand to stop the wave of dread that splashed down my spine. I looked away from what was written there and was finally able to speak. “Ah…uh…okie, ye got me. I found it lyin’ in the snow offa one dock near an empty bar... Was, um, hoping to find it’s owner.”
Jerek stared intently at me, old calculating eyes trying hard to see what lay beneath scarlet pools of worry. Then he handed it back with an awkward, half careless shrug of his shoulders. “Das betteh, lass. That’d explain why yer’s in dis area so’s early.”
I looked at the blade for a second, and as if it may bite, took it tentatively in one paw. With my confidence back at his words, I nodded in agreement. Yes…that was right…wasn’t it?
The remainder of the ride was spent in silence as I mulled over the words on the blade. I would indeed return to the owner, but returning the sword was not my full intention, even though returning it would probably get me what I needed for Shinara.
When we arrived, I turned and handed the cutlass to Jerek. “Can you hang onto this for me, Jerek? I don’t want to walk into school with it.”
He took it. “Okie, but why not, lassie? Ever one else carries a blade in dat academy place. Even some a da professors!”
“I know,” I said, stepping out of the boat and thinking of Professor Emily Sage in particular. “but it’s not mine. I don’t want anyone to think I stole it.” I thanked him for the ride then and ran off, shaking flakes of snow that had remained on my fur from the Port. The dawn sun was already making it very warm on Proxima Four as it bathed tall palm trees and large spacious lawns in a layer of gold.
Jerek watched the white kit limp off, and looked again at the cutlass. It was a very nice weapon and probably extremely expensive. The blade was made of durable silver, and sharpened with a keen edge. The letters had been made by pouring molten gold on or into the silver during it’s creation, writing out the letters as it cooled. It seemed more of a decorative blade than any other, and Jerek was proud that he could trust me to return it.
He lay down on the seat to go back to sleep. Before closing his eyes to sleep in the bright sunlight that warmed his old stiff body, he took one last glance at the old-script writing, mumbling “She’s’right…don’t got ‘er name on it. Wonder who dis Vervain lass is doe…?”
Today, I was second in the classroom, besides Professor Sage. She looked up from a stack of papers that she was readying as I walked passed her, and with an almost invisible smirk of cold satisfaction, ignored me.
The pretty Collie Sirin followed only moments after me and sat in her seat on the other side of Renner’s empty one. I did not respond when she greeted me; I was too lost in thought. She scared me out of my chair and also a few claw marks into the wood of the desk when she sat next to me and tapped me on the shoulder. Moodily, I picked myself back up and crawled onto the chair again, and tried to looked interested as Carrie spoke to me.
“Chase…” she said sternly but with a smile on her face. “what’s wrong?”
My ears fell flat against my head and I averted my gaze, mumbling “Nothing.”
Carrie rolled her eyes and tried to coax me into saying more. “You look like you’ve been crying, so don’t say nothing.”
“Nothing.” I repeated anyway.
“C’mon, Chase,” she started again, more gently. “I’m your friend and you can tell me what’s wrong.”
I looked at her, then rubbed my eyes furiously at the tears that threatened to flow. I looked over her shoulder to see Renner there too. So, I was wrong all along; I did have friends, and Old Jerek had said so…
I sniffed and looked away, mumbling some incoherent jumble of words.
“What?” they both asked.
“I can’t tell you.”
Carrie and Renner looked at each other, then over at the other Priffin and the human. Finally Renner told them “Okay, if she can’t tell, then we won’t bug ‘er.”
The others took their seats, waiting for Miss Emily to start the class.
This time, the one who was late was the bookish Flurid with the huge glasses. With a glance at the clock, I glared moodily at the professor. She should have started teaching already…so, she would wait to start for Freea and not for me?
“Today is the first day of putting into play all of your skills that you’ve learned. I’ve already explained it briefly, but here’s the rundown: Each week, everyday, I’ll choose the captain of the day and you will use your best judgment to pull this off. There are seven of you, so you will all get a chance each week. If you expect to pass this course, you will show up on weekends as well.” there was a loud groan from everybody at this information. “You all have to. Even if you’ve already gone that week; I still need you to play a part for whose ever turn it is. If anyone skips, they will promptly be expelled and I will be seeing you again next year.” she looked at us all expectantly. “Alright, now everybody outside and go straight to the edge, but if I catch anyone throwing things off, I’ll write you up!”
Everyone eagerly shuffled their way out the door and out into the yard.
The edge of this flat planet was just a little ways from where the academy sat. In fact, on a map, it would be seen that this academy was built upon the upper left corner of the planet. Proxima Four was a map in itself; simply fly high over the planet and take a photo of it and anyone would have their very own map of the planet. The edge was where docks and ships were. The edge was simply that; a sheer cliff of jagged rock and stone, and a bit of metal, about six miles thick. The planet was still new and, of course, was never plagued with earthquakes. This planet was sunny and warmest in a series of four. Below Proxima Four was Proxima Three; sunny but slightly cooler and more rainy, and below that, Proxima Two; where everything was always in a state of rebirth. Proxima One, a frozen, barren, white expanse of desolate, white, cold wastelands and nothingness was at the bottom.
All of these Proximas were layered in a staircase sort of fashion, and water was provided to all of them from Proxima Four at the top. On the southern edge, a great waterfall poured over the edge and down into the giant sea below on Proxima Three, perhaps twenty miles below. From there, the water flowed through a network of canals and rivers all throughout the planet and then eventually flowed back into the main river to be channeled down onto Proxima Two. Proxima One received little water from there as the water is channeled back up to Proxima Four to be recycled and reused through the immense metal pipes that held each Proxima in place and together.
The edges of the planet were just like the edges of life. If you were to fall from the North edge of any of the Proximas, you would eventually fall into space and die. If you were to fall from the West edge, you would die. And if you were to fall from the East edge, you would die. But if you were to fall from the Southern edge of Proxima Four, Three or Two, you would fall for twenty miles, the oxygen would thin out about halfway and you would lose consciousness, and then you would hit the ground of the next Proxima and you would die.
At the only dock for several miles, sat one small ship. Miss Emily met us there on the concrete in front of the dock. Today was a little windy, but that didn’t matter because we wouldn’t actually be sailing the ship yet.
Everyone lined up now, from tallest to shortest, and faced their backs to the ship to look at Miss Emily. Of course, next to come was a series of questions that pertained to the reading that everyone was expected to have read last night. I had not read.
“Alright, who ever is the remaining one standing is the captain for today.”
Professor Sage would ask everyone a question and whoever got it wrong was to sit down. The question would then be asked to the next one in line. Whom so ever was left standing was the victor.
“Cero!” Cero was first to be brought to abrupt attention. He was first in line, but only because he was slightly shorter than myself, perhaps by a hair…or an ear. “How many members to a crew?” the Professor spat the question out quickly, but that was not the reason Cero suddenly lost confidence. By the look on his face, anyone could tell instantly that he had not read the pages that had been assigned.
“Um…depends on how much room there is..?”
“Wrong. Have a seat Cero. Chase! Same question!”
I kept shuffling from footpaw to footpaw, trying to keep the weight off the injured leg but also making me look apprehensive. I responded immediately though. “As many as is necessary to get the job done.”
“Correct. Renner!”
I had quoted directly from a page I had not read. I had not read the book; at least, not that night. Long before I had enrolled myself in this academy I had read up on being a captain to prepare myself for this course. I had gotten the very same book from the little library on this Port. The library was quite the insult to the Port, but I had been able to get the book, and being who I was, never did return it. Why would anyone want it back anyway? The book had been missing a few pages and many had had to have been repaired by me trying to read the torn ones. I had read it through dozens of times and now that I was in the course, now was not the time to be going back to my studies. This was the real test now: passing this class, now that I’d done the studying and the longing for it.
“What is the lunar sail made of?” Renner answered dragon scales, but was incorrect. “Freea! Same question.”
The Flurid with large glasses straightened the lens importantly that sat neatly upon her smart-pointed beak, and answered slowly “The lunar sail is made of Phoenix feathers.”
Professor Sage seemed impressed. “That is correct.”
So, the rest of the half hour was spent playing the game and asking questions to those who remained standing. Soon, only myself and Freea remained in the game as the only players.
“Chase! Those who own and command a ship or a fleet without a permit are called…?”
I stopped shuffling my paws on the cement for a moment as the question struck me like a bullet. With a new odd glint in my eyes, I said in a slightly dazed tone “Pirates and looters…”
“Correct.” I only dimly heard her though. The most startling of revelations had hit me and I had even already known it. Just because that very page in that ratty old book had been missing did not mean that I had not known it. I knew it all along; everyone knew it. Old Jerek knew it, Miss Emily knew it, Carrie knew it, Shinara knew it, and even I knew it. Pirates and looters were illegal captains of ships and fleets…without permits…and what did I want to be? A pirate and a looter.
The next question asked of me had me sitting on the ground, because I had not answered at all. I had stood there for nearly a minute, teetering slightly, back and forth upon the edge of reality as I mulled over these harsh words. It had looked like I was thinking, so nothing was asked of my not answering; Professor Sage had simply gotten impatient and told me my time was up. Freea was the captain for the day.
For the remainder of class, I walked around aimlessly, trancelike, hearing orders vaguely, and generally needing to be yelled at to be gotten to do anything. When the class was dismissed, I walked with my friends once more to the dock of Old Jerek. They left me halfway to go back down another street that was theirs, and I only remembered telling them all one last thing. One final farewell was allowed to escape my lips as I uttered the last words they would ever hear from me “Good-bye.”
I said nothing the entire ride home and nearly forget the cutlass from Jerek before stepping off. As Jerek flew slowly away, I stood on his dock, looking left and right at the rows of ships. I now saw them all in a different light; they weren’t there to hold precious things I might steal from them; they were there to be stolen. At least, that was how my mind worked it out. I had not thought of anything any other way. Any precious trinket or shiny ornament had been crafted for the soul purpose of one day being placed in my paws, whether or not the crafter, blacksmith or previous owner knew it. That was how I thought and always had. I was born to thieve, and my fascination with ships and my longing to be someday the opposite of myself and become the authoritative one, would only help me to further my ambitions and satisfy my hunger for stealing. One of these ships; the Silencer; would be mine. All I needed was a few minutes…and a quick stop at Shinara’s alley.
I knew that there was indeed a real ship named The Silencer, and although it was at port on Relur, I would get it. I flexed my claws in anticipation at soon being able to sink them into the wheel of that ship.
Turning into the alley, I found Shinara there, having been waiting for me. I reported to her quickly, saluting pertly with the new cutlass to show that I did indeed know the whereabouts of the captain that I must find. Shinara wanted to see me get that silver coin from Streek, so here I was, informing her that now was the time that she should be watching.
She was in an angrier mood than I had anticipated. “What are you waiting about here, reporting to me for?! I’ve been sitting here watching that damn ship from here, waiting for you make a move for the last day and a half!” Shinara tossed me out of the alley and I did a neat tuck and roll to keep running and headed straight for the KC Leviathan.
Shinara pursued overhead and while I rested the stiff leg at the dock, she took up watch on the cross of the mast over one unfurled sail. As I rested, I thought of the quickest, easiest way to go about doing this. As soon as this was all over, I could leave forever. Leave this Port forever and Shinara, and Streek…No! Streek wasn’t staying here…Not alive…
I stood up off the coiled rope and prepared myself for what I was about to do. I looked up to Shinara in the shadow of the sail, then did something that she did not expect me to do.
I strode boldly forward, and hopped off the boarding ramp to the railing of the starboard side of the KC, brandishing the personalized cutlass with the name on it that I had somehow overlooked. In the few silent seconds that I stood, balanced, on the railing without notice, I thought that I may be going about this the wrong way. But if I was caught stealing from the same captain for a second time, she’d not let me off so easily again. Perhaps a peaceful trade between myself and the captain would work: exchange her cutlass for the silver coin that I needed, and neither would speak of the event again. Yes, that might work…there was a shout as Inari, off to the left, recognized me… too late; I was going about it this way and it would have to work.
As everyone’s gaze came to rest upon the white kit on the rail, I could feel Shinara’s eyes on me from above. I was not taking a subtle approach to this like the professional thief that I was, and Shinara was not liking it: did I simply expect Vervain to hand over the coin, merely because I’d demand it of her any second?
Captain Vervain approached from the left, and judging by the bored look she cast on me, she had something planned already.
“What do you want this time, insolent thief?!” she spat.
On the rail, I was eyelevel with the Captain. With a quick, cheap and dirty, cheater’s maneuver, I pounced from the rail without a word, to take the captain by surprise and down onto the deck. With a grunt of shock, she tried to right herself, only to be menaced by her own cutlass in her face. I stood above her, footpaws on either of side of her ribs on the deck, the cutlass clasped tightly in both forepaws, pointing it downward at her face. Streek was stunned at the dirty trick.
Hissing in disdain, she asked again “What do you want?!” I listened to the sounds of silence among the crewmembers, then, without taking my eyes from the Captains’, I struck out at Inari who had attempted sneaking in from behind. I grabbed the high collar of Vervain’s leather jacket and pulled her face close to mine, and snarled into her face the answer to her question. “Your ship.”
Angrily, the captain narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth. “Well, you cannot have it!”
She started to say more, but I silenced her with a paw across the cheek, which surprised even me, but I wouldn’t show it. I flicked flecks of blood from my claws idly as the crewmen gasped in alarm. “One ship, and one silver coin…in exchange for your blade and your lives.”
Streek looked as if she may laugh but one look at what was written clearly in my eyes, and for the first time, words failed the smart captain; I was completely serious.
There was a long stalemate; the crew knew better than to interfere now that there was a chance for their captain to devise some sort of plan. One of them interfering now might ruin any chances of putting it into play.
This also gave me a chance to think about what I was doing one more time.
Now that I was halfway through this, was I the hero or the villain?
Streek was certainly a law-abiding Markien in high position with some sort of military group. The safety of her crew should be what she was currently thinking about - she’d be in trouble with higher ranked officials if it were later discovered that her crew hadn’t been uppermost in her thoughts at all times. So, certainly, conscience or no conscience, Streek was the good creature here? As I held her shirt collar in a death grip with one paw, the hot tears that stung my eyes and fell onto Streek’s forehead confused her. I stopped to remember Tyrsse. I recognized Inari now and knew that Vervain had given the order to have me brought in - but Inari and Halftail had also killed Tyrsse and had that been reported to police, Streek would not be here. Streek had not ordered that the blacke Ibaras be slain, but she did cover it up.
Now that I was halfway through this, was I the hero or the villain?
“Take your coin…and take the ship. Mark my words though, I’ll hunt you down and I’ll kill you! All nine times if need be!”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, but stern faced, held one paw before her face for her to take in a shake of truce. Claws from both paws dug deep into the others‘, as we both shook paws, trying to see a bit of weakness in the other.
I nodded then and with a swift, almost invisible movement, had one tiny glittering disc of silver in one paw. I let her stand, telling her in response to her last remark “You’ll do no such thing. You’re coming with me.”
She seemed to hold back something as a cold fury slowly bled into her eyes, but then she took a swipe at me. With a deft flick of my wrist, I clipped her claws, all in one go with the cutlass edge. In the same movement, I kicked out hard with my one good footpaw, connecting squarely with her stomach and sending her right back onto the deck. I stood over her, keeping her down with one paw on her abdomen as there was another audible wave of disapproval from the already discontented crew behind me.
I shrugged. “Jus’ fer that, the blade’s mine.” and I slipped the blade back into the sash at my waist.
Vervain was about to retort with something highly insulting, but forced it back as I addressed her crew then. “Thanks to yore captain, ye’ve been spared. But this ship is mine now, so you’re all going to have to leave. If every last one a ye ain’t off this ship by the count a three, I’m comin’ after ye after I kill yore captain. One…”
The crewmen ran. Every one of them may have known what came first, but not half of them probably knew how many to three from there. They may have been part of a military fleet, but they were all poorly educated; all of them idiots born. Vervain had probably been assigned the captain of this lot to straighten the mess out before they were ever brought into a real battle.
With a smirk of satisfaction, I nodded triumphantly at the back of the last retreating crewman. Redirecting my attention to the fuming captain, I gave her one last chance to stand.
She brushed her clothes clean, and regained her haughty composure once more. “Well, I don’t see what you’re smiling about. Each and every one of them will head straight to the Port security.” Streek sneered.
I scoffed and retorted readily. “Ha! I’ll be long gone by the time they get half an answer from that dithering lot! Aye! And with a full crew too!”
Vervain would not give it up, and I knew now that she hoped to stall for time. “I don’t see where you’re getting an entire crew just like that! No self respecting creature would sail under your orders! You‘re nothing but a half-grown scrap of dog meat!”
I did not return the insult. “Why, thank ye Cap’n! Tha’s the nicest anyone’s ever called me!” I laughed coldly and Streek only seethed in rage. In mere seconds, my voice hardened and so did my expression. “Now, you’ve spoken your last insult…at least, up here in the sunlight. You’ll be staying below deck for the remainder of the voyage.”
She made yet another attempt to attack me, but I wrestled her fiercely to the ground, using my size to my advantage, and managed to grab hold of some nearby rope. I sat on her back when I got her down, and tied her hands behind her back with the rope. I helped her to stand upright and marched her across the deck with the cutlass pointed at her back, leading her toward the galley steps. She only fought part of the way, screaming “You fool! Kill me, you coward!”
I stopped and looked into her hate-filled eyes. Captain Streek Vervain was too proud for her own good. She’d rather die than be so humiliated by someone she loathed so much.
I shook my head, almost in disappointment or sorrow. “Killing’s too quick for you; too good for you. Someone who sends murderers to do her dirty work deserves nothing more than what I gave you: three humiliating beatings and a few months confinement in the dark with little food or water.”
I nodded once in emphasis, and led her down the stairs, through the galley, through the hall and down one more flight of stairs to a steel double reinforced door. There, I confiscated three daggers she had hidden on her and two small laser pistols. Along with these, I also spotted one large needle used for lock picking behind her ear that I only recognized because of my own experience, another knife in her sleeve and one last dirk hidden cleverly at her lower back beneath her Captain’s jagan. I did not check to see if there were any other prisoners perhaps in the little cell before thrusting her forward into the open door. Before I closed the door though, Streek uttered one last dire threat.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance, because now, I swear by my lock on Hell’s gates that I will hunt you down and kill you!”
“Save your breath!” I spat. “Half a dozen times I had the chance to kill you, and seeing as you’re still alive and rambling, I obviously don’t want you dead. Now, if you’re behavior pleases me and ye haven’t done anything to try escaping, ye might get lucky and get food and water each week!” I turned abruptly, flicking my tail disdainfully at her, and slammed the door as hard as I could.
Now in an angry mood, Shinara stepped out of the shadows of the doorway that I stalked out of. I did not even glance at her and continued right by her, shoving the silver coin into her hand as I stalked past.
As I walked back up the stairs with the bat beside me, I told her “Shinara, that’s the last bit of treasure that you’re blackmailing outta me. I’ve had it with this port and with it’s people, and I’m shipping out right now. Ye can tell anyone ye like that little secret I told ya awhile back, cuz Ah’m leavin’ this dump an’ ain’t never comin’ back. Come if ye like, but you ain’t the boss no more, bat!” I paused. “So are ye comin’ or not?”
Shinara stepped forward to walk ahead of me out of the galley and then shouldered me into the corner of the railing and galley wall. She held me up against the wall with one muscular arm digging into my throat, the large, soft wing attached to it draping over my chest like a leather blanket.
“Listen, you little rat!” Shinara hissed loudly. “I’ve gotten sick of this Blacke Marketing thing and this port too, so I’m coming with you. You call the shots with whatever crew you scrape together, but no one’s bossing Shinara around! Especially you! Is that clear?!”
I did not answer; I was unsure. It seemed that I would have to agree in order to once again take a decent breath. The bat’s grip loosened then. “I’m coming,” she said it more gently. “but just think of me as a tag-along. Not a part of your crew, but here anyway. Got that?”
“Alright! Yore yer own person; got it! Jus’ don’t be doin’ none a that in front a me new crew, deal?”
“Deal!” Shinara let me off the wall and I raced away from her and back across the deck to the stairs leading up to the top of the Captain’s cabin where the steering wheel was. I charted the course and locked onto the coordinates that I desired on the computer in front of me that resembled the dashboard of an old vehicle; the only addition being more lights and levers and being fashioned of silver and chrome, set into the wood and carved right into the ship.
Then, I ran back down the stairs to start the engines and power the sails. Everything was at full speed down in the engines room, and I was now clear to set sail. I ran back again to the steers point to maneuver the KC out of the narrow space, without a care to the thick chains still holding her at dock. I smashed down the lever beside me on the control panel, opening the thrusters at the back. There was the loud crunching sound of wood being torn from the dock as the thrusters burned it away while the chains hauled on it mercilessly. Free of the chains, the KC Leviathan lurched forward suddenly, and I did not expect it. I almost took the hull right into the engines of a huge merchant ship at port in front of me, but managed to gain control.
As soon as we pulled out of port and made it past the shield of clouds and into the darkness of space, we spotted a little boat, headed in the same direction and almost on the same course that we were.
“Small skiff ahead, cat.” Shinara called down to me from the shadow of the mainsail. She still said it in an insulting way, but I ignored it.
“I know! We’re going to overtake it!”
The KC Leviathan plowed forward at full speed and I raced back across the deck with Shinara watching amusedly from above. When the Leviathan had drawn level with the small craft next to us, I heard a voice.
“If’n yer pirates, then git ee a goin‘! Ah mean business an’ I ain’t about tae let ye take me boat!”
Old Jerek was halted in his fit of rage as I suddenly appeared on the railing facing him.
“Ahoy there, Old Jerek! How’d you like a job as a first mate aboard me ship, eh mate?”
Jerek was surprised, and for a second only stared at me in disbelief. “Chase! Ye little snip! Nearly gived me an ‘eart attack! Where’d yew get that big ship?” he shouted up to me, slowing a bit so as to hear me better over the roar of both ships’ engines.
“Hop aboard, Jerek! I’ll tell yeh everything ye need ter know! I’ve got quite the proposition fer ya!”
Later that evening, I sat on a bench at the long table, opposite Jerek, telling him how I’d gotten a hold of the KC and what I planned on doing now. Shinara remained in the darkest corner, eating little and sipping idly at some drink that she looked as if she weren’t particularly enjoying.
I drew my story to a close, concluding with the offer of taking Jerek with me. The Sirin looked somewhat skeptic.
“So, what ye means ter tell me is that this ship is stolen from the military and that ye’ve got the Cap’n stowed away down in der brig?! And ye want meh at come lootin’ with ye?!”
I sat back against the wall and smiled. “Oh please, Jerek. She’ll get her beloved ship back. I just need it to get to Relur. Then I’ll get meself a decent ship!” I waited as he nodded approvingly. “But in answer to yore question; yeah, matey. There’s a captain in that cell and the ship’s stolen.” I grinned cheekily. “And yes, I’d like ya at come with me. Ye’ve been a good friend, and you know the ropes well, and I’m gonna need some help. In fact, ye might even blame yerself fer me wantin’ ter do this. So whaddya say?”
I heard a quiet snicker from Shinara and I looked over to her to see the bright yellow eyes fixed on me and a tiny, perhaps taunting grin on her face.
Jerek stood, scratching his floppy ears, and took a swig of some nasty tasting grog that he had found in the storeroom. “Weel, Chase. I dunno…Not even got yore own ship yet an ye’ve already got a bounty on your ‘ead. And we’re gonna need more than just us’ns to man yer ship.”
I leaned forward off the wall. “So you’ll do it?” I asked him eagerly, even though he had not said anything like that. “There’ll be tons of loot and treasure to be had! An’ soon, we’ll be headed to the Occhrael system…”
“Occhrael, ye say?!” he asked, eyes bright as he looked up from staring uncertainly at the floor. “Chase, if yeh means it, count me in fer Occhrael!” he said decisively, slamming his tankard down on the table and sloshing the fiery liquid onto the wood of the floor and table.
I smiled again. “Ah thought ye might like that. I’ve never been to Occhrael either. But first stop is at Relur to pick up a ship and a crew!”
Jerek held out his paw and I took it. “A’hm with ya, Chase!”
 Wolf of Winds · Tue Oct 17, 2006 @ 10:08pm · 0 Comments |
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