Cast Off

Oda was awake bright and early, head buzzing with the promise of adventure. She wasn’t sure how she felt agreeing to board a boat again so soon after escaping one, but as long as she wasn’t stuffed in a sack and left for dead, she’d be alright.

She went down the stairs to the main floor of the inn, where the majority of the party was already gathered at a table. She greeted them and only Eridin waved. Blank and Ides were hunched over hot drinks and looking preoccupied by their own thoughts. Rue slipped in a minute later and flopped into the empty chair next to Oda.

“Everyone have sweet dreams?” Oda asked, and Blank gave her a blank stare.

“Indeed. I especially loved the part where a certain cat next door got the zoomies in the middle of the night.”

She was intrigued. Hadn’t she been in the room right next to hers? “There was a cat here last night? I didn’t hear it at all.”

Blank rolled her eyes and went back to breakfast, which the small dragon on her shoulder watched with rapt attention.

Oda looked around. “Where’s Guy?”

A waitress passing by turned to answer. “He’s been in and out all morning, prepping for y’alls departure. He said to make sure y’all knew to meet him in the mansion at ten.”

Rue rubbed a hand over her face. “Any sane person would tell you that no important things should happen until at least noon,” she grumbled.

“Any sane person,” Ides, who’d been up for hours, agreed drily.

The atmosphere in the inn was much more somber compared to the chaos of the day before. Oda overheard a few tables saying that they were prepared to leave Tralco altogether in light of yesterday’s events.

“Where are these people going?” Oda asked the group, “That party’s just getting started! Get it? Party? Our party’s just begun??”

Rue didn’t even look up from her food as she reached out and smacked her lightly upside the head.

She hissed before smoothing her ruffled fur. “Oh come on, that was a good one!”

Oda finished her breakfast well before anyone else, and sighed impatiently. They seemed to be in no rush at all, which was ridiculous because they had an adventure all but biting them in the rump. Why would anyone wish to take their sweet time when there were things to do and places to be and important people to become?

A commotion outside caught her ear. She scooted off her seat and went to stand at the open door.

A lizardfolk town crier stood in the square, calling out to those who would stop and listen.

He gave a quick summary of the morning before, then launched into praise for the “-heroes who stood bold to protect our city!”

He pointed suddenly at Oda, “There’s one of our intrepid heroes now!”

She ducked back inside, anxious to avoid so many sudden eyes. Ambling back over to the table, she hopped back up to her seat and rested her chin in her paws.

“What’s the matter,” Rue quipped through a mouthful of food, “Cat got your tongue?”

Oda glared daggers but said nothing.

“Oh come on,” she parroted smugly, “That was a good one!”

____________________________________________________

On the way to the mansion after breakfast, Rue and Oda split off from the party to shop. Rue's simple leather armor was more worn than she remembered, but it was easy enough to find a suitable replacement, and they were back on their way with only a few minutes delay.

When they arrived at the meeting room, the first thing Rue noticed was the lack of guards. The only others in the room were Guy, Vev, and Vev’s young daughter, Dolip.

Dolip, despite her father’s warning, ran up to the ragtag party fearlessly, The half-orc girl had a personality as colorful as her clothing, and up close her dark eyes burned bright with curiosity.

She stopped in front of Oda, who was just her height. Oda's creaky chuckle made Dolip giggle. The tabaxi’s pupils were wide with delight. “We’re going to have fun, aren’t we?”

Dolip then caught sight of Ides. She walked closer to look very seriously up at the leonin. “May I pet you?”

“Dolip,” Vev scolded. She paid him no mind.

Ides knelt down and gently bowed his head towards her. She reached up and reverently stroked his mane.

There was a collective, quiet, ‘awww’ and Rue knew in that moment that most of the party would gladly take an arrow for Dolip.

“Dolip,” Vev said again. Rue didn’t know he even knew how to sound embarrassed.

“I have to go,” Dolip said, “But will you come back soon and play with me?”

“Of course,” Ides replied, the shadow of a smile on his face.

“You too?” She asked Oda.

Oda grinned “Yes!”

The little girl ran back to her father, gave him a hug, and darted out of the room.

Rue’s heart gave a funny little twist. She missed her parents, and the Honesty, and wondered what waters they’d be haunting about now.

Vev picked up a large white candle from the table.

“Once I light this candle, and until it is extinguished, you will be compelled to tell the truth. You may choose not to answer, but you will not be able to lie.”

She instantly regretted those last three pancakes. She should have known something like this was going to happen, and it was far too late to run. Soon, all too soon, these people would know where her loyalties lay.

“I have nothing to hide.” Oda chirped.

He lit the candle. A dome of lavender light filled the room, infusing the space with a soft but powerful magic. One by one, Vev asked them the same question. “Did you have a hand in the attack yesterday, beyond trying to stop it?”

One by one, they answered. “No.”

He turned back to Blank first.

“Are you affiliated with Zandeer in any way?”

“No.” She answered.

“Are you for Zandeer?”

“No.”

Rue swallowed the panic rising in her throat.

Vev asked Ides. ‘No’, and, vehemently, ‘no’.

“Rue.”

She forced herself to meet Vev’s unrelenting gaze.

“Are you affiliated with Zandeer in any way?”

“I was. I’m not.” Currently.

She braced herself for what came next. She’d be damned if she spoke, and damned if she didn’t.

“Oda, are you affiliated with Zandeer in any way?”

Rue’s heart skipped several beats.

“Are you for Zandeer?”

Oda shook her head emphatically.

Rue was almost dizzy. He’d missed the second question. Had anyone else noticed?

Vev placed the candle on the table but did not extinguish it. He leaned against the edge of the table and crossed his arms. “Now with that out of the way, let’s review our objective. Y’all are heading out to gather information about Zandeer’s possible involvement in the port attack. It won’t be easy, they know how to cover their tracks. The organization has been at this pirating business for a very long time.”

Ides cleared his throat. “Before you dispel this, does anyone know the name of the ship or the captain who kidnapped Oda?”

They all, including Vev and Guy, shook their heads.

Eridin took a step forward. “Why go to this length to question us? With the candle, I mean.”

Vev raised a brow. “How long have you been in Tralco? A month? Two? How can I know you to be trustworthy? I have been the governor for eight years now; Guy’s lived here even longer than I, and he has dedicated his life to the safety of Alkenpo. We haven't gotten to be where we are without learning to be judicious in choosing our friends and allies.”

“Fair enough,” Eridin responded mildly.

“Anyone else?” Vev asked, and paused before blowing out the flame. If Rue had to guess, she’d suppose there was only one more use to be coaxed out of it. Truth candles burned quickly and were expensive as hells.

Guy pushed back from where he was leaning against a chair. “We need to go. The tide won’t wait.”

“Well then,” Vev said, “I’m sending y’all out in good faith. Be careful, come back in one piece.” He allowed himself a small smile at Ides and Oda. “You two especially. You have a promise to keep to my daughter.”

____________________________________________________

The Radiant Dawn was a beautiful ship. Blank didn’t know much about ships, at least, as far as she remembered, but it was beautiful all the same.

They boarded into a flurry of activity, people everywhere doing everything. Oda hesitated on the gangplank. “Guy,” she squeaked, “Are they all, y’know, trustworthy?”

Guy stepped onto the deck and turned to her. “I chose all of these men myself. If it came to it, I’d trust them with my life.”

Oda nodded, a complex expression in her green eyes, but boarded, gaze darting around to take in every detail of the ship and crew. Blank noticed that her paw stayed close to her dagger for a good long while.

As the crew finished the final preparations, Guy gave the party a quick once-over of the ship and waved them towards two tiny cabins on the far end of the hold. “They might be a bit tight but they’re private.”

Eridin started saying something about getting his own room, and Blank tuned him out. She poked her head into one of them. Three girls to a room? At least Oda was small. “Cozy.”

Rue brushed past her and dumped her things on the nearest bunk, then disappeared above deck. She hadn’t been much for conversation during the singular day Blank had known her, but now the air around the girl was absolutely sullen. Blank tried not to think much of it, she seemed to be going through a lot with the Zandeer accusations that were flung at her last night. Not that she wanted to think about that either; sharing a cramped room with someone formerly friendly to the enemy made the walls close in tighter than ever.

Oda inspected every inch of the cabin, muttering to herself and scratching the walls at odd intervals. She didn't acknowledge Blank, but every so often her ears would twitch back as if to check on her. Blank wondered how the tabaxi felt about being back on a ship after the kidnapping, but she’d made the choice to come along, which Blank could only attribute to bravery. How well calculated that bravery was, however, one had to speculate. A few times she was sure she'd not seen a single thought behind those eyes. Regardless, she was taking a liking to her.

Satisfied with the results of her search, Oda built a little nest of blankets at the end of the smallest bunk, ordered her sparse belongings around it, then left to explore the rest of the ship. Blank was once again alone.

“Cast off!” Someone shouted from above, and from the small window the room provided, Blank watched the world slip away. It sent a special kind of terror down her spine knowing that there was nothing but water surrounding her. Water in all directions, as far as the eye could see. Nothing but water.

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Thanks for reading part 5 of my ongoing series! It chronicles the adventures of a long-running D&D campaign I’ve been participating in for over two years.

Part One

Part Six