Stars and Seas

It was cool on deck, the sun had set and a soft wind from the south blew fitfully across the sails. Rue took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and thought back on the hundreds of nights she’d spent like this; hanging over a rail, the creaking ship beneath her bare feet, and the stars wheeling overhead.

Oda scampered back and forth across the main deck, pausing only long enough to scan and sniff at the sea before barreling off again. Her paws made little sound on the planks, only a soft, scrabbling patter like the beat of a seagull’s wings.

The ship beneath them settled for the night. The quiet laughter from those still congregated in the hold faded with the lantern light, and soon there was only the lap and rush of waves and water as they continued on with half-full sails.

Rue gave her companions space. Oda was intent on keeping an eye out for foes and dragons alike; and after their interaction earlier, she wasn’t sure Thane was much for conversation.

The minutes slid by with the waves, with nothing to indicate the passage of time save for the moon slowly arching above the Dawn. As the night grew deeper, the three watchers wandered closer together. At some point, she became aware that they were all standing silently at the starboard rail, gazing south at the sea stretching infinitely into darkness.

“I’ve always wanted to see what lies beyond that horizon,” She said quietly.

Thane picked at a splinter in the rail. “Probably nothing but endless water and unfriendly stars.”

Oda scratched her ears.

“Probably,” Rue agreed, a flash of disappointment settling in her stomach. “But the fun’s in the getting there.”

“We have very different definitions of fun nowadays,” He smiled a little.

Rue couldn’t help but snort. “Indeed.”

Slowly, they relaxed, and the reminiscing began.

The stars kept their course, and it was almost time to change the watch. Thane was trying to finish a story through an irrepressible chuckle and Rue’s sides hurt from muffled laughter.

“Being a Zandeer kid will do that to ya, huh?” she jibed. A tiny squeak made her jump, and her heart sank. She’d forgotten Oda.

Thane tensed up. Rue tried to shoot him an apologetic look, but Oda lept nimbly on the rail between them. She looked back and forth at the two, green eyes wide. “You- him- you too? You grew up in Zandeer?”

“I left.” He explained quickly, “ I was born into it but got out the second I could.”

“How?” Oda demanded. “How are you able to escape a criminal organization like that, isn’t it for life?”

“If you join willingly, yes. Only kids have the choice to leave. There's this coming of age thing where they drop you off to live on your own for a few years, and you have to work your way back into the ranks- or you walk away.”

Rue stared out over the water. He’d said that last part like it was easy. Walk away. Build a life all your own, no input, no guidance, no limit on what you could become. It was a strange thought. Sure, she’d left like any other Zandeer kid, but everyone knew it was little more than a formality. The choice had been made for her a long time ago.

“I left at sixteen and never looked back,” Thane continued. “I haven’t spoken to my family in years.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m so sorry you had to be caught up in this, Oda. Kidnapping? I can’t believe that Zandeer would stoop so low; but I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. Did you get the name of the captain, or the ship?”

“I didn’t stop to ask when I killed him.” Oda said, sniffing.

“You what?” Even in the dim moonlight, Rue saw him go pale.

“I killed him. In his sleep. Then I escaped.” Oda repeated, as unperturbed as though she was remarking on the weather.

“Okay..." The calm in his voice sounded tight. "Oda… I need you to think as hard as you can. It’s incredibly important that you remember everything you can about the ship, or the man who kidnapped you.”

“I was in a bag mostly, so there wasn’t much opportunity for introductions.”

“Could you at least describe him?”

Oda tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowing. “Um, taller than you - then again all you big people seem tall. Bald. Reddish beard, fancy mustache?” She twirled her whiskers to demonstrate. “A scar from here to here,” Her paw traced a line from eyebrow to jowl. “Kinda chubby, but he won’t need to worry about it now.” Her laugh grated in the silence.

Thane gripped the the rail. “Aearn.”

Oda laughed again. “That’s a stupid name.”

“Not a stupid man, though,” he warned. “Aearn was a first mate when I knew him, it makes sense that he’d end up captain of the Natural.”

For the life of her, Rue could not recall anything about a Captain Aearn or the Natural. They had to have been part of a different flotilla.

“We have to tell Guy,” He was talking to her now, “First thing in the morning. Oda’s in some big trouble out here.”

Rue knew what happened to anyone, anyone, who killed a Zandeer captain, but in the whirlwind that had been the day before, she’d hardly had time to think about it. The tabaxi was as open as she claimed to be. She gave a weak laugh. “Yeah, you’re kinda screwed, kitty. But- only if this gets out; I mean, Zandeer probably assumes that he died in the attack, right?”

Just then, Blank and Eridin came on deck to change shifts. Rue followed Oda to their room and collapsed on her bunk. She was too tired to think but too wired to sleep.

Oda dropped off immediately, twitching in her nest of blankets. Even asleep, she couldn’t hold still. With every twitch, the rough blankets created a soft but incessant scratching.

Rue lay in the dark, listening. She didn't understand why Thane had been so concerned. No one in Zandeer knew Oda was a captain killer.

The flicker of an idea rose slowly. They were running headfirst into the maw of Zandeer, the very people who’d pay dearly to know who’d murdered one of their officers. If she turned Oda over to them, she’d be welcomed back in a heartbeat. But...

She shifted on the cot. Oda had simply done what she’d needed to survive. No one could begrudge her that.

Oda began to snore, harmonizing with the scratchy blankets.

It was going to be a long night.

____________________________________________________

Blank holed up in the girls' cabin, discouraged by the dinner. She had messed up without meaning to, and just wanted to go to bed. The fewer people she could accidentally freak out about her past -or lack thereof- the better. It was a small blessing that Oda and Rue were on a different watch. Not that they seemed like particularly noisy people, Oda’s midnight zoomies notwithstanding, but it was nice to have a little longer before she had to adjust to roommates.

She dozed for the first watch, Pina curled in the crook of her arm. It felt like no time at all when a knock on her door woke her a few hours later. She grumpily unwound Pina’s long, scaly tail from her bicep and pulled on her boots.

She met Eridin as he emerged from the other room, looking rather hungover, and together they headed for the stairs to the deck.

They relieved the first watch at the top of the stairs. A half-elf man brushed past them without a word, looking outright worried. Oda and Rue were close behind.

“Everything good?” She called out to them.

“Everything’s fine,” Rue snapped. Then, she sighed and paused on the stairs, turning back to them briefly. “Nothing to report. Quiet watch.”

“Alright.” Blank said, exchanging a look with Eridin. Oda and Rue disappeared into the cabin.

It was pleasant out, the breeze slow and steady, the moon playing off the sea in silver and shadow. A soft creaking accompanied the gentle rock of the ship, a wordless lullaby that belied the danger of the depths passing below.

Up. She needed to get higher, away from the water where she could see the stars without the sky dissected with rigging. Laying a hand on the main mast, she looked up. The crow’s nest would afford her a much better vantage point.

“Where are you going?” Eridin asked, his voice much too loud for how close he stood behind her.

She looked over her shoulder. “Up?”

“Why?”

“To get a better view,” she responded slowly. He was really starting to weird her out. Reaching up, she hoisted herself to the first rung of the ladder.

“We should both stay down here.”

It was her turn with the question. “Why?”

He was antsy, bouncing on the toes of his boots like he was ready to bolt. Impatient, that was it. He was constantly acting like a man running out of time. “Better two heads than one, don't you think?”

Blank was not in the mood to argue with a nervy elf, so she conceded, dropping back to the main deck and striding away. Whatever his problem was, she didn't want to be near it. He wandered toward the stern, muttering to himself.

She paced in wide, slow loops around the ship, keeping her gaze out to sea. She wasn’t even sure what it was she was supposed to be on the lookout for, occasionally getting distracted by the trance-like patterns of the waves below.

As she passed Eridin for another what felt like the hundredth time, he grabbed her arm and pointed. Far in the distance, a dim light held steady against the stars.

A light which she probably would’ve seen hells of a lot sooner if she’d been in the crow’s nest.

She leaned out over the rail, trying to make out any more detail besides ‘ship, allegedly’.

Eridin gave a short, sharp whistle and a hawk flapped down from the maze of rigging and sails, landing briefly on his arm before rocketing off towards the distant ship.

“Was that up there the whole time?” she asked.

He nodded. “She follows me everywhere.” As the hawk disappeared into the darkness, Eridin’s eyes glazed over as he watched through his familiar’s sight.

“Pirates,” he spat suddenly, causing Blank to jump. “We need to speed up.”

She dashed up the steps to the helm, where the aarakocra from that afternoon was staring absently at the western horizon. “Pirates,” she hissed, “we need to move.”

In response, he summoned a huge gust of wind and sent it flying upwards, snapping the sails and causing the rigging to strain.

“They’re keeping pace!” Eridin called, “I’m getting Guy.”

Blank watched the distant ship anxiously as she waited for Eridin to return. He reappeared with Guy, who didn’t waste a second taking in the scene.

“Hector, cut it!”

Hector, the aarakocran mage, complied, dispelling the wind with a wave of his arm, and instantly they felt the ship catch in the drag of the waves, slowing to a crawl.

“Act like we haven’t spotted them,” Guy instructed, not taking his eyes off their pursuers for a moment, “Keep her steady.”

The other ship slowed as well, pulling back on what little it had gained on the Dawn.

“So… they’re clearly following us,” Blank said, trying not to let her thoughts outpace the situation, repressing images of guts and gore and burning ships battling under the moon.

Eridin flexed his fingers. “Permission to cast fireball?”

“Absolutely not.” Guy ordered, peering into the eastern darkness, where the ship hung back just on the horizon, sails illuminated ever so faintly by the moon.

Blank laced her fingers together, taking deep, slow breaths. “I know some fire spells too, if it comes to that.”

“We’re not rushing into a fight we know next to nothing about. For now, we wait and watch.”

Minutes leaked by in tense silence as Eridin continued to watch through the hawk. Finally, Blank heard him whisper, “Zandeer.”

Guy seemed unmoved. “Good to know. Keep watching, and let me know if they get so much as a yard closer. Don’t,” he glared at the two of them, “and I mean do not, try anything foolish. Come and find me first.”

“Of course,” Blank said, and Eridin begrudgingly agreed.

The breeze died away, leaving the air still and her mind restless.

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

Next update: Part Eight