Everything hurt like hell. Ren couldn’t even count the areas that were soaring with pain on his body, but could count where he didn’t hurt with one hand, a balled fist.
“Sweet holy f-“ He said, making his best effort to sit up before falling back in more exhaustion and pain. All he could do was groan and look around the dark cabin, trying to make out shapes. In the dim lighting he could see Ash was no longer in his bunk. He started to drift back to sleep before sitting straight up, disregarding the pain and limping his way out into the hall, screaming “Aeris!”
He rushed headlong toward the narrow stairs, stumbling down as he misjudged the height and stumbled up the steps. Throwing up his arms saved his face from a nasty encounter with the stairs, but he continued on. Still calling for his newfound friend, he made it into the bridge, finding only Kit, legs propped up on a window and reader open on their lap, scrolling through something.
“Oh, hey.” They said, noting the feral look on Ren’s face. He rushed out to the door, beginning to pull a lever before Kit jumped up and stopped him. “Woah, woah, woah! Definitely don’t want to open that right now. We’re over open sea and you don’t have a glider or anything.”
Ren stood as Kit let go, taking in his new surroundings for the first time. He looked at Kit with fresh eyes, noting their round cheeks and bright smile set against hair that looked like an oil spill, reflecting various shining hues. Their blue eyes caught his as he turned away, face more red than when he had been drunk earlier.
“Where is she?” He asked, breathless and looking at Kit desperately now. He backed away from them and looked from a window, seeing the rolling clouds of the Veil mirror the waves of the dark sea beneath as bright beams of light lit the crashing waves below them, spawning from one of the multiple floodlights installed on the ships front. He looked to the deck out over the ships bow deck, looking at the falling rain leaving slick trails across the steel. The sails were unfurled in their full glory, showing a well rounded bird in flight. Ren couldn’t help but giggle at the ridiculousness of it before switching back to anxious and scared again, all thoughts turned toward his newfound friend and protector.
“Your hawk? She’s downstairs in the kitchen. She’s definitely a growing girl…” Ren looked at them, still confused at everything he woke up to, “She eats a ton. Did you not know that?
“Uh, no.” He replied, limping his way again to the narrow stairs. He put a quivering hand on the rail, starting to step down before Kit rushed toward him, steadying him. Ren started crying at the memory of his last few conscious hours, realizing the sheer amount of danger everyone had gone through thanks to his own stupidity. Tears fell from his face, crashing on the step below him in large drops. “I… I almost got myself killed. I could have gotten you or her killed… I’m so sorry.”
“Gonna be honest dude, you’re either hungover or a real downer. We’re in danger every day, you’re not special in that regard. Now, you’re not getting down there yourself,” Kit said, moving to the ship’s helm console and flipping a few switches. A light flashed green before they came back over to Ren, stepping in front of him and readying themselves a step below, back to Ren and arms behind them. “Hop up, I’ll get you down there.”
He could only look at Kit as they looked back at him, jerking their head toward the stairs again. Ren climbed up, fitting awkwardly on their back as they descended the narrow steps to the hallway.
“Y’know, usually I charge for things like this,” Kit quipped, giving a small chuckle. Ren could feel their soft skin brushing against him as they went, with a smell that was a strange mix of lavender and engine grease. “Alright, end of the line.”
They kneeled again upon reaching the bottom, gently putting Ren down before standing up and doing a couple of small jumps while shaking their arms out.
“Damn, that was a workout. I usually make Ash do all the heavy lifting around here.” They laughed, a bright chime against the clunking engine, and led Ren down the hall to the door opposite his sleeping cabin, now open with Aeris inside, staring through at him with a rat's tail hanging from her beak. The tail disappeared before she gave a hearty cry and fluttered toward Ren, being sure not to extend her wings too far in the cramped spaces.
“Aeris!” Ren said, tears forming again now, soaking into the birds feathers as he held her close, her nuzzling her head against his chin. He didn’t have to tell her, there was an unspoken pact between them now.
“We really should get one a’ them for around here.” An older woman walked away from a stove in the corner, setting a small pan down on the table nearby where Robin and Ash were sitting, chairs pulled back and distracted from a heated conversation by the reunion. The woman sat down nearby, pulling a small roll of paper and beginning to tap something from a tin into it. “That thing took care of more mice in two days than this bitch has in six years on this rustbucket.”
She pointed to a ball of fur in the corner, perched on one of the higher shelves among cans and jars containing various spices. Yellow eyes opened briefly from among the shiny gray fuzz, letting out a meow as if to agree with her statement.
“Lazy old crone,” the woman grumbled, holding the newly rolled joint up to her mouth and sparking it, the newly formed whisps of smoke matching her hair as they rose.
Ren stood now, wiping his eyes but still stroking a hand along Aeris’ head, much to the birds delight. Kit shuffled past him, settling in on another chair around the table before turning their attention to the food spread on the table before them. They began to reach for a biscuit before stopping and looking over to Robin.
“Oh my god, nobody’s going to tell you not to eat!” Robin rolled her eyes and looked to the sky, shaking her head. Kit smiled and began pulling what they could onto their plate. Robin looked over to Ren, motioning him over to another empty seat around the table, next to the older woman. “Sit next to Poe over here, she won’t bite. Unless you’re in bed with her.”
“Damn right, and many women have complimented those bites.” Poe confirmed, taking a big drag on the joint before handing it across to Ash, who gladly accepted. She then turned to Ren, offering the same hand, “Help yourself, kid. I’m Poe. Nice to meet you.”
Ren shook her hand, trying to figure out the strange smell coming from the small roll was, definitely not like any cigarette he had ever smelled. Pungent, and almost making him lightheaded combined with the food in front of him. Poe snorted out a laugh as he cautiously moved a little of everything to the plate in front of him, only taking small portions.
“We’re not rationing, you know.” Robin said, gesturing to Kit and Ash both loading their plates with the various dishes in front of them. “Eat, you’ve been out for a little over a day. Poe, stop offering him drugs after he just woke up.”
“You funneled beer into him two seconds after you met!” Kit shouted at her.
Poe raised a hand, waving nonchalantly as smoke wisps from the joint followed her motions. She saluted her captain in a mocking way, smiling a Kit and Ash, who were both giggling. Ren scooped more food onto his plate before digging in. He had been told growing up he was lucky to get the food he had, government access from his mother and all. That had been bland, processed garbage though compared to some of the stuff on his plate now.
“What is this?” He asked, taking bites of everything while staring at Poe. Kit giggled again as Ren kept stuffing his face. Poe laughed, starting to point to every dish and explain.
“Cornbread stuffing, some stewed chicken, potatoes, corn… you mean to tell me you ain’t eaten anything like this? Ain’t you s’posed to be a rich one?” She looked at Robin, unsure. “Sure this kid can work?”
Robin nodded, taking a bite of her own food, looking thoughtfully at Ren. She was looking at him as if he was someone from a fond memory or beloved story, with gentle admiration and hope.
“Yeah. He’ll work. Hey kid,” She got his attention as he continued stuffing food in his mouth, looking at her but not stopping. “Mind telling us more about yourself?”
“Uh,” Ren panics to swallow the massive amount of food he’s been building, taking in more than he can eat at once. He choked briefly before regaining composure and looking around the table. “Um yeah, hi. My name is Clarence. Few friends I have call me Ren, and uh… my last name is Calvert. My mom’s a delegate for the Upper Strat.”
Aeris hopped over and popped up onto the bench beside Ren, pecking at the food on his plate. She chirped in delight at the taste of stewed chicken, pecking at more along the table. Ren slid it toward her, spooning some more of the chicken onto his plate for them to share.
“Hot damn, never mind.” Poe said, taking another drag off the joint and shrugging at Robin. “Kid’ll work.”
“What exactly am I working at?” Ren grumbled between bites. Ash and Kit seemed involved in their own race to see who could eat the most, absorbed in rivalry while Aeris picked on, content at easy food. Ren waved her face from the plate to try and get her to slow down, “Stop, you’re going to make yourself sick.”
She gave a small indignant squawk and kept pecking away, unheeded. Poe laughed as the bird kept eating and Robin smiled, looking at Ren.
“You’re going to help us.” She said, almost delighted he had asked. “We run across Stratters all the time but you’re quite the special case. Marked by the Parade, son of a delegate, and taken in by pirates you only just met. If I didn’t know we were the good guys I would think you’re a damn fool.”
“Still not sure if I’m not a damn fool myself,” Ren snorted back through a mouthful.
She giggled at this while Ren just kept eating, not entirely comprehending everything as the smoke from Poe’s joint seemed to call to him, mixing with the smell of the food.
“Yeah, so? There more?” He grumbled. Robin just laughed.
“Guess you need to be updated since you knocked out.” She flicked a finger at the screen on her bracer, projecting a screen into the air in front of her. An old ID photo of Ren appeared, with words below it that said “Missing: Clarence Calvert, If Seen Please Report To” followed by various contact tags.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Oh great.” Ren mumbled. His mother was doing the bare minimum to look for him at least. “Surprised she didn’t spring for ‘Dead or Alive’ under my name.”
“Not the real problem though,” Robin remarked, swiping another notice to the projection. This one had the same ID photo, but was branded with the mark of a Parade Marcher, soaked in blood with a sickle instead of marching baton. A large inscription showed his full name, this time though with the words WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE on it with a massive reward and listing of possible dangers, a bird among them.
“Huh.” Ren said, seeing the zeroes lined up on the reward. That was a massive amount, more than even he had seen in his life. Poe laughed as Kit and Ash looked up, plates cleared and drinks emptied. They all stared at the bounty poster for their newfound crewmate, mouths slightly agape. “Well… that sucks.”
“Holy shit.” Kit whispered. “That’s enough for a whole new ship.”
“Yeah, that’s not what we’re going for though.” Robin smirked, “We’re getting Sunny out.”
The entire table burst into chaos, with Kit and Ash quickly pouring more drink for themselves, the smell of alcohol wafting over and making Ren feel queasy. He couldn’t tell what all the squabble about, with Poe asking if Robin was an idiot, Kit saying they’ll probably die, and Ash asking about plans.
“Who?” Ren asked over all the noise.
They all quieted down, Ash and Kit still drinking as Poe again offered the joint to Ren. He took it this time, feeling a little light headed as he coughed hard, the sting of the smoke hitting his lungs. He didn’t even feel himself reaching to hand it back to Poe, instead focusing on the remaining food on his plate.
“Sunny is my first mate.” Robin explained, looking at him. He was suddenly hyperfocused on her eyes, noticing the gold flecks against stunning bright emerald. He looked at Kit next, their face soft and contrasting with pale white as opposed to Robin’s darker skin.
“Thought Kit was your first mate? That’s how you introduced them.” Ren was confused, feeling like he missed a thread. Moments blurred into the next as he found himself doing something different than what he had before, as if blinking from second to second.
“Temporary, Kit’s our pilot. Damn good one too, but they’re no first mate compared to Sunny.” Robin was explaining.
“What, I don’t hit the batshit suicidal requirement?” mumbled Kit. Robin shot them a glance before continuinng.
“Sunny got himself caught a while back by some government vultures. Dumbass threw himself at them while we were all trying to get out.” She went silent for a moment, the entire crew looking to the table in silence. “We’re going to get him back.”
“We’re not even sure he’s alive, Robin.” Ash said, low and choking back emotion. “He was bleeding bad…”
“I don’t give a damn. If he’s dead then we avenge him.” Robin said, accidentally crumpling the flimsy metal cup she was drinking from. She sighed and threw it aside, into a bin of scrap metal nearby. “We have to try.”
Poe grimaced as Ash and Kit looked down at their empty plates. Ren still felt strange, giggly even. He looked over to Poe as Aeris hopped up to the table, pecking at more stewed chicken straight from the dish. Poe cracked a smile and laughed at this, only making Ren giggle even more in turn. Aeris straightened up from the dish, glaring sideways at him, before squawking once and goiing back to the food.
“I’m not too fond on being traded for someone, to be honest with you.” Ren said, looking over to Robin, who was still looking at the table in frustration, “What’s in this for me to cooperate?.”
Robin finally gave a small grin, looking at the young kid across the table. She caught a brief glimmer of herself in him, not quite a reflection but just a small mirage, trick of the light. It was all she needed to know.
“You said you would rather be a pirate than go back to thee ark. Did you mean that or was it the booze talking?” She asked, looking right into his eyes. Ren was on the spot, but he said the first thing that made it through the brain to mouth pipeline.
“I’d rather die than look into corporate law again. I don’t want to live my life in a sanitized ark.” He found himself spilling out his real feelings, but it felt good instead of anxious like it usually would. “I’ll join you if you can swear you won’t turn me over to them.”
“Well, we better get planning then,” Robin said, stepping up from the table and toward the door before turning to look at them. “I’m going to get some quiet and line things up. Get Ren set up with a chute before he goes overboard again. You have a comm brace right?”
Ren shook his head, “Nah, it broke when I fell. Had to cut my chute and everything. First time I saw a tree and it kicked my ass.”
“Kit, there’s a spare brace in the workshop. Get him synced and make sure he has a grapple.” She said, walking out into the small hallway and into one of the first cabins. The last words before closing the doors were “Noon tomorrow we make the call. Get ready.”
As soon as the door shut Kit, Ash, and Poe all huddled in toward the middle of the table, voices speaking in hushed tones.
“There’s no way he’s alive. How could he be?” Kit questions.
“That bastard can’t die, I’m telling you. Probably punched Satan in the face and grappled out of hell.” Poe cackled at her own joke.
“Look, I don’t give a damn if he’s alive or not. Rescuing him is a suicide mission and.she’ll go through with it no matter what we tell her.” Ash was holding his head in his hands before letting it fall, forehead thumping on the table as he groaned. “You’re our best bet to get him back. Hate to say it, but otherwise we might never see him again.”
He pointed a thumb toward Ren, who was looking around bewildered again, unknowing of when the last moment ended and this one began. Ash and Kit started chuckling as Ren looked on, not sure if he was in on the joke.
“Huh?” Ren blank stared at them, getting lost in Kit’s pale complexion. They laughed again as Poe put a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re high as hell,” She said, “Should’ve thought about that before I offered, that’s my fault, sorry. Guess y’all don’t really get that in the fancy arks. More of a local spice under the Veil. Trust me, you’re not missing out on anything.”
She laughed again, looking over at Kit and Ash. Aeris continued picking at the chicken, now struggling as she tried to get into a small corner of the pan. “Go ahead and get the brace for him. Kid probably don’t know how to use a grap either.”
“Nope. Not at all.” Ren said, a dumb smile on his face. Kit shook their head in disbelief, gently walking around the table and grabbing Ren’s hand, guiding him from the galley as Ash and Poe cackled at the two. Ren felt his cheeks burn red as their soft hands guided him to another room near the end of the hall, a cramped space with a single workbench, items littering the floor.
“God DAMMIT ASHLEY!” They shouted, shrill so Ash could definitely hear over the humming ship engine. A dull “sorry” rang out from the galley door, obviously insincere. “I don’t give a damn! You’re the engineer, you use the tools, put them back! All I ask is that you keep your shit straight!”
Kit leans down, letting go of Ren and shuffling through the various scraps and tools littering the floor until they find an archaic looking brace, dull white paint chipping from an ancient holo-screen. He could see the underside of the brace, a barrel running parallel on the top with the barest hint of a grapple protruding from the housing. They walked over to Ren, holding it up before him.
“Rightie or Lefty?” They asked, looking him in the eyes. He felt his breath catch at her attention. Ren raised his left arm, allowing them to slip the brace over his forearm and adjust it to the right angle before pressing one of the various buttons. Ren felt it tighten to his arm, the interior material meshing into his arm. “There. Now, I’m terrible with grapples, that’s something you’d be better off learning from Sunny. Considering his absence though, if you want to shoot the chord,” they stand off to the side, holding Ren’s hand straight out and bending his hand up, exposing the grapple port which immediately fired the small spike.
It impaled into the wall of the workshop, spreading tensile arms to keep a grip on the material. They set his wrist back straight then flipped it up again, causing the grapple to close and zip back into the enclosure. Ren was staring wide eyed at the brace.
“Woah,” was all he could muster as Kit laughed. “They would never give me one of these on the ark.”
“Probably a good thing. If we get Sunny back he can teach you everything about it, but my knowledge ends at basic repairs. I know that same one has saved his life a shitload of times.” They pointed to the brace, now lighting up on the screen and requesting information, “Hope that jackass is alive after all the worry he’s put Robin through.”
“What’s the deal with them?” Ren asked, leaning back against the wall and zoning out at the letters onscreen. “She’s really worried about this guy.”
“They’ve known each other longer’n any of us have known either of them. Only thing I know is they had some history with the Parade. Sunny used to work for them, I saw his tattoo one time helping Poe stitch him up. How it brought them together though, beats me. Even Ash doesn’t know.” Kit answered, picking up various tools from the floor and setting them on the labeled areas of the bench board. “She’s willing to go through the Veil for him, and I’m right behind her if she does, crazy and suicidal as that may be.”
“Ash is Robin’s brother, right? He doesn’t know anything about it?” Ren was looking at the screen still, seeing that it was giving the option of signing him in as Sunny or creating a new preset. He wasn’t sure if it was right to pick Sunny’s but it was easier than figuring it all out himself.
“Half-brother. They didn’t find each other until pretty recently, all things considered. Everything I’ve heard about their dad sounds like they’re not alone either.” Kit giggled again. “So, you fell through the Veil, right? What was that like? What does it look like above it?”
They turned to Ren again, still transfixed by the small screen before him. He was clicking through the menu now after choosing Sunny’s profile, whisking through the files for everything from tensile strength, default shot distance, reflex sensitivity… how did someone use this while zipping through the air? He had to snap himself out and look back at Kit.
“It was dark. Most of the time. I couldn’t really see anything other than lightning.” He said, shrugging, “Mostly just the dark clouds.”
“Damn. Guess free falling didn’t take long in there either. Always wondered if the old legends were true.” Kit looked up at the ceiling, now leaning their head back against the wall beside Ren. “You have all those old folk tales up in the Strat? My mom always told me stories about strange creatures in the Veil. Think it was just to keep us away.”
“She have to worry about you going near there a lot? Not really sure how you could…” Ren asked, with Kit just giving that chiming laugh again, clear as the finest crystal bell.
“You’d be surprised. I’ve been piloting anything I can since I could use my hands. May have stolen a few of the cruisers from employee security growing up.” They laughed again. “Always wanted to see the sun but never knew if what mom told me was true. Stuff about giant serpents in the Veil, dragons created from the toxic fumes that make the clouds… all kinds of childish shit I probably shouldn’t believe still.”
Ren flashed back to his fall through the dark abyss, remembering the brief flashes he had seen before falling free.
“I saw something. Like a… kind of like a snake? I guess, I’ve never actually seen one. Just old pictures.” Kit looked at him, bewildered, “I swear, it was massive. I think I kicked it on the way down, my leg hurts like hell still.”
“You’ve never seen a SNAKE?” Kit was almost offended, “Holy shit you’ve really never been to surface. You’ve probably been told so much bullshit haven’t you?”
“Really not the part I expected you to be excited about out of all of that, but okay” Ren was confused, wondering if he was still high. “I always was told that under the Veil was reserved for manufacturing and stuff like that. They told us most of it was lost other than some marine communities or roving tribes.”
“Pfffft Roving tribes. Please.” Kit gave a giggle, looking over at Ren, “I grew up on one of those old cruise ships they put people in when flooding started. Wanna talk about a shitshow… good people though. After a few generations of people coming and going on the ship it became a really tight knit community, thrived even. Looked like a ghost ship though, I’ll give it that. You’ll find that a lot down here, despite what you’ve seen so far.”
He was tired again, overwhelmed. He finally leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
“So you don’t want to go back to the life of luxury?” Kit asked, side eyeing him as he opened one eye to looke back at them. “With your mom being a delegate there’s not much you can’t do.”
Ren snorted at this, making Kit giggle.
“I can do anything approved by the corporate sponsors for the Strat.” he mumbled back. “They just want people they can shove in when a gear breaks. Nah, they approved my scholarship and assigned me to study corporate law.”
“What do you want to do?” Kit was turning now, facing him and showing more intent interest.
“I like writing.” He replied, picking his head back up and looking at them. He had never told anyone about what he actually wanted to do before. It had never mattered, it was already assigned to him from the moment he was born.
“Writing what? Is it comics?” They were turning around now, rifling through a drawer. “I love to draw.”
They finally gave a little cheer and pulled out a sketchbook, opening it to reveal detailed renderings of everything from nature scenes to ship designs, some even fully colored.
“No, not comics. These are amazing though,” Kit blushed a little as he flipped through their sketches, eventually coming upon a detailed schematic for a ship, a deep red color, detailing small flecks of blue and green across the bow. Solar sails of black and gray hoisted high above the magnetic coils outcropping from bow and stern. A small note by it simply read “The Cardinal”. “Holy shit… you made that?”
Kit blushed even deeper, taking the sketch book and putting it up on the workbench. They leaned back and gave a heavy sigh.
“Not yet.” There was a wistful tone to their voice, floating off into a daze. They snapped back to reality suddenly, “Until then we’ll keep running this stubborn old bird. Pidge here’s carried Captain through a ton of trouble.”
“Sounds like it.” Ren nodded, finally beginning to stand and stretch his now cramped legs in the small workshop, Kit joined him as they exited, finding Ash in the hallway on the way back to his cabin.
“Y’all were in there for a bit.” He raised his eyebrows at Kit, giving a smirk like an older brother teasing a younger sibling about a date. Kit smiled and gave a slight tilt of their head, looking at the ship’s engineer.
“Hey, Ren. Remember how I showed you to use the grapple? Perfect time to practice.” They gave Ren a little nudge as Ash ducked into the cabin, cackling. He followed, climbing into the same bunk he had crawled from what seemed only minutes before. Kit walked up the steps into the bridge as the door closed behind them.
Ren drifted off to the sound of engines humming, Ash already completely passed out, snores blending with the Pigeon’s engine hum. In between dreams he noticed Aeris hop her way into the room, fluttering up to the bunk above him to roost and stand guard.
With no idea where he was, Ren had never felt more at home.