When the lip of Alvionion land finally came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief. The motions of travelling the water wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it didn’t bother me enough to really acknowledge it. No, the relief came from the change in smells. The port smelled like home, or at least closer to it than the horridly endless ocean. Soggy wood, burned meats, cheap ale, and dog shit never smelled so good after days of pallid salty brine air. I breathed in powerfully as if I had just emerged from a fishing dive, and pumped my chest as I began to hear the commotion of busy voices; complete with yells, swears and burps.
“YO THERE, BRING YER GIRLS ROUND TO DOCK THREE!” A booming voice from the ports hollered.
I was still too taken in by the atmosphere to fully acknowledge I was being addressed, but Ruby’s prodding finger in my back quickly brought my concentration back. I had to somehow steer this conjoined pair of ships into a specific dock before crashing through the damn port.
“Aye Aye!!” I yelled back, with the sailor slang tasting like vomit in my throat.
“What the hell are you ‘Aye-ing’ about, Pleb?” Ruby scolded as she approached the steering wheel. “We are going too fast and the Hell Manta isn’t going to halt with the anchor.”
“So? What exactly are you saying?” I asked as I spun the wheel towards the booming voice, having little to no clue what I was doing, but trying desperately hard to look confident at the helm.
“I’m saying hold on to something and I hope to the sea god that port is sturdier than it looks.”
Knives shrieked in my ear something fierce and as the view of the docks rushed into view I appreciated how fast we were going. I heard Ruby shout something about the anchor, but with both A screaming Knives and multiple shouting voices at the docks in front of us I couldn’t pick out more than 3 words. I was able to make out a collection of fine looking ships that were directly in my path, before a tremendous impact knocked me off my feet and on the back of my head. I felt Knives jump off my shoulder before everything went grey.
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“He’s opening his eyes, watch his hands!” A gruff voice with a northern accent gnashed along with some flecks of spit that hit my neck.
“Kyeeahhh!” Knives shouted from a good distance above as the world formed around me.
As my senses returned in full, my skull throbbed painfully as I tried to make out the collection of new voices around me. Once I was able to lift my head, I realised most of them were dwarves, with most of them pointing weapons at me, and also Ruby in the corner of my vision. My sense balance was the slowest to return and I realised I must have looked drunk as I palmed around the damp deck of the Bronze Bastion, trying to find the right form to return to my feet.
“You’re fine where you are, whelp. No sudden movements now. Keep nice and easy like your partner here,” the northern voice said again, revealing himself to be a taller-than-average dwarf with a greying beard gesturing to Ruby Jack.
“Partner? I’m not partnered with this piss-mopper! I am Jaqueline Ru-”
Ruby’s protest and introduction was cut off by the heavy clicking sound of cocked flintlocks and the sliding of unsheathed steel.
“Piss-mopper or Piss-swimmer, he’s the one wearing the fancy captain’s jacket so I’ll hear from him first, Lass,” the dwarf said dismissively.
The small satisfaction of authority that he granted me was offset by the couple dozen gun barrels I looked into as I shifted myself into a slightly more respectable seated position.
“I-I was aiming to dock like I was told to, and I think I must’ve lost control of my speed and…”
“And damaged both the Jackdore and the Blue Pony in one spectacularly idiotic collision!” A louder and younger dwarf yapped, as he stepped forward holding a mace. “You’ll be worked into a shallow grave after your arrest, sea dog!”
The reality of the situation rushed at me like a crashing tidal wave. I was the closest to land I had been since being assigned to the bastion and I was already facing prison because I recklessly sailed into a dock without even considering how to slow it down. Going from a cramped crew cabin to a cramped cell wasn’t my idea of an upgrade. I managed to pull my eyes away from the gun barrels and catch a look at Ruby’s face. For all of her pride and bluster, she was an would-be prisoner concerned for her life just like me. Unfortunately I didn’t have any tricks up my sleeve, I wouldn’t dare try and fight two dwarves let alone two dozen, and I didn’t have any slick words to talk my way out either.
“Alright, Ellis. Why don’t you give them some room, I got some questions for em,” The older dwarf said, waving the crowd off with his free hand.
“Nah, let the lawmen question ‘em. We just gotta make sure they don’t run,” the dwarf called Ellis snorted before nodding to a hammer-wielding brute to his right. “Dartus here can make sure their legs are no use to them, save us time using shackles, y’know?”
Ruby grimaced before glancing around herself hurriedly. I couldn’t shake the very real feeling that she was going to try something drastic, but I feared that speaking up might set her off regardless. The older dwarf who clearly had some authority in the matter acknowledged the hammer proposal before giving me another long look, and revealing a small thoroughly guarded level of empathy in his light brown eyes.
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“The buckshot from ma’ blunderbuss will cut ‘em both in half if it comes, Ellis. Don’t need a mallet to do the slow job of a pulled trigger, do I?”
There were some murmurs among the crowd with Ellis’ being the loudest, but one by one the crowd began to dissipate with most leaving the deck of the bastion altogether, while a few made a loose perimeter around us in a wide berth. We were still technically surrounded, but with only the older dwarf drawing down on us, I was able to take a breath, and Ruby seemed to relax, if only a little.
“Alright, kids. Why don’t you explain why a pair of soggy dogs are racing a busted cargo ship tied to a cloud-cruiser full mast into a crowded port. As much as I want to see you lot arrested for the damage, I’m still curious about your situation and motives.”
“Hang on, old man. Are you telling me you don’t know who I am?” Ruby asked, sounding equal parts shocked and offended.
“As old as I might be, I’d much prefer Frank, Lassie. And truthfully, all you damp-tramp humans look alike to me,” Frank said before spitting on the deck dismissively.
Ruby’s blue eyes went wide and I could see her face turn red, becoming a shade that nicely complimented her fiery hair. I barely stopped myself from chuckling, even with capture a near certainty, she was still more concerned with her infamy than her freedom. I decided to speak up before she did something stupid like pull out her wanted poster.
“It was a pirate attack,” I said firmly, drawing Frank’s attention to me. “I was a sailor drafted to the Bronze Bastion, and that airship attacked us. I-it was a bloody battle that left most on both sides dead, and then a powerful storm came and wiped out the rest of the survivors.” I forced my voice to stay steady as I told my half truth, praying that Ruby would keep her mouth shut. I didn’t dare look at her, but I fixed my eyes on Frank the dwarf, slowly reeling in that empathy like a bloated carp.
“So everyone was killed except you and the lass, who beat the storm?” Frank asked skeptically as he re-arranged his heavy belt which hung over his wide torso like a tire.
“She...was a prisoner,” I said, fully expecting to be cut off at any moment. “I found her bound on the airship and rushed her into the lower decks of the cargo ship, then the storm hit and we were sheltered from the worst of it...by the time it had settled we were the only two let alive.”
I finally found the nerve to turn to the miraculously silent Ruby Jack who had an expression like an active volcano. Not only had I denied her profile as a legendary pirate, but I added extra insult by making myself out to be her saviour. I could only deduce that on some level she understood the need for me to avoid the truth in the situation we were in, and held her mouth firm. Frank stroked his beard slowly and glanced at both of us before settling his eyes on Ruby.
“I can understand your feelings, lady. I hate being rescued too. I don’t like owing anybody anything,” Frank said in a gruff but understanding tone, before turning back to me.. “It’s a pretty barmy story, but still more believable than half of the horseshit tales you’ll hear at the tavern. Still, the damage to these two major freighters remains and you two need to foot that repair bill.
“You mean he needs to foot the bill,” Ruby piped up, her voice full of resentment. “Like he said, I was just a prisoner, and I sure as hell wasn't sailing this tub when it crashed into the port!”
Frank made a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle.
“She makes a strong point, Lad. If you’re really the last man on the crew, then the ship, and everything that happens with it, falls under your responsibility. But she’s free to go.”
Fucking pirates! Not an ounce of honor or responsibility in any of them. I could have revealed her true identity and turned her in for a juicy bounty and she surely knew that. Instead she’s leaving me high and dry while she saves her own neck, knowing it’d be too late to change my story. As she strutted past me, I saw the devilish glint in her eyes, no doubt ignited by a spiteful sense of victory after failing the struggle for my shield. But then something stirred in me, not anger, fear or even resentment, but a deep set arrogance. I wasn’t going to be outwitted by a reckless, loudmouth criminal, so I decided on something drastic.
“Alright, I’ll pay for the damages,” I said confidently, causing Ruby to turn back towards me in surprise while Frank raised a single bushy eyebrow.
“You got 280,000 royals on either of those tubs, Son? Because that’s a conservative estimate of how much those repairs will cost.”
I didn’t even have 28 royals to my name. But I continued with the same unflinching tone, that I knew that I’d need for the proposal I had in mind.
“The price of both of these ships is much more than 280 grand, Frank. I’ll sell them both to you now.”
In the moment of silence that followed I liked to imagine Ruby’s cold, bitter heart stopping in her chest for a full second, as she took on the appearance of a wax statue: lifelike but completely immobile. Frank, on the other hand, became more animated, as if he was kickstarted with a dose of skeptical intrigue.
“Those two ships…” he began with a dry mouth, hastily licking his lips to continue. “They are severely damaged, I can see that from here, you couldn’t convince morons on the south coast to give you full price for those.”
I smiled, but not too wide. I had him, but I didn’t want to turn him off with unnecessary smugness.
“You’re absolutely right, factor in wear-and-tear, hull and engine damage on both ships and the man hours it would take to purge the corpses out of each vessel, and you have a diminished price,” I said as I finally lifted myself to my feet, feeling about two feet taller than I did before. “But even the scrapped parts of the sea vessel would easily go for two-fifty grand, and I’m offering you the galley intact along with the airship. We are looking at a couple million.”
Frank began to make a grumbling sound as he glanced between both ships and scratched his beard for what seemed like a full 5 minutes, while Ruby Jack began the early stages of re-animation from her shock.
“Maybe 2 million at best,” Frank grunted as his beard scratching turned into a stroke. “And I’d still need to fully inspect both vessels before I could determine a price. Could take a while.”
“Fine, just throw me a few royals so I can get something to eat and drink and we can take it out of the final figure,” I responded as my thoughts turned to mine and Knives’ safety in a strange new town.
“H-hey...you can’t do that!” Ruby finally spoke up, her voice like a croak. “You can’t sell the pirate ship! It doesn’t belong to you!”
Checkmate.
“Who does it belong to, then?” I asked, unleashing every ounce of smugness into my voice.
“It belongs to...the pirates…” Ruby answered, almost tripping over her own sentence.
“The pirates are dead, and even if they weren’t…” I paused before turning to Frank to finish the explanation.
“Common sea law, Lassie. Pirates can’t legally own anything, and if an approved vessel is able to resist an attack by a criminal ship, it falls under the control of the captain of that vessel.” Frank turned back to me. “Don’t think I’m not going to a background check, Son. You might look like a damp deck rat, but I’ll be confirming with the registry if ‘Casper Kingsley’ was indeed a sailor on the Bronze Bastion.”
I nodded firmly as I offered a smirk to Ruby, who now seemed paralyzed by rage instead of shock.
“I’m sure that’ll take a while too, what do you propose we do while we wait?” I asked before casting a glance up to Knives who was gliding above me in a slow circle.
“Well I don’t want you going too far, just in case you are lying. So take a few royals and get yourselves a drink at the Dry Dagger port tavern, on the corner of the main street. I’ll send someone for you when I’ve got some answers.”
Frank tossed a small but very full coin sack my way only for a disgruntled Ruby Jack to snatch it out of the air and pull it away from me. Frank glanced at me before offering her a curious eye.
“ Oi! That money is for the lad,” Frank declared with folded arms.
“I’m buying the first round,” Ruby stated through clenched teeth as she marched past me in the direction of the tavern.
I was able to offer Frank a half smile and shrug before calling Knives down to my shoulder and following the hurried steps of the pirate holding my drink money.