As the evening wore on, more and more crew mates aboard the Gaping Maw retired to the crew quarters, soon filling it with raucous conversation and laughter as they took seats on barrels, crates and stools or simply hung over the side of their hammocks to converse with their neighbors. Topics ranged from recounting the trouble they'd gotten up to in the city that day, to the quests they'd just returned from, to hushed rumors about the state of the hydra that was currently locked away somewhere in the belly of the ship. More than a few games of dice and cards were ongoing at the scattered tables, most of which included the clanking of coins as bets were made.
The crew of the ship was the most diverse crowd Iris had ever encountered. Only a handful were human, with the majority being either halflings, orcs, or green-skinned elves that Iris suspected might be from the elven city in the swamp she had heard about -- though, so worried that assumption might be offensive, so she kept it to herself. Regardless of their species, nearly every pirate aboard wore similar garb of off-white canvas tunics and bloused trousers tucked into boots, though they each had their own individual flares. Many wore distinguished hats, colorful sashes, belts lined with pouches and bandoliers filled with knives. That was to say nothing of the weapons, of which everyone seemed to carry at least two or three. There were curved swords of countless different types of metal, chunks of metal that looked like one-handed crossbows minus the bow, and various styles of throwing knives, rope darts, and other exotic weapons.
There were more than a few pets on board, too. Iris had already spotted a large rat wearing a bandana around its neck scurrying beneath the hammocks, a few colorful birds that occasionally squawked or fluttered down the length of the crew quarters, and at least two different species of lizard -- one of which changed color to match its surroundings. She considered letting Littletooth loose to mingle with the other animals, but quickly decided against it as she had no idea how he would behave and certainly didn't want to advertise that she was carrying around a baby wyvern while the titans were still searching for a missing wyvern egg.
She attempted to spend the evening reading in her hammock but found the noise too distracting, so instead she mostly daydreamed while she held open the book in front of her to hopefully discourage anyone from bothering her. Killup had helped them each find unclaimed hammocks, but there hadn't been any available next to each other so they were all spread out. Iris ended up in a hammock in the back corner of the deck, near the door to the infirmary. The other members of her body had taken hammocks scattered throughout the deck, and she only vaguely recalled the general areas of each of them. She was pretty sure Autumn was the only member of her body on the third deck at the moment, though, and she knew if she stepped foot in the galley right now she’d be quickly put to work rearranging the entire place. She sighed, accepting her fate to rot in her hammock for the rest of the evening.
"You can't sleep there," a gruff, masculine voice said from aisle at the end of her hammock.
Iris lowered her book to see a large orc -- or maybe he was regular sized for an orc, she wasn't sure -- standing at the end of her hammock. He was bald-headed and wearing a light brown tunic with the collar open to expose a hairy chest, one of his ears bore a deep, disfiguring scar while the other had several silver hoops pierced through it. His expression was something between annoyance and anger.
"Why not?" she asked casually.
"Because that one's mine," he pointed at the hammock below her, "and I don’t like people sleeping above me."
Iris guessed that she should be afraid in a situation like this, as the orc was not only physically larger than her but without question a much higher level. She had the feeling, however, that he wasn't expecting her to be as difficult to handle as she knew she could be. It hadn't been lost on her that as the new kid on the ship, who was not only a young woman but also dramatically underleveled for the environment, she would probably face some difficulty from the existing crew. Better to make an example out of someone early, rather than late, she reckoned.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said loudly enough for other nearby pirates to hear, then raised the book once more to block her view of the orc while keeping the attention of her awareness ability focused on his on every move.
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The orc growled and grabbed hold of the hammock to flip Iris onto the floor, but the hammock was suddenly empty. He blinked in surprise just before a pair of boots slammed into the back of his head. Iris kicked off of him and flipped backwards into a landing, despite putting all of her strength into the blow and catching him off guard the orc barely stumbled. He released a deep, rumbling growl as he slowly turned around to face her, the general commotion of the crew quarters growing quiet as others noticed the confrontation.
"I'm going to drown you for that," the orc growled.
"Hm, no," Iris shook her head curtly, "I don't think you will."
Coins started passing hands and getting tossed into piles throughout the deck as bets were made on who would win. The orc lunged for her with outstretched hands, and she blipped out of the way. The orc anticipated this and preemptively spun around to catch her next incoming kick right out of the air. Iris gasped as the orc hoisted her up the by the foot until they were almost eye-to-eye.
"Arrogant little shit," the orc snarled, "what will you do now, runt?"
Iris didn't answer, instead waiting for the orc to notice her next trick. His eyes slowly moved from hers to the purple drawstring bag dangling from her waist -- and the tentacle extending out from it. He followed the tentacle upwards, where it reached up over his head and twisted around the hilt of a great sword with the tip of the blade lingering less than an inch from his face, pointed right between his eyes.
"That's Abby," Iris smiled, "if you try to mess with me in my sleep, by the way, she'll cut you in half."
The audience of pirates jeered and yelled at the fight as Iris wiggled her foot free of her boot to drop out of the orc's grasp and immediately blip behind him. Abby's tentacle rapidly twisted in the air, swinging the sword haphazardly around until it found its new resting position just beneath the orc's chin. She wanted to threateningly whisper in his ear, but he was far too tall for that, so instead she settled for standing on her toes and speaking somewhat quietly.
"Is that enough, or do I need to make my point with blood?" she had stolen that line from a book, but she guessed the pirate probably hadn't read it.
The orc shoved an elbow backwards, driving it into Iris’s chest at the same time as he was reached up and grabbed the blade of her sword. Abby yanked the sword back, slicing open the orc's hand but dealing only superficial damage. He released his grip but shot out his other hand to grab the handle of the blade, clamping his large fingers over the tentacle that held it.
"That's enough!" Autumn shouted, banging too large pans together as she stepped out of the galley. With her was Killup, watching warily from where he cowered behind her.
The orc paused. Iris was wheezing at his feet and his outstretched hand clung to a great sword held by a long tentacle that wrapped around the air of his immediate surroundings before ultimately terminating in the bag on Iris's waist. He stared down the length at the deck at the interruption.
"My name is Autumn Brett," she addressed the quarters at large, "I'll be your chef for the duration of the upcoming journey. Now, I generally like to think that tampering with food is an affront to the gods -- it's the singular worst, most depraved and reprehensible action a person can take, to turn life's greatest pleasure into a weapon."
She paused her speech as she stomped her way down the aisle between the bunks. It was a long walk, especially with her stubby legs, but the silence held and the orc remained still until she arrived before him. He was well over twice her height, but she looked up at him with the same disrespect as she would if she were the tall one looking down.
"That," she pointed at Iris where she lay on the floor, "is my friend. And if you hurt my friend, you'll meet the most depraved and reprehensible person in the world -- me, when I'm pissed the fuck off. Poisoning you will be the first thing I do, and if that doesn't work," she turned and motioned across the crew quarters, "then I'll just have to stop feeding all these fine people, and make sure everyone on board understands it's your fault."
For the first time since the altercation began, fear entered the orc's eyes. Murmurings amongst the crew quickly turned to shouts and jeers aimed in his directions
"Cut it out Dorragth!"
"We'll you eat if we gotta!"
"Stop fucking everything up, you idiot!"
Dorragth snarled, but released his grip on the sword. Abby lingered for a moment, twisting the sword around to wave the tip past his face, then rapidly withdrew both the tentacle and the sword into the bag. Iris climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. He looked down on her with disdain and fury.
"I could squash you in a fair fight," he growled quietly.
"Yeah," Iris said with an attitude, "that's why I don't fight fair."
Dorragth growled one more time, then stomped past her and headed for the stairs. Iris smirked and held a fist out towards Autumn, who bumped it with her own.