As the Good Ship Eggshell made it’s route through out of the way islands and partially abandoned outposts, they would often pass by an aquatic conifer, it’s blue pine leaves brushing the top of their sails and giving them nuts that they could sell or smoke.

The following passages are told at the pace of each pass of the conifer, not all of them happen with the Good Ship Eggshell, but they all happened at the rate of it’s passing.

First Passing

*Wham*

Another hit, this one sending Devon soaring. She hit the ground hard. Something broke. This wasn’t the first time, and it no longer scared her. It would be fixed in a second, from one of the wraps they had in storage. Till then Adam did a decent job numbing the pain.

“Are you sure… I’m not gonna exhaust your guys supply?” Devon said in a whisper, wiping what she thought was spit from her mouth.

“It’s a part of our regular pickups” Hailien said. “We get it faster than you use it.”

Hailien was back at the starting position, protecting the stairs by standing a good ten feet away. The whole thing felt like a hyper violent childrens game.

Trying to rest, but not wanting to appear weak, Devon hobbled over to the white mound that once was Yucian, and put a stained hand on its side to steady herself, but played it off like a practical stretch.

“Alright, cool. In that case.” She bolted for it. The inertia kept her moving but it was clear this was a bad idea. Dammit, she didn’t want to slow down. Hailien confidently took the single step, and the path was blocked.

Devon lashed out. None of the rudimentary punches she had been taught, just wild aggression, attempting to cut down the massive Number with overgrown nails and kicks to the groin.

Hailien took the scratches and bruises the way she took her punches, not even trying to block them.

Hailien took a hand and clamped it around Devon’s head, the pressure was too much and she fell limp.

“You fight like a cornered animal.” She said. “Thats great. Excellent really. We can mold that into something powerful.” Devon looked down at her wet hand, she realized it wasn’t spit.

“Anyway” She said, “Have this”

She threw her a towel for the blood.

Second passing

They had been going for ten minutes now. No stops. This was Devon’s choice.

She was getting fed up at how often breaks were needed. Without Adam pulsing through her she couldn’t go a few minutes without a breather.

She wanted, no demanded, that Hailien stopped going easy on her, and let her find and conquer her limits. Since voicing this complaint yesterday, the only time the fighting stopped was when she lost consciousness, and not a moment sooner.

She was regretting this immensely.

There was no rest, no way for Devon to take an timeout outside of getting herself knocked out.

Hailien took any move as an attack, responding in kind. Within a minute of starting Devon all Devon could do was block.

When that became too much she switched to running

after that curling up into a ball, trying to make herself small until Hailien kicked her open for a sucker punch that was guaranteed to put her to sleep.

Once she regained consciousness, she would get up on tired feet, and the process was repeated.

A sweaty, sloppier version of it.

The basics Devon had been taught felt like a cruel joke. Hailien had access to moves Devon did not know, and countermoves for the few she did. And the worst part was that Hailien never failed to be nice about it. Even when she was curbstomping her into the coral, there was a kindness there. The kicking your ass part of their relationship was just a formality. Helping Devon was what she really wanted to do, and she was helping her one punch to the face at a time.

Hailien kicked her while she was down, Devon’s midsection unfortunately open. “I’m not going for the kill this time. But your opponents will, they won’t hold back.” She lifted her leg up for another kick.

With barely any thought to spare, Devon surprised herself by tracking the trajectory. Through a month and a half of getting kicked daily, she could now tell when and where it was going to land. Not just the general direction, the exact spot.

Like a overcompensating fisherman, Devon caught the foot in midair. It hurt like hell to have stopped that level of force, but all the momentum was taken out of the swing. And for a second, an exciting second, she was in control.

“Good job Devon!” Adam cheered, floating on the sideline.

Even Hailien smiled, as much as one with an immovable lower jaw could.

Then she yanked Devon forward, rolled her over with her free leg, and punched her in the gut. A mixture of spit and blood flew out of her like a geyser.

“You had an opening, and you didn’t take it. You basked in glory that would have gotten you killed.”

Devon groaned, getting the wind knocked out of her still sucked shit, even with a few additional pounds of muscle.

“But you’re actually getting openings now, so that is progress.” she patted her contorting body. “Good job.”

Third Passing

Morgan Lemure was staring at the rankings.

They were depicted in flesh, self modified cultures that took the shape of thousands of individual strands communicating with each other, creating different colored lines that, taken together, could produce any image the person they were connected to want.

He rubbed the part of his neck that had been injected, and looked at rankings that had remained the same for four whole weeks. Nearly a month. So many empty spaces, the highest rank 37, through technically 35, if the mutiny theory was correct. (He did not want to believe it was)

And there, the girl who seemed to, somehow, be behind it all, or atleast the closest thing he had to a villain, Devon Near.

Ranked number 1, her face taken in profile from a camera that caught her fleeing the hotel. She had the remark of Adam. She had used it to kill Yucian.

She was out there, freely breathing.

She was out there.

“Hey Boss I-“

A spire of darkness pierced the wall so close to Daaz’s head it caught tufts of her brown hair. “The fuck?”

“I’m terribly sorry.” He said evenly. “I wasn’t expecting company.”

But he was. Any minute now a mob could come in, an open rebellion, and they would be right to rebel. This was not one of his stronger years.

“Why didn’t Merry buzz you in?”

“Because Merry wasn’t there” She sauntered past him, showing the disrespect she was famous for. That atleast was a welcome sign, perhaps things weren’t that unheard of if Daaz Chesterfield still had zero manners. “Bunch of people were showing up late, or not showing up at all. People are starting to realize the mayor isn’t just on an extended vacation.”

He nodded. “And what use do they have for their jobs if they know there’s no longer a figure enforcing it?”

She turned to him, surprised. “Was that really her role?”

“Head disciplinarian? Unofficially, but yes. Also dealt with paychecks, officially. She was adept at it. As she was at many things.” She wore many hats, lemure needed to start training replacements among his ranks, but he did not know the lower numbers that well, and the other Constants already had enough on their plates in terms of duties.

Daaz’s gaze settled on the screen. She hurried over to it and tapped on Devon’s visage. “What can we do about this?”

“I can prevent any of my power from going through her remark, something I’ve been doing. Outside of that, I am limited.” He shrugged. “You must understand I didn’t think something like this would happen.”

“There’s no kill switch?”

“No, she needs to be killed.” He raised a hand, and the flesh screen changed hues row by row until they were staring at a map of the drum, a yellow band appeared circled around Gutworth and the surrounding water. “We know she’s on the ship, as it has been spotted, but it’s all been far too close to Luminescia. We cannot go there without destroying a treaty they only agreed to out of pity.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“That’s weird, you’d think the same courtesy would make it hard for the crew of turncoats.”

“No longer recognized as members, I doubt Lumenescia knows our roster, or cares. They probably took off or burned their uniforms.” He seemed incensed at that, clutching tightly a fist that leaked black liquid between the fingers.

Daaz thought about this. “Morgan, what if we had-“

“We’d still need to find the ship, but yes, I approve that whole heartedly. Send her. Let’s see what she can do.” The girl Daaz was referring to was flighty, and not all together trustworthy, but the Needle had made her strong, and if she died in the process it would not be an issue.

“You won’t be dissapointed sir!” Daaz said excitedly.

Morgan coughed once. Already leaving she turned quickly, her body frozen mid run.

“Chesterfield, have you heard anything from Quertra?”

“Nothing sir, only that she’s still missing” Daaz rubbed her bare shoulders and looked to the side. “I think she has a plan, I hope she does atleast.”

Morgan coughed again. “In that case, I have a request for you Daaz”

“Anything.”

“Find her.” Daaz nodded and headed out.

Forth Passing

Stuck below decks, Devon used meals to check the days. Squish Snakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While the taste and the texture took some time to get used to, they were high in protein, whatever that was.

They were also one of the few animals around that didn’t contain prions, something that she said was a death sentence, even if it was slower than most. She had had 379 Squish Snakes, which roughly translated to 125 days, or around 4 months.

The spars were getting easierish.

Devon was no longer prioritizing escape, focusing on the fight itself. They all ended with her ass on the ground, naturally, but the time between getting her ass kicked was getting longer and longer. She was “not a fast learner, but a studious one” according to Hailien. She was absorbing everything she was taught like a sponge

Evenif it sometimes took time to build up the raw strength or ability to actually do those moves effectively, she memorized and would be able to utilize once it was possible.

It felt freakishly beautiful to be good at something.

Her body got better with every swing or dodge. Her feet no longer felt clumsy when she had to back up to avoid an attack. Her hands no longer felt insufficient when she would land a glancing blow.

“You’re a harder target now” Hailien said. She punched the ground, denting the floor. Devon narrowly dodged it and moved into a crouch. After a moment of hesitation she tried running around Her opponent, angling for a chance to jump up on her back and wail on it. It was her go to strategy, for better or worse.

Like always Hailien turned too quickly, and met Devons leap with two hands that caught her in midair. “But you need to become impossible to catch.”

*SLAM* The impact was enough to spring a leak. And left Devon’s body in a painful upside down u shape. Some of the crew, who had been watching from the hatch came down and furiously scooped up some of the excess Yucian and placing it in the new gap.

“Adam” Devon said wearily “I’m gonna need you to numb this.”

“Numb what exactly?”

She groaned, finding it hard to even speak. “Fucking… everything.”

Thus ended practice for the day.

Fifth Passing

“Footwork, remember footwork”

She had learned something in the past month or so, don’t go for the takedowns. They were in a situation darkly familiar to Devon. She was backed into the sloping corner, her blocking and dodging enough to keep her standing, but not good enough to control the flow of the fight. So now she was here, with space that was lessening with every moment that passed. She had to do something.

“Go between the legs and run” Adam said “She won’t expect that.”

Always the pacifist in these fights, she wondered sometimes if it was due to a fondness for Hailien, or a man who had just recently found a distaste for blood. It didn’t suit the image she had of him. The man who had killed a half dozen Numbers was a softie.

She held out her hands in a grappling position, flaring her back and moving her feet so she was primed on her toes. Three weeks ago, she would have simply charged, and got a bodyslam as a reward. Two weeks, she would have feinted, and thrown a hook. That would have been met with a sprained wrist, and a kick in the head for the foolishness of such a maneuver. A week ago, attempt a takedown, probably the worst choice out of the dozens available to her. She was weaker than Hailien, would be for a while, it just left her open for a beating.

Instead, she baited for a swing. Once Hailien obliged, she jumped back with force, rebounding off of the wall. Soaring across the room, she delivered a soft kick to Hailien’s head, this changed her trajectory so that she was headed for the door, far past her. Once she hit the ground in a combat roll, she picked up running, fully intending to reach the door, forget the pain in her arm, a nasty miscalculation she would just have to deal with. She had gotten prestigious at ignoring pain.

“Thats good, thats very good” Adam said, not sounding particularly enthused.

Well screw him, he was along for the ride. It excited her to have him feel how much she changed. With a speed that would have winded her before, she dashed towards the door. Her body was a machine now, her strength enough to one up a high ranking number. Not enough to fight her head on, but a foot race? Well, Hailien wasn’t even following her. A glance back confirmed the behemoth of a woman was standing with her Remark raised, probably as a sign of respect. She was close to the hatch now, in leaping distance. Her training was over. She was ready.

She uttered a curse of disbelief when Hailien’s massive sword pierced the ceiling right besides the hatch. Appearing like a Remark, Hailien was suddenly there besides it, pulling it out with a satisfying crunch that littered the floor with chitin.

“Good job” she said. “Now we can fight with weapons.”

Sixth Passing

Hailien snapped her finger, something she had never done before. “We’re gonna try something a little different.”

“Oh, you’re gonna actually try, you mean?” Devon said, panting excitiedly as she realigned her sprained left arm. Adam had been a godsend when it came to that sort of thing. While he could heal her body much faster than she could on her own, he understood her need for agency, and for the most part, his encyclopedic knowledge of on the fly fixes was all she needed.

Her body itself had benefited greatly, like it had been waiting for this day.

Devon was finally becoming the person she was meant to be. No longer was she lanky, but wiry. The slouching stiffness that had affected her when she had first met Adam now replaced with a limber flexibility, her body always in motion. Even standing in an idle pose, she couldn’t help but shift her body side to side, rocking to a tempo only she could hear, Adam turned 90 degrees in her hand, ready to be used at a moments notice.

“Remember the good ol days, when I couldn’t go an hour without coughing blood?” Devon said, “Now that was fun! I actually feared for my life at points. Now though-“ And here she moved into an arm stretch, arching her back and lifting her chin with a deep breath in. “I don’t know, it’s still a challenge, but it’s like… doesn’t seem like you’re trying anymore.”

“You can leave at any time then.” Hailien said, not engaging in the attempt at banter. To show she was serious, she stepped away from the door.

“Why would I? Your great company.” She felt Adam scratch at her chin. He had a bad feeling about this, and she experienced it by proxy.

Even if this was a trap, she had grown enough as a fighter to be able to get through it through brute force alone. She got down on one knee, taking a runners stance, before bursting into a run. Adam still wasn’t affecting her movements, only helping mentally and when she requested it, and still she was running at a rate that had to be twice what she could muster at the start of all this.

She couldn’t help but give Hailien a shit eating grin, confident that her speed was faster than the distance the large woman could make up. But Hailien was already in motion, throwing her sword straight at Devon. This was new, in both ferocity and lethality. Sure she had never gone easy on her, but this could potentially kill her.

She balked and crabwalked to the right in an undignified manner. Hailien used her trick to appear at the end of her swords arc, catching it in midair, she kicked Devon, already unbalanced, fully off her feet. She was prone now, she readied Adam to throw, but-

It was too late, she saw that clearly. Even as Adam barreled into her left shoulder, it did nothing to stop the speed of Hailien’s downward swing, aimed straight for her exposed torso.

With one clean swing, Devon Near was cut in half.

There was enough time to feel the sensation of her innards gushing out, before there was a snap-

-and she was sitting in the same place, back in one piece. Hailien was back where she was with the first snap, looking at Devon curiously.

“Fuck!” It was the only reasonable response to being cut in half, “What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the FUCK” she got up, almost falling over again.

There were No bruises, no interior damage, no sign that it had ever even happen. It was like the whole incident had been erased from existence. It seemed almost criminal to have no physical evidence. She looked at Hailien pleadingly, hoping the woman would atleast do her the courtesy of acknowledging that what she had felt had happened.

Adam was still buried in Hailien’s monstrous shoulder, his little remark nub popped out, seeming confused.

“I felt the use of a Remark, are you okay Devon?”

“No I am NOT” She screamed. Stamping her foot, she bought Adam back to her hand, getting into the same stance as before. It bought her comfort to so quickly go back to old routines. “I just saw myself die.”

Hailien was composed and still. She looked like a statue of herself more than she did a person. “I told you we would be trying something different.“ She said, mouth remaining inert, her voice muffled behind her metal jaw.

Trying to murder her was different. It was… murder?! Nothing like what they had been doing. And yet Hailien had made it clear that her biggest regret was that she couldn’t teach Devon what it meant to fear death.

She was about to say something, get herself into a real yelling frenzy that may have ended in her going for Hailien’s throat, but she composed herself. It may have been Adam, it may have been the now months long fighting regiment that had mellowed her out considerably, either way, she found herself understanding Hailien’s logic. “It was… wait, it can’t be your trick, yours is” She mimed the way Hailien would phase through reality using her sword, it was quite a complicated hand motion.

“Yes, this is another level to it.” She took out her Remark, it was sheer metal coming in at seven feet hilt to tip, ghostsilver metal emanating a type of metal that seemed to reflect light faster than it received it, making the surface seem like a sped up hazy reflection of what surrounded it. “You see, when I snap my fingers, I’m priming my body to act without incident. Nothing I do between then and when I snap my fingers again” she snapped them to demonstrate “Will matter.”

Devon nodded, trying to keep up. Really it didn’t matter much to her outside of the fact that she wouldn’t die. “Okay… but that- that still felt fucking real.” She let her guard down, letting loose an anxiety her body had been harboring since the cut had happened by dropping Adam and closing her eyes.

“I know” Hailien raised her sword. “It’s supposed to feel real.”

Adam tried to warn her, but it was too late.

Her head was sent flying.

Hailien snapped again before it hit the floor, and it was like it had never happened.

Devon was less surprised then she was angry. After taking in a panicked breath, she adjusted fast. Yelling as she ran forward, she was no longer attempting to get a sneaky victory by trying to escape. No, now this was personal. There was something uniquely shameful about letting an opponent kill you when death itself was no longer a concern. She felt a fire she hadn’t felt in weeks. Finally, something that burned. Something worth improving for.

Hailien snapped her finger, and they went again.