Hours later, the two of us relaxed together under the sheets of her futon, exhausted after our…exertions. Turns out, the same enhanced stamina that aided an Awakened in battle had benefits in other ‘areas’ as well.

That had been a fun and interesting discovery to make those weeks ago.

I accepted the pipe that Bella passed my way and took a long draw from it, letting the pipeweed fill my lungs. It exited as a drawn-out, slow exhale, with me already feeling the mildly relaxing effects of the herb. In quiet moments spent relaxing with her in the past, I was surprised to discover that she was an occasional smoker. Not like Grey, who had a tendency to smoke like a chimney when he was stressed.

She had a preference for the finer stuff.

Speaking of…

I handed her back the pipe, and accepted the glass of what she called ‘rog’. Essentially, a higher-quality grog than what the rest of the crew drank. Funny enough, that actually stood for something, according to her. A sort of in-joke among her crew.

Ransacked Ocean Gold.

I’d had a bit of a laugh about that with her in the past.

Once I’d taken a sip, I leaned back against the wall of the room and cradled the glass in my hand, letting my gaze drift over to Bella. Like me, she was naked from the waist up and resting against the wall, and I allowed myself to enjoy the sight of her for a moment as she took a draw from the pipe as well.

It had been…

Well, a long, long time since I’d had anything like this. Sylvia and I…we hadn’t progressed to this point. Partly, I think, because neither of us had been sure if it was even possible, for Humans and Sculpted. I had…always been curious, if Sculpted were…fully functional, in that way. But I had never asked, partly because Sylvia had been very self-conscious about the possibility.

And now that possibility had passed, and I was likely never going to find out.

I pushed those dark thoughts away and instead focused back on Bella. Said Captain noticed my stare and rolled her eyes tolerantly at me, but didn’t bother to cover herself back up. “What?” She asked slight amusement in her voice. “Ain’t like this is the first time ye’ve seen me like this.”

I shrugged, unapologetic. “Yeah, but it’s nice,” I said with a smirk, causing Bella to snort. After a moment, I sobered up though and decided to broach the subject that had been on my mind for weeks now. “I’m…surprised you wanted to do this again, Bella. Last time you were honestly pretty pissed off.”

The smirk on Bella’s face faded, and she looked away from me. “Yeah, well,” She said roughly. “I was…more pissed at meself, honestly. Don’t pretend all o’ that was planned, now.”

I nodded thoughtfully. She was right about that.

The last time Bella was in port, the two of us had been invited to come along on an Oni Hunt. The others had been busy at the time, so we had accepted and traveled along with the same troop the rest of my companions had accompanied. It had ended up being both a good advancement opportunity and the right thing to do. It went surprisingly well, and when we had gotten back to Hinaga, the two of us had decided to celebrate privately.

With plenty of booze.

Lots and lots of booze.

Things had devolved from there.

The next morning, Bella woke me up with how much she was surprisingly freaking out about it. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any accusations about anyone taking advantage of anyone else, but she had been distressed all the same. I’d been so hung over at the time that I had barely been able to get a word out before Bell had beat feet for the port, and in record time, was disappearing over the horizon aboard her ship.

At the time, I’d been wondering if I had destroyed one of my few, real friendships on Vereden with a drunken mistake. I hadn’t known what had caused Bella so much distress and hadn’t been able to ask her. I’d been left with only questions after her rapid retreat. I couldn’t even tell the others why Bella was gone, leading to most of them just assuming we’d had a disagreement during the Hunt. I was pretty sure Liora had figured it out, though, if Bella hadn’t flat-out told her before she left.

I’d caught the Gnoll woman giving me knowing looks a few times, over the last few weeks.

Silence descended between the two of us for a moment, before I broke it. “So.”

Bella’s eyes flickered my way, and she nodded slightly. “So.”

“So, what’s the problem?” I asked patiently. “Why did you disappear?”

Bella sighed and set her pipe bowl face down on a small plate next to the futon, extinguishing it. “Couple reasons, I guess,” She said tiredly. “One, I ain’t lookin’ fer a relationship, Nate. I’ve got enough on me plate as it is. I don’t need a man weighin’ me down like an anchor on top o’ all that. No offense.”

I shrugged one shoulder idly. “None taken. I’m not either. You know how my last relationship ended.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I really, really wasn’t.

Bella smiled at me then, looking a bit relieved. “Good. But that ain’t all. I, uh. I felt like I took advantage of ye. Just a bit. Ye don’t exactly have an air of a,” She visibly groped for the right words momentarily. “Man with a girl in every port. And ye just had all that go down with Sylvia. Ye strike me as a bit…vulnerable, Nate.”

I rolled my eyes then, sitting up straighter. I took a moment to empty my glass of its rog and handed it back to Bella. I spoke up as she refilled the glass and took a sip herself. “I’m not that fragile, Bella,” I said with a small smile. “Everything that happened with the war…I won’t pretend it didn’t take a toll. But these months have been good to me. Good for all of us, I think.”

Bella heaved a breath, nodding. “Yeah. With the fightin’ dyin’ down, I haven’t actually been doin’ too much raidin’ and pillagin’, ye know? The Bluebacks have pretty much taken over runnin’ the Royal Navy like they did before the war. Contracts fer those of us on the wrong side of the law are runnin’ out. Way they see it, if’n ye didn’t choose a side by now, ye don’t get a share of the profits. What that means fer me, though, is that I’ve been steppin’ into that legit shippin’ contract Whitegull promised me. After I…left…”

More like ran away, I didn’t say out loud.

I’d like my tongue to remain attached to my mouth, thanks.

“I took a trip down thattaways and checked in with ‘em,” She continued, before smirking. “I ain’t been let go, but I’m free ta act how I please fer now. Which brought me back up here. I…didn’t want nothin’ ta fester.”

I reached across the sheets covering our legs and grabbed her hand before meeting her eyes. “There’s nothing wrong here, Bella,” I said, trying to project confidence. “I was mostly just confused while you were gone. I have nothing wrong with us continuing the way we have been.”

Partly a lie.

I’d been pretty anxious our friendship was over too. But I didn’t need to say that.

“Alrigh’ then,” Bella breathed. “Glad we got tha’ settled. Nate…this is just a bit o’ fun between friends, yeah?” At my understanding nod, she continued. “Ain’t no reason ta bring emotions into it. And it ain’t anyone else's business but ours. So…let’s say we keep it goin’ that way, eh?” With those words, Bella set her drink down on the low table next to our futon, and turned to me with a raised eyebrow. I had to stifle a laugh when she shook her shoulders almost hauntingly at me, but sat up from my reclining position anyway.

I could take a hint when it was almost literally shoved in my face.

I may not have actual Stamina anymore, but real stamina sure came back quickly for me these days.

…………………………………….

Bella and I didn’t come back down from her room until nightfall. By that time, the rest of our companions had returned from their own business for the day and joined us for dinner. Those of my friends who hadn’t seen Bella yet were surprised to see her. Surprised, but happy.

Well, but for the curious glances that bounced between her and I. But we were sitting next to each other at the table with no obvious discomfort, so I think the assumption was we had made up.

And we certainly had.

There were two standout examples from the others, though. Liora just gave the two of us a knowing look but didn’t say anything. Renauld, meanwhile, waggled his eyebrows at us and then tapped his nose, when I shot him a curious look of my own.

Ah.

That’s right.

Gnolls in general…they tended to have a stronger sense of smell than us Humies. And with Perception thrown into the mix...

Bella shot him a blistering look, though, and he settled down.

We hadn’t talked about it during or after our…activities, but it turned out Liora had already informed Bella about the expedition to Goryuen.

“Yeah, I’m happy ta come along,” She said, accepting a platter of my local favorite.

Good old-fashioned chicken on a stick.

“Problem bein’,” Bella continued, loading her plate. “Is I can’t take ye lot there. Not cause I don’t want ta. But because only Imperial ships are allowed in those waters, even if ya got a permit.”

I finished chewing my own mouthful, swallowed, and spoke up. “So, we’ll have to charter a different ship then? Sad, I was looking forward to the trip there on the Reef.”

Bella rolled her eyes at my teasing tone, but nodded. “Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. ‘Sides, it’ll be good fer the boys. They can hang out here and enjoy some shore leave while I’m out trompin’ through the jungle.”

Azarus looked up from his own meal long enough to shoot Bella an almost despairing look. “This place is a jungle?” He groaned aloud. “Gods damnit, I hate jungles.”

Venix took a sip from the cup of tea he held in between the palms of his uppermost arms, while his lower finished pouring a cup for Liora. “It is not that bad,” He said mildly, nodding back to Liora as she dipped her head in thanks for the cup. After a moment though, he tilted his head in thought. "Aside from the monsters, perhaps," He amended.

Renauld laughed, leaning back on his palms. “Yeah, but aren’t you from Indiqua?” He said with a smirk. “You know, the planet absolutely covered in deadly jungle that makes anything on Vereden look like a joke? You might have a bit of a skewed perception there, man.”

“I’m not a man,” Venix replied immediately without blinking.

I noticed he didn’t deny the words, though.

Guess I was going to be ‘trompin’ through the jungle’ soon, like Bella said.

Suits me.

My skills would blend in nice there, I feel.

………………………………………

Now that Bell had returned, we didn’t really need to stick around much longer. She had all the supplies she would need for her own back on the Thorny Reef. Meanwhile, the rest of us were more than ready to set out for Goryuen, and ultimately the metallic door that rested in the shadow of Mt. Gorenzan.

And Tatsugan.

In fact, I’d say that some of us were getting a bit antsy to go. I’d been practicing more with Azarus and Venix in the morning, as I tended to do when they were in town. The both of them had an eagerness to their strikes and blows that showed through to those in tune with their own.

You just…kind of picked up on this, with practice.

There was no point wasting time and putting it off. With Bella’s help, the two of us went down to the office of the Hinagan port authority and tried to negotiate for an authorized ship that would take our party to the isle. They had been initially quite skeptical about our request but settled down when I showed the permit allowing passage. I’d been a bit surprised at the near reverence that the bureaucrat had shown that permit, in fact.

That was until he told me that the stamp on the bill came directly from the office of the Emperor himself.

I…hadn’t realized that the interest in this matter ran quite that high. Masahiro really did have friends in the highest places.

Within the day, the six people of our party had assembled on the ship that had been chartered for our use, paid for out of my own pocket. Apparently, the Captain of this ship, a merchant vessel named the Kaminari Maru, had outright jumped at the chance to embark on a mission authorized by the Emperor himself. He’d been downright welcoming to us as we boarded his ship. According to him, the journey to the isle would take us about four days, depending on how favorable the winds were.

Only an hour after stepping foot on the Kawamaran-styled merchant galleon, the sails emblazoned with stylized storm clouds unfurled and we got underway.

Goryuen awaited.