2 – Boardwalk Brawl and Grand Theft Naut-o

I whirled around to face the man. There stood captain Dimitri flanked by the two crewmates I met earlier. He didn’t look happy, as evident by his scowl and white-knuckled fists at his sides. He snarled, “Get your ass over here, Vincent. You’ve screwed us, big time, and we intend to salvage whatever we can from this wreck.”

I hesitated. I had been given a quest by a god. I had a new duty.

Then I remembered that the quest technically did not infringe upon my ability to repay the debt. I was only to watch over Kornos, a task which wouldn’t keep me from working off what I owed. If anything, Kornos would be forced to work with me, seeing as how he was now my responsibility.

Capitalism cared not for the whims of gods unless explicitly told otherwise.

My train of thought was interrupted by Kornos’s boisterous voice, “A debt you say?”

Dimitri turned his eyes towards Kornos as he finally noticed the boy’s presence. “Stay out of this, brat,” he spat. “You don’t want to swim in these shark-infested waters, if you know what’s good for ya’.”

I glanced over my shoulder and caught Kornos flashing a literal shark-toothed grin. Dimitri and his mates flinched. “Oh?” Kornos drew out the word mockingly. Then he asked, “Don’t suppose you can let this little debt of yours slide by any chance?”

Dimitri replied with a simple, “No,” and didn’t elaborate further.

My mind raced as I scrambled for a way out of this mess. Kornos had bought me the time to do so, I’d have to thank him later. I cobbled together a rough idea that could only generously be called a plan, one that might give us a chance to get out of this mess. The plan barely finished forming when I blurted out, “A grace period!” Then I quickly added, “For the debt!”

Dimitri scoffed in disbelief. “You’re kiddin’! We ain’t wait’n another year for you to get your fancy badge.”

I shook my head frantically. “Two weeks!” I shouted before he could complain any further.

The captain blinked and cocked his head in confusion. “Huh? What in the crushing depths could you do in just two weeks?” he sneered.

The plan rapidly gained clarity in my mind as I continued. “Give me- us,” I corrected myself, giving a quick nod to Kornos, “two weeks. We’ll have the axia, or at least, something worth just as much.”

Flabbergasted, Dimitri sputtered, “And how in the crushing depths are you going to do that?!”

I steadied myself with a deep breath, then forced a tentative smile as I faced Kornos and said, “We’re going to go Diving.”

Stunned silence. I saw Kornos beaming, his eyes shined with anticipation. Dimitri and his mates on the other hand broke out laughing.

I felt my heart drop in my chest. I’d known I’d be shot down, but laughed at?

Eventually, the trio caught their breath, and the captain said, “Ah, that was a good one! Diving! A useless kid like you!” He chortled. “A pea-brained, wimpy twerp thinks he can dive with just the two of them! What a riot!”

For the first time in my life, I was angry. Not just frustrated or upset, but roiled with rage. I full-body shook in indignation.

Maybe I really did deserve those names. Maybe not. But I’d had enough. These Highdivers wanted to destroy my life just for a debt? Insult me and laugh in my face, but more importantly, insult my dream, all over some lost axia? The hurtful words wouldn’t do a damned thing to get back those lost profits, it was just to make themselves feel better.

Fuck that.

I roared and leapt towards the man in animalistic rage. A part of myself was surprised with just how far I flew. The blessing – for that was the only thing it could have been – had made me stronger than I was before.

I tackled Dimitri to the ground, the thick wood planks of the colony platform easily handling the impact, and we rolled. I ended up on top, straddling my opponent, and I didn’t pass up the opportunity to take out my anger at him. My punches were wild and unpracticed, but that didn’t matter; I had the strength that made up for the lack of finesse.

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I found the action cathartic; viscerally satisfying.

I got in two solid hits before being tackled by one of the crewmates and thrown off of Dimitri. I scrambled to my feet and saw Kornos brawling with the other, smiling wildly as he ducked beneath clumsy swings and countered with blows that carried the force of a raging current.

At my feet I saw the captain, down for the count; conscious, but clearly having suffered a concussion as his eyes rolled, unfocused. His mouth moved, but failed to form coherent words, having managed only groggy, pained noises.

I’d thrown punches before; roughhousing with friends built character, my dad claimed, and I’d agreed. But I was always the shrimp of the shoal. Before today – before just a few minutes ago, I would’ve never been able to knock a grizzled man like Dimitri out in just two hits. I marveled at the strength that Ashaollo’s blessing had bestowed upon me.

A solid blow to the gut shattered my wandering train of thought. Pain flared and my lungs emptied of air. I cursed inwardly and fell to the side to avoid the follow up overhead blow. I turned the dive into a roll, sprung to my feet, and faced my opponent, fists raised in the rough imitation of a boxer’s stance.

With a fluidity that startled me – and the crewmate, judging by the look on his face, I sidestepped his charge and kicked out at the back of the man’s knee as he passed me, sending him tumbling face-first into the side of a building. Another down for the count, groaning, but showing no signs that he’d get back up.

I took a moment to look over the aftermath. The first thing I noticed was Kornos. He had been spectating my fight, having already dealt with his own opponent. Kornos gave me a nod, which I returned. He looked like he hadn’t even broken a sweat, whereas I felt like I tumbled down a flight of stairs. He said to me, “That was a fun way to start off our adventure! Every tale needs a bout of fisticuffs!” He looked around, taking in our surroundings.

I’m not sure where Kornos had even come from. Had Ashaollo simply placed him here, Kornos appearing out of thin air? Or had he arranged the particulars of this encounter, having foreseen where and when Kornos would need to make himself known? I asked myself if it even mattered.

Ignorant of my internal debate, Kornos continued on in his increasingly familiar, boisterous manner, “Now, it’s time for the escape!”

“The what now?”

Kornos blinked. “The escape. We did just rough up several upstanding members of society. They usually stick people in small boxes for that sort of thing, don’t they?”

Oh, right. We just committed assault. Dammit.

Kornos continued, “Well, we better get a move on! Wonders and riches await!”

I kept the frustration at his lackadaisical demeanor from leaking out while I asked him, “Do you even know where we’re going? Or how we’ll get there?”

“Ah, that’s where you come in, Vincent. We need a vessel, preferably something fit for a crew of two, and a heading towards the nearest Anomaly.”

I wanted to shout, but refrained. I’d made more than enough impulsive decisions today, thank you. “You heard them say I’m in debt, right?”

Kornos nodded.

I waited, glaring at him expectantly. Did he not get it?

“And…?” Kornos looked genuinely confused. Nope, he hadn’t understood my point.

“By Masmera’s benevolence,” I swore, “what makes you think I could possibly afford a boat?!”

Kornos looked unperturbed at my exasperation. “I didn’t. Even I knew that was obvious. What I meant is, where can we find one? We’re going to steal it, obviously.”

Obviously? “Excuse me?”

“We’ll give it back,” Kornos said, as if that somehow made the theft acceptable. When he saw my furrowed brows, he added, “You said it yourself. You need to pay off your debt, and I need some excitement. As long as we set things right, what’s a little thing like borrowing a ride matter?”

I opened my mouth, closed it, then sighed in defeat. “Fine,” I relented. Might as add thievery to the crime pile. “Follow me.”

***

Before that, however, Kornos went through Dimitri’s pockets, eventually retrieving a collection of rolled up papers. I recognized them as sea charts marked with Anomalies. With that, we promptly absconded with the stolen maps.

After a quick stop by a general store that remained open this late at night, we quickly and discreetly made our way to the docks.

Beneath the colony proper, the docks were a ring of walkways surrounding one of the roughly fifty-foot diameter support pillars. Below the walkways, boats were moored to it; rope wound around thick metal rods driven deep into the wood at regular intervals. Embarking and disembarking were done through thaum-powered elevators, while cranes handled loading and unloading cargo.

Tonight, as always, the docks were unguarded. Being a relatively new colony at the edge of the frontier, their community was a close-knit one, and with the income from dives flowing through the colony, enriching it, the people had no need to steal from each other.

We walked with purpose, passing by groups of fishermen drinking and playing cards as lingering dock workers finished up inventories or shut down and stowed away equipment. None paid us more than a passing glance.

As we made our way around the docks, we took note of any vessel that might suit our needs. We needed something small enough for a crew of two, but large enough to carry cargo – loot. Eventually, we found a prime candidate.

The Whizzing Arrow, a sloop that I recognized – by the markings on its side – as belonging to the colony’s fishermen. It fit our criteria neatly. Though it had a storage container already installed – a cold box used for storing and preserving fish. It was simple enough for me to unbolt and discretely place it on the docks. With the tools I had with me, as long as I had some wood or metal to work with, I could fashion a simple container for whatever we ended up hauling back.

As I took care of preparing the deck and organizing equipment, Kornos handled the rigging and sail. He admired the vessel, noting the care that had gone into maintaining it. Silently, I held out hope that this boat would survive the voyage relatively unharmed, however unlikely that might be.

Under the cover of night, two boys stole away in a small, unassuming boat.