Raven sat upright with a start and regretted it immediately. His whole body screamed at him to slow down, his side and shoulder were like fire when he moved; and then it all came flooding back. He'd been shot, twice and he'd fallen on top of some poor fool and now he was...here.
Here was a small room roughly the size of his office back in Burtyne, he lay in a bed that was tatty and discoloured, almost as bad as his current clothing; his ringmail was gone and he couldn't see it around the room, and his preferred black garments were replaced by a brown shirt that looked and smelled like it had started white and ridiculous knee high trousers that were striped dark red and a brown or yellow colour, they didn't fit or suit him.
Just past the rotten wooden bedframe stood a rusty wash basin decorated with bloody bandages, there were no windows, just a small lantern swinging gently on the ceiling and a half burnt candle stood on a knee high cabinet that illuminated the face of Alayne Ducard resting in a small wooden chair against the wall, the only other furniture to speak of.
He had questions and he had pain and as he tried to gather the strength to sit he stared for a moment at the lantern above him.
Why was it swinging?
Then he smelt the salt in the air, heard the creak of the wood all around him and did his best to roll into a seated position.
"You should stay down, you've been asleep for some time and the swaying takes some getting used to at the best of times."
Even in the dull light of the candle Raven could see the weight on Alayne shoulders, he looked…broken in a way, he sounded like his usual self and looked like it for the most part, shoulder length mousy hair perfectly brushed, no more than a mornings worth of stubble and his clothes were as well tended as usual; wide brimmed hat and undirtied white shirt and perfect deep purple cloak trailing to his feet even in a seated position. Raven assumed it was some of the strange magic the bard was abusing to keep himself so, but despite all of the normality; something was gone, like a spark had gone from behind his eyes and he was doing his best to cover it.
"Where?"
He had more questions but the quick questions was all his mind could manage as he found the small movement of sitting up had drained him considerably and he was suddenly very worried by the nauseous feeling in stomach and how that would react to whatever wounds lay underneath his bandages.
"We are somewhere at sea, doesn’t get much more specific for me I'm afraid but our Captain will meet you soon enough and he should be able to tell you...well maybe. But if it helps we've been travelling for around 30 days, although that could be very wrong knowing this crew."
He covered his mouth and tried to swallow what was slowly rising so he could speak but Alayne jumped up, oddly springy for someone who was shot not long ago, and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder.
"Luck. That's how"
Raven had been about to ask how they managed to get here and somehow the bard knew him well enough by this point.
"A merchant came across the scene and took the only ones amongst the disaster that still breathed to Shale. Pure luck. Then it just so happened that several of the Captains crew are still alive since I last sailed with them and managed to recognise me and get us both to his ship. We are alive thanks to pure luck, but then I suppose we only almost died due to luck as well."
Raven nodded, he knew this was the way of things for a soldier or fighter, sometimes the arrow hit its mark and sometimes the wind took it a fingernail to the left. Surviving battles was more luck than skill despite all the songs people like Alayne loved to parrot.
30 days at sea, leaving his home for the first time and leaving everything he was behind as well.
There was one further question Raven had, an absence that was obvious and one that would explain the dark pits under the bard's eyes. Raven didn't want to ask it, the answer was clear.
He didn't speak but Alayne knew what he wanted to ask, there was a knowing glance between them just for a moment and the bard said nothing before turning away and picking the lute up from beside the chair Raven had first seen him in.
Raven was sure he had a memory of the bard falling onto his prize instrument but the object looked as well put together as it always did, same scratches and signs of wear but no new cracks that stood out as Raven assumed they would.
"Get rest Raven, we’ll go see the Captain when you're ready"
He lay back down and stared once again at the gently swaying lantern overhead as the door closed announcing Alaynes exit.
Alayne returned to Raven's room every day whilst he recovered, there was no one else aboard the pirate vessel that would see to the man so Alayne had made the job his. It kept him distracted for a time, keep Raven alive and forget about what must be done and who was lost, just focus on the task at hand.
Unfortunately Raven was not one to be fussed over and as he became more mobile Alayne had more and more time with his own thoughts and losses.
Every time he closed his eyes he could see himself reaching for AJ, always falling short as his screams echoed around him.
He was ashamed to say he had considered some kind of memory magic, he knew it had been a common occurrence for mages in the old days, or course he was not one though and he had not wanted to forget or forgive himself for the loss of life.
Alayne had also tried to recapture the magic he had conjured during the fight, the strange physical note he had created and manipulated but this had also escaped him, although to say his heart was in it would be a lie. His magic wasn't something practiced either, the old stories mention mages training like a soldier trains with a sword or pike, Alayne could just do it, somehow so his efforts were useless.
He had managed to lift his spirits slightly by playing for the crew, a hardened set of men and women who were all broad as they were dim but loved a good night of drinking and singing. Alayne had played alongside Shard, a one legged grey haired fellow who was only slightly terrible at playing the accordion. They'd shared some songs and played as a duet for many of the nights since Alayne had woken aboard the ship, it was highly likely he had fallen into the role of entertainer due to his age as it was clearly not his calling in life, but the crew were happy to hear him and even happier to hear Alayne compliment him.
Their first night he'd played in the mess area, a sea of hammocks and badly worn tables on a floor covered in wet and often sticky straw. It stank of sweat, mould and stale ale although the atmosphere rivalled any tavern he'd played, but he'd not returned. He'd dragged everyone to the main deck to dance and drink under the stars and the Captain hadn't minded, he would never say no to drink. He'd danced with a balding woman named Saraya with 8 fingers who he remembered from years before, although she had 10 fingers then and more teeth, it just so happened that she had been one of the sailors in Shale that had found him and Raven.
"Barely recognised you when the cart pulled up, your face..."
Alayne had cut off her with a brush of her cheek that had brought her back to the present.
"I'm glad I left such an impression all those years ago"
She'd gone red at his distraction and their night in public had ended there.
He'd also drunk himself silly with a red haired elf named Co'lataria'iun, the crew called him Cole and he swore blind he was the last of the royal elven blood still alive and Alayne had laughed him off.
"I am the rightful king of the elves!" he'd proclaimed loudly from atop a barrel, he'd been met many boos and jeers and more than a few half empty mugs were thrown his way.
"If you're a king than the Captain is the head of the Royal scholars"
The crew had erupted into laughter and Cole had stormed off, fallen down the hatch to the lower decks and then drunkenly stormed off again, this time with a slight limp.
The most recent nights he'd spent looking for the gnomish crewman, he'd never met a gnome and as he had recalled to Raven, they were thought to be extinct and whilst he feared when sober that the crew may have been mocking him he couldn't pass up a chance to meet one in the flesh and gather his story. So days were spent looking in barrels and chests for tiny rooms or studying every corner or any room he could find to look for tiny holes that a very small person may make their home.
He was disappointed day after day, but well enough distracted by his new hobbies to not think too long on any particular thing.
Currently he found himself stumbling down damp creaky hallways passing time until either Raven was fit enough to seek the Captain or another night of drinking could begin. He didn't quite fancy facing the ship's captain alone, he was a good friend and one of the few Alayne could count on but he was...difficult, and the thought of explaining his plan to him was not one he was eager to do, better to wait until everyone was together, it would also allow him more time to form his plan, it was still in...pieces in his mind.
He'd known the simple minded Captain a long time, trading passage for infamy, the oddest trade Alayne had made but one of the few that are well within his skill set to do. He'd been on the run for quite awhile before falling in with the Captain. His tales and performances had been labelled heresy and treason, the simple tales of current wrongdoings, songs of lost legends who stood up to tyranny, musical numbers cheering on revolutions that tried but failed to change the world. Despite his failures the empire had put a black mark against his name which forced him to flee as a traitor.
The mad pirate had asked for Alayne to make him known far and wide as the most fearsome pirate in the world and not the small-time smuggler he currently was.
He had written the ballad of the 'Daring Dread Pirate C ' and done his best to bestow it on people any time they had stopped in a port of degenerates or his time in Rha'vander, passing it from bard to bard, many voices working as one to tell the tale of the fearsome pirate who ruled the waves sending even the Emperor himself into fits of night terrors when he heard his name.
It had worked and he'd turned him into a legend hunted by the fleets of the Royal navy, a gift only this particularly mad pirate would want.
"How long have you been there?" Alayne had almost been caught lost in his past but he had experienced the Greymens strange method of apparition twice now already.
There was the smallest of pause and Alayne grinned to himself knowing she was surprised he had felt them approach.
"I see you are rested and recovered, remarkably faster than your friend as well, another part of your gift?"
"Not that I know of, I suppose I just got lucky, perhaps also I am more used to taking a beating than the Stoneoath"
Or maybe it was magic? Alayne honestly didn’t know.
She made a noise that casted doubt on him but moved on in her emotionless tone.
"What is your plan Ducard? I gather we are not heading for the mainland given our bearing?"
"We are heading for Cornostus, I have people to gather and a plan to expand on"
He was really tempted to make things up as he went along, it worked so well normally, but he was putting people in danger and more importantly putting himself in danger for this so maybe having at least some notes jotted down would be a start.
"I am not in the habit of repeating myself, unless it's a performance or someone is hard of hearing, or if I'm just trying to annoy someone, so I will reveal all when the Raven is back on his feet and we all meet with our gracious host and Captain"
"Tread carefully Alayne, your...gifts have uses to us but that doesn't mean you can be so openly contentious"
He kept his face as calm as he could but his mouth was twitching up slightly beyond his control, he was getting under the skin of an immortal legend. He may be marching towards his own end but he was going to have fun doing it, starting with breaking the Grey's. He was sure there was some humanity still there underneath the centuries of misery.
They were gone before he could respond further, they spoke of his gifts but they seemed to have their own beyond unending life, although Alayne believed that was more a curse.
Raven lost count of the following days, he had grown tired of the Bards attempt to nurse him to health, guilt was weighing heavily on him as it always did, everything he left behind to adventure in a new land, and now the knowledge that AJ had died because he'd been to weak to move faster, dragging them back and not fighting hard enough. He couldn't bare to look into the bagged eyes of the bard, he didn't blame Raven or if he did he hid it extremely well but Raven knew where the fault lay.
He'd lost his appetite for stories about the empire and the strange races and creatures he may see, it had been good to hear them when they were almost fanciful tales told on the march to war but it was real now and the more he knew the more real it got and the heavier his past seemed to drag him back into despair.
His body was still aching but no worse than after a hard day's training compared to the almost scream-inducing pain he'd felt when he first tried to get up days before. He finally raised himself out of bed and stumbled to the door. He was unused to sea travel but had heard stories of people not having 'sea legs' and assumed he was one of those people, his stomach turned and his legs couldn't figure out which step to take. He rinsed his mouth from the wash basin and kept his hands outstretched to either side, ready to push off whichever wall he fell into first.
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Although he had no experience on boats, he had seen many as they passed through Burtyne, merchant vessels mostly and although he expected a vessel used for the open seas to be bigger by some size compared than the smaller vessels than skirted the rivers and coasts of Rha'vander, he had still expected something less than this.
Even without getting outside he could feel how large this boat was, the hallway in front of him was more than a few strides long and had many doors on the inner wall that hung open, revealing more rooms similar to his. It had clearly seen better days as some of the rotting floorboards groaned under his boots and the sunlight stabbed him in the eyes whenever he passed one the many small holes in the outer wall, luckily these were all above sea level however, but even with the rot and the holes Raven was impressed, the apparent vastness taking his mind away from the misdeeds of the recent past, curiosity started to peak its way back into his mind despite him not inviting it.
It took him far longer than he would care to admit to reach the top of the boat, the hallways were almost maze-like but he had finally found a staircase that lead up and had thought his quest over, his body ached, his belly moaned from the gentle swaying of the sea and his balance was still yet to return. The small mess he'd made in a hallway that no one had been around to see was hopefully starting to seep between the floorboards by the time he reached the main floor, which was the wrong word he was sure but he wasn't in the mind for recalling sailor speak he'd overheard in passing over the years.
It was only 10 maybe 15 steps up and he could smell the fresh sea air and taste the salt stronger, but it was hard, every step was a mission of placing one foot down, checking his balance and then throwing the rest of himself forward, there were no guard rails of course and he refused to climb up on all fours like some kind of animal.
By the time he finally got his head out into the open, and could use the damp wooden flooring to pull himself up, he felt like he could go back to lie down, but he smothered that temptation and instead pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He was in the middle of the...deck, the word came back to him without much effort at last, he stumbled from left to right trying his best to hide it but the large wooden columns for the sails where to far in front and behind him to reach and the splintered, often broken railings along the decj was even further; there was nothing to steady him.
There was an open door in front of him with stairs on either side leading up to another level of the deck, he decided that was his best bet, get to the door and try to steady himself. One unfortunately timed wave hit the boat below though and sent him falling the wrong way, his mind was already racing, trying to figure out how he'd get back up with nothing to steady himself or should he swallow his pride and crawl to the doorway, still hanging open, inviting him, mocking him, but he didn't need to overthink or try and catch himself on some sailor passing at the wrong time, instead he stopped as soon as his footing left him.
He was caught by someone, a hard and strong grip had him by his elbow and as Raven looked all he could see was a tall, broad but shadowed visage as the sun hung at the wrong height.
"Come boy, let's get ya sat down now"
Raven had been taking small steps since his journey started but his new companion was having none of that, he took long purposeful strides, Raven was almost dragged after him, if he felt too embarrassed to crawl to his target he had no words for how this felt. He imagined he looked like a young child dancing with an elder, the points of his feet skipped along the floor making occasional contact as this monster of a man ushered him into a room and almost forced him into one of 3 chairs that faced a large wall sized window opposite the door he'd entered through. The chairs were sturdy and felt less rotted than the floor he'd been walking on or the walls he'd shimmied along, they were gold in colour but judging from the chips and splinters it was colour only, the chair alongside him was empty and in the 3rd sat Alayne, foot resting on the opposite knee and lute resting between the chair leg and his own, he flicked the tip of his wide brimmed hat up and locked eyes with the man who had dragged Raven in.
In front of them both, as Raven had already seen, stood a tall, broad man, but without the sun covering him Raven could now see the long dark red jacket that reached to his boots complete with gold trim although looking at the spots of brown poking through it was a gold as the chairs they sat on. He wore rings and other jewellery on everyplace Raven could see, every finger was covered with rubies, emeralds and gold, ears pierced through multiple heights with hoops and studs shining in them; gold, silver, copper and necklaces with various symbols, some of religions Raven recognised and all encrusted with jewels of purples, reds, oranges and more. His dark skin was a green similar to that of AJ although made to look lighter by his thick dark beard flecked with grey and black leather eye patch covering his right eye, his one good eye was a piercing yellow that almost matched his many golden ornaments and on top his bald head sat the familiar tricorn hat of a captain, with similar reds and golds of his jacket. His face was well weathered with scars and wrinkles and he was clearly taking his time assessing Raven.
He flicked his eye to the Bard and spoke in a low grumbling language as he flicked his eye to Raven.
"You can speak plainly Captain, Raven can be trusted I assure you"
As easy as that the Captain visibly relaxed and sat back in his fake gold high backed chair and slammed both his feet on a large redwood desk covered with more baubles and papers which divided them from him.
"So, what we doing Ducard?"
"Cornostus, as discussed"
"Don't tease me with half answers lad, what's there? You've binn in hiding on that little patch of boredom for all this time and now out of the blue you come back to me almost dead needing transport and all you can tell me is Cornostus? That is place is deader than the quiet ones' fashion sense."
"These are you--" Raven blurted out but was cut off by Alayne
"I won't say any more old friend"
"Because...."
The Bard sighed, the sigh of the defeated, which was odd as the conversation had barely started and the Bard seemed to love outfoxing people with words or tying them up in their own thoughts.
"Because I'm not sure if I want you to follow me, I'm not adept at leading friends to ill fates"
Raven almost jumped out his seat as the great green man in front of him almost put his fist through his desk as he slammed it down and shouted.
"AHAAA, I knew you were doing something stupid" He locked eyes with Raven and pointed to Alayne "This lad always tells you he's just there to 'observe the story' or 'find his muesli' whatever that means, but he can't help but get involved can ye lad? Always saving and scheming."
He laughed and Raven was sure he saw the large glass panes shake in their frames behind him, a booming roar that filled the room.
"So who are we killing, when and how?"
Raven was now sitting at the edge of his seat, the Captain was fascinating, the second goblin Raven had met but fully grown and fully mad by the sight of things, AJ couldn't speak but seemed to understand what was happening around him, the Captain seemed almost the complete opposite.
Alayne locked eyes with them both, then smiled that stupid smile of his.
"We are going to kill, the current ruler of the Red Empire, Emperor Animatatus"
The large overly jewelled goblin set his feet down and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk he lit a thick cigar then cracked a smile that sent a shiver down Ravens spine.
"Well lad, I don't see ye for years and you come back and drop a present like that on my table, knew there was a reason not to kill you all those years ago"
Was he excited for this? He seemed to be almost shaking with excitement as he spoke.
"Good, we are finally all up to speed, Ducard, can you finally share with us your grand plan for doing this. Me and Educai are most...intrigued, and more importantly, impatient."
The Greymen spoke from Raven's side, he hadn't been looking, as he’d been trying to follow the conversation, but he was sure they weren't there a second ago when he’d been dragged in.
"Where those folks always there?"
The Captain's brow was heavily furrowed as he looked from one to the other.
"No Captain, I suspect not, they do this often"
"Ahh, that's good then, would have felt rude not offering them a chair. Welcome strange grey people, I only got that seat left but you can share or one can sit on the floor, can't say I care either way."
Adeline said nothing as she moved past Raven and stood at the small end of pirates desk and Educai was unsurprisingly quiet, Raven was not sure if this was a choice or not, and he took the opposite side of the table, brushing past Alayne as he did so. They stood almost blocking the strange captain from escaping although he seemed either unaware or unbothered by this.
"Suit yourselves then"
He puffed large streams of smoke towards the pale man before returning his attention to the Bard.
"Well, first things first I believe formal introductions are our next step. Firstly Raven Stoneoath, breaker of oaths, traitor to the crown and former captain of the acclaimed Flock, Adeline and Educai the Shadowsouled or Greymen or I believe the Orcish call them the Ill-Fated, immortal killers who apparently outsource their work these days and our eccentric host is the 'dread pirate C'...Captain Orc one of few pirates left standing in the seas of the empire."
He pointed to each of them as he spoke their names, he was rushing but even so there was a sense of grandiose whenever he pointed to one of them, like whenever he announced someone it would fit perfectly well at a royal ball or something similar.
Raven recalled the song the bard had sung for his flock that first day in the Nest and then he heard a second later what Alayne had called him.
"I think it is Brokenoath now, Alayne"
Alayne nodded.
"I stand corrected, Raven Brokenoath"
Raven had more to say before the conversation moved past him.
"Captain 'Orc' so you're an Orc? Not a Goblin?"
Alayne had mentioned orcs but Raven hadn't really gone through descriptions of the different races, he'd taken the various names in and assumed he would never need to know much else.
This question was a bad one apparently as it caused the cigar to fall out of Captain Orcs open mouth mid puff, tumble to the desk spilling ash around it and causing the corners of several papers to curl up and catch fire.
"Goblin? Do I look like some cave dwelling primitive who thinks the finer things in life are finding a particularly juicy rock slug and not getting the runs after slurping it down? I AM AN ORC. If my old friend didn't tell me you'd been in a cult for years ya wouldn't be getting the benefit of me doubt, nah I'd be tying a rope around your feet and using you as an anchor next time we make port instead."
Raven was blushing, what did he mean by cult? What had Alayne been saying? But he really didn't want to ask more questions now, he didn't want to risk further outbursts.
He'd not expected to be so out of his depth, well he had in a way but he'd not been ready for it to become so apparent so quickly, his mouth had gone dry but he managed a muted apology as Captain Orc swept up his cigar and patted out the small fire that had ruined 2 blank pieces of paper and one more than appeared to have nothing more on it than a badly drawn picture of a pair of breasts.
"Captain, Raven is born and bred of Rha'vander, you know they lack the experience of the rest of us. Goblins, Orcs, magic it's all new to him, I assure you he will adjust in time."
"Argh, how much time?"
Alayne tilted his head slightly and with one raised eyebrow looked at the Captain who responded
"Fair enough"
Raven was exhausted, his body call for rest already and his mind was reeling from conversations he could barely follow that had only just begun
"Ducard! Stop deflecting, We need to know you have a real plan to end Animatatus' life, you simply cannot fathom the world you will be living in if he achieves his goals"
Adeline had leaned forward slightly to speak, she hadn't raised her voice nor did she tense up like many who were angry did, but the fury and threat in her words made them all take note.
Alayne sighed and straightened up in his chair, placing his resting foot down as he did so.
"My only plan so far is to try and capture one of his sons, if we threaten his legacy or line then we may be able to draw him out somewhere or force some kind of mistake on his part. I've been talking to the sailors and I'm aware things haven't changed for the better since I left, the Emperor is rarely if ever seen in public, rumours swirl that he is dead and one of his children secretly run things, if this is false then we need him out in the open"
"We don't care about his family and neither does he. His goal is to become immortal, to live and rule as a god. If he manages this then he will likely end his line himself. You need to attack him head on, at the capital"
Raven's head was spinning, so much so quick, he needed time to think and organise.
"You want me, a wanted man and nothing more than an illusionist with a lovely voice, fine smile, charismatic way with words, raw natural sexual appeal to all races and genders" he paused " lost my train of thought for a second there... and my only companions being a mad pirate who can barely follow instructions and an injured fighter to march through the Empire, up to the front gate of the palace and kill the most protected man in the world? I am sorry Addy but no, I will not end the story of Alayne Ducard in this way, if we do this we do it my way. We take out a son, and hope it draws him out, if it doesn't it's one less of the royal lineage to worry about when the war for power happens should we succeed."
Raven had to agree, which shocked him, with the Bard's words. It was a barely thought out plan but compared to the alternative it made some sense. Addy, nope Adeline (he wasn't nearly as comfortable disrespecting whatever they were yet), was gripping the end of Captain Orcs desk, he doubted the others could see it but her knuckles were going even paler as the Bard spoke.
"This is not a negotiation, Ducard, our role, and yours by proxy is to eliminate the threat of anyone becoming immortal, I could not care less about what happens after, if this world wants to burn itself to ash trying to fill that monster's throne then so be it. But you will kill him" She hissed
"Excuse me ignorance but if ya don't care about the world burning then why bother stopping him? Seems like a waste of time and effort."
Captain Orc blew further smoke at Educai, who continued to ignore it, as he spoke.
"Why can't you do it? Forgive me for not fully understanding this world but you seem to be able to appear wherever you wish. Surely it would be easier for the two of you to slip in and assassinate the man"
Raven challenged them as well, his mind finding the time to catch up as Captain Orc spoke.
Adeline looked at him, for the briefest flash there was a look one might give a child who had fallen and banged their knee. Raven had a flash of anger but he hid his frustration and met her gaze waiting for his answer. He knew this game, like speaking to nobility back home, hiding your anger at their pettiness and grinding the information you want out of them whilst they patronise you.
"What happens to mortals Captain and your world is not our concern, empires crumble and implode and another comes, death comes for all, or so it should. Our goal is to ensure immortality is never gained by another thing, what happens elsewhere or why we have no interest in. As for your question broken oath; We could attempt it ourselves. There is a good chance we would succeed, more chance than we believe you have anyway. But..." She paused, trying to put together how to explain something basic to an infant "But if we fail, he would then have one or two immortals to experiment on and reach his goal faster. You think we are callous because we suggest throwing your lives away so easily. In truth it is because your death poses no risk to the world, nothing would change for the better or worse if you failed, we would find others and attempt this again. You are not the first and I doubt you will be the last. The world is full of aspiring heroes, fighters looking for honourable deaths and wicked men looking for excuses to kill.'
Her words hit everyone in their own way, sucking the life from the room, did she know them well enough to name what they sought, he knew he fit one of those descriptions, or where the motives of people like them so predictable.
"You also left this behind in Rha'Vander, I don't know how else I can express the importance of not leaving immortal beings by the roadside for anyone to find"
Even without emotion in her voice it sounded like they were being scolded by a teacher as at a brief motion of Adeline her male counterpart stepped forward and planted the sickly looking skull of Surrich on the desk in front of them.
Alayne sat up now, he had forgotten the talking head completely since waking up at sea. He was no more fond of it now then he had been in Rha'Vander but he felt some guilt for leaving him behind and A...his apprentice had bonded with him rather quickly.
"Sorry about A...A...A"
Alayne waved him away and smiled as the skull as best he could
"I'm sorry we left you, he'd be cross with me if he knew"
There was a small horse chuckle that came from inside the head.
Captain Orc was looking furiously between the 4 full bodied people in the room.
"How be ya doin the talking without flapping ya gums?"
Raven pointed to the skull which Captain Orc's eye fixated on as if he'd completely missed Educai placing it on his desk moments ago.
"Captain, meet Sturrich"
"Nice to meet y..y..y"
Alayne almost fell out his chair as Captain Orc launched the skull across the room where it missed Alayne by the narrowest of spaces and thudded off the heavy wooden door to the room.
As he sat himself down once more Alayne was surprised to hear Raven laughing at the Captains antics
"I did the exact same thing"
Alayne waited for a moment before the realisation sunk in that the boy hadn't gone chasing after the tossed head this time. He jumped up far too quickly to not look out of place and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand as he picked Surrich up off the floor. The tattered flecks of burnt or rotten skin still felt disgusting when they touched his flesh.
In a moment he found himself flung forward and left with his head spinning as he headbutted the frame of the door separating them from the rest of the ship.