Rosie
It was a beautiful morning, but no one sitting with Rosie was enjoying it.
The ship rats, most of them at least, had gathered around a table in Seapike’s seediest inn. The Blackstone Tavern snaked its way down a dark tube in the cliffside–a lava tube, the street rat who’d guided them there had called it. A few mystlights flickered high up in the tunnel, providing a dim light. The floor was sticky with spilled drinks, and the whole place reeked of it. Their table was far enough from the barkeep’s station that Rosie could barely hear the piano player plinking away.
She slapped the wanted poster down on the rough wooden table. “This is a problem, everyone. There’s a reward for the skipper and the quartermaster, and it names the ship. What do we do?”
“Well, the first thing is–we’re not using their names?” Jamis asked. Rosie shook her head no. “Okay. The first thing is that we have to keep the skipper and quartermaster on the ship. If they’re wandering around town, someone will see them, and that’d be a disaster.”
“Who’s the someone we’re talking about?” Ellie asked. Sam glared at her, and she glared back.
“Um…the paper says it’s the Gibson Company. That makes sense,” Rosie replied.
Sam laughed bitterly. “You upset the Gibson Company? Vayne did that once, and they hunted us for months. There are only a few safe ports that they’re not in–like Broken Rock.”
“Okay, so it’s the Gibson Company.” Rosie sighed and rubbed her temples. “How do we lay low until the ship is done? That’s the most important thing. We can’t leave, and we can’t have the skipper jump us back. Not until the ship is finished, at least.”
“Distract them.” Marianna’s head barely poked over the table. “It works when Rojir messes up a pickpocket. I just distract people, and he gets away.”
“That could work,” Rojir nodded grudgingly. “How do we distract a whole company, though? Half the island’s skywrights work for Gibson.”
Rosie squeezed her eyes shut. Everyone had started talking at once, and she needed things a bit quieter to think. There had to be a way to move Gibson’s eyes off the streets and toward their own shipyards or something. “Rojir, Jamis, you remember breaking into the foundry? Could we do the same thing at a couple of shipyards?”
Rosie looked around at the crew as the boys started talking about the skywrights. Marianna had gotten distracted opening and closing her locket over and over. Sam and Ellie were poking and prodding at each other; she’d have to figure out if they were siblings or if they were flirting–ugh! And Carter was…
Rosie looked around. Everyone had been here when they got here. So where was Carter?
----------------------------------------
Twila
“Lift your elbow. Higher. Angle the blade down slightly. Now bring your other hand back. Good, that’s the first guard. Get your body in line behind your leading foot.”
Twila was starting to hate swordfighting.
Becca was still working on the selkie-coat gizmo, and they’d finished combining the [Myst Battery Mk. 2] and the [Pocket Condenser]. The battery’s storage was a bit smaller, but it’d probably be better with the condenser attached. There wasn’t much more that either Twila or Becca could do to upgrade or make anything new. Which left Twila stuck in the fencing lessons she’d wanted.
“If you’re at a long distance, this is all preparation. But if you’re at a close distance, all defense flows from these forms. If I strike from this angle, you can move your wrist just a little bit and knock my sword off-line. Like so.” Charlie stabbed in slowly, allowing Twila to knock the blade upward. “Freeze. Now, with my sword out of line, you can move from that parry into a thrust or, if I back up, a lunge. Or, you can slash.”
Charlie stepped back. “Slashing is for hurting your opponent. Stabbing is for killing them.”
Twila paled. Her thoughts filled with the fight against Vayne. He’d never stabbed once. And neither had Harris. “They didn’t take me seriously at all…”
“Why would they? If they had formal training, they saw that you didn’t the second the fight started. If not, you’re smaller than them. Now, practice your lunges and thrusts. You’ll only slash with that sword if you have to.”
Twila went through the lunges and thrusts, but she just felt sluggish. “I’m done for the day, Auntie Charlie. I’m not getting anywhere.”
“It’s because you don’t want to kill,” Charlie said. “If you want to be good at swordplay, you’ll have to come to terms with that. Push it down.”
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The woman groaned and popped her shoulders with a stretch. “I’m going to go get a drink. Take a break, then get back to practicing. Set up a mast or crown on the wheel mount. You should be able to hit it with the tip of your sword every time. Control your blade. Control the fighting.”
“Fine,” Twila pouted. She tucked her sword under her arm and stomped off toward her cabin.
“Twi. You have to decide what you’re willing to do to get that treasure! Otherwise, someone more ruthless will get it first!” Charlie shouted behind her. She ignored the woman. Instead, she stomped through the Hourglass’s engine room, into the skipper’s cabin, and slammed the door.
The dress was there, on the floor. Right where she’d pulled it off. What was Auntie Charlie’s game, anyway? She’d never wear the dress. Ever. Not in a million years. So why make her buy it? What was the point Auntie Charlie was trying to make? Twila flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling and Silver Engine. It sat quietly over the bed, filling most of the windows’ space. Nothing on it ran, even as Twila threw the dress into its gears.
She stopped. Instead of pulling the [Two-in-One Dress] out of the gears, she just spun the gears on [Anton’s Pocket Watch] and rewound time.
Twila tossed the pocket watch up into the air and caught it. Then she did it again. The swordplay lessons with Charlie–time was the key. She thought she understood distance. But she had no idea what the woman meant by time.
She could create her own understanding of it, though.
She grabbed the practice sword and her pocket watch. Then she looked at her real sword. “That might work better,” she said to herself and grabbed it too. Loaded down with blades, she returned to the Hourglass’s deck.
She dropped the swords on the quarterdeck, staring at the gaping hole port side where Rightie should have been. Skywright’s apprentices crawled the ship’s deck, lowering Rightie into place on the starboard side. “All fixed up?” She asked.
“Yeah, yeah. The port engine was trashed. Whatever you’ve been doing to it, stop,” the apprentice replied. “Burned out myst sparkers, the turbine was missing blades, and some pipes were fully clogged. Your maintenance rats need to do a better job.”
Twila scowled but ignored the barb as best she could. She was the maintenance rat! “When’s Leftie–er, the port engine–going to be installed?”
“Later today. I don’t know what you plan on doing with those swords, but maybe do it by the bow? We’re kinda busy here.”
Twila nodded. She gathered her swords and marched toward the bow [Long Five]. Then she set up a crown on it, balancing it perfectly on its side. She stepped back, dropped into the first guard as best she could, and stabbed toward the coin.
The blade missed. Twila swore and glared. Then she returned to the first guard and got ready to try again.
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 1/12, Hit Points 1/1)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Ship Rat’s Harness (lvl. 0)]
[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]
[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]
[Gizmo #1 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - Empty]
[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]
[Myst Battery - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]
[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]