“Twila! Twila, wake up!” Something thumped into Twila’s back.
Twila’s head hurt like it never had before, and her mouth felt…weird. She cracked open her eyes, then squeezed them shut when Rosie's lamp burned them. “Noooo.”
“Twila, they’re gone. They left.”
“Who left?”
“Vayne and his crew and rats. And Carter and Charlie. They’re all gone! Get up!” Something thumped into the back of Twila’s head. Then again and again.
“Is that…is that a pillow?” Twila rolled over. Sure enough, Rosie had her pillow back to swing again. Twila looked around at the tavern floor where she’d fallen asleep. Bedrolls lay scattered. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“I woke up because people were moving around, but I thought it was just bar stuff, like Ickes getting people a drink, and then I realized it was a lot of people, and they lit a bunch of lanterns and went outside together. Charlie got up a minute later and started following them. She told me to wake you up, but you’re hard to wake up, so I had to wake you up with the pillow.”
Twila groaned, pushing through the hazy, fuzzy feeling in her head. “What about Carter?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t realize he’d left until after Charlie went. He could have gone with her, or he could have gone with Vayne, or he could be pissing out back. I haven’t seen him, though.”
“Alright. Get everyone up. We’re going after them. If Charlie’s after them, she could be in trouble. She can handle herself against any of them, but Vayne had a whole crew, and Carter didn’t have any gear.” Twila started patting herself down, making sure her gizmos and weapons were in order. Most were, but Twila’s eyes widened as she touched her waist where [Anton’s Pocket Watch] usually sat. She started shouting, “It’s gone! Rosie, it’s gone! Everyone, get up! Lanterns, weapons, let’s go!”
Twila fidgeted and snapped at her crew as they pulled themselves out of bedrolls and blankets, glaring at any pirates from other crews who looked like they might complain. It took far, far too long for the Hourglass’s ship rats to get together, and she found herself spitting insults like a quartermaster…or like Anton sometimes had. But finally—finally—the crew stood by the door.
“Lanterns on. We’re running to the docks. We might still catch them! Go!”
Twila led them into the dark—and into the Sable Tide.
She’d never seen it this bad. Not in Iswixel, when they’d spent the night huddled in a closet while a monstrous bat tore at the door. Not in Three Peaks, down in the Mystmaze, where she’d had to rely on her crew’s pistols while she repaired the mystwork gears. And not even during their long night tethered to a rock outside Seapike.
The Tide in Broken Rock swarmed so thickly around them that she wondered how they avoided hitting each other. Her battery ticked. So did someone else’s. She couldn’t tell whose. All her focus tunneled to finding the path they’d come up that evening and making it to the Hourglass before Vayne escaped.
If they could get there in time, they’d be able to save Charlie and Carter. They could leave and hop back, and none of this would have happened.
No. They wouldn’t. Vayne had [Anton’s Pocket Watch]. She’d have to fight him right here. But was she ready? Her brow pulsed fire, and she remembered how effortlessly Vayne had handled her. And now he had her best gizmo too. “Rosie, which way?”
“Left!”
The crew ran headlong down a tunnel, feet pounding. Then, through the mass of black wings, Twila saw a faint purple light. “There! This way!”
She pushed forward through the Sable Tide. The purple glow grew brighter. Ticks echoed off the cavern walls, barely audible over the incessant screeching that filled her head and pushed against her fuzzy brain. She had to move forward. She had to get to the violet light.
And then, she was there.
She looked in horror. Auntie Charlie lay in a pool of blood. Her wrist ended in a stump where her hand should have been, and she wasn’t moving.
“Rojir, Carter, get over here! Becca, get a bandage on that arm or something.”
“Carter’s not here, Twila!” Rosie screamed in her face over the Sable Tide.
“Then, Jamis, you and Rojir carry her.”
“Lanterns are dropping fast, skipper,” Ellie said. “We can’t go back now!”
“We’ll push for the Hourglass,” Twila said. As the boys struggled with Auntie Charlie and Becca tried to stem the bleeding, she kept pushing forward. She breathed and blinked. Breathed and blinked. But it didn’t help. Whenever she opened her eyes, she was still here.
And when she closed them, she saw her nightmares; Vayne, looming over her; the Marine she’d shot to death; even Harris, who she’d killed in desperation.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
She found herself blindly running down the tunnel. Rosie’s hand pressed into hers, and her friend guided her around the last few turns. The Harpy’s Wing backed slowly out of the dock through the Tide. Two familiar figures stood on its quarterdeck.
Vayne whipped his hat off and bowed. “I have to be thanking you for the map, the compass, and a fine passenger. He agreed to cut himself loose and join me in exchange for passage to Iswixel. And, as fate be having it, that tiny port be my next destination!”
Carter looked less happy with how things had played out, but he nodded. “I’m sorry, Twila, but enough was enough. I want to go home.”
“And home you’ll be going, Carter Finn!” Vayne said.
Twila pulled one of [Anton’s Paired Pistols]. If she could hit him twice, maybe his [Myst Absorber] wouldn’t stop the second one. Or maybe one of her crew could take another shot. She pulled the trigger.
The shot went wide, sailing into the cavern and colliding with one of the Sable Tide.
Vayne laughed. “It was a good try, Miss Tighe, but I’ve won this time, and I’ll win in Iswixel, too, should you be making your way there. Goodbye.”
As the Harpy’s Wing filled the cavern with myst, Twila staggered toward the Hourglass. Everything had gone wrong. Everything. And she couldn’t fix it. She stared at the ship’s wheel, vision seeming to narrow until the only thing she could see was its spoked handles. Rosie ran up to her, asking for orders.
Twila pulled the starter from her belt and shoved it into Rosie’s chest. “You’re the skipper now. I’m going back to what I do well.”
As she started down the stairs toward the engine room, Rosie grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. The ship rat’s eyes were wide, and her eyes flicked back and forth as she shook. “No, you can’t do this to me! You’re skipper. You, Twila, not me!”
“Not anymore. Just let me tinker with Old Bitch.”
“It’s Old Bitch’s Kid,” Rosie said. Twila shoved past her, safety line in her hand. Rosie stood there in silence for a few seconds, then, just before Twila started climbing down to the myst condenser, Rosie said something quietly.
Twila turned. “What?”
“What do I do?” Rosie asked. Tears streamed down her face. But Twila didn’t care. She had nothing left to care with.
“Every choice I’ve made has been a disaster, Rosie,” Twila said. Her voice was empty. “I can take care of the ship, but I can’t take care of the crew. You can do that. So you’re skipper.”
Rosie started to say something, but Twila wasn’t listening. She climbed the ladder toward the rat’s nest, desperately blinking and breathing. Blinking and breathing.
And as the Hourglass started slowly moving, she heard her best friend’s voice start giving orders, shakily at first but increasing in confidence until Rosie sounded like the skipper Twila knew she’d failed at being.
“Boys, put Auntie Charlie in the skipper’s quarters. Becca, stick with her. Marianna, you too. Sam, Ellie, make sure the engines are ready and cut us off. There’s no time to untie! Twila…uh…do what you think is best!”
The Hourglass cut out of Broken Rock’s harbor, with its skipper at the helm.
And Twila down below, in the rat’s nest.
----------------------------------------
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 12/12, Hit Points 1/2)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Platejack Coat (lvl. 2) Plated Coat (passive) +1 Hit Point]
[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 - Nola’s Embrace (lvl 2) Unknown Effect]
[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]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]