16. CHAOS AT SEA
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As the sun rose over Jaiphione’s Crescent, Colb, 27, and Drek stepped out of the Yiklar Folding Cabin. “Hurmph, so you’re finally awake?” Stibs asked the crew.
The goblins looked up. Before them stood Kashmir and Stibs. Kashmir was toying with a small chunk of ice, watching with mild amusement as a cloudy mist flowed off it in response to her touch. Stibs was proudly hoisting a sail, skipping as he did so to demonstrate the wide range of motion his newly healed leg could perform.
“AaAaaaaahhhh, I see you two are up early! This I like to see, yes I do,” 27 cheered. “Stibs, are you looking to be ship captain once more?”
“Hurmph, I sure am,” Stibs replied, hopping up and down a little bit as he spoke. “If you three got up a little earlier, we’d already be well on our way!”
“Rrghegh, we get it, your leg’s better and you feel great,” Drek grumbled. “Doesn’t mean I have to get up before sun does.”
“Hmmm, we’re up now, yes?” Colb threw in. “Ready to set sail!”
“Hurmph, well hold on,” Stibs said, tying up a rope and approaching the goblin trio. “I would like to first make an announcement.”
The old goblin signed, patting the side of the pirate ship. “Hurmph, this is our third time at sea together. As an experienced sailor, I would like to make one thing clear: usually, when you sail somewhere, the boat you leave on makes it to your destination along with you. Oddly, this has not been the case in any of our previous excursions. As elected captain of this ship, I say that’s unacceptable.”
27 raised his hand. “Hurmph, what, 27? You have a question?”
“MMmMmmmm, yes I do,” the noble replied. “I noticed that every boat we’ve used so far, including today, was not Yiklar-made. Thus, we could not – and still cannot – be assured to have a boat of highest and most flawless of quality.”
“Hurmph, are you calling the boat I made in two hours to be of low quality?” Stibs asked.
“Nononononono,” 27 replied, “I am not! Although it did stink very fast due to fairly mild trauma, I would never suggest such a thing, no I would not. I am simply pointing out that Yiklar-made goods are very high of quality, and to lack goods of such high quality is a risk we all must assume, yes it is.”
Colb gave a small round-of-applause to the noble’s well-put point. “Hurmph, alright, whatever. The boat we have now is, admittedly, the nicest one we’ve had so far. Let’s just make sure that we sail to the Frosted Wastes without a problem. We’re going to travel northeast until we’re over the tip of elf territory, and then we’re going to go straight east until we hit snowy land. We’re not stopping in the Elvish Kingdom…”
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“Woo!” Kashmir interjected from where she was sitting on the main deck.
Stibs continued, “…and we’re not letting anyone, or anything, board this ship. This is a clear-cut journey: we go to the Frosted Wastes, and we avoid everything that is not the Frosted Wastes.” The crew nodded with understanding.
“Hurmph, alright. Now that that’s done, let’s get to business!” Stibs announced. Following their captain’s orders, the crew split off to their different jobs on the Quartzelian Pirates boat. Together, the goblins got the ship on course for the Frosted Wastes.
Stibs took the wheel, navigating their journey with his Yiklar Map of Finding Location. Drek stood at the boat’s bow, watching the seas for danger ahead. Colb worked near the stern of the boat, in the Yiklar Folding Cabin’s kitchen, preparing a meal for the team. 27 patrolled the center of the vessel, checking for any ropes or sails that looked loose. Kashmir relaxed on the main deck, watching the sun gradually rise into the sky.
The morning’s journey went well. The boat sailed northeast at a strong speed, and the waters looked to be clear all day. Even better, the weather was fine, with not a cloud in sight.
Around noon, Colb began making lunches for the crew. He mushed some dusty toadroach carcasses he’d found along the floors of the lower deck into a soft paste, which he then spread on some seagullfish fillets that Drek had hunted with his bow – ensuring to leave a couple of fillets plain for Kashmir.
Colb handed out the raw lunches to each member of the crew, eventually making his way to Drek. The crown-wearing goblin seemed alert, watching the waters carefully.
“Hmmm, I brought food, yes?” Colb cheered.
“Rrghegh… I saw dark shadow in distance,” Drek announced, ignoring Colb’s offer. “Unusual… I couldn’t tell what it was.”
Colb squinted his eyes. The waters looked empty to him. “Hmmm, I see nothing, yes?”
“Rrghegh… I swear I saw something,” Drek exclaimed. The young goblin pointed out to the sea, which still looked barren to Colb.
“Hmmm,” the chef muttered, setting Drek’s lunch down on the floor of the deck. “I still don’t see anything, yes? Hmmm, but maybe I have something that can help, yes?” Colb unhitched a ratty-looking sack from his belt. “Borin gave me this potion kit yesterday, yes? It came with a lens.”
Colb pulled the metal spyglass out from his sack, and stared out at the sea with it. “Hmmm… I still don’t see much, yes?” he muttered.
“Rrghegh… what is potion for?” Drek asked, inspecting the bag. “Can it make the telescope magic? Like how human enchanted my crown with spray bottle?”
“Hmmm, probably,” Colb replied. He picked up the potion and inspected it. The flask contained a viscous, brilliant white liquid with small lettuceshrimp eyes floating in it. “I guess I’ll do what the instruction sheet says, yes?”
Seeing that the paper depicted a hand-drawn image of a human pouring the white potion all over the telescope, Colb proceeded to dump his own potion onto Borin’s handiwork. The liquid immediately flowed upwards, to the object’s lens, then absorbed into it. Once the reaction seemed to be finished, Colb put his eye up to the telescope once again.
This time, the seawater looked as clear as air. The chef goblin could easily see an enormous, kraken-like beast hiding in the tides. It was covered in thick, black-stained feathers, and its eight tentacles joyfully vibrated as if excited to catch the pirate ship sailing towards it. Instead of a mouth, the monster sported a wide, yellow-tinted beak that looked sharper than a knife.
“Hmmm, stop the boat, yes? Stop the boat!” Colb yelled, raising his voice for the rest of the crew.
“Rrghegh, what? What?” Drek grumbled. The crown-wearing goblin snatched the telescope from Colb’s hands, and took a look for himself. “Rrghegh! Stop the boat!” he loudly agreed. “There’s a monster waiting to snatch us!”