Rouge IX (Patreon)

There was a ramp leading up to the deck of the Ironclad, and Rouge, vaguely remembering a scene like this from a book, called up, “Permission to come aboard?”

A large man appeared in the gap at the top of the ramp, expression surprised. “Permission granted,” he said. As Vexxx and Rouge walked up, he nodded approval. “Not many land-folk who know they’re supposed to ask before they come aboard. They tend to act like the Ironclad is just another part of their city and wander on in.”

Rouge smiled. “I’m glad we didn’t do that, then.” She looked around, taking in the paddlewheel at the back of the boat, and the tidy white uniforms worn by the industrious crewmembers. “We’re looking for passage to, um, Port Carnival?”

The man made a face. “Or whatever’s left of it,” he muttered. Glancing down the ramp behind them, he asked, “Just the two of you? And your mounts?”

Rouge bit her lip. She was realizing she hadn’t quite thought this whole disguise thing through. If she booked passage for them as she was, the captain might refuse to honor it when he realized she was actually half-Dark Elf. That kind of thing had happened more than once, thanks to the automatic reduction in Reputation Dark Elves got because they were insular and xenophobic. Or at least, so she’d heard. It wasn’t like she’d actually met any other Dark Elves, even half-breeds.

Silus flapped her wings, drawing the man’s attention. ::Three of us! Three!::

Stepping back, the man looked… nervous? “Is that… a bat?”

Rouge nodded, glad to put off the moment of decision a bit longer. “This is Silus. She’ll be coming, too. Does she need her own ticket?”

But the man was shaking his head. “No. I’m sorry, but no. The captain, ah, has a thing about bats.” His eyes were darting around now, as if looking for someone, and he raised his hands to motion them all back down the ramp. “I’m sure there are other vessels heading for Port Carnival. You can ship out with any of them.”

Baffled, Rouge and Vexxx allowed themselves to be ushered down to the dock, but there she stopped, glaring. “I don’t know what your captain’s problem is, but Silus isn’t just any bat. She’s-”

He shook his head again. “No. No, no, no! You must leave, and quickly. Our sister ship, the Steelclad, will be leaving tomorrow. I’m sure they’d be delighted to transport you. Now, good day!” With that, he scurried back up the ramp and proceeded to close the gate that swung across the gap, making it very clear they were no longer welcome.

::Did I… do something wrong?:: Silus asked, quietly.

“No!” Rouge reached up to pet and snuggle the little bat, who was huddled, quivering, beneath her chin. “Their captain must just be a horrible person. A horrible person who will never know how amazing you are!”

She glanced over at Vexxx, who was directing a surprisingly angry glance up at the Ironclad, where it loomed beside them. When he saw her notice, he glanced away. His gaze seemed to snag on something, and he tilted his head toward the relatively small wooden boat in the next slip. “You said that was our other option, right?”

Rouge looked over at the worn wooden vessel, reading the name marked in peeling paint on the prow; the Western Star. Regretfully, she glanced back at the tall, proud Ironclad, and sighed.

Quest: “A Strait Answer” available.

You only have one more chance to make it to Port Carnival in time. Obtain passage aboard the Western Star by whatever means necessary.

Success: Smooth sailing. Probably.

Failure: Cry me a river. You might as well head home.

Accept: Yes/No?

Groaning, she accepted the quest, then flicked it to her cousin, who read it and scowled, then brightened. “So, this is it? We mess this up, and we get to go home?”

Rouge narrowed her eyes at him. “No,” she corrected, “we mess this up, I tell Nana we failed the quest, and we’re both scrubbing potatoes at the soup kitchen for the rest of the week.”

He glowered at her, clearly unhappy she’d seen through his incipient Cunning Plan. “Whatever.”

Rolling her eyes, she started for the much-shorter ramp leading to the Western Star. “Is that your favorite word?”

“What?”

She smirked. “No, whatever. Seems like as soon as things don’t go your way, that’s the only word you know.”

His glare deepened, and he opened his mouth, lips rounding, then seemed to realize what he was doing, because he stopped and called up toward the boat, “Permission to come aboard?”

One of the people who had been bustling around on deck stopped, peering down at them incredulously. “You mean us?” She motioned around. “The Star?”

Rouge and Vexxx both nodded, though Silus just hid further behind Rouge’s neck. The woman scratched her head. “Well,” she said, slowly, “I guess that’s all right.” Turning, she called out, “Cap’n? These folks want to come aboard.”

Another woman’s voice answered, this one more than a little surly. “What? No! We don’t need landsmen on board.”

The first woman sounded amused when she said, “Only one lands-man. Other’s a girl.”

“No girls, either!” The second voice answered. “You know what I mean!”

The woman, a tall, bronze-skinned brunette with muscles that rivaled Millie’s, shrugged. “You heard the Cap’n. Best go talk to someone else. When she’s in this kind of mood, she won’t listen t’anybody ‘cept Scar.”

Rouge’s belly twisted, but Vexxx just said, “I want to talk to Scar, then.” Rouge shot him a glance, then nodded agreement.

The brunette shook her head regretfully. “He’s out finding us some cargo. Won’t be back till after lunch, unless he finds something before then.” With that, she reached for the rope she’d been splicing, clearly dismissing them.

“Wait!” Rouge called, and the woman glanced back down, though her patience seemed to be wearing as thin as the worn old rope. Rouge hurried on. “You’re leaving today, and you don’t have any cargo yet?”

Scowling, the woman said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but the caravan that was supposed to bring us our cargo was set upon by bandits. They lost half the shipment, so now we need to find more, or float half-empty.”

Rouge grinned. “What if I had a cargo for you?”

Brows rising in sudden interest, the woman held up a hand. Leaning back, she yelled, “Cap’n, I think y’ought to come talk to this girl.”

A scream of primal rage came from the depths of the ship, and a moment later a strange sound came to Rouge’s ears. Step. Thump. Step. Thump. The sound stopped, and a woman with short black hair and dark, sharply slanted eyes peered over the railing at Rouge’s party. Her skin was an even deeper brown than the first woman’s, and seemed almost… fuzzy?

“What? She barked, revealing teeth that were too sharp to be entirely human.

Rouge almost took a step back, but firmed her chin and stared up into those angry eyes. “We need to go to Port Carnival. Today. We heard you’re the only ship besides the Ironclad leaving soon.”

The captain waved a dismissive hand toward the Ironclad. “Then buy passage with them. We’re a cargo vessel, not a passenger cruise. We have no guest cabins, no space, and no interest.” Turning away, they heard the thump again as she took a step.

“You do have space! You don’t even have a full cargo!” Rouge yelled. When the captain flicked a scowling glance at her crewmember, the brunette woman just shrugged it off, clearly unbothered by her commander’s fit of temper.

The captain folded her arms over her chest. “So? My first mate is out finding us a cargo right now, and-”

“No luck, I’m afraid, Jean,” a man’s voice interrupted her regretfully.

Rouge spun to face the source of the voice and froze, her jaw dropping open. The man was absolutely beautiful. There was no other word for it. Luxurious chestnut curls perfectly framed a delicate but masculine face, with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen sparkling from beneath perfectly arched brows. His shoulders were broad, his waist trim, and his half-open shirt revealed smooth, defined pectorals the perfect shade of golden tan. He was even prettier than Vonn, the Wood Elf Rouge had had a crush on for several months before he left to complete his r’nspiga. If this man hadn’t been old enough to be her father, she might have formed a new infatuation then and there.

When he noticed Rouge’s attention had shifted to him, he nodded to her politely, turning to face her more fully. For the first time, she was able to see the thick, jagged, pink and silver scar that led from the corner of his eye back into the thick waves of his hair, where she could barely tell that half of his ear was missing. He held out a hand with a smile. “Pleased to meet you. The name is Scar. I’m first mate on the Star, and husband to its captain, for my sins.”

The captain let out a “Humph,” that could be heard even over the sound of the waves and screaming of the gulls, but it was noticeably less angry than any sound she’d made before.

Rouge reached out and shook the proffered hand. “I’m, uh-” she nearly gave her real name, then realized she should probably use the one she was borrowing, but couldn’t bring herself to actually say it out loud.

“Sweet Kissez,” Vexxx put in, snickering. “And I’m Vexxx. We’re looking for passage between here and Port Carnival. Your, uh, wife said you didn’t have any room, since you were off looking for cargo, but it sounds like maybe you’ll have some room after all?”

Scar nodded, looking up at the glowering captain “The only cargo I could get was a load of pigs, and you said you’d never work with livestock again. Besides, ah,” his eyes flickered to Rouge and Vexxx, “they heard about that, and their offer was ridiculously low.”

The Captain let out another of those frustrated screams, and ripped the tricorn hat from her head. “Blubber-lovin’ sea slugs! Fine!” She pointed at her husband, eyes narrowed to slits. “This is on you. If you decide to take on these land-walkers, and anything happens, it’s you who’ll suffer for it!” Turning, she stormed away, trailed by the step thump step thump sound.

Vexxx and Rouge turned wide eyes on Scar. He scratched his head, smiling wryly. “Don’t you worry about her,” he said, gesturing for them to walk up the ramp ahead of him. “I wouldn’t say she’s all bark and no bite, but she bites a lot less than she used to. Now, is it just passage for the two of you?”

Rouge gestured toward their mounts, who were patiently waiting on the dock. Well, Vexxx’s horse was waiting patiently. Codswallop was scratching and pecking at the wooden planks, making gouges in the wood, and no doubt looking very strange, since he should still look like a horse to everyone but them. “Us and our mounts. And,” she hitched her chin a little higher, “my friend, Silus.”

Scar looked around. “Is he - she? - coming later?”

Rouge reached up and scooped Silus into her hand, holding her up where the man could see her. “This is Silus. She’s a bat. And my friend.”

Scar blinked. “I… see. Well, I don’t see why that would be a problem. So long as she doesn’t bite anyone.” He smiled, eyes twinkling. “Though that’s a general rule for everyone. No biting. Unless it’s the Captain doing it, of course.”

Silus’ head popped up, her ears perking into fuzzy points. ::I won’t bite anyone!:: She turned to look at Rouge. ::I like him better than that other man, anyway.::

Rouge closed her mouth, which she had opened so she could continue trying to convince Scar to let the bat on board. “Oh,” she finally said. “Bats on board aren’t, like, unlucky or something?”

Frowning, Scar shook his head, chestnut curls gleaming in the sun like a shampoo ad. “Not that I know of.”

Vexxx pointed at the Ironclad. “A man on that ship told us his captain hated bats.”

Rouge tugged at one of her curls, thinking. “Actually, he said the captain has a ‘thing’ about bats.”

Scar let out the most mellifluous laugh Rouge had ever heard. “Ah! That he does! I hear tell he was once the assistant to the King’s Necromancer during the war. If you didn’t know, the Necromancer had bats for familiars, and one of them took a dislike to Captain Underants. It’d fly at him every time he got close, pulling his hair, and it frightened him so often that he had a nervous breakdown and had to retire from service.”

::He had lice!:: Silus said, fur fluffing up indignantly. ::They would fly around his head, and they looked tasty, and I was little, so I didn’t have nearly as much self-control as I do now.::

Vexxx stared at the bat, but Rouge choked down a giggle. ::That’s okay,:: she said over Party Chat, ::but it’s probably better that we didn’t end up on that ship. If he still has lice, we wouldn’t want to test all this self-control you have now.::

Vexxx made a face. ::Plus, lice are gross.::

Rouge made a sound of agreement and looked back at Scar, who was eyeing them curiously. “Well, it sounds like this is a better place for us anyway. Now, how much will it cost?”

Scar scratched his cheek, looking from them to their mounts. “The horses will have to stay on deck. We learned from past experience that animals don’t do well belowdecks. As long as you can keep them calm, and we don’t hit bad weather, they should be fine. You lot, though,” he shook his head. “We can string up two more hammocks in the crew quarters, or you can sleep on deck with your steeds. It won’t be comfortable, but one thing I’ll say for the old Star,” he patted the railing affectionately, “she’s fast. We’ll be in Port Carnival by this time tomorrow.”

Rouge brightened. “That’s great! I heard it took at least a day and a half. That should put us in port in time to look for a ship going out the same day.”

Scar’s eyebrows went up. “Where are you heading from there?”

Rouge tugged at a curl. “I… don’t know, exactly,” she admitted. “Farewell Island, for sure, but probably further after that.”

“Hmm,” Scar said thoughfully, but didn’t voice whatever had occurred to him. “Well, for the three of you and your mounts, it’ll be fifty gold. If you need me to get food for you or the horses, it’ll be a bit more. We only carry what we need, and we don’t usually carry passengers, so we have just enough food for the crew.”

Rouge shook her head. “We’ve got it covered.” She reached into the ‘pouch’ hanging from her belt and pulled out another pouch that shouldn’t have been able to fit inside the first one. Hefting it, she shook it so it jingled merrily, then handed it to Scar.

Quest: “A Strait Answer” complete.

You have obtained passage aboard the Western Star.

Success: Smooth sailing. Probably.

Bonus: +5 Reputation with Scar because you didn’t haggle down his outrageous price.

Rouge snorted as she read the message. She felt a little bad, since her [Haggle] skill had languished since Aspen gave her ridiculous amounts of money, and then she’d earned even more from finishing her secret quest. She just didn’t care enough about saving a few gold here and there to bother making the effort, so it was nice to get something out of being lazy for once.

Then she noticed a red notification start to flash on her display.

[Substitution]: 04: 48 remaining.

Oh. Yeah. There was that, wasn’t there.