Rouge X (Patreon)

“So,” Rouge said, carefully, “how would you feel if we substituted someone else for one of us? Say, if I stayed here, and a, uh, friend went with you instead?”

The man frowned, his scar tugging at his eyebrow and eye so he almost managed to look slightly sinister. “I’d have to meet them. Obviously, I can’t let just anyone on our ship. I have a pretty good sense for people, and you two seem innocent enough, but your ‘friend’ could be something else entirely.”

Rouge winced at the ‘something’, and wondered if it was possible to present the man with a fait accompli. Just get onto the ship quickly, cover up in a long cloak, and stay below until tomorrow. But now she’d brought it up, like an idiot, and Scar was definitely looking more suspicious the longer it took to clarify things.

She sighed. She’d already gotten the quest completion notice. Hopefully, that meant she was good, no matter what. Glancing around, she said, “No, she’s really nice. Um, a lot like me, actually. Just… shorter. And-” She stuck her forefingers up behind her ears, waggling them to mimic long, pointed ears.

He frowned. “She has horns? Or antenna? I don’t believe I’ve met any-”

“She’s part Dark elf,” Rouge hissed, watching the spell timer tick down inexorably. “I mean, part Wood elf, too, but… a lot of people don’t like her type. Unless you’re followers of Gina, maybe?” She had pretty much perfect Reputations with anyone who worshiped her goddess, as long as she was willing to reveal her sainthood. Which, honestly, she preferred not to do, because it made things weird for a while, but-

Shaking his head, Scar said, “We worship Zovina. You don’t need to worry about your friend, though. So long as I approve of her, the Captain won’t care about her any more or less than the rest of you, and I… have no reason to dislike Dark elves. Just because a race is little known and wary of strangers, that doesn’t mean they’re innately evil.” His lips quirked in something that might almost be called a fond smile, though he didn’t elaborate.

Rouge let out her breath in a relieved rush as her timer entered into its last minute. Reaching into her inventory, she pulled out a cloak with a deep cowl, and slipped it on. As Scar’s brows rose (well, one did, though the other was locked in place) she dropped [Substitution].

Scar let out a small grunt of surprise as the tall, shapely, pink-clad form of Sweet Kissez melted into Rouge’s shorter, more streamlined shape. Rouge smiled at him hopefully. “I didn’t mean to trick you,” she said. “I actually kind of forgot about the spell. I just didn’t want to be randomly arrested or turned away before I could even try to buy passage.”

The sailor reached up and ran a finger over the raised tissue of his scar as he stared at her. Finally, he dropped his hand and nodded decisively. “I don’t like being tricked, but I’ve certainly forgiven worse for less reason.” Again, the introspective smile. “So long as there’s nothing else you need to tell me?”

Rouge looked around again, noting the people, players and NPCs alike, who swarmed the area. “Ah, my horse is a little unusual, too, but if I drop his disguise, he’ll be much more noticeable. I promise he’s harmless, though.” She batted her lashes in the look that worked on her dad at least ninety percent of the time. So long as she wasn’t asking him to buy her something. Or let her stay out after curfew. Or-

Scar snorted a laugh and stuck out his hand. “Ten gold,” he said, tone brooking no dissent. “Five for each deception. Unless you just want your fifty back, and we’ll call this a lesson learned?”

She shook her head violently, and pulled a second, smaller pouch out of her inventory. Handing it to him, she looked up the gangplank at the woman they’d originally spoken with, who had been watching Rouge’s transformation and the ensuing conversation with clear bemusement. “Can we… go aboard now?”

Scar turned to the woman. “Bonny? These,” his eyes flicked to Silus, nearly completely invisible in the depths of Rouge’s hood, “three rapscallions will be joining us for the Port Carnival leg. Help them get situated, and find someplace for their mounts. Whatever they may be.”

Ignoring the last sentence, which was muttered quietly enough she was sure Bonny wasn’t meant to hear it, Rouge started up the ramp with all the confidence she could muster. Apparently, it was enough, because Vexxx, then Codswallop and the black stallion, all followed after her, crowding onto the small deck. Bonny eyed them, looking torn between annoyance and amusement, and finally settled on amusement.

“Oy! Horatio! Get up here!” she yelled. A moment later a boy with a short brown ponytail and a distinct resemblance to Bonny poked his head up through a hatch in the center of the deck. He was no more than twelve years old, and his face was tanned a deep brown. He gave Bonny a long-suffering look.

“What’s it?” he demanded, taking something from his mouth.

“Apparently, we’re a passenger boat now,” Bonny said, though there was no bite to the words. “Take these folks below an’ put ‘em in the crew quarters.”

Rouge eyed the dark hole that presumably had a ladder leading down into the depths of the ship. She’d been in plenty of tight spaces, and they didn’t usually bother her, but something about knowing that at least part of that mysterious area was actually under water creeped her out. If the ship sprang a leak, or whatever they called it on a ship, she didn’t want to be ‘below’.

She cleared her throat. “Ah, if it’s okay, Scar said we could sleep with the, um, mounts. Out here.” She motioned to the breezy, open deck. “I think I’d prefer to do that. I have my own bedding and everything, so you can just ignore me.”

Vexxx stared at her, then made an annoyed face. “Fine,” he sighed. “If she’s staying out, I’m staying out. Though if it rains on us, and we get debuffs, I’m blaming you.” He glared at Rouge.

Horatio looked between Bonny and their new passengers, clearly perplexed.

Bonny rolled her eyes. “Landies,” she muttered. “Sure. You can all sleep on the quarterdeck, then. Are we feedin’ you, too? Just, I’m the cook, as well as the quartermaster, an’ I need to know how much victuals I need t’prepare.”

Rouge and Vexxx shook their heads simultaneously. “We’ll eat our own food,” Rouge said, with a glance at her cousin. She had several meals worth of Millie’s cooking in her inventory, and she was pretty sure whatever Bonny made in a tiny ship’s galley would be a big step down from that.

Bonny shrugged. “Good, then. Horatio, show ‘em where they can put the horses and their beds so they’re not in the way.”

Horatio sighed and tucked the thing that had been in his mouth through the lapel of his tunic. As his hand fell away, Rouge could see that it was a wide, curved needle trailing thread thick as twine. Once he had both hands free, he climbed the rest of the way onto the deck, scurrying across the wooden planks toward a set of stairs to Rouge’s right.

Rouge, Vexxx, and the mounts trailed after him like obedient children, emerging onto a surprisingly spacious open area. Something that appeared to be a small, weatherworn shrine stood at the front of the ship, and two gleaming cannons lurked menacingly at the sides. As he reached the shrine, the boy’s fingers stroked the head of some kind of carved wooden animal that took pride of place in the shrine. The rich, burnished wood told of a thousand other, similar touches.

Behind Rouge, Vexxx stopped, staring at the cannons. “Whoa,” he breathed. “That’s so extra. I’ve never been this close to a cannon before.”

Rouge nodded. Bright had cannons mounted on its walls, she knew, but regular people weren’t exactly encouraged to go up there. Not that that usually stopped her, but she’d never been interested enough to try sneaking through guard patrols and alarmed doors in order to get a good look at one.

Horatio grinned, white teeth bright against the dark copper of his skin. “Yep. The Star may look like just another cargo ship, but we have teeth. Anyone who tries to take us is in for a nasty surprise or six.” Seeming to realize he may have said too much, the boy looked around, focusing on the area between the shrine and the cannons. “You can bed down here. In fact, if you don’t need food, it’s probably best if you just stay up here. The Captain is…” His voice trailed off as he tried to find a safe way to express what, exactly, his captain was.

“Touchy?” Rouge offered, and the young crewmember’s face brightened.

“Aye, that!” He gave the mounts a look. “An’ if your steeds make a mess, it’ll be you who cleans it up.” He touched the needle in his lapel absently. “I have enough to do without mucking about with the likes of them.” The distaste in his voice was clear, though what, exactly, he was objecting to was unclear.

Rouge just nodded, though, and the boy turned to leave, apparently satisfied. As he turned to go down the stairs, however, Rouge called after him.

“Um… Horatio?”

The boy turned reluctantly.

“I just- Do you know how Travelers sleep?” She motioned from her to Vexxx and back again.

He looked confused, and shook his head.

Rouge sighed. “We’re going to lie down once we get the, uh, horses settled, and then we’re going to go to sleep, but you won’t be able to wake or move us. Everything else will be pretty normal, but don’t freak out if we seem to be unconscious, or if we don’t wake when we get to port. Scar said we should reach Port Carnival by tomorrow afternoon. We’ll be back - I mean, awake - by then, so just don’t worry about us.”

Horatio’s forehead creased, but he just nodded and bounded down the stairs, taking them three at a time so he could hurry back to whatever task they had interrupted.

Rouge looked around, then reached up to touch Silus’ head. The little bat had been unusually silent, and Rouge knew she was probably worrying about being truly alone for almost the first time in her life. Aspen or another friend had always been nearby, ready and willing to leap to her aid, but when Rouge and Vexxx logged out, the closest thing she’d have to backup was Codswallop.

::Twenty-four hours here is twelve in our world,:: Rouge said over Party Chat, wary of listening ears. ::We’ll eat and try to get some rest, since we’ll have to come back about when we usually go to bed. If you need anything before then…:: She trailed off, since, really, there was nothing she could do, even if the bat did need her. She had a notification set in the Veritas app to let her know if any of her party members, including Silus, dropped below ninety-five percent health, but she’d still have to see it, get into her suit, and log back in before she could do anything about it. In an emergency, that delay could mean death for the delicate bat.

Silus rubbed her head against Rouge’s hand, the silvery tufts of fur in front of her ears tickling the rogue’s fingers. ::I’ll be fine,:: she said. Even if something happens, I can hide, and you can re-spoon.::

::Respawn,:: Vexxx put in, smirking.

Silus giggled. ::I know. But it’s funnier the other way.::

Rouge grinned. ::You’re right. Okay.:: She looked around, then moved to a space beside the shrine, pulling out blanket after blanket until she had a ‘mattress’ a foot thick.

Vexxx shook his head as the tenth fluffy comforter settled into place. “How many blankets do you have?”

“Forty-nine,” Rouge said promptly, laying out one last layer. “I learned that you should always keep the basics with you. You never know when you’re suddenly going to have to cross some mountains, and a sled might be handy, or you may need a fifty foot ladder and two cow costumes. Fortunately, I know somebody who had to move rather suddenly, and he gave me permission to loot-,” She coughed. “I mean, take whatever I wanted, and he had some really weird things. Then I came into a little money, so I just bought whatever I thought I might need and filled up my extraneous inventory with it.”

Vexxx held out his hands, and a standard bedroll appeared in them. The item was reusable, and provided a good enough place to sleep that you always got the minimal Well-rested buff, but that was about all that could be said for it. He laid it on the ground next to her luxurious pile of padding and grimaced. Glancing at her sidelong, he said, “I don’t suppose-”

“One question,” she interrupted, holding up a neatly folded stack of blankets almost eighteen inches thick. “You answer one question. Truthfully,” she stressed, “and the blankets are yours.” Holding out her other hand, she shook it dramatically and a cascade of pillows poured down on the ground like she’d just opened a vortex to the Land of Nod. “And however many pillows you want.”

She saw the sly look on his face and hastily corrected herself. “I mean, not all of them, but otherwise as many as you want.”

The mage sighed and shrugged. “Sure. Though I don’t have any big secrets, so I don’t know what you think is worth all this.”

Rouge grinned and stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

Vexxx spit in his palm and shook her hand before she recovered enough to yank it away, grinning as she made a retching sound and wiped her hand on one of the blankets before handing it to him. Turning, she flopped down in her all-enveloping Mound of Fluff and closed her eyes.

“See you soon, Silus,” she murmured quietly enough that only the bat’s sensitive ears should be able to pick it up. Silus didn’t reply, but snuggled down against Rouge’s collarbone, clearly ready to do what bats usually did during the day, and sleep.

Log out, Rouge thought, and even the darkness behind her eyes vanished.