Rouge XIII (Patreon)

They were back exactly an hour and a half, real-time, later. There really wasn’t anything to do, so she’d spent the time checking her mail, watching vids, and reading the wikis about Port Carnival and Farewell Island.

Apparently, the smell in the port had started about a game-year ago, and pretty much everyone above level fifty got the same quest as Vexxx if they got close enough to smell it. As far as she could tell, no one had bothered to finish the quest, because, much like North Goose, it just wasn’t worth sticking around long enough to do so. No one had admitted to getting the quest Rouge got, however, and she didn’t know if that was because no one else met the requirements, or if everyone who tried it had failed, and they were keeping it quiet so they could try again.

The entry on Farewell Island was depressingly short. It was the most populated of the islands closest to Port Carnival, so it would probably be the first or last stop for a trader like the Monnow. There were a few repeatable quests mentioned, but otherwise it was pretty bland. In fact, it was so peaceful that a few people suggested using it as a substitute for a real vacation, if you couldn’t afford one. The good news was that she found a picture of Cap’n Matt’s favorite pastry buried deep in the comments. It was called a Lobster Madeleine, and the player suggested eating it when it was properly fresh and chilled, but once it was warm, it was best used as an offering to Typhus, God of Trash.

Rouge stood on the quarterdeck as the ship moved beneath her feet, making its way out of the bay and into the ocean. The peaks of the waves glinted silver in the sunlight, and as fresh salt air drove away the funk of the port, she drew in a deep breath. Beside her, Codswallop seemed mesmerized by the broad, open expanse before them. Silus snoozed peacefully on her shoulder.

Rouge had been genuinely worried when she logged into Veritas. Had Silus run into a cat? Would one or more of those large birds of prey try to eat her? Might some human decide to use her as target practice, just because? Honestly, though, Silus could handle herself in a fight against most things her level or lower, even if they were much larger than she was. Her [Bite] could cause Disease, in addition to doing a surprising amount of damage, her [Screech] was incredibly disorienting, and her Dexterity was high enough that she could dodge almost anything, as long as she saw it coming. And, indeed, the bat had been fine; fat and sassy and full of gossip.

That gossip had allowed Rouge to fill in some holes around the ‘Miasma’ quest. Not that the mysterious quest was distracting her. At all. Because she was focused on finding Matilda’s father. If she just happened to figure out how to make Port Carnival less stinky at the same time, well, that was just a bonus.

Rouge stared down at a dark blotch beneath the water’s surface as the Star carefully sailed around it. It was right inside the entrance to the bay, just beyond where protective curves of land opened out and became the coast. “D’you suppose that’s the pirate ship they were talking about?” she murmured.

Silus poked her head out, peering at the water. ::I can’t tell,:: she admitted. ::I can’t make out details below the surface. This is about the right spot, though.::

Vexxx, overhearing the conversation, came to stand beside Rouge, squinting down into the water. “That’s definitely a shipwreck,” he said, like he actually knew. He lifted a finger as they moved further away, tracing a protruding shadow. “That’s a mast, no cap.”

Rouge frowned at him. “You can’t know that,” she insisted, even though she had a feeling he was right. “That could be… some kind of weird game-coral, or a rock, or a tree that fell overboard, or-”

“That’s th’ mast, all right,” a voice came from beside them. Rouge and Vexxx turned to look at Horatio, who had been mopping the deck since before they left port. The boy was paler than usual, and his eyes were wide. His expression held the same sort of horrified fascination people had when they watched a scary movie.

Horatio glanced around, obviously looking for any of the other members of the crew. Seeing none, he leaned closer, eyes glinting. “That’s where Cap’n Shale met his grisly end. Do you want to hear the story?”

Rouge felt a shiver go down her spine. That was the ‘you’re on the right track’ shiver, and she nodded eagerly.

The boy reached down, almost absently stroking the worn wooden figure that rested in the shrine beside him. Lowering his voice, he said, “It was a dark and stormy night-”

Rouge stomped on Vexxx’s foot as he rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, then motioned for Horatio to continue.

Glancing between the two of them, he did so. “Shale was on the way to the port to sell his ill-gotten gains an’ give his men shore leave. But just at the stroke of midnight, under cover of the storm an’ the darkness, he caught someone lowering a dinghy from the side of the ship. The boat held a great deal of his loot, as well as an escaping prisoner, an’ several members of the crew. Of course, he ordered the rest of the crew to kill the deserters, an’ a fierce battle ensued. During the course of that battle, he was killed. His ship sank with all aboard, leaving the broken vessel, resting at the bottom of the sea, as the only testament to his evil existence.”

Rouge nodded. That was about how the story Silus had overheard had gone. The speaker had only known that the ship burst into flames and sank, not why, but the ending was identical. “And the port has smelled worse and worse ever since then, right? Some people even think the ghosts of the captain and crew are causing it.”

Horatio blanched, his fingers pressing against the wooden idol until his knuckles turned white. Grasping the mop, he turned and walked away. “I wouldn’t know anythin’ about that. I wasn’t in port.” He hesitated, shook his head, and looked away, muttering, “I mean, we don’t stay in port long. I gotta go now.” Turning, he quickly bounded down the steps, going straight to the hatch in the center of the deck. Leaving his wet mop behind, and a bucket of dirty water uncomfortably close to Rouge and Vexxx’s beds, he vanished below.

::Does that mean he was on the pirate ship, then?:: Silus asked, her piping little voice filled with bright curiosity.

Rouge’s eyes narrowed. That was… one possible interpretation of the boy’s words, though it was a bit of a leap. She’d been inclined to take the story at face value, since she’d assumed Horatio had been on the Star, not in town, just as he’d said. But why would he suddenly refuse to talk because he wasn’t in Port Carnival? And the person Silus had overheard hadn’t known nearly as many details as the young deckhand. If Horatio was on the pirate ship that night, what would that make him? The escaping prisoner? Or one of the deserters? But he was obviously related to Bonny; anyone looking at them could see that. Which meant that either they had both been prisoners, or both crew. And Bonny didn’t look the type to just accept being made a prisoner, plus Horatio had clearly said ‘a’ prisoner, meaning one, not him and his sister. Which also implied…

She cast a suddenly wary look around the ship. It was a stretch. More than a stretch. But it wasn’t impossible. Was she currently sailing on a ship crewed by former pirates? She hadn’t checked everyone’s level, mainly because Bonny and Horatio were the only ones she saw regularly, but if Bonny was a former pirate, it would explain why her level was equivalent to that of a town guard, rather than a common non-combat NPC.

And now they were going to be at sea, where they couldn’t even jump over the side and swim to shore if something happened. And they knew she had money. Did they know that if they killed a Traveler money rarely dropped? Would they care? Or would they be willing to make the attempt anyway? After all, Travelers could and did drop items, and a wealthy Traveler was likely to have better items-

A sigh broke through her thoughts, and she blinked as Vexxx snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. “Hello? Earth to Rouge,” he said. “You look like someone kicked your dog. What gives?”

With a final visual sweep of the deck, Rouge dropped into Party Chat. ::What if Horatio, Bonny, Scar, the Captain, and whoever else is hiding on this ship are all pirates? Remember how Scar said people back in Bright had heard some rumor? What if the Western Star is a pirate vessel, and they’re wanted, so they’ve been working the river until the heat died down? But now they’ve decided to return to their life of crime, just when we’re on board!::

Silus huddled tight against Rouge’s neck, but Vexxx just snorted a laugh. ::Did you just say ‘life of crime’, Sherlock? Come on.:: He rolled his eyes. ::Even if they were pirates, I don’t think they are any more. But we could totally take them, if we had to.::

She stared at him. ::Are you sure? Have you looked at their levels?::

He shrugged. ::Obvi. Didn’t you? We were going to be leaving our Zombies on their boat. Didn’t you want to make sure that if they decided to try to kill us, they’d at least take long enough we’d have enough time to log in and try to defend ourselves? These guys are, like, mostly around my level, except the kid and Scar, so they could probably do me in pretty fast, but I hoped they’d go for you first, since you’re the bigger threat.::

Glaring, Rouge said, ::Thanks? You couldn’t have mentioned that little thought process?::

He clicked his tongue. ::No big to me if you can’t think of this stuff yourself. You so basic.::

Rouge reached up and viciously twirled a curl around her finger, tugging hard enough that a zing of discomfort broke through her low pain settings.

::So, we need to stay logged in until we get to the island,:: she said.

He raised his brows. ::Do you even know when that is? We already logged out on board twice. If they were gonna butcher us, they’d, like, do it already. I’ve been sleeping in the spare suit your dad loaned me, so I, at least, can be online in just over a minute. Unlike you, since your fancy pod takes a while to start up.::

::I… see,:: she gritted out. She absolutely would not remind him that there was a warning against sleeping in the suits right there on the label. No, because knowing him, that would just make him mention even more often, just because he knew it got under her skin.

::So what do you think is going on here?:: she finally managed to ask.

Vexxx shrugged again. ::I think they’re former pirates who killed their old boss and went straight.::

::But why?:: Rouge demanded.

Turning away, her cousin crossed over and laid down on his pile of blankets, folding his arms behind his head. ::Don’t know, don’t care. I ain’t dead, so why’s it my problem?::

Rouge clenched her teeth on the grammar correction that threatened to escape, readying a comeback that totally would have knocked him down a peg as soon as she thought of it, but stopped as she saw the look on his face. Following his line of sight, she saw that sometime since the beginning of their conversation, the horizon had grown dark, and now thick gray clouds seemed to rush toward them from the east.

Vexxx sat up again. “That’s a bad storm.” He pointed at the flickering clouds. “There’s lightning in there. A lot of it.”

As if on cue, Bonny came up the stairs, her face pinched, though she tried to smile. “We’re going to get caught in that squall. Just came outta nowhere, and the wind’s against us makin’ it back to the bay. Our best bet is to get to a little island we know of an’ take shelter in the lagoon there.” Her eyes caught on Vexxx’s robes, and she smiled at him hopefully. “Unless yer a wind mage, by chance? Maybe you could blow us back t’ port?”

Vexxx shook his head. “Lightning,” he said. “I can make a storm, but I don’t think we need another one.” He tried to smirk, but it fell a little flat as they all watched the oncoming squall. A few fat drops of rain fell from the leading edge, splattering on the deck.

Bonny’s lips tightened to a white line, and she nodded. “You should go below, then. You’ll just be in th’ way up here, an’ you could be washed overboard.”

Rouge thought about that. She still hadn’t ventured below, and the thought of doing it when the small ship was about to be tossed around like a toy in a bathtub wasn’t exactly enticing. “No,” she said, firmly. “I’ll stay here. I’ll even tie myself to the rail, along with Wally, but I won’t go below. I’m… stronger than I look, and I can help, if you just tell me how.”

Bonny gave her a long-suffering look. “You don’t even know th’ difference between a boat an’ a ship, lass. An’ we won’t have time t’ train you.”

Rouge nodded. “Fair. But I’ll still stay up here.” She laid a hand on Wally’s fluffy back. She knew he’d respawn in Refuge if he fell overboard and drowned, but she couldn’t help but feel like she’d have failed him if she let that happen. No, she wouldn’t leave him up here alone.

“I’ll take responsibility,” she said, meeting Bonny’s eyes. “If any of us goes overboard, it’s on me.” She hesitated, putting a hand up to touch Silus. ::Silus, you need to go below. Find someplace to hide, and stay there until the storm is over. Your wings aren’t strong enough to withstand the kind of winds that are pushing that storm:: Indeed, all of their hair was whipping wildly by now, and their stances had shifted as the waves picked up and tossed the ship unpredictably.

Rouge fully expected the bat to argue, but instead Silus just said, ::Okay.;: Rouge could hear that she wasn’t happy about it, but as another gust shoved at Rouge, Silus’ wing-thumbs dug deeply into Rouge’s neck. Quickly, the rogue ran across the short upper deck, ignoring the stairs in favor of clambering over the railing and dropping to the deck below. She had to roll when it came up to meet her before she was ready, but she hadn’t pumped half of her stat points into Dexterity for nothing. Crossing to the hatch, she pulled it open, scooped Silus from her shoulder, and dropped the fragile creature into the darkness below. Silus’ wings flapped once, twice, and she was gone.

::I’ll see you soon,:: the bat sent back. ::Gina will keep us safe.::

Rouge nodded, sending a silent prayer to her goddess. As Gina’s Saintess, she knew the goddess always heard her. She did not, however, always grant Rouge’s requests. Especially when they involved cinnamon rolls the size of a house, or swimming pools of cream cheese frosting.

“Gina, don’t let Silus die. Please,” she murmured into the sudden, pouring rain.

Your Goddess has heard your prayer.

That was it. No indication of whether she would grant it, but that was the best Rouge could do for her friend right now. Silus was as safe as Rouge could make her, and as rain began to soak them all in earnest, the girl turned to look into the depths of the storm.