Rouge XXI (Patreon)

Gurangalong Island wasn’t too far away, but it took nearly three hours to get there. The Star spent the whole time hot on the heels of the fanatics, who didn’t even bother pretending they weren’t going straight home. The catamaran skimmed over the waves even faster than the sloop, so by the time the island came into view, everyone knew the enemy would reach land before them. Still, no one even suggested not going after Scar, and the crew spent their short periods of inactivity sharpening and cleaning their weapons.

The first thing Rouge noticed about the island was that there wasn’t a volcano on it. Unless the short hill in the center was it, but weren’t volcanoes… mountains? When she muttered this question aloud, however, Vexxx shook his head.

“Lots of really cool things happen around underwater volcanic vents,” he said, eyeing the island from his place standing at the railing beside her. “I read up on them and then volcanoes in general when I was thinking about getting a job with NOAA. Volcanoes aren’t all huge, and a lot of their height can be hidden below the surface of the water.”

Rouge looked down at the crystal clear water below, suddenly feeling nervous. “So we could actually be floating over this volcano right now?”

He shrugged. “It’s possible. This whole area could be a chain of volcanoes, and with the way gods work in Veritas, they could each have their own personal volcano god.”

::None of them is as good as Gina,:: Silus put in, loyally. ::And if they want their followers to be as mean as these Goo-ran-longs, then I don’t like any of them.:: More quietly, she continued, ::I want to go home. I miss Aspen, and Juniper, and everybody.::

Rouge tilted her cheek against the bat’s fuzzy little body. She’d known something was wrong when Silus didn’t speak after the excitement of the battle wore off. The small creature had started shivering a few minutes after they left Farewell Island, and though she’d stopped in the hours since, she had remained huddled against Rouge’s neck.

“Are you okay?” Rouge asked, quietly.

::I… will be,:: Silus said. ::One of them almost cut off my wing, and another one smacked me so hard I nearly crashed.::

Rouge hissed in a breath. Most bats, including Silus, couldn’t launch themselves into the air like birds. Instead, they had to drop off of something high, using the speed and distance of their descent to kickstart flight. If Silus was knocked to the ground, she would be all but helpless.

“I bet that was scary,” Rouge said, feeling her own heart pound at the thought of how close she’d come to losing her friend.

::Yeah,:: Silus admitted. ::I thought it would be exciting to go on an adventure, without Aspen there to tell me to be careful all the time, and keep me from trying anything new. But… I think he’s the reason I felt safe enough to try those new things, and without him everything is just-::

Rouge nodded. “Scary.”

::Scary,:: Silus agreed, and the two fell into a contemplative silence as the island with the tiny-but-maybe-huge volcano drew ever nearer.

At last, Vexxx cleared his throat and said, “What do we do when we get there? Gurangalong Island, I mean.”

Rouge shrugged. “Stop anyone who tries to keep us from getting our people back, I guess.”

He made a face. “Duh. But what if they take them to the volcano before we get there?” He pointed to the white sails of the catamaran, gleaming in the distance. The other vessel was at least twenty minutes ahead of them, now, and the speck of the ship was about to merge with the sprawling island. “The volcano is short. They could get Scar and the others up there and chuck them in before we even reach the beach.”

Rouge was about to say she didn’t know when something occurred to her. It was a crazy, possibly stupid something, but if it worked…

Slowly, she turned to her cousin. “Can you control your [Tempest]? Like, could you put it behind us, so the winds would push us toward the island faster? Without wrecking the Star?”

“I… Maybe?” he frowned. “I can technically summon it anywhere within line of sight, but I usually place it right around me, or far away from my party. It’s great crowd control if I get mobbed, since I’m immune to damage from it, but no one else is. If I got it in just the right spot, it might help push us toward the island, but I can’t promise it wouldn’t damage the Star in the process.”

“Do it,” a raspy voice said, and Vexxx and Rouge spun around to see that Grace, the last, formerly silent member of the Star’s crew, was speaking. As she continued, the harsh, painful sound of her voice made Rouge want to wince in sympathy, and she understood why the redhead didn’t talk much.

“I’ll tell the Cap’n,” Grace said, and pointed at the island. “Get us there.” Without waiting for Vexxx to reply, she turned and ran off, vaulting down the stairs toward where Jean stood at the steering wheel.

Rouge turned to Vexxx. “You heard her, Storm-boy. Time to save the day.”

He gave her a half-hearted glare, but raised his hands. Just before he started his spell, he looked back at her. “Better put away your bat.”

Rouge grabbed Silus and tucked her into the front of her tunic, in spite of her friend’s protesting squeaks. Then the storm began.

Rouge had seen mages cast [Tempest] before. Not in person, but there were lots of videos. Lightning Mage was a pretty common class, but not many of them bothered to raise this spell very high, since it damaged everyone and everything around them. Usually, it was cast into an oncoming group, and the mage’s party members would take on the disoriented and injured mobs who made it out the other side. The mage intentionally kept it contained and short, so none of their allies would accidentally get caught in it.

This wasn’t that kind of [Tempest]. In an instant, the sky grew as black as it had been when Shale’s magic storm surrounded them. Wind whipped up, and the sail snapped taut. The crew began shouting instructions back and forth, running around as they expertly turned the ship and the sail to catch the full force of the gale. The mast creaked and cracked threateningly, but unlike when they raced ahead of Shale’s storm, no one folded part of the sail away so it wouldn’t pull so hard.

All around Rouge, ropes hummed with tension, and the ship seemed to strain as it nearly leapt from the top of one rising wave to the next. Rain began to pour down, and lightning snapped at the waves, but somehow the leading edge of the storm stayed just behind the ship. Rouge looked over at Vexxx, and saw that his face was fixed in a frown of concentration, and his eyes were closed. His hands were splayed wide, and the gale blew his robe wildly. For once, though, he didn’t look ridiculous in the oversized garment. No, his focus, his expression of fierce determination, shifted his aspect from comedic to powerful.

The storm raged. Ferocious winds sang in the lines, waves curled and lifted the Star, throwing her forward, and a torrential downpour continued, just behind them, chasing and driving them forward at impossible speeds. For a few minutes, it seemed as though the vessel would have to take flight, soaring through the air like an ostrich given an impossible gift by some unfathomably mighty being.

Then the mast cracked.

Like a twig snapped by a playful child, the thick wooden column fell in a rustle of ropes and collapsing canvas. The thick web of ropes kept it from either falling overboard or crashing to the deck, but it was nothing more than debris now. Cries of dismay rose from the crew, but Jean never wavered from her place at the wheel. Her eyes were locked on the island that seemed to be rushing toward them, and in spite of the loss of the mast and the sails, the ship continued on, driven by momentum and the force of Vexxx’s storm.

Rouge looked over, just in time to see the mage down a mana potion. Several bottles rattled on the deck around his feet, and as she watched, one vanished over the side, making her wonder how many others had gone before it. When he took another bottle from his inventory, she almost stopped him. It was dangerous to drink too many, too quickly. The game didn’t stop you from doing it, but with each one after the first, it gave you more and more debuffs to your mana regen. She didn’t know what would happen to a player who’d had - she counted - at least eight of them in a row, but it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

But they needed to reach the island, and without the sail, they’d never make it if the storm ended. Plus, there was no way Vexxx could conjure another one any time soon, no matter how many potions he chugged, since there was probably a pretty long cool-down on such a powerful spell.

So, she just watched as he drank potion after potion, and his [Tempest] blew. The ship slowed, now that the sail was down, but it continued, and in a little over eight minutes they covered the distance that would have taken at least half an hour otherwise.

Jean made no attempt to pull the ship in gently, either. She steered straight for the shore, her face a mask of grim determination, and when the Star’s hull ground deep into the sandy beach, there were more cracking and crunching sounds. Before the broken vessel even had time to start taking on water, the crew threw themselves over the side. Bonny and Grace were in the lead, heading up a wide dirt road that wound up the side of the small volcano. Jean was right behind them, though her peg leg sank deep into the sand, throwing off her stride. Horatio was there by her side, his narrow shoulder beneath her arm, helping her toward more solid ground.

Rouge turned to Vexxx. Her cousin had allowed his spell to lapse, and now he sat, slumped against the railing, looking significantly paler than usual. “Are you all right?”

He reached up to clutch at his head. “Head is killing me.” Looking up, he gave her a pained but triumphant smile. “Made it, though.”

She nodded and crouched beside him. Sliding her arms beneath his body, and ignoring the squawk of protest he made, she jumped from the ship, landing beside the footprints left by one of the crew, which were already filling with water. Rouge dug in her toes and began to run.

She passed Jean and Horatio first. Grace was next, her short legs simply unable to keep up with Bonny’s longer ones. Finally, Rouge zipped around Bonny herself, though the road had narrowed, and Rouge had to use one foot on the rocky cliffside to catapult herself past the woman. By now, Vexxx had given in. He clung to Rouge like a limpet, and she had the vague thought that they must look ridiculous; a ninja-girl doing parkour up a mountain-side, carrying a robe-clad boy five inches taller than herself.

::Silus, can you get out?:: Rouge asked, still running easily in spite of the steep path and her awkward burden.

Silus’ answer was to do as Rouge asked, and as soon as she was free of the cloth that had kept her safe during the storm, she dropped from Rouge’s shoulder, flapping her wings as she shifted into flight. ::Should I go?:: she asked, and it was a sign of her lingering worry over what had happened during the last confrontation with the Fanatics that she didn’t simply leave without asking.

::Yes,:: Rouge answered. ::But don’t engage with them. Even if they’re about to start throwing people into the volcano.:: She looked after the bat as Silus flew away, straight up the hill-mountain, away from the road. ::Silus, I mean it. If I had to choose between you and anyone else, I’d choose you. Be safe.::

Silus didn’t answer, didn’t answer, didn’t answer… ::Me, too. I will.::

Nodding, Rouge focused on the rocky, narrowing path.