All That Remains [Kev]

[Zen]

Turn 2762, Month 2

Treyjen, Nalyra

Nalyra stood at the railing of the quarter deck while he stood at the helm. They were nearing their destination. It had been oddly nice having his sister aboard. Perhaps nice wasn’t the right word. Nostalgic was more accurate. They hadn’t sailed together since she’d been awarded the Bright Wing, and he hadn’t realized just how much he had felt her absence until he had her back. She looked back at him, obviously sensing his gaze, and grinned, “I’ve missed this old hunk of driftwood.”

He made a displeased noise, “Insult her again n'I’ll toss y'overboard.”

She laughed, running her hands over the railing with some amount of affection, “She was home… the only place I ever felt safe, and free….” She drew in a deep breath and turned to face him, leaning back against the railing, “You really think this is gonna work?”

“Having doubts, are you?” he asked, hands firm on the wheel as the currents tested his control.

“It just seems too good to be true,” Nalyra stated simply, crossing her arms over her chest, “Maybe he’s just sending you on some wild wherry chase to get the pirates out of his hair for a while. He doesn’t seem terribly fond of us.” She grinned then, not at all upset at the fact.

Treyjen rolled his eyes, “He’s not one t'play games, either. He’s quite straightforward.”

“Mm… his disdain for games is so very disappointing,” she hummed thoughtfully, pointedly ignoring the way her brother’s gaze narrowed at her. “So you trust him… and trust that he actually wants to help you in this?”

“I do, though his reasons are his own,” Treyjen replied with a shrug. He had his guesses but Asirikai had never given him a reason as to why he would go so far to assist him in obtaining legal ownership of his ship, “He's a trustworthy man. He holds himself to a high standard of honor. Underhanded tricks are below him.” It was a simple statement of fact. Asirikai’s nature was made plain from their first interaction and had remained true ever since. His pride sometimes led to a quick temper, but his own sense of honor seemed to hold even that mostly at bay. If not, the two of them might have come to blows at their initial meeting.

Nalyra chuckled at that, a sly smirk on her face, “He’s still a man. He can be swayed to act less than honorably, though it certainly is quite the task to achieve.”

Treyjen grimaced and didn’t want to begin to broach that subject. He knew very well what she was referring to and didn’t require any further details. “I’ll take your word for it,” he replied dryly, and she laughed. Fortunately a call from the wherry’s nest cut any further conversation short. He’d told his men what to look out for, and it seemed that the marker Asirikai had written of had been spotted. “Take her,” he said, and his sister stepped into his place as he moved from the helm, pulling a spyglass from his coat and seeking the shoreline, quickly spotting the odd tree the Lord of Mavros’s directions had described. He turned and moved toward the stairs to the main deck, calling orders as he went for the sails to be furled and the anchor dropped. “Umbregel!”

The older man headed toward him, his blue flit perched on his shoulder as usual. Treyjen pulled the letter Asirikai had written for Piros from within a protected pocket of his coat and handed the spyglass to the man, “Spot the tree. I need Salty t’take this there’n wait.” He held up the letter for reference. He’d have sent Pearl but if the wait was too long she was like to abandon her post out of boredom. One did not make a queen wait. Perhaps with more training she would become a better messenger, but she was a stubborn beast. Salty would be far more reliable.

The man spotted the tree for a good visual to give the flit and nodded, handing the spyglass back, and Treyjen gave the flit the letter, “If y’lose it, you’d best not come back, flit.” Salty made a scolding sort of peep at him, as he often did when Treyjen made his empty threats at the blue, but seemed to clasp the letter quite securely. Umbregel gave him the visual and the order, and then the blue was in flight, and gone, popping between to the tree and finding a nice perch for himself.

With nothing left to do but wait, Treyjen turned to helping the crew secure the sails. With their diminished numbers, every hand was needed.

kevna

[kevna]

Priyaanya - Bronze Hisk

She was very patient. When she first spotted the ship following the shoreline, it had been very small. Not many came this close to shore, not here, not for fish. Maybe a cargo bay? Pirate ship? She just sat and watched. Hisk had popped in and out a few times. He wasn’t nearly as patient as she was, and she noticed that the bronze was seeking to hide in the brush and rocks, trying to scare her. It was cute, his attempts, and sometimes she pretended he scared her. Only once did he really scare her, and he had done it by using his long tail slithering from his hiding place and touching her, like a tunnel snake sneaking up on her. Shards, but that had been brilliant. Hisk had potential, and he had been very, very useful in her past missions. No wonder he was growing bored, out here, with very little to do, unless she went into a village for food gathering.

She continued to watch the boat, until it was plain that it had stopped in their little nook of life, still out to sea, but plainly in their waters. Huh. How intriguing. She felt the knot of excitement when she noticed the blue flit pop out at their message tree. Who could that be? How many people had her Ba told about their hiding spot. She couldn’t imagine many, since very few people could be trusted… then who? Surely not family.

She slowly backed away from her watch post, Hisk becoming more and more interested in the boat. “Don’t you dare.” She murmured, warning the flit. He’d love to sneak upon the ship, but there wasn’t much to hiding out at sea. Not, it would be too great a risk. She got up when far enough that she wouldn’t be detected by the strange flit, and headed back to their little hut. “Ba! She called, and found him in his rocking chair, puffing on his pipe. She vaguely wondered what he was smoking, but didn’t ask. He'd probably lie anyway.

“There’s a flit at the tree.” She said simply, hiding her growing anticipation, and trying not to hope. This lot in life was in a way her fault, though Ba could take some blame as well… She pushed aside old resentments, focusing on the old man who hadn’t stopped his rocking and smoking, though his eyes seemed to be brighter, though she very well could be imagining it. “Let ‘im wait.” He said, falling into a folky lilt. She placed hands on hips. “It’s no polit to mek ‘em wait.” She said, matching his lilt. Sometimes they did this, and she wondered if he was still making her practice her “lessons” or whether he did it plainly out of boredom. Then she realized. He had said ‘im, not ‘em. Him. Not them. Who was the him? Who had her Ba trusted enough to reveal their location? And why? She was doing the calculations, coming up with names and crossing them out in her head.

“Ma-be no, but wait ‘ey will.” He closed his eyes, and deliberately started rocking slower. She tapped her foot in irritation, then deliberated throwing something at her Ba and going back to watch. What if they left? How long were they supposed to wait? She narrowed her eyes when she realized that he was probably gleaning amusement from her growing anxiety. She left their hut, walking to her own hammock, and laying down. She closed her eyes, waiting, and forced her limbs to relax. Her Ba woke her at twilight, poking her with his cane.

“Hmmph, sleeping like a lug.” He grumbled and motioned her to follow. She did, but slowly, mostly because she could almost feel his impatience. He had been the one wanting to wait, so he could sharding well wait. He crawled into their watch post, and she followed. She watched him pull out his spy glasses, narrowing his eyes to better focus into the device. “Interesting.” Her father said neutrally, and she couldn’t tell if he was actually interested, or just trying to annoy her. She ground her teeth, but didn’t say anything. She. Was. Patient. Finally, he pulled the spyglass away and looked at her, tilting his head. “It’s a pirate ship. Not what I was expecting.”

She kept herself from asking just what he had expected, but was too proud to do so. “He could never surprise me, too honor bound. So this is something.” He seemed to be prodding her, but she didn’t rise to the bait. Just kept silent. “Send Hisk to accept the message. I’d send my horde, but they’ve been too bored, and would likely overwhelm the blue flit then get the message.” He said a lot without saying anything meaningful, but Priya only nodded. Fine, if he wanted to be that way. She’d drug him especially heavy tonight in recompense.

She silently gave Hisk the command, and without a sound her bronze was gone. She watched the exchange, Hisk wasn’t all that polite, but then again he was shy. Still he got the job done, and appeared behind them a few moments later, letter in hand. Before she could grab the message, Ba had swiped it from Hisk, causing her bronze to swipe his tail annoyed.

“Fetch me some utensils and paper, will you Ani?”

She nodded, leaving. A very heavy dose that would make him oversleep the sunrise, which he loved to watch so dearly. Or maybe just multiple doses. Small ones, throughout the evening. She did as was asked, and got back just as he was tucking the note into his pocket. Sharding man. “We’re to expect some visitors for the afternoon meal tomorrow.” Was all he said, and took the utensils, then waved her gone. She stalked away, planning how else she could make her Ba feel as if Between would be kinder then her.

The horde seemingly rose from nowhere, three greens, four blues, two browns, two bronzes, and a gold, racing overhead, low enough to stay out of sight of the ship. Probably heading to take the message. She couldn’t help it, she moved to another lookout point, and watched with amusement as the horde suddenly appeared over the ship, like chaos incarnate, swooping overhead and making all sorts of noise. Her Ba could be so naughty. She assumed the gold gave the message to the captain, they were well trained to pick out the most assuming of characters, though her Ba’s gold could be naughty as well. She turned away, trying to decide how she would present herself for the following afternoon. It was then a name finally came to mind, a name that wouldn't dare betray them, due to honor. Ba had said honor bound. She smiled, realizing just who much be aboard the pirate ship, and hoping dearly she could throw Asirikai for a loop. 

Piros's gold would have landed on the steering wheel, interested in Nalyra, and then looked between her and Treyjen. If it's okay, she would have hopped onto Nalyra's shoulder, shirped at her, then taken to the air and dropped the message between Nalyra and Treyjen. If Treyjen's spitter or any flit challenged her, she would have hissed, and swiped at them. You can have them fight if you want. She's a ferocious little creature who's good at acting adorable.

[Zen]

Treyjen, Nalyra

Nalyra had paced. She had disappeared below deck for a time, returned, stood watching the tree, paced more, and disappeared again. For now she had returned, her impatience as clear as ever as she stood with her hands on her hips, staring out over the water at the tree where Umbregel’s blue flit still waited.

Treyjen had taken to dicing with a few of the crew at the navigation table. Jusikar sat with him, along with Umbregel, Fargrim, and Talone. Jusikar tossed his dice and shortly cursed, and the rest of them laughed. All but Umbregel, who never laughed at anyone’s misfortune, no matter how small. “Why’m I so bad at this?”

Treyjen clapped the man on the shoulder and grinned suggestively, “Don’t fret, you’ve other talents… like that pretty mouth o’yours.”

Talone and Fargrim groaned and Jusikar turned entirely red, “Captain.”

Treyjen laughed while Umbregel cracked a smile and the other two shook their heads at each other.

“Ugh! What are we waiting for?” Nalyra growled, moving closer to the group and drawing all their attention, “Are you sure we’re in the right place? Maybe this man’s moved on somewhere else. Or maybe I was right and there was no one here to begin with!”

Treyjen eyed his sister as Jusikar excused himself, leaving behind the marks he’d lost in their game. “Asirikai’s instructions warned it could take a day or two t’get a response.”

Nalyra huffed, “So you’re just going to have the flit sit there for two days?”

Treyjen shrugged, “No use in’im sitting there overnight. We’ll send’im out again tomorrow if no one comes t’claim the letter by dark.”

“Shouldn’t they have at least come to get the letter by now?” she turned back toward the beach, her amber gaze fixed on the tree and the little smudge of blue perched within its branches.

“Who knows,” he replied simply, reaching out to collect the marks he’d won, “We don’t know how often he checks the tree or what he might be doing. We’ll wait.”

Fargrim and Talone exchanged glances and excused themselves as well. Treyjen grinned at them, “What, don’t want t’hand over anymore o'your marks t'me?”

Fargrim laughed, “Haven’t we lost enough, cap'n?”

Nalyra growled, moving back toward the deck wall and leaning on it as she glared across the water, “This is a fool’s errand for sure. Asirikai’s back and Mavros laughing his sharding ass off.”

Treyjen sighed as Fargrim and Talone headed down to the main deck, “You’ve gone’n spoiled my fun.”

She whirled around to face her brother, “How can you be so calm? This is ridiculous! He played us!”

“Hm,” Treyjen eyed her once more, “We already talked about this. S’not his nature.”

“If you think he-” Nalyra cut herself off as she turned back to watching the tree, spotting unexpected movement. Her sudden alertness had Treyjen rising from his seat, his spyglass in his hand as he spotted the tree and the brief interaction between Salty and some strange flit. After a few moments the blue had returned, circling over them once before settling back on Umbregel’s shoulder. Nalyra eyed the blue, “He didn’t bring anything back.”

Treyjen put the spyglass back inside his coat, “Why would he have? They can’t know what’s in our letter yet. Calm down and use your head.”

She glared at him, because he was right, and she felt a little foolish, but she wasn’t about to admit it. Instead she turned back around with her arms crossed over her chest, watching the tree again. “How is it supposed to work now anyway? We send him back to the tree when another flit’s sitting there?”

“Not sure,” he admitted, “Suppose we’ll find out.”

Nalyra made a displeased noise, but now that she’d been proven wrong there wasn’t much else to say. It wasn’t long before an entire fair of firelizards appeared over the ship and Nalyra jerked back around, watching them with some suspicion. Pearl had rather soured her to all sorts of creatures. Both her and Treyjen’s gazes were drawn to the wheel, where a shimmering gold perched, looking between the two of them. Salty peeped a polite hello from Umbregel’s shoulder before the man shushed him.

The gold took flight and Nalyra braced to swat the creature away, but instead she claimed a perch on her shoulder for a moment before chirping and taking off again, dropping what was surely their reply between her and her brother. Treyjen glanced up at the fair before moving to claim the message. “Now what?” Nalyra demanded. Treyjen ignored her in favor of reading the message, and she didn’t wait for him to hand it over to her, coming to his side to read it along with him. “I’m going,” she announced, looking up at him and daring him to refuse her.

Treyjen made a thoughtful sound. Three would be allowed ashore. Nalyra may end up essential and detrimental all at once. He eyed her, “You need to leave every blade behind. I won’t jeopardize this.”

Her eyes narrowed, “That’s naive of you.” He opened his mouth but she continued before he could speak, assuring him, “I’ll be good.” She glanced over at Umbregel, “Who else are you taking.” The older man raised a curious eyebrow as Treyjen glanced his way as well.

“Not sure yet… I’ll have to think on it,” he spoke after a moment, still unsure if Nalyra would really leave every weapon behind or not. She liked to hide blades in all sorts of places. Umbregel, however, would not be his choice of a third. The man took great care of the ship and was a hard worker but he was no fighter. If they had no weapons he still wanted to be prepared for the possibility of having to fight. Just in case.

Nalyra scoffed, “Well, let me know when you figure it out.” She headed below deck, leaving Treyjen alone with Umbregel.

He looked back at the man. “It won’t be you,” he assured him, and Umbregel laughed lightly and made his way from the quarter deck as well, leaving the captain alone with his thoughts.

~~~

Though he would have liked to bring Jusikar along, he was the man he trusted most to take charge while he was gone, so Treyjen left him behind and took Talone instead. The man had always had his back in a fight, whether a tavern brawl or a raiding party. He’d considered Fargrim as well, but thought a cooler head would serve better. Both men had been almost as close as brothers to both him and Nalyra, since before they’d stolen his ship. Only Karosh and Jusikar were closer with him. He had considered just taking Nalyra along, but thought a little extra muscle would be good to have along.

So they’d lowered one of the rowboats to the water and the three of them headed for the shore. Nalyra sat with her arm crossed moodily, eyeing the beach as it grew closer, “Should have let me bring a knife.”

Treyjen eyed her briefly, “Are you so helpless without one?”

She bristled instantly and he turned away to hide the smirk that pulled at his lips, “No!” She muttered something under her breath but it was carried away on a gust of wind and he didn’t hear. As the boat bumped into the shore, he hopped out into the shallows along with Nalyra and Talone, pulling it farther ashore and safe from the tide. He thought about calling Pearl, but with Nalyra here it would only agitate the both of them and risk unnecessary problems. He could always call the spitter later, if there was a need.

Nalyra was as on edge as he felt as the three of them made their way to the tree to wait. She growled lowly, “I feel like cornered prey.” Her hand instinctively went to her waist where her knife belt would have been, and she cursed lowly that it wasn’t there.

“Calm down,” he murmured, “And quit jumping at shadows.”

“I’m not,” she growled again, her gaze scanning their surroundings, scrutinizing, and Treyjen sighed. It was a good thing she hadn’t brought any knives along or she was like to attack first and ask questions later with the mood she was in.

“S’we jus’ wait again?” Talone asked uncertainly.

“Aye,” Treyjen agreed, leaning a shoulder against the tree, looking far more relaxed than he felt in some effort to keep his companions calmer. He had no idea what to expect, but no matter what, it would be better faced with a clear head. Talone stood a few steps away from him, glancing around awkwardly, while Nalyra stalked in a slow circle around the both of them, unable to just sit still and wait.

kevna

[kevna]

Priyaanya - Bronze Hisk

“Hmmm.” There was some amusement in Ba’s tone, and Priya looked at her elderly father with suspicion. She had successfully drugged him by putting the drugs in his smoking pipe, and he had slept blissfully through the sunrise. She had been meticulous in making sure everything was exactly as he had left it, even using powders that blended in perfectly with his blend. He had woken up in a foul mood, even though he had also successfully drugged her. She still hadn’t figured out how he had done it, but she would. Eventually. Hopefully. Or she was in deep sand.

So his amusement meant that either he had figured out a revenge, though she considered them even in her own opinion, or what lay before him was distracting enough. Well, distracting enough for now. No matter how flitter-brained Ba could act, she would swear his mind was still intact and incapable of forgetting anything.

“Have you figured it out yet?” He asked her, and she tilted her head. The drugging? No. Who was at their figurative doorstep? Yes. “Asirikai.” She said simply, and prayed to Faranth that he didn’t suspect that she still hadn’t figured out how he had drugged her. He chuckled. That could mean she was wrong, but she was confident she was right, so she didn’t let him sway her.

“I’ll need you to search the girl.” Priyaanya blinked. Girl? There was a girl among those that had come ashore? Did that mean Asirikai had married? Why in Pern would he bring her here? If he thought a new wife would shield him from her wiles, he was mistaken. She tried to peer down at the ship, which was loading the three that would come ashore; before she could catch sight of their visitors Ba was pushing at her, waving her away. “Come, come, it’ll take my weary bones time to hike down. You go down that way,” he pointed the other way, “and sneak up on them. I’ll keep them distracted, sure enough.” He chuckled, and continued moving towards the dirt path down the beach. He whistled, and his gold blinked above him, then landed on his shoulder. The horde seemingly started blinking in and out, some of them landing on trees to watch their bonded walk his path.

Hisk, seemingly catching on to the excitement, popped out of between, and landed on her shoulder as quietly as he could. His head tilted, and the silent questioning air to his mind speech came to her. “Be a dear, help me find a quiet path down, would you?”

-

She had made the journey this way a few times, practice, practice, practice. Her Ba had sat at the base of the tree, reading, and assigned her to sneak up on him. If he threw a rock at her before she cleared the brush, she lost. She had only won once, shard the man. Weren’t old men supposed to lose their hearing, or at least their sight? Suddenly, she had a thought. Had he been cheating??? Was the horde spying on her and reporting back to him? That piece of threadfodder. Ooooh she would make him pay if he had been cheating.

She made it down as quietly and as quickly as years of training, practice, and Hisk warning her of dry brush and twigs, would let her, crouching low. She wore a pair of black muddy pants, and they rubbed at her scarred skin like sand against a healing wound. She missed her skirts, but they weren’t conducive to undergrowth, trees, and such. The shirt was more comfortable, soft, loose, and a dark green she hoped would blend into the trees. She had rubbed dirt all over her face, and even into her hair, darkening the honey-colored strands. She made it down and in her hiding place just before the on coming dinghy made it to the shore. Perfect.

She watched the two men and small woman approach the tree, taking their measure. None of them were Asirikai, shard it all. In fact, she didn’t know any of them. Shells. How could she have been wrong? She had been so confident. Maybe that’s why Ba had been so amused. He had known she would guess incorrectly. Shards, but he was as slippery as a greased tunnelsnake.

The small ‘girl’ as her Ba had called her, was really just a small woman. She looked like a knee-high to a crawler upstart, with a temper to rival her father’s gold Non. The woman reached for a dagger, maybe a sword, and seemingly remembered she was without. Could be a trick, though the motion seemed like a habit, and so the loss sincere. She didn’t give the uncertain man much attention. There wasn’t much to note of him, but the other had to be the leader. He was confident, or good at putting on airs. More relaxed than the others, though also more wise, as he seemed to actually be paying attention to his surroundings, while the woman stormed about.

She wanted to sigh as she started to wonder if Ba would make her wait, and fought not to shift to relieve the sand like feeling on her raw skin. She could be patient, but she preferred to be patient in skirts. She didn’t dare move, the leader could possibly detect her motion. So instead, she studied him. He was handsome. Tall, broad, and muscled. He didn’t seem to treat the woman like a lover, so either he was very good at separating personal from business, or they had a different connection. She would lean towards a different connection, though she wouldn’t bet her life on it, not yet.

Ba stepped out of the shadows, his cane in hand, bent and aged looking. His blocky glasses were askew, and he squinted as if his sight was going. He wore frumpy brown trousers with patches lining each leg. His shirt was bedraggled, and he wore a heavy cloak about him. He looked like a beggar, though Non on his shoulder, a bright gold that shined, threw off the look a bit.

“Waiting is my favorite game.” Ba’s voice was bland, and then he giggled. The horde suddenly all popped out of between, and he waved at them. “these are my pretties,” He motioned to his horde, and the three greens dropped down lower, black hoods falling from their clasps.

“And those are your hoods.” He pointed at them, as if it were obvious what to do with them. “Hooded you come, otherwise you go.” He gave them a toothy smile, showing off gaps that hadn’t been there this morning. "Hold hands, be searched, and we'll have such fun. Yes, yes we will." He said that with a sing-songy baritone, though the very last sounded more liek a threat then the beginning had. Would they follow his instructions? Why would they? She wouldn't have. She wanted to swear at her Ba for always keeping her in the dark, and swear at herself for not being able to find that sharding letter that had come with the blue flit. Where had the old man hidden it?