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Chapter Four:
Pirates? Indeed
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When Jaelyn arose the following morning, she found the room empty of her companions.
A glance out of the port hole told her that it was well past morning and it was still storming.
The boat was rocking quite violently over the waves and Jaelyn could hear the faint pattering of busy feet above deck. The crewmen probably had their hands full with keeping the ship afloat. Storms like these were usually hovering over the sea with the only intention of sinking ships captained by men too bold and full of sailor's pride to turn back.
Jaelyn had a difficult time trying to get dressed. The ship's constant rocking made standing almost impossible and every time she tried to pull her trousers on, she fell over. After six tries and a bruised elbow, she was finally able to get both her legs in her trousers. Once they were buckled in place, she stumbled around for her boots, which were separated in two different directions. One had found its way near the door to the cabin and the other had fled under Bishop's bed.
When she pulled the one out from under the bed, the ship rocked backwards and she went flying over it, landing sprawled out on the floor, a boot having effectively smacked her right in the face.
"Ow." said Jaelyn.
She got up, rubbing her face, sat on the end of the bed and pulled her boots on. Hopefully the rubber soles would provide some kind of traction.
She stood from the bed and headed out, using the walls to keep her balance.
When she reached the deck, she knew she should have just slept in this morning.
Crewmen were rushing across the deck, trying to keep the sails tied down. Some of them were dumping buckets of water over the railings and then bending back down to scoop it up from the deck again. Others were tying the cargo down with rope and ultimately failing at it. Water sloshed down the steps into the cabin area where Jaelyn stood, staring with wide eyes at the chaos before her. She spotted Quin hanging on for dear life to one of the ship's masts. Another glance around and she found the ranger leaning over the side of the ship's railing, but she couldn't tell what he was doing.
She went out on the deck as the ship dipped down a wave and she slid across it toward Quin, grabbing hold of the mast to balance herself.
"Bad storm, eh?" she called over the raging wind.
Quin looked up at her fearfully. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
Jaelyn slapped him on the back with a laugh. "Don't worry. It's just a little sea storm."
"Little?"
She shrugged. "It'll pass. Why don't you go below deck where it's safe, leave the ship stuff to the crew, huh?"
"Good idea." Quin replied. "I would if I wasn't afraid of going overboard. This ship's going to overturn, I just know it!"
"No, it's not, Quin." she replied. "The waves are too small to overturn it. And look," she pointed at the clouds dissipating on the horizon. "It's almost over now."
"Give me a hand, will you?"
Jaelyn nodded and did exactly that, taking his small hand in hers. She aided in getting him over to the stairs that led down to the cabins, which wasn't easy because the deck was like standing on a wet see-saw with two crazed children at its ends.
When Quin was safely below deck, Jaelyn turned and stumbled her way over to investigate what Bishop was doing.
As it turned out, he was being quite ill over the side of the ship and in a violent manner.
Jaelyn grabbed hold of the railing next to him and put a tentative hand on his shoulder.
"Are you all right?"
"It won't...stop." he groaned and heaved.
When he was finished expelling last night's dinner, Jaelyn said "Why don't you go below deck? It's not as bad down there."
"Ugh..."
Jaelyn smiled. The smile then turned into a grin and then the grin turned into a laugh.
"I thought you said you didn't get seasick?" she teased, mercilessly.
He groaned again. "If this passes, I'm going to kill you for that-irk!"
Jaelyn grimaced and patted his back. "There, there. Come on, let's get you down into the cabin."
"Go away." he growled.
Jaelyn stood back and held tight to the railing. "What? You'd rather stay here, then?"
Bishop considered this...for about half a second.
"Hells no."
"Well, come on, then." she said and grabbed his arm.
The ranger pulled back from the railing, his hands clenching the wood so tight that his knuckles went white, and then took in a deep shuddering breath to calm his roiling stomach. He then coughed hard, cleared his throat, and spit over the side.
"Yeah, okay."
Jaelyn finally got a look at him. He'd definitely seen better days. His face was pale with a slight green tint to it, his hair was flattened by the rain and stuck to his forehead and neck, but that wasn't that bad, and in fact, she liked the way the rain made his auburn hair a darker shade of red. It looked almost maroon. It was the spot of vomit on his chin that she couldn't stop staring at.
She grimaced and took his arm again.
She led him toward the stairs that went below deck, but he paused, a look of discomfort and anxiety on his face.
"Ugh, gods...not again."
Jaelyn turned back to see him leaning over beside her as if he were going to be sick again. She moved away.
"Dear, gods. Please, don't do that in front of me." she pleaded. "The sight of vomit makes me want to vomit."
He breathed heavily, trying to fight off the urge to heave, and turned his head while still leaning over to look at her. "Is it possible to puke out your stomach? 'Cause I think I'm about to find out."
"Do I need to get you over to the railing again?"
Bishop didn't say anything as he took in another breath, cleared his throat, and tried to straighten up. "No...no, I think it passed."
Jaelyn sighed in relief. "Good."
The ranger wasn't as certain as he had thought. He went a curious shade of green and the urge could not be fought off. He stumbled to the railing, leaned over it, and gagged.
Jaelyn sighed and shook her head. Well, at least he didn't throw up on her boots. That was a plus. She didn't exactly enjoy seeing him this way, though that probably had a lot to do with the fact that she didn't enjoy seeing anyone throw up. Still, maybe some part of her actually felt sorry for him.
It was about fifteen minutes later when she was finally able to get the ranger away from the railing and down into the cabins. She helped him to their room and he said nothing as he flopped down onto his bed and moaned into his pillow.
Jaelyn left him there and went down the corridor to the common room, where Quin was having a tankard. Jaelyn knew something that might help the ranger's upset stomach. She had read somewhere once that a bit of warmed brandy would take care of it.
She proceeded behind the bar, searched under it and in cabinets for a bottle of brandy while Quin watched her closely. She smiled when she found it and brought it out to sit it on the counter.
"Brandy?" Quin inquired, looking at the bottle with an incredulous expression. "I thought you said you were done with heavy alcohol."
"It's not for me." she replied, pulling out a shot glass and then rummaging through a drawer for some matches.
She went to one of the many vacant tables and grabbed a half melted candle off of it, taking it back to the bar.
"Then who?" Quin continued, watching her light the candle and then open the bottle of brandy.
"Bishop."
"What his problem? He could've gotten his drink himself."
"He isn't feeling very well, if you haven't noticed."
"So, you're playing nurse for him? I bet he's enjoying that." Quin said with a grin.
Jaelyn lifted a brow. "No, I'm not playing nurse. I just heard that warm brandy is good for an upset stomach. So, maybe it'll make him feel better."
"A nice gesture for someone who's been nothing but cruel to you." Quin pointed out. "Why are you even bothering?"
Jaelyn considered the question and wasn't really surprised by the answer she received. After all, she knew what she'd felt; she just felt sorry for him. Besides, she owed something to him for saving her life last night, but she wasn't going to bring that up with Quin. It was better if he didn't know. The halfling liked to talk too much and she and the ranger had gone through a lot of trouble to make sure no one found out about what had happened, that they were both responsible for the death of one of the crewmen.
"I don't know," she finally said. "I just feel sorry for him, I guess."
"Are you sure that's all it is?" Quin asked, eyeing her shrewdly.
Jaelyn gave him a puzzled look. "Yeah, what else is there?"
The halfling grinned. "I don't know. I get the feeling that you like him."
Jaelyn mulled that over and then shrugged. "He's all right, I guess, when he's not being a major ass."
"I didn't mean like that, Jae."
"Huh?"
"You like him."
She stared at him, blankly.
Quin sighed. "What I'm saying is you like him more than just a friend."
Her pale green eyes bugged out and then she laughed hysterically. "Oh, no, no ,no, no. Definitely, one-hundred percent not. No. Never."
Quin looked at her. She looked back and smiled inanely.
"Absolutely not. How can you even think that?" she went on, nervously. "No. He's...no, I don't like him. Nope. No. I mean, I barely know him. In fact, I know nothing about him at all. So, the answer is no...No!"
Quin kept staring at her. "Jaelyn..."
She cracked.
"All right!" she cried, slamming her fists on the counter-top. "All right, damn you! Maybe I do, but just a little, and I swear by every god in existence, if you tell him, Quince Bramblebrow, I will toss you off this ship!"
Quin laughed. "All right, my lips are sealed. Honestly, I don't know what you see in him, anyway."
Jaelyn gave him a puzzled look. "Honestly, neither do I. He's...He's just the first man to never out-right shun me. Well, besides you. That's probably it."
She poured a bit of brandy into the glass, distractedly and then held it over the lit candle to warm it.
"I thought you did; like him, I mean." Quin said. "I've been noticing the way you look at him."
"I do not!" she cried defensively, almost upsetting the glass in her hand.
"You don't what?"
"Er...look at him. Do I?"
Quin nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."
"How do I look at him?" she demanded in a panic. "I'm going to have to stop."
"I don't know. You just look interested in him, I guess." he replied. "He looks at you, too, you know."
The shot glass slipped out of her hand and crashed on the counter. "Damn!"
Jaelyn quickly wiped up the glass and spilled brandy with the rag under the bar and then brought up a new shot glass. Her hand was trembling.
"Jae..." Quin said, noticing this. "Calm down. There's no need in getting worked up."
"Worked up?" she replied, her voice nearing a shriek. "Who's getting worked up? Not me. Certainly not! You said..." she swallowed hard. "He...looks at me? How?"
Quin shrugged. "I guess like he's studying you or something. I can't explain. I don't understand him, anyway."
Jaelyn took a breath to calm her insides and then scoffed. "You're not the only one."
She filled one-fourth of the shot glass with brandy and then held it over the candle flame again.
"You know, I think he might actually-" Quin began.
Jaelyn shot a hand up. "No more, Quin. I don't want to hear anymore or you're going to make me drop this glass again."
"Oh, very well. It's probably for the best, anyway." said the halfling, sipping at the rim of his tankard. "He's someone I wouldn't put a lot of trust in."
Jaelyn only nodded, testing the temperature of the brandy, and then moved from behind the bar. "Well, I'll just go give him this, then."
She left Quin in the common room and then returned to their cabin where she found the ranger in the same spot, except now he was lying on his back with an arm slung over his face.
Jaelyn sat next to him and put the shot glass on the bedside table. She reached out hesitantly and laid her hand on his arm.
His response was to jerk violently and look up at her in surprise that quickly faded into a grimace, as if he tasted something nasty in his mouth. No doubt it was last night's dinner and maybe a few others as well.
"Urgh..."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Jaelyn smiled and touched his forehead, wondering if he might have a fever, though she doubted there would be if it was only seasickness. Maybe she just wanted to touch him. His skin was smooth, warm, and slightly damp from the rain. His gold eyes blinked open and stared straight into her pale green ones.
She cleared her throat and reached for the glass on the table beside the bed, but his fingers curled around her wrist, stopping her. When she looked back down at him again, there was a mean look on his face.
"What're you doing?" His voice carried an unpleasant, demanding tone.
Jaelyn frowned, unsure where this sudden bad attitude toward her was coming from. "What?"
"You heard me. What in the Nine Hells do you think you're doing?" It was a growl this time. He did that a lot, she noticed, that growling.
"I think you're a little delirious, Bishop. You've lost a lot of fluids." she replied, deciding to ignore his question. She was wondering now if the brandy was a good idea if he was dehydrated. Alcohol and dehydration didn't go together.
"I don't need your help." he said, angrily. "I didn't ask for it."
Her reply was calm and level. "No, you didn't. It was my choice to give it to you. Why are you acting like this?"
"Do yourself a favor, drow, and get out."
"What?"
"I said get out!"
He was fuming and she was confused by this shift in his temperament. Sudden anger in him was not the surprising part; it was the fact that it was completely unwarranted.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
Bishop sat up, glaring at her. "You've got five seconds. If you're not out by then, I'm going to gut you. Don't make me start counting."
Jaelyn, frowning and a little hurt by his attitude toward her, arose from the bed. "Fine. If this is how you treat people that're just trying to help, then I won't bother anymore."
"Good."
He laid back down and turned over on his side away from her.
Jaelyn scowled at him and marched over to the door.
"Ungrateful bastard!" she shouted at him and then slammed the door behind her.
She nearly ran right into Quin in the corridor, who looked up at her in concern.
"Hey, what's going on? I heard yelling..."
"You know what I said before about liking him?" she said to Quin, seething. "Well, you can forget it! I've changed my mind. I don't like him at all."
She stormed off toward the common room where she planned to drink until she was happy again. The problem with drinking to shift your mood was that your mood tended to get worse with each drink consumed. So, about after her fourth tankard, she was crying, swaying in her stool and wishing she'd never met a certain cruel ranger.
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The trio had been separated for most of the day, doing their own thing. Jaelyn was still in the common room, but she was no longer drunk or drinking, but simply sitting at a table playing solitaire with a deck of old, torn playing cards. Quin was above deck, lending a hand where he could. The storm was a thing of the past now and the ship had returned to a normal, smooth rocking motion. Bishop was still in their cabin, where he'd slept off the brunt of his seasickness, though he couldn't deny that the warm brandy had helped a lot by keeping his stomach steady long enough for him to fall asleep. He felt better, except for a weakness in his abdominal muscles from excessive vomiting and feeling extremely thirsty.
He was laying on his back on the bed, hands behind his head, and staring irritably at the cieling.
His mood had gotten worse despite the fact that his seasickness had passed. It was the drow's fault. He hadn't asked for her damn help. But he also couldn't figure out exactly what irritated him about her offer to make him feel better, which only deepened his irritation.
Meanwhile, in the common room, Jaelyn slapped a black jack on a red queen and sighed.
Only nine more days, she mused, and then we'll reach the unnamed island. Nine more days...
She wasn't going to make it. It had only been a few hours since morning was officially over and already she was dying of boredom. What was she supposed to do for nine more days on a ship of people who loathed her?
Even her own companions loathed her, or at least the ranger did. She was still confused and wounded by the way he had treated her earlier. Mostly, she couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong. It's just like he attacked her for trying to make him feel better, which made no sense.
Well, excuse the hells out of her for having a heart. What was she supposed to do, just let him suffer?
It was her own fault for even trying. She should've known better. After all, she was drow and no matter what she did, it was always going to come off the wrong way, even if her intentions were good.
The sound of rushing feet on the deck above broke through her thoughts and she looked up, watching the dust and dirt between the boards drift down onto her table. There was some kind of panic up there.
She should probably investigate, though more than likely no one would want her help.
Sighing heavily, Jaelyn got up from her seat and headed for the corridor. She got about half way down it when the ranger came out of their cabin with his bow in hand, glancing around with a look of irritation. When his gaze came to her, he went stiff.
She mirrored his response.
"What's going on up there?" he asked.
She shrugged coldly and moved past him into the cabin. She went to the corner at the far right of the room where she'd put her equipment and rummaged through it for her weapons.
Jaelyn picked up her bow and slung it over one shoulder, then bent for her quiver and strapped it across her waist. When she turned to head out, she noticed the ranger was already gone.
Jaelyn climbed the stairs to the deck and found the crewmen, along with Captain Dalris, Quin and the navigator standing on the starboard side of the ship. Bishop was standing behind them, an arrow in his right hand, tapping it casually against his thigh.
Jaelyn went past him to stand beside Quin, touching his shoulder. The halfling looked up at her, grimly.
"Pirates," he said and pointed out to sea. "Looks like we're in for a little fight."
Jaelyn looked out and saw the large ship sailing toward them. Squinting, she could see small heads moving about on the deck.
The drow looked to the captain, who didn't seem worried. She suspected he wouldn't be, being a legendary pirate. He was probably used to this type of thing.
Dalris turned to the assembly around him. "All right, men. Half of you get below deck, the rest of you will stand with me. Remember the attack phrase."
The crewmen broke into two groups, some of them hurrying down into the cabin area while the rest hung back with the captain.
Jaelyn tugged at Quin's tunic. "What's going on?"
"Well, if the pirates attack, which they probably will, Dalris will have an ambush waiting for them. The pirates will come on deck, seeing only these men aboard and they'll think this is the entire crew. So when they attack, Dalris will shout the attack phrase and the rest of the crew will have them outnumbered. Hopefully."
Jaelyn shook her head, doubtfully. "That's not going to work."
"For once, I agree." said a husky voice from behind her.
Jaelyn and the halfling turned to the ranger standing behind them, arms crossed at his chest as he stared out at the approaching ship.
"They'll be expecting it, mark my words." he continued. "It's the oldest trick in the book and a Luskan specialty."
He turned his head and looked at Jaelyn and then Quin. "And that ship out there is a Luskan ship."
"How do you know?" Jaelyn demanded, suspiciously.
Bishop nodded his head toward the vessel and smirked. "The banner they're flying."
Jaelyn looked out at the ship again and saw the flag waving in the wind. It featured bloody crossed cutlasses over a yellowish-white skull on a field of black.
"Right," Jaelyn replied. "So, what do we do, then? If Dalris' plan is doomed to fail, then we need to think up another one and then hope the good ol' Captain will listen to us."
"He's not going to, I can tell you that now." Bishop said. "Think about it. If he's some legendary pirate, you think he's going to listen to us three landsmen?"
"Good point." Quin said with a nod. "So, we'll just have to come up with something on our own. At the very least, initiating two plans at once will confuse a lot of people. Hopefully just our enemies."
"Right, so, what's the plan?" Jaelyn asked, eagerly.
The ranger glanced around, looking across the deck, up at the sails, the crow's nest...
A devilish smile spread across his face.
"Uh, oh..." said Jaelyn. "I don't think I like that look."
He looked at her. "We're about to find out how good you really are with that bow."
Jaelyn looked worried. "Uh...we are?"
"Those pirates won't have ranged weapons on hand. If they do, it'll be at least one crossbow and the guy handling it won't be very good at it." Bishop explained. "With both of us up there, we should be able to take out a good number of their force."
He pointed to the crow's nest and smirked when she blanched.
She craned her head all the way back, shading her eyes from the sun to peer at the spot. "But it's so high..."
"Shouldn't be a problem for a fearless dragon rider like you."
"And what about you?" she snapped. "Do you think you can handle being up that high?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't get smart with me, girl. Or maybe you won't mind becoming some pirate's wench."
She scoffed and retorted in a very disdainful manner, "Well, by your claim, no man above the surface would bother with me, anyway. What've I got to lose?"
"Your life then if you don't listen to me." Bishop growled, losing his patience. It was a threat as well as some good advice.
Quin, having enough, stepped between them. "Look, I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but we need to be allied in this, or we're all going to be pirate slaves. Or even worse, dead. So, knock it off."
The two rangers glared at one another for a few moments longer and then Jaelyn huffed and spun away to the mast.
"Stay down when you're up there." Bishop said to her back. "We'll have a better chance if they don't see us."
"What ever." she grumbled in reply and grabbed the rope ladder hanging against the mast to climb her way up to the crow's nest.
Quin turned to the ranger. "Well, while you two are up there, what am I going to do?"
Bishop shrugged. "Whatever you want, as long as it involves enemies getting killed."
The halfling grinned and flourished his rapier from its sheath. "Bring on the pirates!"
Bishop turned and began climbing his way up the mast.
On the deck of the Seawolf stood five crewmen, all brandishing some form of weaponry. Captain Dalris stood with them, cutlasses at the ready, and Quin was beside him with his rapier. Up in the crow's nest crouched Jaelyn and Bishop, both of their bows drawn and their arrows nocked.
They looked out over the sea as the pirate ship began to slow on its course. It was a few hundred yards away now and pirates could be seen running around on deck with their weapons at hand, gleaming in the sunlight.
They were all crowding at the prow of the ship, staring in the Seawolf's direction.
Jaelyn counted eight pirates on deck, including their captain, who was an elaborately dressed man in all frilly black with a black wide brimmed hat on his head, complete with a long purple feather of some unknown fowl.
"That's a Luskan pirate?" Jaelyn asked, dubiously. "I was expecting something else."
Bishop grunted. "They've gotten flashy nowadays, but don't let that frilly look fool you. They're still cold-blooded bastards who'd kill their own mother for a few coppers."
Jaelyn smiled thinly. "Oh, I'm perfectly aware of how much looks can be deceiving."
He looked at her, but said nothing. He supposed it was true enough, considering how many people looked at her, saw the drow, and immediately thought her a calculated killer, which she was not. She had it in her, he didn't doubt, but it would take a lot for her to actually act on the dark impulses of her heritage. She was stubborn and willful and those were the traits of a fighter. If she would simply adopt a dismissive attitude toward what people thought about her, she would be all the better for it.
He didn't think about it any further. It wasn't his concern.
They continued watching as the ship closed in and slowed to a stop. A few crewmen on the opposite ship were getting a long, thin gang plank in order. Their captain barked at them to hurry it up.
On the Seawolf, Captain Dalris stood proudly with his chin in the air, hands gripping his cutlasses tight. Quin stared through narrowed blue eyes at the other pirates.
The gang plank smacked down between the two ships and the pirate captain strode across it, brandishing a cutlass of his own.
He pointed it at Dalris. "Your ship. Now."
Dalris grinned his golden grin and Jaelyn nearly laughed when the other pirate shielded his eyes against the gold glare.
"You've got moxie, I'll give you that." said Dalris in amusement. "Do you seriously think I will simply hand this ship over to you?"
"I do, actually." said the other pirate. "For you see, if you don't, I'll slaughter every last one of your crewmen and then I'll turn you into shark bait. Now, you can hand it over peacefully and spare yourself the trouble, or we can do it the hard way. Your decision."
Dalris glared at him. "Do you know who I am, boy? I was pirating these seas while you were still stuck to your mother's teat. Now bugger off and save your life, fool."
But apparently, the other pirate had more balls than brains. He shouted a command to his crewmen and then pirates swarmed the Seawolf.
Dalris leaped at the other pirate captain, catching his ridiculous hat on the end of his cutlass. He gave it a twist and sent the hat flying from the man's head, down into the water. The Luskan pirate looked down at his hat floating away and growled.
"That was my best hat!" he shouted. "You'll pay for that!"
Their cutlasses clanged together in a shower of harmless sparks and Dalris shouted the attack phrase.
"Send 'em to the Locker!"
The other group of crewmen below deck came rumbling up the stairs, yelling and whooping and flailing their weapons about.
Quin was off to Dalris' right, trying to fence with a man several times his height, which turned out to be an advantage for the halfling. He could easily dodge the other pirate's slow attacks and on an upward slice, Quin jumped back and then dove forward through the man's legs with relative ease. He then turned over and thrust his rapier into the man's back. Unfortunately, when Quin tried to yank his weapon out, the dying man fell backwards on top of him.
"Ah!"
In the crow's nest, Bishop and Jaelyn were up from their crouched position, aiming their bows at the crewmen still trying to get onto the Seawolf's deck via the gang plank and the ones pouring out of the ship's cabin. Arrow after arrow flew across the distance and struck down men, some of them falling dead on their own ship deck or slipping off the gang plank into the water below. Bodies were dropping like flies.
"That makes five for me!" said Jaelyn, laughing and loosing an arrow at the same time. "Six!"
"Maybe so, girl, but my four have been direct head-shots." he replied, grinning. "Let's see you do that!"
"I thought we were playing for quantity, not accuracy."
"Quantity and accuracy."
Jaelyn laughed again, but it didn't last long.
Scanning over the fighting men, Jaelyn caught sight of that rare crossbowman the ranger had been talking about before, and unfortunately, he had sighted them up in the crow's nest. She heard the ominous click even from her place above and had but a split second to grab hold of the ranger and pull him and herself down.
Bishop gave her a glare and then the bolt meant for his head thudded into the mast of the crow's nest. He looked up at it and then glanced at her in surprise. Jaelyn smiled.
"That makes us even."
She stood back up, nocked an arrow, lifted the bow up and pulled the string back to anchor point in the same motion, aiming it at the crossbowman. It was all one fluid move made perfect with years of practice.
"Bastard." she cursed and loosed her arrow.
It sailed across the distance, narrowly missed one of the other ship's crewman engaged in battle with a Seawolf crewman and then struck the crossbowman right through his throat. He fell back onto the deck, gurgling, his crossbow landing on top of him.
"Decent shot." noted the ranger to Jaelyn's surprise.
She swung around and looked at him. "Was that a compliment?"
He scowled at her. "An observation."
She looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged. "Thanks."
Below on the deck, the other ship's crew was dwindling quickly. No more men were coming out of the cabin and the Seawolf's crew was still intact, mostly. There was one casualty, a young man who had been too bold for his own good and charged a heavily armed opponent with a club.
The last battle was between Dalris and the enemy ship's captain, their cutlasses whirling about, dipping and thrusting. But the fight didn't last much longer. Dalris went in for an arcing cut and was sprayed in the face with blood as several arrows, seemingly come out of no where, struck into his opponent's face. He fell in a heap at Dalris' feet.
The captain of the Seawolf looked around in confusion, wondering where the arrow had come from. He looked up and spotted the two archers in the crow's nest.
Frowning, Dalris lifted a gloved fist in their direction. "Get down here, the both of you!"
Jaelyn looked down at Dalris and shook her head. "He doesn't look happy."
"Too bad for him." Bishop replied dismissively. "If it wasn't for me they'd all probably be dead right now. If he wants to say something, let him. I'll just remind him who killed the majority of these men."
"Us." she corrected.
"What?"
"If it wasn't for us. I helped, too, you know."
He looked at her a moment and then shrugged. "If you say so."
Bishop moved to climb down from the crow's nest, but Jaelyn reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He looked back at her expectantly and a little annoyed at her impeding him.
"Why weren't you scared, being up here?" she inquired, curiously. "The height didn't even bother you like it did on Elegy."
He shrugged. "I wasn't thinking about it. Besides, it's not that high up."
In truth, he had enjoyed the battle, letting those arrows loose on enemies. It had an exhilarating effect that he hadn't felt in a very long time. And more over, it was actually kind of fun shooting with her, making a game of it. Much better than playing Quin's golf. They were going to have to have more archery contests.
He jumped off the last loop of the rope ladder and landed firmly on the deck as Captain Dalris approached him with a furious look on his face. A few moments later, Jaelyn landed beside the ranger and the look on the captain's face darkened.
"Where do you two get off disobeying my orders?" Dalris growled.
"I don't take orders from anyone." Bishop shot back. "Besides, your orders would've gotten us killed. They knew you had men below deck."
"How do you know?" snapped Dalris.
"They're Luskan pirates." he replied with a shrug. "That little plan you had? Well, they're the ones that invented it. You should know, being a legendary pirate and all."
Dalris did not mistake the ranger's sarcastic, mocking tone, nor did he care for it in the least.
"You listen to me, you bastard." he said, jabbing a thick, gold-ringed index finger into the ranger's chest. "I don't care who you think you are, I'm not going to be talked to like that or I'll have you thrown off this ship!"
"Oh, yeah?" the ranger spat, narrowing his gold eyes at the larger man. "I'd love to see you try."
Dalris stepped toward him and the ranger's hand was nothing more than a flash as it unsheathed his dagger in record time and thrust its point at Dalris.
"Go on," Bishop urged him, sneering. "Take another step and I'll cut you from ear to ear."
Dalris looked like he was going to do it, but Jaelyn didn't give him the chance as she wedged herself between the two snarling men. She was facing Dalris, narrowing her own eyes at him.
"Look," she said. "We're all a little worked up from the fight. Why don't we calm down now, hm?
Dalris looked her up and down, scowling in disgust and blatant hatred. "Get out of my face, you vile, Lolth-worshipping freak."
Jaelyn stared back at him in shock. That was by far one of the worst insult she'd ever received. She couldn't speak, but she felt the hammering of her heart, brought on by anger and shame. The presence of shame confused her and she didn't understand why she felt it. What was she being ashamed of? Of what she was? That was ridiculous! She could no more change her drow heritage than the insulting man before her could change his heritage. But that feeling was there all the same and it wounded her that she found herself ashamed of what she was.
There was a heavy laugh from behind her and in her inner turmoil, Jaelyn was unsure if the ranger was laughing at the insult, her, or the man, or something else, but it became clear when he spoke.
"You've got a lot of nerve calling her a freak." said Bishop. "Have you smiled in a mirror lately?"
Dalris fumed. "Why, you little.."
The captain took hold of Jaelyn and thrust her out of the way to get at the ranger. Given the fact that the man was considerably larger than Jaelyn and did not know his own strength in his moment of rage (or maybe he did), the drow was literally tossed to the floor like dirty laundry. She landed on the deck hard, painfully. Across the deck, she could hear a few cheers from the crewmen, who were undoubtedly elated to see her fall. She paid them no heed and picked herself up just in time to see Dalris take a bold swing at Bishop. The fist meant for his face cut the air over his head as he ducked the attack. Royally pissed, Bishop wasted no time in countering. His arm was a blur as it came forward and his blade slashed across Dalris' face. The former pirate staggered back. Jaelyn gasped, jumped forward, and latched onto the ranger's arm before he could do anymore damage.
"Are you crazy? Stop!"
He barely heard her over the boil in his blood, but he felt her hand on his arm, trying to stop him. One smoldering look of warning had her quickly removing her hand.
Dalris touched his face, drew his hand away to stare at the blood on his fingers and then glared at the ranger, who was seething and barely keeping himself in check.
"Do that again," Bishop growled at the former pirate through clenched teeth. "And I'll kill you."
Jaelyn stood there in anxiety, staring between Bishop and Dalris.
Quin, who'd been aiding a few of the crewmen with the looting operation of the enemy ship, was hurrying over to them, a look of concern on his face.
"What's going on here?" he asked, looking from Jaelyn, to Dalris, to Bishop in confusion. "What did I miss? Why's Dalris bleeding? Why's Bishop so pissed?"
"Oh, you know..." Jaelyn said and left it at that. She didn't think she needed to explain considering Bishop was almost always pissed or irritated about something. And if there was someone within his vicinity bleeding, it was probably because they had done a good job of pissing him off further.
Something in the ranger's gaze made Dalris back down. It was something that would forever be unknown to those who had not taken part in the fight. It was something intense that had passed between ranger and pirate. Perhaps Dalris had seen the years of bloodshed and murder reflected in the ranger's eyes that put his own experiences to shame, perhaps he'd seen the results of a fight between the two of them and the pirate found that he would've been brutally slaughtered. It was a warning between men, one man who would kill without a second thought and another who would be killed if he didn't back off.
Frowning and a little perturbed, Dalris sniffed, touched his cheek again and then sauntered off.
Jaelyn sighed in relief and turned fully to the still-fuming ranger.
"Are you all right?" she asked, tentatively laying a hand on his shoulder in concern.
He'd promptly shrugged off and gave her a chilling, unpleasant look that told her she had just made two mistakes. The first was speaking to him and the second was touching him again.
"Just back off." he warned her in a tone that left no room for argument and then marched away in fury.
He needed to cool off. He could hardly see straight.
The ranger stood at the ship's stern, right at the spot where Jaelyn had vented her rage on the ship's wooden railing. He stared down at the marred wood, running gloved fingers over the splits and cracks in them. Somehow, they tempered his rage. Until a particularly large splinter fought through his leather glove and inserted itself into his index finger without invitation.
He cursed savagely and yanked the offending wooden sliver out, flicking it out into the water.
So far, it was turning out to be a fantastic day.
xxxxxxxxxx
"What're you doing?" Jaelyn inquired, leaning over Quin where he sat at the small desk in their cabin.
Quin looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. "Counting gold."
"Gold?"
"Yeah, it's what I stole off the pirate ship. There was quite a lot of it, too. They must have just robbed someone." he explained. "So, I got us a pretty good slice of the pie. It took some convincing, of course. Dalris definitely didn't want to pay Bishop, but I reminded him that if it wasn't for you and him, this ship might be in Luskan hands right about now and we'd all be dead or, at the least, pirate slaves."
Quin turned fully in his chair to look at her. "You two...you were really amazing up there in that crow's nest."
Jaelyn grinned. "Oh, go on."
It was strange. She hadn't done so much smiling in her life until she met Quin. Now that upward lift of her lips was starting to feel natural, as if it belonged there. Bishop made her smile sometimes, too, but Quin made it happen all the time. Sometimes all she had to do was look at him. Quin had one of those contagious smiles, one you couldn't help but adore and appreciate, one that simply lit up a room. She was truly thankful to have met him. Quin was indeed the friend she had feared she'd never have in life.
"No, really," said the halfling. "Oh, and by the way, are you going to tell me what happened out there today between our ranger and Dalris? I don't think I've ever seen Bishop that angry before. He looked like he was going to murder Dalris."
Jaelyn shrugged. "Dalris ran his mouth off at us for not obeying his commands. Bishop made a comment that made Dalris angry. He threw me to the ground and tried to attack him. Bishop cut him, threatened to kill him and Dalris backed off. That's about it."
"Hmm...interesting." the halfling said, looking thoughtful.
Jaelyn rose a brow and leaned over him once again, peering at the gold on the table. "So, we get paid then?"
"Yep, five thousand gold a piece."
Jaelyn's eyes grew wide. "Five thousand?"
Quin laughed. "What're you getting so excited about? That isn't a lot."
"It is to me." she replied. "The most gold I've ever seen is a thousand pieces."
"But you were raised by dragons. Don't they have hoards?" Quin asked.
"Not song dragons. Or at least my clan didn't." she said, smiling. "What am I going to do with all that gold?"
"Build a home in the wilds?" suggested Quin. "Isn't that what you wanted to do?"
"Yes, but only after I'm done adventuring with you." she said. "You know, I'm actually quite enjoying myself, despite some of the circumstances. I'm really looking forward to seeing this island."
"As am I." said Quin. "I'm eager to see what was so important to Malar Claw that he'd be willing to give up some of his luxuries."
"You have any idea what it might be?"
Quin reached down beside his chair for his pack, rummaged through it and brought out the treasure map. He unfolded it and began spreading it out on the table when the door to their cabin opened.
Jaelyn looked over her shoulder to see Bishop entering the room with a somewhat sour look on his face. She offered him a smile, which he did not return as he made his way across the room and over to the side of his bed where he kept his belongings. Jaelyn wondered for a moment if he might still be wound up from his fight with Dalris, but Quin brought her attention back around.
"You see, there's something written on the back of this map, but I don't understand what it means." the halfling said, pointing a finger to the writing in the upper left corner of the map, the ink faded with age.
She moved closer to get a better look. The ranger was standing behind them now, looking over her shoulder.
Jaelyn read slowly over the words. "Beneath an untouched world, pulses a life-giving Heart, a foreign thread in the fabric of magic." she read.
"Great. Riddles." spoke Bishop from behind her with some disdain.
Jaelyn nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't even heard him approach back there.
Quin scratched his head quizzically. "Confusing."
Jaelyn nodded. "A foreign thread in the fabric of magic? That's got to be talking about the Weave."
"Untouched world..." the halfling mused.
"The island." guessed the ranger.
"Oh, yeah!" Quin piped, nodding. "Maybe no one's ever been to it before, so that's why it's untouched."
"Heart, though?" Jaelyn said, unsure.
Quin shrugged.
Bishop offered another suggestion. "Heart is just another word for core or center, so maybe the center of this island is home to a lot of magic."
Quin and Jaelyn stared at him and then replied in unison, "Oh."
The ranger frowned, darkly.
"I was expecting gold, half-man."
"Well, maybe there'll be gold on this island."
"For your sake, there had better be." the ranger warned.
Jaelyn frowned at him but said nothing. She didn't much care for his tone, or the sinister look in his eye.
"Speaking of gold," Quin went on, oblivious to the threat that had just been made on his life.
He reached across the table and lifted a large pouch of gold. He gestured it to the ranger, who took it without hesitation, but offered a look of inquiry all the same.
"It's from what we looted off the pirate ship." said Quin. "Five thousand gold."
"About time I got paid."
The drow, hands on her hips, looked upon the ranger in disapproval, and this time she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Is gold all you care about?"
He didn't even blink. "Yeah. Gold can get you just about anything you need."
"Including companionship?" she retorted and knew she should've just kept her mouth shut.
Bishop grinned. "Oh, you can definitely buy companionship. I've bought enough of it in my time."
Jaelyn snorted derisively. "Indeed, you probably have. Something tells me that's the only way you can get it."
Bishop laughed in amusement to her insult and then shrugged. "I wouldn't want it any other way. Paying for it is a lot less complicated than trying to get it the other way and there's no commitment involved. You get what you want and move on."
"You're disgusting."
He shot her an unpleasant look. "Says the drow."
"Bastard." she growled at him in anger.
Quin sighed loudly before the ranger could get off his insult, which had been a rather good one, too.
"Would you two knock it off?" he groused. "One minute you're getting along swimmingly, the next you're practically at each others' throat. Either get married or kill each other. I really don't care which just as long as you both SHUT UP!"
Both rangers stared at the halfling, one in shock and the other in derision, as he rolled up the map, shoved it back in his pack and then stormed off toward the door.
"I'm going to the common room." he called back over his shoulder in irritation and then slammed the door behind him.
The room was graveyard silent for some moments and then Bishop looked at the drow.
"Now see what you've done?" he said in a mocking fashion. "You upset your friend."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I upset him? You're the one that started it all!"
"No, I didn't," he shot back. "You're the one that insulted me first. Don't think I'm not going to defend myself."
"It isn't an insult if it's fact!"
"Then you admit you were insulting me, because there was no fact in what you said."
"Oh, there was plenty of fact, you swine!"
He snorted. "Swine. That's real original."
"I can think up a lot more, believe me. I'm loaded with ammunition."
"Take your best shot then, spider-lover."
They stood there for a good fifteen minutes, shouting insults into each others' face, insults that successfully dirtied the Common tongue, until Jaelyn accidentally found herself lapsing into Draconian.
The ranger stared at her with a risen brow when the foreign words had been said. "Eh?"
Jaelyn offered a sneering grin full of teeth. "Wouldn't you like to know."
He rolled his eyes. "No, 'cause I really don't care."
Jaelyn shook her head. "Indeed. That's your problem."
"It's not a problem for me. It's just a problem for everyone else."
"What ever. I'm done talking to you."
"Good, 'cause I'm done looking at you."
"Asshole!"
"Bitch."
Jaelyn let out a frustrated and furious groan and then stomped out of the room. The door slammed back against its frame.
Alone, Bishop grinned. That drow was far too easy to rile.