Blue scowled at her intertwined fingers, thinking mean thoughts at her crew. Just because the Cabin Boy knew something useful, it did not mean any old party boat was going to be secretly stocked with loot. Her scowl deepened as her Whoot, Scops, tapped at the window to her quarters, bearing a letter in his beak. She flung the window open and the petpet flew in, scattering water droplets across the map she had laid across the table. The Whoot plopped on the corner of the map, plainly exhausted, so Blue briskly untied the letter from his leg and stroked his head. Scops nipped her finger in an affectionate way and flapped to the top of the wardrobe in one corner of the room. Blue frowned as she read whom the letter was from. Kanna? Her old crew mate? She unrolled the piece of parchment, eyes flitting across the sloppily penned note.
Blue,
Haven't got much time to write this. He's in Krawk Island. I managed to escape for long enough to write to you. I've been his crewmate. He's still alive, terrorized one of the lesser towns on the island and looted it, and I also have reason to believe
The letter ended there. The rest had been blurred with water and a dried brown substance that looked suspiciously like blood. For a moment Blue stood and held the letter, as if it were a dry leaf and would crumble at the next wind. Shock etched into her face, she felt her heart humming, buzzing, falling through her stomach. She read it again. And again. It was sloppy and hard to decipher, but she knew that writing. More than that, there was only one person who would send a letter like this...
Another sharp tap on glass snapped her from her thoughts. Slowly, walked to the window, and for the second time that day, a petpet flew into her quarters. This one was less ruffled than her Whoot, and acted with an almost regal importance when it held its beak with another letter.
She gingerly took the note, and the Naleap flew out. Blue closed the window and scanned the exposed part of the parchment. It was in the Shenkuu language, and addressed to the newest Cabin Boy. She unfolded the note and read the three words painted on it. We've got it.
The Eyrie blinked, confused, then blinked again, briefly recalling something. She sighed and sat heavily in her chair, one of the letters tucked into her pocket, the other clasped in her hand for the Wocky. Two Wockies stood in a small picture frame on her wall, one fire, the other, magma. Behind them stood a smiling human girl. The Wocky hadn't just been her crewmate, and the captain brushed tears from her eyes as she realized her sister was still alive.
Anchuan frowned at the note, trying not to look sleepy in the slightest when standing before the captain's desk. The sun had only just risen, and unfortunately, any semblance of wakefulness was hampered by the slow wit of his morning brain. "'We have it'? What's that supposed to mean? Have what?"
"What're yeh askin' me fer?" The Eyrie sat in a chair, fingers crossed on the mahogany desk. She had already much pieced together the meaning of the note herself. "I assume it's from yer siblings. They paid yeh a visit, didn't they?"
He looked confusedly at her. "Siblings...? Oh! Zhen, but Masqiv's not... Well... Hmm. But the Quilin! Right!" Rapidly he read the three-word note again. "They got it! Wow!"
Blue rolled her eyes at the Wocky for the umpteenth time. How he had managed to figure out the puzzle on the party ship... "And wot could y'need a Quilin for?" she inquired, eyebrow arched, but she guessed what he intended to do.
Suddenly the Cabin Boy seemed very meek. "Oh, well... I wanted it for the ship. I thought it'd be good for the ship. 'Cause they're supposed be really—"
"Yeah, yeah. Good luck, and all." She cut him off with a wave of her hand and a small scoff. "I don't want it bein' a problem fer the rest o' the crew, a'ight? The petpet's yer responsibility."
Anchuan's head bobbed up and down. "Of course, cap', I—"
But again he was cut off, this time by a green spark. It popped into being and shimmered slightly in the corner of his eye, fading as he turned quickly to see it. The Wocky stood perplexed, because he had seen this spark before. It was magic of a certain Draik's.
And in the middle of the captain's quarters, a flame grew and grew; it's flames olive-tinted, causing both captain and cabin boy to squint in the sudden light. When it had diminished, a Darigan Wocky was standing next to a mutant Draik, the former smiling wryly.
"I wouldn't be makin' any promises yet, man. You haven't even seen the thing yet." At her words, a blue and red petpet darted around her wings, shrilled once, and started to observe the room with sharp emerald eyes.
Captain W., now standing, watched the creature fly and hover across her cabin, its tendril-like whiskers waving delicately. While the neopets greeted each other, it stopped at a small shelf, looking at the titles incomprehensibly.
"He doesn't look like a problem." Anchuan said.
Masqiv laughed softly. "He's good now because he's curious. Wait until he becomes bored."
"And because Masqiv's here." added the Darigan Wocky. "I think it's because he has magic. The little beast makes nothing but trouble when I'm with it." She frowned slightly. "Don't even try to insult it. Just makes things worse for you... Shocksie May, though, she's the one that can teach it a lesson or two."
"Your fire Kazeriu?" asked Anchuan, a laugh threatening behind his voice.
"Wait. All of you." came a thunder of command, and everyone looked at Blue, even the Quilin. "Wot I wanna know is, how the hell yeh both got in 'ere." Her eyes flicked from Zhenavieve to Masqiv.
It was the Draik that answered, after taking a raspy breath. "Of course. I'm sorry; I don't think I ever properly introduced myself, Captain. My name is Masqiv, and as for how we appeared on your ship..." He took another long breath. "I put a seal on your vessel when I visited Anchuan, many days ago. That way we could come to you at anytime without—"
"Masqiv. Y'seem to be the more reasonable one outta you three, so I'll speak to yeh pleasantly. No one casts anything on the Nevermore without my knowin'. 'Specially if it means they c'n board any time o' their choosin'."
The mutant Draik closed his eyes and bowed as well as he could in his form. "I apologize. It was for Anchuan's sake that I didn't tell you, in case he ever needed rescue..." He looked sideways at the water Wocky.
The cabin boy seemed just as displeased as the captain. "I told you I'd made my peace."
"And I should have believed you." Masqiv straightened up and smiled at the Wocky, then turned his green and cracked head to Blue. "I'll gladly remove the seal if you wish, Captain, though it only allows me to teleport into this room. You'll know when I arrive, and I would not come without warning, with exception to emergencies."
Blue studied him for a moment. "And yer the only one that c'n work it?"
"It is my seal, yes."
From behind her desk she peered at all three of them, the pugnacious sister, her nuisance of a brother, and the solemn mage. "All right. Not sure I know why... but I'll trust yeh, let y'have yer seal 'ere, maybe it'll come in useful one day. Though I doubt it..." She added in a murmur, rummaging through a drawer and finally putting away their letter. Masqiv nodded his thanks in response.
Zhenavieve sniffed loudly. "Well, if that's it..." She glanced at the Quilin, which was still gazing at the blue Eyrie. "You know, I bet he wouldn't be trouble if the captain ordered 'im around. Quilins are supposed to be really intelligent, able to learn how to understand speech and even read 'n stuff. If my dolt of a brother can learn to behave by you, so can the petpet."
"Who says Anchuan behaves?" said Blue, but her beak was framed in a smile. "Have you named it?"
"No, we don't even know if it's a he or a she - that's why we call it 'it'. We thought we'd leave all that to 'im." The Wocky grinned at her brother and stepped beside Masqiv. "We'll be going now."
"It was a pleasure meeting you." said the Draik to the captain, and to Anchuan he bowed his head a little.
"Bye, 'Chuan." Zhenavieve smiled. With a roar, a bright green flame burst forth, and they vanished.
Anchuan let out a big huff of air when they'd gone. "Personally, I think it's male..." He said, staring at the Quilin. The edge of his mouth was about to curl and stretch to his ears at any moment. "Would you like to name it?"
Blue sat behind her large desk, the Quilin curled up in her lap, fast asleep. This petpet, though he belonged to Anchuan, had presently decided to stay with Blue. She had the uncanny feeling it knew she was deeply troubled. It kept looking at her with sympathetic, thoughtful eyes... Or maybe she was imagining it. Once she had dubbed him "Zeiko", he hadn't left her quarters. Scops seemed to get along with the other petpet fine, and the Eyrie supposed that was a good thing. She sighed and leaned forward, examining the map that lay on the table with a determined interest. If her calculations were correct, they should reach Krawk Island by nightfall and still have time enough to stock up before they made their departure to search for the Vengeance.
