Chapter 5: Welcome to the Neburan
Author's Note:
Soooo, it's been a little while since I updated. I'm sorry. Don't hate, motivate. Send any crits, ideas or anything you like to my PM box, leave a review! I love this story, don't get me wrong, and we will get it done but I'd like to know if people likewise enjoy it. Hearing people say so seems to help me get things done faster so if you like it, please let me know!
I'll try and get some more done this week, all real life obligations withstanding.
She dreamt of fire. It was almost always fire.
Not the tender moments they shared when no one was around nor the sunrises they'd watched despite Jezebel wanting to do something 'more important'. It wasn't even the chase across the Arabel countryside that eventually ended with her giving up to face her trial. It was always fire. She was standing on the pyre. Those eyes looking at her with firm resolution; resigned to her fate. Always so damned pragmatic. . . She mouthed the last words she'd ever speak. The only time Kat could remember her ever saying them. "I love you."
I love you.
What a cruel joke.
In any possible combination of fates, none burned so much as that. The words, a dying prayer for forgiveness from someone who'd given up the fight when a hand full of people were prepared to fight, some to die for her. Oh, but she showed the resolve of her adopted family, didn't she? She'd lived the Stoneriver family values with her courage, with her love and above all with a strength she didn't truly possess. She had known it was over, she had known there was no way to save her soul except for the ritual pyre.
But so what?
So. What?
Who was she to give up everything Kat had fought so hard to protect? Who was she to decide when they needed to end? Why did she get to save herself and not take Kat with her?
Kathrine was slumped down on her knees in front of the ashes where her life had been, the rain pattered against the cobbles tapping out a steady sob that none but she could hear. The ash that ran through the cracks was already spreading; dissolving all remnants that Jezebel Stoneriver had ever existed. In the side long glances of the audience there was no pity, no tears, no concern. To them she was just a dead witch. Another threat removed. And life went on. Life always went on.
But when she came to face judgment for her lack of faith-
No.
No, please.
Mercifully she woke up under a bright blue sky laden with large clouds. Through the glass square above the bed she could see them sail by at a lazy pace, almost drawing her into an illusion that she was back home staring at the sky from the field on a summer morning. She looked around the room for a moment frowning slightly as she lost her cohesion and orientation. It wasn't her inn room, where was she? She looked at her reflection in the endless hall of mirrors. Her hair was an absolute mess flowing this way and that, making her look like she'd gotten a little too close to one of her electric spheres. Her eyes carried dark bags under them and her mind felt thick and groggy. Had she actually slept at all? Maybe she'd over slept.
It came back quickly; the flood of memories, the sphinx, the captain. Some kind of relic? She swung out of bed expecting to find her normal sleeping shorts and shirt but the velveteen dress she'd been given threw her off a little. She felt exposed and chilled even though the cabin was comfortable, acutely aware of the smallest of flaws of her body. Hips too big, thighs too large, the little blemishes on her right calf where her brother had 'accidently' pushed her into a bramble bush when she got on his nerves when she was younger. She sighed and grabbed the heeled boots, slipping them on and forcing herself by sheer force of will to pace around the room a couple of times to get her blood flowing. The mirrors watched her every movement reflecting their disapproval from the edge of her vision.
She refused to look at any of them as she ran her hands through her hair and bound it into a pony tail. She was sure there were parts of it that were burned and maybe she didn't look her absolute best but so what? She didn't even have her own clothes so how could she really be held accountable for that? Kat opened her eyes glancing around again. It didn't look too bad. A couple of short patches near the crown of her skull but it'd grow back and it blended in well her platinum blonde anyway so it didn't stick out too much.
Running her hand along the wall near the pillar, Kat found the hidden push button that released the lock and opened the door to find the dining room had redressed almost entirely in bright reds with the table in the center covered in maps of places Kat couldn't identify. Though some of the runes on them looked familiar, she couldn't place the words nor the syntax but it was clear they identified regions of an expansive field or ocean of some sort with several large islands dotting the otherwise featureless plane. Another map depicted the same open area with dozens of small circles made of charcoal. All of them seemed to indicate positions that overlooked another area a few hundred feet away that was ringed with slightly larger circle. It almost looked like a tactical map.
Kathrine glanced to the front door and back to the map trying to memorize it incase it might be useful at some point in the future. Afterwards she quickly looked over the other maps out of curiosity though she couldn't find anything more useful, all of them seemed to be related in some way and every one of them indicated the same thing. This was some kind of ambush plan.
What the hell had she gotten herself into?
She turned towards the door leaving the maps in their exact locations. It was rude of her to dig around in someone else's business but it was simple curiosity that'd lead her to look, nothing malicious at all. That was forgivable in any climate, wasn't it? She took just one more peek.
After committing the maps to memory she headed for the front door and opened it to the lingering fragrance of sweet wine that immediately set her mouth to watering as she stepped into the smaller cabin where the sphinx made his home. As with last night, the large bowl was nearly empty though the scent was strong enough to fill the entire cabin nearly masking the undercurrent of something more exotic, a spice of some sort that was musky and heady in ways she couldn't quite put together. It smelled of a desert wind with sage carried on the breeze. Perhaps it was something from his home that he wanted to keep close at hand as a reminder of what he'd left behind. Her mind reeled with images of what his life might've been like, what choices he'd made that would've brought him to work with or for the human woman.
Bree. Her name's Bree. Kat rubbed her eyes to wipe away the last vestiges of sleep from her mind and opened the door on to the main deck. The first thing she saw was Bree standing infront of the door to the left just slightly while beyond her on the deck the brown skinned, yellow eyed men were performing flowing movements in some kind of meditative trance. A hand would move forward slowly as they'd brace their feet behind them in preparation for a strike or to counter some move made by another. They wouldn't actually touch one another but their movements, so precise and controlled would've likely killed their 'opponent' in one move, Kat was sure. Beyond them and all around the ship a bright blue sky lazily brushed the sides of the ship with voluminous clouds that parted for them as they moved forward in the endless expanse of nothingness.
Bree looked back over her shoulder just slightly, offering a warm smile with those lightly pink tinted lips. "Good morning, miss Stoneriver. Tea?"
"Uh? Uh. . ." Kat stood protected by the wall beside the door with her head poked out. "Um. . . C- Can I have my clothes?"
"Already?" A deep rumbling voice said near Bree. She shrugged noncommittally. "That didn't take long. . ."
"Hey!" Kat found herself saying before she could keep it down. "I didn't mean it like that. I just. . ."
"Hm?" Bree smiled back towards her almost turning her body but her movements were so measured and controlled Kat had to wonder if she too was some kind of martial artist. "Oh don't be silly, you look positively ravishing, dear." Without another word she held a steaming cup of tea out to coax her out of her hiding place.
"I bet that's not all that was-"
"Nyx. . ." She cast a glance towards him. The massive sphinx turned his head up to look at her for a moment just as Kathrine slipped around the door and on to the deck, wobbling slightly on the stupid high heel boots. "She's a guest, treat her like such, would you?"
"It's in good fun. Not my fault you people can't take a joke." He looked to Kat offering a slight nod and a smile that seemed mostly forced but still carried a subtle warmth. "It passes before the sun and makes no shadow, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, the air does that." Without missing a beat she looked to the side of the ship uneasily. Air. It's Air. Right? "Where are we?"
"The plane of Air, dear."
"Hmph." Nyx stood on all fours and casually plodded off towards the front of the deck. "Always a joy kill."
"The term is killjoy." Bree said after the creature as she gave Kat the cup of tea before clasping her delicate hands behind her back. With her head held high and eyes scrutinizing she looked every part the sea captain Kathrine had first thought her to be, yet something seemed slightly off about her this morning. She was tense, maybe even a little scared. "We'll be dropping you off after this meeting and you're free to do what you please-"
"Captain?"
"Hm?"
Kat sniffed the tea before she slunk up to stand beside the woman, whispering softly. "Everything okay?"
"Perfectly fine, miss Stoneriver." She flashed a smile. "Come! I'd like to show you around." Without waiting for Kat to object she started forward likely expecting, maybe even knowing Kat would follow her. Of course she was right. "This is the Neburan and as you might've imagined, it's a rather unusual ship in that we've only fifty aboard. Built in- relatively speaking- twelve hundred and two, the ship serves as both home and transport for those who're aboard. . ."
Kathrine sipped from the cup wincing as the bitter liquid hit her tongue, assaulting her senses with the tang of pepper and something else she couldn't quite identify but it smelled like daises. "You uh. . . you realize it's thirteen eighty one?"
"On the prime, yes! But we're not on the Prime are we?" She smiled again as they got near the front hatch. Nyx had taken up a perch near the prow of the ship, curling up into a lazy ball with one large paw over the other and his head resting upon them looking down at those on the deck. His gaze lingered on Kathrine's face for a moment when she glanced his way, smiling slightly, he closed his eyes and shrugged. It was a distinctly awkward gesture given the feline nature of most of his body but somehow it conveyed absolute indifference and amusement all the same.
"So. . . you're. . . um. . . one hundred and something?"
"Oh perish the thought! How old do I look, miss Stoneriver?"
"Um. . ." I'm not answering that. Though some part of her was already mulling it over despite herself.
Bree lead them down the hatch to a hallway shaped like a trident aiming back towards the rear of the vessel, unlike the room that the tiefling had brought them into last night, the dark hallway was trimmed with bright silver accents and etchings all the way into the middle of the ship where it opened up to a wide cabin that'd been lit by low hanging paper lamps. Rows of bunks occupied either side of the room but none of them had even been touched. Instead grass mats between the bunks looked fairly well used and frayed in some places. Kat stole a glance back as Bree lead them into the room.
"This is the crew quarters for those you saw on deck." She motioned around the room with a slightly amused expression, or perhaps it was irritation pulling those beautiful lips into a sardonic smile. "For as much as I try to provide for them, they spurn my every nicety. None the less, they're exceptional warriors and when it comes down to it, I can think of no one else I'd rather have aboard my ship to defend it."
Kathrine licked her lips glancing around as well before she looked to Bree with an uncertain smile all her own. "So they um. . . They fight for you when things go wrong?"
The woman chuckled a melodic sound that carried through the air and tickled Kat's ears with its innocent sincerity. "That implies things do go wrong, miss Stoneriver. No, our company is more. . . on a journey, you see. A pilgrimage, of sorts, to the Astral plane. But we've quite a ways to go yet so until then I fear they may be on board for at least another year, perhaps longer. . ." Her shoulders rose and fell as she lead them through the cabin to a small set of double doors set into the rear wall.
"You don't sound too happy about it, if I can say so?"
"You most certainly may!" Her hands pushed on the thumb latches on the handles in a quick sequence that Kat couldn't begin to keep up with, all the while the woman spoke as though the action was completely unconscious. "I deplore violence, you see, and their 'pilgrimage' is going to undoubtedly lead to exactly that. They call themselves Gith-attala, which unless I miss my guess-" The doors opened inwardly to reveal a small ante-chamber lined with pillows of shifting colors accented with beautiful golden cord and tassels of silver. The walls themselves were draped in wine colored cloth with a soft shimmer to it similar to the expensive silks Kat had seen on nobles in the Pride of Arabel. "-translates to 'cousin hunters' or some other silly shorthand way of saying 'let's kill everything that isn't like us.' But then, I'm sure you're familiar with the type, hm?"
Kat whispered to herself as they stepped into the chamber. "One's aberration is another's personal mission. . ." She tensed ever so slightly when the woman glanced back at her, relaxing only when a small smile parted her pink-tinted lips. "Sorry." She said in a normal tone. "I um. . . I ah. . ."
"Personal experience speaks volumes, hm?"
She swallowed and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"Fair enough, miss Stoneriver. I'd just rather they not use my vessel as a launching platform for their little crusade. I'm sure you can understand the issue."
"S- sure. . . But why can't you just leave them somewhere?"
Bree turned back for a moment looking to the door Kat had left open behind her. In another second the door closed and clicked softly as the lock re-engaged. When she looked to Kat there was something distinctly different in her eyes; gone was that jovial warmth and light hearted nature she presented at first, replaced by a seriousness that somehow still managed to seep through her playful tone. "I would love nothing more than to do so, miss Stoneriver, however sometimes fate deals strange cards, does it not?" In that moment the seriousness vanished in a flash of light that brought back the normal sky blue to her ethereally bright eyes. "I found them on the plane of Limbo. . . Nasty place, by the by, I don't recomend it for casual touring. They were kind enough to let us leave in peace- that is to say one piece- if we escorted them out to the Astral plane."
Kathrine watched the woman with renewed interest even as she turned away to run her hand along the wall in a circular pattern that had no obvious meaning. As she did so the shimmering fabric seemed to take on a gentle glow in the wake of her fingers creating little designs that began to meld together into concentric circles overrunning one another. Something wasn't quite right about this. Her logical mind whispered. If these people were inhabitants of a place like Limbo and they didn't just take Bree's ship, wouldn't it mean that either Bree had somehow lied herself out of one terrible situation and into another potentially terrible one or. . . or what?
"Miss Stoneriver?"
"Huh?" Bree was looking at her patiently with a gentle smile with the door half open. "Oh, sorry. . . um. . . lead on?" The woman opened the door all the way to reveal a long slightly arched hallway lined with dozens of doors with tiny windows made of glass. Each of the doors had been polished to a dull sheen to match the richly colored wood that made up the hall and while nothing immediately seemed out of place, something felt extrodinary about the mundane hallway even before they stepped on the plush carpeting. Kat could feel the crackle of energy at the very fringes of her mind without even really being aware of it, the place had a magical 'hum' to it. She shivered involuntarily.
"Ah, you're an Arcansit?" Bree stepped into the hall with a faint smile. "Good to know."
"H- how'd you know?"
"Everyone who I've ever met that dabbles in the arcane has a similar reaction to the runes. Well! This is exciting, and mildly perplexing all at once." She glanced to Kat again with a new look in her eyes as she looked Kathrine over making her keenly aware of just how short the dress she was wearing really was. Kat fidgeted despite herself. "An arcanist and a priest. . . You're endlessly fascinating, my dear. I must admit."
"N- no more than yourself, ahm. . . Captain."
The woman stood there for a moment seeming to consider Kat in this new light. It wasn't terribly unheard of, unusual yes, but it'd just been the way things came together. From trying to follow her family's tradition of service to the Crown to becoming a priest for her patron, it was a simple story but one she'd never thought of it as anything more than just the turns of life. She was happier, by far, as a priest but she still had the years of training that were supposed to help her become a War Wizard before things went to hell. Bree's eyes searched over Kat as though she might unravel the story herself. Abruptly she smiled a warm grin and stepped in close.
Kat had to turn her head up just slightly to meet her gaze. Only inches apart she could smell the faint tint of exotic spice lingering on the woman's coat, her skin smelled of lavender and lotion; smooth as the silk fabric in the previous chamber; begging to be touched. Her eyes were intense, all consuming. Kat wanted to look away but she couldn't; there was only Bree in this moment and to her the world they shared in the space between them was all that really mattered. Her heart backed up into her throat when the woman inched forward, placing one delicate hand beside Kat's head. Kat shifted her weight back against the wall and held her breath. Where'd this come from? Was she ready? Was she interested? As if that was a question. . .
Why? That was a question. Why was this woman-
Bree didn't stop to kiss her, she didn't kiss her at all. Instead she slipped her cheek against Kat's own, leaning in until her mouth was just an inch from Kat's ear. Her scent was intoxicating. "I have such sights to show you, miss Stoneriver."
Kat whimpered softly. The sound ran away from her before she could quell it.
"Hmm?" The woman's cool breath tickled her ear again. She shivered.
"O- Okay. . ."
"Grand." Bree stepped back with a soft smile breaking all forms of closeness. "Right this way then!" The woman turned away leaving Kat slumped against the wall wondering what, exactly, she'd gotten herself into.
