They didn't find any corpses. Somehow, that made the entire ship even creepier than if there were mangled rotting corpses spread all over the deck.
It made it seem as if everyone but the lady herself was 'on board' so to speak and managed to get away when the ship crashed. But if that was the case, then why even drag the woman away from home? Wouldn't it be easier to rob her of all her possessions in some dark alley and get it over with?
Rush really did not know what to think of this. If everyone decided to do away with the lady, it would require a lot of coordination. Way too much for this to be a simple con. Even more interestingly, it was the lady's husband himself who hired the main suspect, Louis. A 'nobody' without a title or political clout. The lord must have been aware of what was going on in his house. At least a bit. Right?
Rush followed Iron Bull into the captain's quarters and was struck by how well preserved everything looked. If it weren't for some fallen items on the floor (and the huge hole in the ship's side), she'd think that the ship docked safely. She stepped carefully over some maps, scrolls and personal knick-knacks to stand by her Chief near the desk.
"Found anything?" she whispered, not wanting to break his concentration.
Bull looked at her from the corner of his eye, then turned his attention back to the desk. "In a way." He nodded to the little thing he held in his massive palm. It was a small golden locket, chain obviously torn. The locked was open to show two small portraits. Two men in the same arrangement one would usually see in married couples. One of them a menacing Qunari, the other one the golden haired man who hired them - Louis Croux.
"Oh." Rush really didn't know what to say. While she had her suspicions, it was still a shock to have them confirmed. "Who is the other man?" she asked. There was no need to try and voice her theories. It was pretty obvious what happened now.
Bull commented nonchalantly, "Going by descriptions and wanted posters, I'd say this is Blacktalon." At her raised eyebrow, he added, "Known raider along the coasts. One who has evaded capture for over ten years and the one time he was caught, he managed to escape, richer than before."
"… and in a close relationship with our prime suspect," she deadpanned. She looked up at Bull, "Ten gold says he and his men replaced this ship's crew and later 'left' with the jewels."
"I'm not taking that bet either." They exchanged a wry smirk. "But, I think we have a good idea of what happened here. Now the only thing we need is to find and kill or capture a legendary raider," Bull grinned. "Tal-Vashoth, no less. Can't wait to face him."
"I'll be right behind you," Rush commented, looking around the captain's cabin. She completely missed the unreadable look Bull sent her way.
There were a few things that might be worth something, Rush thought as she started rifling through the captain's private chests. After several minutes of searching, she was ready to give up and move on. There was surprisingly little here - almost no personal effects, and aside from the maps and scrolls spilled on the floor, nothing worth noticing. She had hoped to find a clue about the raider's location, but that seemed to be a vain hope. Looked like they found all that could be found in this wreck.
She sighed. The evidence they gathered would have to be enough - combine the lady's diary, location and state of the ship together with the golden locket. That would have to convince Lord Adlebrent that his wife was in fact murdered. And of the identity of the murderer.
The jewels were still lost, though. She had a feeling they won't get paid for this.
They finished their search of the ship and stepped out to breathe in the clear coastal air. Rocky and Stitches were already waiting for them down on the beach, with several suspicious looking barrels all around the ship.
Rocky ran up to them, "So, how did it go? Find anything?"
Stitches followed sedately behind, but raised a curious eyebrow at them, obviously waiting for the answer as well.
Bull threw the small bag with their evidence and loot over his massive shoulder, "More than we thought we would. The noble was murdered."
Rocky cursed. Rush had a feeling that he was more disappointed about the fact that he obviously won't be able to blow the ship up and so destroy evidence than the fact that the woman was stabbed in the back. Or heart, as it were.
They started discussing their plans on what to do next. Rush wasn't really interested enough in that to listen - if there was anything she could do, Bull would tell her. Instead she looked around the coast.
She spotted some spindleweed. A lot of spindleweed, in fact. There was a veritable treasure growing on the coast, as her brief meeting with the elves taught her. Perhaps they could gather some of these herbs to sell later. She suddenly got the mental image of their Chief bending down to pick some flowers and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
For some reason, she thought that he wouldn't actually mind gathering herbs. He was not the type of man who needed to defend his masculinity, especially if it would cut into their profits. He was manly enough as it was.
She aimed for the thickest concentration of weeds she could see, to gather as many as she could. They might at least cover some of their losses today. She felt more than saw Bull give her back a curious look, but didn't let herself be distracted. She stepped around the ship to check if there was anything worth gathering… and that's when she spotted it.
A cave. Distant enough not to be immediately connected to the ship. Close enough that a large group of people would be able to carry and hide a ship-full of stolen goods inside under the cover of night. Great hiding spot for a group of raiders, perhaps?
It was a far fetched hope, but she wanted to investigate anyway. She truly didn't want to let the murderers win; because that's what would happen if they returned back to Lord Adlebrent with only the evidence they gathered.
Bull came to stand beside her and turned to see what she was staring at. "A cave. Lots of those on the coast." He looked at her closely, then sighed, "Even if it was used to hide the goods, it's probably abandoned now."
"Probably," she agreed. "But we might find some clues inside. Didn't you say you wanted to fight a legendary raider?" She raised her eyebrow at Bull, who smiled back.
"I did." He looked back at the cave, then grinned, "Aah, whatever. We're not expected back until tomorrow at the earliest. Let's go check it out."
Rush smiled. Maybe being a mercenary wasn't as different from adventuring as she thought.
-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-
They found the bodies.
As much as she thought she'd be glad when they'll find the missing crew, now Rush wished they didn't.
All of the ship's crew, piled up in one corner of the cave, stinking the whole place up so much that she had to cover her nose with a hand to stop from vomiting on the spot. That didn't seem to stop the spiders or the deepstalkers from making a meal of the corpses.
Stitches wasn't happy about it either. "Maker. Do you know how many diseases we could catch just from standing near those?" he pointed at the corpses with his free hand, the other clutching his nose closed. Rocky hovered in the back, throwing looks back to where they came from and where he left his barrels. Rush had no doubt he wanted to blow this whole place up. If she was honest, so did she.
Stitches turned the closest corpse over with his boot and frowned when its face and front were revealed. "No external damage. It looks like they were poisoned." He shook his head. "Even more foolish to keep them here. Don't they know the vapors alone can drive them crazy? Why would they even keep the bodies around?"
Rush suddenly remembered the vials of poison she found on the ship, right next to herbs and cooking supplies. "To creep out any intruders, maybe? Or hide evidence? Who knows why raiders do anything." At least it seemed their deaths were relatively quick and painless. Well, less painful than the deaths of their murderers will be once she'll catch up with them.
They stumbled upon several raiders on their way inside. They didn't put up much of a fight, though, and Rush was quickly loosing hope that they'll find the jewels. Or at least a clue. These were more like common bandits rather than a group of fiercely determined and extremely capable group of raiders she imagined when someone mentioned a name like 'Blacktalon'. But at least they found most of the missing cargo. While not as precious as the jewels themselves, it was still valuable. And will probably please Lord Adlebrent when they returned. Maybe please him enough to pay them.
Their group searched the small camp near the entrance to no avail. Nothing beyond a few full coinpurses, which they kept for themselves, and few items with the Adlebrent sigil, which will be returned. The sack was getting too big for even their Chief to carry.
This whole place creeped Rush out even more than the silent ship. Not counting the giant spiders, clicking noises of the deepstalkers and the distant roars of darkspawn deep below them, all this felt wrong. She couldn't wait to be done with this place. At the same time, she couldn't force herself to give up her search. Not now.
Not when Bull let her lead.
She was very surprised when he first suggested it, as was the argument he gave her. Since this was her idea and she was the one who wanted to find out more, it was only right that she lead them. She understood the logic, but still… it was disconcerting to be the one on the front line, so to speak. But… that also made this personal. It was now a matter of principle, to finish this the best she could. She'll be damned if she backed out now.
At least Bull had her back in this.
They combed through the 'room' so to speak, but didn't find any further proof. At the same time, she felt that any time now, she will find something important. The feeling only increased in potency the further inside they ventured. The cave led them deeper and deeper inside, while at the same time tried to turn them back. Even the corpses seemed more like a warning sign rather than the end of their journey.
Then, just as Rush was ready to put a stop to their explorations, she smelled a wave of fresh, salty air up ahead.
She looked back at Bull, who only narrowed his eyes at the passage in front of them, then nodded. They readied their weapons; Rocky and Stitches following their example.
Rush creeped forward silently, but it turned out she needn't have bothered.
The cave opened up to a clearing full of chests, crates and… were those beds? Did those raiders live here? She had no time to think on it, as the clearing also held a group of men. Angry, dangerous looking men with their weapons drawn.
One hulking Qunari stepped forward and with shock, Rush recognized him as the man from the golden locket. This must be Blacktalon, then.
"Congratulations! You bloody hounds managed to sniff us out, and even killed some our men in the process." His smirk revealed a set of teeth sharpened into fangs, "Die now, knowing that Blacktalon sent you to… urk." He grabbed his throat as blood spilled around the dagger Rush threw at him. He fell down, dead. Better to have him die than risk he'll get away.
Bull turned to her with a betrayed look in his eye, "Hey!"
Rush half-turned towards him, both amused and disappointed with the 'legendary' Tal-Vashoth who seemed to prefer scare tactics and mystery over skill, then shrugged her shoulder, "He didn't seem so tough, anyway." Bull's eyepatch alone was more impressive and intimidating than the 'famous' raider…
"You bitch!" Blacktalon's lieutenant screamed as he pulled a massive battleaxe and charged at her.
Rush pulled the other dagger and prepared for a fight, secretly casting a strong barrier over her teammates while they were still this close together. Then almost lost it when Bull roared and charged the raiders. She quickly got over her shock, though, and went to cover his back… and his blind side.
The fight was a quick one. Bull and her… they worked together as if they had each other's backs for years. Every time he would charge, Rush renewed the barrier around him, and when anyone got too close to his sides or back, she stabbed them, then quickly his behind his massive bulk again.
The greatest problem she had now was trying to stop staring at Bull's powerful form as he swung his axe at the raiders with wild abandon.
Rocky mostly stayed behind, daggers ready to cover them if they needed him to, occasionally throwing some explosive at the raiders whenever more than two stood close together, and Stitches shot at the raiders from a distance.
In no time at all, the raiders were dead. Rush stood above the last raider's bleeding corpse, feeling oddly disappointed. She barely even started breathing heavily, and it was already over.
Bull ripped his battleaxe from the spine of a dead raider and grinned at her, "No need to make that face, Rush. We can't kill a giant every day."
She only snorted and picked a piece of cloth to clean her daggers.
The moment her weapons were clean though, she couldn't stand it any longer and went to search through the raider's stash. She sorted every piece she found - the coin will be theirs, as will the general items, while anything marked with a crest will be returned to its rightful owner. They might even be paid for it, too. That would be great.
She searched through the captain's personal belongings last. And, with a smile, pulled out a half-full leather sack and several tightly bound letters, clearly marked 'From Louis'. This was even easier than she thought. She turned to Bull, who watched her with anticipation and handed him her prize with a cocky smirk.
Bull gently took it from her hands and opened the sack. It contained some really expensive looking jewels. "I'll be damned! We found it after all." Then he threw his head back and laughed.
Rush stood beside him, smiling. She couldn't wait to see the expression of Louis's face when they returned.
A/N: So, I saw a couple pictures where people stuck '-ing' at the end of every other famous movie name. It sounded awful. … So I've renamed the story. It's now 'Rush Ahead', instead of 'Rushing Ahead'. Damn, I didn't realize the "-ing" made it sound so weird. People, please, English is not my native language, if I make a mistake like this, TELL ME. I'd really like to improve my skills…
Also, this part (Storm Coast mission) took too damn long, considering it was basically a mid-length side quest (game wise). And it's not over yet – the next chapter will bring the final confrontation. :)