Chapter 5: Sundering Sea
Temenos' ultimate destination was Canalbrine - and so was Crick's by proxy. From New Delsta Anchorage, one would need to take the ship to Toto'haha and then take a connecting trip to Canalbrine. It would be a costly trip, but one that would ultimately save time. The alternative would have them sailing to Crackridge and walking all the way to Canalbrine!
As it happened, none of the others had any issue with that plan; Ochette and Osvald both had business in Conning Creek. While Throné did not have business in the Harborlands, the Wildlands weren't very far off. It was a great coincidence, one that Crick thanked the gods for. He would be lying if he said he was not anxious to continue investigating, but it was rather convenient that they were all going in the same direction anyway.
The ship's attendant had been working on putting something on the bulletin board just as the group arrived at the Anchorage. Curious, Crick wandered over to the board and was immediately stunned. It was sealed with an official stamp, and dated for that very day.
Due to heightened monster activity in the surrounding waters, there are no ships going to or from Canalbrine at this time.
We ask for your patience as we take care of this issue, and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
It was like the wind had been knocked from his sails, metaphorically and literally speaking. Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be when they needed to get to Canalbrine as quickly as possible?! What were the gods-?!
Crick bit his tongue in an effort to interrupt his own line of thought. Gods forgive him, was Temenos' doubt already starting to rub off on him?!
He turned, so as to inform the rest of the group - and was startled to find that Throné was standing right there. Gods, how did she do that?!
"Monster activity," the thief hummed. From the look on her face, she seemed just as happy with this bit of news as Crick. Which was to say, she wasn't happy at all. "That's inconvenient."
Crick pursed his lips. He knew that Throné was a thief. Just the mere fact brought back unpleasant memories of his time before joining the Order. It was like Ochette said; he had a hard time trusting her due to her occupation. Still, it wasn't like Throné tried to steal from the rest of the group - most of her thievery was aimed at whatever monsters they came across. Throné had not done anything specifically for Crick to distrust her...other than her occupation.
Even so, they were all traveling together...so Crick had to say something, right? It wouldn't do for there to be tension between traveling companions.
"What should we do?" Crick questioned. "Obviously we cannot just wait here for ships to start going to Canalbrine again. Who knows how long that would take?"
Throné responded, "Taking that away, there are two options open to us right now...both of which involve traveling by foot. The question is, how many leaves we're willing to part with."
It was easy to figure out what that meant. Either they take the ferry to Crackridge and walk the rest of the way...or they walk all the way there from here. That would have involved walking through the Winterlands all over again. Crick didn't know about Temenos or any of the others, but he would rather not go through that again.
Crick let out a sigh. "Do we know how many it would take for a ship to Crackridge?"
"The price list is right there." The way Throné pointed that out was not unkind; in fact, she reached over and tapped a finger on a paper situated next to the notice. It was roughly the same price that they would have paid for the joint journey to Toto'haha and Canalbrine. Still, Crick felt his face getting warm; how did he not notice that?
"O-Oh," he responded, willing his embarrassment away. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." To Crick's surprise, Throné procured a bunch of grapes and held it in the knight's direction. "Here. You need to eat up."
"A...peace offering?" Crick couldn't help the question. As much as he did not want to suspect anything from a traveling companion, to accept a gift from a thief was...
"If you want to see it as that, I won't stop you," Throné responded with a shrug. "I know Temenos healed you after that last fight, but healing magic doesn't replace food. It's always better to eat something after a tough battle, right?"
And just like that, Crick felt a twinge of shame. While he couldn't deny that knowledge of Throné's profession placed him on edge, he could no longer deny that there was kindness there. Ochette's words rang true in that sense.
"Thank you, Throné."
It would take no less than a day for their ship to reach Crackridge. That was a long time to be out at sea, so measures needed to be taken in order to prevent their group from falling into the absolute worst despair known to man and beast alike: boredom.
At least, that was what Ochette seemed to believe. She had been the one to suggest telling stories to pass the time, and she didn't hesitate to go first. Before Crick knew it, everyone - himself, Temenos, Osvald and Throné - had become a rapt audience to Ochette's storytelling. She had chosen to recount what had kick-started her journey in the first place; more specifically, the beast that had attacked her village.
"It had a neck that stretched out like this!" she exclaimed, stretching her arms out to imitate a snake's movements. "And when it opened its mouth, out came a great wave of dark fire! It smelled like evil and meat that had been left out in the sun too long!"
As she said that part, Mahina provided a flicker of shadow magic; possibly to put dramatic emphasis on certain parts of the story.
For his part, Crick was enraptured. It was almost like the fairy tales he had read growing up; the kind of story that he took comfort in whenever he could back in Timberain. Except, instead of a knight slaying a dragon, it was a hunter slaying a...a...
What kind of creature was it, anyway? He couldn't think of any kind of creature that could stretch its neck the way Ochette described.
"And after another burst of wind from Mahina, it finally went down!" Ochette exclaimed. Her ears seemed to droop as she crossed her arms. "Now that I think about it, it said something weird before it disappeared."
"Said something weird...you mean it spoke?" Throné questioned, seeming to be just as enthralled by the story as Crick.
Even Osvald seemed surprised to hear this. "It's a rare monster that's actually capable of human speech. Do you recall what it said?"
"Sorry, no. I just remember thinkin' it was weird. Something about existing...?" The beastling hummed before looking over at her malamowl companion. "Mahina, do you remember?"
Mahina fluttered over to Ochette, landing by her feet and making noises. Ochette's ears twitched as she grinned down at her friend.
"Ohhh, yeah. Thanks, Mahina!" she said, giving the malamowl a pat on the head. Ochette then cleared her throat and deepened her voice - perhaps the best impression that she could make of the creature's last words; "No longer trust. Cannot...be allowed...to exist."
As strange as it was that a creature could be capable of human speech in the first place, those words were even stranger. What could they have meant?
With a surprisingly loud yawn, Temenos stood. "Well! That was a riveting story, but I feel exhaustion setting in. Perhaps I'll retire early."
"What?" Ochette complained. "But Temmy, I was just gonna say it was your turn!"
"My apologies," Temenos answered, a small smile on his face. "Perhaps this method of travel doesn't agree with me."
Crick - who immediately stood up when Temenos mentioned feeling tired - said, "If you're not feeling well, I can try to find an apothe-"
"No."
The force in Temenos' voice stopped Crick in his tracks. It was hard to make out Temenos' expression; almost like he was on the cusp of getting deep in thought. But with his brow furrowed like that... "That's not necessary, and I can make it to bed myself. Crick, why don't you tell your story in my place?"
"But Temenos-" Before Crick could protest further, Temenos had gone out the door.
And Crick was left to deal with the worry eating away at him. Not just because of his duty as a bodyguard; he knew Temenos could take care of himself, and he doubted he would encounter something like the Felvarg in this ship.
Even so, something about how Temenos acted was concerning.
"Temenos, I...I can no longer trust the church! The Darkblood Bow cannot be allowed to exist!"
Those words echoed through Temenos' mind as he rushed to one of the cabins that the group had rented for the evening. He opened the door and locked it behind him as he entered the room; the last thing he wanted was for someone to barge in while he processed the information that had been presented to him. As an added measure of protection, Temenos slid into a sitting position on the floor immediately in front of the door and focused on his breathing.
There was no way for Ochette to know what context there could be behind the beast's final words...but for Temenos, they brought to mind one of the last things Roi had ever said to him before his disappearance. They brought to Temenos a whole new possibility of what became of his friend, and a horrifying one at that.
While there was no way of knowing that the beast and Roi could possibly be connected, that did not change the fact that the possibility existed.
Not for the first time, Temenos cursed fate for denying them immediate passage to Canalbrine. It felt like taking one step towards the truth up until now, and then being forced to make two steps backwards over the course of a single evening. What were the gods thinking?!
Temenos eventually unlocked the door; after his mind calmed down and his breathing became stable. He went to bed immediately after.
If Temenos dreamt of dark beasts with blood dripping from their fangs, he would be glad to not remember any of it in the morning.