Nobody at the pub remembers seeing two women with a little girl. Zhi continues to ask around town, and eventually, her inquiries lead her to a pair of hysterical bakers frantically running about calling Trinnia's name.
"Momma! Mom!"
"Sweetheart!"
Trinnia rushes over for a tearful reunion with her parents. Between hugs, her mothers thank Zhi profusely. They are travelers from Voinaris who thought their beloved daughter was finally old enough to join them without wandering off. [b]"We'll be sure to keep a closer eye on her from now on!"/b]
Back at Stachys, Sara spends time with her birds and reading Galtan literature. Again, she neglects to upkeep their training, choosing instead to drown herself in drink and cloak herself with the smoke of her floral cigarillos.
Zhi looks on with a trace of longing as the bakers leave with their daughter.
~~~~
Upon returning to the manor, she finds Melody occupied in writing another letter and so wanders off to the library.
She peruses the shelves looking for something new to catch her eye, but her gaze keeps returning to Sara's closed door.
It's been closed a lot lately.
She finally builds her nerves up enough to walk over and knock on the door.
"Hey," she says softly through the closed portal. "Are you ok? You've been quiet a lot lately. Did you want to talk?"
Sara makes a grunting noise and takes a deep drink from her liquor bottle. She murmurs and stands, throwing her book down at the foot of her bed. She wears only a sheet as she opens the door, messy and drunk. "Hi, Zhi," is all she says. "Come in if you want."
Though Sara was never neat, the room seems much less tidy: the only recent cleaning seems to have been a regular scrubbing of the bird's cages. They watch silently as people leave and enter.
You haven't come by to see Snow White in a few days. I think she misses you," Zhi says looking around the room and taking in the state of it.
"We're supposed to leave for Pensaris tomorrow morning." she transfers her appraising gaze from the room to Sara. "Are you going to be up for it?"
She reaches over and takes the bottle from Sara.
"You shouldn't be drinking by yourself," she continues, her voice heavy with disapproval.
Sara splutters unconvinced at the claim that Snow White misses her. Maybe the bird's just reflective of her owner. Zhi missing her was far more believable. That bird always gave Sara so much trouble in training, taking weeks to learn basic skills. Didn't miss s+*!, in her opinion.
"We're going fishing," she replies. "I can handle a day trip. I'll wear a hat, keep the sun out of my face, it'll be fine."
She openly protests when Zhi takes the bottle away, reaching for it stubbornly and tripping over her sheet. The tall woman falls down and begins laughing. "Then are you going to join me?" she asks, amused. "Plenty of room left in that bottle."
Zhi looks apprehensively at the bottle in her hand and then at the woman sitting on the floor.
"I'll make you a deal ... I'll share this with you if we clean this place up in the process," she says finally.
As if to show her goodwill, she lifts the bottle and takes a swallow. She grimaces at the taste and then looks questioningly at Sara.
She shakes her head and tries to stand, but in her attempts to preserve her modesty, Sara continues to stumble on the sheet, making it much harder for herself. Finally righting herself, she begins to explain, "No, no. Cleaning is something I do alone- and sober. It's calming, meditative work. Just drink with me. Talk."
Zhi sits down on the bed.
"Well, by the looks of your room, you haven't been here sober in a while," she says looking around the room again.
"If that's ... because of me," she continues, looking down at the floor. "I've already said I'm sorry. It doesn't make it ... It still hurts me too, but ... "
She raises the bottle and takes another drink. Another grimace.
"We are who we are so it is the way it is."
"It's because of a lot of things, Zhi. You're one of them, but not as high ranking as you think, probably. I was destined to drink, my family being who they were." She pulls herself onto the bed beside Zhi and takes back the bottle for a long pour. Upon swallowing she coughs twice, holding the bottle out for the taking.
"My father was many things: incompetent firstly, abusive, callous and hateful probably all tied for second, but he was also an alcoholic. He was an evil man, and my poor crippled mother worshipped him. Would never allow him to be criticized, always sticking up for the fat f@$~. When I turned six, my mum got pregnant with my brothers and he stopped trying. He just couldn't be bothered. He said it was my turn now, my turn to provide for him and me and my mother and my unborn brothers, said that I had quick, nimble hands and that no one would blame a child if their things went missing. Put it on me, a six year old, to provide for the family and feed his habits."
She lights another cigarillo, this one a blend of catnip, rose, mint and willow bark, and continues babbling. "I had an aunt, his sister, that owned a bar. And when he couldn't afford to buy his liquor- which was often, mind, because I kept the money away from him best I could -she provided it for him. They hated each other, always screaming and coming to blows, but she always welcomed him back and kept the wine coming. Over years and years of their relationship, she watched her brother poison himself and slowly die on her wine. Drank himself to death, leaving nothing behind him but disappointment and an empty coffin. Only thing I'll ever thank him for."
She takes back the bottle and blushes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to invite you in just to complain about my deadbeat father."
Zileska is only too happy to accommodate her guest. "Sorry I was gone so long! We wind up doing all these civic projects and sometimes they involve troubleshooting trips. Melodie's very civic-minded for the populace."
She slides an arm around the dame's waist and starts walking down the hallway toward her room with the lady. "What sorts of things do you get up to when you're not being cooped up by your family? I mean, besides our little assignations. You've not told me much about your own history - what things you used to do, what hobbies you still have, how life treated you before, well, you know, folks decided that you were too embarrassing to them." She gives a large, long-suffering eyeroll at the last bit.
"Of course, chasing your desires is of paramount importance," says Zileska as she wiggles her bum for the dame's amusement. "So let's just let the outside world fade away for a bit."
She eagerly leads Zileska into the bedroom and closes the door.
"That's okay," Zhi says, debating with herself as she looks at the bottle Sara is holding again. "If we're talking about your father then we're not talking about my mother."
Her inner debate finally settled, she grabs the bottle and takes a third drink. She gets up from the bed and walks over to one of the many windows.
"There aren't enough things in here to break to talk about her." With a sudden burst of motion, she flings the bottle through the open window. She turns back to Sara. "And I have no plans to get drunk enough to talk about her without breaking things."
She walks over to the bed and stepping close, draws Sara to her chest. She then kisses the top of her head.
"I am sorry I hurt you and I'm sorry that I can't be there for you like that any more, but I will always be here to listen to you ... whatever you want to talk about."
She turns Sara's face up to look her in the eyes.
"But I don't trust either of us enough to do it drunk, okay?"
At Zhi's outburst, Sara starts after her, leaving the sheet behind and angrily protesting. "There was still stuff in there!"
Frustrated, she opens a birdcage and shows the trained bird an empty bottle of the same kind, instructing it to go find the bottle that was just thrown, should it be intact. It flies out, and she hurriedly wraps the sheet back around herself.
"Zhi, I do not want or need your help conquering my alcoholism. I'm not my father and I am not going to die because of something as stupid as booze. I appreciate your concern, but I promise you, I don't drink half as much that he did or even as much as I did before," not finding the word for it, she thrusts out her hand and taps her wrist, pinning one arm against her chest to keep the sheet up. "Before jail. And while I appreciate your self control and awareness, rest assured that I have no plans to get drunk enough to proposition you while we live in the same space."
She drops the sheet once more, this time on purpose, and puts on a robe. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find that bottle before it gets too dark."
"Sara," Zhi says, a plea in her voice. "You can't fight that type of sickness by just drinking less. And I wasn't ... it's not just you that ... "
She looks around the room at a loss at what else to say.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk. I didn't mean to interrupt your drinking. I won't do it again," she finally says sadly.
She then moves past Sara and through the door.
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As the girl leaves, Sara attempts to get the last word in. "You can continue to interrupt it, just don't try to fix me. I don't appreciate it and I don't want it. I'm not ."
She follows her out, heading to go find the bottle. Waiting for just a moment at the library door, she calls, "Good night, Zhi," before leaving.
"That's what all us broken people say," she says quietly to herself.
Once Sara heads down the stairs, Zhi makes her way back to the master suite and changes for bed. She summons her magical light to read by and then grabs the top book off her nightstand and opens it, just then realizing that she'd already finished this one and was looking for a new one.
She drops the book on the floor in defeat and, cancelling her reading light, turns over to curl up and try to go to sleep.
Her tears have stopped by the time Melodie comes to bed.
In the morning, you head down the highway to Pensaris. Though Zhi has visited before, this is your first visit to the fishing village for most of you. Having sent ahead word of your plans, Baron Okerra and his daughter are on hand to greet you upon your arrival.
"It's great to see you again, miladies," Okerra says with a formal bow. "Welcome to Pensaris."
Selli is less formal, rushing over to hug Zhi. "Zhi! What did you bring me?" The fingers she lost to the fox appear to have been magically restored.
Zhi takes the hug from the energetic girl with pleasure. "What did I bring you?" She replies with shock. "I was going to ask you the same thing."
She looks over the girl as if expecting to see a hidden present. She begins poking the girl in various ticklish spots as if searching for it. "Is it here? Or here? Maybe here?"
After a moment of searching she produces from behind the girl's ear a small clay sphere.
"There it is. What a peculiar place to hide it. Although I thought you'd bring me a better present then this. Maybe you should keep it." Zhi leans in close. "I'd be careful with that," she says in a stage whisper. "Who knows what might happen if it broke." She winks.
The rogue finally turns to the Baron and bows in return.
"Hello Nicolaus. It's good to see you again," she says with a friendly smile. "My friends and I have been pretty busy and decided that we needed a few days to relax. We'd also heard rumors of a really big fish in your lake. So, with your permission, we'd like to spend some time fishing."
She steps closer to the large man.
"I also wanted to see if we could bring Selli along with us - make it a real girl's outing," she says in a quieter voice.
Selli giggles as Zhi tickles her. She marvels at the clay sphere and nods solemnly. "For emergency use only, or when I want to be a ninja!"
Once Zhi makes her request, Nicolaus nods. "Trying to catch the General, are you? Well, you'll need all of Desna's luck. He's a wily foe, to be sure. I grant you license to fish in Lake Pensaris, and you may take Selli with you. I think the outing will be good for her. Just go putting strange ideas in her head." He gives the rogue a wink.
"What do you say, Selli? Want to join us ladies on a fishing trip? We're going after the General?" Zhi says with a grin.
She turns back to the Baron.
"Let's just say that I won't put any ideas into her head that a proper young lady shouldn't already have," she answers back with a enigmatic grin.
~~~~
~~~~~
Once the hunt is truly underway, Zhi makes sure to spend some one-on-one time with Selli. She asks about the girl's mother and any friends she might have. Subtly or not-so-subtly, she's trying to find out how much Selli knows about the facts of life.
Once she establishes what Selli does/doesn't know, she begins an embarrassed-yet-clinical information session containing all the relevant facts that Selli still needs to be aware of.
Zileska spends the afternoon with the Duchess, alternately taking tea, playing a variety of table games, enjoying the gardens, and in the evening sitting by the fire talking about books and stories before the pair head off for their nightly romp.
~~~~~~~~~~
On the morrow, as the team discusses pursuing the General, Zileska says, "I don't really know much other than that there's the tale of some kind of giant pike in the lake. Not sure what the locals have tried with respect to catching it. Maybe we need a purple worm for bait."
She kisses the duchess on the cheek at breakfast and says, "Are you up for a fishing trip? Or would you prefer to stay here? I'll be back in a couple of days, most likely."
Duchess Veleto sighs theatrically when Zileska mentions fishing. "That sounds positively dreadful. I shall be here when you return, sweet thing."
---
Putting together local rumors, Zhi and Zileska think they have narrowed down a good spot on the lake to start hunting the General. Selli eagerly joins you in your borrowed fishing boat as you head out onto the water.
Selli talks about her mother Nirvenna, whom she describes as beautiful, brave, and fiercely loving. It's clear she misses her greatly. When Zhi starts broaching the delicate subject matter, Selli raises an eyebrow.
"Are you talking about sex?" she asks bluntly. "Yes, I know what that is. I'm ten years old." Further pressing reveals that while she understands the broad concepts, she's hazy on the details.
"I'm sure you know a lot," Zhi says, attempting to mollify the girl. "But there are a ... a lot of ten-year-olds that don't know anything about this stuff and ... and ignorance in this world can have life-long consequences."
She takes a deep breath.
"So humor me. I don't know how much your ... your mother talked to you about this kind of thing and I care too much about you to let you ... "
She flounders a little. Then steels herself to continue.
"Selli, my mother wasn't around to tell me anything. And there were things that ... that I wished someone had talked to me about when I was your age. So if some of the things we talk about, you already know, then ... "
She smiles.
"Just humor me, pretend you don't know them and let me prattle on, ok?"
Zhi then continues on to go over everything Zileska explained to her about what happens when a girl starts to come of age.
While the others talked, Maria kept her eyes out for anything that might indicate the presence of the fish.
Maria notices several disturbances in the silt at the bottom of the lake that could have been made by a catfish of prodigious size. It appears you are on the right track.
Hungover, Sara's experience with animals does not translate as well as it could, and she spends much of the day gazing into the distance. It would only be through a timely helping hand that she could succeed at keeping her mind on the task at hand.
[dice=Profession, Fish, Stachys]d20+8[/dice]
But in the mid afternoon, her excitement returns for better or worse. She is quite insistent in pestering their guest fisherman, requesting tales of the citizen's previous "battles with the General".
As the day wears on, Sara strips to barely nothing and swims among the fish, enjoying the spring air and the chill of the water.
Her hangover clearing, she keeps an eye open for the same furrows pointed out by Maria, swimming beside the boat for a while longer.
"Aye, I've scrapped with the General many a time!" Chelsea the halfling angler tells Sara happily. "Big sonofab@%$+, has to be 10 feet long at least! I nearly had the beast hooked till he capsized me boat and swam off! But I got a good feeling about this time!"
Sara easily swims through the murky waters, diving deep enough to get a good look at the furrows. She's able to follow them and lead your boat to a deep, narrow channel between the eastern cliffs that abut Lake Pensaris.
"This must be one of his feeding spots! Let's toss out a line and see what bites!"
Following Chelsea's instructions, Zhi sets up a pole for Selli and then one for herself.
Zhi doesn't seem particularly interested in actually catching anything, she seems to be simply enjoying spending time with Selli.
"Why don't you join us?" she says to Melodie, indicating one of the poles. She leans over to Selli and whispers, "I bet if you ask her nicely, she'll sing for us - she's got a voice to die for."
Melodie casts her line out, more focused on the company than the act of fishing as well.
"Will you sing for us, Melodie? Pleeeease?" Selli says with a mock pout.
"Oh, alright," the mesmerist says before launching into a soulful folk tune:
I don't know why I love her like I do
All the trouble that you put me through
Take my money, my cigarettes
I haven't seen the worst of it yet
I wanna know, can you tell me?
I love to stay
Take me to the river, drop me in the water
Take me to the river, drop me in the water, water...
Zhi's smile widens as Melodie begins singing. As it always does, the woman's voice sings to something deep inside her and she lets it carry her away, her fishing pole all but forgotten.
Once the song is done, she can't help but brag just a little. Leaning close to Selli, she whispers, "She's my girlfriend."
She sits back smugly and then calls out to Sara, "Hey! Why don't you get out of the water. You're probably scaring it away. Come up here and use a fishing pole like the rest of us."
"I'm fine here, thank you. How big could it be?"
Despite her protestations, she is eventually needled back onto the boat. She wrings out her hair and pats herself down, but does not put all her clothes back on in a hurry, preferring to air dry. She pays no attention to where she casts her line.
Feeling weight on the end of the rod at last, she struggles with keeping it in her hands. "I think I've got him!" she shouts, reaching for her purse and the hunks of wood kept within.
An enormous weight tugs on Sara's rod, nearly tearing it free from her hands. Whatever is on her hook actually drags your boat along for a short time before the line starts to go slack. The water surges as an enormous catfish breaches the surface and rushes towards you, maw gaping wide. The beast must be 20 feet long or more!
"The General!" Chelsea cries in awe.
"You're gonna need a bigger boat!" Selli exclaims.
"Oh, gods! Zhi says, her eyes wide.
With a flash of her eyes and a snapped arcane phrase, Selli is surrounded by a shimmering green glow which quickly fades.
Zhi then pushes her down towards the bottom center of the boat.
"Stay down. Your dad would have me drawn and quartered if something happened to you," she says in a commanding voice.
She then pulls her weapons from her bag and moves up to stand on the very edge of the boat closest to the General's charge.
As the boat began to be pulled along, Maria quickly readied Dignity's Barb (thankful she'd been paranoid enough to bring it).
"Well," she remarked as the General crested the water and she sighted on it, "now I see why nobody's caught him yet." She fired, letting the crossbow's magic guide her aim.
As Zhi wards Selli and drags her to cover, Maria fires a crossbow bolt into the charging catfish. The General thrashes in pain but continues unabated. Its bulk slams into your boat as it lunges at Maria. Its mighty jaws clamp down on the tiefling, grabbing a hold of her and dragging her into the water!
Zhi leaps from her perch on to the monstrous fish's back, stabbing with her rapier.
Sara screams and drops the rod. She continues screaming, tearing up as Maria is grabbed and pulled off the barge. Throwing herself back, she searches in her bag for her heels, sliding them on.
Zileska does her best to center herself in spite of the rocking of the boat and the terror of the enormous fish.
She manages to bark out a few quick syllables from her training and makes a snapping gesture with her holy symbol. A ghostly whip appears next to the giant catfish!
Melodie screams as well, her voice intoning occult words. She coats the General with glitterdust, blinding the huge fish!
Zileska's spiritual whip fails to hit.
Zhi springs onto the General's back and drives her blade deep! The catfish thrashes violently, and the rogue desperately clings to his fin to avoid falling in the water.
Maria tried to dive for cover as the monster came for her, only to cry out in pain as she felt at least one of her ribs give out as its jaws came down around her.
Thinking quickly, Maria tried to break free of the General's maw.
Maria struggles futilely, but is unable to escape the catfish's mouth.
Fortunately for the tiefling, the General has more pressing concerns. Letting go of the squirming tiefling, the big fish rolls over to shake Zhi off its back. Then he tries to chomp down on the rogue and slap her with his powerful fins. Despite being blinded, he scores a lucky hit , battering Zhi!