Aersten spends his first week as bosun working hard with the crew members he'll be responsible for overseeing. It doesn't go quite as smoothly as he'd hoped. A couple of the more experienced riggers seem skeptical about the wisdom of having brought on someone new for the position instead of promoting one of them who already really know what's going on. But, several of the new recruits seem to appreciate the young officer's willingness to get his hands dirty and work alongside them learning the ropes.
"A feast for two, with drink pairings, excellent," the young waitress answers, "your first course will be out momentarily."
Ronnie smiles as you reminisce about your first date and says, "Oh, are there other people here? I was so caught up staring at you that I didn't even notice. This place does seem pretty amazing though."
True to her word, the waitress returns a mere moment later with two small turnovers on a plate. You and Ronnie exchange a surprised glance over just how small and unassuming they are, but biting into them you find the pastry delicate and delicious and the creamed spinach filling just as good. You've barely finished your appetizer before the young waitress is headed towards your table again with a pair of bowls. What follows is an hours long parade of delicious dishes. Each has a name and you recognize a few from stories you heard about how grand champions (and some of the girls whose bodies were sold) were rewarded, but none of them even sound familiar to Ronnie. Regardless of their names, they are delectable. There's potato leak soup; egg tart with caramelized onions; ravioli stuffed with cheese, in a light tomato sauce; filet of sole, with lemon butter sauce, served in a pastry crust shaped and embossed to look like a fish; sliced boar loin with a rich mushroom gravy; braised pineapple to cleanse the palate; lamb chops with baked potato and peas; a roasted quail with a warm salad of rice, red peppers, and tomato; a dish of thinly sliced and neatly stacked zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash, and tomato; a salad of mixed greens with raspberry vinaigrette dressing; a chocolate souffles; toasted bread with pungent cheese melted on top; and, finally, a plate of sliced mango and papaya with almonds and macadamias. Most of the courses are served with a different tea, ranging from a delicate white tea with the soup to a smoky oolong with the lamb; a slightly bitter coffee is served as a counterpoint to the souffles; small glasses of champagne accompany the pineapple, and equally small glasses of sweet port arrive with the fruit plate.
As the meal draws to a close, Ronnie, who is now eating and drinking with one hand so that she can hold hands with you under the table, sighs and says, "Saph... this was amazing... I've never even seen a meal like this before, let alone ate like this... thank you..."
He is undeniably a charming man, and although it doesn't look as though he's moved at all it suddenly feels as though he's standing quite close to you. Memories of your last encounter dance at the edges of your mind as you listen to him.
Saph asks to meet the person who prepared the meal. “I’d like to pay my compliments to the chef personally,” she explains as she pays the waitress a generous tip.
"Um, they're still pretty busy right now," the waitress answers, "but let me see if I can get one of them out here for a few seconds..."
She disappears in back for a minute then emerges with two plates, which she deposits on another table on her way to you, and another woman trailing behind her. "Hello, welcome," the new woman says as she nods a greeting to you and to Ronnie. She looks a great deal like your waitress, only a little bit heavier and with graying hair.
With her gloves, Saph adds a description: Blonde hair, thirties looks, forties wisdom, fine clothing, from the North End. I assume she is a regular customer of yours.
“…let her know Sapphire is extremely grateful to her for recommending the Taldan Bakery. Ronnie and I had a wonderful time. Thank you.”
She gives a friendly wave. Her gloves say, If you happen to know where my lady friend and I might spend the night, undisturbed, except by each other—preferably a place where we’re sure to enjoy a scented bath—would it be a bother for you to mention the name?
I trust your judgment, and will take no offense if you cannot recommend an inn.
Hedy leans forward inches from his chest, closing her eyes, taking in a long breath as if remembering his scent. Her dark eyes open and roll up to his. She opens her soft lips and says "No" with no hint of give, nor does she offer any additional discussion of why. She simply stares with an arched brow to make sure he doesn't decide to 'push' but she knows he won't. Trust is an odd word, makes people think there is warmth between folk, but trust really just means knowing when a person will push, and when they will back down. She likes the man well enough, but she would cut off his hands easily enough if she was wrong, which she isn't.
After the pause, she'll smile and turn away back to her mess of a desk. "I'll have Murillo remove you from bilge rotation, a better perk than my bed any day if you ask me." she slides into her chair, looking up one last time "Thank you Jim, for the reminder of some lovely nights and for being a person I could trust."
Ronnie watches your unusual gestures after you stop holding her hand to make them. After the chef walks away, she quietly asks, ”why are you doing that with your hands?”
With that he gives a quick salute and heads for the door. ”I’ll be nearby if you need me, ma’am.”
With a wave of her fingers, Saph sends the translation to Ronnie: This is what she created for me!
Saph has a playful grin when she then asks, “Do you want to try them on? They’re really a lot of fun! You can say things with the gloves, and one person will understand you.”
If Ronnie wants, Saph will teach her to use the gloves while walking to the Gilded Lily.
Murillo keeps his ears open and discreetly confers with Lief regarding Aersten's performance as bo'sun, but doesn't interfere in the new officer's affairs.
That first night, when Aersten relieves Murillo, he makes a point of noting the level of detail the man goes into on status and what's going on, and tries to present just as detailed a report back to the Chaplain at end of shift (trying to strike a balance between "keep the man updated" and "don't bother him with shit he doesn't need to know").
Jerk gets bored of following Paddy around, especially when the Dwarf is busy writing or counting coins. He instead decides to follow Murillo around, to see what that man happens to be up to. Maybe there's food around.
When Paddy returns to his poorly lit quarters below deck next to the hold he discovers more of a mess than usual. The half-eaten pieces of fruit that Jerk left scattered around the floor have attracted rats. The rats left droppings and spots of urine around the edges of the room, and Jerk attempted to mark the territory as his by spreading about his own waste.
Paddy sighs as he realizes he shouldn't have left the pieces of fruit out, but takes note that there may be a rat infestation. As he picks up the fruit, he sings quietly to himself. "Oh we'd be alright, if the wind be in our sails. Oh we'd be alright, if the wind be in our sails. Oh we'd be alright, if the wind be in our sails. And we'll all 'ang on behind." With the song, the room gradually gets cleaner. He finishes gathering up all the trash in a rag, then goes about throwing the waste off the ship side. His room wasn't exactly clean, as it was still disorganized, but at least it didn't smell any more. Paddy then goes to the ship's food supply to investigate any rat infestations.
Food for their time at sea is still being loaded on to the Night Talon, but Paddy discovers that a fair number of rats have made their way across the mooring lines during their time in port. So far their impact seems to have been limited to scraps and refuse but if teams of raiders aren’t assigned to extermination details quickly it’s only a matter of time before they get into the actual food stores.
“Or if you’d rather put the gloves away, holding hands is fine too.”
Saph is equally fine with either. The gloves certainly are fun—and despite how the chef might have felt about the magical communication, Saph is pretty sure that if the chef gave it some thought, the alternative was to advertise her sex life in front of the teenage waitress, likely the chef’s own daughter. At least Ronnie didn’t find it so off-putting. The last thing Saph wants is to let her playfulness, of all things, be the buzz-kill!
Once the destination is in sight, Saph clings to her lover. This’ll be like wrestling, only……… tender. About giving, not controlling. When articles of clothing come off, it’s not so men cheer. Ah! That’s it! I don’t please the crowd, I please my oppon—er—I mean… lover!
Saph has no idea how she’ll perform in the sack, but she is a performer, is she not? So she tries to use her skill to sound more confident than she is.
“The Gilded Lily! Here, we will be disturbed by no one but each other. You will strip me of this dress and strip me of my maidenhood. And no matter how much I writhe and scream, you can rest assured I’ll beg for more. When the bed is too soaked to be any fun, we can relax in a scented bath. Or… maybe you’d rather not relax, knowing your lover can form gills, and even hold her breath for several hours.”
The innkeeper is a very friendly gnomish woman who makes arrangements for you to receive hot, scented baths first thing in the morning then shows you to a lovely, spacious room with a large, comfortable (sturdy) bed. Once she’s shown herself out, Ronnie wastes no time wrapping you up in her arms and kissing you more deeply than you’ve ever been kissed before. In accordance with your expressed desire, she begins stripping you of your dress, and helping you to strip her of hers. When your dresses hit the floor she begins to giggle. Looking down, you discover that she has bought the exact same lacy undergarments that you did.
Leading you over to the bed, she lays down with you and gently explores your body with her fingertips while you continue to kiss each other passionately. After a few minutes, her hands move to the little bit of clothing that remains and she helps you out of that as well. She stops kissing you long enough to look into your eyes and ask, ”are you ready?” Once you indicate you are, she begins kissing her way down your body. Each time her lips touch your flesh it’s soft and tender and electric. By the time she reaches her destination, you’re quite certain that tonight will be all that you hoped it would...
Paddy seeks out Jerk and says to him "Ahoy dere, monkey butt. I gots a job fer ye, an I tink ye'll like it. We gots rats aboard, an I knows ye'll eat rodents if ye can catch em. I wants ye te go 'untin. Kill all de rats ye can find. An if ye give de bodies te me, I'll give ye a banana e'eryday. 'ow's dat sound te ye?"
Jerk raises his spear above his head and hollers out a war cry! Then he races into the ship to go hunting!
Paddy watches Jerk run by, and wonders how the monkey will manage to make the situation worse. He's not sure yet.
He searches for the Captain and says to Hedy "We gots rats, Cap'n. I've sent Jerk on de 'unt, but we mights be gettin's an infestation if'n we're not careful. Got any ideas?"
This… is nothing… like wrestling!
Saph eventually has to admit the bath has cooled, and it’s time to dry and dress. The robe provided by the inn will do for now. Despite her talk of gills and holding breath, the bath was to relax after that unbelievable night. Never had Sapphire felt so vulnerable and so free and so…
She already told Ronnie the night was amazing and “you were amazing” did she not? Probably in all nine of the languages she knows. She says it again, in Taldan, she thinks. Did I just say ‘love’…? Saph says something else, involving the word ‘bed.’
She lays there, not sure whether she tied her sash or left the robe inelegantly open. Is Ronnie holding her or is that the pillow? Saph might know in a couple hours.
"Ah Rat. Poison works the best...." Hedy had been the quartermaaster before Paddy, so her and rats are very familiar. "I can make you some, but you'll have to keep your monkey from eating it?"
No, aside from there being a very lot of skin to skin contact, that was very much not like wrestling...
Ronnie is more than happy to let the delightful baths be for nothing more than relaxation after an exhausting night which found you both well-satisfied, many times over. Lacking your specialized endurance training, your lover spends much of her time in the tub nodding off. As she crawls into the bed with you afterwards she happily whispers, "you were pretty amazing too." She slips her hands into your partially open robe and wraps her arms around you to hold you as you both drift into a deep, contented sleep.
Having neglected to discuss what things would be like on the ship after your big night, the next day is a bit awkward. There are lots of stolen glances and knowing smiles exchanged between you, but virtually no words spoken. The following afternoon, after drill, Ronnie lingers when everyone else leaves. She approaches you with a warm smile and a nervous look in her eyes. "So..." she starts, "I talked to the captain. She offered me a junior officer position, and I can't help but think that you might have had a hand in that... which is sweet, but that's exactly the kind of thing you can't do for me, okay?"
She reaches out and softly grabs your hands. "I turned it down. I don't want to be known as the girl who became an officer because she hooked up with the master of arms... I do want to be known as the woman that's with you though... I don't want to dance around things, or feel awkward near you; I want to hold your hand, and kiss you, and sit with our shoulders pressed together while we eat like we did on our date... can we... would you... do you want that too?"
Saph is shocked by the news of the promotion being turned down. She lets Ronnie take her hands while hearing her out. “So… you got the offer. I mean, yeah, you turned it down but… I didn’t think you were considered. The doctor I introduced got one of the positions, so I didn’t even question Gentleman Jim. I figured Hedy would pick candidates from two different officers. But Jim was Hedy’s second choice then…!
“Oh, I’m really proud, Ronnie. I mean, Hedy must see I was truthful to her now. You turned down the job ’cause of how it would look. I get it. I worried how it looked suggesting you, but you really do put the crew, the ship, me… ahead of yourself. I told Hedy, what am I to do then, give her my second-best because choosing my best—you—looks biased?
“I mean, I even asked myself if you just work super hard for me… but then, I recall seeing you doing woodwork before our first date, and you didn’t slack even knowing it was your last day. Hard-and-fair’s who you are. And that’s just part of why I’m proud to be your girl.”
Saph is fighting the urge to kiss Ronnie passionately.
“Yes,” she says to the question of want. “I don’t want us to be a secret. I want to be loud and proud of what we have. And… I think I should address the crew on this in tomorrow’s training session. They trust me with their lives, so better I tell them myself. But what do you think? I meant what I said to the seamstress about us being equals, at least in our love life.”
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Paddy replies to Hedy "I reckon if'n e's eatin bananas fer payment, me boy won't be eatin's de rats. Make de poison, if'n ye please, Cap'n."
Days later, after Paddy discovers the pattern of Jerk's hunting. "Aye, I see what yer doin'. Can't blame ye. Aight, ye get a banana fer e'ery two rats ye bring me. But if'n ye become a chonky monkey, ye can't call Peta on me, ye gots it?"
After talking quietly between themselves for a few minutes on the main deck after drilling the raiders, Ronnie wraps her arms around Saph and kisses her passionately for long enough that a handful of the people on deck start laughing, cheering, or catcalling. Once their mouths finally pull away from each other, the raider smirks and says, ”you talk too much sometimes.”
Taking a step back, she lets one arm fall to her side but the other brushes along Saph’s arm until their hands meet and their fingers interlock. ”I don’t want to push you to move too fast,” she says more quietly, ”but we could buy an extra-large hammock while we’re in port if you want to share one?”
Saph is not the least bit startled by the eruption from the crew—
—or so it seems. Saph was trained to perform for crowds. When they cheer, you keep your eye on the girl in front of you and just keep doing what what’s obviously working.
“Let’s get the hammock today, and take it for a test spin tonight.”
‘Spin’ might have been a poor word-choice, as Saph now pictures pink and blue limbs entangled in a wildly-gyrating canvas. She decides not to sour the moment with her slapstick vision.
She does quietly ask the rhetorical question, “Is there anyone on this ship that didn’t know about us?”
Saph is definitely excited about buying stuff. She hasn’t really considered where the bigger hammock would have to be. Maybe she’ll need to sleep with the crew. No matter… having Ronnie to hold at night will be wonderful.
She’s proud to hold her hand and walk with her. No more sneaking around.
“You were right. It was worth the wait,” she says out of the blue.
"Everyone accounted for?" Hedy asks Murillo on the poop deck. The day is perfect, bright but with a brisk wind. The captain stands in her fitted coat with brass buttons, red skirts, and white blouse over her shiny mail. Her hands behind her back, leather tricorn on her raven hair in a thick braid, dark eyes watching everything.
After Murillo reports, she nods. "Then take us out, Jim." she orders with no fanfare. "Gather them all on deck when we get out of port."
---
When it is time, she addresses the entire crew, Murillo, Azadi, Lief, and whichever other officers that want on the raised deck looking over the others.
"We are pirates." she says simply, loud, clear, and without any of the usual playfulness. "The Talon is a pirate ship, a predator on the seas, not a treasure hunter, definitely not a bloated sack carrying cargo." the disdain of the latter profession is thick in her voice. "Pirates Hunt. Pirates Take. And Pirates Kill Any Who Resist. This is US. If anyone got it Somehow in their heads that things are different, the side of the ship is over there. Jump now, because if you balk in your duties when the time comes, I swear to you that you'll wish you had."
The captain pauses hands on the railing, looking across at each of them, waiting to see if there are any takes, then smiles slow and long. "Good. Back to your duties, and find me one of those Fat Bloated Sacks so we can all get f$#$ing rich."
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Ohhh, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…
Saph watches the land shift toward the unreachable horizon. She could jump and survive, even walking along the ocean floor. But then what would become of Ronnie?
She listens to this version of Hedy that always was, much as Saph denied it. The ‘somehow,’ Saph’s certain, is directed at ME! Stand at attention. Your students see your strength. Don’t show weakness now. You got a good thing going…
She smothers her feelings in Master Lam’s self-motivational meditation phrases. When the captain has dismissed everyone, Saph approaches Aerin.
“Heyyyy, Aerin. Ya got a moment?” she says in a not-awkward tone?
"Noted, Stoutspear. I'm hoping he'll grow into the position; he should be able to earn the crew's respect through combat so long as he's halfway decent as bo'sun. Saving their skin a couple times makes most folks more amenable to an individual."
Murillo begins barking orders at the less energetic crew members, and when they clear port he makes sure the sharpest eyes are in the nest looking out for potential threats and targets.
We're not the Chelish Navy, no. But now it counts, for real. So make sure they know it, Aersten.
The Night Talon's new bosun recognizes the change in tone in the Captain's speech and makes sure the riggers understand, specifically the newer ones, what it entails.
For a moment, he wonders what Mother would think of the new life he's made for himself. Does it matter? She disapproved of anything that involved you leaving home. So now here you are, and she's all the way up in Varisia, and that's that.
When he finds himself with some free time, he tracks down the new ship's wizard, when she's not otherwise occupied.
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Paddy has no issue paying for poisoned rats. It counts as cleanup. His worries are only that he'll run out of bananas, or Jerk gets even more clever. Capuchin monkeys are already very smart, and Paddy's well aware that as time progresses, Jerk will become even smarter.
Paddy hollers and cheers with the rest of the crew watching Ronnie and Saph. He's got no issue whatsoever with lesbian relationships, especially when there's a show.
Paddy's a little sad that they're not treasure hunters. Oh well, piracy is still more than capable of making a living. He gets the crew going with a sea shanty, to put everyone in synch.
"Farewell n hadieu, te ye Spanish ladies
Farewell n hadieu, te ye ladies of Spain
Fer we received orders fer te sail te ol' hEngland
But we 'ope ina short time te see ye again
We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors
We'll rant and we'll roar all on te salt seas
Until we strike soundin's in the channel of ol' hEngland;
From Ushant to Scilly is thirdy-five leagues"
It's a fine clear day, with a steady wind as the Night Talon sets out from Port Peril. Her reputation is much improved from when they arrived a fortnight ago, but still a long way off from what would safeguard them from becoming prey for other hungry scallywags. So the crew steers clear of the usual pirate byways as they make their way to the northern edge of the Shackles. Four days later, they're heading west towards the lanes used by ships from the Inner Sea seeking to skirt the Pirate Kingdom on their way south to Sargava and the lands beyond.
Saph gets up in the morning, relieved to see that no one has to be senselessly murdered yet. If there are heavy things to lug, she lugs them. When it’s time to exercise with the raiders, she will do so, and as her usual cheerful self—Ronnie is no longer a secret!
She approaches Aersten hours before the class, bidding him <Good morning> in Skald, then asks casually, “Ya got a minute?”
Aersten is standing on the deck, watching some of the new riggers at their tasks when Sapphire approaches.
"Sure, one moment," he says. He then turns back up to the rigging and yells, "No, you do it that way it won't hold up in any sorta weather! Bring it under, loop it twice, then tie it off!" Gesturing towards the ropes, he calls out to one of the more experienced riggers. "Mouse, make sure Lefty gets that done right, okay? Thanks!"
Turning his attention back to Sapphire, he says, "Sorry, just had to see to that. So, what can I do for you?"
One corner of his mind immediately thinks, It better not involve getting kicked another twenty times…
Saph says, “As you probably know, one of my duties is training fighters. And, well… you also know I don’t use weapons. Officers aren’t required to join my sessions, but Paddy came as a guest instructor to go over blade techniques.
“I was wondering if you’d be interested in demonstrating the value of a reach weapon and drill some spear techniques.”
Aersten considers Sapphire's request, nodding as he thinks it over. "Sure, I should be able to do that. Just let me know when it'll be."
He chuckles lightly to himself. "So now I'm a teacher, too. Mother never saw this coming..."
Saph starts her lesson by introducing Aersten. She then says to her students, “I’m not sure what you heard about Blue Booby Island, but the reason I wrestled Swift and the zombie orc woman were that they hit so hard with their two-handers, that I was better off holding the strongest foes down than fighting them.
“I was really glad not to face a foe that is Aersten’s equal. I have my own thoughts on the value of his pike, but I didn’t invite Aersten to hear me talk. He’s the expert on his weapon of choice, so listen to the man and grab a spear if you’ve got one.”
Saph turns to Aersten, and putting her right fist to her left palm, she bows. “The floor’s yours,” she says.
Aersten bows his head briefly to Sapphire after her introduction of him, then turns back to address the raiders. "Thanks. So yeah, pikes. I'm going to start today with some of the basics, which some of you probably know some of, but we're all gonna do it, so we're all at the same place with this."
"Because all of you being at the same place, *that* is what is gonna make you one dangerous group of motherf***ing pirates." Aersten lets the point linger for a beat, then continues. "A single pike, that's a threat, but there's ways around that. But what you're gonna be is a mass of pikes. And that, people, is no fun to face. Everywhere the enemy tries to go, a couple of you are there to poke holes in him and remind him that's a bad idea."
"Any o'you play chess? Me, I tried learning the game, but it just didn't click for me. But I stayed with it long enough to learn some things. Like, the most dangerous piece on the board. Y'know which one it is? It's the piece that's backed up by the other pieces on the board. That piece, it can do what it needs to do, go where it needs to go."
Aersten uses the time allotted for this to go over some of the basics of formation fighting as he knows it. How to position themselves to support each other, how to be aware of the space around you, how to support your comrades, all that kind of good stuff.
When it's done, he goes over to Sapphire. "I seen worse," he grins. "Me, I thought it went okay, given I didn't wake up this morning knowin' this would be a thing. You want I should keep at this with some sorta frequency?"
Saph first orders the class to pair up and spar, light contact—unarmed or practice swords, students’ choice—while she talks to Aersten.
“Yeah, that was great! I was checking to see who picked up on the technique, and who might have already had the training and can take lead on the drills. So far, Ronnie’s my best grappler, Stoneskull is the headbutt queen—and her dwarven build gives her an incredible stance—I’ve got two men who take lead on swords, one for finesse, the other for power. So, not ruling them out, but hoping to give the job to another. Maybe a trio for spears, so we can practice the spear-wall thing you mentioned.”
It’s apparent that Saph is grateful (and that she was taking a lot of mental notes.)
“You’re always welcome to join our sessions, or just observe if you prefer.”
“You’re always welcome to join our sessions, or just observe if you prefer.”
Aersten nods thoughtfully. "Sure, other duties permitting, of course. There is a certain value in the crew seeing that we can do as well as tell them how to do. Plus, I occasionally like to get in some time with other weapons," he gestures with his eyes to the cutlass and axe in his belt. "I don't have your skill with my fists, I have to be a little bit more prepared," he says with a shrug and a grin.
Aersten's face suddenly lights up as if he's remembered something. "Before I started, you mentioned something about your personal thoughts on this as a weapon," he taps the butt of the pike on the deck as he addresses Sapphire. "What was it?"
Sapphire says, “Oh, well... I didn’t want to taint your lesson with my opinion. One thought is just the basic combination of reach and defense—your pike behind a pair of shield-bearers in defensive stances.
“But the other thought is more about what you and I could do. It’s kinda like leapfrog, except I’d kick the guy you impale.” She winces at how easily those words flow from her tongue.
With a sad kind of look, she adds, “Not that I… take this sorta thing lightly.”
Sapphire says, “Oh, well... I didn’t want to taint your lesson with my opinion. One thought is just the basic combination of reach and defense—your pike behind a pair of shield-bearers in defensive stances.
“But the other thought is more about what you and I could do. It’s kinda like leapfrog, except I’d kick the guy you impale.” She winces at how easily those words flow from her tongue.
With a sad kind of look, she adds, “Not that I… take this sorta thing lightly.”
Aersten shakes his head. "I hardly thought so. Sometimes it takes an odd turn of phrase to make a point." He considers the matter a moment. "That sort of thing might well be doable, but I think it'll take some effort, you and I will need to work at that a bit to be effective while still keeping out of each other's way."
Saph hears what Aersten has to say. “Heh… so much I don’t know about weapons. Guess we both trained hard, but for different purposes.” She changes the subject abruptly, derailing her train of thought: “Yeah-but-any– …yeah,” then goes on like the weird stammer didn’t happen, “we can definitely practice that technique until you feel it’s easy to work around me. I feel like the form of my flying kick’s better than it was on the island. Maybe just ’cause I was jumping in sand, who knows?”
"Until it's easy to work with you," Aersten's turquoise eyes sparkle as he corrects Sapphire, grinning. "We'll make this work, and then, woe be to any ship that doesn't surrender, lest you punch it into submission!"
Late morning on the Night Talon's fifth day at sea, Paddy's advice on where to hunt yields fruit when the new tengu lookout hollers from the crowsnest, "ship on the horizon!" As much of the crew rushes to the foredeck, the consensus forms that its a Rahadoumi merchant ship they've got in their sights. Simultaneously, nearly thirty sets of eyes turn to the captain in anticipation of her order...