Fish in a Barrel

[Hozxi]

84 Searing 121

"Come along, now."

It was raining. Slightly, Hozxi had been assured by the Zhal whom she had met. 'Tis naught but a minor sprinkle, they would say when they saw her walking with her bag held over her head to keep out of the downpour. It gets much worse, they would confide as they sat under the overhang of the tavern and drank and spat into the storm drains and watched the wad of saliva fall through along with the trickle of water that made its way across the stone streets and down into the sewers.

To a woman of the desert this was not a slight storm. Never in her life had she imagined it would rain without end for days. It had let up yesterday; Ysa had escaped her prison behind the darkened clouds, and then the rain came down in broad daylight.

And to top it all off, Hozxi was not making this venture in the rain by herself.

As she looked behind at the boy trailing, Hozxi thought more about the favor asked of her. For all the devotion Petra was given by the boy, the circle mage had naught to say on Yshvold's behalf. A lopsided relationship, and that was always bad business.

Nevertheless Hozxi could not argue that the boy needed to do something. On that, she and Petra were in agreement. It was decided he would help her with the affair of collecting her next batch of reagents for an order Master Jacun had placed. Half a kilogram of oblivion powder was not a small ordeal, and deep down Hozxi was desperate that her connection would have what she needed.

As the oil lamps cut through the fog so did the outline of their destination cut its own silhouette into the dark and stormy skies of Kalzasi. A mast that rose out of the misty water at the edge of the harbor was crawling with deckhands. To secure the ship in the nasty weather, the seer guesses. Other sailors were milling about with crates and barrels, moving on and off the vessel. One of those must have what she came here for.

"We're almost there, Yshvold. Let's find the captain."

Turning toward the Good Marianne, Hozxi puts out a hand behind her either to grab his wrist or take his palm, depending on the willingness of the child to cooperate.

[Yshvold]

Yshvold didn't hesitate when he saw her hand stretch back to him. He grabbed hers firmly and followed behind closely as he watched their surroundings like a hawk. The citizens around them wore whatever they could to stay dry but none escaped his scrutinizing gaze.

The job had been explained to him but even then he wasn't sure what she had meant by "helping her with a shipment". For all he knew someone was targeting Hozxi and he was needed to protect her, or he was needed to steal something for her. There was also the possibility he had been reading into this too much and they simply were meant to get some sort of box and bring it somewhere without trouble, but carelessness leads to slaughter and he would not be found wanting.

Rain beat down on him and splattered across his white mask. While his usual brown hood protected his entire person the water would find its way to hit the eye holes and get into his eyes, a mild annoyance but enough for him to forget his need for secrecy and move his mask aside for split moments to get water off of his face. Should Hozxi be looking at him, she would see smooth pale grey skin between his sleeves before he would fix the mask back in place.

As they got closer he could barely make out which ship they were meant to meet her contact at, or steal from, or kill the captain of. Either way he was content to keep her company and learn from her more, even if this wasn't meant to be a learning experience.

[Walters]

A man paces the deck of the vessel, wearing a sailor's leather uniform to keep off the rain, and steps aside to allow barrels of provisions to be hauled onto the deck. From the labels on the side, one could tell that a vast majority of the barrels were carrying salt, meant to preserve the fish so as to acquire a larger haul before returning to port. He calls to an Orkhan woman tending to a tattered set of sails, his voice echoing through the rain like a thunderbolt, “How long until the repairs are finished, Mazoga? I want to get one more good haul before the end of the season.”


The woman sneers at the remark, “It would be done a hell of a lot sooner if you slowed down more, Captain. That damn magic of yours does a number on the canvas.” She sighs, and takes a good look of the work she’s done so far, “If I work fast it’ll be done by nightfall, assuming there’s nothing I missed.”

The captain gives a grunt of dissatisfaction, “Hunt down Akir and Navirre to help you finish sooner, then. That’ll keep those two out of trouble until sundown, at least.” He walks away from the Orkhan, satisfied that at least that part of the next voyage was settled, before he notices the two figures waiting down at the docks.

“Ahoy, there!” The man calls as he walks down the slippery gangway towards the docks, “Are you two tourists or are looking to do business with the captain of this fine vessel?” He gestures behind him to the, honestly speaking, rather mundane fishing ship with The Good Ship Marianne painted on the side of her railing. He turns back around, having to crane his neck a bit to look up into the Lysanrin woman’s face. He shields his eyes from the rain with his hand as he says with a grin, “I assume you aren’t here for the fish, seein’ we ain’t meetin’ at the market.”

[Hozxi]

"I am here for fish. In part."

Being called a tourist tightens Hozxi's shoulders and stiffens the hair on the back of her neck, but it's a comment easily given and easily forgotten. Why a Moratallen and a small masked boy would be at the docks was not clear, and in that regard, there were worse things to be considered than tourists.

"I need two things from you, Captain. One of those are eel. Specifically," she clarifies, reaching into her satchel for a piece of paper, "the eels that collect in the tide pool of-"

Her eyes squint at the lettering as large droplets of rain fall and do their best to smudge the ink.

"-Cape Kamui."

The cape that holds a very specific kind of eel: the raiden eel, known by reputation to incapacitate its prey, large mantis shrimp, and unprepared swimmers with a jolt of lightning that races through water and stuns even the most hardy of creatures.

Hozxi puts the paper back and blinks as the storm refuses to abate. Her hand rests horizontally over her eyes to keep most of it out of her eyes, but when the wind would gust the water came at one nearly sideways.

"The second thing I need from you... would it be possible to speak inside, away from the storm?"

[Walters]

Walters grins up at the Moratallen, though not at her misfortune at being so woefully unprepared for the storm as one might expect from a cocky captain of a fishing vessel. Old Man Craveus had warned him about the waters of that bay; he had told Walters that many a foolish Wave Tamer had met their end practicing their craft, thinking they were safe in their Arche element. “That’s a rare haul! I’ve been asked for eel before, but not a lot of people are interested Kamui Eels. Follow me, we’ll discuss business in the officer’s mess. Watch your head, miss, this ship wasn’t exactly built for your people.”

The man makes his way back up the gangway, not bothering to check if the two strangers were actually following him. The crew throws no curious glances at the strange newcomers, though it’s uncertain if they truly don’t care about their races or if they’re in just as much of a hurry to get out of the rain as Hozxi.

The captain brings the two down the ladder into the ship, and as they pass the kitchen, he asks the dark-haired freckled girl to put on some tea for the guests. That being done, he leads them into the salon where the ship’s officers typically hold their meetings. Despite his warnings, it’s only the portals between the rooms that Hozxi has to duck down through; the ceilings are surprisingly high enough that she does not need to crouch inside the salon.


Walters takes a seat at the side of the table closest to the wall of the room and gestures for the other two to take theirs as well. He clears away a few shipping manifests and nautical charts from the center, stacking them up in the corner out of the way. “The name’s Walters Longshank; I'm the captain of this vessel. Let’s get down to business, shall we?"

[Yshvold]

Following behind and taking in the strange environment, most notably the people. They were much more rugged than what he was used too, but not so much that he felt intense danger like Yshvold would from his previous home. Strength and unity shined like beacons in the storm as he walked behind Hozxi aboard the ship, their conversation falling on deaf ears from him. Something about eels and a cape.

Yshvold quietly hoped that one day he would have muscles like those the sailors had around him. A sign of hard work and dedication to their craft. Suddenly he felt his daily studies in town were fruitless and he should work on other area's as he felt his thin arms with the little muscle his lifestyle provided. Learning how to wave his hand in greetings pale in comparison to raw power that a fit body would provide, and these sailors ignoring them outright proved this hypothesis correct.

Suddenly there was a ladder and the giant frame of Hozxi was disappearing in front of him. It snapped him out of his day dreaming stupor and he watched his companion climb down before foregoing the ladder altogether and jumping down from the top himself. His hood flowed back and fell back to expose his white hair and two dark crowning horns, growing from past the hairline, until Yshvold fixed it back in place in a fluster. The feeling of being in the bowels of a ship was a far cry from living in shadows as it slightly rocked with the waves. The people within this particular sunless depths also served a dedicated purpose, unlike what he was used to, during his observations as the Captain ordered one to prepare drinks.

Everything about this experience is new and strange, but welcome as he follows and learns.

[Hozxi]

Hozxi finds it more unusual that the crew does not stare, as it was her usual bit to be stared at and stare in turn; to catch their eyes and see how hard their glances were. This crew was trained; they reminded her of the Tribe, of the men who would build the encampment every night and tear it down every morning to load onto the terrible beasts of burden. Elephants the height of two Kishoi and more again.

They were a machine, and she did well not to disturb their machinations, pushing Yshvold along to keep him from doing the same.

Down below deck, the quarters were cramped by Moratallen standards, but Hozxi appreciated only needing to duck when moving from compartment to compartment, as the designers of this vessel may have known Zhal were easy to employ as shiphands. None here, though. A crew of elves. Most probably older than their captain, she ponders.

"Of course. To business," she accedes, letting the boy in her shadow do the necessary sweeps for security as she finds a seat across from Walter and sits politely. Her frame is much greater than her robes imply, as the folds of fabric work to obscure the Kishoi physique beneath, and yet it is not her body that might send chills across Walter's back but her stare.

"I take it from your tone that you may not have fresh Kamui eel aboard," she starts, accepting the tea as it comes from the mess they had passed a few moments ago, "and while that is disappointing it was not wholly unexpected, and it leads well into the second request at hand, as there will be ample time to collect the eels once we leave port."

Her eyes close to take a sip of tea and open again, sparkling with topaz brilliance.

"We would like to charter your vessel for an expedition into the waters beyond Lake Udori's calm. Myself, the boy, and a Circle mage. Preferably as soon as you are able to leave port, as we have little time left before the ice begins to reform outside the calm."

[Walters]

Walters doesn’t appreciate the way the boy sized up his crew or his apparent cockiness in forgoing the ladder to jump without warning into the darkness of the cabin. Nor did he feel entirely comfortable sitting across from the giant woman with the piercing gaze. But business was business, and it wasn’t the first time someone had attempted to cow him with a harsh look.

He wasn’t one for being manipulated into a bad deal and gives the two a grin at the comment about the Kamui eels. The captain meets the woman’s eyes, “You’re going to have trouble finding many fishing vessels with fresh anything on-board, ‘fraid to say. All the fish we catch are unloaded as soon as we dock to get sold to either the local businesses or the fish auction, but I’m sure the other vessels you’ve talked to have already told you that.”

He is the first to look away in the staring contest, shuffling through the documents before finding a piece of parchment with only a few scribbled figures to its name and snatching up a loose pen from the floor.

“Not to say I’m not interested in what you have to say, but if you’re serious about this expedition business I’m going to need more information than you’ve given me before I make any decisions. The Marianne’s outfitted for two weeks off-shore fishing and another month of emergency rations. I need to know your intentions for this expedition and, at the very least, how many of these eels you need for,” he throws a hand in the air in a gesture that implies that he doesn’t much care for this last bit of information, “whatever you’re doing with the creatures.”

He clicks the pen, ready to write down the gist of whatever the Moratallen had to say, “Your names would be good start. Seems we missed that part while exchanging pleasantries.”

[Hozxi]

"I understand the business, yes, Captain Longshank."

She had indeed tried the local fishmongers and the auction house. The stalls had offered her no success; it seems that Kamui eels were neither a delicacy among the rich nor a worthwhile venture for churning into chum for the larger catches, which was no surprise in retrospect. The salty shiphands manning the stalls had either looked blankly at the Kishoi or given her that same fisherman's grin that Walters seemed to practice and told her that they had nothing for her.

As for the auction houses, well, they had anything for the right price, but it was impossible to tell the value of the product before spending a small fortune on it. Hozxi was many things but she was not flush with cash, and she did not have a wealthy patron yet.

She was beginning to think that Master Jacun was testing more than her ability to transmute. This was a challenge of business. Hozxi would not lose.

"Information is valuable. I am afraid I cannot share much about where we want you to take us outside of the trip to Cape Kamui before you and I enter into a contracted agreement. Call it... a matter of trade secrets."

That wasn't wholly untrue: she could not tell him exactly where they were going even if she had wanted to. The documents revealing their destination were currently being studied meticulously by their missing compatriot, who had insisted that she not be disturbed until a breakthrough was made. Petra was nothing if not obsessive. Still, if what the work in progress had revealed was true, than Hozxi was entitled to let her work to the mage's heart's content. And what heart Hozxi had seen underneath her iron will.

"Apologies. I am Hozxi. The boy is Yshvold, and you'd also be responsible for the safe passage of one Petra Cormorant." She reaches across the table to extend a hand for the seafarer to take.

Hozxi gives the boy that accompanied her a look that told him to make up his mind as to whether or not the ship was secure in his mind and make the appropriate signal.

[Yshvold]

Tea, and talk, and adult posturing, all of these things went over Yshvolds head as the two negotiated business while he looked around the room. The tea had been too bitter for his taste and sophisticated manners never truly interested him, and so his mind wandered again. He wasn't so paranoid about the security anymore seeing as they were so deep into the Captains territory that if they had to escape then they would have to fight for their lives anyway, being surprised no longer factored into his threat gauge anymore.

Maps, papers, and all sorts of things he had never seen had taken his attention away from the security of his companion.

As Hozxi motioned to shake the Captains hand, and shot Yshvold an annoyed look for his curiosity, he came back to her side and watched the Captain very closely. The look in her eyes had not dissipated, was she waiting for something? Had he done something wrong? What would a proper greeting be for this?

He could think of nothing better than to raise his hand and wave it at her with more proficiency than usual.

"I like this ship Miss Hozxi but I didn't realize you were taking me on a trip today though, I thought it to be a fetch job for something you bought." Yshvold spoke up in front of the Captain, his gentle and quiet voice barely audible for anyone outside the room to hear.

"Also it is damp and my mask is full of water, can we go on this trip when it isn't raining?" He lifts his mask and lowers his hood to continue trying to hide his face from everyone as he wipes out the inside of the mask with his sleeve. The trap water had indeed built up to massive droplets and his soaked cloak did nothing to help matters.