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20th Day in the 4th of Ründ’s Months, Dry Season, in the First Year of King Feyaz’s Reign, 126th Reckoned Year
… like a Saintstone coin hurled into the sea are words of wisdom to them that will not hear…
From ‘Wisdom of Saint Delód’ of the Church of the Deep, Written by Saint Delód in the Unreckoned Years
After the midday meal, Petsune cleans up with Shushilah. While they are finishing up, the Big Man pokes his head into the cooking area. “You two up for a game of Runny then?” Shushilah and Pet both agree. When they all three sit at the crate along with The General, Petsune produces the prattlebeak feather from under his belt. He hands it to The Big Man. “I believe this clears all my debts?”
Benafield laughs loudly. “Hah! Aye, it does indeed, little Pet. Where did you get it?”
“Sprig’s bird left a few behind in the captain's quarters.”
“Aye, you had it easy then. Cheese will be climbing through the rigging ‘till she finds one. Hah!” He slaps his knee and roars joyously.
Before they roll the first round of Runny, Sprig shouts from somewhere above them. When they look up, Sprig is clambering out from the crow’s nest shouting, “Shallowback!”. He climbs down so rapidly, Petsune isn’t sure he even touched the rigging. “That boy sure packs a light kit, don’t he?” Says Benafield.
Sprig is vigorously pointing off the starboard side, still shouting alternating cries of “Shallowback!” and “Pickett!” Sprig excitedly busts into the captain’s quarters, half raving. Chapel doesn’t even startle, but merely looks up. “Sprig, is this going to become a regular thing with you? Because if it is, I’ll prop the doors open. Also, your bird is in here again.”
“Captain, Captain! It’s a shallowback, an’ he’s right at the surface! Can we drop anchor, just for a bit? Please!”
Chapel rolls his eyes in amusement, then gets up from his chair. “Alright, fine. But we don’t have long, Sprig. We need to make good time to the Royal Mass.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Sprig runs out of the captain's quarters, yelling out Pickett’s name. Pickett is already at the railing looking out at the form of the shallowback. Petsune and Shushilah wander over to where Pickett is standing, Sprig quickly joining them. Sprig is practically bouncing. “You got it? You got the thing?”
Pickett nods once and appears unaffected by Sprig’s excitement. Pickett hands a strange object to Sprig, and then the two of them climb over the railing. Petsune asks Shushilah, “Why is Sprig so excited?”
“You saw the thing Pickett had? Is a mask he made. Very clever, truly. Is a sort of breathing trunk, like the shallowback has, fixed to a, uh, a window - a lens, that’s it. Is the eye lens of a fisher shark, yes?”
“Ahh, I see.”
“Yes, the shallowback, it has a big flat back, like a sandbar. A lot of things grow and live on this. But is only when the shallowback grazes at the surface that you can stand on it’s back. Yes?”
“What’s on the back of shallowback whales?”
“Oh, there is many, many things: small pebbleclaw crabs, muckfins, cow nose gillfish, maybe some blunderkits. An’ there are the plants too: fickle willow, barrel plant, wig moss, an’ the thing Sprig wants most — the green king-shell crab. Is a rare thing, though. He’s not finding one so far.”
“Why does he want one so bad?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think is for making a flute? The shell, I mean.”
Petsune and Shushilah watch, bemused, as Sprig and Pickett swim from the roots of the ship, over to the shallowback. Petsune can see the two breathing trunks bobbing at the surface, but he isn’t sure which direction the body of the whale is. Suddenly, Sprig and Pickett are standing in the sea. Petsune realizes that what he thought was a shadow is really the immense back of the whale. It is well over 4 towers long and is very wide. Sprig pulls on the mask that Pickett made, and then he submerges himself in the water. Petsune watches as he occasionally surfaces and hands something to Pickett, who stores it in a canvas bag. The tip of Sprig’s breathing trunk mills about up and down the length of the shallowback as Petsune watches. Chapel appears beside him as Shushilah wanders off.
The Captain calls out over the water to Pickett who raises a hand in recognition that their time is up. Chapel and Petsune stare down over the railing, watching the tops of the tower vine sway just beneath the surface of the water. Chapel gestures down to the submerged forests as they swirl and twist. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Petsune answers.
He is entranced by the gentle shifting of the vines and weeds. Mavis breaks his reverie with a call to Chapel. “Captain, ‘fraid we’ve got some snag weed caught on the anchor. She won’t come up.”
Chapel sighs. “This is what we get for indulging our tiny captain. Get The Big Man and Bor and we’ll see if we can muscle it up.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Petsune watches Pickett and Sprig swim back to the Lady and climb aboard, Sprig still sporting the mask that Pickett made.
Mavis is heading to the foredeck to recruit Bor for the job of hauling up the anchor, when he spots sails on the horizon. It seems they appeared from nowhere and are fast approaching. Petsune is about to ask Chapel about Sprig’s mask, when he turns to find him gone. He looks around, seeing nothing, then he hears the Captain from the rigging above him. “Mavis, get that anchor up, we’ve got blue sails off the port side.”
Benafield, Bor, and Mavis each heave on the winch, but it doesn’t budge. Petsune feels a knot of nerves begin to constrict around his chest. Mavis shouts to Chapel. “Is it a two or three master?”
Chapel maintains his vigil on the rigging above Pet, shimmering eyeglass held steady. “Can’t see yet, but she’s coming straight at us.”
The entire crew is aware of the ship now, anxiously awaiting orders. Moments pass as Mavis and the others struggle against the winch. Chapel calls out from the rigging, “she’s a two master.”
Petsune approaches Shushilah. “That’s good right? It’s not a big war galleon - a King’s Fist.”
“Mmm… Is no good, no. The two masters, they are faster in the water, yes? Harder to outrun.”
The knot of anxiety tightens in Petsune’s chest. The ship has grown closer to where blue sails can be perceived by the naked eye. Chapel climbs down from the rigging and hurries over to the winch where Mavis, Bor, and Benafield struggle. He gives a good effort alongside them, but still the anchor won’t come up. Suddenly, Chapel is running down to the main deck to where Pickett and Sprig stand. He speaks quickly. “Sprig, may I borrow your mask?”
“Sure, Cap. Jus’ don’t bust it.”
Chapel takes the mask and hurries over to Petsune with another request. “Pet, is that Sanctum dagger sharp?”
“It’s Saintstone, so very. Why?”
“May I borrow it?”
“I suppose, so long as it isn’t your normal kind of borrowing.”
Chapel winks, dons the strange mask, then takes the proffered dagger.
Without another word, the Captain runs at the railing of the ship and dives over the side. There is a soft splash as he lands in the sea, and Pet is left wide-eyed. Mavis stops pushing on the anchor winch but tells Bor and the Big Man to keep at it. He gives everyone a position to take so that sails can be loosed immediately, once Chapel frees the anchor from the snag weed. The wind seems to be favoring the navy vessel as it grows steadily closer. It is close enough that Petsune can just begin to make out a few scrambling crew members on the decks. Meanwhile, Chapel disentangles himself from the tower vine he landed in and begins swimming under the boat. The breathing tube on Pickett’s mask doesn’t work when this deep, but he can see perfectly. If he wasn’t in such a pinch, he would stop to marvel at the beautiful underwater forests. He makes a mental note to borrow Pickett’s mask again when they aren’t in the sights of the navy.
The Captain swims over to the thick boat rope that leads down into the luscious green forest. He pulls himself along the rope toward the anchor but fears he won’t be able to free it. The vines and snag weed are thick, and he can’t even see the anchor yet. Once into the dense verdant forest, Chapel loses all sense of direction. His hand on the taut rope is the only thing that keeps him oriented. Once he locates the anchor, he can see that it is enveloped in a large knot of snag weed and tower vine. He swims back up to the surface for some much-needed air. When Chapel breaks the surface, Petsune calls down to him. “Did you free the anchor?”
“No, I don’t think I’ll be able to quickly. Tell Mavis we’re doing a cut an’ run.” Chapel sucks in a lung full of air and dives back down.
Petsune can see the distorted form of the Captain as he kicks his way down to the anchor. Pet runs up to the quarter deck where Mavis is, hurriedly relaying the Captain’s message. “He said we’re doing a ‘cut and run’?”
Mavis groans in frustration, “Must we lose another anchor? This is the Lady’s third, and they aren’t cheap.”
While Mavis yearns for a more frugal Captain, Bor and Benafield find the resistance to the winch has been removed. They both begin rotating it and reeling in the anchor. Petsune glances out to the port side horizon and finds the ship has grown considerably closer. Harlan appears from somewhere in the rigging and speaks to Mavis in a cool voice. “The gunports are facing directly at the ship, and it has come within range.”
Mavis seems to consider for a brief moment before answering. “No, we’ll not dig a deeper hole. Not yet.”
Chapel’s voice calls from over the side of the boat. “Stop the anchor winch, please. Before you break my arm.”
The Big Man locks the winch and looks over the railing alongside Pet. The Captain is hanging on the rope where the anchor ought to be, dripping wet and smiling broadly. He speaks again, “And here I thought keelhauling was a punishment,” Chapel laughs, “that was fun.”
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself Captain,” Mavis quips sarcastically, “meanwhile, we’ve got company that we’ll need to entertain. Any thoughts?”
“Well, First Mate Mavis, there’s nothing for it. We’ll just have to be gracious hosts, I think. Say… remember what we did at Folders Fill?”
“Oh no…” Mavis groans, “the crew still calls me Captain Mavis. Must we do this again?”
“It worked so well last time.”
“Did it really? I must be rememberin’ a different time at Folders Fill.”
“I’ll take Pet with me this time.”
“That’s hardly any consolation, Captain — no offense intended, Pet.”
Petsune blinks a few times and raises an eyebrow. “Um. Perhaps you could fill me in — I’m a bit lost.”
Chapel walks over to Petsune and lays a soaking wet arm across his shoulders. “Don’t worry, Pet, I’ll explain on the way.”
“On the way? What in the depths is —”
As Petsune is trying to figure out what is happening, Chapel jumps back off the ship, tugging him along for the ride. The two of them splash into the sea and Mavis grumbles something unkind about repeating the past. The blue sails of the navy ship draw close to the Painful Lady with clear intentions to board.
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