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ABOARD THE SLIPPERY EEL - THE OCEAN - MID-AFTERNOON
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Narrator: It's a fine day, the seagulls are calling out, the ocean is gently waving, and the deck is bustling with sailors going about their daily works. Up on deck, a few barrels are being moved about from the upper decks, down below for storage, and there's some trouble with one particular barrel, with the sailor straining to try and lift it..without much success.
Gareth strides about on the deck, having been using some of his expertise to help the merchants pack stuff away in preparations to leave the harbor. He notes the sailor struggling with the barrel and moves over to pat the poor guy on the back to get his attention. "Hey, careful ye don't strain somethin' doin' that, lad. Somethin' wrong with this barrel?"
Narrator: "Dunno, it's like it's been weighted down with somethin'" There's a few catty remarks from the other sailors, but if Gareth tests it..he can tell that it's much heavier than anything carrying some dried biscuits has any right to be...
Gareth hums as he indeed tries to test the barrel by rocking it a bit. "Hm... odd. Nothin' else but dry provisions in here though, right?" He looks around at the nearby sailors for confirmation.
Itzcali: "That's what it says on the manifest, 10 barrels of biscuits, and" he taps the side of the barrel, where 'biscuits' has been printed on the side "They were all loaded up. 5 have already gone down, and the rest are here" He gestures to the barrel in question, and the five others remaining to go down.
Gareth waves at the other barrels. "Ye can take care o' those barrels, then. I got this one." He grunts a bit as he grasps the barrel's rim and slowly tips it onto its side, then steadies it before he begins to roll it towards the door leading into the hold, "No sense in strainin'."
Narrator: As the barrel is rolled out a few times, and particularly when it starts being brought down the stairs, the barrel groans, perhaps stress in the joints of the wood?
Gareth does his best to make the rest of the trip down into the hold easier on the barrel when he hears the groan. Once he gets it into the storage area, the other sailors have already delivered the other nine barrels before him, so he just stands the barrel upright again and wrestles it into place against its companions. After he dusts his hands, he bends a bit and looks at the sides for signs of stress or damage that might be of concern.
Narrator: It seems fine to his examinations. The material is pretty sturdy, though, the oddest thing, most barrels are nailed down from the outside, but this one isn't at all! Indeed, from the outside, it's not even clear exactly how the cap is being held on at all!
Gareth blinks as he gets a closer look at the lid, noting it seems... off compared to the rest. He hums again as he stands up straight, raises a fist and brings it down on the lid with a solid *thump*.
Narrator: The barrel shivers, and lets out a little shocked Hiss! ...releasing..air? This narrator is running out of excuses.
Gareth frowns, then kicks the side of the barrel. "Whoever you are, get out o' there before I lob yer ride over the side o' the boat."
Narrator: There's a sigh, and the barrel wobbles, and falls over, the lid opening (which had been held down by straps attached to the side of barrel "Ahh, there's no need to be like that" A very familiar snake grumbles, looking up at Gareth "And why in the feathered heavens are you here?" It's no wonder it was so heavy! Itzcali is a small snake, but that's small by snake standards, he's really been coiled tightly in there!
Gareth takes a step back as the barrel wobbles and falls over, only to get even more confused as Itzcali spills out into the storage room. "Uh... wait... what do ye mean, 'why am I here'? Why are you here? I thought ye intended to hide somewhere in Xalisco?"
Itzcali brings himself up, sitting back on his coils "Welllll...It turns out that I might have annoyed them a bit more than I thought" He coughs "See, I snatched a nice bottle of gin on the way out. Fancy bottle..looked cool. Turned out that it was a very fancy gin, and something Eztli had planned to use to woo some rival boss or something" He heh'd "Sooo, I figured I needed a bit more room than just a city block to let him cool off! You know how it is, right?" He's assuming that Gareth is -some- sort of criminal.
Gareth sighs and shakes his head in disbelief, but doesn't deny he's aware of politicking between crews. "So ye decided to stow away on a ship out o' Xalisco and somehow wound up on the same ship as me." He gives Itzcali a curious look as he props a fist against his hip, "...Ye do know the penalties fer stowaways, right?"
Itzcali: "A stern talking to?"
Itzcali: "Uh...forced to..swap..the decks?"
Itzcali pauses
Itzcali: "Being tossed overboard tied with heavy chains?"
Gareth laughs, taking a moment to slap a hand on his knee. "Tossed overboard at least. Progressively worse from there, if yer curious." He raises a hand and starts to count off the ways, "Tied to the front o' the ship at the water level, tossed overboard way out at sea, dumped off on a deserted island, thrown in the brig, uh, let's see..."
Gareth is definitely nonchalant about it all, but putting emphasis on all of the horrible, horrible ways stowaways could get punished. It's hard to tell if he's dead serious or joking, though.
Itzcali: "Hmmm...." He considers all of this "Is it too late to buy myself a berth?"
Itzcali: "I can totally bribe you into silence, right? This is where this is going"
Gareth is about to list off one last way before his facade breaks and he starts laughing a bit harder while leaning against the wall of the storage area. "Ahh, don't worry, lad. This is just a merchant ship, not a pirate galleon. At worst, ye can just pay the captain. They don't care much about extra passengers as long as they get their money." He grins, "I was just pullin' yer tail."
Itzcali looks back, he's..mostly tail, and is rather confused by the turn of phrase. "Ah, well..that I can do. I didn't want to sign on officially, ports..like, tend to be a bit in with the criminally types" He relaxes knowing that he's not going to be flambéed, at least not right now, and stretches out, getting all the stiff muscles straightened out from being stuffed in a barrel "Well, if ya think I can just pay now, that's fine with me. I have most of the cash left over, actually" he sniggers, and takes the bag he had off his back, and rummages "I know what I have that'll make him happy" He takes out a wrapped package, and inside, is a delicate looking crystal bottle, filled with a delightful looking gin "It's something worth killin' for, though for Eztli, that's not a terribly high bar"
Gareth tilts his head as he gets an eye on the package. "Huh... looks like some high-class stuff, there. That'd probably more than pay yer passage to Aephix and back, maybe twice, even."
Itzcali: "I'd been planning to drink it myself, but perhaps it's better used to smooth things over" He returns it carefully to it's wrapped package "Gold is easier to spend anyway" He grins "Thanks for being a good sport about this. I'm sure there's plenty on the ship that would have been a lot crankier..." He winces, and rubs his side "Though, you could have done with bouncing less on the stairs!"
Gareth shrugs, still grinning a little. "I just figured it was a bunch o' really heavy biscuits. Wasn't expectin' a full-grown Snake coiled up tight like that." His grin shifts to a sympathetic smile, "Sorry about that, lad. But aye, don't ye worry about things; the captain shouldn't give ye any problems."
Itzcali: "Well, that's a relief..soooo. Where exactly are we going? I didn't really have a chance to pick somewhere. I just put my barrel down in a storage bay, and waited..."
Gareth laughs a bit. "Heh... well, if yer lookin' to get far away from Eztli and his cadre, yer on the right boat fer that. This ship's travelin' fer a couple o' weeks out to the west towards the continent o' Aephix."
Itzcali: "Ah..that was a bit further than I had planned" He goes silent for a bit, digesting the information "At least I'm unlikely to get picked up. Is where you're going safe?"
Gareth nods. "Aye. We're headin' inland towards Respite Falls. It's a nice enough town out near the desert in the middle o' the continent. Or ye could stay around Bairnell's Folly, the port town if that's more yer speed." He shrugs, "Both towns are pretty safe. No rovin' gangs or anythin' o' the sort. Maybe the occasional bandit out on the road, but... not much."
Itzcali: "That's good. Respite sounds nice. Port towns tend to be a bit more shady, a nice central town? Quiet, just ..I dunno. I've enough cash to keep me going a good while, just relax somewhere nice and peaceful. I could do with the break from the 'fear of my life stuff'
Gareth nods again. "Aye, Respite's pretty fitting fer it's name. Several farms, good guards, a town shield generator fer bad weather, and everyone kind of watches out fer one another. It's a good place to settle down at, if ye need a bit o' quiet." He starts to tell Itzcali about the town a bit more in detail, at least from his own perspective, as the two proceed out from the storage area and back up to the deck to give the ship's captain payment for the Snake's passage.
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RESPITE STREETS - MORNING
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Vix prowls around on the rooftops, scanning the streets for a certain lizard. She once again has a knapsack full of bread, though it's a little lighter now.
Nesseth is walking along the street nearby, trying to at least enjoy a moment of respite among all of the chaotic goings on as of late. Judging by the path he's taking, he's on his way towards a staircase leading up to the nearby wall.
Vix speeds up a bit to intercept Nesseth and hops down off the roofs, landing gingerly on the steps in front of him. "Mornin~"
Nesseth stops in his tracks as Vix drops into view in front of him, and he takes a few moments to process who he's seeing. Once he realizes it's Vix, he smiles and moves forward to give the feline a warm hug. "Morning, Vix."
Vix purrs and hugs Nesseth in return. "Thought I would just drop in~"
Nesseth hums as he leans back a bit and then gives Vix a little kiss on the nose. "Always good to see you, Vix. What's up?"
Vix giggles. "I got nervous and baked way too much bread so hey, you want some bread?"
Nesseth smiles a bit more widely and nods as he releases Vix from his hug. "Sure, a little snack sounds great." He tilts his head after a moment, though, "I'm guessing you've heard about all the stuff that's been going on, huh?"
Vix nods. "Yeah, it's pretty heavy stuff. I checked on May last night to lift her spirits a little."
Nesseth hums quietly as he starts making his way up the stairs with Vix. "Yeah, I can imagine she's not having a good time of it, since Louma's missing..."
Vix sniffs. "We cried together until she wore herself out and fell asleep.
Nesseth sighs quietly and shakes his head a bit as he leans to the side to give Vix a one-armed hug. As they reach the top of the stairs, he just turns around and takes a seat, using the steps as a chair. "I really hope we can find Louma and the others soon. The scouts are starting to stretch their search to the west, so I'm hoping we pick something up. I'm glad you were able to comfort her a bit."
Vix sits next to Nesseth and leans against him, opening the knapsack on her lap to reveal a pile of golden bread loaves. "May's pretty tough. She just needs someone to lean on now and then."
Nesseth nods as he just kind of holds Vix comfortably against his side as she leans against him. "Yeah, especially with stuff like what's going on right now." He glances over at the knapsack as it's opened up, his nose twitching slightly as he sniffs at the air, "Mmh... that smells good!"
Vix nibbles on a roll. "What really happened was I accidentally put an extra zero on the form when I was ordering baking supplies, so..."
Nesseth chuckles a bit as he reaches his free hand over and picks up a roll to nibble on as well. "Heh... so with all the extra supplies, you decided to make some fresh bread for folks to enjoy. I guess it helped calm your nerves a bit, too, huh?"
Vix chuckles. "Yeah, but I didn't think ahead and now we gotta eat it all before it goes stale!"
Nesseth hums as he takes a bite out of his roll, clearly enjoying the taste of it. "That shouldn't be too hard. This is pretty good stuff, Vix. Soft, fluffy and sweet... it's a nice snack."
Vix purrs as she receives the praise. "Mmm, thanks~. I think I eventually nailed that recipe~"
Nesseth chuckles. "It's a shame bread like this doesn't stay fresh... I'd love to have some of this in my trail rations."
Vix: Yeah, the only good bread for that purpose is like...crackers and biscuits as hard as rocks
Nesseth nods as he nibbles on the roll a bit more. "Mmh, and while we can take some time to soften them up... sometimes, a bit of comfort food goes a long way, you know?"
Vix hums. "I'm told it's the quickest way to a certain lizard's heart~"
Nesseth chuckles and smiles. "Is it, really? Well, it seems to be working~"
Vix leans over and kisses Nesseth on the cheek. "You've been all over the place lately. I'm glad I got you to sit down and rest for a bit."
Nesseth leans lightly against Vix at the kiss. "Well... with all the stuff that's been happening, I've been getting a lot of guard things dropped on me, especially because of Louma's disappearance. Between you and Plume, you two know how to get me to relax."
Vix pumps her fist encouragingly. "Keep it up~!"
Nesseth leans over and gives Vix a more direct kiss and smiles warmly as he pulls back again. Conveniently, his free hand has another roll in it again. "Besides, something tells me I'll have to keep my cool for whatever is going on this time around."
Vix hums. "Hey, I could give you the rest of this bread and maybe you could share it with the rest of your squad. A bit of extra encouragement, you know~?"
Nesseth looks at the pack full of bread and nods. "I'm sure they'll appreciate the snack, yeah." He smirks at Vix, "I'll just have to keep myself from eating all of it on the way over."
Vix sticks her tongue out. "Oh, eat as many as you want. They won't notice~"
Nesseth chuckles, nodding along. "True. Maybe I'll sneak a few for myself to eat while pulling patrol duty later today. Still gotta guard the walls even though we've got so much other stuff happening at once.
Vix stuffs a couple of rolls into her pockets. "Ah yeah, I gotta open up shop in a bit, too. Can't deprive the market of their favorite cat~"
Nesseth gives Vix another soft kiss on the lips and nods. "Can't have that, yeah. I should probably get going on my end, too. Thanks for the snacks, Vix~"
Vix stands up and dusts herself off, then leans over and gives Nesseth another kiss before bounding away across the rooftops again.
Nesseth hums into the kiss, then smiles and waves as Vix takes off back to her marketplace stall. Once she dashes out of sight, he sighs a bit and stretches as he stands up, then hefts the pack full of bread and goes to find the rest of the wall patrol folks to maybe help brighten their morning a little with a tasty snack.