The Ten of Wands
Resplendent Air 27, R.Y. 778
Ash was sitting awake on the floor of his cabin, his back pressed against the foot of his bed and his knees pulled up towards his chest. He held his hands out in front of himself, palms up, holding a single burning candle that was the dark rooms only source of light. Black molten wax ran down the length of the candle and ran over the skin of his hands, flowing over his bruised knuckles before dripping to the floor. In his bed Siren's small figure, half covered by a thin silk sheet, had been sleeping soundly for several hours. Ash had lost track of time starring at the thin dancing flame of the candle, but he hadn't slept well since the drop.
A brisk wind crept under the crack in the door and caused the flame to flutter a moment breaking his thoughtless stare, a familiar voice was on the wind.
"Ash, it's Rustung. Tell me the rumors aren't true?"
Ash, bowed his head slightly in a moment of thought before he sent off his prompt response, "They never are brother. I will see you before the sun next sets."
The last word he whispered was taken with a stiff gust of wind that swept towards the door and extinguished his candle as it left.
Ash was standing at the bow of The Geronimo as Moon guided its approach into The Range Homes, the sky was just showing a hint of orange as the sun began to set behind them. Ash spotted the familiar, imposing figure of Rustung waiting just at the outside of the clearing at the back of the Grass Spider's cabins. Ash heard the essence drives shift as the ground approached and took it as his queue to depart., hopping in a single bound over the side rail and nimbly landing in the tall grass of the field before his ship touched down behind him. Though Ash had hardly slept or eaten, and rarely been sober since that night; he tapped into the boundless well of energy and magnetism that so defined his demeanor. Ash strode out toward the senior Grass Spider, who met him halfway in the field, and the two familiar members exchanged a firm handshake before falling in stride together towards the cabins. As per usual when the two Grass Spiders met, which was growing to be relatively frequent, Ash broke the silence.
"You look quite grim, did it snow while I was away?" Ash did not pause for an answer, "No, no. Too early in the season still. I do hope your dark mood is not related to the rumors you spoke of. Don't keep me waiting. To what do I owe the honor of such a warm greeting party brother?" Ash delivered the welcome with signature bravado.
Rustung lacked the younger Grass Spiders long windedness, and replied with his usual directness, "Word came through our network in the south that, The Geronimo and her crew went down in a sandstorm two nights ago."
Ash threw out both of his hands in disbelief, "Surely you were not led astray."
Rustung gave Ash a somber look, "Not for lack of confidence, you have been away a long while. There have been developments."
Ash responded quickly, "The mission required transport from Gem to Chiaroscuro, you knew I would not be returning for nearly a month..." He paused and changed his tone, "What do you mean by developments? Spit it out brother."
Ash changed his tone as they reached the back door to his cabin and opened the door to lead the way in, starting to grow impatient. He pointed to the table as they entered, a wordless invitation to sit at the small wooden table at one end of the kitchen while he rummaged through a cabinet for a couple of clean glasses.
"The report set off a chain reaction. First, we already knew you were off coarse from our previous failed attempts to contact you. However, senior leadership has been busy with more pressing matters." Rustung settled into a chair comfortably as he spoke.
Ash wanted to inject here for a number of reasons, but he knew better, in his experiences working with the older fire aspected Grass Spider, Rustung did not take kindly to being interrupted. Instead Ash set two moderately clean glasses down on the table and poured from a ceramic jar of whiskey which he left open and on the table, not Ash's preferred drink but he was aiming to keep the senior member happy.
"When we received the report we had reason to believe that Grass Spiders were being targeted by The White Veil Society, and we needed to immediately confirm that you had not been targeted, and that The Geronimo had not fallen into their hands." Rustung lifted the glass of whiskey slowly, flames igniting on top of the liquid as was customary and he took a long drink of the burning liquor. "As you are aware the report turned out to be false, as you and The Geronimo are fine. However, a more significant question had to be asked. Which I believe can wait until I hear your mission report."
Ash made quick work of summarizing the completed mission for Rustung, he was feeling rather impatient with what had happened while he was away and Rustung was being uncharacteristically vague. Naturally Ash only told his side of the mission and a few minor details were left out. Still, he gave a truthful account. More likely than not the senior members were already fairly aware of what had happened, afterall they were an organization of spies and informants. The jade-smiths had been discovered to be false and suspected of involvement with The White Veil Society, rather than dispatch them quickly Ash had set up the elaborate event to strike back at The White Veil Society for what Ash perceived to be a poorly conceived trap or some kind. The targets and the other guests were killed in a well disguised airship accident; winds were known to be high in the area and the wooden decking and canvas sails undeniably resembled the remnants of a crashed airship. Even excluding the spectacle of it all, which Ash certainly appreciated, it had been a rather well thought out and executed plan even by Grass Spider standards, outside of a few dead bystanders. An issue that Ash had encountered in the past, which was a significant factor in Rustung and Ash's growing relationship.
"So let's get to the point of this little meeting, dancing around it doesn't suit you." An edge had crept into Ash's voice and he took a long drink of his second glass of whiskey, setting the empty glass down on the table a bit harder than he'd intended.
Rustung nodded quietly, he either didn't notice or didn't care about the impatience in Ash's voice. He finished his own second glass and set it down next to Ash's on the table. "Refill them both."
Ash poured while Rustung continued, "I'll spare us both the lecture. The Harvestmen would have me instruct you about the merits of subtlety and our code to leave innocents unharmed, but that would presume that your actions were not calculated. And we both know better."
Rustung paused for a moment giving Ash a stern look as he slid his recently refilled glass towards him across the table. Ash set the jug back to the table and quickly broke eye contact with the senior member by hiding in the bottom of his fresh drink.
"Moving on." As Rustung paused to take a small sip of whiskey which effortlessly sprung into flames just before it reached his lips.
"While you were gone The Range Homes were attacked by a unit of Lookshy Rangers under the influence of The White Veil Society." Ash nearly dropped his liquor, but Rustung gave no room for him to interrupt. "Somehow they were able to manipulate the system so that our resources were drawn away, a majority of the Made Members were away. Oak and Ruk were not. None the less we sustained significant damage, especially to in the associate village. Naru Irugawa was captured." Rustung delivered the entire report with heavy, direct words.
Ash slammed his glass into the table, shattering glass pieces across the table and into his own hand. "What the fuck! When the hell did this happen?"
Ash stood up, turning his chair over as he did, more as a release of energy than to go anywhere and he turned away from Rustung and paced across the small kitchen. Rustung gave him a short moment to collect himself, not responding to the outburst.
"Opal went rogue and orchestrated an unsanctioned prisoner swap. She broke Orchid out of her prison, with explosives from this very cabin." Rustung gave a look over to one corner where various firedust based explosives were stacked without organization. "Naru was safely returned in the exchange. In better condition than Orchid left in, or so I am told."
After his initial outburst Ash's temper had begun to settle, Rustung's continued explanation helped as well. Ash righted the chair he had knocked over, though he continued to pace along the counter of the small kitchen. He picked a few pieces of glass from his bloodied hand and tossed them into a washbasin with a bit of stale water left in it from before he left. He pulled a small white towel from a drawer and wrapped it quickly around his hand, squeezing it in his cut hand and letting it soak up the red blood.
"Opal's been spared serious punishment." Rustung finished up his recap of events and finished off his third glass of whiskey.
Ash finally rediscovered his voice, "What are we doing about it? We can't be sitting idle anymore." Ash's affinity for revenge was well known, it was no surprise he was a proponent for more drastic action.
Rustung got to his feet, apparently done with their conversation. "For now, officially, nothing."
Ash was about to have another outburst, and he was well aware of Rustung's opinions on inaction. Instead Rustung spoke before Ash could, "Clear your head and think before you do anything brother. The White Veil Society did set a trap for you, but it was not ill conceived as it appeared. They wanted to make sure The Geronimo wasn't at The Range Homes when they attacked, and it wasn't. I'm not going to lecture you on pride and vanity, all we Grass Spiders have an ego. Well earned I might add. But anything can be a weakness in the hands of the enemy."
"The White Veil Society knows a great deal more about us, than we know about them. Until we know where they are getting such intimate information and can discover a way to get equal information about them. We have to tread carefully, or we risk becoming another puppet in their game. We lost this round brother, but this is only the beginning."
Ash had intended to depart that night for The Waterfall Pagoda where he ran his business dealings and contacts out of. So while Ash was busy meeting with Rustung, the crew had busied themselves restocking the ship for another journey and making sure it was ready for departure whenever their captain was ready for liftoff.
Ash approached The Geronimo near midnight, his hands were tucked deeply into the pockets of his jacket and a lit cigarette held between his lips. The essence engines kicked on as he approached, the crew was aware that Ash was often impatient and temperamental on these late night flights. Moon had taken a short nap during their stop so that she was prepared to navigate the vessel through the night. Ash approached the rear of the vessel where the cargo door was open, forming a ramp up into the belly of the ship. Ash approached from the front of the vessel walking along the side of the hull until he came to a stop at the bottom of the ramp, facing away from the ship towards the river on the edge of the village. He stood in silence, puffing away at his cigarette with his hands still stuffed into his jacket until he finally dropped the butt to the ground.
"Captain?" Moon spoke softly from the opening of the cargo hold, standing at the top of the ramp leaning against the wood frame, she'd been standing there watching him long enough to know the sort of mood he was in.
Ash removed his hands from his pockets to pull another cigarette from inside the breast pocket of his coat, he tucked it between his lips and snapped his fingers to light the end, inhaling deeply. He held in the smoke for a long moment before he withdrew the cigarette and let out a long puff of smoke.
"Take care of the ship." Ash took another long inhale and released it without holding it long, "And don't let Scarab talk you into sticking around, no matter how low he claims the coffers are."
"Aren't you coming?" Moon quickly dropped the formalities at the change of plans, not that sudden improvisations were a rarity aboard The Geronimo.
"Not this time." Ash turned and gave his co-captain a wink and a smile before walking back towards his cabin across the grassy field.
Two figures emerged out of the back of one a neighboring cabin before he was halfway to his own, Ash recognized the cabin as Mesa's and the figures were none other than his circle-mates Opal and The Bamboo Ronin himself. The three sworn brothers crossed paths soon enough, approximately halfway between their homes and the ship that was just lifting off at Ash's back.
"Welcome back Ash." Opal spoke first, with no indication of current events.
"Join us for some booze and a smoke? I know you got some of that goood shit down south." Mesa spoke through a big grin while blowing a smoke ring from the tobacco he was already smoking.
"Not tonight, looks like you two got a good thing going there." Ash smirked knowingly at the semi-secret couple and didn't break stride, passing by the other two members.
"Huh, that's weird. Must have someone waiting for him in there." Opal remarked with a glance back towards Ash who was just reaching his door and out of earshot. Both circlemates were well aware that the only reason Ash would turn down a night of drinking was for a night of sex.
"To turn down drinks with us, I bet he's got two waitin for em." Mesa spoke with a carefree tone, chuckling softly at his own joke.
Mesa glanced over his own shoulder as he blew another smoke ring into the sky, keeping his thoughts to himself, hidden even from Opal. Mesa had caught a rare look in Ash's eye, the smoldering, boiling rage that was concealed under a mask of bravado and confidence. One of these days, that look would be the very last thing all of them ever saw of The Lord of the Ashen Cloud. One of these days...
Directly follows the events of: The Hanged Man & Pillow Talk