Down to Business, Chapter 6
Resplendent Fire 25, R.Y. 777
The Geronimo and her crew had made this trip dozens of times, and the crystal blue waters of The Neck were known to be relatively smooth and clear. The Geronimo did well in the water, though it lost some of its noted maneuverability and speed, not to mention it’s considerable wonder. None the less, Silk enjoyed taking the airship into the familiar waters of The West and she often took the helm when they did. Moon and Ash both disliked the relatively sluggish handling through the waves. Silk however preferred the gentle, rhythmic rocking of waves over the steady pressure and sudden, violent gusts of high altitude winds. They traveled through the sky until they were within sight range of the first major islands of The West, as they usually did, and set down in the sea to complete their journey into the waters controlled by the nation of The Neck. They entered through The Cowries and made their way for the western shore of Amphiro, the largest island in the nation and home of Solid Shell, capital and only real major city in the island chain.
Solid Shell rested on the southeastern shore of the island, but the Geronimo passed those busy waters and crowded harbor, instead making for the western basalt shoreline and the famed Gate of Danaa’d. This was the typical rendezvous point, and it was again this evening.
The first sign of activity was always the flicker of torches from the direction of the shoreline, scattered across the starboard bow of The Geronimo, this time there were half a dozen. Six swift outrigged battle canoes formed a file along the starboard side of The Geronimo, each had two occupants with a sizable open space between them. At the front was the navigator, carrying a torch held high and a spear or trident in his other hand, a short bow and quiver across his back; at the the rear was the rower who also piloted and steered the canoes. There was not a woman among them, though there was one Tya.
As they lined up along the bow of the ship, Yusuf began the process of unloading the cargo from The Geronimo and loading it onto the canoes. Five large crates were lined up at the edge of the ship, a pulley and rope system allowed Yusuf to lower them down, one per canoe into the open space between the two sailors on each ship. Once they were loaded they pushed off and headed back towards shore. When the sixth canoe pulled up and there was no crate for Yusuf to load he shrugged to the two men below and looked towards the wheel. Ash handled these exchanges himself and Silk didn’t have any more to offer, he looked towards Moon who was also on deck.
“Don’t look at me, the Captain is below.” Moon responded to the befuddled looks of the Crew.
As if on call Ash burst through the door from the cabin below and strode confidently onto the deck of the ship, exclaiming loudly as he did. “WHOA! Missed our cue! Moon take the helm, Silk with me.”
Silk exchanged a confused look with Moon, who moved to take the wheel and nodded in affirmation. “Best get a move on, or he’s liable to leave you behind.”
When Silk looked back up, Ash was going over the side of the ship, one hand placed on the rail as he vaulted over the side and disappeared from view. “Shit!”
Silk hurried to the stairs and slid down the rails on the side, sliding down from the helm to the deck below, and ran quickly to the starboard rail. She leaned over the edge of the ship to look to the water below, the sixth canoe was still pulled up beside The Geronimo with navigator and rower in their places, Ash was standing at the center of the vessel looking up expectantly.
“Double-time sailor.” Ash snapped his fingers as he spoke through a smirk.
“Bon voyage, mate.” Yusuf chimed in.
Silk looked over at Yusuf with an unamused look, “Can-it.” With that she gave the much larger man a playful, one handed shove before she vaulted over the side of the ship to the canoe below. She was less graceful than the Grass Spider, but her sea legs were steady and she executed the leap onto the smaller craft without significant difficulty.
“Off we go.” Ash spoke confidently to the crew of the canoe, who wordlessly followed his command, pushing off and heading towards shore.
By the time their canoe reached the small basalt beach along the shoreline dominated by sheer, rocky cliffs the other five had already run up the beach and begun the process of unloading their cargo. Each pair worked in tandem to offload the large crate and carry it towards the steep, tall stairs that led to the namesake of this place. The massive iron Gate of Danaa’d sat at the top of the rock stair, impassable without being allowed through the gate from the other side or having the key; it was the guarded end of Shell Street, a 15 mile long, arrow straight, covered road into Solid Shell. She did not envy their impending climb. As the five pairs started their ascent Ash and Silk stepped from the canoe into the ankle deep serf of the ocean and walked onto the black beech. At the same time the iron gate above slowly opened and a single tall figure stepped through, leaving the gate ajar and started down the steps with a brisk gallop. .
Silk and Ash waited at the bottom of the stair, the two sailors who brought them there also remained at the foot of the stairs, the others ascended. Even at a steady jog down the steps it took several minutes for the figure, who Silk assumed they were waiting for, to reach the bottom. When he arrived Silk thought there was something familiar about him, though she certainly had never met him before. He was tall and muscular, but not broad, hardened from a life of battle. His skin was tanned darkly, his hair long and pitch black, hung disheveled to his shoulders. He wore an unfastened, threadbare buff jacket with a high collar folded down; a cutlass sheathed on his left hip, and hidden under the protective jacket was a firedust cannon. Him and Ash locked stares and seemed to glare, silently for a long moment before Ash was the first to crack a smile. Both broke into a light chuckle and casually embraced like old friends. Silk observed silently, though Ash and the stranger were seemingly on good terms there was something that warned her he was a dangerous man, and she was naturally distrusting of men.
“You scoundrel, what have you brought me this time?” The stranger spoke first, confident and enthusiastic.
“More of the same, still more than you deserve for what you pay me. Though I think you will like the surprise in crate four… Make sure they don’t drop that one...” Ash glanced up at the sailors, still carrying the crates up the stair as he replied.
The stranger shifted his eyes towards Silk and smirked, “I meant your friend.”
Ash gave a slight look of surprise, though infinite social grace made for a smooth recovery, “Ah, yes. Well she isn’t for you my friend. She’s here for me. Allow me to introduce you to Bearer of the Crimson Funeral Silk. Silk, meet an old friend of mine, Alric Vashir. He’s as honorable a pirate as you’ll ever meet. For whatever that’s worth.”
“Buccaneer, we call ourselves buccaneers, old friend.” Alric responded through a grin, slapping Ash firmly on the shoulder, a sign of camaraderie Silk thought…
“Call yourself whatever you like, still the same to me.” Ash bantered effortlessly.
“You keep coming back, don't ya?” Alric spoke through a chuckle.
Ash chuckled as well, “About that…”
Alric showed the first sign of genuine surprise, “Oh?”
“Not that I don’t take delight in our meetings, and you do prove more than a tad enlightening from time to time, but….” Ash paused and gestured outward idly with his hands, “...You kind of live in the middle of nowhere...”
Alric nodded and chuckled as Ash explained, “Don’t dance around it you charlatan, I’ve been broken up with before.”
Ash and Silk both laughed along and Ash responded, “You get a pretty damn good consolation prize…”
Silk interrupted her captain, “Did you just call me a consolation prize? Or imply you were giving me to ‘’this’’ guy?” There was no amusement in her tone.
Both men laughed whole-heartedly as Silk finally interjected and put an end to their buddy-buddy conversation. As she watched the two of them interact with one another, as she studied the stranger and familiar captain, she realized how much they were alike. Not really in direct appearance, but their demeanors and unmistakable, contagious air of confidence. It was easy to see how they might become friends, or foes.
“You always know just the thing to say to women.” Alric responded, turning his attention to Silk with a grin, “Does he always offload his responsibilities on you?”
“Yeah, he’s as temperamental, unreasonable, immature, and irresponsible an assassin as you’ll ever meet; and if you’ve met any of his friends you know that’s setting the bar pretty high.”
Alric broke into a hearty laugh, “I like her!”
Ash chuckled at his own expense, though he certainly didn’t enjoy the comment as much as Alric did, who hadn’t stopped laughing yet when Ash decided to continue. “Good, you two will be getting to know each other better.” Ash paused only briefly before continuing, Alric’s laugh had faded to a faint chuckle now. “She’ll be handling the rendezvous from now on. She speaks for me so don’t let me catch word that you were giving her any trouble, ya hear?”
Alric’s smirk seemed to never fade and he spoke more to Silk than Ask, “I wouldn’t dream of causing her any trouble, unless she wanted me to…”
Silk didn’t usually delight in banter like Ash, but she was sharp witted and had defended herself on more than a few occasions, “If he even dreams of it, it’ll be his last.”
Alric chuckled at her response, and Ash shot him an ‘I told you so’ look, before moving on to the business at hand. “So you’ve got your weapons, fork over the payment before I get anxious.”
Alric nodded and pulled a small leather pouch from his belt, it rattled slightly with the faint clatter of silver before he tossed it to Ash. Silk, pretty quickly assessed the expected value of such a small pouch and unless those crates were empty, she doubted it would even cover the cost of what they’d delivered. She cast a questioning gaze towards Ash, wondering if this deal was going to turn south.
“That’s all of the silver I could scrounge up this time…” Alric sounded a bit disappointed in what he’d turned over to Ash, though not concerned that Ash wouldn’t accept it.
Ash tucked the small pouch into his jacket pocket without really evaluating what it contained, the nonchalance was familiar behavior out of him. Though he typically liked to get paid when he made such transactions, so Silk was a bit surprised to find him so casual. For Ash’s part, he gave a one shouldered shrug to Alric, who was reaching into a leather messengers bag he’d had slung across his shoulder, but kept under his buff jacket. He produced four rolled, canvas scrolls from the bag, each was sealed with black wax, though Silk did not recognize the crest that had been pressed into it. The scrolls were bound together by thick red ribbon, Alric grasped them firmly as if they carried more weight than would be expected and offered them out to Ash.
“I have no idea what good this will do you, but it’s everything you asked for.” Alric glanced up the stairs after he spoke, the sailors had just about reached the top now.
Ash took the scrolls and nodded, “I’m not entirely sure either, but I know someone who thinks these are a valuable commodity.”
“Thanks.” Ash and Alric exchanged a firm handshake as their meeting came to an end, both apparently getting what they had come here for.
“I’ll see you next time, Bearer of the Crimson Funeral Silk.” Alric spoke through a smile and bowed slightly to her, and turned towards the stair, nodding to the two sailors who were still waiting on the beach.
Silk merely nodded her goodbye, and followed after Ash who was heading back towards the canoe that had brought them to the beach. Alric’s men readied the canoe as they approached. Ash handed the scrolls over to Silk before they reached the vessel, speaking quietly so only she could hear. “Keep these safe. Nazareth, Bran, and Cello will be waiting for them back at The Range.”
Silk took the scrolls carefully, somewhat surprised to hear who they were for. “What do they contain?”
Ash replied with an uninterested tone, “Something about shipping patterns around The Skullstone.”
They were too close to the canoe now for Silk to feel comfortable continuing the conversation, and she could sense that Ash was not in a talkative mood about it. Whether that was because he was actually uninterested in what they’d come out here to retrieve or was simply being secretive was difficult for her to tell. They both climbed aboard the canoe and the navigator quickly launched the vessel and hopped inside. The torch had started to burn low and was set in a holder at the front of the canoe, it provided the only light across the dark water between them and The Geronimo. Other than the faint splash of the paddle propelling them towards their ship, their short trip back to The Geronimo was a silent one.