by Kat Mandu
“You did say I could bring him. Oh, um, is there any trouble with me bringing more than a few animals?” he asked, ducking his head in slight embarrassment.
“So long as they keep to themselves and don’t defecate everywhere, I won’t give you any trouble. Have you seen that bat anywhere?” Richard asked, suddenly being reminded of Flutters.
“Already in the hold. She’s hiding and getting a good night’s sleep. I was just collecting some food for her, as well,” Kareem said proudly, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a jar that was filled to the top with bugs.
“I never would have thought of that,” Richard admitted, staring at the jar.
“There are a lot of things people don’t think of when dealing with animals. I may have a bit of skill, but even I do a lot of work and study before any animal can become a full time companion,” he said, reaching down to scratch the cat’s ear. “Does the rest of the crew know you are here?”
“Do they know you are?” Richard asked instead. “I have a feeling that it’s no on both counts. Are you trying to get left behind?”
“Well, you did get rid of a lot of things that caused me trouble. This place has been home for a long time so it’s a little hard to just up and leave,” Kareem admitted, looking back at the forest wistfully.
“Nae a feeling that I am too familiar with,” Richard acknowledged. Kareem gave him a confused look.
“I was expecting you to say you were or understood. Something like that,” he said, shrugging.
“I have no time to waste on lies that do no benefit me. I do nae know and will nae try to bond, shall we say, by saying that I do. I have better things to do with ma time. Like napping,” Richard said pointedly. “I have a boat on the shore if you want to head back. There’s one last order of business to take care of before it is time to go,” he said and Kareem nodded.
“If you want, I can join you. I wouldn’t mind drawing this out as long as possible,” he admitted sheepishly. Richard merely shrugged as they made their way back to the beach.
“I am in no real hurry, but the boat can get us there faster. Sit back and try nae to be too surprised when it begins rowing itself,” Richard said, stepping into the lifeboat. The jungle cat eyed him cautiously before curling up in the middle.
“This thing can row itself?” Kareem asked dubiously. Richard smirked when Kareem stepped in and nearly jumped out when it began to skim the water with no force behind it.
“Yep,” Richard said, closing his eyes. He was dog tired after a long night and even though it was fruitless, he did want to get some amount of sleep. Sometime later, he was shaken awake and immediately began walking like a man who had gotten much more sleep. He passed through an open gate and stopped halfway through.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Richard said, nodding his head in approval.
“Okay then, make sure all the supplies are accounted for. I want all the stores taken care of and make sure to bring in all the basic history – including cultures, magical creatures, plus anything on naval combat. And I mean anything!” Boss shouted and a person that Richard didn’t recognize nodded and rushed off. Then Boss noticed him watching. “Richard, we couldn’t find you. So, I took the liberty of getting some gear together and as much information as possible,” he said. Then Richard noticed that something was off about him.
“Are you smiling?” he asked, looking at Kareem to make sure he was seeing the same thing.
“Well, Conan gave me a history book – the whole thing was really interesting. I have to admit, it made me realize that I really have no knowledge of much outside of hand-to-hand combat. So, I needed some extra books,” Boss said. And from there, he went on about how one topic led to another and if some of them needing updating. “And we couldn’t find you, so we all decided to head out,” he said, briefly pausing to catch his breath. Richard rubbed at one eye; he seriously needed a full night’s sleep and he was only catching every three words that Boss spoke. “Well, we ended up drawing some attention, but I got everything worked out. We’ve got a crew of about twenty-two now,” Boss finished. Richard shook his head, trying to refocus on what was happening.
“So, you needed information, got people working and added to the crew,” he surmised, clapping Boss on the shoulder. “Good work. Appreciate the hard work, I really do,” he said, patting him on the back. “I need to talk to Conan, alright? Make sure everyone is ready to get moving before midafternoon.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, where did you go? And is this going to be a regular thing?” Boss asked, watching as Richard passed him by.
“It was personal, and no, I will nae. You hold me to this: I will nae do this often, if at all. I’ll make a habit of telling you, but this was something that I didn’t want to be questioned on,” Richard admitted. Boss briefly glanced between him and Kareem.
“If you say so. Anyway, Conan is talking with Spark and Laurella up near the house. Last I heard, they were going on about the nature of the island,” he informed.
“That’s interesting,” Richard said, honestly interested.
“I think it’s a waste of time, but Laurella and Spark already have everything they wanted taken care of. So, they decided to chat him up. What about you, anything else you need?” he asked.
“Nae really. You seem to have everything well in hand. Let me know if anything comes up,” he said, continuing towards the house.
“As in something I can’t handle?” Boss asked, eyeing him curiously.
“No, as in people I should nae partner up since they seem to hate each other. I’ve got a feeling that you could take care of everything but I prefer to be kept in the loop,” Richard informed calmly.
“Ah, well Tin is taking care of inventory – he’s a good worker. I’ll have him bring you the paperwork,” he said, smirking.
“Dandy,” Richard replied, feeling a bit of his soul escaping between his teeth. “Kareem, make sure you get your cat back on the ship. And remind me to set up a room so that way you and your allies will be near the top deck.”
“Can’t we sleep in the crow’s nest?” he asked eagerly.
“If you can get the cat up there, be ma guest,” he replied, glancing around the clearing. Almost as if it would explain why Kareem thought of putting a jungle cat up so high.
“I don’t think the cat will be an issue.” he said.
” I am sure there is someplace below deck that she could sleep if it is a promblem,” Richard said, nodding before vanishing among the working crew. He spotted the three people he was looking for on the other side of the area. They were midway through the conversation when he stepped near.
“So, that’s wat I fink. It’s some kind of place where imagination and will power become a physical substance. And it bends reality to da will of the people,” Conan was explaining, hands shifting as if were playing with some kinds of puzzle.
“I think it’s an illusion and the whole thing is in our mind,” Spark insisted, floating in the air carelessly. “Magic can do that, not to mention causing mental breakdowns,” she said, raising one finger in an I-have-a-point motion.
“I know for a fact that you wouldn’t be able to read if this was a magical illusion. And as for mental breakdowns, well, that’s a bit dodgy. If anything, I think we are all dead and that this is our collective idea of an acceptable conclusion. We get some revenge and sail off into the sunset,” Laurella said.
“Eh, as far as heaven goes, I could think of a couple of improvements. And as for hell, doesn’t seem too much different from the rest of the world. So, no surprises there,” Richard said, garnering the groups attention. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to talk to Conan about his equipment and I thought it would be best to do it while I was still thinking about it.”
“Ah, yes,” Conan said. “If you’d like, I ‘ave a kettle on,” he said, offering them some tea.
“Only if it has lots of sugar!” Spark said, perking right up at the offer. Conan opened the door and Spark flew right past
them, leaving Conan to shake his head in amusement while Laurella and Richard walked in. He passed out cups, chuckling when Spark enlarged then shrunk right back down, holding a now mini cup of tea. Richard sipped at his, watching while Conan got comfortable in an armchair. With a motion of his cup from Conan, Richard began to talk about the weapons.
“Other than the gun having an issue with one misfire, I haven’t had any issues with it, outside of the wet gunpowder issues but that’s common for all fire arms,” he said, starting to pace the small house. He always seemed to keep an eye on the front window.
“Hmm, good to know. I am thinking of working the ammunition into something that would be easier to load, since it seems a bit impossible to get off more than one shot each,” Conan admitted, tapping at his chin thoughtfully and smoothing down the hairs on his black and bushy mustache.
“Too bad you can’t make the ignition and bullet solid. Something you could load and unload faster,” Laurella casually commented.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Conan admitted, wagging his finger. “I also ‘ave a little something extra as well – would love for you to see what the range is,” he said, pausing and getting out of his chair. After a bit of rummaging through the house, he returned with a longer version of Tooth and Claw. “I want to see if this works better,” he said, tossing the long weapon at Richard. Richard fumbled with his tea, managing to spill most of it, but he caught the weapon. There was a leather strap meant to keep the weapon around someone’s shoulder and attached to that were a small bag and a horn.
“I’ll let you know when I look into it. What do you think?” he mused, aiming the last bit more at himself and noticing the horn. “Long Horn. I guess that will work, but I don’t know. I’ve got enough on me, I think I might pass this one off to someone else. If you don’t mind.”
“So long as you give me a field report. All the same, I am surprised you were able to work out the pistol so quickly,” Conan commented while Richard shouldered the rifle. He placed the butt near his shoulder and looked down the barrel.
“It’s a hand cannon. The principle is the same, even if the practice is different,” Richard said.
“Do be careful. That one ‘as a bit of a kick to it,” he warned, watching cautiously as Richard put the rifle down and nodded.
“Good to know.” Richard said, as he looked it over, in his hands.
” Just get out of here, you pirate,” he said, waving him off. Richard smirked, nodding towards the door. The women understood and headed outside while Richard gave Conan a firm handshake.
“Thank you. Expect to see me again sometime,” Richard said. With a solid nod, he made his way outside and towards the ship, the rest of his crew in tow.
“Now then!” Richard announced, straightening out and clasping his hands behind his back. They were back on the ship and the crew was gathered together on the main deck. “We will be making a beeline for Britannia. It’s got the biggest port on the planet, so if anyone wants to cut ties, that would be your best place to go,” he said, noticing a spike in murmuring. “Now then, with this in mind, if anyone has any warrants, now would be a good time to head for the other ship. Otherwise, you’re going to be in trouble if you have one of those faces. For those of you who are nae – or do nae – want to be a pirate, we will be sailing under a ‘trading gear’ flag and will nae be attacking or privateering on our maiden voyage. If there are any questions, feel free to talk to me or Mister Boss here. Dismissed, we will be departing shortly,” he finished, turning away from the gather crowd.
“Want me to do a head count after we set sail?” Madison asked and Richard nodded.
“Aye, and thanks for being so patient. I’ve got a feeling you’ve been wanting to get going. Now,” Richard said, pushing open the double doors to the Captain’s Quarters. He smirked, shutting the doors behind him and relaxing into his chair. His feet were kicked up on the desk and he decided that it was finally time to relax.
Interlude 01 How much is your Gender worth?
Richard let out a long yawn, the golden Eagle was moving, like a dream to the point Richard had fallen asleep while handling the papers, filing out the individual members of his crew. He blinked his mind still a little groggy. He checked his papers, he was currently looking over Laurella’s page detailing her qualifications. He sat back in his chair and moved to wipe his chin when he frowned realizing he didn’t have his facial hair. He frowned, “Okay guys,” he said figuring he was being pranked or something. His and chest felt very heavy or something. “How much did I drink, this night?” he questioned as he realized it was still dark out.
“Riiiich!” came a shout as Richard jumped at the voice rushing for the door. He frowned as he opened the first set of doors between him and the open deck.
“That voice sounded off yet familiar,” he thought before he was hit full contact with someone, Richard fell back as a tug it his chest, the gravity felt off as he glanced forward to see a male fairy. “I must still be drunk,” Richard wondered aloud.
“Richard where are you, why the hell I am a guy?” The male fairy shouted floating back up and panicking. Richard tilted his head the hair was very short, a bit more muscle but still a string bean but the fairy was wearing Spark’s short dress.
“Spark?” he asked needing confirmation.
“Richard!” The fairy said in realization Richard glanced down to see two round orbs were nothing but muscle.
“By the void!” he shouted getting up as he realized his voice had gone up a few octaves. It didn’t take long for the panic to spread as Richard felt the ship erupt. Richard winced as the mass crew managed to storm, up the deck.
“Richard, what the hell is going on?” Madison shouted as a bodybuilder approached Richard from behind. “This is weird,” she admitted as Spark stood up, “Very weird.”
“Which one of you idiots decided to mess with magic?” Spark accused frowning,
“This is weird,” Goliam said as Richard turned only to freeze,
“You might want to put a shirt on or something,” Richard offered as despite the crew looking female it seems one can’t rewire the male mind so easy.
“I don’t think there is a shirt big enough,” Arken said from the crowd, also sorry but I am borrowing someone’s pants as my normal choose in shorts is very, uncomfortable,” Arken announced,
“I’ll get a towel Spark offered, as she grabbed onto Goliam’s arm to escort him to the side.
“Now then this is going to be a weird concept but something like this does not happen randomly. We need to search the ship from top to bottom, everyone needs to check their personal effects in case someone brought on some kind of magical artifact. Spark believes this is magic so everyone starts looking.” Richard announced and after a second, the group vanished, He watched Eagle Eye up onto the main mass, the native colonial doing his best to adjust.
“Morsina, keep an eye on him just in case he falls, but don’t look like it.” He glanced over at the Moth male.
“Sure, flying might be a bit easier now,” Morsina admitted as her wings gave a testing wave.
“Thank you,” Boss said with a nod as he headed down to the lowest open deck before heading down into the ship itself. The crew moved sluggishly a few people were talking while others were frantically tossing things around hunting for the source. Richard ducked under a pillow He frowned as he heard some kind of scratching noise as he glanced up at the rafters.
“Hey Kareem, outside of Cliff did you bring anything else on board?” he asked, as Kareem walked over Richard Glanced away.
“No I don’t think so but that fruit bat had been fallowing me around for a while so she may be hanging around,” Kareem said,
“Yeah fair enough I thought I heard something so hopefully it’s the bat,” Richard admitted,
“I NEED MY DICK BACK!” came out a cry as one of the crew members rushed passed the pair.
“Well I guess some people are handling this better than others,” Kareem said, Richard no
dded in agreement.
“Speaking of which we should back to looking before this starts putting ideas in people’s head,” Richard admitted with a sigh. Richard moved around as he headed lower into the deck, passing by cannons, cannon balls, powder and all kinds of gear. Heading to the lowest part of the ship, He slid the cover off to so the side. The Golden Eagle had these covers to keep people from dropping down every level of the ship but still left it open to lower and unload large objects. Richard grabbed the lantern taking a match out of his coat, he burned the wick as he let the light go out. He heard some whimpering as he glanced up to see Jill looking down the steep steps Richard took down.
Shaking his head he glanced around the crates and gear, moving around some of the barrels glancing at a few of them. “If I have to open each of these up one at a time I swear,” Richard frowned, he moved to squeeze between to crates “Ack,” Richard paused as his eyes went wide, “You got to be kidding me,” he complained trying to adjust himself.
“Richard you down here?” Boss called out as he moved down the stairs, “That you Richard?” Boss turned the crate to see Richard stuck.
“I hate this so much,” Richard admitted, as Boss started to laugh. Richard frowned as he tried to move out.
“Ah, ah, ah,” he winced as he slid out. “That was painful,” Richard admitted rubbing his chest, “Where is your shield at?” Richard asked noticing that Boss was lacking his upper body armor.
“Well,” Boss said running his hand through his much longer hair.
“Well?” Richard encouraged
“I don’t want to talk about, this is weird I kind of want to fix this problem, and never, ever think about it again,” Boss admitted, “Being in this body has thrown my fighting style out of whack. Not mention running has got a lot, harder,” he admitted,
“Why is that?” Richard asked; Boss gave him a look that questioned Richard’s intelligence as he clapped both hands onto his newly acquired bosom.