Runnin'

The following is a parody. I got kinda bored. If you are not fond of parodies then feel free to skip it, it is not plot important.

Alannis is the biggest continent in the world of the twin’s.  The other islands of substantial size are either Alannis satellites or belong to the smaller nations.  Then there are the countless smaller islands, most of which are too small to even map, and remain largely unexplored.  These belong to the elves, the wilds, nomad groups, smugglers, pirates, and occasionally the odd marooned individual.

The signal fire from one of these islands had been burning for three days by the time it was spotted.  The island was small, curved into a c-shape, and covered with tropical trees and low brush.  The man lying on the sandy beach was small, scruffy, and completely out of rum.  He’d discovered this early the previous morning while recovering from the hangover that was the product of him drinking all of said rum shortly after being marooned.  Since then he’d been sulking and waiting for a ship to see his signal fire.  And as he lay there, hat over his eyes, half-dozing, Langley’s Ark did.

“I suppose we should go rescue him,” Langley said to her twin.

“I suppose so,” he replied.

The twins brought the Ark in close, over the reefs and into the interior of the C.  Old-fashioned ships would have had to put out a skiff to make the crossing but as the Ark did not actually touch water it could go right up to the beach.  A rope ladder was tossed down over the edge and after a moment the man climbed aboard.  The twins were there to meet him, hands on rapiers, with Ajiin quietly off in some nook of the deck with his rifle and sniper scope on.  Marooned individuals were sometimes abandoned for a reason.

“Aye, well met, mates,” he said and Langley recoiled from the smell of rum on his breath, “Was getting awfully boring lying on the sand all day.”

He was deeply tanned and in desperate need of a bath.  His glassy and red-rimmed eyes were set in dark circles and his face was gaunt.  He wore a battered leather hat not dissimilar from Langley’s with a few feathers stuck in the brim.  A large assortment of pendants hung around his neck and even more were tied into his matted hair, which trailed over his shoulders.  Langley and him were eye to eye, which was a rare occurrence as Langley’s height was not remarkable in the least.

“Name, if you will,” Langley said.

“Smith.  My friends call me Smithy,” he said, “Right fine boat you have here.”

He eyed the deck carefully.  The crew had gathered around and was watching the newcomer carefully.  Crystal’s head could be seen poking up above the shoulders of the men as she stood on tiptoes to see until someone moved aside and let her into the front.

“How did you wind up on that island?”

“By the most unfortunate circumstances imaginable.”

It was obvious he wasn’t going to volunteer any more information.  

“Right,” Langley said, “we’re heading for Makree.  I’ll give you a cabin and let you off there.”

His eyes lit up hopefully.  “No bartering?” he asked.  “A free ride, just like that?”

“I wouldn’t do that to a marooned man.  But since you seem to know sailing the crew would probably appreciate an extra hand.”

He nodded enthusiastically and the feathers in his hat bobbed up and down as he did.  Langley twitched and tried to not be distracted by them.

“Right kind you are, sweets-“

“Do not call me that.”

“-givin’ a marooned man a lift like this.  I appreciate it, truly do.  What’s this ship I’m on now?”

“Langley’s Ark.  I’m the captain, Langley Stormrider, and this is my brother Sabreur.”

He seized each of their hands and shook wildly in turn.  Langley stepped back after he released her and discreetly wiped her hand on her jacket.

“Stormriders!  I had a Stormrider under my command once,” Smith said, “Right decent lad.  Gieff was his name, I believe.  Always exciting, Stormrider ships are.”

Langley just put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.  From a hidden nook Ajiin appeared, putting his rifle up over his shoulder and walking over.

“Smith, our first mate Ajiin.  He’ll get you settled.”

Still rambling about Stormriders and random thanks for the rescue the newcomer was led off towards below decks.  Langley took a deep breath as soon as he was out of sight and glanced around at the crew.

“Watch him carefully,” was all she said and they nodded and dispersed.

Crystal remained, her brow furrowed in concentration.  By now, the twins knew her well enough to guess what she was confused about.

“Sometimes bad people leave someone on an island to die of thirst and hunger,” Langley explained, “Smith was one of those left.  Does it make sense now?”

Her eyes cleared and she smiled.  

“It does.  Poor Smith!”

“It is a horrible thing.  In fact, I think you should go make him a card to cheer him up.”

The idea took immediate effect.  Crystal’s eyes went wide, her mouth formed a little ‘o’, and she turned and ran without another word.  Behind her, Langley heard Sabreur chuckling as the necromancer bolted for her room and doubtless the paint and paper.  

“Right,” Langley said, “That takes care of that.”

“Your room?”

“Yes.”

While it was a good and right thing to rescue a marooned man there was the question of how he ended up with such a bad crew.  Being mostly law-abiding people the twins did not want to harbor someone who actually belonged in prison.  Besides, he might have a bounty on his head.

“What do you think?” Langley asked once they were in the privacy of her cabin.  Sabreur sat down and she went to her cupboard to bring out some tea and tonic.

“Trying to withhold judgment just yet.  Although, my first opinion is that he’s a daft ol’ idiot that fell in with the wrong crew while drunk and upset the wrong people.”

“That was mine as well.  But I agree that we shouldn’t make up our minds just yet.  You know Gieff?”

“No.  But if he’s a Stormrider he’s worth asking.”

“We’re awfully far from any relay amplifiers.”

Sabreur nodded thoughtfully.  After a moment he reached for some loose paper and pulled out a pen.  

“We have to find Gieff first,” he said, “A name isn’t going to be enough.  Let’s see… if I remember our location correctly – Langley, get a map.”

They two spent a few minutes measuring and making all sorts of strange mathematical formulas appear on the paper.  When they were done Langley pulled a piece of string out of her pocket.

“You boost?” she asked of her twin.

“Will do.”

One of the perks of being a Stormrider is that everyone knew someone and that someone usually knew someone else that knew who you were looking for.  Although relay amplifiers – constructs designed to provide assistance for ‘mancers creating long-distance relays – were out of the twin’s range currently they could, between the two of them, reach at least one relative of theirs.  And from there they could get almost anywhere.  The Stormriders had their own system of relay amplifiers.  It was called ‘other Stormriders.’  The network was only used for important happenings, as it was tiring on those involved.  Thankfully, a suspicious passenger on a Stormrider ship was considered important.

It took twenty minutes to track Gieff down.  By the time they found him there were five Stormriders between him and Langley.  It didn’t bother her that the conversation was no longer private but would become well-known family business that would reach even their mother within a day.  She’d grown up with that sort of thing and Stormriders kept their secrets among themselves.

“Langley?” a voice said out of thin air, “Haven’t had the pleasure, I’m afraid.”

“Same here, I’m afraid,” she replied, “Timoto and Neria’s daughter.  From Pinnacle.  That help?”

A long pause.  

“Wait.  Pinnacle?  The city with that one crazy old woman?”

“Yes.  That would be my grandmother.”

The Stormrider on the other end of the relay exploded with laughter.

“Oh!  Oh!  I pity you, cousin, I truly do.  Alright, but what can I help you with?”

“We’ve got a marooned sailor onboard and wanted some information before we decided what to do with him.  He says you sailed under him for a time.”

“Hrm, I sailed under a couple captains before getting my own skimmer.  Name?”

“Smith, although I doubt that’s his real name.  He’s short, wears a beat up hat, wiry, and has really messy hair.  Smells like rum.”

Another long pause.

“Mustache and beard?  Really dodgy looking?  Eccentric?”

“Yes, yes, and so far I’ll say yes.”

“Hah!  That’d be Captain Jeff Starling then.  Yes, I sailed under him.  Crazy time that was.”

Langley glanced over at her twin but he wasn’t paying attention, concentrating instead on keeping the relay intact.

“Jeff Starling?” she said to Gieff, “Not Jeff Starling the pirate, the one I’ve heard all those stories about?”

“The very one.  Do me a favor Langley and don’t hand him over to authorities.  He’s a good man.”

She frowned.  The bounty on his head was a rather nice one too.  Of course, this was a Stormrider asking.

“I won’t.  But only because you asked.”

“Heh.  One last thing before the relay breaks – he’s a half-elf.  Not a high elf half-elf either, his mother was full-blooded elf from the southern isles.  Just thought you should be warned.  Good luck with that, cousin.”

And the relay broke.  Langley swallowed hard and Sabreur drank some tonic and blinked at the wall, dazed from holding up the relay.

“Captain Jeff Starling,” she said, “And he’s a half-elf.”

“Oh bog.”

The twins knew, without a doubt, that this could be anything but good.

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