Young Writers Society

"And THIS!" emphasized Danny, throwing his arms wide at the site of a tiny campsite. He was flanked by Aten and Leigh. "Is our camp!"

Leigh rolled his eyes. "I know what a camp looks li--"

"It's where we hide out and rest after a long day's journey!" He lowered his voice and whispered (as much as a Danny could): "It's also where we ide-hay from the ops-cay."

Aten cleared his throat and beamed in a way that Danny assumed only an Aten could. "This is great! We usually sleep out under the stars." He ran a hand down his eaglevulture's neck. Danny looked on in awe for a long moment before snapping back into reality. "Oh right! Leigh, since we're basically poor and share everything we have--even this bundle of sticks I just found on the ground--" which he tossed into the shared fire, only to be greeted with a giant pot of soup by Simone-- "we have four tents. We had three, but Pilen was smart enough to grab a fourth while we were in, as it would happen, a town full of tents." He gestured out towards the half-burning town down the hill and winked at Pilen.

The kid threw out a tent larger than the three already stationed around the campfire, and everyone ooh'd and aah'd at how purple it was. Well, at least Danny did.

"Now, to be fair and not pervy, we split into groups when we sleep; obviously boys--" he counted off himself, Aten, and Dune, "--and girls!" He counted off Simone, Pilen, and the already-sleeping (or dead) Anka, but hesitated as he turned to Leigh.

After seeing the fierce display in the cult of burning oil, everyone naturally retreated as Danny prepared to ask a question only a moron of his caliber could ask.

"So...which...tent...will you be sleeping in?"

Leigh blinked, silent, and coughed. Everyone shirked in fear. "There are two tents for three men, a bird, and myself," Leigh grinned, "and two tents for women," Leigh grinned, "and myself."

Danny counted on his fingers, but it didn't add up at all. There couldn't be two Leighs.

He looked to Simone for confirmation that there couldn't be two Leighs. She shook her head.

"So..." Danny began, subconsciously fingering his chain in preparation for defense, "where would...you like to sleep?"

Leigh leaped from Leigh's standing place on the outskirts of the camp and landed, with a slight breeze, at the doorway of the fourth tent. "I believe this beautiful solo tent will be just fine."

Danny looked on in awe. "It's so purple," he whispered.

Simone grabbed Danny and Aten and pressed their heads together in a huddle. She coughed and looked to both of her sides to ensure the others were not around. "There's gotta be a way to find out," she hesitated, "...what we need to know." She looked over her shoulder. "Maybe we stay up and listen to see if...they...snore. If they snore, they're a guy, right?"

Aten shook his head. "You wouldn't think so if you could hear my aunt Rohat. She snores like a elenoscerous."

Danny wrote down "elinoserus" in his book of animals to see before nodding. "I agree with Aten. "There was this old lady in my hometown--"

"--where are you even from?" asked Simone.

"--it's a secret. Bandit rule #1! Anyway, there was this old lady who snored so loudly that I used it as a judge of whether or not I could steal stuff from her house at night. I never got caught..." there was a pause. "...until I wore one of her eaglemouse pendants to the market."

Aten and Simone sighed in both mutual satisfaction and disdain. It was what Danny recognized as The Proper Way To React To A Story About Losing. "Maybe Dune knows. Don't animals have a sixth sense about these things?"

Dune cocked his head to the left, then to the right. Suddenly, a gust of wind broke their huddle as Leigh blew a stack of cards into the air, watching them drift down lazily.

Danny sighed and shook his head. "Maybe we'll never know." He raised his voice. "Who knows which town we're going to next?"

Anka shot up from her sleeping position and threw her axe against the soup pot, catching her share of supper in a small rice bowl. Her axe returned to her, and she nodded. "I do," she answered. "Norcaster, to the far west of Lordaeron." Her smile faded, and Leigh hummed. Danny's face drained of color. "Norcaster? As in the big city Norcaster?"

Anka scoffed. "How many morons would name a town Norcaster?"

Danny deflated. She had a point. "I just dunno, Anka! Last time you picked our town, we ended up in Titan territory..."

Leigh's tenor hum became a soprano ring. "The cards say that a secret will be revealed!"

Danny twitched. "A secret?"

Leigh nodded, pointing at different cards. "Yes! A big secret! A new friend! Sad feelings...and danger!"

Danny's ears perked up, elf-like. "Danger! Count me in!"

Aten sipped at his noodle-y soup. "It's weird," he said with his mouth full, "I arrived on a boat in Norcaster. The mayor there called me exotic and gave me a tour of the whole town." He swallowed. "Actually, in retrospect, he reminds me a lot of you, Da--"

"SO GOOD. SIMONE, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS RECIPE?"

She leered and sucked at her own soup. "It's the same damn soup I've been making for months," she mumbled. "Not that you'd ever notice."

Leigh ate at Leigh's with two shoots of bamboo cut into square sticks. Only Anka didn't find this odd. Leigh looked around at the stares and smiled. "They're called chop sticks! It's how everyone eats everything in Xiao-Li!"

All of Danny's friends crowded around their newest new friend, leaving Danny to think off in the shadows. Anka later joined him, sipping at her bowl of noodles.

"They were bound to find out eventually," she murmured. "Even so, there is no shame in your history." A small laugh. "Though there may be shame in your present."

Danny nodded, dropping his gaze into the shadowy leaves of the forest. "That's...exactly what I'm afraid of."

"One adventure at a time, child."

"One adventure at a time."

Danny unclasped his left hand, alchemical light dying down around a brooch in the shape of an eaglemouse.

The marketplace turned out to be okay with fiery infernos. The little clusters of ashes gave it an exotic atmosphere it would not have had otherwise. Maybe they could make it into a selling point before the first rainfall.

Business continued as normal -- in fact, there was a certain cheer about the place. Simone had noticed three stands selling doughy cultist-shaped deep-fried figures in the space of ten meters. The vendors all had wide smiles on their faces.

She wasn't sure when, but at some point, she found herself with one in her hands. They were just so doughy. She bit into one. Ah, the greasy taste of slaughter was so pleasing.

"Where'd Danny go off to?"

"He said he was going to get a saint," Aten replied, brightly.

"Sounds blasphemous."

The rogue returned to them some minutes later, carrying a large piece of wood, looking satisfied.

"What are you doing, child?" Anka asked. "Simone doesn't need more ingredients for her stew. I swear it was far too earthy last night."

"My stew was fine," Simone grumbled.

"It was!" Danny said. "But I was thinking we could pass this off as, like, the cultist lady's chair or something. I bet somebody would pay us a lot for something like that!"

"Oh for gods' sake, put that down. Those cultists weren't into wood anyway, nobody would believe you."

The flow of the crowd steadily pulled them towards the larger central plaza (a space without tents). A large number of people had gathered there, standing in front of a theater, as if waiting for something to happen, or most likely, someone to show up.

"Did you hear?" A woman was telling her son. "They say the Admiral is back from a journey at sea! He'll be sharing his stories!"

The word 'Admiral' buzzed through the crowd, resonating as one, a chorus of expectations and generally nothing to do seeing as your store has burned down.

"Hey Danny, any idea who this Admiral guy is?" Simone asked. "I think you've mentioned him to me once before. Danny? Hey, Danny?"

All Danny had to do was keep running, and he would never have to talk about The Admiral again; much less see him.

"It's never wise to leave a trail of bootprints while trying to escape," came a sing-song voice. Danny came to an abrupt halt as Leigh hovered down in front of him, landing as gracefully as a person could without actually being a leaf.

"I don't," huffed Danny, "want to see," his breath was catching up with him, "The Admiral."

Leigh put a finger against Leigh's lips, humming. "You probably owe him money, knowing you. Or is it a matter of l'amor secret?"

Danny cocked an eyebrow, then his entire face.

"It means secret love." Leigh winked. "You know, where I come from, there's no shame in two men falling deeply in lo--"

"--He's my brother."

"Oh," cut Leigh. It was unlike Leigh to cut. "Well, I suppose there is a bit of shame in loving your brother that way, but c'est la vi--"

"No, no, nonono!" Danny flushed a deep red. "I don't love him at all. What's the word for not-love?"

"Dislike? Distaste? Hate?"

"Hate!" Danny yelped. "I hate him." His eyes cast to the side as he thought for a moment. Behind him, he could hear the rest of his friends catching up at Anka speed. "I'm gonna send you guys into town to track him down." He turned to see Aten, whom he grabbed by the shoulders. "Aten, my new friend. My brother. This guy is a big meanie who will try to hurt your feelings and also possibly your face. Don't let him." He grabbed Simone. "He's probably going to try to kiss you and also possibly your face. Don't let him." He turned to Anka and Pilen and shrugged, then turned back to Leigh.

"Leigh, my newest and most airy friend, so far you've seemed so smart that it makes the rest of my head hurt. You're looking for a man who carries around a pair of cutlasses. One of them has this," he slid a gem crest into Leigh's hand, "crest on the hilt. Challenge him to a duel, and if the crest isn't there..." his voice became downcast. "Then it's not him. And we can go to," he swallowed hard, "Norcaster." He grabbed the leftovers of Simone's fried cultist and downed it without biting. "With that said," he said, "bye."

Alchemical light burst at his feet, creating a dust cloud. When the wind parted it, he was long gone.

Leigh raised an eyebrow. Everybody else but Anka looked between each other and said some variations of "that was weird".

Simone, apparently the least concerned out of the lot, shrugged. "Let's go back to the fair. They had a ton of cool stuff."

Aten frowned going onto his toes to look into the crowd. "Maybe we should look for him?"

Leigh took a casual glance towards the direction he'd probably gone. "He'll find us, I think."

Now it was everybody's turn to look at vem. Pilen frowned. "You sure?"

Simone waved a hand. "Yeah." She looked at vem up and down. "... Leigh's right. He'll find us."

They all went back out to the main cacophony, with Simone going straight for another food stall. Aten and Pilen followed, grabbing something while Akna muttered things about young metabolisms and being able to eat whatever they wanted.

Ve turned over the pendant in vis hand. Cutlasses. Even with the new whip, one that shot sparks on top of lightning, it was a long ranged weapon. Cutlasses were short range in comparison to that.

"Everybody, look!" Pilen called out from the top of a flagpoll.

First the group looked up, then followed her finger, to an oohing and ahhing crowd.

Ve slipped away, walking on small cushions of air once ve got in the crowd to avoid stepping on any toes. In the centre of the knot was an alchemist— with a pair of cutlasses.

Ve brought up the pendant, being careful to keep it out of sight, and watched the hilts. One of them flashed blue, and there was carving.

"He's awesome!" Aten said from beside vem.

The others joined in the general praise of the crowd, but Leigh remained quiet. Ve was too busy keeping one eye on the pendant, and one eye on the cutlasses. If only he'd move them just a little bit...

Gotcha.

Ve watched a perfectly matched crest— a particularly ornate one, at that— line up in vis field of vision. This was Danny's brother, no doubts about it.

A whip would most certainly not be the correct weapon to use against him.

Without a word to the group, ve slipped away and found a weapons booth. The staffs were all haphazardly in a bucket, but there were some beautiful staffs within it. Ve'd gotten rid of vis staff before infiltrating the cult, but ve'd kept up the skill in secret. They made good walking sticks, on top of it.

Leigh was in the process of paying for a nearly six foot hardwood staff in a polished dark cherry when Pilen skipped up and said, "Whatcha doing?!"

Leigh looked down at her, handing over the last of the gold and grabbing the staff. "Getting a new walking stick."

A few steps out of the tent, ve pulled out a knife and scratched Need into the wood, at the top end of the stick. With a small gust of wind, ve cleared out the shavings and finished the rune. Power from the inscription flowed down the staff, strengthening wood already meant to take a beating. Instead of watching, Pilen skipped off to examine something somewhere else. Leigh left her alone, not in any place to babysit everyone in the group.

Ve floated back into the crowd, and this time it was Simone who noticed the new weapon. "Gonna go hit some people with that?"

Leigh smirked. "You could say that." Ve inclined the staff to the man in the ring. "Him."

"Ladies and gentlemen and others," Pilen boomed from atop a wooden crate, "may I have your attention please."

Pilen beamed at the small crowd beginning to surround her, eyes meeting each of their faces carefully. She wasn't entirely sure what this "Admiral" was supposed to look like, but hoped something about any one of these people would jump out at her. As far as she was concerned, they all looked discouragingly normal. Still, Leigh did mention something about cutlasses, so she knew to challenge anyone with that weapon to a fight and look for... a crest? She should have listened closer to Leigh's instructions after Danny vanished, but, during that time, a cotton candy vendor had her full undivided attention. She should have stayed in the group, stuck by Anka or something. She was no help to the others when she didn't even know for sure what to do. And now, after running off chasing the smell of pastries, she had no idea where she was.

A frustrated sigh slipped past her lips before she could repress it. She found herself wishing Danny was around - and, god, was he okay - but steeled her nerves and turned to address her audience. She was alone now, and she had work to do.

"Would you lovely folk like to see a show today," she asked politely, eyes twinkling with excitement.

Her heart sped at the sound of encouraging cheers and a laugh was soon erupting from her throat. Her limbs seemed to tingle as she placed her staff carefully on the ground and stretched out the stiffness in her joints.

"Alright! You, sir, you look like a betting man. Two coin says I can climb all the way to the top of... that pole, jump off, do at least three back flips, and stick the landing."

"Hell, I'll give you five coin if you manage that, girly," the man replied, smiling at Pilen in a way that didn't make her entirely comfortable.

"Your words, not mine," she piped in reply. In one move she pulled her traveling dress over her head, revealing a pink leotard underneath. Pilen never went anywhere unprepared for a show. And, besides, if she was going to be stuck here searching for some man that may or may not even be around, she was going to make a little change doing it.

---

Pilen bowed thrice to the crowd before approaching the man she'd challenged and practically prying the five gold coins from his fist. He didn't look too happy about losing, but clapped along stiffly with the crowd out of respect. Her audience had grown bigger in the short time it took her to climb the pole, and from that view, up high in the sky, she had a great perspective of the world below her. Despite the advantage though, she saw no cutlasses or crests or anyone that looked important enough to name Admiral.

But oh well. It was time to find her friends. She was sure they'd had better luck than she did. Had to. If Danny was looking for this man then it must be important... somehow.

She bid the people farewell once more before turning to leave. However, a voice calling out stopped her before she could make a single step.

"Fifteen coin for a sparring match, young lady?"

Pilen turned slowly, smile already stretching across her face. As she examined the man up and down, the smile only grew bigger until she felt it would crack. The man simply quirked an eyebrow and folded hid arms across his chest.

"I see your staff there," he continued. "You any good with it?"

She was almost offended.

"You'll be finding out soon enough," Pilen laughed.

Already her face was growing hot and her fingers twitchy. The man reached for his weapon but Pilen gave him no time to prepare. She rushed towards him and swiped his legs from under his feet with her staff. The man scrambled like a crab on the ground, earning a loud crack of laughter from Pi, and she was just about to aim a blow to his head when an uproar of cheer caught her attention.

She stopped herself mid-swing, apologized quickly to the man, and scrambled up to a rooftop to get a good view of what the commotion was all about. When that point of view yielded no perspective, she took off in a sprint back towards the noise, hopping from roof to roof.

Whatever it was, she knew her friends were at the center of it all. For some reason, that made her heart warm.

((This occured after Leigh's POV. Pilen should be arriving at around the end of the fight going on there.))
------------

Gold x5

“Red and Blue Bicorn!” Aten poked at the back of a broad shouldered fellow. “I take it from your fancy hat that you are an Admiral?”

The man turned to face him, swords already drawn. The maybe-Admiral gave Aten an ocular pat down, unsure of the threat level as he kept a tight grip on his cutlass. “Why do you need to know?”

“My friend Danny, he said his brother was The Admiral, which is maybe you. But for some reason when he heard about it he got really upset, so he sent me and the rest of our group down into to town to look for him. Didn't really tell us what to do after, or uh, say why, though. I was actually hoping, if you are the Admiral, you could fill me in? It would really help me-” Aten looked downed, noticing a blade pressed against his chin.

“I’ve heard enough,” The Admiral used his spare hand to take off his bicorn, scrunching it for dramatic flare. “What you're asking about it personal, Naz-Ahir, and honestly none of your business. So if you insist on poking your head in," He pressed the blade into the flesh. “I can’t promise you will get it back.”

Aten groaned. “Mr. Admiral man, I just want to help my friend. Danny is really upset, and as long as I’ve known him he has been happy, strange, but always happy. Since you're his brother I know you can't hate him, not really. You’re his family and where I’m from, family means responsibility, we look out for each other, no matter what may come between us.”

“If you hadn't noticed, this ain’t Naz-Ahir. Family here doesn’t mean jack here, once you’re grown you're on your own, and both me and him passed that age a fine while ago.”

“I figured, but I didn’t mean you,” Aten pressed a hang to the blade, pushing it away from his chin and stepping toward the Admiral. “I may not have known Danny for long, but that doesn’t matter. He gave me a place to stay, helped me out, and he cares about me. As far as I’m concerned, that’s family, so I won’t hesitate to help him.”

The admiral brought his hat to his face, dabbing at his eyes in shame. “Your words have touched me, but I cannot give this information out for free.” The man pressed his Cibornto his chest, snuffling. However, if you were to best me in a duel, the laws of maritime do require me to fulfill any one request from you.”

“Aten dropped to the ground like a rag, spinning his body around on his arm, knocking the Admiral onto his feet “Fine, I’ll fight you.” Aten pulled out his bow, priming an arrow, but was interrupted by the Admiral’s laughter.

“A bow? You must jest! If you don’t take this fight seriously, I would rather not do it at all.”

“I...I don't have anything else,” Aten reached into his hunting bag, pulling out the rusted old knife he used for slicing roots. It would make due in a pinch, but would never hold up in actual combat.

“Hrmm,” The admiral looked up to the port. “Richard, lend this boy your sword.”

“My dad gave me this sword before he died,” Richard said, stroking the blade.

“Aye, so he wouldn’t know if you lend it out. Now hurry up!”

Richard ran down to the deck, handing Aten the falchion. “Papa….”

“Nice!” Aten ran a hand across the blade, wincing as it sliced a paper thin cut across his palm. A few twirls and stabs to get the right, and Aten was ready, albeit not very well trained. “Alright.” Aten moved into stance, raising the sword just below his shoulder. “For Danny!”

"I gotta admit, your price for beer is not very pricey. How much was it again?"

"Free, sir."

"Ah, yeah, see, I'd call that not a price at all. Not very pricey, nope."

"Do you want one or not?"

"Oh. Yes, I'd like one very much, thanks."

Danny was hulled up in the sketchiest bar in town, hood drawn over his wild black hair like one of the cultists from the previous chapter. He fumbled around in his tunic for his diary, which he retrieved and wrote on the Celtinshire page: Free Beer For Free. He quite liked free things, and thought that far too many things in the world were not free. The barfly returned with his free beer and left him to it. Before grasping the mug, he drummed his fingers against the prickly stubble on his chin and hummed to himself, thinking of all of his friends pitted against Andrew.

It wouldn't be a pretty fight, but they'd definitely buy him some time. When the barfly came back his way, he flagged her down. "Say, do you know if any Admiral is really in town? Or is it just another hoax to drum up his reputation?"

The barkeep giggled and leaned against the bar, shaking her head. "There isn't an admiral in town," she laughed, "there are five!"

The doors swung open. The wind blew in. Danny smelled bourbon.

"Son of a bi--"

"Heyo!" shouted the man in the door.

"Heyo!" shouted the bar.

Danny pulled his cloak tighter around his head and jerked his beer to his face, chugging it clean in less than five seconds. "Speak of the devil." The barkeep swooned.

"No," whispered Danny, "don't speak of the devil and he won't appear because nobody wants the freaking devil at Thanksgiving."

The man sat down. He sat down right beside Danny. He could feel his pulse quickening, his head spinning. The devil was sitting beside him. Years of noogies and purple nurples and sparring matches flooded the back of his neck. Danny swore he'd throw up if he didn't leave.

"Aye, boyo. Wanna watch a sparrin' match?" The man pulled a stone from his brown, sea-air-stained coat and placed it on the table. It was a tiny Lazuli Scrying Stone--something that Danny was too familiar with because, to put it blatantly, he'd made it.

"Two astronomers an' a pryo've picked fights with me boys out in the town." The man chuckled. "An' here I am wond'rin' why." He spun the stone, showing a skyward image of the fights. An astronomer keeping a man at bay while casting stars from the air to strike; a pyrologen doing acrobatics to dodge swift attacks; a second astronomer locked in a sword fight. The image blurred out of sight, and the man rubbed his briny glove against the stone soothingly. "These poor ol' things've been actin' up for months now," he said. "But I guess I can always just get new ones, ey Danno?"

Danny leaped from the bar stool as a cutlass swung down on him, splintering the wood of the bar. Danny landed on all fours, but swung his two new chains from their hooks, repaying the attack in full. The Admiral dodged with a roll as screams erupted in the bar. People fled. People watched. To each their own.

"Why are you bothering me?!" shouted Danny. "Why even show up at all?!"

The Admiral tucked the blue stone into his coat and drew a second sword with a gold-toothy grin. "I be needin' more bodies," he half-sung. "An' it's time ye take up the family business."

"Silly astronomer!" The Admiral said, reflecting Star Strike with the polished metal of his cutlasses. "It will not be so easy to defeat me!"

Leigh dropped to the ground and moved in a blur. "You sure about that?"

The Admiral spun, barely bringing up his swords in time to stop a gentle swing with the staff. He froze, waiting for the next attack, but ve remained still. The Admiral's confidence returned, spine straightening when no attack continued to come.

"You tremble in fear at my skill."

Leigh was silent.

"Very well...!"

He lunged, movements in his too tight shirt giving away the type, direction, and force of the next attack. Ve ducked to the side and avoided what was meant to be a stab to the heart. Rolling in the direction got vem out of the way for a downward cut meant to the shoulder, and raising the staff once ve was on vis knees stopped what would've been a beheading.

"Is that all?"

The Admiral took a step back.

Ve swung vis staff in a semicircle, still on vis knees. "Star strike."

He deflected the first orb. Ve lunged, nearly knocking into his hip had it not been for a lucky dodge. Second orb. A sweep to his legs; he jumped and nearly tripped over his own feet, barely bringing up his blade to stop it.

Third. Curled up around a jab at his stomach, swatting away an orb with the smallest graze of the edge.

Leigh leapt up, watching the fourth orb explode against his chest. Ve flipped in midair and landed behind him, snaking vis staff in the crook of his elbow and yanking his arm back. Before ve could even grab his wrist, the Admiral screamed out, "I'm not him! I surrender but I'm not him!"

Ve paused. "What?"

"There are five of us!" The (fake) Admiral seemed to be saying anything to stop the rapid fire onslaught. "The Admiral hires us out to keep himself safe!"

Ve loosened vis grip, but not the staff in his elbow. "Where is he."

"I don't know!" He cried out when ve yanked his arm farther back. "He was going to find somebody! I don't know where!"

Tighter. He was crying, now, voice appropriately squeaky.

"Look in the bars...!"

Leigh yanked the staff out of that worm's personal space, letting him collapse on the ground and nurse what could potentially be a dislocated shoulder.

Ve swept out of the sparring ring. They had to find Danny. Now.

"Swords are awesome!" Aten took a jab with his falchion, a volley of winds bursting forth to assault the Admiral. The Admiral slid backwards, grinning, a spark in his eye that seemed to be satisfied with this fight.

"You're pretty good for an amatuer," he said, "But I'm no amatuer-"

Aten sliced through the air, complete with Aten-made whoosh sound effects,releasing a slam of compressed air on top of the Admiral. With a swear that only a swashbuckler could understand he stumbled backwards, both hands gripping the rail for support. “Why have I never used a sword before?” Aten exclaimed, bouncing between his two feet. “Hey, Mr. Dead Dad, I know this sword belongs to your deceased father and all, but do you think I could keep it?”

“Are you even taking this seriously?” The Admiral snapped, a little vein popping on his forehead.

“Hmm?” Aten turned away from Mr. Dead Dad, who had a single tear rolling down his check, the sword swaying into the air as he spun. Another gust erupted from it, slamming into the Admiral’s jawl like an aerial uppercut, launching him over the railing and into the water.

“Oh!” Aten dashed toward the edge of the ship, the reaction more apt to a child knocking over a lamp than a possible murder. “Hey! If you’re alive could you please come up to the surface? Not a great swimmer, what with the growing up in miles of bone dry desert.” Below the water began to bubble, well bubble makes it seem weak, these were like a little geyser building on the surface of the ocean. The water hissed as it began to boil, Aten too amazed to bother turning away from it, eyes getting blasted with a whip of hot salt water as it erupted. Aten squinted through the stinging, his blurry vision meeting the gaze of the admiral, resting peacefully atop the geyser.

Aten felt a tug at his legs, cold and damp and disgusting, but with a grip like a steel vice. With a jerk he was flipped into the air, a rain of knick knacks scattering across the port as his ponch slumped over his head. Things were getting fuzzier, aside from the salt burns he was dizzy, too much blood rushing in his head, if he hadn’t been thrown out to the sea he probably would have passed out, but the adrenaline gave him just enough cognitive thought to do what he did best. Flail.

The gusts that the falchion made were double edged, it kept him from falling into the ocean to likely death by drowning, but it also kept propelling him further out to the sea, only occasionally bouncing forward from blow back. It was like an unbalanced game of Pong, but only if you played Pong with russian gamblers who played it like russian roulette. A bit away he could make out the Admiral, still sitting atop the geyser, eight watery tentacles dancing around him. Despite the distance Aten could tell the man was grinning, it was just a given. “Can’t give up,” Aten muttered for the tenth time. “Gotta help Danny!” Aten grabbed the sword with both hands, taking a strong jab into the air in front of him, figuratively, along with some slight literally, shocked as he felt his body rush forward.

In an instant Aten was hovering in front of the Admiral, barely a second to think before the pocket of air under him would give out. Same as before he thrusted with both hands, the same force as before propelling him forward with blinding speed, only this time up into the air, with the Admiral along for the ride. The sword hadn’t even pierced the Admiral, sliding harmlessly past his neck, instead Aten’s body carrying him, his face mashed into the burly sailor’s chest. That alone caused Aten to cringe, his sword hand loosening and the Dead Daddy blade tumbling back onto the ship below.

The Admiral, who had needed a moment to process what exactly had happened, responded by summoning his watery tentacles into the sky, letting them cushion their fall into something non-painful. “That was impressive,” the Admiral said. “Ain’t never seen someone pick up Bide so quickly, and I’ve known a pretty few swordsmen in my day.”

“Really?” Aten lit up, his feeling of accomplishment ignoring the two blades forming an X over his neck.

“Aye, but you want to know what all those swordsmen had in common?”

Aten’s nodded excitingly, recoiling as it caused the blades to cut the flesh of his neck.

The Admiral smirked. “All them sorry swordsmen? They ain’t never stood a chance against me!”

“Well that’s great news,” Aten wiggled his right hand free, a flash of lightning from his palm blinding the Admiral. With the swords no longer pinning him down Aten twisted, propelling himself out from under the captain with a gust of air, tumbling safely back onto the ships deck. Coming out of the tumble Aten drew his bow, electric charged arrow already notched as the Admiral regained his sight. “Cause I’ve always been more of an archer!”

It took a few minutes, and a rather noxious pair of socks, but the Admiral had come back too, only a single eyebrow having been singed off his face. Aten had popped a squat over him, throwing the socks overboard as he saw the Admiral stir, his squished face of serious times returning to his normal grin. “Now, I believe you owe me one wish, aye?”

The Admiral frowned. “Aye.”

Danny's head bashed against the lacquered wood of the bar, blood gushing from his clenched teeth. A boot came to rest on his chest, a sword at his nose. "Boyo, if ye'd just hear me out fer a minute er two--"

"Screw off," droned Danny, half his consciousness already beaten out of him--along with his sense. He felt the floor for his chain and gripped the midsection, bringing it into a whipping arc as he rolled away from his brother's choke hold. Bringing the chain down on Andrew, he aimed not for the head or anything vital, but for his weapons; and, with a large clamorous bang! bang! (rattle. rattle.) both chains and cutlasses skidded across the floor to the other side of the empty bar.

Danny ambled to his feet, disoriented. His head spun and the back of his neck felt drained of strength--a feeling like suddenly being a newborn again. As a breeze rolled in, both men stared one another down, fists raised and ready for an all-out brawl between brothers.

The thing Danny kept pushing from his mind, though, was that Andrew never lost fist fights. Andrew unlatched the holds on his mail armor and slid them across the bar to the corner where their weapons lay. Danny reciprocated the courtesy and readily removed his shirt, cuts and splashes of blood making the fabric tug at upturned skin and muscle.

Without another thought, Danny charged at his brother, ducking below his defense and slamming his fist into Andrew's solar plexus. The burly man gagged and coughed, but brought a knee into Danny's chest, swinging him out of the blow with a quick two jabs to his chest. The younger brother staggered back and held his chest, feeling for any bones snapping out of the skin. Nothing yet, so he was good to go another round. This time, Andrew charged.

Danny found himself quickly with his back against the rotting wood of the tavern's wall, fists in his face. He brought up his arms to block as much as they could before delivering a lucky knee to the locale of his first punch, bringing Andrew to his knees. The Admiral had him beat in strength and speed, but he wasn't fighting with his head. He wasn't making his movements count.

And that's when rage filled Danny from eye to eye, fist to fist. He swung a leg into Andrew's jaw and sent him rolling into the corner. The air was heavy. Danny's head was heavy. He really just wanted a nap.

No, dummy. No nap for you. You are concussed. No napping when your brother is concussing you out. Did mom say that? I wish I would've listened to her more. She used to say stuff all the time, like don't take naps while your brother is concussing you. Oh, so I guess she did say that. Okay, focus. Just get your fists into your brother's face.

That's when Danny heard the familiar sound of churning earth.

Andrew stood in the corner, bleeding and busted up in such a way that Danny was proud of his artistic work. The look on his face was anything but beat-down, though. In fact, he looked...grinny.

That's when Danny saw the sword.

That's when Danny saw his brother lunge.

Leigh stayed slightly ahead of Simone, using the position to place vis staff oh so slightly in front of her so she wouldn't dart out and interrogate everyone who looked terrified, bloodthirsty, or both.

"Will you let me hurry up?!" she growled. "He could be dead by now!"

Ve glanced down at her. "So long as you run forward and don't slow us down by asking people what's going on."

She wrinkled her nose. "Alright."

Ve switched vis staff to the other hand, and Simone almost bolted ten feet ahead towards a watering hole with a semicircle around it and a man with a single cutlass just walking out of the crowd.

Simone watched him, pausing and fingers twitching. Leigh strode a little faster, brushing around her in an attempt to get her inside that place and get her attention off that man.

The second cutlass was sticking straight out of Danny's side, Danny himself collapsed in a pool of blood, a note placed on the hilt.

Simone growled so loudly every person around her jumped back two feet. "He did it he had to have done it I'm going to...!"

"Help me take Danny to the healers," Leigh said. Ve held up the note, revealing a blue gemstone on the hilt. "There's instructions to a healer here. We don't have much time."

Simone looked back at the quickly filling in crowd, which was now between her and the Admiral, then back at Danny. Ve held onto the sword and lifted Danny enough to see he was pinned to the floor from the blade's tip. He grunted at being moved. Blood was pouring down, and he wouldn't be conscious for much longer.

Leigh lowered him back down and held a hand over the cutlass's side. Lightning sparked between vis fingers and the blade before sparking down its whole length. The metal warmed until it could handle a single large shock. Danny yelled out.

Ve pulled the blade out to a cauterized wound, and looked up to Simone in an all-rage-turned-against-vem fighting stance. "The hell did you do?!"

Leigh stuck the sword in vis belt before pulling Danny up in a fireman's carry. "Saved his life. Now let's go."

Simone looked back at the crowd, eyes narrowed. Ve took a few steps forward. "Get them out of our way."

She growled.

The crowd parted.

“Danny, no falling asleep while your brother’s concussing you!”

Danny’s head flopped to one side, and he imagined that, if he had long bunny ears, they’d flop along with it. It didn’t stay there for long, though, because Andrew brought a puffy boot into his chest and sent him rolling head-over-tail-over-head down a small hill. “Andy’s cheating!” he shouted, and pounded his way to his feet by manipulating the earth. Andrew crossed his arms and spat on the flowers under their feet.

“Nuh-uh,” teased Andy. “It’s not my fault you fell on your butt!”

“Save it for the boxing ring!” shouted their mother. Both of them scoffed and looked off away from one another as they walked back to the square dirt plot that their mom had made for them to test their element mettle--or as mom called it elemettle--against one another. So far Andy had a bunch of points and Danny had, well, some bruises. “Fighters! On my mark!”

Danny hang in there you owe me money. Danny PLEASE.

Andy picked up a little wooden sword mom had made and Danny picked up a long stick that they’d smoothed into a pretty cool staff. “SET!” Danny and Andy took their fighting positions. Andy was offensive. Danny was defensive. “FIGHT!”

Danny slammed his staff into the ground and shot a rumble of rocks through the dirt at his brother. Andy staggered back but caught his balance before charging forward with his sword in tow. A couple of rocks shot out of the ground behind him and followed him through the air. Danny bounded back and slammed his staff between his feet, garnering a shockwave of earthen energy that sent him flying backwards, away from his brother’s attack and into a brambleberry bush. Needles picked and pricked at his skin, and he felt something stabbing in his side.

Eyes wide open, light from a dozen windows shining down on me. Eyes dart back and forth madly, searching for the pain. Mist crowds the nose and it’s suddenly harder to think, much less see--

Danny crouched down in the brambleberry bush and watched the dirt as his brother’s clunky boots lumbered past. Danny grabbed a small rock from between his toes and threw it across the field, misdirecting Andy’s attention long enough for him to strike. Danny leaped from the bush and brought his staff down, slamming into his brother’s head. The big tough guy fell to the ground and began bawling, wailing for mom. Danny wasn’t one to waste a chance to rub in a victory, so he stomped his feet, making the rocks under Andy’s belly toss him back and forth as he wailed.

A wave of energy knocked Danny off his feet and back into the bush. He glanced up to see his mom laughing, hands on her hips, as Andy cried and called Danny names. Against his will, Danny began to laugh, too. It was too rich: Big Brother Andy doubled over and Mom so happy for a change. Before long, even Andy stopped crying and began laughing softly, then giggling. “You just got a lucky trick in is all!” He said it firmly, but it was lost between giggles.

The world blurs into existence and you have a front-row seat to creation. There is light, then sound, and then pain. This is the way the world begins day in and day out. Bite down and hold on tight.

“His eyes are open! Aten, get a doctor!”

Day in, day out.

The salt sprayed into Danny’s face as the wave broke against the starboard bow. His grip on the rudder didn’t relent, and he steered the boat headlong into the wave. Many shouts and groans echoed from the crew, but one in particular struck him as odd. Andrew held onto the side of the boat, staggering and seasick after drinking himself beneath the tables. He stabbed a cutlass into the deck and belched as another wave broke against the boat. “Danny, I ain’t had too many first mates, but yer definitely the strongest-stomached of em all.”

“You’re drunk, Andy.”

“Easy fer you ta say!”

“And easy for you to say, you weasel-jawed rum puppet.”

Danny wasn’t angry at Andrew. No. He kept thinking of Mom at home without them. God knew dad was no help, and what if something went wrong again? He felt his heart sting akin to his eyes in the briny air. Norcaster. They just had to get to

______

“NORCASTER!” shouted Danny, taking his first breath. His eyes were wide and blurry and something burned in his side, but his chest heaved with import. “Someone, anyone--we have to get to Nor--Aten?”

“H-hey, buddy.” Aten eased closer to the bed and placed his hand on Danny’s. Aten’s skin was freezing cold and Danny lurched away from his touch, but Aten was unfazed. “We were all worried. The doctors said you might--”

“Nor...Norcaster, Aten. He’s going to Norcaster.”

Aten nodded and put his hand back on Danny’s. “I know. Simone and Pilen are packing up camp as we speak. You’re at the Hospital, Danny. Do you know that?”

Danny leered. “Andy. Andy and I were fighting.”

Aten nodded. “And you got hurt. Like I’ve seen a lot of things get a lot of hurt, and your hurt was pretty...hurt.”

Danny shook his head before looking down at his torso. His clothes were gone, replaced by hospital wrappings from his thighs to his chest. His side was completely red. “I’m dizzy,” Danny said.

“You’re probably still under the mistweaver’s spell. She had you under pretty deep.”

“Shit,” Danny spat, holding his head. “I don’t have the money to pay for a mistweaver.”

“Well, about that--” Aten broke off and averted his gaze. “When we got here, we told the doctors we didn’t have the money.” He shrugged. “They said that someone had left a sack of gold earlier today and told ‘em they’d need it for a ‘special patient’.” He looked back at Danny. “We all think it was An--”

“Of course it was Andy.” Danny groaned and propped himself up on his shoulders. “He does this whenever we’re in town together. This is my third mistweaver visit in two years.”

“Do you ever--”

“I got a lucky shot in January, but he didn’t need a mistweaver. Only cost me ninety gold to get him fixed up.”

Aten blinked. “You mean...you two do this...all the time.”

Danny shrugged. “It’s how we communicate.”

“He impaled you.”

Danny nodded and winced as he recognized the pain in his ribs. “But I guarantee you the doctor said something like Wow, I can’t believe his attacker missed all his vital organs!”

“...more or less, yes.”

Danny nodded again and shuffled in his bed, uncomfortable.

“What is it?”

“Well,” Danny began, “I’m all wrapped up and I have to pee.”

Minutes later, Aten stood with arms crossed outside the bathroom, pinching the bridge of his nose to let off a stress headache. His shiny new sword was latched at his hip, just beneath the end of his quiver. “The note we found said to come to Norcaster. What’s so special there?”

Danny came out from the curtained bathroom, wrapping himself back up, and sighed. “It’s a number of things.”

“Firstly, it’s a city,” teased Aten.

“Secondly, it’s kind of Lordaeron’s secret pirate hub. And therefore it’s my family’s hometown.” He sat back on the bed and pulled his hair into a short ponytail starting at the top of his head. The rest fell on his shoulders. “Lots of shady business. A lot shadier than what you’ve seen, I’m sure.”

Aten leered. “I once saw a raccoon lemur con a blind man out of his walking stick.”

“All the shadier.” Danny laid back as Leigh walked in, eyes serene as ever. Behind them were Simone and Pilen and Anka. Anka threw a metal cuff from her wrist onto the bedsheet and covered Danny up, shaking her head in disdain.

“You have to stop talking to your brother like this.”

“He started it,” huffed Danny.

Aten’s eyes went wide as he turned to Anka. “You knew this would happen?”

Anka shrugged. “It’s how they communicate.”

Leigh sighed. “So we have to haul your injured tail to Norcaster.” He clicked his tongue a few times before shrugging. “And we have a deadline.”

Danny’s head cocked to the side. “A deadline? That’s new.”

“That’s what I said,” said Anka.

Simone held up the note left by Andy. Danny blinked at it several times before she remembered her mistake. “Sorry. Can’t read. Forgot.” She took the letter back and read carefully:

”Danny,

Dad’s doctors say mom’s got about two weeks before she kicks it. She’s asked us all to come visit before, you know, she kicks it. I avoided all your vital organs. Well, that’s more for your little friends since you know what I’m doing. Say hello to Doctor Misha for me. I left you a little something to tide you over until Norcaster.

Andy”

Danny perked up. “He left us money?”

“Twenty gold each,” droned Leigh. “At least, that’s how we’re dividing it up.”

“It’s kinda a lot more considering his guys lost like two swords to us. So, you know, it all adds up.”

“Where’s his sword?”

“Leigh has it and won’t let anyone touch it because s...he...is a stingy...person.”

“For Light’s sake, I made pronoun cards!”

Ve handed one to Danny. “This clears up so little, but it feels so nice to have.”

Leigh winked. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Someone impaled, a new group learning about pronouns, and traveling to go meet somebody with connections to questionable sources.

Tuesday already?

Leigh rolled vis eyes as the group generally insisted on fussing over Danny and making sure he wasn't moving any more than necessary while simultaneously moving far too much themselves. Ve left to the cabins of the ship, not bothering to tell that group of hens they were pecking too much.

"I'm fine quit it I'm okay yes I know exactly what's going on leave me alone!"

Danny could do that on his own no problem.

Ve made it to the top of the deck and inhaled. Sea air was a breed of its own; the salt crystals and moisture made it unruly but deadly if one managed to catch sea mist made up of the smallest amount of air and the most amount of salt. Gods knew there was enough of that blowing up the edge of the ship from the winds. How Aten could stand being cooped up in that ship when there were winds this wonderful to ride was beyond vem.

Before Leigh had even made it three feet away from the cabin, there was a poof, dust blowing straight past vem. This was followed closely by creaking, scurrying, and where-is-he-ing from the group.

What did they expect?

Ve continued to the rail, only to be stopped by Aten running past, practically surfing on the breeze once he was past the door. "Did you see him?"

Leigh raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Can you look out for him?" Aten asked. He kept bouncing from foot to foot, going higher each time from the wind he caught under his slippers. "He really shouldn't be moving we tried to get him to stay in bed— I mean I'm sure you heard him talk— and he's barely recov—"

"Sure."

Aten frowned at vem. "Are you just trying to get me to be quiet or."

"You're supposed to be looking for him."

He lit up. "Right! Thanks."

Ve nodded as Aten took off— and up. Of course the astronomer would check the crow's nest first.

At the rail, Leigh was met by Simone coming out of the water. "Idiot can't swim or read. At least he's not in the water."

Leigh nodded absently. "Well if he didn't go through the floor..."

Simone launched herself on the deck, shaking like a dog to get the water off. "You don't know Danny."

"Ah." Ve looked out over the water. Somehow, that wasn't a surprise at all.

Everybody stopped when a high pitched, excited voice yelled out "Found him!" from Pie. She skipped out with Danny on her heels, her hand firmly around his wrist. "He was in Leigh's room!"

Leigh turned around and Danny's eyes went straight for vis belt. "There it is why are you carrying that thing around it would've been perfectly fine in your room I mean you don't use a sword do you?"

Ve glanced down at the cutlass. "And leave it where anybody— namely a few people too prone to cutting things up or getting cut up for their own good—" ve glanced between Simone and Danny "can grab it? Hardly."

Anka looked on fondly as her ragtag gang of hood rats tried to wrangle Danny back below deck. Even she had to admit: he was too scrappy for his own good. Then again, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been impaled. She adjusted the rudder and put her lips to her tea, trying to ignore the briny sea air taste beneath the water. Once Leigh had led Danny at swordpoint beneath the deck, Anka pulled a totem from her tunic and closed her eyes, inciting a prayer to activate it.

A breeze rolled about her hair and awakened her breathing as she felt a connection through the small artifact. "Moema, I feel you in my heart." The wind shifted about her and she smiled so faintly. "Grant me safe passage through the harbor. May your spirit guide my choices." She pressed her lips to the totem and whispered, "Thank you, Mother."

In an instant she felt twenty again, invigorated and ready to take on Danny's world of pirates headlong. She checked the spyglass and picked a dock to the far south of the city. It would be best for their discrete visit. Just as she compounded the glass to replace in her tunic, a jagged wave of ice rocked the side of the ship, earning a roar of calamity from down below. Anka drew her axes and attempted to sense earth nearby--but there was none.

None, say, except for the iron in her weapons. A sudden cloud of mist parted, revealing a ship smaller than their own. Icebenders stood on the starboard side, building a bridge of ice between the two ships. Anka ran to the lower deck and caught a glimpse of the mistweaver that had hidden the ship. Others joined her on the deck, weapons drawn, while Leigh stayed down below with Danny.

A burly sailor with no shirt and dark skin stepped onto the ice bridge, flexing his muscles and making the ice build up around him. "Give us all your gold and we'll think about letting you sail away."

"We've given you no trespass!" shouted Anka. "I'll return your offer with my own: sail away and I'll let you live!"

Behind her, Pilen whispered to Simone: Granny is a badassssss.

The man remained unmoved, but rather clenched his fist, raising daggers of ice from beneath his feet. "I'd love to say I'm disappointed, but our body count's been low for a while now. Time to liven things up in hell!" He dove forward, throwing the shards of ice directly for Pilen. Anka swept to the side, shattering both shards with her weapons. The shattered pieces fell to her feet and melted into the ship.

Anka dove forward, slipping behind the icebender and slicing the blade of her axe across his throat. He fell into the water, and she moved on to the mistweaver. From behind, a pyro tried to catch her by surprise, but she relinquished the handle on her axe and let it twist into a sickle around his throat. As she tackled the mistweaver, his body fell into the ocean. Ice began building up around Anka's throat, closing her airways, but her hold on the mistweaver was relentless. The two threw punches back and forth until Anka landed a knockout blow with the hilt of her second axe. She stood, the ice around her throat melted, and she locked eyes with the captain--an alchemist just like her.

"I am Commander Rell from the eleventh legion. I am a veteran of the Blackrend war, and I warn you now that you will not leave this ship alive."

"I am Moema Anka of the Kihiti tribe! I am a survivor of the Orcish onslaught, and I warn you in return: leave now, or join your ancestors in the afterlife!"

"Your threats are hollow against me, alchemist! What earth is there for you to wield against me? What iron have you to cut me down?! Surely you grow tired, elder. A long rest will suit you well!" The captain drew his swords and clashed against Anka's defensive parry. For a long moment they struggled for control, but as Anka slipped on ice, she fell against the edge of the ship, her head hanging over the deck.

Commander Rell raised his swords and leaped for her, leaving his torso completely exposed. In one swift blink, his body was impaled by the wood of the ship, suddenly upturned and violently skewered through. All eyes other than Anka's turned to the gang's ship where Danny stood, eyes aglow, hands raised above his head.

Wordlessly, he walked across the ice bridge and raised Anka into his arms, struggling to walk back. Despite his struggle, he made it just far enough to drop to his knees on the deck as Simone and Pilen melted the ice between the two ships. Anka stood on her own as Danny rose and held out her hand, emergency dagger drawn at the wrist.

"You would have been gravely injured," cut Danny.

"The idea almost sounds familiar," shot Anka as she jabbed him in his wounded side. Anka returned to the helm of the ship as Danny doubled over, gasping for air.

Aten grabbed him and helped him up before scolding him. "You and Anka...you're two of the same damned person." As they went belowdeck, Anka could hear him change tone. "And don't think we're not gonna talk about that cool woodbending thing!"

Yes, Anka thought, Two of the Same Damned Person.

"Pilen," called Anka, "Please light up Commander Rell's funeral pyre."

Pi saluted before casting a fireball across the bay onto the ship, engulfing it instantly in consuming fire.

"So your mom's place..." Aten said, continuing to stick like glue to Danny's side.

"I just want to go alone."

Simone squeezed herself between the two, not content to walk on Danny's other side when he tended to avoid any and all interaction on his other side. "No way are we letting you go alone what if that Andy guy goes after you again."

Danny might as well have had a bulging vein on his forehead. "I TOLD YOU THAT'S HOW WE COMMUNICATE."

"We're still coming with you."

Danny stopped and turned to face Aten, fists balled up at his sides and jaw set. "I don't need you to come."

Leigh quietly put vis staff between them, knocking Danny on the chest and nearly sending him toppling over from how forward his weight was. "Need? No. I'm nearly positive you two won't kill each other considering the number of stories you've told. That's not the question here."

Simone crossed her arms. "The point is, we're coming."

Danny looked around to the stubborn faces around him, looking about ready to take on every single one until he noticed it wouldn't be an individual fight, but a one against five, and he deflated so completely he was halfway to touching his toes.

He then went straight back up as his wound pulled, letting out a choked sound somewhere between a yelp and a growl.

"That would be the other reason we're coming with you." Leigh said, staff going to his shoulder to prevent him from bending forward again.

Danny eyed vem, looking more like a man being mugged at knifepoint trying to give puppy eyes to their tormentor. "Can I at least get my brother's cutlass back?"

Ve raised an eyebrow. "Not till I can trust you with it." Ve tripped Simone trying to sneak around the other side. "And I know I can't trust you."

Simone huffed.