2nd adventure: Proxy War

"Oh, yes!" Konrad can't resist responding with the yin to her yang. "And I don't regret it one bit."

"I needed to get a message out to Kira. I wanted her to actually recognize me when she saw me, to know she was about to literally walk through fire into the white-hot death of hell - where she is and most certainly belongs - and to know she had it coming. So I made a deal with our silent partner, and I haven't paid my price yet."

"How much?" - Mihai asks deadpan, but dead serious.

[Pre-approved with K in chat]

"It was a lot."

Mihai's tone becomes much sharper. "How much?"

Konrad drops his casual attitude. "2 hours. and 10 gold pieces."

Fedler facepalms again. The fairy immediately asks, "You okay Konrad? You're not going to turn into a meanie, right?"

"Any terms? Or can he just come by whenever and take you over while you're running the ship? And, why the money?"

"Oh, Blue, I'm all right, I promise. Thank you though, I appreciate your concern."

"But we should be concerned, maybe. He explained that as part of the deal, it won't happen until we return to the Free Feathers. I thought of a...'reason' for the gold pieces, and he seemed to confirm it by laughing. However, we did not explicitly discuss what he would be doing for two hours."

"I just figured he wanted the experience, and you can do a lot with two hours," he explains matter-of-fact. "I mean, I wasn't wrong to assume, was I?"

[Approved by Rory in chat]

"Reason?"

Konrad gives Mihai a confused look, and answers, "Well I trust you are aware of the 'oldest profession'?"

Mihai slightly scoffs at the notion - "I don't know if you know, but he can impersonate you so perfectly, none of us would know if he decided to be sneaky about it. Breeze may be able to, if she really looks for it, but no one else would be the wiser. I was going to suggest her and one of us stick with you at all times till you're squared, to watch over you, but that's one place the rest of us can't follow you into. Maybe stick an ear to the door, at the most, if one could live with the trauma."

Steve is too flustered to add anything to the conversation. He's just happy they've moved on from Deromonda and Faith.

"When we're back home, I'm not leaving Konrad a minute alone!" declares Breeze with a serious face. "I'll follow him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Meanie Snicker will never be able to pretend he's our Konrad!"

She then glues herself on the red mage's neck by wrapping her arms and legs around it.

"Don't worry Wildfire, I got you!"

Fedler looks back and forth between Konrad and Breeze.

"It seems you've got yourself a new bodyguard," she announces.

"Damn right!" replies the fairy.

Konrad frowns at the idea that Snicker can fool people into believing he's actually Konrad. He grins at the callback to their antics when the gang first met. And frowns again, mentally converging from the humor tangent. "Mm, no, he cannot. And I resent that."

He just laughs when she full-body-hugs his throat.

"Hey, let me talk, Blueshot! Still, I wouldn't trust anyone aside from Zelk, Naomi, and the people in this room, to know the difference. But since Breeze can tell no matter what - how? - then, I have no choice but to let her to follow me around during every waking hour and watch me sleep, once we have returned," he winks.

"He'll only be 'me' for 2 hours, so whatever he wants, it wouldn't be practical for him to leave whatever town or city we find ourselves in when he's in control."

"Oh, I can feel your thoughts," explains Breeze, still glued to his throat. "I think I already told you guys."

"So if Snicker gets in, you would know?" asks Fedler.

"Yep! I think I would notice!" clarifies the fairy.

Konrad wrote:"Mm, no, he cannot. And I resent that."

"Resent it all you want; he assured me in no uncertain terms. And we've seen it before." - Mihai adds evenly - "But even he agreed Breeze might be able to tell, so you want to keep her close."

Konrad returns the fairy's affection with a hand around his own throat, and then picks her off. "Thank you, Breeze."

K wrote:"Resent it all you want; he assured me in no uncertain terms. And we've seen it before." - Mihai adds evenly - "But even he agreed Breeze might be able to tell, so you want to keep her close."

"Mmhmm. Anyway, I didn't have the opportunity to tell you in all the commotion, especially not in front of the others who probably never heard him. It was also...personal. But you're all painfully aware of that now, yes? No sense in holding back. I knew I had to tell you after he turned on us like that."

"We good? Wonderful. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and practice."

".........."

Fedler has crossed her arms, and watches Konrad leave the room. She doesn't say anything. As for Breeze, she's flying in the air, looking at the red mage with worry.

"I'm definitely sticking with him when we're back in the Free Feathers," states the fairy.

"Thank you Breeze," replies Fedler. "You do that."

"Might be a while." - he tells Breeze - "We don't know when or where he'll come to collect."

Konrad goes to practice his weaving abilities alone, Steve keeps writing his poem under Breeze's supervision, and Mihai is hanging out with Fedler. Around noon, Adam comes to tell them that the Barracuda has arrived.

___________

Edward, the quartermaster of the Barracuda, has arrived on the pier with a boat he has been rowing by himself. Once he sees that all the party members are there, alive and well, he cannot help but grin a little.

"After what happened during that storm, I have to admit I wasn't sure we would ever meet again," he remarks. Then he looks at Konrad and salutes him.

"Captain. The Barracuda has taken little damage during the last battle. She is ready to take you home."

Konrad shakes Edward's hand, appearing enervated in present company. "Same to you, Edward. Pray tell, how did you escape the danger?"


OOC: Naomi is here, and he's got that to look forward to for the entire voyage.

"We tried to board the other ship to offer you assistance, but the... sea creature was too fast. We couldn't get to you before it took the whole vessel with it. Once the storm passed, we came to this island to ask the people of this monastery if they had found any survivors, but they didn't. We left the little fairy here, and scouted the shoreline of the island to the south, and then came back here."

"And you're quite a sight for the sore guy, quartermaster," says Fredrick. "So, shall we get back home?"

"Back home!" exclaims Breeze, her hands in the hair. "Yeah!"

"I can't wait to put my feet up, and just relax," mutters Fedler.

"I'm thinking of taking a bath myself," adds Naomi, to the hunter's attention. "That's what I usually do after a mission like this one."

"...I'm definitely taking a bath."

"Me too!" shouts Breeze. "With bubbles! We need bubbles."

"Right.  Just one thing; we will have to stop at Zest for the night. We had cargo to unload, but your group came back before we could finish the job. If we leave now, we should arrive in Zest one hour after the sunset, and we would leave the following day, around 2 o'clock in the afternoon."

"As long as we get back home without ending up in a squid's stomach, a stop in Zest is fine," comments Zelk.

Edward turns towards the boat he came in.

"Shall we go?"

At this moment, the party can hear the footsteps of someone walking on the pier. It's Master Avalon.

"I see you're getting ready to leave," he states with a mild tone.

"Yes." - Mihai plainly offers. He looks like he wants to say more, but can't get around to it.

Oh...well, I suppose if we must. "Music to my ears, Edward. Perhaps we'll get around to investigating the port town's moving statue problem after all."

He turns around when the footsteps have stopped. Smiling, after Mihai answers for them, he chimes in, "Indeed. Our business here is concluded. Do you have business in Zest, master?"

"No," answers the middle-aged monk. "I've only come to wish you safe travels."

He slightly bows, just like Faith has done only a few hours ago.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Master Avalon," replies Zelk with the most deference she can muster. Then, her expression darkens, and she attempts to talk in a softer tone. "We are also sorry for your loss. We are partly to blame for this."

"No, you're not," retorts the master. He doesn't appear to see the need to explain.

"Nevertheless, I will suggest to my superiors that reparations be made, so this orphanage can take in even more children."

She bows, which catches Avalon off-guard. It takes a few seconds before he can respond. "Thank you," he says. "Take care of yourselves."

"Thank you for everything." - Mihai finally works up to concluding.

Steve waves goodbye. "So long Master Avalon. Thank you for your kindness."

Zeizz wrote:"Thank you for your hospitality, Master Avalon," replies Zelk with the most deference she can muster. Then, her expression darkens, and she attempts to talk in a softer tone. "We are also sorry for your loss. We are partly to blame for this."

"Partly to blame"? Konrad raises an eyebrow at this...opinion. However, he nevertheless bows slightly.

After Avalon responds if he so chooses, and turns to leave
Konrad will turn to his quartermaster and say, "I hope you have room for eight more in that boat."

Deception
Hiding that "speak for yourself" attitude from the master.