Fable - Ask Matters of Experience

[Naser Talzin]

He pointed towards the Mark of Winds.

It was nine stars in total, three each in a wavy line with their pairs presented in an almost 'stack'. In Alliria and Elbion the stars were not even considered a true constellation, but where Naser was from it was one of the more important.

"Not all stars do the same thing." He mused. "Some guide you through the night, others are simply pretty to look at..."

Naser trailed off. "The Mark of Winds is different."

For a few seconds the Giant of a man seemed to reach out. His hand curled inward into half a fist, and then suddenly the air seemed to change.

The stars above, the mark of winds glowing a bit brighter, sparking life that had not been there before. Once they had been pinpricks, now they were lanters.

"They are a signal." He said, the lights in the sky burning a bit brighter. "To those who can see."

 

[Surraya Evermor]

"A signal for what?" She asked curiously, watching the tall man reach out towards the sky.

Seeing the stars light up at his behest was a fascinating experience, Suri had never seen anything like it before in all her travels. A bright smile settled over her features, one of her hands delicately brushed her fingers against her lips in awe.

 

[Naser Talzin]

"To what, or rather whom." A guide of a different sort.

The Mark of Winds was not in it of itself magic, but the trick had been discovered centuries ago by the wayfarers of his people. It was magic of course, though not tied to any one person. A ritual, most sorcerers would call it.

"Those who know the Mark." He told her. "Can see it."

The pulse. "Noah does."

At least if he had a view of the sky.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

"A means of communication then?" She murmured, watching the pulsing starlight overhead in wonder.

She hoped however it worked, that Noah could see it. Had he been watching the stars every night for the past three years in the hope that someone, Naser, would reach out to him?

 

[Naser Talzin]

He shrugged. "A guide at the least."

Naser frowned for a moment up at the stars, wondering if he should have set out years ago. It might have helped, but then again it might not have. He could have spent years wandering aimlessly, asking questions, wasting time.

He'd not even known Noah was missing until Suri walked through that door.

Not really. There had been rumors of course, stories being told, but facts? There had been very few of those along the way. More the fool him for not asking questions.

Perhaps retirement had been a mistake.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

She glanced at Naser out of the corner of her eye, her mouth quirking to the side in a subtle smile. "We'll get him back. This is the best chance I've had since we got separated. Wish he'd told me about the Mark... Maybe I could have done more if I knew how to use it."

With a quiet sigh, she straightened herself once more to look up at the glowing constillation of stars, chewing her bottom lip. Noah always liked to keep his cards close to his chest, but she thought they were an excellent team. What else had Noah kept from her?

"There's still so much to learn... Heh."

 

[Naser Talzin]

Naser shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps he thought it was not his secret to tell."

Noah had always tried to be respectful.

"When he struck out on his own..." For a few seconds the old Pirate Lord trailed off, a breath filling his lungs as he thought of those old memories. "He told Marius first, needed to work up the 'courage' to ask me."

A dry chuckle escaped his throat. "Fool thought I would be angry.'

People rarely left the crew of The Maw. Not because of some pact or threat that loomed over them, but because of the comfort of it. Many people here were like family, and the gold was better than most places.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

She chuckled at the thought, shaking her head. "He respects you more than anyone else in his life, I'm not surprised it took him a bit to work up the courage."

Suri turned around to lean back against the railing, her arms loosely crossed over her chest. "Noah's a free spirit though. I'm sure you weren't surprised when you heard about him wanting to captain his own ship."

 

[Naser Talzin]

"No." There had been no surprise there, none at all. Marius had of course told him as soon as Noah let the word slip, not as a betrayal, but because the two of them had shared a grand old laugh over the whole thing.

Noah had practically burst with nerves.

It had all worked out in the end of course. The lad had gone out on his own and been given The Ruby as a blessing. "Do you know where he got that ship from?"

He assumed she did.

"The Ruby." Naser clarified. "It has quite the history."

 

[Surraya Evermor]

She arched a brow at the question and her head canted ever so slightly to the left. "I know that he got it from you. When I first joined his crew, he was always telling me that it was one of the fastest ships that'd been in your fleet."

"The name comes from her first voyage doesn't it? Transporting stolen rubies from an Anirian galleon that'd hit a reef?"

A warm smile spread over her lips. Noah was always so exuberant when it came to the Ruby. The first time she'd set foot on the ship he'd been practically giddy as he showed her about the deck. The Ruby was his pride and joy in life.

 

[Naser Talzin]

He nodded his head. "The First time he took her out on his own, though it was part of the Fleet before that."

Naser turned back towards the railing, looking out towards the sea for a moment and watching the dark waves below. His eyes closed for a second, a breath filling his lungs.

He had missed this. The subtle sway of the sea, the fresh wind of the ocean. Teth wasn't quite the same as being out on the open waters. There was always a sense of land, of city. Out here? Out here they were truly alone.

"It was my ship." Naser said softly. "Before The Maw."

He mused. "Built in the Bayou, meant to move around the Allirian Navy."

 

[Surraya Evermor]

She leaned further back onto the railing, propping her elbows up on the wood to get more comfortable, one leg lazily crossing over the other. Naser was a natural orator, she realized. There was something about the way he spoke, the depth of his voice, that carried the weight of every word he uttered. He was a man of deliberate action, a rare breed of man who wasn't afraid of his own emotions. Such ease of confidence could only be garnered through years of experience.

"He cherishes that ship as though she was a daughter. Never seen a sailor so invested in his vessel." She mused, a small frown touching her features.

He'd lost that precious ship to her brother's insanity, because of her. The knowledge still stung, even after years to come to terms with it. A part of her wondered how she could ever face her captain again after everything that happened.

 

[Naser Talzin]

Naser nodded his head.

He could well understand that attachment, holding onto a ship for dear life. The Maw had been his for a decade, at the end of his years as a true pirate. Yet there was still a bond there. This was his final vessel, the ship he had taken his greatest prize with.

The ship that had burned a city.

Losing it would have hurt. Not as much as losing one of his sons, one of his daughters, but there would have been a feeling of loss. He took a breath, then smiled. "It's just a ship in the end."

Naser said.

"There's always more ships." Always would be.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

"I think him hearing you say that will help at the end of the day." Suri said gently.

Noah likely felt responsible for everything that happened. It pained her to think of him blaming himself instead of her brother, the real person at fault.

He probably wouldn't let it go until his mentor absolved him.

 

[Naser Talzin]

Naser nodded. "He'll hear it."

Once they saved him.

The Pirate Lord knew that there was no guarantee, knew that Noah might be dead, but positivity helped in these sort of moments. Something that he had always thought. Lips thinned for a moment, and then he motioned towards Suri.

"Get some rest, lass." He told her. "It's going to be a long voyage."

Two weeks until they got to where they were going, two weeks until they made it there.

It wasn't fast enough.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

Suri offered Naser one last smile as she gently pat his shoulder, before she strode away from him to make her way back down to her bunk.

It was going to be a long two weeks, but at least now it felt as though she was finally making some headway. For so long she'd been stranded without any means of trying to track Noah and her brother down. She didn't have the money to charter a ship.

Her bunk was tucked in a back corner of one of the dormitories. On the other side of the room, there was a group of men playing cards and drinking, unwinding after a day of setting sail at last. Spirits seemed high and bright, laughter filling the quarters and echoing off the wooden bulkheads. It was unlikely anyone would be getting any beneficial rest any time soon, but Suri didn't mind in the least.

 

[Naser Talzin]

"Dear fuck are you bad are this." A boisterous laugh echoed through the tight space of the crew quarters, an odd joy clinging to it that seemed deeper and more genuine than any of the others.

Among the cadre of crew members there was a young man no older than Suri, golden orange hair adorning his head. His lips were parted in a beaming smile, though an ugly scar practically bisected it. The other men seemed to watch him carefully, almost following his mirth.

From his hand he pulled another card. "It's about the man."

The boy said.

"Not the card." He smirked at the others, dropping his cards down onto the table with another laugh. "Anyone who needs to cheat at cards is either a moron or incompetent."

The smirk never faded off his face as he half turned towards Suri, simply looking at who was passing by.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

Suri smirked back at the man and shook her head as she walked past him, amused by his proclamation. She paused as she looked over the man's shoulder, reading his cards with passing interest. Her head tilted to the side and then she reached over his shoulder to pluck the next card from his fingers, playing it for him.

"You know... I think most people would say that being a moron or incompetent are one and the same." She jested with a playful wink.

"Say what you will about card cheats, but you have to know the rules of the game to break them." Suri added, stepping away from the table with a lighthearted chuckle.

 

[Naser Talzin]

"Aye you know the rules." The lad agreed, he said as he raked in the gold coins in the middle of the table.

Around the table the others seemed to be shaking their heads. Some were rueful, some where more amused than anything. They all seemed to peer at the man with a manner of respect, watching him out of the corner of their eyes as though weary, yet at the same time respectful.

He only seemed amused.

"But." He added. "Don't mean shit if you can't play the actual game."

A chuckle. "And Cheaters aren't playing the game."

 

[Surraya Evermor]

"A pirate with a strong affinity for followin' the rules. You see somethin' new every day." Suri chuckled as she moved to grab herself a stool, dragging it over to the table.

"And what might your name be, my dear paladin of the cards?"

 

[Naser Talzin]

"What good is beating someone if there aren't any rules?" The boy asked, his hand coming up to run through his hair with a smirk.

"How can you ever know you're the better man if you cheat?" That was his reasoning, that had always been his reasoning. Winning by cheating was easy, simple, but it was boring. The others knew that, they recognized it in him. "Names, Arc."

He glanced at the others. "At least that's what they call me."

Arc gestured towards the others, though he gave no further explanation.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

"I'm Suri." She gave her own name, even thought it wasn't asked. Naser had told her to interact with the crew, and she reasoned there couldn't be any harm in trying to make a few friends.

Her eyes turned towards the others clustered around the table and she offered them a bright smile. "It's nice to meet all of you."

In just a few lines of conversation, she'd gathered most of what she needed to know about Arc. He was arrogant and overly competitive, neither were traits she found particularly appealing, but she was willing to give the man a chance.

For now, she decided to keep her thoughts to herself -- as she often did. No need to reveal her hand just yet, after all.

 

[Naser Talzin]

A slight smirk flickered across the man's lips, his hand waving towards Suri in what might have been amusement. "Always nice to have a new crewmember."

Most would probably have thought that the words were mocking, but their tone, the way he spoke suggested the opposite. Arc, though that was not his real name, seemed genuinely delighted by the fact that someone new was aboard.

"Helps shake things up. Glad the Old Man is back." He smiled as he grabbed the cards off the table and began to shuffle them.

There was a rumble of agreements from the others, most of them seeming more than genuine.

They were glad Naser was back on board. Marius did well, he was a good Captain, but no one could ever replace the Old Man. Not for any of their money.

 

[Surraya Evermor]

Suri was more than a little surprised to hear Arc refer to her as a new crewmember. It'd never crossed her mind to consider herself a part of the Maw's crew, in her mind she was still the first mate of the Ruby Runner. She figured that Arc had intended to sound welcoming, but his words served as a sharp reminder that the Ruby was gone.

For a moment, she pursed her lips in thought, worrying over the wellbeing of her own crew and where they could all possibly be. How many had been killed? Had the others all been sold off? Was Noah even still alive? She said nothing for a short while, letting her thoughts drift.

Once the murmurings of the others had settled, she spoke once more with a quiet chuckle. "I don't plan on shaking up much, so I doubt I'll be of much use in that regard."

 

[Naser Talzin]

Another round was dealt out, Arc flipping the cards with dexterous fingers and offering them to those at the table in quick succession.

"No?" He asked, a small hint of amusement in his tone.

The others seemed to hold their own conversation in hushed tones, speaking of the days events and what they would do with their next score once they were back. It was idle chatter, the kind that all pirates had when embarking on a new journey.

"Seems you already have, doll." He pointed out to her. "I mean this whole trip wouldn't be happening if it weren't for you."

There was no accusation or bitterness to his words, just a simple statement of fact. "No?"