Red Seas

A stray, slashing cut caught Rue in the arm, breaking her focus. She drew her shortsword with more instinct than purpose, fending off her foe as her hold on the noxious spell over the crippled Bloodcrest became tremulous. The tussle was short, fueled with panic, and ended with her blade in his chest. Only then did she take a good look at him.

The pirate’s eyes went wide. He swayed as his lifeblood spilled dark across his boots. “Rue?”

She went white as he keeled backwards into the sea.

He was Honesty. And she’d just killed him.

Another Honesty man slung himself over the rail and stared at her in shock, axe held up defensively. “Rue?”

She stared back, frozen.

Her name spread like wildfire, whispered then shouted, confusion mixed with an odd kind of elation. She watched in horror as the woman at the helm spotted her and raised her arm to wave. The helm where her father should be.

“Hi, Sweetie!”

Rue swallowed hard, her heart thundering. “Hi, Mom!” This was hardly how she imagined her reunion with Cassia Waterby. In the midst of battle, across pillars of smoke, standing on opposite sides of the conflict. Half of her wanted to grab one of the flailing ropes and swing herself over. The other half kept her hand glued to her sword. There were too many questions first. “Where’s Dad?”

“No time, are you fighting or not?”

The battle paused for a split second, all eyes turned to her. She swayed as the ship lurched beneath her. If she chose Cassia, she’d get her answers. But something deep down already knew what she dreaded: they would not be the answers she wanted. If she chose her new crew, there’d be no going back; and what then?

She hesitated a heartbeat too long. A mage at her mother’s side sent a tidal wave rushing over the deck where she stood, knocking her off her feet and slamming her against the mounted metal ballista at the stern. Her lungs hitched as she coughed up seawater, slowly pushing herself up from the deck on wobbly arms. As she wiped the smoke and salt spray from her eyes, she caught sight of Cassia striking the man so hard across the face that he stumbled back and fell.

A fireball shot from the Dawn’s nest imploded and set the Honesty's sails alight, and a second later another punched through the hull.

“Are you going to help?” Cassia yelled, exasperated.

“Hey, Rue, that’s your mom?!” Oda hollered from the crow’s nest, barely audible over the resuming fight. “I’m gonna shoot her!”

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The green cloud lingering over the bobbing Bloodcrest vanished as Rue stalked the open space beneath the mast, safe from attack for the moment by the saving grace of utter confusion. Oda flicked her bowstring and carefully selected an arrow. “I swear, cat, shoot my mother and I will skin you alive!” Rue ranted from below. Oda snorted. She’d have to catch her first.

“She’s the bad guy!” She yelled back. Of course she was going to shoot her. The captain-lady was an enemy just like Pendra and the rest of Zandeer.

“Don’t-!”

Oda shot. It missed just barely, burying itself in the thick wood wheel instead of the captain, who turned her formidable glare to her daughter. “Rue!”

“Can we all just stop for a second and talk about this?!”

Not a chance. Oda nocked another arrow. In the pandemonium, she saw Ides and Guy swing over safely to the Honesty.

“Watch it, kitty!” The captain warned. “I’ll turn you into mittens!”

“You’re not very nice!” Oda called back.

“Mom!” Rue yelled. “Don’t kill Oda. Oda!” She skewered her with an admirable imitation of her mother’s evil eye. “Don’t even think about it!”

The captain threw up her hands, then pointed out three of the men on the Honesty and gestured to Rue. Oda may not have heard it, but the order was clear. “Go over there and get her!”

Oda waited for the first of them to jump, wheeling over the waves on thick ropes before she took aim. A figure leapt from the Dawn, flying past the three on an unguarded rope and making it safely to the Honesty. Rue.

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The skirmish was all but over aboard the Dawn. Ides sized up his options. The Honesty crew that still stood would fall quickly enough, and his rage required a bigger challenge. Besides, he reasoned as he stalked over to one of the ropes and wrapped it tight around his paw, he wasn’t there to simply defend, he was there to eradicate. He jumped, flying over the choppy water and landing in a heavy crouch on the enemy ship. The timbers rattled under his feet.

The captain pulled at the wheel as the roiling sea threatened to knock the ships together once more. “Get off my ship!”

Guy landed next to him, flexing his metal arm and rocking back into a fighter’s stance.

“You should stay with your crew.” Ides said grimly, sizing up the men that rushed them.

“I’m not leaving a good man alone,” he retorted.

Underneath his rage, Ides felt a twinge of familiarity. Someone had his back.

He brandished his blade, casting a spell on it that sliced through three men before they could even reach him.

An orc as ugly as sin dodged the magic-strengthened strike and rushed. He knocked away Ides’s broadsword and threw a heavy punch. The duel quickly devolved to blows, the two of them fairly matched.

A shout nearby distracted him for half a second, and he glanced over his shoulder as Rue landed some yards away with practiced ease.

The woman at the helm threw one of her hands up. “It’s about time!”

Ignoring the captain, and with a determined expression, she summoned a raging wind that extinguished the flames consuming the Honesty’s mast and sails and the crew cheered.

A distant yell of dismay rose from the Dawn, and if Ides were any closer, he might’ve taken a swing at her himself.

“Thank you!” The captain yelled sarcastically, “Now get your ass below decks. I’ll deal with you later.”

“Rue,” Guy growled, “get back on the Dawn. Now.”

She cringed away from the visceral anger in the halfling’s voice, but did not heed him. She simply stood there, wavering, making no move towards either side of the fight.

The captain lashed the helm into place and stalked down to the main deck, glare fixed on Guy. “You do not speak to my daughter like that.” With deadly precision, she attacked, the sword in her hand glowing icy blue. Guy fended off the blows but she was too gifted a swordswoman. He took a cruel blow full to his leather plate and landed in a dazed sprawl.

The captain whirled and flicked out with a wicked looking whip at Rue, who was running forward, restraining her completely.

“Mom! Seriously?!”

Before Ides could even move to help Guy, the orc landed a hard blow and he staggered back a step. Guy was alive, for now, and he needed to focus on not dying.

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Oda and Blank looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.

“It doesn’t seem right…” Blank started. The captain was Rue’s mother, after all. Taking out a party member’s family didn’t sit well on her conscience.

“She’s the enemy!” Oda fumed. “She threatened to make me into mittens!” She crouched on the rail, fitting another arrow to her bow and plucking at the fletched feathers.

Blank looked down at her hands, one of which was still comedically massive. She licked her lips anxiously, then yelled, “I’m sorry, Rue!”

A little ball of shifting colors flared to life in her palms, and she flung it at the captain. As soon as the spell flew from her fingertips, her control slipped and magic burst from her in a circle of blue light. The energy knocked Oda from the nest rail and the tabaxi dropped like a stone towards the deck.

The woman far below jerked ever so slightly out of the way, and the spell slammed harmlessly into the ship, crumbling into bright embers that vanished in the blustering wind. She glowered at Blank and reached up to brush a spark from her shoulder.

Blank did the practical thing and, raising her giant hand high above her head, flipped the captain the crudest gesture possible. Then, remembering Oda, she leaned perilously over the rail in search of her.

Miraculously, she’d missed the web of ropes and had fallen onto a stack of canvas-padded crates. She wasted no time, leaping from the pile and drawing a dagger. There was a wounded pirate not far from her, struggling to stand and rejoin the fight. He met a quick and bloody end, and his killer slipped into the long morning shadows. Oda was on the hunt.

The low snap of ballistae sounded in unison. The twin bolts both hit, inciting further chaos onboard the Honesty.

The lightning bolt sizzled in the air before connecting with the mainmast and setting it aflame, fire springing up to reconsume the scorched sails. A few of the pirates ran forward to stop it, only to be hit with a fireball hurled from the Dawn. In a heartbeat, two bodies lay burning, the other unfortunate soul trying futilely to smother the flames consuming him.

Ides, still fighting, managed to get the upper hand on the orc. Ducking a punch and maneuvering quickly, he caught his enemy from behind, and with a yank, snapped his neck. The orc slumped over, dead before he hit the deck. Turning away, he stalked over to the burning pirate and, as mercifully as hatred could allow, killed him with a broadsword through the heart.

The second bolt nearly struck the captain as she took a step towards Rue. The deck exploded into splinters at her feet, throwing her onto her back and knocking her weapons from her hands.

Blank braced herself to prepare another spell. She could feel intrinsically that the fight was nearly done, and hoped she wouldn’t be forced to cast again. Her limbs were growing weary, and she couldn’t trust herself to hold the wild magic back.

“Let this be over quickly,” she muttered, and watched.

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The whip loosened and Rue wriggled free. Her mother, the great and mighty Cassia, lay sprawled on the deck, her legs peppered with splinters the size of fingers and hacking up blood. She glared up at Rue as she struggled to her knees.

She stared back, forcing her gaze not to waver. Now was her chance. Bolting forward, she caught Cassia in a headlock and leaned close. “You are going to tell me now, and you are going to tell me the truth: what happened to Dad?”

In an instant, Cassia ducked and flipped Rue over her shoulder, slamming her on her back and digging a knee into her stomach.

“Your father and I no longer saw eye to eye on things,” she snarled. “including you.”

The air hissed from her lungs. All the confusion and anger from the last few days welled up and turned white hot. She reached up and grabbed Cassia’s shoulder, energy crackling beneath her skin. Her fingers seared with light and then - nothing. The magic fizzled out with a pathetic hiss.

Her mother’s eyes narrowed, giving Rue a look she’d hoped to never see again. “Did you try magic… on me?!”

A small, short “I’m sorry” slipped out before she could help it.

Cassia whipped her head around, taking in the scene around them- The Honesty ablaze, crew fighting and falling, the orc’s mangled body where Ides had left it in a heap. With one last look at her daughter, rife with reproach, she picked herself up and ran for the far side of the ship.

Rue rolled to her feet and sprinted through fire and smoke in a mad dash to stop her. Cassia’s arm was nearly in her grasp, but… she couldn’t close her hand around it. She could guess at what was in store for Cassia as a prisoner - if anyone let her leave the Honesty alive. The pause in her momentum threw her off and she fell, hard, on the smoldering deck.

Her mother jumped the rail and disappeared over the side.

Rue crawled to the side of the ship and collapsed at the rail. She’d heard the splash. There was no point in searching, she was long gone. “I thought the captain was supposed to go down with her ship!” She yelled fruitlessly to the waves.

She heard the Honesty’s surviving crew devolve into chaos and alarm behind her. The crew began to follow their captain's expmple, jumping ship before the Honesty crew could close in. The fire spread across the deck, mercilessly hungry. The only home she’d truly known was going up in flames, already beyond salvation. Her mother turned her back on her. Her companions could never trust her again. She’d helped Cassia - she’d helped Zandeer.

The smoke and screaming had ripped her throat raw and the sobs that shook her grated like glass.

She was the enemy. Wasn’t that what she’d wanted all along?

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Thanks for reading! Part 15 has been by far my favorite part of the campaign up until very recently, and I've been so excited to share it! If this one does well I might jump up to twice a month updates because the drama is just too fun not to share.

Joining for the first time? start here

Newest update -> Part Sixteen