Scatterbrained

With a pop, Oda appeared in the middle of a big room packed full of people. She was wearing the ring she’d pilfered from Sheverash, and judging by the lack of reaction from those around her, she’d guessed correctly that it was enchanted with invisibility.

Honestly, she thought it had been very rude of Sheverash to snap her away right before such a crucial mission that required so much sneaking, but that didn’t matter now. Sheverash had most certainly sent her back because she was an important member of the party, and they needed her help. And now that she and he were best friends, she could forgive him. Now she had to find her party that was somewhere in this crazy party.

Which might’ve been harder had Rue not brushed past her in that exact moment. She was heading for a wide set of open doors in a rush, bobbing in and out of the celebrating people. Oda followed. It led outside into deep night, the shadows long and dark against the golden torchlight.

Rue stopped a little ways past the entrance, reaching out to support herself against the wall. She was acting really weird, clawing at the cowl and hood that covered most of her face and gulping deep breaths of the air.

Someone approached from behind. It was Blank. This whole finding the party thing was working out really well.

With the two of them together, Oda figured it was as good a time as any to reveal herself. They were going to positively freak when they saw her, and she couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces. She pulled off the ring and stuck it in a pocket.

“Hey guys!”

____________________________________________________

You are in over your head, Ides warned himself. Sen’s questions were too direct, and he was fumbling for answers.

“How long have you been with the organization?”

“A long time. It’s gotten hard to keep track.”

“The year have a way of doing that to you." He folded his arms and sat back in his chair. "How is it I’ve never seen you around Gullwing before?”

“I’ve never been this far south, worked solely out of Gladis.” That much was true.

“You didn’t come with the rest of the survivors?”

“...I had unfinished business.” He drained the tankard, trying to slow the pounding in his chest.

“Aha.” Sen studied him with shrewd eyes. “Let me buy you another drink.”

“Wish I could take you up on that, but I need to check on my crew. You know how it is.”

“Indeed.”

Ides rose and reached out a hand.

Sen shook it with the barest glint of suspicion. “I’ll see you around.”

Get out get out get out, his instincts chanted. He stalked calmly and deliberately out the archway into the main space. If any alarm was raised now, he’d be dead.

He shoved through the crush of people still in the temple, making for the doors. He could find the girls later, for now he needed air.

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Another round of roulette was all she could stand. Gathering up her coin, Rue nodded to the others at the table, who’d hardly seemed to notice her in the first place. They flicked their eyes lazily over to her before returning their attention to the table.

She wove her way out the main doors and turned left, following the curve of the wall out of reach of the torchlight. Panic rose in her chest as the cowl weighed heavily on her face. She ripped it off, but it didn’t help. The air felt thick. Why was the air so thick? Her hands were shaking, and it only made her unease worse.

“Rue? Rue, is… that you?” Blank’s voice was quiet as she approached her from behind.

She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back, trying to fill her lungs which didn’t seem to want to cooperate. She could hardly breathe. She needed to breathe.

“Are you ok?” Blank asked, worry coloring her voice.

“I’m fine.” She growled. There was too much process. She needed to be alone. “And don’t say my name too loud around here.”

“Hey guys!” From out of nowhere, Oda popped into existence.

Blank screamed. Reflexively, Rue threw an axe. It missed Oda and lodged deep into the temple wall behind her. People some ways away looked up sharply.

“Rude!” Oda scolded gleefully. “It’s only me! I escaped from Sheverash but he and I are best friends now! And I have a ring that makes me invisible!”

Just then, Ides came up to them, doing a hard double taking when he saw Oda.

“I’m back!”

“So you are.” He seemed as though he wanted to say more, but was at just as much a loss for words as the other two.

“Nice party you found! What are we celebrating?”

Rue stepped around them and yanked her axe out of the temple wall. She glanced around, pulling her cowl up over her nose and mouth. They were attracting too much attention.

Ides noticed it too. “Act drunk.” He ordered.

Her attempt at a laugh came out high and thin as the fabric clung to her nose and mouth. She felt like she was being smothered. This only produced more incredulous and outright concerned looks from the others around them.

“I’m getting out of here,” she gasped. “You can come if you want I guess.”

Not even sure where she was heading, she circled the plaza in a wide arc. The others followed. Blank jogged to match her stride. “What did you learn?”

“Enough.” She said, shortly. Then, she deflected, “What about you?”

“A little. I talked to this lady, maybe you know her?”

“Just because I grew up around them doesn’t mean I know everyone in Zan-”

“Her name was Queenie. And she said she was stationed aboard the Honesty?”

She tripped over a rogue tree root. “Yeah, I knew Queenie.” She’d been assigned to the Honesty less than a year before Rue left, and from what she remembered, the tiefling was nice enough.

“And the Honesty? Can you believe the irony in that name?” Blank snorted.

“I grew up on that ship.” She said quietly.

“I- oh.” Blank fell a step back.

Rue could hear the others behind her talking in whispers, trying to figure out what to do next. She decided for them. Since tonight seemed to be the night for answers, she was going to figure out what was up with that damn haunted house. With new purpose in her stride, she made for the far end of the plaza.

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Squatting alone at the edge of the city, the mysterious little house shone cheerily from all its windows. But despite the warm, inviting light, even at a distance it felt ominously empty.

Oda smoothed her fur and shivered dramatically. “I was warned about this place. It’s spooky.”

“You know about this?” Blank crossed her arms and looked down at her.

“I’ve heard of it.”

“Okay, so, what’s the significance?”

“It’s a spooky house.” Oda shrugged. “I was told to never go near it or else something terrible would happen.”

Rue stood a few paces off, arms wrapped around herself tightly, watching. Closer to the house, some men were playing what looked like a game of chicken. They took turns running as fast as they could as close as they could to the house and stopping as near as they dared without actually making contact.

“What happens if they touch it, I wonder.” Blank mused aloud. She didn’t have to wait long for the answer.

One man broke away from the others, dashing for the house. He skidded to a halt in a cloud of dirt just in front of the door. His friends cheered him on as he turned to come back. But when he did so, his elbow brushed the wooden door- and stuck fast. Cheers turned to cries of dismay. Slowly, inescapably, the man was being absorbed into the house. No one came to his aid. His screams cut off as his head and face disappeared into the wood, only his outstretched hand remained, and it too, soon vanished.

Blanks clapped her hands over her mouth, staring in horror at the scene unfolding.

Rue backed up until she was with the rest of the group. “So that’s what happens.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Oda suggested, and they turned away.

Closer to the temple, Ides motioned them into a dark, abandoned alley.

"Alright, listen up. This has been fun and all but we need to focus. Seems like we lost track there for a bit. We still have a while before dawn, and all we know definitely is that Zandeer was for sure behind the attack. We need something more concrete, something we can use against them. What are they planning next?”

“And how are we going to do that without calling attention to ourselves?” Rue asked. "We haven't exactly been subtle."

Blank refrained from mentioning that Rue's green-around-the-gills look and antsy fidgeting wasn't exactly 'subtle' either.

“I can turn everyone invisible,” She suggested. The magic stirring her blood felt quiet at the moment. She could handle a surge.

“Are you sure?” Ides asked intently.

“Yes.”

“Good. Alright, here’s the plan. Up the stairs, there are two sets of doors. I’ll take the ones to the right with someone else, other two to the left.”

“I’ll go with you!” Oda volunteered. “Us cats can get it done!”

Ides continued, “Find out what we can, then get to the port before sunrise. Eyes up, ears open. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads.

He nodded to Blank. “Let’s go invisible.”

“Wait!” Oda’s paw shot up. “I have a ring that makes me invisible, I can use that!” She produced said ring and put it on. Nothing happened.

“Uh, Oda-”

“It worked last time!”

“Maybe it only works once a day? There are a lot of magical items like that.”

“Bummer.” Oda flicked it into the air and pocketed it once again. “Continue.”

Closing her eyes, Blank felt the magic rise up to greet her call. She focused on forming it into the spell she needed. Invisible.

She opened her eyes and saw nothing but a dark, empty alley. She looked down to where she expected to see her hands. Nothing.

“I think this will last us an hour,” she announced, chewing on her lip. “Maybe less. Just… play it safe?”

“Let’s go, party!” Oda cheered, and a small trail of dust puffed up in the dirt, heading for the temple. Two heavier treads trailed behind on the dusty street.

Blank lurched forward and grabbed the corner of a building as a surge of wild magic blindsided her. It wrapped around her spine and burned across her skin. Then, nothing. She didn’t move a muscle. Seconds passed before she even dared breathe. Slowly, she relaxed her fingers and straightened. She didn’t feel any different. The invisibility was still in place. She scanned the area. Nothing was on fire. It was probably nothing. She hoped to goodness it was nothing.

She shook it off and jogged to catch up with the others.

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Quick update for the two people who follow this story: I'm running out of prepared content much faster than I anticiapted ':D Out of the twenty+ sessions I've played in this campaign, only the first seven are fully written/edited, and we just came up on part one of session 5. I need to pump the brakes; for the sake of consistency I'm considering droppping to once a month. And I'd hate to chop up the story any more than I already have- 12 updates is a lot for just 4 sessions. But I'll continue to update, believe you me I'm busting my butt trying to get the rest of them out of my notes into a somewhat presentable form. Happy reading!

Get started here: Part One

Latest: Part Thirteen