Second Star from the Right (Mint & Winnow)

"From your tone, I might almost believe you were trying to convince us to attack you. But, I hardly know you. And anyway, I never said I intended to lose. Nor that I particularly even relished the idea. But, one does not challenge what amounts to a god to personal combat and expect to walk away victorious. And in Leontes' defense, this tradition is something my people came up with. If I were to win... oh well, that would be a personal accomplishment, to be sure, but... well... I don't see that ending well for anybody."

Xin and Bao return with a couple barrels of something called Scrumpie. "They say it's made from apples." says Xin.

Bao interjects, "They made a point of saying it was 'mostly from apples'."

Xue looks at Winnow, "Shall I tell you the story of how Leontes either saved or destroyed my people, depending on who you ask? Or shall I take myself from your sight for putting my people above my personal pride?"

Winnow's inner, unadmitted yearning to be among men of battle wars with Mint's obvious desire to be off, and he makes up his mind.

"I will hoist a glass with you - Franclen, pass us down some good mugs, if you please - but I am afraid we must depart, and not for Onyx, though I would love it of all things to hear your story. You have caught us at the turn of the tide, so to speak, and unless you wish to go where we do, rather than where you will, we must sadly leave your prime troop here to bargain with one of the other ships for passage."

When the mugs are sent down Winnow will gladly drink a toast or two with the fighters, then he will run up the sideropes to say his goodbyes from the quarterdeck, expecting Mint to have come with.

Mint will drink no more than one drink and then depart onto the Celeste.

Xue tries some of the Scrumpie, and makes a face. "This was made to be drunk quickly, I think. Not for the connesseur." He shrugs and gulps the stuff down quickly, stoicly having a second mug just to prove his point.

Then, a twinkle in his eye, he leans close to Winnow, and gestures for him to lean in as well, as if beginning some kind of conspiracy.

Winnow will lean in as well; however, he will unseen extend his armor under all his clothes, and a blade from his armor up his sleeved arm to nestle in his palm; this hand is near his face.

Mint having already boarded the Celeste sees this interaction only from a distance.

[Gawd, you people are so paranoid.]

"I told you, didn't I? I just have to arrive at the capital some time in the next few years." He smiles broadly, not holding his Scrumpie as well as his body size would imply. "What if I did wish to go where you will? I may have to challenge the Regent to combat and probably lose, but I don't have to rush headlong into the experience."

Among the minion, Peng groans softly, then reaches into a pouch and hands a few coin to Bao. Bao says only, "I told you so."

"If by that you mean you wish to travel with us, I will be glad to give you passage on the following conditions."

"First, I am the Captain, and my word is absolute when it comes to the sailing of this vessel. Your men will stay out of the way, and will assist if I or the sailing master Franclen required their help, such as in shifting stores or hauling on stays or any other lubberly thing they might be capable of."

"Second, you will assist with the defense of the ship in the unlikely event of need. Looking at your crew, that would seem a natural role."

"Third, you are responsible for your men's behavior. I don't abide indiscipline or incivility aboard. A ship is a world unto itself and many a vessel has come to ruin because of close quarters and temper. Save the brawling for the shore." He grins. "Of which I do love a good brawl myself."

Back on the Celeste, Mint can see the body of the squall seems to be passing by. She can now see the far edge as it moves past. Which is strange. She's never seen a storm act like that before. Hugging the shore a certain distance, and with an edge so precise. Evidently this thing was under someone's control, but to what end? As a show of force it was showy, not effective. Had it even brushed the actual harbor all kinds of actual harm would be more impressive. Or it could have chased Celeste--far more of a demonstration of power than merely headed past the town. Even staying there, hovering offshore in one spot would have created a better impression.

There! At the edge of the passing squall! The outline of a ship! One with a familiar shape. An unpleasant shape. One of the crew says it before she quite thinks it

"Looks like one of the Hounds' ships," say an Estcarpi sailor. "And it looks adrift. That storm must be worse than it looked."

Mint shouts down to Winnow. "We need to set out now. There's a ship adrift. Storm casualty."

"These are all just limits, and I will vouch personally for the minion's behavior. Though, if you were to perhaps linger in dangerous waters, we might be able to blow off some steam by repelling boarders."

"If you don't mind my asking, where are you bound, and on what mission?"

Winnow boards the Celeste immediately, leaving the Minion standing flatfooted. "To Amber! You have thirty seconds, sir, board or be left!" he cries from the rail, then to Franclen, "Prepare to cast off! Mains and courses, and fend off smartly."

In thirty seconds, with or without the warriors, the ship will get under weigh and aim for a point to windward of the broken ship.

Winnow will search out Mint. "If you wish, you may spell us away now. Else, we will cruise by the Hounds' ship and see what we may."

Xue claps his hands together, and whoops in amusement. "Excellent!"

He waves the minion towards the boat, "Follow me, cousins. Let's annoy my mother for a little while."

As he arrives on deck, he smiles at Mint. "I think you were right. I shouldn't accept defeat so easily."

When Winnow arrives Mint says, "To the Hounds."

When Xue arrives Mint responds, "Good. Get used to thinking of me as right." She shows no trace whatsoever of modesty in this declaration.

Xue finds an out-of-the-way spot, or at least one that seems so to a land-lubber, and sits himself down with what's left of his last mug of Scrumpie. He raises it to Mint, and asks all innocent voice, "You first thought me and the minion were here to kill you. Should I accept that you were right about that?" Without waiting for an answer, he quaffs the last of the mug and calls over to Xin, "No more drinking on the boat, you. We're to maintain discipline while under sail."

"Hah! Listen to me, talking like a sailor."

Xin replies "Wouldn't you need to curse a lot more for that to be true?"

"I said 'attack', and it isn't as bad an idea as all that. Don't do it on the ship though unless you want Captain Winnow to throw you over the side and leave you." Mint smiles. "I could live with that. "

Mint thinks for half a second.

"Next time we make landfall somewhere without inconvenient laws, we'll fight you and I and see what you are made of. Maybe you will learn something that you can use against Leontes."

"Presumably, if we were here to attack you, we'd be intending to kill you. But, my point was not to debate how likely we would have been to succeed. It was to point out that since we were not here to attack you, your whole premise is flawed."

"Which makes me wonder why you're so keen to fight. Are you sure I haven't offended you somehow? I offer a drink of friendship, and you offer hostility. This Amber must be a very toxic place to live."

Mint laughs with genuine amusement "Trying to kill me might have been your intent, hypothetically speaking. As long as it isn't your actual intent does it matter? Frankly I'm just amazed at the concept of a warrior culture where you don't bond through fighting one another. Seriously, how do you even practice? Katas and drills? No wonder Leontes always beats the snot out of your champions."

"If you don't want to fight me don't. I give you the chance to learn something and maybe get better at this fighting thing and you sneer at it and then call me hostile? Your loss."

Mint smile turns a tiny bit evil. "I'm nicer than half my family. If you think Amber is toxic and don't want to go there, we're still pretty close to the shore. You can swim right?"

Winnow listens with great amusement at the repartee.

In between sailing orders to send the ship out to the broken Hounds, he will get a mug of the scrumpie and dash it off with a grimace. "Drinking aboard ship isn't prohibited, just being too drunk to perform your duties."

"And I'm nicer than my cousin here, most of the time. As she implies, getting on our bad sides could be painful. But a nice friendly contest is unlikely to bring that on. We might take offense at something, but a few blows or sword-strokes in a well-regulated match are not going to do it."

It's just a few minutes before they heave to on the weather side of the hulk. They will drift gently down toward the wreck, with the aim of coming alongside and boarding.

He says to Xue and the minion, "These fellows are reavers, mere pirates, and while I can accept a good raid ashore now again, even admire it, attacking ships at sea without provocation is a hanging offense under Amber law, which prevails upon this ship and any prize we take. Therefore if we board this vessel, I have the right of high justice. We will salvage what we will, execute anyone with a weapon in his hand outright, and hang any adult we find alive. Join or abstain as you will."

The Hound ship looks almost undamaged. A little more water than one would like on deck and the partially furled sails are soaked. But mostly the ship looks deserted.

At first.

Once they get closer some movement from the oars and voices from below deck indicate the slave-oarsmen are still on board. They're yelling for help. But the crew--the Hounds--of them there's no sign at all. It looks adrift.

Xue listens to Mint, then to Winnow.

"Your mistake, Mintabilia, is that you believe we're warriors. We're not; we're hunters. Allow my men to demonstrate, Captain." He calls out louder, "Gentlemen, be so kind as to go kill anything armed on that ship, or any unarmed adult males."

The minion put down their mugs and begin to shift. All ten of them hunch over and drop to all fours. The little skin visible with their armor sprouts white and black striped fur, their fingers and toes get claws, and somehow the armor manages to shift with them. The complete change takes a few minutes, and then the ten of them spring from the deck of the ship into the water. They swim over to the hulk, climb aboard, and begin prowling the deck before going below.

"And yes, Tigers love to swim." chuckles Xue.

[Intentionally stopping the post here, in case anyone wants to save the slaves.]

After he sees the slave rowers, and before the hunters complete their change, he will say, "I suppose I must amend my words. Any FREE adult aboard the ship. These slaves are not at fault. I do hope your...men...retain their intelligence in that state. Kindly tell them to refrain from killing anyone they are not sure of."

Winnow will quickly get the ship alongside, leaping across as soon as the ships are close. He will immediately address the slaves, who are presumably chained or locked belowdecks. If the hatch is locked, he will open it, but will not allow the slaves to come pouring out. He will question the first coherent one and tell them they are to be rescued, and to keep good order or the tigers will savage them. If they are chained, he will loose them by any means necessary. His armor can form a pretty fine heavy axe.

He will make sure there are no Hounds aboard, telling the slaves to search their own ship. If there are, he orders them brought forward.

The minion would hear Winnow's amendment, and comply. They're equally as smart (or as stupid) in each of their forms. The tigers should be able to sniff out any hidden Hounds, even to the point of making a pass below the ship to inspect for hidden caches. They'll just bypass the caged / chained slave area in their search. Combattants hidden amongst the slaves will need to be pointed out by the slaves themselves, and left to Winnow to address.

Xue will comment afterwards, "Do you intend to staff this second boat and bring it with you to this Amber you spoke of? Two boats would certainly allow for more room than one, but I think your cousin's fears of us attacking you might become heightened. Put all of us on one or the other boat, we become more of a threat to those of you left with us. Insofar as we were a threat to begin with, anyway. But until I can prove we're not, I guess you'll need to consider the possibility."

As it turns out, there is one Hound left aboard, a one-eyed man hiding in the armory. Fair is fair, he actually puts up a good fight.

The slaves chained to the oars are a diverse lot, all male, all in their prime, not one one them in good health--underfed, beaten, etc. A total of twenty in all, filthy, wearing nothing but rags, pale, squinting in the sun.

Bao and Zhong share the one-eyed Hound's corpse, from within sight of the slaves. Just to keep them in line.