Brod glanced out the portal in the galley as he sliced a boiled egg into pieces, and smiled as storm clouds finally gave way to clear skies. “Well, we’ve made it out of Valuan territory in one piece, so maybe one of you could explain to me what this is all about.” Turning to the dining area, he took in the sight of his guests. Gar he knew, but he hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting his sister. The other two, Ranma and Archon, were a mystery.
Gar glanced at the others sitting at the table before answering. “The Edge Guard were raiding a Valuan Admirals vessel when reinforcements forced Captain Onoli to flee, leaving us behind.” He gestured to the Weresmilodon sitting across from him. “Ranma broke us out of the brig, and the three of us made it to the Valuan Capital in a stolen lifeboat. He went looking for Archon while Sheila and I searched for a boat, we found you, we picked up Ranma, and we became the first Pirates to escape through the Grand Fortress.” The Jagwere shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “As for the rest, that’s up to Ranma and Archon to explain.”
The huge Captain placed the egg slices on a platter before picking up another and turning to Jalliele'Brea. “And what is your part in all of this?”
The Silvite woman shifted in her seat uncomfortably and refused to meet his eyes as a recent memory surfaced in her mind…
“Do not share your mission with anyone of the surface world. They cannot be trusted, Jalliele’Brea.”
“…I’m sorry, but I cannot say.”
Brod arched an eyebrow and stared at her for a moment before shrugging and turning to his final guest. “How about you?”
Ranma looked up from where he had been studying his moonstone-powered gloves. “I’m trying to stop Valua from finding some super powerful ancient weapons. If they find them they’ll try and use them to take over the world.”
The troll captain stared at him sceptically. “Super powerful ancient weapons?”
“Yeah. I think my Boss called them ‘Gigas’.”
A small gasp from Archon drew the attention of the rest of the room. Blushing faintly at her slip, the Silvite took a deep breath to regain her composure before addressing her black-furred saviour. “Ranma, can I speak to you outside for a moment?”
“Um, sure. Could you guys excuse us for a while?” When the troll and Jagweres nodded Ranma stood and led Archon out of the dining room and through the hall leading to the deck.
Once they’d left Brod placed the last egg on the tray and covered it with a steel lid. His food preparation done, he strode over to the table and sat himself in his customary position at the head of the table. “What do you think of their stories?”
Sheila shrugged. “I’ll admit that Ranma’s story is pretty ‘out there,’ but he doesn’t sound like he’s lying. His heart rate has been steady since he stepped on board.”
Gar nodded in agreement. “And Archon’s reaction was telling. Her pulse rose when Ranma said ‘super powerful ancient weapons,’ and it went through the roof when he said ‘Gigas’.”
Brod leaned back in his chair and tried putting the pieces together. “Ranma is trying to stop Valua from finding these ‘Gigas,’ and Archon seems to know what they are, but she’s not saying anything.” Brod’s eyes narrowed. “The Valuans have been sending their ships everywhere looking for something, possibly for Silvites like Archon, but they could also be looking for these super weapons.” Brod pressed the fingertips of both hands against each other, his elbows resting on the armrests and his hands blocking the view of his lower face. According to a rather interesting poll in ‘Mage Magazine,’ it was the favoured posture of calculating bastards everywhere. “If Ranma’s right, we can’t let Valua get their hands on any of these Gigas; the consequences would be catastrophic.”
Ranma led Archon to a number of sealed crates in a corner of the deck. He lifted one crate off another and placed it on the ground for Archon to sit on before seating himself. “So, what did you want to talk about?” Archon motioned for him to be silent and the tiara on her head glowed slightly as a translucent bubble of…something… surrounded the pair. “…what is that?”
“It’s a mild telekinetic bubble. It will prevent others from listening to our conversation.” Archon sat across from the Weresmilodon and gathered her thoughts before speaking. “What do you know about the Gigas and the Moon Crystals, and who told you about them?”
Blinking at the question, Ranma recalled what little Bast had told him. “All I know is that they’re left over from an ancient war that messed up the planet, and if Valua finds them the planets gonna get messed up all over again.”
“If you do find all of the Moon Crystals, what will you do with them?”
Ranma shrugged. “I don’t know. Fly out to the middle of nowhere and drop them to the bottom of the sky, I guess.”
The tiara on Archons head glowed a little brighter. “Would you be tempted to use their power for your own personal gain?”
“Lady, I have enough trouble trying to keep my life in order as it is without adding world conquest to my ‘to do’ list.” Ranma tilted his head to the side and examined the Silvite through narrowed eyes. “Would you be tempted to use them for personal gain?”
“Of course not. My mission is to find them and return to the Silver Civilization. The crystals will then be sealed away so that they can never be used to harm the people of Jade.”
“I guess that’s better than just throwing them overboard.” Studying the determined woman in front of him, Ranma eventually smiled and nodded. “Fine. We work together to find the Crystals, and you can take them back to wherever it is you came from, ok?” He held his hand out for her to shake.
She stared back at him, the tiara’s glow intensifying briefly before she smiled and placed her slender hand in his much larger one. “Agreed.” After sealing the deal, Archon decided to learn more about her new ‘partner.’ “If it’s not too much to ask, who sent you after the Moon Crystals in the first place?”
“Bast. I accidentally fell on one of her shrines and got turned into this.” Ranma waved at his furry form. “Anyway, after a bit of talking I agreed to work for her, and she sent me here to take care of this situation with the Moon Crystals.”
Archon looked confused. “Bast? The goddess worshipped by the werecats of Jade?”
“I guess so. She’s a goddess of cats, and she said that there were temples for her all over the place.” Archon was now staring at him doubtfully, so he shrugged. “Maybe you’ll get to meet her later. Anyway, what’s your story?”
“What do you want to know?”
“For starters, why did you come all this way on your own?”
The Silvite shifted in place, trying to get more comfortable on the wooden crate. “There were a number of reasons why I came alone. Firstly, building a ship large enough to support more than one person would take time and resources that my people simply couldn’t afford to spend at this time. Secondly, the Elders felt that sending too many people would attract unwanted attention to our mission. And finally, out of all the Silvites fit enough to carry out this task, I was the only one who had had any significant training with Artefacts.”
“Artefacts?”
The Silvite ran a finger over the glowing tiara on her head as she explained. “Artefacts are ancient creations of great power, bestowing various abilities on those who wield them. My tiara grants me the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, and it was believed that this would be enough to aid my quest.” Here Archon sighed and her shoulders slumped a little. “But as it is, it may not be enough.”
“…Wouldn’t it have been safer to take along more Artefacts than you thought you needed?” Archon flinched slightly, and Ranma immediately regretted his question. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”
Archon shook her head as she cut him off mid-apology. “No, it’s alright, you said nothing wrong. And you’re correct; more Artefacts would have been a tremendous boon, but my tiara is the last Artefact my people possess. The process that created them has been lost for millennia.” She hesitated briefly before continuing. “Some years ago another Silvite was sent to recover the Crystals. At the time the Elders believed that he would be more likely to succeed if he were armed with as many Artefacts as his body could handle. When he left our home he was wearing all but one of our people’s sacred treasures, but we lost contact with him not long after he departed. I’m hoping to find some clue as to his fate, but I’m afraid the chances of that happening are slim at best.”
The two furry allies sat in silence for a while before Ranma glimpsed agitated movement out of the corner of his eye. This movement turned out to be a noticeably pissed-off Sheila, who was yelling and waving noiselessly from the door into the galley. “Hey Archon, maybe you should drop that tele-whatsit bubble, I think Sheila’s trying to tell us something.”
Turning and blinking at the sight of a wildly gesticulating Werejaguar, Archon dropped the telekinetic barrier and was hit with a blast of noise.
“…AST TIME, DINNER IS READY!” Ranma snarled in pain and clapped his hands over his ears, breaking Sheila out of her screaming fit. “Oh, so you can hear me now?”
“…WHAT!?”
Archon smiled and grabbed Ranma’s arm, pulling him to the door. “If he could hear you then, he can’t hear you now.”
Sheila’s blush was barely visible beneath her fur, but she held the door open long enough for Archon to drag Ranma into the galley. Once they were through she followed close behind, muttering to herself.
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(Posted Thu, 17 Mar 2005 19:21)
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