Birdie crossed her arms, her sleek hair tied back tight in a low ponytail. “Inwhat?”
Stone rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I don’t know. How much do we need to find to fly home?”
Aesira was a fly on the wall this morning. She had woke to a sore leg but the pain was manageable and now she perched silently and watched as the three Odega’s went about their tasks like nothing out of the ordinary happened last night.
She could see Stone out of the corner of her eye, but he still had his eyes pressed closed. Nora had slipped past her in the hall, without so much as a hello, and joined Patch on deck to man the wheel so it was just Stone, Birdie, and Bee and the three of them bickered back and forth over the same topic.
“We need at least a sixastraflowers,” Birdie continued, “and if we don’t find them in Ravki, we are well and truly fucked.”
“How many more times are you going to say that? We hear you, Bird.” Bee squeezed Birdie’s shoulders, placing a kiss to her cheek. “Not everything bad that could happen, will happen. Now, a storm's coming in,” she said. “If we want to miss it, better get a move on.”
“Pack whatever we can carry comfortably on our backs,” Stone said. “We have a long trek ahead.”
“About that,” Patch said as he and Nora descended the stairs. Patch's dark hair was pulled back, his jaw unshaven and rough. Nora stood next to him, freckled face unnaturally stern. “I’m thinking it’s best if I stay behind with Aquila.” He held up a hand, presumably to stop Stone from speaking, then laid it on Stone's shoulder.
“I fucked up, Stone. I should have paid better attention in the Outpost. Let me amend it by protecting the ship now, like I should have done then. If Vic comes, he won’t leave a trace of the ship for us to come back to.”
“He’s too much of a coward,” Birdie said. “He won’t come.”
“He very well might,” Patch interjected. “Coward, maybe. Spiteful, certainly. You caused a scene back there, Stone. Made him look like a fool in front of his crew. You know sure as I do that he’s coming after us and if Aquila is here, unattended, he’ll take her or worse–burn her. Then we’ll truly be fucked, as our weapons master so gracefully said.”
Birdie and Bee exchanged glances. The looks in their eyes made Aesira believe they were inclined to agree with Patch. That he should stay behind. “Alone?” Aesira asked. “You think you're able to ward off his entire crew yourself?” She glanced at the rest of thecadre, waiting for someone to look remotely on her side, but to her surprise none of them did.
“I’ve had worse odds.” Patch grinned. “Plus, this one here”— he bumped Birdie’s arm—"has made more weapons than Vic’s entire slew of delinquents.”
“You realize you’re also a delinquent,” Stone said.
“I know,” Patch said through a grin. “But I’m a delinquent with better weapons and more to lose.” It was quick, the way his eye darted to Nora then faster away.
Birdie hauled a large bag onto the table and opened it. Inside were more weapons any one person should ever have access to. Bows, arrows, swords, knives, more of the fire-shooting mechanism she’d used on the crawlers and–
“What is this?” Nora picked up a metal cylindrical ball.
“Be careful,” Birdie snapped, grabbing it slowly from her hands. “One wrong move and you’ll kill us all.” She buttoned the bag back up and handed it to Patch.
“And yet you’ve been carrying it in…a canvas bag?” Nora crossed her arms but Birdie just smiled. “I’ll stay too.” Nora glanced at Aesira. “If that’s okay with you, Commander. Patch could use an extra set of eyes.”
“Ouch.” Patch laughed. “Eye jokes, this early?”
Nora smiled. “You know what I mean.” She turned her attention back to Aesira, positioning her hands behind her back. “Commander?”
Words were lost on her. The last thing she wanted was to be separated from her only knight but Nora had a point. Her staying behind would help Patch keep the ship safe and it would also ensure Aesira had someone she could trust guarding their only wayhome. She nodded and Nora relaxed her arms, busying herself with breakfast.
Within the next hour, Birdie, Bee, Stone, and Aesira were set to leave the ship, Patch, and Nora behind. The pack on Aesira’s back wasn’t any heavier than the armor she was used to, the minimal supplies inside would hopefully be enough to make it the two week trip.
Patch took his time saying goodbye to Birdie and Bee. He was even polite enough to offer Aesira a handshake though she couldn’t really call them friends. When he got to Stone, the two leaned close and whispered something she couldn’t make out.
“See you soon, boss.”
“Keep the torches lit,” Stone said. “Never let it go dark.”
“Of course.” Patch grinned. “Never let it go dark.”
Stone, Birdie, and Bee trudged ahead, giving Aesira and Nora some space. “I expect you to keep things in order,” Aesira said. “Keep an eye on Patch and if anything feels off, you have my full permission–”
“Patch is a good person.” She reached for Aesira’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “It's our fault the ship was ransacked, let us make it right. And whatever you find, whether it be the king or…” She sighed and closed her eyes.
“Hey,” Aesira said, “whatever we find out there won’t change anything. We’re still servants of Celestria.” She grabbed the back of Nora’s arm, right where she knew her matching “C” would be and gave it a squeeze.
