Tide of Shadows Ch 16: Hooked

Captain Jos Blackfyre hadn’t felt butterflies in her stomach before a battle in a long time. At least not like this. And, strictly speaking, she wouldn’t have called what was coming a battle. If they were lucky, there wouldn’t be any fighting at all. 

Standing beside the ship’s wheel, she watched the distant peaks of the Fingers of the Tarnished Coast come into view. Waves lapped at the side of Hiraeth and gulls cawed overhead. She felt at the flask tucked in her coat and glanced around. When her gaze fell on the bosun’s mate, a salty human sailor named Larri, she gave the woman a small nod.

“Cap’n?”

Realizing she’d reached into her coat, Jos smiled and dropped her hand. “Nothing. Just watching all you fine sailors.”

The bosun’s mate’s face twisted in confusion. “You feelin’ a’ight, Cap’n?”

Jos smirked and waved her fingers like she was brushing the bosun’s mate away. “Just… do your steering stuff.” 

She strolled back over to the starboard railing and watched the islands of the Tarnished Coast drift by. Just as Hiraeth rounded the Fingers of the Tarnish Coast, another ship drifted into view. She was larger than Jos’s vessel, built for combat. The glowing red lines on the side and floating cubes of stone made the ship’s owners clear, even if it wasn’t flying any colors.

Nexx scampered up the stairs to the quarterdeck, his face pale. “Inquest.”

Jos swallowed hard. She was stone-cold sober now and desperately wished she was not. “I see.”

Biting her upper lip, she weighed her options: On one hand, she’d made a deal. On the other hand, it was with a sylvari she didn’t like very much, representing people she liked even less.

Back to the other hand though, the deal was for a lot of gold. She liked gold. And, she didn’t really like the Arcane Council much either.

Jorg appeared next to Nexx. Jos kept her gaze on the other ship as she addressed her officers. “Whatcha think?”

The norn followed her gaze. “She’s packin’ some serious firepower. We’re probably faster with the wind, and if Danni can give us another boost…”

Nexx shook his head. He didn’t even look at the other ship, and instead kept his gaze on the captain. “Captain?”

Even from the corner of her eye, Jos could see the knowing look on Nexx’s wide face. His half-open eyes and flat expression told her that he knew exactly what was going on. She looked down at him. “Nexx.”

The asura rubbed his face with his hands. Behind him, Jorg looked back and forth between the two of them. “What am I missing?”

Something twisted in Jos’s stomach and she glanced up at the sky. A small voice started in her head, indistinct like a barely heard whisper. While she couldn’t hear it exactly, she knew what it was saying, and wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “Gods, I could use some rum right now.”

Nexx shook his head. “Do you have any idea what this will do to our reputation if word gets out? Is it enough to cover that?”

“I don’t understand…” The bosun’s voice trailed off as he turned back to the approaching Inquest ship. “What’s happening?”

Jos sighed. “It’s a lot. Like, a lot.”

With his eyes closed, Nexx scoffed. “But the Inquest?”

“What’s a lot?” Jorg asked.

“In my defense…” The captain held up both hands in mock surrender. “I didn’t know it was them.”

The first mate’s withering gaze bore down on her, despite her significant height advantage. 

“It’s just one crate,” she said. “Right? How bad could one crate be?”

Nexx’s face twisted in confusion and he pointed toward the hold. “Metaphorically five minutes ago you were complaining about the potential dangers that solitary crate could pose.”

“And you dismissed my concerns,” Jos said.

“Uh, Captain?” Jorg’s voice was soft and distant.

Nexx set his jaw. “That doesn’t excuse this.”

“Then tell me what to do, Nexx.” She didn’t really want him to tell her what to do; she just wanted him to shut up. The second the words left her mouth though, she realized they probably were not going to give her that result. “I mean, clearly you’re not happy with my decisions.”

“Guys?” Jorg’s voice held a hint of panic.

The asura rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t do that.”

“Do what?” 

“Play victim, Jos.” He shook his head again. “I’ve known you for an extended length of time and you’re not proficient at it.”

“Yes I am,” she rebuffed. “I mean…”

A pair of feet scampered up the stairwell behind Jorg.

Jos pointed a finger at her asuran first mate. “Whatever. I’ll have you know, my playing the victim has gotten us out of plenty of scrapes.”

He just leaned his head back and glared at her. 

Several long seconds of awkward silence hung in the air as the captain and first mate stared at each other. Finally, Danni’s shrill voice broke the quiet. “Is this what you humans call a staring contest? And why are we performing this ridiculous competition when we should be fleeing?”

Jos kept her gaze on Nexx and her voice flat. “We’re discussing our options.”

“Captain!” Jorg turned and bellowed out over the main deck, “Brace for impact!”

Jorg’s shout yanked Jos’s attention away from Nexx’s gaze. Just as she turned her head, a loud twumb filled the air and a dark line streaked out from the enemy ship. As it arced up into the air, peaked and started back down, she realized what the line was: a massive hook with a heavy rope leading back to the other ship. Jos cursed through clenched teeth.

Crewmembers yelled and dove for cover as the hook slammed into Hiraeth’s deck, sending splinters into the air. The rope went slack for a second, then pulled tight. More shouts erupted from below as the hook jerked, dragged across the deck and snagged on the starboard railing. 

Nexx and Jorg started to bolt down the stairs when Jos told them to stop. The two froze in their tracks and turned back to her. Jorg’s face was slack with surprise. Nexx, on the other hand, looked furious.

The ship lurched as the enemy ship began to reel them in. Nexx opened his mouth to speak, but Jos cut him off. “We’re out of options. Fact is, whatever we were talking about before is irrelevant now. Even if we could cut that line, that ship has us out-gunned two-to-one and we’re too damned close to run.”

“No.” Danni’s face was a mask of panic. “We can’t let them take it.”

Jorg nodded. “What do we do?”

Shaking her head, Jos pushed her way past the others and stormed down the stairs. She played out the two opposing scenarios in her head and only cursed again when her thoughts collapsed into a jumble of images of stuff going wrong. In her mind, she listened for that tiny, whispering voice then buried it under a mental pillow. 

“I was wrong. We’re not out of options just yet. So we’ll just, uh…” Jos shoved past the others and stormed down the stairs to the main deck. She had no idea what she was going to do, but whatever it was it would have to be good.  “Wait for the opportune moment.”