Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Three - Hop Along to Hopsalot

I knelt on one of the benches along the fancier side of the Beaver Cleaver, arms crossed over the rails and back bent forwards so that I could rest my head on my forearms. I was beat. Even with the exercise with Bastion, I was still a little under the weather.

I was getting better though. Still, a day of gallivanting around Insmouth and trying out different things had left me dead on my feet.

Below, the fog the villagers had warned us about roiled and twisted, almost like the waves in the nearby bay. I could imagine that we were riding over the clouds if I wanted.

“Hey.”

I looked away from the fog and over my shoulder just as Amaryllis sat down next to me with a sigh. She looked about as tired as I felt. “Not going to bed?” I asked.

“I noticed you weren’t in your room. You know, you were just sick, it’s not wise to be out at night like this.” She tilted her head to the side to look at me. “Not even wearing a jacket. Idiot.”

I smiled. I was in my night clothes, a big shirt and some underthings, and a big pair of wooly socks of course. It was comfy clothes. “I guess. The air feels nice.” It was humid and cool. It kind of reminded me of the air back home.

“If you get sick, it’s on you,” she said.

“Will you still tuck me in?” I asked.

Amaryllis face went a strange shade of red. “That was all Awen,” she said too quickly.

I sat up a bit. “Wait, did you actually tuck me in?”

“I did not!” she said.

“You did!”

“I just said the contrary.”

I grinned from ear to ear. “I guess I was too sick to notice it.”

Amaryllis crossed her wings. “I didn’t.”

I pulled her into a sidelong hug, crossed wings and all. “I can tuck you in later if that makes you feel better. We’ll be even then!”

“Absolute moron,” she grumbled into my shoulder.

She tilted her head a bit so that she could look over the side of the ship with me. The fog would warp and shift sometimes, and when the wind moved just right there would be some openings in it deep enough that we could see the ground below. That’s when we could catch glimpses of things moving in the dark.

“What an awful place we’ve found,” Amaryllis said.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It sure is scary, but it’s also different. I’ve never seen a place like this before, and I don’t know if I ever would have back home.”

Amaryllis was quiet for a while. “Do you miss it?”

“Seeing scary things?” I asked.

“No, you idiot, your home.” She nestled a little closer. I was sure that if I teased she’d just say that idiocy gave off warmth or something. “You never really talk about it.”

I didn’t know exactly what to say. Thinking about it made my chest achy in a weird way. So I pulled Amaryllis even closer and leaned my head against hers. She didn’t protest. “I don’t know,” I said. “I... My parents moved a lot. From town to town. My dad was always chasing work, and my mom didn’t like staying in one place for long.”

“So you’re used to moving?” Amaryllis said.

“That’s not quite it, but yeah. The thing is... uh, where I’m from you need to go to school, from when you’re pretty young until you’re basically an adult. You’re supposed to learn all sorts of things, one of them being how to make friends. I never really got that lesson, you know? Every year it would be a new school, with nice people but none that I knew. And they already had their own friends.”

“You were left out,” Amaryllis said.

“A little? I’m pretty good at meeting people, I guess. I just never clicked with anyone, not the way I wanted to.”

Amaryllis uncrossed her arms. I thought she was going to get up, but then her talons started scratching my back through my nightshirt. “You idiot,” she sighed.

“I think my parents are probably worried,” I said. “That’s... I should probably feel more bad about that than I do. But they’re the sort of people that would love to be in a place like this, with magic and monsters and all sorts of strange people to meet. They’d probably really like you.”

“Are you saying I’m strange?” she asked.

“There aren’t any harpies where I’m from. I think they’d find you really cool.”

“Hmph,” Amaryllis hmphed.

“There are other things that I kind of miss. Cars were neat. And music. We had so much music. The internet was a terrible place, but it could also be kinda cool sometimes.” I shook my head. “Lots of really naughty people there, though.”

Amaryllis and I sat there for a little longer, until the skies cleared a little, and we could see the stars twinkling down at us. There was a bit of light from Insmouth, but not enough to hide away the night sky.

“You can’t see this many stars from home,” I said. “There are way too many lights on for that.”

“To prevent monsters?” Amaryllis said.

“No, just... because we like lights I guess. We were always very afraid, I think.”

Amaryllis snuggled up a little, her feathers poofing up in a way that made them really soft. I almost nodded off for a moment before she spoke up. “We’re going on that hare-brained mission, aren’t we?”

“To save Insmouth?” I asked.

She nodded.

“I... I don’t know if I could live with myself if we didn’t at least try.” I liked my lips. “I got another quest for it.”

Amaryllis nodded. She didn’t seem surprised. “You do know that we’re on a schedule, right?”

“And will us arriving early be worth an entire village of people?” I asked.

Amaryllis shrugged. “I suppose it wasn’t much of an argument in any case. Not with a world-given quest. They had better reward us fairly though, otherwise you can explain all of this to Clementine.”

“That’s fair,” I said. “We should go to bed.”

“We should,” Amaryllis agreed.

We still took a few minutes to relax before finally heading to bed.

***

The next morning I was up bright and early and bunny-tailed! The grey fog had faded with the sunrise and left the world smelling fresh and full of life.

Boats were leaving the docks at Insmouth to tackle the choppy waters of the bay, a whole fleet of bright sails heading out to sea, and from the scents in the air, the townsfolk were working hard preparing a hundred breakfasts already.

We, for our part, had a little gathering in the Beaver’s kitchen. “Alright,” I said as I set down a huge bowl of porridge next to a plate stacked tall with buttery toast. We didn’t have maple syrup for the oatmeal, but life was like that sometimes. “I know that some of you are aware, but I want to make sure that everyone is filled in,” I said.

“Filled in to what?” Joe asked.

“Our next mission,” I said.

“You’re not dropping us off here?” the scallywag asked.

“Only if you want off. Insmouth is a strange little town, but I’m sure they’d welcome you with open arms.”

Joe’s nose scrunched. “I don’t think we’d fit in,” he said.

“That’s alright too. So! Insmouth needs our help. The town wants us to head over to another town called Hopsalot just to the north to pick up something there. We don’t know if they’ll be willing to give that thing up though, so we’re going to have to negotiate with them. Or rather, someone from Insmouth will have to.”

“We’re taking passengers then?” Sally asked.

“Just one,” I confirmed as I passed some bowls around. “Howard, the town... actually I don’t think he has a title. But he’s a nice enough person.”

“What are we getting?” Sally asked.

I tapped my chin. “Howard called it a Font. I’m not actually sure what it is, but it apparently keeps monsters away. It might be tricky to get the people in Hopsalot to give theirs to us. We’ll have to see.”

Discussion after that turned to other things. Mostly revolving around the upcoming trip. We didn’t have any indication on any map of where Hopsalot was, so we had to guesstimate it a little bit based on what Howard said.

Clive at least seemed to think it wouldn’t be much of a problem. “One of the great advantages of air travel is having the height to see great distances. Small things are difficult to find, even when you know where they are, but an entire village? We should be able to manage.”

“Brilliant!” I said. “We have a guide too, so that ought to help.”

I grabbed my handy old kettle, put some water in it, and set it to boil with some mana while the others finished up their oats. By the time they were done the tea was ready.

A cup of mixed berry tea brewed by an amateur, helps sooth muscles and energizes the drinker.

For a moment everyone cuddled their cups close and enjoyed the warmth of some freshly made tea, then it was time to get up and go.

I did the dishes with a snap of my fingers (and a bit of mana spent) and then we rallied to the deck to get the Beaver ready to go. Orange took her place atop the figurehead while sails were inspected, the fuel tanks were partially refilled by Awen and Steve passing cans up and down, and Clive and I made a quick inspection tour of the ship.

So far, the Beaver had really only done light duty for a ship. There wasn’t much to show as far as signs of wear and tear went, but it was better to keep an eye on things than not.

Less than an hour after sunrise, Howard showed up below the ship and hailed us. He had a big pack on his back and a few odds and ends clipped onto some belts around his waist. No armour, and the only weapon I noticed was a knife in a strap around his leg.

“Ahoy!” I called down to him. “Glad you arrived! You’re just on time.”

“Really now?” he asked. “That’s mighty good news. Now, how does an old fishman like me get all the way up there?”

I laughed. “Give me a moment, I’ll lower the ladder.”

As soon as the ladder was down Howard climbed his way up and scrambled onto the deck. “Reminds me a bit of being on the sea when it’s calm,” he said as he looked around.

“It is an airship,” I said.

“True. Don’t know why I had in mind that it wouldn’t sway and buck like a water ship,” he said.

“Did you speak to your crew?”

“I did,” I said. “We’ll bring you over to Hopsalot and back.” he grinned, a big fishy smile. “By the way, you look ready for adventure.”

“Oh, this stuff? It’s what I wear when going in the dungeon. Minus a few things. Figured that since I was out of the village, it was better safe than not.”

I gave him a big thumbs up. “That’s a clever way of looking at things. If you’re the only one coming aboard, then I guess we’re ready to set sail. Do you want to sit over by the wheel? You can help us with directions once we’re underway.”

“Sure thing,” Howard said.

Soon, we weighed anchor, and the Beaver’s engine was happily thumping away below deck. An oily Awen came topside, grinning past the soot on her face before she came over to the quarterdeck. “He’s purring,” she said.

I grinned right back. “Then let’s see how far along we can go. There’s a whole bunch more adventure to be had.”

And so, with the winds at our backs and the sky calling to us, we set off to the next leg of our journey.

***