Chapter 143: Crew
Riv and Jane both could pack away food. Marco didn't really believe that their stats came back through mere food consumption, but they both ate like they did and like they were trying to get everything fixed as soon as possible. Skewers of meat, huge hunks of cheese, slices of bread, and bowls of noodles all disappeared as the two of them feasted.
Marco, Elisa, and Aethe all ate too, of course, but nobody could have kept up with the other two when they got to competing with each other. Even that couldn't go on forever, though. After an hour or so of concentrated eating, both of them were flayed out in big, overstuffed seats of honor in a tavern, supplied with ale, and allowed to digest as townsfolk filtered in and out of the bar to congratulate them.
Aethe prodded Marco and tipped her chin toward Riv, whose massive hand was firmly clasped by Jane’s much smaller one. Marco let out a quiet breath, half amused.
“It is what it is,” he said. “We don’t know what it means, but if it makes them happy, that’s fine.”
Elisa followed his gaze and gave a small smile. “They’re a surprisingly good fit. Her class seems almost made to push his. Like the system knew even before they knew what paths those classes would take.”
They lingered a little while longer in the tavern, but it quickly became clear the townsfolk weren’t about to let the night pass quietly. Outside, songs had already started, rough voices blending into a chorus of relief. Drums beat on tabletops and dancers stamped in cobbled squares. It was less an organized festival than a whole-town release of tension, and no corner of the island seemed untouched.
Marco, Elisa, and Aethe slipped out, hoping for a quiet walk to help digest their food. They strolled along lamplit streets, trying to breathe past the noise and smell of ale, but the celebration was everywhere. Each time they turned a corner, someone hailed them, eager to press another cup into their hands or slap them on the back with thanks. Eventually Marco gave up looking for peace.
“No escaping it,” he said, and Elisa agreed with a sigh. Aethe only smiled, seeming to accept it better than either of her supposedly more social friends.
When at last they made it back to their inn, they found Riv and Jane were there as well. Beside them sat Riv’s parents, both looking equal parts tired from the day’s labors and proud of their son. The little group was ringed by neighbors and cousins, every voice eager to hear the story retold one more time. Riv did his best to make the bizarre story make sense, eventually just taking to over-relying on the idea of the outer seas being a bizarre place and claiming most fights out there were at least that weird.
"So, Marco. You're leaving now, I'd bet." Riv's father had chosen a moment when everyone else was wrapped up in another Riv story to ask his question. "I can't imagine you don't have more things to do once you've taken care of that attacker."
"There might be other ships in the water," Marco said. "You never know. We could probably spare another day."
"No. You can't." The man lifted a big mug of ale and took a drink. "No matter what happens, you have other islands to visit. Do you know what would have happened to us if you hadn't come along?"
"No idea. I'd imagine those walls would have fallen."
"Every wall, Marco. We calculated the range of that attack, judging by how far it hit you from. The whole town was in range of it from some part of the shore or another. They would have taken us apart brick by brick. No, you can't stay. Not when it means another town might fall."
"And you are worried about Riv."
"Can't not be. But that's not the issue here. I'll always worry about my boy. If he goes, I'll miss him. If I judge right, maybe forever. Most people who go out to the outer seas never come back, you know. For one reason or another."
Marco took a drink of his own ale. Something about this conversation felt like how he imagined asking a father for his daughter's hand in marriage might go, with a young man promising to take care of something without any assurance that they could actually do that. Just swearing, on whatever they could, that they'd try. He didn't want to pretend to be able to swear to more than he could just then.
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"That's where I'm going," Marco said. "It's not sure, but it's likely. And I can't promise I can keep him safe any more than I can promise the same thing for myself."
"Oh, I know it. I'm not even here to tell you not to." The man looked older, all of a sudden, tired for reasons that didn't have to do with propping up walls. "I'm just telling you it's okay. If it happens that way. We all go where we are supposed to go, or should. We all do what we are supposed to do, or we try to. And wherever that takes us, it does. No parent should stand between their child and that purpose. That's what I believe, anyway."
"What about Riv's mother?" Marco was shocked to be getting this permission from either of Riv's parents, but the mother seemed like a harder case. "Would she agree?"
"She'd gut me like a fish if she knew I was even suggesting it. But in the end, she agrees, even if she doesn't know it yet. She'll let him go."
The man finished his last gulp of ale and stood. He took a significant glance at Riv and Jane, who were no longer holding hands but were still sitting closer than most people would, casually.
"If he wants to go. Seems more up in the air than I would have thought. Sorry about that. Not my doing."
—
The next morning, Marco was up before the dawn, pacing the deck of The Foolish Endeavor. The ship creaked softly underfoot, still weary from the fight, and the pale light of early morning showed scars in the planking that the runes hadn’t yet mended. Marco ran his hand over a rail, feeling the slight unevenness, frowning as though his touch alone could will it back to perfection.
Behind him, footsteps tapped lightly. “So this is where you wandered off to.”
He turned to see Aethe, her hair loose from sleep, eyes still bleary. She crossed her arms. “You know I woke up to a cold, empty bed?”
Marco winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you like that. I wanted to make sure she was in good shape before we set out again.”
Aethe raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the deckboards. “Do you even really know how to do that? You poke the wood, frown at it, and what? Hope it fixes itself?”
Marco laughed, shaking his head. “Not exactly. I’ve got a skill for it. A whole shipwright skill, actually. It’s part of my class, always has been. I think it’s why she can upgrade herself so well when we find new materials, and all the automatic repairs run of it. It's really an active repair skill, though. Savage Shipwright, it's called, if you believe that.”
Aethe tilted her head. “And you never use it?”
“Not much anymore,” Marco admitted. He leaned back against the rail. “We’ve always had Riv. He’s better at it than I’ll ever be. Faster, too. Whenever something broke, he was there with his hands and his strength before I even thought of trying. So the skill sat dormant, mostly.”
Aethe stepped closer, her expression softening. “Maybe you should use it now. Riv can’t do everything, especially when he’s drained like he was yesterday. And you need something to do. I can tell.”
Marco nodded slowly. “Maybe it’s time I tried. For once, he might actually need me to. I'm really not sure we'll see him here again. Except to say goodbye, I mean.”
"Who?" Riv asked, throwing a bundle of planks over the rail. "That guard?"
"What are you doing here?" Marco asked. "It's not even light out."
"I'm fixing the ship, Marco. If we are leaving today, I need to make sure it's recovered. That was some nasty stuff yesterday." Riv looked from face to face between Marco and Aethe. "What? You look weird."
"I'm sorry, it's just… Aethe and I were talking, and we weren't sure we'd actually get you back on the sea. With the way things were with Jane, I mean."
"Oh." Riv looked embarrassed, all of a sudden. "So, about that…"
"I told you not to run ahead!" Jane yelled, shouldering a large duffel bag and struggling to move it efficiently down the road. "I can hardly carry this."
"Riv…"
"She forced my hand. She said she'd tell my mom I'm secretly sad out here."
"Oh," Marco said. "Yeah, I can see that being a problem."
"Stop whispering amongst yourselves," Jane said. "I'm going to ask, you know. But you should really let me come along. I'm bored out of my mind here, Marco. I'm a flat 10% increase to everything your ship does all by myself, and that's before you get me all the experience you got into Mister Overleveled over there."
"She's not wrong," Aethe said. "Ten percent is a lot."
"Ten percent and whatever we can do to multiply that through Riv's weird last-ditch skills," Jane said. "Besides, I already told my parents I'm going and talked Riv's mom into letting him go. It would be embarrassing for both of us to go back now."
"Both of you?" Elisa wandered up the road, still looking a bit bleary. "Why both?"
"Oh, I talked Riv into some things, too. He wasn't supposed to leave as suddenly as he did last time, either. It took me weeks to get Dello to tell me what he, Rice, and Gamble did to make that happen last time. His dad was so tired of all that he dragged him off to some new island, you know. In shame."
"I wondered what happened to them," Riv said. "I thought I might have to beat them up when I first got back."
"Oh, you still might, if you ever run into them. But it won't be a big deal, and that isn't the point. The point is, I have my evil hooks in Riv and I'm either coming along or I'm turning him into a normal husband. Your call."
Marco looked at Aethe, then Elisa. Both of their faces spoke volumes, and they both agreed with him entirely. As one, they sold Riv out.
"You have a deal," Marco said. "Welcome aboard."
"You have to involve me in this decision!" Riv yelled. "I get a choice!"
"Do you?" Elisa said. "Go get breakfast, Riv. Something to eat once we get back out on the water."