Finua

Chapter 13: The Sky on Earth

"What did the Lady tell you about this prison?" Auga asked as she followed me up the gangplank onto the Greengut.

"Uh, nothing? It's not like we're entitled to any help. If we fail then that's what we deserve."

"Right. I guess I just got carried away with the ease of everything we've been doing so far."

We were greeted on deck by one of Ran's crewmates: a thin, scraggly brown bear with eyes the size of jousting shields.

"Welcome aboard, welcome aboard, my name is Valdopeer, and I understand that this is your first voyage, correct?"

Auga and I exchanged glances, then looked back at him.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Frax's castle?"

Valdopeer's eyes somehow grew even wider. "OH SHIT! Fry and Amy! I remember you! Looks like your oven's gonna start beeping any minute now, F—"

"Finua."

"You know what?" Auga said. "He remembered the first letters. That's good enough for me."

"Now come on then, we still have lots of stuff to cover," he said, beckoning us to follow him. "Walk and talk, walk and talk. Now this... is a mast. I'm sure you've some experience with them, maybe in books...? Maybe not books. No offense. To be honest I fibbed on my resume so I don't know what anything is either. How's Frax, dude?"

"Last I saw of him were his brains."

Valdopeer blanched. "He's... Frax is dead?"

"He died in combat. It's fine."

"Oh my god he was murdered?!"

"Yeah, he let his guard down and got what was coming to him, now how did you get here?"

"Well Rhinoceros and I just fell victim to apathy, to be honest. Once Anthony overdosed, housesitting that whole place just became too much for the two of us. So we set off south to find our fortune! So to speak. I know you guys aren't like that here."

"Rhinoceros is here too?" Auga asked. "Hey, he seemed like someone who might actually know about ships!"

"He's on board somewhere! You'll meet him soon."

"Poor Frax's castle..." I lamented. "Falling into disrepair, all alone..."

"I mean, it's just a castle," Valdopeer sad. "The evacuation of its owner left it as prime real estate for squatters everywhere. Not a big deal."

"How DARE you! Have you no soul?! That castle has great sentimental value!"

"And here," Valdopeer pressed on. "Is the... below-deck section. Down those stairs. The mess deck is, as far as I know, a synonym for 'kitchen,' and yes, we have sails and an engine, Syfor Lek spares no expense! Except on its working class."

"Would Rhinoceros know anything about Bitirii?" Auga asked.

"Captain Ran doesn't even know," I answered as Valdopeer shrugged. "I doubt anyone would know more than Captain Ran."

"You're so respectful!" came a sarcastic voice from down below, as a winged and feathered woman with a triangular mask emerged and began coming up towards the deck. For a moment I thought it was Ran herself. But this was a different harpy. She was shorter, with a more muscular frame and longer wings that she didn't bother to fold so neatly as her captain.

"Commander Finua?" she said, offering me her hand. I gave her a high-five, not sure of what else to do.

"Nice," she said, wiping her palm on her trousers. She lifted up her visor and we saw her pleasant-looking face marred only by a giant hooked beak in place of a pair of lips. "I'm Cooper, First Mate. You looking to kiss Ran's ass? It's not that easy, she has a bullshit detector on her. And you must be Auga. I know all of your names but I'm not sure which one is which. Lugoke is the bony one?"