Deepwater's Daughter

Chapter 3

"You must be the new medic," said a cheerful-looking satyr with dainty, forward-facing horns just peeking out through her brown bangs. Her chestnut-colored fur contrasted sharply with her white tunic and elbow-length gloves that protected her hands as she ladled some kind of porridge from a sooty kettle and plopped it onto Ysara's tin tray. As far as Ysara could tell, this was the only food offered and the only satyr present who was dressed in white.

"Yes," Ysara answered, staring down at the glistening mass of speckled goop quivering on her plate. "Are those... raisins?" she asked.

"My own recipe!" the satyr cook beamed.

"I don't really like..." Ysara began to protest.

"My name's Billi," the cheerful satyr continued, her big brown eyes scanning the length of Ysara's tail as she leaned across the kettle to get a better look at the naga girl.

"I'm Ysara," she said, feeling a little self-conscious now, "Do you have any fish?"

"Fish?" Billi chuckled, "They don't swim this high!" She gestured with her ladle toward one of the portholes in the wall of the crowded galley, and Ysara swayed backward to avoid a flung gobbet of raisin porridge.

"You can eat things besides fish, right?" Billi asked, looking suddenly concerned.

"Well, yes," Ysara admitted, "I just..." She looked down at the spreading pool of glop on her platter and sighed in defeat.

"I know it doesn't look like much," Billi laughed, "but it tastes all right... Trust me."

"I'm sorry," Ysara said, "I didn't mean to seem ungrateful."

"It's fine," the satyr girl assured her, "It's tough, the first time you leave the ground. It's not all bad though."

"Thank you," Ysara said, trying to sound like she meant it.

Billi smiled and nodded. "I'll see you around then," she said.

Ysara nodded as she wriggled away from the serving station and turned to look for a place to eat her raisin mush.

Plec waved to get her attention from a nearby table. The mouse girl gestured toward an empty space on the bench beside her, across from Rasha and a rather dour-looking satyr with speckled gray fur wearing dun-colored coveralls only slightly cleaner than Plec's.

Ysara pulled back to let a pair of sailors in black uniforms clop by, and then she darted toward the open table.

"Thank you," Ysara whispered to Plec as she coiled into the gap between table and bench.

"What?" Plec asked, lifting her oily fingers to her over-large ear.

"Thank you," Ysara repeated, louder now.

"Of course!" Plec answered with a toothy grin, "Us oddsenbits gotta stick together."

"What?" Ysara asked, giving the mouse girl a perplexed look.

"Oddsenbits," Plec said, "That's what we are... parts that don't really fit in with the rest." She gestured around the galley at the all the black-clad satyrs enjoying their gruel.

Ysara looked at the only crewman who shared their table, but the gray-furred satyr seemed to be staring at the bulkhead behind Ysara's shoulder as he methodically shoveled porridge into his mouth.

"That's Mudge," Plec explained, "He keeps the ship flying."

"Hello, Mudge," Ysara greeted the gloomy-looking satyr.

Mudge mumbled something through a mouthful of porridge, his eyes still on the wall behind Ysara.

Ysara drew back her half-extended hand and looked to her other companions, afraid that she had somehow offended the satyr.