Haze strode ahead of them. His boots clicked against the cobblestone. The metallic cracks cleared him a path through the dock crowds. Everyone in the wagon hurried out. The other gold soldier turned to them, smiled, and calmly waited. He even helped Cutlery and Asim down. While polite, it felt odd for someone to do that for her now. Tripping just couldn't harm her anymore. The second golden soldier spoke once they were all on the street.
"I am Haze's partner. My name is Mlion. I am a ninth sliver." He said. The four of them looked at him in awe. Nice, NINTH SLIVER, and Haze's equal! Wow. Too bad he was kinda old and not hot. Cutlery decided she might have too much of an objective view of things in life. At least it was practical.
Mlion's armor glinted in Lutae's light as he turned. They followed him at a brisk pace to catch up to Haze. Haze was already five docks down the shoreline. He glanced at them without slowing. Mlion waved at people and shook a few hands. People seemed to know both the golden soldiers. They got different kinds of attention.
Mlion leads them after Haze onto a dock. He was standing on the deck of a longship. It was very thin and had eight oars on it. Haze smiled.
"Welcome to your ship. We're gonna make sure you can go fast, use the sails, then send you on your merry way. All four of you slivered up people should be like lightning on the water. So let's get to it. First off, let's swim." Haze said.
They looked at him. He looked back. He started unbuckling his armor. So did Mlion. Fish and Gill stripped to their underwear. Asim looked as shocked as Cutlery felt.
"We can't send you on a harbor mission just to drown!" Haze said. Basic swim lessons. Lesson one, no flailing. He stepped off the ship and flung his chest plate upward on the ship. He fell between the dock and the hull. Cutlery watches him hit like a spear. A few seconds later he came up and started paddling in the water. He laughed.
"Jump fools!" Haze yelled up to them. Cutlery thought that sounded like the most unenticing offer ever. Then Gill jumped off. So she did too. Swimming with babes was something the heroes did in stories, and this was her story. To be specific, it was Gill and not Haze that was the babe.
-
Cutlery thrashed. She reached out for anything to keep her from sinking. She sank. Two arms wrapped under her and she floated upward. She stopped thrashing about and looked around.
"Thank you, Gi..." Cutlery said and looked to her savior. Asim smiled back. Better than Haze. Cutlery could feel Asim furiously kicking. It seemed she found it easy. Asim slowly lowered Cutlery and showed her how to kick and paddle to stay afloat. Cutlery couldn't do it very well. Her mouth bobbed under the water often.
Fish and Gill took to the water like Fish with gills. So a fish. Haze and Mlion were swimming away. They stayed out of sight under the dock. Everyone moved to follow. Each beam was life support for Cutlery. Pushed from each support carried her most of the way. Slime and barnacles covered the wooden beams. The others just swam. Cutlery found the experience fun, as long as the beams stayed near. It felt like a permanent shower. She hadn't done much showering. Baths were also foreign.
Eventually, they made it to the end of the dock. The dock had walls to either side near the shore. Shadows passed by above them. Haze and Mlion stepped up out of the water. Both of their bodies, despite being much older, rippled with strength. Cutlery wondered how old they were. If she was six, coming up on seven soon, they could be in their teens still. That made them seem conceivably less creepy.
As everyone came up on the shore, Mlion tapped the stone wall of the wharf. A symbol brightened. It was in the shape of a theatre. It dimmed and then a crack appeared. The stone wall swung open. They all moved into a moist chamber.
Inside small boats were bobbing in a hidden underground harborage. The stone doorframe swung shut. They could still see through the doorway to the underside of the dock. The door was somehow transparent on the inside.
"Here we will learn," Haze said. He nodded to Mlion.
"I am to be your teacher ladies and gentlemen," Mlion said with a small bow. "I have knowledge of the sailor lifestyle. We will only take a few hours, as your slivers abilities should make you excellent hires. Even though you will be rookie mariners." Mlion said. He walked over to a set of bobbing sailboats. "Everyone take a boat," Mlion said. Haze spoke up.
"I'll be taking my leave Mlion. Other matters to attend to. Good luck all." Haze said. His eyes lingered on Cutlery. He returned outside.
Mlion began to yell orders. They all rushed for boats. Cutlery stepped into hers and if it weren't for her sliver abilities she would have launched into the water. The small craft rocked violently. Asim smiled at her and Fish giggled. Gill paid no mind. All classic.
-
"You just threw the rope around the thing! Make an actual knot, not a circle! If I have to say knot not again I'm gonna lose it!" Mlion barked. Cutlery found he was very attentive. This made it hard to cheat and not learn. Asim seemed fine balancing on her boat. Fish was confident. The confidence was unfounded though. Gill seemed to be figuring it out faster than Mlion could teach him. The afternoon wore by.
Before Cutlery knew it, Lutaes edge was peaking through the door. Mlion excused them from their boats.
"Miserable. Let Gill do all the talking, if not him, Fish can at least lie well. Asim and Cutlery, look pretty, flex your slivers. They'll love you if you can launch up and down the rigging at least." Mlion said with a sigh. "Gill you can also just look pretty if it doesn't work out," Mlion commented after glancing at him. He was still shirtless from their swim. He had a nice robust hourglass-shaped body. Like a buff young mother. He could make coins flow back in the Pink House.
Mlion told them to come with him. Further, into the underground dock, they all got on a slightly larger rowboat.
"I'm going to teach you all to row on our way there. Very easy to learn, the hard part is doing it with other people. Usually, somebody plays drums or something that sets a rhythm. Ready? Cutlery you go there, Fish here, Asim there, perfect Gill." Mlion said and stationed them. He sat at the bow, looking towards them.
"Match me," Fish said. He locked the oar into a hook and began to paddle. Gill mimicked him on the opposite side. Helm left, or whatever it was called. They started to move. Cutlery found rowing easy. Just stare at Gills's rippling arms, and move at the same time. She was a bit weaker so they turned occasionally. All of them being slivers allowed the boat to skate down the tunnel into the dusky harbor.
The blue star was tinted green while it set. The water glinted in its light, calm, and smooth.
"Head to port. Left! Port is left! It has the same number of letters! Good, follow along the edge of the docks here. We'll be going to the end of the harbor. See the big tower at the entrance of the harbor there? That way but stay along the docks." Mlion chattered.
"What's the tower for?" Cutlery asked as she rowed. Fish piped up as Mlion opened his mouth.
"Mages blast ships with Fire if they don't belong. Pirates, enemy nations, ships full of plague or monsters, etc." Fish said. Mlion nodded and they kept going in silence. Their ship was very fast Cutlery learned. Other evening rowers quickly went from their bow to their stern.
"Here's our ship. Look strong, move stuff, climb stuff. Be in it for coin. Remember, you're all just travelers looking to make coin from one place to another." Mlion said. He was pointing at a large vessel. It had four masts, The main mast had to be nearly seventy-five feet tall. Four decks of canons sat below the main deck. Beyond, that it was all just a mess of rope to her. Every bit of rigging crawled with people. Odd figures in four-colored robes peaked over the edges of the ship.
The robed figures lit candles along the ship's railings. Blue, white, red, and brown were the colors of the flames and robes. It was like a circus.
"Behold, the heretic flagship. The fucking gonna blow up soon." Mlion said sarcastically. Great. Wait, blow up?
