A Quest for the Stars

~Lenoria~

“And who might you be?” Lenoria remained calm, but having a gun planted at the back of her head made her feel on edge. She guessed that the only reason Alistair raised his hands instead of coming to her rescue was because they were not alone.

“Turn around.”

Having no choice in the matter, Lenoria adjusted one of her fingerless gloves and turned around slowly. She was at a disadvantage, but she needed to formulate an escape plan. Clara had been reduced to tears thanks to the spiders and feebly collapsed when the assailant pushed her away.

Alistair risked his own safety to catch Clara, and that was enough to trigger the sound of several firearms clicking. Lenoria counted five, but there’s always the possibility there could be up to twice as many. Thankfully, they didn’t fire but the agitated voice of a man shouted, “Hands in the air, brat!”

The lad complied, but only after he made sure Clara was unharmed. The two of them raised their hands, anxiously waiting for what happened next.

By now, the room came into focus just as Lenoria caught sight of her assailants when she turned around. Wooden crates scattered across the room, some opened, and others closed. Five people stood on them, while a sixth remained on the ground to point her flintlock pistol at Lenoria. This one was a human woman in traveler's clothes, which consisted of leather boots, a wool shirt, and breeches that were held by a sturdy belt. She was a brunette middle-aged woman of short stature and average build save for the near lack of neck.

Behind her, standing on the crates, was the ragtag group of ne'er-do-wells who were all garbed in leather armor and boots, a neckerchief around their necks, and blue bandanas on their heads. The biggest and swolest of them was a half-orc with a thin moustache that drooped downwards, and all of his black hair tied into a top-knot. Two furry individuals with faces like dogs - caninefolk - tried their hand at intimidation by baring their teeth at Lenoria. And two small folk - halflings, Lenoria assumed - stood on the tallest crates. The male had balding silver hair while the red-haired female had a youthful yet mischievous smile.

There was a seventh member who, unlike the others, was merely observing with a cocky smile on his face. A cutlass was strapped to his waist, and he was garbed with a simple pair of black slacks and a red shirt unbuttoned at the top. A black hat was settled on his brown dreads and an X-shaped scar marked his right cheek.

“Pirates. I’ve never seen such a colorful bunch before.” Turning back to the woman, the apparent leader, “Hunter,” Lenoria greeted casually. Taking offense, the older woman bludgeoned Lenoria with a pistol whip for her trouble. “Ow.”

“Mrs. Hunter to you! Have you already forgotten how to address your elders?!”

“I wish I could forget you,” Lenoria mumbled. “How could I forget, ma’am?” She asked cheerfully. “My, my, my, it’s only been three months and you’ve already gotten five more wrinkles and an extra chin.”

“I see your snark is the only thing you’ve sharpened since the last time we met.” With a patronizing look from her brown eyes, Mrs. Hunter pulled her firearm away. “Of all the people to come here, it had to be this delinquent.”

Pearl floated closer to the girl, her lips just inches away from Lenoria’s ear. “I’d hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.”

“You know her, Lenoria?” Alistair asked the question with the obvious answer. "And why did she call you that?"

Quietly shooing Pearl away, Lenoria maintained her composure. “Yup. That’s my old music teacher, Mrs. Hunter. I had a phase where I missed class a lot, and some teachers didn't take kindly to that.”

“Starflower fired her because her teaching methods were unorthodox and too cruel,” Clara chimed in, nearly hiccupping from her crying.

"I had no love for that flowery little elf, but everyone in that school needed some serious discipline." The former teacher sighed. "If only I had my paddle right now, but this gun will just have to do for now."

“And when you’re done complaining, I want you to get your things ready because we’re here to save you. So, tell your men to stand down,” Lenoria said fearlessly.

“Save us? Don’t make me laugh."

“Lenoria, mind if I interject?” asked Alistair.

Lenoria shot the lad a smile. “Don’t worry about me, Alistair. I can handle someone like her, no problem.”

The older woman’s smug look dissipated, a contorted glare taking its place. “I had enough of your disrespect. Men, tie her up!”

In the blink of an eye, Lenoria grabbed onto Mrs. Hunter’s wrist and used her other hand to smack her firearm away. What Lenoria lacked in strength, she made up for with quickness, and it all happened so fast that the former teacher had no time to reinforce her grip.

The sound of guns clicking filled the air again. “Hold up!” The man in dreads broke his silence. Without looking at the rest of the men, he added “Stand down. Let her speak.”

The rest of the firing squad lowered their weapons once the order was given. “Yes, Cap’n,” they said in unison.

Lenoria let out a loud "Phew!" while Mrs. Hunter was nearly bursting with tears. “She laid her hands on me! What are you doing?”

“I told you before, ma’am, that my crew doesn’t kill needlessly. You’re paying us to protect you, not to kill or kidnap.” The apparent leader of the group then gestured for Lenoria to continue.

“Um, thanks.” Lenoria nodded to Alistair and Clara, who used this as a chance to lower their hands. “For starters, we bumped into some old timer on the road about a mile from here. He looked famished and dehydrated, so we helped him out.”

“He sent us your way while he went to the capital to get help. He said monsters kept you trapped in here. I’m sure His Majesty will send help eventually in just a matter of hours,” Alistair added.

“Well, what do you know?” Mrs. Hunter chuckled. “Old man Claude did what he promised he’d do. And he sent help!”

“Seems that way to me,” the man in dreads surmised. “But even if the king sends his forces this way, I doubt we’ll live long enough to see them. The boy is covered in armor and the girls are too stringy, so they’re useless as bait.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Not like I’d use innocent people as bait, mind you.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me ‘boy,’ especially when you don’t even look older than me,” Alistair said.

“My mistake, ma’am.”

“I’m not a girl.”

“Whatever.” The leader bowed to Lenoria. “Name’s Caesar. And you’re Lenoria, right?”

“Right. And the two behind me are Clara and Alistair.” Lenoria took a moment to examine the face of the leader. “I could have sworn I saw your face posted on a bounty board somewhere.”

Caesar grinned. “You heard of me?”

Bounties come and go thanks to the abundance of adventurers and honorable policemen back in Helix City. Petty criminals typically fetch for ten gold pieces or lower, while high profile criminals have gone as high as twenty thousand. Adventurers of all stripes often waited in taverns for bounties that suited their experience, and most wanted criminals were the kind that had become too much for the police to handle.

So, it wasn’t difficult for Lenoria to sift through the memory banks in her brain to pinpoint who this man was.

“You’re the captain of the Celestial Compass.” Lenoria slammed her fist down at the palm of her hand. “I remember now! You’re wanted for a botched robbery at a jewelry store, a botched plundering at a fishing market, and four hundred gold’s worth of parking tickets!”

“Five hundred gold’s worth,” Caesar corrected.

The halfling woman from Caesar’s crew piped up. “That can’t be it! What about those crimes of infamy, like making rich folks walk the plank?”

Lenoria scoffed. “You mean those folks you shoved off fifty yards from the shore?”

“What about the poison we laced on the captain of the guard’s wine?” asked the half-orc.

“You laced his wine with sleeping poison. All you gave him was a good morning’s sleep.”

“And the booty from Robertson’s Plunder?” The male caninefolk asked anxiously.

“That’s the name of a restaurant. Are you guys even trying?”

“Now that you mention it, the treasure chest was tasty when we ate it,” confirmed the female caninefolk.

“Can we get back on the subject, please?” Everyone turned to look at Mrs. Hunter. “Thank you. Look, I may have stepped out of line earlier, but for all I know you could be seeking payback! How do I know you’re not working with the monsters out there?”

“I didn’t even consider that, to be honest with you,” Caesar said. “Pleasantries aside, I guess it’s better if you answered the lady’s question.”

Lenoria felt the eyes of the pirates locked in on her. She came in with honest intentions, but what these people saw was some kids playing heroes at best, and marauders at worst. They had every right to be on edge. Mrs. Hunter may have been cruel, but she was a musician more than she was a fighter. It was Caesar she was wary of; incompetent pirates they may be, but they were still pirates, and Caesar was leading them. And if some law-abiding goody two-shoes - like a paladin - made any false movements, they would feel threatened.

"Mrs. Hunter, please listen to me. You and I had our differences in the past, but I promise we're not here to hurt you." The young girl made the effort to drop the snark from earlier, but the teacher's mood remained the same.

“It feels like you're telling the truth, but I just have to make sure. You, knight,” the older woman called for Alistair. “Are these girls coercing you into acting as their bodyguard? I know enchantments and you don’t appear to be under any spell, so they have some dirt on you, right?”

Alistair shook his head solemnly. “No, ma’am. I’m on a job from House Bisset to take these girls across the border. It was my idea to come here to save you, but I needed Miss Lenoria’s approval.”

“House Bisset? The House Bisset? Are you saying that this girl,” Mrs. Hunter pointed at Lenoria, “is important enough to grab House Bisset’s attention?”

Alistair nodded.

“Oh gods, he’s not fibbing.” Mrs. Hunter’s posture became more relaxed as she continued to prod Alistair for information. Whether Lenoria liked it or not, Mrs. Hunter’s mood was the key needed to move forward. She could keep the pirates in check if they didn’t trust Alistair and even get them to cooperate in finding a way out of the compound. Without her, things could turn chaotic quickly.

“And you’re sure she didn’t charm you?” Mrs. Hunter asked a little less maliciously from before.

“He’s not charmed,” Clara said. “It’s all true; we had the honor of meeting Miss Gabrielle Bisset.”

“Turns out she’s an administrator for the Scholastic Guild.” Lenoria let out a light chuckle. “Fancy, that. Starflower got fired and I’m sure anyone who supported him will follow suit if they haven’t already.”

The older woman burst out laughing. “The elf got fired? Oh, that is definitely good news. That means I can get my job back if I go home.”

Alistair looked relieved, albeit only a little. “Splendid. If you promise to do better, I’m sure Miss Bisset can give you another chance. As for your pirate friends, well…”

Tension filled the air when Alistair exchanged looks with Caesar. For Lenoria, this was no different from a police standoff with a bunch of criminals. His next words would be crucial in making either new friends or foes.

“...it looks like we’ll have to work together, for now.” Alistair sighed. “I have a moral obligation not to associate with criminals, but circumstances like this should be enough to justify an exception.”

“A boy after my heart,” the halfling woman of the crew said sardonically. “You’re not so hot yourself, you know.”

“She’s right, but so are you,” Caesar reassured Alistair. “Let’s call it a truce, and when it’s over, how about you give us a five-minute head start before you try to arrest us, eh?”

Alistair relaxed his shoulders. “I can’t promise that, but I can promise to do my best to keep us alive.”

“Tsukuyomi and I will do the same,” Clara promised.

“You sound a bit more reasonable than earlier, so let’s try to get along,” Lenoria told Mrs. Hunter. "What changed your attitude so suddenly?"

"What can I say? I may have been mistaken if both this boy and Gabrielle Bisset see something in you."

"Is she really such a big deal?"

"Such a big deal?" Mrs. Hunter was almost offended. "She has a strict work ethic and will work you down to the bone if she has to, but she'll do right by you if you do the same for her. Not everyone knows about her nobility, but I know bard circles who would drop everything for the opportunity to write a sonnet for her. What did you even do to get her attention?"

"I, um, ranked third for the Class of '59. A-and apparently, I'm the best candidate to operate golems and other machinery."

Mrs. Hunter seemed genuinely interested to hear more, while the pirates had eased up and withdrawn themselves from the conversation for now. "Is that so?"

"I know it sounds a little conceited, but-"

"It's not. Be proud of your academic achievements. A little gloating never hurt anyone." Mrs. Hunter smiled. "I guess you aren't the slacker I thought you were."

"Let me prove it to you. If I get you out of here alive and you promise to be good, I promise to put in a good work to Miss Bisset for you." Lenoria extended her hand. "What do you say?"

“It’s a deal,” said Mrs. Hunter. The two women shook hands on it. “So, what’s your plan against the giants surrounding this compound?”

The trio knew there was something they had been meaning to ask, and that sentence alone both answered their question and brought them a sense of terror.

"Eh?"

A single footstep rumbled softly outside. Everyone else appeared to be distracted by Mrs. Hunter’s revelation, but Lenoria’s sharp senses almost missed the footstep. She then heard a sound that gradually grew in volume towards the warehouse. “Look out!” Lenoria pulled Alistair away and Tsukuyomi did the same with Clara. Mrs. Hunter scrambled to find cover.

But it was too late.

A massive boulder was forced through a window at the top of the eastern wall. It missed Lenoria’s party by merely a few inches as it caused a loud crash and a rain of broken glass.

When the dust cleared, Clara was the first to stand and seemed horrified at the destruction the boulder caused. At least three of the wooden crates had been wrecked and the pirates lied prone on the ground.

And then she spotted it. A rope had been wrapped around the boulder and a portion of it had a big red blot smudged on it.

And attached to the boulder was the corpse of old man Claude.