Author's Preface
That night was stressful for Captain Oak as he hid Invidia from the rest of his crew. The thought of hiding the stowaway that created damage to the haul of the ship would spark a possible mutiny among the crew. Oak and Ash thought to keep her in Captain Oak’s quarters, with the two of them taking shifts to keep an eye on her. It was hard convincing Ash to settle with giving Invidia the crown, but on the condition that when we got to the island she could go free to wherever her heart wanted, as long as it was not on the Rhytidome.
First mate Ash took the first watch over Invidia. Captain Oak took hold of the helm and guided his ship through the unknown waters. He twitched his fingers along the edges and his head moved back and forth to remove a kink in his neck. After a few uneventful moments at the helm he eyed the door to the galley. He twitched his fingers again and scratched at the injection site Tiko made with the opium. Captain Oak looked over to see a younger deckhand moving boxes of material that fixed the hull Invidia bursted through. Captain Oak waited till the young lad was in ear shot of a whisper.
“Hatchet, come here.” Captain Oak said, moving his head to gesture over.
“Ey captain, what might it be?” Hatchet asked, eagerly awaiting orders.
“Don’t be so tense, I need you to hold on to the helm while I grab something to eat.” Captain Oak’s shoulders slouched as he leaned back lazily with his head looking up at the night sky.
“Captain?” Hatchet questioned as he took a step back.
“Oh, don’t worry. Just make sure it doesn’t spin. Hold it steady and I will be right back.” Captain Oak twitched his fingers and looked at Hatchet with side eyes. He jumped back into a proper position and reached out to the young deckhand.
Captain Oak held onto the helm for a moment till Hatchet felt comfortable to hold it on his own. Once the captain let go a huge smile ran across Hatchet’s face and Oak shared in the joy the young man had. As Captain Oak started to take steps back from the helm the deckhand looked back at him with determination to not fail his captain.
Oak made his way down to the galley door and stood still for a brief moment, took a deep breath and walked in. The lingering smells of onions and garlic still sat in the room. The odor was thick and the room was humid. Captain Oak looked around the galley. The tables were empty and the serving station was cleaned. He slowly walked around the room, trying to see anything that looked like Tiko’s bag. The thought dawned on him that Tiko wouldn’t just leave his bag in here unsupervised, unless he locked it up somewhere. Captain Oak made a dash behind the serving station and found underneath it was a lock cabinet. Captain Oak quickly shuffled in his bag and pulled out a set of keys. After all he is the captain of the Rhytidome, why wouldn’t he have the keys to every lock on his ship. One by one Captain Oak tried every key. Then he tried a second time and a third. None of the keys worked.
“Damnit,” Captain Oak said, tossing the keys at the ground. “Why would you give me a taste of paradise and keep it from me?”
Captain Oak sat at the ground twitching his fingers along his bag, when all of a sudden a small click was heard. Oak looked down and saw a little crab climb out of the pad lock. It snipped at him and skittered to the floor and hid underneath the floorboards.
Captain Oak scooted back on the floor and looked on with disbelief. He slowly approached the cabinet and took off the lock. Inside were standard cooking equipment, spices and herbs. Moving some of the pots and pans quietly out of the way, Captain Oak found it. The medical bag Tiko used to sedate Oak.
Captain Oak opened the bag and began to search for the opium. He was too focused on finding the bottle that he didn’t hear the door to the galley open.
“Captain,” a voice called out.
Captain Oak froze in place, his breathing became quiet and shallow. Sweat started to appear on his forehead.
The voice continued, “Ash is asking for your assistance. Hello? Captain are you here?”
Footsteps echoed along the hollow floor. Each step getting closer. Captain Oak reached for his billy club in his bag, when he heard a yelp from the crewmate.
“Ah! Damnit!” The voices bellowed out.
Soon a noise from a connecting room was heard.
“What’s going on? Who’s out there?” Tiko’s groggy and dry voice came from behind the door.
“One of those damn crabs snapped at my hand,” the crewmate said.
Captain Oak took the distraction to crawl out of the galley and walk straight to his quarters. He spotted Hatchet standing next to the helm with his head down, and Boso was holding on, with a scowl on his face and dagger eyes as Captain Oak.
“Captain, why would you let this swab hold the helm?” Boso asked with a sour voice.
“I needed food,” Captain Oak walked to his door not looking at Boso. He stopped just before opening to his quarters and looked at Boso. “You can teach Hatchet how to sail, since you like playing captain, bosun.” Captain Oak entered his quarters with Boso’s voice growing more sour and frustrated, his words getting muffled as the door closed behind Captain Oak.
He looked around the room to see Ash and Invidia sitting at a makeshift table of loose broken table pieces and chairs. The crown sat in the middle of both ladies and a pile of gold and treasures sat next to Invidia.
“Captain!” cried Ash, looking desperate for help.
“What have you done to her?” Captain Oak asked while pulling out his club.
“Oh, claim yourself captain. We were just playing a game,” Invidia answered with a devilish grin sweeping across her face. “And as you can see, I’m winning-”
“You’re cheating!” Ash interrupted.
“I would never be like you, and cheat. You tried pulling out your guns after you lost the first bet.” Invidia looked over to Captain Oak. “Now is that anyway to play fairly and be on top?” Her eyes narrowed onto Captain Oak’s club.
Captain Oak blushed as he withdrew his weapon. “Ash, I have to ask, is that our gold you are betting with?”
“It is but I can win it back if you lend me just a bit more to win this next bet,” with hysteria in Ash’s voice she scrambled to her feet and looked desperately into her captain's eyes.
“No,” Captain Oak said dryly.
“But Captain-” Ash started.
“Let your captain speak, he is thinking of a way to beat me.” Invidia said.
Captain Oak stood there and contemplated what bet he could win against the sea witch and her tricks. Even though he knows his ship inwards and out, a bet in these quarters would still give Invidia too many tricks to play since she already explored the ship. Then he thought quickly on some loaded dice, but her little crab creatures would somehow sneak their way around to fix the fixed dice. Finally it clicked, she has been stuck on the Searcher for who knows how long without touching land. The Western Islands would be a great neutral spot to form a wager on its soils.
“Once we reach the Western Islands, we can form our bet there.” Captain Oak said.
“Interesting, please continue.” Invidia replied, twirling her finger between the points of the crown.
“It seems to be within reason that you have not been off your ship for quite some time, and neither of us have reached this far out to sea to explore the Western Islands. So, I bet that we can find the cause of the blue crab production, before you can identify why we are uncovering the cause.” Captain Oak walked to the makeshift table and grabbed a handful of gold. “For all the gold Ash lost, that lovely crown of yours, and you leave empty handed from the Rytidome for good.” Captain Oak wagered, he rained down the gold in his hand back down on the pile.
Invidia stared at the captain with narrow eyes, a moment passed before a small smirk found itself on her lips. She stood up for her chair and walked to the bay window in the back of the quarter.
“Your bet seems to be vague enough that neither one of us could win or lose, but up to interpretation once one of us finds the information we are looking for. This one does give you the advantage for the purpose of winning this bet, but you give yourself a disadvantage since you don’t know if even this,” Invidia put her finger to her lips, "what did you call it? Blue crab? Is being produced here.”
She turned around to see a confused Ash staring at Oak and a determined Oak looking at her. The small smirk that found home on her face turned into a familiar devilish grin. She walked back to the Captain and held out her hand.
“And if I can find your cause for finding this, Blue Crab, then all I ask is for you to do a favor for me.”
“A favor?” Captain Oak seemed perplexed at the simplicity of her wager. “What kind of favor?”
“None that would be out of reason, just a simple favor.” Invidia stood there holding out her hand.
“Captain, her bet seems innocent, but she is a trickster. Have her explain the favor.” Ash suggested.
“Do not worry, I just need you to take me to a place. Parley Cay, have you heard of it?” Invidia asked.
Both Captain Oak and Ash looked at each other and back at Invidia.
“Seems simple enough, we have a bet.” Captain Oak said, as he reached for her hand to form the deal.
Her hands were delicate to the touch but a secret strength hid beneath her skin. A small pinch came across Captain Oak’s hand and as he pulled his hand away from her a small crab snipped at him from the palm of her hand.
“Don’t worry captain, I am just officiating our bet.” Invidia explained.
“Land ho!” Shouted a crewmate from the crow’s nest.
As the morning sun started to crest over the horizon of the sea, the Western Islands were just in sight from the ship. Captain Oak stepped out of his quarters to be greeted with the morning sun upon his face. The warmth was friendly and relaxing. It gave a glimpse of hope to his long journey, but the moment quickly fled when the sun disappeared behind the horizon again.
“Captain! Large unknown movement on the farther end of the island!” Informed the crewmate.
“Try to determine the cause of movement and how it's blocking the sun,” Captain Oak ordered.
He pulled out his spy glass to see if he could see the cause as well. A large formless shadow came into focus in his glass. The movement seemed slow and raised towards the sky, and with the same speed lowered back down to the sea. The sun shone into view of his glass and he quickly turned away from the blinding light. He looked back to his room and saw Invidia sitting in his chair smiling wickedly. A little crab scuttled along his spy glass and raised its pinchers in the air and back down again. As if it was mimicking the formless shadow in the distance.
Invidia leaned in and chucked at the captain, “Welcome to Vara'Karu, or should I say the Western Islands?”
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