Rylan's first stop was naturally Soren. He found his friend still snoring away in his hammock, and gently but firmly shook him awake.

"Huh, whazzah?" Soren blurted out, blinking his eyes open. "Is it my shift already?"

Rylan shook his head.

"Then let me sleep, damnit!"

"Soren, Tamina basically just told me to hide from her when we arrive," Rylan hissed. "Lest her Contract forces her to bring me back to Thistlebloom."

Soren stiffened in the middle of turning over. "Fog. Vidric must've ordered her to... fooog."

"Exactly," Rylan said with a sigh. "Sorry for waking you, but..."

Shaking his head, Soren sat up with a groan. "No, I'm glad you did. We definitely need to sort through this mess. Tell me exactly what she said."

Rylan sat down in his own hammock, his legs swinging below him as he quietly repeated her words back to Soren, trying his best to remember her exact phrasing.

To his surprise, he found himself repeating what she'd said with confidence that he'd gotten her words pretty much verbatim. Is this one of those latent talents unlocked by increasing my Mind Attribute?

Rylan filed that idea away for later inspection.

Soren rubbed his eyes and yawned a few times while he listened, but appeared to be doing his best to take it all in. When Rylan finished, his friend looked thoughtful.

"You know," Soren started slowly. "I had a feeling something funny was going on already yesterday. It was weird how abruptly Tammi left, right when you started to tell her about the letter. I guess this explains."

Rylan frowned. "Does it? That seems like a stretch, to be honest. I suppose it might have been a problem for her if the conversation had segued into what I was planning to do, where I was planning to go, but she could hardly have seen that coming from half a sentence about a letter, right?"

"It does feel like an overreaction," Soren admitted. "Still, in hindsight, I really feel there was something weird about..." He trailed off for a second, his eyes widening. "Oh, fog. Ryles, what if the reason she cut you off... what if she did it so she wouldn't have to report back what you were about to say?!"

Rylan cocked his head, confused. "What? That doesn't make any sense. Why would Vidric even care about anything I have to say? Lending out his bodyguard to his hosts to help stop an active escape is one thing, but she's supposed to be guarding him, not tracking down fugitives for people he barely knows. And it's not like he's still going to be hanging around Thistlebloom at this point; I mean, it's been weeks!"

Soren bit his lip. "You're right. He shouldn't care where you are... unless he was after you from the start."

Rylan's eyes widened. "What?"

Soren swung his legs over the edge of his hammock, standing up in front of Rylan and gesticulating wildly as he spoke in a hushed voice. "Think about it, Ryles! We never did learn why Vidric showed up at Thistlebloom all of a sudden, unannounced. The Talons could be the party that's looking for you, the ones the letter was trying to warn you about!"

Rylan brows drew together. "If that's true, the letter would have been a rather late warning, though... I'd long run into Vidric by the time I got it. Fog, you said he even saw me a second time in the kitchen after I'd gained my Skill and passed out!"

"Yeah, but didn't you tell me the letter had actually arrived earlier in the afternoon?" Soren countered. "Because if so, it still got to the estate before Vidric, it just didn't make it into your hands in time. Also, I don't know if you got a good look at Vidric's vessel, but it looked really fast. Probably not much slower than the gull that delivered your letter."

Rylan swallowed, the walls seeming to close in on him. Could it really be the case that the Talons were the ones looking for him? And from the way Soren put it, Tamina was aware, and actively trying not to learn too much about Rylan's plans so she couldn't betray his location...

Soren sighed, placing his hands down on Rylan's knees and squeezing gently, the contact grounding. "Look, this is still all just speculation. I might very well be reading too much into this, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"But why? Why would the Talons be looking for me?"

Soren shrugged helplessly. "If you manage to track down your father, maybe he can tell you? For now, let's focus on getting you away from her. You either need a great hiding spot, or a way off the ship that's not the gangplank."

Rylan took a deep breath and lifted his chin. "All right, how are we going to find one of those?"

Soren flashed him a smile. "How else? We consult the experts."

"So, to be clear," Yuel drawled, from his position reclined in a little nest of pillows and blankets on the floor, with his head on Nazyr's lap. "You want us to help you get off the ship without Miss Tamina catching a whiff?" He let out a dramatic sigh, lifting the back of his hand to his forehead. "Oh, to be young and in love again..."

Nazyr guffawed. Soren at least had the decency to clasp a hand over his mouth and try to stifle his shaking shoulders.

"That's totally not what this is about," Rylan said tersely. "I'm still a runaway indentured servant, lest you forgot, so there may be some people looking for me. The fewer people who know where I am, the better. Tamina is just especially a risk factor because of, well, her Contract. It may... oblige her to help search for me."

Yuel sat up, stretching himself out like a cat waking up from a nap.

"Well, then you came to the right people, and it's a good thing you did too: if there are people looking for you, the last thing you should be doing is getting off at the docks and trying to stroll through the gates."

Soren stiffened. "Oh, shoot! That's right, you have to pass a guard checkpoint! My family is usually just waved through the line with the merchants, but... most folk can't enter the city without showing identification."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Yuel blinked, before glancing at Rylan. "You don't have travel papers?"

Rylan shook his head, a little miffed that he was only learning about this stuff now. "Why would I? I ran away in the night, and I'd never even left Thistlebloom before..."

Yuel hummed. "Well, that wouldn't be too hard to get sorted out... if no one was looking for you. But don't worry. There are other ways into the city."

"Are ye thinking what I'm thinking?" Nazyr asked with a smug grin.

"Definitely," Yuel said, his voice dropping sultrily. "But it'll have to wait until after we escort Thar Rylan here out the smuggler's hatch."

"You've got a smuggler's hatch?" Soren asked, perking up.

Nazyr snorted. "Course we got a hatch. We may not be pirates anymore, but we're not city fogging guards either, are we? Actually, never mind, they're pretty corrupt too, bunch of fogheads..."

Rylan frowned. "A hatch? Where does it lead?"

"You'll see," Yuel drawled. "Just meet us down in the kitchen when we pull into port."

Rylan made use of his remaining time on board to say proper goodbyes to as many people as he could, telling them things might 'get a bit chaotic' upon their arrival, and he thus wanted to do it in advance.

He found Halloth manning the helm, the bamboo wheel looking awfully fragile in the gentle giant's tattooed hands. They made some small talk, and before they parted ways, Halloth wished Rylan the guidance of 'Zeph's gentlest winds.'

The captain was in her cabin on the deck, going over some maps. Their conversation quickly confirmed what Soren had already told him. She, Halloth, and Isai would be chartering a trip to Thornholm as soon as possible to report back while the Soggy Shepherd got rebuilt, and they would be giving Soren a ride along the way.

"You could come with us, you know?" she added, her eyes glinting. "The Thorns would happily snatch up a young talent like yourself; we'd have all that debt nonsense settled in no time. And we can just hide you in the cargo hold when we swing by Thistlebloom to drop off Soren."

Rylan smiled. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not looking to be in anyone's permanent service for a while."

"Understood. Well, please do keep in touch with my crew. I might have a job offer for you someday. One with a more freelance nature."

"I'll look forward to it, then."

They shook hands, and on he went.

He'd hoped to see Isai at least once more before his departure, but the man had shut himself inside the floater, carefully managing the remainder of the gasified Aetherium, and no one was allowed to enter.

Below deck, Ezra was still asleep, but Holly gave Rylan a warm hug and made him promise to eat well and visit them at The Stitched Kite, the portside inn where she and Ezra would be staying for the time being.

Then, against his better judgment, he went up to the top deck to stand next to Tamina. She seemed surprised at his presence, but didn't say anything, and soon turned her attention back to the city skyline.

They stood there in silence for a good while.

"I'm glad you're forcing me to come with you," Rylan finally said, picking his words carefully. "I would miss you if we had to part ways."

Tamina smiled, but her eyes were a little red around the rims. "I would miss you too. Are you prepared to leave, then?"

Rylan nodded.

"Good. Then I suppose I'll see you... shortly. Take care, Ry."

"You too, Tammi."

He took one last, good look at her, shot her a sad smile, then climbed back down.

Finally, he said his goodbyes to Soren, who would be in charge of distracting Tamina upon their arrival.

"Promise you'll visit us on Thistlebloom once the dust has settled, yeah?" his blue-haired friend implored, holding both of Rylan's hands. "Helen will never forgive me if you don't."

Rylan hesitated briefly, then nodded. "Once everything is sorted and my debt is cleared, I'll visit. I promise."

With an exaggerated sigh of relied, Soren let go of his hands.

Rylan smiled and nodded at him, then, with his coat and backpack on, his roll of knives and Arphin stowed inside but his dagger openly on his belt, he started to turn around to head for the kitchen.

However, before he could take a single step, Soren grabbed on to his shoulder.

"Hold on. There's one more thing I need to do before we part ways." Soren glanced at the door, then reached into the front of his shirt and fished out a small black suede pouch which hung around his neck from its drawstring. He proceeded to take the whole thing off, and handed it to Rylan. "Here. Just look inside, don't take it out. Best not to take any chances."

Confused and intrigued, Rylan loosened the drawstring. His eyes widened as he spotted a translucent sphere the size of a small pebble that emitted a bright, shimmering, multi-coloured glow. Small as it was, the object seemed to emit a powerful presence, which sent tingles running up his fingers from the mouth of the pouch, all the way to the centre of his chest.

And he wasn't the only one who could sense it.

[Woah! Where did that come from?] Arphin asked, perplexed. [One second there's nothing, the next there's a super-dense object! Is Soren a magician?! Also, what even is it?]

Rylan couldn't be sure, but he had a pretty good idea. After all, he'd heard many stories about the special treasure that could help people gain Skills, and had long dreamt of obtaining one.

"Is that—is that a fogging Pearl of Inspiration?!" he whispered.

Soren flashed him a grin. "Remember how I said I got a Perception Enhancer from my Challenge Dungeon?"

"Ehm, yeah?"

"Guess you can't always tell when I'm lying after all, can you?"

Rylan shook his head in disbelief. "But... how did you hide this from Arphin?"

"The inner lining of that pouch is woven darkmetal thread," Soren explained. "It's the same kind of bag used to store Cubes down in the cloudsea to hide them from Malequints; it's great at obscuring stuff. I was already planning to hand you the reward of the Challenge Dungeon as a gift, so I asked the captain if I could borrow a proper container for it. She tossed me this, told me I could keep it. And now... it's yours."

Rylan's mouth fell open. "Wait, you're giving me this?"

Soren nodded. "I planned to give you my reward sooner, but when I didn't get an Enhancer, I wasn't sure what to do. As a Quinthar, using a Pearl of Inspiration for anything other than trying to reach the next grade is a complete waste, and having an unused Pearl just paints a target on your back. I didn't want to let Tamina find out you had it either, just in case she'd be forced to report it."

"Soren..." Rylan said, shaking his head as he held the pouch back out. "I can't accept this; it's too much. These things go for a hundred gold crowns each; I only owe your family two hundred silver florins, this is worth twelve hundred!"

Soren just smiled, and reached out with both hands only to gently fold Rylan's hand closed around the pouch. "At least twelve hundred. And it's mine, therefore it's mine to gift, and I want to gift it to you. So please, just accept it."

"Are you sure?"

Soren nodded firmly. "I am. I've been looking for a way to prove to you that I was never going to leave you in debt forever, and since we're parting ways, I don't want to miss this opportunity. Pearls of Inspiration may be rare and valuable, but not when compared to our friendship."

Biting his lips, Rylan finally nodded and drew his hand back. "You know you didn't need to prove anything, right?"

Soren smiled wanly. "Didn't I? Well, I would've wanted to give you this either way. But Ryles, you better keep it well hidden. There are people out there who will kill for a pearl, especially non-Quinthar—even though it would be wasted on most of them."

Rylan frowned. "What should I do with it?"

"Keep it for when you feel like you're close to a Sapphire-Grade Skill," Soren advised. "Storing it in a safety deposit box at the bank may be safest in the meantime—although your lack of identity papers might be an issue there. Alternatively, if you really want the money to clear your debt right away, go to an auction house with a good reputation and sell it to them—like you said, it'll go for a hundred gold crowns easy. Bring someone you can trust, though—you should never go alone to a sale like this."

Rylan looked down at the black suede pouch in his hand, softly clenching his hand around the precious orb inside. Then he pulled the drawstring over his head, and tucked it under his shirt. "Thank you. This means a lot."

"You're very welcome," Soren replied cheerily. "Now you better get going, and I better go distract a certain dark-haired lady."

[Woah,] Arphin said as Soren ushered him out of the room, before sauntering off with a wink and a wave. [He really is a good friend, huh Boss?]

'Yeah, Arphin... he really is.'

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