Prologue: The Captain and the Crabber

Nemo Valente

The oar had never felt this heavy.  The longer Nemo waited across the road, searching every face that entered the tavern for those familiar orange stripes beneath the eyes, the more weight pulled on his arms as he tried to keep himself and his weapon upright.  It looked less like he was leaning on it and more like it was slowly sinking them both into the wild grass.

He hadn't come here for her.  But he had, in the weeks leading up to this moment, fostered and then lost control of the hope that she'd venture into Greendoze with the harpoon spear slung across her back, the guild's flyer in one paw, and some matching black boundless heads in the other.  She was born to hunt monsters.  But she was also born on the sea, and much like the gulls and the hippogryphs, if she had even glimpsed the guild's advertisements, she probably wouldn't have given the trifles upon the land much thought.  She belonged far from here.

So did Nemo.  So did this oar.  Surely, by the end of today, Silas and Agnes would realize he was a fool far from his home and low on cash and out of ideas.  They would regret inviting him into that tavern.  Maybe it would save everyone's time if he left now.  He could leave some sashimi behind in apology.  And then he'd go…

Where?  Back home to Dad?  Still smelling like this?

A familiar silhouette came to rest just inside the tavern's window - a seafarer's hat.  A captain's hat.  Nemo had heard nothing of this supposed pirate in his nineteen-going-on-twenty years on the coast, but the consensus here in Greendoze was that he ran his very own ship.  He certainly walked with that easy, weighty balance of all Seaworn sailors, gently pushing back against an invisible tide.

Suddenly, Nemo could not contain their hopes again.  They hoisted the oar up in one paw and slipped across the road, paying close attention to any wrinkled noses or twitching whiskers that might signal their dismissal.

A red and white paw landed on the window's outside sill.  They leaned forward with the oar held up off the ground and their large ears flat, ready to bolt if this cat was one of the few that reacted to their smell with a shove or a swipe.  He looked like he might be their own size without that hat... but they didn't think any of the guild would be pleased if they fought one another before any boundless, and Nemo knew who'd be blamed if it came to blows.  "Captain.  Are you familiar with The Red Drake, or with her third harpooneer, Wren Valente?"

-Mantis

Charybdis Llevoud

Charybdis sits down near a window inside the tavern, observing the other cats in town idly. He feels a bit out of place, surrounded by so many people, but luckily his size and quiet nature has worked to his advantage; most of the cats in town haven't paid him much mind.

Breathing out in a small, thoughtful sigh, he leans his head on his paw- when, from behind him, a thud of a paw landing on the windowsill startles him, and he whirls around to face the newcomer.

Said newcomer absolutely reeks of rotten fish. He wrinkles his nose briefly, before making a concerted effort to smooth his expression over. He's so distracted by this that he almost doesn't catch their question; but he does catch it, and he tips his head before raising his paws to sign.

"The Red Drake, yes. We've had a few run-ins, and they escorted us once. But I can't say I've met anyone named Wren, or at least no one who told me their name," he responds. He raises his eyebrows in curiosity as he continues. "Who's asking?"

-yeeter parker

Nemo Valente

The captain's muzzle contorted with disgust.  Nemo straightened their spine so they weren't leaning so far into the window.  "Nemo Valente, her little brother.  She doesn't know I left for Greendoze, so I haven't gotten a letter in a few weeks.  When'd you last see the Drake?"

-Mantis

Charybdis Llevoud

He makes a soft, almost-too-quiet noise of realization, and then crosses his arms, tapping his cheek thoughtfully. He shifts out of the position to continue signing. "Must have been a few months ago, by now. My ship and the Drake were both in for repairs at the same time. Their crew seemed jovial enough, don't think they suffered any losses on that last hunt."

He pauses, and then tips his head in question. "Why not just send a letter from here telling her you came to Greendoze? Mail service not let you?"

-yeeter parker

Nemo Valente

The oar dipped towards the grass again.  A few months ago, that stop in Seaworn - no real news.  "And what address should I send that too?  Cabin 6, The Red Drake, Somewhere-Between-Horizon's-Bloom-and-the-Eastern-Riverwood-Coast Bay?  They gonna tie my letter to a gull and hope it's not eaten by a Keto halfway across the sea?"

Sending the letter home wasn't an option - Nemo hoped the captain could gather this without any further detail.  If there was one place Nemo knew Wren was not, it was Razzamere.  Not to mention that'd require contacting her through Gar, and while Nemo felt a pang of guilt about not having written him yet... he would rather send a letter to literally every other town along the coast than explain himself to his dad.

"Actually, how many villages are between Horizon's Bloom and the eastern Riverwood coast?" Nemo frowned, the sarcasm entirely absent from his voice.  "How much d'ya think it'd cost me to send a letter to each?"

-Mantis

Charybdis Llevoud

Charybdis doesn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm, merely tipping his head. "Yeah, that wouldn't work," he responds, more considerate than anything else.

When Nemo asks about the villages on the coast, he blinks, and then looks thoughtful. "I... have no idea," he signs, motions slow as he focuses more on thinking than talking. "It's probably enough money to not be a good idea, though?" He raises his eyebrows at the end, looking off somewhere into the middle distance. "Maybe, uh," and he actually signs the 'uh', brows furrowing as he thinks,"... maybe you could send a letter to the village you think she'd be most likely to be near when it gets there? Or send letters to a few villages rather than all of them? She'll get them eventually, probably."

-yeeter parker

Nemo Valente

Nemo's low ears flattened entirely.  He did, in fact, have a list of villages Wren might frequent - the villages their mother had visited and sent letters from before she could no longer be bothered.  Wren would be looking for her, or at the very least, her ship would take advantage of the same friendly towns.  He'd have preferred to never think of Rhea's letters again.  But the memory of each had been carved into his head years ago, the way the tide carves a coast: with repetition and an incomprehensible amount of salt.

Would the guild still be in Greendoze, by the time Wren stopped at one of the right settlements?  Would Nemo even still be a Wayseeker?  He supposed he couldn't begrudge Wren's search for Rhea while he was here, also attempting to insert his presence into lives better off without him.

But these were concerns they dared not divulge to a stranger.  Nemo nodded and drew the oar back up, preparing for his leave.  "It'll have to do.  Thank you, Captain... uh, Captain...?"  Was it rude, that he only knew this cat's occupation and not his name?  He hoped that wasn't rude.

-Mantis

Charybdis Llevoud

"Charybdis," he signs in answer, a small smile on his face. Absently, he decides that this Nemo Valente is a pleasant person, despite the awful smell they radiate. Well. Spend enough time around them, I'll get used to it; we'll probably end up together on something sooner or later. And I've smelled worse scents before.

Resurfacing from his thoughts, he tips his head at Nemo in acknowledgement. "Good luck on getting in contact with your sister."

-yeeter parker

Nemo Valente

"Thank you, Captain Charybdis," Nemo committed the name to memory with a short nod.  They'd have to mention this cat to Wren in their letter.  Until they thought of the right way to repay his kindness, the only reward they could offer was to spare his nose any further torment.  They slung the oar over a shoulder and retreated once more across the road.

-Mantis