A majestic galleon carves it’s way through the choppy waves, reflecting the rage of the gray sky wants to bring down. The craftsmanship looks oaken and worn, but carefully tended too. Albeit inconsistently. Amidst the grunting and scuffling boots; the slung ropes and billowing sails; the rush of the wind and the mist that goes with it, there stands this ship’s captain and the rescued.

“Such fucking bullshit.” Says the rescued, a woman with piercing eyes and light hair adopting a resigned yet bold stance. She is leaning on the quarterdeck’s rail and peering forward. The captain—a slender man with black locks and green eyes—chuckles whilst shaking his head. He’s heard that exact phrase from her for the last few hours. He has yet to receive a reason as to why.

“Yabberin’ on ‘bout it ain’t fixing a thing, sheila. Ya need to focus on the positive.” The captain responds in his almost slurred Australian accent, donning a weary smirk. He’d very much like to smile about something else.

“I doubt you understand,” She says while kicking the rail but still leaning on it, “I have a fucking account with this game. A good one. To be reduced to some… some… stupid sexist cliché is beyond insulting.” She turns to look at him, passing the glare onto him. “And my name isn’t Sheila.” The captain shrugs.

“Feel free to tell me, then. I’m no mind reader.” He says. She looks away and scoffs, making very clear that she heard the request.

Silence. At least, between them. The galleon must continue to be looked after, and such a thing requires noise. The waves move the ship to a fro, allowing the sails to cough in with the sway, taking the wind with them and not the other way around.

“Iris.” She finally answers. Captain lets out a singular laugh.

“Captain Cassius.” He speaks with a flourish, “Cassius Blythe.” Iris stands and spins, donning a look of disgust.

“No, it fucking isn’t.” She exclaims with a heavy dose of disbelief. Cassius is surprised.

“My name, you mean?” He asks. She nods. “You don’t like it?” He chuckles. She shakes her head.

“It’s just not your name. If you aren’t going tell me what it is, then you don’t need to be a dick about it.” She claims. Cassius continues to laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. This isn’t a conversation that happens all the time in America, thinks Cassius.

“My parents… Parents are the dicks. They named my sister Valkyrie.” He says. She dons a face of concern. He chuckles again, “No, I don’t have a sister. But my name is really Cassius.” She scoffs again and returns to look out on the ship. Men, all dressed the same, moving in perfect harmony to ensure safe passage. He ponders a way to rally a smile. Or anything. Just to change her sour mood.

“You said you ‘ave yourself an account, do ya?” He asks. She shrugs. “Because I ‘ave m’self an Avoker [Avatar Invoker] in my cabin, you free to use it, if ya want.” An Avatar Invoker is an apparatus designed for players of The Realms with multiple characters to switch to any character in their roster. Those who would pay a premium were given several benefits within the game, and the Invoker was one of them. If a player so chose to switch a character, a preset suite of skills, or an entire regalia of equipment, the Invoker would facilitate. Normally, a player would need to log out and log back in the game in order to do any of those things, but at the risk of relocating to the last place that particular character was used. With the Invoker, one may change on the fly. When Cassius offered this service, her face lit up. She nearly leapt over the rail, located the cabin and let herself in. Cassius watched in silence, slowly crossing his arms.

“Never saw a tart jump into a cap’n’s cabin ‘afore, sir. Once we share a mug, yoll ‘ave to lemme in on that secret.” Says an NPC, labeled as First Mate Terik. Cassius looks at him, revulsion and astonishment giving him away.

“She is a guest, and a lady. She is to be treated as such. Do I make myself clear?” Cassius affirms. Terik grins. “Aye!” Is his answer. Cassius has been keeping up with the changes that The Realms have endured, and clearly the behavioral protocols on the NPCs disturb Cassius the most. Nevermind the near-perfect wood texture on his ship, the lifelike viscosity of the sea it travels on, or the realistic salty weight of the breeze. It was all too real. Iris emerged from the cabin, dressed in a chain shirt covered with a flowing tunic, bearing two scimitars on each side of her hips and a massive falchion attached to her back. Her hair bound by braids and out of her face. Her arms were exposed, showcasing her muscular definition but only to have her forearms covered by polished bracers. Her bold emerald sash flowing in the wind along with her charms she wore around her neck and wrists made her look more the part of a pirate than Cassius. He didn’t seem to mind.

“Very chic, Iris.” Says the pirate captain. She continues to look out on the crew continuing their job. She accesses her Avatar Screen to view everything about her character, reviewing any changes and where she left off.

“Harper? Turns out my mark wants to ‘elp out. I say we giver’ a chance.” Cassius says to his handler. A crackle before a response. The accent is also oceanic.

“Does she? Tell her to contact the Moderator channel so she can get a handler immediately. What’s her name?” She asks. “She goes by Iris. Don’t tell her I sent you, she’ll just be mad at both of us.” He says. Harper chuckles quietly. Cassius waits for a moment and notices that she looks around cautiously. Then motions her middle and index finger to her ear and seemingly begins to talk to herself. Harper chimes in.

“Okay, I let her know that she’ll be updated by her handler. And-” “’Old on, love.” Cassius interrupts. He sees Iris with her stance facing the port-side of the ships but her glare connecting with his eyes. He chuckles aloud.

“Got it figured out, have you?” He asks. “Sorry, Cass.” Says Harper. Iris just shakes her head.

“You could’ve gave me a heads up or something.” She shouts. Cassius shrugs. He gestures the helmsman to stay on course, and the nameless NPC nods. Cassius then descends the steps, using his hands on the rail to guide his balance. His finger runs along the grain of the banister.

“And miss the look on your face? Not like-” A sliver of the banister pierces his finger. Cassius reacted to it; the sudden catch of resistance, the small penetrating pinch, and the sting of a foreign shard held by his skin and dipping into his blood. It all felt genuine. Real.

“Not like what?” Iris provokes. She sees a man in mid stride on the bottom step, staring at his finger seemingly for the first time.

“I, uh...” Cassius trails off. To him, this is just a game. Games have fabricated experiences and previously set decisions. This splinter changed too much in his mind. This game isn’t a game anymore. Not to him. Especially not to his finger. Unless there is literally a series of 1s and 0s sticking out of his skin. Either way, this revelation shakes him. “… There is, uh… Have you noticed how much this game has changed?” He asks. Question only to be returned by a single blink.

“Changed?” She asks. Sounding more of an answer, but quizzical enough to Cassius to elaborate.

“Everything looks real? Sounds different? I swear I smelled something when we found you on the rocks. All of this seems like reality.” He explains. Iris looks about and takes in her surroundings once more. Her eyes softened; easing into the detail she wanted to make note of. She never saw a galleon like this when she played the Realms, so everything seemed new to her. So she looked skyward, and locked onto a cloud. And there it was; wispy and fluffy like a cloud should be. Her eyes hardened. It was once explained to her that the clouds and the blue sky belonged to an object called the Sky Box. A ceiling to the Realms that reflected still pictures of clouds, stars, and the endless blue. Only the sun and the moon moved independently from the Sky Box. But her eyes couldn’t shake the feeling that this very cloud she was staring at was it’s own entity. A collection of dust and water attempting to make a floating shape and travel. This had never been before. She looks back towards Cassius who was also looking up, more confused about what exactly Iris had found fascinating than anything else.

“The clouds look different, but I don’t see what your point is.” She says. Cassius looks back at her and sighs.

“The game’s developer stopped updating it once it got wind of the abductions. So why pretty it up?” He asks. Iris shrugs. Cassius opens his mouth to elaborate, but the sky darkens within moments and music begins to play. Key is in D minor, thinks Cassius. The crew drops what they are doing in unison, and produce a weapon. Iris opens her Avatar screen, activates something, and her eyes began to glow. Cassius does the same, if only because he was reminded. He turns his wrist, highlights the Character Statistics screen, and activates the Traveler’s Visor. This option turns a heads up display [HUD] on. This shows a slew of information relevant to the player and it’s Avatar. Like how much health it has, magic power left to use, a close-quarters radar, names of both enemies and friends, experience gained and amount left to the next level, available skills and spells, and whether or not the Avatar’s special ability is accessible for use. Sometimes information is displayed once certain objectives are completed, as to inform the Avatar where to go next. The Visor makes the Avatar’s eyes glow to signify that it is open.

“What’s this about? We’re too close to shore for an Encounter!” Shouts Iris. And she was right. Encounters are location based trials of combat, more difficult than the usual moments of battle. They have better chances of rewarding present players with enhanced equipment, weapons or charms. Most Encounters are level based, meaning they only have a chance to occur with Avatar’s of certain levels and areas. Iris was referring to sea-based Encounters, of which there are only a handful, and all of them are sought out. Not random. This Encounter just shouldn’t be.

A creature jumps out of the deep and lands on the deck. This creature has the head of a fish with fangs, a body of a man with fins, and wielding a trident. To Iris, it is one of the more grotesque things she has ever fought. To Cassius, he knows to call it a Sahuagin; a common pest of sailors and pirates. About two dozen more jump aboard in the same fashion. Cassius unsheathes his rapier and arms his dastana. Iris retrieves both scimitars in each hand, complete with a twirling flourish. Crewmen are looking to their captain for the order. The first sahuagin to board lets out a guttural shriek, allowing a viscous drop of acid to escape between its teeth and onto the deck. It begins to burn through. Cassius shouts to defend the ship—The Lactrodectus—and thrusts his weapon into the air. The men shout in return.

Battle has begun.

The original sahuagin—the Alpha—lunges forward at Iris, who deftly parries with her right blade, spins, and lands her heel on the left of its face. As the alpha staggers to the side, two more step in for the kill. She expertly parries both of them with her other blade, causing one to fall forward. She slams the right blade down onto its head. The blade itself cut straight through the creature. Normally, it would only flash on the point of impact, and have numbers emerge from it noting the amount of damage dealt. But there was no flash. No numbers. Just black and green fluid spewing from the wound and a scream to match. Iris wasn’t used to this, and therefore froze but for a moment. The moment lasted long enough for the other creature to rear up its trident and lunge forward. This was interrupted by Cassius unloading his revolver hand-musket—dubbed Cloud Caller—into the creatures shoulder. The force of the bullet shoved the creature back and collided with the alpha.

Cassius holsters his sidearm, turns his shoulders to lead with his sword arm, and descends the steps down to the main deck. A few creatures make their way to the bottom and await him. Cassius smiles. He focuses on the intricacies of the music that is playing amidst the background. With loud brass, flighty trills of flutes, and the booming resonance of drums he nearly jumps down the stairs and plunges the end of his weapon perfectly into the creature’s heart. The creature emits a painful howl as Cassius tilts the rapier up, pulling the sahuagin closer so he can kick its body off and toward its allies. Two of them stumble back while one of them swiftly dodges, but this does not deter Cassius from stepping forward and spearing the rapier through the other sahuagin’s chest. The remaining sahuagin takes its chance and stabs the trident forward. Cassius raises his left hand between the forks and snags it in time. The sahuagin swings the trident in a large arc, taking Cassius with it. He careens over a set of barrels and lands upon his crew mates. Surrounding sahuagins take their opportunity to thrust tridents into the scrambling mass of adversaries. One crew mate succumbed to his wounds—in this case, too much loss of Vitality Points [VP]--and shattered into animus shards. The Alpha, already on his feet, rushed onto the scene and pushed the underlings aside to feed off of the remains of the crew mate. This process involves the sahuagin to stand perfectly still to allow the dust to be absorbed into its skin, with larger fragments in tow. Only certain creatures can do this, the Alpha being one of them. The more of the animus shards it absorbs, the stronger it can get. But, this means it will dispense more animus shards of its own when defeated.

The other creatures watch for only a moment, the crew mates and Cassius still struggling to get on their feet. A resounding command emerges from Cassius, “All arms! To me!” This is an ability his class archetype is capable of. He calls those very words out, and every crew member than can hear him rush to his side, cutting down all opposition along the way. And they do just that, felling several sahuagin in the meantime. This ability can only be used when Cassius is on his galleon. The crew managed to bring him to his feet as they swarmed him, quickly turning their backs on him and pointing sabers outward. Iris—quickly dispatching two of the creatures when she heard the command—makes it a point to put herself an outlier to the culmination. She then enacts an ability of her own, called Combat Allure. It doesn’t look anything particularly flashy, but it does gain the attention of surrounding foes. If only for a time. She stands in front of the group of crew mates and their dashing captain, and drops her weapons. Clang they go. This act intensifies her Combat Allure, suggesting to the creatures that not only did she got them to look at her but she is less defended than any other combatant in the immediate area.

All sahuagins, save for the Alpha, plummet towards her with the razor sharp barbs of their tridents aimed at her neck and midsection. She waits.

“By the gods, woman! Get to sa-” Shouts First Mate Terik, “Steady, boys!” Cassius yells over his First Mate’s doubts. Over the commotion. Cassius knew what was about to happen, and the anticipation only made him smirk. She continued to wait. The creatures continued to close in. She could see the shine emitting from the sahuagin’s fish eyes. She could make out the scales on their arms. She could hear the labored breathing. Almost feel the shudder of their aqua based lungs. She looked at their feet, and awaited the lunging step. It comes with a slight pivot, with a dig of the balls of the foot, the bending of the knee, and a thud. She waited for the thud.

There it was.

She closes her eyes.

One hand raised to her falchion on her back.

She vanishes.

Creatures pierce air and fall forward unto their failed mark.

“Forward!” Shouts Cassius. And forward they went, slashing and pushing the creatures towards the other side of the ship, where Iris awaits with falchion in both hands. She begins to spin with the blade facing out. But this isn’t a reckless and violent spin, rather a flowing pirouette accentuating lithe movements and maximizing reach. It was indeed a dance, capitalizing on the nature of her Avatar’s class: The Coryphée. A battle dancer. She danced in place, and allowed the crew mates to push the creatures at her. The creatures met their end within moments; the ground covered with animus shards. Two of the crew mates managed to pick up her scimitars and handed them back to her. She needed a moment to let the world stop rotating around her eyes, but took them quickly after. She didn’t thank them.

The Alpha looked at the carnage before him. The face it had didn’t emanate any sense of urgency or panic. Not even displeasure. Just a glare. It used the trident to hold itself up, despite not having any critical wounds. The crew, blades at the ready. Iris, uneasy about the sudden lack of combat. And Cassius, just piecing it together. During that last display that defeated all of its soldiers, the Alpha decided to attempt the desperate act of requesting the presence of its god. This sort of act takes a moment, longer than most. But how long was it conjuring the power to summon its deity? Cassius, without any words to convey what he just discovered, breezes by his crew, traverses every barrel and hole with ease, willing the tip of his blade to seek the creature’s throat. Some classes can do this form of movement, Duelist being one of them. He wouldn’t be able to get as far, due to Cassius’ choice to also level up as a Corsair. But by the very panicked breath that was smoking from his gritted teeth, he would get there in time. He had to. The alternative had a title known very well. He dare not think it. Dare not speak it.

The sahuagin tilts its head skyward and lowers its jowls. Cassius’ burst of speed is depleted; he tries to compensate by lunging his rapier as far as he can. His forward foot finds a coil of rope to step in, granting him terrible balance. Cassius knew he was going to fall, he lets his blade go, retrieves his musket and pulls the trigger. No bullet. He didn’t reload. He comes crashing to floor, blade beside him and the sahuagin only mere feet away. The creature emits a low and gurgling howl. No, thinks Cassius, don’t let the rain fall. A few drops begin to wet the sails. The howl stops. And the rumble can be felt coming from the everlasting deep. Cassius springs to his feet, although ungracefully. He pierces the eye of the Alpha, and it dies with no throes to its demise. Just accepts the pain; allows the senses to be overwhelmed, and collapses. No animus shards. They went to a more superior beast. It didn’t have a name, nor a place in hell for it. Among its infamous accolades and nigh-forbidden legend, it had a title. A title known very well.

“The Kraken!” The first mate shouts, spreading panic throughout the ranks and having Iris be unsure as to which weapon to wield. Cassius wrestles the rapier from the Alpha’s eye and surveys what he must salvage. This particular enemy has a penchant for destroying ships and crew, largely panning Avatars to the shore. The Kraken is an incredibly large squid capable of swallowing galleons whole if the need arise. It has only been killed a handful of times since its inception with the expansion “Tidestrom”. Even then it was with a small fleet that sought it out. Without Cassius’ ship, his future rescue efforts would be next to forfeit. There aren’t too many Avatar’s with records like his that can sail the seas on command. And even if his ship survives, what will ensure the beast won’t emerge once again?

“Cassius? Did I hear that correctly?” Chimes Harper. The splinter in Cassius’ finger nearly made him forget about this world being a game. A game that was about to get the upper hand.

“’Fraid so, love.” He responds. He continues to survey the ship and notices a set of tentacles rise out of the water and grip the port side of his ship, frightening the crew. Iris, now just in his view, looks to him with a perplexed gaze and a hand on each of her sabers. The sails above hang flat with a violent thud; the wind died. And the rain continues.

“’Fraid so.” He finishes. He hears rampant typing of a keyboard.

“This is unsanctioned activity. We halted Encounters until we-” “The Kraken doesn’t give a shite, love. Don’t focus fixing it, jus’… Start the wind back up.” He demands. The typing stops, accompanied by a sigh that almost sounded like a question.

“Certainly, Cass. Any other miracles I can’t perform?” She replies, barring no sarcasm. Tentacles are now gripping the starboard side, bending and cracking the rail. All eyes on the captain. He cracks a smile; due to bits of hysteria and wanton rebounding from certain defeat. What is a captain to do? His eyes wander from the planks of the ship to the rails, the barrels to the mast, the helm to Iris’ boots, her bosom to her shouting face. He shakes his focus.

“What did you say, Cassius?” She shouts. A low moan escapes from the deep. He slowly shakes his head.

“Love, I’ve said a great many thing.” He responds. She takes another step towards him as the rail from the port side all but come right off.

“About the wind. What did you say about the wind?” She asks again. He shrugs.

“If I’m to get m’self out of this, I’m gonna need the wind to start up.” He almost laughs from the very notion. But according Iris’ stern glare, she doesn’t share the same humor.

“I can help with that.” She replies. Now he is certain laughter is fleeing from his face. She doesn’t let his behavior deter her aim to summon the winds. She walks towards the bodies of the sahuagins and begins to loot them. This is a simple task that only needs the Avatar to touch the body with the same hand they use for their Avatar Screen to appear. A screen materializes from the arm as normal, but only showcasing what the body has for the Avatar to take. Sometimes weapons, charms, armor, even spell scrolls can be found in this fashion. And depending on which Craft the Avatar has chosen, components can be found that aid in the very Craft in question. Such as ingots for Blacksmithing, twine for Tailoring, gemdust for Jewelry, reagents for Alchemy, and arcane patterns for Enchanting. Cassius had no idea what Iris was looking for.

“So it turns out she’s an Alchemist. Master Rank, at that. She can start your damn wind up.” Pings Harper. Cassius suddenly discovered why Iris wasn’t taking this as a joke.

“What is she looking for?” He asks, approaching a nearby carcass of a sahuagin with new found zeal.

“Coral Ichor. She needs 400 MGs to create the potion Wind Scribe.” She says as he finds 17 MGs on the corpse he was rifling through. The cries of his crew are beyond the tones of hysteria. Some have taken to slashing at the tentacles.

“Then we should get busy looking, eh?” Cassius questions, sliding the Ichor to his Screen, immediately setting the item into the Craft tab within his Inventory. Thunder begins to roll across the seas, dragging rain with it, raising the water into sharp peaks and steep troughs. It all looked so real.

“Hey, cap?” Shouts Iris. He looks over as he closes his Screen, raising his brows slightly as a response. She gestures to his crew with an open palm of concern. Her brows slanted to compliment her confused face.

“Could you tell your guys to-”

Cassius draws enough breath for two men, allowing it to stretch his lungs, “Mates!” He shouts, “To the bodies, we plunder Coral Ichor! On the double, lads!” Iris continues to search the bodies. All of his men become scavengers to newly discovered carrion. Nearly ripping limbs apart and rummaging through the fake fluids to find a morsel of salvation. These were no longer men. They never were, to their credit. But beasts. Panicking beasts clinging onto their loyalty to their captain; their only shred of sanity left. The amount of Coral Ichor the men found went into Cassius’ Inventory. The number jumped to triple digits instantly.

“Where you at, sheila?” He asks. She doesn’t bother to look up.

“My name isn’t Sheila. And I’m around 150. You?” She responds. Cassius chuckles. A broken streak begins to form in the center of the galleon. The boat was giving way. The captain looked briefly, only to accept that all of the damage, the men, the ammunition, was to come out of his funds. Which reminded him of his conversation earlier. There was talks of a few lines of code that allow for unlimited currency, known as Halos, when he first entered the Realms in this state. In fact, there was talks for numerous advantages to give to the players. Increased travel speed, unlimited Stamina, reduced Ability Point [AP] cost, increased rate of dropping legendary equipment and charms, AP and Vitality Point [VP] regeneration, and the list continues. Perhaps, Cassius thought, I should’ve waited for a few of those. Damn my eagerness for grandstanding.

“Uh...” Cassius looks at his total on his Screen, “About 300.” He continues to search. But this corpse has been picked of Coral Ichor. He moves to the next, but to no avail. No success with the next two he searched. He looks up and sees his men staring at him. This is going to cost me so many Halos, he thinks as he sinks into defeat once more.

“Good.” Iris responds. Cassius looks up, opening his Screen and readies his amount of Ichor for trade. But not without looking concerned.

“I only need 300.” She says. “Master Alchemists have reduced cost.” Her tone of voice is a stark contrast to what is going on around her. To her, this is still a game. Even so, this isn’t her ship. She has very little care in the world, save for getting to shore so she can get home. Cassius was a bit more hurried. Repairing the ship and purchasing more men was one thing. But to lose all of it in one trip was another. He would have to wait for 48 hours in real time to find a vendor to sell him a ship along with the upgrades and the crew to service it. That amount of time was normally inconvenient, but the abductees couldn’t wait 48 hours. At least, he didn’t think they could. No one was willing to find out. Iris readies herself for a trade. They both offer up the items and agree to the terms, and they finish a trade by shaking on it with the same hand they use for their Screen.

Their fingers barely touched.

The Lactrodectus tilts violently to the port side, with the Kraken ready to feast on the crew that didn’t find something to grab onto in time. Iris shunts down and hangs on to the mast with both arms, shouting a few obscenities. Cassius instinctively spins as his feet had no stable ground to settle on and pierces his rapier into the deck. The men that are left are either screaming for the captain’s orders or for their own lives. This was when the realism of the realms got to Iris. NPCs don’t typically shout for their lives. They didn’t have the blood curdling shrieks of terror programmed into any response. They didn’t have the capacity to elicit fear, pity, or induce memories. Painful memories. Iris closes her eyes and focuses on her breathing. This is ridiculous, she thinks, how can a stupid game remind me of it? As long as she knew she was in a game, she didn’t need to accept it as a reality. A real looking and sounding reality. But not her reality.

Cassius swings idly, trying to time his jump to Iris hanging by the mast and finish the trade, and to let her to start the wind again. He counts in his head, and leaps for it. He leaves his rapier behind and lands with no grace. He staggers to his feet and maintains a balance on the mast at an extreme angle. He locates Iris and notices that her eyes are closed, he reaches for her left hand and touches it. She is shocked by the contact, loosens her grip, but barely catches the rope around the mast with her right hand. Cassius looks as this happens and asks if she is okay.

“Fucking fantastic, asshole! Help me up!” She responds. No need to be so rude, he thinks. He lays on his chest and reaches his left hand to pull her up. She swings enough to grasp at his left. Suddenly, the trade completes. They freeze for a moment, trading glances between each other and the Screen. Her face transitioning from confusion to anger to epiphany.

“Let me go.” She commands. Cassius furrows his brow.

“Are you serious?” He asks. Iris releases her grip on the mast with her right hand and beings to swing.

“Find a way to make this thing let go of the ship. I’ll be back.” She says. Cassius ponders a moment and looks to the helm. He sees a member of his crew dangling from a net, tightly securing a collection of inferno-cask; a wooden barrel carrying gun powder. If one of them can sink a ship, thinks Cassius, then a dozen can change the mind of a Kraken.

“Oi! You there!” Cassius shouts to his crew member. In a fit, the crew member looks in many directions before settling his panicked gaze on the captain’s perturbed face.

“Untie the net!” Cassius commands. The crewman lowers both brows, shifting his panic to outright disortientation. Cassius is reloading his musket, with Iris looking over to the crewman he was talking to. She makes the connection, and searches for a Flame Resistance potion in her inventory.

“You wot? Have you gone mad, cap’n?” The crewman asks in protest. Cassius shifts his weight to balance one arm bearing Iris, the other arm to aim his musket.

“Either ya’ do it now, or The Kraken does it for us!” Cassius shouts. The crewman’s face didn’t change, but rather where he aimed his eyes. He looks down towards The Kraken, then to the net, then back down, then around to see that the wheel was nearby, then back to the captain.

“As the captain commands.” Says the crewman. A dagger materializes in his hand, which he places between his teeth and bites down. He climbs towards of what now constitutes as the top of the net and begins to cut the rope that ties it to the ship.

“Ready, Iris?” Cassius asks as he looks to her, seeing embers flaking off of her skin and with another full vial of swirling wind in her hand as she is keeping an eye on the crewman’s progress. She doesn’t look up him.

“Thank you. And yes.” She responds, eager to pop the cork with her thumb.

“You’re thanking me?” He asks, tilting one eyebrow slightly. She nods.

“You called me by the name I was born with.” She responds, allowing a smirk to grow on the side of her cheek. He chuckles heartily. He peers over to see the crewman is working on the last two strands of rope. He closes his left eye and saw a cross hair fade into his purview; an intuitive function for the Traveler’s Visor if the Avatar chose the Marksman passive ability. He didn’t have any enhancements to this particular ability, such as the option to allow for easy leading of a target. So despite the cross hair’s presence, he would still need to use a steady hand for this plan to succeed. The crewman managed to cut the last rope.

“Hold your breath.” Cassius suggests. She was also looking to the crewman and his progress as she held the potion to her lips before she looked up, a look on her face already asking the questions for her.

“As I said,” He continues, “the game is different. Hold your breath. To be safe.” She nods, as they both inhale. The last rope was cut. The crewman scrambles to his feet as the ground beneath him begins to fall, and uses what leverage he could to make a leap for the wheel. The Fire Barrels fall, pushing the rope net out of the way. Cassius locks on the one barrel he wishes to open fire on and lets Iris go. As she falls she imbibes her poultice. The barrels and the woman fall, and the crewman that are able begin to leap out of the way or out of the water. Just as Iris makes contact with the water, Cassius opens fire on the barrel he had his sights on.

The explosion was massive. Simultaneously shattering the rails on the half-deck, forcing the Kraken’s appendages to retract painfully quick, finally allowing the Lactrodectus to stabilize itself. Cassius slid down the mast as it corrected, and quickly congratulated the crewman that cut the ropes. The crew that made it back on deck stood up and began to cheer. But the captain, remaining ever-vigilant, reloads his musket and removes his rapier from the floor boards.

“Come now, love,” Cassius pleas aloud, “don’t make me count to ten.” The sky was still darkened, and the wind still dead. The surrounding cheers from the crewman abated and slowly grew into cautious whispers. The music in D minor had stopped, but the Encounter wasn’t over.

“Captain!” Shouted a pirate, looking over the starboard side while waving Cassius over. Cassius could have used his Dash ability to arrive promptly, but decided to save it in case Iris wouldn’t come back. He held his breath as he approached the railing and looked over. There he saw a collection of bubbles emerging from the dark depths, moving towards his ship at an eerie pace.

“Ready the cannons we ‘ave left ata volley. I wish ta mortar this son of a bitch.” Says Cassius, garnering a few turned heads and hushed questions. He peers to his left and right.

“I don’t think I stuttered, men! Ready the fuckin’ cannons!” He shouted, startling most of his crew to head towards the nearest ordnance they could find. The bubbles slipped under the hull of his ship. Cassius cursed again.

“Aim outward, men! The bastard thinks ta takes us down from both sides! Fire on my mark!” Cassius yells as he raises his rapier to the sky. The ship begins to rumble. The crew looks to there captain, who successfully showcases a facade of courage and focus. In truth, Cassius has rarely been this scared before, and this is only a game. That’s right, he thinks, just a damn game. This fact only worried him further. The rumbling intensifies and attempts to throw him off balance. He stands stoic and ready.

The water and nearby shore sink beneath the rails of the deck.

“Lactrodectus is airborne, Captain!” Shouts his first mate. Cassius travels to the port side to see that that his ship was floating above the water and land. Even the tree line. Cassius was unsure what to make of it. Not one crewman said a word, nor did their Captain. No one could get a good look under the ship’s belly, but could hear a series of strong gusts and zephyrs around the edge of it. The ship was carried towards land and was gently set down in a nearby alcove; far enough away from the sea for anything to attack but buoyant enough to be set out for another voyage. As the ship lands, Cassius sees Iris standing on a tall rock seemingly controlling the ship’s movements with her hands. Cassius sheathes his weapon and waves to Iris. She looked wet, tired, yet accomplished.

“Iris, ye old salty-” “Shut up.” Cassius was met with a raised finger and a labored command. His reaction was laughter.

“I was going to say,” Cassius explained, “I thought I lost ya, is all.” She shakes her head as the sky brightens up, causing her to squint slightly. She straightens her stance.

“And you didn’t need to use ‘salty’ as an adjective.” She says. Cassius ignores her sarcasm, and looks to his ship. His crew were already seeing to reparations and getting a head count. Both Iris and Cassius’ eyes shined for a moment, updating the spoils they received from the Encounter. Halos, Experience, Affinity, and any Accolades. Neither of them received Accolades or as much Experience because there was a Detriment applied to their performance: “Absconder – Continued on without finishing the Encounter”.

“Oh, fuck off.” Iris says, while Cassius chuckles at the results. They then shut the Visor down, looking at each other. He extends his hand.

“Thank ya, Iris. Me ship, me crew, and myself are in your debt.” He says, as she peers down at the hand then back to his face. She hesitantly reaches forward as he closes the distance with one hand to meet hers and the other placed on top of the union. A genuine thank you, given heartily. Her doubt melts from her face as she is grateful to accept the gesture. They let go and listen to their respective Handler as they inform them to open the EKG for the next abductee. As soon as they turn about to find the small blip on their maps, they close it at the same time. She goes off towards her objective, as Cassius watches her.

“Ya did good, sheila.” He says. She turns about, but continues in the direction of her journey.

“I know I did.” She replies. She turns and heads towards the pathway and follow it. After she is over the horizon, Cassius touches two fingers to his ears and speaks.

“Ey, Harper.” He says, he hears a hum of concern as a response, “Could ya please switch me ta someone else? I’m landlocked.” He hears Harper agree, then he hears a few clicks and shuffling of papers. The music returns as a serene melody starting off in C major, a standard in most film scores. The background noise of crew working to restore his vessel, the business of the world he is from, and the music of the world he is in all fade when he recalls a slight pinch in his index finger. He pulls his fingers away and looks to see that the splinter is still in his skin. A fleck of his ship now a part of him. He aims his eyes at the ship and the crew, reviewing their lifelike behavior and reactions. He glares back at his finger.

“Harper, hold off on that.” He says. The shuffling stops.

“Your boat good to go?” Asks Harper. Cassius sighs.

“Not a boat, Harper. And no, I’m more interested in why, or how, a piece of wood came to be in my pointer finger.” He says.

“What do you mean? Is it a glitch?” Shes asks, as he inspects the splinter and notices that it has enough space out of his finger to be pulled out. He uses his mouth to suck it out and he spits it into the water. When he looks back, he observes his finger is red and bleeding ever so slightly.

“I know I’ve never ‘eard of a glitch that sheds blood, Harper. What, exactly, is goin’ on ‘ere?”

Next Chapter: Chapter ???: Steel