A beautiful Map

"Some days, I wish I'd learned to play an instrument." Nobody mumbled to her seatmate to the left as she pulled.

"You do play an instrument, Captain," The young man in the classic feathered pirate hat tapping out the stroke on a Tabla looked down at Nobody with a confused look. His eyes drifted to the three cloaked women sitting in the front of the whaleboat, before returning to his task.

"I mean one that would get me out of rowing, Maris." Nobody laughed, pulling again with the beat.

"Not on my boat, Cap'n, talk to Coxswain Lewis about that." He smiled in response, before his voice and demeanor changed sharply, "In Two, port pressure!"

Nobody didn't look back to figure out why the change in course, just immediately shifting her stroke as the rest of the crew did. She wasn't the boss here. This was the Maris' first command, and while he might be a little jumpy, he didn't need the Captain second guessing him, especially in front of the rest of the men. Besides, this was going to be a fine payday, no matter what ended up happening.

The sound of musical instruments being tuned was a pleasant diversion from the beat of the Tabla. For a moment, Cassie wished that the young petty officer would do the smart thing and put the drum away. Competing beats is fine when you're racing, but they were trying to present a unified crew. She made a mental note to talk to him afterwords. Not in front of the crew. Never give advice in front of the crew, not even to call him aside.

The slow turn to the left let Nobody see the first docks coming into view as they came out of the sea cave. They were well maintained wooden spars, and it looked like some of them had been recently replaced and repainted in the house colors of The local church. Their logos were all over the place, and the protestors lining the docks ran the gamut of causes. However, as the music became audible over their chanting some of the signs came down almost instantly.

"These people sure are hard up for entertainment, eh captain?" Maris laughed again,

"...So when the bastard comes for us, we'll meet him standing tall..." Nobody laughingly sung along to the tune from the longboat, played on the concertina, guitar, violin and viola. A four person band with a drummer was good enough for a traveling circus act. They didn't have nearly enough children to go for Refugee, and Cassie had always found that particular tactic distasteful.

"Watch your blades, Starboard!" Maris called loudly, and Nobody watched as the coxswain stood, gesturing towards what he assumed was the dock they were aiming for. "In Two, Blades IN!"

Nobody pulled her oar to the side and took a breath. The row from the cave to the dock was always a good workout, and the gods knew it was hard enough to get in an entertaining workout aboard ship. For the most part you were stuck with the same calisthenics as always, which while familiar and easy, did little to expand the horizons. Rigorous preparation is good, but when push comes to shove, you have to be ready to take opportunities.

She glanced up at the dock, where the boat was being pulled into position by two lines held by rather bored looking dockhands. The orange and black livery they wore suggested that they were probably indentured, and expecting trouble.

"Good Morning, Gentlemen!" Nobody's voice boomed from her mouth even before she realized she had started speaking. It was showtime, time to be The Captain, and all that entailed. "Thank you so for your aid, for we've rowed far and not had time to sample your ale!"

She laughed loudly, and the rest of the crew aboard the longboat joined in with the raucous utterance. The urge to wag her tails teasingly was nearly insurmountable, but she held back the urge, and left her ears flat beneath her kerchief, as they had to be.

Nobody climbed the small ladder which led to the dock, to see the ship's lawright with a slightly nervous expression on his face. He was still trying to keep character, but he was nervous. Behind the lawright sat several black clad enforcers, bearing ancient weapons and shields. In front of them was a man in a suit.

"Arr, ya 'alf wit, can't ya see the men are looking to spend some money?" Nobody pulled a couple of gold foil leafed chocolate pieces out of her pocket and handed them to the nearest servant with the local livery. "What be the hold up?"

"Cap'n, this uhm... he's with The Church. Wants to talk to the captain."

"AY! To thank us, no doubt for our donation to this fine port, which we'd sadly have to take back if they were to refuse to give hospitality to a poor band of scurvy minstrels like ourselves." She turned and walked to the edge of the pier. She noted several Crates that bore the symbol of the Bosu. Yep, Not going to turn her in... at least not yet.

"He says they've got a warrant. To search the ship."

"You did explain to them about mare liberum, right?" Nobody's voice got quiet. This wasn't going according to plan.

"He speaks lawyer, Cap'n." The lawright pulled on his starched collar nervously. "And he says that if we refuse to state a port of origin he's..."

"And just like that they turned us out!" Nobody theatrically shouted, silencing the lawright who immediately took the hint. They weren't going to get out of here the polite way. "Back to the Boats Boys, we Sail with the Tide."

"Now wait, Captain Nobody I think you are a smart gal, and you must realize..." The local suit was trying to bargain. They always compliment you when they think they have the upper hand, because those are free.

"Smart, No, I'm just a poor sailor who doesn't understand all these legalities." Cassie gestured to her men to continue to get back in the boats. Worst case Scenario, she knew how to swim, but it never came to that. Any second now and...

"Captain, we're looking for fugitives. Since you're the only one leaving town right now, we need to search your ship."

"Riiiiight..." Cassie glanced back. Boats were loaded and she saw the glint of a knife in the hand of Maris. one word and the boat would be cut free. They might take some casualties if this went south, but at least most of the crew would get out safe. She glanced at the three passengers, who seemed far more nervous than she'd like. "I'd like to know how it could have been me, when I was clearly visible up and down the Coast on my ship for the past... how many days, Mr. Maris?"

"At least Twelve Sir, but I'd have to check the log." The reply was crisp and without hesitation.

"We can fetch it for you if you like. Just the part where we detail what we took on and off for the period in question, since I'm sure your warrant doesn't cover fishing expeditions."

"Look Captain, none of this is necessary, I..."

"If you're going to talk all day, I'm sure there's another port that would like our stuff." Nobody pressed the advantage. Never let them start talking, and never trust any sentence that starts with the word "Look". If they start talking they won't ever stop, until you've wasted all of your energy.

"I... Fine. We'll take it."

"Minus Five Percent for the shakedown." Nobody shot back angrily. There was a general titter through the crowd at that. She had found that there was nothing that the people of the city liked seeing more than even a minor victory against an authority figure. In the end it would mean nothing, since the nobles would probably try this again with the next ship to come in. Who knows, maybe there might even be a fugitive next time.

"What Happens Now?" Sans asked quietly as the cranes lowered the boxes into the longboat ahead of them.

"Now we have a few days on a boat," Ketsueki sighed under her hood, feeling the soft wash of the water under herself.

"Let me show you..." Xitlaly began. She rolled her hands over each other several times, gathering a bit of power, before an elegant map appeared floating before the three. There on the corner of a large land mass was a perfect representation of where they were. She breathed out, concentrating on the image, and it shrank, the image becoming more indistinct and resembling a paper map more as it moved from places that Xitlaly had known and been to places that she had only heard about. A small red line began to roll across it, and traveled across the ocean.

"What's that sound?" Sans asked quietly.

"Shhh, that's the theme music, part of how this works..."