Sorry if this is a bother, but is this still going?
Sorry, I just noticed this but I have to ask
Is this quote a GBF reference (the other ones line up with the other arcarums too)
Yeah, sorry, work and college have been keeping me busy lately.
I swear this hasn’t been abandoned, I just need to remember to find the time to write.
Ehyup.
Glad someone noticed, though I wish I could’ve made a lot more progress with writing beforehand.
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Chapter 1
I hear them in my sleep, sometimes. They visit my dreams, good or bad, and turn them into something hellish.
They scream. The scream out of pain. They scream out of rage. They scream out of sadness.
“I don’t want to die!”
“Why are you doing this to us?!”
“No! Please Gods no!”
They scream my name.
“Cain!”
“Help us, Cain!”
“Save me, Cain!”
I know. I know that’s not what happened, back then. But all the same, their screams haunt me.
“Cain!”
“CAIN!”
“CAIN!!!”
“Cain, your rod’s about to fall out of the damn boat, wake up.”
I startle awake, then. Just another bad dream. Nothing new.
I fell asleep while we’re out fishing, again. And Caria’s right, I hadn’t been holding on to my fishing rod, and it had nearly fallen into the water. I grab it, and set it leaning against the rail.
“You feeling alright, kid?”
“Yeah, I’m fine…”
“Bad dreams?”
“More of the same.”
“Mm…”
“…”
“Your line’s taut.”
Now she tells me!
I grab my fishing rod, and start reeling in. There’s not much resistance from whatever’s on the hook, so I reel in faster. Not much line left now, and…!
“… Pfft.”
“Hey! Don’t laugh!”
“Snrk–”
“Nooo, stop it!”
“You were so intense and panicky over an anchovy!”
“Uuugh…”
As Caria starts straight up guffawing at my plight, I stare at this tiny, thin silver fish on my hook. Its beady little eye stares back at me, and it wriggles a few times in protest of the hook caught in its mouth.
“Hahhh… Glad you find this so funny.”
“Oh c’mon kid, don’t be like that. It was funny.”
I remove the hook from the fish and put it in a jar we keep for smaller fish.
“Guess we can pickle it later, at least.”
“Jokes aside, pickled anchovy is pretty tasty. It’s a nice snack.”
“Yeah whatever…”
“Don’t let a small catch getcha down, kid. There’s always more fish.”
“… I know.”
“… We should head back. We’ve been out all night, and the sun’s already gotten pretty high over the eastern horizon.”
“I’ll unfurl the sail.”
“Attaboy.”
Caria sets about putting away the chairs and our rods while I start undoing the ropes that holds the sail in place. By the time the deck is clear and everything stashed below, the little sailboat is already starting to move, the sail unfurled and catching the morning breeze.
“Alright, we’re on our way back to Whitesummit. You know the deal once we arrive: Head down, eyes front. Do not speak to anyone.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Good. Man the sails, Cain, let the wind carry us home.”
The journey back to Whitesummit isn’t a long one. By the time we arrive at the hidden port, the sun is almost at its zenith in the sky.
Getting off and heading into the Grotto is routine at this point. Caria always handles unloading and doing business once we arrive, and sends me to our shack immediately. She doesn’t want me getting involved with any of the shadier people around here.
Today had other plans for me.
“Look who it is! Hello there Cain.”
A trio of rough looking men approach me from the Grotto entrance. They were waiting for me today, it seems.
“Don’t you have anything better to do, Thad?”
“Whaaat? Nothing’s more important than welcoming my friend Cain home after a long night out.”
Thaddeus is right in front of me now, and his goons are on either side of me. Normally a guard or Marine would step in to break this up by now, but this isn’t that kind of town.
“You runts had better run along before I come over there and toss all three of you into the water.”
Caria’s voice carries over to us, and Thad throws a passing glance her way before leaning in closer to whisper to me.
“She can’t protect you forever. Just you wait Cain. You and I will settle things soon enough.”
“Now, you thug, or I’ll break my foot off in your–”
“Yes yes, Captain Caria, we’re going.”
The three of them back off, turning and heading back into the Grotto. I breathe a sigh of relief that things didn’t devolve into a fight this time. Ever since the time I chased Thad off when he was harassing Miss Yasmin, he’s had it in for me. We’ve scrapped a few times since then, but it’s been a couple years since the last time we fought. Mostly because Caria has been keeping me on a tighter leash when he’s involved.
“Cain, stay out here with me until I’m ready to head in. Can’t be too careful.”
“Yes ma’am.”
I take a seat on the docks next to where our sailboat is moored, dangling my legs over the chilly waters. It’ll be a short while before the dockworkers finish unloading the fish. We’d managed to catch a few swordfish during the short storm last night, and those bastards were heavy.
I had decided to just sit there and wait, but a snippet of conversation from a pair of dockworkers caught my attention.
“You hear about Fort Talos?”
“Hm? What about it?”
“Early this morning the Sponsor manning Sailor’s Lodge came in by ship. Said he had important info for the Architect.”
“He didn’t just send a messenger? Must’ve real been important. What happened?”
“Supposedly, there were rumbles heard all the way at the Lodge last night, and sailors reported seeing plumes of smoke and the light of fire to the east.”
“Wait, you don’t think…?!”
“I don’t know, but whatever happened at Fort Talos, it can’t be good. I’ve been telling my best mates to steer clear of under-the-table dealings with Ravenna for a bit until we know more, suggest you do the same.”
“Yikes, thanks friend. Seems like strange things’ve been happening for the past decade or so, huh?”
“Tell me about it. First, Monoah gets decimated. Real tragedy, that. Heard there were no survivors. Then you hear about all the weird killings all over the Bronze Sea, men turned to dust with little left but their clothes. Gives me the chills just thinkin about it. And then just a couple years back, there was that pillar of light from the west. Stuck around for a few days, lit up that part of the sky at night. Still no clue what happened there, but if everything else that’s happened is anything to go by, it isn’t anything good.”
“Hahhh… I miss the days you didn’t have to worry odd occurrences. Usually, ya only hear about stuff like this in legends, but now–”
Carina had been standing behind them for the past 10 seconds, seething. Seems she finally had enough and whapped the both of them over the head.
“I don’t recall you boys being paid to wag tongues. Hurry up and unload my boat so I can go sleep in a real bad, you layabouts.”
“Y-yes cap’n, sorry cap’n.”
“We’ll get right on that!”
They were quick to go about finishing their work after that, with not a peep between them.
Soon enough, the two of us had finally made it to our shack. It was a humble affair, a ways away from the others, up against one of the walls of the Grotto.
“I’m gonna go pass out, kid. I need a bed beneath me after sitting in that chair fishing all night. We’ll head into town tomorrow.”
“Good night, Carina.”
All of a sudden she’s got me in a headlock, tousling my hair.
“You go to bed, too, Cain. You were asleep in your chair out there, that’s not good for your spine. 'sides, not much to do until tomorrow, don’t want ya getting bored and thinking about heading out.”
She lets go and spins me to face her.
“You know how dangerous this place can be, Cain.”
“You know I can take care of myself now, right?”
“That’s not the point. I trained you so you could defend yourself if trouble found you. I don’t want you going out to find trouble. I know how you and that Thad punk are.”
“… Yes ma’am.”
“Good. Thank you.”
She ruffles my hair again, before chuckling and heading to her room.
“Get some proper sleep, Cain.”
“I will.”
She shuts her door behind her, and as I turn to head to my own room, I hear the fwump of her flopping on her bed through the wall. Shutting my door, I’m quick to sidle into my own bed. She was right, my back had been tense all day since I woke up on the boat. I needed to sleep properly.
As I rolled over and got comfortable in my bed, I felt it again. A tug. I don’t know what’s being tugged, but I could feel myself pulled towards… Something. Something far away. This had been happening here and there over the years, and a lot more often since the pillar of light had come and gone almost 2 years ago. During the days the light had persisted, the tugs were stronger than ever. Like something was calling me west. When I told Caria about it, she got so worried that we didn’t go out for fishing for a week. She went out and bottled up a whole lot of sea water and kept her rifle by the door the whole week. Only once the light was gone did things go back to normal.
The tug finally stops. That was one of the longer ones. Maybe the light’s coming back or something. That would suck.
Finally freed from the annoyance of the tug, I turn over and shut my eyes. It’ll be a while yet before sleep takes me, and the dreams come…
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Yeah hi I’m back. Finally, right?
Speaking of things not good for one’s spine: This desk chair I’m sitting in. It’s torture, my back is so bloody stiff.
I’m gonna go lie down after this.
Anywho, thanks for reading. I’ll keep going with this, I promise.
You got no idea how surprised I was when I saw this updated. It was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed it.
Anyways is AO’s story happening concurrently with this, or was the Fort Talos thing something else?
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Something else.
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Neato